The Sun.
London, England, 1829-12-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

Times.

On Saturday arrived tl.t Nirxicmlmail, king.
ing letters and papers from Vera Cruz to the
28th of September, together «i:1 tttt official
despatch from Gercral Santa Anna of the 19th
of the same month, detailing the operations
which preceaed and produced the surrender of
Barredas his troops. It appears that Santa

fi,nding himself strong enough to make

sure of the desired result, directed-his next in
command to leave Altamira, and move so as to

4.11 i, off the communication between the Spa-
niards in the town of Tampico, rind in thefort

at the Bar. This was effected on the 7th of
September. Barradas was then summoned by

the Mexican General, who allowed him tally 48

hours to decitiz whether he would surrender at

discretion, or stand the alternative of being re-
fused Atli quarter. The Spaniard attempted to
and gain time,—proposing twice, but in
'vain, to treat about evacuating the territory of
the repuhfic. A tempest occurring, -which en-
dangered the field-works of the Mexicans, Santa
Anna soon afterwards attacked the Spanish fort

at the Bar, of which he gained possession after
some sharp fig►.Ming, and the next morning the
Spaniards agreed to capitulate. The loss in the

•
previous action is said to have been, on the side
- -

uf the vanquished, about 200 killed and wound-
td, and nearly 300 on that of the Mexicans. This
disparity may have arisen from the Spaniards being
furnished with cannon, of which the republican
_ _

troops had none. The Spanish division marched
out at the time prescribed, and laid down its

arms, delivering tip also standards and stores,
the officers only being permitted to retain their
bwolds. Thus ignominiously ends the last
wretched, though much hunted, effort of Ferdi-
nand against the most valuable portion Of Spa-
nish America—now lost to Spain for ever, but
added, we trust, to the great community of free
and gradually prospering nations. One point
of infinite importance has been determined by
the fate of this expedition,—namely, the utter
bopelessms of any similar attempt hereafter.
l-lad there been but the shadow of a Spanish

