The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-06 00:00:00

gar 1 iliff

LONDON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1845.

Sjr ROBERT PEEL has attained to that age at which the
experience both of private and of official life is usually sup-
posed to leave-the feelings of even the most buoyant-minded
among us sobered down to a tone of earnest seriousness. It
is not at sixty that men who havebeeii accustomed—together
with the cares of power—to the gravity of deportment which
their burden insensibly generates, put off " the old man," and
bathe in the fountains of renovated youthfulness, till the old
Absolutes come out young • Rapids—with the wrinkles of
three score and ten exchanged for the smiles and vivacity of
one-and-twenty. There is no getting over the historical fact
that Sir ROBERT PEEL has enjoyed a Whittington-like
continuity of high place.. Twice, Principal Secretary of State,
once Chancellor of the Exchequer, and now First
Lord of the Tretsnry, he
,fnust enter fully into all
the reasons which . prescribe that decorum of
Ministerial, demeanour, for which in general we have
given him full credit. Giving him that credit, we have
been eontent to overlook the' half-dozen of bad jokey which
he is seduced into perpetrating at that ptriod of every
session when thi business is beginning to rim • off
rapidly. The important ,point is that this levity
should ' not be imported.-into the - method of dealing
with business the most , vital, the most exigent
that can occupy the attention• of a statesman. The
sustentation of the people—the obviating, as far as
human foresight may -hope to do so, the terrible
visitation of a winter famine -- thele duties, we
take it, come within this category of all-important business.
Now, the actual presence of-that wasting malady which • has
so largely infected one of the principal sources of human sub-
sistence in these countries--the potato crop; and the appre-
hended results of that scarcity during the winter, which the
diminution of employment, the declining demand natural to
the season for industrial labour; and ihaenhanced price of
corn consequent,on a very deficient grain harvePt, and the
increased masses that the potato murrain will leave to be
supported on other nutriment—on cereal products of some
kind—do present an aspect. .of affairs well calculated to
awaken the most lively solicitude in every reflecting mind,
even among priv,ate How mueh more calcu-
lated, then, to impress on all who are charged with the admi-
nistrative powers of the Government the vastness of their
responsibility.

All over Great Britain, in every county of Ireland, the
in-
fliction of the.same disastrous scourge is felt; the machinery
.
needed for mitigating its severity; and remedying its conse-
quences, is everywhere attracting the attention and occupy-
ing the energies of. thinking men. Landlord and tenant—
men of all parties and pursuits—without distinctionare
giving their bed consideration to this common object. Its
expression has founsbno more remarkable or impressive ex-
ponent, that we are aware of, than the " Memorial of the
Directors of the Chamber of Commerce and Manufactures at
Manchester'," addressed to Sir Roagerr PEEL, These memo-
rialists set forth the fact that the prosperity of the cotton
trade is identified with, or conditional• upon the price
of food ; and that a scarcity of provisions has " invariably
been attendedwith. a diminished demand for labour and a
reduction of the' .earnings of the working classes." After
adverting, in emphatic terms, to the fearful pressure already
experienced, and the still more alarining results likely to be
encountered in another month, from the causes we have al-
ready touched upon; the memorialists submit that, ," under
.these circumstances, it becomes the dutyof Gevemment to open
the pcirts for the free admission of food of all kinds." They
observe that "the success even of, this decisive remedy di.
rends mainly on the promptitude with which it is applied; siad,
therefore, your memorialists urge the imperative necessity of
adopting it without delay, by means of an Order in Council:"
which, they feel assured, " would hare the sanction of Parlia-
ment and the enthusiastic approval of the _nation."
We print some portions of this passage in italics, with
the view of reminding the reeder that both the measure
recommended, and the necessity for its prompt adoption, to-
gether with the means of promulgating it, are set forth not
only to the same effect, but in the very words employed by
us some ten or twelve days ago, in calling upon the Govern-
ment immediately to open the ports.
Now what is the Premier's reply to this anxious, this so-
lemn r‘presentation on the part of the Manchester Chamber of
Commerce ? Does it hold out one opinion, intimate one hope,
express one sympathy, announce one proposition, on the
deplorable state of the community on whose behalf the me-
morial had been vecially prepared? Does it condescend
to intimate, on the . part of the Minister who dates
from Whitehall, or on the part of the SOVEREIGN
whom it must barn been his duty to apprise of the len -
guage and objects of that memorial, a single emotion
of sorrow for, or condolence with, the masses who are, or must
be, the sufferers under, or the victims, even, of this dire ca-
lamity? Nothing of the kind. So cold and insulting
a common-Place might have been whistied by any
sordid capitalist, in all the pride of reoent realisation,
and to the tune , of " Money in both pockets" as his
answer to the appeal of famishing poverty. to his charity.
It is a regular atere47.eed7lithOg:VheClOT cut-and-dried

billet-de-bureau, which might have been drawn from some
pigeon-bole, docketed for " Forms of .Answer to Memorials
from Manufacturing► Districts." Here it is--.we reprint it as
a curiosity :

