The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-06-11 00:00:00

Zbe iLicipoot Atanbarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, JUNE 11, 1833.

We are favoured by a correspondent with the follow-.
Ile particulars, of a late date, relative to the state of
nl°irs in Oporto :=On the 28th ult. the fleet of SARTO-
..uB was off the bar, but had not made any attempt to
enter the river. In the devoted city itself every thing
43 in a state of confusion, and the greatest disaffection
prevailed. The English and French troops have suffered
e°llsiderably from disease and the casualties of war, and
tae
greater portion 'of them were invalided. Upwards of
of these wretched dupes sailed for England on the
of May, some of whom were not expected to survive
the voyage. Oporto is completely blockaded by sea and
t 4, and unless instant succour is received from England,
i
is considered impossible for Pedro to hold out much
°llger• The only supplies he receives are from this
4antry.
vi S 0 we thought ! The only country on which the
it venturer depends for his rations, and for his fighting
:°PB, is that which Lord Grey says maintains a strict
eittrality

The West India revolution bill has made but a slight
k
r °Cress since our last. The second resolution was car-
ti
Led °ll Friday, after some sharp shooting but no regular
, i.,uT t---that will take place on a future day in a different
'T of battle.
n_
brih.--night Mr. BENETT is to make a second attempt to
Iv-% on his motion relative to the Liverpool election.—
wait the issue with some curiosity. If he should
04
`'e more be out-manoeuvred by his ministerial friends,
tt
/4.74PPoluted in his hopes, or defeated in his honest and
ettrterested intentions, what will Mrs. Grundy or the
43r of the Mercury say?

44;4 Were not too serious a subject, we should certainly,
et inclined to turn the KING'S, or rather the ministers
but
to the Lords' address into rhyme, have it set to
u7e ?evolutionary tune, and order it to- be sung at the
4-1 t festival of the unwashed tinkers of Birmingham, for
toore laconic and terse reply, simply eloquent, and sar-
t4tieally pointed, it has not been our fate to discover in
t 6
writings of any of our modern poets—Dr. Bowring
hot
excepted.
leatillutit is too serious a subject, and we fear is likely to
t° Consequences which it is possible the KING does
t:t foresee, and the honest advisers of the crown do not
11
j3,..temPlate. What are the facts?' The House of Lords,
a:Lnlajority of its members, address the throne, pray-
I 3 MAJESTY to enforce a strict neutrality with re-
-7t to the contest now raging in Portugal. There
shi4l4 have been no excuse for this address if their lord-
ad been satisfied that such a neutrality had not
h. v.iolated. They would not have prayed the KING'S
IN' Interference if there had been any doubt on the sub-
If -alav man after due deliberation could have come
sif,Le Conclusion that justice had been done in the case,
110
.Loat the servants of the crown had done their duty.
Teri it was because the House saw the necessity of inter-
rt._
11144. 'dAv pretence and partiality on one side, and gross
ticks zee on the other—saw a respect for the law of na-
teppotnade a cover for insidious stratagems, and indirect
ttalt htt,llnd secret connivance—it was because the House
tre4tlea e. honour of the crown tampered with, the rights of
kid violated, the subjects of the KING slaughtered,
hired sanguinary war carried on by foreign means and
Peelle Ettiventurers,; against a brave, oppressed, but united
their The The upper House of Parliament could not shut
thel, eyes to these revolting and disgraceful acts, and
Aeel,,sequently, in the discharge of their duty as
th-q (of the realm, as the defenders of the monarchy, and
Pole:morn guardians of the honour of the crown, inter-
bloodshi!,their legislative character to' stop the career of
By
tut land rapacity.
Bytilew`44 Was the answer of 'WILLIAM THE FOURTH ?
th the Way. We must premise that, although it appears
ilatile of the KING, it is no more his MAJESTY'S
8, "et th
an it is ours • for however humbly we may
tea ~°,.1.,t0me -of thein; there is not a member of the
team •Drunswick, including the Duke of SussEx, who
dreg pen a reply to the nobles of England one bun-
hitt Lord
SO petulent, so vulgar, or so insulting. None
ether will .GanY, or perhaps Lord DURHAM, or some
andlg" who has sucked vinegar with his mother's
fifee liLved upon sour -crout all the remainder of his
4isi Ik/rid have been the author of the KING'S answer.
..z ha 4-7. Farr is instructed—we fear compelled to say
tO
„ve already taken all such measures as appeared to me
'ettLecessar for maintaining the neutrality which I had
ittl.laecl to observe in the contest now carrying on in Porta.,
What (Signed) "W. Ma."
liklos-'," we to think of such a reply after the facts
e
heu In the admirable and unanswerable speech of
ok
°f WELLINGTON ? The noble Duke proved
4t
e clearly
tlarlo Y as any fact could be proved, that the laws
14 ..es and
the the protestations of Ministers, recorded
bantly nING's Speeches, bad been openly and fla-
b. violated,
'tett was
He proved that what Ministers now
't the and 15 false. He brought the official orders
of
6°Vlterleßt to contradict their own assumptions,
Pikje all°wed that in councilcertain
tr teal
shi an order
133 Seized by the customs had emanated
the Lorcla
%is of Wr.u.ixorost, highas
of the Treasury. It was not merely the
, ahis character and au-
'kitty re, who returned this verdict against his MA-
N Ministers. The House of Lords, the second
in the realm,
found Lord GR was convinced by the evidence,
e %Olin EY and his colleagues guilty of
g very like
icy, or at least of being par t.icep.s
144 te an act ofPi•
()I"teigutionn count piracy, of encouraging rebellion in
ntrY, of winking at fraud in the cause of re
tidanlla of being parties to the enticement of British
er circumstances involving life and death, in
~karrel
4N. ni which their Royal Master professed to stand
hi
11148 averment being proved, and the answer thereto
tt,tl:ol4:.r.estched
.quibble, or a more wretched falsehood,
face it appears to be, what are we to think a
4Q1,1 'Alio. to suit their own vile
4uguas, purposes, could put'
i_r's it ,e be in the mouth of their Sovereign ? Who
14y, it
d"e!raradde most—him or them ? Them, we should
J'ttr, 4, ation could go so low--if in the lowest
theregre were a lower to which we could have access,
brand
them
as they merit, But no; nothing

