The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-07 00:00:00

051 tit

LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1846.

Although the principal glory of this session will
be attributed to the gigantic reformations in the com-
mercial code realised by the PEEL Ministry, and al-
though the succeeding Administration will have ex-
isted only during the mere residue', of the session, a
share of its glory will nevertheless be associated with
the RUSSELL Cabinet—the glory of consummating the
triumph of free trade. A very brief period has
elapsed since our new legislators came into office,
and yet, notwithstanding the multiplicity of embar-
rassments by which they were threatened, the Bill in-
troduced under their auspices for the equalisation of
the sugar duties has already passed through Com-
mittee in the Commons. The hidden rocks, which
some amongst the enemies to monopoly had
dreaded, have all melted away ; nothing re-
mains but smooth water and a fair wind.
Accelerated by the despondency of the spirit of mono •
poly, the transition of the English policy towards a

liberal series of mercantile enactments is most pro-
pitious. Nothing now remains to be done to
transfer the Ministerial measure from the tables of
Parliament to the leaves of the statute-book but a
third reading in the Lower House, a rapid passage
through the House of Peers, of which no doubt now
remains in existence, and, thirdly, the Je-le-veux of
our most gracious SOVEREIGN.
Our reasons for feeling thus confident of the accep-
tation of the Sugar Duties' Bill are of the simplest
description. We are not sanguine upon false pre-
mises—our hopes are assured by our judgment. First,
as to the sanction of her MAJESTY, no moral doubt can
exist in the mind either of the most sanguine pro-
tectionist or of the most nervous free-trader. It
would be ingratitude for what has already received
the approbation of our QUEEN—it would be super-
fluous after the disposition she has evinced
throughout her reign, after the liberal
policy which she has invariably encou-
raged and countenanced, after her acquiescence in the
clauses of the Corn and Customs' Bills, after her be-
haviour during the changes of November and Decem-
ber, and after summoning Lord JOHN RUSSELL to
the head of affairs with so much of gracious alacrity
and confidence—it would, we say, be both superflu-
ous and ungrateful after all this to dilate upon the
probability of her MAJESTY'S sanction to the proposed
measures. And equally superfluous and almost equally
ungrateful would it be to endeavour to prove the
chance of success to those measures in the
Commons, when we remember that they have
already proceeded so far through that as-
sembly, and been approved by a gigantic majority
of one hundred and thirty. The only possibility,
therefore, of failure would remain with the Right
Hun. Members of the Upper House, and that the Bill
will be carried triumphantly, but quietly, through
that august body, there is now an absolute cer-
tainty. No opposition of a substantial character will
be raised by the agricultural aristocracy; the House
will not even be pressed to a division. This has
actually been resolved upon by those legislators
themselves, in solemn conclave assembled. And the
announcement is thus made by our Contemporary the
Morning Post :
" A meeting of Conservative Peers took place yesterday
at the residence of Lord Stanley, in St. James's-square, for
the purpose of considering the course which ought to be pur-
sued in the House of Lords with respect to the Sugar Duties'
Bill. We understand that there was but one opinion among
the Peers present as to the measure, which has excited the
greatest disapprobation, both as regards the injustice to be
done to our colonies, and the deplorable stimulus which will
be given to the slave trade by the proposed scale of duties
becoming law. At the same time it was unanimously re-
solved that at this late period of the session the question
ought not to be carried to a division, however strongly Lord
Stanley and other Noble Lords may think it necessary on
the introduction of the measure to the House of Lords to
place their own sentiments on the subject, and those of the
party generally, before the country."
Assuredly, after such a conclusion of such a deli-
beration, no further doubt can remain of the decisive
victory of these measures ! The present glorious
session will be terminated thus gloriously. The
nail has already been driven in, it will now
be clenched. Some among the worshippers
of monopoly had flattered themselves with the possi-
bility of defeat to the proposers of an alteration in the
sugar duties. They pictured to themselves an
analogy between the position of the free-traders
under PEEL and RUSSELL, and the fable of the horse
and the mule. The salt melted away in passing the
stream, the spunge absorbed so much water in its
transit, that the bearer and itself foundered. The
Protectionists fondly augured a realisation of this
fable; they conceived that though the sack of
corn had been carried through a turbulent opposition,
the sack of sugar might still be swallowed up in the
current, and its supporter himself be lost in the
catastrophe. Their imaginations have proved illusory ;
according to their own showing their expec-
tations have turned out to be delusions. Free trade
as a great national principle is therefore
consolidated. Monopoly is gasping in its final
agonies ; and, looking at its dinners, its meetings, its
toasts, its Parliamentary orations, its protests, its
sarcasms, and its vituperations, it dies like
the dolphin —with a variety of very brilliant
and very evanescent cdlours. Like the
dolphin, monopoly has thrown itself into many
strange contortions during its existence—like the
dolphin, it is most beautiful in its death. With the
completion of this session protection will become a
byword in the language.

