Chapter XCIII: Act 8: Parliament 1. repeated in Act 99. Parliament 7 (19)

_General Sir W. F. P. Napier,
History of the War in the Peninsula,
book 11, chapter 8 (volume 2)._

SPAIN: A D. 1810.
Revolt of the Argentine provinces.

See ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1806-1820.

SPAIN: A D. 1810-1812.
The French advance into Portugal.
Their recoil from the Lines of Torres Vedras.

"By the spring of 1810, the French armies in Spain numbered
fully 350,000 men, and Napoleon had intended to cross the
Pyrenees, at the head of this enormous force. His marriage,
however, or more probably the innumerable toils and cares of
Empire prevented him from carrying out his purpose; and this
was one of the capital mistakes of his life, for his presence
was necessary on the scene of events. He still despised the
insurrection of Spain; he held Wellington cheap as a 'Sepoy
general'; strange as it may appear, he was wholly ignorant of
the existence of the Lines of Torres Vedras, and he persisted
in maintaining that the only real enemy in the Peninsula was
the British army, which he estimated at 25,000 men. He gave
Masséna 70,000, with orders 'to drive the English into the
sea'; and at the same time, he sent a great army to subdue
Andalusia and the South, false to his art in thus dividing his
forces. A contest followed renowned in history, and big with
memorable results for Europe. Massena took the fortresses on
the northeast of Portugal, and by the close of September had
entered Beira; he met a bloody reverse at Busaco [September
27], but he succeeded in turning Wellington's flank, and he
advanced, in high heart, from Coimbra, on Lisbon. To his
amazement, however, the impregnable lines, a gigantic obstacle
utterly unforeseen, rose before him, and brought the invaders
to a stand, and the 'spoiled child of victory,' daring as he
was, after vain efforts to find a vulnerable point, recoiled
from before the invincible rampart, baffled and indignant, but
as yet hopeful. Massena, with admirable skill, now chose a
formidable position near the Tagus, and held the British
commander in check. … But Wellington, with wise, if stern,
forethought, had wasted the adjoining region with fire and
sword; Napoleon, meditating a new war, was unable to despatch
a regiment from France; Soult, ordered to move from Andalusia
to the aid of his colleague, paused and hung back; and
Massena, his army literally starved out, and strengthened by a
small detachment only, was at last reluctantly forced to
retreat. The movement began in March, 1811; it was conducted
with no ordinary skill; but Wellington had attained his object
and the French general re-entered Spain with the wreck only of
a once noble force. Massena, however, would not confess
defeat; having restored and largely increased his army, he
attacked Wellington at Fuentes de Onoro, and possibly only
missed a victory, owing to the jealousies of inferior men.
This, nevertheless, was his last effort; he was superseded in
his command by Napoleon, unjust in this instance to his best
lieutenant, and Wellington's conduct of the war had been
completely justified. Torres Vedras permanently arrested
Napoleon's march of conquest; the French never entered
Portugal again. … Meantime, the never-ceasing insurrection of
Spain continued to waste the Imperial forces, and surrounded
them, as it were, with a circle of fire. It was all in vain
that another great army was struck down in the field at Ocana;
that Suchet invaded and held Valencia; that Soult ravaged
Andalusia; that Victor besieged Cadiz. The resistance of the
nation became more intense than ever; Saguntum, which had
defied Hannibal, Girona, Tortosa, and, above all, Tarragona,
defended their walls to the last; and not a village from
Asturias to Granada acknowledged Joseph at Madrid, as its
lawful king. … After Fuentes de Onoro the contest in Spain had
languished in 1811, though Marmont and Soult missed a great
chance of assailing Wellington, with very superior numbers. In
the following year the British commander pounced on Ciudad
Rodrigo, and Badajoz, the keys of Spain from the Portuguese
frontier, completely deceiving the distant Emperor, who would
direct operations from Paris; and he defeated Marmont in a
great battle, at Salamanca, beside the Tormes, which threw
open to him the gates of Madrid. Yet, in an effort made
against the communications of the French, the object he
steadily kept in view, he was baffled by the resistance of
Burgos, and before long he was in retreat on Portugal, having
just escaped from a great French army, so various were the
fortunes of this most instructive war."

_W. O'C. Morris,
Napoleon,
chapters 10-11._

ALSO IN:
_G. Hooper,
Wellington,
chapter 7._

_J. H. Stocqueler,
Life of Wellington,
volume 1, chapters 4-10._

_General Sir W. F. P. Napier,
History of the War in the Peninsula,
volumes 2-3._

_R. Southey,
History of the Peninsular War,
volumes 4-5._

_A. Thiers,
History of the Consulate and Empire,
book 42 (volume 4)._

_General Sir J. T. Jones,
Journal of the Sieges in Spain,
volume 1._

SPAIN: A. D. 1810-1821.
Revolt and achievement of independence in
Venezuela and New Granada.

See COLOMBIAN STATES: A. D. 1810-1819.

A. D. 1810-1825.
Revolt and independence of Mexico.

See MEXICO: A. D. 1810-1819; and 1820-1826.

SPAIN: A. D. 1812 (June-August).
Wellington's victory at Salamanca.
Abandonment of Madrid by King Joseph.

