The Sun.
London, England, 1848-07-03 00:00:00

,~ i~l"~Cfl~l~'J~~ ~AS9~

LONDON, MONDAY, JULY 3, 1848.

Infamous as the 23d of June will for ever be in
French history, the 23d of February will for ever,
also, be most memorable and most glorious in her re-
publican annals. England, in like manner, has re-
cently added a memorable and glorious date to her
calendar. If France has her 23d of February, Eng-
land has her 10th of April, a day which is assuredly
one of the most majestic and momentous in our na:-
tional records. Those who regard the 10th of April
merely as a rather dull affair, beginning with a pro.
menade of special constables, proceeding with the
poltroonery of the physical-force Chartists,
and ending with the presentation of an obscene peti-
tion to the House of Commons by Mr. FEARGUS
O'CONNOR, have no faculty for the appreciation of
what is truly great, solemn, and affecting in the
bearing of a mighty people, the people of this Eng-
N EN\ Sl' \ It' -land of ours-
- " This precious stone set in the silver sea!"
The :10th of April was a day both memorable and
glorious, because it revealed to the whole world the
solidity of the foundation 3 of our Constitution, those
foundations being the love, the reverence, and the

e••

putriotism of the population of Great Britain.
Diametrically opposed to each other both in
political and religious opinions, the inhabi-
tants of these islands most unquestionably
are—yet in that one sentiment, the sentiment
of civism, they are bound together as the rods
of the symbolic fasces are bound together by a
ligature, rendering the axe of the law both strong and
indestructible. Tories, Conservatives, Whigs, Radi-
cals, Liberals, Reformers, Protectionists, Free-traders,
Agriculturists, Manufacturers, Protestants, Roman
Catholics, Unitarians, Dissenters, Churchmen, shop-
keeper, noble, clerk, gentleman, artizan, the
wealthiest and the poorest, the drudge and
the ennuye, the employer and the employed
—all were ONE, body and soul, in their de-
votion to their country, in their loyalty to the
SOVEREIGN who is the representive of their greatness,
in their devotion to the Constitution which is the
guarantee of their nationality, their freedom, and
their prosperity. This consolatory and most memo-
rable fact was revealed by the 10th of April. On
that day all party feuds were forgotten, the squabble&
of faction were thrown aside, differences which had
appeared most deadly only a moment before were
postponed, if they were not actually cast for ever
into oblivion, and all classes stood up together, simul-
taneously, cheerfully, and most resolutely, hand in
hand, shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart, the cham-
pions and defenders of Peace, Law, and Order. That
can never be forgotten. Posterity will remember
that while in 1848 there was this symbol in one
country—

FRANCE,
LIBERTY—EQUALITY—FRATERNITY ;
there was at the same time this symbol in the other
country—

ENGLAND,
PEACE-LAW- ORDER.

