The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-05 00:00:00

at, t ruing ..„- nit

LONDON, MONDAY. JANUARY 5, 1846.

If "coming events cast their shadows before," then
is the corn-law doomed. The Lord Mayors of
London and Dublin, on Saturday, presented Ad-
dresses to her MAJESTY against this iniquitous enact-
ment. The Address presented by the Lord Mayor of
London respectfully represents to her MAJESTY
" That the blight which has fallen upon the potato
has subjected your Majesty's people to great anxiety and
distress, and to the danger of famine. That their suf-
ferings are attributable to erroneous legislation, whit-h,
by excluding the importation of food and restricting
commerce, shuts out from the nation the bounty of Pro-
vidence. We therefore humbly pray that your Majesty
will be graciously pleased to use the means in your Ma-
jesty's power to open the ports of this kingdom for the
free importation of food."

We feel, that had our benevolent QUEEN been left
solely to the dictates of her own feelings, her bene-
volent heart would at once have accorded the prayer
of her suppliant and starving people. But, alas! our
QUEEN is not left solely to herself. She cannot
choose even her own friends; she, equally with her
people, must obey the dictators who can obtain a
" majority " in our Legislative Assemblies. The
duty thus imposed on her is oft-times a painful one,
but she performs it, and thus sets an admirable ex-
ample to her subjects, who feel with her and for her.
Her MAJESTY understands the Constitution, and
ruling as a Constitutional Sovereign, she sets an exam-
ple of obedience to the Constitution, which all her
subjects are bound to follow. And it is because her
MAJESTY rules in obedience to the Constitution, and
acts constitutionally only by the advice of her Ministers,
that we predicate the speedy repeal of the corn-laws.
The answer which her MAJESTY was advised by her
Ministers to make to this address, and which, there-
fore, may be considered as their answer, contains
the following passage:—

" The wants and sufferings of my people at all times
command my warmest sympathy ; and I deeply regret
the failure, in the present year, of a full supply of an ar-
ticle of food on which so many of my subjects are accus-
tomed to subsist.

" I have directed Parliament to assemble on an early
day, and I shall gladly sanction any measure which the
wisdom of the Legislature may suggest as conducive
to the alleviation of this temporary distress, and to the
permanent welfare of all classes of my people."
This is the answer of the Minister (for the answer
was dictated by him) to the Address. In it he ad-
mits the failure of a full supply of an article of food
on which many of the subjects of the QUEEN are accus-
tomed to subsist. In other words, he admits that there
is danger of a famine. Away, then, with all the
curry powder, and peas-pudding, and mangel-wurzel
nonsense of the protectionist landowners. These
men would turn the distress of the people to ac-
count; they would make their profit by a famine;
they would add to their ill-gotten gains by starving
the people. It is in vain for them now to contend
that the harvest has not been deficient—that the fear
of famine is a bugbear conjured up by the Anti-
Corn-law League. We have it from the QUEEICIS
own lips that there is a " failure of the full supply of
an article of food on which many of her subjects are
accustomed to subsist ;" and the natural deduction
from that proposition is, that if there be not an ad-
ditional supply of some other article of food, " many"
of her MAJESTY'S subjects must starve. On whom
will the guilt of the murder rest ? Clearly on those
who uphold a law which prevents the introduction
into the country of food for those whose full supply
of food has failed. Her MAJESTY has declared her
willingness to give her sanction to any measure
which the Legislature may suggest for the alleviation
of this distress. On the Legislature, and on the Le-
gislature alone, therefore, rests the responsibility of
providing food for a starving people. Let
them look to it, for the people will not
exonerate them. They are responsible collectively,
ay, and individually, for whatsoever may happen.
The QUEEN will sanction any measure which they
may suggest for the alleviation of the distresses of the
people. If they fail to suggest such a measure, the
guilt be on their own heads. And what measure can
they suggest, save the abrogation of that law which,
for thirty years past, has plundered the industrious
people of this country, to cnrich " a miser-
able, monopolising," non-productive " minority"
of " foolish and of faded gentlemen ?" The
QUEEN has declared that she will "sanction any
measure that the Legislature may suggest as
conducive to the alleviation of this tempoMry distress,
and to the permanent welfare of all classes of her
people." The only measure which can alleviate the
present distress, and conduce to the permanent welfare
of all classes of the people, is the total and immediate
repeal of the corn -law. Will the oligarchy venture,
in opposition to the'clearly-expressed wishes of their
SOVEREIGN and her united people, to refuse their
assent to such a measure i We give them credit for
the Possession of common sense, and therefore we
°Pine that they will not. They dare not uphold
their uassuopoly
time has at against a starving people; and the
length arrived when this murderous law,
generated by
nurture by fraud, must be avarice, brought forth by violence, bap-
tised in blood, and
anni-
hilated by the hands of 1
d
..os...ee.

