The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-09 00:00:00

Otrrniaff

LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 0, 1844.

The sympathy of Europe is never more acutely
`couched and awakened than when it is appealed
to by the efforts of Greece to consolidate
the new position • she has assumel among the
family of modern nations. Her ancient glory,
—matchless alike in science and philosophy, in
arts and in arm:,—attained its true perfection in the
extent and character of that refining influence which
her example exercised upon all other civilised States,
not only in the ages of her own pre-eminence,
but (in a less or a greater degree) through all
succeeding time. Iler sufferings and her wrongs,
protracted through a stormy period of eighteen hun-
dred years, to the close of the first quarter
of the present century, had given her additional claims

In the generous assistance of European States, who
Awed her, already, so large a of gratitude for the
intelligence, the learning, the wisdom, which her
loblest children had bequeathed to the most distant
~osterity. Alternately betrayed by the policy of the
Emperors of Germany—excited or deserted by the
iierfidy of Russia—she had reaped, from her many
gallant efforts to shake off the intolerable thraldom
-if Turkey—since the closing years of the career of S OBI-
.:s ICI and MEHEMED—little other but the bitter fruits
of unavailing conflict with organised power, And with
hopeless physical and numerical superiority. Twenty
years, only, remove us from that memorable stage of
her eventful story in which she first successfully
Ina-le head and rallied her resources—scanty as those
were—against her Moslem masters. Following up
those efforts with incredible pertinacity and resolu-
tion, at an awful sacrifice of Greek blood and Greek
establishments, she rapidly achieved her way to a
political position in which she became the subject of
protective negotiations between some of the first-rate
powers of Europe and the Sultan. From the cha-
racter -of a supplicating appellant for protection
sgainst the mere brute violence and exter-
minating fanaticism of her oppressors, she has
now advanced, by degrees which must be
fresh in the recollections of our readers, to the
rank of an independent monarchy. The noble con-
,luct of the Greek Ministers and the people of Athens,
in the revolution of the 15th of September last, was
an exhibition of temperate decision, of an inherent
' genuine love of national liberty, and of a moral power
of abstinence, in the moment of their triumph,lfrom all
that could sully its lustre or. impede its onward pro-
gre3s, worthy of the best days of their best patriots
And heroes. .

But it was not to be expected that a weak Prince
like King Otto, although some notorious evil coun-
cillors were then carefully removed from about his
person, would be able to redeem, in all sincerity and
strictness, the spirit of the pledge he at that time
have to his people, to accept and abide by the bases of
o,)nstitutional Charter forthwith to be prepared for
his adoption. There was but too much reason to ap•
prehend that—whatever might be the disposition of
King OTIIO (on finding that his opposition to the
great national movement in question had proved
altogether fruitless, and might, if persisted in, involve
him in personal danger) to act up to the engage-
ment he had frankly given to his subjects—the agents
of c irtain Foreign Powers would not, without a
determined, though, secret struggle, permit the esta-
blishment of a state of things—the formation of a
constitutional Government—which must inevitably
prove fttal to the influence of the Crowns they re-
represented, and to the further success of those Crowns
in discouraging the principle of representative go-

vernment.
We have been well pleased to record :the arrival
in this country of a copy of the Constitutional
Charter of Greece, consisting of 107 articles, " de-
finitively settled by the National Assembly, and
finally adopted by King OTno. The intelligent cor-
respondent of the illimning Post, in a letter dated
" Athens, March 20," has forwarded a graphic and
interesting account of some transactions which have
attended the consummation of this great national