At no period of time has England been in a more
peaceful state in her relations with foreign Powers
than she happily is at the present moment. Every-
thing presents a prospect of the most profound tran-
quillity. The political atmosphere is free from the
slightest cloud, and we may hope that grim-visaged
war will long be a stranger to our shores, that we
may cultivate the arts of peace, and devote our great
resources to the furtherance of our commer-
cial and mercantile prosperity, the attain-
ment of those blessings for the universe,
the whole family of mankind, which can only be at-
tempted under such propituous circumstances. Every
man may rest under his own vine and his fig-tree ; but
the experience of past ages has taught us that if we
are desirous of the long-continued enjoyment of
this great national blessing, we must not convert
our swords into ploughshares. We must retain the
former as trusty and well-tried friends at our side.
Having them in our possession ready for immediate
use, will, in all human probability, dispense with the
necessity of having recourse thereto. We should be—

" Ready, aye ready for the field."

And our being so will afford the best guarantee that
a war will not be forced upon us, or only avoided at
the expense of the national honour. In such a state
of preparation, we can assume an attitude at once
temperate and firm, ready to do anything be-
coming a mighty nation to avoid so fearful
an alternative, to preserve that peace so justly
and so highly prized, but still to defend the rights
and interests of our country, to avoid unwise or dis-
honourable concession. While we do so there is little
danger that our efforts to avoid war will be ascribed
to timidity, cowardice, or any other unworthy motive,
and England will still maintain the proud position she
has assumed amongst the nations of the earth. This
season of tranquillity, then, is the time of all others
that we can place ourselves in that state of prepara-
tion, without exciting the jealousy of other
powers, or calling forth remonstrances from
them. It is not by a present increase of
our naval and military force that this object
is to be achieved, but by a proper organisation,
a comprehensive and well-considered system, by
which we should be enabled without delay to preserve
the services of well-trained and hardy men, who
would have such encouragement held out to them
that they would gladly enter into the service of their
country at a moment's notice, and think that
they had attained a most desirable object in being
received therein. We should, in the language
of the Secretary of the Admiralty, by the adoption of
a judicious system, collect and recal those elements of
strength now scattered over the whole globe. We
should so far improve the condition and mode of
treatment of our gallant sailors, that they would no
longer be under the necessity or temptation of seeking
from other countries that employment which cannot
be obtained in their own, or which, if ob-
tained, is either inadequately remunerated, or
subjected to such painful and degrading conditions,
and incidents, that few independent men with minds
at all elevated will consent, to accept it. In our
columns this day will be found a letter from a cap•
tain in the royal navy, to which we invite the atten •
tion of our readers. His first statement, that events
equally unprovoked and unforeseen have occurred
within the last ten years to bring England to the
verge of war, and her want of preparation, is fully cor-
roborated by what was stated by the Secretary for the
Admiralty, in bringing forward the naval estimate s
on the 24th ultimo, " That it would be both unsafe
and unwise, he believed it would be dishonourable,
for England again to run the risk she hadt
twice done
to
during the last five years, from an unwillingness
increase their naval establishment, when any sudden
rupture here, or on the other side of the Atlantic,
would have found us unprepared." Surely such a
state of things cannot be suffered to continue;
there is no degree of expenditure within our
means that should not gladly be encountered
to prevent the possibility of such a recurrence. Our
wooden walls have ever afforded protection to Britons '
and kept enemies at a distance from our shores.
The prosperity of England has principally arisen I
from her maritime superiority ; and we should not
suffer any unwise economy or paltry saving to

