The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-20 00:00:00

IBE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY ES E NINO, JANUARY 20, lB5B.

very fudicious time, just, indeed, when the ex-
change could expedite his advancement. He went
to the Crimea to learn strategy under Right
Honourable and Honourable leaders. And when
these leaders were enjoying comforts in their
private yachts, he was enabled to see some hard
workwhich, to do him justice, he did not shirk, '
,
but the efficiency whereof was something marred
by the want of experience. He did not
fail in the field, as a leader of
Cavalry. Cynics may say that he had not a
chance of showing the stuff that was in him,
because the cavalry had been virtually annihilated
—not by the weapons of our opponents so much as
by previous mismanagement and defective arrange-
ments.

The Guards had their turn in the Crimea. Sir
W. CODRINGTON was advanced over the head of
Sir COLIN Cimrintra, on the alleged ground that,
although the gallant Highlander had earned
abundant laurels on every occasion when called
on, he was only a good, an admirable follower,
but had not the skill or discretion for a chief corn-
mand. But what has now been proved ? What have
been the evidences supplied at Lucknow and Cawn-
pore ? With bravery never excelled, with the requisite
dash which a general must possess to acquire the
confidence of his troops, he has been peculiarly
chary of the lives of his followers, has been eco-
nomical where economy was a real virtue. He
never left an essential duty undischarged, but he
did it in the cheapest way, so far as his m3n were
concerned—never sparing himself, but only his
men. Indeed the only charge that could be pre-
ferred against him was, that he was not suffi-
ciently careful of the Commander-in-Chief.
Indeed, he looked more to the safety of private
soldiers than to himself.

And yet this glorious-,..this illustrious—man
was passed over in favour of a Guardsman. Sir
WILLIAM CODRINGTON was put over his head.
But he never complained, never abandoned his
duty in disgust ; but was willing to act as a sub-
ordinate to the best of his ability, so long as
the authorities did not deem it expedient
to elevate him to the position for which he was
not only best qualified, but for which he was pro-
nounced, by the voice of public opinion, to be
" the right man."
We have had another Guardsman in India.
One, against whose daring bravery and courage,
slander could not utter a single word. General
WINDHAM has proved himself a man of unquestion-
able courage, one that would head a forlorn hope,
or "seek the bubble reputation e'en in the cannon's
mouth," Bat he has been " weighed in the
balance, and found wanting." Although slow to
condemn any person who wishes to merit appro-
bation, we fear that what has hitherto been
performed will not add to the prestige of
Guardism in India, or lead the true friends of
India, in that country, to desire a 'larger infusion
of the aristocratic element in their military esta-
blishments.
But for the disinterested conduct of Sir JAMES
OUTRAN, HAVELOCK might have been superseded
by WINDHAM, and then we shudder to think of
what might have been the fate of the helpless
fugitives. HAVELOCK inserted the sharp end of
the wedge at the moment when their destruc-
tion was an affair of hours, not of days,
and despair was impending over these true-
hearted English womon. It was not death
they feared, but the horrors of Cawnpore were
fresh in thair„ memories, and something far
worse than death itself loomed darkly in the
future. If these appointments are to bo regarded
as indicating the future distribution of patronage
in India, we .shall be compelled to examine, with
careful scrutiny, the forthcoming Government
measures. The Company's rule was ,decidedly
bad, but there may be something even worse, and
less beneficial to England or India.

