The Sun.
London, England, 1835-10-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1835.

esteemed the very test of orthodoxy among the majority
of protestants—but actively engaged in circulating the
Bible among the Catholic community. After this we
trust we shall hear no more of the Catholic religion
being hostile to the spread of Divine truth, or that the
Catholic translations of the Scriptures arc unfaithful.
Should such assertions be made by blind and narrow-
minded bigots, let it be remembered that the French
translation of the Bible, used by the British and Foreign
Bible Society, is that of the illustrious De Saci, a re-
cluse in the Catholic seminary of Port Royal.
In the work before us the history of this celebrated
institution .is traced from the beginning of the 17th
century to the close of the reign of Louis XI V.--the
period during which it ran its brief but brilliant
career. Its fame had from the first excited the enmity
of the Jesuits, who had till then maintained an un-
rivalled supremacy in learning. They could " brook
no brothers near the throne," and Port Royal fell a
victim to their literary jealousy. The instrument
which they employed was worthy of the cause in
which it was used. They prevailed upon Louis,
through the agency of Madame de Maintenon, to order
its suppression ; and the order was carried into effect
by the Minister D'Argenson, with every circumstance
of brutality and cruelty, in the year 1709.
The biographical sketches interpersed through the
work are full of interest, and some of the letters of the
inmates of this far-famed monastery are written with
great beauty, and in the calm, meek, and charitable
spirit of enlightened devotion.

DUBLIN ELECTION COMMISSION.

(From the Dublin Evening Post of Thursday.)

This Day the Commission sat at ten o'clock. The Court
was crowded to suffocation by persons anxious to witness the
proceedings.
The minutes of the previous day having been read,
Mr. O'CONNELL, addressing the Chairman, said—Sir, I
handed in a document yesterday containing a number of sug-
gestions, and urging the Court to receive evidence on several
points. Now, Sir, this document will show that by your pro-
ceedings yesterday, you have refused to receive evidence on
these points. I wish to be informed upon which of these do
you persist to refuse evidence. lam ready to prove the facts
of this suggestion, and I want to know from the Commissioners
whether I will be allowed to do so.

The CHAIRMAN, Mr. Haire, explained the points on which
they would receive evidence, but that they would not on those
urged by Mr. O'Connell.
Mr. O'CoNNELL—Surely, Gentlemen, you are exceedingly
bountiful—you will admit that which I do not ask for, and
which is of no value whatever, and you refuse upon the only
points to which I attach importance.
Mr. Commissioner ARDILL here said—lt is right I should
state that there is a division of opinion amongst the Commis-
sioners as to the propriety of receiving evidence on the three
points regarding agreements.
[This announcement created a marked sensation in the
Court.]
Mr. O'CONNELL—Now we discover that the Court is ac-
tually divided upon the very question on which they have
been acting, as if it had been already judicially decided. They
refuse to hear evidence, although they are not unanimous as to
whether or not they have the power to refuse it ; and they
peremptorily refuse to hear me, in bringing forward argu•
ments which might induce them to become unanimous, and ad-
mit the evidence.
Mr. HAIRE—We cannot hear you.

Mr. O'CONNELL-I tell you, Sir, you must hear me. What
a mockery of justice it is to tell me you have not made up
your minds, and yet that you decide against me.
The CHAIRMAN-Mr. O'Connell, I shall not permit you to
address such terms to this Court.

Mr. O'CONNELL-Oh, Sir, you must allow me to proceed,
or hear the evidence which I tender. I mean no disrespect ;
but lam determined to enforce my right. I again tender Ri-
chard White as a witness.

Mr. WHITE having made his way into Court some time pre-
viously, placed himself on the chair opposite the Commis-

sioners.

Mr. HAIRE—To what point do you propose to examine this
witness ?

