The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-20 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON-BRIDGE THIS DAY.
Yinming .. 0 minutes after 0 I Evening .. 5 minutes after 0.

penned with equal truth of the unjust and oppressive
Currency Bill of 1819, and of its complement of 1844. '
They were framed, and have operated, for the singu- 1
lar oppression of the middle classes, and classes, in-
deed, still lower—these comprising our industrial
community. They were framed, and have operated,
for the exclusive benefit of that portion of the landed
aristocracy which are not overwhelmed by mortgages,
of great capitalists, especially large fundholders, and
the creditor interest in general, who have been thus
relieved, as we have repeatedly demonstrated, of at
least 30,000,0001. of indirect taxation, which that in-
dustrial community is made to bear in their places.
But these are truths which we regret to find our
Contemporary cannot yet be brought to enforce.)
The " Country Lawyer" proceeds—" This (legacy
duty) is a tax levied on one description of property,
in exclusion of large landed estates, the proprietors of
which are so much more able to bear it. This is one
of the circumstances, in the present state of our law,
which estranges the middle from the upper classes+
and forces the conviction that, hitherto, class legislation
has prevailed, the landed aristocracy being the fa-
voured, the middle the victimed class." These are
truths, in the force of which we must, unhappily, ex-
press our full concurrence. By the same species of
class legislation our social condition has been up-
held, so far as regards the middle and the poorer
clrsses, with all the abominable evils of the Poor, the
Game, the .honey, the Corn, the Excise, the Common
Inclosure, and even the Marriage (statute) Laws—
laws, all of them, palpably, notoriously protective to the
rich and the powerful ; as notoriously and palpably
oppressive and victimizing to the middle and the
poorer classes. It is not to be questioned that that is
equally correct which our Contemporary's corre-
spondent affirms, namely, " that there is a growing
impression on the minds of a large proportion of the
people, that the aristocracy have contrived to slip
their own shoulders from under the burden, and to
leave the middle and the lower classes to contribute
the funds necessary to the support of the State."
This selfishness—sordid, shallow, and short-sighted
as it is—is the real curse of our modern legislation.
It seems to provide almost the moiety of the laws
passed in every session. The money power, or the
land power, represented by the landowner or the
great capitalist—in Parliament, are the two Mam-
mons to whom eur representative assemblies are so
much too ready to offer up whole hecatombs of
victims, with the incense of outraged feelings,
violated rights, and unpitied affliction. The case of
the legacy duties is succinctly put in the following
words :
" With regard to the probate and legacy duties. It is
true that as between the freeholder and the mere pos-
sessor of money there is some reason (I will not say to
what extent) why the former, so long as his estates are
subject to so large a proportion of the poor-rates and
county and highway-rates, should not be also charged
with probate and legacy duty ; but what shadow of rea-
son can be assigned for imposing it on leaseholds, which
are subject to the same rates, stamps on transfers, &c ,
as freeholds, whilst the latter are untouched by either
probate or legacy duty Acts ? What can be more ab-
surd or unjust than that an estate held fur a term of
years, long or short, contributing in rates and taxes ex-
actly the same amount as if it were freehold, should, on
the death of its owner, be charged with the tax to which
I have alluded, whilst the estate of the great 'squire of
the parish, dying perhaps at the same time, and leaving
to his family 10,0001. or 20,0001. a year, should not be
chargeable with one farthing towards the public ex-
penditure."
It may—indeed it must—appear invidious to test
these positions and questions by applying them to the
cases of living individuals ; nevertheless there seems
ito mode of illustration more impressive or so accurate.
If we imagine, then, the heir of such estates as those
of the FIENNES and CLINTONS succeeding to his free-
hold inheritance of lands, without the payment of any
legacy duty upon them, and the heir of some gocd
and great man, whose intellectual labours have en-
nobled the renown of his native country, and
ameliorated the general tone of public feeling, being
compelled to 'pay from 51. to 101. per cent. duty
out of the humble, but hardly-earned bequest left to
him by a poet, a genius, and a philsopher, like THOMAS
CAMPBELL, we shall have some adequate notion of
the gross and disproportionate consideration which
this law has shown for property, at the expense of
comparative indigence. The Legislature will commit
an it retrievable error, the extent of which will be
some day terribly manifested, if they much longer
persist in sanctioning a scheme of taxation so essen-
tially unjust and iniquitous as that which establishes
the present scale and scheme of legacy duty.

