The Sun.
London, England, 1832-09-03 00:00:00

BANK CHARTER.

During .the progress of the inquiry of the
Secret Committee into the affairs of the Bank
of England, considerable importance was at-
tached in the City to the evidence given by Mr.
Rothschild, as we observed at the time. Many
shrewd, and perhaps more idle and random
guesses were made at its probable tendency, the
mercantile world being all along impatient to
fathom these inaccessible and carefully concealed
secrets, and evincing great anxiety to anticipate
the tardy publication of such an interesting
mass of questions and answers. As evidence
merely intended to be given, but, unfortunately,
never called for (and which, consequently, in
strictness, can hardly be termed evidence) has
been already published, we are glad to have it in
our power to satisfy public curiosity, with re-
spect to evidence actually sought for on the one
hand, and readily given on the other, though
apparently not prepared for the occasion "ready
cut and dry." _ _

We unaerstand, from very good authority,
that the numerous questions put to Mr. Roth-
schild—often in a very round-about manner—
were very mainly directed to elicit his opinion as
to the expediency of establishing a plurality of
chartered banks in London, with a view of ob-
taining the firmest possible stability of public
credit, as well as general and individual accom-
modation.

Mr. Rothschild pronounced an opinion deci-
dedly favourable to a " unit" union in banking,
aptly founding his argument, by way of illustra-
tion, on the good old story of " the bundle of
sticks," which as long s united (and no longer)
resisted every attempt ts) break it ; but, observed
he, if the possession of all the treasure, or cir-
culating medium of the country, were split be-
tween three or more banks, one, for instance,
having in its coffers three millions of sovereigns,
another three millions and a half, and the old
or Government Bank all the rest, perhaps five or
six millions, the consequence would be that, in
case of a panic, they might successively become
the object of a run, and thus in the end be broke
one after another in detail, neither having, by
such subdivision, sufficient volume and vis
inertia left to resist the shock ; whereas, if the
Bank of England stood alone and concentrated
in one undivided mass all the treasure of the
country, it would possess ample means to satisfy
every imaginable call, and be thus enabled to
stop every incipient run in embryo, by saturating
the multitude of small and noisy clamourers for
gold, as the large holders of bank paper gene-
rally know better than to join the yelping throng.
Mr. Rothschild was asked, whether it was not
possible for the Bank to regulate the exchanges,
and prevent their turning against this country ?
He replied in the negative, for that depended
upon circumstances not under the control of
that Corporation ; for instance, the necessity of
importing corn, wool, &c. ; but that if adverse,
the rates of exchange would after a time come
round again of their own accord, the importers
of corn, as well as the sellers abroad, not
able to give long credits, and bills drawn for the
consideration of a commodity so subject to fluc-
tuation, being sold often 1 per cent. under the
exchange of the day ; and after a few months the
exchange would right itself.
Sir Robert Peel, Mr. Warburton, and other
querists, inquired how the importation of luxuries
and superfluities from France affected the ex-
changes ?
Mr. Rothschild told them, that as England
was the great emporium for goods, as well as the
cambist and cash-keeper of the whole world, in-
dividual inequalities balanced themselves, the
mass of universal transactions, from China to
Peru, from the north to the south, centering in
London.

The topic of Peel's Bill, par excellence, or
the cash-payment question, remained, by special
convention, untouched. But not so the expe-
diency of making silver a legal tender, of which
we shall treat hereafter.

It affords us great pleasure to adduce a proof
of the high estimation in which British securities
are held, by showing that the property left by
Mr. Robert Ewen, lately deceased, amounting
to upwards of one million of dollars, was yester-
day sold out from the American Funds, and
invested in British Three per Cent. Consols.
So much for a fund the 1001. stock of which a
certain political writer predicted long ago would
not be worth a silver sixpence.—Morn. Paper.

