The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-20 00:00:00

The _Sun.

LONDON :
TUESDAY MORNING. DECEMBER 20, 1842.

We are glad to perceive.o that the Testimonial
subscription to Sir
j i e
makingand Lady
PIRIE, in
token of their esteemed private worth and ac-
rapid knowledged public character, is
pro-
gress among all those class
• Ps of the com-
munity who appreciate in others that vir-
tue which is the practice of their own lives.
There cannot certainly be a stronger stimulus to
ambition thaq the sure but steady rise of private
worth to the highest attainments of public
honour. An 1 such honour, Sir JOHN P IRIP,,
.
from poor but worthy origin, has attained

el in the first city of the civilised world. By what
f means ? Let his conduct, by its proud and dig-
nified reward, answer! In this world all men
are rated by their apparent worth—not by their
prospective merit : the man of ten thousand
to-day, is infinitely greater than the man
who promises, however truly, ten times that
amount to-morrow. But it has been the
fate of Sir JOHN PIRIE—we speak of him
as of any other man, wholly irrespective of
politics—to work his way to eminence—that is,
to the good-will and according testimony of his
fellow-men—as an instance of singular fortune.
His acknowledged merits are not confined to one
class of moralists, or politicians—the wide and
diversified circle of society crowds in to welcome
him, by one simultaneous consent, as one who
bath done honour to the best, because the least
obtrusive sympathies of humanity—charity—that
well-springof the heart which overlooks the cause,
in the effect, of its benign benevolence. To such
generous sympathies do we assign the spon-
taneous contributions of men of all classes—
politics apart—to a testimonial to Sir JOHN and
his amiable Lady. Among the long list of sub-
scribers will be found the worthy names of
such men as Sir CHARLES FORBES, Sir JAMES
DUKE, T. A. HANKEY, Esq., J. MASTERMAN,
Esq., M.P., Mr. GROTE, Mr. COTTON, &c., all
of dissimilar politics; and therefore is their tes-
timony the more valuable. And, if such be the
volunteer contributors in London, what will be
the expression of public sympathy from the
shipping interest, to which Sir JOHN is so decided
a friend, all over the kingdom ? The answer, no
doubt, will be—" We will put all our timbers to-
gether! and honour the man who bath done
so much honour to us 1"
Worth makes the man—and want of it the fellow--
The rest is all but—polities—prunello !

We learn with satisfaction that "a consider-
able increase of demand is felt at Bolton, and
that the weavers are now more employed than
at any time during the summer;" "that more
inquiry has been made for goods at Halifax;"
that the markets in Leeds have been very ani-
mated;" " that buyers at Bradford last week
were numerous, and purchases as extensive as
might have been expected ;" that in Kiddermin-
ster "the carpet trade is improving," and it is
there expected that " after Christmas the trade
will be as good as ever;" that at Carlisle,
" the wages of the hand-loom weavers have risen
from 71 to 10 per cent.;" that at Dundee, the
" markets are active ;" and that at Bromsgrove
there is a prospect of the " nail business in-
creasing." All these are cheering indications,
and as the price of food is now comparatively
low, we may hope on good grounds that the
extremity of the national distress has been
passed, and that Nature is bounteously sending
that relief which our rulers have doggedly
denied.
'While we rejoice in this prospect, we fear,
when the danger and the extremity of the evil
are over, lest the lesson which the present
and recent national sufferings should teach may
be forgotten. Should the natural anxiety
on the part of both employers and
labourers to enjoy as speedily as possible
the return of prosperity make them forget
what they have suffered; should our rulers, no
longer alarmed by the pressure of a famished
multitude, think they may postpone the aboli-
tion of restrictive laws to some more favourable
period, and so avoid the appearance of being
forced into a just policy ; should they suppose
that they can carry the present political system,
encumbered with monopolies, safely through the
difficulties which beset it, then the present gleam
of prosperity will be fatal to the future peace
and happiness of the empire. From such a
narrow system of restrictions on trade, framed
from a very partial and most incomplete and
imperfect comprehension of the numerous and
vast phenomena affected by such restrictions,
there will ever ensue periods of hollow, gaudy
prosperity, and periods of severe depression and
suffering. A spurt, at present, of manufacturing
progress—not unaccompanied, however, by agri-
cultural depression—without a repeal of re-
strictive laws, would be followed most likely
by a severer check, a year or two hence, than
manufactures have lately experienced, and the
calamities of the last two or three years must
be suffered over again, perhaps as needlessly and
as unavailingly as they have already been suffered.
If the League, thr6ugh its organisation, should
now continually enforce on the public the im-
portant truths which the recent and present
condition of the country teach, and prevent the
lesson being thrown away ; if it shall compel the
Legislature by its remonstrances to act at once,
while the impression is fresh, it will perform a
most important service to the public. Respect
for the decision of last year—legislative decorum,
as it is called—ought not to be suffered to stand
in the way of exertions to procure at once and
for ever the removal of the restrictions which
caused the distress of the last four years. If
they be not now removed in consequence of
the sufferings, then may we dread that still
greater sufferings will hereafter fall on the
people, leading to insurrections, compared to which
that of last year will pass away as an unremem-
bered trifle.

