The National Register.
London, England, 1823-03-17 00:00:00

No. 1,410.—V0L. XVI.

WAR WITIi SPAIN. -
-4116.7
•
(Prom the Journal Ms Debias.)
Ng's, MARCH 12 ,—The inconveniences inse-.
parable from a war with Spain are generally felt,
and too well appreciated, to permit •us to announce
without a pnifound impression of. sorrow that the
leat *topes of peace have almost disappeared; but our
just surgur telassial-4.4lwearrvietise, ,
drawing the sword from the scabbard we are fulfil-
ling a national duty, and a ecimitand of honour.
'Every thing has been done to draw from revolt!.
tionary Spain a single proof of a wish to put an end
to. the excesses which disquiet Europe, and compro-
mise France. There was no question of the sacrifice
of liberal institutions, or of foreign intervention,
nor, in a word, of any thing which could compro-
mise the'interests or wound the honour of Spain.
It was only required of misled men to substitute for
a destructive action, without ohject and without
limits, that independent action of Royalty which is
the life-spring of monarchical sobiety. Spanish li-
berty was only asked to recognize the rights of
legitimacy, but she refused. She is then no Linger
liberty. No veil now covers the hideous traits of
anarchy—no consideration tempers its fury.--no
friendly or pacific voice can stop its progress.
Facts equally indisputable and shocking have just
established the outrageous captivity of King Ferdi-
nand. It is evident that faction is determined to
carry its crowned prisoner in its train, and the pro-
positions thr stripping him even of, the shadow of
royalty find no longer any obstacle, except• the fear
of opening the eyes of the multitude .on the real
state of things. But what man of sense, what en-
lightened nation, can hencefiirth be deceived bythis
empty image of royalty? Who can for a moment
doubt that the King of Spain is now as Completely
a captive as if he Were already loaded with • the base
chains with which his Ministers have dared to me-
nace his august person ?
But the revolutionists of Spain have, by their
Suggestions, 'given to their confederates at Madrid
the word of order for a blind resistance—for an im-
placably fury, in order to render fruitless the efforts
• made by reason and loyalty to prevent a deplorable
war. They sacrifice Spain to the infatuated hope of
reviving the flames of a universal revolution along
with a general war.
That hope will not be realized. The invisible,
and yet incontestable, presence of the revolution of
1793 in the councils of Spain, necessarily unites all
governments in one common wish, that of repressing
a known enemy, an irreconcileable enemy, whose
terrible excesses they well recollect.
Such will be the necessary consequence of the late
events at Madrid: they will have at least the me-
lancholy advantage of justifying the foresight of
France, and the measures which she 'has taken for
her own security,

The following
letters:—

are from private

" PARIS, NlAncu
"The English Paperwof Saturday last, containing
the report of the dinner proceedings at the London
Tavern on Friday, and the protest of the 62 Mem-
bers of the Chamber of Deputies against the expul-
sion of M. Manuel, were yesterday seised by the
police. Copies of them, however, bud arrived by
special couriers a day hello; and thus the aczount
of the dinner appeared in the French journals of-
yesterday. None of them dared to copy the protest.
This latter document was taken by the law officers
from the hand of the President of the Chamber, and
submitted to a Council of Ministers, to determine
whether it did not warrant a prosecution against its
62 subscribers. Nothing but the number and res-
pectability of the signatures, and the dangerous ugh.
tetlon that such a proceeding would excite, pre-
vented the the Council from placing the Deputies
on their trial for seditious writing. The Ministers
would, however, eagerly seize en opportunity of
prosecuting any printer, bookseller, or journalist
who would give it to the world, and therefore all
those parties are on their guard. Lithographic co-
pies, however, are largely distributed; and thus, in
l'aris ut least, every person who feels an interest in
such sultjects may obtain a 1.,.u5al of it. Prink:id