The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-07 00:00:00

come into hostile collision. Hitherto the blow has

always preceded the word. Surely it would be
right that the order were reversed, and that there
should be no hostilities until negotiations and arbi-

tration had totally failed, and that one or both
parties were determined on war.

To-morrow Sir H. WILLOUGHBY will, according
,o promise, bring the question of the National Gal-
lery under the notice of the House and of the
Government. He will have the cordial support of
men like Lord ELMO and. Mr. CONINGHAIII. He
will find, we are satisfied, no antagonism either in
the Noble Lord the Chief Commissioner of Parks
and Palaces, or in the Right Hon. Gentleman the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was the latter, in-
deed, who at the period of his first tenure of office
—when in 1852 he was, as he is now once more in
1859, the leader of the House of Commons, and the
custodian of the public purse—first kindled the
popular aspiration for a palace of painting
and sculpture worthy of containing the art
treasures of tho United Kingdom. That che-
rished project has since then been post-
poned and postponed with the most tantalising
pertinacity—as the phrase is, left in abeyance. The
Tory Reformers again in office we may hope that the
design may at length be realised. Additional reasons
accumulating round it encourage us in this belief.
The half of the present unsightly and inadequate
building (at all times affording insufficient accom-
modation) has now become wholly unequal to the

' purpose for which it was originally designed. The
VERNON Gallery, it will be remembered, imme-
diately upon its coming into the possession of
the nation was temporarily consigned to the
cellarage of the structure. The VERNON Gal-
lery was subsequently removed from its sub-
terranean position. The SHEEPSHANKS collec-
tion never went there at all. The TURNER col-
lection has found shelter elsewhere. And that
elsewhere—that casual refuge for the Destitute—
Marlborough House—is now wanted for the resi-
dence of his Royal Highness the Prince of WALES
so soon as the heir to the Crown of these realms
shall have returned from his six months' sojourn in
the Eternal City. By that time his Royal High-
ness will be upon the eve of the eighteenth anni-
versary of his birth—the heir-apparent to the
Throne on that account requiring, after the 9th of
November, 1859, in consideration of that maturity
and of his august rank, a separate establishment.
So that, simultaneously, the paintings belonging
to the nation, and now hanging upon the walls of
Marlborough House, will have to be removed hence
—and the paintings belonging the Royal Academy,
and now and for many years past hanging upon
the walls of the National Gallery, will have to be
removed thence ! Marlborough House cannot
possibly after this year of grace 1859 harbour the
art treasures bequeathed to the nation by the muni-
ficence of Mr. TURNER, of Mr. VERNON, or of Mr.
SHEEPSHANKS. The National Gallery, we trust,
will not be allowed to harbour, after this same year
of grace 1859, the Royal Academy, originally
established under the roof-tree of Somerset House.
Marlborough House is required for the Prince of
WALES. The National Gallery is required for—
the National Gallery The latter is surely a rea-
sonable demand. The Royal Academy, instead of
grumbling over its removal now, in obedience to a
positive necessity—ought assuredly only to be
grateful for its past good fortune in being so long
provided with a home in the National Gallery, very
much to the national inconvenience. Everything
combines to confirm us in the hope that the next
exhibition of the Academy in Trafalgar-square will
be the very last that may be there holden. The
Government ought in reason to give them notice
to quit—now when the pictures belonging to the
nation are actually going a begging for room, and
when, even supposing the Academy to be already
removed elsewhere, the existing building would be
insufficient for the art treasures already in the
national possession. The mysterious rumours as to
the £4,000 building said to be now in course of
rapid and secret construction down in that melan-
choly slough of despond at South Kensington—
these at least, we are sanguine, may be to-morrow
effectually dissipated by the official reply vouch-
safed to the pertinent inquiries of Sir H. WIL-
LOUGHBY. For it is altogether incredible that after
the positively and peremptorily adverse decisions
of the House of Commons last session, any Minister
would so directly and so flagrantly go counter to
the expressed views of the popular branch of the
Legislature.

