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

.THt STATESMAN.

~~~_

MAILS.
Aaa. • • ilia. I Ann. its .
1.... Dublin 0 o..—Rolland ... '. .. * ...
2—.Waterford•• • 0 1. •••Hambro
L• • •ft ;lc Jersey. • ..0 • o....Franee %••0,
O.... Lisbon 0 I o.—Flatiders ..• ....*
o....Gottetherg I 0....Ma1ta .... ....... 4

PRICE OF STOCKS THIS
Bank Stock
3 per Crate()
3 p•Ct•Cons. ..... • .
3) per Ct.
4 per Cents ....... • • •
New Fours
6 pee Ct. 1797... •
Loup Ann 414.••
Imp. 3 per Ct.."... 4 ••••
Irish ö per Cents.

DAY AT ONE wcsocc.
India Stock
[Ditto Bonds 235. Es
'South Sea Stock .... ....
South Sea Old Aye....:...
Ex.13111.2d. ? los 125
_spa.
WOOL
R.rv,s 106
.14spie.

am liloll9s P.
Con.forAect
Lotterfrickets .... 1. 1.

Zhe *tatesittatt.

k
WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 19, 1823.
PARLi AMENTARY COMMENTARY.
• "PEACE AND PLENTY It!"
There are several thitgs beforethe House of Commons
last night, which would deserve attention ; but, the great
question of peace or war having received a sort of set-
tler, we must lay aside such subjects as Earl St. Vincent,
Consols, Insolvent Debtors, King's Library, Moberly.
Finance, Welsh Judicature, Scotch Courts ; all each
matters as these including Prophane Swearing and In-
come and Expenditure of Ireland ; all such matters be-
come mere moon-shine when we have the grand subject
of all before us.—The thing is settled, then; we are to
have the " shield" of peace ; the Quakers pockets are
to be squeezed ; the greedy landlords are not to get high
prices, and ruin their tenants, while they have in-
famy to bawl out for national faith; the infamous
London news-papers are now to be proved a pretty pack
of fools ; the bellowing speeches, the bullying pa-
ragraphs; the pretty little ;questions and answers ;
the damnable.. duplicity of knaves whom 1 will
not name, and the thundering speech of Sir
Francis Burdett, calling upon us to lay by our
own distresses, for the vital interests of mankind;
all.these are to the subject, as I said they would be, of
everlasting laughter or everlasting censure. In the next
Register I shall go into the history ; or, rather, I shall
put upon record this series of rogueries and of follies.—
I have been guarding, or endeavouring to guard, my
readers against them, all the way through, from the ninth
of Noveuilier, at the Fanners' Dinner at Reading, up to
the present day. Monstrous, indeed, has been the folly
and turpitude of the London press ; equally monstrous
tbe.folly and turpitude of others; the thing is now in a
State to enable me to show, that if I bad been listened to,
the public never would have been deceived by this folly
and this turpitude ; and on Saturday I will put this, show-
ing safely upon record in that book which contains the
only real and true history of the country for the last
twenty years. But, let me now return to the upshot of
the story, which upshot was brought out in the House
of Commons last night, by a QUESTION, put to Mr.
Canning (now happily relieved from the gout) by the
meliorating Sir James Mackintosh. Ameliorating
means softening meant some which has la
soften-
ing effect; such as a poultice has upon a hard swelling;
or such as some infernally nasty stuff that we thick bet-
ter than an obdurate cough. To ameliorate is a very
amiable sort of thing ; and Sir Jam's iaperfectly famous
for his performances in this way. I shaquestions"ext Saturday
ob-
serve upon Mr. Broueltam's about
thousand sailors, and the like ; but, at present, I have to
observe on Sir James Mackintosh's question and Mr.