patty in Mexico, Tampico was a spot well chosen
for profiting by such an advantage. It was at an
immense distance from any regular military force,
but accessible to malcontents from all parts of
the country, who might thus (had any malcon-
tents existed) have got the start of the Republi-
can troops, and had time to be completely armed
and organized before the moment of contest
could have reached them. But the event proves
that whatever parties or factions might have
sprung up among the Mexicans, from the ric%
soil of young and uncultured freedom, in one
respect and to one end theie was but a single
party for the .national defence against their
former tyrants. Some striking instances of
generous devotion for their country have been
communicated to us as illustrative of the general
feeling. When the Governor of Guadanaxuato
ordered the second battalion of local militia to
march against the enemy, and the battalion
was mustering for the purpose, another set
of drums was heard beating to arms through-
out the town, which were discovered to be
those of the first battalion, of which the men
and officers, one and all, claimed " an equal
right to defend their country as the second."—
In the city of Mexico itself the same thing oc
turned among the volunteers, and it is known
that when the news of the Spanish invasion was
first made public in that capital, while the chief
Court of Justice happened to be sitting, every
(deer of the Court, from the Judge to the
crier, came forward at once. with a tender of
their entire salaries to assist the Government
until the crisis of danger should be at an end.—
There is one matter worth observing with. regard
to these affairs of Mexico—viz. the mean and
tricky falsehoods which Spanish agents and par-
tisans
at the Havannah, in France, and here in
London, perpetually have recourse to, in
the hope that any piece of malignant non-
sense, though it live but for a day, mat
inflict sonic passing doubt or disparag,remem
upon the cause of Peruvian liberty. First; we
were told that the Mexican General was a traitor;
next, when that would not do, they boasted that
a second expedition woul,l instantly sail for
Tampico, which must render Barradas too strong
to be attacked by the Mexicans. - Even when
the news of Barradas's surrender reached this
country by way of New York, falsehood the
third announced to us that the fact was impos-
Thle, because some Spaniard (Mr. 'Lea Ber-
mudez, perhaps) sent round a letter of the 18th
of September from the Havannah, which made
no mention of it. Again, when the official in-
telligence arrived on Saturday, a rider (in Fer-
dinand's lively) WAS tacked to it, modestly an-
nouncing that the king of Spain had sent ano-
ther expedition against Mexico, which had ac-
tually landed on the western coast or that of the
PaciEc! and " was making great progress up
the country,"—a tale which possessed about as
much truth or common sense as that Fer-
dinand had laid siege to Pekin or St. Pe-
tersburgh. These stupid inventions cannot
finally injure the free states of America, nor even
when slanders are launched from similar motives
against individual functionaries of the new Go-
vernments, will they set ve the purpose of their pro-
pagatorsan hour longer than until they shall have
been exposed. It has come to our knowledge,
that with a view to shut the ears of the British
Foreign Minister against the new Mexican En-
voy in this country, and so to place difficulties
in the way of his negotiations, the most clumsy
calumnies have been circulated against M. de
Gorostiza,—as that he was a person of bad
character, an obscure adventurer, and (for a
climax to the whole) a man of low birth
That such tales should have been traced to
Ferdinand's people, is not at all surprising : but
a man of genius is of all countries, and an ad-
mirable writer belongs to every age. Lord Aber-
deen, himself a man of letters, is, we should
think, likely to feel respect far a person of such a
stamp. M. de Gorostiza is among the most ce-
lebrated authors of the Spanish drama, having
occupied himself from his youth upwards in com-
posing dramatic works, in prose and verse, which
have unifottnly commanded the warmest applamseil
among Spaniards. He was born at Vera Cruz,.
of which his father, an officer of high distinction,
and head of an ancient noble faMily of Biscay,
was Governor. He was brought up as Page of
Honour to Charles IV.; he joined the Consti-
utional party in Spain ; emigrated in 1823 ;
was persecuted like the other exiles ; then of-
ered his services to his own native Go-ernment
the Mexican), which gladly- accepts, 1 them,
named him Consul-General in Holland, net
Charge d'Affaires at_the Court of Belgium, and
finally, in consideration-of his various services,
31inister to that of St. James's Regard for
the cause of freedom in America, which is
identified with that of its servants, and for that
of literature and genius every where, has induced
us to render, on the best authority, this brief
vibute to common justice, for in M. de Go-