Accounts from Madrid of the 10th inst. announce
that ZUEBANO, after many windings and narrow
escapes, had at last reached a place of safety. He is
now in Lisbon. In the Senate the clause relative to
the QUEEN'S marriage was finally agreed to, after an
ineffectual attempt by the Marquis of MIRAFLORES to
set aside that part of it which prohibited her mar-
riage with any branch of the Don CARLOS family.
The Three per Cents. closed, on the 10th instant, at
30i for cash, and 34 at 60 days; and the Five
per Cents. at 23 9-16 for cash, and 23 15-16 at 60
days ; the Coupons at 27 at 60 days; the Debt with.
out interest at 6 15-16 at 60 days; and the Vales
Non-consolidated at 9 5-32 at 60 days.

merely declaring that we can easily pardon magna-
nimity carried to excess towards a conquered state ; I
but what we cannot forgive is the excess of com-
plaisance shown to an arrogant nation, which has the
pretension of being at present the first in the world."
The France, another Opposition journal, thus takes
up the burden of the song, and joins in chorus with
the revilers of England, and of the Minister for Fo-
reign Affairs :
" The ordinary introduction of the speeches of M.
Guizot are known beforehand. They invariably begin
with a Britannic Odyssey, in which the sweets of the
entente cordiale are highly celebrated. M. Guizot has
been faithful to his outre mer affections ' • we will even
say that yesterday he surpassed himself. In the first
outburst of his all English heart, he defended, as she
deserved, that good, that honest, that innocent England,
so unjustly calumniated by the French Opposition party.
England to have meddled with the affairs of Morocco
otherwise than agreeably to its ! En ;land to have op-
posed her veto and her influence to a conclusion so
honourable for us ! You cannot think it ; she is too
good for us ; she has too much at heart to see our power
recognised in the world ; she is too sincerely devoted
to our interests and our supremacy ! This oratorical
movement over, M. Guizot was only the shadow of him-
self. What will you have ? M. Guizot has no affections
but for the English alliance ; he has no force or warmth
bet when he takes for his subject that good Old England,
which has twice received him like a favoured child, as
Ambassador and as Minister. He is a conquered gladia-
tor, carrying with him the weapon by which he has been
struck, and which painfully affected him in the second
part of the discussion, that which related to the execu-
tion of the treaty."
The Committees of the Chamber of Deputies were
occupied in examining the Budget and especially the
expenses of the Finance Department. These ex-
penses were estimated at 623,402,185 f., being an in-
crease of 12,814,167 f. The question of the conver-
sion of the Five per Cents. was cursorily discussed ;
the idea was generally admitted in principle, but a
great majority in each bureau declared against its
immediate adoption. In the course of the day M.
GUIZOT called a meeting of the Committees, and
stated that from accounts he had received he had
greater hopes than ever of the successful conclusion
of the negotiations respecting the right of search, that
England was sincerely desirous of discovering some
equally efficient means for putting an end to the
slave-trade and with that understanding she was
willing to modify the treaty.
The Funds continued firm. The Three per Cents.
closed at 85f. 20c., and the New Loan at 86f. 40c.

RETURN OF HER MAJ STY FROM
STOWE.

