The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,
....MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 5, 1849.7

nently with the affairs of foreign Powers, it has
taken upon itself the elevated office of an Arbiter
and a Mediator. It is from a consideration of these
facts that we conceive the present Adr:sers of our
SOIiEREIGN to be entitled to the respect of the conti-
nental statesmen ; and it is from a remembrance of
the wonderful and almost unparalleled difficulties
they have been called upon to overleap, that they have
entitled themselves to the lenient criticism of the
English population.

One great fact should always be borne in recollec-
tion in analyzing the policy of her MAJESTY'S Go-
vernment : the fact that that Government has passed
through a period of unprecedented anxiety without
having given cause for internal disturbances, and
without having incited a belligerent feeling among
any of the Continental or Peninsular Powers. In
Italy, where so many passions have been at work,
where matters are complicated almost beyond the
possibility of their disentanglement, in Sardinia, in
Lombardy, in the country of the Lagunes, in the
Florentine duchies, in the States of the Church, in the
Abruzzi, in Calabria, in the Two Sicilies, the efforts
of our diplomatists have been uninterrupted, and
those efforts have, without exception, been conciliative
—from the conclusion of the armistice between
CHARLES ALBERT and RADETZILY to the negotiation
of au amicable settlement of affairs between the Nea-
politan Monarch and the Sicilians. In Germany
again, the aim of England has throughout been the
pacification of those who must otherwise have become
irreconcilably infuriated against each other. The only
division of Christendom, where civil war has prevailed
without inciting Lord PALMERSTON to endeavour to
effect a reconciliation between the belligerents, is that
portion of the Spanish peninsula, where the troops of
ISABELLA have been engaged with the sup-
porters of MONTEMOLIN. And that the Fo-
reign Secretary has not interfered in the
affairs of Catalonia is attributable to the insult
offered to the majesty of the British nation through
the person of its ambassador. To SOTOMAYOR and
not to PALMERSTON are owing those miseries and
that bloodshed which have convulsed the northern
and eastern provinces of Spain. Elsewhere the
labours of the Cabinet of Lord JOHN RUSSELL have
been eminently conciliative, and they have not only
been conciliative, but they have been singularly
efficacious. It is for these reasons that we regard
the ruling Government as in a position such as
enables it to appear before Parliament without any
emotions of trepidation. It has not only a conscious-
ness of the rectitude of its intentions, but a conviction
of the ultimate triumph of its principles throughout
the Continent.

Were the Foreign Policy of the Administration
the only point in which it could be regarded as vul-
nerable, it might then, without any undue temerity,
defy destruction. Of all the departments, moreover,
of the Administration, the most embarrassing at the
commencement of 1848 was indisputably that pre-
sided over by the Foreign Secretary ; and yet such
has been the liberality, the manliness, and the
patriotic devotion of his conduct during twelve
months of almost uninterrupted revolution,
that, at the beginning of 1849, Lord PALMER-
STON, of all the Ministers of the Crown, may
go down to the House with the least anxiety
as to the chances of an impeachment. Whatever can
be said of the management of our Colonies, of Ireland,
of the Woods and Forests, of our finances, or of the
Home Department, it is out of the question that any
one, however enormous his self-sufficiency, will deny
that the foreign policy of the Government has passed
through an entire Year of Revolutions, without hav-
ing plunged the country into the calamities and the
ruinous expenditure of War; and that it has so far
been successful, in its character of mediator, as to have
effected a cessatio❑ of hostilities, that may in the end
lead to the conclusion of a permanent Peace.

