The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-30 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30 1550.

The close cf January is peculiarly the season of
expectation. The opening of Parliament is antici-
pated as the infallible panacea for every grievance
and 'the certain harbinger of every desired boon.
One by one these fair hopes are generally dissipated,
and the close of August witnesses only a barren
harvest as the result of So much political promise. The
coming session commences under, in some respects,
better aus?ices than its predecessors. There is less
talk—always excepting among one peculiar class,
which may appropriately adopt the motto, vox et pro, •
erea nihil—there is less talk about what is ab)ut to
be done, but, at the same time, there is manifestly
_ _

more practical determination as to what must be
done. The public anticipate much actual benefit
from the coming labours of their representatives ;
they look for something ,more attractive than the
most brilliant orations of the most brilliant speakers
—something more eloquent than even the caustic
philipliics of DISIUELI, or the rounded periods of
MAcauLar, which a few sessions back cast such

occasional splendour over the debates of St. Stephen's.
Eloquence is undoubtedly admirable, especially when
devoted to its true purpose and noblest employment,
the enforcement of truth ; yet, after all, the most
popular specimens of Parliamentary eloquence are the
Division ListA which announce some popular boon.
This is the kind of eloquence anxiothly looked for in
the present, year; and no marvel ! Since the Feb-
ruary of 1849 a very potent impulse has been given
to the popular yearning for practical reforms. During
the two last sessions of the British Parliament conti-

rental Europe had been agitated with revolutions
The people of this country, meanwhile, happy in
their conscious security, felicitated themselves on the

admirable acquisition of that Constitution which pre-

served the country alike from the misrule of tyrants
or the violence of anarchists, and the Parliament was, of

wars', regarded as a model of legislative wisdom. But
the lesson was only half learned. Very soon a disturber
cl the national tranquillity, as insidious as A.searso
. and as implacable as HAYNAU, made its appearance.
Before the attacks of one disease multitudes fell more
plentifully than on the battle-field ; :while, amid the
geneaal lamentation, it was universally admitted that
grievous sins of omission and commission on the part
of the Legislature had prepared the way for the de-
vastating progress of the cholera. The blood of the
people was, in a great measure, on the heads of their
negligent guardians. Hence this session we no
longer boast of our amazing national superi-
ority. Humbled by sorrow, we are com-
pelled to confess that in that point,
which is the surest criterion of national wisdom—
'the protection of the people—we are sorely deficient.
Hence it is but natural that, on the re-assembling of
our Legislators we should anziousiy, yet confidently
desire such a system of government as shall prevent
a recurrence of past evils. Also, the painful distress
of a whole section of the people has been recently
laid bare, and it is but reasonable that we should
look for the real;remedy —for private benevolence can
only effect a passing alleviation—to that distress at
the hands legally empowered to promote the greatest
good of the greatest number. It is unnecessary to
recapitulate the numerous and crying necessities of
the people. It is enough—c r it should be enough—
thatpublicly known. It those necessities are
re-
mains to be seen if 1850 is to witness the nen-fulfil-
ment of our just and reasonable expectation!. The
people have, to a certain extent, the remedy
in their own hands. The moral force of
public oiniot is irresistible where the menacesof an armed !action would be powerless. That moral
f...rce must be exerted, that potent "pressure. from
without" must be apPied with unanimous energy in
the forthcoming session. Our reforming representa-
tives require all that support, and the time-
serving have need of that intimidating "per-
suasion." Let the people be unanimous and their
triumph is inevitable, let them be resolute and their

success will be immediate. Therefore, although
taught otherwise by experience, we venture to antici-
pate that the Parliamentary Session of 18.50 will
realise the popular expectations, for these expecta-
tions are founded on common sense and com-
mon justice, and we might almost add in common
humanity.

