The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-24 00:00:00

Alieltring AtAt

LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1846.

Incidentally the views of the present Government
have been in a measure divulged with respect to the
propriety, the advisability, and even the necessity for
some national system of education. During the
customary proceedings at a dinner given at York, on
Tuesday evening, in connexion with the York and
Ripon Diocesan Board of Education, the Right Hon
Chairman, Lord MORPETII, took occasion to raise
corner of that curtain which it is to be hoped will
be altogether removed before the close of the ap-
proaching session. After an apologetic assurance of
his incapacity to enter fully into the consideration of
the various local exigencies, on the plea of his being
now "more confined to the streets of London than to
the woods and forests, with which he is nominally
associated," the Noble Lord very adroitly touches
upon that grand question which has latterly engrossed
so much of the public attention, and the settlement
of which is anticipated from the wisdom and liberality
of her MAJESTY'S advisers. The concessions, the
principles, the acknowledgments, and the half pro.
mises embodied in the expressions uttered by Lord
MORPETH will be peculiarly gratifying to the popu-
lation, as they will be regarded as an official assur•
auce that the moral and intellectual wants of tin,
community will not he neglected by the Administra•
tion. More than this, the observations made or.
Tuesday evening by the Noble Lord, the Chief Corn
missioner of the Woods and Forests, will be devoured
with peculiar avidity by the multitude as the 19th of
January becomes day by day a more appreciable ane,
conceivable " to-morrow." So long has the necessity foe
some State assistance to the education of the populace
been apparent, so repeatedly has the aid of the
Government been postponed, so numerous and con-
flicting have been the plans propounded, and so con
tinually have the expectations of the public beer
disappointed by the dilatoriness of successive Cabinets
that anything like a mere announcement of opinion or
the all-important subject seems like a perceptible
step in the right direction, and is welcomed accord
ingly. Since the last election of Lord JOHN RUSSEL]
as representative for the city of London, there has
been no such definite exposition of the views of the
Ministry upon the question of national education as
that contained in the brief but satisfactory rernat k,
of the Noble Lord the Member for the West Riding
of Yorkshire.

With a very natural circumspection, Lord MOR.
PET"' deprecated any anxiety to extract from him
any inferences or conclusions as to the ulti-
mate intentions of the Legislature. "I will
not," he says, " encounter the topic as to how
ear the State ought to act—how far the Statf
ought to move—or how far the State ought to stand
aloof with-respect to the education of the people."
That concealment of the machinery which has been.
or is being constructed by himself and his colleagues,
was indeed the only course the Noble Lord could
pursue under the circumstances. It would have been
miserably premature and marvellously inappropriate
to expound the schemes of the Government in detail,
or to commit the Ministry by any decisive declara-
tion. In making this reservation, however, Lord
MORPETR very. judiciously insinuated the readiness
of the present Administration to meet the wishes of
the people to a considerable extent. " I may per-
haps," he observed, " without incurring the imputation
of great rashness, venture to conjecture that the
fittest course to pursue would be, not that which is
indicated,, by an extreme view on either 'side of the
case. In other words, we are not to anticipate from
the Government any educational measures resulting
from the dictates of party zealots or religious zealots,
from fanatics or latitudinarians. That is unquestionably
the declaration which might have been anticipated
from a Russell Cabinet. That is precisely the prin-
ciple most in accordance with the present enlighten-
ment and with the present prostration of factions.
The Legislature is neither to be influenced by the
voice of passion nor by the promptings of indiffe-
rence. It would be equally monstrous to com-
mit the Department of Popular Instruction
to the —direction and discretion of ANA-
CHARMS CLOOTZ 1)1* Of SOLOMON EAGLE. Bigotry
would be as repressive and pernicious in its effect
upon an independent people as the most frantic and
mischievous infidelity; and anything at all border-
ing on either of those extremes would be found to be
essentially prejudicial. Undue earnestness in
behalf of anything dogmatic or conventional
would exercise a baneful influence over the
intellect and morality of the people, if it did not
actually breed insubordination. Indifferentism would
in like manner counteract all the advantages which
might be otherwise experienced from a legislative
interference.

In a subsequent portion of Ms speech, Lord MoR-
PETII expressed himself yet more definitely. " With
respect to the country at large," he exclaimed,
" I am not satisfied with the exact state of
things which prevails at present." That is

