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Ferdinand, immediately made arrangements for him to return to Spain; no doubt under the hope that his insinuations and those of his minister, La Forest, would have made on the mind of the king all the impression he wished, and on the other hand without dread of his fatal counsellors, whom Buonaparte well knew, any being able to dissuade their master, or steer him in the right

course.1

The king was received on the frontiers of Catalonia, by Don Francisco Copons, General in chief of that district, who duly informed him of every thing, according to the orders of the Regency.

He appeared satisfied and even pleased with the Constitution and decrees of the Cortes, during his stay in the above province, and abstained from exercising any act of authority in it. From Catalonia, instead of proceeding in a direct line to Valencia, he shaped his course to Zaragoza; and although this was contrary to the decree of the Cortes, it was not deemed strange, because it was given out that the king was desirous of seeing the glorious ruins of that heroic city. At length he reached Valencia, where he met the cardinal and president of the Cortes; and there it was

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'The canon, Don Juan Escoiquiz, one of these counsellors, and at that time the most intimate in the confidence'l e of the king, in the with which he published on his arrival at Madrid, under the title of Ideas Sencilla, &c. with most admirable candor, has discovered to us a thousand-partienjarities which remove all doubt on this bead. Through his work we are formed of the precious contents of Napoleon's letter to Ferdinand, dated tember, 1813, in which he says, " that England encouraged in Spain anarchy and jacobinism, and sought to overturn the monarchy and destroy the nobility with a view to establish a Republic; adding, that he could not help regretting the destruction of su neighbouring a nation,

Sep

ious to deprive British influence of every pretext, and was anx

the ancient

bonds of friendship, for which purpose he sent the Count La Forest hear him."By it we also learn, that the latter envoy confirmed the same by word of mouth, telling the king that the British had destroyed every thing, and introduced anarchy and jacobinism into Spain; that their object other than to change the monarchy into a Republic, and that

was no

in order to deceive the people, in all the public acts they plevertheless,

name

of the king at the head," &c. All this made an impression on the king; for when he sent the Duke de San Carlos on 10 Spain with the treaty, be charged him (these are the very words of Escoiquiz)" to examine the spirit of the Regency and Cortes, as he already suspected they were actuated by infidelity and jacobinism."-If the king suspected this before he sent on on the Duke de San Carlos, how much must he not have been confirmed in his suspicions on the return of the latter; most sore, as it was natural to expect, at his unfavorable reception and failure of his negociation. On the other hand, any one may easily infer what class of persons surrounded this courtier during his stay in Madrid; what kind of reports he would make to the king his master; how much the latter would be strengthened in his first prejudices; and what, in short, must have been the feelings and ideas of the whole rovai party on their entry into Catalonia, when among them the same San Carlos and Escoiquiz held the principal places.

not long before he evinced symptoms of that dislike with which he was made to view the established government. The Serviles of all classes, those of whom we have already spoken, immediately flocked to Valencia; as well as the dissatisfied, those who by their former conduct in the chief trusts they had abused, or by their seditious writings, had brought upon themselves public odium and animadversion; in short, many persons who had already rendered themselves execrable in the eyes of the people, men whom every body knows, but whose names we abstain from mentioning. These called together others, and amongst all of them, seizing as it were on the person of the King, they deceived and intimidated him afresh; they made him believe that the nation was opposed to the form of government in force, and in this manner raising up a bulwark between him and his people, they actually realised the plan Napoleon had proposed to himself.

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But what could scarcely be believed were it not a positive fact, is, that deputies named by the provinces, by virtue of the Constitution, and to it, enjoined by their constituents to observe and sustain it, and who had previously sworn in the most solemn manner, in the face of the Cortes and the whole country, to keep, and cause it to be kept, forgetting the origin of their representative functions, the tenor of their powers, their trust and the bond of their oaths, laid a remonstrance before the king, intreating. him not to accept the Constitution, but dissolve the Congress. This remonstrance, an eternal monument of shame and abomination to those who signed it, was clandestinely delivered to the king by one of themy who for this purpose proceeded on to Valencia; in the mean time his companions remained in the Cortes, acting the parts of constitutional deputies."

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In this state of things, General Elio, no less perjured and prevaricating than the above wicked deputies, having placed at the disposal of the king the division he commanded in the province of Valencia, the counsellors of Ferdinand, conceiving that the time had arrived for the execution of the designs they premeditated, caused the king to sign his fatal and deplorable decree of 4th May,

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This is the celebrated remonstrance, known throughout Spain under the name of "Remonstrance of the Persians," owing to a ridiculous allusion to that people found in the introduction. It was published in Madrid after the dissolution of the Cortes, signed by 69 deputies, making the third part of the Congress; but it is probable that the greatest part of them did not affix their signatures to it till after the entry of the king into the capital, when every thing was destroyed, the Servile faction victorious, and the Regency and a great number of the deputies imprisoned. Fear, and a wish to pay court, no doubt had a great share in this transaction; and it is said, that all those who had pretensions to a mitre, gown, or any public offices, as a preli minary step, were required to sign the manifesto.

in which, after pledging himself to secure to the nation what it already possessed, preparations were made for the destruction of every thing, and the fulfilment of these illusive promises left to an indefinite period; the national representation dissolved, and the life of every one threatened who dared to speak of or defend it; the Constitution, accepted by the people, all the authorities, clergy, and army, under the most solemn oaths, is declared null and void, and by another decree issued the same day, the freedom of the press was also trampled to the ground. The most profound mystery was remarkable in all these measures, and secret orders were given for the dissolution of the Cortes and seizure of papers, as well as for the arrest of the Regents, the secretaries of the various departments of government, and those deputies of the existing and preceding Cortes who had distinguished themselves by their talents, probity, and patriotism.

