The Sun.
London, England, 1823-02-03 00:00:00

SPAIN.

traost THE COLIIIIER.FRANCAIS.I
MADRID, 21.--(nr EXPRESS).—Before three months
our frontier places will be in a complete state of defence ; we
shall have a reserve of a hundred thorisand muskets ; we
shall also have at sea 31 vessels of war to defend our coasts ;
50,000 uniforms, which have already been begun, will be in
a state of readiness for the army. The force of the army, at
that epoch, will amount to a 180,000 men ; 62 large bands of
Guerillas will be organised, and an infinity of others, if neces-
sary. Sudh is the state which we can aflirm Spain will be in at
the month of April next ; a state which will enable ns at the
same time to resist.every kind of attack, if, as we doubt not, the
command of the armies of the frontiers' is confided (our inten.
tion is to attack no one) to persons atetiltilful as General Mina.
Besides the measures above mentioned, which are common to
all nations, we have the sanctity of our cause, the knowledge
that the war of independence has giveh 111.1 of the ground on
which we must fight, of the positions that we must defend, of
the points that we must occupy or abandon:—we have above all,
on our side, honour, the heavens, and the mountains.
Our enemies will min our temples, lay waste the country,
depopulate the villages, but never triumph over the Spaniards.
There are many points on the Peninsula that it is impossible
to take, even though. which will never happen, they should be
feebly defended. It is from those spots that the ardour of the
troops-trill be cherished, and that 'ammunition will be sent to
the armies and the Guerillas.
In fine, we will say to the nations that would declare war
against Spain,-that however favourable may be for, them the
chances of the war, the present generation assuredly will not see
the end of it ; and every body knows that long wars always
finish to the advantage of the people who defend their indepen-
dence.
BA YONNE JAN. have received official accounts of
the affair of .gstella, of the 12th, which was much more serious
than that of the 9th. 'We shall only say, that the Pastor, with
only 1,100 men, fought for tlit.:•.e days with the united bands of
Juannito, Santos Isadron, and others, amounting to 3000 men,
who bravely defended their positions; they were at length dri.
ven from them by a charge from the bayonet, losing 150 killed
and a great many wounded. The Constitutional troops lost 113
men, Including nine officers. The battle would have been re-
newed the next day, had not Torrijos arrived at Estella. The
Pastor then pursued the enemy till they were completely dis.
persed. An attempt made, by. 2000 men, under Guerguit and
others, upon Vittoria failed ;- the garrison made a sally, and
was repulsed, but Torrijos happily arrived in time. In a letter
which be has written to Colonel P.
.Arguelles, at Vittoria, he
says he took 33 prisoners, and a great quantity of baggage, &e.;
and that he had not one man killed or wounded.
By accounts from Saragossa, of the 19th, we are informed of
the movements of Bessieres, &c., which give a great idea of
the intrepidity of those partisans ; after being expelled from.
Calatayud, it appears that they have actually entered Arragon,
with 8000 men (1200 without arms), and on the 17th took pos.
session of Siguenza, the garrison of which Was forced to retreat
to Gaudalajara. All the authorities had left the city, where the
Government of the absolute King was proclaimed. Another
band, supposed to. be commanded by Moses Anton and Mind.
les, arrived front Catalonia, and occupied Ballastro ; the small
garrison of which held out in the fort. We do not know the
further proceeding* of the faction, whose numbers arc greatly
increased in Arragon.
An extraordinary courier passed through yesterday ; he left
Madrid on the 21st. Be states the city to be in much alarm,
news having been received of the entrance of Bessieres into Si-
guenza, and that his vanguard- of 1,500 men was at Onadalas
jara on the 19th. On the 20th, 1,600 men and four pieces of
cannon were sent from Madrid, to proceed by forced marches to
Guadalajar. We are not acquainted with the result, but the-,
report of a battle is certainly premature.
Numerous courtiers continue to pass through this city. The
loan for 800 millions of reels is said to be concluded with some
English banker.
The bands on the frontiers will find plenty of employment
for the Constitutional troops in the spring if they do not
speedily destroy them, for large sums of money from Paris
have arrived for the Royalists in Irun, St. Jean Pied de Port,
and Bayonne. Preparations too are making to clothe and
equip them completely.

