CHAP. IV.

1814.

BOOK XIII. counts reached them of the cruel tragedy perpetrated in Madrid on the memorable 2d of May, by the chief of the French troops, through the instrumentality of the juntas which they created. Next took place the glorious battle of Baylen; the French fled as far as Vittoria, and all the provinces, with the capital, proclaimed me, anew, King of Castile and Leon, in the metropolis, with the same formalities as the kings my august predecessors. This is a recent fact, of which the medals struck in all parts afford demonstrative proof, and which the people through whom I have passed since my return from France have confirmed, by the effusion of vivas which moved the sensibility of my heart, where they are engraved never to be effaced. From the deputies nominated by the juntas, the central junta was formed; who exercised in my royal name all the powers of Sovereignty from September 1808 till January 1810, in which month was established the first council of regency, in whom the exercise of that power continued till the 24th of September of the same year: on which day were installed, in the isle of Leon, the cortes called general and extraordinary, when 104 deputies took the oaths, in which they engaged to preserve for me my dominions as their sovereign; all which appears from the act certified by the secretary of state Don Nicholas Maria de Sierra. But these cortes, assembled in a manner never used in Spain, even in the most arduous cases, and in the most turbulent times of the minorities of kings, in which the assembly of procurators was wont to be more numerous than in the common and ordinary cortes, were not called the states of the nobility and clergy, although the central junta had so ordered, this decree having been artfully concealed from the council of regency, and also the fact that the junta had assigned to it the presidency of the cortes, a prerogative of the crown which the regency would not have left to the decision of the congress, if it had been acquainted therewith. In consequence of this, every thing remained at the disposal of the cortes; who, on the very day of their installation, and by way of commencement to their acts, despoiled me of my sovereignty, which the same deputies had only a little before acknowledged, ascribing it nominally to the nation, in order to appropriate it to themselves, and then, upon such usurpation, to dictate to the nation such laws as they pleased, imposing upon it the yoke by which it should receive them compulsorily, in a new constitution, which the deputies established without authority of the provinces, people, or juntas, and without the knowledge of those provinces which were said to be represented by substitutes from Spain and the Indies. This constitution they sanctioned and published in 1812. This first attack upon the prerogatives of the throne, abusing the name of

the nation, became, as it were, the basis of many other attacks which followed it; and, in spite of the repugnance of many deputies, perhaps the majority, they were adopted and raised to the rank of laws, which they called fundamental, by means of the shouts, threats, and violence of those who attended in the galleries of the cortes, with which they alarmed and terrified; and that which was in truth the work of a faction, was clothed with the specious mask of the general will, and for such will, that of a few seditious persons, who in Cadiz, and afterwards in Madrid, occasioned af fliction to all good citizens, made their own to pass. These facts are so notorious, that there is scarcely any one who is ignorant of them; and the very diaries of the Cortes furnish ample proof of them. A mode of making laws so foreign to the Spanish nation, gave occasion to an alteration of the good laws, under which, in other times, it was respected and happy. In truth, almost all the forms of the ancient constitution of the mo narchy were innovated upon; and copying the revolutionary and democratic principles of the French constitution of 1791, they sanctioned, not the fundamental laws of a moderate monarchy, but those of a popular government, with a chief, or magistrate, their mere delegated executor, and not a king, although they gave him that name, to deceive and seduce the unwary and the nation. Under the same want of liberty this new constitution was signed and sworn to; and it is known to all, not only what passed with regard to the respectable Bishop of Orense, but also the punishment with which those were threatened who refused to sign and swear to it.

