The Sun.
London, England, 1829-09-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The French Papers of Tuesday contain in-
telligence of a domestic nature, not without its
interest at present to those who are acquainted,
or wish to be acquainted, with the internal affairs
of France. Accounts are published of the pro-
ceedings of several of the Councils-General, or
Councils of Departments. The opinions ex-
pressed in the resolutions or votes of these
bodies, are said by no means to correspond with
the expression of the public sentiment through
other less biassed organs. The Councils-Gene-
ral, as our readers may know, assimilate in ,a
certain degree to the meetings of the county
magistracy for local assessments in England.
The members are nominated by the King from
amongst the most wealthy proprietors of the de-
partments ; they assemble at the Prefecture, and
grant or reject the demands laid before them by
the Prefect or the subaltern authorities. They
can impose taxes for local purposes in a certain
proportion to the land-tax raised for the uses of
the state. The inferior clergy receive from the
fund thus levied, such an addition to the salaries
which the budget grants as the piety or the libe-
rality of the Councils-General may choose to
award. They likewise provide for the execution
of the departmental works, the repair of local roads,
and other local objects. Their power is thus con-
Are selected from the richest
siderable ; and as thej:
of the provincial proprietiZs who obtain Court
favour, they are generally devote'. to the existing
Government. Their votes and addresses during
the Villele Administration were generally in
favour of Jesuitical instruction, and of arbi-
trary restraints on popular rights. Some of
them have entered on a similar career at their
late meeting, as is evident from one of our sub-
joined extracts. The object of one of the im-
portant bills introduced and withdrawn last
session was to give the nomination of thest:
Councils to the proprietors of departments
whose interests they manage, and to make them
thus a check on the local administration, instead
of being its blindest instruments. This measure
was lost by the inconsiderate obstinacy of the
Liberals, who insisted on a greater extension of
the right of suffrage in the election of these
Councils than the Crown had contemplated in
the original project. Had the object passed as
it was introduced, a little Parliament would
have been created in every department—the per-
nicious or oppressive power of the local autho-
rities would have been checked—the over-
powering influence of the central Government
would have been confined within narrow limits,
and the existence of an Administration as ob-
noxious as the present is alleged (whether rightly
or not) to be, would have been impossible for
six months. It will be seen from the following
extract, that notwithstanding the composition of
these councils. four Liberals struggled against
the vote of a majority :
(From the Journal des Debuts.)

" The Council General for the department of
Loiret, which assembled on the 27th of August,
under the Presidency of the Duc de Lorges, dosed
its sittings on the sth of this month.
"Before the closing of the sittings, the Presi-
dent presented unexpectedly, if not an address, at
least a draught of a letter to the Minister of the In-
terior, which he read. It contained many com-
plaints of the unbridled licentiousness of the Press,
—of the periodical pamphlets, in which the culpable
authors had not feared to publish that the appoint-
ment of the new Ministry had once more broken the
ties which united the nation to its King. It called
for the enactment of new laws regarding the Press,
and for the establishment of measures of which the
principal object was to be the stopping of subscrip-
tions in favour of persons found guilty, as subscrip-
tions render the sentence of the Courts of no avail ;
and it concluded with protestations of the fidelity,
devotion, and attachment which the Councii-
General felt for the person of the King and, for his
dynasty.
"M. Laisne de Villevesque, at two consecutive
sittings, exposed, with his usual characteristic energy,
the inconvenience and danger of the proposed ad-
dress. He represented that fines, which amounted
to from 40,000 to 60,000 francs, and imprisonment,
which lasted for from five to ten years, were a suf-
ficient proof of the severity of the laws regarding
the press;—that punishments of greater severity
would bear no proportion to the offences, and that
trrocious and violent laws produced complete im-
punity, as might be seen every day at the Assize,
in the working of the law of sacrilege ;—that the
Courts could not be accused of either carelessnes
or cowardice; that in a letter to the Minister de-
stined to be submitted to the perusal of the King,
to present as culpable a paragraph from a journal of
which the author was summoned to appear before
the Cour Royale of Paris, indicated a desire to ex-
ercise an undue influence over the Magistrates whose
duty it would be to decide upon it ;—that such con-
duct on the part of a Council-General was any
thing but generous;—that it was even contrary to
all the rules of decorum, inasmuch as upon this oc-
casion the Council-General was all but the expositor
of the sentiments of the department. He declared
that he opposed himself the more strenuously to the
proposal, which was neither required nor asked for,
at least publicly, because it might induce the Go-
vernment to take a false direction, and to depart
from the principles of the Constitution in matters
which affected the liberty of the press, the true pal-
ladium of the Charter and of our privileges. In
short, he declared aloud, that his name should never
he signed to any resolution which might be taken to
that effect.

