The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-11 00:00:00

:THE SUN, LONDON,

GRATZ, the Austrians are beginning to recognise
a feeble glimmering of hope in the abdication of FER-
DINAND 1., and the accession to the throne of the
Lord Archduke FRANCIS JOSEPH, a young prince
who may inaugurate his reign by the proclamation of
a free and durable Constitution. With Italy it is
otherwise. There a ferocious murder was extolled as
an act of heroism, and the blood which flowed from
the poignard of the Roman Bravo incarnadined the
whole of the Italian democracy with the guilt of as-
sassination. The cruelties which also occurred among
the insurgent Sicilians have led in like manner to
the bombardment of Messina and to the suc-
cess of the expedition dispatched by the execrable
Government of Naples.
Allowances should of course be made for the infu-
riation of the populace at the crimes and faithlessness
of their oppressors ; but still we maintain that failure
is in the vast majority of instances the deserved result
of the errors of a sanguinary Revolution. How sub-
lime were the magnanimity and moderation of the
French democrats in February, and how noble has
been their recompense ! How atrocious were the
ferocity and ingratitude of the Roman democrats in
November, and what dark clouds of doubt, anxiety,
and trepidation have descended upon their heads as a
fitting retribution !
Although we make an enormous reservation on
account of the treachery of the KING, we must, ne-
vertheless, rejoice over the liberality of sentiment
which characterises the new Prussian Constitution.
And the excellence of many portions of this constitu-
tion we attribute to the fact of the bloodless nature of
the Prussian revolution. In this manner the popu-
lation of Prussia have acquired—equality before the
law—a system of gratuitous primary education—the
inviolability of home—the total abolition of a censor-
ship upon the press the right of meeting—
the right of petitioning—the freedom of conscience-
-the separation of Church and State—the equality
of military service—the responsibility of Ministers—
trial by jury—and, in addition to these and many
other extraordinary boons of emancipation, the total
and immediate abolition of the last vestiges of feu-
dality. Unhappily the concessions on the part of
FREDERICK WILHELM are accompanied by a condi-
tion which reveals in rather glaring colours the
hypocrisy of his pretended political munificence•
Universal suffrage is to be established merely in a
secondary degree. The electoral liberties are to be
crippled by restrictions. The people are to name
the electors, and the electors are to name the repre-
sentatives. So that the old dodge of despotism is to
be once more attempted—the subjection of the Na-
tional Parliament to the will of the Court by the
corruption of the electoral colleges. Doubtless the
MONARCH plumes himself upon the adoption of a
device so ingenious that he dreams of again thrusting
forth a furtive hand to the kindred grasp of the
AUTOCRAT. In such an anticipation he is marvel-
lously deceived. Unless the reservation be withdrawn
betimes he himself will feel the weight of popular
indignation. The time for half-measures has gone
by. This is not the age for temporizing. The
foundations of the New Prussian Constitution are
strong and gigantic, but they are embedded in quick-
sand. Let the solid ground of confidence in the
people be chosen by the Sovereign, and FREDERICK
WILHELM IV. may then have visions of glory and
gratitude.

