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

PRIVY COUNCIL.

Her MAJESTY is expected to hold a Privy Council
on Saturday next, the 19th inst. At this Council it
is expected that the time for the meeting of Parlia-
ment will be determined on, and a proclamation will
be issued, summoning both Houses to meet for the
dispatch of public business.

We have received information that an order
was forwarded, on Saturday to the Tower, from
the Board of Ordnance, directing a troop of artil-
lery to be dispatched to Ireland forthwith. The alarm-
ing condition of the people in that country, and
the frequent recurrence of outrages in many districts,
j ustifies the Executive in taking immediate and
strenuous measures for the protection of life and the
preservation of the peace. Our accounts,
published in another column, present a
fearful catalogue of murders and robberies; and,
from the frightful starvation which is now afflict-
ing the peasantry, there are no lack of incite-
ments to insubordination. On Friday, it will be
remembered, we published the account of nine
deaths from famine, and every additional packet cor-
roborates the impressions which have been all along
entertained a 3 to the destitution in Ireland. We
trust, however, that intimidation will be sufficient to
restore the population to a sense of their duty, and to
an obedience to the law.

Everything indicates that Europe is peculiarly at
this moment in a state of transition. Popular power
may be regarded as at its culminating point. The
two paramount forces of the Continent—the repres-
sive domination of the East and the regenerative con-
stitutions of the West— the hereditary legislation of
the North, and the elective legislation of the South—
are now more than ever endeavouring to counteract
the influence of each other. Time has not
tended to lessen their mutual antipathy : on
the contrary, their sentiments have become more
than ever embittered, their opinions have become more
than
ever estranged. The common alliance which
was expected by many credulous persons to render
their reconciliation nermanent, has proved only an
additional source of animosity. After
After a temporary
quietude of thirty. one
ea
these heterogeneous powers hasrs been compact between
sudd.enly broken;
their partial reliance on each
others
been utterly dispelled; the possibility
tf any
integrity has
cordial cooperation between them has been
rendered more than ever dubious. The
consequence of this abrupt disseverance has
already evinced itself in the increased distaste of the
two divisions of the C:)ntiner.t for each other. The

monstrous cruelty, moreover, by which that disseve-
rance has been alone effected, has afforded additional
grounds for the rancour of the cajoled nations. In
the annexation of Cracow, Austria, Russia, and Prussia
have not merely violated their engagements with the
other continental principalities, but they have like-
wise directly violated the principles upon which
the very Governments of the West are based. Those
three despotic Cabinets have not merely violated cer-
tain articles of the treaty of Vienna, they have like-
wise violated the fundamental laws of humanity and
justice. In this latter violation consists their chief
offence.

Some considerable time has elapsed since the first
consideration of this perfidious act by the Northern
Powers ; some little time has already elapsed since
the seizure of Cracow. It is satisfactory, however, to
reflect that decisive protests against this heinous
spoliation have been forwarded to Vienna by the
Cabinets of St. James's and the Tuileries. The pro-
test of Lord PALMERSTON, couched in those terms of
emphatic indignation which are the more impressive,
from their calmness and moderation, has been followed
by the protest of M. GUIZOT. This remarkable do-
cument, which is dsted the 3d of December, has only
just (been revealed in the Parisian newspapers; and,
if we may estimate its character correctly from the
lucubrations of those whose position appears to be
some guarantee for the accuracy of their observations,
it would appear that the protest could not by
possibility have been in language more reso-
lute and authoritative. It were frivolous to
enter minutely into the examination of these singular
communications from England and France to the
Government of the Emperor FERDINAND; it were
frivolous so to scrutinise their bearing before we have
weighed the chances of their causing any retractation
on the part of that imperial offender ; and, having
weighed those chances, the case assumes so discou-
raging an aspect, that we are fain to tarry upon the
threshold of the investigation.

