The Sun.
London, England, 1827-01-31 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We last night received, we believe exclusively, letter.,
and papers from Lisbon to the 20th instant. It will 1
seen that the news from Portugal grows upon us in v.
riety, authenticity, and importance. The first brigade
the British troops began their march from Lisbon on th
18th inst. The supposition that our force was destine
to be separated for the purpose of garrisoning Lisbon
ElVas, Oporto, and other places of importance throughou
Portugal, is altogether void of truth. After leaving ade
tachment strong enough to occupy the forts at the en
trance of the Tagus, and thus keep open the harbour fo.
our shipping, the remainder of the British division.
amounting, after the arrival of the two battalions fron:
Gibraltar, to between .5,000 and 6,000 men, were to pro-
teed towards the frontier to support the operations of the
'native troops under Villa Flor and his military colleagues.
Sir Wm. Clinton, who possesses the confidence of the
Government, and has acquired the public esteem and
good-will, is, we believe, to be intrusted with the
general direction of the combined forces, as a mat-
ter, of confidential agreement, rather than of for-
mal or ostensible enactment, and the Portuguese
officers will have positive, though not public, instruc-
tions from the Regent to obey him. Cqunt Villa
Real has been appointed Ambassador to Paris from the
Court of the Princess Regent, but comes to his post by
way of London, having taken his passage in the British
steam-packet, v:hich was to sail on the 19th inst. We
feel ourselves justified in Correcting the erroneous impres-
sion which might h e produced by our private correspon-
dentfrom'Liston, to the prejudice of this distinguished
nobleman . M. de Villa Real was an undisguised oppo-
t'ellit of the Constitution of 1820, which he conceived
a) be founded in rebellion to his Sovereign; but hi
is equally open and fervent in his support to the
,
sxisting tdliAtitution, emanating from the Crown itself,
.ifq 'distributing with reasonable fairness the general func-
tions and powers of the Government and Legislature.—
STO individual can stand more 'deservedly high with the
most enlightened friends of the Portuguese Charter than
M. de Villa. Real does at this moment, and we have no
doubt that the mare matured 'information of our corres-
iiiident will justify this our dissent from his first opinions.
An absurd '_rumour - has been sent about,. on Monkish
aaiorrify, that 'England was preparing to coalesce with
France and Spain, in 'a representation to Don Pedro,
haVing in View an -important change in the character
and pro*isions- of his Charter. ' This is utterly false.—
ain indeed would gladly see England so disgraced.—
nee. tnikfit join Ferdinand in urging this country to
.41.01, a project ; but it is plain, that if Mr. Canning refused'
afford even ,t pretext for the suspicion that this Goiern-
ment.had'neddled in the concoction or suggestion of the
Qte.:ier; as being a manifest " interference with the rights
of independent states," far less could be venture to as-
sume, on behalf of tyranny, that office which then tempted
frrthe love of freedom herself, he had disclaimed as an un-
bkotning usurpation. The consequences of Count Villa
Ph;t7i
.ttiTair with the rebels on the 9th instant, are sup-
pilsed to have been more decisive than was at first appre-
beild'ed. considerable Minibus of the insurgents having be-
t4icn themselves to Spain, as the only asylum where they
conld be Secure of safety. ,l'hat the conduct of Ferdinand
will he, is
,a question which events must very shortly de-

`:isle.. .His troops if they indeed be his, assembled near
',die- frontier, are estimated at Lisbon to approach the
sobst of 30,000 men; and it is known that he still
to aid and equip the rebels - with military
es of` all descriptions; in the teeth of his solemn
a,.. -- §peate'd "assurances' to the BritiSh Govermnent. It
IF
Is eqtally,indisputable; that the ' " disobedient" governors
dr fel re's:peetive Spanish provinces have been neither, re-
ealfeil rior reprimanded, and that -CalornardC,,
,the grand
TThe
of all the mischief, coritimies at the head of affairs !
he honour of Ecqpida must therefore be the, guide and
measure of_ her policy. It is not that Portugal, if taken
singly, would, under all imaginable circumstances, be worth
a general war; but that Portugal, yea, or even a pound
weight of the rock of Lisbon, if made the instrument of
insult or menace to Great Britain, would become, on the
instant, of value above all price. If insult be endured,'
injury would soon follow it. If the idea that England
may be bearded once gets afloat, her dignity will not be
the only sufferev—loss of prosperity travels in the wake of
sullied honour=—commerce, colonies, manufactures, industry,
titiipert, national spirit, national freedom—all constitute
brie Undivided freight in the hold of the British man of
War : when her flag sinks, they go to the bottom with her.
