The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-28 00:00:00

and so n,u-t do tip our corpAitutional fore

fathers did: It

e. 0.

IT course, to argue
u tin- of pajudice.

this principk,

Nve t.hor,!(l have had 'no railways, no electric tele-
g"i111• no photography—in fact, " no nothing," as
th" whip the old tops off their feet,
and go on with new ones, on the good old plan of,

byg( me days. It bas served our fathers in their
time , and it were an insult to their memory to
pre time on being wiser than they.
31( r. MASSEY deserves great praise or his
coui :age in originating a change of system, and
has accordingly conferred with t' e Chair-
ma. a. of Committees of the House of
Lot ds as to what Bills might be first
into -educed there in order to save time to
both, .houses, and time and money to the promoters
of.tlt.t.se bills. Accordingly a number of bills were
selected ; but there was one drawback which we
were going to point out yesterday, but which was
so o bvious that it has now been remedied. It was
thatt after the bills had been sent to the Lords the
exa. miners should see that they had passed the
sta' ading orders. Why, that ought to have been
clorte first, and then everything would proceed
smoothly. This has been done. So we may now
ex:pect that the time of both houses will be occu-
pied at the same time more beneficially for the
pu.blic, and far more agreeably for their lordships,
w:io will now have something to do during the
session, instead of being literally overwhelmed
towitrds the end of it, and then not able to perform
their duties at all.

It is an immense and twofold advantage, of
course, that there should be Peace and Free Trade
between France and England. Peace, moreover, is
bt;st secured through Free Trade. The most re-
liable and important of all guarantees for the
maintenance of amity between two nations
is that that secured by means of their un-
restricted mercantile intercourse. All these, to
be sure, are but the merest truisms. They are
simply self-evident propositions. They have but
to be stated in so many words—they require, after
being. so stated, not one syllable in the way of com-
mentary or elucidation with a view to their en-
forcement. But—granted all this—when it is sud-
denly announced that a Commercial Treaty has
been concluded between France and England to
this very end, namely, to bind the two countries to-
gether in securer amity by means of a free mercantile
intercourse—it becomes a matter of curiosity to say
the very least of it, to inquire into the manner in
which this extraordinary arrangement has been
arrived at. For it must be particularly born in
recollection—it cannot for an instant, in fact, be for-
gotten that up to the date of the contrivance of this
Mercantile Treaty, France has rigidly conducted her
commerce upon a Protective system, and England
now during very nearly the three last lustres upon
the widest and the grandest Free Trade principles.
Let it be remembered also that at the very same
time we are here, in this Free Trade country of
ours, mustering and arming 100,000 Rifle
Volunteers and hastening forward at an im-
mense cost our efforts at military and

maritime reorganisation : mainly, at any rate, if not
entirely because of an insular jealousy that has
sprung up in regard to our French neighbours !
Our allies across the Channel haring nearly as large
4 steam fleet as ourselves, and an army of from
500,000 to 600,000 of the most skilled and daring
soldiers in Christendom ! Because of that army,
and because of that fleet—whether causeleesly cr
not at this moment it signifies nothing—above all,
because with that army and with that. fleet France
proclaims herself (through the lips of her despotic
ruler) to be the onecountry in Europe everprepared
to make war for an "idea''—BECAUSE of all this,
England has been lately increasing her national
defences, and rallying round the QUEEN'S colours
corps upon corps of Riflemen. In the midst of all
which warlike, though strictly defensive prepara-
tions, we are abruptly informed that a Commercial
Treaty has been arranged between Protective
France and Free-Trading England rith the view
to the acquisition by both countries of the most
material of all guarantees for their continued amity
—for the organisation between them of a system
of more and more unrestricted mercantile inter-
course. Within the compass of the recent Speech
from the Throne, her MAJESTY, only the other
lay—upon one hand announced the arrangement of
this Commercial Treaty between France and Eng-
land—and on the other accorded her gracious wel-
come to the gathering together around her
standards of the numerous bands of volunteer
riflemen.

