The Sun.
London, England, 1823-03-13 00:00:00

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III:KAI:D..1
Accounts ofMonday's date were received yes.
teiday from l'aris, Their contents, ‘iithout,
being particularly interesting, render' the im-
mediate invasion of Spain probable almost to
moral certainty. Marshal Oudinot had left'Pkris
to take the command of his division--it may he
said of the whole arMy, from his being immedi.
ately near the person.of tiie Duke of Angouletne ;

and this Prince was himself to set out on the fol-
lowing (next) Saturday. Possibly this may have
caused the fall of 11 in the Fundsfrom Saturday's
prices. The Liberals still absent themselves
from the Chamber • and what is somewhat. sin-
gular, although A. de Villele seems latterly
to have yielded himself altogether to the
War Party, yet the fanatical Journals, so
called, still attack him with Unabated acrimony
and violence. He is described by the " Drapeau
Blanc." as in a state of tottering imbecility, on
the. very eve of falling. It does not appear, how-
ever—judging by the temper of the Ultras in the
Chambers—that he is in immediate peril. But,
war once commenced, his fate is in the baliince.r
If the French advance withoot opposition,,
or with the eclat of success, he may be se-
cure ; but a reverse or serious check is
ruin to him. There have not been froinSpain,
for several 'days, any detailed or authentic
accounts, and the French accounts from the
frontier deserve no credit. We have therefore
no means of precisely judging what resistance
the French are likely to experience, nor will any
thing positive be known until the arrival of
the proceedings on the opening of the Cortes,.
which, was to take place on the first of this
mouth. The King's Speech, and the answer of
the Deputies will remove much, if not all, the
mystery that hangs over the politics of Madrid.
The attempt to put out the Ministry failed for
the rooment,and itwould very early appear whether
or not the actual Ministers have the confidence
of the Cortes, which is their sheet-anchor. Upon
all the vulgar data of calculation, the odds cer-
tainly appear in favour of the French—yet the
Spanish, or rather the Peninsular cause, seems far
from desperate. The servile insurgents are not
really formidable. From the peculiar state of
Spain, bands like those of 13essieres and Merino
could be got together by the Dey of Algiers,just
as easily as by Louis XVIII. by the sheer virtue
of gold. The confidence and unanimity of the late
Cortes, and even the obstinacy with which the
Ministers seem to cling to their places, is a
strong presumptive argument, that the means of
successful resistance exist in Spain. It does not
appear that the Spaniards ever calculated on the
aid of English troops in the Peninsula. In no
speech uttered by the Ministers or the Members
of the Legislature do we find any intimation of
such a hope. It may even be looked upon as
disavowed by the Spanish Secretary of Legation,
speaking in the name of the Duke of San Lo-
renzo, at the late dinner. The Spaniards, he
said, wanted, only iron and gold. It follows
from this declaration, that they are confident
in the possession of numbers, courage, and pa-
triotism. That this country is deeply inter-
ested in the defeat of the schemes of France,
is one of the clearest truths—and it is equally
clear that peace is the first object and wish of
the nation. But it may be well to consider
whether we may not be able at this moment,- by
a strenuous and public.spirited exercise of the
right's of peace, to place the Spaniards in a con-
dition to defend themselve, and thus, perhaps, keep
the war from being brought hereafter to our own
doors. The Spaniards want iron and gold—in
other words, they want credit. The present is
the moment when what may be called a slight
supply, by enabling them to make a good stand
at the onset, would establish their credit, The
fate of Spain is in the hands, not so much of the
British Government as of the British nation, at
present. A moment should not be lost. It is,
not merely a question of generpus feeling; of
liberty in the abstract—or even of Spanish
liberty in particular—but a question, whether
Spain shall be brought as effectually under the
controul of France, as if the Duke of A,ngou-
-eme were on the throne of Ferdinand.

PROVINCIAL JOURNALS.

( From the Bury Gazette, March 12.)

