The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-10 00:00:00

THE_ STT N, LONDON, MONDAYI EVE NI I NO, AUGUST 10, VAPi

We allude to the Fisheries (Ireland) Bill and the
Exclusive Privilege of Trading Abolition (Ireland)
8711. Some such facilities for expediting the opera-
tions of the Legislature were absolutely necessary, so
as to prorogue the Parliament within reasonable
limits, and to preserve the RUSSELL Administration
from being involved in a terrible accumulation of
measures on the opeeing of the succeeding session.
Every one recognises this fact, and perceives
that some concession is requisite, if the conve-
nience of Parliament collectively and individually is
to be consulted. The residue of the questions still un-
settled, and not expressly postponed to a future
period, will, therefore, be submitted, in quick suc-
cession, to the decision of our rulers. Among these
of the most interest we may particularise the pro-
posed reduction of the duties upon rum—a re4luction
of sixpence upon the present duty of 9s. 41,
leaving a duty of 81. 101 upon every gallon of
that spirit. This proposition is to be introduced
immediately b.s,, the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER,
and, although we are somewhat surprised at the
mincing character of the reduction, we are still dis-
posed to welcome it as a step—a diminutive one, no
doubt—in the right direction.
A vast number of questions intimately connected
with the moral welfare, the sanatory condition, and
the systematic education of the people, will be re-
served by the Ministry for the next session. The
question of amelioration to Ireland will, in like
manner, be left in abeyance. We are inclined to
congratulate the country upon this delay, however
irksome it may at first appear, because every matter
will thereby be thoroughly digested before any defi-
nite plan of reformation be submitted to the Legis-
lative Councils.

On Saturday we commented upon the first part of
the new, regulations with respect to corporal punish-
ment henceforth to be adopted in the army ; and
while we expressed our uncompromising hostility to
the lash, and our deep regret that the principle, even
in its modified form, should still be maintained in
the service, we offered suggestions which might pos-
sibly not be objected to by the conscientious sup-
porters of the practice, and which might mitigate
some few of the numerous objections to it. A
more pleasing duty now devolves upon us in no-
ticing the means proposed to be adopted for the pre-
servation of military discipline, amid which, if found
adequate for that purpose, may eventually lead to
the total abolition of flogging.
The Premier states that we can only hope to attain
this great object by two modes : first, by the substi-
tution of some other punishment which is as effective,
and which will maintain as high and complete a state
of discipline as that which exists at the present tune;
and secondly, by changing the moral feelings of those
who belong to the army, so that other punishments,
and other methods of government, will have a greater
effect and produce a stronger impression than they
do in the present state of the military service.
The principal of these substituted punishments
will be found to consist of a proper and well-regu-
lated system of imprisonment, with its various ad
juncts of solitary confinement, hard labour, &c., &c
To render this efficient, it must be peVecily executed
and instantly applied : the common and usual public
gaol will not be so advantageous in this respect as a
military prison, tenanted by soldiers alone, and pre-
pared for their reception exclusively. A large pro-
portion of military crime, although demanding and
receiving a severe punishment, may be wholly un
attended with moral guilt, and it would manifestly
ire most injurious to expose a man as yet untainted
will crime to the pollution of daily intercourse with,
and the probability of contamination by, the aban-
doned and profligate characters who are the constant
inmates of the public gaols. There are now nine
military prisons already established in the United
Kingdom, viz., four in England, four in Ireland, and
one in Scotland ; and for their good effect it is un-
necessary to seek any testimony beyond
that of the Secretary-at-War, who while
advocating the necessity for the continuance
of corporal punishments, produced one of the strong-
est arguments against that necessity, when he stated,
" that out of 4,276 prisoners confined in these military
prisons, there were only 20 cases in which it was
found necessary to inflict corporal punishment, the
highest being 100, and the lowest 24 lashes, and of
recommittals to prison the number had only been in
the proportion of three per cent.; and he had it upon
the authority of several military officers to state that
they had received their men back from prison better
men, and better soldiers, than when they left." If
this be the truth, and we cannot doubt it, what an
extraordinary improvement must this be on the old
system. It is a well-known fact that, in 19 cases
out of 20, the man who has been degraded in the
sight of his comrades, who has been tied up, and had
inflicted on him the indelible marks of his disgrace,
has never regained his lost character, has become a
reckless, good-for-nothing soldier, indulging in the
most vicious habits and propensities, and generally
suffering a repetition of the punishment over
and over again. Now, if the object of
punishment is the prevention of crime and
the amendment of the offender, as we have ever
supposed it to be, and not vengeance, surely the
system which makes him a better man and a better
soldier, and in which the instances of second punish-
meets are but three per cent. on their entire, must
be tar better and more efficacious than that which
ruins his prospects and makes him a disgrace and a
reproach to the service, and destroys the probability,
almost the possibility, of amendment. Forfeiture of
pay and pension, increased drill, confinement to bar-
racks, and a variety of minor punishments within the
power of a commanding officer, might be most ad-
vantageously resorted to, and would probably be
found, in the majority of cases, quite sufficient for
the preservation of discipline. There is one mode of
punishment, however, so singular and ludicrous in its
nature, that we would be unwilling to mention it
were it not so strongly supported by one of the
brightest ornaments of our country, whose intelli-
gence, foresight, and sagacity in peace have been no
less remarkable than his services in war have been
brilliant and glorious—who long since stood forward
as the zealous and efficient advocate of his
brother soldiers—who vindicated their characters from
the reproaches with which they were assailed—who
has ever ably opposed the assertion that the British
soldier is of an "inferior class" in his country and
less respectable in his character than the conscript;
the unwilling soldier of other nations, and who in

