ASSEMBLY OF NOTABLES AT BAYONNE. CONSTITUTION OF BAYONNE. THE
INTRUSIVE KING ENTERS SPAIN. BUONAPARTE RETURNS TO PARIS.
♦1808. JUNE.
THE NOTABLES ASSEMBLE AT BAYONNE.♦
Buonaparte meantime regarded the insurrection of the Spaniards with
apparent indifference: as yet he was too little acquainted with
the nature of the country and the national character to apprehend
any difficulty in reducing them to submission, and he proceeded to
regulate the affairs of Spain as if the kingdom were completely at
his disposal. Of the Notables who were ordered to Bayonne, some had
been nominated by Murat, others delegated by the respective provinces,
cities, or bodies which they were to represent. The Archbishops of
Burgos and Seville were summoned; several bishops, the generals of
all the religious orders, and about twenty of the inferior clergy.
Most of the Grandees were summoned, and some of the titular nobles to
represent the nobility. Some cities were to choose representatives for
the _Cavalleros_, or gentry, others for the commercial part of the
people. Deputies were also named for Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru,
Buenos Ayres, and the Nuevo Reyno de Granada, each being a native of
the province which he was called upon to represent. Azanza had been
sent for by Buonaparte to give him information concerning the royal
property; ♦AZANZA APPOINTED PRESIDENT.♦ he was appointed president
of the assembly, and considering the sentence of the old dynasty as
irrevocably passed, devoted himself to the service of the new.
♦URQUIJO SUMMONED BY BUONAPARTE.♦
Urquijo also was summoned from his retirement. Not having been
implicated in the intrigues of Ferdinand’s party, nor in their
subsequent errors, he was more at liberty to choose his part; he
had warned Ferdinand of the snare, and he had sufficient foresight
to feel assured that Buonaparte’s intentions could not be effected
without a severer struggle than had entered into his calculations.
Had it been possible, he would have chosen to keep aloof and remain
in tranquillity. But of tranquillity there was now no hope; and
reluctantly obeying a third order, he repaired to Bayonne, persuading
himself, that as the usurpation could not be prevented, the wisest
course was to profit as much as possible by the change. For it was
possible, he thought, to stipulate for conditions with the new dynasty,
and dictate laws, and establish institutions, which would enable Spain
to resume that rank among nations, to which the position and size
and natural advantages of the country entitled it. Thus he deceived
himself. Urquijo had always been too confident of his own talents;
he wanted that unerring principle of religion which allows of no
compromise with iniquity; and having in his youth entered heartily
into the cause of revolutionary France, the theoretical republican
ended in becoming a prime agent of the military despot of France, for
the subjugation of his own country.
♦HE REPRESENTS THE STATE OF SPAIN TO BUONAPARTE.♦
On his arrival he perceived that Buonaparte was very ill acquainted
with the real state of Spain and the spirit which possessed the
Spaniards; but he perceived also, that, like the people whom he had
provoked, he was fixed in his purposes, and resolute in going through
with what he had once begun. Urquijo truly and fairly represented
to him the general discontent, the activity of the clergy, and
more especially the regulars, in exciting the nation to arms, the
probability of an obstinate and bloody struggle, and the likelihood
that Austria would take advantage of it to renew the war, and that
Russia would not remain inactive. These representations made no
impression upon Buonaparte; he let Urquijo understand that the Emperor
of Russia had given his consent to the deposition of the Bourbons, and
the substitution of one of his family, when the peace of Tilsit was
concluded; he spoke with severe contempt of Charles and Ferdinand and
their ministers, especially Godoy, who in the last transactions at
Bayonne had seemed solicitous for nothing but his own pension; he said
he could have no reliance upon that family; and as to the opposition of
the Spaniards, he plainly declared, that if they refused to acknowledge
his brother for their King, he would dismember their country, or
make an absolute conquest of it. If this language had been addressed
to Urquijo from a distance, a generous indignation, an honest impulse
of national feeling, might have saved him from dishonour. But he was
within the magician’s circle; the frankness of the Emperor made him
forgive his former treachery; ... towards him there was no duplicity
or reserve; and when Buonaparte said that his brother would select
the best and ablest men in Spain for his ministers, and added that
he reckoned upon him, ♦NELLERTO. MEM. T. 2, NOS. 59, 67.♦ Urquijo
confessed within himself, that though he desired repose, and foresaw
danger, he should be compelled to accept of office.
♦ARRIVAL OF JOSEPH BUONAPARTE.
JUNE 6.♦
Mazarredo was appointed minister of the marine, Azanza minister of
finance, and General Cuesta viceroy of Mexico. These appointments were
made before Joseph’s arrival; and when he was within a day’s journey of
Bayonne, Buonaparte issued a decree proclaiming him King of Spain and
of the Indies, and guaranteeing to him the independence and integrity
of his dominions in the four quarters of the world. Joseph Buonaparte
was an inoffensive unaspiring man, who, if he had been permitted to
continue in a private station, would have gone through life obscurely
and not unworthily, loved and respected by his family and friends. He
had made himself popular at Naples, though the people of that city were
attached to their legitimate King; and being established there with
little of the responsibility, and none of the cares of government, he
very unwillingly obeyed Napoleon’s summons to Bayonne. Lucien’s advice
accorded entirely with his own feelings; and he came still with an
intention of refusing the crown of Spain; but Napoleon, who was sure
of his obedience, cared little for his consent or inclination; and
when he arrived on the evening after the proclamation, he was received
as King. The Emperor went out to meet him, and brought him in great
state to the Castle of Marrac. ♦THE NOTABLES RECEIVE HIM AS KING.♦ A
deputation of the Grandees waited upon him, and the Duke del Infantado,
at their head, assured him of the joy which they felt in presenting
themselves before him. His presence, they said, was eagerly desired
to fix all opinions, conciliate all interests, and re-establish that
order which was necessary for the restoration of Spain. The Grandees
of that country had been celebrated in all times for fidelity to their
sovereign; and he would find in them the same fidelity and the same
devotion. In like manner he was addressed by deputations from the
Council of Castille, from the Councils of the Inquisition, the Indies,
and the Treasury, and from the army. They told him the immensity of
glory which was accumulated upon the head of his imperial brother had
obscured that of all the heroes of antiquity; and that the choice
which Napoleon had made of his august person, announced him to be
endowed with those great qualities whereby thrones are supported and
sceptres[40] established.