now can be added to their ignominy; arid therefore, how-
ever reluctantly, we are compelled to admit, that all help-
less as he is, our most gracious Sovereign is dragged
through the mire with his unprincipled ministers.
The House of Commons too—the pledged parliament
—the pawnbroking parliament—the consistent parlia-
ment, which repeals taxes one day and re-imposes them
the next—this virtuous and immaculate body has come
to the rescue of his MAJESTY'S ministers. They assure us
that being equallycompetent in their own conceits to pass
an opinion, they are perfectly satisfied with the conduct
of his MAJESTY'S ministers with reference to the affairs of
Portugal. We admit that they have an undoubted right
to offer any opinion they think proper, even although they
should not be asked to offer one ; but what has their satis-
faction to do with the question at issue ? The real ques-
tion was—"are ministers neutrals or belligerents ?"
have they faithfully fulfilled the obligations they had re-
peatedly imposed upon themselves in the speeches
delivered from the throne ? We contend that they did
not e'en condescend to• argue this point—they did not
grapple with any of the facts—they would not listen
to the evidence—they flung the treasury documents over-
board, and having made a clear deck of their own plunder,
and having concealed the spoil, and stowed away the
dead and living witnesses, they, like other heroes, stand
upon their unsullied reputation, and cry " content" to the
deeds of blood and shame !

But it matters not three rotten straws what is the opi-
nion of the House of Common's. As Falstaff says of a
certain person, " we know not where to have them."
They are fish to-day and flesh to-morrow. They are
black on Monday, and white on Tuesday—steaming pa-
triots on the Wednesday, and on the Friday
morning. Lord ALTRORP has only to raise his little fin-
ger, and these consistent reformers are ready to eat their
words with an avidity which, as regards appetite, would
put Mr. ATKINS' beaii in the Zoological Gardens to the
blush.

But it is of more importance to consider how these
jarring opinions of the reformers bear upon the upper
house. The two houses, in point of fact, are in a state of
collision. Lord GREY defeated in the front, calls up
Lord ALTHORP in the rear, and the Commons undo what
the second estate has presumed to do without their con-
sent. This, it is obvious, cannot last long, and it is full
time that the attention of the KING and the Royal Fa-
mily should be called to the perilous situation in which
they are placed. The ministerial journals boast that had
Col. DAVIES or Lord EBRINGTON moved for an address
praying the KING to recognise the sovereign rights of
DoN PEDRO, the motion would have been carried by a
large majority. Who doubts it? If either of these
illustrious statesmen had moved that the moon is com-
posed of buttered parsnips, and that DEAN SWIFT, in
his History of Lilliput, wrote a libel upon Lord J. Rus-
SELL, the motion would have been voted by acclamation.
But these eccentricities of the House are nevertheless
calculated to lead the country into a serious scrape. They
may plunge us into a war tomorrow in favour of the
most worthless vagabond in Europe, and they may drag
LOUIS PHILIPPE into it along with us. But are the people
of this country so mad as to tax themselves for the sake
of DON PEDRO at the hazard of lighting a general war in
Europe ? Nothing would give NICHOLAS of Russia more
delight than a war in Spain and Portugal, in which Eng.
land and France should both be concerned. Constanti-
nople would then be an easy prey, Italy would be incor-
porated with Austria, Saxony would fall
.to the share of
Prussia, and the outposts of Russia, after traversing Po-
land and Middle Germany, would sleep securely at the
foot of the Tyrol. In the struggle Canada would declare
its independence, our colonial possessions would form
part of the united republic, Ireland would be severed from
the British Crown, HENRY V. would be restored to the
throne of France, Belgium rejoined to Holland, and
LEOPOLD sent to sojourn in the cabbage gardens of Clare-
mont. -This would be rare sport for the philosophers !
The House of Commons had • better therefore take care
what they are about.

