The Sun.
London, England, 1822-12-04 00:00:00

SPAIN.

Of tlie a rticto which,:emain to be noticed
the Madrid Papers received ,yesterday, the most
imporfant are those • whidt have reference to.
the fall of the funds, and
.to an invasion by
France. The observations on these subjects, in
the Journal des Debuts, and other Paris Papers,
appear to have strongly excited the attention
of the public in Madrid. The following article
is from the Universal of the 22(1:
" When we-received intelligence of the depression which had
been experienced in Paris, in the French and foreign funds, we
diligently sought to ascertain what could have produced so ex-
traordinary a phenomenon. We immediately guessed that the
avarice of certain speculators had been the principal cause, and
subsequent information which we have published tended to con-
firm our suspicions. We now observe an article in the Mani-
ten r of the Bth, which seems entirely to corroborate our opinion;
and of which we subjoin a literal translation."

[Here follows an article quoted by the Moniteur from l'Etoile,
relative to the reports which had prevailed on the Paris Ex-
change, and on the fluctuations in the money-market.]
" Our private Correspondence from Paris, received by the
last post, also alludes to the same circumstance, and
.a letter
dated the 10th contains the following :--
" It is difficult to ascertain whether the news which has been
circulated respecting the resolution adopted by the Congress for,
forcible interference in the affairs of Spain, occasioned the late
depression of the funds, or whether, on the contrary, the sensa-
tion experienced on 'Change occasioned the invention of the said
news, in order to explain the circumstance. On the other hand,
it is affirmed with tolerable certainty, that the house of Ou-
vrard, whose want- of • resources is notorious, had concluded a
loan of 20 millions of francs with the self-styled Regency of
Urgel ; and, to avoid losing the whole capital, shares were ne-
•gotiated on the Exchange at 15 and 20 per cent. It is now
ascertained who was the real lender of these 20. millions, and
that the house of Ouvrard was merely the agent. Every one is
now convinced that the French Government has fallen on this
way of openly assisting the factious of Spain. A circumstance
tending to support this opinion is, that within these few days
the bills of the frontier towns of Spain have been much in re-
quest,. and that considerable remittances have been made to
those towns from Paris. There has as yet appeared nothing
which can fix public opinion.
" Some persons allege that the two Governments at present
existing in France have each a plenipotentiary at the Con-
gress.-that M. de Montmorency represents the Ultras, and
follows the instructions of the Pavillon Marsan ; and that
M. de Chateaubriand represents the King's Government, and
follows the directions of M. de Villele. It is evident that
the first Minister must invoke war and destruction upon the
Peninsula, and that the second will only accede to an in-
tervention is the way urged by the Journal des Debats, and
to a disguised war, like that which has hitherto been car-
ried on.' " •

" We have translated the above letter literally, to afford an
idea of the rumours whieh were circulated in Paris, from the
6th to the 10th, and which occasioned the "variation in the pub-
lic funds. For our part, we repeat that which we have befbre
said—if Europe wish to ensure her own and our tranquillity,
let her respect our rights as we respect hers : if it is wished
that the Spanish revolution should not overstep the boundaries
which it has,sworn to maintain, let not the Spanish people be
irritated by scandalous acts of injustice ; let not their national
pride be wounded, by requiring that they should act a dis-
graceful part, unworthy of an independent nation. For two
years, the Austrians have occupied the kingdom of Naples;
they are there yet, and cannot venture to abandon their post.
But what would be the consequence, were foreign troops to
presume to invade Spain, in order to compel the Spaniards to
accept a Government which they do not approve ? Jt would be
necessary to station a sentinel at every door, and even that would
be insufficient. Those very individuals who are now destroying
their country to open a road for foreign troops, would then be
the greatest' enemies of the invaders ; and the Peninsula, which
is now the cause of so much anxiety to the great potentates of
Europe, would be for years and years the terror of foreign des-
pots, and would ultimately effect their annihilation. M. de
Pradt has said, and we agree with him, If war be declared
against Spain, we shall hear the first cannon, but the child yet
unborn will not hear the last.' "
A translation of the article in the Journal des Ddbats of the
9th of November is given in the Espectador of the 22d, accom-
panied with some notes; and farther observations are promised.
After charging the French Government with supplying the in-
' surgents with money and arms, and secretly keeping up a civil
war, while the official correspondence with the Cabinet of Ma-
drid breathed nothing but peace and good faith, the Spanish
journalist thus very briefly but pithily notices the pointy, recom-
mended to be made on Madrid :—" These folks (says a cele-