Amongst the most strenuous supporters of the
present system may be numbered the landlords
of Ireland. At the same time we read almost
daily of violent attacks being made on property
and life in that country. No landowners, how-
ever amiable and however exalted, who live there,
are safe. Is there no connexon between conten-

than the most rigorous police, the security of
life and property in bath countries.
I Restrictions on trade are peculiarly injurious
in Ireland. They both increase the competitian
for land, and encourage landlords to break up
small holdings, and cultivate grain for the high-
priced markets of England. They have a direct
tendency to raise rent in Ireland, and restrict the
quantity of land in the market, though at the
expense of security and life. Now, the compe-
tition which the landowners of England fear the
most, is that of the Western States of North
America. For the plains there, however, to
supply England with any great quantity of
food, they must be cultivated. They need
hands. They are the very spots, then—forming
as they now form, by the continued passing
to and fro of steamers and sailing vessels, almost
a part of the old world—to draw off the too
crowded population of Ireland. If we had no re-
strictions on the trade between that country and
England, there can be no doubt that the Western
States oIA merica would be cultivated to a consider-
able extent to supply our market ; and no doubt
that our own capitalists and American capitalists
would go thither, and would carry labourers
from Ireland.

There is no country where labour is so much
in demand as in the United States, and where
there is yet so much work to be done. A few
weeks ago we published an elaborate account of
a magnificent aqueduct which has been con-
structed at New York. That, like other great
undertakings in the States, was mainly executed
by the hands of Irish labourers. Every town,
nearly, requires some similar erection. In fact
the work to be done in the United States is quite
endless; and the more, therefore, we contribute to
the prosperity of that country, the more we shall
cause a demand for that labour which, from
not being wanted in Ireland-..-SATAN always
finding mischief for idle hands—is there the
cause of insecurity and murder. The removal of
restrictions extending over manufactures would
increase the demand fbr labou rat home and the de-
mand forlabourin the United States; it would both
give security to life and property in Ireland, and
prosperity in England. We do hope, therefore,
that the landlords of Ireland, for their own sake,
will join our cause, and demand the removal of
those restrictions which prevent the gradual ex-
tinction of agrarian outrages in Ireland. We
are pretty sure, too, if we have been successful
in connecting those outrages with restrictions on
trade, we shall not want for some time in the
continuation of them—whatever may be the mo-
mentary prosperity of England—mementos of the
folly and guilt of our present system.

The hostility of LOUIS PHILIPPE to the Hu-
GENT of Spain is now assuming a serious aspect,
and unless that Monarch be deterred by the other
Powers of Europe, will, to a certainty, lead to a
war between the two countries. Every fresh
circumstance tends to confirm the suspicion that
the conspiracy at Barcelona was the work of the
French, and that it was got up with a view to
ulterior
Sand hostile proceedings. Spanish jour-
nals, and, what is of much more importance, Spa-
nish functionaries, have advisedly proclaimed the
fact, that the French Consul was implicated
in the plot, and, but for the part he
took in the affair on the.3d inst. by landing from
the French ships a band of desperadoes, no bom-
bardment would have taken place, and the city
would at once have returned to its allegiance.
This is a grave charge, and, therefore, demands
the most searching investigation, but, without
waiting for inquiry, the King of the FRENCH has
adopted the acts of the Consul as his own, and
has rewarded him for his services by promoting
* him to the rank of officer in the Legion of
Honour. Such a hasty step bears all the marks.
of premeditation, and leaves no doubt in
our minds, that the King of the FRENCH
will have recourse to the last extremities
to put down ESPARTERO'S Government, and
marry one of his sons to the Queen of SPAIN.
.Private letters from Paris affirm that active
measures are in progress for completing the
rupture, and that an official communication was
made on Thursday to the Spanish Charge
i d'Affaires at the Court of France, announcing
that if the charges against the French Consul
were not withdrawn his passports would be deli-
vered to him—in other words, war would be
declared. Will the rest of Europe suffer this?
Will England stand by and allow such a wanton
act or aggression upon a country not only at
peace, but closely allied with this country? We
have every reason for answering in, the negative.
Sir ROBERT PEEL, in the House of Commons,
stated distinctly that the British Government
would take no active part in establishing
any particular Government in Spain, but at
the same time would suffer no attack
upon the independence of that country. This is
a fearful crisis; but, thank GOD, it is not brought
on by the English nation, or by her rulers.
If the French nation be determined on war, and
the blind rage against England which has lately
pervaded all their journals leads to the inference,
the wish must be gratified. LOUIS PHILIPPE with
M. TntEus raised the war storm in 1840, and to a
certain extent calmed it by yielding to the
Allied Powers. He has raised it a second
time, but the feeling of humiliation still
rankles in the breast of the war party,
and a second concession might cost him his
throne, and perhaps his life. It is for this coun-
try, however, to be prepared for the worst, for
it is our firm conviction, that nothing short of a
miracle can preserve peace for twelve months,
between England and France.

