The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-17 00:00:00

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LONDON, MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 1846.

WITHDRAWAL OF THE IRISH
ARMS BILL.

SUN-OFFICE, Three o'clock.

Lord JouN RUSSELL has just announced, in the
House of Commons, that it is the intention of the
government to withdraw the Irish Arms Bill.

On Saturday the British Possessions Bill was read
a third time in the Commons, and passed. Previous,
however, to this consummation of the free-trade
colonial policy, Lord G. BENTINCK endeavoured to
retard the measure by another of those vexatious
amendments for the employment of which the pro-
tectionist representatives have acquired such an un-
enviable notoriety. As a testimony of the utter
feti)ity of these interruptions, we may instance the
division by which the proposition of the Noble
Me tuber for Lynn—namely, that the Bill "should be
rea. it a third time that day three months"—was nega-
tived. A majority of thirty-nine in a House of
mere ly fifty-five testified the impatience of Parlia-
ment under this most irksome, because most impotent
system of opposition. We have characterised Lord
G. BENTINca's amendment as vexatious, and any one
posse issing little better than a pudding for brains
would% on a dispassionate perusal of the dis-
C 119910 a which was evoked by that amend-
ment, feel himself compelled to acknowledge

it to bepeculiarly and intensely vexatious. Inso-
much are we impressed with this conviction, that we
cannot but think Mr. ESCOTT was justified in
charging the Noble Lord the Member for Lynn
with inconsistency in the course then pursued for
the purpose of embarrassing the Government.
Every one, we take it, has a correct notion of what
Parliamentary inconsistency really is. Amidst all the
bickerings of faction, and all the potterings of party
politicians, that single thing has never elicited any
dissentience of opinion. It is not a vague idea which
may be distorted by an adroit quirk ; it admits of
no misapprehension from the utmost obtuseness of
intellect. Inconsistency to the Conservative is iden-
tical with inconsistency to the Liberal ; it assumes no
novel or Protean aspect, whether viewed from the
Ministerial benches or the Opposition benches, or
from the pleasant locality below the gangway.
To proclaim for one principle and vote for another, is
inconsistency ; to avow such political doctrines one
evening and the very opposite the next, is inconsis-
tency. It is, we humbly conceive, inconsistent to
announce oneself an advocate for such commercial
justice to our colonial possessions as we believe
may most certainly ensure their mercantile pros-
perity, and immediately afterwards to thrust
upon the attention of the Legislature the advi-
sability of passing an Act of the most monstrous
and manifest injustice to those colonies. Such incon-
sistency is that with which we impeach Lord GEORGE
BENTINCK. To skin his proposition of its trans-
parent sophistry, and to produce it before the pub-
lic in its nakedness, it literally amounts to the
following :—" Because we have been unable to
administer our old quack panacea against the
disorders incident to colonial commerce, and
because you have placed the colonists under a
wholesome and natural rezime, let us administer to
them a dose of the most deadly poison. England is
to be allowed, so it appears, to purchase her corn
and her sugar and what not in the cheapest markets ;
don't let her colonists purchase their manufactures
according to a similar discretion. England is no
longer compelled under a heavy penalty of duties to buy
timber from the Canadas ; nevertheless Canada must
still be compelled to buy calicoes at Manchester, and
cutlery at Sheffield, and needles at Whitechapel, and
gloves at Woodstock, no matter how much cheaper
or how much better the commodities which might be
purchased elsewhere. The exports of the colonies will
henceforth have to compete in cheapness and excellence
with the whole world ; their imports must, however,
be forced upon them at any extortionate price which
cupidity aided by monopoly may devise. We are,
upon my honour, very fond of our colonial posses-
sions, very fond indeed ; and as a testimony of our
regard to their prosperity, we here solemnly adjure
you to accede to our entreaty. They are now com-
pelled to send us good, cheap things, let us compen-
sate them for that concession, and at the same time
evince our unselfish regard to their interests, by
enabling ourselves to send them bad, dear things in
return !" Silly and preposterous as these expressions
may appear, they are literally the gist of this re-
doubtable proposition from the Noble Lord the Mem-
ber for Lynn. What by an egregious misnomer has
been hitherto designated " Protection to our Colo-
nies " being now virtually abolished, the Noble
Lord sagaciously demands the retention of that so-
called "Protection" to the manufacturers by whom
those unfortunate colonies are supplied.
Lord GEORGE BENTINCK always has an accumula-
tion of the most astonishing and unheard-of statistics,
which he introduces for the purpose of bolstering up
his very eccentric schemes. Statistics, like the ar-
mour of a minor theatre, very showy, and apparently
trustworthy at the distance, but on examination,
all brown paper and tinfoil. On Saturday,
for example, on introducing his amendment, the Noble
Lord presented to the House an appalling narrative
of the condition of the manufacturing districts.
According to the Noble Lord, the ruler-turners had
received a heartless intimation of a decrease in
wages consequent! upon a decrease in the price
of provisions. According to him, farmers would
buy no more fire-irons or pickaxes, be-
cause -wheat was falling to 40s. a quarter :
divers millowners had proclaimed a reduction of five
per cent. upon the wages of their workmen : circulars
were being issued by influential firms bewailing the
miserable stagnation of trade. That was the lugu-
brious panorama displayed to the House of Commons
by Lord GEORGE BENTINCK, and unquestion-
ably it was enough to make even the most
sanguine minds despondent. Fortunately, how-
ever, a Member was present infinitely more
cognisant of the condition of the manufactories than
the Noble Lord, the representative of Lynn. And not
only did the Hon. Member for Durham cast dis-
credit upon the assertions of Lord GEORGE, but he
plainly and definitely contradicted each of his com-
prehensive statements. Wages had not been
reduced; the labouring classes were never in
the enjoyment of more comfort; provisions were
cheap, and employment was abundant. Those
were the revelations made by Mr. BRIGHT in regard
to the manufactories of Lancashire and Cheshire. We
suspect the manufactories described by Lord G.
BENTINCK were literally the manufactories of his
imagination.
Nevertheless, RIGIIT and MIGHT appear now to be
co-operating in the legislation of this great em-
pire; and, as we have previously congratulated
the inhabitants of the mother-country upon the
realisation of an equitable freedom to trade, so do
we now congratulate the inhabitants of her colonial
possessions upon the adjustment of a benefit which
had previously been only half obtained. In the
frivolous amendment of Lord GEORGE BENTINCK we
almost fancy we can perceive something more than
mere obstinacy. Did not the Noble Lord intend to
take a sweet revenge upon the manufacturing dis-
tricts by cursing them with the perpetuation of the
protective system ?

