THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilotion, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. University of Illinois Library _■ 1 I L161— O-1096 MODERN SPAIN I M THE STORY OF THE NATIONS 1. Rome. By Arthur Gilman, M.A. 2. The Je-srs. By Prof. J. K. HosMER. 3. Germany, By Rev. S. BaRING- GOULD. M.A. 4. Carthage. By Prof. Alfred J. Church. 5. Alexander's Empire. By Prof. J. P Mahafi V. 6. The Moors in Spain. Lane-Poole, By By Stanley By Prof. George Prof. Arminius By Arthur Gil- the Hon. EMILY 7. Ancient Egypt. Rawlinson. 8. Hungary. By Vambery. 9. The Saracens. MAN, M..\. 10. Ireland. By Lawless. 11. Chaldea. By Zfn'aIde A. Ragozin. 12 The Goths. Bv Henry Bradley. 13. Aesyria. By Zenaide A. Ragozin. ij. Turkey. Bv Stanley Lane-Poole. 15. Holland. By Prof. J. E. Thorold ROGKRS. 16. Mediaeval France. By Gustave Masson. 17. Persia. Bv S. G. W. BENJAMIN. 18. Phoenicia. Bv Prof. G. Rawlinson. ig. Media. By Zenaide A. Ragozin. 20. The Hansa Towns. By Helen ZiMMERN. 21. Early Britain. By Prof. ALFRED J. Church. 22. The Barbary Corsairs. By Stanley Lane- Poole. 23. Russia. By W. R. Morfill, M.A. 24. The Jews under the Romans. By \V. D. Morrison. 25 Scotland. By John Mackintosh, LL.D. Switzerland. By Mrs. Lina Hug and R. Stead. Mexico. Bv Susan Hale Portugal. Bv H. MoRSE Stephens. The Normans. By Sarah Orme lEWKlT. 30. The Byzantine Empire. By C. W. C. OMAN. 31. Sicily : Phoenician, Greek and Roman. By the Prof. E. A. Fkk.eman. 32. The Tuscan Republics. By Bella Duffy. 3-,. Poland. By W. R. Morfill M.A. 3}. Parthia. By Prof. George Raw- linson. 35. The Australian Commonwealth. ,By GUKVHLK TREGARTHEN. 3fi. Spain. By H. E. Watts. 37. Janan. By David Murray, Ph.D. 26. 27. 2H. 29. 38. South Africa. By George M. Theal. 39. Venice. Bv Alethea Wiel. 40. The t'lusades. By T. A. Archer and C. L. KlNGSFORD. 41. Vedic India. By Z. A. Ragozin. 42. The West Indies and the Spanish Main. By James .TtouvvAY. 43. Bohemia. By C. Edmund Maurice. 44. The Balkans. By W. Miller, M.A. 45. Canada. By Sir J. G. Bourinot, LL.D. 46. British India. By R. W. Frazer. LL.B. 47. Modern France. By Andre Le Box. 48. The Franks. By Lewis Sergeant. 49. Austria. P>y Sidney Whitman. 50. Modern England. Beloie the Re- loi-m Bill. Bv Justin McCarthy. 51. China. By Prnf. R. K. Douglas 52. Modern England. From tlie Keforni Bill to the Present Time. By Justin McCarthy. 53. Modern Spain. Bv Mariin A. S. Hnii; 54. Modern Italy. By PlEiRO Orsi. 55. Norway. By H.H. BOVESEN. 56. Wales. Bv O. M. Edwards. ■57. Mediaeval Rome. Bv W. JIiller, •• '■ '■ M A. 58. J'he i*?pal Monarchy. By William Barrv.D.D. 59. Mediaeval India under Mohamme- dan Rule. By Sianley Lane- Poole. 60. Buddhist India. By Prof. T. W. ymvs-DAVius. 61. Parliamentary England. By Ed- ward JlA'KS M..A. 62. Mediaeval England. By Mary Bateson. 63. The Coming of Parliament. By L Cecii. Jane. 64. The Story of Greece. From the Earliest Times to .a.d 14. By E. S. Shlckburgh. 65. The Story of tht; Roman Empire. (B.C. 29 to A.D. 476.) By H. Stuart Jcvks. 66. Denmark and Sweden, with Ice- land and Finland. By JON Stefan^-son", Ph.D. 67. Belgium. F'rom the Roman Inva- sion to the Present Day. By Emii.e Ca:\imaerts. 68. Burma. From the Earliest Times to the Piesent Day. By Sir J. George Scott, K.'C.I.E. London : T. FISHER UNWIN, LTD., i Adelphi Terrace THE UBfiAHr Of THE UKiVERsiry Of illihois Photo] [Russell &■ Sons. ALFONSO XIII., KING OF SPAIN. MODERN SPAIN BY MARTIN HUME EDITOR OF THE CALENDARS OF SPANISH STATE PAPERS (public RECORD OFFICe) WITH A SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER ON MODERN SPAIN FROM 1898 TO 1918 by J. R. CAREY T. FISHER UNWIN LTD. LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE t" First published . . . . 190a Second Impression . . . igo2 Secbnd Edilioii [Third Tin pressioit) 1906 Third Edition {Fourth Impression) 1923 jCiDijyRiGnT BY T. FISHER yNVyiN,.i899 (for Great Britain) COPYRJGJHJ. BY G. p. PUT.\AM.'S SONS, 1899 (for the United States of America) PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. An attempt has been made to furnish an addi- tional chapter to the work of the late Major Martin Hume. The hardihood of such an undertaking is recognised, and the result will doubtless remind most readers of a stucco Georgian annexe to an Elizabethan mansion. The period to be covered — roughh' from 1898 to 1918 — bristles with diffi- culties even for extended treatment. The neces- sary limits of space have meant the crowding out of much and the inadequate treatment of more. Most of the points touched on are matters of living interest and impassioned debate in Spain, and the present writer has striven merely to indicate the various opinions without presuming -^ to lay down the law. Spain is slowly working "I out her destiny. Every day her contribution to ■^ world civilisation, long obscured by the mists of _^' prejudice, is becoming more and more recognised. "^ She has a right to our steadfast sympathy in her ^ present difficulties, and our cordial co-operation in her future progress. J. R. CAREY. London, 1923. 6J00a4 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION In the seven years that have passed since this book was written the happiest hopes expressed in its closing Hnes have so far been fulfilled. The child Alfonso XIII. has grown to be a man: a young man full of generous impulses, and deeply imbued by his wise mother in the duties and responsibilities of a constitutional monarch. To him in the flower -of his promising youth Queen Christina has handed unimpaired the sceptre she bore so bravely in the anxious years of her son's long minority. Peace and a measure of prosperity have continued to smile upon Spain, and in the international councils of Europe the ancient monarchy bears an increasingly important part, in cordial friendship with the two great democratic forces, England and France. Those who on the memorable day in May, 1901, saw the King, so bright and eager, so manly yet so patheti- cally young, face his parliament and his people for the first time as their ruler, and with head erect and X PREFACE ringing voice swear to guard inviolate the Constitu- tion by which he reigned, could not fail to be impressed with the earnest sincerity, the evident determination, of the young man to do right and fear nothing. Mistakes Alfonso XIII. may make, for he is human ; but it may be certainly predicted of him, that, like his father before him, he will do no evil knowingly to his people ; and that he willj so far as in him lies, keep his pact with the subjects whose love and sympathy he has already gained. The old politicians of the revolution, are :.drDpping off one by one. Silvela, Sagasta, Romexo-RobledQ, and Pi y Margall have died since this book, was written, and the newer, statesmen who alternately govern Spain have fouftd, as Canovas in his own words said of Alfonso XII., when he was, of the same age. as his son is now, that in Alfonso : XII L they "have a master." Like his father, tooj the young King has determined to marry for love,, and to marry an English Princess, bred, in the free atmo- sphere . of British life. When Alfonso- XII.: was urged by his ministers to adopt a "measure limiting religious freedom in. Spain, he replied: — " There aire two things upon which I will never' give way, though it cost me my crown. I will never suppress religious liberty,, and I will never marry against my. will-; and the Influences whose activity; in ah opposite direction drew this declaration from Alfonso XII.^ have found in his. son .the same firm resolve to resist PREFACE XI the retrogressive forces of bigotry, and to suffer no political coercion in the matter of his marriage. The Catholic faith is, and must remain, the religion of Spain ; but the. day of religious persecution and tyrannical priestcraft is past for ever, and Catholic Spain is as free as. Protestant England. The sym- p_athies of Britons will join those of Spaniards towards the young couple who under such hopeful auspices are to begin life together. The national friendship typified by the.personal union is a pledge of .peace for Spain, and an advantage for our own country, and the closer communion between the peoples ; can not but inspire Spain once more, as a similar friendship did well nigh a century ago, anew with attachment to orderly liberty guaranteed by pure- .parliamentary government such as happily prevails in our .awn land. For Spain most of the auguries are hopeful. The vexed question of "regionalism" in Biscay and Cataluiia still stirs the nation to its heart, but the wisest of those who have hitherto clamoured for complete provincial autonomy are beginning ta recognise that the best way of attaining the end they have in view is not to stand apart from the national life and cry for an impracticable separation, but for the wealthy, active provinces of the north to infuse into all departments of the national life some of their own energy and strength : for Biscay and Cataluha to conquer and influence the rest of :X11 PREFACE Spain as Scotland has influenced the rest of Britain, and whilst retaining in vigour provincial institutions, work for, and with, the nation as a whole. Whatever solution may be found for this and other burning questions, one thing may be foretold with confidence. The days of despotism have fled for ever from Spain. The law and not the crown shall rule ; and the bent of the young king, so far as it is known, encourages the hope that the popular liberties will have in time a strenuous champion and a faithful guardian. It must be the wish of all Englishmen, as it certainly is of Spaniards, that he with an English