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their head, for having a leading direction in affairs of state, and with authority of appointment and dismission, for keeping such council to their duty.

If, in the present state of things, the supreme junta should, in the first instance, appoint such a council, to consist of as many members as there are departments of state, and elect a regent, to hold his office until he might be confirmed or superseded by a national legislature; and should themselves exercise in the interim all the functions of such legislature, the happiest results might be expected. But ought a regent himself, who is to represent an absent king, to be in his person, like the king he represents, inviolable and unresponsible? Here is another delicate and perhaps difficult question. For overcoming this and all such difficulties, it is to be hoped the junta will begin their great work at the right end, and proceed according to the order of nature, doing completely what they do at all. Let them in the first instance organize a perfect militia. Then let them constitute a legislature on a model dictated by the principles of liberty. In ordering the elections of the people, they will then find the previous organization of the militia and the enrolments of the people to that end, if well contrived, of incalculable use towards a free choice of representatives, and attended with such dispatch and perfection, that the elections throughout all Spain may be completed at any time in six hours or less.

Let them but carry into execution these fundamentals, and with the necessary foresight for the permanence of their work; then all difficulties touching an executive power will varrish, and they may easily make their kings inoffensive while they make inviolable, conditions which doubtless cught to go hand in hand.

But it may be worth their while to consider, whether a regency may not be now so modelled, as to make with advantage a permanent part of executive government, even when they may see a king of " the reigning

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family" again seated on the throne; an event apparently at a considerable distance. The great, when placed in dignified and lucrative offices of any kind, are generally content with the trappings and the emoluments, while the real duties are done by their deputies. Even kings are very subject thus to administer a government in the person of a favourite; and with this disadvantage, that the deputy is not always selected for his honesty or fitness to govern. Possibly, therefore, when the fundamentals of the state should have been taken care of as suggested, it might prove no inconvenient practice, to

have at all times an able deputy to an hereditary chief magistrate, chosen for a convenient term of years by the legislature, somewhat in the same manner as a president is elected by the federal legislature of America. While there should be no king, or during a king's illness, or minority, or infirmity of any kind, the regent could entirely supply his place; or if a king were present and capable of appearing, to him might be resigned the throne, the canopy, the regalia of every kind, with all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of royalty, while in the performance of all acts of state, he should be attended by his deputy, who should not only be the mouth-piece of his royal principal, but with responsibility. What the inconveniences of such a practice might be, I do not foresee; but various advantages are obvious. The defective education of hereditary princes, their vices or imbecilities would no longer, as it should seem, affect the destiny of nations, or entail on them the greatest calamities. In respect of talents and virtues, for beneficial government, the probability would be infinitely greater, that they should be found in a regent so to be elected, than in one born to a throne. The arguments against elective kings I know would be applied against such an elective regent; but until the objectors should shew me in the former constitution of Poland, or any other elective monarchy, the same securities for a peaceful election, where real freedom was enjoyed, and where real merit was sure of a preference, as I shall be able to shew would be the case in the election now proposed. I shall continue to think the suggestion deserves the serious consideration of the Spanish junta; who now have to act for a nation that has groaned under three centuries of hereditary despotism. And notwithstanding, Sir, your objections to Mr. Jefferson, I must needs think that the usual declamation against elective kingdoms has lost much of its force, since the sovereign of so great a country as North America has now so peaceably, and, upon the whole, so very beneficially, for above thirty years, been raised to supreme power by the suffrages of the people he was to govern; under a system which seems to exclude the possibility of placing the reins of government in the hands of a man without experience, an honourable character, and the reputation of ability.

I am Sir, your obedient servant,
J. CARTWRIGHT.

Enfield, Oct. 18, 1808.