The letter of Mr. CRAWSHAY, the eminent iron-
master, to which we directed the public attention on
Thursday last, has elicited an explanation which, al-
though not purporting to be " official," or put for-
ward by the directors of the Bank of England as an
answer to the charge preferred, bears inherent evi-
dence of the quarter whence it has emanated. Its
parentage cannot for a moment be doubted. The
author, who assumes the signature of "Verna,"
declares that "he writes simply in the capa-
city of one personally acquainted with facts,
at issue." It is manifest, however, that he might if
he pleased have written ex cathedra, and appended a
signature to the document, which would at once have
established his authority, and proved that he had
access to every possible source of information. We
may, therefore, regard the statement as authentic in
every particular, and consider how far the Bank is
justified by the facts disclosed, for its departure from
the functions for which it was originally constituted,
and for the proper discharge of which it was endowed
with so many valuable and exclusive privileges.
The fact of the trading is not denied—it is dis-
tinctly admitted that " the works are at present car-
ried on by the Bank of England as mortgagees." In
other words, the Bank in every respect acts as an
ironmaster, manufacturing iron and disposing of it
for the best price that can be obtained
in the market. It has entered into the iron trade, and
is enabled to make all its gigantic resources available
in the new business in which it has embarked its
capital. Henceforward it will not be its policy to
afford monetary accommodation to
„rivals in trade,
however undoubted their solvency, or unquestion-
able their means of payment. Every note presented
for discount must be subjected to a double scrutiny.
It will not be sufficient to ascertain that it is founded
on a legitimate commercial transaction, that; no rea-
sonable doubt exists that it will be duly honoured
at maturity. Another question will naturally arise
that must be considered before the proceeds thereof
are carried to the account of the party by whom it is
tendered. How far shall we strengthen the hands of
our opponents ? How far shall we enable their. to
carry on their works, and thus keep up a competition
that must diminish our profits as ironmasters ? It
needless to speculate upon the result, should the con-
tingency to which we have adverted arise. It is one
by no means improbable, and the directors should
either withhold the facilities to which other parties
had an unquestionable claim, or sacrifice their own
interests to a conscientious discharge of their public
duties.

It appears that a large advance was made by the
Bank en the security of these works during the panic
of last autumn. The community in general have no
right to enter into the reasons, or question the policy
by which the directors were influenced in complying
with the application that had been made. It was of
course desirable that a large company should
be saved from the unpleasant necessity of
stopping payment, and of discharging the numerous
workmen dependent on them for employment. But,
unhappily, such cases are of frequent occurrence. It
is not is the iron trade alone that payments hare
been suspended, and many families plunged into the
deepest distress, from being suddenly deprived of
their ordinary employment. If the parties were sol-
vent, if their difficulties had been occasioned by
temporary causes, the undue tightness of the money
market preventing them from obtaining reason-
able accommodation, a strong claim would have
been established, with which the directors of
.the Bank should have complied, so far as was
in their power, in justice to their other customers.
But they should have disposed of the question upon
" banking" principles, and not have sanctioned the
advance unless there was a reasonable prospect of its
repayment within a reasonable time ; and if that was
the case they should have permitted the concern to
have remained in the hands, and under the
control of its former managers. Other in-
fluences, howevermight have
into
operation. It is just possible that the
transaction
aiyfltonrc the purpose of covering large
havee
mortgage been entered into, and the
accepted,
spreviously made, and thus
asheedlteireidnisgetrheeetdirectors of the Bank from the odium
and loss that might have been sustained if they had
pursued a more stringent MlTe' It is at present
sufficient to say that the advance was sanctioned to the
amount of several hundred thousand
pounds, and that
it does not appear to have been a very prudent invest-
ment, as, according to the showing of the Bank
champion, but three courses remained open to the
directors, viz., "to sell the works at 0nee......t001d
them for sale after stopping them—or to keep them
in action till a buyer could be found."
The first course, " Verax " says, " was impossible,
from proceedings in equity disputing the title to
them; to stop them would have involved a large
destruction of property, and, what was of far
greater consideration, it involved depriving of em-
ployment a town full of people void of other resource.
The third course was therefore adopted, of keeping
them on a reduced scale in action until dispo:ed of."
This, then, is the justification relied on by the direc-
tors. They made their advance to parties in insol-
vent circumstances, from whom they could have had

no reasonable expectation of payment within the
periods to which banking operations are usually re-
stricted, and they did so upon a defective, or to use
the words of their own advocate, " a disputed
title," with proceedings actually pending in a court
of equity. And to prevent the losses to which they
would have have been exposed by their own imprudent
conduct, they embark the capital of their proprie-
tors in a new trade, not sanctioned or authorised by
law, and in which the original loss may possibly be
greatly increased.

