The National Register. — London, England, 1815-10-29 00:00:00

OCT . 29. w o u id he the inesitalde result of a cotnhinalon •of true Roialis'•: with h seine- wl o, after •he 'estoration of France, int:zlit ente.taio the desire of causing their erroneous opts ono, to prevail and who would thereby expose 'is to 'elapse into the disorders from which we are searcels etne , ged. I knov. , 'ha• men are only accountable to God for the oi;inions whioh they possess at the bottom of their souls, nec I do not presume to usurp his right; but they re r;ccountahle to the snyeseign authority for all manife , Jation of orinicn. henry IV. forgave the head of the League. hilt he exterminated the League itself, and its chiefs (the Duke de Ma%enne the foremost) became zealous Rttyalis •. ('ha:les I. made use of Monek, but Monck re stored him his crown, such as his father had enj ) . yid it bef o :e the Lon g In these times, all who are true woether they have always been sn, or, that they have sincerely aliju ed their erti)rs, ate worthy of oiler tini; in the RF‘''TORATION OF MONARCHY, be- ~.ause they akile labour with good faith to re-establish it cn solid 1.. t) da: ions : those who have hitherto persist d in their ono's, m a.' %et repent, but the great cork once ac conm'icherl. the time 1 inda(genee is no more." To this log e; the authi.r adds--“ lam certain that this ntiYerable charter was a!waus in opposition with the King's principles: it could never he his work. All the evils of which this Charter has been the cause therefore fall on his rash And pe!fidi;;ll , advisers, who, abusing the confidence of so hi , / aod cntiehteticd a Prince, have presented him with this disas•low- invention as a means of arriving at the re-; stora'i.in of Frlnce." Mite fd!ows a long declaration of the King, dated in 1795, the fist year of his reign. This declaration is en tirelf; in the spied of /he letter we have just gii.cn. To this document is .:übjoined by the author of the pamphlet, the following observation on the present House of Deputies:— "Who could, in so respectable an assembly, be rash enough to propose mainiaininir the Charter? The wisdom Of its menthe's dente that it is n perfect harmony with the King, with justice, and with reason ; and that they will propose to his Majesty, of whom indeed they Inc in only the Council, THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OV OUR ANTIQUE CON STITUTiON, and thus put an end to the calamities of our wretched country." TrIF, NATIONAT. THMISTER. - . in the conduct of those who accompanied the brave I Porlier in his unfortunate enterprise. Not one deserted their General or their banners. The same fate has be. fallen all those. who were not fortunate enough to escape. Not a single individual changed his determination ; not elle hesitated in the hour of adversity ; 150 fell, by stratagem, into the hands of the enemy; they fought like valiant men, and yielded as unfortunate victims. Through this unexpeeted fatality, which we do not in any way consider as irretrievable, these brave men now lay under the claws of those who lately were their prisoners. They acted in a noble and generous manner towards those they hail conquered, but the reverse of this treatment has been experienced by them in return. Yet what else could have been expected from those wretches into whose hands they fell.? It may not be amiss, by way of illustrating this truth, to cast a mo mentary glance on the past life of one of those who have played so ostensible a part in the above treacherous in trigues. Two of the principal personages are only do micilated in Spain The first who appears on the scene, and who undoubtedly is at the bottom of this plot, 'la signor Pesce, an Italian by birth. In tracing the bio graphy of this unprincipled intriguer, beginning with the Spanish transactions in 1808, We find the following particulars worthy of notice. On the cry of liberty being raised in that country against a foreign Usurper, Signor I'esct, then Captain of the regiment of Hibernia, presented himself at the head of his troops in Asturias, together with the Count del. Pinar, and other political missionaries of the same stamp, • charged by Buonaparte's representative, Murat, with the reduction of the above principality to the obedience of his master. They nearly met with the death.of martyrs, for the country people, arming themselves, overcame the regiment of Hibernia ; and its Colonel, together with. the Count del Pinar, and their companions, were hound to. a .take, and under the first impulse of Irritation, it was. the intention of the people to have sacrificed them for their treachery. This certainly would have spared Spain many blots and atrocities, hut clemency pre' ailed.. Ott the above regiment being conquered, its officers and. troops took the oath of fidelity to the Junta of Asturias, in return for which each obtained two grades, and Signor I Pesc6 was made a Colonel. He was then attached to the -division of General Qeiros ) with whom he was at the: defeat of Espinosa. In consequence of this he rot timed Ito Asturias, where he remained till the coining of Fer dinand. In this principality he is well known, particu larly for his transaction, during the whole time he was Governor of Gijon, charged with the fortifications of Castropol. Under this commission ) his conduct with the workmen was so harsh, and the management of the funds which passed through his hands so ambiguous, that lie acquired the universal hatred of the people, who, by a play of words, instead of Pescd, called him Pc,tc. , We are ignorant of the high services which have obtaiaed for him the favour of Ferdinand VII. Certain it is ) that his Majesty, on his return to Spain, gave hira the ran! of Brigadier-General, and made him Colonel of the City. of Santiago. Such is the character of the chief instra.. ment of the downfal of Porlier. A letter from Cadiz, dated Oct. 6, says, "'The moment the heroic resolution of the brave Porlier weg known in this city, all the inhabitants were preparing to second his patriotic designs, and were filled with die same enthusiasm vhich GENERAL POR LIER. Porlier's misfortune is one of those occurrences in the history of revolutions which ought to afflict but not to discourage us. Ile was 00,1 victim of base treachery, hatched in the (lark abysses of hypocrisy and fanaticism, and executed by base and mercenary souls, alive only to the stimulus of sordid interest : all was the work of sur prise. It is a consolation for us, however•, to know that the great mass of Porlier's troops remained faithful to the cause by which they were first impelled ; hut, on finding themselves surprised, they were compelled to yield. to su•• perior numbers. A dislike to the Constitution is far from being a ge neral sentiment among the military of Spain. On the contrary, the most select part of the Spanish troops, the Officers, are sincere lovers of liberty. The Officer finds that his promotion now depends on Court favour, and the soldier discovers thafhe is not paid or fed, be, cause an arbitrary King has not the same resources as a Government that is popular. We have the most striking testimony of the sentiments of the Officers in general, ""' • wa... ~,-= _. 693