A case, which we consider one of a very cruel
description, was decided on Saturday, against
a publican, by Mr. GREENWOOD, the Police
Magistrate. The accuser (a policeman), evidently
was instigated by personal motives; the Magis-
trate was aware of the fact, for he intimated that
the course proposed by the infbrmer " looked so
much, like making up a case;" and though really
no offence was committed, except by the cabman
who offended the dignity of two police con•
stables, the defendant was fined five pounds.
Two of these functionaries, it appears, on
hearing a noise, " such as talking loudly,"
knocked at the door of the defendant about half-
ss
eeo
past two in the morning which was instantly
opened, nod on entering they found several
cabmene
neakit. thendr
übnakr two
N oo
nf
ew
oflo mthteheypapr(ti3sritiyely
w were
n g
--no complaint was made by the
neighbours of any
noise, and, as they also swore,
the landlord refused to serve out more liquor at
that time of the morning. On leaving the house
these gentlemen also swore the cabmen hooted
thm as they This was very im-
proper,indiscreet, for the grievous
e i
andve wentiy
offence probably gave rise to this cruel and ini-
, quitcus proceeding. We call it cruel, because
two convictions fbr such a venial fault as this, if
fault it can be called, may deprive the publican
of his license, and ruin him and his family. It
is iniquitous, because, looking at the merits
of the case, the defendant's conduct was
prautil:leicranps praiseworthy than
and foutrltf
he
er si
ty.
punisheds
bal;,
the loss of their license, for conduct like this,
not one in London could escape. It is a common
practice for policemen to have two or three
counts in their charges against prisoners, one of
which is generally drunkenness, and when the
rest fail they fall back upon this. The Magistrate
knows the fact, and he should therefore have
been cautious in believing their statements, and
still more in imposing a penalty of such serious
consequences. The old law allows only a fine of
ss. for drunkenness, but this merciful new Act
imposes a fine of 31. on a publican for what he
could not possibly prevent. Our readers will re-
member that the Magistrate who gave this deci-
sion sent a boy of eleven years of age to prison
for selling prints in the street to gain a liveli-
hood for himself and his widowed mother.

