The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-30 00:00:00

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oniON, TUESDAY, IS4Ailea 30, 184'

E._ The Lords met at Five o'clock.
gthi er
jobbing
In presenting a petition from a civil
engineer
named BOLGER, complaining of a system of it
practised by thy? Mill Board of Works in the di,tri!
of Ballinasloe, Lord BROUGHAM took the opportunity
of alluding to the difficulties which the law threw in
the way of the removal of Irish and Scotch paupers
from England, and expressed a hope that some de-
claratory statute would shortly be passed to remedy
the evil.

The Earl of DESART had only heard of one instance
in which there was any iundation for the state-
ment made by the Noble and Learned Lord on a

ber next.

On the refusal of Earl GREY to state whether the
Bill for limiting the time of service in the army had
received the sanction of the Commander-in-Chief,
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY moved for copies
of all communications between the Ministers and the
Horse Guards on the subject. He was convinced that
nine out of ten of the general officers in the ser-
vice were opposed to the Bill. He thought the
Government should restore the pensions of the non-
commissioned officers and privates to the rate at
which they formerly stood.
Earl GREY opposed the motion.
The Earl of CARDIGAN regarded the Government
measure with apprehension. He was in favour
of giving a better pension to retired non-commis-
sioned officers and privates; but if the present mea-
sure were carried, he hoped the present unlimited
power which was given to men of purchasing their
discharges would be restricted.
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY, after a few words
in reply, withdrew his motion.
The reports on the Waterworks Clauses Bill, and
on the Markets and Fairs Clauses Bill, were brought
up and received, and their Lordships adjourned.
The Commons met at Four o'clock.
The second reading of the Edinburgh and Perth
Railway Bill was, after a short discussion, post-
poned for a fortnight.
Mr. S. O'BRIEN brought in a Bill for the im-
provement of land in Ireland.
In reply to Sir JOHN WALSH, it was stated by
Mr. HAwEs that a demand for labour had sprung up
in Canada and in the Australian colonies.
On the motion for the order of the day for the
House going into Committee on the Poor Relief (Ire-
land) Bill being read,
Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN complained of the dismissal
of 20 per cent. of the people employed on the public
works.

Mr. LABOUCHERE said that the Board of Works
had been permitted to exercise a discretionary power,
and that the reduction had been carried into effect in
the most satisfactory manner, and without disturb-
ance, except in one or two instances.
The Right Hon. Gentleman, in reply to Sir A.
BROOKE, stated that, as soon as the Relief Act came
into operation, it was the intention to reduce the num-
ber of persons employed on public works as speedily
as possible.

In answer to Mr. BORTHWICK,
Lord PALMERSTON stated that he had received no
official intimation of the bando which had been pub-
lished by General BRETON in Catalonia, ordering
the whole family of any person who joined the
Carlists to be put to death. It was impossible to
read that document withont feelings of disapprobation,
disgust, and indignation. It should, however, he re-
membered, that General BRETON no longer filled
the office he had occupied when that proclamation
was issued. The British Government had always
endeavoured to impress upon the Government of
Spain the necessity of acting upon humane principles.
He trusted that those who had influence with the
Count DE MONTEMOLIN would persuade him to re-
strain his followers, and not again to make Spain the
theatre of a civil war.
After a few words from Lord J. MANNERS, in vin-
dication of the proceedings of Don CARLos during
the late civil war in shooting his prisoners,
Sir DR LACY Evens asked, in allusion to the pro-
clamations said to have been issued by the Count DE
MONTEMOLIN, whether it was right that such procla-
mations should be issued by an individual receiving
he hospitality of this country.
Lord PALMERSTON—In answer to the question cf,
the Hon. and Gallant Member, I beg to say that it
would be a great abuse of the hospitality which this
country affords to every foreigner of any class or
rank, who chooses to reside here that they should
issue proclamations of any kind tending to incite
war and disturbance between friendly states.
After a short conversation on the possibility of
procuring returns of the deaths in Ireland, the House
went into Committee on the Poor Relief (Ireland)
Bill.

