The Sun.
London, England, 1840-10-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TrESDA Y, OCTOBER 6. 1810.

solicited him to postpone the payment into the Ex-
chequer of the duty the hop-growers had collected
from the beer-drinkers through the brewers last
year. We could not desire, and could not possibly
find a more convincing proof, than in the circular
• of the Messrs. BARCLAY, of the statement we
made some time ago, namely, that the hop-growers
had levied the duty on the public for the last
year's crop in the price of the hops, when the
hop-growers sold them, and that when they
petitioned to postpone the payment they actually
asked to have a loan of the public money cut of
which they paid their rents.
With all these helps, however, with a duty on
foreign hops which amounts to the prohibition of
importation, with a tax on the people's bread, with
every contrivance the landowners can think of, and
dare to execute, to plunder the people, the depu-
tation which waited on the CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER, drew the most lugubrious picture Of
the condition of the hop-growers. " They were
going to ruin ; the late low prices of hops had not
paid for cultivation. The failure of the crop this
year, after the heavy expense of cultivation, had
injuted the farmers, and if they were compelled to
pay into the Exchequer the money they had levied
on the public, they would have no means of employ-
ing the labourers, and the hop districts would be in an
alarming state of distress." Unfortunately we know
that to be too true—we know that great alarm exists
in the hop districts as to the security of property
and person there, through the approaching winter;
but what must the public think of such a profitless,
ruinous trade, which, with all the help of high pro-
tecting duties, loans of public money, and taxes on
the people's bread—supposed to be for the advan-
tage of the farmers—cannot keep those who engage
in it from poverty, and cannot supply the honest
labourer with full employment at ad:quote wages ?
• A business which impoverishes the individuals
engaged in it is not and cannot be for
the national advantage, and it is therefore
a miserable fallacy to pretend that the welfare of
the country requires that the profitless business of
corn-growing should be cultivated by the help of a
heavy tax levied on all the people.
We see by a Manchester Paper that the tenantry
of the Duke of SUTHERLAND have been relieved
from the payment of their rents, as poor cottagers
are relieved from the payment of Poor-rates. If
the Corn-laws wake the landlords rich, they make
paupers of the farmers. What other class of men
begs for a loan of the public money ? What
other c!aes of men begs to be sustained by the
compelled alms of the people—taking a penny
from the hard-working man, and farthings and
halfpence from widows and orphans—even levying
contributions on the humblest beggar, who buys
his own food with importuned alms ? Like death,
the bread-tax cannot be avoided, or only avoided
by ceasing to live.

For some months past great activity has been
displayed by the parish authorities in the district of
Clerkenwell, in bringing before the Magistrates
numbers of the worst and most heartless of all rob-
bers, the robbers of the poor; but what astonishes
every one who reads the accounts is the very small
amount of fine generally inflicted on these egregious
culprits. One of them, for instance, the other day,
was convicted of using two sets of weights, one of
the proper standard for day customers, and another
notoriously deficient for those who purchase at
night, and he was fined 40s. ! Another was con-
victed of having a balance for coals so constructed
that a purchaser would be robbed of three pounds
and a half for every seven pounds weight and up-
wards. She had, in addition, three light weights
in her shed, and for these enormous offences was
fined 20s. ! - A -third, a chandler's shopkeeper,
was found guilty of having a -false weighing ma-
chine, caused by a penny-piece being affixed to the
scale, and was fined 10s. !! ! This is a mere
mockery of justice. Here are persons who have
been in the habit, probably for years, of rob-
bing the poor (the half-starved poor being their
only customers), yet a fine is unposed which they
may hare cleared by this felonious practice in a
few days, and when the inquisitors have quitted the
premises they begin the work of plunder anew.
Can any man look at the nature of this offence dis-_
passionately, compare it with any other species of.
robbery, and deny that, of all others, it is the most
flagrant, and ought to be visited with the severest
punishment ? To rob the ItoTriscimps, or the
BARINGS, of thousands, or tens of thousands,' is a
trivial offence, yet it is visited often by transporta-
tion, and, formerly, if committed in a certain way,
was punished with death; yet when the hard-worked
art:san, or the labourer out of employment, or the
helpless widow with a starving family, and scarcely
able to 3crape together means to satisfy the cravings
of nature, are robbed of a third of their means of
subsistence, the plunderers escape with all but a
nominal fine. I; not this one law for the rich and
another for the poor ? and if the lower classes had
any hand in making our laws, would a crime like
this, declared by the highest authority to be an
abomination before the ALMIGHTY, have been •
marked in the statute-book with a fine only equal
to that inflicted for the most venial and accidental
moral delinquencies ? In some countries where the
people make less noise about the Bible and the
Church than here, these plunderers are pilloried or
hastinadoed, and we therefore recommend the "tri-
bunes of the poor " to imitate so good an example,
and visit this enormous and increasing crime with
something like condign punishment.