Lions for plots of ground in Ireland, ending in
bloodshed and murder, and the restrictions on
trade ? We believe there is, and if we can make
the connexion apparent, we shall show how
much more extensive are the ramifications of
restrictive laws than is supposed, we shall
supply another argument for their repeal, and
we may hope to win the support of the land-
owners in Ireland for the cause of free trade.
It is the boast of the Whigs that agrarian out-
rages had much diminished, and had almost
ceased under their rule. But during the time
they were in office there was an increase of mills
and of employment in the manufacturing dis-
tricts—trade was extremely brisk, and a very
considerable number of Irish found employment
in Lancashire and the west of Scotland. The
effects of that great demand for Irish labour did
not cease till 1840. The comparative security of
life and property in Ireland was coeval, then,
with the manufacturing and trade prosperity
of England and Scotland. Latterly the ma-
nufacturing districts have sent back their
hands to the agricultural districts ; there is
no longer an extensive demand for fresh
Irish labourers in Lancashire and Scotland;
we no longer hear of their coming over in crowds
on the decks of the steam-boats; and coeval with
the slackness, or rather the cessation, of demand
for Irish labourers in the manufacturing districts,
agrarian outrages are becoming so numerous in
Ireland that it is again an insecure place of resi-
dence. Does not that show a connection between
agrarian outrages and those restrictive laws
which impede trade and manufactures ?
In Ireland land is almost the only means of
obtaining a subsistence. To that end, possession
of a little plot of ground is required. If men
can get a comfortable subsistence without pus-
sessing a plot of ground, they will not fight and
commit murder to obtain possession of it. The
Irish have, on all occasions, shown themselves
ready to emigrate to England or to the United
States, or to any other part of the world where
their services were in demand and wages were
good. Even if we had established no connec-
tion, therefore, between manufacturing prospe-
rity in England and peace in Ireland, is it
not clear that the best method to put an
end to agrarian outrages in Ireland is to
lessen the competition for plots of ground
as a means of subsistence, by enabling
a large portion of the people to get a comfort-
able subsistence by other means?: But it has ; The half-yearly examination of the masters in
been shown over and over againthat the ' training at the National Board of Education was
abolition of restrictions on trade would imme- held on Thursday last at Dublin, on which oc-
diately give employment to a great multitude of casion the Lord Lieutenant attended, accom-
hands ; it would relieve the poor-rates of , panied by the Countess DE GREY ; and the
England, and would lessen the competition for Platform was crowded with visitors of various
land in Ireland; it would increase, more than religious denominations; amongst whom were
the best devised code of criminal laws, and more several clergymen of the Established Church

and the Presbyterian body. The Archbishop
of Dublin, Doctor WHATELEY, was also present,
and addressed the crowded auditory with much
effect in a forcible and argumentative speech,
in the course of which, alluding to the opposition
that had been raised to the National Board of
education, and its system of tuition, he said, " it
was, no doubt, a precious privilege to have the
Bible, and the power of reading it; but was it
not melancholy to reflect that by some it was so
shamefully abused ? There are men who talk of
it, who have it perpetually on their lips, who
glory in it, and yet display a character quite op-
posite to the spirit of charity and forbearance
which it inculcates., He would exhort the in-
structors of youth before him to have the Bible,
not merely in their hands or mouths, but in their
hearts." This is a home-thrust at the bigotry of
those High-Churchmen—among whom we
fear we must number the majority of the
bench of Bishops—who, for mere party
purposes, have distinguished themselves by the
inveteracy of their opposition to the system of
education adopted by the National Board. No
calumny was too absurd—no abuse too gross
for these interested Intolerants to launch
against the Board in question. In Parliament,
and out of Parliament, they asserted that it was
opposed to the dissemination of the Scriptures
among its pupils, or, that if it did permit them
to be disseminated, it was in a garbled and muti-
lated form, so that more harm was done than good
by such a qualified permission. They stated
moreover, these deperate High-Church bigots,
that the new system of education would neveran-
swer, but that, after doing as much mischief as pos.
Bible, it,would be put down by the common sense
and right feeling of the Irish community. Alas,
for the prophecies of Intolerancel The National
Board of Irish Education has answered—and
more than answered—the expectations of those
who originated it Instead of sowing dissensions
among the people, it has materially assisted to
heal them; instead of tending to encourage a
laxity of religious principle, it has strengthened
and confirmed such principle to the utmost;
instead of sinking quietly and gradually into
insignificance, it has slowly but surely acquired
a vast moral influence in Ireland.

Viscount CLIVE has just issued an address to
the freeholders and other electors of the Northern
Division of Shropshire, the representation of
which is vacant in consequence of the elevation
of the late Member, Sir ROWLAND HILL, to the
peerage. In this address the Noble Viscount
says :—" Should I be honoured by being chosen
as your representative, I shall anxiously endeavour
to support the honour and dignity of the Crown,
and to maintain the privileges and efficiency of
the Church. I shall study*to secure the rights
and liberties of the people, and to protect the
institutions to which they owe their origin and pre-
servation, both by resistance to those who clamour
for their destruction, and by a readiness to adopt
such improvements as altered circumstances may
require." In these remarks, his Lordship dis-
plays true prescience and sagacity. He sees that
Toryism can no longer stand still or retrograde;
that the signs of the times indicate material
changes ; and, like a man of , good common
sense, he throws out a pretty broad hint
that he is willing to yield to what
can no longer be successfully resisted, and
legislate for the age in accordance with the
spirit of the age. Thus, if it should be
found imperatively necessary for the great land-
owners and agriculturists to give up their darling
Corn-laws, Lord CLIVE—Tory though lie be, and
surrounded though he be
by Tory connec-
tions•—will not hesitate to throw them
overboard. thereby evincing—to quote his
own significant words—" his readiness to adopt
such improvements as altered circumstances may
require." Symptoms of a similar conciliatory
and acquiescent spirit
part of the
Tories are daily developing themselves in
all quarters, and we really almost begin
to think that Providence has, for wise pur-
poses, at length vouchsafed to endow them with
something like foresight and Common sense.
At the Christmas meeting of the Isle of Wight
Agricultural Society, which was held on Thurs-
day last at Newport, a gentleman named
WALTON WHITE, who is first, a Tory, secondly,
a parson, and thirdify, a great land-
holder, declared boldly and unhesitatingly
that the farmers must not look for-
ward to protection, for that principle
was broken down; they must look to their own
exertions." Sound observations these, but who
could have supposed a year ago, that they would
ever issue from Tory lips ? Henceforth, we shall
incline to the charitable opinion that to be a Tory,
is not absolutely to write one's-se l f down an ass !