Lieutenant WATLING, who met with so me-
lancholy a death near Yarmouth, saved the life of Lours
PHILIPPE, the present King of the French, from drowning,
many years ago, in consequence of which that Monarch
has recently wished to confer some mark of royal favour
upon him ; but, with the true spirit of an Englishman, he
refused, saying " he only did his duty."
MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE.— Mr. UN-
DERWOOD, of Peter-line, York, lost a little girl about a
month ago by cholera. This calamity had so serious an
effect upon Mrs. UNDERWOOD, that she became insane,
and was removed to a private asylum, but having become
somewhat better, she was sent home shortly after. Tues-
day night, whilst her husband was asleep, she left his bed,
but during the night she was missed, and a diligent search
set on foot. Her bonnet and shawl were found on the
New Walk, near the banks of the river Ouse, which left
little doubt she had drowned herself Yesterday her body
was found.—Leeds Intelligences.

" My DEAR GENERAL,-General Lallernand, who will
deliver this letter, will recall me to your recollection. He
will tell you with what enthusiasm the population of this
country (both American and French) received the news
of the glorious events of which Paris has been the theatre.
The Americans were also glad to see the tri-coloured flag
displayed in their theatres. Did I not see at the head of
affairs a name With which mine never can accord, I should
be with you wholly and-entirely, and as soon as General
Charles iallemand. You will recollect the conversations
we had in this free and hospitable country. My senti-
ments and opinions are as unchangeable as yours ; and
those of my family are—Every thing for the French
people. Without doubt, I cannot forget that my nephew,
Napoleon 11., was proclaimed by the Chamber, which, in
1815, was dissolved by foreign bayonets, and also by the
army which was dispersed on the banks of the Loire, ac-
cording to the wish of that family whom foreigners im-
posed upon France, and on whnm France has at last done
justice ; as in 1815, it did justice on itself in quitting the
country to take refuge under the cannon of the coalition.
I shall never be so base as to abandon what I am bound to_,
love, but faithful to the motto of my family—Every thing
by France, and for France. I wish to fulfil my duty
towards her, and I see in the 3,000,000 of votes which
were given for us, only obligations towards the country,
which are greater for me than for any other Frenchman.
You know my opinions, which have long been declared.
Individuals and families, in their relations with nations,
can only have duties to perform ; the latter have rights to
exercise,—they owe justice to all.
" If the French nation should call to the head of its
affairs the most obscure family, I think that we are bound
to submit to its will wholly and entirely ; but the nation
alone has the right of destroying its own work. Govern.
ments being needful for nations, the individuals who com-
pose governments ought, doubtless, to be subordinate to
the wants or the people cleatlYeipressed. I should have
come myself to express these sentiments, had I considered
my presence useful,-s-had the arbitrary law, dictated by the
foreigner, and approved by the family imposed On our
country, to neutralise its just influence on the affairs of
Europe, been abolished by the authorities whom necessity
gave to France after the events of the last days olluly.
"I ask then the abolition of that arbitrary; llitts which
closes France against my family, which had opened France
to all the Frenchmen whom the revolution had expelled. I
protest against every election made by private corporations
and bodies, which have not obtained from the nation those
powers which it alone is entitled to give; and I declare,
under all these circumstances, that I am ready to conform
to the national will legally expressed, whatever that will
may be, regarding every sacrifice which the welfare of the
country imposes as a tribute which she his a right to re-
quire of her children, and a happiness for them to perform.
" The vessel which conveys General Charles Lallemand
being on the point of sailing, I have barely time to write
these lines. I address them to you, because of all the
Frenchmen who have taken part in the secret struggle
which existed by the force of circumstances between the
nation and a government of foreigners, you are the person
who has seen me, and conversed with me here, who knows
nay whole mind, and whose similarity of political opinions
with my own has given me a full and entire confidence in
your character.

" I have begged M. to express my wish to you,
and I beg that you, General, will express to the illustrious
citizens who, with you, have assisted in raising up the na-
tional colours, my sentiments, which you have had the op-
portunity of ascertaining here, and which, in all possible
hypotheses, are unalterable—wholly for the French people.
" The Emperor, my brother, when dying on the rock
of St. Helena, dictated to General Bertrand a letter to me,
in which he recommended his son to me, and bade me an
eternal farewell. This letter terminates thus Impress
unceasingly on my son that he is, before all things, a
Frenchmaa ; let him take for his device Tout polo' le
peuple Francais.' I have fulfilled, as far as lay in my
power, the duty which this sentiment imposed on me. I
know that his son is as much a Frenchman as you and I,
in despite of fortune ; and I hope that the moment is not
far distant when he may help me to restore to France a
portion of what we all owe her.

