The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-15 00:00:00

house is liable to be entered by emissaries of certain public
boards, at any time, by day or night, on the suggestion of
any anonymous accuser, or the stroke of tho pen of any
ignorant or incapable magistrate. It is sometimes assumed
that powers must exist, in constitutional governments, of
a wide nature, reliance being had that they will never be
unduly exercised. Without admitting that such power
ought ever to be placed in any irresponsible hands, it is
sufficient to say, that such a plea cannot be entered here.
The very possibility of such an outrage as above named is
inconsistent with every idea of a constitutional government
or civil liberty, far more so than the long since abolished
powers of the Star Chamber. Moreover the outrage has
been perpetrated: it is not only a posse but an ease. The
existence, indeed, of such a power implies its constant
exercise. Public safety requires, then, the immediate re-
moval of the power."

To the accuracy of these remarks no exception whatever
can be made; circumstances have clearly demonstrated that
the impregnable nature with which the law was presumed
to invest our homes is most illusory and unreal. Far from
our houses being castles, they promise to degenerate
into lounging places for prying Excisemei, where cu•
riosity or suspicion may be satisfied at the charge
of a warrant. Unless some strenuous effort be made
by our legislators, we shall be liable, when in the studio or
the bath, the dining-mom or the orchard, to the indecorous
incursions of policemen or the inquisitive agents of Excise.
An opportunity is afforded our representatives of preserving
us from these monstrous visitations, and of ren-
dering the boast of BLACKSTONE something more
than a mere dead letter. They must, if they
have any true estimation of the nature of civil liberty, enter
with earnestness into the sentiments which will he embodied
in the motion of Mr. SPOONER; and they must remember
that while the Home Secretary declared that he possessed
"no authority to interfere" in the matter, that Lord
DENMAN, when presenting a similar petition to the
House of Peers, on the 6th of April, pronounced
such proceedings as those taken against Mr. TOUL3IIN
SMITII as " contrary to the spirit of the common law." The
matter, in short, demands the most serious consideration of
Parliament, and we hail this motion as the commencement
of some powerful legislative movement whereby the Consti-
tution may be released from so great an anomaly. Albeit,
for the present, the House has refused, by a very narrow
majority, to entertain it; yet, public attention having been
once excited on the subject, it will be brought forward again,
till this disgraceful law shall be erased from the statute
book.

