The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-03 00:00:00

upon this catastrophe prove how absolutely requisite
a reform is for the arrangement of this most important
' question in seamanship. Had the Sea Nymph (the
steamer sunk by the collision) been constructed like
the more fortunate boat, the Rambler, namely, with
water-tight compartments, the unhappy voyagers
from Ireland, who were upon that occasion destroyed,
might have been enjoying life at this moment. Under
all considerations, we cannot but repeat it, the matter
calls for a most decided reformation. Whether more
intensely radiating lights, or the employ-
ment of percussion signals in hazy weather, or
an increase of vigilance or a decrease of speed be
necessary, remains to be thoroughly elucidated. Two
things, however, are abs)lutely certain—first, that
water-tight compartments should be more generally
adopted in naval architecture; and, secordly, that a
system is requisite.

The treaty of commerce lately concluded between
Russia and Turkey is published is the Augsburgh
Gazette, of which the following is an outline :
" It is to come into force on July 1, and to last to
1856. The contracting parties are to declare six months
in advance if they intend to continue the treaty 01
modify it. The articles are 20 in number. The sup-
plementary duties of 9 per cent, fur exports, and 2 pe,
cent. on imports to be added to the 3 per cent. already
long established, are admitted as a principle in th,
re,,ty. Art. 6 declares that the Russians cannot trade
in Turkey in articles manufactut ed th, re, nor can the 3
esta,,liih manufactories. Art. 9 reserves to the Otto-
man Porte the right to interdict, in case of necessity.
the exportation of any Turkish produce for a determined
time; Turkey, however, undertakes to inform the Ras
sian ambassador of such articles, and if any exception is
to be made, it is to be in favour of the Russians. Art. 10
excepts from liberty of commerce gunpowder, bails, &c
When Russian vessels import cannon, they must deposit
them at the custom-house, in order to be sold under the
superintendence of the customs' officers, and more guns
cannot be disposed of than will be sufficient for one ves
sel. Art. 11 enumerates the monopolies reserved by
the Turkish Treasury (particularly leeches). Foreign
salt and snuff can only be sold wholesale. Art 16 speaks
of the principalities of Danube and Servia. Such produce
as is introdnced by Russia into these countries is to pa)
3 per cent. entrance duty, and 2 per cent. additional to
the customs. The transit of Russian articles is fixed at
3 per cent.

Madrid journals to the 27th ult., have been re
ceived.

A rumour was in :very general circulation that
some modification was about to take place in the
Ministry, in consequence of which M. PACHECO and
certain other members of the Conservative Opposition,
would take office under M. ISTURITZ, who would still
remain President of the Council. Accounts had been
received from Portugal, to the effect that ALMEDIA
had pronounced in favour of the insurrection. Gene-
ral CALLENGE had concentrated all the forces in the
province of Ciudad Roderigo on the frontier, and on
the 23d he was at Alda del Obispo.
The Three per Cents. were not quoted on the
Madrid Bourse, and but few private sales took place
at 334 13-16. The Five per Cents. were done at
20i 21 for cash ; the shares of the Bank of San Fer-
nando, at 380, and those of Isabel, at 196.:

We have received the Paris papers of Monday.
In consequence of the observation of the holiday of
Whit-Sunday at most of the printing-offices, only
three papers were published on Monday morning
viz., the Courrier Francais, the National, and the
Presse.

The Courrier Francais, which has always been an
advocate for free trade, thus comments on the
passing of the second reading of the Corn Bill by the
House of Lords :

