The Sun.
London, England, 1827-11-20 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Our private correspondence from Lisbon to
the 4th instant, and a file of the Lisbon Gazette
down to the same period, enable us to fill up the
interval between the last arid the present arrivals
with information as copious and satisfactory as
could have been expected. As the - time for
Don Miguel's accession to the Regency ap-
proaches, the enemies of the Charter, pretending
to be the friends of the rrince, seem to be re-
doubling - their mischievous .diligence, and re-
newing their attempts at insurrection and con-
fusion. At .Guimaracns (to the north-east of
Oporto), and at several other 'places, the Apos-
tolical adversaries of freedom, who had for a
short time ceased from their machinations in the
hope that their work would be done for them by
the Princess Regent, have recommenced their
attacks on public order by declaring the Infant a
King, while he professes to be only the King's
Lieutenant, and proclaiming him absolute, while
he swears that he is constitutional. The Mi-
nistry have issued a circular, calling upon the
authorities to suppress these disorders, and if
they are sincere in their professiOns, there is no
doubt that they can be easily suppressed. These
insurrectionary parties have either begun their
operations too early or to late ; for if they cal-
culated on the concurrence of the Prince, they
are premature in disclosing their sentiments,
as be cannot yet aid them ; and if on his oppo-
sition, they have passed the time of overwhelm-
ing him by their professions of exclusive
loyalty, as the constitutional part of the
nation are now prepared to Support his
cause. Every thing that we hear gives us rea-
son to believe that some new direction bas been
given to the mind of the Prince, or that care has
been taken to surround him with such checks,
and to bind him by such engagements, as to re-
move our apprehensions of an immediate assault
upon the new institutions of his • country. The
real security of the Portuguese people, and the
truest interests of the Prince himself, will be
consulted by his passing through England on his
way to Portugal, and his freeing himself, by the
assistance of prudent councillors, from the sini-
ster influence which provoked his rebellion, and
led to his exile. We observe that some of our
Apostolical contemporaries are labouring hard
to found on the present state of things in
Portugal a proof that the expectations of the
British Ministry have been disappointed, and the
Object of their policy abandoned. The very re-
, turn of Don Miguel as Regent, instead of his
perpetual exclusion' frbm the throne assumed
as an • evidence 'of their defeat. Now
though,' as we have uniformly stated, it
would have been desirable to have intrusted the
execution of the Charter to a Prince whose early
conduct was more commendable, and whose early
education was more liberal than that of Don
Miguel, it unfortunately happened that the pre-
tensions of the Prince, were admitted and conse-
crated by his brother Don Pedro, in the very
act which settled the succession in his daughter,
and established the new institutions. The Bri-
tish Government could not legitimately resist,
and never attempted to oppose, the settlement
of the Regency. The Charter which accom-
panied it, and which never was suggested or
sanctioned by us, led to insurrectionary move -
ments, with which we likewise abstained from
interfering. But when the rebels crossed
the frontiers of Spain, and returned with Spa-
nish arms to attack their own country, we
interfered at the catt--ofthe Portuguese Govern-
ment—not to protect the Charter against the
pretensions of Don Miguel, whom his brother
had designed as the future Sovereign—but to se-
cure the country of our ally against foreign ag-
gression; It so happened that our troops, in
lending their support to the Portuguese Govern-
ment, likewise supported the Emperor's Institu-
tions; but that was only a fortunate accident, as
we must have acted in the same way towards
Portugal, though ruled by the institutions of Al-
giers. • It never having been attempted to ex-
clude Don Miguel from the Regency, it requires
a good deal of assurance to emblazon his return,
under his brother's sanction, and his acquiescence
in his brother's decrees, as a defeat of British
policy. Whatever may be'the early proceedings
of the new Regent, they are , not likely to make
the friends of liberty regret much the change of
their pretent system. General Stubby, if we can
trust our correspondent's information, is to ins-
dergo a second -trial, for an imaginary offence,
which ought to have subjected him to no trial at
all. 'lbis is the work of the Government of
Lisbon, and it would not surprise us to hear, a
few packets hence, that he was made a Count or
a Marquis by a decree from Brazil. The Minister
of War, Saldanha, in whose cause he incurred
the Princess Regent's displeasure, and who him-
self was suspected of high treason, has received
a title of Nobility from the Emperor, who seems
to insist upon governing Portugal at the distance
of six thousand miles. It is time that, by a
steady domestic Government, such absurdities
should cease.—Times.

