XI. 1822. 49. Proposed laws against the press tic societies. 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 i. 371, 377. still further impaired the royal authority, and proclaimed its weakness.1 Jan. 21, 1822. 1 Ann. Hist. Martignac, 50. These proposals came to be discussed in the Cortes Riots in under very peculiar circumstances. The resignation of the passing the former ministers had been accepted, but their sucagainst the cessors had not been appointed-the places were vacant. Madrid on of a bill press. 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 mind v. 415, 419; when it was elected, and the universal suffrage on which i. 379, 380. it was founded.1 1 Ann. Hist. Martignac, tion of the 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 dis- new Cortes. tracted 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 numerous, gained nearly all the returns, and the governi. 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 1 Martignac, Ann. Hist. The first duty of the king, before the new Cortes met, was to fill up the six vacant places in the Administration; XI. 1822. 52. and as the temper of the new assembly was not fully CHAP. known, the moderate party obtained the appointments. Martinez de la Rosa was Prime Minister, and had the portfolio of foreign affairs, and the choice of his col- New Minisleagues. Aware of the difficulty of conducting the try. government in presence of a Cortes of which Riego had been chosen president, he long refused the perilous post, and only yielded at length to the earnest solicitation of the king. Don Nicolas Garotti, an ex-professor of law in Valencia, was appointed Minister of Justice, Don José de Alta Mira of the Interior; Don Diego Clorumeneros, Director of the Royal Academy of History, Colonial Minister; Don Philippe Sierra-Pambley to the Finances; Brigadier Balanzat, Minister at War; Don Jacinti Romorate for the Marine. These persons all belonged to the Moderate party,—that is, they were the first authors of the revolution, but had been passed in the career of innovation by their successors. It was a circumstance characteristic of the times, and ominous to the nobility, v.419; Marthat two of the most important ministers--those of Jus- 385, 386. tice and the Interior-were professors in universities.1 1 Ann. Hist. tignac, i. the Cortes, trous state The Cortes opened on the 1st March; and the open- 53. ing speech, and reply of the President Riego, were more Opening of auspicious than could have been anticipated, and pro- and disasmised returning prosperity to the country. The report of the finanof the Finance Minister was the first to dispel these flat- ces. tering illusions. It exhibited a deficit of 197,428,000 reals (£1,974,000), which required to be covered by loans; and as no money could be got in the country, they required to be borrowed in foreign states. They were nearly all got, though at a very high rate of interest, in London; the prospect of high profits, and the belief in The public accounts for the year 1822 were- 664,162,000 reals, or £6,664,000 Expenditure, or 8,615,000 -Finance Report, March 12, 1822; Ann. Hist., v. 421, 423. XI. 1822. CHAP. the stability of popular institutions, inducing our capitalists to shut their eyes to the obvious risks of lending their money to such unstable governments as those which then ruled in the Peninsula. This circumstance deserves to be especially noted, as the commencement of numberless disasters both to the Peninsula and this country. It gave a large and influential body of foreign creditors an interest in upholding the revolutionary government in the Peninsula, because no other one would recognise the loans it had contracted. Their influence was soon felt in the public press both of France and England, which, with a few exceptions, constantly supported the cause of revolution in Spain and Portugal; and to this circumstance more than any other the long and bloody civil wars v. 421, 422; which distracted both nations, and the entire ignorance i. 383, 384. which pervaded this country as to their real situation, are to be ascribed.1 1 Ann. Hist. Martignac, 54. turbances in The entire divergence of opinion between the Cortes General dis- and the Government was not long of proclaiming itself. Spain. The Cortes insisted that the execution of the royal decrees should be intrusted to the authorities in the Isle of Leon and Seville, who had revolted against the Government. This was resisted by the administration, and the division led to animated and impassioned debates in the legislature. But while these were yet But while these were yet in progress, disorders broke out in every part of the country, which were not only serious in themselves, but presaged, at no distant time, a universal civil war in the country. The extreme leaders, or "Exaltados," as they were called, were in such a state of excitement that they could not be kept from coming to blows in all the principal towns of the kingdom. At Barcelona, Valencia, Pampeluna, and Madrid itself, bloody encounters took place between the military, headed by the magistrates of municipalities, on the one side, and the peasantry of the country and royalists, led on by the priests, on the other. "Viva Riego! Viva el Constitucion!" broke out from the ranks |