The Sun.
London, England, 1823-06-03 00:00:00

111 E LONDON JOURNALS.

DAILY

Extracts from the Morning Papers, June 3.

[THE TIMES.]
In the Moniteur of Saturday last, which we
received yesterday, is the proclamation of the
Duke of Angouleme on reaching Madrid (see
another column of the SuN), and on the appoint-
ment of a Regency. The position of his Royal
Ifighness is one which we think would puzzle
the writers on public law. Ile pretends to con-
voke the Supreme Council of Castile: but what
right, other than that of conquest, can a French-
man have to summon a meeting of Spaniards in
the capital of their kingdom ? and conquest and
its rights he disavows. To ths members of this
Council, he says it is proper to trust or confide
the care of choosing a Regency. But who is it that
confides this important trust ?—A Frenchman.
And what right, we again ask, to confide any
public trust within the kingdom of Spain can a
Frenchman possess, except he has first obtained
it to himself by conquest ? It is evident, there-
fore, that this Regency is to derive .11 its attri-
butes from a foreigner—a foreigner who dis-
claims, also, for himself and those who sent him,
all the rights which, conquest is supposed to
confer ; and what other rights he posseses, he has
wisely abstained from' attempting to explain.
Ile says, however, that the French came as auxi-
liaries : if so, it is the business of those who
called them in as such to summon the council,
and appoint the Regency ; auxiliaries ought not
to dictate in a foreign country to those who
employ them. To sum up the whole, it is clear
that the Regency, whenever appointed, derives
all its powers from a foreign commander, and a
foreign army ; and to act under such> powers is
treason by all the laws of all the states of
Europe. If Prince ]lilt has conquered Spain,
let him take and enjoy it, and summon a Council
and appoint a Regency, if lie pleases; but, dis-
avowing all right or conquest, let him not pretend
to dictate in a foreign capital.—We believe that
since the effect produced by what was so well
foreseen, that it ought to have preduced no effect
at all—namelj, the entrance of the French
into Madrid—has subsided, the general opinion
begins to revert to its former channel, or rather
dwells with increased pleasure on the increasing
difficulties of the invader's situation. The Duke
of Angouleme'S perplexity is evident from his
proclamation, which says nothing of his future
views, but simply calls a Council to appoint a
Regency of traitors. He came to liberate the
King—is he nearer that object ? Why does he
not tell the Spaniards that ho means to advance ;
that Seville will be his next halting place : and
that he will not quit Spain till he has set the
King free ? We, on the contrary, are of opinion,
and have the satiet ion of those best acquainted
with the country for saying, that there is not the
least reason for despairing of the affairs of Spain.

[MORNING POST.]
The first proceedings olthe invaders of Spain,,
an their obtaining possession of the capital of that
kingdom, Might naturally be expected to present
some artifice more or less ingenious, in order to
dis'guise their odious and unprincipled usurpation,
under the garb of national forms and institutions.
Accordingly we find that the Council,of the In-
dies and the Council of Castile, assembled at
Madrid, have elected a Regency to act on behalf
of the King during his captivity. We feel no
common curiosity to know of what individuals
these two illustrious bodies are at the present mo-
ment composed. Nor is our solicitude less intense
to be informed in what secret places they have
been lurking since they last pretended to'
exert any influence upon the destinies of their
country. The Journal des Debals describes these
two Councils much more correctly than it pro-
bably intends, when it says, " that the Council of
the Indies exercises the same' power over the
provinces beyond scms, as the Council of Castile
over Old Spain." We have no doubt -that thiir
authority is quite equal over their respective
jurisdiction's. The consciousness of moral dolor
amity must have been the predominant feeling,
and must have prevailed indeed to a most
.painful
degree at the instant when a veil So transparent
as this was thrown over the act of the invader.
At any moment when the more hardened, and
therefore more appropriate feelings in the mental
vicissitudes of an unprincipled aggression had the
ascendant, the Duke d'Angouleme would surely
have disdained a deVice at once so contemptible
and so useless. The Duke d'Angouletne's
Spanish Regency, for notwithstanding the
wretched artifice we shall give it its proper de-
signation, is not indeed composed of any ma-
terials fitted to redeem in the eyes of the Spanish
people the vice or the ignominy of its creation.
The name of the Duke de l'lnfantado st:snds
at its hed. This is a nobleman who has tilled
'high stati.nis, to no better purpose than that of
mabin4 his defects notorious, He is conspi-
cuously incapable, unsteady, and unprincipled.
His runt— in the great distress of the French for
Spanish mi nes to dignify their cause, was pro-
bably a recommendetion. Yet his appointment
serves rather to proclaim that distress than to
conceal it. Ile. has been at a certain period a
personal favourite of the King of Spain, and this
indeed is the only circumstance which eau he plan
sibly alleged in favour of his selection, although
it is one not perhaps the best calculated to con
ciliate the affections, to command the respect
or to secure time confidence of the Spanish
nation.

The two names which follow Uext in
succession, those of the Duke de Montemar and
the Bishop...a Osma, require no distinct notice.
We know of nothing in the previous history of
those persons which qualifies either of them to
carry arty accession of popularity, or to convey
any, new title to respect for the invader who
borrows their names. Here, however, ends
the list of noble or exalted Spaniards, put
forth after the invader has got possession of the
capital,' to show how truly Spanish are his ob-
jects, and how far the rank, the intelligence, and
the-‘irtue of the country concur in them. As for
the other two Members of this Regency, our old
acquaintance, Baron d'Eroles and'M. Calderon,