Blaquiere’s Spain and Spanish Revolution. 
which had been oftered for his apprehen- 
sion, persisted in their demand, and a 
violent altercation ensued: this was pro- 
ceeding to extremities, when an officer 
and file of soldiers appeared, and put an 
end to the dispute: on Lacy’s presenting 
his sword, the former refused to accept 
it, observing in a respectful tone, ‘“ the 
weapon capnot be in better hands, Gene- 
ral; your Excellency must therefore ex- 
cuse me from taking it.” Having at 
length surmounted his scruples, the pri- 
soner was conducted to Blanes, and thence 
escorted to the Citadel of Barcelona. 
Tried by the commission for the perse- 
cution of the patriots, the General was 
condemned in the same illegal way as 
Porlier, and might have been executed 
with as little ceremony, were it not for 
his popularity, and consequently a fear, 
lest the garrison would have interfered 
to prevent the execution of the sentence. 
Of all those acts which have zendered the 
reign of terror memorable, the subterfuge 
adopted for the purpose of sacrificing 
Lacy is that the most worthy of execra- 
tion. It was while one universal cry for 
mercy ascended the throne of Ferdinand, 
in behalf of this unfortunate chief, that 
the ministers ordered him to be conveyed 
to Majorca, under pretence of commuting 
his sentence into imprisonment.  Reach- 
ing that island on the 30th June, he was 
shut up in the castle of Bellver, and had 
been only four days in confinement, be- 
fore Algarre, the Judge-advocate, who 
officiated at his trial, presented himself 
to the unsuspecting victim, read his sen- 
tence, and notified that it would be car- 
ried into execution at five o'clock on the 
following morning! It was no wonder if 
this abrupt announcement of his last 
hour, when he might perhaps be indulg- 
ing the fond hope of once more embracing 
his wife and child, or that he might yet 
live to see Spain free, occasioned a severe 
shock : the hero, however, is said to have 
speedily recovered from the first impulse 
of horror, so natural at such a moment, 
aud tranquilly observed, “I was not pre- 
pared to hear this sentence, but since it 
must be so, [ will be ready.” Thus be- 
trayed, and condemned to suffer at a dis- 
tance from his relatives and friends, the 
death of Lacy was embittered a thousand- 
fold; yet do all the details which have 
transpired relative to this sad event, con- 
cur in proving that it exhibited a rare 
example of unaffected courage and manly 
fortitude. 
Conducted to a ditch of the castle, at 
five in the morning, accompanied by a 
priest, and a file of soldiers destined to 
589 
terminate his existence, the death of — 
Lacy presents more the character of a 
midnight murder than a judicial decree 
carried into effect for the purpose of a 
salutary example, the object of all punish- 
ments under a government of law and 
justice. 
‘The inkabitants of Barcelona have late- 
ly vied with those of Corunna in doing 
justice to the remains of their departed 
chief; conveyed there in June, they 
were honoured with a triumphant funeral, 
at which the whole population, garrison 
and public bodies, united in paying a 
last tribute to his virtues and heroism. 
Like the ashes of Porlier, those of Lacy 
have also been deposited in an urn, and 
inscribed with an appropriate epitaph; it 
now forms one of the most conspicuous. 
monuments in the Campo Santo of that 
beautiful city. 
THE REVOLUTION, 
As the plan of rising had been ar- 
ranged, the great object of the patriots 
was to conceal their design, and have a 
leader whose former conduct afforded 
somie guarantees for being faithful to the 
cause. ANTONIO QuiroGA had been 
amongst the most zealous members of the 
secret societies, and from his character 
for steadiness, as well as being the senior 
colonel arrested on the 8th of July, was 
unanimously elected to the envied post 
of general in chief. As Quiroga re- 
mained a close prisoner, the glory of com- 
mencing the enterprize was reserved for 
RaFAkL DE RigGoO, one of those rare, 
meteors destined by Providence to ap- 
pear on the political horizon, and cheer 
the friends of human liberty, when ve-, 
nality and corruption seem to have de- 
stroyed every hope of its restoration. 
This officer had joined the camp at Pal-. 
mar some days before the arrest took 
place, and would have probably shared 
the fate of his friends, were it not for a 
severe illness, which obliged him to retire 
to Bornos, where he continued till the 
10th of November, when he was ealled 
on to take a part in the conferences of 
Las Correderas. Heing still in a state of 
extreme debility, the admirers of Riego 
observe that the impulse which liberty 
alone can give, enabled him to encounter 
and surmount the formidable difficulties, 
he had to vanquish, 
While Riego and his friends were 
completing the military preparations, 
and concerting the escape of Quiroga, 
Arco Aguero, chief of the staff, and his 
companions, another individual appeared 
on the scene, who merits the title of the 
civil, as Riego does that of the military 
hero 
