The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-19 00:00:00

iblv be more

demoralised

than ignorance

Liave already

made them.

We are glad to find that the Court of Common j
Council have agreed to a vote of five hundred pounds
to relieve the distresses of the Poles, who are i❑ a
state of dreadful destitution in the metropolis. We
should be glad to see a moiety of the funds of some of
our provincial Corporations devoted to the same charit-
able purpose. None have greater claims on the be-
nevolence of Reformers than those gallant men who
have lost their all in the cause of Reform.

It has always been a favourite mode of attacking
the MELBOURNE Administration, to represent it as
having lost the confidenCe of those statesmen who
were mainly instrumental in carrying through the 11.-
form Bill. Lord SPENCER'S retirement from office
has been particularly dwelt upon by the organs of the
anti-national faction, as a conclusive proof that that
Noble Lord, with all his latitudinarianism in politics,
disapproved of the rapidity with which Ministers were
proceeding in the development of Reform principles.
Every one who knew anything of Lord SPENCER,
.knew that this was a falsehood, invented to serve a
party purpose. It was in vain to attempt to urge any
thing in reply to this fabrication. It was utterly
useless to state the fact, that Lord SPENCER had an
insuperable repugnance to the duties of official life,
because they precluded him from those rural oc-
cupations and enjoyments in which he delights.
It was of no avail, even, to point to his Lordship's
votes on questions of policy, great and small, in the
House of Lords, which have been uniformly in accor-
dance with the views of Government. Nothing would
do. The lie was bandied about from one Tory jour-
nal, to another with as much effrontery as if its propa-
gators really believed it themselves.
The important proceedings which took place at
Northainpton on Friday last—a report of which will be
found in another part of our paper—will, we trust,
convince the victims of Tory delusion, if any have
been so foolish as to be deluded by the misrepresenta-
tion to which we have advarted, that the MELBOURNE
Administration has not a wanner or firmer supporter
than Lord SPENCER. At the splendid entertainment
which the citizens of Northampton then gave to Mr.
PEACH, the first chief Magistrate of their ancient bo-
rough, under the new municipal system, and which,
we may observe, en passant, was graced with the
presence of Earl FITZWILLIAM, Lord CHARLES
FITZROY, Lord LILFORD, Mr. VERNON SMITH,
the Reforming Member for the town, and many other
r)crentlemer: a rank and influence, Lord SPENCER on
proposing the health of Lord MELBOURNE and his
Majesty's Ministers, spoke as follows :
" I have heard it indeed said, but I cannot believe that
any person should so think, that some of those who are
friendly to reform think that his Majesty's present Minis-
ters are going too far.—(A laugh.) But, gentlemen, their
feelings are very different to mine.—(Tremendous cheering)
—Because, if they thought they ware going on too fast, and
did nothing more, they would have produeed a great disturb-
ance and a great danger to the community. For myself, I
have never been a person for theoretical reforms ; I have
never wished to see any institutions altered, or any mea-
sures adopted, unless it is for the relief of some practical
grievance.—(Loud cheers.) The people had not been
properly represented ; then, if we were to stand still after
the reform of Parliament had been carried, we should
have lost all the benefits of that great and advantageous
measure.—(Cheers.) I say then that I cannot see how any
man that has advocated a reform in Parliament can think
that his Majesty's Ministers are going too far. It appears
to me that they are acting with prudence, firmness, and wis-
dom, and the present Ministers are only carrying out our
principles into effect."—(Cheers.)
This, we dare say, will not be very palatable to
the Tories. They would have been in extacies had
a man of Lord SPENCER'S steadiness, soundness of
judgment, and station in society even hinted that there
was anything in the conduct of Ministers which did
not altogether satisfy him. But, alas, such happi-
ness was not in store for them. On the contrary
they have the mortification to find Earl SPENCER cor-
dially uniting in opinion with all real Reformers on the
cardinal point, that the Reform Bill was only the means
of attaining a great end—namely, the amelioration of
our institutions, and declaring that his MAJESTY'S
present Ministers, in the various measures which they
have brought forward have acted in the spirit, and
carried out the views, of the framers of the Reform Bill .

