The Sun. — London, England, 1820-12-06 00:00:00

F')REIGN INTELLIGENCE. BRAZIL. ,A packet has arrived from Rio de Janeiro, 'bringing ativices to the 3d October. The fol. lowing -extracts of letters contain an accurate sw il l-mu of the intelligence from that quarter " SEe7.ll.—This ,Morning the. French squa dron; consisting 'of the Colustus of 80 guns, the Galatea frigate ` of 52, and the Echo corvette of quitted" tirti's port. The two first will' ::,•coutinue their cruize, and their next destination Btrenos-Ayies. • The corvette conveys M. -144iIebaud; • the French Consul, to Bahia, from '-‘syhence it will repair to Pernambuco, to leave M. 1:*10, - , tire, Vice-Consul, and afterwards, return to 'rance. The final destination of the other two NEisseis cannot .be 'ascertained : from a declaration made s however, by some of the o ffi cers, that they - :shall revisit thisscity within six.months, it is con ectnred they will double Cape-Horn, and pro ce'rtd to Lima. The lottg stay Of, this squadron, it is said; has beeti, viewed with some jealousy by t'he King. ...The equipments are i.ery splendid ; .so.much 'so, as to.aPpear destined for some affair 'of parade rather than for warlike operatiOns. The nurnber _ of officers was cOnsiderable ; and the crews, who were habited in white on festival 1 -d i ays, and in blue on working .days, seemed, for reach sailors, to be in highrcondition. The-ex lense in provisions, incurred during their stay, was very great." • s' 21.—The Americans, it seems, are to be beforehand' with us in acknowledging the independence, of the South-American Govern ments. The Constellation frigate, which is ,just arrived from the-United States, has, it is.under siood; a Minister on board for 'Buenos-Ayres, - which is a virtual- admission of their rank, as a separate state. The Constellation will after- Ards proceed to,Valparaiso, or Lima, to.relieve the frigate stationed there, and to protect their trade in the Pacific . .. 4 3 SEPT. 30.—We have very late news from Spain by the AchilleS Spanish brig of war, which arrived here on the 22d instant, in 39 days, from Cadiz. The object of her voyage is 'to convey three Royal . Commissioners, with proposals to the Government of. the River Plata for a recon ciliation: These CommisSionerS 'are Don. Manuel Martin - Ma.these, Officer of the Navy ; Herrera, Colonel of Artillery'l and Conlin, who formerly was in the employnient of the Phillipine Con party, but in this mission bears the title of Secre . tary "de Decretos." The particulars of their sf:ructions are not known; but from certain , hints, . Ah.d from the tendency of the Spanish news papers, there is no doubt but that they act on the T old, and With them invariable principle, -of' the acknowledgment of Spanish Sovereignty. -' If so, these Commissioners might have remained at borne, for they may rest well assured' that on that principle their mission • will be perfectly fruitless. " OCT. I.—The Icarus sloop of wat sailed, for Europe on the 28th ult., with specie On board. flys Majesty's ship Conway arrived here the same day, under orders to explore the land newly dis . - coxered to the south of Cape Horn. " According to the latest intelligence from Lima, it Would seem that, a Revolution is on the eve of - breaking out in Peru. Many families of .causequeTice have taken the alarm, and have left it to take refuge in the mother country. An 'English. vessel, which arrived .here in GO days from Lima, has -many of these individuals ou boa - rd. It was known there that a visit from the C4ilian troops was §hortly to be expected, in consequeiiceof whic'a the Viceroy had demanded a million of dollars from the merchants, who im mediately paid that sum." ITALY, A Letter has been received from Genoa 7 con tainingthe-follOwing Proclamation, said to have been circulated in Piedmont : 44 TIFEJTALIANS TO TILE PI EDYIONTESE ARMY " Descendants of the Conquerors of •Guastnlla, who wottld then base achieved the independence of Italy, bad not the French Allies Woken their faith tolling Charles gmanuel— genertois defenders'of the Alps, whom ,the eye of the great Captain of the age distinguished amidst the racks of his vast army, acid whose voice conferred on you- the title of "'tllus trioas in the field of victory, and faithful in the dale of mis fortune"—soldiers of Piedmont !