1821. Dec. 9. CHAP. commissioners, one charged with preparing an answer to XI. the royal address, the other, with considering what was to be done to support the royal authority. The reports were presented on the 9th December, and although drawn in the most cautious style, and with the anxious wish to avoid giving offence to the Liberals, they did so most effectually, for they bore that the authorities at Seville and Cadiz should be brought to trial-a resolution which was adopted by the Cortes by a majority of 130 to 48. This decision excited the most violent animosity in the clubs, the journals, and the coffee-houses: cries of "Long live Riego! Down with the Ministers! down with the Serviles!" were heard on all sides; and so completely were the majority of the Cortes intimidated by these proceedings, that a few days after an amendment was carried by a majority of 104 to 59, which bore, "that as the Minis1 Ann. Hist. ters did not possess the moral force requisite to conduct ii. 476, 477; the affairs of the nation, they implored the king to adopt i. 359, 367. the measures imperatively called for by such a state of public affairs."1 Dec. 14. Martignac, 47. tory resolu Cortes. This vote of want of confidence in Ministers coming Contradic- SO Soon after a solemn condemnation of their adversaries, tions of the indicated in the clearest manner the prostration of the executive and disastrous state of the monarchy, reeling like a sinking ship alternately before one wind and another. Immense was the general exultation in the great cities at this direct vote of censure on Ministers. The authorities at Cadiz and Seville were so encouraged by it that they carried their audacity so far as openly to bid defiance to the Cortes and the King, and sent an address derniers événements de Cadiz, où, sous le prétexte d'amour pour la constitution, on l'a foulée aux pieds en méconnaissant les droits qu'elle m'accorde. J'ai ordonné à mes secrétaires d'état de présenter aux Cortès, la nouvelle d'un événement aussi fâcheux, dans la confiance interne qu'ils coopéreront avec énergie, d'accord avec mon gouvernement, à faire en sorte que les prérogatives de la couronne, ainsi que les libertés publiques, qui sont une de ses garanties, soient conservées intactes."-Discours du Roi, 25th November 1821. Moniteur, 2d December 1821. Ann. Hist., iv. 471, 472. XI. 1821. to the latter, stating that they would receive or execute CHAP. no order or appointment from the Government till the present Ministers were dismissed. On this occasion the Cortes rescinded virtually their last resolution: their amour propre was wounded by this open defiance of their authority; and after a long and stormy debate, in which the leading orators on the Liberal side took part with the Dec. 23. Government, it was determined by a majority of 112 to i. 366, 370; 36 that all those who had signed this seditious address iv. 477, 479. should be prosecuted.1 1 Martignac, Ann. Hist. 48. conduct of and Royal the north. Being now supported by the Cortes, and sure of the protection of a part, at least, of the military, the king, Irresolute had he possessed firmness adequate to the undertaking, the King, had a fair opportunity for asserting the royal authority, ist insura and rousing the vast majority of the country to check the rection in urban faction which had turned the revolution into such a downward channel. But he had no consistency in his character, and was as vacillating in his acts as the Cortes in their votes. Hardly was his authority in some degree reinstated by this last vote of the Assembly, than he gave the factions a triumph by dismissing four of his Ministers, the most decided in the intrepid conduct which had lately been pursued. Two others resigned, so that one only remained and continued in the new administration, which was composed entirely of the most moderate of the patriots of 1812. This act of weakness renewed. the resistance of Cadiz and Seville, at the very time when the vote of the Cortes had disarmed it. Meanwhile, insurrections of an opposite character, in favour of religion and the monarchy, broke out, and were daily gaining ground in Navarre, Arragon, Galicia, and Biscay, and the year closed with Spain torn in all quarters—it was hard to say whether most by the furious democrats of the cities in the south, or the hardy Royalists of the i. 367, 372. valleys in the north.2 The action of the secret societies styled Communeros and Descamisados ("communists" and "shirtless") became 2 Ann. Hist. iv. 480, 482; Martignac, XI. 1822. 49. Proposed laws against the press tic societies. CHAP. more violent and dangerous when the elections for the new Cortes, which had to take place in the first month of 1822, drew near. To counteract their influence, which was daily becoming more formidable, Martinez de la Rosa, Toreno, Calatrava, and some of the other and patrio- moderate Liberals, set up another society, styled "The Society of the Friends of the Constitution," or of "the King." It at first met with some success; but, as usual in times of vehement excitement, it soon declined, and was no more heard of. When the passions are excited, moderation is considered on all sides as a species of common enemy, and nothing has any chance of influence but such associations as, by alimenting, inflame them. The evils of a licentious press, of the unrestrained right of presenting petitions to the Cortes, and of the extreme violence in the clubs, at length became so flagrant that the Government submitted three laws for their repression to the legislature. As they proposed to impose very effectual checks on these evils, they were resisted with the whole strength of the anarchists, and v. 408, 413; gave rise to serious disturbances in Madrid, which Martignac, i. 371,377. still further impaired the royal authority, and proclaimed its weakness.1 Jan. 21, 1822. 