The Sun.
London, England, 1823-12-17 00:00:00

SPAIN.

(Freon el Restanrador of the 6th instant. )
or THE LOANS OF THE' SOI-DISANT CORTES.
It may appear useless to our readers, that since
the hand of the -Monarch ,confirmed the sentence
against the Revolution, declaring all its acts null,
we should ;call to :memory one of those which
were most criminal, namely, the Loans. Never-
theless it is not so.. Some foreign journalists
announce the arrival.of a courier with the intel-
ligence of their recognition; brokers and interested
persons'applaud this happy news, and,disseminate
it with ell possible activity.
.The Restaurador, which observed silence with
regard to manoeuvres which affected the value of
the _Loans on the Exchange of London, -which
knew Jhat-the joy of these sanguine speculators
was premature—which, without going out of
Madrid, followed the secret manoeuvres of bankers
,who were , endeavouring to get rid of some mil-
linos by raising a false opinion of the credit of
the paper, which remained without value in their
coffers, Must. now speak out, and convince. all
that the restoration having been effected, it would
be an unpardonable error to recognise the' Loans.
The RevolutioniSts knew well that a nation,
loaded with a debt more than 11,000 millions of
reels, crippled'in its industry, and exhausted by
a disastrous war, could not meet the immense ex..
pences' occasioned by these dilapidations. The
Restaurador will make no observation on the
Want of authority in those who contracted the
Loans; it will pass over in silence their malver-
sations, without any diminution of the national
contributions being thereby occasioned, to say
nothing of the augmentation of what is called the
Civil List, and an increase of expenditure amount-
ing to 40,000,000 realS: It will abstain also from
observing on the moral influence which the recog.
nition of a debt, the offspring of crime, would
have in Europe. Tet how is it possible that these
topics should not attract the attention of all those
to whom GOd has 'confided the direction of na-
tions. In vain would the arms which the revolt'.
tiOnists took up against their King and their
country have been wrested from their hands, if
the loans with which they . endeavoured to ac-
complish their guilty designs were recognised.
In such case the fate' of I:Grope might depend on
the liberality of a banker, whom nothing might
restrain from granting loans to other, revolutions.
It would, be, moreover, an absurd contradiction
to recognise the sacred right of intervention, de-
daring at the same time that the persons who
had been despoiled Of their authority had legiti-
mate right to contract these debts.
These reflections are so obVious that we have
seen the value of the loans.diminished in proper.
tiou as the French army advanced to the Py-
renees, passed the, l3idassoa, entered Madrid, and
sat down. before Cadiz. The fury and venom
with which the old creditors viewed the contract
of the Regeecy with the banker Guebhard, must
have been remarked by all: who .possessed his
numerous bonds, which ti ere regarded as mere
marks of. no value in trade, and only as a me.,
morial that there was a revolution in Spain in
'lBOO. It was solely by dint of intrigues, false
intelligence, and handfuls of paper money and
gold lavished in all quarters, tilt they were able
to prevent their bonds from being reduced to a
mere nominal value, instead of remaining at the
price' of TT: This would not have been ,the case
with the' Royal ,Loan, , the :greater security of
which consisted in the legitimacy of the parties
who contracted it. And what purpose would it
Serve ;to recognise the loans of the Cortes ? We
cannot,shut our eyes. to the, state of our public
finances. While France pays an annual contri-
bution of about 4,000 millions, Spain can hardly
ralse'6oo, with this additional circumstance, that
ilany.direct:tax were imposed, , nothing would
enter the treasury similar in kind, or any other);
in short, though different in name. Again, the
want of activity in our commerce, the wretched
condition of our manufactures,the situation of Ame-
rica,•the .wantotthose artificial riches produced by
rapid circulation, which in England are sufficient
to cover a debt incomparably greater than ours,
Must have 'a
n immense inflUente in preventing
the. recognition a; debt which not only. MHO
be paid, but the recognition of which would an•
nihilate the new Loan. The Restaurador cal-
culates that, at most, 100 millions of reels can
be'assigned to the public credit. Now it these
Nada are not suflisient. for Ahnpayment 9f the
legitimate debts which press on the nation, and
the strictest economy will be necessary in other
quarters to'cover them, whitt would be the eon-
sequence- of -recognising the debts. of the Cortes,
which exceed two thousand millions—whence
are the funds to
,come for paying it off? Ought
its payment to'be preferred to other sacred debts,
and, above all, to the Royal Loan, on the 1.4,
gious payment of which our.credit depends? We,
must stop here, to place, in a clear point of view,
one of the sophistries of those Who pique them-
tithes on the honour of the nation, which they
think will be compromised.. if the constitutional
debts are not recognised. Who will lend us money,
they say, unleii we act in such a way as will shield
our credit from reproach ? Who ? He who acknow..
