The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-18 00:00:00

THE SUN,

of the 10th December, 1848, up to the time of its
first anniversary. He maintains at the very outset of
this analysis that it is necessary for reasons sufficiently
obvious to consider the government of the Presidency
during that interval in two separate divisions, one com-
mencing with the 10th of December and ending with
the 31st of October, the other commencing with
the 31st of October and ending with the 10th De-
cember, the former opening in 1848, the latter closing
in 1849. During the first interval it is intimated
that we are to regard the Ministerial functions as
entrusted to the electors of the 10th of December ;
during the second they were confided, on the con-
trary, to the elected of the 10th December. The former
administration was reparative and conciliative; the
latter administration was, in a manner, creative and
inaugurative of the working of the new Constitution.
How far the definition may be considered as felicitous
can be readily estimated by those who have closely
watched the progress of affairs at Paris since the
establishment of the power of Prince Louis NAro•

LEON—from the memorable mornieg when, pro-
claimed PRESIDENT of the French Republic by six
millions of votes, and acknowledged as the elect of the
people, in the presence of the Constituent National
Assembly, he descended from the tribune and prof-
fered the hand of friendship to his rival, CAVAIGNAC,
recently hurled from the Dictatorship. It was
manifestly from motives of conciliation that such a
man as M. DUF,kURE was summoned to attend the
councils holden by the Imperial Democrat, in the
parlour of the Elys4s, even at the time when the
conduct of the Cabinet was confided to the hands of
M. ODILON BARILOT. It was from motives,
moreover, of reparation that the ruins of the law
were again, gredually and almost imperceptibly,
gathered up with the grasp of a central authority.
As is very judiciously remarked in the Journal des
Debuts of Sunday -the interval preceding the 31st of
October was necessarily and essentially restricted to
the labours of reparation and conciliation—" it had
not, it could not by any possibility have much to
creale, and hence it was that all the larger questions
were reserved for the second epoch, the epoch which
is now not very long commenced." Unquestionably
the truth of this is wholly incontrovertible. After
the convulsions of the revolution of February, more
especially after the tremendous conflict of June be-
hind the barricades, a period was required, such as
that happily called by the Parisian publicist, " the
period of repose and convalescence." Time was re-
quisite to enable the turbid waters of society to
become clarified by the subsidence of the sedi-
ment of evil passions stirred np from the
recesses of the community by the turmoils
of the revolutionary outbreak, and particles of which
are still floating on the surface. Before anything
advantageous could be attempted it was essential
that the heats of contention should be permitted to
allay their violence ; otherwise no permanent cohesion
could be expected to manifest itself between the
different powers of the state. That interval
was allowed to elapse without any perverse
precipitation of events, and Louis NAPOLEON,
satisfied that the day of change had arrived
with the 31st of October, had the courage to take the
initiative with a boldness befitting a BONAPARTE, and
at the same time with a loyalty to the popular cause
worthy of the elected of December. Since that change
in the policy of his administration it has become
more and more perceptible that the sincerity of his
adhesion to the democratic form of govern-
ment, inaugurated in February, was in no re-
spect a pretence merely for the sake of enabling
him to conspire for the final assassination of Re-
publicanism and the abrupt restoration of Imperialism•
As recently as the very day of his great anniversary,
the anniversary of his spontaneous election by France
on the 10th of December, Louis NAPOLEON declared
with a gallantry befitting one in his elevated position,
as the choice of the " great nation," and as the chief
magistrate of the grand European Democracy, in this
twofold character, we say he had the gallantry to
declare that his aim was not the parody of any future,
however august or glorious, but the resolute consoli-
dation of the institutions of his country and the
development of its general prosperity and happiness.
Many of the most vigilant and sagacious scruti-
nizers of the new Republican Constitution of France
are beginning to manifest a large amount of solicitude
as to the consequences which may result from one vast
incongruity in its construction—namely, the irre-
sponsibility to the Assembly of the PRESIDENT, and
the indissolubility of the Assembly ! Arid, certainly,
unless mutual concessions be, at times, made both
by the Assembly and by the PRESIDENT, it is im-
possible not to anticipate other than a violent col-
lision between rival powers of such immense strength,
and so entirely independent of each other. Hitherto
the labours of both have been preparative ; let us
hope that the vitality inherent in each, a vitality
drawn from the suffrages of the people, may not upon
any material point of administration prove directly
or indirectly antagonistic. Under the Provisional
Government, or rather under the sway successively
of the Executive Commission and of the military
Dictatorship, France secured to herself the capability
of preventing any hostile struggles between the de-
liberative and executive authorities of the Govern-
ment. According to the then system, the rulers of
the country were drawn from the members of
the Assembly, or re-absorbed into the body of the
Parliament, in obedience to the wisdom or pleasure of
the popular Representatives. By this means any
lengthened contention between the Legislative Go-
vernment and the Executive Government was
rendered impracticable. According to the system
now enforced by the new Constitution, the PRESIDENT,
however at variance with the Assembly, must remain
in power until the expiration of the stipulated
interval of his supremacy. Besides which he, in his
predominant capacity as first magistrate in the Re-
public, is precluded from any exercise of power such
as would go to the dissolution of the House of Re-
presentatives. Independent, strictly and glaringly
independent of each other, drawn alike from the
abysses of the popular :will, differing in their origin
only in this respect, that the suffrages of the popu-
lation which, distributed over several hundred
individuals in the one instance, are concentrated
upon the head of one man in the other, the Assembly
and the PRESIDENT are liable to quarrels, for the
termination of which (except with the existence of
either or both) the Constitution has in no manner
provided. Upon this point much anxiety is beginning
to be felt by those most generously disposed towards
the cause of Republicanism. Earnestly and most
profoundly is it to be hoped that means will be
adopted for the prevention of any catastrophe in
consequence of this incongruity in the structure of
the Constitution, and that the rectification of a
blunder so enormous may be effected before any
calamities may have followed upon its recognition.