♦ADDRESS OF THE NOTABLES TO THE SPANISH NATION.♦
Buonaparte required from these deputies, as their next service,
an address to their countrymen, exhorting them to acknowledge the
new King, and warning them of the evils of resistance, and the
impossibility of making any successful opposition. “Dear Spaniards,”
they said, “worthy compatriots, your families, your hearths, your
fortunes, your property, your lives, are as dear and as precious to us
as our own! We have been like you faithful and devoted to our former
dynasty, till the term arrived which had been fixed by Providence, the
absolute disposer of crowns and sceptres. The irresistible call of
duty, and the desire of your welfare, has brought us to the presence of
the invincible Emperor of France. We confess to you that the sight of
his glory and his power might have dazzled us; yet we had determined to
lay our supplications before him for the general good of our country.
What was our surprise, when he prevented us, by proofs of benevolence
and goodness, the more to be admired because of the greatness of his
power! He has no other view than for our happiness. The sovereign
whom he gives us is his august brother Joseph, whose virtues are
the admiration of his subjects.” They proceeded to enumerate the
blessings which he would confer upon them in the improvement of their
finances, agriculture, and resources of every kind, the restoration
of their military and naval strength, and the preservation of their
religion in its exclusive purity. “And what,” they asked, “is the
recompense which the great Emperor of the French requires from you
in circumstances so important to the whole nation? That you remain
quiet; that you take care of your families and your own concerns; that
you do not abandon yourselves blindly to the dreadful disorders which
are inseparable from popular commotions; that you wait with peaceable
confidence that melioration of your fortune which you may expect from
a virtuous monarch. Spaniards, look to yourselves and to your innocent
children! What fruit can you hope to reap from the disturbances which
rashness and malevolence are exciting? Anarchy is the severest of all
chastisements which the Almighty inflicts upon mankind. No one disputes
your courage; but without direction, without order, without unanimity,
all efforts will be vain. The most numerous forces that you can embody
would disappear before disciplined soldiers like smoke before the
wind. Flatter not yourselves with the thought of possible success in
such a contest; it is unequal in means if not in valour; you must be
overcome, and then all would be lost. There is no safety for the state
but in uniting ourselves with all our hearts to the new government, and
assisting it in the work of regenerating the country. We are come to a
miserable situation, brought to it by the capricious, indolent, unjust
government under which we have lived for the last twenty years. It
remains for us all to submit, and each to co-operate in his place for
the formation of a new one, upon principles which will be the security
of our liberties and rights and property. This is the desire of the
invincible Napoleon, who occupies himself for our good, who wishes to
deserve well of our nation, and to be called by our descendants the
regenerator of Spain.”
♦PROCLAMATION OF THE INTRUSIVE KING.
JUNE 10.♦
The men who prepared this address to their countrymen, in obedience to
Buonaparte’s commands, must have known with what scorn and indignation
it would be received. The first act of the intrusive King was not
likely to diminish those feelings; it was a decree in which, premising
that he had accepted the cession of the crown of Spain made in his
favour by his well-beloved brother the Emperor Napoleon the First, he
nominated Murat for his Lieutenant-general. If Napoleon had considered
the interest of his brother he would rather have recalled Murat with
some implied displeasure, as if in putting so many Spaniards to death
after the insurrection, he had acted with needless and unauthorized
severity: but he had determined upon reducing the people to submission
by intimidation and force. Joseph announced his accession by a
proclamation of the same date. In opening to him so vast a career,
Providence, he said, without doubt had judged of his intentions, and
would enable him to provide for the happiness of the generous people
whom it confided to his care. Aided by the clergy, the nobles, and
the people, he hoped to renew the time when the whole world was full
of the glory of the Spanish name. Above all, he desired to establish
tranquillity and happiness in the bosom of every family by a wise
social organization. The spirit of his government would be to improve
the public good with the least possible injury to individual interests.
It was for the Spaniards that he reigned, not for himself.
♦THE BISHOP OF ORENSE’S REPLY TO HIS SUMMONS.♦
About ninety Notables had now assembled at Bayonne, including those
who had been decoyed thither with Ferdinand. A much greater number had
been convoked; but some dared not undertake the journey, for fear of
the people, who would justly have regarded them as traitors for obeying
the summons; and others engaged heartily in the national cause. The
Bishop of Orense, D. Pedro Quevedo y Quintana, was one of the persons
whom the Junta of Government had summoned; and he declined obedience
in a letter of calm and dignified remonstrance, which produced as much
effect upon the people as the most animated military address, and
which those who hoped or affected to hope for any melioration of the
state of Spain by Buonaparte’s means could not have perused without
a sense of shame. Impressive as this composition was, it derived
additional weight from the character of the writer, for the Bishop of
Orense was one of those prelates whose truly Christian virtues are the
proudest boast and the truest glory of the Catholic church. During the
dreadful years of the French revolution he received into his palace
three hundred of the emigrant clergy: there he lodged and supported
them, and lived with them at the same table, refusing to partake of
any indulgence himself which could not be extended to these numerous
guests. It was not possible for him, he said, infirm as he was, and
at the age of seventy-three, to undertake so long a journey upon so
sudden a notice. But bearing in mind the good of the nation, and the
intentions of the Emperor, who desired to be as it were its angel
of peace, its tutelary spirit, ... he would take the opportunity of
saying to the Junta, and through them to the Emperor, what, if he were
in person at Bayonne, he should there have said and protested. The
business there to be treated is of remedying evils, repairing injuries,
improving the condition of the nation and the monarchy: ... but upon
what bases? Is there any approved means for doing this, any authority
recognized by the nation? Will she enslave herself, and by that means
expect her safety? Are there not diseases which are aggravated by
medicine, and of which it has been said, _tangant vulnera sacra nullæ
manus_? And does it not appear that those of the Royal Family are of
this kind, and have they not been so aggravated by the treatment which
they have received from their powerful protector, the Emperor Napoleon,
that their case is now desperate? The Royal Family had been sent into
the interior of France, ... of that country which had banished it for
ever; sent back to its primitive cradle, it found a grave there by a
cruel death, where its elder branch was cruelly cut off by an insane
and sanguinary revolution. And this having been done, what could
Spain hope for? Would her cure be more favourable? The means and the
medicines did not promise it. He proceeded to say, that the abdications
made at Bayonne could not be believed, and appeared to be impossible;
that they could not be valid unless they were renewed and ratified by
the Kings and the Infantes in their own country, and in perfect freedom
from all constraint and fear. Nothing would be so glorious for Napoleon
as to restore them to Spain, and to provide that in a general Cortes
they might act according to their free choice; and that the nation,
independent and sovereign as it was, might then proceed to recognize
for its lawful King the person whom nature, right, and circumstances,
should call to the Spanish throne. This indeed would be more honourable
for the Emperor than all his victories and laurels. This indeed would
deliver Spain from the dreadful calamities which threatened her; then
might she recover from all her evils, and giving thanks to God, return
also the most sincere gratitude to her saviour and true protector,
_then_ the greatest of all Emperors, the moderate, the magnanimous, the
beneficent Napoleon the Great.
