The Wilmingtonian., 1824-04-15
Foreign Intelligence
--LATEST FROM EUROPE.
From the New York American.

the 18th ult. containing decree OF Ming
Ferdinand, for the establishment through
out his kingdom, under the maine of police,
Of civil in9ulsition, which exceeds and
outrages, in its details, all that we have
heretofore heard or read of the insolence
af despotism. We have translated sach
parts of it as relate mure Immediately to
the personal liberty of the subject, and
commend them to the attention OF our rea-
tlcrs.--l.ate events give US, indeed, but
little reason to expect any thing from the
Spaniards; yet, if therebe any OF that blood
unspilt, which once ennobled the Castil-
ian name, we should hope it would kindle
into resistance against oppression so grind
ing, so RELENTLESS, so inevitable, as that me-
ditateti in the decree before us.
In the very worst periods of the Roman
Empire, when blood flowed like water, and
when the lrown Of the sovereign doomed
thousands to death. it was only in the cap
ital and around the court that such scenes
were transacted. The inhabitants of dis.
tant cities, the peasants who TILED the soil,
lived in happy and peaceful obscurity.
Those only who, at the seat Of power, play
ri for the splendid prize Of imperial ia
yor, we're subject to the perils OF imperial
wrath. But in Spain, the humblest man rs
To be inscribed on tablets, and his conduct
is to be watched and recorded-distance
nay banishmcDt, unless it be forever, can
not save him from the terrible supervision
Of the Civil Inquistor of Madrid. Here,
even on our own shores, where man walks
erect and acknowledges no earthly supe-
rior, the tolls Of the Spanish police are
spread for any unfortunate wanderer of
thatnatIcn, whom chance may have thrown
on them; and, unless he cond uct himself
so rs to be entitled to certificate Of good
behaviour from the ambassadors, or pIcni-
potentiaries, or consuls of Spain, wo be 10
him on his return to bis own countr;. 1t
really almost imparts a feeling of dcgra-
,laton to free-born American TO reflect
. that the courtesy of nations compels us to
be accessary, even in so distan. a degree az
By the entertainment among Us of such au-
thorized agents, to so great crime against
palitical liberty and personal rights. Bat,
perhaps, there is no one feature of this de-
cree which will so forciby bring its atro-
city home to Americans, accustomed to
circulate as freely as the air they breathe,
as that provision which requires that every
man shall be provided with certificate Of
safety, by means whereof he is secure at
home, and may go as far as fifteen miles
from it !; but if further he must have a pass
sort
Let us only imagine the case, that the
citizens of New York were obliged annu-
ally to pay halfa dollar each for certfi-
cate allowing them to stay quietly at home,
or, il any one pleased to go as far as Kings
bridge to see frend-but if such friend
lived at Sing-Slng, he must apply to 20
gernment for passport besides and that
if found at any time without one or both
Of these documents, he was to be clapped
up by the police and punished at discre-
tinn.--But the odious features of this de-
cree are as numerous as its provisions
We refer it Ell nlase, therefore. to the Pc
rlsa and Indignation of our readers.
The King our Lord has forwarded to US
the following royal decree:-
Among the things which on seeing N.Y.
self restored to the penitude of the legiti-
mate rights of my sovereignty, claim my
paternal solicitude, | have considered as
pne of the most important, the regulation
Of the police ofmy Kingdoms, which should
acqualnt me with the opinion and the
wants of my people, and point out 10 me
che means of repressing sedition--of ex.
girpating the elements of discord, and o
purifying all the sources of prosperity
Circumscribed hitherto in too confined
orbit. and coniided to the loyalty which
'saa never been beied, of Spaniards, it was
limited to the mere precautions required
by the tranquil condition of the monarchy
nut these precautions would now be idle
and insufficient; and it is the more neces
sary TO Civ 10 thcu the unity, the extent
and the vigor required by the changes il
times and manners, and the desire for re
pose: as they constitute the first benefit {
civilization, aud the best guarantee of pu'
lie felicity. With this view, having regar
20 the report of the Superintendent Gen
eral of public vigilance, &c. &c. have +
solved and decreed what lollows:-
Art. j. The police Of my domnions shi
be directed bya superior magistrate, und
the title ri Superintendent General of t
Police Of the Kingdom, who shall reside
Madrid. Then .ollow eleven other ar
clcs, establishing the subdivisions all
subordinaton to this ciIieI, throughout t
hingdam-their funds, &c. &c.
Art. is. The following are the partit