The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 19, 1847.

chievous hoarding and locking up their money—
would they consent to use it now when it is really
valuable, all further danger would be averted, but un-
fortunately they do not understand their real in-
terests. The moment the Bank sets the example by
restricting its issues, and putting on the screw, they
follow in the wake, and increase the evil until it be-
comes unendurable. The appearance of restored con-
fidence on the part of the Bank, would, as in 1825,
when the providentially discovered one-pound notes
were put into circulation, allay the terror. But
without the Ministerial sanction that confidence can•
not be exhibited. The Bank could not now avail
itself of the means by which its own safety and the
national credit were then maintained. Especial care
has been taken to deprive it of the weapons that once
proved so efficacious, and until new powers are con-
ceded it must remain comparatively helpless and in-
active.

The summoning together of Parliament to assemble
with the least possible delay, in order to take into their
consideration the measures rendered necessary, would
have an instant effect in calming the existing excitement,
Such a course would be at the same time the most
constitutional and the best calculated to afford a per-
manent remedy for the disease under which the
country is suffering, to effect a perfect cure. Our
monetary laws are radically wrong, and a thorough
reform must be carried. Since the resumption of
cash payments, since the Bill of 1819 has been in opera-
tion, the countryhes been subjected to constant alterna-
tions, to periods of apparent prosperity, succeeded by
severe depressions. Persons are induced to enter into
engagements, to carry on undertakings, and the
moment they are inextricably involved, every facility
is withdrawn, every species of accommodation is
withheld, and if not rendered unable to provide for
their liabilities, to meet the demands for which they
are responsible, they are exposed to the most serious
losses, by which they are reduced from wealth and
independence to comparative poverty. If a national
currency, not convertible into gold, but receivable in
payment of taxes, and secured, like the national debt,
on all the resources of the country, were introduced,
and the amount that would be sent into circulation
regulated according to the wants of the country by
the Legislature, we should not be subjected
to those alternations that are so deeply inju-
rious. The introduction of 1/. and 21. notes, which
the experience of Scotland and Ireland testifies
would be readily received by all classes, and
taken as freely as sovereigns, would liberate by far
the greater portion of the gold that is now obliged
to be retained in use for the internal circulation of
the country from the want of notes of a smaller de-
nomination than 51., and make it applicable to the
purposes of commerce. The annual loss to the
country may be set down at no less than 3,000,0001.
sterling, which the ridiculous fancy for gold in com-
mon use, in place of 1/. or 21. notes, entails upon us,
and this would at once be saved. The interest on
the unfunded debt would be another item to
be placed to the credit side of the account, and
the Chancellor of the Exchequer would speedily
find himself in a position to remit the tax on light,
and several other imposts by which the industry of
the country is materially affected. These changes,
that are so urgently demanded, could only be intro-
duced by the Legislature. Were the Ministry now
to sanction an increased issue by the Bank beyond the
14,000,0001. permitted by the Act, they would have
to apply to Parliament for an Act of Indemnity for the
Bank and themselves, the clause which reserved a
power to the Bank, with the consent of the First
Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, and the Master of the Mint, to extend their
issue upon securities beyond that amount, in the event
of any particular crisis, having been omitted
from the Bill, notwithstanding the almost
unanimous remonstrance of the bankers of
London against
,the absolute limitation of the issue
without any power of expansion being reserved, which
they were apprehensive, whether the amount was
itself a proper amount or not, would create a general
feeling of uneasiness throughout the country,
and restrict business, by leading to a general
withdrawal of legitimate accommodation, an appre-
hension which, we regret to say, has been too fatally
verified. Let Parliament, then, be immediately
called together, and in the meantime let our chOsen
Ministers assume the power that should have been
granted by that Bill, and demand an indemnity for
the act rendered necessary for the welfare of
the people. It will readily be granted ; and
they will entitle themselves to the gratitude of
those whom they will have rescued from utter ruin.
The circulation of Bank post-bills, as we suggested
yesterday, is in the power of the people themselves,
and may afford some mitigation to the pressure, by
giving an increase of a million or one million
five hundred thousand pounds to the circula-
tion, and the substitution of small Exchequer-
bills of 51. and 101. each for those of larger
denomination would also have the most beneficial
effect as a temporary measure, and that they would
be perfectly authorised to do, for the Act that em-
powers the Treasury to issue Exchequer-bills says
nothing as to their respective amount, which is left to
the discretion of the Treasury, to suit the public
convenience in the best manner possible, and that we
need scarcely add would be by the smallest possible
denominations.

