The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1821-03-22 00:00:00

i 5 li Fri Si, 13111:,‘_-3S.

LONDON,
THURSDAY, MARCH 22, ISM

• Private- letters which have reached town from
Paris of so late a date as Alonday last, confirm the
i!itellrgruce previously receivrd respecting the ob-
. r;i,sation of the King of SARIAI,NIA in favour of the
Prince de CARIGNAN, IGO the declaration of the
troops and people of Piedmont in favour of the
• Constitution of the Cortes. They also speak of
toe battle fought between the Neapolitans and the
. Austrians, and of the victory having been obtained
by the former, but they communicate nothing po-
sitive with regard either to the scene of the engage-
ment or the day on which it took place. The first
accounts place it at Weil, the next bring a con.
je.ture that it occurred at Spoleto. Both indeed
agree in mentioning the 9th as the day of the
hatilr, but this seems to be rather a matter of in-
ference than of positive knowledge. We are sorry
to perceive also that a doubt is attempted to be
thrown upon the importance.or magnitude of the
battle : for while the first Bulletin from Paris
spoke of a general engagement between the armies,
these batter accounts represent it in the light of on
affair of out-posts, or some other partial matter,
from whit+ no very great or decided consequences
could result. If the character of die engagement
were tildes(' thus inconsiderable, the desath of the
Nrapolttur C I is the more to be lamented.
!lad he fallen a conqueror in a general battle, the
magnitude of the achievement would offer, in some
ch•eree. a consolation to his country for his loss,
it would present at the same time to the view

of inankind a termination worthy of his glorious
wine. r ; but that be should perish at the first onset,
- •iss some chance encounter, too insignificant, even
Nl* favourable to Ins troops, to influence materially
the result of the campaign, is to his country a
oshiret of unqualified regret, while it caritas his
elm fame of its fair proportion. We await anti_
. estsly the arrival of more precise and positive in.
. trlligeace respecting the battle, hoping. at the
wasne tune, that at oothieg very rerta:ti stems to
am. known in Pavia idiom it, the report of Geller:A
A Ise
from Twin is of the 1511).
it which has already aft-
the king of SAnetNIA.
.141101," 1111(1 prOple, SIMI at
zrilmit the Spanish Coll-
II(' of his government, pin.
the Freuch conatitution,
lewd, abd the caustitutiou

of the Cortes demanded onetinivectilly. The Refers
. then resigned his of and withdrew from Turin,
with the intention of repairing to the island of Sar-
dinia. This is the drat effect of the violence offer-
ed by the military despots to a free sad hod/pen-
. dent people. They now avow that they hod not
capitulated upon any resistance, even from the Nes-
pakten+. and therefore they had not prepared an
utility sufficiently large for offensive operations. Still
less did they calculate upon an almost simultaneous
movement of all the Italians, glowing with one feel.
jog of indignation and hostility, and reships; to
punish the violators of national rights, and more
eapearilly the oppressors and tyrants of Italy. What
.amount of force will be thought sufficient to court-
*met this glorious burst of patriotic enthusiasm,
mid to control the new-born energies of a brave, in-
telligent. uud animated people, awakened to a sense
of their rights, and to the conviction that, if united
among themselves, they may laugh to scorn all the
threats and efforts of Ao•t.ia, supported even by
Prussia and Russia ? Tile 'army of Piedmont is
estimated variously at from 30 to 40,000 men.

