CHAP. 1821. 37. finances, and mea sures re garding them. The finances were daily falling into a more deplorable condition-the necessary result of the unsettled state of the kingdom, and the extreme terror regarding the future Deplorable which pervaded all the more respectable classes, from the state of the violence of the Cortes and the absence of any effective control upon their proceedings. Though a half of the tithes of the clergy had been appropriated to the service of the. state, and half only left for the support of the Church, the budget exhibited such a deficit that it became necessary to authorise a loan of 361,800,000 reals (£3,600,000), being more than half the whole revenue of the state; but such was the dilapidated state of public credit, that, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of the Liberals, only a fourth part of the sum was subscribed by the end of the year.* Insurrections were constantly breaking out in the provinces, which were only suppressed by the armed force, and a great effusion of blood. No sooner were they put down in one quarter than they broke out in another; and the country, as in the war with Napoleon, was infested by guerilla bands, who plundered alike friend and foe. In the midst of this scene of desolation and disaster, the king, on 30th June, closed the sitting of the Cortes, with a speech composed by his Ministers, in which he 1 Ann. Hist. pronounced the most pompous eulogium on the wisdom, iv. 457,458; justice, and magnanimity of their proceedings, the flouri. 310, 317. ishing state of the finances, and the general prosperity which pervaded all parts of the kingdom.1 Martignac, 38. mults in Madrid. The event soon showed how far these praises of the Fresh tu- revolutionary régime were well founded. Ever since the murder of the priest Vinuesa, it had been the practice of the mobs in Madrid to assemble every evening under the windows of such persons as were suspected of anti-revolutionary principles, and there sing the Traga la Perro, * The expenditure was 756,214,217 reals, or £7,560,000 XI. 1821. the Marseillaise of the Spanish revolution, accompanied CHAP. in the chorus with strokes of a hammer on a gong, to put them in mind of that tragic event. In the beginning of August, an unhappy prisoner, charged with anti-revolutionary practices, and condemned to the galleys, was lying imprisoned in a convent, awaiting the execution of his sentence, along with the soldiers apprehended some months before on the charge of assaulting the people, while dispersing the mob who insulted the king in his carriage, as narrated in a former chapter. It was1 Ante, c. vii. § 112. determined in the club of the Fontana d'Oro that they should all be executed summarily in prison; and bands were already formed for this purpose, when Murillo appeared with a body of troops, and dispersed the assassins. This prompt vindication of the law occasioned the most violent ebullition of wrath in the clubs, and it was resolved to act more decidedly and with greater force on the next occasion. Accordingly, on the 20th August an immense crowd assembled around the con- Aug. 20. vent where the soldiers were confined, singing the Traga la Perro, and beating the hammers as usual; and when the guard interfered, and tried to make them disperse, they were surrounded and overpowered. Informed of Ann. Hist. the danger, Murillo hastened to the spot with a strong iv.460,461; body of troops, and, drawing his sword, charged the mob, i. 329, 330. who immediately dispersed.2 Martignac, of General This fresh act of vigour completed the exasperation of 39. the Liberals at the intrepid general who had coerced Resignation their excesses. Next morning the clubs resounded with Murillo. declamations against the bloody tyrant who had dared to insult the majesty of the sovereign people; the journals were unanimous in their condemnation of his conduct; seditious crowds uttering menacing cries were formed, and everything indicated an approaching convulsion. Conscious of the rectitude and integrity of his conduct, and desirous of allaying a ferment which threatened in its results to compromise the throne, Murillo anticipated the VOL. II. 20 XI. 1821. CHAP. sentence of the clubs, and resigned his command, declaring, at the same time, he would not resume it till he was cleared of the charges brought against him. This courageous act produced an immediate reaction in public i. 331, 333; opinion in his favour; and the accusation against him iv. 461, 462. being proved, on examination, entirely groundless, he resumed his functions with general approbation.1 1 Martignac, Ann. Hist. 40. societies, or ros. Meanwhile the secret societies, styled in Spain "ComThe secret muneros," which had gone so far to shake society to its Commune- centre in France, had spread equally to the south of the Pyrenees. Violent as the proceedings of the open Liberals in possession of the government at Madrid had been, they were nothing compared to the designs formed by these secret associations, which were, not merely the destruction of the monarchy and of the Cortes, but the establishment of a republic on the basis of an equal division or community of property, and all the projects of the Socialists. The oath taken by these political fanatics bound them, as elsewhere, to obey all the mandates of the chiefs of the association at the peril of their lives, and to put at their disposal their swords, property, and existence.