.ostiza personally we take no further interest.—

Ile Sun observes, with regard to what we said
on Saturday on the subject of Mr. Const's expla-
nation—"As the Chroniclecopied the report from
The Sun, we can assure our liberal cotemporary
that the Report was correct to the letter—and
we also assure him, from a little experience of
what has taken place at Quarter Sessions, that
the practice of recalling a culprit after sentence,
and honouring him . with a second but more
durable proof of Magisterial vengeance, . did not
originate in the present instance. However,
..ve are now glad that the intention of the Chair-
man was not divined by our Reporter, as the
circumstance may be the means of preventing
such mistakes in future." We were aware that
the practice of recalling a culprit after sentence,
and adding to the punishment, was far from un-
common ; and several years ago we animadverted
on the conduct of Mr. Justice Park, who, on a
prisoner, sentenced to transportation for seven
year?, making use of some offensive language,
altered the sentence to double the number of
years. We are glad, however, to find that
Judges and Magistrates are beginning to have a
new light on the subject, Mr. Broderick said on
Friday, that " he must confess he was astonished
on reading the Report in the newspapers. He
had known the Chairman often lessen the sen-
tence, but never add to it :" and Mr. Alley said
that " any gentleman who knew the Chairman
must have instantly been convinced that the
report was not true." From the great respect
we entertain for Judges and Magistrates, if we
thought there was any probability of their re-
lapsing into the practice of punishing a contu-
melious expression used towards themselves
by an; additional seven years' transportation,
or even a longer term, we should re-
commend the having recourse to such head-
pieces as were used in the Richmond Peniten-
tiary, Dublin, two or three years ago, which en-
tered the 'month, and kept the most unruly
tongue perfectly quiet. A humane and consi-
derate Judge might in that case, before proceed-
ing to pass sentence, observe, " As I am now as
fully in possession of all the circumstances of
this case as I can be, and my judgment is not
now warped by any personal insult from the pri-
soner, before I deliver the sentence of the Court,
I think it necessary to allow him the benefit of
the silencing machine till he be withdrawn, lest
he should be tempted, on hearing his sentence,
to utter language which might induce me to
yield to the dictates of passion, and alter a seven
years' transportation to transportation for life."
Whether what fell from Mr. Const, and the
horror expressed by M essrs. Broderick and Ailey,
will so far weigh with Judges and Magistrates as
to cnablo theta to dispense with mechanical
means for the furtherance of humanity and the
preservation of judicial respectability, remains to
be seen. Speaking of Mr. Justice Park re-
minds us of something regarding that Judge in
an indorsement by Mr. Serjeant Wilde, on a
brief, copied by Mr. Michael Scales in the
letter to Mr. Peel, in the Chronicle of
Saturday. Mr. Michael Scales had, it seems,
13 witnesses to disprove the assault with which
he was charged. " I very much regret (says
Serjeant Wilde) the result of this cause, particu.
tarty as I think it was produced by a misconcep;-
lion on my part. From the remarks of the
Judge upon the plaintiff's case, I had no
doubt but his Lordship had taken a view
of the case very much in the defendant's
favour ; and that was confirmed by the
Judge interrupting me very early in my ad-
dress to the Jury, saying, ' Surely, Brother
Wilde, you do not think it necessary to call
witnesses for the defendant in such a case as this.
In deference to the Judge, and in the belief that,
in his Lordship's opinion, the plaintiff's case did
not require an answer by evidence, I conceded,
and stated that I should not call witnesses. To
my surprise afterwards, the Judge summed up
in favour of the plaintiff, for which I cannot ac-
count ! I had what appeared to me a very good
case for the defendant, well supported by testi-
mony ; and I shout(' undoubtedly have called
my witnesses, and, as I verily believe, should
have obtained the verdict for the defendant, had
I not misconceived the Learned Judge's impres-
sion. What the Judge could mean by appeal.
ing to me to know if I could think it necessary
to call Witnesses in such a. case, if he thought
the plaintiff's case proved, I do not know."
The Judge, however, had his reasons, no doubt,
though Mr. Serjeant Wilde could not discover
them. Mr. Scales says, that in his address to
the Jury the Learned Judge exhorted them " to
teach this dogmatical butcher how to behave him-
self in a sacred place (a Vestry Meeting), who
had put his arm round Bilton (the plaintiff)
and grasped him with the grasp of a bear.
Mr. Justice Park is known to have ;e
cause of religion very tnuch at heart, ant pro-
bably thought it better that Mr. Serjeant Wilde
should lose his cause than that the cause of re-
ligion and the sanctity of vestries, which are
identical, should be lost. '1 he Learned Judge,
however, must have managed matters very skil-
fully to outwit so able a tactician as Mr. Serjeant
Wilde. Mr. Bentham maintains that justice is
the very last thing which the Judges of the
country attend to. A bribe, he observes, could
not indeed be received in a direct way by a
Judge without his putting himself in the power
of the bribe giver ; but where it is not the Judge,
but a connection- of the Judge that receives the
benefit, there is no danger ; and accordingly he
I says, on a question in which the ruling one or
the sub-ruling few are concerned, an English
Judge will commit injustice to any amount in
favour of that side. "In the case of an alleged
libel, for example, against a Government func-
tionary, as such—what man is there that expects
that the Chief Justice will fail to do his utmost
to procure the conviction of the alleged libeller?
Or on prosecution of a Justice of Peace, to
screen him from punishment ?" However this
is a delicate subject, and we will leave it.—
Morning Chronicle.
The columns of our Irish contemporaries are
still engrossed with the controversy between Lord
Mountcashel and the Bishop of Ferns. There
is no lack of zeal upon either side. But too
much has been said, perhaps, on such questions
as whether 'the union of Wexford, or some other
union, has been rightly or improperly created ;
or the Vicar of Iniscarra or some other parish,
absent from his cure with or without reasonable
excuse. These details are evidently matters for
inquiry ; but not for an inquiry of this sort.
Lord Mountcashel has done well in directing
public attention to the state of the Irish Chum-
and, as no rational mall can now question t.
existence of gross abuses in that church, his
Lordship has, perhaps, had enough of wrangling
with Doctor likington, who is known as the
most persevering and tiresome of pamphleteers,
and had better apply his industry to the prepa-
ration of a case fit to be laid before Parliament.
'lle petition which has been already prepared

