The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-21 00:00:00

U,
114 JMICIIIIT Int

LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 18411.

Yesterday, December the 20th, 1848, Louis NA-
POLEON BONAPARTE, the son of Louis, King of Hol-
land, and HoivrEssE BEAUHARNOIS, for five years a
prisoner of Louis Pallarre in the fortress of Ham,
the representative of the Imperial dynasty of NAPo-
Lizoic, was solemnly proclaimed President of the
French Republic, and assumed the Government of
thirty-six millions of men, after taking the oaths pre-
scribed by the Constitution. When, in 1846, the
Prince escaped from his prolonged incarceration,
disguised as a workman, and bearing a plank upon
his shoulder, he could scarcely have conjectured that
before two years had elapsed he would be installed in
the Palace of the Elyse.? Bourbon as the supreme
ruler of his country. Destiny in all her freaks could
scarcely have shifted the scenes more suddenly or

more surprisingly. It brings to our recollection the

thme when the author of the Natchez, Ambassador
from Louis XVIII. to the Court of St. James's,
called to mind the days when he occupied a poor
lodging, at six shillirgs a week, in the upper floor of a
corn-dealer's house in a small street running into
Tottenham-court-road ; it reminds us of the moment
when, passing into the drawing-rooms of the embas •
sage, amidst silken hangings tissued with gold and
embroidery, overwhelmed in his passage by the words
" Monseigneur, my Lord, your Excellency, Monsieur
l'Ambassadeur," he burst forth, in his heart, into the
following touching apostrophe :
" I pray you, gentlemen, leave me ! A truce to these
my Lords I what do you wish me to do for you? Go,
laugh in your offices just as if I was not here! Do not
pretend to make me believe there is anything real in this
masquerade! Do not think lam fool enough to ima-
gine that I have changed my nature merely because I
have changed my dress! The Marquis of Londonderry
has just called, you say; the Duke of Wellington has
left his card; Mr. Canning has also been here; Lady
Jersey expects me to dinner to meet Mr. Brougham;
Lady Gwydir hopes for my presence at ten o'clock, in
her box at the opera; Lady Mansfield, at midnight, at
Alm ack's.
" Mercy! where shall I bide myself? who will deliver
me? who will snatch me away from these persecutions?
Return! 0 charming days of my misery and solitude!
Revive! companions of my exile! Come, my old com-
rades, with your camp-beds and pallets of straw; let us
go into the country, into the little garden of an bumble
tavern, and drink a cup cf tea seated on a wooden
bench, and let us talk of our foolish hopes, and our un-
grateful country; let us detail our troubles and our
means of mutual assistance—how to succour some of our
friends more necessitous than even ourselves."—D'Outre
Tombe, L, 233.

Inasmuch, however, as the Prince Louis NAPO-
LEON is a very different man from the Viscomte
DE CHATEAUBRIAND, we conjecture that his
reveries during the first blush of his pre-
sent extraordinary exaltation must be of a
marvellously different complexion. Pleasant as his
evening discussions with Doctor CONNEAU may have
been when imprisoned together in Picardy, agreeable
as may have been his dinners in St. James's-square,
with Count ALFRED D' ORSAY, and others, his favourite
companions—we doubt very much whether he
would recal those periods of domestic felicity for
the pomps and the power so congenial to his ambi-
tion, and of which he is now beginning to realise
the enjoyment. The moment of his elevation to the
rank of First Magistrate in France is, nevertheless,
not precisely the occasion upon which he can find
leisure to expatiate to the full in the sense of his
novel and propitious destinies. Other duties are im-
posed upon him by the votes of some six millions of
electors; and foremost among these duties the re-
sponsibility of constructing and consolidating his
Government.

From the little that has yet been allowed to trans-
pire as to the character of the new Administration,
it would appear that the President is resolved, if
possible, to effect a satisfactory amalgamation ofparties ;
mingling together in his Cabinet the men of the
Veille and the Lendemain—the sincere Republicans
and the quasi Republicans--the earnest Democrats
and the quondam Royalists. To do this will require
no little tact, and a very abundant resolution. From
the course pursued since the commencement of the
Presidential election by the Imperial candidate, we
are sanguine as to his capacity to encounter the diffi-
culties of his position. His treatment of that brigand
of journalism, M. EMILB DR GIRARDIN, gives ample
promise of the keenness of his discernment and of
the vigour of his determinations. According to the
programme of the new Ministry, the following will
probably be the statesmen employed in the different
departments
Od4on Barrot

... President of the Council
and Minister of Justice.
••• War.