A system was denounced by Lord ASHLEY in
Edinburgh, on Friday last, which, if it be not dis-
countenanced betimes, may prove singularly detri-
mental to the poorer portion of the population, by
diminishing the advantages accruing to the very
destitute through the judicious instructions of the
Ragged or Industrial Schools. The system to which
we allude is familiarly known throughout Scotland
as the Hospital System, and the most pernicious cir
cumstances in the intended movement of its advocates,
in the metropolis and elsewhere, is that, under the
guise of benevolence and generosity, violence is done
to the noblest impulses of humanity, the embryo
vice of the children is developed and con-
firmed, while the reclamation of their aban-
doned parents is rendered still more im-
practical and hopeless. When we remark that
the hospital system is nothing less than the abduction
of all the wretched children that are found sprawling
in the mud of the rookeries, starving in back attics,
pilfering in bye lanes, and acquiring constitutional
diseases by their habitual subjection to the influences
of filth, privation, and wretchedness, it will be unne-
cessary to add that the success of its promoters
necessitates the retirement of the schoolmasters and
schoolmistresses employed by the supporters of the
Ragged School establishments. Persons are to be
instructed by the former to gather together all the
young creatures who may be found loitering
about the streets of the most abandoned
localities, to convey them several miles from
the capital to a building constructed for
their reception, and then to proceed in their
education, apart from their homes and families.
Such is the project by which certain well-meaning
but mistaken philanthropists intend to supersede the
previous efforts of the benevolent. We are disposed
to attribute the preference which is imparted to this
scheme as mainly attributable to the fact of its being
apparently more expeditious in its operation, and
requiring, to all appearance, less circumspection and
solicitude. For this reason, especially, we should be
disposed to discountenance the undertaking, because
the arrangement which promises to diminish trouble
and anxiety is usually one which proves in the end
to be less efficacious and more expensive.
That the outlay would be considerably more in
sustaining such associations as would be requisite on
the adoption of the proposed hospital system, is ma
nifest on the mere outline of the arrangement. A
larger number of employees would be necessary ; a
distinct and extensive suburban establishment would
be indispensable,
and the plan of tuition would be
more liable to become inapplicable to the capacities
and position of its various inmates. Besides which,
as Lord ASHLEY very excellently observed, the an-
nual exhibition system, whichis inseparable from
all public seminaries, would be calculated to dissi-
pate that generous and beneficial emulation which, in
the Ragged Schools, has proved the most effectual
means for ensuring the mental enlightenmentand moral
improvement of their otherwise depraved and ignorant
frequenters. " The days in which we live are the
days of parade and ostentation," said the noble
speaker. " We may do a vast deal of good, but we
are indisposed that that good should pass unobserved,
and, therefore, in all our public institutions we have

