The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-27 00:00:00

Ar.r. THE LONDO,Z JOURNALS

.As the greitest artisticai trinnipsi of the (1 tr. It constitutes an Opera,
Cr.mely, Vaudeville. With a ItAt of characters in Correct Cos-
tumes ; and zion;s in

SIX DIFFEREN C LA.NUUAGES

Never attempted by any other artiste•.

Evening perforinancei (,u Mondays, Tuesday's, Thursdays, au]
Ffidays, at 8.

Morning performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays at half-past
two, precisely.
Admission—Chairs, 3s. ; Centre Seats, 2s. ; Rack Seats, Is.
SAINT MARTIN'S HALL, Long-acre.

dICTII. WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

Tr 4 Div—Morn. 59in in. aft. 4 —Evening 17 min. aft. 5
Tn-goßno vv—Morn. 3:; min. aft. 5 —.F.voning 53 min. aft. 6

THE WEA.THEit—S.uN OFF[cE, Miami 27.

TIICIOIOIIETEIt, Tfig SIIIDE.
highest idnon noou yostertlay.
-.l,v3st, this raorniuf,,, a,rulAuen-4 the night.
49 day at ticoa. •

A ROMET CR-214 97.
WIND, E.—Fresh, with fine, cold, sunshiny weather.

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LONDON, THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1856.

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The Peace has not as yet been concluded ; that
is to say, the Treaty has not been signed, although
there is but little reason to hope that the event
S 4 disastrous to the reputation and interests of
Great Britain can be averted. Nothing can
positively be known of the causes of the delay ;
but they are generally ascribed to Turkey and to
Prussia. We alluded to the rumours respecting
the Ottoman Empire in our impression of yester-
day, and may, therefore, pass the subject without
further notice for the time being. It is exceed
ingly probable that Prussia may strive to occupy
a better position than that assigned to her ; that
she wishes to do something more than merely
confirm the stipulations and arrangements that
had been entered into during her exclusion from
the Conferences. We are so much accustomed to
German intrigue, that we should not feel greatly
surprised if the Plenipotentiaries contrived, after
all, to replace the good CLICQUOT in the position
which he wilfully and deliberately forfeited. Lord
CLARENDON may. oppose it ; but there is, unfor-
tunately, a paramount influence in England that
prevails over the opinions of the responsible servants
of the Crown—an influence which is always directed
in favour of German rather than of English
policy ; and the contemplated matrimonial alliance
may render the party by whom it is exercised,
especially unwilling to do anything that could
humiliate Prussia, nothwithstanding its avowed
partiality for the enemy against whom we have
been forced to contend.

As we recently stated, "never was England
hotter prepared to wage energetic war in every
respect than at this moment!" All the defects
is our Navy have been supplied, The gun-boats,

so lo)ag demanded by the voice Of, public opinion,
are no longer wanting. 'There would no longer be
the semblance of an OX cm° for the inactivity of
any Admiral entrusted with a command in the
Baltic. Every possible) preparation has been
made, and the gigantic e fforts are to be neutral-
ised at the last moment by the unwise and impo-
litic truce that has been. virtually patched up. To
what use are these gun-boats now to be converted ?
That will be an inquiry of peculiar interest to the
People of Great Britain. The coastguard ser-
vice has been suggested', but with the reduced
tariffs already sancti(oned, and the further
mcvements in the same direction that may be
anticipated on the restoration of Peace, there could
not be the slightest necessity for so costly and
powerful a fleet of mere revenue cruisers.

Another serious question arises, what are•we to
do with the various foreign legions so needlessly
enlisted in our service, and with respect to which
we got into difficulties with the United States, and
the Governments of other countries ? We
do not want a body of German or
Italian soldiers in England, ready to obey any
orders of the Commandeer-in-Chief. The presence
of such men, who have no sympathies in common
with the people of Great Britain, might endanger
our highly-prized Constitution in the event of its
being considered desirable to assimilate it more
closely to the German. models, said to be so
popular in high quarters. Nor can we see the
necessity or propriety of concentrating large bodies
of men in camps, such as at Aldershott, &a., and
yet we hear, even since peace has been assumed
to be certain, of a rumoured intention to purchase
a large quantity of land in the vicinity of Win-
chester for the construltion of an additional
camp !

