The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-09 00:00:00

ant

LONDON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1848.

Everything odious is said of the destruction of LA-
TOUR, nothing whatever is said condemnatory of the
wholesale butchery of the Viennese. Is one man's life
tl en to outweigh in importance the lives of thousands,
merely because those thousands were simply :the
people, and because that unit was an aristocrat, the
holder of a ministerial portfolio, and the accomplice of
an Emperor ? These superstitions must really be
dissipated; they have survived the annihilation of feu-
dality too long. Men must begin to comprehend in
some rational measure the equal inviolability of life,
whether with the most august dignitary or the most
lowly artisan. We are reminded again and again by
the apologists of absolutism of the excesses perpe-
trated by the multitude in some moment of extraor-
dinary excitement; we read recitals couched in
the tno,t violent terms of abhorrence of the
shooting of a Count, no matter though that
Count was the most heinous of conspirators; of the
sacking of an arsenal, no matter though that arsenal
was stocked with arms and ammunition to be em-
ployed against the population ; or of the burning of
a
solitary barrack, no matter though the walls of that
barrack
sheltered the jannisaries of despotism while
tearing up the ranks of the people with a withering
discharge of musketrythese And yet when
are
quious panegyrists of arbitrary government
re-
cording the atrocities perpetrated in the name of some
some
exalted potentate, they find languageis preternatural
sufficiently
o
eulogistic for the designation of h
atrocities. They exult over the desolation of
a
over the massacre of a population, over the cnfla
tion of a city, over the rapine and murder, and crueltygr.
a
and unbridled licentiousness which are the invariable
accompaniments of the successful bombardment of a
capital. Rape, and murder, and pillage, are exalted
into deeds of virtue and patriotism, so they be only
practised by the soldiery in fighting the victories of
some unprincipled ruler. It is with this perversion
of sentiment that the late occurrences at Vienna have
been commemorated by our Tory contemporaries.
According to them Prince WINDISCHGRATE has
covered his name with everlasting glory for having
beaten down the walls of the chief city of his native
land, and for having delivered over its inhabitants to
the fury and lust of his troopers. The representatives
elected by the millions of the Austrian empire, and
sitting in solemn conclave in its metropolis, are re-
viled as though they wero the basest miscreants and
the most besotted barbarians in Christendom—
although the Members of the Diet, without any other
authority saving that derived from their own moral
dignity and collective reputation, have been enabled,
during a period of more than three weeks, to preserve
order and sobriety in a capital just emerged from the
chaos of a revolution!
happily the Argus-vigilance of the million is not
to be cheated by the flickering deceits of a rlae-
teric debased to such un worthy purposes
by the eulogists of FERDINAND. The ghastly
truth glares through all these gaudy and transparent
schemes of misrepresentation. The brutality of the
system defended by the guns of Prince WINDISCII-
GRATZ is as apparent as that which was formerly
championed by the Captains of the Duke of VALEN-

TINO.' Men can no more be induced to regard FER-
DINAND as a paternal Monarch than to look upon the
diabolical AARON in Titus Andronicus as a parago❑
of perfection. While these paeans of joy are being
chaunted by a few of the journalists of London, their
sophistical praises are belied by the noise of the artil-
lery battering down the suburbs of Vienna, the re-
verberations of which have scarcely yet died away.

Regarding the calamities which have recently be-
fallen the Viennese in this particular light, we should
only have cause to sing the dirge of Austrian liberty,
but that we look upon the triumph of the Imperial
party as of the most temporary nature imaginable.
No Administration could possibly be of a more
fugitive character than the one just appointed by the
EMPEROR, with WESSEMBERG as President without
porVolio, with SCHWARTZENBERG as Minister of
Foreign ciffa.irs, BACII of the Home Department,
BucarsEst of War, HELCORT of Public Instruction,
and Boucs. of Commerce. Another shake of the
political kaleidoscope and another combination will
have replaced these ephenteriche of statesmanship.
On reviewing the movements which preceded the
capitulation of the Viennese, it will he observed with
some astonishment by those who had formed high
expectations of the assistance to be derived from the
Hungarians, that the Magyars were otherwise occu-
pied than in fighting for the protection of the
Austrian capital. A lamentable dispute appears to
have arisen between .Mova. and KOSSUTH—a dispute
which led in the first place to the discomfiture of
their forces at Schwechut, and subsequently to the
experience of some still more severe reverses

'in the course of their retrograde movement.
For this reason it will be observed that an extraordi-
nary obstacle was removed from between the be-
sieged army and the forces of WrzsrascßGßATz
The principal bulwark of the National Guard and the
Academic Legion was unexpectedly destroyed, and
the Viennese were compelled at the most critical
moment to depend solely upon their own isolated
resources. The consequence of all this was inevit-
able. Vienna fell—Kossurzt was driven back in
confusion—the city was declared in a state of siege--
all communication between its walls and the sur-
rounding suburbs was prohibited —MESSENHAUSER
was taken into custody—the Diet was sum-
marily adjourned and dispersed SCHWARTZ EN-
BERG locked the doors of the National Parliament
in imitation of CRoMwELL—and martial law became
the only visible form of government. The sudden-
ness with which these changes have been effected is a
guarantee for their evanescence. To render them in
any degree permanent it would be requisite to main-
tain in force the stringent rules essential for the con-
tinuance of the state of siege. The troops would have
to be perpetually quartered in the city. Vienna
would become one vast barrack, and the sceptre
would be permanently replaced by the sword. That
such measures are altogether impracticable is beyond
denial, and, being impracticable, the ultimate do wn-
fal of the blood-stained despotism of Austria is an
inevitable necessity.