•froni your lore and from your courage we claim protection .fur '' Numerous troops of Anstrians descend. into Lombardy. What would they? They hold already under their yoke four millions of Italians. They seek, to haet the same degrada tit,n on the people of Lombardy, to, Spoil them of their oriel cut heritage and theii recent glories - .. NOr this all ! They meditate to bernsne the arbiters of the - political - institutions of all Italy; and they desire that the German baton ineiy.be.the sceptre to which every Italian must bend. . . Soldiers of Piedmont I —Victor Ethantiel, your Captain and , your King, cannot be iguorant of. what is demanded by the presefirstate of society in Europe; and would' be present hinir self in the chafacter of a prudent govirnor of his people, will found the independence of 'his crown on the universal attiehnient of the Italians. This -is the point principally feared 'by the AUstrians. They, will not use threats, which would'be listened to by the niagnanimons • Mouarch with dis dain -Limit artifice, subterfuge, and treachery ! Their slumbers will not be tranquil till they have rendered Victor Emanuel odiotis to all Italians, for the purpose of . iroposittg chains on Lim a'nd them. Who shall frustrate this' wicked design ? Swear to be true ItalianS,to be for ever Italians, whatever may befall, you,_ and this lot is - yours. Your 'hearts abhor, a civil war—yoUr hafottets seek other breasts 'than t he breasts of your brethren, Your thoughts turn to the greatest glory 14 it can attend an army, that of deliveriog your country from the iron rule of foreigners. Soldiers qf Piedmont!—When , that day - shall dawn'which you deem liropitious to this great undertaking, let your drums wind to the 'charge, and.all the - bells of Italy shall answer then)." • PORTUGAL. Ovoirro, Noir...l6.—fiaiin.g_ received tO-day, the Diitrio do Governo of the nth inst. we hasten to print and- circulate it, in order to tranquillize• the public, and to calm,those apprehensions which the-iiriperfect, very yartons, and very incorrect accounts of the events of last Saturday might justly excite in the minds of ail prudent persons, - who. , cannot view with indifference. what is pass : ing:L:f Here follows the account of the Address, of the •Judge of Lisbon to Gen. Texeira, request ing him.to have the Spanish Constitution:pro ! . - - : Raving published the above Representation we 'pow give; to satisfy the public curiosity, the re solution which the body Of the four-and-twenty (Casados rinte equarlo) of Lisbon had previously, taken on the Subject. It is as follows : • " It was. uniformly represented by them all, by virtue Of the poWers with which they are le gally invekted, and as Representatives of all the Corporations (Greinios) of this 'City, they required that the . wise and worthy Preparatory Jtinta should be informed, that it was the opinion and', wish of the said Corporations, - that the Ilempers to represent the nation in the Cortes should be elected without distinction • from the general, ,mass of the nation ; that to obtain this end, the same,. forms be followed as- are fixed by the Spanish Constitution, only changing it inasmuch as relates to the population, because this is the wish of the enlightenedjovers of their coun try, corroborated by the experience of the eood result in .Spain itself; and, consequently, any idea ought to be rejected of a convocation such as was formerly practised, the effects of which' would : render useless the honourable efforts gloriouSly made.to obtain a free Constitution suitable to the ideas of the age and to our wants ; and they urgently request the worthy Junta to take into serious consideration the present•wish, as repre senting the desire of a considerable numbdr of citizens belonging to , the said Corporations, lovers of their Sovereign and their country, whom they - desire to benefit by the fortunate moment, and unite for its happy political regeneration. VERISSI4IO JOSA DA VEIGA, Clerk (Escrivao.") And the representation of the garrison of Lis bon Was as follows. " The military corps of the garrison of Lisbon knowing, by the annexed certificate (vide supra) that the People of this capital had already