The Sun.
London, England, 1840-12-30 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WE PECEN HER 30, 1810.

class applauding our social institutions to the very

echo.

But without dwelling upon a subject which it
was quite ridiculous in a Journal in the least ac-
quainted with the history of France, past and pre-
sent, to moot, we cordially agree with the National
that the sentence pronounced upon the Abbe de
LAMENNAIS is enough to crimson the cheek of
any honest and patriotic Frenchman. The Abbe,
poor man, is a harmless enthusiast, whose natural
eloquence, more than the popularity of his senti-
ments, procures him numerous admirers, not one
in an hundred of whom care a rush which side of
the question he espouses. Like all enthusiasts, he
is simple and unaffected in his manners, and
though liable to change his opinions, he would
lay down his life for those which he advocates,
so long as they are really his. We have
read his " Words of a Believer," and our con-
viction is, that no Government having a regard to its
own safety ought to prosecute such a publication,
as, the more such doctrines are bruited, the worse it
must be for a system not founded on the basis of
eternal justice. In that pamphlet the Abbe
asserts that did CHRIST the Redeemer now ap-
pear in frame, having not where to lay his head,
his sacred person would be profaned by the touch
of a policeman, and a Magistrate would commit
him to prison as a vagrant. Such assertions arc
not to be made lightly the subjects of prosecution
by men who have perverted the early Christian
equality and the com►aunity of goods, and:
the toils necessary to produce them—for :the
system of grinding tyranny which now darkens
the fair face of the Christian world. if
the sacred armoury of reason and of truth
supplies no weapons with which successfully to
combat such theories, the wisest policy for a Go-
vernment to pursue is to take no notice of them.
To prosecute is to give them notoriety, and to en-
list the sympathies of the young, the ardent, the
dissatisfied with the existing order of things, in fa-
vour of their authors. There is in the human mind
an inherent disposition to take the part of the weak
against the strong, of the oppressed against the op-
pressor; and, in the case: of a generous people, to
elevate any person prosecuted by a Government for
speculative opinions in religion or politics into a
martyr.

The prosecution and the defence of the Abbe de
LAMENNAIS, were conducted with an almost equal
disregard of the character and the interests of the
accused. The public prosecutor, M. PA RTA RIEU
LAFOSSE, heaped epithets of abuse upon the head
of the accused, a thousand times more disgraceful
to the utterer than to the dauntless subject of them.
Among other ridiculous charges, he sought to raise
a prejudice against the Abbe by representing him
as an infidel, and in this he succeeded ; although
it is notorious that poor M. de LAMENN &IS is a
firm believer in Christian Revelation, although no
longer a stickler for papal supremacy, and the
right of exalting the crozier above the sceptre.
But M. de LAMENNAIS was not worse used by
the prosecutor than he was defended by that
now antiquated political abortion, M. MAuculN•
This gentleman forgot his client in the
mazes of the Eastern question, into which
which he entered with as much ardour as if he ex-
pected the Jury to vote the eternal downfal of M.
TRIERS, and his own exaltation to the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. The poor Jurors might well
look confounded when they found themselves drag-

ged through Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Italy,
Russia, Turkey, Syria, and Egypt, and from the
_

capital: of ICabool making a sudden bound to
London to examine the opinions of Lord GREY
and the Duke of WHI,LINGTON, and to resent
with becoming indignation the silly taunts of the
Globe and the John Bull. M. MAuGuIN professed
himself at the outset no eulogist of the con-
duct of his client, and by way of proving
this, he took care to forget him altogether
before he had uttered a dozen sentences.
The Jury had inet to decide upon a simple case of
libel, and were of course driven half out of their
wits, when the prisoner's counsel confounded the
ravings of an old but well-meaning enthusiast with
Belgian and Spanish revolutions ; changes of dy-
nasties ; Cabool ; naval :armaments in the Levant;
an alliance with Russia ; and a war with England !
No wonder the Jury got bewildered, and while
their wits were wool-gathering, gave a verdict un-
favourable to the prisoner.
Since his condemnation, M. LAMENNAIS, has
addressed a letter to the Commerce, in which he
denies experiencing any other feeling than fatigue
during his trial, that journal having previously stated
that he appeared care,ororn and anxious. The
old man bears his fate with th'e equanimity of a
martyr,
_ _

letter from the frontiers of Italy, of the 13th of
December, says, " The works on the fortifications of
Ancona, which were resumed since the circulation of
the reports of war in the month of August, will, it is
said, be continued. Want of money is the cause of
the delay in the execution of these works. There is
now a plan, as we hear, to contract a loan, which
would enable the Government to proceed in the ex-
ecution of these measures of defence. This loan would
also serve to place the military force on the war esta-
blishment, so far as the present state of things re-
quired. All this will lead to a series of negotiations
between the Holy See and tle Cabinet of Vienna.
We bear also that new armaments arc projected in the

