The Sun.
London, England, 1848-06-16 00:00:00

I

THE SUN, LONDON,

'of the Inquisition. What, it will be asked, was the
proximate cause of this unnatural, and, we may even
call it, unnational quiescence ? IVe will answer that
question briefly, distinctly, and positively. The
cause of the apathy evinced by the inhabitants of the
Peninsula, in the midst of the turmoil excited by the
spread of revolutionary doctrines, was not any abate-
ment of sympathy with the lovers of freedom, either
on the side of the people of Spain or of Portugal
(for the very heart's core of the Portuguese and the
Spaniards was devoured by a suppressed yearning for
their respective nationalities), it was not from any di-
minution of that manhood which had hitherto been
the physical and political characteristic of both

Spaniard and Portuguese, it was not this, neither
was it the result of any sudden devotion for the self-
interested and despotic factions of NARVAEZ in one
metropolis, or of the Cabrals in the other; the tran
quillity of both countries originated in circumstances
of a more remarkable andof a more pathetic character
it arose from a despair of struggling against the odds
presented to them by their oppressors, from a convic
tion that the time for their emancipation had not yet
arrived, and from the depressive influence of the
tyrranous and irresponsible authority concentrated
in their own hands by the dominant states-
men. Such have been the immediate causes of
this bewildering and almost uninterrupted tranquillity
in the Peninsula since the gigantic outburst of the
revolution on the 24th of February.
At a moment when the political relations between
the Courts of VicToßs.l and ISABELLA appear to be
of such a singularly dubious character, when Sir
HENRY BULWER is dismissed from Madrid by order
of SOTONATOR, and when Senor ISTURITZ is dis-
missed from London by order of PALIIuOf parties,
rEnlidSeTOsNta,ndi
becomes a matter of supreme importance to consider
andt n
the exfactnppinosinitnionin of
spaaffiani,rs,anof
amsento,
at once the exact course which it has
become the imperative duty of England to follow in
regard to that country. In endeavouring to arrive at
this knowledge, in striving to appreciate the real merits
of the Spanish Question in its entirety, it is absolutely
essential, of course, to accumulate our facts from the
most authentic sources, and to listen without im-
patience, and most assuredly without the smallest
vestige of prejudice to the arguments of the most
disinterested among the political writer& of the
Peninsula. Such an authority we take Don VICENYI
DE PEREDA to be regarding him, as we ou
selves do, and as every Englishman and as
everry-
Spaniard must do in like manner, as a
man of indisputable impartiality, of unimpeach-
able integrity, and as one of the most distinguished
members of the great party of the Progresistas. Don
% ICENTE DE PEREDA has afforded us precisely the
medium we required for this particular investigation,
we allude to his bold and candid pamphlet entitled
"La Nacion y los Partidos, 6 sea necesidad de formar
el Partido Nacional." Through this remarkable pam-
phlet we may literally place our hand upon the pulse
of Spain.. Already, namely as far back as the first of
February, before the overthrow of the monarchical sys-
tem of LOUIS PHILIPPE, we took occasion to direct the
attention of our readers to the manifesto of this illus.
trious Progresista.* Having on the preceding day,
on the 31st of January, alluded incidentally to the
publication, we then, on the Ist of February, defined
in a few sentences the precise tendency of the argu-
ments propounded by its author. We then explained
that those arguments were to the effect that nothing
permanently advantageous to his native land could be
accomplished unless the heart burning& of the past
were forgotten, unless the honest men of all parties
were to gather about a new standard, unless the hand
that raised that standard were the hand of a
Spanish Prince—a Prince uncompromised by his
political adventures, a Prince of courage, of genius,
and of patriotism, one who could secure to himself
the loyalty and admiration of his fellow-countrymen
by the consistency of his career, and by the guarantee
of a glorious and liberal constitution. A Prince of
this character is imperatively demanded by Spain
according to the arguments of the impartial and pa-
triotic Progresista Don VICENTE DE PEREDA : and
beyond this he maintaias, in the pamphlet already re-
ferred to, that the policy hitherto pursued by the
English Government is directly opposed to the inte-
rests of Great Britain, as well as to those of the
Spanish peninsula. Hereafter we shall enter at
greater length into this extraordinary manifesto of
Don VICENTE DE PEREDA.

