The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-11 00:00:00

ebrJrnblit, P 41116

LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1848.

Among the multitude of separate agitations, both
physical and political,
which are now transpir-
ing throughout Christendom,wo arrest the t
at-
tention by their paramount importance. One is a
legislative, the other is a
popular commotion,
the other in commotion, one
occurs in the metropolis of Catholicism,
the capital of pleasure, or, as it is regarded
witnesses
bymeans:;
the radiating point of civilization. Paris
the struggle of the representatives of the country in
the temporary palace erected in the court-yard
of the Chamber of Deputies. Rome, on the con-
trary, sees the excitement in its streets and squares,
in` the precincts oethe ancient forum, and on the hills
of the Quirinal and Aventine. It is impossible to
regard with apathy either the stormy discussions
the National Assembly or the still stormier
demonstrations of the Roman populace, because
upon the result of the bloodless battles which
are being fought by the statesmen and citizens of
tlicse two great cities depends in a very great mea-
sure the realisation of the dreams of France and
Italy, the consolidation of the republican institutions
of the one, and the perfect emancipation and frater-
nization of the other. In either case the hopes and
prayers -
of all good men are with the combatants ; in
sympathies of England are profound
either case the

and active.
During the last few days the observations of the
multitude have been concentrated Upon
the extraor-
dinary difference which has latterly arisen between
the people; Rome and the Sovereign PONTIFF.
Europe has beheld with astonishment and indignation
tte Stupendous ingratitude of a race laughing to
scorn tha 'virtue's 'of their rriget illustains

benefactor, and deriding the conscientious qualms
of his paternal and pacific heart. Those who
abhor the sanguinary doctrines of a KENYON and a
BettliNcitiaar ; those who regard with sentiments
of horror the spectacle of Archbishop ATECKETT
leading on the soldiers of HENRY the Second, or
unhorsing ENGELRAN DE TALE in open tour-
nay ; those, in fine, who would not behold the sword
slung over the cassock, or the pike grasped in sacer-
dotal hands, must appreciate the motives which
actuate a man like Pius LX., a man whose career
since the moment of his elevation to the Pontificate
has betokened the gentleness of his nature as well as
the enlightenment of his intellect and the benignity
of his ambition. However forcible may be the
reasons for the declaration of war against
Austria by the Italians—and there could not
by possibility be a concurrence of reasons more
forcible—it is impossible not to comprehend,
and, comprehending, not to appreciate the
recent hesitation of Pope Pius IX. in regard to
the question of taking part in the war of independence.
As a Priest he feels himself impelled to remain Passive,
as a Prince he experiences a solicitude to join his
banners to those of Tuscany and Sardinia. Aggres-
sion and bloodshed, even in the holy cause of liberty,
ive and
seem to him, as a preacher of the une
ggressshort of
unbloody dogmas of Christianity,
nothing
gigantic
gigantic and inexpiable crimes ; whereas
libera-
tion of Lombardy, the expulsionof
the German
mercenaries beyond the natural boundaries of the
Karpaths, and the subsequent union of the free states
of Italy into a toleration commensurate with the
visions of his people—those beautiful, visions
of an Italian nationality appear to be the
necessary sequence of his own acts of ame-
lioration—results essential to the
,consumma-
tion of his own constitutional and sponta-
neous reforms. Pius IX. has thus wavered between
a warlike complicity with Sardinia and a passive
resistance to the Austrians. He has wavered be-
tween the rival influences of his position—the reli-
gious inducements to peace—and the political incite-
ments to war. He has wavered as became one con-
scious of his profound and incongruous responsibi-
lities. The agony of his hesitation is perceptible in
the allocution pronounced by the PONTIFF in the
Secret Consistory of the 29th of April. Those who
are from their geographical position enabled to
regard what is just now transpiring in Rome with
the calmness of dispassionate spectators can
understand motives which are incomprehensible to
those who are themselves immediately agitated by
events. It is thus that in London we can appreciate
a hesitation of judgment which in Rome appears
enigmatical; we can see in it the struggle of con-
science and patriotism, while to the population of
the Papal territories it looks like treason or turpitude.
Long and distracting however, as has been the inde-
cision of the PONTIFF it has terminated at last—the
patriot has risen above the priest, or rather the
priestly functions have imparted a certain air of
sanctity to that war which was already rendered
sacred by the holy bonds of a race fighting for their
liberation and their nationality. Pius IX. has de-
finitively joined with the Grand Duke of Tus-
CANY and the King of SARDINIA, in the endeavour
to free Lombardy from the detested troopers of
Austria; the Papal colours will mingle Hith the
Italian tri-colour upon the banks of the Mincio and
the Adige; RADEIZSILY will not only have to def'2,
the heroic Genoese and Savoyards, he will have to
make battle against the descendants of the
warriors who fought under the Caesars and the
Scipios. There is now no room for retrogression.
The sovereign princes of Italy are henceforth linked
together in what may in truth be called a holy alli-
ance—an alliance for the vindication of their inde-
pendence and the declaration of their territorial rights.
While MAMIANI is enunciating the patriotic reso-
lutions of the PONTlFF—declaring, first, that a priest
shall never again be called to any public office ;
secondly, that war shall be formally declared forth-
with ; thirdly, that Pius IX. is the head of the Go-
vernment ; fourthly, that an official bulletin shall be
published daily ; and fifthly, that the young shall be
encouraged to arm themselves and hasten to aid those
who are now driving the barbarians from the sacred
soil of Italy—while all these startling announce-
ments are being made in the Eternal City the
Parisians are amazed by the decision of the National
Assembly, that the ultras are not to be excluded from
the new Commission of Government. The five Mem-
bers of that Commission prove to be the very five
proposed by the precipitate DORNES, namely,
LAMARTINE, ARAGO, MARIE, GARNIER PAGES, and
anal; ROLLIN. After the first astonishment at this
decision has subsided, however, we shall not have less
cause to congratulate the Parisians than we have to
felicitate the Romans—because, in both instances, we
cannot but regard the ultimate determination as the
most politic, the most patriotic, and the best calcu-
lated to effect in Italy her emancipation from Austrian
rule, and in France the consolidation of her Repub-
lican institutions. By this means the ultras are dis-
armed and the retrograde party confounded, the
National Assembly and the Pontifical Councils
having been alike influenced by the spirit of a wise
and courageous civism.

