The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-31 00:00:00

ONDON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1841

Mr. I.F.D.MOND W. O'MAZIONEY replied to the toast of
the peopie, end concluded by proposing the health of the
Rev. Dr. 'Magee.
Dr. MAGEE 4r6iponded. Whatever he had done was
not for one man, but for the country ; and his conscience
told hint he was right.—(Cheers.) That was a glorious
day for them, for they had amongst them the father of
their native land.—(Cheers.) Let them be true to them-
seNes, and, above all, stick to their liberator.—(Cheers.)
The CllAinmszi then proposed Mr. Dillon Browne and
Mr. Blake the Members for Mayo.
Mr. DILLON BROWNE replied, and after a few other
toasts, the meeting separated.
The gallery was filled with ladies, who seemed to
take a deep interest in the proceedings, joining in the
cheers given to Mr. O'Connell.

LORD PONSONBY AND c, THE
SUN." •
(From the Morning Chronicle.),
CONSTANTINOPLE, AUGUST 7.
(rIsoM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
The Sun has an article (quoted .in Galignanis Mes-
senger, July 13), in which, after observing • that the cor-
respondent of the Chronic]: at this place had repeatedly
asserted that all Tile Sun had stated relative to Lord
Ponsonby's enmity to :Mehemet Ali was false, it declares
that it is better informed upon this subject than other
journals, and that the semi-official " contradictions of
these journals can have no value. It then seeks to esta-
blish the truth of its declaration, by republishing two
letters extracted from the correspondence laid before
Parliament.
Now, the correspondent of the Chronicle begs most
respectfully to assure The Sun that, in endeavouring to
refute the attacks so unfoundedly and unjustly levelled
against Lord Ponsonby, he alluded. much more to the
diatribeg of foreign journals than to, the observations, no
matter how acrimonious, of those of his own country,
and above all those of The Sun. For, as The Sun (even
in the very article in question) had always lauded the
policy .of Lord Palmerston, whose agent, Lord Pon-
sonby, acted under his 'orders ; who was, from the very
nature of circumstances, identified with his em-
ployer, and who devoted himself to carry out the mea-
sures of his employer, the correspondent of the Chronicle
was not prepared to find The Sun praising the one and
condemning the other.
Hail the British Ambassador at Constantinople neglected
to execute his chief's instructions, and had failure ensued,
then the agent might have been separated from the em-
ployer, and visited 1%1111 severe censure ; but when mea-
sures applauded by almost all parties were recommended
by.governmenti and •auccessftilly carried into effect by
the Ambassadors it it 'more' than unjust and
.incon-
sistent to ascribe' praiSe to the former, and to cast blame
upon the latter. If Tice Sun's authority be as good as
he asserts; he need not be told that, whatever might
have been Lord Ponsonby's motives, it is an unques-
tionable fact that Syria would not have been .restored
to its lawful sovereign, at. all events without a doubtful
and sanguinary campaign, had not Lord Ponsonby
dsiplayed the most timely decision and promptitude ;
Consequently, if praise be due to any one for the issue,
no man is more deservedly entitled to a large portion
of this praise than he with whom the suggestion ori-
ginated, and by whom the operations were urged to a
speedy and successful crisis.
As relates to the charge bf personal enmity against
Mehemet Ali, ascribed to Lord Ponsonby, no official or
semi-official communication, no Foreign-office language,
is required to prove its want of foundation. The whole
secret of Lord Ponsonby's hostility to Mehemet Ali
may be comprehended and explained, in a few words.
The Egyptian Pacha's plans, and those of his foreign
supporters, were long-known to the British, Ainbassador.
The latter saw in this Pacha the indefatigable and
artful representative or instrument of a systemdiametri-
eally opposed to the general interests and long esta-
blished policy of England—a system inimical to the peace
of Europe, and utterly subversive of that balance of power
which even France herself has recent)), come forward to
maintain. Lord Ponsonby saw in Mehemet Ali—and
he must have been blind not to see—a man who, from
motives of insatiable ambition and personal aggrandize-
ment, would have plunged all Europe into wa.r' reckless,
as he himself (the Pacha) declared, whether he rose or
sunk in the attempt. . Consequently Lord Ponsonby
thought, and hundreds thought with him, that to pursue
half measures with such a man was merely to quench the
flame for, a nunent, that it might produce a more dan-
gerous combustion at some future period. But this is no
more a proof of Lord Ponsonby's personal enmity to
Mehemet Ali than the attack upon Canton, too ling
delayed, is a proof of Lord Auckland's hatred to Lin, the
doughty Pacha of that place. . .
The object of the French 'government, and of M. Thiers,
was to ruin British interests in, the East—to assume' a
protectorate over Egypt—to strengthen the Pacha at the
expense of the Porte, and to obtain such a supremacy at
Constantinople, as would control all the Sultan's actions,
and exclude the influence of all other powers. This end
was to be obtained through the agency of Mehemet Ali,
and if foiled in the attempt, the compensation for diplo,
matie failure was to have been war—war at least with
England, -at the will and time of France.

