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

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1849.

Nothing can assuredly be more worthy of abhor• '
ranee than an attempt to blast the reputation of a
great but fallen chieftain, through the insinuations of
a venal and anonymous slanderer. Such an endea-
your has recently been only too visible on the part of
some of our most influential Contemporaries. We
blush for a stain so grievous on the journalism of
England, such as, unhappily, is implied in this ac-
knowledgment. Thank Heaven, we can maintain,
without any accusation of national egotism, that pro-
Leedings of this nature are anything but characteristic
of the people of Great Britain. Without exaggerat-
ing the nobler qualities of the race, we are satisfied
that nothing is so repugnant to the disposition of
Englishmen as those dastardly stabs in the dark
which are given by the band of the anonymous ca-
lumniator. To act thus towards an enemy, even in the
days of his greatest prosperity, is, in the esti- ,
mation of the Anglo-Saxon multitude, to
degenerate in the scale of humanity but
to slander a foe thus in the hour of
misfortune is viewed, and justly viewed, by them
as an act of the most execrable and atrocious turpi-
tude. Unfortunately we have, of late, had lamentable
cause to regret the course pursued by certain news-
papers in the metropolis, who, not contented with
attributing the basest motives to the most magnani-
mous patriots of Hungary, were not ashamed to re-
sort to the publication of anonymous calumnies of
the blackefil description—calumnies calculated, if
allowed to pass uncontradictea, to cast the shadow of
Heal guilt over one of the purest, the noblest, and the
most heroic of Europeans.
Nevertheless, when during a brief but glorious
interval it appeared that the cause of the Magyars
ssurne a lasting predominance, there
nt lull in this contemptible system
. The valour of the army of
too glaring for denial, the general-
aincipal captains was altogether
.0 be gainsaid, the sagacity

of the Provisional Government was too manifest to be
contradicted; and men began at last to discover a
certain respectability where hitherto they had only
perceived infamy, a certain genius where they had
hitherto seen only mediocrity, a certain 'grandeur
where they had hitherto observed only crime and in•
significance. As suddenly as the tido rolled towards
victory it recoiled in misfortune, and then again, in
reviewing the policy pursued by the leaders of the
Hungarian movement, no terms were too gross, no
epithets too violent, no language too vituperative in
which to designate the very men who, immediately
before, had by their brilliant successes extorted a
momentary panegyric. Since that deplorable change
in the destinies of the Magyars, the reactionary
press of England has sedulously endeavoured
to vilify more and more the characters
of the great KOSSUTH and his illustrious compatriots,
while showering the additional infamies of their
eulogiums upon the already sufficiently infamous
GEORGEY. So monstrous has been the line of argu-
ment followed out in this instance by these journalists,
so diametrically opposite have they proved to the
opinions entertained by the mass of the population,
that large aggregate meetings have been convened
both in the capital and throughout the provinces, for
the purpose of protesting against such views being
regarded as identical with the sentiments entertained
by the people of the United Kingdom. On one
occasion, indeed, the chief of these newspapers was
publicly burnt on a platform in London, as a token
of the depth and earnestness of the popular indigna-
tion. The matter, in short, has at length become so
generally notorious that it has reached the ears even
of the refugees in the Turkish dominions. A letter
written from Widdin by Colonel ALEXANDER As.
BOTH, and recently transcribed into our own columns,
has resolutely thrown the accusations of the " foreign
correspondents" of these aristocratic journals in their
teeth, at the same time most distinctly and peremp-
torily denying the accuracy of any one of their ca-
lumnious assertions. From the revelations there
made by Colonel ASBOTH, until very lately Adjutant-
General to the President-Governor of Hungary, it
appears that the generosity of that renowned man
has, in many respects, been commensurate with his
genius, his courage, and his patriotism. So far from
having purloined the regalia of ST. STEPHEN, it ap-
pears that he has never once even seen it ; so far from
having peculated when the Hungarian exchequer
was completely within the grasp of his dictatorship,
it is proved that he continues up to the
present moment to a very considerable amount a
creditor on the national exchequer ; so far, again, from
his having been self-interested in his civism, it is
demonstrated incontrovertibly that for the sake of
his beloved country, and in the hope of working out
its redemption, he has sacrificed his health, his time,
his intellect, and his property. This is the man
traduced by the malignity of anonymous correspon-
dents ; this is the heroic but unfortunate chieftain
against whom, in the time of his tribulation, all the
arrows of falsehood have been directed. We appeal
not to posterity, to whom our evanescent voice would
be inaudible, but to that contemporary multitude
whose hearts vibrate to the simple words of our in-
dignation, and we ask them, the people of England, if
in the limits of possibility there can be any-
thing more mean, more base, more cruel,
more heartless, or more detestable than the
course pursued towards these august victims
of patriotism ? No : the ignominy of the effort has
recoiled with instantaneous retribution on the heads
of the assailants ; and, though they may:still endeavour
to drown the voice of truth by their vociferous mis-
representations, the dignified address to which a few
days back we referred—an address written, we
understand, by the Noble Earl FITZWILIIAM, and
subscribed by nearly a hundred Members of both

