The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1824-02-18 00:00:00

and the ins I tO w ith Os° vice rite'. if in With nari- ks:u° mks, fact tu te Pr'rt the bigots who encompass him. But what good can such a umlaute, and at such an interval of proscription, now a ccomplish in Spain ? Some other measures of the same east have, it appears, been pressed by the French Cabinet, a nd among thou the convocation of the ancient Cortes. Bathe Etude, while it announces this, takes great pains to irove, that this body, even if assembled, would have nailing of representative freedom about it: " its sole Wit (this Journal states) would be to grant or to " limit the subsidies which the King asks. In other " aspects (it goes on to say), the King is legislator. Tse Cortes have only the faculty of requesting him to " ism such or such a law, such a necessary reform, &c." Thisia only in part true, as regards the ancient Cortes, for they bad and exercised the right of altogether granting or refusng subsidies. So far back as the time of Charles V. the fortes of Arragon refused to give their unction to a subsay for the war with Francis I. of France, until their gnomical were first redressed. After repeated menaces a nd remonstrances, which were unavailing, the politic Chales promised the redress on the grant being voted; butan the Cones trusting to his faith, and voting the sub sidy, be dismissed them without any redress, and never summoned them again during his long reign. We would wish m see the Cortes, under any limitation, summoned in Spain. Once assembled, mutual collision would soon call forth • proper feeling ; they could not, and would not, be the abettors of the present iniquitous despotism that degrades Spain. The very order from which they must be amass are all attached to the Constitution ; and the sum moning the t'ortes, under any limitation, therefore, would afford great hope of amelioration throughout Spain. (From the if onifewr of Sunday, Feb. 16.-oflicial Part.] PARIS, FEB. 14. A telegraphic despatch from Madrid, addressed by the Ambas sador of Finance to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, dated the Idth of tide month, announces that the King of Spain his just signed a decree which grants the liberty of direct trade of the Spanish Colonies with all nations, on the footing of an equality of duties. I From the Efoik of Monthy.l PARIS, Fell. IS. A treaty has been made with Spain for the free commerce of all nations with the Colonial. (See the Telegraphic Despatch). The thirty-rout millions due by Spain to France are recognised, and the treaty the the occupation signed. It is said that the Marquis de Tahiti will have the blue ribbon. The arrival of the Marquis de Meta Florida at Paris is uwonted, who is going to Tunn as Minister film die King of Spain. The drat regiment of infantry which is in gamma at Mont Louis haa received orders to enter Spain. It is going to the Seu d'Urgel ; and the battalion of the Mith of the line, which is in the latter plade, goes to reinforce the garrison of Violent*. The Erbile declares itself positively authorised to contradict, as destitute of all foundation, the story of the assassination of eleven prams by twenty-two rubbers, in • farm-house at Cormeil, near • MADIIID, Jaw. r• We sir assured that the Decree of Amnesty will be published, and it is necessary that them may be • fixed law of goverment, be with the ntodifications which the restoration requires. The men who were faithful till the forced oath of his Majesty, and afterwaeds behaved in a prudent manner, will obtain his Majesty's chimney. and be restored to favour. The convocation of the Ancient Cortes is spoken of. This na tional representation is not to the taste of our liberals. Its sole right is to grant or to limit the subsidies which the King asks. In other respects the K ing is legislator. The Cortes have only the faculty ed requesting him to Issue such or such • law, such a ne cessary reform, Ise. The oath of Grand Justiciary of Arr.igon, &oda) many other things which the democrats have vociferated to give strength to their popular sovereignty, were only ruin forms. The Cortes made laws and even regulations, bdt according to the will tithe Sovereign. To mom that there was nothing popular in the Cones, the most ancient of which we have any knowledge were ,composed only of the chief Nobility and murmur Clergy i they nude the civil and ecclesiastical laws. Such were the Cortes under the I lothic Kings. The introduction of the Representatives of cities is of more mo dern date, and this right of representation was by some tides only to which the Kings bad granted th l r favou r, with • view to counterbalance the power of the two other branches, which went too be, and wanted to eclipse the ttovereign. Lord btagent brought on his motion last night respecting Spain; pod his propositions, as was to be expected, were negatived by a large majority. With the sincerest respect for the lcharaeter and principles of Lord Nugent, whose whole political career has been most honourable and disin •tarestetit we regret he suffered his present feelings to in -valve his jut sow Ss a swift of this description : what ever itaimerits may have been, the time for its discussion bad prised by ; this country is now little interested in the fate th at befel the Spaniards ; they did nothing to pre serve their own character and freedom ; their Cortes and Govern tnent were alike contemptible ; they talked of liberty, 'but ha:l neither the manhood nor resolution to defend that, or the . country, as they ought. It would have been the height of madness for our Cabinet to have plunged Great Britain, into war, to maintain a Constitution within the Pyrens sees, to which a large proportion of the inhabi tants o f that nation were themselves opposed, and which its ad vacates had set up and declaimed