The Last Days of Spain, 



10 



of a party which aimed at the destruc- 

 tion of tiie Constitution, and the esta- 

 blishment of a republic. 



Individuals who were peaceable, 

 and attached to the Constitution, were 

 thus encouraged by the minislry and 

 the representative body of the nation, 

 to consider Riego as a public enemy, 

 whose unbounded ambition could be 

 satisfied only at the expense of the 

 rational happiness. An alarm was 

 created at every popular assembly, 

 patriotic song, or other demonstration 

 of feeling, shewn by a nation on the 

 recovery of its liberty. The disband- 

 ing of the army of La Isla left every 

 thing open to the machinations of the 

 conspirators ; and the foreign enemies 

 of Spain considered as useful allies the 

 men who ruled the nation, to whom 

 the authors of the revolution had im- 

 prudently confided the care of direct- 

 ing and consolidating its institutions. 

 Thence arose the erection of a species 

 of liberal aristocracy, the weight of 

 which has at length overwhelmed 

 liberty in Spain. The army of La 

 Isla was disbanded, though the only 

 military corps in Spain that deserved 

 the name of array, the rest of the 

 forces being a prey to the greatest 

 disorder. Scarcely had this fatal mea- 

 sure been taken, than appeared iu 

 Castile, and in the north of Spain, the 

 first bands of the Faith. Meanwhile 

 the Ultras in France had concerted 

 their plan of operations in Spain. 

 The ministry had conGded to the 

 Count d'Artois tlie secret direction of 

 the whole. Large sums were sent to 

 the Peninsula; magazines for arms 

 and accoutrements were raised on the 

 frontier, and two or three conspiracies 

 had been organized in Madrid and 

 Burgos. It was thought necessary to 

 act in communication with Ferdinand 

 and his brothers ; but, from their ua- 

 fciral sluggishness, they at first re- 

 fused any direct or indirect co-opera- 

 tion. At length, however, Ferdinand 

 appointed a person to represent him 

 at the Pavilion Marsan,in M. Navarro 

 Sangrau, a Spanish general, brother to 

 the Count of Casa Sarria, of the house- 

 hold of the infant Don Carlos. The 

 ministry had drawn on itself tlic 

 hatred of the people, and the king; its 

 fall was therefore inevitable. Com- 

 munication was entered upon with the 

 French ambassador, who was allowed 

 to name one of the ministers in M. 

 Pelegrin, a man entirely devoted to 

 the Holy Alliance, and his colle.gues 



[Feb. 1 , 



were men of the same stamp ; and a 

 ministry was, to the great astonishment 

 of the nation, named, which contained 

 not a single individual attached to the 

 new insiituiions, or who had not 

 figured as an agent of despotism in the 

 former government. The persecution 

 of the truly liberal was now openly 

 enforced; a veil was cast over all the 

 conspiracies that had burst forth in the 

 Peninsula; the array was insulted; 

 places were given to men known for 

 their hatred of the prevailing system — ■ 

 in short, every means were employed 

 to exasperate public opinion. 



The Frencii cabinet and the servile 

 party of Spain were too politic not to 

 take advantage of these circum- 

 stances. In consequence, therefore, 

 as soon as the ministry was secured, 

 the Prince Laval was recalled from 

 the court of Spain, and replaced by 

 the Count Lagarde, round whom all 

 the chiefs of the interior conspiracy 

 ranged themselves; and he, on hi.s 

 part, cajoled and flattered M. Martinez^ 

 de la Rosa, and required him to send 

 into France, as minister plenipoten- 

 tiary, the Count of Casa Irujo, a crafty 

 diplomatist, an open partisan of des- 

 potism, and full of that intrigue so 

 essential iu this species of enterprise. 

 It was found necessary to bribe the 

 Royal Spanish Guard, which hitherto 

 had been strongly attached to the con- 

 stitutional system. A few ofllcershad 

 been gained over, and mo)iey wasnow 

 plentifully scattered among the sol- 

 diers, in so public a manner, that 

 several zealous inhabitants announced 

 the fact to the ministry, who ridiculed 

 the information. The canons of seve- 

 ral cathedrals distributed among the 

 people considerable sums of money ; 

 and the regiment of the Uoyal 

 Cuirassiers in Andalusia was com- 

 pletely seduced. The object was to 

 excite an explosion at Madrid, which 

 was to coincide with another at Valen- 

 cia, where the ferocious and sangui- 

 nary Elio was a prisoner in this town, 

 accused and convicted of having 

 counselled and aided Ferdinand to 

 destroy the Constitution of the Cortes, 

 in 1814. 



The day appointed for the explosion 

 was the last day of May, the feast of 

 Saint Ferdinand. The court was then 

 at Aranjuez ; and this circumstance 

 appeared favourable to the conspira- 

 tors, who could act with greater fj-ee- 

 dom in this royal residence than in 

 the capital of the kingdom, surrounded, 



as 



