The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-12 00:00:00

11 11-c
~.

LONDON, SATURDAY. MAY 12, 1849.

Can there be any truth in the rumour ? That Minis-
ters are projecting a grand scheme to relieve them-

selves from a vast accumulation of embarrassments.

Among the Clubs we have heard it, not whispered,
but openly reported, that it is the intention of her
Majesty's Government to hurry two or three pet
measures, such, for example, as the Navigation Bill
and the Rate in Aid Bill, through the Houses, and
then, about the middle of June, to arrange about the

sudden and premature prorogation of Parliament.
By that means, of course, bulking all the important

measures which are either in preparation, or are even
partially developed—the Scotch Lunacy Bill to ivit,
the Scotch Registration Bill, the Health of Towns Bills
proposed for Ireland and Scotland, the Parliamentary
Oaths Bill, the Charitable Trusts Bill, and the rest, and

he rest—thereby affording the members ofthe Cabinel

leisure to deliberate over the difficulties that have to le

vanquished, especially in reference to the contrivance

of some magnificent policy in regard to the adminis
tration of affairs in Ireland. Our emotions would,

indeed, be peculiarly poignant could we by any
means induce ourselves to view these assertions as

credible. We should, in our capacity as journalists,
sympathise with the lamentations of MACDiFF more
than if we witnessed the impersonation of that cha-

racter by the greatest iNlacnurr upon the boards,
Mr. PHELPS. " What—all my pretty ones? Did
you say, all? 0, hell-kite ! All? What, all my
pretty chickens and their dam, at one fell swoop?"
That such, however, can be the ruthless determina-
tion of her MAJESTY'S advisers is beyond all reason•

able belief. No such dangerous experiment can, we
are satisfied, be in contemplation among a b:,dy of
statesmen so familiar with the disposition of the mul-
titude. The more especially is the thing improbable
at such a periol of anxiety and agitation—when, to
the urgency of our own interior condition in regard

to Ireland, are added all the actual or prospective
ditturbances of the states of the continent—war
between Hungary, on the one side, and a Russo-
Austrian Coalition on the other; war between Den-
mark and Prussia; war between Naples and Sicily ;
war between Austria and Venice ; the invasion of
the Roman and Tuscan dominions from the north by
..A.usiria, from the srooth by Naples, and from the
western shores of Italy, through Civita Vecchia, by
the French under OUDINOT ; a probable insurrection
throughout the Polish provinces, namely, in Po-en
and Gallicia, in obedience to the summons of the
battle-trumpet of BEM ; a by no means impossible
declaration of war by the Turkish SOVEREIGN in de-

fence of the liberties of Moldo•Wallachia, threatened
by the AUTOCRAT ; and, above all, the very serious
state of agitation which is becoming every day more
perceptible over the various kingdoms and principali-

ties of the German pepulation! At such a juncture
it is more than ever unlikely that Lord JOHN B.us-
SELL and his colleagues would be rash enough to

place a padlock on the mouth of the People, by
abruptly proroguing the Parliament. It is more
than ever unlikely, when the community are more
than ever conscious of the inestimable advantages

afforded by the possession of a legislative chamber
like the House of Commons—a chamber through
which the nation can at all times speak whatever is
upparmost in its heart, or deepest iu the abysses of
its conscience.

