The Sun.
London, England, 1822-08-27 00:00:00

[NEW TIMES.I

. Last night we received via Liverpool, accounts
from the West Indies to-a late date, stating, that
intelligence frOm the Western Coast of South
America had reached there, announcing a revo-
lutionary attempt in Chili. Though the letters
received speak positively- to< the;,-fact, there is a
want of detail in the accounts,..Which, joined to
other circumstances, induces us to- think, that, if
not absolutely false, they at all events rest on
very slight foundations; and may have arisen-
from the sailing of an Expedition which was
understood' to have left Valparaiso in April, to
reduce the small remaining Spanish force in the
southern part of the territory. The only'specifie
date mentioned in these accounts is the 17th
of May, a period certainly some days later
than any, thing mentioned in former intelli-,
gence ; the last notice: from Valparaiso • being
that brought by the, Constellation American
frigate down to the 7th bf
.May, .at which time
every- thing was perfectly ,tranquil. The only
circumstance which has come to our knowledge
at all confirmatory of 4! his statement is aletter
from Portsmouth, mentioning that one of the
small vessels out of that port had spoken.a West
Indiaman hi the Channel, whose Captain said
that such accounts had reached-_ Jamaica at the
time he left; hyt asthere• doubt of such,
accounts liaVing been received in the West Indies,
it in no way alters .the main fact. On the whole
we are inclined to discreditthe,.patements. alto-
gether; but if any attempt. has- been made, it is
very improbable, from• the settled. state of Chili,
both interior and exterior, that it can be success-
ful to any_. considerable ex,tent.

NnE TIMES.
Various circumstances contribute to attach an
uncommon degree of anxiety and apprehension
to the choice of a substitute for Lord London-
derry, and there is another question, scarcely
less momentous, viz, the fitness of those by whom
the choice will be made to exercise a discretion
of so much delicacy and importance, at least if
that is to be intrusted to his Lordship's col-
leagues. During the feW weeks before the
death of Lord Londonderry,. it is now in evi-
dence that he was not master of himself ; it was
observed
.by more than one spectator and ac-
quaintance, that his faculties were deserting him,
,yet, although Cabinet Councils were held within
a- short week of the melancholy act of self-de-
struction; it does not appear that so much as a
doubt ever suggested itself to any one of those
who sat in deliberation with him, whether he was
in a state of mind fitting him to be intrusted with
the important duties of his office. It is confessed
that the fact of Lord Londonderry's decayed un-
derstanding,. though not duly adverted to by his
brethren., or'guarded against in the way of reme-
dy or precaution with any view to the national
welfare, was plainly visible to more than one
among them, long before that distressing catas-
trophe took place. Mrs. Robinson, who lived in
the family, and who. appears ,on the face of the'
proceedings before the Coroner to have been an
intelligent and observant woman, says distinctly
that " many circumstances induced her to believe
'' that her Lord had been out of his mind for a
4' fortnight ; that during that period his whole
Ct manner had changed from suavity and mildness
44 to sharpnesiand severity ; and that during the
44 last fortnight lie used to say that every one had
'‘ conspired- against him." We put it to any
rational being whether a revolution such as this—
a•manner which had been habitually distinguished
for gentleness. and attention to the feelings of
others, changed into rigour and morosenesss—a
mind, also, constitutionally unsuspicious and in-
trepid, devoured by the most terrible fears of
conspiracy against him,—could, for a whole fort-
nighttogether, have escaped the eye of those
who were transacting public business with his
Lordship,. unless their unfitness was equal to his
own..

[MORNING CHRONICLE.]

It was observed of the Dutch, at the breaking
out of the French Revolution, by one of our
political writers, " that a people exclusively
commercial
.:be,comes a nation of egotists. The
spirit of their- pursuits is competition, not junc-
tion ; the interests they pursue are private, not
public. Hence -the. public spirit becomes effete
and languid. Self-interest becomes the passion
which swallows up all the rest ; or the exclusive
care and the:f.ear for a man's self ;, and this self-
intereit is .not, of the. enlightened and rational
kind, but the, passion is in a distempered state,
bloated into a diseased magnitude,. and thence
lieavy and inactive ;.and to this. state the eXclusive
pursuits bf commerce had reduced the noble public
spirit which animated. Holland a century and a
half ago ;''.an.d this passage is followed by a quo-
tation from Fergusson, to shew that 44 if -the
in-
diridual be left to pursue his private adValltage,
we may find-him become efferninate,mercenary,and
senSnal." We have transcribed this ' passage,
because we know that the idea has become very
general on. the continent that commercial dealings

have given a character of nage selfishness both
to ourselves and the Dutch, and our neighbours
think-they find in it a solution for our present
apathy respecting the Greeks. We believe, on
the contrary, that commerce is rather productive
of a spirit of liberality ; and the immense sums
which are frequently raised by subscription from
traders and tradesmen, both in Holland and
Britain, for purposes of benevolence, sufficiently
prove this. Constant employment, too, keeps
the mind in a sound and vigorous state.—
We should suppose that those whose minds
are not exercised by some regular avocation, and
who being freed froth the- necessity of applica-
tion, naturally betake themselves to the pursuit
of pleasure and enjoyment, are the persons in
whom selfishness will be found to have the
greatest ascendency. We believe, therefore, that
the upper classes of society are proportionally
less generous than the industrious classes, and
that consequently liberality will generally be in
the inverse ratio of the preponderance in any
country of Aristocracy. Apply, for instance,- for
subscriptions to the Gentry of Ireland (the most
genuine Aristocrats we- have in the three King-
doms), and apply at the same time to the traders
and tradesmen of such towns as London, Liver-
pool, Glasgow, and Belfast, and if the result do
not confirm the above view we • are much mis-
taken. We demur, therefore, to the doctrine
that commerce is productive of selfishiness.