upon without adopti , ag any decisive measures to defend it. Sir Wil- Lam 'Montt, in his negociations with the then Fo reign Minister, San Miguel, and subsequently with 'General Alava, was, we are confident, influenced by the 'best i atentions. He knew the character of the Spaniards ; he maw the materials of which the Ministry and Cortes were composetl ; he was aware that no effective prepara tions were made against the invasion threatening on the front lees, and that when the Constitutional Government was beleaguered in Cadiz, its last strong hold, little hops existed of any successful resistance being offered; and therefore that any concessions that could be fairly rube to moderate the Constitution, and still preserve the nalNy of liberty within Spain, would have been equally wise and prudent. Who can now any that such would not have been the policy an honest and able Ministry in that unh:lppy country ought to have pursued ? If they, with the Cortes and people, were prepared to defend the Con stitu bon to the last, at all hazards and at all risks, and that 'no treason or disaffection existed around them, then concession to a foreign enemy would have been alike weak and Unworthy. But how did San Miguel and the Mi nistry—who entailed the war of aggression they might have avoided—set when it burst upon the country ? They wrote idle notes of defiance when they ought to have armed and disciplined all that was sound in the population ; they were declaiming at Madrid, within the Hall of ithe Cortes, and at the Landaburian Club, when the French army was in the very heart of the country. They and their predecessors saw, for three years, invasion thickening on their frontiers— a cordon so- Itilivare, succeeded by an army of occupation—and at length hostility openly announced by the French Monarch at the opening of the Chambers in the spring of 1523, and Yet they made no real effort to defend the country ; not a mountain pass was fortified, a road broken up, a guerilla corps in motion, or the opposition of an hour made to the advance of the French armies nn Madrid. The Cortes and , Ministers soon after fled, with the wretched Ferdinand a captive, to Seville ; and during the night-marches of Hour de.oult through the Sierra Momma, not a solitary gue rilla band was placed there to offer the slightest opposition, , though they might have acted with decisive effect; on the subsequent flight to Cadiz, that important place was wholly unprovided, and almost defenceless: had Hour- 1 desonit, on arriving before it, possessed a battering train, or even matte energetic advances with the means he had, the Troesdero at least must have fallen. No naval force there, or at Coruna, Vigo, or any other port, existed to 1 keep the sea open. A few French frigates and brigs were sufficient to blockade all the ports of Spain, and title triumphant in the Mediterranean. San Miguel and his Afinistry declared war, left Spain open, and almost de-' fenceless, and then resigned ; it was almost the first ex ample aftbrded, of any Ministry deciding on a contest of the description, and then suddenly abandoning its conduct to others. What was our Cabinet, under such circumstances, to do? No gratitude on the part of Spain had attended our former efforts for its preservation, though our whole force was then put forward for the purpose. We could act no middle part: either we should have been neuter, or at unparalleled sacrifices have made the same exertions again : and fur what ends ?—to maintain, at ■ monstrous waste of life and treasure, a constitution, the very framers of it could not uphold themselves, and to which thousands of the very Spaniards themselves were opposed in arms. Thus we should have had not only to arm against the French ttoops, but against the very inhabitants of Spain, which we professed to defend. It is now clear that the advice given by Sir William A'Court was the most prudent that could have been followed, and the melancholy result has shewn the monstrous infatuation of San Miguel and his colleagues refusing to modify the constitution, where they were not prepared to defend it, whole and unchanged, by force of arms; the ruin that since has followed is the result: the exile and proscription that have awaited the followers of the Constitution, and the un heard-of misery that has been entailed on wretched Spain, might all have been avoided by some timely conces sion, as nothing else could have been done. As to the blockade of Cadis by the French force,—until the right of one belligerent to blockade the ports okanother is denied, there could, in that measure, have been no ground what ever of hostility by this country. Altogether, the course pursued by our Cabinet, we can have no hesitation in say ing, was the discreetest and beat, when we look to its conse quences. War has been avoided, peace has been preserved ; the preservation has taken place without any loss of na ' tional influence or national honour, and the advantages and blessings that have followed in the train of the latter have been invaluable; they arc now felt and estimated in the rising prosperity of this great country—in the increase of its trade, manufactures, and resources—in the reduced burthens and growing wealth of the people at large—in the confidence and content that is gradually pervading every part of the community, bringing with them present happiness and future resources, for that day, when it may again be necessary to arm for the maintenance of the real character and independence of Great Britain ; not on any light or Quixotic grounds, but when the national quarrel becomes necessary and unavoidable. That such a contest may long be absent from these shores, is our fervent wish. Peace is now the salvation of this country ; its blessings are invaluable, and will, we trust, under the dispensation of Providence, be yet