manent deputation, stating a dispatch from Don Louis Escovedo, ex-political chief of, Seville, ac companied with a representation to the Cortes from the civil authorities, several military chiefs, and the inhabitants of Seville; and also with a copy of an address to the king, signed by the same persons, dated the 17th of December. The representation to the Cortes described the state of agitation into which the city and province were thrown on receipt of the first resolution of the Cortes in reply to the king's message, and called upon them to take the subject again into their consideration, and to weigh the motives by which the authorities were actuated in opposing the imbecility of an administration, which, having lost the confidence of the nation, could no longer pretend to govern it. The address to the king conclude with praying for a change in the administration, and the appointment and choice of authorities which should enjoy the confidence of the province.

After some discussion, M. Martel proposed, that the president should appoint a committee to examine the affair forthwith, and present their report before the close of the sitting. The Cortes finally adjourned to the 23rd, when the committee read their report, which stated, in substance, that the condition of the inhabitants of Seville was not such as the persons who signed the address wished to represent it; and that the majority of the committee gave it as their opinion, that there was room to prosecute Velasco, Escovedo, and all those persons who signed the representation, on the grounds of their disobedience, and of their having

represented the congress as hostile to the nation. After a warm debate, the congress adopted the resolution of the committee by a majority of 76.

This last resolution was undoubtedly most proper; but the general tenor of these transactions affords a melancholy proof, that the patriots of Spain were deficient either in the understanding, or in the virtue, which would have induced them to sacrifice private views and animosities to the good of their country. The most considerable cities in the kingdom had risen in open rebellion against the executive, and justified themselves on the ground, that the public functionaries were not such as they approved. If social order was to be any thing more than a name, the first duty of the great assembly of the nation was, to crush the rebellion and punish the principal traitors. Instead of this, the Cortes, while in form they disapproved, in effect encouraged the disturbers of the public tranquillity. They suggested every excuse for their guilt, admitted every palliation: they represented their conduct, though doubtless illegal, as morally innocent, and as having emanated from good motives: they took no measures against those, who, with arms in their hands, and in deliberative meetings, systematically resisted the executive power; they directed all their efforts against those very authorities, whose commands had been disobeyed. In words they disavowed the insurgent populace of Cadiz, Seville, Carthagena, Mercia, and Valencia; in effect, they co-operated with them.

but

The consequence was what might have been expected. The

cities and districts, which had thrown off the yoke of civil obedience, proceeded in their mischievous career; the most audacious addresses were presented to the king, and thanks were returned to the Cortes for the course which they had fol lowed. Other cities were encouraged to act in a similar way. On the last Sunday of the year, the militia of Barcelona, with the regiments of the line of Arragon and Soria, which composed the garrison, and with the first regiment of artillery, swore, in the most solemn manner, not to acknowledge in future a ministry, which, said they, "according to the happy expression of the Cortes, has lost its moral power of governing, and which is going to plunge us into an abyss of disgraces, compromising our laws and our liberties. Viva la Constitucion! Viva Barcelona!" The regiment of Cordova at first refused to join them, and a serious affray was expected; but a depu tation from the militia met a deputation from that regiment, and, upon explaining to them that their object was by no means to establish a republic, but to support Cadiz, Seville, and the other towns of Spain, which had determined to refuse obedience to any mandate of the present ministers, and not to receive any public functionaries appointed by them, the latter acquiesced, unanimity was established, and a declaration to the effect above stated was signed by their chiefs.

In fact, at the close of the year, political union and subordination seemed to be nearly at an end in Spain. The secret societies were active popular

demagogues were restless; while the ministers, finding no sure aid on any side, and meeting with resistance everywhere, were un able to act with efficiency. In consequence of their financial embarrassinents, the persons employed by them were not paid. The military force either threw off subjection to the civil power, or, ceasing to look up to the central government, obeyed only the impulse given by the local authorities: while these authorities, in their turn, formed themselves into juntas, and decided supremely on the affairs of their respective provinces.

To these evils, which must be ascribed exclusively to the folly, the wickedness, and the dissensions of the partizans of the new order of things, were added others occasioned by attempts to re-establish the antient despotism. In the month of December, insurrections broke out in different parts of Arragon, Catalonia, Navarre, and Biscay.

The insurgents proclaimed their purposes by their shouts of "The absolute king for ever." They nearly succeeded in surprising Gerona; kept Pampeluna in alarm, and threatened Bilboa: but they acted in separate bodies, without any regularly concerted plan. The ministers, on the other hand, showed themselves not wanting in energy: troops were dispatched from all quarters into the disturbed districts; many skirmishes took place, in which the military were generally victorious; and the insurgents, if not completely put down, were at least everywhere checked, and were prevented from collecting upon any point an imposing force.

