The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-23 00:00:00

((I ITlOning

LONDON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1844. -

The first topic brought forward in the House of
Lords was on a question put by Lord BROUGHAM,
relative to the occupation of Tahiti by the French.
The Earl of ABERDEEN had heard of that event with
great regret, but he could not yet give the explana-
tions that the House might require. We have ad-
verted to this subject in a separate article.
Lord MONTEAGLE moved fir certain papers re-
specting the recent appointment to the deanery of
Dromore. The Earl of RIPON said he would not
oppose the motion. A little uproar then took place
in the House, which relieved its usual monotony.
The Marquis of WESTMEATH caused the scene, by
saying that the words " HOLT WARING" looked as
well to this underhand deanery as those of " SPRING
RICE" to a pensioned peerage. The Duke of Ricu-
MOND came to the rescue, the Marquis apologised
and the House adjourned.

In the Commons, after the presentation of petitions,
Mr. LADOUCHERM stated that he would postpone his
motion relative to the trade with Brazil till Thurs-
V, the I.4th of. March.

- Mr, WALLACE also postponed his motion, relative,
to the administration of the Criminal Law in Scotland,
In answer to a question from Sir GEORGE GREY
relative to the occupation of Tahiti by the French,
Sir R. PEEL said he believed the French Admiral in
the Pacific Seas had taken 'possession of Tahiti, and
that the QUEEN had been deposed. lie greatly la-
mented what had taken place, but he believed the
event was n6t in consequence of instructions from the
French Government. The English Government had
not communicated with the French Government on
the subject, and he thought the House would see the
propriety of waiting the result.
Mr. MILES brought up- a Bill for the amendment
of the laws relative to master and servant.
On the Order of the Day being read for resuming
the adjourned debate on the state of Ireland, Sir
ROBERT PEEL wished to learn whether the debate
wias to end that evening. He was unfortunately in
the position of one of the speakers, and he merely
wished to know the sentiments of the House. Several
Members'called out " to-morrow night," and the ad-
journed debate commenced. Mr. MAuaien O'CoN-
NELL was the first speaker, and confined his remarks
entirely to the Irish State trials, with the exception
that the traversers, notwithstanding their conviction,
would still agitate far repeal. Mr. GREGORY opposed
the motion. Mr. BiLLEw supported it. Mr. LID-
DELL paid a high compliment to the administration
of. the Marquis of NORMANyY, but at the same time
congratulated the 'Tory party on their triumph of
argument, and had no doubt also he should have to
congratulate them on the result of the division.
Mr. Hums considered that the Irish Attorney-
General had -utterly failed in his explanation. He
then adverted to the grievances of the Irish nation,
and chiefly to the grievance of a Protestant Esta-
blishment in a Catholic country. He would apply
the Church property to the education of the people,
and leave every man to pay his clergyman as he Paid
his doctor. Mr. HAMILTON, Mr. C. POWELL, and
Sir H. DOUGLAS followed.

Mr. Sum. then rose, and addressed the House for
nearly three hours, in a speech remarkable for its
searching bitterness' of reproach as to the conduct of
the State trials. He denounced the Tory policy
with regard to Ireland in a strain of withering
sarcasm, which . elicited the cheers and counter-
cheers of either side ; and concluded with a
peroration as eloquent and impassioned as it was pa-
triotic and sublime in the highest degree. Indeed
we never heard one more fervidly spoken, nor more
generously and enthusiastically received. The House
acknowledged by their sympathy that, while Mr.
SHEIL felt as an Irishman, he spoke as a Briton.
The Arroway-GENERAL moved the adjournment
of the debate at Half-past Twelve, which was agreed

to; and after the dispogal of two or three unimportant
roraersr the 'House ad/mimed. . c,17

