The Sun.
London, England, 1837-09-15 00:00:00

of the Refor:n boly, for the expfess pilipose of orga-
nising a Reform Itelislty Association, for the protec-
tion of the Libetal voters of the Chelsea, Fulham,
And Brompton districts : and likewise with a view of
1 recommending the formation of such Iteform So-
cieties throughout tht Kingdom. Mr. WAR-
. BURTONt hi his speech, informed the company
that a Conservative Registration Society trial Ml' two
years superintended the Regittly in Middlesex, the con-
: sequence of which was, that the Tories had at last
secured the return of one of their own faction ler the
county—though it was notorious, that had the Libe-
rals done their duty, Mt. Hum E would have been at
the head of the poll. Mr. WARBURTON recom-
mended the formation of Local Associations all over
the country, to watch over the local business of the
Reformers, and to furnish all necessary information to a
Central Association, established in the metropolis. This
recommendation was ably supported by Mr. H trmE, who
stated that the Reform cause had suffered more from
the inertness of its friends than from any indication of
strength on the part of its enemies. There was no
reaction with regard to Reform throughout the
country. Public opinion was as decidedly in favour of
Reform now as it ever was—in fact, it was more so ;
but, unfortunately, many Reformers had got it into
their heads, that having carried the Reform Bill, they
had nothing more to do but sit down quietly and
reap the fruits of their patriotism. This was an
error of the dangerous nature of which they be-
gan now to be fully persuaded. The Reform Bill
was but the means to an end—the lever by means of
which the country might raise itself out of the slough
of Toryism. He was for Household Suffrage. In this
he was guilty of no extravagance, because Ministers
were now known to have at one time meditated the
making such suffraffe the basis of the Reform Act.
Mr. HUME next adverted to the position of Ministers,
and declared unequivocally, that though his support
of them in the last Session of Parliament had injured
him in the opinion of the Ultra-Radicals, who thought
that Ministers did not go far enough, yet so convinced
was he of the danger to the country of opposing
them at a crisis like the present, that he would continue
to vote with them while there was a certainty of their
being succeeded in office by the Tories. Mr. HAWES
admitted the necessity of keeping the present Cabinet,
or one equally liberal, in office ; but he contended that
Ministers ought to have taken a more decided course,
and above all have supported the Ballot. He, howe-
ver, agreed in opinion with Mr. HUME and Mr. WAR-
BURTON, that were the Reformers to attend to the
working of the Reform Bill, in the zealous and manly
spirit in which they carried it, they might make it
the instrument of wresting from the Legislature
whatever measures they might deem necessary to
their general good government. This, we believe,
to be the opinion of every man who has taken the
trouble to think seriously upon the subject. The Re-
form Bill is an engine which, if rightly managed, would
of itself soon storm and bear clown all opposition in
the House of Lords. It is not without defects, we
admit ; but for such defects, it is itself the precedent
for 'a simple and most efficacious remedy. Guided by
the united intelligence of the people, it opposes to all
abuses in the Government a power perfectly irre-
sistible.

Ministers have been much to blame, but it is absurd
to waste our energies now in abusing them. With
all their faults, he must be an idiot, or a wolf in sheep's
clothing, who does not prefer them a thousand times to the
truculent, peculating, bigoted Tories. If they have not
advanced as far as we could have wished them, they
have certainly not retrograded, as their frequent colli-
sions with the House of Lords are sufficient to testify.
Let the Reformers display a little more activity, and
they will find Ministers—profiting by experience—
prepared to make amends for their past inactivity.
Those who blame them most are those who really
know the least about the difficulties against which
they had to contend. •It need no longer be con-
cealed that the last days of the late Sov E-
REIGN were spent in endeavours to leave the
country the legacy of a Tory Cabinet. They were
therefore crippled at every step by the decided
hostility of the Court. They are not now thwarted in
that quarter ; and therefore the Reformers may antici-
pate a very different line of Ministerial conduct, pro-
vided the Liberals generally honestly, zealously, and
stedfastly support them.

The severe contest which has been going on for
some days at Maldon, in Esscx, about a Church-rate,
has, we are happy to state, terminated in the defeat of
the Parson-party. At the close of the Poll the num-
bers were—

For the Kate
Against it

167
170

The majority is small, but nevertheless it is suffi-
cient to show with what spirit the Church-rate agita-
tion is carried on even in the priest-ridden county of
Essex.

Madrid Journals to the 6th instant have been re-
ceived. The new War Minister, San IVIIGuEL, ha
published a Report addressed to the Cortes, in which
he states that the. Spanish effective army does not
exceed 85,000 men, exclusive of the sick and wounded.
The army was rated at 190,000 men ; but it required
100,000 to perform garrison duty, and there were
more than 5,000 on the sick, retired, and commis-
sariat list. He therefore proposed at the Sitting of
the Cortes on the sth that a levy of 50,000 men
should be decreed. The new Minister of .Finance
was likewise busy preparing a Report, in which it
was expected that he would give a most gloomy pic-
ture of the pecuniary resources of the nation. The
tranquillity of Madrid was undisturbed. The Cortes
continued to discuss the provisions of the Church Re-
form Bill, which they hoped to carry before the com•
mencement of the new elections.

The Paris Papers of Wednesday hare all been re-
ceived. On the evening of that day advices had
reached the French capital, stating that on the night
of the sth, the Christina Chief BARCA, at the head
of a division, had unexpectedly surprised VBRASTEGUI,
the President of the rebel Junta of Alava, SIERRA,
the Chief of URA NGA'S staff, and about thirty other
Carlist officers of high rank, whom he conveyed pri-
soners to Logrono. It appears that he had received
intelligence that they were to meet to deliberate on a
plan of operations near Vittoria, and that he selected a
band of resolute fellows, by whom they were all made
prisoners before either of them was aware of the pre-
sence of an enemy.
The Moniteur of Wednesday has the following te-
legraphic dispatch from Spain :

NARBONNE, SEPT. 12, 5 O'CLOCK, A.M. -- Baron de
Meer has marched on Igualada. On the 4th he proclaimed
martial law in the four provinces of Catalonia. The mili-
tary commanders are empowered to shoot within twenty-
four hours all persons detected in the act of exciting- disor-
der and sedition. They are besides authorized to levy con-
tributions, and recur to every means in order to provide for
the wants of the army.
The provincial authorities, presided by Brigadier Puig
decreed, at Barcelona on the Bth, that an entire year of
the commercial subsidy should be paid in the course of 48
hours. This tax amounts, for the province of Barcelona,
to a sum of 5,000,000 reals (50,0000
The Sentinelle des Pyrennees, of the 9th instant,
has the following advices from the Peninsula :
On the 4th instant, General Uranga left Legaria with
four Navarrese battalions, one of Alava, and four guns,
taking the direction of Lodosa. It is the new expedition
which is marching, it is supposed, to join Zareategui. Gen.
Jaureguy has tendered his resignation. It appears it has
been accepted. He has repaired to Fuentarabia.
" According to the last advices Gen. Espartero moved to