Canning's answer last night.. Sir James began by ex-
pressing his joy at the course pursued by Government in
their late negotiations for effecting an object so dear to hu
inanity; namely, certain things done by them with regard
to the Slave Trade, an account of which Mr. Canning had
first laid upon the table. This was a very nice and
smooth way of en.ering into the great subject ; namely,
the question of peace or war. H. said, the questions that
he was about to put to Mr. Canning would have been put
before, had it not been for the indisposition of Mr. Can-
ning, Wlth it no man lamented more than he did. He
text soiled that the tang silence and forbearancl of him-
self and friends, with regard to this subject, arose, and
not from a Want of sen ibility to the interests at stake,
but from a sincere feeling, which made them not wish
to obtrude apon °embarrass the Ministers' negociations.
lie then went on to express his hope, that those negotia-
tions hail been conducted upon just and sod prin
u Mnciplses;
and he concluded by asking " whether his ajesty' !di-
" ;titters had still a Lope of preventing, by negociation,
the unprovoked aggression of France against Spain?"
—This was the question •, and the answer hshoulde re-
ceived was this : that "be (Mr. Canning)
" be deceiving the House, if he did not state,
that the hope of amicable adjusten, if not totally
extingnished, was so far diminishmed, tas not to allow a
• reasonable expectation that hostilities could be avert-
;, ed." Mr. Canning added, before he sat down, that
" could not avoid that opportunity of declaring that,
• however events might be shaped with regard to the
" issue of the war between France and Spain, he did not
" at present see any specific ground for involving this
" country in war!" There ! that is it, reader. You
have now got it oat, after ten days of as much attack of
tEe tont as man could reasonably nisi) to endure. You
heard before about the four thousand sailors; you beard
Mr. Brougham's speech on the first day of the Session;
wou heard Lord Liverpool call theM Frencus attack an un-
justifiable aggression ; you heard r. Hkissi call it
tie same at Liverpool ; all this you heard ; and you
heard Mr. Canning say, upon the occasion of the four
thousand sailors, that, if necessary, the Ministers
the French would
apply to the House for more ; you have
persevere; you have every reason to believe that they
are now entering Spain; and, at the end of a ten days
tit of the gout, Mr. Canning, the bearer of the " shield,"
comes and tells you that he sees no specific ground
for this country being involved in the war. " Well!"
says you, " but did Sir James Mackintosh make no ob-
" serration on this answer of Mr. Canning's?" Not a
word; not even one ameliorating word. Mr. Canning
sail that he had to State that it was the intention of
Ministers (unless something occurred in the mean time
to prevent it,) to lay before the House the papers rela-
tive to the negociation, the first convenient day after the
recess! And not a word of observation from any one!
lo all human probability the French will be at Madrid
before these pretty papers will get before the House.---,
The papers seem to move simultaneously with the French
armies; the latter are getting ready to enter Spae.in, and
the former are getting ready to enter the Hons—Here
the thing would have gone off witboutanother word, had
• ot been for Sir F. Burdett, who crone into the House
it appears after Mr. Canning bad given his answer to
pp
Sir James blackintosh's question, /MCI had left the House.
The subject now before the House was the Mutiny Bill ;
sad upon this Sir Francts.took occasion to make a speech
upon the subject of the answer which Mr.
Canning bad
to
given; a speech such as an English gentl
s eman °
ch otigh ught
t
mike under oak circumstances; but, this pee
so have been made at & mods father pried. Us said. be

•
felt ioignantit the shower which. bad been given. He
wel/ observed, what ought to have been observed over
and over again during this Session, that the standing
excuse for the present- arge army in time of peace, bad
been, the altered state of Europe; and the necessity of
keeping up such an army (now mind), in order for us to
maintain our due share of weight in the affairs of Eu-
rope. This is perfectly true. The keeping up of this
enormous army has always been justified upon this ground;
and then, said Sir Francis, bow scandalous is it, that the
Ministers should put the country to the expense of
this army for so many years; should still keep this array
on foot; and, when the necessity of using the army in
order to preserve the independenoe and liberties of a part
of Europe, the independence of which is so essential to
us ; how scandalous is it that they should keep this army
here lingering at ionne, and quietly are that country in-
vaded by the French ; and, as he might have had, with
the avowed object (as expressed in the Speech of Cha-
tesubriand) of strengthening France against England I
In other parts of his speech, the Honourable Baronet very
truly characterised the war which France is now about
to begin; he charged the Government with advancing
the views.of the Holy Alliance; hr asked why the Par-.
liament Was not sooner acquainted with the intention of.
the Ministers to pursue this dastardly course. He sa
that the Parliament had been deluded into a ridiculous siid-
lence and forbearance; and that, had it not been for thisi
artifiCe,oll the part of the Ministers. he (Sir Francis) did
did not know whether one half of the estimates o
hs:
uld
have been granted, or whether any of
means proposed by the Ministers, would have
met with the acquiescence of the House. He concluded'
by expressing his unqualified contempt of the line of
policy which she Minister had pursued.—Now, this was
an excellent speech; bat, when Sir Francis was talking
of the artifice, should he not have recollected, that the
artifice has been carried on by OTHER ACTORS be-
sides the Ministers? This is a very interesting matter.
