The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-14 00:00:00

741..8 SUN, LO N DON, MON DA v! EYE: IN CI, pECE 11 fti. J. 4, %Md.

terms and conditions upon which the treaty of union
- -

more than nine-tenths of the fourteen million acres
already in tillage, so badly cared Er, that it is the
opinion of the best judges, that by the employment' of
more labour in thorough draining, and bringing it
into high cultivation, its produce might be qua-
drupled. In addition thereto there is an abundance of
unemployed capital in the United Kingdoms, the posses-
sors of which are anxioualy seeking favourable channels
for its investment. If these elements can be brought
in harmonious co•operation, every object will be
attained, an abundant supply of food will be procured,
not merely sufficient to provide the common neces-
saries of life for the people, but to add some of the
comforts. The capital that now lies idle and unpro-
ductive will be fully occupied, and return a fair dividend
to its owner, and the able-bodied pauper will no
longer be in a destitute and starving condition ; he
will be turned into the industrious and contented
labourer, with a sufficiency of plain, wholesome food,
and fair remuneration for his toil ; in place of being
clothed in rags, he will become a good customer to
our manufacturers. The barren wastes, now the
secure haunt and impenetrable refuge of the outlaw
or robber, will be turned into fertile gardens, the
abodes of peace and tranquillity.
The state of society in these kingdoms has been
happily compared to a pyramid, standing on a broad
and enlarged foundation, and gradually tapering to a
point. Our SOVEREIGN is at the summit, the hard-
working and laborious classes form the base. On
their condition must depend the state of the entire
structure; if the base is in an unsound and decayed
condition, there can be no security for the more ele-
vated portions of the building. If it sink and fall
into ruin, the loftier parts cannot be maintained, and
their fall will be the greater in proportion to the
height at which they are placed ; but, on
the other hand, it is impossible to raise
the condition of the labouring classes, without the
beneficial influence being extended and its advan-
tages diffused amongst all other ranks. The great
object then is to improve the social condition of the
labourer. Every restrictive law that stands in the
way, or obstructs the attainment, of that great de-
sideratum must be modified or abrogated; the laws
that were suitable some centuries ago, when the po-
pulation was not one-half of what it is at present,
will require attentive consideration and revision.
The monopoly of land must be got rid of ; land-
owners, as well as other important interests in the
State, must submit to new arrangements. The glorious
principles of free trade must be extended to the soil
as well as to merchandise. Commercial freedom
with all the world is an invaluable blessing ;
but we must also look for domestic freedom,
for the full and free employment of British and Irish
industry in their native land. Enlarged and compre-
hensive measures will be necessary to secure these
great blessings, and we have a Government that will
not be restricted by antiquated prejudices, but will be
prepared to legislate for the country in a spirit of en-
larged and statesmanlike enlightment. To their bands
we fearlessly entrust the necessary arrangements.
We shall not be wanting in pointing out what may
appear to be desirable or necessary.