The "great national address," as it is magnilo-
quently termed, of condolence with the Earl of
RoDEN, has been at last presented to that venerable
nobleman, with all the state and ceremony befitting
so greaten occasion ; and we will candidly admit, the
tone and temper in which it has been responded to
leaves little to complain of. As political manifestos,
however, both address and reply appear to be totally
unimportant ; and we cannot help thinking that the
projectors took very great pains to very little purpose.
Never did any respectable old lady or gentleman,
afflicted with a weakness for autographs, labour more
industriously for the acquisition of a signature than
did the "sympathisers" to add the name of a discon-
tented Per or a niglQcted parson to the list. They
grieved for the punishment inflicted on Lord RODEN,
and ltfc no atone unturned, no source untried, to
acquire that sad companionship which, it is said,
lightens grief.

" Solatium miseris socios habere doloris."

And while we cannot admit that this outburst of
sympathy is very flattering to their judgments, we
do not feel disposed to think it extravagant in his
Lordship to pay his tender-hearted friends the com-
pliment with which his reply begins, that the testi-
mony was as " honourable to their feelings as it was
gratifying to his own." But the second paragraph
utterly extinguishes the political character of the
whole drama.
His Lordship says, " I cannot but appreciate the
generous sympathy of those who may differ with me on
the policy, or propriety of certain parts of the course
which I pursued in reference to the events of the 12th
July last, but who feel satisfied that I acted with honesty
of purpose." •

We never attributed any wilful malignity to
his Lordship for the very indiscreet part he
took in this unfortunate transaction, nor would
we now detract from the consolation which
he appears to derive from what we cannot
look on in any other light than as a tribute to
his private worth, for as a justification of his public
conduct, or a condemnation of the acts of the Govern-
ment, we must regard both the address and reply as
total failures. Public functionaries must be judged
and dealt with according to their public acts, and not
by their honesty of purpose or good intentions.
The candid statement made by his Lordship forces
us to the conclusion that he is even more guilty in
this transaction than we had before imagined ; for he
says, when a renewal cf the Processions Act was
projected in 1849
" I candidly allow that I did state, that at such a
time it would have had the appearance of being exclu-
sively levelled at those who bad so willingly tendered
their services in the preceding year to support the Royal
authority."

Here we have his Lordship using his influence to
prevent the re-enactment of the Act against proces-
sions, which would have saved the country from all
the horrors of Dolly's Brae ; and for what sage rea-
son.? Lest forsooth his " brave and loyal" brothers
should take offence. He interferes to prevent the
passing of a wholesome and necessary Act, lest
the tender sensibilities of the Ulster Orange-
men should be hurt. Yet, with an inconsistency
quite irreconcileable, we find him enunciating that
"his convictions had always been opposed to proces-
sions of all kinds." How his Lordship would attempt
to reconcile these inconsistencies we know not, in-
deed there appears to be on many occasions through
" this unpleasant discussion" an unfortunate opposi-
tion between Lis Lordship's acts and words.
His Lordship says he will not enter into the details
of the collision, and that he "rejoices that the matter
is now in the hands of the eminent judges who pre-
side in the highest criminal court in Ireland." We
presume he means the prosecution against the Even-
ing Post newspaper, the organ of the Irish Govern-
ment. We know not what turn his Lordship's re-
joicing will take when he learns that the eniinentjudges
of the highest criminal tribunal in Ireland indig-
nantly scouted the application from their Court.
We have so frequently gone through every point
connected with this unpleasant topic, that we have
scarcely a word to add ; but, be fore we close, we may
notice one small matter charged against the Irish
Government. I' is said that Lord CLARENDON never
discovered the illegality of such assemblages as those
which met in deadly conflict at Dolly's Brae, and that
he never consulted his legal advisers till afterwards,
Now this appears to us rather a stupid charge. His
Excellency could not have been so ignorant of
the common law of the land as not to know
that thousands of armed ruffiaas, who had frequently
shed each other's blood on former occasions, and
who in open day with feelings of deadly hatred to
each other parade through the country, are calcu-
lated to spread dismay and alarm among her MA-
JESTY'S peaceful subjects, and are ipso facto illegal.
It is, therefore, manifest that the opinion of the law
officers of the Crown was not obtained for his own
information, but rather for the information of those
who, to palliate the omission of a sacred duty, affected
ignorance of the law. We have now done with this
matter, we wish we could say fur ever, but we fear it
will occupy the attention of the Legislature, and
what turn matters may take there we will not anti-
cipate.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
The Assembly was occupied on Monday in dis-
cuising the Bill for the dissolution of the Garde
Mobile ; the motion for the first reading was carried
by a majority of 533 to 49. In the course of the
debate General CAVAIGNAC proposed that some pro-
vision should be made for the officers, who would be
deprived of their means of support by the disband-
ment of the corps. This proposition was favourably
received, and was ordered to be referred to the Com-
mittee on the Bill.

