The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-12 00:00:00

NIGER. EXPEDITION.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
It is a fact established by long experience that dew
exerts a most injurious influence on the human frame,
and in degree proportioned to its amount. But its
most deadly effects appear when contaminated with the
miasma of marshy tropical regions. Under such circum-
stances expcsure is generally fatal. The conducting
power of damp air to that of dry being often, in these
cases, as that of f3OO to SO, the functions of the air
cells of the lungs become deranged, and the tempera-
ture is thereby reduced. These consequences are justly
attributable to a surcharge of electricity. According
to Farraday, not even the lightning flash contains more
electricity than the gem-like drop of dew. Now it has
baen ascertained by experiment that a silk covering
of the common texture possesses the peculiar
property of resisting the noxious influence of
malaria, and of neutralising its effects. If, as is sup-
posed, the poisonous matter is received through the
lungs, it may not be difficult to account for the action
of this simple preventive. Silk is a powerful non-con-
ductor, ductor, and in the form of a gauze veil;:nyy
prove con_ a
sufficient impediment to the transmissioeouth. It is
n
M
delete-
rious particles in their passage to
i e other
therefore respectfully suggeasrteedth:rtit
am
precautions adopted by
Gram
insuret'toongth the
health of the enterprising
Niger Expedition, a supply individuals
of engaged in
respirators,the constructed
of silk, be included, which may
be
cost ; and, should the triallives
my
produceabe preserved, and the
procured at a trifling
the results antici-
Wed, many valuable
risks incurred from insalubrity of climate materially
diminished.

It
I mould seem that the proposed egiueta,dlitsoattiloienionf:
the duties on East and West hdpiaroßboauftniyiirsitiastitiraceatpinitgalthine
which has taken
mcr
Company,cea.sb
vestment attention
considerablei t,; ao d
amountma)'
There
ell:sr:italemeCn°tnatlY
pang,
Itohdei
Indiaancruilttiilation a and commerce.
Itihoetiesteasrtiatraidppiseaarlsreatidnytinthtehierficilidin
of Incorporation is a!-
ready before the House of Cernmoris and in train for be-
ing passed.—Mod niag Paper.

—on Wednesday, the 10th inst., a General As-
sembly of the Academicians of the Royal Academy of
Arts was held at their apartments in Trafalgar-square,
When Philip Hardwick, David Roberts, and John JaniFs
Chalon, Esqrs., were duly elected Royal Academicians in
the room of William Hilton, Esq., Sir Jeffry Wyatville,
and 'Dimas Daniell, Evi., deceased.

MORNING EDITION.

REPRESENTATIVE GO VERN_
NIENT.

SIR VALENTINE BLAKE'S SIXTH LETTER.

TO TIIE EDITOR OF TIIE SUN.
am firmly, but respectfully, of opinion, that
it would not be illegal or unconstitutional (although
it would be an unpopular attempt), to agitate for the
purpose of petitioning Parliament to subvert the Mo-
narchy ; end I am satisfied that every Constitutional
lawyer will admit that it is perfectly legal to agitate the
propriety of the repeal of the 2d Article of the Union,
by which the Stuart Family are for ever excluded, and
the present Royal Family appointed to the hereditary
possession of the Imperial Crown of Great Britain aac
Ireland ; and in illustration of my impression, I beg
leave to remind you of the Act of the Scottish Parlia-
ment to vest the power of nominating a successor to the
Crown of Scotland, after the death of Queen Anne, in
the Lords and Commons of Scotland ; to which Act
her Majesty gave the Royal Assent in 170, and you
will recollect that it was this Act that produced the
overwhelming necessity for the Union which followed
in two years after, as the only available mode of pre-
venting the otherwise inevitable and Cmstiltitional se-
paration of the two Crowns.
Yet notwithstanding the inevitable dismemberment of
the empire, which nothing but the Union could have
averted, a motion was made by the Earl of Findlator, in
1714, in the House of Lords of Great 13-itain, for leave
to introduce a all to repeal the Act of Union, which
motion was negatived in a very full House, by a majo-
rity of four only—all the rank Tories having voted for
the repeal.
Will the Hon. Baronet who displaced Sir Robert
Peel in the representation of the University of Oxford,
as a reward for his tested religious bigotry, allege or
assert in his place, that the predecessors of the Tory
Lords of the present day were all traitors and agitators
for the purposes of anarchy and confusion, for having
strenuously and constitutionally opposed the enact-
ment, and ntxt for having as strenuous!), supported the
repeal of the Scotch Union ; and yet, if he will deny
the constitutional right of any portion of the people to
agitate for the repeal of the Act of Union between
Great Britain and Ireland, or for any other repeal or
reform, he, in effect, by the same allegation, affixes the
stain of disloyalty, and a d,_sire to produce by illegal
means a dismemberment of the empire, upon the lordly
predecessors of his present aristocratic supporters.
My object in alluding to those historical facts, is first
to vindicate the Government in which her Aljesty
places her confidence, front the absurd charge of nut
having denounced the Repeal agitators in Ireland, in
the recent Speech front the Throne, which, if they I)4d
done, they would have exposed themselves to the last
degree of mental and constitutional incapasiny and
ignorance.

