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Untitled Article
sees his last bore vanish with delight , rings the bell for the mayor , to whom he delivers all the trash he has gleaned , and shuts his door against all further intrusion , until another week brings him back an hour or two more upon his legs . "—Vol . ii , p . 76 . The following extract is of general application . It embodies a main point in the history of social abuses ever since the many were governed by the few for the good of themselves .
" To the numerous host who derive their living from the taxes and sinecures squeezed out of the hard earnings of the people , it is a matter of great indifference who reigns , or what is the form of government , so long as their salaries are paid . Once attempt to reduce them , and to suppress the useless places , — ' aye , there ' s the rub / This is the great rock on which a patriotic and pure executive is likely to split ; and they can never hope to achieve a reform of this kind unless seconded by the iirm determination and support of the sound fraction of the nation . That
a strenuous effort must be made to shake off the reptiles that have been so long preying on the vitals of this unhappy country is certain ; what will be the result time only will shew . Whatever may be the fate of the experiment , the ministry that ventures upon it must be considered to have deserved well of their country . If it succeeds , Spain may once more be a nation , and resume her proper place among the powers of Europe ; if it fails , her name will continue a bye-word for baseness and degradation . "—Vol . ii , p . 123 .
The cause of liberty in Spain has once more revived . The contest there has now changed its character , and the interest with which it will be regarded is proportionally increased . The struggle is no longer between a prince who avows despotism as the prime jewel of his crown , ana a government which professes only a limited degree of respect for liberal principles , and troubles itself still less about the practice ; the question now at issue is , whether the will of the people or the ambition of Don Carlos shall be triumphant .
The Queen ' s body-guard at St Ildefonso , incited by the people of Spain , or by a knowledge of the popular feeling " , have compelled the Queen to accept the constitution of IB 12 . This manifestation of determined political energy proves that the princi p les of liberty once planted among them have taken deep root . Twice already
has Spain attempted to burst her bonds , and as often bas she been thwarted , and her efforts crushed by royal perfidy and by foreign interference . France was once more the point to be dreaded , but Louis Philippe seems at last to have thought that his subjects will not sanction such renewed betrayals of the popular cause .
The constitution of 1812 is certainly far from perfect , but it carries within itself the principle of progression , as it is founded on the basis of an extensive popular representation , and makes no provision for a second chamber . It may be expected that we should say something of the recent contest in which our countrymen have engaged , so many of whom Lave fallen , while so few will return with any other compen-
Untitled Article
Madrid in 1835 . 587
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1836, page 537, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2661/page/13/
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