There are two opinions upon it in Spain.  One party calculates the eight years from the time which has elapsed since the first establishment of the Constitution; the other reckons only the time during which it has been in operation.  The latter insist that the period has yet at least two years to run, because the Constitution has been in force only from 1812 to 1814, and from 1820 to the present time:  those who calculate from the original establishment of it in 1812, argue of course that more than the eight years are already expired, and that the period of revision is fully come.  I do not pretend to decide between these two constructions; but I assert that they are both Spanish constructions.  A Spaniard, of no mean name and reputation,—­one eminently friendly to the Constitution of 1812,—­by whose advice Ministers were in this respect guided, gave it as his opinion, that not only consistently with their oath, but in exact fulfilment of it, the Spaniards might now reconsider and modify their Constitution—­that they might have done so nearly three years ago.  ‘Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?’ say the Cortes.  The answer is,

’No; we do not ask you to lay perjury upon your souls; for as good a Spanish soul as is possessed by any of you declares, that you may now, in due conformity to your oaths, reconsider, and, where advisable, reform your Constitution.’  Do we not know what constructions have been put in this country, on the coronation oath, as to its operation on what is called the Catholic Question?  Will any man say that it has been my intention, or the intention of my honourable friend, the member for Bramber, every time that we have supported a motion for communicating to our Roman Catholic fellow subjects the full benefit of the Constitution, to lay perjury on the soul of the Sovereign?

Sir, I do not pretend to decide whether the number of legislative chambers in Spain should be one, or two, or three.  In God’s name, let them try what experiment in political science they will, provided we are not affected by the trial.  All that Great Britain has done on this occasion has been, not to disturb the course of political experiment, but to endeavour to avert the calamity of war.  Good God! when it is remembered how many evils are compressed into that little word ‘war’, is it possible for any man to hesitate in urging every expedient that could avert it, without sacrificing the honour of the party to which his advice was tendered?  Most earnestly do I wish that the Duke of Wellington had succeeded:  but great is the consolation that, according to the best accounts from Spain, his counsels have not been misunderstood there, however they have been misrepresented here.  I believe that I might with truth go further, and say, that there are those in Spain who now repent the rigid course pursued, and who are beginning to ask each other why they held out so pertinaciously against suggestions at once so harmless and so reasonable.  My wish was, that