made known to the Provisional Preparatory Junta of the Cortes, that it desired our first National Congress to be convoked in the manner fixed' by the Spanish Constitution, uniting in the ge neral wish of the natistn, they respectfully intreat the same wise Junta, by the medium of the Offi cers whose names are hereunto annexed, to con sider the wish expressed in the representation of the People as their own, since they find theabove method of convocation is the only one which can conduct us to the attainment of a liberal Consti- tution. '" Lisbon, Oct. 27, 1520." [The Signaturesl The Proclamation of the Government to the Portuguese nation, with the scheme proposed for the election of the Cortes, was,dated the 31st of October ; and the circular letter, with- instruc tions to the Magistrates who were to preside at the election, was dated the Bth of November.. The Judge, - Joavo Alves, communicated, on the Bth, the above document to General Texiera, requiring his concurrence ; and it is to these same documents, hitherto unpublished, that the same Judge alludes hi his other letter to the General, where he says, that the Preparatory Junta- had not acceded to the wishes of the People and the Army. SPANBIi LITERATURE. Before the late revolution in Spain, there was , ; at Madrid but one Gazette, with another Journal or two, occupied in annunciations of Ecclesiasti cal holidays, 'processions, &c, or the price cur rent. At present, the list. is little short of for- mida.ble. .It, comprises, 1. , ‘ C The Gazette of Madrid." 2." The Ancient-Journat of-Madrid." 3. 4C La Miscellanea," published every fortnight : it opposes religious intolerance and political pre,. judices. 4. "be Constitutionnel," in - the same spirit. _5, 5 5 The .Law," in support of legal au thority. 6. 5' The Publicist," supports the Con-, stitution, and' opposes despotism. 7. -" The , Courier, political aud:literary ;" its contents are more miscellaneous than those of the other jour nals; which, however ; do :net'wholly lose sight. of literature. S. " The Bee-hive, or Colmena," exerts itself in favour of .the unhappy and op pressed, in firm and deternaineJ language.. 9. The Spanish Minerva." .10, " The National Minerva." 11. " The. Palladium, or Patriotic Journal of time Societies' of St. Sebastian, and of the Inn of Malta." This paper takes its tone from the. Societies it represents: it is now less furiously patriotic than it was formerly. 12. 64 The Zealous - Citizen." 13. " The Aurora." This journal records the proceeding§ of Patriotic Societies ; it has been extremely personal ;- but is now less violent. 14. " The Conservator," constitutional . and" loyal. 15: "The 'Vigilant." 16. " The Sun," records .accurately. decrees and edicts. 17. " The Chronicle of the Arts." . IS.' lc. -The Universal Observer," is distinguished by -impartiality -and moderation.' 19. "'The Mes senger." 20. C ‘ The Economic Library . " or Annals of Arts, .Agriculture, and Commerce. Publications of this description—have been for some time past popular in Spain ; the . present has been well received. 21.." ,Correspondence be,. tween tWo Friends of Liberty ;" this•paper dis cusses.subjects too elevated for-the, popular mind - . 22. " Letters by.a Poor Little PreOlider," was .work intended to tell truth ironically ; -the at . •tempt supposes the author to possess much taste, - much knowledge of life,' and of popular errors and vulgar prejudices. The-author has -lately • directed his attention to the support of other works. -, 23. 44 The Pretender's Companion." 24; 44 The. Periodico,Maitid," undertakes to castigate the other journals; and : wonders at the liberty of the press, which. tolerates them all. 25. ‘ The Contra-Periodito-Mania," vindi cates the . iontnals,.and their number. : . Independently of all these periodical publications, the press teems ivith' tiswers, apOlOgies, and explanations relative . tOattackLs,rallusions, personalities, or er rors,-;eontained 'the journals ; and in compe tition with 'all theSe,...Cro4§ Of serMons, dis • , courses, and. commentaries.-on the Constitution', press ontite notice' of the public There is indeed a cofisor,..Of-the ,preiS appointed ; btit; at Present,, the office is extremely indulgot.