The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-20 00:00:00

TIDE -ITN. LONDON, WEDNESDAY. .JANUARY 20, 1841.

FORTIFICATIONS OF PARIS•

The rOilci*lng is the text of tho project of law on
the fortifications of Paris, as it has been amended by the
Commission :
" Art. 1. A sum of 140,000,000'. is specially allotted
to the works of the fortifications of Paris. . .

" Art. 2. These woAs complise —l. A contiucu.
lino cf enclosure embvicittg tho tWo hulls of the l'.7.eitte,
bas.tioticri and teli'aceo, w th ten metres of esearpmeut
fronted with masonry.-2. Exterior casemated work.
" Art. 3. The funds allotted to Close works arc to be
employed simultaneously towards the execution of the
enclosure and the exterior works, and divided between the
different estimates, and in proportions determined below.
" Art. 4. The sum of 140,000,000 f. comprise; that of
13,000,0001., forming the Amount of credits already
opened in 1840 for the rause purpose, to the Ministers:of
War and Public Works, by the royal ordonnances of lac
10th of September, and 4th and 3•11. of October. Out
of the turn of 127,000,000 f. rem-doing .to be disposed of,
there is allotted the sum of 35,000 000 f. far the works
to be executed in 1841, and 20,000,0001. for those in
1842. Such portions of these credits a hick shall no,. be
employed in the period to which they are allotted, shall
be carried to the account of the succeeding period.
" Art. 5. Provision shall be made for these different
credits out of the ordinary and extraordinary ways and
means for 1840, 1841, and 1842.
4. Art. 6. The expenses caused by the department of
public works, in virtue of the ordonnances of 10th, 19i.h,
ant 29th September, and 4th, Bth, and 19.11 October,
1840, shall be liquidated by the Minister of that depart-
ment, and paid out of the ere lit of seven millions which
remains open to him, to the amount of this credit. Tice
excess, if there be any after this liquidation, shall be paid
upon the ordonnanees of the Nlinister of War, and upon
the credits opened by the present law.
" Art. 7. The first zone of military servitudes, such as

it is regulated by the law of 17th July, 1819, shall alone
be applied to the eantinuous enclosure and the exterior
forts. Tnis signal rule, of 250 metres, shall be measured
from the capitals of the bastions, to begin front the crest
of their glacis.
" Art. 8. The actual limits of the ocroi of Paris cannot
be changed, except ir. virtue of a special law.
" Art. 9. There shall he an account given to the Chun-
bers every year of the progress of the execution of the
works ordered by the present law."
To which, for the public understanding tha subject, we
add the project of law as originally presented by the Go-
vernment, and of which the bill, as it now stands, is a mo-
dification :
" Art. 1. A sum of 140 millions is specially devoted to
the works of the fortifications of Paris.
" This sum includes that of 13 millions, forming the
amount of the credits already granted in 18-10 for the same
destination to the Ministers of War and Public Works, by
the Royal OrdonnAnce, of the 10th September, 4th and
25th of October last.
" Art. 2. The credit of 127 millions, necessary to com-
plete the sum of 140 millions, is divided as follows
Works to be executed in the first place
Works to be executed in the second place 52,000,0001.
Total a mount
" Art. 3. The sum of 75 millions, to be applied accovd-
ing to the preceding article to the works to be executed
is the first place, shall be divided into three yearly allow-
ances commencing from 1841.
" To this effect a credit extraordinary of 35 millions is
issued fur the Minister and Secretary of War for the year
1841.

" The portion of the credit not employed during the
year 1841, shall be carried on to the allowance of the fol-
lowing year.
" Art. 4. The credit extraordinary of 35 millions,
opened by Art. 3, shall be provided for by the ordinary
and extraordinary resources of the year 1841.
" Art. 5. The expenditure effected by the department
of public works, in virtue of the ordonnances of the 10th,
19th, and 29th of September, and the 4ifi, Bth, and 19th
of Oc'ober, 1840, shall be liquidated by the Minister of
that department, and paid out of the credit of 7,000,000 f.
opened to him, so far as that credit TS ill go.
" The surplus, should there be any, after this liquida-
tion, shall be paid on the ordonnances of the Minister (I
War, and out of the credits opened by the present case."

