The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-22 00:00:00

Itentas

LONDON, MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1847.

Letters of the latest date received from the Penin-
sula only confirm those anticipations as to the future
misfortunes of its inhabitants which were forced upon
us by the criminal interference of Louis PHILIPPE in
the national affairs of Iberia. Excepting that
SALDANHA has approached nearer to the insurgent
city of Oporto, and, if he has not actually drawn
around it a distinct line of circumvallation, has cer-
tainly evinced a determination to beleaguer its
citizens, the civil disturbances of Portugal appear in
no respect nearer their termination. In Spain, again,
a partially organized conspiracy in favour of the
Conde DE MONTEMOLIN has revealed its existence by
several indecisive demonstrations, and the tempera-
ment of the people generally appears ripe for almost
any catastrophe. The positions of the two Sovereigns,
though strikingly dissimilar, are naught with very
analogous miseries, and in their forebodings possess
a certain;degree of similitude. MARIA DA GLoaht
is day by day becoming more estranged from
her subjects ; her Councils are rendered feeble
and vacillating by being characterised by a policy
inimical to the spirit of the constitution to which
she once swore allegiance ; the influence which she
exercises over the Portuguese community has become
one of an exclusively physical kind—bayonets having
usurped the place of benignity, artillery that of con-
ciliation, and military tactics that of maternal affec-
tion. Queen IsAnELLA, on the other hand, is allow-
ing the rather doubtful loyalty which she once
possessed to slip momentarily from her fingers ; her
sceptre must soon become more than ever a bauble ;
her royal voice must either become hushed altogether,
or it will babble idly to the winds of heaven. In the
Oriental story we hear of a jealous Prince rendering
a neighbouring potentate, who had been hitherto
beloved, abhorred by his people by covertly
dropping a charmed rose-leaf into his goblet
and another charmed rose-leaf on his turban.
Louis PHILLIPPE has emulated that Eastern Prince,
he has fixed the ban upon IsABELLA 11. by the
presentation of twe marriage garlands. He has ren-
dered her miserable at once, by abandoning her to
an imbecile husband, and by abstracting from her
independence in the face of the nation over whose
destinies. she was selected to preside. Besides their
own immediate wretchedness, the two Q►JEENS are
each threatened by a multitude of reserved sorrows,
those sorrows being associated with the names of
Dom MIGUEL and the Conde DE MONTOAIOLIN. With
a domestic life embittered by indescribable afflictions,
Queen ISABELLE is wholly isolated from assistance
and friendship. With a distracted kingdom and a
bankrupt exchequer, Queen MARIA DA GLORIA is
regarded on all sides with distrust, with indifferences
or with absolute disgust. Both these unfortunate
Sovereigns are cursed with a precarious and
disastrous present, and a frowning and omin-
ous future. To French guile, to French avarice,
to French depravity or, rather, to the guile,
avarice, and depravity of the French Government—
are attributable all these sufferings, both existing
and prospective.
By the advancement of 50,000,000 francs from the
Emperor NICHOLAS to the Bank of France, we have
already intimated that the Russian CZAR has acquired
a direct and irresistible influence over the commercial
and, consequently, over the political affairs of that
country. According to a beautiful and truthful saying,
the Parliament of England directs the pulse of Europe.
NICHOLAS has assumed to himself a vast proportion of
that directing power by the enormous loan already
mentioned. Possessing so vast a claim upon the
Bank of France, he must naturally have the pulse of
the French funds under his thumb, and thereby ob-
taining an insight into the capacities of France, he
will be enabled henceforth to know the point upon
which she can be affected most injuriously, or rather
the channels through which she may be transformed
ir.to a serviceable instrument of Northern despotism.
Affecting France in this manner, NICHOLAS will be
enabled indirectly to influence those Governments
which are either subsidiary or subservient to the
Government of Louis Pnuarra. The nerves of
Absolutism will stretch from the steppes of Siberia to
the boulevards of Paris, and will there ramify onwards
to the encampments of Algeria, to the quays of
Lisbon, and the palaces of Madrid. It is impossible
to shirk the conclusion that for the gratification of
the dastardly ambition of a parvenu King, a miserable
Princess has been forced to the bridal couch of a man
she execrates ; that two nations have been delivered
up ".to the accidents of rebellion or the woes of
political strife ; that the robbers of Poland have been
encouraged to the consummation of their crimes
in the seizure of Cracow, and that now by this dis-
bursement of 50,000,000 francs from the Treasury of
St. Petersburgh the cause of Northern tyranny has
been armed with a powerful weapon for the dissemi-
nation of its damning principles in the West,
and for the ultimate destruction of civilization. The
consequence of these arch-sins against liberty and
reason it is difficult to conjecture. One thing, how
_ _ _