" These sentiments were also the sentiments of
MM. Alexandre Perier, Crignon de Montigny, and
de Guercheville, who supported them with a firm-
ness that does them honour; and what is still more
surprising and extraordinary is, that five other mem-
bers of the council, who declared the proposed
address useless and ill•timed, have nevertheless
voted in favour of it. It was then ad ipted by a
majority of nine to four, two other members of the
council not having thought fit to attend at the last
sitting.
" Time will show whether the proposed letter or
address was or was not demanded. There is rea-
son to think that the congregation is riot unac-
quainted with this measure, and we shall not be
surprised if the example thus set be followed in
every other department. Besides, we must raise
our voices to protest that the great majority of the
inhabitants of the department of the Loiret never
dreamed of placing before his Majesty any such
wishes as are expressed in the letter proposed to
the Council by the Duke de Lorges. If it were
possible to consult them, everybody would be con-
vinced of their attachment to the cause of public
liberty, and of their devotion to the King and to the
Constitutional Charter, which they never separate
from each other; arid if it were permitted them to
express a single wish, it would be that the offences
of the press should be submitted to the jury, and
not to judges, who, if they are irremoveable in law,
are not so in fact, since all of them may be elevated
to higher posts in the magistracy."—Ti;ncs.

The Russian bulletins which appeared in our
Paper of yesterday present a mass of intelligence,
and deocribe a succession of military movements
and proceedings, which would be interesting to
military men as a professional study, without re-
ference to their general results. These results,
however, are most important. The operations
recorded by General Diebitsch embrace an ex
tensive field. From Aidos, as a centre,
Russian General has within a few diveestefg,

with different corps of his great army, an arch mously, there being only fiec against the Memorial
a2proaching to a semicircle, the northern point of for the Insurrection Act, and one against the in.
-which rests on Shumla, the southern on Adria- . crease of the military. It was understood that Sir
nople. On the 16th ult. the seventh Russian John opposed the dispersion of soldiery throughout
corps was in possession of Karnabat, a valuable the country, under the apprehension that from the
present state of feeling here they might be tam-
central point among the mountains, placed at the ibieredd. with. Mr: O'Connell was expected here,
junction of several roads, in a direction W.N.W.iiat.aliadsno)t maked htids a.pceariance. It was also ge-
of Aidos, and about one third of the way be-
i‘ni:... indeed
Dohertyexpected,
tho that, f
tween the latter post and Selimno. At the same I recentY ciirjcpuomss'tancaels,i. m
Solicitor-
time Count Diebitsch ordered the second corps, I General, would have attended the meeting, and par-
under Count Pahlen, to occupy Karabunar, ! ticularly from its being known that he is at present
about 40 miles due south of Aidos, to push its 'in the south of Ireland ; but he was not present.
advanced guard a long day's march further south 1 The reeolutions were proposed by the Earl of Lan-
' duff and secondd to Falsi, and to reconnoitre through a line
e, rs of the counety.by Mr. Prittie, one of the Mem-
'
nearly east and west, from Tirnowo through 1 h
Our Evening Contemporary adds—
Adrianople. The easy execution of these or-
" About six months ago the nuke of \Vellington
tiers proves how slenderly the Turks held pos- said, in a tone of exaggeration offensive enough to
session of their own country, and how paltry i good taste,t and altogether alien to his usual style of
teas their pcneral resistance to the invader.—t at, sooner than witness one month of
With a view to cut off the communications of t oratory,ch'il war
the Grand Vizier with Adrianople, and to esta- would submit to die.' Yet here we have the Con-
Wish himself on an inner line of posts in a direc- fession of the Magistrates of Tipperary, that civil
Lion nearly parallel to the Danube, but in the .tear is raging in their county, and that there is no
hope or pg it own but by th applicationsuch
anofd
Count Diebitsch combined a double movemesa,
one through the agency of an overwhelming military
immediately against the rear of Bhumla, the force. The truth is, that the Gentry, and indeed
other against the town of Selimno and the great
all the Protestants, have been suffering rather more
road leading south from it, by Jambol, to Adria- than even the common calamities of civil war in
nople. General Krasowski executed the former these Popish counties, for years; the only thing
of these operations, by fiatsing his way from which has taken away the character of civil war from
Marasch through E's'ai-Stamboul and to the the chronic convulsion of the Popish part of Ire-
westward of it, r
.laerefore blocking up the central land, is, that the rebels have not been resisted."
road whi !
