us, that Buonaparté is in a worse situation "sent him; and AFTERWARDS, that the than he was in the last campaign. I do "English troops, having suffered much, could not see how that can be; but, this I can "not at that moment do more than guard the see, that he has possession of all Spain, "lines for the purpose of aiding the ultehere and there a small spot upon the coast "rior operations of the Spanish army. excepted. If Valencia should fall, what "The Report then went on to state, that is there left but Cadiz? I can see very "the Generals who composed the Court little more. If I look over Spain, I see "of Inquiry were in substance agreed in the French in every principal town, those" approving the conduct of General Lapena, two excepted. I see them the masters" who had not failed to do every thing of every Province of Spain. And, am I "dictated by military skill, and a prudent still to believe, that they are in a worse "zeal. In conformity to this opinion, the coudition than they were before? Com- "Cortes thought it incumbent on them to mon sense forbids me to believe this. "declare that General Lapena had fully Besides, do I not read, in the Gazette, a "done his duty on the above day, and ought notification to neutrals not to enter the "to be reinstated in his rank. His Majesty principal river of Spain; that river which "has therefore declared, that the Cortes leads into the heart of it? For what is are satisfied with the military conduct this? What do we want more than this "of General Lapena." This fiction of his to convince us, that the enemy has posses- Majesty makes one laugh, to be sure; sion of the country?-Indeed, it is but, it is clear, at any rate, that the persons childish to talk about the matter. Any whom we consider as composing the Spaman who has eyes to see, must see that nish government have declared, that the Napoleon is in possession of Spain, with the General, whose life was demanded by our exceptions above mentioned.But, we news-papers, has been declared to have are now told, that things are not in the done his duty upon the occasion alluded most sure state even at Cadiz. It has long to. Now, then, what are we to think! been pretty evident, that the Cortes were Are we to think, that our former accusanot very friendly to the connection with tions against General Lapena were true? England; and something of this sort is If so, we must conclude, that the declaranow openly stated in our news-papers. tion of the Cortes is false; and, if we draw As long ago as the affair, in which Gene- that conclusion it will require some little ral Graham was engaged, there appeared ingenuity to assign a cause for the falsemarks of disunion. The high praises be- hood, other than that of a feeling in that stowed here upon General Graham, while body decidedly hostile to English connecthe Spanish General Lapena was accused of tion. If we are to think, that the declaracowardice or treason by our news-papers, tion of the Cortes is true; what shall we must have tended, as I then said it would, be able to say in justification of the terrible to produce ill blood. The latter was ac- denunciations uttered here against General cused, in the most unqualified terms, of Lapena? And, how are we to expect, that being a coward or a traitor; and some of the Spanish officers will ever act cordially our journals went so far as to demand his in co-operation with ours?—It appears life. He has, it seems, been tried: or, at to me, that this was the beginning of those least, his conduct has undergone an inves- jealousies, which seem, at last, to have led tigation, the result of which is, it appears, to something very serious. We are told, greatly to his honour. We are told, that, that there is now a dispute. Amongst allies in the sittings of the Cortes of the 1st of want of success is almost always productive December, The Report of the Military of a want of harmony; and, in addition to Commission was read, and also the reso- that cause, there appears to be another at "lution of his Majesty, with regard to the work in the Isle of Leon; namely, a want "military conduct of General Lapena at of money; a most fruitful source of mis"the battle of Chiclana. From these do- understanding.It is pretty generally "cuments it appeared, that the object of known, that the South American mines "that action was to raise the siege of have not, of late, sent much of their trea"Cadiz; that General Graham, being sure to Old Spain; and, as to internal re"questioned by General Lapena, on account venue, that is out of the question, the coun"of his having retired to the Isla with the try being in the hands of the French, "troops of our allies, replied FIRST, that he Yet, to keep possession of the Isle of Leon "waited for an answer from the English Mi- demands great sums of money. In this “nister, in reply to a note which he had