The Sun.
London, England, 1825-05-09 00:00:00

[MORNING POST.]

We must again express our regret that Mr.
Laittleton's 13111 for regulating the Elective Fran-

i chise in Ireland should be made one of" the wings"

upon which the " Catholic Relief Bill" is, for-
sooth, to fly through the Legislature ; and also.

hat the measure should be brought forward witl►

such little preparatory information on the part of

. .
British Members. The danger which the Pro-
testants of Ireland conceive themselves liable to-

. ,
from the existing system of Forty-shilling Free-,
holders, cannot be better illustrated than by the
fact that many of them have half consented to.

" Emancipation" ns the lesser evil•of. the two—as•
menacing less and more remote injury to the Pro-

testant Religion and Establishment and the peac:
of the country, than continuing the power of re
turning almost the whole RepreSentation of I Ft'-
land in the hands of an ignorant Popish rabblti„.
or a subtle Popish PriesthOod, or both combined-;
Assuredly, then,-the Irisl► Protest'ants, in calling
for an alteration of- the Elective Eranchis'e in

consequence of the baneful effects they have ex,„ •
perienced from its exercise, are competent wit;
nesses in support of the principle of Mr. Little:-
ton's Bill ; we shOuld,: however, rather considei•
their assent to Emancipation on such grounds as
indicating-an extreme _anxiety to get ,rid
pressing mischief at any cost than as good
deuce respecting a speculative measure of sucli
vast and vital importance to the whole empire as
the admission of Papists' to the" Govcrnment_Ot
the State. With the effects of an oVerwhelinini. •
mass of Forty-shilling Catholic. Freeholders
they are acquainted; and in 'removing them;""
they have a palpable interest—With
.the -
effects of Emancipation- they are not ac-,'
quaintedwhile unquestionably it is a change of -
greater comparative moment to Great Britain, S-
affecting- the established Constitution and polic'y-
of the first Protestant nation in the world, thait
it can be as regards the minor part of the popnlal."
tion of a British dependency. We are still ready •
to confess that our argument in favour of disfran;
chising 40s. freeholders, does not directly apply
to three or four ,counties in Ulster, where tile`
great majority of the inhabitants are Presbyte, •
rians 'and Protestants. But then we nre not to
look at the number of *those freeholders in the' •
above counties, compared with the number Of
them in as many Southern and Catholic counties,''
as a criterion to judge of the intrinsic advantage
of Mr. Littleton's Bill to the whale.O.rlreland
Numerically.;' more voters may be diSfranctiiied
in a given . number :of Protestant, thab in
.-the
-same number of Popish shires; but the aggre'gate
number of the latter shires or counties, to the
aggregate number of the former, is, -we- imagine,-
in the ratio of at least five to one ; "while the effect
on the Representation generally would be not:tb
dithinish Protestant Infineuce in returning Alem;.
hers for the Northern Province—on" the fither
hand, o have that'infltience fully. as: predarnintint
there as it now existsbnt.to.incre.ase the Pro-
testant by diminishing Popish inthienCe
rest of Ireland. The point of -view; therefOre',lll •
which the question ought to be put with ttsPedlto
Protestant 40sfreeholdersolUtster,vvhornitWOtild •
affect, is this—Whether is it preferable that they".
as Protestants, and as interested in upholding the
Protestantinterest in Ireland and in Parliament;:
should retain unimpaired
.their 40s. FratithiSe'S•2•
or should •allow that privilege to be curtailed in
common with the Papiats, when the objett-ticiit
result of such a proceeding must be precitelY
those which as Protestants they are interes,tes icy
achieving? '-The arguments, which theie Obiei-
vations :tire intended-ai a reply to, will not'b'e
mistaken: by those who have paid due attention
..f
to the recent debates-on this subject.

,~..

. _
[uarristi muss.] •
Yesterday we received Buenos Ayres Papers
to the 19th of February inclusive. We ltav
tracted from them, and published in another.
column, two Proclamations. issued by the Spanish
General Olaneta, in which he declares his .de-
termination to die, if necessary, in defence 9f the
Royal Authority. lie• ascribes the capitulatikul
of La Serna entirely to, treachery, and indulges
in much abuse and invective against the. defeated
Viceroy, on account .of. his gonurction with 'the
Liberals. The report 9t. AO. artpistice .be,tween
Bolivar and Olaneta must therefore 'have tieeu