The Sun.
London, England, 1840-12-30 00:00:00

A CHANGELING.

On Tuesday last, an occurrence of an extraordinary
nature came to the knowl2dge of the inhabitants of

Whiddon, near Itainhill. Ia the course of the day, a
plain-looking woman, with a child in her arms, walked
into the •• Hanging Birch," a small beer-shop at
Whiddon, and called for a glass of ale. This request
was addressed to the female who kept the house, who,
at the time, was busily employed preparing a batch of
bread for the oven. She immediately abandoned her
then occupation to wait upon her customer, and went
down stairs to draw the beer, leaving her own infant in
the cradle fast asleep. On her return from the cellar,
the landlady's surprise may be conceived at finding her
customer had vanished, without waiting for the liquor she
had been put to the trouble of drawing. The abrupt
departure of her guest caused no suspicion at the
moment of anything being wrong, as every-
thing, 03 her return from below stairs, ap-
peared just as she had left them. In a little
while, however, a discovery took place which
nearly deprived the poor woman of her reason, and
might have led to consequences not easily foreseen.
The child in the cradle having become restless, and ❑o-
tifying by loud screams that the attention of a parent
would be desirable, the mother stooped to take it in her
arms, when, who can describe the state of her feelings,
she found the infant quite black in the face. Think-
ing it was labouring under strong convulsions, sl
posted off for medical assistance in a state of mind
bordering on distraction. The medical man, on being
consulted, declared that nothing on earth was the
matter with the child, it being as healthy a babe as
had lately come under his inspection ; and as for the
darkness of its face, it was produced by natural causes,
the fact being that the child was born black, fur no
other reason than because its progenitor must have
been of the same colour. The truth of the matter
instantly flashed across the mind of the unhappy
woman, and the conclusion was, that her own " sweet
babe" had been carried off by the stranger woman,
who had substituted this precious piccaniny of ebony
hue—a black child, on the principle that " exchange
is no robbery." The hue and cry was instantly raised,
but without leading to the discovery of the perpetrator
of this wanton and cruel outrage. It is thought that a
sense of shame, induced by an illicit communion of the
fetnale.with a man of colour, must have been the cause
of her practising this " ingenious device." The yoang

" darky," who was of the genuine " double smut," and
would rival in lustre Morison's famous Japin, was im-
mediately packed off to the workhouse, where, we be-
lieve the " nigger" still remains, but with slender hopes
of paternity.— Livcrpool Times.

ALLEGRO MURDER.—On Monday an in-
quest, which had been adjourned from Saturday night last,
was held at the Rising Sun public-house, Oxford-street,
Stepney, before Mr. Baker, on the remains of Elizabeth
Ryan, an aged female, who had lived for several years
with a locksmith, named James Lee, in that neighbour-
hood, and who was found dead on Christmas morning at
the foot of tin stairs. Lee, the man with whom she lived
has beer, in custody since Friday morning on suspicion of
having caused her death, and had been examined before
Mr. Norton at Lambeth-street on Saturday last. The
evidence adduced before the Coroner, and which was taken
at considerable length, disclosed a scene .1 drankenness
and dissipation on the part of the deceased and Lee
almost incredible. A au, goon who had opened and ex-
amined the body attributed the death of the deceased to
the breaking of the vertebrae of the neck, and this ho
thought, from the position she was found in, was caused
by her falling backwards in attempting to get up stairs.
The jury did not think there was anything in the case to
attach criminality to Lee, and returned a general verdict,
•' That the deceased was found dead with the injuries de-
scribed on her person, but how those injuries were caused
there was no evidence before them to show."