EXPOSITION OF THE PRACTICES AND MA CHINATIONS WHICH LED TO THE USUR

PATION OF THE CROWN OF SPAIN, AND THE MEANS ADOPTED BY THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH TO CARRY IT INTO EXECUTION: BY DON PEDRO CEVALLOS, FIRST SECRETARY OF STATE AND DISPATCHES TO HIS CATHOLIC MAJESTY,

FERDINAND VII. (Continued from p. 672.) Will your majesty permit me to remind you, bat no alarm need have been given by troops ntering as friends and allies, but on the conrary, that it ought to inspire additional onfidence? Your majesty will likewise ermit me to observe, that the orders given y your majesty, were for a journey with he royal family to Seville, and the troops vere to keep open that road. There was 10 person who was not persuaded that this was for the transport of your majesty and he royal family to America. Your majesty lso published a decree to quiet the minds of your subjects in this particular; but as all preparations were made, and it was manifestly seen, that the coast of Andalusia was o see the royal family assembled, despair cok possession of the public mind, and the movement of Aranjuez was the consequence. The part I took in it your majesty knows, which was no other than by your command, to go to protect from the fury of the people the object of their hatred, because he was believed to be the proposer of the journey.

Let your majesty ask the emperor of the French, and his imperial majesty will no doubt tell you what he said to me in a letter that he wrote to me at Vittoria, viz. that the mative of his imperial and royal majesty was, to induce your majesty to make some reforms, and to separate from your person the prince of Peace, whose influence was the cause of every calamity.-The universal satisfaction that his arrest produced throughout the whole nation, is an evident proof of the truth of what the emperor declared. As to the rest, your majesty is the best witness that in the midst of the commotion at Aranjuez, not a word was whispered against your majesty, nor against the person of any one of the royal family; on the contrary, they applauded your majesty with the greatest demonstrations of joy, and professions of fidelity to your august person. On this account, the abdication of the throne which you made in my favour, surprized every body, and myself among the rest; for nobody expected it, or would have solicited it. Your majesty yourself communicated your abdication to all your ministers, enjoining them to acknowledge me as their natural lord and sovereign. You communicated it verbally to the diplomatic body, professing that your determination proceeded from your

spontaneous will, and that you had before determined upon it. You yourself told it to your beloved brother, adding, at the same time, that the signature which your majesty had put to the decree of abdication, was the happiest transaction of your life; and finally, your majesty told me personally three days afterwards, that I should pay no atten tion to any assertion of the abdication being involuntary, inasmuch as it was, in every respect, free and spontaneous.-My supposed hatred to France in no respect appeared by my conduct: the contrary will appear by my actions, of which I will give a rapid narrative.-Your majesty had scarcely abdicated the crown in my favour, before I addressed various letters from Aranjuez to the emperor of the French, which are so many proofs that my principles, with respect to the relations of friendship and strict alliance happily subsisting between the two states, were the same that your majesty had inspired me with, and had yourself inviolably observed. My journey to Madrid was one of the strongest proofs that I could give to his imperial and royal majesty of the unlimited confidence I placed in him, since Prince Murat had entered Madrid the day before with a great part of his army, and the city being garrisoned, it was the same as if I had delivered myself into his hands. During two days of my residence in the capital, I was informed of the particular correspondence of your majesty with the emperor of the French, and I found that your majesty had recently solicited a princess of his family to connect me with it, and to insure more effectually in this way the near union and alliance which was to subsist between the two states. Accommodating my-. self entirely to these principles, and to the wish of your majesty, I wrote a letter to your majesty, requesting the princess in marriage. I sent a deputation to Bayonne to compliment, in my name, his imperial and royal majesty. A short time afterwards, I induced my beloved brother, the Infant Don Carlos, to set off, that he might pay his respects to the emperor on the frontiers. Not content with this, I myself left Madrid, on the faith of the assurances given me by the ambassador of his imperial majesty, the grand duke of Berg, and general Savary, who had just arrived from Paris, and who intreated an audience to tell me on the part of the emperor, that his imperial majesty only expected of me to follow the system with regard to France which your majesty adopted; in which case, the emperor would acknowledge me as king of Spain and all the rest would be forgotten.-Full of re