Poor Tom STEELF has followed his revered leader
:o the grave, having survived him little more than

thirteen months. He died last night, at Peele's Coffee-
house, Fleet-street, where every attention that the
most affectionate regard and friendly solicitude could
dictate was paid to him during the lingering illness
that followed the rash attempt which it was our
painful duty to record in The Sun of the 20th April
last. We then called upon the public to contribute
to a testimoniai which would rescue the high minded
patriot from every pecuniary annoyance, and free him
for the remainder of his days from those cares and
difficulties which we hare too much reason to believe
preyed upon his mind, and, coupled with the
decease of the illustrious man whose devoted
follower he had ever been, and the wretched condi-

tion of his beloved country, rendered him weary of
a prolonged existence and anxious for a speedy release
from his troubles. That appeal was promptly and
liberally responded to, and considerable sums were
forwarded from various quarters for the benefit of the
consistent politician whose integrity of purpose,
fidelity, and devotion to the cause he espoused, and
the leader to whose fortunes he more especially bound
himself, were beyond all question. The subscription
was not limited to those who participated in his poli-
tical views and feelings—men who had been strongly
opposed to him in the strife of party warfare,
who differed tolo ccelo from his opinions on
the repeal question, but who admired and
esteemed his private character and conduct, were
amongst the most bounteous donors. The kind in-
tentions were, however, defeated by the person whom
they desired to serve, who firmly and decidedly re-
fused to accept of any pecuniary gift or aid in any
form or under any guise. His over-sensitive nature
shrunk from the idea of becoming a burden upon his
friends, or of sanctioning any act by which the purity
and disinterestedness of his motives could be ques-
tioned. He was resolved that they should be above
suspicion—that he would go down to his grave
without leaving it in the power of any man to slander
t
his memory. His reply to those friends who, aware
of his difficulties—we might almost say desti-
utiooigathsreoruigches, every was,
ca—urged him to accept the contributions so
freely_ offered, as the payment of a debt due to
hrsn past v "iltywaonudldtsoowonh i
grinderoE ope,
abartrheali-1
accept a shilling from any man now living." Finding
his resolution inflexible, and that it could not be
shaken for a moment by any
argument, they were
reluctantly compelled to accedede
return the amounts forwarded to the
histh wishes, and to
that no
quar-
terspecuneieadvrayriasousisstance
from whence they had been received.
Although he thus refused any
we rejoice to say that every comfort he couldcare have
s
desiredwaotwanting
twaso s providedothe his last hours,
hi m .
and to afford him
the best medical aid, and, in fact, everything
which
the wealthiest could possibly have obtained. NO Wish
that he expressed was left ungratified, and had be
been a brother he could not have been more affec-
tionately and carefully watched over than by Mr.
AUSTIN, the proprietor of Feele's Coffee-house, and
other friends. Their cares have now, alas !
terminated—the scientific engineer—the accom-
plished scholar—the high-minded gentleman—the
enthusiastic and incorruptible patriot has breathed
his lest. Some tribute of respect may, however, be
paid to his memory, and as his honourable scruples
can unfortunately no longer prevail, his funeral
should be worthy of such a man, and at the public
expense. Mr. AUSTIN, too, should not be suffered to
be a pecuniary loser in any respect by his generous
attention to him whom so many would have been
delighted to serve. It is due to that gentleman to
state that he is wholly ignorant of this appeal.

