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

TRE SUN, LONDON. TUESDAY EVEN.ITG-,._ NOVENIBErt 18, 1845.

events of 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 corn-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 of Parliament, WA in anxious times there ought to be
some way by which the Government and the public may have
some sort of communication with each other, and by which the
talkers of 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 affec-
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 happiness
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 au
interest in 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 them 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 wlio
rule over him and his fellow-citizens are capable of
such abominable 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 majo-
r ities in the House of Commons, and so continuing, to be
Ministers, and do not much allow their minds to dwell upon
the condition of the people at large. Others, again, are of
opinion that Ministers 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 mho have the
reins of Government 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 fur 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 distinguished 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 inade-
quately 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 hymen 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 for 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-ME-NOT.

No maxim 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 grail). it, and it is g.ne ! It seems but the other day
that we hailed the advent of '45, at al anxiously awaited
its coming pleasures, and now already the fading leaf and
deepening twilight warn us that it is near its close.
" Coming events cast their shadows before ;" the ar-
rival of the swallows announce the sunshine, and the
cold frosts of winter have 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 "Fcrget-me-Not"
deserves peculiar notice, having been the first of all the
annuals ; it has survived many of its ancient 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 fur 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 scenes 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
and 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 Cook'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 AYRES.

FALMOITTIfi Nov. 16.—The Harnburgh barque Laura and
Louisa, Captain 'Mardis, arrived here this morning from
Buenos Ayre, having sailed from that city on the 19th
September. Prior to her departure, letters had been received
by the rtierantilereltablishmnts in Buenos Ayres,, from
Monte Video, earnestly intreating them, on the recomfnenda-
tion of Mr. Ouseley, to wind up their concerns, even at a
sacrifice, in consequence of measures which would most likely
be taken by the English and French. All intercourse be
tvreen the opposing parties had been stopped. Colonia bad
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 had 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. Rosas 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 Govenunents. Misconduct 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 be
viewed any alliance with England, and what might be ex-
pected in the event of any hostilities being come• to by the
British 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 hare to sacrifice everything
from the poverty end hostility of the people, who were kept
by Roses 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.

RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS.
LIVERPOOL, N0v,17.

STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sale; are—Birkenhead and Holy-

head Junction, 114—Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshii:e,
31A-13riti,11 and Irish Union, 3—Bolton, Wigan, and
23—Caledonian, 191/6.—Cambri*lge an 4
4%—Chester and Birkenhead, Half Shares, 24.-Ditto, New
20/. Shares, 814—Chester and Manchester Direct, 2—Clydes-
dale Junction, 18%—Derby and Crewe, 53/—Edinburgh and
Perth, 5%—Glasgow
and Belfast Union, 3—Glasgow, Perth,
and reeaock, 21%—Ditto, Half Shares, 1014—Grand Junc-
tion, 230—Ditto, New Quarter Shares 31—Ditto, 401. Shares
(L. 111;), 5514—Great Grimsby and Sheffield, 14—Ditto,
Quarter Shares, 91s. 3d.—Great Eastern and Western, 32.
Liverpool and Leeds Direct, 21/—Liverpool, Ormskirk, and
Preston, 41A—London and Birmingham, 321. Shares, 4114—
Ditto, Fifth Shares, 2114—London and York, 935. 9d.—
Direct Northern, 415.-Leeds and Thirsk, 1314—Manchester
and Birmingham, 731/2—Manchester and Southampton, 3%
—Midland, 144—Ditto, 401. Shares, 2114—North British,
Carlisle Branch, 314—North Union (A), 205—North Staf-
fordshire, 576—North Wales Mineral, New Shares, 4y6—
Sheffieldand Manchester, 125—Ditto, Quarter Shares, No. 2,
12V1—South-Eastern and Dover, 37—Ditto, New Shares,
No. 1, 153/ —Ditto, Consolidated Half Shares, 41A—West
Riding Union, 714—Dublin and Galway, 4—Datch Rhenish,
B—Paris and Lyons ( Latitte), 214.
MANCHESTER, Nov. 17.

STOCK EXCHANGE.—The stiles are—Goole, Doncaster,
Sheffield, &c , 62s.—Iluddersfield and Sheffield Junction, 20
—Lancashire and North Yorkshire, 52s.—Leicester and Tarn-
worth, 425. Manchester and Bury Atmospheric, 26s.—
North British, Carlisle Branch, 3!,:i—North Stafforthhire,
51. 17s.—Oxford, Witney, and Cheltenham, 11/I—Oxford,
'Worcester, and Wolverhampton, 16%—Sheffield and Lin-
colnshire Junction, 4—Sheffield and Manchester Quarters,
No. 3, 53—West Biding Union, 71. 2s.
LEEDS, Nov. 17. _ _ _

STOCK EXCHANGE. —The sales are—Great Grimsby and
Sheffield, 12%—Leeds and Bradford, 42X—Ditto, Extension,
37%—Leeds and Dewsbury, 19 c. n.—Leeds and Thirsk,
13 —Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole, 34—Cambridge
and Lincoln, 414—Direct Northern, 2L London
and York (Bawtry), 376—West Riding Union,
East Lincolnshire, 2!4—Grand Union, Bs. p.—Lancashire
and North Yorkshire, 10s. p.—Leeds and Liverpool Direct,
ss. dis.—Leeds and York, par—Manchester, Buxton, Mat-
lock, and Midland, 314 p.—North Western, 3%—Notting-
ham, Erewash, and Ambc,rgate, 3—South Midlands, 3% p.
—Wakefield and Bradford, 4s. p.—Wakefield and Harro-
gate; 19s. p.—Yorkshire and Glasgow Union, Ss. p.
BRISTOL, Nov. 17.

