The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-05 00:00:00

illandit <ealtlit

LONDON, FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 1846.

The House of Lords met to-day for the first time
after the Whitsuntide recess.
Numerous petitions were presented in favour of and
against the repeal of the corn-laws.
Lord STANLEY, in presenting several petitions from

Wilts and Cornwall against the repeal of the corn-laws,
gave notice of his intention to-morrow to move for
copies of the addresses that had been received from
the Legislative Assemblies of Canada on the subject of
the corn-laws.
The Earl of DALHOUSIE then defended himself against
the attack that had been made upon him in the House
of Commons by Lord George Bentinck with respect to
the addresses from Canada, which led to a short but
animated debate.
Earl Frrzwlttu.3l gave notice of his intention to-
morrow to move certain resolutions with respect to Rail-
way Bills.
The Earl of DALHOUSIE then moved the second read-
ing of the Customs' Duties (Tariff) Bill. The Noble
Earl entered at considerable length into the duties that
at present existed, and those which it was proposed to
reduce by the present measure.
The Duke of RICHMOND opposed the Bill.
The Earl of WICKLOW opposed the Bill, as being
prejudicial to the linen trade of Ireland.
Earl GREY, although he deprecated continual changes,
accepted the present measure as a step in the right
direction.

Lord ASHBURTON opposed the Bill, and expressed his
surprise that the commerce of the country was able to
stand up against the continual changes that had been
made and proposed of late years.
Lord MONTEAGLE supported the second reading of
the Bill.

The Bill was then read a second time, and ordered to
be committed on Monday week.
The Explosive Substances Bill went through Com-
mittee, and their Lordships adjourned.

Amongst the more remarkable improvements of
recent days, there are scarcely any of so great im-
portance as the increased facilities given to travellers,
the comparative speed with which journeys are per-
formed, intelligence communicated, and time and
space practically annihilated by :the ♦arious disco-
veries of modern science. The more valuable have
been the results of the improvements already effected,
the greater the demand on the part of the public for
an extension of similar accomodation ; and that public
will not rest satisfied with things remaining in statu
quo under the old and exploded system when it is
made perfectly manifest that great amelioration is
still practicable. We now, without hesitation, un-
dertake a journey, perhaps, for a few days pleasure,
at which our forefathers would have shuddered, and
would only have been induced to attempt on the
most urgent reasons—the most pressing con-
siderations. Within a short period the en-
terprise and judgment of an individual
have effected a redaction in the time consumed in
communication with our Eastern dominions to less
than one-third of that formerly required for the same
purpose. And all connected with that vast empire,
either commercially, or from having friends or re-
lations therein, will bear testimony to the great benefit
thereby conferred on the cation. Had it not been
for that improvement we should still be ignorant of
the happy termination of hostilities in India, and the
minds of thousands of our countrymen: would be
agitated and disturbed on account of some near and
dear friends. The same intelligent and active person
is now busily engaged in effecting a similar improve-
ment in the intercourse with our Australian colonies ;
and, judging from the success which has hitherto
attended his exertions, we feel every confidence that
they will now be rewarded with an equally happy
result. While so much has been done in an Easterly
direction, it is really astonishing that so little has
hitherto been attempted for the amelioration of our
intercourse with the Western Hemisphere, where we
are in possession of vast and important colonies, and
with a neighbour, so powerful for good or evil, as
America, with mercantile and commercial relations of
such magnitude, and with a dark cloud lowering in
the political horizon, threatening war and the inter-
ruption of that peace, so highly prized, so justly
valued; but which, we trust, may be preserved by
mutual forbearance, and mutual concessions, honour-
able to all parties. It is little to be wondered at, if the
public mind should be impressed with the absolute
necessity of immediate steps being taken to effect that
amelioration. The KNIGHT or KERRY, a Gentleman of
considerable talent and experience, who formerly re-
presented his native county in Parliament, and was
one of the Lords of the Admiralty, has recently pub-
lished a letter to the Earl of ELLENBOROUGII, setting
forth the great advantages of Valentia Harbour as a
packet station, and citing the authorities of many and
distinguished persons for that opinion. Indeed, we
can scarcely conceive that the question admits of argu-
ment, and yet it has been stated that the First Lord
has pronounced a decided opinion in favour of Cork,
giving it the preference over Valentia or Bantry.
The Right Hon. Gentleman desires, and we think with
justice, that the question should receive that delibera-
tion and impartial investigation which its importance
deserves.

