The Sun.
London, England, 1844-06-12 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 1844.

The principal business in the House of Lords was
the second reading of the Earl of Powis's Bill, to
• repeal so much of the Act of 1836 as provided for the
ultimate union of the Sees of Bangor and St. Asaph
under one Bishop.
The Duke of WELLINGTON opposed the Bill, and
moved that it be read a second time that day six
months.
The Archbishop of CANTERBURY supported the
Government, as did the Bishop of LONDON.
The Bishop of BANGOR and the Bishop of ST. DA-
VID'S defended the Bill, which was also supported by
• the Bishop of EXETER.
On a division the second reading of the:Noble Earl's
13111 was carried by a majority of .12, the numbers,
being 49 against 37 ; the Government were thus in a
minority,
The House of Commons met at the usual hour.
The second reading of the Irish Registration Bill
was fixed for the Ist of July.
Mr. BORTUWICK then made his promised motion
for a Select Committee into the operation of the
Anatomy Act.
A short discussion ensued, and the Hon. Member's
motion was rejected by a majority of 39.
Mr. WARD then brought forward the motion of
which he had given notice, respecting the state of
the Established Church in Ireland. He made an able
speech, recapitulating the arguments that have fre-
quently been advanced against the anomalies
presented by the state of that Church.
Lord ELIOT followed Mr. WARD, opposing. the
motion.
The rest of the evening was occupied by speeches
from Mr. SitAw and Mr. REDINGTON, when the
debatek .on the motion of Colonel RAWDON, was
,_,*terrofirnedi
Th'e-letlAei'' orders of the day were then disposed of,
;„.„, 'echo' urned at Twenty Minutes after
vs 11,1, forward the question of the
ernporalities of Ireland last
, of Commons. The Hon. Mem-
ber's s • he occasion was temperate, and even
voncilidory, in its tone ; sound and forcible in a rg
Inent, and full of useful statistical facts. The follow-

ing passage produced a decided effect on the House—
and no wonder, for it is an apt and cogent comment
on the zeal and efficiency of some of the Protestant
Church dignitaries, whom Irishmen are told to re-
gard with the reverence due to their sacerdotal func-,
tions :—" He had a placard sent him the other day,'
observed the Hon. Member for Sheffield, " the
genuineness of which could not be doubted. It was
the announcement of a sale of the property of the late
Archdeacon of Meath, and among the effects he found
forty thorough-bred horses and mares, from three
to seven years old, and also their justly cele-
brated and well-known sires, Sir Edward and Sir
Hugh. All these were the genuine effects of the
Venerable Archdeacon of Meath. Besides the
thorough-bred horses, there were thirteen capital
working horses, and five Spanish donkeys, three of
them in foal. Besides :all these, he had the- an-
nouncemement of a sale of dogs in Dublin. There
were thirty couples of beagles, the handsomest, and of
the best blood in Ireland ; and there were thirteen pairs
of greyhounds, well known in Meath." All these—
dogs, horses, and donkeys—were the property of the
apostolical Archdeacon of Meath—a distinguished
member of that Irish Ecclesiastical Establishment,
which Sir R. Isious deems it the worst sacrilege to
think of reforming, and which those two other bright
Baronets, Sir J. GRAIIAM and Sir R. PEEL, are proud
to take under the shelterof their wings ! And while
the Irish Protestant dignitaries, with little or no active
duty to fulfil, thus revel in luxury, what is the situa-
tion of the Catholic priesthood ? They are scantily
paid, hard-worked, and constantly sneered at as bigots
and ignoramuses by the:rival Churchmen ! Can we
wonder that Ireland is never otherwise than in a state
of exacerbation,',when she finds a broad line of distinc-
tion thus marked between the two antagonist esta-
blishments—the one lavishly paid fur doing little or
nothing—a task which it accomplishes with singular
diligence—having few or no feelings in common with
the vast mass of the population over whom it pre-
sumes to exercise authority, yet nevertheless protected
by Government, as though the value of its public
services were inestimable ; the other poorly remune-
rated for incessant labour; in full possession of
the confidence and affections of the majority of the
Irish people, acting as their guide, guardian, and
friend in all cases of emergency ; yet notwithstanding
this, treated with frigid neglect by Government,
and with downright insult by their Tory adherents ?
Can we wonder, we repeat, that Ireland is exasperated,
when she sees the galling and invidious distinction
made between the Church which she distrusts and
dislikes, and that which she loves and cherishes ? In
England the Protestant Establishment rests its chief
claims to the support, and attachment and sympathy
of the people, on the fact—which it is never weary of
repeating—that it is the Church of the per.
.In
Ireland, it: claims the support of the authorities on
no other pretext that we can perceive, than that it is
the Church of the rich—the Church of the
few—the Church whose principal duty is to do
nothing—a duty which we must honestly acknow-
ledge, it discharges with exemplary assiduity. Will
the time never arrive when this colossal nuisance
will be abated—when this ulcer eating its way to
the vitals of Ireland will be cut out—when this
proud, haughty badge of three hundred years of na-
tional servitude will be destroyed, or at any rate be
compelled to lower the tone of its pretensions, to do
more work with less pay, and be rendered available,
where it is now nearly, if not quite, useless ? Un-
doubtedly the time will arrive when this desirable
consummation will be effected ; though some years,
we fear, must elapse, ere the Irish Protestant Este-
blishment—whicli has been the direct cause of so
many wholesale tithe massacres—shall cease to be the
one prominent grievance of the Irish people.