At present, said the venerable prelate, Spain cannot but behold him
under a very different aspect. She sees in him the oppressor of
her Princes and of herself. She looks upon herself as fettered and
enslaved, when happiness is promised her, ... and this by force even
more than by artifice, ... by armies which were received as friends,
either through indiscretion and timidity, or perhaps by treason. These
representations he laid before the Junta in the discharge of his duty
as one of the King’s counsellors, that office being attached to the
episcopal order in Spain: and he desired that they might be submitted
to the Great Napoleon. “Hitherto,” said he, “I have relied upon the
rectitude of his heart, as being free from ambition and averse to
deceit. And still I hope that, perceiving Spain cannot be benefited
by enslaving her, he will not persist in applying remedies to her in
chains, for she is not mad.”
♦BUONAPARTE DELIVERS A CONSTITUTION TO AZANZA.♦
The want of any legitimate authority in the Junta of Notables to
legislate for the nation was so palpable, even to the members
themselves, that their president, Azanza, represented to Buonaparte,
as an advisable measure, to convoke a Cortes in the usual form, and
within the kingdom. But it was too late for this; the name of a Cortes,
and the appearance of free deliberation, could no longer delude the
Spaniards, after the forced abdications at Bayonne and the slaughter
at Madrid. Buonaparte maintained that the consent of the nation would
supply the want of any formalities which could not be observed in
the existing circumstances; he delivered to Azanza the project of a
constitution, and ordered him to appoint two committees, who should
arrange the subject for discussion, and propose such alterations and
modifications as they might deem convenient. Azanza and those who acted
with him had flattered themselves that they should make terms with
the new dynasty, and secure to their country a free representative
government; but they now found that they were to receive a constitution
as well as a King from the will and pleasure of Buonaparte. ♦SPEECH
OF AZANZA AT THE OPENING OF THEIR SITTINGS.♦ Nevertheless Azanza
congratulated the Junta at their first sitting on the delightful
and glorious task to which they were called, of contributing to the
happiness of their country in labouring for the good of the present
generation and of posterity, by the order and under the auspices of
the hero of their age, the invincible Napoleon. Thanks and immortal
glory, said he, to that extraordinary man who restores to us a country
which we had lost! He spoke of the long misgovernment by which Spain
had been degraded under a succession first of crafty then of imbecile
sovereigns, till the last of their kings had resigned his rights to
a Prince who, for their happiness, united in himself all the talents
and resources required for restoring her to her former prosperity.
He called upon them to sacrifice some privileges, which for the most
part were but imaginary, upon the altar of their country, and to
construct a monument at once simple and grand in place of the Gothic
and complicated structure of their former government. He told them that
it was in their power, by their collective representatives, and by
their individual efforts, to do much towards appeasing the agitation
which prevailed in many parts of the kingdom. Misguided men, without
plan, without accord, without object, were acting in a manner from
which nothing but ruin and desolation could ensue. Certain as the Junta
were of that truth, it must be their business to convince others of it
who were now deluded. Thus should they render their labours useful,
and fulfil the generous designs of the hero who had convoked them;
Spain would recover her ancient glory, and they would have the sweet
satisfaction hereafter of thinking that they had contributed to it.
♦ADDRESS OF THE NOTABLES TO KING JOSEPH.♦
The first sitting was employed in forming an address to King Joseph,
and the business of the second was to present it. The glorious task
which had been imposed upon them, they said, was to lay the foundations
of durable happiness for their beloved country; was it not then their
first duty to come before the chief of the Spanish nation, the centre
of all their hopes, and devote themselves in his presence with the
utmost zeal and ardour to the work? They noticed the disturbances in
Spain as momentary troubles, occasioned by the error of the people, who
never reflect, and who are worthy of commiseration when they return to
their duty. The Intruder replied, that he wished to remain ignorant of
these tumults, and to find none but Spanish hearts beyond the Pyrenees.
In quitting a people who did justice to his government, he had made
the greatest of sacrifices, he said; but, from his own feelings, he
anticipated the love of the Spaniards. He knew the wisdom and the
loyalty of the Castillian character. He would visit his provinces,
bearing with him the heart of a father, and he should meet with none
but his children. The enemies of the Continent (so in his brother’s
manner he designated the English) were endeavouring to detach the
colonies from the mother country, but the agents and instruments of
this crafty hatred should not be spared. He concluded by desiring them
in their deliberations to regard nothing but the good of the country,
and to reckon upon the blessings of the people, and upon his entire
satisfaction.
♦THE BAYONNE CONSTITUTION.♦
Ten other sittings completed the business of the Junta, who had
little time allowed them for their discussions, and less power. Some
alterations they were permitted to make in minor points, but the
principle and form of the constitution were of Buonaparte’s stamp.
It was promulgated by the Intruder as the fundamental law of the
kingdoms, and the basis of the compact whereby his people were bound to
him, and he to his people. ♦RELIGION.♦ The first article declared that
the Catholic Apostolic and Roman religion should be the religion of the
King and of the nation in Spain and in all the Spanish possessions,
and no other should be permitted. ♦THE SUCCESSION.♦ The Salic law of
succession was established, as in France; in failure of legitimate
male descendants to Joseph, the crown was to devolve on Napoleon, and
his heirs male, whether natural and legitimate, or adopted; in their
default to Louis and Jerome, and their heirs in succession, Lucien
being tacitly excluded. In failure of all these, the son of the eldest
daughter was to inherit; and if the last King left no daughter who had
issue male, the crown might then go to the person whom he should have
appointed by his will, whether one of his nearest relations were chosen
or any one whom he should deem most worthy to govern the Spaniards, but
the appointment must be presented to the Cortes for their approbation.
The crown of Spain and of the Indies was never to be united with any
other in the same person. The King should be considered as a minor
till he had completed his eighteenth year; during a minority there
should be a Regent, who must be at least twenty-four years old; if
the last King should not have nominated one among the Infantes, that
Infante was to hold the office, who being of the age required was the
last in succession to the throne. The Regent, like the King, was to
be irresponsible; and he was to have a fourth part of the revenues
which were settled upon the crown. Should there be no Infante of age
for the office, a Council of Regency was then to be composed of the
seven senior senators. The minor King was not to be under the Regent’s
care, but under the guardianship of his mother, in case his predecessor
should not have designated a guardian; and if the last King had not
appointed five senators for a Council of Tutelage, to provide for the
education of the minor, and to be consulted in all things of importance
relating to his person and establishment, that office devolved upon the
five senior senators, or if there were a Council of Regency existing,
on the five senators next in seniority to the members of that council.