The memorial just presented to the Irish Govern-
ment by the leading magistrates and clergymen of
the county Cavan, is deserving of immediate atten-
tion—of the promptest consideration. It is gratify-
ing to find men of the most opposite political feelings
at length uniting together, and joining zealously in
their exertions for the abolition of that which is now
admitted to be a most serious evil, leading to the
worst results, and keeping up those religious dissen-
sions and animosities that have ever been pro-
ductive of the most injurious consequences.
Amongst our Irish brethren we find Lord FAEIrrAm,
formerly one of the grand officers and most influential
members of the Orange Institution, one of the chief
resident landed proprietors in the county of Cavan, '
co-operating with Dr. BROWNE, the Roman Catholic
bishop of the diocese, and impressing, in the most
forcible manner, on the minds of the Execu-
tive, the absolute, the imperative necessity
of urging Parliament to pass an Act against
processions of all descriptions whatever, stating
that the excitement which unhappily exists in several
parts of the country has arisen from the most trivial
causes, but still that the most fatal consequences
may ensue ; that there is still time, during the
present session, to pass the necessary enactment,
and urging it as the only remedy for the evil.
In addition to those whose names we have already
mentioned, this memorial has been most numerously
and influentially signed by magistrates, clergymen,
and gentry of all shades and varieties of politics,
and we sincerely hope that not a single day will
be lost in submitting to the Legislature a measure
calculated to effect this object. The county of Cavan
has long been the theatre of those unmeaning and
mischievous processions. In that district parties are
perhaps more evenly balanced, more near equality as
to physical force, than in any other in Ireland.
The Orange party lost no opportuuity of swelling
their own ranks ; neutrality was not allowed on either
side. You must select the banner under which to
fight, and strenuously combat on all occasions. It
was impossible to conciliate the good opinion of the
opposite party ; the terms Orange and Protestant be-
came synonimous, and the more violent the denun-
ciation, the more outrageous the insult, the more
bitter the hatred entertained and exhibited towards
his Roman Catholic brethren, the snore popular did
the exhibitor become amongst his own party. The man
who was not with them was against them, but he who
could succeed in making himself peculiarly obnoxious
to the Roman Catholic party, thereby immediately
attained power and influence amongst his own. On
the other side also parties were not idle. If Orange
lodges subsisted, so was there a Ribbon Association