" The country," said Sheridan, " which has achieved such
greatness, can find no safety in littleness." Let England's
motto be these memorable words.—Times.
We observe by an advertisement that a meeting of all
the Coroners of. England and Wales is to be held on
Thursday, " for the purpose of taking into consideration
an application to Parliament to amend the Lex Coronatoria.
It is bne of the features of modern humbug to assume lan-
guage and ideas unintelligible to common capacities; and
as a specimen of it, on this occasion, instead of telling us in
plain English (or Welsh, if they like it better) what it is
they actually intend, they tell us in obscure hieroglyphic
terms, they are going to discuss the Lcx Coronotaria. As
we detest obscurity and humbug, we are induced to with-
draw the veil from it upon this occasion, and to inform
our readers that the real object of the persons who call
this Meeting is, we believe, neither more nor less than to
apply to Parliament for an increase of their fees I—an ap-
plication which has been already two or three times made,
and as often rejected: That it will fail upon this occasion
too we feel but little doubt, as it would be preposterous
to suppose that, in the present burdened state of the
country, the landed interest especially will consent to such
an increase of the county rates, as the acquiescence in this
demand would occasion ; when it is quite notorious, that
paid as it now is, the office no sooner becomes vacant in
the obscurest county, than a cloud of applicants arise for it,
quite as well qualified for the duties as larger fees would
- make them. So valuable is the office considered in some
counties, that parties are found to incur the heavy ex-
pences of a contest to obtain it ; and there is said. to have
been an instance recently of one candidate offering another
1,0001. to resign the contest. A thousand other reasons
(and many would not be wanting) could not . strengthen
the unanswerable objection which these very simple ones
afford to any such application. At the same time we are
not prepared to say that some improvements might not be
introduced into the practice pf the office of Coroner, if not
into the law. It would be an improvement, for instance,
if this officer could be got at with more facility than he
now can be ; if less delay took place in holding inquests ;
if fewer frivolous inquests were held, merely for the sake
of the fees; if warrants were not so frequently issued for
burying bodies before the inquests are held; if Juries were
• not sometimes smuggled to 'gratify wealthy relatives ; and,
alcove all, if some of theSe ancient officers were to learn
from authority that their Court is an open one, from which
they cannot legally exclude the public. We have merely
thrown out these hints to enable the " Coroners of Eng-
land and. Wales," when they meet on Thursday, to falsify
our conjecture, by taking up these, instead of the one sole
object we have imputed to them. But then, in return, we
must make one bargain with them, which is, that they will
-not attempt to discuss. the Let Coronatoria with closed
doors, but- will admit the public to deliberations in which,
from the highest to the lowest, every one is so materially
interested.—Herold.