WE are concerned to state that we have observed, du-
ring the last few weeks, the walls of this town posted
with attractive placards, addressed to the operatives, and
purporting to emanate from secret, and therefore illegal
committees of the several trades. That we have not
noticed these placards sooner we beg the operatives to
ascribe to the proper motives. They know how zealously
we have fought their battle when they were about to be
overwhelmed by an insolent and intolerant faction, and
deprived of those rights of which every man, no matter
how humble his station in society, must naturally be
proud. When this faction assailed our unprotected towns-
men, the bUrgesses of Liverpool, in order to rob and de-
grade them—in order to trample upon and oppress them—
in order to brand them as a community of worthless
drunkards, whom it was the duty of every upstart shop-
man, first to cheat, and secondly to kick and spurn—
when our operatives were thus attacked and the torch
was lighted to burn their charter, and destroy their
suffrages, did we not stand forward in theiz defence,
fearlessly, gratuitously, successfully ?
We leave the freemen to make the proper response to
the question. If, then, we did them good service in the
hour of need, and at the moment of peril, when they were
friendless, as we shall ever be ready to do, it is not, we
hope, too much to ask from them in return to bear with
us while we address a few words to them on the subject
of these placards.
We are not here prepared to admit or deny that the
operatives have grievances which demand redress. They
may or they may not be amply remunerated for their la-
bour. They may or they may not be aggrieved; but all
this is beside the question. All that we know of their case
is that which behoves us,as public instructors and as friends,
to take cognizance of, for the purpose of exposing falla-
cies which, if persisted in, must eventually operate as a
tax upon their industry, engender rancorous feelings,
break asunder the bonds of society, and lead to the ruin
and destitution of hundreds of helpless and innocent fa-
milies. •

They must be aware that all secret associations are
clearly of an illegal character, and that all oaths imposed
in such associations are also illegal. But of far greater
consequence is it to know, that in no instance have the
restraints imposed by these oaths been successful, or the
objects they seek been attained. In France and Germany
these secret conclaves have invariably done more harm
than good, inasmuch as they have given the government
a pretext for attacking them, and an excuse for employing
spies—hardened villains who are ready to swear any
thing—and moreover have given them the means of se-
lecting their victims and punishing the least guilty. As
it has been in France and Germany so will it be in Eng-
land. All conspiracies of this nature uniformly fail, and
bring ruin and disgrace on the heads of those who are en-
trapped by specious agents, or pretended friends, and
identified with proceedings which these excellent and elo-
quent friends are the.first to disavow.
We have no wish at presnt to enter further into the
details With which we have been made acquainted, because
we cherish a hope that a hint will be enough to open the
eyes of some who are hardly More than initiated into the
mysteries of these unlawful clubs. And we throw out the
hint " more in sorrow than in anger;" for every respec-
table operative must know that the leaders in these clubs,
as well as the foupders of. them, are generally, of the worst
class of workmen, persons of tainted reputation, of mis-
chievous politics, the partizans of TpRNLEY and his
clique, and who clamour most loudly in the proportion
that they are more indolent and more depraved than their
fellow operatives. In fact it cannot be otherwise where
threats are resorted to in a manner so heartless and ma-
lignant as must make every honest Englishman ashamed
of their principles and their society. When a workman
is induced to join these secret associations from fear, this
is evidence enough that mischief only is the object, crime
the means, and transportation or the gallows the end.—
Nothing can be for good that cannot be done in open day.
To the honest burgesses of Liverpool we particularly
address ourselves, because we have some claim on their
consideration, and we conjure them to listen to the warn-
ing of a friend; and abstain from being parties to secret
machinations and other unlawful designs, which must
sooner or later come to light, and expose the guilty to
shame, destitution, and remorse,