under Lord Moutitchaslitni auspices is a judici-
ous paper ; and it will be well if the proofs to
sustain its averments are made ready with the
like good sense. It may be remembered that
our Dublin Correspondent, some time since,
noticed as one of the most striking effects of
Catholic Emancipation, that the Irish_ Protes-
tants were beginning to bestir themselves against
the Tithe System, the sectai ian feelings which
hitherto kept them quiet having been by that
measure considerably weakened. Of the pro-
gress of this' spirit a recent meeting at Hills-
boro', in the north of Ireland, affords a speci-
men. The Incumbent of that parish has been,
for some time, engaged in disputes with the
Landholders, and the meeting was held for the
purpose of making an endeavour to effect a set-
tlement. The Marquis of Downshire was in
the Chair; and the names (Archer, Wright,
Bradshaw, &c.) of the persons who took part in
the proceedings, prove them to be all Pro-
testants. The Incumbent (Mr. Mant) is the
brother of the Bishop of the Diocese, and him-
self the Archdeacon. He refused, though in,
vited, to attend the Meeting ; and in reply to a
proposition, conveyed to lam in the shape of a
message, from the assembled parishioners, said,
" that his Bishop (his own brJther !) would not
allow him to accept the sum ffe'red," which
was 5001. per annum, being nearly 2001. more
than the sum received by the former incumbent.
When we find a Noblematiof Lord Downshire's
moderate temper taking part against a Clergyman,
there can be little doubt that the demands of the
Parson arc exorbitant; but Mr. Mant's language
and deportment, as stated by the speakers at the
Meeting, indicate in themselves anything. rather
than a conciliatory spirit. 'We were disposed to
believe the Irish Parsons not so griping and

unreasonable as they have been represented but,
at all events, it is clear that the usefulness of a
Ministry must be very much impaired by con-
stant squabbles with their parishioners, and in-
stances every now and then recur of conduct
which does not tell to the advantage of the

Church. A Mr. Jacob, who has written a
very sensible letter to the Bishop of Ferns (in

which, by the bye, he proves the Holy Father
to be capable of sophisticating a little), mentions
that some time since when the culture of mangel
wortzel was introduced through the exertions
of an Agricultural Society, into his Lordship's
diocese, and a demand of tithe therefore made,
Which being resisted, was enforced, by process,
in the Bishops' Court; the Judge of that Court,
in giving judgment, declared that if " ink-
bottles grew on trees, he would have them
tithed." Everything that yields. an annual in-
crease is, no doubt, tithable ; but the claim is
very ungraciously made in the case of a crop,
introduced, for the first time, under the encou-
ragement,
,of a bounty, as was this mangel
wortzel ; and, at all events, the rights of the
Church are not likely to be the better respected
for being stated in such terms as those employed
by this Clerical Judge. Mr. Jacob also states,
that for tithe due to Dr. Elrington from a parish
of which, as Bishop, he enjoyed the profits, pro-
cess was actually instituted in the Diocesan
Court against a half crazy mendicant, a widow,
living in a hovel with a small garden attached
to it ! We have no doubt that as great, if not
greater, severity is shown by impropriators ; but,
in the case of the latter, men resign themselves
to the evil as one which admits of no remedy or

