London, Friday, August 18, 1854 

The “leaders” of the Assemblée Nationale, Times, and Journal des 
Débats prove that neither the pure Russian party, nor the 
Russo-Coburg party, nor the Constitutional party are satisfied with 
the course of the Spanish revolution.* From this it would appear 
that there is some chance for Spain, notwithstanding the 
contradiction of appearances. 

On the 8th inst. a deputation from the Union Club” waited on 
Espartero to present an address calling for the adoption of 
universal suffrage. Numerous petitions to the same effect were 
pouring in. Consequently, a long and animated debate took place 
at the Council of Ministers. But the partisans of universal suffrage, 
as well as the partisans of the election law of 1845,78° have been 
beaten. The Madrid Gaceta publishes a decree for the convocation 
of the Cortes on the 8th of November” preceded by an exposé 
addressed to the Queen. At the elections, the law of 1837 will be 
followed, with slight modifications. The Cortes are to be one 
Constituent Assembly, the legislative functions of the Senate being 
suppressed. Two paragraphs of the law of 1845 have been 
preserved, viz.: the mode of forming the electoral mesas (boards 
receiving the votes and publishing the returns), and the number of 
deputies; one deputy to be elected for every 5,000 souls. The 

No. 21819, August 14, 1854.— Ed. 

as reprinted in Le Moniteur universel, No. 230, August 18, 1854.— Ed. 

Assembly will thus be composed of from 420 to 430 members. 
According to a circular of Santa Cruz, the Minister of the Interior, 
the electors must be registered by the 6th of September. After the 
verification of the lists by the provincial deputations, the electoral 
lists will be closed on the 12th of September. The elections will 
take place on the 3d of October, at the chief localities of the 
Electoral Districts. The scrutiny will be proceeded to on the 16th 
of October, in the capital of each province. In case of conflicting 
elections, the new proceedings which will thereby be necessitated, 
must be terminated by the 30th of October. The exposé states 
expressly that 

“the Cortes of 1854, like those of 1837, will save the monarchy; they will be a 
new bond between the throne and the nation, objects which cannot be questioned 
or disputed.” 

In other words, the Government forbids the discussion of the 
dynastic question; hence, The Times concludes the contrary,* 
supposing that the question will now be between the present 
dynasty or no dynasty at all—an eventuality which, it is scarcely 
necessary to remark, infinitely displeases and disappoints the 
calculations of The Times. 

The Electoral law of 1837 limits the franchise by the conditions 
of having a household, the payment of the mayores cuotas (the ship 
taxes levied by the State), and the age of twenty-five years. There 
are further entitled to a vote: the members of the Spanish 
Academies of History and of the Artes Nobles, doctors, licentiates 
in the faculties of Divinity, law, of medicine, members of 
ecclesiastical chapters, parochial curates and their assistant clergy, 
magistrates and advocates of two years’ standing; officers of the 
army of a certain standing, whether on service or the retired list; 
physicians, surgeons, apothecaries of two years’ standing; ar- 
chitects, painters and sculptors, honored with the membership of 
an academy; professors and masters in any educational establish- 
ment, supported by the public funds. Disqualified for the vote by 
the same law are defaulters to the common pueblo-fund, or to 
local taxation, bankrupts, persons interdicted by the courts of law 
for moral or civil incapacity; lastly, all persons under sentence. 

It is true that this decree does not proclaim universal suffrage, 
and that it removes the dynastic question from the forum of the 
Cortes. Still it is doubtful that even this Assembly will do. If the 
Spanish Cortes forbore from interfering with the Crown in 1812, 

* The Times, No. 21823, August 18, 1854, leader.— Ed. ° 

it was because the Crown was only nominally represented—the 
King* having been absent for years from Spanish soil. If they 
forbore in 1837, it was because they had to settle with absolute 
monarchy before they could think of settling with the constitution- 
al monarchy. With regard to the general situation, The Times has 
truly good reasons to deplore the absence of French centralization 
in Spain,” and that consequently even a victory over revolution in 
the capital decides nothing with respect to the provinces, so long 
as that state of “anarchy” survives there without which no 
revolution can succeed. 