"In the month of May, 1812, that rupture took place [between
Napoleon and Alexander I. of Russia] which was to determine,
by its issue, whether Europe should acknowledge one master;
and Napoleon, too confident in his own fortunes, put himself
at the head of his armies and marched on Moscow. The war in
Spain, which had hitherto occupied the first place in public
attention, became from that hour, as far as France was
concerned, a matter of minor consideration. Whatever effective
battalions were at the disposal of the war-minister, were
forwarded to the Vistula; while to recruit the regiments in
Spain, depôts were formed in the south, out of which, from
time to time, a body of conscripts were equipped and
dispatched to reinforce the French armies.
{3010}
Lord Wellington's army consisted of 60,000 men, Portuguese and
Spaniards included. Of these, 10,000 infantry, with about
1,200 cavalry, were cantoned on the Tagus at Almarez; while
the commander-in-chief, with the remainder, prepared to
operate, on the north of that river, against Marmont. The
capture of the redoubts at Almarez had, in some degree,
isolated the French marshal; and, although he was at the head
of 50,000 veterans, Lord Wellington felt himself in a
condition to cope with him. At the same time Lord Wellington
had to observe Soult, who, commanding the army of the south,
was around Seville and Cordova with 58,000 men—while Suchet
held the eastern provinces with 50,000 excellent troops—Souham
was in the north with 10,000—and the army of the centre,
probably 15,000 more, was disposed around the capital, and
kept open the communications between the detached corps. On
the other hand, there were on foot no Spanish armies deserving
of the name. Bands of guerrillas moved, indeed, hither and
thither, rendering the communications between the French
armies and their depots exceedingly insecure; but throughout
the north, and west, and centre of Spain, there was no single
corps in arms of any military respectability. In the east,
Generals Lacy and Sarsfield were at the head of corps which
did good service, and occupied Suchet pretty well; while
D'Eroles, more bold than prudent, committed himself at Rhonda
with General Rourke, in a combat which ended in his total
defeat and the dispersion of his troops. Yet were the French
far from being masters of the country. Few fortified towns,
Cadiz and Alicante excepted, continued to display the standard
of independence, but every Sierra and mountain range swarmed
with the enemies of oppression, out of whom an army,
formidable from its numbers, if not for its discipline, might
at any moment be formed. But it had never entered into the
counsels of the allies to furnish a nucleus round which such
an army might be gathered. … Meanwhile, the
commander-in-chief, after having given his army a few weeks'
repose, … broke up from his cantonments, and advanced in the
direction of Salamanca. On the 17th of June his divisions
crossed the Tormes, by the fords above and below the town,
and, finding no force in the field competent to resist them,
marched direct upon the capital of the province." Salamanca
was taken on the 27th of June, after a siege of ten days, and
a series of manœuvres—a great game of tactics between the
opposing commanders—ensued, which occupied their armies
without any serious collision, until the 22d of July, when the
decisive battle of Salamanca was fought. "The dispositions of
the French, though masterly against one less self-collected,
had been, throughout the day, in Wellington's opinion, full of
hazard. They aimed at too much—and, manœuvring to throw
themselves in force upon the English right, risked, as the
event proved fatally, the weakening of their own right and
centre. Lord Wellington saw that filing constantly in one
direction disconnected the divisions of Marmont's army, and
left an interval where he might strike to advantage. … It was
the first mistake that Marmont had made, and Wellington never
permitted him to retrieve it. Lord Wellington had dined amid
the ranks of the third division, and Packenham, its frank and
chivalrous leader, was one of those who shared his simple and
soldier-like meal. To him the commander-in-chief gave his
orders, somewhat in the following words: 'Do you see those
fellows on the hill, Packenham? Throw your division into
columns of battalions —at them directly—and drive them to the
devil.' Instantly the division was formed—and the order
executed admirably. … By this magnificent operation, the whole
of the enemy's left was destroyed. Upward of 3,000 prisoners
remained in the hands of the victors, while the rest, broken
and dispirited, fell back in utter confusion upon the
reserves, whom they swept away with them in their flight.
Meanwhile, in the centre, a fiercer contest was going on. …
Marmont, … struck down by the explosion of a shell, was
carried off the field early in the battle, with a broken arm
and two severe wounds in the side. The command then devolved
upon Clausel, who did all that man in his situation could do
to retrieve the fortune of the day. … But Lord Wellington was
not to be arrested in his success, nor could his troops be
restrained in their career of victory. … Seven thousand
prisoners, two eagles, with a number of cannon and other
trophies, remained in the hands of the English: 10,000 men, in
addition, either died on the field or were disabled by wounds;
whereas the loss on the part of the allies amounted to
scarcely 5,000 men. … After this disaster, Clausel continued
his retreat by forced marches. … Meanwhile, Joseph, ignorant
of the result of the late battle, was on his way, with 20,000
men, to join Marmont, and had arrived at the neighbourhood of
Arevolo before the intelligence of that officer's defeat was
communicated to him. He directed his columns instantly toward
Segovia. … On the 7th of August the British army moved; …
while Joseph, retreating with precipitation, left the passes
of the Guadarama open, and returned to Madrid, where the
confusion was now extreme. … Lord Wellington's march was
conducted with all the celerity and good order which
distinguished every movement of his now magnificent army. On
the 7th, he entered Segovia. … On the 12th [he] entered Madrid
in triumph. … The city exhibited the appearance of a carnival,
and the festivities were kept up till the dawn of the 13th
came in. … Immediately the new constitution was proclaimed;
Don Carlos D'Espana was appointed governor of the city, and
the people, still rejoicing, yet restrained from excesses of
every sort, returned to their usual employments."

_General Vane (Marquess of Londonderry),
Story of the Peninsular War,
chapter 30._

ALSO IN:
_General Sir W. F. P. Napier,
History of the War in the Peninsula,
book 18 (volume 4)._

_Lieutenant Colonel Williams,
Life, and Times of Wellington,
volume 1, pages 275-290._

{3011}

SPAIN: A. D. 1812-1814.
Final campaigns of the Peninsular War.
Expulsion of the French.