Has Poland a hope of revenging her wrongs ?—those
prodigious wrongs inflicted upon he; by perfidy, by cow -
ardice, by the swords of the imperial robbers and the
duplicity of political parasites. Has Poland a
chance of emerging from her tomb, of reclaiming her
lost existence, of re-assuming her place among
the kingdoms of the civilised world? We
should rejoice in that sublime resurrection.
It would be a day of solemn jubilation to the free
nations of the globe. The hearts of the lovers of
patriotism would gladden over the sorrowful memory
of Koscrusxo. But is there a possibility of effecting
any change of this miraculous description without
entering upon a campaign of unparalleled bloodshed
and of incalculable duration ? Are the despots of
Russia, Prussia, and Austria to be frightened into a
compromise, or flattered into a concession ? The
days of warfare are becoming less frequent with the
advancement of knowledge. A battle is becoming an
abhorrence to those who have been nurtured under
the shadow of philanthropy. The multitude are
becoming more averse to the policy by which
international affairs have been hitherto controlled.
They perceive that the settlement of an international
dispute by brute force, by pitting bands of soldiers
against each other, by encouraging rapine and pro-
moting slaughter—they perceive that this mode of
arriving at a decision is somewhat similar to the
odious trial of criminals by ordeal. From the prevalence
of these sentiments the probability of an European
war is wonderfully diminished. Nevertheless, the most
fastidious opponent of physical force, the most efft•
urinate philanthropist, the most resolute opponent of
the species of heroics recorded by PLUTARCH, would
be chary of maintaining the principles of peace beyond
a certain limit. The systematic perpetration of crime
by an individual, or a nation, would unquestionably
justify even these sticklers fur peace in striving,
whether by moral or physical force, for the preven-
tion of such criminal or criminals. Self-preservation
does not more thoroughly warrant a man in attacking
his assailant than it does a nation, in the event of any
violation of their rights or invasion of their territories.
There are other circumstances, indisputably, which
umnia authorise a people to engage in war, but
the foregoing are the most important :Ana two mnSt
prevalent.

Does the condition of what was once Poland, does
the falsity of our recent allies of Russia, Prussia, and
Austria, does the occupation of Cracow, and
the violation of the treaty of Vienna—does
any one of these considerations, or do they all com-
bined, warrant the constitutional monarchies of
Western Europe in protesting against the late proceed-
ings with a strong arm as well as with a bold tongue ?
Without mincing the matter, that is the ultimate
question to be decided. The egotism of power in
the Northern Courts renders it extremely improbable
that any satisfactory arrangement will be effected by
diplomatic means. The matter will remain in &Dep..
ance longer than is expected.

The favourite argument of those who have hitherto
opposed themselves to the abolition of flogging in the
army, who have advocated the necessity of a con-
tinuance of punishments of an infamous and de-
grading character, ani asserted the impossibility of
maintaining discipline and preserving the efficiency of
our military service by any other means, has been,
that the- British soldier is of an inferior class, and
less respectable in his character and conduct than his
fellow-subjects ; that he cannot be acted on by the
same motives and inducements that influence other
men ; and that he must therefore be subjected to the
operation of a code of extraordinary stringency and
severity, and must be deprived of the rights and
privileges to which he would otherwise be entitled.

The same persons will loudly eulogise the justice,
honour, and liberality of the nation ; they will main-
tain that the untutored and helpless savage may fear-
lessly dull with any parties representing our Govern-
ment ; that no advantage would be taken of his
ignorance ; that a full and fair equivalent would be
rendered to him for any services he may perform ;
and that he may repose the most unlimited trust and
confidence in British integrity, and have no fear of being
cheated or overreached in any bargain into which he
may enter. And such, as Englishmen, we are proud
and happy to say has been the character long since
obtained, and invariably maintained, by our country.
man with the people of other climes, nations, and

languages. Would that we could claim credit for
acting in a like spirit towards our own countrymen,
whose services are required by State necessity, who
hare freely shed their blood, and perilled their lives,
in our behalf; who have suffered hardships, braved
the vicissitudes of every clime, exposed themselves to
the dangers of disease and warfare, and in every
place, and under every difficulty, have maintained
the honour of the British flag untarnished, and raised
the interests of their country. To such men sortie-
thing more is due than the mere payment of the
stipulated wages during the term for which they have
served. Were the contract into which they have
entered one for a short and limited period, there
would be some appearance of justice—some scintilla
juris, although there would be little of generosity
or liberality in discharging them at the termination
of their term. But when we enlist them for life—
when, as the Irish soldiers express it, we induce
them to " sell their wind," it is gross
injustice to turn them, destitute and unprovided for,
upon the world without the means of obtaining their
daily bread, more particularly when they are ren-
dered unable to earn their livelihood by reason of
injuries sustained while performing the duties of
their station. We believe that there is not a single
member of our Legislature who would suffer any
man, who had for a series of years been in his employ-
ment, who had acted faithfully and efficiently
therein, and finally been disabled and rendered unfit
for any future useful occupation, from an accident
that happened while discharging the duties incidental
to his situation, to beg his bread from door to door,
or to see his family perishing before him for want of
the commonest necessaries of life. The case of such
a man would act as a living monument of the shame
of 11;s ungenerous and heartless master. And yet we
daily see instances of that which each individual
would blush to be guilty of, perpetrated by the nation
at large.
The proceedings at Worship-street Police-court, on
Monday and Tuesday last, demand the serious consi-
deration of the public generally. The causes that
have led to results so unhappy to indivi-
duals, and disgraceful t-.; the nation, should be
closely investigated, and the voice of public opinion
should loudly proclaim Mat a total change must be
effected in the systdo ; that there should be a radical
and searching reform, and that measures should be