It might appear, at first sight, to those who had not
previously examined and considered the matter with
all due care, that " it must be safer for a public man,
who is not very certain of his grounds, to state a case
hypothetically, than positively." It would seem
matter of course that, if he have a measure to propose
upon premises which, at the moment, he cannot ve-
rify, it must be better for him to state them as condi-
tions necessary to be granted, than to propound them
for facts already admitted and incapable of disproof.
But we are satisfied by the authority and example of
Sir R. PEEL that there may be many " untoward"
conditions of circumstances under which it shall be
more expedient for a Minister, in defiance
of defective information, and despite of his
own grave doubts, to proceed upon these
uncertain elements as if they were absolute
principles, in which he may venture to solicit
the concurrence of the Legislature with the views he
has founded upon them. If he assume antecedents to
have actually happened, which he knows to be indis-
pensable to the establishment of those views, the
chances are, that one-half of his hearers will believe,
implicitly, that which he has so assumed ; and that of
the other half who may dissent from, or dispute the
facts which are involved in such antecedents, but a
very few will be at the trouble to follow out the proof
of their fallacy ; and that even as to these, there is al-
ways the apologetic plea to be addressed (a plea which
the custom of Parliament is sure to admit to a plau-
sible Premier)—" that he has been mistaken as to
' some facts ;' or inaccurately instructed as to a 'few
details,' but that the House will feel with him these
cannot affect the general results he has arrived at."
It was, for example, a much more convenient course
for Sir ROBERT PEEL, in his speech of the 6th of
May, to declare the Order in Council of Mr. PITT,
in 1797, "a fatal blunder," than to set about the dan-
gerous task of showing why it had been so. In this
undertaking he would have made shipwreck of that
very unseaworthy craft in which he has embarked
upon a sort of privateering► cruise, under false colours,
against those legitimate interests which the genius of
PITT at once understood, developed, and protected. In
like manner, when Sir ROBERT asked (almost emu-
lating the sardonic gravity of him who demanded
"What is truth ?") " What is a pound ? " he
answered his own question by some so unhesitating
propositions, that they were well calculated
to delude the majority of his hearers into
a notion that they must be facts because
they were positive averments. The Author of
" A Letter to the Premier," [the second and enlarged
edition of which is now before us,] demolishes, as w e
showed in a previous article, the whole hypothesis
upon which those propositions were fixed, and abso-
lutely disproved the statistics that the Premier
brought up to their support. Thus the definitions of
" a certain, definite quantity of the precious metals,"
"a quantity invariable as well as definite," were as
effectually routed as the imaginary " identity of the
value of our pound in coin," with that " unalterable,"
or "standard value," which it possessed in the last two
years of the reign of ELIZABETH. Sir ROBERT'S his.
torical " memoranda," of themselves, extinguished the
" certainty," or "definitiveness," of the quan-
tity of precious metals of our pound at
various periods of the monarchy. The " In-
quirer after Truth " conclusively proved that
since the reign of ELIZABETH our unalterable pound
sterling had undergone four several alterations : to
wit, in 1604, 1625, 1675, and 1815 ; that Sir
ROBERT has confounded the ideas of " standard," and
" measure " of value, by treating the terms as con-
vertible ones, and applying equally to quality as to
quantity—that moreover the relations of silver and
gold, instead of being properties capable of arbitrary
equation, or given conditions determinable by the
caprice of a Minister, " are altered by circumstances
over which our rulers have no control."
- - -