It is not necessary to follow " Verax " through
his statements respecting the accumulation of stock,
or the withholding the produce from the market. The
facts alleged by Mr. CRAWSHAY respecting the selling
of sheet-iron at ruinously low prices, at which he, a
manufacturer himself on the largest scale, was willing
to become a purchaser, are neither denied or explained.
The remedy suggested by " Verax" really ap •
pears too absurd—he suggests " that Mr. CRAW..
SHAY, or any other great iron-master, has only to
take the works into his own hands, he will probably
find no exorbitant terms demanded, and be troubled
with no complaint." What ! would Verax require
a private individual to purchase a disputed title, to
sacrifice a large sum, in order to save the Bank
directors from the losses to which their own
foolish and imprudent conduct had exposed
them ? If a remedy "so aimple" is not adopted,
" Verax" seems to think that no complaints can be
made of undue competition or under-sales by the
Bank. The public in general, the Legislature, and
the Ministry may, however, regard the matter in a
very different point of view, and the Bank may find,
to their cost, that so grave a departure from the re-
cognised sphere of their duties cannot be sanctioned
or tolerated.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have recei►ed the Paris papers of Saturday
and of yesterday.
The Moniteur of yesterday contains the following
telegraphic dispatch:—

" Gaeta, Dec. 7.

" M. de Corcelles has been presented to tho Pope by
M. d'Harcourt. His Holiness appeared much affected
by the generous resolution of the French Government.
He desires to visit France, and he announces his formal
intention to proceed there as soon as circumstances will
permit.
" Marseilles, Dec. 9, 10 o'clock."

Up to the hour of the departure of the post yes-
terday evening Paris was perfectly tranquil. The
election was proceeding with the greatest calmness
and order, a result owing entirly to the prudent
measures adopted by the Government for the main-
tenance of the public peace. In the course of Satur-
day the Government issued the following procla-
mation :

" FRENCH REPUBLIC.

LIBEIXTY, EQUALIT,Y, FRATERNITY. T.

" Citizens!—To-morrow each of us will be called on
to join in the most solemn act of the popular sovereignty.
A great nation confiding in its rights, confiding in its
strength, confiding in its enlightenment, is about to
choose the man on whom it will, for a time, impose the
care, the charge of watching, with the National Assem-
bly, over its security, its interests, and its honour.

" Since six months, the Government of the Republic,
faithful to its convictions, as well as to its duties, has
wished that an entire and absolute liberty, such as the
law itself has taken care to proclaim, should be left to
the examination, the discussion, and the political struggle
which was to precede the ultimate election. That
liberty so ready to degenerate into licence, the
Government has respected, but if it has understood its
duties, and even those of them which are the most diffi-
cult, it has acquired the right to speak to you of yours.
" Citizens ! If to-morrow you show yourselves calm,
reflecting, resolute, you will have given to your act a
solid an respectable basis. Your enemies, those of
society, would wish, perhaps, to work upon your agita-
tions and your struggles. They will stop before the
imposing act which you are to accomplish. You have
been told, as, indeed, we have told you ourselves, that
foolish people spoke of judging of your choice for the
purpose of bargaining afterwards as to the extent of
their obedience. Be assured that the Government
knows its duties, and that it has never been more ener-
getically determined to fulfil them.
" The good citizens are those who, after having freely
and conscientiously given their votes, know that they
will have afterwards to bow with respect before the
choice of the nation, whatever the name be which it
will have pronounced.
" As to those who may have nourished other projects,
who have made preparations for shameful enterprizes ;
as regards those, if they exist to-day, as a Government,
to-morrow as simple citizens, we can only look upon
them as public enemies, whom the law would not and
could not shield.

"Citizens ! Let us prove to the world that wo are
worthy of exercising a right which cannot be denied to
us, but which some persons may, perhaps, be glad to Lee
us prostituting to disorder. Let us not forget that to-
morrow our attitude may constitute or compromise the
Republic.
(Signed) "The President of th© Council,
" The General E. CATAIGNAC.
(Signed) " The Minister of the Interior,
" DUFAIIRE."