He (Si Francis) might have b e en "delued;" bt he
should hare resd, then, what I kept daily sayingu upon
the subject, and then he would not have been deluded.
No doubt that he was under delusion, when lie made the
thundering speech of the 4th of February, and really
did a great deal towards aiding the artifice of which he
I now complains.—Mr. Canning was gone; bat Mr. Peel'
was there to deprecate present discussion of the subject;
but he took occasion to observe that he differed from Sir
Francis; and thought that the country would hear with
satisfaction of the pacific intentions of the Minis-
Iters.—Mr. Courenay differed also from the Baronet,
end thought that the country did not wish to be
plunged into war.—Mr. T. Wilson was for remains
ing at peace.--alr. Ricardo had attended the
dinner-meeting (I called it dinner fight) out of sympa-
thy for the cause of the Spaniards, but tie thought that
we ought, if possible. to keep oCt of the war. Mr. Den-
man, who appeared to me to be so decided for war when
he was answered by Mr. Sumner, on the very night of
the dinner-fight; this gentleman said that, though he
should thereby differ from his friend. he would not rush
into war, but avoid war. considering how recently we had
escaped from that abyss. He added, "if the honour of
" the nation rendered it absolutely nnavoi.lable, then
" there was no help ; but he hoped we could still avoid
"it." Sir John Newport "viewed the conduct of the
" French with horror; but still this country ought to
" pause, before it rushed into the calamities of
" war." This was the tons of the House.—
The estimates have been gone pretty nearly
through, before the fit of the gout would permit Mr.
Canning to come and explain ; and now, the estimates
having been so far advanced. while no one knew (ex-
cept the Ministers) whether there would be war or pace.
the gout permits Mr. Canning to come and say, that he
sees no ground for war.-1 now come to the Morning
Chronicle's notice of this proceeding. My readers will
remember, that, until within these three weeks,
. this
paper has been bellowing for war; that it and the
whole tribe to which it belongs, have been roaring out
for employing the mighty power of the British empire,
to keep the Frincla from destroying the liberties
out, of
our friends the Spaniards ; but it has now found
" that we have carried our DEBT to such an amount,
" that a war might prove at this time a very hazardous
" experiment; and that, situated as this country now
" is, (with regard to ,the Debt) nothing but the LAST
ENTRENIIIV can justify the Ministersin involving
" the country in war." It adds, " our position and our re-
" sources secure US from aggression; and, however per-
" fidious the conduct of Fiance with regard to Spain,
" mere sympathy will not justify os in becoming a party
" to the war." 'There, then! there is the creed of bass-
ness acknowledged, put forth, proclaimed, and ratified.
The sum total of the creed is this, and which I express
in my own well known words: " The DEBT says to•
" the King of England, THOU SHALT NKVER GO TO WAR
AGAIN, AS LONG AS lAM IN EXISTE.NCE." Het ewe see
my doctrine fully verified in less than ni
ne
months after
I had laid it down in my address to thof Kent
Lord Liverpool said in the House of Lords, Mr.
kHnow
us-
kisson said at Liverpool,
" we would have you to
" that it is not true that we are enable to go to war, let
" the assertion come from what quarter it will."