preserved for very many years to come. An interesting and satisfactory document from the Trea sury, has been laid before the House of Commons, this Session, and printed by its order. It contains an account of the nett income of this country and Ireland, for the year ending the sth of January, 1824 ; with an account of the balance of public money remaining in the Exchequer on the sth of January, 1823 ; the amount of money raised by additions to the funded or unfunded debt in the year, ended Sth January, 1824; the money applied to wards the redemption of the funded, or for paying off the unfunded debt, within the same period ; and the money remaining in the Exchequer on the sth of January, 1824. This document is made up according to the present form of the public accounts, and takes the shape of a balancel sheet; so that the whole income and expenditure of the country meet abs eye at once. This is a satisfactory mode of statement for the public at large ; and a review of this paper affords a gratifying picture of the rising wealth and resources of this great country. The income for the year, paid into the Exchequer, amount, to the sum of 57,672,9991. Ba. 44d. This large amount includes—besides the produce of Customr, Excise, Stamps, Taxes, and the Post-Office, with the other comparatively minor assess ments-766,6661. 13s. 441., money received in repayment of the loan due by Austria, and paid by the late Con tractors here into the Treasury, and another large sum of 4,675,000 paid by the Trustees of Military and Naval Pensions, after deducting 175,000 included in the remains in the Exchequer on the Sib January, 1823—which sum goes to the discharge of what is technically termed, in Parliament, the dead weight for the year; while, on the expenditure aide of the balance-sheet, the country is charged only on this account with a sum of 2,800,0001. Long Annuities, into which the decreasing charges under this head have, by a resolution of the Legislature, been commuted : these annuities remain almost perpe tual ; while, in ten years, the dead weight of the Naval and Military pensions, by the deaths of individuals now receiving them, will be lessened one half ; and, in ten years more, sink into almost nothing. The total amount of the expenditure on the balance sheet amounts to 50,962,0141. 17s. 11 id. ; the increase, as we before stated, to .57,672,9991. 84. 4id., leaving a surplus of 6,710,9841. 105..5 d. paid into the Exchequer above the expenditure of the country, applicable to the Sinking Fund, and a reduction of taxation beside of near two mil lions, affording, in prospect, a most important relief to the country. This paper exhibits, in a most satisfactory view, the rapidly increasing resources of the empire. There is now an actual Sinking Fund, really applicable to the re duction of the national debt, which, if peace should last for some years to come, must make a moat serious inroad on this great, and once almost hcreeless, incumbrance. Each coming year must also witness new diminutions of the public burthens ; while our resources are, at the same time, progressively increasing, and the finances of the country acquiring confinned strength and stability. This is a most gratifying and cheering prospect ; a striking con trast to the gloom and despondency that, some few years since, settled over Great Britain, and carried such univer sal depression in its train. That such a state of things may long endure, the country each year increasing in pros perity and rising in resources, is our sincerest wish. Con tent, confidence, and national happiness must all follow with it. IS'e have received letters from Bahia of the 17th of December, and from Pernambuco of the 31st. At Bahia, on the arrival of intelligence of the events at Rio de Janei ro, a protest was prepared and signed by several indivi duals, expressive of their disapprobation of the Emperor's conduct in dissolving the Legislative Assembly. (In the 17th, however, a general meeting of the principal persons in Bahia took place, on the invitation of the Government, to consider what steps ought to be taken, but nothing oc curred except the passing a resolution to consider the pro test above-mentioned as null and void. Those who had signed it addressed the meeting, principally with the view of exculpating themselves for having done so, by alleging that they were not aware at the time of the real state of the case. It seems that a strong party exists in Bahia, dis posed to adhere to the I:mperor under any circumstances, so that it was probable the tranquillity of the place would be preserved. Affairs remained nearly in the same state at Pernambuco as mentioned in the last arrivals. The decree for the expulsion of those Portuguese who had not taken; the oath of adherence, was carrying into effect, and a ship; was prepared for their conveyance to Europe. FASHIONABLE /IVMLLIGENCE. The %ice of Norfolk entettaned a diuinguished party at dinner esterday, at his house in St. Jaimes-aqu:ir.