The Sun.
London, England, 1850-11-06 00:00:00

THE SUN,

be sent in with sufficient promptitude to confirm the
members of the Executive Committee in the in,-
preision that the nstion at large is staunch in its
practical sympat.by in the undertskine—otherwise
they may become so faie diiheartened at the outset
as
to contract in some measure the noble scale of the
projected dimensions, and thereby to stunt the plan,
so grievously as to render them nu longer symmetrical.
From the assurances accompanying the circular
just issued by the Secretary from his offices in West-
minster, it must be manifest even to the most suspi-
cious that every reasonable precaution is being taken•
by the Executive Commission to combine a just
economy with a generous enterprise. According to
his own spontaneous and explicit declaration, " the
accounts are regularly audited," so that no unneces-
sary expenses are incurred in anticipation of aid larger
than may at first be transmitted to the Commissioners.
Means are being adopted, it would seem, indeed,
on all hands by the constituted authorities for the
avoidance of any superfluous exertion in the way of
carrying into effect the project of his Royal Highness
the PRINCE CONSORT. Meanwhile it cannot so soon
be forgotten that that illustrious personage took occa-
sion only the other evening, at the banquet given to
himself and the municipal rulers of the United
Kingdom, to assure those who might be at all nervous
as to the position of the affairs of the Exhibition,
that everything promised in its regard most
prosperously. Such an intimation coming from the
lips of Prince ALBERT himself cannot fail to re-assure
all those who may hitherto have been dubious as to
the good prospects of the enterprise. Instead of look-
ing forward to some unfortunate termination of a
scheme entered upon under the most flattering but
illusory auspices, the least sanguine will only have
reason to congratulate themselves as members of the
community upon the all but absolute certainty of the
Exhibition proving ultimately most honourable to the
credit of England. That it will redound to the
national honour we rest confident not merely from
the remembrance of the beforementioned assertion of
Prince ALBERT, but from our own perfect reliance on
the energy of the English character. That energy
we feel persuaded will not be disgraced in the eyes of
the whole world by the display of any unwonted
niggardliness on an occasion involving the fair fan:e
of the United Kingdom. In a community like ours,
a community of merchants and traders holding mer-
cantile intercourse with the remotest quarters of the
globe, it must not surely be said that so little of the
ancient spirit of the Anglo-Saxon race survived, that
the noblest proposition of a commercial kind made
within the memory of the present generation was
permitted to languish through a lack of funds, and to
falsify the expectations founded upon a conviction of
the national enterprise. Never before, perhaps, have
the merchants of England been afforded so brilliant
an opportunity for displaying their munificence.
That opportunity, we believe, will in no case be al-
lowed to remain fruitless; more especially are we
convinced of this from a knowledge that the exhibi-
tion which the mercantile classes of the United
Kingdom are called upon to assist is singularly cal-
culated to forward their interests. Out of that exhi-
bition the industrial population cannot fail to evolve
advantages such as must manifest themselves more
and more perceptibly as time proceeds, exciting the
more ingenious by a new feeling of emulation, and
encouraging the more plodding by an increased sense
of their importance. Under no aspect, in short, can
we view the approaching display of the products of
art and industry, gathered together from all parts of
the four continents, as otherwise than certain to dif-
fuse the most beneficial influences over the population.
Hence, therefore, we are the more peculiarly soli-
citous to witness the cordial response of the people to
the proposal of the PRINCE, a response which can be
best articulated through the medium of prompt and
generous contributions.

