The Sun.
London, England, 1822-10-29 00:00:00

PROVINCIAL JOURNALS..

( From the Birmingham and Lichfield Chronicle, Oct-24.)
Spain is still disquieted within her.—lt would
seem as though she were reaping the 'harvest of her transgres-
sions done in the western hemisphere !—as though she were
answering the crimes long ago committed in the empires of
Mexico and Peru. What a scene has she presented in these
latter years ! Her King kidnapped from his throne,—a stran-
ger offered in his stead, a sceptre held by a Plebeian over the
necks of the lords of Castile ? her territory invaded by a foreign
army on one side, and covered by an army of alliance on the
other; hating the one as an open and decided foe, and shunning
the other as a suspected and dubious friend ! and torn and
trampled on by both in their conflict for alternate triumph or
defeat. Her cities demolished—her plains laid waste—her hills
made a spectacle of fire—and her vales a picture of desolation
and death !—There was no track left unmarked by ruin, and
no spot untrodtlen by despair. At length the reign of peace
was again proclaimed ; the contending armies withdrew—the
legitimate King returned—the ancient sceptre was resumed,
and Spain looked out of her miseries with a faint smile of
hope and life and liberty renewed. But mark ! in the
time of leer distress, an institution had been formed,
under the patronage of her allies, which served as a
rallying point to all good Spaniards, who possessed zeal enough
and courage enough to act in the name and for the welfare of
the Spanish nation. The extraordinary Cortes consisted of
the noblest and bravest blood of Spain ! These men initiated
themselves in the art of administration—and the greater part
of them became charmed with the spirit of independence, and
possessed of liberal ideas ; and it is no wonder then, that these
men were not satisfied with the prospect of being governed in
conformity to the old system of things ;, it is no wonder that
they should have become disgusted with the tyranny of the
Church ; and with the abominable reign of priestcraft and su-
perstition, from which had emanated acts of terrible oppression
and fanatic rage ! These men then, in conjunction with the most
intelligent of the nation, planned and effected a great po-
litical change.—They had not much to contend with in
producing this revolution—happily, perhaps, for them, the King
himself was little used to intrigue—less used to govern—and
was altogether unfit to enter at once into the management of
the State.—His privy counsellors consisted only of a few help-
less Priests, of a few personal attendants who had followed him
from France, and who were as little conversant in the affairs of
Spain, as perhaps of those of the after world ! while it was also
I whispered that the young Queen was by no means an enemy to
the liberal party. Thus then the revolution in the capital of
Spain was easily effected ; but for its perfect establishment over
the whole kingdom, something more was required than the sig-
nature of the King and the oath of the Cortes to a new form of
government.—The people of Spain are yet in the slough of su-
perstition, in the very slime of ignorance ! A Spanish peasant
' is incomparably beneath the English labourer, and a Spanish
burgess is at least two centuries behind a tradesman of this
country and both (generally speaking) possess no other ideas than
those given them by the priesthood, and can speak no other lan-
guage but that dictated by the Church, and authorised by cus-
tom. • A country made up of such a population, can hardly be
supposed in a fit state for the reception and appreciating of a
constitutional form of government—and this the Cortes have al-
ready discovered; and a proof of it is not wanting in the exist-
ing state of affairs in the Spanish provinces. It is indeed no
easy matter to elevate a rude uninformed moss to a level with
the more refined and intellectual ; and more especially where
pride and fanaticism are mixed up with ignorance and sloth.—
The Spanish people are moreover attached to customs, which
from their infancy they have been taught to regard as a partof
their religion,—customs, which degraded human nature, and
which, properly enough, have been abolished by the laws of
the Cortes. The heart of a Spaniard is wound about the exist-
ence of his church pageants—spectacles and sliews—He could
yet look with pleasure on an Auto da fe ; and the Inquisition
itself with all its horrors and with all its despotism, was not
without a possession of deep interest, if not of attraction.—
From these various causes, may perhaps be accounted for,
the present opposing interests of Spain. The Church
against the -King—the People against their Representa-
tives—the Priesthood, as usual, against the emancipation
of the human mind ! We come now to matter of
fact. It appears, by a report just made by the Minister of
War to the Cortes, that Navarre, Catalonia, Arragon, (the
three provinces at the . foot of the Pyrenees) are in a state of
civil commotion and insubordination—that the insurgents or
soldisant royalists are without doubt supported by the interest 1
and money of Frante,—that a 'Preach army is assembled on the
other side of the Pyrenees,—that the whole army of the Cortes
does not exceed 52,000 men ; that those men are almost without
cloathing or pay ; that the Royal Treasury is at the lowest ebb
—that, in short, a civil war is inevitable' and its protraction
will depend on the measures yet to be adopted by the Cortes,
and on the supplies-yet to be afforded by the people. In the
mean dine preparations are making by both parties—General
Mina, celebrated for deeds done in the late war, for the perse-
cution he has undergone, and for his skill in mountain warfare,
has been appointed by the Cortes to oppose the. Junta of
Royalist Chiefs in Catalonia—and according to the latest re-
ceived
reports he has both beat and been beaten ! A few days
will produce something decisive, from that part of the Spanish
territory. - Portugal seems to occupy a more adv.antageous p 0.4
sition—King Joao has sworn to the C3nstitution, and all is
quiet is that quarter. The speculations on the Congress at
Verona remain in statu quo. .