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CHAPTER V.

Spanish Affairs continued.—Disgust excited throughout Europe at the Conduct of Ferdinand.—Letter from the Spanish Ambassador on the State of Spain.-Proclamation of the Governor of Cadiz. -Tumults and Executions.-Rota of the Nuncio restored.-Ordinance abolishing Torture.-Pope's Nuncio recalled, who had been banished by the Cortes.-Reform in the Court of Inquisition.— Measures to repress Insurgents and Banditti.-Arrests multiplied.-Restoration of Feudal Privileges.-Attempt of General Mina to take Pampeluna.-His Flight into France.-Arrested at Paris.-Liberated by the French Government.-Council of Mesta re-established.-Arbitrary Conduct of the Spanish Government.

THE persecutions and troubles which distracted the peninsula the greater part of this year, induced many persons of distinction to emigrate to Italy, where they rallied round the person of Charles IV. at Rome. A strict examination of all letters took place at the Spanish post-offices, and great pains were taken by the government to prevent information of the real state of affairs from being circulated, especially to foreign countries. Indeed, the conduct of the beloved Ferdinand and his ministers excited the greatest disgust throughout every country in Europe, and became the subject of discussion amongst all classes of society. The Spanish court, fearing perhaps of offending the allied monarchs, thought it necessary to contradict the rumours that had gone abroad; and an article having appeared in the Journal de Paris, reflecting on the conduct of the Spanish clergy, the Spanish ambassador addressed a most extraordinary letter to the editor of that paper, which we shall here insert.

"Gentlemen,-In your paper of yesterday you inserted an article, dated Munich, 16th inst. representing that the harangues of the Spanish clergy had occasioned the greatest disorders in the cities of Leon and Compostella. You will readily believe that I have at Paris intelligence of a much more recent date, and, above all, more authentic than the Bavarian news-writer who has furnished you with the article in question. Allow me, there fore, to tell you, that the disorders at Leon and Compostella have no more reality than the alarm occasioned by the conduct and sentiments of General Mina, and the seditious proceedings announced for some time past in different parts of Spain; whilst, on the contrary, General Mina is not less estimable for his loyalty and old-fashioned frankness, than worthy of admiration for his military achievements; and, in spite of the fabricators of, false news, there is not a more quiet country in Europe than Spain. Yes, gentlemen, the most perfect tranquillity prevails in my native land;

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the people there enjoy even a happiness superior BOOK XIII. to that which any nation ever experienced: for none ever succeeded in recovering its indepen- CHAP. V. dence and its sovereign by such extraordinary efforts of courage, fidelity, and constancy. Convinced of this happy situation of my country, I have hitherto been silent respecting those reports of discontents which idle or evil-disposed persons. take delight in propagating; and I should have done the same in regard to your brother journalist at Munich, if, after having announced false intelligence, he had not added an atrocious calumny against my august sovereign, and against his royal highness the Infant Don Antonio.

"I flattered myself, gentlemen, that the times in which journalists insulted nations and sovereigns with impunity were long past, and what more aggravated insult can there be, than to attribute to the uncle of the King of Spain a declaration which would be an act of rebellion, and to ascribe to his majesty a disease which would incapacitate him from reigning? On what foundation has this miserable journalist raised his imposture? And you, gentlemen, how could you think of inserting such an imputation in your paper? The singularity of adopting Spanish news from a German journal ought to have deterred you, had you even not reflected on the mis chievous consequences which your levity was likely to produce. All true Frenchmen have deplored the war of perfidy and atrocity which their tyrant carried on for six years; they have deplored that war not only as unjust, but as a medium which could not fail to raise to the highest pitch the animosity and hatred of two neighhouring nations, whose mutual interest it is to maintain a good understanding with one another. All that can tend to perpetuate this disposition, ought to be carefully avoided; and nothing, in my opinion, will contribute more to exasperate my countrymen than the continuation of the system which most of the journalists and other

