Herald Of The Valley

FOREIGN.

Speech of the King of Spain to the Cortes.

"Deputies—The extraordinary circumstances under which the session of the legislative body is opened, affords a wide field for the patriotism of the representatives of the Spanish people, and will cause them to be celebrated on the records of the nation.

"Spain, at this moment the object of general attention, is about to solve the great problem which now occupies the attention of monarchs and the people. In it are found united the hopes, the fears, the interests of humanity, the caprices of ambition and pride

"The continental powers of the Holy Alliance have already raised their voices against the political institutions of this nation, which has achieved her independence and liberty at the price of her blood.

Spain, in answering the insidious accusations of these potentates, has given a solemn manifestation to the world that her constitutional laws cannot be dictated to her but by herself.

"This clear and luminous principle can only be attacked by sophisms supported by the force of arms, and those who have recourse to such means in the 19th century, give the most complete proof of the injustice of their cause. The Most Christian King has said that two Frenchmen have been able to come to regulate the internal affairs of Spain, and direct the views of her institutions. How long is it since the power of recollecting has been vested in the military? In what code is it written that military invasions are the precursors of the happiness of the people?

"It would be advisable to contradict such scandalous errors, and it is not fitting for the Constitutional King of Spain to take an apology for the national cause, to defend that it may be defended against those who cover themselves with the mantle of the most detestable hypocrisy, trampling under foot every sentiment of virtue.

"I hope that the energy and perseverance of the Cortes will be the best reply to the speech of his Most Christian Majesty; I hope, that firm in their principles, they will continue to follow the path of their duty, and that they will ever be the Cortes of the 1st and 20th of January, worthy in every respect of the nation that has confided her destinies to them; I hope, in fine, that reason and justice will not be less powerful than the gentle oppression and slavery. A nation which compounds with enemies whose bad faith is already well known to her, is a nation already subjugated; to accept of laws which she intends imposing by force of arms, is the greatest ignominy.

If war be an evil without remedy, the nation is magnanimous, and will contend a second time for her independence & rights.—The path of glory is already open to her and the sacrifices it will exact will be easy for her. Energy and patriotism offer a thousand resources which, in the hands of Spaniards will always produce the happiest results:

For my part, I renew the offer to the National Congress to co-operate by every effort in realizing the hopes of liberal institutions, by employing all the means which the laws allow me, in repelling force by force.

"The removal of my person and the Cortes to a place less exposed to the influence of military operation, may baffle the plans of the enemy, and prevent the suspension of the acts of government, which should be known in every part of the Kingdom.

"The army which has rendered so many services in the national cause, is organised conformably to the recent decrees of the Cortes. The victories obtained over the factions are presages of the still more important success which will be obtained over our foreign enemies.

"The best feeling reigns generally in the provinces. The evils that many have suffered from those whom they call the defenders of religion, have dissipated the illusions of the ignorant, and convinced them that the constitution is the true and only path they should follow.

"The changes that have taken place in our diplomatic relations, has not damped the courage of the nation. The timid, who never count on their strength, and the evil disposed, who seek to profit by their weakness can never alter the sentiments of a nation alive to her honor, and which is not in the habit of acting with injustice.

"In general, the different branches of the public administration present a favorable aspect. The Cortes will continue, with their accustomed zeal, the important labors that they have commenced, and the national prosperity, in which all their views are concentrated, will consolidate the constitutional system, defended by energy and valor."

(Signed)

FERDINAND.
[From the N. Y. American.]

By the arrival last evening of the ship Cadmus, in thirty-three days from Havre, we have received our regular files of Paris papers to the 18th of March inclusive.

They continue the accounts of preparations for immediate hostilities, and furnish a few additional particulars of general interest in the existing state of European affairs. No doubt existed that war must ensue, and the period for opening the campaign was variously stated from the 1st to the 12th of April. The "Journal des Debats," the moderate royal paper, of the 10th, says,

"The ill consequences necessarily consequent to a war with Spain are too generally known, and too well appreciated to permit us to announce without extreme regret that the last hopes of peace are almost entirely extinguished." The same paper also contains an article, (uncontradicted in substance) from the 'Courier Francais,' which states that on the 10th the French funds fell 2 per ct.—the ascribed cause was the certainty of hostilities. The Duke of Reggio left Paris on the 12th for Bayonne. The Count d'Escars, said to the Duke of Angoulême, on the 13th. His Royal Highness was to set out on the 14th of March. The Royalist papers contain circular proclamations of some of the different commanders of the National Guard in Paris, reprobating the conduct of the detachment which refused to use force in the Chamber of Deputies for the expulsion of Manuel. The 'Constitutionnel' observes that these officers "may entertain and express what opinions they please on the subject, it will not prevent others from shunning the reverse." The sub-officer commanding M. "Mercier," was to be tried by a court martial in compliance with orders of the Count "Clermont Tonnerre," Commandant of Paris.

The precaution of guarding the entrance to the Chamber of Deputies continued to be preserved. On the 8th of March but 5 or 6 members on the left side were present, and but 10 or 12 of the left centre. After some unimportant business, the Chamber was adjourned to the 14th. We perceive no indications of ferment in the public mind, nor any further cause for party excitement, except the reception of General Foy, (one of the liberal members) at a public examination at the Sorbonne, where the scholars and auditory saluted the entrance with acclamation. This trifling circumstance seems to have given ground for complaint by the royalists.