•. Count Lieven will have a dinner party this day at Ashburnham louse. The Duke of York will have a grand dinner party to-morrow, in table yard. St. Jamees. The Marquis of Cholmondeley had &dinner party on Monday, in Piccadilly. Lord Carrington has issued cards of invitation for a dinner party on Sonday next, at his house, Whitchift. Mrs. Benyon entertained a select cirue of fashionablcs yesterday, at her house in Grosvenor-square. Lord Saltoun had a grand dinner party on Monday, at his house' in (treat Cumberland-street. The Duke and Duchess of Leeds left the Clarendon Hotel, Bond -street, yesterday, fur Brighton, for a short time. The Marquis of Chaados .has left town for his scat, Wootton, Bucks. Lord Francis Conyngham left town yesterday for Windsor. Dowager Lady Brownlow has arrived at her house in Hill-street, Berkeley-square, front Brighton. The lion. Colonel Lowther, 31. P. arrived yesterday, at his house, in Bruton-street, Berkeley-square, from the Earl of Lona dale's seat, Cottesmore, Itutlandshire. Sir Abraham flume, Ban. has arrived in town from Brighton. The Duke and Duchess of Bedford left town yesterday, tor their seat, Woburn Abbey. Dowager Lady Alordaunt has arrived at her house in Hereford street, from a tour. Thomas Aston Smith, Esq.lll.P. has arrived in town from Rut- Mr. and Mrs. Thomas arrived yesterday at the British Hotel, Jcrmyn.street, front a tour. Departures front the Waterloo Hotel, Jermyn-street :—Lady Collyer, Mrs. Idy and family, for their seat near Southampton ; and the Hon. Captain Rous, R.N. for Newmarket. Departures from Lon 's Hotel, Bond-streti i—Captaln Corry ' for the late of Wight; William Courtenay, Eaq. for Newmarket; Major Hall, for the Continent and Captain Hamilton, for Windsor. Dowager Lady Templetown has arrived at her house in Port land-place. Sir Richard Carr Glynn, Bart. and family have arrived at their house in Arlington street, fur these-aeon; from their sae In Dor. eetshire. The Earl of Powis has arrived at his house in Berkeley-square, from his seat, Wrileot, Salop. Sir John and Lady Shelley have arrived at Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-square, from their seat, Merestield Park, Sussex. THE KING. WINDSOR, FEB. IG.—The Duke of Wellington left the Royal Castle at an early hour this morning, for London. The Duke of York left last night, between nine and ten o'clock, after dining with his Majesty and a select party, his Royal Highness declining to stop for the evening party, at which there was some select pieces of sacred music per formed. Among the dinner party were the Princess Au gusta, the Duke of Dorset, the Duke of Wellington, &c. This morning his Majesty, attended by the Duke of Dorset, took an airing in his phaeton, and proceeded up the Long Walk, inspecting the great and extensive works that are going on, in rides, walks and pleasure grounds, leading to, and surrounding the King's Lodge. His Ma jesty gave some fresh directions. It is expected his Majesty will leave here on Wednesday for London. Yesterday afternoon at four o'clock, the Duke of York, as Commander in Chief, held a Levee at his office in the Horse Guards, which was attended by the following Ge nerals :—Thc lion. Robert Taylor, Lieut.-General Spencer, Major-General Sir Thomas Bradford, Major-General Sir Patrick Ross, Major-General Ramsay, and about twenty others. Last night the I)uke of York honoured Drury-lane Theatre with his presence to sec Lodviska, Sintrson and Co., and the Cataract. Yesterday the Princess Sophia visited the Duke of York. Last night the Duchess of Kent honoured the Italian Opera with her presence. Yesterday Mr. Iluskisson had an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. Wynn had an interview with Mr. Secretary Canning yesterday. The Marquis of Titchfield, we are happy to hear, bad a good night, and was considered much better. The lion. Miss Fox, who has again been much India.. posed, is getting better. • Ou the 11th inat. - Charles OgilviMet. lot Bt. Peter's College, Cambridge, was caned to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Gray's fun. Saturday last Joshua Rowe, jun., Esq., was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of the %nee Temple. The Spanish General, Morello, arnredixt this city the day before yesterday; where it appears he will reside for tome time. We have seen a private letter received yesterday from Paris, width mentions that a consultation of physicians was held on Saturday evening at Pads, respecting the state of the King's health, which gets worse daily. The result is stated to have been extremely unfavourable.—Star. ANECDOTE OF CARDINAL GONLELVI. — Tbe Journal d'Amvers contains the following anecdote of the excellent Cardinal Gonsalvi, which it publishes on the authority of a Belgian, who learnt it at Rome, from the Cardinal's phy sician, in 1821 :—" The Cardinal was attacked by a chro nic malady ; three physicians were consulted, who, on be ing required to give their opinion, plainly declared that the disease would terminate in death at a greater or km period, according to the method of life which lie should adopt ; but they unanimously counselled him to quit public affairs, be cause, in his situation, all agitation of mind was fatal to him. Messieurs,' said the Cardifal, if I follow your advice, and give miyseif up to repose, how long will you give me to live?" Six years,' replied the physicians. And if 1 continue to transact business?' Not more than three.' Your servant, Messieurs,' rejoined the Cardinal, I would rather live two or three years in active exertion, titan six in idleness.'"—Constitatiottel of Sunday. In our observations yesterday on the proceedings in Par liament, it was erroneously stated, that Mr. Baring opposed the repeal of the Usury Laws. The Hon. Member spoke in favour of Mr. Sergeant Onslow's bill, and contended that no class of the community would be so much bene fitted by the measure as the country gentlemen. The subscription for the National Monument of Scotland goes on prosperously. Upwards of tf,200 rubles have been transmitted from Scotchinen residing at St. Petersburg} towards the proposed object. The Committee for building the National Scotch Church have requested us to state, most positively and distinctly, that there is no truth in the report of Mr. Irving 'a inten tion of leaving London. On the contrary, they are about to lay the foundation of the new church, in Sidmouth street, Foundling Hospital, of which Mr. Irving is to be the Minister. Since the agitation of the egricultiral question in Par !lament, during the last Session, one of its most staunch advocates has received au addition to his fortune of up wards of one hundred thousand pounds, by the death of an uncle. RECENT AFFAIR or lIONOUR.