ON PUBLIC OPINION.

(Frain the Umpire of Saturday last.)

The people's voice is odd—
It is—and it is not—the voice of God,

POPE.

n society--and in books—we find few things
of which there is more said, or more written, than what is call-
ed " public opinion," or " the voice of the people." We hear
it called, by turns„ fickle and constant—irresistible, or despi-
cable—always right, or almost always mistaken. We hear it
asserted, in the same company, that it deserves the greatest de-
ference, or absolute neglect. But the most extraordinary Pert
of the business, that these various assertions may be all cor.
rect in their way. Here, as in many other instances, the ambi-
guity and confitsion arise from the indiscriminate and Incau-
tious application of terms—from using the same words in dif-
ferent senses. We deem it necessary, therefore, before we
proceed farther in our vocation—since we feel a thorough eon-
victim that we, like our coteinporaries, shall have frequent
occasion to speak of public opinion, and the voice of the people,
to set in a clearer light the meaning of the
,expressions; and
to state under what• circumstances the fullest attention should
be paid to the popular sentiments, and when it may be fairly
treated—if not with contempt--at least without respect.
Before we can come to a rational decision about the voice
of the people, we must have formed our judgment both from
the manner in which, and the subject upon which it is ex-
pressed.

First, then; as to the manner of its expression. Here we.
shall, in fact, discover two distinct sorts of. popular opinion.
The one is the natural reason of man working
.in the general
heart of a nation—influencing the public will—and in its turn
receiving from the public will, new energy and force. Public
opinion of this kind is often silent in its progress—but It never
pauses :—it may be slow—but it is sure in its career—it may be
gradual—but it is' Irresistible in its operation. Truth is its
source--justice is its guide—and, like truth and justice, it will
ultimately prevail. Public opinion of this kind generally.ftrous
with a few enlightened individuals, who have advanced in -their
ideas before the ago in which they live : it is diffused by thern.l
through the more educated classes of the nation ; and descends
lastly to the people at large, who receive it from a conviction
of its accordance with the fundamental maxims of equity, anti
good sense. It is thus stamped and engmven, clearly and in.
delibly, upon the universal understanding; and becomes.
public &pinion by the common consent:of sound and sober

persons after 14 has surmounted prejudice, azd baffled oppo-
sit ion.

The other sort of public opinion is not so much the voice
of the people as the clamour of the mob. It is turbulent,
and unruly while it lasts; but it will gat exhaust itself by
its own violence, or die away, like a conflagration, from want
of fuel. Its origin is either a momentary caprice— or a wild
And mistaken notion of self-interest. It is engendered by
mercenary scribblers, or bankrupt demagogues: it commences
with the lowest and least informed orders of society—and ends
where it bran. For a short time it may present a formidable
appearance : but, if treated with patience, discretion, and
firmness, may be generally stopped, or directed into a better
channel.

No two things, therefore, can be more distinct than the two
species of what is called public opinion :—no two things can be
more distinct, in their nature, their origin, their mode of opera.
tion—their progress—and their end. The one is like a deep
and quiet stream, which flows onward, and still increases as it
flows, until it has reached the destined termination of its course:
the other is a babbling and shallow brook, which dashes along
with noise and tumult—to be lost in the next marsh, and seen
no more. One hi steady fire : the other is a flame among the
stubble.

