The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-01 00:00:00

311 tit

LONDON, TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1850.

The second half of the nineteenth century could
scarcely open under apparently more lugubrious aus-
pices for the political emancipation of the European con-
tinent. Nevertheless, our confidence in the ulterior
triumph of Democracy remains so wholly unshaken by
the events of the last twelve months, that our anticipa-
tions even in regard to the initial year of the half-
century are of the most brilliant and auspicious
character. We look for no miraculous inter-
position of PROVIDENCE in favour of the
multitude, we look for no abrupt catastrophe
producing the downfal of despotism, we look
not even for the recurrence of those surpris-
ing demonstrations which convulsed European society
to its very foundations during the stormy days of '4B,
after the revolutionary detonation of February and
the bloody saturnalia of June. W hat we regard as
possible, as probable—we had almost said as inevitable
—in the destinies of the nations of the continent, is
the gradual exhaustion of the reactionists and their
consequent deprivation of authority. The struggle
hitherto maintained between the two great contending
parties, between the democrats and the aristocrats,
between the princes and the peoples, between
the lovers of liberty and the aspirants for
absolutism, has been altogether too energetic and
desperate not to have left the conquering faction
almost as exhausted as the conquered. Beyond which
it must be remembered that the victors having
possession of the field, and having all the toils and
responsibilities of government_devolving upon them-
selves, find it requisite to put forth their strength
perpetually to the uttermost in order to preserve
the supremacy so dearly and arduously acquired.
For this reason the absolutists are in a position
such as places them at a disadvantage with their an-
tagonists :in the event of another encounter. They
are deprived by their situation of the security of a
reserve. While the opposite side is enabled to
gather together its scattered forces, and to
take at leisure all necessary precautions,
the reactionists are compelled to attend
more to the demands of the present than to the neces-
sities of the future. Hence it is that we are sanguine
as to the speedy reversal of the late victory.
Doubtless, moreover, it will prove in the end a for-
tunate occurrence to the cause of popular advancement
that after the astonishing successes obtained in 1448
the multitude had to traverse in 1849 a period of
calamity and misfortune. It was then more mani-
festly than at any anterior epoch testified that little
magnanimity need be expected from the conquering
absolutists, no matter how generous might have
been the policy of their opponents during
the time when they had proved victorious.
After witnessing, on the establishment of Republi-
canism, the formal abolition of the punishment of
death for political offences, the Kingly coalition on its
resumption of authority inaugurated the occasion of
its restoration by the commission of atrocities such
as barbarians would scarcely have attempted to perpe-
trate without hesitation. The lash, the musket, the gibbet,
and the dungeon were adduced as the guardians of
liberty and the instruments requisite for the conserva-
tionofcivilized society. The terrible offices of the
hangman,
the turnkey, and the headsman were
treated as the posts of supreme responsibility,
and the prince marshals of monarchy vied with
each other in the demonstration of an unparalleled
ferocity. Of the truth of these assertions let the
records of the late conquest of the Hungarians be a
sufficient testimony. There it was that HAYNAU and
WELDED, and PASKIEWITCH and WINDISCHGRATZ,
tarnished the already besmeared and polluted
standards of Austria and Russia by a relentless•
mu such as would have been appalling on the part of

the most inexorable demagogues in the first French
Revolution. Fertile tracks of country ravaged by
the Cossacks, cities desolated by the devilish torrents
of bombs and rockets poured down upon them as
upon political Gomorrahs in the midst of protracted
bombardments, women flogged in the public squares
by the veteran mercenaries of Germany, children
plunged into premature incarceration, patriots hunted
like wild beasts from the land of their nativity,
1 men without spot or stain upon their cha-
racters hung like dogs or shot down like
malefactors—such were the spectacles revealed to
the horror of Europe by the imperial persecutors,
from the storming of Temeswar to the flight of the
illustrious Kossirra and his compatriots, beyond• the
frontiers of the Turkish dominions. It is because we
regard the Divine punishment of these enormities as
certain that we look with hopeful eyes towards the per-
spective of the approaching year, along the vista of the
dawning half-century. The expiation is as assured
as the commission of the crimes. is undeniable. The
sword of the avenging angel of Liberty is already
raised over the insolent exultors over her dewnfal.
From the lowest, the vilest, the meanest, the most
despicable of the foes of Freedom, to the haughtiest
and most terrible—from the infamous GEMRCIEY
upwards, to the Red Emperor of AUSTRIA
and the inexorable AUTOCRAT of all the Russias, the
fulfilment of their sinister destinies is: a matter
of absolute certainty. Before a very long period can
have elapsed those destinies will have been definitively
accomplished—because the peoples of Europe cannot
long remain indifferent to the cries of exultation
raised by the assailants of liberty and the devasta-
tors of the continent. We are profoundly satis-
fied, consequently, that the opening year is big
with the fate of many European nationalities, how-
evermuch the reactionists may- flatter themselves with
the belief that the popular ambition has been extin-
guished in Italy, in Hungary, or in Germany.
That ambition having been elevated to the
pinnacle in 1848, and hurled down into the
dust in 1849, will, if the multitude only
remain true to the cause which is identical with
their real happiness, be amply repaired in 1850 by the
subjugation of the royal and imperial oppressors of
humanity.
______

