The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-14 00:00:00

fled his determination to withdraw at the next general
election, as lie finds he is too sturdy a Reformer for
the Cornishmen. Sir HUSSEY VIVIAN, whose poli-

tical principles are more likely to find favour with the
Liberals of East Cornwall, has been invited to come

forward by some of the leading Whigs in that quarter,
and wishing naturally enough to have the powerful
support of Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH opens
a correspondence with him on the subject. The
only terms upon which that support can be
granted are stated by Sir WILLIAM to be, either that
Sir HUSSEY VIVIAN shall pledge himself to vote for
the Ballot, or that that shall be considered an open
question by the Government. It appears that on nei-
ther of these points can a satisfactory answer be ob-
tained from the Whig candidate. Sir HUSSEY says he
has objections to the Ballot, but has not yet made up
his mind on the subject. It is possible that further
inquiry may lead him to see the propriety of adopting
that mode of voting, but he will not pledge himself.

" `Well, then," replies Sir WILLIAM, " in case you
should become convinced of the necessity of the Bal-
lot, are you, Sir HUSSEY, at liberty, as a member of
the Government, to vote on this question according to
your conviction ? Is the Ballot an open question, or
may you not be driven to the awkward alternative of
resigning either your principles or your place ? Hadn't
you better get some assurance on this important point
from the head of the Administration ? As soon as
you have obtained such assurance—as soon as you
have satisfied me that the Ballot is in future to be
considered by the Government as an open question—
your mind being still undecided upon it, you shall have
my cordial support—otherwise not." Sir HUssEY
VIVIAN alleges, in reply to this demand, that not being
in Parliament, he has no right to ask such a question
of Lord MELBOURNE—that mutual concessions
must be made by members of the same Go-
vernment—but that it is doing hiss great in-
justice to suppose that the tenure of office would
ever influence his vote on any important question
on which he had made up his mind. " I am
sorry," rejoins Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTII, " if I
have done you injustice, Sir HussEY. I had no inten-
tion of doing so. I only supposed you would act as
some other members of. the Government have done,
who have long ago made up their minds in favour of
the Ballot ; but I am afraid, from your reluctance fo
press Ministers on this point, that they as a Cabinet
mean to oppose it." Against this latter conclusion Sir
HUSSEY protests, and asserts that he is totally ignorant
of the intentions of the Government ; and moreover de-
clares, that whether the Ballot be an open question or
not, if he finds that it is necessary to the protection of
the independence of those on whom the elective fran-
chise has been bestowed, he will unhesitatingly vote
for giving it a trial.
Sir WILLIAM is not satisfied with this declaration,
and the correspondence terminates with his reply, of
which this is the concluding passage—
" How after this could you hope for my support with-
out being prepared to promise explicitly to vote for the
? Even after my solemn declaration, I have encoun-
tered, to a certain degree, the charge of inconsistency, in
order if possible to support you. MY, wish not in any way
to be the cause of unnecessary disunion—my desire to show
uncompromising hostility to the Tory party—my feelings
of sincere personal regard and great esteem for you—my
unwillingness to take upon myself the responsibility of your
refusing to come forward—my anxiety not to do anything
which might be displeasing to some of my constituents, all
contributed to induce me to swerve from the course which
I originally intended to pursue, and which I inn by no
means convinced is not the right one. Swayed by your
earnest request, and most anxious to comply with your
desires, finding that you were undetermined and open to
conviction, and fancying, from the tenor of your letters
that you are becoming inclined to the ballot, I offered and
still am ready to support you, as soon as the Government
of which you are a member declares the ballot an open ques-
tion. I trust this may soon be the case, both for their
sake and yours."
The perusal of the correspondence has impressed
us with the conviction that Ministers must either give
the assurance required by Sir WILLIAM MOLES-
WORTH—nameIy, that the ballot shall be an open
question to the members of the Government—or forfeit
the support which they have hitherto received from the
Radical Reformers. We trust they will not require
much time to deliberate as to which course it is their
interest to pursue. If the members of the Government
who have already declared their adhesion to the ballot
had acted with a little more firmness, this course would
have been decided long ago. The decision, however,
cannot now be delayed any longer, nor can we dis-
guise our opinion that a great deal depends upon it.
As to those who wait for more light on this subject
—who are not yet convinced that the protection afforded
by secret voting is necessary to the expression of th© real
sentiments of the electors, particularly in the counties
—who deal in ifs and buts, and other expletives
of the same kind, we can only say that we have
little hope of them. They are unconvertible unbe-
lievers—they would not be convinced though one rose
from the dead.

Madrid Journals, of the 6th inst., have been re-
ceived. The Gazelle of the sth contains the following
despatch from General NARVAEZ to his Excellency
the Minister of War :

" ARMY OF THE NORTH-DIVISION OF THE AD.

VANCED GUARD.

" I wrote to 'you from Arcos, on the 26th, to acquaint
you, in a few words, with the news of the victory obtained
over Gomez and his whole force on the 25th ; I then hoped
to be able to give you a detailed account on the following
day of the action ; but you will conclude, from the date of
the present desptch, that I have had scarcely time enough
to arrive here,even by forced marches. 1.14.. the head of the
Cavalry and the 3d Division, I am pursuing Gomez, who
has with him only 4,000 or 5,000 men, worn-out with
fatigue and the rapidity of their flight. He is gone to pass
the night at Estepa, and I hope to be able to come up with
him to-morrow. His soldiers, who formed a corps of 14,000
men, are now wandering about in all directions, and falling
into the hands of the National Guards, and the authorities
of the different boroughs.
Osuna, Nov. 27.

~ NARVAEZ."

In his despatch of the preceding day NARVAEZ
stated that GOMEZ was flying, accompanied by only
two thousand men ; here he gives the number as
more than double what he reported it only a few
hours before, without offering a sentence by way of re-
conciling so marked a discrepancy. Great allowance
will be made for the hurry in which the General writes ;
but the latitude which lie has taken in this case in ad-
dressing a Government is beyond what his standing
and services can presume to justify.
The debate in the Cortes on the subject of the
extraordi►iary powers demanded by the Cortes was not
concluded on the sth inst.

The Journals French .O.
of Monday, received this
morning, bring
no important advises from Spain. Pri-
vate letters from
Bayonne state, that on the sth inst.
REAL and RoviA (three
General EsPARTEIto made a movement upon Bilboa,
by the combined forces under
when he was attacked
battalions being left
Iti lues garrisonmusketry,
l v il rl ii
which
check) and that after a smart
firetVo lkeep
oL f A lasted the whole
Christinos were driven back a league and a half. The
loss on both sides was very inconsiderable, as the
two armies kept at a respectful distance, so that
few of the shots took effect. The d
a vantages of
the ground were all in favour of the Carlists. They
were posted on rising grounds, covered with trees and
underwood, whence they sallied forth in small detach-
ments as the Christinos approached, and from whence
they could keep up a galling fire without being seen ;
whereas the Christinos occupied an open plain, unshel-
tered and exposed on every side. There is but one
thing in the accounts which have been received of this
affair which is calculted to excite distrust ; and that is
the absence of that spirit of enthusiasm in the troops,
without which neither a Spanish nor a French army