brated man, speaking of the Ultras) have learned nothing, and
have forgotten nothing. It seems they do not yet sufficiently
understand how little dread the people of Spain have for such
pointcs. If, however,. they wish to know it, let them ascend
the Pyrennees, and take a view of Spain. The unburied bones
of 500,000 Frenchmen will answer the question."
On the assertion of the Infantes being in danger, the Espee.
tador says—" There -is in Spain no insane faction capable of
committing the aggressions here supposed, or of giving the law
to the men of the revolution. A few hundreds of evil-disposed
men, under the mask of patriots, scattered over the Peninsula,
but equally well known and detested, cannot mislead those
who have sworn to support the Constitution of 1812. These
falsehoods are invented by the French Ultras, with the view of
discrediting our revolution in the eyes of Europe."
On the passage which speaks of " the furious debates in the
Cortes, and the violent measures recently adopted," the follow-
ing observations are made :
It is certain. hat in the sittings alluded to, there was that
warmth which must necessarily. arise in every Legislative Body
whenever great questions, tending to suspend or to abridge the
most sacred rights of nien, are discussed: but calling that
warmth fury comes with a very bad grace from a Paris Editor.
Such an epithet appearing where the debates of the French
Chamber of Deputies are published, seems ridiculOus eiviugh.
In our Cortes, with whatever warmth the Deputies speak, they
never descend to personalities.
" As to the measures adopted by the Cortes, it cannot be
denied that some of them are severe, and we hope so6n to see
the time arrive when the nation may without inconvenience re-
peal them ; but at the same time we cannot comprehend how
the Journat des Debati,•ivhich is the organ of a party that, in.
and out of the Chamber, has always called for and at last esta-
blished a multitude of laws of exception, can call those mea-
sures violent, which our Cortes have thought it necessary to
adopt, in the critical circumstances in which the nation is placed
by the perfidy of a foreign Government"
Two numbers of a Paper called the Zurringo, were publicly
burnt by the Cazadores of the Madrid Volunteer Militia, on the
morning of the 21st. No distinct account is given of the cause of
this proceeding, but it appears incidentally that the journal had
given offenee by the insertion of some articles on the subject
of 'a plan for changing the Constitution. The Universal,
which disproves of such literary autos daft in general, seems
to think that this example was excusable. The following are
part of the observations made by that paper :
"'The public writer who seeks distinction by propagating
and even attributing to the nation, anti-constitutional views, at
the moment when we are protesting in the face of Europe that
our wishes are limited to maintain the constitution to which we
have sworn—who publishes anarchial and subversive princi-
ples, at the moment when the enemies of our liberty, ex-
ternal and internal, are endeavouring to calumniate our prin-
ciples--whO lights up amongst us the torch of discord, and
seeks by every means to introduce distrust and disunion, and
at the moment when the friends of liberty ought to be more
than ever united—such a writer neither loves his country, how-
ever loud his cry of patriotism may be, nor liberty, however
much he may, assume its mask. Nay, we will venture to say
that in the eyes of .every judiciotis man, he must pass for
One of those instruments of which our enemies avail themselves
to ruin us:" • _ • _

BARCELONA, NOV. 11.—A horrible discovery was made on
the. evening of the 9th, of an unfortunate ecclesiastic, who was

heard by some of our national volunteers groaning in an inqui-
sitorial cell, in the convent of San Francisco. Immediately on
hearing of the circumstance, the Fiscal, Don Antonio Oil, ac-
companied by several other Civil Officers, proceeded to the
place for the purpose of ascertaining the truth of the report.—
After a good deal of diffiCulty they at length succeeded in get-
ting int) the interior of the convent, where, in a cell, the atmos-
phere of which was so. impure that it wa' next to impossible to
enter it, they discovered the unfortunate. Father Puig stretched
on a heap of filth. On being removed into the light, the poor
man exhibited the most disgusting and deplorable appearance.
He seemed to be about 30 years old, and was so exceedingly ex-
hausted that he was only able to utter a few scarcely audible
words. Every possible kindness and attention were shown to-
wards him, and when the Fiscal assured him that he should not
go back to the _Monks, but should enjoy the free air and the
rights of a Constitutional Spaniard, he raised his eyes to Hea-
ven and uttered a deep sigh. The only cause assigned by the
Vicar of the Convent for this horrible treatment, was the pre-
tence that Father Puig was insane ; that on one occasion lie
had presented himself in an indecorouS manner in the choir, and
on another had run away as far as to the river Elobregat. He
confessed that the unfortunate man had been about a year and
a half confined in that prison by order of the Guardian, but
said that he had always been supplied with food ! The Jailor
who inflicted this inhuman punishment on the unfortunate
Puig, has been condemned to remain imprisoned in the same
cell in which his victim suffered, though it is now in a much
cleaner state than before. In the registry of the convent were
found several papers which had lately been placed there : a
bronze foot of a box for containing the host, a large sword, a
packet of sack-cloth, an inquisitorial auto da fc recently drawn
up, and a list of the battalions of Faith.—Father Puig has been
conveyed to the hospital of Junqueras, where every possible Care
is taken of him.—(Spanish. Paper. )