The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-03 00:00:00

'

LONDON, WEDNESDAY-, JANUARY 3, 1849.

In a biographical paper commemorative of Vis-
count MELBOURNE, one of the most eminent of the
Edinburgh Reviewers has indistinctly traced the out
line of a grand Political Amalgamation. Not many
days back the commercial world was- startled by the
announcement of the speedy incorporation of several
of the principal railway companies into one colossal
establishment. An announcement still more wonder-
ful is now indirectly whispered forth in the current
number of the Edinburgh Review. We are warned
by a very significant " aside" that the parties whose
bickerings have hitherto constituted the inspiration of
Hansard and the vitality of Parliament—the parties
long distinguished from each other as Whigs and
Tories, but subsequently modified into Liberals and
Conservatives—are about to blend themselves into one
compact, indissoluble, and concrete body of politicians.
The formation of a grand " National Party " is Do
longer the dream
exclusively of an expatriated Pro-
gressista. It is adopted by the quarterly organ of
the British Government. And in repudiating the
bloody flags of the insurgent Chartists, and of the
rebel Repealera, we are expected to accept a para.
coloured banner as remarkable in every respect as the
one eulogized on the esplanade of the Hotel de Ville
by M. DE LAMARTINE. To close our understandings
to the only deductions that common sense can derive
from the language of the Edinburgh Review, would
be sacrificing prudence for the sake of punctilio
At such epochs as the present to hold our peace upon.
any question of public importance would be the high-
est criminality in a journalist. Candour compels us
to be explicit in the expression of our thoughts, and
to cast aside all those circumlocutions of diction which
have long been regarded as the essential concomitants
of diplomacy.
Our allusions to the indistinctness of the perspec-
tive opened to our scrutiny by the reviewer, have al-
ready intimated that the writer restricts himself to
hints rather than to positive declarations. It is pre-
cisely this. The future only glimmers upon
us through the haze of the past that
past being recalled to our remembrance as
the readiest means of corroborating the eu-
logiums pronounced on a deceased statesman.
It is merely the shadow on the face of the dial—un-
tangible, impalpable, but nevertheless visible. It not
only enables us to trace its outline, but it tells us the
hour, and that too without the articulation of a
syllable. Nothing could be more sabtle than the
manner in *fah this is effected, and yet nothing
can less admit of misapprehension. If any one
paragraph in the article indicates more clearly than
another the drift of the argument, it is unquestion-
ably the seventh, ill Which the exquisite modulation 1

of the policy of Lord MELBOURNE, at the period re-
ferred to, simply Mr. LAMB, a Member of the House
of Commons, and of the policy adopted in like manner
by Lord DUDLEY, then merely Mr. WARD, another of
the popular representatives. These embryo nobles are
described by the reviewer as standing on the very
verge of the two contending factions. " The latter,"
says he, " sat with the Tories, but frequently spoke
for the Whigs ; the former sat with the Whigs, but
spoke frequently for the Tories. Both, then
young, were listened to with great :attention, and
held a high position in the House of Commons, where
they were frequently complimented for their great
respectability, talents, and independence. Their prin-
ciples were the same—an inclination rather to support
the prerogatives of Government than to give any great
extension to popular power; but a strong conviction
that the Government as constituted should be con-
ducted with justice and intelligence; that all mono-
polies, whether in trade or religion, ought to be
modified or abolished, and that the general policy
of our civil administration at home, and of our affairs
abroad, should be in accordance with the character of
a great Empire, eminently commercial, and under
the sway of free, but not of democratic institutions.
These opinions, though not precisely Whig nor
Tory, were in reality becoming about this time, the
opinions of the day ; and already in men's minds was
shadowed out the idea of a new party, as the centre at
which the Liberal Conservative and Conservative
Liberal were at last to meet?' Than this no
phrase could be more plainspoken ; and the
meaning of the whole becomes more and more
apparent when we find Sir JAMES GRAHAM commended
for his " well considered and impressive eloquence,"
and Sir ROBERT PEEL designated as " the most skilful
and accomplished debater of modern times ;" while
we find the memorable measures which led to the
dissolution of the late Government described as
having been carried through by its members "at the
expense of their consistency as politicians, but to
their honour and glory as true patriots." It is im-
possible not to perceive that there is more here than
generous praise flowing from the lips of an antagonist
—there is something beneath this tinselled superficies
of compliments more durable and creditable than the
mere coquetry of parties. There is a com-
mon understanding, a mutual sympathy, a
general appreciation of the times and
its necessities. It is the indication of that moment
when at one centre are to meet the Conservative
Liberal and the Liberal Conservative ; when the
bickerings of two centuries are to be forgotten ; when
the nebulous fluid of faction is to agglomerate
into an orb rotating on its axis, isolated and inde-
pendent. Such at least is the shadowy prediction
breathed forth by the reviewer.
Now, although it would be well indeed for the
nation at large to see its destinies confided to the
united and sympathising Party which is expected
to number in its ranks all the eloquence, all the
statesmanship, all the diplomatic skill, all the minis-
terial aptitude, all the energy, and all the experience
of the Whigs and Tories, Liberals and Conservatives,
with one or two brilliant exceptions—it were better
if the proportions of Liberalism and of Conservatism
in its policy were more accurately defined.
Conservatism for what is good in the Constitution—
Liberality in everything—those are the arch dogmas
of the Radical Reformers. Such Conservative Li-
berality or Liberal Conservatism would gain the
confidence of the multitude, and when developed into
a system of government by the combined genius of
the greatest statesmen, diplomatists, and orators of
the age would inevitably tend to the amelioration of
the condition of the country. For having torn in
twain the veil which had hitherto concealed this vista of
attainable prosperity from that popular gaze, the Edin.
burgh Review has entitled itself to our felicitations,
while, for having with such infinite delicacy prophecied
the Amalgamation of Parties without committing
himself to one solitary assertion, the Edinburgh
Reviewer has risen almost to the elevation of the
Delphic Oracle.

