The Sun.
London, England, 1840-12-21 00:00:00

'Ev(tNING

ng Pahenham's note to pay the same in preference to
anY other claim. And if, as it appears, such had not been
ier att,:nded to by the Custom-house of that city, ti.e
British Minister may now rely with certainty on its imme-
diate pap nent, for which purpose new orders will bo des-
patched b y the mail of to-morrow. It has caused no small
regret to this department to perceive that his Excellency
Mr. Pa' henham has laboured under the impre.sion that his
repres' :ntations on this affair hare not received the consi-
derat",ton to which they are entitled, seeing that the most
imr .Itdiate orders wore given to pay this debt; indeed, the
ost simple notification of the money not having been pail
' mould have received instant attention.

" As for other matters connected with this department
`wherein British subjects are interested, Mr. Pakenham
will most probably agree that every attention has been
paid to them in this office, and that efforts, really extraor-
dinary in the present state of public affairs, have been
made in their favour. With two-thirds of the public re-
venue appropriated to pay off the public creditors, of
wohom the greater part are English subjects, the Govern
ent has nevertheless managed to pay off other pressing
-debts by such means as have been in its power, thus prov-
ing its earnest desire to support and foment the credit of
the natioa. There have been tatid Messrs. Manning and
Marshall 1,5,000 dollars fr,i• account of various claims,
without including what he:s been paid to them out of the
10 per cent, duties or their claim for 18,000 dollars.
There has been paid tea Mr. Cochrane on account of his
claim of 60,000 dol. , the sum of 28,000 dols., since No-
vember of last year. There has been paid to Mr. Penny on
account of his '.,taim for 41,983 dols. value of yarn confiscated
for
being
ntran, sum
ba d theof 5,300 dols. Finally, there
has beer.
paid to the holders of the foreign debt, during
my
eintstry, a sum exceeding 1,000,000 of dollars, and
which debt nothing had previously been paid since
I 832. I also take leave to remind your Excellency, fir
et e information of the British Minister, that when I as-
certained that all the disposable receipts of the Treasury
were absorbed in the payments enjoined by law, and that
there were no funds available to pay the debt due to Mr.
Cochrane, and to some other British subjects, I have
paid the salve out of my own property, en which account
I am now in advance of cash to the extent of 40,000
dollars, which, however, I only mention in this place for
the sake of convincing the British Minister that in this de-
partment every possible attention is paid to his representa-
tions. Further, if his Excellency will but bear in mind
the conduct of his Government with respect to all the
questions which have arisen, lam convinced he will do
justice to the desire of the present Administration to
maintain a perfect understanding and the most friendly re-
lations between this Republic and Great Britain.
" The affair relating to the reduction in the import
duties made by the 'revolted in Tampico, as well as many
others, prove sufficiently hoe. earnest have been the en-
deavours of thin Government, and of this department in
particular, to, meet the views of the British Minister. In
conclusion, I beg to request your Excellency will be 'good
enough to communicate to her Britannic Majesty's Envoy
and Minister that the documents in this office amply preva
the. respect and deference with which his representations,
'xith regard to claims and indemnities on behalf of British
subjects have been constantly received, as also of the un-
ceasing endeavours of this office to see that the same be
punctually paid when once a settlement has been made ;
and that consequently there is no need or occasion what-
ever for his taking the step indicated at the conclusion of
his note, and which has so much excited the public atten-
tion—in the firm assurance that the most strict orders wiil
be given by this Ministry for the small sum outstanding of
the debt at Guanajuato, and that due to Mr. Barron, at
Tepic. to he paid forthwith. This office has been unahle
to reply earliir to your Excellency's note in consequence
of having to wait for the receipt of various despatches
from the country, which has occasioned a delay of a fee;
days. I now enclose copies of the orders, instructions,
Sze., which have been given by this department relating to
the various subjects mentioned in this note ; and should
his Excellency ( Mr. Pakenham) desire to see the eri.
ttinals, please to inform me to that effect, and they shah be
immediately sent.

