The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-19 00:00:00

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LONDON, MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1846.

Three days more will bring us to the beginning
of a session of Parliament which promises to be of
an unusually eventful character, and to which, with
various emotions of hope, fear, distrust, the whole
nation looks forward with almost unexampled inte-
rest. Not certainly since the carrying of Catholic
Einancipation has the first day of the session been
the object of so universal or intense an anxiety.
What is to be done with the corn-laws is yet a
mystery, and will probably remain so for some
days after the first day of the session. It is al-
most a part of the prerogative of the QUEEN'S speeches
to tell nothing, and stifle meaning in generalities;
and the Government will probably claim the right to
reserve all explanation that could give any clue to
the character of their intended measure till the day
of its formal proposal. Sir ROBERT PEEL will keep
his supporters in ignorance till the last possible
moment, and then try to carry them by a coup de
main. lle can depend upon his Opposition at any
time, and on the shortest notice, if he is about to pro-
pose total, immediate, and unconditional repeal.
And, notwithstanding some ugly signs of a
contrary character, which, however, admit more
or less of explanation, we retain our be-
lief that he will prepare
a measure calculated
to obtain the support of the whole of the Opposition.
If Mr. B. DENISON, after seconding the Address,
should oppose the measure, his West Riding
con-
stituents will before then have ;emphatically d eclared
their approval of it by giving him Lord MORPETII for
his colleague. The selection of the Members for
South Lancashire and the West Riding, to move
and second the Address, has all the appearance of a
direct appeal to the free-trade hosts. Then, again,
why the delay and difficulty in finding a mover and
seconder for the Address in the House of Lords ?
No seconder,
though we are within three days of the
it appears, has yet been found,
opening of Parliament ; and the selection
_which

bas been made of a mover (Lord HomE) itsel.
indicates that there has been a difficulty
in obtaining any Peer of standing and influence.
The Duke of WELLINGTON, too, has adopted the
unusual plan of summoning the Conservative Peers to
their duties. All this looks as if there was not an
entente cordiale between the Government and their
supporters in the U pper House, and that is where the
shoe will pinch if free trade is to be Sir R. PEEL'S
watchword,

The political arithmeticians calculate that for
a free-trade measure Sir ROBERT PEEL may calcu-
late on a majority of about twenty in the House
of Commons. He can depend, it is said, on ninety
Members on his own side, but no more, to follow him
whithersoever he may lead. Reckon 250 supporters
from the Opposition, to be added to the ninety, and
that will give a majority of twenty-four in a House
of 658 Members. Sir ROBERT PEEL may, and pro-
bably will, carry a thorough free trade measure
through the House of Commons. Ile has no chance
of carrying a half-measure. With the Lords he must
take his chance in either case : and he has as much
chance of winning Conservative Peers to free trade
as to any minor tampering with protection. Indeed,
they will probably be of the same mind with the Ox-
fordshire farmer, that "it is better to be drowned at
once than ducked to death."

But, apart from, and above all questions of carrying
measures and retaining power, if Sir ROBERT PEEL
looks to his own permanent reputation as a statesman,
there can be no doubt as to the course which he will
adopt. Half-measures have been his system hitherto.
There have been enough of them, and he has now
held power long enough to be able to judge of their
success. The new sliding-scale of 1842, the tariff of
1842, the Sugar Bill of 1844, the tariff
of 1845—have these satisfied either friends or
opponents ? Have they gone far enough in the
application of right principles to win for him the
confidence of the people ? Have they not gone too
far to preserve for him the confidence of those who
brought him into power ? His late resignation has
placed him in a new position, in which he is free and
disengaged from all his former party shackles. He
has been born again ; let us hope that a new policy
will be the first fruit of his regeneration. What if
he fail in his attempt to give free trade to the people
of England : his defeat in such a cause will be more
glorious than all the party victories which his skill
as a tactacian has ever achieved for him; and to have
endeavoured to carry free trade in accordance with
his own convictions, will, even if he fails, be hereafter
infinitely more pleasing to look back upon, and infi-
nitely more conducive to posthumous fame, than to
have preserved power by skilfulness of tactics, and
for a few years longer kept together, in seeming
union, the discordant elements of his party.

