The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-06-20 00:00:00

THE STATEtMAN

Previous to the receipt of the above, the Joarnal, do
Commerce of Tuesday, brought the following article,
which, If correct, must check the boast of the French re-
specting Portugal, and the hopes of their rebel adherents
in that qoarter.-IThe Journal des. Delude gives some addi-
tional details of the events In Portugal, to the Slat May :
it says, from the Diario, 'The rebels are united at Sacaven,'
and adds, 'it is probable their army entered Lisbon on the
Ist of June.'
" This conjecture, which might have been probably on
the 31st, appears to be falsified by the event. Letters of
the 2d of June, announce that Sampayo had completely
failed in his attempt upon Lishon. The militia and the
citizens armed to defeAd the Royal residences. The Re-
bels were beaten, and it is addid, that their. Chiefs has
fallen into the hands of the conquerors.
" The letters which bring these facts, speak also of re-
solutions taken by the King and the Cortes, in respect to
the Infant (Dan Michael), whose deportation had been
resolved upon. The reserve which it is our constant
rule to maintain, induces as to wait for official informa-
tion to communicate to our readers."
FRENCH FUNDS, JUNE 17.—Five per Cents. opened at
BSf. 50c.; closed at SW. 40c ; Bank Stock, 1,595; Neapo-
litan Five per Cents., 70/f.—Exchange on London, one
'month, 2a. 70c.; three months, 2.5 f. 50c.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMENTARY.
A long debate took place last night in the House of Lords,
on the unhappy state of Ireland; but, unfortunately, no im-
pression could be made upon the Majority: and 105 decided
againsts9, that " there was no occasion to enquire into the
evils which distract that most miserable of all the miserable
portions of-the Globe." The defence of the Ministry was,
that they bad already "done much for Ireland !" Yea, they
have "done much," Indeed ! They have reduced indigence
to misery—pauperism to,crime—and discontent to the very
verge of rebellion ! This is what has been ‘; done" for
Ireland—and here the "doers" pause, with the bayonet in the
one hand, and the gibbet on the other, boasting of their be-
nevolence, and wondering that Ireland will not appreciate
their kindness ! Their own partizans tell the Ministry that
Ireland is fast retrograding to a state of savage nature !
Judges from the bench, and Priests from the pulpit, condemn
the barbarity of Ireland—but the cause is lauded to' the
skies ; and any attempt to withdraw the poisoned error
from ber iankling wounds, is called sedition. As English-
men, we feel all the national advantage which would result
to this country from an honest connexion with Iceland ; and
regret deeply to perceive that a bad system destroys the na-
tional benefit, to the pockets of a pampered and dege-
nerate few, with whose interests Ireland has nothing in
common—and who fatten on the plunder of one country,
to laugh at the folly of another. The truth is, that the
maintenance of the borough system in England, requires
the pillage of Ireland, to bribe its {,ipporters to be traitors
to the interests of both countries ;—and nothing can, or will
be done for Ireland, until a reformed Parliament, with an
interest in her happiness and tranquillity, shall take her
condition into consideration. Those who say there shall be
no reform in England, say, in other words, that they will
have a revolution in Ireland ; and they may be accontmo-
dated in this way much sooner than they desire.
When Mr. James presented his petition last night
from Newcastle, praying for the abolition of " white
slavery," in England, by an effectual Reform, that fscc-
sinus gentleman, Sir Isaac Coffin, who told ihe farmers
to put on their epoch frocks. and go to work again, said
that he had been " all over the world, and had never seen
" so many contented looking faces, or fat persons, any
" where, as in this miserable and unhappy country," and
that Mr. James and the petitioners, most have laboured
under " positive mental derangement," to believe in the
allegations of the petition. There may be some truth in
the Knight-Admiral's statement about what he bas
seen. Report save he has a dislike to all but jolly faces,
and bas forsworn bard biscuit and salt junk for ever.—
Moreover, being constantly creeping about the Contt,
where the public pillagers principally assemble, he pro;
bably sees very few besides those who have ample reason
to wear contented faces, and have, besides, all the means
of getting fat, which eating and drinking at other peo-
ple's expense can afford them. There are in England,
doubles., a greater numbs= of such contented, fat fel-
lows, than iw any other country. They cost ns, at least,
seventy millions a year to feed and to content them;
and it would be hard, indeed, if after all they were not
contented and fat. Sir Isaac himself gas as much (in
amount) of the public money, as would yearly
fatten one hundred store flogs; and if he only
give every Petitioner for Reform, a quarter of
as much as he receives himself, he will not be troubled
much further with petitions. But Sir Isaac should remem-
ber. that those who pay to keep him fat, have not the same
reason to be contented as himself; and, though it might be
madness in him not to get fat, when feeding costs him no-
thing; yet that it is very reasonable for those who are com-
pelled, not only to work that he may eat, but to starve, that
he and others may have the means of growing fat, to com-
plain of the hardship. In the House of Commons, which is
almost altogether composed of takers of the public money,
it is very difficult, we are aware, to use any reasoning with
regard to the unpleasant situation of the payers; but, out
of the House, the matter is well enough understood.
Mr. Hume moved for an enquiry into the mode in
whilt promotions had been made in the navy ; and err
tainly shewcd in his address, that great influence, had
been possessed by certain individuals, independent of any
great personal merit, or pretensions from length of ser-
vice. But in the system of " influence," a system which
only exists by " influence," all these matters follow, of
course ; and there is no remedy for them, but in the re-
form of the system. It must, however, be allowed, that
in the naval service, there are some precautions used,
which neces-arily produce a degree of ability. A service
of six years as a Midshipman must make a practical of-
ficer :—and, as to expence, if it is in any national service
excusable, we should be inclined to overlook
it more readily with regard to the Navy,
than any other mode of expenditure. Mr. Hume
next made an attempt to get a Committee upon the enor •
mous expence of the Coronation ; but the Chancellor or
the Exchequer bad abundance of reasons, " each as
they were," for presentiog any examination of the " tai-
lor's bills," as the New Times calls them—but in reality
the bills of those who employed the tailors, and had
more of the profits than the robe makers. .No such
bills can be produced. The Chancellor of the Exche-
quer told a story about the absolute necessity of having
a new set Rf robes to be worn on the opening of the
Parliament after 'the Coronation. What! would not
the Coronation Robes do to appear before the Hoa'e