On the 16th December last we directed the public
attention to a novel description of life assurance
offered by the " Metropolitan Counties and General
Life Assurance Society." The praiseworthy alacrity
exhibited by the society in thus anticipating the pub-
lic wants had due effect. For a single payment of
10s. the sum of 1001. might be secured to the family
or representatives of the party insuring, in the event
of death being occasioned by any accident while
travelling by railway. Although the ordinary avo-
cations of the party might render him a daily passen-
ger—although a considerable portion of his time
might be consumed on the railway while journeying
from town to town, or from bis place of residence to
that in which his business was carried on, the in-
surance could be effected at the same moderate rate.
It is by no means surprising that the large and in-
fluential body of commercial travellers should
feel deeply interested in a project which afforded
so many advantages to al!, but more especially to
those engaged in occupations such as theirs. For a
small sum one of the casualties to which they were
rendered peculiarly liable might be averted. Those
who confidently anticipated a continuance of health
and strength during a prolonged career, who
could not afford the large annual pre-
inium required for an ordinary insurance, might,
at all events, guard against a contingency that might
at any time defeat their calculations, and involve their
families in the deepest distress and destitution. A
fertile source of anxiety would thus be removed, and
the mental ease and tranquillity thereby obtained
would be cheaply purchased by the trifling payment.
The project was not, however, intended as a substi-
tute for, but as an adjun to, the usual species of
insurance. It did not remove the propriety, the
duty that devolved upon every head of a family
of providing, in some degree, against the irreparable
loss of a husband or father, a protector or provider.
The ordinary class of insurance should still be re-
sorted to where'ver, practicable; and it death
should be occasioned by a railway acci-
dent, the additional compensation, the double
payment, would be seldom more than was required
for the future comfort and respectable support of the
bereaved family. It might soothe the pangs of the
dying sufferer to think that his providence and fore.
sight had placed a reasonable provision at the disposal
of his afflicted widow and his helpless orphans.
Since that period another company has been formed
for the purpose of applying the principle of life in-
surance to single journeys on railways, and notices have
been served of an intended application to Parliament
for extraordinary powers, by the " Rail way Passengers'
Assurance Company,?' which is stated to be formed
for the purpose of insuring compensation for loss of
life, or for personal injury, to persons travelling by
railway, whether arising from accident or negligence."
The plan is simple enough—
"lt is proposed that irrespective of distance, a pas-
senger may, by the payment of 3d., on taking a first-
cless ticket, of 2d., on taking a second-class ticket,
or of id. on taking a third•class ticket, secure
to his survivors, in case of death, 1,0001,,
5001., or 2001. respectively. And where the ac-
cident does not terminate fatally, liberal and
mediate compensation to himself, the several sums men-
tioned, being in each particular case the limit, although
not necessarily the measure of the sum to be paid."
It is also proposed—.

" That the assurance should be effected through the
instrumentality of tlae railway clerk, who at the
time of issuing the usual fare-ticket shall, if the pas-
senger wishes it, receive the premium together with the
fare, and stamp the ticket with the private mark of the
insurance company." Or, "if the railway companies
should refuse their assistance in carrying out the pro-
posed plans,
,the company will issue independent tickets
of their own. '

Should an accident occur the company will offer
compensation within the prescribed limits ; if not
accepted by the injured party the matter will be
referred to two arbitrators, one to be appointed
1
higher sum shall whose award
by the company, andbe tfihnealotahnedr
cbeynnteei
ve.
If claimant,shal
shall
be awarded than was offered,
the entire costs of the arbitration shall
bsheallbobrnee otherwisewbiythi•nthetbecomdipsnarneytinnofthe
the costs
arbitrators.
One of the chief difficulties to the contemplated ar-
rangement would be the want of a binding policy. This
is, however, obviated by the 6th section of the pro-
posedlAct,whieb enacts that tickets marked or stamped
by the authority of the company shall be held as a valid
and bona fide execution on the part of the company of
the olicy or contract set out in the schedule to the
Act, and that no other matter or thing shall be re-
quired to be done, in order to bind the com-
pany to the due performance thereof. And it
also provided that
of one per cent. on the receipts shall pereh a l cbeen
paidtag e b
y dutythe
company in lieu of stamps on the said policies, a pro-
position which, it is said, has been acceded to by

the Chancellor of the Exchequer on behalf of the
Government. If the duty on fire and marine assu-
rances should not be entirely done away with during
the present session, we trust that some such equitable
adjustment may take place, and that a duty fairly
proportioned to the premium paid, as 1 per cent.
would be, should only be demanded in place of the
2001. per cent. required under the present system.
The object of the society is undoubtedly
good, but there are some points that should be
corrected. In the first there is a great dispropor-
tion between the sums to be paid by, and the com-
pensation afforded to, the different classes of pas-
sengers. A first class passenger, for his 3d. may
receive 1,0001., while a second-class passenger, for his
2d. would only be entitled to 5001. in place of
6661. 13s. 4d., while the more humble third-class
passenger would only receive 2001. in place of 3331.
6s. Bd., which should be the just proportion according
to the payments made. It is thus 33 1-3 per cent.
against the second class, and 66 2-3 per cent. against
the third-class passengers. This is neither just nor
equitable. As large a ratio of accidents in pro-
portion to the number of travellers take place in
the first, as in either the second or third classes.
, Many years ago, HORACE told us that—

Pallida mbrs osquo pulsat pede,
Pauperum tabernas, regumque turres."

