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to  the  British  Ambassador,  "ask  of  himself,
*'  as  we  in  England  have  asked  of  ourselves,
11  whether,  if  there  existed  in  the  frame  of  the
"  Government  of  France,  or  of  England,  re-
"  spectively,  all  those  imperfections  which  either
"  theoretical  criticism,  or  factious  clamour  im-
"  putes  to  them,  we  should  consent,  even  if  we
"  were  already  resolved  to  probe  and  to  reform
"  those  imperfections,  to  do  so  on  the  demand
"  of  a  foreign  Power,  made  under  the  menace
"  of  foreign  war,  as  the  penalty  of  refusal."

"  Let  M.  de  Chateaubriand/'  continued  Mr.
Canning,  "  further  ask  himself,  whether  even  by
"  the  mode  of  making  that  demand  that  part  of
"  the  Spanish  Government  or  nation,  which
"  might  be  willing  to  undertake  those  amelior-
"  ations  of  the  present  Constitution  of  Spain,
"  without  which  it  is  alleged  to  be  unsafe  to
"  her  neighbours,  has  not  been  placed  in  a  situ-
"  ation  of  great  difficulty.
