The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON. TUESDAY EVENIN

events (.1 the last few weeks have added an overwhelming
force to the stream that was before setting against the 'corn-
laws. • How the result is to be brought about—whose is to be
the honour of being the prominent agent-in-the last scene—
whether the repeal of the cern-laws is to be effected by Peel's
deserting his party, or by a portion of his party deserting
Peel, or by both being scared by some manifestation of public
feeling, no one can pretend to see.- But that the result will
speedily be brought about, we have not the slightest doubt;
for never did so strong and general a public opinion exist,
without finding •some way-or other of achieving its object.
POST.—It seems to be now generally supposed that Par-
liament will meet some three weeks earlier than it generally
does, in order to deliberate upon the various important and
interesting subjects which call for its consideration. We
think it a good resolution—in default of some better method
communicating with the public—to call the Parliament to-
gether as soon as that can be conveniently managed. We
have no very great confidence either in the wisdom or the
virtue cf Parliament, but in anxious times there ought to be
some way by which the Government and the public may have
some sort tif communication with each other, and by which the
talkerssof nonsense about what the Government will and must
do may be put down. Unfortunately there is in this coun-
try no such thing as confidence in the good will and atiec-
tionate feeling of the Government towards the people.
We do not find any one trusting that the Government
will certainly do what is best for the comfort and happicesS
of the people. Anxiety cannot be got rid of in that way.
Some persons believe that the-Government will • uphold the
corn-laws for the sake of certain rich people who have an
iwerest iu them, though it is quite clear, as they assert, that
thousands of the people will thereby suffer starvation. Hun-
dreds of intelligent, educated people, profess to believe this,
and some of teem write it and have it printed, and distributed
to the public, yet the very men who do this regard the Minis-
ters not as fiends, but as rather respectable gentlemen, from
whom an invitation to dinner would be no insult. Such is

the jumble of. belief and feeling about great personages who
compose the Government. Surely if any man were really
and thoroughly impressed with the conviction that they who
rule over him and his fellow -citizens are capable of
such aln,minable inhumanity, they would • take some
strong measures to throw off such a yoke. Because
they do nothing of the kind, we have the utmost doubt
of the sincerity of their professions. . Others believe that
Ministers chiefly concern themselves about obtaining rnajo-
ities in the House of Commow, and so continuing to be
Ministers, and do not much allow their minds to dwell upon
the condiiion of the people at large. Others, again, are of
opinion that Ministeis think only how they may promote
traffic and give opportunities to persons who devote capital to
traffic to make profits thereon and to increase their store.
All seem to come to the conclusion that they who have the
reins orGovernment in their hands have regard merely to
some personal or party object, or the realisation of some poli-
tical theory, or the warding off some danger which threatens
their own position as a Government. No one seems
to dream, even for a moment, of Ministers being
actuated by an affection of solicitude for the great
body whom they have been appointed to govern.
The political care of the people, then, devolving
upon themselves (the Ministers being occupied with inter-
mediate interests between the peop leand the Government), it
is very natural the people should look for the proceedings of
Parliament, where they can at least hear something of what
is going on. But we fear that the character of Parliament
must be much changed before it will be a trustworthy en.
gine of popular Government. The change of 1832 seems to
have been a change, not from bad to good, nor from good to
bad, but a change from bad to worse. Under the old system,
of the great proprietors nominating a large portion of the
Lower House, a trust was-reposed in the great proprietors,
which they either abused or did not attend to. with such care
as they ought. They did not take the pains which they
ought to have taken to exercise their powers of nomination
in favour of sense and virtue, and patriotism. In
the place of this system we have . got another
which, failing to produce the occasional good effects
of the nomination system, has nothing of a counterbalancing
kind in which the great body of the people either can con.
fide or ought to confide. Granted that the House of Com-

mons has in it, under the new system, fewer fops of fashion
and idle young gentlemen, or of more staid persons, who
never thought of exercising an independent judgment in
voting. This may be, but what have we in their room?
Have we men di-tinguished for public virtue, or eloquence,
or patriotism? Have we men whose conduct as representa-
tives of the people elevates the British Parliament in the
eyes of this country and of the world, and gives to all civi-
lised nations a bright example of what may be achieved by

acting upon the —principles of British liberty and justice?
Alas! no. We have a crowd of clever loquacious jobbers.
When the revolution of 1832 first took place, it was supposed
by those who most feared it, that the House of Commons

would become ultra-Democratic—that it would represent, not
the national interests, but the passions of the mob. That was a
wrong calculation. It was not wrong in so far as it was sup-
posed that the national interests would thenceforth be inadc-

qtiately represented; but the representation actually created
has not been of the passions of the mob, but of the selfishness
of traffic. The national interests are not merely the interests
of men as proprietors of money, or of stock in trade, or of
land, or of mines. These are neglected by men who are con-
sidering what they may do to make wages cheaper that ma-
nufactured goods may be sent at a less price into foreign
markets, or in perfecting schemes of internal communication,

not fur the sake of giving employment to the people and
facilitating their improvement, but in order to invest capital
at a greater advantage. These are the schemes which en-

gage- the minds of men who ought to be considering the
national interests—men who, for the sake of present advan-
tage, do not scruple to engage, the mass of the people in cir-
cumstances of feverish activity, without the slightest re-
flection upon the question, " what is to become of these
people when the works in which they are now engaged shall
have been completed?"