organised, and offences that disgraced the country
had their origin in the party feuds, the religious dif-
ferences thus created and kept up ; secret signs and
pass words were made use of, by which the members
of either confederacy became known to their
associates, and the ignorance of these secrets too
frequently was avenged by the most outrageous
assaults on the person unable duly to respond on
being interrogated. Not a meeting could take place,
whether for business or pleasure without the public
peace being broken, the public tranquillity dis-
turbed by contests and fights between the opposing
factions—human life too frequently became the
sacrifice, and riot and bloodshed affixed a stain
on the locality. Of late years the superior classes
have seen the folly of these exhibitions. On the
passing of the Act for the Suppression of Secret So-
cieties (one of the most beneficial, for Irelatid gene-
rally, that could be brought forward), the Grand
Orange Lodge, in obedience to the dictates of the
law, declared the dissolution of the society ; and the
better disposed and more prudent of its members
withdrew from all further communion therewith.
Unfortunately the more violent members, who
were well aware of the influence and power
which the system gave them among their
poorer brethren, did not exhibit the same obedience
to the law, the same wise submission ; they set aside
the opinion of the majority, adopted steps to evade
the law that pronounced their body an illegal one,
and throughout the entire country denounced the
seceders as traitors to the cause : there was no longer
anything of discretion or judgment in the pro-
ceedings of the society ; those qualified to
counsel were no longer of them, and their
every act exhibited the grossest folly, the
most unceasing obstinacy and mental blind-
ness. The Party Processions Act for a time
mitigated the evil, but it was not without the
greatest exertions on the part of the Executive that
the processions were kept down. Strange as it may
appear, vast bodies of the people were prepared to
undergo severe punishments and stringent penalties,
rather than consent to refrain from the comme-
moration of events long since past and gone—
the celebration of the triumph of principles
that happily no longer prevail. A juster, a more
equitable principle has been enunciated. Ireland is
henceforward to be placed on a footing of perfect
equality with England in her civil, political, and mu-
nicipal institutions. No man hereafter is to be the
sufferer for the religious feelings he may conscien-
tiously entertain, and every man will be allowed to wor-
ship his CREATOR in the manner which he deems the most
correct, and opinion will no longer be controlled by
penal enactments or civil or religious disabilities. It
is, then, the duty of a Government, extending tole-
rance to all, to take care that insults shall no longer
be offered to any, and to interpose their authority
for the prevention of such ridiculous, but injurious
proceedings. In the language of the County Cavan
memorial, there is yet time, during the present ses-
sion, for the passing of such enactment. We cannot sup-
pose that opposition would be offered from any quarter,
and if it should be neglected, much mischief may
occur during the ensuing recess, which it may take
many years to remedy, and a serious responsibility
will be incurred by the Government. We place every
confidence in the good intentions of our present
Administration, and we sincerely hope that measures
will be adopted :by which the majesty of the law
may be vindicated, the peace of the country may be
preserved.

The following is an extract of a letter from Con-
stantinople of the 29th of July :