The Bill to facilitate the sale of encumbered estates
in Ireland is to be submitted, we believe, this weak
to the consideration of a Committee of the House of
Commons, having already obtained, in more than

* " la Itiacion y los Pa, tidos, 6 sea necesidad de formar
el Partido Nacional. Decidado a todos los espaynoles que
tengan fi en la regeneration de su;patria.". Pp. 96. Par
Don Vicento M. de Pereda. W. H. Dalton. 1848.
Londrea,

one form, the sanction of the House of Lords. The
policy of the measure has been earnestly advocated by
some of the most reflective commentators upon the
social exigencies of Ireland. Few countries of
Europe present so vast and unwieldy a concentration
of landed property as the sister-country. The prin-
ciples of primogeniture and entail, combined with a
multitude of causes homogeneous to the character of
Irish aristocracy, have so fettered that dominion
which is elsewhere exercised over land, and has so of
fectually obstructed its transfer, as to;place it all but
beyond the pale of exchangeable property. In the
existing state of the law there is no freedom for the
transfer of land, where the interests of its owners and
the welfare of thousands indirectly concerned in its
more divided appropriation and uses are equally in-
volved. Hence it is that the Bill in question has the
rare good fortune for an Irish measure to be favoured
in it; scope and policy by all classes of Irishmen.
With all the care, nevertheless, with which the
measure has been framed by the Lord Chancellor,
by whom it was introduced into and conducted
through the Upper House, and the supervision it has
undergone on the part of the law officers since its
introduction into the House of Commons, we behold
in its machinery anything but appropriate and
effective means for the attainment of the proposed ob-
ject. It is 'well to replace the dilatory and ruinously
costly course of a bill in equity with its vexatious
train of interlocutory procedures, by a remedy brief,
summary, and comparatively inexpensive; but the
value of promptitude and dispatch, of a direct and
economical path to the desired goal, does not lie in
brevity of procedure alone. The hardships of delay
and the ruin of costs would be averted to no good pur-
pose, if interests which it is the paramount duty of a
court of equity to maintain were overlooked, and
rights which it should sedulously guard were in dan-
ger of being sacrificed.

The Bill has been altered since it left the House of
Lords in a respect which suggests these apprehen-
sions. The power given to the Master by the Bill in
as original form to appoint a solicitor, whose duty it
would be to collect all necessary information for the
guidance of the Court, to watch with a vigilant eya
each step in the proceeding by which the rights of in-
fants, lunatics, and others, not in a position to take
care of those rights, and to restrain all attempts at
collusive sales between proprietors having but tempo-
rary interests and their debtors ; that salutary power
has been unaccountably withdrawn, and the conse-
quence must be that many of the sales will take
place upon partial information only, or possibly upon
a representation of the circumstances of the case alto•
gether deceptive and fraudulent. This is a fearful
consideration, bearing in mind the conclusive nature
of the sales to be effected under the Act, and the im•
portant fact that the vendee is to get a clear Parlia-

mentary title against every claimant whatever.
The Bill also seems very defective in not requiring
an abstract of title as a foundation of the proceedings
on summary petition before the Master, ratified by
the solicitor's affidavit. Where the proceeding is at
the instance of the proprietor wishing to be relieved,
there could be no inconvenience in his being required
to furnish such an abstract, and where the petition
is presented by the encumbrancer, the materials for
such an abstract could be procured by interrogatories
in the nature of a bill of discovery.
We utterly distrust the competency of the House
of Commons to make the measure satisfactory. The
subject is essentially professional, and involves tech•
nicalities beyond the comprehension and skill of
statesmen and politicians. The prudent course would
be to refer the matter to the judicial and legal autho-
rities of the country, which the Bill deeply and im-
mediately concerns.

SPAIN.
Madrid journals of the 10th have arrived.
The decision which the Government had come to
to dissolve the contract with the Bank of St. Ferdi-
nand has been revoked.

The Herald() publishes the following from Ceuta :
" Ceuta, June 3.
"A. conspiracy, of vast ramifications, and which had
its roots, without doubt, in a foreign soil, was upon the
point of exploding last night ; but the vigilance and
energy of the military authority have known how to de-
feat the plans of the disturbers of order, and to avoid a
day of mourning and desolation to this city.
"It appears that it was sought to excite an insurrec-
tion of this numerous Presidio, complicated with a mili-
tary sedition of the troops, with the project of an inva-
sion of tiw coast of Spain, by tnetsns of a surprise of the
vessels on this station, in order to light up a civil war
there, after giving up the fortress to the first who should
present himself, whether Moors or Christian•.