The accounts from Spain are to the 5th March, at which date the king had finally signed a decree, confirming the authority of the ministry whom he had twice displaced and restored, and issued a proclamation announcing that war was definitely resolved on, and that the Spanish government was about to adopt the most efficient means to repel every aggression on its rights. Another decree also orders the transfer of the seat of government to Badajoz, whither the king was also to repair. Badajoz is a strongly fortified military station, on the frontier of Portugal, and from its position, forms a strong central point for the direction of the military operations that may be extended through the different provinces of Spain. The English minister had signified to the Spanish government that he had been ordered by his Court to follow the person of the king.

The ordinary session of the Spanish Cortes was opened on the 1st of March. Owing to indisposition, caused, as it is stated, by the agitation of the previous days, the king was unable to attend in person, but transmitted his speech through the Minister of the Interior. It is of course but the language of his ministry, and echoes the opinions and feeling of the nation. The state of the country at large is pronounced on the whole favourable, and the approaching contest spoken of with calmness and confidence in the justice of their cause, and the resources and disposition of the nation to repel foreign invasion. We find little said of the guerilla warfare, and consequently presume that little had occurred. Mina had been at Barcelona to procure a supply of money; with which he had returned to the frontier. He required sixty thousand dollars, and received without hesitation eighty thousand. The royalist forces, or the squadron of the faith, appear to have retired within the French frontier, where efforts were making to organise them prior to the opening of the campaign. Baron d'Erroles was occupied in effecting this; and an article dated Perpignan, 1st March, says, in respect to the same subject, "The Count de Verges, aide to the Minister of War, arrived here last night, and has taken lodging for some time.—He is charged with the important mission of organizing the 'Bands of the Faith.' Those officers, it is said, who can neither read nor write, are to be made to serve as common soldiers until they shall have merited restoration to their places by gaining the requisite information. It is said here that the same measures have been adopted at the capital, and that Baron d'Erroles is to send to each regiment, for the education of its officers, the books which have been supplied to him in Paris."

The writer then proceeds to felicitations on the prospect that the benevolent system of the French government, in thus instilling the rudiments of learning into its ignorant allies, would be attended with the happiest effects, and contribute much to diminish the atrocities of Spanish warfare.

One of the royalist guerilla chiefs, (Minas) is in the predicament above stated, not having acquired his letters, and a hope is entertained that, after he has learned to read and write, has studied military regulations and the memoirs of the French officers, he will no longer cut the throats of his countrymen, and carry "horror and desolation through his native land." This procedure, we believe, is a novelty in military tactics, and we should think was likely to reflect as much credit on the benevolence as on the warlike sagacity of the Bourbons—The same article from which we have taken the above, says—“in the mean time Spain is preparing for the contest."

The political chiefs have distributed
In missions for the command of guerrilla parties, to many of the most intrepid Catalans. Each officer is charged with the formation of his own troop; the troops will be independent, and carry on the war at their own expense, taking care to receive as recruits all those soldiers of the Faith who may not relish the French school discipline. All the royalist forces had been ordered to retreat to the French lines. The Spaniards were making arrangements to harass their enemies where they are most vulnerable—at sea. An article of the Madrid 'Espectador' gives official notice that the ministry had made provision for granting 'letters of marque' at all the different seaports. The apprehensions of the French seem to be much alive on this point, and we perceive that at Marseilles a number of vessels which had been partly laden, and prepared for sea, were again unloaded and laid up. At Havre also the alarm was great, and from the nature and extent of the preparations for defence, a rupture with England was apprehended. That event was also thought to be in some degree indicated by the return home of a great number of the English who had been temporary residents or travellers in France. The 'Constitutionnel' of the 18th contains an able communication from a London correspondent, on the probable policy of the English ministry, from which the following passages may be deemed by the French government and people of sufficient authority to aggravate their apprehensions of a maritime war. The writer (and he is evidently one of talents and information) after speculations on the views of the administration, and the peculiar interests of the nation, arrives at the following conclusion as to the course that will not be pursued in the existing emergency:

'The ministry (says he) will not a second time let slip the occasion offered by the present crisis, of putting ourselves at the head of a natural league of the constitutional against the despotic governments. We shall neither be so blind to our interests, nor to those of Europe, as connected with our own.

'They will not permit the French marine by a new family compact, to erect itself once more in formidable array against us, and form the rallying point of a maritime confederation against the British empire. In the North Sea, as in the Dardanelles, they will never suffer Russia to become a maritime power, and to encircle Europe with her ships as she now does with her battalions. They will never permit her to acquire colonies in America, in Asia, or in the Mediterranean sea. In pursuing this course they will but follow the current of public opinion, in guarding the essential public interests.'

There are several indications of more import than those we have alluded to which show that the neutrality of England may depend on circumstances, and fully justify the apprehensions of those who must fall the first sacrifices to such an event.

The Portuguese appear disposed to take the most efficient measures to aid in the common cause of defence. At a session of the Cortes on the 22d of February, the minister of war declared that the regular army could be at once increased to 50,000 men; recommended the instant organization of the national guard for internal protection and defence; and concluded by assuring Spain of the cordial co-operation of the Portuguese nation. The extent of aid had not, however, been decided; the Cortes were occupied in discussing the propositions of the minister.