introduce ‘:'-by which the possibility of any of our gal-
lant defenders, who have faithfully served us in the
hour of danger, being driven to mendicancy for the
means of preserving a precarious existence, should be
obviated. On the first of these days, WILLIAM
COTTON, described as a well• made, sunburnt man,
dressed in the uniform of the 22d Infantry, was
placed at the bar on a charge of medicancy. The
unfortunate soldier had put forward no petition, had
tittered no word of supplication, had implored no
charity, but merely stood with his wife and children,
all of whom presented the most deplorable appear-
ance. The sleeve of his coat was ripped up, exhibiting
a disabled arm, which bare the marks of many
wounds. On his cheek was the cicatrice occa-
sioned by a severe sabre cut, and on his breast
he wore the testimonial of honourable distinction ac-
corded to him by his grateful country, for distin-
guished services on the sanguinary fields of Meeanee
and Hyderabad. His entire appearance and de-
meanour, and that of his distressed and helpless family,
appealed with a mute and touching eloquence to the
sympathies and commiseration of the bystanders, and
some trifling alms were bestowed, which at once at-
tracted the attention of a police-constable, who took
him into custody for an alleged breach of the law.
In his justification for the heinous offence of exciting
the public commiseration by his appearance, he made
a plain and unvarnished statement, that should have
procured his immediate liberation, with such assist-
ance as the state of the court poor-box admitted of.
He said, "that he had served through the major part
of the campaign in Sinde under Sir C. NAPIER ; that
he was present at the battles of Meeanee and Hydera-
1, bad, in which he had received several gun•sh©t
wounds, which disabled him from further ser-
vice, and he was consequently discharged."
He had made application for a pension for his
wounds, but the only recompense he had
been able to obtain was a gratuity amounting to a
year and a half's pay, and as that " had been long
since expended in the support of his wife and child,
and as he was nearly crippled, and had no other
means of subsistence, he had been obliged to resort
to the course complained of, to save himself and
family from starvation." He then handed in the cer-
tificate of his discharge, formally signed by the
commanding officer of his regiment, and other docu-
ments corroborative of the truth of his statement. Mr.
BINGII kM, although sympathising with his unfortu-
nate position, ordered him to be remanded, to enable
the officer to make inquiries as to the truth of his
story in the proper quarter.
On the following day the wife of the disabled
soldier entered the court with her infant in her arms,
and in groat mental distress applied for assistance.
She stated that the scanty and precarious support on
which the family had depended had wholy failed
since her husband's incarceration, that she was now
reduced to the utmost extremity, and had not tasted
food since the thy before. She had no means of pro.
curing even the most miserable shelter ; and her help-
less condition was aggravated by her wretched state
of health, three weeks only having elapsed since her
confinement of the child she carried. She obtained
some slight temporary assistance to support her until
her claim was admitted by the relieving officer of the
parish where she had last slept, to whom she was
directed to apply.
On subsequent investigation the story turned out
to be perfectly correct, save that the poor fellow had
overrated the bounty he had received, which was not
a year and a half's pay, as erroneously stated, but
sixpence a day for a year an I a half-131. 135., paid by
instalments ; and this was the recompense for a dis-
abled arm, a broken constitutiow, and being rendered
incapable to gain his bread, which poor COTTON re-
ceived for his services from his grateful country. He
was discharged with an admonition not to be again
guilty of exciting the public sympathies.
And this, Englishmen, is the condition of one who
has fought and conquered on our behalf, who has risked
his life under a tropical sun, in an unhealthy climate,
against a ferocious enemy. He is dismissed in ill health
and helplessness, with a medal for his reward, but
coupled therewith is a gaol—the association with cri-
minals of every class and character for himself, the
tender mercies of a union workhouse for his wife and
child. Shame, shame that such things should be
suffered, that their continuance should be tolerated.
By the system adopted we take the best years of a
man's existence, and when he is totally unfitted for
any other species of employment, disabled by wounds,
or with an enfeebled and broken constitution, we dis-
charge him to linger out the residue of his wretched
existence in misery and want. There will, there
must be a speedy and effectual alteration. It is not
by such means, or for such rewards, that we can hope
to obtain a better class of recruits for our army.