bride may reign long and happily over a free people ; and in the process of time be succeeded by Anglo-Spanish descendants handing down the traditions of popular government for future ages in a country which in -.the past despotism has done its best to ruin. MARTIN HUME. London, April, 1906. ALFONSO XIII., [HNG OF SPAIN (AT THE AGE OF TWELVE). INTRODUCTION This is the story of a nation during a century of struggle upward out of the abyss into which des- potism and bigotry had sunk it. Before the period commenced a king, more enlightened than his subjects, had brought from abroad wise and far-reaching plans of regeneration which he imposed upon a submissive, but apathetic and ignorant, people. These reforms were social, educational, and administrative, and in no way trenched upon the despotic political power which he had inherited from his forefathers, for he knew full well that orderly liberty must follow, and not precede, enlightenment. It was Spain's misfortune that the sceptre of Charles III. passed into the hands of an amiable fool at the most critical period of modern times, when half civilisation v^as crazy with the new con- viction that the face of society, and even the laws of nature, could be suddenly altered by changes in the form of governments. In England this belief was modified by the stolid good sense of the race, loyalty to the throne, and the elasticity of the con- xvi INTRODUCTION stitution under which we Hved ; in France it was turned to his own advantage by one of the greatest geniuses and most unscrupulous men the world ever saw, and has resulted in a successful democracy which at intervals cries for a despot to save it from itself: whilst in Spain, where the throne had forfeited right to respect, where there was no constitution to be elastic, and no genius to rescue society from anarchy by new developments of despotism, the people themselves have painfully worked out, so far, their own salvation at the cost of a century of conflict and misery untold. Again and again during the period, political empirics have prescribed rapi# remedies for a chronic disease, always with the result that a crisis has been provoked which has further retarded the progress of the patient. False guides have betrayed the people from the straight upward path through short cuts into quagmires, or to the edge of the precipice : at every level resting-place the leaders have declared loudly that the summit has been attained, and in eloquent orations have called upon their followers, and the world at large, to witness and admire their cleverness in having reached it with so little labour. Every transient gleam of their own poor rushlight has been hailed in resounding phrases as the bright sunshine which was to be the final goal. The people in the meanwhile, inexperienced in the phenomena of progress, have readily taken flowing oratory for noble deeds, and flickering candles for the day's eff"ulgence; only to give way to bitter disappointment and paroxysms of rage when they have learnt the truth. INTRODUCTION XVU and have been forced to toil upward again still in the twilight. But, withal, the road has led them higher. The squabbles and corruption of politicians, the folly and blindness of those who sat in high places, have done their worst ; but those who have patience to read to the end the story here told will see that in the course of the century the Spanish nation, in spite of all, has advanced, and is still advancing, though slowly, towards the material prosperity and enlightened freedom which is the right of all civilised peoples. I may fairly claim to possess some special qualifi- cations for relating many of the incidents set forth in this history. In my youth I have listened open-eyed for hours to the tales of aged relatives and their friends who had borne active part in the great struggle early in the century. Some of them had been friends of Godoy, some of them companions in arms of Wellington and Hill ; and from the mouth of one I learnt the tragic story of the massacre of the 2nd of May, at which he had been present. The same aged gentleman and his brother, near relatives of my own, were amongst the victims of the despotism of Fernando, and expiated in prison and in exile their adhesion to the cause of the Constitution. From them, many a time and oft, have I heard on the spot the story of the battle of the Constitution in the Calle Mayor of Madrid on the 7th of July, 1822, and of the storming of the palace stairs by Diego de Leon in 1841 to capture the young Queen Isabel. At a later period my own observa- XVlll INTRODUCTION tion commenced, and as a keenly-interested spectator and friend of many of the chief actors I witnessed most of the stirring scenes recounted in these pages, from the revolution of 1868 up to the death of Alfonso XII., since when I have never ceased to follow closely the incidents of the contemporary history of Spain. In a work containing so many details, I cannot hope to have escaped errors, but I may claim that I have done my best to avoid them ; and I have been careful to confirm my memory of the events I have witnessed, and of descriptions given to me by actors in earlier scenes, by comparison with other contemporary accounts. MARTIN HUME. London, October, 1899. CONTENTS PAGE vii Preface to the Third Edition . Preface to the Second Edition . . . . ix Introduction xv I. 1-4 1 Charles IV. and Godoy — A Fresh Start Down- hill Spain in the Eighteenth Century— Reforms of Charles III. — Aranda and Floridablanca— Accession of Charles IV.— The "Pragmatic Sanction" and the Salic law— Spain and the French Revolution— Rise and rule of Godoy— War with France— Godoy Prince of the Peace— Treaty of St. Ildefonso and war with England — Subjection of Spain to French interests — Napoleon. Spain and Napoleon — "Clay in the Hands of the Potter" ...... 42-85 Condition of the country at the beginning of the centurj' — y j Population — Social condition — Industry — Finance and Trade ' — Education and Literature — Spain dragged at the tail of France — Godoy's war with Portugal — Treaty of Amiens — Godoy, Maria Luisa and Fernando Prince of Asturias — The Treaty of Paris — Napoleon Emperor — Trafalgar — Conflict of Fernando and Godoy — The beguilement of Godoy. Tax. ^^= XX CONTENTS III. PAGE A Distracted Royal Family and a Betrayed Nation 86-122 Fernando and Godoy — The conspiracy of the Escorial a — Godoy triumphant — Junot in Portugal — French troops in /\, Spain — The revolution of Aranjuez — Flight of Godoy — Abdication of Charles IV. — Murat in Madrid — Entry of King Fernando — Fernando enticed into France — The y assembly of the Spanish Royal Family at Bayonne — Squabbles and renunciations — The Junta at Madrid— The abduction of the Infantes — The Dos de Mayo — Fernando a prisoner. IV The Peninsular War ..... 123-178 Finance and national defence — Education and Literature (1808) — The rising of the country against the French — Zaragoza — Bailen — Murat and the Junta in Madrid — King Joseph Bonaparte — Joseph's flight from Madrid — The Con- vention of Cintra — Napoleon at Madrid — Moore's retreat on Corunna — Wellesley in Spain — Talavera — Joseph's Govern- ment — The Juntas — Destruction of the Spanish army — Flight of the Junta from Seville to Cadiz — The Cortes of Cadiz— The American Colonies — The first Constitution. V. " Fernando the Desired " — Royal Reward for Devotion . . . . . . 179-247 Salamanca — • Wellington in Madrid — Vitoria — Flight oi Joseph^Fernando at Valenyay — Return of Fernando the Desired — The decree of Valencia — "Death to Liberty!" ^The despot in his capital — Fernando's character — Tyranny unchecked — Revolt and repression — The American Colonies — The revolt of Ricgo — The Constitution again — Triumphant democracy — Riego in Madrid — Oratory — Excesses of the democrats — Dissensions — Anarchy in the Provinces — Battle CONTENTS XXI PAGE of the Constitution in Madrid — Democracy in power — The Holy AlHance — The Regency of Urgel — Reactionist revoki- tion — French intervention — Fernando conveyed to Andalusia — Angouleme's invasion — Siege of Cadiz — Escape of Fer- nando — Despotism wins — Execution of Riego. VI. Despotism — Enlightened and Otherwise . 24S-293 Finance (1823) — Social life — Arts and industry — The Drama — America — "The Exterminating Angel" — Persecution of Liberals — Death of the "Empecinado" — Calomarde — The Royal Family — Fernando's third wife, Cristina of Naples — Liberal hopes — Torrijos — Birth of Isabel — Enlightenment i'. Obscurantism— Intrigues for the succession — Don Carlos and Cristina — Illness of Fernando — Abrogation of the "Pragmatic Sanction"- — Revocation of the abrogation — "\Vhite hands oflend not" — Cristina and the Liberals — Banishment of Don Carlos and his wife — Death of Fernando — Absolutism militant. VII. War and Anarchy .... . 294-347 Review of Fernando's reign — Literature — Cristina Regent ,^ ^ — Cea Bermudez and enlightened despotism — Martinez de 1^. /^. Rosa — Constitution of 1834 — The Carlist war — Murder of ^ the Jesuits in Madrid — Siege of Bilbao — Death of Zumala- carregui — " Down with the Friars" — Rising in Barcelona — Anarchy — Mendizabal in office — His radical measures — Church property — The English legion at St. Sebastian — Democratic risings — Revolt of the sergeants at La Granja — Restoration of the Constitution of 1S12 — Espartero at Bilbao — Democracy in power — Constitution of 1837 — Defeat of Evans at Hernani — His subsequent victories — Revolt of the Guards — Espartero Prime Minister — Don Carlos at the gates of Madrid — His retreat. XX 11 CONTENTS VIII. PAGE Intrigue and Instability .... 