Crockford's, the lavish splendour of its decorations,
the exquisite piquancy of its repasts, end the con-
tinual circulation of its wine-cups, were in a great
measure subordinate to the delights of hazard and of
similar games of chance. Still it could not, in
the common acceptation of the word, be called "a hell ;"
it did not come within the limits of what is punishable
by the law ; it could not literally be said to harbour
" certain idle and evil-disposed persons," who con-
gregated therein for the enjoyment of illegal amuse-
ments; it was not, as the Lord Chief Baron of the Ex-
chequer himself maintained on the 3d ultimo, a com-
mon gaming-house " under the meaning of the Act.,
In this establishment Lord MAIDSTONE is enrolled a
member in 1840 ; he is enrolled of course
with a will prepense ; he voluntarily becomes an
habitual frequenter of the club-rooms ; he gambles
with an extraordinary recklessness, and is in con-
sequence a loser to an enormous amount. So much
for his Lordship's recreative connexion with
Crockford's. It is with his business con-
nexion with that palace of idleness and
debauchery that the Court of Exchequer had to deal,
and it is to that same business connexion we are in-
duced to make this particular allusion. Besides
availing himself of the apartments of the club in
Pall-mall, Lord MAIDSTONE dines there re-
peatedly, drinks freely at the public tableF,
and, beyond, has divers repasts and sundry dozens
of wine forwarded from Crockford's to a convenient
house in Bolton-street. For all these viands and
wines, for his entrance fee (101.), and his yearly sub-
scription (101.), since 1840, Lord MAIDSTONE had
given no payment. On the decease of Mr. CROCKFORD,
and the winding up ofhis affairs, his widow and executrix
proceeds against the defendant for the recovery of
961., said to have been so incurred. The jury, after
the investigation of evidence and the hearing of
counsel, return a verdict for the full amount, but, at
the suggestion of the Lord Chief Baron, that verdict
is modified to the reduced amount of 54/. 14s. 6d.
Those are the simple particulars of this most
discreditable affair—the incurment of the debt—the
refusal of the liquidation—the demand—the verdict—
and the penalty.
We should have allowed these transactions to have
made their own impression upon the public mind,
satisfied that that impression would be salutary, but
that a letter has been just published by Lord
MAIDSTONE which requires the reprehension of
every honest and conscientious journalist. We
do not remember to have ever perused a more sorry
exhibition of vanity, of spleen, of levity, and of quib-
bling than this extraordinary document affords. It
is filled with coarse vituperations upon the press, upon
the attorneys, upon the barristers, upon - the jurors,
upon the departed Mr. CROCKFORD, upon his widow,
and upon the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer
himself. It is headed by a frivolous quotation from
the last Irish story of Mr. LEVER, and pithily closes
with—" the case is BARDELL v. PICKWICK over again !"
In his splenetic allusions to the counsel for the plaintiff,
he at one moment calls him " a proficient in the Buz-
fuz school," and at another asks whether it be probable
" that any one would prefer becoming the target for
Mr. HUMPHREY'S slander any more than he would
select Duke HUMPHREY to dine with ?" Lord
MAIDSTONE may delude himself into the idea of
being a capital witling, but, at any rate, he is a mise-
rable logician. After the consequences of the dinners
consumed by the Noble Lord in Crockford's and
from Crockford's, we rather fancy that even the
starveling Duke HUMPHREY would be somewhat
shy of inviting him to dinner. But the gist of
this marvellous epistle is—what does the reader
imagine ?—why, that the plea of refusing to pay upon
the ground that the club was a gambling house, was
a trick of the lawyers ; and that, after all,
the sum claimed had been paid already 1
What, then, Lord MAIDSTONE suppresses the
truth until the sentence is passed, and in lieu
thereof traduces the plaintiff and her departed hus-
band by proxy ! A trick of the lawyers, forsooth !
Surely, that is a graceless way of sneaking out of the
reach of a creditor. Lerd MAIDSTONE has made
matters worse by the publication of his ill-concocted
and ill-tempered letter. He has stepped out of the
frying-pan, and walked incontinently into the fire.

was agreed to, and ratified by the two kingdoms.
A long and elaborate argument on the nature and
proper construction of the treaty of union has been
lately made at the registration court of Clones, in the
county of Monaghan; the argument is reported in
several Irish papers, and, amongst others, in the
Leinster Express of the sth of this month. It is de-
serving of attentive consideratior; for if the argument
does not contain that grand desideratum in Irish
matters, the whole truth, a careful consideration of the
matters discussed in it will be extremely likely to
lead a calm and dispassionate reasoner to the disco-

very of the whole truth upon this most important

subject.

The case to which we allude is short, simple, and
striking. Mr. Ems, of the Irish bar, as counsel for

a person of the name of JACKSON, applied to have his
client placed upon the roll of Parliamentary electors
for the county of Monaghan as a forty-shilling
freeholder in fee, notwithstanding the Act of the 10th
GEORGE IV., c. 8, which abolished the forty-shilling
franchise in fee. In support of his case Mr. ELLis
proved that his client was possessed of laud in fee
within the county of the value of forty shillings
yearly—gave in evidence the Acts of Parliament de-
claratory of the existence of the forty-shilling fran-
chise in England—read the sixth article of the legis-
lative union, which covenants that from the first day of
January, 1801, the subjects of Great Britain and Ire-
land shall be entitled to the same privileges, and
showed that the treaty of union did not contain any
proviso authorising the alteration of this covenant.
Having made these proofs, Mr. ELLis argued at
great length that the Imperial Parliament is bound to
maintain unaltered (except in eases of extreme neces-
sity) such covenants in the treaty of union—such
covenants being, in point of fact, the stipulated price
agreed to be paid by England to Ireland in exchange
for her independent legislature ; and that every Act
of Parliament, passed since the legislative union, is t 3
be read as if it contained a proviso that nothing con-
tained in it should be construed to alter or annul any
matter finally agreed upon and settled by the articles
of union.

