The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-25 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, MARCH 2i, 1847.

The further intellige*„ whichacut
plas just been
,di p Montezuma
ed ,
brought from America by the
mingled
down to the Sth instant, will be peruse 1?
feelings of satisfaction and regret. Thesvtiitttih7
and tb
will be
excited in relation to the Three Million
fate of the " Wilmot proviso ;" the former will be
derived from the decision arrived at by the
House of Representatives in favour of re.
jecting the Bill introduced by the Government
for augmenting by 20 per cent. the duties on tea
iand coffee, fir purposes of revenne. Congress
kcoucluded its session on the 4th intant. The entire
purport of ih... Three Million Bill is to "enable the
President to conclude a treaty of peace, limits and
tountlAriee, with the republic of Mexico, to be tired

by him in the event that said treaty, when signed by
the authorised agents of the two Governments, and
duly ratified by Mexico, shall call for expenditure."
If anything could add to the disgrace which Mr.
Poex has accumulated upon himself and the Govern-
ment of the United States, from the Very commence-
ment of hostilities with Mexico, it is furnished
to the full by the terms of the foregoing resolution.
It is nothing more nor less than a wholesale authority
to second their military efforts against a deeply in-
jured people by the detestable influences of bribery
and corruption. The whole civilised world would re-
joice, should the insidious, demoralising, and shame-
less policy of Mr. POLK be signally_ upset by a con-
tinuance of the patriotic resistance which, contrary to
his expectations, has been already unflinchingly
offered by the Mexicans.
Everybody knows that, after the opprobrious man-
ner in which the Texas was incorporated with the
States, in consequence of which the country annexed is
now subject to the curse of slavery, from which it was
formerly free, the President never dreamt of carrying
his project of aggrandisement beyond the Rio del
Norte, which he desired that Mexico should cede and
recognise as the proper boundary of the extended
territory of the States ; and that when he found, from
negotiations then pending, that Mexico was reluctant
to conform to his views, he determined upon invading
neutral ground to the south of the Rio del Norte, in
the hope of extorting a concession by force, to which
he could not in justice set up any reasonable claim.
From that period the Mexicans have stoutly declined
to entertain any overtures for peace, until Mr. POLK
shall have first withdrawn his forces, military and
naval, to the positions which they originally occupied.
Had this laudable and spirited requirement been com-
plied with, we doubt not that the differences between
the belligerents might have been speedily adjusted ;
but as Congress has failed to compel the President to
retrace his unjustifiable and aggressive steps, the war
will be necessarily protracted. Every honour-
able sympathy is enlisted in favour of the
southern republic. It appears now, as indi-
cated by the tenor of the Three Million Act, that
the President is intent upon acquiring some por-
tion of Mexican territory, and, by the rejection of
Mr. IVlLssofs proviso, that, in any such fresh acqui-
sition the laws of slavery will be introduced. It is
impossible, therefore, to regard these proceedings of
the American Government with feelings other than
those of unmitigated disgust. On the other hand, as be-
fore remarked, we rejoice that the principles of free
trade have been preserved intact, and that Mr. POLK has
been unable to persuade Congress to compromise them
in the way he proposed with respect to the duties
upon tea and coffee. Another feature of congratula-
tion is presented by the magnificent contributions
which have been raised for the relief of the destitute
Irish. In New York the Roman Catholics have
recently obtained in their churches upwards of
13,000 dollars for this truly benevolent object. From
Boston, Quebec, and other cities nearly 300,000
dollars bare been remitted. Such munificent charity
richly merits the grateful eulogium which Lord
JOHN RUSSELL paid to it in the House of Commons.