Between the mischievous and infatuated tendency
to interpose in every foreign quarrel, the advent of
which could be detected on the political horizon, that
was the besetting and disastrous sin of the PITT po-
licy, and of the race of imbecile Tory Ministers, who
procured toleration fir their own insignificance,
by succeeding to the name without either the
energy or the talent of that great man ;—be-
tween this morbid excitability and a wise, vigilant,
and prompt alacrity in upholding the legitimate
interests and influence of Great Britain in every
region where they have once been asserted and ac-
knowledged,—there is a middle course, which we
hope and trust it is not Lord ABERDEEN'S purpose to
disregard. The statements we have published
of recent proceedings at Tahiti, the violent
dethronement of the native sovereign, Queen Po-
MARE, and the French Admirals proclamation of
their subjection to the authority of Louis PHI-
LIPPE, are, if the intelligence may be depended
upon, of a character to call for much more satis-
factory explanation than has yet been elicited
from our Ministers in either House of Parliament.
Sir R. Pnsi., last night, in answer to a question
from Sir G. GREY, said he greatly regretted what had
taken place, and the Government had put itself in
communication with that of France on the subject.
The question was also brought before the House of
Lords-by Lord BROUGHAM, and with the same re-
sult. The Earl of ABERDEEN believed the accounts
received were correcto and he had read them with
great.regret. Lord BROUGHAM'S remarks will be
received with general approbation. The Opposition
press of France is moYing heaven and earth to bring

the two countries into collision, and have. seized
upon this exploit of Admiral DUPETIT TUOUARS
as a god-send. We merely state plain facts.
We have established in Tahiti and all its neigh-
bouring islands the most legitimate authority and
influence, which the prior rights of discovery by
Captain Waims, and almost an entire century of
subsequent intercourse and amicable connexion, the
interchange of good offices, the maintenance of our
original patronage and protection to the people, un-
interrupted commercial dealings with them, and even
the extension of the Royal hospitality and favour in this
country to their princes,--can be supposed to have
properly acquired for us. We have not been back-
ward to secure to large communities of their abori-
ginal inhabitants the advantages of elementary edu-
cation ; and in instructing and advancing them in the
arts, resources, and refinements of civilised existence
welave succeeded; to an unusual extent, in making
them: distinguish between the incidental vices, and
the permanent moral amelioration likely to be pro-
duced- among them by European institutions.
Of late we have witnessed with regret the

same disposition to, usurp or efface-the records of this
British priority in the march of Polynesian improve-
ment, which M. DE BOUGA4NYILLE was encouraged
by his, Government to attempt; in following out the
previous track of that most illustrious of eircumnavi-
gatorS, our renowned countryman Captain COOK.
This disposition we may deem it sufficient
,to de-
nounce on the score of bad faith and.paltry disinge-
nuousness. But we are apt to feir. that this second
or third, and it should seem successful attempt
of French encroachment and duplicity on the inde-
pendence of ahjrtje,,net only. Ing.ally, but politi-
tally atsl;4-delinquency of muchlgraier character.
In expressing this opinion, we are-not disposed to
overrate the natural or commercial: im-Portance of the
territorial position on which the tri-coloured
flag has been unfurled in token of French
sovereignty. Still less_ are we inclined to form
our estimate. of ...that . importance from the
opinions of the Sicle, which
,regard the acquisi-
tion as a worthless one. French colonists are
proverbially the worst and most unsuccessful in the
world. Probably the French journals are far'from
being competent authorities as to such estimates. It
may he—and, indeed., we have no doubt,—thatFrance
could not hold Tahiti, or any other ishind, in
those seas, against us, :in the,deplorable event
of a war between Great Britain and, France.
But this aspect of the probable issue of a distant,
and, we firmly believe, a most improbable
contingency, cannot diminish the intrinsic value
of Tahiti to our commercial and. even to our
naval marine, independently of all relations of com-
merce and trade, as an excellent and indispensable
station for the victualling and refitting of our ship-
ping in these latitudes, and a true land of succour for
the re-establishment of their sick and convalescent
crews. But to these relations of commerce
and trade,—the whale fishery and sandalwood trade
of the neighbouring waters and islands ren-
der it an entrepot, and a refuge of the
highest importance. For we are led to presume that
these once lucrative branches of our proverbial mari-
time enterprise, especially the whale fishery, are
not always to languish. and decline, as they now do,
under the ignorant administration which still palsies
or circumscribes the evolutions of our commercial
industry.
It is not our donaPd, therefor., that the British
Government should interpose in this 'matter, on a
pretence of vindicating territorial rights of a dignity
and that extreme arbi-
triment tohjeudsistitafynrtecpoueersifie to
Pacific,
value
in t
which must involve
a war in Europe and throughout the world
between two of the most powerful empires in
existence; for no 'such rights can be predi-
cated as to this case ;—no such lofty character
the strong claims on
could b
both in reference e attributedetrotheeem, if they were. But we
dothink, to
English protection which the unfortunate QUEEN pos-
sesses' by her previous relations with British authority,
by her e
friendless her generous and un-
abated' faith and sy-
y and, lastly, overwhelming dis-
parity,
fool'
succumbforce
i to
which
in
reference to what is due to
the honour and inviolable reputation of the British
flag, 'outraged (as we understand the case) by the
proceedings of tlie French commander, in his zeal
to distinguish himself by a somewhat theatrical
spectacle, in honour of the King of the Fitzxcu; our
Foreign Minister is bound to exact explicit and
ample explanations from the Cabinet of the
Tuileries. It neither consorts with our national
spirit, nor with our national interests—nor
can it be reconciled with the honour of our
Gracious SovnansoN—that, after the independent
though feeble Monarch of a friendly and interesting
people had formally thrown herself on the protection
of the British QUEEN, a French officer, backed
by an insignificant French naval force, should take
upon himself to anticipate the result of that appeal;
to outrage the character, the liberty, and the rights
of the appellant ; and to repudiate the majesty and
authority of the tribunal to which her prayer had
been carried. But, above all, why should the mis-
sionaries, who have done so much good in these
islands, be turned adrift, for that must be the result,
by the abrupt decision of a French Admiral ?