state, the Spanish Government has, it "the 18th of April; and reforms shall be set on foot, in order to establish the most "rigid economy. The loan shall be re"deemed in four years by equal pay"ments, for which purpose the Junta shall "regulate the proper proportions; this "district, in a fair proportion with the "other provinces, participating in the pub"lic revenue which accrue from America. "No other contribution shall be imposed on this district. The Junta alone shali "have the power of laying on these imIposts, and also of repaying the different "sums of the loan, at the appointed pe"riods. As soon as the English Go"vernment shall have approved of the seems, applied to our Embassador for a loan to be raised in England of a million sterling, in the same way as the loans were raised for our august ally the Emperor of Germany, and our most faithful Ally, the Prince Regent of Portugal. The Cadiz news-papers speak of the scheme in these words:- It appears that the British "Ambassador at this Court has sent by the English ship of war the Canopus, for "the approbation of his Government, the plan of a Provincial Junta for this city, which has already obtained the appro"bation of the Supreme Council of Regency and of the Cortes, respecting a "new system that ought to be adopted, in "order to provide for the subsistence of loan; this system is to be immediately "this district and its defenders. The pre- "carried into execution; but not un"servation of this island, which at present "less the loan can be accomplished."has such weight as to the independence "The Junta, notwithstanding, seeing the "of the kingdom, and the hopes of its "absolute want of provisions, during the "safety, and the avoiding the danger" present month, for the support of the "which may ensue from the distress of " army and gun boats of this district, has "the soldiers and sailors, in rendering the "undertaken to supply them, being per"place defenceless, notwithstanding all "suaded that, during the present month, "its fortifications, are the objects which "the English Government's approbation "the Junta have had in view in the pro- "of the loan will be obtained; but with"posed plan; the principal points of" out carrying the preceding plan into "which are as follow:--The entire amount complete execution, till this essential "of the public revenue of this district shall "requisite shall be ascertained.”—The be deposited in the provincial treasury plain English of this is, that, if we mean "of this city.-A loan for forty millions for the Spanish government to co-operate "of reals (about one million sterling) shall any longer with us, in the defence of the "be opened, on the part of the English Island, we must not only pay the ex"Government, in favour of the Spanish, pences of that defence, but must also pay "under the guarantee or credit which the the Deputies of the Cortes and the members "former shall give the latter for an equi- of the government their salaries! It is but "valent consideration, to be negociated a loan;" but who is to repay the money? by the Junta of Cadiz.-Of this sum, What security will there be? What is this four millions shall be applied monthly," equivalent consideration," that they talk "to increase the revenue of the provincial of? They will give us a mortgage. upon "treasury; but this sum on no account to the mines, perhaps, or upon the revenues "be exceeded.-Both sources of revenue of Old Spain. But, how are they to ena"shall be employed solely in paying the ble us to get that mortgage paid off, or to "army and navy employed in the defence seize in case of non-payment? Those pos"of this island, for the military hospitals, sessions are in the hands of third parties. "the fortifications, and the pay of the Depu- They might as well offer us a mortgage "ties of the Cortes, the Regency, and Secre- upon any part of the Moon. It is, there"taries of Dispatch. Since, according to fore, idie to call it a loan. It is a sum of "the estimate of the Treasurer-General, money demanded as being necessary to "the revenue of the district, even with the the defence of a place, which is, as the "addition of four millions of reals month- Spaniards think, useful to us.If we "ly, is inadequate for all the objects men- wanted any proof of the French being, in "tioned, the deficiency shall be made up fact, the masters of Spain, here we have it; for, what is being master of a country, if being master of all its revenue is not? by a fair and equitable proportion. The "distribution shall be verified by the In"tendant, and the junta shall exercise its proper jurisdiction for the direction of "the Provincial Junta, agreeably to the "instruction of the Council of Regency of 66 16 It has been often said here, that we were fighting the battles of England in Spain; and, if that be really the case, there does appear to be some