The touching jeremiads that day after day .zre is-
suing from the agriculturists, that are propouoded
by Protectionist leaders, repeated by the general herd
of Protectionists, and reiterated usque ad nauseam by
the Protectionist journals, demand some notice from
those who conscientiously advocate free-trade prin-
ciples, and are strenuously determined to resist to
the uttermost the re-imposition of a bread-tax, or, to
use the new and more favourite phrase, the estab-
lishment of import duties on agricultural produce,
whether for the purposes of protection or of revenue.
We are told by witnesses, put forward by the owners
and occcupiers of land, that the cultivation
of the soil under the present circumstances of
the country, is and must necessarily prove
unremunerative ; that ruin inevitably awaits
all those who embark their capital in agricultural pur-
suits ; that, in fact, if they persist in carrying on the
losing game, they must, sooner or later, come to the
Gazette. These may not be the exact words, but
they certainly contain the spirit of the observations
put forward, at the various bucolic gatherings, by
landlords as well as by tenant-farmers, and adopted
by all who profess reactionary doctrines and sigh
after the good old times of monopoly and class legis-
lation. The conclusion attempted to be drawn from
these premises is, that the lands of England must
speedily go out of cultivation—that wheat can-
not be produced on British ground—and that,
therefore, we must become dependent on the
foreigner for articles of primary necessity ;
for it is impossible to suppose that farmers will
continue the production of their commodities at
a certain loss. If a manufacturer of woollens or cot-
tons were to find that he hid embarked in a hopeless
concern, he would withdraw his remaining capital
without a moment's delay, turn his attention to some
other quarter, and endeavour to invest the residue of
his property in some better speculation, from which
he might fairly look for reasonable profit and a com-
fortable livelihood by the exercise of his honest in-
dustry. How can it be expected that the manu-
facturers of " corn" or of " cattle" [should act dif-
ferently, or persevere in their exertions when labour
cannot meet its just reward ?

Before, however, we, who refuse our assent to the
taxation of the community for the exclusive benefit of
a particular class, agree to the deduction, it is neces-
sary to see that the conditions of the question have
been fairly stated, and that it necessarily follows from
the premises. Supposing, for the sake of argument,
that we yield the first postulate, and admit (which
we most positively and unequivocally deny) " that
the cultivation of the soil under the present circum-
stances of the country is, and must necessarily prove,
unremunerative," are we not entitled to ask for
further inquiry into those " circumstances," and to
know how far the untoward result may be
ascribed to the parties exclusively interested, to
the landlords and tenants themselves, who
are acting on a vicious and impolitic
system, which renders necessary the begging appeal
to the public to tax themselves for the benefit of the
whining mendicants, and in order that the erroneous
system may be perpetuated ? We are justified in
inquiring whether the owners of the soil, the territo-
rial aristocracy, have, as a general rule, abated their
rents in proportion to the great appreciation in the
value of money occasioned by the infamous mone-
tary code which they themselves were the parties to
inflict upon a suffering nation, in pursuance of a
corrupt compact with the moneyocracy. How can
they reasonably expect to obtain the same prices
in a metallic currency, with a gold pound
worth 20s, which were freely paid in a
paper currency with a pound worth 135.--in(
limited and restricted circulating medium, inadequate
to the wants and exigencies of the country, as when
there was sufficient representatives and measures of
value, and the supply was proportioned to the actual
necessities of the period, to the accumulated wealth,
and population of the country ? We are entitled to
full and satisfactory answers to these interrogatories
before we can acknowledge the necessity, or even the
propriety, of affording legislative relief to the
alleged sufferers.
Again, we desire to know whether the landlords
hold out every reasonable inducement to tenants
tending to the due development of the natural capabi-
lities of the soil ? Do the owners of land prefer the
undue increase of game, that they themselves and
their aristocratic friends may slaughter innumerable
pheasants, hares, and partridges, at their periodical
battues, to the pecuniary hiterests of themselves and
their tenants ? What may be the amount of damage
occasioned.by these destructive animals to the farmers ?
It is unquestionably very great, and we believe that
we are fully justified in stating that the occupiers of
the soil in many districts would be perfectly willing
to do without corn-laws or import duties on agricul-