General Rulhieres
Hippolyte Passy
Drouyn de Lhuys
Leon de Malleville
De- Tracy ••
Leon Faucher ..

... Finance.
... Foreign Affairs.
... Interior.
... Marine.
... Public Works.
... Commerce.
~. Public Instruction.
... Army of the Alps.
.. Command of the Na-
tional Guard
And among the more strictly hypothetical ap-
pointments :
Lamartine

Bixio
De Falloux
Marshal Bugeaud
Chaugarnier

... Vice-President of the
Republic.
Cavaignac ... ... Governor of Algeria.
Bonlay (de la Meurthe)... Prefect of the Seine.
Rebillot
.. Prefect of Police.
Dubost • . .. Director of the Post-
office.
In addition to the foregoing it is conceived that
M. TRIERS may be induced to accept the Ambassa-
dorship to England—a post filled, since the departure
of M. BEAUMONT by the Chargé d'Affaires, M. DE
Mozvrumuor, a nephew of M. DE LAMARTINE.
Altogether the scheme drawn out by the Prince Pre-
sident for his initiatory Administration is of a
character deserving a large portion of the confidence
of the Fren,-th multitude. The dubious partialit:e.s of
31. ODILON. BARROT will be counterbalanced by
the. staunch Republicanism and well-tested patriotism
of M. DE I lAMARTINE. The questionable sincerity of
M. TnLeas will be equipoised by the rigid truthful-
ness of Ger,evil CAyAIGNAc. The fickle allegiance

of Marshal BUGEAUD will be compensated by the
I.onsistent adhesion of 13txto. And, although some
of the more melancholy-minded Republicans may
10,,k with dismay at the installation of Prince Louis
NAPOLEON as President in the palace of the Elyse.
Bourbon, their hearts ought to be re-assured by
the probable installation, within a few days, of M.
DE LAMARTINE as Vice-President in the palace of the
Conseil d'Etat on the Quai d'Orsay.
Strange, in truth, have been the vicissitudes of
events since the morrow of the battle of Waterloo !
In the very edifice—the palace of the Elyste Bourbon
—in which his nephew is now established as chief
administrator of affairs in France, the EMPEROR
signed his abdication in favour of NAPOLEON 11., there
he listened to the shouts of the populace beyond the
iron gates of the court-yard, calling'to him, weep-
ing to him, imploring him in all the various
terms of eniearment, in which he was ad-
dressed alike by the people and the soldiery, Le
Petit Corporal! Le Pere Violet! Le Petit
Tondu 1 adjuring him in the name of his own
glory and of theirs to place himself once more at their
head, declaring that they would die or conquer in
the defence of his empire. The self-sacrifice and self-
denial of the Emperor NAPOLEON, in preferring his
own downfal to the chances of a murderous civil war,
have received their posthumous recompense; and the
very man who, after closing the eyes of his Imperial
master, recorded this magnificent act of patriotism,
survives to rejoice in the six millions of votes be-
stowed upon the descendant of the Emperor and
King. General MortraoLost is at last reaping the
fruits of his double Captivity.

We have repeatedly directed the public attention
to the most glaring defect still existing in the admi-
nistration of the criminal law—the want of a respon-
sible public prosecutor, who should decide upon the
cases to be brought forward, and without whose ex-
press sanction and authority no bill of indictment
should be sent before a grand jury. Under the pre-
sent system the most serious offences may escape
punishment, while innocent parties may be subjected
to serious inconvenience, expense, and annoy-
ance. It is notorious that prosecutions are
got up at every sessions and assizes, not for the
purpose of bringing the guilty to justice, and of en-
forcing a due obedience to the law, but for the grati-
fication of private malignity and revenge, or as a
means of coercion or extortion. The presiding
Judges constantly feel themselves called upon to
censure the mode in which cases brought before the
Court are conducted. Perhaps material witnesses are
absent when their evidence is most urgently required.
This very case occurred at York, on Monday last, on a
trial for murder, vrheu Baron ALDERSON was compelled
to postpone the case, and cause the jury to be locked
up, while the missing witnesses were sought. Again
the facts are frequently brought before the Court in a
clumsy and inartificial manner. Circumstances of
the utmost importance are slurred over or disregarded,
and criminals, of whose guilt there can be no rational
doubt, escape the punishment due to their crimes
through the inexperience, or, perhaps, the designed
negligence, of those entrusted with the conduct of the
prosecution, the party aggrieved not being desirous
of obtaining a conviction. Thus the majesty of the
law is brought into contempt and disrepute, and its
wholesome provisions are violated with impunity.

