The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-13 00:00:00

ESPARTERO at SAN SEBASTIAN-,

Nov.-I.—Yesterday,at half-past 7,Espartero arrived here
from Tolosa, accompanied by Linage, his Secretary, and
the Ministers of War and. the Interior. At the outer
gate he was received by some of the authorities and a
detachment of the National Guard, each man of which
bore a lighted taper. The effect may be imagined
masses of light and shade fell on the group, and formera
tableau vivant which Rembrant might have sketched ;
behind rose the citadel, lofty, dark, and massive, against
the starry sky ; and, below, the white houses of the
town ever and anon started into light as the flash of the
saluting gulls gleamed fitfully on their walls ; the very
booming of the sea beneath harmonised with the wild
picturesqueness of the scene. At the outer barrier the
old-fashioned carriage of the Regent, drawn by five lanky,
backahaven mules, stopped, while the deputation spoke
a moment with him ; a crowd of eager, gazing, peasants,
citizens, women, and fishermen, pressed round, and
the dark Castilian countenance of Espartero, looking
anxiously from the window, gave a finishing historic
touch to the picture. This advent of the Regent, with-
out any uf the pomp and circumstance of war, was duly
appreciated by the inhabitants of San Sebastian, and
this morning the house in which he passed the night was
surrounded by hundreds of people, anxiously watching
for him. At noon I had the pleasure of being presented
to this fortunate general. My reception was not only
polite, it was unaffectedly kind ; and in a few pithy Cas-
tillian sentences he expressed his regard for the English.
I think he spoke sincerely, though I could not help
thinking of Talleyrand's definition of " words given to
man to conceal his thoughts." But, to say the truth,
during the interview, my eyes were more employed than
my cars. The expression of his face pleased me ; it
is good looking, though somewhat worn by care
and physical suffering. Ills forehead is rather high,
and slightly protrudes over a pair of black eyes, which,
whilst he spoke, beamed with vivacity and intel-
ligence ; round their corners serpentined to the very
temples a maize of deep wrinkles ; his nose is straight
and handsome, mouth well formed, but restless, and his
general bearing and voice extremely gentlemanly. I
should think his height to be about the same as our own
great Duke of Victory. In a balcony of the ante room
I saw Linage ; he has the reputation of being remark-
ably clever ; in person and features he is heavy, almost
fat ; by the by e, on one occasion he sold Espartero a sad
bargain : during the war the General ordered him, as
military secretary, to draw up a proclamation ; this
Linage did by translating, verbatum, one of Napoleon's
most thundering speeches. In a day or two this belli-
cose plagiarism was discovered, and Espartero got
quizzed most unmercifully. The French authorities
of the present day never seem happy unless they
are making themselves ridiculous, or different
from other people ; for instance, this morning the
consular flag was not displayed, though those of every
other Government with which Spain has political in-
tercourse waved in the breeze : this apparently
trifling incident has been bitterly commented on by the
Spaniards. How imprudent, almost disgusting, parti-
cularly at the present state of affairs, thus to wound the
feelings of a people proverbial for pride and sensitiveness.
At three the Regent, attended by a numerous suite, pro-
ceeded to the Town Hall in the Plaza de la Constitution
the streets through which he passed were hung with in-
numerable draperies ; damasks and silks flaunted their
vanities in the bright sun by the side of substantial coun-
terpanes, snowy sheets, and modest table cloths, and when
Espartero appeared at the balcony he was received by a
good wholesome shout from the multitule. Ile waived
his hand to the different balconies, the ladies replied with
fans and kerchiefs, the peasants threw in the air their red
anagorras, and the National Guard again viva'd. Never
before did I see Spaniards give way to such an abandon
cf feeling. After this display of mutual regard the grand
business of the day commenced. In the centre of the
Plaza was erected a stage, about three feet from the
ground, and destined for the exhibition of a pageant,
peculiar, I believe, to this province ; it is called a com-
p.) se, and is really one of the most elegant things I
ever saw. At a quarter-past three a troop of about
forty lads and lasses entered the square, preceded by an
ancient shepherd and a capital band. The girls wore
red boddices, white petticoats, and Swiss hats, and each
couple or trio bore between them large shallow boxes, so
ingeniously constructed, that they exactly resembled the
parterres of a flourishing flower garden, for on their arti-
ficial surfaces bloomed every description of flower. De-
positing these on the ground, they ascended the platform
and commenced a national dance, whose mazy figure was
well suited to the wildly oriental music and the charming
refrains sung by the figurantes ; anon as they sang and
danced a fairy temple began to appear about the stage,
and then a number of gaily bedizened pigeons suddenly
flew from it ; the keys of San Sebastian, carried on
a silver salver, were carried up to the Regent by two
young girls ; after hearing the complimentary address,
Espartero turned towards the Plaza, waived his hand,
and the Colonel of the National Guard, stepping before
his men, cried out, "Viva Ysabela 11., y la Constitu-
tion ;" then rose from all sides a great shout, and Es-
partero soon afterwards retired. At four o'clock, p.m.,
he left San Sebastian for Tolosa. To-morrow he goes
to Pampeluna, after that to Sarragosa, and then, I am
told to Madrid. What a pity it is that our Government
have not had a small ship of war at Passages during the
late events. Ido not mean to protect British interests
or subjects, thank Heaven ! that is unnecessary here, but
the French Government always have a ship of war here,
and we ought to act upon this general principle, that
where the French have a naval force, however small, we
ought to confront it in all ways with another.