During the sitting of the Assembly on Friday,
The Minister of the Interior presented a Bill to regu-
late the manner in which the votes given in the election
for the President of the Republic should be examined,
and the result proclaimed in the National Assembly. He
had to propose that it be referred forthwith to the
bureaux d'urgence, and a Committee appointed to exa-
mine it. The following were the articles of the Bill:--
" Article 1. The returns of the election of the Presi-
dent of the Republic sent from the departments to the
President of the National Assembly, conformably to
Art. 47 of the Constitution and to the decree of Oct. 28
last, shall be transmitted without delay, under the seal
of the Prefecture to the special committee charged to
examine them.

" Art. 2. The committee, before breaking 'the seal,
shall verify its authenticity; it shall proceed, without
quitting; the place, to the examination of all the returns,
and shall state the result.
" Art. 3. As soon as the examination shall have been
completed, the committee shall make its report to the
National Assembly, which shall decide on it in the same
sitting.
" Art 4. If one of the candidates has obtained more
than half the votes given, and at least two millions of
votes; if the conditions required by Art. 44 of the Con-
stitution have been fulfilled, the National Assembly pro-
claims him President of the Republic. He is immediately
called on to take, at the tribune, the oath prescribed by
Art. 48 of the onstitution.
" Art. 6. The President of the National Assembly, in
the name of that body, shall formally acknowledge the
oath to have been taken, and the President of the Re-
public shall enter immediately on his functions.
" Art. 6. In the event of neither of the candidates
having fulfilled the required conditions, the National
Assembly shall draw out a list of the candidates who
have obtained the greatest number of votes, and shall
proceed immediately to the election. After the exami-
nation of the ballot, the President of the Assembly shall
make known the result, and proclaim the President of
the Republic. The formalities set forth in the preceding
articles shall be then gone through."
This Bill was ordered to be examined without de-
lay, and as soon as possible placed on the order of
the day.
The result of the election cannot be known until

the 23d or 24th instant. The polling closes this
evening, and the numbers polled in Paris alone, can-
not be ascertained until Thursday evening. There
were some disturbances in the Place Maubert on Sa-
turday evening, but they were soon suppressed by
the Mobile Guard. General CAYAIGNAc has
adopted every precaution for the preservation of the
public peace ; and although General CHANGARNIER
supports LOUIS NAPOLEON, yet CAVAIGNAC has not
only suffered him to retain the command of the Na-
tional Guard, but has placed at his disposal a regi-
ment of infantry and three battalions of the Garde
Mobiles,andhas investedhimwith independent control.
The following explanations with regard to the pre-
sent state of Paris were given by M. DUFAUILE in
the sitting of the Assembly of Saturday, in answer
to certain interpellations addressed to hina on the
subject by M. JOLY
Dufaure, the Minister of the Interior—l am in-
terrogated on three points:-Ist. We have excited alarm
by a meeting which has been held at the Hotel of the
Interior. 2d. We have tolerated assemblages in the
Place Vendome ; and 3d. We have an intention to put
down all the clubs. As to the first point, I considered
it my right to concert with such persons as I think fit,
and I have no explanation to give to any one on the
point.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman has as-
serted that I announced an insurrection, and declared
who were to be the authors of it. I certainly should
not reply did I not fear that silence on my part might
excite disquietude in the public mind.—(Hear, hear.)
It is quite inexact to say that I announced an insur-
rection—it is equally inexact to say that I mentioned
the day for its breaking out. I repeat, that I would not
give these explanations were I not actuated by the mo-
tive which I have just stated. As to the crowds spoken
been tumultuousmore assemblages.
seve re?
of, were I to apply anything to prevent them, as you seem
to recommend, it would be nothing more than the law
on
pYo,ubeacsakusme
nwh
untily
yle
shtaevre
not.
Irely day no disturbance whatever tlok place. Cries of
" bas Cavaignac!" you say have been heard; that
certainly not a reason for us to apply the law which I
have just mentioned.—(Hear,hear.) You ask
me what
I intend to do with the 1 e ectora meetings, or, in other
words, with the clubs held without the ordinary sur-
veillance? I
likely reply the moment that they appear to us
to compromise public tranquillity, we shall
present a sew Bill on the subject. Full justice, I must
declare, has not been done to the Government for its
efforts, during the last five months, to
tranquil-
lity, and owing to that circumstance is •
preserve
it that confidence
in us exists neither at home noroabroadße c
abroad—we are consi-
dered as merely a temporary
during the three weeks that will wbeer.occupieepain that
tainiug the result of the election which is about
assertt
to
otak
take

