The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-02 00:00:00

u~ ~r~s~as~ ~"~m~

LONDON, TUESDAY, MAY 2, 1848.

An extraordinary amount of repugnance
evinced last evening by several of the inore
w"
distin-
guished among our Liberal representatives in the
House of Commons against the introduction of rnea-
sures of a coercive character to foreigners resident in
Great Britain. With all our heart we sympathise in
that repugnance, and yet we are as heartily rejoiced
that the second reading of the Alien Bill was carried
with a majority of 119. Doubtless to those who are
conscientiously opposed to this particular proposition
of the Government there will appear in the foregoing
declaration a very. wonderful degree of inconsistency.
To our mind, however, we are guilty of no incon-
sistency whatever in abhorring the one project and
commending the other, for in our estimation there is
between the two not even a shadow of resemblance.
Those who imagine that they are remaining true to
that great constitutional cause of liberality with which
the illustrious names of BuouGzast, Fox, GREY,
WIRMILRIAD, ROMILLT, WILBERPORCE, HOLLAVD,

MACKINTOSH, and LANDSDOWNE have become iden-
tified are labouring under a deplorable delusion
This delusion arises from a sudden and extravagant
obliquity of judgment in regarding as identical the
circumstances of 1793 and of 1848, and in repre-
hending with equal ardour the despotic Act demanded
by the Cabinet of Parr, and the harmless and rational
Act required by the Cabinet of Russznn. Between
the two Bills there is not one jot more analogy than
there is between the two epochs—the bloody epoch
when ROBESPIERRE was in the ascendant, and the
pacific and fraternal epoch when the political pulse of
France beats in unison with the gentle heart of
LAMARTINE. True it is that Mr. BURKE in 1793 sup-
ported the Alien Bill of Mr. PITT because his
whole soul revolted at the atrocities of those satur-
nalias of murder and spoliation which imparted for
ever a diabolical significance to the 10th of August
and the 7th of September. True it is that a lively
imagination or a miraculous gift of penetration ma)
detect in LEDRU ROLLIN a DAYTON, in SOBRIER,
CBAUNIETTE, in CABET a HEBERT, in Ensosciul a
MARAT, in LERROUX a VARLET, and in the Demo-
cratic Pacifique a travestie of the Vieux Cordeliers.
Yet, granting all this—granting there were ample
cause for dreading the revival of the Reign of Terror,
and of the emulation of those ruthless democrats
who in the Committee of Public Safety and in the
Revolutionary Tribunal connived at the blasphemies
of ANACHARSIS KLOOTZ, and at the pitiless accusa-
tions of BILLAUD VARENNES—We maintain that there
would still be required a reason for the passing of an
Alien Act like that submitted to the House of Com-
mons in 1793. No massacre at Paris, no diffusion
of anarchical doctrines on the continent, would, to our
thinking, ever justify an Act so despotic and uncon-
stitutional. It is because the Alien Bill of 1848 is
diametrically the reverse of the Alien Bill of 1793,
that we are disposed to accept the former cordially,
while we continue to regard with abhorrence
the very remembrance of the latter. To explain our
meaning thoroughly it is only necessary to observe
that the measure introduced to Parliament in 1793,
and afterwards revived in 1814, empowered the So-
vereign or the Privy Council to proclaim any indivi-
dual an alien, and to drive him from the country
without assigning any reason whatever, and without
being restrained in these tyrannical proceedings by
any sense of responsibility. Whereas according to
the Alien Bill of 1848 the Government will only be
authorised to proceed on information sufficiently
decisive to satisfy the mind of the Secretary of State
that the person in question is embarked in enter-
prises (or call them, if you will, conspiracies,) calcu
lated to be productive of very dangerous consequences.
Even, then, according to a declaration made last night
in the House of Commons by the Right Hon. the
Attorney-General,—" if an application were made in
the Lower House for such particulars and informa-
tion, the Secretary of State would be bound to pro-
duce them in justification of the Government." In
this circumstance alone there is an ample guarantee
that justice will be showti to those unfortunate re-
fugees who are driven to this country for shelter
from he storms and perils of continental revolution
Beyond this, however, there is a still more
remarkable security to those foreigners who are
actuated by merely pacific and reverential
sentiments ; and that is the facility which at present
exists of obtaining letters of naturalization. Some
conception of how great this facility is may be-
gleaned from the fact that, while in 1793 and 1814
" insuperable objections presented themselves to fo-
reigners in obtaining letters of naturalization," no less
than 789 such letters have been obtained, at an insig-
nificant pecuniary outlay, since the passing of the
Naturalization Act of 1844. Consequently, as
letters of naturalization can be obtained so readily,
and as those who are naturalized are not capable of
being subjected to the penalties of the Alien Bill, and
as the powers of the Government are re-
stricted in this instance within the narrowest
limits, and as the Government, even when
acting within those limits will be responsible to the
vigilance of Parliament—we are disposed to welcome
the proposition of her Majesty's blinisters with a
cordial and unconditional confidence. No danger
can by possibility ensue in consequence of re-
posing so small an addition of power in the hands
of our rulers, and the character of England will
remain unchanged as the resort of political desti.
tution, and the refuge of culpable or unfortunate
statesmen. Some intelligent opponents have ob-
jected to the Bill, because, in their estimation, it
may be regarded as an insult in Paris, ano
as an evidence of jealousy towards the French
Government. We should like very much,
indeed, to know whether any honest French
man would consider his country insulted b)
the infliction of penalties upon some unprincipled
adventurer in the shape of a' Propagandist,
and whether he would not consider his country in-
sulted by the derision cast upon the accent of French-
men by the Hon. Member for Oldham, and by that
comparison of the citizens of France to ourang-
outangs, which drew down last night the applauding
laughter of the House of Commons upon the remark,
of the Hon. Member for Montrose. What to us is
it whether the maiden speech of the Noble Lord,
now Prime Minister of England, was a diatribe
against an Alien Bill conceived in a spirit of
true despotism, or what does it matter whether in
1816 Lord ALTHORP declared " that no danger could
be apprehended here from the machinations of an \
foreigners ?"—the Alien Bill of 1848 proves on exa-
mination to have a decidedly constitutional tendency,
and is calculated to render innocuous the machina-
tions of Propagandists and Communists, and there-
fore we are rejoiced to find it introduced so boldly by
the Government and accepted so cordially by Par-
liament.