If this argument be correct—if all past Union Acts
of Parliament should be read with this understood
proviso, no doubt that portion of the Act of the 10th
GEORGE IV., c. 8, which abolished the Irish forty-
shilling franchise in fee, is null and void, and the
right to this franchise exists in Ireland precisely as it
exists at present in England. _

The entire question plainly hinges upon the al-
leged unalterable nature (except in extreme cases) of
those portions of the articles of union for the
alteration of which no provision has been made
by the treaty of ur.ion. This is a question
of strict law, which we propose to discuss
hereafter; at present we shall merely attempt to show
what would be the result of the establishment of Mr.
ELLas's proposition, reserving the consideration of the
law, and also of the fairness and honesty of the cases
for a future occasion.
If these articles of the union be legally unalterable
—if the united Legislature be bound to maintain
them, except in those extreme cases of national neces-
sity when all covenants must give way, if required,
to preserve the State ; and if a decision to this effect
shall be given in this case by the legal tribunals of
the country, such a decision will declare her MAJESTY'S
Irish subjects entitled, as a right,•to every civil privi-
lege, benefit, and advantage of every kind, to which
her MAJESTY'S British subjects are entitled ; and will
set aside, as null and void, every Parliamentary
enactment that attempts to take from Irishmen any
civil right or privilege which is not also taken uno
fiatu from Englishmen.
We shall sincerely rejoice at such a result; it
would remove the great cause of Irish agitation, it
would make Ireland truly a part of the British em-
pire, sharing with us in all our political advantages
If the results of such a decision stopped here we
should rejoice at it, and consider the united empire
strengthened and consolidated by such results ; but
they would not stop here.
If our judicial tribunals should decide that those
articles of union, for the alteration of which no pro-
vision has been made in the treaty of -union, are not to
be altered, except in the last resort of national dan-
ger, then the crowns, kingdoms, and parliaments of
Great Britain and Ireland are legally indivisible;
for the first three articles of the Act of Union declare
that the crowns, kingdoms, and parlia.-rents of Great
Britain and Ireland shall be for ever united, and no
provision for the repeal or alteration of any
portion of the three first articles of union,
at any time, is made in any part of
the treaty of union ; the same decision,
therefore, that would decree the Irish people, by
virtue of the sixth article of union, entitled to every
civil right, privilege, benefit, and advantage, which is
enjoyed by the people of England, would also decree
the union to be indissoluble ; and would thus, by one
memorable judgment, declare the British Parliament
incompetent to repeal the Union, or to enact or re-
tain any law which would make such repeal desirable
to any one except the wildest and most insane en-
thusiasts ; for, beyond doubt or question, the agitation
that has for ages desolated Ireland derives its exist-
ence from injustice inflicted upon that country—it is
the spawn of our own wrong. Put an end to that
wrong, and the agitation caused by it must neces •
sarily cease. Irish agitation holds the same relation-
ship to Irish wrongs that the fabled Hamadryad held to
its native oak—the blow that felled the one dismissed
its attendant spirit to the winds.

A letter from Schleswig, of the 4th, in the New
Hamburgh Gazette, says—" Thirty-four Deputies
of the States have withdrawn from the Chamber, and
declared that they will no more take part in the dis-
cussions, as they consider that the right of petition
has been suppressed, the Royal Commissioner having
returned to the President the petitions which had
been presented on the subject of the independence of
the States."

Russia and Prussia have each appointed a consul at
Cracow, but none of the German Powers have fol-
lowed these examples, notwithstanding the wish ex-
pressed by Austria. Their declining to do so is
regarded by a German journal as a tacit protest
against the incorporation.
On the occasion of the death of the Grand Duchess
MARIA the Emperor of RUSSIA has issued the follow-

ing manifesto :
" By the grace of God, we, Nicholas 1., Emperor and
Autocrat of all the hussies, to all our faithful subjects
make known :—lt has pleased Divine Providence to try
our Imperial House with a new affliction. The eldest
daughter of our well-beloved brother the Grand Duke
Michael Paulowitch, our dear niece the Grand Duchess
vlaria Micaelouna, died on the 7th (19th) of this present
month of November, at Vienna, after a r short but serious
illness, with which she was attacked on her return into
Russia. Partaking in the deep grief of her augusf
parents, we pray the Sovereign Dispenser of all good to
pour into their hearts the consolation of faith in his
holy and unsearchable providence, and to receive the
soul of the deceased Grand Duchess to eternal repose in
the heavenly abodes of the just. We call upon our
faithful subjects to join their prayers to ours. Given at
Tzarskoe Zelo, this 13th day of November, in the year
of grace, 1846, and the 21st of our reigß.
NICHOLAS."

