The New York and Philadel...
The Times, 1824-06-28T00:00:00

The A ew York and Philadlphiia journals last received aff6rd some little matter for speculation respecting the real nat;re of Colonel HABIuLTON'S mission to the new Govern- Ierit of CDolombia. M. G WtTXL,. $oreign Mini3ter of ihe R-cpubli, addressed a letLer tut ter 26e date of March 13) to the Intendant of the D?partmsent of Magdaleena, fn- dlosing a copy of tlie Gazette, which contained a report oftbe pro~eeings that took place on the introductioi of the lridesh C1mIligsioners to the VICE-PtiSIPrENT. In this let- ter M. (GUAL tells the Intendant, that he " will, doubtless " find, in the discourse of Colonel HAMILTON, sufficient Cc reason for rejoicing at the frankness with which he *has, " dleclared the views of his Cabinet." If we hail neither seen the subsequent message of the VJCS-PRESIDENT, nor heard the words of Mfr. CANNING in the House of Com- mons, we, too, might have been disposed to attach some por- tion of significancy to the speech of the Commnissioner, who unidoubtedly did go straightforward to declare not only the decided friendship of the King of ENGLAND for Colom- bia, but the positive resolution of His MAJESTY to defend her against all attacks, except from Spain itself. The very discourse, however, which M. GuAL calls frank and satisfactory, is to SANTANDER a source of uneasiness anid regret. So that Mr. CA-NNING has to boast the extraordinary gift of enlightening one Minister and perplexinig another, by one and the same effort of I official ingenuity. That Coloniel H AMILTON should have violated or transgressed his instructions, is surely the most improbable thing in the world; that the speech deliveredby him on an occasion which was in itself most important, an(d which must have been foreseen by Mr. CANNING, should not have been prepared in Downing-street before the mnission took its departure from England, is equally hard of belief . nor can we a(lmit the circumstance hinted at within these few (lays, that the Spaniislh translator of Colokiel HAMILTONWS speech might have coloured it more favourably for Colombia thani the truth would bear. It was tile Uomnmissioner's busiiess to ascei tam that the official translation was a correct one ; anal beiig so, we are bouni to confess the difficulty of reconciling its lan- guage and sentiments with those wvhich are employed upon the same subject in England, by persons who must, from the nature of things, have been aware of the lati- tude to wlhich they bad themselves allowed the Commis- sioner to carry his assuranices of friendship and protectioft towards Colombia. Mr. Cl.AY, it is represented in these papers, has with. drawn a resolution which he had proposed, for a declaration of the sentiments of Congress on the subject of hostilities to be commenced by the Holy Alliance of Europe against the New States of America. Mr. CLAY takes for granted that the plan of aggression has been dlropped, and therefore that there exists no necessity for recording the intended opinion of Congress with regard to it. Indeed, it is not fromn opan war that we have at any time dreaded misfortunez to America: intrigue, and bribery, and fraudulent misrepre- sentatiou,-thc means by which Spanish liberty was under- mined-have always appeared to us the most formidable weapons by which the legitimates of Europe could prosecute their designs against tlle freedom of the vestern hemnisplhere. 'I'he mischief is, that such practices prepare their effect in secrecy. They are seldom capable of proof-of such proof as would enable this nation to say to Mr. CAITNINn(:, " It " is true, that South America is distracted, and in danger of relapsing into its former thraldom; but we can de- " monstrate that this evil has been inflicted upon it by " French agency, and therefore we assert that the spirit " of your pledge to the new Governments requires you now " to interfere on their behalf as strongly as if Louis XVIII. had sent a fleet and army, instead of a treasurv, " to subdue them." The proper mode of averting such mischief would be to recognize the states at once; and then to form a treaty of alliance as well as of eommerce with each of them.