reason for this de mand. At any rate, the language of "lect how large a force we already mainthis statement is much too clear to leave "tain at Cadiz, for the preservation of any doubt, that, if the Island is to be "the place; and the real friends to the defended any longer, we must bear the independence of Spain in general, that whole of the expence of such defence, is, among the Spaniards themselves, and pay all the members of the govern- "must feel averse to any proposition of ment into the bargain.I think, that "imposing fresh burthens upon England. there can be no doubt, that the Spanish "It should be considered how much it is government has, at last, spoken in pretty "the interest of the enemy to prompt his plain language. They have had now a "secret partizans to make huge demands good deal of experience; and they are "upon us, in the name of Spain, with the able to make their choice. By refusing" hope of exciting disgust among us. then the money, we should, I have no "Whatever one gallant nation can do for doubt, soon produce that effect which 1" another in distress, we have done, and have long been expecting. But, what "shall continue to do; but we must not subject ourselves to the importunities of Buonaparte himself, through the medium "of those few Spaniards whom he has been "enabled to seduce from their country's cause. "We do not mean to apply these observa"tions to the case specifically before us, "but generally, to our whole intercourse "with the inhabitants of the Peninsula." are we to gain by giving them the money? We may have their name to make use of for some time longer; but that appears to me to be all; for, as to what they do towards the defence of the Island, it is, I imagine, little or nothing. They themselves are to have their salaries paid out of it, it seems. That looks very ugly; for, if they really want that, they are ours and do not belong to the people of Spain. We had poor sovereigns to maintain before; but to have the whole government to pay is rather too much.-Buonaparté has, for many years, been blamed for every thing done, or said, against us, no matter by whom. It was he who seduced the Emperor of Austria; it was he who put words into the mouth of the Emperor of Russia. Oh! he is a coaxing little rogue! But, who would have thought of his being at the bottom of this proposition for a loan upon us? Yet, this is the conjecture of that sagacious personage, who conducts the Times news-paper, who lays all the fault upon him, and even insinuates, that the money is intended to go into his pocket! The passage I allude to is as follows: Our readers will perceive "in another part of the paper the plan "of a Loan, whereby this Government "is to accommodate that at Cadiz, or " rather a new Local Administration there, "with a considerable sum of money, to "be applied to the preservation of the City and of the Isle of Leon. This sub"ject is the more to be noted now, inas"much as it is reported to have given oc"casion to the disputes between Mr. "Wellesley and the Spanish Authori"ties. The plan itself, whether it shall " be ever executed or not, is said, how"ever, to have been transmitted to Eng"land for the approbation of our mi"nisters. How they may determine is uncertain. The Spaniards will recol " " -Here is a very broad insinuation, that the demand has been made at the instigation of Buonaparte; and here is a clear admission that he has some partizans in the government of Spain; because it is by the government that the demand on us has been made. Partizans! And, is it come to this at last? But, why not? It is always so. Whenever any thing is said or done contrary to the wish of our government by any body, in any place, at home or abroad, the parties are always, they are invariably, accused of being the partizans or emissaries of Buonaparte. If any man in England says a word finding fault of the government, no matter about what, he is an emissary of Buonaparté. If a man complain of a surcharge, he is an emissary of Buonaparté. Complain of the treatment of the soldiers, you are an emissary of Buonaparte. Complain, as some do, that enough is not done against France, you are an emissary of Buonaparté. Point out the means of rendering this country secure against Buonaparte, and you are one of his emissaries. There is no such thing as escaping this charge, if you open your lips against any act of the govern ment, or any person in power. Those who stirred the matters against the Duke of York were emissaries of Buonaparte; and those who made motions about the sale of seats in the House of Commons; they were his decided emissaries. Cali for the abolition of a sinecure place, and you are an emissary of Buonaparté, and you are still a worse emissary, if you prefer gold to Bank Notes. The Queen of Naples (Sicily I should say) has long been accused by our venal writers of being a partizan of Buonaparté; and, now, it seems, the same charge is to be laid against part, at least, of the government of Spain; that government which was once so loudly cried up, and in which we were told to look for every thing brave, wise, and just.