—In Consequence of pub lications in the Newspapers, on the subject of a message sent by ➢dr. Thomas Spring Rice to Mr. Waller O'Grady, for expressions used by the latter on Saturday, the 7th in stant, it is felt necessary to publish the following authentic document., and it is hoped that the public will not regard any representation of what passed previously to the execu tion of this document, unless it is made under the signa ture of the original seconds, Mr. Franks and Baron Ro beck, or either of them:— `• It having appeared on investigation, to Colonel Talbot and Captain Webb, on the part of T. S. Rice, Esq. and Waller ('Brady, Esq. respectively, that Mr. O'Grady is in error, in con. ceiving that Mr. Rice offered hint his hand on Saturday last, which Colonel Talbot, on the part of Mr. Rice, denies; therefore, on the part of Mr. O'Grady, Captain Webb retracts the offensive expres sions which Mr. O'Grady uttered, under a false conception. " R. TALBOT. " R. WEBB. " Merton-square, Monday, 9th Feb. 1824." BRISTOL Clizstaxis or COMMERCE.—The deputation from this body, and the deputation from the Corporation, have returned from London. The object of both (the reduction of rates to a level with other ports), is likely, we understand, to be accomplished, and in a way perfectly sa tisfactory to all parties. The Corporation, after having established what they considered their rights and privi leges, have agreed to concede to the wishes of their fel low-citizens the prayer of the petition of thp Chamber, by bringing into Parliament a bill which shall enable them to regulate all five, &c. to the standard which maybe thought equitable: and thus the great object will be obtained with out an excitement of angry feelings, and without a = l ets expenditure of money.—Gloaccster l'aper. FOREIGN n'7`FLLIGI7NCE. FR ENCII PAPERS. The Pcris journals of Sunday arrived L•y exprer4 last night; from which the following are extracts:— [From the JO r pea Ido Davis.] GREECE. SMYRNA, JAW. 13. We have been informed to-day, that a squadron, equipped at Constantinople in December la s t, f or suet outing our city, has been almost annihilated by a tempest. in the Marmara Sea, north of the Dardanelles. It is added, that five frigates and sir brigs We run aground, and that the rertutindcr were rendered unlit for aerate. This has given much joy to the Greeks. The Turks here have not yet committed any excesses against the French or the Greeks. The correspondence between the Puropean Consuls resident in this city and the Senate of the little isle of Irani, or Parma, is about to be published. The first is a resolution by the Consuls, declaring to the Primates of the isles of Hydra, Ipsara, and Spezzia, that the safety of the national European establishments at Smyrna required that the Greek armaments should abstain from all hostile expeditions in the Gulf of Smyrna, comprising the Isles of Curiae, to the main points of the Gulf on the north and south, and direct ing them to proclaim it. This resolution was made at Smyrna on the 12th December, and signed by the Consuls of France, Cog. land, the Netherlands, and Austria. It was accompanied by a letter from the Consuls to . the Primates, inviting them to make the resolution known to all the Greek ships, as well these of war as corsairs, that they might not attempt any thing against the Gulf of Smyrna, so that the great dangers which would result to the inha. bitants of the city might be avoided, who, already threatened by the Turks, would certainly be massacred by those barbarians. The Primates are reminded of the example of Count Orlof, command ing the Russian squadron in 1771 at Paroa, who respected the Gulf of Smyrna on • similar requisition by the Enropesn Consuls; as also the conduct of Admiral Duckworth during the last war of Great Britain, with the Turks, who complied *ith a like invitation. The follbwing letter, dated 18th December, was sent by the Senate of Paarra to the European Consuls at Smyrna " Sim,—The Commander of the Aniarandie delivered to us, on his arrival, your letter of the 13th instant ; by which we Scare the damages that have been done by our countrymen to the Turks, whose wrath has bias thereby exalted against the Christian Rajas' mid the Europeans; and the trade with rnrope has been cone.' quently impeded. " These circurtittances have induced you to require of ms, not to pursue our enemies any further in the gulf and passages of Smyrna. " We are most anxious to comply with all that you require of ns, but the duty we owe to our county!, to the rights of war, and espe cially the orders of the Greek Government, are opposed to our good will and to the accomplishment of your desires. We even feel ourselves obliged to add, that by the rights of war we never will cease pursuing the Turks on all sides of their dominion. If afterwards, irritated against us, the Turks should persecute the Christian Rajas and the Europeans, that will only prove their bar barity, which would tread under foot all the rights of humanity, and the laws of citilized Eu rop e which is able, if it were willing, to protect by force the life and honour of all the Christians, and we are persuaded that It *ill do io, without requiring us to cease being the enemies of the Turks. " Be assured, Sirs, that our countrymen well knew how to re spat the European name, and that we shall neither disturb Smyrna nor its passages if we can only see the flag of Europe 'ty ing, and the Turkish 'fag not suffered to °Enid our sight. But Smyrna forms part of the Ottoman Empire, agair.st which we have been fighting for three years, and we will not cease using against them all the means in our power. If the Ottomans wish not to he disturbed, they must determine open paying to us a tribute jpro portioned to the losses which they have sustained, and will yet sustain, if