"English farmers can learn nothing from China."
Such is the verdict of the Special Commissioner
who has been favouring us of late with some racy,
yet instructive, letters on China. We are not,
however, so sure that both our farmers and
"King THAVAITES," perhaps Sir B. HALL, also,
may not all learn something from JOHN CHINA-
MAN. JOEIN BULL is giving him, or about to give
him, some costly lessons just now ; and it would
be well if we could get some inexpensive ones in
return. It is true we cannot copy him in detail.
Soil, where the Commissioner saw it, and the price
of labour, we suppose, everywhere...climate, too,
we imagine (for he shot pheasants amongst bam-
boos and rice-fields)i, are all very different from
their parallels here ; but then, of course, we must
take our lessons mutatis mutandis, or, as natu-
ralists would tell us, we must search for the cor-
responding types in our longitudes and latitudes.
Cereals here and cereals there ; manures in
China and manures in England. As to soils, we
should fancy, however, that China has " clays" as
well as we. Certainly the Chinese long tormented
lour potters by beating them all ; and if they have
lost some of their ancient art, they yet can do
some things in porcelain which we cannot.
If the farmers of Norfolk and the Lothians
indeed know anything of their business, tve can
do nothing in improving land and growing heavier
drops, without green crops and cattle to consume
them ; and we can do little in the way of green
crops without cargoes of bones, and oilcake, and
above all, of guano, while that lasts. And if Mr.
MEcnii be right, we must liquify our manure,
collect it in tanks, and by some means, by pipes and
hose, he says, distribute its odoriferous fertilising
qualities among the growing crops. Now, our
Chinaman finds hard labour cheaper than tubes
and hose, and cattle being of no use to him, for
rice, not beef, is his food, they are rarery to
be seen. But for the matter of tanks he beats
Mr. MECHI and his followers hollow, and for guano
and other foreign manure, he thinks home produce
cheaper ; and while we are fearing the early
exhaustion of Peruvian rocks, and sending HER
MAJESTY'S, ships to hunt for guano in all the
rainless latitudes, our Chinese agriculturist has no
fear of his guano failing. He relies on 300,000,000
of people, and Places an earthenware tank' at
every cottage door in the country, and innumer-
able similar tanks around the suburbs of all his
towns. His rivers flow unpolluted to the sea,
and his soil absorbs corruption to return it in
verdure and food. Our Premier's dictum is
verified, and dirt, being in its right place, is at a
premium.

It in tree there are some little attendant deduc-
tion! ; but then, as Lord •JoHST RussELL would
say of even the English Constitution, and as a
High Churchman would admit of the Church of
England, all things human must have some imper-
fections. The imperfection of JOHN CHINAMAN'S
tanks is that they are open. 3/Ir. MECHI'S, we
know, are wall. closed, and he who would open
them must be prepared to live in are atmosphere
of hartshorn. 11r. MECIII would tell us that the
arnatomia—ao liable to become volatile—must be
retailned, if possible—that, though so ready to play
truant, it is one of the most valuable ingredients
of his tank. Cannot Mr. Commissioner enlighten
the Chinamen on the virtues of ammonia, and be
the tanno or the MECHI for the 300,000, 000. Once
give`them the cues and every little tank would be
sedulously closd,"- or trapped, at least, in some

ingenious mode, as now it is recklessly left open 'to
be the never-forgotten annoyance of English Men
in China. JOHN CHINAMAN, now, laughs at the
sensitiveness of an Englishman's nasal organs,, and,,
it seems, levies sometimes a heavy tax for removing
a junk laden with the precious but offensive
cargo away from the Englishman's vessel. But
most assuredly if he knew that by finding some
efficient substitute on the large scale for valves
and stoppers he should get one ear more on each
plant of rice, JOHN would devise the way to do it.

Mr. THWAITES, it must be owned, is quite out.
done. The Chinese Metropolitan Boards have
no trouble with the sewerage. No ediote from
Pekin are needed ; there is no underground
work, and all is at least aboveboard, whether in
all senses it be fair or not. There are no disputes
about plans to convey it in closed or open ditches ;
no quarrels about oval drains or tubular drains,
or drains at all ; no cloaca maxima, or minima
either. No, the sewage is all collected and all
deposited by the voluntary principle—no oppres-
sive rates afflict the householder, nay it would
seem that he makes a gain rather of what we
pay to get rid of ; and where Western
habits lead to secrecy and retirement, he
officiates in public as a High Priest' of Ceres.
The temples where her offerings are collected
appear to be innumerable. How is it that Mr.
TUWAITES cannot arouse English Agriculturists
to the value of London to them 'I With abundance
of horses, carts, railways, and mechanical skill
at command, how is it that he cannot have
them bidding for his sewerage, as Chinese
bid for the privilege of placing a large open
earthenware tank near some place of popular
resort? It is unquestionable that Mr. THWAITES
is now scheming to carry one or two millions
pounds' worth of manure bodily into the sea or
into the estuary of the Thames, for which JOHN
CHZNAMAN would gladly pay the full value and
carry it away too. _ _