The discussions in the French Chamber of Peers
on the war with Morocco, have ended entirely in
favour of the Minister. It is admitted on all hands
that GulzoT, in his replies to the Prince of MoscowA
and the Count DE LA REDORTR, was completely
triumphant; and so forcibly did he repel unjust in-
sinuations, and show the wise policy of France in
concluding the treaty of peace, that neither Count
MOLE, nor Baron DUPIN, nor one speaker of note had
courage to come to the relief of the defeated grumblers,
so convinced are the Opposition of the fact, that their
organs have given up all hopes of success in the Peers,
and trust to the Deputies, where, they say, he must
put more mettle into his arguments, and where he will
have to contend with keener weapons. They even
have the meanness to seek for consolation in the
decay of his physical strength. " He ought to ma-
nage his strength," says one of these journals, "for he
is evidently wearing out, and we watch him with an
anxious and compassionate eye, remarking that, when
seated on his bench, he wears an over-excited, flushed
countenance, exhibits a blackness round the eyes, and
shows all the symptoms of irritation of the larynx.
Let him, therefore, spare himself, as he has spared
the Emperor of MOROCCO. He owes at least to
himself the same care and calming treatment that he
has bestowed on a barbarian." The vigour with
which this able Minister repels the attacks of his
opponents, shows however that neither his body nor his
mind is worn out : bat what we admire chiefly in his
conduct is that imperturbable spirit—that determina-
tion to render justice to a great rival—that utter
contempt for men who call him the " Minister of the
stranger"—and that generous devotion to truth which
emboldens him to praise England even in the midst
of her enemies. "We are told," said he, " that
we allowed ourselves to be guided by England !
Never was a more striking contradiction given to
such a declaration. What I expected to hear in this
' Chamber was quite the opposite of what the Noble
Peer has advanced. What I expected was to hear
justice and homage rendered to England for her con-
duct towards us during this war with Morocco.
England allowed that our complaints against that
country were just and our claims moderate—that, in
fact, we had a right to reparation. The English
Cabinet officially notified to Morocco that she must
not reckon on any aid from her in case of a contest,
and recommended their agents to advise the EMPEROR
to recognise the Government of France, and give the
required satisfaction. Thus, on the one side, the con-
duct of the French Government was full of in-
dependence and firmness; and on the other, that
of England was full of moderation and justice.
This conduct of England is proved by the in-
structions issued from the Admiralty instruc-
tions worthy of a great people and a noble
ally." Queen CHRISTINA'S paper, while it admits
the ability with which GUIZOT conducted the debate,
gives no credit to his statement respecting the Lords
of the Admiralty, and as a proof of the unconquerable
hate which animates the writer, seizes an occasion to
find fault with England when her conduct towards
France was generous and magnanimous. "But is it
true?" he asks, " that the conduct of England has been
in strict conformity with the words contained in the
dispatch of Lord ABERDEEN :to the Lords Commis-
sioners of the Admiralty, and which we published on
the 13th of January. We doubt it ; but the ques-
tion of Morocco is an affair, if not skilfully, at least
gloriously, terminated ; and, as is well known, we do
not like to recriminate for.recrimit:a.tion.:7,keem,
airtksis,
" obliged to do so in order to repel
quite enougn . _
unjust attacks. We, theretore, omit Milo.*

Information having been received on Friday morning
at the Euston-square terminus of the London and Bir-
mingham Railway, that it was her Majesty's intention
to return from Stowe on Saturday, preparations were
made in the morning on a similar scale as at her departure,
and the Directors and officers of the Company were in
attendance to receive the royal party. Orders were
issued at the royal mews to have her Majesty's carriages
in waiting at the terminus. At half-past twelve
o'clock a detachment of the 17th Light Dragoons
(Lancers) arrived, and were accommodated by the officers
of the company with a shelter under the extensive por-
tico. Three of the royal carriages, with outriders, ar-
rived at the terminus at a quarter before one o'clock.
Immediately on the departure of the ore o'clock down
train, the platform, ante-room, and passage to the por-
tico, where the royal carriages were in waiting, were
covered with crimson cloth. At this time, notwith-
standing the unfavourable state of the weather, a
very great number of respectable persons had
assembled to witness her Majesty's arrival. Pre-
cisely at half-past one o'clock her Majesty and
Prince Albert, attended by the Earl of Jersey
Master of the Horse to the Queen; the Marchioness o
Douro, Lady in Waiting; Major-General Wemyss
Equerry in Waiting ; and Colonel Bouverie, Equerry in
Waiting, arrived by special train from Wolverton, and
were received by the Directors, who conducted the royal
party to the carriages. Her Majesty then proceeded to
Cambridge House, to visit the Grand Duchess of Meck-
lenburgh Strelitz, and from thence by railway to Slough,
en route to Windsor.

REPORTED DEATH OF THE EM-

PEROR OF RUSSIA.

In reference to the report of the death of his Imperial
Majesty, which has created so great a sensation, we
shall not enter into any speculations or calculations.
We merely afford to our readers, as we have heretofore
done, the statements which have issued from the source
from which the report emanated.
Our Belgian correspondent in his letter, dated "Brus-
sels, Thursday evening, Jan. 16," says :—" I have not
received, in relation to the reported death of the Em-
peror of Russia, any intelligence since I dispatched my
letter yesterday, which can enable me either to deny or
to confirm positively the report so confidently announced
by the Eclair and other Brussels papers of Tuesday
night ; but the authenticity of the statement, which had
obtained for itself general credence, is now very much
doubted here."