♦PATRIMONY OF THE CROWN.♦
The palaces of Madrid, the Escurial, S. Ildefonso, Aranjuez, the
Pardo, and others belonging to the crown, with all the parks, forests,
inclosures, and property thereunto appertaining, were the patrimony
of the crown: if the rents of the whole did not amount to a million
of _pesos fuertes_, other lands were to be added to them which would
make up that sum. The public treasury was also charged with the payment
of two millions of _pesos fuertes_ per year to the crown, in monthly
payments. The hereditary Prince became entitled to a revenue of 200,000
from the age of twelve, the other Infantes to 100,000, the Infantas to
50,000 each, charged upon the public treasury: the Queen Dowager was
to have 400,000, charged upon the treasury of the crown.
♦1808. JULY.
MINISTRY.♦
There were to be nine ministers for the departments of justice,
ecclesiastic and foreign affairs, the interior, finance, war, the
marine, the Indies, and general police; and a secretary of state, with
the rank of minister, by whom all decrees were to be signed. The King
might at his pleasure unite the ecclesiastic department with that of
justice, and the general police with that of the interior: the rank of
these ministers depended upon the seniority of their appointment.
♦THE SENATE.♦
The Senate was to consist of the Infantes who had attained the age of
eighteen, and of twenty-four individuals chosen by the King, from his
ministers, the Captains-General of the army and navy, the Embassadors,
Counsellors of State, and members of the Royal Council. No one was
eligible till he had completed his fortieth year: the office was for
life, unless it were forfeited by the legal sentence of a competent
tribunal, and it was never to be given in reversion. The president
was to be named yearly by the King. In case of insurrection, or of
disturbances which threatened the security of the state, the Senate
might at the King’s proposal suspend the constitution in the places
specified, and for a certain time.
♦SENATORIAL JUNTA FOR THE PRESERVATION OF PERSONAL LIBERTY.♦
It belonged to the Senate to watch over the preservation of individual
liberty, and of the liberty of the press. A Senatorial Junta of
individual liberty, consisting of five members, was to be chosen by the
Senate from its own body, and to this committee all persons arrested
for offences against the state, if they were not brought to trial in
the course of a month from the day of their commitment, might appeal:
should the Junta be of opinion that the interests of the state did not
justify a longer imprisonment, it was to call upon the minister by
whom the arrest was ordered, either to set the prisoner at liberty,
or deliver him over without delay to a competent tribunal. If after
three such consecutive applications within the space of another month
the prisoner should neither have been discharged nor remitted to the
ordinary tribunals, the Junta was then to require a meeting of the
Senate; and the Senate, if it saw cause, was to pass a resolution
in this form: There are strong presumptions that N. is arbitrarily
imprisoned. The president was to lay this resolution before the King;
and the King was to refer it to a Junta, composed of the presidents of
the Council of State and of five members of the Royal Council.
♦SENATORIAL JUNTA OF THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.♦
In like manner there was to be a Senatorial Junta of the liberty of the
press, consisting of five senators. Authors, printers, and booksellers,
who thought themselves aggrieved if they were prevented from printing
or selling a work, might appeal to this Junta; and should the Junta
be of opinion that the prohibition was not required by reasons of
state, the minister by whom it had been imposed should be required to
withdraw it. If after three consecutive applications in the course of
a month the prohibition were not revoked, the Junta was then to summon
the Senate, and the Senate, if it saw reason, to resolve there were
strong presumptions that the liberty of the press had been violated;
and this resolution was to be laid before the King, and by him, as in
a matter of individual liberty, referred to a Junta whose decision was
final. Periodical publications were not entitled to the benefit of this
provision. The members of these Senatorial Juntas were to be changed
one every six months.
♦COUNCIL OF STATE.♦
The Council of State was to consist of not fewer than thirty members,
nor more than sixty, divided into the six sections or departments of
justice and ecclesiastical affairs, the interior, and general police,
the finances, war, the marine, and the Indies, each section consisting
of a president and four members at least, and the King presiding over
the council. The hereditary Prince might assist at their sittings,
from the age of fifteen. The ministers and the president of the Royal
Council were by their office members, and might attend their meetings
when they thought it convenient, but they were not part of any section,
neither were they accounted in the appointed number. The projects of
all laws civil and criminal, and the general regulations of the public
administration, were to be examined and determined here; and the
decrees of the King upon subjects falling within the province of the
Cortes were to have the force of law (having been discussed in this
council) till the next Cortes should be assembled.
♦CORTES.♦
The Cortes or National Junta was to consist of an hundred and sixty-two
members, in one chamber, divided into the three Benches of the Clergy,
the Nobles, and the People; that of the clergy was to be placed on the
right of the throne, that of the nobles on the left, that of the people
in front. The bench of the clergy was to be composed of twenty-five
archbishops and bishops, that of the nobles of twenty-five peers, who
should be called Grandees of the Cortes: the bench of the People of
sixty-two deputies for the provinces of Spain and the Indies, thirty
deputies for the principal cities of Spain and the adjacent islands,
fifteen commercial members, and fifteen deputies of the universities,
men of learning, or distinguished by their proficiency in the sciences
or the arts. The Ecclesiastical Deputies were to be appointed by
letters patent, under the great seal, and they were not to be deprived
of their functions unless by the sentence of a competent tribunal,
legally pronounced. The Nobles were to be appointed and hold their
seats in the same manner: they were required to possess an income of
not less than 20,000 _pesos fuertes_, or to have performed long and
important services either in the civil or military line. Members for
the provinces were to be chosen in the proportion of one representative
for about 300,000 inhabitants; and the provinces were to be divided
into departments with reference to this purpose, each containing a
population sufficient to entitle it to elect one deputy. The manner
in which the Juntas of Election were to be constituted would be
established by the Cortes; till that time they should be composed of
the Deans of the _Regidores_ in every place which contained not less
than an hundred inhabitants; and if in any departments there were
not twenty places containing this population, the smaller hamlets
were then to be united for the purpose of furnishing an elector,
in the proportion of one for an hundred inhabitants, chosen by lot
from the Deans of the Regidores. The other electors were the Deans
of the _Curas_, or parochial clergy, in the principal places of the
departments; but the number of clerical electors was never to exceed
one-third of the whole Junta of Election. The President was to be named
by the King, and the Juntas of Election were never to meet except by
letters of convocation. The Deputies for the thirty principal cities
were to be chosen one for each by the _Ayuntamiento_, or corporation.