But it is still worse when that law which should
afford protection to all is converted into an instru-
ment of oppression and persecution—when innocent
men are dragged before the criminal tribunals, and
compelled to stand a trial on the most frivolous pre-
texts. Bills of indictment may be preferred without
the slightest notice to the parties accused ; grand
juries will adjudicate thereon without any opportu-
nity being afforded to the defendants of explaining the
circumstances, or proving their entire innocence of
the charges ; warrants will thereupon be issued, and
the parties dragged from their houses and business
with, perhaps, the most ruinous consequences to them-
selves, and compelled to incur a heavy expenditure in
preparing their defence, an expenditure which they
cannot recover, as it is beneath the dignity of the
Crown to pay costs. Thus malignant scoundrels
may, without the slightest authority, make use
of the name of the SOVEREIGN for their own
♦ile purposes, and shelter themselves beneath
the Royal prerogative from the oily punish-
ment that can be awarded, viz., being rendered
liable for the cpsts of the defence. We say the only
punishment, because the tardy and doubtful result of
a civil action for malicious prosecution affords a
practical impunity to the offender.

It is perfectly notorious that many persons obtain
an int./nous livelihood by preferring false accusations
against innocent persons, getting the bills found by
the grand juries, and then obtaining money from the
defendants for the withdrawal of the charges. Men
wholly unconnected with the legal profession, who
pretend that they are clerks to respectable
attorneys, and use their names without the
slightest authority, move about the courts, and
are ready " to get up cases," as it is termed, on
the most frivolous and insufficient grounds. Such per-
sons are little scrupulous as to the means they will
adopt when a prospect of gain is opened before them.
It would be impossible to detail the enormous extent
to which this grave abuse has been carried. A strong
practical illustration of the
_possible results of the
present system occurred at the Old Bailey on Tues•
day last, in which the liberty of the subject was most
seriously infringed upon.
A police-constable named GRANT was indicted on
that day before the Recorder, for wilful and corrupt
perjury. The prisoner had taken the prosecutor into
custody, and brought him before the Lord Mayor
for hawking without a licence, and it was
on the allegation of perjury upon that occasion that
the prosecution was instituted. There was a formal
error in the indictment that would have been fatal
had there been any real foundation for the accusation.
The indictment charged the prisoner with having
given false information in writing, whereas it ap-
peared that the evidence had been given orally. This
mistake would have given impunity if the party had
been actually guilty. As, however, his learned
counsel felt perfectly confident on the merits of the
case, he refrained from relying on the formal objec-
tion, and the result fully justified the course adopted.
The statement of the prosecutor himself elicited
the remark from the Recorder that " the evidence
went very far to prove the charge of hawking without
a licence," and another witness subsequently contra-
dicted the prosecutor on the most material part of
the charge. Here, then, was a perfectly innocent
man, who had at all times borne an unimpeachable
character, and who had received the higest testi-
monials from those under whom he had served, sub-
jected to the most vexatious persecution for the
proper discharge of his duty. But other circum-
stances were elicited that showed the manner in
which such prosecutions are too frequently got up, and
the motives by which the prosecutors are animated.
A person named JOHNSON, who acted as attorney for
the prosecution, although in no manner connected
with the legal profession, hid actually gone to the
wife of the defendant, and told her that her husband
was charged with an offence as bad as murder, and so
much was the victim of the present system terrified
by his conduct, that a premature confinement was
brought on,
and it is yet doubtful whether she can
recover from its results. JOHNSON had also offered to
compromise the charge on payment of a small sum
of money, Which was indignantly rejected. The
same JOHNSON during the trial violated the express
injunction of the
Court, and dictated to one of the
witnesses what he
was to say,
and when called upon
to explain his conduct, had vanished from the Court
and could nowhere be found.
Of course the prisoner was immediately acquitted,
and the Learned Recorder commented in strong and
most deserved language on the conduct of JouNsori.
His Lordship said, " that it was impossible to avoid
remarking the extreme danger of persons who were
supposed to he acting for attorneys conducting prosecu-
tions on behalf of the Crown. It was not merely the
inconvenience of having a man of straw to deal with,
but it gave an opportunity of perverting the criminal
law to the worst purpose." This opportunity is indeed
afforded under the present system, and the criminal
law will be perverted and made the instrument of op-
preF,sion and extortion until the appoint-
ment of a duly qualified and fully respon-
sible officer to act as Crown prosecutor,
whose previous sanction shall, in every instance, be
given to every case before it is made the subject of
judicial investigation. Until that is the case we

