The Sun.
London, England, 1836-08-17 00:00:00

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LONDON,
WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 17, 1836.

We are glad to learn that though the Lords threw
out the Bill for the improvement of the Post-office, yet
Ministers are determined on carrying into effect all
those provisions of the measure which do not require
the sanction of Parliament.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL is to move this evening that
the House of Commons at its rising do adjourn to
Friday next. From this we infer that Parliament will
be prorogued on Saturday.

The Municipal Officers' Election Bill, whose object
is to substitute a declaration for certain oaths hereto-
fore required to be made on taking office, under the
new Municipal Bill, was last night thrown out by the
Lords by a majority of 16. This is quite of a piece
with the rest of their conduct during the last two
Sessions, and can serve no other purpose than to swell
the amount of gratitude in which the country is already
indebted to them. Their Lordships presume strangely
on John Bull's forbearance ; they seem to imagine that
~it is like eternity, without end or limit, and that the
more it is drawn upon, the more fully and surely it is
developed ; otherwise they would not play the hazardous
freaks that they are now nightly in the habit of doing.
It is not merely a wholesome distrust—as Lord
WIIARNCLIFFE would fain have us believe—of the
proceedings of the House of Commons, that prompts
them to their present course of conduct, but a deep-
rooted hostility to all the best interests of the people,
arising from a false idea that such interests are directly
at variance with their own. In the progress of the
country towards intelligence, and consequently towards
popular Government, their Lordships imagine that they
see the downfall of their own patrician authority—and
to a certain extent they are right, for it is morally im-
possible that the people can advance in knowledge,
without fotling at every step, and desiring to remedy,'
the embarrassments arising from the system of here-
ditary, irresponsible legislation. But this—were their
Lordships in the full, unclouded possession of their
reason, and not jaundiced by prejudice—need be no
cause of annoyance to them, for it is not the destruc-
tion of their just privileges that is aimed at, but merely
the fitting curtailment of an authority, for the exercise
of which, as Sir ROBERT PEEL facetiously' remarked
the other day, they arc accountable only to Providence.
It is too bad that the House of Lords should be able,
without a why or a wherefore—for in the majority of
recent instances its discussions on popular measures
have been a mere mockery—it is too bad, we say, that
the Tory Members of this Institution, who seldom or
never mix with the people, who know nothing of
their wants and wishes, and at times even boast
of their ignorance, should be able, without as-
signing any valid reason, to put a veto upon
improvements which the country has called for, as
being imperatively necessary from the increased in-
telligence of the community. Yet it is notorious
that their Lordships have this power, and still more
notorious that they arc never so much at ease—never
so much in their element, as when exercising it to the
most despotic extent. They pop at a popular measure
with far more sportsmanlike zest than they ever pop at
a partridge, and will sometimes bag three of a night,
as they did last week. flow long is this farce to con-
tinue ?• How long are the Houses of Lords and
Commons to play at cross-purposes with'each other ?
As at presenti .emiducted, legislation little better than
a game at nine-pins. The Commons put uphitlehe
and the Lords bowl them down again, w
John
Bull is compelled to look on, and content himself with
the barren reflection, that one day or other these ab-
surdities will find their proper level. Surely it were
far better that the country should at once better itself,
than trust to a vague future for redressing follies like
these !

The Lords are labouring in their vocation with due
diligence. Nothing seems to afford them so keen a
relish as a batch of good Bills sent up from the Com-
mons. Their organs of distructiveness are instantly
excited to an ungovernable pitch, and each Grace-of-
God legislator strives with his sage compeers who shall
commit the greatest havoc. The better the measure,
the more desperate is the onslaught. If its object be
to remove an abuse, or to give effect to a popular right,
it is, to all intents and purposes, doomed.
Their Lordships' last night's exploits will not be
forgotten when the day of reckoning with the people
arrives. They first threw out the Civil Offices' De-
claration Bill. And why ? Simply because it dispensed

