The Sun.
London, England, 1837-12-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1837.

and having neither provincial knowledge, provin-
cial sympathies, nor provincial attachments---pension-
era of the Crown--and even emigrants from the
United States—while the claims of the most dis-
tinguished subjects of French origin to such a
mark of Royal favour and confidence were con-
temptuously set aside. But even in this fatal
policy the Government was more influenced by the
necessities of its position than by any predilection
in favour of British sailers; as those Canadians whom
it appointed Legislative Councillors were sure to be
marked out by the House of Assembly for objects of
especial ebloquy, if they coincided with the views of
the Chief Governor. As an instance we may mention
that in a series of resolutions passed by the House of
Assembly on the 21st of February, 1834, ANTOINE
GASPARD COUILLARD is named in the 34th reso-

lution, as the only Legislative Councillor " of French
origin who stooped to concur in an address from that
body to the Throne, dated the Ist of April 1833,"
and the resolution then goes on to denounce Co um-
LARD as a man who had rendered himself dependent
upon the Executive " by soliciting a paltry and subor-
dinate place of profit." In the face of such invidious
opposition as this, it could not be expected that
the Crown would expose, by a show of confidence,
its faithful Canadian subjects to the hatred and
scorn of their fellow-countrymen. Now of this
first grievance the Canadians in their address to
the Crown protest that they will accept no remedy
but such as they have pointed out ; and this
England cannot concede without giving up the pro-
vince altogether. One or other must yield, now that
the sword has been drawn to decide the question.
2. That the Executive Council is responsible only
to the Crown, whereas it should be made responsible
to the House of Assembly.
No such concession as is here demanded can be
made, without previously declaring the Canadas an
integral portion of the United Kingdom. The Im-
perial Legislature can alone claim the right of im-
peaching the Ministers of the Crown. The exercise
of the power thus sought is incompatible with colonial
dependence, and is moreover obtained to all just in-
tents and purposes by petition—the only form in which
we feel disposed to see it entrusted to the control of
the House of Assembly.
3. That the Crown is possessed of the means of raising
a large revenue in Lower Canada, independently o
the House of Assembly, whereas the House of As-f
sembly claims the sole and unrestricted management of
all the revenue raised in that province, from whatever
source derived, as the only means of effectually con-
troling the acts of the Executive.
The Crown Lands in Lower Canada are held in
trust for the people of this country, by whose blood
and treasure they were purchased; and until the
Canadians can lay a stronger a claim to them, than
what they derive from their being employed in enabling
them to live without paying taxes, we do not
believe that the Imperial Parliament will advise
the Crown to part with them. But to quiet
the minds of the Canadians, as well as to convince
them that we had their best interests at heart, we
would gladly support a measure for devoting the
whole of the revenues raised by the Crown from
sources not under the coutroul of the Colonial Legis-
lature, to the agricultural, commercial, and moral
improvement of the Province—under the manage-
ment of a Board appointed by the Crown, and presided
over by the Chief Governor for the time being. More
than this the Canadians cannot reasonably ask. When
they complain of the influence which the Crown de-
rives from the possession of the wild lands, they forget
to add that we have no security against the worse abuse
of such a trust by the House of Assembly.

4. The repeal of the Tenures' Act.—(6 Geo. 4,
chap. 59.)
This Act was passed to remedy the abuses of the
old French Law of Tenure, which it decreed
should be replaced on the demise of the holders
of lands in the Lower Province by the right of
free socage--the tenure by which rented property
is generally held in this country. The hostility of the
Canadians to this Act is, that it affords enterprising
British settlers facilities of purchasing large tracts of
cultivated ground by the simple process of application
to the immediate occupier. Under the French law,
purchases to such an extent could not take place
without extreme difficulty. We are, however, pre-
pared to admit that the Act in question has operated