shall have many instances similar to that of poor
GRANT, who has been subjected to serious expense
and annoyance, and whose wife may perhaps lose her
life in consequence of the unprincipled acts of a mock
attorney, and the facilities afforded to those desirous
of abusing the forms of law.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
As the Government had received information that
it was the intention of certain evil-disposed persons to
take advantage of the ceremony of the inauguration
of the President of the Republic, for the purpose of
endeavouring to raise an emeute in the streets of Paris,
it was judiciously arranged between the Government
of General CAVAIGNAC and that of the President Louis
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, that the ceremony of the
official proclamation of the President should take
place on Wednesday in3tead of on Thursday, so that
the disaffected being taken by surprise, might be thus
prevented from disturbing the public tranquillity.
Accordingly, at four o'clock yesterday afternoon,
the President elect proceeded to the National
Assembly, when the report of the Committee of
Scrutiny was read, which gave the following as the
number of suffrages recorded :
Louis NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ... 5,434,226
General EUGENE CAVAIGNAC ... 1,448,107

The report having been read, General CAVAIGNAC,
as President of the Council and Chief of the Execu-
tive, ascended the tribune and announced the resig-
nation of his colleagues and himself.
Louis NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, having taken the
oaths to the Constitution, was then officially pro-
claimed President of the French Republic by the
President of the National/Assembly, M. MARRAST.
The PRESIDENT of the REPUBLIC then addressed
the National Assembly in a short speech, in the
course of which he announced that he had empowered
M. ODILON BARROT to form a Ministry, and then
left the Assembly.
A procession was afterwards formed, and the Presi-
dent of the Republic was conducted to his official resi-
dence, the Palace of the Elyse* National, ci-devant
Elysee Bourbon.
The following is the report of the proceedings :
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
SITTING OF WEDNESDAY, DEC. 20.
M. Waldeck Rousseau rose to say that the Commit-
tee had charged him to announce to the National As-
sembly that the citizen Louis Napoleon Bonaparte had
been duly nominated President of the Republic.—
(Marks of satisfaction.)
The President—General Cavaignac demands to speak.
—(Deep silence.)
General Cavaignac (in a firm voice)—l come here to
inform you that I have just received the collective resig-
nation of the Ministry. I have also to state that I have
now to remit into your hand the office of President of the
Council, which you were pleased to entrust to me. The
Assembly will be able to comprehend better than I am
able to express all the gratitude that I feel to it for the
great kindness which it has been pleased to testify to-
wards me all the time that I exercised that
power.—(Loud cheers, which lasted some time.)
The Hon. General then, on descending from the Tri-
bune, passed his former place and seated himself lower
down on the Left, near the place where M. de Lamartine
usually sits.
The President—l now shall put the report of the:com-
mittee to the vote.
This was done, and every member, without exception,
stood up in its favour.
The President, in a loud voice, though somewhat
broken with emotion, then said:—ln the name of the
French people, before God, and in presence of the Na-
tional Assembly—seeing that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte
has obtained the absolute majority required by Arts. 47
and 48 of the Constitution—l proclaim him to be Pre-
sident of the French Republic Democratic, one and indi •
visible, from the present day to the second Sunday of
May, 1852. I invite the new President to come for-
ward and take the oath required by the Constitution.
[M. Louis Napoleon then came forward and ascended
the tribune.] The following is the oath :—" Before
God, and in the presence of the French people, repre-
sented by the National Assembly, I swear to remain
faithful to the Republic, and that I shall always forward
its interests, in all respects."
M. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, in a loud voice—l
swear.—(The loudest cries of " Viva la Republique!"
here arose; one ♦oice responding with the cry of " Vive
la Constitution!")
The President—The tribune is to the President of the
Republic.—(Marks of the greatest interest.)
The Preident of the Republic then read an address
with a firm voice, and with good emphasis. He declared
that the office to which he was called by the votes of the
French nation should be fulfilled by him like a man of
honour. He should always carry out what France had
now brought to conclusion. He could not suppose that
there could be any dissent between him and the Na-
tional Assembly, as they were both actuated by the
same views of supporting and maintaining thew institu-
tions—which were the base of society—to alle►iate the
sufferings of all classes, to restrain those who were
misled, and to restore confidence to the country.
He had need of a firm Government; and he had called
around him men of acknowledged ability and patriotism.
The Honourable President then:expreesed his admiration
at the manner in which his predecessor in the chief power
had performed his duties, and concluded by expressing
his hope that the Assembly would aid himself in the ar-
duous task which he was about to enter on.

