The Sun.
London, England, 1845-10-24 00:00:00

0413,
_
44.

LONDON, FRIDAY. OUTOBER 24, 1845.

The intelligence brought by the Overland Mail from India,
possesses little interest. The country was perfectly tranquil,
the Punjaub remained in the same state, Sinde was healthy,
and preparations were in progress both at Bombay and Cal-
cutta for constructing important lines of railway, and connect-
ing by that means ' of communication some of the chief
towns in our Indian possessions. The accounts from China, how-
ever, are important. A general impression prevails among the
British residents in that quarter that Hong-Kong and its
new governor, Mr. Davis, have turned out complete failures ;
that he is unable to compete with the representative of
Ft once, and that unless a successor is speedily appointed, or
some other effective step taken to counteract foreign in-
fluence, the inland of Chusan will in a short time
be handed over to the French Government. It is therefore
proposed that negotiations should be entered into with the
Chinese, with a view to keep po,session of that valuable
island. We know nothing of the charges brought against the
French agent, but we are confident the British Government
will take no steps without mature consideration, and that they
will observe with strict faith all the .conditions of the treaty
entered into with the'Emperor of CHINA. We never thought
Hong-Kong a fit station, but if it is to be given up in ex-
change for another, that must be done by friendly and honour-
able negotiation. We must at the same time observe, that
the letters, English as well as French, which come from
Canton are deeply tinged by party feeling, and ought, there-
fore, to be received with caution. .

The potato " murrain,"—as the disease which so fatally
infects the most important of bread stuffs is well termed, we
see, in the north—is assuming every day a more formidable
character. Its ravages are manifesting themselves in a still
enlarging circle, and with the running out of the season the
disease assumes a more virulent and dangerous aspect. The
phenomena of the disease itself are as various as their origin
is doubtful.' The only certain and invariable condition ap-.
pears to be that the presence of the disease is always accom-.
panied by.the indication of a fungus (referred by Professor
Mortur.N, according to a Brussels paper, to the gemiS of
" botrydis," or chutes). But whether this 'fungus be the
original cause or the organic : effect ' of the disease,
(notwithstanding the minute. investigation to which
the question has been submitted in this country,
in Belgium, in France, and in Holland), is still an unresolved
problem. We know, at any rate, that were it even satisfac-
torily determined, it would now be too late to attempt the
application of any remedy that could arrest the progress of
this vegetable malady in respect of the present year's crop,
wherever it has exhibited itself. It is fortunate that the
earlier portions of the potato crop, especially that which was
sown in dry and new soils, or well drained lands, yielded re-
markably fine and abundant fruit. But for this circum-
stance that season of privation, that extent of misery, to
whiCh we fear the labouring poor of so many fine districts
in F,Urope.have yet to pass, would have been prolonged by
some two or three months. Lamentable, however, it is to
reflect o' the mournful prospects of the approaching winter.
What is to be done for our hard-working, well-conducted,
but i'll-paid.poor_in the manufacturing and rural' districts?—
in all the densely crowded thoroughfares, in our swarming po_
a cerrtary recurring visitations of famine or
pulatfon ~:,-I‘ar'vy hat Is to'be doniforthe poor of Ireland, whom
frequently
from their in.,—
' ocarcity hat not been able to wean
...evvident
tP4' -
4 -ereference for and deprdence on the P 9
0,0 crop What is
ft of fr
.

to be done for the remote but industrious peasantry of the
bleak islands and highlands of the northern and western divi-
sions of Scotland, to whose scanty sources of supply the
potato is one if not more than the two or three main ele-
ments? The danger of a lack of subsistence for millions of
our poorer follow-countrymen is no longer a figurative allu-
sion, an imposing figure to point the indignant declamations
of Anti-Corn-law Eloquence. It is imminent—it is
impending—it must be encountered. But with what
Conservative provisions ? What shall be the means
of feeding--the principle of sustentation— to be
opposed to it? Now, is it possible—not to roll back the
tide of failure which sets in upon us from every potato-
growing country of Europe, but—to remove these millions
from the instant hazard they are incurring of being en-
gulphed and swept away by a calamity of so vast and over-
whelming a nature?

