The Sun.
London, England, 1827-01-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We know not whether the speculations of the City de-
serve any notice in this place, but as there are those who
are likely to be misled every where, we shall barely repeat
and confute them. It is said that the Emperor of Brazil,
when he assumed that title, resigned all pretensions to the
Crown of Portugal. Where is the instrument of his re-
signation ? we ask. On the contrary, he has never ceased,
froni the peried mentioned; interesting himself as much as
before in the concerns of his European kingdom. It is
true that be has offered a kind of conditional resignation
to his daughter, and to Don Miguel if married to his
daughter ; but only on the condition of acknowledging the
Constitution. This acknowledgment of the Constitution
is therefore a condition precedent of the resignation. As
to Don Miguel, whatever may be his secret aspirations
after a Crown to which he has no title, he has acknow-
ledged the present Constitution,and of course his brother's
right to bestow it. And with respect to our having im-
posed the Constitution, it is notorious that Si; Charles
Stuart, who brought it over in the mere 'character of a
courier, was directed to quit Lisbon immediately, and im-
mediately did- quit it, lest his presence should be misinter-
preted : so that we are not only free from blame, but ought
also to be free from suspicion, with respect to the impo-
sition of the Portuguese Constitution.—Times.

We doubt whether the press has produced within the
last 100 years any publication more thoroughly curious
and original than a little pamphlet which was sent to us in
the course of yesterday, and is entitled a " Manifesto ad-
dressed to the Spanish people—by a federation of pure
Royalists (alias the Apostolical Junta)—on the state of
the nation—and the necessity of raising to the throne his
Serene Highness the Infante Don Carlos." Now this, we
have been assured by the Spaniards, is an authentic and
bona fide document. A proposition, enforce,d with the
most plausible internal evidence of sincere, straight-forward
gravity of purpose, comes from a body of" pure Royalists"
—of undefiled legitimates of the very brightest -water—of
ardent sticklers for the divine right of Kings—of enemies
irreconcileable to the name of reform, and to the privilege
of acting, speaking, or thinking, when claimed by the sub-
jects of any anointed sovereign but as he may vouchsafe
to order them ;—here, we say, is a direct exhortation by
the " pure Royalists" of Madrid, to dethrone the heaven-
born heir of the Spanish monarchy, King Ferdinand VII.,
the legitimate, and hereditary, and reigning monarch of
the realm, and to place his erown on the head of a
younger brother (vid. title-page and pamphlet passinz.)—
Then, what is the unhallowed maxim on which these
Jacobins of the cowl and crucifix pretend to justify their
open rebellion against the lawful sovereign of Spain ? Why
the traitors have the wickedness to set at nought every
dogma and doctrine of the Holy Alliance—they abjure by
their practice, as a damnable heresy, that " Kings can do
" no wrong," inasmuch as their whole manifesto is a string
of the blackest charges against King Ferdinand. They de-
nounce the blessed monarchical principle itself, which
punishes as a deadly crime any change in any state which
does not proceed from the will of the reigning monarch,
blasphemoUsly asserting the old heathen creed that "Salus
populi suprema lex est." We protest that in reading over
this frightful production of the " royalist " and ecclesiasti-
cal party in Spain, the room we sit in appears to turn
round with us. Yet are there entertained strong grounds
of suspicion that the purpose of the Apostolical Jacobins
will be seriously attempted, and perhaps unresistingly exe-
cuted. It will then be seen with how much impartiality
the Holy Alliance are disposed to act in vindication of their
own recognized principles. Weknow that if Kings are ever
so arbitrary, any movement by the people in self-defence, is
avenged by the instantaneous march of armies, and the un-
ceasing flow of blood ; but that is where the provocation
has consisted of too much tyranny, and where the resist-
ance has been made by the country at large, and on
the side of freedom. It may be otherwise, when the of-
fence imputed to the Sovereign is that. of not being despo-
tic enough, and where the insurrection is not by
people at large, but by a small band of courtiers, more
barbarous and oppressive—it that be conceivable—than
their victim. Thus Ferdinand VII, is actually accused by
the insatiable demons who publish this placard against
him, of not being sufficiently rigorous and cruel in putting
down the friends of the Spanish Constitution! yes—
they do not want a milder,, more humane, forgiving, and