In this last line a great political AS well as financial
truth is inculcated, which is, we suspect, much more
profound than any " dreamed of" in Sir RoDzar's
currency " philosophy." It is indeed evident that
whilst he imagines himself to be putting an issue be-
tween himself and his opponents on some assumption
so extravagant that it could determine only in a re-
ductio ad absurdum, that very issue which he can re-
gard only as a theoretical abstraction, has occurred I
and that facts, of which he appears profoundly igno-
rant, have practically demonstrated his supposed
impossible absurdity. Let us cite from p. 22 of the
" Letter to the Premier," an instance strictly con-
firming our view of this matter :—" What then," asked
Sir ROBERT, on the 6th of May, alluding to the Bir-
mingham strictures on his currency measures"—
" What, then, is the meaning of now asking that the
Bank should issue gold at the rate of 5/. an ounce 1,
Depend upon it, that if you attempt to say, that one
ounce of gold shall not represent 31. 17s. 6d. in silver,
but 51.—silver and gold will be more powerful than your
legislation, and you will find it utterly impossible to
alter the relative value of silver and gold.' You think,
Sir, that you have got your antagonists on the hip, but

you are mistaken : you will be thrown yourself. The
truth is, that the ounce of gold did, at a certain period of
the late war, represent U. in silver, and this without any
alteration of the relative value of the two metals. The
silver coin was diminished to keep proportion with the
gold by the issue of bank tokens ; so that, when an
ounce of gold was worth 5/. the silver which was pre-
viously coined into 3/. 17s. lOid was coined into 51. The
Spanish dollar, fcr instance, which was previously reck-
oned to be worth 4s. 2d., was stamped anew by the Bank
and made to pass for ss. You have evidently misunder-
stood the question at issue, as well as misapprehended
the facts of the case. It does not concern the relation
of the two principal metals to each other in respect to
quantity, but their joint and equal relation in that re-
spect to the denominations of our coins. If gold is re-
duced, silver is equally reduced, and so is also copper."
But we hope to find room to-morrow for a careful
notice of the second and much improved edition of a
pamphlet which will certainly rank hereafter as a text-
book with all those who desired to understand the
operation of Sir ROBERT PEEL'S most ill-advised
measures for the permanent disorganization and ulti-
mate ruin of our monetary system.

Madrid journals to the 4th announce that the Go-
vernment had resolved to annul the tobacco contract,
and that a decree to that effect had been sent off to
Barcelona for the QUERN'S signature. A report was
prevalent, that CARRASCO and GONZALES BRAVO
would return to the Cabinet, and replace MoN and
PIDAL. This is not very probable, but indeed it is a
matter of perfect indifference. Spanish statesmen are
now byewords among the nations of Europe. The
Herald() gives an account of another outrage com-
mitted by the Moors on Spanish subjects. It is thus
described in a letter from Santiago, May 31 :—" A
Spanish merchant-vessel was seen a day or two since
off Muros, driving at the mercy of the wind and
waves. On the officer of the port boarding her to
ascertain her condition, he found the whole of the
crew lying on the deck murdered. It was evident
from their appearance that they had made a desperate
resistance. No papers were found on board, and she
had evidently been pillaged by some pirate."
The Three per Cents. were done at 27f for cash,
and at 273 ; and the Fire per Cents. at 20 for the 6th
of July.