assuredly emphatic and significant enough ! That is
virtually an engagement that something will be done
by the present Government towards the amelioration
of these mental wants of the populace, and this be-
cause a distinguished member of that Government
has explicitly announced his dissatisfaction with the
existing state of things.
Lord -MORPETII was not, however, contented with
this simple declaration. lie proceeded further. He
enter into the minutiae of these national exigencies.
"I think there is a call," said he, "for more schools
than we have"—so much for the extension and diffu-
sion of education by the Ministry. " I think there
is a call for better schools than many of those we
have"—so much for the remodelling of the sys-
tem or systems at present adopted before the
matter is embodied in a Ministerial prepo-
sition. Then, again, that little dissylable " many "
implies that good may be extracted from
the systems of some; that all the schools at present
existing are not improveable in every particular ; and
that advantageous clauses in the scheme to be here-
after introduced to Parliament may be drawn from
Experience, as well as suggested by Anticipation.
" I think," he continues, " that many of
our masters are ill qualified for their office;
and almost all less well paid than we could wish"—
that is tantamount to an engagement that the normal
schools must undergo a thorough reformation. No-
thing, indeed, could be wanting to inspire us with
confidence as to the intentions of the Ministry in re-
gard -to national education after the lucid and
candid enunciations of Lord MORPETR ; nothing
could be wanting to confirm our most sanguine ex-
pectations of the principles likely to be sanctioned by
Lord JOHN RUSSELL, after these assurances from the
mouth of the Right Hon the Chief Commissioner of
her Majesty's Woods and Forests.
Not the least valuable portion of the harangue de-
livered by the Noble Lord on Tuesday evening was
that in which he directed his remarks to the children
superintended by the York and Ripon Diocesan Board
of Education, in which he inculcated in graceful
terms the holiness of probity, of purity, of industry,
and of morality ; in which he alluded to
that superb minster, which is not only the
adornment of the ancient city of York, but
which is one of the noblest architectural memo-
, rials of England. " I hope," he said, " that yon will
never look at its grey walls and massive roofs, tower-
ing as they do above the more humble buildings
around them, without remembering that you your-
selves ought to aspire to rise above the grovelling
• cares and the low passions of the life around
you ; and that you will never see the
first beams of the morning, nor the last
• hues of evening reflected from its shining pyramids,
or its gorgeous traceries, without remembering that
there are still more exquisite proportions in the har-
mony of well-regulated affections, and that there are
• sunsets still more valuable in an honest spirit and in
a well-spent life." In upholding thus the cause of
liberality, enlightenment, and civilisation, and in
speaking thus to the ductile intellect of childhood,
Lord MORPETII is worldly employing one of the
noblest prerogatives of his rank and fulfilling one of
his loftiest duties as a Minister of the Crown.

Destitution, and pestiknce, and famine now reign
in Ireland. At present their only active opponents
are British wealth and British sympathy. The misery,
however, that now overwhelms that unfortunate
country does not spring from recent events, it has
only been aggravated by them. If the true annals of
Ireland be searched at almost any period during the
last six hundred years, they will be found to afford,
in the quaint language of Lord BELLAMONT, " a
periodic record of progressive ruin." Living for ages
upon the edge of famine, a slight increase of their
usual misery has been at all times sufficient to pre-
cipitate myriads of the Irish people into that fearful
gulf.

During the reign of ELIpBBTEI, so prosperous for
England, the Irish seem to have descended to an
abyss of misery deeper, if possible, than the present;
for " notwithstanding," saith the poet SPENSER, " the
province of Munster was a plentiful country, full of
corn and cattle, yet they were brought to such
wretchedness as that any heart would rue the same.
Out of every corner of the woods and glens they came
creeping forth upon their hands, as if their legs could
not bear them ; they looked like anatomies of death,
they spake like ghosts crying out of their graves ;

they did eat the dead carrion, happy when they could

rind them—yea, and each other soon after, insomuch
:hat the very carcasses they spared not to scrape out
tf their graves."
Coming down to a later period, we find Mr. FITZ..
Gxunorr, the grandfather of the present Lord CLARE,
describing Ireland, in the year 1763, in the following
terms :—" It is always with regret that I discover the
nakedness of my country, but upon this occasion I
ought not to hide it. "Upon this occasion I must
remind you that Ireland is not more than one-third
peopled. This island is supposed to contain three
millions of inhabitants, and of these two millions
live like the beasts of the field upon a root picked out
of the earth, almost without hovels for shelter, or
clothes for covering. What method can be found to
prevent the ruin of a state in which these evils not
only continue, but increase ?"
These evils have notoriously continued and in-
creased up to this very hour. Why have these evils
so long existed in Ireland ? 'Why does the state of
Ireland differ so widely and so miserably from the
state of England ? The reason is plain and undeni-
thle; it is because the laws—those great trainers
snd educators of nations—are different, and have
tlways been different, in the two countries. Every
one can point out active and immediate causes of
Irish evils, but few will take the trouble of tracing
them to their ultimate cause—the difference of laws,
which we assert, without fear of disproof, to be the
common origin of all the woes and agitations of
Ireland ; for what, after all, hay. these agitations
been but irregular efforts to redress injurious laws,
resembling in this respect blotches upon the drunkard's
face, which are only violent efforts of nature to
remove the poison improperly admitted into the
system.

