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XII.

bers, were found in the majority. The English ambas- CHAP. sador, Sir W. A'Court, refused to accompany the deposed monarch, and remained at Seville, from whence he went to Gibraltar to await the orders of his Government.

1823.

79.

action at

over all

This violent act completed the ruin of the Cortes and the cause of the revolution in Europe, and immediately Violent resubverted it in Spain. No sooner had the last of the Seville, and revolutionary troops taken their departure on the even-Spain. ing of the 12th for Cadiz, than a violent reaction took June 13. place in Seville, which soon extended to all the towns in Spain that still adhered to the cause of the revolution. Vast crowds assembled in the streets, shouting "Viva el Rey Assoluto! Viva Ferdinand! Viva el Inquisition!" Disorders speedily ensued. Several of the Liberal clubs were broken open and pillaged, and the pillars of the Constitution were broken amidst frantic demonstrations of joy. Two days after, a corps of the revolutionists under LopezBaños entered the city, engaged in a frightful contest in the streets with the Royalists, in the course of which two hundred of the latter perished; and having gained June 18. temporary possession of its principal quarters, he proceeded to plunder the churches of their plate, with which he set out for Cadiz; but finding the road in that direction occupied by General Bordesoult, he made for the confines of Portugal with his booty, where he joined a corps of revolutionists under Villa Campa. Two days after, General Bourmont entered Seville, where he permanently re-established the royal authority; and the forces of the Cortes, abandoning Andalusia on all sides, took refuge within the walls of Cadiz, where twenty thousand men, the last stay of the revolution, were now assembled. Everywhere else the cause of the revolution crumbled into dust. General Murillo, who commanded at Valencia,

un état d'empêchement moral prévu par l'article 187 de la constitution, et qu'il soit nommé une régence provisoire qui sera investie seulement pour le cas de, ou pendant la translation de la plénitude du pouvoir exécutif."-Proposi tion de M. GALLIANO, 11th June 1823; Annuaire Historique, vi. 410.

XII.

1823.

1 Memorias

del General French.

Espoz-y-
Mina, ii.

CHAP. passed over with half his forces to the Royalists; Ballasteros, after sustaining a severe defeat at Carabil, was obliged to capitulate, with seven thousand men, to the Carthagena, Tarragona, and all the other fortresses, with the exception of Barcelona, Corunna, and Ferrol, soon after opened their gates, and ere long there 228, 229; remained only to the Liberal leaders the forces shut up vi.413,415; within the walls of Cadiz and Barcelona, and a few Cap. vii. 202, 203. guerillas, who, under Mina, still prolonged the war in the mountains of Catalonia.1

170, 176;

Lam. vii.

Ann. Hist.

80. State of affairs in Cadiz.

Still the position of the revolutionists in Cadiz was strong, for the fortress itself had been proved in the late war to be impregnable; the inhabitants were zealous in their support; and the principal leaders and officers of the garrison of twenty thousand men were so deeply implicated in the cause, that they had no chance of safety but in the most determined resistance. Above all, the command of the person of the king and the royal family, for whose lives the most serious apprehensions were entertained, gave them the means of negotiating with advantage, and in a manner imposing their own terms on the conquerors. Ferdinand, though nominally restored to his functions, in order to give a colour to their proceedings, was in reality detained a close prisoner in the palace, or rather prison, in which he was lodged, and not allowed to walk out even on the terrace of his abode, except under a strong guard, and within very narrow precincts. Meanwhile Riego issued from the Isle of Leon, as he had done during the revolt in 1820, to endeavour to rouse the inhabitants of the mountains in the rear of the French armies; and every preparation was made within the walls for the most vigorous defence. But all felt that the cause was hopeless. The more moderate members of the Cortes had withdrawn and taken refuge in Gibraltar; and even the violent party of Exaltados, who still inculcated vi. 435, 437. the necessity of prolonging the contest,2 did so rather from the hope of securing favourable terms of capitulation for

2 Lam. vii. 229, 230;

Ann. Hist.

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XII.

1823.

81.

Advance of

the Duke

d'Angou

lême Andalusia, and decree of Andujar.

me into

Encouraged by the favourable reports which he received on all sides of the defeat or dispersion of the Revolutionists, and the general submission to the royal authority, the Duke d'Angoulême resolved to proceed in person with the great bulk of his forces to Andalusia, in order to bring the war at once to a close by the reduction of Cadiz. He set out, accordingly, on the 18th July, from Madrid, July 18. taking with him the guards and reserve, and leaving only four thousand men to garrison the capital. The Regency had issued a decree annulling all the acts of the revolu- June 18. tionary government since the Constitution had been forced upon the king on 7th March 1820, contracted a considerable loan, and made some progress in the formation of a Royalist corps, to be the foundation of a guard; but the extreme penury of the exchequer, the inevitable result of the political convulsions of the last three years, rendered its equipment very tardy. Meanwhile, disorders of the most serious kind were accumulating in the provinces ; the Royalist reaction threatened to be as serious as the revolutionary action had been. In Saragossa fifteen hundred persons had been arrested and thrown into prison by the Royalists, and great part of their houses pillaged; and similar disorders, in many instances attended with bloodshed, had taken place in Valencia, Alicante, Carthagena, and other places which had declared for the royal cause. Struck with the accounts of these atrocities, which went to defeat the whole objects of the French intervention, and threatened to rouse a national war in Spain, the Duke d'Angoulême published at Andujar, on Aug. 8. the 8th August, the memorable proclamation bearing the 1 Cap. vii. name of that place, one of the most glorious acts of the 202, 203; Restoration, and a model for all future times in those 231; Ann. unhappy wars which originate in difference of political or 437, 438. religious opinion.1

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By this ordonnance it was declared, "that the Spanish

Lam. vii.

