The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-03 00:00:00

SYRIAN NEWS.

A letter from the frontiers of Syria, of the date of the
14th of March, gives the following apercu of the present
state of that country, in a sense unfavourable to the Turkish
domination :--

You are aware, I believe, that the traitor Yussuf Bey,
after the retreat of the Egyptians, went over to Aleppo
with about 200 miserable and ragged Hosseiris, and there
exercised the fcnctions of Governor. Upon the arrival of
Achmet Z.karia Pacha, however, he was deposed from
this post, and he has since lived as a private indi-
vidual. A troop of about 1,600 Arnauts, who bad
come from Natolia to Aleppo, were at the same time
the terror of the quarter of the Christians in that toter.
They committed the grea'est excesses, first demanding
spirits, then music, and afterwards forcing the Christians
to bring them their own wives. The same troops mare Led
afterwards for Tripoli, and there declared to the Gover-
nor that they expected the best houses in the town to be
placed at their disposal ; care being previously taken
that the men should be all turned out, and only the ha-
rems left in them. This moderate proposal was laid be-
fore the inhabitants by the Governor who, in reply, took
up arms, barricadoed the gates, and called to the Arnauts
from the walls to come and take their wices if they could.
You arc probably already aware of the reasons of Izzet
Pacha's recal ; he was in league with Ibrahim, in
whose hands in wanted to place the Osman troops, in order
afterwards to fall upon the mountaineers of Lebanon. As
yet the Osman authorities have done nothing whatever to-
wards the organization of the Administration of Syria. The
Government money chests are completely empty ; and re-
quisitions on the part of the authorities are never obeyed.
in fact, but little attention is paid in any case to the
Turkish authorities. In addition to this a scarcity pre-
vails in the land, which, without the conveyance of sup-
plies from Egypt, would long since have become bitter fa-
mine. A regiment of cavalry, under the orders of Sha-
ker Bey, lately came over from Harrah to the coast, and
there laid waste several villages, for the purpose of ob-
taining corn and fodder for their horses ; and in conse-
quence, the inhabitants of the mountains from Latakiah
to Tripoli were irritated to the greatest degree against the
Turks. The apparent tranquillity which still prevails in
many parts of Syria will, as is evident to all who are well
acquainted with the country, be of very short duration;
and in case of fresh disturbances, the Turkish domination
in Syria would be lost for ever. In the Hossoiri moun-
tains the Sheiks are fighting among themselves. A few
days ago one of the n fell upon another and killed him :
the party of the latter upon that took up arms, took
forcit•,ic possession of the village cf the enemy, burnt it to
the ground, and destroyed all the fruit trees.
" Both Er.g ish and Russians are labouring hard in
'the endeavour to extend and strengthen their influence
as much as possible in Syria. The English have as yet
the upper hand, and are supported in ail their plans with
antraordinary and unparalleled zeal by the Austrians.
Russia is the declared protector of the Greek Church, and
fir mans daily appear giving some advantage or other to this
or that Greek Rajah. Of Prussian influence nothing what-
ever is heard. The inflt.ence of France is totally annihilated.
The Jesuit Father Rillo, the most active emissary of the
Eoglish in the Lebanon country, has just received an or-
rider, act in brilliants from Constantinople. The English
artillery troops that were at Jaffa have returned back
again to Bey rout. Acre has been vacated by the English
garrison, but it is not to be supposed that they will soon
quit Beyroot.
" It appears by letters from Damascus that the two Al-
asanese who murdered a Christian of the name of SM.
maul, at the instigation, it was said, of the Jews, have
again been set at liberty. The Tuffendsbi Bashi ( Com-
missioner of Police) said, in anscver to the representa-
tions of one of the relatives of the man, that Sednani
was not worth anybody's troubling themselves about when
living, and much less when dead. The relation upon
that applied to the Russian Consul at Beyrout ; and this
efficer has demanded that the murderers should be imme-
diately taken up again ; adding, that he should come over
to Damascus himself to investigate the matter, and enforce
jUgiCe."

