The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-18 00:00:00

difficulties are nowhere more apparent than
in the system of a federal union, against
which besides the same objections arise as to
repeal. The more the affairs of Ireland are divided
between the local Parliament and the federal one, the
more frequent will be the occasions of difference ;
and how, in addition, is this division of attributions
to be effected ? It is easy to see that all that relates
to foreign policy, war, and the navy, will remain in
the attributions of the Imperial Parliament ; but, if
Ireland resumes the government of her internal
affairs, it is her local parliament which will regulate
all that appertains to justice, public worship, educa-
tion, agriculture, and trade. Which of these sub-
jects is there that does not interest England at the
same time as Ireland ? The Irish Parliament will be
one of Catholics. What will it do with the Protes-
tant worship ? what with ;the Catholic one, and the
schools of the two communions ? The Irish Parlia-
ment will be a national one. Will it, in order to
encourage agriculture, proclaim fixity of tenure,
and overturn the law which regulates the present
relations between landlord and tenant ? Will it, in
order to aid the manufactures of Ireland, lay a
duty on English produce ? Should it desire all these
things, it can enact them, unless it be not a free Par-
ment ; and England, on her side, may retaliate by lay-
ing a duty on Irish corn. And, if Ireland obtains
a local legislature, why should not Scotland also wish
for one too ? Without doubt, the inhabitants of the
three kingdoms so governed, would still form labo-
rious, rich, and prosperous populations. But would
they form a great people and a great empire ? Eng-
land may one day undergo such a dismemberment,
but it may be affirmed that she will not accept it
willingly. If, then, repeal is impossible, how is it
that O'CONNELL wishes for it? O'CONNELL is, with-
out contradiction, of all the men who in our time
have played a great part on the world's stage, the
most matter-of-fact, or, to employ the received ex-
pression, the most peadied. -Everything in him is
prudence, calculation, reflection. The poetical ex-
pressions with which his speeches abound certainly
prove the richness of his imagination and the work-
ings of his heart, but nothing which passes his lips
is uncontrolled by his reason ; and what, in the
midst of all those grand faculties, has always ren-
dered him superior in the management of events is,
neither his fervid eloquence, nor his indefatigable
activity, nor admirable perseverance; it is the ex-
cellence and constancy of his common sense. How
then can O'CONNELL, Who is so much opposed to
what his judgment does not approve of, pursue re-
peal, when its success appears a chimera ? How
can this enigma be explained of a man very evi-
dently carrying on an enterprise, the success of which
his reason most clearly forbids his expecting ?"
The .Tournal des Debats makes the following com-
ments on Mr. O'CoNsim,L's letter, from which it will
be seen that the writer, like M. DE BEAUMONT,
treats repeal as a chimera :
" What is meant by repeal ? It is called for in Eng-
land, it is called for in Ireland, it is called for in France,
it'is called for everywhere. Curiosity is natural, and
Mr. O'Connell, who laughs at the federalists for having
no system, is bound to have one himself. He therefore
comes forward to explain what he means by repeal.
First, it is the maintenance of the connexion between
Great Britain and Ireland by means of one executive
power, and the golden band of the crown. Secondly, it
is a repeal of the Act of the Union. Thirdly, the re-
establishment of the House of Lords in Ireland. Fourth.
ly, the re-establishment of the House of Commons, com-
posed of 300 members. Fifthly, the complete legislative
and jadicial authority of one Irish rarliament in Ireland.
These are his five points of repeal. Now, let us declare
in all sincerity that the greatest enemy of Ireland could
not wish her a severer scourge than such a constitution.
To restore Ireland to herself, to her own free arbitre-
ment, to her national independence, would be to restore
to her intestine discord, religious dissensions, and all the
horrors of civil war, which were never at rest within her
until she was incorporated in the great whole, which
at the present day, forms Great Britain. We have
repeatedly said that some people in Ireland argue as if
all its inhabitants were all one race, as if it were a single
nation. This is a radical error. Let Ireland be separated
from England, and what will she become. A country
cut in two, divided into two distinct populations, and
essentially hostile to each other, enemies in blood and
religion. It has been remarked that in all the wars
which. have in former times desolated this unhappy
country, it was not between the English and the Irish,
but between the natives of distinct origin that the most
inveterate animosity prevailed. It is still the same ;
there are still in Ireland two populations, each suffi-
ciently strong to contend to eternity without being
absorbed in the other, and which are only kept in check
by the counterpoise of England. Thus the repeal party
demands an Irish House of Lords. This Upper House
must necessarily be almost entirely composed of Pro-
testants and Orangemen. The House of Commons, as
representatives of the democracy, must, on its side, be
Catholic and national. A conflict must immediately
ensue between the two branches of the Legislature.
Who is to arbitrate between them ? The executive
power ? But this is England ! Will it be said that it
is the Crown ? But, what is the Crown in a Constitu-
tional kingdom ? Here the Ministers are responsible ;
and to whom are they responsible ? To the English Par-
liament. This would be entering into a vicious circle. There
can be no medium between a union and an absolute separa-
tion. We have discussed the question of repeal as if it were
possible; but in reality no person regards such a propo-
sition in a serious light. Even those who approve of the
tactics of Mr. O'Connell declare that repeal is imprac-
ticable, and are convinced that the illustrious inventor of
this specific does not believe in it himself. They rally
Mr. O'Connell for not having a taste for martyrdom, and
being fond of a prison only when he can be surrounded
there by his family, his friends, and all the comforts of
life; but, as they are anxious to conciliate, with.a certain
respect for truth, the maintenance of their little popu-
larity, and to preserve a slight varnish of liberalism,
they will give themselves the consolation of a philan-
thropic sortie against the Conservatives, who commit the
grand crime of considering the agitation for repeal at
once puerile and deplorable. For our own part, we
plead guilty of not feeling admiration for such a comedy.
That those who believe in the sincerity of Mr. O'Connell
should defend and justify his conduct we can easily
conceive ; but, if there be any one who, convinced at
bottom that he does not believe a word of what he says,
admire him the more for it, we are not."
Even the National is little more sanguine in the
cause, and upbraids Mr. O'CONNELL for having done
so little for his country. " What," it asks, " has
he done for Ireland in return for the high degree of
influence which has been given to him by the people
of that country ? Has Ireland obtained in real ame-
liorations what O'CONNELL has gained in influence,
in wealth, and in glory ? The new propositions
which Mr. O'CosirtELL has to make to the Repeal
Association will not enable it to advance a single
step. Whoever has studied the respective situations
of England and Ireland knows that all O'CosixELL's
agitation is vain, and can only end in reforms of no
moment." When the National says Mr. O'CorisIELL
has done nothing for Ireland, it thereby complains
that he has not taken the advice of the French war
journals—he has not excited a bloody civil war in
Ireland, and put an end to reform for the sake of
gratifying a party in France, which would willingly
sink O'CONNELL and all the repealers to the bottom
of the sea, if they could only inflict some dire cala-
mity on England.
The following are miscellaneous extracts from the
papers : _
"Letters from Florence of the Bth are filled with de-
tails of the disasters occasioned by the flood, which had
not ceased at the time the latest accounts left. These
letters state that the wire bridge outside the gate of St.
Nicholas was not the only one carried away. The beau-
tiful Pont-a-Gieve and several others have also been
carried away. The provinces of Cassentino and of Arezzo
have greatly suffered. The roads to Forly and to Faenza
are under water. The little town called Borgo San Lo-
renzo is also submerged. The inhabitants of Florence
were for two days confined by the water to their houses,
without the possibility of any assistance being given or
food conveyed to them. On the 7th the rain continued
to fall, and further damages were looked for.
"The Duke de Glucksberg arrived at Madrid on the
9th, from Tangiers. He was to sot out immediately fur
Paris.