PROTEST OF THE FRENCH AT
MONTE VIDEO.

The mariner in which the treaty has been received by
the French residents at Monte Video ;sill be best seen by
the following protest of the French inhabitants :
" This 4th November, 1840, the French residents at
Monte Video, at a spontaneous general meeting held at
the theatre for the purpose of protesting against the treaty
concluded on October 29, between the representative of
France and the Government of Buenos Ayres, proceeded
to appoint a committee, of which..M. Frederic Desbresses
was named president, and Messrs. Pierre Barron and Alfred
G. Bellemare, secretaries; who having sat returned to the
assembly, and read the following resolutions to serve ns
the bases of a petition.
" Resolutions.-1. The French residents at Monte
Video assembled here, and making themselves spun-
caneously the interpreters of the French residents at
Buenos Ayres, in order to make a national manifest:►tion
of their sentiments on the subject of the treaty conctided
on the 29th of October last between the French .repre-
sentative and Governor Mesas, declare that this treaty has
been made with an illegal power unqualified to negotiate,
and which has forfeited the respect and confidence of the
world; that it is illusory, and seriously compromises the
present and future interests of the French in these coon-
tries ; they, therefore, declare that they solemnly disap-
prove this treaty.
2. The French residents address themselves to the
Chamber of Deputies of France, to obtain the non-ratifi-
cation of the treaty of 29th October last, seeing not only
that it does not in any respect accomplish the exigencies of
their interests, but further seriously compromises the
honour and dignity of the French name. Messrs. -
are nominated as a Committee to draw up this address.
" 3. The French residents, in order to give to the re-
solutions which they have adopted the solemnity and im-
portance required by their object and nature, appoint as
their delegate in Paris M. —, whom they charge with
powers to represent them, and to support their demands in
an active and efficient manner.

" '4. It is also resolved that the retolu ions agreed upon
shall be signed, in the name of the assembly, be the presi-
dent and secretaries, that all Possible publicity shall be
liven to them, and that an 'official copy shall be sent to
France, with a stet` to accomplishment of the contem-
plated object.'
" The 'tnird proposition having been read, the meeting
"':,4nimously elected as its delegate in Paris, M. Alfred
Gustave Bellemare, and as its representat:ve in the Cham •
ber of Deputies M. Mermilloid. On the proposition of M.
Valliant, that a second deputy should be charged with the
interests of the meeting in the Chamber of Deputies, it was
agreed to leave this to the discretion of the delegate and
deputy already appointed.—Signed by the three secretaries,
.4 MM. DESBROSSES, BELLEMARB, and BASON.'

PORTUGAL.