So London has met, and in the Guildhall—the
Lord Mayor in the chair. Mr. BRIGHT tells us
that " the nation dwells not in the palace but in
the cottage ;" and, accepting this dictum, the
nation, so far as London is concerned, were certainly
present at the meeting of Saturday, for it consisted
chiefly of working people, with Mr. ERNEST JONES
as orator in chief. Who can blame them ? If the
other classes in London chose to let the metropolis
give its judgment on Reform, without the aid of
their counsel, they have no right afterwards to
complain of the decision. The meeting was public,
apparently willing to hear all—why were not some
of the advanced middle-class reformers, and some
of the less advanced also, there, to state their views?
They will bear discussion, and, to a great extent,
as we think, justification ; and it would have been
better for the usual actors in these matters to have
been in their places. The "people who dwell in
the cottage" should now be met by those who are
termed "their betters," and they would be the
better for being thus met. English workpeople,
when fairly dealt with, are the most reasonable,
the most conservative workpeople in the world.
We believe, for instance, that such an aristocratic
reformer as the " noble lord the member for London"
woutd on Saturday have had a fair hearing ; as fair a
hearing as he had at Liverpool when lecturing to
working men on Social Science. He very strenuously
insists on the responsibility of the electors to the
unenfranchised. This is, indeed, his stock argument
for refusing the Ballot. Why did he not show his

sense of responsibility to non•electors on Saturday ?
He might then have asked them themselves what
they thought of his argument.
We begin to see, however, that if there is a large
class which thinks Mr. BRIGIIT has gone too far,
there is a yet larger class which thinks he has not

gone far enough. We apprehend that public meet•
ings of working men, as large as that which assem-
bled at Guildhall, could bo called without difficulty
in every large town in the kingdom. Mr. E. JONES,
in London, had a coadjutor of the same opinion
from Newcastle, who was returning thither to a
large meeting, as it certainly will be, also in favour
of manhood suffrage and the Ballot, the latter being
the one demand in which all Reformers who have
yet spoken unite, as a matter of course. Th•
longer Ministers defer their bill the more numero as
will these meetings become, and the more apparent
will it become that a rating or household suffrage
is the lowest which can be offered to the many. The
resolution itself—demanding a "just share of poli-
tical power for all classes of tho community" was of
course general,—but Mr. JONES'S speech was its
interpretation, and the speech was for manhood
suffrage and the Ballot.

We recently directed public attention to Mr.
BRIGHT'S want of comprehension in reference to
what was complained of by monetary reformers.
Our esteemed contemporary, the Derbyshire
Courier, has ably followed up the subject, and in
an admirable article, which we extracted into our
columns on Monday last, not only pointed out
clearly and distinctly what was complained of,
but the nature and extent of the required
remedy. The question is one pre-eminently
of labour against money. We will not
use the word " capital," because many
capitalists of enormous wealth are deeply in-
terested in obtaining a circulating medium adequate
to the wants and exigencies of the country. Every
owner, of real estate, for instance, would find his
income greatly enhanced by what would create an
additional demand for agricultural produce, en-
courage his tenants to improve their respective
holdings, and bring them into the highest degree
of cultivation. His property is thus increased
largely in value, while, if it should be subject to any
ineumbrance, either for mortgage or family
charges, the burden will be found far less onerous
or oppressive, inasmuch as money can always be
obtained at a fair and reasonable rate of interest to
satisfy any pressing claimant, and the more 1
east y,
inasmuch as the property would command a
higher price in. the market, should it be-
come necessary`to force a sale. Even those
whose farms were let at fixed rentals, would
find it to their advantage, inasmuch as

there would be no defaulting tenants or accumu-
lated arrears—and they would have the most
ample security for the payment of the sums to
which they were justly entitled.
The same may be said of all other classes of capi-
talists—save and except money brokers and hard
calculators—who contrive to extract large sums
out of the misery of the industrial population, to
grind them down to the lowest point, and, as the
Derbyshire Courier justly remarks, drives too many,
at intervals of a few years, by poverty and priva-
tion, into the workhouse or the gaol. We had
one deplorable illustration in 1847, and another
in 1857 ! Poor-rates were enormously in-
creased; for even the best hands—men able
and willing to work—could find no employ-
ment. Whatever they had accumulated in more
prosperous days—furniture, clothing, or the tools of
trade—were necessarily disposed of. Any money
laid by for sickness or old age, went first, as a
matter of course, so that even the most provident
operative found himself obliged to begin life de
novo. Even the termination of the monetary crisis
did not work an immediate restoration of confi-
dence. What was miscalled prudence prevented
the re-establishment of credit on its former basis,
and many mills and factories were kept at half
time, long after money became cheap and abun-
dant.

