The Sun.
London, England, 1826-12-21 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We Are of opinion that some good (and no pio-
hable harm) may be effected by a publication of the
address of the Irish Catholics to the people of Eng-
land, voted at the commencement of the Session, and
recommending to their fellow-subjects here, a calm
and kindly review of the arguments by which the great
question of emancipation would obtain from any rea-
sonabh, mind a decision in favour of our excluded
brethren; It would not be fair to say that this docu-
ment has convinced us. It has, in fact, added no-
thing to our conviction, which as far as regards the
policy of the quesiton, was complete upon the subject
many years ago ; but there is enough to touch any
heart not wholly void of frankness or humanity—
not hardened by, incurable obduracy—in a complaint
by at least five millions of men, that they are debarred 1
of those,advantages,. honours, and enjoyments, which
all the other subjeets, of the same free Christian realm
hold dear—of that protection from injustice which is
of all others the most solid,—of that stimulus to loyalty
and patriotism which is in its nature the,most powerful—
of thaCconseinusness which best supports the dignity of a
freemart--,and of that sympathy with their polittcal
brethren, which constitutes the real strength of States, the
true principles of stability in their greatness, and the re-
deeming property which raises them from transient humi-
liation and suffering. This appeal, we can say conscien-
tiously, is expressed with much temper, and enforced with
equal vigour and good tense. No friend of emancipation
need blush to employ such an instrument for making con-
verts to an honest cause, nor any sober-minded anti-Ca-
tholic to he converted by it.—Times.

The who of the blow which has been struck in
England vs now fully reverberated from Paris. The
journals of that capital describe .our proceedings with
respect to Portugal, repeat our arguments and °hater-
Vigil:MS, set 'forth our reasons ; and we are happy to
observe, rather support and enforce, than crimbat or
decry' the propriety of our conduct. This, therefore,'
is well. It is fortifying to the human mind, to ob-
serve .that honourable men of all countries and inte-
rests agree, in the general principles of right and
wrong. Im an article from Spain, under the head of
Vittoria, It is stated that the Government of that coun-
try begin to be alarmed at the consequences of their
own aggression upon Portugal. It is time they should
he alarmed ! and it is thought that the Captains-Ge-
neral' of the provinces bordering on Portugal, who
have fostered. the refugees, and arranged their return
to their native country in the character 'of invading
army—that Generals Longa, Eguia, and others, will
be sacrificed. No doubt of it. They ought to he
sacrificed. The agents and instruments of, an infa-
mous Governmewought always to be sacrificed by
those who employ them, that man in elevated stations
may learn independence of character. it was the curse of
the late tyranny in Prance, that Buonaparte always four id
men of talents ready to execute his unjust deerees. Sacri-
fice such men ! we say, sacrifice them always when you
can get hold of them ; or, above all, force their very em-
ployers to sacrifice them, in order to teach the whole race
that it is ultimately more dangerous to desert their duty
than to disobey the will of the tyrant.—We recommend
Our letter from Paris to general perusal, as representing
the various opinions in that capital upon the recent events
in this ,country—fbid.