" Adieu, my dear General ; my letter sufficiently proves
that I ren.!er justice to the sentiments you evinced for me
during the triumphal journey which you made in that
nation in which I have lived for 15 years. Liberty is not
a mere chimera; it is a blessing which a wise and mode-
rate nation may enjoy when it will. By way of precau-
tion, I send a duplicate of this letter. The first copy was
despatched on the 10th instant.

" Be pleased to accept, my dear General, every expres-
sion of my former attachment.

" JOSEPH BONAPARTE."

GENERAL LAFAYETTE'S ANSWER TO THE COUNT DE

SURVILLIERS.

" Paris, Nov. 26, 1830.
" M. LE COMTE,—I have received the letters which you
have done me the honour to address to me, with those
sentiments of affection and respect which I owe to the
kindness you have at all times evinced for me. My
gratitude and attachment could not be strengthened by
our late conversations, when we spoke with confidence of
the past, the present, and the future.
" You must have been dissatisfied with my conduct in
recent circumstances, not that I bad given any pledge to
you or to any one; but you must have said—' Since La-
fayette conceived himself compelled by circumstances to
relax in the preference he has at all times professed for
purely republican institutions, why has that concession
favoured another family than mine? Has lie forgotten
that 3,000,000 of votes acknowledged the Imperial dy-
nasty?' You see, my dear Count, I present the reproach
in its full force. I have deserved it, and I will now justify
myself in full independence and purity of conscience.
" When the measures of Charles X. and company
roused the inhabitants of Paris, and public confidence
placed me at the head of the patriotic movement, my first
thought, after the victory, was to turn affairs to the best
account for the cause of freedom and my country. You
may readily suppose that no personal consideration could
connect itself with this determination.
" The first condition of republican principles being to
respect the general will, I was withheld from proposing a
purely American constitution, in my opinion the best of
all. To do this would have been to disregard the wish of the
majority, to risk civil trouble,, and to kindle foreign war.
It I was wrong, my mistake was at least at variance with
the inclinations I have al.vays cherished, and even, sup-
posing me to have possessed vulgar ambition, it was con-
trary to what might be termed my interest.
" A popular throne, in the name of the national
sovereignty, surrounded by republican institutions, ap-
peared to be within our attainment ; this was the pro-
gramme of the barricades, and of the Hotel de Ville, of
which I undertook to be the interpreter.
" The Chamber of Deputies, representing 80,000
electors, did not go so far as we did ; but it agreed with
public opinio❑ for the expulsion of the guilty family, and
it was, like Paris and the rest of France, urged to allay in-
quietude, and to come to a resolution.

" I might content myself with observing that your
dynasty was dispersed : some were in Rome, you in
America, and the Duke of Reichstadt in the hands of the
Austrians, but I owe to your friendship a candid dis-
closure of my statements.

" The Napoleon system was brilliant in glory, but
stamped with despotism, aristocracy, and slavery,* and if
there were any event which could render those scourges
tolerable and almost popular in France (which Heaven
forbid), it would be the restoration of the imperial
regime. Besides, the son of your wonderful brother has
become an Austrian Prince, and you know what the
Vienna Cabinet is. These considerations,
my dear
Count, in spite of the sentiments I entertain towards
you personally, did not permit me to wish for the re-
establishment of a throne which during the 100 days bad
displayed a constant tendency to former errors.
" I scarcely knew the Duke of Orleans. Serious dif-
ferences Lid existed between his father and me. Some
family relations and civilities had not led me to visit the
Palais Royal. Nevertheless, I knew, in common with
• After the Emperor's departure for 'Waterloo, Prince Lucien
had a conversation with Lafayette :—" Do you hope," said the
latter, " that your brother may be corrected ?" " No,"
Lucien ; " two miracles have saved him—Marengo and Auster-
litz ; he perhaps will perform a third; but that does not depend
on himself, and in case of a defeat, two parties will rise up---one
for his son, and the other for the Duke of Orleans. I am for my
nephew; whom are you for, General ?" " Neither for the one
n'n the other," replied Lafayette; "as I just now observed to
an Orleanist. I remain with the people, independent of parties;
and I hope that liberty may make the best possible bargain,
without reference tolindividualv, replied