Mr. P. SCROPE moved the insertion of a clause,
enforcing on guardians the performance of the duties,
and enlarging the maximum of land to be hired or
occupied for workhouses from 12 to 200 acres.

Sir G. GREY opposed the motion, which, after a
short discussion, was withdrawn.

Mr. GREGORY then moved a clause, empowering
guardians to inerease to persons occupying land of
less annual value than 51., and desirous of emigrating
to where their landlords are willing to forgive all
arrears of rent, and to advance two-thirds of the
sum required for their emigration any sum not ex-
ceeding one-half the sum so advanced by the landlord.
Lord J. RUSSELL had no objection to the clause,
which was agreed to.
Mr. GREGORY then proposed a clause enacting
that no person occupying as yearly tenant any
greater extent of land than a quarter of an acre
should he considered as a destitute person within the
meaning of the Act.

Mr. LABOUCHERE proposed that the clause should
not come into operation until after the Ist of Novem-

After some discussion, a division took place on the
amended clause, when there appeared—
For the clause.. ll7
Against it ... 7
Majority for the clause --110
Mr. S. O'ButEN proposed a clause reconstructing
the electoral divisions.

The clause was opposed by Sir G. GREY, and ne
gatived without a division.

Mr. S. O'BRIEN proposed a clause authorising the
Poor-law Commissioners to reconstruct the unions,
so that no union should contain more than 150,000
acres.

After some discussion the clause was negatived.
Mr. V. STAMM proposed an amendment on the
next clause.

Mr. LABOTTCHERE opposed it.
The House divided on this clause.
The other clauses were then agreed to without
discussion, the House resumed, and the report was
ordered to be brought up this day.
The remaining orders having been disposed of, the
House adjourned at a Quarter•past Two o'clock.

Dangers of an immediate and extraordinary cha-
racter threaten the young Queen ISABELLA. The
intrigues of the French SOVEREIGN and of the ignoble
panders to his avaricious turpitude are approaching
their ultimate realisation. The pear is almost
ripened. After being bargained away by those who
were responsible for her happiness and for the purity
of her existence before GOD—after being forced into
a detestable alliance—after being driven into a royal
captivity with as little regard to her own inclinations
as was the unfortunate Baysms—the Spanish OUEEN
has now been abandoned to an unpropitious destiny
and a suspicious multitude by the ruthless destroyers ,
of her tranquillity. Queen CHRISTINA has glutted
her lust of wealth by conniving at her daughter's in-
veiglement into an unholy and unblessed marriage—
she has fled with her quondam paramour to enjoy
the fruits of her atrocious policy in quietude, and
to drain the last polluted dregs of her existence
in an infamous obscurity. M. DE BRESSON has
.a r
executed the most odious commissions of his
master; he has acted with all the callousness of a
pao and Borgian Minister
with all the heartlesaness of
the minions Of
his treachery, he has nwor. Having consummated
likewise departed from Madrid,
anti, together with the minor actors in the late
deplorable scenes, has Itbartclon•d the Ibe-

former evening, that the landlords of Ireland had rian SOVEREIGN to her fate.
paid for the passage of the paupers on their estates to
Liverpool.
Lord BROUGHAM had made the statement on
the authority of Mr. RUSHTON. It was said the
famine had driven these people over, but certainly
the famine had not paid their passage-money. He
had heard that numbers of tenants had received 5/.
each to destroy their cabins, and thus enable their
landlords to get rid of them. The Noble and Learned
Lord then passed a high eulogium on the members
of the Society of Friends, who, on the Fast Day, had
pursued their usual avocations, and given half their
profits on that day for the relief of the Irish. He
quite agreed with them that works of mercy were
better than those of sacrifice.
On the presentation of a petition by Lord ASH-
BURTON for an alteration in the insolvency laws,
Lord BaouGuara declared that his opinions on the
subject of imprisonment for debt had undergone no
alteration.