In animadverting on the strange maxims put forth
by the American PRESIDENT in his Message to Con-
gress, M. GUIZOT said, "We admire what is great
and noble in the American institutions. The United
States will exercise an immense influence on the des-
tinies of the human race, and no one can be asto-
nished that we watch their progress with a vigilant
eye." The vast and rapid increase of this republic
is a matter of common observation, but, in fact, it is
only commencing its career, and the effects of its
future progress in regard to France, as well as every
European state, could not fail to excite the apprehen-
sions and vigilance of such a sagacious Minister as
M. GUIZOT. This progress is calculated to excite
still stronger apprehensions when combined with the
intimation made formerly by MUNROE, and repeated
by POLK, that America will suffer the inter-
ference of no European power—in other words,
that she will continue to extend her frontier
by encroaching on her neighbours, that she will add
new states to her Union, by foul or fair means, sub-
mit to no arbiter in any disputes that may arise, and
exemplify to the fullest extent the law of the impe-
rious conqueror—" Sic volo, sic jubeo." Hitherto,
all the conquests made by this rising power have
been made peaceably : we mean without having re-
course to force of arms, if we except the wars
against the helpless Indians of Florida and the West,
but they have generally been accomplished by taking
advantage of the weakness or necessities of some
European power, or by the most deceitful policy.
The .mode in which Texas was acquired is certainly
the most reprehensible of all. France, by- A strange
oversight, recognised the independence of that country
in 1833, and in 1840 England followed the mischievous
example. They induced Mexico to accede to their
views, and no sooner were these points carried than
the Texians, so intimately allied with the United
States, and who so completely deceived both England
and France, threw off the mask and carried into effect
the secret contract made with the rulers in America.
On this score, therefore, Mexico has a great claim on
the sympathy and protection of these two great
powers. She has been robbed through their means
of an important district, which formed a barrier
against the south-west States of the Union, and
Mexico Proper is now laid open for inroads from any
quarter. The comprehensive scheme is in active pro-
gress ; California is the next conquest, and unless
speedy and effective measures are adopted, that de-
fenceless and divided country will be completely
hemmed in by numerous tribes ofAnglo-Saxons, owing
allegiance to the United States, and sure of protection
from them in every lawless adventure. In the whole
history of the world there is no instance of a young
state rising to such gigantic power in the same period
and by similar means. But the progress is going on
with fearful rapidity. An extension of territory is
at present the rage of the whole nation; one
party has its eyes fixed on Canada and Oregon ;
another on California and Mexico; and a
third on Cuba, St. Domingo, and Jamaica;
and unless European powers show more spirit and
energy, and more regard to self-preservation, the re-
sults may be of the most fearful importance. The
mercantile shipping of the United States, with only
one side of the American continent open to it, stands
next after that of England, and is every
year increasing. What, therefore, will it be when
not only the Atlantic, on the east, but
the whole Gulf of Mexico, on the south, and the
vast expanse of the Pacific, on the west, furnish the
most certain means for extending it to every quarter
of the globe ? When California and Oregon are
sufficiently peopled, and the astonishing and rapid
increase of settlers in the Mississippi, the Ohio, and
other western States, shows that the period is not
far distant, they will have for the field of their
commercial operations all the islands in the Chinese
and Japan seas, and even the numerous possessions
of England in the Southern Archipelago, including
Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand.
Oregon of itself is comparatively nothing, but, as a
means to an end, is of the very first importance,
and England cannot give up one inch of her
territory in that quarter without sacrificing
her best interests, and exposing her commerce
in the east to manifest danger. Humane persons
are constantly crying out for peace with America,
and exclaiming against wicked rulers, who would go
to war for a barren strip of uncultivated territory,
without for a moment looking to the consequences,
and forgetting altogether the awful calamities
which will be inflicted on the human race by
the annexation of Texas, and the further pro-
gress of American encroachments in the south. At
present the slave population of the United States
amounts to three millions ; in a short time it will
probably be doubled, and independent of the corporeal
sufferings of this enslaved race, we shall thus behold
some six millions of human beings in one country,
who are by the acts of the Legislature debarred
from the light of truth, and absolutely prohibited even
from learning to read the Bible. By one of these Acts,
it was declared felony to teach a slave to read and
write, England has generously contributed to the
emancipation of her own slaves ; but, is she
guilty of no crime in standing by, apparently
unconcerned, while the horrible system is daily in-
creased, and slavery is approaching, by rapid strides,
towards her West India possessions ? England and
France now incur a fearful responsibility, and their
conduct at this crisis will be severely scrutinised by
future generations.

