we feel most sensibly, the superiority, which as Britons we in this respect enjoy over the nations on the continent,

་་་

We now turn to another source of intelligence-The SPANISH Gazettes, published in those provinces where popular insurrection has proved triumphant. Although the accounts inserted from time to time of victories the most brilliant, must be received with. caution, and much allowance made for those partial statements and exaggerations which almost uniformly accompany military details, in every country, yet it is evident that the successes of the Spanish PATRIOTS (the more we examine their cause, the more we find them deserving the name) have been signal and important. The principal of these victories are, those of General CASTANOS, and Major-General REDING over the forces of Generals DUPONT and WEDEL, in ANDALUSIA; and of Generals CREBELLON and CARO over the French army under General MONCEY in VALENCIA; the details of which appear in our Register. The account of the latter victory is contained in letters from Gibraltar, and appears to rest principally on the authority of a Spanish Captain; but the details of the former are from various quarters, have been transmitted by Lord COLLINGWOOD, and published in our official Gazette. Thus the principal armies of the French Emperor. in Spain have been subdued, and that chiefly by men little used to arms, and to military discipline.

One important result, amongst others, of the victory of. General CASTANOS, appears to have been the flight of the new King, whom we have just viewed in all his glory, proclaimed in his capital, and surrounded by his loving subjects! Our gazette

+ Us

That on the 29th. ult. in the evening the French began the evacu"ation of Madrid; upon the 30th. the evacuation continued, and "upon the 31st. JOSEPH BONAPARTE with the remainder of his "troops quitted the capital for Segovia,” 45 miles distance from Madrid; from whence it is reported he has farther retreated to Burgos, in his way towards the borders of the kingdom: this retreat was effected within four days of his being proclaimed King. Some of the accounts state that he made his escape in disguise, wearing a patriotic cockade, and all represent the royal fugitive as stripping the palace and the churches, of the crown, the regalia, the plate, and every thing of value which he could possibly lay his hands on. His conduct on this occasion has excited the indignant remarks of our journalists, who all seem to agree in representing the conduct. of JOSEPH as mean, dishonest, and unkingly but we cannot help. suspecting that these reflections, all circumstances considered, border on rudeness towards Kings in general. King JOSEPH has only followed the example of the generality of his brother Kings in most ages of the world. Robbing by sea, as well as by land

The Spanish Revolution,

The

*xi. has been, and is still we believe, judged by the majority in most countries to be a very honourable, a very kingly practice! The conversation which passed between ALEXANDER the great, and a famous pirate is well known. When the former reproached thie latter with being a robber, the latter sternly, and very truly replied "I am not so great a robber as thou art!" The conqueror felt so much of the remains of conscience, as silently to acquiesce in the justice of the recrimination, and the great robber not only. dismissed the petty robber unpunished, but ordered him to be treated with respect. Dr. PORTEUS the present Bishop of London, published in his younger days, (that is before he was made a bishop,) an admirable poem, in which he expressed it as his opinion, that, with respect to the commission of the crime, not only of robbery, but of murder, PRINCES ARE PRIVILEGED! history of what is called civilised society, too plainly demonstrates, that where the inhabitants of a country do not think it worth their while to watch the conduct of their kings, the latter seldom resist the great temptation they have to turn thieves; and it would be well if they contented themselves with stealing from their own subjects, and from neighbouring nations a little plate, or a few jewels! We sincerely hope that the Spanish patriots in their formation of a new constitution, should it be monarchical, will take the proper means to keep their kings honest: the very best, if not the only method of effecting this is, to place around them a free representative assembly, which may prove a safeguard against, not only a single thief on a throne, but what is infinitely worse, a gang of thieves in a cabinet, who may be careless how they rob their own country, or desolate a foreign country, and plunder or murder the inhabitants, if by such means they may but preserve their places; yea, who may arrive at that height of effrontery a common robber cannot reach, and plead not only necessity, but even a regard for the interests of social order and religion as the motives of their conduct!

The silence observed not only by the French Emperor, but by the grandees of the Spanish nation, (who effected the resignation or deposition of CHARLES IV. and transferred the crown to FERDINAND VII.) respecting the affairs of Spain, render it difficult to form a competent judgment as to the opinion of the majority of the Spanish people: this difficulty is increased by the remarks of the Editors of some of our London prints," that the insurrection is, "not so general as was at first apprehended, and that in several "provinces the patriotic ardour begins to cool." It is the custom of Sovereigns when they engage in war, whether just or unjust, to appeal to the world in their own justification: contemptible as these appeals usually are, and although they seldom afford any

xxi

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decent excuse for kindling, or spreading the flames of war, their very publication discovers some degree of respect to the judgment of mankind. We have been looking for such a memorial from the French Emperor. His conduct respecting Spain most imperiously calls for an explanation. Have the grandees of Spain, who effected the first revolution, perceiving the state of parties, and apprehending a civil war in the kingdom between the father and the son, both of whom had by their recent conduct afforded manifest proof of their incapacity for the government of such an empire as Spain,-have they solicited the interference of NAPOLEON? Did they consider themselves as the representatives of the people and were they authorised to propose the abdication of the BourRONS, and to offer the crown to BONAPARTE?

The grandees who elevated FERDINAND to the throne, in the room, and against the wishes of his father, who afterwards followed their new King to Bayonne, and there acquiesced in his abdication, and in that of the whole Royal family;-those grandees who accepted from NAPOLEON, his brother JOSEPH as their Sovereign, and were by him nominated to the most important offices in the state; who escorted him through the kingdom to the capital, and there proclaimed him King of SPAIN and of the INDIES, have not yet assigned the reasons for their conduct. Their characters however are at stake: their countrymen have a right to be informed of their motives, their views, their ultimate designs.

