The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-25 00:00:00

etirrti -41,10,.

LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1850.

After a somewhat animated discussion, the Sun-
day Trading Prevention Bill was read a second time
in the House of Commons yesterday. Already we
have repeatedly taken occasion to condemn the prin-
ciple upon which this measure has been framed.
During its passage through the Upper Branch of the
Legislature we designated it in the strongest terms in
our vocabulary as an act most injuriously affecting
the humbler classes of society, and legalising regula-
tions of the most tyrannous superstition in the august
and venerable name of religion. .According to the
provisions of the proposed enactment, the
comforts of the rich will be interfered
with in no manner whatever ; whereas the
conveniences of the poor will be placed under
an arbitrary and inexorable interdict. All kinds of
luxuries will be still accessible on Sundays to the
wealthier sections of the community—the choicest
cigars may be obtained on that day from the tobac-
conist, the rarest game from the poulterer, the most
delicious liqueurs from the wine-merchant, the most
luscious condiments from the confectioner. But after
a certain hour has elapsed, the artizan's wife will be
precluded altogether from purchasing a loaf of bread
or a pat of butter, a pound of mutton or an ounce of
coffee, a pint of milk or a quartern of gin. As
Lord BROUGHAM remarked with some indignation,
the Bill will render it legal to buy a
sporting journal on Sundays, and illegal to
buy a Prayer-book—you will be prevented under
penalty from purchasing a Bible, but you may pur-
chase- without let or hindrance a copy of Bell's Life
in London. The miserable incongruities of the
measure require, however, no explicit illustration.
They are perceptible in every clause. The entire
scheme is glaringly calculated to annoy the labour-
ing classes of the population, while it will affect in
no manner whatever the mode of existence long pre-
valent throughout the residences of Belgravia. The
inhabitants of the New-cut and Whitechapel will
alone have cause for complaint when the Act comes
into operation (supposing it be really permitted
to pass into one of toe laws of the land) ; but the
occupants of the fashionable houses of the West End
will still continue to live as they have been accus-
tomed to live hitherto. Perhaps the framers of the
measure were of opinion that religion required a more
stringent application to the poor and a more lenient
application to the rich than has heretofore been
imagined of Christianity. However this may be,
such are absolutely the character anct tendency of the
measure now before Parliament.

Willingly would we coincide with the;llonourable
and Learned Gentleman the Member for Youghal in a
disposition to adopt the course hinted at by the Ho-
nourable and Gallant Representative of Bradford—
namely, to allow the Bill to pass into a law, for the
purpose of enabling the mischief of .-,uch legislation to
reach its crisis—but that we conceive such experi-
ments to be altogether too pernicious in their effects
upon the general community. The recent concession

made to the Sabbatati'ins by her MAJESTY'S Govern-
ment, with precisely the same intention, has proved
too lamentable in its el ril effects to admit of any similar
indifference. We cam ;ot advocate any proceeding so
likely to trifle with th. a' fortunes and the happiness of
the multitude. The c ontinuance of any such course
of arrangement c ;annfot hut militate largely from the
dignity of the I .egislatuve. Besides which, it should
be regarded in its true fight, as a culpable evasion of
trouble in the way of argumentative opposition, In-
stead of pursuing a consistent line of antagonism to
the Sabbatarians, it is as though the Cabinet and the
Parliament mutually consented to spare them-
selves much individual annoyance, by ena-
bling the Agnewites to illustrate the folly
of their fanaticism by its extravagance. They
should bear in recollection, however, the serious in-
conveniences to which they are putting the people at
large by such a negligent mode of proceeding. They
should reflect that while they are thus conspicuously
demonstrating the .absuedity of the Agnewites they
are throwing into the most disastrous confusion
the intricate mechanism of the national correspon-
dence. The late Post-office regulations have dis-
played this fact in a manner indescribably la-
mentable. All the calculations of commerce
bave been jumbled into a state of almost
ruinous entanglement merely to satisfy the
morbid consciences of a few melancholy victims of
superstition. Having applied this baneful corrective
to the great central establishment at St. Martin's-le-
Grand, and conveyed its influence alib throughout
its numerous provincial ramifications, are we quietly
to witness the application of a similar despotism to the
humbler classes of tradesmen and the multiplicity of
their customers ? As journalists we protest in the most
energetic language against any such disgraceful pre-
sumption. If we could recognize anything criminal in
the vending of butcher's meat and groceries.-at one
hour more than another on Sundays, we slikuld be
equally earnest in our commendation of the umeasure
now awaiting the final approval of the House of
Commons. But, perceiving in all this only so much
stark, staring humbug, mendacious tyranny, and
rampant fanaticism, we oppose the whole scheme
with the utmost possible emphasis. No argument
can reconcile to our minds such paltry ordinances
and the divine system of Christianity. No
sophisms can persuade us that there is anything
kindred between things so little and results so sub-
lime. Religion to our mind can drown with its celes-
tial and seraphic harmonies the creaking of a bar-
ber's pole and the clatter of a milkman's yoke. Will
not the Parliament likewise attest their coincidence
in this conviction ? Can they not perceive that, in
acting as they have done hitherto in this matter, they
have been derogating from the reverence due to that
august creed, whose laws are discoverable, not in
the text of a Blue-book, but in the inspired lan-
guage of Revelation ?

