The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-26 00:00:00

THE &UN, LONDON,

causes of our distress must therefore be assigned than
the amount of the national expenditure.
But it may be said that the nation was wealthier in
1815 than in 1847—and that therefore so great a
pressure on our resources could more readily be en-
countered at the former than at the latter period.
The income-tax returns will, however, show that such
was not the case, but that, on the contrary, the
increase in the wealth of the nation more than kept
pace with the increase in the population. In 1815
the income-tax was ten per cent. on all incomes ex-
ceeding 601. per annum, and it produced 15,000,0001
sterling; in 1847, the year of greatest pressure, when
the chief absorption of capital in railways and for
corn was taking place, it amounted, to 5,395,3911. at
21. 18s. 4d. per cent., although it was not levied on
incomes lower than 1501. per annum, perhaps we
might practically say less than 2001. per annum, so
that, without taking into consideration the apprecia-
tion of the value of money, if a similar rate was now
levied to that which was enforced in 1815, we should
find that a much greater amount of realised and ac-
cumulated property now existed in the country—that
we are, in fact, a far wealthier people. _ _

The property of the nation has been calculated to
amount to more than five thousand millions sterling.
It would be easy to show that this calculation is rather
under than over the mark, if we took into our consi-
deration the value of our real property, producing
105,000,0001. per annum, and which alone may be
fairly estimated as being worth upwards of three thou-
sand millions sterling. We have in addition our funded
property, amounting to 800,000,0001.. The railway
and banking property, the capital invested in tom-
merce, manufactures, and agriculture, the deposits
in the several banks, the value of the agricultural
stock, the millions of horses, oxen, cows, pigs, sheep ;
the implements of husbandry, the articles of comfort
or luxury in the various dwelling-houses, which
would make us the richest nation the world ever saw,
even had we not a single ounce of gold in our cof-
fers. And yet with this enormous capital we are
brought to the verge of ruin, because we have seat
away thirty-three millions for foreign corn, and
expended sixty-three millions on railways, in adding
to the facilities of transit, in saving time and money
to the traveller, and enabling the farmer to obtain
new markets for his produce, and thus materially
increase the value thereof, and have advanced
eight millions to relieve our starving brethren. IVould
an individual worth 5,0001. consider himself ruined
because he had expended 1001., the fiftieth part of his
capital, for such purposes ? Most assuredly not-
Neither can the British nation acknowledge that it
has been ruined by what has taken place.
The great cause of all our sufferings is the contrac-
tion of the circulation, the not having a currency which
is a representative and measure of value sufficient
for the wants and exigencies of the nation. The Act
of 1844 rendered that contraction inevitable, and
thus disabled our manufacturers from carrying on
their operations to the usual extent. All the panics
upon record have arisen from the abstraction
of:gold in unusual quantities, and have been cured
by the issue of a corresponding amount of paper. Sir
R.• PEEL has, however, instructed us in the currency,
contracting it when gold is scarce, and expanding it
when gold is abundant. The nation has, however, paid
deady for this instruction.

Letters from Copenhagen of the 18th state that on
that day the life of the King of DSNMARIL was
despaired of.

Advices have been received from Constantinople to
the 6th, Athena to the 9th, and Smyrna to the 7th
instant.

The friendly relations between Turkey and Greece
had been resumed. M. MUSSURUS was about to leave
Constantinople for Athens. He had his audience of
leave of the SULTAN on the 33. He is to proceed to
Athens in a Turkish frigate.,GLAzaxis, the Greek Mi-
nister for Foreign Affairs, has addressed a note to the
representatives of the five Great Powers at Athens.
in which he denies that any shots were fired at Patras
at her MA3EsTr's ship Spitfire.

The Contemporaneo of Rome of the 16th mentions
a report that the Neapolitan General, LANDY, who is
at Messina, had opened a dispatch of the English
Embassy at Naples, and that the Ambassador was
about to demand reparation, and the dismissal of
General LANDY. Letters from Naples of a subse-
quent date, say that the Neapolitan Government has
acceded to the demands of the English Ambassador,
and that General LANDY has been dismissed.

It is said that Calabria and Salerno are in open
revolt.

