The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-27 00:00:00

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LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1648.

Fratirnity, as the symbol of social government, has
Latterly been a derision, and a scoff, and a hissing to
the Conservative gentlemen of England, who swear by
the policy of Prince METTERNICH. Equality and
liillert,y may pass current, but Fraternity I—it is a
bye-word, at the very utterance of which the retro
grade party shoot out their tongues in mockery. And
yet the principle of fraternity is a principle most
strong* inculcated by the Christian religion : it is the
practical dewloptnent of the ethics nurtured into life
at Naalregth : It is the fulfilment of the ereed which has
been gradkr4lly developing its riches and its glory
during eighteen successive centuries. It is this
which, in defiance of the sarcasms of the lovers
of absolutism, is perceptibly conducting the
nations of the earth to a better sense of
their common fellowship and a firmer compact of
teacqdillity. The gibes of the disappointed men who
see their idols crumbling away before them—the
obligirchy of 'Vienna and the Royal bourgeoisie of
Neuillsr--the sneers of the Tory journalism which has
degenerated into the panegyrist of the exiled states-
men of Brompton, may be cast forth abundantly
against the onward movement of the people ; but in
spite of every obstacle that movement will con-
tine uninterruptedly, for it is as irresistible in its
vigdur as it has recently been astounding in its de-
monstration.

-Within the last fortnight the streets and public edi-
fices of this metropolis have been crowded by visitors of
a very foreign and picturesque appearance. Those
wl3o were unacquainted with the costume, the
blue militarc, surtout, the dapper schako, the
sword-belts, and the scarlet shoulder-knots,
—learnt from the newspapers that these vi_
iitcyr.3 were part of a very numerous detach-
t of the National Guards of Paris, and that th•
el-tiopt of their arrival in London was to cultivate
sentiments of goodwill and friendship between
themselves and the English populace. The journey
bad a nobler object than the evanescent gratification
derivable from a pleasure excursion. The tradesmen
of Paris had crossed the channel to mingle with the
inhabitants of London ; and at the seine time that
they made a pilgrimage of curiosity to structures
consecrated by the associations of history and an-
tiquity, they were solichous to extend the hand of
good-fellowship to their brother men of the United
Kingdoms.
.With this generous intention they came,
mad with a ldndre feeling of affection they were re-
F.pr several days past they have participated
Ah the English in all the amusements which are
affostled by this capital and its suburbs. They have
jogged amongst us on the pavements of the Strand
and PiccadMly ; they have clambered to the roofs
of our omnibuses, and feasted in the coffee-
roome of our hotels ; they have crowded the
decks of our river steam-boats, and seated
themselves in the boxes of our theatres. In all
direotions their gay attire and bearded faces
have been encountered ; in the architectural pomps of
the Abbey at Westminster; in the open space of a
Trafalgar-square, gazing up at the half-finished )

monument of our English Napoleon ; under the
arches of the Thames Tunnel ; on the summit of the
dome of St. Paul's Cathedral ; at the. New Houses of
Parliament ; at the Colosseum, at Somerset House,
at the Tower, at Kew Gardens, at Buckingham
Palace, at the Deptford Dockyard, at the Woalwich
Arsenal, at Twickenham, at Isleworth, and onwards,
until some of the most adventurous stragglers wan-
dered with feelings of peculiar interest about the
secluded purlieus of Claremont. In every instance
where the authorities were afforded the opportunity
of displaying anything like a graceful compliment, a
cordial welcome, or a conspicuous attention to the
Parisians, that opportunity was not neglected. From
the ecclesiastical authorities of Westminster, from the
barristers in our courts of law, from the civic firm-.
tionaries at the Mansion-house, the National Guards
received especial marks of interest, and not only here
but at the Horse Guards, where many of the French-
men were invited to the mess breakfast. If we ex-
cept the insolence of a few cabmen, the adroitness of
a swell-mob's man, who pilfered fifty pounds from the
packet of one of the Parisians, and the disgraceful
act of dishonesty perpetrated towards another Na-
tional Guard by a Grenadier, who is now suffering
the punishment of one month's imprisonment, and
will at the end of that interval of incarceration be
drummed out of his regiment as a thief—scarcely a
single annoyance of the most casual character has
damped the satisfaction of our visitors. Most of them
have already returned to the French capital—their
farewell shouts of " Vivo Linglais ! rive r Angle-
terre !" being responded to by cries of " Long live
the National Guard of Paris I" The departure has,
if possible, been even more cordial and propitious
than the arrival.

