The Cortes manifested upon this occasion something of that precipitation, and something of that proneness to tyranny, by which the proceedings of popular assemblies have so often been disgraced. In this case, as in that of the Bishop of Orense, they might perhaps have thought that such scruples disqualified him for the office which he was called upon to accept; but those scruples ought to have been respected; and upon no principle of law or justice could they possibly be considered as a crime. But the marquis was ordered into custody, and the Cortes met again that night, to deliberate upon this unworthy business. One member said, that Palacio had lost the confidence of the public; he could not act in the Regency, because he had shown that his conscience was not such as was fit for a Regent; and his conduct ought to be investigated by judges appointed for that purpose. Capmany maintained, that the Cortes itself ought to take cognizance of the offence; and Arguelles, Oliveros, and Torrero, agreed in these exaggerated censures of an act which, even if censurable, amounted only to an error of judgment of the most venial kind. Arguelles declared, that should the Cortes retrace a single step, and not go forward with its decree, respecting the sovereignty of the nation and their own power, they would give a triumph to the enemy. It was voted, after a long discussion, that the marquis had forfeited the confidence of the nation, and that another Regent must be appointed in his place. The Marquis del Castelar was chosen. Palacio now represented, through the captain of the guard, that he was confined at this time in a damp room, to the danger of his health, without having a place to sit down. It was then ordered, that he should be confined in his own house, under a guard, who was never to lose sight of him. This discussion occupied the Cortes till midnight, and then they entered upon a secret sitting, probably upon the same subject. Three days after, it was voted that the marquis was no ♦Oct. 31.♦ longer qualified to act as captain-general of Aragon; and in three more, discovering how little conformable it was to their professed principles thus to proceed to condemnation before trial, the Cortes repealed the decree, and resolved, that both this case and that of the Bishop of Orense should be referred to judges appointed by the Regency, who were to hear the advocates of the Cortes, of the royal council, and of the marquis, and to consult with the Cortes concerning their sentence. Meantime he was to remain a prisoner at large in the Isle of Leon, upon his parole.
If the Cortes, in the tyrannical character of these proceedings, reminded those persons who remembered the commencement of the French revolution of the errors which were then committed, it reminded them also of a measure springing from a more generous feeling, but which, both in France and England, experience had shown to be an error. A self-denying ordinance ♦Self-denying ordinance.
Sept. 29.♦ was passed at the motion of Capmany, deputy for Catalonia, a man well known for his literary labours: it enacted, that no member of the Cortes should be permitted, during the exercise of his functions, nor for a year afterwards, to accept for himself, or solicit for any other person, any pension, favour, reward, honour, or distinction, from the executive power which at that time existed, nor from any other Government which might hereafter be appointed. Gutierrez de la Huerta, supplementary member for Burgos, had prepared a more rigorous bill to the same effect, which was to punish the deputy who solicited any employment for a kinsman within the fourth degree, by expelling him from the Cortes, and depriving him for four years of his elective right, and the capacity of being elected. It was carried by acclamation, that some public testimony of disinterestedness should be given. There were, however, a few members cool enough to temper the enthusiasm of their colleagues, and qualify the vote, so as to render it somewhat less unreasonable. At their suggestion, such persons were exempted from the decree, who, by rank or age, were accustomed to succeed in military, ecclesiastic, and civil bodies, according to the rules or statutes. And it was admitted, that cases were possible in which extraordinary services might deserve an extraordinary reward.
Two subjects of especial moment occupied much of the time of the Cortes. The situation of the colonies was one, which is too wide a topic to be touched on ♦Liberty of the press.♦ here: the other was the liberty of the press. Upon the motion of Arguelles, a committee was appointed to prepare a report upon this momentous point. Many curious discussions ensued. The Marquis of Vigo protested against taking the subject into consideration. ♦Oct. 15.♦ “He was ready,” he said, “to sacrifice his life, and even his reputation in the Cortes, which he regarded more than life, for his conduct on this occasion; but he would not sacrifice his conscience.” “Whatever light,” said Arguelles, “has spread itself over Europe, has sprung from the liberty of the press, and nations have risen in proportion as that liberty has been more or less complete among them. By its influence we saw the chains fall from the hands of the French nation; a sanguinary faction obtained the ascendency, and the French Government began to act in direct opposition to the principles which it had proclaimed. After having solemnly and by acclamation declared, that the French republic renounced all conquests, they gave orders for the incorporation of Savoy; and the conduct of the Republic uniformly contradicted the principles of the National Assembly, both in respect to the states which they occupied, and to their allies. If at that time we had enjoyed a well-regulated liberty of the press, Spain would not have been ignorant of what was the political situation of France, when she concluded the infamous peace of Basle. Spain then abandoned itself with blind subserviency to all the successive Governments of France; and from the convention to the empire, we followed all the vicissitudes of their revolution, always in the closest alliance, till we saw our strong places taken, and the armies of the perfidious invader in the heart of Spain. Till that moment it was not lawful for any one to speak of the French Government with less submission than of our own, and not to admire Buonaparte was one of the greatest crimes. In those miserable days the seeds were sown, and we are now reaping the bitter fruits. Look round the world! England is the only nation which we shall find free from these horrors; the energy of her Government has done much, but the liberty of the press has done more. By that means, wise and virtuous men were able to diffuse the antidote faster than the French could administer the poison, and the information which the people enjoyed made them see the danger, and taught them how to avoid it.”
