The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-23 00:00:00

Commerce of Edinburgh have set the example, thL t
the other great cities of the empire rsill be shamed
out of their inaction, and will be compelled to inter-
fere to save themselves and their country from dis-

tress and ruin.
If our merchants allow the Chartists and Re-
oealers to monopolise politics, the world will soon
Forget that the merchants exist, except as mere
hucksters, and they will fall" to the rank of the
incient pedlars. Mere buying and selling is not a
very honourable employment, unless connected with
the more worthy pursuits which dignify the citizens
,f a free State. At present, too, trade has ceased to
mere buying and selling, and has assumed the
character of ga-nbling. The rapid fortunes made
Ind lost on the Stock Exchange have infected the
onimercial community, and tinctured it with the
reckless attributes of a gamester. It has ceased to rely
on steady industry for success, and worships chance.
The onward march of improvement has become,
therefore, to it, of comparatively little consequence,
and the once princely merchants of London,
Liverpool, &c., who formerly almost gave laws to
,he empire, have become of less political weight in
the community than their own servants. This is
Jot right. If our opulent merchants wish to re-
cover their lost ground, they will bestir themselves
and demand a revision of our fiscal code. They

:rust not be afraid of doing right because the
Chartists are doing what they think is wrong.
Their negligence and supineness only encourage
others ; and demagogues would melt into insig-
nificance if our merchants took the lead, as be-
comes them, in demanding fiscal reform.
Some of them, we are aware, have interests
adverse to those of the people. Some hate
mortgages on sugar estates, others are owners of

rotten ships, which can only be employed bring-
ing timber from Canada ; others, again,
profit by sending coffee from the Brazils
to the Cape of Good Hope, and then importing it
into England as the growth of our colony. But
he small number who profit by the vexatious im-

posts on timber, sugar, and coffee, should not be
allowed to influence, anti so degrade, the whole
body ; for the bulk the discriminating duties
are most mischievous, and they ought, in
spite of the interested few, to bestir them-
selves, and redeem the character of the
mercantile classes. The landlords have earned
for themselves a most unenviable hatred, which
the opulent classes of towns will soon come to
share, and will deserve it, if they do not inter-
fere. But we cannot believe, now that Edinburgh
has set the example, and now that the injurious
character of our fiscal regulations has been so

clearly demonstrated, that the merchants of Lon-

don, Liverpool, &c., will, by silent acquiescence,
sanction the continuance of the present system.

Madrid Journals, of the 14th inst., have come to
hand. In consequence of some seditious cries on the
previous evening, the troops were confined to their bar-
racks, to be ready to act in case of emergency, but
no further disturbance took place. The Duke of Vie-
TORY declined acting as Alcalde of Passages, to which
office he had been elected by the inhabitants.
A private letter, dated Bilbao, the 15th inst., states that a
General Junta, composed of all the Deputies of the commu-
ncros of Biscay, was to assemble on the 19th instant. The
Deputies for Guipuscoa and Alav had been invited to attend
this reunion. The object of this extraordinary Junta is to exa-
mine the proposal to suppress the commercial entrepot at Bil-
bao ; likewise the proposal to deprive the merchants of the
privilege they enjoyed on all importations made under the Spa-
nish flag ; and, in fine, to consider the order given by the Re-
g to dispense with requiring the assent of the foral de-
putation for the execution of the laws according to the fueros.
Letters from Malaga state, that in .pite of the surveillance of
the Spanish coast-guard boats and the numerous carabineers
stationedalong the coast, 450 horse-loads of li andkerchiefs, in us-
line, and other English manufactured goods, had just been landed
in the neighbourhood from Gibraltar.
The Five per Cents, continued to improve. On the
14th some bargains were made at 30 and 301 for cash,
and 30a for 60 days.

We have received the whole of the French Journals
of Thursday. Oa that day commenced the debate in
the Chamber of Deputies on the Fortifications of Paris
Bill. The Chamber was crowded, and the greatest in-
terest excited by the expected discussion of a question
so important to France and to Eurepe. Singularly
enough, the first to address the Chamber was M. Goa-
LEIIIIY, in oppositicn to the measure. His speech was
replete with good sense, and with the soundest maxims
of policy. He observed that the military glory of
France was acquired on fields of battle, and not behind
walls and bastions. In 1815 NAPOLEON consulted
CARNOT relative to the fortification of Paris, and the
opinion of that eminent person was, that to fortify the
capital would cost two hundred millions of
francs in money, and three years in time, and
that when so fortified, an army of 60,000
men would take it in twenty-four hours. If the Bill
was persisted in the country would be pnvented
from prosecuting all useful works for eight years, and
thus agriculture and commerce would be completely
paralyzed. If only eighty millions of the money pro-
posed to be thrown away on fortifications was expended
on the construction of railways and other necessary
improvements, mor. respect foe. France would be created
abroad, and more happiness and a stronger sense of
security felt at home than if they erected a thousand
fortresses and raised walls as high as the summit of the
Tower of Babel. M. JUST CHASSELOUP addressed the
Chamber in support of the Bill, but his speech was a
mere repetition of M. TRIERS' Report.
In the early part of the sitting Marshal SOULT in-
troduced three Bills into the Chamber, the first de-
manding a supplemental credit for the army of
1,500,000 francs ; the second for calling out the con-
tingent of 80,000 men ; and the third for improving the
recruiting system, and extending the period of service
from six years to seven.

The Court of Rome has consented to give a Cardi-
nal's bat to one of the French Prelates.
The Portuguese brig Pacha, captured by the French cor-
vette da Prevoyante, is going to be sent from the Isle of Bour-
bon to I3rest, escorted by the Lancier brig. According to the
inventory made in the Isle of Bourbon it appears that the
cargo, money, and goods found on board the Pacha is worth
250,000 francs at least. The negroes were landed at Bourbon.
There some died in consequence of the privations which they
suffered. The crew consisted of 45 men, who will be brought
to Brest to undergo their trial.
The Pacha had papers issued by the Portuguese authorities,
but it carried on the slave trade by violence, and seized on free
persons at the several places at which it touched ; this is the
ground of its being captured. It was to land its cargo of
slaves at the llayannah. It is said that the Pacha is a Mexican
brig (the Iturbide) which was one of the prizes made by Ad-
mtital 13audin, and sold with other vessels of the same origin.
Le Temps.
BOURSE..—PARIS, THURSDA JAN. 21.

f itst Highest Lowest Last
Price Price. Phu, Price
r re.-.ch 5 per Cents ll2 40 ... 112 00 ... 110 35 ... 112 45
4% per Cents ..... _ lO2 50 .., 102 50 ... 102 50 ... 102 50
4 per Cents 29 ... 99 ... 99 .. 59
3 per Cents 77 4C 77 4:1 ... 77 20 ... 71 20
:lank of rrance
L'Alitte Bank 1,000/. Sh 1047 50 ...1047 50 ...HI 7 50 _lOl7 5(1
5070 L Stares 5130 ...5130 —5127 5:1 ...5107 50
lelgian Bank
5 per Cunt, 9834 ... 95% ... 98% ... 8%
New Lean
::;I,anisll Active 2.5 ... 2.:% ... 25% ... 25%
Passive 6l ... 0% ... 614 ... 6%
Portuguese 3 per Cents 2034 ... 20N ... 001 ... 00%
Neapolitan
Roman .... ZOO ... 1013% ... 100 ...100;8
RAILWAY SHARES.
St. Germain
Versailles,R, B 425 ... 425 ... 425 ... 425
L.B 3lO 50 ... 315 ... 310 50 ... 3 250
Orleans .
toueli