The County Courts Extension Bill, having pre-
viously been subjected to the scrutiny of a Select
Committee, was on Monday evening read a third
time in the House of Lords. It was not, however,
sanctioned in the same shape in which it came up
from the Commons. Various alterations were intro-
duced, one of which changes the character of the en-
tire measure, and will, we fear, completely do away
with the beneficial results which were anticipated
from its operation. This is the " optional clause"
which was.added to the Bill on I‘l3nday, the object
of which was to give a concurrent jurisdiction to the
superior courts in all actions for sums between 20/.
and 50/. No check whatsoever is interposed against
the abuse of this privilege. The plaintiff, or rather
the plaintiff's attorney, may select the tribunal
he pleases ; and if he has any vindic-
tive feeling against the defendant, or should
he be desirous of coercing him into the recognition
of extortionate demands, he may, at his mere will
and pleasure, go to the superior court, where the
expense of the proceedings will be at least qua-
drupled. It is almost unnecessary to say that this
power will be freely exercised, that the plaintiffs' at-
torney will, in nine cases out of ten, resort to the
tribunal where his services will be moat liberally re-
cognizA, and where he can, on obtaining judgment,
put it in force in such manner as he may think pro-
per, without having to apply in any quarter for per-
mission to do so.

The discretionary powers afforded to the Judges of
County Courts to order payment by instalments,
and to prevent the issuing of any execution, either
against goods or persons, until after default in pay-
ment of some of these instalments, although
most wholesome and salutary in itself; is yet strongly
objected to by creditors. It is true that they
often obtain satisfaction of claims which might be
wholly lost if a more summary and oppressive course
were adopted. But still they desire that the debtor
should be altogether at their mercy ; that any indul-
gence should be a matter of favour on their part, and
not a right to be claimed, by the party on his showing
that the debt had not been incurred by means of
false pretences, fraud, or breach of trust, or without
there being a reasonable expectation of payment at
the time when it was contracted, and also that he
was not then in a condition to liquidate it. The
exercise of power is at all times sweet. Some may
desire it for the purpose of showing mercy, while many
others, we regret to say, seek it for a wholly dif-
ferent reason, riz., that they may be enabled to gratify
their malcontent or their misanthropical feelibgs, and
to exhibit the stern obstinacy of their natures, the flinty
hardness of heart on which they pride themselves,
and to punish what is generally r‘garded as a crime,
the contracting of liabilities which cannot be liqui-
dated on demand, however fairly the debt may have
been incurred, and satisfactory the reasons assigned
for the postponement of payment. The superior
courts will, therefore, still be resorted to in the great
majority of instances, and the extension of the juris-
diction of the County Courts will be a mere work of
extremes, which will seldom be brought into practical
operation, save in cases where the creditor is well con-
vinced that the debtor is absolutely unable to satisfy his
claim, and where he may be able to pay a small sum,
in order to keep a scourge suspended, which he may
apply at any moment he thinks proper.
It should not be forgotten that the " Act for the
more easy Recovery of Small Debts and Demands," was
not passed for the benefit of one class merely. It un•
doubtedly afforded cheap and expeditious remedies to
creditors, and many, very many demands, small in
themselves, but amounting in the aggregate to a very
considerable sum, have been recovered in consequence
of the facilities thereby granted, which would other-
wise have been absolutely lost and placed to the
wrong side of the books. But the interests of the
debtors were not lost sight of, and they were pro-
tected from exorbitant costs, that were but too fre-
quently used as engines to enforce submission to un-
reasonable and inequitable demands. The judges
were all invested with the discretionary power to
which we have already referred, which was a great
boon to the honest but unfortunate debtor, the man
willing but unable to render instant satisfaction.