On Tuesday General CHANGARNIER reviewed the
29th and 42d regiments of the line.
The Moniteur publishes a decree signed by the
PRESIDENT of the Republic reducing the pension of
the ex-KING JEROME BONAPARTE, as Governor of
the Invalidep, from 60,000 f. •to 40,000 f., in conse-
quence of his receiving, since his appointment as
governor, the pay of a Marshal of France.
The Imperor of RUSSIA has, it is said, accredited
Count STROGONOFF as Ambassador to Paris. The
object of this appointment is to strengthen the reac-
tionary party, and to endeavour to consolidate Russian
and Absolutist influence in France.

It is stated that Count MOLE has effected a recon-
ciliation between the PRESIDENT and some of his
opponents. The Courrier Francais says—" We are
happy that both have understood the necessity of union
in these times of crisis. It is M. MOLF, it is said,
who has pointed out to the different heads of the
Conservative party the necessity which exists of draw-
ing towards the PRESIDENT, the latter being, more-
over, ready to make concessions to the Assembly.
Hence the disavowal of the Napoleon. It is, in fact,
evident that the two great powers of the State cannot
have opposite interests. What the majority wish is,
that the authority of the PRESIDENT should consoli-
date itself, in order that it may labour efficaciously to
save society from the dangers with which it is every
day more and more threatened. Wbat Prince Louis
BONAPARTE desires is, that his efforts, instead of being
thwarted by paltry ambitions, should Le loyally se-
conded without any arriere pence.
M. EMILE DE GIRARDIN is to be started as one of
the candidates for Paris at the approaching election.
The Credit has the following observations on the
report of M. TRIERS on the Public Assistance Bills :
" Attar having demonstrated that it is a special
matter for the human race to have two sexes, and com-
mence by childhood and end with old age, M. Thiers
establishc.3 not less victoriously, that if there are pri•
rate evils which individual bcncyclence is charged to
provide fur, so there are generations to which it is
necessary to apply collective bene!ol(n ce, or public
assi,tance, as defined in the Constitution of 1848.'
The following is tl.e canner in which tLo Committee
de;.42ed f)r each of the three phases t f human
,

For it fancy, there is to institution to ad.' to
hose already in *xis:eccr. For adolescence, mature,
and oil age, it had been affirmed, with some appear-
ance of reason, tl a: the State coulti, by e:2tablish-
ments of credit, place capital within tte reach of all
the wotkmen of the towns as of the country di: -
tricts, and by adding subventions to the pension-funds
ensure at honourable repose to the old age of work-
mer. The commit(e t has no faith in credit foncier, such
as it is proposed to establish it in imitation of Germany;
it rejects forn.ally associations which are t) be aided by
the State, a.-id does not attach much weight to others.
It sees nothing beyond savings banks; how ever it com-
prehends mutual-Aid societies ; it would even tolerate
pension-funds, on condition that the State would not
contribute anything, and that payments are not to be
obligatory either for the workmen or the masters. It
allows also that something may be done with respect
to insalubrious dwellings; that colonization might some-