The plans for financial reform put forward by
Messrs. COBDEN and MACGREGOR, are now fully and
fairly before the country, and every person has had
full opportunity of forming his own judgment upon
the respective merits thereof. It is of the most vital
importance that no minor differences should exist
to occasion disunion among sincere reformers, or to
prevent that full and cordial co-operation of all, by
means whereof ultimate success can alone be attained.
A severe and arduous contest must be anticipated.
The parties who have so long fattened upon the pub-
lic resources, who have secured large incomes for
themselves and their dependents from the national
Exchequer, will not relinquish their hopes of further
plunder without a determined struggle. A. great and
comprehensive measure of reform has never yet been
attained per .ealtum. Many interests must necessarily
be infringed upon, and a resolute resistance will be
offered at every stage of the proceedings. The bo-
roughmongers stood valiantly upon the defensive when
a full and fair representation of the people was
demanded. And even still many imporant altera-
tions must be effected before a just and equitable
system will be in operation. The monopolists con-
tested every inch of ground, and exhibited an earnest-
ness and determination worthy of a better cause.
Every inch of ground was vigourously contested, and
they at length only yielded to the pressure from
without, to the temperate but firm demand of a
nation resolved to obtain its rights, and no longer to
be victimised for the supposed advantage of a privi-
leged class; and notwithstanding our glorious success,
notwithstanding the exulting paeans
,with which our
triumph was celebrattd, how many vexatious
restrictions still remain in force, which must be
abolished before it can with truth be asserted that our
commerce is indeed unfettered, before our trade is
really free in the most extensive signification of the
phrase. We have repeatedly endeavoured to impress
upon our readers that " union is strength ;" and
whenever that union is really obtained, whenever
dissension is banished from our ranks, whenever (to
use the language of the Honourable Member
for the West Riding of Yorkshire) " these po-
liticians of all shades who now join in the
vain cry for economy and retrenchment,'
shall be committed to some practical measure worth
contending for," then, indeed, we may hope for
speedy success, we may be well assured that the
hour of victory is rapidly approaching. The great
question now should be, whether that practical mea-
sure which shall unite the suffrages of all financial re-
formers has as yet been put forward by either of the
Hon. Gentlemen ? and if so, which of the plans is most
worthy of support. In entering upon these considera-
tions, we do so in no invidious spirit. We
are convinced that no petty jealousies could
exist between the distinguished men whose projects
we are examining, that the sole anxiety of each would
be, that the;suggestions which should be best calcu-
lated to promote the interests of their country and
which should receive the most general support, should
be adopted.
_ _

Mr:CI:AMEX does not profess to put forward "a
perfect financial scheme," or one that may be adopted
" as an ulterior object." His propositions are those
' which may proceed from the opposition,
but could not be submitted from the Ministerial
benches. It is at all times easier to demo-
lish than to reconstruct, to object against an
existing system than to offer some tangible and prac-
ticable substitute therefor. Mr. C0131)2N complains,
and very properly, of the present exorbitant expendi-
ture. He
says that within thirteen years that ex-
penditure has been increased by more than ten mil-
lions of pounds sterling, and he calls upon the
people to inscribe upon their banners, " The Expendi-
ture of 1835," as the object to be attained. He
leaves the Chancellor of the Exchequer a certain sum
with which he must provide for the interest of the
National Debt,maintain the various establishments,
and carry on the public business of the country. He
adopts the principle of Sir HENRY PARNELL, by
fixing upon a small sum, and "telling the Ministry they
must make it answer." He does not in any degree indi-
cate how or in what manner the reductions are to be
made, what items are to be struck off, or what re-
duced in amount. Nay, he appears to forget that
new demands are now made upon the Exchequer,
some of which he would himself be the last to repu-
diate or discountenance. In allowing for the same
amount of expenditure as sufficed in 1835, he would
not make allowance for the same establishments as
then were maintained, defective and inadequate as
hey we Admitted to have been. In the Widget to