Several of the Paris papers have long articles on
the grand fete given by the KING on Saturday even-
ing at Versailles, in honour of French industry. The
Journal des Debuts devote four columns to the sub-
ject, and pays a high compliment to the Sovereign
for collecting together the principal nobility, the
Members of the two Chambers, the Ministers of the
Crown, and the industrious classes, not out of vain show
and pomp, like some of the grand displays of Louts
XV. and his successors, but chiefly to encourage
arts and manufactures, and to show that the CITIZEN
KING has not forgotten the interests of those with
whom he often mixed when a subject of the Crown.
The Presse a Court paper, thus adverts to some circum-
stances attending this fete:—" The spectacle finished
so late that we scarcely had time enough to mention
the most characteristic feature of the fete, which, had
it taken place a century ago, would have been quite an
event in the whole world ! Just fancy an artisan au-
daciously challenging Louis XV. to admit him to a
fete at Versailles, not in a jacket, not in the
plain costume of his craft, but actually in
rags ! This audacious challenge was yesterday
accepted, without any hesitation. The KING was
not stopped by the spirit of opposition and democra-
tical vanity betrayed by tattered clothes such as the
labourious workman wears no longer now-a days—
no, the KING saw, and would see, but the merit of
the ingenious inventor, recorded by the medal he had
obtained, and that a mechanic, who would not have
been suffered to enter, even had he paid for any
place of popular amusement, where decent garments
are required, was without any difficulty permitted to
move about the sumptuous drawing-rooms, in the
magnificent galleries of Versailles palace, and to sit
in the theatre, still resplendent with the recollections
of Louis XIV. The miller of Sans Souci is out-
done by the mechanic ofVersailles. That the respect
fur labour should be carried to the extreme limit we
saw it extend yesterday is characteristic of our times,
and truly deserving of being recorded. We doubt
that the Radicals in power would prove of such easy
access and etiquette."
Some of the Opposition journals take a less favour-
able view of the entertainment, but some men cannot
be pleased with any act, however praiseworthy, unless
it be perforMed by one of their party. The fol-
lowing are the only other extracts from the papers of
any interest
The committee on the Paris and Rennes Railroad met
on Saturday to hear M. de Salvandy's report read. The
committee has declared itself almost unanimously in favour
of the Bill in its general bearing, and proposes to allow the
necessary funds for the embankments between Versailles and
Chartres. It recommends the adoption of the line from Ver-
sailles to Rennes, but reserves tha question whether it ought
to pass between Chartres and Laval by Alenyun or Maus.
As to the question of joining this line to the two Paris and
Versailles Railroads, the committee reserves its solution on
this point. It is, however, of opinion that it would be equi
table to join the Chartres line to them.
" The new Governor-General of India, Sir Henry Hardinge,
accompanied by the Right Hon. Baronet's son and his aide-
de-camp, landed at Dieppe at an early hour on Sunday morn-
ing, and left, at little more than an hour's delay, en route for
Marseilles, taking Pans in their way.
" A Royal ordonnance, of September 23, 1843, had autho-
need the transit of cattle on the Belgian railroad with an
exemption from all duty. • Some cattle were, in consequence
sent from Holland to France through Belgium, but com-
plaints having been made by the Belgian breeders, this
facility has been withdrawn by an ordonnance, dated June 7.
"The Cologne Gazette assures us that the Papal Govern-
ment has addressed a note to the Cabinets of London, Vienna,
and Paris, on the subject of the late disturbances in its terri-
tories. The note declares that there has been no real cause
for political discontent, and that the dissatisfaction is chiefly
to be ascribed to the machinationsof anarchists in France and
England.
" The Journal of the Two Sicilies announces that several
steamers left Naples on the 21st ult. with troops destined to
relieve the garrisons of SiCily. The railroad between Torre-
Annunciata to Nocera by Pompi, Scafati, Angri, and Pagani,
has just been opened to the public. The King was present
at the inauguration.
" A letter from St. Petersburgh, May 28, in the Journal de
Frankfort, says :--‘ The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count
Nesselrode, has obtained leave of absence for some months to
travel, and Count Woronzow-Daschkow, Privy Councillor,
has been appointed to replace him. Count Lieven and his
lady arrived here by the last Lubeck steamer. Count
Canerin, Minister of Finance, is to quit us on June 1, for
Berlin, to consult physicians relative to the use of German
baths of mineral water. His wife and sons will accompany
him. Lord Stuart de Rothesay, the Minister of Great Britain,
whose health is still very precarious, is to leave us in a few
days, to return to England.' "
THE BOURSE—MONDAY, JUNE 10.

First Highest Lowed Last

Price. Price. Price.
French Five per Cents.• •• 121 75 .. 121 85 .. 121 70 .. 121 80
Three per Cents.• ••• 82 50 .. 82 50 .. 82 30 .. 82 35
Bank of Franco 3080 —3OBO . 3080 ..3080
Belgian Bank.... • • .....• •• 660 .. 660 .. 665 .. 665
Belgian Fives, 1831.. • • lO5 • • 105 . • 105 .. 105
1840 •.•••••• 106 .. 106 •• 105 i .. 105 i
Dutch Two-and-a-Half ..• • • 62 • • 62 • • 62 .. 62
Spanish Active .••• •• .. •. 301 • . 301 301.
Passive........
Threes .• ••••• • . • .• 331 • . 333 .. 333 .. 333
Neapolitan . ..... . 99 95 .. 99 95 .. 99 80 .. 99 90
Roman ....... ............ 104/ .. 1041 .. 1041 .. 1041