Blaquiere’s Spain and Spanish Revolution. 
mate Sovereign. By the advice of the 
members of the royal council and the 
holy Inquisition, we henceforth offer to 
receive with open arms, and all that ten- 
derness which is suited to our ministry 
and character, those who within the space 
of fifteen days from the date of this de- 
cree, shall spontaneously and voluntarily 
denounce themselves to us; but, if any 
person (which God forbid!) persists in 
following the road to perdition, we shall 
empioy, to our great regret, rigour and 
severity, causing the pains and penalties 
of the civil and canonical laws to be in- 
flicted on the offenders. 
“We hereby ordain that the present 
edict be published in ail the metropolitan 
churches, cathedrals and colleges of the 
kingdom. And that it shall be affixed 
to the doors of the said churches, &c. 
Whence it shall not be taken without our 
permission, under pain of excommuni- 
eation, and a fine of two hundred du- 
cats. 
(Signed) “ FRANCIS XAVIER, 
Inquisitor General.” 
MORILLO. 
It is almost needless to say, that the 
secret societies had been formed on the 
sole principle of restoring liberty to 
Spain. The circumstances of there being 
a constitution already prepared, had a 
most salutary effect in creating confi- 
dence amongst the members, and giving 
unity to their views; so that their whole 
attention was exclusively devoted to 
the arrangement of military operations. 
Cadiz, which had been so long the seat 
of government, and always celebrated 
for the liberal spirit of its inhabitants, 
led the way in attempting to render the 
societies practically useful. When the 
mad project of sending reinforcements 
to Venezuela was conceived, and Moriilo 
had collected ten thousand men for that 
purpose, at Pont St. Marigo in the win- 
ter of 1814, immediately steps were taken 
for bringing the troops and their chief 
over to the patriot cause. With the for- 
mer, nothing more was required than the 
consent of Morillo; and, he is said to 
have at one time yielded to the solicita- 
tions of several rich capitalists, who 
enerously offered the funds necessary 
or carrying the proposed plan into 
effect. Although this officer had greatly 
distinguished himself in the war, he 
neither possessed the generosity, or en- 
thusiasm, so indispensable for a popular 
leader, A stranger to genuine patriot- 
ism, and only accustomed to those mili- 
tary exploits which are too apt to vitiate 
the best intentioned minds and give a 
MONnvrHLY Mag, No, 377. 
585 
wrong impulse to the brightest talents, 
Moritlo hesitated between the imperish- 
able glory of conferring liberty on his 
country, and the ignoble prospect of 
plunder, which awaited him in the new 
world; unable to resist the latter, he re- 
canted, confessed, and having expiated 
his meditated crime of joining the patri- 
ots, by carrying a wax taper in/a religious 
procession, tbe recreant general sailed for 
South America. 
PORLIER. 
Juan diez Porlies, whose name will be 
remembered, whose fate must be de- 
plored, as long as patriotism and public 
virtue shall find admirers, had been in- 
cluded in the proscriptions which com- 
menced after the King’s return, and con- 
demned to four year’s imprisonment at 
the castle of San Anton, where he was 
conveyed on the 10th of August, 1814, 
Porlier had not been inany months in his 
new abodc, before all eyes were naturally 
directed to a man whose exploits and 
gallantry during the war, no less than his 
well known ardour in the cause of free- 
dom, had made him a just object of ad- 
miration and hope with the army. 
When every thing was ready for exe- 
cuting the plan agreed on, the general left 
his retreat, accompanied by Castanera 
and his escort as a guard of honour, and 
entered Corunna about midnight, on the 
18th of September. The garrison did 
not exceed two thousand men. Porlier’s 
chief dependence for striking the first 
blow, was on Colonel Cabrera, command- 
ing the regiment of Lugo, eight hundred 
strong. Some of his friends having wel- 
comed their leader at the town gate, 
they conducted him to the barracks, 
where the troops were in readiness, and 
all the officers assembled, The sword 
once drawn, Porlier entered into his task 
with the fearless zeal of a man who felt 
the justice of his cause, and the important 
interests which depended on the issue, 
While the officers were occupied in 
drawing up their respective parties, Por- 
lier selected some of the most steady, to 
secure the person of the Captain-General, 
his Secretary, the members of the military 
commission, and a few others, known to 
be inimical to freedom. This was effected 
without opposition, early on the morning 
of the 19th, while the prisoners weré on 
their way to San Anton and Ferral; all 
those accused of political offences were 
set at liberty, After these preliminary 
measures were completed, a proclamation 
was read to the troops, and posted up in 
the town. It congratulated the soldiery 
upon having formed the heroic resolution 
4F 
