The Sun.
London, England, 1808-12-23 00:00:00

plain of the calumnies' that are heaped upon them.
We neecl.only refer, fora proof of our assertion, to
the. language they have held,• and the conduct they
have pursued, since the commencement of the;present
. contest in Spain.- When the Spaniards first began
to manifest a disposition to resist the treacherous
Schemes Of BUONAPARTE, and the Ministers of this
Country, dis Played a wish to aid' them in' their
glorious cause, what was the language of many of
ss the :Opposition here ?. that- of encouragement to a
people determined to struggle.for their liberty ? No !
s.- seatfeaed expressions of concern for the danger to
os.hich they' were exposing themselves, and the most
holernn advice to Ministers not to instigate the peo-
. Ple„of Spain to as resistance which might be ulti-
anately fatal l,ssThis language, however, was fdund
• to bp: so repugnant to the general feeling which per-
Vadedthe Country, that it was soon 'abandoned, and
the Opposition Writers set themselves seriously to
;Work, to instrua Ministers in 'the manner in which
they were to assist the Spanish Cause ; and above
all things, they were enjoined, not to offend the
Pride, ott•excite the jealousy of the Spaniards, but
t()Terinit the Provisional Government of Spain to
• regUlate the time, the manner, and the extent of our
.s".lstalsoe. As soonas•they had favoured his• Ma-
Jesty's Mioisters with instructions upon this essen-
tial point; they begsn, with great industry, to abuse
them for having, in compliance with the
.wishes and
advice of She Spanish government„ sent a British
.Artny to Portugal rather than to Spain ! If we were
•to attempt to detail the• assertions, the retra&ations,
the contradiCtions, we have witnessed upon the sub-
. Jeot of the Convention of Cintra, our task would be
endless. Sir Hew DALRYMPLE, at one time, loaded
with every species of reproach, made the daily Sub-
let:l of paragraphs and epigrams; and afterwards
declared, by the very, same persons,• to be wholly
• free from blame !' Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY,- first
loudly praised for his skill and bravery 'in the bat-
, Iles of Roliea and Vitneira, then represented as only
ft to' regulate 'the Corporatiou of &Alin; and,
lastly, 'when the real fads of the case carne out in
. the Court of Inquiry, honoured by those candid
Gentlemen with a kind of sullen acquittal !
.But .whateser inconsistency or contradiction these
gentlemen may. be guilty of,-in speaking of the Go-
. vernment of this Country, they are certainly uni-
formly consistent, when speaking of BUONAYARTE
his skill, his promptitude, his energy f
, his are the constant themes of declarnation ; and with great dexterity, their own. panegyrics upon this' man
:are represented n the public opinion.—" A weak
and superstitious notion," we are told, is gone forth,
that it is as vain to resist the arms 4FETJOICAPtCRTBAs.
•Om the decrees of Fule."‘pyr Whom was this opi-
NnionadVanced—by whom is it propagated—by whom
it entertained ? Bjthe Government, by the People
of this Country—by our Army or Navy ?No !—by
thosomen, and by those men only, who now affect
to regret that such an opinion should exist ! What
6Pportunity have they omitted of praising the mili-
tary skill of BUONAPARTE ? when did they lose an
occasion of extolling the superiority of the French
letions, although they have never come within the
reachof British bayonets without flying with dis...
grace, But it is not enough to abuse the Govern-
Mem of this Country, and to praise the skill and
.energyof BUONAPARTE, a new theme for lamentation
and declamation has been opened, and we are told,
with deep concern, and with the utmost reluaance,t hat
``.the accounts which have been received atirough
Inii)ate .channels,, from Spain, do not justify, to
the full extent, the terms of His Majesty's Declara-
tion,", and ‘that " the spirit of resistance which
has manifested itself has been almost wholly con-
fined
to the inhabitants of towns, and to Me Monies,
bat that a great proportion of the proprietors of the
soil and the peasantry have to this day remained
tranquil speEtators of the eonfliel.- If this were
true, we should be incline,d to think that the p.m-
Plielors of the soil in Spain. were very much like thy
• People, whO called themselves the. patriots of the soil
)..n this Country; but we know. there is no founda- •
tion for this libel upon the character of the people''
Spain. We should ,be glad to know something
.tf these private amounts, and of the authors of them:
do fhey come via Holland? What part of Spain do
they come from ? Had the writers of ti:Lie accounts
the, means of fOlTniOg a judgment upon the feelings
and conduct of that people, whose character they
.thb's traduce ? We have aright to ask these questions,
and to expel an answer, when such an attempt is
'bade to vilify a gallant and high-spirited people,
fighting *for their .independenne. Granting, how'
.ever, for a moment, that this calumny upon the
charaCter-of the Spaniards were true, with what,pro-
Priety, With what consistency, can the men who •
It'll'
us that the spirit of patriotism in Spain, is con-
fined to the inhabitants of towns, and to the Monks, -
and that the proprietors of the soil and the peasantry
100 k with inditterence on the contest,--swith what

propriety or consistency, we Sa
eew>l y, „can, theSe men
are -rvlinisteri for not niaking- greater exertions
111' tile—eel:use of a I ti e•majority •of whom
peop e,

