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

TIIE NATIONAL REGISTER.

OCT. S.

establishment of all kinds of abuses; from them came the
persecution of our Deputies, of so many brave soldiers,
of so many worthy Spaniards; from them the disorder of our
finances, the neglect and the misery of our soldiers, the
public sale of employments; and from them, in short, the
debasement of the nation, which, instead of being respected
and esteemed, as. itsacrifices deserve, is degraded and
despised by all Eurov.Z..

These few, but degenerate Spaniards, six years ago, pros.
tituted themselves to the oppressor of their country, aban-
doned their King, and trampled under foot their most sacred
duties. Anxious for wealth and honours, they recognised
him who offered or secured them to them, and looked down,
with contempt upon those Spaniards, who, at Madrid, and
in all the provinces, raised the cry of independence. They
made inveterate war upon them in the beginning, and did
not join their banners till, despairing of the cause they had
embraced, they believed it was a means to retain their sala-
ries and their employments; faithless to all, they retained
their enmity and opposition only to those who, from the
beginning had sought to defend the national cause. Al-1
most all those who surrounded and counselled the King at
Valencia, almost all those who surround and guide him now
are of this class : they possess the chief offices of the state;
and those very persons, who, in 1808, were named by the
intrusive government to calm the insurrection in the pro.
vinces, compose a part of the tribunals appointed to judge
the patriots, that is, many of those who, at that time, nou-
rished in the provinces the sacred flame of patriotism. Alas!
history does not present us any parallel.
Against such insults, such crimes as have been committed
in this year, the Spaniards would have long since raised a
dreadful try, such as they did to defend their independence,
had they not, prudent and composed lovers of their
country, .preferred, before they exposed it to new convul-
sions, seeking every method of conciliation, hoping that
their king, undeceiving himself, would be the first to change
his conduct, to chastise his perverse Counsellors, and pre-
serve in fact and without stain the opinion of so many good
Spaniards, so unjustly persecuted.
In vain we have hoped fora whole year; in vain has all Eu-
rope disapproved the conduct of the Cabinet of Madrid; in
vain have several Princes remonstrated against the impolicy
of its proceedings, and the injustice of persecuting su many
illustrious patriots; in vain have many Spaniards ventured
to speak truth to the King ; the first have not been attended
to, notwithstanding* the respect due to such respectable
allies, and others have been persecuted. To such a degree
have they got possession of the person of the King, that they
do not permit him to listen to remonstrances of so much
weight, that they do not allow him time to reflect on the
falsehood of their assertions. They tell him that the Cortes
and the Regency sought to remove him from the throne;
they try to corrupt public opinion by spreading a perfidious
report, that there was a secret plan to spread irreligion and to
persecute the clergy; in short they publish all kinds of ea-
lumnies, which none but men so perverse as themselves could
possibly conceive. A year has passed; the Government has
been in their hands; the Deputies, the Members of the Re-
gency,
the persons whom they wish to calumniate, have been
surprised in the night, they have been able to discover their
secrets, to unfold their machinations, and yet nothing has
been found but proofs of their probity and their virtues ; all
Spain is convinced of this truth; svhat greater proof can there
he than their ow❑ judgements and sentences, and in respect
to public and private rights, how illegal and monstrous arc
all their proceedings, by which the very laws of the party they
pretend to follow arc trodden under Pout, is whist) the ac-

fl 4

cused are not permitted to defend themselves personaie, iu
which all judgements are summarily decided, many of the
judges being at the same time accusers and witnesses, who,
forming impeachments, for what they themselves ordered to
be executed in the time of the Cortes, have given to the
world a new and unheard of example of injustice and atro-
city. So-many deserving and respectable melt, so many
priests, venerable for their virtues and dignities, so many
officers of rank, covered with wounds, and illustrious by their
services, now loaded with chains and thrown into dungeons.
serve to satiate the rage of their infamous persecutors, who
delight in their misery, and hope to destroy them by tor-
ments and affliction. And for what ? Spaniards! what ate
their crimes? Their having sought to make us happy. If
they arc criminals we arc all so: we have given our foil
powers, we have acknowledged and approved all that the
Cortes have done: their deputies had no object but the pros-
perity of Spain ; their decrees prove it : the Catholic religion
was declared the only religion of the state ; the privileges of
its ministers were preserved ; care was taken of the soldier v ;
distinctions were given them ; decrees were pased to divide
lands among them as soon as peace should be established;
institutions for invalids were formed, arid notwithstanding
the poverty of the state, from its territory being for the most
part occupied by the enemy, during the mo,t vf the time,
the soldier was much less neglected than he has since been,
notwithstanding the peace and the deliverance of the Penin-
sula. The peasant was relieved from many burdens and
Gabellvs which, oppressed hint ; the manufacturer was freed
front many ridiculous regulations and privileges ; the mer-
chant could traffic and make his speculations at liberty, and
without those injurioi:s formalities which the fiscal system had
introduced; the creditor of the state hoped to see himself.
covered for the advances he had made ; in short, all Was ac.
quiring a new life, and the nation would have been re-
compensed for its sufferings and its losses, if the road pointed
cut by the Cortes had been followed. But how ditTerent is
that which has been taken, and how different also are the re-
sults. Notwithstanding a years peace and tranquillity, our
finances are in a worse state than ever, public credit is null,
the brave defender% of the country are naked, without shoes,
without pay, despised and persecuted; the labourer with
his own gaieties, the manufacturer with his former fetters.
and the merchant without circulation ; our American colo-
nies continually more irritated at seeing their Deputies im-
prisoned and the promises made to them broken. On the
one hand the prison, on the other revenge—every where dis-
order and injustice. Such isthe situation of unfortunate
Spain.
Spaniards! either the country must perish, or we must
find a remedy for such great and dangerous evils. All Eu-
rope is interested in seeing our nation well governed ; it is
the securest pledge of its tranquillity ; expel ience must havo
taught it, that when Spain is governed by feeble hands, it
necessarily submits •to any who can impose conditions upon
it. All Europe cannot but be pleased to see a govern-
ment revive in Spain, which ha; so much contributed to
the liberty and independence of all States; which has been
recognized and treated with by the kings of Pi ussia and
Sweden, and the magnanimous Emperor of Russia. Ehgland,
our first ally and companion, that nation, rich and happy.
in its constitution, which has seen with horror the desttuc-
tion of the Cortes and the persecution of its Members,
will be the first to applaud us, as it was the first to assist us
in our insurrection, to acknowledge the Cortes, and to
praise the patriotism and the virtues of the people.
All will applaud us, if we continue to shew in our con-
duct that prudence and cfrcutnsitetiou which have always