We read yesterday in the Times these words
Wbat the Premier in 1840 designated as a measure
which none but a madman would think of, the nominal
leader of the ficuse of Commons proposes in 1841." This
is said on the subject of the Corn-laws. Now we chal-
%age our Contemporary for its proof of the truth of its
assertion Well knowirig that it was false, we did, nceor_
aimless, look back to the Parliamentary report of the last
two or three sessions. When speaking on the subject of
the Core-laws, we find Lord Melbourne expressly " re-
serving to himself his own opinions as to any modification
in the existing laws which might hereafter be deemed
proper or expedient" Again, we find his Lord.
ship saying that this Corn. law question ought
to be looked at as a question of revenue and finance.
His Lordship was disinclined to change for the mere
sake of change; but he over and over declares that he is
net bigoted to the present system. To show
the unfairness more clearly
(a mild word) with which the Tories misre-
present the declarations of Viscount Melbourne, we give at
m it 1-ngth the passage upon
which the insanity" false-
bend is founded. His Lordship
.7 Assuming the pos-
sibility of our being in a situation le which we might legis-
late %%stn a tabula rasa—a blank sheet of paper before us,
I will suppose that we had no interests to protect, and that
we were told that this was to be a great manufacturing coun-
try, great in wealt.:7, in pro,perity, and in population • and I
should even then very much doubt whether it would
be
countries
wise to establish laws which roust make a
manu-
facturing populationdependent upon foreign'''.g oue
for a supply of corn. But when I consider the situation
in wilier) ee staed—w len I consider the various and con,
plicated inte:ests which we have to protect—when I eo„_
eider the peculiar nature of our fluancial position, and find
my Noble Friend proposing to throw the whole agrieul-
tural interest WITHOUT PROTECTION, I declare before God
that I think it the wiliest and maddest scheme that ever
entered into the imagination of man to conceive." Thin
was spokei in the session before last. Now the case is
this—Lord Melbourne declared himself opposed to the abo-
litim °"-al(Pnteting duties whatsoever; Lord J Russell
is abost to a opohe Protecting duties; then what brazen,
liars are fiecto Tories !_Observer.
, , ZOOLOV L GARDENS, REGENT'S PARK.
„ moon the elephant was brought from his
e•-,,-..,_;5.41,bu,,irt attired in scarlet cloth, with gold lace, over
-esiltieleTispla an elegant cas.le, with eight seats, occupied
,ladies air entle,men, who -ere carried up and down the

We heard of nothing yesterday and Saturday
but the Budget. It has already taken deep root
in the mind of the nation. It has excited the
anger of the Tories beyond anticipation, and has
caused as much satisfaction to the Liberals. The
existence of the former is bound up with cor-
ruptionists and monopolists, and a blow aimed
at them goes to the heart of the faction. They
will, however, struggle hard, and if the V.berals
mean to gain a victory, they must at once exert
themselves, and neglect no preparation which
may tend to secure success.

Our readers will have noticed that Mr. Alder-
man THOMPSON, on Friday evening, stated
that a petition had been got up from all
the merchants of the City of London engaged
in the colonial trade against Mr. LABOUCHERE'S
plan to reduce the duties in the colonies, and
allow them to import various articles direct from
other countries than England. Already we
hear the same class of men (who are becoming
as great a nuisance as the owners of rent, from
not being satisfied with the fair and honest pro-
fits of trade), connected with the East and West
Indies, are beginning to make an outcry against
the reduction of the duty on foreign sugar, pre-
dicting ruin to the colonies, and combining to
resist the proposed change.
We may be sure, too, from what Mr. AARON
CHAPMAN said in the House of Commons on
Friday, that all the owners of rotten ships who
employ them to bring timber from Canada, care-
less whether they sink or not on the voyage, will
resist the smallest reduction in the enormous tax
they are now permitted to levy on the people.
There will be endless assertions again, as there
were in 1831, about the ruin of the saw-millers in
Canada, while those who have so much compas-
sion, from some fellow-feeling on account of a
small reduction of profit, have no regard what-
ever for the famishing millions at their own doors.

Of course the landlords also; who are fully sensi-
ble that if once their tax be assailed by the
Government it must be totally abolished, will
join with the sugar dealers of the East and
West Indies, with the owners of rotten
timber-ships, and with all the jobbers
in saw mills in Canada and New Brunswick, who
cut up the pines of the United States, and are
paid for their humanity and their patriotism by a
tax on the people of England; all these classes
directly interested, will form one vast combina-
tion of monopolists and jobbers to resist the Go-
vernment scheme.

They will be joined, too, very probably by
many of those gentlemen who are known to have
an extraordinary affection for a black skin.
Already they have inflicted, most unjustifiably,
great privations on the industrious classes
at home, to carry their crotchets into effect,
without the smallest success. They admit,
after spending more money, and wasting
more lives than we care to calculate,
that the slave trade is now carried on more
extensively and cruelly than ever. This class of
well-meaning enthusiasts, being anxious to keep
slave-grown sugar out of the market, will join
the mass of jobbers, and will resist the Ministe-
rial scheme to give a little relief to the suffering
people of England. They resisted Mr. EWART'S
motion last year to reduce the sugar duties on
this ground, and persevered in plundering by law
the people of England to enrich the West India
planters.

If by continuing the discriminating- duties on
sugar, the condition of the bulk of the black po-
pulation of our colonies was improved, there
would be some reason to approve of their con-
duct. But the excessive stimulus given to sugar
cultivation in our colonies by the duties is more
a curse than a benefit to the emancipated slaves.
Not a single sixpence goes into their posses-
sion as increased wages, but the whole tax is
absorbed
by planters, estate-owners, mer-
chants, and shipowners.
Nevertheless, it is to be apprehended that the
anti-slavery party will oppose this year, as they
did last year, the reduction of the discriminating
duties on sugar; and with them Bank Charter
jobbers and other monopolists will make corn-
mon
cause,
fkom a sense of common danger. All
these, joined wick the. merely political Tories,
whose hopes Will
same side, make them -zealous on the
will form, e have no doubt, one of

Ak, •
rif\x• 0 aui 4144
E:1- 9Va*
161
..,..*ook..t. "T'AA Tf,it.l7
' •-.1.•••
• _
"
c§aten

LONDON:
MONDAY, MAY 3, 1841.