Although the splendid services of the Marquis of Wellington, and the necessity of bringing the Spanish armies into a state of effectual operation, had caused the appointment of his lordship to the high post of captain-general and commanderin-chief of the troops of Spain, yet symptoms had on different occasions appeared of that national jealousy which naturally attends upon a foreigner placed rather by circumstances than by good will in an office of great authority and trust, and his lordship's patience and moderation had more than once been exercised by the contradictions he had experienced. At length, the recall, by the Regency, of General Castanos from the army, under the pretext of employing him as a counsellor of state, obliged Lord Wellington to break silence, and address a public letter to the Spanish secretary at war, Don Juan O'Donoju, dated from Huarte, July 2d. It begins with referring to the alleged reason of the removal of General Castanos, namely, becanse he was not at the head of the 4th army which the Regency had entrusted to him; and it enters into a particular explanation of the causes which occasioned his employment elsewhere, not at his own suggestion, but that of Lord Wellington himself, who expressed a high esteem for this officer, as one who had served bis country in close union with him during the last three years, without a single difference of opinion between them in any matter of moment. The removal of Gen. Giron from his cominand without any motive assigned, is another subject of complaint. His lordship pro

ceeds, "Your Excellency also knows, that this is not the first in stance in which that contract, formed with so much solemnity, and after such mature deliberation, has been violated; and no one can be more fully aware than yourself of the. inconveniencies which thence result to the good of the service. Your Excellency is equally well acquainted with my natural disposition, and my wishes to continue to serve the Spanish nation, as far as my abilities extend: but forbearance and submission to injuries so great, have their limits; and I avow that I have been treated by the Spanish government in those matters, in a manner the most improper, even simply as an individual." We are not informed of the direct result of this letter; but the name of Giron is afterwards found in active service with Lord Wellington.

For a considerable time past the General and Extraordinary Cortes had been the body by whonr the great business of the renovation of Spain, and the formation of its constitution, was conducted; but the time was now arrived in which it was to resign its authority to the Ordinary Cortes. On the 14th of September the decree of the General and Extraordinary Cortes for the close of its sittings being read, the President Don Jose Miguel Gordoa delivered an animated and eloquent oration, in which he gave a retrospect of the wretched condition of the country at the time of the assembling of the Cortes, and a summary of what had been effected by that body towards its recovery. The following passage sketches the speak

er's

er's idea of the most essential benefits conferred upou the nation by the labours of the Cortes.

To raise the nation from slavery to sovereignty; to distinguish and divide the powers hitherto mixed and confounded; to acknowledge solemnly and cordially, the Apostolic and Catholic religion as the only true one, and that of the state; to preserve to the Kings all their dignity, giving to them unlimited powers to do good; to give to the press all the natural liberty which the celestial gifts of thought and speech should have; to abolish the ancient Gothic remains of the feudal system; to equalise the rights and duties of Spaniards of both worlds;-these were the first steps of the Cortes in their arduous and glorious career, and these were the solid bases upon which were afterwards raised the edifice of the constitution, the fortress of liberty. O Constitution! O sweet name of Liberty! O grandeur of the Spanish nation! : After the Cortes had bestowed upon us so many benefits, their insatiable thirst of doing good was not satisfied. They gave a new and more convenient form to the tribunals of justice; they settled the economical governmen of the provinces; they succeeded in forming a military constitution, and a plan of education and instruction truly national for youth; they organised the labyrinth of the finances; they simplified the system of contributions; and what cannot, nor ever will be heard without admiration, is, that in a period of the greatest poverty and distress they maintained, or rather created, public credit,"

It is gratifying to read the following passage in this patriotic effusion: Great and generous. England sees her sons crowned with Spanish laurels that shall never fade; and, besides the assist ance which she has lent to the common cause, has the fortune and glory of having sent the unconquered Wellington, the immortal captain of the allied armies ever triumphant." Such, doubtless, must be the general feeling of true Spaniards, whatever be the temporary jealousies and bickerings between different branches of authority.

In the interval between the dissolution of the old Cortes and the assembling of the new for public business, a deputation of the former continued permanent for the purpose of watching over the constitution, and being at hand for particular events. It happened that this interference was called for by the following circumstance. The removal of the seat of government to Madrid was a question which had been several times agitated, and was made an affair of party. In this month, the report of a contagious fever prevailing at Gibraltar occasioned an alarm of the same distemper at Cadiz, and the council of state recommended to the Regency the immediate removal of all the departments of government to Madrid. The populace of Cadiz, filled with consternation, assembled in the streets, and vented their indignation against the advisers of a measure which they regarded as prejudicial to their interests, though without any violent proceedings. The permanent depu

will say, that if great and critical circumstances presented themselves, they were not superior to France and Me." To meet the exigencies of the time, an imperial decree was issued imposing 30 additional centimes to the duty for the current year on doors, windows, and patents, a double personal contribution or property tax, and an additional tax on salt. And a decree of the senate passed for the levy of 300,000 conscripts, with the preamble "Considering that the enemy has invaded the frontiers of the empire on the side of the Pyrenees and the North, and that those of the Rhine and beyond the Alps are threatened." By the other decrees of the senate, the powers of the deputies of the legislative body, of the fourth series, were prolonged during the whole of the approaching session; and the direct nomination of the president of that body was invested in the emperor, who before only chose one of five candidates presented to him by it; manifest proofs of the apprehensions he began to entertain of any thing like an appeal to the people!

An event more ominous to the French domination in Europe, and more auspicious to the cause of political freedom, than any which had hitherto occurred, was the Revolution in Holland, declared about this time. Nothing could be more repugnant to the manners and sentiments of the people of the United Provinces, or more fatal to their interests as a trading nation, than their annexation to the French empire; and though inability to resist had awed them into submission, it cannot be doubted that a rooted abhorrence of the yoke im

posed upon them was the prevalent sentiment of the Batavian community. In the month of February a conspiracy had been discovered at Amsterdam, for the purpose of subverting the existing government, in which a few obscure, persons attached to the house of Orange were engaged; but the punishment of the conspirators had suppressed the project in its infancy. At length, apparently from no previous concert, but as the result of a sudden burst of public feeling, roused to action by the arrival of the allied troops on the Dutch frontier, on the 15th of November, the people of Amsterdam rose in a body, and with the old cry of Orange boven, universally put up the Orange colours, and proclaimed the sovereignty of that illustrious house. The populace displayed their hatred of the French by burning the watchhouses of the custom-house officers, and three of their vessels and one of the officers was killed in the scuffle, but this was the only life lost on the occasion. The example of Amsterdam was followed by the other principal towns of the provinces of Holland and Utrecht. The French authorities were dismissed without injury, and a temporary government was proclaimed in the name of the Prince of Orange, composed of the most respectable members of the old government, especially of those who were not employed by the French. On the 16th an administration was organized for Amsterdam under the direction of the armed burghers, and many of the leading citizens took upon themselves the care of preserving good order. Similar measures were a

dopted