The Sun.
London, England, 1836-09-02 00:00:00

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LA_ SUN, LO

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bribe orgood eating and drinking gratis—many of the
tickets having, as is usual on such occasions, been
given away—can bring it into favour among the intel-
ligent middle classes of the county. The Conservative
party is indeed at the lowest stage of depression ; con-
sequently, at every public meeting and dinner, the
Incapables give vent to the same language of dismay,
disappointment, and despair. At the Denbigh Anni-
versary this desolation of spirit was specially re-
•narkable, each orator vieing with the other, not
in the expression of hope and confidence, but of
sheer, unalloyed desperation. The Chairman's (the
Hon. LLOYD KENYON) speech, in particular, was a
more dismal effusion than any that has been given vent
to, since the days when JEREMIAH uttered his lamen-
tations among the ruins of Nineveh. The Hon. Gen-
tleman was all affliction for his party—all despair for
his country. Those wicked Whigs, he said, had laid
the hands of revolution on every thing—a conviction
which so completely overpowered his sensibilities, and
clouded his judgment, as to involve him in the most
ludicrous inconsistencies. Acting under the influence
of this malign spell, he denied one moment what he had
said the moment before, lamenting in one part of his
speech " the present distracted state of the country,"
and in another, congratulating himself that " it was
now in a state of prosperity 1" In speaking of our
Ecclesiastical Establishment, he gave equal evidence
of being, like Othello, " perplexed in the extreme."
Thus, he stated that the " Church was built on the
surest foundation against schism. It was one of the
. fairest gifts to man—the noblest work of God.'
Now as episcopacy, according to the high Tory creed,
forms the ground work of the ecclesiastical edifice, it
is clear from the above assertion, that the Bishops
must be the " fairest gift" that GOD ever"yet made " to
man ;" and that to arraign the opinions of such im-
maculate bipeds immediately emanating, as they do,
from Heaven, is to arraign the dispensations of Provi-
dence itself. This may be good Conservative doctrine,
• but it is sad stuff, for all that. Who but the rankest fa-
natic would ever dream of defining Dr. PHILLPOTTS
as " the noblest work of God !" It is really sur-
; prising what stark nonsense these Tories permit them-
= selves to utter. Whether in Parliament, or out of
Parliament, they are never weary of giving vent to
the most ludicrous absurdities, though it was reserved
for a KENYON to scale the top-most point of folly, by
publicly declaring his opinion that episcopacy" was
one of the fairest gifts to man—the noblest work of
God."

We copy the following very sensible observations
respecting the late dreadful fire, from our Contempo.
rary, the Morning Herald, of this day :

" Another dreadful conflagr, ation has occurred, and that in
the heart of the mercantile part of the metropolis, in which
the loss of property is calculated to amount to half a million,
the greater part of which is attributed to the want of a suffi-
cien,t supply of water to arrest the progress of the flames in
the first instance. This is so 'Serious an evil, and one, wee
regret to add, of such frequent occurrence, that we can-
not but express our surprise that some effectual steps vre
not taken to prevent it. The Insurance Offices, in particu-
lar, arc so deeply interested in its correction, that they ap-
pear at least to be extremely negligent about the enor-
mous drafts upon their funds which these calamities occasion,
not to set about the matter in earnest. Why are not the dif-
ferent Water Companies, who enjoy so valuable a monopoly,
and whose utility every one must readily acknowledge—
why are they not ,compelled (by Parliament, if no other
power can effect it) to keep their mains constantly charged?
Instead of which they appear to be, one and all, so chary of
their simple uncxpensive fluid, as if it were wine or nectar.
What are the parish vestries, what the civic authorities, what
are the metropolitan members—all of them such mirrors of
patriotism—about, that they do not turn their attention to this
subject, and never quit it till they have secured to the inhabi-
tants of this vast hive of wealth, industry, and enjoyment, an
exemption from the so frequent occurrence of a calamity,
which we cannot but persuade ourselves admits of prompt and
easy mitigation? We arc only doing whet we conceive to he
our duty to the public in thus adverting to the subject--let the
parties we have alluded to do theirs."

