The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-26 00:00:00

'l4l tifentiTff

ON" )ON, THURSDAY. AUGUST 26, 1847.

Apathy seems to be the speedy and inevitable con-
sequence of enthusiasm, and the greater the enthu-
siasm the more inevitable and the more speedy is the
apathy by which it is succeeded. This is among the
many incomprehensible anomalies of our national
character. To the physiologist it arises from cli-
mate, or from the mixture of races ; to the phrenolo-
gist it is the result of certain craniological develop-
ments ; to the abstract philosopher it comes from the
peculiarities of the ethical doctrines instilled into the
hearts of the population. Whatever may be the im-
mediate cause of this fickleness of temperament, there
it is, perpetually manifested to us as well by the most
frivolous as by the most important occurrences.
It is as visible to the foreigner on his arrival
in England as the chalky whiteness of our
cliffs ; it is as much a characteristic among us as
vivacity is among Frenchmen, or a contemplative
quiescence among Germans. We are as proud of our
capacity for evincing enthusiasm as a peacock is of
unfolding his tail, and generally to about as much
purpose.

A short time back the metropolis rang with
acclamations in honour of the memory of WILLIess
C.txTos—meetings were convened, speeches were
delivered, subscriptions were opened. Every one
appeared eager to vie in testimonies of grati-
tude for the peaceful but triumphant achieve-
ments of the first English printer. A fountain
was to sparkle in the daytime and gaslights were to
glitter in the evening, in commemoration of a career
by which the land had been so vividly illuminated. A
monument of an appropriate description was to attest
to after ages that our generation had been alive to the
benefits conferred upon his countrymen by the intel-
ligence and int:ustry of CAXTON. It was to adorn
the precincts of the venerable Abbey of Westminster,
because in the cloisters of that superb edifice the first
British printer was first sheltered. All hearts—at
least the hearts of all enlightened men—exulted at
the prospective erection of this token of national
appreciation. The noise of this ardour has diminished
—the activity of this demonstration has abated—the
notion of the Caxton Testimonial has, by the vast
majority of its promoters, been altogether forgotten.
With Mr. H. H. MILMAN and his immediate sympa-
thisers we are convinced it is different ; we are
satisfied that the committee and the secretary, ap-
pointed some weeks since in the Adelphi, are by no
means idle or indifferent; but we are equally certain
that with the public generally, the idea of a
monument to CAXTON is as a vision of a fort-
night old—gone from the recollection. Even when
these observations shall recal the matter to the me-
mory of the people, the result of the reminiscence will
be like the verse of BULWER-LYTTON, they will again
" Dream the dream they dreamed."
Knowing this to be our national peculiarity, what
are our reflections about the sale of SHAKSPERE'S
birthplace ? We tremble lest that memento of the
greatest poet the world ever saw should become the
possession of an unworthy purchaser. What a dis-
grace would it not be to every man and woman in
the island were this " holy ground" of genius to
be profaned by the footsteps of a huckstering show-
man ! What a fact to record in the history
of British literature, that the shrine to which
the illustrious of all lands had resorted as
pilgrims, had been " knocked down" to a mercenary
speculator by the hammer of an auctioneer ! what
an antithesis to inscribe among our national memo-
rabilim that the only relics of the mighty being who
flourished in the days of Queen ELIZABETH should
be sold like any vulgar curiosity in the days of Queen
VICTORIA ! Yet that event may possibly, will pro-
bably occur within a few days, unless the enthu-
siasm already evinced throughout the United King-
dom be sustained.
Let us be aroused to a sense of the value of these
mementoes of our true benefactors and instructors
by this critical position of the humble dwelling-
house in which the eyes of WILLIAM SHABSPERE
first opened. They are, from their many gentle
and sublime associations, better than gold or
jewels. They are the fragments of
past which have drifted to us—timeworn a glorious
and
mutilated, but authentic and
venerable—down
the flood of Time and across
the abyss of three
perilous centuries. Let us prize them as Com:mums
prized the green leaves and the scarlet berries that
floated round the prow of his vessel, and told him of
the countries beyond the ocean. And while we con-
sider as to the surest means of preserving the birth-
place of that wonderful mortal, the like of whom the
world never saw before, and (say the adoring Ger-
mans), " will never see again"—let us see whether
the other relics of national genius which are scattered
'hither and thither over the islands cannot be saved
from destruction, and rendered the property of the
p eoPle, under the especial care of the supreme Go-
vernment. Glad are we when the residences
of our great countrymen have accidentally
pass ed into the possession
appreciatingof men capable of
genius aenamreiverencing its abodes.
Glad a,'e we, for
that Barnes-elms,
which of yore sheltered under its roof the golden in-
tellect of .t.kBRAHA.M COWLEY,
welling-house of such
our own day the d should have become In
Sir LAIMWELLIT SRADWELL, the Vice- an ono) as
r of
England.. But t makes us wroth to know that the villa of .ALEXANDIiR POPE, at Twic" kenhani, should
have beers levelled by the vandalism of iorame, and
that the gardens in which the translator of HOMER
flirted with Lady MARY WORTLEY
should be disfigured by the architectMONTAGUE
ural e4twra.