The effect of the new clause, however, will be to
render the present measure altogether one-sided.
The interests o
intf plaintiffsdereesftesnodfantsarew
arhoeclalsyleos in
ndeisrewhichg considered,arddisregarded.
d it
t w Thereiwhilellb be
may be a few, very few, a
decidedly fortheadvantage of the claimant to saein the
County Court, where, for instance, he cannotfind
friendly attorney, who will work on the terms of'‘ noa
cure, no pay," and undertake to look solely to the de-
fendant for his costs, or where the debt cannot be
established except by the evidence of the par-
ties to the suit or some of them. The
juri4diction of the County Courts may be
brought into operation under such circumstances,
but in all other cases the higher tribunals will still be
fondly clung to, debtors will still be ruined by the
accumulation of costs, often exceeding the amount to
bl recovered, or induced to submit to unconscientious
d-mands, on Lccount, of the penalty necessarily en-
tailed by resistance.
We trust that the Members of the House of Com-
mons may prove firm to the just principle of the
original Bill, and that they may steadfastly refuse
their assent to the Bill in its present mutilated
form, by which its expected advantages
will be altogether neutralized. Ministers, who
were opposed to the extension ab initio,
and who, although they affected to yield to
the expression of opinion of the popular re-
presentatives, made no show of contest in the Upper
House, and would probably not regret the final re-
jection of the measure, may be quite willing to accede
'to the Lords amendments. it is, therefore, for the

independent Members to muster in sufficient force,
and to insist on the Bill being carried in its integrity.
Better that it were Eltogether thrown out for the pre-
sent session than that it should be carried in the mu-
tilated form in which it has been sent down from the
Lords.

(FtOM A CORRESPONDENT.)

Since the year 1845 a vast variety of notices have
I appeared respecting the Halifax and Quebec
Railway, both in the British and in the
colonial journals. Observing, however, the
copy of an address from the House of
Assembly of New Brunswick to the QUEEN on this
subject, in a number of the Colonial Watchman,
received by the last mail, and also a communication
relative to what passed on the 27th of April last,
when Lord Jous RUSSELL received a deputation
from the Canadian Land and Railway Association,
we consider the present a fitting moment for recalling
public attention to a matter of which the Governor-
General of Canada, in a dispatch to Earl GREY in De-
cember, 1848, thus spoke :—" On the vast import-
ance of the intended work, whether as affecting im-
perial or provincial interests, I feel that it is altogether
unnecessary to insist. The subject has long been be-
fore the public, and its manifold recommendations
have been ably stated in various publications, official
and unofficial, as well as the valuable reports of
the surveying engineers. I cannot, however, refrain
from observing that while on the one hand no under-
taking seems to me so well calculated as this to
connect the provinces together, to promote the interests
which they have in common, to inspire them with a
consciousness of their own strength, and thus to
fit British North America for the fulfilment of
its high destinies ; so, on the other hand, none appears
to be more likely to increase the population, extend
the trade, and develop the local resources of each ;
and if this remark be true as applied to Canada, still
More emphatically does it hold good of the lower