For the last five years the meeting of the French
Chambers has not excited so little interest, or so few
apprehensions, as that which has just taken place, and
it is gratifying to the friends of peace to find that the
amicable relations between England and France
formed the main feature in the KING'S Speech, in re-
ference to foreign affairs. For some time, indeed
ever since the Syrian expedition was announced, the
session opened with alarming symptoms. Neither the
Chambers nor the French public were satisfied with
the policy of THIERS and GUIZOT. The one was
blamed for the vast excitement he had caused—for
the determination evinced to take part with MEHEMET
ALI, and oppose the allies, and for the very " mean
and shuffling" manner in which he receded from his
high-sounding pretensions. The policy of M. GUIZOT
for a time was little more welcome to the nation in
general, and was loudly blamed by all the organs of
the Republican and Legitimatist parties. N. TIMERS
had shamefully deceived them, and humbled France,
and M. GurzoT did nothing whateverley of h
to retrieve ts
prrieevdeeeheceser:
honour, or efface the disgraceful poi
sor. The bad temper caused by these national feelinis
had an unfavourable effect on every succeeding trans-
action between the two countries, as evinced by the
angry discussions about the islands in the Pacific,
the Pritchard affair, the right of search, and several
others, which it is needless to enumerate. Fortu-
nately for both nations, these hostile symptoms have
allied
rwa
tche
Ei in
gp el
ar
nhda ptsh all
arespects oi
st aml lyo
r de
i intimatelysapp edisappeared,
with any other European State.:m Nonee fouflly the Great
Powers, in fact, have yet bee
recon-
ciled to the present dynasty; th, r Sovereigns

keep at a distance from France, not orLe
of them deigning to acknowledge corcl:Laily
the new state of things, and the most powerful
amongst them, from some unexplained grudge, or
some stronger feeling, has for years refused to
appoint an ambassador to the Court of Versailles.
The conduct of England, whether under the ad-
ministration of the Tories or Whigs, has been totally
different. The WELLINGTON Ministry at once con-
curred in the voice of the French nation, and ac-
knowledged Louts PHILIPPE ; and both the GREY
and MELBOURNE Cabinet did everything in their
power (with the exception, perhaps, of the attack on
the Pacha of EGYPT) to keep on good terms with
France. Since that event, Lord ABERDEEN and M.
GUIZOT, all must admit, have managed affairs
with praiseworthy skill. They have softened
down asperities, diminished national prejudices,
and, for the good of every state in Europe, have
maintained peace between the two most powerful and
civilised States, and thereby guaranteed the peace of
Christendom. It is no small compliment to these
statesmen that this has been done without any com-
promise on either side tending in the slightest degree
to tarnish national honour or independence ; and
other nations, with the exception we fear of one,
rejoice as much in the result as the two prin-
cipals. We confidently hope that the people of
France will see the advantages thus gained for their
country, and be only more impelled to cultivate
the arts of peace so warmly cherished by the SOVE-
REIGN, and already so productive of the greatest bless-
ings, whether as regards the increase of imports and
exports, the vast undertakings for the establishment
of railways, and the modification of taxes. Already the
Government has announced proposed changes with
regard to the importation of iron and cotton ; the enor-
mous salt-tax will probably be greatly reduced, and a
radical change made in the system of postage. One
great load, however, must long be borne—the enor-
mous expense of maintaining an army in Africa;
but this great expense may turn out the
greatest blessing, and compel the Chambers
to revise the whole scheme, and put an end to a
system, not only ruinous to France, but fatal to
the honour of the French army, and disgrace-
ful to the people who submit to it. Some
measures will be adopted this session for put-
ting an end to the horrible razzias, and mas-
sacres, and unheard-of cruelties practised by
BUGEAUD, if we may jwige from the remarks made
in a brief speech of M. SAPEY, given in another part
of The Sun, and the reception it received from the
Chambers. This is only what Europe has a right to
expect from a nation which boasts, perhaps justly
of the great services it has rendered to civilisation