liance on these promises, and persuaded that I should be met by his imperial majesty, I arrived at this city; and on the same day that I arrived, verbal propositions were made to some of my attendants, quite different from those which had been before suggested, which neither my honour, my conscience, nor my duty would permit me to concur in, since the Cortes had sworn me to be their prince and lord ; nor were they consistent with what I had lately sworn, when I accepted the crown that your majesty abdicated in my favour.-I cannot comprehend how any letters of mine could have come into the possession of the emperor which prove my hatred against France, since I have given so many proofs of my friendship towards him, and have written nothing to indicate such a disposition. A copy of the protest had been lately shewn me, which your majesty made to the emperor, in the nullity of the abdication; and yet, when I arrived in this city, and asked you respecting it, you told me distinctly, that the abdication was voluntary, although not intended to be permanent. I asked you at the same time, why you did not apprize me of this before it was executed, and your majesty answered, that you did not choose it; from which may be inferred, that there was no violence used, at least not by me: it could not be known that your majesty intended to resume the reins of government on the contrary, you told me, that you neither would reign, nor return into Spain.-In the letter that I had the honour to put into the hands of your majesty on this account, I signified my disposition to renounce the crown in your favour, when the Cortes should be convened; and if not convened, when the council and deputies of the kingdom should be assembled; not because I thought this was necessary to give effect to the renunciation, but because I thought it convenient to avoid injurious novelties, which frequently occasion divisions and contentions, and to have every thing attended to which respected your majesty's dignity, my own honour, and the tranquillity of the realm.-If your majesty should not choose to reign in person, I will govern in your royal name, or in my own; for nobody but myself can represent your person, possessing as I do, in my own favour, the decision of the laws, and the will of the people; nor can any other person have so much interest in their prosperity.To your majesty, I repeat again, that in such

circumstances, and under such conditions, I am ready to accompany your majesty to Spain, there to make my abdication in the form expressed. In respect to what your majesty has said of not wishing to return to Spain, with tears in my eyes I implore you, by all that is most sacred in heaven and earth, that in case you do not choose to reascend the throne, you will not leave a country so long known to you, in which yo may choose a situation best suited to your injured health, and where you may enjoy greater comforts and tranquillity of mind than in any other. Finally, I beg your ma jesty most affectionately, that you will se riously consider your situation, and that yo. will reflect on the evil of excluding our dy nasty for ever from the throne of Spain, and substituting in its room the imperial famy of France. This step we cannot take with out the express consent of all the individuas who have, or may have, a right to the crown; much less without an equally ex pressed consent of the Spanish people assem bled in Cortes in a place of security; and besides, being now in a foreign country, it would be impossible that we could persuade any one that we acted freely; and this corsideration alone would annul whatever we might do, and might produce the most fatal consequences. Before I conclude this letter, your majesty will permit me to say, that the counsellors, whom your majesty calls per fidious, have never advised me to deroge from the love, respect, and honour that I have always professed to your majesty, whose valuable life I pray God to preserve to a happy and good old age.-1 cast mysel at your majesty's royal feet, your most du tiful son,-FERDINAND.-Bayonne, May 4,

1808.

No. X.-Letter from the King to his Father Charles IV.

Venerable Father and Lord-I deposited in the royal hands of your majesty on the 1st current, the renunciation of the crown in your favour. I have believed it to be obligatory upon me to modify the renunciation by such conditions as were agreeable to the respect due to your majesty, to the tranquillity of my dominions, and to the preservation of my honour and character. It is not without great astonishment, that I have seen indignation produced in the reyal mind of your majesty, by modifications dic tated by prudence, and called for by the love that I bear to my subjects. (To be continued.)

Printed by Cox and Baylis, Great Queen Street; published by R. Bagshaw, Brydges Street, Covent Garden, where former Numbers may be had: sold also by J. Budd, Crown and Mitre, Pall-Mall.