What must be the

consequence of their proceedings it is impossible to
conjecture, but that they will prove most disastrous
and speedy is beyond denial. The independent course
recently pursued by Queen IsAnaLLA is serving to
precipitate the doom originally reserved for her by
Louis PHILIPPE. She is evincing more confidence
in herself than could have been anticipated ; she is
becoming troublesome to her august relatives in the
Tuileries; something must be done to terminate her
anti-Gallican struggles ; the imagination of M
GUIZOT must be taxed to conceive some channel,
however tortuous, through which to conduct the
policy of his Cabinet intact; the guile of his
anointed superior must be consulted to discover the
readiest means of extrication from this embarrassing
labyrinth.

Rumours are naturally rife as to the intentions of
France towards the Peninsular Government. It is
actually whispered that ISABELLA is to be despoiled
of her crown and all her consequent prerogatives, and
that the destinies of Spain are thereupon to be re-
resigned to a Regency, consisting apparently of the
KING-CONSORT and the Duke DR MONTPENSIER, but
actually concentrating the power of the State in the
grasp of Louis PHILIPPE. Whatever may be the
course adopted by the latter personage, it is certain that
that supreme directorial power cannot remain much
longer in the hands of ISABELLA. She is asserting
that power in a manner inimical to the Afrancesado
interests; she is maintaining the right conferred upon
her by tl-e Constitution, of selecting her Ministers at
her own irresponsible discretion ; she is virtually
avowing her determination to throw aside for ever
the shackles of her guilty mother and the influences
of her faithless uncle. Can there be any doubt that
ISABELLA will be compelled to abandon her throne,
or to yield, at least, to the inclinations of the Orleans
patriarch ? Can there be a moment's hesitation in
any mind as to the result of such unexpected
evidences of independence in a mind so
docile and conceding heretofore ? Her Spanish
MAJESTY is betraying a partiality to the views of the
Progressistas, if she is not looking benignantly upon
the Moderados. To her jealous ears the very name
of Afrancesado has become a subject of abhorrence.
How far will Louis PHILIPPE permit this to con-
tinue ? When will the reins be tightened ?
Soon ; that is inevitable. And how will
the Spaniards themselves allow of further encroach-
ments upon their nationality by a premature usurpa-
tion of the diadem by the Duke DE MONTPENSIER ?
These conjectures are forced upon the mind irre-
sistibly by the circumstances now transpiring in
Madrid. They demonstrate still more plainly the exe-
crable nature of the French interference in Peninsular
affairs ; they show how deeply the GUIZOT Adminis-
tration has plunged into Machiavellism ; they prove,
beyond denial, that the extrication of Spain from the
difficulties with which she has been surrounded by
Louis PHILIPPE is almost hopeless, without a con-
vulsion disastrous to the Spanish community; they
illustrate what we have all along maintained, that the
Peninsular policy of King Louis PHILIPPE has so far
been germinated in a depraved ambition, that it can-
not by possibility be consummated, excepting by the
commission of enormous crimes.