"To prepare the public mind to receive such novelties, especially those regarding my royal person and the prerogatives of the crown, the public newspapers were resorted to as a means, some of which the deputies of the cortes conducted, and abused the liberty of the press established by them, to render the royal power odious, giving to all the rights of majesty the name of despotismmaking king and despot synonymous terms,and calling kings tyrants, while at the same time they cruelly persecuted every one who had the firmness to contradict them, or to dissent from this revolutionary and seditious mode of thinking; and in every thing democracy was affected, the army and navy, and all other establishments which, from time immemorial, had been called loyal, being stripped of that name, and national substituted, with which they flattered the people; who, however, in spite of these perverse arts retained, by their natural loyalty, the good feelings which always formed their character. Of all this, since I have happily entered the kingdom, I have been acquiring faithful information and knowledge, partly from my own observations, and partly from the public papers, in which, up to this

very day, representations of my arrival and my character are impudently circulated, so gross and infamous in themselves, that even with regard to any other individual they would constitute very heavy offences, worthy of severe notice and punishment. Circumstances so unexpected have filled my heart with bitterness, which could only be alleviated by the demonstrations of affection from all those who hoped for my arrival, in order that by my presence an end might be put to these calamities, and to the oppressions in which those were who retained in their minds the remembrance of my person, and sighed for the true happiness of their country. I swear and promise to you, true and loyal Spaniards, at the same time that I sympathise with the evils which you have suffered, you shall not be disappointed of your noble expectations. Your sovereign wishes to be so on your account, and in this he places his glory, that he is the sovereign of an heroic nation, who, by their immortal deeds, have gained the admiration of the world, and preserved their liberty and honor. I abhor and detest despotism: neither the intelligence and cultivation of the nations of Europe could now endure it; nor in Spain were its kings ever despots. Neither its good laws nor constitution authorised despotism; although, unfortunately, from time to time, as happens every where else, and in every thing human, there may have been abuses of power which no possible constitution can wholly guard against; nor were they the faults of the constitution which the nation had, but of individuals, and the effects of unpleasant but very rare circumstances which gave occasion to them. However, in order to avert them, as effectually as human foresight will allow, namely, by preserving the honor of the royal dignity and its rights, since those appertaining to it and to the people are equally inviolable, I will treat with the procurators of Spain and of the Indies: and order being restored, together with the good usages under which the nation has lived, and which the kings my predecessors established with its consent, every thing that relates to the good of my kingdoms shall be solidly and legitimately enacted, in cortes legitimately assembled, as soon as it may be possible to do so, in order that my subjects may live prosperous and happy, in one religion, and under one government, strictly united by indissoluble ties. In this, and in this alone, consists the temporal felicity of a king and kingdom, which enjoy the title of Catholic, by way of eminence; and immediately preparations shall be made for what may appear best towards assembling of such a cortes; in which, trust, the bases of the prosperity of my subjects, in both hemispheres, may be confirmed. The li6 erty and security of persons and property shall firmly secured by means of laws, which gua nteeing public liberty and order, shall leave to

1814.

all that salutary liberty whose undisturbed enjoy- BOOK XIII. ment distinguishes a moderate from an arbitrary and despotic government, and in which the citi- CHAP. IV. zens subject to the former ought to live. This just liberty all likewise shall enjoy, in order to communicate through the press their ideas and thoughts, within those limits, however, which sound reason imperiously prescribes to all, that it may not degenerate into licentiousness; for the respect which is due to religion and the government, and that which men mutually owe towards each other, can under no civilized government be reasonably permitted to be violated and trampled upon with impunity.

“All suspicion, likewise, of any dissipation of the revenues of the state shall cease; those which are assigned for the expenses required by the honor of my royal person and family, and that of the nation whom I have the glory to govern, being separated from the revenues which, by the consent of the kingdom, may be imposed and assigned for the maintenance of the state in all branches of the administration. The laws, which shall in future serve as a rule of action to my subjects, shall also be enacted in concert with the cortes, inasmuch as these bases may serve as an authentic declaration of my royal intentions in the government with which I am about to be vested, and will represent to all neither a despot nor a tyrant, but a king and a father of his subjects; having in like manner heard from the unanimous declaration of persons respectable for their zeal and knowledge, and from representations made to me from various parts of the kingdom, in which are expressed the repugnance and disgust with which both the constitution formed by the general and extraordinary cortes, as well as the other political establishments recently introduced, are regarded in the provinces; considering also the mischiefs which have sprung therefrom, and would increase, should I assent to and swear to the said constitution; act. ing in conformity to such general and decided demonstrations of the wishes of my people; and also because they are just and well-founded, I DECLARE, that my royal intention is, not only not to swear nor accede to the said constitution, nor to any decree of the general and extraordinary cortes, and of the ordinary at present sitting; those, to wit, which derogate from the rights and prerogatives of my sovereignty, established by the constitution and the laws under which the nation has lived in times past, but to pronounce that constitution and such decrees null and of no effect, now, or at any other time, as if such acts had never passed, and that they are entirely abrogated, and without any obligation on my people and subjects, of whatever class and condition, to fulfil or observe them. And as he who should attempt to support them, and shall thus contradict my royal proclamation, adopted with the above agreement and assent, will

13 C

CHAP. IV.