Sta WILLIAM Somaavlnna last night obtained
leave to introduce a Bill " for regulating the Elective
Franchise, and for the Registration of Parliamentary
Electors in Ireland," being one of the relief measures
which Government had announced their intention of
bringing forward with a view of removing the just
complaints of Irishmen, and tranquillizing their un-
happy country. The chief features of the proposed
measure are perfectly unobjectionable, and although
it may well be doubted whether it goes far
enough in placing the constituency on a sufficiently
wide basis, these are details which can fairly be con-
sidered in Committee, and by no means affect the
principle which strikes at the root of some of the
most prominent abuses, the most flagrant evils of the
o
presentthe
cs
hs yaoisrnftaesemuttffieh.
ree Tefsnehtevheyesereoafflar
franchise
etnchoccehnhsifistreeiaflt
nu; yee—shne
franchise—first
secondly,
,al
ynct,doh,net
tshhe
eacii mrunr-
debal
nt
the system of registration, which at present is open to
many and weighty objections.

The Right Hon. Baronet forcibly and clearly ex-
plained the evils resulting from the ambiguous
was iguous and
t
may arristers
b-b
doubtful character of the franchise.ssstai3
uniformity of decision ; not only a
or County Court Ju.!ges, as theybe termed,
differed in their construction of the statute, b
the Judges of the Supreme Courts themselvesteven
inter.e
pretated the law in a totally different manner.o
Hence, persons who in one county would be eo
n
sidered perfectly eligible, and placed on the list of
corers, might, in the adjoining one, be rejected.
There could even be no certainty of the results of ap-
peals to the ultimate tribunal. This necessarily led
to much expense, and to great irritation on the part
of those who were refused what they conceived to be
a just right, and in which opinion they were fortified
by seeing others who were similarly circumstanced
to themselves in the enjoyment of the franchise. It
might also possibly lead to appointments being
conferred, not from the superior eligibility of the par-
ties, but from their peculiar views on questions which
might influence the elections in the districts in which
they
he y might be called in to adjudicate, and thus to
give a
thih
predominance tToheornee
was
orotainleorthoefr
et
vh
iel
of conflict-
log
parties great
magnitude, however,e which was scarcely alluded to,
b
which will
,thewholly
alteration, viz
exi3ted so long as the temptation to perjury, which
suffereci
possession of the franchise was
in any degree
to
dependinorof upon the testimony
of the party claiming it,those he might bring
forward as witnesses
of his demand.
Every one at all acquainte,Z with Ireland is too pain-
uPP°rt
fully aware of the mass of )
contradictory swearing, thateis
disputed questions of value beforebrought forward on all
risters, and the time that is i the A saistant--13ar-
nnetesaarily consumed
•