Our commercial interests are implicated in the
preservation or rupture of tranquillity in the Levant,
otherwise we should be indisposed to trouble our-
selves with the slightest reference to the drawing-room
squabbles of the Greek SOVEREIGN. Contemptible
as the incident apparently is of a Turkish emissary
being huffed at the behaviour of Oruo, on the occasion
of a grand ball in the Athenian palace, it is never-

theless one of those trivial circumstances which have
frequently before now changed the whole destinies of
a country, and produced the most disastrous out-
breaks. Unless these frivolous misadventures be-

tween kings and ambassadors are prevented from
assuming importance by fomenting jealousies into
abhorrence, and transforming a casual pique into
an ineradicable hatred, the peace of the
world would be continually endangered, and
the lives of its rulers perpetually embittered. It
is among the most meritorious offices of a diplomatist
to destroy these germs of war on their first budding
into existence. By acting as peacemakers in these
almost domestic contentions of the palace, they may
always invest-their ministerial careers with-the dignity
of patriotism. Nor can the responsibility of aiding
in reconciliations, after the recurrence of such petty
misunderstandings, be regarded as in any manner
derogatory to the elevation of their official characters.
Were the ministers of the different Oriental Princes

to occupy themselves by endeavouring to become the
securities of national quietude, by suppressing and
eradicating these rancorous emotions on their first
appearance, they would be conferring more substan-
tial benefits upon their country than by abetting
spoliation or encouraging rapine.
England is in a peculiar manner called upon to
scrutinise the behaviour of the Greek Government at
this delicate juncture ; it is called upon to observe
the changes of her relations with Turkey,
because upon the continued amity between
those two empires depend the conservation of British
interests along the eastern shores of the Mediterra
nean. Beyond this, we have rendered ourselves, to a
considerable extent, responsible for the excellence and
sagacity of the government of °TITO, until it has
become matured by longer existence and the wisdom
acquired by the consequent experience. For these
reasons, therefore, it is befitting for us to watch with
a jealous precaution the progress of legislation in
that still embryo dominion and the aspect of its rela
tionship with the neighbouring potentates. From
the correspondence which has just appeared, com-
prising letters between his Majesty the King of
GREECE and the Sublime Porte, and others between
JEAN COLETTI and ALI EFFENDI, it would appear
that there is a secret estrangement between the
SULTAN and his august neighbour. How far this
estrangement may yawn into an abyss of animosity
depends upon .the external influence of friendly
Governments, and upon the vacillating sentiments and
precarious temperament of the supreme administrator,
COLETTI.

An abrupt expression uttered by the lips of
royalty to the representative of an amicable
Sovereign, whether that expression be pronounced
in the excitement of a levee or the languid
abandon of a carousal, may be productive of
gigantic consequences—consequences such as may
unsettle the foundations of a kingdom and convulse
the whole surface of a continent. That such is pos-
sible, that the fable of " the parturient mountain "
may, in this manner, be reversed, has been repeatedly
shown in modern as well as in ancient history.
There is a mythe, or historical allegory, illustrative
of this, in the very commencement of the Roman
records, where REMUS is butchered in a tumult
arising from the fact of his jumping over the
ditch traced out for the city walls, and his
brother is thereby raised to the undisputed dignity of
being the commander of a little cluster of vagabonds.
At the opening of the nineteenth century a still more
remarkable proof of the magnitude of results
flowing from insignificant incidents was afforded
by the abrupt departure of the English Ambassa-
dor, Lord WarrwoitTu, from Paris in consequence
of a few words addressed to him in the Tuileries by
the First Consul. The insult offered to the Turkish
Envoy by the King of GREECE may, therefore, if
allowed to extend and ripen into a national grievance,
become at once injurious to the future
prospects of the Greeks and to the immediate
safety of English merchandise in the Levant.
It is incumbent upon us, therefore, to observe nar-
rowly the course pursued by the different Courts in
this singular correspondence. The preservation of
friendship between the Grecian and Turkish Govern-
ments is intimately blended with our commercial
prosperity.