THE 11TH HUSSARS —On the 21th instant
we alluded to the leave to sell out asked by Captain J..
Reynolds (the Mack bottle man). Three weeks had
passed without his receiving an answer ; but on the very
day we wrote the paragraph an order went down to Chi-
chester to require his attendance at the Horse Guards,
with what view we shall not say. Before deciding on this
step Captain J. Reynolds no doubt had considered the
subject in all its bearings, and made up his mind to brave
all consequences rather than continue under the command
of the Earl of Cardigan. We understand that the com-
plaint of Dr. Sandham against Lord Cardigan has been
attended to, and that his Lordship has been reprimanded.
In the case of Major Morse Cooper a copy of the repri-
mand was sent to Lord Cardigan, and it found its way to
the public, not certainly by Major Cooper. But we pre-
sume Lord Cardigan n ill not favour the public with a copy
of his own reprimand.— Chronicle.
SINGULAR AND FATAL ACCIDENT,— A
very deplorable event occurred, a few days back, at St.
Omer. A number of persons were skating on the river,
or canal, when the ice suddenly gave way in the middle,
and precipitated twenty-one unfortunate beings into
futurity. There was not a possibility of saving any one
of them ; for it appears that their weight, added to a fall
of the water beneath the ice, caused it to open only in
the centre, and, after swallowing up these denoted beings,
reelosed, thereby rendering all assistance impossible. It
is supposed that the sluices had been opened the day
before, by which the waters were drawn off, and the
vacuum caused which has produced this frightful calamity.
Our Correspondent at Boulogne, who sends us this intel-
ligence, states that more minute particulars had not
reached him when his letter was despatched.—Morning
.Paper,

Without any groat amount of business being doao,
the English sleek-market has been firm throughout
the day.
The Peninsular securities have further advanced,
principally on the belief that the diffarenecs between
Spain and Portu"al will be speedily arranged. now
that it is likely the mediation of England will he ac-
cepted in the matter.
Shares arc all better.

There was very little business transacted in the
foreign exchanges ; and, as the supply of bias, though
small, was fully adequate to the demand, there was a
slight consequent improvement in the rates upon Ham-
burgh and Paris. Amsterdam remained much the
same as last post.
Many complaints have been made from time to time
against the administration of the Post-office, seldom,
however, amounting to more than mere negligence, but
if some remarks, made by a correspondent who has
given his name. on the mode of dealing with the letters
for Malta or Egypt, and the Mediterranean generally,
have any foundation in truth, they constitute a
charge of a more serious nature than any yet
male. He says that alter the letters ere made
up for the Indian mail, via " Marseilles," namely,
after the 4th of every month, all letters to
Egypt or Matta are detained at the Post•oftice until
the 4th of the following month, when the next Indian
mail departs. That this is actually the practice is, he
says, proved by the postmarks en letters for Malta in
his possession, by which it appears that one was kept
back 29 days, another 21, and a third 19—a series of
delays that can be explained in no other manner. The
interval, therefore, of a whole month may elapse be-
tween the posting and sending from England of letters
on which the whole amount of postage has been paid
to cover the transit through France. During the in-
terval that occurred between the extreme dates of the
letters referred to, two or three French steamers had
left Marseilles for Malta, and thus so many opportu-
nities had beets lost. The suspicion of the public on
these unnecessary delays is, that the Post-office is
anxious to secure to itself as much of the postage as
would otherwise go to the French, and that to this
desire for gain the convenience of the merchants is
sacrificed. It is said, that a complaint was addressed
by a mercantile man to the Secretary of the General
Post Office as far back as last spring, and that he re-
ceived a reply that the matter should be inquired
into. The practice, however, still remains unaltered.
The whole of the arrangements under the treaty with
France for a more speedy communication with Malta,
Egypt, and India, require revision and simplification.
The treaty is worth nothing for the public service
unless the whole route is treated pr.•cisely as RA
English one, and full instructions given, so that all
who please may avail themselvei of it.
While on the subject of the Post-office it may be
remarked, that the mercantile men have been much
amused to-day by an intimation, apparently an official
one, that foreign letters, As well as those distributed
within the kingdom may be paid for, if desired, in
stamps. They admit the convenience of such an ar-
rangement, were postage stamps of higher value issued,
but at present the trouble would be much greater
practically than that of making payment in uo►ney at
the different offices. Letters addressed abroad, espe-
cialy by commercial houses, often contain several
enclosures, so as to make the postage very heavy,
and on the average they arc prob ibly not less that►
half-a-crown, which would require 15 stamps at 2d.
and 30 at Id. each, and cover the whole 'surface on
which the address is written. Foreign letters vary
also so much in the rate of charge, that an express
examination of each by the receiving clerk is usually
required in order to determine its amount ; and any
error committed, therefore in fixing the stamps for
countries with which no postage reciprocity is esta-
blished would cause the opening and return of the
letter to the sender, to have the error corrected. To
make the suggestion effectual, there would be required
a reciprocity with ail other countries, the same as with
France, and the issue of course, of postage stamps of
higher value, to meet all emergencies.

