tions. In 1851, ten years' interest on the Spanish 4 per cent and 5 per cent stocks remained unpaid. Bravo Murillo capitalised half of these coupons, converting them into a deferred debt, the interest on which, commencing at a very low rate, was gradually to rise to 3 per cent, and there to remain stationary. The other half of the overdue coupons, amounting to ten millions sterling, was thrust aside, the Spanish government declaring that the financial position of the country was such as to render it impossible to meet the claim. The creditors took what they could get, protesting against this arbitrary and fraudulent arrangement, and hoping for better days and an honester ministry in Spain. Since then, repeated representations have been made to successive governments, but all in vain. Not only Spanish finance ministers, but Spanish Chambers and the Spainish public, appeared to have made up their minds that, having paid onehalf, they had done great things, and that it was indelicate to pester them for the other. The question was the only one on which all political parties seemed more or less to agree. Señor Llorente, when he had the department of finance, made an advance towards the settlement of the question; that is to say, he proposed to make a new loan, and to take the repudiated coupons as cash, at the rate of ten pounds for every one hundred pounds of paper. The offer was certainly wretched enough, but Llorente had no opportunity of persisting in it, for the mere announcement of his intention overthrew him. Since then, not the slightest demonstration has been made in the direction of justice to the hardly-used claimants. The arrival of the Progresistas at power revived hope, and gave fresh stimulus to exertion on the part of the advocates and agents of the bondholders. Lord Howden again took the field-which he never indeed entirely abandoned, but had remained resting on his arms, hopeless of obtaining anything from such gentry as Mesers Sartorius and Domenech. The representative of the house of Rothschild made pressing applications to Espartero's government, and, finally, the coupon-holders themselves drew up a petition to the

The

Constituent Cortes, and sent it to the Lord Howden to get presented. Referred to a committee, composed of seven deputies, these, in their report to the Chamber, proposed that another committee should be appointed, to investigate the subject thoroughly. In the debate that ensued, the proposal was violently combated; and some strange assertions were hazarded. The facts of the settlements made by Bravo Murillo in 1851, were recalled, with a Spanish colouring given to them, and one deputy had the astounding assurance to declare that Spain had invariably and honourably paid her debts. This was too much even for Spanish stomachs, and another deputy had the candour to say that everybody knew that Spain had compounded with her foreign creditors. Chamber divided, and decided, by a majority of 162 votes (only five deputies voting in the minority), that there was no occasion to appoint a committee. This was equivalent to swamping the petition, and was an acceptance and confirmation, on the part of the Cortes, of the argument of the principal speaker in the debate, which aimed at proving the claim wholly unfounded. The government had been expected by many to vote in favour of the report, but those of its members who were present voted the contrary way, and it has since been said that they did so because they were determined not to support anything that was put forward by Lord Howden. This may or may not be true, but there is strong reason to believe that it is so as regards Señores Santa Cruz and Madoz.

The arguments advanced in the Cortes against any consideration of the petition, are the same that one daily hears advanced by Spaniards when the topic of the coupons is brought up. In the first place, it is said that, by accepting a part of Bravo Murillo's arrangement, the parties interested accepted the whole, and virtually consented to the cancelling of one-half of the overdue interest. No notice is taken of the formal protest drawn up at the time and presented to the Spanish government on behalf of the coupon-holders. We are further told that successive governments have always refused to

do anything that resembled a recognition of the rejected fifty per cent, that they and their agents refused to put a stamp on the coupons, as they were requested to do, and that the certificates issued by the committee of bondholders were wholly unsanctioned by Spain, and are consequently valueless. Another argument is then put forward of a different nature, but which is greatly insisted upon, and has given a pretext to many persons here to designate the coupon claim as a dirty piece of business. It is alleged that the certificates have been bought up by a few speculators at low prices, ranging from one to four per cent, and that it is they who agitate the claim, in hopes of enormous profit. It is in vain to point out that this in no way justifies Spain in dishonouring her signature. The repudiators are stubborn in their dishonest view of the case. Whether or not their assertion be true, I have here no opportunity of ascertaining; but if it be a fact, that the whole or very nearly the whole of the coupons are in the hands of a few speculators, although it does not relieve Spain from her liability, it in great measure deprives the case of its public interest, and, whilst blaming those who do not pay, our sympathy is naturally much less with those who are unable to recover, than if these were the original defrauded holders.

