The Sun.
London, England, 1826-01-25 00:00:00

• PAPAL SUPREMACY'.

We extract the following interesting particu-
lars of a recent:exercise of authority by His
Holiness if-Hi-Pon,' in the Island of Malta, from
Mr;ltillittitAY's now Paper, the Representative, of
which the first number appeared this morning
66 f."*„. VALETTE, bile
,you ,have
been dreading at borne the restoration of Papal
supremacy, and anticipating, like pious Protest-
anti, rill the 'horrors of monasteries and masses, I
have been surprised that an affair should not
.have reached you, which has placed oaf of your
dependencie3 in a state 'of great agitation, and
frOM winch the geed island el Malta has
scarcely yet-recovered. We, indeed, are nearly
under- the ban of St.,.Peter's, and the circum-
stances Which have brought
"us into this 66 ac-
cursed" condition are-too curious and interesting
for you to remain longer unacquainted with. You
Must know that about eighteen mouths since,
during a procession. of :theArost in the streets of
this town, an officer -of artillery omitted
to ,uncover in the sacred=" presence: Upon
this a young Priest, .of the. namo- or
Cortes, rushed forward, and dashed . off the
heretical foraging cap. The officer, Mr. I+lsi-
thins, (lid not resent the insult, but contented
himself by replacing his hat upOn his head. The
outrage was rettee:teil;.theoacer was equally
passive, butfoomplained of Cortes to the Govern-
ment. Upon
,the representation of the proper
Authorities, tae Ilfshop:, condemned the young
priest to a short imprisonment in a monastery,
and rendered`him incapable oradvaneement fur
ten years. Cortes appealed from this sentence
to Rome, and in due•time' the ;Bishop received a
reprimand from the- Vatican, anti was ordered to
give Cortes the first-place of Canon that became
vacant ! The Marquess of: Hastings was high!!
indignant 'at the Papal interference, and at the
direct encouragement thus given too most inex•
rumble outrage. His Lordship, however,teingoa
the point of his departure for England, or imagin- •
ing, perhaps, that it were the wiser mode to
'avoid any rupture with his Holiness, contented
himself with only expressing Isis . strong- dis-
approbation of this interference, and threatening,
in case of a recurrence. of the outrage to subject
the offender to a court-martial. It is singular
that the Roman Pontiff', plated by his triumph,
bad not the wisdom to be silent. A dis Patch as'
rived from his Holiness in answer to the Mar-
guess's remonstrance, and the arrogant andacitY
of the contents, was only equalled by their
podeol irony. His Holinesa treated the Gayer'
nor's threat with the most spiritual impertinence;
and asked, among other inqUiries, 66 whether it
Was, as a menther of Christ's church oili•
taut, that Lord Hastings: imagined that
ecclesiastic was amenable to
~a court martial •
tiefore thy arrival of this dis Patch, Lord Basting'
had geitted Malta, but it was forwarded to
at Loudon, where, by the bye, owing to his
Scottish excursion, it dia not reach him till the,
middle of October. The affair was considered
worthy the especial notice of his Majesty's G°;-
vernment, dispatches were sent off on the V"
of October, to the Court of Rome and the
lieutenant-Governor of Malta. On the lOtit
of NoVeMber the Express schooner arriYe'l
from .Nettles, with a King's Messenger OIL
board,--.:avito brought: peremptory orders from
Earl Bathurst, to arrest, wherever .110 might be
found, except in church, the Papal protegee'
The arrest was managed with great address hi
Colonel Halneavis, our Chief of Police. The id.
ture Canon of La Valette was seized as he cattle
'out of the CbUrcli, Where he bad been preaching'
and was informed, that the' Lieutenant-Gover"
nor wished to speak to him. .He was- accord
ingly coaducted to the official residence, presentea
with at reasonable sum of money for his 4
travell
expences, and informed, that he must leave the
,island, forthwith, but was not prevented from
retiring to any country lie thought
,proper ; "
ddetl:eitiseiedxlyt disitaYvef,csarr.Liseesgl,haa:
tmwboaurkisei
was then 'sent in a carriage to the harbour Nod
conducted across the quarantine harbour. to the'
Had not the arrest beeu managed with such great
the Maltese still brood over the arrest of a priest
sr:Rizlla,real'tuatinduel
with great irritation.
government certainlY
acted with vigour, but whet!
ler it was the vigil.
rous exercise of lawfulauthority,is
dubious:
The Maltese consider it a most arbitrary act'''.
It is rumoured that this affair will give occasion.,
to a concordat with'he P ot
Po similar to tda- „
France. This would de
prive the church of al'
jurisdiction in civil or criers' mal cases. Al, pre-
sent a priest must be sued for debt /111
even-
Ecclesiastical Court." •

Extract of a letter from an Officer on "r`!
the Doris frigateolated Rio de la Plata, Jan3V:
----" The officers of the Doris have had (he'd"
lightful satisfaction of saving two brigs. 1 nitl6„C
--
copy w hat -- says of the first of these vesse,rf.
On the evening of the (20th of October, al tin-
past 10, they saw
a French man-of-war brig t°
windward, La Paune, commanded by 1°°,111,9;
Percival. She made signals of distress. 'l,,i
Doris shortened sail, and her sailors, commanoe:
by Lieutenant Charles Blair with a pr°tltr„
tude only known to British sailorS, had WI
boats alongside in an hour after. They rentili":
until half-post two the next day, 804 re"r"--
1
With some of the provisions and stores. Lieut.
Dow,
the First Lieutenant, was then sent With
fresh hands to her assistance, and e"Pletdf,
cleared her. The French were doing nothing.
—The Captain informed Mr. Dow, that lie
was much obliged b his exertion., but 'as the
brig is now lost, youy can be of no further service
to us, except to laud our men.' Mr. Dow mad!
answer, 4 If you will give me the command: L.,
will undertake to save her.' French Officer!
sat down' smoking their cigars and laughing oi :
the idea. However, at two o'clock- on the 9°_
the perseverance of Mr. Dow and the swine°,
was crowned with success. To the astonisinne!):
Of the 'French, slug also of an English pilot, old,
'
was
%
got. off the 'Reef, and was•com plefely
The:qew Were errtyleyed on this service for 501e.3
hours, without intermission. They aftertrio'l
saved a Brazilian corvette commanded I'l tli
Englishman, ; • . . -