And no change bath since taken place to war-
rant the distinction taken by the company.
The well - stuffed cushions of the first-
class will not banish the King of Terrors ;
he will as readily seize on the inmate, as on the
more humble traveller by the unglazed and comfort-
less third-class carriage. Indeed, accidents; are
rather more likely to happen to the former, from the
the increased speed at which express trains traverse
the country. _

Again the rates appear to be assessed on too high a
scale. For a single payment of 21. 10s. the Metro-
politan Counties will insure the sum of 5001. to a
young man. He may travel twice a day for thirty
or forty years, and no further charge will be
made. Now the new company require two-
pence a journey to insure the same sum.
If 730 journeys be taken within' the year, this
would amount to more than 61, or 601. for ten years,
or 2401. for forty years, all of which would be covered
by the single premium of 21. 10s.
We have thus indicated the objections to the pro-
posal. The principle, however, is a sound one, and if
the objectionable points be modified, we trust that
success will attend the exertions of the company ;
that they may be rewarded according to their deserts.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals :of Saturday
and of yesterday.
Matters still look serious in regard to the differ-
ence between the Ministry and the Assembly. The
quarrel is growing, day by day, darker and darker ;
and the Prince PRESIDENT still clings with pertinacity
to the men first selected by him to form an Adminis-
tration. Hopes are yet entertained that the cause of
M. ODILON_ BARROT may be strengthened by the
acceptance of one of the portfolios by M. DUFAURE)
though the latter continues to reject all propositions
to that effect. On Saturday, the belief among the
Republicans of the Veille was, that the danger of an
explosion had become so very serious as to render the
retirement of the Ministry inevitable. Yesterday,
however, the Moniteur dispelled all such anticipations
by officially announcing that the PRESIDENT of the
Republic would not yield to the clamour against his
Cabinet.

Late on Saturday evening the Assembly closed its
sittings with an important vote. M. WOIRILLYE
having presented the report of the committee of in-
quiry into the military demonstration of the 29th
January, which declared against the question of
urgency, and gave an opinion in favour of the policy
of the Government, M. PERREE proposed an amend-
ment to the effect that the Assembly declares that the
tendencies of the Ministry appear to it to create
dangers to the Republic, and passes to the order of
the day. After a long and stormy debate, it having
been proposed as a further amendment that the
Assembly pass simply to the order of the day, this latter
amendment was rejected by a majority of 407t0 387.
Subsequently the Cabinet assembled in the Palace of
the Ely see Nationale, when the resolution was come
to which we have already announced as having ap-
peared in the Moniteur.
This defeat of the Administration is generally
regarded as owing to M. MARRAST, who was amongst
the number of those who voted for M. LEDRU RoL-
LIN'S motion for the impeachment. In consequence
of that ♦ote the PRESIDENT of the Republic has shown
his displeasure, by refusing to partake of the State
dinner given on Saturday by M. MARRAST, as Pre-
sident of the Assembly—a dinner given specially in
honour of the Prince, and to which all the Ministers
and great public functionaries had been invited to
meet him. On Saturday morning Prince Louis
NAPOLEON sent an apology for his absence, which he
attributed to indisposition.
From a circumstance which transpired yesterday
it appeared that the Prince, so far from being indis-
posed, gave a large dinner party himself in his
palace. Although M. ARMAND MARRAST is striving
to make out that the refusal of the Prince to attend
his banquet was intended as an insult from the Go-
vernment to the National Assembly, it must be suffi-
ciently manifest to every reasonable man that the
vote of the PRESIDENT of the Assembly upon the
question of impeachment affords an ample justifica-
tion to the refusal of his invitation by the PRESIDENT
of the Republic.
To-day the discussion upon the second reading of
M. RATEAU'S motion in reference to the dissolution
of the National. Assembly takes place:
Colonel FORESTIER has been discharged from cus-
tody, there being no charge against him.