accusations drought
wish-
Mr. Burgess has just-published a Memorial,
addressed to Lord 'Goderich, " on the fitness of
the System of the Bank of England, of the
Country Banks, and of the Branch Banks of
England, to the wants of the People ; and on
ill-founded, we are disposed
the ample means of protection which private
okstof
ofE n g.
the l England."
al .'c'e
Bankers and the Public have, against the mono.-
iarouglle;
ing to undervalue the services. rendered by
against them were very coun-
try bankers to 'the industrious classes, and b
Ipivlying of
thatle at':
to think that matters would '
not be very much
mended by running down the Bank of England
in turn. Against the ,monopolythe B" k
of an_
there are good and validobjections
;hut the same
objections do not lie against the competition of
that body with private banks, in those parts of the
country which 'are beyond the range of their mo-
nopoly. As Mr. Burgess possesses much va-
luable knowledge .of the manner in which the
business ofthis great country is carried on, it is
hardly possible that a pamphlet from him should
not contain information on that subject. The
following account of the manner in which busi-
ness was, till a comparatively recent period, car-
ried on in the great manufacturing districts, is
very curious :—" The present constitution of so-
ciety (he observes) renders the borrowing of
money from the rich, on interest, and lending it
to the necessitous, so natural and urgent, that it
was carried on for a long period chiefly by seri,
'yellers ; incumbered with all the expences, de.:
lays, technicalities, and formalities of law. No
effort of human wisdom could devise a licheme,
better adapted to its purpose than that of est A-
. Country Banks, to take the spare money
of the wealthy, on interest, and lend it to men of
industry in the vicinity; securing, in a manner.
the most easy and efficacious, advantages in com-
mon to those who labour, and filo.se who, by their
savings, can rest from labour. A system which,
by diffusing capital promptly and efficiently
amongst the productive classes, has, with ;he moral

I

dualities of the people, caused this country to rise
in political importance above all other states.
After the Bank of England had been established
more than half a century, those causes began
first to operate on an extended scale, and in a
remarkable manner; which, by increasing the
productions of the mines, by extending manu-
factures, by giving ,enterprize to commerce, by
jrnprovement in agriculture, have afforded re-
sults unexampled in the history of nations. The
principles of. the Bank of England render it
wholly unfitted to extend any effectual aid to
those important causes, which in our day have
produced such astonishing effects. But then, if
ever, was the time, when the Directors should
have resolved on establishing Branch Banks—
when the- extended mining and manufacturing
operationso,f the country needed the aid of new
capital, to insure a successful and triumphant
issue ; not when connections had been formed,
'interests grown up, and ample capital furnished,
and judiciously apPropriated • by other banks.
Thenecessity. for such aid was obvious, and its
.urgencY may be. known by the fact, , that maim-
.facturers, in some of the remote parts of York-
shire and Lancashire, were' compelled to con-
duct all their banking. transactions at Notting-
ham; seventy to one hundred miles distant from
their 'dwellings ; because there were no Banks
at Leeds Or. Sheffield, or any of the intermediate
towns. These transactions were performed in
the most cumbrous and expensive manner.
When a Leeds merchant received a remittance
of foreign bills of exchange, the only Bank be-
tween his dWelling and London being situated
at Nottingham, his habit was to mount his horse,
carry his bills thither to be discounted, and briner
tOme the solid metal in his-saddle-bags." We
are willing to believe Mr. Burgess, when he says
that, when..the: Country Bankers misconducted
themselves formerly, it was from ignorance of the
true principles on which banking ought to he
conducted ; that since 1815 and 1816 their con-
duct has generally been correct; and that, `taught
by experience, they are not likely to relapse into
their former errors. A fact stated by him proves
how little founded were the accusations against the
Country Banks in ge»eral. " Seven parts out
of eight of all demands upon Country Bankers,
whb failed in the.crisis of the year 1825-6, have
been 'paid in full 1": But the very reason given
by Mr. Burgess for his partiality to the Country
P an. kers' supplies food'for general alarm in times
of difficulty. Speaking of Branch Banks, he
Says, " They have no sympathy with individuals;
and their rule cannot be relaxed for particular
cases, however urgent or. distressing."—".lt may
be said, generally speaking, that no. farmer enters
upon a farm without knowing previously whether,
kit case of a deficiency in his own means, the
neighbouring banker will, directly or indirectly,
enable him to purchase stock; .nor will,lie enter,
upon extensive improvements without knoWing
whether he will be , supported by the same pecu-
niary aid, till the , beneficial returns which must
result from those improvements come to set him
free:' :Now, it is the knowledge that a Joint
Stock, or Chartered Bank, must act on fixed
rules,: and, will not commit themselves to the,
support of private .speculations, that gives. the
public a 'confidence in them, and prevents • the
mischievous alarm which always follows horn the
fa'ilure,of .an extensive Bank. The two trades
of ~rnoiley:brokx.F and comer are pertly distinct,;
and it is as. money-brokara, that is; as the medium
between harrowers and lenders,, that, Bankers
chiefly benefit a country. But the banker he-
comes'responsible to- the lender; and. if lie int-
pindently lock up his cam's in loans to farmers
and, miners which cannot--,be , recovered within a
moderate period, lie will be unable to meet the
demands on: himself for prompt payment in
periods of alarm. It is better that the farmer or
miner,'who. wishes to 'borrow for long-winded
operations; should borrow directly from a Ca-.