Again, as to the subject upon which popular opinion is ex-
pressed. There can be no necessity for observing, that this ies
a point which must create a roost material difference. For
here comes the question-..and a most important question it must
be deemed—is the subject upon which the popular sentiment
displays itself, such a subject as may fairly be supposed to be
open to the people-_to come within the scope of tSeir compre-
hension—and the sphere of their kntswiedge—a subject, in
short, with which the people can be conversant ?
'We feel a very considerable difficulty in drawmg the line:—
but we are inclined to say, that in all matters of feeling, the
people are a sate and almost unerring judge :—in matters of
abstract reasoning, wholly incampetent to decide--and in mat-
ters compounded of both feeling and reasoning, as political
questions must generally be, likely to be hat :right and half_
wrong. By the people, we must be here understood as news-
ing the lower orders of the community, whose intellectual de-
ficiency is, from evident causes, as great as the superiority of
their natural strength. At the same time, it is obvious,
that
as knowledge becomes more diffused, and the people more en.
lightened, their opinions upon all subjects must become pro..
portionably more powerful and more respectable.
Junius says of the people—" In their opinions they are;
generally right, in their sentiments they are never ,nis.
tafeen. 'We are disposed to agree with him. The judg-
ment of the people is correct as far as it goes : they see
hilf—or only a quarter, and fancy they see all—they may to.
tally confuse or misunderstand the real premises--but their
conclusion, as deduced from their own premises, will be found
the best of all possible conclusions. Taeir sincerity is unques-
tionable; the nation as a body will seldom or never decide like
a single individual from corrupt or mercenary motives : it will
be often blind—but seldom or never dishonest: The
.ftelings
of the people—nay, even of the mob, are good in themselves:
but they are carried invariably too far. In every case which
we remember, in the case of the Corn Bill—in the case of Me
late Queen__in the "No Popery" case—the people have been
actuated by good feelings—however deplorable may have been
the excesses into which their feelings precipitated them. We
repeat,- then, that' in all matters of feeling., rather than
of reason, the popular opinion will be universally right, and
must be uniformly regarded.
On the other hand, in matters of politic! economy or ab-
stract calculation—upon such a question, for instance, as the
currency, or the causes of agricultural distrees, instead of tak.
ing the popular opinion as an infalliable criterion, we should
pay no more attention to the voice of the populace, than to a
blind man who should talk about colours, or a man who should
distant upon mathematics without having ever read the first
proposition in Euclid during the whole course of his life.
And here, we think, our Itlinisters have been wrong. They
say for themselves, and their pamphleteer has said for them in
a dozen places, that they have nude no errors of importance in
their late financial arrangements—except where they havecom.
plied too implicitly with the wishes a the people. But such
conduct is at once pusillanimous and absurd. Measures of
finance are the very last matters on which the wishes of the po-
pulace should be consulted. So far • from an implicit compli-
ance being granted to their will, no compliance should be grant-
ed whatsoever. We would indeed nay, ccetcris paribus, gratify
the inclination of the people—when the balance is even, let that
inclination turn the scale—but never indulge their whim, at the
expellee of their interests.
We hardly know whether we have made ourselves understood.
Few things are more difficult than to fix an exact meaning, while
we are obliged to make use of terms which have been long used
indefinitely and at random. Our doctrine is, in two words,
that public opinion will be wise, or foolish—lasling, or women-
tag, werftil, or weak—deserving of all deference, or descry-
ic
g none—according to the sense in which the expression is
emplo ied. The man who employs it, must consider carefully
whether he-eneans the sober, rational, and progeessive convic-
don of the most intelligent and numerous portion of the
com-
munity: or the sudden notion of that part of it, which is the
