The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-15 00:00:00

i't tiielli3l.l,l

LONDON, WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 15, 1847.

As an explanation of a somewhat mysterious pro-
ceeding on the part of Government, the speech de-
livered last evening by the Marquis of LANSDOWNE,
in answer to the inquiries of Lord STANLEY, could
not by possibility have 'been more manly, more ex-
plicit, or altogether of a more satisfactory character.
The explanation had reference to the continental
travels of the Lord Privy Seal, and the supposed in-
terference of the Cabinet in the political events which
have recently convulsed the different states of the
Italian Peninsula. Throughout every syllable pro-
nounced by the Noble Leader of the Opposition it
was manifest that he was labouring under the delu-
sion that the members of the Administration had
grievously committed themselves in regard to the
excursion of Lord MINTO, and that they had thereby
afforded him a delightful opportunity for driving the
Lord President of the Council into a dilemma. Sir
ROBERT HARRY Limas was, on Friday evening, the
victim of a similar misapprehension, but his curiosity
eas_
.on that occasion baulked by the ingenious
v
of her MAJESTY'S Secretary for Foreign
Affairs. Lord
P. ALMERSTON• was possibly reserving
his rejoinder for the day of his impeachment by the
representative of Youghal. However this may be,
the two querists into ourl diplomatic relations with
the principalities of Italy received very different re-
ceptions. The Member for
Oxford was dismissed
with a few desultory and enigmaticalProtectionists
contradictions,
whereas the Champion
of ob-
tained a series of revelations from the lips
of Lord LA/MOW:4IE of a nature rather
more plain-spoken, we conceive, than he
had anticipated, and certainly as rational and
conclusive as they were plain-spoken. If the
Gentleman the Member for Nottingham has acquired
for himself the somewhat invidious fame of having
delivered the most intemperate and injudicious speech
of the session, the Noble Marquis the President of the
Council has assuredly rendered himself conspicuous
by the enunciation of sentiments more frank, more
unreserved, and more characterised by the emphasis
of candour, than any yet pronounced since the assem-
blage of the new Parliament.
It was judiciously observed by Lord LANSDOWNE
that the occurrences which have of late transpired
in the • Italian territories have been alto-
gether of a nature so extraordinary as
to render it, in a particular manner,
essential for the Government of the country to have

some immediate communication with the different
Courts of that peninsula. To invest this correspond-
ence with the cordiality and confidence so peculiarly
requisite under the circumstances, it appeared to the
Ministerial advisers of our SOVEREIGN that this cor-
diality and confidence might be at once insured by
the departure of one of themselves to the seat of this
great movement of social and political reformation.
That such a conclusion was dictated by the sagacity
of true administrators every one will at once acknow-
ledge who comprehends the importance of the changes
taking place in the internal condition of Italy.
Considering that those changes must affect, more or
less, every one of the European sovereignties, it be-
came absolutely necessary that some individual,
duly accredited by the Government of Great Britain,
should proceed to the scene of these glorious commo-
tions, for the purpose of transmitting the most accu-
rate information homewards, and of affording such
advice to the several princes of Italy as might tend,
in some degree, to allay the turbulence and dissipate
the evil consequences which might otherwise result
from their legislative innovations. The rationality
of such reflections is indisputable. Satisfied,
therefore, as to the advisability of sending some
competent envoy to the Peninsula, it became evidaft
that one of the Ministers of the Crown would, from
the elevation of his official rank, convey more authority
and inspire more reliance than any other personage,
however distinguished. Of all individuals, moreover,
who could have been more appropriately selected for
the fulfilment of this extraordinary mission than
Lord MINTO ?-a nobleman eminently qualified for
the delicate duties of the occasion by his unquestion-
able skill as a diplomatist, and one, besides, who
could, with the least inconvenience to the public
business, be spared from his Ministerial occupations.
Having made this selection, and having provided for
the performance of the duties appertaining to the office
of Privy Seal under commission from the Crown,
the Government deputed the Earl of MINT° upon his
memorable excursion across the Continent. So far
we have the assertion of the Lord President of
the Council, that " the Earl of MINTO has
not been a mere pleasure traveller in Italy during the
last few months," but that, on the contrary, "he is
there accredited to all the sovereigns of Italy, with
the exception of one, to whom, by the law of the
country, as it is understood, he could not be legally
accredited." In touching upon this question the
Noble Marquis adventured upon ground still more
delicate than that to which the Lord Privy Seal had
proceeded. So thought Lord STANLEY, and, acting
upon this impression, he exonerated Lord I. am-
nowxs: from the peril of entering upon the matter,
by interrupting him with the reminder that " the
subject formed no part of his question." Again
the Leader of the Opposition plunged—by an
error of judgment—from the frying-pan. "
(said the Marquis of LANSDOWNE), the Noble Lord
alluded to it for the purpose of abstaining from giving
any opinion upon a most important subject. Now I,
my Lords, alluded to it for the express purpose of
a wing my opinion upon the question. My Lords, I
think it would be most desirable that we should
have an accredited Minister at the Court of Rome.
My Lords, I think it monstrous that while this
country is represented at, and has the means of
procuring the best information from, every state
in Europe, in America, and in Asia—that while
she is represented in all climes, and at Courts pro-
fessing all creeds, there is a Court in the very centre
of Europe at which she has no Minister, nor any means
of procuring that information which is so necessary,
situated as England is both at home and in her co-
lonies; nor has she any means of giving advice or ex-
planation which might avert much misunderstanding.
My Lords, there is no Court at which it would be
more useful that the Government of this country
should be able to explain the nature of many of their
transactions than at the Court of Rome. That can-
not now be done, because of the law to which I have
before adverted; but I think it but fair and open and
frank to the Noble Lord, to your Lordships, and
through your Lordships to the country, to state dis-
tinctly my opinions upon the subject." We thank
the Lord President of the Council for the manly dis-
tinctness of this declaration, a declaration which must
be the more satisfactory to the lovers of religious
toleration, seeing that it implies the unanimous coin-
cidence of opinion upon this matter among the dif-
ferent members of the Administration. The Noble
Marquis considers the existence of a law preventing
any diplomatic relations whatsoever between the
Courts of the Quirinal and St. James's to be nothing
less than a monstrous anomaly ; and we ask any
sensible man whether it is not a monstrous anomaly
that we should hold ourselves aloof from any inter-
course with the Papal States, and yet propose to
admit Jews into the House of Legislature !
whether it is not a monstrous anomaly to accredit
an Ambassador to the Court of the Emperor NICHOLAS,
and to recoil from the notion of sending one to that
of the illustrious and benevolent Pius I—whether
it is not a monstrous and incomprehensible anomaly
to admit of a diplomatic correspondence with Prince
METTERNICH, and to revolt at the idea of holding
any communication whatever with such a man as the
Cardinal FERRETTI !