Houses of Parliament—will resound over all the
yells of calumny, and find its way to the conscience
of Lord PALMERSTON. It is idle to suppose that
this sympathy for the Hungarians, now for some long
time evidenced throughout this country, is merely so
much pretence and declamation; it is more, and
with GOD'S aid, events will ultimately prove that in
pleading for the cause of the Magyars we have only
expressed the emotions of the people of England.

Manchester has long been remarkable for its ad-
herence to the cause of liberty, political and commer-
cial.," Ever since Manchester was honoured with the
franchise (said Mr. KERSHAW, at the recent banquet)
she has evidenced her attachment to the cause of
civil and religious liberty in an unmistakeable man-
ner." Mr. MILNER GIBSON and Mr. BRIGHT are
each identified with the same great cause, hence at
the banquet given last Monday at the Corn-exchange
at Manchester, by the electors of that borough to
their distinguished Representatives, it is almost un-
necessary to say that reform, financial and legislative,
was the chief topic of discourse. Mr. BRIGHT'S
speech, more especially its concluding portion,
was earnest, with even more than his
customary eloquence. His denunciations Of
the iniquities (real or imaginary) of the House of
Commons recalled the time when :the theatre of
Covent-garden re-echoed with the vehemence of his
indignant harangues. We are inclined to think that
the Honourable Member for Manchester somewhat
exaggerated the actual sins of our Legislative
Chamber. We cannot entirely concur with him
in asserting that the House of Commons " is only a
great screen for the evil doings of all departments of
Government." Nevertheless, we are as well assured
as Mr. BRIGHT that our representative system is
practically, full of evil. For example, we quote, a:
one specimen of its injustice, from_ the
_Honourable
Gentleman's speech :
" When the Corn•law was passed in 1815, the popu-
lation of Manchester was then more than 120,000, but
your opinion was not asked about the passing of that
Bill, and it was not till seventeen years afterwards that
Manchester had any representative in Parliament.—
(Cheers.) Now, look how fraudulently the thing is
managed. Although your position is altered—although
your representatives can at least speak y our sentiments,
there is the little town of Stamford; the Marquis of
Exeter possesses most of the 101. houses. Then there is
the borough of Thetford with 3,800 inhabitants-271
parsons living in 101. houses, and only 260 registered
electors; the greater part of the property here belonged
to the Duke 9f Grafton and Lord Ashburton, and by a
very convenient arrangement Lord Euston, the son of
the former, was returned, and the other Member was, be
presumed, a son of the other Nobleman. You are aware
that the two Members for Manchester, and those for the
West Riding of Yorkshire, go out into opposite lobbies
with the Members for Stamford and Thetford, and thus
their votes are neutralized.—(Cheers.) But there is
another example. Take the county of Rutland, which
is about as large as the parish of Rochdale, and has
about a quarter of the population of that parish—
(Laughter)—it returns two Members to Parliament.
These other two votes neutraliz.s those of Mr. Henry
and Mr. Browne. These Thetford, Stamford, and Rut-
land men vote taxes on all the wealth and population of
this district."

As it stands in theory, we hardly believe "a better
form of administration could be devised than the
British Constitution ; but that Constitution, be it
remembered, supposes that the Lower House of Le-
gislature actually represents the people. The ques•
tion, therefore, that every lover of social rights, and
every upholder of constitutional laws, should seriously
ask is this— Does the House of Commons actually
represent the people ? That question is, with all the
eloquence of indignation, answered by Mr. BRIGHT
in an emphatic negative
My opinion is that the time has come for every
man who values the welfare of his country—who is
anxious for the spread of contentment among the people,
and that the property and industry of the people should
not be unjustly taxed—that such a man ought to look to
the constitution of Parliament, and see if this is not the
spot whence arises much of the evil and cf the hopeless.
ness of good with which this country is beset. If we
are to have absolutism, let us have absolutism in its
naked and unmistakeable form; if we are to have an
oligarchical Government, let it be acknowledged, and
having made up our minds, let us submit to it; but if
we are to have a popular Government—a representative
Government—which the tax-payers can influence, and
on which the people can bring their opinions to bear, let
us have that fair, open, and honest representative Go-
vernment which the Constitution would persuade us we
already have."
To this aspiration the electors of Manchester res•
ponded with enthusiastic cheers—in this aspiration
we (it is needless to say) assent with entire cor-
diality. " Let us, indeed," say we, with Mr. BRIGHT,
have that fair, open, and honest representative Go-
vernment which the Constitution would persuade us
we already have 1" To attain this desirable object
what is required ? Determination, unanimity, and
perseverance on the part of all the Liberals of the
kingdom. The very spot in which the above sen-
tence was uttered could of itself afford encourage-
ment to a less hopeful cause. Who does not re-
member the seemingly insignificant meeting of a few