The dinner given in compliment to the Spanish
and 'Portuguese Ambassadors was numerously and honoura-
,
bly attended, but it is too evident that the conductors of the
the affair made it rather a display of whit; 'patronage than
national feelhig. When Spain took up arms to drive the op-
pressor of their King and the friend of the Whigs ,from their
country, these liberal Whigs denounced tbtt policy of the Bri-
tish Ministry for aiding in the deliverance of the Peninsula ;
because the 'Spaniards were then fighting in the name of
their Sovereign, against an invading; usurper. But, now that
the Revolution in Spain has - given . a new character to the
patriotism of the people, now that their force is turned
against kings and .puttees, 'now that there is a struggle.
between the sovereign
.and the subject, the good Whigs:
get up a dinner, make long speeches, and call upon Ali,
nisters to , plunge the country. into, a "useless war.—.
There is too, much craft in all this to please plain-dealing po-
Micky's and the craft is too , apparent to hope concealment.
The Whigs, as a body, feel' that they have fallen, into insign!.
ficance, If not contempt, and they would fain bolster their
rickety reputation by standing forward -the advocates of any
popular cry, whieb may, draw attention towards them, and,
make the better part of mankind forget the disgraces they
have, suffered by the - recent triumphs of • radiCalism, and the
pitiful blunders of . their parsinionious ftnanclers. The Greeks
for a time occupied all their care. Agricultural Distress'
was graced by their consideration. SFr Robert Wilson
was made their ' stalking horse for a time, and now Spain calls
forth all their zeal, SUS their tongues wagging at St. Stephen's,
and their jaws wagging at the London Tavern; but nothing good
will 'result from this talking and eating and patronizing policy.
If Spain seek enfranchisement, and so seek it as to deservesuc-
cessc it will
,notbe in the power of :France, hacked by all her
allies, to hold' her in thraldrom against her will. For in such
a cause the exhaustless resources of the British Empire.would
be voluntarily perm forth, to aid a cause in which' every free-
man has a comn3on interest. But if 8114 seek; to establish some
newfangled notions of liberty, alike inconsistent with her own,
happiness and the safety of her neighbours ; if she labour to de-
grade the himourible and exalt the worthless; and if in her course
she at 41 resemble the nest at miscreant traitorswhom the whip
eieviihdue she:.cste acts h
ndinglYlorinnoduab
ediinF: theit
nCe4iee tlte,n is their cati43o,llppeless,
the hand, the' helot of
Britain is with her—but 'ii' she permit. herself to become the
-tool of a discontented and sclf.tlegraded action—if the in- 1
dependence of Spain be converted into a mere watch-
word
to promote the popularity of. a party—from that mo-
ment, every good man will fall from her , side, revery real
patriot shrink from her contaminating influence, It is
not love' of- Spain, but hatred of the Btairbons which raises
a war, cry amongst the Whigs: Let' thent 'but once- see
the arms' of England turned., against that throne' of France
which' the arms
.of England so lately reestablished :_then will
i '
their revenge, though insatiable, ben-part gratified, and they
will hold the Wasted. blpodand tteasitte of Britain ati expiatory sa,-
crifice to the. manes of their vanquished idol, Napoleon.' Are we
the e.riernies of freedom P Alou forbid ! But we arc the enemies
of faction; atiti;are- not to be deeeived by it thoUttli it wear the
-', raitsk...of Patriotism W e are. not,; the friendrof 'that bastard,
liberty w
—controlled: No; the' libeiti we love conduces to the safety of
i*h_Slaces honour, in peril, and Cleave! vileness un-
'controlled':
end' allows treerinian to be entirely free in every thing
that is entirely, honest. Just as . much freedom iteßranin en-
IRIS we would willingly dispence, to, all mankind, for in our
1 Mind'. . . • . .

" A any,' • an hour, of virtues)* liberty;
is worth a wola etatioitY of bolidag°`"

FOR, THE SUN.