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Notwithstanding this letter of the Spanish ambassador, it was manifest that great discontents still existed in Spain, and which kept the government in alarm. This appeared not only from various accounts transmitted from the different provinces, but especially from a general order and proclamation, issued at Cadiz, by Villavacienzo, the captain-general. "My former proclamations," he says," have produced no effect. Traitors and disturbers of the public repose continue to mislead the people, who are always fickle and credulous. These offences can no longer remain unpunished. Justice shall in future be executed with the celerity which circumstances demand. I declare that considering myself as in a state of war, a military commission is about to be immediately appointed, which shall decide within the period of three days at farthest according to military forms; and I will cause to be brought before it every individual accused of having, directly or indirectly, spoken against the sovereignty of Ferdinand VII. or who is suspected of any other manœuvre to mislead public opinion." A measure so violent and arbitrary as that here declared, must have proceeded either from some very urgent danger, or from the despotic character of the man; and, if it did not effectually intimidate, must certainly have augmented the force of disaffection. It afterwards appeared that this proclamation had been preceded by party tumults, and that several executions were the result.

In the mean time, the policy of strengthening the power of the crown by that of the church was pursued without intermission. By a royal decree, the tribunal of the rota of the apostolic nuncio was installed on the 22d of August, on which occasion its members, by the mouth of the dean of the tribunal, made a very loyal address to the king. Enumerating the advantages which would accrue from the re-establishment of this court, they observed, that "concord between the priesthood and the government being thus secured, the bases of the tranquillity and safety of the state can no longer be shaken; for the philosophers of the day have obstinately sought to disturb that concord, only the better to succeed in overwhelming successively the altar and the throne."

In the same month, another ordinance was published, by which the civil judges, superior and in

ferior, were forbidden to make use of the torture towards criminals or witnesses in order to force confession. At the same time, the king directed that in the construction of prisons, attention should be paid to healthfulness as well as security, that the persons confined might not undergo an anticipated punishment. The arrested members of the cortes were at this period still detained in prison, and were said to bear their fate with a great appearance of fortitude. The pope's nuncio, who had been banished the kingdom by the cortes in 1813, for his resistance to the abolition of the inquisition, had, as might be expected, been recalled, and was enjoying the highest degree of court favor. The abolition of the tribunal of the 'inquisition by the cortes certainly created them a vast number of enemies, and was probably the cause of their downfal on the return of Ferdinand. As it may not be uninteresting to our readers we will briefly revert to the proceedings of that body in 1813, relative to their dispute with the Spanish clergy and the pope's nuncio on that subject.

Among the difficulties which the cortes had to encounter, one of the most serious arose from that bigotry which has for so many ages been characteristic of the Spanish nation, and has enslaved its clergy to the most obnoxious maxims of the church of Rome. Although religious toleration could obtain no admission into the new constitution, yet the more liberal members of the cortes had been able to carry a decree for the abolition of the odious tribunal of the inquisition, and had passed an injunction for reading the decree in the churches at the celebration of high mass. This was very galling to the clerical body; and at a sitting of the cortes on March 8th, 1813, a letter was read, transmitted by order of the regency, which conveyed three memorials relative to this subject, from the vicar-general of the diocese of Cadiz, the parochial clergy of the city and suburbs, and the chapter of the diocese. That of the vicar-general set forth his reasons for not obeying the order of the cortes, the substance of which was, that it would be matter of scandal to read resolutions purely civil in a sacred place and in the middle of the sacrifice of the mass, and that it had not been usual to publish laws in that manner. The clergy went so far as to impugn the spirit of the decree for abolishing the inquisition, saying that it contained doctrines contrary to what they had always preached to their parishioners. The Spanish regency, in the letter accompanying these memorials, informed the cortes that they had not chosen to take severe measures on the occasion, for fear of disturbing the public tranquillity; and recommended the business to the consideration of the cortes.

The first speakers who arose in the assembly.

warmly condemned the regency for declining to exercise their authority in executing the orders of the cortes; and Senor Arguelles, after observing that the remarks of the clergy did not merit their attention, and that their sole business was to diseuss the conduct of the government in the observance of the laws, said, that the regency ought to be deposed the moment it did not cause the laws to be executed, which duty it had sworn to perform; and concluded with moving that the sitting be declared permanent till this business was terminated. This motion was carried by a great majority. He then, after declaring that the circumstances were highly critical, and that a contest between the two depositaries of the authority, of government might involve the nation in the greatest calamities, moved that a regency should be nominated ad interim. This motion occasioned a considerable debate; after which, being put to the vote, it was carried by eighty-seven against forty-eight. The three councillors of state upon whom, on account of seniority, according to an article of the constitution, the provisional regency fell, were the Cardinal Bourbon (Archbishop of Toledo), Don P. Agar, and Don Gabriel Ciscar. One deputation was then appointed to dismiss the old regency, and another to wait on the new. The latter then appeared before the cortes, and was installed in office with a suitable discourse from the president.