"We have heard," said a speaker in the debate on the 28th April, "of private persons, who have been compelled to compound with their creditors, and who afterwards, having again attained prosperity, have said to these: You have no legal claim upon me, but I, as a man of good faith, desire to show myself grateful for the benefits I have received from you, and will now pay you the whole or something more.'" The speaker proceeded to say that if, since 1851, the financial condition of Spain bad improved, it would have been comprehensible that she might have adopted a similar course. The plea of inability is doubtless the best that can be advanced. The enormous floating debt bequeathed to the country by Sartorius and his predecessors is a terrible weight upon the treasury. It is a log round the foot of the present

VOL. LXXVII.-NO. CCCCLXXVI.

finance minister, and to it must be added the very considerable reduction of revenue occasioned by the removal of the taxes of puertas and consumos (octroi and a sort of excise duty) obtained, at the close of last year, by popular clamour, but which has resulted in no public benefit worth the naming. It is impossible to deny that Spain's financial state is very bad, and that she is not in a position unnecessarily to add a single dollar to her expenditure. But her very necessities are an argument in favour of the settlement of the coupons. She is now in urgent want of a loan, to pay off a floating debt, of which great part has been contracted at an enormous rate of interest, and to get rid of other burthensome arrears. It will be at least the end of the year before any money can be received from the sale of the national property; meanwhile none is to be found, save in small sums and at heavy sacrifice. The repudiation of the coupons has closed to Spain the doors of the great English money market. Spain and insolvency have become synonymous, and lenders close their purse-strings, as to a borrower in whom no confidence can be placed. The same feeling extends in great measure to Paris-although that capital has suffered much less than London by Bravo Murillo's dishonest measure. Now I fully believe that if this government recognised the coupons at, say, ten per cent,-issued bonds, that is to say, for one million sterling, and so "whitewashed" itself at very small expense,-it would find money abroad on far more reasonable terms than it here is compelled to pay for trifling sums which do but stave off the evil day, and leave Spain ever tottering on the verge of bankruptcy. It is well known that Lord Howden entertains this belief, has assured the government that he does so, and has even, in his praiseworthy zeal for the interests of the bondholders, offered to use his utmost exertions, and, if necessary, to go to England himself,to procure it a loan so soon as it has settled the coupon question. The chance of such settlement, I regret to say, now appears more remote than ever, and perhaps hopeless, whilst the present Cortes sits. The cause, how

8 A

ever, is not abandoned. The matter will be brought up again, and will even find advocates on the benches of the Chamber; but it will surprise me much if a satisfactory result be arrived at.

I will conclude this letter with a page from the chronicles of the Court of Spain, in the year 1855, which has the merit of being both curious and strictly true. You are probably aware that the bill brought in by Señor Madoz for the sale of the remainder of the church lands, and other national property, encountered strong opposition, caused great excitement out of doors, and for a time gave the government almost as much trouble and uneasiness as the religious clause itself. The priests beset the palace, and worked upon the Queen; the King busily intrigued on the same side; some persons doubted whether Isa bella would sanction the law when it had passed the Chamber, and indeed, when it came to the point, she made many difficulties, and it was only the urgent representations of her ministers, and the fear of their resigning-in which case her throne would have been seriously imperilled-that at last induced her to give her signature. She wept much, and said that it was against her conscience, but finally she yielded to the respectful, but firm remonstrances of her advisers. The King was furious at this. A charming little palace plot had been arranged, having extensive ramifications; a number of half-pay military men of high rank were implicated in it, and various civilians; the Queen was to be spirited away to a seaport town, and a reactionary banner hoisted in her name. Unfortunately for the conspirators, Isabella, who has not yet forgotten the fright she had in July last year, gave in and sanctioned the law; the plot was discovered; a number of arrests were made; Pezurla, the late crack brained governor of Cuba, and some other generals, were directed to take up their quarters in remote provinces; and, amongst the military men ordered to a distance from the capital, there were two gentlemen of the King's bedchamber, Messrs Neulan and Tuero. The King was already sufficiently exasperated at what had occurred. On the Sunday on which