A deputy for a province or city must be possessed of landed property.
The fifteen commercial Deputies were to be chosen from the Juntas of
Commerce, and from among the richest and most respected merchants. The
Tribunals and Juntas of Commerce in every city were to form a list
of fifteen persons, and from these lists the King was to appoint the
members. He was in like manner to appoint the remaining fifteen from
a list to that amount presented by the Royal Council, and from seven
candidates presented by each of the universities.
Members of the Bench of the People might be re-elected to a second
Cortes, but not to a third, till an interval of three years should
have elapsed. The Cortes should assemble once in three years at
least; it was to be convoked by the King, and neither deferred,
prorogued, nor dissolved, but by his order. The President should be
appointed by the King from three candidates whom the Cortes was to
choose. At the opening of every session the Cortes was to choose
these three candidates, two vice-presidents, and two secretaries,
and four committees, ... of justice, of the interior, of finance,
and of the Indies, consisting of five members each. The sittings of
the Cortes were not to be public; votes were to be taken vocally or
by secret ballot; and for every resolution a majority of the whole
body was necessary. The opinions and votes were neither to be printed
nor divulged; such publication, whether by means of the press, or of
written papers, if made by the Cortes, or any of its members, was to be
considered as an act of rebellion. Every three years the amount of the
annual receipts and expenditure was to be fixed by law; which law was
to be presented by orators of the Council of State for the deliberation
and approbation of the Cortes. In like manner all alterations in the
civil and penal codes, in the system of imposts, or of currency,
were to be propounded; and projects of laws were to be proposed by
the sections of the Council of State to the respective committees of
the Cortes. Accounts were to be presented annually to the Cortes by
the Minister of Finance, and to be printed; and the Cortes might make
such representations as they deemed convenient upon any abuses in
the administration. If they had any grave charges to prefer against
a minister, the accusation and the proofs were to be laid before the
throne by a deputation; and the King was to refer it to a commission
composed of six counsellors of state and six members of the Royal
Council.
♦THE COLONIES.♦
The Spanish kingdoms and provinces in America and Asia were to enjoy
the same rights as the mother country, and to trade freely with her;
every kind of cultivation and industry was to be free there, and no
monopoly of export or importation to be granted. Every kingdom and
province should always have deputies at the seat of government, to
promote their interests and to be their representatives in the Cortes.
Two deputies each were to be sent by New Spain, Peru, the Nuevo Reyno
de Granada, Buenos Ayres, and the Philippines; one each by the islands
of Cuba and Puerto Rico, by Venezuela, Charcas, Quito, Chile, Cuzco,
Guatemala, Yucatan, Guadalaxara, the western internal provinces of
New Spain and the eastern. These deputies were to be chosen by the
_Ayuntamientos_ of such places as the Viceroys or Captains-general
should appoint in their respective territories; they must be natives of
the respective provinces, and proprietors of land; they were to hold
their places for a term of eight years, and after the expiration of
that term, till their successors should arrive. Six of these deputies,
chosen by the King, should be added to the Council of State and section
of the Indies, to have a consultive voice in all matters relating to
the colonies.
♦JUDICATURE.♦
The Spains and the Indies were to be governed by one code of laws
civil and criminal. The judicial order was to be independent, justice
administered in the King’s name by the courts and tribunals which
he should appoint, and all corporate or private jurisdictions, such
as the _Justicias de abadengo, ordenes y señorio_, were abolished.
The King was to appoint all the judges, and no one could be removed
from his office, unless in consequence of charges against him made
by the president or _Procurador General_ of the Royal Council, at
the Council’s instance, and with the King’s approbation. There were
to be Conciliatory Judges forming a Tribunal of Pacification, Courts
of the first instance, Audiences or Tribunals of Appeal, a Tribunal
of Reposition or Cassation for the whole kingdom, and a High Court
Royal. The courts of first instance were to be as many as the country
required; the tribunals of appeal for Spain and the adjacent islands,
not fewer than nine nor more than fifteen. The Royal Council was to
be the Tribunal of Reposition, and should also take cognizance of
appeals in ecclesiastical cases. Criminal processes were to be public,
and it was to be discussed in the first Cortes whether or not trial
by jury should be established. Appeal might be made to the Tribunal
of Reposition against a criminal sentence. The High Court Royal was
to take cognizance of personal offences committed by individuals of
the Royal Family, ministers, senators, and counsellors of state; there
might be no appeal against its sentences, but they were not to be
executed till the King should have signed them. It was to consist of
the eight senior senators, the six presidents of the sections of the
Council of State, the president and two vice presidents of the Royal
Council. The right of pardoning should belong to the King alone. There
should be one commercial code for Spain and the Indies; and in every
great commercial town a Tribunal and a Junta of commerce.
♦FINANCE.♦
The _Vales Reales_, _Juros_, and whatever loans the government had
contracted, were acknowledged as the national debt. Custom-houses
between different jurisdictions and provinces were abolished both
in Spain and the Indies, and were only to exist upon the frontiers.
Taxes were to be equalized throughout the kingdom, and all privileges,
whether granted to corporations or individuals, were suppressed; but
for those which had been purchased, an indemnification should be
awarded. The public treasure was to be distinct from that of the
crown, and under a director general appointed by the King; the accounts
were to be rendered yearly, and examined and closed by a tribunal of
general accounts, composed of persons whom the King should nominate.
All nominations for all employments belonged to the King, or to the
authorities to whom the laws confided them.
♦ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE.♦
A perpetual alliance, offensive and defensive, by land and by sea,
between France and Spain, was declared by this constitution; the
contingent which each power was to furnish being to be determined by a
particular treaty. Foreigners who had rendered important service to the
state; or who might be useful to it by their talents, their invention,
or their industry; and those who formed large establishments, or
acquired lands for which they paid yearly taxes to the amount of fifty
_pesos fuertes_, might be admitted to the rights of naturalization.
♦SECURITY OF PERSONS.♦ Every man’s house was an asylum, not to be
entered except by day, and for a specific object, determined by the
law, or by an order proceeding from the public authority. No person
residing in the Spanish dominions should be arrested, except in
_flagrante delictu_, without a legal and written order, issued by
a competent authority, notified to the party, and explaining the
grounds of the arrest, and the law in virtue of which it was granted.