- ..The. principal country towns also 4 - lave thelf journals . :—Barce lona, Vaientia, Saisagossa, cadj%, a:nd Corunna. Yesterday forenoon the Diike . and Duchess DE GAZES arrived at .theii house io Portland-place, from their seat at Harrow-on-the-Hill ; and in the evening gave a grand entertainment to seve ral distinguished personages. FOR THE SUN. THE PUNISHMENT OF DEATH. lkin. EDITOR-It has been the weakness of most ages to attribute to themselves a superiority over those which had gone before them. The period of SHAKESPEARE might reasonably appro priate to itself an excellence which had not been displayed in the times before ; and our "Augus— tan age " '(as it has been called by some) pre sumed on its classic smoothness and epigrammatic style for a pre-eminence even over the great sera which preceded it. We ourselves even.are not wanting in making a high estimate of our own , worth, and we rely on our, improvements in science and art, for a name which shall stand in disputably without a rival. But, above all, we pique ourselves on the conquest of HUMANITY over centuries of error. We refer to the " Abo- lition of the Slave Trade " with a pride that the extirpation of that most hideous traffic in human blood may well excuse. That the " Abolition" has been a mighty vic tory over a desperate prejudice we shall be the last to disallow ; but we must remind our Coun trymen, that while the_war in favour of Humanity la 3 been carried with success in one. quarter, there is another left-lamentably Open. to the..at tacks of those who may feel disposed to question the amount of our benevolence, or perhaps even to deny the reality of that good feeling which has prompted us for once to do so well. It may be said that cruelty is tolerated at honie, while a spew of humanity is practised abroad—that we are less interested. itr the barter of slaves than in keeping the countenance of the King and the handwriting of the Bank Directors safe from. imitation.—They may• say that the dreadful 'punishment of Death has had no effect in stopping the progress of forgery ; that such punishment is not proportioned to the crime ; that, although punishment has little or no effect, the : employ ment of ingenious artists upon the gold and paper currency must'have great effe6t. They may say that all this waS known fifty years ago, and . yet that the system of hanging has gone on, and is still going on, to- the utter abhorrence of - all feeling) minds, and to the manifest hardship of the ignorant.—All this was known ; and yet we talk of the progress of Humanity. The inadequacy of punishments to crimes is, I know, more easily lamented than rettified but if we err at ail, it,were surely better to sin on the side of lenity than. to persist in the vain en deavour of .washing, away faults with the blood of ignorant (perhaps starving) people. It is not my wish to advocate the cause of error, no r to extenuate the commercial crime of for gery; but it is my wish to raise one voice at least against the barbarity of capital punish- ments., where the penalty .may be so easily and, so incautiously incurred. There are few things which the people would feel more gratefully than the remission of the punishment of death.— Why will not the Legislature listen to the voice of 'wisdom and humanity ? Whatever some of the advocates may say. for the system on the-principle . 1 of " blood for b100d . ," there are few. men:of even moderate benevolence • who would -now insist upon it in the case of uttering a forged one pound . note ; and there are none of common sense but must admit its total inefficacy. leave the con sideration of this matter, Sir, to you and to your Readers : taking leave, of both with an extract from a speech of Sir W. MEREDITH, in the House of Commons, in the year 1777. It is well wor thy the attention of your Readers :-- s< • * • " Strange it it, that in the case of blood, Of which we ought to - be most tender, we should still go on, agailtst reason and against experience, to make unavailing slaughter of.our fellow-creatures. A recent event has'proved that policy will do what _blood cannot do.