Brigadier Gonzalez affirmed, that whoever opposed the freedom of the press was a bad Spaniard. This occasioned a warm reply, and one of those altercations followed, which the Cortes was not then so well regulated as to prevent or to cut short. A priest terminated it, by saying, that their first duty was to defend the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman religion, and whatever was contrary to that religion was bad. Then, citing the canons to prove that no work ought to be published without the license of a council, or of a bishop, he inferred that the liberty of the press was contrary to religion. The conclusion was perfectly legitimate, but it was met by an answer not less curious than the argument. “No person,” said Mexia, “will deny that Christianity has existed from the beginning of the world; for though our Saviour was not yet come, those moral precepts, which are the basis of his religion, and which were given by Moses, were written in the heart of man. In like manner, the liberty of the press has existed from the time of Adam; for printing is a mode of writing, and the liberty of doing it is the same, whether it be upon the leaf of a tree, or in wax, or upon paper; and this liberty all men have possessed. The art of printing, therefore, where the liberty of the press was restrained, was an injury to man, inasmuch as it deprived him of this primitive liberty.”
There was, however, a great number of members who were by no means prepared to change the opinions in which they had been bred up; and they listened with deep attention to those speakers who maintained that it was both for the interest of the writer and the public, that books should be subjected rather to a previous censure, than to an after responsibility. The result was not less characteristic than the long and animated discussions which preceded it. After declaring that all persons were at liberty to publish their sentiments without any license, the Cortes unanimously admitted an amendment which, by inserting the word political, curtailed this liberty of half its extent: and all writings upon religious matters were left subject to the previous censure of the ecclesiastic authorities, according to the decree of the Council of Trent. Anonymous publication was allowed, but the printer was to put his name and place of abode; and if, in case of an offence against the laws, he did not make known the author, he was to incur the punishment himself. For the purpose of securing the freedom of the press, and providing against its abuse, the Cortes was to appoint a supreme board of censure, composed of nine individuals, who were to reside near the Government; and a similar board of five members in every provincial capital; three of the nine, and two of the five, being secular clergy. The business of the provincial boards was to examine such works as were denounced; and upon their sentence the judges were to suppress the book, and call in the copies which might have been sold; but their sentence was not definitive. The author or printer might demand a copy of the censure, and lay it before the supreme board: the supreme board might require them to revise their sentence; but their second opinion was to be final. If the book were suppressed, as a private libel, the individual aggrieved had still his remedy at law against the libeller. Some appeal was allowed against the decision of the ordinary. He was not to refuse his license without assigning the ground of refusal, and hearing what the author, editor, or printer could allege in behalf of the work. If he then persisted in his refusal, the person interested might lay his censure before the supreme board, and refer the book to their judgment; if they found it worthy of approbation, their opinion was to be communicated to the ordinary, that he, being better informed upon the matter, might grant the license if he thought good, in order to prevent any farther appeal; but what that was to be was not stated. This was not the only point which, by a sort of compromise, was left doubtful in the decree. The article which empowered the supreme board to reverse the sentence of the provincial ones, declared, as it was originally worded, that upon their approbation the book should freely circulate, and that no tribunal should impede it. Some members upon this required that a proviso should be inserted, declaring this was not intended to intrench upon the authority of the Inquisition. To avoid such a recognition of that baleful power, Luxan proposed that the latter part of the sentence should be omitted, and this was carried by a majority of two votes. It was a victory for the liberal party to leave the question undecided. As soon as the discussion was concluded, a deputy moved that special and honourable mention of the Inquisition should be made in the decree; but the president prevented any debates upon this inflammatory subject by replying, that it might be taken into consideration at some future time.