in hearing and adjudicating upon that evidence. No
system could be devised more calculated to demoralize
he peasantry, and induce them to think light!)
of the solemn obligation of an oath, than that to
which we have adverted, and in abolishing altogether
the practice the Government will hare conferred
a boon upon Ireland that will be highly valued by
every right-minded man in the community. For the
future there will be no question of beneficial inte
rest*, or what solvent tenants might give for the tene•
ments if in the market to be disposed of ; neither wilt
there be any question of the tenure. The franchise
depending on occupation will be wholly based upon
rating ; one simple and invariable rule will be adopted
Every person occupying premises rated to the relief of
the poor at 81. per annum or upwards, will be entitled
to be placed upon the register of electors; and joint
occupiers, provided that each occupation- when
divided was of the net annual value of 8/.,
according to such rating, will likewise be
entitled. This is a great improvement, for no
sufficient reason could be assigned why parties wh,
were each possessed of the requisite amount should
be excluded, because they enjoyed an undivided
estate. Persons also entitled to estates in fee or in
tail of the annual value of 51., will be entitled to a
vote, provided they are in the actual occupation of
the premises. The only restrictions on these rights
will be that the party must have been in the occupa•
tion of the premises for six months before he can bt
placed upon the registry. He must also before voting
produce a receipt for the payment of the last rate that
has been made for the relief of the poor. There is to
be no change with respect to parties qualified other-
wise than by occupation, nor with respect to the town
qualification, save that in the latter case all the
clauses requiring payment of municipal rates are to
he repealed, with the exception of so much of the
poor•rate as had nut accrued within the preceding
three months, and the franchise is to be conferred
upon joint occupiers.

The smallness of the several constituencies in
Ireland has been generally admitted ; when it
considered that the whole of the county voters in
that country at present do not exceed 60,000, not
quite double the number who possess the franchise
for the West Riding of Yorkshire, the necessity of
a great extension will be apparent. The Chief Se
cretary calculates that the numbers will be qua-
irupled under the new system. This will, undoubt-
,Klly be an improvement ; the only question will IH--
whether. it is sufficient. It is, however, a large
instalment of justice ; and, as we have already said,
it is one of those details that may properly be settled
in Committee, which does not at all affect the great
principle of a franchise based upon rating, and not in
.Any degree dependent upon tenure or the construc-
tion of a doubtful statute.

The
,registration question is stated to be exceed-

ingly complicated, and the full consideration of this
cart of the subject has been postponed until the
second reading. We shall therefore wait, without
expressing any opinion, for the explanations that may
'then be afforded. One distinction between the prac-
tice in the sister kingdoms will, we trust, be abo•
fished. In this country the lists of voters are
revised every year, and if a party has improperl
been placed upon the registry, the name
will be expunged the following year, if any well-
rounded objection can be alleged against his reten-
-ion. This is not so in Ireland. If a party has once
peen admitted, he must remain thereon for eight.
years. There can be no valid reason why the law
should not be assimilated in both countries, and why
in annual revison should not take place in Ireland
as well as in Englattd.

