The Sun.
London, England, 1826-11-17 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS:

an
Letters from Paris have been received, stating that. "
plication has been made by the Government" (orrather
Court, for .Goverement he has none), of .Ferdinand, to
the French Ministers,!rrequesting assistance" towards, thi
suppression, of the new Constitutional system in Portugal,
"on the ground that_ such a request, was in complete ac-
cordance with the conduct pursued by France in regard to
Spain in 184 and could sot therefore be eansistently re-
fused." The French Ministers, nevertheless, we are told,
have actually ventured to send back a flat refusal: We
have , no doubt that such reqiiests as are here alluded to
have been made by Ferdinand to the French Government.,
not recently alone, or in a single instance, but every day
and hour-since the first news arrived at Madrid of the pro-
mulgation of a Portuguese Charter, and since the first alarm
was felt that liberty in Portugal might prove contagious else-
where. The intelligence contained in the Paris letter is
therefore of little Moment as a matter of fact; but the argu-
ment which accompanies thefact may deserve a pass' ng obser-
vation. It is inferred, that because France invaded Spain
to put doWn the Spanish Constitution, cx pars ratiane,
she must co-operate with Spain in an attack on Portugal;
for extinguishing the constitution of the latter country.—
& knocks down B. on pretence that he (B.) was inedi-
rating a similar favour for him ; and is then advised to
knock down C. also, for fear he should, by possibility,
help to set B. on his legs again. This may certainly be
considered a provident and long-sighted plan of self-de-
&nee :` the only objection which occurs to us is, that it
Wouldltistify, and indeed require, a precautionary intik-
tion of knock-down blows upon. all • the letters of the
alphabet, in virtue of the same obvious principle, that
every Government may destroy every other Govern-
ment, by which it apprehends that danger, though
not positively intended, muy spring eventually to
its own interests or institutions. France excused her
atrocious conduct to Spain on sundry grounds, viz. that
the frontier provinces of the Peninsula were desolated by a
civil war, the consequences of which were unsafe for, and
injurious to, the adjueent provinces of his most Christian
Majesty; that the kingdom of Spain was in the hmids of
a most rebellious faction; which usurped the prerogatives
of the Sovereign against his will; end coerced his person;
that Soitereign being a near, relative of Louis XVIII., and
therefore entitled, by the ties of blood and honolir, to his
protection: • It was said, moreover, that no freedom could
be legitimate but that which was a voluntary gift from a
despotic Monarch, nor any neighbouring State secure from
the infection of such outrageous and ungodly examples, if
toleratedon its frontiers. We do not meddle with the justice or
common sense, or lawfulness, or bearableness of doctrineslike
theabove. It is nothilig to' us at ptesent to what degree
they:insulted the natural rights of every Spanish citizen;
the genii's of English history, the Royal authority of the
House of Brunswick, or the reason and dignity of the whole
human race; our business is with the argument of Ferdi-
nand's Camarillo, how fur the case brought forward by
France herself, to palliate her Attack on the Spanish Cones
and constitution, can be distorted into even the shadow of
'4 pretext for assisting Ferdinand in his
_project of hostility
against the Government of the Portuguese Regent: Is
tin re any civil war in Portugal affecting the peaceful 'com-
merce of the French provinces, and compelling Charles
X.- to inti.nfere for the protection of his own subjects
front licentiout military violence None. A' space of
between' 400 end MO miles extends between the near-
est French and the nearest Portuguese village, the
interval being occupied by French troops, and millions of
legitimate and ultra-loyal Spaniards (as they assure us.)
le Portugal again in the hands of. rebele ? )3y, whom
is its Government administered '? By whom was its con-
stitution framed, bestowed, promulgated, and established ?