In consequence of the Act of 1844 the burden
of the taxes .is frequently doubled. We might
possibly get on with a purely metallic, or quasi
metallic currency—the establishment whereof was
the manifest intention of Lord OVERSTONE and his
followers. But the enormous debt under which the
nation is suffering—debt mainly contracted in an
inconvertible paper currency, when gold was
worth £5 Bs. per ounce—imperatively requires
that there should be a taxation money, receivable
in payment of every public demand, and rendered
a legal tender. Such paper would be gladly
accepted as long as the visits of taxpayers or rate
collectors continued. When they altogether ceased,
the taxation money might be withdrawn, and
then, what might literally be termed " a golden
age" would naturally follow.
It is a grave mistake on the part of Mr. BRIGHT
to suppose that no two currency reformers agree in
opinion. There are, of course, some slight differ-
ences and shades of opinion, but not more than
there are between tho various classes of Parliamen-
tary or other Reformers. All concur in
demanding the total and unconditional repeal
of the Act of 1844, and that there should be
free trade in currency as well as in cora. Indeed?
" free-trade and a fettered currency " are utterly
incompatible, as has been clearly proved by one of
the ablest writers on the monetary question—Sir
ARCHIBALD ALISON ; and also by Mr. GODDARD, a
strenuous opponent of the Corn Laws. A large
majority desire that gold should be regarded merely
as a commodity, and sold at its market value, but
that should no more prevent the nation from ob-
taining a fair measure than the fact that there are
differences of opinion among Parliamentary Re-
formers on the question of the franchise that should
be conceded, the boroughs to be consigned to sche-
dules A or B, or on the most important point of all
—the Ballot. We trust that Mr. DISRAELI will
direct his attention to the subject, and thus render
the Ministry, of which he is an influential member,
the most popular that ever governed the nation.