1814.

BOOK XIII. attack the prerogatives of my sovereignty, and the happiness of the nation, and will cause discontent and disturbance in my kingdoms, I declare, whoever shall dare to attempt the same will be guilty of high-treason, and as such subject to capital punishment, whether he perform the same by deed, by writing, or by words, moving and exciting, or in any other way exhorting and persuading that the said constitution and decrees be kept and observed.

葡

"And in order that, until public order be restored, together with the system observed in the kingdom prior to the introduction of these novelties, for the attainment of which suitable measures shall be taken without delay, the administration of justice may not be interrupted, it is my will, that in the meantime the ordinary magistracies of towns shall be continued as now established, the courts of law, where there are such, and the audiencias, intendents, and other judidicial tribunals; and in the political and administrative branches, the common-councils of towns, according to the present constitution, until the cortes, who shall be summoned, being heard, the stable order of this part of the government of the kingdom be assented to. And from the day on which this my decree shall be published, and communicated to the president for the time being of the cortes at present met, the said cortes shall cease their sittings; and their acts, with those of the preceding cortes, together with whatever documents or dispatches shall be in their office of archives and secretaryship, or in the possession of any other individual whatever, shall be collected by the person charged with the execution of this my royal decree; and shall be deposited for the present in the guildhall of the city of Madrid, the room in which they are placed being locked and sealed up. The books of their li brary shall be conveyed to the royal library; and whosoever shall endeavour to obstruct the execution of this part of my royal decree, in any way whatever, I also declare him guilty of hightreason, and that as such the punishment of death shall be inflicted upon him. And from this day shall cease in every tribunal of the kingdom all proceedings in any cause now pending, for any infraction of the constitution, and those who, for such causes, have been imprisoned, or arrested, shall be immediately set at liberty. Such then is my will, because the welfare and happiness of the nation require it.

"I, THE KING."

hostility against the existing government, it must have been well assured of the feeble hold possessed by that government on the mind of the nation. In fact, notwithstanding the high encomiums upon the noble and elevated spirit of the Spanish people, which have been so frequent since they began to contend against French tyranny, it must be acknowledged that there are few instances of so momentous a contest supported with less courage and constancy; and as nothing could be more abject than the first submission of the royal family and nobles to foreign usurpation, so a listlessness and indifference was too apparent in the subsequent efforts of the nation, powerfully aided as it was by Great Britain, to free itself from the yoke. With respect to liberal and enlarged ideas of government, there is no European nation in which they could be less expected to prevail, than in one so many ages under the sway of arbitrary power and bigotted superstition. The constitution framed by the cortes was a merely exotic production, generated in the heads of a few reading and speculative men, whose notions had little or no correspondence with the general feelings of the community. Hence, when assailed by the power of force and opinion always inherent in a monarchy, having no effectual support on the other side from popular attachment, it sunk without a struggle. In one account it is said, that as soon as the Governor of Madrid officially published Ferdinand's de cree, the people joined him with enthusiasm, and the dissolution of the cortes did not experience the slightest obstacle. No resistance was made, and consequently no blood was shed; but, on the night of the 10th, a great number of persons were arrested, whose names comprise almost all those who have rendered themselves conspicuous for writings or speeches favorable to civil liberty, or adverse to ecclesiastical authority, during the reign of the cortes. The fidelity to the royal cause displayed by the capital was rewarded by allowing it, in addition to its former titles of loyal and imperial, to take that of heroic, and its municipal body that of excellency. The king nominated a ministry, among whom the first was the Duke de San Carlos, the person who signed his treaty with Bonaparte. A provisional regulation was issued with regard to the liberty of the press, and the publication of periodical papers, the nature of which may easily be con

ceived.