Now that this great demonstration has proved
the stability of the British Constitution, we can
turn with a sense of security to the contem-
plation of the political situation, the political
wants, and .the political capabilities of the different
nations of the European Continent. And here
we are materially assisted by the close reason-
ing, the lucid narrative, and the searching inquiries
which have just been published from the manuscripts
of the honourable and distinguished Member for the
city of Glasgow. Mr. MACGREGOR has done yeomen's
service to the popular cause in many other periods of
his career, but never more visibly so than in this
very period which has witnessed the ap-
pearance of his very remarkable pamphlet
on the Progress of Civilization and the Contrast
of the present position (the political position that
is to say) of Europe and America.* The pamphlet is
a work of the soundest logic, and will be inva-
luable to the future historian of England. It is
written clearly, boldly, and directly to the
point. There is no sham in it—no sophism—no
subterfuges of sentiment—or prevarications of prin-
ciple. The great question of the age is fairly put—and
we cannot but think that Mr. MACGREGOR has gone
a great way towards its solution. The argument (we
call it argument advisedly rather than narrative)
—is divided in four parts : first, the
" progress of civilization," secondly the " epochs of
civilization," thirdly " the effects of the American
and first French Revolutions," and fourthly, the
" modern condition of Europe and America." To
give at once, however, some more distinct and accu-
rate idea of the work, not only in regard to its
tendency, but also in reference to its very manner—
here is the preface :
"In Germany, in the Austrian Empire, in France,
and in the Italian, and others of the Continental States
of Europe, we have during the first few months of the
year 1848, beheld the commencement of the beginning
of the effects, resulting from the folly of those rulers,
who seem to have been incapable of being instructed by
History.
" When Napoleon was departing for Elba, he said in
bitterness of spirit Ce nest pas la Coalition qui ma de-
trOne—ce sont les idees liberales.' It was not a Confedera-
tion of the States of Europe that drove the mighty con-
queror from the throne. It was the :power of those
liberal ideas which he had scorned to adopt. Alluding
to his re-establishing himself in power he said 'Je ne
puis pas me Tetablir, choque les peuples.' He could
not possibly re-establish himself. He had insulted all
the people. He had outraged the public opinion of all
nations. He afterwards uttered an expression which
might serve for his epitaph peche contre les ideas
liberales et je meurs.' I sinned,' said he, ' against liberal
ideas, and I have perished.'
" Le Temps avance au milieu des orages, vouloir, ar-
reter son impduosite, ce serait un vain effort;' meaning,
that public liberty could not be arrested in its progress.
Such was the opinion of Prince de Metternich about
thirty years ago, as contained in a dispatch to Baron
von Berstett. t would have been fortunate if the em-
peror had profited by the sagacity of his minister.
Those sovereigns and ministers who seem to have re-
tained their power after the events of February, 1848,
by yielding, though perhaps too late, to the power of
liberal ideas, and those who have been expelled from
their country by the stern laws of necessity, and by the
sovereignty of public opinion, are examples which may
well stand forth as a warning to all others; especially to
all those who are not yet guided by that forecast of the
future, which ought to convince them, that the old order
of things is not compatible with that indomitable march
of civilisation, and that rapid development of intellectual
power, which will not long submit to any except to an
equitable distribution of the public burdens, and a just
share of all civil and political rights.
" The spirit of the age would not, even in Russia, maw
tolerate the Czar Peter, were he to come forth with axe
in hand, chopping off the heads of his soldiers. ' Quid
leges sine moribus.'
" May we in the United Kingdom profit, in time, by
the experience of the past, as well as by the aspects of
the present. Let us reflect upon cause and effect in
studying the history of events, and we shall, with as
conclusive a certainty as that of a mathematical corollary,
be assured, that of all the evil causes which produce dis-
astrous effects, none have ever been, or ever can be,
more fatal than that absence of sagacity and judgment,
in legislation and in government, which disregards pub-
lic opinion. We mean that public opinion which is
created, not by mere sudden incidents of fear or hope,
but, by the indomitable progress of civilization, and the
sound diffusion of all useful knowledge—including
moral and political science. For upon this disregard to
intelligent public opinion, and upon the shallows of
arrogated, however antiquated, historical rights, and of
the prestige of right of any one class of the exclusive
few to power, irrespective of the commonweal of the
many, have been wrecked almost every government,
and every ruler, and minister, who have been discom-
fited—who have perished.
"It will, indeed, be wise for those who consider
themselves statesmen among ourselves, if they will
study history as the Egeria which teaches wisdom by
experience. If they do not—their power will irretriev-
ably vanish before the intelligence and wisdom of the age.
"At no period of the history of this country, has
the condition of the United Kingdom question'
claimed more attentive and more serious consideration
than it does at this very time.
" Taking the British empire with the magnitude and
complication of its moral, political, and material inte-
rests, and the enormity of its taxation and expenditure,
that Minister has but feeble claims to the ability of a
wise administrator—little of the magnanimous patriot—
and less of the sagacious statesman, ,who does not rise
above the prejudices of his education, and the preten-
sions of his class, when great events have changed the
political aspect of the empires and states of Europe—
when the people of these kingdoms are harassed by
unequal, and burdensome, taxes—and when the real dan-
gers of the state arise—not from without, but, from any
further procrastination of a thorough reform in the sys-
tem of taxation, and a real, and most assuredly practical,
economy in the public expenditure.
" In making the above observations, and in the course
of, the following sketches, we are anxious that it should
be understood that oar remarks and comments are upon
the proceedings, omissions, and acts of rulers, adminis-
trators, and statesmen, as such ; without any invidious
feeling or reference to their personal characters : for we
hold it as a maxim, that it, is a political immorality,
in a public writer or speaker, to use the vile weapons of
abusive personalities. We also believe that there is no
truer index to the absence of common sense, practical
wisdom, and sound judgment—no sign more certain of
puerility of mind, and of the utter want of magnanimity
of sentiment, than that of personal virulence, either artis-
tically, satirically, or invidiously, which is too often too
lengthily exhibited by public writers and speakers; and
even within the walls of Parliament, where no man
should ever enter except for the discharge of that so-
lemn and responsible duty which by the fact of his
election he owes to the people, and to the, country.

