The French Invasion Of Sp...
The Times, 1824-10-02T00:00:00

FWfi cOpy the folloWtig g document (which, so,far. as we remember, has not been -given to the English public) from a Spanish Magazine puiblislhed in London, entitled (tios de'panokes gmigrados. It will readily be allowed that the*Spanish Minister beats both the French Cabine't and the DuAe of Angouleme in argument; but what is arga- mefit against artillery? It is surprisingwith whataccu- racy this Spanish document points out what ha6 actially happened respecting the establishment of absolute pqwer.] NOTE ADDttEssED TO SIR WM. A'COIURT nv THE SPANISH StINISTER OF STATE, DOS 3. YANDIOLA, AUG. 23, 1823. The undersigned Secretary of State of his Catholic Majesty has the honoufr of transmitting to Sir Win. A'Court, Envoy Extraordi- nary and Alinister Plehiipotentiary to Hils Britannic MAlajesty, the copy of a note which was addressed from his department to his Ex- cellency on the 20th of June ult., the original of which may have miscarried, as is very probable, from the circumstance that its re- ceipt has not yet been acknowledged, although the gravity of the affairs of which It treated required a speedy answer. Thd nldtcrigned, desirous of testifying anew the value which the oovernment ofhis Catholic Majestyhasput upon the friendly offers contained ip the last despatch of Sir Wm. A'Court, dated July 11. hastens to transmit to his Excellency the enolosed copies of an au- tograph letter addressed to his Catholic Ilajesty by h'is Royal Higho ness the Duke of Angouleme, dated from Port St. Mary, the 17th current; and of the answer, likewise autograpli, which the King has condescended to mnace to that extraordinary commutnication. The undersipned is persuaded that Sir Wna. A'Court, in giving an account to'lhc Government of his Britannic Majesty of thcse important dosuments, will not fail to direct its attention to the con- trast which ispresented on this occasion between the conduct of his Cathollc Majesty and the ill-advised-not to say insulting-intinia. tion which the Duke of Angouleme has dared to mlake in the name of his august uncle the King of France. If there could have bcen, up to this time, any doubt on the trae intentions of the French Government with respect to Spain, none can now remain, after seeing the letter of the Duke of Angouleme, which demands-not the prudent reform of our political institutions, with the intention of giving to the Royal authority its necessary force, and avoiding all danger or cause for fear among other powers -but to have possession of the person of the KPing, and of his Royal Family, for the purpose of making them the instruments of that Government; and, vlthott allowing the Spaniards any well-regut !atedl constitution, to bury the nation in disgrace, and to dloprive it of all independence, liberty, and security. Suppose the King was not free, and it were wished to support so evident and so absurd a falsehood, in spite of the numner- ous and solemn declarations of his Alajesty himself to the contrary- in spite of so many and so unequivocal acts, whiclh destroy every idea of coercion; and in spite of the notorious tranqutillity and uninter- rupted order which reign In Cadiz-in spite of the respect shown to his august person, and the character and principles of his ministers; are not the French the only parties who have driven the King from his palace at Madrid-the only persons who liave driven him from Seville; and how can they now pretend to restore him to that liberty whichl they alone have curtailed ? They do so by requiring that hcshould be absolutely surrendered to their power and influ- ence. This is theonly explicit proposition whicil is contained in the letter of the Duke of Angouleme. This is the only necessary preliminary, and those who pretend that a monarch is not free among his most faithful subjects would endeavour to make us believe that he esan enjoy his liberty among the foreign troops who have invadetd his kingdom-among thc rebels and traitors who, joining with the invading enemy, have laid it waste. " lIet Ferdinand VI 1. be free," says the King of France, " to give to lilS subjects institutionis whiclt they can only receive from him, and the war shall immediately cease." The civilized world has observed with astonislhment an aggression founded on such a pretext, and heard with borror a maxim destructive of the most sa- cred riglht of nations; but at first lis lMost Christian Mlajesty did not tell us that he would considler Iis Catholic Majesty only as free when lie should be in the power of the French arny; nor did lie announce his intention of dictating or proposing the institutions whichl he was to give to his subjects. Now the clhief of the Frenchl army arrogates to himself the power of deciding in what circuni. stances the King of Spain should be consi#lered as free ; and even in case he is held free, his Milajesty will not have thc liberty of giving other institutions than such as please the Cabinet of the Tuileries, as it not only announced of what nature they shall be, buit that tlhcy shall bc sUcI as France and her allies can offer their co-operation is) conselidating. And what arc thesc institutions, which with>-k . i^t= are prescriben to hi 0callOtc AlaJesty tO ue given to iis subjects ? They are chiefly those that are least reconcileable to the dignity of' the Crown, that are best calculated to weaken the Royal autlhority, to enervate the action of Government, and to destroy it unity. They arc suchi as are least conformable to the spirit of the age, aind to the existing state and habits of the nation-they are those best fitted to perpetuate its divisions, the opposition of interests, and ttie shiockof parties. Those must be ignorant of the history of Spain who can propose, in present circumstinces, the aneient Cortes of the kingdom as the guarantee of order,of justice,and of a good Adminis. tration. Separate juntas or establishments in each of the three Basque provinces-difftercnt C-ortes in Navarre-Cortes of thrce dis- tinct kinds in Arragon, Catalonia, and Valencia, which