Yet he appears to have wavered in purpose, if not in inclination. As soon as the popular cause had obtained the ascendancy at Seville, the Junta of that city sent out four artillery officers with dispatches to the commanders at Cadiz, Badajoz, Granada, and St. Roque, declaring, that in the present dissolution of government, the duty of providing for the public weal had been committed to them, and informing them that war had been declared against France, and peace with England. The Conde de Teba, Cipriano Palafox, was the person entrusted with this mission to Cadiz: his brother, the Conde de Montijo, had taken a decided part in promoting the insurrection; and this young officer was charged with these dispatches, not only because it was an honourable office, but because he was capable of explaining to Solano the state of affairs at Seville more fully than there had been time to do in writing. Full of zeal in a cause which he afterwards deserted, he entered Cadiz cracking his whip like a courier, and communicated to the people who flocked about him, the news which he brought; which was also speedily diffused by means of private couriers, whom the merchants of Seville sent to their correspondents, and by the zeal of propagandists who, doubting the determination of the persons in authority, came to make the people declare themselves. Solano was intimate with the Count de Teba, and, according to that nobleman’s relation, would have considered himself criminal if he had acknowledged the authority of the Junta of Seville, derived, as he conceived it to be, merely from the people of that city in a state of insurrection; but he saw how dangerous it would now be openly to disclaim their authority, and therefore summoned to council all the general officers, military and naval, eleven in number, who were within reach, and an address to the people was drawn up in their name. ♦They exhort the people not to engage in hostilities with the French.♦ It stated, that of all undertakings a war against France was the most difficult, considering the numbers and discipline of the French army; the want of Spanish troops, and the indiscipline of the new levies which might be raised. The right of declaring who were the enemies of the nation belonged, they said, exclusively to the King; he had repeatedly assured them that the French were his friends and intimate allies; in that character they had entered Spain, and the King had not manifested any change in his opinions concerning them; it was doubtful therefore whether he required from the people those sacrifices which were now called for. If nevertheless the people would decide upon war, they ought to know that great sacrifices must be made; men must be enrolled, embodied, and disciplined, they must quit their homes for a long time, perhaps for ever, and they who were not enrolled must return to their ordinary state of tranquillity; for it was for soldiers alone to fight, while the other inhabitants of a country remained neutral and passive, as might be seen by the example of the Germans, the Prussians, the Russians, and other nations. Were the people to act otherwise, and take an active part, the enemy would plunder their houses, and lay waste every thing with fire and sword. Moreover the most dreadful disorganization of society would ensue; and the English who were in the bay might take advantage of this dissolution of government to get possession of the port and city, and convert Cadiz into a second Gibraltar. The governor and the eleven general officers whom he had assembled concurring in these views, laid their opinions, they said, before the people, who were now to determine what part should be taken, and who could accuse no person of having deceived them, if the evils which were thus foreseen and foretold should in the event come upon them. But if, in despite of these representations, they persisted in the resolution of making war against the French, the generals were ready to begin hostilities, that they might not be accused of having given their advice from pusillanimity or any other motives unworthy of their patriotism, their honour, and their courage.
♦The people insist upon taking arms.♦
The tenor of this address evinced little resentment of the wrongs of their country in the persons by whom it was framed; and the manner in which it was published discovered as extraordinary a want of judgement in the governor, as he had displayed in his legislative experiments at Setubal. Instead of waiting till the next day, he increased the agitation and alarm of the people, ordering the address to be read at night in the streets by the light of torches, and summoning the restless part of the population, and alarming the peaceable, by the sound of military music; sure means of counteracting the sedative effect which the proclamation was intended to produce. The bolder spirits who were engaged in the better cause did not fail to perceive the advantage which the address afforded, by the heartlessness of its reasoning, and its full recognition of the right of the people to direct the conduct of the governor. There was no rest for the inhabitants that night; an answer was prepared to the generals, which was brought by a disorderly multitude, bearing torches, at midnight, to the governor’s palace. Solano was summoned to the balcony; and a young man, standing on the shoulders of one of the stoutest of his companions, read to him a writing in the name of the people, declaring that they had decided upon war, because they could confute all the reasons which had been advanced against it; and accordingly he read aloud an answer to the address, point by point. The mob applauded, and required that the French squadron should immediately be summoned to surrender. Solano assured them that their wishes should be fulfilled, and that on the morrow all the general officers should be assembled in consequence. Had he sympathized with the national feeling, and given at first that assent which he now reluctantly yielded, he might have directed their ardour, and maintained subordination, though not tranquillity. But the populace had now gained head, and broken loose, and at such times the bloodiest ruffian has always the most influence.
♦Solano is advised to withdraw.♦
Part of the mob went to the arsenal, and these were the better-minded Spaniards, who wanted arms, that they might use them in the defence of their country. They found no opposition, because the soldiers every where partook of the general impulse of indignation against the French. Others broke open the prisons to deliver their friends and companions in guilt. The house of the French Consul was attacked and forced, for the purpose of putting him to death: he had taken refuge in the Convent of St. Augustine, and from thence got on board the French squadron. Murmurs were heard against Solano, as one who was disposed at heart to favour the enemy. The Count de Teba warned him that he was in danger, and advised him to give the command to D. Thomas de Morla (one of the generals whom he had called to council), and go with him to Seville, for the avowed purpose of obtaining the fullest information how to proceed in so important a crisis. Solano saw the prudence of this advice, but a sense of honour withheld him from following it, lest he should be suspected of cowardice; and as a second reason, he alleged a fear which his blind attachment to the French alone could have occasioned, that the English might take advantage of the confusion, and endeavour to make themselves masters of Cadiz; as if England were the enemy whom the Spaniards had then cause to dread!
