The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-09 00:00:00

Crening

LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1846.

General SANTA ANNA has issued a proclamation
unfolding the character of his intended policy, and
nobly have the anticipations of his countrymen been
realised! Mier narrowly escaping from the domi-
nation of an unpatriotic dictator, and that moreover
at the very moment when their existence as an inde-
pendent principality is threatened by the rapacity of
a neighbouring Government, the Mexicans will, if
they have any regard for their own prosperity,
welcome a document which is prophetic of so many
national advantages. With a Ministry professing the
most ultra-liberal principles, with GOMEZ FARIAS as
Minister of Finance, ALMONTE, Minister of War,
REJON, Minister of Foreign Affairs, PACHECO,
Minister of the Department of Justice, but espe-
cially with ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA as
President of the Republic, Mexico may now take hope
to herself, that without any European intervention she
may justify the expectations of her most enthusiastic
compatriots, thwart the avaricious machinations of
her invaders, and re-establish the integrity of her
dominions, and the permanent liberality of her con-
stitution. Visionary as this beautiful scheme may
have appeared hitherto, there is now an opportunity
for its successful prosecution. The Mexicans have
freedom, tranquillity, wealth, and happiness within
their reach, if they will only stretch forth their hand
and seize them. Courage, constancy, and unanimity
are, however, necessary before those glorious boons
can be obtained. An ordeal more terrible than
burning plough-shares must be passed before those
benefits can be effected. Let them, nevertheless, but
take confidence to themselves, and their greatness as
a nation, and their glory as a people, are already and
lastingly accomplished.
Although the Americans have established themselves
so formidably upon the frontiers and although they nave
actually taken possession of the ports of California, San
Francisco, Monterey, and San Diego, there is so much
that is propitious in the character of the recent revo-
lution at Vera Cruz, that the United States may be
not merely repulsed in their subsequent aggressions,
but may have their present unlawful conquests vio-
lently. wrested from their grasp. So great is the pro.
bability of such a vicissitude, that the inhabitants of
the towns just mentioned have retreated by a simul-
taneous movement into the interior so intense and
universal is their antipathy to the enlightened annex-
ators ! But that such an alteration of circumstances
in the position of the belligerents is not a frivolous
anticipation, is further demonstrated by the vigorous
and resolute character of the new Administration, and
especially by the principles avouched by the new
vkicl4o.,, It is impossible for any one who has
A.-,-4ttt sympathy with the struggles of a race
,ent compatible with their natal rights,

and consonant with the advancement of civilisation, '
it is impossible for such an individual to read the
long and eloquent proclamation just issued by SANTA
ANNA, without experiencing emotions of exultation
at its sentiments, or without yearning for the tri-
umph of a cause so noble and gigantic. On a
former occasion, the new President acknowledges,
his policy was essentially different; he struggled
for a certain moderation in the liberties ensured by a
Republican Government; he aimed at constructing
an adroitbalance in the executive authority ; he "hoped
to moderate by the inertia of Conservative instincts, the
vehemence of popular masses." Experience has taught
him a severe hut salutary lesson ; in his solitude and
banishment at Havanna he has conned the necessities
of his country ; and, taking a warning from the
miseries which have been entailed upon Mexico by an
adherence to the policy he had originally regarded as
alone of beneficial tendencies, he has recognised the
real exigencies of her position, and now beholds the
necessity of a wholesale reformation. SANTA ANNA
saw, moreover that, through the pusillanimity or the
perfidy of PAREDES, Mexico was abandoned to a ca-
lamitous alternative ; that, unless some strenuous and
chivalrous effort were made in her behalf, her destinies
would never more be in the ascendant ; that she was
about to be delivered up, bound hand and foot, to
the servitude of a foreign prince, or to be annihilated
by a piecemeal annexation. "As one of the principal
chiefs of the independence of our country," exclaims
SANTA ANNA, "and as founder of the republican
system, I was indignant at this endeavour of some of
its sons to deliver the nation up to the scoffs of the
world, and to carry it back to the ominous days of
the conquest. I thereupon took the firm determina-
tion to come and aid you to save our country from
such a stain, and to avoid the horrible consequences
of a measure by which its glorious destiny was to
be reversed, carrying it back to what it was, and what
it never should be again. To execute this determina-
tion was to offer up my blood to any one who, in
case of failure, might choose to shed it, in compliance
with the terms of the barbarous decree which drove
me from the republic ; but I preferred to perish in this
noble attempt, rather than appear indifferent to the
ignominy of my country, and see the countless sacri-
fices made for our independence and the right to
govern ourselves rendered illusory."
Fired by this heroic resolution, the restored Pre-
sident appeals to the body of his countrymen to form
for themselves a constitution adequate to their wants
and capabilities. He demands their suffrages—not
an irrespnsible dictatorship. He declares that the
will of the majority must govern the obedient
minority—not that the will of the minority should
domineer over the debased and enslaved majority.
His ambition has assumed a benign and humanising
lustre. His voice is persuasive with the earnestness
of the GRACCHI, with the eloquence of BOLIVAR and
PAOLI. "Mexicans !" he exclaims—
" There was once a day—and my heart dilates with
the remembrance—when leading on the popular masses
and the army to demand the rights of the nation, you
saluted me with the enviable title of Soldier of the
People. Allow me again to take it, never more to be
given up, and to devote myself until death to the defence
of the liberty and independence of the nation."
Let that voice be heard ; let SANTA ANNA, " the
Soldier of the People," marshal his countrymen under
the gonfalon of liberty ; let the power of the President
be restrained within the limits he has himself indicated,
and the cause of Mexico is triumphant.