The Committee on the caused of the late commer-
cial distress has not yet been nominated ; all that
has been decided on is that it shall consist of twenty-
six Members, but strong objections have been offered
to the selection made by the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, as not affording a fair representation of the
various classes of opinion entertained both in the
Rouse and throughout the entire country. The
labours of such a Committee can only be beneficial
when the most unreserved confidence is entertained in
its composition. As we have repeatedly declared,
we do not hope for any very valuable results
from the investigation. The subject has already
been more fully inquired into than any
other that has ever come before Parliament.
There is an enormous mass of evidence published, so
that there could be no imputation of rashness, or of
legislating on so important a subject without suffi-
cient information having been obtained, if measures
were forthwith introduced. But if every proceeding
is to be suspended on this, the most important topic
of the day—if the country is still to be subjected to
the operation of the code under which it has so long
suffered, and the operation of which has led to such
general and wide-spread ruin, which has paralyzed
our trade and commerce, and occasioned so lamentable
a depreciation in the value of every description of
property, until the report is obtained it would
certainly be desirable that such an appointment
should take place as would leave the nature of the
final decision in some degree of doubt, and not induce
the public generally to conclude that the only object
was to obtain a temporary postponement, and to
evade any change or alteration in the present objec-
tionable system.

It is not very often that we find our opinions in
accordance with those of the Noble Lord the Member
for Lynn, but there certainly appears to be a remark-
able exclusion of the gentlemen who, on a former
occasion, opposed the passing of the Act of 1844.
It is admitted, too, that the Bank of England is to be
put upon its trial. The conduct of its directors is
directly impeached, and they have intimated their inten-
tion of not insisting on the privileges that have been
accorded to them, by former Parliaments, as a bar to
the immediate introduction of such measures as the
wisdom of the Legislature may devise. Under such
circumstances, it would be but reasonable that they
should be fully and fairly represented. The Hon.
Member for London (Mr. PATTISON), a gentleman
of great experience, of the most undoubted integrity,
and who long has occupied a seat in the direction of
that great establishment, possesses therefore undoubted
claims to a place in that Committee, but he has most
unaccountably been passed over, and only one
Person at all connected with the Bank (the Member
for Westmoreland) has been nominated. Again,
there
are but two of the Scottish representatives althoughpro-
a system of banking exists in that
countrys
that is practised in England, and from which the
nnst beneficial results have been produced, and
neither of those Scottish Members are in an
connected with the joint-stock banks, or any ecgreem
mercial interests of Scotland. There is also but oone
"
Irish Member selected. In both countries an issue
of one-pound notes is sanctioned, which is not per-
mitted in England. Surely
one of the
most important inquiries connected with bank-
ing would be the prudence and propriety of