Under these cireumstances it becomes naturally,
we repeat, a matter of curiosity, to inquire into
the manner in which this surprising Treaty has
been arranged, and into the precise form, and ten-
dency, and character of its arrangements. So in-
quiring—it is remarkable to fiad at the first turn of
the leaf, as it were, that this grand Free Trade Treaty,
to begin with, is distinctly and unmistakeably lop-
sided. That the concessions, ou the part of Eng-
land are to be immediate, while the reciprocation,
on the part of France, is to begin eighteen months
further on ! When, moreover, we find that Mr.
COBDEN has been personally engaged, on the part
of England, in arranging that one-sided scheme
ever yonder in Paris—we cannot, for the life of us,
help calling to mind that :WI-. COBDEN, besides
being the foremost champion and apostle of Free
Trade, is also and peculiarly one of the most notable
advocates of Peace-at-any-price. Knowing this,
and seeing the glaringly one-sided character of the
Treaty he has been arranging with an especial
regard to the more firmly securing the bounds
of amity between France and England, we ask
not unnaturally upon the instant—lf this be the
price of Peace paid down by this Peace-at-any
Price Plenipotentiary ? We put the query point
blank on Thursday ; and upon the very next
morning—yesterday morning—the chief among
the daily organs of the political opinions enter-
tained by Mr. COBDEN and his associates observes
distinctly—writing of the Treaty and of the not
very surprising objections made to it at the
first bush on the score of its being so
monstrously one-sided :—" If in the mean-
time we are required to make a sacrifice of revenue,
we are quite prepared, under all the circumstances
of the case, to pay ifr cheerfully as a premium of
insurance on a great policy of peace with France !"
Why this is tantamount to a flagrant avowal of the
fact suspected—that this is really and truly the
price to be meekly paid down by England for
Peace at the instance of her Peace-at-any-Price
Plenipotentiary ! Happily the Treaty is only yet
completed conditionally upon its approval by Par-
liament ! 'We may leave the matter confidently,
therefore, to be decided upon by the House of
Commons—certain that, in striving to secure Free
Trade with France, it will not do so by the paltry
means of those pusillanimous views known popu-
larly as the doctrines of Peace at any Prise.

What is before us ? Who shall say ? The
absorption of Nice and Savoy by France, with a
view to demonstrate the perfect disinterestedness
of the Italian policy of the Imperial Government ?
The piecemeal modification of the Reform Act of
1832—hy way of settling the question effectually,
o far as it concerns the present generation ? The
pc.rpetuntion of the Income Tax—as the most de-
•i :ive way of eon tinning the national confitlence
iu
Mr. GLADSTONE'S prescience as Chancellor of the
Exchequer P The attempt at some further diplomatic
conciliation of the Chinese—as the best possible
means of avenging the infamous Peiho ambuscade ? ,