In one respect, every farmer will own that the
Chinaman is wiser than we—he has no game laws.
Our " Commissioner," when he determined to
study and report on Chinese farming, thought it
was as well to mingle little of the duke with
the utile. He took, therefore, his double-
barrelled gun with him, and, the only dan-
ger being that of peppering a Chinese rice
planter, as well as bringing down a pheasant, he
enjoyed some excellent sport. We commend both
their laws, or no laws, and his mode of study ; and
when we go to farming-school shall not forget to
profit by his example.

LATEST "NEWS.

FRANCE.
PARIS, TUESDAY.
The Emperor has addressed an autograph letter
of thanks to Queen Victoria, her Majesty having
at once written to him on hearing of the attempt
on his life. _ _ _

There are now eight Italians in custody ; the
examinations are going on, but still with much
secresy, and anything that may be said of the
nature of the disclosures, if disclosures they may
be, must necessarily be conjecture.
The Spectateur has been suppressed.
The Frankfort Diet has postponed fop one month
its vote upon the dispute relative to the German
Duchies.

Orsini, or Count Orsini, as be has been called,
and as he very likely may be, is so seriously in-
jured by the explosion of the grenade which he
threw that he is not considered likely to live.
When he was asked his name, at the time of his
examination by the magistrate, he said, " What
matters ? Our name is Legion."
The Firman for the dissolution of the Divans of
Moldavia and Wallachia has been forwarded from
Constantinople to Jassy and Bucharest.• •
BOURSE, Jan. 19.—The following weretthe last
quotations
4i per Cents
Do. end month —
3 per Cent. ..... 69 10
Do. end month.— 69 35
Bank Shares .
Credit Mobilier
Do. Account 895

94 -

Credit Foncier
Belgian 4a
Ran
Pioemdmontese (5) ' 91a
Austrian
Spanish Threes
Ilome Debt 37
iw

RAILWAYS.
Orleans
Northern
New Ditto 795 Strasburg
Lyon and Mediteran. 875 Grand Central
New Ditto B5O Sardinian
Geneva
Ferruck Khan has returned to Paris from Lon-
don and purposes leaving France for Persia in the
course of next month.

" We understand," says the Messenger du Midi,
" that the Emperor is expected at Marseilles to-
wards the commencement of April. The council-
general of the department has opened an unlimited
credit for the embellishment of the Prefecture,
where it is thought the Empress and the Prince
Imperial will reside during an excursion of his
Majesty to Algeria."
The Emperor has received a letter from the King
of the Belgians, congratulating his Majesty on his
escape on the occasion of the late attempt.
The Afonitsur publishes a further -account of
the indignation expressed by various foreign
Courts on hearing of the attempt of the 14th.
On the news reaching Vienna, the Emperor
immediately ordered Count de Buol to express
to the Emperor and Empress of the Frencb, in his
name and in that of the Empress Elizabeth,
their congratulation on the providential escape.
At Dresden Baron O'Brya waited on the French
Miniiter to offer the congratulations of the King
and Queen of Saxony. M. Forth Rouen received
similar marks of sympathy from the Prince Royal,
Prince George, the President of the Council of
Ministers, from all the diplomatic body, and from
a number of, persons of all ranks. The King of
Hanover, on receiving the intelligence, addressed a
letter to the Chargé d'Affaires of France, in which
he begged him to transmit to their Majesties
the expression of his horror at the crime, and
of his gratitude to Providence for their escape.
Similar communications were made to the
representatives of France at Frankfort, Weimar,
Darmstadt, and Cassel.
The New Prussian Gazette of the 16th, in speak-
ing of the attempt says :
" It is by the hand of God that the destinies of nations
as well as of individuals are guided, and happy is he
whose mind is impressed with that conviction. The
murderous band have again discharged their balls against
the Emperor of the French. Without the Will of God,
however, not a hair of our head can fall. The Almighty
pursues his own selected path, and if he selects a
man for his work, he does not permit that work to
be disturbed even by the infernal machines or the
poignard of .the bandit. It was in vain also that
assassination was attempted on Napoleon I. ; it was
necessary that his destinies should be accomplished.
Republican conspirators also fired on Louis Philippe,
but none could kill him. All is in the power of God,
wheithe'r to humble or to exalt, to level with the dust or
to place on the throne, and he does each in his own good
time."