endanger the British flag. We should recollect that
of late years a mighty element, hifterto little,
if at all, known; certainly not made 'use of in
any of our former contests, has arisen, that a
a mighty change will be thereby effected in naval
tactics and naval discipline, that the very discovery
will prevent the possibility of defending our shores
from attack, by blockading the hostile fleet—that a
steam navy affords the greatest possible facility to
attack, far more than proportionate to its advantages
as a defensive armament ; and we must not
be content to let things remain in statu quo,
or, to use the antiquated and oft-repeated
argument, that such things were sufficient for our
fathers, and that therefore they may satisfy their
children. We must keep up to the spirit of the
times, and avail ourselves to the fullest extent of
every new improvement. The tradesman or manu-
facturer who will be contented with his old tools or
machinery, while his competitors avail themselves of
new facilities, will speedily sink into bankruptcy and
ruin. So the country that remains inactive and dor-
mant must be satisfied to sink in the scale of nations.
We must guard against such a calamity happening to
our fatherland.

One of the most important considerations, as we
have already said, at the present moment is to
obtain a means of speedily manning our fleet without
being obliged to have resource to the palpably unjust,
the atrocious system of impressment—a system so
vile that its strongest advocates have never been
enabled to utter one word in its defence, to
justify its use, save on the tyrant's plea
of necessity. It is hard to conceive what robbery,
what abomination could not be supported on the
same ground; the robber, the burglar, may say to
his victim, " You have abundance, I am without ; it
is necessary that I should have means of support,
and therefore, having strength to do so, I take from
you by violence what I want." It was on such a
plea that slavery, with all its attendant horrors, was
so long sanctioned in our colonies and spoken for
in our Legislature—that man was permitted to
kidnap his fellow-man and lead him into captivity and
sorrow. We confess we cannot perceive the differ-
ence between a support of the slave-trade and the
system of impressment, save that in one case the vic-
tim is of a different colour and climate, while in
the other he is our fellow-subject, connected
with us by all the ties that bind man to man,
of common origin, of common language. The
latter victim worships at the same altar with
ourselves, and yet we unhesitatingly rob him of his
liberty, drag him from home, relations, friends, and
those with whom he is connected by still nearer and
dearer ties—who are dependent on him fur support,
and who, during his forced absence from home fur a
long continued period, while exposing his life to all
the vicissitudes of war or of climate for a
scanty and inadequate remuneration, far from that
which he could obtain if free in the merchant service—

are left in comparative poverty and destitution to pine
for the return of the husband, the father, of n hose
guardianship they are robbed by the Government
that ought to protect its innocent subjects. Our
space this day forbids a continuance en this topic,
and it is far too important to be dismissed in a
summary manner. We shall speedily return to its
consideration.

Prince METTERNICH, who is at the Chateau of
Konigiwarth, expected a visit from the Emperor of
AUSTRIA. and the King of PRUSSIA on the 30th. The
affairs of Poland will, it is said, be discussed
during the visit of the monarchs.

The rejoicings at Rome on account of the amnesty,
had terminated on the 28th. His Holiness PIUS IX.
had MM. RENZI, GULETTI, and the other prin-
cipal amnestied prisoners introduced to him,
and had a long interview with them of
a touching character. A measure for the dis-
missal of the Swiss troops is under consideration
The presence of an Austrian squadron at Ancona
prevented any expression of feeling at that port, but
throughout the rest of the Papal dominions the
rejoicings and f6tes had been universal. At a secret
consistory of Cardinals, held on the 27th, the POPE
addressed to them the following allocation :

