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London, England, 1824-11-25 00:00:00

killed two of our soldiers, and wounded one. We hot also five
horses. Five of the enemy were killed, notwithstanding their being
covered. General Valdez is in the vicinity of Chuquisaca. Potosi
is abandoned by the enemy, and Medina Cell has peobably entered
it to-day. We retired in consequence of the lameness of the ca-
valry. (Signed) PEDRO A ItRAVA.
En much audacity andbravery es the details contained in the pre-
ceding document display, as well es the number of Partin which
Olincta has sent out in the interior of Peru, under the command of
officers distinguished by qualities similar to those displayed by
Arrays and Marquiegui, induce us to conclude, without fear of
mistake, that notwithstanding the reverses which Genenl Olaneta
has already, or may hereafter surer, the civil war between the
Spaniards will not by any means be soon extinguished. It is
true that the greater part of the army of General Olaneta,
t'sat is to say, that pan which Is composed of all those whose
private interests are not compromised, will easily come over
to the more successful party, or will disperse, in order to avoid
being implicated in a contest which is purely personal. But
it must be observed, that there is in that army a considerable
number of individuals, whose fate depends upon the continuance
of Ghosts In the command of Upper Peru, and consequently on
the mercantile and military system which he had established in
those provinces. This party, although It certainly is not the
largest in number, is undoubtedly the most powerful, as the agent
also is who guides its actions. We have seen some private letters,
in which it is atSrmed that the commander, Agu,lera, of the party
of Olimeta, has completely destroyed Gilead la Hera in the neigh.
botalmed of La Psi. If this event be certain, we believe that
its results must be of great importance, and must prove highly
prejudicial to the interests of General Valdez. The light
troops, or rather parties of mountaineers, which are to be
formed in considerable numbers, will, without any danger of
bein defeated, serve not only to oppose continually those who had
called themselves Constitutionalists, but also to encourage the spirit
of some of the Patriots in that quarter, and to revive the old Reps&
kquetes, which have so long incommoded the enemies of our lade-
pmdence. General Glenna was in the port of San Juan on the
27th of August last, with a force of about 3,100 men, not SOS, es
we erroneously stated in our last number.

That Mr. FsuNTLZIOY'S case should have been deemed
one from which the mercy of the Crown should be with-
held, is a result upon which we shall abstain from any
lengthened comment. The Council, we are bound to pre-
sume, have given their advice in the discharge of what
they conscientiously consider an imperative though painful
duty :if so, we have only to lament it. Keen will be the
regret that this announcement will carry with it through a
very wide circle of the kingdom. It may be that there are
considerations of great weight, which outweigh those which
procured so many thousand signatures to the petition which
besought the commutation of his punishment ;—of this we
canuot judge :—not knowing what these considerations are,
we cannot of court either feel their force or estimate their
effect. Ti'e earnest solicitude on behalf of Mr. Fax NTLI-
soy, which has been so extensively manifested, is honour-
able to the character of the country ; and, as far as human
consolation call go, he can, himself, have none greater than
this tribute of sympathy must convey to him. The public
have not lightly made up their minds upon his casc,—they
have canvassed it closely,—they have looked at it nar-
rowly, and in all its btarings,—atid the result has been
that their sense of justice is on the same side with their hu-
manity. The relentless rigour of the Bank may possibly
be an effective policy ; whether it be, upon the whole, a
wise one, is toothier and a very different qu• stion. There
may be an over-dor e zeal even in the pursuit of very
desirable ends: of this we arc certain, that the hulk of the
people will not easily be persuaded that either the hiterlst
of the Bank or of the public could be at all lessened by
givltig an occasional mitigation to that severity which takes
the life of the offender, under circumstances which, as in
the case of Mr. Fail:NT/AI:0Y, most urgently call fur, am'
would trios: amply justify it.

The Returns ordered to be printed by the !louse of
Commons, stating the number of persons committed under
the Vagrant Laws in England and Wales during the last
four years, and also the stuns paid for apprehending, main-
taining, and passing vagrants during the same period, have
been delivered. We regret that, for the most part, the
gross numbers have been stated without distinguishiog the
proportion committed each year. Where the numbers
have been separately given, we are glad to find in these
Returns fresh evidence of the growing improvement in the
moral and social condition of our country. There is in
every instance, excepting only where particular circum-
stances of a local and peenliar nature have interfered, a
great and progressive decrease in the numbers of those idle
and diserele ply persons, who, by their unlawful and immoral
course of life, tender themselves liable to the vagrant laws.
Thus, the total number to the Devon House of Correction
in 1820, was 1,157 ; in 1821, 677 ; in 1822, 489 ; and in
1823, 531. In the city of Exeter, the diminution is even
greater. The summary of persons committed is, in 1820,
157 ; in 1621, 86 ; and in 1822 and 1829, only 44. The
progression is sirriler in the other counties and places where
the proportion of commitments each year is specified. The
next instance we meet with in the Returns, from which we
can learn the rate of decrease, is Hampshire. The numbers
committed for vagrancy at the Gosport House of Correction,
were, in 1820, 157 ; in 1821, 119 ; in 1822, 41 ; and
in 1823, 99. The account of commitments at Hertford
is given, it stands thus t—ln 1820, 263; 139 ;
1822, 40; 1523, 26. These may fairly be taken as sam-
ples of the whole. We are particularly glad to notice,
that the decrease of vagrancy is especially remarkaLle in
the agricultural districts—the best proof of the greatly im-
proved state of that important interest. We are not dis-
posed to become the apologists of crime under any circum-
stances; but it must be evident to the most superficial
observer, that the pressure of distress btu a strong ten-
dency to induce the lower classes to resent to irre-
gular means of subsistence. Indeed it sometimes oc-
curs, in seasons of great difficulty, that some are al-
most unavoidably driven to have recourse to acts of
tnendicity for their temporary austentation. The happy
decrease that we now witness in the numbers of this
class of petty offenders is, therefore, a sub jezt of just
congratulation with all well-wishers to their country.
It chews that the resources of honest and independent in-
dustry hare been considerably augmented, and are daily
augmenting; for certainly no one will pretend that the
laws aye lets vigil:tatty or effectually enforced. On the
contrary, he must be more deaf than the dead who has not
heard the outcries latterly raised, in default °fall other !nat-
ter for carping, by the Whig Journalists, against the op-
pressive severity with which the unpaid Magistracy exercise
their functions. What, then, cn their own 'hewing, must
be the prosperity of the country, when, in spite of all that
we arc told as to the unjustifiable excesses of the provin-
cial Justices of the Peace, we find the number of their
supposed victims daily ? And 1.4 us for a mo-
ment, in referent to the eminent statesmen to whom we
have alluded, consider under what circumstances this happy
change has been effected. We were assured by these
prophetic sages, at the time wiser. these Returns conuncru.,'Ll
the beginning of 1820, that the distresses of the people
must of necessity go on increasing, pauperism spreading,
crimes multiplying, until rufa—utter, irretrievable, waver-