Among the many complaints that have from time to
time been brought forward against individual Irish
landlords, few have had greater effect in exciting the in-
dignation and disgust of the English people than the
statement that many—notwithstandingthe miseryand
destitution existing at their very thresholds, the ago-
nies of their neighbours, and dependents, suffering
under protracted famine, and dropping into untimely
graves from want of the common necessaries of
life—had retained large sporting establishments, and
devoted to the support of horses, dogs, and other
animals of an inferior class, quantities of food which
might more properly have been applied to the wants
of human beings, and by which the acknowledged
deficiency would have been diminished, and many of
their countrymen nourished and sustained, and their

lives preserved to their wretched families. The
charge was a serious one, and was considered
sufficiently' grave to occupy the attention of
the Legislature ; and one of the gentlemen
inculpated in a manly and straightforward manner
came forward and declared that he had parted with
his dogs, and since the urgency of the famine had
not kept a single useless dog. The defence wcs re-
ceived with cheers in St. Stephen's, and there was-not
a single Member in the House, or individual out of
it, who did not approve the act, and believe that the
gentleman had only performed his duty, and that, had
he acted in any other manner, he would have justly
merited the gravest censure.
Cannot the argument be carried further ? Is the
question of humanity one to be decided on by geo-
graphical situation ? Can a person justly and pro-
perly do that, if removed a few miles or a few hours'
journey from the scene of distress, which would be
criminal on the part of another in its more immediate
vicinity ? If the Irish landlord can justly be required
to part with some ten or twenty greyhounds, because
they would consume a sufficient quantity of food
to maintain an equal number of human beings,
should English noblemen or gentlemen preserve an
inordinate quantity of game on their lands, to consume
the crops and blight the hopes of the hard-working
farmers, to demoralise and lead from the paths of
honest industry many labourers, the staff and support
of humble but contented families, who, but
for the temptation thus afforded, might have
maintained upright characters, to people the
county gaols and houses of correction, to
increase the county rates by the expenses
of prosecutions, and the parish rates by the
support of helpless and ruined families deprived of
their natural guardians and protectors, and cast upon
the tender mercies of the union workhouse for a
wretched subsistence ? Even if these frightful re-
sults were not the natural consequences of the super-
abundance of garae, if no evils or grievances
could be traced to the 'operation of the game-
laws, were they as harmless and innocent in
themselves as they are universally admitted to be
injurious and mischievous,—do pheasants and par-
tridges, hares and rabbits, devour so small a quantity
of food as to render it a matter of trifling importance
whether it should be added to the national stores ? Is
the condition of the English labourer so desirable
that no addition to his humble comforts are required?
It is unnecessary for us to answer these ques-
tions. The voice of public opinion will make the
responses in a louder and more commanding
tone than any we could assume, and the outcry of
the people, the firm but temperate appeal of millions,
will demand from the Legislature redress for their
wrongs and a remedy for the enormous evil.

A small pamphlet, containing a few brief pages on
this important subject, published under the name of
" Homo," strongly depicts the injurious workings
and the obnoxious effects of the game code, whether
to the farmer, the tradesman, or the labourer; but the
mischief is not limited to these classes ; in fact it
would be difficult indeed to poiqt out any portion of
society that is not injuriously affected. And, cui bono,
for what use or purpose is this monster nuisance
tolerated and supported? Simply that my Lord A.
or Squire B. may have in their power to send an ac-
count to the local press of the enormous quantity of
game destroyed in a few days or a few hours at some
battue on their estates or manors. These butcherly
exhibitions are far removed from fair sporting.
They want all the elements thereof—the healthful
exercise, the necessity of exertion, the excitement of
the search. You might as well pride yourself on the
number of domestic fowls you could destroy in a
farm-yard. We should not desire to debar our
country gentlemen from a fair day's sport, but it is
the frightful abuses that have crept into the entire
system to which we object. "Property has its duties
as well as its rights," is an axiom now universally
conceded, and is it consistent with the fitting exercise
of that responsibility to do such public injury for
the gratification of some feelings of paltry vanity or
ridiculous ostentation ? Even within this week a man
was tried for his life, and had a narrow escape from
expiating his offence by an ignominious death on the
scaffold, for a homicide committed during a poaching
excursion ; as it was, he was banished for ever from
his family and friends, and from his native home,
while his victim, or rather the victim of the game-
laws, was hurried into eternity, leaving a numerous
family to deplore his fate. How long will these
things be tolerated in a civilized and Christian land ? I

A St. Petersburgh letter of the 11th says —" There
are still large quantities of corn and flour here, and
large supplies are expected for exportation by the
White Sea, the Black Sea, and the Sea of Azoff.
St. Petersburgh alone can furnish 1,600,000 sacks of
rye flour for exportation."