aural produce if they were permitted to dispose as
they thought pr-per of the game on their respective
holdiegs—e hat they would, in f ict, be quite content
if " proz,ectixai t., game hail been abolished simul-
taneously with protection to corn.
But Were is ano:her point of no less importance
than those to which we have already alluded. We
must also learn whether the cultivation of the soil is
conducted in the most skilful as well as in the most
economical manner. Are, then, all the appliances
of modern science fairly brought into operation ?
Does the farmer avail himself of the various advan-
ttages which were altogether wanting to his prede-
cessors ? We fear that the answers to these ques-
ions will not be more satisfactory than those relating
to currency and game. Every man seems to con•
sider that he is " born a farmer," that he has only
to follow on the beaten track, that he may
neglect the obvious expedients for increasing
the quantity and quality of' his produce
and yet that his business should prove profitable.
What, we ask, would be thought of a cotton manu-
facturer who imagined that be could dispense with
the machinery and improvements invented during
the last half century ? who repudiated "spinning-
jennies," and continued to pursue the system that bad
become obsolete ? Would such a man be deserving of
pity ? Would he be entitled to demand legislative
assistance, or to have a tax imposed on calicoes for his
protection ? Most assuredly not. He would be
justly regarded as an " imbecile," and his clamorous
petitions would be treated with well-merited scorn.
But this is what the agriculturists expect. They
vainly imagine that their business should be ren-
dered so profitable by means of " protection" that they
may support themselves and families with little exer-
tion of mind or body, that a careless and slovenly
mode of cultivation should answer all their purposes.
Lord STANLEY, in his celebrated speech at Bury, de-
clared that "he had seen lands in such a state of
absolute neglect that he had stared with astonishment
when told what was the amount of rent which the
late tenant was nominally engaged to pay out of such
land." But the faineants, who act in this culpable
manner, most probably ascribe their losses to the
abolition of protection, and are the most clamorous
for its restoration. It is a comfortable creed to be
able to shift the blame from their own shoulders to
any other quarter. Before, however, their demands
en receive any attention, they must show that they
have done everything practicable on their own behalf,
that their losses are the result of misfortune and not of
their own faults. Until that is the case, Parliament
will reply to their petitions in the language of
HERCULES to the waggoner—Aides toi, le ciel t'aidera

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
The Commission of Permanence assembled on
Monday, tinder the Presidency of M. Durm, and
adjourned to Thursday, as the differences between
the Bourbonistlic and the PRESIDENT have been tem-
porarily arrangeni, by the latter pledging himself to
continue General CHANGARNIER in his command,
whilst the former wit". not insist upon the immediate
dissolution of the SociOy of the 10th of Decemher.
The PRESIDENT was !ouch irritated ;when he read
the order of the (lay of General CHANGARNIER, and
proposed his immediate dismis3al, but his Ministers
were so terrified at the probable consequences of such
a step, that not one of them would countersign the de-
cree. The PRESIDENT then determined to dismiss
his Ministry, and call to his councils men of firmer
nerve, or of more honesty of purpose than the old
Bourbon clique of LA HITTE and Co., but he suf-
fered himself- to be mollified by a quasi
apology offered by CHANG ARNIER, who called
at the Elysee on Monday for the purpose
of offering explanations as to issuing the order of the
day. A temporary reconciliation is therefore patched
up between the Elysee and the Tuileries, and, as an
" outward and visible sign" of a cessation of hostilities,
the PRESIDENT and the General are to dine together
at M. DUPIN'S. The Bourbonists consider this a vic-
tory, and both the Legitinsatist and Orleanist jour-
nals, including the Ordre, the organ of ODILLON
BARROT and TRIERS, " snub" the PRESIDENT ac-
cordingly, and threaten him with all sorts of punish-
ments should he attempt to emancipate himself from
he thraldom in which they believe they hold him.
General CHANGARNIER has published the follow-
ing Order of the Day on the appointment of Ge-
neral CARRELET to the place of General Nnu-
MAYER

" By a decree of the President of the Republic, dated
the 29th of October, General Carrelet, commanding the
7th military division, is called to the command of the Ist,
vice General .I.\ieumayer, promoted to the superior com-
mand of the 14th. and 15th divisions. In communicating
this arrangement to the troops, the General-in-Chief
doubts not that Geoeral Carrelet will maintain in his di-
vision that spirit of order, discipline, and devotedness
which has constituted :he force of the Army of Paris,
and that, following the example of his predecessor, he
will secure on every point the complete execution of the
military regulations.'
PARIS BOURSE, Nor. s.—Latest Prices.—Five
per Cents., 93f.; Three per Cents., 57f. 75c. ; Bank
of France, 2,300 f.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, Nov. 5.
East Indian, 9% Luxembourg, 1% Sambre and
Meuse, 234—West Flanders, 2.

