The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-02 00:00:00

ig 21M;

LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1850.

Free-trade has again been vindicated and Protec •

tion crushed by a glorious majority of 119 this
morning, in the Commons House of Parliament.
Scarcely ever has any session opened under such
bzilliant auspices as the one just inaugurated by the
admirable Speech from the Throne, upon the merits
of 'which we yesterday commented, and the first
achievement of which has been so rapidly accom-
plished, and the accomplishment of which, moreover,
has been one of so decisive a cllarticter. What the
agricultural gentlemen will say to this overwhelming
division, it is somewhat difficult to conjecture. Never
was such arrant braggadocio so ignominiously ex-
posed. After all their-Au...pouring in the provinces,

after ail their blustering vituperations against the
Government, after all their sylvan rant and bucolic
bombast, fraught v:ith sound " signifying nothing,"

they have sud,',enly found themselves dwarfed

to their own natural littleness and insignificance.%
If we had I,:ad to calculate the results cf the then
approachi•eng• struggle between the monopolists and
the adyPocates of unrestricted commercc, guided only
in our estimate by the predictions of the former, we
shorArl certainly have expected nothing less than the
irr4mediate reversal of the enactments of 1846, and the
instant elevation of the leaders of the Country Party
to the offices of adininistration. Wh:it, in fact, has
been the sequel of the recent agitation throughout the
agricultural districts ? What has followel directly
upon the descent of these vociferous orators from the
elevation of the platform to the floor of the House

of res:zesentatives in Westminster ? Has Protection
a larger or a smaller probability of restoration ? Is
tke free-trade policy placed in a more durable or a
more ricketty position P Hes Lord STANLEY a better
chance than hitherto of attaining the rank of Prime
Minister, or Mr. DrsnAELI a more reasonable pro-
bability of penetrating the political sanctuary of the
Privy Council ? The record of the first forty-eight
hours of this Parliamentary session will afford the
necessary answers. The pages of Hansard will fur-
nish the multitude with the desired elucidation. It
will then be recognized how completely the
Friends of the Farmers, so called, counted
'without their host ; how egregiously they have been
obfuscating their own judgments, at the very time when
they intended only to delude those of their hearers.
It has been the incident of the parturient mountain
re-enacted. Large cry and little wool, is the adage
most expressive of the recent fortunes of the Pro-
tectionists. Their elaborate preparations for the de.
feat of Ministers has ended in the signal triumph of
the cause with which those statesmen aro identified.
Their thunder-like threats and protestations out of
doors: has diminished in-doors to the " still small

vclice" of petulance and irritation. They have emu-
lated the weaver, and " roared you as gently as any
sucking dove." Even the Oratorical Ophicleide of
Agricultural Monopoly has diminished in the 'louse to
the veriest pen:ny trumpet. The magic of his rhetoric
boa disappeared, the edge of his wit has been turned,
the keermeaa of his sarcasm has been blunted beyond
reparation. " Twenty more, kill 'em—twenty more,
kill 'em—twenty more, kill 'em," is no longer the
boast of the Protectionist Bobadils. At the appear-
ance of the first score of free-trade orators their souls
have fainted within them, and at the merest prospect
of a struggle the whole of that obsolete faction has
expired from a mingled sentiment of terror and
chagrin. The hearts of the English artisans, saved
from ruin and privation, the hearts of the Scotch labour-
ers snatched from irretrievable destitution, the hearts
of the Irish peasantry preserved from the impending
horrors of famine have long since unconsciously
and spontaneously chaunted the Te Deem of Free-
..trade. At length the period has arrived when the
- vast body of the people may raise their voice to
another measure, and sing the Dirge of Protection.
Turning to the debate in the Commons, the de-
bate of Thursday night, and that adjourned discus .
- sion which only terminated at two o'clock A.M. this
morning, it is impossible not to rcci:gnise at a glance
....;,he manifest disproportion cf the orators speaking in
defence of the 'list and present commercial policy i f
Great Britain. On the side of the Free-traders
,10-e observed ranged, for example, such redoubtab'e
:champions of the policy adventured upon by the iilus-
trious ex-Premier, the Right llun. Representative of
Tamworth, as his noble successor in the management
of the reins of Government, and the llon. Members
- for-WaXiitt ptsp,. for Bradford, and for the West
Ridif-iisf-Ydrirshire.. 4 more felicitous or re
. eittiifil*Chailerke was: ver flung down to hisTa-
tibiVnii' 1:44:1a5-itr,.''C'o\i‘. / happily declared last night
6115tai stitiniwial•c*--tthan the ono hurled against
; A
31 t9#l**.iiiiiia.: irotectionists by the Um
Csr.irt r4iti,l4l' foremost of all the Free-

