The Sun.
London, England, 1825-10-27 00:00:00

[BRITISH PRESS.]

The French Journalists pretend to be very
well informed as to what is passing in the Cabi-
aetof Madrid. They alt agree that negotiations
are on foot respecting the new American States,
but they differ widely with regard to the condi-
tions required by Spain. It is said that the
Mexican Government has offered to give as much
as twelve millions sterling for the recognition of
its independence, besides which, it has proposed
to burden itself with half the debt of the mother
country, and to admit Spanish vessels and mer-
chandise, on payment of duties of one-half the
amount charged upon those of other nations.—
We do not believe one word of this state-
went. By an article in the Treaties of Alliance
between the new Republics, it is expressly sti-
pulated that they shall not pay one dollar to Spain
for the recognition of their independence, or by
way of indemnity, or in any shape what-ver.
Their Position is essentially different from that of
the revolted negroes of Hayti, and they will not
uselessly sully their honour, and impoverish their
treasuries, in order to administer relief to the
oppressor who can no longer do them harm. The
sews from Greece in the Paris Papers of Monday
is confused. As far as it appears worthy of credit,
it agrees with the information we published two
days ago. A part of the new Egyptian expedition,
it is elated, has sailed from Alexandria. We
trust the Greeks may meet with it at sea. The
insurrection in Candia has become general.—
S.kould the Hydriots arrive in time to de-
cide the contnt, the independence of t'his
large and important island will be este-
Wished. In that case Greece has nothing to
dread from Egypt or elsewhere. The Austrians

continue to complain bitterly of the " piracies"'
of the Greek cruisers. After reading the inter-
cepted correspondence between the Turkish
Commanders and the Austrian Consul at Zante,
nobody can doubt the hollowness of the neu-
trality professed by the latter power. We might
safely undertake to affirm, that almost every ves-
sel sailing under the Austrian flag in the Levant
is, in fact, engaged in the service of the Maho-
metans. Yet, because they are, therefore, treated
as belligerents, they cry out against the punish-
ment justly inflicted upon thetn.

We are informed that the official details of the
military operations in the Burmese territory,
which ended in the capture of Donabew, have
been received by 'Government. We exclusively
communicated the substance of this intelligence
some time ago to our readers. We understand
that Gen. Cotton's division was that which suf-
fered the greatest loss. Sir Archibald Campbell
states, in his dispatch, as we have already said,
that he has reason to believe that Bundoolah was
killed in the attack. The whole number of in-
dividuals belonging to the British army, killed,
wounded, and missing, amounts only to 129, in-
cluding officers.—(iNdo

[MORNING CHRONICLE.]
A Morning Paper, whose defence of the Chan-
cellor we noticed on Tuesday, approves of his
Lordship's practice of taking home papers on the
ground that " it is necessary that a Judge who
wishes not to leaow which side of a cause is most
dexterously pleaded, but which side is the right
one, must, if it be (as all Chancery cases are)
grounded on written documents, examine those
documents personally." This will appear reason-
able enough to persons unacquainted with the
very exceptionable nature of a great part of the
evidence on which Courts of Equity proceed.—
The truth is, that affidavits (for example) in
Chancery are partial statements, on which little
or no reliance can be placed, and from which no
impression should be received until the opposite
party has had the opportunity of rebutting them.
It is notorious that affidavits in Chancery com-
monly contain not what truth requires, but what
the deponent's case requires. Bushels of these
documents, however, meet the Chancellor's eye,
in his private room, where there is no advo-
cate or party to detect and expose the partiality
of their representatioas, and the impressions thus
conveyed often warp or perplex his Lordship's
otherwise clear view of the me.its of a case.
From long familiarity with Equity practice,
moreover, the Chancellor seems to have lost
all idea of the real purpose of an affidavit. He
is often heard to observe on the Bench, 64 I wish
I could see an affidavit to such and such an
effect," the party, in nine cases out of ten, in-
stantly gratifies this desire, he goes out of Court,
and forthwith makes an affidavit to the very let-
ter of his Lordship's wish. Nor must people be
surprised at this complaisance, for after a man
has got into the way of swearing to depositions
in Chancery (or we may say elsewhere), it is sur-
prising how accommodating to his interest his con.
science becomes. if Chancery evidence were
what it ought to be, which is what it is not, we
should not object as strongly as we do to Lord
Eldon's inattention to a cause in Court, and to
his promised study of it at some indefinite future
periud in his private apartments ; but while the
evidence continues so rotten, as much of it now
is, it is absolutely necessary that the Judge should
listen to the objections that can be urged against
it. We agree most entirely with our contem-
porary, that a Judge should not take his view of I
a cause from the statements of Counsel, still less
should he take it from notoriously unfaithful and
unanewered depositions. Au advocate's repre-
sentation of his ow❑ case is entitled to small
credit, but he has the power of discovering much
of the falsehood of his opponent's case ; and, by
inattention to the business in Court, the Chan-
cellor loses the opportunity of getting at the
portion of truth which is to be obtained by these
means. It would be a reform to get stricter evi-
dence, but while we have bad evidence, it is
well to subject it to all the scrutiny possible ; the
Chancellor's private chamber allows of none.—
We have not, at this moment, leisure to enter
into the general question of the Chancellor's
administration of his office. Our contemporary
triumphantly refers us to an article in the Quar-
lerly Revicre for his Lordship's complete excul-
pation ; nay more, for the proof of his excelling,
in dispatch, all other Chancellors that ever have
been. We, however, long ago exposed the mis-
statements of this article, which is a miserably
flimsy production, destitute even of plausibility,
false in its facts, and consistently unsound in its
arguments, if arguments they can be called. With.
out a compliment, our contemporary is, beyond
all comparison, a more dexterous champion of
Lord Eldon than 'the scribe its The Quarterly.—
The resolution not to be bullied out of the Lord
Chancellor, with which our brother journalist
concludes, can scarcely be read without a smile.
46 We have," says he, " weathered the storm in
worse times, and are not now to be bullied out
of our great men by the impotent railings of a
disappointed party." Let not our contempo-
rary deceive himself, or attempt to deceive others;
this is no party question, almost the whole coun-
try is of one accord on it. The Chancellor's few
friends and immediate retainers are not blind to
this fact ; they see and confess the spread of what
they term dissatisfaction. The Chancellor is
looked upon as the main prop of an intolerable
nuisance, and as the obstacle to every species of
improvement.

