The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-01 00:00:00

t 11;

LONDON, FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1844.

Whatever may be said or thought of the hato pro-
secutions in Ireland, it is quite clear, that the feelings
of the people of England have been roused from
apathy and indifferenee,•as to the. state of the sister
country. I'so* at any period of his life, did
O'CoNsam; stand so, high in the: opinions of
Englishmen. as ,at this, moment--never did sym-
pathy for the -wrongs of Irishmen,- and admiration
for the constant champion of his countrymen, prevail
to anything like the extent now exhibited, and
never did- persecution produce xesults more unfavOur-
able to its originators than the persecution set on
foot by the Irish Government,"to crush the man whom
it has tended to exalt. And we believe that Irish
gratitude bears eqnal pace with English sympathy;
that conciliation rules where exasperation lately pre-
sided ; and that the very kindliest. and best feelings
have taken the place of bitter hatred, ana undisguised
detestation. The tone in both countries hai changed,
is changing, and will change still - more, when the
cause of Ireland becomes, as the late trials havetended
to make it, the cause of the whole empire, :

The demonstration of English sympathy which is
to take place at Covent-garden Theatref,on Tuesday,
the 12th instant, will' increase the kindliness which it
is so important to encourage. ,Seldom have we seen
a list of names joined for such a purpose, equal. to
that which our columns this day show joined as
steward,ifoithe pUrPose of fraternising ,with Ireland
and O'CONNELL. : •

May inch-meetings, and such feelings as they call
into action, prevail ; and then England and Ireland
united, 11434 titid ee,.may 'show the blessings
which sprit-is...from good government, free from
partialify, jealousy, and
,suspicion.

The LORD C!iiricshr,,,a!t aid the -Ilulve of WEL-
LINGTft were abSent, from, lionse of Lords last.
night,. aid no laiicilli.rii.arasAralisacted.
In the commons, after the presentaaon.of•petitions,
Mr. V. Sstrrir gave-notice •that • onl'hursday-- se'n-
night he would move foriet3ve,to a Bill to
alter the oatktakpu •by .Roman Catholics before ,en-
teringi*Arliament.
Idr., P....CRAWFORD gave notice that, on the'motion
for going into Supply this day, he should move that
the petitions_ prelented.to the, lipuse ,relative to the
grievances of the people be referred to a Select Com-
mittee, andthat till•suchCommittee be granted the
supplies be withheld.
Mr. • iLacttiN!roN gave notice that he would on
Thursday se'nnight move for, a, Select Conunittee to
inquire into prison discipline.

In answer to a questithi from Mr. llAwas relative
to the -Custom-house robberies., Lord- Q SOMERSET
said the inquiry was going on with all pOssible spepd,
but he could not say when it would terminate.
In answer to a question from Mr. WALLAcz; Mr.
GLADSTONE said that in all, cases when railways werebrought before Parliament,sin which any new powers
were required, the clause recommended by the Rail..
way Committee would be brought into operation.
lie understood the clause would apply to the whole
line in each ease.

The Earl of LINCOLN brought in a Bill for regu-
lating the building of houses in London and the
neighbourhood. It applied chiefly to drainage, to
the prohibiting the carrying on of dangerous trades,
or trades noxious to health, in crowded digricts, and
the appointment of surveyors.
Mr. RICE called the attention of the House to the
Report of the Coramittee on Shipwrecks' and moved
for a Select Committee to
,carry;, the olljects 9f „the
Committee into effect. ' ""

Sir RoBERT 1.E.E4 said the subject was under the

anxious consideration of the Government, but they
would propose nothing till the Report of the Commis-
sioners was completed and duly considere I Several
Members spoke on this important subject and others
connected with it, and finally the motion was with-
drawn, on an understanding that the Government
would take the affair into their own hands.

Sir V. BLAKE, after a brief discussion, withdrew
Ms motion relative to a more speedy communication
between Great Britain and America.

Mr. WALLACE postponed his motion on railways
for three weeks.

Colonel RAWDON moved, that owing to the late-
ness of the proclamation to prevent the Clontarf
meeting, a risk of dangerous collision was incurred,
and a precedent, therefore, established dangerous to
the lives and liberties of her MAJESTY'S subjects.

Mr. V. STUART seconded the motion. Lord
ELIOT, in a lengthened speech, detailed the circum-
stances which led to the proclamation, and trusted the
House wall not called upon to express its censure of
the Government in the way asked for by the Gallant
Colonel.

