The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-03-28 00:00:00

THE _STATESMAN.

then printed in London. Stich it this news about the
conspiracy in the French army, for instance; which
conspiracy, we are quite satisfied, never would have been
beard of in this world, bad it not been for this execra-
ble stock-jobbing press.—Upon this subject we are about
to take a short paragraph from the Morning Chronicle
of to-day. We beg the attention of our readers to it. It
has two principal characteristics; sincerity and consist-
ency; and we give it as a fair specimen of all the writ:
ings of the London press upon this subject.
" It is now very generally believed that conspiracies are
" forming in France, and the advacce of the French army
" Into Spain, which will take place without delay, cannot
" fail to give energy and consistency to such designs (of
" which the French Government are folly aware). Maay
" persons have supposed that such reclines on the part of
" the French people would deter the Government from in-
" vadiwg Spain; but they are mistaken. They have deter-
" mined that misguided Government to hasten their ma-
" sures against freedom, from a full assurance on the part-
" of the Allies for their support ; and we have every reason
" to'believe that the most powerful has put its armies al-
ready in march, to support the Government of France
" against any attempt at revolution during the absence of
" her army in Spain. There is, therefore, a great chai,ce of
"a general war being brought about by this ultra and im-
" politicfaction. That the French troops will march with-
"in a week we have uo doubt whatever. In the opinion of
"the best informed, however, they will fail ultimately of
" their object, and be vanquished by natural obstacles with-
" out encountering an enemy in the field. This reverse
" will add to the present feeling of indignation expressed
"by more than three fourths of the French nation,
" which, in all probability, must destroy the Bourbon Dy-

" nasty."
Now, reader, pray look at this. The French Govern-
ment is well aware of the conspiracies in the army ; but
this instead of deterring the Government from trusting
this army in the field, will hasten the march of the army
into Spain, and the Chronicle thinks it will march iato
Spain in a week's time! Was ever any thing so barefaced
as this before put upon paper, and tendered to a public
which is called enlightened? The moment the French
army is in Spain, it will have the power to revolt ; to join
the Spaniards, and, in fact, to overthrow the Bourbons ;
and yet the French Government, well aware of this
disposition in the Army, has resolved, and on
on that very account, too, to hasten its march! This
is said, you will observe, by that all-illuminating press,
which, in the language of the Chronicle, conveys to the
people of France their own news.—Nest comes the con-
sequences to the House of Bourbon. They will fail in
their object. They will finally fail. " This reverse "
will add to the disronten,s in France. which now ex-
tend to three fourths of the people; and. " in all pro-
" bability, must destroy the Bourbon dynasty."—Mark
that; then, in another part of the Chronicle it is said
that the " train of liberty is laid in France, and in
" its explosion, it will probably involve in ruin
" that infatuated old man Louis." Well, then, this
Spanish war is a good thing: and,all the intrigues
at Verona, and all the workings of the Holy Alli-
ance have been tending to a good end ; for the
Chronicle prays for nothing so tnuch in this
world, as for the overthrow of the Bourbon dynasty.
Yet, what endless tirades do we read in this same Chro-
, nicle against all the projectors of the war against Spain !
It rates them, it scolds them, it abuses them like so many
pick-pockets, highway-men, or house-breakers; it calls
them by all manner of names: it calls them tyrants, des-
pots, and almost devils, merely on account of this war
against Spain. It accuses them of disturbing the peace
and happiness of Europe, of disfiguring the fair face of its
prosperity, of doing, in short, &deed the most wicked and
the most disastrous to mankind. And yet (delightful
consistency and sincerity) this very same newspaper tells
us that the enterprise must, in all probability, effect that
most desirable of all things, the destruction of the Bour-
bon dynasty! What, then, are we to conclude from all
this? Why, first, that the Chronicle is quite convinced
that there is no conspiracy in the French army; and,
second, that it is also convinced, that the Bourbons will
succeed in Spain. The truth is, the Chronicle has cer-
tain wishes. Those wishes may be lendable enough
in themselves; but the Chronicle makes its opinions,
and even its facts, square with those wishes ; and
even thus it is that it has been constantly mis-
leading the public from the first week in Novem-
her to the present day. The rest of the Stock
jobbing press (except the Ministerial newspapers) has
been doing nearly the same thing ; the same thing it will
continue to do; the war will be going on, and we shall
be hearing of conspiracies in the French Army, and c I
revolutions ready to biirst out every moment in Franco;
till at last, this public will be totally astonished when it
hears that the Bourbons are in complete and quiet pos.
.on of Spain.

