s heart; as in a speculation that appertaineth not unto
him;--but a feeling Christian will express, in his words, a character of
zeal or love. _Lord Bacon_.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The following pages originated in the opposition which was made by his
Majesty's ministers to the expression, in public meetings and otherwise,
of the opinions and feelings of the people concerning the Convention of
Cintra. For the sake of immediate and general circulation, I determined
(when I had made a considerable progress in the manuscript) to print it
in different portions in one of the daily newspapers. Accordingly two
portions of it (extending to page 25) were printed, in the months of
December and January, in the _Courier_,--as being one of the most
impartial and extensively circulated journals of the time. The reader is
requested to bear in mind this previous publication: otherwise he will
be at a loss to account for the arrangement of the matter in one
instance in the earlier part of the work. An accidental loss of several
sheets of the manuscript delayed the continuance of the publication in
that manner, till the close of the Christmas holidays; and--the pressure
of public business rendering it then improbable that room could be
found, in the columns of the paper, regularly to insert matter extending
to such a length--this plan of publication was given up.

It may be proper to state that, in the extracts which have been made
from the Spanish Proclamations, I have been obliged to content myself
with the translations which appeared in the public journals; having only
in one instance had access to the original. This is, in some cases, to
be regretted--where the language falls below the dignity of the matter:
but in general it is not so; and the feeling has suggested correspondent
expressions to the translators; hastily as, no doubt, they must have
performed their work.

I must entreat the reader to bear in mind that I began to write upon
this subject in November last; and have continued without bringing my
work earlier to a conclusion, partly from accident, and partly from a
wish to possess additional documents and facts. Passing occurrences have
made changes in the situation of certain objects spoken of; but I have
not thought it necessary to accommodate what I had previously written to
these changes: the whole stands without alteration; except where
additions have been made, or errors corrected.

As I have spoken without reserve of t