"The south and centre of Spain … seemed clear of enemies, but
the hold of the French was as yet shaken only, not broken; for
in fact though Wellington's march had forced his enemies in two
directions (Clausel, with the remainder of Marmont's army,
having retired north, while the king withdrew south-east),
such were their numbers that each division became the centre
of an army as powerful as his own. … Of the two armies against
which Wellington had to contend by far the largest was the army
of Soult, and the king, on the south-east. On the other hand,
Clausel's forces were beaten and retreating, so that it
appeared to the general better to leave a detachment under
Hill to cover Madrid, while he himself repaired with the bulk
of his army to strike a final blow at Clausel by the capture
of Burgos, intending to return at once and with his whole
combined forces fight a great battle with Soult and the king
before the capital. … The resistance offered by Burgos and the
deficiency of proper artillery proved greater obstacles than
had been expected. The delay thus caused allowed the French to
recover. … As Soult began to draw towards Madrid from
Valencia, thus threatening the safety of Hill, there was no
course left but to summon that general northward, and to make
a combined retreat towards Salamanca and Portugal. … This was
the last of Wellington's retreats. Events in Europe lessened
the power of his enemies; while fighting for his very
existence on the main continent of Europe, Napoleon could not
but regard the war in Spain as a very secondary concern, and a
great many old and valuable soldiers were withdrawn. The
jealousy which existed between Joseph and the generals, and
the dislike of the great generals to take upon themselves the
Spanish war, threw it into inferior hands for some little
while, and there is little more to chronicle than a succession
of hard-won victories. … A vigorous insurrection had arisen
all along the northern provinces; and it was this more than
anything else which decided Wellington's course of action.
While leaving troops to occupy the attention of the French in
the valley of the Tagus, he intended to march northwards, …
connect himself with the northern insurgents, and directly
threaten the communications with France. … As he had expected,
the French had to fall back before him; he compelled them to
evacuate Burgos and attempt to defend the Ebro. Their position
there was turned, and they had again to fall back into the
basin of Vittoria. This is the plain of the river Zadora,
which forms in its course almost a right angle at the
south-west corner of the plain, which it thus surrounds on two
sides. Across the plain and through Vittoria runs the high
road to France, the only one in the neighbourhood sufficiently
large to allow of the retreat of the French army, encumbered
with all its stores and baggage, and the accumulated wealth of
some years of occupation of Spain. While Wellington forced the
passage of the river in front south of the great bend, and
drove the enemy back to the town of Vittoria, Graham beyond
the town closed this road. The beaten enemy had to retreat as
best he could towards Salvatierra, leaving behind all the
artillery, stores, baggage, and equipments [June 21, 1813].
The offensive armies of France had now to assume the defensive
and to guard their own frontier. Before advancing to attack
them in the mountains, Wellington undertook the blockade of
Pampeluna and the siege of St. Sebastian. It was impossible
for the French any longer to regard diplomatic or dynastic
niceties. Joseph was superseded, and the defence of France
intrusted to Soult, with whom the king had hopelessly
quarrelled. He proved himself worthy of the charge. A series
of terrible battles was fought in the Pyrenees, but one by one
his positions were forced. With fearful bloodshed, St.
Sebastian was taken, the Bidasoa was crossed (October 7), the
battle of the Nivelle fought and won (November 10), and at
length, in February, the lower Adour was passed, Bayonne
invested, and Soult obliged to withdraw towards the east. But
by this time events on the other side of France had changed
the appearance of the war. … Napoleon was being constantly
driven backward upon the east. The effect could not but be
felt by the southern army, and Soult deserves great credit for
the skill with which he still held at bay the victorious
English. He was however defeated at Orthes (February 27), lost
Bordeaux (March 8), and was finally driven eastward towards
Toulouse, intending to act in union with Suchet, whose army in
Catalonia was as yet unbeaten. On the heights upon the east of
Toulouse, for Wellington had brought his army across the
Garonne, was fought, with somewhat doubtful result, the great
battle of Toulouse [April 10]. The victory has been claimed by
both parties; the aim of the English general was however won,
the Garonne was passed, the French position taken, Toulouse
evacuated and occupied by the victors. The triumph such as it
was had cost the victors 7,000 or 8,000 men, a loss of life
which might have been spared, for Napoleon had already
abdicated, and the battle was entirely useless."

_J. F. Bright,
History of England,
period 3, pages. 1317-1321._

ALSO IN:
_Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe, 1789-1815,
chapters 76-77 (volume 16)._

_Count Miot de Melito,
Memoirs,
chapters 33-34._

_General Sir W. F. P. Napier,
History of the War in the! Peninsula,
volumes 4-5._

SPAIN: A. D. 1813.
Possession of West Florida taken by the United States.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1810-1813.

SPAIN: A. D. 1813-1814 (December-May).
Restoration of Ferdinand and despotic government.
Abolition of the Cortes.
Re-establishment of the Inquisition.
Hostility of the people to freedom.

