The Sun.
London, England, 1835-12-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1535.

people. We trust the Chambers will lose no time in
confirmilig it.
The QUEEN is exccedi ngly popular. In the capital
and in the provinces the: recruiting goes on well.
There will be no want of men, if money be forthcom-
ing, M. MENDIZABAL iS full of the most sanguine
hopes of the speedy pacification, and political regene •
ration, of that country.

Two Royal Decrees issued by the Queen Regent
of SPAIN, respecting the Spanish clrgy, secular and
regular, will be found in another part of The Sun.
They will be the means of (effecting much good ; but
we regret that the promulgation of the one, which de-
fines the qualifications for all future candidates for
holy orders, did not take place at the commencement
of Senor MARTINEZ Da LA ROSA'S adminis-
tration. Those evils which it may now partially
remedy, it would then have effectually prevented. In
fact the Spanish Priesthood have been the right arm
of the Carlist rebellion. The confessional was abused
for the purpose of withdrawing the people from their
allegiance ; and it is a well known fact that the most
celebrated confessors among the regulars made atone-
ment for sin to consist in joining the ranks of Don
CARLOS ! The Mendicant orders were by far the most
active in kindling the flames of civil war. These sturdy
beggars, while prowling about for alms, for their diffe-
rent convents, besought the inhabitants of every village
through which they passed—prayed the members of
of every family with whom they associated, to raise the
standard of rebellion. They, like all other cor-
ruptionists, dreaded the spirit of Reform which formed
the principle of the QumN's Government. They
instinctively knew that in the destruction of abuses,
the Monastical institutions could not escape, and
therefore .it was, that they ranged themselves
under the banner of usurpation. All they cared for
was the fruits of the system of mendicancy, supersti-
tion, and delusion, by which they were supported in
indolence, and often in vice. It was not the QUEEN,
but the principles of her Government, that the monks
opposed. They trembled at the prospect of having to
administer to the spiritual wants of a virtually free
people—a people too enlightened to be made the dupes
of their superstitious cajolery.
A third Royal Decree relates to the re-ap-
pointment of all servants of the Executive within
one month from the date of its promulgation.
This will enable the Government to rid itself of a
number of suspected individuals, whom it might not be
altogether safe to punish in a more direct manner. In
fact a large proportion of the Officers of Customs, and
the Collectors of Taxes, are notorious partizans of Don
CARLOS ; and not a few of them assisted FERDI-
NAND VII. in persecuting the very men who now
compose the Spanish Government.

New York Papers to the 12th ult. have been re-
ceived this morning via Liverpool. They are almost
wholly taken up with the discussion of two questions
—the revolt of Texas, and the probability of a war
with France. The Government of the United States
is obstinately silent with respect to both. The revo-
lutionists have called upon the States for assistance
—proclamations were hourly issued in the name
of the insurgents—and troops of volunteers were
hastening to join their ranks. Now by a solemn Act
of Congress passed in 1818 it is decreed that :—" If
any citizen of the United States shall, within the terri-
tory or jurisdiction thereof, accept and exercise a corn;
mission to serve a foreign Prince, State, colony, district,
or people, in war, by land or sea, against any Prince,
State, colony, district, or people, with _ whom the
United States are at peace, the person so offending shall

be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanour, and
_ _

be fined not more-than 2,000 dollars, and shall be impri-
soned. not exceeding three years." And yet not a
word is uttered by. the Government to deter the sub-

pas of the United States from opposing a power, not
only at peace, but in close allia-ncc with it. This has
given rise to much speculatiOn in New York, and even
in Washington, among the extremely liberal party. The
secret of the whole affair is easily discovered. The
North American Government is desirous of extending
its territory at any sacrifice of principle. With this
.view certain secret overtures were made to individuals,
having popular influence in Upper and Lower Canada;
in the expectation that the Canadians would throw off
their allegiance to Great Britain, and declare their
country States of the Un.ion. The same species
of underhand policy is at work with regard to the
South American Governments. Revolt is secretly
encouraged, as the only means of inducing the
weaker party to throw itself into the arms of the
Union ; and thus constrained, as it were, the Presi-
dent to preserve tranquillity, by declaring Mexico to be
incorporated with the North American States.
All is vague conjecture with respect to the war in
Texas. The Press complains hardly of the silence
of the Government on a subject of such importance

to the country.
In New Orleans, 50,000 dollars have been offered
for the seizure of a slave-abolitionist named ARTHUR
TAPPAN, of New York. This at once proves the
low state of public morality which still prevails in the
boasted " land of liberty." Compared with the Ame-
ricans, the West India slave proprietors were emanci-
pationists.