With the ingenious sophistry usually visible on the
part of such unfair logicians, it is beginning to be
argued by the leading reactionary journalists of the
metropolis, that we are perverting facts for the pur-
pose of supporting our arguments in favour of the
Hungarians. While uttering these accusations, our
Contemporaries honour us with a nickname, doubt-
less regarded by them as singularly opprobrious, but
to our thinking one as acceptable as euphonious—
alluding to us as among those who may be generically
designated Anglo Magyars. As Anglo-Magyars,
therefore, we are charged with having frivolously
asserted that the crown of Hungary was never
settled on the House of Austria and united to its
other possessions. Neither to ourselves nor to those
few members of the English press who sympathise
with the lawful aspirations of the Hungarians, can
such a very preposterous and ignorant remark be in
any particular attributed. What we have really
maintained, and what all the lovers of Hungarian
independence are prepared at any moment to demon-
strate in the face of all the treaties signed before or
after the completion of the Pragmatic Sanction, is
this, that the crown of llungary has never been
united to the crown of Austria. Not that the
crown of Hungary has never been settled on the
dynasty of Austria—for such an assertion would be
nothing less than a huge and incorrigible absurdity.
That the diadem of St. STEPHEN has reposed upon
the brows of the Princes of the family of Hapsburg
is a fact patent to the knowledge of every schoolboy
instructed in the mere outlines of European
history ; and to attempt to ignore the
existence of such a fact would be as
silly as it would inevitably prove ineffectual•
Yet, manifest as is the circumstance that the same in-
dividuals who have worn the imperial crown of

