The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-23 00:00:00

TiTE SUN,
_LONDON, I'

Lord Grey demonstrated the falle&,‘us charm-ter nt. -
cruising system, and the great objections and abuses to
which it is unavoidably exposed. The new treaty with 1
France having only been in full operate n he
coast of Africa since the 6th of March of the present '
year, we have no means of judeine of its re-„1
though we entertain no do t.r sliat from the increase of
force, the introduction of. :earners, and the improved
system of co-operation now existing between the British.
French, and American squadrons, the blockade is far
more effectual than it has ever been before; and Lord
Palmerston had no right to assert, as he did the other
night, that if his instructions had been adhered to for two
years more, the slave trade would have ceased on thecoast
of Africa. His own colleagues have distinctly admitted
that the system he had constructed with so much indus-
try, and which he managed with so little regard for the
independence of foreign nations, was a total failure.
Another system is now upon trial, less vexatious to corn -
mercial interelts and more formidable to the slave dea-
ler. The cruisers have been doubled, and treaties for
the abolition of the slave trade have been ratified by the
mark of the unlettered potentates who have heretofore
trafficed in the bodies of their subjects along
the Bight of Benin. From April, 1844, to July
1845, no less than seventy-five vessels with
slaves on board, or equipped for the slave
trade, were detained or destroyed by the British
cruisers—a larger number, we believe, than were ever
before captured within the same time. But we must
confess our scepticism as to the ultimate success of the
system, and our conviction that it is not in the African
seas but on the soil of America that the slave trade can
alone be abolished. At the present time the system of
mutual insurance in Brazil is so perfect, and the prices
of slaves so high, that e e are informed by the last report
of the Commissioners at Rio that the capture of Jour
vessels would not subject the slave traders to loss, pro
vided the fifth succeeded in landing slaves in Brazil. If,
therefore, the apprehensions which have been powerfully
expressed by the authors of a protest against the ethnic -
sion of slave-grown sugar were justified by the result of
that measure, and if it veerecertain that this new premium
on the slave trade would increase the actual amount of
that abominable traffic, we should regard any additional
preventive measures of a maritime nature as a mere at-
tempt to impose upon the public by an expensive, dange-
rous and inoperative illusion. But it becomes us to inquire
whether these apprehensions are not imaginary and
exaggerated, and whether any portion of the guilt of
encouraging the slave trade can attach to those who
propose the admission of slave-grown sugar to our
markets. Our anti-slave-trade measures have of late
years been of two kinds—first, a preventive serv:ce on
the coast of Africa ; and, secondly, the prohibition of
stave-grown produce, whereby the slave- trading states
were placed under disadvantages in the English market.
It is now proved that the last of these measures is as
ineffectual as the first, for we have not been able to in-
•duee the Braziliens tsi adopt more rigorous restrictions
on the trade ; they have found compensation else-
where for the injury done to their commercial rely
tions with ourselves, and the slave trade has gone on
with just as much activity as before. The experiment
of the prohibition of slave-grown sugar has therefore
failed upon trial even more completely than the expe-
riment of the cruisers, and for very obvious reasons :
the markets of the rest of the civilised world re-
main open to the sugar which we reject, and we our-
selves do not reject any of the other commodities, such
as cotton, coffee, tobacco, copper, bullion, &c., produced
in Brazil, Cuba, and the United States by slave-labour.
Not only has this experiment failed, but we doubt whe-
ther it has produced any perceptible effect whatever, or
even checked the evil it was intended to counteract.
The actual amount of the profits of the slave trade is so
great, the price of negroes in the slave-trading countries
so high, and the export of negroes from Africa so large,
that we question whether it could be materially in-
creased even if the trade were not restricted. The Eng-
lish sugar-market has not been needed to induce the
planter of Cuba to extend the cultivation of the sugar-
cane by every possible means, and to enable the slave-
trader of Rio Janeiro to clear 200 per cent. on his
iefamous cargoes. Where the direct causes which
induce men to brave the infamy of the slave trade and
the increasing perils of a slave population are so strong,
and where the direct opposition of our cruiser; is so in-
operative, we confess that the mere indirect check of ex
eluding one slavetrown commodity from one market
appears to us unworthy of consideration, and wholly
powerless. There is no medium between absolute com-
mercial non-intercourse with slave countries as a matter
of principle, and desisting from the attempt tojorcefureign
states into the adoption of our views. The true value of
these attempts is now ascertained ; to insist on them is
only to aggravate our failure. Do we then despair of
the cause to which the mind of this country is so deeply
and conscientiously devoted ? By no means. Th 4 re
are two irresistible powers at work in its behalf. The
first is the terror and the danger which an increasing
African population brings into the heart of every Ame-
rican community ; the second is the security which
already exists in the British West Indies, and the suc-
cess which will, as we confidently anticipate, one day at
tend the experiment of free labour and the opening of the
colonial trade.