Duchies.
We have heard people talk of the anger of foreign
Powers at the project of fortifying Paris. This, at
least, is not the opinion of the Journal de Frankjiwt.
the organ of the Germanic Diet. We find in it the
following passage, which we recommend to the Na-
tional :—" The more the Chamber shall vote complete
means of defence, and an invincible orgabization in the
interior, the more will the policy, which has openly de-
clared for peace, and which accepts the resposibility of
it, he satisfied and confirmed, the more certainly will it
enjoy the confidence which it has well deserved of the
country.—Lc Commerce."
BOURSE.—PAnts, MONDAY, DEC. 28.
t irst Highest Lowest Vail
Price Price. Prick. Price
French 5 per Cents
4 per Cents 9O 75 ... 96 75 ... 96 75 ... 96 75
3 per (ruts 7g 35 %06l ... 76 00 ... 711 60
flatt). 01 franee
Lattitte t;Alk 5000 f. Stares 5137 50 ...5137 50 ...5132 50 ...51:1:2 50
is elgien /Sauk
5 per Cents 9744 ... V75(2 ... 9714 ... 9744
New Lean
,1,:in:1-1 Active 243i, ... 251., ... o.y, ... 2.10,4
Passive )1 ••• 531 ... 514 ... SS,
New Deferred
Portuguese 3 per Cents 2O ... 20 ... Ili ... ;i
,eaimit: an
Roman
RAILWAY SHARES.
..._.

St. Germain — -
t 35 ... 635 ... (,35. ... 635
Versailles,lt. 8 340 ... 141 ... 280 .... 3so
L.B. 295 ....A] 50 ... 21,5 ... V 5
Orleans ..
StrasMiry; to Bale
A UNI•LtIAN FUN DS.—N'lr.rou, Dice. 19
live per Cutts. Metalliques • 1001,6
Foal per Gent A
Three p,r Cent.. -
Bank shares
—..iftigemenic Zeitung. Dee. 21.

We have received Madrid papers of the 20th
instant. The REGENCY had ordered the suppres-
sion of nine convents in the province of Gm-
puseoa alone, and similar orders had been ad-
dressed to the authorities in several other provinces
in Spain. The funds had risen in consequence.
Front being at 26 the Fives rose to 30 for c;ish,
and closed on the 19th at

Ennons or TIIE " TimEs."—A month ago the Times
was busily engaged day after day in proving to the
satisfaction of the horrified public that accidents on
railroads were much more frequent and dangerous than
on common roads. Yesterday, however, it slyly slipped
into an article the following recantation of its former
error :—" There is no doubt, we believe, that travelling
generally has been rendered in some degree more secure
than heretofore by the adoption of railroads." The
public must be at a loss which most to admire—the
graceful ease with which our Contemporary changes his
opinions, or the hardihood with which he propounds his
last-adopted error as if it were eternal truth.

The Duke of Wellington has had cards of in-
vitation issued for a grand banquet at Apsley House, on
the 25th of the ensuing month, to the Noble and gallant
Duke's supporters in the House of Lord►.

THE MARKETS.-(THIS DAY.)

CORN EXCHANGE.

The arrivals of Grain since Monday have been very
small. The frost continuing and the navigation being
nearly closed, very little business has been done, as few
buyers have attended to-day.

LITERATURE.

ELPHINSTONE, 3 VoLs.
Bentley, London, 1840.
Elphinstone is a story of homely, familiar life,
whose incidents are put together with no great skill,
but answer the purpose of entertainment well enough,
inasmuch as they arc unexaggerated in their nature,
and are touched off with a light and rapid pen.
The author of the story, Mr. Butler, seems to have
had Fielding often in his thoughts while he was
writing it, for we perceive that he is very fond of
commencing his different books and chapters with
reflections, as though lie were ambitious of blending
the character of moral essayist with that of novelist;
but his reflections, where they do not bear upon the
actual every(' ty business of life, arc destitute of that
point and shrewdness, and vivacity which delight
us so much in that fine prose epic, Torn Jones.
Nevertheless, Elphinstone is a readable tale, and
would have been still more so, had the author given
freer vent to his unquestionable powers of humour;
but an apprehension of degenerating into extrava-
gance appears to have kept his vivacity under con-
tinual restraint ; hence he more frequently under-
writes than overwrites a comic scene. Now this is

