The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-02 00:00:00

val. As an incitement to yet greater assiduity in
the population in general, and in the legislators in
particular, 1846 may be most useful and mo=t
glorious in being the cause of emulation to the
(possibly) more useful abd more glorious year just
dawning upon the world.

We adverted on Thursday to the new Charter for
the Government of New Zealand, which received the
royal signet on the 23d ult. This is a great fact,
which will ever be remarkable in history. It will
always be instanced as one of the most signal bless-
ings of civilisation, that the extensive territories,
co:nprised in the New Zealand isles, whose inhabi-
tants, when first discovered, consisted only of barbarous
and wandering tribes, powerful in form, and brave
and fierce in their rude art of war, were, within a
short period of their attachment to the British Crown,
subjected to a scheme of provincial and general legis-
lation, based upon the representative principle, in
which is involved the essence of the English
constitution. So speedy an attainment of the
choicest fruits of civilisation, so rapid an ac-
quirement of institutions, municipal, legislative,
and executive, in a country where, a few years since,
a hardy race of savages alone ranged free, igno-
rant of the sublime principles of their better
nature, is without a parallel in history.
This recent act of our Ministers, under
the authority of Parliament, will be regarded by
surrounding nations as the strongest proof of the
reliance we have in the vigour and excellence of
our form of government, and of the confidence
we repose in the attachment and veneration
which our compatriots uniformly feel for their
native institutions, to what part soever of the,
world they may be impelled by circumstances to
resort, and carry out the great work of universal
civilisation. Nor can the experiment be regarded
as a hazardous one. Frequent is the regret, and
severe are the strictures, offered upon the social in •
equalities which prevail within the United Empire,
notwithstanding that our power and progress as a
nation has been a theme of wonder and admiration
in every quarter of the globe. The uneven
distribution of wealth, co-existent with the
poverty and misery in many over-populated
districts within our native dominions, are evils,
which cannot be denied; neither can they be
too deeply deplored, nor too promptly ameliorated.
Nevertheless, the consolation for these social ex-
crescences is not inconsiderable, when we find our
great capitalists inviting the industrious and
intelligent of a redundant population to avail
themselves of their accumulated stores of wealth
and, embarking for distant lands, to civilise
the human race, to open up fresh sources of national
affluence, and augment the several fruits of the earth.
Thus, indirectly, and by reason of the social and ac-
cidental (but neither inherent nor incorrigible) in-
congruities in her system of polity, does England
gradually fulfil her noble destiny of disseminating
the seeds of civilisation to millions of ruthless and
benighted barbarians scattered in various parts of the
universe.

Exception has already been taken to the principles
laid down by Earl GREY for the acquisition and
settlement of lands in New Zealand, and all future
colonies in their inceptive state. It should be remarked,
that the advocates for vesting exclusive rights of pro-
perty in the aborigines of any country, consist chiefly
of two classes ; first, those who are actuated by the
nicest sense of humanity, and are chiefly desirous to
protect the native in his primitive rights from the
rapacity and tyrannical abuse of power, into which
even civilised man, largely tempted by self-interest,
is prone to degenerate ; and next, those who have
entered into extensive speculations, and, by a variety
of stratagems, have fancifully secured to themselves,
by inconsiderable gifts or trifling purchases, enormous
tracts of land, from either the original (but ignorant
and easily duped), or else pretended, possessors of the
same. For the first class, and. their philanthropic
scruples, it is impossible not to entertain the greatest
respect. Their error lies in the head, not in the
heart. The honourable and deep-rooted apprehension
which they entertain for the present welfare of the
aborigines wins their mind over to a principle quite
incompatible with the establishment or maintenance
of regular government in countries where the rays
of civilisation have been but newly shed. For the
second class we have no such sympathies, because it
is against the interest of Government to disturb them
in their present or future territorial acquisitions,
provided moderate and reasonable sums have
been paid. So to act would only serve to
prevent the influx of capital, check every spe-
cies of enterprise, and dry up the springs of pros-
perity. On the other hand, where fair compensation
has not been, in the first instance, given for the pos-
session of land, where it has been obtained by fraud
and imposture, it is right that the controlling arm of
Government should be present to protect the natives
from delusive or imprudent concessions, and
to enforce justice and equity between the
emigrants and primitive inhabitants. So that,
in fact, even were it not consonant with
international and colonial law, the principle that wild
tribes of men cannot sell any land beyond what they
themselves occupy or use in countries, the sovereignty
over which has been effectually assumed in the name
of a civilised nation, is the most conducive to the
ends of humanity. The more civilised nations be-
come,ihoaniolau nrtth
rat
ahmt
that
toe more
rteh
hs
ajealousnfaumfe
power,
aresobwoeurtl,dh
and
nyndo of
are
rhteeh
eetioarnr
tarnished
dn for
vara
ennsytphoenrpsiuti
bibeilalic itoyf
the aNcvtis of d
r nd
eehth mother country,
ya,
al
niaedu tthuhonerditeyr.
wholesome t Tthh
ee
influence of public opinion, which, no matter the dis-
tance, is now-a-days happily wafted on the wings of
the
fer ebeesptrperses ,v
ewnht
ievreesv eargßa
nr istti sthh institutions ui.
inflictions
porfe
tvyari la,
nanrye
in all its hideous shapes, and the surest guarantees
for the spread of liberty, the mainspring of human
felicity. We shall resume the further consideration
of this subject.
Th