individuals " in a little back room" at Manchester

the scanty supporters of a so-called desperate cause?
Those few men were in time joined by thousands,
counting among them the noblest and most powerful
men in the kingdom, and the little back room was
exchanged for a theatre; and the hopeless cause be-
came the law of the land ! So it will be again with
more reforms than we now care to enumerate, but
among the first of those political reforms (for there
are social reforms of even more importance, that
demand and must have a prior attention,) will be
that so ably alluded to, on Monday last, by the Mem-
bers for Manchester, and so earnestly desired by their
independent constituents and the public generally.
We must have, and ere long," a fair, open, honest re-
presentative Legislature." As an evidence that the ear-
nestness of the Free- traders of Manchesteris in no-
wise abated, and as an incentive to similar de-
monstrations in other parts of the; kingdom, the
banquet at the Corn Exchange is invested at the
present moment with especial interest and importance•

In accordance with the suggestion recently made
by ourselves, we are gratified to observe that the
Government bas issued instructions for sending out
a new expedition of relief in search of Sir &dm
FRANKLIN and his adventurous companions. As we
briefly announced in our last evening's impression,
the Enterprise and Investigator have been ordered to
be refitted with the utmost possible dispatch. It is
therefore more than probable that at the commence-
ment of the approaching season those vessels will at
once proceed in quest of the long missing navigators.
What, however, is worthy of more particular con-
sideration in the present announcement is the circum-
stance that the course intended to be pursued by the
I new expedition is the very' opposite to that hitherto
followed by those who have endeavoured to penetrate
the Arctic regions. Instead, as has been the custom
heretofore, of proceeding directly from east to west,
it is intended to dispatch the Enterprise and Investi-
gator in the contrary direction. After doubling Cape
Horn those vessels will sail northward, passing
through Behring's Straits, and so on to the unfre-
quented channels, in which Sir JOHN FRANKLIN,
Captain CROMER, and their followers are supposed to
be situated. By this means the great difficulty which
has hitherto obstructed the navigation of the Polar Seas
will be readily obviated, namely, the necessity of
meeting the currents laden with floating ice, a diffi-
culty obviously of enormous magnitude. According
to the new plan now adopted, with the sanction of the
Admiralty, the ships sent out in search of the Arctic
expedition will literally be sucked into those quarters
which at the same season would be otherwise nearly,
if not altogether, impenetrable.
Although so long a time has elapsed since the
departure of the ♦essels under the command of Sir
Joust FasNKLIN, every encouragement is nevertheless
afforded to those who are solicitous as to the safety of
himself and his colleagues. When men of such cele-
brity as Captains PARRY, BACK, Ross, &c., still remain
confident of the ultimate return of their distinguished
fellow labourer in the toils of geographical discovery,
it would be preposterous to doubt the possibility of
affording that eminent man some tardy, though still
effectual assistance. It would be idle to argue from
the mere fact of the failure of the endeavours recently
made under the direction of Sir JOHN Ross, that all
attempts of a similar character must as a matter of
necessity be equally futile. Those efforts were un-
questionably made with a daring and ability worthy
of a man whose career has been illustrated
by so many brilliant antecedents ; yet it is
at the same time equally clear that circumstances
wholly without the limits of his foresight prevented
his advancing sufficiently far to carry aid to the iso-
lated explorers. Almost every conjecture formed by
different speculators competent to estimate a matter
of so much intricacy coincides in the opinion that the
missing vessels are in one particular spot capable of
being pointed out by the point of a compass in the
vicinity of Boothia. While so much certainty is ex-
pressed as to the actual situation of FRANKLIN, it would
be manifest cruelty on the part of the authorities in
this country not to use every means in their power to
forward assistance to those who have risked their
lives in the cause of science, commerce, and naviga-
tion. Any objection on the score of expense would be a
meanness in the rulers of England amounting
to absolute turpitude. Such objections, however,
we are very far from anticipating. The liberality
always displayed in forwarding such achievements is
an ample guarantee that we shall have no reason for
complaint in the present instance on the score of
niggardliness. No difficulty, we are satisfied, on
the other hand, will ever be experienced
in the way of obtaining suitable officers for the com-
manding of such voyages of relief. Officers gifted
with an intimate acquaintance with the perils of
Polar navigation are happily numerous in this great
maritime state, and they are as brave and enter-
prising as they are gifted and numerous. Each of
them, we doubt not, would be eager to obtain the
privilege of endangering their own lives to save those
of their comrades in distress. The fraternal feeling
existing throughout our noble national service would
never, we are convinced, be more conspicuously
evidenced than upon occasions like the one now
exciting our sympathies. From all the considera-
tions above enumerated there is manifestly a copious
source of solace still open to the gentle and chivalrous
Lady FRANKLIN. When the Enterprize and Inves-
tigator do start, they will leave the shores of Great
Britain with the God-speed of its inhabitants; and
fervently is it to be hoped that their most sanguine
expectations may be realised before any considerable
time has further elapsed. In the event of the fortu-
nate termination of the new project, namely, in the
event of the return of Sir JOHN FRANKLIN, it will be
a matter of imperative responsibility on the Govern-
ment of this country henceforth to dispatch its
expeditions of discovery along the only rational
course—the course leading through Behring's Straits
and not through the Straits separating Greenland
from Labrador.