At this precise moment, when everybody is in good
humour at the incident, when mutual felicitations
are being exchanged by the citizens of the two
countries, the organ of retrogression, of Guizotism,
of everything that is the worst and the meanest in the
Metternichian policy, strives to excite ill-blood by
certain ill-timed and imbecile jokes, and to drop a few
drops of poison into the stirrup-cup from the nib of a
goosequill. We know not by what epithet to desig-
nate this paltry and most ungraceful proceeding—a
proceeding as paltry as it is fortunately harmless, and
as ungraceful as it is vindictive. The National
Guard of Paris are ridiculed as shopkeepers. The
origin of the aristocratic sneer is obvious. It is as
obvious as the sneer itself is absurd, when
coming from one of the organs of a
nation called by the greatest of all French-
men " a nation of shopkeepers." The martial
appearance of the Parisian tradesmen is derided
because of their avocations. Their stature, their
moustachios, their carriage, are each in turn spoken
of as something ludicrous. Now we should like to
know amazingly if the moderately-sized bourgeosie
are less worthy of respect than the stunted scions of
our aristocracy, who, with the form of dwarfs and the
minds of infants, command the stalwart and glorious
regiments of our Horse Guards. Is it less honour-
able to handle the scales or the yard measure
than to finger the cue or the dice-box ?
Perhaps the reverie provoked by these very
simple propositions may induce the aristocratic quid-
nunc to remember his ungenerous sneers at the Na-
tional Guard with some feeling of compunction. To
ourselves the National Guard, who have fought in
defence of order and property on the summit of the
barricades, have more of the dignity, because they have
seen more of the service, of soldiers than any of our
drawing-room heroes—although the latter may have
genealogical trees loftier than the cedars of Lebanon,
while the former may have the impudence never to
have had any grandfathers.

At length the tide has turned with respect to rail-
way property. A marked improvement was per-
ceptible yesterday in the stock of the leading com-
panies. All the dividend-paying lines were quoted
at a considerable advance, and there is no doubt, if
the shareholders are only true to themselves, that
confidence will be fully restored, and that shares will
speedily arrive at something like their real value, very
far indeed beyond the present prises. Aa may easily
be imagined, the " Bears" are outrageous at the
change, and there is little doubt that they will spare
no exertions, and leave no means untried, to con-
summate the ruin they had so nearly occasioned.
Actual bona fide shareholders should therefore
be particularly on their guard, and give no
credence to rumours which are not corro-
borated by the most unquestionable authority.
They have to deal with bold and unscrupulous par-
ties, who will have little hesitation as to the means
by which their objects may be attained, and who will
readily sacrifice a portion of their ill-gotten gains in
order to keep the game alive for some time longer.
There is, however, no real danger. All that is re-
quired is a bold and steady resistance, and victory
must be attained. A day of retribution will shortly
arrive, when the "Bears" will sink into the pitfalls
which they themselves excavated for the destruction
of their neighbours. It is for the shareholders to say
how speedily that day—creta notanda—shall arrive.
If they hold on steadily and firmly, through
good report and through evil report, and
ridicule the weak inventions of their mortal enemies,
it will come before another month has expired. Any
exhibition of weakness on their part will, however,
protract the struggle, and may perhaps enable their
assailants to retain some portion of the enormous
profits they have realised. Railway proprietors should
co-operate cordially together, and render mutual
assistance in this the crisis of their fate—the strong
should support the weak, and a fund should be pro-
vided from which advances would be made to those
requiring such assistance, and who would otherwise
be compelled to dispose of their shares in the
market for whatever they might bring, and
thereby occasion a great depreciation in all
the other stock of the :Company to which they be-
longed. It is owing in a great degree to the total ab-
sence of such accommonation that the fearful and
unaccountable depression we hare witnessed may be
attributed.
Persons suffering under a temporary pressure had
deposited shares as securities for certain advances, giv-
ing a power of sale to the lenders in the event of the
money not being returned by a particular day. Those
persons, who took care to leave a margin sufficiently
wide to protect themselves from the possibility of any
loss, and who had no consideration for the interests o
the unfortunate borrower, or of the rail way pro.
prietors, flung the shares on the market at the exp

ration of the appointed time', and thus the mischief
originated. :A large amount of property being offered
for unreserved sale naturally depressed prices.

Others took alarm ; capitalists were deterred from
purchasing until the termination of the excitement

and panic that ensued ; sales were forced' et any loss,

The "Bears" laboured diligently in their vocation, and
fabricated reports to account for the depreciation.

A vague terror was excited, and men who would
gladly have invested their money at the rate of 5 to 6
per cent., refused to do so when 7 or 8 per cent. could
readily be obtained. Those who would have pur-
chased into the North-Western at 80 or 40 premium,
and congratulated themselves on the bargain, ab-
stained from buying when the stock was but a

little above par. So it was in every in-
stance, and while there were but few transfers, and
little real business, fictitious sales were made, and
nominal quotations to depreciate the property still
further, the speculators for a continued fall hoping
that it would find

" In the lowest depth a deeper still."
All these evils would have been avoided if the great
interest which was thus seriously injured, and even
placed in imminent danger of absolute ruin, hal taken
the obvious precaution of establishing banks that
would make reasonable advances on railway pro-
perty, _ and not press sales at an improper time,
and thereby add to the panic. It would
not even be necessary to open new banks,
for if once announced that shareholders

would stand together, and that tha wealthier members

of the body would withdraw their account from every
bank that joined in the disgusting cant of the day
against railway property, and who refused legitimate

accommodation to those interested therein, these
gentlemen would speedily tee matters in a very
different light, and exhibit greater liberality to their
customers, even to those possessed of railway pro-
perty.

We must now again congratulate the shareholders
on the improved prospects opened to them. They
must not, however, sink into apathy because a