274 



tiou reserved for a future day, by the 

 upecclies of the honourable gentleman op- 

 posite. \» to the question whirh had 

 been pnt to him on a former occasion, 

 whether there were any treaties which 

 bound this country to guarantee the tliroiie 

 of France to the Bourbons? his answer 

 was, that tliere did exist stipulations by 

 which the contracting parties were bound 

 to exclude the family of Bonaparte from 

 the throne of France. He had slated also 

 that there was another stipulation, that in 

 case of rebellion taking place in France, 

 then the contracting parties were bound 

 to take counsel together as to what mea- 

 sures it would be proper to pursue. The 

 right honourable gentleman concluded by 

 supporting the original motion, which, of 

 course, was carried. 



SPAIN". 



The Cortes met on the 1st of March, 

 when a letter was read from the Secre- 

 tary of State for Grace and Justice, 

 which informed the Cortes that the 

 state of his Majesty's health did not 

 permit him to be present at the open- 

 ing: of the Cortes, but that Secretaries 

 of State were in attendance to commu- 

 nicate to the President the Speech 

 which his Majesty would have had the 

 satisfaction to deliver, had not indispo- 

 sition prevented him. 



The Secretary of State for the Home 

 Department then handed the Speech 

 to the President, who read it to the 

 Cortes as follow s :— 



Senores Deputies — The extraordinary 

 circumstances in which this session of the 

 legislature is opened, presents a vast field 

 to the patriotism of the repiesentalives of 

 the Spanish people, and will render it 

 meraoiabje in the national annals. 



Spain, at this moment the object of the 

 attention of all nations, is about to resolve 

 the great problem which occupies mo- 

 narchs and people. In its solution arc 

 involved the hopes, the fears, and the in- 

 terests of mankind— the caprices of am- 

 bition and pride. 



The continental powers of the Holy 

 Alliance have now raised a cry against the 

 political institutions of this nation, whose 

 independence and liberty have been con- 

 qnei;ed with its blood. Spain, in reply to 

 the insidious intimations of those poten- 

 tates, has solemnly manifested to the 

 world that her fundamental laws can onlv 

 be dictated by herself. 



This clear and luminous principle is in- 

 capable of being attacked, except by 

 sophisms, supported by arms; and those 

 who, m the I9tli century, appeal to this 

 last reason, give the most decisive proof 

 of the injustice of their cause. 



The Most Christian King has said, that 

 one hundred thousand Frenchmen are to 



Political Affairs in March. |_ApriI 1 « 



come to settle the domestic affairi of 

 Spain, and to amend the errors of our 

 institutions. When before were soldiers 

 commissioned to reform laws? In what 

 code is it written that military invasions 

 may be the precursors of national felicity 

 to any people? 



It would be unworthy of reason to re- 

 fute such anti-social errors ; and it would 

 not l)e decorous in the Constitutional 

 King of the Spains to apologise for the 

 just national cause before those who, in 

 order to subdue every feeling of shame, 

 cover themselves with the mantle of the 

 most detestable hypocrisy. 



I trust that the energy, the firmness, 

 and the constancy, of the Cortes, will form 

 the best reply to the speech of the Most 

 Christian King. I hope that, steady in 

 their principles, and resolved to walk in 

 the path of their duty, they will always be 

 the Cortes of the 9th and llth of January, 

 and ever be fonnd in all respects worthy 

 of the nation which has intrusted to them 

 its destinies. I hope that reason and 

 justice will not show less courage than tlie 

 genius of oppression and slavery. The 

 nation which capitulates with enemies 

 whose bad faith is so notorious, is alrea<ly 

 subdued. To receive the law which is to 

 be imposed by force of arms, is tb« ex- 

 treme of ignominy. 



If war be already an unavoidable evil, 

 the nation is magnanimous, and will again 

 hasten to combat for independence and 

 civil liberty. The path of glory is already 

 known to Spain, and all the sacrifices 

 which this contest may require, will be 

 easy to her. Constancy and patriotism 

 present a thousand resources which, in the 

 hands of Spaniards, always produce the 

 happiest results. 



For my part, I once more offer to the 

 National Congress the co-operation of all 

 my efforts to realize hopes which the 

 friends of liberal institutions place in Spain, 

 by carrying into execution all the mea- 

 sures within the compass of my authority 

 to repel force by force. The seasonable 

 removal of my person and the Cortes to a 

 point less subject to the influence of mili- 

 tary operations, will paralyze the enemy's 

 plans, and prevent an,y suspicion in the im- 

 pulse of the goveinmeni, the action of 

 which ought to be felt in every point of 

 the monarchy. 



The army, whose services in the just 

 cause are so great, is completing and orga- 

 nizing, in pursuance of the last decrees of 

 the Cortes. The victories which it ob- 

 tained against the factious are the precur- 

 sors of others of a more important nature 

 over the foreign enemy. 



The provinces in general exhibit a very 

 good spirit. The evils which they have 

 suffered from those who style themselves 

 defenders of religion, have dissipated the 

 illusions of the ignorant, and convinced all 



men 



