SPAIN. 
gave orders to the garrison io advance; a fire of grape-shot 
soon dispersed the populace ; and a charge of cavalry was 
equally effectual in driving back the column of Bessieres, 
who was obliged to fly, leaving two or three hundred prison¬ 
ers behind him. In consequence of this event, the French 
advanced-guard entered Madrid on the 23d, a day sooner 
than had been originally determined upon 5 and Zayas was 
suffered to effect his retreat uninterruptedly, in the direc¬ 
tion of Talavera de la Reyna. 
On the following day the Duke of Angouleme made his 
entrance into the capital, amidst the unequivocal demon¬ 
strations, as we are assured, of popular delight and 
enthusiasm. He convoked the ancient Supreme Council of 
Castile, and the Supreme Council of the Indies, and intrusted 
to these bodies, the care of selecting the members of a 
Regency. 
Accordingly the two Councils met. But not considering 
themselves authorized by the laws of the kingdom to erect a 
Regency, they merely recommended to the duke, a list of 
the persons whom they held to be the best fitted for the 
office. The persons thus named, were the Duke of Infan- 
tad o, president of the council of Castile; the Duke of 
Montemar, president of the council of the Indies; the 
Bishop of Osma, the Baron d’Erolles, and Don Antonio 
Gomes Calderon ; and they were on the 25th formally re- 
cognized by the Duke d’Angouleme as forming the Regency 
of Spain, during the captivity of the king. 
One of the first acts of the new Regency was to form a 
ministry; and with the view, it should seem, of restoring 
every thing, as much as possible, to its former situation, they 
reinstated in their offices, the individuals who had composed 
the king’s cabinet at the period of the revolution in 1820, 
with the exception of. the minister of foreign affairs, Vargas, 
in whose absence the department was intrusted to Don Victor 
Saez, the king’s confessor. The General Eguia was no¬ 
minated commander-in-chief of the Spanish forces. At the 
same time a decree was issued, annulling all the acts of the 
constitutional government, declaring all persons who had 
accepted office under that system, incapable of exercising 
any functions under the king; enjoining an immediate 
suspension of the sale of the property, whether of the Crown 
or the Church, which had been assigned for the payment of 
the public debt, and restoring all the i-ights and tithes of the 
regular or secular clergy. 
In the mean time the French followed up the pursuit of 
the corps, which had lately formed the garrison of Madrid, 
A detachment under General Vallin, was dispatched in 
pursuit of Zayas, and came up with him at a short distance 
from Talavera. A skirmish ensued, which ended in the 
Spaniards withdrawing beyond the Tagus, by the bridge of 
Alberche, leaving a part of their baggage in the hands of 
the enemy. Count Bourdesoulle, with a column of seven 
thousand men, moved upon Seville by Aranjuez; another 
commanded by Count Bourmont marched by Truxillo, in 
the direction of Estremadura, in connection with the corps 
under Vallin. Neither of these columns experienced any 
serious opposition in their advance. That of Bourmont, 
supported by the royalist bands under Merino, occupied 
Truxillo, on the 11th, and San Lucas la Mayor on the 19th, 
where it came up with the rear guard of the force under 
Lopez Banos, and took a considerable number of prisoners, 
with a part of his baggage. The other column after routing 
a division of about 1500 Spaniards under General Plasencia, 
at Santa-Cruz, continued uninterruptedly its march upon 
Cordova. 
It is now necessary to revert to the proceedings of the 
constitutional government. The king arrived at Seville on 
the 10th of April; but it was not until the 23d that a 
sufficient number of the Cortes had reached that city, to 
enable them to enter upon their deliberation. Upon re¬ 
opening their sessions, the President, Florez Calderon, con¬ 
gratulated the members of the assembly, upon the general 
and lively manifestations of public confidence and attach¬ 
ment, on the part of all ranks of the people which had 
greeted them on their journey, and found in those demon- 
Vol .XXIII. No. 1581. 
433 
strations of popular feeling new grounds of assurance as to 
the ultimate triumph of their cause. 
On the same day the government issued a formal declara¬ 
tion of war against France. Orders were at the same time 
sent to all the ports to issue letters of marque and reprisal 
against the vessels employed in French commerce. It had 
been expected that the French would have suffered much 
from this kind of hostility; very few Spanish privateers, 
however, appeared on the seas-; and the trade of France 
did not undergo any material damage or interruption. 
On the 24th, the minister of foreign affairs presented a 
memorial of the state of the diplomatic relations of Spain, 
including an account of the conduct of the government in 
the late negociations with France and England. The 
Cortes approved of that conduct, and a manifesto was drawn 
up and published in the name of the king, setting forth the 
principles upon which the government had been guided 
throughout the whole transaction. 
In the meanwhile the Cortes busied itself in the promul¬ 
gation of a variety of decrees, of the nature of those 
commonly issued in cases of great public emergency. Some 
of them, indeed, were marked with a degree of severity suf¬ 
ficiently characteristic of the spirit of revolutionary admi¬ 
nistration. 
A new ministry was at length formed (May 15th), com¬ 
posed of the following persons:—-Senor Pando, for foreign 
affairs; Calatrava, for grace and justice; Don Garcia 
Herreros, for the interior; Zarco del Valle, for war; Capaz, 
for the marine; Vadillo, for the colonies; and Yandiola, for 
finance. Zarco del Valle being absent with the armies, his 
post was provisionally occupied by Don Sanchez Salvador. 
These persons were for the most part of what is called the 
moderate party; but they had scarcely any time allowed for 
the exemplification of the character which was given them. 
On the 9th of June the news arrived of the defeat of 
Plasencia, and the march of the French upon Cordova. The 
ministers immediately declared that it was necessary that the 
government should be transferred to Cadiz. The king 
referred the matter to his council of state, which was 
immediately convoked. The Prince of Anglona proposed 
that a negociation should be opened with the Duke d’Angou¬ 
leme. The council rejected the proposition, and continued 
in deliberation until late that night, but without coming to 
any definitive conclusion. On the foliowing day (June 
10 th) they met again, and at length, about nine at night, 
they reported to the government their entire concurrence 
with ministers, respecting the absolute necessity of removing 
the king and the Cortes ; differing solely with regard to the 
point to which the seat of government should be transferred, 
for which purpose the council preferred Algesiras to Cadiz. 
This result was immediately notified to the king, who, 
however, very unequivocally declared his resolution not to 
submit to this second transfer of his person. 
On the 11th the Cortes met; and ministers, being called 
upon, stated to the assembly what they had been able to 
learn of the number and station of the French troops in 
Spain ; and further detailed what had been the result of the 
deliberations of the council of state on the preceding day. 
With respect to the intentions of the king, they said that 
they could say no more; but that at the time of their coming 
to the hall, his Majesty had not taken a definitive resolu¬ 
tion upon the proposition that had been made to him. 
Upon this, several questions were put to the ministers, 
tending to elicit their opinion whether they thought that the 
Constitution could be maintained, if the removal was not 
effected. 
The Secretary for grace and justice replied, that the mi¬ 
nisters were firmly convinced that the safety of the country 
depended upon the removal of the government and of the 
Cortes to a place of greater security. 
The Deputy, Galiano, then moved that a deputation should 
wait on his Majesty, and state to him the necessity for his 
removal. 
This motion was agreed to without discussion. 
Arguelles proposed that the Isle of Leon should be fixed 
5 S on 