le experiments performed by Mr. MONTAGUE
.1 PRILLIPPS on gun-cotton, an account of
hich, copied from the Brighton Herald, appears
it another column, are most important. We fear
tt ie authorities have been somewhat too precipitate in
ciding against the adoption of gun-cotton as an
n 'plosive power, inasmuch as Mr. PUILLIPPS's
n .periments go to show that many of! the
of Jjections to its use as applicable to fire-arms may be
o bviated. One objection was, that in consequence of
.ts heating the barrel, coupled with its facility of ex-
:-plosion at a low temperature, its use could not be
continued for any length of time. Mr.PHILLIPPS, IKENV••
I ever, has shown that gun-cotton, properly prepared
' does not heat the barrel at all, and therefore this ob-
jection is exploded as easily as the- gun•cotton itself.
Another objection was that the acid adhering to it
would rust the barrel, but, prepared according to
Mr. P/lILLIPPS' formula it is entirely deprived
of acid, and, so far from rusting the barrel, a gun
which was for a month used with gun-cotton, was
found at the end of the month quite clean inside. His
•discovery that grease or oil deprives the cotton of its
te xplosive qualities is as valuable as it is curious, and
121 's proposal for making snuffless candles is
I'( 11 worth the attention of the manufacturer.
III; f proposition for using it as a motive
pO-s ter is worthy of consideration, and will, we trust.
be i .übrnitted to the test of experiment. And here we
wof ild call the public attention to a want
s rh ich has long been severely felt, and which,
I , we are convinced, prevented us from
3,e: :lying all those national advantages from chemical
Exit coveries which, under a better system, we might
have.' derived from them. It cannot be expected that
any kidividua I should carry out experiments of this
nature at his own expense. It is sufficient that he

gives to the nation his ideas, and the nation, which
profits by them, should surely be at the expense of
performing the preparatory experiments; but, unfor-
tit nately, we have no public body in this country ana-
-1(1 :ous to the Academie des Sciences of our neighbours,
to which scientific individuals can communicate their
ide as with a prospect of having them fairly carried
out , or to which Government can refer for information
as to the real value of alleged important inventions. An
At wdenzie des Sciences would have years since set at rest
ti le vexatce questions of the long range and the ex-
plosive shell, and would have either convinced Cap-
tain WARNER of his mistake or have rewarded him as
one of the greatest benefactors of his country.
If these experiments upon gun-cotton should lead to
the establishment of an Academie des Sciences in

England this will be one, and that not the least,
of the benefits which the discovery of ScuoN-
BEM will have conferred on the nation.

The German Journal of Frankfort has the follow
ing from Vienna, Dec. 22 :

" M. de Rothschild is expected here to-morrow. The
Bourse is in a very ex3ited state. Galicia. is iu a state
of anarchy. It is feared that the political fanaticism of
the masses will be tram-formed into one of a religious
character. All the pataus of one village left their
church in a body, becau-e their cute spoke to them of
the Decalogue. Their exclamation was, We do not
went so many laws.'"

The Post-ampt Gazette publishes a letter from Thorn,
dated Dec. 29, which says

" The Government of Poland have just arrested six
Roman Catholic priests for having clandestinely intro-
duced from Prussia sundry publications, amongst which
was the Polish Gazette of Posen. The Catholic clergy
find great difficulty in procuring passports from the
authorities. They are obliged, in the first place, to pro-
cure permission to travel from the. superior ecclesiastical
authorities. It is said that the Government wish to pre-
vent them disseminating the doctrines of Christian
Catholicism.'