gances conceived by a mind of the most
arrogant vulgarity. We would see Stonehenge
walled in safe from the possible assaults
of the railway engineer; we would see NEWTON'S
cottage, and THOMSON'S parlour, and the vicarage in
which OLIVER GOLDSMITH first saw the light, trea-
sured up by the nation—not; the casual property of
this man or that. This is not a question of mere
bricks and mortar, it is one involving the holiest
principles and the most ennobling sentiments of our
common nature.

There are many questions of deep and serious in-
terest to the United Kingdom to be discussed in the
new Parliament, but perhaps none are more vitally
important than those which relate to the sister island,
to the development of her resources, the employment
of her people, her extrication from the distress and
misery in which she has been unhappily involved, and
her elevation to a state of comparative prosperity.
Ireland is an integral portion of the British dominions ;
her interests are not in any wise different from our
own, and no distinction should be made in the manner
in which her people are dealt with from that adopted
to our own. The proposition enunciated by the
late Premier, responded to by the present and his
colleagues in the Ministry, and received with ac-
clamations by the united Legislature, " that she should
be placed on a footing of perfect equality with ;
Eng-
land in her civil, municipal, and political institutions,'
contained the true principle on which alone she can
be governed for the future. But something more is
to be done than the restoration, or we should rather
say, the creation of that equality. Past ages of mis-
government and oppression have led to her present
painful position, and to the fearful amount of misery
and suffering that has taken place during the past
year. We owe it to our Irish brethren to spare no
exertion, to leave no effort untried to promote the
welfare of their country, and to place the people in
such a position as they might reasonably have hoped
to be in had England adopted a wiser and more liberal
policy in bygone years. It is not merely a matter
of justice that we should do so, but it is also in the
highest degree expedient. If Ireland were permitted
to remain in her present deplorable state she would
be a continual clog on our exertions, a source
of endless expense and embarrassment—she
would be the chief difficulty of our Ministers,
and a constant drain on our Exchequer, while her
people would be barely removed from a state of ab-
solute destitution. Viewing the subject, therefore,
merely as a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence,
and omitting every consideration of justice and
humanity, we should take the steps necessary for the
improvement of her soil and the employment of her
people, and thus transform her from a craving and
importunate dependent, to a valuable and efficient
auxiliary.
It is not by a single measure, however beneficial it
might prove, that this great result can be obtained.
Many matters, apparently trivial in themselves, will
yet have important effects, and tend materially to-
wards the attainment of the desired object. The recla•
ration of the waste lands, the promotion of fisheries,
the establishing of better relations between landlord
and tenant, an extensive cultivation of flax, loans
to landowners for the improvement of their estates,
and the creation of railways through the entire coun-
try, are all means by which the greatest ameliorations
may be effected; but they are not sufficient by them-
selves, and the most attentive and mature considera-
tion should be devoted to the various propositions
which have, from time to time, been brought for-
ward. The great majority of these propositions may
be imperfect, and, in their present shape, impracti-
cable, but they will generally be found to contain
something from which good may be extracted, and
that may be productive of benefit. They may not
appear calculated to produce all the advantages as-
serted by their originators, but still a partial adop-
tion may be followed by favourable results. There
is no period which can be more properly devoted to
that consideration than the present. There is at
least a relaxation of suffering—a relief from
that frightful destitution that compelled a
prompt and ready action for present necessities,
rather than for future advantages. The statesman
can now apply his mind to the entire question, with-
out being distracted by the warfare of parties in the
senate-house, or the cry of agony from a people ex-
posed to all the horrors of pestilence and famine. He
possesses that leisure and quietness which is so essen-
tial to calm reflection and a prudent judgment. He
can weigh the various remedial measures in the
balance, and separate the wheat from the chaff. The
golden moment should not, and we believe will not,
be suffered to elapse fruitlessly by the enlightened
and liberal Nobleman who now presides over the na-
tional councils or the other members of the
Cabinet. We shall look with deep anxiety for
the results of their labours, and we trust
that they may furnish a solution to the
difficulties, and give effect to the good wishes
and favourable intentions towards Ireland by which
our Ministers are animated.

