The Sun.
London, England, 1828-10-11 00:00:00

• lor Prince, will, of itself, operate like a charm
upon the heart of this most grave and thinking
people. It will stop them in the streets=
it will fascinate them in • the highways—it
will be a spell to - withdraw them from
other pleasures; and even from busineS.4=and
make them literally besiege the abode of exotic
Royalty from morning to night with their tu-
multuous admiration. But it is well enough
when this national passion goes no farther, and
does not reach, with its contagious enthusiasm,
the Government itself'. • Too often has it (lone
so, and the history and present condition of this
country afford melancholy evidence of the ' un-
happy proneness of' our statesmen to surpass the
" giddy indiscretion" of the multitude, and carry
their sympathy fOr foreign Princes so far as to
sacrifice the blood and. treasure of the country in
espousing their quarrels, with which we ought
to have no more to do than with the regulation
of dynasties in the moon. A great portion, cer-
tainly more than one-half, of the enormous
debt of England, has been incurred in this
way. Some time ago the public were running
as wildly after Don Miguel . as they now
run after the infantine -Queen of Portugal,
whose throne the same Don Miguel, who was
so flattered, praised, and pampered in this
country, has usurped. But, whatever be
the success of the now absolute Miguel's
usurpation, we do hope that a sad experience
has at length taught our rulers better than to
undertake any Quixotic enterprise to make the
settlement of the crown of that kingdom an
English instead of a Portuguese affair, . Every
nation should be left to the choice of its own
Government as well as to the choice of its lan-
guage, laws, or fashions. The restoration of 11

Die ✓Bourbons cost us incalculable sums o:
money, and an immense waste of blood ; and
what is the consequence ? The Government oi

the Bourbons now take every opportunity they
can to overreach and circumvent us. The same
may be said of the result of the restoration of

Ferdinand VII. So much for the gratitude of
our Royal proteges ! Let us become wiser from
experience, and, while we treat the kings or heirs
to kingdoms who visit our shores with hospitable
courtesy, let us leave them and their people to
settle their disputes without our meddling inter-
ference.—Morning Herald.
A Morning Paper of yesterilay, in an article
of which the language is declamatory and the
meaning obscure, seems to contend that the ex-
tent and number of our colonial possessions, and
the universal diffusion of our commerce, are rea-
sons why England should be prompt to inter-
meddle. in the internal affairs, and to disregard
the independent rights of other nation. These
favourable circumstances in the condition of Eng-
land are precisely the reasons, as we think, why
the English, of ,all Governments, should most
cautiously abstain from interference in any case
where inactivity is reconcilable with her interests
and her honour. In proportion as our Colonies
are numerous and valuable, and distant from the
Mother Country and from each .other, are we
susceptible of injury and annoyance, from the
operation of that uneasy spirit in other Govern-
ments which our cotemporary recommends Eng-
land to inculcate and justify by her own ex-
ample. In proportion as our commerce is dif-.
fused, and our merchants scattered abroad
among every people upon .earth,- is it impor--
taut -to the peace, security, and mutual'confi-
dence of nations, that -English traders, sheltered
by :the hoSpitalitY of foreign lands, should have.
no-sanction .froth their , Government to ! become-
political partisans or intriguers... The more close,
perpetual, and necessary Mir contact with the
interests, the institutions, and the prejudices of
other .States, the more we are bound by justice
and honour, as well as by an enlightened sense
of our own interest, to respect their national
feelings, and to shun.the -appearance' of a dis-
position to invade their national independence.
The had reasoning of
;our cotemporary can,
however, excite no surprise when it is found
to be merely introductory to an .elabo-
rate encomium upon the foreign policy of
our late liberal Administration. The friends

of the late Mr. Canning must regret
to see his claims to the character of a
Statesman upheld by an allusion to topics, which,
whatever may be thought by the zealous but in-
judicious champion who advocates them, are
calculated to make those claims the. subject of
derision. "He laid," says our cotemporary,
" the foundation of permanent freedom to Por-
tugal under the dynasty of Don Pedro, beCause
it was a British interest of no mean order that
the right line of the House of Braganza should
reign in close alliance with Great Britain, and
that the alliance should he cemented by free in-
stitutions on both sides, instead of a despo-
tic rule being • established and maintained
under the protection of Spain and the House
of Bourbon."—We had always understood
Mr. , Canning to have expressly and so-
lemnly disclaimed having aay thing to do with
laying the foundation of this permanent
freedom, which lasted with difficulty about twelve
months. If he had any thing to do with it, he
deceived not only the British nation at large,
but his colleagues:in the Administration. It
quite clear, however, that these who did lay this
foundation, built upon the sand, and Manifested
a lamentable ignorance of the character, the
wishes, and the wants of the nation whom they
.aspired to benefit and rule. The British army
sent to defend this permanent freedom against
the fortniddble, power of Spain (for here even
,Spain was formidable), were received' by the
Portuguese people not as friends, but as ene-
mies ; and no sooner was that army withdrawn
than the permanent, freedom was abolished by
the Portuguese people themselves, without any
party among them making an effort in its de-
fence. They returned spontaneously and gladly
to the despotic, rule, which, bad as it may
be, we must remind our Cotemporary, ex-
isted in Portugal when the alliance with Great
Britain was best demented,- and which unques-
tionably had not then, any more than it now al).
pears to require, the protection of Spain and the
House of Bourbon. "So Mr, Canning," we
are further told, •
protected Greece, because
_
freedom every where is a British interest, and
security to commerce a British interest, and be-
cause it was a British and an European interest,
that Russia, Which • professed an anxiety for li-
berating Greece, should not be provided with
a pretext for subjugating Turkey. Had Mr.
Canning lived, Greece would have been Icing
since freed, and he would not be afraid to tell
Russia—' March agaiuist Constantinople at your
a British
peril: " Freedom everywhere is
interest ; so it is an American interest—so
it is a Dutch interest ; so it is, beyond all
question, an interest common to all mankind.
It is so common an interest, indeed, that
the Governments of the world will not allow
to any one of their number the monopoly of pro-
tecting it, or the right even of defining in what
it (Twists. Thus Mr. Canning could only be