The Sun.
London, England, 1823-03-19 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF CHANCERY, MARCH 18.
THE PORTSMOUTH CAUSE.
[FURTHER PARTICULARS.
Mr. HART, in rising to bring this subject PARTICULARS.]
the Court,
said, " There is a petition in the matter of Lord Portsmouth,
which your Lordship was pleased to order to come on this day.
The petition, my Lord, is that of Walter Skirrow, Esq., and
prays that the care and custody of Lord Portsmouth be
entrusted to Joseph Draper Coombe, Esq., as provisional Com-
mittee, until a
_permanent Committee was appointed; and in
the event of his Lordship's being pleased not to grant the prayer
of the petition, then that some other person might be appoint.
ed, in order to secure the comfort and happiness of the Noble
Lord." The petition also prayed that Mr Skirrow might be at
liberty to pay over certain sums of money, out of
the fund
then in his hands, for the maintenance of his Lordship.—
The Learned Counsel went on to state the circumstances
of the grant to Lord Portsmouth, and part of what took place
before the Commissioners at the Freemasons' Tavern, relative
to the necessity of keeping his Lordship in a state of quietness,
and remarked, that Mr. Coombe having had for a length of
time the care of his Lordship, and having conducted himself
With the greatest humanity and kindness towards him, he was
the most eligible person to be appointed the provisional Corn-
Inittee_, should his Lordship be pleased to make the order. In
fact, Mr. Coombe was willing to act, but declined doing so
without the sanction of the Court. He-(Mr. Coombe) was also
willing to accompany the Noble Lord into the country, whither
it vras-highly necessary his Lordship should be removed. The
petitioner was the Auditor and Chief Steward of his Lordship,
and as such had now a. very considerable sum in his hands.
Under these circumstances he (Mr. Hart) trusted the prayer of
the_ petition would be granted.
Nl,_essrs. Ro w T. and DUCKWORTH were on the same side.
The ATTORNEY.GENERAL,_Mr. WETHERELL, and Mr.
Prairs opposed the petition on the ground that the application
was wholly uncalled for, as, since the verdict of the Jury had
been returned, no interference had taken place against Mr.
Coombe. It was submitted, that there were various members
of his Lordship's family who were more eligible to fill the office
ifn preference to him. It was also asked, what cause was there
or interference, as the petition had not been presented by any
(11. Lord Portsmouth's family, but by a stranger in blood.
Mr. HART relied;i and
The LORD cHANCELLOR, after some prefatory remarks,
4a1(1.„--" Let my Lord Portsmouth be removed by Mr. Coombe
tr, eutirstborne. Let the greatest care be taken of him ; and if
r,,,re any disturbance likely to be made, let application be
-4',"e to the Court." His Lordship declined making any or-
"`„ 14,, or-
to costs, but said, that if Mr. Skirrow advanced any rea-
w"aute bum for the mai
should

THE SUN.

SOLEM QUIS DICERE FALSU.II AUDEAT

LONDON,
WEDNESIMY, MARCH 19, 1823.

We have inserted some further extracts from
the French Papers of Sunday. They chiefly re-
late to the prosecution instituted by the Chamber
of Deputies against the Journal du Commerce,
for having arraigned the conduct of the majority
of the Chamber in the affair of M. MANUEL, and
to the proceedings of the Spanish Cortes respect-
ing the Treaty of Alliance pending between
Spain and Portugal.

FitENCli FUNIM.—MAItCII 17.
Five per Cents 77 f. 30 c.
Neapolitan Five per Cents.
Spanish Bonds 1021 • 29.

In our Paper of Thursday, last, we stated that
Dispatches had been received which extinguished
every remaining hope of preserving peace be-
tween France and Spain ; but that this Country
would, it' possible, preserve neutrality, though,
from the expectation of being eventually drawn
into the contest, which was felt in the highest
quarters, preparations for War would be promptly
and extensively effected.

But for the illness of Mr. Secretary CANNING,
the same important Information we believe would
have been sooner communicated to Parlia-
ment. The Right Honourable Gentleman,
however, took his seat in the House of Com-
mons last night, for the purpose of stating that
he no longer 46 clung to any rational hope of
averting a war between France and Spain ; "
that in consequence 66 it was his intention to
place upon the table of the House the Papers
relative to the subject," as connected with the
policy and the conduet pursued by Government

in the negociations to which the alarming crisis
in the affairs of Europe had given rise ;—and,
" that at present there exists no specific ground
which can involve this country in war at this mo-
ment." It will be observed that although the
last important statement of Mr. CANNING COn-
firms our annunciation that Great Britain would
" if possible preserve neutrality," yet that the
language of the Right lion. Gentleman by no
means amounts to a declaration of unconditional
neutrality, throughout the prOgress and until the
termination of the struggle. It amounts only to
this, that there is, at present, no specific ground
for our taking a part in the conflict,—that the
mere circumstance of an attack upon Spain by
France is not, under all the actual circumstances,
both of the domestic condition and of the exter-
nal relations of Great Britain, in the opinion of
Ministers sufficient to warrant them in plung-
ing the Empire into the war. In the absence
of a specflic necessity, therefore, the question of
our taking part in the war, as an affair of general
policy, is still left open for consideration. How
soon even some specific grimnd for our interfer-
ence may arise, is another matter on which Go-
vernment is left at full liberty to decide.
In the mean time time the Peninsula may, as we
hope and trust it will, expel the invaders by the
exertion of its own energies. If the contest
should he long and sanguinary, that might be
deemed a " specific ground" for our interference,
inasmuch as it. would render the iniquity of the
pretext for its commencement by France mani-
fest to the whole world, by proving that the
Constitution which she wishes to subvert in
Spain by the bayonet, is the work, not of a mili-
tary revolt, but of the free choice of the great
body of the Spanish nation. On the other hand,
even the rapid progreis of the French arms may
become a " specific ground " for our taking part
with Spain ; inasmuch as it might be thought
necessary, after it may have been ascertained
that the Spaniards are incapable of defending
themselves, that England should endeavour to
prevent the Peninsula from falling under the sub.
jugation of France. After the actual commence.
ment of hostilities, a formal demand made
upon us by Portugal may become a " specific
ground " for embarking in the contest ; or we
may be forced into it by any inroad upon
British interests, or any insult offered to the
British flag ; or the co-operation of any other
Continental Power with France might be
deemed a " specific ground" sufficiently powerful
to induce us to draw the sword without a mo-
ment's further hesitation. Much light will
doubtless be thrown upon the question by the
promised production of papers by Mr. CAN..
NING. We have adverted, in the mean time,
to the few preceding topics, merely to show
on how many prospective contingencies the con-
tinuance of the neutrality of England may
depend. In the desultory conversation which
arose on the Foreign Relations last night
in the House of Commons, during the pro-
gress of the Mutiny Bill, Mr. W. vf`
OURTENAY
expressed his opinion that the neutrality of this
country might even be favourable to the interests
of Spain. In TnE Sus of the 10th instant, we
stated various considerations in illustration of the
same opinion, the principal of which were, that
the neutrality of England might be a sort
of implied condition, on which the Members of
the Holy Alliance were to abstain from assisting
France ; and that our alliance with Spain would
so far cripple her means of resistance as to pre.
vent her from adopting measures of retaliation
against the French Government, if she is so dis-
posed, to which England could not be a party.
Since that article was written, our Readers are
aware that Austria has expressed a resolution to
be neutral in the Spanish war, and that it has
been said by the Journal des Mbats that a
French Regency, acting in the name of Young
NAPOLEON', has been formed in Spain.