STOCK EXCIIANGE.—The sales are—Bristol and Exeter,
83—Caledonian, 101, for cash—Eastern Counties, 2034—
Manchester and Southampton, 2:4—Midland, 144—Ditto,
New, 2234—North Devons, 2—Wilts, Somerset, and Wey-
mouth, 4%.

tion of delay, excepting that he was quite sure that the only
cause was the extreme pressure of business. He thought
that the Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth Railway should not
be behind the Southampton and Dorchester. He regarded
Weymouth as an important port, and particularly so when
.takeniti condexibit'with the proposed harleur of refuge. He
thought that the Back Water at Weymouth might be ren-
dered serviceable for docks, and doubted not but that the Di-
rectors of the Great Western Company and the Wilts, So
merset, and Weymouth Railway would see that it was to
their own interests so to improve the port. It was well
known that the Government would prefer Weymouth as the
route to the Channel Islands rather than Southampton.
Partly in conjunction with the Wilts, Somerset, and Wey-
mouth Railway, the Great Western have projected a line
from Bridport to Exeter, with branches to Axminster and
Honiton. This was the present road traffic, and he thought
that no other line that could be projected would give greater
advantages to the public.
Mr. BRUNEL said that no further delay in the construction
of the Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth line bad taken place
than what was consequent on a line of such magnitude. In no
line with which he was connected had the works been com-
menced in less time than would be the case with the Wilts.
Somerset, and Weymouth. It was true that some lines had
made their contracts before applying to Parliament, and pro-
ceeded with their works immediately on the passing of the Bill.
But that was not the usual way, and he questioned the wisdom
of such a plan ; and if a Company or the public were gainers
in the end by such haste, that minute attention which was
necessary in such a work was often neglected. If he were asked
why the Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth line had not been
commenced, he would say that a new and accurate survey of
the whole county, with a view of improving the line, had
been made, and much difficulty !:ad thus been overcome, and
many improvements effected. Between Weymouth and Dor-
chester much revision had been made, which would lead to
ultimate improvement. He did not think that the Southamp-
ton and Dorchester line would be opened so soon as they ex-
pected, so that theirs would be no such great time behind
them as some were led to suppose. The engagements of the
Great Western Company were now very numerous and
urgent, and which would not cease until the 30th of November.
As for the Great Western Company having relinquished the
line to Weymouth, nothing was further from truth ; no post-
ponement or abandonment was ever thought of. The, Great
Western Company was equally involved in an early completion
of the line. The Directors had more than once urged him
to commence, and he should think that within a month the
line between Weymouth and Dorchester will :be in active
progress.—(Cheers.) The Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth
line was regarded as more important than ever, and they
had now projected a line from Bridport, as stated by Sir
John Aubrey, that had met with the sanction and support of
all the noblemen and landowners in the district through
which it passes. This, with other lines projected in con-
nexion with the Great Western Company would connect them
with every part, &c. He did not think that the Exeter,
Weymouth, and Dorchester Coast Junction would give them
any advantage that their scheme did not possess. As
regards the improvement of the port of Weymouth, he
thought the Great Western and the Bristol and Exeter Com-
panies would be deeply interested:in the improvement of all
their termini. Few places were capable of greater improve-
ment than Weymouth, and he doubted not but that thegreat
Companies referred to would lend them their best aid to this
object.—(Cheers.)
Mr. HOPKINS, engineer of the Exeter, Weymouth, and
Dorchester Coast line, stated that the Company he repre-
sented were not the opponents of the Wilts, Somerset, and
Weymouth line. They wished it success, as it would contri-
bute to the prosrerity of their line. The line they proposed
brought them nine miles nearer Bridport than the line the
Great Western offered them. Consider it is a coast line which
the Government are disposed to encourage. Mr. Brunel
seems to think light of a coast line, though be (Mr. Brunel)
was connected with the South Devon coast, with which the line
he advocated would be connected. He (Mr. Hopkins) objected
to the Great Western Company endeavouring to monopolise
the whole of the south coast, and hoped that this meeting
would consult their own interests, which of the two lines
will most benefit Weymouth. Their survey was made, plans
advanced, capital raised, and every prospect of the line passing
this session. They purpose continuing the rail to your quay,
and since their intentions were known the Great Western
Company purposed doing the same thing; so that Weymouth
must thank the Exeter, Weymouth, and Dorchester coast
line for any improvements which will follow.
SLADE, Esq. (late of the western circuit, now Director
of the Wilts, Somerset,,and Weymouth Railway), confirmed
the statement made by their talented engineer, that the
works in the neighbourhood of Weymouth would commence
immediately. He would ask the people of Weymouth if
they were prepared to support them. The Great Western
came to them in their extremity. Who are they that appear
to advocate the Weymouth, Dorchester, and Exeter line ?
Where do they come from—on the broad or narrow gauge?
They speak of their proposed connexion with the Southamp-
ton line; why Southampton is your greatest opponent. To
that port you have to attribute your present depressed state.
By whom were your mail packets to the Channel Islands re-
moved? Is it to the Great Western ComPany or the London
and South-Western Company that you must look to replace
you in your proper position ? Who are likely to restore to
you communication with the Channel Islands ? He asked, did
they wish to be the terminus of a line which connected
them with the north of England, or with a line which
brought them in connexion with the competing ports of
Southampton and Poole. Stick by us, and we will stick by
you. Our interests are identical. If you sink, we sink—you
swim, we swim—and, please God, we will swim all together.