♦He is murdered by the mob.♦
On the morrow the general officers assembled for the second time, and about mid-day the people having collected to know their determination, they came forward in the balcony, and Solano and Morla assured the multitude that every thing which they desired should be done, and therefore they might disperse, and go each to his home in peace. One man cried out that they did not choose to see the French colours flying. Solano asked where they were to be seen? and upon being answered, on the French ships, he replied, that the naval officers and engineers were already instructed to take measures for obtaining possession of that squadron. They appeared satisfied with this, and Solano sate down to dinner. Before he had risen from table another mob arrived at the palace, with a man at their head who had formerly been a Carthusian, but had obtained leave to exchange that order for a less rigid one, in which he was now serving his noviciate. This man demanded to speak with the governor; an answer was returned, that the governor stood in need of rest, and that he had promised the people to fulfil their desires. The ex-Carthusian was not satisfied with this, and endeavoured to push by the sentinel, who upon this fired his piece in the air, and fastened the door. The mob then, under the same leader, brought cannon against the house, shattered the doors, and rushed in. They were now bent upon Solano’s death. He meantime escaped by the roof, and took shelter in the house of an English merchant, whose lady concealed him in a secret closet; and there, it is said, he would have been safe, if the very workman who had constructed it had not joined the mob, and discovered[38] his hiding-place. The mistress of the house, Mrs. Strange, in vain endeavoured to save him, by the most earnest intreaties, and by interposing between him and his merciless assailants. She was wounded in the arm; and Solano, as he was dragged away, bade her farewell till eternity! They hauled him toward the gallows, that his death might be ignominious; ♦Nellerto, Mem. t. 3, Nos. 134, 143. Jacob’s Travels. Sir J. Carr’s Travels, p. 47, 48.♦ others were too ferocious to wait for this, they cut and stabbed him, while he resigned himself with composure and dignity to his fate; and the mortal blow is said to have been given by one of his own soldiers, who, to save him from farther sufferings, and from intended shame, ran him through the heart.
♦Morla appointed governor of Cadiz.♦
There may be reason for supposing that the fury of the populace was in this instance directed by some personal enemies of the Marquis, because it fell wholly upon him; the general officers who united in the address seem to have incurred no danger, and Morla, as second in command, was declared the next day by acclamation governor of Cadiz and captain-general of the province. He accepted the command, on condition that the people would disperse peaceably; the tumultuous election was confirmed by the Junta of Seville, who sent one of their members to concert a plan of operations with Morla; and the new governor issued a proclamation, ♦1808. June.♦ exhorting the people to be tranquil, telling them that a set of ruffians were plundering and destroying under the mask of patriotism, protesting that the only desire of the persons in authority was to die in the cause of their beloved Ferdinand, whom a tyrant had separated from them; assuring them that measures should instantly be taken against the French ships, and that within four and twenty hours the happy effects would be seen. Meantime the French squadron took up a defensive position, in a channel leading to the Caraccas, and out of reach of the works. M. Rossilly, the commander, knew that every effort would be made to relieve him, and endeavoured therefore to gain time, being no doubt confident that the force which would be ordered to occupy Cadiz would beat down any resistance that the Spaniards could oppose. He made overtures to the governor, proposing to quit the bay, if an arrangement to that effect could be made with the British squadron; this, he said, was for the purpose of tranquillizing the people, since his force, and the position which he had taken, appeared to occasion some uneasiness. But if the English should refuse their consent, he then offered to land his guns, keeping his men on board, and not hoisting his colours; in that case he required that hostages should be exchanged, and demanded the protection of the Spaniards against the exterior enemy. Morla replied, that though these proposals were such as it became the French admiral to make, it was not compatible with his honour to accept them: his orders were positive, and he could hear of nothing but an unconditional surrender. Lord Collingwood had now arrived from before Toulon, to take the command upon this, which had become the more important station. He offered to co-operate with the Spaniards, with whom the fleet was now in full communication; but being aware of their own strength, and sure of their prey, they declined his assistance. If the French commander had not relied too confidently upon the advance of his countrymen and the fortune of Buonaparte, he would now have surrendered to the English, for the certainty of obtaining better treatment, and the chance of exciting some disagreement respecting the prizes. Batteries were erected on the Isle of Leon, and near Fort Luiz; and from these, and from their mortar and gun-boats, the attack was commenced, while the British sailors remained impatient spectators of a contest carried on at a distance, and protracted from the ninth of June till the fourteenth, when, having in vain endeavoured to obtain more favourable terms, ♦Surrender of the French squadron.♦ Rossilly surrendered unconditionally. In an address to the people which Morla then published he pointed out the advantage of a mode of attack which they had censured as dilatory and inefficient; the victory had cost only four lives, and the ships which were now their own had been taken with the least possible injury. The prisoners, he said, should be exchanged for Spanish troops. He exhorted and commanded the people to return to their accustomed habits of subordination. The convulsion which Spain has undergone, said he, has awakened us from our lethargy, and made us feel our rights, and the duty which we owe to our holy religion and our King. We wanted an electric shock to rouse us from our palsied state of inactivity; we stood in need of a hurricane to clear the heavy and unwholesome atmosphere. But if violent remedies are continued after the good which was proposed from them be obtained, they become fatal: excessive efforts bring on a debility worse than direct weakness, because the very principle of strength is exhausted. It was now necessary to return to order, and to confide in the magistrates. Able men must be armed and disciplined; they who were not fit for military service would be employed in other ways, and boys and women who excited tumults should be punished. The troops, said he, the whole city, the sword of justice, and above all God himself, who chastises those that abuse his mercies, authorize and support me.
♦Early communications between General Castaños and Sir Hew Dalrymple.♦