Star. — London, England, 1822-12-16 00:00:00

.. i . . FRANCE. !t PRIVATE LETTER. PARIS. DECEMBER 15. The King, who for some time wavered with re spect to the policy of a war against Spain, has of late become quite decided, since he has heard the opinions of many General Officers respecting its dif ficulties; and particularly since he had an interview with the Duke of Wellington. His Grace is said very frankly to have informed his Majesty, that the enter prize might fail of success ; a:a: whether it succeeded or not, it could not be otherwisethan injurious to the iaterests of France; and that none were so desirous ; seeing it undertaken as the most implacable ene rMes of the Bourbons on both sides of the Pyrennees.' In presiding at a Council on the same day, his Ma jesty took an opportunity of informing the Ministers of the war party of his views. " I see with pleasure," said he, dissembling his knowledge, " that my Mi ni.ters are all inclined to match in the route marked be my President of the Council. Such is my wish. His policy with respect to Spain is mine."— ;':e crusaders crouched and consented. The article in the Jolly mai dcs Debats of to-day, announcing the ehantionmeet of every warlike project, will he inserted i t tine Moniterir of to-morrow, and will thus decide public opinion in favour of the !reservation of public tranquillity. It is said, that a General commanding cee of the divisions cf the Army of Observation made lately a report on the spirit of his troops, which pro dnced a great effect in the Cabinet. He mentioned, that he could not answer for them if brought to fight for the Inquisition ; that they disliked their new friends . . of the Army of the Faith , a nd could not, he wail afraid, be induced to consider themselves as the auxi liaries of monks and smugglers. The arrival on the frontier of the host of wretched creatures without in ins, and almost without clothes, undisciplined, ig norant, and ferocious, who fled before the coostitu tienal force of Mina, was not calculated *to remove their first impressions of the folly and madness of essisting them to establish their system. The Regency cf Spain, :ravelling in a diligence, and Secretaries of, f3-.ate seeking refuge in the hamlets of a neighbouring State, were not likely to give them a high idea of the cause for which they were to draw their swords.— Nothing can be more ludicrous than this, if we ex cept the loan of the Regency. M. Ouvrard has returned from Verona to Paris, without having as yet obtained any sufficient gua rantee for his loan. The only Minister that coun tenanced him at Congress was the Pore's Nuncio.— llis Raman Exceliency is said, on the part of his Maser, to have °Gies! the Paris Banker the revenues of the Spanish Convents, as a guarantee. This, it would aprear, was not satisfactory. Probably M. Ouvrard thought, like the Inca of Peru, that the Pope could not well give away what was not his to give. The Holy Alliance is understood to have breathed its last at Verona. It existed just so long as the Princes of which it was composed had no separate in- 1 terests and no opposite views. It was extremely har- • monious when it had only to settle the state of the petty Princes of Germany, or to urge the passing of laws favourable to the power of all Sovereigns. When the Greeks chose at a very awkward moment to rebel against the 'forks, and to excite the suspi cion of the Porte against Russia by invoking her pro tection, Austria and England said that the Alliance, though of the most holy kind, did not bind them to admit of the Russian aggrandizement, to which the interference of the Emperor Alexander might lead. They therefore continued to support the Peace and the Turk. The Spanish Constitution displeased some portion of the French Government. These wise per sons desired leave to put it down : England objected, but France obtained the licenses which she is afraid to exercise. The Emperor of the North urges the war in the West that he may gain his point un disturbed in the East. He does not succeed, and will therefore pursue his own projects independent of the Holy Alliance. England, that discouraged the Greeks, seeing this, will now assist them to obtain their friendship, and thus, both in the West and East, oppose the projects of Russia and the Frerch Ultras. FROM THE JOURNAL DES DEBATS OF FRIDAY. The preservation of peace between France and Spain now appears to be certain. We congratulate ourselves to have no longer to examine the right of intervention, nor the chances which might have ac companied its exercise. The severe truths which we have spoken on these questions no longer need be re peated, for all enlightened Royalists have adopted them ; and the petty fraational opinions which shall reject them will doubtless consider it proper to cease cries which are made in vain. We have now a different duty to perform. We have to make the Spaniards