The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-03-08 00:00:00

FRIDAY .MORNING, MARCH 8, 1833.

The• French papers have for some time been indulging
themselves in certain distressing speculations relative to
that most unfortunate Princess the Duchesse de Berri.
This lady, now a prisoner in the Castle of Blaye, is
stated to be enceinte, and a document has been publish-
ed in the Moniteur, purporting to be in her own hand-
writing, announcing that _Shn was last year privately
married whilst sojourning in Italy.
This doCument, be it genuine or otherwise, has given
rise to a thousand calumnies of the most indelicate kind,
which are rendered far more repulsive by the factious
spirit in which they are written-, and.the insulting tone
which-they breathe towards an unprotected woman. The
wretched scurrility of the French journals has found its
way to England, and been translated into modern Bil-
ling,sgate by the London Times. That journal, which
boasted of thd " unsunned innocAnce" of Caroline of
England, gloats with fiendish delight over the supposed
frailties of Maria Caroline of France, the widow of a
murdered Prince, and the mother of Henry V. Such is
the wretched and vulgar malignity of modern Liberals
The most remarkable part of the story consists in this,
that the Duellesse being a close prieoner in the castle of
Blaye, to • whom none of her confidential friends are
allowed to have access, strong suspicions are Thrown
upon the genuineile§s of tile dt;cument, and the authen-
ticity of the statement. It is certain that her principal
attendants are unconscious of the-existence of the docu-
ment, unless they have recently been informed of its
insertion in the Moniteur. Her friends assert that it is
either a fabrication, or has been extorted through fear,
in a moment of ter rcr, and for state purposes. It is also
firmly denied that the Princess is enceinte.

It is a curious case altogether, and one which, to say
the least of it, is involved in much mystery. Louis
Philip, it is well known, occupies a disputed throne.
The revolution has done nothing to render either him or
it popular. it has disappointed the hopes of the repub-
licans—it has alienated the affections and exasperated the
passions of the Royalists—and it has left the citizen king
Ni-ithout a party. The character of the man is a sufficient
warrant for suspecting him of any project by which he
can strengthen his dynasty and secure the crown to his
posterity. A defenceless prisoner is an easy victim.
Calumny may inflict deeper wounds than the axe or the
sword; and when the truth transpires, as sooner or later
it must do, we shall not be surprised if this unhappy lady
has, imperfect innocence, been doomed to obloquy, and
made the martyr of state policy.

WHAT a load has been removed from the breast of Lord
Atthorp! After five nights' debate.the Irish suppression
bill has been read afirst time in the House of Commons.
It was oppoSed by eighty-nine honourable gentlemen,
most of whom were Irishmen, out of a house consisting of
555 members. When so small a fraction of the repre-
sentatives of the nation can thus impede public business,
in the teeth of such a majority, and without the slightest
chance of accomplishing their object, we cannot see how
the real interests of the country can be attended to, and
the other important commercial and financial questions
which are to come before Parliament can be satisfactorily
or dispassionately discussed.
The amendment moved by Mr. Tennyson was, that the
first reading of the bill be postponed for a fortnight. The
opposition knew that this proposition would be resisted;
but they took care to extort ten shillings in the pound
as a composition. They debated the motion during a
period.which comprehended seven days, exactly the half
of the time they required to reflect upon its provisions.
This long debate will.be a memorable one in our par-
liamentary history, chiefly from its lack • of attractions.
It will be remembered for its sterility and dullness—its
bold averments, without proof—its contradictory state-
ments—and its details of blood and crime, assumed to be
notorious, 'but nevertheleis unsubstantiated by evidence.
Its tedium was only relieved by two able and eloquent
speeches, one front Mr. Secretary Stanley, and the other
(and by far the best) from Sir Robert Peel, who has con-
ferred -a lasting obligation on his Majesty's Ministers-
The speeches of the Irish members were, almost without
a single exception, lamentable failures. What turgid
stuff, or empty bombast, or illogical barbarisms, form the
materials of the harangues of Dr. Baldwin, Mr. Finn,
Mr. Shed, Mr. Barron, and some half dozen other per-
sons whose names are unknown to the people of England 1
What a contrast do these speeches form to the splendid
displays of Burke, 'Grattan, and Sheridan, in former
times, when Irish gentlemen, and none but Irish gentle-
men, were the representatives of that country Even
O'Connell himself (by far the cleverest man among
them) disappointed public expectation. He tottered
under the oppressive weight of his. subject. His answer
was simply a denial of the allegations ; and this was per-
haps his strongest position ; for ft is easy to meet asser-
tion with denial in the absence of • all proof upon either
side. Mr. O'Connell contended that the disturbances of
Ireland could be suppressed by the :ekisting law, if the
Government were disposed to do their -...duty. What a
satire upon the conduct of his Majesty's ministers ! This
taunt they receive front a man who has trampled upon
the laws and defied the executie'Governnient for the
last two years 1 He is him Self a lawyer of great experi-
ence, and we presume a pretty good judge of those
powers which he held in abeyance, and whose force he
Could estimate, if wielded by resolute amid able men. He
knew where he was most vulnerable, and could be suc-
cessfully assailed ; and yet he unblushingly tells the
ministers that if they had had the:courage to carry tile
Jaw, into effect they might have
.suppressed, agitation
Ung ago, and sent him, the great-agitator, to prison, to
the hulks, or to Botany Bay The bitter. sarcasm of
this reproach must have been keenly felt by the law-
officers of the crown.
And O'Connell, in our opinion, spoke the truth. He
xvas as sincere as if he had been making what is called a
than breast before his father confetiSOr: We never had
doubt but that all his machinatiions during the last two