By whom was the Regent appointed'? Why, by Pedro,
eldest born, arid unquestioned heir of John VI., the
kite Monarch ; and is he (Don Pedro) coerced by his
Pwir subjects, or have his prerogatives and attributes been
usurped by any of them ? No, surely. This lawful heir
tinuf proprietor of the Crown of Portugal took his text
from iYw ylry,,;primer of legitimacy. He volunteered
the chatterraich he gave to people, unseneited by
any of them, 6,00 miles from Portugal : in the pleni-
tude and wentorinese pf absolute power, this true legiti-
mate, invoking to his 11.41 the sacred and mighty mo-
narchical principle, the Owes: anchor of the Holy Alliance,
affirmed lila own autocracy in t,;,e act by which lie' sacri-
tieed it for ever, and with studied end punctilious adhe-
rence to the most extravagant dogma; of the despotic
school, he commanded his people to be frees And challenged
the other. absolute Kings of burope to impugn 0 liberty so
orthodox in all its' relations. Is this, in the last place,--this,
the free-gift offering of a despot,--that species of liberty
which aims at the existence of other states ? If so, the
Holy Alliance ere to blame ; for it is they' who have pre-
scribed and sanctioned it. On no ground, therefore, of
identity, or remote resemblance, do these two cases
bear to be 'argued in the Manner imputed to the Spanish
Government, nor can the Ministers of Charles X. be
dared with ieconsisteney, for having rejected flatly and
unequivoCklly the foolish application. There is another
circumstance, of DO great force, perhaps, in abstract logic,
yet of some potency', we should suspect, in practice, to
which it 'may not be tiOlair to attribute a share at least of
the repugnance evinced by .the French Government
to eloSe with the wild schemes of Camarillo. IL was an-
nounced many weeks ago that France hiO bound herself by a
distinct engagement with this country, to W.c?cet and hold
inviolable the Portuguese Constitution, if England wo.nid
equally pledge herself to leave the no-constitution of !Tr-
dinand and 'his monks unmolested. The good faith of
Charles was, therefore, involved in the decision 'which his
Ministers bad "to form: Finally, it has been declared from
the Throne at Lisbon, that England will support the ex-
isting GeVerninent cif Partiigal—a hint which, doubtless,
would have its jest weight at the Tuileries, had the ques-
tio (which we are far from asserting) lunig for a moment
in ti4e'bulance.—lbid,
to; Moauv MOKET.-4 new stimulus was given yes-
terday to, .the. value of stock of every description, both by
large purclus.'", and by playing on the ,fears of the specu-
lators, for a fin. 1. Consols for the Account were done at
sq, and left at buyers. There was no political in-
telligence of any ki.KI by- which the prices could be Mu-
enced : 'the rise Is Milli; merely to the general persuasion
that there must be ail improvement; each individual pur-
chases because lie Sees MS lieitchbour doing the same, and
exercises no reflicition whatever.- This is thus usual course
of speetilationiviit the moo ey-market; 'tad till some 'crisis
in public aflairs,,oecurs, no check is en,-gienced. All
these are.eager• to sell at the same time ; a c.anie takes
place, and prices tall as much below, as' they had risen
above, their natural level. N otwitustanumg the seven:
suffering that, has been lately experienced, so tattle are
speculators disposed to take warning by the past, that' it
will be matter of wonder rather than otherwise, if the rise
'as it did last year, to a specula-
of stock does not lend,
tion in commodities. Most of the Continental funds have
felt the -affect of the advance in Commis, to which they
generally, acquire it relative value. Danish, Portuguese,
Prussian, Russian, and,French stock are all higher. In
Mexican and Colombian bonds, account-day being -over,
there has been tio new movement. The report of a Pe-
ruvian loan in Paris, probably from the same cause,
dying away, and in all likelihood will be permitted to rest
till the next settling-day. The letter from the Colombian
Finance Minister to M. Hutted° has attracted a good deal of,
uuderstood that the
attention; the more so, as it is generally
agents with whom the 350,000/. is said to have be he
r ydgen,
ed,
are so far from admitting the claim that they, on th
ii•iefer a counter claim on the Colombian Gothat in vern') ea
sin
m
for
'time than .50,0001. Thus it. would appear,
f the
-
ple Motter of account, placed under the matiagetnent
Colombian Envoy, there is a difference of 400,0001. It is
to be lived that M. Hurtudo would favour the creditors
of the 'Republic here with a copy of the answer lia has for-
Nvarded to M. Castillo, the Finance Minister, that they
may not have to Wit for the requisite information until his
letter has travelled to Pogota and: back. This is a public
Asfficir of the greatest import, nce to hundreds in this coun-
ary, and an explanation satinet be withheld consistently