The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-15 00:00:00

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lies ; and as for their crimes of a deeper dye, they
ought to be laid at the doors of those who drove them
into a state of open rebellion against society.
We are so pressed for space to-day, that we cannot
do justice to the sentiments of the men of Clare on a
question so important to the future happiness of Ire-
land ; but we shall return to it, at greater length, to-
morrow. In the mean time we are persuaded that
nothing would tend more to accelerate the passing of a
Poor Law, than the formation of an Association both
here and in Ireland for that particular purpose. Mr.
STEELE is the very man to organize, and to su-
perintend the labours of such an Association. His
great talents, his natural enthusiasm, his immense po-
pularity among men of all classes in Ireland, and his
strong sympathy with the sufferings of the destitute,
admirably qualify him for taking the initiative in this
great work of social regeneration.

We beg attention to the letter of a " Freeholder
Buckingham," which we have inserted in another part
of our Paper. It throws a glare of light on the de-
ceptions practised by the Tories upon the public, in
what they impudently term their great Conservatilie
meetings. They imagine that if they can make a nu-
merous muster at a guzzling match their end is gained,
no matter who are the guzzlers, or by what means
they are brought together—they all count—the
chimney-sweep and the night-man at the one end of
the table, tell for as many as the Duke and the Mar-
quis at the other. And whether the poor devils who
make up the tail, are switched up by the overseer of
my Lord's estate, or tempted by the prospect of a gra-
tuitous feed, to take their places at the Free-and-Easy
board, is not of the least consequence. The party
have brazen mouth-pieces, through which the truth is
never allowed to pass.
The late Aylesbury concern was blazoned by these
trumpeters of falsehood as unprecedented in every re-
spect. In one respect it certainly was—there never,
we believe, was so little scruple exhibited in the means
employed to make up a shew of numbers. Our corre-
spondent informs us that each of the persons who had
laid their heads together to impose upon public credu-
lity took 5/. worth of tickets, and distributed them right
and left to all who would accept. But shall it be said or
thought of the man of God, who laboured in this holy
cause with so much faithfulness and success, that
he brought up no less than fifteen guests to this
feast of love, of which fifteen only one was a free-
holder, and that one a rat-catcher ! Not that we
mean to disparage the profession of rat-catching—far
from it—we only wish there had been a score of these
useful members of society at the foresaid gathering.
We mean no offence to Mr. BENJAMIN DISRAELI.
The tailor and his four apprentices also afford
fine specimens of the materiel of this lordly banquet.
These knights of the thimble, we doubt not, were as
well qualified as the parson's recruits, and as much de-
ighted as the rat-catcher, with the novelty of hobnob-
'»g with the Marquis of CHANDOs.