A case which was heard before Mr. Commissioner
FANE, at the Court of Bankruptcy, Basinghall-street,
on Tuesday, strongly illustrates one of the most
glaring defects of the present system, a defect which
loudly demands the speedy intervention of the Legis-
lature. By the law as it now stands any single
creditor who may be influenced by selfish or vindic•
tive Purposes may enforce a bankruptcy, the results
of which will be highly injurious, not only to the
debtor himself, hut to the general body of the credi-
tors. It may unduly affect the position and
prospects of the embarrassed trader, while it will
prevent those to whom he is indebted from obtain-
ing considerable advantages which may be tendered
for their acceptance, hut which they must be deprived
of if a fiat is issued, and a profitable business de-
stro) ed, through the malevolence or obstinacy of an
individual. The refusal to accede to propositions so
clearly beneficial to all parties, that the assent ( f
perhaps nine-tenths in number and value of the credi•
tors is readily afforded thereto, may be withheld
either because the dissentient may desire to inflict
serious injury upon his debtor, from motives of pri-
vate animosity, to get rid of him as a rival in
trade, or to obtain for himself peculiar advan-
tages which cannot be given to the
gaenderal body. Are these such praiseworthy
should
objects, that any interference therewith
ghui.dedabbey. ethscehewed and avoided, and that a small
minority should be empowered to control the pro-
ceedings, and refuse to participate in the acts or be
it is quite thepirnei
would- hail with a reverse,
nerraosbeo,f tahnedg rtehaet
public majority?
generally Surely
tmi
oe
do
In the
hb tedh et
tolerated,
pypwhiatbion a revision and amend-
laae:rea tbendn.
under
notice
things are still sanc-
tioned
bankrupt kbraudp, t
how-
ever, in the it
Ithsbel e whole time, atnod
aobwo• owed
struggled in trade for a cons
father,
various sums, amounting
double the value of his
ever, considerable expectations
on which he might reasonably calculateom
as a
i a means
of discharging all his liabilities without
ut any
drawback or deduction. The father, however,
unfortunately perished by the hands of an assassin,
and it was then found that those expectations C:'
e
nugatory,. and that no possible assistance could be
derived or hoped for from that source. The son,
therefore, acted a fair and straightforward part,
well deserving the approbation expressed by
the Court. Although possessed of consider-
fo
r woulda choanvsei d
eernaabbl
el e dtimhei,m
antdo
carry
means,onb uswinheiscsh
perhaps ultimately have retrieved himself from
all his difficulties, he called his creditors together,
affairs, and having show n what he was enabled to do,
explained his true position and the real state of his
he proposed terms of arrangement to which almost
all his creditors unhesitatingly acceded. One, how-
ever, refused his sanction—the law gave him certain
powers, in the event of his demand not being paid
i.t.l full, and he was determined to enforce the full
liquidation or to make his debtor a bankrupt, and
bring name before the public, by which his trade
would be
seriously injured, or perhaps
wholly destroyed,
and tl.e sources from
whence
the other creditors might in time
have obtained full
payment of their respective de-
mands wholly cut olfa-lY Thestern and unrelenting
creditor is, it appears'
h the same_businees, pott, •

