The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-13 00:00:00

etrtltillS

LONDON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1844.

In the Housr of Lords a Bill entitled, "An Act for
tho Amendment of the Law of Imprisonment for
Debt" was read a first time on the motion of Lord
COTTENJIAM.

The. LORD CHANCELLOR laid on the table a Bill
for altering the jurisdiction of Ecclesiastical Courts.

The Earl of RtroN moved that the thanks of the
House be presented to Sir CRARLES NA PIER and the
office;s-and men under his command, for their gallant
and successful operations in Sinde.
.• 'Lord AUCKLAND seconded the motion.

The Duke of WELLINGTON followed, and paid the
highest tribute of praise to Sir C. NAPIER. For his
strong expressions of approbation we must refer our
readers to the report, with this short emphatic extract
from the Noble Duke's speech:—" I must say it was
one of the greatest feats it ever has been my good
fortune to peruse, and it was completely successful."
The motion was agreed to unanimously.
The Marquis of NORMAN/3Y laid on the table his
motion relative to Ireland, which_he brings on this
evening.

The Earl of CLARENDON put some questions to the
Earl of ABERDEEN relative to Spain, and the Secre-
tary for Foreign Affairs answered in terms for which
Lord CLARENDON expressed his gratification. The
House then adjourned.
In the House of Commons, after the presentation
of petitions, and questions to the Members of the
Government, for which we refer to the report, the
Factories Bill was read a second time.

On the Order of the Day for the third reading of
the Metropolitan Improvements Bill, Mr. HUME ob-
jected to the principle of the Government borrowing
money for such purposes from the Bank of England, and
moved that the words " Governor and Company of the

Bank of England be struck out." On a division the num-
bers were—for the Bill, 145, and against it 70. A
provision was adopted, by which the Bank should
not lend more than 220,0001., and the Bill was
passed.
The second reading of the " Racing Penalties Re-
peal Bill" was postponed, until the motion for a vote
of thanks to the Sinde army was disposed of
Sir ROBERT PEEL then brought forward his mo-
tion for a vote of thanks to Sir CHARLES NArIER and
the other :officers and soldiers engaged in the ope-
rations in Sinde.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL followed the example of Lord
AUCKLAND in the House of Lords, and seconded the
motion—high tributes to the gallant army of Sinde.
For the speeches made on the occasion, we must, for
want of space, refer to the Parliamentary report. A
division took place, when there were for the vote of
thanks 164, and against it 9.

Mr. CHRISTIE then moved for a Select Committee
to consider the expediency of the presence of stran-
gers at debates, &c., which was opposed by the
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. After a few words
from several Hon. Members, the House divided, when
the motion was negatived by a majority of 47.
The other business on the paper was then disposed
of, and the House adjourned at a Quarter to One.

The verdict of the jury, which has been so anxi-
ously expected, is at length delivered, and dues not
differ from that which we have always anticipated.
A jury chosen from an imperfect list of special jurors,
whose religious creed and political opinions formed
the test of fitness to serve, and upon whom the Crown
officials calculated, with undeviating reliance all
through the trial, for a verdict in accor-
dance with the purposes for which these pro-
secutions were instituted, could not give any verdict
but that of GUILTY against all the traversers. And
this they have done. They have not disappointed the
calculations of the Government, nor have they disap-
pointed us. We never had any expectations of an
acquittal. We never placed any reliance upon the
chances •of justice- from an Irish jury, con-
stituted and selected like that which for twenty-
fliur days has sat on the case of O'CoNNELL.
The ends of the Crown, as to a conviction, are
now gained—the purposes for which the Crown
officials plotted in secret, and employed all the arts
of espionage, are attained—the objects for which the
jury was put in the box are achieved. And what
then ?

Does any man in the three kingdoms attach the
slightest importance to this verdict, as having any
moral effect, or any beneficial result? Does any
honest, conscientious Tory, in his own heart, ap-
prove it, or look to it as a successful vindication
of the law by legal means ? Does any Irish-
man feel that he has one grievance the less, or
that there is any one more reason why he
should cease to agitate for a redress of his griev-
ances ?