But whatever mystery may still envelope these transactions, it must be acknowledged, that appearances are at present against the French Emperor. Judging from the events which have taken place during the past three months, there is reason to conclude that the majority of the people of Spain are averse to the government of a foreign prince: their determined, and hitherto successful resistance, the defeat of the veteran troops of France by soldiers unused to discipline, who had but just entered the field of battle, afford presumptive evidence that INJUSTICE is on the side of NAPOLEON, and justice on the side of the PEOPLE OF SPAIN!

There are other considerations equally deserving notice, and which serve to strengthen this opinion. All the accounts hitherto received of the popular insurrections state them to be against the government of JOSEPH; but we read of no expression of the public voice in his favour, except on the very spot covered by his forces. As the French papers do not contradict this statement, it may fairly be presumed it cannot be contradicted. The Spaniards may in various places consider it as a matter of comparative indifference whether they are to be governed in future by the family of the BOURBONS or the BONAPARTES; and unless the new govern. ment should be formed on principles essentially different from that

which has existed for centuries past, one single drop of human blood is too valuable to be shed in favour of either the old or the new dynasty; and every Spaniard when he takes a retrospect of the intrigues and commotions which have already taken place, and the blood which has been already shed, may well exclaim with MERCUTIO when mortally wounded in an affray between the partisans of the Montagues and the Capulets,-"A plague o' both your houses!"" Judging however from all the accounts hitherto received, the public opinion wherever it has been expressed is in favour of FERDINAND.

The disposition of the troops employed by Spain on foreign service by virtue of her treaties with France, affords additional evidence of the odium attached by the Spaniards to the government of the French. Of an army of 15,000 men commanded by the Marquis de la Romana, and stationed in Denmark and its dependencies, the major part in consequence of a concerted plan between the British commander in the Baltic, and the Spanish general, have willingly rescued themselves from the dominion of France, and are removed to a place of security until they can be conveyed to Spain to join their countrymen in arms. The Danes and the French being apprised of the scheme prevented it from being executed so completely as was originally intended. About one third of the army were surprised and disarmed. The disposition of the Spanish troops is by this occurrence pretty plainly discovered. Until therefore we have evidence to counterbalance that we have now. stated, we cannot but be of opinion that the majority of the people of Spain are hostile to the government attempted to be imposed on them by France.

"What are the designs of the French Emperor?"-This is a ques". tion which in the present state of affairs must be the subject of anxious consideration in the minds of men of all descriptions. BONAPARTE has at length, after a long and uninterrupted career, met with a check to his ambitious pursuits from a quarter he least expected. From his not sending reinforcements to his armies in Spain, it is evident he deemed it unnecessary. His transfer of the kingdom of Naples from his brother JOSEPH to his relative MURAT, the Grand Duke of BERG, affords further evidence that he has a superior kingdom in prospect for the former. It is scarcely to be imagined that he will relinquish the crown of Spain without a struggle. Some of the Dutch papers inform us that NAPOLEON is collecting forces from different parts, for the purpose of forming an army of 150,00C› men to be sent to Spain. Should this prove to be fact, or should! the Emperor send an army of half that number, or indeed any army, at all, to compel the Spaniards to submit to a government disapproved of by the majority of the people, there is not one of our

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

The Spanish Revolution.

countrymen who wishes more ardently than we đó, that such a scheme df unprincipled ambition may be most completely frustrated. It is well for the Emperor if the very attempt to carry such a scheme into execution do not prove as impolitic as it is unjust. Mày success attend the exertions, not only of the Spaniards, but of every féople under heaven in forming a government, or in defending the government of their choice against the attacks of a foreign invader.

The attention of all Europe is now fixed on the people of Spain ; and we most sincerely hope that their conduct will afford a bright display of a people contending for a government founded on the principles of justice and freedom. At the same time, as our readers dust have noticed, we have had our fears lest the late insurrections should have been merely the effect of the machinations of the swarm of priests which have so long infested that country, who have kept the people in ignorance, poverty, and slavery, the willing tools of a government too bad for longer endurance, while all the time they Have themselves been wallowing in luxury and vice. One of our Correspondents has in our following pages given us some account of the established church of Spain, and of the state of religion throughout the kingdom, and states it as "the opinion of all those who have had a favourable opportunity of estimating the characters and manners of the inhabitants, that there is as little true morat religion in Spain, as in any country under heaven."* The actiity of the priests in stirring up and heading the late insurrections rendered us somewhat fearful, that the resistance was excited not so nuch against the dominion of JOSEPH, as against those dreaded reforms in the government, and more particularly in the ecclesiastical 1 government, which have been introduced into almost every country Subjugated by the French Emperor. The language in most of the Spanish proclamations on the the subject of religion, (some of which ive noticed in our last) is disgraceful, not only to christianity, but tó common sense, and to humanity. One of the most commendable Parts of NAPOLEON'S conduct, is that respecting religious liberty. He has lately added to the privileges he a few years since granted to people, who for so many centuries past, have been the victims of opJ'ression and persecution throughout the world. From the Dutch paers we learn, that by a decree dated June 4. the Jews in the depart

One of the latest writers on this subject gives the following accoufit of the church of Spain.

"The Roman catholic religion is the established religion. The nujjibét "of the clergy exceeds 300,000; who are under 8 archbishops, 46 biIf shops and 25 tribunals of inquisition established for maintaining the catholic religion. Spain contains 117 cathedral churches, 1028 convents, 19,683 parishes, &c."

Chauchard's Statistical Tables of Europe.