Mr. Canning's present situation as a 'Statesman is
involved, in more respects than one, in some appa-
rent degree of paradox. To say nothing of the seem-
ing inconsistency of being at war with Catholics in one
ount g,: and with their opponents in another, we
would only compare the llight Him. Gentleman's
cirly public career, and his avowed and most known
predilections, with the hints now thrown out, if we
cannot actually sty the doctrines avowed, in his late
speech:. If there was any man in Europe, not ex-
cepting even. Mr: Pitt himself, more opposed than
another to the principle avowed 'by the French Direc-
tortat'the earlier period of its Revolution, of inter-
ference with the Governments of other States—if there
was any one maw to whose ears more than to those of
any other the very name of Jacobin, and even of' It
sounded more odious, Mr. Canning waS that
person. 1-161 very schoolboy efforts were devoted to
the cause ; and, the anti-'4acohin school itself; with all
its powerful and expensive consequences, hails Mr.
Canning as its founder. Yet, strange to Fay, we now
live toi see the same person adopting pretty obviously
some of the very same principles lie has so long end so
earnestly opposed—threatening the Governments of
Europe with the very *tie kind of interference which
the French Directory were denounced for entertain-
ing': :and as -a striking proof that we do not mistake
the matter, we see Mr. Canning, and his measures
and principles, applauded almost to an acme of
nauseous satiety, by the very persons who have here-
tofore writhed under the lash of the Right Hon-
ourable Gentleman's keen and castigating elo-
quence. This one eircumstance alone should, we
think,• lead Mr. Canning to pause, and doubt the.
correctness of his own new principles, that they
brine along with them crinverte, whose approba-
tion only, a very few
,years ago, it would have been
the last. object of his ambition, as of his expectation,
to acquire. But apart from this view of the matter,
there are those who consider the course which Mr.
Canning and the rest of the Ministry are tinwptirim.
ing, as :um instance of that kind of policy (of butt, we
were very near saying), which
statesmen
not nuke-
nuently. adopt to drew off' the attention of the public
from great and unavertable evils, If this. be the po-
licy of dovernment upon this occasion, it is of that
crafty, Machiavelian kind, the result of which can
only at last call 'lntek men's attention to greater evils
than those from which it may, fora time, divert them.
It is much Of thesame description as if a maim in pri-
vate life, beset with cares, anxieties, and incumbrances,
were to thirdcof-fosing Sight of them by plunging in
some new species Of .extravarance and excess, which
in ; the , end roust postpone, ti* not render extrication
impossible.. BLit We: shall
,be told: that we are coun-
selling dishonour- to the country t anti that the faith of
Treaties requires ail and is now doing. We value
national honour much too highly to wish or consent
to see it violated in the smallest lota, But We think, in
the Saline tiffie, that there. is a limit to the faith at `Empties ;
4extattrif tits,
and that it is not necessary,wtift,
ha t hoe:flannel
upon try to furnish an ally
that we-should adopt hit quarrel, in its full extent, worm
own, and involve 'ourselves over head and ears in Who
but little concerns pis. If a Spanish war were desirable,
we had perique! objects enough which would have ius-
tifiatl it. The non-payment of debts 16 long dive tc, Yuri,
fish merchants, the inowliquidation of past 9pOnAtIOTI6
nothingo the tion-acii9iowledgment of
her public
debt—might all have been put: forward as plausible, if not
convincing reasons for reprisals upon, kipanith properly
arid that ye should evineceo much prudence, forbearance,
and self-deniet, 'in our own concerns,- while we rushlike
madmen bittiati adoption of the interests of others, is-ona
of_those anomalies which the subtlety of ,politicians may
evisin, and the eloquence of Mr. Canning. gloss over, but
which 'common cerise awl reason can neither .stinetion nor
understand. We fear, too, that Mr. Canning is inspired
by the pursuit of that which in the end will turn out to
be a mere chimera; for to expect to see the establish-
ment of liberty, or of liberal principles, in any country

where Priests bearsway, is as wild and unattainable, as
to expect that ice will malt in a region of perpetual frost.—
Morning Herald.