of Lords ? The thing was usual! said the Chancellor ;
but remembering that the venality might be disputed.
be pathetically added," that the former suit wasupwards
" of a century old, so patched and worn, that if it was
" accidentally trod upon, it must hate fallen from his
" Majesty's shoulders." There ere certain people, of
whom the adage says, they should have good memories:
and Mr. II ushisson should have recollected that if these
robes were a century old, it could not be usual to have a
new suit after every Coronation ; for the Coronation of
his late Majesty took place not more than about sixty
years ago! and if then new, they must have been
but little more than half-a-century old. So much for
ministerial regard to truth ; and if the robes were so
" tattered and torn," as to threaten to leave the Monarch
exposed in naked nijesty, they must have, at least, seen
the ceremonies of three. coronations in the century :
and we have no doubt, but with a little more patching,
they might have decently served at least half a dozen
more Monarchs. The public little imagined that the
King was reduced to the necessity of wearing such a
shabby coat; or a loyal subscription to have given him
a decent r lit would have been soon filled.

The collision between the Orangemen and Catholics
of Ireland, of which the other day we expressed our
fearful anticipations, appears by the fray at Maghera,
a town, nut in the South, bat in the North of
Ireland, to have commenced its deadly work.
So far as the recent affair can be traced, it is
supposed to have taken its rise from a riot between the
two parties, which occurred some time ago, and in which
it was alleged, that the Orangemen who were the
aggressors, being then the f ivoured side, the matter was
hushed up by the then Irish Oovernment,but still rankled
in the breasts of the Itihbonmen. If these parties are
permitted to go on, in the manner they have hitherto
done, a civil war, and that a religious civil war, must
be the result. On the recent affair, a correspondent i
of- the Dublin Evening Post, who styles himself an Ob-
server, writes as follows:
" It appears that last Thursday, the 12th instant, was a 11
Fair-day in that town; and, about half-past six in the even-
ing, a row commenced between those two 'well known fac-
tions, Orangemen and Ribbonmen, but which side com-
menced is not yet discovered, the one being as ready and
willing as the other. The Ribbon party continued to keep
the streets for shout two hours, namely. till about half-past
eight o'clock, when they were beaten off by superior num- 1
bers of the Orange party ; who had by this time got them-
selves armed with muskets and ball-cartridge, and five men
were shot dead on the spot, and in the course of the night
three others died of their wounds. Besides these the num-
bers that were wounded are not yet known. Upwards of
twenty were dressed, several having lost legs or arms. It
does not appear that any of the Orange party suffered, as
their Opponents had no fire arms. The military stationed
in Maghera could not act upon the occasion, from their
being no Civil Magistrate present. After the Orangemen
became possessed of the town, they destroyed the windows
and houses of the unoffending Catholics, several of whom
have been through life remarkable for their n an-interference
in politics."
The following detail of the same shocking transaction
is copied from the Belfast Commercial Chronicle of
Monday :