LISBON, JAN. 11, 2 P.lll —The Chamber of Deputies
has keen almost exclusively engaged in ballotting for the
various committees. On the election of the Finance
Committee, under the immediate superintendence of Mi-
nisters,:M. Florid() Rt;drigo Pereira ['can, the actual Se-
cretary of State for that department, was excluded. This
has caused much surprise among the members of all coin.
plexions. The Committee is composed of Messrs. M. G.
Ferreira, Jose da Silva Carvalho, Gomes de Castro, B.
M. 0. Borges, J. J. Palm, Avila, and Roma.
Notwithstanding the little interest this session has
hitherto offered to public curiosity, M. Soure called the
attention of the house to a petition which he presented, a
copy of which I subjoin, numerously signed by the various
commanders, officers, and privates of the Metropolitan
National Guard, complaining of a circular front the Ad-
ministrator-General of the Nth of December ult., in which
he orders that the soldiers of this civic corps, who, ac-
cording to the construction of the said circular, came
within the meaning or are liable to the decree of the 13'h
of that month, are to join the new corps rai'ed under the
same, This petition met with the sympathy of the majo-
rity of the Chamber, who decided that it should be forth-
with referred to the Committee of Public Instruction for
its report,
To return to the Douro question, which:still continues to
be the all-engrossing topic. At two o'clock on Friday
morning last, Count de Almoster (son of' the Marquis de
Saldanha) arrived express from Madrid, in sixty hours ;
at eight o'cleclt. a Cabinet Council was held at the Home
Depatttreent, and, after a short deliberation, proceeded
to the Palace of the Nseessidades, At two they went
clown to the Cortes, where an immense concourse of per-
sons, eager to hear some important communication, ltd
assomided; but, to thcit bitter di,„appointrecnt ab,(l mar-
tification, not 15inglb ainclnutt! %vas trade. 'I ins, of
courant gave, rise to conjectures that the news cAild
not be of a palatable nature ; and in the evening:, at
eight o'clock, a meeting was held at the hotel at the
Deputy Joaquim Jove Pereira de Mellor which was at-
tended by the Dititee de raltlitifia and te.rtyra, a
few S'enatorn, and the greater part of the Ministerial
Deputies. Here, again, however, nothing of moment
was divulged, Ministers confining themselves to the
vague statement, that the Cabinet of Madrid would
not consent to withdraw the ultimatum of the ith
of December; it liarlr deeldud only bon Waiting
• until the end of this month, January, for the fulfilment of
the promises made by Portugal, and that the mediation of
Great Britain was not deemed by it to be necessary. It
is, nevertheless, understood, that the Regency of Spain
will nut treat further with the actual Ministry, nor accept
the mediation of England, and that a strong military
force is in readiness to march upon the frontiers of this
kingdom without delay. A Forcign-ollice courier Was
despatched for ti idri,t yesterday afternoon at five o'clock,
with the answer to the express received on the preceding
morning, which states, 1 ant informed, that the Govern-
ment will accept the extension of the thirty (Inas, but in-
sists an the mediation of England. Ministers, however,
hold out, that if they cannot carry the question in the
Cortes within the period mentioned, they will retire from
office.

...~~_ ..

-

The Spanish Government expresses itscif angry at the
hostile demonstrations Portugal is making, without first
publishing a manifesto declaratory of the cause, and d: ily
asks if Portugal is about to wage war against her.
It is next to impossible, in this distracted state of affairs,
to hazard an opinion as to how thin quarrel still end, the
difficulties that now surround Ministers being of more than
ordinary magnitude.
Another very serious circumstance, which must ten] to
cause extraordinary embarrassment to the advisers of the
Crown is, that the populace of the Alto Minho have
risen in arms, and spread themselves into many districts
for the object of preventing the enforced recruitments; to
such an extent have they, carried their resistance, that they
have already come in contact with a detachment of the 18th
Regiment of Infantry, kitling some soldiers and resetting
the recruits they had made. It is further said that they
have killed tart ithttices of the Peace, rind that the autho-
rities, through lea, have ceasvd to come the peevii,,, and,