Holding this opinion as to the cause of the evils of Ire-
and—an opinion entertained, we believe, by nine-tenths
,f the educated inhabitants of both islands—we read
with hopeful pleasure a report of an argument lately
made, at an Irish court of registration, in which it
was insisted, that under the articles of union with
Ireland, all statutes attempting to establish a differ-
ence in civil rights between the two countries, are
ipso facto null and void ; and that, consequently, Ire-
land can obtain perfect equality in such rights by an
Appeal to the existing laws. We noticed this argu-
ment in a former article, and pointed out what would
be the results of establishing its correctness. We
resume the consideration of this argument, and shall
here shortly consider what is the nature of the in-
strument commonly called the Act of Union between
Great Britain and Ireland, and by what law its pro-
visions are to be tested. In the argument to which
we allude, the origin, objects, and nature of the Act
of Union are thus stated :

"For some time prior to the year 1800, no power on earth
(to use the words of the declaration of Irish rights) had
authority to bind the people of this country, except the
King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland. In that year a
treaty was entered into and concluded, for the purpose
of uniting the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland
into one kingdom. This treaty is commonly called the
Act of Union. This instrument is not, however a mere
Act of Parliament, but a treaty—it is so expressly
termed in the second paragraph of the fourth article,
which runs thus:—' That such Act as shall he passed to
regulate the mode by which the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and the Commons to serve in the Parliament
~f the United Kingdom, shall be summoned and returned,
shall be considered as forming part of the Treaty of
Union.' No other Act of Parliament is styled a treaty.
What is the meaning of the word treaty ? It does not
signify a law enacted by a governing body to bind its
subjects, but it means a compact entered into between
e..-ordinate and sovereign powers. The co- ordinate and
severeign powers who were parties to the Treaty of Union
sere the separate and independent kingdoms of Great
Britain and Ireland, represented respectively by the
King, Lords, and Commons of each kingdom. The 1
Treaty of Union commences with the following recital :
Whereas, in pursuance of his Majesty's most gra-
cious recommendation to the two Houses of Parliament
in Great Britain and Ireland respectively, to consider of
such measurs as might b,st tend to strengthen and to
consolidate the connexion between the two kingdoms,
the two Houses of Parliament of Great Britain, and
the two Houses of Parliament of Ireland, have severally
agreed and resolved that in order to promote and secure
the essential interests of Great Britain and Ireland, and
to consolidate the strength, power and resources, of the
British empire, it will be advisable to concur in such
measures as may best tend to unite the two kingdoms of
Great Britain and Ireland into one kingdom, in such

manner and on such twins and conditions as may be es-
tablished by the Acts of the respective Parliaments of
Great Britain and Rolland. Anti whereas, in further-
ancehave likewise agreed upon cer-
tain of the said resolut oi', both Houses 01 the said two
and establishing the said
following.' Immediately after
nr iaa mr Jeril,t?ss rfeosrp ecei
rt
ei veet loya: g
parposes in the tenor'
this recital, the trusty sets out the articles of union,
eight in number. Thise ar;icies were first settled by the
Irish Parliament, and sent to England as the terms and
conditions upon which Irellsad would consent to be united
to England. England acoepted these conditions with
some slight alterations. Ireland agreed to these altera-
tions, and confirmed the articles so 'altered. The ar-
ticles of union thus became matters of stipulation and
bargain between the two independent kingdoms of Great
Britain and Ireland. Great Britain solemnly pledged
herself to an exact observance of these terms and con-
ditions, and Ireland confiding in that solemn pledge, con-
sented to the union, which she was at that time fully
competent to reject."
The statements above quoted are no doubt histo-
rically true. The Act of Union is a treaty entered into
between the two kingdoms of Great Britain and Ire-
land, at that time sovereign and independent, and
connected only by the golden link of the. Crown ; the
very nature of the instrument would prove it to
be a treaty even although that denomination had not
been affixed to it, as in point of fact has been done in
the fourth article. A treaty is a common law enacted
and ratified by two or more nations for the due
execution of which each nation, party to the treaty,
pledges itself to all the other nations parties to the
same. The paragraphs or divisions of a treaty are
not termed sections, as in an Act of Parlia-
ment, but articles, and a treaty is said to
consist of so many articles. All these
forms are observed in the Treaty of Union.
It consists of eight articles, and the ratification of
these articles was thus solemnly declared by the Le-
gislatures of Great Britain and Ireland :—" In order,
therefore, to give full effect and validity to the same,
be it enacted by the KING'S most excellent Majesty,
by and with, &c. &c., that the said foregoing recited
articles, each and every one of them, according to the
true intent and tenor thereof, be ratified, confirmed,
and approved ; and be, and they are hereby declared
to be, the articles of the Union of Great Britain and
Ireland, and the same shall be in force and have effect
for ever, from the first day of January, 1801." And
as if to mark a difference between the Treaty of
Union and an ordinary Act of Parliament, and to
intimate a superior and more lasting obligation, the
Sovereign did not give his consent in the usual
form of Le roi le vent, but on the part of the nation
solemnly swore to observe it, by saying, " So help me
GOD I will maintain this Act."

