The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-13 00:00:00

Pitman ;-;1111;

LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1847.

The House of Lords met at Five o'clock.

On the motion of Lord MONTEAGLE, certain returns
relating to the divisions of baronies in Ireland welt-
agreed to, after a short discussion.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE laid on the table certain
returns relating to the bishoprics of England and Wales.
The Sugar Duties Distillery Bill was read a second
time, and or4red to be referred to a Select Committee;
after which their• Lordships adjokirned.
The House of Commons met at Four o'clock.
After the transaction of private business, the pre-
sentation of petitions, and the ordering of various
unopposed returns,

Mr. ROEBUCK asl“d bow it was that the answer of
the Foreign Secretary to the last dispatch of the Mar-
quis of NORMANBY had appeared in the newspapers
before the dispatch could have reached Lord NORMAN BY?
He asked the question merely for information, as he
believed that the conduct and good faith of Lord PAL
NERSTON and of his agents, in relation to the recent
rwlations with France, had been completely vindicated.
Lord PALMERSTON said, that copies of the last dis-
patch of Lord NORMANDY, and of his (Lord PALMER-
STON'S) answer thereto, had been laid upon the table of
the House last night.
The Destitute Persons (Ireland) Bill was read a third
time and passed.

In answer to Mr. F. FRENCH, it was stated by Mr.
LABovenEaF. that the Irish Government had removed
the Board of Health in Dublin.

On the motion for the second reading of the Railways
(Ireland) Bill,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that if the
measure were carried, the Government were not pre-
pared to undertake the responsibility of carrying it out.
The Right Hon. Gentleman then went into various de-
tails, with a view of showing the impossibility of the
Government, consistently with the duty they owed the
country, making an advance of 16,000,0001. to the share
holders i
n Irish railways, and concluded by moving that
the Bill )!a read a second
time that day six [Rooth:.
Mr. BAILLIE would not
consent to a grant for Ireland,
unless there was one for Scotland also. He therefore
opposed the motion.
Mr. STUART supported the Bill.
Mr. F. T. BA.RINO Oppowd
culated to :)roduce a th `"43.3ure. It was cal-
moatpon the
to the
money-market, and would do nojugroicbuds effect
u
Ireland. Where a bad line ran througho people of
repayment of
impoverished
district there would be no security for thean
consequentlynte
d a,a
advances, the line would not b., niwie,
the labouring population would not be beneficed,
when the line was a good one, the shareholders would,
for their owa interest, proceed with the work without
any Government advances.
Several other Hon. Me übers having addressed the
House, the debate, on the motion of Colonel CONNOLLT,
was adjourned,
The Compensation to Irish Tenants Bill was read a
first time. _ _

The other orders of the day was then disposed of, and
the House adjourned at Half-past Twelve o'Clock.

Upon the decision of Parliament on the Irish
railway scheme, introduced by the Noble Lord the
representative cf Lynn, the Prime Minister has an-
nounced his intention of staking the existence of the
Government. ilad Lord JOHN RUSSELL done other-
wise, he would, without question, have been charged
by the Opposi ion with tenaciously clinging to
office, after a possible defeat upon the grandest
of all matters of Ministerial polity at the pre-
' sent moment—namely, the salvation and resto-
ration of Ireland. Under any circumstance:,
indeed, the present Administration would have
been liable either to invidious insinuations or to
a positive impeachment—under any circumstances, it
would have been pierced with the poisoned arrows of
party rancour—under any circumstances whatever,
saving the peculiar circumstances in which it is placed
by Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S announcement. In speak-
ing as the Noble Lord the head of her MAJESTY'S
Government has spoken, he has acted with a boldness
and a candour most honourable to himself and to
his colleagues. As a conscientious statesman, it
was impossible for him to sanction the reckless ap-
propriation of an enormous loan of 16,000,0001. to
any purpose, however benevolent, unless the applica-
tion of that amount was proved to tally with the
principle of the golden rule of legislation—" the
greatest good to the greatest number." Unless it
was ostensible to the Ministers of the Crown that the
effects of this gigantic piece of generosity and confi-
dence would inevitably be the restoration of the starv-
ing peasantry to health and happiness, and at the
same time the emolument of those individuals from
whom the requisite sixteen millions were borrowed—
unless this reciprocal advantage were demonstrated to
be the natural and necessary result of Lord GEORGE
BENTINCK'S propcsition, it would have been criminal
in the members of the Government to give their coun-
tenance to any such stupendous venture. " Nothing
risk, nothing gain," is all very well in the atmosphere of
CaocKroao's, and might be emblazoned with some
point on the lottery-wheel of the Art-Union, but
in the conduct of a Legislature the proverb would be
a sample of very paltry philosophy. The rulers of
an empire are, by the assumption of authority, ipso
facto invested with a vast and sacred responsibility.
The national resources are not to be squandered away
like the gold of a gamester or the reputation of a
concubine. It is not just, it is not honest, it is not
consistent with their characters as the guardians of
one of the sublimest Constitutions of Christendom,
for the Ministers of Great Britain to lavish sixteen
millions at a time upon the suggestions of a political
adventurer, aided by the clamours of an interested
minority.