The Anti-Corn-law meeting recently held at Ilfra-
combe, a report of which we have given in another
column, is a most remarkable one. It was an inde-
pendent meeting, fully and ably attended by the towns-
men of the place, without any external aid whatever.
It was the spontaneous expression of the feelings of
the inhabitants of the town of Ilfracombe against the
corn-law—their emphatic protest against the "unjust,
unrighteous, iniquitous tax upon food." This pro-
test is the more important, coming, as it does,
from a town which is the seaport of a district ex-
clusively agricultural. There are no manufacturers
residing in the neighbourhood of Ilfracombe to
stimulate the townsmen to meet and declare in
favour of free trade. There were no practised de-
baters present, the prestige of whose names might per-
chance have frighted the protectionists from their pro-
priety—the speakers were all townsmen with whom
their fellow-townsmen were in habits of intercourse,
and yet in a town, the capital of a district
purely agricultural, the protectionists of the
district dared not to meet the inhabitants of the
town, and Ilfracombe pronounced unanimously
and energetically against the corn-laws.
We have said that the meeting had no external aid,
and, truth to say, it needed none. The opening speech
of Mr. DICKENSON, the worthy portreeve of the
town, is one of the most logical arguments against
the corn-laws that it has ever been our good fortune
to read, and it is as eloquent as it is logical. The
" wages protection fallacy " was admirably exposed
by him. Mr. BLIGH, too, went into some statistics
with regard to the labourers of Devonshire, which
are most important, coming as they do from a gen-
tleman who is daily an eye-witness of the scenes
which he describes, and who, living in the midst
of the district in which these things are taking
place, cannot be suspected of exaggeration, in-
asmuch as he would thereby lay himself open
to instant contradiction and exposure. " The last
plea," said Mr. BLIGH, "that I shall notice is, that
they would continue this tax for the benefit of the
labourers. There are about 20,000 of these poor fel-
lows in the county of Devon existing upon Bs. per
week. Let us for a moment consider this bene-
fited class. Upon an average they have four
children, making a family of six ; deduct
ls. a week for rent, ls. for fire and candles, 21. for
clothes, shoes, and bedding, they had a balance of 4s.
left to furnish' food for 21 meals for six human
beings, that is, less than 2jd. per meal." Now
is it not the vilest hypocrisy to talk of the
corn-laws keeping up the rate of wages after this ?
The example which Ilfracombe has thus set in
holding a town's meeting without external aid is
a noble one, and will, we trust, be generally
followed by the inhabitants of other places.
A few more of those spontaneous independent
meetings will effectually put the screw upon
Sir ROBERT PEEL; and although we know, from
experience, that he is made of squeezable materials
yet, if the pressure be not kept up, he is, like Indian
rubber, apt to rebound; therefore, to quote the elo-
quent words of Mr. Jorizs, the proposer of the second
resolution, "We would importune them, as they
value their country's welfare and happiness, to
surround the Throne with petition upon petition—
vsith remonstrance upon remonstrance—yea, upon
this matter we would have them become perfect
O'Connellites, and agitate ! agitate !! agitate!! !
and never hold their peace until the statute-book
shall be relieved of one of the foulest blots that ever
disgraced its pages."

