The Sun.
London, England, 1849-08-07 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY

tice of burial clubs, wiich have unhappily been found
to act as such incenti'es to the crime. As the Chief
Baron justly remarled in his charge to the grand
jury, at Lewes, " If there be guilt, the payment by
the burial club appexs to be the cause of that guilt,
or at least intimateVlconnected with it; if there be
innocence, it seemsto be the foundation of an unjust
charge." Under ny circumstances it appears to be
productive of the worst consequences, and it is there-
fore essential that the matter should be strictly inves-
tigated, and that stitable enactments should be passed
to mitigate the graving evil.

'IIIE Fl NCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
The following article, which appears in the Con-
stilationnel, on tie subject of Sir CHARLES NAPIER'S
letters on the staff of the English navy, is well worth

attentive perusal
"England doesnot limit her ambition to the possession
of a fleet capableof meeting all the eventualities of war
and contending wth honour. Her colonial position, her
commerce, and tae duty of maintsining her high poli-
tical influence in he world, render it necessary for her
to keep up an rgerwhelming navy, which will not per-
mit any Power ti conceive the possibility of contending
with her at sea. What have we seen just occur? France
has been compiled to interfere in Italy between the
Pope and his suijects. An army has been sent by her
to Civita Vecchia. With the aid of our steam frigates
30,000 men, with a considerable materiel, have
been trausportod in a few days from Toulon to
this Roman Fort. That has been done with-
out emburrasenaent, without noise, and so rapidly
that the inhabitants of Civita Vecchia were ignorant
that an expecition was fitting out until they sew
it appear in their port. This result, which does honour
to the activity of our navy, has not escaped the atten-
tion of Englard. An examination has taken place as
to what are car means of transport. A list published
of cur navy his been seen to contain fifteen steamers of
540-horse power, two of 540, and one of 650—capable
of carrying tvto thousand soldiers, and, in case of need,
to,Ning another vessel carrying an equal number. The
English then threw their eyes on their own steam navy.
' They perceived that their war steamers—much more
numerous than curs—were not altogether superior in
force. This equality is but apparent, and yet this appa-

