The Sun.
London, England, 1837-12-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27. 1837.

On. the 10:h of Octob;:r we aga)r stated some oc-
currences i❑ Lower Canada, such as the declaration
that L•.-)rd JoHN ussELL's resolutions were re-
volutionary, and in violation of their best rights..
We pointed out the dismissals of magistrates and mi-
litia officers by Lord GOSFORD, for attending pub-
lic meetings of the people, a►rd we asked her Ma-
jesty's Ministers what that expected from such a
system To us the evils were apparent, and we did
our best to impress Lord MELBOURNE with our fears,
but to no purpose. On the 13th of October we
pointed out the misru!e, by means of Orangemen, in
the Canadas, and we detailed numerous crying evils
from the mtem then going on. We compared the
state of Canada then with what Ireland had been
under the Orange domination, and we entreated Lord
Join; RUSSELL not to persevere in so reprehensible
a line of policy. What Lord MULGRAVE had done
in Ireland, we prayed Lord MELBOURNE to do in
Canada—to grant equal justice, and depend upon the
continuance of peace and contentment. On the 18th
of October, and on subsequent days, we brought the
complaints of the Canadians before the public—we
called the attention of Ministers to the inevitable
consequences of such proceedings as were then going
on ; but, it would appear, to little purpose. We now
wish to see the horrors of war—of civil war—put an
end to, and say emphatically—do justice to the Cana-
dians, and all will go well.

In our columns of to-day will be found, extracted
from the Supplement of the London Gazette of last
night, a dispatch from Sir JOHN COLBORNE, Com-
mander of the Forces in Canada, dated the 29L11 of
November, enclOsing the reports of Colonels WE-
THERALL aßd GORE relative to the attacks on the in-
surgents at St. Denis and St. Charles. These docu-
ments will be read with eager attention. In the attack
on St. Charles, which was as successful as could be
desired, Colonel WETHERALL only lost one serjeant
and two rank and file killed ; and eighteen rank and
file wounded. On the side of the insurgents the loss
was very great, Colonel WETHERALL having him-
self counted fifty-six dead bodies, exclusive of
those who perished in the houses set on fire by
the soldiers'. Colonel GORE, who failed in the
attempt to carry St. Denis, lost one sergeant and
five rank and file killed ; and ten, including Captain
Mertxll Am, wounded. The insurgents, however, al-
most immediately evacuated the town, on hearing that
Colonel WE4THERALL was preparing to march against
them. The reported defeat of the QUEEN'S troops
at St. Charles turns out to be a hoax. There is at
present not the slightest chance of the Canadians
succeeding in their mad attempt at independence.

As the present is said to be the age of improvement
in every department of the State, and as certain depart-
ments show that they are not yet quite awake to the
" march of mind," we feel it incumbent on us to touch
their recollection. All the world now talks of Canada—
nothing but Canada is thought of. It is the en-
grossing topic everywhere—and no wonder, for such
was the shock produced in the Cabinet by
the recent news, that Ministers deemed it ne-
cessary to cut short the Parliamentary recess by one-
half. Well, then, such being their opinion of its all-
engrossing importance to the country at large, will
people, taking an interest in the affairs of Canada,
believe what follows ?

Yesterday morning, as early as seven o'clock,
despatches reached London from Canada ; they
were laid before her MAJESTY by Li,rds MEL-
BOURNE, GLENELG, and IT'LL. Well, what then ?
When were their important contents communi-
cated to the public—all anxious as they must have
been for official or authentic information ? Per-

haps at two, or three, or seven o'clock ? Not so.
This morning !—full twenty-four hours after their -ar-
rival in town Where was the delay ? We know
not. Whose fault was it ? We know not : but a
fault there was somewhere.

At 20 minutes past 10 last night a Supplement to
the Gazelle of yesterday was brought to our (Alice,
containing the dispatches, but too late, of course, to
be of any use. Had it been sent at six, or any
hour before post, The Sun would have diffused the
contents of these despatches all over the country
one day earlier. They scarcely take up two columns
of our paper, and might have been copied six
times over between the period of their arrival
and time of being sent to the Gazelle office. As a
proof that ►ve do not exag,gerate facts, we say

that, from a quarter past five to a quarter to seven
o'clock in the evening, The Sun does often contain in
a Second Edition, Parliamentary news extending to
five or six columns, not one word of which waq
spaleen before five o'clock. And yet it is takcn
down in short hand, written out, sent a mile from

the Houses of Parliament to The Sun office—
composed, printed, and put into the Pont-ollice by
Half-past Seven, in above two thousand copies; and
yet two columns of dispatches take all day to copy
out ! If there be not room for improvement here, we
do not know where there is.

Mr. CYCoNNOt.I, in a second letter addressed to
he inhabitants of Dublin, complains that he receives
ittle or no assiiitance from the Irish or English Press,

in his opposition to the Irish Poor Law Bill ; and
then adds, " Even The Sun, which takes so kind and
zealous a part o n most subjects connected with Ire-
land, does nat feel itself warranted to consume its
space by printing my commentary on this Bill." We
gave the substance, of the first letter, and at
the, same time stated that want of room pre-
vented us from giving it at full length ; but that
was not the sole reason. We are anxious, for the
sake of the starving poor of Ireland, as well as
from a sense of justice to the people of this country,
that some measure of relief should be passed with the
least possible delay. Mr. O'CONN ELL, on the con-
trary, has either been lukewarm or hostile to any com-
pulsory provision, and he could hardly expect that
this Journal should spread and encourage disputes
between the landlord and tenant, which might
hare the cffect of destroying the Bill, and'
leaving two millions of paupers for another year
to the tender mercies of the landlords. The landlords
now do nothing for the poor—all the relief they get is
from the smaller tenants, and from their kind-hearted
brethren but a little elevated above them in the scale
of existence. Would it not, then, be a great step
get one-half, or even one-third, of the rates
;airedfromto
the landlord ? No man has better reason
than Mr. O'CostNELL to know how difficult—
how impossible it is, to get justice in one pay-
ment from a British Parliament ; and we, there-
fore, only follow his good example in saying
that for the time being we shall be satisfied with an
instalment. It is not our intention to enter into all
the objections urged by Mr. O'CoN NELL against the
Bill now in the House of Commons. Some of them
are founded on justice and expediencY• He wisely
opposes that clause which enacts that no clergyman
can be elected a guardian of the poor. Let Protes.
tart and
.Catholic clergymen be elected indiscriminately
—let them labour together if; thy same works of

charity—let them associate together in all rgP-
ings and bistittitions where there is no invidious dis-
tinction, and the .hofitiiity between them which has
been generated and supported by ipAYariog wil) be in
time modified or converted into esteem and flientiAip.
It route be better also if the Poor-rates, in accordance
with the principle of Ow 'ph? Pill; were to come out