Newspaper Page Text
* £; TO SHEW VIRTUE HER OWN FEATURE, SCORN HER OWN IMAGE, AND THE VERY AGE AND BODY-OF THE TIME, HIS. FORM AND PRESSURE.” TJ VOL. II. HAftPERS-FERRY, VIRGINIA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1823. No. 25.—77. « published, Weekly, by JOHN S. GALLAHER & CO. CONDITIONS. The “ Free Press” Is published at two dollars per annum, if paid in advance; two dollars and twenty-five cents if paid at the end of six months ; or, two,, dollars and fifty cents at the expiration of the year. No paper will be discontinued until all arrearages are paid ; nor then, unless at least one week’s notice be given, previous to the expiration of the term subscribed for. ICr" As payment in advance will serve inlet etc of ad."doneaimed, that mode is respectfully solicited. *•** Advertisements inserted three times for one.dollar per square ; and twenty-five cents for every subsequent insertion. The postage must be paid on all letters and communications, or they will not be attended to. fOP* It if confidently hoped that per sons in arrears will discharge the sums respectively due by •them. We appeal to their sense of justice:, and trust that the appeal will not be in vain. It remains for our patrons to determine whether we shall pursue our vocation limpingly, or with that spirit which is inspired by a prompt recompense for our labors. LATE NEWS FROM EUROPE. NEW YORK, JAN. 11. i The regular packet ship James Mon roe, Marshall, which arrived below last evening, brought London dates to the evening of the 5th December. The intelligence by this arrival is more than ordinarily important. The Con gress of Verona has broken up. Spain has been consigned to France, to inforce, if the latter thinks proper, a return to the ancient system; France and Spain, in consequence, present the spectacle of two great nations arming to destroy each other; the allied powers standing by as lookers on, watching when they may think it necessary or consistent with their own safety to assist in putting down the constitutional system in the Peninsula. P Great Britain, in particular, professing to have taken a neutral stand, “ whatever (says the Courier) may be the result of the differences, either between France and Spain, or between Russia and Tur key.” The Emperor Alexander, confident in his own immense physical strength, apparently indifferent whether there should be war or peace, though secretly, as is alleged, preferring the former, and according to late advices from Warsaw, raising immense levies of troops in the North of Russia, for the purpose of aug menting his already formidable armies, that he may carry into effect his long con templated designs against the Turks.— In the midst of this “ din of war,” we find scarcely any notice taken of the Greeks, though it is not attempted to be denied, that their oppressors have been compell ed to evacuate the Morea after the total destruction of a powerful army, and that the remnant of their fleet had sought re fuge in the Dardanelles, from the pursuit of the victorious patriots. 'Vv-un rne iimnea lmunnaium at pre sent in our hands, it is not for us to spe culate what may, or may not, be the re sult of the recent changes in Europe.— The London Courier considers war inevi table, and openly avows that it is not for territory that France arms against Spain, but “ against firiv.cip.les that tend, in her opinion, to shake ail allegiance, and to unsettle all attachment to the monarch!al form of government.” The sudden breaking- up of the Con gress at Verona, and the publicity given to its decision, seems to have given rise to a multitude of reports as to the prepa rations for war, many of which we pre sume will turn out to have been unfound ed. It was even stated that a body of the French Army of Observation had actually crossed the Pyrennees, and penetrated in to Spain. It was certain that an ordi nance had been issued by the French go vernment, calling out 40,000 of the levy of 1822 ; and it was rumored that this was to be raised to 75,000 men, and that all the sailors were collecting to be sent off to man the fleets at Brest and Toulon. The Spanish Minister ait Paris was re ported to have left that place on the 1st of December for Madrid. The French Chambers were to meet the first week in January. A- letter from Paris of the 2d Dec. gives it as the general opinion that some delay v ""•■would take place, in order to give Spain time to deliberate and decide upon the ultimatum, transmitted from Congress.— But, on the other side, it was asserted that the Ministry of Madrid had already sent in its decision, and that the Spanish Envoy at Verona was fully empowered to declare that Spain would not consent to the slightest modification of her consti tution, by the dictation of foreign powers The'Moniteur contains the speech of Bertrand de Lis, delivered in the Spanish Cortes. It accuses the French govern ment of having favored the factious on ail occasions—of having furnished them with clothes and warlike materials—he _ declares that if they continue p'1:;*, h fresii uneasiness, the moment ahull arrive j when they shall repent it. (These expres- i sions are thus printed in the Moniteur.) He hints at assisting the Revolutionists in France, and, in fact, reproduces the j same revolutionary doctrines which were used by the French Revolutionists. Nor does it appear from the proceedings of the Cortes that the Royal Family are treated with more respect than they were. The King’s palace is liable to domiciliary visits, though the private apartments of their Majesties and the Royal Family are not to be entered. A meeting had been held at Madrid, at which Gen. Riego and a number of depu ties attended, and where it was unani mously agreed, “ that Spain ought never to provoke war; but that it ought to be wished for as a benefit, if open hostilities put an end to secret and perfidious in trigues, infinitely more formidable for a generous nation, confident of its dignity and power, and ready to make great sa