the public, that there were to be found in that family,
along with domestic virtues and simple tastes, little ambi.
tion, and a sentiment truly French, to which the Emperor
himself had rendered justice. I recollected the young
republican of 1789, the soldier of Valmy and Gemappes,
the professor in .Switzerlaml, and the, traveller in the
United States. He was called Bourbon, and that is a
disagreeable name; but as a name, it was more than yours,
more than that of republic, a security against war. It did
not prevent the establishing and bringing into practice
the principle and the sovereignty of the people---the put-
ting arms into the hands of 2,000,000 of citizens—choos-
ing their own officers—the completing of the liberty of the
press, end the possession of popular institutions. -It there-
fore appeared to me useful in the circumstances in which
-sue were placed, for the sake of peace within and with-
out, that the different shades of political opinion, with the
`exception of Charles X.'s party, should unite under this
combination.

" My assent was not the effect of any prejudice or
anterior affection. I must now say, that after four
months of intimate acquaintance, sentiments of confidence,
friendship, and the interest of a common cause have
strengthened my first impressions. As to the general as-
sent, what was done was not merely the work of the
Chambers and the 4poOulation of Paris—of 80,000 Na-
tional Guards, and 800,000 spectators in the Champs-de-
Mars. All the deputations from the towns and villages
of France, which, in consequence of my functions. I re-
ceived in detail—in a word, multitudes of adhesions, un-
instigated and unquestionable, took place, which convince
us more and more that what we have done is conformable
to the will of the greit majority of the French people.
" I observe in one of your letters, which have all
been faithfully delivered, that you suspect the Duke of Or-
leans of having had knowledge of a plot against the Em-
peror in the ble of Elba. He is incapable of any thing of
the kind ; and, from that I have been told by the repub-
lican who denounced that plot, and by Madame de Stael,
who continued in friendship with the Duke of Orleans, I
should, independent of his known character, have been
convinced that some one had calumniated him to you.
" One of my first cares, after his elevation to the throne,
was to express a wish to him that you, your children, and
your respectable mother, might, if you thought fit, return
tranquilly to France. The idea was very cordially re-
ceived by the King ; but objections were started on ac-
count of the treaties with foreign powers, which, absurd
and insolent as they are, would render some negocia-
Cons necessary. Political circumstances have since
changed ; the diplomatic horizon is overcast ; both sides,
are on their guard. But it is superfluous to dwell on
these circumstances, since, in any case, judging from the
tenour of your letters, you would not have adopted that
course. I mention it only in reference to what I have had
the honour to tell you at Burdenton.
"In the sincerity of my heart, I was anxious to have
this explanation with you. I will not say that all happened
just as I would have dictated it. You know that in public,
as well as private affairs, we never see things go entirely to
our satisfaction. Your incomparable brother, with all
his power, his energy, and his talent, experienced the
truth of this ; and you, his best friend, have had your
share of disappointment. I can make no concealment of
what I voluntarily did, for I love to preserve your friend-
ship by candour, rather than to destroy it by a less sin-
cere apology.

" Receive, my dear Count, the homage of the respect,
gratitude, and affection, for which I am pledged to you.

" LAFAYETTE:"

Such are the motives which induced Lafayette to hold
himself apart from three systems, into each of which the
parties endeavoured in vain to engage him.

