The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-14 00:00:00

larron 4itit
c.,

LONDON, SATITRI'AY, APRIL 14 1849.

Availing himself of the Eas':er recess, Mr. COB-
DEN seems to be making a kind of political !pilgri-
mage throughout Yorkshire, for the purpose of
cultivating a personal acquaintance with his consti-
tuents, and of forwarding the agitation in favour of
financial retrenchment. On Wednesday he was at
IValcefield—on Friday be was at Leeds—neither the
Court Newsman nor the Parliamentary Gossip
can conjecture where he may happen to be on
Monday. We like the principle on which these
provincial peregrinations have originated—a prin-
ciple of candour and good-will between the
possessors of the elective franchise and their
representatives. The periodical visitations of Mr.
WARD to Sheffield, and the continual epitome of
the discussions in the Rouse of Commons by
Colonel THomesoN, are evidences of the same honesty
of conviction and of the same manliness of deport-
meat. They
carry us back to the manners and cus-
toms of good old ANDLIEW MAavEL. And hence we
like them. Mr. ConDEN eppears to have a decided
liking for them too, if we may judge from his recent
wanderings in the West Riling. lie evinces a very
creditable solicitude to unbosom himself to that vast
constituency which honoured him so conspicuously
by nominating him,
himself, when he was endeavouring,
and returning him, unknown to
after improving
the Constitution of
his country, to recruit his
own upon the continent. The electors of
Yorkshire are, of course, in high good humour at
A course of conduct so peculiarly favourable to their
own interests. They welcome their representative
with an enthusiasm having reference partly to his
bygone achievements in the destruction of monopoly,
and partly to his anticipated successes in the 4citie
tion of the national expenditure.
Several other veteran Reformers have, as a matter
of policy not lass thin as a matter of friendship, ac..
companied the Chieftain of the League upon his ex-
pedition against the profligate squanderers of
the public money and the parasitical hangers-on
of Government. Conspicuous among these is, of
course, the Alms 'Wales of the ex-Member for Stock •
putt, the honourable Gentleman the representative
of Manchester. We think, however, that the force of
the remarks which fell from the lips of that promi-
nent colleague of Mr. COBDEN would have been very
materially increased had be appeared before the
bacquetters of Wakefield less in the character of a
Walking Advertisement. We say this plainly and
simply, because Mr. BRIGHT could scarcely have pro-
claimed more clearly the motive of his observations upon
the general tone and principles of the London journals
if we bid walked weekly into the dining-room, in the

footsteps of the Member for the West Riding with a
couple of boards slung over his shoulders, ce those
rather dilapidated gentlemen who perambulate the
streets of our metropolis, and whom Mr. DIaKENS
has facetiously christened by the name of " anite ated
sandwiches." Knowing as everybody present did so
well the relation in which the Honourable Gentle-
man stood towards the newspaper upon which his
eulogiums were lavished so unstintingly, his advic,
savoured considerably more of the Puff
Direct than of the Puff Collateral, or of the
Puff Oblique, or of the Puff Collusive. It was plain,
honest speaking—as plain and honest as the pane-
gyrics squandered upon his ribbons, and laces, and
knick-knackeries by the pedlar At TOLTCUS. It
would, perhaps, in some measure have deprived the
observations of Mr. BRIG HT of some of their rheto-
rical brass if he had coupled his allusions to the organ
in which his principles (and his pocket) are so pecu-
liarly interested, with sentiments not altogether ex-
pressive of political ingratitude. In the admiration
of an upstart advocate, the old supporter of more
than contemporary duration should scarcely be over-
looked so cavalierly. But Mr. BRIGHT acts mani-
festly upon the recommendation of the ballad—first
to be off with the old love, and then to be on with the
new. His opinions are not so staunch and immove-
able, neither are his partialities so lasting or consis-
tent as to enable him (when the hints of traffic whisper
to the contrary) to preserve that honourable recollec-
tion of past services which are best befitting the reputa-
tion of a public character. The Hon. CHARLES VILLIERS
although the Apostle of Free-Trade doctrines, at a
time when to be a Free-Trader was to be a political
outcast, was forgotten or depreciated in the more
gaudy celebrity of some of the succeeding assailants
of Protection. It can, therefore, be no marvel that
the journal which was the organ of Free Trade
during the same perilous and probationary period,
which continued uninterruptedly to enunciate the
views of the Free-Traders from the opening of the
crusade against the selfishness of the upholders
of the imposts upon foreign corn down to the
moment when the victory was achieved under the
leadership of Sir ROBERT PEEL, is scarcely
surprising, we repeat, that if the first advocate of
Free-Trade in Parliament it contemned, the first ad-
vocate of Free-Trade in the Press should be slighted.
Especially if £. .s. d. direct the enthusiasm of any
man like the Hon. Gentleman the representative of
Manchester in a totally opposite direction. AMERIGO
VESPUCCI acquired all the credit of discovering
the double continent of the western hemisphere. Mr.
ViLiazas may rather congratulate himself upon
being numbered in the same category with COLUMBUS.
And we can console ourselves under similar circutn•
stances with the remembered destinies of inventors,
navigators, and politicians. Unus seminat, alter metat
—so says the old proverb, and the old proverb lies
not in so saying. Conscious that no oversight has
ever led, or ever can lead, in our instance, to ter-
giversation—sustained by the knowledge that no
contumely or ingratitude has ever conduced, or can
ever conduce, to the dereliction of our political prin-
ciples—we can afford to watch with indifference the
ungracious treatment of men whose reputation we
hare assisted to disseminate, and whose views we have
not shrunk from advocating in the hour of gloom and
depression.

