its most valuable rights: but can these be the active measures, at this moment, of Princes who, but lately, owed to our firmness, and to the exalted state of those principles which they are persecuting, some the restitution, and others the preservation of their thrones, and all the security of that power which they now employ to reward such benefits, at our hands, by injuries and calamities? Such conduct can be sanctioned only by the perfidious ingratitude of those Princes who debased and prostrated themselves before a daring soldier; nor can it be supported and adopted but by degraded Spaniards, who are absolute strangers to honour able sentiments and national independence.

"The contest at last begun, we at first experienced reverses from it, of which some should not surprise us, because they were foreseen, and others have been the results of seduction and deceit, rather than of the power of the aggressors. But these momentary advantages, far from humbling our valour, valour, have given us fresh vigour, and, confiding in the justice of our cause, we await our triumph unmoved.

"The august person of your Majesty and his royal Family being now sheltered within these impene trable walls, together with the national representation, from them we will repeat the lesson which

we

gave, some years ago, to the armies the most formidable in the world, by the talents of the chief who directed them, and by the numbers of which they were composed. In a crisis so terrible, the Cortes have done all they had to do, which was, to be faithful to their oath. To this effect, they have put their courage to the sever

est trial, and performed all that necessity required; and, however painful some of their resolutions may have been to them, the sacred duty imposed on them and the fundamental law compelled their adop tion.

"The just wish to provide the necessary resources, in order to maintain the independence of the nation, has likewise induced them to grant the aids of men and money which have been called for, as well as the extraordinary powers which circumstances required, and which the patriotic government of your Majesty so well merited; the Cortes having ever been guided by the sole object of saving the country from the abyss in which its enemies wish to plunge it; employing their utmost zeal in so regulating the distribution and the means of execution as, at the same time, and as far as possible, to attend to the relief as well as welfare of their constituents.

"In the arduous position in which the Cortes were placed, almost from the moment of their first assembling, an external war on the one hand, and on the other the lamentable effects of the sordid machinations of the enemies of light, of the painful dereliction of some perverse ministers of religion, and of the stubborn conduct of certain individuals inured to the exercise of despotism, they were scarcely allowed time to attend to other matters. Nevertheless, unwilling to omit any thing intrusted to them, they have endeavoured, by all the means in their power, to open the sources of public wealth, to set aside the impediments which industry laboured under, and to facilitate trade and circulation; careful at the same time, to secure the right administration of justice,

and the safety of the persons and property of Spaniards. If they have not accomplished more, it has been owing to that unfortunate moment when the chiefs of the European nations conspired against

us.

"It is truly lamentable that this generous nation should not have her friendly intercourse requited by the rest in the way that their common interest requires; but she, not being answerable for an aberration of mind so ill becoming the enlightened age in which we live she must console herself with not having provoked evil, and having ever been disposed to good; and, above all, to distinguish, by real proofs of useful and reciprocal union, those states which were disposed to preserve and appreciate these valuable ties, and not to sacrifice the interests of their subjects to the passion or caprice of their rulers.

"The steady and constitutional conduct of your Majesty's government leads the Cortes to rely most fully that it will continue to advance, thus nobly, in the path of glory, overcoming every obstacle, and steering the vessel of the state safely into harbour, aided by the zeal and resolution of the heroic soldiers of all arms, the praiseworthy constitutional corporations, and, in general, by the noble intrepidity of the Spaniards.

"The Cortes, satisfied with the testimony of their conscience, having religiously discharged their duties, and without any remorse arising from there political conduct, are come again to this invincible island, the terror of tyrants and the support of free men, and have assembled anew in this very temple where, in spite of the then ar

biter of diadems and of thrones, that constitution was formed and sanctioned, in 1812, which is to be the source of our prosperity.

"If in raising on this spot that everlasting monument of heroism and wisdom, and despising the fire and the snares of an enemy crafty and terrible, those who had the good fortune to be deputies, showed themselves deserving of their mission, the present representatives of the Spanish nation will imitate the exalted example of magnanimity in danger, left them by their predecessors. Resolved never to compound with their own infamy, they will maintain, at all risks, the oath they have taken.

"On all occasions, whether pros perous or adverse, your Majesty will never find them retrograding in the career of honour; and if, once more assembled in extraordinary Cortes, the good of the country so requiring it, these deputies should have again to exercise the legislative functions, they will repeat, in the face of the whole world, what they declared in their sittings of the 9th and 11th of January last, and expressed anew on the 29th of July, with general applause.

"Your Majesty may make yourself easy, in the full confidence and security that you will find them by your side whenever your Majesty may apply to them to support the dignity of your constitutional throne: and that they never can wish for a day of greater joy to them than that on which, removed with your Majesty to the centre of the monarchy, they may be able to congratulate your Majesty on the attainment of victory, after having driven the enemy beyond the Pyrenees."