„ .
It was, therefore, the bounden duty of Lord Ponsonby,
as it would have been that of -any other. British Envoy,'
to counteract this scheme, and to seek by every means,
in his power to weaken the agency to be employed. It
was his Lordship's duty to prevent the instrument from
being rendered serviceable in the hands of those whose
object it was to direct its point towards Great Britain. It
was his duty to impede all attempts to establish a protec-
torate in Egypt, and to resit all efforts on the part of
France, to assume undue preponderance at the Porte.
At all events, behoves Lord ronSonhy to be before,
hand with France,and "to' urge the striking of Snell”
.a blow against Mehemet Ali, the instrument, as might
anticipate M. Thiers's avowed intention of making war
at his own convenience. In fact, whilst M. Thiers
and his party were chuckling over their vernal pro-
jects of supremacy and war, Lord Ponsonby acted
as became the -Envoy of the great nation he repre-
sented. Acre fell ; DT. Thera fell ; and Mehemet Ali
fell ; and the influence of Greet. Britain rose in an in-
verse ratio.

We would beg letxve,--fiowbwein relation to this
letter (which has appeared in a Liverpool journal, and
been copied genetatly by the press), to set the public
right upon a few facts. The Yezidis are not, as has
been calumniously stated by the Christians of the East,
worshippers of the devil, nor of a peacock ; but they are
among all Orientals who are not Christians, those who
are most open to receive its saving light.
The names of almost every place noticed in the letter
are calculated to mislead. Perisalom is Perisabor ;
Pylor of Xenophon, Pylce, of Xenophon; Euri
is Erzi, or Ezra ; Thapsacus is not at Al Der the mo-
nastery, but at Al Hammen), near Rakkeh ; Raccaba is
Rahabah, the Rehoboth of the Scriptures ; Tenobia is
Zenobia.
The crusaders can scarcely be expected to have ex-
tended their power to Jiaber, when they were so often
defeated at Harran, which is not more than twelve miles
from their stronghold, Edessa. And the Taurus is at a
much greater distance than the writer appears to ima-
gine, when he says the distant Taurus re-echoed the
royal salute fired at.Balis, or Baulus, as he writes it—the
ancient Barbalissus. He thinks that the river may be
navigated to the heart of Taurus. This is not so impro-
bable as may appear at first sight. The cataracts of Sa-
mosata, noticed by Pliny, are rapids of no importance ;
and there are only five rapids, one of them a fall of a few
feet, between Ergan Kalehsi and Malatiyah. The new
iron steam-boat, which passes the rapids on the Danube
above Orsovar, perhaps overcomes as great obstacles.*—
Literary Gazette, Aug. 21.

Politicians may differ as to the lengths to which it
might have been expedient to carry coercive measures
against Mehemet A li. But to do less than did Lord Pon-
soriby would have been a dereliction of duty, and it yet
ramatns to be proved whether it.was politic to prevent
his doing more. Here, again, there is no evidence of
personal enmity to theman, however decided might have
been his Lordship's hostility to the system represented
by the man.