ever, is certain in the end, and that is retribution. If
the antagonists of despotism and barbarity only act
in a mariner compatible with the sublime cause of
which they will find themselves the champions ; if
temper, and wisdom, and energy, and constancy be
combined in withstanding the encroachments of the
north,—civilization may be advanced instead of being
retarded, and the Iberian Peninsula may be restored
to happiness after centuries of affliction. What

meanwhile are the guerdons reserved for LOUIS

PHILIPPE and M. GUIZOT ? The indignant voices a
the time to come will answer, and their sentence will

be inexorable.

We offered some remarks last Tuesday upon the
admirable letter of Dr. KAY SIIIITTLEWORTII to Mr.
ECKETT, who, on behalf of the Committee of Privi-
leges, had addressed a circular to the ministers of the
Wesleyan Association, in which the Government plan
of education was strongly objected to. That letter
happily exposed the palpable Misrepresentations which
were contained in the circular; and in a strain of
well-tempered rebuke Dr. SHUTTLEWORTH reminded
Mr. ECKETT of the delusion he would have created
in the minds of many influential persons upon a
subject of great national concern, it some one had
not been at the pains to rectify his blunders.
Mr. ECKETT has recently replied, acknowledging
that
chhe aedp"oetorhad inadvertentlypa h fallene " into
histh e errors t
attention.o
Assuming as a matter of
coursey d
thraatwtnhe errors
d\Nehre
not intentional, it is clear that Mr.
EcK
Committee of Privileges are not at. all competenttte°
act as the organs of any public body ; for the version
which they gave of the plan of the scheme of the

Educational Committee of the Privy Council was.. itr4
manifestly incorrect, that nothing short of the Ilk. 111
character whichthe Wesleyans have obtained for them -
selves could save them from the imputation of having-)
designedly published a statement, to produce a belief
in others which they themselves could not but know
rested upon no legitimate grounds. Mr. ECKETT
alleges that the 'Wesleyans are ess averse as ever to
the scheme propounded by Lord LANSDOWNE, as
though Dr. SHUTTLEWORTH had never noticed his
egregious oversights. He sets, forth that many
country districts cannot maintain • more than one
school. It does not, however, necessarily follow that
the single establishment for education should belong
to the Church of England. If the school should be
under the auspices of members of the Established
Church, and receive assistance from the public funds,
it would only show that the Dissenters had not been
so active as others in occupying ground which lay
open to any one to enter, and prepare for promoting
the intellectual culture of the adjacent population.
The Government, according to the plan pursued ever
since public moneys have been placed at the command
of the Privy Council for educational objects, never
take the,initiative in founding schools; they only assist,
without regard to religious distinction, those who
have, in the first instance, done much, by contribu-
tions and the adoption of other active steps, towards
facilitating the purposes of national education. Mr.
ECKETT observes further:—" We are of opinion that
if schools must be supported from the public purse,
they ought to be conducted in such a manner that
the children of parents of all denominations might
equally enjoy their advantages, and that to secure
this they ought to be put under popular management."
The first remark we would offer upon this passage is,
that the Government do not hinder children from
enjoying the benefits of public instruction, for
their parents can send them to any estab-
lishment where the doctrines and forms taught
and observed are in conformity to their own
particular opinions, and which establishment is as
eligible as any other to be partially supported out of
the public resources. Next, we would inquire what
is meant to be implied by the expression of popular
management ? It cannot surely mean that schools
should be placed under a system which should be ex-
clusively approved of by the Wesleyans ? Such an
expectation would savour of arrogance indeed !
Moreover, the conclusion that such a manner of con-
ducting schools could not be popular is easily drawn
from the very nature of the apprehension which Mr.
ECHETT has shadowed forth. If a district can only
maintain one school, and if Mr. ECKETT be right in
.the assumption that the formularies of the Established
Church will be preferred to those of the Dissenters,
is not this an argument that popular feeling is rather
with the religion of the State than that of any other ?
If the wealth, influence, enterprise and
members of one class of religionists is
such that individuals, who belong to it, can
more effectually combine than those who belong to
any other class to confer the blessings of educa-
tion upon their poorer brethren, is it benevolent
or charitable to attempt to thwart such combinations ?
And does not the very complaint of the Dissenters
involve a confession of their own weakness and in-
ability to supply the extensive and lamentable wants
of education ? In a constitutional sense the true
test of the popularity of any scheme is whether it
will meet with the approval of the popular branch of
the Legislature. The Dissenters argue that the
Educational Committee of the Privy Council are
acting in an unconstitutional manner. This we
totally deny. They are not deviating one iota from
the principle which has governed their proceedings
from the first. However, if they think otherwise,
let them petition the House of Commons, and try to
persuade that body of the truth of their assertion;
but, before they do this, we recommend them to
become thoroughly acquainted with all the facts
appertaining to the existing systems, and not, as they
have done, to be "inadvertently falling into errors."
Lastly, does " popular management" signify that
schools aided by the State should be purely secular,
affording no religious instruction whatever ? If so,
it should be remembered that this plan was tried to
be carried out in 1839, when the nation, rightly or
wrongly, refused to sanction it. Therefore, from
very recent experience, we have evidence of the un.
popularity which would attach to the renewal
this plan. Then what are we to do ? Remain in-
active with folded arms, whilst a million and a hall
of the youthful population,—a number which fear-
fully increases with every year,—are steeped in
ignorance ? Assuredly not. Let the Dissenters, if
they can, devise a better system than the one now in
force, and secure the acquiescence of the Legislature
in its favour; but, if they cannot do this, the moral
and intellectual wants of millions ought nut to be
neglected, because of the mere existence of differences
in the formularies of religion.

