The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-16 00:00:00

,
„ 4*

LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1846.

Congratulations are, doubtless, being reciprocated
in the Conservative Cabinet of Versailles. Never,
however, has there been leas cause for congratulation
in the French Government since the glorious revolu-
tion of '3O. King Louis PUILIFFE may rejoice at the
consummation of this Spanish intrigue, but the
French people have infinite reason to deplore that in-
auspicious ceremonial. To the former the marriage
of the Duc DE MONTPENSIER is a specious assurance
of the consolidation of his dynastic interests. To the
latter those nuptials are only an augury of diplo-
matic embarrassments and disrupted alliances. A
species of fatality appears to have characterised the
recent proceedings of the GUIZOT Administration.
The French Ministers and their subordinates must
have swallowed one of those draughts of fasci-
nation familiar to Arabic literature ; the magic
rose-leaf of NOURAJAHUAD must have been
secretly conveyed to the shoulder of the Count
DE BAESSON ; or that astute ambassador and his
colleagues must have degenerated into the syco-
phantic agents of royal cupidity. Without one or
other of these preliminaries, the officials of the
Tuileries could never have proceeded with such un-
bending pertinacity in the facilitation of a marriage
so manifestly inimical to the national interests of
France, and so opposed to the happiness of present
and prospective millions. No partialities, however,
could retard this unfortunate union; no desires were
sufficiently powerful to diminish the anxiety for its
realisation. Much as the GUIZOT party had sacri-
ficed for, and long as they had endeavoured to perpe-
tuate the existence of the entente cordiale—the
entente cordiale was sacrificed because it was an
obstacle to the Montpensier marriage. Valuable and
protracted as had been the European peace, the Euro-
pean peace was placed in imminent jeopardy because
the Orleans family was solicitous for the Montpen-
sier marriage. Dangerous and even fatal as French
interference in Peninsular affairs had been at the
commencement of the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-
turies, that peril was courted, because by such an in-
terference alone could the Montpensier marriage be
arranged. The dignified protests of England, the
lowering aspect of the Spanish population, the histo-
rical warnings of Lours XIV. and NAPOLEON 1., the
dissatisfaction evinced by many Frenchmen, and the
continuance of international friendships, were all
equally despised. And why ? Because the only
marihgeable son of Louis PiiimaPrE would thereby
obtain an opulent bride, together with the possible
reversion of a crown ; because the European
influence of that SOVEREIGN would be thereby ma-
terially enhanced ; because the old Bourbon aspiration
of v;vtually annihilating the Pyrenees would be
thereby accomplished, and because, forsooth, the mar-
riage of his Royal Highness of Montpensier with
the INFANTA would tend very marvellously to the
aggrandisement of the regal importance of the Orleans
dynasty Surely, this sacrifice of the wishes
interests, and possibly the heart's blood of a free I
' the
people, simply for the dornestio advantage of the
grandson of Egalite, is but a sorry consummation of
the undying principles and prodigious struggles of
the French Revolution ! Surely it is the tacit
abnega-
tionfthe of all those glorious concessions to the majestyo
people which were then obtained at the cost of BO much
blood, and with the exercise of such gigantic powers!
It is but a sorry sequel to the first brilliant achieve..
ment of the present monarch of France. It is not

well to see the same man gambling away the inde-
pendence of a great nation for the selfish end of his
own family emolument who, as the Due DE CHAR-
TRES, fleshed his sword so bravely in the charges of
Jemappes under the banners of DUMOURIER.

King Louis PHILIPPE should have conned over the
lessons imparted by the history of his own country
before be embarked upon this dangerous enter-
prise. He should, as every conscientious So-
vereign does, have read the records of his
people, and have been warned by the blun-
ders of his imperial predecessors. Had he suffi-
ciently weighed the precedents of Gallic interference
in the affairs of Spain, he would have been more
cautious in hazarding the same species of catastrophe
upon a similar enterprise. Possibly, the upholders of
the recent policy of the French SOVEREIGN may
regard these objections to that policy as of a rather
penultimate character. Not so. The marriage has
undoubtedly been solemnized. Telegraphs and
couriers have unquestionably conveyed the intelli-
gence to Paris. Bonfires have been kindled round
the Pardo, guns have been fired from the
Escurial, flowers and perfumes have been
scattered upon the sacred pavements of
Atocha, in honour of this illustrious occurrence.
The Infanta LUISA is now Duchess of MONTPEN-
SEER. So far, the wishes of Louis PHILIPPE have
been realised—so far, his insatiable lust of political
influence has been gratified. But, observe the con-
comiants of these proceedings, and behold the
prospects of woe which gloom through this
hollow jubilation. The sullen and ominous silence of
the multitude assembled in the streets of Madrid on the
entrance of the French Princes, the seizure of refrac-
tory newspapers, the bayonets and artillery that bristled
round the carriage of the foreign bridegroom, the se-
verities which preceded his arrival at the capital, the
unseemly rapidity with which the nuptials were
solemnized—everything betrays the indignation of the
Spanish populace, and the sense of insecurity
which had taken possession of the minds of
the contracting parties. Nor does the silly
attempt at assassination by OLATARIETTA
sufficiently account for the extraordinary pre-
cautions taken by the gendarmerie for the preserva-
tion of the life of the Duc DE MONTPENSIER.
Statements the most garbled have disgraced the
Ministerial journals of Paris, evidently written with
an anxiety to delude the popular imagination. Such
incidents as the determination of the Ayunta-
mientos of Madrid to cause the marriage of twelve
orphans with liberal dotations, in commemoration of
the royal espousals, have been vaunted in terms of
amazing exultation ; while others, such as the refusal of
the Ayuntatnientos of Burgos to dispatch a congratu-
latory deputation, have been slurred over as of not the
smallest importance. This ministerial hypocrisy will,
however, prove of no ultimate advantage. The desti-
tute condition of Ireland, the implied apathy of the
protesting nation, and the embarrassments supposed
to threaten our Indian possessions, will not,
as is presumed, shield France from the diffi-
culties her rulers have themselves originated.
In relation to these imaginings, we would especially
remind the Ministerial press of Paris, that churlish-
ness is not logic, that parade is not triumph, and that,
though Colonel BLOOD could bear a regalia away
in his pocket, it would be somewhat difficult for any
one to commit a burglary upon a constitution, or to
carry off, surreptitiously, the affections and obedience
of a people. 1