such a currency, whether it could with safety be
adopted throughout the entire nation, and whether
any and what precautions should be introduced with
respect thereto; and yet but three Members of the
twenty-six are competent to speak as to the practical
operations and effects of the use of the smaller de-
nominations of notes, and not one of those three are
connected with the banks by which these denomina-
tions are sent into circulation. The omission of the
Hon. Member for Birmingham (Mr. MuNTz) is, if
possible, more strange than any to which we have yet
alluded. That Honourable Gentleman may be
looked on as the representative of a large and rapidly
increasing party, who entertain the strongest
objections to the Acts of 1819 and 1844, and who
trace the continued fluctuations in the value of money,
and the deeply injurious consequences thereof, to the
effects of these enactments. He has repeatedly ex-
hibited the greatest tact and skill in the examination
of persons who were produced to give evidence in
favour of the views of the bullionists, and by judi-
cious interrogatories obtained answers showing on
what slight foundations the opinions of the party
under examination rested, so as greatly to reduce, if
not altogether overthrow, the value of the testimony ;
but he is passed by, perhaps, for that very reason, as if
the inquiry was not instituted for the purpose
of testing the efficacy of the present system,
but that it was only conceded in order to obtain a
report in favour thereof. The feeling of confidence
will certainly be greatly increased if the amendment
of Lord GEORGE BENTINCK is acceded to, and the
names of Mr. HASTIE, Mr. PATTISON, Mr. W.
BROWN, Mr. HENLEY, and Mr. Murcrz substituted
for those of Mr. LABOUCHERE, Mr. CARDWELL,
Mr. RICARDO, Sir WILLIAM CLAY, and Mr.
J. WILSON. Not, as we have already stated,
that we wish to be understood as casting a
censure upon any of the last-named gentlemen, but
that the opinions which they are known to entertain
would be fully represented on the Committee, al-
though their names were omitted, and that parties
would be more fairly balanced if the proposed change
was effected.

Letters from Malta of the 4th have been received.
The Earl and Countess of DALIIOUSIE had arrived
there safely, and had left for Alexandria. The
French steamer Tancrede, on her passage from
Smyrna, had lost one of her men frtm cholera. She
was consequently ordered to quit Malta.

Intelligence has been received from Lisbon to the
19th instant.

The elections of the electoral colleges took place
throughout the kingdom on the preceding Sunday,

and in every instance Cabralists have been elected.
The Septembrists protest against the elections as
illegal.
Intelligence from Madeira to the 4th December
had been received at Lisbon. The health of the
QUERN DOWAGER was much improved.
Madrid papers to the 7th have arrived.

The debate on the Address was proceeding in the
Senate, and NARVAEZ had in the course of it re-
peated the declarations as to the line of policy he
intended to pursue, which he had previously made
to the Deputies. The Congress have granted to the
Government authority to collect taxes until after
Christmas.

We have received the Paris papers of Monday.

The Opposition papers all comment on the article
on Swiss affairs, which appeared in the Debats of the
preceding day, and on the helplessly absurd position into
which M. GuizoT's Jesuit propensities have caused
him to place himself. We give the following short
extract from the Siècle as a specimen of the manner
in which these journals comment on M. GUIZOT'S
proceedings :

" We had yesterday the day of dupes, to-morrow we
shall have that of the spurs, for it is not possible that
the Ministry will not beat a retreat from the irresistible
ridicule which on every side attacks its unfortunate me-
diation. It has, so to speak, placed itself on the pillory,
and each passerby can fling insult or eerision is its face.
I❑ the discussion which took place in the Diet relative
to the absurd dispatch of M. Bois-le-Comte, M. Guiz
passed like a deserter before the Swiss Deputies to un-
dergo his flagellation. Already our Catholic journals
have inflicted a discipline on him; General Maillardoz
pummels him with the fragment of his sword, and de-
monstates in the journals the folly of the enterprise in
which the perfidious invitations of our Government had
driven the misled population. At present, the co reli-
gionists of M. Guizot protest aloud against the political
heresy of intervention."