" With this I beg to renew the assurance of my esturn
and consideration.

" ECHEVERRIA.
" His Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
" Mexico, Sept. 29, 1840."

MO:sij]Y MARKET and CITY NEWS

(SATURDAY EVENING.)

TIMES.—Two 3ep3rnte complaints are at present
'made by the City Bankers. The 'first is the ineonvenicneo
they suffcr by having on their hands a large quantity of
of which they have no means of disposing. Cer-
tain s:alons, especially the harvest, bring with them a
large issue of silver ci)in from the Mint, which on thr.A:
occasions i 3 met by the demand. At other season% bow.
e ems, this vantity of coin is no longer in demand, and is
O.:ref:ire finds its way into the vaults of the London
hankers, where, in conseqeence of a refusal by the
England to take it off their hands, it lies uproductiv.

The bTqlkers urge, with reason, that the Government,
already made about 10 per cant profit on all the silver
toin that is is3ited, ought et leant to take it backwhen it.
iv not wanted. Nor does this muter merely affect

ba,.kcrs, hr if tl,c Government have the power of issui,L;
money at a !evCe profit, without the restriction that would
arse from b. jog bound to take it ly.irk, they are enabled to
impose an arbitrary and oppres-6ive tax at `sill upon the
"Aoki monied lnterest. Under such circumstances, the
issqe_ of 'very ahillirg from the Mint beyond what is iha-
n..441.7.t,-175 whrord for Imall c‘,alge in petty transactions is
ut covert c•.rnrni:tr.d on the public.
iha wit:or complaint is the inconvenience whic% art-cs
ir,u. the rrfusal of the Bank of England to takehost
hos. reign., the efT,et throwing trade heck upon the
eircvla-ion. The subject is an old one, but the facts c, ti-
-cted ai h it are worth repetition. Tie refu.ia; by :'1(.1
B.iik to take these sovereigns causes an export, of the,
vv thy ones are kept in circulation et
While the exchanges are against UP, the light so.
ve rites ,re or would be, were it not for the Mint regula-
t•ots,,orth more as buiiion than as coin, an.l hence the
,t• the 13 it,k to take them durinj, such a seste ef thing-;,
Ten') :has r..tusiog heavy r.vereigns clone to he exported, Is
ieg-r led as a strange proceeding, inamtt7h as the cot:-. -
~-iucnee is likely to fell m re upon themselves than
Another Lff;ct Minh arises from the light
reigns lacuna thrown ha..k upon the pubic is the enc----t-
-t.,gement given to the trade in gold coin by the bullion
to r,hant3. The parties v,hoe.e sovereigns are refused
take them to the dealers in huliion, and sell them at the
tulliea price. These dealers pay them into the hands of
their priv-de ha: kers, sho seldom wtigh them, but no-
fc.r. them at their Mint value. The sovereigns again
rand their say to the Beak of England, ore again returt,cd,
and go through a similar course, so that the same coins
may pass through the same hands forty or fifty times, tie
bullion merchant making. a non--home profit every time,
v.i,ich ,Lnincreasing in proportion as the coin wears

aid the eiff:A•cLee bctwe en the nominal and bullion
r2lue incrc?Res. These may be classed as the minor
gri:.varierrs perhaps of our monetary syrtem, but they are,
rvverthole3s, well worthy of the attention of the Gove:o-

