Q 122 ] [August, 



NARRATIVE OF THE LATE CONSPIRACY AT CADIZ.* 



When the followers of Mina and the other chiefs were ordered into 

 the French depots, those who were not initiated into the mysteries of 

 the revolution, naturally concluded that no itnmediate attempt would 

 be made on the part of the exiled Spaniards ; all their enterprizes having 

 ended only in discomfiture and misfortune. The germs of revolution, 

 however, were sown in Spain, and could not be so easily eradicated. 

 The indefatigable General Torrijos, having taken refuge in Gibraltar, 

 kept the public authorities in the southern provinces of the Peninsula in 

 continual alarm. Although uniformly repulsed, his little band, con- 

 quered as it was, could never be vitterly subdued. That Torrijos carried 

 on a very active correspondence with his countrymen, is no longer a 

 question of doubt ; nay, there exist the best grounds to suppose that he 

 acted in concert with some of the very men who had been sent by the 

 government against him. Duplicity and treachery have unfortunately 

 presented a prominent feature in the conduct of some of the Spanish 

 generals. Nothing can depict, in more gloomy yet more faithful colours, 

 the lamentable position of the peninsula, than the daily-occurring instances 

 of distrust and indecision which characterize the operations and conduct 

 of the military. It seems to be an established theorem, that a person 

 may change his opinion two or three times a day, according to the 

 aspect which affairs may take, or the indications of failure or success. 



Persecution seems favourable to the growth of liberal opinions ; and the 

 workings of private feeling strengthening the views of political regene- 

 ration, combine to keep alive a flame which it is no longer in the power 

 of oppression to extinguish. Nothing can more strongly exhibit this 

 truth than the organization of the conspiracy at Cadiz — a conspiracy so 

 vast, so skilfully prepared, that it yet appears a wonder how it should have 

 failed in the moment of execution. It will form a striking episode in 

 the series of conspii-acies, and, like those of Venice, Fiesco, and Rienzi, 

 deserves a place in the pages of history. 



The movements of Torrijos seemed to afford no great cause of anxiety 

 to the government. Wilfully blinded, the rulers of unfortunate Spain 

 persisted in maintaining that there were not the slightest elements of 

 revolution in the nation itself, and that every partial movement to that 

 effect was the result of the traitorous machinations of a few discontented, 

 lawless, and implacable refugees. This impression was so strong, that 

 the movement at Cadiz burst like thunder on the constituted authorities. 

 It was sudden and unexpected, bearing all the characteristics of a 

 powerful combination : yet it failed. But that the reader may better 

 understand the spirit and progress of this curious event, it is necessary to 

 enter into some details, for Avhich we request his indulgence. 



Among the refugees sojourning at Gibraltar, there was a man who 

 had acted a distinguished part in the Spanish revolution of the year 

 1820. This was Don Salvador Manzanares — an officer of engineers, of 

 considerable abilities in his line, who filled the post of minister for 

 the home department at the time that the constitution expired at Cadiz. 

 After a series of perils and adventures, Manzanares sought refuge at 

 Gibraltar, where, in order at once to provide the means of subsistence 



• We eive this narrative on the authority of a correspondent, who was an eye- 

 witness of the principal events he has recorded. — [Ed. 