The concession of all sorts of advantages, for a year
and a half to come, to the French monopolist,—as
the most ingenious method that could possibly be
contrived for the infusing Free Trade principles
into the mercantile policy of the French Govern-
ment ? The toleration of derisive remarks as to the
folly and futility of the Rifle Corps Movement
such as those intemperate observations indulged in
the other day to that effect by the Scottish Com-
mander-in-Chief (Lord At ELVILLE)—by way of most
earnestly encouraging the patriotic enthusiasm in
the development of our National Defences ? Which
of all these wonderful things are we to accept
the most eagerly or the most willingly ?
Certainly they are one and all talked about
just now pretty freely both in and out of
Parliament, in the City and the West-end,
in the club-room and in the drawing-room. But,
perhaps, they are one and all wrong. Perhaps in
regard to them all, we are each of us labouring
under some surprising delusion. They may be the
merest canards. They may be no more credible
than—if we are to judge of these things according
to the views of Lord PALMERSTON or Lord GRAN-
VILLE—than Mr. REUTER'S telegrams ! Yet they
are talked of, nevertheless. The newspapers (that
never, of course, contain a word of truth of any
kind) are full of them. However this may be, we
are told to wait—as we have certainly been waiting
Heaven knows how long—for (let us say) the re-
moval of the Income Tax! For the settlement, at last,
of the question of the Reform of Parliament 1 For
the more perfect organisatien of our insular de-
fences, both military and maritime ! For all
these and many similar boons we have
been waiting, again we say, Heaven knows
how long! The good time is always
coming—never come ! We are everlastingly
told to " wait a little longer." The Reformer, the
Patriot, the lover of peace, and the advocate of
economy, each in turn—" never is but always to be
blessed." Now, however, the delay is " positively"
like the Farewell Benefit of a celebrated Cantatrice
" for the last time." The holyp roverb tells us
" Hope deferred maketh the heart sick." Ac-
cording to the Whig Commentators upon
the text, however, it ought to make the
believing Liberal, the credulous Reformer, al-
most sink at last under the weight of a very
plethora of contentment. Again, under the regime
of this beneficent Coalition, we are consoled by the
reminder that, at any rate, by way of a good, or
rather of the very best beginning, we have the
Men ! As to the Measures well, in their
regard, as in the instance of the foes
looked for by the soldiers at bay in
MACBETH'S castle " the cry is still They
Come !" The Commercial Treaty—the bran new
Budget—the Reform Bill Redivivus—they are all
coming : the Treaty almost immediately—the Bud-
get as soon as possible afterwards—the Reform
Bill on the 20th February. And in the meantime,
just as we may feel disposed to view it, either by
way of staying our appetite, or by way of giving a
keener edge to it—we are told that each is about
as nearly as possible—Perfect. The assurance,
certainly, and not unnaturally, makes us await
each disclosure with a livelier sense of
eager expectancy. It will at least have
the relish of novelty, if we are not again doomed to
disappointment. The Grace has been formally pro-
nounced, and this time—looking to the closing
paragraphs of the Royal Speech—it must be con•
fessed, with more than usual unction. The next
thing is to Uncover—that those who have been
hidden to the banquet may at once Discuss, with
what relish they may, these measures of mercantile,
legal, fiscal, and parliamentary improvement.

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR CASTLE, JAN. 27.

The Earl of St. Germans, the Lord Steward, and Lord
Proby, the Controller of the Household, had audience of the
Queen yesterday, and presented the Addresses from the
House of Lords and the House of Commons, in answer to
her Majesty's gracious speech from the Throne on Tuesday
last.

The Royal dinner-party in the evening included the
Princess Alice, the Maharajah Dulesp Singh, Viscount
Eversley, Lady Caroline Barrington, the Right Hon. Sir
James Graham, the Right Hon. Sir Hamilton and Lady
Seymour, Col. Oliphant, and Major Elphinstons, R.E.
The band of the Ist Life Guards played during dinner:
Glee, " The Red Cross Knight" Callcott.
Selection, " Don Carlos" . ..
Walzer, " Bardenlieder"
Overture " Figaro"

Her Majesty's private band afterwards performed in the
Drawing-room the following selection :
Overture—" Me 'reset ill e"
Second Scene (let Act), " Lohengrin" .Wagner.
The Queen, with Princess Alice, rode in the Riding-
house this morning, attended by the Hoi. Mary Balteel.
His Royal Highness the Prince Consort went out shoot-
ing, attended by Major-General Sir 11. Bentinck and Lieut.-
Col. Ponsonby. Sir Hamilton Seymour and Col Parker
had the honour of accompanying his Royal Highness.
Princess Beatrice took a carriage drive and visited her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent at Frogmore.
His Highness the Maharajah Duleep Singh took leave of
her Majesty and returned to London in the forenoon. The
following visitors have also left the Castle :—Viscount
Eversley, the Right Hon. Sir James Graham, the Right
Hon. Sir Hamilton. and Lady Seymour, and Cel. Oliphant.

A deputation on the subject of spirit licenses in theatres
had an interview with Sir George C. Lewis yesterday at the
Home-office. The deputation consisted of Lord Portnoy,
M.P. ; Mr. John Locke, Q.C., M.P. ; Mr. Edwin James,
M.P., Sir J. Duke, M.P., Mr. Roupell, M.P., Mr. Wil-
liams, M.P., Mr. T. Pancombe, M.P., Sir C. Napier, M.P.,
Mr. Spooner, M.P., and Mr. Newdegate, M.P.

A deputation from the African Steamship Company had
an interview with the Right Hon. T. Milner Gibson and
the Right Hon. W. Cowper yesterday at the office of the
Board of Trade. The deputation consisted of Mr. Mac-
gregor Land and Mr. T. Norton, directors, and Mr. Duncan
Campbell, secretary.

