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

iihntrnit ui

LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1850.

Free-trade bes again been vindicated and Prot ec •
ton crashed by a glorious majority of 119 this
morning, in the Commons House of Parliament.
Scercely ever F"s auy session opened under such
Inilliant auspices as the one just inaugurated by the
adT!rable Speech from the Throne, upon the merits
cf 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 character. What the
agriculture! gentlemen will say to this overwhelming
division, it is somewhat difficult to conjecture. Never
wss such arrant braggadocio so ignominiously ex-
posed. After au their vapouring in the provinces,
after all their blustering vituperations against the
Government, after all their sylvan rant and bucolic
bombast, fraught with sound " signifying nothing,"
they have suddenly found themselves dwarfed
to their own natural littleness and insignificance.
If we had had to calculate the results of the then
approaching struggle between the monopolists and
the advocates of unrestricted commerce, guided only
in our estimate by the predictions of the former, we
should certainly have expected nothing less than the
immediate reversal of the enactments of 18-16, and the
instant elevation of the leaders of the Country Party
to the offices of administration. What, in fact, has
been the sequel of the recent agitation throughput the
sgricnl'arrol disricts ? What has followed directly
upon the descent of these vociferous orators from the
elevation of the platform to the floor of the House
of representatives in Westminster ? Has Protection
a le-ger or a smeller probability of restoration ? Is
the free-trade policy placed in a more durable or a
more ricketsy position? Has Lord STANLEY a better
chance than hitherto of attaining the rank of Prime
Minister, or 11-. DIiBAELI 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 hiss beenethe incident of the parturient mountain
re-enacted: Large cry end little wool, is the adage
most expressive of the recent fortunes of the Pro-
tectionists. Their elaborate preparations for the de.
feat of Ministers Ilea- ended in the signal triumph of
the cause with which those statesmen are identified.
Their thunder-like threats and protestations out of
doors, hae, diminished in-doors to the " still small
voice" of petulance and irritation. They have emu-
lated the weaver, and " roared you as gently es any
sucking dove." Even the Oratorical Ophicleide of
A griculc.oral Monopoly has diminished in the House to
the veriest penny trumpet. The magic of his rhetoric
has disappeared, the edge of his wit has been turned,
the keenness of his sarcasm has bean 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. mile- hearts of the Trnglish 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
end spontaneously chaunted the Te Deurn of Free-
trade. At length the period hes arrived when the
vest body of the people
may raise their voice to
another meesure, and sing the Dirge of Protection.
Turning to the debate in the Commons,
de-
bate of Thursday night, and ~ . the
In2t adjourned discus
siou which only teraainated at two o'clock A.M. this
morning, it is impossible not to recognise at a glance
the manifest disproportion of the orators speaking in
defence. of The pas` and present commercial policy f
v
Great Britain. On the side of the Pre etrad.-rs
ere observed ranged, for example, such liedoubtsb'e
champions of the policy adventured upon by the illus-
trious ex.-Prurnier, the Right Hon. Representative of
Tamworth, as his noble successor in the management
of the reins of Government.. and the lion. Members
for Wolverhampton' , for Bradford, and for the West
Riding of Yorkshire. A more felicitous or more
crushing challenge was never flung down to his an-
tagonists—as Mr. COBDEN happily declared last night
almost in so many words--than the one hurled against
the blustering squad of Protectionists by the Hon.
VirARLEs VILLIZRS• the 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 of political economy. It was
as abounding in facts to the point as the speech of
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 Representative of Buckingham-
shire. During the course of the latter oration
Jr. DisuAEnr 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 corn-
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 for Wolverhampton, the di•
vision last right 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 for 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 hare afforded a sufficient testimony
that the political adventurers in the Commons must
find out soiue other " dodge" for acquiring popula-
rity, or fur 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 aceustomed 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
850, a body of respectable and generally sensible
men should constitute themselves a PIRATE PROTEC-
TION ASSOCIATION SUMS 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 KID, or those fictitious freebooters, CLEVE-
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.
JOSEPH STURGE, 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 proceedings 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
illaja of Sarawak has been guilty ofa wanton massacre of
the Dyaks 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 sniert 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 for themselves,
afflicted with a monomaniac detestation of the armed
defenders ofEngland'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 sneereri, 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, have progressed with a satisfactory drowsiness
to the perfect contentment of the sagacious meeting,
bad not a "Deus ex nzachinit" 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 saying that he
spoke from ocular demonetratior, 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 ere infovmed that a sensation took
place on the platform, and some confusion in the
meeting. All the beau tiful frost-work of sentiment
began to thaw away heft )re the honest breath of this
3 curdy testimony. He .seems to have been favoured
by the attentions of the ocean highwaymen, " the
sea-attorneys," on more occasions than one, but spe-
cified one instance in par titular, when he found him-
self surrounded by t wenty prahus, manned by a
hundred men a-piece, and which some delicate no-
menclator had stated to be " mere baskets." Captain
Saran thereupon did wl at every man, not a candidate for
Bedlam, nor deserving ti' ie cart's tail, would have done in
a similar predicamen—t ;he defended himself and his
good ship to the best of his ability—and after a three
hours' engagement the cut-throats had to sheer off,
leering about a hundred . of their ruffianly crew hors
de combat. These playf pl innocents have likewise a
happy knack of using 'lmo- ned spears, which, to a

fastidiously humane antagonist, might prove that a
scratch is as good as a stab. " said our captain
in conclusion, " you can civilise 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 cut to Borneo
to be first pricked with poisoned spears, and after-
wads boiled secundem :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 ouch 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 off the coast of
Bei neo, as they have ever and every where done when
needed, and from which we trust they w ill never be
induced to swerve. They crushed a nest of sea-
vermin, who were long the pest and tereor of the
commerce of those seas; and of the legitimate nature
lof 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 vicineto, an honourable and peaceful body
of industrious men, the British merchants of Singa-
pore. Those who would try to affix the stain
of 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 Gr.' over nor of Sarawak,
we shell be bitterly disappointed if, should need be,
Government will not satisfactorily justify, instead of
finding themselves " compelled to disavow the 'conduct
of Raja BROOICE."

