The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-17 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1847.

In the Lords the Brewing from Sugar Bill, and the
Sugar Distilleries Bill, were respectively read a second
time, and ordered to be committed on Friday ; and the
Destitute Persons (Ireland) Bill went through Com-
mittee.

The adjourned debate on the second reading of Lord
G. BENTINCK'S Irish Railway Bill was resumed last
eyening in the House of Commons by Mr. B. OSBORNE.

The House was subsequently addressed by Captain
Layard, Sir J. Walsh, Mr. V. Stewart, Sir H. W. Bar-
ron, Sir R. Peel, and Colonel Connolly. After which
Lord G. Bentinck replied, when Lord J. Russell re-
joined; and on a division taking place, there appeared—
For the second reading llB
Against it
Majority for Ministers — 214
The House adjourned at Half past Three o'clock.

The patriotism and genius of Sir ROBERT PEEL
happily relieved the closing discussion upon Lord
GEORGE BENTINCK'S railway proposition from the
weariness and frivolity which would have been other-
wise inevitable. Never were the illusions of a
political charlatan more thoroughly exposed than
were those of the diseased imagination of the repre-
sentative of Lynn, in the masterly speech delivered
by that Right Hon. Baronet. Without descending
to the enunciation of a single epithet that might be
construea as invidious, the ex-Premier overwhelmed
the miserable scheme then under the consideration of
Parliament with a deliberation more crushing than
the most vehement invective, with an enumeration of
facts more forcible than the most impassioned dis-
play of rhetoric, with a simplicity superior to
vituperation, and a logical explicitness that

sum of sixteen millions." What is the prin-
ciple upon which the Right Honourable Baronet
arrives at this conclusion ? It is upon the great and
immutable principle that public credit is a part of
the national property, that public credit is "one of
the elements of our financial strength," that it is im-
possible to pawn so much or so much of public
credit without rendering the nation liable to an

enormous "risk of loss." " Depend upon it," says
Sir R• PEEL, " depend upon it that a very consider-
able application of the public credit to the encourage-
ment of commercial enterprise at a time when other

great exertions are necessary, entails great pyblic ex-
pense and engenders the necessity for increased taxa-
tion." Those are the ripe and solid arguments by
which the specious propositions of Lord GEORGE
BENTINCK have been dissipated. Those are the sound
and golden materials of thought out of which the
Parliamentary reputation of Sir ROBERT PEEL has
been constructed, and doubtless they, as well as the
inherent absurdity of the railway bubble scheme for
the salvation of Ireland, influenced the House o
Commons in rejecting that scheme by so magnificen
a majority.

t is unfortunately incidental to all human institu-
tions, and social regulations, that they cannot be
efficiently maintained or duly observed without the
creation of certain powers which are nevertheless
liable to be greatly abused. The consequence has
been that, from the earliest times, the ingenuity of
man has been constantly called into requisition to
provide checks against the perversion of authority, in
order that the benefits attendant upon its existence,
indispensable in some shape or other, may not be
counterbalanced by evils of greater magnitude. For
the protection of life and property a wide range
of authority is necessarily conferred upon the civil
force of the State. But the greater the powers with
which persons are invested, and the discretionary
exercise of them with which they are entrusted, the
greater becomes the apprehension of their being un-
worthily used ; and hence the utmost vigilance is re-
quired on the part of the public to guard against any
undue encroachment upon their rights and liberties.
If we enjoy in this country—as we certainly do—the
blessings of freedom beyond what have ever been
attained in any other, it is to the zealous vigilance
which we have perpetually sustained over the pro-
ceedings of authorised bodies that we are mainly
indebted for their existence and security. The love
of liberty and impartial justice is so innate with
Englishmen, that notwithstanding these principles
have had to be defended in the persons of most un-
favourable character, they have nevertheless been as
keenly upheld by the public as if the injured parties
had ranked atuong the /ugliest and most affluent of
the land. Whenever, therefore, the privileges, and espe-
; eially the privilege of personal liberty, which he
cherishes beyond all price, appear to be threatened by the
conduct of the appointed guardians of justice—no
matter whether the encroachment emanates from
design, neglect, 'or incompetency, no matter whether
the individual affected in his rights be of high or low
degree—the Englishman is always on the alert to re-
monstrate, and, if necessary, to resist the attempted
innovation.