with an et i'nhe're an oath was unnecessary. Many
persons have an almost insuperable reluctance to in-
voke the sacred name of the Creator on trivial occa-
sions ; and this Bill was intended for their relief, and,
we will add, would have tended to promote the interests
both of,Joligion and morality, which have sufFered very
mat7:ial/4,slainage from the practice of indiscriminate
oatli• t'ak mg. 'But what says the Archbishop of CAN-
'TERELTRY ? "It is impossible," quoth his Grace,
to dispense with religious tests !"
Having thus summarily disposed of the Bill for re-
lieving the consciences of his MAJESTY'S subjects,
the Lords proceeded next to deal with that which was
intended to defend their persons from the injustice of
the law--the Prisoners' Counsel .Bill. The purpose
of this measure is to give the prisoner in criminal cases
the benefit of being defended by a legal advocate. To
render the proposed change in the practice of our
Courts of Law a real advantage, it is essentially ne-
cessary that the Prisoner's Counsel should have the
last word—the privilege of a final reply. Without
this it is evident that the prisoner would be in a worse
situation than he is at present, for now the Counsel for
the Prosecutor contents himself with an opening
speech ; whereas, if this Bill were to pass as
the Lords have altered it, the moment the pri-
soner's Counsel has made his speech, or even exa-
mined his witnesses, the Counsel for the prosecu-

tion would get up and make a second harangue,
probably, too, in an excited state of feeling, and the
consequence in nine cases out of ten would be to leave
on the minds of the jury an impression more unfa-
vourable than the merits of the case would warrant.
When the Bill went from the Commons, it gave the
prisoner the last word. The Lords rejected that pro-
vision—it was replaced by the Commons—and last
night their Lordships again rejected it, adhering with
an obstinate and undignified pertinacity to their for-
mer decision, for no other earthly reason► than that
they had so decided. Sic volo, sic fiche°, is the only
motto for a hereditary legislator.
The prime Mover of the opposition to this humane
and wise proposition, we need hardly say, was that
consistent Proteus Lord LYNDHURST—the man who
a week or two ago actually squeezed out a few croco-
dile tears when descanting on the inhumanity of the
English Criminal Law, and describing the hard fate
of a poor prisoner denied the privilege of defence when
tried for his life. Somebody once said that this sprig
of legal nobility can cry with one side of his face and
laugh with the other, and we sincerely believe it.

Whatever may be the object of the Tories in bringing
the question of the state of Spain nightly before the
House of Commons, the result cannot fail to benefit
the cause of freedom in that country. We shall not
quarrel with Mr. GROVA nucE for haranguing by
the hour in the praise of DON CARLOS, and in sup-
port of the darkest system of despotism that ever de-
graded the human family, provided his speeches have
the effect of calling forth, on the part of the Govern-
ment, such sentiments and opinions as those expressed
by Lord PALMERSTON in the House of Commons
last night. To his Lordship there is nothing terrific
in the Constitution of Cadiz, or in any other Consti-
tution, if it be approved of by the Spanish people
themselves. The form of Government which they may
think proper to adopt is undoubtedly their own affair,
and they have an incontestable right to regulate it in
any way they choose. His Lordship's reference to the
present state of Spain, as illustrating the consequences
of the bad faith of Kings, came with peculiar force
from the mouth of a British Minister of the Crown.
Had the tyrant FRItnINAND kept faith with the Spa-
nish people) i)on CARLOS would not have dared to
aspire to the Crown ; and even if he had, the Cortes
would have settled the question without exposing the
country to a tingle shot fired either in defence or in
opposition to his claims.
Lord PALMERSTON, however, appears not suffi-
ciently aware of the position in which Great Britain is
placed with respect to Spain by the Quadruple Treaty.
Perhaps it is not generally known, that by the Consti-
tution of Cadiz, the Deputies of the Kingdom alone
have the power of appointing the REGENT during the
minority of the SOVEREIGN ; and that they only are
the natural Guardians and Superintendents of the
education of the Royal Minor. Now the Quadruple
Treaty recognizes the Regency of Queen CIIRISTINO,
and there is no reason to suppose that her MAJESTY
will submit the validity of her appointment to the deci-
sion of the Spanish Deputies. In the event, therefore,
of a collision between the QUEEN and the Constitu-
tionalists, we could not, consistently with the spirit of
our engagements, remain 'neutral.
Were the Cabinets of London and Paris zealously
to exert themselves, we have no doubt but that an ac-
commodation between the Constitutionalists and the
supporters of the Estatuto Real would be effected
without any considerable difficulty. In all essential
points there is very little difference between the two
documents. The Estatuto Real gives to the people
of Spain almost all the privileges secured to British
subjects by the Constitution under which we live ;
and, without meaning offence to the Spanish nation,
we may be allowed to call in question its moral fitness
for the exercise of less restrictive franchises. How-
ever, as we have before observed, the question is one
which the people of Spain have an undoubted right to
settle among themselves. We have nothing to do with
it, farther than to prevent any stain being cast upon the
national honour of England, in regard to the fulfil-
ment of an existing treaty. By the letter and spirit of
that Treaty we have bound ourselves, in conjunction
with France and Portugal, to establish the throne of
Donna ISABELLA 11. That this country will see
accomplished at every hazard.

