The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-26 00:00:00

niing

LONDON, TUESDAY, MAY 26, 1846.

According to all anticipation the last monopolist battle
has commenced, the Peers have launched boldly into a con-
sideration of the great measures of commercial change now
awaiting their Lordships' decision, but, above all, the acknow-
ledged champion of the protectionist party in the Upper
House has delivered his philippic against any alteration
in our mercantile code. We know not whether to ad-
mire most the ability or the audacity evinced
by Lord STANLEY in the elaborate and monster harangue
uttered by him overnight; yet was it melancholy to behold
so much talent squandered upon a system, the foundations of
which are foolishness, and the existence of which is nothing
less than the perpetuation of injustice. The daring of Lord
STANLEY'S address consisted in the fact of a nobleman who
had so recently been a member of the Cabinet Council presum-
ing to adduce to that Right honourable assembly
arguments, the refutation of which has long been the pastime
of the merest tyro of political econom3, arguments as clearly
untenable and obsolete as they are in every essential particu-
lar irrelevant to the circumstances of the matter under dis-
cussion. The ex-Secretary for the Colonies might as lieve
have been in a subterranean trance (like the dervise in the
"Arabian Nights' Entertainments") during the last sixteen
years for all the proportional advancement he has made with
the advancement of his age during that interval. He protests
against an innovation like the one propounded by the Prime
Minister, and he enforces his protestation by—what ? By a
resort to arguments applicable to the present condition of the
twohemispheres ? By keeping in recollection the habitual
poverty of thousands upon thousands? By viewing
the relative position of commerce as it is now-a-days, and
the consequences which must inevitably result from the
mutual mercantile dependence of nations upon each other?
Not at all. He battles against the sledge-hammer facts of
our free-trade orators with a handful of cobwebs; he reverts
to past generations for his authorities, quotes the wisdom of anti-
quity for our guidance in 1846, and puts forward the preamble tq
a Bill passed during the reign of EDWARD IV. as a decisive
reason why the Government of Vic-rot:IA I. should be
actuated by similar principles. The whole gist of the Noble
Lord's harangue, the whole secret of his adherence to a
protective policy, and of his abhorrence of any contrary
system is summed up in his reverence for our ancestors, and bis
partiality for imitation. Because the agricultural interests were
hampered by a nominal protection many centuries ago; be-
cause the Government of this country, and that country, and
the other country have been fatuous and imbecile enough to
bind themselves in similar fetters; because an iniquitous
impost has been persisted in during successive ages, until it
has become more truly than FALSTAFF—

" An aged vice, a grey iniquity"—
it must, as a matter of necessit3 , continue in the same
old-fashioned course without modification in any single par-
ticnlar. In the name of logic and of common sense, are
such reasons valid, are they admissible, are they philoso-
phical? As well might we retain the old be-rutted
and be-mudded bridle-paths of our progenitors as
a medium of transit, in preference to macadamised
highways and chemins defers. As well, like-
wise, might we endeavour to render oil-lamps im-
mortal after the introduction of coal-gas. When telescopes
were first invented it was discovered by celestial observa-
tions that this globe was part of a system revolving
round the sun. GALILEO declared the truth of the Coper-
nican theory; the Aristotelians denied his declara-
tion. Precisely, with a like arrogance, do the opponents
of the proposed measure boldly contradict facts with mere
words; they act upon the hypothesis that the belief of all
past times is a decisive rebuttal even of ocular: demon •
strati on to the contrary. " ARISTOTLE says so-and-
so, in page so-and-so, therefore the earth is sta-
tionary, and the heavenly bodies move round it," said
the Italian peripatetics. " HusicissoN says so-and-
so, in page so-and-so, therefore protection is both advisable
and beneficial," say the English monopolists. Not all the
unanswerable facts of the free-traders, not all the telescopic
revelations of the Copernicans, could convince either to the
contrary. Successful experiments repeated again and again
are altogetherunworthy of consideration, though the written
opinions of ARISTOTLE and HusicissoN are infallible. As
to Lord STANLEY calling the adoption of the proposed mea-
sure an experiment, it is a glaring and impudent fallacy.
Those experiments have been tried repeatedly, the principle
is now altogether established. Has not the commercial
career of Holland been an experiment of free trade ? Were not
the reduced tariffs, introduced by the Ministry of which Lord
STANLEY was himself a member, so many free-trade experi-
ments ? And have not these same experiments been so far
successful as to render the mercantile position of Holland most
prosperous, and to cause in Great Britain the total
conversion of our most eminent statesmen ? As-
suredly, then, Lord STANLEY is somewhat behind time.
in saying, " Fiat experimentum in corpore parve ;" that re-
commendation has been followed long since, and the conclu-
sion at which the experimentalists have arrived is that free
trade is requisite in justice, and is necessary for our prospe-
rity. Obsolete and flimsy, however, as are the arguments
adduced by Lord STANLEY, his Lordship has displayed in
their utterance much ingenuity and much rashness.