crifices to sustain national honor and in dependence.” Official accounts had been received at Madrid from General Mina, detailing his successes against the “Army of the Faith.” The fluctuation of the funds, particu larly the Spanish, at London, Paris, and Madrid, in consequence of expected hos tilities, appears to have been very great, and to have excited considerable alarm. Active preparations were going on in England, to fit out. p. squ dron for spec:: \ service. Commodore Owen was to have j the command. The Gazette dc France states that a ship, lately arrived at Lisbon, had brought intelligence of the death of the Emperor Iturbide. From the London Courier, Dec. 3. A very speedy confirmation, indeed, has arrived of the important intelligence we announced yesterday—“That France had succeeded in enforcing the claim which she had urged from the commence ment of the sittings of the Congress, to the right of an armed intervention in the affairs of Spain. We announced at the same time, that some of the ministers to the Congress, probably the Duke of Wel lington and Vicomte de Montmorency, had taken their departure. The Moni teur of Sunday last announced the return of M. de Montmorency on Saturday, The Duke of Wellington was to leave Verona on the 24th of last month, M. Pozzo di Borgo, the Russian Ambassador toFrance, was to arrive at Paris to-day—the King of Prussia was to leave Verona on the 22d, to return to his capital—and thus the main points which have occupied the at tention of the Congress may be consider ed as having been decided. From the Moniteur of Sunday last. His Excellency Viscount Montmoren cy arrived here yesterday, on his return from the Congress of Verona, and had an interview with the King. “ After such contradictory rumours as have been current on the state of our re lations with Spain—after the discussions which have taken place on this inexhaus tible subject during the conferences at Verona—after the indecision which so many opposite opinions must have every where produced, we should find, perhaps, a sufficiently solid basis for new conjec tures, in the assurance that France has occupied, at the Congress of Verona, the place which belongs to her among the monarchies of Europe ; and that the Con tinental Powers leave to her the end and termination of the affairs of Spain, with the intention of concurring with all their force in such plans of execution as France shall be in a situation to adopt. “In taking this resolution the high Continental Powers must have acted on an idea so simple and so just, that it will strike all reasonable persons; they must have confided for the decision of a ques tion which interested them all, in that Power whose interest in this question was the most immediate. I his mark of confidence, so important for France, she owes to her own wisdom, to the power she has recovered since ideas of order have triumphed over those dissensions and er- j igvSi.'r s^BR?s2fss»^^ac^a5t^a^s2£3a^3tJKla;3r,. rot s which have too long disturbed her— she owes it, above all, to the virtues of her King, to the measures which he has taken for placing the country ill a suitable at titude to observe the serious even ts of the Peninsula;—finally, she owes it to that unanimity of wishes and of sentiments by which a whole people has recently testifi ed the confidence which it places in the Government. Doubtless, this important result must be, to all the interests engag ed in this question, a pledge of security with respect to the ramifications which it may assume.” Prom the Peris papers of Dec. 2. A The Congress has changed its place ; it is no longer at Verona. According ttr ; an article in the Moniteur of yesterday it will be for Spain at Paris—for Italy at Vienna—and for the East wherever the Emperor Alexander may happen to be. A new political system is to take the place of the old. Instead of admitting in Europe only one single interest—-that oi the Holy Alliance—the new system of policy reduces every thing to the parti cular interests of each separate State. We remark, however, that the Moni teur seems indirectly to exclude Eng land from that honorable union which has placed in the hands of the French Government the balance on which, re latively to Spain, the policy of the Euro pean Cabinets ought to rest. Will that power consent to tie thus disregarded ? But if England does not consent to the in tervention, will it preserve at least neu trality? The Moniteur has not released us from this difficulty. Be this as it may, it necessarily results from ttie article in the Moniteur, that France, in the name of the high Conti nental Powers of Europe, is going to en ter into new nogociations with Spain. We know not whether France.ought on this account to congratulate herself on the triumph of her diplomatists. We also do not know whether our merchants ought to rejoice at that triumph. At •present, from the mere fear of war, it is diffic ult to insure at London the return of a. x re ohip from Mtiuiii at 5C per cent. What will the insurance be if war break out? But it is not yet decided. It is at Pa ris the question is now to be agitated, since it has not been decided at Verona. The speedy arrival of the Duke of Wel lington and the Russian Ambassador is announced, who may he regarded as the representatives of peace and war. If they have any thing to say to our govern ment, it will no longer be in the general interest of the Holy Alliance, but in the particular interest of their Cabinets.