that feeling has most ably advocated the total aboli-
tion of flogging in time of peace, and the substitution
of other and less objectionable punishments, while
his reputation as an officer and strict maintainer of
discipline (though not by the intervention of the cat),
renders superfluous his assertion, that "If he thought
diminished severity of punishment would produce
slackness of discipline, he assuredly would not be the
advocate of change." We allude to the hero of
Meeanee and Hyderabad, Sir CHARLES J. NAPIER,
who, in his admirable work on military law and
flogging, p. 177, suggests the adoption of blistering
the back as a punishment for drunkenness, the ter-
rible vice from which nearly all military offences
have their origin. He states that in the only two in-
stances in which it was tried it fully and entirely
succeeded : in one case the regiment had been in an
infamous state—it had been in a distant
colony." They had just returned to Guernsey; the
cheapness of liquor made the soldiers drink hard;
"the flogging was dreadful, and, as usual, without
rpet. A new lieutenant-colonel joined. He did
not inflict a single lash, and in three months the in-
specting general officer returned the highest report of
the state of the corps. The theilis that produced
this extraordinary change were sending the drunkard
to hospital, where he was put to bed, his back blis-
tered, and himself fed on bread and water for a week,
and then discharged cured ; his comrades laughed at
and ridiculed, in place of sympathising with and
pitying him, and the effect was complete ; and the
Gallant General well exclaims, " after witnessing
this can I believe the lash to be necessary ?" After
this strong testimony, surely it would be worth re.
peating the experiment.

Everything that tends to the second mode by which
corporal punishment may be abolished, viz., the im-
provement of the moral condition of the soldier, and
inducing him thereby to the m ,intenance of a better
and more orderly behaviour, will be hnilt:d with the
greatest delight : in this respect the statutnent of the
Premier is very gratifying. Hia Lordship announces

that rowards Jun bees established for good condo*,

and also increased pay after a certain number of
years ; that since December last no less than thirty
commissions have been given to private soldiers in
the army, and also sums furnished them for the out-
lay necessary on the acceptance of those commis-
sions ; 100 soldiers' libraries have been establi:hed,
containing 60,000 volumes, and a normal school is
projected, for the purpose of providing good regimen-
tal schools; savings' banks are now encouraged in
several regiments, in place of being discourdged and
sneered at, as was formerly the case; and his Lord-
ship bears the strongest testimony as to the good
effects of a plan originally suggested by himself when
at the head of the establishment at Chelsea, viz., the
allotment of small gardens to the men, in the cul.
tivati.m of which they took the greatest delight, and
from which they derived some small profit, who before
that time had been constantly in public-houses. The
propo'al was, as usual, sneered at by those who
thought that no useful suggestion for military
government could come from a civilian, and
yet it proved eminently successful. Can there be a
more powerful evilence for the advantage, the ne-
cessity of teaching the soldiers some trade, of pro-
viding some employment on which they may usefully
employ their leisure hours ? The principle of reward
must be put into activity-in a wise and generous
manner, and its good effects will speedily be apparent.
There are many, very many improvements, all of
which would gre3tly conduce to the same end, but
which our space to-day forbids a mention of ; many,
however, will be found in the valuable work to which
we have already referred, which may be studied with
the greatest advantage by every philanthropist, by
every man desirous of doing justice to his military
brethren.

