The Sun.
London, England, 1842-02-23 00:00:00

bly arranged. With reference to the t 01l to be taken upon
passengers for short distances, there were certain conditions
which the other Company did not think proper to accede to;
and, therefore, the negotiations respecting it remained as at
the last meeting. 11e was happy to say that with this excep-
tion everything had teen arranged amicably.—(Hear, hear.)
The toll on passengers was therefore still 4d.•
Mr. BAXTER then moved the confirmation of the declaration
of forfeiture of 257 shares, which was seconded by Mr. MAR-
RIOTT, and confirmed.
The meeting then separated.

THE WEATHER.—NOON', FEBRUARY 23.
ROYAL GALLERY OF SCIENCE, ADELAIDE-STREET.
Thermometer... 41 1 Highest 47 1 Lowest ....... 37
Barometer 29.05.—Wind S.—Freezing Point 32 Deg.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW.
Morning 57 minutes after 0. I Evening ..... 24 minutes after 1.

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SUN OFFICE, Three o'clock.

Great stress is laid by the aristocracy and the country
gentlemen on the burdens pressing exclusively on the
land, and assuming that this is a matter beyond all
doubt, they insist that a tax be levied on the people to
compensate them for contributing more than any other
class to the revenue. If this is a fact, it certainly can
be ascertained, and Sir ROBERT PEEL'S agents might
have been better employed in collecting evidence on
the subject, than in wandering over the Continent
to find out inhabitants more poor and wretched than
the English. This, however, would not suit his purpose.
These " exclusive burdens" are to be shaded in mystery,
and therefore magnified far above their real amount, as
an excuse for benefiting a particular class. When the
Member for Manchester asked him to specify these
burdens, the only answer was, that opinions were divided
on the subject ; and when pressed for his own
opinion, he could, or would give none, and excited
the laughter of those around him by attempting
to turn the Hon. Member into ridicule. He will find,
however, that the question cannot be thus evaded, and
that before the Committee has settled the new sliding
scale these heavy burdens will be brought to light. Mr.
P. STEWART last night cleared up the matter a little,
and showed that the landlords, instead of being taxed
snore than others, have an annual exemption to the amount
of nearly a million and a half sterling. The special
burdens on land, he said, amount to 1,200,000/, while
the special burdens to which personal property is liable,
-amount to 2,500,0001. The monopolists-were silent for a
good reason. The burden on land, in fact, is a
mere bugbear. Poor-rates are paid by all, and on no
class at present do they press more heavily than on the
inhabitants of towns where the people are starving for
the good of the landlords. Tithes never belonged to
them. They have been, since the days of the Levites,
the property of the Church. For hundreds of years
land has been devised, purchased, occupied by powerful
freebooters, like Scorr of Buccleuch, or handed over to
favourites by spendthrift Sovereigns, on the express con-
dition that Mother Church was to have her full
share. We trust Mr. STEWART and Mr. COBDEN
Will not suffer this question to rest till they have
proved, beyond dispute, that of all classes the landed
Fentry are the most lightly taxed ; and that in every
instance, except one, when they were frightened to death
by BONAPARTE, they have taken the most tender care
of their own pockets. -

The observations 'made by Sir ROBERT PEEL in the
Mouse of Commons last night, in answer to Mr. lIIND-
LEY'S question relative to the recognition of the present
Government of Spain by the Great Northern Powers,
will cast another damper upon the intrigues of the French
Court. Sir ROBERT PEEL stated that all the influ-
ence which the British Cabinet could command had
been employed to induce the Great Continental
Powers to recognize the Government of which Es-
PARTERO is the head, and that England desired
nothing more ardently than to see Spain independent of
all foreign interference. The King of the FRENCH will
be at no loss to understand this allusion of the Tory
Premier. His MAJESTY and Madame MuNoz will
learn from this that there is no party in this coun-
try favourable to the claims of CARLOS or CHRISTINA
to the sovereignty of Spain. Upon this question
the Tories have, very wisely aftd prudently, come round
to the opinions of the Whigs ; nor is there any fear
that even the Morning Post will longer put itself forward
as the champion of CAuLos, though for so many years
his devoted slave. There is no longer any mystery
About the disposition of the English Cabinet towards Es-
PARTERO 'S Spanish Administration. Of Spain, as now go-
verned, Great Britain declares herself the faithful friend
and ally. Her influence at other Courts, her good offices
at home, are officially declared to be at the disposal of
ESPA.RTERO. Taking the deep interest which we do in
the triumph of constitutional liberty in Spain, we feel
grateful to the Premier for taking so decided a course
upon this question. That it will utterly confound the
machinations of the Paris conspirators, we have good
reason to regard as a moral certainty.