The predominant feeling of all the countries of
Europe may just now be summed up in one word
E xpectation. However different their individual
condition, each and all look with mingled hope and
anxiety to the future. All have been, more or leis.
agitated by the recent convulsion, although all have
not been alike influenced by its effects. In some
nations the worst throes of revolution are over—
those agonies which, according to a happy simile of
Ni.ecameer's, invariably convulse the body politic
during the exorcism of the evil spirit of despotism.
But even in those in which the evils of revolution are
at an end, and peace and tranquillity are restored, the
benefits of revolution are yet to come, and
such nations, necessarily, look anxiously to the
tliture. The more hopeful and ardent Republicans
look forward without fear—unwavering believers in
their own attractive theories, they fondly imagine
their full realisation to be at hand. Others, again,
too sadly convinced of the instability of human
affairs, watch the progress of events with fear and
trembling. Nevertheless, however varied their opi-
nions, all feel that a great era in their nation's his-
tory is at hand, and wait in anxious expectation. So
it is with France, now that the novelty of Re-
publicanism is at an end, that the hazards
of the election 3 are safely over, now that
the truth of the theories of Republicanism
—those schemes which, under the name of "liberty"
and " equality," have so often filled the hearts of
nations with ambition and enthusiasm, and which, as
set forth in the proclamations of RonasPIERE and the
pages of LAMARTINE, have excited such universal
and irresistible admiration—are about to be subjected
to the severe and practical test of reality. Expecta-
tion is at the present moment the predominant
feeling of France and of every individual
Frenchman. And a similar feeling pervades
those other kingdoms which, like France, have
recently attained to a higher degree of liberty, such
as Prussia, where the KING has signalised himself by
his concessions, and such even as Austria, where ex-
traordinary liberal innovations have in an especial
manner testified the power of the popular will. But
there are other nations as yet less fortunate than
those we have particularised, who are filled with no
less expectation and anxiety for the future—nations,
who have yet to taste the full blessings of liberty,
such as Italy, even now battling for her rights, or
who have yet to strike the final and decisive blow for
independence, such as Poland, even yet enslaved by
the domination of Russia. Can we be wrong in
saying that the one great feeling which now
fills the hearts of nations situated like these
is expectation, the most eager and anxious
expectation, as to what the coming hour may
bring forth for them ? Nor is England ex
eluded from participation in this universal feeling.
We, too, look upon the future with hopeful anxiety.
The endeavours of the disaffected to promote dis-
turbance have happily failed, and even the
alarm which those attempts had excited has
now subsided. We await in calm, but not
the less anxious expectation, the realisation
of those ameliorative projects which have recently
been the topic of political discourse, and have excited
the popular anxiety. Other kingdoms are now fol-
lowing in our wake, and modelling their constitutions
by our example ; and it is consequently by no means
fitting that we should relax from our exertions. Black-
wood, in comparing the revolution of Europe and the
Chartist attempts in this country, very correctly
ridicules the notions of those pseudo-patriots who
desire England to emulate the liberal movement in
other nations. " There is no royal road to freedom
any more than to geometry," he observes. " Eng-
land has preceded other nations by two centuries
in this glorious path; it would ill suit the
masters to recede, and imitate the follies
of such as are only becoming tyros in the at-
tempt to follow it. Those who hare long reached
the summit, and know with what difficulty it was
attained, can afford to smile at the young aspirants
who invite them to descend and renew the toil of the
ascent."

Nevertheless, however correct this may be, it would
be equally unfit for " the masters " to suffer
their imitators to surpass them. It is for us still to
maintain our proud position in the van of the great
regenerating march of progress. Such, notwithstand-
ing the opposition to the Chartist movement, is the
earnest desire of the English people, and because, they
too, like all the other European nations, are now look-
ing forward with anxious expectation.

SPAIN.
Madrid journals of the 26th ult. have arrived,
They contain no intelligence of importance.
MADRID BOLSA, Arm 26•
Tbree per Cents.,
21i buyers, f sellers ; Five per Cents., 13f buyers
sellers ; Passive Debt, 5 sellers, and buyers at that
price after the close; Coupons, 9 sellers. Exchange
on London, 42. Bank Shares, 96 buyers, 98 sellers.

4.'/..V114e1t

5tu.=:,41.1.5d1 v:-.71q4.!

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 2, 1848.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

PROCEEDINGS AT PARIS.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.

