The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-14 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY 'EVNN:ING,

commended that the 14,000,0001. now issued by
the Bank in securities should "become a legal
tender by act of Parliament." He thus replies
to the questions of the committee
"4,260. Then you mean that these notes which
are issued on security should not be convertible
into gold ?—They should not belong to the Bank
of England at all ; they should be issued by the
Government, and should not be convertible into
gold."

Again, the Chancellor of the Exchequer asks
questions, and Mr. ALEXANDER thus replies :-
4296. These notes, you think, ought not to be
convertible into gold f They ought not to be con-
vertible into gold, because gold has nothing to do
with their issue.

payable to bearer ?
4297. They would not be
The Governnent issuing them would receive
them for dues and taxes, and they would form, as
it were, the conventional currency of the country,
not having reference to that portion of the bank-
note issue that regulates the gold.

4298. Would they be in the form of a promise
to pay ?—They would be in the form of a promise
to receive : the Government would issue them,
and agrae to receive them back in payment of
their dues.

Mr. ALEXANIER goes on to state that he would
limit these notes at present to 20,000,0001.,
which is the limit also proposed by Mr. TWELLS.
Mr. EDWARD CAPPS, a gentleman of consider-
able ability and knowledge of the subject, gives
this evidence :

" 5,422. Would you recommend the course of
an inconvertible paper currency, with a view of
remedying the evils which you describe 7--I was
present and heard the examination of Mr. TWELLS,
and he was mentioning a project by which he
thought that, instead of 14,000,0001. of paper
which the Bank issue..sThpon securities, you might
go to the extent of 20,000,0001. on inconvertible
paper. I think I understood the .proposition
rightly to that effect. Though it is not exactly
the proposition which I would make, yet I cin-
not see any objection to that proposition myself.
Mr. TWELLS said he would be content with
14,000,0001., but recommended 20,000,0001. I
cannot see how that would act injuriously, or
give a less valuable pound than we have at pre-
sent, for that is the great point to look at, that
we do not alter the value of the pound so as to
interfere with existing contracts."
Mr. Ctrrs aftcrwards repeats his conviction of
the efficiency of the proposition made by Mr.
TWELLS.

Mr. G. W. N4II.ItIN, another witness, being
opposed to " ineolvertible" currency (we will not
cite his opinion except as to the conviction he ex-
pressed, which is important, that legal tender notes
would maintain tieir value), was asked :
" 3058. Supposing the Government were to be
the issuer of 14,100,000/. of notes, and those
notes were a legaltender, what value would those
notes bear in the market ? They would be at par.
They would be elactly in the same state, I con-
ceive, and of the same value, as Bank of England
notes are now."

Now, it would, we think, have been much
more candid and honest if Sir G. C. Lewis had
referred to this proposed issue of inconvertible
notes, as being the opinion not of one witness
only, but of three. The Times, also, should not
have made the assertion it did, which has been
shown to be quite incorrect. We trust that our
contemporary will see the justice of contradicting
a statement calculated to convey an entirely false
impression to the public. There are members of
both Houses of Parliament who are convinced
that the proposition of a legal tender paper money
—of a limited amount—is practicable and judi-
cious, but whatever weight their opinion may
have, Englishmen, of all parties, love fair play.
The evidence of a witness, on so important an
affair as the reformation of our monetary system,
should be taken as a whole, and not be judged by
a few detached questions and answers. And look-
ing at all the circumstances of the case, regarding the
manner and matter of Mr. TWELLS' evidence with
the suppression of the fact that the proposition to
which all his expressed opinions tended, whether
right or wrong, was, supported, before the Com-
mittee, by two other witnesses. It appears to us
that Sir G. C. LEWIS manifested, in his attack on
Mr. TWELLS, a deficiency of good taste and good
feeling, rarely to be found among English gentle-
men.

The anniversary of the last Polish Insurrection
was duly celebrated on the 29th ultimo at Paris
and again, we rejoice to know, under the Presi-
dency of the venerable Prince ADAM CZA.RTORYSKI.
N
eing this year on av et ect less noticeable
Sun-
day,on:ber
wasthe
in 29
one
th falling
than usual that the Poles now resident in
the French capital commemorated their patriotic
rising of twenty-seven years ago, first of all by
attending mass in the Church of the Assumption,
and listening to an appropriate sermon delivered
by their compatriot the Abbe JoLowlaxr. It
was for that very reason, however, all the more
noticeable that they afterwards assembled together
in the Polish Literary (No. 6, Quai d'Orleans) for
the purpose of assisting at a public meeting, con-
vened by the Polish Library and Historical Soe
ciely—where once more (for very nearly the
thirtieth time !) these exiles hearkened, yet again,
to one of those_noble and affecting orations, one
of those harangues at once consolatory and in-
spiriting, year after year addressed to his afflicted
countrymen, by the aged and honoured ex-Presi-
dent of the National Government of Poland, the
Prince ADAM GEORGES CZARTORYSKI Already
the more remarkable portions of this singu-
larly touching and impressive speech have
been given at length in our columns, and
will doubtless have been already perused with
emotion by very many in The Sun of last Monday
evening. Every one who glanced down the re-
port of Prince ADAM CZARTORYSKI'S speech as
given in the impression of our journal of that date,
will necessarily have been peculiarly struck by the
revelation—for we can call it nothing less—the
really startling revelation there made as to the
manner in which the Russian War may be said
to have hinged upon the Question of the Re-esta-
blishment of Polish Independence.
The illustrious orator calls it the " one cheer-
ing remembrance" remaining to the exiled patriots of
Poland from that painful period, that period to
them of " hope deferred" (making the heart sick !)
and ultimately of most bitter disappointment.
"At the moment when the siege of Sebastopol
was already far adeanced,,, said the Prince, "one
of the allied powers, that ono which has always
been most generous to us, that ono whose noble
hospitality enables us this day to pour out our
hearts to each other—Frauce, I mean—at last
declared that, in order to continue the sacrificas
required by the war, it had become necessary to
assign to it in future an object more worthy of
such great efforts, and that the re-ostablishment
of Poland must inevitably follow." Then, as
usual, the British Government inopportunely
interposed. "England," continued Prince CZAR-
TORYSKI, England, who, for four centuries, had.
always taken part for Russia against Poland, had.
at last determined to form and use against Russia
a distinct Polish corps ; nevertheless she cons-