Tke last act of the Irish state trials has terminated
The arguments which ran to such an extraordinary
length on the other side of St. George's Channel
have been brought to a summary conclusion. The
House of Lords, after hearing the unanimous de-
cision of the Learned Judges who had been called in
to assist their Lordships—a decision which was de-
livered without the counsel on behalf of the Crown
being called upon to argue the errors assigned,
confirmed the judgment of the Court below,
without the slightest hesitation or difficulty. This
result cannot in any degree have surprised the learned
gentlemen who appeared on behalf of the prisoners,
or even those unfortunate persons themselves. The
opinions of the Irish Judges were too clearly and un-
equivocally expressed, and too ably sustained, to per-
mit a single doubt to remain in the mind of any
person possessed of the slightest knowledge of law.
It was manifest that the objections taken,
although ingenious enough, could not stand the
test of the close and accurate reasoning to which they
would undoubtedly be subjected. This anticipation
has been fully realised, and the parties convicted now
await the punishment which her MAJESTY, tempering
justice with mercy, may please to allot for the offence
of w►nch they have respectively been found guilty by
juries of their country.
Although the proceedings have been so unusually
protracted, we cannotregret the delays which have ne-
cessarily intervened, or that the cases have been brought
under the consideration of the ultimate tribunal, the
court of last appe.d. It is well that the nation should
be convinced that no unfair advantage was taken—
that everything was conducted in due form of law—
that there was no error, either of form or substance,
on the part of the law officers of the Crown in Ireland.
Had it been otherwise, statements might have been
made that would have acted strongly upon an
excitable nation ; it might have been hinted
that those leanied and impartial Judges who
presided over the Irish Couits had been
unduly bia-sed, that their opinions had been in some
degree influenced by the importance of the subject,
and the necessity of vindicating the majesty of the
law. it will now be known that they held the
scales of justice with even hands; that they firmly
and dispassionately discharged the grave duties with
which they were entrusted. The welt-merited eulo-
giums passed by the Lord Chief Justice of the Com-
mon rieas, as the representative of his judicial
brethren, upon the s, and learning and distinguished
ability displayed in their judgments, were strength-
ened and confirmed by the Noble and Learned
Lords who presided on the judgment-seat ;
and the voice of detraction and calumny, must be for
ever silenced after such an expression of admiration
and respect.

Our sole object, therefore, in making allusion to
the rumour just nosV prevalent in the club-houses of

Pall-mall and St. James's that by plainly articu
lating that rumour in print we may elicit its direct

contradiction ; and our anxiety to obtain this denial
is the mare urgent, as we observe an incident which
occurred only last evening in the Commons. In an-
swer to an inquiry put to him yesterday by the
lion. Gentleman the representative of Carlow, in
reference to the intention of the Government as to
the introduction of sanitary measures for Ireland, the
Prime Minister gave a reply so equivocal as in some
degree to justify the credulity of those who seriously
anticipate this premature prorogation of Parliament.
We are in consequence doubly solicitous that all
further doubt one way or the other should at once be

removed. The anxiety arising from the present un

certainty only tends in a very striking manner to
aggravate the unhealthy excitement of the general mind
both in regard to our home affairs and our foreign
relations. When likewise it is borne in recollecti,u
that some of our most conspicuous colonies, such fur
instance as Ceylon and the Canadas, are in a pasture,
either dangerous to their reputation or incompatible
ith their retention, it must be acknowle that
there are additional reasons, and reasons, moreover, of
a very remarkable and conclusive character, for the
continued sitting of the Houses until the ordinary
pe.-ical of their prorogation, until the grouse are sufli-
ciently plump to whet the appetite of the true
sportsman.
Nothing, we are ssti fled, would tend more to
diminish the popularity of the Administration than a
movement like the one to which we ere making allu-
sion—a movement which would inevitably be viewed
as a tacit confession of the incapacity of the Govern-
ment, at least yet awhile, to grapple with existing
difficulties. Out of a regard, therefore, to their own
repute with the million, we trust that the Cabinet
will, by its conduct during the remainder of the ses-
sion, dissipate any such idle conjectures. To suppose
that the men now at the head of affairs would act, as
it is imagined by many persons it is their intention to
act, would be to conceive them capable of throw-
ing over the national interests for their own
individual convenience. Several of the measures at
the present moment before the Legislature are of too
peculiar importance to be suddenly burked with im-
punity. The Scotch Lunacy Bill, for example, is one
L long demanded by the multitude, and its fur-
' ther postponement would be nothing less than
the infliction of a very serious injury
upon an unhappily large section of the inhabitants
of Scotland. Its provisions are as essential, as
the principle which first created the office of Com-
missioners de Lunatic° Inquirendo was hu-
mane and generous. Again, the procrastination
of the Parliamentary Oaths Bill would be a
direct slight, nay worse than a slight, a positive
injustice to the very constituency which elected the
Premier as one of its representatives—the great me
tropolitan constituency of London, which, by the
election of Baron LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD on the
occasion of the last general election, have declared in
favour of the extension of religious tolerance at
the expense of a quarter of its legitimate
influence in the deliberations of the House of Com-
mons. Nor are those the only measures required by
the people fur the alleviation of their sufferings or for
the development of their enjoyments. There are
several others—and this, be it remembered,
thanks to the very Cabinet ss hich is pre-
sumed in many quarters to be on the eve
of risking its popularity by 'the sudden proro-
gation of Parliament! Let the leaders of the Admi-
I if they value the opinion of the great
nation over which they are placed as rulers, avail
themselves of the very earliest opportunity for the
contradiction of a rumour so injurious to themselves
and so hateful to the multitude.

