The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-14 00:00:00

Otttningtnt

Lf)NDO)N, FRIDAY. JANUARY 14. 1848

Lombardy is evincing its abhorrence of Austrian
domination, and its solicitude to take part in the
great movement of political reform which is tending
so rapidly to the regeneration of the Peninsula. The
Italian subjects and the German soldiery of FERDI-
NAND have at length come into collision, and that,
too, in the capital of the Imperial dominions situated
south of the Carpathi.in mountains. It appears that
a covert effirt at innovation has been recently devised
by the Milanese for the purpose of compelling their
rulers, if possible, to relax the rigour of their poli-
tical grasp, and to diminish the stringency of their
social depressi3n. A popular compact was resolved
upon by the citizens, by the operation of
which compact a powerful influence would
have- been obtained over the municipal Go-
vernment, and ultimately over the supreme
Legislature of Vienna. According to this :igreement
every one was prohibited from consuming tobacco,
with the intention of depriving the Austrian autho-
rities of one of the most fruitful sources of revenue.
Patriotism extinguished every pipe within the boun-
daries of Milan. Such was the loathing of their
oppressors in the bosoms of its inhabitants, that they
readily sacrificed their most favourite appetite for the
purpose of trying an experiment which might per-
chance tend towards their ulterior liberation. Not a
nose was titillated by the subtle grains of rappee;
not a cheek w.. 5 distended with a miniature coil of
pig-tail ; not a canana Rave forth its perfume from
the lips of the most venturous c,viliatl; not a spark was
kindled in the bowl of a dudeen, or beneath the
perforated cap of a inver,chaum.
...00,tcco was under
the taboo of the Revolutionists. It was avoided as
resolutely as though some new rUEOUALD had adini
nistered a solemn pledge against stnil;
ng, and had
d with all the fervour of a N ENTURA, and
all the inspiration ofexpatiate L
ACORDAIRE, against the c"-
sumption of a
weed so often to indolence
and
debauchery. For several days the contrivance
was
successful ; the atmosphere was nowhere impregnated
with the fragrance of even one solitary cheroot ; not
a man sneezed from the Piazze Bella Scala to the
Plasma della Duomo. The conspiracy against the
tobacconists, and, through them,
againstthe
Imperial Treasury, wps so manifest,
indeed,
that the different regiments quartered in the
city resolved to evidence their loyalty by consuming
cigars in .the face of the populace. Sundry cases of
Havannah, of a very seductive age and condition,
were forwarded to the barracks by some anonymous
hand, and forthwith the garrison turned out in
groups of from 80 to 200 men, and perambulated
the Corso and the more frequented promenades of
Milan, their cigars blazing with unaccustomed fury
under their moustachios. A violation of the popular
mandate so flagrant was naturally received with in-
tense but suppressed indignation ; and the wrath of
the Milanese was at length rendered wholly irrepres-
sible by their organs of respiration being saluted
with the odour of their beloved weed—that
weed from which they had abstained out of a feeling
of exalted ciiism. The soldiers were followed with '