This address, of which we can only give a sketch at
present, was exceedingly well received by the Assembly,
and was followed by loud cheers, and
The President of the Republic then left the
tribune, and going down the centre of the House, pro-
ceeded to the seat of General Cavaignac, and shook him
warmly by the hand.
_. .

This act was again hailed with marks of unmitigated
satisfaction, the Members of the Assembly, however,
applauding as in a theatre, by a loud clapping of hands.
The President—l have to state to the Assembly,
that M. 0. Barrot has been empowered to form a new
Ministry. _ _

The President of the Republic then left the Assembly,
in company with M. 0. Barrot, M. L. de Malleville. and
other representatives.
The President—Will the Assembly proceed with the
discussion which was commenced.— (Loud cries of "No.")
The representatives then hastened from the Chamber,
and the hall was empty in half a minute.
It was then a quarter to five.
It was observed that in descending from the tribune
the new President of the Republic advanced towards
General Cavaignac, who was sitting in his old place, at
the end of the Ministerial bench, and tendered him his
hand. General Cavaignac appeared to be taken by sur-
prise. He did not at once accept the proffered hand of
the Prince; but then, as if suddenly discovering what
was intende, he shook it cordially. The whole pro-
ceeding was received with loud shouts of applause lby
the Assembly. Some of the Members afterwards blamed
General Cavaignac for the coldness he showed in riot
rising to receive the salutation of the Prince, though at
that time he had been proclaimed President of the Re-
public; but it was complained that the whole proceeding
was so unexpected that it was some time before General
Cavaignac discovered what was meant. It appears duet
on the part of Prince Louis Napoleon the proceeding
was quite spontaneous.

The Estafette of yesterday evening gives the fol-
lowing account of the intentions of the new Go-
vernment with respect to the filling of some high
offices :

"Some modifications were agreed upon this morning,
in a council held at the hotel of the future Presiden t of
the Republic, respecting high civil, military, and judi-
cial functionaries. M. Coralli, representative of the
people, who was at one time spoken of for the Prefecture
of Police, is, it is said, to replace M. Come as Pram-
reur-General of the Court of Appeal of Paris. M. G
main Sarrat, representative of the people, is, it is added,
to be Prefect of Police, and M. Belmontel Secretary-
General. M. Pons (de l'Herault), who was Prefect of
Lyons during the hundred days, and who procured the
return of Napoleon from:the island of Elba, is mentioned
for the Prefecture of the Seine. The direction of the
National printing-office will, it is said, be given to M.
A. Mie (de la Dordogne). All these new combinations
are founded on the desire of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte
to give guarantees to the Republicans of the Veille, v rho
are known for their probity."
The same journal says :
" The political meeting of the future Presiden t of
the Republic are held at the residence of his unt,le,
Jerome Bonaparte, where only persons in their intimacy
are received. It is there that are elaborated all the
plans which Louis Bonaparte intends to propose to the
National Assembly. All the members of the family are
present at these meetings."
" If we are correctly informed," says the Eetafe tte,
" the first act of authority of the President of the
Republic will be to demand the abrogation of the
law which pronounces exile against the two 1 ast
branches who occupied the throne of France.'
On Tuesday night the Club of the Institute ha, I a
meeting, and, after a 'long discussion, it was resolved,
on the motion of M. GARMER PAGES, that it should
be dissolved, and reconstructed on different principles.
It is said to be the intention of the new Presid .ent
to send an expedition to Civita Vecchia for the re: sto•
ration of the POPE.