" General Ros de Olano has fortunately known how to
get hold in time of the threads of this dark plot, and at
this moment eleven prisoners are answering the questions
of a permanent court-martial. The inquiry is going on
with activity, and the guilty parties will very shortly re-
ceive condign chastisement.

" The spirit of the garrison continues in the best sense,
from the time that his Excellency, presenting himself in
front of the battalions, reminded them of their duties in
an energetic address.

"At this moment the worthy inhabitants of the town
are receiving the arms which they have, solicited with
enthusiasm, in order to organize themselves, and to co-
operate towards the maintenance of order and public
tranquillity."
The arrests in Madrid continue undiminished.
Among the last persons arrested are M. LOPES
GRADO, the deputy for Oviedo, and M. MUCHADO,
the deputy for Cadiz. A body of three hundred
political prisoners left Madrid on the 10th, under a
military escort.
This reign of terror is exciting the disgust of even
the warmest friends and most strenuous supporters of
NARVAEZ, and the Espana, the court paper, while
praising him for his firmness, reminds him of the
saying of Isruarrz, " fusilar no es gobernar—to
shoot is not to govern."
MADRID BoLsa, JUNE 10.—Three per Cents., 21i
cash ; Five per Cents., 13 paper ; after Bolsa, 12i
cash ; Passives, 5 paper ; after Bolsa 4t cash ;
Coupons, 8 cash ; Bank of St. Ferdinand, 70 cash,
73 paper. Exchange on London, at 60 days,' 41
paper.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

TIIE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
Coutrary to general expectation no explanations on
the part of the Executive took place in the sitting of
the National Assembly on Wednesday, and M. PAs-
CAL DUPRAT postponed the question of which he had
given notice on the subject to the succeeding day.
The Ministers and Executive Committee held another
Cabinet Council yesterday, for the purpose of consi-
dering the line of conduct which, under existing
circumstances, it might be deemed advisable they
should adopt.
It appears that M. DE LAMARTINE was the member
of the Executive who ordered the rappel to be beaten
on Monday. General CLEMENT THOMAS yesterday
produced to the Assembly the written order of
M. DE LAMARTINE directing the General of the Na-
tional Guards to order the rappel to be
.beaten.
M. ARMAND MARRAST will, early in next week,
present the report of the Committee on the Constitu-
tion. The Committee recommend that the ma.
gistracy shall be irremovable, in order to secure the
independence of the judges. The justices of the
pe'ace and the councillors of the courts of cessation
atnhdatofgarecacouwntosrka,re to he elective, the former by uni-
versal suffrage, and the latter by the National As-
sembly. The Constitution is to be revised by a
Special Assembly, elected by universal suffrage
throughout
oall France every four years. The Mem-
bers of that Assembly shall meet together under the
title f delegates,perfectainond, shall occupy
lnoccaupayngebe themselvesrequiteidn,
whichconspiracy
pho
as
yemayhave
bteohe
been
have
e arrested,come
implicated
a n d
it is
a s
out incom-
plete from the hands of its authors.
Several
persons
Bonapartistt
said that the police are making strict search to dis-
cover Madame GORDON) an Englishwoman who was
implicated in the Strasburg conspiracy of Prince
LOUIS NAPOLEON.
The Legitimists voted for the admission of Prince
Louts NAPOLEON. Messrs. Thiers, Odillon Barrot,
Duvergier de Hauranne, Berryer, most of the former
Deputiin hest,aantdsetnhsee.members of the Montagne, equally
voted

The Akbar, of Algiers, states that a number of
labourers in that town had been engaged to work at
the fortifications of Mahon. It is added that the Go-
vernment of the United States has supplied the funds
for the cu npletion of the extensive works undertaken
in that island,