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London, England, 1846-12-16 00:00:00

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MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF ENGLAND UNDER THE
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MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF ENGLAND DURING THE
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vois Svc. with Engrayings from Original Paintings. Z. I6s. bound.
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XII.

MEMOIRS OF THE JACOBITES. By MRS. THOMSON.
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XIII.

THE INGOLDSBY LEGENDS ; or, Mirth and Marvels. By
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XIV.

ANECDOTES OF DOGS. By EDWARD JESSE. Esq. Small
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xv.
MEMOIRS of GRIMALDI, THE CLOWN. Edited by " HOZ."
With additions by CHAS. WHITEIIE CD. With Portraits an
12 humorous Illustrations by Cruikshank. 6s. neatly bound. ThitE
Edition.

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DF,CEMBER 16, 1846,

CABINET COUNCIL

A Cabinet Council was appointed to meet at
half-past two o'clock this afternoon, at the Foreign-
office, Downing-street. Lord JOHN RUSSELL arrived
in town this morning to attend the Council. Lord
CLARENDON also arrived from his country seat in

order to be present at the meeting. Most of the
Cabinet Ministers were expected to attend.

Since our observations upon the temporary resig-
nation and speedy reinstatement of the Isturitz Ad•
ministration, a variety of changes have occurred at
Madrid. The present Government could not be in a
more precarious condition. By the tergiversation of
its leader; by its subserviency to the wishes of King
LOUIS PHILIPPE ; by its acquiescence in the odious
marriage of the heir presumptive to the throne ; by
its truckling and unconstitutional policy, the
present Ministry has estranged itself from the
hearts of the Spaniards. Nothing can re-elevate it
to the confidence of the community. It has fallen as
irreparably as ever did the Humpty Dumpty of the
nursery rhyme. Among the non-electoral as well
as among the electoral members of the population it
is abhorred. In the districts to which the franchise
has not yet extended, as well as in those districts
which are entitled to a representative, PIDAL and
Mois, are regarded with detestation. The slight con-
fidence which was originally reposed in the President
and Minister of State has been frittered away by the
readiness with which he connived at the Montpensier
alliance, and the jealousy with which he has been
subsequently regarded is increased by a multitude of
collateral circumstance. Little doubt is now enter-
tained throughout the Peninsula that the days of this
obnoxious Administration are numbered. There is
not, indeed, the slightest probability that a much
longer retention of office will reward Senor ISTURITZ
and his colleagues for their nefarious proceedings
during 1846. Never was a Cabinet composed of
more brittle and fragile materials ; never was an
apparent homogeniety produced from more hetero-
geneous particles ; never did statesmen act more
entirely upon the execrable principle of expediency.
It is satisfaction, however, to reflect that such a
shameful abuse of authority is on the eve of receiv-
ing its invariable recompense. It is some sort of
consolation that the power which the Minis-
ters have endeavoured to retain by so many
atrocious acts, is about to be torn from their
unwilling hands. ISTURITZ and his associates have
aide-I in the destruction of the Spanish nationality,
hut in doing so they have precipitated their own dis-
el.:iture. It is LA FONTAINE'S fable of the rat and
the tree all over again. After a feverish enjoyment
of authority the Afrancesado Administration will be
driven into obscurity ; the members of that Adminis -
tration are pursued by the avenging spirit of the na-
tion ; their NEMESIS is the People.
During the last fortnight intelligence has reached
us at intervals from the Peninsula, clearly indicating
the approach of some Ministerial catastrophe. Every
packet has brought fresh:omens of a portentous cha-
racter. The shadow of coming events was clearly
discernible, and from the outline of that shadow it