The law of nations is the interpreter of all treaties.
The law of nations may be cited and relied upon in
all British courts of justice, for it is part of the law
of England. In the case of TRIGUET and another
v. BATH, 3d BURROWS, 1478, it was decided that the
law of nations in its full extent is part of the law of
England, and that the law of nations was to be col-
lected from the practice of different nations and the
authority of writers, such as GROTIUS, VATTELL,
BARBETRA C, BINKERSHOEK, &c. To the test of the
law of nations all questions of law arising out of thP,
Treaty of Union must therefore come, and by the
rules laid down in the law of nations the British
courts of justice are bound to decide all such questions.
That the Act of Union is a treaty, and that the law
of nations is, its proper interpreter, thus appears to
us to be positions altogether undeniable. We pro-
pose, in another article, to apply the test of the law of
nations to the sixth article of the Treaty of Union,
and to examine whether, according to the strict rules
of law, that article can bear the interpretation at-
tempted to be given to it in JACKSON'S case; that is,
whether that article extends to Ireland, as of right,
all British civil privileges, and restrains the United
Parliament from passing any laws which would de-
prive our Irish fellow-subjects of any civil right,
privilege, benefit, or advantage that is possessed by
the subjects of Great Britain, and thus affords to
Ireland the means of acquiring every British civil
right by an appeal to the ordinary legal tribunals of
the country.

At the adjourned Middlesex Sessions, which com-
menced last Monday at the Court-house, Clerken-
well, the Assistant-Judge, in the presence of a full
bench of magistrates, addressed the grand jury upon
two important subjects ; the first related to the insti-
tution of the grand jury ; the second to the impera-
tive necessity of taking some decided steps with the
view of effecting the reformation of juvenile
offenders. Upon the latter topic we have for a long
time cordially concurrred in the opinion entertained
by Mr. Sergeant ADAMS, and have frequently
pressed its paramount importance upon the attention
of our readers, But, upon the former, we differ very
widely from the leaning which, as elicited by his
recent observations, the mind of the Assistant-Judge
evidently manifests in favour of the abolition of grand
juries. His opinion seems to have been formed from
the following considerations :—The fact, that a com-
mittee has been appointed to report upon several
presentments made by Middlesex grand juries, de-
claratory of their comparative inutility, regard
being had to the nature of the charges brought before
that Court ; the belief, that police magistrates had
the fullest opportunity of judging whether the
charges preferred were prima facie supported or not;
the evil and useless system of bringing, 24 times
every year, never less than 36, and frequently 72,
gentlemen from their different localities ; and, lastly,
the circumstance, that statements are often made be-
fore grand juries quite at variance with the original
depositions taken before the committing magistrates.
We except to very much of these several allegations :
but, even granting them all to be true, we deny them
to be of sufficient weight to warrant the object
for which they have been specifically enun-
ciated. In the first place, it would not be
wise to attach much importance to the above-men-
tioned presentments of the grand juries, seeing that,
if they were abolished, they would be freed from a
duty which must necessarily entail some personal
sacrifices ; and risen are not unfrequently spurred on,
from selfish considerations, to recommend changes in
•existing institutions, of either the origin, or present
valuelor which, for the protection of the reputation and
liberty of the subject, they may be in comparative
ignorance, or upon which they have never been at
the pains to bestow any deep reflection. The
Assistant-Judge concedes that, " when. grand
juries were first established, they were a most
important institution, to counteract any ten-
dency to despotism by the coroner, or to lessen
the evils of popular excitement; but that, at
present, their appropriate sphere of utility seemed to
be in the higher criminal courts." We answer, that
to-morrow a man may be exposed to be harassed by
the despotism of a coroner, or the pernicious effects
of popular prejudice; and that as against the injury
of continued persecution, to the accused, who is con•
scious of his innocence, the grand jury presents a
powerful bulwark for his protection. The graver the
offence imputed, the greater is the necessity for such
an institution ; and we confess, therefore, we neither
admire the discrimination of the Judge, in limiting
the superior criminal tribunals as the only appro-
priate sphere for grand juries, nor can we extol the
judicial perceptions of the several grand juries, who
seem so ready to concede their " comparative
inutility, regard being had to the nature of the cases
brought before them," when, in the very last calendar,
65 of the 68 prisoners, whose names it contained, were
charged with felony. Keeping in mind the heavy
sentences to which persons convicted of felony are
liable, we hope this country will never be without a
grandjury to intervene between the prisoner and his
threatened appearance in a criminal dock before a
petit jury. We pretest against a judge lamenting, in
the presence of grand juries, the inconvenience to
which they may be occasionally put by having to
attend the sessions; and we have no sympathy with
men who grudge the time which they are herein
called upon to devote to the public service. It is a
duty, grave and humane, which they owe to the
State. The protection which it is benevolently
meant they should give to the innocent, overtaken, it
may be, by adverse circumstances, speciously, and
perhaps vindictively concatenated, which have led an
ignorant, or weak-minded, or prejudiced magistrate,
to commit him for trial--the like protection, which it
is the solemn duty of every grand juryman, by
a rigid and impartial investigation, to afford
to a subject, thus unhappily placed, it may
be his own lot to look for and desire, before the close
of his life. It is all very well to observe that police
magistrates have the "fullest opportunity" of decid-
ing whether charges are primit facie borne out or not
The opportunity may be the best possible, but if the