There are, of course, some incidents in the Spanish revolution 
peculiarly belonging to them. For instance, the combination of 
robbery with revolutionary transactions—a connection which 
sprung up in the guerrilla wars against the French invasions, and 
which was continued by the “royalists” in 1823, and the Carlists 
since 1835.”*’ No surprise will therefore be felt at the information 
that great disorders have occurred at Tortosa, in Lower Catalonia. 
The Junta Popular of that city says, in its proclamation of 31st July: 

- “A band of miserable assassins, availing themselves for pretext of the abolition 

of the indirect taxes, have seized the town, and trampled upon all laws of society. 
Plunder, assassination, incendiarism have marked their steps.” © 

Order, however, was soon restored by the Junta—the citizens 
arming themselves and coming to the rescue of the feeble garrison 
of the place. A military commission is sitting, charged with the 
pursuit and punishment of the authors of the catastrophe of July 
30. This circumstance has, of course, given an occasion to the 
reactionary journals for virtuous declamation. How little they are 
warranted in this proceeding may be inferred from the remark of 
the Messager de Bayonne, that the Carlists have raised their banner 
in the provinces of Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia, and precisely 
in the same contiguous mountains where they had their chief nest 
in the old Carlist wars. It was the Carlists who gave origin to the 
ladrones facciosos, that combination of robbery and pretended 
allegiance to an oppressed party in the State. The Spanish 
guerrillero of all times has had something of the robber since the 
time of Viriathus; but it is a novelty of Carlist invention that a 
pure robber should invest himself with the name of guerrillero. 
The men of the Tortosa affair certainly belong to this class. 

The Times, No. 21800, July 22, 1854, leader.— Ed. 
“ Quoted from L’Indépendance belge, No. 229, August 17, 1854.—Ed. 

At Lerida, Saragossa and Barcelona matters are serious. The 
two former cities have refused to combine with Barcelona, because 
the military had the upper hand there. Still it appears that even 
there Concha is unable to master the storm, and General. Dulce is 
to take his place, the recent popularity of that general being 
considered as offering more guarantees for a conciliation of the 
difficulties. 

The secret societies have resumed their activity at Madrid, and 
govern the democratic party just as they did in 1823.?% The first 
demand which they have urged the people to make is that all 
ministers since 1843 shall present their accounts. 

The ministry are purchasing back the arms which the people 
seized on the day of the barricades. In this way they have got 
possession of 2,500 muskets, formerly in the hands of insurgents. 
Don Manuel Sagasti, the Ayacucho Jefe Politico* of Madrid of 
1843, has been reinstated in his functions. He has addressed to the 
inhabitants and the national militia two proclamations, in which he 
announces his intention of energetically repressing all disorder.” 
The removal of the creatures of Sartorius from the different 
offices proceeds rapidly. It is, perhaps, the only thing rapidly done 
in Spain. All parties show themselves equally quick in that line. 

Salamanca is not imprisoned, as was asserted. He had been 
arrested at Aranjuez, but was soon released, and is now at Malaga. 

The control of the ministry by popular pressure is proved by 
the fact, that the Ministers of War, of the Interior, and of Public 
Works,° have effected large displacements and simplifications in 
their several departments, an event never known in Spanish 
history before. 

The Unionist or Coburg-Braganza party is pitifully weak. For 
what other reason would they make such a noise about one single 
address sent from Portugal to the National Guard of Madrid? If 
we look nearer at it, it is even discovered that the address 
(originating with the Lisbon Journal de Progrés) is not of a dynastic 
nature at all, but simply of the fraternal kind so well known in the» 
movements of 1848. 

The chief cause of the Spanish revolution was the state of the 
finances, and particularly the decree of Sartorius, ordering the 

payment of six months’ taxes in advance upon the year.*” All the 
public chests were empty when the revolution broke out, 
notwithstanding the circumstance that no branch of the public 
service had been paid; nor were the sums destined for any 
particular service applied to it during the whole of several months. 
Thus, for instance, the turnpike receipts were never appropriated 
to the use of keeping up the roads. The moneys set aside for 
public works shared the same destiny. When the chest of public 
works was subjected to revision, instead of receipts for executed 
works, receipts from court favorites were discovered. It is known 
that financiering has long been the most profitable business in 
Madrid. The Spanish budget for 1853 was as follows: 