It is with mingled feelings of horror and indigos-
ion that we direct the public attention to the pro:
ceedings of a naval coda -martial, assembled at Ports-
mouth on Friday last, for the trial of a private
marine, named JOHN BARTON, a full account of which
appeared in The Sun of Saturday. The offence of
which the prisoner was convicted was undoubtedly of
a serious character, and one deserving of severe
punishment. He had used violent language towards,
and struck his superior officer, a colour-sergeant
of the same corps, named SAGER, who had
just lodged a complaint against him. The affair
took place while the vessel was at anchor in the
ha
rbour a ot
ef
dAi nn t
bi gyu ao, t
ha nddid not
e rs
or
occasioned
bo havey
anyge-
neral been
feeling of insubordination. It was of a purely
isolated character, and not of a class that could by
any possibility have endangered the safety of the
ship. Some grog had been spilled and plates broken
in the sergeant's mess, and he had in consequence,
although not aware of his own knowledge who had
done so, reported the prisoner for punishment. The
latter, who
was stated to be a hard-working
man, " was in a very excited state, and ap-
peared asif he had been drinking, but per-
fectly conscious of what he was doing "—said
" that the sergeant was a false-swearing man— that
his report was false, and that he had always been
down on him," and used threatening language to-
wards thee-complainant, for which the commanding
officer very properly ordered him into confine-
ment. When the officer had left the place,
BARTON struck the sergeant on the back of
the head, and kicked him—the blows were
not very severe, nor was any extraordinary injury
inflicted. Acting-Commander RICKETTS did not
appear to have considered the offence as any-
thing beyond a mere ebullition of passion, for the
prisoner was not kept in close custody, but was re-
leased from the irons when the vessel put to sea, and
suffered to go at large until the sergeant remon-
strated, when he was again put into irons. Upon
this state of facts the prisoner was sentenced to
death ! !!—to be hanged at the yard-arm ofsuch one of
her Maiesrv's ships, and at such time, as the Lords of
the. Admiralty should direct.
Can it be possible that in the 19th century—in
the year 1847=-when many intelligent persons are
to be found, who contend- that under no possible
circumstances the life of a human being should
be taken away—that capital punishment should not
be inflicted on the wilful, deliberate, and cold-blooded
assassin, who coolly plans and unhesitatingly executes
the murder of his brother man—there exists a code of
such Draconic severity, of so inhuman and atrocious a
character, as to justify such a sentence ? Can an
Englishman be deprived of life for such a crime, in
accordance with the laws of England ? If such a cir-
cumstance is possible, and that the Articles of IVar can
be strained to such a frightful extent, was any discre-
tion vested in the Court? Could a milder or more
lenient sentence have been pronounced ? Whatever
may be the answers to these interrogatories, matters
cannot be suffered to remain in such a state. There
must be a great and speedy reformation. Public
opinion, which by its irresistible strength
achieved so great a triumph during the
past year, and practically put an end to
the degrading and abominable practice of cor-
poral punishment in one branch of our service, must
be directed to the laws by which the other great
branch is governed and controlled. We are much
mistaken if the British people will be contented that
such a stain should remain on their name, that such
a blot should be found on their statute-book.
No wonder that there should be a general
repugnance to enter into the navy, when persons would