The Paris papers, whiclr have reached us to the 27th
instant, are totally silent respecting the conspiracy said
to have been discovered in the Army of the Pyrenees,
though it is evident from the different manner io which
they argue about the appointment of the Minister at
War to be Major•general of that army, and his imme-
diate departure from Paris, that there is something in
the business which, from some cause or other, is not
openly announced. A Ministerial paper, the Journal
des Debate, after copying the two Ordinances from the
Afoniteur says, that these " have singularly" (printed
itLitalics in French) " astonished the public," and, after
observing that the nomination of the Doke of Benno°,
and his immediate departure for Bayonne, displaysa
character which inspires confidence, and does honour to
the Government, it adds, that " the presence with the
army of a Marshal of France, at once Major-gene-
ral and Minister at War, will give promptitude
and ensemble to the operations, and will probably
hasten the entrance of onr troops into Spain." The
1 Ultra paper, the Quotidienne, pretends that the nomina-
-1 don of the Marshal was announced several days before,
and after affecting to ridicule the reports that his pre-
sence had been suddenly rendered necessary by move-
ments of insubordination in the army, imputes it
merely to the design of giving a strong and rapid im-
pulsion to the military operations. The Constitutionnel
is, of all the journals, the most brief on the occasion.
"The publication of the two ordinances," says that
paper, " has produced a great sensation. It is said that
they have been issued in consequence of a report from
General Gutlleminot, Major-general of the army. It is,
not yet known in what capacity the latter will continue
to he employed. It is confidently stated that General
Goilleminot has been recalled. It is added, that an al-
teration is to be made in the organization of the army.'

Stich is the information which these Papers contain
on that important subject. They make no additional
mention of the Bourdeaux Diligence; nor of the indi-
♦iduals whom it contained. But private accounts state,
that the parties (consisting of Gen. Peat, two officers of
an inferior rank, and three merchants) were en their
way to Vittoria, at which place Colonel Feu,/Int was
organizing a corps of French and Italian refugees, for
the purpose of a counter invasion of France,
under the command of the celebrated General Lat.us-
Maxis. Tri-coloured cockades, proclamations, and other
proofs of the existence of an extensive conspiracy are said
to have been found upon them, and to have given a clue to
the names of several of their confederates, three of whom
had been arrested. It is added that they intended to
proclaim the Duke of Orleans King, as they feared that
the Allied Powers woald object to the elevation of young
Napoleon to the Throne. Other accounts, also of a pri-
vate nature, extend the sphere of the conspiracy to this
country, and state in confident terms, that several French
and Italian officers had sailed from Gravesend for Coronae
on the 11th inst. They are said to be provided with "
tri-
coloured cockades and tri-coloured flags :" and that their
intention was " to send down the tri-coloured flag from
the heights of the Pyrenees, to bring back the son of Bo-
naparte"—to put down the Bourbon Family in France
first, and afterwards to put down the Bourbon family in
Spain. A correspondence, kept up between the above per-
sons and several other officers of the same principles in
different towns in France, and particularly in Parts, gave
the signal for active operations, and at tae nine the Fanny
sailed from Gravesend, several diligences set out from
Paris and other places, conveying. tri-coloured flags and
cockades, and some of the conspirators. Most of the
principal ringleaders are represented as having been taken
up, and the names of the others as being known ; but if it
be true that their number does not exceed twenty-five, the
importance of the conspiracy is considerably reduced. It
is stated from the same quarter that the Duke d'Angou-
leme would be at Bayonne on the 30th inst., and that the
army would enter Spain on the let of April.
The French papers contain intelligence from Madrid
to the 19th inst., which contradicts the report that had
been circulated, of insurrections in Estremadura and
Valencia. They also give an address from the King of
Portugal to his subjects, dated the 4'h inst. in which be
invites them to support their present Constitution against
the attempts of the factions. By a Decree issued the
oext day, he deprived the Color of Amarante, on account
a his rebellion, of all the titles and honours which he
enjoyed. In the Sitting of the Lisbon Cortes, the Bth
inst., the creation of a n .tional militia was determined on
the motion of Deputy Mourn, at whose example the
whole of the Cortes rose and swore to die for the Consti-
tution.
FRENCH FUNDS, Menem 25.—Five per Cent. Consols
opened at 781.; closed, at 78f. 20c.—Bank Stock, 1475--
Neapolitan sper Cents. 67.—Exchange on London, one
month, 25f. 70e. ; three months, 25f. 50c.