Z`,PIII:T of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
(From the Morning Chronicle.)
The press, both metropolitan and previnciel, is et
present much oecueied with discusstons on the suiej
of Constitutional Reform. We have already alluded
to the articles in the Leeds Mercury on extension of
the suffrage. Our Contemporary, the Times; of Set
~r-day,
day, has a long article on American Democracy, ie
which the question of Universal Suffrage is more c
dully discussed than we could have expected from test
journal. Sir Samuel Romilly was greatly shocked
when he found that many of the horrors of the
French Revolution emanatQd from the principle, thet
whltever the people wills ought to receive effe::t.
It a people knew their own interests, all would be
well, but unfortunately the people mistook their in-
terests. The excesses of the French Revolution p-o-
-duc: d for a time a dread of even the most necessary
reforms. It had become evident that if society VV3S
exposed to many evils, from men having an inte-
rest opposed to that of the community, it was cx-
posed also to many evils from popular ignorance
and delusion. In time the terror of reform disappeared ;
but the question assumed a new shape. Men no louver
deemed it necessary to discuss whether the whole pe o-
pie ought to have a right of suffrage, but what limita-
tion of the suffrage might secure the community against
the evil of corrupt government, without exposing it to
danger from the ignorance and incapacity of the muH-
tude. There must always be a great difficulty in fixing
the limits of the suffrage. It has been said that it
ought to be so extensive that the constituencies should
have an interest identical with that of the commu-
nity. Many persons flattered themselves that tile
Reform 1311 l had solved the problem. It has now
become evident, however, that the Reform Bile
though a great improvement on the former state of
things, is by no means what it was believed at one
time. Every year the corrupt interests, against which it
was intended as a security, have become more and more
ascendant. It was supposed by some of our con-
temporaries that defects left by the Reform Bill would
be gradually removed ; that, as there is a tendency in
any power which has the ascendancy to strengthen it-
self, the balance having by the Reform Bill been in-
clined towards Reform, the principle of that measure
would continually acquire an additional strength,
would obtain for us a succession of improvements. Ia
this estimate the permanent strength obtained by tbe
Reform Bill was mixed up with the adventitious, caused
by temporary excitement on the ale hand and the tem-
porary prostration of the Tories on the other. Tile
leaders of the Reformers participated in the general de-
lusion. Many reforms might have been effected during
the period which immediately succeeded the Re-
form Bill, which it would be vain to attempt nor.
But Ministers, no doubt, believed that it would he
as easy to obtain the improvements on the Helena
Bill, which experience might show to be necessary, as
it was to obtain the Reform Bill itself. The Reform
Bill was much favoured by circumstances. Tiia
Tories, with all the resources which an unreformed
House of Commons gave them, were so low in credit
that they abandoned the helm of State from absolute
inability to manage it. A Reform Ministry began their
career by the announcement of a measure which had
the good fortune to unite all classes of Reformers in
its support. But at present Reformers are divided.
It has become evident that the corrupt interests are
:still preponderant. we cannot have a better proof
of this than is afforded by the votes on the motions of
Mr. Villiers. The majority represents correct!
enough the ratio the corrupt interests bear to the), interests of the people. The preponderancy of the
corrupt interests is effected through the instrumentality

of the small borougns un...ert ne ntluence of the aris-
tocracy, and the tenantry in the counties. But while
all Reformers agree in admitting this evil, there is no
agreement as to the scheme of reform which should
supersede this state of things. One division calls for
household suffrage and the ballot ; the Chartists would
make the suffrage universal. The Times overstates the
case against the Chartists :
" The more likely result," says our Contemporary, " of
the exercise of unlimited power by a democracy, would be
an immediate dissolution of the whole existing order of
society—a week's work, that would require a century of
repairs. The question for the supposed democracy to
determine upon is stated to be, the means most conducive
to their happiness and growth.' Now, the notion
which nine-tenths of them entertain of happiness is
eating and drinking (especially the latter) without
working, and the principle upon which that theory
would be executed would probably be again, as it
has been too often heretofore, an agrarian one—the simple
simple resource of reducing the inequality between the rich
and the poor by a general division of property. At the
end of a week there would then be a new set of rich, not
those who were the rich of last week, nor those who last
w-ek were the poor, but those who have spent that week
in retailing liquor. These would have realised nine
tenths of the distributed largess, and on the sixth or
eighth morning the poor would be as poor as ever, with a
gin headache, and no masters left to give them wages for
their future labour."