We have,ieceiVed.severgl communications, in answer
to &letter signed o Impartiality," in the Chronicle of
yesterday. We have not now space or time to enter
on an investigation of the principles which ought to
govern pUnishment. There is no subject, hoWever, of
more importance, or which seems yet so imperfectly
understood in this country. Indiscriminate severity in
the law, as is well known, fails in its. object,
,because,
in the present day, the feelings of society will not allow
the law to be carried into effect. In fact, capital. pu-
nishments can only be obtained in the case of crimes
which excite the detestation of society. With respect
to the cases against which *capital punishments are
in general awarded by law in this country, the crimi-
nals know well enough,. that, in 19 cases out of 20,
these 'punishments will not be carried into effect. In
fact, the circumstance which determines whether the
law shall or shall not he carried into effect, is altoge-
ther accidental. lf, for instance, a man has the good
luck to be the only horse-stealer tried at an assize, he
will be recommended for mercy by the Judge. But if it
so happen, that he has the misfortune to have imitators
and the Judge is alarmed by the growth of cases of
horse-stealing, he flies out in a passion, and exclaimi,
this will never do ; the law must be carried into effect,
we must make an example of these horse-stealers.--
And so it is with most other crimes capitally pu-
nished by law. The law is always, in reality, ex-
posl
,facto, The punishment is , determined by cir-
cumstances unconnected with the particular case—
such, as the accidental circumstance of the subsequent
flowing of crime in the same direction. If one cow is
stolen, the thief will be sent to Botany Bay ; but if
three or four are stolen, the Judge and society fly out
into a rage with the offenders. Our whole Criminal
Jurisprudence is of this ricketty character. 'No prin-
ciples are adhered to ; all is passion and caprice ; the
good or bad digestion' of the Judge ; the strength of
his nerves will decide the fate of the culprit. The
whole reminds one of what takes place in some ill-
governed families of the lower Orders. Children are
allowed to run into all manner of improprieties, from
the impunity with which they can commit them. All
at once, however, in a fit of ill-humour, the brawling
mother lays about among them, kicking, one, cuffing
another, and strapping a third, and raising a clamour
by which
the whole neighbourhood is thrown into alarm.
Punishments should not be indiscriminate, but suited
to the nature of the crime. They shouldaiways, how-
ever, be certain. Uncertainty is the greatest of all
evils ; for we all know the strength of the confidence
which we have' in our particular luck. If one man in
three, found guilty, is only executed, all the three will
confide in their fortune. Even the soldier. who mounts
the breach, conceives he shall escape. It was ob-
served by the famous Lord Peterborough, that few
meti would face danger, if they did not trust to the
chance of an escape. Thieves, as well as soldiers,
rely on fortune. But the misfortune is in this country,
that our capital punishments are only operative in the case ,
of murder, because then the criminal knows he cannot es
rape. In all other cases he flatters himself with the chance
of escaping. On the other hand, our secondary punish-
ments are disregarded, if not rather coveted. A strong
feeling of honour alone in the present (lay can induce a la-
bouring man, in roost parts of England, to wish to remain
unpunished. The condition of the convicts in the Hulks,
and at Botany Hay, is superior to that of the greatest part
of the labouring population. Even the attorneys at. Botany '
Bay (and we understand that that Colony, from the ex-
tent to which the organization of perjury has been car.
tied there under the auspices of the Learned Profession,
is anxious that some of our other Colonies should re-
ceive part of the sapply), find themselves as comfort-
able there as in the mother country. When thousands on
thousands are petitionihg to be banished from their
native country, transportation cannot be an operative
punislunent. short our whole System loudly
demands revision. These observations will render it un-
necessary for us to consider more particlarly the argu-
menus to which the case of Amelia Roberts has led.
We, fur our parts, do not see the connection between
chivalry and
.Ifermi law. The question is, ought the
law to make any distinction between the sexes
in awarding punishment ? We say, distinctly, no. If it
be improper to hang a female it is improper to hang a
male—but if it be proper to hang a male, it cannot he im-
proper, in the same circumstances, to hangs female. We
therefore do not approve of the distinction made by our
Reporter, founded merely on the peculiarity of sex. We
know of no distinction between the sexes, except what is
physical. Women are as capable of distinguishing be-
tween right and wrong as men are. We do not say by
this, that stealing in a dwelling-house, in violation' of trust,
though a heinous crime, ought to be punished with death;
but merely, that if this crime be punished with death, the
distinction set up on the mere ground of sex is mawkish.
—/lh».ning Chronicle.