" Venerable Brothers,—ln regarding for the first time at
this place your noble assembly, and at the moment of ad-
dressing you, veneracle brothers, we again feel the emotion
with which you saw us so powerfully agitated when by your
very kind suffrages we were raised to the place of the Pontiff
Gregory XVI., of glorious memory. The thought has pre-
sented itself to us, that a great number of cardinals known
at home and abroad by their eminent talent and wisdom, by
their experience in affairs, and by all kinds of virtues,
could soothe the regret caused by the death of the Pontiff,
whom God had just called to himself, and make us merit
the honour of succeeding him ; and you, laying aside all the
reasons of human wisdom, and considering only in the ardour
of your zeal the Catholic Church lamenting its loss, have
thought only of consoling and supporting it, so that by the
union of your will, and not without a secret inspiration of
Divine Providence after scarcely two days of conclave,
' elected us to the sovereign Pontificate, however unworthy,
without doubt, particularly in these times so full of calamity
for the Christian and civil republic. But we know that God,
from time to time, manifests his power in the slightest
things on earth, in order that men may attribute nothing to
themselves, and render honour and glory only where it is due.
It is thus, that venerating his inscrutable designs for our-
selves, we have relied on his celestial succour. But whilst
we render, and shall always render, thanks first, as is just,
to the Almighty God who has raised us, however unworthy,
to the highest dignity, we also express our gratitude to
.s ou, who, interpreters and ministers, have pronounced so
honourable, although unmerited, a judgment upon our
humility. We shall, therefore, never have anything more
at heart than to show in an effectual manner the special
zeal of our kindness towards you, allowing no oppor-
tunity to pass of maintaining and protecting the rights
and dignity of your order, and of being agreeable to you
in all that depends on us. As to you, we expect with
confidence, from your affection, that you will assist us
assiduously with your counsel, your support, and your zeal,
in order that no affair, sacred or profane, may suffer de-
triment from our elevation. We are bound to labour toge-
ther in close union, to secure the welfare and glory of
the Church, our common mother—to maintain, with a firm
and persevering courage, the dignity of the apostolic see—
and secure with all our care the tranquillity and mutual
concord of the Christian flock, in order that, with the
blessing of God, it may increase daily in merit and in number.
Continue, then, as you have commenced, to deserve well of
us, and let us together ask of God, by our daily prayers,
that, chosen by him, we may walk in his way; and that,
after having implored the succour of the blessed Virgin
Mary, with the aid of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, we
may obtain, by the most fervent prayers, from Jesus, the
supreme author of our religion and our apostolate, the grace
of a favourable regard cast upon us from the holy bill of
Sion, and that he may approve of the transports of joy of a
people devoted to his glory, in order to render salutary and
happy all our acts and all our efforts for the universal Church
confided to our care, and for the people subjected to our
power."

Madrid papers to the 31st ult. have arrived.
According to the Heraldo the QUEEN had intended
to grant an amnesty on the occasion of her mother's
birthday, but had delayed its publication in conse-
quence of the conspiracy at Pampeluna, and the
attitude assumed by the refugees in Portugal. A
man had been arrested at Barcelona charged with
having entered the city for the purpose of killing
Gen eral BRETON.

MADRID BOLSA, JULY 31.—The Three per Cents,
were done at 34 for cash ; the Five per Cents., at
221 ; and the Passives, at G.

We have received the Paris papers of Wednesday.
The Ministerial victory is complete. The returns
are known in all cases, except 37, and should those
37 be all in favour of the Opposition, the Ministers
would have a working majority. The Ministerialist
return already exceeds a moiety of the Chamber by 33,
and their actual majority over the Opposition is 104.
There have been 90 new Members returned ; among
them are the Marquis de la Valette and M. Blanqui,
the celebrated political economist.
At Toulouse, in consequence of the election of the
Abbe DE GENOUDE, there was some rioting, and cries
of Vive Henri V. were heard—the police, however,
arrested some of the rioters, and order was speedily
restored. At Montpelier, too, there was a partial
emeute in consequence of the defeat of M. LARCY by
M. REINAUD. The mob made an attempt to carry
off the ballot-box, and the civil authorities sent for
the military to protect them. In the evening there
was a riot at the Prefecture, and cries of A bas le
Parfet, A bas IVI. Reinaud, were uttered. The ring-
leader was arrested, and the mob was dispersed.
There was some disturbance at Perpignan, which
was soon put down, and at Vinca, where the civil
authorities were set at defiance, a battalion of in-
fantry and a detachment of chasseurs had restored
order.

The Duc DE BROGLIE has been invited to be pre-
sent at a Cabinet Council at Eu, for the purpose, it
is rumoured, of being offered the Presidency of the
Council, as Marshal SOULT has determined to retire.
Other accounts state that the Presidency will be
conferred on M. GUIZOT.

The regicide HENRY remains incarcerated at the
Conciergerie, and is interrogated every day. He
states he purchased the pistols of a dealer nn the Quai
des Massageries, but refuses to give any positive