216 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



rities that of Highness, till the ar- 

 rival of Ferdinand VII. and that 

 the same title should be given to 

 the superior tribunals. A depu- 

 tation from the Junta of Cadiz 

 presented themselves to renounce 

 their powers, and to do homage 

 to the Cortes. 



Don Manual Lapena, accompa- 

 nied by the generals and chiefs of 

 the corps then in the Isla, pre- 

 sented himself to felicitate that 

 high assembly on its august and 

 much wished-for re-union, and his 

 readiness to take the oath required, 

 in the name of the vv'hole army, 

 not only as interim commander-in- 

 chief of the army, but as captain 

 general also of Andalusia. " I am 

 ready," he said, " and all my sol- 

 diers, to shed the last drop of our 

 blood for religion, for the country 

 and the king." The general then 

 took the oath, and on the follow- 

 ing day stated this to his army in 

 a general order. " I am certain," 

 said he, " that the troops I have 

 the honour to command, are anx- 

 ious in every way to testify their 

 patriotism and their attachment to 

 our king Ferdinand, whose rights 

 it is our duty to defend, and which 

 we will defend even at the ex. 

 pense of the last drop of our 

 blood. The hope of saving our 

 country at last revives; and we 

 shall be able to realize it, if to our 

 zealous wishes we add our unre- 

 mitting endeavours to establish the 

 most correct military discipline, 

 from which victory is inseparable, 

 and to which I shall always en- 

 deavour to conduct you." 



September 27, the attention of 

 the Cortes was called by Arguelles 

 to an object of the greatest im- 

 portance—the political liberty 

 of the PRESS. He was far from 



wishing that they should imme- 

 diately proceed to determine on a 

 point of such high interest and 

 consequence ; but if the proposi- 

 tion should be approved, the as- 

 sembly might appoint a commit- 

 tee, which, taking into considera- 

 tion all that had already been 

 written on that important subject, 

 might examine and investigate the 

 question, and submit to the Cortes 

 the result of their labours and 

 their reflections, and point out 

 the manner in which it might ap- 

 pear to them that the political 

 liberty might be fixed. Two 

 members supported the motion of 

 Arguelles. Six or seven of the 

 members, whowere priests, wished 

 to have the question referred to 

 the decision of the Inquisition. 

 But Torrero, another ecclesiastic, 

 ascended the tribune, and in a 

 very animated manner pointed out 

 the evils which had already been 

 experienced from the want of the 

 liberty of the press, and the bene- 

 fits that would result from its po- 

 litical freedom. " It was neces- 

 sary that the Cortes should pro- 

 ceed in a course opposite to that 

 which the CentralJunta had taken; 

 substituting for the criminal si- 

 lence and mysterious conduct of 

 that government, the publicity of 

 their sittings, and the liberty of 

 writing upon political subjects. 

 The pubhc," he observed, " had 

 a right, and it was even their 

 duty, to interest themselves in the 

 conduct of their representatives, 

 and to warn them of the errors 

 they might notice in their pro- 

 ceedings ; which warning could be 

 given only through the medium of 

 the press. It was always neces- 

 sary to consult public opinion, 

 whose echo was the press." AU 