manifesto. They are calculated to produce a mingled
feeling of pity and of anger in respect of the young
King of GREECE. Orno seems tempted to merit
the biting censure upon the now excluded section of
the Bourbons, conveyed in that reflection of the late
M. DE TALLEYRAND, that " they have learned nothing ;
and—they have forgotten nothing." Thus, says the
correspondent alluded to, " when the Charter,
after all the protracted discussions upon it, and
the intense anxiety thereby created in the
public mind, was, at last, sent to the KING
for his ratification, to the surprise and dis-
may of most people, his MAJESTY returned it
with so many alterations, that the Assembly had to
take the matter again into serious consideration. It
cannot be denied that, by such conduct, the KING
placed in the utmost jeopardy the popularity he had
been gaining during the last six months."
In this and other matters, the infatuated young
man had not only acted "against the advice of the
representatives of England and France, but also that
of MAVROCORDATO, COLETTI, and the other Greek
Ministers, to whom he only communicated a part of his
objections, and added a great many more without con-
sulting them at all, one of which was, that political of-
fences should not be tried by jury. Fortunately, how-
ever, the wisdom of the Assembly afforded a great con-
trast to the folly of the KING, as it was at once de-
cided that, as debates were likely to arise, in which
very open mention would be made of the KING and
his proceedings, it would be proper to have the sit-
tings secret while such discussions continued. Ac-
cordingly, for three days the Assembly deliberated
with closed doors, at the end of which period it was
announced that ten of the KING'S alterations were
accepted, and sixteen or seventeen rejected, the
Assembly being unanimous on all points. It is
notorious that the KING was placed in this false
position by having been induced to follow the advice
of the Prussian Minister, Mons. BRACIER DE ST.
Simosr, and that of Mons. PRIVILEGIO—a position
nearly as critical as that of the lath of September ;
but, providentially, his MAJESTY seems to have
been suddenly convinced of the error ha had been led
into, and, within an hour of receiving the final de-
cision of the Assembly, sent down a message to say
he adopted the Constitutional Charter as it now stood.
The message was received with great acclamation by
the Assembly, and the populace went under the Palace
windows and cheered, when his MAJESTY appeared
at the balcony, and bowed in acknowledgment."
This is an ominous indication of the continuous ten-
dency of " Prussian principles," which, from the per-
sonal character of his Prussian MAJESTY, we regard
rather with disappointment and regret than with sur-
prise. It suggests matter, too, for some observations
on the singularly marked course of Russian counsels
in their new delegated channels of Prussian interven-
tion, to which we shall hereafter call the serious
attention of our readers.

Sir JAMES GRAHAM, Home Secretary of State,
and consequently one of the most important Members
of the Cabinet,—who is, or should be, the Premier's
right-hand man—has just been refused_ that post
which, by all accounts, he so much coveted—namely,
the Lord-Lieutenancy of the county of Cumberland.
Notwithstanding his claims upon that county, backed
by his obseqious and unblushing Toryism, Sir ROBERT
PEEL has discreetly decided against the "renegade
Whig," and has resolved to continue the post
in the family of LTNSDALE, who have held it
for so many years. We cannot say that we are
seriously afflicted at the idea of Sir JAMES GRA-
HAMS disappointment. On the contrary, we
are strongly—some may perhaps say wickedly—
disposed to rejoice at it, as furnishing an impressive
proof of the declining influence of one of the most
notorious political apostates of his day. Had the
Netherby Baronet remained constant to the opinions'
he once held, he would, with the talents which he
undoubtedly possesses, but of which he makes so ill a
use, have been one of the most influential men in
Parliament, and exercised no slight ascendancy over
the minds of his countrymen ; but he preferred the
slippery, tortuous path, to the broad, straightforward
one, caring little about consistency, provided he could
only put himself in the way of getting a snug birth in
Downing-street, under the auspices of a Minister who
bid fair to maintain his post for some length of time.
Well, he has gained the great object of his ambition ;
he is installed in office under the powerful Tories in-
stead of under the feeble Whigs ; and what is the conse-
quence of this realisation of his most cherished hopes ?
Why, just this—that at the present moment, not-
withstanding the high post he occupies in the Cabi-
Inet, he has less moral influence with the country than
i any man ever possessed, who held the same distin-
guished position in the Government. His party, it is
true, still pay a sort of forced and interested deference
to him, because they know him to be possessed of all the
useful qualities of a Tory tool ; but no really inde-
pendent Member cares two straws for what he says,
or places the slightest confidence in his political prin-
ciples. As a Minister he has shown himself, during
the whole period of his connection with the PEEL
Cabinet, as little better than a mere bungler. Who
forgets the pitiable figure he cut with his Factory
Education Bill last year, which he was compelled to
abandon in breathless haste, because he refused to
allow the arrogant pretensions -of the Church
to be one jot abated ? There were some
good points in this faulty measure, as we
mentioned at the time, but the Home Secretary
was afraid to carry them out, because he knew well