understand their position with respect to France, pacific but not disarmed— % ids respect to Europe, which is no longer immedi ately alarmed by the Spanish revolution, .but which is still afflicted at it, and which, in renouncing the uncertain means of armed intervention, will not fail to make unanimous efforts for the termination of a state of things contrary to the principles of order, of peace, and of civilization—which are the constant aim of the existing policy, and the object, truly holy, of the grand alliance of the Christian Powers. In the first place, Spain may be convinced that thel feeble military means at the disposal of her revolu- 1 tionists have not made us reject the idea of an armed inteivention. That determination on the part of , Powers incomparably superior to Spain, could have uo other motive than the conscientious conviction of the impracticability of obtaining in that way the ge ueral welfare of Europe, or the particular welfare of Spain. The upright and firm policy of the arbiters of peace and war dues not recede from obstacles, but' from the fear of causing evils as serious as those' which it is wished to tertuirette. It is not weakness , that bends, but wisdom and force that pause. But atter this motive for military inaction, what ulterior views can tie Poweis have as to the future in-Spain? We perceive only two possible views.— One is a cruel indifferance, which should regard it as useful for the rept easion of the extravagant ideas of the democrats of Europe to allow the Spanish reac,sl lotion to devour itself, and to petish by the ruins of s s o wn . excesses, under the ruins of a destroyed mo narchy and a desolated country ; the other would be magnanimous hope of prevailing on Spain to listen 'at the counsels of friendship and the advice of expe rience—ot saving, by a pacific hitercession, those nu met OM classes of victims, proscribed and incarcerated, whose only crime is the not partaking in the opinion which is for the moment triultiphant ; in fine, of re calling torthe rank of a eiviliied State that generous nation, which, within the walls of Cadiz, so gloriously resisted the usurper. of the throne of the Bourbons, and first cast a mortal dart at the flank of the Colossus which oppressed Europe. • The wishes ot France cannot he doubtful. The hereditary magnanimity of our King., the national generosity, all our sentiments unite with all our inte rests, to make us desire that Spain should again be come a powerful and rich monarchy, possessing a good navy, and be flourishing and tranquil. We know, as well as the Spaniards, that to secure to their country these advantages, it is henceforth neces sary that they should have a vigorrars and a wise system of liberty—a Constitution capable of guaran teeing the rights of every individual, and of assuring to the enlightened part of the nation the superin tendence of public affairs. We are far from coun selling Spain to purchase repose at the expense of her liberties; and we do not hesitate to declare, that the re-establishment of absolute monarchy at Madrid would prove only a new source of alarm for Europe, and of misfortune for Spain. Can the Spaniards deny that anarchy is now com mitting in their country more terrible excesses than were ever exercised by their Peter the Cruel, or Tor• quemala ? Can they deny that the absolute power at present legally assigned to the Authorities, anni hilates liberty, safety, and tranquillity ? What indi vidual is safe from imprisonment, and what prisoner ' out of the reach of the fatal hammer (martillo ) ? Are not the tribunals controled by the tumultuous pies of a mob, who dictate sentences of death to a magistrate? Are not the clubs the daily theatre of shameless declaimers, who make a sport of exciting the passions of a blind and erring populace ? Do not the soldiers every day revolt against chiefs, who, having themselves sa lately conducted them to revolt, can no longer invoke the principle of obedience? Do not towns—nay, whole cantons—refuse any longer to pay contributions? Such is the disorganization, I will not say of the Government alone, but of the whole community. Will it be said that it is a foreign Power which, in supporting the insurrectionary armaments, is the cause of this disorganization? But insurrections exist in the whole interior of the monarchy—in Provinces the least accessible to foreign influence; Merino, in Old Castile ; Joann's, in Galicia; two or three Chiefs in the mountains of St. Ander ; Zaldivar, in Anda lusia; Jaimer, near Murcia ; an entire corps of insur gents in the mountains of Teruel ; are all these sup ' ported by foreign aid ? No, it is the spirit of persecution and political into lerance which multiplies at all points, and among all classes, resistance, insurrections, and plots, of which not one bears any resemblance to the other, whether in the end or in the motive. A perfect fury for in