On Saturday we alluded to the enormous expense
that would necessarily be attendant upon any system of
emigration sufficiently extensive to reduce the popu-
lation of Ireland to the amount contended for by its
advocates as absolutely necessary for the salvation of
the country, and to make the proportion of the agri-
cultural labourers to the land under tillage equivalent
to that in this country. That expense, amounting at
the lowest calculation to from siity to seventy-two
millions of pounds sterling, would alone prove an in-
superable bar to the scheme, and render its general
adoption perfectly impossible. The removal and
location of even 50,000 families, a number so incon-
siderable as to occasion little perceptible difference in
the numbers of the destitute poor, and not more than
equivalent to the annual increase, would cost no less
than from 5,000,0001. to 6,000,0001., a sum equal to
the entire produce of the income, tax.
But there is another and a higher ground on which
our opposition to an extensive and organized system of
emigration is based; it is not to be regarded as a mere
question of pounds, shillings, and pence. Before such
a plan can be sanctioned by the Legislature, or ap-
proved of by the public, it must be satisfactorily
shown that the population is greater than can be
adequately supported by the country, or than can be
usefully employed in it. Until these points are
clearly established it is vain to demand the public
assent to the wholesale deportation. All authorities,
however, go to prove the converse of the proposition.
Sir R. KANE contends that the soil of Ireland is
fully adeqaate to the support of not less than seven-
teen millions of inhabitants, or more than double the
?resent number ; while Ausoti, in his celebrated
work on population, contends that it is abundantly
sufficient for even a still larger number. There is,
however, one practical fact that proves far more than
the speculations of any gentlemen, no matter how
talented or ingenious they may be—lreland is a food
exporting country. Every description of edible i 3
annually borne from her shores to the English
market, and that in quantities sufficient to provide
for additional millions. Coupling this well-authen-
ticated fact—which, indeed, no one can be found
with sufficient hardihood todeny—with that, which is
equally indisputable, viz.,—that the lands of Ireland
have not been brought to the greatest degree of fer-
tility, and that increased produce would reward a
better state of cultivation—it is manifest that Ire-
land can maintain her children at home. The first
ground is thus taken away from the supporters of the
system.
But there is also an ample field for the profitable
employment of their labours. Regard the almost
unbounded waste lands, more than 4,000,000 acres
of which might be reclaimed, and converted from
barren wastes into smiling and productive holdings,
and that not merely without expense to the national
purse, but yielding a dividend on the outlay beyond
any that has been obtained from the most judiciously
selected railway. As a mere speculation to the ca-
pitalist, the project for the reclamation of Irish waste
lands would hold out inducements of no ord

nary character. The estimated cost of that
reclamation would amount on an average (including
the purchase-money to the proprietor, estimated
at twenty-five years' purchase), to ten pounds per
acre, while the land thus obtained would be well

worth fri.m 20s. to 30s. per annum. Taking
even the lower amount—and we believe that no person
competent to form an opinion will say that we have
underrated the first cost of the improvements, or esti-
mated too highly the value of the reclaimed land—

it will yield 10 per cent. on the principal money, an
amount more than double that which can be ob-

tabled by the capitalist. Indeed, so well was this
known, that in the Public Works Act, I and 2 Will.

IV., c. 33, which has been taken as the basis of the
new enactments, it was provided that no advance
could be granted unless the applicant produced the
certificate of a competent engineer or surveyor, stating
that the improvement would be equivalent to at least
ten per cent. per annum on the amount of the outlay.
What a field is there here for the employment of the
people, and that in the most desirable manner, in in-

creasing the fertility and annual produce of the
country.

The proportion of English agricultural labourers
to the acreage cannot be taken as a just criterion for
our sister island, at least in her present condition.
In this country the land has been improved and
brought into a high state of cu!tivation. Although
its natural fertility is less, an acre of English ground
produces sixty per cent. more than a similar quantity
of Irish land. Much labour would re-

pike to be expended on bringing the latter

Into equal heart and condition ; -and until that

is effected a larger proportion of- labour to the acre-

age will be required to develop its capabilities. It
is not, therefore, to get rid of the labourers that is

the desideratum, but to direct their strength into

salutary channels, to bring the gigantic power into

full and profitable operation. The business of the

Senate is to discover and remove the causes that hay

hitherto obstructed and retarded this great result, and

until fully convinced that profitable employment of

the many is impossible, they should not entertain any

proposition for their removal to other climes.

• It is impossible to review the recent proceedings in
different parts of the country, in connexion, first, with
tt►e criminal law itself, and next, with its admirustra•
tion, and not to be convinced that both the one and