The three Deputies were immediately introduced into
the bedchamber of Louis XVIII., transformed by the
ouvriers of July into the office (cabinet de travail) of
Louis Philippe, who was not long in making his appear-
ance by a door which communicated with the Queen's
apartment. The manner and physiognomy of the King
were calm, his deportment was easy, free from agitation,
and-expressive of none of that anguish of mind which
might have been justified by his situation. His Majesty
received the three patriots with politeness : he said he was
very glad to see them ; that the Opposition could not have
chosen negotiators more agreeable to him ; and after desir-
ing them to be seated, and placing himself before his
writing-table, he seemed ready to listen to them.
What occurre I then ? If any facts are to be relied on,
_ .

the following is what took place at this memorable inter-
view. 1 relate the circumstances without comment, just
as they were transferred from another's recollection to
mine :

1%1. Odillon Barrot was the first to speak ; and in a
serious, measured, and respectful address, this honourable
orator represented to the King that the deputies of the na-
tional opposition, like all good citizens, deplored the dis-
orders and calamities of the preceding day ; that they
could not express their censure and indignation at the cul-
pable excesses of those who had set at nought the laws,
and resisted the legal authority with arms in their hands ;
but that it was likewise their duty not to disguise from
the Chief of the State, that the retrograde policy of his
Cabinet,—the disregard of the engagements of July,—the
disappointment of the expectations of the revolution,—
the neglect of national honour,—and, finally, the whole of
the system of the 13th of March, had exasperated and in-
flamed the mutual animosities amongst the citizens, which
had caused blood to flow in the streets of Paris, and were
a prelude to the most frightful of all calamities, a civil
war. Placing thus before the King the respective wrongs
of the Government and its adversaries, M. Odillon Barrot
concluded by conjuring his Majesty to stop the•effusion of
blood, which still continued to flow,—to silence the can-
non, which then resounded even in the royal abode,—to
be indulgent towards the vanquished,—and to prevent a
renewal of these scenes, by a prompt and frank return to
the principles on which his dynasty had been seated by
the revolution.
The King replied, that having been audaciously at.
tacked by his enemies, he had a legitimate right to defend
himself; that, in short, it was time to quell revolt, and he
had employed cannon as the shortest way of ending it; that
he had, nevertheless, rejected the proposal which had been
made to him, of placing the city of Paris in a state of
siege ; that, as to the pretended engagements of the Hotel
de Ville, and those republican institutions about which the
opposition made so much noise, he could hardly compre-
hend what it t,ll meant ; that he had more than fulfilled

the pledges he had made, and given to France as many re-
publican institutions as he had promised, and even more;
that the programme of the Hotel de Ville had only existed
in the brain of M. de Lafayette, whose incessant appeals
were evidently the result of a mistake; that, with respect
to the system of the 13th of March, it was wrong to give
the crodit of it to M. Perrier; that this system belongeil
to the King, and was the result of his own convictions,
the fruit of his meditations, and the expression of his re-
flections on politics and government ; that he, Louis Phi-
lippe, had consented to take the crown only on the con-
ditions indicated by the development of this system, which
was most conformable to the wishes and wants of France,
and from which he would not deviate, even should they
mince lain in a mortar (the King's literal expression):
"in short," the King added, "it will not do, gentlemen,
to allege vague accusations; specify the charges you have
to make against the Perrier system, of which poor Perrier
is guiltless enough. What have you to say against this
system ? Let us hear it."
M. Arago replied, by a rapid and animated exposition of
the divisions by which France was lacerated, and which
the policy of the Government cherished with an emost
scrupulous solicitude; he referred to his own family, which
had surrendered itself to the schism of political opinions ;
he instanced his brother and his nephew, who, perhaps, at
the very moment he was speaking, were ranged in oppo-
site ranks, prepared to take each other's life : and, to
characterize the situation by an example, he adverted to
the League, and to the d'Ailly, who, under Henry IV.,
slew his own son in the streets of Paris. M. Arago then
spoke of the public posts given to the partisans of the
fallen regime; of the scandalous indulgence which screened
the machinations of the Carlists, whilst the failings of in-
dividuals and of the press were prosecuted with a rigour
unexampled in the judicial annals of the restoration. M.
Arago mentioned, likewise, the astonishment and deep
disgust which the apparent impunity the Duchess de
Berri seemed to enjoy excited throughout France, and the
invidious interpretations to which this impunity
give rise. might