most headstrong and the least enlightened. A Minister must
• consider whether he has to deal with the will of a whole people,
firmly and unequivocally avowed : or the effervescence of de., mocratical caprice, which in a few months or weeks will subside
of itself :—witether, for instance, with the settled and deep-
.rooted determination of the nations upon the Continent CO abeam
representative constitutions :—or the outcry of a Radical mob in
- England for Rome fresh chimera of the day :—whether, again, the
popular voice is expressed upon a point, on which it has a
right to be heard ; because it is a point where the interests of
the populace are immediately concerned, and where they are
likely to understand their interests :--or on some Natter, which,
front its intrinsic abstruseness, or complete separation from
their means of information, or their habits of thought, must be
left to the few men, who are qualified by nature and education,
to bring to them the powers of mind, anti the stores of know-
ledge, which are indispensably requisite for their proper and
philosophical discussion.
To speak generally, the voice of the people must neither be
treated as every thing or as nothing. Some men may call it the
" Vox Dei," others may almost consider it as the ' Vox Dia-
boli ;" a wise man will listen to its utterance, but he will not
submit to its dictation. Mobs, in all countries and in all ages,
have been uniformly the same ;—quick In their attachments-.. hasty in their resentments—hurried on by their feelings—eately
deluded by their leaders—sullen and cowardly in defeat—inso.
lent 'and overbearing in success—unwilling to obey, and
.totally unqualified to command—credulous of any aspersions
against the Government, and impatient of contradiction in their
credulity—passionate and violent in their motions, and there.
fore proportionably fickle and unstable—dangerous for the mo.
ment when they feel their own power, but incapable of acting
in concert and with systematic perseverance. Such have been
all the mobs recorded in history—the Jewish mob, the Athe-
nian mob, and the Roman mob. Such in our own
times have
been the French mob and the English mob.
Thepopulace, if left to their own efforts, are usually destruc-
tive only to themselves; but when they are headed and orga.
nized by designing men—who, instead of endeavouring to ern.
prove and correct them, inflame their pardons and their pre-
judices, under pretence of submitting to their opinions—there
is a real anti serious danger to a country. The leaders of the
Athenian democracy destroyed Athens ; and the tribunes of
Rome who alternately flattered and betrayed the people, has-
tened the perpetual dictatorship of Sylla and Caesar, and ulti-
mately caused the subversion of the commonwealth. From
the Gracchi to Rienzi, perhaps the best and most honest
of them all, the factious tribunes were the disturbers and agi-
tators of Rome.
leonfttilsieepstaettfiesheeda.ndmthrhaent
efivirerthohe
egoretreo,fweltienpeopti,rthaleigegno:
It Is evident, however, that all power is nriginally vested in the
v handse
n
timents of the people are universally and unequivomffy expressed,
it is the duty of the government to adopt them. Rut when we here
speak of the people, we mean of course the whole collective body
of the nation. comprehending the vast portion of rank, re-
epectability, sense and education ;
—we mean a body, in short,
which it is neither capable of mistaking its own interest, nor
likely to neglect it; and when we speak of the expreesion of
its sentiments, we understand, that these sentiments are ex.
pressed legally, rationally, and constitutionally. When, on
the other hand, only the lower and uneducated classes of this
body, deluded by their leaders,
and ignorant of the true nature
of their petition, clarhorously demand what is contrary to rea.
and- dignified resistance. It must
son and the COItStitUtiOTI, it is as much the ditty of the Admi.
nistration to offer a firm
consult the substantial and permanent benefit of the people--
not the impetuous and fluctuating wishes of ii part of it. -.knd
this the Government may safely do; for it is a circumstance
we may thank heaven, which still exists, to strew the excel:
AdmMistration in England can
lence of our Constitution, and its admirable mixture of liberty
ways able to despise the clamours °Nit
and security, that while no
withstand the sentiments of the people the Government is Al.mob.