the Queen gave her sanction to the church property bill, she did not appear at dinner, and the King remarked aloud that she was unwell in consequence of having been compelled to do something that was disagreeable to her. Taking their cue from their master, his two gentlemen improved upon the topic, and were heard to declare that violence had been done to the Queen, and to make other unbecoming and untrue statements. This got known to the ministers, and it is also more than probable that Tuero and Neulan had been mixed up in the conspiracy, although nothing could be proved against them, any more than against the King. When the Queen was informed that it was the intention of her government to send the abovenamed officers away-one to Valladolid and the other to Majorca-she expressed concern, and said that Francisquito, as she calls her husband, would be greatly annoyed. Since favourites of a particular class have been prohibited at court, their majesties, without professing very fervent affection for each other, live on better terms than was once the case. The Queen was right in her anticipations. When her husband learned the measure that had been decided upon, he flew into a livid passion. Hastening to the room where were then assembled the Queen, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and General Echagüe, military governor of Madrid, but who commands at Aranjuez during Isabella's stay there, he laid hold of the latter by the arm: "Come with me!" he said. Echagüe, although rather surprised at his abrupt manner and familiar action, accompanied him from the room. The King led him to his apartments, and, throwing open the door, disclosed six or eight halberdiers-the corps that guards the palace, and the same which, under General Dulce, defended the Queen in 1841, against the attempt of the partisans of Generals Leon and O'Donnell. Strange are the changes in this country! In 1854, Dulce takes his corps of cavalry over to O'Donnell, in arms against the government, and now a member of the Cabinet headed by Espartero, against whom, in 1841, he fought. But to return to the King's apartment. Behind the row of halber

diers appeared Señor Tuero. "There," said the King," take him if you dare, but you shall pass over our bodies first." In the midst of this childish display, General Echague, a sensitive and high-spirited man, discerned a gross insult to himself. The grasp of the arm, which he had at first taken in rather a friendly sense, became, under the circumstances, an outrage. He at once telegraphed what had occurred to Madrid, to General O'Donnell, and presenting himself before the Queen and Señor Luzuriaga, he informed them of it, and of his decided intention, since not only himself, but his uniform, had been insulted by one from whom he could not demand satisfaction, to send in his resignation. He had done speaking when the King again entered. The three persons present received him in silence, and there was doubtless something significant in their looks, for he asked what was the matter. Señor Luzuriaga, an old and much-respected man, of high reputation for virtue and probity, told him that General Echague held himself greatly aggrieved by his Majesty's conduct towards him, and had resolved to resign his post and commission. Thereupon the King apologised, declaring that he had not intended to insult the general, and adding, after expressing his regret, that if Echague was not satisfied, he was ready to fight him; but as regarded the two gentilhombres, he said he was determined not to give them up, or suffer them to be removed from about his person. At seven in the morning, however, came General O'Donnell, a fiery energetic soldier, against whose strong will it were quite in vain for so poor a creature as Don Francisco de Assis to contend. On arriving, he told the Count of Puñonrostro, one of the officers of the palace, that, notwithstanding the earliness of the hour, it was indispensable he should see their majesties. The Count returned to say that the King was up, and would receive the general, and requested he would take with him Señor Luzuriaga and General Echagüe. As the meeting was of the nature of a cabinet conference, the minister-of-war did not think proper to take Echagüe, he not being a member of the government. It is stated very positively

that O'Donnell's intention was to put the King under arrest, but the amende that Don Francisco had made previously to the general's arrival, altered that intention. In the presence of the two ministers the King now repeated his apologies, adding that it was in order he might again hear them that he had desired General Echague might be present. And this time his Majesty was less stubborn about his two gentlemen of the Chamber, whom O'Donnell took back to Madrid with him, but who will be permitted, I understand, to select their own residence, provided it be out of New Castile. Thus ended this palace comedy.