•
THE AFFAIRS OF CIRCA.SSIA.
SMOPE, JUNE 10.—Among the passengers on board
a Turkish trading vessel arrived from Battn. is Ali
Osman Oku, one of the most powerful chiefs of
irbikhs in Southern Circassia. He is son and heir of
Ha li Dukan Oku, the most renowed warrior of the
Ca cast's, a hom Mr. Bell styled " the Washington of
Ci....assia," and who died two years ago. Ali Osman
Oku is proceeding to Constantinople, intending to go
return to his country.
on to Adrinople, with a view, in the name of many
Beg, one of the
The other two princes, Selim Beg and Pschimet Beg,
Circassianthree great chiefs,
ehi coff inducingCircassia,
to Sefir
have lost all their influence in the mountains, being
supposed to have been bought over by Russia. They
behaved with pusillanimity, taking no part in the meet-
ings, except to exhort the mountaineers to lay down
their arms and cease all attacks against the Russian forts
on the Black Sea. But the name of Sefir Beg is still
extremely popular in the mountains, and the general
opinion is, that be alone is capable of putting an end to
the differences which now exist in Circassia, uniting
under his order a number of tribes, and sustaining in
the Western Caucasus as glorious a part as Schatnal has
played with so much glory in Dagestan, and in the whole
of the eastern portion of the Caucasus. Sefir Beg has
Rot visited his ceuntry for ten years. He then went to
Constantinople to solicit the assistance of the Porte in
favour of Circassia. He was lured with vain promises,
and finally the Porte was weak enough to yield to the
influence of M. Boutenieff, who had imperatively de-
manded the removal of the Circassian Prince, and to
order him to repair to Adrinople. Here Sefir Beg leads
a retired life, having lost all hope of the future destiny
of his country, and passes his time in prayer in the
mosques. He,
however, from time to time writes to his
countrymen, exhorting them to persist in their hostility
to Russia, and to prefer death to a base submission.
But all steps taken by his countrymen, and their solicita-
tions to induce him to return to his country, have been
in vain, his answer being that he would not return but
when the Porte gave him assistance. Sefir Beg is a
descendant of the oldest and most powerful princely
family in Circassia.
We have not had any direct news from Tiflis and the
Eastern Caucasus for two months, but by the passengers
arrived from Batum, we learn that the late appearance
of Schamyl in the plaias of Cabardia, had produced an
immense impression among all the mountain tribes of
the west. Notwithstanding the jealousy and natural
antipathy of the various populations who do not
speak the same language, the voice of the prophet
Schamyl had not tailed to produce its effect in Ca
bardia, and numerous tribes of the plain had taken up
arms for him. The numerical superiority of the Russian
army, which amounts to 60,000 men, on the borders
of the Terek, has compelled Schamyl to retire into
the mountains, not having the means to contend in the
plain with advantage against the combined Russian
compact infantry and cannon, but many of the Cabardian
tribes have followed him into the interior of the great
- Tschetschuya, leaving behind them their villages to be
destroyed by the Cossacks, and only carrying away
with them their arms. These tribes have considerably
increased Schamyl's army, which already consisted
of 20,000 men, when he crossed the Terek. Al-
though the bold plan of this renowned chief did not
wholly succeed, his intrepidity is, however, to be
admired. He had spread alarm even to the walls of
Tekaderinadad, the capital of the Tachernomerian Cos-
sacks. At no time had a Tschetschentsian chief ven-
tured to undertake so long and bold a march through a
triple line of Russian fortresses. So great was the con-
sternation among the Russians, that General Luders did
not think himself safe at Stauropol, the head quarters of
the Russian army of operations, which he hastily left,
marching in the direction of the fortresses on the bor-
ders of the Kuban

WHO KILLED THE CORN-LAWS.?