The High Sheriff of the county of Lincoln

has, it seems, refused to call a meeting " to
consider the propriety of petitioning the Legis-
lature on the subject of the Malt and Beer
Taxes," which he is stated to have been urged
to do by a Requisition " more respectably
signed than any one ever presented to any
Sheriff." When a man determines to do wrong,
the next foolish thing is to give his reasons.
This the officer in question has done, and more
absurd reasons for absurd conduct we never re-

ember to have heard of. He says that he" is
convinced that the exigencies of the country
must, during the recess of Parliament, irre•
sistibly have'drawn the attention of his Majesty's
Government to the state of the kingdom in all
its classes, and he therefore feels averse to any
measure which has a tendency to embarrass them,
by claiming any particular description of relief
till the country shall have been made acquainted
with the result of the deliberations of those who
may be considered as having the whole con-
nected subject before them." This is precious
jargon, truly! We had thought that the right
of petitioning the Legislature in all its branches
was the sacred birth-right of an Englishman,
and that public meetings, held under the sanction
of the constituted authorities, was the best and
most legitimate mode of collecting public opi-
nion. We - thought, too, we were old-
fashioned enough to have heard that pub-
lic opinion, if it did not absolutely con-
troul, at least guided, the acts of a po-
pular Government. Above all, we had been
led to suppose that the opinions of those
hest acquainted with any subject were the
most valuable. But all these antiquated maxims
vanish " into thin air" before the superior in-
tellect of the Lincolnshire Sheriff, who puts an
extinguisher upon the rights of the freeholders
of that influential county with as much non-
chalance as if his " sic volo sic jubeo" were the
fiat of absolute wisdom: We trust, ho wever,
that neither the freeholders of Lincolnshire, nor
of any other county, will be deterred by this
pompous insanity from exercising their Consti-'
tutional right of addressing the Legislature upon
the appalling dangers which surround them.
Those dangers arc of too urgent and alarming a
nature to be stifled by, or sacrificed to, the igno-
rance, the caprice, or something worse, of any
public functionary. There never was a time
when it was more desirable that counties, towns,
and even parishes, should meet and make their
voice heard. An honest Government must
wish to know the real sentiments of the coun-
try ; nor can any such Government feel, we
should think, otherwise than insulted by a time-
serving subserviency such as the instance which
we allude to exhibits, by means of which the
very silence of the people probably would be
construed into an approval of measures which
the Government itself only wants the voice of
the people to back it in rescinding. We wonder
whether the Lincolnshire Sheriff is a Whig. We
suspect him to be a Whig of the modern school,
from his slavish reliance on the " wisdom of Go-
vernment," and his distaste for the petitions of
the people.—Morning Herald.

What a stupendous, what an incomprehen-
sible machine is man ! Who can endure toil, famine, stripes,
imprisonment, and death itself, in vindication of his own
liberty, awl the next moment be deaf to all these motives
whose power supported him through his trial, and inflict
on his fellow-men a bondage, one hour of which is fraught
with more misery than ages of that which he rose in re-
bellion to oppose.---Jelfers"'

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, Dm 5.
EX•PARTE BATSON IN RE REMINGTON.