[MORNING POST.]
The proceedings of the Court Martial held on
Captain Hoppner, for the loss of the Fury, of
which we gave an account in yesterday's Paper,
will be perused with considerable interest. It
must be adt'nitted that the statements made by
this Officer, corroborated by the authority of
Captain Parry, and the experience of four unsuc.
cessful voyages, create some doubt whether it is
advisable to prosecute the dl,covery by sea. The
probability of success becomes weakened by re-
peated disappointment, and where the united ta-
lents of Captains Parry, Lyon, and Iroppner here
failed, it becomes a duty to use extreme caution

in future proceedings. We do not mean to re-
commend a❑ abandonment of the enterprize, be-
cause the concurrent opinions of all competent
judges are in favour of its practicability. But we
conceive it desirable, from prudential motives,
to await further intelligence from Captain
Franklin and his party before engaging in a fur-
ther attempt. The last accounts left them al-
ready 700 miles in advance of Lake Winnipeg,
in high health and spirits, and with abundant
means to continue a journey, which will certainly
furnish much valuable information. The land
traveller, aided by his canoes and sledges, has,
perhaps, a better chance than the navigator of
accomplishing the discovery. The progress of
the latter is liable to be arrested by, accidents
which no sagacity can anticipate, whilst the de-
scription of perils he has to contend with admit
of little time for council or deliberation. We
hope that our view of this subject will not be
thought undeserving of consideration, and we
confidently venture to predict that the question
will ultimately be determined by a series of over-
land expeditions.

NEW TIMES.]
In another column will be found further parti-
culars of the lamented loss of the Comet. We
cannot but feel satisfied that we did not give pub.
licity to the names of Lord Macdonald, Mr.
Downie of Appin, and Mrs. Grant of Laggan, as
being among the sufferers. We had received in-
telligence to that effect on Monday, and alluded
to it in our leading article of Tuesday, but with-
out particularizing the individuals, so as to occa-
sion to their friends an alarm which the event has
proved to be unfounded. A Glasgow Paper dis-
tinctly asserts, that neither of these three respected
individuals was on board the Comet at the
time of the accident. Mr. Glover, the ce-
lebrated landscape painter, had a providen-
tial escape; he owes his safety to his love
of his art. He landed at Rothsay, as we under-
stand, to take a sketch of the scenery of that
place ; and the two Messrs. Martineau went
ashore merely for the pleasure of accompanying
the distinguished artist. A great outcry is raised
against the Captain of the Ayr, who undoubtedly
might have saved their lives ; but allowance must
be made for the fright and terror of such a mo-
ment. We speak feelingly on this subject, hav-
ing ourselves been in a situation nearly similar.
Where dangers come on gradually, or have been
foreseen, and calculated upon, they may be met
with calmness, however terrific ; but we have
seen brave British sailors deprived of all self-
contronl by the sudden approach of destruction—
and men who had borne their full share in the
battle •f the Nile rushed to the end of the bow-
sprit to leap aboard a ship which was running
down their own vessel. At such a moment
they thought neither of duty nor of humanity—
self-preservation, the first law of nature, occupied
them wholly, and yet these very men were as
brave and kind-hearted as any sailors that ever
ploughed the ocean. What we say is not meant
to excuse the gross neglect of which both the
commanders were guilty, and which can hardly
be too severely censured ; against a repetition of
this offence, let the strongest precaution be taken,
but let us make every allowance for those weak-
nesses which are the common lot of humanity.—
Presence of mind is au invaluable quality ; but
the braveit man alive cannot be sure of command-
ing it in a moment of sudden and terrific peril.