The House divided, when there were for the mo
tion 62, and against it 90.
Lord WORSLEY brought in a Bill to inclose corn
mons, and land held in common.

The LORD ADVOCATE brought in a Bill to amend
the law with respect to prisons and prison discipline
in Scotland.

_The House rose at a Quarter before Eleven o'clock

All the excitement caused in France by the occu-
pation of Otaheite, and the bad feelings generated
between the two countries by the late proceedings of
Admiral DimsTrr THOUARS, might easily have been
avoided by common prudence. No spot on the face
of the earth could have been selected which was less
suited than Otaheite for a French colony. It is, from
the education, the habits, -and the aspirations of the
people,. peculiarly English. It was -discOvered by
Englishmen, it was visited-by 'English. missionaries
more-than forty years ago, and these missionaries, or
their successors, have ever since had a most powerful
influence over the petty Sovereign and the barbaric
chiefs who govern the country. Whatever intelli-
gence they have acquired, and whatever religious
ideas may have sprung up among them, are
purely English and Protestant, and they
will suffer no amalgamation with
_another
creed or another nation. What madness, then, to
throw a firebrand among them, and exhibit in a new
Colony all the.horrors of religious dissension! If the
French retain possession of Otaheite either as protec-
tors or supreme rulers, they must expel the mis-
sionaries, they must change the religion of the coun-
try, they •must make the whole system French; and
-necessarily lead the people to lielieve that the, men
that come from the. East.ate a selfish and degraded
race, who have no settled • points of faith, and who
only vie with each other in disturbing a little peace-
ful community, which would have been tenfold more
happy if no European had ever been amongst them.
While the 'French remain protectors of that
country, there can be no peace. Is it not,
therefore, a matter of serious consideration for
the Governments of England and France- to do away
with this French Protectorate, and find out some
other islands in the Pacific, or elsewhere, which
might equally suit the purposes of France-? England
has no reason to be jealous, she has no reason to be
niggardly, she has colonies in every quarter of the
globe; and when the French Government has shown
such a friendly disposition to this country, and the
Cabinet has risked its existence to suit the views of
the English Cabinet, ought we not in return to show
some generosity, and assist the Gutzor Ministry; not
only in repelling the attacks of the Opposition
journals,.but in conciliating, by some acts of kind-
ness, nearly the whole of the French .nation ? We
have taken possession of New Zealand. The French
were there beforeus, but they have been ousted from the
country, or if any colonists remain they are subject
to English dominion. -We have added immense
territory to our Indian possessions, we have taken the
Falkland Islands, we have occupied the whole of
Caffraria, and. find a harbour in every quarter
of the globe for our shipping, yet the British
Government seems determined to grudge the
French every inch ",of ground out of their own
territory ! This is not the way to maintain the
entente cordiale. There must be reciprocity of con-
cession, or the two countries cannot long remain at
peace. Even Louis PHILIFFE, with all his skill, and
GUIZOT, with all his determined bravery, must at
last give way, if England will not virtually assist
them. in conciliating public opinion in France.
England can afford to be generous, and shame to.her
if she loses the fairest opportunity that ever occurred
of reconciling. the two greatest civilised nations of the
world, and securing universal peace.-