1 thereby subject themselves to the operation of such
atrocious enactments. No wonder that the press-
gang must still be retained, that the voluntary
services of our sailors cannot be obtained, that kid-
sictiving must still be legalized, when a commanding
officer is authorized, without trial or investigation, to
inflict four dozen lashes of a "cat" on any of his crew,
and when an excited man is deemed worthy of death
for an assault which on shore would be sufficiently
punished by a trifling fine or a she,rt imprisonment.
Surely, the maintenance of discipline is as neces-
nary in the army as in the navy,, and personal violence
towards a superior officer i a of as aggravated a
character in one as in the other, and yet we find that
the sentence of a military c ourt-martial, held within
the last week, and picot, Jgated on Saturday last,
on GEORGE 110 f E, a 'drummer of the Grenadier
Guards, for an offence of a similar character, viz., for
having struck and offered violence to the drum-major
in the execution of his duty, was twelve months'
imprisonment, with hard :labour; and we venture to
say that there is no person who will not acknowledge
that the penalty was amply sufficient to vindicate
the majesty of the law, to preserve the discipline of
the regiment, and to prevent the repetition of a
similar outrage. The prisoner, too, is regarded as a
parson subjected to just and well-merited punish-
ment; there is no sympathy excited in his favour on
account of the inordinate cruelty of his sentence, or
of its being so wholly disproportioned to his crime.
It will be carried into execution, and, therefore,
will have more effect on his companions, than if
it were originally so severe as to render it almost a
matter of certainty that it would be mitigated
and reduced in amount. During the past year
another marine was sentenced to death by a naval
court-martial at Cove, for violence towards his superior.
There was some irregularity in the proceedings, of
which the Lords of the Admiralty gladly availed
themselves, and we believe the man got off without any
punishment. Whether' was such a proceeding, or the
infliction of a moderate and suitable penalty, more
calculated to afford a salutary example to the crew ?
On Thursday last it was our duty to speak of the
interference of the Admiralty in remitting a por-
tion of the sentence of a sailor, named
JOHN SAVAGE, who was sentenced by a court-
martial consisting of the very same members as
those who :sat on the trial of BARTON; the observa-
tions we then offered will be found applicable to the
present case. We trust that means will be taken to
place the entire system of naval courts-martial on a
sounder and better footing; to abrogate the law
justifying such punishments ; to take away a power
so liable to abuse, and whenever the offence should
be :committed in harbour or on home service, to
declare that all the more serious crimes should be
tried before a judge of the land—and that a court-
martial should never again be competent to pro-
nounce a capital sentence, save in time of actual war.

The Rhine,and Moselle Gazette, published at Co-
blentz, says--" We learn from a sure source that the
rescripts of the King of PRUSSIA relating to the ex-
tension of the Provincial Diets, were communicated
in extenso to the Emperor of RUSSIA and to Prince
METTERNICH, because his Majesty of PRUSSIA ad-
heres to his resolution to do nothing of importance
without first having the sanction of his two allies."
A letter from Munich says—" Literary and scien-
tific reviews arriving in Bavaria through the book-
sellers have hitherto been exempt from censure; but
the Minister of the Interior has just decided that they
shall be submitted to censure the same as those sent
by the post."