(From the Bristol Mercury.)
Now that the corn-law is fairly knocked on the head,
an inquest is being held for the purpose of ascertaining
who had the merit of putting an end to its existence.
The evidence is very contradictory. A large portion of
the public attribute its decease to Sir Robert Peel, anti
the protectionists swear " alone he did it !" but Sir
Hebert denies " the soft impeachment," and says Richard
Cobden was the man. Richard Cobden acknowledges
that he had something to do with the matter, but that
the catastrophe was greatly owing to the exertions of
Sir R. Peel, Lord John Russell, Col. Thompson, Mr.
Villiers, and various other labourers in the closet and on
the platform. The Eraminer thinks that those who
worked for the Reform Bill—who swept away the rotten
boroughs, and so brought the Cobdens, &c.. into Parlia-
ment, and gave additional force to the voice of the con-
stituencies, contributed their fair quota to the result; and
Tait puts in a claim on behalf of Ebenezer Elliott, the
"Anti-Corn-law Rhymer." Adam Smith, too, and
various other mighty pioneers, cannot be set aside as
having done nothing, simply because others have for-
gotten, or are ignorant of, what they have done.
Honour to all workers /—but we cannot help think-
ing that our modern great authorities, in complimenting
each other, rather lose sight of a power that had, after
all, sorneeting to do in killing the corn-law, to wit—THE
PRESS. The newspaper press, for the most part, was
strongly opposed to the corn monopoly, and laboured
early and late before leagues were started or ministers
converted. The press it was that worked in independent
co-operation with the League organisation, and that
gave it name, fame, and efficiency. Nothing could be
more admirable than the conduct of that organi,ation,
but without the press, instead of " a great" the League
would have been a little " fact," and the corn-laws yet
unrepealed.
In short, a past amount of power was brought to bear
against the corn-laws from different quarters ; and the
nearness of the result shows how little of it could have
been spared. Subtract any one of the principal agents
—Sir Rohert Peel, Lord Jan Russell (who brought
over his party), Wchard Cobden, Col. ThompsOn, the
_League, or the Press. and who will venture to affirm
that the cc rn-laws would not have been yet on the
statute beck-, To some fariour is pre-eminently due ;
but there have been many humble but earnest workers,
whose individual labours have in no slight degree con-
trilsuted to the great result.
Nor should we forget divers very efficient workers of
another class. Is it to be supposed that Mr. Wm. Miles,
with his grease and tarred-butter orations, and unaffected
horror of abundance; that Sir Edward Knatchhull, with
his claim for " protection" on the score of Kentish pip-
pins and marriage jointures; that Lord Stanley, with
his preposterous Tambott blunders; that the Duke of
Richmond, with his ingenious admissions about salmon;
that Colonel Sibthorp, by his brilliant sallies;—is it to
ne supposed, we say, that these men did nothing towards
the downfall of monopoly ? Certainly they did. A
speech from a Miles or a Tyrrell in favour of " protec-
tion" was only less destructive than a speech from
Cobden or Villiers against it. Most ungrateful would
it be, when we take into account the causes which led
to the downfall of the corn-laws, to forget the speeches
of the Protecionists.

We are Wraid, however, that these latter gentlemen
will modestly decline b"ing identified with the death of
murvipoly. Well, every man to his taste. The work
done, and well done ; and those who did it are not
likely to quarrel amongst themselves for the sake of
appropriating the " lion's share" of the credit. Posterity
will settle that !natter. without fear, favour, or partiality.