sensing a shop on each side of that occupied by his
debtor, whom he might, therefore, possibly have re-
garded as a rival in trade of whom it was desirable to
get rid. Whatever might be the motives by which
he was actuated, he, in defiance of the wishes of the
general body of the creditors, forced his neighbour
into the Gazette. In pronouncing judgment, the
Learned Commissioner declared his decided objection
to the system by which such harsh and oppressive
conduct was sanctioned. He said "he had often ex-
pressed a great wish that the law had been so framed
that some means were provided by which the ma-
jority of creditors interested in an estate could, to a
certain extent, bind the minority, and at all events
prevent one creditor, who was actuated either by
excessive selfishness, or by worse motives, from
forcing a debtor into the Gazette, where that course
would be destructive to all the parties concerned.
He thought this case illustrative of that view—for,
having regard to all the circumstances, and the
honesty of the bankrupt's conduct, he must
say that he considered it to be one of
those cases in which the creditors might with
safety and advantage have come to an arrangement
with the bankrupt, and so have refrained from com-
ing into this court." There are few impartial or
disinterested men who will not fully coincide with
the wishes] thus expressed for a speedy amend-
ment of the law—a wish that must carry with it
considerable weight from the quarter from which it
has emanated. We heartily commend it to the con-
sideration of the legal reformers in either House of
Parliament. A Bill is at this moment before the
Legislature for " The regulation of the Court
of Bankruptcy, and for the further amend-
ment of the laws relating to Bankrupts," which
has been brought forward by Lord BROUGHAM, and
which will shortly be taken into consideration : a few
clauses might easily be added embodying the valuable
suggestions of the Learned Commissioner, and providing
that, whenever three-fourths of the creditors, in
number and value (or such other proposition as might
be approved of), should assent to a proposition which
might appear to be for the general benefit, the same
should be carried into effect, and the mino-
rity deprived of all power of acting inde-
pendently of the general body. There can
be no sufficient reasons why the provisions
of the ith and 6th VICTORIA, c. 116, and 7th and Bth
VICTORIA, C. 96, which now apply to persons not
within the bankrupt laws, or of traders who owe in
the aggregate less than 3001., should not be extended
to all cases whatsoever. If these suggestions were
adopted much suffering would be spared to parties
whose embarrassments were occasioned by misfor.-
tunes over which they had no control, and whose
general conduct had been unexceptionable, while the
creditors themselves would be materially benefited
and considerable sums, now expended in useless liti-
gation, saved for the parties entitled thereto.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.

They all comment on the resolution adopted by
the Assembly in its sitting of the day preceding for
the appointment of an Executive Committee to no-
minate the Ministers. The Committee was to be
appointed in the sitting of yesterday, and will in all
probability consist Of LAMARTINE, LEDRU ROLLIN,
ARAGO, GARNIER, PAGES, and MARIE.
It is considered generally that this is about the
wisest decision to which the Assembly could have
come, because by placing LEDRU RoLuti in the com-
mission he is removed from the Ministry of the In-
terior, and with such colleagues as LAMARTINE and
GARNIER PAGES, his violence will be effectually re-
strained, at the same time his dignity is saved, and
his self-love remains unwounded. The decision of
the Assemb'y was, we believe, mainly influenced by
the speech of M. LAMARTINE, who came to the rescue
of his fall-n colleague.
The Journal des Debats thus comments on this
portion of the proceedings :

" Two members of the Provisional Government spoke
—M. de Lamartine and M. Ledru Rollin. The latter
to defend himself, the former to defend M. Ledru
Rollin—both with talent. M. Ledru Rollin, to use a
vulgar expression, has du bon. We have not, assuredly,
helped to raise him to his present position, and we judge
him as mere spectators ; or, if he will have it so, as
victims. M. Ledru Rollin accepts his revolutionary
positi ,n, in which he is at ease. Two things are re-
marked in his attitude and in his speeches which always
retain their value—Frankness and force. M. de Lamar-
tine is the generous and brilliant man of the new
Revolution. lie loves to cover with his popularity all
who surround him. His speech contributed not a little
towards the adoption of the Executive Commissioners—
that is to say, the project the most favourable to the
ancient Provisional Government, and to M. Ledru
Rollin. It seems that M. de Lamartine shrinks from
the enormous burden that the indiscreet favour of
opinio❑ would impose upon him ; and he is right.
May God watch over this noble relic of glories no longer
existing ! Lamartine, the poetic souvenir of our youth,
the orator, and man of noble thoughts—he in whom
moderation is this moment personified ! May France,
in the impetuosity of its admiration—may God, in his
justice, not raise him too high, and charge his shoulders
with a weight beneath which the strongest might
succumb ! M. de Lamartine calculates well, when
he desires to divide power, and not have it alone."
Had LZDEU RoLLIN been rejected, there would no
doubt have been an armed demonstration on the part
of the clubs. There had been care, however, taken for
the preservation of the public peace. The guard at
the Assembly was reinforced by 1,500 National
Guards, and there were 6,000 of the National Guard
on duty at the Mairies.