There are two points of view in which the question
must be regarded before a sound conclusion can be
arrived at; first, in its peaceful character as a packet
station, as giving the greatest rapidity to intercourse of
every kind; and the second, and not less important
one, of a defensive naval station—a preferable pint
for the embarkation of troops, whether for general
or colonial service. And in each of these respects,
there are great advantages on the side of Valentia.
It would appear almost a self-evident proposition
—an axiom in geographical science—that the
most favourable position for intercourse with
the west should be from the most westerly
port within our own territory with which easy
intercourse could be established. That principle
has long been admitted and acted on, and it is owing
to its adoption that Falmouth has been selected, and the
Government establishment transferred thereto. If
one degree of westering entitled Falmouth to this ad-
vantage, an additional five and a half degrees west of
Falmouth, and two degrees west of Cork, is surely
no inconsiderable advantage, and should form an
important element in the calculation.
In respect to the time consumed in receiving intel-
ligence, there is little doubt that there would be a
saving of at least four or five days. The same class
of vessels now employed for transatlantic communi-
cation would easily effect the passage from America
to Valentia in six or seven days; from thence im-
portant news might be transmitted to this metro-
polis, to the seat of Governn.ent, by means of the
' electric telegraph, in an incredibly short space of
time ; but the general correspondence of the country
might, on the construction of a railway, easily be
conveyed, in twenty-four hours, to London, thus
enabling letters from America to be delivered in little
rnnoovvre rtellqauni r e ad
wfoe , or aboutrekthepurpose
, halfthe
the
e great timem .
portance of which must be at once obvious to
every man of business in the kingdom ; but, secondly,
and if possible more important, is the great addi-
tional safety to life and property which would be at-
tained by the selection. Every person in the slightest
degree acquainted with shipping affairs must be well
aware of the great additional risk incurred by the
neighbourhood of the land; a very large proportion
of the casualties, which unfortuately take place, are
owing to the dangerous character of our own coast,
or to the crowded state of navigation in narrow
seas.
We have recently had a melancholy instance of the
effectssand of
much
a sh
by which many lives were
odestroyed. Indeed, one of
the best t
propertytheincreased dangers of channel
navigation, is to
lost,
whencollision,de-
mandedunderwriters, about
hl
yto
effect an insurance on a v
the
most dangerous coast in the British domi-
nions is that lying between Cork harbour
and Cape Clear; and there is no place of equal
length in which so many wrecks have taken place. By
the selection of Cork harbour as the packet station,
a vessel starting therefrom would have to work
against the prevailing winds and currents, along a lee
shore, of the most dangerous character, for more than
seventy miles; when, with the same wind, from
Valentia, it would be in the open ocean in less than
half-an-hour, without any lee-shore whatsoever. The
same prevailing wind which would shut up the sail-
ing vessel in Cork harbour, would be a free wind for
it, out of Valentia ; and in the worst possible case,
should there be a necessity for the aid of a steam-
tug, it would, in three miles from Valentia, place a
vessel so as to enable it to take its northern or south-
ern course in the free ocean; while no less than sixty
miles would be necessary from Cork to effect the
same purpose. These are considerations. of immense
magnitude; and it scarcely requires the imposing
array of names and authorities quoted by
the Right lion. Knight to convince the public mind
of its sereat advantages—of its vast superiority. We

cannot, however, refrain frOm bringing forward the
testimony of a gentleman to whose sound judgment
and commercial skill and experience much weight is
justly attached in this country. We allude to Mr.
COBDEN, who, in his valuable pamphlet, " England,
Ireland, and America," states that a decided opinion
prevails in the United States in favour of Valentia,
and who powerfully recommends the selection of that
harbour, and the formation of a railway to the point ;
and states his conviction that such a project, if com-
pleted, would secure the preference of voyagers to all
parts of North America, not only from Britain,
but from every quarter of Europe, and would confer
incalculable advantages upon Ireland, by introducing
capital, and stimulating industry and enterprise. 'We
have only here adverted to its advantages in the peace-
ful character—the others are not less remarkable, but
our space forbids a further reference at present.