"It being the first care of a king to promote the happiness of his subjects, and this being incompatible with the uncertainty which at present hangs over the future destiny of the nation, and of the individuals composing it, I hasten to calm the anxieties and inquietude arising from an apprehension that despotism will be established, or that it will be governed by faction. Identified with the nation, I have, with her, run every hazard of the war to the last, but the imperative law of necessity compels a termination to it. Under the difficulty arising from these circumstances my powerful voice alone can chase from the kingdom vengeance and persecution."

The preamble goes on to state Ferdinand's anxiety to dissipate the horrors which threatened Cadiz, and to put an end to the disasters of war, with which view he had resolved to quit the city on the succeeding day, previously making known his sentiments in the following manifesto :

"1. I declare from my own free and spontaneous will and promise, under the faith and security of my royal word, that if it should be found necessary to make any alteration in the existing political institutions of the Monarchy, I will establish a government which shall cause the complete felicity of the nation, guaranteeing the security of the persons, property, and civil liberty of the Spanish people.

2. In like manner, I promise, of my own free and spontaneous will, and have resolved to carry into effect, a general act of oblivion, complete and absolute, for all that is past, without any exception, in

order that by so doing, tranquillity, confidence and union, so necessary to the common good, may be established among the Spanish people, and which my paternal heart so earnestly yearns after.

"3. In like manner, I promise, that whatever change may be made, the public debts and obligations contracted by the nation, and by my government, under the present system, shall be acknowledged.

"4. I also promise and assure, that all the generals, chiefs, officers, serjeants, and corporals, of the army and navy, who have hitherto attached themselves to the existing system of government, in whatever part of the Peninsula, shall preserve their grades, employments, salaries, and honours: and in like manner all other military functionaries shall preserve theirs, and also those civilians and ecclesiastics, who have followed the government and the Cortes, who depend on the existing system; and those who by reason of the reductions which may be made, cannot preserve their employments, shall enjoy, at the least, one half the salaries which they now have.

"5, I declare and assure equally, that as well the Militia Volunteers of Madrid, of Seville, and of other places, who may now be in this island, as also whatever other Spaniards may have taken refuge in it, who are not by reason of their employments obliged to remain, may, from this moment, freely return to their homes, or transfer themselves to any part of the kingdom they may think proper, under the fullest security of not being molested at any time on account of their anterior political conduct or

opinions; and the militia, who may be in need of it, will obtain for their journey the same assistance as the individuals composing the government army. Spaniards of that class, and strangers who may

wish to quit the kingdom, may do so with equal liberty, and will ob tain the necessary passports for the country where it may suit them to go. "FERNANDO."

"Cadiz, Sept. 30, 1823.

"Portuguese,-It is time, in the name of the best of kings, to break the iron yoke beneath which we live with so much ignominy. We have long endured an intolerable despotism. It is not without extreme pain that I have withdrawn obedience from my august father; but I should blush, if the evils, which weigh down the generous nation to which I belong, could permit my resolution to be shaken.

"It is time to arrest the course of those evils which overwhelm the nation, and my honour will no longer suffer me to remain in shameful and inglorious inactivity. The majesty of outraged royalty is become the laughing-stock of the factious. All classes of the nation are overturned by infernal wiles, and we shall be despised by Europe and the whole world, if we are so cowardly as longer to suffer such abasement.

"Since the 24th of August, 1820, when liberty was solemnly proclaimed, and promised to the nation, we have rapidly advanced towards ruin. A king reduced to a mere shadow of authority-a magistracy insulted and divested of its rights a nobility humbled, despised, and stripped of all consideration-religion and its holy ministers turned into derision, and a butt for mockery. What must a nation become, suffering under such debasement?

"Portuguese arise! Longer to remain in this state of apathy would be weakness the most infa mous. Already have the generous warriors of Tras-os-Montes preceded us in this struggle. Come, then, and let us unite under that royal standard which I have raised for the deliverance of our king.

"His majesty-free-will give a constitution to his people. Let us confide in his paternal sentiments, which will be found alike exempt from despotism and licentiousness-which will at once reconcile the nation_with itself, and with all civilized Europe. Come, then, with me, valiant and intrepid Portuguese-decide with me to perish, or give liberty and authority to his majesty, and to all classes their several rights.

"And you ecclesiastics, and noble citizens of every class, hesitate not, but come and lend your aid to the sacred cause of religion and royalty the cause, indeed, of all. Swear not to taste repose until we shall have re-established the king in his full plenitude of authority. Fear not that we shall return to despotism, or that vengeance will be exercised on any. We swear by our religion and our honour, that we seek only the union of the Portuguese people, and oblivion of the past. "MIGUEL." "Villa Franca, May 27, 1823.”

(Signed)