We yesterday pointed out the probable results o
the recent legislation for Ireland, so far as the interests
of both branches of the legal profession in that country
are concerned. The avowed intention and object of
Parliament was to get rid of the master grievance by
which all classes were more or less affected—an
impoverished and embarrassed proprietary, who were
unable to improve their estates or to discharge effi-
ciently any of the duties incidental to their position.
It is unfortunately but too notorious that a vast
number, if not an actual majority, were but nominal
owners,who were bound to apply the rents they received
in discharge of the claims of creditors, that they
were little better, in fact, than agents for mortgagees,
who absorbed the entire returns, and who did not con-
sider themselves in any degree bound to look after
the permanent improvement of the properties, or the
interests of the occupiers. An "aiserdeeism" of the
worst class was thus established by law, and the
yeomen and peasantry throughout the entire country,
or at least in three provinces, were the chief suf-
ferers. The former were " screwed" to the utmost
point, required to pay, or rather to promise to pay,
rents which were assessed according to the neces •
sities of the landlord, rather than the real value
of the holdings. Improvements were practically
prohibited; for even if the farmer were possessed of
adequate means, he would not venture to apply them
in the amelioration of his tenement, for if he did so,
it would be the signal for either a considerable
increase of rent or his eviction, in order that the
needy proprietor might obtain a fine from a new
tenant; while the peasantry were unable to obtain a
market for their only capital—their labour. There
was an almost total cessation of employment,
although in no country in the world could
labourers be obtained on such easy terms, or with a
better prospect of remunerative profit to those who
were enabled to avail themselves of the great natural
advantages of the country.
While all classes, with one single exception, suffered
deeply and severely from this untoward state of affairs,
one body reaped a rich harvest from the embarrass-
ments of their neighbours. The legal profession
flourished while all others were enduring the greatest
distress and privations. The moment that an estate
got under the control and management of that worst of
all landlords, a receiver under "the Court," it became
a fertile source of revenue to barristers and solicitors.
Enormous costs were incurred in bringing the case
before the Court, filing the bill, getting in the an-
swers of all the defendants, or in motions for having
the bill taken pro confess* against the parties who
delayed ; then bringing the cause to a hearing, and
obtaining an interlocutory decree ; then a motion for
a receiver, and reference to the Master to approve of
a fit and proper person to act in that capacity ; to
measure and approve of his securities; then state-
ments of facts as to the condition of the property, ap-
plications for liberty to distrain or to bring ejectments,
the annual passing of the receiver's accounts, to say
nothing of the " charging" and "discharging" in order
to ascertain the various encumbrances; then the
settling the draft report, the objections thereto argued
before the Master; then the exceptions to the Court
itself, with perhaps a subsequent reference to the
Master to review his report. If we add to these the
various stages that were necessarily gone through be.
fore a decree for a sale could be obtained—the refe-
rences as to title, settling the conditions of sale, the
objections to title by the purchaser—which
frequently rendered nugatory all the previous
proceedings, and compelled the plaintiff to commence
de novo, to bring some forgotten parties before the
Court who might possibly be interested under some
contingency ; or, if all were right, the allocation of
the purchase money, the decision on the question of
costs, and the subsequent taxing and ascertaining of
the several solicitors' bills—it may easily be imagined
that a large and deeply encumbered estate was re-
garded as an El Dorado, producing mines of wealth
to the learned practitioners. " The counsellor," too,
was a great man in Ireland. Every gentleman
of fortune considered it necessary to send one at
least of his sons to the Bar; and, if blessed with a
numerous family—and in that respect at least the
Irish gentry were seldom found wanting—another
was bound to a solicitor, in order to make a con-
nexion for the barrister. The " profession" thus
became overstocked—too crowded even for the large

business and enormous profits which the circum.
stances to which we have alluded afforded—and al

though many realised handsome incomes, a great ma-
jority were either briefless or clientless ; so much so,
that it has been stated—and we believe truly—that if
the entire profits were fairly divided enough would not
be left to each to defray the expenses incidental to his
profession. What, then, will be the position of those
persons when deprived of their sheet-anchor—the
practice in Chancery ? when the landlord and tenant
question is settled so as to prevent anything similar to
the mass of litigation that has hitherto taken place ?
and when the jurisdiction of the Assistant-Barristers'
Courts is largely extended, so as to comprise the
actions on bills of exchange and simple
contract debts, that are now so profitable ?
It requires no extraordinary degree of vaticination to
foretell the changes that will take place whenever the
most eminent can only realise a scanty income, and
when all whose characters are not already established
will be left in penniless obscurity.
In considering the probable, or even the possible
results of such a contingency, it must not be forgotten
ttat in Ireland the " safety-valves " are wanting
which in this country break Ate fall of, and supply
employment for, the younger branches of
respectable families. There are no great
mercantile or manufacturing houses, and few

