The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, PRIPIPAY MORNING, JANUARY 12, 1844.

of the Union lies our only chance of
sarvation." Such, we fear, will ere long;
be the language generally held among the Ca-
tholics; and for this bitter feeling of animosity
the Irish Executive will have none but them-
selves to thank. Having sown the wind, they
must be prepared to reap the whirlwind. Having
issued their challenge, they must look to have it
answered. Having thrown down the gauntlet,
they must expect to have it taken up. We
said, from the very first mooting of the
question, that the State prosecutions were
a blunder, and we are now more con-
firmed than ever in our opinion. Let
the trials go which way they will, the
Government will equally be damaged. If
the " conspirators" are convicted, the con-
viction will be regarded throughout Ireland as
one that has been gained in defiance of justice, if
not of law; if they be acquitted,' the legality
of " monster-meetings" will be established, and
Repeal will thereby acquire a tenfold moral in-
fluence over the minds of the community.
Better—far better that Ministers had never
interfered with these meetings. In process
of time, when they had ceased to become
a novelty, the press would have become
weary of reporting their proceedings; the
Association Rent would have diminished;
and they would have died a natural
death; but now—thanks to the blundering Irish
Executive—fresh life has been infused into the
Repeal question, and the State prosecution is a
sort of starting-post, from which it will again set
forth like " a giant refreshed," In prison or out
of prison, Mr. O'CONNELL will henceforth be
more powerful than he was even during the
great moral struggle for Catholic Emancipation.

A deputation from the Chester and Holyhead
Railway Company, accompanied by some
Directors of the London and Birmingham, and
of the Grand Junction Railways, had, very re-
cently, an interview in Downing-street, with the
Premier and Sir JA.MES GRAHAM, 011 business
that must be deemed—more especially under
existing circumstances—of the most grave im-
portance to the interests of the public service.
We might. be_ justified in putting the affair on a
still higher ground, viewing it in connexion with
the present state of political excitement in Ire-
land; and say, that the subject of conference
was one of vital bearing upon the welfare
of the empire, for it was no other
than a proposition, on the part of the Deputation
and Directorh in question, that -the Government
should "give them some assistance" in establish-
ing a railway from Chester to Holyhead. The
vast importance of a rapid and certain commu-
nication between the two capitals of Londo and
Dublin, via Holyhead, has been recognised and
legislated upon by the Imperial Parliament dur-
ing a long succession of years. Indeed, ever
since the period of the union, the completion and
repairs and maintenance of this great road have
formed the subject of a sort of Standing Com-
mittee's most anxious solicitude. Before the Ap-
plication of steam to locomotive power by land,
it was employed in perfecting a sea packet com-
munication between Liverpool and Dublin, Dub-
lin and Holyhead, with great energy and success,
both by the Government and by that spirited
steam-boat proprietor, Mr. WILLIAms, the
founder of the Packet Company, whose gigantic
efforts in achieving this great service were, we
fear, but ill-rewarded by the event. Consider-
able praise is due to the late Lord CONGILETON,
also, for the extreme vigilance and assiduity
with which, as Chairman of the Committee in
question, he personally visited every part of the
great Holyhead-road, and even superintended
various improvements from time to time eßected
at its southern or London extremity. Since
then, it must be evident to every thinking man
that reasons of the most irresistible character,
some founded on apprehensions of resulting good,
others on the contemplation of possible evil, have
been suggested by the course of events for carrying
into execution every available means of s'aorten-
ing the geographical distance, -and accelerating
the passage of the mails, passengers, arid some
kinds of goods, between the Imperial metropolis
and the most important of our provincial cavitals.
The rapidly expanding resources of Irela.)-Id, and
the 1a ac lriyh am/English investments ern barked
in their development, would, alone, hare esta-
blished_ adequate claims on the Government and
Legislature ()Nile United Kingdom for th e devo-
tion of liberal grants, and the most active and
enlightened supervision to the accot nplish-
ment of objects so desirable. But: the
prmdial disturbances, and the mu a:icipal
discontents of Ireland in late years, and espe-
cially the more recent and more menacing atti-
tude which has been lately assumed in: that
portion of the United Kingdom, in refere n ce to
the repeal question, have concurred to Ire nder
this abridged and accelerated line of com n runi-
cation to connect Dublin with London, a con-
summation of primary, essential, and o. rr4anic
necessity to the general well-being of the et t spire.
Now, what was the nature, and wha t the
amount, of the assistance which the Gc ern-
ment was moved, by the deputation we a Olude
to, to grant towards this consummation ° We
are assured by the Times, " that the irnms si liate
question for consideration was understood t o be,
whether Government would, for a given tern n of
years, engage to pay any, and what sum, fox the
conveyance of the mail by this new rah-, ray,
beyond the ordinary charges of conveya
Surely this was little enough to ask in 1-1 ter-
ence to the greatness of the end to be ac t om-
plished. But, adds our Contemporary, •.‘ we
have reason to believe that no arrangement ' with
regard to this important undertaking was TIT s de."
And why? Was any principle involved i n the
acquiescence of the Government in such
quest, so important to the general manage E
and prosperity of public works in this cou x 'try,
that to have acceded to the wishes of the ( Is Imi-
tation would have been to compromise the still
more important object of upholding that p e
ple ? No. This pretence does not appear to nave
been thought of. Even the hacknied plea o f all
Administrations in this country, for their wt tit it of
spirit or sagacity to appreciate propositions c a lcu-
lated to effect objects of the highest public u. ti lity,
—namely, that all undertakings entered upon with
a view to public accommodation cat pleasur yt are
best left, in England, to private speculati o n,—
does not appear, on this isolated occasion, to- have
been thought of in Downing-street. Th .e no-
tions under which the First Lord of the Tr( 41 jury
and the Secretary for the Home Departure a t re-
fused the assistance required, were, if our Con-
temporary's statement be correct, just wha t we
wotild have ventured beforehand to predict w ould
be set up. They are eminently characters: is of
that small, pedling, crafty, bargain-dr it 'ing
cunning which Sir JAMES GRAIIAM has throit gli-
out his public career mistaken for statesmansl tip;
and that habitual prudery, wincing under- the
contemplation of any departure from official /
cedent, and always looking forward with
nervous horror to being questioned is Pad.
'Dent for any acts which may damage, howe
distantly, his political plausibility, that is-,
most hopeless and, at the same time, the
pitiable among the moral weaknesses of Sir ]
BERT PEEL'S public deportment :
It was considered on the part of the Government th .at any
such arrangement would at present be premature, as th, ,t had
been scarcely time for drawing the public attention to the • Re-
ports of the naval officers emplosed by the Admiralty, r 6S? that
of Mr. Walker, the civil engineer, and for giving tr , I sarties
generally who might be induced to undertake the con st, . uction
of a railway communication from Chester to Holy! le ad, the
opportunity of submitting to the Government any proposals
they might have to offer.

