The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-30 00:00:00

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LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1846.

THE PRIVY COUNCIL.

A special train, on the Great Western Railway,
was ordered at the Paddington station at half-
past one o'clock this afternoon, to convey the Minis-
ters to Slotigh, on their way to Windsor Castle, to
attend the Privy Council held by her MAJESTY, for
the further prorogation of Parliament.
Parliament is at present prorogued unto Wednes-
day, the 4th November.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL, Sir GEORGE GREY, and
several other Ministers, left town by the special train.
The Lord Chancellor is staying at Windsor Castle,
on a visit to the QUEEN.

Who is there that has perused any of the remark-
able statements put forward by the Hon. and Rev,
S. G. OSBORNE who has not been thoroughly awakened
to the lamentable condition of the agricultural
labourers in Dorsethire, and made feelingly alive to
the imperative necessity of some immediate step being
taken for their benefit? Even those most opposed to
that amiable and enthusiastic philanthropist, and most
deeply hurt at the exposures he has made, must give
him credit for the purity of his motives, and deplore
the circumstances that induced him to stand forward
as the champion of the poor and needy, to abandon
the seclusion and privacy that was most congenial to
his habits, that would suit best his character and
sacred profession. The best evidence has been afforded
that the interference on his part was not unwarranted
or uncalled for, that the state of the working man was
not that which it ought to be, and that it was—in the
language of the first resolution adopted at the meet-
ing to which we are about to allude—" such as to
give occasion for the immediate efforts of an energetic
and well-directed benevolence to produce a per-
manent and effectual improvement in their condition."
On Monday a meeting was held at Dorchester for
the purpose of " establishing a Labourers' Friend
Society, with the view of bettering the condition
morally and physically of the rural labourers and
working mechanics and artisans, by carrying out the
field garden allotment system under judicious regu-
lations," over which the High Sheriff of the county
presided, and which was attended by the Lord Bishop
of the diocese (Salisbury) and several Members of
Parliament, clergymen, magistrates, and country
gentlemen of rank and influence.
A hope was held out, in which we cordially par-
ticipate, that the working of the society would not
be limited to the objects specified in the requisition
convening the assembly, but that the sphere of its
duties would be considerably extended and enlarged,
until it comprehended everything relating to the wel-
fare or comforts of the classes for whose peculiar
benefit it was called into existence. We cannot,
however, expect to see any society in its infancy
attain the strength to which it may afterwards, in due
season, aspire, and too wide a circle in the first
instance might impair its efficiency, and prevent it
from coming to full maturity. " The child is the
father of the future man ;" and it is, perhaps, well
that for the preseat its exertions should be directed ex-
clusively towards " the carrying out of the field allot-
ment system," while from its very style and title,
" The Labourers' Friend Society," we may draw the
happiest auguries for the future.
Wherever the allotment system has been introduced
and judiciously acted upon, its results have been most
favourable, both morally and physically, to the parties
who have been participators in its advantages. It has
afforded a healthful and innocent occupation for those
hours of idleness that might probably have been
wasted in the beer-shop, or expended with worthless
and profligate characters, to the deep and lasting
injury of the uneducated labourer. Some occupation
is ever necessary, and the nursery hymn that states
that—

" Satan finds some mischief still

For idle hands to do,"
has had its truth attested during all times and periods.
The possession of a certain plot of ground that he
can call his own, the idea of property thereby oc-
casioned, the certainty that he will be permitted to
enjoy it during good behaviour, "dum se bene gesserit,"
and that any aggravated offence or crime may incur a
forfeiture thereof, has been of the greatest service to
the poor man, and has ensured a degree of industry,
a correctness of conduct on his part, that few other
means have been sufficient to effect. A Select Com-
mittee of the louse of Commons has reported in the
strongest manner in favour of its utility ; and with
such powerful evidence on its behalf it is only sur-
prising that it has not already been brought into
more extensive, we may say into universal, use.
The statement of the Hon. and Rev. W. SCOTT
cannot be passed in silence ; it speaks more eloquently
in favour of the system than the most brilliant orator.';
it shows the rise and progress of the good work.
That Rev. Gentleman said that—

