The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-11 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN.

The half-yearly meeting of this companp was
held yesterday at the London Tavern, Mr. W. Wil-
kinson in the chair.
Mr. HENCHMAN, the secretary, read the report,
which stated that after a careful investigation into
the merits and position of the company, the corpora-
tion of London consented to become shareholders
to the' exteut of £200,000, upon the condition that
within a limited period the entire share capital of
the c.nnpany should be bnza;fide taken up and paid
upon. The directors were of opinion that as six-
sevenths of the capital of the company had thus
been secured they were justified in proceeding with
the Deviation Bill, which had recently received the
sanction of Parliament. By its provisions the
capital of the company was now 1850,000 ; the
Great Northern Company no longer posspssed the
ontion to subscribe any portion of the capital ; the
new line from King's-cross to Farringdon-street
had been sanctioned, and the portion of the line
from Victoria-street to the Post-office had been
abandoned. The directors had still to obtain sub-
scriptions for the remaining one-seventh of the shares.
They believed that the course recommended by the
engineer would enable them not only to effect that
object. but would insure the execution of the works
by responsible parties for a lump sum, and the com-
pletion of the undertaking within the reduced capi-
tal of the company. The report of Mr. Fowler,
the engineer, stated that the sections of the arch-
way and other works of the railway, 'including the
chsef stations near Paddington, were ready to be
submitted to the inspection of contractors. He
proposed that the directors should obtain tenders
from certain contractors of high position for the
completion of the works of the railway on a gua-
rantee contract., inclusive of all contingencies. In
his opinion the lowest tender should be accepted,
but he thought they should wait the termination
of the present strike before receiving tenders for
the works. The capital account showed that
£129,189 had been received, and £54,412 expended,
leaving 171,250 in the hands of the Accountant-
General, £1,425 in the Royal British Bank, and
£2,102 at the banker's.
The CHAIRMAN read a letter from the Earl of
Shelburne expressing regret that he was unable to
attend the meeting, and assuring him that the
Great We' tern Board were most anxions for the
success of the undertaking, and that they might
rely on their assistance. He (the Chairman) thought
their undertlking would not be properly appre-
ciated -until it was in operation. Various complica-
ted accounts hat to be settled and arranged; but he
saw nothing to prevent the construction and com-
pletion of the works. He hoped \ the working men
would fairly consider their position, and endeavour
to bring the present• unfortunate dispute with
their employers to an end. •It was evident
that no work of 'importance could be com-
menced until that dispute was settled. He
belieied that their undertaking was not under-
stood; it consisted of five miles of railway passing
tbrough the heart of London, the capital would be
£850,000 in shares, and £280,000 in loans. together
£1;130,000. For four miles out of the five miles
through which the line passed they would have to
pay nothing for land, but for the remaining one
mile ofiand and property they would have to pay
something like £400,000. The advantage of pass-
' jua under the New-road from King's-cross to Pad-
dington would save them over £1,000,000, which
they'Vrould•otherwise have had to pay for property
in that, direction. The city author sties had cleared
the ground at considerable cost, upon whiph their
station- near Farringdon-street would be erected.
He concluded by. moving the adoption of the report.
Mr. C. PEARSON, as a. shareholder, trusted that
the Board would come
_to no decision as to letting
the contracts without first consulting the 'represen-
tatives of the corporation, ot• until the full Board
was constituted, • _ _ .