We-rejoice to perceive, from a circular from the Home
Offiee, that Mr, Peel, with that prompt and excellent
tact which distinguishes his whole public conduct, has set
"on foot an inquiry into the fees demanded by Clerks' of the
Peace, in different counties, on the acquittal of persons
chariared with offences. We thought the Home Secre-
tary already possessed thisinformation, and that a return
of all fees payable to these offices had bee! made to and
yiubllshed by Parliament. Whether that is the case or
not, however, matters but bale, except as far as delay
is I:iticerned ; and it is, perhaps, desirable that this parti-
cular 'head of abuse should be brought into a distinct and
tangible form. It would be a waste of words to attempt

to prove the monstrous injustice of affixing a fine .upon a
man who is declared innocent ; and that it should amount
(as these fees do in many instances) to a much greater
punishment than a Court would inflict upon him if found
guilty. We trust, therefore, that the time hunt length
arrived when this crying grievance will be abolished.- But
these are not the only fees taken in Courts of Justice
which require revision; and when this one head is dis-
posed of, we would strongly recommend Mr. Peel to turn
his attention to the whole subject, and we doubt not but
his enlightened mind will readily perceive that the mode of
taxing the subject in the shape of fees is an_enormous evil,
and one which is only kept alive under the old hackneyed
pretence of 44 vested interests." That any man, or set of
men, should possess a vested right to do a great and ma-
nifest wrong, is an absurdity not to be tolerated. It is
these vested interests which prevent the adoption of Lord
Althorp's excellent Bill for bringing cheap justice home
to every man's door; and we are convinced that it would
he wise to satisfy the most ravenous appetite, by buying
up those rights, even at the most extravagant rate, rather
than that they should remain an obstacle to a reform so
obvious and so necessary as that to which we have
alluded.—lbid.

We have more than once noticed, whilst perusing the
Lisbon Papers, that there is not so good an understanding
between the House of Peers and the Chamber of Deputies
on topics even connected with the threatened safety of
the realm, as we could wish. To our great regret, the
file received by the last packet, affords a few fresh instan-
ces of this want of concert ; and we do not disguise to
our readers, that some letters brought by the same con-
veyance, and written by men of independent minds and
disinterested views, equally lament the absence of a cor-
diality, so much the more desirable, as, without it, the
Constitutional cause of Portugal, surrounded as it is by
so many internal as wcll as external enemies, can never
prosper: It may be unnecessary. to go back to several
minor topics of disagreement between the two Houses,
contained in the previous papers' from the Portuguese
capital, although at the time we read them, we considered
them rather ominous; but there are two recorded in the
last Journals, which certainly afford ample scope for re-
mark. It will be remembered, that a few weeks ago we
had occasion to notice that a proposal for a small loan, re-
quired by the exigencies of the State, originated, confor-
mably to the Constitution, in the Chamber of Deputies,
and ended in an Act which passed the House almost
unanimously. To meet the charge of this loan, certain
appropriations were made, evidently the most secure and
least burdensome as it was possible to devise under exist-
ing circumstances. The
.Act was sent to the Upper
House for its. sanction, and there altered in such a man-
ner as totally to destroy the effect of the proposed object.
The Chamber of Deputies rejected the amendments pro-
posed by the Peers, and there the matter stood, when a
reference was made to the Constitution to ascertain how
the case could be decided. By the 54th Article of the
Charter it is provided that " if the Chamber of Deputies
should not approve the ainendments or additions of
that of the Peers, or vice versa, and the Chamber so re-
fusing should still consider the Project as advantageous, a
Committee of an equal number of Peers and Deputies
shall be named, and what it may decide shall serve to
form the proposal of the law, or to cause its rejection."
Conformably to this provision, a Committee, composed of
an equal number of Members from both Houses, was ap-
pointed and met, and, after a warm debate, separated,
without coming to a decision, each party retaining its opi-
nions, with a parity of votes. The project of the loan
was consequently frustrated,"though the Finance Minister
is crying out for money to meet the exigencies of the
war, and native capitalists had offered to advance it, on
terms advantageous to the Government, not to mention
applications from foreign countries. This result was cer-
tainly not provided for by the. Constitution, and we sin-
cerely hope that it will not hereafter become a topic of
cavil or complaint against it. At all events, the Portu-
guese Peers, if they are cordially interested in the issue of
the cause in which their armies are engaged, ought never
to have afforded to their enemies this and Other triumphs
it would not be difficult to us to mention. There is ano-
ther instance of that party spirit which has unfortunately
shewn itself in the House of. Peers, although yet, we are
glad to add, to no very great extent, which has evidently
alarmed the well-wishers to the liberties of Portugal. We
have before us a file of the 0 Portsviex, a new journal
started in Lisbon, on an enlarged scale, and evidently
conducted with great talent and judgment. The debates
in the two Houses are reported in a masterly manner, and
in the paper of the 13th instant, we have been particu-.