Mr. RICE called the attention of the House of
Commons, last night, to his Motion on the Report—to
which we have, on two previous occasions, largely
adverted—of the "-Committee on Harbours of Re-
fuge." This motion urged upon the House the pro-
priety of addressing the Crown "for the appointment
of a Commission of scientific and competent persons
to consider of the best mean§ for giving effect to . the
recommendations of that Committee." The Hon.
Member, with reason, rested his appeal to the Legis-
lature -on the nittin ground of its connexion with
. truly conservative duties of the higheit order, inas-
much as they- respected not, only the security of our
commerce, but the protection of life and property
from losses at sea. We think Mr. RICE is fairly
entitled to every credit for having divested his ad-
dress to the House, as much BS possible, of all appear-
ances of .local prepossession, He felt, as we do,
that the interest of the topics embraced in his
speech was national ; and he treated those
topics, accordingly, in a large and general manner.
On this point we are compelled to repeat the expres-
sion of our, own feeling—that matters of higher im-
port—of nearer concernment—not merely to the
trade, coasting and foreign, and to the commercial
marine' and capital of the country, but—to-the safety,
and consequent political independence and grandeur
of the empire, cannot be brought under the conside-
ration of I'arliament: It was obviously impossible
for the Hon. Gentleman to avoid attributing para-
mount importance to the plans already submitted to
the Select CoMmittee by civil engineers, and sanc-
tioned by the very highest naval and military autho-
rities, for the construction not only of a harbour of
refuge, but of strong forts and commanding
batteries at the mouth of the Thames. Our
only -wonder is, how works of such indispen-
sable ' necessity and- palpable importance- can
have been' so long neglected, in the face of such
earnest suggestions as those offered by the Report of
the Select Coinniittee in question. What have the
Goveinnieut been doing in the interval which has
elapsed since that " first" Report (laid upon the table
in August last) was issued out, to Members ? 'What
has been " Moved," in the business, -by the coun-
cillors of her MAJESTY since .the appearance of the
second Report ? Absolutely nothing. No man
can toll hOW nearly the moment approaches when
reasons- Statenot the mere suggestions of a wise
fare-casting policy, but the imperative.demands of
some pre§ent, overruling exigency—may require that
those works should have been deliberately planned—
carefully censtructed—coMpleted•—in an effective
condition,
.Let us forbear to draw more distinctly
the outline of unfortunate, but verypoisible, contin-
gencies which, may arise to interrupt cur present re-
lations with some, of the Foreign Powers, from whom
her MAJESTY, indeed, always receives" the most
friendly assurance,"—at the beginning of the session,
and before the voting of 'supplies!
Grant the contingencies in question to be but
"possible,"—we ourselves entertain no notion that they
are "probable :"—and there is case enough for the
duty of at least preliminary preparations in such
matters on the part of the GoVernment. But what is
the_fact,?; The various. professional and civil wit-
nesses who gave their 'valuable evidence before the
Select Committee, with the Duke of IVEJ.LINGTON,
and a dozen Captains of 'the -Royal Navy=—Mr.
Warana, and many other eminent engineers at their
head—might as well have sat down with the Tam-
worth farmers,, to dine- off Sir R. PEEL'S imaginary
Birmingham bull,—as to have calculated on any more
substantial benefit resulting from all the pains they
took to satisfy the inquiries Of the Committee.
Our paragon ,of Premiers—whose self-appre-
ciation doubtless attributes to his _ own • official
individuality all the administrative sagacity of a
COLILERT, united with the exeQuti,.l3 energy of PITT,

and the dispassionate judgment of Fox, has not only
done nothing in the business—he has not yet come
to any determination, even l To the temperate, sen-
sible speech of Mr. RICE, and the liberal offer of Sir
JOIIN REID, to raise any money which might be re-
quired for carrying into effect the proposition to make
Dover a " harbour of refuge," he replied by a sorry
joke about the singular coincidence of this motion
having been brought forward by one Hon. Member for
Dover, and seconded by another. Then he went into a
rambling summary of the evidence given by some of
the principal witnesses examined, in order to illustrate
the conflicting nature of their views as to the preferable
localities to be selected for the harbour of refuge ;
and, by what we must denounce as a mere clap-trap
to enlist a few cheers from Irish Members, hinted his
own preference for Holyhead over Dover. Now, no
parties can be more perfectly alive than we are, to the
value of any undertaking which shall shorten and im-
prove the communication between the two capitals,
Dublin and London; but really the best answer to
all the balanced pros and cons of Sir ROBERT'S
mystified oration—his sage discoveries that A.
was for one
_point, and B. was clear that
another was` ,the more eligible for a new harbour ; and
his tedious platitudes about the duties of the Scientific
Commission, of which he gave a quasi promise,—is also
the shortest,—Dover MUST BE made a harbour of
refuge, ancimmediately.
We shall return to this subject in the course of a
day or two. For the present we can only enter our
protest against the withdrawal of such a measure as
Mr. IticE's, on .account of a speech so jejune, feeble,
and worthless, so full of plausible nothings, and slip-
pery common places, as the. Premier's.

