The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON. FRIDAY "EVENING, MAY 20, 1842.

by the extraordinary energy and unanimity of sentiment
in the agricultural districts of England, and among
agricultural people, the leading characteristic of that
Government would be a preference of commercial prin-
ciples to those upon- which native producers rely for em-
ployment and remuneration.
There is no need of disguising the fact, that the agri-
cultural constituencies !coked to the present Ministers
as men who would guard them from such measures as
the Whigs declared their intention of passing if they
could. They saw the accession of the present Ministers
to power with joy, and with perfect confidence that, with
such men at the head of affairs, they, and the producing
classes generally, were safe. Instead of supposing that
they wanted leaders, they supposed that all they had to
do was to support the leaders who had resisted the Whigs.
They now find that the leaders who resisted the Whigs
were not so fir removed from a participation in Whig
views as they had supposed. But what they lack in extent
of liberalism, it is evident they make up in greater ability
to effect the amount of liberalism which they are pleased
to approve. And the end of the matter is, that after all
their exertions last summer, the representatives of the
producing interests are not in a better condition than
they were before the struggle began.
We think it probable that the 'most serious results
upon the position of parties in the House of Commons
will ere long be produced by the unanimity of the-pre-
sent leaders on the subject of free trade philosophy. They
who remember what the Whigs did in April, 1827, will
not be surprised if, ere long, they should see Mr. Hawes
sitting with his knees in Sir Robert Peel's back.
That is the confession of the Post, that Ministers
have been compelled to become Liberals and free
traders ; that the landed monopolists have been de-
serted by their agents and leaders ; and that the ma-
jority of Lords, Commons, and constituencies, are at
this moment not in a better condition than they were
before the struggle began. They are, in fact, a
great deal worse, for they have proved the imprac-
ticability of their principles, and their champion has
gone over to their opponents.
The landowners did not like PEEL'S Corn-keeping-
out-law—they only supported it, as they avowed, for
the sake of the party ; they disapprove of his tariff,
and are preparing to oppose him and it. Mr. MILES,
the Member for Somersetshire, at the head of seventy
malcontents, is to resist those parts of it which Sir
H. PEEL has most strongly recommended.
If (said the Morning Chronicle yesterday in a passage,
part of which we have already quoted, but -which we
must repeat) the tariff be carried at all, it must be car-
ried by the aid of the Opposition. The fate of the mea-
sure, with that of the Ministry itself; is in the hands of
the Opposition. The occurrence of such a crisis is rather
remarkable, considering how short a time it is since the
late Ministry was precisely in the same position, for the
sake of the same principle. They have only to do as
they were then done by, to secure such retribution as
defeat would inflict upon their opponents. And the
fact that it is thrown out of all calculation, that all the
world reckons upon the help of the Opposition to secure
for the country so much of good as the tariff will bestow,
is a distinct proof of the real estimate which obtains of
the character of the hostile leaders and parties.
Before Sir Robert Peel began to exercise the functions
of government, it was continually vaunted that he would
be a Minister certain of carrying all his measures. This
was put forth as a great recommendation, and the public
may already see how much the recommendation was
worth. lie has proved himself strong enough to prolong
the bread tax and revive the Income-tax. And there his
power comes to a stand. He is reduced to become the ob-
ject of that forbearance which he was often said (and
not always, we readily allow, without reason) to exercise
towards his opponents. He breaks down with his first
attempt to do something for a population acknowledged
to be in a condition of extreme suffering. Not even the
reversion of a reduction of a halfpenny per pound in the
price of meat can he procure for the consumer, without
becoming a pensioner upon Whig and Radical charity
for his success.

If the Opposition do not support Sir ROBERT PEEL,
he will be defeated by his own friends. He did not,
however, wantonly separate from them. He was
compelled by circumstances to interfere and relax
their grasp of the neck of our industry, and they are
angry at his interference. They have made him a
Minister ; they have said they will unmake him if he
does not do their bidding. That has been found
impossible ; and if they do not unmake him, it will be
because he is supported by the Whigs and Liberals.
Such a present condition of parties is the triumph of
principle. It is a proof that the strongest Govern-
ment, the greatest majorities, cannot succeed against
truth and justice.