The present deplorable condition of the peasantry
in Ireland arises, first, from the failure of the potato
crop, the total loss of their usual and ordinary de-
scription of food, and, secondly, from the want of
employment and an adequate rate of remuneration
for their labour, so as to enable them to purchase a
sufficiency of food to replace that which has been lost
to them. The principle is now universally admitted,
" that the property of Ireland must be responsible for
the poverty of Ireland ; that every estate must sup-
port its own poor ; and that every man shall be secured
in the means of living by the exercise of his honest
industry." There is no evading the question ; to that
length the Legislature must go. There may be some
difference as to the manner of carrying out the pro-
position, to the details and manner of bring-
ing it itnto operation, but none as to its
absolute necessity. No man can be suffered
to perish in a Christian country for lack of
food, of the common necessaries of life. With
pain and deep regret we are compelled to acknow-
ledge that several deaths, fairly imputable to want,
have recently taken place. Every one of these la-
mentable cases appeals trumpet-tongued to our sym-
pathies, and loudly demands that steps should be
adopted by which the possibility of similar occurrences
should be prevented. The landowners have hitherto
shrunk from the enactment of any law on the subject.
They are terrified at the probable cost of providing
for so large a number. They fear that the entire
produce of their estates would be thereby consumed,
and that they themselves would be reduced to a state
little better than that of the paupers for whom they
would be compelled to provide. We are satisfied that
in a very short time the absurdity and ground-
lessness of these fears woad be fully demonstrated,
and that they themselves would, in fact, be the
greatest gainers by the change—that it would add to
the value of their property, and give an increased
security to its possession.
We shall admit that the population of Ireland is
daily increasing, while the quantity of land from
which they must be supported is stationary—the
breadth of the soil, the number of acres, cannot be,
extended : means must, therefore, be devised to im-
prove the productiveness of that soil, to secure
profitable employment for the people. They must
be sustained, either in idleness, a burden on the
charity of the country, unproductively consuming
the resources of the kingdom; or they must be use-
fully occupied, by which they will increase the
national wealth. When this necessity is fully
recognised, when it is ascertained that the
responsibility can no longer be evaded,
means will readily be discovered of turn-
ing that vast quantity of labour to beneficial pur-
poses, and it will be found that there is plenty of
room—an ample field for its profitable employment.
We are not singular in this opinion, those most com-
petent to form a sound judgment have repeatedly
made similar statements. The Committee cn Public
Works, in the second report which they published in
1835, combat the idea that the social disease of Ire-
land is occasioned by an excess of population. They
say—

Intelligence has been received from Lisbon of the
sth. In consequence of the rainy season having set
in it was supposed SALDANHA would be forced to
suspend his operations before Santarem ; SCHWA',
BACK had joined SALDANHA with 2,500, and DAs
ANTAS, it was said, had been 'reinforced by the
arrival at Santarem of BOMFIAL at the head of 2,000
men. Colonel LAPA, at the head of the column, en-
tered Coimbra on the 4th, thus cutting off the
communications between Sa DE BANDEIRA at Oporto
and DAs ANTAS at Santarem. CASAL was at Ama-
ranthe. According to some accounts, he intended to in
vest Oporto, which is perfectly prepared to repel his
attack; according to others, he was to join SAL-
DANHA : but as an extensive Miguelite guerilla,
commanded by General MACDONNELL, has proclaimed
Don MIGUEL at Braga, it is probable that CASAL will
have to disperse them before he will be at liberty to
act either against SA DA BANDEIRA or DAs ANTAS.
The Junto of Oporto were expecting reinforcements
of money and men from the Island of St. Michael's.