The dynastic papers all comment sarcastically on
the noisy conduct of some of the Members of the As-
sembly, and contrast it with the staid appearance of
the old Chamber of Deputies. Ww cannot, however,
admit the justice of th,ir observations. Considering
the circumstances u❑der which the Assembly has
been elected, and the heterogeneous materials of
which at first it must necessarily be composed, it
strikes us that it has woz Iced better than could pos
sibly have been expected, and we have no doubt but
that in the cow se of a few weeks it will sober clown
into as orderly a body as any other deliberative As-
sembly in the world.

Louts BLANC hag announced the dissolution of the
Workman's Commission, over which he presided at
the Luxembourg ; and M. WoLowsKl has given
notice, in the Assembly, of a motion for a Commis-
sion for inquiring into every branch of industry.

The financial condition of the country occupies
seriously the public attention. On this subject we
find the following in the Constitutionnel :

" We shall not follow the Minister in the enumera-
tion of the decrees which he has daily issued, and many
of which are not of great urgency ; we shall confine
ourselves to giving a summary et the present financial
state of the country, and of the means which he pro-
poses to relieve it. The comparison made between the
budget of 1848, as it presented itself under the old Go-
vernment, and such as it is rectified under the Republic,
is as follows:—The credits voted for the ordinary service
of 1848 amounted to 1,366 millions, to which must be
added 23 millions demanded as a supplementary credit,
30 millions for Algeria, and 1,200,000 f. for the secret
service and for the celebration of the fetes of July, and
which would carry the ordinary budget up to 1,420
millions. The credits allotted for extraordinary works
amount to 189 millions, making a total of 1,610 millions
for the ensemble of the expenses voted or foreseen for
1848, The estimate of the ordinary receipts amounted
to 1,371 millions, but M. Gamier Pages must deduct
from that amount a sum of 24 millions for inevitable non
valeurs, which will bring down the ordinary receipts to
1,346 millions; to this he adds in the shape of
Lock at
extra-
ordinary resources a sum of 20 millions, arising from the
loan contracted in 1841, and 83 millions for the reserve
of the Sinking Fund, bringing up the ordinary and ex-
traordinary resources to 1,451 millions. The budget of
Chambertshefomr othdiisficsaatmioenys.ewarhoi
1848, as it had been voted by the Legislative Chambers,
show on ene service
. would have left a deficit of 159 millions. Let us now
another a dimiviensution
selves in the new budget which will be submitted to the
ofhlBa4reg. toTphreeseexnptentsheesaao-f
the ordinary
for extraordinary ase s
timentionedmate d
at ins the
millions, report,
which w i will
that the increase foror
part an increase of 161 millions, and in
anw increasek of al millions; the credits
definitively g
expenses is 31 millions,
sthare reduced to 49 millions, so
amounts to 1,641 milliOnsu
aedorilinary and extraordinary
" At the same time thactontththreea
expenses
sash
have
ewi rectifiedincreased
a s
e d
rnyi,nmaterially, decreased,
including
siunderrated by
consumption an I the
it
nh the
consequence receipts
oe
f, othnetdhteminutio
fnvgesttihreeshsutarmeeps
Amongsteeh the
stagnation of business ; this
d'AuLt)9a onii nj
ioeurr Pages
e;3 but t7a9s millions,
isle ito offns' to this,
he calculates, give 189 millions,
have, he says, been created by the state.
taxes which he has established, that of 45 per
hwowileLver, makes a deduction of 29 mil:
account of the number of persons who will find
i fromtl h, ) ensdirect c
which
on
t a
hxee , s
themselves unable to pay tax, leaving the amount of
160 millions ; the duty on mortgages he estimates will
produce 45 millions, and the reduction in salaries to
ten millions.
oods ot which the produce will
on the cute
of the w ,
" Amcng the taxes which he proposes to lay on is one