Star.
London, England, 1823-03-17 00:00:00

SPAIN.

SITTWO OF THE ORDINARY CORTES, MARCW.
A letter was presented from the Secretary of Ste
for the Home Department. It stated, that by Royal
order he had to communicate to the Cortes that his
Majesty, yielding to the repeated requests of the pre-
.. sari-Ministers to be relieved from the burden of of-
fice, heol-been pleased to accedeto their wishes, with
. . .
the Understanding that they should continue to ma-
- nage the business of their respective departments
until they madea report to the Cortes on the state of
1i..:443e nation.. The letgralso stated that his Majesty
tad appointed' tte folloWing Secretaries of State-
- CHere .follow the names, which have been already
• givenj.=—The letter was laid on the table.
The memorial presented by the Permanent Depu-
tation was read. It began by detitiling the events of
July last, and then proceeded to describe the instal-
lation of the late extractrdinary Cortes, and other cir-
cumstances. Finally, it stated, that having received
a dispatch from the Government respecting the pio-
priety and necessity-of its removal to a place of se-
curity, accompanied with a consultum of the Council
of State, and a resolution of his Majesty upon the
• same subject, the Permanent Deputation had deter.
miued that'those documents should he referred to
the President and Secretaries of the present Cortes,
This memorial was ordered to be referred to a Spe-.
cial Committee.

Several Deputies wished to address the Cortes.
The PRESIDENT observed, that with respect to the
temoval of the Government, which had been men.:
tioned in the memorial of the Permanent Deputation,
• he thought it proper to inform the Cortes of the state
in which that subject stood. The opinion of the Mi-
litary Junta respecting the place to which the Go-
- . . vernment ought to be removed had been referred
to the Council of State. The Secretaries of the
Cortes had repeatedly Made inquiry of the Minis-
ters as to the state of the business. The Ministers re-
plied, that. the Council of State had not concluded
delibteration. They had since made official corn-
. rflunications to the same effect, and he had now an
official. intimation from the Ministers, from which it
. appeared that the Council of State had nut yet come
to any decision.
Senor PRAT moved that the memorial be printed.

Senor Fcnexa (Don Joachim) said—l should be
wanting in my most sacred duty as a Spaniard and
•Ereputy of the nation, if I did not at this moment
declammy opinion, that the country is in the crater
of a volcano; that a conspiracy similar to that against
• Naples is• at work ; and that the greatest efforts al ej
made to deprive us of our liberty. I therefore con-
sider myself botind to propose whatever may appear
.calcu,lated to obviate the difficulties we may have to
encounter. I perceive that, according to the periodi-
•cal practice of depriving us of a Government at the
moment when the &smart of the Cortes is opened, his
"Alstjety has just dismissed a Ministry consisting of
•men with whom he has said he was very .well satis-
'tea, and 'who have done their duty; and though-he
•has appointed other Ministers, j conceive that it will
'at least 6e twenty days before the new -Ministry can
know how to act. Intelligence, through respectable.
sources, has been received from Bayonne, in svhich
it is stated, th it by the Zith of the present month there
will be assembled on that paint `27 regiments of ia-
fantry, and 11 of cavalry, and that their plan is the
same as that which has been often announced—
uamely, to make a rapid advance upon Madrid, in
order •to•deprive us of a central Government, and
to carry of the Royal Family. As time is precious,
and the case urgent, I think that the Cortes ought to
take this' subject into immediate consideration. I
therefore propose, that the Ministers be called upon
to state in what circumstances of danger we arc
placed, and whether they consider the time for re•
moving the Government to be arrived, in order that
the Cortes may adopt the necessary measures?
Senor Rico—l agree with Senor Ferrer that there
is a conspiracy organized against us ; but I must add,
that I am convinced, as 1 believe indeed every one
else is, that this conspiracy has its seat in the heart
Of the Palace. 1 speak thus, because when the safety
of the country is at stake, every Deputy ought frankly
to declare the opinion of his conviction and his con-
science. I perdeive that one of the means" esorted to
is, to deprive us of a Government at the very mo-
ment' when the Ministers have to give an account of
the state of the nation. I also find that his Majesty
himself states, in a document which was lately read,
that the Ministers have conducted themselves with
purity and dignity—in a word, that they have ful-
filled-all their duties ; and yet, notwithstanding all
this approbation, they are dismissed.- But at what
time arc they dismissed.? At a most critical moment,
when we are on the one hand threatened with foreign
war, and on the other w ith assassinations by a liber-
eicidal faction. I would wish to know whether the
Government can collect force enough to prevent the
advance of:the French to the capital? If, as I believe
to be the case, they cannot, for it is nut possible that
they should have a sufficient force for that purpose, it
follows that the French will be able to arrive at Ma-
drid before the new Ministry can acquire a due know-
ledge of the situation. of the country and affairs. In
this state of things, though the measure proposed by
Senor Ferrer is proper, something more is necessary to
save us from the storm with which we arc threatened.
If in five or six days we do not adopt vigorous area.
sures calculated to go to the root of the evil, that
evil will no doubt continue to increase. Let not the
people have to accuse us justly of having, under any
pretext whatever, neglected to adopt measures for
saving the country. I therefore in the discharge of
my conscientious duty do ray, that it is necessary,
and that we are in that critical time which requires
of us to declare the physical incapacity of hjs Ma-
jesty—(Applause in the ''n'alleries. The PRESIDENT
" (ham !") When the Deputies lose the freedom of
debate, the nation also loses its freedom, and the free-
dom: of the Deputies is as much compromised by ap-
plause as by disapprobation. It is necessary that the
public should consider the critical situation in which
we are placed-z(Order).
Senor CANqA expressed his approbation of Senior
Ferrer's proposition, and said that he wished to ask
the Secretaries of State whether, in their opiaion, the
movement of the French troops placed the Govern-
ment in the critical situation which had been con-
templated as rendering the removal necessary? If
dm, answelea ia the affirmative, the Clete' ought