Madrid papers of the 4th have arrived. At that
date the ISTCRITZ Ministry was still in existence, but
the differences among its members had proceeded to
such an extent that it was not considered possible
the Cabinet could hold together.
MADRID BOMA, DEC. 4.—The Three per Cents.
34 3-16 ; Fives, 21k. Exchange on London, 36g.

We have received the Paris papers of Thursday.
The most interesting article in them is the follow-
ing from the Presse, on the subject of the opening
the trade to Japan :
" The voyage of Rear-Admiral Cecille to Japan, and
the reception which the French squadron there met
with, is, in part, explained by a very remarkable fact, of
which we had heard before the arrival of the last mail
from the Red Sea, but which appeared to us to need con-
firmation. It is now averred that a short time before
the conclusion of the peace between England and China,
in 1843, the King of the Netherlands addressed to the
Emperor of Japan a friendly latter, having for object
the abolition, in that distant kingdom, of the exclusive
system practised for the last three centuries with respect
to foreigners. His Majesty enumerated with much de-
tail the events which have forced the Chinese empire t
multiply in spite of itself its points of contact with all the
nations of the world ; and inferred from this new state ee
things that, as Japan, from the vicinity of Hong-Kong and
Chusan, could not escape a similar fate, it would be pru-
dent to anticipate a crisis by means of concessions which
would satisfy Europeans and prevent all unfriendly col-
lision with them. As a natural consequence of this
prudent course, the King of the Netherlands engaged his
cousin, the Emperor of Japan, to extend to all foreign
flags the faculty, hitherto enjoyed by the Dutch exclu-
sively, of trading with Nangasaki, and further to open
on the same general footing two or three other ports,
either the great island of Niphon, or an island of Yesso
The letter was sent in the original to M. Beck, the chief
of the Dutch factory at Nangasaki, who succeeded, after
some difficulties of form, in having it conveyed to
Jeddo, the seat of the Court. It is very rare for the
communications of the Dutch to be placed under the
eyes of the Emperor ; they are regarded as too unim-
portant for the leisure of so great a potentate ; on this
occasion, however, the question appeared to be of too
grave a nature fur the Ministers to take upon them-
selves the responsibility of a solution, and M. Beck ob-
tained the certitude that the letter of his Sovereign had
reached the Japanese monarch. Two years passed
ithout any reply being given. It had been remarked,
that on several points of the coast the most open to a
landing more activity than formerly was displayed in
the works of fortification ' • but this was generally attri-
buted to a belief of the Japanese that several English
vessels, which had been driven into these latitudes by
storms, were come to invade the country. At length,
however, the Emperor of Japan has sent to the King of
the Netherlands a reply, of which the following is the
substance:—' I have watched with attention the events
which have brought about a fundamental change in the
policy of the Chinese empire, and these very events,
upon which you base the advice which you give to me,
are for me the most evident proof that a kingdom can
never enjoy a durable peace without the rigorous exclu-
sion of all foreigners. If China had never permitted the
English to establish themselves on a large scale at Canton
and to take root there, either the quarrels which caused
the war would not have taken place, or the English would
have found themselves so weak that they would have at
once sunk in the conflict. But from the moment when
China allowed herself to be touched on one point she
rendered herself vulnerable on others. This was the
reasoning of my great ancestor when he granted you the
faculty of trading with Japan, and, but for the proofs of
friendship which you had frequently given to our coun-
try, it is certain that you would have been excluded, as
all the nations of the west have been. Now that you
are in possession of this privilege, I am willing that you
should continue to enjoy it ; but I will take care not to
extend it to any other nation, for it is easier to maintain
a dyke in good preservation than to prevent the enlarge-
ment of the breaches which are permitted in it. I have
given orders to my officers,in consequence, and the future
will prove to you that our policy is wiser than that of the
Chinese empire."

We do not place implicit reliance on this statement
of the Presse, which, be it remembered, is the organ
of the Russian autocrat, who is closely connected by
intermarriages with the King of HOLLAND. Holland
has always been jealous of any attempts at interfering
with her monopoly of the Japan trade, and we doubt
much whether the representations were made to the
Japanese Government in the manner stated. It is
no reason, because the French and Dutch have failed,
that the English should not succeed, and we hope
that no time will be lost in sending a proper Embassy
to Jeddo.