Very strange opinions were no doubt broached with re-
gard to capital during the Chartist fever. But these
opinions had the sanction of only a part of the body.
The rest of the picture is grossly overcharged. But
be this as it may, it is clear that no Reform can be
effected till the other classes become assured that they
have nothing to suffer from the working classes. Till
the alarm on that subject has subsided, the Tories have
the Reformers at an advantage. The schoolmaster has
yet much to do.
(From the Morning Advertiser.)
A letter from Mr. Hume to the people of Ireland, in
which he exhorts them to study the working of demo-
cracy in America, has called forth a long and laboured
article from the Times, in which it is attempted to be
proved that the probable effect of democracy would be
to " adapt the law rather to shelter the irregular, than
to aid the regular, movements of society—to favour
trespassers on property rather than proprietors, and
debtors rather than creditors—to assist capricious
changes as against fixed principles, and tear down or
dilapidate the fences of religion ;" but, continues the
Times, " the more likely result, we suspect, would be
an immediate dissolution of the whole existing order of
society—a week's work, that would require a century of
repairs." The main objection urged by the Times lies
apinst recognising " the person as the basis of repre-
sentation," and, from the arguments with which it en-
deavours to overthrow this position, is deducible a con-
clusion the very reverse of that intended, namely,
the strongest possible condemnation on hereditary le-
gislation. The positions which the 7'in:es assails are
thus stated :

" All men have from nature equal rights, which in the
social state are not relinquished, but held in abeyance to
be more effectually wielded by the superior judgment and
power of associated man, and government is the agent of
all. These anxioms are followed by three propositions—
fist, that the basis of legislative representation is the per-
son, from which is drawn the corollary that the aggregate
of persons, the mass of the people, are properly the judges
of the means most conducive to their happiness and growth
—that is to say, of all political affairs ; secondly, that go-
vernraent, as being the agent of society, should direct its
operation to the good of all the members: and, thirdly,
that, as the will of the whole people is the source, and
their good the end of government, they are entitled at any
time to change it, as their growing civilisation may &:-
wand. The conclusion from the whole is, that Demo-
cracy must finally reign.' To this it is objected, that
on this reasoning no regard can be had to the alleged un-
iitness of any member of society from infirmity of und,r-
qanding, defect of knowledge, or want of independent
position."
The Times itself, however, satisfactorily answers this
objection by stating, that the advocates of democracy
never contemplated the admission of persons thus un-
qual.fied to the franchise ; but, if the objection of " in-
firmity of understanding," or " defect of knowledge," be
valid against the possession of the franchise, in which
the individual, however incapable or mischievoesly in-
clined, would be kept comparatively harmless by the
great majority of votes, how much more cogently does
the objection apply against the privilege of hereditary
!cgislation, whereby an individual of infirm understand-
ing, or defective knowledge, or worse, of mischievous
intent, may form one of a few votes disposing of the
interests of millions ? In endeavouring to sustain a
false position, it is ever necessary to make concessions
to the true, and, therefore, no surprise need be excited
the following Radical profession of the Times :
" In ..vh,t we have now to say, we desire to be under-
stood as taking no part for the few against the welfare of
pile many—no interest whatever for privileged classes as
:uch. If p.ny given privilege be not ter the benefit of the
people at. large, we wish not its existence. If it be for the
benefit, in which case, indeed, it is more properly their
privilege than that of the class intrusted with it, the peo-
at large cannot call for its abolition without proving
themselves unfit to be the managers of their own interest a."
But here arises the question, who is to be the judge
of what privilege is or is not " for the ben At of the
people at large':" Is it to be for the party endowed
ivith the privilege, or the people for whose benefit it is
to be exercised? This is the question. In all the