consequently to fulfil the order of the Government. In
the Let:irias many persons are going about with arms, re-
stating the tteciuitment Act, and a ednsiderable number of
persons have fled from the Alemtejo to Spain from the
same cause. The authorities of Porialcgrc have, from
being menaced with assassination, left unexecuted the
injunctions of Government upon this head ; in fact, every-
thing augurs a disseletion and breaking up in the interior
df tliii ecitlntr,.
The preparations for war are actialy goleg on,
and every demonstration to repel invasion is manifested ,
110 pieces of artillery are already planted on the lines of
the capital, which, with its suburbs, is said to have fur-
nished 5.200 men for the standing army; and orders have
accordingly been issued to some of the parish overseers to
suspend further impressment.
The Porto steamer, having on board the Duke da Ter-
ceira and Staff, the Count Villa Real (the ex-Foreign Se-
cretary) to command the first division, and Viscount da
Serra do Pilate left for Oporto on Siturday last. The
gallant and distinguished 'juke 80,10 after hi, arrival
there, proceed to V.,lenca and other important itilitary
points in the northern provinces.
The debate on the speech from the throne will com-
mence in the Senete to morrow.
The Baron do ()icinss, a rich land proprietor in the
'Beira Beixe, his two sons, and other emigrants implicated
in the eineute of Castello Branco, who took refuge in
Ciiir.ad Rodrigo and Avamoute, have at length, after the
repeated remonstfances of the Marquis de Seldanha, been
removed to Salamanca. The Baron and 'i followers
have refused the amnesty of her Majesty the Queen.
Arrived on the 7th instant—The Espeir brig of war,
from Falmouth. The schooner Wave, from Newfsund-
land 39 days, hound to Jersey, laden with dry codfiih and
oil. On the 8-11, the brig Thames, from Leghorn 30 days,
with a general cargo, bound to London, wits compelled to
bear up for this port, having on the 3d instant, when
about 100 miles from the British Channel, been struck by
a heavy sea : she will probably have to discharge under
quarantine. The schooner Buoy Yacht, from Cardiff
23 days, laden with iron, bound to Oporto, has suffered
severely from boisterous seas and weather, and will dis-
charge. The Royal Tar steam-packet, from London amid
Falmouth, with the mail of the 2d instant. On the 10th
the Iberia steam-packet, from Gibraltar and CadiZ. The
French brig Mathilde, from Martinique in 43 days, bound
to Havre de Grace, laden with coffee, sugar, logwood.
and rum, with loss of bulwarks, stanchions, and two of
the crew washed overboard. The schooner Orange Branch,
from Dartmouth in nine days, bound to St. Michael's, with
damage to her rudder. The cargo of the brig Homer,
which put in here on the Ist instant, i s discharging under
quarantine ; the wheat is much heated.
Sailed on the oth.—The Royal Tar steam-packet, for
Cadis and Gibraltar.
Foreign Ships of War in the Tagus.—Trinculo and
Espoir brigs, British ; La Coquette, corvette, French ;
Brandy-wine frigate, United States; and Oscar brig,
Swedish.
Exchange upon London at 30 days' sight, 53d. per
; discount on ex-paper money, 60 to 62 per cent.
The following is the National Guard's petition above
referred to :
" Senhores Deputies of the, Portngt'ese Natieno•aeThe
undersigned commandants, (Akers, and privates of the
Lisbon National Guard, having received, on the 30th of
December the enclosed circular, in which the Administra-
tor- General of this district orders that all citizens who by
the decree of the 13th of December last ceased td belong
to the National Guard, be transferred to the National Bat-
talions, and demands that within the space of eight days a
nominal relation of all the individuals to whom such trans•
for has been granted, consider it their duty to lay before
the Senhores Deputies the following I—
" By the constitution of the monarchy, Art. 121, the
National Guard constitutes part of the public force, and
the actual law by which it is regulated, pointing out the
individuals of which it ought to be composed, cannot be
considered as altered, except when very expressly declared
so, and by legal means ; and much less can the Adminis-
trator-General give the decree such interpretation. So
much so does the decree suppose the National Guard to
be in existence, that in the Bth article it says, that
officers can be nominated from among persons of probity,
&c., although belonging to the National Guard,' and no
revocation taking place of the law by which it is governed,
the undersigned consider themselves de jure a de facto
members of it, and that they ought to be kept in it ; for
which reason they ask the Senhores Deputies of the Por-
tuguese nation to be pleased to take this exposition under
their consideration, and cause to be respected the authority
of the laws in conformity to the 37th article of the Con-
stitution."

AMERICAN BANKS.

The last arrival of New York papers furnishes
the speech of Mr. Wright, Member of the United
States Senate, in defence of the President from the
cimrge, by the Hon. Daniel Webster, of having made
a number of misstatements and omissions in his mess ige
respecting the national debt. It had already been ad-
mitted that the balance of outstanding Treasury notes
had been entre-30y stated by the President as amount-
ing to no more than ,q 4,500,000 ; hut the complaint
wa., that he bad wrongly represented that as the whole
debt. Mr. Webster, to show that the President was
wrong, had referred to what arc called the " trust funds,"
and chisfly, if not entirely, to those portions which ap-
pertain to the Indians. Of these he (Mr. Webster)
hail said that he was inclined to believe that portions
had been expended for the use of the Treasury, and
were now a debt on the country, and that the money
Stipulated by the Indian treaties to ha invested had
not nil invested, but that large sums had been ex-
pended, and tacru therefore a debt against the Treasury.
To answer these allegation, Mr. Wright said, he
found it necessary to consider several of these Indian
treaties by themselves, as they varied in the provisions

s)r the trusll constituted under tly.m. In the firA
pLice, he referred to the treaty with the Ciiickass ws,
,vhich constituted a trust of a novel description, aceor,l-
- to which the United States had become the volun-
tary trtiFte of the Chickasaws, stipulating to sell their