traders in Parliament. His speech, in proposing
the answer to the Address from the Throne, must
ever after this be ranked among the best vindications
of the modern school cf political economy. It was
as abounding in facts to the point as the speech oz
Sir CHARLES WOOD was in figures to the purpose—
and formed a glaring contrast to the agile evasions
of argument which characterised the speech of the
Hon. Gentleman the Eepresentative of Buckingham-
shire. During the course of the latter oration
Mr. DISRAELI mentioned a humorous story
about a corkscrew lost at a banquet given on one
occasion by his Highness the LORD PROTECTOR—
little imagining at the moment, possibly, that the
thing most resembling that corkscrew was the very
harangue in which it was commemorated. Of the
remarks uttered by Mr. COBDEN, we can speak only
in language of the highest eulogium and the com-
pletest admiration—expressing, as they did, so ad-
mirably the true feeling of the country in regard
to these revived discussions upon Protection. The
real gist of his observations was this :—For Heaven's
sake, if the upholders of the system of monopoly
entertain any notion that the House is prepared
to reconsider its view of this matter, let the bold
question be at once submitted to the consideration of
Parliament ; if any expectation whatever is enter-
tained that the old policy is to be restored, let us
show the agriculturists at once what are the real feel-
ings of the representative Legislators of England
Apart from the acceptation of this challenge, super-
added to the challenge already made by the Hon.
Gentleman the Member fur Wolverhampton; the di•
vision last night of 311 over 192 is the best response
to the demands of Mr. COBDEN, and the completest
dissipation of all the fantastic and chimerical hopes of
the Protectionists. It was greatly to be regretted
that the short and pungent sentences with which
the Honourable and Gallant Representative of
Bradford wound up the debate could not be
more distinctly heard in the reporters' gallery,
seeing that even the fragmentary portions of it re-
corded in our columns are couched in a style so emi-
nently and strikingly characteristic. Little further
opportunity will henceforth, however, be afforded the
orators of Free-trade fur demonstrating the wisdom
of that policy, or for Breaking down, with their sledge-
hammer facts, the brittle and flimsy filagree Of Pro.
tectionist argument. The division of this morning, in
short, must surely have afforded a sufficient testimony
that the political adventurers in the Commons must
find out some other " dodge" for acquiring popula-
rity, or for working out an ephemeral elevation, than
the advocacy of a system as dead as feudality and
as detestable as Cannibalism.