34S-403 Decline of Carlism— Cabrera — Narvaez — The end of the CarHst war— Treaty of Vergara— Cristina and the Liberals — Progress to Barcelona— RevoUition — Flight of Cristina— Espartero Regent — Democracy again victorious — Diego de Leon's attempt to capture Isabel — Counter revolution and flight of Espartero — Narvaez dominant — Majority of Isabel — Her person and character — Olozaga — The Queen's accu- sation — Fall of Olozaga — Persecution of Liberals — Social and literary condition of the country — ^ " The Spanish marriages" — Renewed Carlist war — Dissensions between Isabel and her husband — Serrano — Return of Narvaez — Palace reconciliations— Tumults in Madrid — Hopes and fears. IX. On the Slope of Revolution — And Over the Brink . . . . . . . 404-465 Isabel's political methods — Brabo Murillo— Birth of the Princess of Asturias — Attempt on Isabel's life — Civilian reaction — San Luis — Revolution of 1854 — Rise of Leopold O'Donnell — Return of Espartero — The " Duumvirate "^ The Constitution of 1S56 — Sale of the Church property — Palace resistance — Betrayal of Espartero — O'Donnell supreme — Birth of Alfonso, Prince of Asturias — The Liberal Union — Revival of industry and prosperity — War with Morocco — New Carlist fiasco — War with Chile and Peru — Fall of O'Donnell — Withdrawal of the Liberals from constitutional action — Prim in exile — The Revolution of 1868— Flight of Isabel. X. ** For ever Fell the Bastard Race of Bourbon " — A Revolution swamped by Revolu- tionists . , . 466-519 Excesses of the advanced parties — The revolution in Madrid — Organisation of the new Government — Prim's popularity CONTENTS xxili PAGE — The monarchical parties — The Constituent Cortes — Candi- dates for the throne— The strife of parties — Election of Amadeo — Spanisji finance — Social, material, and intellectual condition of the country — Cuba — Murder of Prim — Reign of Amadeo — Abdication — The third Carlist war — The Republic — Pavia's Coup d''Eiat — Continuance of the war — Restora- tion of Alfonso XII. XI. Restoration without Retrogression — A Last Atonement ...... 520-563 Alfonso's popularity — Political parties — End of the Carlist war — National finance — Constitution of 1876 — Marriage of the King — Death of Mercedes — Fusion of the Liberal parties under Sagasta — Second marriage of Alfonso — Martinez Campos and the Treaty of Zanjon — -Death of Alfonso XII. — Financial, commercial, artistic, and literary progress — Regency of Cristina — Reforms of 1890 — Cuban war, 1895-98 — Loss of the Colonies — Conclusion. XII. A Fresh Start Uphill 564 Post-war reaction — Position of the monarch — Political parties — Regionalism — Morocco — The World War and Spanish neutrality — Social and economic conditions — Ainericanisiiio — Industrial conditions — Church and State — Education — Literature and Art — Conclusion. Index . . . . . . . . -587 Index to Supplementary Chapter . . . 597 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Alfonso XIIL, King of Spain . . Frontispiece From a photograph by Russell &= Sons. Alfonso XIIL, King of Spain Cat the age of twelve) . . . . . xiv Count de Aranda . . . ■ . 7 From a contemporary French engraving tn the British Museum, taken during his embassy in Paris. The Puerta del Sol, Madrid . . • 1 7 From a woodcut, late eighteenth century. Manuel Godoy . . . , 21 From a contemporary engraving by Carinona. Manuel Godoy . . , . .29 From a contemporary engraving at the time of his fall. The Family of Charles IV. . . . 47 From a photograph of the famous painting by Goya in the Museo del Prado. Queen Maria Luisa . . -59 From a photograph of the painting by Goya in ike Museo del Prado. XXV XXVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Gate of the Carmen at Zaragoza . . 135 From a recent photograph. Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain . . .143 From an engraving. Fernando VII. ... .185 Frotn a lithograph of the painting by Madrazo. Rafael del Riego ..... 203 From a contemporary engravitig. "The Empecinado" .... 259 From a contemporary engraving. Calomarde . . . • • .261 From a contemporary engraving. Maria Cristina, Regent of Spain . . 271 From a contemporary engravitig. The Execution of Torrijos and his Companions 279 From a photograph of the painting by Gisbert. Zumalacarregui .... 305 From a sketch taken from life by one of his officers during the war. MiNA . . . » . 313 From a contemporary engraving. Don Carlos (the First) , . - 329 From an English engraving in Walton's " Revolutions of Spain." LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XXVll ESPARTERO From an engraving (1868). Queen Maria Cristina at the time of her Expulsion ..... From a photograph. PAGE Cabrera ...... 347 From an engraving published during the first Carlist -.var. 351 Narvaez . . , , , '371 From an engraving. Isabel II. .... . 397 F}-o»i a lithograph of the painting by Lopez. The Palace of the Congress, Madrid . . 405 From a photograph. 425 Leopold O'Donnell . . • . 443 From a lithograph by Vallejo. The Puerta del Sol, 1868 . , , 453 From contemporary print. The Calle de Alcala from the Prado in 1868 463 From a photograph. (The Jouniain of the Sybil on the right has now been removed to the middle of the road, and the low house on the left— the Duke of Sesto's palace- has been demolished to make room for the new Bank of Spain. The building lying back from the road on the right foreground is Godoy's palace, now the War Office, where Prim died.) Xxviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGB Prim. . . . • • 4^7 From an engraving of Regnaulf s celebrated painting in the Luxemburg. Serrano at the time of the Revolution . 473 From a lithograph, Castelar ...... 478 From a photograph. Amadeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta . . 483 From a photograph. Prim, at the time of his Death . . 499 From a photograph. Don Carlos, Duke of Madrid . , 509 From an etching by Bonnat. Alfonso XII. shortly before his Death . 521 From a photograph. Sagasta ... • • 539 Frofn a recent photograph. Maria Cristina, Mother of Alfonso XIII. . 549 Canovas del Castillo. . . • 555 Froyn a photograph by Debas. \ A ,^1 'J / y 'y ti \3 P MODERN SPAIN. I. CHARLES iV. AND GODOY — A FRESH START DOWNHILL. Spain in the last half of the eighteenth century and early in the nineteenth presented the curious phenomenon of a nation in which the great mass of the people lagged far behind successive governments in their desire for progress and reform. The quicken- ing of thought, the emancipation of expression, the philosophical theories which preceded the great uprising of the French Revolution had stopped at the barrier of the Pyrenees ; and with the exception of a comparatively few travelled and enlightened men who were looked upon by their compatriots as dangerous innovators, Voltaireans and Freemasons, the Spanish people demanded nothing better than to live in their own way in peace, giving blind love and obedience to their kings, and equally blind com- pliance with the forms of their faith, which in the great majority of cases had degenerated to the blackest and grossest superstition. Nor were the 25 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. people themselves to blame for this. In natural gifts, and good qualities of all sorts, they had hardly their equal in Europe, but a series of unexampled calamities, owing directly to crimes and errors of their governments, had separated them from the industrial and intellectual movement of the rest of the civilised world ; and in the dawn of the century of light still held them enthralled in the trammels of the age of darkness. By the end of the seventeenth century, when the last King of Spain of the house of Austria, the idiot Charles II., died, the evil had been done. The centralising system of government initiated by Charles V. and Philip II. had, under the rule of their degenerate successors, thrown unchecked power in the hands of a series of corrupt and greedy favourites. The perfect representative institutions, which in earlier ages had been far in advance of any parlia- ments elsewhere, had been sapped by tyranny and corruption, and had become effete by losing hold of the national purse-strings. The baleful in- heritance of the house of Burgundy in Central Europe had drawn Spain into a series of desolating wars in which Spaniards, as such, had no concern. Industry had been almost completely strangled by a preposterous fiscal policy which cast the whole of the crushing national burdens on to food and manu- factures ; whilst the expulsion of the Moriscos and their connection with handicrafts had caused industry to be regarded as degrading to a pure-born Spaniard who could shoulder a pike and, with good luck, plunder enough doubloons in America or the Low Countries SPAIN IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 3 to keep him in swaggering idleness for the rest of his life. The Church and the Inquisition between them, in their anxiety to shut out the rehgious schism which troubled other countries, had built a Chinese wall around education which successfully prevented the introduction of scientific advancement or intel- lectual progress from abroad, and had strictly limited the exercise of Spanish genius to works of imagina- tion. All through the reign of the first Bourbon, Philip v., the nobles, the people, and, above all, the Church, had continued to offer an inert or active resistance to the efforts of his French advisers to introduce reforms into the administration of govern- ment. Beset as he was by constant wars, and later by the mental lethargy that overcame him, he did as much as was humanly