pitalist, and that the Banker should be the,
mediurn,of loans for temporary purposes. The
great power of the. Scotch Banks is derived from.
the knowledge. of lenders that they are governed
by fixed rules. Mr. Burgess mentions a cir-
cumstance, which leads to inferences which lie
4es not draw from it.
.He says, " he is ac-
quainted with a Country Banker, who, till of
late, generally employed all »is surplus capital
among the industrious in the neighbourhood
of his Bank. He has recently, for a con-,
siderable time, lent 100,0001. to a wealthy
Agerit in- London,. at a low rate of interest,. who
has again lent that and other sums to a great
house . the City, engaged in working mines in
Sweden. , Another City firm- is adopting mea-
sures for working mines in Asia. In this man-
ner do .these chimerical changes work which have
been introduced in Banking concerns : capital
is withdrawn from the bumble sources of indus-
try, producing misery in the homesteads of Eng,
lishmen, to aid the distant speculations of some
overgrown capitalist.". Now this proves too much.
It proves that profits are so low in this country,
from the , heavy taxation, and the monopoly of
landlords,
,§4c., that capital will betake itself from
this country to where it can. find a more bene-
ficial investment. It proves that if home specula-
tions were at all profitable, there would be no dif-
ficulty of obtaining the Means for carrying them
on ; but that all the skill and cleverness of our
people are unable to struggle against the disad-
vantages, of taxation and` monopoly. There is a
worm at the root Of our prosperity. In fact the
productive class is sacrificed to the drones of so-
ciety. The evil is not in -the Branch Banks,
nor the competition between the" Bank of
Eng,tind and Country -Banks, but in the lowness
of profits. "Mr. Burgess charges the Bank with
giving great capitalists an advantage by discoun-
ting only to them ; but do not those who obtain
these discounts from the. Bank afford credits in
turn to smaller dealers? '- There seems to us
nothing in this objection. He charges some of
the Bank Directors with being embarked in
wild-goose' schemes, and observes, that " so
many Bank Directors are conspicuous for having
their names at . one and the same time amongst
the Directors of many of the new Companies,
that a suspicion exists, with grave and sensible
men, not very unreasonable, that the manage-
ment of the eirculatirig medium is desired, as a
means by which the desperate game of individual
speculation may be played with more certainty."
He instances the Anglo. Mexican Mining Com-
pany divided into 10,000 shares, of 1001; per
share,- on which 85/. per share has been paid,
while-not an ounce of metal has been received,
except sortie 'obtained _to promote a traffic in
shares, as a speculation in.which " some, of the
late and present Bank Direct Ors have an enor-
mous capital. invested."—Morning Chronicle.
The. question of the right of the Allied Fleets
to attack the Turks without legal warning, still
continues a subject of discussion among our con-
temporaries,and, as usual, the observations
which we ave made on '
ed-by those who do not the subject are distort-
t .happen to view it. in
the .saine light. Among other charges, we are
;stated to have set up ab, a provisional defence,
Oat Turkey, 'being a barbarian "'. rower; we were

not obliged to proceed towards her according tq
the Ordinary .rules 'observed,by civilized nations
towards each other. We . did .indeed say, en
passant, not as a provisional nor a permanent
defence; that men gave starting room to deer
but not to wrilves, and we still entertain the same
opinion which dictated that observation. Why
is a declaration, or. equivalent formality, required
.among civilized nations? Is it because of any
innate value which a document, long or short—
or a message, courteous or arrogant, as the time or
the-temper Of the parties may dictate=possesses,
that it is the usual precursor of mar ? Or is it be-
cause in Europe, and among Christian bellige-
rents, it has been tacitly agreed that such .a ce-
remony shall be used? Turkey has but one way
of declaring war, and that is, by the imprison-4
ment of the .unlucky Ambassador of the . State
with Whom it has quarrelled.. What right, then,
has Turkey to demand a declaration, which in no
case whatever it will make ? . What would
have . been the result ' of such a declaration ?