The Journal des Debats, in the course of a long

article on the subject of the recent decree of the

Spanish Government imposing additional duties on
foreign manufactures, takes occasion to strenuously
advocate the principles of free trade. The same
journal publishes a letter from Naples of the 4th,
which gives the following account of the recent de-
monstrations in Sicily :
" The manifestations which took place here some
days past could not fail to produce their effect in Sicily,
a country which supports with great impatience the
Neapolitan Administration, and where emissaries, it is
said, from Malta and Corfu, keep up a sort of repeal of
the Union agitation. At present you must have learned
at Paris the demonstration which took place at Palermo
on the 27th ult., in the Carolino Theatre. It is said that
M. Franco, ex-Minister of Sicilian Affairs, happening:to
be in a box with his wife, regarded with an evil eye
what was passing. The cries then became more violent,
and from every side cushions were thrown at him, until
at last, weeping with rage, he was obliged to cry out
like the rest. A quantity of printed papers
were scattered about, containing Liberal senti-
ments. The next day (Sunday) the gigantic
statue of Palermo was crowned amidst the accla-
mations of several thousand spectators, the crowd
was harangued by several orators, and the agitation con-
tinued to sprcad. A petition praying for the immediate
formation of the National Guard was at once signed by
a multitude of citizens, but the authorities did not
think it advisable to entrust at that moment arms to the
people. On the Monday the aspect of the city was
gloomy and menacing. The authorities wisely avoided
bringing the Neapolitan troops in contact with the
population. It is said, however, that a conflict took
place between a portion of the crowd and some police
agents, and that several persons were wounded. How-
ever that may be, the counsels of good citizens suc-
ceeded for the time in calming down the effervescence.
On Dec. 2, when the steamer left Palermo, all was
quiet. A number of absurd reports have been in
circulation here about these troubles—that the consti-
tution of 1812 had been proclaimed, and that Sicily
having declared itself independent, had applied to the
English for succour. Do not place any faith in these
allegations ; all that is true I have told you."
The Courrier de Marseilles of the 10th says—
" The Prince de Syracuse, brother of the King of
Naples, arrived here yesterday, and immediately pro-
ceeded to Paris. This new journey of the Prince, after
his so recent sojourn in France, would seem to hive
some political motives. The reflections of the Journal
des Debuts, in announcing the departure of M. de Serra
Capriola, to take upon him the vice-royalty of Sicily,
are calculated to warrant this opinion."

The Duke Du DINo is about to be sent as envoy
from the Court of France to the Shah of PERSIA.
The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse
on Monday, at 75f. sc. ; New Loan, 76f. 25c. ;
the Five per Cents., 1161. 35c. ; the Orleans Rail-
road Shares, 1,186 f. 25c. ; Rouen, iit9Bf. 75c. ;
Havre, 470 f. 50c.; Avignon, 555 f. ; Vierzon,
542 f. 50c. ; Bordeaux, 482. 50c. ; Boulogne,
375 f. ; Dieppe, 2601. ; Basle, 162 f. 50c.; Paris and
Strasburg, 407 f. 50c.; Tours and Nantes, 3901.;
Paris and Lyons, 3831. 75c.; Spanish Actives, 23};
Spanish Three per Cents., 30k; Spanish Domestic
Debt, 25k.
MARSEILLES, DEC. 9.—Marseilles and Avignon,
571 f. 25c.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, DEC. 14.

Boulogne and Amiens, 14%—Dutch Rhenish, 234
Northern of France, ll%—Paris and Lyons, 51/4—Paris
and Rouen, 34%—Paris and Strasbourg, 3%—Sambre and
Meuse, Oil—Tours and Nantes, 4—West Flanders, PA.

SUPPLEMENT TO "THE LONDON
GAZETTE" OF TUESDAY, DEC. 14.
[The following should have appeared in last right's
Gazette]:—
In pursuance of the directions of an Act, passed in
the twenty. fourth year of the reign of his late Majesty
King George the Third, intituled "An Act to repeal so
much of two Acts, made in the tenth and fifteenth
years of the reign of his present Majesty, as authorises
the Speaker of the House of Commons to issue his
warrants to the Clerk of the Crown for making out
writs for the election of Members to serve in Parlia-
ment, in the manner therein mentioned, and for substi-
tuting other provisions for the like purposes:"
I do hereby nominate and apppoint Ralph Bernal,
Esq., the Right Honourable Robert Grosvenor, com-
monly called the Right Honourable Lord Robert
Grosvenor, Sir William Heatheote, Bart., William Ord,
Esq., Thomas Greene, Esq., and Thomas William
Bramaton, Esq., being Members of the Douse of
Commons, or any one or more of them, to issue war-
rants to the Clerk of the Crown, in cases in the said
Act specified.

given under my hand and seal this 13th day of
December, 1847,

CHARLES SHAW LEFEVRE, Speaker.

RE-ELECTION OF MR. CUARLES BULLER FOR
LISKEARD._The election for Liskeard took place yes-
terday, when Mr. Charles Butler was re-elected without
opposition.