It was a favourite doctrine with a certain portion of
the landed interest and their supporters, especially
those who maintained the necessity and justice of the
corn-laws, that the prosperity and security of this great
country rested almost entirely on the land, and that the
advantages derived from manufactures, trade, and com-
merce, were only very secondary considerations. The
doctrine has rather become unfashionable of -late, but
possibly it may be revived by the RICHMONDS and
BUCKINGHAM when the time comes for pouring out
their wrath against the revolutionary Minister. The
proposition hardly requires refutation, yet, for the in-
formation of those who are often guided by the recorded
opinions of their superiors, and in order to destroy such
an unfounded pretence for exclusive privileges, it would
be desirable that soma of the more liberal Peers should,
during the forthcoming discussion, lay open its fallacy.
It is a fact about which there can be no dispute, that in
all the manufacturing districts the value of land has
risen enormously since England became a great manu-
facturing and trading nation. At an average, possibly,
it has been raised fivefold ; and where towns have been
built, and large factories established, it has risen to an
extent of which it would be difficult to form any acurate
and proportional calculation. The shipping trade,
too, contributes its share in giving additional value to
property in land. But a very few years since, we may
say in the memory of persons still living, Glasgow and
Liverpool, and many other large sea-port towns, were
little better than fishing villages, and so small was the
population that the country around was not more valu-
able than in the most remote and comparatively unin-
habited districts. The communication, too, kept up be-
tween the manufacturing towns themselves and between
them and the sea-ports all added to the value of land.
Villages and towns sprung up from the impulse of
trade and the means of subsistence furnished to so many
thousands. All these of course paid their share of the
taxes, and, together with the vast wealth created among
the landed interest, enabled the Government to build
and maintain fleets absolutely necessary for the security
of the country. Can any man for a moment imagine
that England could have resisted the powerful
fleets of France in the eighteenth century, as she did
after a severe struggle, but for the vast increase of her
trade during the reign of GEORGE II.? The land was
totally unequal to the contest. France possessed a large
territory, she had numerous colonies, too, and conside
rable commerce, but the activity, enterprise, and perse-
verance of English adventurers, traders, and manufac-
turers finally prevailed, and enabled the country, during
the nineteenth century, to meet and defeat an enemy
which no other power on earth could have withstood.
it all, and but for these she would have—been sulklued
and made an integral portion of the great empire of
NAPOLEON. Even at the present day her very
existence depends on her trade and colonies.
The wealth which they furnish, the employ-
ment they give to millions who must have
been starved to death on the land, the enormous re-
venues which they furnish in the shape of Excise and
Customs, and the large population too created by them
alone—all contribute to that power and stability which
renders the small island of Great Britain the most
powerful empire in the world. As an incidental proof of
the blessings of trade, it may be worth while to record
that within the last three or four days twenty Indiamen
have arrived in the river, all laden with valuable cargoes.
These are generally from 1,000 to 1,400 tons burden, and
bring the productions of the rich East in return for those
transmitted from this small territory. It is needless to
point out what increased employment is given by these
arrivals, what amount is paid to the Customs, and what
activity even this casual arrival must infuse into many
departments. If further proof were wanted, we have
only to look to Holland, which began this trading
system long before England. After having established
a few dry spots on which they could secure a footing at
the mouth of a large river, the Dutch at once com-
menced trade, invited the people of all countries to their
shores, laid down as one of their first acts that inter-
course between them and other nations should be free
as the air, and carried out these principles so effectually,
that in process of time they became one of the first
among nations, successfully defied the whole power of
Spain, and even dared to meet at sea, and with marked
success too, the first naval power in existence. Holland
established settlements in the West as well as in the
East long before England. About the year 1600 the
celebrated Dutch East India Company was formed, and
in the course of five or six years afterwards this Com-
pany sent out forty-six vessels, of which forty-three re-
turned in due course laden with rich cargoes. This
success only the more animated the people in their com-
mercial enterprise, and as they were strict in preserving
public faith, and paying regularly every penny of in-
terest on their public debt, Holland was in almost every
respect a prototype of England at the present moment.
Even when her trade has considerably decayed her
honour still remains, and no nation pays with more
scrupulous fidelity its debts. All these are the happy 1
results of trade and commerce.

The state of Poland still continues disturbed. The Weser
Gazette of the Bth inst. states, that the peasants of Radom
have risen against the nobles, and murdered several of them.
According to the Voss Gazette, TYSSOWSKI, the insurgent
chief, and seven insurgent officers, who had been taken,
escaped on the 2d from Neisse. Accounts from Galicia,
published in the Nuremburg Correspondent, state that the
celebrated peasant insurgent chieftain, SZELA, has been
arrested.

The Athens papers of the 30th ult. publish a copy of a
dispatch from Lord ABERDEEN to Sir E. LYONS on the sub-
ject of the Greek loan, which the latter had communicated
to the Greek Government. After alluding to the exposé of
the financial state of the kingdom, recently made by the
Greek Minister of Finance, which, as his Lordship contends,
is a complete contradiction to the idea and practice
of economy promised by M. Coucr-rr, and which completely
justifies the British Government in insisting on a portion of
the revenues of Greece being set aside for the payment of the
interest of the loan, the dispatch concludes by stating that
if the present irregular system continues to be pursued in the
management of the Greek finances, that the British Govern-
ment will feel itself compelled to adopt measures for the
establishment of a state of things which shall prevent the
revenues of the state being dissipated by negligent or cor••
rupt administrators, to the prejudice of English interests.

Madrid papers of the Gth inst. have been received.

-
According to the Eco ck l Comercio, a modification of the
Cabinet is daily expected to take place, as the divisions
among the present members of it continue, and are to all
appearance irreconcilea'ule. The calling together of the
Cortes is the great subject of dispute. MM. Mow and
PIDAL insist ou the necessity of their being called together
immediately, but this is strongly objected to by their col-
leagues, backed by the influence of Queen CinturrniA.
It is generally understood that the QUEEN will visit Santa
Agueda, for the purpose of drinking the waters, before she
proceeds to the seaside.

M. SANATE; the political chief of Madrid, has resigned.
His resignation has been accepted by the Government.
General Don JOSE CONCHA was expected to arrive in
Madrid on the evening of the eth.
The Impartial states that the University of Seville had
been the scene of some disturbances, which, however, had
been speedily suppressed. From the same paper we learn
that NAEVAEZ has at length accepted the embassy to
Naples, and that he will set out for that Court shortly.