SUN —This afternoon Foreign Exchanges without
the least alteration. The more current rates for bills
on the Continental cities were these :—Paris 25 521
to 55, Amsterdam 12 2,i, Antwerp 12 24, Frankfort
1481 to ;1, Hamburgh 13 7. and Trieste JO 3 to
In the English Stocks we have had an impeovement
to-day, the affairs of the East being ngain considered
as all but settled. The value of Consols dor the open-
ing has been advanced from 88-'l,- to 881 The Re-
duced Three per Cent. Annuities have beim up to 881
and the Three-and-a-Half per Cents to 97:.1,- to 1.
Bank Stock has been steady at 1561 to 157 ; Exche-
quer Bills have been maintained at 4s. to 2s. premium,
and East India Bonds at 12s. to 15s. discount.
The advises from Madrid to day to the effect, that
the Spanish Government has accepted the o,r of Mr.
Aston, for the mediation of Great Britain between it
and Portugal ; and that Eipartero has in the meantime
pledged himself to abstain from all offensite measures,
caused an improvement in the Peninsular securities, and
a partial renewal of speculation in them. We think,
however that it would be Kiser to await the result of
this mediation before venturing too boldly. for a rise,
since much will yet depend upon the feeling of Ate Par.
tuguese Cortes. The Lisbon mail i 4 rather anxiously
expected, by those interested, in ordcr to learn wbcther
the Ministers of Donna Maria were as active as ever is
their warlike preparations. Spanish Active Lands ad-
vanced iron% 23. to 24 and ; Portuguese New
Five per Ce: ts. from 3l 4 to 31i awl 321 ; and the
Three per Cents. from 201 to 20Z-, and 21. Colom-
bian Bonds rallied from 2215,- to 23} to ; and Alexi-
can from 271 to 2774- and 281. Russian Bonds vi-nre
at 113 ; and Dutch Five per Cents. at 97i to 971.
The market for the Railway and other shares was
not very animated ; but the quotations realised were
rather better. Great Western brought 25 to 251, the
New 11 to 12, the Fifths 6.4 to G 4, the London and
tm 82, the South NiTesrern 16t, the York and
North Midland 17, the Greenwich Scrip 1i to Lk, and
tha Eastern Counties Debentures 2 prem. ; Brighton
were 7 to 61, Blackwell 4-1, Croydon 1 to 11, and
Midland Counties 25 discount ; Australasian. Bank
Sharps were at 15 to 14 premium.
Complaint is justly made by the parties interested in
the City of the late hour at which the bullion returns
are made public by the Custom-house authorities on the
Tuesday evening. Surely it would not be so difficult a
matter, seeing that the return is only completed up to
the preceding Thursday, to get it out by post hour.

