The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-21 00:00:00

PORTUGAL.

SOUTHAMPTON, AUGUST 20.—The Peninsular and
C riental Company's steamer Montrose, Captain R.
. Evans, arrived this morning at nine o'clock, from
ti Peninsula, bringing all the Peninsular mails.
Her dates of departure are as follow :—From Gib-
Ili tar, August ; Cadiz, August 12 ; Lisbon, August
14; Oporto, August 15 ; and Vigo, August 16, at
won.
Ships of war lying at Gibraltar—Her Majesty's
shiya Caledonia and Formidable, and her Majesty's
steamer Vesuvius.
Vessels passed off the Rock of Lisbon—The Liver-
pc )1 steamer, on the 14th ; the Royal Tar, on the
L th, is the bay.
Specie on board-8 packages of specie ; full cargo
of fruit, 7 head of cattle.

*ssengers-28.
'No French walipteamers are at Cadiz, taking in
ds and.provisioneor the French fleet:at Mogadore.
Lie Montrose flings a few interesting facts re-
-Qting the bombardment of Tangiers. Prince de
Jetilville alone digcharged 3,000 shots. The Moors
r* urned the fire with a rapidity which astonished
ft it enemies. The Suffren received 40 shots: in her
The Moors fought their guns as long as they
vv.-a serviceable.

iler Majesty's steamers Heela and Vesuvius were
qp-etly looking on the whole of the action, as well
as the American frigate Columbia.
I'he town itself has not suffered. The Portuguese
Gensul's house having been abandoned by the persons
in charge, is the only one which has been injured.
11-e destruction of the works is not so complete as
ball been represented ; many of the guns have been
fo Ind still serviceable.

There are 23,000 troops at Rabat, and 1,500 cavalry
at Tangiers.
The free communication with Tangiers, since the
?rues left, is re-established.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OP YESTERDAY.
GLOBE.—An attack on a particular minister for
inc >mpetency is out of the pale of recognised Parlia-
mentary warfare; and criticisms of the press on the
pa; gonnel of an administration are apt to be indis-
cmainately put down to party hostility. If any
one were to move, in either House, an address
to the Crown to move Lord Aberdeen, the
Gi vernment would shit/ the issue, and make it a ques.
tion of confidence • and the Opposition would for the
most part join wilt: the Government in disceuntenanc-
in; an unsatisfactory and invidious and (on party
principles) inconvenient mode of raising the confi-
dence question. As for us, we are supposed to be
only pursuing our calling in denying all manner of
ability to all the members of her Majesty's present
ad nimstration ; and a doubt of Lord Aberdeen's
Ca: tacity will be read, at least by all who are of op-
pc-4e political belief, as dislike of his politics. We
Tri.l not stop to inquire how much this belief in the in-
sir eriby of newspaper criticisms on men is the fault
of the press itself, or of the whole system of party ; or
ho v much it is only poor human nature after all, not
re e•-e apparent in the effect of our political likings
on .ur judgments, than in the Tory's disbelief of all
h(' reads in the Globe, and concurrence in the
II 'raid's depreciation of all the eminent members of
0 position. But we will say this for our own sin-
cerity and desire to be fair—that we should as firmly
n Cdse to disparage Sir Robert Peel's intellectual and
meral claims to the respect of those who differ from
hi a, or Sir James Graham's administrative ability, as
we now declare our belief that Lord Aberdeen is
ut equal to the crisis in foreign affairs which his
own incompetency has chiefly brought about ; and
th 't we should no more think of denying Lord
A: ordeen's desire to promote England's interests to
tl e utmost, and maintain his country's honour,
tba awe can lieve in his ability to execute his desires.
fl; e utmos ossible, of course, is done, in the for-
m, .tion of a overnment, towards placing men of ade-
qt: ate ability at the head of all the chief departments,
at. l distributing- appropriate knowledge and talent
at ong them. Common prudence will lead the Pre-
re;er to do this. But then what are the circum-
st•;aces which determine " the utmost possible ?"
Tle choice of men is restricted, first of all to
ti ! members of one party, which may be sterile
it talent, though unscrupulous Peer-makers who have
g• le before have made it numerous in one branch of
ti , Legislature, and money and proprietary power in
the othr. Then the choice, thus limited to begin
w th, may be further narrowed by party conven-
ti, nalities and engagements. Lord Lyndhurst must
pi .side over the ourt of Chancery, as long as he
V. ;:;11CS it, while his friends are in power, however
ir:lch Chancery suitors may me the indolence of his
oi I age ; Lord Stanley's party services must be re-
quited by a leading office, even at the risk of sacri-
fi, . )g colonies to the impetuosity of temper, which as
n. ,ch spoils the Minister as it makes the orator effec-
t -; and prescription gives the Foreign-office to Lord
.1i erdeen. But this is a moment when nerve, deci-
s, e, vigour, and a clear head are imperatively needed
it the Foreign-office; and who gives Lord Aberdeen
ci (lit for any of these qualities ? At such a moment,
tf-, party conventionality which keeps him in
o:liee may bring u', before we know where
Ix( are, into war, which foresight and rea-
at -iable boldness might have averted, or save
1.1 from It by some new weak • concession, un-
s
)rthy of our country's position, and sure to increase
or difficulties in the end. Sir Robert Peel's control
ot Lord Abo-deen alone gives hope to the public of a
site •essful issue for the present crisis in our relations
wi h Franceof reparation for the wrongs at Otaheite,
of he prevention of French occupation of Tangiers, of
th frustration of French designs upon Tunis. But Sir
B heft Pgel cannot always be at his elbow. And at
ti i critical time what irretrievable mischief may
bt done any day, with one stroke. of his pen, by the
F( •eign. Minister, who blundered out the excuse for
et: ciutrage on Mr. Pritchard that he had ceased to
lx Consul, and who has been able to see no reason
L. demanding punishment of the French Consul
at Tunis, who unwarrantably interfered with our
Consul's performance of his duty in respect to the
trr t of a Maltese murderer, and by a series of
ye- atious intrigues among the Maltese at Tunis, en-
di gered our Consul's life ? And if there be, as we
fe - ently pray there may,; a successful issue out of
th present difficulties, will4Sir Robert Peel continue
to intrust to Lord Aberdeen's weak trembling hands
th foreign policy which he has already so grievously
in -managed ?