"The troops of the allies in Catalonia were paralyzed, when
just about to take their last measures against Suchet, and, as
they hoped, drive out the last of the French from Spain. An
envoy arrived from the captive Ferdinand, with the news that
Ferdinand and Napoleon had made a treaty, and that the
Spaniards might not fight the French any more, nor permit the
English to do so on their soil. Ferdinand had been a prisoner
at Valençay for five years and a half; and during that time he
had, by his own account, known nothing of what was doing in
Spain, but from the French newspapers. The notion uppermost in
his little mind at this time appears to have been that the
Cortes and the liberal party in Spain were 'Jacobins and
infidels,' and that it was all-important that he should
return, to restore absolutism and the Inquisition. In sending
to Spain the treaty he had made with Napoleon, he took no
notice whatever of the Cortes, but addressed himself solely to
the Regency: and with them, his business was to consult
whether he should adhere to the treaty or break through it;—
which he might easily do on the plea that it was an extorted
act, agreed to under deficient knowledge of the state of
Spain. Thus crooked was the policy, even at the moment of
restoration, of the foolish prince who seems to have had no
ability for any thing but mean and petty intrigue. The terms
of the treaty might easily be anticipated from the
circumstances under which it was made.
{3012}
Napoleon wanted to shake out the British from his southwestern
quarter; he was in great need of the veteran French troops who
were prisoners in Spain: and he had no longer any hope of
restoring his brother Joseph. The treaty of December, 1813,
therefore provided that Ferdinand and his successors should be
recognised as monarchs of Spain and of the Indies: that the
territory of Spain should be what it had been before the
war—the French giving up any hold they had there: that
Ferdinand should maintain the integrity of this territory,
clearing it completely of the British: that France and Spain
should ally themselves to maintain their maritime rights
against England: that all the Spaniards who had adhered to
King Joseph should be reinstated in whatever they had enjoyed
under him: that all prisoners on both sides should immediately
be sent home: and that Joseph and his wife should receive
large annuities from Spain. The General of the Spanish forces
in Catalonia, Copons, was in so much haste to conclude a
separate armistice for himself, with Suchet, without any
regard to his British comrades, that the Cortes had to act
with the utmost rapidity to prevent it. Since the Cortes had
invested themselves with executive, as well as legislative
power, the Regency had become a mere show: and now, when the
Cortes instantly quashed the treaty, the Regency followed the
example. On the 8th of January, the Regency let his Majesty
know how much he was beloved and desired; but also, how
impossible it was to ratify any act done by him while in a
state of captivity. As Napoleon could not get back his troops
from Spain in this way, he tried another. He released some of
Ferdinand's chief officers, and sent them to him, with
advocates of his own, to arrange about an end to the war, and
exchanging prisoners; and General Palafox, one of the late
captives, went to Madrid, where, however, he met with no
better success than his predecessor. By that time (the end of
January) it was settled that the Spanish treaty, whatever it
might be, was to be framed under the sanction of the Allies,
at the Congress of Chatillon. With the hope of paralyzing the
Spanish forces by division, Napoleon sent Ferdinand back to
Spain. He went through Catalonia, and arrived in his own
dominions on the 24th of March. … These intrigues and
negotiations caused extreme vexation to Wellington. They
suddenly stopped every attempt to expel the French from
Catalonia, and threatened to bring into the field against him
all the prisoners he had left behind him in Spain: and there
was no saying how the winding-up of the war might be delayed
or injured by the political quarrels which were sure to break
out whenever Ferdinand and the Cortes came into collision. …
He therefore lost no time: and the war was over before
Ferdinand entered Madrid. It was on the 14th of May that he
entered Madrid, his carriage drawn by the populace. As he went
through the city on foot, to show his confidence, the people
cheered him. They were aware of some suspicious arrests, but
were willing to hope that they were merely precautionary. Then
followed the complete restoration of the religious orders to
the predominance which had been found intolerable before; the
abolition of the Cortes; and the re-establishment of the
Inquisition. The Constitution had been rejected by the King
before his entry into Madrid. In a few weeks, the whole
country was distracted with discontent and fear; and, in a few
months, the prisons of Madrid were so overflowing with state
prisoners—ninety being arrested on one September night—that
convents were made into prisons for the safe-keeping of the
King's enemies. Patriots were driven into the mountains, and
became banditti, while Ferdinand was making arrests right and
left, coercing the press, and ceremoniously conveying to the
great square, to be there burned in ignominy, the registers of
the proceedings of the late Cortes."

_H. Martineau,
History of England, 1800-1815,
book 2, chapter 6._

"Ferdinand was a person of narrow mind, and his heart seems to
have been incapable of generous feeling; but he was not a
wicked man, nor would he have been a bad King if he had met
with wise ministers, and had ruled over an enlightened people.
On the two important subjects of civil and religious freedom
he and the great body of the nation were in perfect
sympathy,—both, upon both subjects, imbued with error to the
core; and the popular feeling in both cases outran his. The
word Liberty ('Libertad') appeared in large bronze letters
over the entrance of the Hall of the Cortes in Madrid. The
people of their own impulse hurried thither to remove it. …
The Stone of the Constitution, as it was called, was
everywhere removed. … The people at Seville deposed all the
existing authorities, elected others in their stead to all the
offices which had existed under the old system, and then
required those authorities to re-establish the Inquisition. In
reestablishing that accursed tribunal by a formal act of
government, in suppressing the freedom of the press, which had
been abused to its own destruction, and in continuing to
govern not merely as an absolute monarch, but as a despotic
one, Ferdinand undoubtedly complied with the wishes of the
Spanish nation. … But, in his treatment of the more
conspicuous persons among the 'Liberales,' whom he condemned
to strict and long imprisonment, many of them for life, he
brought upon himself an indelible reproach."

_R. Southey,
History of the Peninsular War,
chapter 46 (volume 6)._

SPAIN: A. D. 1814-1827.
The Constitution of 1812.
Abrogated by Ferdinand.
Restored by the Revolution of 1820.
Intervention of the Holy Alliance.
Absolutism and bigotry reinstated by the arms of France.

"During the war and the captivity of Ferdinand, the Cortès
had, in March 1812 established a new Constitution, by which
the royal authority was reduced to little more than a name. …
Ferdinand VII., after his return, immediately applied himself
to restore the ancient regime in all its unmitigated bigotry
and exclusiveness. He issued decrees, in May, 1814, by which
all Liberals and Free·masons, and all adherents of the Cortès,
and of the officers appointed by them, were either compelled
to fly, or subjected to imprisonment, or at least deposed. All
national property was wrested from the purchasers of it, not
only without compensation, but fines were even imposed upon
the holders. All dissolved convents were re-established. The
Inquisition was restored, and Mir Capillo, Bishop of Almeria,
appointed Grand Inquisitor, who acted with fanatical severity,
and is said to have incarcerated 50,000 persons for their
opinions, many of whom were subjected to torture. … Ten
thousand persons are computed to have fled into France. The
kingdom was governed by a Camarilla, consisting of the King's
favourites, selected from the lowest and most worthless of the
courtiers. … The French invasion of Spain had occasioned a
revolution in Spanish America.

