♦Measures of the Cortes.♦
The Spanish government would have acted thus far prudently in its communication with Ferdinand, if it had abstained from this empty language: but the Liberales, as the ruling party called themselves, were, some, vain of their talents, others confident in the uprightness of their intentions, and all alike ignorant of their weakness. If the abler leaders of this party had not proceeded so far as they desired and perhaps designed, they were yet conscious that they had proceeded farther than their functions warranted and than Ferdinand would sanction. They held, therefore, a secret sitting of the Cortes, and deliberated upon the measures to be taken in case the King should pass the frontiers. It was proposed, by a commission appointed to report upon this emergency, that he should not be considered as being free, nor should obedience be rendered him, until he should have sworn to the Constitution in the bosom of the Cortes; that the Generals on the frontiers should send expresses to the government with all speed, as soon as they obtained any tidings of his probable coming; that if he were accompanied by any armed force, that force should be repulsed, according to the laws of war; should it consist of Spaniards, they were to lay down their arms, and those who had been carried prisoners into France licensed to return each to his home; whatever General might have the honour of receiving the King being to supply him with a guard suitable to his royal dignity and person. No foreigner should be allowed to accompany him, not even as a domestic or servant; no Spaniard who had filled any office, received any pension, or accepted any honour from Buonaparte or from the Intruder. The Regency should be charged to fix the route by which the King should proceed to Madrid; and the President of the Regency, as soon as he arrived in Spain, should set out to meet and accompany him with a proper retinue, and present him with a copy of the Constitution, that so his Majesty, having made himself acquainted therewith, might, upon full deliberation and with entire consent, take the oath which it prescribed. Having reached the capital, he should proceed straight to the Cortes, there to take the said oath, with all the ceremonies and solemnities enjoined: this done, thirty Members of that assembly should attend him to the palace, where the Regency should resign the government into his hands; on the same day the Cortes should prepare a decree for making known to the nation the solemn act by which, and in virtue of the oath which he should then have sworn, the King had been constitutionally placed upon the throne; and this decree should be presented to the King by a deputation, that it might be published with all due formalities. The opinion of the Council of State upon this proposition was required within four-and-twenty hours.
♦Feb. 1.♦
The Council was of opinion that the King ought not to exercise any authority till he should have taken the oath before the Cortes. They thought that a deputation should be appointed to meet him, and inform him concerning the state of affairs and of public opinion, both as to the eternal and sworn hatred of Napoleon, and the observance of the Constitution. One member of the Council advised that the deputation should consist of members of the Cortes, two of whom in rotation should accompany the King in his coach till he arrived at the palace; and also that all the soldiers who had been prisoners in France should be detained upon the frontier, and all the King’s attendants also, till they should have taken the oath. “It must be believed,” said the Council, “that if Napoleon sends Ferdinand to Spain, it can only be for the purpose of laying a new snare for us, and making him the instrument of his iniquitous schemes, and rendering him, perhaps, odious to a nation which now longs for his presence, ... it must be with the design of fomenting a civil war, in which he may be entrapped, seduced, and compelled to take a part; that the attention of the allies may thus be distracted, and the progress of their operations be delayed. Now, therefore, more than ever Spain stands in need of that energy which hitherto she has displayed against the common enemy; now it is that she must manifest to the King how much she has done for his sake, and how much she loves him; but at the same time how much she loves the Constitution, and abhors the tyrannical disturber of the world. And, therefore, it is now more than ever of importance that efforts should be redoubled for maintaining our armies upon a good footing, and co-operating more effectually for the destruction of that monster.”
In this transaction Buonaparte acted towards Ferdinand with good faith, because he had no interest in acting otherwise; so he could extricate his garrisons he cared not now what might become of Spain. Ferdinand conducted himself with as much prudence and as little duplicity as could be expected in his situation. The Liberales miscalculated their strength; their measures implied a distrust of the King; and if he inferred from their language, that, under all its professions of respectful and affectionate loyalty, a defiance was couched there in case he should hesitate to recognise the new order of things, he was not mistaken in its purport and intent.
CHAPTER XLVI.
PROCEEDINGS IN FRANCE. THE DUC D’ANGOULEME GOES TO LORD WELLINGTON’S ARMY. LERIDA, MEQUINENZA, AND MONZON RECOVERED BY STRATAGEM. PASSAGE OF THE ADOUR. BATTLE OF ORTHES. THE ALLIES RECEIVED AT BOURDEAUX. BATTLE OF TOULOUSE. SORTIE FROM BAYONNE. RESTORATION OF FERDINAND. CONCLUSION.
♦1814.♦
Buonaparte had returned to France breathing vengeance. He sent before him two-and-twenty standards taken in the course of his German campaign; and he announced to his Council of State, in troubled and passionate language, the extent of his danger, and his determination of opposing and overcoming it by the most ♦Buonaparte’s speech to his council.♦ violent efforts. “Wellington,” said he, “is in the south, the Russians threaten the northern frontier, Austria the south-eastern, ... yet, shame to speak it, the nation has not risen in mass to repel them! Every ally has abandoned me: the Bavarians have betrayed me!... Peace? no peace, till Munich is in flames! I demand of you 300,000 men; I will form a camp at Bourdeaux of 100,000, another at Lyons, a third at Metz: with the remnant of my former levies, I shall have 1,000,000 of men in arms. But it is men whom I demand, full-grown men; not these miserable striplings who choke my hospitals with sick, and my highways with their carcases.... Give up Holland? rather let it sink into the sea! Peace, it seems, is talked of, when all around ought to re-echo with the cry of war!”