The entrance of Ferdinand into Madrid took place on the 14th of May; and, from the public accounts, it would appear that never was a sovereign received into his capital with greater demonstrations of attachment. The populace are said to have drawn his carriage all the way from Aranjuez to Madrid, seven leagues. He afterwards traversed the whole city on foot, by way of shew

ing his confidence in the people. In the mean time, arrests continued; but, as was then fondly hoped, rather as a measure of safety than of rigour. It could not be doubted that the church would be the first to profit of this change; and a royal decree was issued, declaring that the king, being informed of the great scandal occasioned by the poverty and wretchedness of the regular clergy, and considering the advantages which result to the state and the church from their being assembled in their respective communities, orders all the convents, and property belonging to them, to be restored, through the intervention of the archbishops and bishops. Thus was again established that predominancy of the religious orders by which Spain had so long been impoverished and held in the fetters of ignorance and superstition. The heads of convents, &c. displayed their gratitude by addresses to his majesty; and pamphlets of monkish composition began to appear, inculcating the doctrines and sentiments suited to the renovated state of the country. In the interior of Spain, the prevalent cry was, Long live Ferdinand!" "Perish the Constitution!" and it was with difficulty that violences were prevented against persons known to have been attached to the cortes.

66

But the party of the cortes was not the only object of the attention of the new government. A circular was issued on the 30th of May, from the office of the secretary of grace and justice, in which it was said, that "the king being informed that many of those who had openly declared themselves the partizans and favorers of the intrusive government, are preparing to return to Spain, that some of them are at Madrid, and use in public those badges of distinction which are allowed only to loyal and meritorious subjects, has resolved, in order to remove the just dissatisfaction which worthy men would feel thereat, and to avoid the consequences that would follow, if leave to return were given to all those who are in France, and who went forth along with the troops of the intruder, who called himself king, to enact the following articles:-" These related to the classes and distinctions of persons who were absolutely to be excluded from re-entering the kingdom, in consequence of having borne offices, &c. under Joseph Bonaparte; to those who were to be admitted on certain restrictive conditions; and to those (of the lower classes) who were to be freely restored." The general strain of the articles displayed considerable severity, which in this instance was not chargeable with any violation of gratitude.

Although the Spanish populace were impatient to rush again into arbitrary government, yet it could not be supposed that Spain was destitute of persons of better education, and more enlight

CHAP. IV.

1814.

ened ideas; and who received with different feel- BOOK XIII ings the violent measures that had been adopted to obliterate every vestige of an authority founded on the principles of freedom. The most celebrated university in the kingdom, that of Salamanca, presented in great solemnity an address to the king; very different from the adulatory tributes which have usually in all countries been offered by learned bodies to the throne; and portending important political consequences, if supposed to represent the sentiments of a numerous class in the Spanish public. The following extracts are so honorable to the addressers that it would be an injustice not to record them. "Reseated on the throne of Spain, a throne preserved at the expense of such rivers of blood, your majesty enjoys all your rights, and the nation may promise itself a futurity which will indemnify it for the sacrifices it has made with so much courage and generosity. Yes, sire, the nation expects from the reign of your majesty the reward of its heroic devotedness; but if that nation, solely given up to its enthusiasm on the happy event of your restoration to its wishes, has neglected to be anxiously careful about its future political interests, the generosity of your majesty is not less bound to fix on solid bases the existence and the happiness of your people. Your majesty has spoken: These bases are already fixed in an irrevocable manner; they rest on the word of a Spaniard and a king. Real and personal property will be guaranteed by laws which secure good order and the public tranquillity. Every one shall enjoy that salutary liberty, the exercise of which is the first blessing of citizens under the temperate reign of a prince who must be the father of his subjects. The press also will enjoy that just liberty which, while it does not degenerate into licentiousness, is sufficient for the communication of useful ideas and the progress of the arts and sciences, the propagation of which enlightens the government itself, and tends to produce that mutual respect so necessary among all the members of society. The public taxes shall be fixed in concert with the representatives of the kingdom assembled in cortes; and with the concurrence of that body your majesty will establish the laws that are in future to fix the rights of all the citizens. After having restored order and the good usages observed by the nation, your majesty will restore the cortes, where you will listen to the procurators of Spain and America, in order to labour legitimately and efficaciously for the welfare of your states, that all may live happily in the same religion and in the ties of indissoluble fraternity; for in this consists the temporal felicity of a people who bear, by way of eminence, the title of Catholic." Who can here avoid recognizing the prospective view of a constitution