We answer, thus—" Cheap and wholesome corn must re-
place dear and diseased potatoes." To let in cheap and
wholesome corn for this just, this humane, this politic, this
indispensable, this sacred purpose, not a moment must be
lost in opening the only channel through which the supply
can be poured in a sufficient quantity, and at sufficiently
low prices. Now is the time. The end of October has
overtaken us. The cold and bracing atmosphere
which assures us of its presence, reminds us, too, of the
earlier period at which- the winter sets in upon those
shores, adjacent to which are the vast corn-growing lands
that have long been the granary of northern Europe. There
is not any redundancy of opportunity left us to issue orders
for, and receive in return, ample consignments of foreign
corn, before the reign of winter commences with us. Here,
then, we have, on the one hand, appalling, inevitable scarcity,
not to say famine, for many British millions, following in the
wake of this failure of the potato crop, with the sure but
noiseless step of destiny itself, so long as the present corn-laws
continue to interpose their prehibitory and penal restrictions
on the poor consumer, in order to protect the wealthier home
grower. On the other (given, the single condition of even
suspending for a limited time, though we may hold
that the suspension should be permanent, those corn-
laws), we have a certain and prompt influx of grain, which
is truly, as well as poetically, said to form the staff of life,
poured into our market. We treat the question
as fairly a new, not as an economic, not as a
fiscal, not as a party question, but as a question of life-necessity,
if we mays° term it. It is the physical claims of the millions to
be heard against the private interests of a few hundreds of re-
luctant landowners. For our own parts we are at all times un-
friendly to abrupt and disorganising legislation. All changes
on which it is necesary, either at common law, or on the
principles of the Constitution, to take the pleasure of the
Legislature, ought, as a general rule, never to be precipitated.
Here is a condition of things sui generis, not to be governed by
any existing analogies, beyond the control of all precedents, as
such an exigency superior in its nature, extent, and conse-
quences, to the restraints of legislative systems. The only
safe course to be taken with regard to it is also the only im-
mediate one. The Prime Minister must assume, if he
would avert responsibility for the catastrophe which the
advent of winter must otherwise bring with it, the grave poli-
tical responsibility of advising the Crown to issue an Order in
Council, virtually suspending the whole machinery of sliding
scales and present prices, and price-adjusted duties. He
must make the importation of foreign corn free for some
weeks to come. It is true this proceeding may still more
embitter the resentment already kindled in the
ranks of the landed interest against him. Better for him,
and for them, that such a result be challenged at once, than
that both themselves and he should incur the more terrible
resentment of a needlessly starving and justly irritated people.
It is true that such an Order in Council will be jealously re-
garded by other classes of the community, on grounds of less
selfish and more constitutional displeasure than those of the
landed interest, at such an intervention with the working of
Acts of Parliament. But he has only to carry in with him
on the first day cf the session a Bill of Indemnity, and it
will be carried by the concurrent acclamations of three-
fourths of the people of the United Kingdom.

By the Levant mail we have received intelligence from
Constantinople to the 7th inst., Alexandria the 10th, Athens
the 9th, and Malta to the 15th. It appears from some ac-
counts that a misunderstanding had taken place between
the French Minister at Constantinople and the Porte, relative
to the government of Syria. Some time since a French priest
had been shot by one of the Druse chiefs, and the French Consul
at Beyrout had demanded of the Turkish authorities of that
place that the culprit (named Arson NEKED) should be shot,
without a trial, in the presence of the crew of a French
vessel of war. The Porte objected to this, and de-
clared that the accused should have a fair trial,
and if condemned receive the punishment due according to
the Turkish laws. A trial accordingly took place and all the
members on the commission declared that there was no evi-
dence to show that Atou- NEKED was the murderer of the
PADRE CARLI, or had participated otherwise than having
been present commanding the attack on the village, along
with other Druse Sheikhs; and here the matter rests. The
proposition of the French Consul, to say the least of it, was
contrary to all rules of justice. Any Consul who could demand
that a man should be put to death without trial, would in all
civilised countries be put down for a madman. Accounts
from Athens state that considerable excitement prevailed in
the Chamber of Representatives, and that the Ministry had
only been able to carry the budget of extraordinary expendi-
ture by a majority of one vote. The llfoniteur Grec gives,
however, a satisfactory account of the state of the country
generally. MEREMET AL! left Cairo on the 4th inst., to be
present at the marriage of his daughter with CAMEL PACHA.
Sir JAMES EMERSON TENNENT arrived at Alexandria on the
7th from England, and contemplated visiting Thebes and
Upper Egypt before his departure for Ceylon. Not a word
is said in the intelligence from Malta respecting the yellow
fever, said to have broken out in the island. The French vessel
which brought the news to Marseilles reached that place on
the 16th, while we have news to the 15th. The report, there-
.
fore, is entirely unfounded.