Gad assist, us. This tribute paid, they may then live in full security, without fearing to be disturbed by us in the Gulf and passages of Smyrna. "You are not ignorant, Sirs, how much we desire to be again ranked amongst the number of civilized nations of Europe; nor is it unknown to you that this war by no means resembles the wars of the Porte with Russia, or England; this being a national war, is diametrically opposed to them. " Persuaded, then, as we are, that our rights are known to you, we beg and entreat of you not to require of the Isle of Purrs a thing contrary to its duties, and to the rights of • national war. "'You will certainly be more inclined to succour the Christians than the Ottomans, and you will receive, we hope, with good will, the respectful sentiments of our countrymen and especially our chiefs." PETERSBURG'S, JAW. 23. By a ukase of his Majesty, the silver rouble will be taken during the present year for three roubles and sixty kopeks in paper at the Imperial Customs. ODESSA, JAN. 26. By letters from Constantinople, dated !the 13th January, it ap ' pears that the new Grand Vizier, (ialib-Saida-Effendi, had not yet entered upon his functions ; they pretend that he is very ill, and that there is little hope of his recovery. Others say that he has met with strong opposition in the Divan, because of his con. eillating character. This is not unlikely. The Diplomatic Body are dissatisfied with this state of affairs. They have already given him a successor, in the person of Hayad-Bey, the same who was exiled by Hakd-Effendi in 11121. The Porte is very uneasy at the slowness of sho Persians in ra. Alf 'lug the Lt trudy of peace. We learn that Carysto has been taken, and that ISI-wrot was upon the point of surrendering. We arc assured that Lord Stranitfbrd has been authorised to continue his mediation between Buena and the Perm _ _ (Fran the Courtier Frotaesis.l PARIS, Fell. N. If weem believe the Male of this evening the Restourador, • journal nearly as famous in France as in blailrid, has been sup pressed, for having given an article from the Journal de Midi, in which it was said that a party we. organizing in Spain for the pur pose of plating the Infant, Don Carlos, on the throne, in the room of Ferdinand VII., and that the Police of bladrid had dis covered in a Convent of FTWlCinillt, some proclamations in favour of Don Carlo& The Resturrador, in republishing these facts, combats them energetically, and expresses itself in indignant terms on the injurious imputatious which it contains against Don Carlo' and the Spanish Clergy, vho, says the Reriarratior, would preach obedience towards a Nero if be were a 4441124 e Nowareh. Notwithstanding these recommendatory principles, and the flattering witness which they bear to the Spanish Clergy, the Etoile pretends that t h e article in question caused the suppression of the Reriaurador. PORTUGAL. Yesterday we received a file of Lidjon Gazette: to the 3d inst. The following are extracts:— Lisisovr, JAN. 30. Thovel we do not hear that the Government has received any official information of the glorious events mentioned in letters from Rio de Janeiro, of the 20th of November, which have arrived to-day from Gibrietar, we are full of the pleasing hope that they will be confirmed ; anti we therefore announce, with inexpressible pleasure, that among others there is a letter from Gibraltar, of the 19th inst., written in the house of Messrs. 31orrogh and Waish, which con. tains an extract of one from Rio de Janeiro, of the 20th of Novem- 1 bee, in which it is stet d, that "in consequence of a bad understand.' ing bet seen the Emperor and the Representative Assembly of Brazil, the latter was dissolved by a decree of the Prince, dated N0v.12, &c. We trust that Providence, who so visibly watches over this kingdom, will, in a short time, put an end to its misfire. tunes in both hemispheres. JANUASY 29. The Cazdge of this date contains an extremely long letter (eight columns), sent to the editor for insertion, on the subject of revolutions in general—which, says the writer, are al ways preceded by corruption of manners: in illustration of which position the writer reviews the history of the world from the time of the Homan republic down to the present day. The following is an extract : ' The late revolutions of Spain, Naples, Piedmont and Portu. gal, after all the examples which we have quoted, and others with which history abounds, as they caution us against the mad spirit of our times, shew us also clearly, how powerfully, and bene ficially the paternal government of a King, the most conformable to nature, contributes to the preservation and happiness of nations, of which they are the real fathers, May these examples bealways present to the memory of men, since they evidently prove, that all efforts to establish a visionary and impracticable liberty, only lead nations to opposite extremes, that is, to despotism, slavery, and barbarian'. The supreme dignity of a King. the majesty with which he is environod, his supenor fortune, his cultivated education, the knowledge of the affairs of the state, the identification of his own happiness with that of the people whom he governs, all this really seems to secure him from the influence of mean passions, of petty interests, to which the inferior classes and the assemblies composed of such elements are subject. This made the great Sully say, in his Memoirs—. If Wisdom descended from Heaven, she would rather reside in one head, than In the heads of a society of different persons.'" Tits Buss or Kr N T.