blast all hopes of safety and free dom entertained by the vanquished constitutionalists. He issued an order that Cadiz should be instantly delivered up to the French; and on the 3rd of October, they took possession of that city.

While these events were going on at Cadiz, the successes of the French had enabled them to prosecute the siege of the fortified towns with more vigour than in the beginning of the campaign. Marshal Lauriston, with 10,000 men, pressed Pampeluna so closely, that the garrison, abandoning all hopes of a success ful defence, capitulated on the 17th of September. Santona surrendered on the 26th of that month, and St. Sebastian on the 27th. Fernandez who had been governor of Cardona carried assistance to Figueras; but having met with no sincere co-operation from the garrison within the town, his struggle before its walls served only as a proof of his own valour without having the effect of raising the siege. Figueras, too, surrendered by capitulation to the French. In consequence of the fall of these fortresses, not less than 12,000 Spaniards were carried prisoners of war into France.

Mina could have protracted the contest in Catalonia; but to have done so would have exhausted still further his unhappy country without any chance of final success. He therefore consented to surrender Barcelona upon certain terms; that city was occupied by the French on the 4th of November; and its fall was followed, as of course, by the submission of Tarragona and Hostalrich. The principal condition which Mina bargained for, was, that the militia should be allowed to return to their homes without being exposed to

the molestation of the royalists. Having taken care of the safety of his soldiers, he saw the necessity of consulting next for his own. The fidelity and zeal which he had displayed in the prosecution of the war, he knew, must necessarily have incurred the hatred of a monarch, who had no regard to former promises and no indulgence towards those who once opposed his will; and he therefore prudently made England his home, where he was received on his landing with the most enthusiastic applause. Mina lost much by his fidelity, but Ballasteros and Morillo gained nothing by their treason. The one remained unrewarded, and the other stripped of his honours fled to France, to conceal his shame and live in obscurity.

Badajos and Carthagena held out till the end of the war. In October they surrendered; and on the 13th of November Ferdinand reached Madrid, and the campaign was completed. The duke d' Angoulême re-crossed the Bidassoa on the 23rd of the same month, and on the 2nd of December made his triumphant entry into Paris. He left behind him the greater part of his army; and by a convention between the two governments, the principal fortresses and cities of Spain were to be occupied by 40,000 French troops. This military occupation, indeed, was to cease at the end of six months: but there was every probability, that the term would be extended.

The presence of French troops was, in some respects, an alleviation of the miseries of Spain; since it imposed a check on the fury of the fanatics, who were now in full possession of power. Don Victor Saez, who had long been confessor of the king, acted as minister

of foreign affairs under the regency of Madrid, and when that regency was dissolved, upon the arrival of Ferdinand at the French headquarters, he was continued in his office and placed at the head of the ministry. The measures, which were adopted, were well suited to this choice. On the same day, the 1st of October, Ferdinand issued a decree, préfaced by a long invective against the constitutional system, and concluding with the two following articles :

"1. All the acts of the government called constitutional (of whatever kind and description they may be), a system which oppressed my people from the 7th of March, 1820, until the 1st of October, 1823, are declared null and void, declaring, as I now declare, that during the whole of that period I have been deprived of my liberty, obliged to sanction laws and authorize orders, decrees, and regulations, which the said government framed and executed, against my will.

"2. I approve of every thing which has been decreed and ordered by the provisional junta of government, and by the regency, the one created at Oyarzun, April 9, the other May 26, in the present year, waiting, meanwhile, until, sufficiently informed as to the wants of my people, I may be able to bestow those laws, and adopt those measures, which shall be best calculated to secure their real prosperity and welfare, the constant object of all my wishes."

The spirit of his administration was displayed in a manner equally strong in a decree, dated on the 4th of October, and issued at Xeres. In it his majesty ordained, that, on his journey to the capital, no individual, who, during the existence of the system styled constituVOL. LXV.

tional, had been a deputy to the Cortes in the two last legislative sittings, should present himself, or be within five leagues of the route to Madrid. This prohibition was declared to apply to the ministers, councillors of state, the members of the supreme tribunal of justice, the commandants-general, political chiefs, the persons employed in the several departments of the secretaries of state, and the chiefs and officers of the late natioral volunteer militia, to whom his majesty further interdicted for ever (para siempre) entrance to the capital and the royal residence, or approach thereto within a circumference of fifteen leagues.

There was an exception in favour of individuals, who, since the entrance of the French army, had obtained from the provisional junta or the regency of the kingdom, a new nomination to, or confirmation of, the offices which they held by his majesty's appointment previously to the 7th of March, 1820.