steam-frig
nt,
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maeuTafhtra
g1,31.1ei
meNt:tTse
fie
frrotl
fitting
oinslrgtdeSearTma,
tEitv
Woolwich—forecastle,
-sovebol VESSELS, sipfrheeLpls
a,
fittingr
feo&(irce:
s,arTttil
iehet,
he
Aeo
)1
variousoisi w(6m--
ne
pounder gun, 87 cwt., 10 feet, on a pivot-slide and carriage;
quarter-deck, one 56-pounder, 87 cwt., 10 feet, on pivot-
slide and carriage; and eight 32-pounders of 25 cwt., 6 feet,
on compressor carriages and slides; main-deck, six 8-inch
guns, 65 cwt., 9 feet, and 14 32-pounders of 50 cwt. 9 feet
6 inches, on common carriages. The Bull Dog, fitting
at Chatham—one 56 pounder, 87 cwt., 10 feet, and one
10-inch gun, 85 cwt., 9 feet 4 inches, on pivot-slides and
carriages; four 32-pounders. 42 cwt., feet, on compressor
carriage's and slides. The Rattlesnake, at Woolwich—main-
deck, six 32 pounder guns, 25 cwt., on compressor slides
and carriages, two 12 pounders, on common carriages, and
one 12-pounder brass howitzer on field carriage, with limber
for boats; two 12-pounder brass howitzers, two 3-pounder
brass guns, three rocket tubes, and 31b. shell-rockets.
DRINKING PRINCE ALBERT'S HEALTH.—At a meet-
ing of the Bold-street (Liverpool) Total Abstinence Society,
held at the Music Hall, on Monday evening last. a resolution
was unaninimously adopted, deeply deploring " the increased
amount of drunkenness which will probably be caused by
drinking Prince Albert's health in intoxicating beverages,
and with a view of averting this result," adopting an ad-
dress to his Royal Highness.—Lirerpool Mercury.
NECESSITY FOR FIRE-PROOF ENTRANCES TO BUILD-
INGS.—The value of that clause in the New Building Act,
which provides that the stairs and landings of public build-
ings, and the floors of their halls, vestibules, and passages
shall be fire-pro,f, is brought forcibly to the mind by the ac•
count of the recent dreadful loss of life through the burning
of the Theatre Royal in Quebec. It is not quite clear (in the
accounts) whet her or not the staircase, to which all rushed in
the awful confusion of the moment, gave Way, though
this seems to be the impression of one who wasan eye-witness
of the occurrence; but one feels, when reflecting on such an
event, the immense importance of safe means of egress from
buildings where large numbers of persons congregate, and
the even greater importance of having it uederstood publicly
that there are such means, as this knowledge, giving confi-
dence, would lessen the ill-considered rush to escape, through
8
which, under such circumstances, life is usually sacrificed.--
The Builder.
Some, months since the German journals stated that a
young Hungarian gentleman, named Stanidas de B—, who
was in great poverty, had discovered among the archives of
hesatd importance
sent
totheconcerning
o f
his family a great number of secret documents of the high_
With the Princes, his sons, in order to recompense M. de
for this important service, had taken him under their
thteheFrh!nou French, and o
af n dOtth Orleans,
Majesty,
nhis, which he
protection—had granted him an annuity for his life—and
had presented him with large sums of money, and several
articles of great value. As this account was not contradicted,
and as the gentleman in quastion wore the inaignia of
the Legion of Honaur, and aopearel to live in great luxury,
every one believed in his rapid fortune, and he was 'every-
where received as a prote,ze of the Royal Faintly of France.
This illusion has, however by a singular chance, been just
dispelled. Beiog in a coffee-house at Vienna, dressed as an
Hungarian Lowe, he was showing- to several young men of
his acquaintance a magnitic,,,nt Turkish sabre, which he
boasted of having received as a present from the Prince de
Joinville. While hi; friends were passing it from one to the
other, and
weapon, an eallelrlrsi.ninan
g th
stepped forward, seized
the weapon. and declared that the sabre had been ma„,.
factured in his worhshops at PreFbourg, (Hungary). where
he was establisher, as an armatirer ; that he had sold it to a
young Hungarian named Mullentz, who had left the town
yislte workmanship of the
without
Paying him, and that he recognised his creditor in
M. de B—. The preteodel Royal preo ege was immediately
arrested, and the researches made by the police have already
proved him to be nothing more than a chevalier d'industrie,
living on the dupes he was enabled to make.
Disease IN THE BARLEY CROP.--A correspondunt
nt
the Murk Lane E.2l37ess writes to that journal, that all the
barley on the Co,swold Hills and in tile G. oacest er Vale has
baen mare less a' t..telo.d by et s -cies of ru,), w•
off' ELle oil- at the len tom, belt). eit (vans out. T., is g, u,, is
white, about a quarter of an inch long, and as round as a
knitting needle; when grown it becomes much like a wire
worm.