possible under the circum- stances to elevate the institutions of his people against their will. His son Ferdinand VI. was Spanish by birth and tradition, and, in more cautious fashion than his father, did his best to forward learning and the softer arts,; and to give them a national impress which should relieve them from the reproach of being foreign introductions. But, withal, when Charles IIL, his half-brother, came from Naples to rule over Spain in 1759, practically a foreigner and surrounded byToreign ministers, all saturated, like himself, with the newer philosophical ideas of the French school, he was shocked at the backward and miserable^qndition of his new realm, and he deter- mined that Spain should be brought^abreast of other civilised nations, whether Spaniards liked it or not. He worked like a giant at his tremendous task, and 4 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. more than once in the beghming of his reign his crown trembled in the balance when his reforms ran counter to the prejudices of his people : as, for instance, when he insisted upon lighting the streets of his capital and abolishing the ancient dress of the citizens, who, he said, skulked about the streets with covered faces more like conspirators than the subjects of a civilised monarch. For well-nigh thirty years the greatest of the Spanish Bourbons strove to introduce the tardy light of advanced civilisation into his dominions by the aid of such ministers as Grimaldo, Aranda, Campomanes, and Floridablanca ; and when the Jesuits were suspected of opposing his reforms, with a stroke of the pen one of the most powerful organi- sations in Christendom was abolished in Spain, its members sent into exile and its vast property confiscated. The Inquisition, which had overawed earlier Spanish monarchs, and the Papacy, which in the days of Spain's weakness had endeavoured once more to fix its grasp upon the Spanish Church, were made to understand that in Spain only one monarch henceforward would be allowed to rule in all things temporal and spiritual, namely, he who wore the crown by hereditary descent. It was despotism pure and simple, for the Cortes were practically dead, but it was, in the hands of Charles III., a beneficent despotism which forced upon the country, in despite of itself, the material and civilising reforms which peoples have generally to wring for themselves from unwilling governments. Fine coach-roads were run through the country for the first time, irrigation canals brought fertility to vast arid tracts of wilder- REFORMS OF CHARLES III. 5 ness, splendid public buildings sprang up in all the important towns, of which they still remain the chief ornament. The crushing burdens which had strangled agriculture and industry were partially lifted from them, and foreign artificers were brought to teach Spaniards once more the skilled handicrafts they had lost. The crowding of unproductive idlers into the church and the cloisters was discouraged, and locked- up wealth and lands in mortmain in the hands of religious corporations were, to some small extent, freed for the general good.^ Subsidised factories and heavy protective duties fostered the renascent national industries, and material prosperity smiled upon Spain for the first time for two centuries. But though Spaniards accepted, not unwillingly, their increased wellbeing, and bent their heads without open demur to the incomprehensible measures of their monarch, they looked with undisguised dislike at the spirit with which the reforms were pervaded. They had always been jealous of foreigners, but since the advent of Philip V. the French workmen and traders had swarmed upon them like locusts, well-nigh monopolising what was left of industry and commerce ;2 ' By the census of 1768 it is shown that there were in that year in Spain 15,639 parish priests ; other beneficed clergymen, assistant curates, and unemployed priests, 51,000; cloistered clergy, 55,453; nuns, 27,665; church servants, sacristans, and acolytes, 25,248. In twenty years the number of unemployed clergy was reduced by over 8,000, and the cloistered clergy by a similar number. - A census of foreigners in Spain was taken in 1791, when it was found that there were 13,332 French heads of families established in the country, as against 1,577 Germans and 140 English. The total number of domiciled foreign heads of families was 27,500, so that nearly half were French. 6 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. and against Frenchmen the hatred of Spaniards was exceptionally bitter. It happened that the new- fangled ideas of the King, and particularly of his minister, the rash and impetuous Count de Aranda, had reached them through France, which made their measures doubly unwelcome to the populace and to the privileged classes who especially suffered. The onesided " family compact," by which Spain and France mutually agreed to defend each other's terri- tories and interests, led Charles into the trap that his less able half-brother had avoided ; and a series of unpopular wars with England, in which Spain had everything to lose and nothing but Mahon and Gibraltar to regain, absorbed much of the increased revenue accruing from the improved financial ad- ministration. As Aranda himself foresaw and set forth in a most remarkable prophecy, the aid lent by Spain to the revolt of the English North American Colonies formed a dangerous precedent for the separation of her own colonial dominions, and pro- moted the establishment of a great Anglo-Saxon republic in America, which in time to come should oust Spain from her last foothold in the New World.^ Charles himself before his death, under the gentler guidance of the diplomatic Floridablanca, recognised his error in binding himself too tightly to France, over ' "This new federal Republic," wrote Aranda to Floridablanca, "is, so to speak, born a mere pigmy, and has needed the support of two powerful nations like France and Spain to win its independence. But the day will come when it will grow into a giant, a terrible Colossus. It will then forget the benefits it has received and think only of its own aggrandisement." COUNT DE ARAXDA. 8 CHARLES IV. AND GODOV. which and the ill-fated Louis XVL che clouds were fast gathering when the King of Spain breathed his last in December, 1788. For two years previously Floridablanca had resolutely refused to be drawn again into the vortex of war and trouble which was slowly encircling the rest of Europe, but he had continued the internal reforms which he hoped would render Spain able to withstand the coming tempest. He had against him the advanced pro- French and military party, led by Aranda and O'Reilly, as well as the discontented clergy and nobles who had suffered by recent changes, and he was begging for his retirement when the old King died. Amongst the Spanish people there was abso- lutely no breath of revolutionary feeling. Loyalty to the sovereign personally was a deeply rooted national tradition, and although their strong conser- vatism made them chary of welcoming innovations, it was the minister and not the monarch who was blamed for them. With skill and statesmanship in avoiding compromising entanglements, there seemed a better chance of stability for the Spanish throne at the time perhaps than for any other on the Continent. The high personal character of Charles III., his firm- ness, ability and justice, had contributed largely to this result. He was the first Spanish sovereign since Philip n. who had not been influenced by favourites, male or female, and although, as events proved, he lived in advance of his age and country, yet if his successor had possessed similar qualities to his own it is probable that many of the subsequent disasters, ACCESSION OF CHARLES IV. 9 which cast Spain back into ruin, would have been avoided. Charles IV. was proclaimed in Madrid in January, 1789. He was a simple, honest, kindly soul of forty, a man of scanty mental gifts, generous and easily led ; yet still with plenty of Bourbon obstinacy, and a high sense of his kingly privileges. He had married several years before his cousin, Maria Luisa of Parma, who had inherited to a greater degree than her husband the strong passions and imperious self-will of their common ancestress, that " termagant of Spain," Elisabeth Farnese, who had kept all Europe in a turmoil during the earlier years of the century. The new King was thus under the complete dominion of his wife, whose caprices, it will be seen in the course of this history, certainly did not help him to overcome the difficulties before him. These were many and pressing, especially those of a financial character. The expensive wars of Charles HI. against England, the consequent re-construction of the Spanish navy, and the many costly innovations in Spain and her Colonies had been paid for largely by money raised on treasury bonds to bearer for ;^8,ooo,ooo, and by the establishment of a National Bank of St. Carlos, and many finance and credit establishments and Chartered Companies to develop the Spanish Colonies. A vast amount of floating paper was thus put into circulation^ which, by the death of Charles HI., had greatly depreciated in value. The Banks and Finance Companies were mostly in a condition of semi-bank- ruptcy ; and the failure of the harvest, and the rigorous winter of 1788, had increased the almost universal 10 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. distress. The new King's first decrees^ were generous but unwise. Taxes overdue were remitted, bread and other necessary food was made cheaper by govern- ment subventions to