But now we find, that the only possible defence
of the Ministers must consist in the amount of
the Debt; the weight of the mill-stone, that is dragging
down the country into that horrible degradation so well
described by Sir Francis Burdett ; bet then, what is the
use of Sir Francis's describing that degradation, unless
he come forward manfully to remove the irresistible
cause. To tall upon the Ministers to go to war with
gold payments, and without a reduction of the interest
of the Debt and the amount of the Dead Weight, is just
as reasonable as it would be to call upon them to lade the
water out of the sea. I have all along said to the Morn-
ing Chronicle when it has be the Debt ?g" bawlin faThe
wary
r war, do
you approve of blowing " t
Scot saw that he would be penned up ; he saw hoW ridi-
culous lie would look if he called for war, while he op-
posed equitable adjustment. To oppose eqnitable ad-
justment lie was resolved. His very nature shud-
dered at that. A man that can coolly talk of the
stock-market a man that can think of 'Change Alley
with satisfaction • a man that can talk about national
faith with a cool face of brass : such a man would rather
thann actuall made over to the Holy Alliance,
sec a reduction of the interest of the Debt. There-
fore, though he detests the French ; though tie hate the
Bourbons ; though he is so anxious about the preserva-
tion of Spanish liberty ; though he want Greeks and all
'to be free ; though he goes the full length as to all these
points, when it comes to the question at last, Atli we
touch the Debt, or shall the Holy Alliance enslave the
whole world, he shrugs up his shoulders, pokes his upper-
lip up to his nose and says, the Debt must not be touch-
ed. 'This was the feeling • and, in fact, this was the
laaguage in the House last night ; and thus Is
this nation prosodic; pulled down to the earth
by that very Debt, which was contracted fur
the purpose of crushing the rising liberties of France
and America. It is, as 1 always said it would be, now
clearly proved, that this Debt, which these same Minis-
ters and their predecessors contracted ;. it is this same
Debt, which Pitt once described as the best ally of
France, which is now the rock un which the Ministers
will stand and beat all those of their opponents, who have
still the folly or the roguery to profess their attachment
to national faith.—When the papers come before the
House, we shall see what pretty works have been going
on ; or, at least, we shall see something about it ; these
papers we are totare after the Easter recess ; and in the
meanwhile, I will take syeclal care to put upon record
all the fasts, ell the Curious facts relating to what Sit

"7"—-- -
Francis Borden calls the artifice and the delusion prat-I
tised upon the Parliament and the country relative to
the part that it was expected the Ministers IN o I d take
in this tsar•

Another set of French papers to the 17th, has arrived
since our I set ; but they contain little additional intelli.
gence. The Quotidie?ine of Sunday gives the name of
the Counsellor of State who has been appointed to attend
the Doke of Angouleme during the campaign, in the Ca-
pacity of the King's Civil Commissary. it is N. de Mar-
tignae who is entrusted with that important post. An
article from Verona, dated the 2d instant, and given in
the Goistitutionxel, after describing the effectual manner
in which all the fortified places in Spain have been re-
paired, armed, and provisioned, states the force capable of
meeting the enemy in the field, to amonnt, besides the
30,000 men now taming, to 124,000 Regulars 87,000 Ar-'
tive Veteran Militia, and 200,000 Volunteer 'Militia, all
under arms, and ready to perish in defence of their coun-
try: It then adds : "It is evident that Spain cannot ex-
perience any alarm with respect to the French army,even
if it should consist of a much greater number than that
prepared to invade her territory."
FRENCH FuNDs.-771. SOc.; -Neapolitan lientes, 66/ ;
- Spanish ditto, 29.

A Hamburg Mail has arrived this morning,
brought no intelligence of importance.

STOCK EXCHANGE, TIMMS O'CLOCIE.--111Cre was
rather a bustle this morning in the above market, in con-
sequence of the answer of Mr.. Canning last night in
the House of Commons. Consols opened at NW but
went down to and then to at which price y
steady. • Some business was doing in the earlierthe partare of.
the vnorning.—We understand that an express has ar-
rived from Paris; but the price of the French Funds
bas not t transpired. gentleman has arrived in
town from Spain, who passed through the French army'
in the neighbourhood of Bayonne. He states they are
well clothed, and in the best order of discipline, and
eager to enter Spain. lie adds that the Spaniards are
fully resolved to abide the event of any invasion.—
Most persons of property are removing from Madrid
their valuables.
FOREIGN Foxos.—Spanish Bonds opened this morn-
; ins, at _3},26}. 25ff, with a heavy market, must persons
sellers.
Chili,69—New Spanish, 251-01/1. 34—New Prussian. 721
to 4—Rustia, 72i to }—Columbian, 60a— Spanish

40
;ALP-PAST 12 o'cLoca.—Up to this hour we do not
hear that there are any arrivals from Paris.