,
" Whitehall!
" w 7 1845.
" Sir,—l have the honour to acknowledge 'the rece;.„
the
memorial of the Directors of the Cha...,;ber
of Commerce
and
Manufactures at Manchester, Which b•-ars date the 22d of October.
" I am.., your obedient servant,
" Thos. Baalo, Esq." " ROBERT PEEL.
Is thia a hoax? 5.3 it one of Sir RonEaT's bad jokes?
Is it meant for t'
"cut direct" to all future impor-
tunity coa sct ;disagreeable a subject? Is it a petulant
betrayal of that vexation, and that sense of embarrass-
ment which the promised success—" so far as human fore-
sight could regulate such matters"—of his- sliding-scale -at
its promulgation, compared with the absurd and enormous
failure of its subsequent working, would be likely enough to
produce in the minds of any other statesmen, however it may
operate on that of Sir ROBERT PEEL? We really cannot
answer our own interrogatories, or arrive at any solution of
an experiment (as it appears to be) so ill-judged, ill-timed,
and ill-managed, on the indulgence and support of his here-
ditary Manchester connexion ; or the toleration of the coun-
try at large, for whose distress and apprehensiens it manifests
so lofty an indifference !

Several of the large provincial towns have already railways
extending into their most populous districts, and thereby af-
fording great accommodation to a numerous and increasing
population. London has at last resolved to follow the example.
All fear about fire, and smoke, and noise, which, in the in-
fancy of railroads, created such needless hostility to their
continuation into large cities has disappeared, and in a few
years we shall have stations erected in some of the most
bustling and crowded thoroughfares of the metropolis. The
Corporation of London have acted wisely in adopting the
report of the Commissioners in favour of granting the sites
of Farringdon-market and the Fleet Prison for this pur-
pose, not only as a matter of convenience, but of
necessity, for otherwise one or ether of two contingencies
must have been the result. Either some powerful companies,
backed by influential tradesmen and merchants, would have
formed a similar plan, or the trade in the heart of the City
must have greatly suffered, and new towns consequently
been raised in the environs near the stations of the great lines
running from every part of the country to the metropolis.
But in addition to the advantages which the plan will
give to trade, in the proper quarter, the removal of several
filthy—almost uninhabitable streets, will tend to improve
the health of the community—the works will afford ample
employment to builders, carpenters, bricklayers, and other
labourers, and the City at the same time be greatly-improved.
Farringdon-market at present is really of no use; and
the outcry raised by some, therefore, against the
scheme cannot have the slightest weight with the Legisla-
ture. Besides the Fleet Prison was a greater nuisance than
any railway . station can be even in the eyes of the
most prejudiced. Some plan like this has in fact become
absolutely necessary, for the termini of some of.
the great lines were at such a distance that time
is wasted in reaching them, which would enable
passengers to travel some twenty or thirty miles, and for
short distances_they were nearly. useless. The proprietors of
railways on the south are Aso forming plans for extending
them across the river, so that in a very short period the lines
from the north and south will verge towards the same
centre.

The gentry of the district- of Killarney have set a noble
example, which we trust to see followed by the gentry of
every district throughout Ireland. Acting- on the maxim,
" that property hasitt duties as well as its rights," they have
manfully commenced the performance of those duties. On
the 25th of October a meeting of the inhabitants of the town
and distlict of Killarney was' held, for the purpose of taking
steps to avert the calamitous consequences likely to ensue
from the disease of the potato crop, At this meeting there
were men of all parties and all sects—Protestant and Catho-
lic, Repealer and Conservative, seemed to vie with each
other in their endeavours to relieve the distresses of their
poorer fellow-countrymen.

The state of the potato crop in the district of Killarney is
worse than even the most desponding could have anticipated.
The following resolution, moved by M. J. O'ComtELL, Esq.,
M.P., and seconded by J. CRoNIN, Esq., proves the fact, and
shows the necessity there is fcr immediate interference to
save the poor of this district from-utter starvation :
"That it appears to this meeting that the potato crop in this
district has been, to a great degree, a failure, and that the food for
the population is so very deficient in consequence as to render
measures the most immediate and effective necessary to procure a
supply, and that a copy of the resolutions of this meeting be
transmitted to-the Lord Lieutenant, with' a request that the sub.
ject may be brought under the immediate consideratiop of her
Majesty's (lovernment,"

We cannot doubt but that her MAJESTY'S Govenamentlwill
feel it their duty to lose no time in responding to this call of
distress, and that they will adopt •immediate and effective
measures (and any measure to be effective must be imme-
diate) to avert the threatened famine. A committee was
then appointed to meet every Saturday at Killarney to adopt
such measures as to them may seem proper to alleviate the
calamity likely to occur from the failure of the potato crop.
In this committee we find the Right Rev. Dr.
EGA N, the Roman Catholic Bishop, co-operating
with the Rev. EDWARD HERBERT, the l'rotes-
' tant ♦iear of Killarney, and all the clergy of the
district of all religious persuasions. We find Lord KENMARE
and HENRY ARTHUR HERBERT, Esq., staunch anti-repealers
(the latter, we believe, an Orangeman), joined with Mr.
MORGAN JOHN O'CONNELL, M. P., and Mr. J. O'CONNELL,
of Grena, the nephew and brother of the O'CoNNRIA., and
aiding and assisting these in this labour of Christian charity,
is Mr. D. S. LALOR, the sturdy repealer. The very fact of
these gentlemen being thus brought together cannot but tend
to soften doWn asperities— to subdue party animosities—to
break down the barrier of social, or rather of party, exclusive-
ness, which is the curse of Ireland, and to teach men of all
parties to be more tolerant and more just to their opponents ;
and thus, perhaps, this material pestilence from which Ire-
land is now suffering, may be the means of freeing her from
that greater moral pestilence under which she has for ages
suffered. One of the resolutions agreed to is as follows:

• -
"Resolved;--That the Committee be instructetto take steps to
create a fund-to puichise"fond and to procure Stores, and that they
do apply to the Cominitalonera and Trustees of the Irish Re.
productive Loan Fund for the Wm of &DOW., new to their,.credit
it► this costs* for the putpose."

In pursuance of this resolution a subscription was entered
into by those present, and the following munificent donations
ware made to the Provision Fund :•

Lord Kenmare
•
Henry Arthur Herbert 1,500
.Cbristopher Gallwey, High Sheriff , lOO
Morgan J O'Connell, •
and 5110

John O'Connell, of Gren'a

Sir Thomas Herbert, K.C.B.
John Coltsmann
John Leahy
Denis Shine Later ' -
Rev. E. Herbert, Vicar of Killarney.
Rev. R. Herbert, Cahirnane. ....
Daniel Mahony, Dimioe ....
Francis Bland'
Rev. 'ft. Hewson
T. W. Murphy
D. W. Murphy
Dr. Murphy
Denis Coghlan .
Arthur Lloyd Saunders
James B. Tyrwith •
Richard Morphy
Thadee O'Sullivan

Honour to .the .members of the Killarney Relief aorn-
mittee, who have thus nobly done their duty. In the name
of humanity, we call upon ,the proprietary class: throughout
Ireland to follow their example, and upon the gentry of Eng:
land to be assisting—and that with, no niggardly hand—in
this good work.

Madrid journals of the 28th October have.. been received,
from which we learn that a little affair at Court had afforded
a subject of cenversation. Father FULGONI°, the confessor of
"an exalted personage" (we suppose the QUZEN. is meant),
had been ordered to quit the capital in twenty-four hours,
'Some say be is banished 'for political intrigues, possibly for
some scheme_ of the Court of Rome, relative. to the marriage
of her M4.lxsTY; but this comes of Queens haVing confes-
sors. The following .paragraph &Om the Eeo del Comercio
accounts fur the 'rise which has lately taken place in the
Three per Cents. .! On Saturday a . splendid banquet was
given at the Commercial Circle,. in celebration_ of a union
formed between all the great speculators in Three per Cents.,
in order to' raise that stock as high as possible, and afford
the Cabinet a. moral support ; but this scheme cannot be
realised, for the stockholders are on their guard, and it is not
easy to take them by surprise, by playing. at either a rise or
fall. Among 'the principid capitaliats who. attended the
dinner were remarked some representatives of foreign houses,
who drank to the union of the speculators in.Tlaree per Cents.
The utmost harmony preVailed at the banquet." The Funds
continue firm'. ' Private sales were made' at the following
prices :—Three per Cents. 33i. to 34 ; the FiVe per Cents.
23i cash, 24 paper ; coupons,. .253 cash, 26 paper. The
Debt without interest, 8 to Bi.

The French .Government had received . further dispatches
. from General .LAMORICIERE, giving details of the military,
movements in the province of Oran, up to the 24th ult.', and
from these it appears that ARD.III,KADIEIt is more active
than ever, and fully determined to Continue the struggle iu
defence of his country to the last. The dispatches generally
representhim as fleeing before the French, but he flees only
to surprise them in some new quarter, and wear them out by
marches and countermarches. The contents of the last die-
Patches are thus given in Galignani :—" General LA24O-
- writes on the 24th ult. from Sidi-Bel•Abbos,
that on the 18th he received information that ABD-
iL-ICADER, atter having burned the bridges of the
blouilah and Tafna had proceeded towards the, south
by the country of the Beni.,-Senous, spreading a re-
port that:Lie was moving .to the east. Thinking this pro-
bable, the • General marched towards Tlemcen, where
he arrived on the 21st, and being there informed that Aiso-•
NIACADER had pushed on as far as Tellont,.be separated from
General CATAIGNAC, and on the 23d arrived At Oned-Sarno.
On: the 24th he reached Sidi-Belqibbes. The Eseuh says
Qeneral LAMORICIEItE, had not gone beyond Tellnn4 but his

Kalifs, Bou-}l4lxxm, had. gone before him, and had indtieed
several fractions of tribes to emigrate._ As. Bon-litatani
had only one hundred cavalry with him, and could not,
therefore, have effected this by-force, the. General concludes
that it had been previously agreed upon by the Chiefs.
General itAmorucutnat incloses a. repa• rt from General DE
BOURJOLLYi giving an account of his. marchitgainst Boa-
lifaas, after the appearance of that ehigfiu the"vim"- of