" When he entered on the living of Maiden Newton
he was ironically congratulated on having got the worst
parish in the country to deal with ; and he himself was
no less than six times in that very court as a prosecutor.
In the last three years, during which allotments had been
in operation in his parish, he did not thick he had been
seen there. In the first year of the allotments two con-
victions took place, and there were consequently two
forfeitures ; but from that time not one out of eighty
holders had committed any offence to call him up before
a magistrate."
Can there be a stronger testimony to its benefits ?
It is not merely the addition to the bodily comforts,
the affording a means of profitable employment during
the dead season, when he would be unable to procure
it from the farmer—it is not merely that the oc-
cupation of his leisure hours, which, with perfect
faithfulness to his master, he could devote to the cul-
tivation of his allotment, would produce sufficient to
support the labourer, if he were quite without wages
for thirteen weeks in the year ; but there is some-
thing still more desirable and important,—it keeps
him from crime, it brings his mind into a better state,
it renders him more contented and happy, less exposed
to temptation and firmer in his resistance thereto ;
and many an humble but happy family may bless the
day when the husband and father became a tenant of
one of the land allotments. The benefit, too, is a
cheap one, it can be conferred with little, if any, ex-
pense. The same rent that could be obtained from a
fanner would be most gratefully and punctually paid
by the labourer—what prejudice then has hitherto
prevented its adoption ? Is it the fear lest the in-
crease of the population would also increase the poor-

tion.

rates ? The very possession of the allotment has in I
almost every instance prevented the necessity of any
application for parochial assistance, and has lessened
the burden wherever it was brought into judicious
operation. We hail the formation of the society
with joy, because we conceive that it will do away
with this unfounded prejudice—because it will set
an example that will in all probability be extensively
followed—because each individual member will to a
certain extent be pledged to do all within his power
in his own particular sphere for the amelioration of
the condition of those dependent on him. Well
might the Right Reverend Prelate exclaim that—

" The association which they were about to found
was but a practical mear.s of carrying out a higher law ;
that they were in the path of duty when endeavouring
by all means in their power to lighten the burden of
poverty, to stimulate industry, to encourage honest ex-
ertion, to cheer depression, and, by raising the physical
state of the labouring classes, to give a better oppor-
tunity for the cultivation of their moral natural and the
development of their sFiritual being."

Eight days later intelligence from America ar-
rived yesterday morning at Liverpool by the Royal
Mail steam-ship Hibernia. From this intelligence,
which is of a somewhat startling character, we may
discern much that is immediately disastrous to
Mexico, while we are disposed, nevertheless, to trace
out in the very calamities which have just befallen
her military indications of her ultimate advancement
among the most flourishing republics in the new
world. It is to be hoped that such anticipations may
at least in some measure be realised, and that after her
many decades of tribulation, Mexico may assume to
herself that majesty and prosperity which she is so well
calculated to attain, both by her geographical position
and by the voluptuous prodigality of her climate.
By the former qualification, if it may be so charac-
terised, Mexico is more adapted to become a gigantic,
influential, and opulent nation, than any other terri-
tory in the western hemisphere. Situated in the
southern portion of the northern continent, and con-
nected by the Isthmus of Darien with the northern
portion of the southern continent, Mexico is the ne-
cessary receptacle of all the overland intercourse be-
tween the different inhabitants of America. By her
numerous ports situated upon her eastern and western
coasts, she commands both of the great oceans, the
Pacific and the Atlantic, thereby facilitating her
mercantile intercourse with the shores of Europe
and Africa in one direction, with those of Asia in
another, with the spice-islands in the Indian Ocean,
and the numerous clusters situated in the southern
seas. Beyond this the soil of Mexico affords oppor-
tunity for the accumulation of extraordinary wealth
through the medium of cultivation. It does not, like
the stubborn glebe of a more northerly region, require
to be fattened by artificial manures, or to be stimu-
lated by incessant applications of lime; it requires
neither a complicated irrigation nor an elaborate
drainage, but emits a spontaneous vegetation, and that
vegetation of the most profitable description. In addi-
tion to the capabilities offered by this embryo state,
it may be observed that the national character is one
which, despite its superficial degeneracy, presents ex-
traordinary facilities for a speedy and permanent im-
provement. The torpor and effeminacy of the Mexicans
have been superinduced, not by centuries of domination
and conquest, but by a protracted state of national
quiescence : hence these are essentially remediable.
From their very indolence the Mexicans are pliant
in disposition ; they may be modelled to any state of
excellence by a suitable government, and by being
brought into such immediate intercourse with
more civilised and thriving races as to be
excited to exertion by a consequent emula-
Mexico pssesses all the materials for
a grand and enlightened people ; those materials only
require to be fused by a correspondence with other
kingdoms, and to be shaped by a judicious Legis-
lature.