the other are seriously defect;.ve. We are accustomed
to praise the purity with '..shich justice is adminis-
tered in this empire, and not without reason; for in
no other country do the
judicial functionaries, supe-
rior and subordinate, p oi.sess so high a character tor
integrity of conduct -as the English. So far, there-
fore, as the well-being of society is dependent upon
A* good intent with which our legal authorities
discharge their furs pions, we have no ground for
complaint, but much for congratulation. Much of
the prevailing: dissatisfaction, in regard to the crimi-
nal laws 'and their incidents, is attributable to the
incompetency of the parties whoare placed on the bench.
We speak not of the superior judges, but of those
whose ministration lies in the courts of inferior, but,
nevertheless, of extensive jurisdiction. One grievous
consequence of their notorious incapacity for the
judgment-seat is the gross inequality of punishment
that is awarded for the same offence. We admit the
necessity, for tile sake of mercy, of intrusting the
dispensers of the laws with a certain degree of dis-
cretion, so that where extenuating circumstances
present themselves, and which it is impossible to de-
fine by the letter of the statute, the prisoner may be
dealt with in the most lenient manner. But we have
a right to expect that those who are invested with
this salutary discretion should be persons of undoubted
ability. Capital punishment excepted, some of the
sentences which are passed at the quarter-sessions
equal in severity those which are inflicted in the
highest criminal courts. We have observed that far
heavier punishments, for crimes of the same class, are
awarded by the former than by the latter. Extent;ive
attainments and enlarged humanity generally go h and
in hand. The English Judges, as a body, have ever
been remarkable for the benevolent spirit with
which they temper the painful duties they htive
to perform. A chairman of quarter• sessions is
empowered equally with a judge of assize to trans-
port a prisoner for a very lengthened period.
Should he not, then, be a person of superior and
peculiar qualifications for so responsible an office ?
and, in case of illness, should not his place be filled by
another in whom the public could repose equal con-
fidence ? We know, however, that chairmen of
quarter-sessions are not of this class, and that if they
are necessarily absent, prisoners are tried by the first
country ignoramus who happens to be senior on the
magisterial bench. So imperfect and ricketty a
machinery for such solemn purposes ought not to be
suffered to exist. However, the evils of the system
tell more against the poor than the rich man, which
constitutes an additional reason for its prumpt altera-
tion. At the Middlesex Sessions, last week, the As-
sistant-Judge remarked that he thought the wit-
nesses for a female prisoner, convicted of stealing a
leg of pork, had committed perjury; he sentenced
her to imprisonment with six months' hard labour.
The counsel for the defence boldly denounced the
harshness of the sentence. The Judge justified
himself by reiterating that " the prisoner's wit-
nesses had perjured themselves, and the Court would
use its discretion in consequence !" The counsel most
properly rejoined, that " it was not the system
in this country to punish prisoners for the defence,
but for the offence, and such dealing was not consi-
dered justice in this country or in any other." The
Judge asserted he would act perfectly independent of
the opinions of the Learned Counsel. Hereupon the
jury remonstrated, and urged that the sentence should
be dimininished two-thirds, a recommendation in
which the bar, generally, expressed their concurrence.
In the end the Assistant-Judge promised to review
the case, and write accordingly to the Secretary of
State. Nothing could be more irrational than the
ground upon which this sentence was attempted to be
upheld by the head of the Court; yet this was an
error proceeding from one who has shown consider-
able ability and had great experience on the bench.
Seeing, then, how liable most men are to err, even
those who have established a general claim to the
confidence of the public, the desirableness is rendered
all the more apparent for the judicial functions of the
inferior courts being consigned to men of first-rate
ability.

A letter from Berne, of March 22, says—

" The opening of the first ordinary session of the
Grand Council for the year 1847 took place to-day. In
the absence of M. Tinier, whose health is indifferent,
the President's chair was occupied by the Advocate
Higgelar. one of our most noted Radicals. In his open-
ing address he enumerated the different Bills which

were to be submitted to the sanction of the Grand Coun-
cil, and also adverted to another matter, which, he said,
was to be brought forw and 1.-~r examination, name!), the
numerous petitions sent in against the appointment of
Professor Zellur, of Tubingen. These petitions, it may
be remarked. demand the annullation of an act alto
gether within the competence of the Government, but
which the Opposition is making use of, in order to pro.
v‘..ke a reaction, like that produced in Zurich in 1839,
by the nomination of Dr. Strauss. I have this moment
learned that the Government has suspended several
pastors for having refused to read, yesterday, in their
respective churches, the proclamation of the Executive
Council, on the subject of the agitation produced by the
nomination of Professor Ziller."