Now, it is manifest to every sensible and dis-
passionate man, that the railway scheme of the
Noble Lord, the Member for Lynn, originating pos-
sibly in a benevolent and patriotic sentiment, is one
of the maddest games of legislative hasard ever con-
ceived by the mind of the most speculative politician.
Ireland is dPstittita. By a common and spontaneous
sympathy the less afflicted people of the United
Kingdoms evince a readiness to assist the sufferers,
and, in accordance with that general manifesta-
jon of philanthropy, the Parliament, the Minis-
try, and the SOVEREIGN coincide in passing
measure after measure for the relief of
the indigent. For a while the unanimity which is
exhibited is complete and uninterrupted; boon after
boon is conferred upon Ireland; immunity after im-
munity ; advance after advance ; stimulus after sti-
mulus. The consequence of this splendid munificence
is obvious. There is a pause in the distribution of
bounties. A consciousness gradually insinuates itself
upon the minds of the people, of the Parliament, and
of the Ministry, that enough has been bestowed
by Government—that an extension of this assistance
would be injurious if not absolutely fatal to exertion
on the part of the Irish multitude themselves.
CURTIUS and his horse, armed cap-a-pie, had been
plunged into the chasm, the sacrifice of anything
beyond that was unnecessary, and would have been
little short of insanity. As we have said, there
was a pause therefore. The Ministry and the
community at large felt more fully than ever
the wisdom of that noble old motto, " Gon helps
those who help themselves." And having shown the
impoverished peasantry of Ireland an example of
activity, and the landowners a model of timely muni-
ficence, they paused. 'The work which they had
already accomplished in behalf of Irish penury was
the verb of a great movement of renovation and re-
generation. More on their part would have been un-
wise, and might haveproved actually ruinous. That was
the position of affairs when Lord GROEGR BENTINCY
advances to the table of the House of Commons, and
proposes the transfer of sixteen millions of money
over and above all that has been done already, to
Ireland, to relieve the Irish landlords of any burthen
whatever, and to saddle the industrious people of
England with all the woes produced through the
mi:management of those same landlords, and in accord-

ance with the all-wise dispensations of the DEITY. Six-
teen millions of money—to set business astir again
in Capel-court, to impart its pristine importance to
scrip, to pamper the able-bodied " navies" of Great
Britain, to protect the agriculture of Ireland from the
most reasonable liabilities—to sow new winds, in
short, for the simple purpose of reaping new whirl-

winds. The alternative of the Government was
visible. Lord JOHN Russsus. has acted with a
wisdom and courage in this delicate position which

cannot very quickly be forgotten.

The clouds are gathering thick and fast ar)und
-he self-dishonoured Minister. The storm of public
indignation, as we predicted would be the case, is
ready to burst over the head of M. Gutzar. On

every side severe and justly-merited retribution
threatens the man who descended from the high posi-
tion which he held, a short while since, almost uni-

vernally, in the eyes of Europe, to become the servile
minion of royalty. M. GUIZOT has betrayed

his country and blasted his reputation.
When he banished every sentiment of honour from
his breast, which, in justice to France, should
nave punctiliously ruled his every thought
and action as he: high functionary for Foreign Affairs,
he broke a sacred trust, and recklessly abused the
confidence which a generous people had reposed,
under the excusable delusion that his integrity was
as pure as his ability was undoubted. His talents
still remain unquestioned ; but his integrity, without
which the former are worthless, except for mis-
chievous and malevolent purposes, has been discovered
to be nothing better than a skilful counterfeit. Now
that the lacquer has been subjected to the h'althy
friction and trying test •f public opinion, the basis is
found to consist of the coarsest metal. M. GuizoT,
in order to continue to bask in the royal sunshine,
wantonly trifit,cl with the interests, and shamelessly
dimmed the lustre of the honour, of his country. The
French Nation are profoundly sensible of the injury
which has been inflicted upon their national cha•
racter, and are already loud in their murmurs
against the perfidy of the Minister. We speak not
of the French Chambers, which, as we have recently
written, present no real constitutional type of the
interests and sentiments of our chivalrous neighbours.

