the court of Madrid, reached there in September. His predecessor, Gomez, having joined the party of Chaves and Cavellas, Portugal had no representative in Spain, during the earliest stage of these pro. ceedings. Villa Real, aided by Mr. Lamb, urged the Spanish go. vernment, in the most pressing manner, and with unanswerable arguments, to comply with the faith of treaties, by dispersing and disarming the fugitive rebels, who had taken refuge in Spain. He demanded, also, the instant recog. nition of the regency, justly alleg. ing that it was not the business of Spain to intermeddle with the succession or laws of the independent kingdom of Portugal. Calo. marde, the minister of justice, and the other ultra royalists in the ca. binet, persisted in the policy they had adopted; but to save appear. ances, every assurance was given in words, of the determination of the government to disarm the re bels. The minister of foreign affairs, Mr. Salmon, was solemnly promising this early in October, at the very time when the refugees were invading Tras-os-Montes and Algarves. Indignant at this outrage, Villa Real again addressed the Spanish government, which could no longer pretend ignorance of what was going on upon the frontiers. Salmon gave new as surances of the honourable intentions of his cabinet. With a de

gree of scandalous falsehood and barefaced imposition, which is utterly inconceivable, the Spanish ministry continued to shift off all the responsibility of the military movements along the frontiers upon the captains general of the provin ces. With most unaccountable infatuation, Spain seemed to sup. pose, that whatever her government affirmed, would necessarily be credited by Portugal and England, however adverse the affirmation might be to the most notorious facts.

Pretending at length to be forced into decision by the pointed remonstrances of Mr. Lamb, Salmon addressed a circular note to him and the other foreign ministers, dated November 28th, endeavouring to explain and justify the conduct of Spain. He no longer denied the hostile acts of the local authorities on the frontiers of Portugal; but alleged the profound chagrin of the king at occurrences of so unfortunate a kind. He stated, that on the preceding evening, orders had been despatched to the governors of the frontier provin ces,

peremptorily commanding them to transport all the deserters in Spain sixty miles into the interior of the country, to canton them in small bodies, to separate the officers from the privates, not to har. bour any more armed Portuguese, and to expel the marquess of Chaves from Spain by force. Who,

that knew the Spaniards only by the reputation of the ancient Castilian honour, and their boasted national good faith, would have suspected that this circular was a petty piece of trickery, a link in the chain of ill-concealed frauds, intended to impose upon Great Britain and Europe? Yet, such must inevitably be the conclusion drawn from the whole series of events; for, at the very time when this circular was communicated to the diplomatic body, Chaves, and the whole armament of the rebels, had invaded Portugal in form. The Spanish government could not possibly have been unacquainted with the fact; and it was a paltry artifice, unworthy of a great nation, to pretend ignorance of that which was notorious all over the Peninsula. Indeed, to complete the disgrace of the Spanish ministry, some bad management of Calo. marde's, allowed copies of the original orders sent to the captains general on the frontiers, to fall into the hands of Mr. Lamb.

By this unmanly duplicity, Spain lost her credit, and gained no equivalent. Had she boldly taken sides with the Portuguese rebels, the world might have esteemed her courage and candour, while it pitied her rashness and infatuation. All the evasive shuffling, and pretended neutrality of the Spanish government, answered no purpose, as the issue plainly showed; be

cause every one looked to their acts, without regarding their professions. Great Britain had been closely watching the progress of the affair; and well acquainted with its true character, she only waited for the right moment, to thrust her arm into the contest, and make the assailant feel the weight of her just indignation. And yet the promp. titude of the English ministry was so totally unlooked for by the apostolic party, that they seemed to be struck dumb with amazement and consternation, when news of the arrival of the British auxiliaries reached Madrid. An instantaneous change of policy ensued. Ferdinand immediately consented to receive the Portuguese minister, suspended general Longa from his command, posted a sufficient army of observation along the frontier, and made the humblest concessions to Great Britain. And thus terminated this ill judged attempt to revolutionize Portugal.

Having recounted the facts respecting the interference of the Portuguese insurgents, and shown how that interference ended, we deem it less necessary to enter minutely into the diplomatic proceedings at Madrid, at the close of the business. Two particulars, however, may be adverted to, as affording an apt illustration of the wretched impolicy, which seems to dictate all Ferdinand's measures. One of them is, the evasive manifesto, by

which the Spanish government sig. nified their obedience to the friendly remonstrances of France, and the overpowering threats of Eng. land. This document bears date the 13th of January, 1827, and purports to be a circular letter from the war office, addressed by the minister Zambrano, to the inspector general of the royalist volunteers, and the captains general of the provinces. It is so obscure and ambiguous in its language, that the apostolic party chose to look upon it as a spirited appeal to the ancient Castilian honour, and as calling upon the nation to rouse itself in opposition to the Portuguese revolutionists, and their defenders, the English heretics. To be sure, the document did not expressly say this; but, in the involutions of its dark and doubtful periods, there was enough which the faithful could allege as being the reverse of concession. On the other hand, Ferdinand expressed the most lively desire to maintain the relations of amity which united him with his august allies, and to insure their inviolability by means calculated to create reciprocal confidence. Of all these means, he said, none were more indispensable than to observe neutrality, by abstaining from any hostile acts or co-operation against Portugal, so as not to compromise Spain with that country, or with its ally, England. He commanded the captains general not to suffer