The Count Perponcher has arrived at Maurigy's
Hotel, from Berlin, with despatches for her Majesty. His
Excellency the Count and the Countess Lera-scha and suite
have left the same establishment, for Brighton.
The Countess d'Apponyi will hold her first
assembly for the present season to-morrow evening, at
Chandos House.
The Marquis of Lansdowne arrived at Lans-
downe House, on Saturday, for Bowood. The noble mar-
quis has quite recovered from the attack of gout which
detained him in the country and prevented him from being
present at the opening of Parliament.
The mortal remains of the late Earl of Ripon
were interred in the faimly vault at Nocton, in Lincoln•
shire, on Friday last. The funeral was conducted in a pri-
vate and unostentatious manner.
Mr. Wigan having for the present relinquished
the idea of entering upon management, has, with Mrs.
Wigan, accepted an engagement at the new Adelphi
Theatre, where they will make their appearance on the 28th
instant.
Mr. Wright having recovered from his long in-
disposition, will re-appear at the Adelphi Theatre on Mon-
day, the 14th inst.
'THE WELLINGTON COLLEGE.—In our account of
the opening of the. Wellington College, on Monday last, it
was stated that fifteen acres of the heath were the gift of
Mr. Gibson, the army saddler, of Coventry-street. We are
requested by Mr. Gibson to state that this is a mistake, as
he never possessed any land in that locality.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.—The following
gentlemen, having undergone the necessary examinations
for the diploma, were admitted members of the college at a
meeting of the court of examiners on the 4th inst., viz. :
Messrs. Adolph Weber, Lima, South America; William
Hepworth, Ginsley, near Leeds; Henry Stokes, Brixton;
Frederick Keene, Bow-road; Robert Jacob Jordan, Bed
ford-square ; and Charles Sanders, Chigwell, Essex.
It is in contemplation, we believe, to establish
races, under Mr. Topham'S management, at Uxbridge,
within a quarter of a mile of which town an excellent
natural course is to be found.—Bell's Life.
The last advices from Peru reiterate the com-
plaints of discreditable conduct on the part of the Govern-
ment of that Republic with regard to the circulation of a
depreciated coinage, and also the resort to measures to
influence unfairly the fluctuations of the rate of exchange
on England.
ENGLAND AND BRAZIL.—The convention between
England and Brazil for the settlement of outstanding
claims on the respective Governments by the subjects of
each country has been printed. It was signed at Rio on
the 2d of June last, and ratifications were exchanged on
the 9th of September. It provides that each Government
is to appoint a commissioner, and that in ease of need an
umpire is to be chosen by lot. All claims are to be pre-
sented within 12 months from the first meeting of the com-
mission, and every claim is to be decided upon within two
years.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA.—The advices from South
Australia by the present mail are dated Adelaide, Dec. 11.
Trade generally was dull, and the markets overstocked
with goods. There was every prospect of an abundant
harvest, heavy rains having opportunely set in. The price
of copper had advanced from £96 to £lO5 per ton, in con-
sequence of an improvement in its value in India. Burra
Burra shares were 137 ex div. Wool, 17d. to 180. per lb.
It is stated that the construction of the telegraph
between Constantinople and the Persian Gulf, so long pro-
mised by the Turkish Government, is making p-ogress, and
that the section from Constantinople to Bagdad (the prin-
cipal part of the work) will be completed in a few months.
Already a certain portion is in operation. If the submarine
cable through the Persian Gulf, from Kurrachee to Bus-
sorah, were in a state of preparation, we might thus hope
for a new and independent communication with India. At
present, even for the merely partial communication that
exists, we are entirely dependent on the line through Egypt
and Austria, or on that through Egypt and thence by the
Sardinian station at Cagliari. In the event of a continental
war, the prospect of these routes remaining uninterrupted
would be doubtful, and the statesmen responsible would
then have to explain and justify their neglect of the alter-
native means. When the laying:down of the Persian Gulf
line was originally discourwred, the fact was attributed to
deference to the Emperor Napoleon, whose visit to Osborne
took place about that period.
THE INCREASE OF THE NAVY.—The gentlemen
who discover in all taxes raised for naval and military pur-
poses nothing but the cunning devices of a knavish aristo-
cracy, should correct their opinion by what is now transpir-
ing in reference to the navy. The. Admiralty have deter-
mined to add considerably to the number of our line-of-
battle ships ; the First Lord of the Admiralty and the
Surveyor of the Navy are early and late together, devising
the necessary measures ; the Chancellor of the Exchequer
has coolly added a million or two sterling to his budget for
the purpose ; and the Navy Estimates will, in all proba-
bility, be passed with as great alacrity this year as last, and
give equal satisfaction to the country, although the estimates
of last year were cut down by the present Minister, and pre-
sented to the house as evidences of retrenchment. And yet
there have been no aristocratical influences at work in
secretly bringing these things about. The speech of Lord
Hardwicke had, it is true, some slight influence upon the
public mind ; but it was an influence openly exerted, and in
proportion as the statements of his lordship were erroneous, as
they undoubtedly were in some respects, they failed in
their design. The great and almost the only cause of the
contemplated increase of the navy, and of the public ap-
proval of that increase, is to be found in the simple an-
nouncement of the fact that the French have more steam
line-el.-battle ships than ourselves. This announcement,
which appeared originally in a leading article in the Times,
and was subsequently confirmed in that journal by an
authentic detailed statement from a correspondent, has alone
determined the action of the Cabinet, and prepared the
public to support them. Even the Times itself in no way
urged either the Government or the country to pursue the
course adopted, but was content to leave the former to act
and the latter to think for themselves. When it is remem-
bered that a single steam line-of-battle ship of the first-class
costs more than £200,000 sterling, and that the determina-
tination of the Admiralty therefore involves an extra ex-
penditure of some millions, the all but unanimous approval
of that determination by the country at large is the more
remarkable,—Xechanics' Magazin?,