The CHAIRMAN would only be too glad to have
the advice and assistance of the four gentlemen who
were to represent the corporation at the Board, and
the sooner they were appointed to' that office the
better.
Mr. J. PARSON, in reply to a question, stated that
every shareholder had the option, when half the
money was paid up on his shares, to divide each share
into two half-shares (A and B), on the principle
adopted in the Great Northern Company. 'The devia-
tion from the original line would. save the company-
£2so,ooo. Their city terminus, near Farringdon-
street, would consist of about 13 acres of land now
lying waste, it being exactly the shape required
for a railway terminus. It was found from obser-
vation that five-eighths of the passenger traffic and
seven-eighths of the goods traffic that came to the
metropolis went into the city; and when it was
considered that they had 13 acres of land for the
station, and eight acres near it in Smithfield, mak-
ing together 21 acres available for business, he
thought such facilities must result in great advan-
tage to the company. He had no doubt the capital
would be sufficient for what they contemplated at
present. He concluded by seconding. the adoption
of the report, which was carried unanimously.
Mr. FOWLER, the engineer, in reply to ques-
tions, stated that on the portion of the line from
Faxringdou-street to King's-cross there would be
no tunnel. The portion of the line under
the New-road would form a tunnel; Ibut the car-
riages would. be well lighted, and during that part
of the journey neither coke nor coal would be used,
to cause annoyance to any passenger. He believed
the line could be worked throughout successfully
and satisfactorily. A junction line would be
formed with the Great Northern Railway for the
purpose of obtaining access to the Cattle-market.
The London and North-Western were now desirous
of having a junction with their line, but formerly
they cared nothing about it.
On the motion of Mr. PARKES, £1,600 a-year was
voted to the directors for their services, to com-
mence from the Ist of January last, but not -to be
acted upon until the arrangement with the corpo-
ration of London was completed.
A vote of thanks to the chairman and directors
concluded the proceedings.

COST OF PRINTING PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.—
It appears from a return recently issued that the cost of
printing reports and papers presented to Parli
of amentlBsB by
command of her Majesty during the session
amounted to £29,731 Bs. bd., thus distributed :—War de-
partment, £2,983 ss. 7d. ; India Board, £2,169 ss. 3d. ; Ad-
miralty, £2O 13s. 4d. ; Home-office, £2,174 Ilss. 10d. ;
Colonial-office. £767 Os. 6d. ; Treasury, £3,283 2. 11d. ;
Board of Trade, £6,016 19s. 10d. ; and the Irish Govern-
ment, £9,541 ls. 3d. This sum of £29,731 Bs. od. is exclu-
sive of the printing ordered by the two houses.
DIVORCE CAUSES.—From 1833 to 1859 there were
about 239 petitions for dissolution of marriage arising out
of alleged acts of cruelty and adultery committed previous
to the passing of Lord Palmerston's Divorce and Matri-
monial Causes Act; and since the passing of the ,
from the 28th of August, 1857, some 118 have been pre-
sented. The number of petitions for judicial separation
merely from 1827 prior to the passing of the act amounted
to 95, and those presented since 1856 to 41 (including the
whole of 1857). From 1834 to 1857 there were 10 petitions
for nullity of marriage, including one in 1857. The petitions
for restitution of conjugal rights from 1839 to 1859 were 22,
, and of these six were presented in 1857, and nine in 1858,
against one in 1856 and two in 1855. The number of appli-
cations for protection of wives' property from 1819 to 1856,
was 66, including four in 1856, and five last year.

LADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Pills and Ointment.
Anxiety is the, greatest obstacle to human happiness ; the
prudent pride themselves in adopting measures for avoid-
ing it—they insure their houses and ships, and the still
more thoughtful assure their lives—yet what is lifewithout
health? Can pain and enjoyment dwell harmoniously to-
gether ? The wisest man secures his own well-being ; and
in Holloway's remedies finds a perfect and indisputable
policy of assurance against most of the diseases by which
humanity is assailed. These preparations ward off many
an attack, that without them would leave desolation in its
track, and cause the heartrent mourners unavailingly to
regret that these two policies, Holloway's. Pills and Oint-
ment, were not numbered amongst their household trea-
sures.