reasonable ruler, but one more unrelenting, bigotted,
and bloody ! The holiness of such an object redeems
in their own consciences the downright treason of their
measures, and they manifestly rely upon the influence
of the same motives, in bespeaking for the dethronement
of Ferdinand, and- the usurpation of the more congenial
Charles, the favour of the Allied Continental Courts,
No principle, no consistency, it would seem, is worth main-
taining, where it acts as a restraint upon tin;impulses of fac-
tions, but only when it serves their ends. The whole tenor
of the manifesto to which we are now adverting, proves
that Kings themselves, as well as creeds, are regarded but
for their usefulness to the interests of their courtiers,
whether ecclesiastical or civil. The downfall of the legi-
timate Ferdinand is decreed, because his natural weakness
and abjectness of spirit unfit him to play, with the requi-
site obduracy, the part of an executioner upon sueh cul-
prits as the priesthood may find it politic to condemn ;
and Charles is to be upheld in his usurpation, for the sake
of the resemblance, which all the world who know him,
recognize between his character and that of Philip 11.,
both being equally dark, superstitious, and iotolerant—
stubborn, implacable, and cruel. It is thus (we may re-
mark in passing) that a mixture of political and religious
hypocrisy sets on scenes far distant from that whence the
Spanish manifesto proceeded. In Ireland the cry of Pro-
testant ascendancy, and of alarm for Church and State, is
no less a watch-word of terror for the loaves and fishes,
than this cry of the monks of Madrid for the " old laws of
Spain is a real yell for the preservation of that immense
church property which covers three-fourths of the king-
dom. Altogether, we are disposed to say, let the wretches
have rope enough, and leave the eventual use of it to the
rare of that Providence

g, -- who shapes our ends,
4. Rough hew them how we will." [lbid.

The acco:lnts of savage conflicts which arise out of po-
litical or local feuds in Ireland, excite the horror of the
English reader. He is astonished at what state of society,
or what character of Government that is, which allows
such ferocious practises to be of daily occurrence. He can
scarcely believe there is a Government so imbecile as to
suffer the laws .to be superseded by the vindictive process
of confederate assassins and nocturnal incendiaries, or a
people so infatuated as to make the shedding of blood at
fairs and other rustic meetings their favourite and familiar
pastime. These things, if they do not stagger his faith in
newspaper statements, induce him to believe in the obdu-
rate barbarity of that portion of the British empire which
constitutes a great part of the inland. Nothing, in-
deed, can be more true or more unfortunate than the bar-
barism of which such acts of deadly revenge and mur-
derous conflict afford the melancholy evidence. But let
the English reader peruse the account of the mid night
broils—the bloody encounters—the maimings, murdeis,
Imprisonments, and executions, which the Game Laws
produce in all parts of this country, and he will cease to
lavish all his astonishment on the tales of local outrage it.
Ireland. We have always raised our voice against those
laws, as inhuman and barbarising—as not only at variance
with the institutions of a free country, but tyrannical with-
out the excuse of an adequate object. The regulations of
the Excise system are sufficiently despotic and oppressive,
but their object is one of the greatest public moment—
that of the raising of revenue to meet the expences of the
State. The impressment of seamen is likewise ain Br
greatit!z
- fringement of the principle of personal liberty
subjects; but that, too, when acted upon, has its excuse in
the immediate necessities of the country. We do not sto?
here to inquire whether less objectionable and equally et-
fective modes to suPPIY our revenues and man our fleets
might not be instituted for both those expedients ; all we
say is, that the magnitude and vast consequence of the
interests which they involve make their deviation from the

spirit of our Constitution supportable. But can any such
argument be urged to palliate the violent principle and
enormous injustice of the Game Laws? None whatever.
The local outrages which for ages have disgraced Ireland, •
have made the people of that country so familiar with the
shedding of blood, that, as we have stet ed,•the destruction
of life is often the favourite pastime at fairs and such places
of amusement. But these are violations of the law, how-
ever tolerated by the weakness or wickedness of a Govern- .
ment, or the timidity or supineness of Magistrates—they
are. not sanctioned by the laws—they do not identify
themselves with any branch of our criminal jurisprudence.