The improvement in the prices of railway stock
that took place in the latter end of last month has
since been fully maintained, notwithstanding the
strenuous and determined efforts of the " Bears" to
the contrary. The panic has cea'ed, and nothing
that they can say or do will induce any considerable
number of persons again to sacrifice their property at
ridiculously inadequate prices. In that respect
" their occupation 's gone." They, however, have
contrived to keep the quotations lower than they
otherwise would have been. On Saturday there was
a temporary depreciation, but the notices thereof were
accompanied with the significant announcement
that " the sales were merely speculative." Indeed,
we believe, at this moment that a bona fide purchaser
would find great difficulty in obtaining an immediate
transfer of any considerable number of shares in any
of the dividend-paying lines. The fact is, that the
shareholders are not inclined to sell, even at present
prices,
which are still far below the real value, al-
though, on an average, 20 per cent. higher than
they had been little more than a fortnight since.
They are perfectly right in following this course, and
steadily retaining the stock in their own pos-
session. Even at present prices seven or eight
per cent. may be obtained on the amount
invested in the purchase of shares in some of the
oldest and most secure undertakings; and that at a
time when money is said to be "a drug in the City,''
when the Bank of England has been compelled to
lower its rate of discount in order to compete with
the private banks and large discount houses, which
were every day advancing money on approved se-
curities at a cheaper rate than it could be obtained at
the national establishment—and when every circum-
stance by which an abundant supply of monetary
accommodation at a fair and moderate interest
is indicated —is distinctly perceptible. There

is an ample supply of bullion in the coffers
of the Bank of England and of the private and joint-
stock banks throughout the kingdom. The preserve
of notes in the banking department is more than
double the amount necessary for carrying on the or-
dinary business of the Bank. There are no lowering
clouds in the political horizon. The aspects are in
every respect highly favourable, and we may reason-
ably and fairly look for a propitious and prosperous
season, after the long and dreary period of distress
and suffering from which we are emerging. Bene-
ficial investments must be found for the capital which
has been lying idle and unproductive, in order that
the parties possessed thereof might be prepared for any
possible emergency, and railway stock will again be
looked after, now that the mists of prejudice and
ignorance with which it was surrounded are be-
ginning to be swept away, and the vague and un-
founded apprehensions respecting it removed by the
clear and satisfactory statements that have been al-
ready published, and the accounts that have been
promised by many boards of directors, and which are
now in course of preparation. Indeed, as the depre-
ciation was greater in respect to railways than of any
other description of property, it is probable that the
reaction will be most conspicuous therein.

In addition to the causes to which we have
above alluded, there are others which, although ap-
parently of less magnitude, will still exercise no or-
dinary influence in these matters. The machinations
of the " Bears" are beginning to he understood, and
shareholders perceive the folly of which they have
been guilty in suffering themselves to be deluded by
their mortal enemies. Precautions, too, are begin-
ing
,to be taken in various quarters that will mate-
rially restrict their power. The mischievous publi-
cations of the " Weekly Share List" have been
prohibited. The Liverpool Stock Exchange has
adopted a highly creditable resolution, mate-
rially restricting the period allowed for the actual
transfer of shares, and thus striking a heavy blow on
the system of "time bargains," which has occasioned
so much mischief. If the example thus afforded be
generally followed, a most important amelioration
will be effected, for which the thanks of the commu-
nity, and more especially of the portion thereof irate- j
rested in railway property, will be due to the com-
mittee and brokers of the Stock Exchange, Liverpool.
We have received many letters in reference to the
attacks upon the " bearing system," that have from
ne
time to time appeared in our columns. One gentle-
man,who show that
who
signs
the "Bulls" himself
AC'
arest fullyt Rd
a as mucher, at-
tempts
to
Constant
an
to
blame as the " Bears" for the losses that have been
sustained, and that the former class deserves
censure
een
as fully as the latter. Our correspondent
must have
strangely misunderstood our comments, if he
sup-
poses that we desired to justify either. We objected
to all speculative dealing, as injurious
highest degree. Call it by whatever namen the
you
please, it is gambling, and that of the
very
worst description. If there were no " Bulls" the
" Bears " would speedily be compelled to withdraw
from the purlieus of Capel-court. Of the two parties
perhaps the " Bulls" are the least mischievous'
Their aspirations are of a more amiable character
than those of their ursine opponents. Their efforts
are directed rather to the improvement than to the
deterioration of the property of others. But still, as
we have already stated, they occasion real evil, be-
cause, by purchasing shares which they have neither
the intention or the power of taking up, they are
compelled to become " sellers" in turn, and
thus, perhaps, to add to a panic when it
is excited. An upward tendency is frequently
checked by the " Bulls" coining in to realise their
profits, and thus practically becoming "Bears" in
turn. Both classes are mischievous, and the " gore "