Mr. O'CONNELL—To the points regarding agreements.
Mr. HAIRE—You may go en if you please, but I shall ad-
journ the Court.
Mr. O'CONNELL—YOU may go where you please, but as
low,-' as you sit there, I will insist on my right of being heard,
and I shall speak whether you are here or not.
Mr. HAIRE took out his watch, and exclaimed, " I now ad-
journ the Court at twenty-five minutes after ten o'clock to
ten o'clock to-morrow morning." The Chairman then walked
away from the table, and moved towards the window, from
which he appeared to look out on the street. Mr. Ardill still
occupied his seat, but the Clerk hurriedly bundled up .his pa-
pers. Mr. Commissioner Joy did the same thing, and there
was a general move from the table occupied by the Counsel
and agents of the Con3ervative party.
In the meantime Mr. O'Connell proceeded to address the
remaining Commissioners, and read from the Act of Parlia-
ment the section under which the Court were acting, which
pointed out the evidence they were to receive, and contended
that the evidence offered by him was perfectly regular. During
this scene considerable confusion prevailed, and in the mean-
time Mr. Ardill also rose from the Commissioner's table.
Mr. O'Connell, on observing it entirely deserted, turning to
the portion of the Court allotted to the public, humourouslv
observed—as I am refused a hearing in front, perhaps I had
better address myself to the rear. (Much laughter.)
Mr. O'CONNELL, addressing Mr. White, who still sat in the
witness chair, said—l am sorry, Mr. White, for all the trouble
I have unwittingly given you ; but if you had voted for me you
might be now at home.
Mr. White—No trouble in life, Sir; but wait till the next
election. (Roars of laughter.)
Mr. O'Connell then left the Court, which was empty in a
few moments after.
(From the Dublin Evening Mail of Friday.)
ANOTHER ADJOURNMENT.

The crowd assembled this morning was nearly as great as
yesterday ; but, owing to a sufficient body of police being in
attendance, better order was preserved than on the previous
days. Mr. Ardill was the first of the Commissioners who
made his appearance, and he was received with loud cheers by
Mr. O'Connell's friends. At a few minutes after ten o'clock
Mr. Joy arrived. The two Commissioners consulted together
for a few minutes, when Mr. Ardill said, " We have just
received a certificate signed by the State physician Dr. Jack-
son, properly verified, setting forth that he was requested to
visit James Haire, Esq., and that he was so ill as to render
it unsafe for him to attend here to-day. Under these circum-
stances," said Mr. Ardill, " we are precluded by the Act of
Parliament from hearing evidence in the absence of the chair-
man, and I am, therefore, obliged to adjourn the Court till
ten o'clock to-morrow."

LET TER FROM DANIEL O'C3ONNELL,
ESQ., TO MR. BUCHAN, OF KELLOE.

(From the Edinburgh Patriot.)
" Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."
Merrion-square, Dublin, Oct. 12, 1835.
SlR,—The catechism which I was taught contained the ex-
position of the last word of that Divine commandment thus :
Q. Who is meant by your neighbour?
A. All mankind—including as well all those who differ with
us

, in religion, as those who actually injure us.
Without more preface, I come to the cause of my thus ad-
dressing you. The newspapers represent you to have said, at
a special meeting of the Assembly, " That I was an impious
person, and had polluted the soil of Scotland." Such was your
testimony against me.
I deny both parts of your accusation. I deny that lam an
impious person—and I utterly deny that I have done any mis-
chief to the soil of Scotland. The latter, to be sure, is figu-
rative language—and I readily forgive you your " poetic
imagining." I merely caution you against using other than
the language of sobriety when you address a grave and sober
assembly.
But that which I complain of is, your gratuitous charge
against me, of my being an impious person. You made that
accusation in an assembly of persons of undoubted worth and
respectability—in the solemn assemblage of clergy and reve-
rend elders of the Scottish Church. You made it without any
provocation from me. I had never assailed your Church or
your religion—nor indeed did I ever speak discourteously of
the religion of any man—still less, did I ever accuse you or
any other man of impiety.
I know, sir, that it is forbidden to me to judge of the servant
of another master. I would, therefore, not presume to pro-
nounce judgment upon the piety of any fellow Christian—the
servant of that God who sees the secrets of hearts, and who
alone can pronounce a judgment with full knowledge of all the

