The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-13 00:00:00

LONDON,

might be resuscitated, and whose enthusiastic ardour I
might make amends for the cool calculations of a
DERBY or the lukewarmness of a DISRAELI. The
Honourable Gentleman, with his thick and thin ad-
hesion to " the good old cause" of monopoly,
was not influenced by any, notions as to
practicability or expediency, He could not recognise
the supposed prosperity of the labouring classes, and
was quite prepared to prove that " the working man,'
who toils for his daily bread, would be much better
off if paying 21. or 2id. per pound for his bread, than
if obtaining it at the disgracefully low price of 13.
The punctual payment of rents, which was errone-
ously regarded as evidence of the solvent condition of
the farmers, was shown to bear a totally different
construction, for according to Mr. G.F. YOUNG, "they
were paid by, and out of capital, and under no reduc-
tion of rent that had been made, could the soil be
profitably cultivated." This cheering and encourag-
ing opinion was of course loudly and rapturously
applauded. If every tenant-farmer in the room was
permitted to occupy his tenement rent free, to turn
his tenancy at will, or, from year to year, into a
freehold or fee simple, he could not hope to live by
his labour'; he must still draw on the resources ac-
cumulated under more auspicious circumstances.
But when were the palmy days of agriculture,
during which these ample hoards could be set aside ?
We have seldom heard the agriculturists expressing
their satisfaction. Grumblings and complaints, both
loud and deep, have been of daily occurrence ; they
have been unceasingly murmuring, and Jererniads
of the most plaintive description have fallen from their
lips. When, then, did they accumulate capital
sufficient to pay rents, to maintain their families, to
join in all the social indulgences, and to enjoy
the creature comforts befitting their position ?
If Mr. G. F. Yoursn's statements be well
founded, and that the farmers have, or, rather, had
capital sufficient to pay their rents for five successive
years—since the abolition of the corn-laws—then
agriculture must, indeed, have been a most lucrative
occupation, far more so than any other then known.
But, if we are not greatly mistaken, the complaints
were nearly as numerous to 1846 as .at present, and
yet it now appears that they must have been laying
aside enormous fortunes at that time. They were
then crying out, without foundation, and according to
the well-known tale of " The shepherd's boy and
the wolf," cannot hope to obtain credence, even
should their stories be better grounded than formerly.
We cannot conclude without alluding to the speech
of Lord STANHOPE, which would have elicited as
rapturous applause at a meeting of Radical
Reformers as that which it received from
the out-and-out Protectionists. The Noble Earl
spoke more strongly in favour of a large exten-
sion of the franchise, almost amounting to universal
suffrage and of a complete alteration in the constitu-
tion of the House of Lords, than he did of the reim-
position of a bread tax. If any person should doubt
our assertion, let him consider the tendency and
effect of the following extract from his Lordship's
speech, which was most enthusiastically greeted by
the audience :—" It had been said by Lord DERBY
and Lord ISlAListesnuar that if the result of the next
election should prove unfavourable to Protection they
must bow to the decision of Parliament. What !
bow to the decision of such an assembly, when the
labouring classes, who were the most interested of all,
were not represented? Bow to the House of Commons,
a great majority of whom had been elected by the
foulest bribery and corruption—which did not de-
serve or ei,joy the confidence or respect of the
people, and in which the towns and ten-pounders had
the overwhelming majority. What should they
say of the House of Lords ? Bow to
the decision of that degraded assembly I He
no longer considered it deserved their re-
spect—a House in which the statement with reference
to it that 13 honest men could not be found within
is walls, had not been treated as a gross and calum-
nious attack, but laughed at by many as an excellent
joke. He called upon them not to bow to the decision
of either House of Parliament. If they did, the
boasted English Constitution, said to be the envy
and admiration of surrounding nations, would
be nothing less than a mockery and a delusion."
We do not know of any Chartist, Socialist,
or Red Republican who could make use
of stronger or more unequivocal language in
reference to the hereditary and represen-
tative branches of the Legislature than
that which found far more favour in the sight of the
English than the repudiation of the Earl of .MALIIRS
BURY, another of the would-be leaders.