See
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1806-1820;
COLOMBIAN STATES: A. D. 1810-1819;
MEXICO: A. D. 1810-1819, and 1820-1826;
CHILE: A. D. 1810-1818;
PERU: A. D. 1820-18261.

{3013}

The loss of the American colonies, and a bad system of rural
economy, by which agriculture was neglected in favour of
sheep-breeding, had reduced Spain to great poverty. This state
of things naturally affected the finances; the troops were
left unpaid, and broke out into constant mutinies. A
successful insurrection of this kind, led by Colonels Quiroga
and Riego, occurred in 1820. Mina, who had distinguished
himself as a guerilla leader, but, having compromised himself
in a previous mutiny, had been compelled to fly into France,
now recrossed the Pyrenees to aid the movement. The
Constitution of 1812 was proclaimed at Saragossa; and the
cowardly Ferdinand … was also obliged to proclaim it at
Madrid, March 8th 1820. The Cortès was convened in July, when
Ferdinand opened the Assembly with an hypocritical speech;
remarkable for its exaggeration of Liberal sentiments. The
Cortès immediately proceeded again to dissolve the convents,
and even to seize the tithes of the secular clergy, on the
pretext that the money was required for the necessities of the
State. The Inquisition was once more abolished, the freedom of
the press ordained, the right of meeting and forming clubs
restored. … The Spanish revolutionists were divided into three
parties: the Decamisados, answering to the French
'Sans-culottes'; the Communeros, who were for a moderate
constitutional system; and the Anilleros, known by the symbol
of a ring; who, dreading the interference of the Holy
Alliance, endeavoured to conciliate the people with the crown.
On the whole, the insurgents used their victory with
moderation, and, with the exception of some few victims of
revenge, contented themselves with depriving their opponents,
the Serviles, of their places and emoluments. … The
revolution, though originated by the soldiery, was adopted by
the more educated class of citizens. On the other hand, the
clergy and the peasantry were bitterly opposed to it. In the
summer of 1821, guerilla bands were organised in the provinces
in the cause of Church and King, and obtained the name of
'Armies of the Faith.' … In these civil disturbances dreadful
atrocities were committed on both sides. … The French
Government, with the ulterior design of interfering in Spanish
affairs, seized the pretext of this disorder to place a cordon
of troops on the Pyrenees; to which the Spaniards opposed an
army of observation. Ferdinand, relying on the Army of the
Faith, and on his Foreign Minister, Martinez de la Rosa, a
Moderado, thought he might venture on a coup d'etat before the
appearance of the French; but his guards were worsted in a
street fight, July 7th 1822. … Ferdinand was now base enough
to applaud and thank the victors, to dismiss the Moderados
from the Ministry, and to replace them by Exaltados, or
Radicals. This state of things had attracted the attention of
the Holy Alliance. In October 1822, the three northern
monarchs assembled in congress at Verona, to adopt some
resolution respecting Spain. …

See VERONA: THE CONGRESS OF.

They addressed a note to the Spaniards requiring the
restoration of absolutism. … In the spring, the French army of
observation, which had been increased to 100,000 men, was
placed under the command of the Duke of Angoulême." The
Spanish troops "were few and ill disciplined; while in Old
Castile stood guerilla bands, under the priest Merino, ready
to aid the French invasion. An attempt on the part of
Ferdinand to dismiss his Liberal ministry induced the
ministers and the Cortès to remove him to Seville (March, 20th
1823), whither the Cortès were to follow. The Duke of
Angoulême addressed a proclamation to the Spaniards from
Bayonne, April 2nd, in which he told them that he did not
enter Spain as an enemy, but to liberate the captive King,
and, in conjunction with the friends of order, to re-establish
the altar and the throne. The French crossed the Bidassoa,
April 7th. The only serious resistance which they experienced
was from Mina [in Catalonia]. Ballasteros [in Navarre] was not
strong enough to oppose them, while the traitor O'Donnell
[commanding a reserve in New Castile] entered into
negociations with the enemy, and opened to them the road to
the capital. Ballasteros was compelled to retire into
Valencia, and the French entered Madrid, May 23rd. A Regency …
was now instituted till the King should be rescued. … A French
corps was despatched … against Seville, where the Cortès had
reopened their sittings; but on the advance of the French they
retired to Cadiz, June 12th, taking with them the King, whom
they declared of unsound mind, and a provisional Regency was
appointed." The French advanced and laid siege to Cadiz, which
capitulated October 1st, after a bombardment, the Cortès
escaping by sea. Mina, in Catalonia, gave up resistance in
November. "The Duke of Angoulême returned to Paris before the
end of the year, but Spain continued to be occupied by an army
of 40,000 French. The first act of Ferdinand after his release
was to publish a proclamation, October 1st, revoking all that
had been done since March 7th 1820. The Inquisition, indeed,
was not restored; but the vengeance exercised by the secular
tribunals was so atrocious that the Duke of Angoulême issued
an order prohibiting arrests not sanctioned by the French
commander: an act, however, which on the principle of
non-interference was disavowed by the French Government. … It
is computed that 40,000 Constitutionalists, chiefly of the
educated classes, were thrown into prison. The French remained
in Spain till 1827. M. Zea Bermudez, the new Minister,
endeavoured to rule with moderation. But he was opposed on all
sides. … His most dangerous enemy was the Apostolic Junta,
erected in 1824 for the purpose of carrying out to its full
extent, and independently of the Ministry, the victory of
bigotry and absolutism." In 1825, Bermudez was driven to
resign. "The Junta … in the spring of 1827 excited in
Catalonia an insurrection of the Serviles. The insurgents
styled themselves Aggraviados (aggrieved persons), because the
King did not restore the Inquisition, and because he sometimes
listened to his half Liberal ministers, or to the French and
English ambassadors, instead of suffering the Junta to rule
uncontrolled. The history of the revolt is obscure. … The
object seems to have been to dethrone Ferdinand in favour of
his brother Carlos." The insurrection was suppressed, "the
province disarmed, and many persons executed."