- Tice Sun has re-published two letters, which it considers
as conclusive proofs of the soundness of its opinion. It
calls Lord Ponsonby's despatch " furious." Now, the
forcible arguments developed in that letter are as far from
being passionate as the reply from Lord Palmerston is far
even from attempting to refute these arguments. The
British Government and its allies did not disapprove of
the reasoning, or deny the truth of Lord Ponsonby's
doctrines. BUt M. Guizot's Administration required fos-
tering, and in order to support that Administration, the
Four Powers made concessions that would not, perhaps,
have been yielded under any other circumstances. But
this concession was not produced by the Four Powers
questioning the justness of Lord PonsonbY's provisions,
or because they considered his hostility to Mehemet Ali's
system ns too strongly pronounced, but because they
wished to strengthen M. Guizot and to conciliate France.
This concession was, in plain terms, a sacrifice made to
France, but not a confirmation of Lord Ponsonby's en-
mity to the Egyptian Pacha.
Supposing any other man to have been in Mehemet
Ali's place, and to have followed the same course, Lord
Ponsonby must have pursued a similar line of conduct.
And supposing Mehemet Ali or his successor to renew
this system, any Ambassador at this Court must act as did
Lord Ponsonby, or he will betray his duty to his coun-
try. But this, again, will only show that he studies/he
real interests of Great Britain and those of Europe ge-
rally, and not that he is actuated by sentiments of per-
sonal animosity to the existing Pacha of Egypt.
Speaking abstractedly, it must be a matter of indif-
ference whether Lord . Ponsonby entertains personal
likings or dislikings towards Mehemet Ali ; but when
these personal feelings are declared to be prejudicial to
the public service, and to influence political combina-
tions, then it becomes the duty of every impartial writer
to endeavour to prove that such personal feelings do not,
and never did exist. This is the 'only motive that the
Correspondent of the Chronicle has for venturing to reply
to the talented journal abovenamed.

4* Under the circumstances we have not thought it neces.
sary to print the letter : at any rate this week.—Ed.

WEEKLY STATEMENT OF LON-

DON LETTERS, AUG. 30, 1841.
THROUGH THE GENERAL POST.
Four weeks ending Aug. 28, 1841
Corresponding period of 1840
Ditto as nearly as can be given of 1839
Increase since 1840 on the four weeks' letters 1,514,572
Ditto 1839 ditto 3,895,553
THROUGH THE DISTRICT POST.

Four weeks ending Aug, 28, 1841
Corresponding period of 1840
Ditto as nearly as can be given of 1839 ....
Increase since 1840 on the four weeks' letters 161,943
Ditto 1839 ditto 554,645

The Council General of thq Rhenish Railway
Company met at Duren on the 16th inst., and came to a
resolution to open the 'inc from Aix-la-Chapelle to
Cologne on the 6th of September. The Cologne Gazette
states that on the 22d a very satisfactory experimental
trip took place on the whole line,
The utility of the electro-magnetic telegraphs
established by Professor Steinhell," says a letter from
Munich, 20th inst., " was yesterday demonstrated. Last
night the municipal authorities of our capital received
intelligence by means of this telegraph that violent fires
had just broken out in the villages of Gcefing and
Schwvigkasten, which enabled them to render such
prompt assistance by dispatching engines and other aid,
that the fire was got under before it had time to extend
beyond the houses in which it had first broken out."
A lamentable accident happened on the evening
of the 13th inst., on the railway between Magdeburgh and
Selicenebeek, through a collision between a train and a loco-
motive engine which was coming in a contrary direction along
the mine line of rails. A mistake had been made in the
signals. Three of the men belonging to the railway were
killed on the spot, and several others wounded. None of the
passengers were reported as having been seriously injured.
CUSTOM-HOUSE ROBBERIES.—A gentleman
lately returned from the Continent sent home, by the Steam
Company, on the sth of July from Biberich, on the Rhine,
a portmanteau and a small deal box, to be left at the Custom-
house in London until his return. This baggage was. not re-
ceived until the 15th of August, and the following is the ex-
pense to which he was subjected :—Sight entry to land two
packages, 4a.
84}L ;aid for freight and disbursements from
ditto lighterage from vessel, 2s. 6d. ;
ditto landing, wharfage, warehousing, &c., 3s. 6d. ; ditto
porterage and booking, 2s. Gd.; ditto attending the 'arrival of
each boat during ten days to inquire for the packages, and
commission for examining, 10s. 6d. ; carriage to Kensington,
Os.; total, 21.. et. 2d.

NAVIGATION of the EUPHRATES.

