The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-31 00:00:00

THE SUN,

-7
diate reforms—and yet reforms at once progressive
and rational—will appear in their estimation as
nothing short of being absolutely impracticable.
Nevertheless we reiterate our previous ass. rtion.
We regard a grand and instant movement of reform
as essential—we maintain the necessity of extending
the privilege of the elective franchise to many mil-
lions of the population who have hitherto been de-
prived of that advantage—we demand the ballot, the
diminution of the time allowed to Parliament as
the extreme limits of its existence—and we aver at
once that we also look upon these measures as mere
instalments of reform, and that we view their reali-
sation as feasible without resorting to bluster, or to
intimidation, or to mob demonstrations, or to araled
processions, or to forged petitions, or to spoken trea
son, or to acted treason, or to any other of the evi-
dences of ignorance, brutality, or humbug. We
protest this—we maintain this—Clerken well- green,
Kennington-common, and Horselydown nevertheless
notwithstanding ! The more rea-onable members of
the great body called the Chartists have al-
ready come to the same conclusion. They
have abandoned the nution cf pushing im-
possible Bills throu,h the Houses of Lords
and Commons, with the pressure of a rabble of
150,000 men. They have adopted the L.oble and
humanizing principles of agitation which were first
acted upon by DANIEL O'CoNNELL, and which have
recently led to such glorious results under the guid-
ance of RICH AHD COBDEN. A pact, ortreaty of
alliance, has been formed between this section of the
Chartists and the Radical Reformers, in obedience to
which fraternization they will conquer many of those
evils which weigh most heavily upon the bulk of the
population. The passage of the Emperor NAPOLEON
from Eiba to Paris—perhaps the most sublime
spectacle in ancient or modern history—that
journey in which a great military hero marched in
triumph from the extremity of a vast country into
the heart of its capital, conquering the land of
France with a body-guard of one thousand men,
and without the effusion of a single drop of bli
od—
the
passage of the Emperor NAPOLEON from Elba
to Paris may be emulated morally, if not physically, ,
by a statesman, if not by a captain. We are already'
the
embarked in such an undertaking, we are, politically
veonftßureef.ortnl'e
aa
'hP:vaekri reached the
the
Cannes outset
of of
suc
expedition
n d
Reform—
before us lie the saowy ways of Provence, beyond
those Grenoble and Lyons—.but in the perspective
there is Paris. Let there not be hesitation—let there
be unanimity—and there must be success.

The inquiry refused by a large majority of the
House of Commons, although it was demanded by

nine-tenths of the Irish representatives, was lain
night partially conceded by the House of Lords
The Earl of LIICAN moved for a Select Committee
" to inquire into the operation of the Irish Poor-law
Acts relative to the rating of immediate lessors,"
and although strongly opposed by Ministers, his
motion was carried by a majority of . six. We
regret that a general investigation was not
directed, such as that which had been
sought for in the House of Commons.
The Noble Lord who brought forward the subject
might be said to have a peculiar interest in the matter
to the extent to which it was carried. He had been
repeatedly attacked in Parliament and in the public
journals, in reference to large arrears of rates said to
be owing by him, the justice of which charges he
had most strenuously denied. It cannot be forgotten
that the property of the poor-law guardians in the
Castlebar Union, a considerable portion of which be-
longs to the Noble Earl, was recently sold under an
execution for debt, and the alleged grounds for so
stringent and unseemly a proceeding were that the
majority of the proprietors throughout the district
were defaulters, and that it was absolutely impossible
to collect funds sufficient to pay the outstandin;
accounts of the tradesmen, and to provide the means
of existence for the enormous number of destitute
poor who were cast upon the resources of the union.
Legal proceedings, it appears, have been instituted,
and are now pending in the superior courts in Dub-
lin, and also in the local courts, for the purpose of
ascertaining the parties justly liable for the payment
of these rates, who are consequently morally respon-
sible for this untoward state of affairs. What.
ever may be the result of these pro.
ceedings, the inquiry will be valuable.
It will he ascertained whether the law itself is radi-
cally wrong, or whether the grievancea complained of
are imputable merely to the mode of its adrninistra •
Possibly, it may appear that the censures that
have been so liberally bestowed are wholly without
ustitication. In any event, the real delinquents will