A deputation from the National Temperance League,
consisting of Mr. Joseph Payne (Deplity Assistant-Judge),
Mr. George Cruikehank, Rev. G. Small, M.A., Rev. P. W.
Williamson, Rev. G. W. M'Cree, Rev. W. Ackworth,
Rev. G. Morris, Rev. J. Harcourt, Mr. W. Twsedie, Mr.
John Phillips, Mr. S. Cording, Mr. T. Hudson, Mr. T.
Lowther Dove, Mr. Silas Tucker, Mr. W. Ladbook, Mr.
John Ambler, Mr. James; M'Currey, Mr. Hayne, Mr. J.
Eastbrook, Mr. W. Barlow, Mr. John Stewart, Mr. G. C.
Campbell; Rev. J. Doxey, Mr. G. Howlett, Mr. Handel
Coseham, Mr. G. Gladwin, Mr. John Taylor, Mr. J. Wade,
Rey. J. Rcklgers, Mr. T. Whittaker, Mr. G. H. Marshall,
Mr. Joseph Taylor, Mr. A. Simner, and Mr. John Mat-
thews, had an interview yesterday with Sir G. C. Lewis,
at the Home-office.

LATEST

E W S.

The following telegrams have beep received a.
Mr. Reuter's office :

PARIS, S ATTJRDAY.

The Jfoniteur of to-day says,—

Their Majesties will not receive on Sunday next
in consequenee of the illness of the Grand Duchess
Stephanie of Baden.

TURIN, Y. 27.
The Marquis Massimo d'Azeglio has 'bee' ap-
pointed Governor of Milan.
M. Ratazzi has left for Nice.

PARIS, TAN. 27.

Yesterday M. Thouvenel paid his vi:iites d'eti-
quette to the Papal Nuncio and the Ambast adore of
Austria, Great Britain, and Russia.
A telegram from Nice announces that -the state
of health of the Grand Duchess Stephanie; tof Baden
has become alarming.

Despatches from the Governors of British Columbia and
Heligoland were received yesterday at the Colonial-office.
Despatches were sent to the Governors of the North Ame-
rican Provinces and Bermuda.

TOULON, JAN. 27.

A fire broke out last night in the bake house of
the Arsenal, and threatened to be very disastrous.
By the activity of the authorities and or4uumerous
workmen the fire was extinguished.

Sir George Grey, E.C.8., and Lady Grey have
left Howchin's Hotel for Paris for a short time.
The Right Hon. W. G. Hayter and Mrs. Hayter
have arrived at their residence on Hyde-park. terrace,
from Brighton.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange has
arrived at Fenton's Hotel from Paris, attended by Count
de Bylandt, Count Rechteren, and Lieutenant-Colonel
Vanden den Bosch.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge will
leave St. James's Palace early in the ensuing week, to pass
a few days with her Majesty and the Prince Consort at
Windsor Castle.

Lord and Lady John Russell received the Earl
of Minto, Lord James Butler, Lord Sudoley, the Right
Hon. Sir George C. and Lady Theresa Lewis, the Hon.
George Elliot, Captain Falbo, Mr. Campbell of Islay, and a
select party, at dinner last evening, at their residence in
Chesham-place. _

The Right Hon. the Speaker of the House of
Commons commences his customary full-dress Parliamen-
tary dinners before Easter on Saturday next, at his official
residence at the N( w Palace of Westminster.

THEATRE ROYAL COVENT GARDEN (ENGLISH
OPERA).—The op,..ra of the " Crown Diamonds" last even-
ing ittracted a crowded and fashionable audier.(,,, Miss
Louisa Fyne and Mr. N. Harrison sustaining their usual
characters, with, if possible, increased applause. Her
Majesty's box was occupied by the Prince of Orange and
suite. Among the visitors we also noticed Lady Cunning-
ham, Lady Townley, the Right Hon. the Lord and Lady
Mayoress, Sir Frederick Roe, Bart., Captain Roebuck, &o.

11HE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVEIvfiNG, JANUARY 28, 1860.