_ - -- -
M. EMILE DE GIRARDIN has set off in I sigh
dudgeon for Creuze. Poor man he cannot fin d a
purchaser.

BOURSE—PARIS, WEDNESDAY, DEC. 20. THREE O'CLOCK.--The prices of the French Fu, ids opened much low(r than they closed at yesterday, but
recovered again towards the end of the Bourse; t:
however, showing a decline on yesterday's quotat' .ons.
12,000 f. Rentes Five per Cents., 6,000`. of Three per
Cents., and 17,500 f. of the Loan were " discounted: ' A
great sensation was created by the announcement c,f the
proclamation of the President to-day, by the Nat.ional
Assembly.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT' 'PEE
LONDON STOCK-EXCIIANGE Dix. 20.
(101310. u),l olib 2.VamAumr
75,i—Orleans and Bord
riaenllds,
L74—e, DoeiAin_erNarear,th4—ernLunxf eniF • ranee,
eaux, 2!6—Paris and Rouen, 1 S—
and and Strasbourg, 3Rouen and Havre, 9XI---S ambre
and Ideme,:33/4—Weaglandus, 3%.

SPAIN.
OPENING OF THE CORTES.

Madrid journals of the 15th have arrived.
The QUEEN on that day opened the Cortes in per-
son. Her MAJEsrr proceeded in grand procession,
accompanied by the great officers of state, from the
Palace to the Hall of Congress. Queen CHRISTINA
formed part of the royal procession. The streets
were crowded, but there was no demonstration what-
ever of popular feeling.
The following is a translation of her MA3Esn's
speech :

"Senors, Senators, and Deputies,
"It has never been more satisfactory to me than now
to see myself in the midst of you, after the days of
proof which we have passed through; and I confidently
hope that you will never have come more resolved to
consecrate your efforts and zeal to the support of the
throne, and of the constitution of the monarchy.
" The Holy See, as was to be expected from its pa-
ternal solicitude, has completely re-established its
ancient relations with Catholic Spain; but in announcing
to you so happy an event, I cannot but record another
fatal and painful one. The High Pontiff has seen him-
self obliged to abandon the capital of the Catholic world,

and to seek a refuge in a foreign land. In such painful
circumstances I Nava not hesitated to offer him the sup-
port of Spain, and a safe and cordial asylum in this ever
Catholic and pious nation.

" The relations with the other foreign Powers, I have
pleasure in announcing it, have extended considerably—
the Governments of Prussia, Sardinia, Austria, and Tus-
cany, having successively sent their representatives near
my person.
" The friendly relations which have always subsisted
between two neighbouring people, united by so many
and such ancient bonds, have been established with the
new French Republic.
" Disagreeable events, which it was not in the hands
of my Government to avoid, have occasioned the inter-
ruption of diplomatic relations with England, but I trust
that they will be re-established as is befitting to two
friendly nations, as soon as the acts and instructions of
my Government are duly appreciated.
"In the midst of the unexpected and profound dis-
turbances which have agitated Europe, Spain has re-
mained faithful to the throne and the institutions ; sedi-
tion, nevertheless, has at times raised its head, staining
with blood the very streets of the capital, and the cities
and fields of the Peninsula; but although the most op-
posite factions were united in an abominable alliance,
they have had to succumb everywhere before the good
sense and loyalty of the people, the valour and disci-
pline of the army, and energetic decision of the Govern-
ment and the authorities. In Catalonia alone there re-
main rebel forces, which I hope will very shortly dis-
appear.
"To this happy result the measures adopted by my
Government, in use of the extraordinary powers which
you had conferred upon it in the last session, have effi-
caciously contributed, experience having shown the
foresight and skill with which the Cortes proceeded in
granting that authorisation.

