The National Register. — London, England, 1814-05-29 00:00:00

3 in to mediate and pacify between them 1 . There is no little vanity in this, as well as in the constant repetition in all the French Papers_we have received for some time past of the assertion, that France has not been conquered, nor her ca pital taken. How came the Allies then whore they are ? Her &miss were successively beaten: they had been driven from Moscow to Dresden, from I)re•den to the Rhine, from the Rhine to Paris; Paris was attacked, and surrendetecl by capitulation." FERDINAND AND 111 E SPANISH CORTES. P. was our hope that Europe was on the eve of general tranquillity and lasting repose. Spain so long drenched with blood we expected to see at last respire from slaughter. Tier independence established, and her King restored, we were not prepared to expect that her territory would be the theatre of a new tragedy. This unhappily we fear will shortly take place, and the Spaniards after shedding their blood for years in resisting a foreign enemy, seem now about to destroy each other in a civil war. Every man who has marked the progress of the war in the Peninsula must acknowledge, if the Cortes have committed some faults, many of their acts have been in the highest de gree beneficial to their country. They have framed a con stitution giving their fellow-countrymen many advantages of which they could not boast under the old monarchy. It was natural to hope that a Prince in the situation of Ferdi nand, grateful to the men who bad preserved his kingdom, would not have availed himself of tt e first moment of free dom to refuse to assent to such an amelioration. of the con dition of his subjects. As the Cortes bad thought it expedient to make, in older to convince the people that they were interested in the issue of the struggle in which they were engaged. This, however, he has done. Ile has published a manifesto against the Cokes, in which. be refuses to ac cede to the constitution, and accuses them of the greatest climes subjects could possibly commit. He even quarrels with the manner in which thFy were called together. From the asperity with which he expresses himself, it should seem be is much but t at not having been enabled to carry his act of abdication into effect. His people have perhaps still more rea son for sorrow on this account than him. •Of the Cortes he says: " But these Cortes, assembled in a manner never used in Spain, even in the most arduous cases, and In the most turbulent times of the minorities of Kings, in which the As sembly of Procurators was wont to be more numerous than in the common and ordinary Cortes, were not called the States of the Nobility and Clergy, although the Central Junta had so ordered, this Decree having been artfully concealed from the Council of Regency, and also-the fact that the Junta has as signed to it the Presidency of the Cortes, a prerogative of the Crown which the Regency would not have_ left to the decision of the Congress, if it had been acquainted therewith. Inconsequence of this, every thing remained at the disposal _of. the Cortes ; who, on the day of their installation. And by way of commencement to their acts, despoiled jne of my sovereignty, which the same deputies had only a little before acknowledged, ascribing it nominally to the nation, in order to appropriate it to themselves, and, then, upon such usurpation, to dictate to the nation such laws as they pleased, imposing upon it the yoke by which it should receive them compulsorily, in a new Constitution." The yoke of which this enlightened monarch speaks, was that constitution which abolished the Inquisition and established the Freedon of the Press. After overwhelming the Cortes with much more abuse, his intention as to the Constitution . is thus mildly expressed , " I declare, that my royal intention MAY 29. is, not only not to swear nor accede to the said constitution, nor to any decree of the General and Extraordinary Corte; and of the Ordinary at present sitting, those to wit which de rogate from the rights and prerogatives of my Sovereignty, established by the constitution and the laws under which the nation has lived in times past, hut to pronounce that con stitution and such decrees null and of no effect, now, or at any other time, as if such acts had never . passed, and that they are entirely abrogated, and without any obligation on my people and subjects, of wha►ever class and condition, to fulfil or observe them. And as he should attempt to support them, and shall thus contradict my royal proclamation, adopted with the above agreement and assent, will attack the prerogatives of my sovereignty, and the happiness of the na tion, and will cause discontent and disturbance in my king doms, I declare, who shall dare to attempt the same will be guilty of high treason, and as such subject to capital punish• ment, whether he perform the same by deed, by writing, or by words, moving and exciting, or in any other way exhorting . and persuading that the said constitution and decrees be kept and observed." Such is the conciliating: conduct which Ferdinand thinks it becomes him to adopt on his return from exile. We trem ble for the consequences. If the Cortes possess that power Which they have bitheito had, the calamities we fear may yet be avoided, by their boldly proceeding against the traitors to their country, who have given their King the advice on which he now acts. If these were hanged, every thing may yet go well. A fearfully interesting and important question rises out of this state of things, as to the part which this country ought to take. We cannot repress a wish that we could with con sistency support the Cortes against one who appears to be both a tyrant and a fool. • But we do not see how this is to be done, wit '..out a total abandonment of the principles on which we first engaged in the Spanish war, We undert(x)k to assist them against a foreign enemy, and (we could almost say in this instance wefiar) it will be our duty to leave them to settle their domestic quarrels among themselves. THE NATIONAL REGISTEII BUON APA R IE. The sentence of this unfortunate malefactor has been car. tied into effect. On the 4th inst. ke made his grand entry into Elba with suitable pomp, being preceded by three fiddles and two fij'es. We do not know what tune they played—perhaps it was "Pity my fall,"—That at all events would have been Most appropriate. lle found some persons compassionate or foolish enough to attempt to comfort and even to flatter him. his restless spirit has not yet forsaken him, for it should seem within a few hours of his landing, he had gallopped over half his kingdom. PITT CLUB. The Gentlemen of the Pitt Club assembled yesterday at Merchant Taylors' Hall, where their triennial festival was held. The day was passed in the most harmonious manner. We purpose giving a sketch of the piuceedings in our next. • The Duke ofelarence, accompanied by Miss Fitzcl arenee, his daughter, returned to Deal on Wednesday evening, and on Thursday hoisted his flag, the Royal Standard, on board the impregnable, in the Downs. It is now distinctly under• stood, that the illustrious Sovereigns, who are aboUt to visit this country, will be landed at Dover, should the weather permit, and dLtactiments of the troops have in consequence been ordered to that point, to be in readiness to receive them. The Prince Royal of Wirtemberg is to precede them 48 hours, and Lord Charles Fitzrey, who is waiting at Ca- 41%