Hist. vi.

XII.

1823.

sions.

82.

CHAP. authorities should not be at liberty to arrest any person without the authority of the French officers; the commanders-in-chief of the corps under the orders of his Its provi- royal highness were instantly to set at liberty all persons who had been arbitrarily imprisoned from political causes, and especially those in the militia, who were hereby authorised to return to their homes, with the exception of such as after their enlargement might have given just cause of complaint. The commanders-in-chief of the corps were authorised to arrest every person who should contravene this decree; and the editors of periodical publications were put under the direction of the commanders of corps." Though this ordonnance was dictated by the highest wisdom as well as humanity, seeing it put a stop at once to the Royalist reaction which had become so violent, and threatened such dangerous consequences, yet as it took the government in a manner out of the hands of the Spanish authorities, and seemed to presage a prolonged military occupation of the country, it excited the most profound feelings of indignation at 1 Cap. vii. Madrid, and among the ardent Royalists over the whole Ann. Hist. Country. With them, loyalty to their sovereign was vi. 437; Or- identical with thirst for the blood of his enemies. The d'Andujar, whole members of the Regency sent in their resignations, 1823; Mo- and were only prevailed on to withdraw them by explanations offered of the real object of the ordonnance; and the diplomatic body made remonstrances, which were only appeased in the same manner.1*

204, 205;

donnance

Aug. 8,

niteur, Aug. 24; Ann. Hist. vi. 724.

The condition of Spain at this time was such as to

* "Jamais l'intention de S. A. R. ne fut d'arrêter, le cours de la justice dans les poursuites pour des délits ordinaires sur lesquels le magistrat doit conserver toute la plénitude de son autorité; les mesures prescrites dans l'ordre du 8 Août n'ont d'autre objet que d'assurer les effets de la parole du prince, par laquelle il garantissait la tranquillité de ceux qui, en la foi des promesses de S. A. R., se séparent des rangs des ennemis. Mais en même temps, l'indulgence pour le passé garantit la sévérité avec laquelle les nouveaux délits seront punis, et conséquemment les commandants français devront non-seulement laisser agir les tribunaux ordinaires auxquels il appartient de punir suivant la rigneur des lois, ceux qui, à l'avenir, se rendront coupables de désordres et de dés

XII.

1823.

83.

ritation of

Spain.

call forth the utmost solicitude, and threatened the most CHAP. frightful consequences. The war still lingered in Galicia, where Sir R. Wilson had appeared, accompanied, not, as was expected, by ten thousand men, but by a single aide- Violent irde-camp; and a harassing guerilla warfare was yet the Royalkept up by Mina, and the forces under his command in its in Catalonia. The Royalists in Madrid had been in a state of the highest exultation, in consequence of a rumour which had obtained credit, that the king had been set at liberty, when the decree of Andujar fell upon them like a thunderbolt, and excited universal indignation. The same was the case in all the provinces. Such is the force of passion and the thirst for vengeance in the Spanish character, that nothing inflames it so violently as being precluded from the gratification of these malignant feelings. The army employed in the blockade of Pampeluna prepared and signed an address to the Regency, in which this wise decree was denounced as worse than any act of Napoleon's. In such an excited state of the public mind, no central authority could be established. All recognised the Regency at Madrid; none obeyed it. Provincial juntas were rapidly formed, as in the commencement of the war in 1809, composed of the most violent Royalists, who soon acquired the entire direc- Aug. 13. tion of affairs within their respective provinces. The sur- Aug. 27. render of Corunna on 13th August, followed by the vi.436, 442; capitulation of all the Liberal corps in the province, 230, 231; and that of San Sebastian, Ferrol, and Pampeluna,1 soon after terminated the war in the north and west of

obéissance aux lois, mais encore ils devront agir d'accord, avec les autorités locales, pour toutes les mesures qui pourront intéresser la conservation de la paix publique.”—Lettre du Général Guilleminot à la Régence à Madrid, 26th August 1823; Annuaire Historique, vi. 724.

Un attentat que n'osa pas commettre le tyran du monde, doit être réprimé à l'instant, quelles qu'en soient les conséquences, et dussions-nous être exposésaux plus grands dangers. Que l'Espagne soit couverte de cadavres plutôt que de vivre avilie par le déshonneur, et de subir le joug de l'étranger."-Adresse de l'armée de Navarre à la Régence, 20th August 1823; Annuaire Historique, vi. 441.

1 Ann. Hist.

Lam. vii.

204, 206.

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