. .
lands, and, after dcdeeting incidental expenscs, to ae-
,munt to them for all ninnies remaining ury xnenclA.
The principal part of the money to be so received, he
learned at the Treasury, had been placed in charge of
the head of that department, for the purpose of invest-
ment ; small portions, belonging to orphans, and certain
other members of the tribe, remaining in charge of the
Secretary of War. All the money in the charge of the
Treasury, above the expenses, had been invested, where
there had been time since the receipts ; no part of it
had been expended, and therefore an addition to the
national debt was not to be sought in this quarter. This
money Is the only Indian money in charge of the Trea-
sury, the rest being committed by the treaties to the
Secretary of War. Another reference of Mr. ‘Vebster
had been to a number of treaties, with nine tribes,
which he had classed altogether, with a sum attached
to each of their names. These treaties, said Mr.
Wright, had stiptilated that the several sums should
be invested for the bcnufit of the tribes mentioned,
which he believed hid not been dune, Congress having
preferred tti appropriate the annual interest as part of
the current expenset;. lie bad learned, indeed, that in
many cases sales of the lands eedr4 by the treaties had
not been made, that in many cases the opeortes of the
treaties hitd not been covered, and that in actoe was
there sufficient money t,i brinis a large portion of capi-
tal into the Treasury. lie also sl;:rfreJ that there was
a constitutional reason for the non-investment, which
seas, that Congress had neither provided nor Dppro-
' printed the money fetjuired, end therefore, while he ad-
mitted it was a debt, said it was act 9ne that could be
recognized by the Secretary of the Treasury in present-
ing the means and liabilities. Mr. Webster had also
expressed suspicion? of other debts, but these mere sus-
picions Mr. Wright said it il!v impossible for him to

fathom.
Thus it is tolerably apparent that the Arlie of Mr.
Webster's attempt to criminate the Executive amounts
to little more than a piece of special pleading. It is a
very forced construction of the phrase " national debt"
to apply it to transactions with the Indians, as the
purchase of the ceded territory is commonly redeemed,
and that at a very early period, by sales of the. land
itself to new settlers. The message, therefore, in its
items of account, appears to us to remain anshaken.
These papers, by the present arrival, haves been ►e-
ferred to in the city with some curiosity in connexiod
with the affairs of the United States Bank, which have
acquired new importance since it was known that the
agency in London has been undertaken by the eminent
house of James Morrison and Sons. Trough it is con-
fidently held out that the Bank would resume specie
payments in this month, it is nevertheless certain that
an the spot, and in New York particularly, a very un-
favourable view is taken of its affairs. Fur this some
allowance is to be made on account of the rivalry that
subsists between New York and Philadelphia in bank-
ing, business generally, but still it seems that no harm
can be done to the shareholders in Europe of the
United States Bank by exhibiting to them the view of
its condition taken by an opponent, especially as that
is supported by a reference to figures, put forth as a
statement of account by the management. Mercantile
men more particularly will judge of the soundness of
the following remarks, which are;taken from the Journal
of Commerce of the 28th ult. :
" THE UNITED STATES BANK STATEMENT.
" In the present posture of our currency it is of great
importance that the real condition of the Bank of the
United States should be correctly understood. The ex-
position of its affairs, as published by Mr. Jaudon in Lon-
don, throws a good deal of light on the subject, though not
AO much as the public would be glad to have, nor as the
exigency seemed to demand. The fact that this state-
ment represetv.s the Bank as possessing its capital entire;
and a surplus of over three millions, while at the same
time the stock is allowed to sell in market at two-thirds of
its par value, has caused some persons to conclude that
they who know most about the matter know the state-
ment to be fallacious. The fate of the Bank must turn
upon the value of the following large items—viz.:—
" Dollars. Cts.
" Bills discounted on personal security 16,530,037 11
- Bills discounted on other security 5,438,177 08
Domestic Bills of Exchange
Foreign Bills of Exchange ..... 809 507 95
Stock Accounts 10,980,569 05

