The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-02 00:00:00

marnillix 111114.

LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 1847.

Eighteen Hundred and Forty-six having just ex-
pired, and Eighteen Hundred and Forty-seven having
just commenced, we would utter a few sentences in
retrospection and in anticipation. The scroll of the
old year unrolls itself before our scrutiny; it is
blurred with many blunders, it is blotted with vile
records that cannot be erased, it is crowded with
grotesque and villanous entries, but it commemo-
rates, nevertheless, occurrences and achievements
which more than redeem its errors of commis-
sion and omission, and which will render it
memorable amongst the most memorable yeas
of British history, and glorious amongst the
most glorious years of the history of the
world. The virgin scroll of the new year remains
yet unopened ; its destinies have yet to be written.
At these periodical epochs of transition it is advis-
able to scan the whole circumference of dir individual
careers, of our national policy, of our advancement in
legislative reform, of our progress in knowledge, and
of our diffusion of the ennobling principles of civilisa-
tion. In many of these particulars 1846 has been
most fruitful, and its fruitfulness has been most sa-
tisfactory. The national policy of Great Britain has been
eminently characterised during 1846 by conciliation, by
dignity, by even handedness, and, above all, by honesty.
With the exception of 1832, our advancement in Le-
gislative Reform has never been more brilliant or
more comprehensive than during 1846. The progres-
sion of knowledge, and the diffusion of civilising
principles are, on the contrary, appreciable only pros-
pectively. In all essential respects, however, the bene-
fits ensured, the evils dissipated, the moral and physi-
cal victories obtained within the past twelve months
are marvellous and unprecedented. We will briefly
recapitulate the circumstances that have transpired
during that interval, externally and internally, with
regard to Great Britain.

Throughout the European continent, from the
Straits of Gibraltar to the Ural mountains, there have
been changes and innovations. In France the germ
of a new discord has been fostered merely for the
selfish aggrandisement of the Orleans dynasty. The
peace of thirty-one years' duration has been
jeopardised for the marital prospects of the Due
DE MONTPENSIER. From the Cabinet of the Tui-
leries the entente cordiale has been blown to the
winds, the liberties of Iberia have been bartered for
a nuptial ring, a fierce incitement has been given to
Northern despotism. In Spain the people have
had their independence juggled from them by
the guile of an Ambassador, by the unmotherly pro-
ceedings of CHRISTINA, by the chicaneries of a foreign
office and the imbecility of an Afrancesado adminis-
tration. In Portugal the population has been plunged
into the dismal tribulations of civil war through the
machinations of a pedagogue and the subserviency of
the SOVEREIGN. In Prussia, in Russia, and in
Austria, the unrelenting thirst for domination has
been perceptible, and the territorial avarice
of the triumvirate has manifested itself in
the seizure of Cracow and the preparation
of preliminaries for the complete incorporation
of Poland. In Hungary the fluctuating health
of the Palatine has alone contributed in a
special manner to the anxieties of its inhabitants. In
Italy the most remarkable events have been the de-
mise of Pope GREGORY XVI., and the nomination of
his successor Pope Pros IX., than whom a more
fitting personage could scarcely have been
selected to exercise the spiritual and tempo-
ral power reposed in the hands of the Sove-
reign Pontiff. From the novel reformations, both
political and municipal, which are now being
effected in the Papal States, a propitious
future dawns upon abased Italy under the
generous auspices of the late illustrious and en-
lightened Bishop of Imola. In Switzerland the can-
tons have been in a perpetual state of agitation from
the religious animosities by which the Confederation
has been tormented. In Belgium a singular tran-
quillity and prosperity has been visible, and the
speech delivered by the SOVEREIGN on the opening
of his Legislative Chambers promises largely as to the
patronage and facilities afforded to national industry
and commercial enterprise. In Sweden the son of the
fortunate adventurer BERNADOTTE, has continued to
reign in peace at his palace in Stockholm. In Turkey
the most memorable circumstance has been the visit
of MOHAMED ALI to Constantinople, for the purpose
of establishing some cordiality between himself and
his former superior, the young SULTAUN. In Greece
the disrelish for the monarchical government under
King °TIM has considerably diminished; and the
political institutions of that country are assuming
a less vacillating appearance. Throughout
the Asiatic continent dissensions have still continued
to be prevalent. The intelligence of our victories
over the Seikhs arrived towards the commencement
of the past year—the news of the prowess of Sir
HARRY SMITH at Aliwal, of the dearly-purchased
triumph of Ferozeshah, of the heroic death of Sir
ROBERT SALE at Moodkee, of the terms ex-
torted from the Maharaja LALL SINGH by
Lords GOUGH and lIARDINGE. On the eastern
frontiers of Persia, namely among the mountains of
Caubul, the perfidious character of ARBAR KHAN has
continued to render tranquillity in that quarter pre-
carious. In regard to Japan, the necessities which
are continually experienced for fresh fields for mer-
cantile enterprise have caused a general anxiety to
penetrate, by pacific means, beyond the limits of that
fruitful archipelago, to barter our own commodities
with the people for the riches hidden in the mines,
and the spice groves, and the arable districts con-
tained in the land stretching from Satzuma to Fikiva
Jamma. In China our relations have remained upon
the same satisfactory footing as heretofore, the tribute
having been duly transmitted from the treasury of
the Celestial EMPEROR, and the various other stipu-
lations having been amicably fulfilled. Blood has still
flowed upon the dust of the African conti-
nent. In Cad/ear/a the warfare has remained in-
French battalions
,searnegii
still a r
in-
termittent, but lgtehreias,
supple
y
chieftain kan-EL-K
ADER has still evaded his European
pursuers. In Egypt the paternal government of the
venerable -Neal. has ministered wi •th unabated ear-
nestness to the wants of the NI 1
ussu men ;and, notwith-
standing the eastern wande • rlngs of MORAMED ALT,
and the western pilgrimage of IRRAIIIM, the mecha-
nism of the State has still worked in its accustomed
channels without delay or impediment. Saving the
somewhat diminished violence of the
at
La Plata, the southern continent of America has
preserved a slothful peace, from the extremity of
Patagonia to the Caribbean sea. On the northern
continent of the new world, on the other hand,
the most relentless warfare, both diplomatic •