His Most Christian Majesty has informed us, that 100,000 Frenchmen are coming to settle the domestick concerns of Spain, and Since what period to reform the errors of our Political Institutions. have Soldiers been employed to correct Laws? And when have we ever found a military invasion the harbinger of happiness to any Nation?

It is useless to refute errors so opposed to all social Laws; and it would be unworthy of the Constitutional King of Spain, to enter upou a defence of the just Cause of his People, before those, who, in order to violate all sentiments of decency, have assumed the cloak of the most detestable hypocrisy.

I trust that the energy, the firmness, and the constancy of the Cortes, will give the best answer to the Speech of His Most Christian Majesty. I trust that, firm in their principles, and determined to pursue the line of their duty, they will ever prove to be the Cortes of the 9th and 11th of January; worthy, in every respect, of the Nation which has confided to them its fate.

I trust that reason and justice will not prove less courageous than the genius of oppression and slavery. The Nation that capitulates with an Enemy whose bad faith is notorious, is already a conquered Nation; and no ignominy is equal to that of receiving Laws imposed by an Armed Force.

If War, then, be an unavoidable evil, the Nation is brave, and will struggle once more for its Independence and its Rights. The path of glory is well known to it, and the sacrifices which such a struggle requires, will be made with pleasure. Firmness and patriotism offer us a thousand resources, which, in the hands of Spaniards, will always produce the happiest results.

For my part, I promise anew to the Cortes, to co-operate, by every means in my power, towards realising the hopes which all the Friends of liberty have conceived of Spain, by making use of every effort to repel force by force. My removal, together with that of the Cortes, to some Point less exposed to the influence of military operations, will paralyze the plans of the Enemy, and prevent any suspension of the authority of the Government, which ought to be feit in every corner of the Monarchy.

The Army, which has already rendered such important services to the just Cause, is in a state of rapid organization, agreeably to the late Decrees of the Cortes. The victories, which it is gaining over the factions within, will be the forerunners of other more interesting ones over our foreign Enemies.

The Provinces, generally, have shewn a sufficiently good spirit The evils which they have suffered from the, so called, Defenders of the Faith, have dissipated the illusions of the ignorant, and have convinced them that the Constitution is the only true path.

The changes which have occurred in our Diplomatick relations

with other Powers have not diminished the courage of the Nation. The timid, who never know how to appreciate their own resources, and the designing, who turn their weakness to account, can never change the sentiments of a Nation, ever scrupulous where its honor is concerned, and unaccustomed to enter into any compromise with injustice.

The different branches of Administration present, at this moment, a very favourable prospect. The Cortes will continue, with their usual zeal, the important labours which they have already commenced; and the national prosperity to which they are directed, will consolidate the Constitutional System, which valour and energy must defend.

FERDINAND.

MANIFESTO of His Catholick Majesty to the Spanish Nation, on the French Invasion of Spain.-Seville, 23d April, 1823.

SPANIARDS!

(Translation.)

WHEN Napoleon, after having reduced the Continent of Europe to silence and obedience, offered us the cruel alternative of desolation or ignominy, without hesitating a moment, you adopted the resolution of resisting him; and, pursuing the arduous path which that resolution presented to you, you ascended to the summit of glory, and established your Independence. After the attempt thus made by the Destroyer of the Rights of Nations, it seemed that those who arrogate to themselves the title of Pacificators and Restorers of Order in Europe, would not repeat an example so fatal, without apprehension for its results. It was imagined that the noble and valorous People, who opened the way to the triumphs obtained over the Attila of France, would be secure of the respect of Sovereigns so deeply their debtors. Unfortunately, this expectation has not been realized, and, in the short space of 15 Years, unhappy Spain finds herself again involved in calamities equal to those she had previously suffered. It might be said, that Buonaparte, in revenge for his astonishing fall, has risen from the grave to animate with his ambition our imprudent Enemies, to fascinate them with his illusions, and impel them to the fatal precipice where their Predecessors perished.

For this frantic desire of governing and controlling every thing, and for the scandalous aggression which the French Government has committed in order to attain its ends, certain pretexts, equally vain and indecorous, are put forward as motives or excuses. The restoration of the Constitutional System in Spain is called a military insurrection; my acceptance of it, violence; my adherence to it, captivity; and the Cortes and the Government, which enjoy my confidence and that of the Nation, a faction and these are the grounds on which they resolve to disturb

the peace of the Continent, to invade the Spanish Territory, and again to distract this unhappy Country with fire and sword.

But whom would they deceive by such absurd suppositions? Can it be Europe, where reason and equity have already treated such notions with the justice they merit? Or can it be Spain, in which they would diffuse them, notwithstanding the vehement indignation which they have inspired? I need not, Spaniards, remind you of the events of the Restoration. You, and all the World, well know, that though a few brave Soldiers had the good fortune and the glory to be the first to raise the cry of liberty in one corner of the Peninsula, the whole Nation voluntarily responded to that noble cry; and that, in less than two months, the Constitution was proclaimed and sworn to in all the Provinces.

Never was there an example of an acclamation, so rapid and so universal, taking place, and to so great an extent. If a similar instance should be required, it would be necessary to look alone for it in that unanimity with which, 15 years ago, you declared against the aggression of Buonaparte, and undertook to rescue your King; for it is only among you that such grand political phenomena occur, which astonish the imagination, challenge the applause and admiration of the world, and render abortive all the plans of calculation and cunning.

