The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-01-24 00:00:00

PRICE OF STOCKS TO

Bank stuck
3 per Cent. Red. Mill
3 peel:rot. Cons. H$ 93
3. per Ceoc 7711
• per Cods. 67 W In
&pot rest. Navy HUM
Ince .ion.
lie. 3 per Cost. Ann.

ebt- *talcOman.

(Tess "BRITISH STATESMAN** iv I VCOMPORA ?lb sr iris
" Tits STATEN VAN.")

L 0 N 1)0 N :
MONDAY, JANCARV 41, MO.

We have received American papers this morning
to the following dates: New York to the 10th:
Philadelphia to the 14th ; Boston to the 13th ;
Baltimore to the 13th ; and Virginia to the 10th
of Fast month.

(rnem TIIE COUSlrltrl if. ADriILTISFIt or Tag 13111.1

Extract of a letter from Havanna'', dated Nov. I:e.
" Mori ►br Spanish lleneral, is expected here hourly.
It is believed among. us that he has h•en defeated by
Holivar, and that the latter in now in posies ion of the
whole of the province of CIMICCaIt."

:.~.

itUtia 6 per Cents. 0410 41 awful ag 40001
an pit ooht: lb wer the February Account tied'
!by Were for money ; yet we can hardly think
Mid wilt be the ease, considering the present slate
JeCinotiey, which. continues a dent, as it evidently
mast be a great sacrifice to Fund at 6 per vent.,
-ender the present circumstances.
Cbttiols for the Account ran up to 691 on Saturday,
allenxion, some say buyers; but the market received
a check, owing to some heavy sates, which brought
them down to 691; they closed at 69i. This morn-
ing they opened at 09t, and have continued so
dmint the early part of the day, with very little
rpliations ; they are now about 69i, rather sellers,
the market looking extremely heavy.

5.,.

• If the want of a true idea ofI.IBSATY be a cause
of sltvery, so the want of a .true idea of tyranny
is likewise a cause of it. One of the most valuable
privileges of English subjects, and that which most 1
sontritsines to stop the progress of despotism, is the..
LOIERTY OF THE PRESS. Any one among us.
formerly might publicly disclose the transactions of
the Ministry, censure their pernicious undertakings,
esolaim against their villainous or ambitions at-
tempts, and call them to an account at the tribunal
of the public. This inestimable privilege has long
supported liberty in England, against that abuse
of power which is in the very nature of man sad
things. It has been said, that the reflecting Eng-
lish were so sensible of this pre-eminent blessing, by
the advantages it gave them at home, and by the
reputation it obtained them abroad, that they never
could be insensible bow carefully it deserved to be
maintained. Who could ever have imagined that
a British Parlian:..nt would prove so unmindful of
its duty as to strike at the root of this fair budding
tree, which promised to yield everlasting fruit with-
out decay !! The Parliameut of Great Britain has
struck at its rout, and the question among the pa-1
triots and real lovers of their country now is, how
to make the wretched, the wicked attempt abortive.
This important subjetet we promised, in a former'
number of THE STATESMAN, to resume at a flt op-
portunity ; it his occurred : the short interval be-
fore the adjournment ends, is a good eecasion. Se-
veral Acts, from the Gagginx Bills down to the
late Bills which have so ah.rmingly trenched upon
this once boasted privilege, are so drawn up, that
we defy the most learned and experienced of the pro-
imam' toasty what is safe to write upon the conduce
be they whom they may, erwhat other.,
trim. The phraseology's( "Of tend to bring tbei
Government of these kidoms Into contempt," &t:
Why,we are infringing tins very law at this moment;
we do it every day, and cannot help It, if we speak di'
the affairs of the country. How can we see the
fortune of the country deteriorated from year to
year, and the best, because the most useful., part ,
of its population gradually sinking into ruin, anal,
not complain ! To speak disrespectfully of such a
system tends to bring the Government of these
kingdoms into contempt, and, consequently, exposes
the writer to the penalty of such an insidious and
rigorous law. Yet what are we to do? Can a
man of any spirit. who has .duly reflected on the
value of political liberty, and on the dire come.
queoces of below deprived of it, consent to live a
t-r.vard in his own esteem ! No forbid it public
virtue. If our countrymen will not stand by Qv
when called to account by obsequious Law-officers
of the Crown, for what, in the eye of reason and
equity, though not in Ivry common law, is so com-
mendable, the sooner we are transported to ano-
ther region the better! !—And what writing on
public affairs, if it contain any spirit or argument
whatever, is not under such indefinite ambiguntis
Acts of Parliament, worded as they are, susceptible,
by the inuendos of the ATTORNF.Y-GENERAII., of
being made out libellous or seditious! Such Act..
such laws, were intended to beo‘aewre and Joni!.
fowl, but of copious ee•tring, to reach far, to opreii,
*id*, and yet to be themselves ivarisible, as It 11
#/ere. To operate upon the pions views of dart
'late Bishop of MORISTE*, to place the Me of
spirit in the Condition of the base wretch, 1. e. to
I!ipe..stal fear, and .be to the honest.WlA it
shield be to the vile, " the villain's carafe
snob it is to live every day in fear of the falai tit'
the law. Then, what is to be done in this difficult,
and seemingly deadly condition, to which
vaunted liberties of Great