[1482] See Appendix I. to Coxe's Bourbon Kings of Spain, vol. v. p. 334.
[1483] It is important to observe, that the Cortes, where alone the voice of the people had a chance of being heard, was assembled but three times during the whole of the eighteenth century, and then merely for the sake of form. ‘Les Cortès ne se réunirent que trois fois pendant le dix-huitième siècle, et plutôt encore comme des solennités formulaires pour la prestation du serment aux princes héritiers de la couronne, que comme étant nécessaires pour de nouvelles lois et des contributions.’ Sempere, Histoire des Cortès d'Espagne, Bordeaux, 1815, p. 270.
[1484] By combining these three qualities, he has deserved and received the cordial approbation of the present Bishop of Barcelona, who, in his recent work on the Spanish Church, styles him ‘un monarca tan piadoso.’ Observaciones sobre El Presente y El Porvenir de la Iglesia en España, por Domingo Costa y Borras, Barcelona, 1857, p. 80.
[1485] Even in Alison's History of Europe, where men of his character are usually made much of, he is treated with moderate disdain. ‘Charles IV. was not destitute of good qualities, but he was a weak, incapable prince.’ Vol. viii. p. 382, Edinburgh, 1849.
[1486] Sempere, Monarchie Espagnole, vol. ii. p. 167. I need hardly say, that not the slightest credit is to be attached to the account given in Godoy's Memoirs. Every one tolerably acquainted with Spanish history, will see that his book is an attempt to raise his own reputation, by defaming the character of some of the ablest and most high-minded of his contemporaries.
[1487] Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. iii. pp. 277, 278.
[1488] ‘In all its worst forms, therefore, oppression, civil, political, and religious, appeared to be settling down, with a new and portentous weight, on the whole country.’ Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. iii. p. 318.
[1489] ‘Caballero, fearing the progress of all learning, which might disturb the peace of the Court, sent, not long since, a circular order to the universities, forbidding the study of moral philosophy. “His Majesty,” it was said in the order, “was not in want of philosophers, but of good and obedient subjects.”’ Doblado‘s Letters from Spain, p. 358.
[1490] 'Le gouvernement de Charles IV avait épuisé toutes les ressources de l'État.’ Sempere, Histoire des Cortès d'Espagne, p. 323.
[1491] In Spain, the voice of the people has always been opposed to the liberal party, as many writers have observed, without being aware of the reason. Mr. Walton (Revolutions of Spain, London, 1837, vol. i. pp. 322, 323) says of the Cortes, ‘Public indignation hurled them from their seats in 1814; and in 1823 they were overpowered, not by the arms of France, but by the displeasure of their own countrymen,’ &c. See also p. 290; and Quin's Memoirs of Ferdinand the Seventh, London, 1824, p. 121, where it is mentioned, that ‘in all the towns through which the King passed, the multitude, excited by the friars and clergy, overturned the constitutional stone, and uttered the most atrocious insults against the Constitution, the Cortes, and the Liberals.’ Compare Sempere, Histoire des Cortès, p. 335, and Bacon's Six Years in Biscay, p. 40. Indeed, a very intelligent writer on Spanish affairs in 1855, asserts, with, I believe, perfect truth, that Spain is ‘un pays où les populations sont toujours, à coup sûr moins libérales que les gouvernemens.’ Annuaire des Deux Mondes, 1854, 1855, Paris, 1855, p. 266.