One of our poets, who is still living, in the course
of a conversation upon the merits of the bard of
Avon, remarked, that no matter what play of his was
taken up for perusal, the reflective reader could not
relinquish its pages without feeling he was a better
man. Incomparable as is the language of SHARE-
SPERE, highly artistical as is the manner in which
the various passions of our nature are marshalled,
challenged, and developed in his unexampled produc
tions, it is, nevertheless, to the truthfulness of the ob-
servation, that a lofty strain of morality pervades the
whole of them, that we must assign, beyond all others,
the cause of the great hold which the writings of our
immortal poet have for centuries preserved over the
literary affections of this and every other civilised
country. Parva magnis componere, we feel justified
in asserting that a perusal of any one of Lord MOIL-
PETH'S speeches never fails to imbue the mind with
pure and enlarged views. The address recently de-
livered by the Noble Lord at the Mechanics' Institu-
tion in Bradford, adds another laurel to the moral,
intellectual, and statesmanlike reputation of the
Chief Commissioner of her MAJESTY'S Woods and Fo-
rests. The classicality of Lord MORPETR'S mind ever
clothes his ideas in simple and winning language,
certain of captivating the audience, whilst their rea-
son is equally sure of being convinced by the great
and enduring truths which his Lordship so touch-
ingly imparts, and advocates with such invariable
success.

It is delightful to contemplate the existence and
rapid spread of the numerous mechanics' institutes
already established in our various towns and cities.
But a few years ago the miserable cry was being con-
stantly dinned into our ears of a little knowledge
being a dangerous thing, and of the consequent
impolicy, not to say cruelty, of attempting
to educate the humbler classes of our com-
patriots. Selfish and uncharitable thoughts ! A
master mind, however, was present among us to
break the spell of this ignoble delusion. Lord
BROUGHAM, to whom the dispassionate voice of pos.
terity will yield the palm of having, beyond any other
man of his age, by his gigantic grasp of intellect,
originated most, and accelerated many, of the useful
reforms, political and social, of the nineteenth cen
tury—Lord BROUGHAM led the van, and the seeds,
scattered under his influence and that of other worthy
coadjutors, are already teeming with fruit, and general
education, as a national duty, happily occupies, at the
present hour, a large space in the public mind. The
formation of literary, scientific, and mechanical re-
pertories, under the associated auspices of private
benevolence, constituted the nucleus from whence a
wholesome impetus was given towards the supply of
the mental wants and desires of all classes, the highest
and wealthiest excepted. The satisfactory working
of these institutions awakened Lord MELBOURNE'S
Government to the propriety of obtaining, through
Parliament, an annual sum of 30,0001., in furtherance
of enlightening the ignorant masses of the community.
That sum, since increased to 50,0004 was, and is,
paltry indeed, but the principle conceded was all
potential; and every hour testifies to the deep interest
which the industrial classes, who form the great plat-
form of society, take in its further progress. Re-
trospectively contemplated, the mechanics' institutes
are like so many rills, springing, almost unobservedly,
as it were, from a distant and scarce regarded upland :
a healthy stream is now flowing from their tributary
confluence, refreshingly invigorating every soil
through which A meanders, and, growing with its
growth, and strengthening with its strength, it pro-
mises to expand, compass, and fertilize the most
barren and unfavoured spots of Great Britain.
Much as is generally expected from the Government
in the ensuing session, in reference to stimulating
the cause of national education, still it must be re-
collected that the functions of the Government, on so
large a question as this, will derive their chief utility
through the superintendent and directive powers with
which Parliament may think proper to invest them.
l'he magnitude of the sum that would be required to
place within the reach of the rising generation the
advantages of a sound and elementary education,
would be an encumbrance far beyond what the public
finances could support. Parliament can, and doubt-
less will, do much in countenancing, and, to a pru-
dent extent, contributing towards what is necessary
in supporting a well-organised system; but, as Sir R.
PEEL has already declared in the House of Commons,
for the success of any scheme for this splendid object,
the hearty co-operation of individual benevolence
must be chiefly looked to and relied upon. Acknow-
ledging the force of this observation, we regard the
well-being of the mechanics' institutes with peculiar
gratification. Their active promoters must applaud
the philosophical wisdom with which Lord MORPETH
has indicated the means at their command for ac-
complishing a vast amount of ulterior good, exclusive
of what they have hitherto so benignly prosecuted ;
and no apprehension crosses our mind ; on the con-
trary, it is redolent of hope that an enlightened and
liberal support will be given to the mental progress
an-I moral culture of the United Empire. Lord
MORPETII, addressing the great employers of labour,
wisely said," I feel it to be eminently theirduty, but not
more their duty than their interest, to take every
means of surrounding themselves with an orderly, a

