The Sun.
London, England, 1832-07-17 00:00:00

Firebrand have brought no more than-Ist,
that Don Pedro was not opposed in the landing
of his troops, in their march upon Oporto, or
in their seizure of Villa Nova, on the south
bank of the Douro. 2d, That neither .Mignel's
civil authorities, nor his troops, had shown any
symptom of deserting to the Constitutionalists,
but had retreated before, probably, a far superior
force. These are all the particulars stated,
which bear any mark of authenticity. It has,
indeed, been circulated, though somewhat
vaguely, that one regiment, which declared
for Queen Maria, was surrounded and cut
to pieces by other corps which did not
sympathize with it. But a day or two will
most likely furnish us with intelligence on a
larger scale, and of a less doubtful nature.
Pedro has been charged with imprudence or bad
generalship, for landing at so great a distance
from Lisbon. But Oporto is described to be a
liberal city, and if a strong spirit in favour of
the Queen should really exist amongst the Por-
tuguese people, a descent upon Oporto—ten
days' march from the capital—would give the
invaders time to organize their friends, to raise
the country, and confirm their footing, so that
Nliguel should not bear down with an over-
whelming power, and crush them before the ar-
rival of solid reinforcements. Military men of
experience have certainly desired that the land-
ing should take place at such a distance from
Lisbon as might admit of the Queen's troops
being put in order of battle unmolested ; and,
on the other hand, so near as that they need not
incur the fatigue of many successive marches, or
undergo much difficulty in the search for provi-
sions, until they reach the scene of action. Why
this plan was not followed, it is impossible for
us to determine 1,000 miles from the spot. Pos-
sibly Lisbon might be too strong for a direct at-
tack, and the tyrant's garrison so numerous that
the resident friends of Don Pedro durst not
avow themselves, until a large portion of it
should be drawn off towards the north, to meet

the invading army. A division of Don Pedro's
force, it is said, composed no part of that which
took possession of Oporto, but was directed
against the intermediate point of Figueras,
where, if it proved able to maintain itself, it
might considerably annoy the flank of Miguel in
his movement towards the north of Portugal.
l'here are those who suspect that the landing at
Oporto has been a mere demonstration, for the
sake of compelling Miguel to uncover Lisbon,
and thus expose it to an attack by sea, from the
army suddenly re-embarking at Oporto, and steer-
ing for the Tagus. We are no judges of military
matters, but such a proceeding appears not a lit-

tie hazardous, the success of It tieing wholly de-
pendent on the winds and waves. At all events,
the main reliance of Pedro must be on the people
of Portugal. If they be against him, thrice the
number of troops that accompany him would be
sacrificed in such an expedition. If the country
be tired of Miguel, the Usurper's reign is at an
end. The first defection among his troops, as
indicating even a divided feeling in the army,
will be fatal to him, unless the crimes of Miguel
meet a set off in some gross folly on the part of
his anailants.— fines.

The question whether the people ought to
exact from the candidates for their votes to re-
present them in Parliament specific pledges as
to the course they will pursue, is much agitated ,
at this moment, not only by the Press, but in all
political circles, and at many public meetings.
It is certainly a question of great importance.
In the late struggle between the Reformers and
the An ti- Reformers—that is, between the mass
of the people and the small but well-compacted
body of their enemies—between those who paid
the price and those who received the wages of
corruption—the principle of exacting pledges
was generally adopted, and no one can be igno-
rant who watched the Parliamentary movements
of the time how much the popular cause was be-
nefited by the rigid exaction of a promise to
stand by the Bill. In fact, the efficacy of the
practice, as manifested in that instance, has
caused a strong feeling in its favour which in-
terferes in no small degree with the dis-
passionate consideration of the principle, when
it comes to be regarded as a general rule appli-
cable to any and to all questions on which the
Legislature may have to decide. For our
own parts, though we strongly approved of
the exaction of pledges as an expedient in the
instance alluded to, we are as strongly opposed
to its application in the extended and universal
sense which many persons now contend for. We
object to it as a general rule, not merely because
it involves the absurdity of sending men into a
deliberative assembly without the power of ex-
ercising a choice, as implied in the act of deli-
beration, but because it involves the still greater
absurdity of supposing questions to be decided
in the first instance by the mass of the people,
whose necessary avocations disqualify them for
such a task, if there were no other impediments.
But the fact is, that the principle of Represen-
tative Government itself is founded on this defect
in the nature of society and of man, that great
bodies cannot deliberate, and, consequently,
must delegate to smaller bodies the functions of
discussion and legislation. If we assume,as those
must assume who maintain the propriety of dic-
tating and demanding pledges, that the people
en masse are capable of deciding upon all
questions of State—that is, of governing the
country—why is ar.y other mode of government
resorted to ? There can be no good reason why
it should. What is it then but the worst spe-
cies of quackery to make the decision of the
people binding on the Parliament. Reason and
experience declare that the business of legisla-
tion, often including the most complicate de-
tails, requires the almost exclusive attention of
intelligent minds ; it would, therefore, be more
consistent to extinguish Parliament altogether
than to make its proceedings dependent on the
dicta of the multitude. The case of the Reform
Bill was one of those plain, straight-forward
cases which nobody could mistake. The ques-
tion was—" Here is corruption, do you like it—
will you continue it—or are youp tired of it--
and will you put an end to . ? If a similar
question should arise again let pledges be de-
manded ; but, in ordinary cases, let our Re-
presentatives go unshackled by previous engage-
ments to the discussion—let their talents as
public men have fair play—and let their charac-.
ters be our security for the honest exercise of
those talents in the cause of freedom and huma-
nity.—Morning Herald.
The landing of Doti Pedro in Portugal is
announced, and the various particulars of the
occurrences by which it was followed are also be-
fore the public, amounting to this, viz. that on
Sunday evening, the Bth inst., he anchored off
Oporto, and the next morning landed his 7,500
troops at Alatozinhos, without opposition, and
then marched upon and entered Oporto, whence
the garrison, magistrates, &c., fled by the bridge
to Villa Nova, on the other side of the Douro.
Throughout the next day (Tuesday) Don
Pedro's forces, it is said, were annoyed by those