The Sun.
London, England, 1839-04-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, APRIL is. 1836

•
practice of the Government, where the law hag been iier-
vetted into an instrument of injustice, and where concession
was never made to the oppressed until it was extorted from
the fears of the oppressor, thus losing its grace and fail-
ing of its effect, Turbulent and lawless habits among
the people are the natural consequences of such a system
of government,and
--- must be expected to continue longafter
the system which gave them birth is extinct. Let it
be borne in mind that improvement has commenced, that
a movement in the right direction has taken place, and
that a counter movement will leave Ireland a prey to
greater evils, if possible, than those from which she is
beginning to emerge. This a point worthy of the
consideration of those who see no harm in the sub-
stitution of a Tory for a Liberal Administration, the
resurrection of the blessed " Ascendancy," and the res-
toration of the former order of things.
,f;

_ roofs, such as no honest mind can resist, aro not
wanting of the important and gratifying fact, that Ire-
land has entered upon a course of amelioration. One
great criterion of the state of a country is the value of
landed property. Now if we apply this rule to Ireland,
by comparing the price of land at present with its price
some years ago, we shall see how things have altered
for the, better. It is but a few weeks since we had
occasion to advert to the statement made by an auc-
tioneer much employed in the sale of landed property
in the sister country, who not only bore testimony to
the general rise in the value of land, but gave, as a
particular instance, the result of a sale, in which a
price amounting to upwards of thirty years' purchase
had been obtained. Another estate has also lately
fetched the vast sum of 75,000/. more than was offered
for it three or four years ago. Are these facts, we ask,
reconcileable with the audacious assertion of the
" ascendancy" crew, that life and property are as inse-
cure now as they were under their grinding and hateful
tyranny ?
That they have done all in their power to render
them so, we readily admit. That they have laboured
with indefatigable zeal to goad the people into acts of des.
peration, no one, who has any regard for truth, can deny.
Neither can it be denied that their humane and pa-
triotic exertions in this way have been attended with a
certain measure of success, for to them may be directly
traced much of that agrarian outrage which is.
almost
the only species of heinous crime now committed in
Ireland. Formerly the Tory landlord's insatiable cu-
pidity was the main, if not the only source of those
violent acts of which the wretched peasants were
guilty when turned out of their dwellings, to make
way for others who agreed to pay a little more
rent. To this motive of action, powerful enough of
itself God knows, in the breast of an Irish landowner,
another is now added. Party spirit, in its most ranco-

rous form, impels the tyrant of the soil to instigate his
victims to the commission of crime. What does an
Orangeman care for the prevalence of murder or arson,
provided he can make it a handle for serving his own
political purposes. His paramour. t duty is to prevent
by all means the existence of a state of things under a
Liberal Administration, which would contrast with

that which existed under the Orange regime._.,
EWr;
new crime is to him a source, not of painful reflection,
but of heartfelt, though s2cret gratification ; and if,
while he is himself the real author of it, he can contrive
to throw the blame on his political opponents, he is
thought to play the game of his party to perfection.
It was only the other day that Lord LORTON pulled
down the huts on one of his estates, and ejected nearly
five hundred of the inmates, for no other reason than
that they were Catholics, replacing them by Protestants
from other quarters. Is it wonderful that these desti-
tute and miserable beings shculd betake themselves
to criminal courses—that they should be hurried on in a
moment of reckless exasperation to wreak their ven-
geance on the persons by whom they have been sup-
planted ? Lord LoaToN may say that he has a right to
"do as he likes with his own," but he must not expect
that that sophism will screen him and others who act like
him from the charge of wilfully contributing to the
spread of crime in Ireland.
In spite, however, of all the efforts of the Orange-
men to clog the wheels of a reforming Government,
and in spite of all the demoralization which the system
pursued by the party when in power, has been the
means of producing, it has not been in their power to
counteract the effects of the impartial administration of

justice, and the paternal character of the Government,
The people have now, what they never had before, con-
fidence in the laws. They see and feel that there is no
longer one rule for the Protestant and another for the Ca-

tholic. The consequenco, of this feeling is, that although
many breaches of the law take place—us how should
they not ?—there is not that reluctance to bring the
offenders under its power, which used to prevail when
it was differently administered. The Rodenites them-
selves are compelled to admit the unpalatable fact
that the proportion of convictions to committals is
greater than ever it was before, and has been gradually
on the increase for the last few years.