The intelligence from Madrid is to the 10th
inst. The REGENT still remained at Sarria,
according jo the latest accounts from Barcelona,
but was expected in the capital about the 15th.
The Heraldo states that orders had been issued
for the departure of the Infant DoN FRANCISCO
DE PAULA from Spain, and also that the Cortes
would be again assembled immediately on the
arrival of ESPARTERO. The following remark-
able accusation against the French Consul by the
Political Chief of Barcelona, dated the 2d inst.,
appears in the Madrid Gazette:—.

" After the favourable reaction, the result of which
was the dissolution of the revolutionary Junta, and
members,eenand after the rabble
disarmed, there followed
thecalled emtbhaer kPleaon
o f
hiatds
been
another reaction front the conduct of the French
Consul, who landed the revolutionary Junta, and all
the men who had promoted the rebellion. The revo-
lutionists assembled anew in the course of yesterday,
many of the National Guards quitted the town, leav-
ing it at the mercy of banditti. These commenced by
raising the standard of Christina, and ended by plun-
dering the streets called Ancha and Las Platerias.
Finding the city in this deplorable condition, given
up to Vandalism, fomented by the Moderados and the
French Consul, orders were given to open the bom-
bardment," &c.

The Three per Cents. were done on the 9th at
21i for cash, and the Five per Cents. at 26 1-16th
for cash, and 26t ff at 60 days. On the 10th, the
Three per Cents. sold for 22 at CO days, and the
Fine per Cents. at 26 for cash, and 261 at GO days.

The Paris Moniteur has the following an-
nouncement :—" By ordonnance, dated the 16th,
M. FERDINAND DR LESSEPA, French Consul at
Barcelona, has been promoted to the rank of
officer in the Royal Order of the Legion of
Honour." LOUIS PIIII.LIPS, therefore, makes
himself responsible for the acts of his agent, and
the French Consul as the chief author of therebellion,
rebellion, and the cause of the bombardment, the
as the Political Chief'of Barcelona has denounced
two Governments are directly at issue. we have
made some remarks on this important crisis in
another part of the Paper, and here subjoin ex-
tracts front the Paris Papers, in order toshow that
the wild rage against this country which has per-
vaded their columns since the bombardment of
Barcelona, is still on the increase. Liberals and
Conservatives and Legitimists are alike hostile.
The Government journal,
the Debate, says:—
The English Press has not discovered any other
means of justifying the pitiless neutrality of her Bri-
tannic Majesty s representative than in calumniating
the conduct of the representative of France. A print,
which has mach) itself the ready organ of the party
rancour of the ex-Secretary for _Foreign Affairs, and
which, besides, appears to be inspired on the present
occasion from sources existing nearer to ourselves
(the Chronicle), contains a most violent accusation
The English jour-
nal states grave facts, but we do not think ourselves
obliged to place faith in its assertions ; and in consi-
dering from what source it has drawn its pretended
information, we are exceedingly disposed to believe
the contrary of what it affirms. A light will be
thrown over all these matters ; the calumnious recri-
minations which the Spanish authorities already allow
themselves cannot remain without reply. Explana-
ti„,„ must be given, and it must be fiiirly_known on
which side have been intrigue, ingratitude, and on
Which a too enduring patience—the patience of a
neighbouring Government, having peculiar claims upon
Spain.

The Commerce throws all the blame on Eng-
lapd. "The more the facts are elucidated,"says
that liberal journal,
" the more it becomes evi-
dent that it was England which bombarded Bar-
celona by the hands of EspARTEno. This is a
fresh crime to be added to the list of those which
pollute the history of that sanguinary and sordid
policy which exists solely by the dissensions and