-1 he Monumental Statue of his late Royal llighness the Duke of Kent, erected by spe cial permission of his Majesty in Park-crerct•nt, Portland place, will be officially opened for public inspection by the Kent Commemoration Committee on Saturday morning next, at ten o'clock. Mr. Nfacready appeared at the Belfast theatre fbr the first time on Nlonday se'nnight, in the character of Virgi aims. He has since played Ilanuct, Othello, and Macbeth, with the success which his coninianding talent deserves. We understand that there are several native American merchants now in Manchester, purchasing goods for the interior of the new republic of Colombia.—Gfasgow Chro nicle. The Bailiffs of Tewkesbury, in compliance with a requisition, have convened a Meeting of the inhabitants of that Borough, to take place on Thursday nest, " for the purpose of considering the propriety of petitioning Parlia ment to ameliorate the condition of the negro slaves of the British West India Colonies, and ultimately abolish the system of slavery at present existing."—Gtokeester Journal. Thursday, at a general meeting of the inhabitants of St. Michael's parish, Bath it was agreed to petition Parliament for the repeal of the Lyles on inhabited houses, windows,': and male servants, more particularly clerks or book-keepers, and shopmen, warehousemen and porters. TO TIM* EDITOR OF TAR Bairn* IMES'. Si e,—The fairness and candour with whickyou usually enter on every question connected with the public interests, convince me that you will not make the anise of West India slavery an exception. Advocating, u you do, oir. most occasions, the cause of fr ee d om and humanity,, it Is with some reluctance that I find rayed, reduced to the we- ' c:ssity, on cilia great question, of entrt acing you to disabuse' • your mind from the influence of prjudice. and to do jus tice to the efforts of Mr. Wilberforce and the aboliticnists, who have not, nor can have, any other object than to put an end to the debased and degraded state of the West India population, which no Christian can look upon with out pity, nor any honest than contemplate without shame. It is very easy for Mr. Ilibbert, who I readily admit'. he a most upright and respectable man—it is easy for Mai and for others, who, like hiM, have grown rich by this tem of relentless despotism, to throw the blame of its intro.' duction on the Government, while they reserve the profit. of its continuance to themselves. As agent to die Jamaica proprietors, Mr. Ilibbert has funds placed at his ilevotion . to buy up the support of the daily Press as far as he is able, sod to pay the stipulated price of its aid t., every newspaper whose columns are at the service of the best bidder. But the interested abettors of slavery will fled themselves incapable of opposing the steady resistance of the public mind in England, to a system of perpet aid war with the principles of justice and the righter& the huMari race. It is very esti) , for any set of men to slander their opponents, when they have no resource left in reason or in argument. It costs nothing to calumniate the_ abo. _ litionists ; but to abstain from turning the sweat and blood of their Negro labourers into the last shilling of exchange— able produce—this costs something ; for it demands the surrender of a source of income which they are not prepared to sacrifice. We are told that the measures in prospect towards the emancipation of th'e slaves in the Wise Indies, will be productive of the most serious and ti. c e n e e rive consequences. But when was the time when this omi nous result was not predicted? Twenty years ate., Omit the abolition of the trade in slaves was under • ci,cussion; it was then urged, with the utmost warmth of areinnenta that the vessels employed in the slave trade werea nnrsitfe seamen, and the speedy downfal of our maritime supe4 riority was counted among the first of the many direful consequences which were predicted as inevitable. Even the Christian Scriptures *ere ransacked for authorities in sup port of this most unchristian traffic; and the Bible- itself was put under. contribution to furnish texts in approbation of a system at war with every precept of religion and e ;try prime:- ciple of morality. In fact, there is no influence that weld be obtained—whether by false alarm or by false argument, that has not been resorted to. lam free to admit that the great 'West India proprietors may be men df humanity, with a very fervent love of indepentleuce, as far as their own exemption from constraint and controul is concerned. But they are not upon ,the spot ; they neither see wish their own eyes, nor hear rith their own ears • they know nothing of the treatment of their " prac:leallabOurefs," as they term them, but reside here in ease and opulence. satisfied when remittances increase, and suffering the slaves to settle the balance of misery with their task-masters. They pro fess to accede to the justice and expediency of gradual emancipation—but unless when Parliament and public feel ing is strongly excited, they never, of their own 'accord, stir a step to promote it ;ter make not a single effort to accomplish what they so readily acknowledge to be de sirable. That the Colonial Assemblies will do nothing effectual towards a permanent change of system is certain. What they have hitherto done to this end, does not indicate a waste of strength, but a matt of it. Mr. fitephen, in Mt newly published volume, entitled, The Shivery (4 . the British West India Colonies Delineated, his sbewn, with % force of reaenning not to be refuted) that, if even they had the will, which they have not, efficiently to reform the present system of plantation mat , lagement, they have not the power. " The Aseetilblies, says this able writer; whose information is moat aCcurete, and llamas exertion* in this great cause have been undeVitting and indefatigable-4 " The Assemblies, in the intoner Man& at least, are geoerally composed of d ep endent fot their sabidatenCe on the specie, po m p om ' t o be I and to whose hopes in life the inunallbed correction of it *on be fatal. They are, beside', too illtinuttelV