hisses and derision ; and the result of this extraordi-
nary affair was a--massacre. Besides many who
were killed by the swords and bayonets of the Aus-
trians, one hundred and fifty of the unarmed citizens
were conveyed to the hospitals dangerously wounded.
Among those who were arrested by the military Was
the Podesta CASATI ; and among the victims of the
tumult was Counsellor lloNciamat, a man venerable
in years, and of exalted reputation.
Such has been the beneficent conduct of the police
under TORRESANI, and of the Dragoons under RA-
DETSKY ; such has been the fate of the Milanese, and
such the paternal tenderness of the Imperial Govern-
ment ! Since a sullen tranquillity has been restored
to the capital, a proclamation issued by the Arch-
duke REGNIER, the Viceroy of Lombardy, addresses
the people upon whom the soldiers of FERDINAND:haVe
but recently practised their skill in butcheries, as his
dear Milanese, suoi ddetti Milanesi. Nothing could
be more expressive of the hypocritical and insi-
dious policy of the Viennese Cabinet since the
first moment in which it undertook to direct
the social and political affairs of the Lombardo-
Venetian=. With every pretence of gentle-
ness in its manner of administration it has
combined every rigour and cruelty in execution. If
it has secured to its Italian populace a comparative
amount of physical comfort and intellectual pros-
perity, it has done so merely within such limits as
are compatible with the retention of its predominant
authority—just as a prisoner may be fattened by his
gaolers while the bars of his dungeon are strengthened
and his manacles made immeasurably more burden-
some. Already has this policy been persisted in too
long. The people of Lombardy are incapable
of bowing patiently to the yoke of their
unsyrnpathising taskmasters, while southwards
the sound of the hymns of liberty are
audible from the palace of Florence and the precincts
of the Quirinal. A stupendous catastrophe appears
to us to be inevitable; and it is impossible for the
lovers of freedom to observe the progress of events in
Northern Italy without trembling fur the cause of
those patriotic civilians who are struggling to effect
their emancipation by bearding the representatives of
a puissant and military despotism. Thanks to the
wisdom and benignity of Pius IX., the Papal states
have arrived at the blessings of representative legis-
lation without one drop of blood being spilt either
upon the Monte Cavallo or upon the Piazza del
Popolo. In a similar manner the sagacious inno-
vations of LEOPOLD and the laudable changes effected
by CHARLES ALBERT have rendered the revolutions
of Sardinia and Tuscany bloodless, without being in
any respect insufficient. Lombardy has a more ter-
rible ordeal to pass through before her people can
hope to achieve their independence. The crowned
imbecile of Schoenbrun is surrounded by parasites
who will not willingly allow this Italian jewel to
drop from the diadem of FERDINAND. Before the
liberty of Lombardy can be secured, it must, we
fear, be baptised in the blood of its population. As
Mr. MACAULAY has most eloquently said, the
exorcism of the demon of tyranny wracks
the body politic with throes and convul-
sions which sometimes bring it to the very
brink of dissolution. Still, terrible as those throes,
and appalling as those convulsions may be, it is as-
suredly better that the demon should be exorcised,
even at the risk of such agonies, rather than that a
whole race should continue to be abased by its
brutalizing domination. Already has the tocsin
sounded at Milan, at Como, at Lecco, and at
Cremona. Yet a little while, and Lombardy may be
free!

On Wednesday we directed the public attention to
the " History and Exposition of the Currency Ques-
tion," contained in the TVe,tmiaster Review for the
present quarter, to which we promised to allude at
greater length on a future occasion. We now pro•
teed to the redemption of that pledge.

The talented writer tells us that " Distrust
strengthens itself in the conviction now widely spread
among all classes, that whatever may be the modest
self-reliance of politicians and economists in their
own judgment, there is something in sound prin-
ciples of currency' which nobody understands, and
that it is therefore just as possible that the terms of
the next renewal of the Bank Charter may lead to fresh
disasters, as certain that the last settlement' has wholly
disappointed the expectations not only of the public,
but of its authors." The "sound principles of cur-
rency " to which he alludes are the doctrines intro-
duced by the Act of 1818, establishing a fixed price
for gold, that the pound of account is always to be
liquidated by 5 dwts. 3 grs. of gold, and that although
there is not a sufficient uuantity of gold ie the world
to satisfy the demand that might possibly be made, if
there was a total suspension of credit, and every one
insisted on the payment of the debts due to him in
bullion, and would accept no other description of
satisfaction, still the integrity of the standard must
be maintained at any price, although it in-
volved the sacrifice of our mercantile and
manufacturing interests, and the reduction of our
labouring classes to the lowest depths of
poverty and destitution. The Act of 1844 was
merely intended by its authors to afford a greater
degree of security for the maintenance of the prin.
ciple formerly introduced to insure at all times the
convertibility of the notes issued under the former
law. The disasters and calamities to which the
nation has been exposed from its operation are too
well known to require further proof ; and although
Sir CHARLES WOOD may still chaunt its praises and
declare it to be the perfection of human wisdom, it
is possible that the wisdom of the Legislature, assisted
by the pressure from without, may compel him to
consent to a revision of the law. But we can
scarcely hope that a free trade in money will
be at once conceded ; other regulations, perhaps
equally injurious, may be substi uted for those
which have proved so great a failure, and the ruin of
the nation may be occasioned by the mistakes of
those who cannot be induced to abandon their "sound
principles of currency"—while anything remains to
be toq—until the sufferings and misery of the many
lead to a general convulsion, in which every descrip-
tion of property is swept away and destroyed.
The fallacy of the bullionists and the triumphant
demand " What is a pound ?" is well met by the re-
viewer. He shows that it is founded on a dictum of
LOCKE'S, which has been received as an axiom
without examination, in deference to his
authority. That great philosopher lays it down
that " men in their bargains contract not for denomi-
nations or sounds, but for the intrinsic value." This
was the foundation of the theory of the Bullion Com
inittee of 1810, which was the fountain and origin
of all our subsequent calamities, and the chief sup-
port of the assumption that a contract for a pound
sterling is a bargain for the delivery of 6 dwts. 3 grs.
of gold, and nothing more. This is really a gross
misapprehension of the real .meaning of the great
metaphysician, which has led to much injustice. It
is a strict adherence to the letter of a contract with-
out any regard to its spirit. We shall let the
writer speak for himself on this point. He says—
° I'he quantity of gold in a pound sterling never, or
but rarely, enters into the calculation of either buyer
or seller. What buyers and sellers mean by a pound
is not 5 dwts. 3 grs. of yellow metal, but that com-
mand over the necessaries and comforts of life which
was conveyed by a sovereign or a one pound note, in
the average of the transactions in which they lave st en
it employed. This view of a contract most materially
affects the argument, for the reader need not be very
profoundly read in ethics to discover that the pay-
ment
6. dwts. 3 grs. of yellow metal does not satisfy
the equity of the case, unless the metal convey the
same
Purchasingpower over an average of commodities
cn whichtrac was
absetewoneetentnthPleatntewd•a lo,yeebneoltuhded. partieslf
thewh metal
ntttaiel
convey a less purchasing power than was mutually
agreed for, then the deb tor takes anruiamntrjeutost,
nadiisvattui
purchasingtpa go
ne
of the creditor. If it convey a g
power,
then the creditor, supposing he
an adherence to the letter of his contract, takes an
unjust advantage of his debtor."
This places the question on its true footing. Need
we ask which side has obtained the undue advantage
within the present year ? Has the manufacturer
been able to satisfy his debt by an equal quantity
of goods, the produce of his industry, that
would have been adequate for that purpose
when the debt was contracted ? It is well known that
the depreciation in the value of every description of
manufactured article was so great that it would have
required fully 30 Isr cent. more to bare ben ea•

