♦1810.♦
♦The Regency.♦
The regency was acknowledged without hesitation in those provinces which were not yet overrun by the enemy, and every where by those Spaniards who resisted the usurpation; yet with the authority which they derived from the Supreme Junta a portion of its unpopularity had descended upon them. The necessity of their appointment was perceived, and the selection of the members was not disapproved: in fact, public opinion had in a great degree directed the choice; nevertheless, when they were chosen, a feeling seemed to prevail that the men upon whom that unfortunate body had devolved their power could not be worthy of the national confidence. Like their predecessors, they were in fact surrounded by the same system of sycophancy and intrigue which had subsisted under the monarchy. The same swarm was about them: it was a state plague with which Spain had been afflicted from the age of the Philips. Hence it came to pass that the national force, instead of being invigorated by the concentration of legitimate power, was sometimes paralysed by it. For if a fairer prospect appeared to open in the provinces where the people had been left to themselves and to chiefs of their own choosing, too often when a communication was opened with the seat of government, this unwholesome influence was felt in the appointment of some inefficient general, who was perhaps a stranger to the province which he was sent to command.
A central government was, however, indispensable, as a means of communication first with England, and eventually with other states, but more especially as keeping together the whole body of the monarchy both in Europe and in America. The Spanish nation was not more sensible of this than the British ministry. The French, and they who, like the French, reasoning upon the principles of a philosophy as false as it is degrading, believe that neither states nor individuals are ever directed in their conduct by the disinterested sense of honour and of duty, supposed that the continuance of these temporary administrations must be conformable to the wishes of the British cabinet, whose influence would be in proportion to the weakness and precarious tenure of those who held the government in Spain. But that cabinet had no covert designs; they acted upon the principle of a plain, upright, open policy, which deserves, and will obtain, the approbation of just posterity; and so far were they from pursuing any system of selfish and low-minded cunning, that at this time, when the regency was formed, they were taking measures for effecting the deliverance of Ferdinand from captivity.
♦Schemes for delivering Ferdinand.♦
Montijo, before his hostility to the Junta was openly declared, had proposed a scheme to them for this purpose; but he was too well known to be trusted, and when he required as a preliminary measure that 50,000 dollars should be given him, Calvo, who was the member appointed to hear what he might propose, plainly told him that his object was to employ that sum in raising a sedition against the government; upon which Montijo told him that he had a good scent, and thus the matter ended. A similar proposal was made by some adventurer in Catalonia; the provincial government was disposed to listen to it, but they referred it to General Doyle, and he soon ascertained that the projector only wanted to get money and ♦Baron de Kolli’s attempt.♦ decamp with it. Meantime the British ministers had formed a well-concerted plan, but dependent upon some fearful contingencies, ... the fidelity of every one to whom in its course of performance it must necessarily be communicated, and the disposition of Ferdinand to put his life upon the hazard in the hope of recovering his liberty and his throne. The Baron de Kolli, who was the person chosen for this perilous service, was one who in other secret missions had proved himself worthy of confidence. He took with him for credentials the letter in which Ferdinand’s marriage in the year 1802 had been announced by Charles IV. to the King of England, and also letters in Latin and in French from the King, communicating to the prisoner the state of affairs in Spain, and saying how important it was that he should escape from captivity, and show himself in the midst of his faithful people. A squadron, commanded by Sir George Cockburn, landed Kolli in Quiberon Bay, and to that part of the coast Ferdinand was to have directed his flight, for which every needful and possible provision had been made, measures having also been devised for sending the pursuers upon a wrong scent. The scheme had been well laid, and with such apparent probability of success, that it is said the Duke of Kent requested permission to take ♦Kolli’s Memoirs, 39.♦ upon himself the danger of the attempt. The squadron was provided with every thing which could conduce to the convenience and comfort of Ferdinand and his brother; with this view a Roman Catholic priest had been embarked, with a regular set of ornaments and consecrated plate for the Romish service.
Kolli made his way to Paris, completed his arrangements, and was arrested at Vincennes within a fortnight from the day whereon he landed. He had been betrayed by a pretended royalist in the pay of the British government, and by the Sieur Richard, whom he had trusted because he had served bravely under the unfortunate ♦1810.
March.♦ Prince de Talmont in La Vendée. His credentials and his other papers were seized; and when he was examined by Fouché, who was then minister of police, he had the mortification of being told that the character of the person for whose service he had thus exposed himself had been entirely mistaken, for that no credentials would induce Ferdinand to hazard such an attempt. It was afterwards proposed to him, that as his life and the fortune of his children were at stake, he should proceed to Valençay, and execute his commission, to the end that he might hear from Ferdinand’s own lips his disavowal of any connexion with England, ... or that if that prince really entertained a wish to escape, an opportunity might be given him of which the French government might make such use as it deemed best. Kolli rejected this with becoming spirit; and the purpose of the police was just as well answered by sending Richard to personate him. But Ferdinand no sooner understood the ostensible object of his visitor, than he informed the governor of Valençay that an English emissary was in the castle.
It is very possible that Ferdinand may have perceived something in Richard’s manner more likely to excite suspicion than to win confidence; for the man was not a proficient in villany, and not having engaged in it voluntarily, may have felt some compunction concerning the business whereon he was sent. His instructions were, if he should succeed in entrapping Ferdinand, to bring him straight to Vincennes, there probably to have been placed in close confinement: the supposition that a tragedy like that of the Duc D’Enghein was intended cannot be admitted without supposing in Buonaparte far greater respect for the personal character of his victim than he could possibly have entertained. An official report was published, containing a letter in Ferdinand’s name, wherein the project for his escape was called scandalous and infernal, and a hope expressed that the authors and accomplices of it might be punished as they deserved. Other papers were published at the same time, with the same obvious design of exposing Ferdinand to the indignation or contempt of his countrymen and of his allies. There was a letter of congratulation to the Emperor Napoleon upon his victories in Austria; an expression of gratitude for his protection, and of implicit obedience to his wishes and commands; details of a fête which he had given just before this occurrence in honour of the Emperor’s marriage with the Archduchess Maria Louisa; and a letter requesting an interview with the governor of Valençay upon a subject of the greatest moment to himself, being his wish to become the adopted son of the Emperor, an adoption which, the writer said, would constitute the happiness of his life, and of which he conceived himself worthy by his perfect love and attachment to the sacred person of his majesty, and entire submission to his intentions ♦1810.
April.♦ and desires. But it was so notoriously the system of Buonaparte’s government to publish any falsehoods which might serve a present purpose, that these letters, whether genuine or fabricated, obtained no credit[9].
As soon as the official report appeared in the English newspapers, Mr. Whitbread asked in the House of Commons whether the letter purporting to be written by his Majesty to Ferdinand VII. was to be looked upon as a document which had any pretensions to the character of authenticity? a question which Mr. Perceval declined answering. Of course this afforded a topic for exultation and insult to the opponents of the government. The Spaniards felt very differently upon the occasion. Whether those who were desirous of forming a new constitution for Spain, or even of correcting the inveterate abuses of the old system, thought it desirable to see Ferdinand in possession of the throne, before their object was effected, may well be doubted; but whatever their opinions might be upon that point, the attempt at delivering him excited no other feelings than those of gratitude and admiration towards Great Britain. ♦Español, t. i. 120.♦ “With what pleasure,” said the best and wisest of their writers, “does the good man who observes the mazes of political events, behold one transaction of which humanity alone was the end and aim! With what interest does he contemplate an expedition intended, not for speculations of commerce, nor for objects of ambition, but for the deliverance of a captive King, in the hope of restoring him to his throne and to his people!”
♦Overtures for peace.♦