quests, condemnations, and proscriptions, seems to have possessed the Cortes since their establishment in 1820. Whoever does not think like them on all sub jects is an enemy—a traitor. They search into the past, and every where see only gun:sr persons to search for and punish. Of ten or twelve little Ministerial coteries, who have attempted to seize on power in the six years, from 1814 to 1820, none appear in their eyes less guilty than others ; they pursue equally those who sent them to the gullies and those who released them. Even the most wise and liberal opinions, let them diveri4e ever so little from the infallible system, become political offences. Positions enforced by ne cessity are imputed as crimes. The Josephinos are condemned, though the friends of Constitutional Mo -1 narch y ; the Poles arc condemned as the partisans of despotism, though they only seek to revive the an cient Cortes. No public man can preserve his repo ! tation for patriotism ; a Jovellanos, a Toreno, a Mar tinez de la Rosa, is in turn decried, and their wise counsels repelled with horror; the heroic Quiroga, and the dirine Arguelles, fall into disgrace. What do I say ? The Ministers even of the 7th of June, those so pure deseamiswlos, are at present attacked by the party of the Zurriago, in the celebrated Journal which bears that name. The eternal war of parties, and even of the frac tions of parties, would of itself sufficiently explain the agitations to which Spain is a prey. But much more serious :causes have carried civil discord to its height. An imprudent law, relating to religious dog mas, has deprived the church of half its property. The Monks who had so nobly rushed forward in defence of the national independence beheld themselvesignomini ously driven from their peaceable asylums. Here was a numerous class injured in two points—its in terest and its honour. Then, again, the proposed Act relative to seignorial rights, which the King twice refused to sign, but which, it is feared, will be brought forward again next Session, when it will acquire the force of a law, excited alarm, not only in the Nobility, but in the possessors of funded pro perty, to whom it threatened a diminution of their income, and also the imposition of an extremely irksome fiscal. inquisition. This proposed law con vinced a large mass of men of all classes, corpora tions, and even whole towns, that in every well organized society it is necessary there should be some protecting power, which will guard acquired rights against the spoliative innovations of legislative power misled by spirit of system. Whether this guarantee ought to be sought in a royal definitive veto or a Chamber of Peers, or in a new institution appro. iate to Spain, is not here in question : we may merely point out a Powerful cause of civil discord. Finally, the insults heaped upon the persons of the King and the Princes, sometimes in the clubs, at others under the very windows of the Palace, could not fail to alarm every Spaniard who is attached to a dy nasty which has become national, and to the heredi tary monarchy, upon which depends the only hope of preserving at least some portions of the Spanish coloeial possessions. So many and such weighty causes of discontent sufficiently prove that it is to her own rashness, to her own faults, and not to the acts of foreign Powers, that Spain ought to attribute the ills to which it is a prey. It is not a natural right, and even a duty of good neighbourhood, to induce Spain to put an end to these troubles, which are to us, indisputably, a source of inconvenience, and even an object of expense; Spain alone can do this. She can accomplish it utqer the auspices of her King, so worthy of her respect, and so anxious for the happiness of his people—she can accomplish it by adopting a system of concilia• I tiuu and ot moderation towards all partiesr—by gua- ranteeing all rights and tranquilliiing alkiaisting 'things, and by placing h er re-orgailised laaninistra- Ilan on the basis of a better balanced Constitution; What mutual advantages might. not Spain' and France derive from this change! The Spanish colo nies who wish to remain independent, might vofun- Itarily take upon themselves part of that immense public debt with which the revolution has loaded Spain, and which so alarms public opinion, that even the certainty of peace does not improve the state of Spanish funds. The most advantageous coarse possible which circumstances could permit would then be taken for Spain. Perhaps a ilispano- American confederation might be formed under a protecting Emperor, as M. Golfin has proposed; at least intimate treaties of alliance might be formed with all those States ; and since, most fortunately, Mexico and the greater part of Peru adhere, as much tosthe forms of monarchical g overnment as to their independence, it would at least be possible to erect there two new thrones for Princes of