LMORNING HERALD.]
It is fortunate for the owners of steam vessels,
that the frightful accident which has befallen one
of them (the Comet), off the port of Greenock,
did not occur at the commencement, or during
the height of the season, as it would doubtless
have deterred many hundreds of people from
availing themselves of this admirable invention.
Not that we can see that this fatal event fur-
uishes any argument against their use ; but will,
we trust, lead to that degree of caution, an at-
tention to which upon this occasion, would, in all
probability, have averted this awful calamity.
Vessels have been run down by each other at
sea, and in rivers, long before the application of
steam to navigation was thought of ; and so far
from adding to the perils of the ocean, there can
be no doubt but that with due care and manage-
ment, the certainty and rapidity obtained by the
power of steam must tend not only to diminish
danger, but with it those numerous iucouve-
niences and horrors which are attendant upon
sea voyages even to persons most accus-
tomed to them. Among the cautions re-
quisite, none seems more obvious than that
every vessel (whether a steamer or not)
should show abundant light, both fore and aft,
after night-fall ; and that they should slacken
their pace on entering and leaving harbour, and
to a certain distance both before and after so do-
ing ; and also that similar precautions should be
used in their passage upon rivers. This obviously
leads us to notice the inconvenience and danger
which has long existed from their rapid passage
through that part of the Thames above Black-
wall. It is high time that this evil were put an
end to. It is one which if it cannot be cured
ought not to be endured. And in fine, it never
will be remedied effectually till these kind of
vessels are absolutely prohibited from corn-
ing higher up the stream than Greenwich or',
Blackwell. We are well aware how much such
a restriction would take off from the convenience
as well as from the profit to the owners ; but no
one who has ever witnessed their passage through
the Pool could for a moment hesitate in declaring
that it ought not to continue as new conducted.
The present practice of disembarking too is ex-
tremely dangerous and inconvenient, from the
crowd of boats which ply round every steam ves-
sel on her arrival in the River. We do not see
why vessels drawing so little water as most of
these do might not be generally brought near
enough to the shore to discharge their passengers
without boats, or if this cannot be done, why they
might not be admitted into docks for the purpose.
Why do not the Lord Mayor and Aldermen form
some regulations on this head 2 or does their
guardianship of the river only extend to swan-
hopping, and to punishing
log the white-bait, which they themselves after-
wards Nast upon ? fishermen for catch-

STATE OF GREECE.
.....0.0.--

The Friend of the Law contains the following
parallel of the situatio❑ of the Pelopounesus in
1822 and 1825 :

" In 1822, in the month of June, there were
30,000 Turks in the Peloponnesus ; 2,000 Greeks
stopped their passage at the post of the Wind-
mills at Napoli di Romania. The Turks were
masters of the citadels of Corinth, Patras, Modon,
Coron, and Napoli di Romania. The Greeks only
possessed Navarino and Malvoisie. In September
the 30,000 Turks were annihilated, and two
months afterwards Napoli and Corinth were in
the power of the Greeks.
" In 1825, in the month of June, the Greeks
possessed Corinth, Napoli, and Malvoisie, so that
they have a fort more than in 1822. There are
at present about 10,000 Turks in the Morea ; so
that the Greeks have 20,000 enemies less to
fight. Cannot they do in July, 1825, what they
did in July, 1822 ? _ _ _

" Are not the Greeks of 1825 the Greeks of
1821? Greeks ! the eyes of Europe are upon
you, and this campaign ought to decide your
fate. In July, 1892, 30,000 Turks were checked
at the Windmills by 2,000 Greeks ; and in June,
1325, more than 6,000 disciplined Arab troops
were routed at the met Mills by a handful of
brave warriors."