The Sun.
London, England, 1848-07-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,

Port St. Denis, and took from them with his own
hand the standard of sedition—or that of the
boy-soldier who was visited by the Pre-
sident of the National Assembly—or of the
youth who wept with emotion when the
guard in front of the Palace of the Republican Legis-
lature received him with military honours. History
will not disdain to eulogise these unostentatious
heroes of the faubourgs—she will enumerate their
acts of valour as well as those of their more illus-
trious contemporaries—she will record their achieve-
ments during the three deplorable days of the insur-
rection ; while she will not fail to mention the bravery
of Lieutenant-General PIRE, who knocked up the
the muzzle of a pistol placed against his forehead by
an ouvrier, and cheered his men on to the capture of
the barricade in the Rue Nationale St. Martin—of
ARAGO, the astronomer, who led on a battalion of
the National Guard against the insurgents in the Rue
des Mathurins—of LAMARTINE, the poet-statesman,
who, at the head of another battalion, carried the
barricade raised at the top of the Rue St. Severin—
of Prince PIERRE BONAPARTE, who had a horse shot
under him during the cannonade—of General BREA,
who was murdered by the discharge of a pistol-ball at
the very moment when he was pleading for the life of
his assassin—and of Dzsas (Amu), the Archbishop
of Paris, who died the sublime death of a martyr to
patriotism. All of these memorable incidents will be
chronicled by the future historian ; they require no
prolonged notice from ourselves; they are destined to
occupy a conspicuous place in the most glorious annals
of the human family.
That which more immediately commands the con-
sideration of contemporaries is the posture assumed at
this moment by the French Republican Government.
By a calamity which no sagacity could have forseen,
and which no arrangement could have prevented, a
young soldier has been suddenly elevated to supreme
power, the Dictatorship having been confided by ac-
clamation to the hands of EUGENE DE
CA.YAIGNAC. With a full appreciation of
the merits of General CAVAlGNAc—merits
nevertheless which we conceive to be certainly
equalled by those of BUGEAUD, BEDEAII, Lamo-
RICIERE, and other eminent warriors of Algeria—we
cannot but regard with sorrow the necessity which
has been forced on France of selecting a soldier
instead of a civilian as her First President. That
it is a necessity we acknowledge at once; there
was no other guarantee for the maintenance of
the sovereign power of the people ; the establish-
ment of a temporary dictatorship was requisite
to secure the very existence of the Republic.
Still, we conceive that some larger amount of mag-
nanimity might have accompanied the movement by
which the powers of administration were being
thus forcibly concentrated ; we think that the
zeal, the devotion, and the achievements of the Pro-
visional Government and of the Executive Commis-
sion had entitled the immortal statesmen of February
to some slight token of gratitude, instead of reu
dering them indiscriminately the objects of dastardly
abuse and insidious slander. Without trial, without
any evidence whatever beyond that of a hinted letter
and a rumoured passport—manuscripts which no one
has yet dared to adduce in open court—such a man
as LAMARTINE has been condemned. Condemned of
what ? Of complicity with the very rebels against
whom he imperilled his life ; of conspiring against
that Republic of which he more than any other man
in existence was the Originator ; of plot-
ting to dissipate by a fratricidal carriage that su-
blime policy of moderation which his great
heart first conceived, and which for upwards of
three months, either in his Cabinet as a Statesman,
or in the Tribune as an Orator, he has advocated at
the risk of everything that was most precious to his
genius and his affections. For ourselves we cannot
but regard the fall of ALPHONSE DE LAMARTINE
from power as a panegyric upon the preceding
triumphs of his career as a politician. If he fell
through any fault of his own—he fell through an
excess of Moderation.

Among the industrial resources of Ireland which
still remain almost wholly undeveloped, but from
which, if properly attended to, the most important
results might be obtained, there are none that could be
more easily brought into full operation, and which
would be attended with more beneficial consequences
to all classes, than the deep sea, the coast, and the
inland fisheries of that much neglected land. It is
an indisputable fact, that there is upon the coast of
Ireland more fish of every description, with greater
facilities for taking them, than on any coast of equal
extent in the world. The bays and harbours with
which the island is indented, swarm at certain sea-
sons of the year with myriads of fish, which
might be converted into a source of national
wealth, giving an abundant supply of wholesome and
palatable food to the starving population, and afford-
ing ample employment to the immense masses of
labour which are now useless drugs in the market.
True it is that perhaps one hundred thousand persons
are actually engaged in these fisheries, but the labour
of the great majority thereof—perhaps we should be
justified in saying of five-sixths of the entire number
—is practically thrown away, from want of proper
appliances and the means of making their exertions
really productive of profit. Their fishing is carried
on in small' boats, with rude - materials, so that,
when the favourable moment arrives, and the
shoals of fish are encountered, golden opportuni-
ties are lost, while the open boat is seeking the
shore with some trifling cargo, and when it arrives,
from want of proper means for curing and saving the
fish so taken, a great portion thereof is absolutely lost,
the consumption being limited to a few miles from the
locality where they have been captured.
The illustrious nobleman who now so ably fills the
Viceroyalty of Ireland, and who has directed his
closest attention to every mode by which prosperity
may be restored, has felt the deep and vital impor-
tance of the subject. In a speech which he made, in
returning thanks on Saturday last, at the opening of
the Great Southern Railway to Limerick, his
Excellency, when speaking of the national
advantages derivable from the extension of
railway communication throughout the land, said,
"But I think there is one branch of native industry
to which more benefits will accrue from the facilities
afforded by railway communication than almost any
other—l allude to the fisheries of Ireland. That mine
of wealth has hitherto been unexplored for want of
a market ; but when we call to mind, that up to a few
years ago the use of fish, except as a luxury, was un-
known to the interior of England, and that the annual
amount now carried on the railways alone exceeds
:30,000 tons, we must all rejoice in feeling that
bright clays are about to dawn for the Irish fisher-
men." When we find a nobleman like the Earl
of CLARENDON using such language we are indeed
encouraged, for we feel well convinced that he would
not hold out such hopes unless fully resolved that the
same should be realised to the utmost extent of his
power and ability.