" FATAL RIOT AT MAGHERA.
" We are sorry to have to state, that on Thursday last,
at the felrof *etchers. Derry, disturbances, originating in
party spirit, Woke out to an alarming degree. Titre or
four letters on the subject have been received in town, and
having been kindly permitted to avail ourselves of their
contents, we are enabled to publish the following outline of
the deplorable occurrences:—
" It appears that about six o'clock in the evening an bm.
mense number of Ribbonmen assembled In the town, and
proceeded to attack a house in which en Orange Lodge meets,
and broke the windows, 8:c. A small party of the 77th Re-
giment, consisting of an Ensign. Serjeant, and eleven namltv
stationed in Maghera, were called upon by the Ft ad
Mr. Colthurst, Curate of the parish, and acting Magistrate
in the absence of Mr. Knox, to endeavour to quell the riot.
They accoringly proceeded to the scene, but were assailed
by mollies of stones by the Ribbonmen ; the Clergyman was
struck in the face by a stone, and much Injured, and Ensign
Elliott received a severe contusion over the eye, end was
knocked down ; upon which the soldiers, for the purpose of
intimidating the rioters, fired four shots, and retired to the
barracks. The rioting continued, end the windows of al-
most every Protestant's house in the town were broken.—
The soldiers were again called out by the constables and
some respectable inhabitants; but on repairing to the
spot, the officer found both parties extremely violent,
and many of them intoxicated ; he therefore retired
with his little party. to their quarters. The fighting and
rioting continued in the most furious manner, the Ribbon-
men attacking the houses, and the Orangemen, who were
few in numbers, defending themselves with difficulty, were
driven into the houses. Shots were fired Pram the windows
of the Orange Lodge-room on the assailants. Late in the
evening, a party of yeomanry having entered the town, from
Tubbermore, the Orangemen rallied, and, assisted by the
yeomanry, charged and fired upon the Ribbonmen, and
finally succeeded in driving them out of Maghera. The
rioting did not entirely subside till two o'clock in the orn-
ing of Friday.--The Ribbonmen suffered severely ;nine
are known to have been killed, and between sixty and
seventy wounded.
" We have heard that one f‘-angernan from Castledawson
was killed, and that several of thlit party have been severe-
ly wounded.
" On Friday morning, a party of Dragoons from the
neighbourhood, accompanied by a Magistrate, arrived in.
Maghera, and an express was dispatched to Lieut. Douglas,
who commands the detachment of the 77th in Castledawson.
No attempt, however, to renew the disturbances had taken
place when the last aceounts•eame away. The yeomanry
have been under arms night and day since the riot. •
"The coolness and forbearance of Ensign Elliott, seem
Ito have been very creditable to so young an officer. Only
three or four shots were fired in the direction of thebar-
-1 racks ; but had the Ribbonmen succeeded against their op-
ponents. the little party in tite barracks, it was expected,
would have become the next object of attack. Ensign El-
liott communicated every particular by express as soon as
possible to Colonel M'Laine, in Belfast, who commands the
regiment.
We have not heard what was the result of the Coroner'sl
inquest on the bodies of the unfortunate men who were
shot ; but it was feared that some disturbance might take
place at their interment. A strong reinforcement of the
77th, therefore, under the command of a Captain and Lieu-
tenant, left this town at six o'clock on Saturday evening to
proceed, by forced marches, to Maghera, where they
were to arrive at 9 o'clock yesterday evening.
•'A meeting of the magistrates of the district is to take
place to-morrow at Maghera, to investigate into the parties-1
lers of this tnmentable transaction.
" We are informed that at :Magherafelt, on the same day,
(Thursday,) party rioting, also took place. No lives were
lost there, though one man is said to have been desperately
wounded with a hatchet."

At a late hone on Wednesday night, a Spanish• courier
arrived at the Foreign Office, with despatches from the Re-
gency at Madrid.—(Court Circular.)
Notvrithstanding the manner in which the French papers
have boasted of the discipline vintained by their army at
Madrid, en order of the day has been published,from which it
appears that the conduct of the French troops has been the
subject of complaint. It seems, indeed, probable, that even
the rabble of Madrid, begin to be tired of their deliverers.
The order, which is dated the 9th. speaks of dilapidation in
the public promenades, and particularly in the Prado. It
prohibits Frenchmen belonging to the army from going into
the walks occupied by persons on foot—from watering their
horses or washing linen at the fountains in the Prado. Fi-
nsily, they are seriously admonished to respect the customs
and the usages of the Spanish nation I