refined, and an educated population. I believe they
will find this to be the case in every respect. It will
return to them in a thousand ways, however little
immediatly concerned the subject-matter of the
studies may appear with the daily business with
which they are connected. In the words of POPE—

" True self•love and social are the same;"

by promoting the good of others you are sure in
the end to promote your own." These are great
comprehensive truths. Through the homage that has
been paid to them, tardily and scantily though it has
been, we have already considerably advanced in the
path of civilisation. Let us but press on with un-
quenchable zeal in the same direction, and inestimable
blessings will crown our exertions, whilst England
will shine with greater lustre than ever as the
gre%test nation the world ever produced.

The plan proposed by Mr. O'Colirixu. for an as-
semblage of the Irish landlords has obtained many
supporters from amongst those who, a short time since,
would have regarded with the greatest suspicion and
distrust any proposition coming from, or advocated
by, him. In fact, a great body of landowners, and
others interested in the soil of the country, who are
justly solicitous for the continuance and permanency
of the legislative union between Great Britain and
Ireland, and who would be conscientiously opposed to
any project that could by a possibility be turned as a
weapon against that union, had formerly been ac-
customed to consider that all Mr. O'CONNELL'S ex-
ertions were directed to the attainment of that which
he avowed to be the great object of his life—the
repeal of that union ; and they imagined that his
every suggestion, his every act must tend in that
direction. Much of the mischief, many of the evils
by which Ireland has so long been oppressed, have
been greatly increased in amount, and continued
for a much longer period than would otherwise have
been the case, in consequence of the mutual distrust,
the unhappy divisions, that existed amongst her
children. Whenever any measure was put forward,
however useful it might be, however little calculated
to injure any person or class, and however strongly
founded on equity And justice, the first inquiry was
not as to the probable results of the measure itself,
the evils it was intended to remedy, the benefits it was
intended to confer, but who was its originator, by
whom was it advocated and supported. If those
parties were obnoxious the measure was condemned.
If it appeared calculated to insure the greatest
advantage to the parties themselves, still they would
shake the head, and say, " You may be sure there is
more in it than meets the eye"—each assumed for his
motto—

" Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes ;"

and arrayed himself in direct hostility to that which he
did not take the trouble to investigate or comprehend.
A great and marked improvement has lately taken
place amongst Irishmen of all classes in this respect.
The exigencies and wants of the labouring populations
the imperative necessity that existed for every one to
lend his assistance for the purpose of relieving and
mitigating the existing distress, afforded one neutral
ground where the parties could meet without causes
of disunion arising, and each found that he had been
in the habit of judging rather more harshly of his
neighbour than he deserved, that he was really an
' intelligent, well-meaning man, although mistaken in
political opinions, and that he made excellent sugges-
tions, and took clear views on the subject on which
they were occupied. The sacred cause in which they
were engaged, the difficulties of their own position,
smoothed down the asperities and prevented the
breaking out of the animosities that had previously
existed. We are happy to say that there is much less
prejudice existing in Ireland at this moment than was
the case a few short months ago, before the occurrence
of the visitation that deprived the people of their chief
article of food. The admirable conduct of Mr.
O'CoNNELL himself and the great body of his followers ;
the prompt and vigorous manner in which the ad-
vocates for physical force were put down and their
doctrines combatted, and their pernicious tendency
exposed ; the good faith observed in abiding so
strictly by the moral force principle, had great effect
in satisfying his opponents of the sincerity and truth of
his declarations, that if an assemblage of: landlords
should be collected together, their proceedings would
be restricted and confined to the object that had called
them together, "to assist in the management of such
Irish affairs as relate to the approaching famine," and
that neither repeal or any similar subject would be
brought forward on the occasion.