Hitherto we have abstained from commenting
upon the very disgraceful circumstances of the action
brought against Lord MAIDSTONB, in the Court of
Exchequer, on the 2d ultimo, by Mrs. SARAH
FRANCES Caocxronn. We considered that the re-
port of that singular trial, published in our columns,
that the straightforward exposition of the Learned
Counsel for the plaintiff, that the ready and
decisive verdict delivered by the jury, rendered any
observations as to the merits of the transaction
altogether superfluous. The statement of the facts
was the crimination of the defendant. It required no
elucidation to prove that the debt of 961., in the non-
payment of which amount the action had originated,
was voluntarily incurred by Lord MAIDSTONE; that
any evasion of such liabilities subjected him to the
penalties of a defaulter, and that the pleas entered by
the legal advisers of the Noble Lord were
gross aggravations of his original culpability.
Every one must have recognised, without any par-
ticular explanation from the press—without the com-
ments of Mr. HUMPHREY—without even the emphatic
negation uttered by the Lord Chief Baron himself,
that the refusal of Lord MAIDSTONE to liquidate the
sum claimed because " the house in question was a
common gaming-house," was a discourteous, a
flagitious, a shameless, and, we will say so,
a shuffling prevarication. Every one must
have recognised this without any adventitious
assistance, because no quibble, however adroit, could
deceive the public judgment in a matter so remark-
ably notorious.
When the celebrated Crockford's Club-house, in
Pall-mall, was first projected, in 1824, it immediately
acquired the character which it maintained till
the •recent decease of its founder. That character,l
we will admit, was unquestionably not the
most enviable or unimpeachable, but it. was a
character which would still have rendered the im-
putation cast by Lord MAIDSTONE upon the dead
principal essentially libellous and actionable. It must
not be forgotten that the members of Crockford's
(numbering between four and five hundred individuals)
were men moving in the highest ranks of the nobility,
men who, in many instance's, have become remarkable
for their wisdom, and who, in many cases, had ac-
quired for themselves a name of unimpeachable in-
tegrity. They were sta'xismen, not sharpers : they
were members of our national Legislature, not
swindlers and blacklegs. They were such men as the
Dukes of WELLINGTON, liUCCLEUCH, RUTLAND, and.
ARGYLE, such men as Lords SCARBOROUGH
and STUART DB RCIUSAY, not the villanous
and abandoned pe...!sons Lord M.awsroiss
would render them by his aspersions upon
the establishment. It is indisputable that the
illegal and odious passion for gambling there found
opportunities for its exercise ; that the lust of play
was ministered to by the deleterious atmosphere of
that society ; that the roulette ball and the dice-box
were not forbidden to the frequenters. It is even
notorious that the magnificent appurtenances of

Madrid papers of the sth have been received.
The conflict between MoN and ISTURITZ still conti-
nues, and it is said that Don L' PERIQUE has demanded
the dismissal of the latter, who was the principal cause
of the expulsion of the Prince from Spain. _MON
seems to be intriguing with PACHECO ; and the
Clamor Publico states confidently that the entire of
the Isturitz Cabinet have resigned, and that a Mon
and Pacheco Ministry is in the course of formation.
MADRID BOLSA, DEC. s.—The Three pitr Cents.
closed at 341; the Four per Cents., at 21; the Five per
Cents. 21; Coupons, 19f.

We have received the Paris papers of Friday.
The Courrier Francais says that, in consequence of
the representations of Lord PALMERSTON, M. GUIZOT
and his colleagues have decided that M. BARBET DE
JJOUT, the French Consul at the Mauritius, shall be
removed to another post.
From the tenor of an article in the ournal des
Debats, on the subject of the tariff, we should ima-
gine that the French Ministry are beginning to see
the necessity of gradually adopting, or rather revert-
ing to, the principles of free-trade. After reminding
the protectionists that COLBERT never imposed any
prohibition on the import of articles of foreign manu
.
fhaicmtu rwe,asand n that
ly 1 the
o per
highest
cent, h
t import
eD
deubtay imposed by
is
thus
pro-