a re-

lia-
ver
the
ost
to

Premature, forsooth, to contribute the r
est and most efficient mean 3 for quickenin
munications between Saint James's and th
Regal Lodge at a tima like this With :

Tompt-
g com-

e Vice-

enormous portion of the Irish publicasyo
to be in avowed discontent with your C.
ment, your policy, and their connecti•

;nth an
u know
iovern-

the one and the other, will you await
drawing of public attention to the
of Mr. WALKER"—which object ma 3
as much time to accomplish a:
WALKER'S repairs to Westminster-brid.
already occupied? With State trials
ing in Dublin, the event of which, in

)n with
; " the
reports
r take
i Mr.
;e have
pend-
certain

results, no-man can undertake to fbretel—with
hourly onrces of political and popular irritation
opening and welling afresh, all around your
establishments, civil, judicial, and military
in Ireland, will you talk of awaiting the
determination of parties " who may be in-
duced" to., undertake, or submit to Go-
vernn:ent their proposals for undertiking, the
zonstruction of a work which you, the Govern-
ment, in a more provident and far-seeing dis-
charge of your duty, would long ago have ac.
complished yourselves, or caused to be effected
by others? Profound administrators of a "Con-
servative" policy, tray—thus to have hitherto
neglected, thus now to huckster and tam-
per with, a measure of paramount, inde-
scribable exigency, for the interests of that
public whom you affect to serve ! But per-
haps it may be attempted to justify this
tardy and reluctant, this cold, sneering, discou-
raging entertainment of the proposition made—
on the score of the expense to be incurred by
giving effect to it being excessive and inordinate,
as compared with the admitted value of the
work when accomplished. Let us see how the
facts stand.