The Augsburg Gazette of the 27th ult. publishes
the following from its London correspondent :
Lord Palmerston will submit to the British Parlia-
ment immediately upon its opening a series of authentic
documents concerning' the marriage of the Queen of
Spain and the incorporation of Cracow. These ducu-
ments will, it is said, prove beyond possibility of con-
tradiction, the important part taken by Louis Philippe
in the direction of the foreign affairs of his Cabinet, and
reveal the impossibility of a renewal of the entente cor-
diale."

The Journal de St. Petersburgh, of the 6th De-
cember, publishes, in the shape of a letter, addressed
from London to the Augsburg Gazette, the following
defence of the conduct of the three Powers in relation
to Poland in general, and Cracow in particular. It
may be considered as the semi-official manifesto of the
Russian Cabinet.

" Lord Palmerston has forwarded to the Northern
Powers a protest against the incorporation of Cracow,
which will produce as little effect as the abusive language
of the Ministerial newspapers of France. The Polish
emigrants existed as a political body, and continually in-
trigued. Applications• were repeatedly made to those
two Powers, particularly to Prance; protests were ad-
dressed to them against the right of asylum, taken in so
wide an acceptation; the two Governments replied, that
it was all right, and no change was pos •
sible. What were the three interested Powers
to do, under these circumstances, for their
repose and security? They are accused of having
violated the treaties ! If-those treaties were in reality
violated, they would merely have done against revolu
tion what the French have accomplished in favour of
revolution. Have they not violated the treaties in Bel-
gium and Spain ? It is true that subsequently a new
treaty was concluded as respects Belgium, but tl.is was
a long time after the fact had taken place, and was main-
tained with the consent of France. At Cracow it shall
likewise be maintained, but in this last case no treaty
has been infringed ; the only Powers who concluded it
have alone changed it. As regards the possession of
Poland, respecting which so much is said, it is legiti-
mate, being guaranteed by a duration of sixty years and
numerous stipulations. If the English and French should
think otherwise, we will ask if the possessions of the
English in India, and those of France in Alsace and
Lorraine, were more legitimately acquired ? Sup-
posing that France declared to the Congress of
Vienna, and that her declaration had been inserted
in the protocol, that she intended, for instance, to erect
Colmar and its vicinity into a free state, what would
France do if there existed at Vienna a numerous party
of emigrants from Alsace and Lorraine, constituted into
a political body, holding regular meetings, publishing
journals, &c.? What would she do if a special military
school for Alsatians and Lorraines was established there;
if the Austrian Government publicly supported those
emigrants ; sent the pupils of that school for some years
to the Caucasus, in the absence of an Algeria, to acquire
warlike habits; and .that, on their return, that Govern-
meat sent these men to Colmar, provided with resources of
all kinds, in order that they might excite from them a re-
volution in Alsace and Lorraine ? If France had ad-
dressed numerous reclamations to Austria, and been an-
swered that she could not prevent these machinations and
revolutionary projects ; if, finally, an insurrection had
actually broken out at Colmar, and extended throughout
Alsace and Lorraine, and been suppressed by the rural
population of the German portion of those provinces—if
all that had occurred in France, we should be curious to
know if the French, after witnessing those intrigues
during 20 years, would have suffered the republic of
Colmar, founded by themselves and without foreign co-
operation, to exist. Would they have allowed their Go-
vernment to wait for the adhesion of all the Powers of
Europe whilst those intrigues were going on at Colmar
and in Austria? The mere impartial and logical exami-
nation of the fact demonstrates the absurdity of all the
objections. Would all the obstreperous declamations of
Austria, Prussia, and Russia, induce Franco to re-
establish the Republic of Colmar? Well I all the noise
now making in England and France will produce as little
influence over the decision of the three Powers. This
event, it is true, strongly shakes the position of Lord
Pelmerston and M. Guizot, and places those two Minis-
ters in a great embarrassment. Added to that, the Eng-
lish lose a valuable depot of smuggled goods, which were
fraudulently imported by Podgorzo and Breslau into the
Austrian and Russian dominion 4. The English, it is
well known, are always dissatisfied when they export
one bale less than usual; and Lord Palmerston, on the
other hand, finds himself under the painful necessity of
making advances to re-establish the cordial understand-
ing. Nevertheless, whatever esteem we may profess for
the character of M. Guizot, and however we may regret
to create embarrassments for Lord Palmerston, such con-
siderations have exercised but a very secondary influence
over the resolutions of the thtee Powers."