--We are an unfortunate nation in our connections at least, whom we generally find, in the end, to be partizans of our enemy. We are continually told of his rapacity and tyranny, of his perfidy towards his allies, of his cruelty to all who fall under his grasp; and yet he has partizans! We state ourselves to be the reverse of him in all respects, moderate in our desires, mild in our sway, faithful to our allies, humane towards all the world; and yet there are people, and even exalted people too, partizans of him against us! Really we are too good to live in this wicked world. We are too good: the world is not worthy of us.——— It is a favourite idea, that we are to be the deliverers of Europe; but what sort of progress are we making in this work in Spain? Where is now Mr. Canning's "universal Spanish Nation ?" It is nearly all in the Island of Leon, and stands in need of money from England to defend it. This result was, however, easy to foresee. It was, from the first, as clear as day light, that, if the Spanish cause did not become the cause of freedom, it would fail; because there was no other object worth contending for. I do not know, that the state of society in Spain was such as to encourage the hope of the people taking up arms in the cause of freedom, but it was very obvious, that, if they did not take up arms for that, they would not take them up for any thing else. We hear a great deal of talk about the liberties and independence of Spain; but, these are mere words; mere empty sounds. Liberty is a thing that every man understands; he feels that it is something valuable to him; and, if he does not see that he is to get any thing better under Ferdinand than under Joseph, why should he venture his life in the quarrel? He will, in such a case, naturally be on the side of the strongest, and thus have we seen the great body of the Spaniards from the beginning to the present day.Independence! And, what is independence? What does it mean? Why, as applied to nations it means that honourable state, in which a nation is placed, when it is not at the nod and does not stand in awe of any other nation. But, what did the people of Spain know of this. I question much whether it would be in the power of the most able expositor to make them understand the meaning of the word. What is independence to a wretched being, whose dinner is an earthen pipkin of chesnuts and whose bed is a handful of rushes, heath, or stubble? For men to fight for national independence, they must not only know what it means; but must also feel that they possess something that it would be painful to lose. They must have a conviction in their minds, that the conquest of their country would make their lot worse than it is. Without this conviction all the rattling artillery of words is of no use. A wretched rabble may now and then be stirred up by national antipathy or by religious zeal and fury; but, the steady efforts, necessary for the defence of a nation, were never yet produced without a conviction of their tending to better the lot of the people or to prevent it from becoming worse. It was this conviction which rouzed and animated the French people at the out-set of the Anti Jacobin war. Stories were told about giving their armies brandy and playing the Marsellois hymn to them in the heat of battle. But, it was the conviction, of which I am speaking, that was the brandy that gained the victories over the enemies of France. Of this brandy the poor Spaniards have not yet had a taste; and that is the true cause of the French being masters of Spain.How this loan project may end I shall not pretend to foretell; but, I will venture one conjecture, and that is, that, if the Spanish government insist upon the loan, and we refuse it, there will very soon be an end to any thing like war in Spain; and then we shall see the same writers who, a little while ago, recommended a seizure of the Island of Sicily, also recommend the seizure of the Island of Leon; nor should I at all wonder to hear them assert the measure to be absolutely necessary to the independence of that Island. AMERICAN STATES.I now resume where I left off in my last, when 1 proposed to offer some observations upon the American Correspondence as relating to the occupation of the Floridus, and to the Orders in Council.This latter subject has, however, been so fully discussed, that, really, there remains nothing to be said common right being partly attached to -The United States have taken pos- America, had scarcely taken time to upon it, especially after the publication a time. Jonathan coolly answers, that, ་ |