producers of inferior qualities, and large sums of money were raised by the Treasury on unnecessarily onerous terms, which, however, sub- sequently turned out disastrously for the lenders. During the whole of the long reign of Charles III. the Cortes had only once been summoned, namely, when it was necessary to swear allegiance to the heir-apparent in 1760. A permanent deputation of the Cortes was supposed to exist in Madrid, in which the kingdom of Aragon was also represented, for the purpose of watching the expenditure of the excise, which was formerly voted by the representatives of the people elected by the Town Councils ; but to all practical intents the Spanish parliaments were dead, and only met once in a reign for the purpose of swearing allegiance to the King, and acknowledging the heir-apparent. For peculiar reasons, which will presently be explained, Charles IV. went beyond this in the Cortes summoned on his accession, and from his innovation results ensued which to the present hour divide Spain into separate camps, and have already brought upon the unhappy country two deso- lating domestic wars. With all pomp and ceremony on the 23rd of Sep- ' Charles's first decree, signed a few days only after his father's death, recognised all the vast floating debt incurred by the three previous kings, on condition that the holders should subscribe three times the amount of their claims to a new 3 per cent, loan secured on the tobacco revenue. As, however, this source of revenue was already over-hypothe- cated, the subscribers ultimately lost their money. THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION. II tember, 1789, the deputies met in the ancient church of St. Geronimo, and there took the usual oath o. allegiance. It had become customary to dismiss them immediately afterwards, to prevent them from asserting their ancient right to initiate legislation by address to the monarch ; but on this occasion a mysterious hint had been given in the summons that something else would be asked of them besides the oath. It was a dangerous time to try experiments of this sort, for the States-General in France had only three months before kicked over the traces, proclaimed a National Assembly, and taken the memorable oath in the Tennis Court which inaugurated the Revolution ; but Floridablanca, who still remained Prime Minister, and Campomanes, the President of the Council and of the Cortes, knew full well that subversive ideas had yet found no lodging in Spain. The deputies were therefore summoned to a special meeting, and to their surprise were required to take a solemn oath that they would keep secret the subject of their deliberations. When this had been done Campomanes divulged that the King desired them to present to him in the ancient form a representation asking him to abolish the decree of 1713, in which Philip V. established the Salic law in Spain, and to revert to the ancient Spanish rule by which females might succeed failing males of the same grade. No reason was given for the demand, and none was at first glance apparent, for the King had three young sons living as well as daughters ; but the change would naturally be a welcome ^one to Spaniards, for they still recollected that Castile's most glorious sovereign 12 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. had been a woman ; and the Cortes readily acceded to the King's wish, begging him to legaHse the enactment by publishing it as a decree. This he promised to do, but did not for reasons which will appear later ; and so the matter slept, the deputies and ministers keeping the secret inviolate. The Cortes had been so compliant that Count Campo- manes, the president, consulted them on other measures, with the object of checking the increasing entail of land, and encouraging the cultivation of estates held in mortmain; but the moment an attempt was made by some of the members to introduce petitions for reform of their own accord, they were hurriedly dismissed, and the Cortes came to an end. The reasons which prompted Charles IV. to request the abolition of the Salic law, and then fail to complete his part by publishing the decree, has given rise to much doubtful speculation ; but the most obvious explanation is probably the true one. The decree establishing the Salic law in 171 3 had laid down the rule that the heir to succeed must have been born in Spain. Charles IV. had been born in Naples, and although the condition just mentioned had been omitted from the codes printed in the reign of Charles III., it was still the law of the land, and rendered Charles's right to succeed questionable. On the other hand, there was no need to stir up the matter unless it was raised by others, and the King could at any time he thought fit perfect the new law by publishing it as a decree. France, moreover, was in a turmoil, and the King was drifting ever further away from the Assembly, which at one moment SPAIN AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 1 3 seemed to contemplate the possibility of adopting one of the Spanish Bourbons as their constitutional sovereign ; and it may have appeared unwise to Charles to accentuate points of difference between France and Spain by abolishing the Salic law estab- lished by his French grandfather. Floridablanca had continued for the first year of the new King's accession the reforms begun by Charles III., but he was an old man whose zeal was cooling. The excesses of the Assembly in France frightened him. He had been an advanced reformer for the greater part of his life, but if reform led to the subjection of sovereigns to lieges, to the storming of Bastilles, to inflammatory declamation in public places and the like, then he would have as little more of it as possible. His policy became consequently vacillating ; balancing between the dread of irritating the French Govern- ment, and thus aggravating the position of Louis XVI., and yet driven by his fears to adopt the most tyrannical measures to check the spread of advanced ideas. By a decree of April 12, 1791, all news- papers in Spain were suppressed except the Official Gazette, strict watch was kept on the frontier to prevent the passage of news or propaganda from France, and in July, 1791, a monstrous decree was published which brought upon Spain the protests of all Europe. Every foreigner in Spain, resident or traveller — and we have seen that a half of them were Frenchmen — was to swear allegiance to the King of Spain and the Catholic religion, and renounce all claim or right of appeal for protection to his own nationality, under the most atrocious penalties. Whilst, 14 UHARLES IV. AND GODOY. on the one hand, he was showing his fear of the French Revolution, and refusing to recognise the sovereignty of the people proclaimed by the Assembly (July, 1789), Floridablanca was, on the other, appealing to the family compact to claim armed French aid against England in support of Spain's pretension to the possession of the whole of the west coast of North America. The Assembly acceded to the request, but a pacific arrangement was made by means of a personal interview between Charles IV. and the English ambassador, and fortunately hostilities did not ensue. The impolitic appeal, however, to a revolutionary government tied the hands of Spain, and rendered the other Powers suspicious of her ; it was indeed at this period, and not later, as is usually asserted, that the weak, fast-and-loose policy of Spain towards France, which afterwards caused so much disaster, was inaugurated, and Floridablanca and his master must bear a fair share of the blame, all of which is usually heaped upon Godoy. The position, it is true, was an extremely difficult one for Charles IV. The chief of his house, the King of France, insulted and held in duress by his subjects, was in ever-growing danger. Ties of blood and common family interest naturally led the King of Spain to try to save him. And yet he dared not go too far, for the National Assembly was in no mood to brook foreign interference, and Spain was not in a condition to undertake a war. The French emigres were unceasing in their efforts to enlist Europe in aid of their King, and so far as expressions of s^^mpathy were concerned, they had SPAIN AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. I 5 not much difificulty. The declaration of Pihiitz, and the agreement of the Bourbon princes to avenge any further ill-treatment of Louis XVI. after the flight and arrest at Varennes (June, 1791) had both been preceded by long and wearisome negotiations; and much precious time was lost before any action could result from them, owing to the divergent interests of the Powers, their jealousy of England, and the ineptitude and instability of the unfortunate Louis XVL himself Floridablanca, slow and hesi- tating, and depending to a great extent upon the guidance of the Empress of Russia, was negotiating with the Emperor Leopold and the King of Prussia for a joint invasion of France in the interests of Louis, when (September, 1791) the latter accepted the constitution and notified the fact to the European Powers. The Emperor and the other potentates accepted the declaration without open question, in order not to further aggravate Louis' position, but Floridablanca, without the knowledge of Charles IV., to whom he rarely spoke of foreign affairs, alone haughtily declined to acknowledge the notification sent in Louis' name as constitutional King of the French, until he had quite satisfied himself that the change had been made freely by Louis' own wish. The French Government were furiously indignant, and Floridablanca