There is a strong and general feeling throughout
the entire country in favour of the immediate abo-
lition of the absurd and useless prohibitions against
marriage with the sister or niece of a deceased wife.
All classes are equally opposed to the impolitic res-
trictions. The staunchest Churchman objects as strongly
as the enthusiastic Dissenter. Hundreds of beneficed
clergymen have affixed their signatures along with
those of Dissenting ministers, to petitions praying the
Legislature to take the subject into its immediate
consideration. Nothing more is required than that
the attention of Parliament should be directed to a
law which has totally failed to attain the objects fur
which it was enacted—which, in the emphatic words
of the "Commissioners appointed to inquire into the
state and operation of the law of marriage, as relating
to the prohibited degrees of affinity, and to marriages
solemnized abroad, or in the British colonies," " had
not generally deterred parties from forming such con-
nexions." Nothing can be more injurious, in a
public point of view, than any enactment
calculated to bring any considerable hn,ly of the
people into open and undisguised hestility to the law.
This is mot e especially the case v, hen those who are
thus placed in the position of law-breakers are men
"of unimpeachable character and religious habits,"
as the report of the Commissioners states many of
those who have deliberately disregarded the restric-
tions imposed upon what they, in their consciences,
believed to be a matter of social right,
that was not only not forbidden by any
Divine law, but was especially sanctioned
and encouraged, nay, in some ins'ances com-
manded. We say commanded advisedly—fur
we find, under the Jewish dispensation, a law,
declaring that a man shall take to his wife the widow
of his deceased brother, and it is universally acknow-
ledged that acre can be no reason alleged against the
marriage with a deceased wife's sister that does not
operate with additional force against the connexion
with a brother's widow.

We have !ong since shown that the 18th verse of
the 18th chapter of Leviticus does not in the slight-
est degree appply to the question. That was
only directed (at a period when poligamy was
lawful) against such a marriage during the lifetime
of the first w ife. " Neither shalt thou take a wife to
her sister to rex her . . . beside the other in her
life time," were the words of the inspired Lawgiver,
and it is palpable, that if the union was to be for-
bidden at all times, and under all circumstances,
there would have been no limitation whatsoever.
The addition of the latter words may, therefore, be
adduced as the very strongest argument in favour
of its validity, or, at least, that it is not in any degree
malum in se, or opposed to the Divine law--the
law of natural morality. And yet we find this very
text relied on, and adduced by the bigots who, not
satisfied with prfect rel;gious freedom for themselves,
would impose fetters on the consciences of others,
who would deprive their brethren of that liberty
which they so strenuously insist upon for themselves.

There being, therefore, no Divine command, either
directly or indirectly, prohibiting such marriages—
there being to consanguinity which might prove
injurious in a physical or ethnological point of view—
no danger of the deterioration of the offspring, we
contend that no man or body of men have a right to
make restrictive laws, affecting the freedom of others,
and depriving them of that social liberty which is the
birthright of every free-born citia,,n.