y.
[ADVERT'S EMEN T.l—Aracaq the numerous extraordinary
cures without medicine effected by Du Berrys delicions
health-restoring RevalentaArabica food indigestion (dyspep-
sia) flatuency, constipation, nervous, bilious and liver com-
plaints, cough, asthma, consumption, and debility the follow
ing are not .the least remarkable : Cure 32,836. " Yhre(2
years' excessive nervousness, with pains in my neck and
left arm, and general debility, which rendered my life very
miserable, has been radically removed by Du
oß_arrf.ss,health
19n
d si
C sBt ki
restoring food. Alex. Stuart, Archdeacon of
ib-
bereen." Cure 3,906. "Thirty years'ov -
j?)ugD B g
on,
and general debility have been rem y u arry ex-
-s reet,
Dec. 22, 1856.—Gentle •
cellent revalenta arabica food. James Porter, Athol t
Perth." Climbur Schulff*oPs.hire
gs' of chronic rheumatism,
men,—Many years rvortis diseases that
and complication of ne made me
miserable, for which the most approved remedies had
been tried in vain, have been removed by Du Barry's
revalenta arabica food. I am, &c., James Chapman.
En tins, at Is. 6d. ; lib., 3s. ; 21b., ss. 9d. ; 51b., 126.; 121 b.,
265. The 101 b. and 121 b. tins carriage free, on receipt of post-
office order. Du Barry and Co., 77, Regent-street, London*
Fortnum, Mason, and Co., 182, Piccadilly; Abbis, 60,
Gracechurch-street ; 4, Cheapside ; 63, and 150, Oxford-
street ;. 330 and 451, Strand • 49 and 60, Bishopsgate -
street ; 85, Tottenham-court-road. Also at Dublin,
Bewley and Draper ; at Edinburgh, Raimes and Co.
at Liverpool, Nixon and Thew; at Manehester, Sharp and
Scott; at York, Raimes, Blanchard, and Co. at South-
ampton, Readall and Bon.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE,
under the Management of Mr. Charles Kean.
THIS EVENING, THE CORSICAN BROTHERS,
Fabien and Louis dei Franchi. By Mr. C. Kean.
To conclude with A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.
Commence at 7.

THEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET,
Lessee, Mr. J. B. Bnckstone.
THIS EVENING, A NABOB FOR AN HOUR.
THE CONTESTED ELECTION.
After which, OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND.
To conclude with HALLOWE'EN.
Commence at 7.

IS7W THEATRE - ROYAL, ADELPHI.
sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Benj. Webster.
THIS EVENING, the performances will commence with
THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST.

Followed by the new burlesque, THE BABES IN THE
WOOD. Messrs. J. L. Toole, Paul Bedford, C. J. Smith,
Eburne ; Miss Woolgar and Miss K. Kelly.
Acting Manager—Mr. Wm. Smith.

Mr. W. Smith's Benefit on Thursday, iugus;lB.
Doors open at a quarter-past six—Commence at seven. Box
Office open from 10 to 5 -no charge for booking. No fees to
servants permitted. A registry kept of all articles found.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Lessee and Directress, Miss Swanborough
THIS EVENDTG, CAPTAIN CHARLOTTE. Miss M.
Wilton.

After which, A SCHOOL FOR COQUETTES. Misses
Bwanborouzh, Oliver, and Lavine.
Followed by THE VERY LATEST EDITION OF THE
LADY OF LYONS.
Commence at 7 o'cloc*

VERDI'S OPERA OF MACBETH. The
whole of the first Act of this Opera, now produced
for the first time in this country (the remaining three acts
being in course of rehearsal), is sung nightly at the CAN-
TERBURY HALL CONCERTS.

THE DELEPIERRE FAMILY,
Oonsistinz of three Juvenile Violinists, viz., Jules, Juliette,
and Julia Delepierre, aged, respectively, FOUR, SIX, and
EIGHT years.
The perfect execution by these Lilliputian Artistes of some
of the most difficult and brilliant Solos, Duets, and Trios evc:
written for the violin, has excited mingled wonder and admi-
ration in Continental Musical Circles, and drawn forth enthu-
siastic tributes of praise from the Public Journals of France
and Belgium.
They will perform TWICE EACH EVENDM, in addi-
tion to the usual Entertainments.

THE WEATHER.—SuN OFFICE, ArGtsT 11.

THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
62—highest since noon yesterday.
59—lowest this morning and during the night.
69—this day at noon.

