THE PRESENT CRISIS OF SPAIN. 315 



ably smuggled, and was actually at the head of his partisans in the 

 Bastan. From that epoch the state of Spain has been truly dread- 

 ful ; for civil war has been carried on on both sides with vindictive 

 and unparalleled cruelty. But it must be acknowledged that the Car- 

 lists have gained during the struggle both ground and strength, while 

 the Christines have failed in all their attempts to put down the pre- 

 tender, notwithstanding the great help of the quadruple treaty and the 

 foreign auxiliary corps which have gone to support them from Eng_ 

 land, France, Belgium, and Portugal. 



This state of civil discord and ( warfare, the inconsistent system of 

 juste milieu introduced from France, and the frequent changes of mi- 

 nistry, with their useless projects heretofore adopted to restore tran- 

 quillity and prosperity in Spain, have at last produced another revolu- 

 tionary crisis, and the constitution of 1812, which had cost Spain so 

 much blood, has been again proclaimed as the palladium of the Spa- 

 nish nation, and has been prudently acknowledged by the regent and 

 all her ministers, who have also officially convoked the Cortes for the 

 24th of the present month. 



These are the historical events which we have thought it to be our 

 duty to present to our readers before we undertake briefly to speak 

 of what we think will be the result of the present Spanish crisis. 



And first of all we have no hesitation in stating our belief that 

 Maria Christina is not sincere in her apparent attachment to the 

 constitution of 1812. Moreover, we boldly assert that, if great care 

 be not taken, the Spanish regent will in course of time imitate the 

 treacherous example of her perjured husband ; and we assert this 

 boldly, because the disease of perjury appears to us to be heredi- 

 tary in her family, as she is the grand-daughter of the late perjured 

 Ferdinand I., daughter of the late perjured Francis I., sister of the 

 present perjured Ferdinand II. of Naples, and niece of the present 

 perjured king of the French, to whom, it is confidently reported, she 

 has secretly applied for help and advice, and therefore we say to the 

 Cortes and to the Spanish nation : Consulite ne quid detrimenti repub- 

 lica capiat. 



While we deeply and sincerely deplore the excesses that have oc- 

 curred in Madrid and in other towns of Spain during the present 

 crisis, we consider them as the natural consequence of a sudden po- 

 pular eruption, but not as indications of a permanent disorder and 



