GENERAL HISTORY. 



[157 



er's idea of the most essential be- 

 nefits conferred upon the nation b}' 

 the labours of the Cortes. 



" To raise the nation from sla- 

 very to sovereignty ; to distinguish 

 and divide the powers hitherto 

 mixed and confounded; to acknow- 

 ledge solemnly and cordially, the 

 Apostolic and Catholic religion as 

 the only true one, and that of the 

 state ; to preserve to the kings all 

 their dignity, giving to them un- 

 limited powers to do good ; to 

 give to the press all the natural 

 liberty which the celestial gifts of 

 thought and speech should have ; 

 to abolish the ancient Gothic re- 

 mains of the feudal system ; to 

 equalise the rights and duties of 

 Spaniards bf both worlds — these 

 were the first steps of the Cortes 

 in their arduous and glorious ca- 

 reer, and these were the solid bases 

 upon which were afterwards raised 

 the edifice of the constitution, the 

 fortress of liberty. O Constitu- 

 tion ! O sweet name of Liberty ! 

 O grandeur of the Spanish nation ! 

 " Afcer the Cortes had bestowed 

 upon us so many benefits, their in- 

 satiable thirst of doing good was 

 not satisfied. They gave a new 

 and more convenient form to the 

 tribunals of justice ; they settled the 

 economical government of the pro- 

 vinces ; they succeeded in forming 

 a military constitution, and a plan 

 of education and instruction truly 

 national for youth ; they organised 

 the labyrinth of the finances ; they 

 simplified the system of contribu- 

 tions ; and what cannot, nor ever 

 will be heard without admiration, 

 is, that in a period of the greatest 

 poverty and distress they main- 

 tained, or rather created, public 

 credit." 



It is gratifying to read the fol- 

 lowing passage in this patriotic 

 effusion : — " Great and generous 

 England sees her sons crowned 

 with Spanish laurels that shall ne- 

 ver fade ; and, besides the assist- 

 ance which she has lent to the 

 common cause, has the fortune 

 and glory of having sent the un- 

 conquered Wellington, the immor- 

 tal captain of the allied armies ever 

 triumphant." Such, doubtless, 

 must be the general feeling of true 

 Spaniards, whatever be the tem- 

 porary jealousies and bickerings 

 between different branches of au- 

 thority. 



In the interval between the dis- 

 solution of the old Cortes and the 

 assembling of the new for public 

 business, a deputation of the 

 former continued permanent for 

 the purpose of watching over the 

 constitution, and being at hand 

 for particular events. It happened 

 that this interference was called 

 for by the following circumstance. 

 The removal of the seat of go- 

 vernment to Madrid was a ques- 

 tion which had been several times 

 agitated, and was made an affair 

 of party. In this month, the re- 

 port of a contagious fever pre- 

 vailing at Gibraltar occasioned an 

 alarm of the same distemper at 

 Cadiz, and the council of state 

 recommended to the Regency the 

 immediate removal of all the de- 

 partments of government to Ma- 

 drid. The populace of Cadiz, filled 

 with consternation, assembled in 

 the streets, and vented their in- 

 dignation against the advisers of a 

 measure which they regarded as 

 prejudicial to their interests, 

 though without any violent pro- 

 ceedings. The permanent depu- 