BAROMETER--30.09.
WIND, South-Easterly; light, with fine weather.
Two o'CLock.—A thick haze has come over the hori
zon, portending a thunder storm.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAY.—Morning, 12h. 23m.—Afternoon, 12h. 52m,
To-MORROW-Morning, lh. 14m.—Afternoon, lh. 35m,

The spectacle presented to us by one Election
Committee after another is certainly anything but
satisfactory. It is peculiarly unsatisfactory as re-
gards the supporters of the powers that be—those
who but yesterday were so loud in their pharisaical
denunciation of corruption, but who have to-day
such reason to be crestfallen under the exposure of
their own evil-doings in the way of bribery. The
decision of the committee appointed to inquire into
the validity of the charges made by certain peti-
tioners against the two members returned at the
last general election down at Beverley certainly
brings to a climax the disgrace of the Accusing Party
in the House of Commons and the triumph of the
Accused. Of the two members returned for Bever-
ley at this general election, one was an Advanced
Liberal—the other was a supporter of Lord DERBY
and an avowed Conservative. Recollect all that
had been said about the enormous sums subscribed
at the Carlton for Electioneering Purposes !—for
distribution, of course, as every one supposed, by
"safe men," men who might be Frail in name, but
were certainly not to be frail in nature ! Recollect
it had been asserted, with a brazen particularity,
somewhere down in the direction of Carlisle—[Was
it not, by the way, asserted thus by some right hon.
baronet who, at some time or another, was in someway
or another distinguished—creditably or otherwise,
our readers may perhaps remember—as a Man of
Letters ?]—Recollect at any rate that it was
asserted by somebody somewhere that the Prime
Minister himself had subscribed a good round
lump of money—variously put by the promoters of
the canard at £lO,OOO or £ls,ooo—to swell the
gross amount gathered together at the Carlton for
the express purpose of bribery and corruption !
These accusations, moreover, were not simply
whispered in back parlours on' the sly—they were
roared with stentorian emphasis from platforms in
Birmingham and elsewhere—they were flashed
along electric wires at midnight, and repeated in
leaded-out columns in newspapers printed at cock-
crow. The general election came on in the midst
of this roar of malignant imputation ! Possessors
of household suffrage, possessors of the borough
franchise, in any way, potwallopers, anyt-ody,
everybody who dared to vote for a Derbyite at that
time of universal temptation was liable to be regarded,
was invery many hundreds and thousands of instances
regarded, as a corrupt and venial vendor of votes,
having his pocket crammed, not actually with
blood-money, but with something in its way quite as
abhorrent to a free citizen, namely, with conscience-
money—the chinking gold or the crumpled bank-
notes having been passed covertly from palm to
palm in the midst of the guttling and guzzling in
cident to times of corrupt electioneering ! The ev.

impression (there is no doubt of it) was confirmed
in the minds of many when the returns were
summed up at the close of the general election—

when it proved that the Derbyites had really
thereby' increased their strength so very consi-
derably, that from being a very powerful section
in the House of Commons they had become, be-

yond all further possibility of dcubt upon the
matter the most powerful " party " in the
new Parliament ! Assurance was soon yet further
made doubly sure in the judgments of those accus-
tomed to place implicit reliance upon the assertions
of men like Mr. BRIGHT and Sir JAMES GRAHAM—

- when it was eventually proved, upon the very first
division, that, with all the parties, and sections of
parties, on the then side of the Opposition, massed
together [not by any means by a factious combina-
tion, but simply, to borrow a memorable phrase,
used by Lord PALMERSTON upon a previous occa-
sion, simply by a " fortuitous concurrence of atoms")
—what was ebon black before became blacker than
Erebus now, when it was found that, even with
this extraordinary combination of parties and sec-
tionsthe majority gained over the iso-
lated Derbyites, in the largest house upon record,
amounted to no more than that extremely unlucky
number, Thirteen ! There could be no further
doubt upon the matter. It was as clear as

anything could well be, that all we had heard &bout
the fund provided by the Carlton was, alas ! only

_
too true. Bribery—gross and monstrous beyond
all precedent—had been employed here and there

during the general election, in all directions, by the
agents of the outgoing Government. Of course
petitions came pouring in against this and that

return of the Conservative candidates. That again

—was only, in reason, what was to be expected.
Wait a while—wait only for just a brief interval—

until these petitions could be examined into before

the Committees of Inquiry; and then-0 for the
exposures of Bribery! 0 for the revelations of

Corruption ! The monstrous, the gross, and flagi-
tious corruption indulged in systematically and
wholesale by the electioneering agents of the gone

Government ! That there were petitions sent in
against the opposite party was a fact that only
breathed of powerless spite, of an innocucus attempt
at retaliation. " Wait a wee"—and then—we
should see, what we should see !