rent equality has thrown Englind into a state of uneasi
ness. The resentment expressed against those who
have allowed England to be humbled to this pretended
equality, has been so violent as to threaten the stability
of one of the institutions which appear the most stable iu
England—the Board of Admiralty. Sir Charles Napier,
exaggerating the real state of things, does not even
admit equality between the steam navies of the two
countries. Aeccreing to his account, England hes only
three stertm•fri2ates, the Sidon, built after his own
pine; the Terrible, of 800-horse power, carrying 24
guns; and the Odin, of 560-horse power, with 12 guns.
All the rest, he sty's, whatever may be their tonnage and
their horse power, are incapable of carrying sufficient
guns with the nee,easary quantity of coal, and have no
accommodation to carry 2,000 troops, however urgently
required. In order for this reasoning to possess any
weight it must be proved that all our steamers of 450-
horse power and upwards possess the qualifications which
Sir C. Napier considers as indispensable. Unfortunately
that cannot be dose. Under any circumstances that
would not give to that part of our fleet any superiority
over that of Great Britain, or even place it on an equality
with her. It must be considered that the beses of that
part of the naval establishment of France are the trans-
Atlantic steam-packets, the construction of which was
ordered under the Ministry of March 1, 1840, for the
two-fold object of employin' them in commercial navi-
gation and reselling them, in case of need, as men-of-
war. Beyond those, our merchant marine has not a
single steamer capable of being converted, in case of
need, into a vessel of war. Our fifteen or eighteen steam-
frigates constitute all our steam navy, How different is
the situation of Great Britain ? The English commercial
marine possessed oa the Ist of January last 1,113
steamers, measuring together 150,541 tons. Out of this
number 35 are of the same dimensions as frigates, 67 are
from 600 to 1,000 tons each, and 173 are sufficiently large
to carry swivel guns, such 93 those used by the war
steamers. The owners of these vessels are hound in
case of war to place them at the disposal of the Go-
vernment, and it has been proved by a recent in-
quiry before the House of Commons, that the crews,
including the engineers and stokers, would in the
event of the country being threatened, readily enter into
the service of the State. England, therefore, cannot
conceive the slightest apprehensions on the subject of
her independence. To admit the possibility of a sur-
prise from the French army, we must suppose that it
must be landed on the English territory without any
previous declaration of war. The English, it is true,
did not give the Danes any previous notice when they
bombarded Copenhagen, and took possession of the
Danish fleet; bnt France does not act in that way, and
under any circumstances it would be difficult to assemble
30 steam-frigates and 60,000 men at Cherbourg without
its being known. A surprise would, therefore, have
little chance of success. As to the definitive issue of a
war of that kind, the glance which we have just thrown
on the reserves of the English navy make it evident that
it would not be favourable. No one in France dreams
of such a thing, and Sir C. Napier must allow us to say
that his alarms need not be very great."
The sudden announcement by M. PABST, the
Finance Minister, of his intention to contract a loan,
appears to have created come surprise on the Bourse.
His intention to do away with the juggle of a i ki
SAD_ 116
fund meets with general approbation.
The ilfoniteur publishes a decree, signed by the
PRESIDENT of the Republic, summoning the Councils-
Generals to open their session on the 27th instant, and
to close it on the 10th of September, throughout the
departments of the Republic. The Councils of each
Arrondissement are to meet on the 16th of September,
and to continue their sittings for five days.
It is announced that a camp is to be formed in the
department of the Upper Rhine, and to be composed of
the sth division of the Army of the Alps. The mu-
nicipal authorities of the town of Thann and Cernay,
in whose neighbourhood the camp is to be placed,
have offered to pay the expenses of the indemnity de-
manded by the proprietors of the land to be occupied
by the troops.
The PAESIDENT of the Republic has addressed the
following letter to General OUDINOT :
My dear General,—l am glad to be able to congratu-
late you on the success you have met with in entering
Rome, notwithstanding the powerful resistance of those
who defended it. You have preserved the character of
your arms. I beg that you will make known to the gene-
rals who were under your command, and to the troops
in general, how much I have admired their perseverance
and courage. I hope that the sanitary state of your
army will continue good as it is at present, and you will
soon be able to return to France with honour for our
army and with advantage for our influence in Italy. Re-
ceive, my dear General, the assurance of my sentiments
of esteem and friendship,

"LOUIS NAPOLEON,

The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse on
Monday at 53t. 80c.; the Five per Cents. at 88f. 10c.;
Orleans Railroad Shares, 7651.; Rouen, 522 f. 50c.;
Great Northern, 4221. 50c.; Avignon, 220 f.; Vierson,
300 f ; Basle, 100!.; Bordeaux, 397 f. 50c.; Paris and
Strasburg, 353 f. 75c.; Tours and Nantes, 306 f, 25c.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, AUGUST 6.

East Indian, 35 Great Indian Peninsular, st/4—Luxem-
bour4 21a ex in.—Namur and Liege, 6 Northern of
France, dis.—Paris and Rouen, 21111—Rouen and Havre,
10—Sambre and Meuse, 2%.

GERMANY

AND

THE NORTHERN STATES,

AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY

Accounts have been received from Vienna to the
Ist of August.
Official accounts had been received of the defeat of
the Russian General USTRAUOFF by the Hungarians,
of his retreat into Moldavia, and of the fact that the
Hungarians had followed him into the Principality,
from which they intended to expel the Russians.
Ihe Camarilla of Austria is exceedingly irate at the
reception given in England to the Hungarian envoys,
and its members endeavour to vent their
impotent malice by refusing the Austrian
visa to any English passports except thosq
given by the Foreign-office or by the Austrian Lega-
tion. The same course has been pursued with regard
to United States passports. Russia has adopted
measures of a still more stringent character, and no
Englishman or American citizen is permitted to cross
the Russian frontier. It would not, perhaps, be amiss
if Lord PALMERSTON were to retaliate by putting the
Alien Act in force against the various Austrian
absolutist refugees who have abused the hospitality
of England by intriguing with, the English Tory
Peers against the Government of the country which has
afforded them hospitality. We should have no objec-
tion to see the same measure meted out to METTER.
NICEL which he so long meted out to others.