eeesis
" Let us quote a few examples chosen amongst 'arti-
cles which have given rise to the greatest difference of
An import duty of 6f. a head was imposed by
opinion.
Colbert on oxen. Another example, iron was taxed in
1664 and in 1667 at 1 livre 15 sous for 1,000 pounds
weight of cast metal, and 3 livres per 1,000 pounds
weight of bar iron. Between the years 1667 and 1791
the tariff was frequently altered, but always in the same
spirit, and if prohibitory enactments were sometimes
introduced, it was accidentally, and on articles of trifling
importance. We shall indicate in a few words the
changes which have taken place in the duties imposed on
cattle and iron. In 1669 the duty on cattle was placed
momentarily at 6 livres the head on oxen, and in 1688
at 12 livres; in 1698 it was reduced to 3 livres, and in
1713 to 1 livre 3 sous. We see the same variations
with respect to iron. In 1687 all descriptions of hard-
ware and iron were made subject to a duty of 4 francs
59 centimes per 100 kilogrammes ; but in the year
1701 cast metal paid 53 centimes, bar iron 1 franc 53 cen-
times, heavy hardware 3 francs 6 centimes, fine hard-
ware 6 francs 12 centimes. The tariff of 1664 continued
on the same footing, more or less amended, until 1791.
It was, as a commercial system, extremely defective.
Not that the duties were too high, for they did not
average higher than one-fourth of the existing duties,
and the prohibition which now excludes so many articles
did not exist. But Colbert. all-powerful as he was,
with the assistance of Louis XIV., had failed in the
principal object at which he aimed by his ordinance of
1664, viz., commercial unity in France. The spirit of
expiring feudality was stronger than he. His tariff was
carried into effect in only a certain number of provinces,
denominated the 'Five Great Farms.' A second cate-
gory of provinces was classed under the title of ' Re-
puted Foreigners,' and each maintained its ancient
customs. In fine, a third category, that of the pro-
vinces treated as foreign countries, comprised Alsace ;

It may be doubted whether the country does
contain a sufficient quantity of labour to develop its
resources, and while the empire is loaded with taxa-
tion to defray the charges !of its wars, it appears
most politic to use its internal resources for the pur-
pose of improving the condition of the population, by
which the revenue of the Exchequer must be in-
creased, rather than encourage emigration, by which
the revenue would suffer a diminution, or than leave
the labouring classes in their present state, by which
poverty, crime, and the changes of Government must
be inevitably extended."
Ausow, too, in his work on population, proves by
statistical tables, compiled from official returns, that
even if one-half the land in the United Kingdoms
were reserved for the purpose of luxury, and that
the residue were freed from the restrictions by which
it is fettered, and its capabilities fully de-
veloped, that sufficient food could be obtained from
the soil to support six times the amcunt of the pre-
sent population. If these statements be true, there
is little to fear from a surplus population for ages to
come.
The present position of Ireland exhibits a super-
abundance of unemployed labourers, more than six
millions of acres of land wholly uncultivated, and

the three bishoprics, Dunkirk, Bayonne, and Marseilles,
preserved a perfect freedom in their foreign relations.
The consequence of this division of the provinces into
three classes was the establishment of a multitude of

custom-houses in the interior. Merchandise coming to
Madrid from certain provinces had to payls different duties.
Some of those duties were divided between the Crown

and certain noble houses. The system of taxation,
combined with the bad state of the roads, rendered it al-

most impossible to transport merchandise from one
quarter of France to another. It may easily be con-
ceived that the Constituent Assembly was anxious
to revise the tariff. It abolished all internal custom•

houses and prepared an uniform tariff, which became
the law of the State on the 15th of March, 1791. The

spirit of that tariff was consistent with the glorious ge-
neration of which the select sat in that illustrious as-

sembly. They agreed to favour national industry, but
they understood that phrase differently from our aboli-
tionists ; they consequently suffered articles of the first
necessity to enter free of duty. They were convinced
that commerce is the bond of nations, and they felt as-