A letter from St. Petersburgh says that the EM-
PEROR had just issued a ukase declaring that Jews
in the army shall be allowed to be promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant.

Accounts from Lisbon of the 15th have been re

ceived.

SALDANRA had not attacked Oporto, although he
had been joined by Casa'. Several inconsiderable
skirmishes had taken place. The financial difficulties
of the Government still continued.
The period for coming into the conversion of the
foreign hive per Cent. into Four per Cent. Bonds is
prolonged to the Ist of July next.

In addition to the former decree admitting foreign
wheat, a second decree has appeared, authorising the
free admission of 8,000 moios (24,000 English quar-
ters) maize, and 1,000 moios (3,000 quarters) barley.
Another decree authorises the free admission of these
grains over the Spanish frontier.

Madrid journals of the 14th and 15th have arrived,

There was again a crisis, and a crisis likely
to be attended with serious consequences. The
Ministers had drawn up a decree on the 13th, ap-
pointing General SERRANO Captain-General of
Navarre. This decree the QUEEN had refused to
sign, whereupon the Ministers had appointed him to
inspect the troops stationed in Navarre and the
Basque Provinces, and to proceed forthwith to his
destination. This order General SERRANO refused to
obey, and an extraordinary Council, which was
attended by all the members of the Cabinet, and by
General NARVAEZ and Senors MARTINEZ DE LA
ROSA, MON, PIDALI DONOSO CORTES, CASTRO
Y OBozco, GONZALES BRAVO, the Marquis DE
VILUMA, and other distinguished members of
the Moderado party, was summoned to delibe-
rate upon the affair. The Council resolved
unanimously to bring SERRANO to trial for disobe-
dience of orders. On the 15th the Ministers com-
municated to the Senate the decrees nominating
Generals SERRANO, ESPELETA, and FERNANDEZ, In-
spectors of Troops in the Provinces. An appeal from
General SERRANO to the Senate, of which body he ii
a member, was read, in which the General, after re-
lating the occurrences of the two previous days,
asked whether it was their wish that he sbould remain
in Madrid, and continue to perform his duties as a
senatsr, or obey the orders of the Ministers and pro-
ceed to the northern provinces. The Duke of So-
TOMATOR, the Prime Minister, then declared, in the
name of himself and his colleagues, that they were deter-
mined to bring General SERRANO to trial for disobedi-
ence of orders. He was answered by Senor LUZURRIAGA,
who besought the Senate not to adopt any hasty de-
cision in an affair of such importance, but on a repre-
sentation by one of the Ministers that the case was
urgent, a Committee was appointed to consider the
affair, and report on it in the course of the day. It
was rumoured that the Ministry would be re-con-
structed, and that BRAVO MURILLO, OLIVAN, NAR-
VAEZ, and DION, would have seats in the Cabinet.
MADRID BOLSA, MARCH 15.—The Three per Cents.
were done at 30; for cash ; the Five per Cents. at
19i ; the Debt, without interest, at .4 ; and the
Coupons at 17.

We have received the Paris Papers of Friday and
Saturday.
The convention between the Bank of France and
Russia is the subject of comment in all of them. The
Presse, the organ of the Russian alliance, considers
this convention as the revival of the compact entered
into between NAPOLEON and ALEXANDER at Tilsit.
It says--

