credulous people, by persuading them that my heart conceals views opposed to the system that governs us, are not unknown to my mind. Their object is only to inspire diffidence as to my pure intentions, and on the rectitude of my conduct. I have sworn to the constitution, and I have always endeavoured to observe it, as much as depends on me. Would to God that every one did the same! The outrages and the acts of irreverence of all sorts committed towards my dignity, in contempt of what order and respect for my person ought to exact as a constitutional King, have been published.

"I have no fears for my life or my safety; God, who reads my heart, watches both, and will preserve them, as will also the majority and the sound part of the nation. But I ought not to withhold to-day from the Congress, as principally charged with preserving the inviolability that it wishes to be observed towards its constitutional King, that these insults would not have been repeated if the executive power had displayed all the energy which the constitution prescribes, and the Cortes desires. The want of firmness, and the little activity, of many of the authorities, have given room to the renewal of such excesses; and, should they continue, it will not be astonishing if the Spanish nation finds itself enveloped in numberless evils and misfortunes.

"I am confident that it will not be so, if the Cortes, as I must hope, unites intimately with their constitutional King, occupying themselves without relaxation to destroy abuses, to combine opinion, and to repress the machinations of ill-disposed persons, who wish only for disunion and anarchy."

These complaints, expressed in terms not altogether compatible with the royal dignity, excited a strong

sensation in the Assembly; and as the president, unprepared to make such an answer as the delicacy of the circumstances demanded, replied only in vague and general terms, it was resolved, on the motion of the Conde de Torreno, that, according to the example followed in France and England, a committee should be appointed to prepare an answer.

The agitation occasioned by this singular address, had scarcely subsided, when it was absorbed by a greater and more unexpected event. The same evening, it was announced, that all the ministers except one had resigned, or, more properly speaking, had received their dismissal. No hint was given of those who were destined to fill their places. Among all the liberal circles, this event excited an extraordinary emotion. They considered the dismissal, at such a crisis, of men known for their attachment to the constitutional system, as a direct blow aimed against its continuance. So strong was the expression of public opinion, that the King shrunk from this bold measure, and had recourse to a step equally unprecedented and degrading. On the 3d of March, Jabat, the only remaining minister, presented a message to the Cortes, requesting their advice as to the formation of a new ministry. The King here said, "Wishing to give to the nation an irrefragable proof of the sincerity and rectitude of my intentions, and desirous that persons of talent, experience, and probity, should co-operate with me in causing the constitution to be observed throughout the whole monarchy, and who also may dexterously and carefully remove the obstacles which may occur, and avoid all motives of disturbance and discontent, I have resolved to address myself to. the Cortes on this occasion, and avail myself of their information and zeal,

in order to choose the new Secretaries of State. I know that this is a prerogative of my own; but I am also aware that it will not clash with its exercise, if the Cortes point out to me, and even name, the persons most deserving of public confidence, and who, in their opinion, are most suitable to fill these high offices with utility and merit. Composed of representatives of all the provinces, nobody can guide me better in this delicate affair than they, and with less risk of the choice not being acceptable. That advice and information, which each deputy, individually, would not refuse me, if I asked it, they would not refuse me, now assembled, and I therefore trust they will prefer motives of public good to all considerations of delicacy and punctilio."

The Cortes were extremely astounded at a step by which the Monarch thus threw into their hands the most essential of the royal prerogatives. The liberal deputies, however, were unanimous in considering it as an offer which ought, on no account, to be accepted. They denounced it even as suggested by the secret counsellors of the King, with the view of laying a snare for that Assembly. "We stand in opposition," said Martinez de la Rosa, "with the ideas of the absolute sovereigns of Europe, and it is important to shew, that we will never be the instruments nor the accomplices of those who violate the rights of the Neapolitan nation. Yet we must at the same moment resolve the problem, that liberty and order are inseparable, in order to destroy the calumnies against Spain, which are circulated through all the courts of Europe. It is time to shew, that the King is not under guardianship, nor a prisoner in the midst of us, as our enemies attempt to make it be believed. Let us disarm calumny.

The Cortes ought to act with extreme prudence in so delicate a subject. The King is free in the choice of his ministers; we can anticipate in nothing, either of the information which he expects from the Council of State, or of the qualities of those whom he is to select." He only insisted on the necessity of the new ministers being decidedly devoted to the constitutional system. The Conde de Tor reno very clearly intimated, that, if the Cortes had been to give any advice, it ought, in his opinion, to have recommended the restoration of the ministry who had now been deprived of their functions, and whom he considered as intimately identified with the constitutional system. As this, however, would have implied not only interference, but censure, he considered it as still more out of the question for the Cortes to exercise the offered prerogative.

As the result of this debate, the Cortes unanimously agreed to the following reply:

" March 3, 1821. "Neither the principles recorded in the constitution, nor other consi derations inseparable from the representative system and public utility, allow the Cortes to take the part the King wishes in the nomination of fresh persons for the ministry. The only thing the Cortes can now advise and impress on his Majesty, in order to correspond worthily with his august confidence, and the general wishes of the nation, is, that the welfare of the latter, as well as of his Majesty himself, efficaciously require that the persons who are to fill these high situations, should have given positive and eminent proofs of their adherence to the constitutional system, and that they are, and always have been, favourable to the liberty and independence of the nation, and as it is commanded, with regard to offices less

important. By order of the Cortes, we communicate the same to you, in order that you may report the same to his Majesty, and in an answer to the communication of yesterday, transmitted by your predecessor in office, inclosing the royal decree, &c. "FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ GASCO, Dep. and Sec.