It is indispensable that all these matters should
be calmly and attentively considered by Parlia-
ment, the moment that a Treaty of Peaoe is for-
mally announced. There has always been a con-
stitutional jealousy of any undue increase in the
power of the Executive ; and the system of cen•
tralisation now adopted materially tends to en-
hance that power, and to reader it far more for-
midable. We do not for a moment suppose that
our most gracious and well-beloved QUEEN would
for a moment lend herself to any coup d'etat
aimed against the liberties of her loyal and de•
voted people ; but events may occur at some
future time requiring the utmost vigilance and
care on the part of the nation, and it is especially
desirable that no precedents should now be esta-
blished that may at some future time be twisted
to improper purposes.
There is no use in denying the fact—the House
of COBURG is not popular in England at this
moment. King LEOPOLD, who is just departing
from our shores, has not chosen to submit himself
to the criticisms of the inhabitants. He prefers a
circuitous route—striking off at Wandsworth, and
travelling, by Guildford and Reigate, to Dover.
This is, to say the least of it, a strange arrange-
ment not often adopted by Monarchs who could
fearlessly listen to the expression of public opinion.
We already witnessed in December, 1851, the
treatment of a Minister who ran counter to the
wishes of the family, and we fear that the
tenure of office by Lord PALMERSTON will
not be a very protracted one, after
the signatures have been affixed to the
Treaty. The " Aberdeenites" are far more
popular with those who aspire to direct the des-
tinies of the British nation. Mr. GLADSTONE,
the chief favourite and hope of the prty, has
already been bidding for office, recanting, when
too late, the peace-at-any-price professions that
sealed his exclusion from the Cabinet. As
the Right Honourable Gentleman considers that
what he so long siruggle:l for is now certain,
he may safely indulge in a few generalities,
which, leading to nothing, nity yet allay some of
the irritation excited by the conduct of the ex-
members of the ABEIZDEEN Government.

The whole political state of the country at this
moment affords matter for deep and attentive
consideration by every true-hearted Eaglishrnan,
who, like the Barons at Raanymede, would b 3
" unwilling that the laws of England should be
improperly altered."

It is a very revolting sight to see a fellow-
creature with irons on his wrists or ankles—to
see him shut up in a stone call or worked in a con-
vict gang, or even clothed in a prison dress. Time
was when the pillory was fine sport, and the
parish stocks not much ,inferior fun. We have
outlived, however, all this bad taste of our fore-
fathers—we shrink from the punishments whose
essence is degradation, and of course still more
from those which mingle suffJring and dis-
grace. In fact, we are humane and sentimental
enough for inhabitants of a criareless world. It
is gratifying that society should have bei.,.)oae so
largely imbued with kinder feelings to the guilty,
and that Christian sentiments should obtain the
ascendancy in our treatment of unworthy members
of the community, and we acknowledge that, like
most others, we would willingly be spared the
sight of penal inflictions of any kind. Judgment
:nest, however, not be superseded by mere senti-
ment, and we fear this kind of Bra-indulgence is
becoming but too common. The consequencu of
disusing the rod entirely in the family is well
enough known, and the, community which is too
tender over its lawless members must also expect
both to injure the evil-doers themselves, and to
multiply crime and criminals.

Such thoughts will occur to U 3 when we notice
the objections of a few of our contemporaries to
flogging women-floggers. The lex talionis, we are
told, is now abolished.; it is,no longer "an eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." It is certainly
not permitted by Christianity to indulge pri•
vate revenge after this fashion ; but judicial pun-
ishments appropriate to the offence--ptinishments
carrying in their very form the idea of retribu-
tion—punishments well adapted, therefore, to
convince the offender of the nature of his offence
—are supported, not condensed, by Christianity.
It recognises in the magistrate " a terror to evil
doers ;" and it is difficult to conceive a terror
more efficient than that of suffering identical with
the suffering caused by the violation of another's
rights. It is indeed a negative enforcement of
the Christian precept to do unto others as we
would that they should do Mato us. A cowardly
villain, helpless in the hands of the ministers of
justice, and smarting under the lash, feels as ho
never felt before that the wife he has beaten and
bruised was treated by him as he would rather
not be treated la

For ourselves we must confess that in ne
active punishment should we be less unwilling to
join than in inflicting corporal chastisement
on the naau who can beat a female. All the
man in us resents the disgrace done to our
sex by the woman flogger. Woman has her
point of honour, and does not readily forgive
the woman who has failed ; and what is a man's
point of honour if it be not to be utterly free from
cowardice ? We cannot, therefore, forgive the
unmanly brute who beats one of the feebler
sex,. and so far as in him lies proclaims
to that sex that en are cowards. He is
a disgrace to our half of the species ; ho does
tl3 a Nraonal wrong ; ho what he) can

to represent men as preferring to use strength
against weakness, instead of seeking an equal on
whom to expend their pugilistic tendencies.
Wo believe, however, that, taking the commu-
nity at large, the feeling is pretty general that
nothing is too bad for the man who lifts his hand
against a woman. From the gentleman who
wields his hunting whip to the carter in the street,
all would with pleasure give a handsome cut to
the fellow who had beaten a female. Indeed, we
may very properly remind any sentimentalist of
the castigation of HAYNAU as an illustration of the
generality of the feeling we speak of. Not only
did the draymen of Bankside ply their whips
on the legs and back of the savage woman-
flogger ; but, except in the columns of
the Times, which by that time had turned
against KOSSUTH, and taken to Austrian service,
the Press of England was glorying in the achieve-
ment of the Banksiders. HAYNAU had ordered
a patriot female to be flogged—that was enough,
—Lord PALMERSTON and Bankside coincided in
their judgments. The court below inflicted sum-
mary punishment, and the supreme court would
not interfere.