j "We confined ourselves yesterday to reproducing, without
any comment, the unexpected event announced in the Jinni-
teur Parisicn, and which caused on the Bourse an increase of
If. on the closing prices of the preceding day. All reflections
would have been superfluous for the signification of this
fact, its political and financial importance having no need
to be demonstrated to make everybody understand them,
and on our part any praise, however just it might have
been, would have been suspected. It is known that the illu-
sion of the English alliance has never been shared by us,
and that, without deceiving ourselves with respect to the ob-
stacles of an alliance of France with Russia, we have always
refused to serve as an echo to impolitic recriminations, which
to retract, or even to hesitate for a single
could have no other effect than to enfeeble us, to isolate us,
and to aggravate the prejudices which, though common to
the two Courts, was not less injurious to the two countries.
Tan years of insults, of calumnies, and of suspicion have not
caused us tovary,
day. We have the most complete and unshaken faith in the
triumph of truth over error and falsehood. A little time ago
the Sus!cle, in reply
to one of our articles, described the alli-
ance of France with Russia as a ' pact of the Oevil.' We let
it talk. In the absence of the good opinion of that journal
these is an authority which,
wrongly, perhaps, we consider
equal to its own, that of the Emperor Napoleon, who on the
:I2dofJune (July 4), 1807, wrote to the Emperor Alexander
the following letter and note, which are not less curious than
decisive in the question :
" ' Sir and Brother,-1 send to your Majesty a note on the
discussion which occupies us. Your Majesty will see from
it my desire to remain in a position of friendship and alliance
with Russia, and to remove everything which can oppose,
directly or indirectly, this great and noble idea. On which
I pray God to have you in his holy keeping.' "
" the note annexed to the preceding letter was as fol-
lows :

" The geographical relations of Russia and France, in
the present situation of things, are as favourable as their com-
mercial relations, and this to such an extent that, even in a
state of war, the two powers would not know where to meet
to fight. Discussions of limits, little wars about Custom.
house duties, discussions on rivers, discussions on sub-
sistences, and a thousand other little subjects of dis-

THE SIJN, LOND ON. MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 22, 1847.

puts, which cause coolness and generally precede other
quarrels, and are the prelude of war, are totally strange
to us; so that to find causes of animosity, recourse must be
had to things the most abstract or the most imaginary. The
friendship and unbounded confidence which the great qua-
lities of the Emperor Alexander have inspired in the Em-
peror Napoleon, have caused to be sealed by the heart what
had already been established and proved by reason. In this
situation of things let us take care to do nothing to change
the general relations of commerce and geography which na-
ture has established between the two states. To
call the Prince Jerome to the throne of Saxony
and Warsaw would be almost to overthrow in an in-
stant all our relations. There will not be a custom-
house quarrel on the Niemen, a commercial altercation, a
police discussion, which will not pierce directly and instantly
the heart of the Emperor Napoleon, and by this single
political fault we shall have torn our treaty of alliance and
friendship, and prepared more important subjects of mis-
understanding than those which have existed till the present
time. The policy which is entertained by the Emperor
Napoleon is that his influence shall not pass the Elbe, and
he has adopted that policy because it is the only one which
conciliates itself with the system of sincere and constant
friendship which he has contracted with the great empire
of the North. Thus the countries situated between the
Niemen and the Elbe will be the harrier which will sepa-
rate the great empires and prevent the little squabbles which
between nations precede the tiring of cannon. In so great
an epoch what is specially important is to fix well relations
and limits. As a proof of the evils caused by the intermix-
ture of states, the passage of Anspach should be called to
mind. It suffices for us to guarantee the sincerity of our
patriotism, and to defend ourselves against absurd attacks, to
find ourselves by the side of the Emperor Napoleon. We
think that enough.
"If the Emperor of Russia did not believe in the firm
establishment of order in France, and in the maintenance of
peace in Europe, he would not apparently have purchased
the rentes of the Bank, he would perhaps have continued to
send us his corn, but most certainly he would have kept
our money. If the Emperor Nicholas, instead of being in-
fluenced, as we have the firm conviction he was, by a
praiseworthy sentiment, had acted from the underhand
hostile motives which the National supposes, he would not
have opened a diplomatic negotiation destined to create
immense effect at London, at Vienna, and at Berlin ; he
would have acted in the dark; the banking-houses would
not have refused their assistance; he would have awaited
the moment of the greatest probable decline in prices.
Everything at this moment in the conduct of the Emperor
Nicholas with respect to France, bears the imprint of sen-
timents the most opposed to those which it pleases some
blind journals to ascribe to him. A little while ago these
newspapers spread the rumour that Russia had prohibited
the exportation of the grain which France needed. What
did the Russian Government then do? It declared that so
far from having forbidden the exportation of grain, it would
encourage it by all possible means. We must, in fact, be
very blind, for where the National sees a danger for France,
we see a pledge given to peace; where it sees a subject of
anxiety, we see a subject of security; where it sees ' one of
the gravest events that we have witnessed for seventeen
years,' we see, on the contrary, one of the most propitious
circumstances which have occurred for seventeen years, to
show to England that she must not for the future calculate,
on our part, on concessions without reciprocity, and that she
will do well for the future to spare menaces in cases in which
right is only invoked to hide the excesses of pride, and the
abuse of force."
It is well that we are thus early made aware of the
designs of France and Russia. Forewarned is fore-
armed. In the meantime, however, we would ask
whether this pecuniary assistance is part of the price
paid for the connivance of the French Monarch in
the " absorption " of Cracow ? The Union 4.llonar-
chique sees with joy in this transaction an approach
to the principles of Absolutism and Legitimacy on
the part of the Government of the Barricades :
" As regards the Bank of France, it has, in the position in
which it is placed, done a very reasonable thing, but at the
same time has acted rather for its own particular interests
than for the interest of the public. But it is not against it
that we should complain, and this brings our Government
into question. It may be said, without any malevolence,
that its part in this curious affair is not the best. It has, at
least to a certain degree, placed our credit at the mercy of a
foreign power, which is in every respect beyond her reach—
it has suffered this power to do what it might have done
itself as easily, with less inconvenience, and with much
greater security to the interests of France. It must be con•
fessed, however, that our Cabinet may find in policy a de-
sirable compensation for its financial want of foresight.
Simpletons only can believe that the Emperor of Russia
has come to embrace the systole on the strong- box of the
Bank."