So far from this being the case, be it remem-
bered that the whole question was as to the Go-
-vernment's allowing a certain surplus allowance
for the conveyance of the mails along the pro-
jected line. W• dismiss this proposition at once,
not caring whether the,over-allowance was to
have been 20, or 2,000 per cent. beyond the or-
dinary charge for such service on ordinary
roads. We contend, for the reasons we
have already assigned, that if any diffi-
culty is experienced in the immediate con-
struction of the work by private capital, the Go-
vernment should advance, say upon an issue of
Exchequer bills, in the usual form "for Public

Works" the whole of the expense. The length
of the line would be but sixty miles. The saving
of time, as Mr. WALKER has shown, on the
whole communication between the extreme
points of Dublin and London, would be nearly
twenty-four hours! The total estimated expense
would be 800,0004 or thereabouts. Let it be
assumed at 1,000,0001. Will any Minister ven-
ture to get up in his place in the House of Com•
mons, if challenged on this subject, arid attempt
to justify the denial of such advances for an ob-
ject of this prodigious importance, on a plea of
the danger of the precedent to be established ?
Look at the advances already made for railway
lines on the Irish side of the Channel. 'Why should
similar assistance be withheld on this? Again,
the National Gallery, the Park improve- ,
merits, the extension of other works
which, though called public," are so ob-
sure as to be known to but very few indi-
viduals, have cost within the last three or four
years, in various parts of the kingdom, double
the amount required for this wise and necessary
undertaking-.-to say nothing of Royal stables,
and other objects merely appertaining to the ex- ,
ternal pomp and dignity of the Crown. We
protest that we "cannot find a single ground of jus-
tification for the course adopted in this matter by
Sir ROBERT PEEL and Sir JAMES GRAHAM.

We have received Madrid papers of the 3d
inst., and are not a little surprised to learn that
the New Municipal Bill hardly excitesa murmur
of discontent. The Political Chief of Madrid is
actively employed in organising the mode of exe-
cution of the new laws. The majority of the
members of the municipality submit, but seve-
ral have given in their resignations. It is not
thought that that body has an idea of making
any opposition to the new law; the meeting was
rather for some regulation of the affair. It is
also stated that the new laws have been well re-
ceived in the provinces. On the 2d, the Liberal
electors of Madrid met for the purpose of select-
ing candidates on theirside at the elections which
are to take place, in consequence of the vacan-
cies caused by the late appointments. The fol-
lowing names were unanimously agreed to :
MM. ARGUELLES, OLOZAGA, SAN MIGUEL, CAN-
TERO, LUJAN, MIRALLES, SAGASTI, and ANGULO;
and the candidates for the Senate, CALATRAVA,
r
zaTIVIALACARREGUI, and VALLEJO.
The Impartial of Barcelona of the 2d inst.
stags th.t ti,c commander of the castle of
Figueras had capitulated on the following terms :.
—" 1. The soldiers of the army and of the free
corps are to serve eight years in the army; and
the National Guards, after being disarmed, are
to remain under the surveillance of the authori-
ties. 2. The chiefs are to re-enter the class of
citizens. 3. The revolters possessed of property
are to indemnify the individuals who have
suffered material damage by the insurrection."
On the Madrid B 4
231 foroursethe crib,Three and 241
p e r
at6o
y Cents.
were
thea
at
2312
Five per Cents. at 201 at 60 days,
with premium. donel and
premium.

Thesspapers are almost entirely filled with
the debates P
and Paris
in the Chamber of Peers on the ad-
dl. ecomments on the various topics on
e aatis
which it touches, and chiefly on the visit of the
Duke of BORDEAUX to England. The Legitimist
papers, of course, are furious against M. GUIZOT
for describing the attentions paid to the Prince
by Frenchmen as "revolting scandals." "M.
Gru
ius e
says the Quotidienne, "yesterday esta-
bsterling
value of the Royalist parry
i
by contending with tas lie did, and by revealing
izopt7le
his system of conduct throughout Europe with
relation to the Duke DE BORDEAUX. Vainly did
M. GUIZOT attempt to attenuate the importance
of this great party by cutting it into halves,
making one-half wise men, and the other half
tools. The fools, itappears, are henceforth to play
a prominent part in the Ministerial controversy.
But let us leave M. GUIZOT, the philosopher,
to amuse himself with his own inventions. France
knows very well what the Royalist party in the
mass
expresses. The Chamber of Peers would
have been taught this yesterday if two men, ac-
customed to explain with the greatest authority
to it the true Royalist ideas, had not been absent;
one of them painfully kept away by illness, and
the other cruelly pre-occupied by apprehensions
which Gon, we hope, will dissipate. No, no !

