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

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 Swizz-
SPBRE, highly artistical as is the manner in which
the various passions of our nature are marshalled,
challenged, and developed in his unexampled produc-
t 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 magnif componere, we feel justified
in asserting that a perusal of any one of Lord MOE,
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 MORPETH'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 era
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 di=passionate ♦oice 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 MELLoURNE's•
Government to the propriety of obtaining, through_
Parliament, an annual sum of 30,000 L, in furtherance
of enlightening the ignorant masses of the community.
That sum, since increased to 50,0001., 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 it 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 utili.y
through the superintender.t and directive powers with
which Parliament may think proper to invest them.

The magnitude of the sutn that would be required to

place within the reach of the rising generation tho

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 H.
PEEL has already declared in the House of Commons,
for the success of any scheme fur this splendid object,
the. hearty co-operation of individual benevolence
must be chiefly looked to and relied upon. Acknow-
ledging the force of this obrvatlon, we regard the
Kell-being of the mechanics' institutes with peculiar
gratification. Their active promoters must applaud
the philosophical wisdom with which Lord MORPETII
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 appreheneion crosses our mind ; on the con-

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
President. It is impossible for any one who has.
the slightest sympathy with the struggles of a race
for a government compatible with their natural 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 but 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 somesof
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
" 10. SlOl Will • Urallii j 1145 I,U
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 1
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 GRACCRI, 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."