The Sun.
London, England, 1824-02-17 00:00:00

[MORNING POST.]

French Papers to the 15th instant reached us
last night ; but an express, which left Paris at
two o'clock on Sunday, had previously arrived
with later and more important intelligence than
any which they contain. It announces the re-
ceipt of a telegraphic dispatch from Madrid, by
which the French Government were informed
that Ferdinand had issued a Decree, permitting
a free trade between South America and all
other countries. This measure has been consi-
dered by some as showing a spirit of concession ;
by others as a forerunner of the complete ac-
knowledgment of the independence of the new
States. To us it appears the reverse of both.
What concession is there in granting to other na-
tions a free trade which they have enjoyed for
the last ten years, and which it is not in the
power of Spain to repress ? And what kind of
preparation for recognising the independence of
emancipated colonies is that which consists in
a distinct re-assertion of sovereignty over
them ? For what is the meaning--
of this Decree ?
That Ferdinand is sole master of the Colonies,
and that retaining all his rights over them, he
chooses to depart from the policy by which his
ancestors ruled thern,in order,not to increase their
prosperity and secure their welfare, but to make
other Powers less anxious about the recognition of
their independence. This measure is one of eva-
sion, and worthy of the Jesuits by whom Ferdinand
is surrounded. They imagined that in the great
question between Europe and America all the
States of the former were solely guided by motives
of interest, and that if they were allowed the be-
nefits of trade, they would stand neutral, or
perhaps assist in the re-conquest of the New
World. But they have been mistaken in their cal-
culations ; and the paltry offer of a bribe which
they cannot even five, will not, we are con-
vinced, induce any Government to aid them in
an enterprise, the success of which, were it pos-
sible, would be a general calamity. That it will
have no effect on that country which alone could
turn the scale in their favour it not a matter of
surmise, but of certainty.

It is again our painful duty to record an addi-
tional commission of crime since our last. Can
his Majesty's Ministers—we mean his Cabinet
Ministers, receive any thing like correct informa-
tion from this country ? Within two days, the
Provincial intelligence received, brings accounts
of five men actually murdered, four desperately
wounded, and four houses burned ; and yet the
same packet that conveys this sheet, containing
the particulars of these ferocious proceedings, will
no doubt bear a Government dispatch, describing
the improved and tranquil state of the country.
Something must be done.—(Dublin Correspon...
dent, Feb. 14.)
A letter dated Hamburgh, 31st January, says,
" As an extraordinary phenomenon of the present winter (which
for mildness exceeds any thing ever recollected) it is deserving
of notice, that, at a country house, five English miles distant,
•the proprietor perceived hundreds of cock-chaffers flying about
in the garden, (an insect that seldom makes its appearance be-
fore the month of May !)—ln order to convince those who
might otherwise have been incredulous, he brought several of
them to Ilamburgh."
Some bodies having been stolen from the church-
" yard of a remote parish in Northumberland, the
owner of the estate, to prevent such depredations
in future, hasdirected the graves to be made rather
shorter than the coffin, and to be excavated at the
bottom, so as to admit the head Under solid ground.
It is then impossible to raise it by the feet, and
the ghound must be cut away above the head—
a work of more time than could always be com-
manded forthe operation. In addition, a mix-
ture of percussion powder and gunpowder, placed
.on -a wire in -the inside of the coffin, to explode
on its being OpiMed,- has been resorted to. 'Phis
'will retain; s explosive• power fur a month, in
which,time Rip corpse, will generally be unfit fur
(AO?* journ4l.),''