- I will do Mr. O'Connell the justice to say, that I
think his motives upright, and his conduct and
constitutional. But I differ entirely with him in the
policy he has .adopted, of ostensibly eppcaring with a
divided force, to agitate for and to prefer a specific
form of separate legislature in Ireland, which in prac-
tice (since the repeal of Poyning's law) would be inde-
pendent of the Crown, although nominally connected
with it ; when he might, by holding up his finger, create
a general combination, not alone of the Reformers of
Ireland, but of the whole united Empire, in favour of
an object which would place Ireland in a far more dig-
nified, influential, and commanding position than she
evjoys at present, or than the simple restoration of the
Constitution of 1782 would confer upon her.
I rather think that Mr. O'Connell would be
happy to see realised eve❑ a subordinate Parlia-
ment, / itred, and that he supposes that he ought
to canvass publicly for nothing save an independent
Parliament. His experience (of Tory Government), no
doubt, tells bins that all political ameliorations are com-
promises ; and, in this course, that he would have
something to relinquish, or give up in the way of bar-
gain or contract ; and he may be also impressed with an
idea, that more should be asked for than would satisfy,
because such was the usage during the prolonged and
dismal existence of an unreformed Parliament and a
Tory Administration.

gut, in my humble judgment, it may now bet!er ac-
cord with the altered position of public men, and popu-
lar feeling and iiifluencc, to ask that which would amply
satisfy, and to ask no more.

I confess that, actuated by those feelings, I warmly
advocated the acceptance by Mr. O'Connell of Mr.
Sharman Crawford's offered co-operation ; but, on more
mature deliberation, I now abjure the principle of a
subordinate Parliament, unless as the nest best alterna-
tive, in the event of intended scheme being rejected, for
the sole cud and purpose of its nominating delegates to
the Imperial Parliament, in analogy to the elective
portion of the peerage ; but as for any-.ether ptirpose, a
subordinate Parliament would be a body vithout power,
and by reasons of its locality more liable' to be thwarted
than a Canadian Parliament,—ln fact,ta subordinate
Parliament would be an endless source orfuture discon-
tent—a mere mockery—and on empty name.
It is quite manifest to all experienced R4ormers,
that any legislative mitigation of Tory n:anufacturcd or
contemplated restraints upon the liberties of the people,
must, of necessity, emanate from the loud, uniform,
energetic, and repeated expression of public opinion.

It was e•Ycr the invariable practice of the Torios to
dictate to the Parliament such measures only as origi-
nate with themselves. It is not, however, for a popu-
lar Government to adopt " this inverted order of
things ;" it cannot presume to lead, or to offer ; its state
of procedure must be to follow i❑ accordance with tho
expressed voice of the people, but this voice, to be effec-
tual, as in a musical exhibition by many performers,
must accord in time and lone in order to produce har-
mony.