Count D'ALTON SHEE has written the following
letter to the papers contradicting the report of trea-
sonable papers having been found in his possession :
" Sir,—Even a prison would become supportable,
could it protect from calumny those who are its inmates.
But bolts and locks do not protect ono from falsehood.
There is scarcely an invention which is not at this mo-
ment circulated against me. An evening paper affirms
that I was arrested, with 200 Socialist Republicans,
while i❑ the act of presiding over the club called La So-
lidaritt liiidublicaine, of which I may say, en passant,
that it is not a club, but an association, to which I am
a perfect stranger.
" A morning paper also makes itself the echo of the
most extraordinary rumours. According to this journal
there was found in my house a decree of the future Pro-
visional Government, levying an impost of 3,000,000 on
the rich, suspending the liberty of the press, suppress-
ing individual Jiberty, and giving up to unheard-
of acts of vengeance a portion of the population. On
this point calumny assumes the character of extrava-
gance, calculated, no doubt, to excite in me that disdain
which deprives one of the power of language, and thus
reduce me to silence. But I will bate this calculation.
As falsehood penetrates into my prison, truth must
issue from it. I will expose the falsehood of my calum-
niators by the denial from which they hoped to escape,
by the ♦ery absurdity and unworthiness of their attacks.
As to men of good faith, to them I shall merely say that
I must have felt myself free from all reproach when I
took no precaution to defend my liberty; and that the
conscience of the public will be convinced, as mine is, of
the nullity of the accusations against me the day I shall
appear in the presence of justice. "D'ALTON SHEE.
" Conciergerie, Feb. 3."
The Club of the Palais National has decided on
supporting as candidates for Vice-Presidents and two
Secretaries of the National Assembly, MM. CORSON,
GOUDCHAUX, HAVIN, LAJ.ioEICIEER, BILLAULT,
GrEtEYT, PEUPIN, and Louis PER E.

M. LEON FAUCHER, Minister of the Interior, was
elected, on Saturday, Member of the Academy of
Moral and Political Sciences, in the place of Count
Rossi.

The PRESIDENT of the Republic bad conferred the
Order of the Legion of Honour on M. BoNrLAND,
the celebrated traveller and naturalist, and on Dr.
JACKSON, of Boston.

During the review, which took place on Friday in
the Champ de Mars, the PRESIDENT distributed de-
corations of the Legion of Honour to several officers
and soldiers, whom he thus addressed :

eilt
that Honour p hasr c
e ede d
" The decorations I have to distribute to-day aree
omf w
but they are more honourable for those who obtain'
hroedssuoufdethrethLe eGguiovnernomf
been
me. This shall no longer be the case. I wish the
ttohoohenTlhaevis c
Legion of Honour to be the direct recompense of ser-
vices rendered to the country, and to be given in future
to unquestionable merit. I hope, gentlemen, by that
means to restore to that institution its glorious prestige."
This address was received with unanimous ap-
plause.
The Constitutionnel announces that a portion of the
army of the Alps has made a movement towards
Paris. Two brigades of that army are now 1224:01,1 in

—the first for Bourges, and the second for Troyes,
The latter consists of six battalions of infantry, a
battery of artillery, and a company of engineers.
Owing to the rumours in circulation last night of
the probable retirement of the Cabinet in consequence
,of the vote of yesterday, the Five per Cents., which
:had closed on the Bourse at 76f. 70c., fell last night
to 75f. 90c., but recovered after the official announce.
meat in the Moniteur this morning, that Ministers
were determined to persevere. They were quoted at
4 o'clock in the Passage de l'Opera at 76f. 15c.
BOURSE.—PARIS, SATURDAY, FEB. 3.
THREE o'CLocx.—The rise in the French Funds
made further progress to-day, and there is now every
appearance of a further advance should the division on
the Bateau proposition, which is put off till Monday, be
favourable to the Ministry. The news from Rome was
favourable. The elections were passing off without any
disturbance, but the Church party appeared to think that
all the members returned for Rome would be favourable
to the popular cause. Exchange on London (30 days),
25 321- to 35; ditto (90 days), 25 22i to 25.
BUJINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, Faa. 8.
Boulogne and Amiens, B—Dutch Rhenish, IN Northern
of France, 7% Orleans and Bordeaux, 2%—Paris and
Strasbourg, 2%.

