The Sun.
London, England, 1810-09-19 00:00:00

THE CORTL•S OP ARRAGON.

In
Arrogon, the Jon!a, or General Assembly, was
composed of the four Orders who represented the
kin dot, and by anc.ther name' were called Eva.
menior... The first was formed of ,the. Clergy ; the
second of the Nobles,riycalled RicOs Hom-
bres ; the. third, of. K:Aghts and GentLquen, an-
styled Irtfanzoiles ; the fourth, of the Uni-
versities.. Thee tour order's were summoned, but
they did not always attend at the Cortes, as the Or-
der of the Cler) did"nbt enter that assembly till the,
year 1301. This order was composod of tl.e Arch-
bkshop of Zaragosa, .the Bishops of the ,kingdotno
and some Abbots and Pri..rs,- the Castellan di .Im-
pasta and the commendadar Mayor de Muntalvan.
For 'the order of the Nobles and Infanzones ikre
was no• fixed rule ; it is well -known that:among
the former (the Nobles) the heads of the eight
hous,es entitled to this privilege by the la.vs of
Arragon attended--and of the latter all the Knights
and 14osdu/gos, whether summoned or net.- Also
_women 'Arraganrse,' being natives ~and widows, of
7itu/os, had the right, of being present or represent-
ed by their Rocuradores.

The,order of the Universities way composed-Of
the Syndics of the cities, communities,
.ai,d•towns,
which had votes in the Cortes, of which there was'
a great variety,i as ,it is certain that in laiter times
the cities of kiragosr.,- Huesca, Farozona, faca,
Barbastro, Calatayud, Duroca, 14'ertiel, Burjr,
Varracil, the tow n of Alcavnii, she communities of
Calatayud, Datoca, and Ferkiel, and the towns of
Fraga,MontalvAn, and Monzon, Sarinnena, San
&act/anti:: Litera, Fausarite, Magellon, Buiea,. Al-
quezar, Aiusa, Loiiarre, Mosqueruela,
Berbegal, Alniudebar, Alagon, and Cantranc, have
taken their seats, and been present therein regularly,
according to the .above orchtr, though some
variation. The live towns of Exia, Pauste,
ca;till6, Sos, Sandava,. set with the order bf
Hijusdc, /g Os.

Th.e.Ring only could convoke the Cortes, which
lie did by letters; nor could they be held but by
order or his Majesty, or after repeated appeals by
some \person of. the royal blood, as the wife, son,
brother, uncle, or son-in-law of the The
• place where they were to assemble, was to contain
at least four hundred hc.uies-, and to be within the.
kingdom. The Justitia of Arragon was the Judge,
who 'executed all the official acts of the Cortes, andby
virtue of his otfi e prorogued the Cortes previous,
to the cotnmeneernent of their sitting, and by order
of she King, after they had began.
They could not adjourn but. fora few days. and
if they passed over toriy, they were regarded as
dissolved; as also if the' King. absented himself
wrthout proroguing them: the Cortes opened by a
proposi; ion Ilan the King, oiplainiN- the causes for
‘vhich he 11,i(1 convoked and thevirvices
required. Ttie , Archbishop of Saragosa, in the
name of all, after ha; ing given thanks to the King,
answered, that, as to the subjeds proposed to them,
they should consult and deliberate among them-
selves, and endeavour to give such an answer as -
would be for the setViceof God and theKing,'and
for the welfare- of his kingdoms. Each order'con-
suited separately, and communicated by a messenger
to,the other orders what they had resolved upon ;
and also by a message to certain' persons named
by the King, who. were called Tratadm'es..de Cortes,.
whose office-was to. examine if tile subjects pro-
posed were proper' to be Subtriitted to the consi-
deration of ~the Soveleign., When • they were all
agreed, they. sent a solemn message to his Majesty,
E:companied' by two pet-Sons of each'order. The
Cortes .cdncluded With a ceremony called the Cele-
bration del Soho,. authorising by a public decree

. . . ,
gave the tome of the haw to all that bad. /Pei,
resolved upon by the Cot tcs.
These ' were" the .particular Coites of Arragon,
compoSed only of Arra:.;oltese. There wt.:e' al•o
general ones of the whole kingdom of Arrigon,
which in substance were similar to these, and at
which- were present the Cat,49l)l:ing, ibe Valeri-
cians, and at some times the Mallprquns and the
Minot quins ; ,and even- lit is surPosed that formerly
Sardinians and Corsicans attended.