Ju
stoso,thiay folded, so as to i
whenl tlshadesofdifrenrteenreceept whieh
are nosythe
genial influence of the SUN of Reform, arc
dissipated. When the rays of that celestid orb
are wholly condensed and concentrated on one object,
from whence the temple of the Constitution may he re-
novated, and restored in all its proportions, no think-
ing man cvn for a moment doubt the glorious result.
What that one achievement is that will produce una-
nimity and concert, and, if adopted, give ample security
for a further and more effectual instalment of justice,
not only to Ireland, but to each division of the Refor-
mersef the misrepresented population of the United Em-
pire, is the very important question which, with great
respect, 1 am now about to allude to, and which will be
best explained by the production of a voluminous cor-
respondence which I had the honour to hold with her
Majesty's Government, chiefly through the extremely
courteous medium of the Noble Lord who is Secretary
of State for Ireland

How far I may act discreetly, by at once publi3l,ing
this important correspordcnce, I am somewhat doubtful,
but I may be permitted to say, that the result of my
fecb!c effort is creditable and honourable to the Go-
vernment in the highest degree ; and I would be glad
if some Hon. Member would move for its production.
- I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obliged and most obedient servant,
VALENTINE BLAKE.

TIIE FINSBURY OPERATIVE
PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin—lslington is well known as a very quid and
M.espect able portion of the suburbs of London, and it
was doubtless on this account the Committee of the
Finsbury Operative Protestant Association fixed upon
the School Rooms in Church-street to hold their annual
meeting ; but whatever were their motives in creeping
into that out-of-the-way place, a meeting they have
.is
to know your opinion respecting their held
there this evening, and my object in n
proceedings.
by
Tno meeting was called placard, and the chair
hole writing
and corner
ou
Plumptre, Esq., M.P.
taken at eight o'clock
each ticket there was a sen-
tencepAoti Innt ei Admission oh
tnoaule:esthe
at various places, and on e,
holderpledged
i tr. t that the . himself to
some two or
of the Chairman• At the ap-
pointed by the decision
grantedc by Plumptre,
tickets, which were to be had
rootmo icwil,haienidi tm)ya)a'nlCloll)dy the speakers
three hundred) began
made appearance on the platform. After a very
l m
sort of introduction from the Chairman, the
Report
impatience
moved to be adopted, and seconded
(great was shown during nearly the whole
time by a majority of the persons present), when a very
i e ,
droves}'
r their,oyvva was read,
y
respectably dressed person rose, and in the most respect-
ful and gentlemanly manner requested permission of the
Chairman to move an amendment, to which the Chair-
man replied, that however painful it might be to him,
he should feel it his duty to act upon the regulation no-
tified on the cards of admission, and he could not, there-
fore, permit the proceedings to be interrupted, and
should any individuals continue to do so, he must re-
quest the policemen (there were several in the room)
to take them out I

This answer was met as it deserved, with loud exe-
crations and continued hissing and uproar in all parts
of the room, and when it had subsided, the individual
already mentioned, in spite of the Chairman's threats,
moved an amendment that " the meeting ccmidered
the report illiberal and unchristian," whereupon two
policemen advanced, collared him, and dragged him
out. This unchristian proceeding caused tremendous
excitement and uproar, and it soon became evident that
a good many Chartists were present, for a cheer was
proposed for the Charter, which was loudly responded
to, and they afterwards gave nine cheers for the same,
and not another speaker was heard during the evening.
The Chairman and other gentlemen on the platform
soon disappeared amid yells and confusion, leaving one
or two, however, who gave orders to the police to clear
the room.
The individual that moved the amendment was
neither, I believe, a Roman Catholic. nor a Chartist,
but the unjustifiable conduct displayed towards him
soon made the Chartists and all of a Liberal mind show
themselves. But what is your opinion Mr. Editor ?
I am, Sir, your's respectfully,
Jan. 15, 1840. J. T.

