The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-28 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1841.

seen—that shrinks from condemning the conduct of the
French Government in the late rebellion in Spain.
Writers of all parties admit the impossibility of resist-
ing the conviction that the governing powers of France
were instigators and abettors of the insurrection ; and
by writers of all parties is this nefarious conduct unre-
servedly censured. We believe that in this feeling the
British Government participates. Lord Aberdeen can-
not shut his eyes to the representations he must have
received from Madrid and from Paris. Of the guilt of
the French Cana he must feel as convinced as he is
of his own existence, though the courtesy of di-
plomatic intercourse may forbid the direct avowal of
such conviction. The Foreign Minister of Eogland may
know that at the solicitation of the French Government
the ex-Regent Christina abandoned her intention of
permanently residing in Italy, and deigned to become
the centre of a rebel intrigue in Paris ; the Foreign
Minister of England must know that the French Go.
vernment proffered the assistance of its Minister at
Madrid and its Foreign-office in Paris, to establish a
secret correspondence between that capital and the
Queen of Spain ;- he must know that while the out-
break in Spain was organising in Paris, she, who was
the nominal head of it, was the constant guest of the
French Court ; that when the outbreak took place, the
avowed organs of that Court adopted it, and boldly
avowed its object of eggrandisement—personal and
political. All this, even though strengthened by the
conduct of the French authorities on the frontier, may.
not, indeed, be a sufficient ground for Lord Aberdeen's
demanding explanation from the French Government,
but it must convince him of the base treachery of the
Power in which, by some parties, he is told to put his con-
fidence. "No proof," indeed, is offered to sustain this
accusation. So says the journal which still continues
its noisy biddings for the small secrets of Downing-
street. " Proof," indeed, there may.not be, conclu-
sive enough to prevent a sharp attorney from pickine, a
hole in an indictment at the Old Bailey ; but " proof "
there is, such as must bring conviction to any mind
that is free to judge the circumstances by the rules of
evidence applicable to the ordinary affairs of life.
Louis Philippe is neither so inexperienced nor so mal-
adroit as to leave himself open to detection in case of
the failure of any intrigue in which be may engage. The
mina may explode, but you cannot say-eethet is you
cannot " prove"—that by his hand it was laid and fired,
though the nature of his previous connection with the
convicted conspirators, and his openly avowed interest in
the 4nceess of their operations, render his guilt a matter
of moral certainty. The conduct of the King of the French
in this matter is of more importance to England than
may at this moment be imagined. We believe that
he sought to repay himself in Spain for supposed diplo-
matic reverses in the East. And repay himself he will
when and wherever he may have the opportunity. At-
tempts will be made to lull suspicion by hireling writers
here and in Paris. Peace•—peace—give us peace, they
cry, after striving in vain for ten years to goad us into
war. Yes, by all means, give us peace ; but do not buy
it upon ruinous terms, Year after year you kept cla-
mouring as an opposition for an increase of our navy,
and you are not three months a Government when you
threaten to reduce it. But France, you say, sets the
example. Already has the French Government ordered
six ships of the line into harbour preparatory to their
being laid up. Will France reduce the number of her
seamen ? Or does she not toll you that she will draft
the crews of her first-rates into frigates ? And while
these vessels, infin:tely more troublesome than line-
of battle-ships, are skulking about our colonies,
carrying the French flag into waters in which it is
seen for the first time, we are told, indeed, that the
French Government takes the initiative of disarmament !
Sir Robert Peel, we know, must have money, and re•
trenchmcnt is one way of getting it. He dare not take
a single ship out of commission while the French If aet
remains at its present complement. Will he dare to
take a single ship out of commission while the number of
French seamen is still unreduced? Nor should the

present Government calculate too sanguinely upon the
effect of even a bona fide reduction in the French fleet.
That it ought,to be met by a corresponding reduction in
ours no person will deny. But even this evidence of
pacific intention, backed by the noisome adulation of
time-servers, wAI not, we tell Lord Aberdeen,
create sufficient confidence in the character of Louis
Philippe to reconcile Englishmen to his being
selected to sit in judgment upan any question of English
interests. Courtesies and compliments if you will, or
if you want them for your peace-speech of February
next ; but if there be any question of vital interest at
issue between Great Britain and any other nation, it is
not the decis'on of an irritated and perfidious Power
that should be sought, or accepted as a satisfactory
settlement. Our fleet is still unreduced.