have a tendency directly the reverse. This is just
what we ourselves have said. The Noble Lord's de-
claration will have no other effect than to put 1
the people on their mettle ; to rouse all their
dormant energies; and teach them betimes to trust
only to themselves. Already we see that it is working
in a proper spirit, and day by day that spirit will in-
crease in energy and determination. So far then from
blaming Lord J. RUSSELL, all staunch Reformers
ought rather to thank him, for the opportunity he has
afforded them of telling Ministers a few stern, whole-
some truths. One thing, however, the people should
bear constantly in mind—namely, that agitation on
the question of the Ballot, in order to be effective,
must be prompt. There is not a day—not even an
hour—to lose ; a fact which we feel that we cannot
too often, or too earnestly, insist on. The fire
should be kept up day by day, so as to make the
requisite impression on the House of Commons
when Mr. GROTE'S motion is brought forward.
What is Bristol about ? Why is Liverpool silent ?
Is there no Newhall-hill near Birmingham ? The
people should hold gatherings in all quarters ; for what
but such a simultaneous display of energy enabled
them to wrest the Reform Bill from a reluctant Oli-
garchy ? And is the Ballot, in it's way, a less im-
portant measure ? On the contrary, we maintain that
it is far more so, for it will at least tend greatly to secure
freedom of election, of which at present we know nothing
but the name. With the Ballot, we may do much—
very much—to improve our position ; without it we
can do nothing ; but must be content to see our best
interests still bandied about, like a shuttlecock, be-
tween Whig and Tory ; and at last, between them
both, tumbling dead to the ground. We can readily
believe that the majority of both these old-fashioned
parties will combine to oppose the Ballot ; but that
is the very reason why we should the more firmly insist
on it. We have nothing to do either with Whig or
Tory interests ; our sole duty is to look well to our
own. The time is come when we need to have all our
wits about us ; for mark our position ! it is now just five
years since the Reform Bill was passed—that Bill
which we only valued as paving the way to prompt
and comprehensive improvements ;—yet, here we are,
still compelled to struggle for a measure, which was
originally intended to have been incorporated with
the Reform Bill, as being necessarily associated with
it in principle ; but which Lord J. RUSSELL—true to
the retrogade system of policy—now considers to be,
not the fit and natural adjunct of Reform, but an in-
novation of a hazardous, if not a reprehensible cha-
racter ! Such being the case, it becomes us, we repeat,
to agitate the question of the Ballot, at every convenient
opportunity. Never otherwise shall we obtain it—or
indeed, deserve to obtain it.

grievously, inasmuch as it has led to the appointment
of a host of escheators, and other officers of a
like nature, having a direct interest in promoting liti-

gation. We will not undertake to say that the Act
ought to be unconditionally repealed ; but sure we are
that the abuses in its operation are calculated to excite
the indignation of the Colonists.
5. The simple and unconditional repeal of the
Land Company's Act.
The repeal of this Act would inflict " a heavy blow
and a great discouragement," upon British emigration to
the Canadas ; and would, besides, entail ruin upon
thousands in this country who are deeply interested in
preserving inviolate the faith of a Parliamentary ar-
rangement. The real complaint against the Company
is, not so much that it abuses the power with which
the Imperial Legislature has entrusted it, as that it
exercises that power independently of the will of the
House of Assembly. It is not so much the rights of the
Canadians that are invaded, as that their pride is
wounded—their sense of independence lessened. Of
course the loss of a large source of revenue, though
thew were too indolent ever to avail themselves of it,
forms an item in the calculation of M. PAPINEAU
and his friends. And here again we would gladly see
any concession made to the Canadians, not incompa-
tible with a regard to British interests, and the rights
of British settlers. Were the House of Assembly to
guarantee the protection of British interests already in
force under this Act, we do not think that the House
of Commons would object to its repeal. . But no such
concession can with justice be made unconditionally.
6. That the Colony swarms with placemen and pen-
sioners ; whereas all sinecures should be abolished, and
the expense of the Executive limited to the wants of
the people.

In another part of our paper will be seen a small,
dark, and not a very pleasing picture of certain cathedral•
functionaries taking a lion's share. Our Correspon-
dent—who, we presume, is himself one of the under-
paid and overworked Lay-clerks whose grievances he
makes known in his communication to us—complains
of the injustice of allowing a prebend to pocket an
income of 2,0001. a-year, whilst a Lay-clerk often gets
no more than 30/. and never more than 601.
a-year, although he works a great deal harder
and more frequently than his superior. It is
not, however, precisely an existing disproportion
of this sort that i!!, or perhaps ought to be, com-
plained of. But if there be in any cathedrals a grasp-
ing spirit, which shows itself not only in direct con-
tradiction to the scriptural declaration—that the la-
bourer is worthy of his hire—but in whose surplice-
villainies break out, as our Correspondent asserts, in
actual fraud and dishonesty, the necessity of applying
a corrective to conduct so infamous, as well as of in-
stituting a rigid investigation, followed by a whole-
some reform of these establishments, cannot be doubted
by any right-thinking man.