At length we may be said to have gained a little
breathing time, after the helter-skelter proceedings of
the last week ; and we seem to be gradually returning
to the point from which we set out. Vague and
utr-
defined alarm is yielding to rational calculations, and
we are able to examine leisurely the bugbears which
have been frightening us. The panic has passed away
—the Bulls 410 Bears (~ we must speak by the card,
or equivocation will undo us)," are reposing, after
their furious chase of each other ; the Stack Exchange
has been absolutely rumourless for upwards of eight
And forty hours, and the voice of common sense stands
a chance. of being beard. How long this calm may
continue, it is beyond our prescience to declare ; and
we seize, therefore, the auspicious moment, while it is
iu our power to do so, to cast our tubule upon the
past and the future. From the first, we did not range
ourselves on the side of the alarmists, but laboured
rather to fix public attention steadily and tranquilly
upon the real features of the question. We hail not,
like one of our contemporaries, a theory fry each day ;
alternately sounding a charge, and beating a retreat ;
war and peace, peace and war, diversifying our columns
with the unnerring regularity of the they tem on a chess-
board. In not adopting this course, we have not, per-
haps, accommodated ourselves so adroitly as might
have been done to the varying appetite of the multi•
tide for soMething t, to elevate and surprise;" but it
is a dexterity 'in which we are net over ambitious
to excel. We gated originally, that the first oh-
jeer of the measures so promptly and efficiently
resolved upon by his Majesty s Government ,was
peace, not war.—They intended to stew what we were
prepared to do; as the likeliest means of avoiding the
neeessity of doing that for which we were thus prepared.
We 'Mewed that there had been a positive infraction of
neutrality tin the part of Spain towards Portugal, our
alJy ;anal Ow we wore, in consequence, called upon
no lesa by the solemn obligations of public faith, than
by the dictates of the soundest policy, to follow up
uoavailing remonstrances by energetic acts. But, bias-
"JO 49 these arts were to he directed against Spain—
and As SPaini Bfpurateit from France, was just as
capable of invading the moon, as contending single-
hood,' against England, vet: argued, not very illogically
we apprehend, that war was a remote, and hardly A
pt4sibJe, contingency. There was, we grant, a

preliminary; consideration, be disposed
before arriving 'at '• that conehition,-.
separated from' 'France e Or were there`jost ' dtinc tor
supposing that the former had been throughout oily the
secret instrument of the hitter, and that conseq►iently, in
.throWing down the gauntlet to Spain, we hatl to buckle
on our armour against France ? For a day or two, these
questions, it must fairly be conceded, justified the most se-
rious. doubts ; but from the moment, the speech of his -
most Christian Majesty to the two Chambers reached this
country, those doubts were at an end. "if there be faith
in words," we observed, in . our first observations upon it,
this day wee& " France must use.the power she has in her
hands, to restrain Ferdinand from the course he is pursu-
ing." " The French Monarch," we also remarked, "has
pledged himself to two things—his own sincere desire that
peace should be maintained—and his, co-operation with his
allies to.prevent its interruption in the only quarter where
it is threatened." This was our view of Charles's
speech to the Chambers ; but there were those who read
it as a most menacing and warlik doeument. : It is
true they were not very stubborn in their opinions,.
for they soon veered round, and discovered, as we had
done, that this same speech was teeming „With peace
and good will. At the present moment, we believe, there
is an entire unanimity of sentiment upon the subject.—
We should not suppose there is any one, capable of exer-
cising a sound judgment with respect to this question, who
seriously anticipates that the pacific relations between this
country, France, and Spain, are in the slightest danger of
It is a fact, no longer doubtful or disputed,
that France is determined to co-operate with us, •in re-
straining Ferdinand from further aggressions upon Portugal ;
that she has already acted, in a most decisive manner,
upon ►hat determination ; and that she is prepared to Our-
sue it, to the fullest extent'which the exigency of the
,case
may require. We know these things to be so; and, there-
fires we assert them without q►►alification. The result is
at once foreseen, Ferdinand, admonished by France, as to
consequences at which he must tremble—constNuences :in-
volved in the declared hostility of England—will find him-
self compelled to renounce his insane projects, and the
peace of Europe wilt finally be consolidated by that very
course of events which appeared, to saperticial or in-
terested politicians, as the precursor of inevitable war.—
Neu/ Times.

GAMING IN HIGH LIFE.