The intelligence from Paris renders it highly
probable that M. GUIZOT must almost immediately
retire from the Ministry, notwithstanding that the
Address will be carried in the Legislature by a strong
majority. That M. GUIZOT should succeed in passing
the Address in the terms couched by the Government,
and yet be constrained to resign, is precisely the
anomaly which proves how farcical is the representa-
tive system in France. It proves, moreover, that
public opinion cannot be imperiously slighted, and it
is a satisfaction to England to know that France can-
not be fairly judged of by the acts of her Executive
or Legislature, between which and the people there
is no real sympathy whatever. Had any English
Minister been guilty of such duplicity and dishonour-
able conduct towards Frar,ce as M. Guizor has ob-
served towards England, he would, in all probability,
have been unable to have shown his nice in the House
of Commons. In the first pace, his constituency
would have immediately demanded the resignation
of his trust into their hands ; and if this requirement
had
not been complied with, the House of Cstnmoris
would have prevented any administration, associated
with such a colleague, from carrying an address to
the Throne, by moving
e a
immediately p
iasetel3e,c cashiering
of them
vote of direct censure, and
fromthel\il power.
ciblias completely
lS DE MIRAFLORES, in
Madrid, on the Ist instant,r ompletely put to the
rack the mind of every honourable Frenchman. The
Marquis has declared M. Guizor was 44

inexact" in stating that he, when Minister, ever ,
made any overtures respecting a marriage be-
tween the Duke pa MONTPENSIER and the In-
fant!. The Marquis denies it in tom—nay, he
asserts that he told M. BRESSON such a marriage was
quite out of the ques;:ion, in fact, impossible; and that
he could not understand the necessity of the nuptials qf
the royal sisters beiny simultaneously solemilzed. The
Marquis appeals to M. BRESSON for the truth of his
assertions. The Marquis admits he was in Paris in
July last, and had frequent interviews with the KING
and conversed over the question of the Spanish mar-
riages. The Marquis does not deny that he sought
to impress the KING with the desirableness of a
Prince of Comma being selected for the
hand of the Queen of SPAIN, which Lord
PALMERSTON alleged (as his belief) the
Marquis was disposed to try and accomplish.
The Marquis is silent on this point, but he declares
that he went to Paris in a private and not in any of-
ficial or diplomatic capacity. If he repaired to the
French city at the instance of Queen CHRISTINA,
he could not have gone officially, for the QUEEN-
MOTHER, not being a member of the Government,
could not have conferred any such authority upon the
Marquis; neither could his mission have been a di-
plomatic one, for IsTuarTz, the Minister,
could alone have invested him with such
a function. Therefore the speech of the Marquis
DE MrnAruonEs completely bears out, in substance,
everything advanced by Lord PALS ERSTON in his able
dispatches, and henceforth no man can place the least
reliance upon M. GUIZOT'S veracity. Ile will be
offered up as a sacrifice by his wily SOVEREIGN to
appease the offended dignity of France and of civilized
Europe. Lours PHILIPPE will have no feelings of
compunction in being driven to take this step. His
system has always been to keep down every man of
talent in his dominions, and wherever, by the ful-
filment of his own wary schemes, a Minister happens
incidentally to have acquired personal weight and
celebrity, the KING of the FRENCH invariably de-
signs a pitfall for the ruin of his official victim. May
the fate of M. GUIZOT prove a salutary warning to
the future statesmen of France!

Madrid papers of the 4th have arrived. Their con.
tents are unimportant.
MADRID BOLSA, FED. 4.—The Three per Cents,
closed at 324; the Five per Cents. at 20i; Coupons, 19i,

