Andalusia; Jaen, Cordova, Granada, and Seville, had received his Majesty's forces with every demonstration of joy, he expects the same reception from the inhabitants of Cadiz; and as the fleet and arsenals are the property of the nation, he demands that they should be preserved for the rightful sovereign. The Junta returned a short answer; in which they expressed their determination to acknowledge no one as king of Spain but Ferdinand the Seventh; and this answer was signed not by the president alone, but by each individual member.

A NEW government has been created here, which, considering the circumstances under which it was formed, and the important consequences to which it may lead, not only in the Peninsula, but in the more extensive, and to us more interesting, transatlantic possessions of Spain, deserves considerable attention. The Junta, elected in Cadiz, in the end of January, by the unbiassed suffrages of its inhabitants, were in full possession of all power, civil, military, and naval. The fleet in the bay, the stores at the arsenal, and the army, which the spirit and skill of Albuquerque had collected in Cadiz, and the Isle of Leon, acknowledged their authority. The revenues were at their disposal; and the supplies of money, daily expected to arrive from America, were destined to fall under their controul. This body, chosen in the manner I have before related, was composed of the principal merchants and capitalists of the city, with the addition of two artificers, on whose professional skill

reliance was placed, to superintend the works; of two priests, known to have imbibed the animosity of their profession towards the French ; and of two military men, who had never been engaged in any very active professional service.

Power, fascinating to all, is to none more so than to those whose recent acquisition of it has not yet taught them the cares and anxieties with which it is ever attended. This body, with honest intentions, but unaccustomed to look beyond the objects immediately connected with Cadiz, found themselves in the actual exercise of the supreme power, not only in their own city, but so far as orders to distant provinces could be effectual over the extensive regions of Spanish America.

As the enemy advanced towards Cadiz, the best patriots of Spain, retreating before him, naturally took refuge within these defences, and a body was assembled, of the most respectable and honourable characters which Spain contained; a class of men who naturally felt that an assembly of merchants, however respectable their characters might be, or however qualified to protect the local interests of their city, were very ill adapted for the regulation of those important affairs, which included, within their purview, the delicate state of twelve millions of transatlantic Spaniards, among whom discontents already existing, were likely to be increased when subject to the power of a body, whose first feeling was supposed to be jealousy of the commercial monopoly which they had long enjoyed. It was felt that the connection with Great Britain, on which so much depended, could only be secured by a government national, and not local. It was

remembered, that before the creation of the central Junta, when the different provinces were ruled by their provincial Juntas, the British government had felt difficulties in the way of granting assistance, that were only removed by the formation of a supreme power, which the whole of Spain would obey..

The weight of these considerations was felt by those patriots who were collected here, and their attention was sedulously turned to the subject. The difficulties to be surmounted were considerable. It was necessary to select, for the exercise of supreme power, such men as enjoyed a character for probity and patriotism above all suspicion. It was necessary to appoint men who were not implicated in the selfishness, or the treachery, of the lately-dispersed Junta; such as would be likely to conciliate the inhabitants of America, and yet not disgust the citizens of Cadiz. Above all, it was indispensible that the appointments should have such an appearance of justice in their fouudation, that the other provinces in arms against France, such as Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, and Gallicia, and the distant dominions of America, might recognise its authority, and submit to its power.

It is principally owing to the intelligence, the patriotism, and disinterestedness of Jovellanos, that these difficulties have been surmounted. Those fugitive members of the Junta, who, however imbecile when in power, detested the French usurpation, had collected in the Isle of Leon. Those who were traitors, had either joined the enemy, or fled to hide themselves from the indignation of their countrymen. The small number collected here still wished to

preserve the power they had been found incapable of wielding, and would have exercised it if the general sentiment had not, on the first attempt, convinced them that no confidence was placed in, and no obedience would be paid to them. Jovellanos, one of their body, availed himself of the occasion to point out the necessity of devolving their power on other men, in whom the people might repose confidence ; and strenuously urged, that neither himself, or any other member of the Junta, should be appointed to the office of Regent. The influence of Mr. Frere, the British Minister, was exerted to effect this laudable purpose; and being supported by all the virtuous fugitives who had fled hither, this remnant of the Junta was prevailed on to select five men, of known and approved integrity, into whose hands they resigned their power: but on the express condition, that they should exercise the supreme authority only till the Cortes of Spain was assembled; the convocation of which was to be one of the first acts of this new executive body.

The appointment of these men was, however, acquiesced in rather than approved; and suspicions were felt, if not uttered, that the impure source from whence they emanated would be more injurious than beneficial to the cause of Spain. Their president, the Bishop of Orense, had been long revered, within his diocese, for his piety, his integrity, and his benevolence. The influence of his name was so great, that when Murat, in prosecution of the plans of Buona, parte, attempted to conciliate some of the most respectable characters in Spain, this prelate was selected as one of the first objects of his seduction. A letter was addressed to him, in flattering and con