THE ANNUALS.
THE FORGET-CIE-NOT.

No mexim of wisdom is more true than that brief say-
; ing. "Time flies." What is there can compare -to it in
swiftness ? Slowly and quietly it approaches, we think
we grasp it. and it is gene ! It seems hut the other day
that we hailed the advent of '45, and anxiously awaited
its coming pleasnres, and now already the fading leaf and
deepening twilight warn us that it is near its close.
" Coming events cast their shadows before ;" the sr-
rival of the swallows announce the sunshine, and the
cold frosts of winter havo likewise their harbingers. The
Annuals for 1846 have already appeared. When all is
drear and desolate, these 'bright volumes come forward
as emblems of the kindly feelings which the season can-
not chill, and offer- themselves as appropriate gifts of
friendship and affection. Of these the " Fi-rgeteme-Not"
deserves peculiar notice, having been the first of all the
annuals ; it has survived many of its encient companions,
and bids fair to flourish till its race becomes extinct.
This year it appears in gayer plumage than usual ; its cus-
tomary suit of brown is exchanged for a binding of pale
green morocco, ornamented with a beautiful wreath of
flowers in gold. The engravings form the principal at-
traction in a work of this sort, and they will not be found
wanting. The greater number illustrate E.C,,IICS in the
different tales. There are no landscapes, and this is a
great improvement, the size of the book being too small
to do them justice. As it is, the il'ustrations are clear
anti distinct. One of the best is a "Sketch from Nature,"
painted by Herring ; the -countenance is expressive and
full of softness. • The frontispiece represents a lady in
" A Reverie ;" she is leaning over a balcony, her atti-
tude is easy and graceful, her face expresses serious re-
flection, but the hands are not worthy of the rest—the
fingers are long and stiff The literary department is
full of variety both in prose and verse. It opens with a
poem by Mrs. Sigourney, " The Royal Guest," in cele-
bration of Queen Victoria's visit to Eu. Then follows a
dramatic scene by the late lamented Thomas Hood.
Charles Swain has contributed many interesting pieces,
and Eliza Cock's "Farewell to her Hound" is full of
mournful simplicity. It is hardly necessary to enumerate
the prose tales ; they are of every variety, ancient and
modern, extravagant and homely, adapted to every taste.
They must indeed be hard to please who are not satis-
fied with the "Forget-me-Not" of 1846.

'LATEST FROM BUENOS A YRIL:;.
I"ti,morarn, Nov. 16.—The lliimburgh barqu-, 1. nud
Louisa, Captain Mareks, arrived here tins
Buenos Ayre4, having 'sailed from that catty on the 19th
SePtember. Prior to her departure, letters had been received
by the mercantile establishments in Buenos Ayres, from
Monte Video, earnestly intreating them, on the reeommeinla-
tion of Mr. Ouseley, to wind up their coeceris, even at a
sacrifice, in consequence of ny‘asnr,s which would most like!y
be taken by the English and French. All intercourse be
tweel the opposing parties had been stopped. Colonia had
been taken by the united forces on the 31st August without
bloodshed ; and a small garrison had been landed, but the
Buenos Ayrean troops were only a short !distance from
the town. The last packet which bad brought the mails
to
.Buenos Ayres, from Rio de Janeiro, had sailed
immediately, Without waiting for any returns from Colonia.
General Paz had commenced active measures in Corrientes,
in opposition to the Argentine Republic, and it was consi-
dered he would be assisted as far as possible by the British
and French authorities. Roses was exerting himself to make
soldiers of the entire male population, from the age of sixteen
to sixty, and seemed determined to offer every resistance to
the proceeding of the united Goveraments. His conduct was
as arbitrary and tyrannical as ever, and his hatred of the-
English so marked, that most persons were of opinion he was
cognizant of, and even sanctioned, the murder of the English
family, to prove to Mr. Ousely the indifference with which he
viewed any alliance with England, and what might be ex-
Bected in the event of any hostilities being come to by the
ritish residents. It was, calculated that the English and
French inhabitants of the city and suburbs could not fall
short of 12,000 persons, and in case the merchants broke up
their establishments, they would have to sacrifice everything
from the poverty and hostility of the people, who were kept
by Rosas in thorough ignorance of the real state of affairs
between himself and the two Powers, and the most extrava-
gant fabrications and lies were circulated to engender enmity
of feeling to the English and French. Provisions would be
getting very scanty among the squadron, by the severe in-
terdict of the Buenos Ayrean Government.