•
. .
- coßTes OF CATALONIA. •
In Catalonia, the Congress or Le,;islativ, Body of
the Principdity,. was general, t 4 hich the King con-
voked, and IA here he presided ill pelsott.' It was
composed of the three orders of the
,St/te, the
-Clergy,, the Nobility, and the People, called there
Brazos or Estapnentos. The first was composed of
the ArebbishoP -of Tarragona, its President, eight
Bishops, his suffragans, 22 mitred-'Abbots, the
SyndicS of nine CA t lied( al Churchesetthe Grand Prior,
and 'Castelluiz di Amposta, of the 01:der of St . John.
The second, called the Military Order, •was, com-
posed of the Duke of Cardona, its President, and of
all the Coulu,-. Viscounts, parons, Nobles, and
Knights, Who had accomplished twenty years. The'
third; called Brazo Real, was composed of the Syn-
dic.; of the city of Barcelona; its President, and
of those which were sent 'by the cities. of Gerona,
Lerida, Tortosa, Cervena's Balaguer, and 24 towns
of the Royal patrimony, which,had votes. •
In the Cortes which King ['der the Third field
in Barcelona in 12,83, they adtnitted the Brazo/Lia/,
or.body_ of the Coalitions, and from that period, by
the Constitution of the Principality, uas formed a
Social Contrua between the Sovereign and the
Nation, that the svicce,!ding Kings should take 'an
oath at their accestion to the Crown;,without which
condition they cold not bc acknowledged or pto-
claimed.

CORTES. OF -NAVARRE. •
These are,conrposeif of the three slates or orders
of the kingdom, which are the Clgrgy, the Nob -
lity or Military Order, and the Republicos, or
Uni-
v rsities, represented each by different persons.
The order of the clergy is formed of the Bi,:hop of
Pat»peluna, who presides, of the Prior of 'lances-,
vailos, of the Grand erior of the Order of St. John,
the Dean of
.the Colegiale of Tudela; the Vicar Ge-
neral of the, Bishoprick of Pampeluna, if he be a
native of the Kingdom, of the Abbots of 17aehe,
Olita.Leyre, Iranzu, Fitero, Urdax, and Marcillo.
Trie_order of the Military, or Nubility, is com-
posed of various persons who have votes in the
Cortes ; the Hereditary Constable of the Kingdom,
the Count de Lerin, is President, onJ in his absence
the Hereditary Mareschal, who is 'the Marquis de
Cortes; but neither the one or the other :attending,
there is no fixed president by right.
The order of Republieus, or Universities, is corn-
.posed of the Deputies of different cities or' towns,
over which those of Pampeluna preside. To c
tt-
voke the Cortes of Navarre the King issues a decree,
by which he declares to have resolved to assemble
the General Cortes in that kingdom, for the pnipose
of deliberating on fiis 'interests. and those of the
Pubic.

'For this purpose, he 'generally appoints the Vice-
roy of Noiarre to represent him, who transmits his,
Commission to the deputation of the kingdom, and
if it be. conformable to what the law prescribe's, it
is returned to the Viceroy, who appoints the place,
dray, and hour, for what is, called the apertu'az
Solid, by, which the Cortes continence, and at which
the Viceroy attends, preceded by the twelve Com-
inis,ioners of the kinglorus, four of each order,'llie
Chief Notary, and the King at Arms : then the
Royal Commission is read, and ttie credentials of
the iNletnbers,. with the-proposition of the Viceroy.