(From the Times.) •

Six—Although it is peculiarly repugnant to my feelings to
permit my name to appear in any correspondence of a controver-
sial nature, still I cannot allow a statement which was published
in the Observer of yesterday to pass unnoticed. It is signed
" Simon M'Oillivray." On the 14th instant this gentleman
suldressed a letter to me, in which he states, "Mr. Ellice writes
me that he has applied to you to take some public notice of a pa-
ragraph in a Newspaper of last Sunday, purporting to take the li-
berty of inquiring whether' it ii your intention to do so, and in
what manner ?" In reply I informed Mr. AlgGillicray that I had
not received from Mr. Ellice the letter to which he alluded, nor
slid I expect any such application front that gentleman, as he was
fully aware from my assurances to him, that I never permitted
any copy or extract of his letter to be taken or published.
explained to hint, in detail; the course which Mr. Ellice took to
give complete publicity to his letter to me, which I fully but er-
roneously supposed would have satisfied him, and prevented all
necessity for introducing my name into Mr. IWGillivray'S publi-
cation of yesterday. In order to protect myself against the sus-
picion of having employed Mr. Ellice's letter in 4 manner con-
trary to his wishes (the only inference which could he drawn
from Mr. M'Oillivray's publication now before me), I think it
advisable to state, that on the 27th November I received the let-
ter in question front Mr. Ellice, containing the report of an opi-
nion, given by Messrs. Gurney and Chitty. on a case founded on
Mr., Auldjo's statement, which opinion was highly favourable
to the Marquis of Clanriearde and the Earl of Hotyth ; hut al.
though Mr. Ellice expressed himself happy at being tittle to make
such a satisfactory communication to me, still he conceived it
necessary to add the followfog postscript to his letter, which
must have precluded nil front making any other than a very li-
united twe'of it P.B. Of courst this letter must not be pub-
lished in any way, but ran save no objection to your stating the
opinion of Citirney VI C- Chitty, on toy anthority, where
you think it necessary." OH a perusal of this restriction, I felt
regret and embarrassMent, from which, however, I was speedily
relieved, when I ascertained that the very Post which brought me
this letter, conveyed an authentic copy of it front Mr. Ellice to
the confidential law-adviser of Lords Clanricarde and Howth,
omitting altogether the restrictive postcript, and thus leaving the
parties concerned at full liberty to make what use they pleased of
it. The natural consequence was, that the most unrestrained
publicity was given to this document, hundreds of copies were li-
thographed, and several were circulated.
I viewed this official communication of the copy of Mr. El-
lice's letter as a very' considerate expeslient on fbe part of that
gentleman to release me front all trouble and responsibility on this
delicate subject. I hastened to express my acknowledgments to
hitt for the course which he bad adopted, and I frankly apprised
him of the use which (in consequence of his own unrestriqesl
communication of the letter in another quarter) had so naturally
been made of it, assuring him at the same time that I, at least,
had ecrupulously,adhered to the reserve which he had imposed
upon me.

On the 15th inst. another letter reached me from Mr. McGilli-
vray, in which he
,remarks--"I must confess my surprise that
you have not received any application from Mr. Ellice, because,
under date of the 12th inst. he *rites me, ' I have written to
Mr. Prendergast to desire lie will take some public means of con
tradicting the paragraph in the Sunday Paper, or at least of
stating that any extract of our correspondence was not made by
his authority." Mr. M'Clillivray then adds—" Agreeably to
your request, I enclose a copy of the paragraph in question,"
which, to that moment, I had not even seen. Being particu-
larly anxious that my name 'should not •be dragged before the
public on this subject, I sent an immediate reply to this letter.
1 repeated my, assurances that I hail nut received any applicatiou
from Mr. Ellice, and that I bad never given a gory or an extract
of that gentleman's letter to any person ; and enclosed a note
from Lord Clanricarde to me, in 'which his Lordship stated that
he had obtained from another source (but not from me) a copy
of Mr. Ellice's letter.
With such conclusive explanations before him, it is quite clear
that Mr. McGillivray could hardly have been so entirely ignorant
of the. real and only source from which the notoriety given .to
Mr. Ellice's letter proceeded, as is assumed in his publication of
yesterday : the more so, as it is atticeptible of proof, that it was
through the mediumof Mr. McGillivray himself that the authentic
copy of Mr. Ellice's letter, above referred to, passed into the hands
of the legal advisor of Lords Clanricarde and Ilowth. Respecting
that letter, I must take leave to observe, that I stood in the pecu-
liar situation of being the Only person precluded from dealing with
a.thwumeut (my exclusive prnpekly) with the same degree of free-
dom us the rest of the world exercised raiding it. -
From the foregoing remarks, it is quite evident that to Mr.
Ellice and Mr. AlcGillivray belongs the merit of having given to
Lords Clanricarde and north the unrestrained benefit of Messrs.
• Gurney's and Chitty's exculpatory opinion, and of having thus en-
abled them to render it public.
cannot dismiss this subject without observing, that from the
studied and suspicious inaccuracy of the supposed extract from
'Mr. Ellice's letter which appeared in a Sunday Paper of the 10th
instant, and which is again incorporated in Mr. McGillivray's
publication in the. Observer of yesterday, it is quite manifest that
the inventor of it could have been actuated by no other, than ma-
licious.feelings towards the Noblemen 'in question. It could not
have been published by any of their Lordships' friends, all of whom
(thanks-to the communication made by Mr. Elliceand Mr. McGil-
livray) had been put into full and free possession of authentic
copies of Mr. Ellice's letter to me ; and therefore the fair inference
is, that this spurious paragraph waft manufactured by some person
determined, at all events, to create an opportunity of conveying
false and malevolent insinuations to the public.
I have-the honour to he, Sir,
Your most faithful and obedient Servant,
Id, Clarges-street, Dee. 18. M. G. PRENDERGAST.