The Augsburgh Gazette publishes a letter from a correspondent
in Circassia, which states that the news of the insurrection at Cra-
cow had produced a great impression among the soldiers of the
Caucasus, many of whom had served as officers in the Polish Na-
tional Army in 1841. and had been forced by Russia to serve in
the army of the Caucasus as privates. Count WORONZOW was very
uneasy on the subject, until the intelligence arrived that the insur-
rection had been suppressed ; for had the insurrection spread to the
banks of the Vistula, its effects would have been manifested In the
army of the Caucasus. Several Poles had deserted and joined the
Circassian tribes.

Madrid papers of the 18th inst. have arrived. Their contents
are unimportant. CHRISTINA still continues her intrigues to bring
anout the Trapani marriage, which it would appear is as opposed
to the personal wishes of the Queen ICABELLA as it is to the desires
and interests of her subjects. Queen ISARELLA herself is favourably
disposed towards the suit of Don ENRIQUE, her cousin, now in
exile at Bayonne.

MADRID BOLSA, MAY 18.—The Three and Five per Cents. were
not quoted at the Bourse, but the first privately sold at 321/2 %
for cash. The shares of the Bank of San Fernando were done at
370, and those of Isabella at 200.

We have received the Paris papers of Sunday.
A motion was brought forward on Saturday in the Chamber of
Deputies, the object of which was to ensure the keeping up of relays
of post • horses in the neighbourhood of railways by levying a small
tax for the purpose on railway passengers. On the assurance of
the Minister of Finance that the question was under the considera-
tion of the Government, the motion was withdrawn.
It is expected that the Chamber of Deputies will rise on the 10th
of June.

According to the Patrie, there will be a new creation of Peers
at the end of the session, which will include the following persons :
—Marshal Bugeaud, General Jacqueminot, General Count de Mey-
nadier, Count Cornudet, Baton Duprat, Count Emm. de Las
Cases, M. Barbet, M. Calmin (Director-General of Registration
Dues), M. Chasles, M. Debelleyme (President of the Tribunal of
the Premiere Instance of the Seine), M. Harle, and M. A. Vigier.
The KING returned to Neuilly, from Dreux, on Saturday.
Five of the Members of the Committee of Peers on the Western
Railroad have declared in favour of the project. Two only voted
for its adjournment.
The Committee of the Chamber of Deputies on the Bordeaux
and Bayonne Railway Bill have reported in favour of the grant of
16,000,000 f. demanded by the Government to construct certain
portions of the works at the public expense, and have decided that
it shall pass through the upper country, instead of the valleys.

At Elbeuf a riotous meb assembled on the 23d, in consequence
of the setting up a machine to card wool, and destroyed sevcrai ma.
chines and looms. 300 soldiers were sent off from nuuen by rail-
road to repress the riot. _ _

The Three per Cents. were done at Turtoni's on Sunday at 84f. 10e.

PROMumS OF SHARES.