The effective produce of the taxes was only 342,951,456 reals. From the 1st of July 1821, to the end of the year, the receipts of the exchequer little exceeded ninety millions of reals.

Considerable debts had been contracted by the old govern ment in Holland. The Cortes had, on the 11th of September 1820, recognized this debt, and engaged to repay both the capital and the interest in arrear. But, in the course of the present year, a resolution was adopted, without the consent of the holders of the stock, or their agents, that the payment should be made in paper money (creditos), which was afterwards to be received in pay ment for the national domains.

Towards the end of the year, a loan was contracted for at Paris, with MM. Ardoin, Hubbard, &c. The principal conditions of the contract were, that M M. Ar.

784,229,417

doin and Hubbard should supply Spain with 140,000,000 reals, for which they were to receive inscriptions of 5 per cent rentes, at the rate of 10 piasters of capital for one of rente; and, as they were allowed a commission of 5 per cent, it follows, that Spain received for 5 piasters of rente only the sum of 47 piasters.

The Spanish government was to receive from MM. Ardoin and Hubbard, at certain specified rates, the bonds and premiums of the loan of Paris, the bonds of the Dutch loan, and notes for ar. rears of interest on the Dutch loan.

If the contractors anticipated their payments, they were to be allowed a discount of 5 per cent. The interest was to be paid, without deduction, on the 1st of May and the 1st of November, in Madrid, Paris, and London.

In September a most destruc

tive pestilential fever made its appearance in the eastern and southern provinces of Spain. Catalonia, Arragon, Malaga, Grenada, Murcia, and parts of Andalusia, were afflicted by it; but Tortosa, and, above all, Barcelona, suffered more than any other place. The malady as sumed many various aspects. It generally lasted seven or nine days; the body became cold, and the pulse low. The stomach was the organ which usually exhibited the first symptoms of the attack; and the kidneys, those which first ceased to perform their functions. It was calculated, that, in Tortosa, upwards of seven thousand persons had died before the 26th of September, and about seventy each day afterwards. In Barcelona the mortality was at the rate of 350 daily, from the 25th of September to the 5th of October. From this time it gradually abated. Towards the end of October, it still amounted to more than a hundred per day; by the beginning of December it had nearly disappeared in Barcelona; and by the end of that month, even' Cadiz and Xeres, where it had broken out latest, were free from its ravages. The vicinity of Barcelona to the French frontier had

excited great anxiety in France, and a commission of five physicians had been dispatched from Paris to aid the resident practitioners. This commission, at the head of which was Dr. Pariset, pronounced the malady to be contagious, and directed their efforts to entirely cutting off all communication between the diseased and those who continued healthy, Towards the termination of this afflicting visitation, a different doctrine was held. It was then maintained, that, in the fever of Barcelona, there was not a particle of contagion; and that the propagation of that belief, under the authority of the French commissioners, had been the cause, by means of terror and barbarous restrictions, of increasing the otherwise inevitable mortality. The number of those who died in the city was stated by the junta at between nine and ten thousand; but it was generally believed, that the authorities, especially at the commencement, represented the mortality much below the truth, and that not fewer than twenty thousand persons fell victims within the space of three months to the fever of Barcelona.

PORTU

ORTUGAL, though drawn into the revolutionary career by the example of her neighbour, continued during the year peaceful and orderly. Her revolution had not, like that of Spain, been brought about by the soldiers alone, nor in opposition to the wishes of the privileged classes and the great proprietors. The clergy and nobility had either co-operated in producing it, or had submitted to it, without much reluctance; and though men were not wanting, who showed an inclination to run into the wildest extremes of political fanaticism, and to urge their country through a succession of changes, these were speedily checked in their projects and deprived of power. Some theoretical doctrines were propagated, and some practices adopted in the constitution, which a more enlarged experience would probably have rejected: but in the mean time the order and subordination of civil society remained undisturbed; and if, amid the many

improvements that were made, a few ill-advised alterations found a place, there was at least time and opportunity to apply a remedy, before any serious mischief could be occasioned.

The Cortes assembled in the beginning of January; and, after some preparatory meetings, their solemn installation took place on the 6th of January. On that morning, at ten o'clock, the deputies being met in the church of St. Mary, solemn mass began, accompanied by vocal and instrumental music; at the same moment a flight of sky-rockets gave the signal, and immediately the castle of St. George, and the fortresses, the ships of war, and all the vessels in the river, fired a royal salute. Then the deputies proceeded to take the oath on the Holy Gospels, in the following words :

"I swear faithfully to fulfil, in the exercise of the powers which have been given me, the duties of deputy to the extraordinary Cortes, which are about to make