No Alcayde or jailer should receive or detain a prisoner, till he
had entered in his register the warrant of committal: nor might the
relations and friends of a prisoner be prevented from seeing him, if
they came with an order from the magistrate, unless the judge should
have given directions that the prisoner should have no communication
with any person. The use of the torture was abolished, and any rigour
beyond what the law enjoined was pronounced a crime.
♦LIMITATION OF ENTAILS.♦
All existing feoffments, entails, and substitutions, if the property
did not amount by itself, or with other possessions held by the same
owner, to the annual rent of 5000 _pesos fuertes_, were abolished, and
the owners were to hold it as free property. If it exceeded that value,
the owner, at his choice, might ask the King’s permission to make it
free. If it exceeded the yearly value of 20,000 _pesos fuertes_, all
above that sum should be free. In the course of one year the King would
establish regulations upon this subject; and for the future no property
might thus be tied up, except by virtue of the King’s permission,
granted in consideration of services rendered to the state, and for
the purpose of perpetuating in their rank the families who should thus
have deserved; but the property thus to be bound should in no case
exceed the annual value of 20,000 _pesos fuertes_, nor fall short of
5000. ♦ABOLITION OF PRIVILEGES.♦ The different degrees and classes
of nobility were to be preserved with their respective distinctions;
but all exemptions hitherto attached to it, from public burthens and
duties, were abolished, and nobility was not to be required as a
qualification for civil or ecclesiastical employment, nor for military
rank either by sea or land. Services and talents were to be the only
means of promotion. But no person might obtain public employment in
the state or church, unless he had been born in Spain, or naturalized
there. The endowments belonging to the different orders of knighthood
were only to be bestowed according to their original destination, in
recompense of public services; and no individual should hold more than
one commandery.
♦TIME FOR INTRODUCING THE CONSTITUTION, AND FOR AMENDING IT.♦
The constitution was successively and gradually to be brought into
use by decrees or edicts of the King, so that the whole should be in
execution before the first of January, 1813. The particular charters
of the provinces of Navarre, Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and Alava, were to
be examined in the first Cortes, that what should be deemed most
convenient to the interest of those provinces and of the nation might
be determined upon. Two years after the constitution should have been
entirely carried into effect, the liberty of the press was to be
established, and organized by a law made in the Cortes. All additions,
modifications, and improvements, which it might be deemed expedient to
make in this constitution, were to be presented by order of the King,
for examination and discussion, to the first Cortes which should be
held after the year 1820. And a copy of the constitution, signed by
the Secretary of State, was forthwith to be communicated to the Royal
Council and to the other councils and tribunals, in order that it
might be published and circulated according to accustomed form.
♦THE NOBLES AND REGULARS CONTEND FOR THEIR RESPECTIVE ORDERS.♦
The Notables were not allowed much time for deliberating upon the
various provisions of this constitution, which they had been convoked
to sanction and not to form. The only two points which called forth
any discussion were the limitation of entails, and the declaration of
intolerance: the nobles who, by a wise reform of government, when their
injurious privileges were taken away, ♦DE PRADT, P. 152.♦ would have
recovered their just and legitimate influence in the state, contended
in vain against the first, which was designed to cut the root of
their strength; the latter was unwillingly conceded to the inveterate
prejudices of the nation by men whom the enormous falsehoods, the
preposterous usages, and the execrable cruelty of their own church had
driven into a state of unbelief, less impious than such a superstition.
The Vicar-general of the Franciscans presented a memorial signed by
the Prelates of the Religious Orders in behalf of those institutions,
to show that it was not expedient to abolish them, but that some
suppressions, and a limitation of their numbers, would produce all the
good that was desired. ♦NELLERTO, I. 103.♦ A memoir was also presented
in behalf of the Inquisition, by one of its officers, and signed by
the Council of Castille, arguing against an apprehended intention of
abolishing that tribunal, and advising that it should be enjoined to
follow in its proceedings the forms of the episcopal ecclesiastical
courts. Both memorials were referred to the legislature, as not being
within the scope of the constitution.
♦JOSEPH APPOINTS HIS MINISTERS.♦
The members of the Junta, ninety-one in number, subscribed this
constitution, and bound themselves to observe it, and as far as in them
lay to provide for its observation, believing, they said, that under
a government thus defined, and so just a Prince as the one who for
their good fortune had fallen to their lot, Spain would be as happy as
they desired. The ministry was now completed: Urquijo was appointed
Secretary of State, Cevallos Minister for Foreign Affairs, Azanza for
the Indies, Mazarredo for the Marine, O’Farrill for the War Department;
Jovellanos for the Interior, in his absence and against his consent,
repeatedly and firmly refused. The Conde de Cabarrus was appointed
Minister of Finance; the news reached him at Burgos, where he was in
the midst of the French armies: Cabarrus acted always from impulse
rather than principle, and fear and ambition operating upon a vain,
rash, unstable temper, he yielded in an unhappy hour, and, contrary to
his better mind, accepted the appointment. Pinuela was made Minister of
Justice; the Duque del Parque Captain of the Body Guard, the Duque del
Infantado Colonel of the Spanish, and the Prince de Castelfranco of the
Walloon Guards; the Marquis of Ariza Grand Chamberlain, the Duque de
Hijar Grand Master of the Ceremonies, the Conde de Fernan Nuñez Grand
Huntsman, the Conde de Santa Colonna Chamberlain.
Some of these persons signed the constitution, and accepted office
because they were in a state. of duresse; some because they were
regardless of every thing except their own interest, and cared not
whom they served so they might serve themselves; others attached
themselves faithfully to the intrusive King, because they miscalculated
the resistance which could be opposed, and having chosen their part,
adhered to it with miserable fidelity through all the odious and
dreadful consequences in which they were involved. These persons had
hoped to form a social contract with the new King; and to obtain for
their country that regular and constitutional freedom, the want of
which had drawn on its long degradation and decline. Of that hope they
were speedily undeceived. The constitution which they sanctioned,
and which was published to the Spaniards as their act and deed, was
intended in all its parts and provisions to establish a government not
less despotic than that which it was to supersede. By the composition
of the Cortes two of the three estates of the realm retained the
name indeed, and the semblance of honour, but were divested of any
real power, their united members forming not a third part of the
chamber. Spain was indeed in no condition to be trusted with a popular
assembly; but a Cortes chosen and restricted like this of the Bayonne
constitution, was obviously designed for no other purpose than to
delude the people with a venerable name, and carry into effect,
under a show of freedom, the will and pleasure of the Monarch. The
regulations which pretended to provide for the liberty of the press
were in like manner deceptive. All that they did was to afford some
protection against the stupid bigotry of the Inquisition; such works as
Fray Gerundio would not be proscribed while the author could appeal to
a senatorial Junta; but nothing which distinguishes a free press, and
which constitutes its value, ... nothing which, as it were, embodies
public opinion, and gives it its due and salutary weight, could have
passed the double ordeal to which it was subjected. The provisions
in favour of the liberty of the subject bore about the same relation
to our Habeas Corpus, as this superintended freedom of the press
to its actual state in England. The Napoleon Habeas Corpus of the
Bayonne constitution established in reality a perpetual suspension for
interests of state; and where it was to take effect, it was not as an
absolute and fundamental law, but by a reference to the sovereign’s
discretion.