MONEY and COMMERCIAL NEWS.
CITY, QUARTER TO THREE.
The Cotton Market at Liverpool on Saturday was
beoyant. Sales, 8,000 to 9,000 bales.—Railway Shares,
though rather quiet, were firm.
The Corn Market is higher to-day than on Monday
last, with good sales for exportation.
Accounts from Austria state that the Government was
about to commence important naval works on the
Adriatic, and had secured the assistance of an eminent
Dutch engineer.
The commercial markets at Antwerp last week were
rather brisk, and the firmness of holders alone prevented
a more extensive business.

The American advices are interesting from New York.
In relation to the movements in the cotton market,
Stewart's Circular of the latest date says:—
"On Wednesday and Thursday succeeding the ar-
rival of the Washington, the sales averaged 2,500 bales
daily, mostly on speculation and at still higher rates,
which continued on the morning of Friday after the tele-
graph announced the arrival of the America at Boston,
1,000 bales having been eagerly bought on the assump-
tion that she would bring a handsome advance; her ac-
counts, received about 1 P.m., of only an eighth of
a penny advance, rather damped the ardour of
buyers, and no disposition was shown afterwards to
take hold ; the letters by this conveyance, as also
the annual 4 Cotton Circulars,' which were received
next day, appearing to be uniformly written with a
glow of confidence on a decided advance there, pro-
vided the popular estimates of our crop can be kept at
or under 2,500 000 bales, and as that is, in the opinion
of careful observers, the probable extent of it (in
which, however, Ido not coincide, being inclined to
favour 2,600,000 bales, equal in average weight
to the last crop, notwithstanding the great increase of
bales will be found in the Atlantic section), the market
continued strong." _ _ _

The Money Market was healthy, and trading pros-
pects were good, the Californian discoveries inspiring a
cheerful feeling. Since Dec. 7, 3,095 persons had left
the States for California, and the tide was increasing
daily. There had been 24 Californian Companies
formed, Lll3 persons being members.
The Canadian advices are not of prominent interest,
except in relation to the speech of Lord Elgin on the
opening of the Legislature, and which is of an en-
couraging tenor.
The Mexican bondholders are disappointed at the
variable character of the news received ; but we give
some items which show that there is a favourable side to
the picture
_ _

"The Administration at the very latest date appears less
straitened than usual. It is mentioned as a notable cir-
cumstance, that the Minister of Finance had been
enabled to furnish the means to pay off the troops of
Bustamente and Minion for the month of December, and
had remitted nearly enough for the January payment.
The hearts of thousands of office holders and pensioners
in the capital had been made glad by the payment to
them of arrears due, and the troops in the capital had
been paid. So long as this Secretary can thus raise the
needful, we have little fear for the stability of the Go-
vernment. Prior to the raising of the wind the country
appeared to be overshadowed by a portentous cloud,
threatening to burst forth in a pronunciamento. The tone
of the press was gloomy and almost savage towards the
Government. Difficulties continue to exist in the
State of Mexico, and the papers nsention that General
Alvarez had "pronounced" at Iguaia against Senor Ar-
riscorrala. The questions involved are obscure to us,
but seem to involve no national issues. They indicate.
however, the weakness of the Administration.
" A Saltillo paper complains of the enormous amount
of goods smuggled through Matamoros, which finds its
way thither en route to Zacatecas.

The commercial people are waiting with extreme
anxiety for the appearance of a definite Act, regarding the
duties to be paid onlgoods brought in through the ports
and over the frontiers. This is imperatively required,
for the sake of internal trade, and Congress is exhorted,
by the public prints, to take the subject up immediately.
" Mr. Robertson, the London agent of these creditors
of the Republic, is still at the capital, endeavouring to
make arrangements with the Ministry in the interests of
his employers."