The Chronicle of this morning contains some judi-
cious remarks on the subject of Parliamentary de-
bates.. Our Contemporary—and no wonder—is sorely
afflicted at their intolerable length and prosiness, and
suggests the expediency of their being subjected to a
rigid process of curtailment. "Why on earth," he
asks, "do we, repeat all the rubbish which no one
listens to in the House itself ? The reporters should
take the tone of the House in this respect ;
one of the body might stay to make a brief
note of all that passed between five and nine
o'clock) and the rest might pair and dine. If
it were once well understood that, on ordinary
occasion!, men who had got no footing in the
House would get none in the newspapers, a
great check would be placed on mediocre oratory.
We invite our Contemporaries, without reference to
party, to give a candid consideration to this project
of Parliamentary Reform." There is no question—
to parody the language of BURKE—that a predilec-
tion for prolixity in the House of Commons "has in-
creased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished,"
and we trust, therefore, that the Chronicle's seasonable
hint will be carried into practice forthwith. It will
not, indeed, put a stop to that cacoethes loquendi in
which many Honourable Members are so prone to
indulge, and to which—it may be observed by the
way—those are usually the most addicted, who are
the 'least gifted with the oratorical faculty; but it
will, at any rate, be attended with this beneficial
effect—namely, that it will spare an inoffensive
and long-suffering Public the infliction of perusing
an almost interminable mass of, what our Con-
temporary felicitously calls, " rubbish." In some
cases this infliction amounts •to a positive
calamity. Conceive, for instance, two mortal
columns of. a PETER BORTHWICE, such as ap-
peared in the Post the other day ! The effect
of perusing a speech of this length, unrelieved by
the slightest fancy, wit, sarcasm, or information
of any kind, must he quite excruciating; and the
Public will no doubt jump eagerly at the opportunity
of being disembarrassed henceforth of such• an appal-
ling visitation. In the extended form in which the
debates at pre,sent appear in the daily prints, it is im-
possible for. nine out of ten readers, whose leisure
hours are necessarily restricted, to peruse them with
attention ; they must perforce skip every second
column, as little boys skip the tall words in their
nursery-books ; anti the -consequence is, that they
glean but an imperfect and superficial view of the
question in discussion.; and not seldom throw down
the paper, from sheer despair of being able to
farm any sound:opinion respecting the cogency or other-
' wise of the different arguments urged in the course
of the debate. Hon. Members should bear in mind
that an English day consists .but of twelve hours, and
that the industrious portion of the community, who
constitute the mass, can devote but a small portion of
these hours to the perusal of their speeches. A very
sound and argumentative oration may .be commenced
and concluded within a quarter of an hour, but not a
few of our Parliamentary debaters take a whole hour to
saynothing ; and, consequently, theyproduce no other
effect on the House than that of setting it fast asleep,
or occasioning a desperate rush of unsympathising
senators to the door. But if Honourable Members
must needs talk their full of " fluent nonsense,"
at least let them, in compassion to the Public,
allow a respite of one day in the week
from the visitation of their oratory. Let them give
up Wednesday to peace and quietness—make it, in
short, a sort of Parliamentary Sabbath—and thereby
establish a claim to the undying gratitude of the vast
majority of their readers. Surely if they get upon their
" eloquent legs"—as Counsellor PHILLIPS would say
—four days in the week, they have every reason to
be satisfied with their good fortune, without encroach-
ing on the Wednesday !

Madrid papers to the 22d have been received, but
they add little to the intelligence published yester-
day. The Corresponsal states that the English and
French Consuls at Carthagena had proceeded to Mur-
cia on the 17th, for the purpose, it Was supposed, of
offering terms of submission on the part of the insur-
gents. According to the same authority, the
blockading force before Carthagena consisted of 4,000
troops of the line and 6,000 National Guards. This
is inconsistent with the fact stated in the Ministerial
journals, that all the National Guards had been dis-
armed.

The Three per Cents. were done at 301 at 60 days ;
and the Five per Cents. at 23 for cash, and 221 at 60
days.

The affair of Otaheite is the passion of the :day
among our. volatile and excitable neighbours. No
one talks, or writes about anything else; but, with
the exception of a brief statement in the Paris Globe,
by no means creditable to a French officer, there is
neither argument nor news in the articles on this
nine days' 'wonder. "It appears to us evident," says
that journal, " that Admiral DUPETIT THOUARS, a
seaman so distinguished, and so worthy of the esteem
of all; was seized with a momentary hallucination,
when. he took it into his head that the flag of Queen
POMARE, with its closed crown, was an insult to
France. It does not appear to us less evident that
this his first mistake generated
.a second, when
the QUEEN, having written a letter addressed to
the King of the FRENCII, prayed him to have
the kindness to get, it carried to its place of destina-
tion. The Admiral refused her his direct intervention,
and referred the QUEEN to Captain . BRUAT, who
had been installed Governor of Otaheite, directing his
letter with the address of To MadamePomare! Thus,
a French Admiral thought he owed no special respect
to a Queen whom, he had just dispossessed ; he
refused her, even on the ground of temporary respect,
the qualification which he gave her the day before,
and which was due to her at least until his acts had
been approved of by his Government. It is difficult
to comprehend how the Admiral, whose character is
honoured by every one, did not perceive that Royalty
ali,Vays leaves an august trace on the brow where it
has resided; and that the example of the brawlers .f
1793,. who called -the noble and unfortunate MARIE
AI4TdINETTR Madame Capet, was not precisely of all
historical examples the best and most happy to
imitate."