EFFECT OF THE FROST ON RAILROADS.-
The Alsace of Strasbourg states that on the 15th inst.
three trains were stopped on the Alsace railroad, although
there were six locomotive engines set at 'critic. When
brought out on the rails each engine became so;<clogged
with ice that it was with the greatest difficulty it cculd be
made to roll. This obstacle overcome, and the train set
in motion, it required only a moment's suspension for the
water in the supplying pumps to become frozen, and cease to
fill the boilers. The oil also froze, and the friction became
so violent that ignition and the total destruction of the4whole
material became imminent. In the night of the same
day a train was compelled to stop in the forest of Lutter-
bach, on account of the engine becoming frozen. Another
engine, sent to its assistance, was unable to move the train,
and the passengers were of necessity taken on to the ten-
der of the supplementary engine, and thus carried to Mul-
hausen. For this i.strpose it was obliged to make a Second
trip, and it was not till eleven at night that all the passen-
gers with the guards and luggage arrived. One of the en-
gine men had his feet frozen. The cold was so intense that
the Directors, feeling that they ought no longer to risk the
lives of passengers and their own men,liave determined to
suspend the service till the weather changes.
REPRESENTATION OF DUBLIN UNIVERSITY.
—lt is reported that Lord Oxmantown is to be brought
forward as a candidate for the representation of the Uni.
varsity on the first occasion of a vacancy.

EVEN iNG EDI "TION.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS,

(FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.)
(From the Morning Chronicle.)
Count Mole is the only statesman of the Imperial
school and epoch who has made himself master of the
arts and ways of a constitutional regime. In this he
was as far superior to his enemy, Talleyrand, as the
latter was superior to him in diplomacy and social emi-
nence. Count Mole goes on in politics with all the
softness and caution of the feline tribe. He wants not
the courage to brave attack or to make it ; but he
never makes it or exposes himself unnecessarily. He
is not, like M. Thiers, eternally at the head of his
party, haranguing, talking, provoking, proclaiming his
sentiments, his predilections, and principles. No one
knows what are Count Mole's predilections or senti-
ments. He does not wear them on his sleeve, and he has
always taken good care to keep himself so distinct and
aloof from the press, that no journalist could call himself
Collet Mole's organ. To this he is indebted for a great
portion of his advantages. Every party and every
country flatters itself to find a friend in Mole. One
of Napoleon's councillors of state, the Imperialists
look to him as one of theirs. A minister of Louis
XVIII., and descended from an aristocratic family, the
Legitimists consider him a liberal off-set of theirs
party. An opposer of the September laws, the Left
Centre worshipped him as its champion in the Peers,
and M. Dupin lauded him as the very pillar of
parliamentary influence, opposed to that of the Crown.
Since 1833, he has been minister oftener arid
longer than any other man. Ho came in with
Guizot, threw Guizot aside, and lived through a
' second lease of power without him. His three
years of office have deprived him of much of the
confidence of the Liberals in domestic policy. But
Count Mole has still many cards to play. As he
was able to recommend himself of old to the French
Liberals (the most gullible set of men, by the by,
that ever any country produced) by his opposition
to the September laws, and his upholding of par-
liamentary supremacy, he is now offered to the patronage
of the same Liberals as the partisan of the Russian al-
liance. M. Odillon Barrot declared in his Committee
that he would sacrifice the freedom of France to its
national independence. By national independence, an
empty term, as such independence has never been
threatened in these times, M. Barrot meant military
supremacy ; and M. Barrot and M. Thiers are,
therefore, ready to give up freedom and constitu-
tional government, in exchange for a ltussian alli-
ance for the frontier of the Rhine, and for the
dictatorship of Mole and Thiers. Such is the
personnel and such the idea of the coalition, with
which, according to some, the Soult and Guizot
Cabinet is threatened. But this coalition is not
strong enough, it seems, to achieve its vic-
tory by the force of argument and influence. It
tries to mine the wall as well as mount the breach, and,
considering the difficulty of getting up the front stairs
to the Cabinet, it would willingly creep up by the back.
Hence it gives out that the King is on its side, that
Louis Philippe has flung the English alliance overboard,
and with it M. Guizot, and that all the Royal anxiety
is directed towards getting Count Mole back, as a
courtier fit and able to recover the good graces of the
Emperor Nicholas. The whole story (for it is a story
and a false one) of the King's leanings is merely in-
vented in order to abstract from Guizot the confidence
of that gaping and unsteady band of rats which crowd
the Centres of the French Chamber, and which arc
always forward to abandon a sinking influence. There
is as little truth in what has been said about the King
as about Count Mole or M. Guizot. It is a phantas-
magoria, by which the feeders of, and on, newspapers
live.