THE WEAVERS OF COVENTLI

ST. MONDAY among the WEAVERS Of COVE
('Pram The Birmingham Chronicle,
Would I were a weaver ; I would sing all manner°
First Port,f Ile'
I should fear not Goliah with a weaver's bed,
know also, life is a shuttle.

Merry Wills 1. fri
We: have seen how the memory of St. Monde,' it P
ammonagancitheentasrhtizanrine: ansofdßirminga
worshippershin. more
fie
refitilYer
a more sensitive class. Let us follow him to Coati./
We never hear that renowned city named
desire to plunge at once inta, the stream of Eatery in
day or
we
other,w perhaps, we
minatyhifisni
thenthl
selves, at present we will only just remark, theist
110 vent from which the place derives its name is no
though the walls are no more than a remnant of
• • hold
ribbon), and the gates, for the most part, ant"
identified ; although the Bishop's Chair no lengis;
a porch, or, if you will, a postern ;
did architecture,) is no longer the strong hold of ber:4
a neitl
town-criers, mountebanks and buuerwomen, an
mends the sign of reverence, nor the cry of admirsti°;
ca the
dnsotapponcertnnoieitoyetts:l;
of one of its most ancient churchesthttiegthoatiler:ltsarosito(4
only remain, which (0 Mores !) are, in part, tr
antique, (unlike the (flans of a certain gen►
the ,
a stye for pigs ; still there remains a prelatiop.'eas odourthing which at every step tells us we arc among w
the Roman, and the gothic times ; As lvd
' Still'
only just remark thus 'much of a place Which
enough to satisfy, for a given time, any malerite to
o,
antiquity. The names, even now, attached to thelal
Grey Friars, White Friars, Priory, Broad Gate, the o
111
Burgess, Ste. are sufficient for a feast of no ordinary
Let us return to St. Monday and leis wo/Isle e
ril*
weavera! Upon the departure of' the Sabbath—
with
ing of the succeeding morn, when Pruebue, Ea. ho
car
Illuminated and so forth, his Saintship is ushered 111 „
King's birth-day, by the bells of Si. Michael's vow tr.tiv"
what delightful peals are echoing througli the .e4Prst:Gl4
how the music floats along the surface et the 67;0011
how majestically it pours over the villages Qf,?toliett:
Sow, the Commons of Hearehall anti Stoke, the ' 440
the Charter's Leys, the Cheylets Moor, the Bills an
and Poppies, the rivers Sherburne and Radfoni.
Baginton and Corley, are all participating in theist
come of St. Monday ! •
All nature wears a smile, tie, 4. he re?!
Five days out of the seven, at every corner 0*
city ye may hear the she clack of the shuttle, t
ping of the batten, and the shuffling shake of the trams',
on the coming of St.. .Monday, the looms are se j ,4wtotgrA
per sense of devotion, of which they give an.r
the preservation of a demeanour the most gusice,-"--
Silentium est de ea re! 000
ye may hear, perhaps, in slime irreverent corner,
woes!
vertv struggles for, and obtains the mastership
th-0'
feeling, ye may hear the unaccompanied sow' alt
is
but there's a touch of melancholy in it; or wha.toin
savours of infidelity ; for the rest, St. 3fontlaY
co tPe feet! el
no triumph is it, but a luxurious truce —too. of Labour anti Ease, signed and sealed in the name Trot ro
tire powers, by their plenipotentiaries, PlcasereAestg
truce by which the reign ot St. Monday is securrLiess?!:,
four and twenty hours. We have said how thenLeeri
the beginning of his reign, but we should add, wtri.odw'
St. Michael, but also those of the Holy TrinAtesch 1/4.t
saintless,) but more ordinarily styled, Bablalato"iet
through the interest of a distinguished votaryst ostheig‘;',
corner of Me chamber of Priores ;au Lilly .1 &a-, in reputation, and a rose in good fellowship, 10";,°„11itie;
the peculiar favour of the patron Saint; -and hea';:(l6,4,
been never known to utter more than the wool otti
Spon End,"; words which are better felt than elocirr
which only find their full acknowledgement in the
T
broad
d
d
th.
ed