Great emergencies compel a recourse to extraordi-
nary means to overcome transitory and unforeseen
difficulties. The functions of a Government are pri-
marily of an executive character. Their next chief
duty is to take the initiative in legislating upon all
matters of important public interest. This duty is
best performed when the Executive are successful in
anticipating the wants of the people. Inasmuch as
Parliament is not always assembled, and also because,
even when it is, legislation is frequently a tardy pro-
cess, the Government are authorised in many in-
stances by orders in Council, to check an evil, which,
without such intervention, would prove highly in-
jurious to the country ; and again, such is the imper-
fection of human wisdom, that Ministers, overtaken
by unexpected embarrassments of vast national con-
cern, have frequently, and with marked wisdom,
either exceeded a particular law, or altogether set it
aside upon their own responsibility, trusting to
Parliament to indemnify them for their several or
collective acts. We have recently had a notable
instance of this policy in the conduct of Lord
BESBOROUGIL The defects of the Labour-rate
Act for Ireland were peculiarly manifest. The Lord-
Lieutenant, warmly pressed by all the leading men
in Ireland to extend its operations, has adopted the
recommendation upon his own responsibility. But,
although this is a wise resolution, yet
,it is not to be
doubted that it would have been infinitely better in
the Government to have concurred in the propriety
of its adoption much earlier than they did. Much of
valuable time has been lost by the delay, and we are
so much behind hand in carrying out the necessary
means for mitigating the alarming consequences of
the heavy visitation that has fallen upon Ireland. i
The evils the Administration had to cope with lay
glaringly on the surface, and weeks ago not a moment i
should have been lost by them, in either convening
Parliament for the necessary powers, or in assuming
them, as they have at length done, upon the faith of
future indemnity. This was precisely a state cf
things where energy and boldness on the
part of a Government could have been most
happily and efficaciously exhibited ; instead of
which, the Cabinet have failed, to a great extent, in
what is an invaluable portion of their duty, the anti-
cipation of the wants of the community, first, by not
having passed their Labour-rate Bill so as to autho-
rise and include theinvestment of capital in reproduc-
tive works in Ireland, and next by the procrastina-
tion they permitted previous to curing this defect in
the way we have alluded to. Delay is often tanta-
mount to destruction, and exigencies will not stand
still whilst numerous public meetingi are being as-
sembled to indicate to the Executive the adequate
steps to be adopted for warding off great and im-
pending calamities. The celebrated PITT, was in the
habit of having closeted with him the leading mercan-
tile men, and by these means was eminently success-
' ful in legislating in due season for the security of
commercial harmony. Last year Sir ROBERT
PEEL, fully alive to the then existing and
greater prospective distress in Ireland, was
prepared to open the ports, and subsequently
stated ha Parliament, that had his colleagues not
coincided with his own views, he was fully prepared
to undertake the entire responsibility of that and
every other means for averting the horrors of famine
that menaced to shadow the length and breadth of
the sister isle.
We have been led to these observations in conse-
quence of an important memorial that has been ad-
dressed to Lord Jour( RUSSELL by the working
classes of Manchester, at a public meeting which
they held in their Town-hall on Tuesday last. They
have entreated the Government to call an immediate
Council, to throw open the ports of the United
Kingdom to all kinds of provisions, free of duty. We
trust the Cabinet will promptly accede to their re-
quest. The rise in
_the price of bread has within a
short time become nearly equivalent to three-
fifths of its entire cost. The consequence is,
that the receipts of the general tradesman are
seriously diminished, and the home market for
manufactures is already in a languishing
condition. But what should determine the Govern-
ment in favour of the memorialists is, that, by the
statistics presented at their meeting, it would appear
there is an abundance of food in the country, and
that, therefore, the enhanced price of bread is attri-
butable to speculation. We blame not the mono-
polising holders of corn ; they have a right to use
their capital as they think most advantageous to
themselves; but we shall view it as a matter of
serious culpability if, when famine and crime are
haunting us on all sides, the servants of the Crown
should not put an end to the noxious system of
gambling which is being carried on in the chief
article of human food. Let the ports be promptly
opened; it will immediately once more place the loaf
within the reach of the aarving poor, arrest the hand
of crime, enliven com'aierce, and speedily dispel the
gloom which is hou tly pervading every portion. of
her MAJESTY'S dominions.
We ha,

ye news from Geneva of the 12th. The
Pr°visi"4l Gov
,ernment WAS conducting Attain in