Spain, as you will perceive from this slight sketch of a few recent incidents, makes but slow progress in the paths of enlightenment and prosperity, and has great difficulty in conquering a respectable place amongst European nations. Mismanagement and misrule, the incapacity of some governments, the dishonesty of others, have brought her down to a state of penury and debility from which it were idle to suppose she could have been raised within less than twelve months, after a revolution such as that of last summer. Her financial embarrassments have probably never been greater than now,-so great, and some of them so pressing, that the utmost order and economy cannot suffice to extricate her from them. What is reckoned upon to do so is the sale of the remainder of the church property, of a great portion of the common lands, now for the most part the object of gross jobbery on the part of the corporations and their friends, of the mines of Rio Tinto, and various others (excepting, however, the celebrated quicksilver mines of Almaden), and of some other lands and tenements belonging to the nation; not forgetting the confiscated property of the late Don Carlos. The exports from Spain have been unusually large since the revolution; France has been an excellent customer for wine; and corn and other articles of produce have been sold, in considerable quantities, at advantageous prices. There is, consequently, a good deal of money in the country; and, as the payment for the property is to be made on easy terms-ten per cent in

cash, and the remainder spread over fourteen years-it is hoped that a fair value will be realised. Several months, however, must elapse before this very extensive operation can be completed, and, in the interim, the government is at its wits' end to pay its way. Dividends, civil and military servants, claims of every kind, even to prizes in the lottery, are irregularly and tardily paid; and the post of finance minister must indeed be a bed of thorns. The best qualities of the present government are its prudence, its economy, and its earnest desire to do what is possible for the good of the country. But it is beset with difficulties; and the constant machinations of its enemies, both at home and abroad

the harassment consequent on an empty exchequer-the pressure of democrats, who would have it go faster, the opposition of others, who think it goes too fast-the unremitting hostility of a considerable portion of the press and the clergy-the pretensions of an army of place-hunters, who vaunt their services and sufferings in the cause, insist on being rewarded for them, and become opponents if not gratified-palace plots, to which royalty itself is not always a stranger,-all these, taken together, compose a load of anxieties and difficulties, for which some allowance should be made when we criticise the conduct of the Espartero-O'Donnell government. VEDETTE.

IN the course of the recent debate in the House of Lords upon the resolutions moved by Lord Ellenborough, Lord Granville spoke as follows: "I do ask this House whether we are to go on in this sort of eternal abuse of ourselves, even when the facts which at all warranted it have been completely changed? The impression which this resolution leaves upon my mind is, that it announces to the whole world that, from the beginning of the war up to the present moment, England has shown nothing of the qualifications for success in war, but mere personal valour." We are as much opposed as Lord Granville possibly can be to undue depreciation of the Government at a juncture which we agree with the Times in considering as "the very turning-point in our destiny, the very crisis in our fate, the very instant which for good or for evil is to decide the future of England." We, in common with a large majority of the loyal people of Britain, are ready to support, and even applaud, any Government which will do its duty to the country. We care not of what men, or from what political section, that Government may be formed, provided that the measures adopted be wise and energetic, suited to the difficulties of the time, and consonant with the dignity of Great Britain. We care not what hand

may hold the rudder, provided we are only assured that the hand is competent to the management.

But if there is no reasonable security given to that effect-if we are convinced that the men now at the head of affairs are not adequate to the task which they have undertaken, and the duty which they have assumed-if we are compelled to arrive at the conclusion that the measures which they have adopted are infinitely short of the requirements and exigencies of our situation-if we are forced to believe that they are deficient in forethought, divided in council, and without any clear and comprehensive scheme of policy-if we find their official administration confused, careless, and unsatisfactory

and if we suspect them of a design to imperil the honour of the country by concluding an ignominious peacethen we say that it is the duty of every man who loves his country, to protest against the continuance of such a Ministry. We do not agree with those who seem inclined to hold that it is proper to wait until some signal instance of incapacity, or some fresh disaster, shall occur, before pronouncing on the policy or the conduct of the Government. There may be no absolute reason for condemning them on account of any overt act, or commission of a monstrous blunder.