The Sun.
London, England, 1842-02-21 00:00:00

SUMMARY OF NEWS

_ _ _
AND
Vtubitc eptuton.

" Who runs may read."

PO3IMIGN.

France, with a population estimated at thirty-four
millions, has only two hundred and twenty-four thou-
sand electors—or one elector for every hundred and fifty
persons. Who can deny that an extension of the suf-
frage is not demanded under the Charter of 1830 ?
There is not a syllable of important news in the French
Papers.

A
letter from Bangalore of the 24th December, quoted
by the Univers, says that war is now inevitable between
the English and the King of Ava. The latter is said,
among other acts of aggression, to have seized the Pro-
serpine steamer, which was conveying despatches to the
Governor-General of India.

Two notes, protesting against the closing of the con-
vents and taking an inventory of this description of
church property, have been presented by the Pope's
Nuncio to the Grand Council of the Swiss canton of Tes-
sino. The Lucerne Gazette speaks of an intended meet-
ing of the Swiss Bishops of Sion, Geneva, Basle, Coire,
and the Apostolic Vicar of St. Gall, with those of Como
and Milan, in order to hold a conference as to the rights
of the Swiss Catholics.

In the sitting of the Spanish Congress, on the 10th
inst., the Gonzales Cabin has at length obtained a
triumph, as the amendment of Senors Posada and Men-
dizabal, counter-amended by Senor Montanes, was car-
ried by a majority of 77 against 67, thus rejecting the
censure conveyed in the sixth paragraph of the Address,
relative to the Barcelona state of siege, as drawn up by
the Commission. The resignation of the present Ministry
is now, therefore, no longer expected. These tiresome
discussions are now over, after a month's duration.

PUBLIC OPINION.
The Herald accuses Lord Palmerston of inconsistency,
as regards his Corn-law opinions ; and remarks, with
reference to his Lordship's expression of a hope that the
people will bear their sufferings with patience—" for
forty years Lord Palmerston has contemplated these
sufferings with indifference, and now because the Im-
perial Legislature exhibits a determination to be some-
what more consistent than the Noble Lord has been, he
subjects it to his gibes and impertinence."
The Chronicle asserts that Sir Robert Peel, notwith-
standing his constant swagger about independence, is
but the " Minister of the landed interest, who, as they
put him in, can put him out, whenever they please. Sir
Robert Peel may, by his measures, please or displease,
the squirearchy ; and so long as he pleases them, he is
secure in his place ; but to independence he has no just
claim."

. The Post, in the course of some comments on the
Opposition's "pain and sorrow"—as our Contemporary
phrases it—" on account of Sir Robert Peel's position,"
says, "we think it not improbable that, after all, the
Whigs would not be unwilling to bear in their own
proper persons all those marks of displeasure which
they are so sorry that Sir R. Peel has to encounter.
Would they not like to have the indignation of the
country against them, manifested in a majority of 123 in
their favour ?"

The Times speaks in warm terms of praise of M.
Guizot's late speech in the French Chamber of Deputies,
observing—" M. Guizot's speech against M. Dneos'
motion for the extension of the electoral franchise was
one of the finest displays of that great statesman's elo-
quence, and the result shows that it was one of the most
successful orations ever addressed to a Legislative As-
sembly. It was the speech of a profound thinker, as
well as of an able Minister, and it deserves to be studied
for its solid political truth and wisdom, as well as ad-
mired for its adroit application to the critical position
of the Government."

The Advertiser remarks that the people, agitated for
years by party excitement, " yearn to repose on some
fixed system of Government, which neither of the rival
factions have as yet proposed for their consideration.
They must therefore take counsel for themselves. The
Charter is the first proposition of this counsel. We
mean not here to discuss the merits or defects of the pro-
position farther than to asseverate that any Charter is
better than starvation."

We take the following from the Hull Advertiser :
" The Ministerial project for the relief of the country
from the pernicious operation of the Corn-laws is at last
before Parliament and the people. A mockery—a
heartless mockery—of the sufferings of a patient and
enduring people it can only be fitly styled, if we consider
it in the light of a remedial measure ; while, looking at
it in juxta-po ition with the existing scale, apart from
any weighty consideration, we freely admit that Sir Ro-
bert's scale is an improvement to the extent of lopping
off some unseemly and useless exuberances."
The North Devon Journal expresses itself as follows
on Sir Robert Peel's Corn-law scheme :—" Sir Robert
Peel, as though conscious how unpalatable his proposed
measure would be, delayed to the very last to make it
known ; dwelling tediously upon all kinds of subjects
that could by the utmost straining be made to appear at
all relevant to the sliding scale. What would have been
the conduct of an ingenuous mind in Sir Robert Peel's
situation ! Very different, we trow, from that of the
wily Baronet. He would have addressed himself at
once to the matter at issue."

The Leicester Mercury contains the following obser-
vations :—" The greatest feature in the present aspect of
public affairs, is the rapid progress of the Suffrage ques-
tion. There ate indications a brighter and better state
of things—of a union between the middle and working
classes, at which the aristocracy will tremble, and the
prospect of which must fill the heart of every true patriot
with joy."
The Coventry Herald thus speaks of Sir Robert Peel's
Corn-law scheme :—" The speech and the plans of Peel,
are quite worthy of each other, and in perfect keeping
with the tactics by which he got into office, and has been
pursuing ever since ; for a more contemptible effort to
give an air of gravity and Weight to ihe pretensions of a
quack, was never got up."
The Brighton Guardian says:—" It is pretty plain,
from. Sir R. Peel's own speech and the observations in the
7'intes, that this new scale it not a final measure: that
it is, in fact, a stop-sap, and that if the-people press the
GoVernment hard, it will be found composed of squeeze-
able materials. We doubt if even the present Session
will close without it being understood that the Govern-
ment will further retrace their steps."

MONpY—TRADE—COMMERCE.
A Stockport paper states that notice has been given at
several of the neighbouring cotton-mills, for a reduction
of the wages of hand-loom weavers, 10 per cent.
The Port of Plymouth General Shipping Company
determined at their last meeting not-to insure the vessels
of the Company in future.