The arguments in this case were resumed. The
question at issue between the parties is, whether a
debt of 10,0001., admitted to be doe to Mr. Batson,
is due from the firm of Remington and Co., or hum
Rowland Stephenson only. The application now
made to the Court was for leave to expunge the
proof of the said debt against the joint estate of the
firm, on the ground that Rowland Stephenson only,
and not the firm, had contracted it.
Mr. HORNE, in suppirt of the application, said
that Mr. Batson, who alleged himself to be a creditor
to a very large amount of the banking-house in ques-
tion, is a person of considerable fortune, residing in
Cambridgeshire. The proof against which the pe-
tition was presented amounted to 10,000/., but the
extraordinary fact connected with this case was,
that Mr. Stanwick Batson declared himself to be a
creditor of Remington, Stephenson, and Co. to the
extent of 21,000/. and a fraction, although he had
only proved 10,000/. before the Commissioners. It
appeared, according to the statements of Mr. Bat-
son, that he had advanced a number of small sums
to the firm of Remingtorrand Co. up to the 24th of
June, 1825, and that finding they then amounted' to
10,000/., he took a security for the whole sum in
the shape of a draft or order, which was to bear
an interest of four and half per cent. This draft
Was an order on demand, signed by Stephenson for
himself and partners. Now the partners swore dis-
tinctly that they had not the slightest knowledge of,
or where in the least privy to, this transaction, al-
though Stephenson had thus pledged the firm
to it as a transaction of all the partners. It was
alleged by Mr. Batson, that in addition to the
10,000/. of which the Commissioners had allowed
the proof, he had lent Stephenson a further sum of
10,0001., for which he had received his own pro-
missory note, and, as a collateral security, the bond
of a Mr. Thomas Horner, also for 10,0001. This
transaction was also dated from the 25th of June,
1825,and it was agreed by Stephenson to pay for it an
interest of 5 per cent.; Stephenson, according to
Mr. Batson's account, having represented it also to
be for the use of the firm, although they now de-
clared themselves as ignorant of that transaction as
of the former one. In addition to these sums, there
was a promissory note or receipt for a further ad-
vance of 1,5001., al-o signed by Stephenson. The
bankrupts in their affidavits admitted that Batson
had regularly banked with them for a great number
of years, but they swore that a sum of 1,2001. and
a fraction was the whole amount for which he ap-
peared to stand a creditor in their Looks at the time
the commission issued.
Mr. KNIGHT opposed the application. Mr.Bat-
son had not given up a farthing of his claim of
21,2421. against the joint estate of the bankrupts.
He had, it was true, been allowed to prove 10,000/t
on one security ; but it was expressly declared
in the order, that this was without prejudice to the
other claims, which remained Gver for further con-
sideration.
The VICE-CHANCELLOR was clearly of opinion
that the accuracy of the statements on both sides
could only be satisfactorily investigated before ajury,
and he therefore directed an issue to try whether
any and what sums were due from the firm to Mr.
Batson, at the date of the commission, beyond the
sum of 1,2421. 193. 9d , admived by the assignees.
lie should at the same time make an order for the
examination of Mr. Batson and of the bankrupts on
the trial of this issue.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, DEC. .5.
WILLIAMS AND ANOTHER V. SHIERS.

The question in this cue was, whether certain
securities deposited with the defendant by his son,
Nicholas Shiers, were deposited bona fide in r..spect
of a debt which the latter owed to the defendant,
or as a voluntary preference in fraud of the other
creditors, and in contemplation of bankruptcy. The
action, which was in trover, was brought by the as-
signees of Nicholas Shiers, to recover a deed of gua-
rantee and two bills of exchange. _ _

The Jury found for the plaintiff's on the bills of ex.
change, and for the defendant on theguarantee deed,

CHIPPINDALE V. THURSTON.

This w•as an action by the executor of a person
named Richard Holmes, to recover the amount of
principal and interest due on a joint and several
promissory notes for 500 d, given by the defendant
as surety for Thomas Evans to Holmes, on the
30th of July, 11319. The defendant having pleaded
the Statute of Limitations, evidence was given to
show that Evans had given credit to the testator,
Holmes, for interest on the note down to 1825.
he plaintiff then, under his Lordship's direc!
tions, was nonsuited, with liberty, however to move,