The Madrid journals of the 15th bring no addi-
tional intelligence from Alicant or Murcia. In the
meantime some of them comment very freely on the
cause of the rising in those quarters, and attribute
them chiefly to the machinations of the English.
Mr. BULWER, it is said, has made a formal remon-
strance against these attacks upon England by the
Ministrial press, and very justly, as a French Oppo-
sition paper asserts, for the subject is one of which
the English Ambassador might well take notice, the
Madrid journals being at this moment, in con-
sequence of the state of siege, under the direct con-
trol of -the Ministers, who thus render themselves
responsible for the articles which appear in them.
Here is a specimen from the Castellano of these vile
attacks :—" Let not our readers forget the intrigues
and revolutionary schemes that proceed from London,
Gibraltar, and Lisbon, and connect themselves with
those which are going on at Madrid. Let them re-
mernber the landing of the rebels on the coast -of
Galicia a few years ago—the humiliation which our
young Qua has been recently subjected to by her
Prime Minister—the support afforded to the most
desperate partisans OfEsrAnToto—the risings which
have simultaneously taken place on the frontiers of
Portugal and Spain—and the expulsion from Lisbon
of the ex-Minister, OLOZAGA. To all this, let us
add the few plausible pretexts that can be found for
rebelling against a young QuxEN who, has just as-
mimed the reins of the State—the significant silence
of the Sovereign of England, who so' ',affection-

ately treats the ea-REGENT, and everybody, we are
certain, will consider the insurrections of Alicarfrand
Caxthagena as ESPARTERIST insurrections, just like
that attempted at Saragossa and other places, And
like the one also which previously concealed itself
under the mask of the Central Junta. The character
of this rebellion being known, the Government and
all good Spaniards must unite to crush it."
The Three per Cents. were done at 29 7-16 at 60
days, and the Five per Cents. at 201.