sured that an enlightened snation feels no necessity for
exorbitant protecting duties in order to become prosper-
ous. They, consequently, imposed but moderate duties.
The heaviest duties were imposed on articles of luxury,
and for the purpose of producing a revenue. Of prohibi-
tions there were but two—one on linen thread and spun
hemp, which had scarcely any importance; the second,
more serious, regarded glass, but bottles and mirrors were
excepted. To take a few examples, cattle of every descrip-
tion, as well as provisions of all kinds, entered free of
duty under the tariff of 1791. Cast-iron was likewise
free. Bar-iron paid 20 sous the quintal ; cast-steel, 6f.
16c. Cotton wool was, likewise, exempt from duty, as
well as dye-woods in gross. By a singular anomaly,
coal imported by sea was subject to a duty of lf. for
2001 b. weight, but at that period coal possessed scarcely
any value for manufacturers. We had neither steam
engines, nor steam- boats, nor gas. Coal was only used
in iron works ; imported by land it paid less than 20 '
centimes the 200 pounds, and by the frontiers of the
Meurthe. the Moselle, and the Ardennes, it entered
free. Subsequently came the turn of the Cenvention.
At first the tariff fixed by the Constituent Assembly
remained entire. Subsequently France, being in a diffi-
cult position, had an extraordinary want of certain ma-
terials, and a law of the 12 Pluviose, year 3, struck the
duty temporarily off several articles of first necessity.
Some were reduced one-half, and others four-fifths, and
others even nine-tenths. The duty on fixing a mark on
iron and steel was definitively abolished. But a new
element was shortly afterwards introduced into our ta-
riffs, and completely changed their character. We shall
complete this historical sketch in our next article."
The same journal gives the following account of
the food riots which are every day taking place in the
French provinces:—
" Bands of mendicants continue to spread terror in the
whole of the Bocage. These individuals, dressed in gray
blouses, their faces smeared with soot, six or seven or
more together, obtain grain and money, uttering the most
horrible threats against those who venture to make any
observation to them. They generally apply at lonely
farm-houses. They have robbed persons in the night on
the highway—amongst others, a miller, whom they
threatened with death, after having stripped him of his
money, if he denouneed them to the authorities. Similar
scenes have taken place in the district of Parthenay. In
the neighbourhood of Melle a waggoner, driving his
waggon from Poictiers to Saintes, was attacked, knocked
down, and stripped of everything, and his life is in danger
from the ill-usage he received. The authorities have
taken strong measures against such outrages, and it is
hoped that quiet will be soon restored. About 20 arrests
have taken place."
While the people are starving the national funds
are wasted in intrigues at foreign Courts. In allusion
to the 2,247,000 f. recently allowed to M. GUIZOT by
royal ordonnance as secret service money, the
Journal de Rouen says—
" It must be admitted that these funds, placed at the
disposal of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, have not
tended much to get the republic of Cracow respected, to
maintain the cordial understanding with England, to
obtain for our Government the good graces of the Em•
peror of Russia, the friendship of Austria, and giv.
France a weight in the affairs of Portugal. One must.
however, find out what was done with the money. Now
under whatever appellation these credits may have beet,
issued, travelling expenses, couriers, unforeseen' ex-
penses, secret services, extraordinary missions, the major
part of the amount, if we are rightly informed, and
we have good reason for believing it was intrusted to the
discretion of M. Bresson, our Ambassador at Madrid.
No idea can be formed of' M. Bresson's display and
lavish expenditure. In his hands, a courtier of yes-
terday, ignorant of true dignity, of the rules of good
taste, money flowod out in streams in futile and ridi-
culous expense. It was said at Madrid that the money
laid out by him amounted to 300,000 francs in the
fortnight alone that the Princes were at Madrid. We
shall add that we have these particulars from a person
who was at Madrid at the time, who was present at all
the rejoicings, who saw M. Bresson nearly every day,
who was himself astounded at the extent of the means
at his disposal, and still more of the use be made of
t. We might say something about an Ambassador
and an important member of a Foreign Cabinet, re-
specting the large sums of money which paid for their
mysterious negotiations. But we are not, according
to the accounts circulated at Madrid, sufficiently in
formed on the point, and the September laws are but
little in favour of the discovery of truth, and too severe
against writers."
The Constitationnel has the following on the sub-
ject of the proposed line of steamers between Havre
and New York :
" A new obstacle appears likely to retard the deci-
sion which the Council of State has to come to on the
propositions of the company offering to undertake the
correspondence between Havre and New York. This