♦LETTER FROM FERDINAND TO THE INTRUDER.♦
In the last sitting of the Notables a letter from Ferdinand was
produced, written from Valençay to the intrusive King, congratulating
him on his accession to the throne of Spain, and expressing a hope
to see that country made happy under a Sovereign who had given so
many shining proofs of wisdom at Naples; this, he said, could not
be indifferent to him, who looked upon himself as a member of the
Napoleon family, seeing that he had requested the Emperor to grant
him one of his nieces in marriage, and hoped to obtain that favour.
Whether Ferdinand had been compelled to this as to his former acts
of degradation, or whether his poor mind had now been subdued to his
fortune, mattered little; to the world, as well as to the Notables at
Bayonne, his condition appeared hopeless at that time, nor could any
possible event have seemed more beyond all human probability than his
restoration.
♦JOSEPH PRESENTS THE CONSTITUTION TO THE NOTABLES.♦
The business of the twelfth and last sitting was to receive the
Constitution from the hands of King Joseph, and swear to it. For this
purpose the hall in which they held their meetings was fitted up with
a throne, and a rich altar on its right. The Intruder having taken his
seat, addressed them in the Spanish language. Their sentiments, he
told them, had been those of the Emperor Napoleon, his august brother,
in pursuance of whose measures, and in consequence of one of those
extraordinary events to which all nations at particular conjunctures
are subject in their turn, they were there convened. The Constitution
which they were about to accept was the result; it would avert from
Spain those long convulsions which might else have been foreseen in
the suppressed disquietude of the nation. If all the Spaniards could
have been assembled with them, they also, having all but one interest,
would have had but one opinion; “and then,” said he, “we should not
have to bewail the misfortune of those persons who, being led astray
by foreign suggestions, must be reduced by force of arms. The enemy of
the Continent expects to despoil us of our colonies by taking advantage
of the troubles which he excites in Spain. But every good Spaniard
must open his eyes and rally round the throne. We carry with us the
act which establishes the rights and reciprocal duties of the King
and of the people. If they are disposed to make the same sacrifices
as ourself, it will not be long before Spain will become tranquil and
happy at home, just and powerful abroad. We pledge ourselves with
confidence at the feet of that God who reads the hearts of men, who
disposes them at his pleasure, and who never abandons him who loves his
country and fears nothing but his conscience.”
♦CEREMONY OF ACCEPTING IT.♦
The Constitutional Act was then read; the President Azanza demanded
of the Notables if they accepted it; and they having replied
affirmatively, he addressed the intrusive King, whose paternal
language, he said, might have sufficed for ever to attach their hearts,
if they had not already been entirely devoted to him. Every word had
confirmed them in their confidence that they should see their country
restored under his wise government, the evils and rooted abuses which
had brought on her decay removed, and the miseries terminated which
were at present caused by error, ignorance, and perfidious counsels.
“Yes, Sir,” said he, “these miseries will cease when your subjects
shall see your Majesty in the midst of them; when they shall be
acquainted with that great charter of the constitution, the immoveable
basis of their future welfare, ... that charter, the precious work of
the earnest and beneficent care which the hero of our age, the great
Napoleon, the Emperor of the French, takes for the glory of Spain. What
auspices could be so fortunate for the commencement of a reign and of
a dynasty, as the renewal of the compact which is to unite the people
to the sovereign, the family to its father; which determines the duties
and respective rights of him who commands, and of those who have the
happiness to obey!” The Archbishop of Burgos then, assisted by two
canons, took from the altar a book containing the four Gospels, and
brought it before the throne, and the Intruder, laying his hand upon
the book, pronounced the following oath; “I swear upon the holy Gospels
to respect our holy religion, and make it be respected; to observe the
Constitution, and make it be observed; to maintain the integrity and
independence of Spain and its possessions; to respect the liberty and
property of individuals, and make them be respected; and to govern
with a single view to the interest, the welfare, and the glory of the
Spanish nation.” The oath of fidelity and obedience to the King, the
constitution, and the laws, was then taken by the Archbishop and the
other clerical members of the Junta first, next by the President and
other officers of the royal household, lastly by all the remaining
deputies.
♦MEDALS VOTED IN HONOUR OF THIS EVENT.♦
The ceremony being thus completed, the Junta attended Joseph to his
carriage, then returned to the hall, and upon the motion of Azanza
voted that two medals should be struck to perpetuate their gratitude
to the Emperor Napoleon for the solicitude which he had bestowed
upon the affairs of Spain, and to consecrate the solemn delivery
of the Constitution. After this act of adulation they waited upon
Buonaparte at the Palace of Marrac, to conclude their business and
their servilities by expressing their gratitude for all that he had
done for Spain. ♦ADDRESS OF THANKS TO BUONAPARTE.♦ “Sire,” said their
President Azanza, “the Junta of Spain has accomplished the glorious
task for which your Majesty convened it in this city. It has just
accepted with as much eagerness as freedom the great charter which
fixes upon a sure foundation the happiness of Spain. Happily for our
country, a preserving Providence has employed your irresistible hand to
snatch it from the abyss into which it was about to be precipitated;
it had need be irresistible, ... for, oh, blindness! they who ought to
rejoice the most in this benefit are the first to misapprehend it! But
all Spain, Sire, will open its eyes. It will see that it required a
total regeneration, and that from your Majesty alone it could be hoped
for. This is an incontestable truth, and I appeal to the reflection
of all those who may not yet be sincerely united to the authority
which actually governs the kingdom: let them examine in their inmost
conscience under what other rule they could promise themselves the
inestimable benefits which they will henceforth enjoy; let them examine
and answer in good faith. The evil was at its height; the agents of a
feeble government concentred its arbitrary power in their hands for the
purpose of extending its limits more and more; the authorities under
them, timid and debased, never knew what course they were to pursue,
and if they did no harm, it was impossible for them to effect any good.