The Paris papers are chiefly occupied with the re-
marks on the KING'S Speech and the sessional busi-
ness of the Chamber of Deputies. Some of the Op-
position journals continue to blame that part of the
Speech which relates to England ; and the Siecle in
particular, which asserts that M. GUIZOT has placed
the dynasty and nation under the protectorate of that
country, to which the Government paper, the Journal
des Debats, thus replies :—" As regards the English
alliance, all sensible men consider it to be the safest
guarantee or the pcacc tho world. Thie, our
opinion, has been repeatedly expressed by M. TniEns
himself. But England stands as much in need of
our alliance as we do of hers ; neither country deemed
itself obliged to place itself under the protectorate
of the other. England did not place herself under
our protectorate by consenting to the abolition of
the right of search, and Queen VICTORIA did not
come to France the first to make the homage of her
crown to the KING of the FRENCH, no more
than Louis PHILIPPE, in returning the visit of the
Queen of GREAT BRITAIN, proclaimed himself her
liege subject. England and France are united be-
cause they have but one and the same interest, one
and the same object—the maintenance of the peace
of the world—because everything tends to unite
them, placed, as they both are, at the head of the free
and civilised nations. The two Governments inspire
each other with mutual confidence ; they have given
each other pledges of mutual loyalty ; and if the Bri-
tish Cabinet consented to a very great sacrifice in its
opinion—that of the right of search—it was, because
it knew that the French Cabinet, the Cabinet of the
29th of October, concealed no arriere pence, anti
from
character,
present a
and
d appearances,
the l
abou
rtNnowoyafdhri
prosecuted with similar ardour the abolition of
the odious slave-trade. The alliance is consequently
honourable on both sides—it is free ;it rests on a mu-
tual exchange of good offices. The Speech from the
Throne expressed nothing else ; it might have ex-
pressed. the same truth in still stronger terms,
without wounding in the least the dignity of France.'
The prospects of the session, as far as one can judge
voba
in.faebdwltyhttheab:keandffebaviyorts country.d:
sn chieflyTnAephcziconnected
Tloevi
nne
bmtbeeereprent interests
the Chamber, occupied the President's chair till the
appointment of M. SAUZET. On addressing the
eteoit
with the
indeed,
internal rsean
seniorpaampl
eavappears
emerrrsypi Chambersi\ar to peaceable
e a
pro-
bably ol

Members before he resigned the office, he made some
judicious remarks, which deserve to be quoted :
" The principal measure," said he, " for which the
gratitude of France would be due to the present
Chamber, was the establishment of the vast network
of railways, which must afford such rapid and ad-
vantageous openings to the produce of the country,
and, at the same time, increase the well-being of
the working-classes. In speaking of these great
lines of communication, he could not but express
his regret that the somewhat too ardent impulse that
had marked their commencement, had given birth
to an over-excited spirit of speculation, whit had
produced a crisis in the money-market. He had no
doubt that the Minister of Finance would take the pro-
per steps to prevent such a state of things fur the future. _
The Hon. Deputy then referred to the necessity of
discussing, in the course of the session, the best means
of keeping up such a reserve fur the army as would,
without entailing any expense on the nation, afford
the means of raising a large moveable force at a
moment's warning. He hoped, also, that the navy
would be placed on such a footing as was suitable to
the dignity of France. He trusted that, in consider-

ing the wants of Africa, it would be borne in mind
that conquest had run its course, and that the spirit
of order and civilisation ought at length to prevail in
its turn. The wish of the Councils-General called

loudly for two reforms—the diminution of the duty
on salt, and a uniform postage of letters ;" of both of
these measures he acknowledged himself to be a warm
advocate. But what, above all, ought, he observed, to
occupy the attention of the Chamber, was the financial
condition of the kingdom, and he trusted that zealous
Efforts would be made to confine the expenditure
within the limits of the receipts. The Hon. Deputy,
after dwelling on the necessity of carrying on the dis-
cussions without having recourse to useless recrimi-
nations, concluded by thanking the Chamber for the
indulgence which they had manifested towards him
during the course of their preparatory proceedings.
This address was well received. The Committee on

the Address in the Peers met on Wednesday, and
having expressed a desire to obtain explanations from
the President of the Council and the Minister of the

