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1820. Novr. 6. Copied this day Sent Nov r 4th
Dec 1820 For J. C. There appears to have been part of the matter first sent through
Colomb: if so, safe, and need not be copied for resending
Wednesday 1. Novr.
I am so disheartened, my dear Sir, by the Spanish news
of the day, that my facilities seem to have left me. They certainly
have, in a great measure, for this day: next day, a part of them
will return, but not the whole. This is what I have learnt from
those reflex observations which I am constantly making on my
own mind. The news I allude to is the passing of rejection put upon the law against public discussion: coupled with the rejection of the law for the
suppression of Monasteries.
The 27 of last month was a day of hope and alacrity
to me: it bought me from Mr. Bowring an extract of a
letter from Mr. Puigblance on the subject of Codification. The
alacrity was in no small degree encreased by the receipt of
your's, the first I have had the pleasure of receiving; but I hope
not the last. It was not long, as you may well imagine, before
it was produced to my little knot - M. C. and H. Great was the
satisfaction, not small the admiration, it lighted up in their
minds. I mention these as so many facts, the knowledge of
which, being matter of necessity, the communication of them
has a claim to precedency over all reflections.
In the humour I am in, an invitation from the
Cortes, in the most solemn form, would scarcely give me alacrity
enough to undertake the work: perhaps when I am recovered
from the present shock, the state of things may not seem
so perfectly deplorable. What hope, what pleasure, in framing
laws for a government which, should it be inconsistent enough
to adopt them, (a thing hardly to be expected) would not give
the people the benefit of them? The better the arrangement in
question seemed to me to be, the legs would be my hope of seeing it
carried into effect.
Supposed a code ready by the time when Cortes
should awake. Will it really be suffered to awake? Not
unless satisfactory assurance were attained that it would be
the same wretched thing - weak-minded or corrupt or both that
it has no now shown itself. By sanctioning these liberticide laws, it
seems to me that the Cortes has been cutting the ground from under
itself. The news that would now be most gratifying to me,
is that the government has fallen to pieces: that the La Isla
army were in full march for Madrid would be gratifying indeed.
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Identifier: | JB/013/045/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 13.
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1820-11-03- "1820-11-03-" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
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013 |
rid yourselves of ultramaria |
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045 |
jb to mora madrid |
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001 |
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correspondence |
1 |
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recto |
d1 / e1 |
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john flowerdew colls |
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[[notes_public::copy of letter 2706, vol. 10; "copied this day from the brouillon sent novr 3d or 4th / 4 decr 1820 per jc this appears to have been part of the matter first sent through colomb: if so sent safe and need not be copied for resending" [bentham's notes]]] |
4494 |
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