_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 8 (volume 4)._

ALSO IN:
_E. Blaquiere,
Historical Review of the Spanish Revolution._

_F. A. de Châteaubriand,
Memoirs: Congress of Verona,
volume 1._

_S. Walpole,
History of England,
chapter 9 (volume 2)._

_Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe, 1815-1852,
chapters 7, and 11-12._

{3014}

SPAIN: A. D. 1815.
The Allies in France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1815 (JULY-NOVEMBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1815.
Accession to the Holy Alliance.

See HOLY ALLIANCE.

SPAIN: A. D. 1818.
Chile lost to the Spanish crown.

See CHILE: A. D. 1810-1818.

SPAIN: A. D. 1821.
Mexican independence practically gained.
Iturbide's empire.

See MEXICO: A. D. 1820-1826.

SPAIN: A. D. 1822-1823.
The Congress of Verona.
French intervention approved.

See VERONA, THE CONGRESS OF.

SPAIN: A. D. 1824.
Peruvian independence won at Ayacucho.

See PERU: A. D. 1820-1826.

SPAIN: A. D. 1833.
Accession of Isabella II.

SPAIN: A. D. 1833-1846.
The civil war of Carlists and Christinos.
Abdication of Christina.
Regency of Espartero.
Revolution of 1843.
Accession of Queen Isabella.
Louis Philippe and his Spanish marriages.

"The eyes of King Ferdinand VII. were scarcely closed,
September 29th, 1833, when the Apostolic party—whose strength
lay in the north of Spain, and especially in Navarre and the
Basque provinces —proclaimed his brother, Don Carlos, king
under the title of Charles V. In order to offer a successful
resistance to the Carlists, who were fighting for absolutism
and priestcraft, there was no other course for the regent,
Maria Christina, than to throw herself into the arms of the
liberal party. So the seven years' war between Carlists and
Christinos, from a war of succession, became a strife of
principles and a war of citizens. At the outset, owing to the
skill of General Zumalacarreguy, to whom the Christinos could
oppose no leader of equal ability, the Carlists had the
advantage in the field. Don Carlos threatened the Spanish
frontiers from Portugal, where he had been living in exile
with his dear nephew, Don Miguel. In this strait, Christina
applied to England and France, and between those two states
and Spain and Portugal was concluded the quadruple alliance of
April 22d, 1834, the aim of which was to uphold the
constitutional thrones of Isabella and Maria da Gloria, and to
drive out the two pretenders, Carlos and Miguel. In that year
both pretenders, who enjoyed to a high degree the favor of the
Pope and the Eastern powers, had to leave Portugal. Carlos
reached England on an English ship in June, but fled again in
July, and, after an adventurous journey through France,
appeared suddenly in Navarre, to inspire his followers with
courage by the royal presence. The war was conducted with
passion and cruelty on both sides. After the death of
Zumalacarreguy at the siege of Bilbao, June 14th, 1835, the
Christinos, who were superior in point of numbers, seemed to
have the advantage. … The turning-point was reached when the
command of the Christino army was committed to Espartero. In
1836 he defeated the Carlists in the murderous battle of
Luchana. In 1837, when Carlos advanced into the neighborhood
of Madrid, he hastened to the succor of the capital, and
compelled him to retreat. To these losses were added disunion
in the Carlist camp. The utterly incapable, dependent
pretender was the tool of his Camarilla, which made excellence
in the catechism a more important requisite for the chief
command than military science, and which deposed the most
capable generals to put its own creatures in command. The new
commander-in-chief, Guergué, said, bluntly, to Carlos, 'We,
the blockheads and ignoramuses, have yet to conduct your
Majesty to Madrid; and whoever does not belong in that
category is a traitor.' This Apostolic hero was defeated
several times by Espartero in 1838, and the enthusiasm of the
northern provinces gradually cooled down. He was deposed, and
the chief command intrusted to the cunning Maroto. … As he
[Maroto] did not succeed in winning victories over Espartero,
who overmatched him, he concluded, instead, August 31st, 1839,
the treaty of Vergara, in accordance with which he went over
to the Christinos, with his army, and by that means obtained
full amnesty, and the confirmation of the privileges of
Navarre and the Basque provinces. After this, Don Carlos's
cause was hopelessly lost. He fled, in September, to France,
with many of his followers, and was compelled to pass six
years in Bourges under police supervision. In 1845, after he
had resigned his claims in favor of his eldest son, the Duke
of Montemolin, he received permission to depart, and went to
Italy. He died in Trieste, March 10th, 1855. His followers,