Madrid journals of the 1 1 th inst. announce that
the two sons of Don FRANCISCO DE PAULA, Don
HENRIQUE, and Don FRANCISCO D'Assis, had left
Madrid agreeably to the orders of the Government--
the former for Ferrol and the latter for Pampeluna.
On the previous day an explanation took place in the
Chamber of Deputies relative to the affair between

Senor ORENSE and General NARVAEZ. After some
discussion the result was, that Senor ORENSE, acting
under the advice of the President, withdrew the
offensive expression, and General NARVAEZ, being
appealed to by Senor CASTRO T OROSCO, declared
himself satisfied therewith in the name of the Go-
vernment; and a vote of thanks was subsequently
carried unanimously to the President and the Go-
vernment, on the motion of Senor Foca. DE TOGORES,
an Opposition Deputy, for the part they had taken in
bringing about the amicable settlement of the matter.

The Funds continue to decline. On the 10th the
Three per Cents. closed at 33i for cash, and 33a at
60 days; the Five per Cents. at 23 11-16 at 60 days.

The debate on the Address in the French Chamber
of Peers was brought to a close on Friday evening,
when the Chamber divided, and Ministers had the
large majority of 97. The numbers were—
For the Address ........ 120
Against it.. 23

Majority
The papers contain brief comments on this result,
but they are without interest. Government can
always reckon upon a large majority in the Pcers.

In the Chamber of Deputies the discussion on the
Address was fixed for Monday. The Journal des
Debats, in replying to the charges made
against the Government, relative to the operations
in the River Plate, makes the following defence :
" The Government," it says, "is reproached with
having suddenly abandoned the policy of neutrality
which it bad followed since the year 1840, on the
banks of the Plate, to unite with England in an armed
intervention. But this change of policy is not a pure
caprice, or, as it has been asserted, an act of complai-
sance to England, or a further sacrifice made to the
cordial understanding. This change of policy is ex-
plained by the change which has taken place within
the last two years in the state of affairs. It is ex-
plained by the prolongation of the contest between
the two American States, and by the disorders occa-
sioned by the civil war. It is, moreover, explained
by the reiterated and pressing complaints of our
fellow-citizens established on the banks of the
Plate. Besides, it was not England, but the Go-
vernment of the Brazils which conceived and pro-
posed the plan of this intervention. The object of
our expedition is to secure the execution of the treaty
of 1840, made to maintain the independence of the
republic of Uruguay, menaced by the state of Buenos
Ayres, and ready to fall under the invasion of the
Argentine troops. Such is the object of our inter-
vention; it will not be carried further. Such was the
succinct explanation of M. GurzoT."

Most of the Opposition journals continue to throw
great blame on the Government for the deplorable
state of affairs in Algeria. At the conclusion of a
long article on the subject, the Constitutionuel sayi—

We are assured that the last accounts from Algeria
are by no means satisfactory. A new and bold invasion
of Abd-el-Fader in the province of Algiers is spoken of,
and it was reported in the Chamber, that a second cow.
bat, attended with less success than the first, had taken
place with the Emir in person. We do not attach too
much importance to these accounts, which vary with the
chances of the war; the result cannot fail to be favourable
to our troops. But these long-continued efforts, this pro-
longed struggle, are a charge against the incapable Go-
vernment, which ought to hare foreseen and prevented
all, but which has neither foreseen nor prevented any-
thing.