But while the Ministry are thus busy, no persons
I of any class should be idle. Capitalists are especially
those by whose aid the greatest benefits to Ireland may
be effected, and with corresponding advantages to
themselves. The great want of Ireland is capital, and if
that can be made to flow to her shores, not only from na-
tional, but from private sources, the victory will be more
than half achieved. An extremely sensible, and well-
' written pamphlet, from the pen of the Rev. GEORGE
HENRY STODDART, contains a notice of the Irish
Amelioration Society, a project brought forward by
Mr. JASPER E. ROGERS, C.E. " The plan," it is stated,
" would, if promptly adopted, furnish remunerative
employment to thousands immediately after
the harvest is over, and thus enable them to provide
for their families through the ensuing winter, while
fuel would be more adequately, and safely, and
economically provided." These are certainly valu-
able results, but iz addition, it is said, that while
ten per cent. is paid to the capitalist on the
amount of his investment, a large surplus will
be applicable to the amelioration of the con-
dition of the people, by improvements in their
habitations, the construction of lecture-rooms
for useful and entertaining information, instruction
in cottage economy and agricultural science, includ-
ing the growth of flax, and the establishment of loan
funds and dispensaries. Although we are not pre-
pared to say that all these advantages can be at-
tained, there is quite sufficient to show that the
scheme is a feasible one ; and if the calculations
of Mr. Rooaas are not very erroneous indeed, an
ample dividend might fairly be looked for, and much
employment would be given to persons who might
otherwise become burdensome on the poor-rates.
The project is, at all events, worthy of serious con-
sideration, and it is said that it has already been sub-
mitted to many eminent scientific persons, from
whom it received the highest encomiums and the
most unqualified approbation.

A correspondent from Rome, dating his letter on
the 12th, states in the Augsburg Gazette, that the
French Ambassador to the Papal Court had re-
proached the Cardinal Secretary of State with pre-
cipitation in publishing officially the first protest of
the Cardinal Legate of Ferrara, and observed that
the course adopted was not diplomatic. The reply
of the Cardinal was, according to the same letter,
most characteristic ; he remarked that he did not
pretend to be a diplomatist, but that he had done
what he was entitled to do.
The occupation of Ferrara by the Austrians is
described, by those who wrote from Rome on the
ilo7dtihninasttiaonnt,into
the
eve
capital as
a profound feeling of
as well as throughout
Romagna. The Pontificalala
to abate this impression, had Government,.
published
with a view
of
tphuehlDl. .ed on that day
an extraordinary number
o di Roma,
containing an article calculated to
re-assure the
population in regard to the results of the occupation.
The article begins by referring to the protest en-
tered into in 1813 by Cardinal GONSALYI and
Roman Cabinet against the 103 d clause of the treaty
e
of Vienna, which reserved to Austria the right
of
garrisoning the citadels of Ferrara and Comacchio,
with the exception of the towns. The Holy See, it
says, had ever since entertained a hope that the Aus-
trian troops would be withdrawn even from those
citadels, and had insisted and obtained that the respec-
tive garrisons should not trespass beyond the limits
of the fortresses. Great accordingly had been the
surprise of his HOLINESS when he was informed that
considerable reinforcements, presenting themselves