We dislike Repeal—but we hate injustice. Trial
by Jury ought to be free from taint, otherwise ver-
dicts avail not, and are of no effect. This verdict
may be made an instrument of oppression, but it will
not gain respect for the means by which it has been
procured.

The speeches, in both Houses of Parliament last
night, on the affairs of Sinde, may be regarded as the
most interesting of the session. The question was,
not whether we had a right to occupy that country,
whether we had a right to open the navigation of the
Indus, and form a- strong boundary to our Indian
possessions on the west—but was simply confined to a
vote of thanks to the gallant men who had upheld,
and, as some speakers well entitled to judge, said,
surpassed,even the renowned valour of British troops. Of
course Sir CRARLES NAPIER was the great object of
attraction. He was the life and soul of the battle;
he led his men on under difficulties unparalleled, in-
spired every officer, soldier, and camp-follower, with
his daring spirit, and achieved a victory which casts
all others in India, however remarkable, into the
shade. With what exultation this Gallant Officer,
who bears a name so celebrated in the history of
the country, will read the tribute conferred on
him by such a man as WELLINGTON. " 1

must say," said his Grace, " that on giving the
fullest consideration to the operations, I have never
known an instance of a general officer who had shown

in a higher degree all the requisite qualifications to
enable him to conduct great operations. Sir CHARLES
NAPIER had manifested the utmost discretion and

Irudfnce in the formation of his plans, the utmost

activity in perfecting the preparations necessary to
success, and, finally, the utmost zeal, gallantry, and
science, in carrying these plans and operations into
execution." Such a tribute from a veteran General,
so little inclined to praise even the most gallant
actions, and so well qualified to judge both
of operations in India and Europe, may compensate
for all the vile calumny and the wicked reproaches
which have been heaped by certain parties on the
head of this distinguished member of the NAPIER,
family. The speech of Sir ROBERT. PEEL was in the
best taste. It was, as might be expected, more pro-
lix than that of the Noble Duke, but it entered into
details which will be read with the highest interest.
lie paid just compliments to Sir CHARLES NAPIER
and did not forget his illustrious brother,
who, as some one said (General For, we be-
lieve) had written the best " French " his

tory of the Peninsular war, but who, while
doing justice to a brave enemy, did not for-
get the merits of his countrymen. In adverting
to the deeds of the NAPIERS, he seemed to direct his
speech to a Member of the House who has rendered
his name immortal on the Syrian coast, and the way
in which he associated him with his gallant rela-
tives, and combined the deeds of a family so remark-
able, elicited the loudest cheers from every part of the
House. This was only an act of tardy justice. But
for the utmost skill, zeal, activity, and gallantry of
Commodore Sir CHARLES NAPIER, the battles which
commenced at Beyrout and ended at St. Jean d'Acre
might have been protracted for another year, and in-
volved the world in a general war. These praises
are well bestowed, and they will be responded to by
every friend of his country. On the origin of the
war in Sinde we have nothing to add. We have ever
taken the sam3 view of the subject. We main-
tained, in opposition to all our Contempoiaries,
that it was a war in self-defence ; that the free
navigation of the Indus was absolutely ne-
cessary for the security of the vast In-
dian territories under British dominion; that
the plan which has been carried into effect was in-

finitely preferable to the occupation of Affghanistan ;
and we now rejoice to find that we are not singular in
our opinions. It is the greatest achievement of the
present day, and in that opinion both Whigs and
Tories agree.

The Earl of CLARENDON last, night entitled him-
self to the best thanks of the public at large for the
course he adopted, the British sentiments he avowed,
and ,the statesman-like views he announced in re-
ference to the present condition of affairs in Spain, and
to our relations with that kingdom. The Noble
Earl, after a speech delivered by the Earl of ABER-
DEEN, in reply, declared himself perfectly satisfied with
the explanations of the Foreign Secretary; but we
must take leave to protest that the discussion thus excited
has not at all relieved our own mind from the painful
impression which passing events in Spain--and,
above all, the unprincipled excesses indulged in by
the de facto authorities of that outraged country—
have produced upon it. Lord CLARENDON truly de-
scribed the result of the late extraordinary move-
ments to have been—the overthrow of all her former
institutions, and the establishment, in their stead, of
" a military despotism of the most ferocious descrip-
tion." He observed, with great truth, that this
" revolution had been brought about by one of
the most wicked and profligate confederacies
which had been ever organised ; and he foresaw
that a re-action must soon inevitably follow,
the certain tendency of which will be a chronic state
of civil warfare." His Lordship expressed an opi-
nion that foreign influence had been extensively used
to bring about the downfal of the ex-REGENT, and
be referred to the extreme solicitude that had been
manifested in. France—especially in Paris, for Es-
PARTERO'S removal. any circumstances of grave
suspicion corroborate the existence of the feeling; and
more notably, the facts that the intended outbreak of
the late discontents in the Basque provinces had been
known, in Parii • itself, long before the event.
and that the same agency teamed to be apparent in