— Such is the new diplomatic jurisprudence established at Lay bach, and confirmed at Verona. The Holy Alliance is nothing, the vicinage is every thing. It is in vir tue of this right that Austria invaded Naples, that France wishes to invade Spain, and that Russia will without doubt invade the East. If we dp not deceive ourselves this was the law of nations be fore there was any Holy Alliance, and the Holy Alliance was only created to make this law of nations disappear. .Extract from a firivate Letter, dated VERONA, NOV. 2 1. The principal, and perhaps the only object {‘or which the Congress was as sembled at Verona, was the political si tuation of the Spanish and Portuguese monarchies. The confei-enc.es and deli berations upon that point are terminated. With the exception of the Sovereigns and Ministers who have taken a share in them, there is no body who is positively acquainted with their result. There have been four or five sittings of Congress specially devoted to the af fairs of Spain. The Duke of Wellington has, on each occasion, declared in a for mal manner, his hostility to every species of armed intervention; and in so doing has been supported by Austria and Prus sia. Russia has appeared to incline to the opposite side, but without urging her opinion with much weight. The French diplomatists were busily employed in pointing out the danger to which then country would be exposed, were the royal authority to be left as feeble as the con stitution of the Cortes had made it. At the last sitting, it is said the French diplomatists endeavored to destroy the arguments against a rupture with Spain, and have succeeded in obtaining this de cision in their favor ;-—that every power having the indisputable right to make war against any other, when it thinks that it has just and imperative reasons for so doing, France may employ that right against Spain if she thinks proper, but that in such cases the other powers should be bound in Conor to remain neu tral. rgBmwqiifr It is added, that after this decision of Congress the emperor of Austria, and even the emperor of Russia, as well as a majority of the Ministers, particularly the Duke of Wellington, have, in a friend ly manner, advised the French Ministers not undertake this war, or at least to reject on it weii and maturely' before hand, as it might place in danger the re pose of Europe, an event of which it is not difficult to foresee the melancholy consequences. For some days past there has arrived here positive intelligence that many fo reign merchants have demanded letters of marque from the Spanish Government, for the purpose ox arming privateers, in case war should take place between France and Spain; and that a great quantity of these lettei’s of marque have already been transmitted to different Spanish Consuls, particularly those resident in England, in order that they may be delivered to the privateers at the very moment that they receive official knowledge of the de i n * 4 4 l * * claration ol war. There are other subjects to be acted upon; it is said that the conduct of the Porte-Ji as been severely characterised by the Congress, and even by the Duke of Wellington himself; that the Emperor Alexander has shewn great indignation at it; that his Imperial majesty has no longer any hopes of an accommodation ; and that he only waits for the arrival of the Count de Lutzow, to declare his de finitive determination respecting Turkey. The envoys form the Greek Government have not been officially admitted to the presence ol the Sovereigns. ' With regard to Naples and Piedmont, the report is very general that the sover eigns of these two countries and their ministers, have used every exertion to get the Austrian troops withdrawn from them, but the Austrian has thrown great obstacles in the way of their demands, which found only a very feeble support in one of the principal members of the Congress. People are in consequence, convinced that the two extremities of Ita ly wUi a'jq, W- ; '?•)time.. Lc-Oiicr.pT 1 by Germans. It is believed that the prin cipal reason urged by Austria, was the situation of the Spanish peninsula. Extract of a Letter to the London Courier. PARIS, DEC. 2. “ Dispatches were sent off this after noon to Spain. The question of a de claration of war will, in all probability, depend upon the answer to these dis patches. The decision of the Congress was sent off to Madrid from Verona, and the dispatches now spoken of, are sup posed to contain a statement of the views of France, and a requisition to do certain acts on the refusal to comply with which requisitions, a war is threatened. “ The late accounts from Madrid, by no means lead to the expectation, that the present government of Spain will be willing to make any concessions for the sake of preserving peace. Tim ad vices from Madrid are only eight days old; and by them we find that ‘the Cor tes were adopting very active and vigor ous measures to raise a large military force.5 The conduct of France was free ly spoken of, and loudly condemned in a recent debate, when it was again requir ed that France should give a clear and categorical answer to the question, as to her intention to bring so large an army on the frontiers. It seems that this de mand was answered by a statement da the part of the Spanish Ministry, that negotiations were pending upon the sub ject. It was declared in this discussion, according to a private letter, that but for the aid of France in money, arms and protection, the rebellion in the north east would have been terminated long since. ‘‘ All the news from Toulouse, Bay onne, and Perpignan, relative to the suc cesses of the Constitutionalists, is receiv ing daily conformation; and having quelled this domestic enemy, for the pre sent at least, it is not likely that the Span ish government will be inclined, on this account, to be more submissive.55 ■ From the London Courier, Dec. 4. We have not received at a late hour this morning, any later intelligence from Paris than that which we communicated yesterday. It is probable, however, that, we may receive an express in the course of the day, which we shall announce, id it bring any news of importance. We have, since our last, given the deepest attention to the mass of intelli gence which we have received, both pub lic and private, and we are irresistibly led to this conclusion, that war must take place between France and Spain, Unless one of two things happen, which we have not at present the least right to expect 1st, that the Cortes will ahanden ttiipr