any hostile force to remain assembled in arms ou the Spanish territory; to repress and chastise every revolutionary act which should ma. nifest itself upon the frontier; to observe the neighbouring country, and to take such efficacious measures of precaution, as should preserve Spain from hostile contagion, without hazarding her dignity, and the proverbial good faith of her character. Thus while deeply embarked in the most unprincipled intrigues against the existence of a neighbouring state, and, while yielding to the absolute necessity of becoming neutral, as the only means of avoiding destruction, the Spanish government could descend to boast of their elevated and proverbial good faith, which, like her fame in politics and arms, was the departed ornament of ages long since elapsed. It is proper to sub. join, that an army, first rated at 8,000 men, and afterwards at 24,000 men, was levied to form a cordon sanitaire on the frontiers of Portugal, the resources for paying and equipping which, were supposed to be furnished by the clergy. To this levy, the expressions in the circular, which bear a warlike aspect, were perhaps intended to refer.

The other particular, to which we alluded, is a document published in the English journals as genuine, and which, whether it be genuine or suppositious, undoubtedly speaks

He

the sentiments of the party from whom it professes to emanate. is a private exposition, addressd to Ferdinand, immediately after the receipt of Mr. Canning's speech in Madrid, by don Pedro Inguanzo, archbishop of Toledo, and primate of all Spain, an ecclesiastic of acknowledged ability, learning, and influence. This document contains an elaborate statement of the views of the apostolical party, of the clergy and the ultra royalist, concerning the existing crisis of the dispute with Portugal. Inguanzo represents it as equally the right and the duty of Spain, to maintain the ground she had taken. declares the question to be resolved into nothing more nor less than a war of religion, in which all true Catholics were bound to unite in defence of the holy church against the machinations of the heretics. He remarks upon Mr. Canning's speech with much pungency of criticism, and severe, but not altoge. ther unjust recrimination, accusing the British minister of inconsistency, contradiction, emptiness, and ridiculous arrogance, alike derogatory to his station, and the dig. nity of parliament. He strives to prove that France could have no interest to interfere in the matter by any acts in the nature of coercion and intimidation; and argues that Spain need apprehend nothing from that quarter, in case a war with Portugal should become ne

cessary. He pledged himself, and all the Spanish clergy, of whom he claimed to be the organ, to stand by the king to the last extremity, in the solemn duty of repressing the revolutionary spirit which agitated Portugal, and of which Spain might ere long be come the victim; and he affirmed, that they stood ready, to a man, to support the rights of the church and the throne, by every temporal sacrifice in their power. Finally, he urged the king to adopt no half measures, to make no concessions; but, if his enemies demanded either humiliation or redress, to speak, and let his voice be the signal of war. "If," said he, "they de mand of you to dismiss your servants, and call upon others to take their places, do you require that that minister should be removed, who has loaded your majesty, and your heroic nation, with insults, in order to keep up that same policy which wrested from us Gibraltar, and limited the power of Spain in the new world. If they require that your majesty should acknow. ledge the intrusive government they have introduced into Portugal, do you demand of them to renounce their acknowledgment of the new states of America, as they are pleased to call them. If they ap. proach our frontiers, let them there find our Spanish legions; there let all Christians commence their new crusade. Let your majesty raise

your voice, and it shall instantly be the signal for war. The standard of the cross being raised, all your majesty's subjects will flock around it; the ministers of the sanctuary themselves will take charge of the sacred ensign, and carry it triumphant to the very thickest of the enemy's ranks. There the smoke of incense shall ascend with that of the cannon; hymns of praise to the God of armies shall be blended with the cries of the combatants, and the cause of the Most High be made triumphant." Happily for the repose of Europe, and the welfare of Spain, these frantic exhortations did not have their desired effect; but the counsels of moderation prevailed, and Ferdinand abstained from giving further aid to the followers of Chaves and Magesor. He contented himself with strengthening the army of observation, which, under the command of General Sarsfield, guarded the frontiers of the kingdom. And, ere, the year expired, he had ample employment for all the resources of the kingdom, in repressing its internal con

vulsions.

Indeed, the active preparations for concentrating a military force upon the line of the Tagus, for the

double purpose purpose of protection against the contagion of constitutional principles, and of combating the English, if any future contingency should render it necessary,

were not the sole occupation of the Spanish cabinet during the winter. Other cares distracted their attention, as well apprehensions of the liberals, as of the party who made the name of the infant Don Carlos the rallying word of sedition. Of this we have sufficient evidence in a paper issued by Don Juan Jose Recacho, director general of the police, setting forth that there existed in his office well founded reasons to believe, that the Spanish emigrants were seeking to pervert the fidelity of the loyal Spaniards, by circulating among them incendiary and defamatory publications, aimed at the paternal government of king Ferdinand; and subjecting all persons, of whatever class or condition, with whom, after a pescribed time, any such papers might be found, to arrest and trial, as state criminals. Punishment was denounced also against any individual, in whose possession the police might detect letters or correspondence of a mysterious or suspicious nature, touching the affairs of government. Notwithstanding this rigorous measure, Madrid and the provinces continued to be filled with writings, wherein the vices of the existing system of government were portrayed in the colours they deserved, which the people secretly circulated, and read with avidity.

Malaga was the seat of a serious conspiracy, discovered late in De