19:^ 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



thesis, than that they had concerted 

 their operations with the French, 

 instead of coming to an under- 

 standing with the English generals. 

 It was necessary, in order to vindi- 

 cate the independence of Spain, not 

 to depend merely on that general 

 spirit of resistance which animated 

 the bulk of the people in the pro- 

 vinces, but to concentrate and 

 direct that spirit in such a manner 

 as to call forth with effect the mili- 

 tary resources of the country, 

 and to form an army which might 

 give time to Spain, with the as- 

 sistance of her allies, to establish 

 the restoration of the monarchy 

 on a legitimate basis. The nomi- 

 nation of a central junta was no 

 doubt the first step towards the 

 consolidation of public authority ; 

 but the constitution of the su- 

 preme junta was not founded on 

 the basis of union among the pro- 

 vinces, and still less on a just and 

 wise distribution of the elemenis 

 and force of government. There 

 was not hitherto any confederation 

 among the provinces. The exe- 

 cutive power was weakened by a 

 distribution of it into a number of 

 hands, in an assembly too nume- 

 rous to possess unity of design or 

 promptitude of action ; and yet, at 

 the same time, too limited and 

 narrow in its constitution to be 

 considered as the representative 

 body of the Spanish nation. The 

 central junta were neither just re- 

 presentatives either of the crown, 

 or the aristocracy, or the people : 

 they neither possessed the pro- 

 perties of an executive council, 

 nor of a deliberative pssembly. — It 

 was principally in this body, and 



among the officers under its enY" 

 ployment, that one could plainly 

 perceive an animosity against the 

 British government: very different 

 from this was the general disposi- 

 tion of the people.* At some mo- 

 ments of danger and alarm, the 

 junta seemed to be impressed with 

 a conviction that it was their duty to 

 choose a regency, to assemble the 

 cortes, redress grievances and re- 

 medy abuses. The question of a 

 regency was discussed in the junta 

 again and again, but the discus- 

 sions on this subject ended always 

 in an adjournment : the meeting 

 of the cortes was put off to a dis- 

 tant period ; the crying abuses in 

 the administration of justice, the 

 collection of the revenue in all the 

 principal branches of the admi- 

 nistration of government, were con- 

 tinued In short, the supreme 



junta thought of nothing so much 

 as how to preserve their own power 

 to the last extremity. 



The marquis of Wellesley, in a 

 conversation on public affairs with 

 Don Garay, held at the desire of 

 this statesman, recommended the 

 appointment of a regency, the 

 speedy convocation of the cortes, 

 and that the act of the junta for 

 appointing a regency and con- 

 voking the cortes, should provide 

 for the correction of abuses, and 

 the suppression of arbitrary ex- 

 actions, in both Spain and the In- 

 dies; and also that the same act 

 should declare the general princi- 

 ples on which concessions were to 

 be made to the colonies for se- 

 curing to them a share in the re- 

 presentation of the Spanish em- 

 pire ; and, above all, that the first 



care 



" In like manner, and partly owing, no doubt, to the same cause, there was 

 always a strong French party in the states general of the United Provinces, while 

 the people and the princess of Orange were the friends of England. 