with all the appearances of hostility, had entered
Ferrara on the 17th of July. The Secretary of State,
on being apprised =of the fact, had immediately
written to the Austrian General-in-Chief, Count RA-
DETSKI, to withdraw the troops from the town, and
direct the' garrison► to remain within the walls of the
citadel. Instead of complying with that request the
Austrian General ordered patrols to be sent into the
town at night, on the 6th of August, and finally,
the military posts to be occupied by Austrian troops.
On the Bth the Governor of the citadel, General
AIJERSPERG, had complained to the Cardinal Legate
of the prison being committed to the keeping of the
civic guard, and declared that if the principal posts
and the gates were likewise confided to them, he
would be under the necessity of dislodging them and
replacing them by Austrian soldiers. The Cardinal
invoked the right of sovereignty of the POPE, but
his remonstrances were disregarded by Count 11.1
DETSKI, who ordered the occupation of the four gates
of the town and the principal posts by the garrison
of the citadel. Cardinal CIACCHI had again pro-
tested, and his conduct had been fully approved by
the Government. His HOLINESS highly commended
the behaviour of the people of Ferrara on that occa-
sion ; he shed tears of gratitude, and bestowed on them
his benediction. The article then concludes by re-
commending all the subjects of the POPE to observe
moderation, and to place confidence in the Govern-
ment, and assures them that he had protested in the
proper form against this unjustifiable aggression.
News from Bologna, up to the 16th instant, inclu-
sively, tells us that though affairs remained in the
same position as before at Ferrara, there were twenty
thousand Austrians congregated on the banks of the
Po, in readiness to cross that river at a moment's no-
tice. On the 16th inst. the Municipal Councillors of
Bologna voted an address to Cardinal ABIATI, protest-
ing in the strongest terms against the Austrian inva-
sion, and announcing their willingness to defend with
their lives and property the independence of the
Papal dominions. Tuscany is described as being in
a state of great agitation.

Intelligence from Madrid has been received, with
newspapers of the 19th inst.
The terms of reconciliation had been laid before
the KING-CONSORT, but his MAJESTY required a
delay of four months' duration before he would con-
sent to a return to the palace. This conditional
demand is ascribed by the Progressist papers to
foreign influence. The Eco del Comercio, indeed,
goes the length of asserting that ISABELLA had re-
ceived an affectionate communication from her royal
uncle, the KING of the FRENCH, warning her that if
such-and-such a course were not followed, General
NARVAEZ should be dispatched to Spain for the pur-
pose of vigorously carrying into effect the designs of
himself (Louis PHILIPPE). So much for the Citizen
King—the King of July—the King of the Bar-
ricades !

In consequence of the failure of the Cabinet in
effecting a reconciliation between the royal couple,
the retirement of the Ministry was hourly expected.
Other accounts, however, state that Messrs. PACHECO,
BENAVIDES, and MAZZAREDO were striving to pro-
mote the accession of General NARVAEZ to the
Presidency of the Council ; and our hint of yesterday
about SALAMANCA is corroborated, by the assurance
of our Madrid correspondent that that Minister was
not altogether disinclined to continue in office under
the General, but was awaiting the arrival of SARA-
GOSSA. from Paris to know his definitive intentions.
According to the French intelligence it would also
seem that Queen CHRISTINA returned to Paris on
Monday, from Havre, in consequence of the recent
information received from Spain.
The utmost anxiety prevailed throughout Madrid,
and the Funds had fallen.

The Three per Cents. were done at. 26 for cash ;
the Coupons at 15 ; and the Five per Cents. at ri
for paper ; and the Debt without interest, at 51.