almost amounted to direct satire. As it would
he impossible to do justice k , the arguments of Sir
ROBERT PEEL without exten ding our commentaries
to a length from which we at •e at present altogether
precluded, ire shall abstain. from entering upon any
detailed synopsis of his °ratio n, and content ourselves
with referring to the repo t published elsewhere.
Anything more lucid; in arras Igement, or more posi-
tive in deduction, could not well have been desired
than the arrangement and thee deductions which cha-
racterise this remarkable speech. The Right Hon.
Baronet restricted himself ti ) the examination and
negation of the Railway 13i1 1 introduced by Lord
GEORGE BENTINCX. He expi ressly evaded the ques-
tion as to the most advisable n leasures to be adopted
by the Legislature for the n coral and physical re-
demption of Ireland, and, cc )nsidering the almost
idiotic extravagance of the pla n then lying upon the
table of the House, it would h. lye been equally inap-
propriate and injudicious to en lbarrass the immediate
subject of debate by plunging: into a labyrinth so ex-
tensive and intricate. There was the political char-
latan, with his legislative ;nostrum, tarrying the
pleasure of the Commons and waiting, from the de-
cision of the popular repre set itatives, either for his
triumphant installation in 'office, or for his ig-
nominious dismissal. Any complication of the
actual question would haire been mal-apropos
and unfortunate. Besides, which there would
have been a mournful im congruity in the asso-
ciation of the soundest op in ions of statesmanship
upon the present condition of Ireland with anything
so irredeemably silly and pre,eol iterous as the Bentinck
proposition. Sir ROBERT P.E: ex, therefore, confined
himself to the utterance of his views upon the merits
of that proposition.
In deliberating upon the propei. ety offending the public
credit to the extent of 16,000,,0001., the ex-Premier
very naturally directed the attf3ntion of the represen-
tatives in Parliament to the., financial condition and
the financial prospects of the, country at the moment
that extraordinary act of munificence is demanded.
The Right Hon. Baronet esp ecially reminded the
House of the accumulation of exigencies which
hare latterly tended to fetter :the move-
ments of the Government in regard to the
employment and distribution of the national
revenues. He recalled to :the recollection of his
fellow-legislators the coincident increase of drain
upon the public purse, and decrease of the
probability of maintaining the present flourish-
ing state of the revenue. With provisions at an
almost unprecedented prilico, with manufactures
in a most 'depressed condition, with cotton nearly at
its maximum cost, with the ports of Russia closed
against the exportation of vain by an imperial ukase,
with a singular elevation of prices in the
markets of the United States, with an addition
of fully 400,0001. upon or u r military estimates,
and without the smallest reduction in any one of our
miscellaneous estimates, Sir ROBERT asks Parlia-
ment if the country be exactly in the position to in-
crease its present enormous responsibilities by the
addition of not less than sixteen millions. The Right
Hon. Baronet goes further; he calculates from these
considerations, and from the incidental expenditure of
somewhere about eleven millions in aid of the suffer

ing population of Ireland, that there will be, on the
sth of April, 1848, a deficit of not less than seven or
eight millions. He then refers to the precarious and de-
pressed condition of the money market—to the decadence
of the Three per Cents. from about par to 91/.--to the
recent decrease of five per cent. in the value of funded
property—to the circumstance of a particular descrip-
tion of Exchequer-bills being either at a discount
or at not a farthing more than from 4s. to ss.
premium, and especially to the ominous and question-
able state of qur foreign relations. Bearing in
mind this extraordinary posture of affairs, the ex-
Premier treats the notion as little less than positively
insane, that Parliament should be expected " to
authorise the Government to contract engagements
which, spread over four years, may amount to the