has continued to be manifest, during many days,
that the Spanish elections will be the ad-
vent of a new epoch. Those elections
are being carried forward with considerably
enthusiasm, and their results are, in a vast majority
of instances, proving inimical to the existing Govern..
ment. Even in the capital itself, where the Cabinet
is presumed to have its stronghold, and who,
fem, c_-_--uuria tie rigour of the Administra-
tion is shown to be a mere phantom, and that phan-
tom is betraying symptoms of its evanescence. In
the six colleges of the metropolis—in Maravillas, in
Prado, in Lavapies, in Vistillas, in Barquillo, and in
El Rio—the want of influence to the Government
assumes a negative and sometimes a positive appear-
ance. On the evening of the 6th ultimo the majority
of votes in the first district was 81 in favour of the
Progressista ; in the second, a majority of 113 for the
Progressista; in the third, a majority of 83 for the
Progressista; in the fourth, a majority of
merely 13 for the Ministerialist ; in the fifth,
something like a majority of one for the Ministerialist;
in the sixth, a majority of six for Don PEDRO JOSE
PIDAL, the Minister of the Interior. By the dis-
patches of the following day, just transmitted tows, it
is almost a matter of certainty that three Progressista
candidates will ultimately be returned for Madrid.
Accounts from the provinces are of a similar descrip-
tion : the' Ministerialists are being discomfited in
all directions, and the Progressistas are gaining a
marked ascendancy. The consequence of this is ob-
vious : the Cabinet must succumb to the torrent of
popular sentiments. With the tide running against
them, and their oars broken, they must yield to the
current and be drifted away at its pleasure.
If we discovered any signs of the diminution of
Fr,Aich influence in the Peninsula, we should
..t thi, int vit4hle dismissal of Isr c RITZ,
(,1 ".Z. CANEJA, and of their partners
in tho zsdniieistration. The contrary, however, is in-
di-Mutably the case. LOUIS PHILIPPE has forged
the chains of Spain with too many precautions, and
with too much art, to admit of their being shaken off
so readily. They differ from fairy gold only
inasmuch as they are changed in character
after a time, instead of disappearing altogether.
They are transformed from hymeneal chains into poli-
tical chains. The transition is graduated with in-
finite adroitness, but it is perceptible notwithstanding.
With the retirement of the present Ministers the
Afrancesados will not have been subjugated, they
will not have lost one jot of their influence at Court;
the royal couple will still continue to be cbedient to
the directions of the Count DE BRESSON. A number
of incidents have very recently disclosed the prepon-
derance of French influence not merely in the palaces
of Madrid and Lisbon, but in the bosoms of the most
dissimilar personages. The communication dispatched
by the King. Consort to his brother, Don ENRIQUE,
and the reply of the latter thereto, have
shown very significantly the power of per-
suasion possessed by his Gallic MAJESTY. The
cends. attained
Those
by
hntic
INFANTE has fallen from the elevated situation which
aiaboipldateanddgrindependentphriom-
edwho
will have been marvellously disappointed by the sud-
den alteration which has been effectede b the R 1 o.ya logician of the Tuileries. Don Esau
QUE has forfeited
his very enviable popularity for the
Court life, for the luxury of a palace, for the softness
of ermine. He has thrown away an opportunity but
seldom granted to so young a Prince. Re was the
idol of the Spanish population in his banishment; be
has returned to Madrid, and he is a mockery and a de-
rision. Spain must look elsewhere for the means of
extricating herself from her present abasement.
Never was she so degraded ; never were her children
more faithless to that nationality for the preservation
of which their forefathers fought and bled ; never
was there a greater necessity for the advent of an in.
corruptible patriot. There is a whisper abroad that
Nairvaez will be restored to authority on the resig-
nation of ISTURITZ. Unless the nature of that ruth-
less soldier be completely metamorphosed Spain
.ald avoid his domination as a curse.