Verily we live in strange times. Even among the
Free-traders there exists a leaven of protection—not
of protection according to the accepted terminology,
but of a grotesque and distorted phantasm, which
considerably bewilders our comprehension. We are
so accustomed in the present day to witness unac-
countable incidents and marvellous transformations,
that it takes no little matter to elicit from us any ex-
pressions of surprise, but on the occasion to which we
are about presently to refer, we " confess the soft im-
peachment." Had another been added to the many
motley banners which are wont, especially in the
merry month of May, to flaunt in the arena of Exeter
Hall, we should never have troubled our heads about
the subject. Limitless flummery, and nonsense un-
controlled, are there the order of the day ; but that,
in the heart of the City of London, in the year of grace
ISSO, a body cf respectable and generally sensible
men should constitute themselves a PIRATE PROTEC-
TION ASSOCIATION seems to US one of the most sin-
gular freaks of the existing epoch.
Many, doubtless, of our readers have entertained,
in the fresh and imaginative days of boyhood, an ad-
miration of those daring adventurers who scoured the
Spanish main, revelling in the spoils of invincible
valour, and striking dismay into the souls of wealthy
merchants, plethoric burgesses, and the like. Such
dashing heroes as MORGAN, the sacker of Panama,
Captain KYD, or those fictitious freebooters, CL➢VE-
LAND, the RED ROVER, &c., have awakened within
their bosoms the fire of emulation, and set the blood
bounding through their veins at the thoughts of the
swift and buoyant barque, the swarthy bravo crew, the
sun, the sea, the sky of the tropics, the glittering spoil,
the flash of gems, and the lustrous eye of captive beauty.
But sober manhood clouds such fairy dreams ; and
hence the sympathy of those middle-aged and peace-
professing gentlemen who congregated around Mr.
Joseru STUnce, on the platform at the London
Tavern, on Wednesday evening, for a bloody and
barbarous gang cf sea-robbers, destitute of any of
those false attractions for the romantically-minded
which palliate a sigh to the memory of the bold
buccaneers, smites us with unmitigated amazement.
Nothing but a perverted imagination, or the crassest
ignorance of the piratical prcccedings which have
been of constant occurrence in the Malay waters,
could influence persons of respected characters and
talents to stand up in the face of the civilized world
and seek to persuade their auditors that the gallant
Raja of Sarawak has been guilty of a wanton massacre of
the llyaks of Borneo, and that those commiserated
gentry were a non-aggressive fraternity, butchered
gratuitously and in cold blood. To him who seeks
to stigmatize the salutary and smart chastisement so
deservedly inflicted by a portion of her MAJESTY'S
forces on these pestilent marauders as " branding its
authors not only with cruelty but cowardice," we can
only say that we envy him not the state of mind which
could have induced him to fling upon his countrymen
so foul and false an imputation. But the minds of
certain Englishmen are, unhappily far themselves,
afflicted with a monomaniac detestation of the armed
defenders of England's security and England's glory.
To enter upon any defence of the enterprising and
chivalrous Raja BROOKE would be completely a work
of supererogation. His character and conduct are too
well known and appreciated in his native land to render
necessary a word in his behalf. Indeed, a spirit of
conscious weakness appeared to pervade these post-
prandial orators, if one may judge by the ready re-
course which some of them had to personalities. One
of them let fly at those unchristian sneerers, the
editors of the Times, " who did not seem to have
faith in anything but butcher's bills." Another ac-
tually charged the gallant fellow, who, for his excel-
lent conduct on trying occasions in those troubled
waters, had received, as the well-merited reward of his
deserts, a purse from the Merchants, a piece of plate
from the Country Captains, and a handsome gratuity
from the Mutual Indemnity Association, with want
of courage ! One Reverend Gentleman, indeed, who
had formerly served as an officer in those
very regions, seemed to join in the sweep-
ing charges preferred by his associates with
a certain amount of misgiving. Things might, how-
ever, hare progressed with a satisfactory drowsiness
to the perfect contentment of the sagacious meeting,
had not a "Deus ex machine appeared upon the
scene, and utterly damaged the smooth humbug of
the proceeding.

Honour to the straightforward enemies of tom-
foolery and cant on every occasion ! Honour to
Captain AARON SMITH, who saluted his disconcerted
hearers with a plain unvarnished statement of incon-
trovertible facts, which went farther to place in their
true light the transactions so clumsily vilified, than
could be possibly done by the most rhetorical address
or laboured apology. His statement was simple,
brief, and crushing. He commenced by sayieg that he
spoke from ocular demonstration, having navigated the
China sea for thirty years, and was a living witness to
the midnight gambols of these persecuted gondoliers
Facts," said he, " are stubborn things ; I have been
attacked at midnight by a crew of Malay pirates .;"
whereupon we are informed that a sensation took
place on the platform, and some confusion in the
meeting. All the beautiful frost-work of sentiment
began to thaw away before the honest breath of this
sturdy testimony. lie seems to have beenfavo,u,rti,eed
by the attentions of the 0CE4,1 highwaymen,
sea-attorne3 s," on more occasions than one, but spe-
cifi:d one instance in particular, when he found him-
self surrounded by twenty pralms, manned by a
hundred men a-piece, and wkii.:h some dt:‘licate no-
menclator had stated to be " me:e baskets." Captain
Salmi thereupon did what every man, note candidOte for
Bedlam, nor deserving the cart's tail, would have done in
a similar predicamen—the defended himself and h.
good ship to the best of his ability—and after a thre e
hours' engagement the cut-throats bad to sheer of:,
leaving about a hundred of their ruffianly crew hors
de combat. These playful innocents have likewise a
happy knack of using poisoned spew, which, to a