" According to a letter from Hamburgh, of the sth
inst., the Zollverein being on the point of negotiating a
treaty of commerce with Brazil, has it in contemplation
to combine with it a commercial arrangement between
the city of Hamburgh and the German Union. The
object of this is to induce that city to favour the measures
to be taken by the union for extending the export trade
of Germany, giving to Hamburgh all advantages of the
ports of the Zollverein. These reports have received a
greater degree of consistency since the arrival at Ham-
burgh of M. do Wenner, Director of the Board of Com-
merce in Prussia.

" The King of Sardiuia has issued an ordonnance, in
virtue of which the property belonging formerly to the
Knights of Malta is to be incorporated with that of the
State, the Government paying to tie community an
annual rent charge of 42,000 E, which is to serve for the
establishment of live new commanderies, two of which
will have an income of 3,000 f., and three of 2,000 f.
a year each."

THE BOURSE--SATURDAY, Nov. 16.
First Highest Lowest Last
Price. Prca. Price. price.
Frenchirivepere3nts--•• 119 60 .. 119 65 .. 119 60 .. 119 55
Three per Cents..... 83 15 .. 83 20 .. 83 15 .. 83 20
Bank of France •• 3145 ..3145 •.3145 ..3145
Laffitte Bank, I,ooof. Shareslo9o ..1090 ••1090 • • 1090
5,000 f. Bharesso4o ..8040 ••5040 ..5040
Belgian Bank ..• ... • • •••• • • 640 .. 640 •• 630 .. 635
Belgian Fives,lB4o •• •• 1041 •• 1041 • • 104} 104;
1842.••••••• 107 •• 107 •• 107 .. 107
Spanish Active ••••••• •••• • 33 •• 33 •• 33 .. 33
Passive.• ..• ••.• • .• 6 • • 6 • • 6 .. 6
Neapolitan • • • •• 98 98 .• 97 75 .. 57 75
.. 1031 .. 1031 t.. 1(131 1031