VOL. XIV. No. 19.] LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1809. [PRice 10d.

It is the duty of every body of men, who hereafter shall address or petition the king for inquiry into the causes of the Convention, to support the City of London. 705]

TO THE FREEHOLDERS AND INHABITANTS OF HAMPSHIRE.

GENTLEMEN,

Well! we have had our meeting, and I am confident, that, though my, wishes did not entirely prevail, our example will have a good effect from one end of the kingdom to the other.

From the circumstance of there being three gentlemen from London, present at the meeting, for the express purpose of taking down and publishing an account of the proceedings, a circumstance at which no one was more surprized than myself, for, I really thought that we were held in too much contempt to be thought worthy of any thing like general attention; from this circumstance, (very pleasing to me, I must confess) I conclude, that nearly the whole of what was said and done at the meeting of yesterday will have been published in the daily newspapers, before that which I am now writing can possibly issue from the press. If this be the case, the report, as so published, will be inserted in this sheet, and, therefore, proceeding upon the opigion that the intended publication will take place, I shall here contine myself to such observations as naturally grow out of the proceedings at the Shire Hall, and as appear to me likely to be useful.

First, Gentlemen, I hope you will, with me, be delighted at the now established fact, that, at a numerous and respectable meeting of our county, called and marshalled by Noblemen and Baronets, the leaders of a party lately powerful enough to carry the two members for the county ; that, at such a meeting, there have appeared one half, at least, of the persons present, ready to support a proposition, coming from one, who neither has nor wishes to have, pretensions to any rank other than that of Yeoman and who came before that meeting unsupported by any interest other than that which grew out of the principles he had proclaimed: at this fact, Gentlemen, I am convinced you will, with me, feel pleasure and pride. As to the effect with regard to myselt I am completely indifferent. It was of no consequence who was the person. Whether the proposition came from a tall or

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ance.

1706

a short lump of clay; a lump of fresh or pa e, of fair or dark, colour; or whether it was called Cobbett or by any other name; this was of no consequence. It was the principle, the vital principle that was of importThat principle did completely triumph, and in that triumph I see, and I hope you ste, a prospect of better days; a prospect of days when this county will not be trampled under foot by men, and particularly one man, who have nothing but what they have derived from the public purse, nothing but what has been squeezed out of the fruits of our labour.

Having spoken of party, I think it necessary to say, that I saw no reason whatever to impute party motives, upon this occasion, either to the Earl of Northesk, or to any of the gentlemen who appeared with his lordship; but, on the contrary, it appeared to me, that they were over-anxious to avoid every thing that might have the appearanre of proceeding from party motives. The truth is, that, as things stand at present. here would, in a cs i.e hs, be nathing done, were not those to move, who belong to a party. If, as is the case, the whole, or nearly the whole, of the opulent men in a county be notoriously of one party or the other, those of the opposition party must call for a meeting, in a case like the present, or, it is evident, that there can be no meeting at all. And, therefore, though I did not approve of the Address moved, and finally carried, by Lord Northesk and his friends, they are fairly entitled to my gratitude, and, I think, to the gratitude of the county at large.

Thi two Addresses will appear in their proper place in the Rep rt, which wil be herpanto subjoined; and, Gentlemen, 1 beg you carefully to compare them with each other, and, when you have so done; let each man put it to his own heart, whethade the one, which I had the honour to propose to the meeting, is not that of which he most approves i whether the principles there asserted and the sentimenta there expressed, are not the principles and the sentiments that he would (all Salfish) views zaide) wish to see bias crsally pevail. There ads one object, upon which I was

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very intent; namely, that of giving support
to the City of London; and, Gentlemen,
though the Address and Petition proposed
by me was, at last, not formally carried,
the point of decision was so nice, that I
hope Mr. Waithman and those who have so
nobly supported him will consider, that
this county, at least, has done its duty.
The Address proposed by lord Northesk
was, I myself believed. carried at last;
but, it was not until after many persons,
who came from a distance and who were
anxious to get home, had retired under
the full persuasion, that the decision bad
taken place in favour of the Address and
Petition proposed by me.
I dwell upon