I.ORNIN EDI I lON

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS

FROM THE DAILY PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.
(From the Morning Chronicle.)
•, • _
In a law rendering it imperative that all 'mere Tmea
ingh or rebuilding, should be preceded by an efficient pro-
vision for permanent drainage, and should allow space for
a free circulation of air, immense good would be accom-
plished for the public without any wrong done to the yr,
pee ' tors of the ground. The prospective restriction merely
elestroys that contingent value in their property which de-
pends upon the infliction of a wrong on others. This
would be no subject of reasonable complaint. If there be
no property in slavery or blasphemy, assuredly there ought
not to be a property in pestilence, or in the probable causes
of its production. tnders ech a law, it might cease to be
profitable to run up the miserable sheds, in swampy ground,
which are now found to answer the purpose of the
proprietor. The expense of draining thg ground would
induce the erection of more decent dwellings. And
although the immediate gains might be diminished, the
property would be permanently improved by the loss of
its sordid and noxious cha aster. Prevention, in this
case, is as easy as it is just and wise. Whit existing
'streets, courts, lanes, and elle; s, the question becomes
more complicated. In many cases we may almost fear
that a wholesome system of drainage has been rendered
impracticable; and that little more can be done than to
enforce such alleviating expedients as may mitigate a
temiiance not wholly removahle. In other cattes, where
drainage is less diffieult, it may yet be very expensive.
Landlords will sometimes abandon their properly altoge-
ther: rather than rebeild mad improve. la Mr. Symons'
work on " Art and Artisars," he cescribes his vish, in com-
pany with the Superintendent cf Peliee., to a u st of buildings
which had been 'Condemned as dilapidated. Tie owners would
not be at the cost of taking them down, th mgh by the
condemnation any rent from their tenants ceased to be
recoverable. As a natural result, such places become the
- haunts of thieves and prostitutes of the lowest description,
sinks of the deepest wratcherleess and loathsom • profligacy.
Lon-Le, the owners of private houses hove often shown
is strong indisposition to avail themsclsea of the.oppor-
tuaity of drainage riff:rded them by the corporaeor: im-
provements, om,account of the comparatively srmill outlay
it woull impose upon themselves. Dr. San:lin-O'AI
Smith mention?, in his evidence, that " after the
City et London made that great sorer in Al gate
High-street, the C,ty had the grossest difficulty in
getting the butchers derin ire° it." They could
eot see why their delte.:te neighboers should be
offrmied nt the stagnate blood and efral of their
slaughter-houses ; stilt les: why they should be taxed
to relieve such delleacy. the L}neli, the medical
officer of the West London Union, adds a similar
in-
stance. In a place called Black Bear-alley, of about 300
yarns in extent, forty cases at typhus fever occurred with-
in a pc, led of six months. The (..;:ty expemic I some 900/
in draining and in improving the ventilation of this spot.
and the fever altogether ceased. But " the proprietors of
the !mire s gave as much eppo,Atien as they possibly could ;
the Commissioners of the Cite of London required they
should par one-thir teeards the outlay, but they refused
to centribire;" and theree arc, it a?peais, no existing means
or csainpulsion. Sech facts ne: only evince the necessity
of a protecting llower being exercised by the Legislature,
in favour of the publ c, and against the cupidity or preju
dice of proprietors, bet they also indicate a difficulty which
the public itself may, at first sight, shrink from encounter-
ing. Beycnil his own groned no landlord, as such, can
fairly be tatted for the drain ge of a town or parish. There
must be something 1 ke a general system, anu a correspond-
ing outlay on the part of tee district.
(From the Mcr;iin,r), Adocrlisrr.)
We have received the folloeing observailens from a
Corr‘spondent, but we cannot egi cc with him in all his
tic we. Admiral Eliot has given a great chance away.
The Tories are feiening the utmost alarm lest the cape.
dition to China should turn cut a cemplii!e failure; and
in the hopes of imparting a portion of it to the public,
have assured us that the latent ieteEigenee, so to from
warranting hopes of an advantageous settlement, an-
neenees that caerythiog is going amiss. . arc at a
loss to know 13,011 :511A, grounds they litre built this
pile:in-iris:li. Events have certainly net justified the
inference, and the opinion of the mercantile world, and
of those most conversant with the scene of action, and
with the Chinese character, may be inferred from the
significant fact that the intelligence received by the
latest a'lviccs has had little or no cif:et upon that sen-
sithe barometer in anything relating to the affairs of
China—the tea market. We have no doubt that such a
calamity as the abortive issue of the costly enterprise upon
which so much depends, front hatever causes it might
proceed, would be balanced in Tory estimation by the un-
popularity it might cast upon the Whigs. The avidity
with which their organs of the press seize upon the slightest
unfavourable rumour, and depreciate the greatest success,
proves how much they would prefer to seethe failure of the
great national objects of this expedition, to witnessing its
favourable contrast with their own futile measures from
Lord Macartney's embassy down to Lord Napier's. But
remote as is the scene of action, it is not under Whig
councils that such want of energy will be displayed. The
Governor-General of India is not the man to be either out-
witted er hoodwinked by Chinese cunning, as so many of
bis Tory predecessors were.
(From the Times.)
The Journals of yesterday apprised the public of the
manner in which the poll at St. Alban's had terminated.
We say the poll, as contra distinguished from the " elec-
tion," because the election cannot, strictly speaking, be
considered at an end until the Member nemed by the re-
turning officer shall have sat in Parliament beyond the
time limited for presenting petitions, or shall by the elec-
