The Sun.
London, England, 1833-08-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUT3I.Ie JOURNALS.

We were right, as appears by last night's intelli-
gence, in the opinion we expressed yesterday con-
cerning Bourmont, and in our.view of the exagge-
ration practised by the London MigueliteS, when
they talked of his arrival on the 12th instant at
Santurem, and of his army amounting to 30,000
men. The French General had on that clay reached,
not Santarem, but. Coimbra, and not with 30,000
soldiers, but with 12,0001 He had thus advanced
about 76 miles, instead of 146—was 156 miles
from Lisbon, instead of 52—and instead of an ave-
rage march of thr,N., days, had before him one of
nine. As, then, the arrival of Bourmont at Coim-
bra appears to have been known at Lisbon on
the 12th, the better portion of the garrison of
Oporto might have been sent for and brought
away in steamers, so as to reach the capital by the
16th at latest, or four days in advance of Bour-
mont, were he even to move forward at the rapid
pace, for a disorganized army, of almost 20 miles
per diem. If; then, the game of the Constitu-
tionalists be not badly played—if abundant re-
sources be not misapplied, and a noble and thriv-
ing cause ruined by gross mismanagement, we
have no fear for the result of Bourmont's pro-
jected coup de main upon Lisbon. That there may
be parts of Don Pedro's conduct calculated to rouse
the indignation as well as fears of all who are anxious
for the restoration of good government in Portugal,
far he it from us to deny. It is no secret that the
Duke of Braganza is miserably surrounded, that he
gives his confidence to the mean and worthless, and
treats honourable and enlightened Statesmen with
revolting distrust, and that when occasions of diffi-
culty arise, they are more aggravated than assisted
by such poor creatures as Candid° Xavier ; it would
therefore be but a becoming, because a protective
policy on the part of England, to interfere between
Donna Maria and the fortune which seems to be
preparing for her future life by her ill-advised father
and his counsellors, not one of whom appears fitted
to exercise the very lowest functions of discretionary
power, and least of all when the principle of Mini -
terial responsibility has not yet been brought into
definitive or effective action. We published yester-
day another intercepted letter, being from the busy
partisan and agent Saraiva, to the Duke de Ca.
daval. Not meaning to insinuate that the poli-
tical reputation of Lord Beresford could be
injured by any proceedings of his Lordship
in favour of the tyrant and usurper Miguel, we
shall not trouble our readers with any superfluous
comment upon the intercourse between the Noble
Viscount and his colleague, the said M. Saraiva ;
but it pains us to see a man of Lord Aberdeen's
character exposed in the manner in which this secret
correspondence represents him. With what face,
let us ask, could the Earl of Aberdeen bring for.
ward accusations against Ministers for overlooking,
and against British officers, naval and military, for
committing what he termed " breaches of neu-
trality," by entering the service of the legitimate
Queen, when he himself is here alleged most posit
tively to have been in frequent consultation with
Miguel's official agent, in respect of the most ap-
proved method of carrying on the war against tbat
Princess, whom Lord Aberdeen, as British Foreign
Secretary, had acknowledged, and to whom Miguel
had, in presence of the British authorities, sworn
absolute and unlimited allegiance? How could
Lord Aberdeen venture to tax his Majesty's Go-
vernment with criminality on such grounds as we
have stated, when he must have been con-
scious, if Saraiva tells his principal the truth, of
having strongly recommended to Miguel's Govern-
ment the employment of British naval officers, to per-
petrate that offence in behalf of Miguel, for whir},
he (Lord Aberdeen) had declared, that when en-
gaged for Pedro, they ought to be dismissd the
service, and for permitting which the Minister.
themselves ought to be punished as violators of the
laws of nations? It affords us no pleasure, we can
assure Lord Aberdeen, to dwell on inconsistencies
like these; but on looking at his confederacy with
Lori Beresford and wit.i‘ Miguel, one is tempted tr
exclaim that faction, lik poverty, " brings us ac-
quainted with strange bedfellows."—Times.

The Bill for regulat, g the municipal G' S&
boroughs returning %embers to Parliament under
the Reform Bill is a wholesome and noble concep-
tion of the Lord Chancellor. This is a measure
quite
apart
and rgeneralee
interferes
reform of corporate
abuses, with
the latter
urgent and paramount object of legislation. The
it fromin no any
degree
chief necessity for the plan proposed by the Lord
Chancellor seems to be in the likelihood that, un-
less some broad and popular basis be laid for the
municipalities of those represented boroughs not yet
possessed of fitting corporations, the description of
functionaries who now conduct their internal busi-
ness, whether political or judicial, may in process
of time, for want of a sound and efficient re-
sponsibility, become instruments for neutralizing
the better portion of • the advantages con-
ferred upon the electors by the reform of Parlia-
ment, and thus eventually bring those boroughs to
the same condition with the general mass of their
corrupt and rotten predecessors, which were at
once the moving causes and the most prominent
victims of the Reform Bill of last session. The
Lord Chancellor lays down one distinct principle
whereon to build the municipal constitution of the
30 boroughs referred to—viz, that the electors of
their Parliamentary representatives shall also have
the choice of the members of their Common Com-
cil, the latter body, chosen for three years, having
in their turn the right of electing aldermen far the
term of life. The important office of Recorder is
to be filled at the pleasure of the Crown, subject,
on the suggestion of Lord Wynford, to a veto by
the corporation. This excellent Bill would, in
some respects, have been more complete had the
House of Lords been wise enough to pass the Local
Courts 811, for which the country was farther in-
debted to the Lord Chancellor. But that last-
mentioned measure we still hope, with the Learnrt
Lord, to see ripened into an Act of Parliament na
the course of the ensuing session. The Chancery
Offices Bill is another splendid instance of the
zeal and spirit, and enlightened judgment of
the present Chancellor, in providing for the
public interest by the sacrifice of his own.
This one Bill, which was read a third time
and passed in the House of Commons on
Thursday evening-1, abolishes thirteen great
offices, nuisances of long standing, mostly sine-
cures, thereby saving to the country upwards of
21,0001, per annum. The amount of the saving
to be divided between the suitors in the shape of
an abolition of fees to the extent of 9,0001., and the
Consolidated Fund. 2. The Bill reduces the in-
come of Masters in Chancery, hitherto receiving
3,9001. per annum, from fees, &c., to 2,500/, per
annum, paid as a fixed salary : the saving under
;hat head is, from 10 Masters in Chancery, 14,000/.
per annum ; other savings in the Masters' office,
by reductions and abolitions of various offices,
41,000/. per annum. The direct economy of this
proceeding is extensive, but the indirect advantages
are enormous, inasmuch as the mode of payment to
these officers, henceforth to be superseded, was in
fact a premium upon every species of fraud and
oppression towards the suitors. Let it be recok
lected that all this heap of ill-gotten wealth wa.a in
the sole patronage of the Chancellor, and that its
diminution is nothing else than an abridgment of
his own influence and power. Let it be further
considered, that Lord Brougham has, by this same
Bill, surrendered to the Crown-.that is, subjected
to ministerial responsibility—the appointment of
the Masters, hitherto regarded, by all preceding
Chancellors, as a perquisite appertaining co them-
selves alone; and we do think that the disinte-
restedness and public virtue of Lord Brougham's
character will require no other evidence or record.—,
Timer.

The petition presented to the House of Corn..
mons a few nights back, by Mr. Cobbett, from Mr.
Foster, late newspaper proprietor of Leeds, states
several facts, which, if they cannot overcome, ought
at least to weaken the hostility borne by the 1-lon.
Member for Oldham to the proposed establishmerit,