--I mean the late regulation of the coinage. Thirty years together men were continuallybanged forcoining ; still it went on; bufon the new repletion of the gold coin, it ceased. This event proves these two things; the efficacy ofpulici, and the inefficacy of hang nut,-is it not very.e.xtraordivary, that since the regula tion of the gold coin, an Act has passed, making it Treason to coin silver? . But has it stopped the coining of silver? On the contrary, do yon.not hear of it more than ever ? It seems as if the law' and the crime bore the 'same date. I do not know what the Honourable Member thinks who brought in the Bill; but perhaps .some-feelings may come across his mind, when be sees how many lives' he is taking away for no * I * .1 • purpose." " By the nickname of • Treason, there lies at this moment in Navigate, under sentence ,to be burnt alive, a girl just turned of fourteen; at her master's bidding, she hid some white washed farthings behind her stays, on which the Jury found her-guilty, 'as an accomplice with her master in the Treason. The master was hanged last Wednesday: and the faggots.all lay ready—no reprieve came till just as the cart was setting out, and the girl would have been blunt alive on the same day, bad it not been for the humane but casual in terference of Lord Weymouth. Good God; Sir, are we taught to execrate the fires of SMithfield, and are we lighting them now to burn i poor harmless child for hiding a white washed farthing ! • And yet this barbarous sentence, which ought to make men shudder at the thought of shedding blood for such trivial causes, is brought as a reason for more hanging and but It was recommended to me not Many' days ago, to bring in a Bill. to make it Treason to coin copper, as well as gold and 'silver. - Yet, in the 'formation of these sanguinary laws, humanity, religion, and policy, are throwu out of the question. This • one wise argument is always sutelent ; if yoti' hang for one fault, why not fOr another ? If for stealing a sheep, why not for a cow or a horse ? If for a shilling, why not for a handlier(hief that is worth eighteen-pence ? and so on. We 'therefore ought to oppose the increase of these new laws; the more, because'every fresh one begets twenty "others. " When a Member of Parliament brings in a new Hanging Law, he begin's with mentioning some Injury that may be dune to private property, for Which a man is not yet liable to be hanged ; and then proposes- the gallows as the specific and infallible means of cure and p►event.ion. But the Bill, in progress . of time, makes crimes capital, that, scarce deserve whipping. For instance, the Shoplifting Act was to prevent banters and ,lilrersmiths, and other shops, where there are commonly :goods of great value, from being robbed ; but it goes so far as to make it death to hft any thing off a counter with intent to steal." . _ " Under this Act, one Mary Jones was executed, whose case I shall justmention4 it was at the time when press • warrants were issued, on the alarm about Falkland Isl4o° The woman's husband was pressed, their goods seised 1,46 some debt of his, and she, with two small child ren, tur %, into the streets a-begging. 'Tis a circumstance not to, forgotten, that she was very young (under nineteen) a l most remarkably handsome. She went to a linen-driPt,,t shop,look some coarse linen off the counter, and slipPe d d t under her Seek ; the shoptnan saw her, and she down fer tl4She was. hatry,ed. -Her defence wa s (I b 3 the trial in my pocket) " that she had lived In credit, 411 , wanted for nothing, pressgang came and 6"es. her husband from her; but since then, she bad nq to lie on ;nothing to give her children to eat; and ditlig were almost naked, and pet baps she might have di something wrong, for she hardly knew what she d e ' The parish o ffi cers testified the truth of this story'' s it seems, there had been a good deal of shoplifting 21#1 ,, Ludgate: an example was thought necessary ; and this:";• man was hanged for the comfort and satisfaction of 7,0 shopkeepers in Ludgate-street. When brought to rg,," sentence, she behaved in such a frantic manner , as Pitie her mind to be in a distracted and desponding state; an child was sucking at her breast when she set out for'tY t I arn, Sir, your friend and servant, ERRATA in Yesterday's Paper.—Art. Newcastle-upan First Page—add after " maintain the ancient chaxac t the words " of this Town and County." PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT TWELYE O'CLOCK. ill ° 3 , per Cent. Red . 