The National Register. — London, England, 1809-10-15 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. cone ive what cause .4 can be that the enemy have not ea long since ex felled from the Veninsula. Anfials: of Nations do Uotresent a sublimer instance of heroic de votion thau the inhabitants of Gerona continue to offer In the defence of theii country and city they brave all the horrorkof famine and fire, incessant alarms, fatigue and, consequent distemper. This is not a momilltary ebullition of spirit and zeal; it is a pure and inext:uguishab!e which, for months, has burned with greater and greater . ardAir, in the breasts of thcse generous citizens,,--the IT4rtll j and genuine descendants of that noble and free born race of weii, who, for two centuries, resisted the courage and discipline of the Roman legions! They, .svhlive. - fate aw !its their country, have laai tirt. , zuly eler- All claim to the admiration and esteem of mankind. Their devo:i t, and their example, their courage and persever ance, we still hope, will not be unavailable; and that a spark of the divine fire, which ghi , ts so intensely in their breasts, may still warm the rest of their countrymen. Co.abustible matter k not wanting. The Spaniards aieuot Ina cod, heartless, phlegmatic people, which sonic of our writers, to their own shame and confusion, have thought tit to represent them. They have courage; 0)(7 i„ love their counir f ; but their loyalty and bravery were not hitherto so well direried. In a word, the talents of their gove..nment were unadapted to the character and situation of the people. A nl3ll from Gottenburgh arr;ved on Friday. The let- tiers 1)1.0,101 by that coaveyance are silent as to the pre_ vise tenours of the terms of peace, concluded at Frederick- ' bm..een Itme:ia and Sweden. The prevailing opi. *ion, nivicYce, espresed in these letters is, that the stip- Nina h4s been tercet' upon the latter of shutting her ports to Brt:sh shipping, and her markets to British produce. There is no other aethority, however, for this report, than the supposition that the Emperor ALERANnER, from his boStilliV to this connicy, :led his submission to the view s of tiuoN pARTI7, would not consent to peace without this stipulation. We commiserate the necessity to which the Court of Stockholm is red uced of purchasing a peace upon terms as ioitirioui to its honour, as they arcs destructive to the commercial interests of its subjects. If it has signed the obnoxious article, it Itid so, we have no doubt, reluct antly ; and under the impression !bat a refusal might occa sion - tire complete overthrow of the monarchy. The pre ii!mt King- is an intelligent and moderate man. We knors to estimate the advantages of a free intercourse with this country. He relies upon the good sense and generosity of our government; Nitta the professions made by Air. CANNING: "That our Cabinet had no objection to Sweden treating with her enemies for a peace." But this stipu- Jation is a dead letter in a commercial, though not in a po litical, point of view. The season is rapidly approaching, when the element& would have interrupted the relations lietyteen the two countries; and when the Baltic is again savigahle, *llollld we occupy one of the Danish islands, carry on as active a commerce with Sweden, and ether parts Of the Baltic, as we did before. The Swedish iGovernment will not he very vigorous in enforcing a con- Aition which is prejudicial to Swedish industry. We refrained hitherto, from motives of very 'excusable elicacy, to comment upon the motives which led to the late duel between Lord CAsTLIF.IItrAGH and Mr. CANxING; or to givean opinion upon the merits, or rather demerits of either part,. The correspondence which passed between both, now tieslNfore the public. Lord CASTLFueArol'i letter fully states the grievances his Lordship coinplaMed of; and his friends .have not. been remiss in advocating, h;s cause. Mr. CAN vt.in observed, as long as he retained the seals of the Foreign Department, a profound silence ; and his friends imitated ;Os d'seretion nod delicacy. The public waited. with ;sox:eh, for the . justification of this gentleman against the char —el of duplicity and intrigue, which had been pro- PCT. 15% fusel . ) , bestowed upon him; and, at last, as teaplanetion appeared on his part, of the Inotives. which induced him to insist upon the removal of his Lordship; and an attempt to justify the concealment. He did not answer, certainlyo the abuse and misrepresentation which a Secretary of one of the parties had employed against him ;—be knew and de spised the partial source, whence these charges originated —but he gave a simple, Uiseasstouate, and unornamented statement of facts; .and left it to the ca :dour of the public to judge his conduct and motives. This, at least, was ho norable; aed, coatrasted will the vielence,lndeceucy, par aad acrimony of Lord CASTLEREAGH'S friends, throws a favourable light upou his conduct in the late trans act,on. We thought lit :o make a distinction in the above passage, when he imputed violent and indecent conduct to the friends of Lord CAST LEREAGH ; for we cannot be lieve that the latter would counteeance such an indecorous moue of proceeding. The-principal complaint alleged by Lord CASTLERF.AG/1 against Mr. CANNING, is contained in the foilw.ving passaee of his Lortlihip's letter I have no right, as a public man, to resent your demanding,. upon public grounds, my removal from the particular °lice 1 have held, or even .from the administration, as a condition of your continuing a Memb:r of the Clovernmeut. Bet I have a distinct right to expect that a, ropasition, jus t iciable in itself, shall. not be executed in an unjestiliabie muanuer, and at the expellee of . my honour and reputation. And 1 consider that you were beund, at .tease, to avail yourself of the R same alternative, namely, your OLI re:fl . ip:at:oe, to take yourself out of the predicament of practising such a deceit towards me, which you did exercise in demaedizig a decision for my removal." This is ; though we do not entirely agree with the latter part of the reposition. Let us now see what Mr. CANNING opposes to this charge of deceit. " With respect to the concealment, Mr. CA N.. N 'NG, some short time previous to the date of Lord CA S.. TLER EMIR'S letter, without the smallest suspicion of the existence of any intention of. the part of Lord CASTLE.. R FA(:/1 to make such an appeal to Mr. CANNING as that letter contains, but upon information that some misappre sion did exist, as to Mr. CAN N ti's supposed concurrence in the reserve which had been p racut , ed towards Lord Caereeiteac ir, transmitted to one of Lord CASTLEREAGH'S most intimate friends, to be communicated whenever be might think proper, the copy of a letter addressed by Mr, CANNING to the Duke of PORTLAND, in the month of July, in which Mr. CAN Ni .!'n request, in justice to him self, that it may he remembered, whenever hereafker this concealment shall be alleged ias he doubts not that it will) against him, as an act of injustice towards Lord CASTLE. It I.AG/I, that it did not originate in his suggestion; that so far from desiring it, he conceived, however erroneously, Lord CAMDEN to be the sure chaueel of cinmuunicatioa to Lord CAiTLER EAG I/ ; and that up to a very lateperiod, he believed such commuu:cation to have been actually made," Air. CANN iNG concludes with the following passage: What may have been the reasons which revei l le ( ' L o rd CASTLEREAGH'S friends from fulfilling the assurances given to Mr. CANNING, that Lord CAST ELLSLE AG LI'S mind should he prepared by their cornmunicat'ons for the arrangement intended to he carried into etli!ct ; and what the motives for the disclosure to Lord CASTLER EAGII after that arrange ment had ceased to be in contemplation, it is not for Mr. CANNING . tp explain." Such is the purport of Lord CASTLE• C A Gli'S accusation and of Mr. CANNien's defence. We must observe, however, that the explanation, which has already appeared in the. papers, has not been published, as far as we can learn, with the :Approbation, orpermissii.in of Mr. CA N N !NG. It is 11t) more than a bulletin, whte had circulated a considerable time in the higher civelea, and was written to satisfy the curiosity of that gentlenum's frierk, in order not to incommode him during the fryer oil-fish/li ed by his wound, by answers to their inquiries. It may therefore, be &Assumed that be has not stated his case Awc