Letters and Papers from Madrid of the 19th instant
have been received this morning. On the previous
day, Count OFALIA, the new Premier, and his poli-
tical associates, made their first appearance in the
Chamber of Deputies, as the Ministers of Queen
ISABELLA. 11. The Count's reception was most dis-
couraging. All parties seemed to regard him with
suspicion. Senor OLOZAGA, who was addressing the
Chamber on the subject of the Cadiz elections, when
OFALIA and his colleagues made their appearance,
did not allow the occasion to escape of giving the
new Premier a foretaste of what his ambition would
cost him. When OLOZAGA had concluded, Count
OFALIA introduced himself to the Chamber, with the
following brief and unintelligible speech, of which not
five words were heard by his auditory owing to the
low tone in which it was spoken :

" At the moment that the Ministers, whom her Majesty has
been pleased to nominate, make their first appearance in the
Chamber of Deputies, they do not consider it necessary to en-
ter into a detailed manifestation of ,their principles or inten-
tions. Unanimously, and in perfect accordance with each
other, the co-legislative bodies have, in their respective ad-
dresses to the Queen, informed her Majesty of their wishes
and ♦iews, Peace, Order, and Justice are demanded by the
nation. The august Queen Regent is most anxious to satisfy
these demands, and th• Cabinet over which I have the honour
to preside will congratulate itself if, with the co-operation of
the Cortes, it can put an end to the civil war, and if under the
reign of the constitution, and the laws of the monarchy, it can
unite liberals of all shades under one banner."

This is a real grievance, and ought to be redressed
without delay. We blame no people for being discon-
tented who are burthened with the maintenance of an
army of sinecurists. We have now exhausted the list
of grievances, and we appeal to our friends, the Radi-
cals, whether they consider them of so much impor-
tance as to warrant having recourse to the extermi-
nating process of civil war ? Compare them with the
real grievances of Ireland—not a Province, but an
integral portion of the British Empire—and
then tell us whether any man, who is not
ready to advocate the lawfulness of rebellion in Ire-
land can honestly defend the Canadian insurrection ?
Such being the real state of the question, we, while
acknowledging as we have always done, the right of
relief—of practical and extensive relief—to Canada,
hesitate not to denounce as criminal, in a high degree,
the attempt now made to fling off the authority of the
mother country.

A public meeting of the inhabitants of Sr. Pancras
was held yesterday, for the purpose of taking into con-
&deration Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S late declarations in
Parliament. At this meeting, Mr. VIGOR; who was
present, observed, that so far from being attended with
evil consequences, his Lordship's avowed hostility to
the Ballot and an Extension of the Suffrage, would

At the conclusion of this extraordinary address the
Cortes looked at one another—surprise, vexation, and
indignation being visible in every countenance. No
Member, however, offering to rise to ask any questions,
the War Minister occupied the Chamber during the
rest of the sitting with reports from the theatre of war.
The liberal and independent portion of the press has
already expressed itself opposed to the constitution of
the new Cabinet, which it maintains neither has, nor
deserves to have, the confidence of the Spanish people.
Commenting upon the speech of the Premier on the
18th, the Espanol of the 19th has the following signi-
ficant passage :
" Yesterday, for the first time, the Ofalia Ministry appeared
in the Cortes. The Chamber was then occupied with the de-
bate regarding the Cadiz elections ; and as soon as Senor Olo-
zags had done speaking the new President of the Council rose,
and in an almost inaudible tone, pronounced a short discourse,
in which we could only catch the words peace, order, and jus-
tice. As his Excellency has given so many proofs of fidelity
to anti-constitutional doctrines—so many proofs of constant
aversion to representative Governments—it would have been
agreeable to have had from his own lips a frank and explicit
declaration of his actual political sentiments. Two opposed
principles combat for supremacy in Spain—no longer by rhe-
torical perorations, but with fire and sword, devastating entire
provinces, and annihilating the people. We defend one of
these principles—the principle of political liberty, which was
defended by Torrijos, Riego, and many more brave men whose
names are inscribed in the salon of the Cortes in letters of
gold, and will be recorded by history in letters of blood. The
contrary principle was then defended by Count Ofalia. From
that direful epoch to the present moment we have no know-
ledge of any of those acts that identify the man with a certain
form of Government, which prove to us that the Count has
abjured his old dogmas, or declared himself in favour of the
principles of the Constitution of 1837."
The Eco del Commercio of the same date is hardly
less severe in its strictures upon the probable feelings
of the Premier upon that occasion :
" Senor Olozaga, in his speech of yesterday, made an ener-
getic allusion, which we shall explain in the sense that we, and
several persons who were near us, understood it. The lion.
Deputy said that it was a matter of indifference to him who
were the Members returned for Cadiz, provided they were Li-
berals in heart, provided they could read those names (point-
ing to the tablets that bear the inscription of Riego, Torrijos,
&c.) without a blush, and pay them the tribute cf their admi.
ration. Amongst the names of the heroes to which Senor
Olozaga alluded there are some who were executed under the
exterminating Governments of 1823 and 1824; and it is nct
probable that Count Ofalia, who was the Minister, and the
companion of Victor Saez and Calomarde, can read them
without feeling a paw* of remorse. Let our readers—let all
Liberals, of every shade, reflect for a moment, and judge whe-
ther tt e man who has been chosen to preside in the Cabinet
~an inspire them with confil nee."

A Cabinet so opposed on all :idea cannot stan d