annual parades, and the tutors are invariably striving
to ensure a good annual exhibition. The conse-
quence is that bright and clever boys are selected and
receive proper attention, while those who require
the utmost care and vigilance are, in most instances,
altogether overlooked." This, we are persuaded, is
of itself a sufficient reason for the rejection of the
hospital project, as one, which must almost inevitably
abandon the destitute children to their present be-
nighted condition, and plunge them beyond re-
demption into the darkness of the most pernici-
ous depths of their vicious inclinations. Suppos-
ing, even, that in the monotonous drill of educa-
tion, in the daily routine of a superficial tuition, a
spark of intelligence is struck from the dulness of a
scholar, it must be so insignificant when regarded
correlatively with his low cunning and craftiness,
that it can only render him more of a proficient in
the prosecution of his villanous practices.
The principal evil, however, resulting from the
abandonment of the Ragged and Industrial Schools,
and the development of the scheme of juvenile hos-
pitals, will be the diminution of the benefits which
are, indirectly, conferred upon the adult population
by the excellent influences of the former, and the
baneful stagnation of the better feelings which would
be the certain result of the latter. Without in any
manner exaggerating the advantages inseparable
from the establishment-of a Ragged or Industrial
School in such :a locality as Saffron-hill, the nucleus
of a district of profligates and vagabonds, we may
assert with perfect accuracy that almost as much good
devolves therefrom upon the parents as upon the
offspring. An example is afforded to the former by
the ameliorated natures of the latter. A spectacle of
regeneration, of a callous disposition rendered gentle
and tractable, of a barren mind blooming into saga-
city, effects in the households of the adult destitute a
more appreciable improvement than could by any possi-
bility be produced by direct and persuasive instruc-
tion. The separation of child and parent, which would
be requisite on the opening of a juvenile hospital,
would at once and entirely dissipate these indirect
advantages. Therefore it, is that we coincide with
Lord AsaLzr in denouncing this intention of a mock
and spurious philanthropy; and we should, more-
over, be as indisposed to witness the destruction of the
admirable system of Ragged or Industrial Schools
as we should be to hear of the expulsion of Mr.
BROOKE, the. enterprising and humane Raja of
Sarawak from those Dyaks of Borneo, to whom he
has opened the blessings,of civilization.

Letters have been received from St. Peters-
burgh to the sth October. They state that a
violent snow storm commenced on the 2d, and con-
tinued with little interruption till the sth, and that
the mass of snow that had fallen was immense. A
return of mild weather, however, was expected, the
early severity being no evidence of its continuance.
Exchange on London was 384.

Madrid papers of the 12th have arrived.

If the object of the mystery observed in Paris on
the subject of the departure of CHRISTINA was to
conceal her movements from the Progressistas, and
to enable the wife of
,Munoz to take the palace by
surprise, it has been frustrated. The Eco del Co-
mercio of the 12th states that she bad left Paris, and
was expected in Madrid on the 34th.
These papers state that there was every probability
of a reconciliation being patched up between the
QUEEN and PAQuo, and that SERRANO, before his
departure, had strongly recommended that the QUEEN
should issue a decree rendering it obligatory on her
husband to return and reside in the palace.
SERRANO left Madrid en the 11 th instant, "his
purse well lined," for Grenada. His secretary,
Captain CHINCILLA accompanied him, and General
Ros DE OLANo and Dr. NUNEZ went with him the
first stage of his journey. Under pretence that an
emeute was apprehended, the military posts were all
doubled on the 1 1 th, and NARVAEZ paraded himself
about Madrid on horseback in the most insulting
manner imaginable, evidently with a view to excite if
possible the sensitive Madrilenos, by whom he is
most cordially hated, to some outbreak. The Madri-
lenos, however, were too wise to be caught in the
trap set for them by the Afrancesados, and NARVAEZ
was permitted to strut about unmolested, so that he
could find no excuse for letting loose the troops among
the people.

MADRID BOLSA, OCT. 12.—The Three per Cents,
were done at 27k at 50 days; Five per Cents. at
17, for cash; and the Debt without Interest, at 51,

We have received the Paris papers of Sunday.