Having by this prologue afforded his reader some
tolerable conception of his political sentiments as to
the nature of the requirements of the present
century, Mr. MACGREGOR plunges at once into the
consideration of those abyssmal problems which are
now convulsing the nations of the civilized globe.
After insisting upon the great truth that "the
History of Navigation and Commerce is the History
of Civilization," the representative of Glasgow main-
tains with RAT AL, that " the nations who have
civilized all the others have been commercial." In
illustration of the truth of this assertion he
traces civilization successively through—Tyre and
Sidon, Carthage, Spain, Constantinople, the
Hanseatic towns, the Venetians, the Genoese,
the Pisans, the Florentines, and so downwards to

* " Sketches of the Progress of Civilization and Public
Liberty ; with a view of the Political Condition of
Europe and America in 1548." By John Macgregor,
M.P., Bvo., pp. 72. Whittaker & Co., London, 1848.

our own generation. Subsequently he proceeds from
the data accumulated by the past, to the necessities
experienced by the present, and to the hopes indulged
in as to the future. Solicitous as we are to enter at

- -
once and systematically into the examination of the
reasoning of Mr. MACGREGOR upon these themes
so vital to our national existence, we must
nevertheless restrict ouselves to one other quotation.
It is the last chapter of the fourth section of the
pamphlet, being remarks on the financial condition
of Great Britain. Those who bear in recollection
the larger work of the same author, " The Progress
of America from the Discovery by Columbus to the
year 1847," will peruse with the most profound
attention the following observations from the pen of
a political economist so peculiarly reflective as Mr.
MACGREGOR. He says—
" The question of the most immediate and of the
most pressing consideration, that which of all others in-
volves, under our artificial system of public and private
wealth, the most imminent dangers to the state, is that
of the heavy and unequal burdens, and the increased
expenditure during a period of peace with all the world.
"The history of the British revenue, expenditure,
and debt, though dry in its materials, and tedious and
repulsive in its details, has only been consecutively
written down to the beginning of the present century.
We cannot now enter into minute details; we are neces-
sarily compelled to be brief. We hold it as the first
great principle of moral, political, and public integrity,
to maintain the national credit; we consider that the
minister who would consent to any measure which
would endanger that credit, as guilty of the greatest ad-
ministrative and public immorality. We consider it at
the same time an immoral and public dereliction of
duty to shrink from a searching and thorough investi-
gation of the expenditure, in order to ascertain how far
that expenditure can be reduced, and therefore enable
him to reduce the amount, and render equitable the im-
position of, the public taxation.
"It is useless for us now to advert to the great
public debt which constitutes our financial nightmare.
It was chiefly borrowed to maintain unnecessary wars—
we have consented as a nation to its expenditure; and,
under such circumstances does our accountability now
stand, that we must, or be eternally dishonoured, pay
the interest of the debt; which in fact, by changing
hands, and becoming a mere fund for trusts, and other
safety investments, has assumed, in every practical
sense, the character of a great national savings' bank.
" The interest, therefore, of this debt constitutes a
yearly public burden of nearly 29,000,0001. sterling,
which England and Scotland (for Ireland pays none of
it) must submit to pay. It can only be diminished by
reducing the interest, when the interest of money is
lower than the interest of the funds, or by paying off a
part of the capital. We see little prospect of the latter,
nor would it be just for the present generation to tax
itself highly for the benefit of posterity. The reverse
has been the conduct of our progenitors. The expen-
diture may, however, be greatly reduced.
" Ist. By strict economy in the estimates and miscel-
laneous expenditure—not by miserable reductions of the
salaries of clerks, &c.
2d. By an equal adjustment of all moneys corruptly
granted as perpetual pensions, Sm.
" Bd. By the abolition of all useless offices.
" 4th. By the abolition of all sinecures whatever.
" sth. By relieving the revenues of England and
Scotland of the payment of the great deficiency between
the Irish revenue and the expenditure of Ireland.
" The next great financial reform, and one that will
be forced upon Parliament, is a thoroughly equitable sys-
tem of taxation.
" The neglect of financial reform, we consider as the
most formidable of all dangers to all classes—all credit,
the value of all property, real or otherwise, depends for
safety on the maintenance of the public credit. Failing
to provide the revenue to pay the quarterly dividends,
would constitute a national bankruptcy.
" It requires but little inquiry to be convinced that
the calamity of a stoppage of the payment of the divi.
dends, or interest of the national debt would break up
every monetary and commercial engagement in the
United Kingdom. The rights of property, whether in
lands or moveables would be no longer sacred. Bank
stock, Indian stock, and all other stock, together with
private banks and private credit would all be involved in
the general calamity of a national failure. The social
calamity would be terrific.
" Take a contingent example.
" In the city of London and other large towns, few
families keep more ready money in their houses than
may be sufficient for the week's expense ; few have
more than the day's provision in their larders. As pri-
vate credit would fall with public credit, the grazier
could not trust the butcher, nor the latter the families
he supplied. The farmer would not trust the corn-
dealer, nor the latter the miller, nor the miller the baker,
consequently, the latter must cease to supply his usual
customers. So on with all other trades and credits.
Therefore at whatever amount of taxation, the national
credit of England must and will be maintained.
" Therefore the general weal of the empire, in regard
to employment, to agriculture, to trade, manufactures,
navigation, and- revenue, demands a most searching in-
quiry into the expenditure, a most equitable revision of
taxation, and ought to be taken up by Parliament, with-
out reference to party or politics, but with the earnest
honest purpose of legislating for the solid and perma-
nent good and safety of our common country.
" The foregoing chapters have been written delibe-
rately, on mature consideration ; free from party, or
personal feelings, and with the earnest desire to draw
the attention of our rulers, whoever they be, of our
Parliament, and of all our fellow-men, in these king-
doms, to the lessons afforded us by the wisdom or folly
of foreign countries—to the great blessings and advan-
tages which we enjoy—to the dangers which menace
our happiness and security—and to those plain, tempe-
rate, yet efficient remedial measures, which we believe
to be practical, and which in reforming will not destroy,
or weaken—but which will uphold and strengthen the
palladiums of our civil, religious, and political liberties.
On another occasion we shall comment upon the
direct tendency of the philosophy by which the
whole of this remarkable pamphlet is inspired ; and
we shall then be afforded an opportunity of developing
still further our opinion as to the correctness of its
deductions.