The atrocities of the Game Laws—the vindictive passions
which they feed and excite—the temptations to nightly
plunder and violence—the incitements to lawless and des-
perate habits which it is their malignant genius to create
and diffuse throughout the rural population►—all this evil,
and its. debasing influence, have the name and sanction
of legislative authority. And what is their origin and
foundation.?—the sport and..pastime of one class of the
community ! It is for. the sake of -a gratification, which
consists in killing, at certain seasons, wild birds and other
animals, that the morals and liberty and lives of men are
'held so lightly, and the most sacred principles of the
Constitution violated. Every little Nimrod, who has not
much more intellect than the fox or hare at whose tail
he helloes for a 'whole day, is enabled by those laws to
inflict more arbitrary. punishments on British subjects,
and take more freedoms with personal liberty, than Magna
Charts allowed to British Kings. Perhaps this cruel and
degrading code was never so rigorously enforced as of late
years; and never was there such a multitude of poachers,
and such hardihood of habit in those persons, as at pre-
sent. Hence the continued conflicts that we da►ly read of
between those persons and gamekeepers—so that, in fact,
for the sake of keeping up a means of pastime for our
country gentlemen, we have a sort of civil war, pro-
ducing the most lamentable acts of mutual butchery al-
ways going on between the armed servants of the land-
owners and the armed bands of rustics, whom the high
price of game tempts to risk their lives to procure it.—
There would be no Such value in game if those laws that
make a monopoly of it did not exist—and the temptation
to so much outrage would be removed. Besides the in-
jury to the morals of the people which those laws pro-
duce; the expence to the public is enormous—for the
gaols in most of the counties are crowded with the victims
of this system, who must be there supported until their
trials, and many of than long afterwards, at the expellee
of the country, while their wives and children are thrown
on the parish, or thiven, through want, to the criminal
acts that draw upon them the sword of justice. In the
mean time, the farmer, whose corn feeds the game, dares
not touch it—and he would be dragged to prison for kill-
ing a hare or bird that lives upon the labour of his hands;
so that such creatures are, as far as he is concerned, not
only unproductive but noxious vermin. Take them alto-
gether, the Game Laws are, both in their origin and prac-
tice, the most abhorrent to common reason, morality, and
justice, of all the tyrannical inventions to which luxurious
tvranny ever gave the name of law. It is impossible but
the peasantry of England must become worse, instead of
better, in every respect, until they are eradicated from the
land.—Morning Herald.

Monarchy is not more distinct from Republicanism than
the character of the Speech which our gracious Sovereign
addresses to Parliament, at the opening of the Session, is
from that which the American President delivers to both

Houses of Congress. The one is framed on the principle
of saying as little as the present state of the empire can
allow—the other on that of saying as much as the present
and future prospects of the Republic will admit. The one
avoids disputable ground with the most laconic caution—
the other embraces, with equal facility, every considera-

tion that may become a topic of discussion. - The one is
stately and ceremonious—the other, familiar and explana-
tory. The King's Speech, like a birth-day ode, has more
of composition than meaning—the. President's Message,
like a political review, leaves nothing to the imagination.
It is fresh in the memory of our readers, how much com-
plaint was made in the House of Commons, of the Speech
of his Majesty on the opening of the new Parliament, on
account of what it did not say ;'but we think the objec-
tions to the Message of Mr. Adams will be on the ground
of what it does say. For the most insatiable lover of de-
batable points could not desire, on such an occasion, a
more copious and fruitful document. There are several
matters which it treats upon that are deserving of particu-
lar notice; and it is curious enough that one of its leading
topics should be, the acknowledgment, by Great Britain,
of the independence of the South American Republics.
Of course, the American President, when he penned this
Message, could not be aware that it was the intention of
Mr. Canning to tell the English Parliament that he had
thrown those Republics into the scale of Politics, to out-
weigh the advantages which France obtained, or was sup-
posed likely to obtain, by the military occupation of Spain.
The American President could not have foreseen that Mr.
Canning intended to make use of the memorable sentence :
" I called the new world into existence, to redress the
balance of the old ;" and therefore he could not intend to
contradict Mr. Canning on that point. Nevertheless, in
adverting to that subject, he states some particulars that
very much impugn the accuracy of this statement by our
Secretary for Foreib Affairs, making one doubt whether
it may not be a mere rhetorical flourish. If Mr. Adams
speaks truth, he certainly deprives Mr. Canning of his
revolutionary laurels, or, at all events, leaves them nothing
of the freshness of original glory. He attributes to the
liberal and enlightened disposition of the late Emperor
Alexander the first inclination on the part of an European
Power of the future acknowledgement of the independ-
ence of the South American Governments.—He states,
that this indication on the part of the Emperor went so
far as to make it evident that the European Cabinets must
sooner or later take the step with respect to South Ame-
rica which England subsequently took. Thus was the po-
licy of Mr. Canning, in this instance, but an anticipation
of the enlightened act of a Government which we deno-
ininate as barbarous, and thus was the Cabinet of Great
Britain illuminated in this matter by the new doctrines
of the Czar of Muscovy. Do we blame Mr: Canning
for this ? Certainly not, It is better for a great nation
to go before, than appear to copy the politics of States
less advanced in civilization. But notwithstanding the
eloquence of his speech, we are afraid that history will
not give him tile credit of having. acted on a higher prin-
ciple in this case than that of having yielded to what he
perceived must at length become an inevitable necessity.