It may also be advantageous to those Reformers,
whose sanguine temperament leads them to display
something more than impatience at what they deem the
tardiness of Government in the work of regeneration,
to lay to heart the following well-considered and excel-
lent observations of Lord SPENCER on the difgenhies
with which Ministers have to cope, and for which little,
if any, allowance is made by many from whom better
things might be expected :

" But it is said also that they do little. Why, really, if
people have looked at the history of this country, I cannot
possibly conceive that the Administration can go forward
in the course in which his Majesty's Ministers wish to go
forward without meeting with very serious opposition, they
must be very much mistaken. Why, when we knew that
principles of an opposite tendency had the command
for a century, can it be supposed either that they could
have been predominant, unless they had had a very
strong support, or, having bad, they had not left a very
deep roop in the country. They are endeavouring honestly
to overcome that, and they arc proposing measures which I
think beneficial for the country, and I believe the enlight-
ened state z.,f the country will enable them to carry them.
My lionouraQ Friend, in his address, has gone into more
detail than I feel it 2.ecessary to do in addres,inm this as-
sembly : all I feel it nece,;:?ary for me to say is, that so long
as I see them going on in the ;:me course, they shall have
my cordial support."—(Cheers.)

-We are sorry that our limited space rill not allow
us to do more than point the attention of our readers
to the other admirable speeches that were delivered on
this highly interesting occasion.

The Tories of Winchester have had a blow-out
in honour of their discarded Lord High Steward,
the Marquis of CHANDOS. The Noble Marquis
who makes a point of rehearsing the same speech,
almost the ipsissima verbs, at every public meeting he
attends, said nothing on this occasion worth men-
tioning. There was the usual quantum of vitupera-
tion directed towards Downing-sheet, and a hope ex-
pressed that the Noble Marquis would soon be rein-
stated in the office, in connection with Winchester,
from which he had been ejected—rather unceremoni-
ously, he seemed to think. The only novelty we re-
mark in the MARQUIS'S speech is, that it contains a
high compliment to Lord GREY, and a determination
—rather a sudden -one we should think—on the part
of the Noble Lord to " take his stand on the Reform
Bill I" Who, pray, took so desperate a stand against
that Bill as the most Noble the Marquis of CHAN-
T)" ? What shall we see next ?

The whole of the Paris Journals of Friday-and Sa-
turday have been received. They are chiefly filled
with comments upon the late unfortunate expedition
against Constantino, of which an official report will be
found in another part of The Sun. The Ministerial
journals condemn the temerity of the Marshal ; the
opposition prints throw all the blame on the Minis-
ters. The expedition was certainly planned in the
most wretched way. The season, the' weather, the
weakness of the invading force, the scarcity of provi-
sions, the want of heavy artillery, and the Marshal's
ofuignnfoorratunnceateissue
stshe ground--all
e
of the
affalalir inevitable. The
conspired to render an
Na-
tional alone condemns the conduct of the Government
rid
and of the Marshal with equal severity. It asserts
that the Government displayed the thoughtlessness of
a bedlamite, and the Marshal the ignorance of a school-
boy. We persist in maintaining that whatever may be
the feelings of M. MOLE, the KING is heartily glad
that the expedition failed. His MAJESTY has now a
good excuse, for the removal of CLAUSEL from the

and starvation command in Africa, should the Marshal decline to send
in his resignation. The presence of the Duke of NE-
MOURS will greatly contribute to give the pretext more
than due force with the nation. It will be'alleged that
the Marshal not only suffered himself to are repulsed,
but likewise that he had the temerity to suffer his own
disgrace to be reflected on a Prince of the' Blood.
The danger, too, to which his Royal Highneik-s was
necessarily exposed, will make a considerable:itetn
in the account against the Marshal, The Courrier
Francais says that the KING has already Eii god on
6rdcr for the recal of the Marshal, and that General
DAvnitoNT is appointed Regent of Algicrs, This
arrangement was secretly mad 6 in Paris nearly four
• months ago. When General DA vrAtoliT, at the
head of 3,000 troops, sailed from Toulon to Algiers,
his secret instructions were to assume the command in
Africa, should CLAUSEL, irritated by his presence,
offer to resign. The instant CLAUSEL resigns, the ex-
pedition against Constantina will be resumed, and under
auspices which will secure its entire success. In what
light the Chambers may view the conduct of Ministers
with respect to the late expedition, is quite another