the blood of the Bourbons. To bring about this conclusion of the American revolutions, Castilian pride will admit that the support of "a naval power is necessary. But if Spain refuse to adopt measures a hundred times more useful to her than to France—i;' she persist in disturbing us with the confusion of civil wars, then will Europe be compelled to exclu.le her from the community of civilized nations; to suspend all diplomatic and social relations, to shut every port against the Spanish flag, and on the contrary to re cognize the States formed in America; finally, to consider Spain as a barbarous country, similar to the Empire of Morocco, or the Regency of Algiers. TN E I.IV h ( STA It. LONDON. MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1822. THE FUNDS. STOCK EXCHANGE, HALF-PAST TWELVE. The market opened this morning at 81i but the moment it was known that Expresses had arrived from Paris, with the price of the French Funds on Saturday somewhat worse, Con sols lowered to 3 i 6. The French Funds were at 90f. The private information states the fall of the above Funds is entirely attributed to the different speculations in the French market. — Consols up to this hour 81 h. i hihhib iu i 1t FO MUGS FUNDS. A great bustle took place in the market this morning. New Spanish opened at 60, but the moment it was known the Ex presses were in from Paris, the above Stock lowered to Pi 57 5711 ; and, up to this hour, it is 58i j. Current Prices :—Chilian 78k, New Spanish 58j, Old 70, New Prussian 864 87, Old 86k, Russian 86, Danish 90, Nea politan 784 79, Colombian 72, Peruvian 79, Spanish Scrip 63 to 7 dis. PRICES OF STOCKS-AT ONE O'CLOCK. S per Cent. Reduced 79%8 74 80 8 1 h per Cent. 92-4 per Cent. Old, 97 1 / 4 Y 2 Bank Long Annuities 20 3-16 1 / 4 India Bonds 365. 375. 345.—01 d Annuities 79 1 h Exch. Bills (C 1,000) 4s. ss. 3s.—Small 4s. 6s. Consols for Acct. 81 3 A3 1 / 2 811/4 The French Journals of Thursday and Friday are quite pacific ; and there seems little doubt that the French Government has escaped the rock on which it. had so nearly have been wrecked—a war with Spain. The Journal des Debats, .no bad authority on these matters, says: " the preservation of peace be tween France and Spain now appears to be certain." In another column we have given a long and an im portant article from that Journal, which may be con sidered a:-; setting the question of war at rest. It is curious to see how hard the French Government has to labour to extricate itself from a former rash avowal; for certainly there has no event occurred to justify such a change of policy ; and if France ever had cause of war against Spain (which we deny she ever had), it has not been removed. The change in the French Cabinet has been attri buted to the Duke of WELLINGTON, who possesses the entire confidence of the KING, and who, as will be seen by a private letter from Paris, to which we refer, frankly stated to Louts XVIII. the dangers of war, and that whether it succeeded or not it would be in jurious to the interests of France. It also appears that the Army of Observation could not be relied on in a war that had for its object to bring both France and Spain back to the despotism that existed pre vious to their respective Revolutions. The influence of England in thus saving Europe from the horrors of a war which would probably have been as sangui nary as any that has taken place during the last' thirty years, sheds a glory on the administration of Mr. CANNING, which his predecessor in office would never have acquired—for it is not too much to at tribute the important change that has taken place in our Cabinet to the influence and talents of the new foreign Secretary. Accounts from Paris, dated Saturday, state that the Duke of WELLINGTON is likely to remain some days longer in that capital. The French Funds suf fered a slight depression on Saturday, in consequence, it is believed, of the conflicting speculations of the different parties in the money market. This forenoon we received three Hamburgh Mails, with Papers to the 11th inst. but they possess little interest. The following are extracts : BERLIN, DECEMBER 7. Extraordinary Sensation has been excited here by the melancholy and wholly unexpected news of the death of the Prince Chancellot Harderiberg—an irre parable loss, especially at the present moment, not only for the Prussian Monarchy, but even for Europe. The Prince's hotel has been surrounded the whole day by crowds of anxious inquirers. The official papers of the deceased Prince have already been taken care of, by order of the High Authorities. The State Gazette declares that there is no founds• don for the statement given in the Constihtionnel, of Paris, that Dr. Schleiermacher has been dismissed from his office. ST. PETERSBURG 11, NOVEMBER gr. his said that Prince Menzikow, Adjutant : General, has been sent on a special mission to Moldavia and