CHAP. V.

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gates of the apostolic see, has endeavoured to BOOK XIII,
promote, and actually has promoted, under the
cloak of religion, the disobedience of some very
respectable prelates and ecclesiastical bodies, to
the decrees and orders of the sovereign power."
After a number of observations on the conduct of
the nuncio, and the necessity of controlling it,
the cardinal president declares, that although be
conceived himself fully authorised to exert his
power by sending the nuncio out of the kingdom,
and seizing his temporalities, yet he had confined
himself to ordering that the following royal de-
cree should be transmitted to him. The decree
referred to expressed in strong terms the sense of
the regency of the nuncio's improper conduct;
and informed him, that it expected that he would
for the future keep within the limits of his mis-
sion, and that all his remonstrances to government
should be made through the medium of the se-
cretary of state; assuring him, that should he
henceforward forget the duties of his charge, the
regency would be under the necessity of exercis-
ing its power in fulfilling the duties intrusted to it.

This spirited and decisive proceeding, however, was ineffectual to restrain the actions of a representative of that authority which, during so many ages, had maintained a successful contest with civil governments; and it appeared from a subsequent manifesto of the regeney, that the nuncio affirmed in a note "that he could not but believe It was soon discovered that the resistance of that he was under an indispensable obligation to the Spanish clergy to the decree of the cortes was act as he had done, in quality of legate of the supported and fomented by the powerful influence pope, and in fulfilment of the duties of his miof the pope's nuncio, Peter Gravina, Archbishop nistry; that though he wished nothing more than of Nicea, then resident at Cadiz. This was made the peace and tranquillity of the kingdom, and it public by a manifesto of the regency, addressed was contrary to his character to intermeddle in to the prelates and chapters of Spain, and dated other subjects than those belonging to the duties April 23d. In this important paper, the president of his legation; yet in ecclesiastical matters he of the regency, Cardinal Bourbon, after alluding was obliged to engage in that correspondence and to the energetic measures which he had been communication which was required of him by his obliged to adopt in order to extinguish a flame office." He added, "that if his conduct in corwhich might have consumed the kingdom, says, responding with the reverend bishops, and acting that among the documents which he had called for as he had before done, gave offence to the cortes, on the occasion from different chapters, there had they might act as they thought proper relatively appeared a letter from the pope's nuncio to the to himself, as he believed his behaviour would Dean and Chapter of Malaga, exhorting them to merit the approbation of his holiness." In a letter delay, and even to oppose, the execution of the of the 9th of May, the nuncio persisted in the decrees concerning the inquisition. By so acting, same sentiments, and said, that the greater part the nuncio says, "they would do an important of the bishops, even those who were resident at service to religion, to the church, and to our most Cadiz, had made known their opinion on this subholy father, whose authority and rights he con- ject, in the hope that, as legate of the pope, he ceives to be wounded, without thereby favoring would take the part which he should judge prothe episcopal power." Letters to the same pur- per; that he had therefore been induced to give pose had been forwarded to the regency, from the his advice and instructions as he had done to the nuncio to the Bishop of Jaen and the Chapter of prelates and chapters, and that he should pursue Grenada;" from which it appears (says the ma- the same conduct whenever similar subjects should nifesto) that the said nuncio, trampling on the come in question. Thus, perhaps, very conscienfirst principles of international law, overlooking tiously, did Senor Gravina follow the same tract the limits of his public mission, and abusing the with the Beckets of old, in supporting the autho

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BOOK XIII. civil government in a country; demonstrating the uniformity of principle by which that vast machine of ecclesiastical power is actuated. The regency appears to have been reluctant to come to extremities and declare open hostilities with such a power; but its reputation and authority were compromised; and at length, on July 7th, after having heard the opinion of the council of state, a note was sent in its name to the nuncio, acquainting him that a passport was sent to him for leaving the kingdom, and that his temporalities in it would be occupied. He was further informed that, in consideration of his dignity, and in order that he might perform his voyage commodiously, a national frigate should be prepared to carry him whithersoever he might choose to go. The nuncio, however, preferred going to Portugal in a vessel provided by himself, where he remained till his recal by Ferdinand.