• Sir ROBERT WILSON, in his very able speech in
the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, no-
ticed, as a circumstance or which he entertsitied
no doubt, that the Russians were preparing an ar-
mament in the Black Sea for the purpose of co-
operating with the Austrians against Naples, sod
also for taking possession of the Island of Sicily.
It is observable that the Ministers did not venture
to contradict this part el the gallant General'.
statement. This project on the part of Russia
was first mentioned in this Paper, on the same
day that we noticed the rumours that prevailed
iu Italy reopecting the demands of the Austrian
Government upon the King of SARDINIA* which,
as appears by the KING'S Proclamation, have
actually led to the revolution in Piedmont.—
Should Russia really entertain such a project as
that of taking possession (temporary, no doubt)
of Sicily, it will be high time for the Peolianient
of Great Britain to awaken the Ministers to a sense
of the duty that they owe to the interest., not of
this country alone, but of Europe in general.
Lord CASTLEREAGH thinks proper to ridicule the
apprehensions entertained by Sir R. Wit.son re-
specting the intentions of Austria to convert the
invasi"u of Naples to purposes of territorial ug-
grandiremetit. flow should it he possible for
Austria, said the Noble Lord, to act in the manner
supposed, when 1 steps are watched by all
Europe, and every .Power is resolved to prevent
the accomplishment of any such projects ? Is the
Noble Lord quite assured that no secret Treaty
was made at the snug little conferences at Laybach
between the three great despots, all of them
being jealous of the naval prepooderance of
Englattd, binding the contracting parties to as-
sist each other in promoting some scheme of
mutual aggrandisement, which might be calcu-
lated also to affect our maritime supremacy ?
The fate of Poland, of Genoa, and of Venter,
proves how little these three great military Powers
iite restricted in their tiewa by motives of justice
and s respect fur public rights ; and what should
now prevent them hum mutually guaranteeing Na-
ples to Aristiis, Sicily to Russia, trod some
tninci-
pality in Gennatiy. Hanover, leer instairce, to Prussia,
as the bond sod cement of their friendship ? They
have made out a pretence for invading Naples and
Sicily with the emicurrence of the other Powers of
I arrte, and who can believe that the dexterity
of their agents might not create an equally
good and valid right to invade Hanover, and
occupy its towns and strong places, its pure
friendship for the Sovereign and the people !
A Treasury writer, in his ignorance of the law .that
Presides that Great Britain shall never be involved
in a war on account of the ilanWerisii dominions
of the KING, supposes that in the event of the pro-
gress ofrevolutionary principles in the countries bor-
dering upon Hanover, Great Britons should draw
the sword to ibeck such principles, " for the pro-
tectiony" as lie sagely observes, " of oar Hanove-
rian dominion., and to co-operate with other Powers
to put an end to a state of things incompatible
with oar own repose and safety." It is necessary
to inform this person that we have no Hanoverian
dominions—that although the King of Great Bri-
tain and Ireland is also King of Hanover, the kiiig-
dom of Hatiover is not united to the Crown of
Great Britain, but is a country as distinct in inter-
ests from Great Britain as Naples is from France.
" The safety" and " the repose," therefore, of
Hanover, although they must certainly at all times
boohjects.of solicitude in this country, are not to.
be regarded in the same light as the " safety"'
and the " repose" of Great Britain ; and she
occurrence of a revolution in any part of Ger-
many, nay, even in Hanover itself, should not
justify Great Britain in embarking in • war
against the growth of liberal principles. Far
different, however, would be the case, us it re-
garded the interests of this country and of Europe,
of au invasion of Hanover by the armies of the
combined despots. We should regard such an
event precisely in the same light as we view the
threatened invasion of Naples—as a violation of
national rights, as an infraction of the 'eternal prin-
ciples of justice, and as tending to confirm the
system already toss extensively pursued, of inicrific-
ing the iutereats of the lesser States of Europe to
pamper the pride of the greater, and to gratify stir
schemes of political expediency which tiny oily
chance to entertain.

Mr. PLUNK ETT'S Bill+ have undergone sever.il
silterat . We give a ruriect ropy of them 110
amended in the Ctiniutittee.

A return to an order ol the House of Comnsou.s
states the amount of dotlei on tobarbitril h.•u.r• it.
Greta Britain.. fur the par ending. the &th Ju-
ovary. 1820. at /.239,320/. 11r. gtl.; Ditto, on
window•. - 51,569,9901. 9s. 4itl. Total 3.80,9,320/.
•Is.

awn, Lime or its fair propoi
*ably the arrival of more 1
i . trlligence respecting the
• isimie tune, that at tiothill
toe lonian in Nits ithont i
...‘sllice's death may wore to
'row latest intelliwetice Iv
.
owl etinti-ios the staterottot
ix tired 141 this Paper, tk.at
dettraus of satsarying hits to
, 1 the tease titue uoittiliang too
r mislabel) to become the tub.
pulled to them -to adopt tli
but that this Derr PUS rtjecl
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