place, the Government will adopt every necessary mea-
sure to ensure tranquillity-(Hear,hear)-bat also, never
will the Goverament more require the countenance and
support of the Assembly. Consider the responsibility
of the Government during the period. It is immense.
But whatever may be the result of the election, the men
who are now in power will consider it an honour to ac-
cept what it decides.-(Hear, hear.) The law of the
land is the constitution which we have voted, and he is
a bad citizen who thinks otherwise.-(Hear, hear.) To
maintain public security and peace is our object, and to
attain that end we shall demand from the Assembly all
the means that we may deem necessary.-(Hear.)
The mails were delayed for six hours
on Thursday night in order to carry into
the provinces the result of the debate on
the question of national recompenses. The
reactionary calumniators who had so managed to
speak against time as to secure, under ordinary cir-
cumstances, the circulation throughout France for
twenty-four hours of the false accusation without one
word of the defence (the Ministers had no opportu-
nity of speaking until after post hour on Thursday),
were outrageous at the ill success of the manoeuvre.
The Assembly, however, approved of the conduct of
M. TROUVE CHAUVAL, who took upon himself the re-
sponsibility of delaying the mails, and for the reasons
which he assigned. " I took upon myself," said M.
ntouvz CHAUVAL, "to retard the mails in order that
the poison and the antidote might arrive in the de-
partment at the same time.-(Cheers.) As such
publication was declared by the Assembly to be a
moral assassination, I conceived that this was a case
where the usual rules of the service might be justly
departed from-(Hear, hear)-and I acted accor-
dingly."
At the sitting of the Assembly on Saturday the
President announced the following as the result of
the ballot for the thirty members to form the Provi-
sional Council of State, the number of voters was
553 :-MM. F. Arago obtained 433 votes, Lacrosse
415, Lamartine 407, Beadeau 389, Dupont (de Mare)
336, Senard 335, Goudchaux 330, Billault 316, Mar-
tin (de Strasbourg) 301, Tocqueville 297, Havin 280,
Parrieu 280, Ritmusat 272, Jules Simon 272,
Stourm 271, Grevy 264, Baudet 259, Chambolle 256,
Cormenin 247, Buchez 246, Lichtenberger 237, Car-
not 236, Boulatignier 234, Armand Marrast 287,
Landrin 225, F. Listeyrie 223, Falloux 217, Vaula-
belle 214, Baroche 212, Bixio 197. These represen-
tatives are hereby declared to be duly elected. The
members who received the greatest number of votes
after these gentlemen are-MM. Bauchard 196, M.
0. Barrot 186, Corbon 176, Berryer 167, Bon•
' jeau 164, Parisi' 165, &c.
I The Assembly then determined that they would
proceed to the discussion vote of the following organic
1 laws :-

1. Law on the responsibility of the persons inves-
ted with public authority.
2. Oa the Council of State.
3. The electoral law.
4. Law regarding departmental and communal or-
ganisation.
5. The judicial organisation.
6. Law regarding education.
7. Law regarding the organisation of the public
force, Guard National, army, Ike.
8. Law regarding the press.
9. Law on the stage of siege.
As each of these laws•must be separately drawn up,
considered in committee, reported on and debated,
there will probably be a lapse of some months before
the discussions can be concluded.
The Assembly has decided that it will adjourn the
discussion of the bill on the responsibility of the
President until after his election.
The expedition intended for Civita Vecchia, re-
turned to Marseilles on the 6th, and it was said that

.........._ _.____
the troops would be disembarked immediately.
The special commission appointed by the Minister
of War to lay down the bases of a definite organisa-
tion of the Republican Guard has completed its
)abours. The Republican Guard is assimilated to

the gendarmery. The effective force is fixed at three
battalions of infantry, each of 600 men, and three
squadrons of cavalry, each of 100 men ; so that, in-
cluding the officers, the whole body will amount to
2,130.
M. THORN, against whom law proceedings were
commenced, has just arrived in Paris from London.
The Court to which the case was sent for examination
has decided that there was not sufficient cause for
prosecution.
The 21/O-niteur announces that Admiral BRUAT as-
sumed the government of the island of Martinique
on the 4th of November, and at the same time
published a proclamation assuring liberty to all and
respect for property, and recommending order and
obedience to the laws.