The finances were a chaos, the public debt an abyss: all parts of the
machine were deranged or broken, there was not one which performed
its functions: where was the sensible Spaniard who did not perceive
the impossibility of its going on, and could not fix the near term of
its total dissolution? To what other power than that of your Imperial
and Royal Majesty could it be reserved, in such a state of things,
not merely to arrest the evil, for that would not have sufficed, but
to remove it entirely, and to substitute order for disorder, law for
caprice, justice for oppression, security for insecurity? Such are the
wonders, Sire, which your Imperial and Royal Majesty has worked in a
few days, and which fill the world with astonishment. Your Majesty
alone is not astonished, because you have conceived and wrought them
without effort. We however well perceive that the means which your
Majesty has used were the only ones which could have been employed
for the good of Spain. To give to our country a liberal constitution
which restores its ancient Cortes, secures the property and liberty
of individuals, breaks the fetters which were imposed upon genius,
establishes a government, and fixes the national prosperity, ... to
place upon the throne of the Spaniards a just and amiable Prince who
will govern by the laws, and will have no other happiness than that of
his people, ... such is the work of consummate wisdom for which the
Junta offers to your Imperial and Royal Majesty its tribute of respect
and gratitude. It would perpetuate that tribute by a durable monument
voted in its own name and in the name of all the Spaniards of all
climates, of all the individuals of a numerous family dispersed over a
great portion of the globe; who will not delay with one accord to bless
their generous benefactor, and who will transmit his august name to the
remotest generations with the glorious appellation of the Restorer of
the Spains.”
♦BUONAPARTE IS EMBARRASSED IN REPLYING TO IT.♦
The Deputies stood in a circle round Napoleon while their President
delivered this base address. For the first, and perhaps the only time
in his public life, Buonaparte was at a loss for a reply. He spake
indeed more than three-quarters of an hour, but it was vaguely and
hesitatingly, in confused and broken sentences, his head bending
down, and when he raised it at times, it was only again to let it
fall. None of those memorable expressions came from him which the
hearers bear away, none of those sparkling sentiments and pointed
sentences, ... those coruscations which at other times characterized
his discourse. It seemed as if the powers both of thought and of
language had forsaken him. From one subject he passed to another
unconnectedly, resuming them with as little reason as he had broken
them off, and frequently repeating the same flat meaning in the same
cold and vapid words. His manifest embarrassment would have been
ludicrous to all persons present, if the necessity of restraining
themselves had not rendered it as painful to them as it was to himself.
So strange and utter a destitution of his wonted talents astonished
those who witnessed it. Perhaps Buonaparte was sickened with excess
of adulation, and contemplating mournfully the condition to which
men, once of proud intellect, patriotic hopes, and generous desires,
had debased themselves in subservience to his purposes, regarded them
with compassion rather than contempt. Perhaps he compared in sure
anticipation the opinion which posterity would pronounce upon these
transactions with the language which was now addressed to him. The
cloud was not of the understanding alone, but of the heart. The work,
he then believed, was done; this was the concluding scene of the drama,
the plot had been fully developed, and the intended catastrophe was
brought about; but in the hour of success it is scarcely possible that
he should not have contrasted the reflections which then came upon
him, with those emotions of proud and honourable triumph which he had
felt at Lodi, at ♦DE PRADT, 153.♦ Marengo, and at Austerlitz, and that
comparison may have made him stand amid the circle of his servile
instruments humiliated and self-condemned.
♦JOSEPH ENTERS SPAIN.♦
On the second morning after this memorable scene the intrusive King
entered Spain, as if to take quiet possession of a throne to which
he had regularly and lawfully succeeded. ♦JULY 10.♦ Two decrees
were issued from Tolosa, one enjoining that his accession should be
proclaimed on the 25th, being Santiago’s day, and that flags should
every where be hoisted, and the other customary ceremonies observed;
the other required prayers to be made in all churches and convents
for a blessing upon his government. ♦JULY 12.♦ At Vitoria he altered
the arms of Spain, directing that the shield should be divided into
the six quarterings for Castille, Leon, Aragon, Navarre, Granada,
and the Indies, and that in the centre of the shield the eagle which
distinguished his Imperial and Royal Family should be borne. From
Vitoria also he sent abroad a proclamation, in which, according to
the superscription, he manifested to the Spanish nation his generous
sentiments, and his desire that the kingdom should recover its pristine
splendour. It spake of the security which the new constitution
afforded to religion, and to liberty both civil and political; of
the revival and improvement of their Cortes; of the institution of
a Senate to be at once the protection of individual liberty and the
support of the throne, and in which they who should have rendered
distinguished services to the state would find an honourable asylum,
and an appropriate reward. It promised integrity and independence for
the courts of justice; and that merit and virtue should be the only
titles to public employment. “If his desires did not deceive him,” he
said, “their agriculture and commerce would quickly flourish, being
set free for ever from the fiscal trammels which had destroyed them. I
come among you,” he said, “with the utmost confidence, surrounded by
estimable men, who have not concealed from you any thing which they
believed to be useful for your interests. Blind passions, deceitful
voices, and the intrigues of the common enemy of the Continent, whose
only view is to separate the Indies from Spain, have precipitated
some among you into the most dreadful anarchy. My heart is rent at
the thought. Yet this great evil may in a moment cease. Spaniards,
unite yourselves! come around my throne! and do not suffer intestine
divisions to rob me of the time and consume the means which I would
fain employ solely for your happiness.”
♦BUONAPARTE RETURNS TO PARIS.♦
The Intruder and his ministers halted at Vitoria till the French, of
whose speedy and complete success no doubt was entertained, should
have chastised the insurgents, and opened for them the way to Madrid.
Buonaparte meantime returned to Paris. In every place through which
he passed he was received with more than usual demonstrations of
triumphant joy. The population of town and country gathered together
to behold and to applaud him. Houses were hung with garlands, and the
streets through which he rode were formed into parterres of flowers,
and overbowered with shrubs. From Bayonne to Toulouse and Bordeaux,
and from thence to Nantes and Tours and to the capital, it was one
continued festival. It gratified the ambition of the French to know
that their great Emperor had placed his brother upon the throne of
Spain; this was another step toward that universal empire which they
believed to be within their reach. They had been kept in ignorance of
the nefarious artifices by which the usurpation had been brought about,
and little did they apprehend that the consequences of this usurpation
would carry tears and mourning into almost every family in France, and
bring upon it the full and overflowing measure of retribution.