Star.
London, England, 1824-01-13 00:00:00

LISBON, DECEMBER 23.

Tire accounts from Naples give reason to expect that
a farther redaction of 501Xl men is going to take Place
in Lige Army of Otcupation in that kingdom.
We have already said that the British Parliament has
been prorogued till the 3d of February. Some Jour-
nalists fancy that the affairs of South America will be
discussed. in that Assembly. We 'are ignorant under,
what poifit of view they judge such a discussion prat-
,Citable, if it is understood to commence by it an inter_
vention hostile to the rights of the mother countries ; and
if it cart by just only in the intention of offering good
offices, they may perhaps be asked by the legitimate
Spvereig us.

The consideration or the mer:7.antile interests 'of any
foreign nation as•a ground for interference in the do-
mestic concerns of another independent nation, without
its asking it, is a ridiculous absurdity, contrary to all
the principles of the law Of nations ; to change the state
of things contrary to the will of the proprietors is odious
on the same principle ;, even suppos;pg the end to be
praiseworthy, that is not 'sufficient to sanctify the means.
As there does. not exist on the part of Spain or Por-
tugal, any perfect internal or external obligation which
interests the proper or perfect rights of any other na-
tion with respect to their transmarine provinces, it is
evident that these two Powers have the liberty to regu-
, late with the entire plentitude of their national and po-
4itical rights, their interests in those countries which
they colonised at the expense of their population and
riches, arid which really form an integral pats of those
monarchies,
It is afi3icting, in so er4ightened an age as ours, to see
the speculations and theories of certain writers, rela-
tive to the Spanish and Portuguese possessions in
the New World, losing sight of all the best principles of
sound morality,' and of the natural law of nations, to
subject them to mere mercantile calculations, or the
1 abtraction' of what is emphatically styled the spirit of
tire age, to Which Enrope and America owe their pre-
sent agitation. Who has the right to regulate or dis-
cuss the means of preserving those provinces, 4 im-
p! oving their condition, of watching over their felicity,
of securing them against whatever may threaten their
internal or external security and tranquillity, unless
it be their legitimate Sovereign, that wise and tender
father to ss hom PROVIDENCL confided this power
and this duty, together smith the legitimate prerogative
14 S )vereignty over all the countries of his inherited
Empire, and who, by his direct relations with the people
whom .he governs, is not only better qualified to judge
of their wants and interests than speculators or me-
taphysicians, but is most deeply interested in the
I prosperity, the greatness, and glory of these people,
with whose felicity his own greatness and glory are
inseparably united? _

The French Papers of Saturday do not contain a
single article of interest. The King of SPAIN has issued
two decrees, to encourage the exportation of Spanish
produce and endeavour to revive the trade of the coun-
try,which was reduced to a state of complete stagnation.
By the first of'these, wines, brandies, vinegar, liquors of
all kinds, fruit (green, dry or preserved), skins, hemp, and
soda, the produce of Spain, may be shipped off from every
port iothePeiiin.sula free of duty : whilst the same arti-
cles coming from foreign countries are to pay the usual
introductory duties. By, the second, the ft ee exporta-
iion of Spanish-flour, grain, and seeds, is allowed, and
the existing duty on the importation of those of foreign
growth is continued until the Ist May. At that period
some alterations are to be made.
These regulations are symptoms of liberality on the
part of the Government ; but it will be seen by the fol-
lowing extract of a private letter from Madrid, that
mare decisive-measures are necessary to rescue Spain
from her present wretched state :

_

MADRID, DECEMBER 30.
4,. (EXTRACT OF A PRIVATE LETTER.)
Our absolute Royalists have been somewhat quieter
tor several days past, and the Liberals are allowed a
little repose. The gentlemen of the Faith have relaxed
their animosity against the Constitutionalists, and now

7 '

..•
3,
. .
0
..
0,.........._..40.00.601........0/10.0.....40........• ' . : ..,.........,•-:00. • •
. _ - .- ......-

ibrPir~i~

ifiallagaL.

~~

complain loudly of the King, who, they tiy, has no,
rewarded thetnrits they deserved. These compla;me
pretty plainly chew, that the men who pretend to yt
the purest Royalists are not particularly devoted to the
Xing. The French, too, have also to sustain a cos,
siderable share of this Royalist hostility. During the
Christmas holydays abarbarous doggrcl song was mina
through the public-streets, which had fur its clicouts—:.
41 Let Blacks and Whites* 'join bean and Auld,
" Td drive all Frenchmen from the- land."
The GovernMent has definitivelyordetet all the
shops and Archbishops who had repaired to Madrid,
return to their dioceses.

The finance department has undergone a great pusi.
fication ; about 15 of the principal clerks have been dis.
missed without any pay or allowance whatever.
Our official 'Garotte announces that all the officers
who served voluntarily In the national militia arc des.
' missed. This measure is much too rigorous, for under
the Constitutional system a great number of these officers
were obliged to serve, under pain of being marked out
as enemies of the existing Government. Lieutenant-
General Grimarest, late Inspector. General of Militia, h
appointed Captain-General ci.Arragon. Ile is succeeded
in the former office by the Count de San Roman.
' General Silveira, who is here 'in the character of
Charge d'Affaires from Portugal, maintains the greatest
secrecy respecting the events which have lately taken
place. at Lisbon : nevertheless, it is currently reported
that there has been a seditious movement in that city,
though nothing positive is stated as to its consequences.
It .is this moment reported that Genesal Botirmont,
Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, has applied
to his Government :for an additional number of troops.
This step is not at all surprising, for the Spanish Gr.:-
vernment• do not tranquillize the public. mind by stop.
ping the persecutions and repressing the false zeal cf
the pretended defenders of the altar and the throne.--
Nnain must soon become the theatre of the most dread.

ful transactions.
It is remarked that few days pass in which. some
French soldiers are.i
not
assassinated ; Red the dispersc
of the army encourages the daring atrocity of a pcop'e
who, because they are flattered, believe themselves
capable of accortiplishing anything. Travellers who
arrive at Madrid state that the roadi are scarcely prac-
ticable ; there is.every moment danger of being stopped
and robbed. The -couriers cannot advance'a step with-
out an escort. It seems that nothing short of a miracle
•
can now save Spain.
• The Men of the Faith sfyle theentelsrs Moms (Whites), and
the Constittstionalias they call Negros (Blacks).