The convulsive efforts, however, terminated, and if
any additional evidence were required of the hope-
lessness of the attempt to re-impose a tax on the
people's food for the benefit of a privileged class,
they might be obtained from the proceedings and
speeches at the London Tavern, in the morning as
well as in the evening of Friday, the 12th of De-
cember, 1851.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
The Presse, the Union, the Opinion Publiras, and the
Corsaire appeared yesterday, for the first time since
the 2d of December. None pf these :publish any
editorial comments on passing events.
The Presse contains the following notice :
" Ajudgment of M. Cuenca°, presiding in the First
Chamber, has admitted the declaration of Emile de
Girardin, that, for the future, ha means to remain a
complete stranger to the direction and editorship of the
Presse. Yesterday the proprietors of the journal united
in general assembly, nominated M. J. Pirodeaud prin-
cipal editor, in the room of M. Emile de Girardin.
The editorship of the Freese is to be immediately re-or-
ganized."
M. EMILE DE GIRARDIN intends, it is said, to emi-
grate to the United States.
The Moniteur contains an unusually large number
of decrees from the PRESIDENT of the Republic. One
raises Ganeral of Division HARISPE, in consideration
of his eminent military services, to the dignity of
Marshal of France; a second nominates General of
Division VAILLANT to the same high dignity, and
assigns as the special reason for so doing, that
this officer, though he had from motives of de-
licacy declined assuming the prerogatives of the
post of commander-in-chief of the expedition to
Rome which had been conferred on him, yet
had notoriously directed all the operations of the
siege of that city, and ensured the success of the ex-
pedition. The decree also speaks generally of the
eminent services of General VAILLANT during the
whole of his military career. A third decree appoints
General RANDOM to the post of Governor General of
Algeria, now held ad interim by General PELISSIER,
in command of the Oran division. A fourth decree
declares that the Consultative Commission, appointed
on Dec. 3, is charged with the examination and
general summing-up of the votes to be given by
the French people in the ballots of the 20th and
21st of the present month. In consequence, all the
minutes drawn up by the departmental commissions,
instituted in virtue of Art. 6 of the decree of Dec. 2, are
to be transmitted to it by the Minister of the Interior,
and the result will be made known by the executive
power. The same decree further declares that the Con-
sultative Commission is to give its advice on such
drafts of Bills as shall be submitted to it by the PRE-
SIDENT of the Republic ; it is also to perform the du-
ties of the Council of State, except in matters in dis-
pute relative to administrative affairs, on which
another decree is to be hereafter issued ; the Com-
mission is to be presided over by the PRESIDENT of
the Republic, in his absence by M. BAROCUE, the
Vice-President ; a decree of the Executive Power is to
divide the Consultative Commission into sections for
the affairs to be submitted to it. A fifth decree or-
ders the establishment of a circular railway round
Paris within the fortifications, connecting together
the Western, Rouen, Northern, Strasburg, Lyons and
Orleans lines, and concedes the said line to the Rouen,
Orleans, Strasburg, and Northern Companies on cer-
tain conditions specified, one of which is that each of
these companies is to pay the sum of one million for
its participation in the rights conferred by such con-
cession.

The promotion of General HAmsrE is a deserved
compliment to the Father of the French Army ;
that of General VAILLANT is evidently intended more
as an insult to General OUDINOT, than as a compli-
ment to General VAILLANT.
The Commander-in- Chief of the army of Paris
has addressed the following report, dated the 9th, to
the Minister of War, of his proceedings during the
insurrection :
" Monsieur le Ministre,—l have already had the honour
to address to you a summary report on the events of the
3d and 4th instants, and to render to you an account of
the results obtained from the arrangements made in an-
ticipation of those events. Now that the partial reports
o.f: the generals commanding divisions under my orders
former reports. On the morning of the
3
have reached me, I hasten to send you the details which
codl
assemblages took place
on different points, and the various Corps of the army
of Paris marched to take up their position of combat.
et
numerous my
and threatening