1 Ann. Hist. 50. Riots in Madrid on of a bill against the press. These proposals came to be discussed in the Cortes under very peculiar circumstances. The resignation of the passing the former ministers had been accepted, but their successors had not been appointed-the places were vacant. The leading orators on the Liberal side then conceived hopes that they might be selected as their successors, and to improve their chances of success, they, for the most part, joined in the debate in favour of the proposed laws. Martinez de la Rosa and Toreno particularly distinguished themselves in this manner, and a motion made by Calatrava, to throw out at once the whole three proposed laws, was rejected by the narrow majority of 90 to 84. This unexpected result inflamed the clubs and the anarchists to the very greatest degree; every means XI. 1822. to excite the public mind were instantly adopted without CHAP. reserve; and so successful were they in rousing the passions of the multitude, that a furious crowd surrounded Toreno as he left the hall of the Assembly after the decisive vote, pursued him with groans and hisses to his own house, which they broke into, and wounded some of the domestics. Toreno escaped by a back door, upon which the crowd proceeded with loud shouts to the house of Martinez de la Rosa, which they were proceeding to attack, when Murillo and San Martin arrived with a body of cavalry, by whom the mob was dispersed, amidst the most violent cries and imprecations. The laws against the offences of the press, and against the seditious petitions, were adopted by considerable majorities. It was observed that the whole deputies from South America, about thirty-eight in number, voted on all these occasions with the Opposition, which swelled their ranks to eighty, or nearly the half of the Cortes. The extraordinary session closed on the 12th February, having, during its long and momentous sittings, effected great changes, exhibited many acts of courage, and, on the whole, done less to pull down the entire fabric of society than might have been expected from the excited state of the public v. 415, 419; mind when it was elected, and the universal suffrage on i. 379, 380. which it was founded.1 1 Ann. Hist. Martignac, tion of the new Cortes. The new Cortes was elected under darker auspices, 51. and the incurable vices of the electoral system developed Composithemselves in stronger colours. The kingdom was distracted in all its parts when the elections took place; in some by the triumph of the Liberals, in others by the efforts of the Royalists. The former had been everywhere active, and in most places successful; the latter had in great part abstained from voting, to avoid all responsibility in the formation of a legislature which they plainly foresaw would terminate only in disaster. In some places, especially Granada, open violence was employed at the elections; the multitude broke into the XI. 1822. CHAP. place of voting, and by force imposed their favourites on the electors. But, in general, open violence did not require to be resorted to; the clubs and universal suffrage rendered it unnecessary. The extreme Liberals got everything their own way. The result was soon apparent. In the whole Cortes there was not one single great proprietor or bishop. The noblesse were represented only by a few nobles of ruined fortunes and extreme democratic opinions: the Duke del Parque, a leading orator at the Fontana d'Oro, was the only grandee in the assembly. The majority was composed of men who had signalised themselves by opposition to the Government during the sitting of the last Cortes,-governors who had taken part with the people, and refused to execute the laws or obey the injunctions of the Government; magistrates who had betrayed their trust, soldiers who had violated their oaths. Among the most dangerous of these characters, who readily found a place in the new legislature, were the monk Rico, who had been proscribed in 1814, and had since been involved in every seditious movement; Manuel Bertrand du Lys, a man of the most violent temper and extreme principles; Galiano, a brilliant orator but rebellious magistrate, who was under accusation as such when he was elected; Burnaga, a leading speaker at the Fontana d'Oro; Escovedo, the chief of the revolt at Seville, also saved from prosecution by his return; finally, Riego, also delivered from trial by being made a member of the legislature, and who was immediately chosen its president. Uniformity of qualification had done its usual work; it had practically disfranchised every class except the very lowest intrusted with the suffrage, which, as the most 1 Martignac, numerous, gained nearly all the returns, and the govern1.381, 385; ment of the country was intrusted to the uncontrolled v. 419, 420. direction of the most ignorant, the most dangerous, and the most ambitious class of the community.1 Ann. Hist. The first duty of the king, before the new Cortes met, was to fill up the six vacant places in the Administration; |