In the Chamber of Deputies, on Thursday last, M.
Gurzor, in his reply to M. THIERS, after alluding to
the desire of the Government, to draw round it men
of the Legitimatist party, thus boldly exposed the mis-
taken policy of the aristocracy :—" It had been a
great misfortune for the French nobility, that they
did not know how to assume that part, in the poli-
tical interests of their country, to which they were
entitled. They had done nothing but live in the iso-
lation of their estates, or the subserviency of courts."
"And also," exclaimed M. DE LAROCHEJACQUELIN
(and well might he so exclaim), " and also,
on the field of honour." " Yes," continued
the Minister, " most nobly and most pa-
triotically. But the intelligence ef the policy of
the country had always been wanting to them. It was
the middle classes that had been obliged to conquer,
step by step, all the liberties of the country—it was
to them that France owed everything 1" And does
this apply only to France ? Is it not the almost uni-
versal character of aristocracy ? It is, or rather, it
was—for all things now are changing. For years,
for ages, in all times, in all countries, every great
nation has had its exclusive class. Every great
people that have toiled and laboured, have had their
privileged few, to reap the profits—a high and
elevated minority, raised aloft, not by their
own exertions, but by the pressure from beneath.
They are like figures, whose intrinsic value is the
same, but whose power is wonderfully altered by
their position—swelling from units to millions of
millions, only by the augmentation of the ciphers by
their side. Well may the aristocracy be interested
in the prosperity of a country—they cannot make
that prosperity, but by it they are made. However,
we do not wish non' to censure, or to cavil, with the
aristocracy ; our object is only to note a most re-
markable coincidence—one of those unforeseen in-
cidents, which portray so forcibly the stirring
signs of the times, which evidence so powerfully the
hourly progress of reform. While in the French
Chamber, M. GUIZOT was speaking of a nobility who
knew not how to assume their part in the interests of
their country, and to whom the intelligence of its
policy was always wanting—even while he was speak-
ing, across the water, in our own House, our nobi-
lity were assuming their fit position, were proclaim.
ing their intelligence, universal as its theme. While
the French Parliament thought of what had
been, the English (ever foremost in re-
form) showed forth what should be. While the
Minister was speaking, before echo had brought
across a whisper to our shore, his ideas were illus-
trated, his expectations were forestalled. Our no-
bility have not to learn their duties. No longer
anxious to dazzle by empty splendour, or control by
narrow tyranny, they have assumed a higher place
than monarch ever gave them ; they are ready to
co-operate with the people for the interests of all.
Like the leaves and flowers of the forest, which the
root nourishes, the stem upholds—but, raised aloft,
they are not useless, they are not idly ornamental ;
they give their shelter and their fruit—so our no-
bility, supported by the people, will act earnestly and
heartily for the people's welfare. No longer, in the
words of VOLTAIRE—

" Aux murs de Westminster on voit paraitre ensemble,
Trois pouveirs etonnes du nceud qui les rassemble,
Les deputes du peuple, et les grands, et le roi,
Divines arinteret,reunis par la loi."