question.
The following telegraphic despatches from Toulon
are copied from the official columns of the Moniteur :
" ALGIERS, DEC. 10.—The occupation of Guelma has
produced the effect which I anticipated. Achmed has not
ventured to establish himself at Constantina, but has ad-
vised the population to abandon the town and retire to Ka-
markadde, three days' march south of Constantine. By his
orders the Shiek El-Klad, and eight of the most influential
personages of the town, have been decapitated." . . .
(Interrupted by the approach of night.)
The Government received yesterday the following intelli-
gence, by telegraph :
" Continuation of the despatch from Algiers, dated Dec.
10, via Toulon :—' Marshal Clausel to the Minister of War.
I request you to authorise the 'works commenced at Guelma,
for protecting the French infantry.' " . . . . (Inter-
rupted by the night.)
" TOULON, DEC. 14, half-past three o'clock.—The Com-
mandant of Marine at Algiers writes, under date of the
1 1 th, that the expeditionary army, which set out on the
23d ult. to revictual Tlemecen, did not meet with any ob-
struction either in going or returning. It got back on the
2d instant, 4,000 strong, after having had only a few skir-
mishes, in which we gained the advantage. We had two
men killed, and eight wounded."
Extract of a letter from Toulon, dated the 13th in-
stant :—" Orders arrived here yesterday by telegraph from
Paris, for a steam-vessel to be got ready for sea at a rho-
merles natice. The Castor, although she was not in the
best condition, started in the middle of last night. Her
mission is not positively known ; but no doabt is entertained
that it relates to the late events in Africa."
The Duke of ORLEANS, who had gone on a visit
to Brussels, returned suddenly to Paris in consequence
-of the bad news:fiom Africa. On Thursday he had
a long interview with M. GUTZOT, but nothing of
what took place on the occasion has yet transpired.
On Thursday the Court of Assizes of the Seine
acquitted MM. OURSEL and FONTELLE, two young
gentlemen who had taken it into their heads to play
the part of conspirators against the life of the KING.
Their sole object in accusing themselves of a crime of
which they were innocent was to obtain a degree of
celebrity by frightening the Government out of its wits.
They succeeded to their heart's content, having pre-
vented the celebration of the " Glorious days." Such
a Government must be a laughing-stock to the nation.
The following accounts from Spain are officially
communicated by the French Government :
" BAYONNE, DEC. 14, 11 O'CLOCK.—A vessel which left
Portugalete on tho 12th, in the evening, announces that
Espartero, after having in the morning carried' the position
of Bursena, made preparations for throwing a bridge over
the Cadagua, and afterwards march upon Bilboa by the left
bank of the Nervion, with 19 battalions and 32 pieces of
artillery. It was announced on the 11th at Pamplona, that
Gomez had arrived on the Ebro. Immediately upon this,
the divisions of Clonard and lrribaren marched towards
the river.
" BAYONNE, DEC. 15, 12 o'cLocK.—Letters from Madrid
of the 10th state that Gomez had passed flu; Guadalajara.
Those of the 11th, from Pamplona, say that he has reached
Siguena, endeavouring to gain the mountains of Loria.
General Clonard was on the 12th at Tafalla, and Irribaren
on the Ebro, going to meet him."
The Government yesterday received the following tele-
graphic despatches, dated Bayonne, 13th inst.:—
" Letters dated this morning state that Espartero, who
had been at Portugalete since the Bth, quitted yesterday,
12th, at five o'clock in the morning, and took the road to
Balmaceda. A strong cannonade and a sharp fire of mus-
ketry were heard throughout the day. No-news has been
received from Bdboa."
" General Gomez, at the head of 8,000 men, has entered
Belmonte, in La Mancha, pursued at the distance of six
leagues by Alaix. San Miguel was on the Gth at Cuenca,
and on the 2d at Priego, with 4,000 men, waiting for the
insurgents on the Tagus."
The despatch of the 14th from Bayonne, is a
complete contradiction of the despatch of the pre-
ceding day. The one' states, that ESPARTERO, in
taking the road to Balmaceda, left Bilboa to its fate
the other, that he is still doing all in his power to re-
lieve it.