the insurrection that developed itself in Barcelona,
accompanied with the demand of an apology on the
part of the REGENT'S Government, for the accusations
which had been made against the French Consul re-
specting his participation therein. Then the prema-
ture accession of the young QUEEN to the throne,
and other acts to which she had been induced, by her
counsellors, ro give her sanction, really had involved
greater violations of the Spanish Constitution than
had ever been committed throughout all the
despotic reign of FERDINAND VII. But a
" cordial understanding" had been stated, by the
King of the FRENCH himself, to exist between his
Government and that of Great Britain, on
all subjects of foreign policy in general—on the
affairs of Spain in particular. "On what policy was
this good understanding based ?" asked the Noble Earl,
in continuation. And then he adverted to the claim
which the Court of France was understood to set up
to the right of selecting a consort for the Queen of
SPAIN, and to the limitation of that choice to some
member of the house of BOURBON. He hoped that
whatever might be the fact, as to this hitherto un-
heard of pretension, it was not true (confidently
as the allegation had been made) that the right had
been exercised, and the selection made, in the person
of the Count DE TRAPANI, brother to the reigning
King of NAPLES. This Prince had been educated in
the College of Jesuits at ROme, and destined for
holy orders. Now the Court of Naples, it was noto-
rious, was the only Court of Europe which had
avowedly conspired on behalf of Don CABLos. The
Noble Earl contended that, Without imputing to
the French Government any actual connexion with
the movement against the OX-REGENT, yet had it
acted as it should have done towards its own sub-
jects who were known to be intriguing against hitr,
ESPARTERO (to whose constitutional Government ,he
paid a well-merited tribute) his Regency would never
have been subverted.

We think so too, and never felt a doubt on the
matter. The Noble Secretary for Foreign Affairs
remarked, that in the ten years which had elapsed since
the death of FERDINAND VII. there had been so many
political movements and constitutional changes in Spain
that it was impossible for anybody, he believed, to give,
as to many of theserany intelligible account. He was
one who thought that there had been a disposition at
all times, in the government of this country, to inter-
meddle too much with that of Spain. He was quite
satisfied that the French Government had had
nothing to do with the downfal of ESPARTERO'S
authority ; and since, in the short space of six weeks,
there was not a village in Spain which had
not joined in the insurrection against it, the
origin of so powerful a feeling must be sought in
causes more domestic and more popular, within the
Spanish kingdom itself. The marriage of the QUEEN
he looked upon as a purely Spanish question, on
which the Spanish people and Government only were
entitled to decide. As for the remaining question of
the Noble Earl, he had been asked by him on what
basis the good understanding subsisting between
France and England was raised ? " It was raised on
the basis of an anxious desire to maintain the
complete independence of Spain—(Hear, hear)—a
desire to promote in Spain the establishment
of the constitutional system—a desire to check,
by all proper and legitimate means, every description
of violence and revolution—(Hear, hear)—a desire
to develope the just natural resources of that fine
country—(Hear, hear)—and to promote and extend
its happiness and prosperity." On a future occasion
we shall inquire how far these objects are likely to be
attained by the policy of Lord ABERDEEN.