Interest now unites them more firmly than any
laws : that the good of one is the good of all has at
length been virtually acknowledged. The second
reading in the Lords was in many ways remarkable.
The debate commenced even while M. GUIZOT was
disserting on the duties of nobility, but the trium-
phant division was not recorded till the morning sun
had risen—the sun of May 29th, which nearly two
hundred years ago witnessed the restoration of the
STUARTS. In honour of that event, the day was
' rendered memorable, but its fame shall be
prouder and purer far, hereafter. It shall be
remembered, as the day which saw not
alone the restoration of the worst of ICINGS,
but the ultimate downfal of the most iniquitous of
laws. And in future times we shall join with the
green oak leaves which preserved a monarch, the
golden corn which shall preserve a people ! While
thus in thought uniting the monarchy and the corn-
laws, we cannot hut recal the frantic predictions of
some, who declared a repeal would be calculated to
destroy the aristocracy and even shake the throne !
The result is exactly opposed to those predictions.
The glorious :measure now becoming law, will not
only benefit the people, but add to the privileges of
the privileged—it gives them (what they have already
gladly seized upon) an opportunity of winning popular
favour, and of stooping from their ancestral elevation
to conquer a yet higher one in their country's
history. The decision of the Lords, suicidal
though some may deem it, has done more
to strengthen the true influence of Peers
than any royal gift or baronial extortion since
the clays of the Conqueror or King Jong : and,
so far from shaking the throne, we may safely aver
that no royal despot, or crowned conqueror, was
ever so secure, not only on the throne, but in the
affections of the people, as is our present constitutional
SOVEREIGN. But if the power of Princes and Peers
is placed on a firmer basis how much is that of the
people augmented and ensured ? After all, this is
their peculiar triumph. This year will be a me-
‘inorable one in their annals. It is the turning point—
not so great in itself as leading to better things—the
opening wide the portals of a glorious futurity.
Some months ago the now popular Minister led the
way; in a few days all will be over. During all this
time how concentrated has been the universal interest,
how engrossed is it even now. Every event gives
place to the great subject of the day. Even the
birth of a royal infant is scarcely thought of, while
contemplating the cradle where Free Trade, an infant
Hercules, strangles monopoly in his giant grasp ;
and the escape of an illustrious prisoner—one bear-
gr
which
ing a name of glory—is unheeded, in the joy of a far
fetters greater
emancipation,
havea glledashero r u slnfd t breaks
years. off the
longry

The Emperor of Russia was at Warsaw on the
23d ult. A letter fromßoningsberg, of the 26 th, says—
"ln January last, M. Statzky, a Pole, who, for the last
fifteen years, had been established at Christiana, in Norway,
where he had obtained civil rights, passed through Konigs-
wbearsg,o on his Poland.
ofthe
mOinnihstiserreotf Police,urn,a w
founded
adgedo,
on
a demand of extradition by the Russian Government, which
accuses him of having taken part in the late insurrection in
arrested, byway to
order
Paland, and of having had relations with lii. Dombrowsky,
who has fled. Immediately after the arrest of M. Statzky,
the Swedish and Norwegian Consuls, and those ofFrance and
lingland (the two latter, because M Statzky bad married
the daughter of a French general, born in London,) inter-
vened with the authorities in his favour. Couriers were sent
off to the Minister of Police at Berlin, and to the Ambassa-
dors of France and England, and an active interchange of
notes ensued between the representatives of Sweden, Norway,
Great Britain, and France, and the Prussian Minister for
Foreign Affairs. The matter has terminated, however, in
an unexpected way. M. Statzky has disappeared from the
prison in which he was confined, and it is known that be has
succeeded in reaching Stettin, from whence he will embark
where there are no treaties of extradition with
R
for the island of Bonholm (Denmark), on his way to Sweden
oru
sNs ioa7 ay,

Accounts from Lisbon of the 21st ult. state that
ntheew
iNI inistfollowingry appointments had been made in the
:—the M Duke of PALELLA, President
of the Council, holding, ad interim, the portfolio of
the Finances ; the Duke of TERCEIRA, Minister of
War ; and the Marquis of SA LDANHA, Minister of
Foreign Affairs. Letters from Lisbon of as late a
date as the 23d have been received in Paris. They
state that the popular movement still continued to
gain ground—that three juntas had been organized,
one at Villareal, under the presidency of the
son of Count VILLAREAL ; another at Coimbra,
at the head of which was M. JOSE ALEX..
ANDES DE CAMPOS, a Deputy, former Minister of
the QUEEN. and Professor of the University ; and