e... 1 runs to Adrianople by Karnabat. Now, as by the admission of our contempo-
rary, the disease of the South of Ireland is
The 'troops of the Vizier on this occasion seem
c
co have given way after very little fighting, and chronic, and there has only not been a civil war
to have lost between 500 and 600 men. In in that part of the country, because the rebels, to
use his own term, have not been resisted, there pursuance of the second project, which was
executed on a more extensive scale General must have been a cause for this passiveness on
,
the part of Government. Was not the chief
S heremetief, of the 7th corps, proceeded from
cause the perplexity in which all the Irish affairs
Karnabat about the 29th of July, to feel for the
were involved, from the manner in which reli-
Turks towards Jambol. On the road thither,
gion was mixed up with every thing ? The
with one brigade of Hulans and some Cossacks,
whole Catholic body were united by the bondage
he feel in with a corps of no less than 15,000
of the enemy, commanded by Halil Paella, comtnon to all ; and divided Parliaments, and
divided Cabinets, paralysed the action of Go-
ne disproportion must have been eight or
tett to one, and vet it appears that the
vernment in Ireland. The Administration has,
Russian cavalry attacked and overthrew the for the first time, its hands free to act with
energy and effect. In dealing with the disturbers
bol, and burnt the Turkish camp. The ex-
Pacha's army, drove them into the town ofJam-
of the peace, they have no occasion to inquire
tretne distrust of themselves, and broken spirits whether they are Catholics or Protestants.—
of the Ottomans, showed itself in a shameful The effect of all General Associations for the
flight from Jambol, from the apprehension that carrying any great object, such as Catholic
100 Cossacks, who were left before the town in Emancipation, is to extend the protection
observation by General Sheremetief, IN hen he re-
of the Association to its members even in
tired to join his head-quarters at Karnabat, were cases foreign to that object. But the bond
but the advanced guard of the whole Russian which held together such heterogeneous ho-
army, which was the next day destined to attack dies as the Catholic Nobleman, Magistrate,
Barrister, Priest, and Peasant, is at length
them. Learning that the Grand Vizier had
dissolved. All who possess property, all who
made his way out of Shumla by the western
toad, the only one left open, and was proceed-
suffer from the interruption of tranquillity, be
ing to Selituno, in the supposition that the route they Catholic or Protestant, now cordially join
i
from thence to Adrianople would be unoccupied, in seconding the Government in all measures for
Count Diebitsch drew together troops from every
the preservation of order. If a Priest travels
quarter, from the corps before Shumla, from beyond the line of his duty, in his address to his
flock, he does so on his own responsibility—Le
Aidos, Sizeboli, Karnabat, and Karabunar ; and
with two corps d'armee, a division of a third can no longer count on general sympathy or
corps, and a large body of cavalry general support. The question of order or &-
--altogether,
order is now stript of every thing adventitious.—
perhaps, not far short of 26,000 or 28,000 men
When extreme measures are- necessary, public
—he moved upon Selimno, and on the 12th ult.
attacked the Vizier in his position at and before opinion will sanction them ; the force at the
that place. The engagement appears to have been command of the Executive, moral and physical,
will be commensurate with the exigency. Civil
neither long nor doubtful. The Turks were
beaten without any difficulty, and dispersed with war is now no longer possible ; because civil
war supposes heads as well as inferior members ;
R loss to the Russians of nut more than 60 men.
Indeed, the account given by the bulletin very can- and any disturbance that may hereafter take
ace, must be the work o unsuorted p.
dilly clips the laurels of the conquerors, by
pl
The Duke of Wellingtonf mightpp , therefore easants
well
stating that " the terror of the enemy is so '
great, that he has not the courage to make any proclaim his aversion to civil war six months
it of the means of existence. He
considerable stand, and it appears that in this ago, as he
rvct the leaders of the troops set the example." sures deprived may now exult in having by his mea-
Npe
may say now in triumph to those who point to
What can be hoped for by an army when its
chiefs arc the first to run away ? What, again, the disorders in Ireland—if those disorders ap-
can be hoped for a state, the subjects of which are pear serious even now, what would they have
every where emulous to obtain an invader's been with the support which a common perse-
friendship ? The bulk of the inhabitants of (nion would have given ? Ilz -now the extent
Bulgaria arc Christians, and come fbrth in of the present danger, but who can measure the
crowds to seek protection from the Imperial force of religious enthusiasm ? Mr. Sheil called
on the Government to free the Association from
troops. The issue of matters at present is,
that on the 20th Count Diebitsch entered the difficult task of preserving order in the very
Adrianople, with his army, having met with no excitable body of peasantry of the South. If the
further resistance. He had already formed a whole moral force of the Catholic Body was di-
new basis, on which to rest his force—from reeted to the repression of the Catholic peasantry
Selimno on the right, to Aidos on the left ; to prevert the cause of the whole suffering from
Adrianople, Kirk-kliasi, and through Tirnowo to the excesses of a part, the removal of this re-
the Euxine, would form a still closer line of straint, which allows a freer action to the dis-
eased portion of society, does not render the
investment towards Constantinople. On the
coast itself he has extended his garrisons south-
danger more formidable. We cannot conclude
without regretting that the Government should
wards, by the recent seizure of Wasiak° and
h
Agteboli, both lying between Sizeboli and the pare deemed it necessary to recur to prosecu-
cap,ital,dons of the Press. In every thing human there
which fell to Admiral Greig and his
is evil mixed up with good, and it is impossible
ships. If the Russian arms be now arrested,
t
it is unquestionably not by force. The schemes that all that is written and published should be
of Catherine have abundantly succeeded. What uniformly unobjectionable. The Government,
new schemes may grow out of their accom-
however, having the benefit of the good, should
plishment belongs to a different chapter.—lbid. not be too quick sighted to the evil. A Go-
vernment powerful in the general support should
e
One of the most generally accredited rumours not b
nents
by
too
eager to recur to refutations of oppo-
at this moment in transitu through the higher the Attorney• General. This course, if
circles of the political quid-Hones
is, that Mr. it inspires opponents with dread, represses also
Huskisson's " Northern circuit" is preparatory the warmth of friends, who shrink from the
to some Ministerial , arranoement
, which will ren- odium of
abetting
a cause which cannot exist
der his acknowledged talents for business once
without the aid of persecution.—/bid.