We have received the Paris papers of Wednesday.
The leading articles of almost all of them comment on
the financial state of the country as developed in the de
bate of the day preceding.
A general feeling of uneasiness prevails in Paris on
the subject of the differences between the French and
English Governments, differences the gravity of which
have been materially aggravated by the gross
and wanton attack which M. GUIZOT thought
it right to make on the Marquis of NOR
MANDY in the Chamber of Deputies. It was
rutnoured in Paris that the Marquis of NORMANDY had
broken off all communication with M. GUIZOT, and had

sent home to his Government requt,sting either to be
recalled or to be furnished with fresh instructions. The

letter of Lord NORMANDY en the subj,ct, and the
answer of Lord PALMERSTON, will be found in another
coltnnn. The consequence of these rumours was a de-
olin© in the value of public securities of (-wry descrip-

iun. To increase the embarrassments of 111-. GuizuT,

the direct contradiction made by the Marquis of MILL-
YLORES to his statements arrived in Paris on Sunday;
and that has shaken the faith of many who, up to that
moment, believed that implicit reliance might be placed
on any statement made.by M. G IJIZOT. Marshal SOULT,
it is said, has tendered his resignation, and M. Du-
CIIATEL will be the new President of the Council. This
change will necessitate th• resignation of M. GUIZOT,
who had been promised the Presidency of the Council,
whenever Marshal SOULT should resign, and Lis place
will be filled up by Count MoLE.
Such is one of the many rumours in the salons of
Paris—rumours which, however they may differ in
other respects, all agree in representing Count MOLE st,
the " coming man." It is reported that, on Tuesday,
a Cabinet courier arrived from Brussels, with a dispatch
from the KING of the BELGIANS, expressing his astonish-
ment that the relations between France and Great
Britain should be rendered additionally difficult 01
arrangement by a speech from his Majesty's Ministei
for Foreign Affairs, not merely because of its containing
pasrages capable of being deemed contradictory of cer-
tain portions of the dispatches of her Britannic Ma-
jesty's Ambassador in France, but because of the tone
and air of defiance towards England which it displayed
throughout.

The debate on the financial paragraph of the Address
was resumed on Tuesday, on which occasion M
GRAUDIN inveighed with great fury against the free
traders, and was replied to on Wednesday by M
BLANQUI, in a most convincing and argumentative
speech. The paragraph was ultimately adopted. L
discussing the paragraph relating to Algiers, the Mar-
quis DE CASTELLANE demanded explanations as to th(
mission of M. ALEXANDRE DUMAN, when the Minister°.
'War declared that the Veloce steamer had been placed a,
the disposal of M. Dusts.s by mistake, and the Moist,'
of Public Instruction denied that he had sent M. DUW
on a mission either to Madrid or to Tunis—it wa
to Algiers, and to Algiers alone, that he was sent.

Accounts have been received from Toulon announc
ing that a French fleet had left that port for Tunis foi
*le protection of the BET.

The Presse and the National have, in their ardour
against England, managed to place themselves in a most
ridiculous position. Our readers will recollect their
magniloquent backing up of what they considered the
protest of the Journal de la Haye against the occupatior,
of Labuan by England, and their indignation against
the Debats and the :Constitutionnel for not perceiving
that the Journal de la flaye was right in protesting
against it as a violation of the treaty of 1824. It ap
pears, however, that the article of the Journal de la Ha:p
referred exclusively to Borneo, and not to Labuan. Tl.i-
-is clearly shown by an article of the Dutch journal 01
the 6th, in which it corrects the error of the Presse and
.National, and adds:—" We claim our rights only where
they are well established. We have no claims over
Labuan; the English, therefore, are at liberty to take
possession of that island."

There is some good-humoured banter in the Constitt,-
tionnel on the subject of the absurd error into which the
Presse and the National hare fallen

The Three per Cents., which fell early in the day to
77f. 20e., recovered in a slight degree, and closed at 77f. 35c.
the Five per Cents., 117 E 75c. ; the Orleans Railroad
Shares, 1,222 f. 50e.; Rouen, 847 f. 50c.; Havre, 6771. 50c.;
Great Northern, coy. ; Avignon, 816 f. 25c. ; Vierzon, 5651. ;
Bordeaax, 5321. 50c. ; Boulogne, 4121. 50c.; Basle, 2031.
75c.; Dieppe, 3401. ; Paris and Strasburg, 4661. 25c.; Tour',
and Nantes, 4671. 50c.; Paris and Lyons, 487 f. 50c.; Lyon!
and Avignon, 4851.; Cette, 4551.; Belgian Two-and-a• Halt
per Cents., 54; ditto, Three per Cents., 34. N.
BUSINESS DONK IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT TRH
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, 21.
tlll.llAlly 11.
Boulognu and Amiens, 14-Dutch Rhenish, 4N-Narnar and
Liege, 2%-Northern of France, 12--Orleans and Bordeavt, 7.