The National reckons on a speedy change of Mi-
nistry, but unfortunately for its party the change
would be of nd. service, as it would.only substitute
for the " man of Ghent," the' man who has aban-
doned Ancona. The following are tbe only extracts
of the slightest interest from the Journals

" The Aube frigate arrived at Brestoi the 24th inst., bring-
ing home M. Barra., the French Consul• General at ITayti,
with 1,600,000 E, paid by the Haytian qovernment as the in-
Stalment on the indemnity to the colonists. , As to the loan,
the President, not being able to meet tbe payment, has,
says the Monitear Parisien, entered into a solemn engage-
ment, in' the name of the Republic, to p-ay.the three half-
years' interest in arrear on the Ist July nat," . , .
" The Official Gazette of Naples, of the 16th ult., publishes a
Royal decree, reducing the interest of the Neapolitan public
debt from live tO four per 'cent. The liohlerS. who 'prefer re=
inibursement to the conversion of their stock are to be repaid
at par, gradually by lots to be drawn twice a year—viz.,

June and December ; but they are to be allowed two months
after each drawing to accept the conversion, if they should
then prefer it to reimbursement. It is intended to extin-
guish the Five per Cent. Stock by means of the sinking fund ;
but, as this amounts to only 800,000 ducats (about
3,400,00009, it will require 33 years to effect the reim-
bursement, if the holders generally should object to accept the
New Four per Cent. Stock."

On Wednesday the French Funds were more
firm, the Three per Cents, closing at 82f. 35c., and
the Fives at 125 f. 75c.

THE BOURSE-WEDNESDAY, FEB. 28.
First Highest Lowest Last
Price. Price. Price. Price.
French Five per Tents. •.•• 125 70 .. 123 75 .. 125 65 .. 125 70

Three per Cents.• •• • 82 25 .. 82 40 .. 82 25 .. 82 40
Bank of France..... 3260 • • 3260 .•3260 —3260
Lanitte Bank, I,ooof. Sharesllo7 50 . • 1107 50 .. 1105 .. 1105
5,000 f. 6harassoBo —5OBO —5OBO ••5080
Belgian Bank ..• • • • • • • • • • • • 667 50 • • 667 50 .. 657 50 .. 657 50
Belgian Fives... •••••• . • • • • 1051 • • 1051 .. 105 .. 105
1840 •••••••• 108 .. 1081 .. 108 .. 108
1842 •••c•• 1091 1091 .. 1091 •• 1091
Spanish Active •.•••• • • • . • 321 .. 331 .. 321 • • 331
Passive 5l .. 51 .. 51 •• 51
Portuguese Five per Cents.. 46 .. 46 .. 46 .. 46
Neapolitan•.. lO3 25 .. 103 30 .. 103 15 .. 103 30

Roman •• • • ..... •• 106: . 1061 .. 106; .. 100

RAILWAY SHARES.
Versailles, R. 8... • ..... •• •• 343 75 .. 343 75 .. 343 75 .. 343 75
L. 13..•.•••
Rouen 83.5 835 .. 835 .. 835

Rouen to Ila'vre••••
Orleans • •••• 850 .. 140 .. 847 50 .. 847 50

Strasburg to Bale 247 50 .. 247 50 .. 245 •-• 246 25
Avignon to Marseilles
RAILWAY SIIARES, FOR THE ACCOUNT.

Ver-ailles. L.% •••• • • • • •• • • 167 SO .. 167 50 .. 165

167 50

Boner •

.. 835

Rouelito ilavre•• ••.•• ••••• 676 25 .. 676 25 .. 676 25 .. 676 25
Orleans

Strasburg to:Bale• • •• • • •• •• 247 50 .. 248 75 .. 245.
Avignon to Marseilles• • •• • • 757 50 .. 757 50 .. 755

.. 246 25
• • 755

Summonses were issued yesterday afternoon, for a
Cabinet Council to be held this day at the Foreign-
office, Downing-street. All the Ministers are expected
to attend the Council this afternoon.