that the party with whom he acted would not permit
the just claims of the Dissenters to be received .with
the slightest attention. Then look at his famous
Twelve Hours' Bill, his bungling management
.of
which—exhibiting, as it doe,,, feebleness on the right,
and vigour on the wrong side of. the question—has
given the. Government a shock from which it will be
slow—very slow to recover ! Poor Sir Janus
GRAHAM ! He is a species of political Mar-
plot, and adroitly contrives to mismanage and
jeopardise every question which he takes in
hand. As regards the Lord-Lieutenancy of Cum-
berland, we are heartily glad that his claims
have been rejected in favour of those of tha Earl of
LONSDALE ; for though the Noble Earl is a Tory—
and our admiration of Toryism is by no means ex-
cessive, but stops considerably short on this side
idolatry—yet he is at any rate a manly and con=
sistent one ; he has never adopted one set
of principles to day, and another set to-
morrow, but has maintained throughout his
public career a steady, open, undeviating course
of policy. Besides, he is known to be a punctual, re-
solute, intelligent man of business ; when he held the
Woods and Forests none were more liked by those
with whom he was brought into official contact; and
as Postmaster-General, he is confessedly one of the
best that we have had for many a long year.- •

The Morning Herald has put forth the first (we
presume) of a series of articles intended to
rebut certain fallacies which it declares are
" echoed and re-echoed by the Anti-Corn-
law League agitators and free-traders." These
fallacies it assumes to be the allegations indulged in
by such parties, " that if the United Kingdom took
freely and without restriction the agricultural
produce of other countries, they would, with equal
certainty and liberality, take her manufactures in
return." And again, that "no country can be great or
powerful, or wealthy, prosperous, and happy, but a
manufacturing country, and that it is, consequently,
the duty of legislators and legislation to attend to ma-
nufactures alone."

With regard to the first of these propositions (neither
of which is stated, by the bye, with much regard of
fairness, or much care to avoid exaggeration in the
terms of their statement), the Herald remarks that a
careful examination of the whole of our imports would
show "that we take scarcely anything else ex-
cept agricultural produce," meaning, by agricul-
tural produce, everything that is the produce of the
soil cultivated by the labour of man, To this
definition we shall presently crave attention.
The Herald is indignant that it should yet be
commonly imagined, and " loudly repeated, that this
country either takes no, or but very little, agricultu-
ral produce from foreign nations?' With regard to
the second proposition, the Herald threatens to re-
turn to it more at length in a day or two. We shall,
therefore, await, with some curiosity, the more elaborate
argument which our Contemporary promises on so
curious a topic. It adds, "We shall show this point
bears upon our commerce with the United States es-
pecially, and also the value of agricultural property
and produce in this country, as compared to that in
trade and manufactures. We propose also to show
the same things as regards the United States of Ame-
rica, where the contrast in every part will be shown
to be equally striking in the vast preponderance of
agricultural over foreign trade and manufactures.
Yet no one will gainsay the fact that the United
States is a great country."
In the meantime we beg to remark, that, if the Anti-
Corn-law Leaguers hold that other countries, "if we
would import freely their agricultural produce,
would, with equal readiness, take our manufactures in
return ;"—they do not assuredly mean to say that this
either would, or could happen, without previous mo-
difications of our own antiquated and mischievous
fiscal system. Even the boon that we should extend
to the foreigner, by taking his corn off his hands,
uncharged with the existing monopoly tax upon it,
would not indemnify him for all the disadvantages of
general trade with a country that overwhelms the fo-
reign customer by " customs"' duties, on so many of
his commodities, that seem to have been imposed with
no other purpose but to effect their virtual exclusion
from our ports. So much for the first of the " falla-
cies" denounced by the Herald. As for the second,
our Contemporary seems to overlook the fact, that, be-
fore he can establish a negative to it,—even in the ex-
ample he cites, subsequently, of the United States,—
he must show that the manufacturing interest does not
supply the largest, but are, indeed, the indispensable
market for the 'agricultural produce of a country. If
it be true that that market, or consumption, is pro-
vided by that interest, what the Herald terms " a fal-
lacy" remains—like the League itself,—" a great fact."
But in perusing the remainder of the article from which
we are cuoting, we are reminded of its definition of
" agricultural produce." We promised to recur to
this, and here it is :—" The following are the articles,
the produce of the soil—agricultural produce—
which this country takes from foreign 'nations."
Well, what, among other products, do we find
enumerated under this very comprehensive heading,
embracing, it seems, "everything that is the produce
,f the soil, cultivated by the labour of man ?" Why,
actually these :—" Spelter ! quicksilver ! iron !" In
what country these "oracles " of Arabian tales, these
ferriferous and argentiferous lands, cropped alter-
nately with sugar-canes and several ores, "in situ,"
at the surface, are to be found, the Herald does not tell
us. Some arable El Dorado territory he must mean,
because he is precise in showing that these are "pro-
ducts of a soil cultivated by human labour." We might
otherwise have supposed he meant to write "products
of the earth below the surface" cultivated by man. But
the " soil " referred to, wherever it be, has more than
a Guano power of forcing production. This soil is
further stated to grow "skins and hides," and "furs:'
To the last, at any rate, we must object, in limine, as
any sample of " agricultural produce ;" and the Herald
will make but little way in the future progress of its
Anti-League argument, if the other data, upon which
it is raised, involve such false designations of things as
this.