Although, however, no question can now be raised
as to the legality of the judgment, although it must
be admitted that parties accused of high treason in Ire-
land are not entitled to the privileges conferred by the
statutes of WILLIAM and of ANNE upon persons in
this country charged with the same offence, a e,
trust that the Executive may take a lenient view of
the case, and deal as mildly with the prisoners
as circumstances may permit. It has long since been
announced that the extreme penalty would be re-
mitted. Before Ireland was fully tranquillised, before
it was distinctly shown that agitation had ceased in
Ireland, the friends of these misguided men were
tranquillised by the assurance that the capital punish-
ment would not be enforced. So sanguinary a con-
eluiion would, indeed, have crested a deep feeling of
disgust, and Loathing not only in Leland, but through-
out the civilized world. The times have gone
by when death could be inflicted for a
merely political offence. No stronger stimulus could
be applied to the cause for which they had struggled
than what would unquestionably be regarded as their
martyrdom. They would be to ked upon as heroes;
the follies and vacil!atious of which they had been
guilty would be forgotten, their names would become
household words, and their memories be consecrated
in the Vents of their countrymen. Any vindictive
enre ptizisbment roy have a similar result,

The Lord 3.1 a) or received yesterday at dinner Mr.
Masterman, M.P., the Chamberlain, Mr. Murray,
with several lambert; of the Common Council, and pri.
veto friell4l4.

The causes that would render an example ne-
cessary or desirable no longer exist. The
revolutionary spirit has subsided. The Young Ire We have received 'he Paris pliers of yesterday.
land party is broken and dispersed; its leaders are A long debate took place in the Assembly on
either exiles from their native land, or are awaiting the Thursday, on the subject i f the Roman expedition,
final decision of the Executive. Physical force is no and after much fencing, M. ODILON BARROT was
compelledi.ioT That toptoduce the dispatches of General
longer heard of ; the people are completely subdued o D to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
by the sufferings and privations they have under- was as follows :
gone. England has indeed proved itselt their best i
friend, and to the generous assistance so readily
tiff rded in the hour of distress they owe
I their preservation through a series of un-
paralleled miseries. Even on the very day
\
that the judgment of the Irish Court was confirmed
both branches of the Legislature were engaged in
passing important remedial measures for the benefit
of Ireland and the Irish. The desire of all parties
should, therefore, be to ratify and cement the union
between the countries, to bind more closely the ties
by which they are connected. No boon would be
more gratefully received than a very great modifica-
tion of punishment to the parties already convicted,
and a coinpiete and unconditional amnesty to ell v.hu
have not yet bet.n brought to trial. We trust that
the Government may not neglect so favourable an
opportunity of consolidating their power and of gain-
.ng the affection of the Irish people.

TUE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

DISPATCH No. I.
Head•quarttrs, Palo, May 4.
" Mens'eur le Ministre,—As I have before had the
honour of inform.ng you. I commenced my march on
Rome n the 28th ult. Two powerful motives decide
me to take this step. The first is that Civita Vecchia is
a point without any rcom for the events which might
arise, and that although our troops had there received
the best welcome, we could not remain shut up within

the walls of that place, when it was important for us to
be on the scene of events; the second is, that, according
to the information which I had obtained, we should be

received at Rome without any resistanc?.
" Things, however, have turned out differently ; on
arriving on the 30th at Rqrne, we were there received
with grape shot. I then thought that, in the abscenct-,i til
the nec, :sari materie, I ought I of to exposf, our sokhers
n.gtunq eni.mies wro were entrenched behind walls. At
innment the 3d brigade is landing at Ctvita Vecchif, ;
wnen it Shull ha j,.ined me the anarehist, %%ho spread.
terror in Rome, shad be severely chastised.—(Marks of

adhesion on the Right.)
" I have nothing to reproach our soldiers with but en
excess of bravery; but I could not leave them Exposed
to enemies protected behind !limeades.
" Signor Ventini, who had been appointed Governor
of Rome by the Pope, has arrived with a letter from his
Holiness. I have explained to him how essential it
was, in the interest even of the Pope, that I should
have full liberty of action; that was the more necessary,
as great illusion exists at Gaeta as to the feelings of the
people.—(Movement.) I do not pretend to say that
there are sympathies felt for the despotic Government,
which, under the red flag, is excited in Italy by a
faction composed of anarchists of every country ; but
neither is there a complete sympathy felt for the old
Government.
" Pius IX. is beloved, but a clerical government is re-
garded with doubt. The Neapolitan troops have entered
the Roman States ; the Austrians are still at Massa;
Ancona has been placed in a state of siege by the trium-
virs. Yesterday Father Ventura, alarmed at the state
of Rome, (pitted the city, and visited me when passing
through Palo. He told me, on the part of the triumvirs,
that the events of the 28th should only be considered as
a misunderstanding; that there would be still the means
of reconciling parties it I published a new declaration, in
which I should repeat that my Government had no in-
tention of imposing a government upon Rome.—(Agita-
thin.) I replied that the idea of my Government had
been formally expressed in my first declaration, end that
that idea was perfectly liberal; that afttr what had
taken place I had a tight to act with severity—(Loud
clamours on the Left)—but that, nevertheless, Iw as still
ready to place myself as an intermediary between
anarchy and despotism; I added, that in acting thus,
it was for the true interest of the Roman people."
A private letter, annexed to the above official docu-
ment, contains the following passage :
" The s ate of affairs is complicated ; but I hope that
it will be cleartd up under the protection of the French
flag, for it is a struggle between barbarism and civiliza-
tion."—(Laughter on the Left.)
After the presentation of the dispatches the dis-
cussion was adjourned to the following day.
The National more than insinuates, and as a proof

of its charge, it quotes from the Bourse reports a the
Journal des Debats, that the telegraphic dispatches
of General OUDINOT, although kept secret from the
public for three days, were communicated to certain
friends of the ruling powers, who were, in conse-
quence, enab!ed to turn their exclusive knowledge to
goo 1 account on the Stock Exchange.
General CHANG ARNIER has placed the letter of the
PRESIDENT of the Republic to General OUDINOT on
the orders of the day of every regiment in the army,
although M. ODILON BA RROT declared in the Assem-
bly that it was not official.
The Government are still doing everything in their
power io excite ttn insurrection, in order to have an
excuse for enabling General CHANGARNIER to over-
awe the electors in the exercise of their franchise on
Sunday. But it is a dangerous game to play, ai the
troops themselves, who are perfectly aware of the
Ministerial tactics, would probably fraternise with the
people, and CHANG ARNIER might, Actaeon-like, be
devoured by his own hounds. As it is there are con-
brunt outbreaks of the military. At Noisy le Sec
there was a military entente a few days since, which
was wish great difficulty suppressed.
There is no further intelligence from General
OUDINOT, and the report of his entry into Rome still

needs confirmation. -
The Bank returns for the last week give the fol-
lowing results :—The influx of specie goes on, there
being five million francs more in town and branches
than last week. There is a diminution on the score
of protested bills, and the discount account shows an
increase in the portfolio of nearly a million, but it
may be presumed that a portion of this increase has
been caused by renewed bills. The figure is still
very low, being only forty-eight million francs.
Tne increase in Paris is more than counterbalanced
by a decrease of more than two millions under the
discount head in the provinces. The notes out are
five millions less in Paris, but a million more in the
provinces. There is no variation in the credit to the
Treasury. The private lodgment account has in•
creased a million and a half.
The celebrated Madame RECAMIER died yesterday
morning of cholera.
M. Napoleon Bonaparte has iPued the following
address to the electors of the Department of the
Seine