We read in the Swabian Mercury of the 21st :

" The rumours which have been current respecting the
actual position of Prussia, as ragards the European policy,
have induced the King to order his Minister for Foreign
Affairs to convey to the Courtsof Vienna and St. Petersburgh
the most positive assurances that Prussia has not varied in
the system hitherto pursued, and that the fundamental prin-
ciples which have influenced her in her international rela-
tions remain unchanged. The highest interest of Prussia,
says the King, is to adhere strictly to the alliance which
binds it to the two Courts. M. de Canitz has already exe-
cuted this order of the King."

Accounts from Stuttgardt of the 17th state that a
report had been current there for several days, that
the Emperor NICHOLAS was expected on a visit to the
Princess Royal, the Grand Duchess OLGA. The
King of WURTEMBERG had been indisposed for
several days.

Accounts from Turin represent the King of &IR-
DMA. to be seriously ill. On the 17th his physicians
found it necessary to apply leeches to him twice
in the day, and he remained so little relieved by
them that, on the 18th, they AN ere compelled to take
a considerable quantity of blood from him by the
lancet.

Prince OSCAR of Sweden arrived at Rome on the
9th, travelling under the title of Count DE TULGARN.
It was expected he would stay a week in Rome, and
then proceed to Leghorn, where a Swedish ship was
to be in readiness to receive him.

A letter from Leghorn of the 13th says—" Arrests
continue to be made in Tuscany. Amongst the pri-
soners are MM. BARBANERA and GEORGINI, and M.
Gaossr, a physician."

At a political banquet given at Porte. Molo, an
individual, who had been received at Rome as a
political emigrant, and treated with the greatest
sympathy, rose and addressed to the assembly a most
seditious speech, urging them to strike at once for
Italian emancipation, and producing a tri-coloured
flag. The guests immediately seized the fellow and
conveyed him to the police-office, where he was at
once recognised as an agent of Austria.

We are without any intelligence from Spain. The
Bordeaux mail, which arrived in Paris on Tuesday,
did not bring the mail from Madrid.

Wo have received the Paris papers of Tuesday.
The Ministerial journal, the Dibats, is evidently
annoyed at the result of the election of Vice-Presi-
dent. It does not attempt to disguise the importance
of the election of M. ',sox DE MaLLEviLLs ; on the
contrary, it rather exaggerates it, in order to produce
union among the Conservatives, who, it is evident,
are at present anything but an united party.
Like Sir ROBERT PEEL, M. GUIZOT has ruled his
party with a rod of iron, haughtily demanding from
them not advice, but implicit and unreasoning obe-
dience, and, as in the case of Sir ROBERT PEEL, so in
the case of M. GUIZOT, the non-beaureaucrats are
falling off from him, and looking out for another
leader, and some fine day M. GUIZOT will find the
great Conservative party shivered to fragments, him-
self the leader of a miserable minority, and his Appo-
'lents in power. The Dibats thus betrays the fears
of its master. It says—
" The Chamber had to nominate yesterday a Vice-Preside. nt
in the room of M. Hebert, who has become Keeper of the
Seals. The candidate of the Conservatives was 11. Duprat
but M. Leon de Alaleville, Member of the Leff, was elected
after three ballots, he having obtained 179 votes, whilst M.
Duprat had only 178, Our readers will think, perhaps, that
we deceive ourselves, and that we take one name for another.
In nowise; it is really M. Leen de Maleville, Member of the
Left, who has been nominated. It is true that the Left could
not believe its ears, and that M. Leon de Maleville himself
appeared quite surprised. How did this happen ? We know
not; we only form conjectures. Perhaps a certain number
of Conservatives who do not like M. Duprat, and who would
have preferred M. Debelleyme, thought they played a clever
trick against their own party in electing M. Leon
de Maleville; perhaps, for we must say the truth
to everybody, the Ministry did not give itself enough
trouble to rally its friends, and to conduct all wish°.
to the same object. We have the soi-disant progressat C
servatireg, who may have voted for M. L4ou de bias
"vale,