We gave the debate on Tuesday night in the House
of Commons at full length, according to our usual prac-

ate prvvt:d b.,. S 9: If to worship error, to eat dirt,
to grovel in a superititiotis fetetente for an age more
ignorant than the present, constitute a set of high-
minded, pure, noble, virtuous race of politicians, those
characteristics must be conceded to the Conservatives ;
butiin cur judgment, they are more suitable to belong to
the Whigs,ltadicals, Political Dissenters, and Infidels.

We quite agree with a Lady who does us the honour to
address us on the subject of Court purity, that the moral
influence of her MansTv is of very great importance ;
but from anything we have ever heard of the aristocracy,
it would be somewhat difficult to find one of them,
whose moral character, in the sense the words are used
by our Correspondent, has not been impeached. Of
some individuals such a thing may be more known than
of others, but if her MAJESTY were to have no Minister
till she could find one morally irreproachable, we are
afraid that she would have to administer the whole of
the public affairs herself. The prosent Ministry .have
certainly done themselves honour by selecting for her
MAJESTY'S Court ladies of high rank and unblemished
reputation. We know none whose character
stands higher than those of the several Ladies
who fill the highest offices of the Court. More
could not be done by any Ministry, and the
scandal that has arisen has no connexion whatever with
the character of any member of it.
It is publicly notorious that the whole scene was the
result of the tattle of some ladies ; and the statement is,
that no gentleman except the medical man, had any con-
cern with it. True, the Tories have made this paltry piece
of scandal, for it is nothing more, a means of attacking
the Ministers, and true it is that the HASTINGS family
have, in some way or other, been made auxiliary to the
attack ; but from any thing which has publicly transpired,
the Minister has behaved with no impropriety.
Whether the medical man in question have or
have not been dismissed from Court, it is clear that
Lord MELBounNE could return no other answer to the
second letter of the Marchioness of HASTINGS than a
mere acknowledgement of the receipt. Such topics
are very unpleasant, very unfit for public discussion ;
and the interest of all parties concerned, requires that
as little as possible should be published on the matter.

It appears from a communication inserted in another
part of The Sun, that the late scandalous prosecution of
the Dissenters of Truro, whose goods were seized for
Church-rates, and the still more scandalous sentence
pronounced upon them by the Judge who tried the
cause, have kindled a flame in that borough which is not
likely to be extinguished in a hurry. The opposite
parties are more exasperated than ever against
each other, nor can any reasonable hope be
entertained that peace will he restored to the
town until the cause of irritation be removed by the
abatement of the Church-rate nuisance. All attempt s
to accommodate matters have proved fruitless, and we
are not sorry for it, for a compromise in questions in
which conscience is concerned is what all right-thinking
persons must reprobate. It is derogatory to the reli-
gious character of the party who makes such a sacrifice
of principle, and cannot form the basis of lasting tran-
quillity. The proposal to pay the Church•rate of a
parish out of the borough funds is exactly similar to that
by which the Church-rates were to be charged on the
Consolidated Fund. The form of payment is thus
changed from direct to indirect, but the money comes out
of the same pockets. Our advice to the abolitionists of
Truro, and all other places, is to fight out the battle
without flinching. The evil of Church-rates must be
exposed in all ways, and on all occasions, until its abet-
tors themselves call out for a remedy.
We are glad to perceive that a subscription has been
commenced todefray the expenses incurrcdby these vic-
tims of ecclesiastical persecution is the defence of
the disgraceful action brought against them, and
to pay the fine which that mirror of Justices,
the Baptist-Presbyterian-Churchman, Baron GURNEY,
in his mercy imposed upon them. We think the
Learned Baron ought to be invited to the public dinner
which is to be given to the sufferers for conscience sake
when their term of imprisonment expires, that he may
be a witness of the happy effects produced on the public
mind by his impartial conduct on that bench, of which
he is so distinguished an ornament.

Letters and papers from Madrid of the 9th inst. have
reached us. The Supreme Council of 'War has decided
that it is important •to try General CORDOVA, whose
offence renders him only amenable to the ordinary tri-
bunals of the country. One of ESPARTERO'S paymas-
ter's is missing, having taken with him in his flight
70,000 dollars belonging to the Army of the North.
Don CARLOS remains at Tolosa.