—The part of the American President's Message, in
which he enters into a discussion of the topics of commer-
cial intercourse, now forming a subject of Cabinet debate
between Great Britain and America, shows that our Go-
vernment can talk with as much narrow prejudice on the
mercantile relations of different States as if they had never
professed to advocate the principles of a free trade. Ame-
rica wants a free trade, or a comparatively free intercourse
with our West India Colonies, on the ground of a recipro-
cal interchange of benefits. Our Cabinet refuses, on the
ground that it would be too important a boon to confer on
a _rival nation, We do not know what sort of free com-
merce it is by which a boon is conferred on one party and
110 advantage obtained by the other. Nations interchange
their respective products because they find such inter,
change to operate to their mutual benefit. If there were
not this stimulus, which arises out of the variety of human
wants, and the diversityof productions in different countries,
there would be. no commerce at all. When we favour
other countries by admitting their merchandise, we favour
ourselves at the same time; for while we supply many of
our own wants in this way, we export things which we
can dispense with in return. Providence has so varied
the nature of production in different parts of the earth, as
to make commerce necessary for the copious supply of
the conveniences as well as the luxuries of life; but unwise
Legislatures, counteracting the wisdom of Providence,
have been at all times too ready to shackle commerce with
restrictions and monopolies that embarrass the selfish policy
which they were intended to promote.—lbid.
From the last advices from Oporto it appears evident

that Government had' determined.
_to keep together the
whole of the. British force -Senilto the aid of Portugal;
four vessels of war only having been despatched to the
'Douro, to proteet British property in case of. an emer-
gency. This argues a conffdence in the efforts of the
natives in the vieinity of the Donro, the spot in Portugal
on which we. have most property at stake, as well as a
perfect knowledge of the advantageous position of the
province of Entre Douro e Minho. This province, which
may he called the Garden of Portugal, Demourier asserts,
in time of war, is exposed only to slight desultory attacks
on the frontiers, which, towards Galicia, are well covered
by. the river Minho, and cut through by innumerable defiles
and impenetrable dells. On the east side it is separated
from Tras-os-Montes by a double line—first, by the chain
of the mountains of Geres, Santa Caterina, and Maram ;
and, next, by the course of the river Tamega: The only
two entrancesinto the province of Entre Douro e Minho,
from Tras-os-Montes, are by the bridges of Amarante and
Salmonde—the -one leading to Oporto and the other to
Montalegre and. Chaves ; and these, it is now clear, are ef-
fectively guarded—the first by General Claudino, and the
other by the Marquis de Angela, the Military Governor of
Minho. It may therefore he a consolation to our country-
men to reflect, that their property and establishments in
the wine country are perfectly safe, even if the infuriated
Apostolicals should attempt to re-enter on the side of
Galicia. Minho was tempting to them, on account of
its riches; and they had made great -preparations among
their agents to open their way into it. Thanks to the
exertions of the military commanders, and the readiness
with which they have been seconded by the inhabitants,
all their attempts have been failed. Some of the English
letters received yesterday from Oporto, by the way of Li-
verpool, speak in the highest terms of the patriotic enthu-
siasm displayed by the residents. The chief disposable
force of regulars and militia having been sent up the
country for the defence of the passes, the merchants and
shopkeepers formed themselves into a corps of volun-
teers; and, in order to render their services more effi-
cient, went to the house of Captain Borges, of the 18th
regiment, a gallint young officer, at the time ill in bed,
who had distinguished himself in the campaigns during
the last war. This brave youth, well known to most of
our officers who served in Portugal, roused by the call
of danger, instantly rose from the bed of illness on which
he had been confined for some tirpe, and in a few days
organized his little band of patriots, in such a manner
as to revive the "hopes of the defenceless part of the
inhabitants. Even if the upper lines of the Tamega
had been forced, the Apostolicals could not have taken
Oporto with such a force as they now appear to possess,
so complete has been the preparations to repel them.--
We have sufficient concurring testimony already before us,
to conclude that the military operations of the Apostolicals
in the North have hitherto been confined to the province
of Tras-os-Montes, in which they are shut in by the rivers
Douro and Tamega. Foiled on the side of the latter, it
remains to be. seen what plan they will next pursue, for
they are lost if they remain inactive. Military movements
at this season of the year, in-the-North of Portugal, are ex-
tremely difficult. The rains fall in such heavy torrents that
the rivers are unfordable, both on account of the depth and
rapidity of the streams. The Douro, for example, flows
with such impetuosity to the sea, that vessels for many