Why, the immediate imprisonment of Mr. '
Stratford Canning, and the rest of the "Ambas-
sadors in the Seven Towers. The customs of
Tnikey not only dispense all the. world from
using towards her the ceremony which the prac-
tices of civilized nations require, but they abso-
lutely prohibit it under pains and penalties.
While, however, we are pointing out the absur-
dity of this cant about declarations, we do not
mean to rest the justification of the attack of the
Allies upon such a technical nicety. We have
all along held that the declaration -of the Am-
bassadors to the Porte was amply sufficient to
justify the Allies in using all the means in their
power to accomplish the objects for which they
had entered into.the treaty of July 6. Looking
to the question abstractedly,, we should, with our
contemporary, most sincerely regret if any moral
objection could be fairly urged against the form
of an intervention, for which every feeling of
humanity, and every principle of morality, and,
we may add, every principle of sound policy;
have long called. But we do not see in its form
more than in its essence any fair ground of cen-
____ _ The provocation which was the proximate
cause of the engagement, is represented in 'a
print, which seems to labour under a physical
disability of describing the least complicated mat-
ter as it happened, as bearing an analogy to the
case of the attack on the Swiss Guards in Paris.
We allow that in that 'case it was a matter of ex-
tremely little importance which party fired first ;
neither, had the' Turkish vessels opened their
fire on the English on entering Navarin harbour,
should we
,have called them the aggressors. But
though the menacing entry of the Allies might
have excused such an act, nothing can excuse
the base cowardly murder of .an officer carrying
a message, from whose approach no . possible
danger could be anticipated ; and the second
murder of the pilot, when on the very side of
the Turkish vessel,, was even more cowardly and
barbarbUs. Agreeably to the laws of every war-
like code in Europe, such atrocities would have
justified'immediate and 'deadly retaliation even
between two parties whose respective nations were
in perfect amity.. Nay, the murder of the bearer
of a flag of true;. has even been held a sufficient
reason. for the denial of quarter to the guilty
party.—New Times.
During the last eight days public opinion from
all parts of the country has so decidedly expressed
itself, in deprecating the ijaval action at Navarin,
as a most unjustifiable act of violence anti aggres-
sion, that to the serious alarm of iVlinisterssinee
the receipt of the account of their " victory,"
have succeeded bickerings and recriminations in
the Cabinet, which their examination of Lord
Ingestrie has not tended to moderate. In the
first moment ,of consternation at the event, the
Ministers; Faith the weakness of imitators, re-
solved to follow the Admiral's example, and, by
ii political bravado, to lead or lull public opinion,
'by obtaining on the instant a Royal Mark of ap-
probation for the .Admiral, and heaping on the
Officers the most extensive rewards ever known
to be, given for a naval victory. This resolution
of the Ministers was not acceded to, without
Some of their colleagues calling their attention to
the propriety of waiting for more conclusive in-
formation from the Admiral. • The LansdOwne
party in the Cabinet: carried the point, and
Lord Dudley's correspondence, on being referred
to, was found to be so totally defiCient in afford-
ing any justification for the Cabinet, that they
found it more politic to make common cause
with the Admiral than to enquireinto his con-
duct. The Red Ribband was therefore recom-
mended, and the Admiral gained his real victory
not -at Navarin but in Downing-street. This
affair being settled so satisfactorily for the Admi-
ral's own responsibility, we may now without
fear of detriment to him speak out. We are
authorised to affirm, what we are assured can be
proved'by the log-book of the Asia, and by the
reports made to the Admiral, that his official dis-
patch is a garbled ' equivocating account of the
action, contradicted by the log-book of every ship
in the squadron ; which untrue account has, since
it was received in England, undergone several
erasures, loppings, and alterations, with the con-
currence of Ministers. The Admiral states in
his dispatch—" The three English ships were ac-
cordingly permitted to pass the batteries and
to Moor, as they did with great rapidity,
without any act of, open hostility,, although
there was evident preparation for it in all the
Turkish Ships; but, upon the Dartmouth send-
ing a boat to one of the fire-ships, Lieutenant
G. W. H. Fitzroy and several of the crew
were shot with musquetry. This produced a
defensive frefrom the Dartmouth and La Sy-
rene, &c." This, we are authorized to say, is
an unfair and quibbling statement of the fact;
and we are well assured we may refer to the log-
book of every ship in the squadron for the truth
of the following " contradiction :—The Dart-
mouth chose to place herself about 30 yards
from the Turkish fire-brig. The pinnace of
the Dartmouth was manned, with orders to take
possession of the 'fire-brig. The First Lieu-
tenant, Mr. Smith, with . two Midshipmen
(Harrison and B. Smith), and 14 picked men,
went in her; when, in the act of boarding the
Turkish brig, the First Lieutenant and Mr.