not the way to succeed in literature, any more than
in love. To dare—that is to say, to give full play
to whatever faculties he may possess, is the one
great secret of ian author's; success. In Mr.
Butler's tale there is a well conceived sketch of a

provincial shopkeeper, by name Hardman, but the
sketch is feebly filled up, chiefly, we suspect, in
consequence of the author's fears of being supposed
to run into caricature. In his next tale—should
he ever venture upon a second—we would advise
him to take the strait-waistcoat off his fancy, and
make a point of diligently forgetting that there are
any such beings as cr►tics.

THE CHILD'S LIBRARY.
Thomas, London, 1840.
A collection of fables and proverbs adapted to
the understanding of children, and embellished with
not less than eighty-five illustrative plates. The
volume, which is neatly printed and bound, would
make an appropriate Christmas present.

POPULAR TRADITIONS OF ENGLAND,
3 VoLs. album, London.

We noticed these volumes a few years ago, when
they appeared in the octavo form, under the title of
" Popular Traditions of Lancashire," and shall now
merely add, that in the present edition, Mr. ltoby
has condensed, and theteby improved, his matter,
omitting much that was of an uninteresting nature,
and enlarging his plan so as to appeal to the tastes
of a mote numerous class of readers. The volumes,
instead of exhibiting in every page " a rivulet of
text murmuring through a meadow of margin," arc
closcly printed, and are illustrated with several
passable wood-engravings.

The Earl and Countess of Ducie have beer
passing the holidays at Woodchester Park, C'yloucestershire