The Journal des Debats not only avows the sale
of arms to the Sonderbund, but justifies the support
which France is giving to the Jesuit minority
in their opposition to the Diet, which is the
legitimate government of the state, and more
than insinuates that France in conjunction with Aus-
tria will intervene by force in favour of the Jesuit
minority. But there is still a locus penitentice left
to the Radical majority of the Diet, if it will act

in such a manner that its origin and tendencies shall
be forgotten, if, in fact, it will follow the
example of the Government of the Barri-
cades it may be acknowledged as the legitimate
Government of Switzerland. It is well that the

organ of the dynasty of Barricades avows at length
the truth, and confesses what all the world has for
some time perceived, that that dynasty has, by prov-
ing false to its origin, endeavoured to make that
origin be forgotten, but, however much the dynasty
may have forgotten its origin, the French people
have not forgotten it, and although they are a patient
and a long. suffering people, patience has its limits, as
M. GuizoT and his partisans may find to their cost
if they attempt to support by arms the Jesuits of the
Sonderbund against the legitimate Government of
Switzerland. On this subject; we believe, the
National, in the following article, gives expression to
the all but universal opinion of France. The National
says—

" The mask is taken off. The French Government
intends to interfere with arms in Switzerland, in con-
cert with Austria, to support the insurgent cantons.
It was not enough to have acted with hostile intent
against the regular government of the Diet in send-
ing to the league arms and ammunition. If the
sword leaves the scabbard, in any part of Switzer-
land, her powerful neighbours must intervene to cause
it to be replaced.' So spoke yesterday the Journal
des Debats, or rather the Cabinet, for the origin of
the notes dated from Berne is a secret for no person ;
therefore we look on the declaration of the pretended
correspondent as official, and it is to M. Guizot that
we assign the responsibility of it. Besides all goes
on consistently' in his cdnduct with respect to Swit-
zerland, and from the inimical note to the Vorort to
the sale of arms and military equipments, there has
not been an act of the French Government that has
not manifested its firm determination to make the
Sonderbund triumph. The last word of counter-
revolutionary police is the menace of intervention.
Such is, then, the part reserved for France to play;
a liberal Government, our ally, resists.the attempts of
a factious minority, and it is we who are going to
give assistance to its enemies. Since 1830, the
Government which sprang from the barricades has
pitilessly refused to afford aid to the nations, which,
aroused by our victory, endeavoured in their turn to
escape from despotism, and now, behold, it gives a
contradiction to the principle of non-intervention.
What then is the powerful interest that prompts it to
act thus ? Be it remarked also, that it is doubly
in contradiction with itself. When lately it bolstered
up the half-overturned throne of Portugal, it appealed
to the treaty of the Quadruple Alliance, and the ne-
cessity of succouring the regular power against in-
surrection. But now that pretext is wanting; in
Switzerland the question lies between the Federal
Government and the Seven Cantons leagued against
it; right and justice are on the side of the Diet, and
yet it is in favour of the insurgents that M. Guizot
wants to intervene. Will France permit this ? We
cannot believe it. The idea alone of a war being
possible with Switzerland would at once rouse up
public opinion. Never, in fact, was a more insolent
challenge given to a country, and if carried out,
never would the natural tendencies, the legitimate
sympathies, and the real interests of the nation be
more cruelly wounded, and more audaciously slighted.
No, the intervention will not take place, and if that
majority in Parliament which the Cabinet has never
found uncomplying should consent to allow French
troops to pass the frontier to support the Jesuits, the
majority of the nation outside the Chambers would
rise to protest with effect against the complicity of
the legislative powers."
The Prince DE JOINVILLE sailed from Toulon on the
12th, on board the Cacique steamer, to.join the French
SIiSDO:s.T ST
squadron which was cruising in the Gulf.
palhaegeFdreenrcohpeTrahroene
Sunday, at
tsa.t wnefr.e4sdco.7ebeiinngthae
little lower t3l3l:3xLthles.closing price of Saturday.
BIISINLEO
ocKFORRIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
Northern of Irretee, EXI3IVANGE, Doan ,l&
—Namur and Liege, 434—.
Boulogne and Aaii
en3104-140n
Meuse, 5%. ea and Havre, 20—Sambre (

!,11.