An extraordinary press of matter this day alone
prevents us from publishing a full and most accurate
report of the very able, and highly important judg-
ment of Mr. Commissioner LAW, in re JAMES
HENRY lIANcE, delivered on Friday last, a short
report of which has already appeared in our columns.
The question involved in this case was whether the
debts of a former insolvency should be inserted in a
schedule filed under the 7 and 8 Vic., c. 116 ; and
as a trader owing debts amounting to more than
3001., cannot present a petition for protection from
process under this Act, it was of great importance
that the point should he satisfactorily decided. In
many cases where a trader was compelled to insert
in his schedule his former debts, it had the effect of
increasing the entire amount beyond 3001,,
and consequently of preventing him from ob-
taining the benefit of that salutary Act. The
Commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy
(with the exception of the late Sir CHARLES
Wir.mAats), held that the debts under a former
insolvency should be inserted in a subsequent sche-
dule. Sir CHARLES WILLIAMS, however, said " That
he did not believe it could be intended, that because
a tradesman struggling with difficulties was twice
unfortunate, that he was therefore necessarily to go
to prison a second time, which he must do if con-
sidered disentitled to relief under the new Act, on
account of former liabilities, from which he
had been declared discharged." On the transfer
of the jurisdiction under the 5 and 6 Vic., c. 116,
and 7 and 8 Vic., c. 96, from the Commissioners of
Bankruptcy to the Commissioners of the Insolvent
Debtors' Court, many petitions were dismissed by the
Chief Commissioner and Commissioners HARRIS and
Putr.mrs, in consequence of not having the debts of
former insolvencies inserted. In re " Bonn," heard
before the Chief Commissioner, debts which had
been incurred twenty-five years previously, were
held to deprive the insolvent of the right of
petitioning. In other cases of equal hardship
petitions have been dismissed on the same grounds
Mr. JAGOE, in his able and practical work on.
insolvency, questions the soundness of those decisions,
and upholds that of Sir CHARLES WILLIAMS. And
on looking through the eases we cannot see how any
other conclusion could be come to, for if debts long
since discharged by the statute were to be inserted
in a schedule, giving a right to the owners of such
debts to claim dividends, it would upset the decision
in " Barton v. Tattersall," (the soundness of which
has never been questioned), which decided that the
creditors of a former insolvency cannot claim property
vested in the assignee of a subsequent insolvency
unless there was a surplus property after satisfying
the last contracted debts. It is rather strange that
the Chief Commissioner of the Insolvent Debtors'
Court grounded his decision on the case of " Jellis v.
Mountford," by which a schedule :creditor was per-
mitted to issue a commission of bankruptcy, and to
use the amount inserted in the schedule as his peti-
tioning debt; he also stated that he did not wish
to disturb the decision of the Commissioners of Bank-
ruptcy, and would follow the precedents established
by them. This is one of the many cases in which
precedent misleads, for if the first case should be im-
properly decided, those which follow must be equally

* By Sir John Sinclair, whose history of the revenue
down to 1805, is a most valuable work, though it
abounds with fallacious opinions. Don Paul Prebrer, a
Spanish gentleman, wrote, in his own language, an his-
torical but incomplete sketch of the British revenue
down to a latter period. It wai translated! into French,
and I believe into English, but it attracted little Litton-
.