p. S. I omitted to remark In the above statement, which ap-
pearl, in the Times of thin morning, that although Mr. Ellice's
Report of Messrs. Gurney's and Chitty's opinion. (which lalone
am restricted from 9wdiny) differs in the wording of it from the
fabrieated extract in the Observer of Sunday lot, still the suir•
stance of this Report is at least as favourable to the Noble persons
in question, and, I will add, altogether as "unqualified" in its
exculpatory expressions, as the contents of the incorrect extract,
now republished and objected to by Mr: 'Whatever
difference exists between the•wnrcling of Mr. Ellice's Report, and
of Mr. Al'OillivraY'v ,Present, view-of the opinions referred to, I
must leave for explanation between those gentlemen—" the
friends who originally give the opinions upon which Mr. Auhljo's
proceedings have been fowled,"

LAW INTELLIGENCE,

VICE.CHANCELLOWS COURT, DRC. PO.

BRUCE V. ALLEN AR!) WHIRS. • -
This cause, in which the plaintiff, on a former dayvapplied
personally to the. Court, came on .again to-day. The plaintiff is
a bankrupt, and seeks to prosecute a suit for specific performance,
instituted against the defendant prior to his insolveney. By the
operation of law, all suits and actions in the event of bankruptcy
become vested in the assignees, to prosecute or not as they may
think fit. The assignees of the plaintiff, in the present case, de.
dined to prosecute the suit, whereupon Mr. Bruce applied for
permission to carry it on himself, on the ground of collusigi be-
tween his assignees and the defendant.
Ills Honoun granted -.the permission sought, upon .condition
that the plaintiff should go before the Master, and give security
for compliance with the orders of the Court, and payment of the
costs, should the Court award them to the defendants.

COURT OF COMMON, PLEAS, GUILDHALL, Disc. 20.
JOINT-STOCK COMPANINS.:-HARAIII AND •ANOTHER •V. PtRRINt3.

This was an action for work and labour done, and money had
and received on account of the plaintiffs. The demand in ques-
tion arose out of the insertion. in the newspapers of sundry adver-
tisements relating to certain Joint-Stock companies, of which the
defendant was a Director. The sum claimed was about SSW.
Verdict for the plaintiff-99/. 9s. 6d.

ROLLS 'COURT, Wit uwESDAY, Ore. 20.
His HONOUR sat in the evening upon petitions.
D'UrVIET.I) V. XLIVIS.

PEPYS and. Mr. GIROLtiiTONE opened the case of the
petitioner, Mr. Abraham Chambers,- of -Bond-street. As Mr.
Girdisitone was proceeding at some length, Mr. Horne and Mr.
Sugden interrupted him, to mention to his Honour tbat, as the
case was likely to occupy a considerable time, the gentlemen be-
hind were anxious to know if his Honour would take other peti-
tions this evening.
The ArASTER of the RoLts—The Court hao sometimes sat at
live o'clock in the evening. I will, if not inconvenient to the
Bar, sit to morrow evening at that hour. I state this for the
consideration of gentlemen.
- . . .

Mr; SUGDENLI AM at present in ill health, but dim will be
no necessity for my attendance it five, as the other gentlemen can
proceed.
The MAsTre of the Rot.ts—l will proceed with this case
until ten o'clock, and after that I will sit half an hour to take
petitions that are not opposed, and we will go on with this peti•
tion at six o'clock to-morrow evening. _ _ .

Mr. GIRDLXSTONE—As it now Wants Only fire minutes to tea,
perhaps I hat better atop now.
Hie HONOUR assented, and" immediately went into unopposed
petitions.