tion committee have been declared duly elected. The can-
elidato defeated (pro ten:pore) on this occasion is Mr. Ben-
jamin Bond Cabbell, whose name and character have long
been known wherever there is a charitable institution to ho
found within this country. This gentleman appeared, at the
close of the poll, to have had but 20.5 votes in his favour, while
his adversary had over him a nominal majority of 47 votes.
And who was that adversary cf Mr. Cabbell? No other
than the Earl of Listowel, an Irish Peer, who further de-
scribed himself in his speech to the electors, that he was
4' a true Reformer," and of coutso (for the word implies
it) a steadfast enemy of corruption-in the very " broadest
sense ;" that he " desired to see all abuses corrected"._
that he " gave the Ministers his free and independent sun-
poi t, following the dictates of his ' conscience.'" His
conscience! (" Hear ye that ?" quoth old R.bert
Adams.) But the Irish Peer goes on :—" It is ob.
jested to me that I am the nominee of the Govern-
ment, a Lord of the Bitiehamher," &e. " I am
no nominee, but an unpledged wan ! unshackled by
any restraint"—save and except always that of his
•4 conscience"—" I am, it is true, a Lord of the Bed-
chamber, and that, I think, ought to be some recommenda-
tion to me, rather than a reproach. It is a recommenda-
tion that her Gracious Majesty has thought me worthy
of a high station in her household." Certainly, every-
body must admit the value of such a recommendation,
it being well known that her Gracious Majesty i; as
nice in her selection of Lords of the Bedchamber as
she is inflexible in her adherence to them when ap-
pointed. Lord Listowel, then, goes down to the bo-
rough of St. Alban's, as a pore and incorrupt reformer
—a conscientious Bedchamber Lord—and above all, no
nominee of the Court or Minister, bet a man of
perfectly free and unshackled independence. To be
aura there were those on the hurting; of St. Alban's
who dissented slightly from the above estimate of the
noble pleeernates merits, given in by the Noble Lord
himself. Mr. Story, for instance, who proposed Mr. Cab-
bell nearly laughed outright at what s'..ertied to him the
unparalleled e grontery of his Lordship. " U,. flinching
Reformer, indeed," exclaimed Mr. Story, " why, the thing
is impossible, it is incompatible with possession of the tinsel
of office, and the enjoyment of a large salary. The Noble
Lord is the instrument of the Government, seet down to St.
Albars'a to repair their fallen fortunes at Canterbury and
Walsall, and tho.e who hear me may Mite my word that
the whole of the Noble Lord's expenses in this contest
will come out of their pockets." As fur the Noble
Lord's being " sent down " to St. Alban's, the thing is
quite notorious, and speaks for itself.
(From the Morning Herald.)
Neither Lord Melbourne in the Upper House, nor Lord
Palmerston in the Lower, have, in answer to the questions
put to them respectively relative to the case of Colonel
111'Imod, given Parliament and the country any assurance
that the Queen's Government have taken the course, and
the only course, that became the dignity of the British
Crown, and suited the exigency cf the case, which was to
demand peremptorily the iustant liberation of the prisoner,
or to take the consequence of immediate reprisals in the
cunt of a refusal. Any course short of this, after the cool
and icsulting answers given by the Government at Wash-
ington to the civil remonstrances of Mr. Pox, would only '
indicate weakness and irresolution, more likely to seal
the fate of the intended victim than to save his life.
If Ministers, since they received intelligence of the
abortive result of Mr.. Fox's communications with Mr.
Forsyth, had, with the promptitude which the case de-
manded, taken this energetic arid determined step, neither
Lord Melbourne nor Lord Palmersten would have been
afraid or ashamed to make it known. In such a matter as
this there can be no creditable motive for concealing any
part of the transaction. An for
the yet, if it had not been ,or
= Fox
and publication of the
respondence between Mr. ox
and Mr. Forsyth, by the American Government, the Bri-
tish public would have been allowed to remain in profound
ignorance of that which has excited so great a sensa-
tion throughout England—the deliberate determina-
tion if the American Government to allow a jury of " sym-
pathisers" in the State of New York to perform the ope-
ration of Lynch-law (for it could be nothing else) upon a
loyal subject of the British Crown, for faithfully obeying
the commands of his Government, and discharging- his
duty to big Sovereign and his country.
(From the Morning Post.)
It is impossible to have read the debate in the House
of Commons on the second reading of the Bill for pro-
longing the existence cf the Poor-law Commission with-
out being struck lay the vast preponderance of authority
in favour of the principle of that measure. We are far
from saialiing to disc mrage in others, er being content •
to reiirquish for ourselves, that 'independence of thought
which refuses to be implicity guided upon any sub-
ject by mere authority, however high. Yet, ashen
we fled the lending men of every party in the
State concurring in their vices upon a subject of
domettic regulation—when we find a vast m"jority of those
Members of she two Houses of Parliament w -o are known
to take the most active interest in the welfare of the dis-
tricts in which their respective properties are situated, and
in which they severally reside during r. large part of every
year, concurring in the same opinion, and when we are '
bound- to acknowledge that among this vast array of
eminent Statesmen, of powerful Peers, and of wealthy
commoners, whom even the habitual antagonism of
party cannot separate upon this one subject, there are
few, if any, who do not eejoy and dessrve in public and
in private life a high reputation for intelligence, integrity,
and benevolence—when we look at this overwhelming
weight of authority, it is impossible not to feel that any in-
dividual judgment, in so far as it is opposed to theirs, can
ba het of very little value; that there is a boldness in dif-
fering from them which nothing but the strongest reasons
can excuse ; that in such a case vague declamation or
angry invective are as unseemly as they are futilc; arid