The agitation of the Repeal question by the LORD
MAYOR of Dublin has recently given birth to a number
of clever pamphlets on the social, commercial, and poli-
tical state of Ireland. Of these, one of the most sen-
sible and most practical is by a Pellow of the Dnblin
Law Institute, entitled " Ireland and Irish questions
considered ; " in which an extensive acquaintance is
shown with all the errors and mistakes of past Govern-
ments in the administration of that country. The writer
is opposed to the Repeal of the Union, which he proves,
instead of benefiting, would entail, immense misery and
dependence upon Ireland ; and he contends that one of
the first duties of the British Government ought to be
to make the Union more perfect than itis, by assimilating
as much as possible the Institutions of the two countries.
To effect this, he would abolish the office of
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, which imparts a
sort of colonial character to the Administra-
tion of the Irish Government. We do not think that
he could begin with a better step. The office of a Lieu-
tenant is exceedingly injurious to Ireland. Much of the
ignorance of Irish affairs, and indifference to Irish ques-
tions, which exists in England, is solely owing to the
popular impression that it is not so much the SOVEREIGN,
as her Lieutenant, that governs Ireland, and that the
sorncthing in its social condition, which requires it to be
thus treated as a colony, sufficiently accounts for the
discontent and misery of the inhabitants. Besides, in
this age of steam, Dublin is but twelve hours distant
from Buckingham Palace, so that the voice of our gra-
cious SOVEREIGN can be heard sooner in the Irish capi-
tal than in her good city of Edinburgh. Ireland
has heal too long go.. e.ned by deputy, and nothing
surprises us more than the little Support which the pro-
position of that steady and consistent friend of Ireland,
Mr. HumE, received when he moved in Parliament the
abolition of the Vice-regal office. A temperate, but
firm Government ; impartiality in the administration of
the laws ; and the adoption of some extensive system
for the construction of railways, the clearing of waste
lands, and the improvement of the general husbandry of
Ireland, is all that is wanted to make it one of the best
and happiest countries of Europe. But the remedies, to
prove effectual, must be applied without delay. The
clever and impartial writer of the pamphlet before us
admits that two-thirds of the population of Ireland are
now Repeaters. So long as Ireland remains-in her pre-
sent state, their numbers must go on increasing. Here
is more work for Sir ROBERT PEEL'S Cabinet.

The Madrid Papers are of the 14th The public
mindoseemed very much agitated by the news from
Portugal.
Three per Cents. on the 14th, were done at 21 for
cash, and 22i for 60 days"; Five per Cents., 30 for cash,
and 30f to 311 at 60 days.

The French Minister of Justice has yielded so far to
the repeated demands of the Opposition, as to bring for-
ward a Bill for the Amelioration of the Criminal Code.
No measure could be more wanted. The mode of ad-
ministering justice in France is disgraceful to a free
country. It is not uncommon for persons arrested for
offences against the State, or at the instance of
officers of the Crown, to remain from four to
eight. months in prison, the daily and nightly
associates of convicted felons, and then to be told
that tnere is no evidence of their guilt, and therefore
they may go about their business. Even if a Court ad-
judge them innocent, they have no remedy for a period
of incarceration, which may have utterly ruined them in
fame, in property, and in respect for personal character,
They enter their prisona innocent and honest men, and
they frequently leave it oateasts and vagabonds, without
the shadow of any legal redress for their cruel injuries.
Many offences, too, which are of a comparatively venial
character, are not bailable in. France ; and this is
another evil which the Ministerial Bill promises par-
tially to remedy.
The French army in Africa is engaged in carrying on
nightly razzitts, or marauding expeditions, against the
adherents of ABD-EL-KADER. Horses, mules, cows,
sheep, women. and children are the usual spoils of the
Gallic conquerors. -
The Presse treats the account of the plot, formed in
France for revolutionizing Spain, as a comedy got up by
England. Let us try if we cannot make a farce of
it. We
know that when put in rehearsal at the Tuileries it
Wts intended for one of the sternest tragedies acted upon
the /411)44/ theatre of the Peninsula since 1812. But the