concert with the commissaries of the respective countries.

"21. There shall be formed by a special resolution of the diet, a particular war-chest to receive the contributions of all the members of the confederation according to the matriculation.

"22. The indemnifications for expense of passage, cantonment, and all other general allowances in the states of the confederation, shall be fixed according to a

reasonable rate, and the inhabitants must be paid in money as speedily as possible.

"23. The principle of an equal repartition of burthens and benefits, as well for the divisions of the army as for the states of the confederation, shall be made an invariable rule of conduct.

"24. A cartel shall exist between all the states of the confederation."

"Gentlemen Deputies;-In seeing myselfsurrounded a second time by the worthy representatives of this heroic nation, which has given so many proofs of its love and its attachment to my royal person, my grateful heart cannot resist rendering thanks to the Almighty, who, having re-established me on the throne of my ancestors by the valour and constancy of my faithful subjects, has deigned to consolidate it, in giving it as a basis, the constitution, sanctioned by the extraordinary Cortes, and to which, conform ably to the wish of the nation, I have freely sworn.

"The happiness of the people that Divine Providence has confided to my care, which is, and always shall be, the object of my most ardent wishes, alone decided me to adopt a system which the nation desired, and which, besides, the lights and advancement of the age imperiously demanded.

"The effect has corresponded with my hopes, and I have seen, with the greatest satisfaction, Spanish loyalty rallying firmly

round the throne of its king, manifesting every where, and by unequivocal testimonies, its adhesion to the new institutions, which are to found the future grandeur and prosperity of the nation, and which are, at the same time, the best support of my throne, and give the highest lustre to the splendour of my crown.

"The measure taken by the Cortes in the preceding legislature to give life to a nation nearly ex. tinguished by its sacrifices, to relieve the people from charges which weighed heavily upon them, to make credit recover and industry flourish, and, in fine, to make all the different branches of administration prosper-all these dispositions, united to admirable moderation, to the spirit of peace and unanimity which reigned in all the councils, and to the testimonies of respect and of attachment manifested by such worthy representatives for my person, have filled my heart with the liveliest satisfaction.

"I know well that, in spite of so many efforts, the wounds of the nation cannot be cicatrized but

by time. The disorder and general confusion occasioned by war, the disasters which followed it, the immense destruction of capital, the confusion produced by divers usages and customs of the provinces, the viciousness of the administration, and the necessity of covering, without delay, the expenses of the state, have not permitted, as I would desire, the establishment of a uniform system of finances analogous to the new principles which we follow. I have confidence that the Cortes, in the present legislature, will bestow all their attention on so essential a subject. The perfection of such a system is the work of time; and to carry it into execution, the Cortes may depend on my invariable will, as I am assured of their co-operation.

"The minister of finance will submit to you the budget of expenses for the financial year; those of war and marine will in form you of the necessity of realizing the recruiting of the army, to render it as effective as it ought to be in existing circumstances, and to obtain that amelioration of the decay of the national marine which is imperiously called for.

"Meanwhile I have the consolation of exposing to the Cortes the general activity that we begin to remark in all the provinces of the monarchy, and which announces to us in future the progress of agriculture, of arts, and commerce. Our credit begins to be strengthened abroad, and it will be the same in the interior, when we shall have made completely manifest the powerful means at the disposal of a nation governed by a constitutional king, and a representative system.

"If the actual state of America has not changed in relation to us, war at least has suspended its ravages in Terra Firma. The effect which the events in the Peninsula will produce in those countries ought to make us hope to see them again united to the mother country, as integral parts of the same empire.

"But it is necessary not to dissemble, in the midst of the satisfaction which effects so salutary as those produced by the constitutional system ought to cause— in the midst of the universal content of the nation, and of its resolution to defend it, that the attempts of some discontented persons, supported by the illusions of those who, in all times, nourish chimerical and criminal hopes, have been so employed as momentarily to alarm the tranquillity of the capital, and of some provinces, and to cause in my heart the profoundest affliction.

"I hope that the Cortes, in filling its important functions, will be persuaded of the necessity of taking prompt measures to repress the audacity of those who, encouraged rather than repressed by the moderation of the system, would dare to disturb good order; and that they will give, at the same time, to the action of government the necessary power which, in existing circumstances, public tranquillity exacts, and without which it is impossible to cure the evils which have afflicted the nation for so many ages.

"The state of our diplomatic relations with other powers remains as it was. We happily preserve with them the relations of amity and good faith which existed at the epoch of the preceding legislature.

