The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-04 00:00:00

commanding the two great oceans, studded upon its
marine boundaries by such admirable inlets and har-
bours, joined to the noble land of which he himself
is a denizen. It is conceivable that he should be am-
bitious to behold those pinnacles which had been
formerly adorned with the standard of the heroic
CORTEZ, flouted by the star-spangled banner. It is
even conceivable that he should yearn for the
prosperity of the agriculture and the commerce
of Mexico, provided the riches resulting therefrom
tended to the emolument of his original home. All
these aspirations are conceivable enough, because they
would be most in accordance with the national vain-
glory and individual self-esteem which are so
conspicuously the characteristics of the men of
the United States. It is incredible, however,
how a Government can trifle with the repu-
tation of a people entrusted to their guidance
and protection, as the Government of Mr. Polk has
done since its first establishment to the present
moment, but especially in this Mexican invasion !
The scorn of civilised Europe is accounted as nothing
when weighed in the brazen balance of their avarice.
The members of that Administration are obdurate to
all the pleadings of the popular voice; they are indif-
ferent to the obloquy which is inevitable on the ful-
filment of their unconscientious policy. They boldly
adventured upon the subjugation of Mexico, and the
result of that movement has been—large draughts
upon the public purse , pain ful marches of the American
soldiery, the double disgrace of their naval forces at
Alvarado, a bloody and unprofitable victory under
the walls of Monterey, the precarious occupation of
California and New Mexico, and a prospect of the
most discouraging obstructions, to their further ad-
vancement, both from man and from nature.
On the departure of the last intelligence from the
Western Continent, General TAYLOR still continued
at Monterey, fearful of proceeding into the interior
from the probability of a scarcity of shelter and pro-
visions—the cottages being burnt, the crops being
destroyed, and the villages evacuated by their in-
habitants, in that direction. The Commander-in-Chief,
General SANTA ANNA, had hastened from the capital to
obstruct the progress of the invaders, or, as he himself
intimated in his memorable manifesto, to drive them
ignominiously beyond the frontiers, or to die fighting.
It is distressing, however, to reflect that, in conse-
quence of the apathy of his countrymen, that patriotic
chieftain was accompanied on his departure
by merely 2,000 cavalry and 1,000 infantry, and was
furnished with a military chest containing only
27,000 dollars. With these and the remnant of the
forces of Amrume, he will have to defend Saltillo,
providing General TAYLOR has the temerity to pro-
ceed there forthwith, or, in case of discomfiture at
Saltillo, to fall back upon San Luis Potosi, and re-
pulse the enemy under the protection of its fortifica-
tions. We should feel infinite trepidation as to the
effects which such a disparity of numbers would have
upon Mexico were we not inspired with a confidence
in the invincible power of true patriotism, and in the
invulnerable character of even a small band of men
fighting for the liberties, the independence, the
integrity, and the very existence of their common
country.

" lieu pietas ! Heu prisca fides ! invictaque bello
Dextra! non illi quisquam se impune tulissot
Obvius armato."
'With fidelity to their national cause, with con-
fidence in the sacred nature of their office as de-
fenders of their native land, with a stern
employment of their military capacities, they
may triumph over the most monstrous dis-
proportion of numbers. LEONIDAS is not the only tes-
timony that these miracles of warfare are possible.
SANTA ANNA is clearly animated by a high
ambition, an ambitio❑ which the most de-
pressing circumstances will scarcely abate. In the
face of the whole world he has proclaimed
his determination to be true to Mexico—
to be staunch in his patriotism—to conquer '
or to die. He has staked everything upon the issue
of this war—his name, his fame, his fortune, his re-
putation, his intellect, his life. He has abandoned
everything to lead his countrymen to battle. He
has forsaken the safety of his seclusion at Havannah,
he has neglected the allurements to self-aggran-
dizement which have been presented to him by the
confusion of Mexican affairs ; he has rejected the
supreme command as President, he has thrown aside
all the baubles of office, and despised all the decoys
of physical enjoyment, to march upon the invaded
frontiers in the simple capacity of a soldier. The
Mexicans must rouse themselves from their ignoble
torpor, and repay the generosity and magnanimity of
SANTA ANNA by their limbs and their money. De-
cisive measures must be taken, otherwise Mexico may
be afflicted by years of :misfortune.