under Cabrera, carried on the war for some time longer in
Catalonia. But they, too, were overcome by Espartero, and in
July, 1840, they fled, about 8,000 strong, to France, where
they were put under surveillance. The civil war was at an end,
but the strife of principles continued. Espartero, who had
been made Duke of Victory (Vittoria), was the most important
and popular personage in Spain, with whom the regent, as well
as everybody else, had to reckon. In the mean time Christina
had contrived to alienate the respect and affection of the
Spaniards, both by her private life and her political conduct.
Her liberal paroxysms were not serious, and gave way, as soon
as the momentary need was past, to the most opposite tendency.
… In 1836 the Progressists apprehended a reaction, and sought
to anticipate it. Insurrections were organized in the larger
cities, and the constitution of 1812 was made the programme of
the revolt. … Soldiers of the guard forced their way into the
palace, and compelled [Christina] to accept the constitution
of 1812. A constitutional assembly undertook a revision of
this, and therefrom resulted the new constitution of 1837.
Christina swore to it, but hoped, by controlling the
elections, to bring the Moderados into the Cortes and the
ministry. When she succeeded in this, in 1840, she issued a
municipal ordinance placing the appointment of the municipal
authorities in the hands of the administration. This
occasioned riots in Madrid and other cities; and when
Christina commissioned Espartero, who was just returning
victorious, to suppress the revolt in Madrid, he refused to
constitute himself the tool of an unpopular policy. But he was
the only man who could hold in check the revolution which
threatened to break out on all sides; and so, September 16th,
1840, he had to be named minister president. … Under such
circumstances the regency had but little charm for Christina,
and there were, moreover, other causes working with these to
the same result.
{3015}
Soon after the death of her husband, she had bestowed her
favor on a young lifeguardsman named Munoz, made him her
chamberlain, and been secretly married to him. This union soon
published itself in a rich blessing of offspring, but it was
not until the year 1844 that her public marriage with Munoz,
and his elevation to the rank of duke (of Rianzares) and
grandee of Spain took place. Having by this course of life
forfeited the fame of an honest woman, and exposed herself to
all sorts of attacks, she preferred to leave the country.
October 12th, she abdicated the regency, and journeyed to
France. May 8th, 1841, the newly elected Cortes named
Espartero regent of Spain, and guardian of Queen Isabella and
her sister, the Infanta Luisa Fernanda. … Since he knew how
actively Christina, supported by Louis Philippe, was working
against him with gold and influence, he entered into closer
relations with England, whereupon his envious foes and rivals
accused him of the sale of Spanish commercial interests to
England. Because he quieted rebellious Barcelona by a
bombardment in 1842, he was accused of tyranny. In 1843 new
insurrections broke out in the south; Colonel Prim hastened to
Catalonia, and set himself at the head of the soldiers whom
Christina's agents had won over by a liberal use of money;
Espartero's deadliest foe, General Narvaez, landed in
Valencia, and marched into Madrid at the head of the troops.
Espartero, against whom Progressists and Moderados had
conspired together, found himself forsaken, and embarked at
Cadiz, July 26th 1843, for England, whence he did not dare to
return to his own country until 1848. In November, 1843, the
thirteen-year-old Isabella was declared of age. She assumed
the government, made Narvaez, now Duke of Valencia, minister
president, and recalled her mother. Thereby gate and doors
were opened to the French influence, and the game of intrigue
and reaction recommenced. In 1845 the constitution of 1837 was
altered in the interests of absolutism. … In order to secure
to his house a lasting influence in Spain, and acquire for it
the reversion of the Spanish throne, Louis Philippe, in
concert with Christina, effected, October 16th, 1846, the
marriage of Isabella with her kinsman Francis of Assis, and of
the Infanta Luisa with the Duke of Montpensier, his own
youngest son. (At first his plan was to marry Isabella also to
one of his sons, the Duke of Aumale, but he abandoned it on
account of the energetic protest of the Palmerston cabinet,
and, instead, chose for Isabella, in Francis of Assis, the
person who, by reason of his mental and physical weakness,
would be least likely to stand in the way of his son
Montpensier.) This secretly negotiated marriage cost Louis
Philippe the friendship of the English cabinet."