The news brought by the Overland Mail from
China is such as to increase our apprehensions of
the dangerous consequences of an inconclusive at-
tack upon the Celestial Empire. As we stated
from the commencement, the eyes of all the Chiefs
of Central Asia are now turned to Canton ; and
were we either to fail, which is next to impossible,
or to make a bungling business of the expedition,
which is exceedingly improbable, from the moun-
tains of the Himalaya to the walls of Herat we
should encounter, in every State now in alliance
,with us, an open or a concealed enemy. Our old
allies the Dutch, as we learn from the Singapore
papers, find employment for their leisure in calum-
niating us as a nation of faithless sharpers, while
the Court of Ava is hardly restrained by the fear of
provoking another war, from throwing British sub-
jects under the feet of elephants. Our protege
'he SHAH SOOJAH-00L-MOOLK does us no cre-
dit, and indeed is only kept on a throne, which he
wants the ability to fill, by British bayonets. Kar-
rack is but indifferently garrisoned by a force to
which the climate of the Persian Gulf is more fatal
than the Arabs, who hourly threaten them with
destruction. In a word, nothing short of our
making an example of the Chinese can preserve
our Indian empire from being openly assailed by a
host of enemies on all 'sides ; and though we fear
not defeat, we have no stomach for a conflict which
might cost us the re-conquest of India.
The news from Beyrout and Alexandria is ex-
ceedingly important. It records a step towards the
s
of the Eastern Question which goes a great
oition
way towards taking it out of the hands of the Dip-
lomatists. The clamours of Cabinets are drowned
by the roar of cannon. This reflection in the nine-
teenth century fills us with sadness. We had hoped
that France would have come forward to avert
his blot upon our civilization--that like an angel
of peace, with healing upon her wings, she would
have turned aside the implements of strife by as-

sliming the mediatorial function so generously al-
lotted to her by the Four Powers. But now that
the first blow has been struck it is imperative upon
the Four Powers to follow it up by others, in order
to abridge as much as possible the horrors engen-
dered by a protracted system of warfare. A merciful
regard
for the sufferings of the people of Syria de-
mands this—a people whom evidences much
stronger than those advanced so prominently to the
contrary in certain French Journals, attest to be
hostile to a man to the dpminion of MEHEMET
ALI over their country. Upon this point we refer
with pleasure to the following extract from the Bey-
rout Correspondence of the Morning Post— a
Journal whose hostility to every measure of the
British Cabinet is as inveterate as it is indiscrimi-
nating. It is dated " Beyrout, the 16th ult.," and
is confirmed by others of the 21st :

And here allow me to beg earnestly the attention of
your readers, and I hope of every newspaper in England
that may not possess the information from other :ources,
to one fact connected w:th these hostilities. I remem-
ber well the outcry that was raised against the cc-ape.
ration of England in the north of Spain, because it was
a war against the people, against the Biscayans, who
were fighting for their local privileges. Despite of the
result of that contest, those who thought our interfer-
ence unjustified are probably of the same opinion. Be-
fore, however, they attempt to draw any analogy be-
tween the present case and that of Spain, I would pray
them to hear this fact in mind. In the whole force that
at present holds out in Bey-rout—in that which we
drove from Djihail, and yesierday with such destruc-
tion froni Batroun, there is not a single Syrian, not one
inhabitant of this persecuted country. Nor yet are they
soldiers in any one honourable sense of that wcrd. The r
history is this : knowing that he durst not at present move
his army through the interior of the country, Ile w-
him Pacha is well aware cf the importance of the lint
of strong fortresses which extend along the coast from
Tripoli to Acre. In the whole army he had literally
no force upon whom he could depend to hold them.
He, therefore, collected in Albania a force of 3,860 of
the most lawless brigands—a conscription, Ido believe,
of the most sanguinary rufliens upon the face of the
earth. He entered into a compact with them. We
have the fact from the prisoners taken at Dhijail and
Batroun, that, provided they held the fortress coin-
nutted to them, they should receive two piastres a day,
and the unrestricted privilege of plunder and tiolence
upon the people and the districts around. Before
stating that a man, whose cause is espoused by one of
the Powers of Europe—the self-elected mitres; of its
civilization too—Lefore stating that he had entered into
such a nefarious bargain, I have satisfied myself beyond
the possibility of a doubt of the truth of this statement.
At all events, let the character of this warfare, so far as
it has yet gone, be distinctly understood. Let no mis-
taken impression of facts lead to a mistaken charge of
inhumanity.

By the letter from Alexandria we learn that the
PA CHA was taking the matter very coolly. The
harbour was about to be strictly blockaded ; and as
it is contrary to the laws of Egypt to export specie,
merchants were expected to experience considerable
difficulty in winding up their affairs before quitting
the country. The impression in that city on the
21st was that no quarrel would arise between
France and England, unless the Four Powers pro-
ceeded to bombard Alexandria.
There is yet time for the merciful mediation of
France. We trust M. TRIERS will rise superior
to the petty passions by which he has hitherto
been swayed upon the Eastern question, and nobly
win for himself and for France the glory of having
stayed the uplifted arm of war in the Mediterranean.
Let him but do this, and his name will go down to
posterity with a halo of glory brighter than ever
Kings feigned to sec encircle the bloody wreaths
worn by conquerors. Blood, tears, and taxes are
sad memorials of human ambition in the most bar-
barous times. How much more so in the nine-
teenth century of the Christian era ?