The Union Monarchique is right. Russia will not
embrace the systt',nze of the dynasty of the Barricades.
It will, on the contrary, force the dynasty to embrace
the systeme of Absolutism, and if the systeme is em-
braced, the men of the systeme will soon follow, so,
no doubt, hopes the Union Monarchique, the organ of
the Legitamatists.
In the following remarks, which appear in the
Constitutionnel, the question is ably considered in all its
bearings, and the probable results of the convention
seem to be properly appreciated :
"The purchase which the Emperor of Russia has made of
the Five per Cent. Government Stock, forming part of the
reserve fund of the Bank of France, to the amount of
50,000,0001., has been differently appreciated. Everybody
endeavours to discover the causes of that spontaneous
and unexpected resolution of the Russian Govern-
ment. Those causes are obvious ; they are parily
financial and commercial, and partly political. The
Emperor of Russia has the precious metals in abun-
dance at his disposal. The vaults of the fortress of
St. Peter and St. Paul, at St. Petersburgh, containing the
reserve of the specie constituting the guarantee of the paper
currency issued by the different financial establishments,
now overflow with coin and ingots. The Commercial Gazette
of St. Petersburg!), of the Bth of January, officially pub-
lished the returis of the quantity of precious metals which
were solemnly transported to these vaults at different periods
to serve as a guarantee to the paper currency. The following
is the article of the Commercial Gazette :
" Since the completion, in the fortress of St. Peter and
St. Paul, of the edifice destined to receive the coin and ingots.
representing the amount of the paper currency and the re-
serve of the empire, those funds were transferred, at three
different periods, from the vaults in which they were origi-
nally lodged to those of the new edifice, viz., in December,
1844, silver and ingots to the amount of 70,464,245 roubles
99 copecks; in June, 1845, 12,180,000 roubles; and in Fe-
bruary, 1846, 11,705,725 roubles 28 copecks. Those sums, re-
presenting 94,349,971 roubles 27copecks consisted of 56,000,000
roubles in silver, 30,385.000 roubles in gold, and 7,964,971
roubles 27 copecks in ingots. The amount of each deposit
was verified each time at a sitting of the Council of the
Establishments of Credit of the Empire, in presence of the
Commander of the Fortress of St. Petersburgh, the members
of the Administration directing the issue of notes of credit,
and with the assistance of the deputies of the corporation of
merchants of St. Petersburgh and the foreign merchants.
In the year 1846, the funds in cash, not included in the stock
in hand of the administration of public credit, have also con-
siderably increased, and the guarantee of the notes of credit
and notes of deposit amounted, on the Ist of January, 1817,
to 105,667,149 silver roubles (420,888,598 f. )'
" That reserve, it is true, serves as a guarantee for the pay-
ment of an immense mass of paper money, estimated at
nearly two milliards. All the payments made by the Go-
vernment in the interior of the empire, and most of the com-
mercial transactions, take place in paper money. It is con-
sequently easy for the Emperor to use the specie
placed in reserve, and to substitute for it French Rentes,
that is perfectly solid stock, on which a profit may be
realised. We should also observe, that the metallic
mass disposable in Russia is annually augmented by the con-
stantly increasing produce of the mines of the Oural, and
that, since the month of July last, it must have likewise
received the specie sent to Russia by all the nations of Eu-
rope in exchange for corn. The export of bullion from
France alone amounts to 40,000,000 f. Now, whilst money
abounds at St. Petersburgh, it becomes rare in France. In
the meantime the scarcity continues in our country, and
fresh purchases of grain become necessary. We carry on a
very limited trade, and have very few means of exchange
with Russia. Money is indispensable to purchase grain at