An account was received from Rome, in September, which stated that the King of Spain had addressed a long memorial to the pope, in which it was proposed to abolish the code called Directorium Inquisitorium, and to adopt the following rules. Mahometans, Jews, and other infidels, no longer to give testimony against Catholics accused of heresy. Wives, children, relations, and domestics, not to be admitted as witnesses in the first instance; the torture not to be applied in any case; the charges to be so specific, that slight or violent suspicions of heresy cannot suffice for ordering the arrest of an individual; the property of the condemned in no case to fall to the inquisition; the families of the condemned to be admitted to inheritance; the expenses of the supreme council to be defrayed out of the royal treasury.

A commission was appointed in September for the trial of the members of the cortes confined in the various prisons, and styled, by way of reproach, the liberales. Two magistrates, both members of the supreme council of Castile, nominated to form part of this tribunal, immediately gave in their resignation. It was manifest, from every account which was received, that Spain was at this time in a most deplorable condition. One of these stated that the guerillas and deserters from the army had formed themselves into numerous bands of robbers, by which the internal quiet of the kingdom was much disturbed; and that the high roads were so much infested by these banditti, that several towns had petitioned government to take effectual measures for the suppression of this evil. In consequence, a force of infantry and cavalry was sent into the provinces of the two Castiles, Estremadura, Andalusia, Arragon, Valencia, and Catalonia, for the extermination of the offenders. An official An official order was issued at the same time, empowering the commanders of these troops to act without

of the pro

waiting for orders from the governors vinces, and establishing in each a permanent council of war, by which all persons arrested were to be immediately tried; and it was declared, that "the confronting of witnesses was not neces sary, unless the advocate of the accused should represent it as indispensably requisite for their vindication. The sentences of this court were to be communicated to the governor of the province, and unless he disapproved, execution was to take place without delay. But in case of resistance by force, the execution might be ordered by the military commission, without any other authority. It can scarcely be doubted, that this ar bitrary rigour was chiefly directed against more formidable insurgents than robbers on the high

way.

In the meantime, the political discontents in the capital kept increasing; and, in the night between the 16th and 17th of September, ninety persons were arrested and committed to custody. In the night of the 25th, twenty-six more were apprehended, for the alleged crimes of freemasonry and attachment to the cause of the cortés. The number of persons arrested at length became so great, that the prisons were not capacious enough to contain them all, and the Frauciscan convent was converted into a state prison. The alarm excited by these measures, induced many persons to take refuge in France and other countries. Two of these having taken refuge in Gibraltar, were demanded by the Spanish government, and given up by the British commander, One was a retired officer, the other a scholar, totally immersed in his studies, and never mixing in political concerns. They were thrown into prison; but, in consequence of the representations of the British government, they were liberated. The British commander at Gibraltar was severely censured for delivering them into the hands of the Spaniards, and was afterwards recalled. Among other eminent patriots who had been persecuted and compelled to fly, was the Marquis Matterosa, one of the most distinguished champions of the Spanish independence, who had exposed his life and fortunes in the service of his country. He had fled from Madrid into the Asturias; bis persecutors had followed him to his country seat, and had terrified the countess bis mother so that she died in consequence of her apprehensions for his safety; he had, however, arrived safe in England. Several members. of the cortes were dragged from their homes, and others pursued into different parts of the country. It was dreadful to consider that Ferdinand had profited so little by his sufferings, as to come back to his country, after an exile of five years, and begin his career by injuries to the very men who had been his benefactors. He bad visited them with afflictions far severer than any

which had fallen upon himself. He had enjoyed free air and exercise, and the free use of his limbs they were confined in dreary dungeons without air, ill fed, without the common decent comforts of nature: even the doors of their dungeons were kept closed, that they might not have the benefit of the refreshing atmosphere. It is worthy of remark, that the judges appointed to try these offenders, were three persons who had opposed all the proceedings of the Spaniards from the outset, and had shewn themselves hostile to every measure that had for its object an effectual resistance to the arms of France. One of them had been chief judge under Joseph Bonaparte.

