The Sun.
London, England, 1825-09-12 00:00:00

THE LONDON JOURNALS.

the Supreme Authority, the French themselvei
had instituted in the country. The pretext, on
which he was condemned, without however, hav-
ing been heard or tried, is the following :—A few
weeks before the capitulation, and when the war
was carrying on against the French and the
Royalist Spaniards, El Empecinado happened to
be operating with his division near the town of
Cazeres, in Estremadura, and had occasion to
transmit certain orders to the local authorities of
that place, connected with the service, which
were not obeyed. Cazeres was noted for being
favourable to the servile party, with which a clan-
destine correspondence was there kept up. El
Empecinado, finding his orders disobeyed, and
the movements of his division consequently pa-
ralysed, renewed them, adding, that if they
were not immediately carried into execution, he
would chastise the town for its treachery. They
were again disregarded, and he marched up be-
fore the place. The traitors, in the meanwhile
had organised a force, which was posted in the
advances to the town. El Empecinado's division
was attacked, and feeling indignant at the man.
ner in which he was treated, he led his men on,
overcame his opponents, and punished the ring-
leaders for their audacity. This is the crime for
which he has suffered, although a solemn capitu-
lation intervened, as well as the lapse of upwards
of a year, during which time he has endured all
kinds of indignities, even that of being shewn
about in an iron cage, like a wild beast ! El
Empecinado, after the several armies had
capitulated and the Constitution had been
put down, retired home, unconscious of hay-
ing done any thing beyond his duty, and pro-
vided with a regular discharge and passport from
the Royalist Authorities who had succeeded.—
He was then near the frontiers of Portugal, and
had he apprehended any future reproach, flight
was open to him. This spirit of personal ven-
geance, to which the Spanish Royalists have been
driven, from the moment they had the means
provided for them by the French, must eventually
be attended with serious consequences. It was
early foreseen by the Duke d'A►►gouleme, who,
on the Bth of August, and when at Andujar,
on his way to Cadiz, issued his noted Decree,
in the heading of which he declares, " That the
Occupation of Spain by the army under his com,
mand, places him under the indispensable oblige.
tion of watching over the tranquility of the king-
dom," wherefore he proceeds to decree, Ist.
" That no Spanish authorities shall imprison any
person, without the previous consent of the French
commanders ; Rdly. The French commanders
shall demand the release of all persons imprison-
ed in an arbitrary manner for political motives,
especially soldiers, in order that they may return
home," &c. The manner in which this decree
was disregarded, as well as every capitulation
made with, or sanctioned by, the French com-
manders, has spread incalculable misery over
Spain. Not even the ashes of the dead find re-
pose in the tomb. Arco Aguero, one of the pa-
triotic officers concerned in the revolution of La

DAILY
Extracts. from the Morning Papers, Sept. 12, 1825.

[PUBLIC LEDGER.]
Notwithstanding the absence of all official or
demi-official information on the subject, the con-
viction is gaining ground that we shall very
shortly.have a dissolution of Parliament ; and, in
consequence, the activity and address of elec
tioneering partisans has begun to display itself in
many of those cities and boroughs where a con-
test may be supposed to offer chances of a suc-
cessful result. It has been the policy of every
administration rather to shorten the duration of
Parliaments, than, by suffering them to run out
their full term, to give a chance for the General
Election taking place at a time which might be
unfavourable to the interests of Ministers. As it
would be unreasonable for any Ministry to anti-
cipate a period when, as a body, they would be
more popular than the present Administration
now is, we think it highly probable that, at the
approaching meeting of the Privy Council, a dis-
solution may be resolved on.

[MORNING HERALD.]
We hope that the approaching Old Bailey Ses-
sions will not proceed with quite so unseemly a
haste as has been the case of late. Formerly the
tedious length of its duration was a serious tax
upon prosecutors and witnesses; but this appears
to have been, since the opening of a new Court,
succeeded by a rapidity not quite congenial with
the ideas generally entertained of the solemn
forms of a Court of Justice. The Judges who
attend are not at all amenable to this remark.—

The very small portion which they take of the
trials shews at once the time and attention they
bestow upon their cases, compared to what some
of the others must experience. When the life of
a fellow-creature (or, what is often as dear to
him, his character and liberty) is at stake, and
the oaths and consciences of jurymen involved in
every step that is taken, nothing seems less cal-
culated to promote justice, or the respect which
is due to it, than an over-eagerness to arrive at
the conclusion of the matter, and too quick a
succession of objects to pass under the same
judgment. We would not for a moment appear
to intimate that any person appointed to preside
as a Judge in the highest (for such it is in one
sense) Criminal Court in the kingdom, is other-
wise than fully competent to the task he under-
takes. But it is a great point towards the object
which our criminal judicature has upon the minds
of the community, that nothing like undue haste
should appear in its proceedings ; that time should
be given for a full developement of circumstances
—that, above all, the accused should not be de-
prived of the benefit of Counsel or of witnesses ;
and that, on the other hand, all due means should
be used to attain the ends of public justice if lie
is guilty ; and that, on the other, no means of
establishing his innocence should be withheld
from him. That criminal trials do not proceed
with all the caution, care, and certainty which
used to accompany them, both at the Old Bailey
and elsewhere, is evident, we think, from the nu-
merous revisions and reversals of verdicts which