which he took exceptions there were included sums for
past expenditure, which could not be repudiated or
denied without a breach of the national faith—for
instance, the expenses of the Kafir war, and a portion
of the navy expenditure of the preceding year, for
which the estimates had been deficient. There were
also considerable sums which, in 1835, had been
charged on the county-rates, but which were to be
provided for out of the general expenditure, in 1848.
There were also the expenses of steam navigation
to India—by which the time of correspondence to our
Eastern possessions has been materially shortened—
of our estlblishments at Hong Kong ; of education
grants for England and Ireland ; of relief for
England and Ireland ; aid to emigration ;
&c., &c., and others, which could not be struck off.
The reduction of ten millions sterling could, there-
fore, be effected only by cutting down the national
establishments far below the level of 1835. Is this
practicable? We fear not; and that in seeking for Mr.
COBDEN'S budget, the people would be pursuing an
ignis fatuus, which they could never hope to overtake.
On the contrary, Mr. MACGREGOR'S plan
is eminently practical (we now only speak of the
reductions proposed) ; he shows what can be struck
off of each department without any deteriora-
tion of its efficiency, and these reductions, which
amount to 5,804,6141., are, we fear, all, that can rea-
sonably be hoped for. In these respects, therefore,
Mr. MACGREGOR'S budget is greatly to be preferred ;
for if Mr. COBDEN fails in the economical portion of his
plan the remainder necessarily falls to the ground, as
he himself would not advise the Reformers " to com-
plicate their plan by proposing any new intposts, to
rouse the antagonism of interested parties, or any
modifications or substitutions of existing taxes, to
destroy that simplicity of action which, above all
things, is necessary to the success of a public
agitation."