days are unable to enter the port, and this was the case on
the arrival of the British men of war. To cross this river,
consequently, it is necessary to have the command of a
bridge, before Low4-Beira can be attacked, even if the
Marquis de Chaves had a sufficient force to make the at-
tempt. That this will be the direction of his next move-
ments
seems in some measure anticipated by one of the
latest letters from .oporto, which states, thae- General
Claudino was expected there on his way to Vizeu,
in Beira. We cannot ourselves understand the ne-
cessity of such a detour. If his assistance is required
in that quarter, he would not make a retrograde move-
ment, having the upper passes of the Douro at his com-
mand. From Amarante, he would proeeed by Carvoeiro,
situated at the mouth of the Tamega, near its junction with
the Douro. Situated, however, as the Apostolicals are,
they must now either retreat into Spain, or push towards
the South, as the province of Tras-os-Montes can no
longer afford them 'shelter. In one of the late wars, the
Spaniards attacked it,and advanced 40,000 men to Chaves,
Briganza, and Miranda, without magazines or provisions of
any sort, when more than a fourth of the number soon
died of sickness and want. This must-be the case with
the Apostolicals, who certainly cannot be supposed to be
better provided now than the Spaniards then were. If
they penetrate into Beira, they have General Claudino
on their left; General Azeredo, the Military Governor
of the Province, in the front; and Count de Villa Flor,
who, it now turns out, after driving the rebel Magessi
across the Guadiana,. had advanced to Guards, on their
left; besides the garrisons of Almeida and Pinhel, as well
as the militia of the intervening districts. By this last ra-
pid movement of the Count de Villa Flor from Alentejo to
Guarda, which place is situated at the head of the river
Mondego and the foot of the Estrella mountains, the Go-
vernment seems to have combined a most judicious plan
of operations—first for the defence of Lisbon ; and secondly
as a means of co-operating with the other divisions ad-
vancing from the north. It remains, therefore, to be seen,
whether the .Apostolicals will have courage to move to-
wards the south. We do not hesitate to say their position
is extremely critical, more particularly if the desertions con-
tinue. The Silveiras, from the moment their cause begins
to decline, are themselves in danger. They have ventured on 1
their present undertaking with men actuated only by the hopes
of plunder, having no interest in the issue of the attempt. It
was reported at Oporto, that Viscount Canelas, the uncle
and adviser of the Marquess de Chaves, had been seized
by his own partizans, after the defeat at Amarante. This
is probable, it being the only means by which the persons
implicated can. now make their peaee with the constituted
authorities.. We are, therefore, confident in the opinion
we have all along expressed, that the impression of the
Apostolicals will be . confined to Tras-os-Montes, where it
is very clear from the manner in which they are composed,
the ravages will be very great. We have seen, in several
of the letters from Oporto, instances of peaceable farmers
murdered, in the pursuit of pillage. Yet all this is done
in the name of Miguel I. We cannot, however, help ex-
pressing our apprehension, that the Lisbon Ministry is
not yet formed to the satisfaction of the public. There
have been some sudden changes, even attended with Mys-
tery ; and by the last adVices, we find that the Bishop of
Vizen has been made Minister for the Home Depart-
ment, and delivered the Regent's Message at the close of
the Session. We have at the same time had the satisfac-
tion to notice, that the House of Peers has acted in the
most patriotic manner. The Chamber of Deputies passed
a law for the arming of the national guards, which was
rejected by the Upper House. The rejection was judi-
cious, as it certainly is not sUe to trust arms indiscrimi-
nately in the hands of the people at this moment. The
Extraordinary Cortes having closed their sittings con-
formably to law, the Ordinary Cortes would open on the
2d instant with exactly the same Members. Before we
close our remarks on the affairs of Portugal, we shall say
a few words on the occupation of the forts at the entrance
of the Tagus by the British marines, which, we notice by
letters from Lisbon, has already excited some jealousy,
and will no doubt serve as a handle to the alarmists. In
the present situation of Portugal, this -can be considered
in no other point of view than as a temporary precaution,
adopted at the request of the Government, and necessary
for the safety of the British fleet at anchor in the Tagus.
Fort St, Julien and the Bugio command the entrance of
the river. The former is on the left of the entrance. It
stands high, cut out of and adapted to the irregular form
of the rocks, and is almost impreviable. The Bugio is
nearly in front, built on a mound of rock and sand, so as
-to cross the -fire of the other. The British Admiral
could not leave these two forts in his rear, in the present
disorganized state of the Portuguese soldiery,--Morning
Chronicle. .
-The new law which the French Ministers have brought
forward, for the punishment of persons engaged in carry.
ing on the Slave Trade, is an unequivocal admission of the