The whole of the German press, without any ex-
ception, speak in indignant terms'of the attempt on
the Emperor and. Empress, and brand .with repro-
bation the conduct of the revolutionaiy party in
employing such detestable means to effect their
.P*l3,oag•

or for ready money, considered to be as good as
specie, such as Bank-notes and Government paper.
The run in each country, and the advance in the
rate of discount, was in proportion to the breadth
and soundness of the cash bases of their respective
monetary systems. The wider and sounder the basis,
in proportion to the superstructure of credit, the
less scarce was the pecuniary pressure, and the
lower the rate of discount. In England the
run was for gold and for Bank of England notes,
being the legal tender constituting our monetary
basis ; in France, for silver, and gold, and notes
for the Bank of,France, which latter, though not a
legal tender, are, in public belief, considered to be
as good money as specie. In Prussia the run was
for silver and Government paper. In Hamburg
the run was for silver, their only legal tender, hav-
ing no State paper money, and consequently having
the narrowest monetary basis of any country. Her
embarrassment was the greatest, and so extreme as
to oblige her to become indebted even to Austria
for assistance.

To return to the question, whether the recent al-
teration in the value of capital preceded or succeeded
the alteration in the value of money, we shall en-
deavour to show that the price of commodities
(other circumstances influencing supply and demand
remaining the same) rise and fall with the
expansion and contraction of credit, and con-
sequent contraction and expansion of ore- i
dit money. Any great loss to capital, as we
have already shown, diminishes the quantity, of
credit money (and all paper money„from a bank-
note to a bill of any length of date, is credit money),
and raises the rate of discount, and vice farm. The
explanation of this effect we shall find on reflecting
that: capital, the produce of labour, is the founda-
tion of the purchasing power ; but that the belief
that a person possesses capital, which is credit, has
a power of purchase equal to capital itself. A per-
son going into a market and buying goods upon
credit affects prices just as much as if he bought for
cash—prices depending in the proportion of demand
to supply, and the demand being increased just as
much by credit as by cash. This view is corrobo-
rated by J. S. Nell, who says, " 1 apprehend
that bank-notes, bills, or cheques, as such, do not
act upon prices at all. What does act on prices
is credit in whatever shape given, and whe-
ther it gives rise to any transferable instruments
capable of passing into circulation or not."
We submit that we have shown that during the
period of the last two years, to which Lord Over-
stone refers as a striking practical illustration of
the correctness of his views, the alteration in
the value of capital succeeded and was the conse-
quence of the alteration in thevalue and quantity of
money ; and with regard to his other practical illus-
tration of 1847, the Lords' Committee which sat in
1848, after taking into their consideration all the
vast losses of capital incurred at that period, re-
ported—" That the restrictions (on the currency,
imposed by the Act of 1844) materially aggravated
the pressure (for money, raising the rate of dis-
count), and produced the panic of October, 1847.
We come, then, to the conclusion, that great-fluc-
tuations in the rate of interest (1 discount) are not
owing, and cannot be distinctly traced, as Lord
Overstone maintains, to an alteration in the
value of capital ; but, on the contrary,
that an alteration in the value of capital,
other causes remaining the same, is owing to a di-
minished quantity of money and credit. The same
cause being equally applicable to great 'and minor
fluctuations.
(To be continued.) •