In another part of The Sun our readers will find,
in a letter addressed to the " People of Ireland,"
some remarks by Mr. O'CONNELL on the late un-
accountable epistle of Sir FRANCIS BURDETT.
The Hon. and Learned Member for Dublin seems
to be of opinion that " Westminster's pride" is mad.
How this may be, we know not. The subject is a
delicate one ; and we forbear, therefore, from expres-
sing any opinion upon it. It is for the Westminster
electors, not for us, to ascertain the exact circum
stances of the case. Meantime, Mr. O'CONNELL
promises, in deference to the Hon. Baronet's well-
bred epistle, never again to call things by their right
names. A "liar" he will call a " falsificator ;" and
an " apostate" a " foolish and fading gentleman."
This may do: at Almac's, and get DANIEL into
favour at the West-end; but—a word in his ear—it

will not do with the people. As he thinks sin-
cerely, so let him speak sincerely. Away with
honied phrases, and courteous terms of abuse ! These
are for dandies, not for Englishmen. But, though we
advocate sincerity of speech, we are no advocates for the
Billingsgate dialect. A gentleman may be perfectly
straightforward in his declaration of sentiments, without
having recourse to the rhetorical flowers of Wapping.
Frankness is not vulgarity, any more than polished
phraseology, when conviction has no hand in its
manufacture, is the test of true gentility. But of
course DANIEL is merely in joke on this subject. He
cannot possibly be serious in his resolution to suppress
the-truth, out of compliment to his more courtly op-
ponents ; for the bland no-meanings of the drawing-
room would come with special bad grace from the
lips of a Radical Reformer. It is his bounden
vocation to give the right names to things, as it
is the bounden duty of the more polished Conser-
vatives to give the wrong ones. Towards the close of
his letter, Mr. O'CONNELL says, " The present
Ministry, virulently assailed by powerful enemies, and
insidiously, and therefore most basely, betrayed by
pretended friends, throw one moment of blessed light
and salutary heat upon the gloom of our unfortunate
country ; but it may be, like the lightning's glare,

transitory, and only making the returning darkness
more hideous." Such being the case, it is incumbent
on all stanch Reformers—and on O'CONNELL more
especially, as standing in the foremost rank among
them—to speak out in a stern, straight-forward man-
ner, careless whom such sincerity may offend.

The citizens of Bristol, to their credit be it said,
are actively bestirring themselves to strike off the last
link of the old Corporation chain, that has so long 1
manacled them. On Monday last, a numerous and
highly respectable Meeting of the rated burgesses of
the Central Ward, which comprises not less than twelve
parishes, was held at the Merchant Tailors' Hall, for
the purpose of nominating nine Gentlemen to repre-
sent that populous district in the new Town Council.
Of conrse the old Church wardens and select Vestry-
men were on the alert on this occasion, and commenced

everywhere an active canvass on behalf of their own
tools ; but their efforts—so far as they have yet gone
—appear to have been of little avail ; every precaution
having been used by the Liberals to prevent undue in-
terference ; and the Meeting in question havin been
convened by circulars, sent without distinction otparty,
so that an unequivocal expression of public feeling
might be ensured. At this Meeting, which—if we may
judge from the popular demonstration that prevailed
—bids fair to give the death-blow to Tory domination
in Bristol, an intelligent Gentleman, by name CUN-
NINGHAM, made some edifying exposures of the in-
juries that the old Corporation monopoly has inflicted
on the City. "He would give the Meeting,"
he observed, " a sample of their management
of the public property. The Ward in which they
were then assembled was bounded by the river Frown
and the river Avon, the walls of which were called the
Quays. These walls and quays were the property of
the city, but some time since they were leased to the
Society of Merchants—for how much did they think "..;
—for 101. per annum—(Shame)—the Society having
subsequently let them to a contractor for 1,4001., who,
to realize so large an amount is compelled to lay very
heavy contributions on the trade of the port. He
(Mr. C.) had himself remonstrated against the enor-
mity of the charges which were thus created: if they
were requisite to pay the poor men who perform the
labour necessary in loading and unloading the vessels,
there would be something of reason in it ; but going
down to the quay one day whilst one of his own ships
was discharging, he incidentally enquired of the la-
bourers what they were paid, and, being informed, he
made a calculation, and found, that for labour which
was only about 31. 14s. or 31. 165., he was charged
upwards of 141. Where did the difference, amounting
to 11/., go ? Into the pocket of the contractor first,
but ultimately it found its way into the hands of the
Society of Merchants. To-this body, then, he had felt
himself justified in addressing a memorial on the sub-
ject. But what was the result ? Up to that moment
he had never received any reply to it.—(Shame.)"
This is pretty well. But this is not all. The
worst is yet to come. Mr. CUNNINGHAM went on
to say :—" There was another part of .the city pro-
perty—the town dues ; these formed another -heavy
burden on the commerce of the port ; but that was a
trifle when compared to the purpose to which they
were applied—to maintain the splendour of the Cor-
poration—and therefore they could not be dispensed
with. It was a fact, that in the course of the last
twenty years, the trade of the port had been taxed to
an enormous amount, very, very little of which had
been appropriated for the benefit .of the city. They
ad one of the finest ports in the empire. He had
imself at different times entered the kingdom by both