fastidiously humane antagonist, might prove that a '
scratch is as good as a stab. " If," said our captain
in conclusion, " you can civilize these pirates, do it."
Now we should be very sorry to see any members of
this meeting, of whose infatuation on this subject we
speak more in sorrow than in anger, go out to Borneo
to be first pricked with poisoned spears, and after-
wards boiled seeundem morem. The fact of the
matter was, they found a mare's nest, and were ex-
ceedingly rejoiced thereat; but the weather-
beaten seafarer, not relishing such pheno-
mena, demolished it unceremoniously, and scattered
its fragments to the winds. Well might a lugubrious
voice exclaim "He is smashing the meeting !" It is
sheer stuff to try and make us believe at home that
English seamen, even under the influence of an equi-
noctial sun, are given to deeds of wanton massacre.
They discharged their bounden duty cif the coast of
Borneo, as they have ever and everywhere done when
needed, and from which we trust they will never be
induced to swerve. They crushed a nest of sea-
vermin, who were long the pest and terror of the
commerce of those seas; and of the legitimate nature
of the process, however we may deplore the stern
necessity of shedding human blood, we entertain not
the slightest misgiving, certified as it is, moreover, by
the unanimous declaration of unimpeachable wit-
nesses de vieineto, an honourable and peaceful body
cf industrious men, the British merchants of Singa-
pore. Those who would try to affix the stain
cf unjust cruelty on "Jack Tar," must
labour under a woful misconception of his
real character. Captain AARON SMITH spoke
out like a brave and honest man, who felt himself on
sure ground, and was not to be daunted into silence,
nor disconcerted into ill temper. We feel proud of
such a specimen of our mercantile marine ; and as
to that gallant spirit, whom his country and his age
should delight to honour, the Governor of Sarawak,
we shall be bitterly disappointed if, should need be,
Government will not satisfactorily justify, instead of
finding themselves "compelled to disavow the conduct
of Raja BROOKE."
On one point, and one only, we agree with the pro-
moters of the meeting, namely, that the existing
system of granting head- money ought to be abo-
lished, not cut of any maudlin sympathy with pirates,
but because we are unwilling that any detractors of
our stouthearted sailors should have it in their
power to insinuate that the British blue jacket ever
drew his cutlass for the price of blood.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
The report of M. PISCATORY, on the Bill presented
by the Government for increasing the pay of the non-
commissioned officers of the army, recommends that
the increased pay shall not be given to all non-com-
missioned officers, but only to those who, having
served seven years, shall consent to continue their
service. In such case, non-commissioned officers
shall receive an increase of 5 sous a day; corporals,
12c. ; and private soldiers, 10c.
The Opinion Publique having asked, "Is it true
that M. De GriaARDIN is desirous of obtaining the
post of Minister, directing and centralizing ?" M. DE
GIRARDIN answers, in the Presse, that it is true that
he not only cherishes that ambition, but has been long
preparing himself to occupy the post in question—
that he has been occupied for some time past in pre-
paring his programme, and that if he were named
Minister to-night, that programme would appear in the
illoniteur to-morrow.

The French Government has received a telegraphic
dispatch, announcing the blockade of the Pixrcus by
the British squadron.
It is said that a reconciliation h on the point of
taking place between the PRESIDENT and the majority.
The National, alluding to the new loan to the Pope,
says : . . . . .