times be had recourse to ; and lastly, that the hospices
might be rnt:du less disagreeable to the poorer classes.
That is el!. M. Thiers has condensed his views in this
way : ' What is good and incontestibla the ancient so-
ciety had imagined ; that it has kit to be done is pre-
cisely whit is doubtful, problematical, and contestable.'
Such is the nonentity ef s plan which his ht en come to
by a committee of thirty members, with M. Thiers tit its
head, and after nine months' close I;tteritior. Besidee,
ought any one to be astonished it this, when at the
commencement of the report is found the following
avowal of the primary idea which presided of er all the
labour of the committee ? The fundamental principle
of all society is, that each man is charged to provide f r
his own wants, and those of his family, from his own re •
sources, either acquired or transmittt d.' Nc, M. Thiers,
you have thus defined only the principle ( f all egotism,
that which, at the beginning of the last reign. M. Dupin
defined by the expression chacun Tour soi. chacun chez
soi. The fundamental principle of society, on the con-
t- ary, is mutual assitt ince. In what limit ought public
assistance to be exercised? That is what, by the text of
the Consitution, you were called on to determine, and
what you do only by the most increditle and cynical
denial of justice."
General NIEL, who commanded the Engineers
during the siege of Rome, arrived at Toulon on the
24th, together with several of the troops whose period
of service expired on the Ist instant.
A letter from Marseilles, of the 25th instant,
announces the arrival of HoriAcE VERNET on his
return from Rome, where he has been studying
the theatre of the lest operations of the French
army, previous to his preparation of his grand histo-
rical painting.
M. DESLOGES was tried before the Court of As-
sizes at Paris on :Monday, for having attacked Repub-
lican institutions in a pamphlet, comparing the merits
of the white and tricoloured flags. He was found
guilty, with extenuating circumstances, and sen-
tenced to imprisonment for two months, and to pay a
fine of 300 F.

The French Government received dispatches on
Monday relative to the negotiations for the cession of
a portion of Lombardy to Piedmont.
A joint note from Austria and Prussia has just
been addressed to the French Cabinet, calling on the
Government to unite with them in obliging Switzer-
land to expel the revolutionary leaders who are there
sheltered. Should France refuse, these Governments
are determined on compelling the Swiss Government
to accede to their demands, even should an armed in-
tervention be necessary. _ _

The report of the Commission of the Budget on
the Paris to Avignon Railway will be presented in
a few days. It appears that the delay which has
arisen has been caused by a change made in the
original direction of the line, the result of which
will be to form a junction with the S. Etienne line
from Lyons as far as G:sors. Tae Minister of
Public Works is now negotiating with the St.
Etienne Railway Company for that purpose. It is
positively stated that the negotiations with the
Northern Railway Company are almost brought to a
conclusior, and that the company, in consideration
of an increase in the term of its concession, will take
on itself to construct the line from St. Quentin to
Manhenge, an extent of 90 kilometres, and which
will form a more direct communication between
Paris and Cologne.
The Bourse was crowded to excess yesterday, aid the
Five per Cents. opened at 95f. 50e., with every appear-
ance of a farther rise. It was shortly afterwards 9.:1••
flounced that an English Louse was selling Government
,ck. The Bourse became agitated, and after se. e -al
fluctuations the Five per Cents. closed at 95'.. 30e.; the
Three per Cents. closed at 58f. sc. ; Orbeins Railroad
Shares, 830 f.; Rouen, 5871. 50e.; Havre, 255 f.; Great
Northerr, 4711. 25;.; Avignor, 215 f ; Bask, 116 f. 25c. ;
B irdeaux, 4161. 25c.; Paris and Strasburg, 360 f.; Tours
and Nantes, 273 f. 75c.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE

LONDON STOCK-RXCIIANGE. JAN. 29.
Boulogne and Amiens, 734 Dutch Rhenish, 2—Luxem
bourg, 1141—Ditto, 2N—Northern of France, 111 A dis.—
Orleans and Bourdeaux, 3%.