Well, the sequel has come—but it is a sequel that
has partaken somewhat of the character of an anti-
climax. To our grief, as Liberals, the tables have
been wholly turned. The thirteen have long since
disappeared altogether—the majority that changed
the Ministry with a Presto has clean vanished.
Liberal after Liberal has been unseated by succes-
sive Committees of Inquiry—the grossest bribery
and corruption having been proved against the agents
of each of them individually. Conservative after
Conservative has been confirmed in his seat as
having been duly returned as the free choice of his
respective constituency—the charges of bribery
having broken down upon scrutiny as trumped up
or as groundless. And now, so to speak as the
climax to the anti-climax—comes this last decision
of a committee—the committee appointed to in-
quire into the election at Beverley ! There one of
the two members returned is declared to be unseated
(because of bribery proved)—and this un seated mem-
ber is down in Dod as an " advanced Liberal." The
other member returned for Beverley is declared by
the report of the committee to have been duly so
returned, and is confirmed in his seat accordingly
—and this duly elected M.P. for Beverley is a
Derbyite, is a Conservative ! To be bribed by
the Earl of DERBY and his party really
seems to be about as substantially beneficial
as it might be to dine with Duke HUMPHREY.
The £60,000 subscribed by the Carlton has
certainly been made away with very mysteriously.
There is no tracing it anywhere. As for the
£lO,OOO of the ex-Premier he must surely have been
deluded by some one most infamously. Or—there
is an alterative—the Earl and Club must have dis-
covered some extraordinary means of rendering
money more illusory than Fairy Gold. It is con-
tributed here to the tune £lo,ooo—it is subscribed
there to the gross amount of £60,000, if not
to the monstrous aggregate of £lOO,OO0—
when—lo ! there remains in the grasp of the
agents not even a handful of dead leaves. It is
very mysterious what can have become of it all.
Can't Sir JAMES GRAHAM help us in our bewilder-
ment at this annoying disappearance ? Or Mr.
BRIGHT—or any other brother-in-law of a Quaker
Banker unseated for bribery of the grossest kind
through his agents ? We pause for a reply. And
in the meanwhile, as Liberals, heart and soul, we
turn with unaffected dismay and anguish from
these most lamentable revelation!.

Ourreaders of the working classes know that there
.s one point on which we have been old advocates
of their claims ; we refer to the right of suffrage,
and we may naturally be supposed sensitive respect-
ing anything which shall enable our Conservative
antagonists to retort, " See what sort of fellows
you would put in power." How often have we
been told, " You might buy hundreds of them with
a pot of beer," and the habits of some of their order
has made it not easy to refute the charge. And, we
must confess, when we saw this morning the address
of the " Central Association of Master Builders,"
and its opening appeal to their operatives, as to how
their present proceedings would affect the lowering
of the franchise in a new Reform Bill, we were not
surprised. The same thought had occurred pre-
viously to us. As counsel for the unenfranchised,
we would not be the first to raise the question, but
seeing it is raised, we may acknowledge that we
had several times been thinking of the answers we
must furnish if asked, " Will you put on the
register men who can tyranise in this style over
both their own fellow-workmen and their masters ?"
Now, what could our answer be ? Ato quoque
might be easy. We might show how the now en-
franchised classes had once been Protectionists in
every mode, and endeavoured to impose their prices
on the community at large. But the reply would
be,—" True, but we have unlearned that, and are
we to give power to those who have not yet learned
the laws of supply and demand." And tho reply
would be responded to very generally, and would tell
strongly against operative enfranchisement, Could
we refute the charge of tyranny ? We fear not.
Allowing, for argument's sake, that it may be fair
(wise we cannot think it) for any body of persons to
combine to fix a minimum price for iron, or for
labour, or for anything else, it is not fair for them
to make rules, and enforce them by every kind of
social penalty and vexation, as to the manner in
which any artisan shall do his work, or the
number of hours he shall be permitted to
work the price he shall charge for
over time—and even how many bricks he
shall put on a hod—,or as to the use he shall make
of his hands and his trowel. A skilled artisan is
not to lay down his trowel—not to move a part of
the scaffold, although he may have to wait half an
hour for a labourer to do it ! Such regulations are,
it seems, enforced by the Trades Union—enforced
to prevent the skilful and industrious workman
doing more than the stupid and indolent.
Now, it is this class of regulations which strike
us as peculiarly objectionable on the workmen's
own account. There may be with a few unthink-
ing men a plausible reason to allege for them.
They suppose that by thus restricting each others
LIBERTY OF LABOUR they are benefiting a large
number who would otherwise get no work at all.
If they can compel a clever hand to do less than
he is able, of course what he leaves undone
makes work for an inferior one, and the
iWerior one is the better for it. But there

is quite another side of the subject.