In the mean time, the stay of the king in Valencia had filled every person with alarm; the factions on every side began to bestir themselves; a Servile paper, under the title of Lucindo or Fernandino, and patronised by the Valencia faction, was already at work, vomiting forth reproaches and calumnies against the Cortes, the Regency, and the liberal party; some of Elio's troops were known to be approaching the capital, under hostile appearances; every post brought worse reports respecting the sentiments and demeanor of the king, till at length the greatest anxiety, and even dismay, prevailed among all those who had the welfare of their country at heart.

The Cortes and Regency, however, resolved to conduct them'selves in a passive manner, and in public avoided speaking of these matters, as well to prevent the people in the capital, already alarmed at the news from Valencia and the approach of the troops, from rushing into any excesses, as also to guard against any inquietude in the provinces, where the greatest uneasiness was felt at the king's delay, which appeared to them unaccountable. The government and Cortes were of opinion that moderation and confidence were the best means to convince Ferdinand of the rectitude of their intentions; and, on the other hand, satisfied with the interior testimony of their own consciences, they determined to take no steps indicative of any dread injurious to the monarch, whose throne they had defended with so much ardor and patriotism. The Cortes therefore confined themselves to the sending of two letters to him, respectfully explaining the state of doubt and agitation that prevailed, owing to his delay, and beseeching him to hasten his journey, in order to restore tranquillity in the public mind and commence the exercise of his authority. The king merely answered verbally, that he would conform to their wishes, without entering into any explanation with the cardinal, acting as Regent.

. In short, every thing being prepared for the execution of the plan, the king left Valencia for Madrid; at the same time, the Cortes were sending on to him a deputation, composed of some of the members, whom he refused to receive. Being half way on his journey, he banished the Cardinal, one of the Regents, as well as the Secretary, ad interim, of State, who was accompanying him; and almost at the same time the capital was surrounded by troops, when General Equia, and four other judges for this purpose specially commissioned, suddenly arrested the Regents in the night of the 10th of May, together with two secretaries of the government, and all the deputies of both Cortes, included in a fatal list, made out by hatred and a thirst for revenge; all their papers were at the same time seized, without any distinction whatever, and the whole of these individuals placed in solitary confinement, many of whom in the morning of that very day had been exercising the august functions of Representatives of the nation in the Congress.

Thus ended the career of a government which, by a series of heroic efforts, had sustained the national independence, defended the rights of Ferdinand VII. to the throne, wrested him from captivity, and established the bases of liberty by means of a liberal Constitution and a representative system; a government which, acknowledged by the nation as well as the chief European powers in relation with them, and respected in the interior not through violence but the force of public opinion, had, at that very moment, at its disposal, all the necessary means of resistance, and in its favor all the knowledge, virtue, and patriotism of upright men and true Spaniards; but far from availing itself of them, did not give a single order or adopt a single measure in opposition to Ferdinand; confidently trusting to the goodness and justice of its cause, as well as the virtues and gratitude of the sovereign, shut its eyes to all, and, as it were, placed itself entirely in his hands. Most assuredly if posterity should ever accuse this government of not having saved the state, at least, the unjust charge of its being factious and jacobinical, which some of its enemies have alleged against it, will be spared.

We will pass over in silence the atrocious manner in which the members of both Cortes, as well as all the individuals who had distinguished themselves by their national services, were from this moment treated and persecuted. All the fury of the passions, all the bitter dislike and desire of revenge, which their enemies could stir up against them, were resorted to; and possibly they owe their lives only to public opinion, or rather to the general conviction of their entire virtue and innocence, which overawed their opponents. The present state of Spain compels us to draw a veil over the details of a persecution, hitherto unequalled.

D

Following the glorious example of generosity Spain has uniformly evinced, as a rule prescribed by the nation itself, we will not add rancor to wounds still open, by entering on the particulars of such awful crimes: in testimony, however, of the innocence of the persecuted, and as a proof also of the correct feeling and rectitude of mind which prevailed in the nation, suffice it to say, that out of three commissions, purposely named to condemn them and formed out of their enemies,nay, their very secret accusers,no one of them dared pronounce condemnation against them; and the last, not venturing to absolve them in order not to displease the government, persuaded the latter to inflict penalties upon them according to its own pleasure, and this was in fact done without any previous sentence, or indeed even a statement of the charges.

a

We shall proceed no further. We have penned what the Cortes did whilst surrounded by a desolating war, and the whole of Europe has seen and felt indignant at what has been done, in the midst of peace, by a faction that has governed Spain for the space of six years. As the object of this faction was not so much the unlimited power of the king as the permanency of the old abuses they expected to revive under its auspices, the proscription was not confined to the Constitution, but extended to all the decrees and resolutions of the Cortes by which those abuses had been destroyed. Thus was the door opened afresh to all those evils under which the monarchy had previously labored, and these were rendered more terrible by falling on a body already worn down by the efforts of the preceding struggle. Spain, beheld with disdain and even with pity by even the warmest friends of arbitrary power, scarcely could be considered the same nation that had lately done such great deeds. Without an army, 1 without a navy, on the eve of losing the whole of her ultra-marine possessions ; deprived of revenue, credit, industry, and commerce; oppressed by restrictions, privileges, the Inquisition and the Jesuits; she was running headlong to her inevitable ruin. The general will of the nation, and not bayonets or the efforts of a party, has stopt the government in its fatal and mad career. Six years of misery and the most alarming disorder had convinced the nation that despotism never moderated of itself, and compas

1

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An army, naked and deprived of pay, is only an army in name, and not worth having.

2 And is it possible there are people who still call this "restoration ?" 3 Either there never was any such in the world, or it never could be manifested in a more clear and decided manner. This latter testimony of the national will can be compared only with that evinced by the Spanish people at the time of their invasion by the French.

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