The Sun.
London, England, 1823-10-31 00:00:00

4944 that the sanguinary Proclamation of
C4stei(ollit, succeeded as It was by the
massacre at that' place, demands exemplary
punishment ; and that to spare the cold-
hrpoded murderer of his prisoners would
lie to inflict a sleep wound on the cause of justice.
fall of Lerida and of the'fortress of Urgel
Is fully 'Confirmed. The Baron de Damas has
taken the •oithi.of.Office as successor to the Duke
de -Bellune ; but the removal of the latter ap-
pears to have excited a very strong sensation
among the Royalists all over France. It was
even rumoured in Pdris that M. de Villele him-
self had been so shaken by it 'that he would be
fOrced to resign ; that a Ministry more complete-
ly in the sense of the extreme Right would be
formed, the Chamber of Deputies-dissolved, and
&General Electiop resorted to. This last point
is expressly denied by the Orillananie ; and as to
Made Viliele,-we think him too useful to be re-
moved, and too cautious to go to such extremes
as would necessitate his removal.

[THE TIMES.},
In another column is u letter* of Lord Nugen
on the subject of an article relative to Admira
Valdez, which appeared in The Times of Wed
nestlay. It will be seen that his Lordship does
not in the smallest degree impugn the main facts
of our narrative—viz. that a plan for annoying
the French fleet was proposed to Admiral Val-
dez—that a considerable delay took place before
any opinion of its efficiency could be procured—
and that after the plan (which, by the way,
had been successfully employed against us by
the Americana in the late war) had been pro-
nounced feasible and useful, it was sudden-
ly and altogether rejected. Our inference
from this conduct of the Commander. of Ca-
diz was, that mere' imbecility, independent of
treachery,', was ~not sufficient to explain such
astonishing apathy and neglect. Lord Nugent,
from a personal knowledge of the character of
Valdez, 'acquits him of treachery. With every
deference for his Lordship's personal testimony,
we must still express our doubt how mere stupi-
dity could have beau so inefficient. The main
facts of the story, we again re-assert with the
,utmost confidence, are true; and, in spite of the
objection of a cotemporary wiseacre, we say the
plan was feasible. The French fleet, instead of
being 20 miles ofr, was always within gun-shot of
Cadiz : indeed, a t any greater distance, it would
have been utterly useless.
(The., ellowifig. b the Letter alluded to t)—
TO TOE EDITOR OF ritu TIMES.
• Sett—ln a narrative published in your Paper of yesterday,
of an occurrence which took place during the late siege of Cadiz,
it is stated, as a matter' of doubt, whether the conduct of Ad-
tniral.Valdezt in declining to adopt certain means that were
proposed to him for annoying the French fleet, proceeded from
treachery or imbecility: In the possibility of its being tarp-
posed that such an insinuation could have arisen out of, any
testimony of mine, I feel that I owe it to the reputation of s
brave man, who has, for half ti century, served his country with
honoatiur, to correct, as. far ai I may be able, un inference in-
jurious to him, and,.as lam convinced, *mu. From all the
means which I had, during my residence at that place, of form-
ing an opinion, either from personal observation, or from the
inforination of others, I believe that there was not in Spain a
than more devoted to her cause, or more faithful to the ongalge-
moots he hail undertaken in her defence., than Admiral
Valdez. Whatever lawny by the general opinion, or WirOCVer
-may lie my oivri of his other qualifications for the active
dudes which. wereAmposed. upon bun,l believe that no, one
who knows Admiral Valdez could ever suspect hint of treason
to his country, or doubt his honest zeal against the common
enemy. I observe, also, that you state, that the Minister Cala-
ttavai.in a subsequent conversation, described him as a "dolt.",
I am enabled, of my own knowledge, to assure you that, in the
conversation you allude to, Senor CAtlatrava used no phrase of
that importor to that effect, but spoke of him personally, as he
always did., ire terms of warm regard.*
I tun pure, Sir, that you will feel as I do, that it is'but an act
'of common
,justice to endeavour to remove an imputation .uri-
deseritadly'cait Upon a man, whose character for integrity and
honour has never been impeached, and is perhaps all that now
remains to him out of the wreck of inivate happiness, connected
as hiS fortunes haie been with those of an afflicted' country,
and of a cause hitherto unsuccessful. •
I am, Sir, your obedlenthumble servant,
Twickenham Oct. • NVOENT.
It will be Aserved that his Lordship does not Assert that
our account of CalatraVa's remark on Valdez was incorrect in
its general scope, but merely that he did not use the offensive
word " dolt," though it seems almost the only word which
could fairly describe .the behaviour of Valdez on this ems-
Timm

[MORNING HERALD.]
If our Madrid Correspondent be correctly in
formed in his letter, which we gave yesterday
it appears that France, Spain, and Portugal
have it in contemplation to unite for the purpoie
of, again bringing into subjection the Spanish
and Portuguese Colonies in South America.—
Should such a combination be acted upon—and
it is by no means improbable, England may yet
be involved in '.var ; for it is not likelyt after we
have so long freely traded with South America
that we shall submit to be deprived of that un-
restricted trade. That Portugal and Spain have a
right to bring again into subjection their Colonies,
no one can question, and' on just the same prin-
ciple that England would have a right to recover
possession of her West India Islands,should she,
for any length of time, have been deprived of the
Sovereignty of them, even though the United States
of America had acknowledged their independence,
or France had sent to them her Consuls. War tc
England, under any circumstances, is to be de
precated ; but it strikes, us that England w*
rather run the risk of war than suffer the
newly-combined Powers to get hold of Spanis
America to our commercial exclusion. The pa
pulation of that part of the world is to the ex-
tent of about ten millions of people, all of whom
are more or less clad in British manufactures—
and most of whom are too indolent, from the in-
fluence of climate and the extreme cheapness of
the common necessaries of life, to manufacture
for themselves. 'Phis is a population for our ma-
nufacturing establishments to supply, almost as
large as Great Britain, independent of I reland—
not that the people in those Outtalks consume
our goods in at all the seine proportion as those
at home, but, at the same time, it is a consump-
tion, which would be regularly on the in-
crease. A war, however, brought about under
such circumstances would be n very different war
from our sending a large army and navy to Spain
to assist the democrats of that country to upset
the King, the Church, and Nobility ; which de..
mocratic Government, after it had been esta-
blished at, a vast expense and gicat risk to us,
might take it into its head to p.-orlaito to tln
people of Europe that they had better all do
the same thing. This was precisely what the
French democracy did after it had beheaded
Louis XVI., and had robbed the Church and