It has been said, that if the marriages were sanc-
tioned and rendered perfectly legal some inconve-
nience might result—that unions might take place
which are now prevented, and that second families
might demand some portion of that care and atten-
tion which would otherwise be exclusively devoted to
those who had been deprived of maternal solici-
tude and protection. Now we directly and unhe-
sitatingly join issue on this point. We contend
that the social inconvenience is altogether on the other
sire—that the existing law occasions tenfold greater
injury to the semi-orphans than would arise if there
were no enactment whatsoever on the statute-book on
the subject, and if all parties were allowed perfect free.
dom to act as they deemed fitting.
There is no law whatsoever against second mar-
riages. " That courageous monogamist," Dr.
PRIMROSE," would scarcely obtain many followers
at the present day. Second marriages will take
place, in the great majority of instances, where a
young and healthy man is deprived of the comfort
and companionship of an affectionate spouse, more
especially if there are infant children requiring atten-
tion which no father could bestow ; inure especially
if that father
thosealmarriages,
r r acah
ei children ef n
with wbay his
daily
to earn a support for
s daily labour. These second
a perfl.ct stranger, are proverbially
unfortunate for the former children. They will be
always regarded with some degree of jealousy
shientruhdaeirs upon the
ofby hetrbeoirwn,sstheleinvoitetesr. If
as them
love she fancies should be exclusively lavished upon
those dearest to hersef. They are to a certain extent
rivals—what is given to one must in some degree be
withheld from the others, and invidious feelings are
but too frequently excited in the father's mind, and in-
j talons comparisons instituted between the offenders and
the more favoured—between the " ISHAIAELS" and the
" 'LIAM" The c 1 is not much better if there should

be no i*sue of the second marring-. The disappointed
wife will probably entertain a feeling of envy against
her mc.r,: fortunate predecessor, and this will very
naturally turn into an antipathy against her chil-
dren, who are regarded rather 13 the offspring cf a
`avoured rival than as the children of a much loved
husband. The condition of the unfortunate infants
is sufficiently painful in either case. It i 3, however,
less likely to be so if the person to whose care they
were about to be confided had been nearly related to
their deceased parent, and inclined to cherish them
for her sake. Who would regard them more
tenderly than her sister, who had learned
to love them before she contemplated a mar-
riage with their father, and entering upon a closer
relationship ? Now, the effect of the prohibition has
been either to deprive the children of an aunt's care,
or to force that aunt into an illicit connexion with
their father—either to drive her from under his roof,
or to bring about, if not marriage, at least cohabi-
tation. Which, then, is the most desirable, to have her
the lawful and recognised wife of their father, or the
despised victim? In which cafe is she likely to regard
them wi h greater affection ?
In every point of view, then, the restriction is un-
just and impolitic. It is an unfair infringement upon
natural liberty, without any possible benefit to any
parties. It is a great moral and social evil, that should
be redressed without a moment's delay. The pro.
hibition should not only be removed with re-
spect to all future marriages of the kind, but all that
have taken place since the passing of the 5 and 6
Will. IV., c. 54, should be forthwith legal'sed,so as to
subject either of the parties to the penalties of bigamy
if they should contract another marriage, and to ren-
der the offspring thereof perfectly legitimate.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

In the ballot of Thursday, for the election of the
members to compose the Council of State, in addition
to the 20 elected on Wednesday, only six obtained the
requisite majority, viz :—MM. Jean Reynaud, Char-
ton, Perignon, Pons (de l'Herault), Legnier, and
Frederick Cuvier. Another ballot for the 14 remain-
ing councillors is to take place.
Assembly then proceeded to discuss the bud-
get of the Minister of Finance, and rejected a propo-
sition for refunding the tax of 45 centimes by a
majority of 514 to 119.
The Assembly in their bureaux have appointed the
Committee on the Bill, presented by the Government,
fur legalising the conduct of General CHANGARNIER
in holding at the same time the command of the
National Guards and that of the troops of the line
stationed in Paris. The majority of the Committee
are adverse to the Bill.

Senor MONTANELLI, late a member of the Provi-
sional Government of the Tuscan Republic, has ar-
rived in Paris on a special mission.
The Coustitutionnel says that it is reported that
18,000 Austrians are marching upon Tuscany.
The National Guards of Paris gave a grand ban-
quet to the English visitors on Thursday night at
the Salle Valentino. The proceedings were very
cordial. M. JOBET, in proposing the health of the
Queen of ENGLAND, said, " She was the first to come
and take us by the hand." The toast was drank with
great enthusiasm.
BOURSE.—PARIS, FRIDAY, APRIL 13.

THREE O'CLOCK.—This has been another quiet day
at the Bourse, and the business done was very limited.
There was no news stirring. Exchange on London (30
days), 25 30, money; ditto (90 dap), 25 money.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, ArraL 13.

Boulogne and Amiens, 83/—Dutch Rhenish, :'4—East
Indian, 4 Luxembourg, 2—Namur and Liege. 8% ex in.
—Northern of France, 114—Paris and Rouen, 21% Rouen
and Havre, 11E4 Sambre and Meuse, 0,4.