(From the Times.)

In yesterday's Times we offered two or three obser-
vations, tending to quiet any uneasiness which might
have arisen from the annulment of Commodore Napicr's
convention with the Pacha ; and we added our hope
that the final settlement would be concluded on terms
not practically, or at least not essentially, differing from
those which had been proposed by the gallant officer,
and acceded to by Mehemet Ali. It ought to be re-
membered that the conditions transmitted by Sir Robert
Stopford, on the authority of Lord Palinerston's des-
patch to the Board of Admiralty, might be open in one
respect to a somewhat vague construction. " Do so
and so," says the Noble Viscount to the Paella,
" and we, the Allied Powers, will recommend to
the Porte your re-establishment in the Peebelie of
Egypt." There was nothing therein specified as to
the manner in which, or the extent to which, or the
restrictions, if any, under which the Peck& should
be so re-established. The letter of Lord Palmerston
did not state whether he should be restored in perpe-
tuity, or for life, or for a twelvemonth—nay, or for any
given time, or whether he was to be on the recognised
footing of Turkish Paellas generally--that is, liable to
dismissal at a minute's notice. Whereas the Pacha had
agreed with Commodore Napier to deliver up the
Sultan's fleet, " so soon as he shall have received the
official notification that the Sublime Porte grants hint
the hereditary government of Egypt, which concession
is, and remains, guaranteed to him bu the ilated Powers."
Certainly, on the face et the thing. the variance is re-
markable between the two stipulations, and might give
rise to sonic anxiety for the issue, but that, in reply to
Admiral Stopford's letter, wherein he abrogates alto-
gether the Napier compact, the Pacha yields implicitly
the whole question contended for, and throws himself
on the mercy of the Allied Powers and of the Porte.
In this position, therefore, we repeat our trust that the
Pacha will be as liberally dealt with as may appear
consistent with the security of the Turkish em-
pire from dangers and violences akin to those which it
Las heretofore incurred from the turbulent and lawless
ambition of Mehemet Ali. Above all things, we hope
that the Allied Powers and the Porte may be unani-
mous in their arrangement of the precise terms to be
imposed upon the Pacha of Egypt. Nothing can be
more desirable than a perfect concord between the
Powers, that there may be no room for intrigue or em-
barrassment from without, and a resolute, energetic
promptitude of action, that there may be no time for
malpractices in any quarter. The secret agencies of
M. Thiers, and the mischiefs now notorious of which
they were productive, ought to be a lesson against reli-
ance on political negotiators of the same class (if any
so unprincipled can be found) as that of which the
late French Minister of Foreign Affairs was a member.
Had the occult machinations of that personage ful-
filled their object, well might M. Guizot remark,
tkat peace was not maintainable for a single hour.
There has for weeks past been a statement circu-
lated in rwiny quarters, which has at length, within
these few days, found its way to the public press—that
a combination of intrigues set on foot and prosecuted
by men who, among themselves, are the bitterest and
most deadly enemies, have all been converging to a single
point—viz., the downfall of M. Guizot. What has M.
Guizot done ? How has that just and able minister
" lost ground," as is alleged by one of our correspon-
dents, " in the confidence of his hearers" and " in the
esteem of his country ?" In no way but one,—by
striving to save France from the dishonour of an ini-
quitous and frantic war, and from the eventual ca-
lamities of an overthrow, which, with all Europe for
her enemy, would be as sure as it was total. He has
lost ground by forbearing to countenance the deluge of
malignant and stupid hes poured out against this country
by the demoniacs of the French capital. He has lost
ground by pronouncing that the greatest blessing for
France and for the world would be an enduring peace.
M. Guizot has proved himself wise and benevolent
amongst an insane generation. If the force of the war
faction he more than he can resist, then is it time for
Louis Phillippe to cast about, and see by what means,
and by whom, and on what principles, it will, in a
short period be practicable for him to guard the throne
of 1830. People who report the gossipping chicanery
of Paris may dupe themselves, or those who listen to
them, by marching and counter-marching over the
earner ground, and assigning first one, then another, then
a third, ingenious motive, to those whose purpose is the
deJett of Aat. Guizot's policy ; but the true and one
motive is simply this—to take advantage of
the unpopularity incurred by a good man with
tho clamorous and reckless multitude of Paris to
oust bins from his seat and step into it. If M.
Guizot has made himself odious by being through-
out a peace Minister, it is only by proving them-
selves advocates for war that his successors can
hope to find favour with the people. What a
portrait sloes that furnish of the state of France !
What a prospect for the well-being of Europe If M.
Uuizot, by cultivating the Spirit of peace with England,
renders himself incapable of retaining office, then must
M. Mole eschew peace, or forfeit office likewise. But
is that all ? If Louis Philippe be unable to stem the
torrent, and finds his successive Nlinisters swept from
under him, because they will not plunge the nation
into war, will the same torrent of passion by which the
Ministers have been overwhelmed respect the throne
itself? The aim of the war faction is not mere war it
is revolution. It is that " no peace" shall be followed
by " no King." If therefore, his Majesty himself
assists the projects of those who have urged the removal
of M. Guizot from his counsels, he is likely to repeat
it but once, and that once will be for ever. M. Mote
may not wish for war for the sake of sear ; but if the war
cry has been too strong for the King and M. Gtlizot, I/11y
should it be less formidable to M. Mole and the
King ? The latter Minister, it is true, may rnaise demon-
strations of coquetting with Russia, and thus divert for
a little while the obloquy entailed upon him by not de-
claring war against the other Powers, or provoking a
declaration of war by them against France. But unless
the Emperor Nicholas be of a mind more given to
change than he has hitherto shown himself, we suspect
that any overtures of Louis Philippe, through M. Mole,
will gain little favour with that proud and distrustful
monarch. The result is this :—Even M. Guizot car-
ries to as high a point as the Powers of Europe will
tolerate the naval and military armaments of the French
nation. And he has fallen into discredit at home,
mainly because he goes no further. Any Minister who
succeeds M. Guizot must, therefore, adopt one of two
political systems. He must be satisfied with armieg to
130 more than the same extent, in which case an equal