In the meanwhile the foreign relations of France are
getting every day more unsatisfactory. "It is asserted,"
says the Siecle, " that the Government has received im-
portant dispatches from Tunis, among which is a note
from the Prime Minister of the BEY to our Charge d'Af-
faires, respecting the serious embarrassments into which
the BEY is thrown by the conduct of the Porte, and
asking France to make a serious and firm declaration in
his favour, in accordance with the promises made to him
by the Ministry. This note is said to have thrown M.
GUIZOT into a state of great agitation."
In Switzerland, England has taken a decided part,
which cannot but contrast favourably with the mean
and equivocating policy which M. GUIZOT is pursuing
in that country. The Union Monarchique says :
" We learn from a certain source that the son of Sir Robert
Peel, who is ad interim, charged with the direction of the
English embassy in Switzerland during the absence of Mr.
'gorier, has received instructions from Lord Palmerston to
signify to the Vorort his approval of the answer made by the
Federal Diet to the collective note of the three Northern
Powers. This makes another difference between the Cabi-
nets of Paris and London, M. Guizot having directed the
French legation in Switzerland not to express any sentiments
for or against, in this matter. Thus the same policy is still
adhered to by the Juste-Milieu."
The Moniteur has the following from Oceania
:
"The Minister of Marine has just received from the Go-
vernor of the French possessions in Oceania reports to Oct. 5,
and which are a continuation of that of June 4, previously
received. During that interval hostilities had not been re-
newed. By means of works of defence executed at Tumavia,
our troops being less occupied, held the insurgent Indians in
check in the valleys, and prevented them from assuming the
offensive. The communications between Papaiti and our
var native allies had
made several incursions into the valleys, and brought back
upwards of sixty prisoners, amongst whom were four chiefs,
and particularly the principal chief who had deserted from
the protectorate. The greater number of these prisoners
having made their submission were set at liberty. The Go-
vernor reckoned on the moral impression which was sure to
be produced by the presence of the reinforcements demanded
by him, being convinced that resistance would cease more
promptly when its uselessness was demonstrated. He saw
also, in the approaching arrival of troops, the great advan-
tage of removing from the minds of the chiefs who had re-
mained faithful to the protectorate all cause of apprehension
for the future."

The inadequate, and unsatisfactory performance
of the duties in the departments of the ma-
gistracy and police frequently call for severe
animadversion. By the merest accident, a female of ill
repute was saved from being unjustly imprisoned for
seven days. She was charged, before Mr. ARNOLD,
by a police-constable of the name of AMOS, with
having obstructed him in his duty by dis-
orderly conduct. The charge was totally
denied ; but she accused the policeman with
outrageous indecency towards her, from which she was
only rescued by the timely arrival of another female.
To screen himself from the accusation she menaced,
he took her into custody and turned accuser against
her, as already stated. The magistrate gave credit
to the oath of the constable, as opposed to the un-
corroborated declaration of the defendant, and sen-
tenced her to seven days' incarceration. Within an THE POST-OFFICE AND
theHE PARCEL
aonr(cliernewwa,s circulated amongst
hour after, her companion, who had witnessed the —Yesterday, by command ofT
the " receivers" Postmaster-
ogpeonsetrLitearns
poapaerres innotwhepulteedtroepdoltis, to the effect that any of
assault, arrived at the office, and confirmed the
them wh'
prisoner's statement, whereupon she was at once re-
"oPracrecaeslePtoosti;i" pledged to
theirl p,a,rkelrscelfoirtiatil4
leased. Before, however, the discharge took place 1` Ltoiiildon Parcel Delivery
con-
nexion are immediately to give up such con-
Mr. ARNOLD examined Sergeant COLEMAN as to
whether another female was in company with the office. This order has"craeucseeivderas"Considerable e
fodre
atlhoef Pcoosnt:
defendant on the night she was deprived of her liberty.
consequence
among the body of receivers, as many of them, in.
The sergeant admitted that there was. We do not fled
tiqieuierndciesaopf
ptrhozatsiti•ooffif ctehaeutatities not having signi-
desire to bear hardly upon Mr. ARNOLD, but recently they were in any war acting contrary toe c?an?, companies, ournesait
tatringly become receivers of parcels for the ab'ore companies.
raised to the bench ; yet it is clear that, before he
ibe late Mr. By no.'s estate has been valued for
passed sentence, he should have remanded the pri- probate duty at 4000601.° -
soner, and given her an oppor4inity of producing the The tide yesterday was higher than on any pre-
vious eceasion since the 31st of December, 1845.