The accounts from the disturbed districts are satis-
factory. Order continued undisturbed at Rouen,
and at Elbceuf the National Guards and the troops
of the line had taken possession of all the posts occu-
pied by the rioters. The Genera► commanding the
14th military division and the Procureur-General et
ttouen had arrived in that town for the purpose of
restoring order, and examining into the affair. Ac-
cording to the latest accounts from Limoges, that
town was still in the hands of the ouvriers, who had
established a scrt of Provisional Government, and
had established themselves at the Prefecture, from
which they had previously driven the Government
Commissary.
Some serious disturbances broke out at Amiens on
Saturday, in consequence of the refusal of a demand
made by the ouvriers that they should be paid their
wages on Easter Tuesday, the day of the elec-
tions, as though they had actually worked for them.
The National Guards and the line were imme-
diately called out, and the crowd having forced their
way into the Hotel de Ville several collisions took
place between the people and the troops. The 'nub
then began to build barricades in the different streets,
but the National Guards and troops took them with-
out any great difficulty, and by the last accounts the
rioters had bee❑ completely put down. Only one
person is stated to have been killed, but a great
number were wounded. Eighteen of the rioters have
been taken.

Returns have been received from fifty-three depart-
ments, and they give a large majority of moderate
itepublicans. 181. LEDRu RoLLIN and his supporters,
,re at no pains to suppress the expression of their
rage and disappointment at this result.
Three Prelates have been returne,l for the Assembly ;
the Archbishop of Paris is returned for Aveyron; the
Bishop of Orleans, for Lozerre ; and the Bishop of
Quimper, for Finisterre.
It is said that the opening of the Chamber will not
be postponed beyond Thursday, the day originally
tixed, but the grand national tete, which was to huve
taken place on that day, has been postponed to the
10th.

The Marquis and Marchioness of NORMANDY
dined on Saturday with M. DE LAMARIINE, at the
ilotel of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Considerable apprehensions are entertained lest the
anarchists, finding themselves so completely beaten
in the Assembly-, should endeavour to make another
outbreak.

Letters from Lyons say that the famous revolu-
tionary society, called Les Voraces, had been dis-
solved, the commander of the city having declined to
recognise it. The Voraces immediately made a
seditious demonstration during the night at the Hotel
de Ville to demand the dismissal of Gen. GEMEAU.

Saturday they attempted to carry off four cases of
arms destined for the National Guard Mobile; they
were, however, repulsed. rhe troops occupied the
principal place in the town on Saturday night-800
men were in the Hotel de Ville.
There are various rumours in Paris as to the
nature of the constitution which will be probably
adopted by the Assembly. It is said that the
moderate majority of the Provisional Government,
ied by M. DE LAMAILTINE, will propose to the
Assembly the constitution of a republic, with a single
Chamber and a President. As a substitute for the
retarding action of a Senate, or second Chamber, it
is proposed that the President shall be invested with
a suspensive veto, to be valid for three months, after
which, should the Chamber not revoke or modify
the Act upon which the veto has been laid, it will
become law. The Government entertains a con-
fident expectation that a republic constituted on
these bases will be accepted by the Chamber, and
that the question will be settled without much delay
or even dizcussion. The duration of the tenure of
the presidency is nut yet settled, but it may be re-
garded as certain that M. DE LAMARTINE will be the
tirat President.

A general meeting of the shareholders in the rail-
way of the north took place on the 29th, M.
Itomscumn in the chair. The report stated a great
increase in the traffic, and proposed a dividend of
91. 95c. It is said that many agents of commercial
houses in England have received large remittances in
gold, to lay out in Parisian produce at the present
low prices. Many purchases have been made at 20
and 25 per cent. discount.
It is understood that the decree recalling General
CAYAIGNAC from Algiers has originated in the fact
that M. Ansoo finds the management of the Ministry
of War impracticable from want of professional
knowledge, and Government hopes, when General
CAVAIGNAC is present in Paris, to overcome
those scruples which they cannot surmount at a
distance.

M. .FLocos has, it is said, seceded from the Ledru
Rollin section of the Provisional Government, and
given in his adhesion to the Moderate Party led by
M. LAMARTINE.