At these words Louis Philippe exclaimed, that his Go-
vernment had no other enemies than the Carlists and the
Republicans,—that what had been objected to him was
only the result of their manosuvres,—that he had been ac-
cused of avarice (he in whose eyes money had never pos-
sessed any value),—that his best intentions had been per-
verted to such a degree that, for a long time past, he could

not read either the Ti ibune or the National,—that his
father, who was the best citizen of France, had been ca-
lumniated like himself, and impelled to give the revolution
a bloody pledge, which he ought to have refused,'—that
the exigencies of the two revolutions were equally unsus-
tainable; that he, Louis Philippe, was not obstinate,
which he had shown when, after long resistance, he had
improperly given way to importunity, and effaced from
the outside of his palace, and from his armorial bear-
ings, the Aura de lie, which had been from time imme-
morial the arms of his family. With regard to the repre.
sentations concerning the Duchess de Berri, Louis Phi.
lippe declared that if that Princess was arrested, justice
should take its course ; but that, whatever happened, his
reign should not witness a bloody drama. At this mo-
ment the cannon of Saint Merry made the glasses in the
palace shake.

The discussion having brought M. Arago to foreign
affairs, and this deputy deploring the state of abasement
and submission into which France had fallen in the eyes of
Europe, the King, on the other hand, took credit to him-
self for his foreign policy. " This policy," said he, " has
prevented the Powers from doing what they were reso-
lutely bent an doing. For more than six months I have
held them Ilk my own hands. The King of Holland is
about to yield. I give France a new ally in King Leopold,
whom I make my son-in-law, in spite of many causes of
umbrage. In short, if it must be told, the Powers orb in
such a position, that my throne would be the most diffi-
cult to shake; not one of them has the stuff of a Duke of
Orleans." " But, Sire, the affair of Ancona. What !
the tricoloured flag removed, by order of Rome, from the
towers of a citadel occupied by our soldiers ! What ! the
Ambassador of the King of July at the feet of the Pope !"
" Not so loud, Sir," said the King quickly, " I can hear
you. True, there is, indeed, something to say respecting
the affair of Ancona; but it was necessary to' succeed—it
was essential, and we have succeeded. And surely, some
condescension towards an aged and obstinate priest involve=
no vast consequences. Besides, whatever were the means
employed by my Ambassador, he has completely justified
himself in his correspondence. Proceed."
The discussion having returned to the system of the
13th March, the King, who affected to snake very good
use of M. Perrier, pretended that this system was really,
but the continuation of that of the 3d of November. " I
appeal," said he, " upon this point, to M. Laffitte ; was it
not that system you followed?" The late President of the
Council at first maintained a negative silence; but Louis
Philippe having subsequently again insisted upon this
parity, M. Laffitte loudly protested against an assimilation,
which was the more incorrect, since it was notorious that
a radical difference between the King and himself, as well
respecting affairs at home as the direction of our exterior
policy, had occasioned his retirement from the Council.

In conclusion, Louis Philippe observed to MM. Odillon
Barrot, Laffitte, and Arago, that his duty requiring him to
listen to the representatives of France, and to study the
wants and wishes of the country, he should always receive
them with pleasure ; that whenever they made any well-
grounded representations, he should pay attention to them;
but that, candidly speaking, he had found nothing iu their
statement, and that the system pursued by his Govern-
ment, being the result of his own conviction, he was sorry
to be obliged to declare that he could make no change
in it.

On rising, M. Laffitte told the King that he should re-
tire penetrated with the deepest sorrow ; he entreated him
to compare the eagerness and enthusiasm which his pre.
sence formerly excited with the effect it now produced ;
that this alteration denoted a deep—seated evil, and he con-
jured his Majesty to ask himself whether a King of France
who required 50,000 men to guard him, was really King
of France.

• This disapproval of the most important act of the political
life of the Duke of Orleans recalls to my recollection a fact of
which I was witness. At the Hotel de Ville, some young per-
sons were congratulating themselves, before the citizen-monarch,
at having at length got a patriot Prince tbr a King. Yes my
friends,"• exclaimed Louis Philippe. pressing their hands, '4 yes,
a patriot like my father." I also recollect that these expressions
caused Lafayette to look serious ; that they appeared to him to
require explanation, and were one of the chief causes of the in-
terview he had immediately after with the Lieutenant-General,
in which the bases of the programme of the Hotel de Ville were
proposed and accepted.