The Monde2lr gives the following as a telegraphic
dispatch, dated sth, from the French Minister at
Madrid to the Minister of Foreign Affairs :—" None
of the passengers of the Montanera will suffer the
least punishment on account of what passed on board
that schooner." It may be remembered that this
was the vessel alluded to some short time back by
M. JOLY in the National Assembly, and relative to
which General CAVAIGNAC declared that the French
Minister at Madrid should be directed to interfere.
The Bien Public has the following on the affairs
of Austria and Prussia :

" The King has just pronounced the dissolution of the
Parliament, and has granted a charter, a code, a con-
stitution, drawn up in council, in the midst of that
Brandenburg Ministry which is accused before file na-
tion by the majority of the Parliament. We believe
that this must be called reaction. The King of Prussia,
surprised by the revolution of March, considered himself
conquered ; he made, however, a mental reservation; he
had not given up his sword, but bad placed it in the
scabbard, patiently awaiting the hour of difficulties and
of new struggles. He thought the thread of the revo-
lution would become entangled, and he reserved to him-
self to cut the Gordian knot. This he has done. In
the first phase we saw the Crown attack the Parliament
by the nomination of the Brandenburg Cabinet, and the
removal of the Assembly to a provincial town.; We
have just seen in that same town the second phase—the
Parliament carrying there its prudent opposition and
passive resistance. The third phase has commenced
—we are in full coup-d'etat—dissolution by the So-
vereign authority—a charter granted according to his
good pleasure. Let us now pass to the events of Austria.
The Emperor Ferdinand 1., feeble in body and mind,
weighed down in his purple, and feeling his weak head
bend under the Imperial Crown, brilliant on the out-
side, but full of thorns within—Ferdinand 1., 'has just
abdicated the thrones of Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary,
in favour of a young man of eighteen. When it may be
feared that the hand of a great statesman would be
powerless to restrain the populations escaped from the
laws which restrained them; in presence of the even-
tualities of the future, of the effervescence of Germany,
of Europe, agitated in the midst of the old systems
which nre falling—it is a Prince of eighteen who takes
the sceptre, the crown, and the sword! God save the
empire! We must say, however, that this abdication
has a character of conciliation, of which we willingly
approve. To set aside Prince Francis Charles, who only
represents old ideas, and the worn-out system of Prince
de Metternich—to choose a Prince who is engaged by no
precedent—is, at least, to indicate that it is desired to
break with the conditions of a past, allowed to be con-
trary to the spirit of our times, and in this respect the
blank left between Ferdinand and Francis Joseph is even
significative. The present of Austria is consequently less
dark, but are the perils of the future sot aside? And
will not this accession of the new Emperor clash with
the other accession—that of democracy?
The Univers publishes the following letter, ad-
dressed by Prince Louts NAPOLEON BONAPARTE to
the Apostolic Nuncio :-
1 " Monseigneur—l cannot allow you for a moment to
give credit to the rumours which tend to render me an
accomplice of the conduct practised at Rome by the
Prince de Canino. For a long time past I have had no
kind of connexion with the eldest son of Lucien Bona-
parte, and I deplore with all my soul that he has not
telt that the maintenance of the temporal sovereignty of
the Venerable Head of the Church was as intimately
connected with the cause of Catholicism as with the
liberty and independence of Italy.
" Receive, Monseigneur, the assurances of my senti-
ments of high esteem.
" LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE?'
As the election in Paris has hitherto proceeded
with order and tranquillity, the funds have again risen.
Last night the Five per Cents. were 70 centimes higher
than the closing price of yesterday.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, DEC. .
Orleans and Bordeaux, 13A —Rouen and Havre, 7.