"ESTANISLAO DE PENAFIEL, Dep.

and Sec.

"To the Secretary of Marine."

After this extraordinary exchange of messages, Spain remained two days without a ministry, the management of the public business being left in the hands of the head clerks. At length, in the sitting of the 5th, a message was received, in which the King stated, that, from the purest and most sincere motives, he had nominated the following persons :Matteo Valdemoros, for the interior; Ramon Felin, for the ultra-marine provinces; Vincente, Cano, Manuel, for justice; Antonio Barato, finances; Moreno y Daoix, for war; and Paula Escudero, for the navy. The greater number were absent on different employments. The composition was of a mixed nature, such as gave little satisfaction to any party, but in which none could find any decided room for objection.

This affair being settled, the Cortes applied themselves to the delicate task of replying to the King's extraordinary speech, which they did in the following terms:-" It was just and natural that the political changes which have taken place in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and the intervention which the Sovereigns of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, pretend to exercise in that respect, should have excited the solicitude of your Majesty. The ties of blood which unite that royal family with that of your Majesty, and the incontestable

right which all nations possess of me. liorating their institutions, are motives sufficiently powerful to make Spain regard, with the most lively interest, an event so serious, and of such high importance. The resolution taken by your Majesty to recognize nothing contrary to those principles of the law of nations on which reposes the independence of states, and which the Spanish nation will inviolably respect with regard to others, the Cortes conceive to be worthy of your Majesty, and of the grand nation which you govern. They had, moreover, congratulated themselves, in concurrence with your Majesty, that the Allied Sovereigns, in all their communications, had hitherto manifested that they recognized these principles with respect to Spain. This recognition has been made in a manner clear and express, such as the Cortes desired, as the national dignity required, and our security in regard to the neighbouring states imperiously demanded. The Cortes conceive that it becomes the Spanish nation, which has so many claims to the gratitude and admiration of Europe for the glorious part which it took in the emancipation of the continent, and for the generous efforts with which it sustained its own independence, and gave an example to other nations, to take such measures as may protect it from all political vicissitudes, and place it in the requisite state of security. The Cortes have heard with grief and surprise the conclusion of your Majesty's speech. Full of af fection, loyalty, and an ardent zeal for the observance of the constitution, which so positively prescribes the respect due to the sacred and inviolable person of your Majesty, they can never behold with indifference any act which should not be conformable to this constitutional principle,—an act which could not be conceived but by

a Spaniard unworthy of the name, and who would for ever merit the general execration of the nation, and particularly that of a capital which has given your Majesty, from the commencement of your reign, so many proofs of affection and fidelity. The Cortes, called by the constitution to the discharge of legislative functions, rely for the rest on the zeal and wisdom of your Majesty. They expect, with firm confidence, that your Majesty, as supreme and sole head of the executive power, and as concentrating in your august person the power of causing the laws to be executed, and as extending your authority to everything that concerns the preservation of public order, which is inseparable from attachment and veneration towards the Royal Majesty, will give orders for repressing with energy every excess contrary to our institutions, by the means which those institutions themselves prescribe. They finally hope that by this conduct your Majesty will consummate the great work of our political restoration, and will more and more secure the vigour and perpetuity of the constitutional throne, conformably to the general and invariable wishes of the Spanish people."

The Cortes took first under its consideration the state of the foreign relations of Spain. Some deputies demanded farther explanations upon the objects of the Holy Alliance, and their engagements. But as the new ministry were not forthcoming, and the last considered themselves no longer responsible, it was impossible to obtain any satisfaction. Only the most vehement of the liberal deputies, Romero Alpuente, proposed that the government should endeavour to put a stop to the hostilities against Naples. The proposal was rejected, and the Cortes merely resolved " to thank the government for having rejected and

disapproved the principle of interfering with the internal affairs of other nations, which several powers appeared to assume, and to invite the government to follow up, with the greatest vigour, the demands for explanations and guarantees already made from foreign powers, respecting their manner of viewing the affairs of Spain.”

It

The next object of deep attention was, the report of the committee on the subject of internal security. stated the existence of a combination of plots for the overthrow of the constitution, all directed by a supreme junta, with a number of secondary juntas under it. Centres of conspiracy had been established by Spanish refugees in France, particularly in the street Richelieu in Paris, and at Bayonne. It had broken forth on several occasions, particularly at the commencement of the present session, on the dismissal of a ministry which had shewn so much zeal in the maintenance of the new institutions. This ministry was supposed to have the secret of all their schemes, and its fall was therefore considered as a signal triumph. The object was, to seize the person of the King, and to restore absolute power. All these schemes, however, had been hitherto baffled by the good disposition of the army and the national militia.

The circumstance in this report which most strongly attracted public attention, was a document in the hand-writing of Venuesa, chaplain to the King, who, as already mentioned, was under trial for treasonable designs. This paper contained the complete scheme of a plot, which was to be communicated to the King, the Infant Don Carlos, the Duke del Infantado, and the Marquis of Castillar, and in which their co-operation was reckoned upon. The constitutional system, with all its ensigns and