The Sun.
London, England, 1833-11-12 00:00:00

in word. Let her not be permitted to forestall the rest of
Europe, and to make a province of Turkey by the specious
wording of a treaty ; but let the advantages of commerce
and of navigation, which she would appropriate to herself,
he thrown open to the world at large ; and let the liberal
reforms which the Sultan Afahmond has commenced, find
agents more fit to carry them into effect than the Emperor
Nicholas.
" But if Russia be obstinately proud, and resolve to
make a stand at Constantinople, then a vigorous applica-
tion of force may prevent a prolonged and general war.
We have already pointed out the methods by which she
and her Turkish ally may he coerced, and we have small
doubt that the damming up the Baltic and the Black Sea
with our fleets, the destruction of her navy, and the anni-
hilation of her commerce, which would be the easy and
not expensive result of one campaign, would bring her to
reason ; and the more so, as the first shot fired in the
contest would signalize the restoration of the kingdom of
Poland.

" These are harsh courses, to which, as we have before
said, we have no wish that Russia should compel us to
resort. We prefer seeing Turkey, and Egypt, and Greece
march peaceably. and side by side, on the road to social
amendment."— Times.

. The speech of Mr. Macaulay, at the Leeds
dinner, did not disappoint the public expecta-
tion ; and as his reputation as a speaker is very
high, that is saying a great deal. There is a
great deal of truth in what he said in the out-
set, when he endeavoured to account for the
dissatisfaction which followed the Reform Bill.
It is truly, as he says, of the very nature of
high excitement that it should be followed by
re-action. The expectations of the public had
been wrought up to a very high pitch by the
Reform Bill ; and forgetting that long continued
misgovernment had left us overwhelmed with
debt, that there is no secret by which heavy
taxes can be deprived of their oppressiveness ;
though Ministers made many reductions, and
took off many taxes, yet disappointment was
felt that the demands of the tax-gatherer were
still high. "It was utterly impossible," said
Mr. Macaulay, " that we could in one Par-
liament do away with all the evils that a
hundred years of misgovernment had pro-
duced—it was utterly impossible at once
to restore the interests of this great coun-
try from distress to a sound and healthful
state—it was necessary to proceed by degrees.
Parliament met, and we had to deal with expec-
tations which no Minister, not gifted with su-
pernatural power, who did give to the people
quails, and drink, and manna, without any exer-
tion on their part, could by any possibility sa-
tisfy." These friendly communications between
public men and the people are of the most be-
neficial tendency, and that they have already
been productive of good is, we think, discernible
in the state of public opinion. The people have
been taught to estimate more correctly the la-
bours of Ministers in the first session of a re-
formed Parliament. Their attention has been
called to the difficulties with which Ministers
have to contend in the House of Peers, which
is a part of the constitution of the country. It
has been shown that Ministers, though they
might not have satisfied unreasonable expecta-
tions, actually did as much as under the circum-
stances they could do. They did not propose
the Reform Bill to plunge the country into re-
volutionary violence, but to prevent such vio-
lence ; and they who expected from them
that they should use the power obtained
under the Reform Bill as a means of at
once effecting violent changes, must have
bestowed little attention on the language
held by them from their very first entrance
on office. In truth, as has been well stated, it
depends very much on the constituencies them-
selves to make the Reform Bill productive of
good. A striking instance of this was 'iven at
this meeting in the existing restrictions on trade,
and more especially the state of the corn laws.
Mr. Macaulay thought that Ministers !night oL-
tain a majority in favour of an alteration of the
corn laws of about 250 to 230 in the House of
Commons, but that they would be left in a mi 77
nority in the House of Lords. Lord Morpeth
and Mr. Marshall thought that even in the
House of Commons Ministers would be beat.
What is the remedy ? To enlighten the public
mind to the great truth that trade is essentially
barter—that a nation cannot export without im-
porting—and that a large and increasing popu-
lation, on a limited soil, by refusing to receive
the produce of other countries in return for the
products of its industry, is lowering profits, and
tempting capitalists to invest their money in
countries where theycan hope for a better return.
The question must be seriously taken up, and as
the argument is all in favour of free trade, we
mayhope that in time reason will prevail. We
have now a population of 24,000,000 in the
United Kingdom, our numbers are continually
increasing, but the productiveness of the soil
cannot be increased in the same ratio. Of what
avail, then, is the extension of our industry, if by
means of agricultural monopoly, the share of
the most important of all products, the fruits of
the earth, is continually diminishing ? Let these
great truths be impressed on the people, and let
the landlords be fairly driven into a corner, and
they must at last yield. Long before the in-
crease of pauperism and crime can bring their
error home to them in a manner too palpable
to be mistaken, let us hope that they will see
the error of their ways. At present, however,
the landlords are evidently our masters in Par-
liament. Buy though the Reform Bill has not
wrought miracles, we cannot too much overrate
the benefit we have derived from its having
enabled the people to place a limit to the impo-
sition of further burdens. By an economical
expenditure of the revenue—by gradually re-
ducing taxes; we may hope ere long to destroy
the oligarchy root and branch. «e have it in
our power to confine the aristocracy to their own
properties, and every year will enable us to meet
them on better terms.—Morning Chronicle.

It is some time since we called the public
attention to the intrigues of our " ally," Prussia,
to form a confederacy among the German States
for the exclusion of British manufactures from
every part of Germany over which the influence
of that Power extends. It is for this " friendly"
purpose that the Prusso-Hessian Commercial
Union has been formed, to which several of the
petty States have already given in their adhesion.
The foundation of this Union is plausible—it is
that of " free trade" between Prussia and the
Germanic States that join the combination.
But it is not the sort of free trade which our
English Doctrinaires have established to a
certain extent between this country and her
continental rivals, in which the advantages are all
on one side. The " free trade" of the Com-
mercial Union is on the basis of reciprocity
between all the countries concerned in it—and
on that of high duties, if not of prohibition,
with regard to external States. There is to be
a mutual abolition of transit duties between all
the contracting Powers. Now, as England
useed
th
manufactures in which Prussia has become
her successful rival, the blow is chiefly struck
at England, whose statesmen have slept over
the machinations which have long been
going on in Germany against British com-