These papers, on the authority of intelligence from
Germany, contradict the report circulated a few days

since, that the Emperor of RUSSIA had prohibited th•

export of grain from his dominions.

The CoTerrier de Marseilles states, that on Wednesday
last, the Greek ship Socrates, bearing the Russian flag,
and laden with 5,000 hectolitres of corn, was wrecked

on the rocks near the fort Saint Jean, and within 100-

yards of the port of Marseilles.

The Three per Cents. closed at 771. 85c. ; the Five per
" Cents 1181. 60c. ; the Orleans Railroad Shares, 1,240 f. ;
Rouen, 860 f. ; Havre, 6701. ; Great Northern, 611 f. 25c.;
Avignon, 825 f.; Vierzen, 570 f. ; Bordeaux, 532 f. 50c. ; Troyes
and Montereau, 312 f. 50c.; Basle, 205 f.; Paris and Strasburg,
468 f. 75c.; Tours and Nantes, 466 f. 25c.; Paris and Lyons,
490 f. Lyons and Avignon, 485 f.; Cette, 457 f. 50c.
MAnsxmLns, FEB. 11.—Marseilles and Avignon, 825 f. ;
Northern, 610 f.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE,FEBauanr 16.
A us
Dutch Rhenish, 4;4 —Great Indian Peninsular, 1,4 —ltalian and
and tLiege, 2% rian, 2;4—Luxembourg, 2%—Madrid and Valentia, %—Namur
Northern of Franee,l2%—Sambre and Meuse, 6%.

witness, who ultimately established her innocence.
By neglecting to do this he committed a serious
error. Again, Sergeant COLEMAN should have been
severely reprimanded, for not voluntarily tendering
the evidence which the magistrate extorted from him
in the latest stage of the case. If this esprit du corps
be suffered to prevail with the police with impunity,
the greatest injustice will be at times perpetrated
against those who, by reason of their poverty and ig-
norance combined, are least able to protect them-
selves. The Commissioners of Police have since pre-
ferred a charge against Amos for having grossly
assaulted the young female. Mr. BROUGHTON has
adjourned the case, with the proper observation--that
an indictment for perjury, and not a charge for a
summary conviction, should have emanated from the
Commissioners. As we must have police with ex-
tensive powers, the only way to protect the public is
to make striking examples of those who are found
guilty of abusing them. This, however, is a duty
which the Police Commissioners seem in no wise
disposed to discharge. Yet, until they fulfil it upon
every fitting occasion, they will not gain that confi-
dence from the public which it should be their sole
aim to acquire.

Madrid papers of the 9th have arrived.
Don ENRIQUE has been ordered to await at Barcelona
the further orders of the Government. His bride has
been sent to a convent, and her brother, the Conde DE
CASTELLANE, banished from Madrid. General PAVIA
has taken the oath of office as Minister of War, and
General ARMERA is to be the new Minister of Marine.
Senor SANTILLANE will, it is said, retire from the Mi-
nistry of Finance to make way for Count BRESSON'S
"man of all work," Senor Mort.

MADRID BOMA, FEB. 9.—The Three per Cents. were
done at 32 for cash ; the Four per Cents., at 201 ; the
Five per Cents., at 20i; and the Cuupons at 19.