Bayonne and Dutch papers have arrived this morning.
By the former we learn thst the Duke of Reggio arrived,
on the 19th instant, to take the command of the Ist corps
of the army. Troops continue to arrive and-go imme-
diately into cantonments. Immense quantities of provi-
sion and forage are collecting, as Navarre could not long
support IS or 20000 men, which there will be with the
army.
Two Mails expected from Madrid, had been intercept-
ed, but a courier bad brought accounts from that city, to
the 17th :—Recent news from thence cannot, therefore,
be looked for in these papers. The last levy for the ao-,
tive army had already been made in the capital, and be-
sides that a great number of young men bad
enlisted voluntarily. All the accounts from Anda-
lusia, Estremadura, and La Mancha state, that the).
wen eagerly imitating the capital, and that if
the treasury had had the necessary fonds, it
would have been easy to raise the whole population in a
mass. In the midst of this favourable disposition
they have learnt, however, that Ullman, who separated
from Bessieres at Manilla, was closely pursued by differ-
ent corps, but that Merino, with 200 horse and some foot
subordinate to Quesada, from whom he receives assistance,
keeps possession of the road from Burgos to Buitrago. The
political chiefs of Vittoria, Bilbao and St. Sebastian,
have sent orders to the young people of the Constitu-
tional party to assemble in the capital. In Navarre
every thing is pretty tranquil, since the departure of the
troops of Santos Ladron fur St. Jean Pied de Port. The
Navarrese are in no hurry to obey the call of O'Donnell,
and their indifference to the Constitutionalists Is still
more remarkable."
By the Frankfort,papers we are assured, that the report
of the capitulation of the Castle of Corinth is confirmed ;
but that the news of the reduction of Patras, by the
Greeks, is premature.

CITY, TWELVE o'CLocx.—This day being Good Fri-
day, no business is doing in the Funds, and up to the
above hour, we have nut heard of any Express having
arrived from Paris.
____

Yesterday, at one o'clock, a Cabinet Council was held
at the Foreign Office, Downing-street.
Mr. Hamilton is appointed Private Secretary to Lord
Melville, in the room uf R. W. Hay, Esq.
The Duke of Angouletne was at Limoges, half way to
Bayonne, on the 17th; he left it on the 18th.
A ballot took place at the Bank yesterday, in pursu-
ance of the Requisition of Mr. Gundry and other Propri-
etors, on the question whether the half-yearly dividend
should be 4 uer cent., according to the proposition of the
Director+, or 5 per cent. according to the amendment
moved at the last quarterly meeting'. On the scrutiny,
the numbers were found to be 244 for 4 per cent. and 161
fur the greater dividend ; leaving a majority of S 3 in fa-
vour of the proposition of the Directors. •
Advice was received at Lloyd's on Wednesday, of the
capture of two British ships by Spanish privateers; viz.
the Aurora, M'Kinlay, of Greenock, from thence and St.
Thomas's to Honduras, and the John Crawford, of Li-
verpool, Kennedy, from St. Domingo to the Mediterra-
nean. They were both carried into Poito Rico, and
the latter had been condemned, and her cargo (cof-
fee) sold.
Advice' to the 2d ult. were received yesterday from Rio
de Janeiro. It was ascertained that the Portuguese troops
at Monte Video hid refused to embark for Europe, the
'squadron sent from Rio for that purpose having returned
in the latter end of January without effecting its object.
The future political state of Monte Video was placed iu
much uncertainty. The Portuguese troops aimed at retain-
ing possession of it for Portugal : General Lecor had in-
stractions, by sending off the European troops, to secure
)t, for Brazil ; while tne Government of Buenos Ayres, situ-
ated on the opposite sank of the Rio de la Plata, had form-
ed the design of acquiring, if possible, this valuable terri-
'tory. Oa the return of the squadron to Rio, an embargo
was laid for a few days iuthat port, and an expedition, con-
sisting of two frigates, two sloops, and three wigs of war,
were subsequently despatched for Bahia, as supposed, to
'co-operate with General Labatour. Au arrival has, bow-
ever, also taken place from Maranhain, bringing a journal
published on the 12th ult., containing an account of the de-
feat of Labatour by the Portuguese troops in Bahia. There
had been a series of actions, in which he was represented
to hate been worsted. Tie principal defeat, it was stated.
occurred on the 28th of January.