OUR account of SPAIN for 1826 presented a melancholy picture of public imbecility, internal disorder, and infatuated misrule; nor have more recent events indicated any material change for the better in the condition of this distracted country. We have lightly touched, in the preceding chapter, upon the conduct of Spain at the commence. ment of the period now under review; but a fuller developement of the policy and management of Ferdinand respecting Portugal, properly enters into the Spanish history for the year.

Ever since the overthrow of the constitutional party in Spain, the government of the kingdom had effectively been controlled by persons, who were perfectly fanatical

in their devotion to absolute powers. They seemed to be actuated by a kind of mania, in favour of bigotry in religion, and servility in politics. The apostolic faction could not but remember how ill they fared in the hands of the constitutional cortes, which, as the very first step towards raising the condition of the country, took mea. sures for rescuing the church lands from the iron grasp of mortmain, and rendering them available for the purposes of public utility, as England had done in the reign of Henry VIII., and France in the beginning of her revolution. Of course, the priesthood, more potent in Spain than in any other nation. of Western Europe, and all who were under their influence, enter

tained a mortal hatred for the very name of a constitution. Liberty itself was odious to them, as the watchword of the millions of emancipated colonists in America, whose separation from the mother country had not only involved the latter in a hopeless and ruinous war, but shut out its whole population from access to an inexhaustible source of riches in the western world. It is easy to conceive, therefore, with what pious horror Ferdinand and his court regarded the introduction of a liberal constitution in their immediate neighbourhood, from whence the contagion of liberalism could most easily return into Spain itself, notwithstanding the bloody purification it had lately undergone.

But how should they manifest their detestation of Pedro's charter in such a way as to subvert the regency established under it, with the smallest risk to themselves? The clergy hardly stopped to consider dangers or consequences; being eager to hurry the kingdom into immediate war with the Portuguese. But enough of discretion remained in the go. vernment, to foresee that this would be mere madness. All the great powers of Europe had yield. ed their sanction at least, if not their approbation, to the new institutions of Portugal. Great Britain evidently felt a deep interest in the prosperity of her ancient

ally.

France had acknowledg. ed the regency. In these circumstances, Spain might easily understand, that she would not be borne out in making open war upon Portugal, merely because the latter had accepted a charter, the free gift of her legitimate sovereign. Ferdinand resolved, therefore, to avail himself of the spirit of discontent, which began to show itself in Portugal, and to encourage the disaffected to overturn the lawful government of their country. He refused to recognise the regency, by receiving the Portuguese minisDeter in the customary manner. sertions from the Portuguese army beginning now to take place, the Spanish captains general in Valladolid, and Estremadura, allowed the fugitives to assemble in the ter ritory of Spain, and prepare the invasions, of which we have already given an account. Ferdinand appeared strangely to imagine that a flimsy disguise would serve to veil the character of his operations from the censure of his allies, or at least preserve him from the active interference of any one of them. But the event showed how grossly ignorant his ministry were of the precise relations between England and Portugal; and how blindly infatuated as to the temper, character, and designs of the British cabinet.

The count of Villa Real, the ambassador sent by the regency to

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 proceedings. 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 recognition 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. Calomarde, the minister of justice, and the other ultra royalists in the cabinet, persisted in the policy they had adopted; but to save appearances, every assurance was given in words, of the determination of the government to disarm the rebels. The minister of foreign af fairs, 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 out. rage, Villa Real again addressed the Spanish government, which could no longer pretend ignorance of what was going on upon the frontiers. Salmon gave new assurances 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 provinces. With most unaccountable infatuation, Spain seemed to suppose, 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 provinces, 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 harbour 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 Calomarde'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 promptitude 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. dinand 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.

Fer

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 friend. ly remonstrances of France, and the overpowering threats of England. 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 inspec. tor 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 it. self 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 live. ly 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 manifest 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 subjoin, 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