'STANDAT:Pc —The Morning Post has extracted
from the John Bull an article of some length, de-
nou icing the Ministerial plans for the improvement of
Ire 'and. To our judgment, there is nothing surprising
in he displeasure of the John Bull at the plans in ques-
th 1, or in the adoption of that displeasure by the
'rning Post. It would be extremely difficult to sug-
gi any measure of the present Government with
w J'ch these parties would not find some fault.
Fifteen years ago, indeed, when the battle of the Pro-
teF ;ant constitution was to be fought in good earnest,
our Contemporaries were a little more tractable ; but
then the conttst concerned principles, not private
interests, and when did factious writers care about
principles ? In 1829 the principle of the Pro-
testant constitution was abandoned, and little hope
se :rued to remain for the Reformed Church in the
Uelltd Kingdom. Its legal defences were thrown
do ;n ; and in the only portion of the United King-
dom in which a popular influence was acknowledged
by the Legislature, namely, in Ireland, the popular
iniuience was hostile to the Church. All true Pro-
ter „ants then saw, what we believe escaped the
notice of the John Bull and Morning Post, that
a Parliamentary reform, which would balance
the popular influence in Ireland by a popular in-
fla,nce in Great Britain, was indispensable to protect
the Church and the country from ruin. The remedy
we a rough one, and attended with some risk, but it
wc.i the only remaining remedy. The Protestant
peple of this country adopted it : the Irish Romanists
tut I disqualified themselves to resist by their recent
• t~ ogle : a Parliamentary reform was carried, with
sirhy objectionable details beyond dispute, but a
Pe liamentary reform which, in substance, gave to
the people that independent influence upon the Legis-
lat re which allowed the Church to defend herself,
lin I to defend the interests of the Protestant religion,
much better than either had been defended by the
patrons of schedule A and schedule B. The re-
form of 1832, in fact, to a great extent, re-
paired the evil of the Bill of -1829, by placing
the Protestant Church in Ireland directly under
the protection of the Protestant people of
Er.c;land. We are well aware that the confidence
for a few years very unworthily reposed in the
deters by whom the Parliamentary Reform was
eft, eted, exposed the Irish branch of the Church
to some severe trials, and to actual injury;
but this state of suffering, incident, perhaps, to
evtl7 violent change, soon found its term, and
the last Ministerial revolution has placed the
Iri,h branch of the Church upon a foundation to
which every hour must give additional strength.
Tia re is now no question of the safety of
the Church in Ireland, we hear of no projects for buy-
ing if the assaults of enemies by surrender of its
.pr l'erty or of its dignity--no proposition to arm its
surrnies with new means of injuring it. No; the
rne.:sures by anticipation condemned are measnres the
ediate and dirt object of which is, no doubt, to
rai-- the Roman Catholic population of Ireland to the
• ition of the other Roman Catholic populations
of rurope—a level to which they have not yet
approached, and to incorporate them, as far
aa the difference of religion will permit, with the mass
netla British poMation ; but the remote and indirect
061.-vt of this must be greatly to augment the power

and efficiency of th( • Protestant Church. We see in
these measures pree •isely that system for which we
have perseveringly o mtended—not for one or two ad-
ministrations, or for I calf a dozen or a dozen years, but
from the first establishment of this journal, 16 years
ago—the system nar• ely, of reforming the Romanist
clergy, through tb, .laity of their own communion
(the only way in w hicli a Romanist clergy ever was
or ever will be refo ma i), and reforming the laity by
kindness, by encour egement, and by instruction. The
reverse of this was • lie rs-olicy which brought Ireland
to her present—ma y we not rejoice in rather saying
her late—conditioi i. The plan of Government in-
troduced by Lord , Glenelg, of governing Ireland
by the aid of the. priests, had been pretty con-
stantly pursued from. 1818 to 1842, with what effect
upon the Romanist r t ipulation, and with what injury
to the Protestant II 1 tenst, we can all see. "It is
certain," says De B ktz, " that in government you can
never make use of an c*der without adding greatly
to the power of that order." And there can
be no question th at the Glenelg scheme of Irish
government info utely augmented the power
of the priests, the natural enemies of our
Church and therefor e of England, the natural enemies,
too, of intelligence, civilisation, national prosperity,
and whatever detrac is from an authority founded in
ignorance, and its companion, poverty. Let us hope,
then, that the Glemilg policy is about to be reversed
—that the highAer and middle classes of Roman
Catholics are invited to a complete incorporation with
their Protestant fellow-citizens, whose society they
must naturally have so many motives to cultiv ate.