The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-15 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 184 G.

A decisive alteration has taken place in the beha-
viour of the belligerent powers in the southern por-
tion of North America. All the inuendos
were recently promulgated respecting the likelihood
of a shameful compromise on the part of the Santa
Anna Administration, have, as we were throughout
fully convinced, and as we definitely intimated in out
last observations upon the Mexican warfare, proved
altogether fallacious. Those who were incapable or
recognising anything like magnanimity in the dis -
position of the new President, have been latterly mos t
officious in misrepresenting all the intentions of tha jj
illustrious General. Some, indeed, so far indulge
their scepticism, as to insinuate that his militar:
future would be little better than sheer poltroonery ;
that his official proceedings would inevitabl)
be those of a time-serving hypocrite ane
a profligate statesman ; and that altogether liE!
would fulfil their most malign anticipations by
evincing himself an ambitious and unprincipled ad-
venturer. We would by no means arrogate to our-
selves any especial gift of divination, or any super-
natural powers of prophecy ; we are not particularly
desirous of being regarded either as the panegyrist
or the apologist of the Mexican President, but we
are most solicitous that no precipitate deductions
should be drawn from the preliminary actions of a ,
popular champion at the very moment when he ad-
vances to rescue his countrymen from foreign domi-
nation, and especially at the very moment when
himself, his councils, and his native land, are encompassed by an accumulation of diffi: •
culties. There is a candour and a simplicity •
about the recent proclmati _ons of SANTA ANNA which
are most propitious ; and we acknowledge ourselves
to be the more disposed to regard his present conduct
with confidence, for two very particular considera-
tions—Firstly, because in SANTA ANNA, and in SANTA
ANITA alone, can the nationality of the Mexicans be
concentrated, and their physical energies so organised
as to afford any hope of their unconnientkus bl.

waders being repelled beyond the frontier ; and,
secondly, because we have so full a reliance upon the
political character of his race that we are assured he
would be hurled from authority, supposing he
attempted to perpetuate the dictatorship in his own
grasp after the present calamities of Mexico had been
nullified. The Mexicans are infinitely too fickle to
permit any individual to continue in the possession of
the supreme command longer than circumstances
would render such a continuance agreeable to them-
selves—no matter how magnificent might have been
the public services of that individual, or how systema-
tically he might have fabricated his Government.
It is the evil characteristics of the population of
Mexico, their partiality for indolence, the volatility
of their friendship, and their proverbial ingratitude
which form their surest preservative against any pro-
tracted despotism. It is the very possession of those
disgraceful propensities which would impel the
citizens of the Mexican Republic to thrust any
individual from office immediately he had rescued
them from any dangerous predicament and
gave indications of unduly protracting his
domination. In the event of his then proving
an enemy to the freedom and regeneration of his
countrymen, SANTA ANNA Will assuredly be rendered
a compulsory WASIIINGTON, or an unwilling CIN-
CINNATLIS, by being compelled to retire to his estate
at Mango de Clava ; or, presuming that his defection to
the national cause were of a remarkably flagrant cha-
racter, he would unquestionably be driven forth igno •
miniously to a second sojourn of a much longer con-
tinuance at Havanna. We are, consequently, satis-
fied that there is no extraordinary peril to the
integrity of the Mexican Republic in the recent ele-
vation of SANTA ANNA to the Presidency. On the
contrary, it is that very elevation, which some are now
regarding with such unmerited jealousy, which has
preserved the Republic from the perilous guardian-
ship cf PAREDES, and promises to afford her citizens
both the opportunity and the capability of re-asserting
their independence.

From the intelligence which has just arrived by
the Royal Mail steamer the Cambria, and which in-
telligence is detailed in another column, we might
augur a most critical juncture for the invading and
repellent forces. The refusal of the mediation ten-
dered by the British Government, and the petulant
garbling of an unfortunate verb in the future tense,
accidentally uttered by Lord PALAIERsTori, are suf-
ficient indications of the intense relish of the United
States for this aggressive war. Their behaviour to-
wards England in this particular is tantamount to an
expression of anxiety to " fight it out " quietly by
themselves. As to the proposition of a negotia-
tion with the plenipotentiaries of Mexico, it is a
species of impossible and inadmissible courtesy.
The conclusion of a peace with the United States at
this moment, when California is in the possession of
the Americans, and the frontiers are, to a consider-
able extent, violated, would be the virtual resignation
of Mexico to the rapacious and dictatorial policy of
Mr. President PoLii. One gigantic slice of the
Mexican territories would be submissively ceded to
the assailants ; other fragments would inevitably
follow. The monster system of lawless annexation
would devour an independent principality piecemeal,
and nourish the cupidity of the American citizens.
SANTA ANNA has recognised the certainty of these 1
baneful consequences. The offer of a negotiation
has therefore been answered by a promise to submit
it to the consideration of the National Congress. Con-
sidering that Congress will not assemble until the
approaching December, this response is a decided
evasion of the proposal, and the result of that evasion
will be the prosecution of hostilities. In addition,
moreover, to all these significant evidences of the
disposition of the new administration, President SANTA '
ANNA. has himself addressed the nation in language
of a most warlike and encouraging character. " Mexi-
cans," says he—
" My functions will cease when I have re-established
the nation in its rights ; when I see its destinies cone
trolled by its legitimate representatives, and when I may
be able, by the blessings of heaven, to lay at the feet of the
national representation laurels plucked on the banks of the
Sabine."