We consider we may state positively that the treaty
on this subject was signed at Paris on the 27th inst.,
and immediately sent off t Portici, where the
Pore will see whether be can resolve to place
the Pontifical seal by the side cf the signature of
M. de Rothschild. We do not imagine he will refuse.
The loan is for 40,000,000 f. M. de Rothschild hart
not subscribed for it directly; he takes it on commission
at the rate of 78f. If ho places it at 80, he will be
allowed a commission of 2 per cent.; if at 82, 2i per
cent.; if et 84, 3 ler cent., and so on in proportion.
This is a notice to those who may be anxious to
subscribe. Moreover, they will enter into a very
hazardous affair, and will perhaps allow us to enlighten
the-m a little on the subject. For the last thirty-five years,
and doubtless in consequence of the profound contempt
which the Roman clergy profess for the riches a this
world, the finances of the !Oman State have been the
most tottering of any in Europe—absence of all control,
systenntic and unpunished waste, and dilapidations
consecrated and in a manner rewarded—:his is what
has been shown to exist in the financial reyina of the
Popes by M. d'Az glio, the presort chief of the Piedmon-
tese Cabinet, in his book on the everts cf Romagna.
Before the revolution of 1848 the public debt of the Pon-
tifical States was 230,000,000 f. (interest at five per cent.)
In adding to it the 40,000,000 e. now demanded, and
about 40,000,000 f. of paper money, 23,000.000 f. of
which being of Papal origin cannot under any pretext
be annulled, and of which only 17,000,000 f. mai ated
from the Republican Government, have been in part
cancelled, we have a total debt of 210,000,000 f. Such
are the charges. The resources easy be easily enume-
rated. The revenues of the Roman S:ates furnish an-
nually from 35,000,C00f. to 38,000,000 r. The ex-
penses alwas s exceed 55,000,000 f. It is easy,
therefore, to calculate the result. There is
also church property valued in a mass at
250,000,000 f. ; but, if this is touched, what be-
ccmes c f the convents, the churches, public worship, &ea
the material existence of which is founded on this pro-
perty? This resource, which would be excellent in a
secular state, is cf no avail in the hands of the priest-
prince. Let him only just think c f laying his hand on
,t, and it will be seen whether he would cc me well out of
the attempt."
The Conditutionnel tays—
" It is states that the departure of Cardinal Dupont is
fixed for to-day. He proceeds direct to Portici, where
he is to fulfil a non-official mission to the Pope, with
which he is charged by the French Government. A
person who is related to Pius IX., and who has lately
made the journey from Paris to Rome and to Portici,
has been attached to the mission. Much reliance is
placed on the intervention of the Cardinal to facilitate
the solution of the Roman question."
The Ordre says—
" We have already spoken, with all the reserve be-
fitting such an important subject, elan ultimatum which
had been, or was to be, presented to Switzerland on
the subject of the refugees, whose demagogical pro-
ceedings caused uneasiness to the neighbouring State?.
From more recent information which has reached
us, we find that no officiel communication has yet
be en made to the Federal Government. Prussia and
Austria, behind whom appears to be Russia, have
thought it their duty to previously consult France on
the subject, in order to ascertain what her conduct
would be in case the two great German Powers should,
after unavailing representations, bo compelled to interfere.
It appears that the same question Las not been put to
England, whose interest is less pressing and less direct
in the matter than that cf the nations whose frontiers
join Switzerland. On this account Piedmont was to be
consulted, and we are informed tLat that has been done,
and that she has manifested her intention to co-operate
in any measures of repression which the provocations
of the demagogical party may rentier necessary."
The Semaphore de Marseilles, of the 28th ult.,
quotes the following letter, dated Bona, the 22d :
" The column of troops, operating in the Auzee,
catered the valley cf the Oued-Abdy, which is
remarkable for its fertility and high state of
cultivaion. It is covered with numerous vil-
lages, built like . those of France. The prin-
cipal towns are Nenna, and Nara. The latter re-
fused to surrender. It was, as it were, suspended on the
summit of an immense mountain ; and tar more con-
siderable than Zeatcha. Oa the sth the assault was
given. In less than four hours oux troops occupied its
streets and terraces, and at night it was reduced to ashes.
Its defenders evinced the same courage as those of
Zsatcha, and the women fought with more obstinacy and
fury; some of the men fled, but they died with arms in
their hands. They are the descendants of the women
of Cal thage. On the 7th the column was still under the
walls of Nara."

PARIS BOURSE, FEB. I.—Closing Prices :—Five
per Cents Rentes, 96f. ; Three per Cents., ditto, 58f.
30e. ; Bank of France, 2,380 f.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE

LONDON STOCK-EXCLANGE, FEB. 1.
Boulogne and Amiens, B—lluteh Rhenish, 2—Luxem.
bourg, 15/4—Orleans and Bordeaux, 3%—Paris and Straybourg, 65/B—Rouen and llavre, 10—West Flanders, 1%.