The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-11 00:00:00

13, Great Marlborough-street. i GRATZ, the Austrians are beginning to recognise
m IMMEDIATELY, FOLLOWING
PivUwßo LR
K 1 Ss H
a feeble glimmering of hope in the abdication of FEB-
THRE
DINAND 1., and the accession to the throne of the
The Conclusion of KING ARTHUR. By the Author of " The
New zircon." Lord Archduke FRANCIS JOSEPH, a young prince
IL
who may inaugurate his reign by the proclamation of
a free and durable Constitution. With Italy it is
otherwise. There a ferocious murder was extolled as
an act of heroism, and the blood which flowed from
the poignard of the Roman Bravo incarnadined the
whole of the Italian democracy with the guilt of as-
sassination. The cruelties which also occurred among
the insurgent Sicilians have led in like manner to
the bombardment of Messina and to the suc-
cess of the expedition dispatched by the execrable
Government of Naples.
Allowances should of course be made for the infu-
riation of the populace at the crimes and faithlessness
of their oppressors ; but still we maintain that failure
is in the vast majority of instances the deserved result
of the errors of a sanguinary Revolution. How sub-
lime were the magnanimity and moderation of the
French democrats in February, and how noble has
been their recompense ! How atrocious were the
ferocity and ingratitude of the Roman democrats in
November, and what dark clouds of doubt, anxiety,
and trepidation have descended upon their heads as a
fitting retribution !
Although we make an enormous reservation on
account of the treachery of the KING, we must, ne-
vertheless, rejoice over the liberality of sentiment
which characterises the new Prussian Constitution.
And the excellence of many portions of this constitu-
tion we attribute to the fact of the bloodless nature of
the Prussian revolution. In
this manner the popu-
lation of Pruss.a have
acquired—equality before the
law—a system of gratuitous primary education—the
inviolability of home—the total abolition of a censor-
ship upon the press the right of meeting—
the right of petitioning—the freedom of conscience-
-the separation of Church and State—the equality
of military service—the responsibility of Ministers—
trial by jury—and, in addition to these and many
other extraordinary boons of emancipation, the total
and immediate abolition of the last vestiges of feu-
dality. Unhappily the concessions on the part of
FREDERICK WILHELM are accompanied by a condi-
tion which reveals in rather glaring colours the
hypocrisy of his pretended political munificence.
Universal suffrage is to be established merely in a
secondary degree. The electoral liberties are to be
crippled by restrictions. The people are to name
the electors, and the electors ere to name the repre-
sentatives. So that the old dodge of despotism is to
be once more attempted—the subjection of the Na-
tional Parliament to the will of the Court by the
corruption of the electoral colleges. Doubtless the
MONARCH plumes himself upon the adoption of a
device so ingenious that he dreams of again thrusting
forth a furtive hand to the kindred grasp of the
AUTOCRAT. In such an anticipation he is marvel-
lously deceived. Unless the reservation be withdrawn
betimes he himself will feel the weight of popular
indignation. The time for half-measures has gone
by. This is not the age for temporizing. The
foundations of the New Prussian Constitution are
strong and gigantic, but they are embedded in quick-
sand. Let the solid ground of confidence in the
people be chosen by the Sovereign, and FREDERICK
WILHELM IV. may then have visions of glory and
gratitude.

LUCILLE BELMONT. A Novel. 3 vols.

MEMOIRS and CORRESPONDENCE of Sir ROBERT MURRAY
KEITH, K. 8., Minister Plenipotentiary at the Courts of Dresden,
Copenhagen, and Vienna, from 1769 to 1793. Edited by Mrs. Gil-
lespie Smyth. 2 vols. post Bvo.

The MIDNIGHT SUN. A Pilgrimage. By Fredrika Bremer,
Translated from the Unpublished Original, By Mary Howitt. 1 vol.
poet Svo.

V.
The OLD JUDGE ; or, Life in a Colony. By the Author 01
" Saw Slick, the Cloclunaker," &c, 2 vols. post Svo.

VI.
The CASTLEREAGH LETTERS and DISPATCHES. 'Vols. 3
and 4. Concluding the Irish Rebellion aad Union.
VII.
ANECDOTES of the ARISTOCRACY, and EPISODES in AN-
CESTRAL STORY. By J. Bernard Burke, Esq. Author of " The
Histery of the Landed Gentry," " The Peerage and Baronetage,"
&e. 2 vols. post Svc..