That is neither language of pusillaminity or
braggadocio ; it is the voice of a patriotic leader
calling upon his people to arise and repulse their
antagonists !

Much of public comment has been already offered
upon the recent hostile correspondence between Mr.
JOHN O'CONNELL, M.P., and Mr. JOHN SHEA
LAWLOR, and which ended in the former having the
latter brought before a magistrate, who bound him
ever to preserve the peace. This affair has not been
treated of with the gravity it deserves. A humorous
vein of ridicule is oftentimes the pleasantest and best
way of handling a subject, but then the matter should
be suitable for such a method of treatment. In the
present instance a most important public principle
was involved, and we deem Mr. J. O'CONNELL en-
titled to eulogy for the prompt, peaceable, and dig-
nified way in which he protected it. Mr. LAWLOR,
one of the seceders from the Repeal Association,
tenders his formal resignation in a letter fraught with
terms of the strongest reprobation towards those who
have zealously advocated moral force as the sole
lever upon which they would rely for the fulfilment
of their political wishes. This letter was designated
as having been " couched in terms of most unbecom-
ing discourtesy"—language, to our view, exceedingly
mild, when weighed in the balance with that which
evoked it. For this gentle rebuke Mr. LAWLOR
plainly enough sought to make Mr. O'CONNELL per-
sonally responsible. The mischievous intent was at
once thwarted by an appeal to the protection of the
law. Of Mr. J. O'CoNNELL's personal prowess we
know nothing, but we certainly are not inclined to
underrate it because he has evinced a becoming moral
courage, and, fearless of pitiful taunts, has secured to
himself and others, under the sacred sanction of the
law, a due freedom of speech in the discharge of what
he considers to be momentous national duties, and in
which he is taking a conspicuous part. Suppose that
Mr. O'CONNELL had played the game of his political
opponents, and, merging his public in his individual
feelings, had met Mr. LAWLOR in the field, what would
have been the immediate retort ? Why, that the leaders
at Conciliation Hall were not sincere in their advo-
cacy of moral force, inasmuch as where their per-
sonal prejudices, as opposed to their national ones,
were concerned, they readily enough addressed them,
selves to physical force for their vindication. J_lad
Mr. O'CoNNELL acted otherwise, he would infAllibly
have fallen into the very pit his enemies had dug for
him, and the consequences to Ireland at this particular
juncture, from the vice of so flagrant an example,
might have been disastrously great. It requires the
utmost vigilance, and the most fervent and incessant
appeals from all quarters, public and private, and
especially from Conciliation ,Hall, to which, from
the untoward condition of Ireland, the people of that
country have felt inclined, in a remarkable manner,
to yield the :greatest measure of their confidence—
it requires absolute devotion on the part of the lovers
of peace, to restrain that excitable and suffering
population from bursting the bonds of social order,
Would it not then have been seriously to
jeopardize the almost miraculous success which has.
hitherto attended the exertions of public men, if one,
who had taken an energetic part in enforcing the pro.
priety of preserving the public tranquillity in every
way, had proved himself such a hypocrite as to defy
the law for the gratification of another's private
animosity, after having solemnly adjured his country..
men to respect the law, how great soever might
be their public wrongs or privations ? We feel, there-
fore, that Mr. O'CortNELL has adopted a praiseworthy
course, and acted with far-seeing judgment. He
has opportunely in his own person combined example
with precept, and defeated the ungenerous and in-
sidious designs of his opponents. He has acted also
in unison with the enlightened spirit of the age.
Happily the crime of duelling is rapidly declining.
The most gallant heroes of the present day, naval and
military, as well as the most accomplished civilians
have alike joined in denouncing such a barbarous
custom, so degrading a relic of bygone times. To I
those men who practically repudiate the abhorren
practice society at large has reason to feel grateful,
In no country so much as in Ireland has the perni-
cious habit of duelling prevailed; in none, therefore,
will a wholesome example prove of greater service.
Above all, the public are interested in every pro-
tection against hostile proceedings being afforded
to those who are only threatened with them
because they honestly and freely express their opi.
nions upon a public document addressed to A body ofl