All. RALPH OSBORNE was one of the first who
gave in his adherence to the proposal. He published
a letter calling on his brother landowners " to throw
all political differences to the winds, and by taking
counsel together, endeavour at least to assuage the
calamity which is impending ;" and he added " that a
meeting of the landholders of Ireland, with the Duke
of LEINSTER in the chair, would at once insure the
respectful attention of Government and the warm
sympathy of the English people." We think that
attention is already bestowed, that sympathy is not
wanting—from our hearts it is given to our Irish
brethren; and sincerely do we hope that they may
extricate themselves from the difficulties by which
they are encompassed. Such an assemblage judi-
ciously arranged would act as a central body, to
receive and canvass the suggestions offered by any
for the amelioration of the condition of the people,
the affording employment of a profitable and re-
munerative character, and the developing to the
utmost the capabilities of the soil. Many projects
that might eventually be most beneficial in their
effects, would be brought forward in such a body that
otherwise would never see the light. These con-
siderations have induced many to coincide with the
opinion of Mr. OSBORNE, and a requisition was pre-
pared, and is in course of signature, for a meeting of
landlords, to be held in Dublin, for the purpose of
pressing upon Government the necessity of at once
summoning Parliament, in order that the provisions
of 9 and 10 Vic., cap. 107, might be altered. Since
that period, however, the Government have taken
upon themselves the responsibility of making that
alteration, the manner of which is set forth in the
letter addressed by his Excellency to the Chairman
of the Board of Works, and which will, in a great
degree, dispense with the necessity of an immediate
assemblage of the Legislature.
The meeting of the nobility and gentry of the
county of Westmeath, which took place on the requi-
sition of the Marquis of WESTMEATH, the Lieutenant
of the county, at Mullingar, on Friday last, and
which was attended by persons of all varieties of poli-
tical opinion, gave additional support to the proposal.
A resolution was carried, that it has become just and
necessary that a meeting of the Irish gentry should
be forthwith held in Dublin, to remonstrate with the
Government on its seeming inaction, and to lay before
it, in feeling terms, the awful condition to which the
country is now reduced.
Although the requisition, or the resolution, is not
in terms in exact accordance with the proposition of
Mr. O'CONNELL, yet they are intimately connected
therewith, and it is extremely probable that such an
Irish national committee of landed proprietors, no-
bility, and gentry, as he recommends, would be
found at the meeting alluded to, and which is now
very likely to take place speedily. Should such be
the case, we sincerely hope that their labours may
be productive of benefit to their suffering country.

The treaty of Commerce, recently concluded be-
tween Russia and Turkey, is published in the St.
Petersburgh journals. The following are the princi-
pal provisions of this treaty, which has been concluded
for ten years :
" The tariff at present regulating the duties to be
levied on the Russian commerce in Turkey, although
concluded in 1842 for 12 years, will not remain in force
longer than during the period of the present treaty, and
both are to be renewed at the same time, at the expira-
tion of that term. By article 1, anterior treaties, and
particularly the treaty of 1783, and article 7 of the treaty
of Adrianople aro renewed. The port further promises
to Russia the full and entire employment of every right,
benefit, or advantage, which is or shall be hereafter
accorded in its states to the most favoured nations. In
virtue of article 2, the customs' duties remain invariably
fixed at 3 per cent. for foreign commerce, and shall be
levied as heretofore. According to article 3, Russian
subjects or their agents can purchase the produce of the
soil, or of the manufactories of Turkey, whether to export
them, or to trade with them in the interior of the Otto-
man empire, without being subject to dues of passage,
licenses, &c. This liberty of trading in all the towns
of the Ottoman empire, accorded to Russian subjects,
is partly restricted by Arts. 10 and 11, according
to which fishing, and the sale of fish, leeches, alum,
salt, tobacco, snuff, wines, and spirituous liquors are
subject to certain dues in favour of the Ottoman
treasury. Wines and strong liquors cannot be sold in
detail by Russian subjects, either in shops or vesiele, '