Our correspondent at Amsterdam, writing on the 15th
inst., expresses a similar opinion, and mentions that
" the Journal de la Llaye states that no intelligence of
the Emperor of Russia's illness had reached that place."
Our Paris correspondent, dating his letter Thursday
evening, says :
" Berlin papers of the 6th, state that letters had been
received from St. Petersburgh, announcing the illness of
the Emperor. Great agitation was felt at the Russian
Embassy."—Herald.

DRURY -LANE THEATRE. The lessee has re-
turned, we find, from Berlin, and has had the gratifies .
tion to learn that his theatre has been crowded every
night during his absence. The immediate object of his
visit to that capital was to witness the performance of
Meyerbeer's last grand opera, " A Camp in Silesia, in
which Mademoiselle Lind has made so great a sensation.
We understand that Mr. Bunn has positively made ar-
rangements with Meyerbeer for the production of his
opera in London, and has likewise concluded an engage-
ment with the cnntatrice. A grand ballet is likewise in
preparation, in which the charming Mademoiselle Maria,
from the Academie Royale, Penis, will appear.
METROPOLITAN DRAPERS ASSOCIATION.—A public
meeting was held on Friday evening at the Islington and
Pontonville Literary Institute, for the purpose of hearing
a lecture by Edwin Lancaster, Esq., M.D. F.L.S., upon
the evils resulting from the protracted hours of labour
so frequent in drapers' establishments. The Lecturer
reviewed the subject in all its bearings. He dwelt with
great force and eloquence upon the deterioration of
character which must take place in a human being,
whether viewed in reference to his moral, physical, or
intellectual faculties, if exposed to this pernicious
system. The various portions of his subject which
admitted of it he illustrated by diagrams, and he con-
cluded with a strong and eloquent appeal to all present
to use their utmost efforts for the extirpation of a system
so injurious to society at large. The attendance was
numerous and highly respectable, with a preponderance,
as there should be, of the fair sex.
Miss JANE PORTER, THE AUTHORESS. •—• During
the last week of the just departed year, a large package
arrived at the London Custom-house, from the United
States, consigned to the Lord Mayor, from the Mayor of
New York, containing a handsome arm-chair, made in
that city, by order of the literary inhabitants :--" To
be presented to Miss Jane Porter, the English authoress,
as a testimony of the high and respectful admiration
they entertain for one to whose pen their country holds
itself indebted for some of the purest, noblest, and most
delightfully imaginative productions in the wide range
of British literature—her name having spread over the
length and breadth of the land, and her works found,
gracing alike the abodes of the wealthy and the humble
dwellings of the poor." Such are a few of the commenc-
ing lines of " the address " that accompanied this dis-
tinguished tribute to talents so faithfully directed. The
address is elegantly written on white vellum, with many
signatures, at the head of which is that of the Hon. John
Harper, the Mayor of New York ; then follow many
others, amongst which are those of several publishers
and booksellers eminent in the city ; and it cannot but
be supposed that the now venerable authoress should
feel much gratification in the sentiment of a present so
appropriate to her age and her yet occasional vocation.
THE FIRST GENTLEMAN IN EUROPE.---The Earl
of Malmesbury, who went to Brunswick with instruc-
tims from George 111., to demand the Princess Caroline
for the Prince of Wales, gives the following character-
istic account of their first meeting :—" I immediately
notified the arrival to the King and Prince of Wales ;
the last came immediately. 1, according to the esta-
blished etiquette, introduced (no one else being in the
room) the Princess Caroline to him. She very properly,
in consequence of my saying to her it was the right
mode of proceeding, attempted to kneel to him. He
raised her (gracefully enough) and embraced her, said
barely one word, turned round, retired to a distant part
of the apartment, and calling me to him, said, ' Harris,
lam not well ; pray get me a glass of brandy.' I said,
Sir, had you not better have a glass of water ?'—upon
which he, much out of humour, said, with an oath, No;
I will go directly to the Queen,' and away he went.
The Princess, left during this short moment alone, was
in a state of astonishment ; and, on my joining her,
said, ' Mon Dieu I est ce que le Prince est toujours
comme cela ? Je le trouve tres gros, et nullement aussi
beau que son portrait.' I said his Royal Highness was
naturally a good deal affected and flurried at this first
interview, but she certainly would find him different at
dinner."
SUICIDE IN THE SERPENTINE RIVER.—Mr. Higgs
On Friday held an inquest at the Barley Mow, Mount-
street, Grosvenor-square, on the body of Richard Giles,
aged 52, a bedstead maker. It appeared in evidence
that about ten weeks ago the deceased was discharged
by his master, Mr. Derby, of Wells-street, Oxford-
street, on account of the slackness of trade. His spirits
then sunk, as he feared ho should never obtain another
situation. Three weeks ago, however, he was again
engaged, but by that time his whole disposition had
changed. On Wednesday last he suddenly threw down
his tools in the workshop, and ran out, telling his fel-
low workmen that he should not be absent more than
half an hour. He went direct to the Serpentine, in
Hyde-park, and in the presence of several persons ran
in anddrowned himself. Verdict —"Temporal., Inn,'"