A considerable sensation was yesterday created in
Paris by the publication of a proclamation from the
Club des Droils des Hommes, and signed by BAxuas,
LhaoN, HAVER, and several of the principal demo-
crats of Paris. The proclamation is expressed in the
most violent terms. It declares that the object of the
club is to defend the real principles of the revolution
and the principles of the rights of man, as they were
defined and proclaimed in 1793 by RonssriEnas, by
arms or otherwise; and it calls on the people to join
in establishing those principles, under penalty of being
stripped of their property and liberty.
A meeting of the shareholders of the Dieppe Rail-
way Company took place on Saturday. A committee
of five members was named to proceed the next day
to examine the line, and to ascertain what sum will
be necessary to finish the line.
The Secretary-General of the questors of the late
Chamber of Deputies h.s, by order of the Provisional
Government, published a notice in the different jour-
nals to the following effect :

" The representatives of the people who may be in
Paris are requested to come to his office previous to the
4th, the day fixed for the opening of the National As-
sembly, to inscribe their names and addresses, and re-
ceive cards which will make their capacity known. Such
as have not before been members of either of the legis-
lative bodies are desired to bring with them the certifi-
cates of their births."

ADD. EL-KADER arrived at Toulouse in the even-
ing ot the 26th ult., on his way to Pau. His suite
consisted of eighty persons.
K.—havThegain firmness
advaonteethde,
aml
tahrokuegth con-
not
altogether with the same rapidity as was seen during
the last week. The Five per Cents. have bean more in
demand than the Threes, and some specu'ators have
even made an arbitrage between the two; that is, have
bought the one and sold the other. in consequence, the
Five per Cents. have advanced lf., closing at 70f. 75c.;
whilst the Three per Cents. have declined 25c., closing
at 47t. 50c. Bank of France Shares are again 201.
higher,
the last price being 1,460 f. But the most
remarkable rise during the day has been in
Rothschild's Neapolitan, which closed at Of.,
or 6it. higher than when previously quoted. Belgian
Fives (1840) were also much demanded, and show an
advance ot 4if. on. Saturday's prices, closing at 71if.
Obligations are 10f. higher, closing at 1,040 f. The
Vieille Montagne Shares, which. had gone down to
1,0901., had been for some days improving, and closed
to-day at 2,900 f. The cause of this advance is said to
be that the company has procured money, and is now
actively at work again. Bons du Tifimor was done to-
day at 34 per cent. loss. Railway Shares have not varied
much, but the tendency is upwards. Orleans are 7f. 50c.
higher,
closing at 560 f. ; Rouen sf. at 405 f. ; Versailles
(Right Bank),
5.F., at 120 f. ; ditto (Left Bank) 12'. 50c.,
at 1071. 50e. ; Strasburg It. 25c., at 3511. 25c. Havre
have fallen 5f.,
at 200 f. ; Northern 2f. 50c., at 3431. 75c.;
Lyons 2f. 50c., at 300 f.; Nantes lf. 25e., at 3351. Bor-
deaux remain at 395 f.

DIPARTURE OF THE COURT (THIS DAY) FROM
OSBORNE FOR BUCKINGHAM PALACE FOR THE
SEASM—Her Majesty and the Prince Consort
accoirpanied by the youthful Royal Family, and
attended by the Marchioness of Douro (Lady in
Waiting), Lieutenant-Colonel Seymour (Equerry to
the Prince), the Hon. Miss Dawson (Maid of
Honour), and Major-General Bowles (Master of the
Household), left Osborne Palace, Isle of Wight, this
day, at two o'clock, in the 'Fairy Royal Yacht, for
Portsmouth, whence the illustrious party proceeded
by special train to Buckingham Palace, where they
are expected to arrive at five. Lord Alfred Paget,
Clerk Marshal, was not in attendance, having
been called to town by the accouchement of her Lady-
ship' • f." •--__

this improved state of things has alone prompted him,
with unmingled satisfacti,n, to make the sacrifice of re
ithquishing privileges which have heretoiOra been uu
questionable con- titutional rights. The agnatic assent
will be furnished by the undersigned, should it t),
required. In the meantime, that your Majesty will be
pleased to ordain the abrogation of judicial, forest, an.i
patron privileges on the part of the Government, is the
prayer, with all due respect, of
" Your Majesty's most humble subject,
" E. E. PRINCE VON LEINENGEN.
" Munich, April 11."