Under such circumstances, multitudes of the constitutionalists sought safety in flight. Of those who remained, great numbers were secretly and arbitrarily imprisoned; and these acts of oppression would have been carried to a still greater height, if they had not been in some degree prevented by the interference of the French. The operation of this check is illustrated by what occurred in Cadiz. There Latre, ex-constitutional commandant, and the duke del Parque, were arrested by D'Aunoy the governor. On the same night, count Bourmont, the French commander, sent for the governor, and asked him, by whose orders the arrests had been executed. "In virtue of secret orders," was the reply. "Let me see those orders," rejoined [P]

the French general. "No," answered the Spaniard. "Then," added Bourmont, "if you repeat such arrests without shewing me a specific authority, signed by king Ferdinand, and if within two hours you do not send me a written justification of those already made, you shall take your departure from Cadiz." "I will execute my secret orders without your leave or knowledge," replied D'Aunoy, "and I will not quit Cadiz, unless forced." Forced he was accordingly: for, at four the next morning, a detachment of French grenadiers put the refractory governor beyond the gates of Cadiz.

Imprisonment was not deemed a punishment adequate to the guilt of Riego. He was condemned to death for his share in the proceedings of the Cortes at Seville; and, in pursuance of his sentence, was, on the 7th of November, hanged on a gibbet of extraordinary height. During the whole of his progress from the prison to the place of execution, the most profound silence reigned. The streets and squares were filled with immense crowds; and at the windows were seen, intermingled with the inhabitants, a great many monks and other ecclesiastics. The moment the executioner intimated, by a signal, that Riego was dead, cries of vivat were heard from a numerous group, which formed a semicircle at a small distance from the scaffold. Riego showed great

firmness and tranquillity in this last scene of his life; but it was with much difficulty he ascended the ladder, in consequence of the pain and swelling of his legs, occasioned by the fetters he had worn since his arrest.

On the 4th of December a surprising change was made in the cabinet council of Ferdinand. Saez and his colleagues were dismissed; and a new and more liberal ministry was framed, at the head of which was Casa Irujo, who had been ambassador from the Cortes to France. The department of grace and justice was intrusted to don Narciso de Heredia, a man of letters and of high personal character. The other principal offices were filled by Lopez Ballasteros (a relation of the general of that name), de la Cruz, and Villela. Some ascribed the formation of this administration to the advice of France: but the more general opinion was, that it had its origin in the intrigues of Pozzo di Borgo, who was then at Madrid, and who, it was alleged, exerted the influence of Russia to promote the purposes of his own stock-jobbing speculations. Whatever might be the cause of the elevation of Casa Irujo, it produced no sensible alteration in the dark, revengeful, fraudulent, and most oppressive course of government, which Ferdinand had adopted and still continued to pursue.

altered the relations which previously subsisted between the two countries."

The inclination of the Portuguese government to conciliate Great Britain, was marked by a decree of the 12th of March, suspending the edict of the 14th of July 1821, for the increase of the duty on British woollens, and directing that that impost should, until the conclusion of a final treaty, remain at its antient rate of 15 per cent. On the other hand, an attitude, somewhat hostile, was maintained towards France. They directed their ambassador to remonstrate against the doctrines avowed in the speech of Louis 18th, increased their military force, and declared their readiness to conclude a defensive treaty with Spain. But in Portugal, as in Spain, the constitutional system had enemies within the kingdom as well as without. The Conde de Amarante, after having traversed a great part of the province of Minho, and sojourned at Braga, and other considerable places in that province, made his appearance in Villa Real, and on the 21st of February, at the head of some militia and some countrymen, raised the standard of revolt. "Death to the constitution, and all its followers," was the cry, which marked the objects of Amarante, who at first proclaimed himself the partisan of the antient system, though, afterwards, as his cause began to droop, he was willing to remain satisfied with a modification of the representative system. He was joined by some of the troops who were stationed in the province; and, marched northwards, reaching Chaves, the garrison of which brought a considerable reinforcement to his ranks. Texeira was despatched

against him, joined in the insurrection, and a junta was now formed, of which M. Souza, formerly minister in London, was a member. The district, which was the scene of this revolt, was bounded by the Douro on the south, and the Galician frontier on the north; the river Sabor on the East, and the Tamega on the West. Beyond these limits the insurrection did not extend: but within them the peasantry took up arms, and were zealous in its support. General Rego, who was in the vicinity at the time, collected without delay such troops as could be depended upon, and pressed the insurgents so much, that they had no time to extend their intrigues or consolidate their strength. The only success, which they had, was obtained by surprise on the 13th of March. On the preceding day, Rego's advanced guard, under the command of Pamplona Moniz, was at Radial, a village distant about two miles from Chaves. On that evening, there came to the head-quarters of Pamplona, where general Rego then was, a cavalry officer, pretending to be an emissary from his comrades, who wished to escape from the rebels and join the constitutionalists. In truth, he was a spy: and having seen, that the troops, instead of being bivouacked, were in quarters, he returned to Chaves to report his observations. At day-break, three squadrons of cavalry appeared in front of Rego's principal position, and a cordon on the flank extending as far as the cantonments of the constitutionalists. Rego's troops (the detachment consisted only of two regiments) fought gallantly, but they were so completely taken by surprise, that they were broken and routed; Pamplona was taken, and