"r.",7PrT:ro

„

THE SUN, LONnON, MONDAY MORNING, JANUARY 20, 1345

FLANDERS MAIL.
BRUSSELS, JAN. 15.—The central section engaged I
examining the project of law on the organisation of the
army, met yesterday, and seems disposed to proceed
with such diligence as to be able to present its report
to the Chamber at the beginning of February.
The petition of the journeymen sugar refiners of
Ghent has reached the Chamber of Representatives to-
day; it has about 1,500 signatures, and is two yards long.
Messrs. Teisser and H. Triat are the inventors of the
new apparatus which we mentioned some time ago, by
the application of which steam carriages will be able to
cross mountains, and to pass all kinds of curves without
danger. These gentlemen have just set out for Peri...,
for the purpose of negotiating with the directors of the
railway companies. and with the Government, on the
subject of their invention.
In the Secret Committee, yesterday, the Minister of
Finance began with an historical review of the ne-
gotiations with the Zollverein. He declared that
before the Bth of December the Belgian Govern-
ment perceived that the stipulations were incomplete,
in regard to the exportation of our iron, and that he
bad applied to M. Helmentag, the Prussian Commis-
sioner, to have the treaty interpreted in such a manner
that our iron might be exported by the Rhine and the
Meuse. On the 16th of December the Prussian Mi -
nistry announced that it had agreed to the extension
given to article 19 ; but observed that a certain time was
necessary for the eighteen states, which, with Prussia,
compose the Zollverein, to give their assent to this
extension. Since that further explanations have taken
place.
M. Helmentag has been two or three times to Brus-
sels, and M. Moril, from the department of finance, has
been to arrange with the Prussian Government some
secondary point, and at length, on the 13th of January,
e proces verbal of the execution of the treaty was drawn
up in the tenor and the spirit of the declaration made by
the Minister of Finance.
M. Lebeau expressed his satisfaction at this result.
He then said that he had been present at a debate in
the Senate, in which M. Goblei, the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, had stated that his original draft stated that an
exportation might take place by the Rhine and the Meuse,
and that these words were struck out on the observa-
tions made by another Minister.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs did not deny this
statement, but said that one of his colleagues, from mo-
tives of prudence (perhaps carried too far), had struck
eut these words, because it was feared that the English
might profit by this stipulation to make fraudulent im-
portations into Germany. The Minister of the Interior
confirmed this explanation. Some Members attacked
the Cabinet as wanting unity of views ; and M. Delfosse
demanded that the Chamber should immediately put an
end to the Secret Committee. A long debate ensued.
M. Must thought the publicity of the debates might
be hurtful, so long as the principal States of the Zoll-
verein bad not adhered to the extension given to the
treaty of the Ist of September. The debate was ad-
journed till to-morrow.—B, ussels papers, Jan. 16.
AUSTRIAN FUNDS.—VIENNA, A-N. 8.
5 per Cent. Metalliques
4 per Cent. Ditto
3 per Cent. Ditto 7B
Bank Shares 1622
Esterhazy's Loan
RAILWAYS.
The Northern, or Ferdinand
Gloggnitz
Milan
—Allgemeine Zeitung, Jan. 13. 112181