channels, and he could say that there was no commer-
mereial port superior for shipping to that of Bristol.
But all its advantages have hitherto been thrown
away. The foreign trade was nearly gone, what little
there was left being confined chiefly to the West Indies."
Thus then, it seems, the trading and mercantile inte-
rests of a city containing " one of the finest ports in
the Empire ;" abounding in all the elements of pros-
perity ; highly favoured in point of situation ; and
peopled by as industrious, intelligent, and ente(prizing
a race of people as is to be found in the whole
United Kingdom ;—the commercial interests of a
great city like this have, it appears, been wantonly
sacrificed for the base, selfish purpose of maintaining
the " splendour of a Corporation," whose highest
ambition is to " eat, drink, and make merry" at the
expense of the thousands whom they are ruining by
their profligate gluttony I Can these things be
denied ? Not a bit of it I Is it not high time
then, that such a rotten, crazy system should be
reformed ? But The Tories say, No. In their esti-
mation abuses are sacred, just in proportion to
their antiquity ; and therefore the abuse of the oldest
date is precisely that which should be clung to with
the most tenacity. But the Bristol Reformers are- no
longer to be hoodwinked by sophistry of this nature.
They see that their enterprise is neutralized ; that their
commerce is declining ; that their intelligence and per-
severance are rendered of no earthly avail ; nay, more
than this, that the port of Gloucester is becoming not
merely their rival, but their superior ;—and seeing
these things ; feeling, too, that they are such as come
home to each individual pocket (the true seat of the
sensibilities, let enthusiasts say what they will to the
contrary) ;—the Bristol Reformers, we repeat, seeing
the deplorable condition in which their commerce is
now placed, have wisely come to the determination of
crushing the monopoly that has been the chief agent
in producing it. That their exertions will be crowned
with success, we will not permit ourselves to doubt for
an instant. They have sound heads and resolute hearts
among them, and are not the sort of men to shrink back
at the sight of an obstacle. Besides, they know well that
the commercial regeneration of Bristol can be no other-
wise affected, than by their making a determined
stand against the old Corporation monopolies. Till
they do this, they can do nothing for the city. But
when once the corrupt system is purified, and a Re-
formed Town Council called into active existence, old
prejudices will vanish ; old interests be annihilated ;
there will be no more selfish opposition to railways,
which will bring the home trade, which has almost
departed from them, back to their very doors, linking
their interests with those of the extreme North, and
the extreme South of England, in the bonds of a
common trading fraternity ; and we shall again see
Bristol, what she once was, the very foremost among
the commercial cities of the empire.

We give insertion elsewhere to the Report of some
proceedings which took place on Friday at the West
Somerset Agricultural Association. These proceed-
ings are interesting, and demand the attentive perusal
of all classes, but more particularly of the cultivators
and landlords of the soil. The sentiments expressed
by almost all the gentlemen present are eminently dis-
tinguished by a rare degree of generous feeling, good
sense, and just reasoning. If those who have assumed
the leadership oft the Agriculturists throughout Eng-
land had adopted the same honest, true-hearted,
straightforward course, as the Honourable Member for
West Somerset, instead of attempting, like the Mar-
quis of CIIANDOS, Mr. CAYLEY, and the other
quacks of the same school, to perpetuate the most
pernicious delusions—if they had acted thus wisely
and honestly, brighter and better prospects would,
ere this, have dawned upon our depressed and
nearly ruined cultivators. The truth is, the
farmers have been made the victims of their landlords'