" The provinces beyond the seas, both in America and
in Asia, enjoy, under the tutelary shade of the mother
country, a prosperity ever on the increase; their con-
stant and recognised fidelity has not only liberated them
from the disasters which have afflicted the colonies of
other countries in those regions, but has permitted them
to lend disinterested and efficacious assistance to those
who in their dangers and tribulations thought, with
reason, that they should not vainly appeal to Castilian
chivalry.

"The army has preserved its severe subordination and
discipline in the midst of the crisis through which Eu-
rope is passing, and it owes to them and to its valour,
the high place which it occupies in the esteem of the
nation, and in my own.
" United to the National Marine, it bas caused our
possessions in Africa to be respected by the insubordi-
nate Moorish bands, and in Asia has conquered the pi-
rates who infested those seas, destroying their estab-
lishments and fortifications, taking possession of their
ships and numerous artillery, and giving liberty to a
great number of Christian captives. In the Peninsula
it has sustained the Throne and the Constitution against
every kind of sediti
" Events which are well known to you have not al-
lowed, as yet, all the results to be obtained which must
be expected from the plan of contributions voted by the
Cortes some years back, nor the just equilibrium be-
tween the public income and expenditure; it has been
principally to this cause that my Govornment has seen
itself in the necessity of making use of the autho-
risation that you conceded to it, decreeing and exacting
an anticipation of 100 millions, of which an account
shall be given you in due form.
" The budget and corresponding accounts shall be im-
mediately presented to you, in order that, being examined
by the Cortes with the wisdom and circumspection they
are wont to do, the public service may be at once assured,
and the improvements which commerce and agriculture
reclaim may be introduced.
"The rights of the creditors of the State, both
national and foreign, have been taken into account with
no less interest. In spite of the costly sacrifices which
the nation has made, and is making, to assure the peace
of the monarchy, my Government will not fail to call all
your attention and care to the means most conducent to
.improve public credit, doing justice to its creditors.
" Notwithstanding the unhappiness of the times, little
suitable certainly for the development of public pros-
perity, still considerable improvements have been made
in different parts of the administration of the State, and
others no less important are being completed, both in the
branches which depend on the home and naval depart-
ments, and on those at the charge of the Ministry of
Instruction and Public Works.

"My Government will inform you in detail of all
other matters, and will present to you the necessary
laws, in order to carry into due effect what may be
proposed.
" In virtue of the authorisation granted to my Go-
vernment in the preceding session, the new penal code
has been put in vigour, in the dispositions of which it
has been necessary to make some alterations, of which
an account shall be given you in due season.
" Other laws will also be presented to you, which the
public advantage imperiously reclaims, that relate to the
permanent and decorous dotation of public worship, and
the clergy requiring to occupy the principal place
amongst them.
" Such is, Senors, Senators, and Deputies, the general
aspect of the state of the country, and of the labours of
the present cession. Never have been required more
spirit and resolution to carry forward the work com-
menced, to affirm and strengthen the Throne and the
constitution of the State against the reiterated efforts of
rebellion and of anarchy; but I count on your decisio❑
and firmness, and on the patriotism and loyalty of which
you have given me so many proofs; and I count, above
all, on the assistance of Divine Providence, to whom this
great and generous nation has never addressed itself in
• vain."
The Popular, which is the evening Ministerial
journal, contains the following :
" We have been informed that the Queen, our gracious
Sovereign, has separated from her service the Senors
Vasallo, Conde de Cumbres, Atlas, and Marquis of San•
tiago, respecting whom it appears that she has signified
her will that they leave Madrid.
" We are told that so severe a determination has arisen
from their having made a use of the august game of her
Majesty, so much the more lamentable and unworthy,
inasmuch as it appears in a writing addressed to one of
the authorities, and by an irresponsible person, and who,
in doing so, made a shameful abuse of the name of the
good-natured Queen of Spain."

The writing alluded to was a request from the
QUERN, to certain military officers, to free her from
the odious tyranny of NARVAEZ. Don J. CORTINA
betrayed the QUEEN to the Dictator.