The Paris journals of Tuesday have arrived. by
our usual express. They are still engrossed with the
horrible murder of the Duchess DE Paminiv, and the
scarcely less horrible proceedings of the Austrians; .in
the northern provinces of the Italian Peninsula.
The general belief throughout the capital, respoct-
ing the murderer of the daughter of Marshal San Ls-
. TIANI, was that the Duke DE CHOISEUL PEASI.: cN
would not live to be tried. The National explicit'y
declares this as its conviction. The Journal des
Debats says :—" As we stated yesterday, the ;re-
mains of the Duchess DE PRASLIN were deposited. on
Sunday in the vaults of the Madelaine, her pai.,lsh
church. On. Monday morning, at eight o'clock, a fun e; ml
service was celebrated in the same church, amidst
the tears and grief of all present. The friends of ..the
unhappy Duchess had joined General TIM UWE
SEBASTIAN; the Duke DE COIGNY, and several ID em-
bers of the Praslin family, and mingled over that
tomb, so prematurely and so cruelly opened, t hcir
poignant regrets, their despair and tears. Never vas
mourning more simple and sincere. Tire fate :and
end of the Duchess DE PRASLIN would have drawn
tears from the most indifferent. But, for those who
knew the Duchess, her virtues, her amiable qualities,
her unbounded charity—what a subject of bitter end
inconsolable grief! Madame DE PRASLIN possc ed
all that commands respect and affection. She -v vas
still handsome. Educated under the eyes and in the
house of her illustrious father, Marshal SERAST/ A. NI,
she was adorned with every mental gift. At Par is,
on her estate of Praslin, everywhere, in short, :she
distributed alms in abundance, and the poor 133 ay
be said to have shared with her her immense fort u ne.
Madame DE PRASLIN adored her family ; she was; the
consolation of her father, an example to all who .ap-
proached her ; she was beloved and venerated. 117' hat
a void she leaves in society ! What an eternal g r ief
in the hearts of her friends I But what a blow for
Marshal SEDASTIANI ! At this moment the un A 'r-
tunate father is still, perhaps, ignorant of the fate of
his beloved daughter. His arrival at Paris had Ire en
erroneously announced ; his family, even, does -not
know, at the moment we write, where the Marsh ti' is,
and whether he will receive the fatal intelligence, by
one of the messengers dispatched to him in four dill-
ferent directions, or learn it, unprepared, through the
journals, or from the mouth of a stranger. This t in-
certainty is the s Abject of the most painful anx iE .ty
for the family and friends of the Marshal. But, let
what may happen, alas ! the shock will be fright 1 ul.
Nobody can calculate its extent. The Marshal !has
lost the daughter whose tender care and filial of fi .c-
-tion constituted the happiness of his life ;—and 13c ow
has he lost her !"

In answer to the reflections pf the Journal a 'es
Debats, that if the policy recommended by the IV a-
tional had been followed, there would have been a
more frightful amount of crime committed with in a
single month than has been perpetrated within t he
last seventeen years, the latter journal observes :
" We do not pretend that if France, faithful to t he
generous ideas suggested by the popular victory, h ad
pursued the brilliant road traced by the sun of Jul y,
and if her banner, then raised and saluted by so m
eJ ly
nations, had become the rallying sign of free nati, 3! as,
such a work could have been accomplished with
gut
sacrifices. History teaches us that every progr e ss,
every upward movement of humanity, requires c ie-
votedness, struggles, and efforts. Civilization is at
present armed with a force which renders obsta c les
less capable of resistance, and conquest less pair tf ul.
And, moreover, to suffer if necessary for a g n eat
idea, to wound one's feet in walking on a road wi i ich
leads to a noble object, to tell an entire nation wl 3se
genius is expansive that it is necessary to pass a d i (f,.
cult defile in order to restore dignity to the coun
to secure for all her children a more equitable ( li vi-
sion of the blessings of life—that it is necessary to
cross a bridge defended by coalesced aristocracies, l ut
that there are oppressed on the other side who In ve
risen and are waiting our approach, would, in ct ur
eyes, be to accomplish the mission of France, and ve
are sufficiently acquainted with our nation to feel t all
confidence both in her courage and in her instisi
Such is the system of which we would have wish ed
to see the triumph. It was not without peril, but- ' the
principle was sacred, the means glorious, and the r)b •
j,et elevated. Must we descend into that ditch in w hi ch
your system has erected its temple ? What, suffer all
that we feel in our pride, in our sympathies for nati.A
which we regard as brothers, to see so much menu -
ness, so many abuses, so many accumulated crimes— -
and why ? For a deceptive peace, for an idea with(.3l t
solidity, in order to create a political annuity for tin e
life on a foundation of sand, and to bend a nation t of
35,000,000 of inhabitants into the stooping attitiu4 'e