* This tremendous association had its chief ramifications in Madrid, Barcelona, Saragossa, Corunna, Valencia, and Carthagena; and it was by their agency that the extraordinary measure of seizing and transporting such a number of persons in these cities had recently been * "Je jure de me soumettre sans réserve à tous les décrets que rendra la confédération, et d'aider en toute circonstance, tous les chevaliers Communeros, de mes biens, de mes ressources, et de mon épée. Et si quelque homme puissant, ou quelque tyran, voulait, par la force ou d'autres moyens, détruire en tout ou en partie la confédération, je jure en union avec les confédérés de défendre, les armes à la main, tout ce que j'ai juré, et comme les illustres Communeros de la bataille de Villalar, de mourir plutôt que de céder à la tyrannie ou à l'oppression. Je jure si quelque chevalier Communero manquait en tout ou en partie à son serment, de le mettre à mort, dès que la confédération l'aura déclaré traître; et si je viens à manquer à tout ou partie de mes serments sacrés, je me déclare moi-même traître, méritant que la confédération me condamne à une mort infâme; que les portes et les grilles des châteaux et des tours me soient fermées, et pour qu'il ne reste rien de moi après mon trépas, que l'on me brûle, et que l'on jette mes cendres au vent."-Engagement des Communeros. Sur la Révolution d'Espagne-MARTIGNAC, i. 325, 326. XI. 1821. effected. Murillo was well aware of the secrets and de- CHAP. signs of these conspirators, and was in possession of a number of important papers establishing them. It was mainly to get these papers out of his hands, as well as on account of his known resolution of character, that the public indignation was so strongly directed against him 1 Martignac, on occasion of his conduct in repressing the recent dis- i. 326, 327. turbances in Madrid.1 Riego, who, as already mentioned, had been reinstated 41. at Saragos arrest. in his command in Arragon after having been tempor- Riego's plot arily deprived of it, was closely connected with the sa, and his clubs in Saragossa, and was suspected by the govern- Sept. 18. ment, not without reason, of having lent himself to their extravagant designs. His principal associate was a French refugee named Montarlot, who employed himself at Saragossa in writing proclamations which were sent across the Pyrenees, inviting the French troops to revolt and establish a republic. Government having received intelligence of the conspiracy, took the bold step of ordering Moreda, the political chief at Saragossa, to arrest Riego. He was apprehended, accordingly, as he was returning to that city from a tour in the provinces, where he had been haranguing and exciting the people, and conducted a prisoner to Lerida. Immense was the excitement which this event produced among the Liberals over all Spain. His bust was carried at the head of a triumphal procession through Madrid; the clubs resounded with declamations; the press was unanimous in denying his criminality; and to give vent to the public transports, a picture was painted, intended to be carried in procession through the streets, representing Riego in the costume which he wore on occasion of the revolt in the island of Leon, holding in one hand the Book of the i. 339, 340; Constitution, and overturning with the other the figures iv. 465, 466. of Despotism and Ignorance.2 The moment was decisive. Anarchy or law must triumph; and the victory of the former was the more to 2 Martignac, Ann. Hist. XI. 1821. 42. Suppres sion of the tumults thence Madrid. CHAP. be apprehended, as it was known that the military were undecided, and that some regiments had openly declared they would take part with the insurgents. But in this crisis Murillo was not wanting to himself or the cause with which he was intrusted. Having assembled the arising at civic guard, he harangued them on the necessity of crushing the advance of the factions; and having previously given orders to the military to stop the procession, he put himself at the head of the national guard to support them. The revolutionists, however, declared that they would proceed with the procession carrying the picture ; and when they arrived at the Puerto del Sol, the royal guard stationed there refused to stop them; and the regiment of Saguntum, stationed in another part of the city, broke out of their barracks to advance to their support. All seemed lost; but then was seen what can be done by the firmness of one man. Murillo advanced at the head of the national guard; San Martin, his intrepid associate, seized the picture with his own hands, which he threw down on the ground; and at the same time Murillo charged the head of the procession with the bayonet. Struck with consternation at a resistance which they had not anticipated, the mob fled and disi. 341, 343; persed, and Madrid was for the time delivered from the efforts of a faction, which threatened to involve the country in anarchy and devastation.1 1 Martignac, Ann. Hist. iv. 463. 43. Yellow fever at In the midst of these civil dissensions, a fresh scourge broke out in Spain, which threatened to involve the Barcelona. country in the evils, not merely of political troubles, but Sept. Oct. of physical destruction. The yellow fever appeared in the end of July in Barcelona, and by the middle of August it had made such progress that all the authorities quitted the town, and a military cordon was established within two leagues of the walls around it. In spite of this precaution, or perhaps in consequence of the greater intensity which it occasioned to the malady in the infected districts, the disease soon appeared in various |