magistrate be incompetent to avail himself of it, what
becomes of its vaunted value? Country magistrates,
taken as a body, are shamefully unfit for the functions
incidental to their office ; and the indiscretions of the
metropolitan are nut so " few and far between " as to
sanction the abolition of the " most important" insti-
tution of the grand jury. Statements may be made
before these bodies differi►,g considerably from those
received by the magistrates. These discrepancies
may often be the result of a venial humanity. With
the subsidence of the various gusts of passion by which
the mind of an injured party may have been prompted
to put the law in motion against his aggressor, and
the subsequent knowledge of marks of deep contri-
tion on the part of the offender, the prosecutor may
be benignly disposed to save the prisoner from suffer-
ing further punishment ; and thus, yielding to the
pardonable errors of his nature (if such they be), be-
come the means of preventing the grand jury from
finding a true bill. That, on the other hand, the
ends of justice are defeated by witnesses being tam-
pered with, and bribed by " hush money," may not
admit of dispute ; but this corrupt practice is not
confined to witnesses before grand juries—it is noto-
rious that witnesses are, by the like means, kept out of
the way when they ought to be forthcoming at the
trial itself. But would this constitute an adequate
reason for abolishing trial by common juries ? Would
it not at once be said that its advantages far counter-
vailed the solitary abuse ? We give the same response
to the project for sweeping away the venerable and
valuable institution of the grand jury.
We have so recently written upon the desired
reformation of juvenile delinquents, that it is
unnecessary to dilate further upon this subject at the
present moment. Five hundred of these youthful
offenders, whose ages vary from seven to twelve
years, have been committed to prison within the last
twelve months. A boy was last week sentenced to
six months' imprisonment, which the Assistant-Judge
intimated he would gladly have avoided passing, had
the law left any other course open to him. Shall this
conflict between law and philanthropy be longer en-
dured ?

Madrid papers to the 14th have arrived.
Senor PIDAL, on the second election, has been re-
turned for Madrid, by 287 against 214, the number
of votes polled for the Marquis DE SOCORRO, the Pro-
gressista candidate, The manner in which the Count
DE MONTEMOLIN has been received in London has
created a great sensation in the Spanish capital.
Senor MoN had been closeted for some hours with
Senor BRAVO MURILLO; the subject of the confer-
ence being, as is supposed a modification of the
Cabinet.

MADRID BOLSA, DEC. 14.—The Three per Cents.
were done on the 14th at 34i for cash ; the Four per
Cents. at 21; the Five per Cents. at 21A; the Vales
at 8a ; the Debt without Interest, at 6t ; and the
Coupons, at 191.

We have received the Paris papers of Tuesday.
The affairs of Germany and of Spain are com-
mented on in these journals. The Courrier Francais
thus describes the state of opinion in Germany, and
the alarm prevailing there. We fear that the state-
ment of the Courrier, that the free states of Germany
have nothing to hope for from official France, is but
too true :

" The state of opinion in Germany seriously alarms
the three Powers. That alarm betrays itself in all
their official organs, whoe diplomatic correspondents
bitterly reproach the German press with making common
cause with the French press. The petty states of the
Confederation, menaced in their existence by the
destruction of Cracow, look up to France for protec•
Lion. They have, however, little to expect from that
quarter, and they are told by the diplomatists of Vienna,
that the protest of the French Cabinet, on which
the Germans appeared to rely, had produced less sensa-
tion than even the English note.' Now, we know with

what indifference Lord Palmerston, entirely preoccupied
with the Spanish marriages, protested (hypothetically)
against the incorporation of Cracow. We may judge

from that of the tenor of the note of M. Guizot.