The Madrid mail had not arrived in Paris on
Thursday.

We have received the Paris papers of Thursday.
The Journal des Dthats, in a temperately written
article, replies to the attacks of the Presse, and con-
tinues more strongly than ever its advocacy of the
English alliance, without however abandoning the
smallest portion of the position it has taken up on the
subject of the Spanish marriages. On that subject it
says--

" We are content to calmly maintain the right of
France. But shall we now proceed to increase the irri-
tation which may still exist in England, and change a
quarrel of self ove into a subject of national division ?
No, a thousand times no I Let others assume that odious
task ; we shall rather endeavour to a.ppease men's minds
in England, and to enlighten them. We shall not fear
appealing incessantly to the reason and wisdom of the
English people. We shall seize on all occasions to set
forth the profound motives which command England and
France to remain united for the advantage of peace and
of humanity ; and we answer that, in doing so, we shall
give proof of true patriotism, true independence, and
true dignity." _ _

ThePre sse, in an article on the short time ques-
tion, applauds the agitation of Messrs. OASTLEIL and
PERRAND, and expresses a desire that they may suc-
ceed. One 01 the reasons given by the writer for this
desire is, that by their success England may lose some
commercial advantages. " But this consideration,"
adds the Presse with unnecessary candour, " affects us
but little."

Unpleasant rumours on the subject of the KING'S
health were again circulated in the political salons,
and it was even said that his MAJESTY would be
obliged to receive the complimentary visits of the
Ambassadors, &c., on New Year's•day seated.
The Courtier Francais says—
" We are informed that orders have been given for
embarking a quatity of warlike stores, in a corvette,
bound for La Plata. This indicates that the Govern-
ment does not consider the conclusion of a peace so near
at hand as has been said."
The weather continued to increese in severity in
Paris and its neighbourhood. Atonine o'clock on
Thursday morning the thermometer (Fahrenheit)
marked 21 deg. ;at five o'clock, 27i. The rise in
the temperature was attributed to the approach of
snow.

The Paris Bourse was again flat on Thursday. It
was stated that for the last three weeks the Bank of
France had been selling Government securities, and
it was repeated that new overtures had been made by
that establishment to the Bank of England to obtain
succour in the shape of bullion.
Thursday
The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bonne, on
a.; 80f. 4pc. ; the Five per Cents., 118 f. 30c. ; the
Orleans Railroad Shares, 1,257 f. 50c ; Rouen, 916 f. 25c, ;
Havre, 6771. 50c.; Great
Paris and Northern, 645 f. ; Avignon, 8751. ;
Yierzon, 6071. 50c.; Bordeaux 565 f.; Boulogne, 4421. 50c. ;
Strasburg, 4881. The. Paris and Lyons, 510 f. ;
Lyons and Avignon, 485 f. ; Bordeaux and Cette, 451 f.
25c. ; Spanish Domestic Debt, ;12%.
LYONS, DEC. 29.—Paris and Rouen 918 f. 75c. ; Avignon
and Marseilles, BRStr
--- .5c.; Vierzori, 6121. 50c. ; Northern,
652 f., 50c. ; Paris and Lyons, 5121: 50c. ; Orleans, 1,2701. BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, JANUARY 1.
. Boulogne and Amiens, 15%—East Indian, %—Luxem-
bourg, 14—Northern of France Constituted, l3k,—Paris
and Lyons Constituted, 8 14---Ilouen and Havre,

26%.
TUE CABINET.—Lord John Russell is expected to
arrive in town this evening from his residence at
Chor:ey-wood. All the other Cabinet Ministers are
expected to assemble in town in the course of next
week.

FATAL FALL THROUGH INTOXICATION. -On
Tear-y hutsde
ard, Clare-mar y night last,
etan elderly female, residing in
Bk, returnel home to her lodgings
at a late hour, very much intoxicated, and while
ascending the stairs she was heard to fall, by some of the
lodgers, on the landing, but no notice was taken of it till
yesterday morning
on owhen one of the inmates was going
o day
m who,Opening his room door, discover( d
by the fall.
the deceased it lifeless corpee, she haying broken her neck