[Connected with this subject, and so immediately brought
to interest the public by very 'recent advices, we have
much pleasure in throwing a farther light upon these
important Asiatic measures.--Ed. Lit. Gaz.3
A short time ago there appeared in the newspapers a
brief statement of the arrival of two steamers at Balis, on
the Euphrates. Our readers, who all along had full and
complete accounts of the Euphrates expedition, will be
glad to hear of the successful termination of this enter-
prise. It will be remembered that, after the loss of the
Tigris steamer, the Euphrates attempted the ascent, but
failed on account of her deep draught of water, which
amounted to three. feet, while the Tigris only drew
eighteen inches. Colonel Chesney and the officers of the
Euphrates having returned to England, the charge of the
steamer left was entrusted to Captain Lynch, of the In-
dian navy, who, between that period and the present,
effected two very remarkable exploits : first, the ascent
Of the river Tigris as far as close to where it receives
the Great Zab, and where he was not stopped by
want of water, but by the force of the current; the second
was, to take the steamer from the river Tigris to the
Euphrates by the most northerly of the canals on the
alluvial plain of Babylonia. In the accomplishment of
this latter task the paddle-boxes were sometimes sus-
pended over hard and dry ground.
Government, however, never abandoned the original
undertaking, and between that period and this so fewer
than four iron steamers, of light draught of ter, and
constructed for river service, have been sent ow; to the
Eurphrates ; but unfortunately with inefficient %trews, or
the ascent of that great river would have been I efore at-
tempted. Two of these steamers (we believe he Nilo,
cris and Semiramis) have now accomplished v hat puts
beyond 'all doubt the long -vexed question as to, the pos-
sibility of navigating the river Euphrates.
We are not, at the twelfth hour, going to run over
again the important commercial and political advantages,
and, still more, the great advantages to profiressive civi-
lization, which the opening of such a naysgatlon offers
to Great Britain, and to sympathizing humanity,
wherever it is to be found. Let us hope that, while
other nations are talking of these things, England will
be doing them.
We have it in our power to mention ore or two
curious little facts in connection with the IS eogresa of
these events. The successful result of the mission sent
by the Society for promoting Christian KnO wledge to
the patriarch of the Chaldean Christians in :Kurdistan,
and which mission sprang out of the Euphrates expe-
dition, has not failed to awaken the greaterit interest
among all to whom the fats of the Eastera Christian
nations possesses the slightest attraction ; it influ
enced still more strongly the opposing churches of the
New World,-one branch of which had already a very
extensive mission at Urinujeh in Persia, and close to the
Chaldean mountaineers.
Two missions have, in consequence, reached Mosul
this spring and summer. The first is composed of two
reverend gentlemen with their wives, one of whom is to
remain at the Mesopotamian capital, the other is to take
up his residence in the mountains. These parties are
Congregationalists ; and a third (Dr. Grant), who has
already distinguished himself by his'labours among these
interesting people, has lately left Constantinople, also on
his way to the same field of good works.
In the meantime the Episcopalian mission from the
United States has not been inactive among Christians
with whom it especially feels called upon to ally itself in
brotherly and religious affections, since they belong to
one of the oldest apostolical churches in the world, and
one which has not protested against, for it has never
tainted or corrupted by, Romish heresies.
We learn, by our private advices, that the Rev. ;fir;
Southgate, of the United States Episcopal Church, :rad
known by his travels in eastern countries, has arrived
at Mosul, and is in hopes of inducing a Chaldean bishop
to return with him to visit his brethren of the New
World.
' In this activity for the welfare, and wish for the
friendship of the Chaldeans, which has suddenly sprteng
up, England has alone been slow in her operations. 'Mr.
Rassam is. now her Majesty's Vice-Consul at Mosul,
where he will do all that is in his power to keep up
the friendly alliance which was established by the
mission, of which he was a member. A learned and
reverend divine of Oxford has, we have heard, offered
his services to visit the mountaineers; and for them, as
for all classes of Christians in the East, we sincerely
hope that the residenCe of a Bishop in the Mediterranean
Sea will be replete with many advantages.
The next interesting fact that it is in our power
to commuticate concerns* more general civilization ;
and it is to the . effect, that a gentleman,
also connected with- the. Euphrates expedition, and
h lding. an official situation at Baghdad, has had sent
over to that place various of the latest -improve-
ments in agricultural implements, and among those es-
pecially a number of ploughs, a press for cotton, -&c. &C.
These he intends to bring into full operation, with I lie
assistance of natives only ; as also improved means of ir-
rigation ; besides which, he is going to introduce the
cultivation o( cotton and sugar, for both of which the
country is admirably adapted. These movements 'are
calculated to have a great effect upon those couniries
with the progress of time.
We have been led into this momentary digressior,'eon-
ceing the advance of civilization in Western Asir., from
having read this week a letter, running the round, of the
newspapers, from one of the officers of the steamers en-
gaged on the Euphrates, who, in the feelings naturally
suggested by their triumphant success, calls attention to
the prospects now held out in the East, and truly ex-
claims, " may civilization, flying on the wing,s of com-
merce, carry with it the blessings of the Gospel of sal-
vation !"