amount of public hatred or contempt will await him ;
or he will carry his warlike preparations considerably
beyond the Guizot scalo, and rouse the State of Europe
to an inevitable and immediate quarrel.
.. _

(From the Morning Herald.)
Horace Walpole relates, on its being reported
that a certain house in the City was infected with the
plague, that everybody went to look at it. A few
days ago, when a fire broke out in the chateau at Bou-
logne, where was deposited sufficient gunpowder to
blow the whole place into the clouds, all the inha-
bitants flocked to stare at the conflagration. The
curiosity bestowed on the feats of " Sam. Scott, the
American diver," though, perhaps, as intense by the
present British public, is a little more selfish. To add
his contribution to the general festivity of the sea-
son, Sam. Scott takes his ice from Southwark-bridge,
diving from one of the arches into the genial river
below. On Monday he appeared, and, according to
the report that went the round of the papers, was about
to plunge from the scaffolding erected over the centre
arch. However, after duly considering the crust of
ice beneath, Sam Scott—we quote from yesterday's
historian—called out, " Gentlemen, you do not want
to see a man break his head ?" Whereupon, says the
reporter, " Cheers followed this announcement, and
leaving the scaffolding," Sam went to the third arch,
and thence " soused with an antelope's bound" (ante-
lopes, of course, being amphibious), into the freezing
Thames. For ourselves, we cannot but interpret the
"cheers" of the sight-seers very differently to the mean-
ing given them by the reporter. Whem Sam asked,
" Gentlemen, you do not want to see a man break his
head ?" we are convinced that the " gentlemen" assem-
bled really did wish that sight, and that Mr. Scott, by
immediately quitting the centre arch, showed the gross-
est misapprehension of the wants and wishes of his pa-
trons. The thing is self-evident ; it is the danger to
the exhibitor that is the true sauce to the exhibition.
Let it be advertised that Sam Scott shall jump from a
joint-stool on a feather-bed, and who would lift up their
eyelids to look at him ? No ;it is the chance—we will
not say the hope—of the man " breaking his head" that
renders the sight " worthy of the attention of an en-
lightened public." Let there be an assurance that no
broken neck could occur to Sam Scott, and Sam
might day after day jump, even from the Monument,
to a very thin audience. What brought crowds of
benevolent Englishmen to look upon the ascent
of a man in a balloon—who was to return to earth in a
parachute ?—what made the great attractio❑ of the
show ? Simply this : the adventurer appeared a pro-
bable victim—a man half-doomed to a broken neck—it
was the pleasurable excitement of looking on so foolish,
so reckless a person for the last time that gathered
about him a discerning and a shill►ng-paying multitude.
The man, it is on record, did break his neck, and the
fact, being known, we have no doubt that many of the
spectators felt that they had not been baulked of their
shilling's-worth. Sam Scott may be a good diver, but
he has hardly dipped ;into the philosophy of sight-see-
ing, or he would not have so grossly misunderstood the
" cheers" of his admirers. \S a now come to the graver
side o: the question. It is said that the proprietors of
the bridge share profios with :Scott for giving him the
opportunity of breaking his neck. Perhaps, they may
intend to subscribe such sum to the Anti-Toll Society :
we would advise them, however, not to be too hasty in
making the deposit, for should the police magistrates
generously permit Scott to ;go on with his performances,
and should he, in the course of their run, chance to
break his neck—i coroner's inquest might mulct the
proprietors of Southwark-bridge in a tolerable sure by
way of deodand. Seriously, ought such exhibitions to
be suffered ?

(From the Morning Post.)
It appears to us that there is a degree of inconsis-
tency, which amounts to actual absurdity, on the
part of some large bodies in the manufacturing dis-
tricts, who exclaim against what they call " the war
policy" of the Government. The newspaper organs of
these people assert that what they want is free trade,
and not foreign conquest. So far the expression of
their views is reasonable and intelligible ; but when, in
