The Sun.
London, England, 1825-04-07 00:00:00

[BRITISH PRESS.}

It is not right that because we have not Corres-
pondents versed in all the mysteries of foreign
politics, and the secrets of the Holy Alliance,
that ,we should keep our readers in the dark as to
what is going to happen► abroad. The Morning
Chronicle has a spy on the French Court, who
knows every thing that is meditated by M. de
Villele and his colleagues. ' The events pre-
dicted by this agent never occur, it is true ; but
perhaps for that reasOn the British public are
the more irrdebted to him for his information, be-
cause lie prevents tl►e evil by making it: known.
What a danger to the balance of power, then, did
the Chronicle of yesterday crush ! We ought to
make our readers acquainted with the 'perils from
which they have escaped. A design, we are told
by that Paper, has been fo►med by the French
and Spanish Cabinets, of annexing Portugal to
Spain, and giving to France, Catalonia, Arra-
gon, and the other provinces to the north of
the Ehro.--" Such," says the Editor, very
,gravely, ." we are assured by a high political au-
thority in Paris,are the secret views entertained by
the French Cabinet, and for the realization of
which extensive preparations are making. We
are told that in Catalonia some men of influence
have already been enlisted into their cause, and
flattered with the idea of belonging to a Govern-
ment more enlightened and more congenial to their
habits and prejudices than that of Madrid. Ferdi-
nand is also represented as being favourable to the
exchange, as it would give him possession of one of
the finest ports in Europe, and, besides, punish
the British for their interference in his domestic
affairs on the other side of the Atlantic. The secret
intrigues and machinations in furtherance of that
part, of the plan which is intended to operate in
Portugal, are, we 'understand, carrying on by
the Portuguese Infanta, Maria Theresa (widow
of.the Spanish Infinite Don Pedro Carlos), who
has for some time past taken up her residence in
Madrid, and carries on an active correspondence'
with The Queen,hermother,in Lisbon." Prodigious!
This " high political authority" not only knows all
the " secret intrigues" of the Royal Widow, but
even the " secret views" of the French Minister,
as well as he doei the address of the Morning
Chronicle office! Perhaps the Editor of that
Paper will have the goodness to inform his readers
whether he bad this wonderful plan from the
same hand which furnished him with the 64 secret
instructions of the Duke de Rawzan !"

• [MORNING: POST.]
It is said the people are in a state of apathy,
quite indifferent respecting the Catholic Ques-
tion. Tliey are' worn out with being year after
year called on to oppose it, expect its failure,
and rely on Parliament. If we had a Protestant
Association in London, like the Catholic Asso-
ciation (a wise measure to resort to), with a lo-
quacious Barrister ha ranauing toff dozen or two of
persons in the room, from the abundant materials
that exist against Popery, with the Reporters
of the Newspapers taking notes, and pub-
lishing all next. day, as they would do—if the
Members were to write. to all the parochial and
other Clergy, to support its viewsand collect a
Protestant Rent ; and if some great Lords were
to countenance this Association—then the two
Parties would be on a. level with regard to sup-
port by public opinion ; then there would be
such an outcry against Popery as has not been
heard for a- century. We have• no other proof
.• •

that the six. millions of Papists support Mr.
O'Connell, than he has that the 14 millions of
Protestants do not oppose him. Such an Associa-
tion would depend for itsgreatness and influence,
not upon -the number of- Members that met (the
fewer the better) but on the reports in `the News-
papers. The Press does all. Let it be a close
club. The Press exalted Eauntleroy and Thurtle
into objects of intense interest, because at the
time it had nothing else to make a noise about.
It would not be well to call such an Association
an Orange Club, or a Whig Club. The Whig
Club of London, of which the late Mr. C. J. Fox
was head, had a -portrait of King William the
Third always placed over the chair of the
President, and the first toast after dinner
was, " The Glorious and Immortal Memory
of King William the Third." Yet this toast,
adopted by the Orangemen in Dublin, was re-
garded as little short of high treason in the exa-
minations before the House of Commons two
years ago. The Whigs and Orangemen were
.much the same fifty years ago. Then. C. J. Fox
threatened to prosecute any one who wrote
against the Revolution ; but. now the Whigs
would destroy the very founlations of the Revo-
lution, by giving to the Papists more power than
they possessed even since the Reformation—not
only placing theni as' well as they were prior to
the Revolution, but mach better.