While the well-wishers of Mexico are meditating
upon her possible re-organisation ; while they are
actually recognizing in the minimum of her present
enterprise the maximum of her future prosperity, the
wily and unswerving invaders from the United States
are vigorously availing themselves of their previous
success©s for the realisation of yet more important
Octories. Hardly have Texas, and California, and
New Mexico yielded to the annexing influence of
American generalship,lbefore the forces under General

TAYLOR push forward to the battlements of Monterey,

and after a gallant defence of five days by the garri-
son and auxiliary troops, commanded by General
ANIFUDIA, render a formal capitulation on the part of
the latter absolutely necessary. Although Monterey
is taken, and AMPUDIA vanquished, it must not be
imagined that this originated in anything like national
poltroonery. On the contrary, we would especially
direct observation to the gallantry evinced by the
besieged army—a gallantry which is not merely suf-
ficient to redeem the Mexican soldiers from indis-
criminate derision, but which has even evoked the
tacit acknowledgment of the conquerors.
The particulars of this engagement at Monterey
are the most interestin; that have hitherto reached us
from the seat of war since the commencement of hos-
tilities. On the 19th of September General TAyLon,
with a force amounting to 6,000 men, encamps at

the Walnut Springs, a spot removed some three miles
from the city. Monterey is reconnoitered im-
mediately upon his arrival, and arrangements
made in accordance with the information thus
acquired. On the 20th instant a futile attempt
is made by a division under General WORTII
to capture the heights overlooking the epis-
copal palace ; on the following morning the same
endeavour is renewed with better success, while a di-
version is made in a different quarter by two other
divisions, supported by the Tennessee,,Mississippi, and
Ohio regiments. By the evening of the 22d
considerable advantages are gained by the assailants,
which advantages are materially increased during
the subsequent day; but not until a quarter past five
on the evening of the 24th—namely, five days
from the commencement of the operations—is
the capitulation extorted from the Mexican
General. It would be preposterous to deny
the vanquished army the credit of having
displayed considerable courage and fortitude during
this serious and protracted engagement. But, as a
lasting testimony of the valour of the Mexi-
cans upon this occasion, we subjoin an epitome of the
terms of capitulation given at length in another
column ; and we are induced to call especial attention
to these terms, because, from their remarkable and
almost unparalleled lenity, they are a triumphant re-
futation of the sarcasms and aspersions latterly
cast upon Mexico. The terms of the capitulation
were—

" That the Mexican officers should be allowed to
march out with their side arms; that the cavalry and
infantry be allowed to march out with their arms and
accoutrements ; that the artillery should be allowed to
march out with one battery of 6 pieces and 21 rounds of
ammunition ; that all the other munitions of war and
supplies should be turned over to a board of American
officers appointed to receive them ; that the Mexican
army should be allowed seven days to evacuate the city;
and that the American troops should not occupy it until
evacuated ; that the cathedral, fort, or citadel, should be
evacuated at ten A.M., next day, 25th; the Mexicans then
marching out, the American garrison marching in; that
the Mexicans should be allowed to salute their flag when
hauled down; that there should be an armistice of eight
weeks, during which time neither army should pass a
line running from the Ranconada through Linares and
San Fernando."

Whether the Government of the United States will
accede to these pacific stipulations or not, it is mani-
fest that a vast proportion of Mexico has already been
wrested from her by the lawless aggression of an
avaricious neighbour.
Meanwhile SANTA ANNA maintains his preponderance
in the internal legislation of the beleaguered republic.
In his patriotism, the Mexicans have the true palladium
of their aggregate independence as a nation, and their
individual liberties as a people. If they consolidate
their strength and place their reliance upon their
present President, the fertile mountains of Mexico
will not be trodden by a conquering army, and her
people may yet emerge from this struggle with the
Americans unscathed, and even invigorated.

If the expenditure of money in Ireland for the
employment of the people be confined to the making
of new roads, or to the cutting down of old ones, the
Irish people will only be temporary gainers, inso-
much as only the money to be paid to the
labourers will be so much more money circulated in
the neighbourhood where public works are under-
taken ; but, if the Government, by a judicious direc-
tion of the funds at their disposal, will drain some
portion of the bog lands now lying waste, a large
breadth of land will be rendered suitable for corn