The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-09-14 00:00:00

LONDON:

Tut R4Dts LvrNtriG, SEPTIMUER 1.1, IS2O.

Paris papers to the I•_'th have this morning arrived.
Their r. otcnts are unimportant.
Freneh Fond!, live per Cent 4, ;3f. 90e.

Estra..t of a letter received by the lido, Lee, ar-
i off Fahuotth
0..0gr0, ACGUST 31, 1320.—We are happy to
tin there has nut been any interruption to the
post betueen !Ara and Lisbon, and the reports from
then, to•by are favourable, for the- cause which has
n dec!ared for here. The news must hare been
lo.oun at Lisbon 12 hours when the putt left, and then
ev,ry 11 fl;; seas quiet therm It will be wonderful if
such a resolution takes place without bloodshed.
Hitherto we hart not heard of the slightest rioter eon.
fusior. and the people here are as quiet as ever.
The tJude Je Amaranth in Tras los Monte., has not
derided with the party here, though it is said that
some of his troops have."

Notnithstanding the deserved importance which
se attach to the proceedings against our QUEEN, and
to thr late revolution in Portugal, it may not
be
improper Ms glance, occasionally, at minor circuit.'
stances: for there is no circumstance, however triding,
which leas nut its influence, wore or le-s, upon the
great political fusehine. The Learned Set.ur'N tell:
ns, " that airing substances, thrown in the air, will
inform us the direction of the wind:- and the elegant
ui:,-rt:;.cfren assures Ifs, that •• revolutions have
been caused by the mere intrigues of chambermaids:*
We not stop to discuss the position of either the
s•ho:ar or the conflict bnt, conceiving that we have
sifewc sufficient authority to bear us out in touching
upon that which is not the leading subject of the day,
we proceed to bring, more immediately under the
noth'e of our readers, the surprising conclusion which
has fo!l,llred the proceedings against the state prison-
ers in Yorkshire. The liuvernment have declared
their Intention not to put either of these prisoners to
death: This is just as it should be. We thought se
when are read the weeping speech of Mr. Justice liar-

t.; s, on ictst•in% 4. ntettee ; which speech, by the way.
is a perfotltill:Ct 111.0. lllust warns tie hearts of the
us. We thong ht all this was very good. It
undouhtolly Trig v v gem, to tell Melt. whose lives,
the speaker said, were forfeited, that thwe lives
would 14. Ulifurtunately, h0w,,,,,, we re-
collected it was only a few days before, that
wo had hail to perform the painful duty of
reading the Itan:l;ng and mangling in Scotland,
of a peOr man, unwell WILsoN, for the SV"
crime as that of whirl; the I.4rls‘hiretnen had now con-
fessed theinsto.v,s guilty. We recollect too, that WIL-
FON had bem ,troogly corOtotto•Oiled to Currey by his
• Jury ; and that the gentl men of the County, much to
their honour, had snrpo:•:ed the recommendation.
Taming again to the V..rkslaire prisoners, we found
there could he no -aril recutumodation, ina.much
at an ti:•• men had pleaded guilty to every word
of their indictments. All this appeared very unac.
countable: esperially as we could nut observe that the
disturbam es in York-hire had been more dangerous
than those in SCOttalld. 'I hese reflections induced us
to look a little beyond the surface of these apparently
inconsistent acts of &lay-en:meta ; and now, after pay-
ing our warm congratulations to the effect, (for mercy
is ever bountiful,) we shall take the liberty of stating
the case, and then enquiring the cause. We should
• first remind our Iteaders, that the Chief of that de-
partment of the tiovernment, whence all these proceed-
ings originate. is &hater Lord Viscount St PAIUUTII, a
van who is very pions and very humane, a 111211
who
very pri petty will nee, r fight, and who, in short, reads
his Hibtu and says his prayers like a right worthy man,
as be is. Now, when this noble Viscount received the
recommendation to meray in WttatoN's case, and when
he feared he could not, consistently with his duty, re-
commend his Sovereign to comply with that recom-
avrodation, (for in an official letter he said thus ninth,)
when these thine*. we say, were passing in his mind
what must hare been the state of his feelings?
—WC are bound to suppose that he was agitated by
the contending claims of mercy on the one hand, and
3ustice on din other; that he gave all the weight hr
possibly could, to the reeonnstenilation, upon oath,
of the same twelve men who hail pronounced the ow'
happy culprit guilty. We are hound to suppose, toes
that as his Lordship is a man of more than ordinary
humanity, be enlisted his own generous feelings in
the question, upon the side of mercy. All this, and
much more, are we bound to suppose, fur as we are
men of mere ordinary every-day humanity, our minds
cannot possibly form a conception of all that passed
in the mind of the Noble Viscount in favour of pour
WILSON our minds, we repeat, can form no possible
idea about it. And yet, it so, happened, notwith-
standing all we are Woad •to suppose, and do sup-
pose, it so anfoitanately happened, that stern,
inflexible justice eengitered in the struggle ; that
HENRY Loci Viscount Sensnantst Aid not second the