merits.
I do, therefore, complain of your condemning me—yon who
are not my judge, and have not heard me in my defence. Yet,
without jurisdiction, or authority, or knowledge of the cause,
you fulminate your anathema, and pronounce me an accursed—
that is, an impious person.
I have no means of knowing your character, save from find-
ing that you are a member of the Ganeral Assembly of your
Church ; I therefore am warranted in considering you a res-
pectable person. The charge was made against me in a body
entitled to respect. Judge, then, how painul it ought to be to
me, who have all my life been the decided advocate of free-
dom of conscience, to find myself treated as if I were an infi-
del by a fellow Christian, in an assemblage of the heads of a
National Church.
However, I am so accustomed to every species of vilification,
that is would not make this appeal to you to retract your unjust
charge, but that I am actuated, I firmly believe, by higher mo-
tives than any which could attach to my personal feelings. If
I understand you right, you have in my person assailed that
religion of which I am a member. Your charge against me is,
I conceive, a charge against the Catholic faith, which I profess,
and most sincerely believe.
The impiety you accuse me of, is the profession of the
Catholic faith. If you disclaim that intention, and mean to
confine the charge to me individually, then it is not worth

while to discuss the matter further. I readily forgive the
personal calumny, and will speedily forget that it ever existed:
Let us understand each other—What I call " the Catholic
faith"—simply because I am convinced it is so—you probably
call " Popery," or " Romanism," or some other insulting de-
nomination. Be it so. It is intelligible to both of us. I
will not complain of, though I protest mildly, but firmly against,
the insult. One thing is certain, that I never will imitate the
example of those who rail at the religion of others. I never
will call your religion by any name which you disclaim or
disavow. I may not be able to call it by as flattering a deno-
mination as you may claim for it, but I never will denominate
it by any term which you deem to be an insult.

These preliminaries being understood, I proceed to expos-
tulate with you upon the calumny you have uttered against my
religion. Idoso in the total absence of harshness or violence
of language. I can be harsh and violent enough upon political
topics, but I deem either the one or the other totally unsuited
to religious subjects.
Let me then ask you, whether it be befitting, or even decent,
to stimatize as impious the religion of the great and over-
whelming majority of the Christian world ?—the only religion
known or recognized in Christendom for many, very many
centuries ?—the only religion of Scotland for many ages ?
the only religion of Great Britain for at least eight centuries,
as I am warranted in saying even by the Book of Homilies of
the Church of England ?
I conjure you to recollect that this charge of impiety
is made by you against a great proportion of your exist-
ing fellow-subjects in Great Britain and Ireland. In Ire-
land alone the Catholics—the impious, as you are pleased
to call us—are proved to be six millions and a half.
The Catholics of England, Scotland, and Wales, proba-
bly amount to one million and a half. If you take the
trouble of looking at the list of Catholic chapels built
and building in Great Britain, you probably will not
deem this an over-estimate ; but take them at only one mil-
lion—and they certainly amount to that number at the least—
they make for Great Britain and Ireland seven millions four
hundred thousand. Is it really not too bad to charge such a
number of your fellow-subjects and fellow-Christians with
impiety ?
But the Catholics are, I do believe, more numerous in the
United Kingdoms than any other Christian persuasion. I
doubt much whether there are seven millions and a half- be-
longing to the Established Church of England. One would
say certainly not more. Of your religion—that is, of persons
in communion with the Established Church in Scotland—
there are not more than two millions and a half. Ought you
then so lightly and idly to accuse us of impiety ? We Catho-
lics of the present day do not accuse you Presbyterians of im-
piety; and yet we are three for one. This does not make us
insolent. Why, then, will you hurl affronts at us ? You re-
vile my religion. I never will revile yours ; and yet lam as
firmly convinced that you are in error as you are that the error
is mine. But my conviction of your error is only a reason why
I should pity and pray for you ;—not any reason why I should
abuse or calumniate your creed or yourself.
I should indeed hope that the time was come when Chris-
tians of every persuasion would attend more carefully each to
his own religion, than to the censure or condemnation of the
faith or religion of others who differ with him. It is time to
give up vituperation, and abuse, and calumny upon our respec-
tive creeds, and to think and speak of one another in terms of
mutual forbearance and reciprocal charity.
After all, I ask you, Sir, what is the use of abusive epithets
on the subject of religion ? You do not convince or tend to
convince me of my error, by calling me impious. Nav, if you
were to use language ten times more abusive, it would present
no argument to my mind against my religion, or in favour of
yours. The contrary is the natural consequence—go farther,
and use blows and personal violence, still you do nothing to
persuade or convice. You may make a hypocrite and rene-
gade, but you do not make a convert—go farther still, and
punish " impiety" with death, you make a martyr, but you
also exhibit a persecutor—and on his part no Christianity at
all.