Accounts received in England from Constantinople
of the 22d ult., state that MEUEMET ALI has been
treated with marked respect by the SULTAN. The
Journal des Debitts, however, publishes a letter from
Constantinople of the same date, which represents the
reception of MEUEMET Au as cold in the extreme,
and concludes by saying that no one can explain the
reason for the SULTAN inflioting such humiliation on
his illustrious vassal.

The Piqmontese Gazette, of the Ist, says, " By a
courier arrived from Rome, we receive the important
news of the official nomination of Cardinal Glzzt
Secretary of State both for Foreign Anirs and the
Interior. Monsignors SANTUCCI and CANELLA will
act as Under- Secretaries of the respective administra-
tions."

In a letter from Leghorn, dated August 2, we fin
the following :--

" Every ore here is talking of the audience which M. Renzi
had with the Pope previeus to his departure from Rome.
When Renzi was about to kneel, as is generally done when
a person presents himself to the Holy Father,tbe Pope raised
hint up, and presented him his ring to kiss. M. Renzi wish-
ing to express his sentiments of gratitude, his Holiness in-
terrupted him by turning the conversation on the eldest son
of M. Renzi, whom he had seen while passing through Ri-
mini. The Pope also sprite of the manifesto published at
that place, on the 23d tscptember, 1845, saying that it con-
tained many good things, several of which he proposed to
carry into execution in spite of the opposition winch he met
with, but added, that, with regard to the secularisation of
the Papal Government, he did not agree with it, for it was
enough that the benefit was effected without its being of any
consequence whether it proceeded from a priest or a layman.
The interview lasted nearly twenty minutes. M. Renzi ar-
rived at Rimini on the evening of the 25th, where he was
received with strong demonstrations of joy from his friends
and his fellow-citizens. A grand fete was to take place there
on the 30th; all the inhabitants of the place, as well as of
the surr,:unding country, proposed to take part in it, in order
to inaugurate the new era, which, it is hoped, the railroads,
the abolition of political commissions, and the arnne4y, may
open to the Papal States."

Accounts from Bologna of the 30th annoucce the
arrival in that city of Messrs. GALETTI and MATTIOLI,
who had for the last three years been prisoners in the
Castle of St. Angelo. M. GALETTI had an interview
with the POPE, at which he presented his HOLINESS
with a memorial on the subject of law reform, with
which the PorE was so pleased, that he sent him a
medal of honour. His HouNEss has granted permis•
sion to the docti of Rome to attend the scientific Con-
gress which is to be held next month at Genoa.

The Prince DE JOINVILLE, who was admitted to
pratique at Malta on the 30th, was to sail from Sicily
on the Ist.

The Grand Duke of TUSCANY, it appears is offended
with Prince Louis NAPOLEON for not having made
direct application to him for permission to visit
Florence. The Courtier Francais says—

" When Prince Louis escaped from Ham he wrote to Prince
de Metternich to solicit from him the authorisation to pro-
ceed to Tuscany to his father. Not receiving any reply, be
had a request made by one of his friends to the Grand *Duke
himself. The following was his reply :—' It was not to Aus-
tria that a demand ought to be made in a matter which re-
gards me. lam alone master in my states, as the Emperor
is in his dominions. Tell Prince Louis that if he desires to
come to Florence he must address his demand to me, and I
shall then consider what is to be done.' We can guarantee
the truth of this account."

Madrid journals and letters of the 2d have arrived

The differences between Spain and Portugal were
likely to be settled through the mediation of Eng-
land. The Spanish Cabinet no longer insisted on
the extradition of the deserters. In reply to Baron
DE RENDurr, the Portuguese Minister, M. ISTURITZ
denied that Spain had any hostile intention in con-
centrating troops on the Portuguese frontier, and
that the moment the Portuguese Government re-
moved the Spanish refugees into depots into the in-
terior of Portugal, the Spanish troops would return
to their quarters; that Spain had no intention to
meddle with the internal affairs of Portugal, but
that if any Spanish refugees crossed the frontier
they would be driven back and pursued into the in-
terior of Portugal until taken. Air. BULWER has
removed to a country seat at St. Isidro, but not,
says the Eco del Com.,..ercio, on account of his heaith,
which is excellent. The same journal states that
DON ENRIQUE is about to visit London.