addition to this, they speak favourably of the late French
Government, and affect to regard their own Govern-
ment as adopting a policy the reverse of this, they be-
come most unreasonable and unintelligible. So far as we
can understand the policy of the British Government—
and we confess we find nothing enigmatical in the re-
cent conduct of its Foreign Department—that policy is
precisely the same as that which the complaining peo•
plc say they like. What the British Government ap-
pears to desire is free trade, and no foreign conquest.
We had lately occasion to dwell upon this truth with
reference to the mistakes of French writers who
havo imbibed ideas equally extravagant and un-
founded of the great ambition of England for foreign
conquest. Such mistakes oa the part of foreigners are,
however, quite excusable in comparison with the delu-
sions of our own populace, especially that part of the
populace which pretends to superior knowledge and
" enlightenment." The erroneous French views to
which we allude have their origin probably in the fanci-
ful spirit of the French, combined with so much of
national animosity as disposes the minds of Frenchmen
to receive readily that construction of circumstances
which is least favourable to this country. But the simi-
lar views of our own people, directly in the teeth of
what public facts so clearly teach, can only arise front
false suggestion on the part of those to whore represen-
tations they unfortunately trust, instead of examining
facts for themselves. We repeat that what the British
Government wants from foreign nations is freedom of
trade, and not either additional territory or exclusive
sway. The French nation never has encouraged free-
dom of trade, and we do not say she is wrong in
maintaining the system of restriction. We do say,
however, that they who profess to desire an extension
of free trade are guilty of the most palpable inconsis-
tency in desiring that France should have been allowed
to have her own way in the Eastern question, and to
baulk the efforts of the Four Powers to settle it. The
question had in reality come to this—should Mehemet
AU divide the Turkish empire and maintain a nominally
independent sovereignty under the influence and pro-
tection of France, or should the actual sovereignty of
the Sultan over his dominions be restored, and France
be placed on the same footing as other nations with re-
spect to Egypt and Syria ? Great Britain, in concert
with her allies, adopted the latter policy, and what she
determined upon as the most judicious course has been
carried into effect. In this there is no foreign conquest.
She has neither gained nor sought for anything of the
kind ; but she has hindered the establishment of French
influence in Egypt and Syria, and thereby she has cer-
tainly accomplished what is very important for the cause
of free trade. Does any man, who is not very ignorant.
or so very mad as to be fit for Bedlam, suppose that,
with Egypt and Syria virtually subject to France, we
should have as fair a chance of profitable trade with
these countries as we now have ? We cannot believe
it. Front the Government of the Sultan we have
every reason to expect the most liberal terms of com-
mercial intercourse. We do not mean for ourselves
exclusively. Such terms we would not seek, and we
doubt if England would accept them, even were they
offered. What we have to expect from the restored
Government of these countries is a system of trade on
reasonable terms of freedom with all nations, England
coming in merely on the same tarms with the rest, and
deriving no advantage but the fair and natural one
which belongs to superior industry and superior integrity.
Could we expect any such thing from ant country where
French influence predominated ? We leave those who
have been trying to bring about a commercial treaty
between this country and France to give the answer.
They have not succeeded. The British Government
wants no extension of territory—no increase of sway ;
she wants only extension of peaceful intercourse with
other nations. If, in pursuing this object, she be in-
jured or insulted, she must have her injuries redressed
and her honour maintained, and this sho must effect by
armed power. But Great Britain has no disposition
to violate the general peace, and they who pretend that
she has either speak of what they do not know or what
they desire to misrepresent.