, provinces."
The project of connecting Halifax and Quebec by
a trunk railway, crossing New Brunswick, and
systematically settling the vacant lands on the
route (extending to no less than 300 miles, and
capable of comfortably. locating one million of
emigrants), was brought under the attention of the
Home and the Colonial Governments in July, 1545,
by memorials from the registered promoters,
viz., Sir RICHARD BROUN, Bart., and Messrs.
HAMILTON, HOARE, BRIDGES, VALENTINE, &c. These
memorials procured to the gentlemen to whom the
merit of originating this vast enterprise exclusively
belongs the strongest assurances of co-operation and
support, both from the Colonial Minister (then Lord
STANLEY) and from the heads of the Colonial Execu-
tive. They were signed by order and on behalf of
the promoters and provisional board of the Halifax
and Quebec. Railway Company, at a meeting held on
the 17th of the month cited, by the Hon. Baronet
above named ; they showed that steps were in pro-
gress for setting on foot in London a public com-
pany for the purposes already stated, and—considering
the magnitude of the undertaking, and its vast com-
mercial and political importance —they prayed for
certain facilities, and such countenance and assistance
as might be necessary to obtain for the promoters
the confidence and co-operation of the British public,
land all others locally interested.
The reply to these memorials of Lord FALKLAND,
Lieutenant• Governor of Nova Scotia, assured the pro-
moters that he " conceived the contemplated railway •
would, if carried into effect, be productive of so much
beeefit to the province under his administration that
he would most willingly do everything in his power
to forward the views of the projectors." His Excel-
cellency Sir W. COLEDROOKE, Lieutenant-Governor
of New Brunswick, announced to the promoters that
" there was a very general disposition to facilitate and
promote the undertaking in that province; that he
hoped by the next racket to forward to them informa-
tion of the proceedings of local associations taking an
interest in the subject ; and that, in compliance with
their request, he had communicated with her
Maassxv's Government on the subject by the
same mail." And third, the answer from the
late Lord METCALFE, Governor-General of
Canada, was to this purport—" His Excellency
in Council bad given to the memorial of the
promoters that degree of consideration which the vast
importance of the subject merits; that a chain of
steam communication from England to Quebec was
calculated in a high degree to promote the interests
and advance the prosperity of Canada, and was an
undertaking well worthy of the countenance of the
Canadian Government, and of the people of that and
the neighbouring British provinces ; that the Go-
vernor- General, without being in possession of more
information regarding the proceedings of the company
projected by the memorialists, was unable to do more
than to assure them that they might rely upon the
Government of Canada for whatever protection 'and
aid it might be consistent to render ; and that where
the railway might pass through the unconceded lands
of the Crown, it would confer the right to the com-
pany of using what was necessary for the purposes of
the railway."

In consequence of these proceedings, and the man-
ner in which the views of the promoters were re-
sponded to by the people in the colonies, Mr. GLAD..
STONE, on succeeding to the Colonial-office seals, in
1846, appointed a body of surveying officers to exa-
mine the country, and in 1848 the final report of
this Commission was printed by order of her MA-
JEbTT. Further, since then the three Legislative
Assemblies of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova
Scotia have passed resolutions to grant the sum of
20,000/. each yearly, for twenty years, as a bonus to
the shareholders of the company ; and also several
million acres of superior land, available for settlis.
went and colonization.

At this juncture, then, we find that a new body,
taking to itself the title of " The Great Canadian Land
and Rail way Investment Association, instituted by and
for the benefit of the Working Classes, and on a plan
whereby the subscribers may, by small periodical
payments, become proprietors of shares, and ulti-
mately of freehold allotments of land in British North
America," seeks to obtrude itself between the pro-
moters of the Halifax and Quebec Railway and the
Home Government, and to take out of the hands of
the former their right in the project. The exe-
cutive provisional committee of this Great Canadian
Association now or lately comprised Mr. Rowland
Wilder, William Pillivant, Mr. John Weston,
William Harrower, John Pitt, Mr. Richard Mills,
and John H. Lake, all, we presume, or most of them,
working men. The solicitors are, or were, Messrs.
Bourdillon and Son ; the manager, Mr. Duncan
Campbell, and the secretary, Mr. A. Campbell.
How these persons could induce Lords STANLEY
and MONTEAGLE to accompany a deputation to Lord
JOHN RUSSELL, or how Earl GREY, after the com-
munications which he has received from the pro-
moters of the Halifax and Quebec Railway, could sit
by and allow the Premier to fancy that he was deal-
ing with the originators of the project, remains to be
explained. Wonders, they say, shall never cease.
But certainly it beggars belief that after the laborious
attention which Sir RICHARD BROUN and his
associates in this great measure have for five years
given to its advancement, and the constant commu •
nications passing between them and the Colonial-
office, Lord JOHN RUSSELL should be allowed thus
to commit himself with other parties.