The ratification I have thought it suitable to give, with the authority of the Cortes, to the treaties for the cession of the Floridas, and for the fixing of boundaries with the United States of America, should have a considerable time since reached that government; but we have as yet no advices on the subject.

"The apprehensions that, apparently with foundation, were conceived as to the hostile intentions of the kingdom of Algiers against our commerce, have not been realized; thanks to the vigiJance of the combined divisions of the national marine, and of that of his majesty the king of the Netherlands.

"The resolution taken in the Congress of Troppau, and continued in that of Laybach, by the sovereigns of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, to interpose in the changes of the political system established in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, has excited all my solicitude from consideration of that royal family, united to mine by ties of blood, and by the interest that I take in the happiness of that nation, and because it is of the utmost consequence to the independence of states, that the sacred rights of nations and their princes may be rightly respected. I have therefore thought it indispensable to the honour of my throne, and to the dignity of the great nation which it is my glory to govern, to make it understood by suitable communications, that I will not recognise any thing whatever that may be contrary to the positive rights of mankind, on which are founded the liberty, the independence, and prosperity of nations-principles which Spain, on its part, will

inviolably respect with regard to others.

"I have the satisfaction of announcing to the Cortes that the allied sovereigns, according to all the communications that I have received to the present time, have been and are agreed in recognising these principles with respect to Spain.

"Such are the objects which I hope the Cortes will take into consideration, in order that the constitutional system may be consolidated, and to accelerate the prosperity and well-being of the nation.

*"I have now stated all that

it is necessary to inform the Cortes relatively to the political situation of the nation, in all its relations, internal and external, with all the precision which so solemn an act imposes on me, and according to the information I possess on the different points which my discourse embraces.

"I have purposely deferred to the conclusion of my discourse to speak to you of my person, in order that it might not be thought I preferred it to the well-being and to the happiness of the people that Divine Providence has confided to my care.

"However, it is necessary that I inform, though with much chagrin, this wise Congress, that the ideas of some ill-disposed persons, who strive to seduce credulous people by persuading them that my heart conceals views opposed to the system that governs us, are not unknown to my mind.

N. B. This latter part of the speech was not signed by the ministers, and was delivered by the king without any previous knowledge on their part. (See the history of this year.)

Their object is only to inspire diffidence as to my pure intentions, and on the rectitude of my conduct. I have sworn to the constitution, and I have always endeavoured to observe it, as much as depends on me. Would to God that every one did the same! The outrages and the acts of irreverence of all sorts committed towards my dignity, in contempt of what order and respect for my person ought to exact as a constitutional king, have been published.

"I have no fears for my life or my safety; God who reads my heart, watches both, and will preserve them, as will also the majority and the sound part of the nation. But I ought not to withhold to-day from the Congress, as principally charged with preserving the inviolability that it wishes to be observed towards its constitutional king, that these insults would not have been repeated if the executive power had displayed all the energy which the

constitution prescribes and the Cortes desires. The want of firmness and the little activity of many of the authorities have given room to the renewal of such excesses; and should they continue, it will not be astonishing if the Spanish nation finds itself enveloped in numberless evils and misfortunes.

"I am confident that it will not be so, if the Cortes, as I must hope, unites intimately with their constitutional king, occupying themselves without relaxation to destroy abuses, to combine opinion, and to repress the machinations of ill-disposed persons who wish only for disunion and anarchy.

"Let, then, the legislative powers co-operate with me in what I promise to do in the face of the nation, viz. to consolidate the system which it has wished, and has acquired, for its good, and perfect happiness.

(Signed) "FERDINAND."

"Gentlemen Deputies;-I have once more the satisfaction of presenting myself in this Congress, which, full of knowledge, of patriotism, and virtues, has given in the present session new proofs of its constant care for the pub lic welfare. Its efforts to conclude and perfect our political regeneration, have been, if possible, beyond my hopes, and the nation will be eternally indebted to it for the great and numerous measures which it has taken in the short space of its sittings, of which I proposed the prolongation for the

term which our fundamental law admits, considering it conducive to the public good as it has proved to be.

"In effect, the new organization of the army, so well adapted to the true end of its institution, is the work of the Congress. The decree on public instruction, divided into different classes, from the first letters to the highest sciences, will diffuse information and useful knowledge throughout all classes of the state; the decree for the reduction of tithes, by which, while the necessary en.