The business of Parliament has begun—not with.
out the exhibition of some incipient symptoms of
languor even at this early stage of its sittings, if we
may judge from the adjournments and "No House"
interruptions that have already interposed in
the progress of public business. The debate on
the affairs of Sinde appears to have interested all
parties in a degree commensurate with the import-
ance of the transactions upon which it was founded.
But, without disparaging the gravity of the topics
urged on Friday night, or on the discussion upon
the "Address" to the Throne at the re-assembling
of the two Houses; or the subjects of any speeches
delivered, subsequently, in either of them, we must
own that we had expected to find, ere this, one or
two vital questions of nearer domestic concernment
and of even superior interest, occupying the primal.)
attention of the Legislature. Let us instance one
these—the income, or property-tax (for, like the object
of CLEVELAND'S apostrophe, it is " both or either.")
We can but marvel at the fortune of a Minister,
who, after such an experiment as he has induced the
country to submit to in this monstrous infliction, iF
permitted by the Legislature, in the second or third
year of its protracted application, to pass unchal-
lenged for his hazardous empiricism. Yes; this
statesman-like expedient for arresting the internal
decay of our financial system, in the nine-and-
twentieth year of an unbroken peace between Great
Britain and all the other Powers of Europe. is the
very "Elixir," that none but a political empiric,
would have ventured to recommend to his distracted
patients. Sir ROBERT PEEL has caught the mantle
of the late Mr. ST. JOHN LONG. His treatment is
founded on a theory of counter irritation. Has the
Public Treasury a morbid tendency to decline, year
after year ? His first care is to exhaust the
sources which alone sustain it. Is the public
income, with a taxation of more than 43,000,000/
sterling inadequate to meet the public expendi-
ture ? He claps on another tax-blister, in the
technical hope that "it may Rim" Do the
Customs and the Excise, and other branches of
direct and indirect contribution, annually decrease
in productiveness, becoming "small by degrees and
beautifully less," and showing diminished means as
to our capacity, both of foreign and domestic con-
sumption ? Our Premier draws upon the remaining
capital of those diminished means to make good the
deficient product of their contribution to revenue.
Since the fiscal duties of all kinds appropriated to the
public service, and paid out of the profits of the
capital invested in the trade, or absorbed by the con-
sumption which yield them are already too heavy to
permit of that consumption, or to carry on their
trade to the former extent of either, the " State
Doctor" (it is his own soubriquet) depletes the capital
still further by drawing off five millions of what he
must really suppose to be superabundant vitality in
his unhappy patient! When a man complained to a
quack of the counter-irritant school that he suffered
from severe shooting pains in his shin bone,
the quack applied himself to the case by an external
exasperation of the complainant's shoulder-blade, or
his cranium—no matter which. It was evident that
the artificial or superinduced agony, must either
expel or neutralise the original pain. It was like an
equator of powers in algebra; plus skin, minus
shoulder =A. In this manner Sir ROBERT proceeds
to prescribe for the financial evils resulting from
diminished consumption of exciseable articles, by
diminishing the means of consuming them, as to the
largest number of consumers ; and he seeks to bring
up the waning revenue of the Customs, derived en-
tirely from the energy with which commerce may be
enabled to pursue its active functions, by further in-
cisions into the capital that represents the legs upon
which it walks, and by persisting to retain the
clumsy fetters which, under the notion of preserving
the straightness and vigour of its limbs, have absurdly
cramped and deformed them.

Let it be conceded that, like other empirics, our
modern Dr. WARD is very lucky. His "pills" have
not yet killed whom they cannot cure. Nay, more
—the constitution of the patient, which, on their
own candid and manly admission, had assumed some
alarming aspects under the attendance of such men
as BIELnouaNE, RUSSELL, and PALMERSTON, has ac-
tually rallied under the perilous operations of PEEL.
This is one of those fortunate vindications of physical
strength against physic, of which the rarity makes
us sceptical as to the reality. Yet the fact is, that
trade is reviving, that the Customs are improving,
that the Excise is on the " look up." Is the im-

provement organic and constitutional, or accidental,
only and transient ? Can the " patient" retrieve his

former condition under the exhausting processes he
is subjected to, aggravated by the additional bleeding
of the income-tax, and the paralyzing ligatures of so

many tight monopolies ? We doubt and dread the

issue. But if any think it dangerous at this time ex-
tensively to alter the treatment and utterly to discard
the " doctor," at least let us entreat of the Legisla-
ture to -watch the effect, if it will not discontinue the
annual practice of this " income" phlebotomizing.