CABINET COUNCIL, MIS DAY.—A Cabinet Council
W2B held this afternoon, at the Foreign office,
Downing-street. It was attended by the Marquis of
Lansdowne, Lord John Russell, the Marquis of
Clanricarde, Earl Grey, the Lord Chancellor, Lord
Campbell, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir
George Grey, Viscount Palmerston (who came to
town last evening from the Marquis of Aylesbury's,
Tottenham Park), Sir John Ilobhouse, Mr. Labou-
chere, and Mr. Fox Maule. The Lord Privy Seal
was absent, his Lordship being at his seat, Minto
House, N. B.

A STLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE.--We understand that
Mr. Batty has succeeded in engaging Madlle. An-
g6le, from the Hippodrome, Paris, and who is the
first equestrian of the day—with her highly trained
steeds, Senora and Bertram. Madlle. Ang6e is the
same lady that rode the celebrated English steeple-
chase mare " Angela" over twenty•eight feet of
water. She will shortly make her appearance at
Astley's Amphitheatre.

It is currently reported in the legal circles that, in
case Lord Denman 's health should not permit him to
resume his situation as Chief Justice of the Court of
Queen's Bench, Lord Campbell will succeed him in
that important office, and that Lord Grey will be the
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

HoXTON RAGGED SCHOOLS.—The ceremony of
laying the foundation-stone of these schools took place
yesterday, under the auspices of the Right Hon. Lord
Ashley. A freehold site has been granted, in Ham-
mond-square, by H. C. Sturt, Esq., on which it is pro-
posed to erect a commodious building, in the Elizabethan
style, capable of accommodating 200 children of each
sex, with apartments fur the master and mistress. The
design is by Mr. J. Tarring, the architect, and it is ex-
pected that the entire structure will be completed at the
cost of 6001. The proceedings were opened witha
prayer by the Rev. Edward Miall, Baptist minister, and
the singing of a hymn, composed expressly for the
occasion. A handsome silver trowel was then presented
to Lord Ashley by Mr. G. W. Ansell, honorary secre-
tary to the committee, with which his Lordship pro-
ceeded to lay the stone in the usual form. On the
trowel! was engraved a view cf the elevation of tl,e
building, with the following inscription :—" Presented
to the Right Hon. Lord Ashley by the committee and
teachers of the Hoxton Ragged Schools, Tuesday,
December 11, 1849, to commemorate the event of laying
the foundation-stone, and to show their gratitude to
his Lordship for his unwearied exertions in behalf of
the poor." The meeting was afterwards addressed ,by
Lord Ashley in an eloquent speech, in which he urged
the claims of the ragged schools on public support, and
showed the benefits which have been already produced
by them in the cases of several boys who have been sent
out to the Australian colonies. Speeches were also made
by the Rev. Jobe: Burns, D.D., Mr. Payne, and other
gentlemen. A subscription was made at the doer
towards the building of the school, and in the course of
the proceedings contributions were announced amounting
to upwards of 170/., including a donation of 100 L by Mr.
Sturt, the donor of tho site. It is hoped that the schools
will be completed and ready to be opened in Fe-
bruary next.

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