MADRID .I.3oLsA, Auo. 3.—The Three per Cents.
were done at 33 15-16ths for cash ; the Five per
Cents., at 221; the Four per Cents., at 211 9-16ths 3
and the Debt without Interest, at Q.

We have received the Paris papers of Friday and
Saturday.
The elections are all over, and the Ministerial ma-
jority will be from 110 to 120. On this subject the
Journal des Debuts says—" Out of 457 nominations.
289 belong to the Conservative party, and 168 to
the Opposition. On the whole, the new Chamber

contains at this moment 110 new Deputies-82 are
Conservatives, 34 of whom were elected in the
place of ancient Conservative Deputies, and 48 replace
Deputies of the Opposition ; 28 belong to the Oppo-
sition, nine of whom were elected in the place of
ancient Deputies of the Opposition, and 19 replace
Conservative Deputies. The Conservative party ob-

tained a double election, and the Opposition four. The

Conservative gains 49 nominations, and loses 26.
Thus the definite result yields to the Conservative
party, in addition to the ancient majority, 23 nomi-
nations more than to the Opposition." Some dis-
turbances bad broken out at Perpignan, which were
speedily suppressed.

The Chamber of Peers assembled on Friday, and,
having received the royal ordonnance constituting it
a court of justice for the trial of HENRY, went into
a secret sitting, under the Presidency of the Chan-
cellor. The Procureur-General, M. HEBERT, and
the Avocet-General, M. BRESSON, were present.
The usual preliminaries were gone through,
and the Duke D ECAZES, Count PORTALIS, Baron
GIROD (de l'Ain), and M. IJAPLAGNE-BARRIS, were
appointed to assist the Chancellor Duke PASQUIER in
examining the prisoner. They immediately proceeded
to the Cenciergerie, accompanied by M. E. CAUCHY,
the registrar in chief, fur the purpose of interrogating
JOSEPH HENRY.

Lady HOLLAND, who is in Paris at the Hotel des
Princes, is labouring under a serious attack of
small-pox.
The Journal des Chemins de Fer considers the
crisis in the- share market of Paris to be at last
terminated, and is only apprehensive that the re-
action in favour of the rise be too rapid, and raise
scrip to an exaggerated price. The receipts of the
Paris and Orleans Railroad during the week ending
on the 4th inst. were 178,213 f, or nearly 18,000 f
more than last year; and from the Ist January to
the 4th inst., 4,997,346 f., exceeding by 959,000 f.
those of the corresponding period of 1545. The re-
ceipts of the Paris and Rouen line, during the same
week, amounted to 175,980 f., and since the begin-
ning of the year to 4,359,778 f. The Northern
The
road fromum et
rh ee2fBt
passengers
Railway produced, from the 25th to the 31st ult.,
conveyed bY'lhee62la'titrert:,
172,974 f, and since its opening, 970,108 f. The re-
ceipts of the Tours and Orleanssection of theßordeaux
during the kat three mutts; IT4B 9426 i or, •
I On Ala
u lt.
to t
ce o n3vde

average, 32,742 per month. This number exceeds
by 4,887 the circulation between Orleans and Tours
previous to the esfailishment of the railway, which,
on an average, was only 27,855 monthly. The move-
ment of merchandise during the same period rose to
38,341 f. in to 71,525 f. in June, and to 78,340 f
in July. •

T,,e Three par Cents. closed at 831. 75e. ; the Fire
per Cents., 1221. 45c.; the Orleans naiiroad Shares, 1,277 f.
50c. ; Rouen, 9570 500. ; Havre, 7101.; Great Northern,
715 f.; Avignon, 907 f. 50e.; Vierzor, 6351.; Bordeaux, 575 f. ;
Pa! is and Strasburg, 5021. 50e. ; Tours and Nantes, 5101 ;
Paris and Lyons, 532 t. 50c. ' • Lyon
' s and Avignon, 4951.; Bor-
deaux and Cette, 4801. • Spanish Actives, 341A3 ; Spanish
Three per Cents., 361/2 ; Spanish Pas, ives, 6.
The following are the quotations fur. mew lines:.-
-MARSEILLES, Ana-. 4.-31arseilles and Avignon, 865 f. ;
Northern, 695 f.

LYONS, AUG. 6.—Northern, 700 f.; Paris and Lyons, 506
25c.; Paris and Orleans, 1,271 f. 25c.