It is stated in the best informed circles that
upon the meeting of Parliament a Bill will be introduced
for the formation of a militia upon a most efficient plan ;
and as it is found that the navy can be completed with
volunteers, without having recourse to impressment, so it
is intended that the same plan should be resorted to as re-
gards the militia, and that oppressive and obnoxious
system of ballot which, from the numerous exemptions
the higher classes of society are entitled to, makes it fall
principally upon the middling and lower classes, will be
abolished. In the mean time it is to be hoped that the
attention of Government will be drawn to the present in-
efficient state of the permanent staffs, and those hoary
veterans, who are borne down with age and infirmities, and
are seen bending their way, with the aid of a walking.
stick, to the place of muster once a month, will be allowed
that retirement their long services so justly entitle them
to, and their places filled with young and efficient men.
Correspondent of the Standard.

The Corn-laws can only be repealed by a per-
vading conviction of their injustice and impolic'Y in the
mind of the country generally, and the agitation ought to
be kept entirely separate from that for every other de-
scription of political change. Extension of the
suffrage, and the removal of those blots which dis-
figure the Reform Act, will not be delayed for A
single hour by attacks upon the Corn-laws; but, on the
contrary, every defeat which repealers sustain in the
Commons House of Parliament goes to strengthen
the conviction, that a system which supports a single inte-
rest at the expense of the great body of the people must be
further reformed. In the present unsatisfactory state of
the country we see no good likely to arise from agitating
for what we commonly denominate organic changes. The
folly of the Chartist leaders has indisposed a vast number
of quiet people to take any step in advance, and the attempt
in the meantime would be certain to pion an utter failure.
—Glasgow Argus.

His Excellency Lord Granville and Lady Gran-
ville gave a grand dinner on Friday. Marshal Soult, M.
Guizot, M. Tcste, several of the diplomatic corps, and
other persons of distinction, were among the guests. In
the evening several amateurs performed, with much spirit,
The Wieck Ashore, to a numerous and
the English piece,
distinguished audience.—Galignani.
Lord and Lady Ashburton have received a
select circle at the Grange, Hants, during the Christmas
week.