The French Papers of Monday are barren of inte-
resting intelligence. The iVloniteur is silent with re-
spect to Spain. The Pliare de Bayonne of the 11th
gives the following account of the object of M. Bois
LE COMTE'S mission to the Spanish capital :
" The affairs of Spain assume a more alarming aspect daily,
by the successful attempts of the factious party, and cause
the French Government, in its quality of ally, to take some
measure for the maintenance of Isabella's throne.

" It is well known that several conferences respecting the
aff:irs of Spain have taken place, both at the Palace and at
the house of the President of the Council.

" The affairs of that country were most warmly discussed,
and the subject of intervention laboriously examined; the re.
sult of these meetings is the raising of an army of 10,000 men
to reinforce the Foreign Legion. However, many explana-
tions and instructions were to be given to our Ambassador at
Madrid. M. de Rayneval had long since requested the Go-
vernment to give him such instructions. The state of the
Peninsula and his own safety, as well as that of the French
residing at Madrid, made him address to the French Cabinet
some reclamations in favour of the Court to which he has
been sent.

" M. Bois lc Comte has been sent to deliver to M. de Ray.
ncval such despatches as relate to the present state of affairs,
as well as to give verbal instructions from the French Go.
vcrnment.

M. Bois le Comte's mission will not be merely a diplo-
matic one; for to arrive at Madrid he must go through those
provinces where the revolution rages, and judge for himself of
the real state of the insurrected provinces, of the position of
the Queen's army, and of the force of the rebellious faction.
M. Bois le Comte's presence in Spain will be one great proof
of the interest taken by the French Government in the affairs
of her ally, and, far from seeing in it a clever trick to replace
our Ambassador at Madrid by a simple Charge d'Affaires, wo
declare it our firm conviction that the French Government,
full of solicitude for the welfare of the Constitutional Throne
of Spain, has taken this way of giving a denial to those who
accuse her of lightness and indifferpnce in what concerns the
Peninsula ; and to prove that the only principle maintained at
Madrid shall be the Constitutional one, recognized in the per-
sons of Isabella and her august mother, and that the legitimate
principle represented by Don Carlos shall never triumph over
the one to which it has promised protection."
The annexed extract from the Memorial Bordelais
is, in our opinion, wholly unworthy of credit. We do
not believe that Mr. VILLIERS has signed, or is
authorized to sign, any such official communication as
that referred to below :
" It appears that the diplomatic representatives of France
and England at Madrid addressed on the 4th an official note
to the Queen's Cabinet, announcing, that according to instruc-
tions from their respective Courts, they should immediately
cease all intercourse with Spain, and even demand their pass-
ports, if the authority of her Majesty was violated, or if any
essential alterations were made in the testamentary disposi-
tions of the late King Ferdinand VII.; dispositions which,
they
rightsay, form,in the eyes of Europe, the basis of the legiti-
mate Isabella 11. These ambassadors are both at
say, o
St. Ildefonso."

General SAARSFIELD has accepted the command
of the army, but he has addressed the Government
for permission to exercise his authority, without being
subject to the controul of the Minister of War. This
is rather a novel application on the part of a General.