The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-02 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE EVE:caNG PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
GLOBE.—The statement of Lord Aberdeen, made last
night in the House of Lords, in reply to a question by the
Marquis of Clanricarde respecting the extraordinary proceed-
ing at Otaheite, is well deserving of notice. The Noble Mar-
quis observed, that what had fallen from the Right Hon. Ba-
ronet at the head of her Majesty's Government, in another
place, was doubtless known to their Lordships : " still, as their
Lordships ought not to be dependent for information on such re-
ports, and as the subject was certainly not unworthy of further
notice, he would ask his Noble Friend, the Secretary for Fo-
reign Affairs, whether any reparation had been made for the
outrages to which he had alluded ; and, if not, whether any
measures had been taken to obtain it ?" The Earl of Aber-
deen, in reply to these questions, admitted that " a gross out-
rage had been committed against the person of a British sub-
ject; indeed, so flagrant an.outrage that, if he had not re-
ceived an authentic account of the transaction, it would have
appeared to him almost incredible." His Lordship, how-
ever, seemed to think that Mr. Pritchard, on whom the
" flagrant outrage" had been committed, had ceased at the
time to be Consul; having, on the dethronement of
the Queen, hauled down his flag, and given notice to
the authorities that he had ceased to exercise his func-
tions. The Noble Lord, however, proceeded to say, that
though he believed the French Government not only had
not directed, but was utterly ignorant of, the acts of its
officers, still a proper representation would be made,
and reparation demanded in the name of her Majesty,
which he had no doubt would be afforded. The Earl of
Minto remarked on the insufficient British force at Otaheite,
and the blame which our Government had incurred by with-
drawing the ships stationed there at a time when there
was a manifest necessity for retaining them on the
station :—" Formerly a proper force was maintained there.
Was it true, he should be glad to learn, that latterly we had
only had one small ship of war at Otaheite, and that the
Government had withdrawn the Vindictive, without taking
any measures to supply her place ?" The Earl of Hadding-
ton was sorely puzzled by the questions put by the Earl of
Minto. He was manifestly taken aback ; and knew
not whether to admit his ignorance, or essay an ex-
planation, which might admit too much. We refer
to the Noble Lord's successful attempt at mystifica-
tion. The debate is satisfactory—at least to this extent :
it affords a hope that the indifference of our Government has
been shaken ; and that something like decision will be
shown both in requiring reparation from the French Govern-
ment for what has taken place ; and in preventing a recur-
rence of outrages and indignities that have reflected disgrace
on Ministers for the apathy they have shown, and which
ought to have long since roused them to a sense of what was
due to the country.
STANDARD.—The Marquis of Clanricarde, in the House
of Lords last night, questioned the Noble Secretary for
Foreign Affairs, as to the correctness of the published re-
ports of the transactions at Otaheite, in March last. The
Earl of Aberdeen admitted that these reports were in sub-
stance correct, speaking in very strong language of the
outrage committed by the persons pretending to
represent the French Government in Otaheite. His
Lordship, however, reminded the House, that in
September last the FreriCh commander at the island
in question had usurped its absolute Government, not only
without, but in flagrant disobedience of, the orders of his
superiors at home, that the very moment when the fact of
the usurpation became known in Europe, viz., in February last,
the King of the French explicitly disavowed it ; that this act
of disavowal was approved of by the French Chambers, and that
it was necessarily from the impossibility ofa very early commu-
nication with the antipodes, that the events of March had been
permitted to occur. The Noble Lord explained that, as Mr.
Pritchard had struck his flag, and of course abandoned the
consulate, upon the usurpation in September, he could not be
regarded as a British Consul in March, though his
right to protection as a British subject must remain.
His Lordship admitted that the case is an unpleasant
one, and likely to prove quite a godsend to the
war parties in both countries, but he expressed a con-
fident hope that the good feeling and good sense of the
French Government will render easy an accommodation of it.
In this confident hope we entirely concur. Were the French
Government differently constituted from what it is—were
it still animated by the spirit of M. Thiers—it could
hardly adopt the proceedings of d'Aubigny and Bruat,
or decline to do justice either by reprimanding these persons,
or leaving them to be dealt with by the Queen Pomare and
her subjects and allies. The French establishment of an ab-
solute sovereignty in Otaheite has been clearly acknowledged
to be an act of usurpation ; to sustain the acts of that abso-
lute sovereignty would be retrospectively to sanction the
original usurpation.

i 914 COURSE OF EXCHA.
6 Amsterdam CF. 12 44
189 Ditto, at sight l2 11
15% Rotterdam 2U. 12 5
27
42 Antwerp 25 90
5% Hamburgh M.B. 13 13/
16 Altona l3 13
1.6, Paris, 3 days' sight 25 60
" Ditto, 3 months 25 85
40s. Marseilles
'ls. Bourdeaux 25 90
Frankfort on Maine l2l
Petersburgh, 3Us 37
05 Berlin 7
'2 Vienna, effec. fl. 3 M 952
Trieste, ditto
Madrid 37
Cadiz
36
Barcelona 36
Sevilla

.NGE.—(THIS DAY.)
Gibraltar —
Leghorn 3O 50
Genoa 25 85
Milan —
Venice
Naples
Palermo, per oz llBl
Lisbon 54
Oporto 54
Rio Janeiro 23
Bahia 23
Buenos Ayres —
NewYork,2ldys sight
Philadelphia —

PRICES OF BULLION, FER OZ.
Foreign Gold, bars. £3 17 9
Portugal Gold Coin 3 17 5
New Doubloons 0 0 0
New Dollars 0 4 10
Silver in Bars 0 4 114

pyi PROMISSORY NOTES.
(From Last Night's Gazette.)
An account of the Average Aggregate Amount of Promis-
sory Notes payable to bearer on demand, which have been
in circulation in the United Kingdom, distinguishing those
1 circulated by the Bank of England, by Private Banks, and
.by Joint-Stock Banks, in England and. Wales, by the Banks
in Scotland, by the Bank of Ireland, and by all other Banks
35i in Ireland, and of the Average Amount of Bullion in the
.zu Bank of England, during the four weeks ending the 20th day
of July, 1844, pursuant to the Act of 4th and sth Vic-
toria, cap. 50
?