Civil List and Appanages ..............:cc:ccscseesereeeeee 47,350,000 reals. 
LGR ISTACON: 135 sitive sasacaniareaaansstatesassineinetnnn near eeeeeeee 1,331,685 reals. 
Interest of Public Debt. ....................00:c:cseeeeeeeeeeeees 213,271,423 reals. 
President of Council ...............cccccsescsescseceeeenes ee 1,687,860 reals. 
FOPEIBN: OEIC iscsi tasisncqeccunfectdivessqncdssicvsocdessPacceeced 3,919,083 reals. 
S01 couse ae aid eet stipe ose ee tier 39,001,233 reals. 
Wak civics isssdeaceteetens saidestecestescteve atetcecdicteduessdeooleese aie 278,646,284 reals. 
Marine ise foie bisoueee been ok Beste sebedettathac ead 85,165,000 reals. 
Interior ............:seecceee ees SARL cote oceuvivang Menta aiogevedtasat see 43,957,940 reals. 
PONCE sities even wtten ender aeaecceavnete: 72,000,000 reals. 
FAC OS osc 25 cs ooo sae tease tanec uestsien epee ate eaemnbes Bod 142,279,000 reals. 
POUISIODS 55.855 ose is saan ete pa cuiideges Muasvndesncbe ter ees epiaesens 143,400,586 reals. 
CUES el ba ces ea sate act ots Mayas easdeachagens eens 119,050,508 reals. 
EMEP AS G.eivecust baer tpusse ctsoativeneckde sets secteudee tat eavader deka tas 18,387,788 reals. 

VOGAL vicdinisacctves hae ticncuieaeseeetenuentsardacetas 1,209,448,390 reals. 

Notwithstanding this budget, Spain is the least taxed country of 
Europe, and the economical question is nowhere so simple as 
there. The reduction and simplification of the bureaucratic 
machinery in Spain are the less difficult, as the municipalities 
traditionally administer their own affairs; so is reform of the tariff 
and conscientious application of the bienes nacionales* not yet 
alienated. The social question in the modern sense of the word has 
no foundation in a country with its resources yet undeveloped, 
and with such a scanty population as Spain—15,000,000 only. 

You will see from the English press the first exploits of the 
British army at Bomarsund. These poor journals, which had never 
anything brilliant to report, are in great enthusiasm about the 
successes of 10,000 French troops over 2,000 Russians. I shall pass 
over these glories, and occupy myself with the consideration of the 
result of this capture of an island—the faubourg of Stockholm, and 
not of St. Petersburg. The French Siécle had announced, and its 
announcement was echoed by many journals, that Sweden would 
presently join the western powers against Russia in active 
measures.* The probabilities of this announcement may be 
measured by the fact that Sweden concluded a treaty of armed 
neutrality ?”' at the very time it might have operated with success 
against the swamps and woods of Finland. Will it alter its policy 
now that the time for operations is gone by? England and France 
have refused to King Oscar the required pecuniary and territorial 
guarantees for his adhesion. Moreover, how are we to explain the 
order of the Swedish Government for the disarmament of a whole 
squadron, on the supposition that Sweden is about to take the 
field? This disarmament extends to the ships of the line Charles 
XII and Prince Oscar, the frigate Désiré, and the corvettes Gefle 
and Thor. 

The capture of Bomarsund, now that the waters in those 
latitudes will soon be covered with ice, can have no importance. At 
Hamburg an opinion prevails that it is to be followed by the 
capture of Riga, an opinion based upon a letter of Captain 
Heathcote, commander of the Archer, to the English Consul, Mr. 
Hartslet, at Memel, to the effect that all foreign vessels must have 
cleared from the harbor of Riga by the 10th inst.” 

Prussia is said to be greatly encouraging smuggling articles 
contraband of war on its Russian frontier, and at the same time 
preparing for a rupture with the occidental powers. The 
commanders of the harbors of Konigsberg, Danzig, Colberg, and 
Swinemunde, have received orders to arm these places. 

The most influential papers of Norway and Sweden declare that 
“it would be worse than madness to join the allies and make 
enormous sacrifices, unless on the fixed and _ well-understood 
condition that Russia shall be broken up and Poland restored. 

from Hamburg in L’Indépendance belge, No. 230, August 18, 1854.—Ed. 

Otherwise even the: transfer of Finland to Sweden would be a 
delusion and a snare.” . 

It ought to be remembered that all these northern Governments 
are in conflict with their own people. At Copenhagen for instance, 
matters stand thus: the Schleswig-Holsteiners have determined to 
abstain from all elections for the Rigsrad; while at the same time 
the electors of Copenhagen have sent an address to Dr. Madvig, 
Deputy of the Landsthing, calling upon him not to accept a place 
in the Rigsrad, since the decree of the King was an infraction of 
the Danish Constitution and the rights of the Danish people. 

Written on August 18, 1854 Reproduced from the New-York