BUSINEsi I.ONLI IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCUANGE. AuGusr 8.

Bonlotme And Amiens, 121; Bordeaux and Mediterranean, IN
Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Cote (Espelete), I %—uuteli Rhenish, lied
—East Indian, 1- -Gr, at Indian Peninsular, % -Great Western Ben-
gal, !4—Luxembourg, 2 —..Na7nur and Liege, 2%—Orleans and Vier-
zoo, 14;4—Orleans and Bordeaux, 834—Paris and Lyons Constituted,
s%—Sambre and 'Meus2, 4 .

iIA ViVA CO3l MITTE ES.

(THIS i)AY.)

HOUSE OP LORDS.

Room C.
ozh-z,zzarrz, ziV IzPGo3,, DIATCCUESTEE,

AND mica.zza9cLan TUVCCTION.

Mr. Lowe, cross-examined by Mr. 3IEEiuvALE, on behalf of the
Rochdale Canal Company—(A model of the Rochdale Canal Company
station ut Manchester was produced, showing the course of the pro-
posed line through this property, and the severance of the various
warehouses and other buildings belonging to the Co.npany)—The
proposed railway would take about 1,400 square yards of the land
bet nging to the Company.
Re-examined by Mr. Sergeant Wamicium —The ground ac-
tually covered by the proposed railway would be only that
upon which the piers of the arches would stand, and
would not exceed more than 304 yards. The property
which the proposed railway would take was not in the occupation of
the Company itself, one portion of it was rented by Mr. Jackson,
another by Mr. flare. There would be no difficulty whatever in
crossing the exiting tunnel on the Manchester and Leeds Railway
by means of another tunnel. By the standing orders they could raise
their levels five feet, and even without doing so they could cross by
the present levels in such a manner as not only Lot to injure the
existing tunnel, but materially to benefit it, both by relieving it of
the present superabundant weight of earthwork, and also giving it a
much better ventilation by means of the open work upon which the
rails would be la,d, and the shaft which would be sunk at the pro-
posed junction of the two tunnels, thereby creating au additional
current of

By the Earl of WicsLow—The proposed line was on an emba!il
ment near the Hollingworth colliery. It did not communicate direct;
wilt it, but a short siding could very easily be made to connect the]
with Inc railway.

111 r. Hawkins, agent to the Hollingworth colliery, was then called
by ilir. Serg;:ant WaANGHAM—He said that two of the owner.; of
these collieries were directors of this railway, and that they would
be glad to form the con! eeting bra:x:l. The distance between the
pits and the line would be abdut ninety yards.
. .

Cross-examined by Mr. limaYAto The branch to connect the line
with the collieries would be upon an embankment, ana might pro
bably form a lork, one branch of which would be towards Man-
chester, and the usher towards ()Maria,

Mr. Bateman, C.E., of Manchester, wns then examined—lie had
gone (4ver the whole of the line, and thought that the estintites were
amply sufficient, and that the constriction of the line would he a
great public convenience, and that it would prove a remunerative line.

BIDEFORD AND TAN' [STOCK
RAILWAY.— (THIS DAY.)
An adjourned meeting of the shareholders of this Com-
pany- took place this day, at No. 44, Finsbury-circus, for
the purpose of registering a sufficient quantity of s'lares to
decide whether the affairs of the Company should be wound
up, and whether such dissolution should be taken ac an act
of bankruptcy on the part of the Company, or whether t
should be performed through the agency of the directorc.
Mr. Brown took the chair.

The CHAIRMAN briefly explained the reason why the
shareholders had been summoned. and the piling commenced.

It may not be improper to observe that, although the
requisite number of shares have not as yet been regis •
tered, there has not been a dissentient to the
resolution that the Company should be dissolved, and
that such dis. olution should not be estimated as an act el
bankruptcy. By the prospectus it was provide•l that th,,
number of shares should consist of 26,000, :it 251. per share ;
20,000 of these have been allotted, and upon 18,600 shares
11. is. 6d. per share hes been paid. The Company intend re-
turning 10s. per share.

3i PERI A/, PARLIAMENT
(1 HIS DAY.)

H OUSE OF co YDI °NS.

The SPEAKER took the Chair at Twelve o'clock, when
Lord HOBERT GROSVENOR, being introduced by Lord
Marcus Hill and the Attorney-General, took the oaths and his
seat for Chester.