more available for the public service ; but the We have given
in another column, some me-
most intrepid of these club-room speculators lanc h
oly accounts received from our private cor-
has not as yet in his wisdom determined the de- respondents of the disturbed state of Ireland.
partment to be vacated in favour of Mr. Huskis- Again has blood
been shed in conflicts between
son. We have not sufficient data to form any •
the police and the peasantry, both in the north
.
opinion as to the value of this St. James's- and south. We cannot wonder at this state of
street on dit, but we are quite as much inclined • press Ireland
thing seeing that the " liberal" of
is
to adopt the conjecture of a well-known little t' ' -
incessantly stimulating the passions of the
East-ender, who thinks tl.e Ex-President of the Roman Catholic population, and urging them
Board of Trade has
gone Northward to feel his
on to mischief by denouncing every thing Pro-
ground at Liverpool, as there are some queer
testant with that peculiar eloquence which religi-
rumours of an intended opposition to his re-
ous bigotry inspires. There are Priests also at
election, in the event of a vacancy, which will at work, who, under
all events, neutralize the interest on which he has
public tranquillity, give utterance to sentiments
hitherto triumphantly stood.—Norn. Chronicle.
they
which
h le t know must have a most exasperating
The following appears in the Standard of tendency. Witness the address of the Rev, Mr.
last night : Spain to his flock from the altar, in allusion to
"We have-received the following highly impor- the Borris-o'-kane-affair. Nothing is more easy
taut communication from one of our Irish Corres- than for an artful speaker to tell an irritable mul-
pondents ; the most implicit reliance may be placed tit 1 '
tit e to keep the peace, and yet indulge in lan-
upon its statements :
guage eminently calculated to incite them to
" Thudes, Monday Evening.
outrage. This mode of tranquillizing an angry
" ' The long-expected Meeting of the Magistrates
took place here this day. It was private in the mob, now so much practised in Ireland, is the
strictest acceptation of the word, as far at least as stale trick which demagogues have practised in
Reporters or persons connected with the'press were all ages. The most familiar and eminent ex-
concerned. One of the Proprietors of the Evening ample of such mode of address is that of Mark
Mad came here for the purpose; but, although be Anthony, which
our great dramatist has so ad-
was courteously refused admission, it is understood mira Ia y nnagm I • • • ed. The characteristic beauty
that he was supplied with the Resolutions adopted, of this speech has left all attempts at
and an outline of the proceedings that occurred.
"' imitation far behind. It is the finest
There were twenty-one Magistrates present,
specimen of the smooth, dexterous including the Marquis of Ormonde, Lord Landaf
manage-
&c._tnii
The High Sheriff was in the Chair. A reso-
meat of an inflammatory harangue that ever was
t, t
lotion
additional
waspassed, calling for the Insurrection Act
military force. And another rest; conceived. Ireland has at the present day many
al
imitators—not of the intellect, but of the artifice
lution was passed, pra ' ino• for •n
Arms' Act. r John Byng, Commander thehisflock from the altar, entreating them not on
of
Forces in Ireland, was in attendance, e.,liancticompanied any account to break the peace, and at the same
by .Major-General Sir T. Arbuthnot
time taking care to instil into their minds the
truer set off immediately after the meeting to thetbefor-
siderice of Lord Duncannon, in this neighbourhood,e feeling of wrongs which is beyond the condition
where Lord F. L. Gower, the Irish Secretary, is of the ordinary patience of man to endure, is an
now staying. The resolutions were opposed by example of what we would call a pigmy Mark
Mr. Otway Cave, who has some property in this Antony. How does the Rev. Mr. Spain, in
country, and who is doing the liberal with consider- his conciliatory and pastoral address, speak of the
able effect; but they were carried almost unani. acquitted policemen ?he says-4( Does not the