No person who has seriously reflected upon the alarm-
ing frequency of fires in the metropolis, and has calcu-
lated the immense masses of public and private wealth
annually consumed by these terrible visitations, can
feel otherwise than grateful to our Contemporary for
bringing this subject so appositely before the public.
The stoicism of the civic, parochial, and other autho-
rities, upon a subject of the most vital importance to
the inhabitants of London, would justify us in pro-
nouncing them more observant of the ordinances of
the Koran than of the precepts of the New Testament,
did we not know that their apathy arises from culpable
indifference, not from an entire resignation to the pre-
destined decrees of Providence. Something must be
done to rouse them. If those who enjoy the lucrative
monopoly of supplying the inhabitants of this over-
grown city with water will not do their duty, means
ought instantly to be taken to compel them. The sup-
ply of water is notoriously inadequate to the wants of the
inhabitants ; and though the Companies are perpe-
tually dinning in our ears that abundance of water for
every purpose may be had at a moment's notice, yet
somehow or other it always happens that there is little
or none to be had when there is the greatest want of it
—namely in cases of fire. The Courts of Aldermen
and Common Council are deserving of great blame in
this affair. They are especially bound to remedy a
calamity which annually involves the ruin of some
hundreds of industrious and independent tradesmen.

The oily accounts from Spain received this morn-
ing, will be found in the following extracts from the
French Journals of Wednesday :

PAras, AUGUST 30. —News have been received from Nfa-
dricl of the 21st, 22d, and 23d. This news is really melan-
choly. If we credit the information which has been given us,
there was fighting in the streets of Madrid, and there had
been a great effusion of blood. Journal du Commerce,
Second Edition.

We have received by the usual channel the Madrid Journals
of the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22d of this month. We see
with pleasure that, since the deplorable affair of the 18'h,
in the evening there had been no collision between the
several corps of the garrison. The letters from the fron-
tiers had confounded the dates. It was by a courier
despatched on the night of the 21st, that the first news was
brought of the affair of the 18th. The other couriers having
been delayed, it was supposed that the courier in question had
left immediately after the affair, which was accordingly pre-
sumed to have happened on the 21st. We have only to wish
that the contest may not have been renewed in the days sub-
sequent to the 21st, as has been reported in Paris for these
two days.
The Memorial des Pyrenees says, " We have the following in
a letter from Bebons :—The following news has been brought
us by muletteers from laca, on the 20th and 21st. 12,000
Navarrese Urbanos rose spontaneously and fell on eight Car-
list battalions, which they totally destroyed, not one having
been able to escape by flight."
The Sentinelle des Pyrenees speaks of the assassination of
the Marquis de Miraflores, President of the Chamber of Pro-
ceres, but in such vague terms, that we may hope the news is
not true.—Journal du Commerce, Aug. 31.
(Extract of a Letter dated Madrid, August 22.)
The peace of the capital has not been disturbed since the
events of the 19th, but the irritated state of the public mind
and the cabals to cause division among the Liberals do not
guarantee that this tranquillity will be of long duration. It
is very certain that there exists a state of general discontent
which the enemies of the country make the most of, and if
the roar of the cannon has not been heard since the 19th,
no one day or night passes without some affray taking place.
Private vengeance causes much bloodshed in the capital, and
as yet the endeavours of the authorities have been unable to
calm the effervescence of the popular passions. The capital
is not the only theatre of these dreadful excesses ; letters
from Valencia state that disturbances have likewise occurred
in that town.

The citizens are obliged to arm in self-defence, in the ab-
sence of all legal protection. It is no uncommon sight to
behold the inhabitants of tha city with a sword by their side,
pistols in their belt, and a cudgel in their hand: it is indeed a
strange state of things that gives to the peaceful inhabitant of
this city the accoutrement and appearance of the leader of a
band of brigands. If the alarm among the citizens is great,
it is no less so at the palace of the Queen. The nomination
of General Rodil has evidently been forced upon her; her
dislike to that officer has especially manifested itself since the
fall of the Mendizabal Ministry.
Calatrava thought to conciliate everything by procuring this
nomination, upon condition that Rodi lshould at the same time
repair to the army of the North, and thus avoid to the Queen
the necessity of (laving any personal communication with
man who was so repugnant to her.
It appears quite settled that the Cortes are to meet on the