TIMES.—EarI de Grey seems to have alighted
upon Ireland like a bird of calm upon a tempestuous
sea. Too long, indeed, has she been distracted and
convulsed by every evil which the virulence of political
faction and religious intolerance on either side could en-
gender ; but if we do not egregiously misinterpret the
altered phenomena now discernible in Irish affairs, his
Lordship's benign administration is already the harbin-
ger and the immediate cause of a better order of things.
Our neighbours across the Channel, no matter what be
their puleical or religious creed, are now-gettirg heart-
ily sick of the unproti•able agitations which have so long
divided and distracted them. Even among the nume-
rous tribe of ignorant and self-willed dupes who have
heretofore followed O'Connell, the symptoms of a re-
I ixed fealty are, here and there, beginning to appear.
The popular enthusiasm which formerly hailed him
wherever he went, has of late grown wonderfully frigid.
A large proportion, too, of the more judicious Clergy
of the Romish Church, coinciding with the sensible
views of the Rev. Mr. Bermingham, seem honestly de-
termined, as befits their sacred calling, to withdraw
from turbulent meetings, and henceforth to lead " quiet
and peaceable liver." Moreover, your callow brood of
Liberal barristers, whose cravings for Whig appoint-
ments impelled them to court O'Connell's favour, have
latterly shown a good deal of docility in selecting a
more eligible path to promotion ; while, with reference
to the immense majority of cultivated and independent
Irishmen, professing various shades of political
opinion, we have the happiness to know that there
now prevails among them an almost universal wish
to extricate themselves from party broils, and to
exert their concurrent efforts in restoring Ireland to
a condition of prospeirty and repose. Nor need we
wonder that such a disposition should at length have
begun to be exemplified. Experience, though some-
times a slow teacher, is always an able and successful
one. Immediately subsequent to the passing of the
Emancipation Act, which gave every reasonable pro-
mise of restoring tranquillity in Ireland, the Govern-
meat of that country passed into the hands of the
Whigs, where, till very recently, it has since remained.
Bat owing to the infatuated partisanship of Lord Mel-
bourne's Ministry, the kindly influences which Catholic
emancipation was fitted and intended to diffuse have
been completely frustrated by a system of partiality,
whereby the exclusive pampering of one class and
the virulent proscription of another only aggra-
vated their previous animosities, instead of ex-
tinguishing or abating therm. Accordingly, during
the last six years, the social condition of the Irish peo-
ple, as regards the friendly reciprocities of life, has been
incomparably worse than at any former period of their
history. The good agreement which previously sub-
sisted between landlord and tenant has been superseded
by jealousies, defiances, ejectments, mutilations, and
murders. All the harmonious feeling between the
Protestant rector and the Catholic priest, which for-
merly wrought so beneficially for the temporal comfort
of the population, has been violently brokee up. The
interchange of mutual benefits in matters of business has
been supplanted by the odious system of exclusive deal-
ing. In large towns, and even in peaceful villages, the
amicable intercourse long prevalent among many Protes-
tants and Roman Catholics has given place to cold es-
trangements, and more frequently to the repulsive scowl.
Now, that such a state of things, so utterly subver-
sive of all the interests and enjoyments of human
society, could not possibly continue, without sooner or
later bringing a re-action, must be evident to every re-
flecting person. Social happiness, and the means of at-
taining it, constitute the universal pursuit of mankind.
Political theories, as subservient to that end, may, for a
length of time, be ardently struggled for; nay, in the
hope of eventually realizing it, temporary inconveniences
may be cheerfully encountered and serious sacrifices
may be made. But, after a long period of disappointed
expectation, when it is found that ail the disadvantages
of such a course have been prolifically reaped, without
any of its anticipated benefits, a calm retrospect of what
has been forfeited and what has been gained will neces-
sarily ensue. This, we take it, is precisely the condi-
tion of Ireland at the present moment. The pzople in
that country are now discovering that " they Imes
sown the wind, and have reaped the whirlwind." A
season for reflection, occasioned by the mild and heal-
ing character of Earl De Grey's Government, and
powerfully impressed upon them by Lord Shrewsbury,
a nobleman of their own faith, has providentially oc-
curred. A prospect of peace and prosperity, never be.
fore presented to them, is now dawning upon their
wearied eyes. An anxious desire to maintain order and
to reward merit, irrespective of religious predifectioes ;
a steady determination to give practical efficiency to
the spirit of the Emancipation Act, by knowing no
man's faith, if he be a good and loyal subject ; a firm
resolution to cement the severed bonds of society, to
encourage trade, to repress crime, and to foster among
all classes the kindly sympathies of our common hu-
manity—these are the great and supreme objects of
Earl De Grey's Government. That our warm-hearted
neighbours, to whom his Lordship appeals for assist-
ance, will refuse him their patient and candid co-
operation, we cannot bring ourselves to believe. Cor-
roborative of that growing
anxiety for peace which
we alluded to in the outset of this article, it de-
lights us to see that one Roman Catholic gentle-
man after another is shaking himself free from the
pernicious domination of O'Connell. The letter of
Mr. O'Brien, repudiating all further connexion
with the Corn-Exchange
agitator, as published in
our Irish correspondence of Tuesday, is encouraging
in the extreme. Hardly a week elapses without
similar desertions horn the Repeal camp. Notwith-