oseseated with, and dependent on, the small free conimtinttlestbiy represent, to oppose themselves dm wheat to their general voice or to venture on measures so offensive to their white brethren, at all effectual laws would be, the objects of *Nib wronedly,wasoln raise the Degrees in the social.acale, and by preparing a future abolition of slavery Itself, to reduce the proud and gainful . arty a the privileged class. lifeliorring Acts, incapable 11 c r e eil g enforced, and known to be framed fur the sole put wee of avert ing Parliamentary interference, are easily borne with; but the man who, in one of those petty Assemblies, should attempt to realize the .benevolent ideas and plans of the British Government, would be a herby philanthropist indeed. If be slid not escape, like the late Barbsdoes missionary, by bight, he would probably have to feed the fames of his own mansion kindled by a popular torch. " The late destruction of the Methodist chapel In Barbadots is too plain an illustration of my meaning, to be here passed unon. tined. It was an ou trag e perpetrated openly in the face of the sun ; and, u has been stated without contradiction, continued dinint; two successive days ; and this in the title town, the seat of the local Government, which durst not interpose, I say dun; not, because it is due to the Governor to presume that he would hay.: upheld the authority of the laws, and the respect due to himself se b:a Majesty a representative, but for the fear of greater mischief. Ile bad, no doubt, as usual, a military force within call ; but the petits biases, or white mobility, of Blidgeolllll, were too fontoids, ble to be opposed. They have also, it seems, since expressly net the laws and the government at defiance. A black mob which sets tire to acane.piece, is punished, we may observe, in that country, with the slanghter of hundreds of the rioters in thy field, and nittl. titudes afterwards on the gibbet ; but a *bite mob may pull dos n buildings in the capital town, without resistance, and - brave the government afterwards , with perfect impunity and triumph. " The bold Innovator whom I have imagined would have also to confront dangers, or rather to submit to certain eateaequenee% net less deterring, though of 1l different kind__l mean sued, as would affect his own private property, or that of his employers, and thi security or satisfaction of their creditors. " Here I build on ground not yet fully rescind from comet. rem and popular mistake. I ask no credit, therefore, I repeat, for these views at present, but wish only that they should be under stood. What I mean is, that the members of these insular Amon blies, being en an average, I think, about twenty in number, and in some islands considerably leas, are for the most part either planters deeply encumbered with debt. or managers and other de:. pendenta of such planters, Non if slavery cannot be lightened and progressively abolished, without present sacrifices iuch as they cr their nerdy em loyers cannot afford to make; if, for instant..., labour must be lesatx.ad, and sustenance increased (without whien the fatal decrease of plantation slates by mortality cannot be pre vented), at the pride of reducing the sugar crop*, and augmentino the current expenses on estates that barely now enable their owner to keep down the interest of the intumbrances ; upon what prieci_ pie can it be expected that he or his manager should propose or vote for laws, by which such painful sacrifices would lee im posed.' Not upon a feeling of humanity, certainly; for that would have:led to their voluntary adoption—not On a provident re gard to the future interests of the estate, for it must soon male lo be his. "The case of the constituents, too, is not in general different. To a large pmpcition of the planters in our old sugar colonies, prr sent diminution of net proceeds would infalbblj induce a spe...dy foreclosure or sale. " These views doubtless she* the difficulty of effectual refo , n to be extremely great. It is a truth that I have never desired to eeal or ettenuate. To Parliament itself, the work would be diffi cult to reconcile the relief or preservation of the slatea with the pre sent interest of their owners, and the rights of their mortgagee• ; but td the Assemblies, it would be quite impossible. In that nire.t essential point of reform, the enforcing an adequate allowance f food from the planters to their slaves, some of them have virtually, if not expressly, avowed it." That the Colonial Assemblies there, will not barnr thetnselves to forward the viewt and wishes of the BritiOt Parliament, is certain. Their interest, u well as tin it inclination, bends all their effiirts the other way. From such persons it is vain to expect any thing like sincere and honest co-operation. But the great body of Slue Proprietor.; put forth a pro position, the equity of which they affect to think ir c4ntestable. Take our estates, say they to the British Government, into your own hands; and, if the English public wish so earnestly for the emancipation of the Slaves, let them exercise their love of mercy at their own cost, and take the Sugar Plantations of the Colonies under their own management. Let them take our estates off cur hands 'at a fair price, and then make experiments at their own hazard. Thus, they reason on a proposition which tbi v well know will not be actTpted, that they may fortity themselves by its re-action, in the cuntinuance of a s)ritin which ought not to be endured. No doubt the British Parliament should proceed with cautious and measurid steps, but they should, and I trust, they will proceed. But were the work of reform left to the ('olonial Assemblie-, they would not proceed; they would appear to do so, but it would be only in appearance: we should have nothing but a false march, in which the legs are prejected, lu. _~ 1