Jere are no root: but in parties that will no

look at anything passing around them, and will
not be taught by the crises with which they are
menaced. The fools are the Ministers, who dare
to murmur threats of exceptional measures.
Therefore let us render thanks to M. GUIZOT,
for he has placed us in the most favourable posi-
tion for our defence, and for defending the
country against the follies of the Ministry. This
is a fine opening of the session. Having offered
up our thanks to M. G IMO; let us do homage to
Messrs. DE RICHELIEU and DE VERAC."
The Journal des Debats gives unqualified
praise to the address, and to M. GUIZOT'S speech,
which it thus characterises :—" We shall not
attempt to analyse the speech of the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, for we should be afraid of weak-
ening the profound impression and irresistible
ascendancy he gained over the Chamber. All
that eloquence which the highest power of rea-
soning, inspired by the most noble and legiti-
mate passion, could be brought forth from a
statesman defending the rights of his country,
her greatest and best interests, both present and
future, M. GUIZOT infused into his answer to the
audacious manifesto proclaimed from the tri-
bune. We have been the first to say,
and we repeat with the illustrious orator,
that an importance beyond their deserts as-
suredly ought not to be attached to vain demon-
strations. Some allowances should be made for
the well-known irreflection and incurable folly of
the Carlist party. There has been as much
frivolity as culpable attention in the small assem-
blage of gentlemen who have amused themselves
by playing at royalty in a private house in Lon-
don. Thanks be to GOD, the scenes in Belgrave-
square have not placed the Revolution of July
or its dynasty in any danger, but they have pro-
duced, repeating the words used by M. GUIZOT,
an immense scandal."

No doubt remained that the notation Bill had
been given up, and it was currently reported also
that there would be no discussion on the Right
of Search question, as it would interfere with
pending negotiations. On Tuesday the editor of

the Gazette de France was tried at the Court of
f* r ;v;;‘," ter-lw;11 a "se7l.itlol-,
published some ten dais since, and was condemned
to pay a fine of 6,000 francs, and be impriso..ed
for two years.
BOURSE—P - ARTS, TUESDAY, JAN. 9.
First Highest Lowest Last
P. Price. Pri. rice.
French Five per Cents. 124 rice ce P
30... 124 30... 124 25 .. 124 30
Threes
Bank of France. 3215 ...3220 ...3215 ...3220
Laffitte Bank 5,000 f 5075 ...5075 ...5075 ...5075
Belgian Bank 697 50... 697 50 .. 697 50._ 697 50
1841 lOBO ...1080 ...1060 —lOBO
Belgian Fives, 1840 lOBl ... 1081 los* ... 1081
1842 lO9 ... 109 ... 169 ... 109
Spanish Active ... 291 ... 291 ... 29i ... 291
Passive ...... 51 ... 5/ ... 51 ... 51
Neapolitan ....... 106 10... 106 50... 106 50... 106 50
',omen ...... ............ 1045 ... 1044 .. 1041, ... 104 k

RAILWAY SHARES
St. Germain 790 ... POO ... 790 800
Versailles, R.B 3lO ... 312 50.. 310 312 50
L. B 176 25... 177 50... 171 '25... 171 25
Rouen to Havre . €46 25... 655 ... 646 ... 655
Orleans.
Mulhaksen to Thann 3BO ... 380 ... 380 380
Montpellier to Cette 375 ... 375 ... 375 ... 375
Strasburg to Bale
Avignon to Marseilles 672 50... 672 50... 667 40... 667 50

RAILWAY SHARES, FOR THE ACCOUNT.
Versailles, L.B 176 25... 176 50... 172 50... 172 50
Rouen to Havre , 650 ... 658 75... 650 .. 658 75
Orleans ....... . 830 ... 840 ... 830 ... 840
Strasburg to Bale 215 ... 215 ... 215 2:5
Avignon to MarseiUcs 672 50... 672 50... 667 50 .. 667 50

On Wednesday afternoon a very general rumour
prevailed in Dublin, that the trials were abandoned,
the grounds assigned for which were, that after the
Recorder left Dublin and arrived at Drayton Manor,
he discovered among his papers some sheets of the
jury list, which contained the names of some of the
Roman Catholics, about whose absence from the panel
so much has been said and written during the last
week. Wagers had been made that no trial will take
place this term. We mention the rumour merely as
having been current in Dublin, but attach not the
slightest importance to it.

AMERICAN NEWS

LIVERPOOL, THURSDAY MORNING,

The packet-ship Liverpool, Captain Eldridge,

arrived in the river at a late hour last night, having
left New York on the 21,t ult., making the passage in
about twenty days. The dates by this arrival are
five days later, the dates being by the last steamer to
the 15th.

The news seems to be of little importance. In
Canada no new Ministry had been formed, but a Pro-
visional Committee had been appointed, composed of
Mr. Daly (the Member who did not resign), Draper,
Viger, and a few others, unknown in the political
world, until a more permanent arrangement can be
made.