he discovered, and if a legislative remedy is re-
quired, that remedy may he applied without any
unnecessary delay. Parliament should not wait until
wrong has been ac*ually inflicted. If it can be satis-
factorily shown that the law is in any respect erro
neous or inefficient, the Legi-lature should interpose,
And prevent any British subjects from being un•
justly oppressed or injured. We rejoice, therefore,
• hat the proposed inquiry has been granted—we think
it was due to the Noble Lord to afford him a full
upportunity of vindicating his OrVII conduct. The
.anxiety he has shown f.r a searching investigation
:roes far to prove that he believes himself to be unjustly
sccused, and those who have heretofore condemned 1
must now, at least, suspend their judgments until the
rep\ovr
et ofm themust,
st Choumwienviet
rte e
deplore that that which was
cefused in the popular as,embly to the almost unani-
nous rcquest of the Irish representatives, should
apparently be conceded to the personal interests of an
oidividual Member of their Lordships' House. This
..ould not have been asserted it the inquiry was ge-
leral, and not limited to the operation of a parti•
..:ular portion of the law. We are not amkngst the
ipponents of that law ; on the contrary, we ad-
vocated to the ut Lost of our power, its general
)olicy, although many serious defects were patent
.n the face of the Act, against which we remon-
t:ated, believing that the humane intentions of the
Legislature c,,uld never he fully carried out so long
is they were permitted to remain. A general
nquiry would separate the wheat from the
•haff, arid enable the Legislature to retain
hat which is really valuable, and to cut off every-
hing the tendency of which may be proved to be in-
talons. The quarter-acre clause especially should
he repealed. It is impossible to find language suffi-
ciently strong to censure that atrocious provision, by
which a direct premium is held out to the hard-
hearted and oppressive landlord, and he .is enabled
to clear his estates, and to drive those who might be
-nabled to provide for their families With a very
Trifling assistance; from the humble homes in which
they were born and brov,ht up, by under-
hand means, and without being exposed to
:he public odium and disgrace which a stringent
lxn-cise of their legal rights would inevi-
ably ex pose them to. We have already re-
peatedly pointed out that the mere withholding of
employment by the owner of the estate himself, and
by his immediate neighbours, whom he would he
,nabled to oblige in a similar manner, must inevitably
!rive any struggling cottiers to the workhouse for
relief; that, however, cannot be afforded until he has
;iven up his holding, if above a quarter of an acre,
to his reputed landlord. A summary and easy mode
of ejectment is thus provided, by which the most
heartrending suffering may be inflicted on the
humbler classes.

[Although the following arguments respecting Sir
HENRY LYTTON BULWER'S share in the recent mis-
understanding between the British and Spanish
Governments, are totally at variance with the
,pinions maintained by ourselves, we have no hesita-
Liun whatever in giving insertion to the paper of our
correspondent, as it indicates the view entertained
ipun the question at issue by a large portion of the
::ommunity.]

- -
(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
The correspondence which has just been presented
to Parliament upon the sub:ect of the abrupt dis•
missal of Sir 11. BELWER from his post, by the orders
of the Spanish Government, certainly, throws great
additional light upon the real nature of the question
which this country has to settle with Spain. We are
riot privy to the line which the Government may de-
cide upon taking in this matter, but the 'cwers before
us enable us at once to separate Sir H. Buovsg's
cause from that of the Noble Lord at the head of
the Forrign Department, although knowing the in
terested attempts which will be made to connect
them, as well as to make it appear that we are in-

debted to Lord PALMERSTON'S note, of the 16th of
March, fur everything unpleasant which has since
occurred in our relations with Spain. We feel sure,
however, that the British public will not be deceived
by the specious arguments with which certain of our
contemporaries have sought to cloud the important
matter at issue, as though the additional sacrifice of a
British Minister were deemed desirable, merely for
the purpose of appeasing the spent insolence of the
despotic Minister of a second-rate power. We must
have, indeed, fallen very low for such a considera-
tion to have any weight ! But with regard to Lord
PALMERSTON'S instructions of March 16,f0r our part we
never
anything
objectionable in that dispatch,
taken
as instructions for the guidance of our Minister
saw
at Madrid. It contained, in a few words, the outlines
of a policy which it must be the wish of all parties in
this country to see adopted in Spain ; and, so far from
having been intended to complete the ruin of the sur-
viving parties to the Spanish marriages, it was rather
calculated to conciliate them to the more popular
party, and thus to consolidate Qu-en ISABELLA'S throne
upun the affections of her people. If offence was
taken by the Spanish Government we must derive it
from the manner in which Lord PAT.MERSTON'S
instructions were carried out, by an agent who,
though endowed with original talents of the highest
order, had, by a singular want of self-respect, estranged
from him the respectable Spaniards of all parties.
We feel sure that had Sir FL BULWER. waited upon
the Duke of SozoataYon, and read that dispatch to
his Excellency, assuring hiat, at the same time,
of the friendly disposition with which he came .to re•
present the sentiments of the British Government, the
advice would have been listened to in the same
friendly spirit, even though it were not followed.
Instead of this, however, Sir 11. Bus.wits was pleased
to make the substance of his intended communication
to the SFaoish Government for some days
the subject of his general conversation (by which
means we charitably account fur its premature ap-
pearance in the Clamor Publico), and then to forward
it to the Duke of SOTOMATOR, accompanied by a
note, the nature of which was calculated to irritate
that Minister rather than to explain the motives by
which the British Government was animated. %Ve
confess that under these circumstances we cannot be
surprised that offence was taken, although we cannot
but fuel hurt that the Spanish Government did not
at once, as it did subsequently, know how to separate
the part of the agent from that of the employer. We
must also feel sorry that in this instance Lord PAL•
MRRSTON showed his usual dislike to disavow an
agent who had not actually disobeyed his instruc-
tions. But we now maintain that, with Lord PAL
MERSTON'S temperate answer to the Duke of SOTO.
MAYOR'S bombastic and indefensible note, all hostile
feeling on the part of the Qovernment of Spain to-
wards that of great Britain apparently ceased ; it then
became a purely personal question between the
British Representative and the Spanish Minister, the
notes of the latter chiefly turning upon the share
which the former was said to have had in the publi-
cation in the Clamor Publico. That Sir 11. Buewea
was fully sensible to this is shown by the manner in
which he latterly begged the Duke of SOTOMAYOR
not to suffer their personal qua.rAlto exercise any
njurious effect upon the relations: between the two