The Sun.
London, England, 1836-01-26 00:00:00

SPAIN.

The following proclamation has been addressed by the
Spanish Government to the inhabitants of the Basque pro-

l'inces :

" Two years have now passed since, perfidiously insti-
gated by a small body of individuals, the greater part
strangers to your customs and your language, you raised
the standard of rebellion against a Queen who never in-
tended to abolish your ancient and venerable institutions,
nor thought of destroying the sacred religion of your fore-
fathers. Two years have passed, and during all that time
your soil has been bathed with the blood of your best chil-
dren ; and, in spite of the tenacity of your national cha-
racter, and the advantages afforded by your topographical
situation, you have not succeeded, up to the present day,
in extending a single inch the dominion of your chief. His-
tory will never credit that in a country so celebrated for
the origin and tradition of its liberal institutions, where prac-
tical liberty fled for refuge when the whole continent of
Europe was obscured by despotism and ignorance, that there
in the 19th century, absolutism and the Inquisition could
with any success be invoked. No, Basques, the time is come
when your delusions must be completely dispelled. Cruelly
deceived by the principal authors of your calamities, you
conceived for a moment the absurd hope of being as-
sisted by a Northern Government ; but, situated at a dis-
tance yof 500 leagues from you, and not being able to move
a single man without the consent of the Cabinets of London
and Paris, he would afford your cause but poor assistance,
who, to maintain the peculiar essence of his Government, is
obliged to depend on the moral re-action of the age and of
modern ideas. So far from the slightest hope being left you,
an army of 100,000 valiant men, supported by the omnipo-
tent alliance of England, France, and Portugal, is about to
occupy your territory ; and at a moment so terrible for the
rebellious, and so cheering for the loyal, her Majesty desires
again to address you as a Queen, and to remedy your evils
as a mother. Every one of you, who, being convinced of
his errors, shall choose to quit the standard of the Usurper,
and retire into France, shall be de facto amnestized, and
shall receive through the Spanish authorities at Bayonne
four reals a-day, if a private soldier, and more if an officer,
or if he surrenders himself with his arms and horse. Thus
you will obtain security and repose against the vexations of
your oppressors : you will have at the same time bread to
satisfy the hunger of your wives and children ; and you will
return, finally, to the affectionate embrace of a Queen, who
will never cease to lament the terrible consequences to
which your ingratitude and blindness will expose you."

CONSTANTINOPLE.

(From a Morning Paper Correspondent.)
DEC. 30, 1835.—Lord Ponsonby obtained the firman
of the Sultan for the suppression of Mehemet Ali's mono-
polies on Sunday last. It is couched in the most decided
terms, and applies to those of Egypt as well as Syria,
which it denounces as illegal, 'contrary to existing treaties,
and unauthorised by the Porte, which possesses the ex-
clusive right of imposing them. No ulterior steps are
indicated in the event of his refusal to submit so this man-
date : and England, in concert with the Porte, will be at
liberty to adopt such as they may deem expedient. Indeed,
when pressed on this point by the Reis Effendi (at the in-
stigation of the Russian Minister, who wished to defeat his
object), Lord Ponsonby, after demanding some time for
consideration, replied with his usual tact, that his Govern-
ment would act conformably with its interests and dignity,
and would take no measures without consulting the Porte
and without its concurrence. Armed with this power by
the Porte, which, as regards Mehemet Ali, is one
of positive annihilation, it is to he hoped that its
application on the part of our Government will be
equally prompt and unsparing. It is known, that
having received his cue from Russia, he is already pre-
pared to withdraw his monopoly on silk, which is specifi-
cally
mentioned in Lord Ponsonby's note, and subsequently
in the firman ; but its execution must be as sweeping and
resolute as its tenor. Not orgy silk, but cotton, on which,
to the amount of 250,000 bales, he defrauds his subjects
of the annual profit, must cease to swell the arrogance of
this overgrown vassal, and minister to his ambitious and
treasonous designs, already matured for the spring. News
has been received by a Tartar from Bagdad, that, without
any provocation, he has seized and fortified the town of
Dair, on the Euphrates, belonging to that pachalik.
Moreover, that the tribe of Arabs named Anassees have
delivered to him the town of Annah, another of its depen-
dencies, so that as was long anticipated, it is now evident
that the storm will burst in this quarter ; and that Bagdad
is the prize he has principally in view. You have already
learnt from. my former letters, how carefully he has secured
himself from any interruption on the side of Asia Minor
and Mount Taurus, by rendering every pass impregnable.
It is clear, therefore, that unless we make a speedy and
effectual use of the opportunity now presented us for inter-
ference, that the Porte will be involved in hostilities, and
Russia once more on the scene, to complete the denort6-
meat long since predicted by Catherine. " When both
horns of the crescent," said the Empress in a letter to
Voltaire, " Greece and Egypt, shall have been eclipsed, we
will easily extinguish the remainder." With respect to the
former country, Greece, it is not only extinct as regards
Turkey, but will probably, ere long, conspire with Egypt in
inclosing this devoted empire with a hostile frontier in every
direction. I have learnt, on the best authority, that the
marriage long in negotiation between King Otho and a
Princess of the Russian dynasty, is finally arranged. Re-
ligious no less than political scruples were said to have ren-
dered the Bavarians averse to the match, but their reluc-
tance has at length been overcome by the intrigues and as-
cendancy of Russia's Cabinet in this part of the world. The
poor Greeks were made to feel most unequivocally, that
while Russia withheld her influence, no treaty of commerce,
or any other object essential to their interests, not even
common courtesy, will be expected from the Porte. They
have, in consequence, been compelled to consent to submit
to the matrimonial yoke ; which, unless the other Euro-
pean Powers strenuously forbid the bane, will unite their
country to Russia as indissolubly as any other province of
the empire.
Tahir Pacha is expected here every day with his flotilla,
„augmented, since its departure, by one frigate, recently con-
' tructed at Mytelene. It is a 63, built after the model of
his Majesty's frigate the Blonde, and is said to be quite
equal to its prototype. Indeed, if the Turkish ships were
only manned as well as they are built, they might not only
defy the naval reaources of Russia, bqt cope with thos9 pf

the Maritime States par excellence. Including ships of all
rates and metal, their navy is composed of fifty ; viz., two
three-deckers, ten ships of the line, seventeen frigates, and
twenty-one corvettes and smaller vessels. The wind and
current rendering it impossible bring the ships into the
arsenal t steamers, the whole flee: has been towed
into it by them, ve:37 fortunately in time to Ls, sheltered
from the storms which have been raging these last tI;P or
three darit: They are all to be immediately dismantled.
Advices oC the' sth instant from Teheran give a most
discouraging account of the state of Persia. The young
Shah, who had given some promise of vigour and intelli-
giettee at the earlier part of his career, had abandoned him-
seicitild fire affairs of his country to an unworthy favourite
named Hagi lit Agassi. This man, who has usurped
all the powers of the okectltive, is described as active and
ambitious, but destitute of all sound capacity, and utterly
unprincipled ; a compound of craft, malignity, and servility
—forming one of those mischievous characters iP public
affairs, which the East alone can generate. Under this
wretched Minister no efforts were made, save those of ex-
tortion, to enable the country to meet the indemnity due
Russia by the Treaty of Kermashah, which is draining it
of its last tomaun.