Austrian forces would cross the southern frontier if
Sardinian troops should be sent into Tuscany and the
Romagna, but he must have good reason to believe
that Austria will not interfere, as he offered to bet
five ducats to- one that Austria would not be in-
volved in a war during the year 1860. It appears
to me that her Majesty's speech is calculated to
damp the ardour of the war party in Austria, but
the Ost Deutsche Post, having read that part of it
which relates to Italy through Austrian spectacles,
has discovered that the words " freedom from
foreign intervention" apply to the Emperor Napo-
leon rather than to the Emperor Francis Joseph,
"as the latter, strictly speaking, has as good a
right as the King of Sardinia to send troops into
the so-called .Emilia," The Imperial Govern-
ment now turns :a deaf ear to those persons
who advise it to sell Venetia, but the time is hardly
far distant when it will be necessitated to take into
serious consideration the counsel of its well-wishers.
Another reason why Austria will not sell Venice
is, that she knows the sale of one province would
produce an exceedingly bad impression on the
others, and more particularly on the Southern
Tyrol and Hungary.
A few nights ago many persons paraded the
streets of Verona shouting Evviva Plialia ! and
Evviva l'lnclipendanza! and some of them were
taken into custody, but I have not heard that any
violence was used by the authorities. During the
night of the 19th or 20th instant a " tricolor"
was hoisted on the mast or pole which is on
the principal place of Chioggia, and it was not
remarked until the inhabitants of the town
went out in the morning to make their customary
purchases.
During the last two or three days the members of
the Hungarian deputation have been the " lions" of
Vienna. Instead of the kalpag (the national cap,
trimmed with fur), the Hungarian deputies wear a
felt hat, with a turned-up brim, which produces a
very disagreeable impression on the Austrian autho-
rities, who have an innate aversion for anything and-
everything which is like a carbonaro hat. In gene-
ral the colour of the dresses worn by the Protestant
petitioners is black, and in some cases the spurs
attached to the •zismen (short hessian boots) are
of the same sombre hue. The deputation consists
of some 50 or 60 persons, who represent the
Calvinist Superintendencios on this and on the
other side of the Theiss, and on this side of
the Danube. The superintendency on the other
side of the Danube is not represented, Government
having prevented its holding a " Convent." Yes-
terday evening the Hungarians intended to go in
corpora to the Burg Theatre, but only a few of
them succeeded in getting tickets. The deputa-
tion has had two or three interviews with Count
Rechberg, the Minister President, but they will
hardly be able to obtain an audience of the Em-
peror. Some of the Magyars now here are re-
remarkably fine specimens of humanity, and the
national costume shows their stately figures to
great advantage. The substance of the petition of
the Protestants to the Emperor is, that the ancient
and legal basis of the Evangelical Church in Hun-
gary may be restored. Count Leo Thun avers that
the Imperial patent will not be suspended; but it
appears to me that it cannot possibly be enforced
if the Protestants are true to themselves. Violent
measures are entirely out of the question, as the
present is by no means a favourable moment for
religious persecution. In my more recent cor-
respondence little has been said of the countries
conterminious to the eastern provinces of Aus-
tria ; but it is now necessary that your atten-
tion should be directed to the state of affairs in the
Solavonic provinces of Turkey in Europe. It is
almost impossible to doubt that the Sclaves in
Turkey mean mischief, as information has recently
repeatedly reached me that there is to be a general
rising in Bosnia, the Herzegovine, Servia, Monte-
negro, and Bulgaria (?) in the spring of the year.
It is not in my power to assert that there is an
understanding between the South Solavonic races
in Austria and their brethren in Turkey, but it
would be good policy on the part of this Govern-
ment to endeavour to satisfy its Sclavonic subjects,
who are nearly, if not quite, as discontented as the
Hungarians. The late Count Jellachich once told
me that he was almost ashamed to look his fellow-
countrymen in the face, as he had not been able to
keep any of the promises which he had been autho-
rised by the Schwarzenberg cabinet to make to
them. The Ban was for a time extremely restiff,
and openly condemned tie conduct of " Herr
Bach," but an illustrious lady found a handsorwa
young wife for him, and he soon became perfectly
docile.