private banks, in which educated young men can
obtain employment, with a view of ultimately be-
coming partners. The trade and commerce of the
country is, unhappily, so little developed as to pro-
duce but little effect in breaking the fall of landed
proprietors and professional men. Is it not then just
and equitable, as well as politic and expedient,
to throw open to such parties the advan-
tages and facilities for acquiring a respectable
livelihood, which this more favoured country
bestows ? Nothing can be more dangerous than to
leave a body of energetic and educated, but dis-
tressed and dissatisfied, men, in compulsory idleness.
Then, indeed, there would be a well-founded
grievance, which would be amplified and dwelt on

in " every possible manner. Those to whom no
legitimate channel of employment would remain
would devote their leisure time to agitation, and
Ireland would, indeed, be rendered the great difficulty
of the Government of the United Kingdom. There
is, in fact, no alternative remaining but the
restoration of the Irish Parliament, and
of separate establishments for both countries, or the
complete and thorough amalgamation of both king-
doms. The existing union must either he dissolved
or cemented by the closest ties. Many disadvan-
tages would follow from the former course Ito Ire-
land, even more than to Great Britain, that it is unne-
cessary to dwell upon it to English readers. But
we emphatically declare our full conviction, that if
we: are not prepared to concede the latter in all its in-
tegrity, and to render Ireland an integral portion of the
empire, we must anticipate the time, and that at
no distant period, when the former will be wrung
from us, and a formidable rival established on our
western coasts. It is a delusion to say that repeal
could take place without separation. The choice,
then, must be a complete and perfect union—an un-
qualified amalgamation, or a total separation. Which,
we ask, will be most desirable for Saxons as well as
for Celts ?

TU E FRENCH REPUBLIC.

'e have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
The Moniteur announces that the Committee on
the reform of the mortgage law have drawn up a Bill
on the subject, and submitted it to the Council of
State.. The object of the measure is to place capital at
the command of the agriculturist by increasing his
facilities of borrowing on mortgage.
The same official journal announces that on Sun-
day the Marquis of NORMANDY obtained a private
audience of the PRESIDENT of the Republic, at which
he presented a letter from Queen VICTORIA, announc-
ing the death of her late Majesty the QUEEN Dow-
♦GEE.

The Moniteur also officially declares to be untrue
that any letters have been written from the Secretary's
office at the Presidency, asking M. Duels when it
would be convenient for the Assembly to come in a
body to visit Louis NAPOLEON, on the occasion of
New Year's •day.
It is said that the PRESIDENT has consented to give
way to a certain extent to the Committee of the
Assembly on the La Plata question, and that an
expedition of 8,000 men will be dispatched to back
up the negotiations with ROSAS. In the course of a
long article on this subject, the Constitutionnel says—
" There are modes of negotiation which imply ac-
tion. We have reason to believe that M. DARu
understands and admits a system of politics com-
posed of the two elements ; and, on the other
hand, we are certain that the Government would
not engage in a new negotiation without having the
means necessary to ensure a certain protection to our
countrymen, and such as would be a point d'appui,
and great chance of success for the negotiation itself ;
so that the Government and the committee, while
disagreeing about words, agree as to substance, and
we hope that to-morrow will prove that the good un-
derstanding exists."
The Legitimatists arrested in the Rue Rumford are
to be tried on the charges of having constituted a
secret society, and of having assembled to discuss
politics without an authorization.
Admiral BAUDIN arrived at Toulon on the 26th, en
board the Veloce. The French fleet from the Levant
was expected at Toulon every day.
One of the French regiments of the Roman army
has embarked for Algeria, and three others are under
orders to return to France.
Great damage was done at Bourdeaux on the 28th
by a hurricane. Several of the ships in the river
were wrecked.

Accounts from Cherbourg, of the 27th, mention
that several vessels had been wrecked in the Channel
during the last week. A plank, with the name of
" Elizabeth" in gilt letters, had been washed on shore
at Cherbourg.
PARIS BOURSE, DEC. 31.—Latest prices—Five per
Cents., 29f. 10c. ' • Tbree per Cents., 56f. 30c. ; Bank
of France, 2,350 f.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, Dec. 31.
Boulogne and Amiens, 7IA —Luxembourg, 2%—Northern
of France, 13/4 dis.— Sambre and Meuse, 2;4.