72] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1814. 



dress to the king, very different 

 from the adulatory tributes which 

 have usually, in all countries, been 

 offered by learned bodies to the 

 throne ; and portending inaportant 

 political consequences, if sup- 

 posed to represent the sentiments 

 of a numerous class in the Spanish 

 public. The following extracts 

 are so honourable to the addressers 

 that it would be an injustice not lo 

 record them. " Reseated on the 

 throne of Spain, a throne pre- 

 served at the expense of such 

 rivers of blood, your Majesty en- 

 joys all your rights, and the nation 

 may promise itself a futurity 

 which will indemnify it for the 

 sacrifices which it has made with 

 so much courage and generosity. 

 Yes, Sire, the nation expects from 

 the reign of your Majesty the re- 

 ward of its heroic devotedness ; 

 but if that nation, solely given up 

 to its enthusiasm on the happy 

 event of your restoration to its 

 wishes, has neglected to be anx- 

 iously careful about its future po- 

 litical interests, the generosity of 

 your Majesty is not less bound to 

 fix on solid bases, the existence 

 and the happiness of your people. 

 Your Majesty has spoken. These 

 bases are already fixed in an irre- 

 TOcable manner : they rest on the 

 word of a Spaniard and a king. 

 Real and personal property will be 

 guaranteed by laws which secure 

 good order, and the public tran- 

 quillity. Every one shall enjoy 

 that salutary liberty the exercise 

 of which is the first blessing of 

 citizens under the temperate reign 

 of a prince, who must be the 

 father of his subjects. The press 

 also will enjoy that just liberty, 

 which, while it does not dege- 

 nerate into licentiousness, suffices 

 for the communication of useful 



ideas.and the progress of the arts and 

 sciences, the propagation of which 

 enlightens the government itself, 

 and tends to produce that mutual 

 respect so necessary among all the 

 members of society. The public 

 taxes shall be fixed in concert 

 with the representatives of the 

 kingdom assembled in Cortes ; and 

 with the concurrence of that body ; 

 your Majesty will establish the 

 laws, that are in future to deter- 

 mine the rights of all the citizens." 

 Who can here avoid recognizing 

 the prospective view of a constitu- 

 tion, possessing the essentials of a 

 monarchy limited by laws, and by 

 an authorized expression of the 

 public will ? 



In the mean time symptoms of 

 dissatisfaction with the measures 

 of the court broke out in various 

 parts of Spain, and rumours were 

 propagated, which agitated men's 

 minds, and tended to spread dis- 

 content. Of these, notice was 

 taken by Don Juan de Villavi- 

 cienzo, captain-general and civil 

 governor of Cadiz and its mari- 

 time province, in a proclamation 

 issued at Cadiz on July 8th. After 

 reciting the substance of some of 

 the rumours, such as war with 

 England, and suspicions of war 

 with France ; the arrival of the 

 Father-king, and his offers to sign 

 the constitution ; demands from 

 the allied powers of its signature 

 by Ferdinand ; and the like ; the 

 proclamation declares all such ru- 

 mours false and seditious, and for- 

 bids their propagation either by 

 writing, or word of mouth, on 

 pain of punishment with all the 

 rigour of the laws, and calls upon 

 all loyal subjects to give informa- 

 tion of every breach of these in- 

 junctions. 



The restoration of arbitrary- mo- 