Austria have been permitted to wear, in like manner,
the regal crown of Hungary, it is equally incontro-
vertible that the two diadems have, throughout, been
entirely distinct, and that, in not one single instance
have they been ever known to become amalgamated.
Quite as clear is it that our previous assertion, to the
effect that FRANCIS JOSEPH is not the lawful heir
to the Hungarian monarchy was correct. FRANCIS
JOSEPH, we repeat, is merely a pretender to that
hereditary rank; his position is this—he is
the son of the heir to the royal dignity
over the Hungarians. The real King of
Hungary at this moment is FERDINAND (the First
of Hungary, the Fifth of Austria)—for FERDINAND
has never yet abdicated the crown of St. STEPHEN—
and supposing he had abdicated it, that abdication has
not been accepted by the Hungarians—and supposing
it had been accepted by them, the next claimant to the
rank of their Sovereign would be the father of the
present EMPEROR of Austria. Hence, we repeat it,
with the closest and strictest adherence to truth, that
FRANCIS JOSEPH, so far from being King of Hungary,
is not even the rightful heir to the crown of St.
STEPHEN ; he is only the son of the heir to the
kingdom of the Magyars. Let him advance his sole
right to their obedience, a right already specified by
ourselves, the right of conquest. If he must needs
call himself King of Hungary, let him designate
himself with the candour of a bold usurper (as we
have already designated him), FRANCIS JOSEPH, the
Red Emperor of Austria, and King of Hungary by
he grace of the Guillotine !

The proceedings at the annual exhibition of the
Birmingham and Midland Counties Agricultural
Association are deserving of more than ordinary
attention. Meetings have recently been held in

almost every.part of the country, landlords and tenant;,
owners and occupiers of the soil, have assembled
together to afford practical proofs of progress in the

pursuits in which they are engaged, to consider their
present condition and future prospects. But the
attendance has been limited to a single
class. Few manufacturers have expressed an
interest in, or taken any part in, the
proceedings. The supposed rivalry that existed
between those different branches of industry; the
unreasonable demands of the farmers, in reqniring
that taxes should be unposed on articles of primary

necessity, for their own exlusive advantage, have
prevented that cordial co-operation that is so greatly
to be desired. " Protection to British industry " is,

no doubt, a high-sounding phrase, well adapted to
attract the attention of those who are enduring
difficulties under which the great majority of the
people are suffering ; but it is too plainly shown that
the farmers are only seeking a partial and one-sided
"protection"—a protection which may possibly en-
hance their own profits, but which can only do so at
the expense of the rest of the community. Tt:ey do
not put forward or demand the enactment of any
great and comprehensive measure that will affect

the entire nation, that will improve the pDsition of
merchants, manufacturers, and traders of every de-
scription as well as of farmers, that will provide em-
ployment for the artizans and operatives of the large
towns, as well as for the agricultural labourers. They
array themselves in a distinct and separate corps, and
they are surprised to find, that their operations are
regarded with suspicion, and that they do not receive
assistance and encouragement from others, against
whom they have committed overt acts of hostility.
The manufacturers have hitherto kept aloof. The
nation has been divided into two great parties, who
have mutually looked upon each other as mutual
enemies, and seemed to consider that no measure was
worthy of acceptance, or could prove beneficial to
themselves, unless it inflicted a " heavy blow and
great discouragement " upon their rivals.
Birmingham has, however, taken the lead in pro-
ducing a healthier feeling, in bringing the opposing
parties together, and teaching them that their inte-
rests are not so very dissimilar, as they have hereto-

fore seemed to think. At the dinner of the
association last week, held in the metropolis of the
Midland Counties—the great town that for so many
years has occupied so prominent a position in the
cause of reform—agriculturist and manufacturer,
Protectionist and Free-trader, were seated side by side,
enjoying the festivities of the occasion. The healths of
" The Members of the Borough" were received with
the most unanimous approbation and enthusiastic
applause, while the toast of the evening, "The
Agricultural Interest," was entrusted to Mr. Munrz,

who had long been one of the most zealous Free-
traders. As Mr. SPOONER justly remarked, "It was
the first time that the attempt had been made practi •