The French Court party is in ecstasies. M. PASSY

one of the Leaders of the Opposition, but who is under-
stood to have gone over to the KING, was at half-past
four o'clock on Tuesday elected President of the French
Chamber of Deputies. M. PASSY attended a meetinc,
of the Left Centre on Monday night, at the house of
M. GARNERIN, where those who had suspected him of
apostasy had previously resolved not only to sound his
opinions, but to try the extent of the loss which the Co-

ali:ion would sustain by his defection. Accordingly it
was proposed that M. BAlllicalMild', be President
of the Chamber, whim it forid that
M. PASSY, who objected tothis, coup 3Only cointn9.nd
ten votes out of eighty-four. On 'ruesdiy morning,
however, M. PASSY was waited on by a deputation of
the supporters of the late Cabinet, with an offer of their
suffrages, which he at once accepted—thus openly
throwing himself into the arms of the Court. The fol-
lowing is the result of the Presidential election :
__

- • -
- Number of Votes
Required Majority 216
For M. Pussy 223
For M. Barrot
For M. Dupin . 9
For M. Dufaure 3
For M. Cunin Gridaine
Legal Majority of Votes for M. Passy 7
Whereupon M. PASSY was declared duly elected Pre-
sident of the Chamber, and conducted to the chair by
his friends with the usual formalities.

While we admit that the result of this election is cal-
culated to raise the hopes of the Court., we apprehend
that it will not fill the honest leaders of the Opposition
with despondency. The victory in this instance was the
result of a combination of trickery and apostacy. The
recreancy of PASSY was hardly known, and it may be
supposed that many who voted for him on personal
grounds, had doubts of the reality of his apostacy,
especially as it was only the night before that he was
present, as usual, at a meeting of his friends of the
Left Centre. Had PASSY been a staunch Ministerialist,
and one of the minority of 221, his election would be
indeed tantamount to a restoration of the MOLE Cabi-
net ; but, under present circumstances, the KING can
only boast of having succeeded in averting what his
MAJESTY regarded as the direst of Monarchical cala-
mitiesthe election of the Republican M. ODILLON
BARROT.

What the KING looks forward to as the consequence
of this vote, is the power of forming a Cabinet of which
Souvr and PASSY will be the leaders, and from which,
as a matter of course, TIIIERS is to be excluded.
Could be prevail upon the Duke DE BROGLIE to accept
the Foreign Department, &MILT the Presidency of the
Council and War, PASSY the Interior, and VILLEMAIN
or GUJZOT Public Instruction, he feels persuaded that
by a proper application of Court patronage, and a pru-
dent distribution of the Secret Service Fund, the Coali-
tion might be so broken up, or weakened by desertions,
as to allow him to continue the old system. A very few
days now will clear up all doubts upon this highly im-
portant question. Nothing that has yet taken place
weakens our confidence in the ultimate success of M.
TRIERS and his friends.

The following account is published in the French papers
of the meeting of the Haytian bondholders :
" The general meeting of the Haytian bondholders
at the Bourse, on Sunday, was attended by upwards of
three hundred persons. The Committee having by their
report shown that it was impossible to conic to any
definite terms of compromise with the Haytian Commis-
sioners now in Paris, the meeting resolved that a
letter should be addressed to the President of Hayti,
in the name of the majority of the shareholders, pro-
posing to treat definitively on the following bases : —l. To
abandon the ten years' arrears due from Ist July, 1828, to
Ist July, 1838. 2. To reduce the annual interest in fu-

ture from the contracted rate of 6 per cent. to 3 per cent.
3. That from Ist July next 1,000 bonds, to be drawn for in
the manner stipulated by the contract, should be paid off
at par. It was at the same time declared that the bondhold-
ers did not intend, by making the above sacrifices, to re-
nounce their claim to the protection of the French Govern-
ment, and that the enormous sacrifice which they im-
posed on themselves, in consideration of the financial
situation of Hayti, was sufficient to proof of their con-
descendence and of their disinterestedness, to show that
these concessions were ane plus ultra. A notice was
posted up at the Bourse, calling on all the shareholders
who were not present at the meeting to attend at the
office of the Secretary, No. 22, Rue St. Anne, and affix
their signatures to a memorial to the President of the
Havtian Republic to the effect of the above resolutions."
There is nothing particular in the private papers of the
Bth, from Madrid.
The Barcelona journals are to the sth. The Baron de
Meer had succeeded in getting a convoy of ammunition and
provisions into Sulsona.
The Memorial Bordelais of the 13th says :--" Maroto is
still inactive, and desirous, it is said, as well as his former
comrade Espartero, to end the war by a diplomatic arrange-
ment, but it seems that the Northern Powers absolutely
refuse to take any part in the dynastic conventions proposed
for Spain."
The Memorial Bordelais of the 15th, says :—" It is said
that Cabrera has just received the insignia of a military
order from Russia, as an unequivocal testimony of
the admiration of the Emperor, and perhaps, too, to
show that the Russian Court openly sympathises with the
loyal adversary of the political system of Maroto.—Com-
tnerce.