We hear that the 24th of September is the day
' on which Sir Robert Peel
_proposes to meet the Parlia-
CORN-LAWS.—The farmers and tenantry can- ment as Minister. It is understood that the continuance
of the existing Poor-law for one year will be proposed ;
not eventually suffer from a repeal of these laws. A lower
price for corn and cattle will be favourable to them un- and that a vote of credit for six months will be taken.
der every view of the question, and their rent and tithe The Parliament will then be prorogued, without
must be lowered in proportion. Where leases exist (an taking any of the numerous election petitions into
article not very rife with landlords since the Reform consideration, or attending to any other business. It is
Bill), a power can be given to abrogate them. Their also reported that Parliament will not re-assemble till
poor-rates and their county-rates will be diminished one- February. All this is easy of arrangement ; but, or we
half. Content and honest among the labourers greatly mistake, the country will be much dissatisfied
will surround their homesteads, and the odious rural po-
with such heartless apathy. The distress of the manu-
lice be as unknoWn as the wolf in their districts. I be- facturing districts is likely to increase, and find work fur
lieve a review of the conditiou of their ancestors would the government of a kind which Parliament may be
prove that the farmers of the present day are neither as called upon to aid in completing.
opulent, as contented, or as happy a race of men as the A Correspondent says :—'c It is surprising that
tenantry of former times ; also that most of the present any doubt should exist its to the measures that will be
race farm upon borrowed money, at high interest, as is adopted by the Peel Administration. We may be con-
well known, and a large proportion of them die insol- fident that the income or property tax will be resumed.
vent, leaving families educated and brought up beyond In 1816, Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Goulburn voted for
their useful sphere of life, and left to the mercy of the continuance of the property tax, then ten cent.,
a scornful world. On this theme much more might and 17i per cent. on all the yeomanry or others occu-
be said, and on the gpmbling speculations of large piers of their own land ; although it was proved by Lord
farms, taken with a view of high prices for corn arid Ilrougharres producing the resolution of the House of
produce, and supported by the erroneous system Of country Commons, that the tax should cease the Aril ensu-
banks. Let me now ask, who then will suffer from a repeal ing the termination of the war; and it has since been
of these laws? The answer is simple. Those who imposed shown clearly that the continuance of that onerous
them; those who, as legislators, in 1815, compelled; he burden was not wanted. Nor need we have any doubt
Cabinet of Lord Liverpool to enact laws to raise the price but that, educated in Pitt's school, and participating
of agricultural produce, in order to keep up the high in his measures, we may have the renovation of the
rents of land, and remove .from the shoulders of the various acts suspending our constitution and rights,
landed interest, including the titheowners, that burthen the suspension of the habeas corpus act, increase of
of taxation which the wanton and extravagaht expondi- the army, and augmentation of all places of emolument,
Lure in the late war had imposed upon the nation. The pensions, forced erection of new churches, &c., 8,,, ~
avowed object of these laws was to keep up wheat to The responsible editors of the Temps
of ar:
80s. per quarter on the average of years, and other arti- journal, seized for announcing the suspen •
1-
d the
suspensiontoe cen-
cles of rural produce in proportion ; but the projectors sus, were yesterday interrogated by the examining Ma-
of these Corn-laws were not adepts at their own projects, gistrate. They protested against the seizure as being
and they did not succeed. They then altered them in an attack on the liberty of the press, but, at the same
1822, which laws then became a.prohibition, and still time, endeavoured to show that they bad acted with
failed in keeping up the prices, mainly owing to produc- perfect good faith.
A Correspondent at G, eanniordacciatThietes :—" The ac-
tive crops. George Canning, who became Premier