The Hon. William Bingham Baring, M.P., for-
warded his farewell address to the electors of North Staf-
fordshire on Thursday last. The Hon. Gentlen.an says
that he retires from the representation of that county on
grounds purely personal to himself.
The anniversary dinner of the North Stafford-
shire Conservative Association is fixed for the 15th of next
month, at Stowe,wben Viscount Sandon, M. P., will preside.
SIR ANDREW AGNEW ItESUCITATED.—
Sir Andrew Agnew, whose self-denying labours in the
cause are well known, has recently addressed a sort of
cireular letter to the clerks of the several " Presbyteries"
in Scotland, recommending renewed agitation in the mat-
ter of Sunday travelling. From this document, which
has been published in some of the northern newspapers, we
gather the gratifying fact, that the Postmaster-General is
determined to enforce the conveyance of the mails on
Sunday, " however contrary (says Sir Andrew) to the
statute and common law of Scotland." A further speci-
men of the profane familiarity with which some of these
parties venture to rush into forbidden matter is supplied
in the postcript to Sir Andrew's circular. It is as fol-
lows:—"P. S. Whether the numerous railway acci-
dents in England arc attributable to the denial of Sabbath
rest to the people employed, may be fairly inquired into.
Undoubtedly, those who require others to disobey the
commands, cannot expect the blessing of God on their un-
dertakings." We recommend to the attention of Sir An-
drew and his friends the following passage, from a book
with which they are, of course, well acquainted :—" Sup-
ose ye, that these Galileans were sinners above all the G -
Weans, because they suffered such things? I tell you
nay. Or of those eighteen upon whom the tower in Si-
loam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners
above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem ? I tell you nay."
It would seem, indeed, as it Sir Andrew thought that the
guiltless public have sutf,:red for the guilty proprietors of
railways.
THE LAW OF LIBEL.—We understand that
an influential body of gentlemen are making arrangements
for the purpose of bringing before Parliament a plan fur a
thorough revision of the Law of Libel. There is not, we
are of opinion, any gentleman engaged in literary pur-
suits
,who does not, in his honest pride, loathe and detest
these envenomed enactments, which extend their baneful
effects to those who are in nowise to be considered as the
guilty parties—hence the perpetration of the grossest in-
justice, which we much hope to see one day or other abo-
lished.—Sussex Advertiser.
The election for the vacant Bridgemastership is
fixed for the 14th of January.
LIMERICK, DEC. 23.--Monday evening last,
at the early hour of seven o'clock, A strong band of armed
men, with their faces blackened, having carefully recon-
noitred the premises, effseted an entrance into the mansion
of John Joseph Bourchier, Esq., of Baggotatown, in this
county. One of the party had seized a little boy in the yard
outside, who ran into the kitchen from them, and. the fel-
lows immediately followed him, and asked one of the sec-
vaet girls where their master was, at the same time hold-
ing a bayonet to her side. She turned off in affright and
bid them leave the house, when another of the gang struck
her with a gun in the neck, and compelled the girl to
show them up stairs to her master's room. Having found
the old gentleman, who has been some time incapacitated
by illness to make any defence, the foremost ruffian pre-
vented a gun at his head and swore he would have his
if; its the same breath commanding Mr. Bourchier to
deliver his money. Miss Bourchier, alarmed by the noise
of the intrusion, rushed between her father and what she
conceived impending death, exclaiming with true heroism
and filial affection, they should have her own life befote
they could injure her father, and intreated of them to spare
him, and take what they wished for. One of the ruffians,
more daring than his confederates, deprived the old gentle-
man of his gold watch and valuables, whilst another was
engaged with a pickaxe or crowbar, with which he assailed
the iron safe in Mr. Bourchier's roosts, and smashed the
door to pieces. The robbers were not deceived in the
booty they looked for, as they Hied the sum of 90(1. in
bank notes and gold, and three bank receipts, viz, two of
them for 2001. each, and one for 2091 They have not yet
been apprehended.
There arc two vacancies in the establishment of
the Military Knights of Windsor. One was caused about
three weeks since, by the death of Captain Strange; the
second has been occasioned by the decease of Captain
Holmes, who expired at his residents,
in the Upper
Foundation, at five o'clock yesterday afternoon, in the
71st year of his age. Captain Holmes entered the
11th Light Dragoons in 1786; in 1792, he accompanied
Lord Macartncy in his embassy to China, and was
one of the few surviving officers who accompanied that
expedition, and crossed the " Great Wall " into Tar-
tary. He ,All 5 afterwards appointed adjutant in the
13th light dragoons, and nobly bore his share in all the
fatigues and glories of the Peninsular war. At the battle
of Talavera he received a sabre wound on the hand, in
single combat with a French officer, which caused him the
less of a finger. He was afterwards promoted to the rank
of captain, and at the termination of the war was appointed
adjutant in Lord Churchill's regiment of Oxford Yeo-
manry. Captain Holmes, who received the appointment
of military knight ~bout ten years ago, has left a widow
and family of six children, one of whom (a son) is lahour-
ing under the painful affliction of being deaf and dumb,
and the whole arc totally unprovided for.
NOVEL CASE.-00 Monday John Balmer and
James Balmer, skinners in Jedburgh, were charged before
John Craigic, Sheriff-substitute, for having, on the night
of the 4th December current, stolen the skin of a horse by
opening the grave in a field near Bongate, Jedburgh,
where, out of respect for past services, it had been depo-
sited by Mr. Spiers, road surveyor, Bongate, with the
skin and shoes on. The pannels were assoilzied from the
bar on the ground, as stated by the Sheriff, that as the
relatives of a. deceased person had no property in the body
after int:rment, the same rule must be held to apply in the
case of a dead horse, and that therefore the act charged
was not theft.
THE FROST IN PARIS.—On Saturday night,
at twelve o'clock, the thermometer indicated b 8-10.4
degrees below sero of the Centigrade scale, or 21i above
zero of Fahrenheit; at four yesterday morning it was at 6
Centigrade, or 21i Fahrenheit ; at seven o'clock it was
4 Centigrade, or 25 Fahrenheit ; and at mid-day 3 2 10ths
Centigrade, or 201 Fahrenheit.
Dr. Johnson laughed at Lord Kaiincs' opinion,
that war was a good thing occasionally, as so much
valour and virtue were exhibited in it. " A fire," said he,
" might as well be thought a good thing ; there is the
brsvery and address of the firemen in extinguishing it;
there is much humanity exerted in saving the lives and
properties of the poor sufferers. Yet, after all this, who
can say that a fire is a good thing ?"
KINGLY JUSTICE.—An anecdote is related of
Pedro the Cruel having killed a person in tire street, as
lie thought unobserved, arid that the testimony of an old
woman, who heard tire clashing Of the swords and the nurse
Pedro made in walking, convicted him as the author of
the murder. The King, always with justice on his lips,
however muds he degraded it in his action,, replied—
Well, if I am a murderer, fix up a stone likeness of my
head, for you cannot take the real one," This was ac-
cordingly done, and placed in the spot where the deed was
committed, namely, the " Calle del Candilrjo," as it is
yet called, and where the head of Don Pedro is still seen.
Viscount and Viscountess Combermere have
arrived in Brussels front a tour of the German Spas.
The Gallant Viscount and his Lady will remain ehout
three weeks longer in that capital, and then return to
this country.