SPAIN.

OPENING OF THE CORTES-THE SPEECH
FROM THE THRONE.

Madrid journals of the 31st ult. have been received.
On that day the QUEEN opened the Cortes in per-
son, and delivered the following speech from the
throne :

" My Lords and Gentlemen,
" I always experience great pleasure in finding myself
among you. I had, however, hoped that to-day my hap-
piness would have been greater than usual. I had hoped
to have appeared here with a new title, with a new pledge
of love and of confidence in the future. But Provi-
dence has denied to us that gratification. Let us respect
his decisions, and trust to the wisdom of his impenetrable
designs.
" I am happy to inform you that diplomatic relations
with Great Britain have been happily renewed in a man-
ner honourable to the dignity of both nations.
" Our relations with the other Powers remain on
the same footing of good understanding and of friend-
ship.
" The expedition which I dispatched to the Pontifical
States, in order to assist those of the other Catholic
Powers in re-establishing the temporal authority of the
Holy See, has safely returned, after having attained
that end. It has left in Italy lasting remem-
brances of its brilliant conduct and of its discipline,
and has drawn on itself the benedictions of the Church,
and the most lively gratitude of the provinces which it
occupied. _

" in the interior, public order, the first necessity of
notisona, has not for a single moment been disturbed, and
in consequence the sources of wealth and prosperity
which our country contains are being developed and
augmented under the vigilant protection of the ad-
ministration. At the same time old discords are for-
gotten, party dissensions are disappearing, and the
country is able to avail itself of the services of all its
children; and the policy most conformable to my de-
sires, the policy of forgiveness, of tolerance, and of true
liberty, is established and consolidated. _

" The provinces beyond sea, which so frequently en-
gage my attention and that of my Government, have en-
joyed peace equally with the peninsula. In the island of
Cuba, nevertheless, foreign pirates surprised some of the
maritime towns, and occasioned deplorable scenes; but
in a few hours these wretches were forced to fly before
the presence of our people and the courage of our troops,
renouncing their criminal attempt.
" My Government occupies itself without relaxation
with the improvement of those important provinces.
'foe most available measures have been taken for
their security, their defence, and the perfecting of all the
branches of their administration. A line of steam-
boats has been established between Cuba and Porto
Rico, in order to render the communications more fre-
quent and more direct, and to draw closer the Spanish
countries of both hemispheres. In the Asiatic pro-
vinces the Government continues to occupy itself ac-
tively in securing the safe passage of the seas, and in
promoting the civilisation of the aboriginal tribes.
" The army has taken, and continues to take, a warm
interest in producing these great results by its exum-
s serene
plary conduct and itesteem,daiesdcipilikineew,
likewise
ehitehhe
incessantentitle
it.
more and more to my esteem,
zeal of my Government to maintain it in the elevated
position which is occupies.
" The Royal marine, likewise every way worthy, every
way deserving, has attracted in an especial manner the
attention of my Government. It was, in fact, indispen-
able and urgent to maintain it in readiness for the de-
fence of our coasts and our possessions, and to protect
our commercial marine in its progressive march. It was
struetion of several steam and sailing vessels,
with this view that orders have been given foraetdheecthoen-
r
dispositions have tiko been taken to advance its improve-
ment, as far as the exigencies of the public service and
the power of the Treasury would permit.
" The lessons of experience and the demands of the
tribunals have induced my Government to introduce
some modifications in our penal code, in virtue of the
powers given by the law for that purpose. My Govern-
ment will state these reforms to you, and will propose to
you besides a new code of procedure and a law on the
organisation of the tribunals, which will have for object
to complete the important ameliorations effected lately in
the administration of jutice.

" From the peace enjoyed by the country, consider-
ahle reforms have been introduced in important branches
under the administration of the Ministers of the Interior
and of Commerce, as well by the improvement of roads
and other interior communications, the transport of cor-
respondence, telegraphs, and lighthouses, in the public
health, the public charities and eduction, as to sur-