There is more in this fact in relation to the
case than appears at first sight. It is amongst
the Bankside class that the greater portion of
these barbarities occurs. A. punishment to be
effectual should command the unqualified appro-
bation of the class among whom the criminal lives.
Now, Bankside has made it certain that the
woman-flogger, under the lash, would only hear
from his fellows the cry—." serve him right--that
will teach him to beat women, another- time."
The certainty of the pain and the disgrace would
stay many a coward hand from unmanly cruelty,
and from disgracing civilised society. We hope
Mr. DlLLwvies bill will become law, and be rigidly
acted on by every judge.

In another part of our present impression will
be found a report of a magnificent Free Trade
Demonstration, by the operatives of the Pottery
districts, at an open-air meeting held at Hanley
on Tuesday last—a demonstration, the reader
will perceive, not only superior to any that has
been witnessed in that locality in favour of Free
Trade, but absolutely unsurpassed, in point of
numbers, unanimity of feeling and enthusiasm, on
any occasion in Hanley.
Convened, as we gather, at the instance of the
Anglo-French Free Trade Association, the main
object of the meeting was, it will be seen, the
removal or reduction of those prohibitory duties
which check the importation of French wines into
this country and shut out the unrivalled produc-
tions of the Potteries from the French market.
The attention of the speakers was net, however,
exclusively confined to this subject ; and while a
case was made out in favour of the proposed re-
duction, cogent enough to convince the most
sceptical, it was not less convincingly shown that
a similar policy adopted in relation to the exports
of other countries would be productive of like
beneficial results both to us and to them.
The case, as between France and us, may be
thus broadly stated. The vine-growers of that
country are able to supply our markets with
a light wholesome beverage, calculated to super-
sede to a large extent the use and abuse of the
muddy and intoxicating beer of this country, and
otherwise to promote the material comfort and
moral welfare of our workpeople, and are prevented
from doing so by prohibitory duties levied on
this side the Channel. On our part, our manu-
facturers and mining proprietors are able to sup-
ply France with first-rate pottery and other manu-
factured goods, together with coal and iron to
almost any extent, and, though France stands in
need of these things, are unable to do so, save to
a limited extent, by the prohibitory duties levied
on these articles on the other side of the Channel.
The result of which is, neither party is benefittei
by the productive wealth of the other, but import-
ant branches of commerce languish in both coun
tries to their common detriment. If England
admitted the wines of France on reasonable
terms, France, it is fairly argued, would sea it to
be her interest to reduce her tariff, in order to
admit those productions of this country which her
merchants are likely to take in exchange, and a
powerful stimulus would thus be given to the
commercial prosperity of both countries.
This, however, is not the only point of view
in which the subject should be considered. Not
only would a reduction of the French and English
tariffs give a powerful stimulus to commerce, but
a prosperous commerce, while contributing to the
general welfare and national greatness of both
countries, would also tend to insure the stability
of the present happy alliance, by establishing a
new, growing, and lasting bond of union between
them. Whatever danger there may have been
of a war between us and America, it will not admit
of doubt that the commercial, relations existing
between us and the United States have proved
the best security for peace. Other motives have
their influence, but, whether of a dynastic or
political nature—whether attributable to a simi-
larity of views and feelings, or to the ties of a
like origin—not to be compared with that arising
from a community of interests. The former are
liable to all the fluctuations of human passion and
popular sentiment, but no civilised people will
be found to hazard lightly the elements of their
own prosperity. The temptation to quarrel must
be great indeed to be indulged in at the cost of
such a sacrifice.

In the promotion, therefore, of commercial
' relations between France and England likely to be
ensured bya reduction of theirrespective tariffs, the
Anglo-French Free Trade Association have a strong
argument in favour of their views. At the pre-
sent moment, it is hardly too much to say, that
the French EMPEROR is the chief, though, cer-
tainly, not the exclusive prop of the happy rela-
tions existing between the two countries; but
with how much more confidence would the most
sanguine believers in the perpetuation of his wise
rule look to the future, if France and England
were more dependent on each other com-
mercially ! Viewing the matter in this
light, as well as from a consideration
of the advantges such an extension of commerce
would confer on our manufacturers and workmen,
we trust that the noble example of the operatives
of Hanley and the entire district, will be
followed in all our manufacturing and com-
mercial towns until the object of the asso-
ciation is attained. Every encouragement is
held out to them to do so. A strong feeling in
favour of Free trade is gaining ground in France,
and in the highest quarter the most favourable
consideration may confidently be looked for..
Lours NAPOLEON, there can be no doubt, is a Free-
trader at heart, and any aid that can be furnished
by the example of this country is likely to be
turred to good account, and what would serve
better for a beginning, we would ask, than obtain-
ing from our Government the reduction of the
duties on French wines ?

PROPOSED JOINT REFORMATORY FOR SHROPSHIRE
AM) HEREFORDSHIRE.— A proposal has been made by
the magistrates of Salop to join those of Herefordshire
in the establishment of a reformatory for juvenile
offenders, but the latter haTe respectfully declined to
entertain it at Rosa,