A letter from Turin of the 20th announces that in
consequence of the events at Leghorn, the advoca‘es
PELLEGRINI, LzonoaN, and Bisio, have been arrested
at Genoa. The papers s?ized at their residences
prove, it is said, that they acted in concert with the
advocate GUERRAZZI, promoters of the late disturb-
ances at Leghorn, and with the chiefs of the Young
Italy party in foreign countries.
A letter from Civita Vecchia, of Jan. 16, says—

" The inhabitants of Palermo in the outbreak of
the 12th fought from four o'clock to eleven, and
proved victorious; several soldiers were killed; and
the arrival of the inhabitants of the surrounding
country decided the troops to retire, and shut them-
selves up in the forts ; a provisional government wak,
appointed. The English Minister at Naples sent his
yacht to Cagliari, where the English squadron is now
lying, with orders to send two frigates to Palermo
and two to Naples, to protect the English residents.
A revolutionary proclamation has been circulated at
Rome, but it produced no effect. It was considered
as an act on the part of the enemies of the present
progress. It is confidently asserted that the Council
of Ministers has approved of the regulations of the
Consulta, relative to the publicity of voting and to the
publication of the proceedings at the sitting The
Consulta is at present busy in preparing an address to
the Roman people for the arming of the State."

The Swiss Diet met on the 22d. No opposition
will take place to the revision of the Federal Pact.
The Courrier Suisse announces that on Sunday,
the 16th, the people of Zug accepted the new consti-
tution by a majority of 1,206 to 663 votes, or just
two to one. In Lucerne the Grand Council is pur-
suing its discussions on the project of constitutional
reform. It has decided, amongst other things, to
reduce the number of Councillors of State to nine
(from eleven), and to substitute the departmental for
the collegial system, as at Berne.
Several of the Swiss Jesuits have attempted to
take refuge in Bavaria, but the KING has issued orders
forbidding them to remain longer than three days in
his dominions.

It is said that Prussia and Austria have proposed
to blockade Switzerland. Wirtemberg and Baden
concur in the proposal, but Bavaria opposes it
strongly.

Letters have been received from Vienna, which con-
vey important intelligence. For the first time during
the whole of his official career Prince MErrxxxicu
has received a check. He has been opposed in the
Council of State and outvoted—METTERNICE wished
to carry things with a high hand in Lombardy. He
would hear of no concessions being made, insisted on
punishing severely the authors of the movement, and
wished to remove the Archduke RAINER from the Go-
vernorship, as too much inclined to concessions, and
too feeble to be trusted with the cares of government
in troublous times. He proposed also to increase the
army to 100,000 men, and to make the young Duke
ALBERT, a rash, headstrong, high-spirited, but
imprudent, and by no means talented, young man,
Governor of Lombardy, in the place of the Archduke
RAINER. Those propositions were strenuously op-
posed by Count KoLowEAT, who has long been the
rival of METTERNICH, and by the:Archduke Lours;
and for the first time in his life' MET..
TERNIC R was compelled to give way. In-
stead of adopting his propositions, the Council of
State resolved to dispatch Captain MAYER to the
Archduke RAINER, recommending him to exhibit
more energy against the leaders of the late move•
ment, but at the same time sanctioning his proposi-
tions for introducing certain reforms into the Ad-
ministration of the country. A number of German
functionaries at Milan are to be removed, and to be
replaced by natives, and the provincial congregations
of Lombardy are to be permitted to address their
grievances direct to the EMPEROR. As if to render
this check for Prince METTERNICH the more marked,
the EMPEROR has addressed a most flattering letter
to Count KOLOWEAT, and has conferred on him the
grand cross of the Order of Si. Stephen. It is con-
sidered that after this there will be no more talk of

Austrian intervention in Switzerland. The chief
supporter of 'an armed intervention was Prince MET-
TERNICH, and the threat of the Swiss Diet to march
an army into Lombardy, in the event of Austrian
intervention in the affairs of the republic, has opened
the eyes of the more prudent members of the Aus-
trian Cabinet to the dangers by which they are
surrounded.

Madrid papers of the 19th, have arrived.
The influenza seems to have brought everything to
a stand-still in that city. Four members of the
Cabinet, viz., NARYAEZ, SOTOMAYOR, BELTRAN DE
Lis, and SARTORIUS, are confined to their beds, and
122 persons have died of it in one single day in
Madrid. The Moderado candidate has been returned
for Santiago.
The Duke of GLUCKSEURGEI and the Danish and
American Ministers have called on General Es-
VARTERO.

MADRID BOLSI., JAN. 19.—The Three per Cents.
were done at 27f at fifty days ; the Five: per Cents.,
at 16 13-16 for cash, and at 17 at fifty days; the
Debt without Interest at 51 for paper; and the
Coupons at 41f for cash.