A short while since considerable anxiety existed
in various parts of the kingdom in favour of opening
the ports for the admission of foreign corn ; and at
that time it was not unnatural that a large portion of
the public should have manifested an eager desire to
press upon the Government to effictuate their wishes.
But, though the desire was a natural one, it did not
follow that it would have been, therefore, sound
policy on the part of the Executive to have abolished
the fleeting remnant of protection. Those who me-
morialised the Minister for instantaneous free trade in
grain were, a few weeks back, environed by specious
circumstances of apprehension, which certainly justi-
fied them in bringing their views prominently under
the notice of the Premier. The belief was then very
general that throughout Europe the late harvests were
very thin, that with respect to our own, quantity and
quality considered, it was below the average, and that
the prices of corn, which had risen so rapidly at home,
would continue to increase. Moreover, we were ex-
porting corn to France ; and it was further conceived,
that the extreme destitution of Ireland could not
be safely met in any other way than by
throwing our ports open to the introduction of
every species of grain, free of duty. Happily, how-
ever, these fears have, in a great measure, turned out
to be groundless. In America, on the shores of the
Baltic, in most of the provinces of France, in Bel-
gium, and in Egypt, the crops of the current year, it
is now ascertained, have been most prolific. To
France we some time since ceased to export, and
never should have exported at all, had not that
country, like our own, been seized with a fallacious
panic. Bread is already lowered in price, and by the
extraordinary measures of the Parliament and Go-
vernment combined, the worst feature of the
whole, the direful exigency of Ireland, has been
prevented reaching the fearful height to which it was
anticipated it would attain. Still, notwithstand-
ing we have been thus statistically and otherwise
relieved from serious misgivings, others of our coun-
trymen have been unable to shake off their despon-
dency. Accordingly, a deputation from the citizens of
London waited upon Lord JOHN RUSSELL, about
three weeks since, to urge the opening of the ports.
His Lordship assured them that this step should be
taken, if demanded by any " extraordinary neces-
sity." Dissatisfied with this answer, another deputa-
tion from the same quarter attended upon Sir GEORGE
GREY on Wednesday, for the purpose of presenting,
through the Right Hon. Baronet, a memorial to her
MAJESTY for trade in foreign corn, duty free. The
memorialists alleged that they had ceased to repose
confidence in the Premier, because, in his celebrated
letter to the electors of London, in November, last
year, he had advocated the abolition of all duties on
corn, but now declines to sanction their immediate
extinction. Mr. CHARLES COCHRAXI3, who was the
spokesman, harped upon this letter, :and inasmuch as
Lord JOHN RUSSELL last autumn advised large de-
monstrations to be got up in favour of opening the
ports, .Mr. COCIIRANE sought to extract from the
Secretary for the Home Departs lent, whether,
by the words " extraordinary news:,ity," the Noble
Lord, his colleague, designed that Trz-nerous meetings
should be assembled, as in such case he undertook to
have one, to the amount of fifty thous and persons, in
Palace-yard, within eight days. Sir GEORGE GREY
replied with statesmanlike felicity. He could only
answer for himself. It was not for lim to construe
the expression used by the Prime X *nister ; but he
conceived that such a meeting as si vested by Mr.
COCIIRANE would not constitute the " necessity" re-
ferred to by Lord JOHN, but rather " a certain class
of statistical facts bearing on the can dition and the
circumstances of the country." The proposition of
Mr. COCIIRANE might amount to. nothing more
than a demonstration of physical force , whereas moral
force alone would govern any advio a which Sir G.
GREY, and, no doubt, Lord JOHN l tUSSELL, would
tender to the Quzzx for opening VI e ports. Num- ,