The Sun.
London, England, 1808-11-11 00:00:00

PROM A S:P4NIV-1 PAPER.

" COULD AN ALLIANCE WITH _PRANCE EVER PROS R

ADVANTAGEOUS TO SPAIN i"

" Alliances should -be projeOed and formed by
sound policy alone: ' Theirs objea should not be the
"personal interests of the Rulers, but the general
haPPintess of the State. To the religious observance
of treaties', it is necessary that the interests •cf the
Contraaing-PaWers should- be; nitual. It is upon
the reciprocal •guarantee.de-the mutual- interests in- '
volved in them, that the 'security of the mother
countries, and the ,preservation of their,respeaive
colonies,' should .mainly rest. To render an alli-
ance secure and permanent, good faith is :also ne-
cessary on:the part of .the Contracting Powers, Bet
in arrangemen.ts.. of this nature, goodtaith must en-
.tirely result from- a genuine. reciprocity of interests:
Family alliances ou,glit, th.ere4ire, to subsist only so
lohg as they .argnot at variance with the general in- •
terests of the nation.._ All States, but chiefly.ano-
nar4ies,
_incessantly..labour to aggrandize them--
selvPs., And to , extend their dotniutons. &ot.that
Republics are destitute of 'ambition, but with their)
its: Assi..9l objgOs. are commerce ancLopulence..This
kind
,O:f.„Government, howevc..r, is not,' on this
courkt,.better than the• former ; and there are but
few countries to whose conditian it adapted for
there are but few that possess the virtues' necessary
to Republicans ; and•' nothing can be` 'worse 'than
thie democracy of a nation destitute of tnorality.-
But to return to the question :
" In every case the alliance of a feeble Power with
a, strong Power, coutiguotis to its frontier, iS'rather
a 4niie of 'cle'i'jeridence than friendship, and usually
endsits the .c_irOtl2;er of the P6Wers. becoMing
Master of the territory of the'6ther: iteciprocal,se-
, eurity is the dtreel, and -coliquest tlie:itairea,:objed •
of alliances offensive and defensive:'' stronger,
for the most pari, employs the forces Oft lie weaker,
in prometing..ftsOWn aggrandizement, arid never,
really or, itidirealy, supports the enterprizes Of the
latter without deriving' therefrorn an i:hrnediate ;Ind
manifest advantage. Thou gli there is no stipida=
non to this effeet in.treaties oialliance, it is die law
of the stropg",'and is accordingly obeyed. This has
been experienced by trolliincl in her connexion with
France. , ;-
'

. .
"'Of no State ought another to be. so suspicious
as of a powert4 . contiguousotate; particularly
should the great; aptilix6,, tlfe fertile soil 'of the,
weaker, or her numerous colonies be. tialcufated to.
exei te that anibit ion which iiinSeiatab?e from power.
policy inu,t, in such a case, consult the; situa-
tion of the .country, and the means' of restraining'
__the forge of the bothering Potentate, by alliances
"otlier's. Powers,' when . her own resources :ai-e inadc-
-qiiate to her -plotetlion . and defence;' but never,
°tight she to repose confidence in. her natural enemy,
because the latter will be no 'longer her ally than is
receS§aty izA'ordei to mitke-himsell'-her master.
•" A.. Power 14,lio3e'Tterritory.bot.4er's upon that of
or:ilired- other—Continental Pow.ers2-however,
great its force, lie able to conquer or give the

111. m. to .atly one of th.e three, if their. Ut-ki fed force.
subprior, and if they'. religiouslymaintaln with
othet treaties of otrAtsive -and 41efettaiVe ;
though from inattention -to this duty, 'the con trat
y
event regularly takes place..;• •
The armed force of every Pcwer shbUld be
gulated by a, date regard to the cie'tence of toe
tiers and the proteaton of the Coloniet. -;
that a State having to..guard a Continental
line Of rrsoi:-_. than 300 leagues, reduires a greater ar-
my than that which has•onlV too leagues,to aetetul
and theekcess Of frontier propert ionatly diMinishe6
the relative excess ollorte ; so that though the otn
s.hould have. 300,006 men; and the other only
' 100,000 in arms, yet if the latterAs in alliance wittl
other. States; the former will never be, able to invadti
her with a greater fotce,than She can' oppose to Jinn.
11-lere we discover the reason- why. Spain ought not
• to form an alliance with Fkance, but conviNa her Self
with Germany and England.; the obj,-tA of this,
• pth an union., being not to 'obtain a tooting on the
uoutinont, but the preservation of her colonies, and
encouragement of .her eommetce. But an erroneous;
plan, the result of bad policy, Corn tnit ted the interest;
of the State to the 'protection of a Family' ailiance.7.-
This.came to an end, and France-from that ambient
began to exetcise'theihvi bf?the strong, and soui;ht
• to possess herself of the territory, wealth, an!: popu-
lation of her ally. • •
" The .allianCo between France and .Spain com -
menced in the reign of Philip V. And had.fOr its pri-
Vatedbje. the maintaining posses4On of the Crown
in his family; against the Empire and. her Allies.—
Bat this was not the pretext avowed by France. On
the c,ontrary, she solemnly declared, that her only
objets were the freedom of the commerce of Sodin,
4,3 d
.t„he security of her Colonies, by the junction'of
.
the marititne.forees of France and Spain against tint
of Great Britain ; alledging, that benceforWard Spaia
Nivoulu .1;,-wed from all anxiety for her con tinent-
atdeletice, -mid only have to attend to the aug-
mentation of her nacT„ ,•• Front this.alliance 1-;
confirmed Jo derive every Oyat'if,ge that she pro 7
jeeled; willist Spain had cause to apprehend ngthint
but total ruin the instant the,fakritiy alliance stineid
cease: France was in every respect the,
-gainer ; for
England- being excluded by the heavy imposts on her
industry; France carried.on -a 'privileged and.almost
which,, without.
t,Nr;ire -brit, enabled Fiance to/drain her-et
all Inc- precious metals ,;-_the b
ly in' favourof the - tatt-er; suAilkd
,exorbitstwptice With her' moriniactUrcs,, and even,
imported..ber sutplps• prodnCe,-into the.
. taking nothing Lta spiNie in"return; to thet:nanikst
detriment of our national .:agricultore, co9npe;-cr., ;
and 'opulence; wbereas, Englatta:,would have en-
cotrtagecr. our agriculture:, by taliihg;oti the yainr.ble
fruits of otti-southern and eastern p_r9vinces; where,,
notbriously in our favour, and would
Itave• suPplied, us, with mzinafactures as well, UT rar
.then` better--:finished• than those-of the French," and
at one-half their price.. ' •