other relations of life all people of sane mind tire
entrusted with the management of their own affairs,
and there is never any apprehension felt that they will
act prejudicially to their own interest; but when the
question of government is introduced, an outcry is
immediately raised that the people are altogether in-
capable of judging what is cr is not for their own
benefit. It is true that on some occasions, human
judgment being fallible, persons may act prejudicially
to their own interests ; but mistakes of this kind would
he speedily corrected, when the corrective power rests in
the bands of those suffering under their own error.
But it is tar different when the privileged few literally
plunder the many fur their individual gain, and tell
their victims as in mockery, that it is for the benefit
of the people to suffer,' and that they know not what
is for their men good. Common sense revolts
against such lofty and absurd assumption. Ia op-
posing the prir.ciple of making the person the basis
of representation, the Tintes asserts that the
" notion which nine-tenths of the people entertain of
happiness is eating and drinking (especially the latter)
without working," and hence it would infer the total
dissolution of society if the will of the majority were
to have rule. The idea of eating and drinking being
sunintuni bonuni is, unfortunately, not confined to those
called the people ; many of the monopolist, or privileged
ekes, have no more elevated conception of the end of
human existence, and in their lives afford practical illus-
tration of the evil deprecated by the Times, namely,
" eating and drinking without working." But is it for
a moment to be supposed that a whole people would
Oct under the maniacal-notion of living without. labour
Vet, on this apprehension hang almost all the argu-
ments urged against democracy. Democracy has its
evils, but this is not of them ; and though M. de Tocque-
vide, to whom the Times refers, from the lucid and
comprehensive manner in which he examines and cx-
pounts the whole question, may furnish some strong

arguments to the opponents of democracy, he is a most
dangerous authority for them to appeal to, and the
Times must have stwiied him to very little effect, or it
would not have passed over his grand conclusion, that
" had he lived in any age he would admired have demo-
cracy, hut, living in the present age, he worshipped and
adored it."

( From the Morning Herald.)

The Corporation of London, which some time ago
voted 1,000/. towards erecting new churches in the
populous and destitute district of Bethnal-green, on
Thursday voted an equal sum towards the objects of
the British and Foreign School Society, in promoting
education in scriptural and useful knowledge among the
children of the labouring poor. If great and unceasing
efforts are made at the present day, by sordid specula-
tors in irreligious and demoralising doctrines, to infect
with infidel and licentious principles the mass of the
working population, it is satisfactory to see correspond-
ing exertions making to counteract the enormous evil, by
school societies of Churchmen and of religious Dissent-
ers, building their schemes of education upon the broad
and secure foundation of the Holy Scriptures. This is
a generous rivalry in a great work of beneficence, the
good fruits of which will grow and be gathered by
succeeding generations, long after the petty objects
for which selfish ambition contends shall have passed
from the remembrance of mankind. The " Bri-
tish and Foreign School Society " is founded
upon the Lancasterian plan of instruction, and
which preceded the excellent Church institution
of the " national schools." It was to the late Joseph
Lancaster, the founder of the system that bears his
name, that the pious George 111., the grandfather of
our present gracious Queen, and a true representative
of the House of Brunswick, made use of the memorable
expression, " I hope the time will come when the child
of every cottager in my kingdom will be able to read his
Bible." It is this wish of the good George the Third
which the schools that we have named are endeavouring
to realise, and in furthering so good a work the munifi-
cent liberality of the Corporation of London will hi 1p
to sow the seed of a large harvest of moral blessings to
the nation. For if the dissemination of seditious and
infidel principles among the labouring classes be a great
public evil, the instruction of those classes in religious
and loyal sentiments is a great national benefaction.
There is no greater source of national strength and
social security. In the moral and physical welfare of
the poor consists the best protection of the privile;cs
and possessions of the rich.
(From the Morning Post.)
Notwithstanding the facetious " hints by way of ar-
gument " with which the Globe has favoured us in re.
ference to what we said of the speech of one Mr. Wil-
liams, M.P. for Coventry, we are not yet shaken (by
laughter or otherwise) from the views which the Co-
ventry harangue led us to express. We showed from
this harangue that the sentiments of the person who
made it were of a revolutionary character—that lie
sought to excite the lower orders of the people into
fierce discontent with those above them ie station,
to make them believe that the conduct and policy of the