considerable political influence. The efficiency of all
our public institutions—the Parliament, the Bar, the
Church, the Press—depends upon the privilege of
freedom of speech. Their very vitality is identical
with its enjoyment, Least of any one, is Mr. SHEA
LAWLOR justified in placing this requisite freedom
under unreasonable restraint, seeing that his own
letter bears ample testimony to its value, and we are
not aware that he has taken out a patent for the
exclusive use of strong and objurgatory language.
We think Mr. SHEA LAWLOR has been righteously
dealt with.

Letters from Trieste announce that the harvest on
the banks of the Danube and on the shores of the
Black Sea has been excellent. "We have not," says
the writer of one of these letters, "to join the rest of
the world in deploring the scarcity of corn ; for a
letter of the 19th ult. from Galatz, states that 700
vessels have left the Bosphorus with a favourable
wind from the south, bound for the ports of the Black
Sea and the Danube. The quantity of corn in store
is so great that a sufficient number of transports can-
not be found, although they have everywhere been
sought for."

The Provisional Government of Geneva has entered
on the execution of its duties, and everything con-
tinues tranquil in the canton. On the 11 th the Pro •
visional Government declared that the Grand Council
of the canton of Geneva was dissolved, and convoked
a new Grand Council for the 25th of this month.
In the meantime the different members of the Pro-
visional Government have themselves undertaken the
administration of the various official departments.
The Executive Council of Vaud has sent President
DRUEY, and that of Berne has sent Governor OCH-
SENBIEN to Geneva, with offers of assistance to the
new Government. The Vorort (Zurich), on hear-
ing of the disturbances, dispatched two Commissioners
to Geneva.

Madrid papers of the Bth have arrived. The ac-
count of the arrest of a man charged with meditating
the assassination of the Duc DE MONTPENSIER is
confirmed. The Espancl gives the following ac-
count of the affair:—

" Yesterday, just before the arrival of the French
Princes at the palace, a retired officer was arrested in
the precincts, who had upon him two pistols loaded with
slugs. On being interrogated by the ➢Minister of the
Interior, he replied among other things, that his intention
was to kill the Luke de Montpensier with one of his
pistols, and to commit suicide with the other."
The persecution of the Opposition papers still con-
tinues, and the Government, in defiance of the de-
cision of the courts of law—that articles not pub-
lished could not be considered as libels—have inflicted
a fine of 40,000 reals (4000 on the proprietors of the
Espectador. We may judge of the value of the
official accounts of the reception of the French
Princes frcm the fact that all the Opposition papers
published on the morning after their entry into
Madrid were seized, lest their accounts of the affair
should be found riot to bear out that given in the
Herald°.

The Gaceta gives a long account of the reception
of the officers of the garrison and the authorities
of Madrid by the Duc DE MONTPENSIER. NARVAEZ
was not present on the occasion, and the writer in the
Gaceta is at particular pains to explain to his readers
that he was absent, only because his high rank as
Captain-General of the army did not permit him to
place himself under the command of the Captain-Ge-
neral of Madrid.

Mr. BULIVER has left Madrid for Valencia, in com-
pliance, says the Eco del C'omercio, with instruc-
tions from his Government. In his way he spent a
day at Carabancha with Senor SALAMANCA.
On the 3d of October the British corvette Spartan,
22 guns, and the steamer Phoenix, eight guns, were
at Valencia.

The Fomento, of Barcelona, announces the arrival
of the Spartan at that port on the 6th.
MADRID BOLSA, OCT. B.—Three per Cents. for
cash, 35i ; Fives, 22 ; Exchange on London, 361.

We have received the Paris papers of Tuesday.
The National indulges in the following pungent
commentary on the accounts which have appeared in
the Ministerial journals of the reception of the French
Princes :