It may, perhaps, be vain to expect any very im-
portant ameliorations in the deep sea fisheries at this
late period of the session, or the grant of an adequate
sum of money for the full development thereof in the
present state of the Exchequer. Something, how-
ever, may be done ; and in the inland branch espe-
cially, vOiere the most serious injury is inflicted, in
consequence of some defects in the present law,
which might most easily be amended. Defects
with the full assent of persons of every shade
and variety of political opinion. Indeed, we believe
that the requisite alterations would be unanimously
approved of by every Member of either House of
Parliament connected with Ireland. For some
time past a committee of gentlemen, interested
in the inland fisheries of the country, have
taken measures to point out the changes
required in the sth and 6th Victoria, chap. 106,
which repealed no less than 30 other statutes, which
had been previously passed on the subject, from the
time of HENRY VIII. up to that period. This Act,
however, has not been found to work efficiently, from
a variety of causes, and it is to render it practically
useful that is now the object of those gentlemen. In
March last a deputation waited on the Lord-
Lieutenant, to solicit the aid of the Government
in their efforts to obtain the required amendments in
the fishery laws. His Excellency received that de-
putation most graciously, and promised to make all
necessary inquiries, and so far as lay in his power
to assist in improving so important a branch of the
national resources of the country. Subsequently
thereto, the, committee finding that little or no pro-

gress had been made in preparing the Bill, obtained •
another interview on the 11th of May last, when his
Excellency stated, " that since they had waited upon
him he had made inquiries into all they complained
of, and found that the changes they required in the
law were necessary to make the salmon fisheries of
Ireland profitable, and recommended that a meeting
of practical men should be held on as early a
day as possible, and that if the amendments
agreed to by the majority of that meeting
were forwarded to him he would do all
in his power to have them embodied in a Bill which
should immediately be introduced into Parliament."
That advice was immediately followed. A meeting
was held, which was attended by representatives
from almost all the Irish rivers and persons in any
manner interested in the salmon fisheries, when
several practical resolutions were unanimously
adopted, embodying all the necessary amendments in
the ,existing law. These were forwarded without
delay to his Excellency, and a Bill was framed thereon
with the entire approbation of the Irish Government.
Nothing has, however, since been done, and there is
too much reason to fear that the interests of Ireland
will again be neglected in the Imperial Parliament,
while time is wasted on business of not the twentieth
part of the importance in a national point of view.
This cannot, and we trust the Irish representa-
tives will say, " this must not be." It is
not at a time like the present, when there is so much
dissatisfaction abroad, and when so many persons,
who have previously been the firmest friends of the
Union, are hesitating as to whether they shall give
their adhesion to the ranks of repeal, that any well-
founded causes of complaint and dissatisfaction should
be afforded to the Irish people. In the present in-
stance there is nothing required but the attention of
Parliament for a brief period to the wants and wishes
of the country. A memorial to the Government on the
subject, has been signed by a number of the Irish Peers
and representatives, and Lord JOHN RUSSELL has
appointed to-morrow (Thursday), at half-past three
o'clock, to receive a deputation of Members of both
Houses of Parliament, when that memorial will be
presented. We trust that no Irish Member will
absent himself upon the occasion. It is of the greatest
importance that a spirit of unanimity should prevail
among those of every section and party, to advance the
best interests of their common country. Ireland ex-
pects that they will discharge that duty, and those
who neglect the summons may be called upon to
answer for their apathy. At present the object is to
have the Bill that has been prepared brought in with-
out a moment's delay, so that the necessary legisla-
tion may take place during the present session.

We shall on a future occasion enter into the nature
of the proposed alterations, and point out the reasons
that imperatively demand their adoption. These have
been most ably and distinctly set forth in a letter on
the " Past and Present State of the Salmon
Fisheries in Ireland," by JOHN DILLON CROKER,
of Quartertown, in the county of Cork, Esq.,
the active, energetic, and efficient representative
of the Inland Proprietors, with the particu-
lars of which every person interested in the
question should make himself thoroughly acquainted.
The name of Mr. CROKER will afford a full guarantee
to every person acquainted with that gentleman that
no important fact connected with the subject has
escaped his notice ; and he has, indeed, made a most
unanswerable argument for the revision of the fishery
code, and the adoption of the changes now sought
for. At present we shall only again call upon the
Irish Representatives to attend to-morrow, at half-
past three o'clock, with the deputation, and to demand
that instalment of " justice to Ireland."