CONSECRATION OF THE LORD BISHOP OF MON-
TREAL.—(Iins DAv. )—St. James's-day being appointed
forthihe
ocrnoni
ns egc raatt i ton\ of h
Westminster
est
mt
ie n s
te
r Bishopi‘ of
Abbey.
bey. Montreal,rf ere was
atooka place
crowdes attendance on the occasion. The service (a full
musical one, the splendid choir of the Abbey being assisted
by several gentlemen from St. Paul's and the Chapel
Royal) having commenced, his Lordship, vested in his rocket,
was led to the Communion-table ; the Queen's mandate having
been read, the oaths of the Queen's supremacy and
obedience to the Archbishop having been administered in
due form, his Lordship was declared consecrated. The Bishop
of Montreal having put on the rest of the episcopal habit,
then knelt down, and after the " Veni Creator" had been
chaunted the ceremony of laying on of hands took place; the
ad nu uist ering of the sacrament concluded the interesting cere-
mony. The • ffertory on the occasion will be devoted to the
increase of the Colonial liishoi a' Fund.

No man will ever fully find out what he is by a
mere survey of himself. He must explore if he would know
himself. Eliza Cook's Journal.

RUTLAND TESTIMONIAL.—A colossal model of the
bronze statue of his Grace the Duke of Rutland, destined to
be erected in the market-place at Leicester, has been sub-
mitted to inpection at the studio of the artist, Mr. Edward
Davis. Ills Grace is pourtrayed in the testimonial, at the
moment of his receiving the address presented to him by the
county deputation, on the day who* he completed the fiftieth
anniversary of his Lord Lieutenancy of Leicestershire. Al-
together the statue, measuring eight feet nine inches in
height, reflects the highest credit upon the artistic skill of Mr.
Davis, whether it be viewad in regard to the attitude, the
costume, or the expressien of the features.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.,

We hare received the Paris journals of yesterday.
The PRESIDENT is greatly vexed and annoyed at
the composition of the Committee of permanence, from
which his friends CASARIANCA. and ST. JEAN
IYANGELY were excluded both at the first ballot and
at the second. He assembled the Burgraves at the
Elyse after the first ballot, and they promised that
at the second ballot they would secure the election of
his nominees ; they were not, however, successful,
and there are now only three names to be bal-
lotted for.

The National, after noticing the result of the
ballot, says:—
" Whatever may be the names which may this &lay
issue from the urn, at present the animus which has in-
spired the composition of the committee of 25, may
be appreciated. That animus is evidently the same
as that which was made manifest in the affair of the
Ponvoir. It is a formal veto, the veto or the' na-
tional sovereignty signified to the policy of the solu-
tions. It is the flag of the Constitution displayed
against the flag of detestable passions. It is an indirect
homage to tile firm will of the country, and at the same
time a warning, a cheek, and, if necessary, a menace to
impotent fancies. No doubt the committee could have
been Letter composed; no doubt, the greatest number of
the men on whom the choice of the Assembly has fallen
are not remarkable for the energy of their republican
convictions; no doubt, in fine, we regret not to see in the
list of the elected more significant names, ef those names
which are in themselves pledges given to principles. It
is not less true that we do not exaggerate in any way in
in'erpreting as we do the importance of the two ballots
which have taken place. The most marked demonstra-
tion of the grandeur and justice of our cause, is that our
adversaries themselves cannot re-assure the country, and
guarantee public security and their own, except by taking
refuge, so to speak, in this cause as in a supreme asylum.
They curse our principles! be it so; yet it is those
very principles which they are obliged to oppose against
the encroachments which they dread. They curse our
institutions— at.d if it depended only on them, they
would soon be overturned. Still, they entrench them-
selves behind these institutions, and believe themselves
well protected only by them. An involuntary homage
which they pay to the Republic! an involuntary affir-
mation of an invincible fact! But the truth is that
when an institution is the necessity of a period, when
an idea is the universal faith of men's consciences,
everything serves that institution, and that idea; every-
thing has for result, in spite of secret intentions, to
perpetuate its reign. The conduct of the enemies them-
selves of the Republie proves tnat the Republic is the
only real force of our epoch, the only e'ement of order
and safety. By principle, or rather by prejudice, they
regret it; by interest, they are constrained to admit it.
What has occurred in this special question of the pro-
rogation will always take place. The future is to the
Republic, not less, and we may say even more, than
the present. This will be seen in 1852, and perhaps
,oner."