The English Funds are flatter this morning, and there
Is very little business doing. The continued want of
harmony between the French Assembly and the Minis-
try is one cause, bat the market will depend now very
much also upon the money purchases, the mere specu-
lators for a rise having gone probably as far as they
well can before settling day. Consols have been 914 j.
The New Three-and-a-Quarter per Cents. have been
quoted 92i to 1. Exchequer• bills are 395. to 485.. p.,
according to date; and India Bonds 48s. to 495. premium.
In the Foreign Market, the principal change has been
in Mexican Bonds, which, owing to the accounts from
the Republic, have declined to 2541 The particulars
we have given abo►e seem more encouraging than some
of the statements in the papers. Peruvian Stock has
been 48 to 49. Portuguese Old Bonds have been at 73.
Spanish Five per Cents, have been marked 154. Belgian
Four and-a-Half per Cents. have been 78 to 794, and
Dutch Two-and-a Half per Cents., 491 to 4.
In Railway Shares there is not a great deal doing, and
prices are steady.

ONE CLOSING
Vq.l Ks or iiitITISH FUNDS. O'CLOCK. I%i, LS.
Bank Stock 194
4 er Cent. Reduced Arm 5....... 9114 IA 911%
3 per Cent. Consols Annuities 9114 % 9114
N,,,w 3,4 per Cent. Anns....-
Long Ann& to expire J an. 1860
Ditto, Oct. 10. 1859 ..... ..- B% 8%
India Bonds, 1,0004 ...... .. 48 49 p 46 p
Consols for Account 91%1,( 91%
Exchequer Bills. 21,4 d. & 2d.
1,0004 March ... 4O 39 4.1, p
1,0001. June ...... ..........
Small, March... ..
Small, June —

42 p
48 p
39 p
39 p

CILOSIN
PRICES.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING.—(THIS DAY. )
LONDON, FEB. 5 —Wind this day at noun W.S.W.,
light breeze, and dull weather.
LrvEnPooL, FEB. 3.—Wind S.S.W.; 4. W.—Arrd.
2. Camilla, Callao; Alice Brooks, Jackson, Buenos
Ayres; Erin's Queen, Campbell, New Orleans; S.,phia,
Spence, St. John's, New Brunswick; Lismahagow, ditto;
Joseph Sanderson, Calcutta; Minerva, Morrison, 13,m-
-bay; Edward Bomstoad, Arnold, Singapore; Boikot
Merchant, Sanders, Callao; Patriot, Darkie, Porto Rico;
Ellen, M`Laughlin, Savannah; Intrinsic, Macfarlane,
ditto; Texian, Leisk, Savanilla; Brothers, Alexandria.
4th. Junior, Carter, New Orleans; Larue, Nicholls,
ditto; Charles Carroll, Merchant, Savannah; Genoa,
Kelly, Charleston; Stephano, St. Andrew's. The Rob
Roy, for Virginia, has put back with loss of bowsprit,
having been in contact with the Leila, for Baltimore;
the latter proceeded. The Jessie, from Ayr, has
arrived here with loss of foremast, &c., hav-
ing been in contact with a barque in the river
Sld. 2, Henry Pratt, Mobile. 3, Mary, Africa; Sappho,
Buenos Ayres; James Hunt, Barbadoes; Sand-
bach, Demerara; York, New Orleans; Oc. anus,
ditto; Medemoch, ditto; Italy, ditto; Republic.
ditto; T. B. Wales, Mobile; Samoset, Charles-
ton; Boceola, ditto; Champlain, Philadelphia.
Off port, Ellen Jenkinson, Africa; America steamer,
Leith, Boston; Camillus, with loss of bowsprit.
DEAL, FEB. 4.—Wind W. to W.S.W.—Arrd. Ruby,
May, St. Lucia. Arrd. from the River, Hind, Fowler,
Cape Coast Castle; Hebden, Wetherall, River Gam-
bia ; Brunswick, Poulton, Callao; Lydia, Greaves, An-
tigua ; Margarita, Monkmsn, Antigua ; Magnet, Hill-
millman, Bermuda; Agnes, Labaleotier, Honduras.
WESTPORT, FEB. 2,—The wreck of a jolly-boat,
marked in white letters on a green ground, " Pascoe
Grenfell, of London," has been washed on shore on one
of the islands in this bay.
CROOKHAVEN, FEB. 3.—The Margaret Parker, of
London, to Newfoundland, put in here on the 31st ult.
leaky, &c.