The Path papers are chiefly occupied with the
motion of M. RZMUSAT, to exclude placemen from
seats in the Chamber of Deputies. It is evidently
brought forward by the Opposition as a trial of
strength between the parties, and will probably give
rise to lengthened discussion. M. THUM, who op-
posed a similar motion when in office, has now
changed his mind, and will assist the Opposition in
annoying, and, if possible, overturning the GUIZOT
Ministry. The Journal des Debats, though confident
of success, evidently regards the question as one of
much importance, and has two articles on the subject,
one of which is to prove that both Timms and
REMUSAT, in 1840, 4serted that the exclusion of
public functionaries from seats in the lower Chamber
would be dangerous to the institutions of the country.
Most of the Opposition journals affect surprise at the
silence of the organs, relative to the oc-
cupation of Otaheite, and assert that M. GUIZOT is
sadly embarrassed by the " untoward event." The
remarks made in both Houses of Parliament last
night, will rather add to his difficulty. It was
rumoured at Paris that the Government would not
sanction the proceedings of the Admiral.
The French funds continued firm, the Three per
Cents. closing on Wednesday at 82f. 40e. ; and the
Fives at 12.5 f. 75c.

THE BOURSE--WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21.

First

Highest Lowest

Price. Price. Price. Price.
French Pyre per Cents. 125 60 .. 125 70 .. 125 60 .. 125 70
Three per Cents... • B2 35 .. 82 36 .. 82 35 • • 82 35
Bank of France....... 3277 50 ..3277 50 ..3277 60 ..3277 50
Laftitte Bank, I,Boof. Sharesllos ..1105 ..1106 ..1105
5,000 f. Sharesso72 50 ..5072 50 —5072 50 ..5072 50
Belgian Bank ..2 .

1841
Belgian Fives .•••••• • • . • • • lO7l .. 107} .. 107} • • 107 f
IMO •••• 1091 .. 1091 1091 .. 1091
1842 .. 1101 .. 1101 .. 1101 .. 1101
Spanish Active .
Passive .... 5f .. 6 .. 51 ..
Old Deferred. - 71
Portugueee Five per Cents 451 •. 45; .. 451 .. 45;

Neapolitan lO4 N 'lO4 50 .. 104
Roman ~ . . ..

.. 104
.. 106*

RAILWAY SHARES.
Versailles, R. 8............. 345 ... 345 .. 345 .. 345
L.B l7O 172 50 .• 170 .. 170
Rouen •
Rouen to Havre... 660 663 75 .. 660 .. 663 75
Orleans
Strasburg to Bale - 241 25 ":041- 25 .. 240 .. 248
Mulhausen to Thann •. 380 380 .. 380 .. 380
Avignon to Marseilles-- .• 740 ",3r45 • • T 0.% • • 745
RAILWAY SHARES, FOR THE ACCOUNT.
Verailles, L. 13... .
Rouen 825 .. 832 50 ..'825 .. 832 50
Rouen to:Havre 662 50 .. 665 .. 662+50 .. 660
Orleans . 837 50... 842 50 •• 887 50 842 50

Strasburg to Bals•• •• ...• 241 25 .. 241 25 ._._.241 25 .. 241 25
Avignon to Marseilles-- 740 .. 747 50'.. 740 .. 745

MORTALITY IN THE METROPOLIS.—The number of
deaths during the week ending Saturday, Feb 17,
was 1,146, making an increase on the'previous week
of 70, and on the average of 137. The increase is
caused chiefly, from diseases of the lungs. The aver-
age is 330, while last week the number was 448 ; of
these 47 were carried off by bronchitis (inflamma-
tion of the throat), average 19 ; by pneumonia (in-
flammation of the lungs) 133, average 91;
consumption 170, average 146. In epidemic
diseasis, also, there is a considerable in-
crease. The total number during the
week being 207, and the average 170. The excess in
the deaths under this head is chiefly from small-pox
29, average 21; measles 28, average 19 ; scarlatina
43, average 25. Deaths from hooping-cough are on
the decrease. Of the. 29 persons who died of small-
pox, 19 had not been vaccinated. The number of
violent deaths is 27, and of these only two are suicides,
the greater proportion arising from accident, and
chiefly from burns. According to the meteorological
observations taken at the Greenwich Observatory, the
thermometer Was lowest on the 14th, 21.2 degrees,
and highest on the 17th, 47 degrees. ,