The general will of the Spanish People having been so solemnly pronounced, it became my duty, as a Spaniard and as a King, to yield to your wishes, and to accept and swear to maintain those Laws, under the auspices of which you had preserved my Throne and defended its Independence, by expelling the Enemy from our Territories. Those Laws have been applauded and recognized in Europe, even by the very Potentates who now pretend to deny their just and glorious origin. It was not the Army which gave those Laws to the Nation. The Army and the People received them from their Representatives, and swore to them in full liberty, and with sen timents of the most heartfelt gratitude. Those Laws, unfortunately suspended during the space of 6 years, offered an asylum of tranquillity and repose to the Spanish Nation, as well as a prospect of felicity, by presenting a fixed and certain point of union, independent of every interest and of all individual passions. To those Laws the Spaniards appeal, and I also join their voice. If the insidious suggestions which, on my entrance into Spain, prevented me from perceiving the utility of preserving them; if my inexperience, and the ignorance in which I remained during my absence and captivity, respecting the state of Spain, occasioned evil counsels then to prevail, such circumstances cannot invalidate the justice with which the Nation reclaims rights, which are so notoriously its due, nor in any manner diminish the obligation of my royal word and solemn oaths.

I never wish to fail, nor ever will fail, in my duty to those oaths, and this final and decisive resolution ought at once to impose silence

on all insidious imputations of every description. To discuss whether or not I am at liberty in my present political situation, and whether or not a faction governs Spain, or any other of the pretexts of which our Enemies avail themselves to excuse their shameful aggression, would be to fail in the respect which I owe to my high dignity, and to encourage the calumnies of our perpetual detractors. Of what use would it be to reply to charges, of the falsehood of which their very authors are convinced? Believe me, Spaniards, the Constitution of itself is not the real motive, either of the haughty and ambitious intimations, or of the iniquitous War which is directed against us: at another time, when it suited the interest of our Enemies, they applauded and recognized the fundamental Law of the Monarchy. The object of their insinuations is not my liberty, which to our Enemies is of little or no importance; neither is it our internal disorders, which they have so much exaggerated, which would have vanished had they not fomented them. Their real motive is the manifest and declared wish for the power of disposing of me, and of you, according to their capricethat they may impede our prosperity and happiness. Their intention is, that Spain should ever be chained to the car of their pride and power; that it should nominally be a Kingdom, but really a Province appertaining to another Empire, in order that we may only live and move for them, and for their advantage.

In former times, Governments paid more respect to each other. In the complaints which preced d acts of hostility, it was usual to allege injuries of People against People, of Nation against Nation. So long as the stipulations of Treaties remained uninfringed, no power dared to prescribe to States, on any pretence whatever, the regulation of their internal administration. Now, however, the tion which the powerful derive from the force they imagine they possess, has induced them openly to despise all the respect which is due to human rights, and to endeavour to make their own interest the only rule of their conduct, and their own will the only law for others.

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Such language and such principles, hitherto unheard of in the Law of Nations, are, however, incapable of being applied to Spain. How can those deluded Cabinets imagine, that a Nation of 12,000,000 of Souls, situated in one of the extremities of Europe, bounded by the sea, and defended in front by the Pyrenees, should so speedily lose all sense of its strength and of its position? Who guarantees to them, that this Nation, forgetting the noble feelings of honour which have hitherto characterised it throughout the World, will bend to the yoke which its enemies now wish to impose upon it, after it refused to yield to the colossal power of Buonaparte? Who, in short, has persuaded them, that Spaniards are so senseless, or so base, that, to avoid the danger with which they are threatened, they would consent to barter the blessings liberty bestows, for the whip of slavery.

All the advantages which a well-organized social state can offer to man, are enjoyed by the Spanish citizen. Governed only by the Law; inviolable in the exercise and enjoyment of his thoughts, of his person, and of his property; contributing only his share in the sacrifices prescribed by his Representatives; being present, either personally, or by means of those who are worthy of his confidence, at the receipt and disbursement of those sacrifices; having open to his activity and industry all the roads to knowledge, glory, and fortune; the Spanish citizen treads majestically on the earth, and in his social dignity knows no man for his superior.

Such is, and such ought to be, the Spaniard, in virtue of the Law. If there be any of you, who can dread the result of the contest in which foreign injustice has engaged us, look for a moment into the future, and suppose yourselves already under the power of your relentless enemies! Tyrannized over by their superior officers, insulted by their subalterns, harassed by the system of taxes, of espionnage, of suspicion, and secret informations; without security, without any consideration, political or civil; made the object of the sport of insolent cowards;such is the deplorable fate which awaits you; and you will perceive that the preservation of your liberties is less difficult than to endure the pride of your oppressors.

As for myself, placed by Providence at the head of a generous and magnanimous Nation, to which I owe every thing, I shall not fail (I swear it to you) in the sacred obligatious, which so elevated a post, and such distinguished benefits, point out and present to me. Resolved to follow your fortunes, I will not accede to any other Treaties or Conventions, that may be proposed to my Government, than such as are consistent with the Political Constitution of the Monarchy. The Monarchs of Europe who have united against us, seduced by an implacable and rash party, allege my liberty and defence as pretexts for their violent attempt; but they are grossly mistaken if they think to deceive the World, much more myself. They probably think that I have buried in oblivion the treachery with which Napoleon, calling himself my Ally, my Protector, and my Friend, enticed me to his arms, the better to rob me of my Crowe Are not these Princes the same who so long acknowledged that Tyrant, and confirmed his usurpation? Was it for my defence of rescue that they afterwards took up arms against him; or was it not råther from a sense of their own danger, and for the security of ther Thrones, then threatened by that insatiable and ambitious man? They talk of my liberty, but what signification do they give to that word' The same which they gave to that of the King of Naples, my respected Uncle, whom they have never allowed to fulfil any of the promises which he so soleinnly made to his Subjects, on his departure for Laybach. And, after having been the abettors and instigators of