What

right have the inferior men to deprive the better
hands of the legitimate profits of their superior

skill ? Workmen have as great diversity of ability

among them as other classes. They reap the ad-

vantage of one tradesman or manufacturer being

cleverer than another and furnishing them, in con-

sequence, with cheaper clothes or bread—and why

should not the public reap the advantage of there

being hundreds of bricklayers or carpenters cleverer

;han their fellows, and the clever bricklayer er

carpenter reap his share of it too.

To us, the class of rules we refer to appear
very much like a confederacy of the more

indolent or awkward majority to prevent
their more skilful fellows rising in the world. The

ablest masters often rise from the ranks in every
department of trade and manufactures. How

is this to be accomplished if a man of,
what we may call genius or talent, in
his line as an artizan, is to be doomed never
do more, never to earn more, never to lay by more
savings to become his first small capital, and never,
in fact, with his better brains and more dexterous
hands,:to hold his head higher than the commonplace
man. Talk of aristocratic exclusiveness, indeed !
why this tyranny of the many over the aristocracy
of their own class is infinitely worse. Shall work-
men really be jealous of the ability and talent as
conspicuous in their own ranks as in other grades
of society ? We would not ourselves entrust those
with the electoral franchise who, we thought, were
envious of the rising men of their own class.
We need not say much respecting combination
mdbnatrt tthioant
to raise wages. We feel perfectly eon
through the inevitable laws of commerce it must

work mischief in the end—mischief to the workman
himself. It may procure him a transitory advan-
tage; but as long as the consumption of the article
he produces, be it a cotton gown or a house, depends
on its price ; he cannot ultimately prosper
except by cheap production, whether he
achieve that by his own personal dexterity, or
by his working in combination with machinery.
In proportion as houses are better and cheaper
will they be in demand. The great majority of us
live in as good a house as we can afford; and what
is more, most of us would spend a few pounds more
in house rent, if we got more conveniences than we
now can by increasing our rent. The workmen
must aid iri cheapening houses if they want the
house trade to be a flourishing one. Each artisan
knows, himself, that he would spend more on a house
or lodging in proportion to what he got for his
money. It is useless to kick against a principle
which masters both masters and men.

We have looked carefully at the claims put forth
by Mr. T. MARK' NELSON, who writes strongly in
favour of the working men. But though it is un-
likely, indeed, that there should be no bad masters
and individual grounds of complaint, we cannot
understand how those he chiefly insists on can
be redressed by combination. It is utterly
impossible for a master to surrender the
right to appoint his own foreman, and
he alone can be the judge whether he deems
any of his men competent to fill a vacated foreman's
post. As to the charge of paying men off on the
Friday, to avoid paying for the short-time day

(Saturday), though it seems to be a very ungenerous
act, yet it is one which must bring its own punish-
ment, by good hands seeking masters who do not
condescend to it. Mr. NELSON praises the Trades'
Unions for their moral rules and discipline.
So should we. But if they assume to dictate
the rate of wages, and the time and man-
ner of work, we must think that they step very
much beyond -moral objects, indeed, that they be-
come guilty of an immoral interference with the
LIBERTY OF LABOUR. On this we insist, as the
right of every individual master and man
Nothing can be more degrading than for the arti-
zan to sell his freedom to the dictation of Unions ;
as, on the other hand, nothing could be more op-
pressive than for the masters to combine to take
away the individual liberty of workmen.