We have received Madrid journals of the 16th, and as
they make no further mention of the collision said to have
taken place between the civic guard and certain of the
inhabitants of Gerona, we are inclined to think that it was
greatly exaggerated, or without foundation. From all
accounts the people seem disposed to submit quietly to the
new income-tax. A rumour prevailed that it was the in-
tention of the Government to reduce to a considerable extent
the present military establishment, and we can easily be-
lieve that the Finance Minister, as well as some of his
colleagues who are labouring to restore public credit, would
gladly 'Adopt such a measure, but without the consent of
NARVAEZ we fear they can do nothing. The garrison of
Madrid has been greatly increased lately to keep order, it is
said, during the municipal elections. Some transactions
took place on the Bourse, but to no great amount. The Five
per Cents, were done at 22 fur cash, but the Threes were
not quoted.

The accounts from Paris of the state of the stock and share
market, at the close of business on Wednesday, are mueh
more favourable. The panic appears to have completely sub-
sided, and prices were gradually recovering. The Three per
Cents: had advanced about 25c., and the Fives 20c. A con-
siderable improvement had also taken place in railway
shares. The papers are still occupied with discussions on
the retirement of Marshal Souur, of which little doubt now
remains. It is only a question of time, and that too very
short, for the veteran feels himself oppressed with the infir-
mities of old age, and is desirous to have some repose before
he closes his long and active life. It appears that he will
resign the portfolio of the war department as soon as a tem-
porary successor can be found, but retain for some time yet
the office of President of the Council. The following extract
from the Journal des Debats warrants these statements ;
"The report which has been current that Marshal Soult in..
tended quitting the War Department, which he has directed with
so much ability during the last five years, has given birth to a
number of absurd suppositions. The Opposition journals have
announced with the greatest assurance that the Ministry was dis-
membered. We believe we can affirm that the Cabinet has
never been more united ; that all its measures, including the
most recent ones, have been taken with a perfect accord, and
that, in what concerns in particular the President of the
Council, all the motives attributed to his desire to retire arc
pure invention. Had Marshal Soult consulted only his own
inclinations, and the want of repose which his long and
glorious labours entitle hint to claim, his colleagues would
some time back have been deprived of his aid. Several
months age the President of the Council expressed a desire
to be relieved of the burden, which he believed had become
too heavy for his strength. The request of his colleagues, and
of the King, have determined the illustrious Marshal to defer
the accomplishment of his resolution. It is possible that lately,
also, the President of the Council may have again manifested his
desire in a more pressing manner ; but the King and the Cabinet
are to well acquainted with the value of the counsels of his old and
profound experience, and the advantages that his' services confer
on the country, not to endeavour by every means to keep him at
the head of affairs. Marshal Soult, in his long and glorious career,
has too largely paid his debt to his country to be refused the repose
necessary to his age and his health;. but we hope it will be pos•
Bible to conciliate his legitimate demands with the wishes of the
King and of his colleagues, and that, whilst he lays down a part
of the functions which weigh the most directly on him, the illus-
trious Marshal will retain in the Council the eminent position
which he has occupied so legitimately since the formation of the
Cabinet. It is riot at a moment when the counsels of his cape.
rience may be, of greater utility than ever that Marshal Soult
deprii,e his country of them ; and we have every reason to believe
that he will continue to afford to the Cabinet of October 29, not
only the high authority of his name, but, still more, the strongest

support."
It was the general belief that Marshal BUGEAUD would be
appointed his successor, but as he could not assume office till
he had settled affairs in Algeria, a temporary appointment
wouldbe made. Several names had been mentioned, among
others General LA PLACE, General PREVAL, and General
SERASTIANI. Some additional news had been received from
Africa. The following appears in the Moniteur Algerian of
the .15tb. inst. :

" Our affairs are in a good way in the subdivision of Medeah.
Ben Salem, who is ill, is said to have quitted the camp at the
Cheriff. Several douairs have abandoned the latter, and have
come. to solicit the Alum The mountaineers are less and less
d.sPoscd in-favour of the insurgents. The column of Setiff was
on the 22d -lilt, at three days' march !rem that of General Marcy,
who WAS encamped at Oued.Geumark. Nothing important has
,atten place in the subdivision of Milianah since our last. In the
1 subdivision of Orleansville, Colonel Saint Amand has visited the
post of the Kbsmis, in the country of the Beni Ouragbs. After
_ being let 4 reintbreeMent of 00 men it this pest, the Colonel