LYONS, MAY 22.—Marseilles and Avignon, 906 f. 25c. ; Paris and
Orleans, 1,240 f.; Vierzon, 647 f. 50c.; Northern, 752 f. 50c.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, MAY 25.
Boulogne and Amiens, 11%—Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Cette
(Mackenzie), 1% —Ditto (Espeleta), —Central of Spain, 1%—
Dutch Rhenish, 7% —East Indian, I—Lyons and Avignon, 1%
Namur and Liege, 4—Orleans and Bordeaux, 102—Paris and Lyons
Constituted, 6%—Paris and Strasbourg Constituted, s,A—Rouen and
Havre, 29% —Tours and Nantes Constituted, s%—West Flanders, 2.

THE ACCOUCHEMENT OF HER

MAJESTY.
The following bulletin of the Queen's health was issued
this morning :
"Buckingham Palace, May 26, 1846.
" Nine o'clock A.M.
" The Queen has passed an excellent night.
" Her Majesty and the Infant Princess are going on
favourably.
(Signed)
" JAMES CLABKE, M.D.
"CHARL ES LOCOCK, M.D.
"ROBERT FERGUSON, M.D."

ROYAL ARTILLERY, WOOLWICH, MAY 25.—The de-
tachment of Royal Artillery under the command of Captain Black-
wood attended at the carriage department of the Royal Arsenal on
Friday and Saturday last to receive instructions In the mode of car-
rying the light 6-pounder guns, 3-pounder gluts, four and two sth-
Inch howitzer, and 51/2-inch mortar, which they are to take with
them to the Hudson slay Company's territory. The guns are to be
Carried on the shoulders of eight or sixteen mexi to each gun, ac-
cording to their weight or the difficulties of the ground, and, when
possible, will he drawn upon two wheels with a very short axle. The
men selected for the duty were medically examined to-day, and the
Board of Ordnance has very considerately ordered that they shall be
allowed to draw an extra sum for winter c!othiog, as is usual with
troops serving in Canada. The guns and stores which thej, are to
take with them are all orderer' to be ready by Thursday next. The
returns front the officers on recrult:ng service fot the last week are
greater in number of recruits titan during any -week since the com-
mencement of the new regulations. It is contemplated, on the re-
moval of the Royal Marines from the west -Amin+ of the Artillery
Barracks, to tal:e off the roofs of the buildings, and raise them ano-
ther story, to afford greater accommodation for the increase of men
to this branch of the service.
MR. W. S. O'BRIEN AND THE LONDON REPEALERs.—
Yesterday morning a deputation from the repeaters of London waited
to
upon Mr. NV. S. O'Brien, to present him an a(fidtr he evL,
obtain a promise to attend a public meeting o
to be held at Covent-garden Theatre immediftteAY after his libera-
1-UM, to which the Ikon.fatnaernan nrceel. onatlnodn repeaters,

RAIL WAY COMMIT UEES.
(THIS DAY.)

HOUSE OF LORDS.
GROUP I.

LONDON AND YORE (MATE= courc-

TIES).

The Committee met again this day at eleven o'clock ; the Earl of
Lovelace, chairman.
Henry Hawkes, Esq., a landowner at Spalding, was called, and
examined by Mr. Sergeant JONES, on behalf of the Eastern Counties
Railway. The witness Kid the Eastern Counties line would be of
great advantage to the landowners in his pa, tof the country. The
London station of that line was more favourable than that of the
London and York. Had had conversations with the people of his
district and they were in favour of the Eastern Counties scheme.
_ . .

By Lord VIN:IAN—Had not attended a public meeting to obtain
that opinion of the residents of Spalding ; had merely gathered It in
conversation.

The witness was briefly cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant ICING-
LAKE—One reason for his preferring the Eastern Counties was that
there were already 46 miles of the line made, and this would make
the whole line much sooner for the service of the traders than that
of the London and York. The latter line would certainly make the
distance between London and Spalding shorter by twelve miles.