The time is come, when persecution, verbal as well as cor-
poral, should cease—when argument should be substituted for
invective in the manner of religion—and benevolence and
charity preside over the differences and discussions of Chris-
tian men.
In this spirit, I invite you to withdraw your calumnious
charge of impiety, or to sustain it by proof. lam ready
to meet you in fair argument, and to defend, without heat or
passion, that faith on which my hopes of eternal happiness
rest. Ido not provoke the controversy—but infinitely less do
I shrink from it. Ido not invite it, but Ido not dread it, and I
am quite ready for it. If you embark in the controversy, it
shall certainly be conducted on my part in the total absence
f anything which could violate that Christian charity which
it is my first and most ardent desire to see prevail amongst
Christiani of all denominations. _

It may be thought and said, that it would be preferable that
I should leave your charge of impiety unnoticed. My opi.
nion is otherwise. I owe too deep a debt of gratitude to the
people of Scotland, not to repudiate the charge of impiety
upon the man whom they have so honoured. I have too
great a respect for the integrity and intelligence of the Scot-
tish people, not to be persuaded that they will esteem me the
more for the sensitiveness with which I seek to expel from the
vocabulary of Christians, terms of reproach and obloquy, as
addressed to their creeds and modes of faith.

Besides, the last remaining hope of the oligarchs and mono-
polists of abused power is to be found in exciting rancour, ani-
mosity, and strife, amongst the different sects and persuasions
of Christians. The forward march of improvement in our
social state—the attainment of equal rights to all—the shifting
of the fiscal burdens of the State from the operative classes to
the possessors of property—the amelioration of our institutions
until the machine of the State partakes of the improvement of
all other species of machinery ;—all those tranquil alterations
which are destined to produce cheap government and good
government—all this mass of public and private utility,
is now sought to be retarded, and stayed, and stopped
by the obtrusion of bigotry and religious jealousies.
It is an oft-repeated experiment, by which a combination of
all the oppressed against the oppressors has been many a time
prevented. But the cry of "No Popery" is almost exhausted.
Its last efforts are puling and paltry; but they are perseveringly
made. The Hero of Waterloo has now little of other resource.
The more practised hypocrite of Tamworth is literally at his
last prayers. The minions of Toryism, anxious for public plun-
der, and for a restoration of those happy, happy days, when
favoaritism supplied the place of talent and of worth—and lastly,
the lordly majority of 170, " our most potent masters" are now
defended by their last bulwark—the animosity, jealousy, and
rancour, which formerly subsisted, and now are sought to be
re-animated, between the various sects and persuasions into
which the British and Irish people are divided.
This, therefore, is the time to discountenance every thing
that tends to assist the common enemy of our country's wel-
fare—to repudiate everything that tarnishes or stains our
common Christianity. On the contrary, let us proclaim
" the peace of God" amongst Christians of all persuasions,
and that combination of good men which can easily extinguish
hypocrisy and injustice, and establish in their stead constitu•
tional liberty.—l have the honour to be, Sir, your obedien
humble servant,

DANIEL O'CONNELL.