We have asserted that estates in Ireland are at this
moment as good securities as they have ever been for
the several sums advanced upon them, and that the
greatest inconvenience that any prudent encumbrancer
can be subject to, is the affording of a temporary in-
dulgence to his debtor, and allowing him a prolonged
period for the payment of his interest, -an incon-
venience which is less in amount than that which he
must sustain if he shouldfortikwitikile

The sufficiency of the security must be estimated
by the value of the estate, and the amount that could
be obtained therefrom, when brought for sale into the
market. The latest public sales of property that
have. taken place will fully establish that neither the
present distress of the country, nor the heavy sums
presented at sessions, under the Labour-rate Act, nor
the state of the Money Market, have had any effect
in depreciating the value of real property in Ireland.
Take for example the prices realised for parts of the
estate of the late Earl of BLESSINGTON, which were
sold under the decree of the Court of Chancery,
within the last few weeks. The sale commenced on
the 23d ultimo, and was continued, by adjournment,
until the 7th instant. It would be impossible,
therefore, to contend that every circumstance of the
times that could awaken the fears of purchasers
were not fully known, and maturely considered ; and
yet we find that some of the property in the county
Tyrone produced no less than from 35 to 39 years'
purchase, a rate as high, we venture to say, as almost
any that had ever been obtained in Ireland. Scarcely
any were disposed of at less than from 25 to 27 years'
purchase, and it is said that several of the sales will
be opened by over-biddings. Whatever, therefore,
may be said of the unfortunate condition of •,the
landed proprietors, and the ruin that awaits them, it
is manifest that it has not had the effect of deterring
capitalists from investing their money in the purchase
of land. In order to show that they have not formed
a rash judgment, it will be necessary to inquire into
the circumstances of the people, and the burdens that
may be placed upon real property by reason thereof.
It is now generally admitted on all sides that the
able-bodied poor must not be allowed to become
destitute, but that a sufficient quantity of employment
must be provided to keep them in constant occupa-
tion. The landowners themselves admit the claim of
the labourer to a maintenance out of the lands on
which he was born, and to which he belongs; they
r - CEat. the labour may be expended on the cultivation of
the soil, in works of a beneficial and reproductive
character; they seek that they may be permitted to
direct the exertions for which they must pay into the
most favourable channel.
This is a moderate and _reasonable request,
and there is no doubt that it: will receive the
attentive consideration of the Legislature. Within
a few short weeks Parliament will re- assemble,
and Ireland its affairs and prospects, its exi-
gencies, and the means necessary to overcome its
difficulties—will assuredly form the most prominen
topic for discussion. The measures that will be in-
troduced for the employment of the people will not
be of a similar character to the Labour-rate Act of
last session. We have the assurance of the Noble
Lord at the head of the Ministry that the provisions
of that Act were carried into execution in a spirit
totally different from that which was contemplated
by the Ministry when bringing it in. It was intended
merely as an auxiliary to private exertion—it was
made the chief, if not the only source of occupa-
tion. The embarrassed and badly-disposed occupiers
made it an excuse for withholding the scanty and in-
adequate quantity of employment which they
had been in the habit of • affording, and
permitting their lands to
get , it' possible,
into a still more disgraceful state than usual,
while those who were willing to perform their duties
faithfully, and to provide the quantity of employment
that would fairly be chargeable against them, were
unwilling to bear a double portion of expense, and
to be taxed for the negligence of their neighbours.
They, consequently, in many instances, discontinued
the works they had commenced, and cast their la-
bourers also on the public fund. Such a state of
things could not continue, and the very magnitude of
the evil will, to a certain extent, be valuable, as it
will serve as a beacon light and a guide to the Senate,
pointing out the dangers that are to be avoided in the
new enactments that may be introduced.
The public works that have already taken place,
and which may be carried into execution before the
introduction of the new system, cannot be considered
as injurious or unprofitable, or as entailing any very
severe burden on the land. The amount already ex-
pended may be taken in round terms at half a million,
and if we allow a further expenditure of one million and
a half sterling, which would provide occupation for
400,000 labourers (representing about two millions
of people), for a period of fifteen weeks, by which
time the new measures will be brought into operation,
it will amount to less than one-sixth the rental of the
kingdom, but, as the payment will be spread over a
period of ten years, the stun to be levied will be some-
thing less than threepence-halfpenny in the pound,
or one and a half per cent. per annum on the rental of
the country. There is nothing so very formidable in
this to fright the isle from its propriety, or to in-
duce persons to occasion real danger, in order to
avoid a phantom. It is less than half the charge for
income-tax which many persons in England are ob-
liged to pay, and from which Ireland has been
exempted.
The s alue of those public works that are now
in progress, and the other benefits to the land-
fawners, far exceeding the responsibility to which
they will be subjected, we shall show on a future
occasion.

I We invite the public attention to a letter signed
" VIGILANS," which appears in our columns this day.
The subject is one of paramount importance to a vast
body—to all pos.essed of slender means, who are not
enabled to pay the higher fares demanded by the
railway companies for the conveyance of first and
second-class passengers. A great improvement has
of late years taken place in the accommodation
afforded to the less wealthy portion of the public by
several of the better managed lines, but much remains
still to be done, and we are convinced that the best
interests of the companies themselves will be pro-
moted by due attention being paid to the comforts of
all classes. On the first iutroduCtice of the railway
system an erroneous idea' appears to have prevailed
amongst the directors, that it was necessary, by every
=gm izt their power, to discourege all parties who

We read in a letter from Warsaw of the sth—
" The ukase relative to the dress of the Jews has
produced a great change in their social relations. A
great number of the Jews of this city are much
pleased with the ukase, as it enables them without
dread to assume the modern costume. Many of them
retained the old dress only out of deference to some
members of their families."
A letter from Tarnow (Austrian Galicia), in a
Frankfort paper, states that several bands of armed
peasants have been formed near Mount Feilra, with
the famous SZELA. at their head.
Intelligence has been received at Vienna that M.
DEMBINSKI, chief of the insurgent Poles, who had
disappeared after the defeat of the nobles of Galicia,
near Lissa, has been arrested at Cilly (Carniola).
He had been concealed in Hungary, and by means
of a false passport, was travelling with a lady when
arrested.
The Universal German Gazette mentions a report
that the Duke DE BORDEAUX intends in the spring to
fix his residence at Troves.
The Police Gazette of St. Petersburgh, of the Ist,
contains an order in the name of. the EMPEROR
against the making of explosive cotton by private indi-
viduals, on account of the dangers attending the pre-
paration, and also against all experiments with this
authorities.
new substance, except by special permission from the

We have received the Paris papers of Monday.
They contain long accounts of the elections of the
mayors and assistant-mayors of the different arron-
dissements of Paris, which were then proceeding. On
Monday morning M.
BARBET, the friend of M.
TRIERS, was at the head of the poll. His election
will be considered by the Opposition as a great
triumph.

It appears from the following article in the Porte-
' feuille, that the protest against tho annexation of