have ceased to exist for a long time in thatquarter-Cortes very tiifferent in the kingdom of Castile, which never had any fixed form, antI expe- rienced niany vicissitutles ;-such is the bond with which they prc. tend to unite all Spaniards, and to consolidate the monarchy. Con. gresses so heterogeneous, is which there was never a true represen- tation, in which so many examples occurred of persons being bribed and sold to power, who were called ttel deputies of thc people, while the royal dignity was oppressed by the ambition an e extraordinary power of a few subjects-such are tite means by whici it is sought to strengthen tihe authority of the Alonarch, and to secure a just liberty to the nation. WVc may be excused for indutiging reflections on this point, atid the proposition of the Duke of Angouleme can only be explained by understanding it in theesetteinwiicim tlicauthors of'the Royal Decree of the 4th of Mlay, 1814, understood it when ticy spoke likewise of' the ancient Cortes-a vain expression, invented for the purpose of leaving some hope for those who do not think; and in this manner re establishing the absolute Governmert. in this maanner it could be more easily directed from Paris, and thus, a century after its first, eonception, might be realized tile pian of Louis XIV., whiclh is uti. dotibtedly the trite object of thic war. It is not su/hcient to conduct this war in a manner so uniusual as by the establishment of the so.styled Regeticy of Mladrid, and to overturn by its means all that a legitiiiate Government, recognized by! tic invaders themselves and by all Elurope besides, has done within the space of thic last three years-it is tnot cetotigh to deprive Spaniards of the right of framinlg thc constitution hvliich best suits thiens ; btit in addition to all this, they mnst be deprived of a con- stitution altogether; anti for havirg endeavoured to be free without the leave of France, although without injury to that power, they must bear, along witlh theiir King, the yoke whichl is attempted to be imposed uipoit them. By reducing to this extremity a Mlonarch and a people attaclied to the point of hionour, who cannot form a compTomise with igromtiny, notlbing, doubtless, is aimedI at but to shut the door to pence, and to findi prctexts for ulterior.viesvs of ambition, or for an indetinite mili- tary occupation. It is a fact that cannot be disguised, that however desirous the Spanish Goveriiment is to put an end to this disastrous war, thc only proposition whicll has been made on the part of' France, and the tone anti ternis in which it is madeby tlhc DuDke of Angouleme, arc sUclt, that they canmot be yielded to without (lis. honour, antd without sacrificing thc respect due to the TiTrolc, and the fortune of the tiation. Neither can it bc kept out of view, that if the threat made in case so irritating a proposition is not ac. cedcd to be realized, it is to be feared that the residence of the Kitlg and Royal Family being attacked, sucuh odium may be excited against them, that all the force of loyalty and virtue niay not besuf. fiCent to preserve them in the last excesses of desperation. If the French Government had proposed to get rid of the august family reignirqg in Spain, it could not easily have discovered means better calculated for that purpose than the conduct whiclh it has observed tbr the last six montlhs. The Spanish Governmetit is bound to protest, anid does protest, loudly before Hcaven an2d carth,'against the result of thteviolences al. ready committetl by the French, anti against the result of those whichi they may itill commit. In so critical a situation of his Cathco. lie Majesty, all Mlonarchs have a direct interest, as well as all na- tions, particularly those which enjoy a representative Goven. ment, in the actual cause of Spain. On this account lis Mlajesty cannot buit promise himself, that he will have an energetic anti prompt intervention on the part of (Ureat Britain, for the remedy of so great cvils ; andi has given positive orders to ithe utidersigned to testify the same to Sir Win. AWCourt, and to express to hinm the confidetit hope wlich the Hing cntertains, that thc Government o' i-;s Britannic Majesty, out of a sense of its own dignity, its love for justice, and its regard for the tranquillity of Europe, will conic to tile support of an ancicnt anti fitthfutl ally, and of a nation which, united to England, contrlbibted so powerfull'j to the freedom of the conti. nent, and to the re-establishment of those powers wvho now make her so bad a return. The penetration of Sir Win; A'Court will easily perceive that it does net belong to the Spanish Government to make propositions to France; and that it cansot now make them, in the face of the letter of time Duke of Angoulomne; a mediating power alone like that of his Britannic M4jesty, can obtain from theI French Government a surrender of its violent and irritating pretensions,-and a reduction of its claims within such bounds as may be compatible with thse dignity of his Catholic Ma. jesty, with the integrity and independence of the monarchy, and with the honour and liberty of the Spanish nation. 'WVithin these limits neither the King nor the nation will resist those prudent and usefui means which may lead to a solid peace, honourable to both parties, under the guarantee of the mediating Power; for with. out that power there will neither be sufficient security for Spain, nor would the result have all the solidity which would be necessary. His Mtajesty has commanded the undersigned to recommend ear- nestly to Sir Wm. A'Court the urgency of the subject, and to request his Exceliency to return to the exercise of his functions near the King, who cannot persuade himself that the orders of his Britannic Mfajesty. can prevent him, when he has just manifested his senti- ments in so satisfactory a manner rcspecting the communication of the intrusive Rcgency of Iladrid. The undersigned seizes the present opportunity of offering to Sir lVm. A'Court the assurances of his high consideration, &c. f mrE PRENCH 7NATArZIO OF sPAi N.