The following intelligence from Africa and Spa
is copied from the Times of this morning. The Paris
Papers of Tuesday have not reached us up to the hour
at which we write (half-past two o'clock, P.M.) :
DISASTROUS ISSUE OF THE FRENCH EXPE-
DITION AGAINST CONSTANTINE.
We have this moment received, by an extraordinary ex-
press from Paris, the second edition of La Charte of Tues-
day night, which contains the following bulletin
Government received yesterday evening the following
despatch :
" Telegraphic Despatch from Toulon, dated December
11, 1836, 6 o'clock, p.m.
"'BONA.
" MARSHAL CLAUSEL TO THE MINISTER OF WAR.
" The expedition against Constantine has not had com-
plete success. It has been in some sort, by an extraordi-
nary event beyond all calculation, changed into a real (veri-
table) and strong reconnoissance, after which I look up .1
position within three short days' march of Constantine by
establishing a port at Guelma.
" His Royal Highness the Duke de Nemours is well.
" The expedition encountered on its way from Bona to
Constantine no enemy, no obstacle. Along the road, the
tribes came to meet it, and expressed great joy at seeing the
French arrive at Constantine and take possession of the
city. The army marched through large flocks of sheep,
goats, and oxen. The farmers (laboureurs) often ran to
meet us, and showed the troops the mode in that country of
yoking oxen and of ploughing the land ; but we proceeded
on slowly, on account of the number of waggons and
carriages by which we were encumbered.
We passed without difficulty through the defile of
Rach-el-Ayba, and learned there that Achmet (Bey), with
his women, and his treasures, had left Constantine. At
Soma we were surprised, about 5 o'clock, by a piercingly
cold rain, mixed with snow. Up to that time all had gone
on well, but the night was mortal to many of our soldiers,
and thousands of others were benumbed.
" We were only three leagues distant from Constantine.
On the 21st we resumed our march, seeing the place be-
fore us. After descending a gentle declivity on which we
had encamped, we found the Oued-Ben-Mezioug much
swollen, and we were obliged to ford it, the water reaching
up to our waists, and the snow continuing to fall ; never-
theless we crossed the river without the loss of a single man.
" A league further on we had to traverse another
branch of the (River) Tumel, where we encountered new
difficulties, new causes of disease, and consequently a dimi-
nution of our number of fighting men. There were not then
4,000 combatants out of the 7,000 with whom I had set
out. At length, about 2 o'clock, we arrived on the table
land of Mantsoure, and were taking up a position at the
distance of 240 yards from the city, when a cannon-shot
and the hoisting of a red flag destroyed the hope I had en-
tertained of entering Constantine without striking a blow.
" I then saw that it would be necessary to have recourse
to force, and every moment my force was decreasing more
and more, for the weather was horrible. The earth and
the men were covered with snow, and the carriages disap-
peared, embedded in the mud.
" The inhabitants of the city did not wish to engage in
hostilities against us. Some Kabailes were, however, intro-
duced into the place by gates which we could not blockade,
and they took upon themselves by force the defence of the
town. I caused it to be cannonaded briskly on the second
day, to burst in the gate of Cantara. We continued our
fire on the third day, and the gate was thrown down.
But "'—(lnterrupted by the unfavourable
weather.)
" We are obliged, by the lateness of the hour, to omit
observation on this exceedingly unfortunate expedition,
upon the resemblance which, on a small scale, the circum-
stamstances of it bear to those of the expedition directed
against Moscow, and upon the piecemeal manner in which
the French Government has deemed it expedient to corn-
municate'the intelligence to the public.
" The Three per Cents. were (at Tortoni's) at half-past
10 o'clock ou Tuesday night at 79. It was the opinion of
the speculators there that this misfortune would lead to the
dissolution of the present French Ministry.
" The following were also published in La Charte of
Tuesday night."
" Telegraphic Despatch from Bayonne of the 9th of De-
cember, 1836, at half-past 1 o'clock, received by the
courier.
" News from Calahorra of the sth announces that the
band of Cabrera, after his second defeat of the 3d, had dis-
persed in groups, one portion of which endeavoured to gain
the Mount Cayo, and the other the Sierra Cebollera. He
was defeated by the Governor of Soria.
" Irribaren has returned to Navarre.
" Narvaez arrived on the 28th at Osuna, and had Go-
mez only four leagues in advance, at Estepa ; he expected
to?°rne up with him on the following day.
Telegraphic Despatch from Bayonne, dated the 12th of
December, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon :
Intelligence of the 10th announces that Espartero,
having taken
UP a position on the left bank, between Portu-
galette and Bavacaladrori,vihnad
artaiseidth(oraeleve) his bridge. The
Carlists are fortifying themselves on that bank, in order to
Preve, nrrthheiymharvernleft befogre that town a part of their artil-
lery, and have
placed the other portion on the heights.
Their fire against
make the
has been interrupted since the Ist.
They seem to tie success of the siege depend on the
success of their operations
against ...spartero.'”

er"s lAdrVama on the above subject, we
ALLIERE.-Pending. the
appearanceTHEDUCHESS
Ilir .
o
earnestly invite our readers to a perusal
of
the beautiful
tl
uliE v
romance, which has just been so very opportunely published
given the
by Mr. Colburn, and in connection with wh.ich is
equally charming story of Madame de Maintenon. The
fates and fortunes of each of these two celebrated women,
it will be recollected, were united in a very extraordinary
manner, and their histories illustrate a period the .ruust
brilliant in the annals of the world.