obstacle comes from rival ports, such as Bordeaux, where
the accession of importance that must fall to the share of
Havre from this regular communication is viewed with
uneasiness. It appears that the Ministry must expect a
strong resistance from the representatives of Bordeaux.
But before Havre can enjoy all the advantages which
certainly the correspondence with New York would
confer on it, it ought to be able to receive in its docks
the fuur 450-horse powers steamers destined for the ser-
vice. Everyone is aware that ,works of this nature do
not get on very rapidly, and Bordeaux will have time
enough to establish its correspondence before the dock
for the trans-Atlantic packets is finished at Havre.
Besides, Bordeaux is warranted in complaining, as well
as Marseilles, of the delay in executing the law of 1840
relative to the trans-Atlantic service."
The French papers of all parties sneer at the move•
ment now going on among the religious bodies in
England on behalf of the unfortunate inhabitants of
Otaheite. The Journal des Defeats says—
" The religious societies, which have not yet lost the
desire to mix themselves up with the affairs of Otaheite,
have lately held a great number of meetings, at which
they have adopted addresses to Lord Palmerston, pray-
ing him to intervene as regards the French Government,
in order to protect, as much as possible, the innocent
Otaheiteans and the virtuous Queen Pomare. One would
say that there is in this a conspiracy of all the saints of
Great Britain."
The National has the following::—
" The Methodists of England have not lost all hope of
reconquering Otaheite from Popery and France. To
effect this they have just discovered a curious means, and
which does honour to their diplomatic innocence. After
having appealed to all the saints in thecalenedmaorr,itahl
they at
present apply to Louis Philippe, and, in a m
pub-
lished in a Leeds journal, appeal to his religious senti-
ments in favour of the Otaheiteans, persecuted as martyrs.
How is it possible not to yield to the powerful reasoning
of folks who gravely declare that the establishment of
French colonies by force, both in past times and at
present, is in formal opposition to the precepts and
principles of Christianity as taught by the New Testa-
ment? No persons in the world, except, the English
Protestants, could imagine such pretty things. We do
not know precisely the part of the Bible where colonies
are spoken of, but evidently our memory fails us. The
idea is amusing; only we regret that the English mis-
sionaries have not preached it up with better success
amongst their own countrymen. What famous subjects
or sermons they would have in the incessant conquests
in India, the war against China, and the 'violent occu•
pation of so many different countries! If France has
some peccadillos to reproach herself with, how numerous
and extensive are the national sins which England has
committed! Let them first obtain from her a confession
of her faults, repentance, and restitution of what they
call their neighbours' goods, and then France, through
respect for the principles of right revealed in the divine
word, relative to colonies, will enter on her examination
of conscience."
The writer seems to forget that where England
colonizes she does not attempt to extirpate the inha-
bitants, neither does she by force impose upon them
her own State religion.
The price of wheat rose in the Paris Corn Market
on Wednesday last from lf. 50c. to 2f. the hectolitre,
and oats lf. Eye and barley were likewise in good
demand.
The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse on
Friday at 81f. 20c. ; the Five per Cents., 118 f. 55c.; the
Orleans Railroad Shares, 1,265 f.; Rouen, 895 f.; Havre,
652 f. 50c. ; Great Northern, 648 f. 75c.; Avignon, 890 f.;
Vierzon, 592 f. 50c.; Bordeaux, 563 f. 75c.; Boulogne, 4501: ;
Troyes and Montereau, 385 f. ' • Basle, 220 f. ; Paris and Stras-
burg, 481 f. 25c_ • Tours and Nantes, 492 f. 50c. ; Paris and
Lyons, 510 f.; Lyons and Avignon, 485 f.; Bordeaux and
Cette. 475 f. ; Spanish Three per Cents., 38%; Ditto Do-
mestic Debt, 323 A ; Ditto Passives, 6.

- -
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, DECHNIBER 12.
Boulogne and Amiens, 13%—Central of Spain, %—Deme-
rara, 414--Jamaica South Midland Junction, 11,2—Northern
of France Constituted, 101%—Paris and Lyons Constituted,
54--Sambre and Meuse, 4%.

FIRE AT THE YORK HOTEL, BRIDGE-STREET,
BLACKFRIARS.—This morning, about half-past six, a
fire was discovered in the coffee room of the York Hotel,
Blackfriars. It commenced under a newly-erected stove,
and is supposed to have been occasioned by some burning
coal having penetrated through the flooring. The fire-
men from ]farringdon-street were sent for, and they
were busily employed for some time before the establish •
ment was considered safe. It was found necessary to
pull up a great portion of the flooring before the cause
of alarm could be ascertained, and no doubt the fire had
been smouldering from the previous night.
Hundreds of acres in the neighbourhood of Bridg-
water and Langport are under weer. The." pl99r lands
these foggy mornings present a picturesque view, though
the eight is ti very chilly 91/0.--#5O/71Crat Gaxettc.

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