BOOK XIII. possessing the essentials of a monarchy limited by laws, and by an authorized expression of the CRAP. IV. public will?

1814.

The minister of the Indies, in the beginning of June, addressed a circular letter to the authorities of the countries beyond the seas, acquainting them with the restoration of Ferdinand, and the abolition of the cortes, with the alleged reasons for that measure. After expressing the king's After expressing the king's concern for the troubles which had broken out in the American provinces, it mentioned his intention of procuring full information of the excesses committed on both sides, after which," his majesty, placing himself in the midst of his European and American children, will put an end to the dissentions which would never have taken place among them, but for the absence and captivity of their common father." Such was the notice which the court thought proper to take of a breach in the Spanish empire, and which could not fail to be perplexing to its policy.

Meanwhile, symptoms of dissatisfaction with the measures of the court broke out in various parts of Spain, and rumours were propagated which agitated men's minds, and tended to spread discontent. These, at length, became so alarming, that the captain-general and civil governor of Cadiz, and its maritime province, found it necessary to publish a proclamation on the 8th of July, in order to contradict them. After reciting the substance of some of the rumours, such as war with England, and suspicions of war with France; the arrival of Charles IV., Ferdinand's father, and his offers to sign the constitution; demands from the allied powers of its signature by Ferdinand, and the like; the proclamation declared all such rumours false and seditious, and forbid their propagation either by writing or word of mouth, on pain of punishment with all the rigour of the laws, and called upon all loyal subjects to give information of every breach of these injunctions. Some efforts were made by the friends of the cortes, to spread a belief, that the army was not satisfied at the measures pursued by the king; and an article appeared in one of the Spanish papers which stated, that "all the officers of the third army had declared collectively, that they would be the protectors and unshaken defenders of the constitution, (that is, the cortes.") The editors were, however, tried for a libel; and

having been convicted as the authors, were sentenced by order of the king, one to the galleys for six years, in one of the stations on the coast of Africa; and the other, who was a friar, to six years close confinement in the most rigid convent of his order.

The restoration of arbitrary monarchy in Spain was very naturally followed by the re-establishment of the court of inquisition. A decree was published by the king on the 21st of July with the following preamble:-" The glorious title of Catholics, which distinguishes us among all other Christian princes, is due to the perseverance of the kings of Spain, who tolerate in their states no religion but the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman. This title imposes on me the duty of rendering myself worthy of it, by all the means that Heaven has placed in my power." His majesty proceeds to speak of the causes which have injured the state of religion in his country, among which is mentioned," the sojournment of foreign troops of different sects, almost all infected with sentiments of hatred against our religion;" and it is to be remarked, that this is the only allusion he had made to the assistance afforded by England, in expelling the usurpers of his throne and kingdom. He then declares, that for all these reasons, he "has thought it necessary, in the present circumstances, that the tribunal of the holy-office should resume its jurisdiction;" adding as a further motive, its suppression by the usurper of Europe, and by the general and extraordinary cortes. He re-establishes the supreme council of the inquisition, and all its other tribunals, in their powers, ecclesiastical and civil, according to the ordinances in force in the year 1808. He concluded, however, with saying, that as soon as the supreme council of the inquisition should be assembled, it was his intention to appoint two of its members, with two members of the council of Castile, to examine the modes of proceeding of the holy-office, and if the interest of his subjects, or the rights of sound justice, required any reform or alteration, to report them to himself, that he might adopt resolutions conformable to the cir cumstances. It was afterwards stated, in an account received from Madrid, that the British ambassador there had remonstrated on the preamble of this decree, as containing expressions injurious to the established faith of England.