The Constitutionnel, which is the avowed organ of
the Ministry, expresses great disgust at the numina
tion of General LAMORICIERE, which, it says, is " the
price of the great battle he waged against the phan-
toms of the Imperial party and of the Empire."
The reactionaries are also greatly annoyed at the
fact that Changarnier stands only filth on the ballot.
Odilon Barrot was first, Jules de Lasteyrie, who
voted against the President's dotation, second, Monet,
a Cavaignacist, third, and St. Priest, a Legitimatist,
fourth, and after all these comes Changarnier.
Several arrests have taken place of the members of
a secret society of Socialists, called the Nemesis.
A decree of the PRESIDENT of the Republic orders
that, as the ground and buildings of the lazaretto of
Marseilles are insufficient for th 3 quarantine regula-
tions, the lazaretto and sanitary board shall be trans-
ferred, within the shortest possible delay, to the islands
of the Frioul. Another decree orders, with a view
to improvement in veterinary science, the appointment
of a conseil de prefectionnenunt. A third decree
orders several new regulations for improvement in the
schools of artillery.
The Constitutionnel mentions a report that the Gc-
vernment has received news of the resignation of the
whole of the municipal council of Marseilles, in con-
sequence of the order given by the Government that
all vessels arriving in that port, and having no case of
death or illness, shall not be compelled to perform
quarantine. It is added, says the Constitutionnel, that
the Ministry has resolved to send a 'commission ex-
traordinary to Marseilles.
_ _ _

At a meeting of the Club of the Mountain, held on
Monday night, it was resolved to publish an account
of the labours of the Legislative Assembly at the
close of the present month, and to address it to all the
electors. MM. BAC, CHAERAS, LUINEL,
and EUGENE SUE were appointed to prepare the re-
port.
The Legitimatist Club called ".L'Etoile," held at
Marseilles, has been dissolved, by order of the prefect
of the department. A statue of llEraty V., and an
engraving of the same person on horseback, were
seized by the Commissary of Police, who closed the
club.

PARIS BOURSE, JULY 24.—Latest Prices.—Five
per Cents. 96f. 75e. ; Three per Cents. 58f. ; Bank
Actions, 2,410 f.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, JULY 24.

Boulogne and Amiens, 73/4 —Central of France (Orleans
and Vierzon), 15'4 ex in. 7 Dutch Rhenish, 2 —East In-
dian, 7dis ex in.—Luxembourg, 2%-2;amur and Liege, 61,i
—Northern of France, 1 I% ex in. and ex div.— Orleans and
Bourdeaux, 3 ex in.—Paris and Rouen, 21,E—Paris and
Strasburg, 73/4—Rouen and ilavrP, 10.

SPAIN.
Madrid journals of the 19:11 instant have been
received. _ _

- _
Several Carlist bands have appeared in the pro-
vinces of Arragon and Gerona, and those provinces
have been placed under martial law.
MADRID BOLSA, JULY 19.—The Three per Cents.,
were done at 328 for cash ; the Four per Cents. at
12k; the Five per Cents. at 128 ; the Debt without
Interest at 38 ; and the Coupons at 78 for paper.