The province of Navarre at length became the seat of an insurrection which appeared in a truly formidable aspect. The famous partizan, Espoz de Mina, who had so much distinguished himself in the war by his enterprize and courage, was at the head of a body of troops in that province, and had fallen under the suspicion of government. It appeared from a proclamation of the viceroy of Navarre, that an order had been sent from court on the 16th of September, signifying that Mina should be regarded as a retired officer, and fix his residence in Pampeluna, and that the troops serving under him should be placed at the disposal of the Captain-general of Arragon, and distributed by him in the towns under his command. The viceroy communicated this order to Mina on the 23d, and, at the same time, sent a dispatch to the Governor of Arragon, stating the urgent necessity of transferring Mina's troops to other quarters. On the 25th, he was informed by the Arragon courier, that he had been stopped by two horsemen, who had taken away his bag of letters. Mina, who had signified to the viceroy his purpose of obeying the order, and coming to Pampeluna, approached that city on the night of the 26th, at the head of the first regiment of volunteers, provided with ladders to scale the ramparts, and having concerted his plan with the chiefs of the 4th regiment in garrison in the place. Accompanied by his nephew, he spent a part of the night upon the ramparts, conferring with his partizans, and expecting movements in his favor; but it appears that he had not sufficiently prepared his own officers for the attempt, for they sent one of their number to inform the viceroy of the transaction, and to assure him of their fidelity to the government. In conclusion, Mina found it necessary to retire, followed by those who were most attached to him, and take the road of Puente la Ruyna, where, it is said, there was a great fermentation among his soldiers, a part of whom quitted his standard. The viceroy published a proclamation, addressed to the deputies of the province, informing them of these events; and another proclamation, to the

people of Navarre, was issued by the bishop and BOOK XIII. two other persons in authority, in order to excite their loyalty.

The high character formerly sustained by General Mina cannot fail to interest readers in his fate, notwithstanding his failure in an enterprize perhaps rashly undertaken, and the precise object of which is only matter of conjecture. We therefore subjoin the following particulars respecting him, taken from a French account. His nephew, a gallant young man, after the miscarriage at Pampeluna, took refuge at Pau, with several officers attached to him and his uncle, and having presented himself at the police-office, addressed a memorial to Louis XVIII. In this he represented that he had constantly supported the Bourbon cause in Spain, and that his great object had been to effect their restoration to the Spanish throne on the basis of a free constitution; that such a constitution had been acknowledged by the whole nation, but that Ferdinand, unmindful of the blood which had been shed in his cause, had persecuted with the greatest rigour those patriots who had most exerted themselves in his behalf, and had plunged the nation in the greatest calamities. On this account, he (Mina) with many of his companions in arms, had made an exertion in support of the constitution, but having failed, they now applied to his majesty to grant them hospitality in France, or to furnish them with passports to any other country than Spain. About this period, Espoz de Mina arrived in Paris with four or five of his officers, and applied, under fictitious names, for passports to Count de Casa Flores, the Spanish chargé d'affaires. Being recognized by one of the legation, notice was given to the count, who amused Mina till be had obtained from the French commissary of police an order for his arrest. The French minister for foreign affairs, apprized of the fact, caused the commissary to be arrested in turn for having violated the laws of France, by obeying the order of a foreigner, who had no authority whatever in the kingdom. The king was then informed of the whole affair, and directly ordered Mina to be liberated, and dismissed the commissary from his office; and, in consequence of what subsequently passed, the Spanish chargé d'affaires was ordered to quit the French_territory. Nothing could be more honorable to Louis and his ministers than the proceedings on this occasion.

A royal ordinance issued by Ferdinand on the 15th of September, exhibited a further progress in that system of bringing every thing back to its former state, which seems to be the leading, or rather the sole policy of his government. It recites, that by a decree of the general and extraordinary cortes, on the 6th of August, 1811, all jurisdictional seignories, of whatever class,

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