The escape of GOMEZ is entirely owing ,to the
treachery of General ALAIX, who on the 29th ult.
encouraged the division of which the Government had
deprived him of the command, to mutiny against
NARVAEZ, and to insist upon his being replaced at
its head. The supineness of the Government is
thus terribly punished. Here is one of the first effects
of not bringing the traitors at the head of the army
to condign punishment. The following account of
this infamous conspiracy is related by au eye-witness
in a letter addressed to a Morning Contemporary. We
beg our readers to peruse it attentively, if they wish to
inform themselves of the real cause of the pnfortu-
nate issue of General NA RVA EZ'S well-planned expe-
dition against GOMEZ
:
The division of Alaix did not obey the orders given to it,
the Colonel in command alleging that the men could not or
would not march farther than Zapatero, two leagues dis•
ia;:t from Lucena. The Brigadier's march was delayed
until eight in the morning of the 29th, when, with the ca-
valry of Ribero and his own division joined, and the infantry
of Alaix, we set out for Baena. We had not proceeded
two leagues when symptoms of mutiny exhibited themselves.
The infantry demanded their General (Alaix), alleging they
would not march without him, actually forcing the drum-
mers to beat for a halt of the whole division. Brigadier
Narvaez was in the rear, and upon being informed of
what was going on, sent his aide-de-camp with an order
to form the infantry into columns. The order was
obeyed :it was the last the men intended to obey. The
battalions were drawn up in an olive-grove by the road-
side, and Brigadier Narvaez advanced with the intention
of proceeding to measures of rigour, if' lie could not
otherwise suppress the mutiny. He sent for Brigadier
Leon, an officer whose gallantry obtained the victory of
Villarobledo, and asking him if be could depend upon the
cavalry of Ribero, who were,tfinler the orders of Leon, was
answered, that upon the Brigadier himself lie could depend,
but upon the cavalry in a body not, as they were all of the
same mind as the infantry, with the exception probably of
the corps belonging to his own ( Narvaez's) division, about 200
in number. It was clear that little cculd be done with 200
men against nearly.s,ooo. me Brigadier was still advancing
to the front, when he learned that General Alaix had joined
the division. He learned also that the officers were not dis-
tathe him why he had not obeyed
had no escort, and the posed to oppose their men. He sent word to General Alaix
tt
en
comeoy forward,
,and
vas upontold h
asking
ob-
ject of the Brigadier was probably to send him travelling
alone, that he might fall into the hands of the/ace/03as and
be murdered. The insinuation was indignantly repelled.
" You know you were welcome to any escort you pleased ;
but will you state what are your intentions—willyou leave the
division now and let me deal with. your rebellious troops, or
will you go forward and tranquillize them, seeing that
they are your division, and you have influence over
them ?" " No, Senor, lam not here to be the instru-
ment of my own disgrace. If you pretend to be the
General of this division, put yourself at their bead—go,
Senor, go—there they are." This civil invitation to pre-
sent himself to the knives of his assassins was neither de-
clined nor accepted. The Brigadier continued his course
to the front, telling General Alaix, that he was but
one man, 'unsupported .by the officers, who had . all en-
gaged in a conspiracy to seduce the men from their al-
legiance. General Alaix replied, that there was no con-
spiracy—that the men had broken out because of the
long marches the Brigadier had subjected them to.
The Brigadier said he had done so to place them be-
fore the enemy, who would even that day be in their
power if there were no further delay; but if that day