ledges, that it is better frankly to disavow 0408,
originating in rebellion, than toexpose ourselves to
certain bankruptcy, by sanctioning debts which
we cannot cover. In the other 'case, it would
have been desirable, that instead of three years
and a half, the anarchial faction should have
reigned a few months longer, which, by follow-
lag the traces Of that which enslaved France
vs n
would have concluded He it by a bankruptcy°
'
and delivering the ligitimate Monarch from a
burden which can scarcely 'be calculated. It
oilw)pneafarvs,ouwrihtieleirilot
ie:pOrloupt i:rnt
_its
sh a
property--inventing
Teenstsilnyg insultssig a
n
making forced loans, selling the property of the'
Church and of Emigrants, while it opens an:
abyss in which
property, re roepulatea
promises,;
oaultl I:,rizeigty ii:omenpgouutsp4ed 7,e
cannot
sthe
c clomr ds si
Qnsgs tuon tQhfe
o x respectspolle e
the peo.,
pie, and does not recognise debts which
be paid without adopting those viol
ent and scan
dalous measures which only
Revolutionists do
not hesitate to
Considering .the question of
14 Loans of
the Cortes apart from this •
ew, an
,!041).
posing that they would have 'fl
been approved,

the Ream:rotor would compare our eta.
tion with that,of France at the time Louis ,18th
ascended the throne of his Ancestors, and woald,
consider this as much more fortunate, because*
repeatedbankru ptcies of the Revolutionists would
relieve him from the Payment of a debt contracted
by the murderers of his brother. It is trues that
the money which the Bankers of Paris and Lon-
OM lent, with so much liberality, to the ReVolam
tionists of Spain, did not serve to pay 'numerous
hosts to alarm all Europe, like those who banished
the French clergy, and conducted to the scoffold
the just Louis XVI. his heroic Queen, and the
virtuous Madame Elizabeth, and so many other'
daily victims. Nevertheless it has paid ret,Stf.h°
have fomented revolution in foreign -countries,
they have contributed to procure the seizure of
our Monarch,and the injuries which were heaped
on him, to afflict his spouse,
and occasion the ri-
gorous confinement of all his family. It is true
.
that the catalogue of our martyrs is not to BM"
,as was that of France, but there are not wanting
.victims whose
blood cries aloud for vengeance
against their murderers and against those ish°
hired them. - The Spanish detested the rebels its
1820, as it detests them now.; the ideas of. li-
berty and chimerical equality did not shake al'
the good faith of Spaniards; their love for thaft
religion, their tenacity for their ancient inititty:r.
tions„ respect.for a Monarch whom they sawn cre-
graded in thU`hands of his oppressors, made tile°
disapprove of --the: revolution, and the sharpenk4
their animosity, torpified by their coldness to
sacred fire of rebellion Which, with some material,'
more, would have entirely consumed 6°ll
Should it, therefore, be this people, this grit
mass of the nation, which should pay the 4.41,11' rit
loans contracted without its will, which spar*"
from no sacrifices, and which made its fate wore
than it was before ? And what will this woe.
say if there should be recognised a dehtC°ll;
trated also in a ,node so ruinous that it can scarce"
be credited. See by example— a
The Cortes decreed, in lB2O, the loan °f
300,000,000. Senon Cangan Oct.,Arguelles charg4ll-
-
himself with realising this sum, stipulating for Its
repayment ire 24 years. He forms a contract est,' %
the condition that the lenders should furnish 31-1 v
millions at the rate of seventy per cent. on its
nominal amount—thus losing for the nation
Reels 90,000,0
There was moreover to be given to the Contractors
Five per Cent. Commission . • . 15,000,62,
so that the nominal 3W) millions were reduced to 195,000,01"
For this the nation was to pay interest, in the first
five years 105,000,602
For interest in the 19 remaining years . • 199,00(4110,
For repayment of the nominal capital . : an;o00,000
,0000
Total for which the nation bound itself 904
•
SimPle quantity which it had to receive 195,000,000
Loss on the result . . Reals 409,000,00°
Senor Cringe was not content with so much
nerosity, for he granted, .moreover, that th,e,:ein:
terest should commence from the Ist- Noveall2l;
though the contract was concluded on their!"