counts of bad weather to the norths. of the Alps are almosti ins.-
in 1827, did not scruple to aid the landed proprietors in
their new scheme of a sliding scale of duties and ave- credible to the residents here.s rages. This discovery had the happy effect of destroy- have only had two rainy days, middle
weref 451notYpre-e
ing all legitimate trade in corn, and keeping up its price vented from sittingout of doors by theesveean-sitdheeinn the evening."
to at least one-third beyond the continental prices, and A letter from Berlin states that, although in
thus kept the people of`
this mighty empire in a state of Prussia the weather has been this summer unusually cold and
famine. It was also a proscription of British manufac- rainy, it has been excessively
arm 'n Southern Russia, and
tures ; a bar upon commerce ; and produced the neces- the harvest has been abundant.''' The writer observes, that the
city of that stringent and severe administration of Poor- year 1816, so disastrous to the harvest of some of the
countries
laws that has now severed the operative classes from the lii Europe, was so favourable to Southern Russia, that the pro-
masters and landlords, and laid the foundation of an sperity of Odessa, from its trade in corn, dates from that period.
"Iliad" of woes for the British isles.—Lord Teynham un
analogouslti
As adNdedAt,
oltLt aEhtaßta 1011:chuerrceidretuhmens.tances of the present year are
the Corn-laces.
Fenger on the teach-top, THE PREACHER'S DOCTRINE OF COMPEN-
justblown his horn.." "
aPfea
wp ad, 'a'ys seagiod,
,a,
why ju juvenile i
thele
guardptt s-
SAMS% --I was lately confirmed in these desires by hearing a
sermon at church. The preacher, a man esteemed for his in ''' - To send that waggon to one side,
va.tion at thesai
.the lad'sht .
}a,
my dear," 'd father. The little fellow =dmo obser-
orthodoxy, unfolded in the ordinary manner the doctrine of
aw7hzdathtolo you think?
ide
time ; e
the last judgment. Ile assumed that judgment is not executed
of nhe got home he said, "Mamma I
The guard of our coach blew a waggon
in this world; that the wicked are successful; that the goottare
the road!" " Come, my boy," said
rses o
miserable ; and then urged from reason and from Scripture a the youngster's 'oone aide
" don't make fun of me with your
compensation to be made to both parties in the next life. No
travellers' stories. off. nee appeared to be taken by the congregation at this doc-
l'HE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S UMBRELLA.
inner As far as I could observe, when the meeting broke
up, they separated without remark on the sermon, t—A fancy fair for charitable purposes was held last
Yet, what was the import of this teaching? What did the week at Cross-deep, between TIN iclienham and Ted-
preacher mean by saying that the good are miserable in the dington, by some of the ladies resident in that neigh-
present life? Was it that houses and lands, offices, wine, bourhood. The Duke of Wellington having been pre-
horses, dress, luxury, are had by unprincipled men, whilst the sent, had gone away, leaving his umbrella behind him,
faints are poor and despised ; and that a compensation is to be whereupon Lady 1) immediately said—" Who will give
made to these last hereafter, by giving them the like gratifica- 120 guineas for the Duke's umbrella ?" In one moment
tions another day—bank-stock and doubloons, venison and 1 purchaser was found, and on his Grace's return the
champagne ? This must be the compensation intended ; for i a t was communicated to him, when he good-naturedly
what else? Is it that they are to have leave to pray and I
praise, to love and serve men? .
.Why, that they can do now. remarked—"la I'll soon supply you with umbrellas if you
The legitimate inference the disciple would draw was, ~ We can sell them so much to the advantage of the charity."
are to have such a good time as the sinners have slow ,•" or, to ' The Gazelle de France says—" We have just
push it to its extreme import, " You sin now; we shall sin by received a summons to appear before the 'Tribunal of
and by ; we would sin now if we could ; not being successful, I Correctional Police, for having given, like the Gazette
we expect our revene to-morrow."—Emmersort's Essay on ido Tribunaux and the Quotidienne att..aeriotitxt of the
Cotripinsugei" •
trial of the Courrier derlsere for libel." '