indaponfitrat journals of Madrid, and continued by pri-
vate letters, is that the reception of the Princes in the
capital was mute and glacial. The people of Madrid (Id
Lot even return to the Duke de Montpensier the graci-
ous salutations which he lavished on them. The suite
of the Princes were, it appears, exceedingly alarmed at
the reception that awaited them, as the Dangeau of the
Debats is delighted that' no cry of evil presage arose to
spoil the effect of this fine reception.' He does not dis-
guise the sinister predictions and alarms felt by the
Queen for the safety of her guests.' Why this alarm,
if the enthusiasm was general? Why these apprehen-
sions, if an exceedingly small minority beholds with
displeasure the Duke de Montpensier's marriage!' De-
plorable excitations,' which led to menacing clamours,
are spoken of. Vitals may be paid for, and the police
of Madrid endeavoured, though unsuccessfully, to pro-
cure them, but there is no person rich enough to purchase
silence ; and silence on such an occasion, in the midst of
a people so easy to be worked on, so enthusiastic, and
so expansive in their demonstrations, as the Spanish, is
an enegetic protest. If the procession which took place
on the morning of the 11th was saluted in the same way,
it is easy to comprehend that the telegraph would not
be too anxious to announce it. It is true that, to fill up
the void, there will always be the resource of the his-
toriographer of the Debats. The young man who draws
up this 'recital is of a charming naivete. As he expected
enthusiasm, and it never came, he sought out something
which could supply its place, and this was what he found:
' An ardent and rapid content burst forth from every
look.' This defies all dispute ! A rapid content burst-
ing forth from every look I Deny that if you dare: deny
the rapid content of a look ! Tb.c whole is magnificent
in invention and style ! So mach for the acclamations
of the people of Madrid! bu.l, nothing has been said of the
transports of Burgos. till something must have been
known about it; it was notorious that the ayuntamiento had
refused funds for the fete, and the Captain-General con-
sidering such conduct impertinent, arrested the whole
municipality, and simply thrust them into prison. He
ithen could use the municipal funds as he liked. This is,
t will he seen, a summary manner of governing; and it
:s quite clear that if by chance any individual, func-
tionary or not, happened to be there, -without any great
inamation towards enthusiasm, this Captain-General
would have soon settled the matte:- for him. But this
kind of liberty is precisely what the marriage is about
to consolidate in Spain. How is it possible for the
people not to be delighted? Is another proof wanted of
what is passing? The Progressist journals of Madrid
wished to render an account of the entry of the French
Prineves, and of the reception given them; the political
e...laief forbad it. A Conservative journal the Espanol,
had drawn up an account in a most moderate manner ;
but it told the truth, and the political chief ordered
it to speak of somethin? else. The same day the
Eco del Comercio wes seised, tor the eleventh
time in the course of a fortnight. All these facts
are public and undeniable. What is most melan-
choly is, that the French name is again becoming
in Spain an object of hate—that even at the embassy
itself the Counsel is given to our countrymen not to stay
out late at night in the streets, and to walk several
together. Such are the bonds created between the two
nations. Misfortunes have already occurred to several
French subjects in the streets of Madrid. An Andalu-
sian journal announced a few days back that our country.
men had but little security in that province, and that it
deplored it exceedingly. Spain, therefore,, scarcely
hospitable for princes whom a whole army protected,
becomf.33 absolutely inhospitable for the merchants and
travellers of our country. Thus it is that the marriage
draws closer together the two nations, and guarantees
the secular interests uniting us to the Peninsula, and
this is the reason, without doubt, that the Siecle offers
its aid to the system which it has the appearance of
combatting here, in order to support it more efficiently
'in Spain ! We have shown the situation created by this
dynastic hymen with respect to Spain. We shall, some
other day, describe in what position it places us relative
to the other powers of Europe."
The Constz.tutionnel and the Epoque continue their
controversy on the subject of the conduct of the
Minister of Commerce, in admitting Russian goods
and ships to the ports of France, in accordance with
the terms of the recently-concluded commercial
treaty with Russia, before the ratification of the treaty
by the Chambers.
The Debuts, in the course of a long article on the
subject of the revolution of Geneva, says--
" We sincerely regret this fall of a Government,
which under the most difficult circumstances has uni-
formly pursued the most worthy and honourable con-
duct. Being a Protestant Government, and therefore
little to be suspected of sympathy for the Jesuits, it
sustained, in defending Lucerne and the Catholic can-
tons, the cause of principle, confessional liberty, and the
cantonal sovereignty. Placed at the extremity of
Switzerland, this small canton, the weakest and the
youngest, of the confederation, has by the force of reason
and intelligence alone raised itself to the first rank, and
become the greatest obstacle to those tendencies towards
absorptions which thegreatcantons no longer dissimulate.
The pof icy of moderation, which brought Geneva to this
elevation, has been overcome in the streets, and we shall
see what will be the result. It cannot, we conceive, be
expect‘A that the Catholic cantons, in face of a re-
duplication of danger, will break the alliance it had
formed for its protection. The union will rather become
closer an d more indissoluble. In two months, Berne,
whence the free corps came forth to triumph, will be-
come th 9 directory =toe, the Diet the revolty