" Citizene—Every man that is desirous of the honour
of representing his telluw-citizens owes them a faithful
account of his past life.
" It is not an excess of vanity that induces me to
seek your suffrages. Circumstances independent of my
will have caused me to be persecuted and accused by
men dangerous to the country. I accept of the position,
and in presence of the only sovereign I acknowledge,
the people, I may nut remain silent. It is imperious to
explain all my political career.
" On the 24th of February, I hailed with joy the fall
of royalty. It was es ith a shout of enthusiasm that I ,
proclaimed the Republic.
" In the first days of the revolution, I thought danger
was to be feared from the anarchists. After the terrible
days of May and June I resolutely voted for measures
which I thought necessary for the firm establishment of
society and the maintenance of order. What I did was
to establish the new Government, not to terve a resection
which I (lute: t.
,N.t the great election en the 10th December, my
choice could not be doubtful; the occasion presented it..
self to serve my canvictions end ray ey ()apathies. The
dream of my whole line was to see the mime of Na-
po'eon the standard of the Republic. I applied all my
end. avours to assure the triumph of L tut* Napoleon
Bon %parte. By his name, his writings., his long capti vitt
tor the popular cause, I bad always thought him more
tit than any one else to establish the Republic on a firm
basis.
" I entered resolutely and before any other into the
struggle. No ciiizeu sustained it wiih greater energy
or convictien. In the pubtie press, from the tribune,
when it was, pet haps, haz erdous to otrose a clouded Go-
v, rnment iu presence or a hostile Assembly, I struggled
alone with the people, at a time when the reactionaries,
the men of the old regime, consulted the chances of suc-
cess before expressing an opinion. Six millions of votes
repred by an immense acclamation ; and on the im-
mortal 10th of December, the actual Preaident was pro-
claimed by nearly the unanimous voice of the first
people of the earth. Wherefore should a deplorable.
policy, directed by inexperienced men, throw discord
between us?
" After the ell ction of the President I took a silent at-
titude of expectation. I endeavoured to warn the Go-
vernment of the men that sought to mislead it ; sad
finally, to avoid blaming what I could not approve of, I
acceFed the post of Ambassador to Spain, as a sort of
retreat.
"A few days after my arrival at Madrid, I received,
through the medium of the public journals, a copy of a
private letter from the President. I did not receive the
original until the day after. The chief of the state re-
preached me for a speech I had made at Bordeaux.
" It is regarded a crime under the Republican Presi-
dency of Louis Bonaparte to show mistrust of the leaders
of the Bourbon reaction; to show sympathy fur the vic-
tims of absolutism abroad, when Louis Bonaparte him-
self fought, in 1831, in the ranks of the Italian revolu-
tionists; when, by his writings, and from my intimacy
' with him, I was aware how he despised the policy of
those very men who at the present moment are a dead
weight upon his Government?
" The only charge brought against me was, that I had
spoken disparagingly of those men whom I regard it as
an honour to oppose.
, "At Bordeaux, moreover, I was a candidate for the
, elsction, and not an ambassador. But what I was re-
proached with, without throwing off the responsibility, I
shall simply declare that it was completely talse.
"During my voyage I did not attend any electoral
meeting. I did not say one word on politics. My friends
of the department de is Gironde, those whom I am accused
of having addressed, have stated this in an authentic
metier.
" Who is tobe made answerable for the calumny of this
invented speech, tor the publicity given to the confiden-
tial letter of the President? I shall not seek him out.
It is beneath me to seek to unravel the intrigues of a
wale ing-reorn.
" Could a man with any self-respect adroit that the
President of the Republic, his friend, his relation, would
corretpoed with his ambassador, his frieed, his cousin,
through the columns of a provincial jeurnel?
" het could Ido after such an insult ? What every
man of honour would have store in my place. Send in
my resignation, and at once start to place it in the
hands of the Minister ot Foreign Affairs.
"Hearin.. of my deperiure (by the telegraph frcm
Bayonne) t[e Mirsistry dismissed me.
"To tiesmiss a !mete; funetionary who was bringing
his resignation, is a satiefaction. amour propre which I
willingly leave to Messieurs les Minis,res.
" Such is the truth.
" It is for you, electors, to judge of this intrigue and
its authors.
" Citizens! what I desired before the 10th December,
I still desire to-day.
"Let the shame of thirty-three years be obliterated
abroad! A corruption of eighteen years no longer
gnaws our rule country. Lot it cast 'of tit= moil Of