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Hall, a gentleman, upon whose word I rely
with confidence, assured me, that Mr. Gar
nier wished anxiously for peace. It is very
hard for one man to know the heart of auc-
ther; but, considering the character of my
informant, I believe the fact; that is to say,
I believe, that, in this particular case, sc3-
timents of humanity prevail over interest. I
do not state this merely as an argument tit
admission: 1 really believe the fact. Be
Gentlemen, what has this singular and acc
dental fact to do with what I had the honou
to submit to you upon the subject? I made to
assertion as to Mr. Garnier's feelings. 7
was a cetclusion, which I drew from unden-
able premises. I stated the fact, that th
amount of this gentleman's revenue was
proportion to the magnitude of the ar
and to the man her of wounds in that are,
that, therefore was natural to supp
than soch a person i
wish for a long com

this point solely for the purpose of showing the City of London what honourable support they had in Hampshire; and, for the same purpose, I add, that, at the reading of these parts of my Address and Peticon, which were literally copied from the City | Cuation of Resolution of the 27th of October, the meeting gave particular marks of planse; while (and I challenge a denial of the fact) not one single mark of applause was given, hirdly a sound or a movement or a lock of satisfaction was perceived, at the reading of the cold and couitly Address which contended for the preference. No, Gentlemen, this Address did not speak the language of your hearts. It did not convey to the throne an expression of the feelings of a people sensible that they have made sacrifices unparalleled, and that those sicrifices have only furnished the means of purchasing "national dishonour; the feelings of a people disappointed and insulted; the feelings of a people, who, for their liberality and longenduring patience, have been paid with new "burthens and with unprecedented scorn. No: this Address did not express those 'feelings; and, my decided opinion is, that, when the noble lord and the gentlemen, who proposed and supported it, shall have taken time to re-peruse and re-consider, they will feel great sorrow, not, I hope, unmixed with some degree of shame, that, for the sake of an Address such as this, they rejected that which was proposed by ine, and which, as they could not fail to perceive, had the hearts of all, while theirs had only the voices of a part, of the meeting.

Upon the subject of the vast sums received out of the public money by Mr. Garnier of Wickham, as salary and profits of Apothecary General to the Army, though as the Committee of the House of Commons state, he resides in the country and meddles not with the business; upon this subject I think t right to state, that, as we were leaving the

; and, I am not at d

mert in the hands d

the public
ecting, that it wa
in oi; power to give y long list of pr
sólo 20 si upied, my object being to explai
the
mysh ry why so many people had res
found, in some places, to oppose an applice
tion for inquiry into a transaction só clearly
calculated to lengthen the duration of t
war; to give such list there was not time
I was obliged to contine myself to a part
cular instance; and that of Mr. Game
was selected, 1st, because it was a strik
one; 2nd, because it was a case which de
ved additional interest from our knowleng
of the person; and 3rd, because there w
no doubt of some of his friends being pre
sent to say whatever could be said in answer
I should, in print, have pointed out thi
flagrant case, long ago; but, locally, Mr
Garnier was a very near neighbour; and
I felt reluctant to make so near a neighbou
a subject in the Register. There was, in
deed, no solid reason for this; but,
thought, that some persons might think the
I took advantage of iny great-means of pcb-
licity to assail iny neigi.bour. Sometime of
other a sense of public duty would have
overcome this consideration; but, baving
an opportunity to state the fact, in a meeting
of the county, where I was pretty certain
would be, and where I saw, many d
the friends and relations of Mr. Garnier,
that opportunity was not to be neglected,

Now, Gentlemen, though we be lieve, that, contrary to the conclusica that I drew, Mr. Garnier does wish f peace, I beg leave to remind you, that M Garnier and his family, who are neither few in number nor weak in means, have

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