larly struck by the following speech of Count Villa Real, in
the House of Peers, on the 10th. We have translated it
literally, and afterwards we shall state the motives of our
astonishment and regret : _ _

" I avail myself of this opportunity to call the attention of the
Government to the position in which many officers are placed who
have been dismissed, and respecting whom no resolution what-
ever has been adopted. This is the more necessary, as not long
ago I noticed in the Gazette the reinstatement of two officers, the
one Dioclesian Cabrera, and the other Afargiochi. Ido not per-
sonally know either of them, but I know Margiochi by the prin-
ciples he sustained in the revolutionary Cortes—principles which
no one, devoted to the present institutions of Portugal, can sus-
tain with good faith ; and I know that Cabrera withdrew to Spain,
and, if he had been able, would have encouraged a civil war in
Portugal ; and whether it be with liberal, despotic, or Jesuitical
principles, I place all on the same scale who wish to deliver up
Portugal to Spain. In the meanwhile, in the Decree passed for
the reinstatement of these officers, expressions are used, injurious
to the memory of King John VI., by stating 'the calamitous
circumstances.' This is not speaking of the present Ministry,
which was not in the exercise of its functions ; those, therefor e,
are called calamitous circumstances, because a faction was thrown
down, which sacrificed Portugal and Brazil, and was the origin
of all our evils, &c."

Now, who are these two individuals against whom the
Count de Villa Flor raised his insidious voice in the House
of Peers, clearly for the purpose of sowing the seeds of
discord, of gratifying a pique against two of his deserv-
ing countrymen, merely because they once belonged to
the old Constitutional cause, to which the Count hap-
pened to be opposed ? General Cabrera, we answer, is
an artillery officer who distinguished himself during the
Peninsular war, and as Governor of Algarve during the
time of the late Constitution. He was always respected
for his probity and firm adhesion to the political princi-
ples which he, and the Government to which he belonged,
professed ; and when the
,Constitution was put down by
the revolted army, he went to Spain, to offer his ser-
vices against the French. The Constitution there meet-
ing with the same fate, he came over to England, where
he lived as an exile, till the late events restored him to a
home. Margiochi is an old Major of Engineers, long
a Professor of Mathematics in the College of No-
bles, and highly respected for his profound learning. He
was a deputy in all the legislatureS of the late Cortes, and
some time President. He came over to England, and
lately carried
.back to his own country a large stock of
practical information, acquired by an attentive examina-
tion of our institutions. These two meritorious indivi-
duals, against whom no voice could be raised in Portu-
gal but that of the Count de Villa Real, were a little
while ago reinstated in their respective ranks. In return,
let us now also ask, who is this said Count de Villa Real ?
We answer, Don Jose, usually known as the Morgado
de Mateos, was always attached to the Corps Diploma-
tique, and happened to be the Portuguese Minister in
London, when the Revolution in 1820 produced a new
order of things, and acted as such for some months after-
wards. He then took the oaths to the Constitution, and
sent a congratulatory address to the new Government, on
whom he then depended. He had previously been Mi-
nister in Spain 41819, and part of 1820, and La Chron-
ique Scandaleuse attributes to him certain plots at that
time hatching in Madrid, on which, for the present, we
are not called upon to enter. Certain it is, that as the
Minister. of a Constitutional Government, in a country
like. England, he was not considered very sincere or cor-
dial in his attachment to the new order of things, not-
withstanding his oath and congratulations to boot, and in
the course of time his Excellency was superseded, In

1823, we find him in the new character of an active parti=
san and abettor of the Marquess de Chaves, the chival-
rous hero of the day, and who, at that time, was engaged
in a crusade similar to his present one; and for his great
and distinguished services on that occasion, at the return
of despotism, the Morgado de Mateos was named Count
de Villa Real, in compliment to the town, which was, in
February, 1823, the theatre of the great deeds he per-
formed—in the Cabinet we mean—during that memorable
period. He had, however, too much prudence to join the
Marquess de Chaves in his new attempt; and till he lately
took his seat in the House of Peers, he was Envoy Ex-