_W. Müller,
Political History of Modern Times,
section 9._

ALSO IN:
_W. Bollaert,
The Wars of Succession in Portugal and Spain, 1826 to 1840,
volume 2._

_C. F. Henningsen,
A Twelve Months' Campaign with Zumalacarregui._

_Sir H. L. Bulwer (Lord Dalling),
Life of Palmerston,
volume 3, chapter 7._

_C. A. Fyffe,
History of Modern Europe,
volume 2, chapter 6._

SPAIN: A. D. 1845-1860.
Cuba in danger from the United States.
Filibustering movements.
The Ostend Manifesto.

See CUBA: A. D. 1845-1860.

SPAIN: A. D. 1861.
Allied intervention in Mexico.

See MEXICO: A. D. 1861-1867.

SPAIN: A. D. 1866.
War with Peru.
Repulse from Callao.

See PERU: A. D. 1826-1876.

SPAIN: A. D. 1866-1873.
Vices and misgovernment of Isabella.
Revolution of 1868.
Flight of the Queen.
Constitution of 1869.
Religious toleration.
Candidates for the vacant throne.
Election of Amadeo of Italy.
Unfriendliness of the nation to him.
His abdication.

"In January, 1866, occurred an insurrection headed by General
Prim, a leading officer of the army, which, failing, caused
his temporary exile. In June there originated in the barrack
of San Gil, a few hundred yards from the palace, a more
serious revolt, which extended over a great part of Madrid. In
October of the same year the Ministry, in a public
proclamation, alleged as a justification for an autocratic
exercise of power, that 'revolutionary tendencies constituted
an imposing organism with dangerous pretensions; that a
rebellion adverse to the fundamental institutions of the
country and the dynasty of Isabella, such as had never been
seen in Spain, had obtained possession of important
municipalities, and triumphed in the deputations from all the
provinces,' and that it was necessary to dissolve the
municipalities and renew the provisional deputations. … By
this arbitrary assumption Spain was under as complete a
despotism as existed in the neighboring empire of Morocco. The
dissatisfaction at such maladministration, such abuses in the
government, and the thinly disguised immoralities of the
Queen, soon found expression in audible murmurs and severe
criticism. These verbal protests were followed by machinations
for the overthrow or control of a sovereign subject to
ambitious priests and a venal coterie. Two exiles, Marshal
Serrano and Marshal Prim, united with Admiral Topete at Cadiz,
and began a revolution which soon had the sympathy and
co-operation of a large part of the army and the navy. A
provisional revolutionary junta of forty-one persons—a few
others, notably Sagasta and Martos, were afterwards added —was
appointed, which signed decrees and orders having the force
and effect of laws. In less than a month Francisco Serrano was
authorized by the junta to form a temporary ministry to rule
the country until the Cortes should meet. The defeat of the
royal troops near Alcolea prevented the return of Isabella to
Madrid, and on September 30, 1868, she fled across the border
into France. … With the flight of the Queen vanished for a
time the parliamentary monarchy, and, despite her impotent
proclamations from France, and offers of amnesty, a
provisional government was at once established. A decree of
the Government to take inventories of 'all the libraries,
collections of manuscripts, works of art, or objects of
historical value—a measure necessary to make useful and
available these treasures, and to prevent spoliation and
transfer —was peacefully executed except at Burgos. Here,
under instigation of the priests and aided by them, a mob
assembled, broke down the doors of the cathedral, assassinated
the Governor, wounded the chief of police, and expelled those
engaged in making the required examination and inventory. This
outbreak, attributed to a clerical and Carlist conspiracy,
awakened opposition and horror. A strong pressure was created
for the immediate establishment of freedom of worship.
{3016}
The atrocious butchery at Burgos aroused the inhabitants of
the capital. The Nuncio was so imperilled by the excited
populace that the diplomatic corps interposed for the safety
and protection of their colleague. Marshal Serrano quieted the
angry multitude gathered at his residence by saying that the
Government had prepared the project of a constitution to be
submitted to the Constitutional Assembly, one of whose first
articles was liberty of worship. On February 12, 1869, the
Constitutional Cortes convoked by the Provisional Government,
assembled with unusual pomp and ceremony and with striking
demonstrations of popular enthusiasm. … The Republicans, among
whom the eloquent Castelar was influential, were a compact
phalanx, and to them the independent Progresistas, led by
General Prim, made overtures which were accepted. On Sunday
June 5, 1869, the Constitution was promulgated. … While
recognizing the provinces and endowing them with important
functions, the Cortes rejected the plan of a federal republic,
and adhered to the monarchical form of government as
corresponding with and a concession to Spanish traditions, and
as most likely to secure a larger measure of the liberal
principles of the revolution. The Constitution, the legitimate
outgrowth of that popular uprising, recognized the natural and
inherent rights of man, and established an elective monarchy.
… Congress was chosen by universal suffrage. The provincial
assemblies and the municipal authorities were elected by the
people of their respective localities. The ancient privileges
of the aristocracy were annulled, and the equality of all men
before the law was recognized. … The Clerical party claimed
the continued maintenance of the Roman Catholic Church and the
exclusion of all other worship, but the country had outgrown
such intolerance. … The Catholic form of faith was retained in
the organic law as the religion of the State, but a larger
liberty of worship was secured to the people. In Article XXI.
the Catholic Apostolic Roman religion was declared the State
religion, and the obligation to maintain its worship and
ministers was imposed. Foreigners were granted toleration for
public and private worship under the limitations of the
universal rules of morals and right, and Spaniards, even,
professing another than the Catholic religion were to have the
like toleration. … Spain quietly passed from the anomalous
condition of a provisional into a regular constitutional
government, the title of Provisional Government having been
changed to that of Executive Power. In June a regency was
established, and Serrano was chosen by a vote of 193 to 45.
From June 16, 1869, the date of Prim's first cabinet, until
December 27, 1870, when he was shot [as he rode through the
street, by assassins, who escaped], he had four separate
ministries besides several changes of individual ministers;
and this instability is characteristic of Spanish politics. …
For the vacant throne some Spaniards turned to the Duke of
Montpensier; some to the Court of Portugal, and in default
thereof to the house of Savoy. … At the moment of greatest
embarrassment, the candidature of Leopold, Prince of
Hohenzollern, was proposed [—a proposal which led to the
Franco-German war: see FRANCE: A. D. 1870 (JUNE-JULY)]. …
Leopold's declension was a welcome relief. His candidacy being
removed, the strife for the throne became fiercer. On November
3, 1870, General Prim announced to the Cortes the Duke of
Aosta, son of Victor Emmanuel, as the Ministerial candidate
for the crown. Castelar impetuously denounced the attempt to
put a foreigner over Spaniards. On the 15th, Amadeo was
elected king, receiving on a vote by ballot a majority of
seventy-one of those present and a majority of eighteen in a
full house. … The choice excited no enthusiasm, elicited no
applause, nor was a viva given by the multitude outside the
building where the Cortes had made a sovereign. Thirty
thousand troops, discreetly posted in principal thoroughfares,
prevented any hostile demonstration, and the leading
Republicans, Figueras, Castelar, and Piyy Margall, advised
against any acts of violence. Many journals condemned the
Cortes. Grandees, protested, placards caricatured and
ridiculed. … Nevertheless, Zorrilla went to Italy to make the
formal tender of the crown, and on January 2, 1871, the prince
reached Madrid and took the prescribed oaths of office in the
presence of the regent, the Cortes, and the diplomatic corps.
The ceremony was brief and simple. The reception by the
populace was respectful and cold. The Provisional Government
resigned, and a new ministry was appointed, embracing such men
as, Serrano, Martos, Moret, Sagasta, and Zorrilla. … Amadeo
never had the friendship of the Carlists nor of the simon-pure
Monarchists. The dynasty was offensive to the adherents of Don
Carlos and of Alfonso, and to the Republicans, who were
opposed to any king. … Becoming [after two years] convinced
that the Opposition was irreconcilable, that factions were
inevitable, that a stable ministry was impossible, Amadeo,
resolved on the singular course of abdicating the royal
authority, and returning to the nation the powers with which
he had been intrusted;" and this abdication he performed on
the 11th of February, 1873.

_J. L. M. Curry,
Constitutional Government in Spain,
chapters 3-4._

ALSO IN:
_J. A. Harrison,
Spain,
chapters 27-28._

SPAIN: A. D. 1873-1885.
Reign of Alphonso XII., son of Queen Isabella.