The National Register. — London, England, 1815-10-08 00:00:00

THE NATJONAL REGISTER. Some individuals at this period were more forward than others ; hut one would tell you, he was impelled by the offi cers and soldiers; another would say that his troops aban d 'ned him, and that they (bagged him along in their impe tuosity ; or, if you were to seek the conviction of a principal agei t, either you would discover none but those who were innocent, or you would find thousands of accomplices. What could you reply to this objection 1 That the throne ought to have preserved France from the return of Buona parte, at leaq as much as France ought to have preserved die throne from it. 4 . Those who were honoured with the confidence of the Monarch, and who were infamous enough to betray him, are for ever dishonoured in public opinion. After the procla mation of the King, they jught to be surrendered to justice by the Chambers. There are difficulties in conciliating all, in pacifying all, immediately; but time, moderation, and a wise dispensation of honours and employments, will have all the success that can be desired. If it is not in the power of the best of Kings to restore the country all at once to that state of happiness and prosperity, from which it has long been declining, at least his experience, his knowledge, and his mo detation, will bring back that tranquillity and political union, which are the images of happiness and source of all pros pet ty. “The Sovereig ns will be faithful to th eir promi s e s; th e y have hitherto sh elved themselves the tutelary deities of the earth; they must wish to complete, from disinterested motives and solely for the repose of the world and the welfare of human nature, the noble task which they have imposed upon themselves, and posterity will never repeat their names with sit mespect and without benediction.” OCT. 8. toter, and to give life and motion to the nation, by in• creasing its commerce and its prosperity. Warned by the lessons of experience, persuaded that the good will, and the most excellent intentions of the best Kings are insufficient, since, when alone, and without support, they are wont to be the sport of perverse counsellors and wicked favourites, they would not have the monarchy af. , in become the prey of new Olivarezes and Godoys, but thrt, founded upon sta ble laws conformable to our ancient usages, and to the pro gress which the science of Government has made in Europe, the security and the felicity of thestate might be reconciled with those of individuals, and the rights of individuals with the prerogatives attached to the King. Such, Spaniards, are our desires; our deputies, the faith fultorgans of them, secured them by means of wise decrees, which we have all of us sworn before God and man to fulfil and to obey, thus confirming our rights, giving new strength to those of the monarch, and recognising the holy religion of our fathers as the only religion of the state. In the midst of the disgusts which the misfortunes of a deso lating war must occasion, in the midst of the opposition which the reform of abuses must produce, we have enjoyed internal tranquillity; no parties have arisen to revolutionize the state; no proscriptions to alarm and afflict families; calm and composed we began to enjoy the fruits of rational liberty, and we felt only that gentle and agreeable motion which is the life of nations, so that our independence being secured by the valour and the efforts of our brave soldiers, and civil liberty confirmed by the regulation and decrees of our Cortes, nothing was now wanting to our wishes and our hopes but the return of our captive Monarch; by that the na tion avenged the insults it received from a foreign power, with that our illustrious warriors hoped for the recompence of their services, and the execution of so many decrees of the Cortes in their favour, and to which their exploits gave them so just a title; with that return, the good hoped that the executive power acquiring the energy which it ought to possess, and which only a King can give it, every deviation might be avoided, which the Spanish revolution might have suffered in time, by consolidating the reforms adopted, and making those variations which experience and the situation of Spain and of other nations might shew to be necessary. We were in daily hopes of this happy event. At length King Ferdinand entered our territory, directing his steps to Ma drid, amidst the benedictions of the good, who hoped every moment to hear of his entrance into his capital, where, in union with our Deputies, they thought they already saw him employed on the felicity of his subjects, confirming some decrees, giving other new ones, and altering those which, by common consent, it should be thought necessary to modify or change; they despised the reports that were soon circu lated, that the King did not swear to the constitution, nor approve of any thing that had been done during his ab sence; they attributed this to the bad intentions of inter ested persons, and though they saw the King surrounded by those whose folly, or treason, had drawn him to Bayonne, placed him in the bands of his enemies, and delivered up the nation to all the evils of anarchy; they believed that, instructed by the severe lesson which experience had given him, he would not suffer himself to be misled by his mis taken and pernicious counsellors; but the habitual influence which they had exercised over his mind from his infancy, having more power over him, he listened to them anew, again followed their counsels, and with them again plunged the nation and himself into an abyss of misfortunes, such as we, so much at our expense, have felt for above a year. From these wretched Counsellors proceeded the de crees for the destruction of the Cortes; from them the re- MANI rESI O. Addressed to the .Cpanish Nation h,/ the Provincial Junta of the Kingdomof Gallicia , of which is President the Marsha!' de Camp Don Juan Die: Pother, General Commandant of the Inferior of the Kingdom:— Spaniards !—After six years of glorious and obstinate struggle to support the independence of the nation and its honour, which was outraged in the person of its chief; after immense sacrifices, loss of property, and tl:e shedding of so much Spanish blood, we have chased the enemy who sought to subjugate us, we have driven him from our soil, and obtained the re-establishment of the throne of our Mo narch ; we have recovered and maintained the splendour of the nation; we have made our name respected. and secured our independence. the first object of every people that ♦alues its dignity, and desires to preserve and transmit it unsullied to posterity.' Not contented with defending, at the hazard of our lives, the land of our birth, we sought to secure its prosperity fur the future by solid institutions, re-establish our ancient rights, !emote the obstacles which impede and obstruct the fountains of public wea!th, and secure to all classes of the State the security of their persons anti property, and the free exercise of their industry and their talents. While our valiant warriors were giving to the world bright examples of courage and constancy, our legislators assembled in the Cortes with full powers, delegated by ourselves, deliberating on the reforms which the situation of the state re•qui+ed; had wisely laid the foundations of our felicity, by uniting in one constitution our ancient rights and under foot in the lapse of I decrees to relieve from the privileges the unhap py lie iudustrious snanufac. _ . . 1 liberties, forgotten and trodden I time, and seeking by other wise d t 'wavy yoke of odiot and unjust lAts - ca ' . • ' baftic. the .. ~ • ( .4 ( It I, • 0 , ' - \ -.•-• . • li t......f1t fil 4 i