[BRITISH PRESS.]
All speculation upon the probability of Mr.
Canning's appointment to a seat inthe Cabinet
is terminated by the nature of "the speech de-
livered by the Right Hon. Gentleman at the
dinner given to him in Liverpool on Friday last
by the members of the Canning Club. Mr.
Canning, we are told, 46 spoke for about half
an hour, principally on the subject of his pro-
posed departure for India."_ it is therefore
seemingly determined by the Right Hon. Gentle-
man and his political friends, that he shall pro-
ceed to take upon him the duties of the supreme
government of India, and resign the only chance
that probably will ever be offered to him of
ascending the proud height to which his early
ambition was especially directed. We are far
from pretending to think that Mr. Canning is
properly qualified to manage the foreign rela•
tions of this Empire ; but in the dire lack of
talent that now distinguishes the Ministers and
their party, we have little hesitation in regard-
ing Mr. Canning as by many degrees the
ablest man who sits on the Treasury Bench.—
We further think it likely that Mr. Canning
is better fitted by previous study, his habits
of thinking, and the general character of
his mind, for the Foreign Office in Downing-
street, and the attendant displays of parliamentary
eloquence, than for the government of our Indian
possessions. For some short time previous to the
late Queen's trial Mr. Canning was President of
the Board of Controul, in which office he might
possibly have picked up some general notions
of the state affairs in India, and of the prin-
ciples of policy which have been handed down
from time to time through a long succession of
Governors. He might have ascertained the
points where friendship or hostility should with
most advantage be evinced, and have acquired
some degree of familiarity with the names, if not
the characters, of the most prominent actors in
the scene of Indian warfare or diplomacy. But,
beyond this superficial knowledge, what prepa-
ration can Mr. Canning be supposed to have had
for a situation totally distinct from any in which
he has.llitherto appeared ? To say that he is a
man of excellent understanding and as well pre-
pared for the situation, as any of the noble and
distinguished personages who have preceded him,
gives no answer to this objection. It is the
system of thus choosing for the high and import-
ant trust of .governing India individuals not pre-
viously qualified by habit or education for the
charge that we censure. The government of
that immense Empire is daily becoming more and
more difficult, and requires a higher degree of
delicacy, knowledge, and profound judgment,
which can be acquired only by a deep and anxious
study of the history, religion, laws, manners, and
prejudices of the native population.

[MORNING HERALD.]
Most, if not all, the Anti-Ministerial News-
papers have been lately exercising their wit in
disparaging, as much as possible, the talents of
the Duke of Wellington, as applied to a new
character, which some say he is about to fill,
namely, that of a diplomatist at the ensuing
Congress. Now we remember that at the time
of the trial of Queen Caroline, these very news-
papers were loud in' their complaints, and
justly, of the Ministerial part of the news-
papers, for writing long and severe leading arti-
cles respecting .the crimes of which that unfor.•
tunate Queen was accused, and the universal
cry of those Anti-Ministerial Papers then was,
" What ? condemn the Queen before she has
been tried ? " On various other occasions, too,
when it suited the purpose of these writers, they
have continually talked of the impropriety of
saying any thing of aperson put on his trial, or
about to be put on his trial. But now, before
the Duke has been put on his trial, or before
there is even any certainty of his being ap-
pointed . to the Office in question ; and, be-
cause these writers think that the attempt
to lower the Duke in the estimation of the
people of England, generally, will gratify
and ptease a certain proportion of his Majesty's
subjects, they all join in the hue and cry, as it
were, and pronounce the Duke to be incompetent,
'principally on the grounds, that he has not a suf-
ficient command of tongue and temper to be what
is 'called a diplomatist; which means nothing
more than one, deputed from one Government to
another, with certain conditions to be agreed to,
or not, as circumstances may arise. Now we cannot
see any thing so very puzzling in being appointed
to an office of this description ; nor do we think
that it requires such a= smooth tongue, or such an
elegant address, as these anti-ministerial Papers
talk. so much about. It strikes us that, in all
negociations, whether of a public or a private
nature, much must depend on the commanding
attitude of the country sending. unegociator, If

England at preffelit is allowed to be strong, in
comparison with other European nations, who
will also have their Representatives at the Con-
gress about to be held, the negociator appointed
by England need neither to be smooth-tongued,
or possessed of much insinuation, or as it
is called, address. England's strength would
be his best backer. If England were weak,
for instance, as weak as Italy or Denmark are,
in comparison with Russia and Austria, then all
the smoothness of tongue and insinuation of all
the celebrated Italian negociators, who lived a
century or two since, would be of no avail. In
fact, she would stand just as good a chance of
averting the storm which is preparing for Tur-
key, as if she sent no diplomatist at all.