traordinary at Madrid, and submitted to the Cortes a long
exposition on the failure of his 'mission' subsequently pub-
lished in the English Papers, which certainly did him
honour, as a Portuguese and Peer of the realm ; and those
who then admired his talents and patriotism, expected his
prudence would hare extended so far—if we may be al-
lowed a common expression—as not to open old sores, by
alluding to past times, whether they were " calamitous"
or not, more particularly when many of his hearers, and at
least one-half of the Members of the Lower House, as
well as the enlightened portion of the community, were in
exactly the same predicament as General Cabrera and
Margiochi—that is, had belonged to the Constitutional
system from 1820 to 1823. The term " calamitous cir-
cumstances," and so offensive to the Count, is one that
has frequently been made use of in reference to times
when the Portuguese nation was a prey to anarchy, or
overawed by a mutinous soldiery. It was equally appli-
cable to the situation of Portugal subsequent to the over-
throw of the Constitution—as, for example, in April,
1821, when King John was nearly dethroned, not to say
more, and his confidential attendant, the Marquess de
Soule, murdered in the Palace. The Constitutional
Charter ought, however, to have been the rallying signal
to all Portuguese; or,. in other words, those who intend
to support it ought to be divested of all party feelings;
the past ought to be forgotten ; and unless this is done,
and every one cordially and sincerely puts his shoulder to
the wheel, it is impossible to go on. At all events,
" oblivion of the pait," is a motto we strongly recom-
mend to the adoption of Count'dh Villa Real, in his new
character of a Peer of the Portuguese Realm.—Morning
Chronicle.

Ferdinand, we have no doubt, is sufficiently sensible
of the hazard of the hostility of England. What State of
Europe ever came into warlike conflict with England
without loss or disgrace ? And he is, besides, well aware,
that war with us would awaken the stupified energies of
Spain itself. The party which governed Spain, from
1820 to the middle of 1823, cannot be extinct. Those
who could subvert the pre-existing authority, and retain
the supreme power in their hands for three years and a
half, and who were overwhelmed only by the invasion of a
foreign force, cannot, in a few months, cease to be formi-
dable. Exile, and the dungeon, and the scaffold, may sup-
press for a time the avowal of' their sentiments and opi-
nions ; but the principles and feelings which animated
them before must exist in their pristine force, and hosti-
lities with England would be the signal for the bursting
forth of civil war in Spain. Ferdinand is not blind to
this danger; but thereis an opposite danger on the other
side. He is surrounded by fanatics, who are animated
with a deadly hatred to every thing bearing the name of
Constitutional Government. They would gladly rush
into war. They are ten stupid, and too narrow minded,
to see the danger in which it might involve them—but they
can perceive that it would gratify their bigotry, and that it
might give them the means of satiating their furious antipa-
thies and revenge. Yet these are the men whom Ferdinand
looks to as the bulwarks of his throne. If he displeases
them, where can he look for firm friends ? And how can
he displease them more than by acceding to the requi-
sitions of England ? The resolutions of Ferdinand do not
depend solely on his own preferences and absurd prejudices:
they turn more on the balance of his fears—the fear of
England, on the one hand—the fear of his own Apostoli-
cals, on the other. While French troops were round his
person, they made him independent, so far as he might
choose to be so, of the Apostolical faction ; his perional
safety was assured ; and the advisers of moderate measures
might, at least, speak with safety. Does, not the removal
of the Swiss brigade leave him entirely at the mercy 'of the
monks and bigots, to whom, and to whose influence, he
can alone look for protection and assistance ? How could
he now venture, even if he were inclined, to walk in the
paths of policy and peace ? The hold of France over
Spain remains; but her hold over the mind of Ferdinand,
over his hopes and fears, is weakened. Her power of
counteracting the workers of mischief is impaired : her
means of assisting them continue in full vigour. We are
far from saying that the evacuation of Madrid, by the
French troops, had any other than apeaceable object ; but
we say, that it is a measure which Machiavelian politi-
cians, who had war in view, might have adopted as a pro-
bable means of precipitating England and Spain into hos-
t iliti es.—Arcw Tinzes.