Austria, and her friends here, may well shrink
from a Congress. The more iniquity is discussed
the more unendurable it becomes. The mighty
paddlewheels of the Great Eastern on Monday,
though revolving but slowly, rendered the fecu-
lence of the Thames nearly intolerable ; the cham-
pagne and the stench had almost a drawn battle.
And the late short war has only served to disclose
more plainly what was well known before, the
universal odiousness of Austrian rule, and even of
the sub-despotism of its agents in the Duchies.
The fields of Montebello, Palestro, Magenta, and
Solferino demonstrated the inferiority of Austrian
soldiers or generals, or of both, to those of the
French ; but the speedy cashiering of the dukes
and cardinals, as soon as Austrian regiments were
gone or checkmated, and the exultations of every
town where the two Monarchs or GARIBALDI
arrived, published, to all disbelievers, what Austria
was to her Italian subjects. HAPSBURGS, like
CATALINES, are past blushing, or we might expect
that they would retreat for very shame from the
soil which loathes their rule. Still, even they feel
exposure too much to like to provoke it. They
have had enough of it through the war. They will
avoid that of a Congress if they can.
To Make as sure as possible of staving off this
unwelcome possibility was the real object of Lord
ELCHO'S motion. He quite well knew that no
English Minister would step in at the eleventh
hour and help to adjust the odds and ends of a
peace with whose preliminaries he had had nothing
to do. He did not intend the motion to be carried,
nor did he even wish to ask leave to put in a form
suitable to be carried. He only desired to do all
he could to save Austria from a Conference. There
was indeed the subsidiary design of commending
the " strict and impartial neutrality" between the
contending powers of the late Government ; but
that was no longer a practical issue. We must
add, it was one which the less its friends say about
it the better. Neither Government is strictly and
impartially neutral, nor can be. The two Whig
lords lean strongly to France, Sardinia, and Italian
liberation from Austrian " influence." The Tory
leaders lean as strongly to Austria, and the main-
tenance of her power over the Italians, whom they
treat as incapable of self-government. A view,
now, happily proved to be a wrong one. Not only
has the Sardinian constitution worked admirably,
but, most remarkable of all, the duchies and lega-
tions, after turning out their Austrian or Penal
deputy governors, have preserved a measure of
public order which leaves nothing to be desired. It
has been questioned whether our municipalities in
England would, under similar circumstances, have
been equally successful. It would be but honour-
able henceforth to drop this unworthy calumny—
the invention of their oppressors.
It is strongly suspected by many, both of their

friends and of the Opposition, that our Government,
though professing to see "more objections to a con-
ference than reasons for joining in one," as Lord
JOHN stated, has really not a little desire to get
one convened into which they could, honourably
for England, enter. If it really be so, they must
surely wish it in opposition to the Court. Prussia,
while even envious of Austria, seems to consider
the Italian possessions of the latter as, in a sense,
German possessions. We know what the other
States of his Royal Highness the Field Marshal's
Vaterland think. It is presumable, therefore, that
our Minist2r's must find the service to her MAJESTY
of advocating Italian liberty rather than Austrian
domination, not a very acceptable one in the eyes
of her MAJESTY'S nearest and daily adviser. He
would think that in Italy " constitutional Govern-

ment" was, indeed, yet "on its trial." We need

. .
hardly suppose that he can approve of Austrian

- -
stick-rule, but sword rule he may not deem

so bad.

Should, therefore, a conference be
ever assembled, and our Plenipotentary ever

go there, we only hope he will take his

instructions neither - at first nor at second hand

from Germany, but "go to represent the wishes of

the country which sends him ; and especially,:thal

he will not go at all, unless he have a clear and

reasonable prospect of effecting something for the
Italians, leaving the Germans to take care of them-

selves on this side the Alps.
The truth is, that we have but one honourable
course before us—to accept any opening which

presents itself of using our national influence in

favour of Italian liberty. Happily, this may

honestly be combined with urging on Austria the

desirableness, for her own srke, of retiring as much

as possible, indeed altogether, from Italy. Austria
and her Tory friends do not, of course, like such

advice. It touches their pride, and it is adverse to

their natural ideas on the blessings of coercive

rule; but it is, nevertheless, sound advice. Austria
will be stronger without Venetia itself than with
it; stronger, if she leaves the Duchies to them-

selves, than if she imposes her viceroys on subjects
whom those petty funclionaries make her enemies.

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THE SUN.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 1859.