was made the scapegoat. When Charles was remonstrated with by the French and Austrian ambassadors for the danger in which the action of his minister placed Louis, he told them that he now heard of it for the first time. Florida- blanca's wise attempts to check the evils of land- l6 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. entail, administrative extravagance, and ecclesiastical abuses in Spain, had set against him all the vested interests in the country, and he fell (February, 1792), to be replaced by the impetuous Count de Aranda, who was infatuated with France and all that belonged to her. He flew to the opposite extreme and embraced the Revolution without condition or safeguards, and the signatories of the declaration of Pilnitz, Austria and Prussia, entered into the war alone for the rescue of the Bourbon sovereign of France. But events moved quickly. Louis was imprisoned In the Temple (August, 1792), and the Prussians were routed at Valmy and Jemappes ; the Terror was in full r.wing, lusting for the blood of tyrants the world over, and calling upon the enslaved peoples of Europe to r-hake off their fetters. The Assembly, insolent with the victory over the Prussians, instructed their ambas- sador — Bourgoing — in Madrid to demand of Spain either a binding alliance or the alternative of war. Aranda's eyes were opened ; Spain was in financial straits and unprepared for war : but for the Bourbon sovereign of Spain to be forced into alliance with the revolutionary Government which was trying the head of his house for his life was a bitter pill indeed. For some weeks previously the possibility of joining the alliance of the other Powers against France had been discussed by Aranda and the Council of State, and it was practically decided that Spain should join the coalition and invade France over the Pyrenees. The threats of the French Government, however, and the fears of Charles for the life of Louis in the Temple paralysed action, and another attempt was made to E- z w o X H 00 K H O Q C a; o S o es Q < s 5 ^ Ui Q < as D 1 8 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. mollify the raging National Convention. The Spanish minister proposed a treaty of neutrality, and the French were inclined to listen. But the terms they demanded were bitterly humiliating for the Spanish Bourbons to accept. Aranda and the French am- bassador, with great acrimony and recrimination on both sides, were endeavouring to come to terms, when suddenly, on November 15, 1792, without warn- ing, the aged Prime Minister received his dismissal from the King. The position was known to be extremely critical, needing the highest qualities of statecraft, if Spain was to preserve her peace, safety, and honour ; and the sudden dismissal of Aranda left the country aghast. What could it mean ? asked the gossips of the Puerta del Sol with bated breath. There was only one answer, whispered with frowning brows and glances of indignation : " The Choricero." ^ When Floridablanca had fallen, the same power behind the throne was said to have caused the change, although Godoy himself afterwards denied the fact; and stealthy murmurs ran, even then, that the bad times of the adulterous Queen Mariana and the vile favourite Valenzuela had come back again. But when the announcement was made that the experienced and dignified Count de Aranda was to be replaced by General Don Manuel de Godoy, Duke of Alcudia — the Choricero himself — disgust and indignation were only restrained from open expression by the traditional ' Godoy received the nickname of the Choricero — the sausage-man — in consequence of his being a native of Estremadura, where the breed- ing of swine is the principal industry. Most of the sausage-makers in Spain are, or pretend to be, Estremefios. FISE AND RULE Of GODOY. 1 9 respect of Spaniards for the throne, and their love for the goodhearted, fatherly gentleman whom they called king. A word is necessary before we proceed further as to the rise of Manuel Godoy, who was thus at the age of twenty-five called to the helm of State at per- haps the most difficult crisis of his country's history. Few historical characters have been the object of so much adulation and so much vituperation, both equally undeserved, as Godoy. In England and Spain, especially, it was perhaps natural that the man whose baseness and ambition were said to have dragged his country to the feet of Napoleon, and to have caused the Peninsular War, should have been held up to execration ; and the most absurd fables with regard to him were circulated in both countries, and are still copied from book to book. All the bitter memories associated with him are dead now, and we can look upon his career with an impartiality denied to our grandfathers. When he was an old man, living in dire poverty and oblivion in exile, he published a vigorous refutation of the attacks that had been made upon him ; but it fell upon deaf ears, for it came too late. He had waited loyally till after the death of the King and Queen, who had loved him to the last, had unsealed his lips ; he had waited until his arch-enemy the false Fernando had ended his unworthy life, and when at length he spoke there were few living who cared ; for the world was a new one and Manuel Godoy was forgotten. That he was entirely unfit for the task thrust upon him may be at once conceded ; but it is given to few men to perceive their own in- 20 • CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. sufficiency, and with wealth and honours crowding upon him by the irresistible passion of the Queen ; with flatterers and suppliants hailing him as a heaven-born genius, with kings and potentates court- ing him, it cannot be surprising that Godoy, a mere half-educated lad, should accept complacently the goods the gods showered upon him, and do the best he could under the circumstances according to his lights. He would have been more than mortal if he had spurned his good fortune, and insisted upon remaining a private guardsman. He had come to Madrid at the age of seventeen, the son of one of those small gentlemen in the pro- vinces living humbly, idly, and proudly on the poor independence furnished by their ancestral lands. They scorned commerce and industry, and thought more of their coats-of-arms than the coats on their backs ; there was little for their sons to do but to seek their fortunes in the career of arms, or in the house- hold of statesmen. Manuel's elder brother was already in the King's bodyguard, and the lad had sufficient interest also to obtain admission to the corps. The members were all of noble birth, and ranked as officers, doing duty in the passages and antechambers of the palace and as escort to the sovereigns. This was in 1784 or 1785, and the young gusi'dsman soon caught the fancy of the Queen. The absurd fables of his enchanting her with his guitar-playing and singing may be dismissed, but he must have been very handsome, for in his decrepit old age his bearing was extremely graceful, and the Queen fell in love with him, although she was old enough to be his mother. i EL Ex.-.S..])UOUI-: DE I A MXT1>L\,| MANUEL CiOUOY, AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF HIS MINISTRY, 22 Charles iv. and godoy. He himself naturally avoids all mention of this, and ascribes his elevation to the desire of the King and Queen to have at their right hand a minister of their own making and entirely devoted to them. The ministers, they said, of Louis XVI. had played him false, and the same might happen to them. A minister of their own raising would probably be more faithful. This, no doubt, was the King's idea ; and was in strict accordance with the old Spanish system of the great Emperor and of Philip II. ; but the choice of Godoy for the position was that of Maria Luisa, who had already caused the lad's promotion to a grade which brought him into direct contact with the royal family before she began the education which was to fit him to be Prime Minister. In 1790, when he was only twenty-three, he was always present at the confidential interviews between the King and Queen and the ministers ; and Maria Luisa en- couraged him to display his wit and acuteness in political conversations with the King, who was soon persuaded by his wife that this was the raw material out of which their own model minister should be made. Before he was twenty-five he was rapidly advanced, successively to be a Knight Commander of Santiago, Exon of the Guards, Adjutant-General of the Guards, Lieutenant-General in the Army, Grand Cross of Charles III., Duke of Alcudia, Grandee of Spain, Knight of the Golden Fleece, Gentleman of the King's Chamber, and, as we have seen, Councillor of State, and Prime Minister on the fall of Aranda in November, 1792. He found the condition of the country truly de- SPAIN AND LOUIS VI. 23 plorable. It has been shown that the mass of the people were entirely out of sympathy with the reforming zeal of Charles III. and his ministers ; the Church and the nobles went further, and were to a large extent actively antagonistic. The excesses of the French Revolution had, moreover, frightened the reformers themselves, and the inevitable financial collapse of the edifice of credit reared by Charles III., depending, as it did, upon public support and sym- pathy, came when the tide of reform sank to its ebb. Godoy in his apology, written when he was an old man, passionately points out the difficulties which he, an inexperienced youth, had to face at this junc- ture. From motives of economy the army had been allowed to dwindle to 36,000 ill-equipped men ; for Floridablanca's