they assert are willing to. receive the chains of the
Tyrant ? We confess we read this sentence With deep
regret ; we did nor expect that while •BUONAPARTE
was aiming a viral blow at the liherty and indL-
pendence of the Spaniards,aliatan attack would be
made in this Country upon their honour and their
charatter, and that an attempt would be made, it
not to justify, at least palliate, BUONAPARTE's
treachery, by representing the majority of the people
of Spain as willing sliaves.
IWe should be glad to ask our •opporients hoW
it happens that they display so much credulity
when any statement is made that is disadvantageous
either to Britain or her Allies, and are So obstinately
•
sceptical when they are called upon to exercise their
judgment upon any details that bear hard upon the
Enemy. Of the readiness of the Opposition to give
credit to accounts unfavourable to our Allies, the
Spaniards, we have already given a specimen ; we
will now select one to prove the.other part of tonr.
assertion. We on Wednesday laid before our Readers
the Letters of the Captains of two American Vessels
which had been captured and carried into ,Boulogne.
What is the language of an Opposition Paper upon
this piratical cmidiLa of the French—why,--" Per-
haps-it may be that these Americans have violated the
restrictions of the Embargo." ." We must be informed
of some additional circumstances before we can sup-'
pose that NAeor..,,ox has completely changed his
maxims of policy towards the Uo ited States, so as
• to abandon all the advantages he derives from the
oppressive system of marine regulation adopted here,
which terminated in' his favourite measure of the
Embargo." Without adverting to the excuse so
gently insinuated for BUONAPARTE, that perhaps
these Americans had violated the restrictions of the
Embargo, we beg to ask what been the con-
duet 01 France to America for year back, but (with
very few interruptions) one series of insults .and op-
pressions ? Have not American Ships been con-
stantly plundered, and often captured, by the French.
Privateers in the West Indies ? Professions of friend-
ship, Mcleod, BUONAPARTE has made occasionally
towards America, but his friendship has been eon-
fined to professions ;' his aggressions have been sub-
stantial ; and yet the Opposition Writers cannot be-
lieve that BUONAPARTE could be guilty of any aa of
injustice towards the Americans. Thus lenient aro
the Opposition Writers; but in speaking of the Go-
vernment of their own Country they show no suet'
mercy. The French are not to blame; the Americans
lire not to blame; it is to the oppressive system of ma-
rine regulation adopted here that all the mischief is'
to be attributed. The faMous Decrees of BL'ONA
PARTE which forced us, in our own defence, to adopt
-measures- of retaliation, these Decrees which, even
for a moment, ruffled the habitual serenity of Lord
GREY, are either quite forgotten, or designedly
passed over without notice. We.- could, if our li-
mits would permit us, pursue this subjed much far-
ther; but we think we have said enough tojustify
us, if we have occasionally applied the epithet etc-tious to our- opponents. We are not " indifferent
to the weapons we use," but if our adversaries will
furnish as with weapons, we certainly will employ
L them.

Yesterday a Cabinet Council was held at the Fo-
reign Office, at which were present his Grace the
Duke of PORTLAND, the LORD CHANCELLOR, Earls
CAMDEN and BATHURST, Lords MULGRAVE and
CASTLEREAGH, Mr. Secretary CANNING, and Mr.
PEUCEVAL.

Yesterday Lord CASTLEREAGH transaeled business .
with the Duke of Yoax, at his Office at the Horse
Guards.
The Milan Decree, under which it is supposed
the recent seizures of Athorican ships took place in
Farce, has not, as was tOrtnerly represented, been
in any manner rendered less rigorous towards Ame-
ricans. Some few exceptions • have been made in
favour of the Tunisian ling.
We have been repeatedly told that Marslial BRUNE'
had been poisoned, or destroyed by some means, by
order Of BCONAPARTE a Gentleman who lett
L'Orient, in the American Ship Union, asserts that
he is living in splendour, a short distance from Paris.
The French exhibit an extraordinary change in
their charaater and conduCt, compared with what
they _were a few years ago. They were then fight-
ing for what they. called liberty, and wanted to
spread their notions of li-eedoin over all other States ;
or, to adopt the words of one of 'their demagogues,
" to set fire to the four corners of the world." Now
they are not only submissive, to the extreme, to ar-
bitrary power, but are endeavouring .to reduce all
othet States to the same ignominious bondage,—
White Britain, nappy in her own poiitical syotew,
which affords all the freedom consistent with social
order, is not anxious tuproselyte othck States, but is
at ail times ready to assist their struggles for maintain-
ing their independence aQd legitimme Government.
As BUONAPARTE has thought proper to revive the
old titles of Nobility in Franc®, that he may appear
as much as he can like a legitimate monarch, it is
surprising that he does not, upon the same principle,
endeavour to acquire a little courtly breeding in his
transactions. ‘vith other States ; at least; with one.
Who. defies his power, and despises his, memices.—
His final, answer to the Government, accord-
ing to report,, is characterized by all that vulgar
pride and arrogance which denotes an upstart, in-
toxicated with unexpected authority. • -
:•The two .new scenes prepared for the favourite
Pantottrime:of r Goose; to be performed at the
,Hayniatket:Theatre, on Monday next, are the
ruins 'of- the late Covent-Garden Theatre, and, 3 •
viewipf the new Theatre, now building.

I'4AV.A.L NEWS.

PLYMOUTH, DEC. 21.—Camo :n the favourte,
STROSU'„ from Stucklidm.

Posa-smou'ru, Disc. -f2•2.--"--Arrived his Majesty's.
.
Ship Britemart, from the Downs and the Ocean,
tjuickt.b, late a Transport, with the loss of anchors
and cables, ha-ving been nearly on shore on the
drench coast.

Al:rived last night, at St. Helens, the Unio East
Indianian, fro►Zi the Downs, with the losi of ancl,ors
and, cables.

YARMOUTH, Dic. 42.—Arrived his Majesty's
Brig Censor front a cruize,and remains in the Roads
with a Fleet of Ships of War, anci.SeVeral
&c. with the loss of anchors and cables.

Dac..2r)l.—Sailod his Majesty's Ship Eu•
ryalus, on a cruize.

Arrived hit Majesty's Ship Kangaroa, from a
crui2e, and remain in the Downs with the rest of the
Ships, aS.per last.