We subjoin miscellaneous extracts from the papers :

According to the Journal des Cheneens de Fer the
Minister of Public Works is employed in preparing the rail-
road Bills to be brought before the Chamber in th• course of
the present session. These are, first, those granting
concessions Which Wire left' list year under reports of Com-
mittees, viz., the Bordeaux. and Cette, Mulhouse and Dijon,
and Paris and Rennes roads. Then come three new ones :
one, relating to the Caen road; the second, the continuation
to Limoges and Clermont of the Chemin du Centre; and the
third, the Vitry-le-Frangais and Gray road, instead of the
canal in this direction proposed last year. The Government
appears to have resolved not in future to grant any but direct
concessions (grants on the responsibility of the Minister, and
without tender); and according to all probability, the Caen,
Rennes, Limoges, and Clermont roads, will be given to the
Rouen, Versailles, aid Orleans companies, as being prolon-
gations of those railroads.
The following are the railways which are to be opened to
the public in the course of 1846 :—The Northern.—The sec-
tion from Paris to Pontoise is to be open for circulation in a
few days ; that from Pontoise to Clermont, and from Cler-
mont to Amiens, in the month of May. The section from
Amiensto Lille will be given up to the Company •n May 1,
and can be opened to the public in a month after. Orleans to
Tours.—The first section of the Bordeaux line will be opened
in the month of March. Nanterre to St. Germain —ibis is
the atmospheric line, and it will be opened in the beginning
of May. Orleans to Vierzon.—The opening is fixed for the
month of August, but it depends on tha works at the bridge
over the Loire, comniuue of St. Jean-le-Blanc. The section
of the Lyons line between Dijon and Chalons will be termi-
nated this year, but it will not be opened before 1847.
The Journal de Loiret states that the viaduct of the Vier-
zon line, at Orleans, appears destined to the same fate as that
of Barentin. One arch, it says, has given way, and others
are cracked.
Early on Wednesday aveeing Lyons was enveloped in a
fog so dense that even the gas-lights could not be seen until
one was so near as to be able to touch them. The coach-
men were obliged to leave their boxes, and lead their horses
by the head, and even this did not prevent some accidents.
In the Place Belleceur a thief snatched a lady's shawl from
her shoulders, and escaped, as it was impossible to pursue him.
The Grand Council of the Canton of Berne met on the
I.2th. The question of the revision of the constitution
was agitated in the first sitting. Three opinions were
expressed. One, of the Conservative party, rejects all
revision as dangerous at present, and as opposed to the
majority of the will of the people. The second opinion,
which aims at revising by a constituent, had for organs the
members of the Grand Council, who convoked the popular
assemblies, and amongst others, the President of the Court of
Appeal, M. Funk. Tho third, which, confining itself strictly
within the bounds of the constitution, calls for a revision only
by the Grand Council, was defended by four speakers, one of
whom was a Councillor of State. Tee Government appears
taking measures for eventualities in case of attack. It is
almost certain that if the Grand Council rejects the wishes
of the popular assemblies, Berne will be invested by the
populations of Seeland and Oberland. The other cantons,
apprehending a crisis which would affect the rest of Switzer-
' land, have sent delegates to study the situation and follow
the discussion of the Grand Council.

On the Paris Bourse on Saturday the Thlee Iper Cents.
closed at 82f. 90c. ; the Five per Cents., 121 f. 10e. ; the
Orleans Railroad Shares, 1,255 K ; Rouen, 1,0271. 50c ; North,
7481. 75c. ; Havre, 755. ; Avignon, 985 E ; Yierzon, 690 f. ;
Bordeaux, 645 f. ; Boulogne, 5551. ; Troyes and Montereau,
452 f. 50c. ; Basle, 2501. ; Fainpoux, 5071. 50c.