The French Ministerial Journals of Sunday in-
vite us to prepare for one or other of two things
conseqUent upon the attack of the Allies -on 134-
rout—Ariz., war, or the retirement of.AVI,i THitws
from the Minietry. The Cono4ofeitit.4.s, ai're
article, exceeding a. column in length, on. the im-
pression made by the news from the East among
all classes in Paris. We are assured that not
only the troops of the line, but the whole of the
National Guards, the shopkeepers, the merchants,
and the classes most interested in the maintenance
of peace, burned with impatience to revenge the
insult which the capture of Beyrout was supposed
to reflect on the prowess of France. The ar-
ticle concludes with an address to M. THIBus,
which sufficiently.makes known the ferment which
exists in the councils of the French Cabinet.
That it was Written by the Minister himself, we
may. not presume to determine, but the following
extract from it proves that it derives its exist-
ence. from'one who enjoys his confidence :
" Let us be allowed to address ourselves particularly
to M. Thiers. We tell him, in the name of the ideas
and the men that he represents, end wt.° elevated him
to his present position, it i 3 not permitted to him to fail
in the solemn engagements which he contracted in ac-
cepting the direction of our foreign relations. The party
which supported him, composed of moderate and firm
twee, would separate from him in case he should, by an
act of weakness, abandon the interests and the honour
of France. He was not precisely the representative of
liberal ideas, and consequently had not this title to
support from the Opposition. But -of all those who
hare been raised to power, M. Thiers was the most
energetic representative of the revolution in the
eyes of Foreien Powers. He is the representative of
nationality. The day that he loses this charac-
ter his political worth will be compromised.
" Let M. 'riders then decide ; he owza it to France,
to the party which he represents, he owes it to him-
self. If he is not free to act he ought not to retain an
office the duties of which he was cot allowed to fulfil..
In this ease he has only to follow his own exemple—
a painful resolution we admit. It might be easy to
comprehend the honourable scruples which might shake
such a determination- It would be painful for a Minister
devoted to royalty to separate from it at such a serious
m
crisis as the present ; but, however painful this duty
be, we sincerely believe that the Minister ought
to accomplish it.
permitted to him to
no doubt
se
would not
leavema '
ißt aayifiui retiringaffairs
the
al ioanboecucrrai
tui oftFpwr
ottasngi
ineoontl. e
Bw,ol
to hilt,
he less the case, it would be even more so, if he- re•
rnained in power to make France submit to a great
disgrace. The dangers of disgrace are more threaten.
ing for Governments than the perils of war."
This is a feeler, and was known to be one at
TORTONI'S, where the funds suddenly fell from
67f. 50e. to 67f. It was, however, ascertained that
were M. THtEres to retire from office, the alleged
ground would be the refusal of his colleagues to
place M. °DILLON BARROT in the Presidentia
chair of the Chamber of Deputies.
This, of

course is designed as a sop for the Liberal party--
for the men upon whose shoulder 3 M. TRIERS
was triumphantly borne into otrice., aid whom, on
getting there, he twice shamefully
deserted ; firstly,
by advocating the September laws, and, secondly,
by sanctioning, in the absence of the Chambers, the
fortification of Paris.

It was at first supposed tl►at the hostility o
France would be exclusively directed against Eng.
land. This, the private letters from Paris of Sun•
day's date, assure us is not the case. The KING,

who is still eager for peace, has prevailed upon M
TRIERS to remain neutral so
long as the opera.

lions of the Allies
power in Syria are liniitcd to the kind of warfare
1,-Tainst MEHEMET ALI'S

•
directed against the Carlists in Spain by the

French and English auxiliary forces on the Canta-
brian coast.
The
occupation of Beyrout and
Acre by the Allies is to be considered not more

hostile to France than the occupation of Passagesand St. Sebastian by the English
and French were
to Austria, Russia, and Prussia. The casus belli

is to commence with the first movement of a Rus-

sian force towards Asia Minot, when France will

deciare war against Russia alone, leaving the other

Powers t•) adopt the quarrel of their Ally, or reject
it, as it may seem most agreeable to them. So,
at least, say the private advises from the French

capital.

The Journa! des Debais, the accredhed eron of

the Court, is as mild and as philosophical in its re-
marks on the news from Syria as the Ministerial
and Republican Journals are furious. It contends
that all that has yet happened was foreseen—that
the attack on Beyrout is only the fulfilment of
a treaty which the French Cabinet had pro-
nounced no justification of war, although a rational
ground for preparations for one. It rebukes the
Ministerial and Opposition Journals for their ridi-
culous exhibitions of wordy rage, and their expres-
sions of sarprise at events which it would be dis-
graceful for the Ministry not to have foreseen a"d
provided against. This article sufficiently explains
the views crteitained by the highest personage in
France, whose pacific policy is supported by three
Mt•mbers of the Cabinet. We begin, therefore,
to c,;nclude that the retirement of M. TniExs is
exceedin,ly probable. This is what we suggested
two mouths ago, and well would it have been for
the reputation of the PREMIER had he then
sJught in private life a solace for his disappoint-
ment in not being able to reduce the policy of