adding also, that it should be Pllllll notiY e
but by six months, in which cornmercia
tion there was 4,567,600 reals lost. I+ or greater„
economy the bonds were to be printed in Francs,'
and, according to the' explanations drawn 0P f
the 'lsth December by Senors Canga and 09;
douin, the. banker, what the nation was to I
ceive in hard dollars Might be in French u'ifi
With this circuinshince that the t ?rerity
2
franc piece, which, according to our tariff' 1"
worth seventy-five reals, wvas a V Will sal
seventy-eight and 'nine tnaravetlis. e
f the half.
nothing of the scandalous circulation o
Exchange,
louis, nor of the loiron the Bills of
rs-
rave d I
nor of the 14,282,244 reels seven ma nor
served by the contractors by way of deposit', for
of 'the ten millions and a half also reservet_',,,,st
interest not aCcruing, except that on this woe! 70.
the 30, per cent. called bonus, the 5.
r of coin)"
terest, the 2 of premium, and the J Let
&Dated for
sioti, on a sum that was never deliveren•
n_,
this suffice to chew what has been the ecoe:ll.l4
of our Statesmen, and with what injustice __l;lrePti
claimed the reimbursement of capital actlU
Without legitithate anthoritY, employed .I,lld the
ruin of the nation, the loss of Europe,
discredit of. our finance.

- -.--- ,
6'
robitsp: OF EXCEIANGE' December I- y'
A coots, data •
Ditto, at Sight l9 19
Rotterdam , 12 4
Antwerp 1
aniburgh ::'72 0
4 i
:; 9fFl rl f .
Altona :-7 Ti,
Paris,s Day's sight **
-.: 4 , 4 • ,
Ditto
Bointleaux, ditto
Harlin ',. 7lO vo„ty
Frank fort on the Main
Pete:shore) di
Vienna ' 10 18
Crie5t0..•....... to 14 .40
Madrid ..... • •••
s6l ''''ma`r'
Cadiz .....
:V; ill,
Bilhoa 36 S'r
sit
Barcelona '
Seville
......
Gibraltar • . sof
Leghorn 464
.• ...... so
Got.Oa
IPialler ltatun 45
---N4Ples ..........
181/8' et °l-'
Lisbon
Oporto
Cork. 9f Pe, 'C'4l4/911. '
Itglato(i;r4obic
Bahia
Dublin .... 9}
BULLION. „ `rail.:.
Portugal Gold, i n Coin 4.0 ," 6 .
rRI:111 ill Bars .................... 9I . .
. $ l' i
Now Doubloons
NOw IYollars ........... . ......... . ..... • - i 1 1
__,...
so4filaT-niedatrslitsdeisrtlge)
,iisail,tesyNr,::te.hteiterill6nt:liainrdsta.ll.n.it.i.ti-------------:11.‘141.1.u:55e..1i. is.(l.e. A. r:' l'''r-r---:. icu'll'
10...............
joy.
wen:lAß' IIIED.
joAhnt Speat. Alkea,ryrleechtnonr cofneswt.cihtithircahn,,oinnth4harlfdli lesritfpit'ret,llolo/1::
_. ere SC ilAns 140,31
Of , Captain. William Thoitnnalsjpin'inaylleitlir,ltree'J
Veteran Battalion. ,,bier'.
d3O ,fr,
D I El). ~ Nest f hersr,
On 11onday, the 15th instant, Emorloth year 4),,1 W,'
Charles Kinglev, Esq. of Dulwich, In the ..30 L;shoflati I:"
.4.t.
•"•;:',. many years captain in the Cu-stain-110
r5).11%,0. a %cote
On the 12th instant, aged 70, Diejer"G'ln°.ervieet /In le
ellarMentli, on the thli instant,' ieutin.eseryiec,F,7lj
of the honourable 1,1,1,4 India Company. 4.;: g.O, ... aye P.
son of the late General Sir William Forcei:iwiyort.;hl_,4l,'
On 'the filth instant, in his 24th year, ay!.„ of seelei;to :
of Wight, Benjamin Dickinson Speke, •'o*-"ta'rorchels,of Ca'
ment, third son of IVilliam Speke, Billi;fiona, Wifell )3.
At Murray,
on the oth instat', St s. gig
Dighy 11l of the :id Reirlment of thou' ,01,
„
t ri‘e l'
4, a
. Uoll
El trees, 112, Strand, by J. 13.
Prketed and Published for the PR°PI"-}11c99111',41116'
the 51k