Interior, it was agreed that they should attend the
Committee on Saturday. 'We subjoin some miscel-
laneous extracts from the papers :
"On Wednesday, at one o'clock, on the occasion of
the approaching new year, the King received tbe Arch-
bishop of Paris and his clergy. At eight in the evening
his Majesty received the ladies of the corps diplo-
matique, and at half-past eight the Council of State.
" According to the official reports of administration of
criminal justice in France during the eight years, from
1836 to 1843 inclusively, 47 parricides have obtained
the benefit of the law which authorises juries to return
with their verdicts of guilty a declaration of the exist-
ence of extenuating circumstances. Of these, the greatest
culprits, 19 have had their punishments reduced from
death to hard labour for a limited number ofyears, at the
expiration of which they are let loose again upon society,
with the indelible stain of their father's blood upon
their heads. During the same period of eight years there
were convicted of wilful murder, including poisonings
and infanticides, 1,307 persons, who by the same finding
of extenuating circumstances escaped the capital punish-
ment which would have been their doom but for the law
which puts it in the power of the jury, by the addition
of the above-mentioned finding to their verdicts, to re-
duce this penalty.

During the first fortnight of December the average
price of the hectolitre of wheat was, —at Toulouse, Gray,
Lyor.s, and Marseilles, 24f. Bc. ; at Marans and Bor
Beaux, 21f. 81c.; at Laurent and Le Grand Letups, 22f.
27c.; at Mulhausen and Strasburgh, 24f. 96c.; at Ber-
gues, Arras, Roye, Soissons, Paris and Rouen, 21f.
53c.; at Saumur and Nantes, 191 44c.; at Metz, Verdun,
and Charleville, 21f. 13c.; and at St. Lo, Paimpol,
Quimper, and Hennebon, 19f. 94c."
" The price of bread for the first fortnight of the pre-
sent month remains fixed at 38 centimes the kilogramme
(about 7d. for the 41b. loaf).
" There issued from the French press, during the year
1845, 6,521 books of various kinds, 1,405 prints, 492
pieces of music, and 104 maps—in all 8,520 works.
" M. Alfred Marcy Monge, who perished in the wreck
of the Papin steamer, was a grandson of the celebrated
mathematician of that name. M. Marey Monge was ad.
mitted into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1840, as a
junior in the Consular Department, and was soon after-
wards appointed provisional consul at Belgrade. Thence
he was removed as Consul to Corunna. An accident si-
milar to that by which he lost his life gave him an oppor-
tunity in 1844 of distinguishing himself. The Vedette
Government steamer, on the 15th October in that year,
while at anchor off Corunna, was in danger of being
lost, from a sudden and violent gale of wind coming on.
The state of the sea was so tremendous that no one else
had courage to face it ; but M. Monge jumped into a
boat, and, being followed by others encouraged by his
example, the Vedette was reached, and brought safe into
port. For this bold and humane act he was invested
with the Order of the Legion of Honour. In June last
he was appointed Consul at Mogadore, in the room of
M. H. Jorelle, and was going there when he met his
fate, being only 31 years of age. He has left two
brothers, the eldest a Major-General serving with dis-
tinction in Africa, and the youngest attached to the
French mission in China."