thanassecvnadnybfavamouinoerre:l4:gairillia:l;alseotrwllieciositt°nlikeintolzwaricejo.t.thnormesfiuttiniillii,si'p'.rnvg
ileaolibliteri
ni.reeireenilrothittsinolibboemoereolaawyflenirririoalbiditulasigiktrrssOteS:ul;feivetritet}ectilptdlirihaanerwyal
itee.yoaiwitl ist,ipiltutii;eablieiworxrb:littrotic b I
flitio:whie
totiii„:4iiir7es
weaver is of necessity sedentary ; the face of notate std?
ip
r
ke
te
co
e,)
r
of green fields, sunshine, and all that, he is alaijs.o
than ever, what a blessed thing is li'herty ! The "Itso
with the most eager of your grid nortes ; to. aft c2l.,,dec-4
Ott
as the former, or so invidious as the latter ; he iitesn
tcs
blue mars, your church and king, moreover, Y°lll4 IVhv'
tahehaepispitan.lfloerwceadbsteisecooifmpthice,oauftogrehtothb:b,aelynteo,tsaiinpialanean,boltcsaocinfkfitharietiviaedsirt7eion4.:l;l
helwlioeuldweabeenroilsroatabrroyadal
stLhoiluigolindlea3vn anti "seceeils
iii
wboodr. esoeearattotvuhboeinrtEtintsi
lromstihyetoro.aauilurtiwtacagorhonetandtfehixensoshdekwetslaeewwi
rballehurataoetv:ehothsi
eigfelpeal:taiiteelor.at;enillensaliemalnsosritiki
igsieetelut.;;Lfuilit:t'itaittohollf
bowl, and the nine at a tip ! gee nt isicket •,it 14
to
oes
playing; at bell-ringing; and above all, see billet
of the
Monday, the b best
ak,iynagu,
maythe bthesiatk,kainugr of rood fellows
require 'el:a..locc.i,
It is known how nearly St. Alonday is related
z
" Plumpy Bacchus with pink sync. " We ere nt'ea on de
we will not attempt the pedigree; we will rest n°'e on %%0
knowledged fact. Aboat the time of noon then' the P:00
knowing the heart of his patron, directs his stelo.tu
not P
y'Graites.,--there he renews his worship. ; or'
pany him in his hallucination ; we are no pol'l":oleet'is.
all bickering, till confusion, all ratiocinatitm we got
see a well-intentioned man fall from reasoning to ese'a
the frying-pan? &c. and for what ?to prove what ever)
wi
before, that things are not always in their right P)wilaeitsalfos,'
we be not willing to attend him through hie, feJ,'
lags, we will, with all hearts, accompany him in a soot
tN
we rouse the night-owl in a catch ; that will drsw.oisfat
out of one weaver," or not liking catches, shall VI w'el:na
ga igveleeyOuorr
touch at each and every ! Let St. Mondste. Sit'eda4'
dent and Mr. Vice !we call on the Messrs. BII",; ,
what is betietewr,aiitnearschorus of fifty, or he
po eerw
's in the room. Now P
for a glee : Gentlemen, join chorus and keep stlert-
A GLEE, BY AIESSRS. BLANKS, Be--
Of all the Saints that rule the yeer,
But one is known and worshippid here 7'
And ff ye ask his name--behold
Within OUT heart of hearts 'his scroll'd ;
• And though his humblest votaries wet
St. Monday glories in our GLEE !
stior-cfsonvs.
Then pour a bumper at his shrine !
Greet him in ale—if not in wine!
CITOTITIS,
Of all the Saints that rule the year,
St. Monday only triumphs here! •
No penance and no scourge we dread,
We sing no masses for the dead
But with hearts joyous and lips free,
We for the quick—rehearse our Glee
And in our kindliest hour we boast,
St. Monday lovel and grants us molt.
SEATI.CITORTYS.
Then pour out rivers, let us sail
With him in ocean cups of ale !
CTIORUS.
And hark ! ye hear to us he cries
Dii approkot--btst time flies. t esmete
day
ft •
What shall we say, (lentlemen, after that gill"'
May St. Monday never fail to visit us nne uahe'
iwthannejadott.lthia;yaunygl:hinw,tde ever he ready to welcome him le tit
P ao.
We drank " the aforesaid," and having alw,„.1► 1 emir
sprothpearextacellleneayt saying, of " be 12:1:::wr-fm
10
gether.
* Tile title which, some centuries ago: irdueieuale
ventry, from the number of distinguished - e.ffi made it a place of residence orethviesitawdeaovteur
t This requirft no note—C. Lilly, Es4* of the " siga
A fanciful interpretation of the language etsecrae
in the neighbourhood of Span End, lee (-MUGU'
the Black Horse. • •

J7-'''' '
~,,„:.
ir-'l'. :
•-;:il: . - ....'r,