The Sun.
London, England, 1836-08-06 00:00:00

TILE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1836.

A very interesting debate arose in the House o
Commons, last night, on the motion of Mr. B. H
" That au humble address be presented to the
praying that his MAJESTY will be graciously pleased
to direct that such measures may be taken as to his
MAJESTY may seem proper, to secure the fulfilment
of the existing treaty between this country an:l Mexico,
and to prevent the establishment of slavery and traffic
in slaves in the province of Texas, in the Mexican
territory." The motion was subsequently withdrawn,
but not before the Noble Secretary for Foreign Affairs
had given the most ample explanation with respect to
the determination of our Government to put down the
Slave trade. We acknowledge ourselves well satisfied
with the forcible statements made by the Noble Lord,
convinced that the united efforts of England, France,
and Spain, will go a great way towards putting an end
to this inhuman traffic.

We extract a paragraph from a Morning Contem-
porary, respecting a Deputation of Members who
waited on the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER on
Wednesday last, on the subject of the establishment
of a steam navigation with India, by the Mediterra-
nean. We understand that the substance of the state-
ment is correct, and we trust that Government will see
the propriety of giving every encouragement to so
laudable an enterprise, for which much praise is due
to Mr. HUTT, whom, as a promoter of the general
interests of commerce, as well as a Reformer, in the
most enlightened sense of the term, we have observed
to be very active in Parliament this Session. We
know of no one vote of this Gentleman at variance
with the interests of his constituents, or the commu-
nity. We subjoin the paragraph in question :
" A long account has been sent to us of a conversation at
the Treasury on Wednesday, between Mr. Rice and a depu-
tation headed by Mr. Hutt, and composed of the Members for
Liverpool, Greenock, Glasgow, Dover, and other gentle-.,
men connected with commerce, on the subject of establishing
a steam navigation with India by the Mediterranean, the
Isthmus of Suez, and the Red Sea. The proposition was
this :—That his Majesty's Government and the East India
Company should contract with them for the conveyance of
their mails and despatches, they undertaking to transmit
them on more advantageous terms—more advantageous in re-
gard to speed, regularity, and economy, than they could be
now conveyed. The conversation produced no specific opinion
or promise from Mr. Rice, beyond his declaration that the
subject should be carefully considered, and that he would com-
municate the determination of the Government to Mr. Hutt,
as soon as possible."

Accounts from Madrid to the 28th ult. have been
received. On the 27th a proclamation appeared in the
Gazette, forbidding more than two persons to assem-
ble in the streets, on pain of being seized by order of
the Government. No exception was made in favour
of any particular uniform. This proves that dissatis-
faction prevails to a dangerous extent in the capital.
On the evening of the same day, ISTURIz held a Ca-
binet Council, of which the object is reported to be the
expediency of appointing General SAARSFIELD to

the Comm-andersbip-in-Chief of the Northern army.
On the 20th CORDOVA left Vittoria for Miranda.
Several waggons of grain took the same direction ; so
that it is very probable that his late head-quarters has
been left exposed to the Carlists, who are rumoured to
be now in occupation of it.