changed for an equal amount of money, and therefore
the industrious and productive classes were injured to
that amount by the unfair appreciation of the value
of money. Away then with the argument, that in-
justice would be committed on the fundholders and
creditors generally by the introduction of a
currency which would not be subjected to those
repeated fluctuations in the value of money which
occasion such injury to the industrious classes.
Not the least valuable part of the paper is the com-
parison between the possible or probable conse-
quences of an " appreciation" of the value of money
on the one hand, and a depreciation on the other. We
can scarcely hope, for some time at least, to attain a
perfect monetary system, and it is therefore highly
desirable to know on which side it is least dangerous
to err.

Any very great depreciation would probably be
injurious to the non-productive classes living on a
fixed income. Appreciation, on the contrary,
would act as a total check to production. The benefit
to the landlord or fundholder would not be uncon-
ditional, it would only last while the goose which laid
the golden egg was dying. The end of a country
burdened with a heavy debt must inevitably be
a " national bankruptcy and universal con-
fusion." " Depreciation " and " appreciation "
therefore, mean injustice to " the few" or injustice
to " the many." Although it would be desirable to
avoid either alternative, it requires little argument to
show which would be productive of the most inju-
rious and calamitous results. In one case an idle
gentleman, living on a fixed income, may have to re-
linquish some useless luxuries, or even to exert him-
' self in order to earn a livelihood ; in the other, the
industrious and skilful operative may starve in the
midst of his family, although able and willing to
work, or seek the means of supporting a wretched
existence in the tender mercies of the union work-
house.

We are informed by a Copenhagen letter of the
6th that in the afternoon of that day the King of
DENMARK, on returning from a carriage drive, sud-
denly found himself so unwell that his physicians
considered it necessary to bleed him immediately. A
grand ball, which was to have taken place in the
palace in celebration of Twelfth-day, had to be post-
poned.

We learn from Malta, Dec 31, that when Captain
MEREDITI, the chief of the rebel troops at Patras, was
embarking with his men in the boats of the Spitfire in
pursuance of the convention with the foreign Consuls,
and by which he ha I consented to accept 32,000
drachmas instead of the 60,000 which be had levied
on the town, the secretary of the numarch, M.
RONDOPOULON, arriving with a force of 200 to 300
men, and ordered a volley to be fired on the Insur-
gents, by which four or five were killed, and fifteen
wounded. Some of the balls struck the boats, and
Lieutenant MACDONALD, of the Spitfire, considering
the act as an indifferent requital for the services he
had rendered, entered a formal protest against the act
of the Greek functionary; the Spitfire reached Malta
on the 24th ult., with 54 of the revolutionists. The
Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islands had
refused permission for them to land at Corfu, but the
Governor of Malta permitted them to land there.

