The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-28 00:00:00

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT).

On few occasions has the mind of the public been more
excited than at present. The great question of the corn-
laws has been debated far and near, the agitation has been
universal. During the last week every feeling has been
merged in expectation. " What will Sir R. PEEL propose?"
was re-echoed on every side. - From his speech of Thursday
great things were anticipated, and never were the most san-
guine expectations more fully realised, nay more than
realised. He has done what his most ardent admirers had
not ventured to predict, wtiat the lovers of free trade had scarce
dared even to hope for. He spoke not of corn alone, but of
commerce. He did not act for one class, but for the com-
munity. His speech, last evening, will be an example to
all future statesmen. It needed not the moving powers of
oratory—it needed no adventitious adornments—it was calm,
considerate, and comprehensive. It was received with
breathless attention by the House—it will be hailed with
universal delight by the country. It received an un-
usual mark of royal approval. Prince ALBERT and the
Duke of CAMBRIDGE were in the House. The people have
not now to learn how cordially their SOVEREIGN responds to
their feelings. 'Were proof wanting of the sentiments of her
MAJESTY, it is amply afforded by the event of last evening.
Her MAJESTY was, of course, aware of the measures to be
proposed, and the presence of her Rcyal Consort more fully
testifies her concurrence than the formal " Je le veux" she
will pronounce when those measures become law. The
speech of Sir R. PEEL is thus favoured by high and low, and
never did a speech of Minister or Member deserve at.
tention more. It is not the discourse of a Right
Honourable Baronet, it is not even the proposi-
tion of a Government—it is the Magna Charta of
our commerce, the manumission of fettered industry. It is
worthy of the Minister of a country on whose empire the
sun never sets, on whose equal he never shines. Our flag
waves over every sea, our commerce extends to every shore,—
must we then be bound down in narrow limits, must we
submit to paltry restrictions and factious rules ?
Not so ; the measures proposed last night, which
the House must carry or the country will, the
measures of Sir R. PEEL are framed in a broad and com-
prehensive spirit which will render our commerce free and
glorious, as it should be. His speech will convince all not
too prejudiced and partial to heed truth, his plans must be
affirmed by all who wish well for their country. Many have
desired an immediate and total repeal of the corn-laws, yet,
on reflection, they will acquiesce with the present arrange-
ment. In three years we shall have free trade, and three
years are little in such circumstances ; in the mean time the
duty will be greatly reduced—at present only 4s. instead
of 16s. But not alone in corn is the power of protection
destroyed ; duties are remitted or reduced upon articles too
numerous to mention here ; above all, upon those things
necessary for the people's food. Cattle are to be imported
free, and all grain necessary for fattening cattle. No longer
shall our labourers own "they know what meat is, but have
never tasted it." Sir R. PEEL seems to have left nothing
untouched; his genius has been "universal as his theme."
Even in offering compensation to the agriculturists he hashed
an eye to the general advantage. Among other things, he pro-
poses to facilitate the improvement of the soil. This is, in-
deed, a most necessary proceeding. The chief object of a
landowner is to get money, not to lay it out—his land gives
him rent, he gives it nothing in return. The farmers can
afford nothing; they can hardly pay their landlords as it is,
much less devote their earnings to improve the landlord's
soil. And even if they could they would not do so;
for, being mostly tenants-at-will, they are liable at
any time to lose their master's favour, by a wrong
vote at an election, or any act of insubordination, and the
land is taken from them and the money they have sunk in it.
Thus is the soil of England neglected, and by means of those
who call themselves " the friends of the farmer." Sir R.
PEEL will obviate all this. He proposes to lend money upon
Exchequer-bills for the purpose of draining and improving
the land, such loans to be arranged in a manner that will
be satisfactory to all parties, and highly beneficial to the
agriculture of the country. This is only one of a hundred
salutary regulations having for their object the general rod,
and dictated by a wise and liberal policy. The great ques-
tion is deferred for more than a week, but the time will not
be lost; the people respond to the Minister, who only echoes
their own thoughts,

There are some selfish enough to prefer their own interests
—let them learn that the interests of one are the interests of
all. Yet reason is useless, they will not listen to the voice
of the charmer; we must leave them in their ignorance. Sir
R. PEELneed have no fear—the Ilousemust respond to him;
f not, let him appeal to the:people ; there he• is secure. Whigs
and Tories, Radicals and Conservatives, will be forgotten ;
the people feel their national enthusiasm, and, as true Bri-
tons, will respond to the truly British measures of their
Minister.

We have received Madrid papers of the 20th, but they
bring no news of the slightest interest. On the Bourse the
Three per Cents. closed at 33t/, and the Fives at 23 13-16
both for account.