"37,595,663 34

" Of this immense mass of claims, exceeding the whole
capital of the Bank, we suppose it is safe to sty that there
is not one obligation which has not been dishonoured.
There may be, perhaps, more or less of these claims which
have been renewed from time to time, and these renewal
notes may not all have been protested. But the Bank has
made no new discounts of any importance for the last 12
months, nor in fact but few for the last three years. Every
bill, therefore, which it took must have long since arrived
at maturity. Ever since the suspension in 1837, it is well
understood that the Bank has been earnestly engaged in
collecting its claims. It has within that :ime done a vast
amount of new business, and has made some new discounts.
Immediately on the last suspension it discounted a million
or two, perhaps more ; but all these bills matured long ago.
If one quarter part of these bills are such as would be
counted good in market, they might have been readily dis-
counted at other banks, bringing four times the amount of
the loan which has been negotiated with so much trouble.
The large amount loaned on stocks, which appears under
the head of Stock Accounts,' must be in the same coali-
tion of dishonour with the bilis ;' and as to some of the
stocks held as collateral, it is known that they are worth
very little. What, then, is the value of these debts?
" There is another class of assets which, perhaps, is
worth a somewhat larger per ccntage upon its par
value, vz, :
" Real estate
134nking-houses
Bonds and mortgsgca 961,302 23

" $4,138,625 29

" There is then the items ' due by the State honks,'
and ' notes of State banks,' both together $9 573,237 3S.
The State banks referred to cannot mean the solvent hanks
of Philadelphia or New York, unless it may he that the
' bank of the United States in New York' is included,
which may perhat,s stand on the books as a large debtor,
in consequence of being charged with the suspended debt
here, The bank balances in Philadelphia arc all the other
way. Tne,,.e claims, therefore, must many of them be
against insolvent institutions. In the item of notes of
State banks,' we have reason to think, are included the
notes of one or more banks in Pentisylratiia which have
been worthless these dozen years.
" The item bonus for charter 25 years,' though pro-
perly enough put as it is in the statement, is obviously of
no value ns a resource for the payment of debts.
" The stocks deposited as security for loans in Europe,'
may be fairly offset against those loans, though, as they
are put down at their own cost, which was generally par
at least, they would net now sell for enough to settle the
account.
ti Then come stocks on hand in London ...$2,711,505
Agency—London, Paris, and Amsterdam 1,377;999 72

" $4,119,505 28

" What these stocks are, and why it is that these ba-
lances lie thus in the hands of agents, we have no means
of judgii:g. The balances would certainly not remain, if
they were roally available.
Finally, we arrive at something, tangible, viz.:—
" Specie $2,890,388 37
Penusylvania Five per Cents. 1,116,407 21
Loan to Commonwealth

" $4,267,795 58
" The spec' is a good and substantial asset, and the
Pennsylvania stock can be sold for its -market value.
" Guessing as well as we can, we will now just put a
value to these several items, as high as in our jude:ment
the finial result will prove them to be now worth, viz. :
.6537,695'663 34 at 50 per cent $18,847,831 67
4.138.625 29 at 60
9 573,237 38 at 50
4,119.505 28 at 66 2.3
2.890.388 37 at par 2,890 388 :37
1;487,407 21 at 93

Europe, ale n follow:
Circulation 59,725,508 90
Post notes
Bonds to Unitud State 1,336 904 28
Due State Banks
Depogits 2,815,368 40
Guaranteed to Michigan
Guarantee of Boluk Mantels' Bank 611,000 00

" $33,144,639 58
The liabilities of the Bank, exclusive of the loans in

" $24,396,078 10
" Nearly 20,000,000 of these liabilities arc payable on
demand, while most of the assets can only be realized by
very moder.ae instalments. How there can be any hope
of success with the loan in Europe, which Mr. daudon
went out so confidently to negotiate, we do r. ot under-
stand. Surely the Bank cannot borrow without collate-
rals, for it could not 18 months ago, when its credit was
much stronger than it is now ; and of collaterals it has hilt
a very small remainder. Should the assets of the Bank
prove finally as good as we have estimated them or better,
three years at I,:nst wid be required to realizc an amount