To Mr. Buchan of Kello,
Member of the General Assembly
of the Church of Scotland.

SPANISH GOVERNMENT.

GENERAL ALAVA AND M. MENDIZABAL:

The grand object of the Spanish Government is to produce
union among all classes of Constitutional Spaniards; and it is
astonishing what progress that union has made since Senhor
Mendizabal seized the loosened reins of Government. With
the exception of the insane and debilitated band headed by the
Count de las Navas, the whole country is united ; and the
most gratifying and honourable instances of adherence to the
Queen's Government pour in daily. This grand union being
once established, immense masses of troops will be marched
into the Insurgent Provinces ; so that the whole rebel country
may be ocupied by the Queen's troops, the roads by which the
factions now receive provisions and ammunition completely
closed, and then by a simultaneous attack upon the factions'
strong holds, the rebels will be either destroyed or forced to
lay down their arms, because they will have no points on
which to retreat. Hitherto the Queen's forces have not been
collected in one point in sufficient numbers to carry into effect
so energetic a project ; and (as I have before stated, when on
the spot) it is astonishing that with such a limited force Ge-
neral Cordova has been able to keep the field so constantly and
so efficaciously.
The Government has expressed its confidence that there
are sufficient resources in the country for putting an end to the
civil war, securing the Throne of Isabella 11., and consolidat-
ing liberty and public credit; all it requires, on the part of
the nobility, clergy, landed proprietors, the commercial and
manufacturing classes, and the great majority of the popula-
tion who are interested in the prosperity of the nation, is that
they will give indubitable proofs of patriotism and of adhe-
sion. Ministers ask only for union, confidence, and six
months' time.'

The Gazette of the sth instant contains a Royal Decree,
dated. the 4th, whereby the resignation of General de Alava,
as Minister of State, is accepted, in conformity with the re-
peated wishes to that effect expressed by the General, who re-
tains the distinguished post he occupied before he was ap-
pointed to the Ministry—viz., that of Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of London. The
Decree is addressed to the President of the Council, who takes
upon himself ad interim, the Ministry of State, which was left
vacant by the resignation of General Alava.
As the retirement of General Alava from the Administra-
tion will naturally give rise to animadversion on all sides, and
will, without doubt, be seized upon by the enemies of the
Constitutional and Liberal cause, as a weapon for attacking it,
I feel great satisfaction in being able, from my own personal
knowledge, to assure you that the most perfect harmony and
union exist between the President of the Council and General
Alava, who remains at Madrid purposely to support Senhor
Mendizabal and his Administration, which, after due delibe-
ration and mutual explanations, it was considered he could do
with infinitely more effect in his private capacity, and in his
place in the Chamber of Proceres at the approaching meeting
of the Cortes, than even if he had been a Minister. General
Alava has assured Senhor Mendizabal that he will not leave
Madrid until the latter shall say that his presence is no longer
necessary for the support of his Administration.
In the present, as in every other instance, General
Alava has acted consistently and honourably ; approving
as he does most fully, the general plan of the President of
the Council. There might have arisen differences of
opinion between them, with regard to the more or less
rapidity with which certain measures of reform, &c., might
expediently be effected; and General Alava having the
most unbounded confidence in the patriotism, judgment, and
energy of Senhor Mendizabal was anxious to avoid the most
. remote possibility of any impediment being thrown in thg way