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
The presentations to the PRESIDENT at the Palace
of the Elysia National on New Year's-day were so
numerous that the rooms were insufficient to hold the
concourse of visitors, and in many instances the cere-
mony of presentation took place in the garden. At
two o'clock the garden presented a remarkably
splendid appearance. As those citizens who were
officers or sub-officers in the National Guard had
been invited to present themselves in uniform, and'as
almost all persons in a position to visit the PRE-
SIDENT held that rank, the assemblage, with the ex-
ception of a few dozen persons, was in uniform. The
officers of the line being invited at the same time, the
aspect of the place was as brilliant as could be
imagined. Before three o'clock there could not have
been less than 1,500 persons in the garden.
Instead of passing, as usual, before the PEEtanawr,
they were drawn up in two ranks with an interven-
ing space between, along which the PRESIDENT, at-
tended by the Minister of the Interior, his aides-de-
camp, and suite passed. There was no individual
presentation, nor any interchange of words between
the PRESIDENT and his visitors.
The late Ministerial crisis continues to occupy the
almost exclusive attention of political circles. Ac-
cording to the Reforme—
" The emotion produced by the changes which have
taken place in the Cabinet has not at all subsided. The
retirement of M. de Montville and M. Bixio is still the
topic which engages the speculations of the idlers who
lounge in the lobbies of the National Assembly. The
strangest commentaries, the most singular conjectures,
are made and formed on the war which has broken out
between the President and the Minister of the Interior.
" There is rough talk of very humble letters written
by Louis Napoleon to Louis Philippe during his deten-
tion at Ham, and of which be was very desirous to ob-
tain possession. It is needless to say that M. de Malle.
villa refused compliance with this demand. This refusal
is not, hoe ever, it is said, the only cause which deter-
mined the successor of M. Dufaure to abandon the port-
folio of the Interior. M. de Malleville had presented for
the signature of the President a long list of function-
aries, whose nomination had been approved of in a
Council of Ministers, and to which the President in his
turn refused to affix his signature.
" In presence of these facts, M. de Malleville observed
to the President that the Ministry engaged its responsi-
bility in the nominations proposed, and it was necessary
that the high functionaries of the State should proceed
in accord with him. These discussions, however, would
have had no result if a fresh demand of M. Louis Napo-
leon had not arisen to embitter the question.
"The delivery to him of the documents relative to
his affair at Boulogne was warmly demanded. It was
then that M. de Malleville gave proof of an indepen-
dent and honest policy by maintaining the initiative of
the Ministry in the nomination of the principal agents
of the Government of the Republic, and in refusing the
documents demanded of him. The resignation of the
Minister was then sent in, arid in spite of all the efforts
of his colleagues, he firmly maintained his resolution."
M. LEON FAUCHER at first refused to accept the
portfolio of the Interior, and it was only with great
reluctance that he consented to become the successor
of M. LEON DE MALLEVILLE. His appointment is
definite, and not a mere interim arrangement, as was
at first stated.
The Estafette says—
" All the Ministers tendered their resignations on
learning what had taken place between the President
and M. Leon de Malleville, and it was only by dint of
great persuasion that M. . Barrot and M. Leon Faucher
were induced to retain their portfolios. The letter writ-
ten by the President to M. de Malleville is attributed to
the advice of those by whom he is surrounded."
M. DUBOIS DE SALIGNY is, it is said, to be ap-
pointed Ambassador to Brussels, M. DE LAGRENEE
to Madrid, and M. MATTHIEU (de la Redorte), to
London.
The following observations, on the subject of the
removal of the Post-office steam-packets from Bou-
logne, appear in the National :
" The Amiens and Boulogne Railway being opened,
was a shorter mode of communication than that by Calais.
Taking advantage of this new facility, it was agreed be-
tween the two Governments:-1. That the post should
leave twice a day on the French side, alternately from
Boulogne and Calais, and on the English side from Dover.
2. That the transport should be effected as follows:
That from Calais to Dover going and returning by the
French boats; that of Boulogne and Dover to and fro by
the English boats. This arrangement was to be in force
for one year; and at the expiration of that year might be
continued or modified for another year. Unfortunately,
no mention was made of the time at which notice of the
discontinuance of the arrangement was to be given on
either aide. A few days before the expiration of the
year, the English Government gave notice that from the
Ist of January, or at latest the 15th, the Boulogne line
of boats would be discontinued, so that we could make
no arrangements, for want of timely notice, and hence-
forward it will be impossible to continue the correspond-
ence by way of Boulogne. Let it not be supposed that
we defend this line; wo know very well that if it is 104
kilometres shorter than that of Calais, the sea passage is
longer. We are not unaware that the port of Boulogne
has less secure shelter and a less easy entrance than
that of Calais. But we could have wished that a clause
had been inserted requiring a greater length of notice ;
we could then have weighed, the advantages and dis-
advantages of a line which will now doubtless be aban-
doned. To resume, the Marquis of Clanricarde did not
come to France to demand the revision of the treaty of
1843. Ho came to confer on the immediate cessation of
the Boulogne boats. In this the English Government is
justified, it is true, but it should not have had this right
if the abuse of it could have been foreseen."
M. JULES BASTIDE, the late Minister of Foreign
Affairs, has commenced prosecutions for defamation
against the Opinion Publique, the Fara, and the
Gazette de France, those journals having stated that
there had been a seizure made by the police at his
residence of important papers. The report which ap-
peared in those journals was an entire fabrication,
and may be taken as a specimen of the unscrupulous
tactics pursued by the agents of the reaction to
restore the regime of corruption which, under the
late dynasty, they exploited with so much profit to
themselves.

According to the Journal de Chartres, M. TIIIEOLT
LOT, the newly-appointed Governor of the Palace of
the President, is a soldier of the empire. He fought
in the last wars, and it was on the field of Waterloo
he obtained the Cross of the Legion of Honour, which
he was authorised to wear after the revolution of July.
He was lieutenant of Gendarmerie in 1836, when
he was sent to conduct Prince Louis NAPOLEON to
the seaport where he embarked for America. The
Prince on parting handed him the only token of
gratitude he could bestow—a letter of thanks,
acknowledging in the warmest terms the manner in
which he had accomplished his mission, and enclosing
a lock of his hair.
Letters from Mulhouse state that, in consequence
of the recent rise in the price of cotton goods, there
has been increased employment for the labouring
classes in the district.
The Archbishop of PARIS has issued a circular to
his clergy, directing a collection to be made at the
churches for the Pore.
The Marquis DE BOISSY, who during the last
years of the reign of Louis PHILIPPE, was the
buffoon of the Chamber of Peers, has been appointed
by the President BONAPARTE Minister of the Re-
public to one of the Italian States.
M. EMILE DE GIRARDIN has presented a petition '
to the Assembly praying them to reduce the salaries
of Members to 300 f. a month.

The National Assembly met yesterday at a quarter
after two. Considerable agitation was perceptible in
the Chamber, and it was some time before the business
of the day could be commenced. Not a single Minister
was present.
The President—The order of the day is the dismal=