We have received the Paris papers of Monday.
It was reported in Paris that a Cabinet Council was
to be held on that day to consider a proposal made by
the Marquis of NORMANBY that he should quit Paris.
All the papers, with the significant exceptions of the
Debuts and the Epoque, comment on the dispatches of
Lords NORMANDY and PALMERSTON. The Presse
is the only one which ventures to justify M. GUIZOT,
and the only reason it can give for such justification is
that it reposes confidence in him. Wo should
imagine from the savage attack made on M. TRIERS to-
wards the conclusion of the article that the chances of
that gentleman's return to office are greatly increased.
The Constitutionnel gives the following resume of the
affair:—

" Not only are the Governments of France and England
divided as to the interpretation of a treaty; not only does a
casus belli appear to exist as to the future, between the two
countries; not only have mutual accusations connected with
the negotiation of the marriages caused irritation on both
sides ; but a personal quarrel has arisen between the two
Ministries, and between the English Ambassador and our
Minister. To causes of dissension are added causes of
almost absolute rupture. It is difficult to comprehend what
relations can now subsist between Lord Normanby and M.
Guizot, and between the two Cabinets of France and England.
Beyond the point to which M. Guizot has brought our af-
fairs, is there anything but war? Who is the author of this
last complication? A fortnight ago M. Guizot expressed an
intention to reply to the moderation of the English Parlia-
ment by silence. The Opposition, not for itself, but in
order not to add to the embarrassments of the Govern-
ment, declined speaking. On the following day, how-
ever, all the Ministerial journals exclaimed that M. Thiers,
challenged by M. Guizot, had not dared to ascend the
tribune. M. Thiers had a right to reply to this impru-
dent defiance by immediately re-opening the discussion.
He did not do so, but still offered to M. Guizot the
honourable means of remaining silent. It is known with
what hauteur M. Guizot rejected this offer. The dis-
cussion took place. The speech of M. Thiers, an eloquent
exposition of the liberal policy of France, has an excel-
lent effect. It has been considered by the world as a pa-
triotic effort to reconcile the two constitutional nations, by
softening down the causes of their dissensions, to the great
advantage of the two countries, and of liberty. What, how-
ever, has been done by M. Guizot, the provoker of this
discussion? He, the great master of words—he who,
according to all his journals, is always so well prepared
—he whose great merit is said to be that he is
capable of defending from the tribune even a policy
in which he has taken no part—behold him throw-
ing new brands of discord between France and England!
envenoming the quarrel between the two Governments
by a personal dispute! Was this the motive of his insisting
BO strongly upon a revival of a debate which only two
days before he was so anxious to extinguish ! Let it
be remarked, at the same time, that the isolation of France
on the Continent seems to be changing its character. One
of the Powers which had kept itself out of the discussion has
at last taken part with England; and it is to be feared that
this is not the only one who will do so. It is true that M. Guizot
has, as a consolation for the dangers into which his recent
mode of defence in the Chamber has brought the nation, the
shelter which he finds for himself in the bosom of the ma-
jority. Yes, he has found one of those majorities which it is
so difficult to obtain, whose complaisance can never be worn
out, which has not even sufficient resolution to warn a Mi-
nister by its murmurs of the irreparable faults he commits
in the tribune, which is constantly applauding him,
which accompanies with its perpetual congratulations a
Government which is leading the country to the very brink
of an abyss. Our Ministers ought, however, to know that,
though thus appearing to be divided, their responsibility is
not the less one and entire. What, let us ask, is the re-
sponsibility of an assembly under similar circumstances?
Every one of those who vote to the last for a culpable
Ministry excuses himself when he finds the evil at its height,
upon the ground of his ignorance of facts and the general
confidence with which the Ministry has inspired him. In
such matters the adhesion of a majority like that which has
approved the unfortunate speech of M. Guizot, is not an
attenuation of faults committed ; it is not even an argument."
The Constitutionnel is right. The present complica-
tion is entirely owing to the cacoethes loquendi of M.
GUIZOT, who, sinking the statesman in the pedagogue,
mistook the Chamber of Deputies for the Sarbonne, and
lectured away as was his wont in former years, exhibit-
ing the same disregard for facts, indulging in the same
monomania for self-display, and forgetting that it is no
quite so safe to inuendo falsehood against a living am.
bassador as it is to sneer at the accuracy of a dead his,
torian.