The letter of Mr. CRAWSHAT, the eminent iron-
master, to which we directed the public attention on
Thursday last, has elicited an explanation which, al-
though not purporting to be " official," or put for-
ward by the directors of the Bank of England as an
answer to the charge preferred, bears inherent evi-
dence of the quarter whence it has emanated. Its
parentage cannot for a moment be doubted. The
author, who assumes the signature of "Verna,"
declares that "he writes simply in the capa-
city of one personally acquainted with facts,
at issue." It is manifest, however, that he might if
he pleased have written ex cathedra, and appended a
signature to the document, which would at once have
established his authority, and proved that he had
access to every possible source of information. We
may, therefore, regard the statement as authentic in
every particular, and consider how far the Bank is
justified by the facts disclosed, for its departure from
the functions for which it was originally constituted,
and for the proper discharge of which it was endowed
with so many valuable and exclusive privileges.
The fact of the trading is not denied—it is dis-
tinctly admitted that " the works are at present car-
ried on by the Bank of England as mortgagees." In
other words, the Bank in every respect acts as an
ironmaster, manufacturing iron and disposing of it
for the best price that can be obtained
in the market. It has entered into the iron trade, and
is enabled to make all its gigantic resources available
in the new business in which it has embarked its
capital. Henceforward it will not be its policy to
afford monetary accommodation to rivals in trade,
however undoubted their solvency, or unquestion-
able their means of payment. Every note presented
for discount must be subjected to a double scrutiny.
It will not be sufficient to ascertain that it is founded
on a legitimate commercial transaction, that• no rea-
sonable doubt exists that it will be duly honoured
at maturity. Another question will naturally arise
that must be considered before the proceeds thereof
are carried to the account of the party by whom it is
tendered. How far shall we strengthen the hands of
our opponents ? How far shall we enable them to
carry cn their works, and thus keep up a competition
that must diminish our profits as ironmasters ? It is
needless to speculate upon the result, should the con-
tingency to which we have adverted arise. It is one
by no means improbable, and the directors should
either withhold the facilities to which other parties
had an unquestionable claim, or sacrifice their own
interests to a conscientious discharge of their public
duties.

It appears that a large advance was made by the
Bank en the security of these works during the panic
of last autumn. The community in general have no
right to enter into the reasons, or question the policy
by which the directors were influenced in complying
with the application that had been made. It was of
course desirable that a large company should
be saved from the unpleasant necessity of
stopping payment, and of discharging the numerous
workmen dependent on them for employment. But,
unhappily, such cases are of frequent occurrence. It
is not is the iron trade alone that payments have
been suspended, and many families plunged into the
deepest distress, from being suddenly deprived of
their ordinary employment. If the parties were sol-
vent, if their difficulties had been occasioned by
temporary causes, the undue tightness of the money
market preventing them from obtaining reason-
able accommodation, a strong claim would have
been established, with which the directors of
the Bank should have complied, so far as was
in their power, in justice to their other customers.

But they should have disposed of the question upon
" banking" principles, and not have sanctioned the

advance unless there was a reasonable prospect of its
repayment within a reasonable time ; and if that was
the case they should have permitted the concern to
have remained in the hands, and under the
control of its former managers. Other in-
fluences, however, might have been brought
into operation. It is just possible that the
transaction might have been entered into, and the
mortgage accepted, for the purpose of covering large
and indiscreet advances previously made, and thus
sheltering the directors of the Bank from the odium
and loss that might have been sustained if they had
pursued a more stringent course. It is at present
sufficient to say that the advance was sanctioned to the
amount of several hundred thousand pounds, and that
it does nost, aapcpcoeardritng to have
the showing of h
beenaovweryru
pdetnteinßveasntk-
chmeanmt' a
pion, but three courses remained open to the
director!, viz., to sell the works at once—to hold
them for sale after stopping them—or to keep them
in action till a buyer could be found."

The first course, " Verax " says, " was impossible,
from proceedings in equity disputing the title to
them; to stop them would have involved a large
destruction of property, and, what was of far
greater consideration, it involved depriving of em-

ployment a town full of people void of other resource.
The third course was therefore adopted, of keeping
them on a reduced scale in action until disposed of."

This, then, is the justification relied on by the direc-
tors. They made their advance to parties in insol-
vent circumstances, from whom they could have had