Wallachia. • Mr. Von Labun, Counsellor of State, and Vice, President of the Academy of Arts, is repotted to have received orders to quit the capital. The roads are so bad at present, that the foreign mail lately arrived 56 hours after the time. • • The post from Moscow has brought news that a quantity of goods, among which are many parcels be longing to the first German houses, has been unexpect edly placed under seal, by Commissioners sent from the Custom-office here. The cause is not known, h.t was supposed to be connected with a large parcel cf • printed calicoes that lately arrived at Moscow. This event has thrown the merchants of Moscow into con sternation ; the result is impatiently expected. It is said that orders have also been sent to Liehan and Riga to make sequestrations there ; the affair excites extraordinary sensation here. The warm and rainy weather has caused the ice to disappear, and the bridge over the Neva is replaced. El.aatsoßGH, Dec. 10.—Ex. on London, 36 : 5;,. 36. 8.1. - , ST. PIITERSISURCH, Nov. 26.—Ex. On Loodoi , dani, 9L.-I'arib, 104.—Ilamburgh, 9 1-16. Dutch Papers to the 14th inst. have reached A private letter from Pott-au• Prince - says, that seve ral houses there had resolved not to send away any more goods to Bremen, but to Amsterdam of ltotte:- dam, because their ships must stop at Brake, and cannot get up to the city, whither the goods are con veyed by lighters, and as the masters of these vesseis are under no proper controul, great lossesare sustained. AMSTERDAM, DEC. 13.—Exchange on London, 3'9. 1 I.—TAo months, 39. 8. We bate received Brussels Papers to the 14th in stant. An article from Trieste, of the 2,6 th mentions a report of the Turks haling set fire to Missolongi—that the whole of Acarmciia leas' un desolated with fire and sword, as well by the Grs . :6;s as the Turks. A private letter from Inspruck says positively t':•.:t the occupation of the Two Sicilies will be continucc:, and that the Allied Powers will 4ecide in the .errcl when it shall cease; and that Piedmont will be ev. - .- cuated by the Austrians, except Alexandria, %%Lich they will keep for three year. We have heard from another source that Picdmort is to be evacuated by the Austrian troops in tinee equal portions; in January, in May, and in August, of the approaching year. Of the Austrian force Naples, about half is to be withdrawn immediately, and a more moderate rate of contribution for the support of the . remaining half to be promptly adopted. The final evacuation of this kingdom however, deferred to that period when it 44 may be considered safe and expedient." The following are extracts: BRUSSELS, DECEMBER JO. We learn from the frontiers of Ft once, that a Royal Ordonnance has just been published in the depart ments, calling out all the_ young soldiers of the class of 1821, who are disposable at this moment. This new levy, in addition to that of 40,000 men of the class of 1822, will produce a considerable augmenta tion of the army. TRIESTE, NOVEMBER 24. Letters from Ancona, of the 19th, announce, that the Turks have advanced as far as Missolongi, and that the Christian inhabitants have fled into the moun tains. The Turks, it is said, have set fire to Misso- longi ; and, in general, all Acarnania ha, been deso lated with fire and sword, as well by the Greeks as by the Turks. Hence it is believed that the want of provisions will not permit the latter to remain there any length of time. FRANKFORT, DECEMBER 8. The Oriental Spectator contains, under the head of Smyrna, 30th November, the following paragraph : According to private accounts and certain ar rangements which have been made, and which har^ come to our knowledge, the Ottoman squad:, 0 will not return for some time to the arsenal at U s ...* stantinople, and perhaps it will winter in the Arch.- ' pelago, where it has excellent harbcurs to retire to, as those of Lemnos, Paros, &c. Thus it will be able to watch the motions of the fleet of the InsurgeuLs, and to baffle their projects." _ _ A new Journal has just appeared at Mayence, !n the room of the old Gazette of Mayence, which ‘‘.li lately suppressed by authority. The Editor is c•) longer Professor Lehne, but Mr. Groch signs as le sponible Editor. However, each number will uuJel,,J a most rigorous censure before it is printed 9f to-day has already rejected the ancient r botto It the Mayence Gazette—Fiai I.u.s. Drc. 2.—Metalliques 31 1-6—Bank Shares 963 f. Die. 3.—Bletalliqueb b 3 Shares 93.; We have received the Madrid paper s of the ;;,i :tad 4th of the present month. They are chiefly occ:Tied with the sittings of the Cortes, io k o y.-ever, nothing very important has occurred. On theld, the 'Cortes took into consittLraticti t!;.! report of a Committee appointed to examine tl:c do sion of the Fiscal in the cause arising out of the ith July, with respect to the cieet,tion,..whtther capitulations granted by the Brigadiers PAI an