1 824.] Political Affairs in April 



Dundas, and embraces all tlic improve- 

 ments that have sinec been partially 

 adopted during the late war; so that a 

 fixed and general principle of formation 

 is now to be universally adhered to, and 

 the army is no longer to be subjected to 

 the inconvenience necessarily resulting 

 from a desultory and disunited practice, 

 carried on for some years at the uncer- 

 tain discretion of commanding officers. 



SPAIN. 



Mr. Matthews, tlie Englishman who 

 was taken prisoner wit!i the unfortunate 

 Ricgo, and conveyed to Madrid, has 

 arrived in London. Mr. Matthews was 

 released from prison on the 3d, and 

 quitted Madrid on the 7th with an Eng- 

 lish courier. During the interval of his 

 release and departure, he was visited by 

 nearly ail tlie principal Spanish Consti- 

 tutionalists in Madrid. Mr. Matthews 

 speaks of the present state of Sjiain as 

 extremely favourable to the views of 

 those who desire the overthrow of tho 

 existing despotism. 



Spain is a scene of disorganization 

 and bloodshed from one extremity to 

 the other. In the great towns, the 

 Exahadoes, or Ultra-Royalists, are in 

 the habit of rising in bodies, and attack- 

 ing the bouses of those whom they sus- 

 pect of retaining any affection for the 

 Constitution. These unfortunates they 

 butcher without hindrance, and plunder 

 tiieir property. Such massacres daily 

 take place in towns where there are no 

 French garrisons ; and, where tliere arc, 

 it requires the exertion of all their force 

 to prevent the occurrence. The patron 

 and cause of these enormities has left 

 Madrid to tnjoij himself at Aranjuez : 

 and, afraid to entrust his person to the 

 protection of his own subjects, he took 

 with him the major part of the French 

 garrison. The Exaltadoes, however, 

 soon compelled the French general to 

 march additional troops on the capital, 

 which was about to exhibit one general 

 display of pillage and destruction. In 

 sonic places the Royalists, and in others 

 tlic Constitutionalists, prevail. At Ter- 

 ruul, the latter have possessed tiicm- 

 selvcs of the town, and maintain an 

 organized force in the neighbourhood of 

 the French army. At the same moment 

 in which the Constitutionalists were in- 

 vesting the royalist garrison of Tcrruol, 

 the Royalists of Valladolid were re- 

 nouncing their allegiance to Ferdinand. 

 Tlic influence of a king, whose domi- 

 nions do not extend beyond the limits of 

 bis palace, or at most beyond the 

 bayonclij of his luuign Kiiaiil, must be 

 . Monthly Mao. Mo. Mo. 



567 



inadequate to compose distractions so 

 violent and so extensive as those by 

 which Spain is now torn. 



Cordova, Valencia, and Seville, have 

 been the scene of violent re-actions. At 

 Cordova, a conspiracy was formed by 

 the Exaltadoes for assassinating all who 

 were known for their attachment to the 

 Constitutional system. At Valencia, 

 the Exaltados have satis6cd themselves 

 with " imprisoning a number of persons 

 distinguished by their riches and rank in 

 society!" while at Seville, "a score of 

 persons, detained in prison for political 

 opinions, have lost their lives." 



Passports have been granted, by tho 

 French authorities in Spain, to more 

 than 20Oof the first families, for France, 

 in consequence of the persecutions of 

 the Royalists. In the course of the last 

 month, several vessels, chiefly French, 

 and one of the latter a frigate, quitted 

 Cadiz with Spanish families. 



FRANCE. 



In the Chamber of Deputies, the 

 Report of the Commission appointed 

 to consider the project of law for re- 

 dncing the interest of the public debt, 

 recommends its adoption without any 

 amendment. It declares that the state 

 possesses the right of paying off the 

 debt; that, however just in point of 

 principle, no exceptions can expediently 

 be made in favour of tiiose creditors who 

 have lost two-thirds of their capital by 

 former reductions, or of the small fund- 

 holders, whose means of subsistence 

 will be greatly decreased by the measure. 



An Ordoiinance has been issued by 

 Louis XVIII. placing the education of 

 all the youth in France under the supcr- 

 intendanee of government. It is decreed 

 that every schoolmaster, of whatever 

 religion, shall apply for a diploma to one 

 of the oflScers of state, who may grant 

 or refuse it, as he thinks proper. If this 

 measure is carried into effect, it is an 

 important step, indeed, towards the re- 

 establishment of despotism in France. 

 It enables the government to put a stop 

 to education altogether; and, thou^li 

 they will not venture to jirovoke tho 

 public indignation by attempting the 

 cXtinclioM of learnilig, yet they will 

 have it in their j)Ower to limit tlie ex- 

 tent of education, and to exeici.se a per- 

 nicious influence over both the Icachcrs 

 and the 1 ariiers. It was chiefly in 

 consequence ofliaviiig monopolized tho 

 work of eduea'.ion throughout ]'<uropo, 

 that the Jc":uii^ fo> mcrly excrciKcd their 

 despotic irdl:ienoe over the minds of 

 men and the iransactions of ^oyern-. 

 3 I! nicntij. 