" Great changes are soon expected in the Turkish Ca-
binet. The present Minister of Finance, Hafiz Pacha, is
to be replaced the first, and then the Grand Seraskier,
Kosrew Pacha. The successor to Hafiz is not yet known,
but for the post of Seraskier, it is Riza Pacha, who is gene-
rally designated. It may even be admitted as certain that
Riza Pacha, in place of being named Minister of Finance,
would have been at once appointed Seraskier, had it not been
for the arrival of Mehemet Ali. You are aware that the
Viceroy of Egypt and Kosrew Paella are old enemies ; the
dismissal of Kosrew occurring at the-lame moment as the
arrival of the Pacha of Egypt would have been interpreted
as a desire to flatter his sentiments, and that is what the
Government wishes to avoid. The dismissal of Hafiz and
Kosrew will not certainly be disagreeable to Reschid Pacha,
for since his accession to the Ministry he has constantly been
on bad terms with these two Ministers. They belong to the
old school of corruption, and each act of their life is in
flagrant opposition to the principles which Reschid Pacha at
present represents. In Turkey, M. de Bourqueney had assured
Sir S. Canning that he agreed perfectly with him in the pro-
test which he had made, as senior of the diplomatic corps,
against the nomination of Riza Pacha to the finance depart-
ment. The Internuncio of Austria also used strong language
on this occasion."

Letters have been received from Rome to the 3d of
August.
Several towns having petitioned the POPE to with-
draw from the Jesuits the monopoly of education,
which they have hitherto enjoyed, his Holiness decided
that, at the re-opening of the schools in November,
secular priests, chosen amongst those who offer satis-
factory guarantees of morality and capacity, should
replace the Jesuits, wherever the mayors of towns and
bishops should think it advisable. This declaration
of the POPE produced such a sensation, even amongst
the people of Rome, that his Holiness, in proceeding
to the Jesuits' church, on St. Ignatius' day, to hear
mass, was greeted with cries of " Accept nothing
from these men, they are quite capable of giving you it
boccone !" (poison.)
His Holiness has dismissed 11. MARINI, the
Governor of Rome, for having attempted to prevent
the director of the opera from representing The
Clemency of Titus.

The l'orE has sent a Vicar-General to Imola,
retaining to himself the title of Bishop of that city,
in order to be able to devote the revenues of the see
to the relief of the poor and the completion of the
cathedral.

In order to be able to become acquainted with the
claims of persons unable to approach his person, Pius
IX. has had put up, near his palace, a box for the
reception of letters, of which he alone has the key.

The German Diet, at present sitting at Frankfort,
will first of all take into consideration a project of
law for the regulation of the censorship of the press,
and afterwards will proceed to the consideration of
the succession to the Duchies of Schleswig and
Holstein.

Accounts from Berlin state that the labours of the
Congress of the Zollverein, sitting in that city, were
nearly terminated, but that the difficulties raised in
the last Congress of Carlsruhe have been renewed,
and no solution could consequently be effected. The
southern states of Germany had protested anew against
all increase in the tariff duties on cotton threads, whilst
the northern states claimed that augmentation as
indispensable for the prosperity of their manu-
factures. The Prussian Government, thus placed
between the prohibitive system, and the system of
free trade, will, it is said, confine itself to publishing,
after the close of the session of the Congress, an im-
partial statement of the debates, in order to prove to
the merchants, manufacturers, and agriculturists of
Germany, that the long desired solution of these
questions can only be arrived at when the general
interest shall have succeeded in triumphing over pri-
vate interests.

By the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steam-
ship Queen, which arrived on Sunday, intelligence
has been received from Lisbon, of the 10th. The
concentration of the Spanish army on the Portu-
guese frontier had excited considerable alarm in
Lisbon, where it was not doubted but that the real
object of the threatened invasion was to promote a
counter-revolution in favour of the brothers CABRAL.
The Portuguese Government had sent a few troops
to the frontier, and were fitting out some vessels of
war, but their main reliance is on England, for they
feel convinced that the British Government will not
permit Spain to invade the Portuguese territory
on any of the pretexts hitherto put forward. The
Miguelites, meanwhile, are endeavouring to turn
any confusion that may arise to their own profit.
General MACDONNELL, an active Miguelite partisan,
was known to be in the province of Tras-os-Montes,
endeavouring to excite an outbreak. Some of the
officers of the Albion have, at the request of Lord
HOWARD DE WALDEN, been dispatched to the frontier
to observe the movements of the Spanish troops.
Their presence will afford a guarantee to the Porto
guese that England will not quietly allow Spain to
invade their country.
Great complaints were made in Lisbon of the
scarcity and dearness of bread and oil. A monetary
crisis seems at hand. The discount on Bank of
Lisbon notes had at one time risen as high as 15
per cent. The bank directors have, however, issued
notice to the following effect :-
1. That all persons willing to capitalise the notes they