fear, and Aranda's dislike, of England had caused all the money to be spent on the navy. War with France was now almost inevitable, there was no reserve in the treasury, and the revenues were inelastic, for the gross evils of land-entail and idle Church endowments still condemned much of the potential wealth of the country to lie waste. The moneyed classes were distrustful of the tax-collector and hid their resources ; and, notwithstanding the efforts that had been made by Charles III. and his enlightened ministers, Spaniards of all ranks con- tinued to look upon trade and industry as unworthy ; - and crowded into the idle and unproductive careers of the State service and the Church. The first problem for Godoy was how to save the life of Louis, and yet escape the humiliating conditions imposed by the National Convention as the price ^4 CHARLES IV. AND GODOV. of peace between France and Spain. The course adopted was probably that of Charles IV. and his Queen, rather than that of their young minister, for it was characteristically Bourbonic. Unlimited credit was sent to the Spanish ambassador in Paris to bribe the members of the National Convention, and vast sums were squandered in this way. With the draft of a treaty to Paris went a mild and timid request that the life of Louis should be spared, and Pitt was cautiously approached by Godoy with a suggestion that England should join in the request, a course which Pitt refused to adopt, although urged thereto by the Whigs. In vain Aranda solemnly warned Godoy that if Louis were executed in despite of Spain's remonstrance, war would be inevitable, and begged him to be cautious ; but Charles IV. was determined to save his French cousin at any cost, and the prayer of Spain was laid before the Convention, with the draft treaty, in the last days of December. Charles offered to recognise the new government ; nay, even to acquiesce in the deposition and exile of Louis, and to give hostages for his future behaviour ; and simultaneously to sign the treaty of neutrality and mutual disarmament. Lebrun, the minister of Foreign Affairs, was suspicious that the treaty was to be used merely as a lever to save Louis' life ; but many of the leaders of the Revolution were heavily bribed by Ocariz, the Spanish ambassador ; and for a moment after the prayer for the King's life was read to the Convention, the answer seemed to hang in the balance. Then up sprang fiery Thuriot. "Away," he shouted, "with kings and their influence. Let .•J ]VAJ? WITH FRANCE. 25 not the foreign ruffians, the crowned brigands, dare to threaten the majesty of the people, or form cabals against us." His furious eloquence carried the Con- vention with him, and the Spanish King's prayer was ignominiously rejected. The draft treaty was altered by the Convention in a sense still more favourable to France, and sent back to Spain for reconsideration ; but still Charles and Godoy pocketed the insults, for the sake of the life of Louis. Once more, indeed, whilst the votes of the members were being counted to decide whether the King was to die, Ocariz, the Spanish ambassador, made a last appeal for mercy for Louis on any conditions. He had bought, as he thought, a majority of the Convention, and again it seemed as if the last penance of the unhappy King might be spared. But gloomy Danton overawed them all, and the die of death was cast. Thenceforward war between France and Spain could hardly be avoided. Godoy plaintively protests that it was not his fault. Perhaps it was not, but it has become a fixed article of faith that the war was of his making, and his memory bears the burden to all eternity. Bourgoing, the French ambassador in Madrid, de- manded the ratification of the neutrality treaty, and the disarmament of Spain, but was told that nothing further could be done until some sort of apology was made. The Convention was not in an apologetic mood, and war was declared by France on March 7, 1793 ; Barrere in the name of the Committee of National Defence announcing that the Bourbons must be extir- pated root and branch. All Floridablanca's panic- prompted measures to suppress revolutionary teaching 26 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. were cast in the teeth of Spain ; all the efforts of Charles to save Louis, all Godoy's approaches to England, were cited by France as pretexts for war. The Convention had assumed the role of universal emancipator of peoples ; but the Spanish nation did not desire emancipation, and the war was popular on both sides of the Pyrenees. In Spain the hoarded millions were poured out into the hands of the King to be spent on the war.^ The Church, the nobles, the populace vied with each other now ; for it was no longer a people sulkily bending their heads to reforms forced upon them, it was the whole nation flying to arms to fight the spirit of reform itself in the hideous and exaggerated shape which its Spanish opponents had always foretold it would assume. The Spanish nation was ablaze to wreak vengeance on the French money-grubbers who had well-nigh monopolised the work in their towns, and whose countrymen in Paris had insulted and trampled on their faith and murdered the anointed of the Lord. Enthusiastic as were the people, however, the organisation and equipment of the army were as bad as could be, and though great commanders sprang, as if by magic, to lead the hastily raised hosts of France against the Royalists and the armed coalition ' ^e Pradt says that whereas France had under the Assembly only contributed five millions of francs for the defence of the country, and that England at the commencement of this very war of 1793 only pro- vided forty-five millions, the amount of money voluntarily subscribed by Spaniards at this juncture reached the great total of seventy-three millions, or nearly three millions sterling. The Archbishop of Toledo alone gave ^^250,000 ; and the contributions in men, horses, arms, and stores from the nation at large were as generous as the money gifts. IV A J? WITH FRANCE. 2y of Europe which was advancing to destroy the Revolu- tion, no such good fortune attended Spain, where for centuries the system of government had discouraged individual initiative. With prodigious activity the armies of the Republic faced and vanquished its foes on all sides. A Spanish army of 3,000 men in April, 1793, crossed the Pyrenees into Rousillon, capturing place after place and marching upon Perpignan. But the general, Ricardos, had left his rear unprotected, and General Dagobert, with a large French force, slipped behind him and overran the north of Cataluna. All through the summer hard fighting continued on both sides of the frontier, without decisive result, whilst the French Royalists, besieged in Toulon, were reinforced by a Spanish fleet in union with the Eng- lish fleet under Hood. But jealousy and mutual recrimination took place between the Spanish and Eng- lish admirals, the Republican land force outside was overwhelming, the youthful genius of Napoleon was already making itself felt ; the allies abandoned the besieged city — for which the Spaniards mainly blamed Hood, whom they accused of utter disregard for the lives and interests of the Royalists and the Spaniards. Much, however, as the latter resented the burning of the Royalist ships by Hood inside the harbour, and the destruction of the arsenal, it unquestionably left England mistress of the Mediterranean when Toulon fell into the hands of the Republic. Before the new campaign of 1794 commenced Charles IV. called a council at Aranjuez to review the situation. In it the aged Aranda read a paper strongly reflecting on Godoy's conduct of the war, and advo- 2S CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. eating a modus vivendi with France. Hot words, almost blows, ensued between Godoy and Aranda in the King's presence. An insult to the favourite was regarded by the infatuated Charles as an insult to himself. He received Aranda's humble apology with rag-e, and within an hour the old minister was being hurried, without preparation, to his prison in remote Jaen, never again to enter the councils of his sove- reign • although Godoy claims for himself the credit of subsequently obtaining his release from close con- finement and from the threatened prosecution of the Inquisition. The campaign of 1794 was from the beginning disastrous to the Spaniards. First the brave and dashing General Ricardos died, and his successor. Count O'Reilly, also died before he could assume command. The new general, Count de la Union, was out-manoeuvred by Dugommier, and his lines of com- munication cut. The Spaniards were disorganised and routed and re-crossed the Pyrenees in May, fol- lowed by Dugommier. All through the summer the fighting continued on the Spanish side, and in Sep- tember the one French fortress in Spanish hands, Bellegarde, surrendered after a three months' siege. In November the Spaniards were finally routed with enormous loss, both La Union and Dugommier fall- ing , the strong Spanish fortress of Figueras sur- rendered treacherously and all Northern Spain was at the mercy of the French. The Spaniards were equally unsuccessful at the eastern end of the Pyrenees in Guipuzcoa and Navarre ; and only with the greatest difficulty could fresh Spanish forces be raised to MANUEL GODOY, TRIXCE OF THE PEACE. {At the time of his fall.) 30 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. recommence the campaign in the spring of 1795 ; for the country was now openly murmuring against the inglorious results of Godoy's government. The French army had crossed the Ebro and threatened