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 out 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 Lis 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; corporal:,
12e. ; and private soldiers, 10c.
The Opinion Publique having asked, "Is it true
that M. DR GIRAIUDIN is desirous of obtaining the
post of Minister, directing and centralizing ?" M. DR
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
Moniteur to-morrow.

The French Government has received a telegraphic
dispatch, announcing the blockade of the Pincus by
the British squadron.
It is said that a reconciliation is on the point of
taking place between the PRESIDENT and the majority.
The Notional, alluding to the new loan to the Pope,
says :
" We consider we may state positively teat the treaty
on this subject was signed at Paris on the 27th inst.,
and immediately sent off to Portici, where the
Pore will see whether he cau resolve to place
the Pontifical seal by the side of the signature of
M. de Rothschild. We do not imagine he will refuse.
The loan is for 40,000,000 f. M. de Rothschild baa
not subscribed for it directly; he takes it on commission
at the rate of 78f. If he places it at 80, he will be
allowed a commission of 2 per cent.; if at 82, 2i per
cent.; if at 84, 3 For cent., and so on in proportion.
This is a notice to those who may be anxious to
subserlbe. Moreover, they will enter into a very
hazardous affair, and will perhaps allow us to enlighten
them 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 cf this
world, the finances of the Roman State have been the
:nest tottering of any in Europe—absence of all control,
systematic and unpunished waste, and dilapidations
consecrated and in a manner rewarded—this is what
Iris been shown to exist in the financial regime of the
Popes by NI. d'A zeglio, the creseet chief of the Piedmon-
tese Cabinet, iu his bock on the ei ents of Romagna.
Before the revolut'on of 1848 the public debt of the Pon-1
tificel States was 230,000,000 e. (interest at five per cent.)
In adding to it the 40,000,000'. now demanded, end
about 40,000,000 f. of paper money, 23,000.000 f. of
which being of Papel origin cannot under any pretext
be ennulled, and of which only 17,000,000 f. ernaLatA
from the Republican Government, have been in part
cancelled, we have a total debt of 210,000,000 f. Such
are the charges. Tne resoveces may be easily enume-
rated. The revenues of the Roman States furnish an-
nually from 35,000,C00f. to 38,000,000 r. The ex-
prizes always 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-
comes c f the cunvente, the churches, public worship, &c.,
the material existence of which is founded on this pro-
pert) ? This resource, which would be excellent in a
secular state, is cf no avail in the hands of the priest-
isEnce. Let him only just think of lay:eg his hand on
it,and it will be seen whether he would come well out of
the attempt."
The Consiitutionnel says—
" It is stated that the departure of Cardinal Dupont is
fixed for to-clay. He proceeds direct t) Portici, where
ho 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 Penis to Rome and to Portici,
has been attachci to the mission. Much reliance is
placsi on the intervention cf the Car heal to facilitate
the solution of the Roman question."
The Ordre says—
" We have eready spoken, with all the reserve be-
fitting such an important subject, of an ultimatum which
had been, or was to be, presented to Sit itzsrland on
the subject of the refugees, whose demagogical pro-
ceedings caused uneasiness to the neighbouring Statee.
From more recent information which has reached
us, we find that no official communication has, yet
been made to the Federal Government. Prussia and
Austria, behind whom appears to 'lse--Russia, have
thought it their duty to previously consult France on
the subject, in order to ascertl;n what her conduct
would be in case the two great German Powers should,
after unavailing representations, be compelled to interfere.
It appears.that the same question has not been put to
England, whose interest is less pressing and less direct
in the matte. than 'hat cf the nations whose frontiers
join Switzerland. On this account Piedmont was to be
consulted, and we are informed that that has been done,
and that she he 3 manifested her intention to co-operate
in any measures of repression which the provocations
of the demagogical party may render necessary."
The Semaphore de Marseilles, of the 28th ult.,
quotes "se following letter, dated Bone, the 22d :
" The column of troops, operating in the Auzer,
eat -.:red the valley cf the Oued-Abdy, which is
remarkable for its fertility and Isigh state cf
cultivation. 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 war, as it wore, suspended on the
summit of an immense mountain ; and tar more con-
siderable than Zaatcha. On the sth the assault was
given. In less then four hours our troops occupied its
streets mid terraces, end at right it was reduced to tithes.
Its defenders esinced the same courage as those of
Zaatcha, end the women fought with more obstinacy and
iury; 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, F. I. Closing Prices :—Five
r n Cents., Rentes, 96f. ; Three per Cents., ditto, 54
30c. ; Bank of France, 2,380 f.
BUSINESS LONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE