which their obstinacy has brought upon Arragon, Catalonia, and the frontier provinces, he says, "the country demands the assistance of numerous and vigorous arms to restrain at once the audacity of her factious sons; and the brave and loyal soldiers, who are serving her in the field of honour, call for vigorous and effectual measures to ensure the happy success of the enterprises in which they are employed." The speech then touches upon the eminent local advantages and national pretensions of Spain, recommends the establishment of new military ordinances and regulations, the further improvement of the system of jurisprudence, and the formation of new relations with such states as "know how to estimate the riches and resources of Spain." The speech concludes with, from Ferdinand, the following rather novel language: " The extension of the bonds of union among all the friends of liberty, will shed an additional lustre on those eminent qualities which to Spain and myself are the surest pledges of your prudence. All good men will rejoice to behold you once more occupied in providing for their happiness, and the evil-disposed will find in the national Congress a barrier impenetrable to their criminal projects." The newly-chosen president replied drily, that the Cortes rejoiced to receive the testimony of his Majesty's confidence, and that the sentiments just expressed by him were indicative of virtue and firmness; he added also, with significant emphasis, that the national representatives were determined to make the public voice of Spain respected both ut homé and abroad. Ferdinand, after this, departed in great state to his palace, without having any reason to be dissatisfied with his public reception. On the next day, the Secretary of State for the war department, General Lopes Banos, read a report to the Cortes, developing not only their local situation, but also that which they occupy with respect to other countries. This document, being of ficial, is at least so far interesting as exhibiting from authority the views of the constitutional Spanish govern ment. The report describes under five heads the state of Spain, with respect to her external and internal

enemies. The state of the army forms the first consideration; and this, comprising the clothing, equipment, materiel, and fortresses, the minister describes as being very defective, paying, at the same time, a compliment to the patriotism of the troops, which has sustained them under every disadvantage. The important topic of the feelings entertained by the nations bordering upon Spain, is next boldly and explicitly touched upon. Portugal is relied upon by the Spanish government as likely to lend her aid in case of extremity." As to France, the report directly accuses the government of that country of holding out professions of goodwill and friendship, while, nevertheless, the chiefs of all the Spanish conspiracies arranged in France their plans of aggression and hostility; that in France, the defeated factious found refuge from the pursuit of the national troops, and had also made preparations which could not have been effected without the permission of the administration, and which required sums of money too vast to have been derived solely from their resources in Spain. The Cordon Sanitaire is also noticed; and the secretary says, that the French government has given orders for assembling in Bayonne, Toulouse, Perpignan, and other parts of the frontier, a considerable force of artillery and infantry, and a vast store of provisions, greatly exceeding what could for a length of time be required for the supply of the present number of troops and fortresses. "Considering, therefore, (says the report,) the alarming progress the insurrection at first made, and the suspicions which must be entertained, not only of our neighbour France, but of all that confederation of potentates known by the name of the Holy Alliance, it becomes necessary to demand of the Cortes an augmentation of the military strength." The proposal which the minister makes, is, to raise by a new levy, 30,000 infantry, and 8000 cavalry, and to make up the present force to the number decreed by the ordinary Cortes; namely, 62,000 men, it being at present deficient by 10,000. In addition to this, he proposed also the recruiting and orga nization of the active militia. After this, another report was made by th

finance minister, Don Mariano Egoa, equally remarkable for the candour of its admissions: he states an annual deficit in the collection of the taxes from various causes, but particularly from the want of zeal, and the absolute corruption in the officers of the revenue; this deficit, in the year from July 1821 to July 1822, amounted to no less a sum than 3,200,000l.! however, after unfolding the various causes of the decrease, the Minister expresses his firm confidence, that, under the vigilant system which he has adopted, the revenue will gradually recover and increase. In order to meet the deficiencies thus occasioned, he proposes a loan of nearly seven millions sterling, and urges immediate decision in the Cortes, in order, he says, "to prevent Spain from being menaced externally under any motive or pretext whatever." The report was referred to the finance committee. As to the military progress of the constitutionalists, or of their opponents, it is quite impossible to speak with any certainty. The only accounts we have are through the French papers; and these are so tinctured with the spirit of their respective parties, that implicit credit cannot be placed upon any of them. We may see, however, by the preceding documents, that the constitutional party in Spain fully and frankly admit the dangers they have to encounter. This is a candid proceeding, and may perhaps, in the end, prove the most prudent. The principle was long ago laid down by an Irish legislator in the Irish House of Commons, in what was called a bull, but which had much wisdom and knowledge of the world blended with its eccentricity: "The surest way, (said Sir Boyle Roche,) for either a man or a nation to avoid danger, is to meet it at once."

The accounts which have arrived from Lisbon are of a late date, and seem fully to confirm the reliance which the constitutional administration of Spain places on the assistance of Portugal in time of need. In the sitting of the 30th of September, the president and members of the Cortes took the oaths to the new constitution, and afterwards signed it. The form was as follows: the person about to take the oath laid his hand

on the holy gospel, and exclaimed in a loud voice: "I swear to preserve the political constitution of the Portuguese monarchy which has just been decreed by the constitutional Cortes of the same nation." On the following day, October 1, his Majesty proceeded in state to the Cortes, also to take the oath, which he signed according to the prescribed formula: "John 6th, King, Com. Guarda." The King, after having taken the oath, is reported to have said with much earnestness, "I take this oath, not merely in words, but with all my heart." After the ceremony, his Majesty visited the theatre, where he was received with the greatest possible enthusiasm. The entire city of Lisbon exhibited nothing but rejoicings; and the feeling of the citizens was, perhaps, not a little excited by a motion previously made in the Cortes, and referred to the committee of commerce, the object of which was, to declare Lisbon a free port. The rupture, however, between the Brazils and Portugal, appears now to be quite as complete as that between Spain and her South American dominions. In the sitting of the Cortes on the 28th of September, a communication was made to that body by the King, of a manifesto and decree issued by the Prince Regent, declaring the independence of the Brazils. M. Freire, on moving that the document should be read, styled it" an open declaration of war against the Cortes." Authentic copies of these papers were ordered to be taken, and the originals were returned to his Majesty. The documents presented by the King to the Portuguese Cortes speak certainly in language not to be misunderstood. The Prince Regent reproaches the Cortes of Portugal for having made laws for Brazil before its deputies could arrive at Lisbon, for having denied the Brazilians a resident executive, and, in many other instances, treated them after the fashion of an arbitrary and degrading colonial system. He says also, that the Cortes of Portugal," arrogating to itself the tyrannical right of imposing upon Brazil a new compact-an article of faith, signed under a partial and prospective oath, and which could in no way involve the approval of selfdestruction has compelled us to

examine the pretended titles which are set up, and to investigate the injustice of such unreasonable pretensions. This examination, which in sulted reason counselled and required, has proved to the Brazilians that Portugal, in overthrowing all established forms-in changing all the ancient and respectable institutions of the monarchy-in passing the sponge of moral oblivion over all her relations, and in re-constituting herself anew, cannot compel us to accept a dishonourable and degrading system, without violating those very principles on which she has founded her revolution, and the right of changing her political institutions." After much declamation similar to the preceding, he declares himself ready to accede to the expressed voice of the southern provinces of Brazil-declares himself their king, but still the delegate of his august father, and congratulates the country that in this way, "avoiding the fascinating example of neighbouring states, royalty may be preserved in the great American continent, and the rights of the august house of Braganza acknowledged." The Prince then draws a flattering, and we hope it may for their sakes turn out a true, picture of the blessings which await the Brazilians under their new form of government; the language in which it concludes is so eloquent, that we will not do it the injustice of abridging it. "Your representatives (he says,) will give you a code of laws adequate to the nature of your local circumstances, of your population, interests, and relations, the execution of which will be confided to upright judges; they will administer gratuitous justice, and will cause to disappear all the pettifogging cavils of your forum, founded on ancient, ridiculous, complicated, and contradictory laws. They will give you a penal code, dictated by reason and humanity, in place of those sanguinary and absurd laws of which you have hitherto been the suffering victims. You will have a system of imposts which will respect the labours of agriculture, the works of industry, the dangers of navigation, and the freedom of trade. Cultivators of literature and science, almost always abhorred or despised by despotism, you will now find the

road to honour and glory open and disembarrassed. Virtue and merit will be seen in conjunction to adorn the sanctuary of the country, while intrigue will no longer close the avenues to the throne, hitherto open only to hypocrisy and deceit!! Citizens of every class-Brazilian youth, you shall have a national code of public instruction, which shall cultivate and cherish the talents of this blessed climate, and will place our constitution under the safeguard of future generations, transmitting to the whole nation a liberal education which will communicate to each member the instruction necessary for promoting the happiness of the great Brazilian whole.' This manifesto appears to have been received with the utmost enthusiasm, and certainly with justice, if its promises are likely to be realized; at the same time, we cannot avoid noticing some strange admissions with respect to the ave nues of access to the throne hitherto, particularly as coming from a prince of the Blood Royal. If the present posture of affairs lasts, however, Brazil, although lost to Portugal, is still possessed by the house of Braganza-with this only difference, that the old king waves a new flag at Lisbon, and the young king brandishes the old flag at Rio-still the fee simple of both countries happily remains in the family. This manifesto was followed up next day by a decree of a very decided character, in which the prince declares that, "considering the necessity of prompt measures, and considering also that his Majesty Don John VI. our Lord, whose name and authority the Cortes at Lisbon, for their own sinister ends, pretend to employ, is a prisoner in the kingdom of Portugal, deprived of his own free will, and without that liberty of action which belongs to the executive power in constitutional monarchies," all Portuguese troops landing in Brazil shall be considered as enemies. The only alarm felt at Rio, was on account of the negroes, who began to be infected with the prevailing spirit of independence, and who, it was feared, were not likely much longer to believe that a difference of colour should properly exclude them from the benefits of a system which professed to be universal in its philan

thropy. These people are principally employed in the mines; and it was apprehended that, when the troops which watch over them were with drawn, they would rise and seize upon some part of the country for themselves; the fear was naturally the greater from the recollection that they had always been treated with the greatest severity.

With respect to the state of the Greek cause, we wish sincerely we had any thing sufficiently authentic of a favourable nature to communicate. In saying this, however, we are glad to add, that almost all the reports are favourable to the cause of liberty, humanity, and literature. In an article, even from Constantinople itself, we find that the possession of the key of the Morea has not by any means secured the peaceable or permanent possession of the Isthmus, On the contrary, 20,000 Turks are said to have fallen in battles and ambuscades, and Corinth alone remained in their possession destitute of every means of defence. They say also, that now that the plunder of the Greeks is at an end, the Porte began to feel the want of money, and had issued a very arbitrary firman, ordering every thing made of gold and silver to be instantly deposited in the royal treasury for an indemnity named by the government. In addition to this, it is stated, that after a great Turkish Fleet had been dispatched to Patras, a second expedition, consisting of 40 transports, three frigates, and one line of battle ship, with 8,000 troops on board, was fitted out at Constantinople for the purpose of ravaging the Archipelago, while the Greek squadron should be gone round the Morea after the Turkish fleet of Patras. The Greek Admiralty had, however, a squadron of reserve, which it caused to lurk about Negropont, and which attacked this second Ottoman expedition in the dangerous channel called Bocca-Silota, between Negropont and Andros. The Turks, not expecting this, were panic struck, and the result was, that between battle and shipwreck they lost threefourths of their squadron, and at least two-thirds of their troops. Whatever may be the result of this contest, the Turks seem to be singularly unfortunate in their naval enterprises. An extraordinary battle is

said to have taken place at Souli; extraordinary on account of some of the combatants. The Turks suddenly appeared at the foot of the Souli mountains with a force of 15,000 men; and the Greeks, knowing the cruelties which would be exercised towards the helpless in case of defeat, resolved at once to sacrifice their wives and children, and sell their own lives as dearly as possible. The females, however, had sufficient influence to counteract this determination, and insisted upon arming and sharing at least the chances of the combat. They actually fell into the ranks to the number of 800, and after a desperate action, the Ottoman forces were obliged to retreat, leaving, besides the killed, 1,350 prisoners, and four pieces of cannon. The Greeks lost 17 females and 167 men. These are some of the rumours as they have reached us through the foreign press; but, though rumours, they are so generally credited, that there can be but little doubt that the affairs of Greece have not fallen off during the last month. Lord Strangford has departed from Constantinople for Congress, and is, it is said, charged with an important declaration from the Porte, It is a sort of anticipatory protest against every interference of the foreign powers with the internal concerns of the Ottoman empire, to the arrangement of which the Porte declares itself fully adequate without any assistance. It is a pity that a monarch so determined has not a more just cause.

In France, the situation of affairs seems any thing but satisfactory to the ruling powers. Arrests, trials, and executions, follow one another in rapid succession, varied only by a whimsical alternation of propitiatory atonements for the sins of the past, and religious ceremonies to mark the piety of the present generation. The conduct of the Ultra government fully countenances the suspicions entertained of it by the Madrid administration. The Cordon Sanitaire is daily increasing; and by accounts from Bayonne, it appears, that transports have arrived at that place, laden with ammunition and provisions, and a still greater number is expected. The materials for sieges alone would, they say, fill 500 waggons, and are sufficient for an army of 200,000 men. The store