Harrison were wounded; and Midshipman B.
Smith killed, by being blown up; two of the.
men were also killed;. The Turks, after a short
fight, fired their brig, and jumped into a
.boat alongside. Lieutenant G. W. H. Fitzroy,
:and eight • men were then sent in the Dart-
mouth's cutter, to tow the brig clear of the
Dartmouth ; he attacked the Turkish boat, in
which there were about 18 men ; he .was shot
dead by the Turks in the boat, and brought
alongside, the frigate. The fire-brig was then
towed clear of the Dartmouth, and afterwards
went down, when within 30 or 40 yards of the
Turkish frigate, in the attempt to tow her on
the Turkish frigate. Assured as we are of the
accuracy of this statement, we may fairly ask,
can it for one instant be doubted
.on which side
the aggro%Sion took place ? The Admiral knew

sure.

that the Dartmouth's pinnace had actually
boarded thelnig, and forced the Turks to resist-
ance, before Lieutenant Fitzroy, in the cutter,
was sent,
,who was shot bravely obeying his or-
ders. Why was Lieut. Fitzroy's death selected as
the circumstance on which by inuendo to infer,
that on his approaching the fire-brig, the Turks
then committed the first act of hostility ?
Because Lieut. Smith, in the pinnace, "-had pre-
viously attacked the brig, and was not fired upon
till 'in the very act of boarding the. Turkish brig,
on the deck of which Midshipman Smith was
blown up. It is a mere waste of words to priss
this point more closely to conviction—the ship's
log-book, when laid before Parliament, will con-
firm this statement. But, we will ask, was the
action of Navarin the first open act of hostility
committed by the British fleet against the
Turkish ships ? Do then Ministers not know
that, in the Gulf of Patras, the signal was made
by the Dartmouth—" The fleet are much
scattered, and some may be cut off." Do
they not know that in consequence a firing com-
inenced about four o'clock in the afternoon from
the British squadron, which was kept up for
nearly two hours, without. the Turks returning
a. shot ? Do they Rot know that about ten of
the Turkish brigs were cut off—that the next
morning the Asia, the Talbot, and the Dart-
mouth, boarded Turkish brigs, which they found
full of provisions for the relief of the. Turks at
Patras ? Do they not know that their vessels
were towed as far as ,Zante? Do they not
know that at this very time Lord Cochrane was
at sea, and had captured five of these Turkish
vessels ? Again to the Admiral's story.—
He says, " When I contemplate, as I do
with extreme sorrow, the extent of. our
loss, I console myself with • the . reflec-
tion,, that the 2neasute which produced the
battle was absolutely necessary for obtaining the
results contemplated by the Treaty, and that it
was brought on entirely by our opponents."
The admission that his measure of entering the
port and taking up a position produced the
battle, is a truism which no one can deny.; but
he will find it a difficult matter to prove that the
action was brought On by his 'opponents. Log-
books are awkward things—the Ministers cannot
falsify them ;----and this account of the pinnace
having actually boarded the brig, ;before the cut-
ter left the Dartmouth, commanded by Lieute-
nant ,Fitzroy, is on the logbook, and was re-
ported to Sir E. Codrington. The high
rity and honoUr Of the British flag have been
lent to a purpose contrary to the law of nations,
and to the fair and impartial character with which

the British Navy and the British Nation have
hitherto acted; the folly is only equalled by the
injustice-,—and as. bravery can never sanctify in-
justice, we have to, lament not only the loss of
life, but the loss of honour, charaeter, and truth.
—Morning Post.