The Paris papers are almost entirely occupied with the
proceedings in the British Parliament on Thursday, and one
of them devotes not less than seven columns in small type to
the debates. They in general pay high compliments to Sir
R. PEEL as well as Lord J. RUSSELL, and some of them ex-
press the greatest admiration of her MAJESTY'S constitutional
and disinterested conduct. "As to the Queen of ENGLAND,"
says the Sich,, "we cannot too loudly express our admira-
tion at her conduct. In a country where royalty is an in
stitution, where parties of the most extreme feeling profess a
kind of idolatry, we are indebted to the young female who
sways the sceptre for showing that deference for public opi-
nion and that complete submission to the Parliamentary law
of majorities. With nations less advanced in the practice
of the representative system, kings have heft seen to
yield but in appearance to the wishes of the Cham-
bers, and raise unseen obstacles to ruin the combinations
which' they have appeared to accept. It has not been the
same with Queen VicraniA. In reading the letters produced
by Lord J. RESSELL, it is difficult to know what most to ad-
mire, the entire abandonment made by the Sovereign of her
prerogative into the hands of the Prime Minister pointed out
by public opinion to her confidence, or the decision with which
the deposit of such an authority was accepted. Certainly a
people whose Government acts with such frankness is capable
of great things." The France, after adverting to the speech
of Sir R. PEEL, adds :—" This is a language which announces
a very firm resolution not to yield to any secondary con-
sideration. The crisis has, in fact, doubled the strength of
this great statesman. It is probable that success will prove
that he is right, for everybody asks what could be done if he
should not succeed, and no other person than himself would
dare to accept the burden without presumption and mad-
ness." The following well-expressed compliment to her
MAJESTY and the leaders of the two parties appears in the
Journal des Debats.

" What is worthy of admiration is the manner In which, during
the whcle of this great crisis, the two statesmen of England compre-
hend their duty towards their country, their Sovereign, and them-
selves. The spectacle which these two heads of parties, forgetting
their rivality, or only remembering it to turn it to the profit of the
general good, only seeking, in place of exciting mutual embarrass-
ments, to facilitate for each other the task of guiding the destinies of
their country in the midst of a most difficult crisis, is, we think, a
spectacle unique in the history of constituti)nal Governments. On
one side, we see a man who had emerged from the ranks of the
people, and who, by the force of circumstances, was placed at the
head of the aristocratic party, and on the other, a man taking his
origin from the oldest and most exclusive of oligarchies, and placed
at the head of the popular party—each aiding the other, and the
Queen assisting both, in order that frem this union might emanate
the good of the people. That assuredly is a spectacle well calculated
to throw honour alike on the Sovereign, the Ministers, and the
country which presents it."
The discussion on the Address was still going on in the
Chamber of Deputies, but it possesses no interest for the
English reader. According to a Toulon paper, several letters
from the province of Algiers give grounds for believing that
ABDIEL-KADER has once more succeeded in deceiving Mar-
shal BUGEAUD, and that after the affair of Temda, instead of
retiring towards the west, the Emir went and made an
attack upon the Beni-Zoug-Zougs, who bad delivered up to
the French BEN-ABDALLAH, the brother of Bou-MAzA.

FainPoux, 500 f. * ;
620 f. ; Tours and
•--- .
On Monday the French Funds unproved considerably, and the
:But few buyers.
market closed as follows :—Three per Cents. for cash, 83f. 50c. ; for
account, 83f. 70c. ; Five per Cents. for cash, 122 f. 15c ; for /lc.
elnUtn—Jamaica
Northern of
count, 1221. 30c. ; Bank of France Shares, 3,375 f. ; Neapolitan, 100 f.
AT THE
50c.; Spanish Threes, 90; Ditto, Fives, 374; New Loan, 83f. 30c.
The Share market was less firm, and for cash many of the leading
Great
—Eastnldnidaina
lines slightly receded, Paris and Orleans leaving off at 1,2581. 75c -
Paris and Rouen, 1,030 f. ; Rouen and Havre, 735 f.
; Avignon, 985 E.
Vlerzon, 905 f. ; Strasburg and Bale, 2551. ; Northern, 753 f. 75e ;
—,Orleans and Bor-
f.
Nantes,
55 RotGi,f
ed. f
i;c ansui
Strasburg,
u3O frig
.e 5,
roisnc4.aB;l
.fl%r; oAenl
,ytlegranetoa_nu
54y6505:
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREI•;11 RAILWAYS
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, JAN. 27.
Ni —Jamaica
Fr
South Midland Junction,3M Luxembourg, 2%
deaux, 111,6—Paris and Rouen, 391,4 —Pari
nerou's), 2%.
BaloieuelogncoentntidtuAtemd,ienis4,2l—N
and Strasbourg (Gan-

The Hon. Edwin Lascelles is Lord De Grey's candidate for
Ripon. It is said that Lord De Grey expressed his willing-
ness to return the new Attorney-General for Ireland, but
would not consent to Mr. Gladstone.

Mr. O'Connell, accompanied by his son John O'Con-
nell, Esq., ➢i.P., arrived in town yesterday.
Mr. Pousonby has paired off with Mr. Barneby for a
mouth,