that even such arguments as may seem most solid and con-
vincing to the individuals advancing them would lose
nothing of their power though produced with modesty and
relied upon with diffidence.
(From the Globe.)
Chinese affairs, notwithstanding the crushing an-
swers which events have given to the factious cries of
last Session, are still used to help the Tories to the
sweets of office and misgovernment. The Times,
which was compelled to recant all it said against the
policy of the Government in making reprisals on the
Chinese, has once more given utterance to a Graham-
afflatus A pamphlet is, we see, advertised, entiticd
" War with China," and the motto is—
" An if a man would buy a poison now,
Whose sale is present death—
Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it him."

SHAKSPEARE.

We like this motto much. The lively fancy of
the pamphleteer makes John Chinaman, Romeo—
opium is the poison—and the caitiff wretch, the apo-
thecary, is John Bull—a capital cast of the parts !We
will not accept the Times' account of the success which
the Whirr newspapers said had attended our arms in
China. 'Apart from the inflated and mlgniloquent ver-
biage which the Times employs, and which we know
of no Whig journal tasteless cnoug'a to use, no
Whig newspaper ever said that the negotiations
with the Celestial Government, which had barn
commenced, had also been completed. When
&scribing the nature and purposes of the expe-
dition, we always said—reprisals for the sake of nego-
tiation. To the cry of an " Wain War," we replied
—both words are false. The Government has issued
an Order in Council for reprisals—they have not
declared war. The opium traffic is not as object
of the expedition. The British has joined the Chi-
nese Government against the opium smugglers.
Superintendent Eliot, in December, 1839, com-
pelled all boats engaged in the opium traffic to quit
the Canton river, and. he expelled Mr. James
Inncs far persisting in the traffic. Lord Palmerston,
besides instructing the Superintendent to abstain care-
fully from any connection with any traffic which inter
fered with the laws and customs of the Chinese,
strongly reprimanded the Briiish subjects who
raised a riot when Commissioner Lin caused a Chinese
smuggler to be strangled before the foreieni factories.
John Bell, therefore, is not a caitiff seeking to sell poi-
eon. Negotiation, in one word, was the object of the
expedition. Admiral Elliot, the brother of Lord
Minto, hes speedily and successfully won this object—
ivy eelined negetietion. The Chint.se insisted on
pucishin; British eubjects, and o t den;.ing diplomatic
reletions the I3Htish Superintendent. They would
strike, and they would not hear. Toe pettiest efficer of
the Celstial Eeipire refused to re:et:ire a letter from
the representative of the Queen of Englend, unless
marked as coring from en inferior to a superior. When
for the :like of pc- ce this was submitted to, the
Chinese threatened to exterminate the British if an
Eiglishmon was not given up to die for a Chinese
killed by an American. Thiel the hostilities com•
tnenced. But our reprisals sought not war, bat peace ;
they told the Chinese, If you will not reason with us,
you must fight us. But they first slid, Reason with us
and hear us, as friends of peace and fellow-men. All
throughoot the discussions of last S=ssion we declared
that undoubtedly one of the very first things
done by the conductors of the expedition would
be to demend diplomatic relations, and make proposals
for negotiations to the Chinese Gorernanent. The men
who then denounced what they called the war as a
monstrous iniquity, now denounce the reprisals for
being reprisals and not war. They formerly repeated
the exaggerations of Joseph Ste4e and the peace men,
and they now echo the exaggerations of the reckless and
impatient war men.
. . .