Letters from Madrid, which are to the Ist instant,
state that honours and rewards were being bestowed
on the Members of the Cabinet, the disturbances
having been for the present put down. M. GONZALES
BRAVO and the Marquis DE PENAFLORIDA have been
nominated by her MAJESTY Knights Grand Crosses
of the order of CHARLES 111. General MAZARREDO
has been appointed a Lieutenant-General, and M.
CARRASCO, the Minister of Finance, has been ele-
vated to the dignity of Count of SANTA OLATLA. M.
DONOZO CORTES, who was the person sent to Paris
to invite Queen CHRISTINA to return to Spain, has
been made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of
IsABELIA. the Catholic, and has been appointed pri-
vate Secretary to Queen IsABELLA, with a salary of
50,000 reels.

The Paris papers of Sunday have been received.
Being Easter Sunday the day was observed with
rather more solemnity than usual, and but little busi-
ness was done at TORTONI'S.
The Editors of the Gazette de France and the
Nation have each been sentenced to a year's imprison-
ment and a fine of 12,000 f., for a libel on the Govern-
ment. The offensive publication was a letter, written
by M. DE ROCHEFOUCAULD, Duc de Doudanville, ad-
dressed to the Gazette, in which it first appeared, and
afterwards copied into the Nation. The author of the
letter has not been prosecuted.
The articles in these papers being mostly on domes-
tic subjects, have not much general interest. The
vote of the Chamber of Deputies on the Stamp Duties
on Newspapers does not excite so much attention as
might have been expected ; the Commerce only has
an article on the question. . .

A paragraph in-the Journal du Havre states that a
conspiracy had been detected among the black popu-
lation of Cuba, the object of which was the destruc-
tion of all the whites in the colony. Captain BoUlt•
DIN, of the Tigre, who communicates this intelligence
to the journal above named, states :
" Some days before my departure a vast conspiracy of
the negroes was discovered, the object of which was to
seize upon the whole of the island of Cuba, and to mur-
der all the white population. Numerous arrests had
already taken place, and the number was daily added to.
Unfortunately, among the number of• those who are in
prison there figure several of our countrymen (French),
all planters from the neighbourhood of Matanzas, and
among them are some of the most esteemed of the num-
ber. These unfortunate men have been arrested on the
declaration of a free negro, who was formerly the slave
of one of them: The negro, it" is said, for the purpose
of warding off the suspicion which fell upon himself,
went and accused his old masters, and thus got them
imprisoned. M. Mollien, the Consul-General of France