The

Germans, consequently, have nothing to hope from
official France. Still they hope, knowing well that a
brave and humane nation is to be found behind a false

and egoistical Government. Moreover, Germany has no
choice left. All that badly balanced scaffolding, raised by
the treaties of Vienna, threatens to crumble entirely
under the states of the Confederation, shaken in their
very foundation by the downfal of Cracow. None of
them are sure of their existence for one day, being
surrounded on all sides by predatory Powers. Upon
what country should they rely in their imminent
danger, if not upon France, the only supporter of
democracy in Europe? Dreading the effects which French
ideas still exercise in Germany, in spite of the pitiful
attitude of our Government, Austria preaches a crusade
against France. One day she asserts in the Austrian
Observer, that we dare not accept war, and that were the
Powers to share among themselves Saxony and a.l the
states of the Confederation, France would look on as she

did in the case of Cracow. The next day M. de Metter-
nich writes to the Augsburgh Gazette, that if France de-
termined on war it would be to absurd Rhenish Germany,
as she had lately absorbed Spain and Italy, as she pre-
viously absorbed Belgium, and we know not how many
other imaginary countries. Behold M. Guizot and the
Court of the Tuileries denounced to Germany—and by
Austria!—for their extravagant ambition. Louis XIV.
and Napoleon are outdone by our sublime Minister for
Foreign Affairs, who must certainly wonder at himself,
and perhaps consider himself bound to refute such an
imputation. It is reported that the Germanic Diet will
refuse to recognise the act of incorporation of Cracow.
Germany, they say, ought to decline all participation
with the three Powers in the political complications
that ma'y arise from the violation of the treaties. The
commercial cities, injured by the incorporation, in
their interests and their relations with Cracow, loudly
complain and expostulate. Breslau has sent deputations
to Berlin to demand that Cracow should remain a
free city. Prussia perceives, rather late, that her
connivance with Austria and Russia has estranged
from her the affection of Germany, and is now endea-
vouring to justify herself in the journals devoted
to her cause. In conjunction with the London and
Paris press,' says the Universal Gazate, ' the Ger-
man papers particularly atlack Prussia in the case of
Poland. Nevertheless Prussia does not possess 1-30th
part of the partitioned kingdom. She could not,
without endangering her own safety, oppose that par-
tition, and it did not behove her to undertake, for the
restoration of Poland, what England and France de-
clined to do. Did she not alwa) s treat the Poles with
kindness ? &c. Would Prussia make use of that lan-
guage if she did not find her influence compromised in
Germany? And, if the fate of Cracow excited such
agitation in the public mind, what shall be the alarm
produced by the last absorption of Poland now ef-
fected by the Czar, and which is the mere conse-
quence of the act of Cracow That absorption of the
kingdom of Poland places Russia in the heart of Ger-
many. The Czar dreaded so humble a state as Cra-
cow. What jealous domination will he not now inflict
on Germany, from which in future no' barrier will se-
parate him?"

On the subject of Spain the National says that the
Ministry is dislocated ; that Mr. BuLwsre has re-
sumed his influence with the young couple, and that
the deplrture of CHRISTINA for France is probable.
But still it contends that the desire of independence
on the part of ISABELLA has as yet produced no fruits ;
the scandal of the Palace has not affected general
politics, and, although the Ministry is dislocated, the
person charged with its reconstruction is Senor MoN,
the creature of the Count BRESSON.

The Constitutionnel, in noticing a rumour which
prevails in Germany, that it is the intention of the
Emperor of RUSSIi to destroy even the name of
Poland, and to call that portion of it which is sub-
mitted to his yoke New Russia, expresses its dis-
belief of the rumour, because there is already a
province named New Russia, of which Odessa is the
capital ; and, secondly, because Poland, being an
older country than Russia, to call Old Poland New
Russia would be a solecism. There does not appear
to be much force in the latter objection. One who,
like the Emperor of RUSSIA, has set all rules of
morality and justice at defiance, will scarcely be re-
strained by the rules of grammar.
In consequence of the measures adopted by the
English Government for the reduction of the duties
on sugar, produced by free labour, some of the towns
in the Nord have demanded from the Minister of
Commerce permission to export, free of duty, beet-
root sugar taken direct from the manufactories. The
l‘linister has acceded to this application.
The Minister of Finance publishes the returns of
the quantity produced and the consumption of beet-
root sugar during the present season, from which it
appears that 293 manufactories of the article were in
operation on the Ist of December. The quantity
manufactured down to that date amounted to
16,559,180 kilogrammes (16,559 tons) ; that sold
for consumption amounted to 7,355,886. The duties
levied on beetroot sugar during the year amounted
to 14,217,916 f.

It was not yet known on what day the KING and
QUEEN of the BELGIANS would leave Paris for London.
Their MAJESTIES would, however, spend the Christ-
mas holidays at Windsor.

Prince VICTOR DE ROHAN- GUEMENE, Duke de
Bouillon and de Nontbazoo, expired on the 10th
instant at the Château of Sichrow, in Bohemia, in the
81st year of is

We read i❑ the Journal du Hdvre

" A letter from Vera Cruz of the 25th of October,
speaks of the arrest of a midshipman of the French navy,
on suspicion of having carried ashor3 some dispatches of
the American Commodore. After having kept him a
week in prison, it was discovered that the pretended dis-
patches were merely an American newspaper, which this
young man had carried by ;Mer of his captain to a com-
mercial house. The discoNery was rather tardy, and,
consequently, the French commandant had expressed
great indignation at this conduct of the Mexican autho-
rities towards a French officer."

Some fluctuation took place on the Paris Bourse on
Tuesday. In the end prices improved, but no reason
for it was stated.

The Three per Cents. closed on that day at 80f. 80c. ;
the Five per Cents., 118 f. 65c. ; the Orleans Railroad Shares,
1,265 f. ; Rouen, 9101. ' • Havre, 6601. ; Great Northern,
6481. 75c. ; Avignon, 8851: ; Vierzon, 6101.; Bordeaux,
562 f. 50c. ; Troyes and Montereau, 346 f. 25c. •, Bas:e, 220 f. ;
Dieppe, 3601.; Paris and Strasburg, 4851.; Tours and
Nantes, 490 f.; Paris and Lyons, 511 f. 25c. ; Lyons and
Avignon, 490 f. ; Bordeaux and Cette, 451 f. 25c.; Spanish
Do-re.tic Debt, 32%.

MARSEILLES, DEC. 17.—Marseilles and Avignon, 880 f.
Northern, 643 f. ; Paris and Lyons, 5051.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, DECEMBER 23.
. . .

Boulogne and Amiens, I6%—Dutch Ehenish, 4:!Z4 Lux-
embourg, %—Natnur and Liege, 34—Northern of France
Constituted, 10%—Paris and Lyons Constituted, 84—Paris
and Strasburg Constituted, VA—Sambre and Meuse, 4%.

AMERICAN NEWS.

LIVERPOOL, WEDNESDAY EVENING.

The packet-ship Europe, Captain Furber, has just
entered the river. Her accounts are of the Ist inst.

They add little to the intelligence received by the
last mail-steamer.

A frightful steam-boat collision had occurred on
the Mississippi, about seven miles above Natchez, on
the 21st ult. ; 20 or 30 lives were lost, and about the
same number were miserably scalded.

Nothing new had occurred in the political news.

No later accounts from the Rio Grande, Vera Cruz,
or Canada.

The commercial accounts add nothing to our last
reports. The commercial article of the New York
Herald of the Ist, dated Nov. 30, six F.M., quotes the
rate of exchange at 106 to 106 f premium.

THE CAPTURE OF TAMPICO,

" United States steamer Spitfire, before the
Town of Tampico, Nov. 14, 1846.

" Sir,—l have the honour to inform the depart-
ment, that I entered the river of Tampico this
morning, with all the small vessels of the squadron,
and a strong detachment of seamen and marines from
the Cumberland, Mississippi, St. Mary's, Princeton,
and Porpoise.
" On my arrival at the city I was met by a depu-
tation from the citizens, offering the surrender of the
place, on condition that their laws, institutions, and
property should be respected.
"I will hold the place as long as possible. Its im-
portance requires that a garrison of 500 or 600 men
should be sent to occupy it as speedily as possible.
To obtain this object I have dispatched Commodore
Perny to Matamoras to make arrangements with
General Patterson to have a force without delay.
"As I deem it important the Ikiisiissippi should
sail 'without delay, I must defer a more particular
statement to another opportunity.
" I have the honour to be, very respectfully, your
obedient servant,

" D. CO4N NOR, Commanding Squadron.
" Hon. J. Y. Mason, Secretary of the Navy,
Washington."

TWO EXTENSIVE FIRES
(THIS DAY.)
_ _ .

This morning the metropolis was visited by the out-
break of two extensive fires which were not exti❑guished
until a vast amount of valuable property was consumed.
The first outbreak took place at four o'clock, upon the
premises in the occupation of Mr. Banfill, and Mr.
Hatchfield, cabinet-makers and upholsterers, 20, Ed w ard-
street, Langham-place, St. Marylebone. The discovery
was made by a police-constable passing along his beat.
He immediately aroused the inmates, but the fire had
obtained such a firm hold that it was with great diffi-
culty the residents were able to effect a safe retreat. The
engines of the parish, London brigade, County, and West
of England offices, together with an escape belonging to
the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire,
were remarkably early in arriving, and there being
plenty of water at hand, the firemen under the direction
of their foreman, set to work most vigorously, but it
was nearly six o'clock, before the fire could be rubdued,
and not until it had passed throughout the building, de-
stroying in its progrcss the whole of the furniture. stock
in trade and other effects. How the fire originated could
not be learned.

The second fire broke out at seven o'clock. at 32, Old-
street-road, the property of Mr. R. Harris, also an
upholsterer
and cabinet-maker. The flames originated
in the manufactory. At the time of the outbreak, one
or two of the workmen and apprentices were in the place,
and they immediately tried to subdue the fire, by throw-
ing buckets of water upon it ; in that endeavour they
were foiled. Finding that they were unable to get the
mastery over the flames, one of the parties started off to
W hitecross-street engine station, with intelligence of the
disaster. Mr. Hallett, the head engineer, immediately
started to the spot, but before sufficient time had
elapsed to set the engine to work, the whole of
the extensive back premises, and the front ware-
house and dwelling, were wrapped in one immense
sheet of flame. The sparks and large flakes of fire
were at the same time ascending high into the air,
threatening destruction to the surrounding habitations.
As soon as possible the engine was set to work, and by
distributing the water over the tops of the adjoining
houses, they were prevented from becoming ignited.
Numerous other engines from the parish of Shoreditch,
and the London Brigade, with Mr. Superintendent
Braidwood, followed in rapid succession, and owing to
the combined exertions of all, the further progress of the
destructive element was cut off, but not until the back
premises were levelled to the ground, their contents
destroyed, and the whole of the costly furniture in the
front building consumed. At eleven o'clock this fore-
noon the engines were still working upon the smoulder-
ing ruins.

THE ROBBERY AT MESSES. ROGERS AND CO.'S.-

A BILL RETURNEIP.—An acceptance, forming part of
the property stolen from Messrs. Rogers anti Co. for the
recovery of which so many efforts have been made, and
such large rewards offered, was -returned yesterday to
the accepters, Messrs. Batty, Melville, and Co., whole-
sale stationers, Aldersgate-street. it was contained in a
letter, the writer of which stated the affitir would never
be traced, and the bill being of no use to him, he re-
turned it to its owners. This is the second of the stolen
documents which has lately been returned, evidently by
the same party. The writing of both the letters in
which the securities were enveloped is similar, and ink
of the same colour. The orthography, also, is equally
defective. So far as we can learn, no clue to the reco •
very of the stolen property is afforded by these letters.
CLOSING THE EQUITY COUNTS AND OFFICES.—
Yesterday the Lord Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor of
England, the Master of the Rolls, and the Vice-Chan-
cellors Wigram and Knight Bruce, sat in their respective
courts, for the last time before Hilary Term. The Re-
gistrars, Masters, and Six Clerks' Offices, as also the
Affidavit Office, closed this day for the purposes of
general business, and will continue closed until the 7th
of January next. The office of the Accountant-General
of the High Court of Chancery will also be closed dur-
ing the same period. Notwithstanding the closing of the
offices and the rising of the respective courts, in cases of
positive emergency, where the parties are desirous of
filing a bill for the purposes of obtaining an injunction,
&c., in pressing cases, a limited attendance at the offices
will be given, to file the necessary bill and affidavits pre-
paratory to an application to either the Lord Chancellor
or one of' the other judges at their respective houses for
such injunction.

BRITISH PHILANTHROPIC PENSION SOCIETY.—
Yesterday a dinner was given to the pensioners on this
admirable institution, at the house of Mr. Titchener,
the Britannia Tavern, Bishopsgate-street Without,
where an excellent meal, consisting of meat, poultry,
mince-pies, &c., was provided for the aged receipients of
the society's bounty. in addition, gratuities of half-a-
crown to each pensioner were kindly given by Mrs.
Perrin and Mr. J. Flemming. The British Philan-
thropic Pension Society, which, we are informed, was
established in the year 1838, for the purpose of affording
permanent relief to the aged and infirm of both sexes
by means of a small weekly allowance for life, is dis-
tinguished from other associations of a similar character
by requiring no claim to its bounty beyond that of age
and distress—its charity not being restricted to the
members of any particular trade or class—it is there-
fore eminently worthy the support of the benevolent, in
order that its sphere of usefulness, at present bounded
within a somewhat scanty space by its means, may be
extended still further, and thus gladden the hearts of
many now sinking beneath the accumulated afflictions
of age, poverty, and sickness.
'IMPORTATION OP POULTRY.—It is known that large
quanti ies of poultry are imported weckly, from France,
Holland, and Belgium—the latter more particularly;
but the arrivals now taking place are much be-
yond the usual average, which the festive season of
Christmas will readily account for. The steam-ship
Ilar:equin, from Boulogne, brought on Monday 94 cases,
2 hampers, and 4 baskets, the production of France ;
the Belfast, from Calais, 5 baskets and 14 cases ; the
Rapid, from Harlingen, 10 baskets, of Dutch produce ;
the Sir Edward Banks, from Ostend, 4 baskets and 43
cases, of Belgian production. These, with other arri-
vals, took place in one day, and comprised every descrip-
tion of poultry, both in a live and dead state, suitable to
this particular time. The arrival by the Harlequin is
one of the largest we remember to have taken place, and
as further large snpplies are expected during the week,
in addition to those from all parts of the country, of
home growth, it is anticipated that poultry generally
will be obtainable in the metropolis at a moderate price.
The slight change which has again taken place in the
weather will have a beneficial effect on the immense
quantities of all sorts of meat and provisions with which
the town will be &tucked during the present week.