(From the Courier.)
Under the full hope that the Bill for the regulation of
railways was not to be thrust forward until its provisions
and clauses had been fully considered and discussed by
all the railway companies, not only in essa but in
posse, we recommended the companies to withhold all
opposition, and to give their confidence and opinions to
the Csrnmittee appointed at the Birmingham conference,
which Committee consists of Mr. Glyp, Mr. Russel,
and Mr. Chaplin, the chairmen or deputy-chairmen of
the most important lines out of London. We now find
the Bill stands for a second reading on Friday evening
ne.rt, before a copy of the propcsed Act can have been
laid before halt the railway boards, the clauses of
which all go on small legislation. It would be better
at once to appoint Mr. Porter auditor, Mr. Laing
prosecutor, and Sir Frederick Smith superintendent of
all the lines in the kingdom—what these gentlemen
know on the subject is a different matter. To
them it is proposed to commit the most minute detail
of the working of the lines. They arc to judge of the
servants, of the signals, of the starting of the trains, which,
if carried into effect according to the clause in the
Act, would shut up the Croydon Railway until
the new line was made into Lonon. As no acci-
dent has arisen on the Greenwich line to cause such
legislation, it would be hard indeed upon these com-
panies to be subject to the provisions of this proposed
" Regulation for the Safety of the Public," or to be
dependent on the whim or caprice of theie gentlemen of
the railway department of the Board of Trade, whose
knowledge of the working of companies is nil, and to
whom no such power should be given. Hall legislation
is always bad, and we should be much more disposed to
leave the public, who are sagacious and timid enough for
self-protection, to force due protection on the companies,
than that any Government department should hare any
power in details unconnected with the acts of incorpo-
ration, which acts, by the way, should be assimilated.
(From the Standard.)
We do not believe that a single shilling was expended
in corruption by Mr. Gibbon's friends ; and this it is
which causes us to exult as much in the temporary defeat
at St. Alban's, though it should be a permanent defeat, as
in any victory. It is, indeed, a glorious victory over the
bad habits of both parties, and a proud moral tri-
umph over the corrupt Whigs and Radicals. "If
tibi (-runt arks." Let the Conservatives take this
course, and they ensure not only an early but an en-
during ascendancy in the estimatian of the moral
ard religious people in England. Better far be
beaten here and there by the force of corruption,
than try to avoid defeat by meeting bribes with bribes.
Defeats like that of St. Alban's (it cannot be told
too often) are real victories. Which will have
most effect at the next general election ? The
recollection that the Whigs have been beaten
at Canterbury, Walsall. and in Monmouthshire,
by even the perfectly honourable means by which they
were beaten, or the recollection that in their despair
they bought, with undisguised and impudent profligacy,
eighty corrupt electors of St. Alban's with gold from
the Treasury, while the Conservatives would not cor-
ruptly advance one shilling iu the contest deemed vital
by both parties ?