We have received the Athens Journals to the 29th
ult. The Courrier d' Athenes contains a number of
documents relative to the late disturbances at Patras,
but they add little to the information brought by the
last mail. It appears that the foreign consuls, parti-
cularly those of France and Austria, exerted them-
selves with great energy in their efforts to send away
the rebel soldiery, according to the convention
between them and the civil authorities, and to induce
their commander to reduce the amount of the sum
which he had stipulated to receive as the condition of
his ceasing hostilities and evacuating the town. The
Courrier Athines, however, complains that no sooner
had the civil authorities recovered from their panic
than they recommenced a system of persecution and
misgovernment.

The last accounts fram Turin state that the King
of SARDINIA. has become somewhat seriously indis-
posed. The Duchess of SAVOY, hereditary Princess,
is in such an alarming state that it has been considered
necessary to offer up special public prayers in her be-
half. The Princess, though an Austrian,has made herself
very popular, in spite of the prejudices which exist
against her country. The Porn lately conferred on
her the " Rose of Honour."
The Patric of Florence of the sth announces that
Pontretnoli has been formally delivered up to the
Duke of PARMA by the Twican Comndssioners, and
that the peace of the town had not been disturbed.
Madrid papers of the 7th have arrived.

A letter from SALAMANCA was read in the Chamber
of Deputies on that day, stating that his health was
so bad that he could not be present, whereupon GON-
ZALES BRAVO declined addressing the Chamber. The
proposition for bringing SALAMANCA to trial was
carried by 128 to 39, and a committee was appointed
to draw up the impeachment.

The Eco del Comercio, in a special supplement,
announces the arrival of Esrearaao in Madrid on
the 7th.

The Herald() gives a formal contradiction to the
rumours in circulation as to the unsatisfactory state
of the QUSEN'S health. Notwithstanding this con-
tradiction, however, it was universally believed in
Madrid that the QVIEEN was suffering from an organic
disease, which, although not necessarily of an imme-
diately fatal character, yet, from its nature, could not
but give rise to the most ominous forebodings.
A letter from Malaga of the 2d says—" Lieutenant-
General SERRANO arrived at Malaga some days ago.
From his arrival it was rumoured that a military ex •
pedition was being prepared, for nothing less than
planting the flag of Castile on the Cheffarine Islands,
near to the Spanish presidio of Melilla, and posted in
face of the mouth of the Maulonia, which divides the
French possessions from the empire of Morocco. At
present this supposition has become a reality, and the
preparations for this campaign, which are being
pushed forward with extraordinary vigour, cause it
to be presumed that it is to be accomplished without
delay."
MADRID BOLSA, JAN. 7.—Threes, 26i- ; Fives,
161; Exchange on London, 48 30.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
The speech of M. GUIZOT in the Chamber of Peers
on Wednesday, in the course of the debate on the
Address, is important, as containing an exposition of
the policy of the French Government with regard to
the movement now going on for the liberation of
Italy. It is to encourage all the Italian Princes to
grant nothing to the people which they can
possibly withhold—to frighten the POPE by con-
juring up a phantom of revolution and infidelity,
and thus to endeavour to -bring- him into accord with
Austria, and to justify Austria in "taking precau-
tions"—that is to say, in overrunning Italy with
troops to put down the reform movement, if it cannot
be put down by any other means. It is, in fact, the old
" willing to wound and yet afraid to strike" policy, of
which M. Guam. has always been the representative.
He said—" He believed that in most of the Ital ian states
persons were to be found who pushed matters to ex-
tremity. He was decidedly of opinion that the
conduct of these persons was founded on erroneous
views, and that if persisted in it would lead to
anarchy. What the French Government desired to
see, and would always promote, was the establish-
ment in each of these states of a preponderating party
of moderate and prudent reformers, which might
direct the agitation now existing and bring it to a
safe issue. If his dispatches on Italian affairs were
examined, it would be evident that this was
strongly insisted on as absolutely necessary,
Much had no doubt been already effected io Italy,
without any very injurious perturbation ; but he
could not conceal it from himself that the future
looked lowering. Ile could not contemplate the
probable course of events in the Italian states
without a certain disquietude, and principally
on account of the unsettled state of the popular
mind. They seemed to have no fixed object in view,
but demanded vague reforms, as if, because they
ought to call for something, something more than
a mere aspiration after liberty or reform was required
to obtain them ; the mode was complicated, and
involved a number of requisites, which the Italian
states seemed to have overlooked. But though he
thus spoke in a certain manner despondingly of the
general prospects of Italy, he, however, must declare
that he was not without hops when he, looked in the

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