Thus having admitted that public opinion was the proper and indispensable check upon the proceedings of Government, the Cortes instituted a board nominated by Government to be a check upon public opinion, which, if the measure had not been merely nugatory, would have virtually destroyed the freedom it pretended to establish. But they were dealing with no easy subject. ♦State of the press.♦ The press, like other prisoners, had broken loose when the old system was overthrown. It had effected the momentous service of rousing the nation, and it continued to keep up the spirit which it had excited; but as for exercising any salutary restraint upon the proceedings of the Government, this was of all things what the public writers were least competent to do, and the men in power least likely to tolerate. The danger was, that the press might now, at the same time, inflame and misdirect the public mind; a work for which eager volunteers are never wanting in such times. The Spaniards had taken arms to defend their institutions, to which with all their enormous abuses the people were devoutly attached. The best and wisest men wished to reform those abuses. Such men were few, and aiming only at what was lawful and just, they scrupled at any evil means for bringing it about. The party who were for destroying root and branch had no such principle to impede them. Despotism had made them republicans, and an abominable superstition had driven them into unbelief. They also were few, but they were more numerous than men whose opinions rested upon a safer ground; they were bold and they were indefatigable, acting like some of the early propagandists and victims of the French revolution, in the enthusiastic belief that nothing but good could result from the subversion of corrupted establishments. Even in the Cortes there were some who looked to the most dreadful stage of that revolution rather as an example than a warning. One member wished for what he called a Christian Robespierre to save the country; another, for un pequeño Robespierre, one who would carry on a system of terror ♦Diario de las Cortes, T. 2. 441. T. 4. 371.♦ with a little more moderation than had been used in France; caustics they said were called for; matters must be carried on with energy and with blood, or the country was lost; heads must be stricken off, and that speedily; it was necessary to shed more Spanish blood than French. When such language was uttered in the Cortes, and circulated in the diaries of that assembly, it was, indeed, most necessary that efficient measures should be taken for restraining the license of the press. A journal was published under the
♦El Robespierre Español.♦ title of “The Spanish Robespierre,” breathing the same spirit as these speeches. One of its numbers was suppressed: the fanatical author exclaimed against this as an outrage upon the sacred, the divine, the omnipotent liberty of the press. “I swear,” said he, “upon the altar of the country, no one is more a Spaniard than I. I more than any one abhor despotism and its vile satellites. I alone am sufficient to overthrow them, and reduce that infernal monster to nothing. My soul is more untamable than the planets, more elevated than the firmament itself, more great than the whole universe.” Even such ravings were not to be overlooked when, in the same number, it was asserted, that the minister who had suppressed his former paper had conspired against the liberty of the nation; that, therefore, he was guilty of treason, and consequently ought to be publicly hanged without the least delay. Yet the necessity of reform, ... of a change in the spirit of the Spanish Government, which under all its changes of form had remained the same, was shown in the treatment of this revolutionist. He was cast into prison, and left there, it was said in the Cortes, till he was half rotten, waiting indefinitely for the decision of his case, which they who prosecuted him were never likely to think of more!
♦Debates concerning Ferdinand.♦
At the motion of Perez de Castro, the Cortes voted a monument as a mark of gratitude to George III. and the British nation. They declared, at the same time, that the Spaniards would never lay down their arms till they had secured their independence, with the absolute integrity of their monarchy in both worlds, and till they had recovered their king. But though the restoration of Ferdinand was thus spoken of in this decree, there were many who perceived the evils with which his return was likely to be attended. The most cautious reformers, however loyal, knew but too well that his presence might prove a serious impediment to any reformation; the more theoretical ones could hope to effect their schemes only in his absence; and at this time it seemed probable that he might soon return, under circumstances which all true Spaniards, however widely differing upon other points, regarded with equal apprehension. The accounts which had been officially published in France of Kolli’s adventure represented Ferdinand as still soliciting to be adopted by marriage into the family of the tyrant who had betrayed him. The Spanish Government, with the timid impolicy which continued to characterize it in such things, had not permitted the statement to appear in the Spanish newspapers; the substance of it, nevertheless, was well known at Cadiz, and many things tended to accredit it. For it was well understood, that the Intruder was weary of his miserable position, that Buonaparte was not less weary of supporting him there, and that the French generals were disgusted with the odious service in which they were employed. They were said to have reported everywhere that Ferdinand, with Buonaparte’s consent, had contracted the desired marriage (according to one account, it was with an Austrian archduchess), and that Buonaparte in consequence would replace him on the throne. There was intelligence from Madrid that a Spanish army of 30,000 men was about to be raised for him. The scheme was politic enough in all its parts to be deemed probable: it would have the cordial approbation of the Intruder’s adherents; and all who regarded only their own selfish views, all who desponded, all who were impatient under privations and sufferings, all who desired repose, might be expected to concur in it. The youth, the inexperience, the defective education, the alleged simplicity of Ferdinand’s character, were to be borne in mind: as through these he had formerly been entrapped, so might he now be made the instrument of Buonaparte, who would thus seek to obtain by intrigue what he was unable to win by force. Against this it was necessary to be prepared. Long and animated discussions were held upon this matter. It was moved, that if Ferdinand should cede any portion of the Spanish dominions to France, all persons obeying his orders to that effect should be declared traitors: that any marriage which he might contract under these circumstances should be declared null, (a proposition against which some of the ecclesiastics in the Cortes exclaimed as contrary to the principles of sound theology): that if he entered Spain as Buonaparte’s ally, he must be rejected, and war carried on against him under the black flag. Now was the time to engrave with the point of the sword upon their hearts that holy Catholic religion in which they must establish their trust! To the petition in the Litany which prayed for deliverance from the deceits of the Devil, they should add, from the deceits of the French also. Rather than thus be deceived and debased, it were better that whole Spain should be made what Numantia and Saguntum had been: then might the Spaniards look down from heaven, and see whether these impious invaders would be bold enough to walk tranquilly through the silent abodes of their tremendous[15] ghosts!
♦Decree concerning Ferdinand.♦