" The cause of the freedom of trade is gained in Eng-
land ; even the House of Lords, that interested guardlan
of the old system, has been obliged to go by the current
of public opinion. If the other nations follow the path
traced by Great Britain—if they enter boldly into the
prosperous road of liberty—it may be said then that, in
a very few years, the whole face of the world will be
changed. No more wars arising out of the imposition of
customs duties—no more conflicts from factitious interests
—no more outcries from manufacturers—no more dis-
orders in the arena of production. Such are the great
promises of commercial liberty, and these are not vain
promises. They are promises guaranteed by know-
ledge, mid will soon, no doubt, receive a striking con-
firmation by the conviction of a great nation. But it is
important that the people of the continent should hasten
to burst the chains by which industry has been fettered
under the feudal system. Commercial liberty is a pro-
gression which cannot be too quickly adopted, and
iollowed up to realisation."
The Courrier then proceeds to enumerate the diffi-
culties with which the partisans of free trade will
have to contend in France, where the protectionists
are so powerful, and where the Government, even if
it has the will, is so little able to carry any great
measure in favour of liberal principles as regards
commerce. The article of the Courrier concludes as
follows :
" The friends of commercial freedom have a rude task
before there. They have to undergo the arbitary pres-
sure of legal power, and to struggle against the immense
majority in Parliament But if they have to contend
against the interests and pr, judices of the representatives
of the country, have they not for their natural auxiliaries
the reason and interest of the immense majority of the
people? Let them therefore enter undauntedly into the arena, let them organise themselves with or without
1"41291.itY the Goverhmeut and the chamber throw 1

undoubtedly, be contemned as the mere babbling of
a mock philanthropy ; but to reduce the question to
one of sheer duty imposed upon the community, and to
say that many of our countrymen encounter death
when a timely interference might have warded off the
danger, places the subject of our comments upon
an appreciable footing. Again, what transpired
yesterday may transpire to-morrow—what has
already occurred, to such an one may happen
some time or other to ourselves. That consideration
brings the matter home to each of us, and while un-
doubtedly it may impart an ostensible air of selfish-
ness to our benevolence in regard to such calamities,
it will nevertheless animate that benevolence with a
more practical earnestness than a thousand other more re-
fined and less egotistical reflections. The most invariable
and glaring characteristics of a catastrophe of this
description are those which transpire upon judicial
investigations into the occurrence : from these it
always appears that no one concerned in the transac-
tion was in the slightest degree to blame—the blue
lights were duly ignited, the look-out was lite-
rally " wide awake," the captain —(a confession
always volunteered upon evidence)—the captain was
(marvellous improbability to be guaranteel upon
oath !) sober. Nay, the more enthusiastic witnesses
are repeatedly enlarging upon the testimony of each
other : one sailor avers that the skipper was " clear
as a whistle in the foretop ;" another ingeniously
hints at his habitual sobriety ; a third, prefacing his
assurance with a "'vast heaving,
messm ate," solemnly
avouches that he never saw the captain drunk
throughout his existence. And all this spontaneous
evilmee as to the abstemiousness of the commander
of the delinquent vessel, possibly, through a trepida-
tion that his employers might say as OTHELLO did
under similar circumstances--

"--
Cassio, I love thee well,
But never more be officer of mine."
Now we are not impeaching any individual, or in-
veighing idly against any particular class ; neither
do we mean to insinuate anything like the suborning
of interested witnesses. We are simply narrating
facts, and commenting upon casualties with the
view of arriving at some definite conclusion as to
the readiest way of preventing the repetition of those
facts and the possibility of those same casualties.
Indeed, we will take the accuracy of such evidence
for granted, and coincide thus far in favour of those
implicated. We will admit, for instance, that the
blue lights were tended with all proper care and
ceremony, that the look-out was vigilant as Argils,
and the captain, as the saying goes, as sober as a
judge; and having admitted all this, we will then in-
vestigate as to the possibility of such an accident oc-
curring after so many elaborate precautions. Ob-
serve, we are alluding to those countless collisions
where there are survivors from both the vessels,
all the survivors telling the same story as
above mentioned. In hazy and foggy weather, or
upon what are called " dark nights," the accident is
laid on all hands upon the condition of the atmo-
sphere; but, seriously, such excuses are altogether
inadmissible. Supposing the fog to be so dense as
to choke the radiation from the blue lights, what can
be more obvious than the necessity of so diminishing
the speed of the vessels as to give both an opportu-
nity for steering clear of each other as soon as the
warning is recognisable ? But these accidents are
continually occurring, under the aggravating circum.
stances of a great facility for prevention. The recent
collision on the Mersey is a case in point, and a
ease in which blame appears to be scarcely attachable
to any individual, but to be solely attachable, on the
contrary, to the system. The circumstances attendan