Isla, and a gentlemanly noble-minded man, was
appointed Governor of Badajoz, when the Con-
stitution was restored, and whilst hunting, he fell
from his horse, and died. lie was buried with
honours which could only be bestowed by a
grateful public. More than three years have
elapsed since his death, and last month the mem-
bers of the Municipality of Badajoz, in conse-
quence of a resolution adopted them, went to the
burying-place, disinterred the coffin, opened it,
and burned the remains together with the in-
signia, &c. and threw the ashes to the wind.
This took place early in the morning, and be•
fare the inhabitants were up, otherwise a common

have of late years taken place. Formerly the
propriety of a solemn verdict of this description
was questioned ; but now nothing is more com-
mon than to hear of the deliberations of juries
being reheard upon affidavits ; and instances
have, unfortunately, not been wanting where
men have been convicted by Juries and con-
demned by Judges whose innocence has been
subsequently established to every one's satisfac-
tion. This is a topic the agitation of which will
not, we know, be acceptable in certain quarters.
We impute no blame, nor do we mean offence to
any one; but we think it our duty to allude at
once fearlessly and openly to what is becoming
a serious evil, if not timely and effectually
checked.

tion might have taken place, so much was this
distinguished officer and commander beloved.

[TILE TIMES.]
It will be seen from an article under the head
of Hayti—(see another column of linE SUN)—
that the injurious effects of the recent -.nost unex-
ampled bargain between the French Government
and Boyer of Hayti, are to be divided between
the Negroes, who pay so extravagantly to obtain
it, and this country, by which those bad conse-
quences might have been easily anticipated and
averted, but were to all appearance overlooked.
If English goods are to be thus effectually ex-
cluded from the ports of Hayti, it is obvious
enough that the comfort of the Haytian consumer
must be sacrificed in the same degree with the
interest of the British manufacturer. So, if British.
merchantmen be excluded, the ship-owners of
France, having a monopoly of the carrying trade,
will work the vicious privilege in the true spirit of
monopolists, and to the injury of those for whom
they carry. Should the treaty of recognition, as it is
ridiculously termed,be suffered to produce its natu-
ral fruits, those fruits can or will amount to nothing
better than the complete subjugation of the island
to its ancient masters—to nothing better than ab-
ject slavery, bought by absolute beggary, and
rivetted by an entire surrender of all means of
recovering any political or commercial right out
of which the poor betrayed inhabitants may have
been bullied or defrauded. We do not hesitate
to affirm, that on the part of Boyer there seems
to us to lurk in every line of this compact the
strongest internal evidence of treason to the Hay-
tian people ; nor shall we be surprised if before
many weeks their sentiments on the subject are
communicated to the President en a manner likely
to impress itself very forcibly on his mind, and
on that of his successors.

[MORNING CHRONICLE.]
The feeling of horror and indignation at the
barbarous manner in which El Empecinado has
been put to death by orders of King Ferdinand,
for whose liberation and restoration he fought and
exerted himself much,, seems uniform and general.
Indeed, it may serve as a specimen of the man-
ner in which justice is at present administered in
Spain. El Empecinado was originally a Car-
bonero, or dealer in charcoal, and from this em-
ployment the nick-neme he ever afterwards re-
tained is derived. He was one of the first
Guerilla Chiefs who raised the standard of op-
position to the French, and in the province of
Guadalajara early took the field with a small
band, chiefly composed of men of his own occu-
pation, over whom he had ascendancy. This
party, accustomed to every kind of hardship and
privation, was extremely useful, being always
out in the country, cutting off the enemy's com-
munications. On the retreat of the French
beyond the Ebro El Empecinado and his
men particularly distingushed themselves. They
frequently co-operated with our own di-
visions, and the name of this bold and
persevering patriot was repeatedly mentioned
iu the public dispatches of the day. After
the return of Ferdinand, in 1814, he retired to
his home, and chiefly spent his time iu domestic
pursuits, although distinguished.by several marks
of special approbation from his Sovereign. He
did not step forward in public till the revolution
of La Isla had been completed, and when, it will
be remembered, the King adhered to the Consti-
tution, and solemnly announced this his determi- [MORNING POST.]
nation in his memorable Decree of the 9th March, •We received last night Brussels Papers of the
1820, addressed to the Authorities and people, 10th inst. They contain long extracts from the
and in which he says—" Spaniards! pursue the Austrian Observer, which, of course, represent
Constitutional path, and I will be the first to lead all the operations stated to have taken place in
you on." From that time to the late invasion of the Morea in the course of July, as uniformly
the French, El Empecinado took no other part advantageous to the Egyptains. That unblush-
in public affairs than as a military commander of ing perverter of facts even appeals to Coloco-
a small district, neither his inclination nor the troni's account of one of those battles to prove
previous education he had received, allowing of that he was defeated, and that no Greek army re-
any thing more. Again called upon to repel a fo- mained to carry on the contest. But on looking at
reign aggression, he joined the army of General the scanty extract given of that very account, we
Placencia in Estremadura, acted under his orders, find that instead of admitting a defeat, Coloco-
with him capitulated with the Royalist troni estimated his loss at only thirty killed, and
aGnednjtieorianllyAaguna, the French having at the time that of the enemy 600, and stated that he had
. no division in that quarter ; but this capitulation 4000 men with him, whom he expected would be
was sanctioned and confirmed by the Regency, increased in a few days to 10,000, and that ano,