PAYMENT OF THE CATHOLIC

PRIESTHOOD.

At tbe dedication of the Catholic Church of St. Ni-
cholas Without, at Dublin, recently, the following opi-
nion on the subject of the Catholic clergy receiving pay-
ment was delivered. It differs in toto from the opinion
we have expressed, but we still adhere to what we have
written :

The Rev. Dr. Miley, in allusion to the project of a
State provision for the Catholic Clergy, spoke
as follows :—" What wonder is it that the plan
to degrade a Church like this, which is not only
deliberately set forth by statesmen, but eagerly discussed
by the newspaper press, should incite some feeling like
indignation ? It is ascertained, it seems, that Ireland
is still the difficulty, and that to remove this only obsta-
cle to the establishment of an oligarchy to the supersed-
ing of our glorious Constitution, it is indispensable to
degrade the Irish clergy in the estimation of the coun-
try, by persuading or compelling them to become the
paid servants of the State. But shall this plan succeed ?
If my station in the Church were not obscure as it is, I
should be ashamed to ask or to debate this question ;
but as it seems to urge for some reply, the humbler and
more insignificant the respondent is the better. Again,
then, shall this scheme succeed ? Never ! never ! shall
the independence of this glorious Church be bartered or
sold ; because in the first place, our venerated hierarchy
have solemnly reprobated such a project; secondly, be-
cause the clergy and the faithful have rejected it again
and again with indignation ; thirdly, it shall not succeed,
because it is opposed to the uniform principles of the
Holy See—because it is subversive of Christianity ; and
finally, because it is high treason against the common
weal. It was by the evil genius of Ireland, Lord Cas-
tlereagh, that this project was first proposed in the dis-
astrous year of 1799, when, like the hide of an immo-
lated victim, the country lay bleeding at his feet, and
suffering from the famine and pestilence which ever bang
on the steps of war. But our venerable hierarchy, as-
sembled in Dublin on the 14th September, 1808, re-
solved, that we neither seek nor desire any other earthly
consideration for our spiritual ministry to our respective
flocks, save what they may, from sense of religion and
duty, voluntarily afford us. This resolution was so-
lemnly reaffirmed in 1810 in the address of the prelates
to the clergy and laity of the Roman Catholic Church
in Ireland. The Bill embodying sueh a provision, al-
though earnestly recommended by Monsgr..Quara?-
totti, was rejected by the clergy and by the faithful,
in
various meetings held in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Kil-
kenny, and Louth. In a matter of such notoriety, to
quote further evidence of the detestation with which the
idea of a pension was received, is "so superfluous, that I
hasten to conclude this point by the testimony of the
Augustine of the Church of Ireland, when before the
British Senate in 1825 :—‘ If,' says Doctor Doyle, ' the
Prelates approve of a provision emanating from the
Treasury—if the Ministers of Christ were to be paid
by the Ministers of State, for dispensing the mysteries
of God—in that case, I would not create dissensions
amongst them ; but sooner than my hand should be
soiled by it, I would lay down my office at the feet of
him who conferred it ; for, if my hand were to be stained
with Government money, it should never grasp a ero-
zirr, nor should a mitre be ever afterwards fitted to my
brow.' As to the faithful people of Ireland, although
they longed ardently for the advent of liberty, mil
'
whenever she presented herself with a dowry from the
purse of Judas, they lilted up their hands, heavy
with
chains, to reject her, and cordially as they exult at pre-
sent to find themselves within the temple of the consti-
tution, they would prefer to bid an eternal adieu to its
portals, rather than see a priesthood covered with the
glories of fourteen centuries degraded into rude hirelings
of State."—Tr mean s Jcurnal.

INCENDIARISM.—On the night of Friday last,
an outbuilding on the farm of Mr. Wickham, of Rowde,
was set fire to and entirely consumed. On the same
evening an outbuilding on the farm of Mr. Self, of that
-village, was also set on fire. From the situation of these
buildings there can be no doubt but that the fires were
the work of an incendiary,—Wiltshire Independent.