Odessa. The merchants of France were consequently on the
point of directing their operations exclusively towards
America, where many of our productions might be taken in
exchange. We can now easily comprehend all the advan-
tages which the able Government of Russia disco-
vered in an operation which has for its results—lst, to
procure an excellent mode of disposing of 50,600,000 of
capital. The French Rentes were greatly depressed at the
moment the acquisition was resolved on, the Five per Cents.
being then at 1151. 65c. The Three per Cents. had fallen in
the same proportion. The Rentes sold to the Emperor by the
Bank consisted of 2,000,000 f. Five per Cents. and 145,000 f.
Three per Cents. We need not add that, notwithstanding
the embarrassment of our finances, there is not in the world
a more secure payment than that of the interest of our
public debt, nor a Government more solvent than ours. 2.
To bring back to Odessa the French trade, on the point of
turning towards America, and thus sell considerable masses
of grain, with which Russia is overstocked. The value of
that article, trifling at different points of its territory in
ordinary times, has suddenly risen to upwards of 20f. per
hectolitre at Odessa, that is to 10f., 15f., or 161., according to
distances, in the localities where the merchants of Odessa,
who have disposed of all the grain in their stores, will be
obliged to renew their provisions. 3. To procure those
advantages to Russian trade, and chances of profit to the
Imperial Treasury, without even displacing the whole of the
specie, since the 50,000,000 are to be paid by Russia in bills
of from 35 to 90 days' date, which will evidently return for
the most part to Russia, in exchange for corn, to be im-
ported to France. Thus, on the whole, the Rentes of the
Bank will be paid in corn by Russia. They may be again sold
at a later date, with a profit, in the Paris market, and thereby
occasion a fresh exportation of French coin. The conduct
of the Russian Government was also dictated by political
motives. England and France are now disunited by a serious
dissension. Russia places herself between the two nations, to
render the rupture more complete and durable. The Emperor
finds, at the same time, the means of appearing to con-
ciliate France without changing his attitude towards our
Government, and of making our country accept a service
from one of the Powers who have suppressed Cracow. This
is one of the grave inconveniences for France of the financial

operation so ably and so promptly concluded by Russia.
Another danger will arise from the considerable mass of
French Rentes now possessed by the Russian Government
being, on a given clay, thrown on the Paris market. Never-
theleis, we should be sorry to convert an act that facilitates
the importation of provisions, in the present scarcity, into a
subject of attack against Russia. Who is truly responsible
for the embarrassments of our country, and the advantage
taken of us at this moment by a foreign Power ? The
Minister of Commerce, who, by an imprudent circular,
checked speculation at a moment when he should have
stimulated it, forgetting that if it be opportune to create con •
fidence in order to retard or avoid financial crises, a quite
different line of conduct should be pursued in questions of
provisions."
'

In the same journal we find a long article on the
comparative force of the British and French navies,

which concluds in the following manner :

" Whatever may be our desire and our hope to see peace
long maintained, we think that it is the duty of our Govern-
ment not to neglect to raise such fortifications as may be
necessary, and to establish the bases of as formidable a naval
state as possible. The strength of states is the best guarantee
of peace."
We hope that our own Government also will re-
collect that " the strength of states is the best gua-
rantee of peace," and " not neglect to raise such
fortifications as may be necessary, and to establish

be bases of as formidable a naval state as possible."
Corn riots have taken place at Beaugency and at