The South Eastern Counties Railway will be opened
in the course of next week as far as Tunbridge. The
Company who have formed this line, and carried on
the works with such success, and, to their credit, with-
out ostentation, deserve every praise. The concern,
at first, was not the most promising. No encourage
ment was held out from France ; no promise was
made that the Government of Louis PniLrerx would
meet them half way, and complete the best, and in fact
the shortest, transit, taking the sea voyage into ac-
count, between the two great capitals of Europe ;
but, nevertheless, they persevered, and owing to their
courage and good arrangements, the line by Dover
and Calais will be the great thoroughfare to
Paris. In a short time the line to Dover will
be completed, and, independent of the conve-
nience which it will afford to travellers to the
Continent, it will enable our own countrymen to tra-
verse the finest county in England, and reach one of
the best watering places on our coast, in less than
three hours from London. If the French had half
the energy and enterprise of Englishmen in works of
this kind, the passage between London and Paris
might be made in about thirteen hours.
RAILROADS IN FRANCE.

The Minister of Public Works has, upon the re-
commendation of the Commission on Steam-engines,
just ordered the following provisional measures rela-
tive to railroads :

Art. 1. The use of four-wheeled locomotives for the
transport of passengers is interdicted. Art. 2. The
placing at the head of a train, before the locomo-
tives, either a four-wheeled tender or any other kind
of four-wheeled carriage is prohibited. Art 3. Lo-
comotives must always be in front of the trains,
and never behind. This order is never to be departed
from except for the arrangements (manoeuvre) in the
neighbourhood of stations, and in cases where a train
being stopped by an accident, the locomotive in aid
may be brought from behind, if there be no crossing
to permit its passing in front. In these two special
cases the rate of speed of the train must never exceed
20 kilometres (about 121 Englisk miles) per hour.
In all cases it is interdicted in an absolute manner to
place a passengers' train between two locomotives,
one acting in front and the other behind. Art 4.
Until a better means of diminishing the effect of
shocks and collisions shall have been ascertained and
prescribed, there must always be at the head of each
train, composed of five carriages at the utmost, at
least one carriage without passengers, and at least two,
when the number of carriages in the train exceeds
five. Art. 5. The passengers' carriages are not to be
locked. Art. 6. The Railroad Companies are to have
registers of the state of service of all their locomo-
tives. Upon these registers, which are to be con-
stantly kept open, there shall be a special description of
each axle•tree, and by the side of the number affixed
to each, with the date of its being first brought into
use, shall be inscribed an account of its service, and
the work it has to perform. Art. 7. An order of the
Prefect shall fix for each railroad the minimum of the
interval which is to elapse between the departure of
two consecutive trains. These orders are to be sub-
mitted for the approbation of the Minister of Public
Works. Art. 8. Upon the Paris and Versailles Rail-
roads, of the right and left banks, in coming from Ver-
sailles to Paris, the rate of speed at no part of the line
shall exceed ten metres per second, or 36 kilometres
(about 221 miles English) per hour.
Independently of the above measures, which are to
come immediately into operation, the Minister of
Public Works has charged the Commission on Steam-
engines to inquire,—
" Ist. 'Whether from Versailles to Paris, and gene-
rally on strong inclinations, it would be proper to
Permit the use of more than one locomotive at a time ;
and in
cases where it may be permitted, to ascertain
the condition to which such permission should be sub-
ject. 2d.
To inquire into the means which may be
proper to prevent the projection of the burning
matter from the locomotives.
A Special Commission is also about to be appointed
immediately, to make inquiries and experiments,—
" Ist. As to what improvements may be made in
the manufacture of axle-trees for locomotives; on the
changes which these axle-trees undergo from use, and
the time after which it is requisite or desirable that
they should be replaced by new ones, and the proofs
they ought to be subjected to. 2d. On the means
to be employed in lessening the risk and effect of
shocks and collisions on railroads."

A correspondent writes from Java, that, in the
morning of November 14, an eruption of the Goenseng
Goentoer Mountain, in the district of Peranger, took
place with violent subterraneous noises, which lasted till
three in the afternoon, covering the earth to the extent
of ten miles around with sand and cinders to various
.depths, from two to five inches, damaging a great space
of cultivated ground, and upwards of 400,000 coffee
trees.

In the year 1774 the Society of Antiquarians ob-
tained permission to open the tomb of Edward the First,
in Westminster Abbey. They found the body in perfect
preservation, and most superbly dressed.
THE MACKAREL FISHERY.—The fishery com-
menced off Brighton on Friday, and some of the boats
came in with a few fine fish. The principal part were
bought for the London market, and forwarded by the
railway. Off Eastbourne the fishermen have been pretty
successful during the week, and the fish have generally
fetched high prices.