The importance of the news contained in the Paris
Journals of Thursday may be ascertained from our
extracts from them which are given below. The
French Government received at a late hour on Thurs-
day the following telegraphic communication from
Bayonne, dated the 3d instant :
" General Harispe to the Minister of War.
" General Villareal, with fifteen battalions and seven pieces
of cannon, was menacing Zubiri and Linzoin, without being
able to capture them. Gen. Bernelle hastened from Puente
la Reyna, and with nine battalions only, five others being still
in the rear, attacked and completely beat Villareal, throwing
him back on the Ulzama. He writes to me yesterday evening
from the field of battle, that the last of the enemy was 100
prisoners, 200 killed, and a great number of wounded. Ge-
neral Bernelle himself had but 40 killed and 150 wounded.
His new Polish cavalry had done wonders, notwithstanding
that the ground was unfavourable."
The following additional information was received a
few minutes afterwards :
" The Governor of Gijon has written to the authorities of
Bayonne that the column of Gomez was in full retreat from
Galicia on Biscay, across the Asturias. He reached Tines
on the 27th, and was expected to arrive in Oviedo on the
28th. The Christinos were close in pursuit of him."
This is certainly very important as well as unex-
pected intelligence. Accounts from Saragossa to the
30th ult. state that the Carlist Commandant of Fort
Canta-Vieja having determined to betray the place to
General MONTES, he was seized by order of the
garrison and hanged.
PARIS, AUGUST 3.—A new official report of Cordova states
the number of effective troops under his command at nearly
110,000 men. It is more difficult than ever to account for his
inactivity, with such a force. General Rotten, commanding
in Lower Arragon, has been deprived of that command at the
desire of the inhabitants, who complained of his inactivity.
Does not the public voice declare with more force, and much
more generally, against the conduct of Cordova ?
The same want of energy is observed in many points. At
Sona, which the Carlists entered without difficulty, and where
they levied a contribution of 10,000 dollars, the garrison con-
sisting, of five hundred men, contented itself with retiring into
the fort, though it might easily have hindered the entrance of
the Carlists, who were not above 1,000 in number.
The Castle of Murviedo has been taken by Serrador.
The C'arlist Gazette of Onate contains a Report to the Mi-
nister of War, of a great victory said to have been gained by
the Carlists on the 18th ult., between Salinas and Amurio.
The ridiculous and bombastic style of this Report, does not
permit us to give any credit to it. The same paper speaks of
another victory of Cabrera, in consequence of which he is said
to have made himself master of four important forts. It adds
that the force of that Chief is daily increasing by desertion
from the Christinos.
All this needs confirmation. What seems most certain is, that
Gomez has obtained but little success in Galicia, and that he
has been obliged to retreat. The journey of the infant
Francis de Paula and his consort, who left Madrid, to go to

enacting part of the order, after talking of treason of English
laws, resolved itself into this, that no verbal communication
should take place between his picquets and the soldiers who
had deserted from the British Legion to Don Carlos. So
that, after all, General Evans's order amounted to this—that
it was expedient to prevent his men deserting, by not allowing
them to speak with those engaged in the opposite cause."
After this explanation of the purport of the " Gene-
ral Order," it is scarcely conceivable to understand
why it was issued at all. A person less observant of
mere forms than the Foreign Secretary represents
General EVANS to be, would find many ways to pre-
vent conversations between his men and the Carlists,
without adopting the roundabout mode of entering
upon an exposition of the purport of the most difficult
questions in the science of international law. Lord
PALMERSTON says that he is not enough of a lawyer
to define the extent of the crime of British subjects
entering into the service of Don CARLOS. With all
due respect for his Lordship, we think it was his duty
to have consulted the Crown lawyers upon the subject,
before attempting to answer the questions addressed to
him by the Hon. Member for Oxford.
But by far the most unsatisfactory part of Lord
PALMERSTON'S speech was the conclusion. We give
it as we find it in the Ministerial Morning Journal :
" Without pretending to any military experience, he felt
great confidence that, through that dispensation by which
human affairs are governed, the cause of the Queen of Spain
must eventually prosper. He could not bring himself to think
that a cause so sullied by cruelty and crimes as that of Don
Carlos, whose object was to establish a despotism in Spain,
and snatch from his unhappy country all prospect of improve-
ment—he could not, he repeated, bring himself to believe
That it could ever enter into the arrangement of human affairs,
under that supreme dispensation, to prosper under such a
cause as this. He took up this view upon the same grounds,
that when Don Pedro had no place whereon to rest his foot,
save the ruins of Oporto, he had predicted that by some
means or other his cause, and that of the young Queen, his
daughter, must eventually triumph. That prediction had
proved well founded, and he now, with equal confidence, en-
tertained a similar event in the case of the Queen of Spain."
Such language as the above is more suited to the con-
venticle than the Senate. It certainly is not language
which any sensible person would expect to hear uttered
by a British Cabinet Minister. Lord PALMERSTON'S
predictions may be all the result of inspiration, for what
we can tell to the contrary ; but we beg to assure his
Lordship that a force less etherial than his prophecies
will be required to drive Don CARLOS from the Pe-
ninsula. From the period when the first shot was
fired to decide the question of disputed succession, and
the right of the Spanish people to a Constitutional
Government, we declared ourselves in favour of a sys-
tem of direct open warfare against Don CA Rims.
Had this mode of settling the question been adopted,
the war would have ceased in less than six months ;
order would have now reigned in the Peninsula; and
one half the crimes which have been committed would
have never taken place. And yet we see clearly that
to this we must come at last.