694 India Stock .........••' . i tot S per Cent. Cons .. .. shut South Sea Stock ..... • • 5.10. 3i per Cent. - 78i New Annuities ..... . ••,., pp 4 per Cents - • S 7 Ex. Bills, 4d. par 7- ', pr , 5 per Ct. Navy Ann —. shut I Om rnum ............ 0,70 Bank Long An i a rr7 15.-IGths 1 Cons. for Opening .••• . . --...-- O S/' ' HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORR , .1. Morning, 11 minutes after. 3.1 Evening, 3 1 minutis a_.l THE SUN. SOLEM QIJIS DICERE F47:SUM ALTDE.Irj LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 15c2'1' We are .again without any arrival o Fo" f Papers —two days' Journal are now due. PORT-AU-PRINCE, NOV. s.—(Front d 11.' York Paper.)—We learn from Capt. g o °lf . who arrived last evening from Port-au-Pile, that the Commanding Officer of St. Marlesi ll° been beheaded, and brought in a bag to BO 0 011 1 at, Port-au-Prince. Twenty-seven Officer s CLIRISTOPILE'S Army accompanied his body.-- --11 i , troops of CHRISTOPHE, to the number of On had revolted, and enlisted under the banners'; BOYER, who proceeded, with 18,000 , men, tO Mark, and took possession of it. One of I; Aid-de-Camps had returned to St. Mark wig 'i standards. • It was reported that CHRISTOPU r died on the sth ,of July. Off The Corporation of Norwich, who, of Co d orl h i must be understood to represent the great of the Citizens, including the most respect s of the Inhabitants, have conducted thernselit a manner highly creditable to one of the great" , O" manufacturing parts of the British Empire- N . laudable promptness, hearing that the Date% b i YORK and WELLINGTON were to pass thrW Norwich on Saturday last, on their return 1 0 7 1/ visit to Lord'SuFFIELD, the Corporation bas il , convened and presented an Address to these cilY ttr" tinguished Characters, and attended them 0 . Cathedral on . the following morning. We s fi e / . indignation w i th and regret, that as tire U hl ,' Pr trious Pukes were 'ascending the steps o f Cathedral a - Protest against the Address vf t Per' Corporation was presented to them by a designated as a Freeman - , but which was sna l4 l by such insulting arid offensive personality, tIY, we hope no real Freernan of so respectO City would have disgraced himself by becoo l o the medium of such disgusting scurrility as c. ° only issue from the most vulgar and rancor ° spirit of Faction. We recommend to the particular attentio n ; our Legislators, as well as to our Readers 1 0 $ 4 neral, the Letter in our Paper this day " ° Punishment of Death."—W e shall not presll 'l to add any thing from ourselves on this Intel' ing and important subject, as it conies fro' . et i Gentleman to whom the legal world is indeli t for many learned and valuable,productiong• LOYAL ADDRESS.—(HULL, DEC. - following is a Copy of an ADDRESS which is W presented to his MAJESTY, and 'which doeshO° • to the Town from which it issues : " To theliing's - Most Excellent - Majesty, cc The Humble Address of the Gent I einen , Clergy , Merchlit, Ship Owners, and other Inhabitants of the T 0,411 • Neighbourhood of Kingsten-upOn-Hull. lef tit " We, your Majesty's most Dutiful- and Loyal 4 b.4 beg to approach your Throne with assurances o f -our tach merit to . your Majesty ' s Person and Government. " Deprecating the systematic spirit, by which ccero peehent is resorted to, and every pretext made use "0 of degrade and vilify the Legislature—to bring the Colict6 oa Justice into Contempt, and to excite the People to IV ofy Tumult and Sedition—despising the threa t s of thos e e have denounced Revolution as the consequence of tUl sition to their factions dictates—and firmly relying 1)- 0 0 Wisdom of Parliament, and - in'tbe integr it y of our Cloiti Justice; we assure your Majesty, we are determined to p ee in Support of the Constitution as by Law established ; o ftO, by we can alone expect to maintain the Stability Throne, the perfect-Security of .our Liberties, on Power, Prosperity, and Happiness.of the British Empire' The Cambridge Address will . be presentea;ii morrow to his MAJESTY, and will, it is understviio be numerously attended by the Members of University. To Ti..iE c c_Gz i: Chest, ; L orr: l pe to ties WE