New Year's-day was observed at the Paris Bourse
as a close holiday. At TORTONI'S the Three per
Cents. were quoted at 83f. 15c.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, JAN. 2.
Anglo-Belgian — Madrid and Valencia...
Barbadoes
Boulogne and Amiens.. 12% Namur and Liege 334
Bordeaux &Mediterran North Jamaica ...
Bordeaux and Toulouse Orleans and Vierzon 1744
Do. & Cette (Espeleta) Orleans and Bordeaux 11%
Do. ( Mackenzie's ) 2 Over Yssel ••
Callao, Linea, and Pa- Parit & Lyons (Laffitte) 2

citio Coast
Central of Spain
Ceylon .
Demerara
Dendre Valley ......
Dutch Rhenish ... 73A
Dieppe & Paris Juact.
Dijon and Mulhouse

East Indian ...... l%
Grt Northern of France
Constituted 1434
Great Indian Peninsular N
Do. Pepin le Halleur —
Great Paris and Lyons 2%
Great Western Bengal
Great Western Canada
Jamaica S. Mid. Junction

Ditto (Ganneron's). 341
Ditto (Calon's).—. —2%
Ditto (Sad Est)
Paris and Orleans —
Paris and Rouen
Paris and Strasburg
(Ganneroles)
Do. (Compe de L'Est)

Do.
Do. (Ayrnard's)......
Paris and St. Quentin.
Rouen and Havre.—
Royal North of Spain.
Sambre and Meuse ....
Strasburg and Bale ....
Tournay,Jurbise, Lan-
den, and Hasselt ...
Tours and Nantes

Do. North Midland
Do. Extension

(Mackenzie's)----
Do. (Lefebvre's)

Jerse♦
Louvain and Jemappe —
Lyons and Avignon 214
Luxembourg

Do.
Trinidad
Verona and Ancona 134
West Flanders slh

Madrid journals of the 25th ult. have been re-
ceived, but, owing to the severity of the weather,
those of the 26th had not reached Paris at the depar-
ture of the English mail on the Ist inst. The accounts
of the state of the capital and provinces are satisfactory.
The Minister of Finance is proceeding with great
firmness in reforming the gross abuses in his depart-
ment, and, of course, has excited enemies among the
jobbers and plunderers. A paper called the Universal,
indeed, appears to have been established for the pur-
pose of attacking the new system ; but we trust with-
out effect. He has already done wonders. He has taken
up his official residence at the Custom-house, where
he is actively endeavouring to complete his financial
schemes. It is affirmed that he intends doing away
with the provincial intendants and other agents of his
department, and establishing " receivers-general"
of the taxez, as is the once in France. Tt is also said
that he contemplates opening to each Ministerial de-
partment a separate credit, in order that each Secre-
tary of State may positively know what resources he
may dispose of. The Bourse, of course, was closed
on Christmas-day.

THE MINISTRY.—The following are the new
Ministers of the Cabinet :—The Earl of Dalhousie,
President of the Board of Trade ; the Earl of Ellen-
borough, First Lord of the Admiralty ; the Earl of
St. Germans, Postmaster• General, and the Right
Hon. W. Gladstone, Secretary for the Colonies. The
Earl of lladdington has been appointed Lord Privy
Seal, in the room of the Duke of Buccleuch, who
succeeds Lord Wharncliffe as Lord President of the
Council.

It is not probable that the election for the West
Riding of Yorkshire will take place until after the
meeting of Parliament. No writ of summons has
yet been issued calling Lord \Vharncliffe to the
House of Peers, and until that be done, no vacancy
can be declared.

SUSSEX HOSPITAL, BRIGHTON.—We are glad to
learn that a very talented young gentleman, Mr.
Edssard Parson, was unanimously elected surgeon to
the Sussex Hospital, at Brighton, in a manner as
highly gratifying to his feelings, as it was honourable
to the patrons of that very useful establishment. Mr.
Parson officiated for some considerable time at the
hospital during- the absence of the former surgeon.

DRUAY•LANE THEATRE.—It gives us great pleasure
to record the brilliant success which has attended the pre-
sent holiday performances at this theatre. At the same
time, we are free to confess that it would indeed be a matter
of perfect surprise if such entertainments as Maritana,
The Devil to Pay, and Harlequin Gulliver, with all the
eminent performers who support them, did not draw all
London. We hear that the last week's receipts are
without precedent.
A great number of empty boxes, in which soap had
been packed, with American directions on them, as well as
candles in a loose state, have been picked up this week along
our beach to the westward between this town and Shoreham.
—Brighton Herald.