cally to demonstrate the great truth that agrimlture
and eommek were twin sisters, born at a birth, and,

whenever buried, would lie in one grave." Their
interests are, indeed, identical, and neither could be
in a prosperous condition unless the other were also

flourishing.
Mr. MUNTZ clearly showed that what were termed
" the protective laws" did great injustice to the ma-
nufacturers ; that it was an isolated, partial, and
unjust protection, and never even protected the far-
mers themselves ;" that the latter were in ruin and

misery even when in the full enjoyment of the prac-
tical monopoly which the bread-tax afforded. He
instanced the years 1822, 1835, and 1836, when the
agriculturists were " holding meetings in all quarters
of the country, and declaring that they were
all going to perdition," and drew the ob-
noxious conclusion that the restrictive law did
not serve those whom it was intended to protect,"
and he declared himself to be "an advocate for that
protection that woula protect all classes equally,
fairly, justly, and honestly"—" that would equally pro-
tect the manufacturer and the agriculturist." Mr.
MUNTZ did not, however, explain the nature of that
protection, although no person was better qualified to
do so, or could more fully have exposed the
enormous evils resulting from our monetary code.
He did not develope the vast advantages that would
arise from the adoption of a currency adequate
to the wants of the country, that would apply a
stimulus to every branch of industry. It would,
indeed, be of the utmost importance that the question
should be fully and fairly brought before the nation
on every possible opportunity, that both parties be
taught the only remedy that would extirpate the
disease which pervades the entire system.
Although we regret being compelled to differ in
any respect from so consistent a Reformer as Mr.
MUNTZ, we cannot pass over the concluding part of his
speech without protesting against the adoption of any
additional duty, fixed or otherwise, on corn. Such
a duty would be essentially " protective," and for the
benefit of a single class. It would take out of the
pockets of the people far more than would find its
way into the national Exchequer. It is not merely
the corn purchased from the foreigner that would be
enhanced in price, but every quarter purchased in
the home market would undergo a similar change. It
would practically be a subsidy paid by the entire
nation to one class. A duty may be imposed
for revenue purposes merely on tea, tobacco,
wine, coffee, sugar, and other articles that cannot,
under any circumstances, be produced in this country,
but whenever it is placed upon a commodity pro-
duced at home, as well as abroad, in which there can
be a competition between the native and the foreigner,
it must operate as a premium to the former, and
injuriously affect the interests of the consumer.
There is, perhaps, no form of protection that would
be more objectionable, 'and we must emphatically
warn the Free-traders against giving any sanction or
encouragement to a proposition in every respect so
mischievous.

RUGBY SCHOOL —BIRMINGHAM, MONDAY.—The
Rev. E. M. Goulburn, M.A., formerly Fellow and
Tutor of Merton College, Oxford, examining chaplain
to the Bishop of Oxford, was this day elected Head
Master of Rugby School, in the room of the Rev.
Dr. Tait, now Dean of Carlisle.
MANSION-HOUSE.—The Lord Mayor entertained
at diuner last evening—Mr. Alderman Humphery, M.P.,
Governor of the Irish Society; the Deputy-Governor,
Mr. Alderman and Sheriff Lawrence; Mr. Sheriff Nicoll,
Mr. Under-Sheriff Millard, Mr. Under-Sheriff Wire, the
Chairmen of the several Corporation Committees (pro-
viom.ly to the expiration of their office); the Masters,
Wardens, and Assistants of the Worshipful Company of
Tallow Chandlers (his Lordship's company), and several
private friends. From the auspicious commencement it
may be readily inferred that during the present
Mayoralty there will be no diminution of the ho'pitality
which generally distinguishes the career of tLe chief
magistrate.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.—The council of
this college have decided that candidates for fcllowsh;ps
shall be examined in the French language. Professor
Brasseur is the examiner elected for that purpose.