of the free working of his political system. This is the exact
state of the case; the sanction, advice, and influence, of Gs-
n4ral Alava are all in full operation in favour of the present
Administrations and with regard to the latter—influence, it is
decidedly much more powerful in the General's present posi-
tion than if he were Minister. There is not an individual in
existence who 1; more universally or more justly esteemed than
General Alava. hit I,i;rightnessis proverbial ;he has given
undoubted proofs of his liberal ps..-•htical principles, at the same
time that he has invariably taken a stem-4 upon the ground of
ass
lrac cy of
gradual reform. Connected as he is with tn. aristocracy :
of his country, he is now a moderator between that
and the sincere and ardent liberals, and by the eminent 2.nd
peculiar qualities he possesses, he will, I feel persuaded, draw
them together, and induce them to proceed, hand in hand, in
the path pointed out by true patriotism.
The quantity of business accomplished daily by the President
of the Council is immense. He rises at six in the morning,
and immediately receives, at Isis private residence, a number
of the officers of the different Ministries of which he has charge
ad interim, with whom he is occupied until about ten. He
then goes to the palace, where the official business is carried
on; there he remains, receiving officers and individuals of all
ranks, until five in the afternoon, transacting business with his
secretaries, in the intervals of his audiences, writing letters,
&c.—in short, in constant occupation ; presiding when a coun-
cil of Ministers assembles in another part of the palace, &c.
At five he dines alone in his office. His meal being speedily
discussed, he again returns to business till midnight, when he
starts for the palace of the Prado, to make his report to the
Queen. He arrives there at one, a.m., and remains with her
Majesty until three, reaching his private residence at four,
when he retires to rest for two hours, which rest is, however
frequently interrupted by the arrival of couriers with despatches
from various parts. In answer to a question which a gentle-
man addressed to him, as to how he could exist with so little
sleep, the Minister said, " I get sleep in my carriage going
and returning to the Prado." And all these gigantic
efforts are made by Senhor Mendizabal in the most unaffected
manner possible. He receives every body with frankness and
kindness : and among the many remarkable qualities with
which he is gifted, is that of unbroken self-possession. In
the midst of the agitation which has reigned around him, he
has not lost his calm for one moment. The only outward sign
of the great fatigue he must endure, is that he is considerably
thinner than when he was in England.
The Queen Regent takes a most lively interest in the affairs
of the nation. That she bas the utmost confidence in Senhor
Mendizabal, and that she is herself endowed with considerable
talents; her Majesty, well aware of what may be expected
from court intrigue in the way of attempting to warp her
mind with regard to her liberal and constitutional advisers,
and she is resolved to nip in the bud every machination of the
kind.

It may be as well to record, at this moment, all the most
important decrees which have been issued by Government
since Senh.or Meudizabal's programme of the system a hich
ought to be adopted for the welfare of his country ; they will
be found to be in conformity with the principles laid down in
his address to the Queen Regent, dated the 14th of Septem-
ber last.

September 16.—Decree releasing Madrid from the state of
siege, in which it was placed after the events of the 15th and
16th of August.
September 18 : Royal Order to Governors of provinces to
attend with candour and good faith to the representation of
the people; and to submit those representations to Govern-
ment, accompanied by observations, in order that the most elP-
cacious measures may be adopted for restoring concord with Tut
injury to the Royal dignity ; preserving in fact the privilegts
both of the Crown and the people.
September 21 : Decree completing the municipal organi-
zation.

September 25 : Decree annulling all the penal regulations
of the decree of the 3d of September ; and declaring that
there should be an ample, general, and complete oblivion of all
that had occurred since the first breaking out of the schism be-
tween the former Government and the people.

September 25 : Decree establishing a provisional regulation
for the better administration of justice. The section appoint-
ing justices of the peace is calculated to produce the most be-
neficial effects.

September 28 : Decree convoking the Cortes for the 16th
November.

September 28: Decree for changing the name of Urban
Militia for that of National Guard.

October 4 : Decree suppressing the Superintendant-Ge-
neralship of Police; the duties of which are to be transferred
to the department of the Interior, whereby a great public
saving will be made.