'mtet4

• This alliance tithe French iirts'iltingf.i(l its
into.a continual " maritiii-Ae war, which:. has flz.,ver
been suspended but at-11.1,experiee of
be.rrnent of Various port.ioris'of out dominions w the.
th 6 preient--of proteaing. them by ti
~ot'ie of arms, .she cortipelled us to malce,centinual
'sacrifices; whereassit.is incontestible- that we'shoultl
nofhaV.e sustainedany-loss, in so long a series of
years, 'had we, 'like_ our
,ne,ighbOurs- of. Portugal `"
'maintained peaCe and alliance -with. the English.
1 The Portuguese long. flourished, in, opulence ; and
their- having. preserved their .061onic.,s in both the
.Indies, without the aid- of powerful squadrons;
affords a dernoristrative probf of the policy Of Eng-
land,-who aims not 'at. the.Cotinnankof vast:Cow i•-•
nents;convinced that the p.osse.ssion• of therr.ould
'diminish the strength of the Alother Country, but
merely seeks, by means of a geperal,c9innierce, -to
keep in a perpetual flow that industry which is the.
fountain of her wealth and power. France, 'on the
contrary; the rival of English industry and cone-.
(tierce; and possessing a surplus of populatibti to,
maintain vast -conquests in distant regions, waited
only for the moment of realizing the vast projeaed
augMentation of her naval force,' to•acquire .a mark
'tithe superiority over the Enzlial, and, immediately
after, to seize upon our so sessions in Atrierica. and
the East Indies.

" These projeas
i are the necessary' result. of her
.
,poiicy ; fOr the interests of France are totally in-
compatible ith. tbdse. of Spdin, nor_ Can' kelations
of alliance with the French ever confer upOn us Coo
Smallest: advantage: They are incoMpatible—be-
cause
,France cannot accumulate riches,—nor her
national reVenue extend to so tinny , milhens of
frahks, unless Spain continues to decay, to slumber,
and to remain.ifi a state of incessant ivarfare with.
Lhe; English, in.order that the French may engross
every-brariCh of her industry; as little can she think
herself secure in her eternal struggle with Eng-
land, if we are not reduced to a sLee
.of 'depend-,
trice or debility,. We have seen that, in order to
, maintain our relations with the French; it
.was
necessary to renounce the advaritage.'s-of
'and alliance with the English, and Consequently,
to break c;tf all trade, soil intercourse,: between
the Cohinies, and. the Mother tioubtry ; and 'what
was the result ? Tt is that of giving away every thing'
at Acme to the French; and losing- every thing abroad:
it was to sacrifiee.allthe revinines of the Indies
Shaii~ in building vessels to serve as hulks at Ports-,
month and Plymouth. VliereaS being' the Allies
of England, all that I.vould have,been requisite tor
security was ap cai.-41bie of defending thy,
frontier; for which puyosy..!:iir force is abundantly
sufficient, as it is nut more gi3:l 90 leagues it,
is the only side which we need to ,guard, and
is:lotthe 'pest virt inaccessible .Attending, there.?
fore, to all these 'political consiccerations,, and to,
Many more that we have not stated, and looping to
the effeets already experienced froth
.our alliatietft
With, Fr;titee, we conclude, ,that such an allianct
never.couhr have bEdri, and never, can be,2advatt-
tageous to Spain."

• •
-:CORN-EXCHANGE, Nov, , 1 1,--The quantities of.
Wheal here to-day are rather considerable
-are made .heavily,',tind hardly support last price. ;•
Bailey and Malt at our last qtotation; White. Pease.
lower ;' in Grey, and BeAns. of 'tile two kinds, but
• small variation ;. there are a few Foreign Oats ar-
riven, t,ut,the supply, in general, is again short
;acrd.
advance fully _wairttiiimid.--.Flour,
altoraticm..