Madrid. The cold fit had succeeded Spanish ardour ; and now that Robespierre had lost his head, the Republic itself, under the Directory, became less violent and blood- thirsty. Mutual approaches therefore took place and peace was signed in July, France evacuating Spanish soil, whilst Spain ceded to the Republic the Spanish part of Santo Domingo. The peace was generally popular in Spain, although it has always been characterised by the enemies of Godoy as a shameful surrender. Seeing that the coalition of the northern Powers had broken up, and that French armies were strongly established on Spanish soil, it is difficult to see how better terms could have been made. Godoy himself points out that at least Spain retained her frontiers and her institutions intact, which some of the other Powers did not. In any case, Godoy was the only person who gained directly, either by the war or its conclusion, for the title of Prince of the Peace re- warded his efforts, and the disgust of the people at large against the Choricero grew deeper and deeper as such instances of the Queen's infatuation and the King's apparent compliance multiplied. At this distance of time it seems that Gcdoy was not so much to blame for concluding the peace as for the deplorable policy he followed immediately after- wards. England was still at war with the Republic, and looked frowningly upon the terms of the peace which deprived her of an ally. The increase of French IV A J? WITH ENGLAND. 3 1 power in the West Indies, moreover, did not suit her, and matters became strained again between Spain and England, which had never forgotten the aid of Charles III. to the United States. In the circumstances, therefore, it would have been common prudence for Godoy to have assumed a conciliatory attitude towards England and to have preserved complete neutrality. Instead of this, immediately after peace was signed, he began making approaches to the Republic for an offensive and defensive alliance in anticipation of a war with England. The Directory, eager to secure the aid of the Spanish fleet, readily embraced the opportunity and Godoy signed, in August, the disastrous treaty of San Ildefonso, by which exhausted Spain found herself again face to face with England, the great naval power which alone could seriously injure her. To be dragged at the tail of France was bad enough when family ties and mutual interests bound the two despotic sovereigns together ; but for the Spanish Bourbon to make common cause with the revolutionary government, which could in no way serve the interest of Spain, was nothing less than suicidal.^ What wonder that thenceforward French statesmen should treat Spain contemptuously as a tool to be used as best suited them ? On the 6th of October, 1796, Charles IV. declared war against England, raking up all old grievances — not ' There is every reason to believe that Godoy's extraordinary policy at this juncture was prompted by intrigues emanating from Paris, of which he was the dupe. He was persuaded that the Republic could not long endure ; and the raising of a Spanish Bourbon to the throne of France was the bait he swallowed, probably with the hope also of an independent principality for himself. 32 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. forgetting Hood's quarrel with Gravina at Toulon — to serve as a pretext. Even then England signified her willingness to make peace with both Powers, if the cession of Santo Domingo to France was rescinded ; but the Directory would not give way, for General Bonaparte was making his triumphal march through Italy, ^'''^d everywhere the arms of France were vic- torious. The first action in the war against England was disastrous for 'Spain. The Spanish fleet, in b^d condition and poorly manned, but apparently power- ful, consisting of 25 line-of-battle ships and 10 frigates, on its way to Cadiz to refit, was met by Admiral Jervis off Cape St. Vincent, with 15 sail, on the 14th of February, 1797, and utterly routed, with the loss of five of the finest ships under the Spanish flag. In July Commodore Nelson made an attempt to repeat the exploit of Essex at Cadiz two hundred years before and burn the ships in harbour ; failing in which he made an equally unsuccessful dash upon/ Tenerife. In the West Indies the English were some- what more successful, capturing Trinidad, although failing in Porto Rico and Central America. Thus far Spain only had suffered disaster from the war, for in no case had she anything to gain except by a treaty of peace with a defeated England. Of this there seemed no probability, notwithstanding the threatened invasion of Ireland, for anarchy was again prevailing in Paris, and Napoleon's hands were full in Austria and Italy. When the Emperor Francis was obliged to open negotiations for peace (April, 1797), Godoy's emis- saries were refused by France all participation in the SACRIFICE OF SPANISH INTERESTS. 33 negotiations. This was a serious rebuff, but much greater was it when, on the opening of the abortive negotiations between France and England at Lille, Spain was entirely deserted by her ally, excluded from the conference, and her claims against England not even promoted. Notwithstanding her protests, Gibraltar and Trinidad still remained in the hands of the English. Spain's pretensions to the sovereignty of the West Coast of North America were treated with contempt, and in view of the rapidly rising star of Napoleon, Godoy and his king must have been blind if they did not see that they had been hoodwinked and cheated. Thanks to Bonaparte's brilliant dis- obedience to the Directory, he forced a peace upon Austria (October 17) by which France gained Bel- gium, the Rhine provinces, Mayence, the Ionian Isles, and most of Northern Italy, whilst the independence of Venice was sacrificed to Austria; and the whole power of the Republic and its satellites, Spain and Holland, was free to be employed against England, whose ally Portugal, even, had been forced by Godoy to abandon her, on renewed threats of a French inva- sion. Spain in the meanwhile was being dragged more and more at the tail of the Republic. The Duke of Parma, the brother-in-law of Charles, found the new Cis- Alpine Republic (Modena) established by Bona- parte, an unquiet neighbour to his ancestral domains, and the Directory for some time endeavoured to force him into resigning his duchy in exchange for Tuscany or else for Corsica and Sardinia, whilst Charles was to surrender to France Louisiana and Plorida. But the 4 34 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. terms of the Directory were not acceptable to any of the parties concerned, and the matter slumbered, until the troops of the Cis-Alpine Republic overran the duchy of Parma, and proclaimed the deposition of the duke. The latter was willing then to accept the ex- change previously offered. But it was too late, and he was forced instead to receive a French army into his territory and his pay, nominally to uphold him. In vain Charles and the duke protested. The French troops were in Parma and there they stayed. Another instance of the determination of France to use Spain as an instrument to her ends was the intrigue set on foot when Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt was being secretly planned. It was suggested by the French Government that the Grand Mastership of St. John, which meant the sovereignty of Malta, should be granted to Godoy, in whose favour the constitution of the order should be altered, and the rule of celibacy abolished. Charles IV. seems to have approved of this plan for further elevating his beloved favourite, but the Prince of the Peace had no wish to be separated from his patroness and refused the offered sovereignty, although to make him the more worthy of it the King and Queen had conceived the idea of marrying him to a member of their own family, the eldest daughter of the King's brother, Don Luis, i which marriage actually took place in September, to the outspoken indignation of the people, Godoy being already married to ^ Dofia Josefa Tudo. The discontent of the Spanish people against Godoy " The Infante Luis had married morganatically Dona Maria Teresa Villabriga y Drummond. SACRIFICE OF SPANISH INTERESTS. 3^ was indeed becoming threatening. The hope of the crown of France for a Spanish prince was now seen to be illusory ; Spanish interests had been openly dis- regarded by the Directory. In Portugal, where it had refused to ratify the treaty of peace laboriously negotiated by Godoy ; in Parma, where the sovereignty of the duke had been treated with contempt ; in Rome, where the Pontiff had been deposed from the throne of St. Peter, in the peace negotiations with England ; everywhere Spain had been sacrificed in the eyes of the world. Godoy had therefore somewhat intem- perately urged the French Government to fulfil their part of the bargain : and they had retorted by setting on foot intrigues to remove the favourite from his offices. This was no doubt the prime motive of the offer of the sovereignty of Malta, and when that failed other means were tried. Godoy's enemies were many, and he understood that his position was precarious. He attempted to appease the Directory by eager anticipa- tion of their wishes. He ordered the Spanish fleet to leave Cadiz and engage the English squadron under Lord St. Vincent, and promised to expel the French emigres from Spain, but he could not satisfy his hard taskmasters. The French ambassador, Truguet, almost insolently urged upon poor overburdened Charles to dismiss Godoy: the enemies of the favourite whispered to the King distrust and suspicion: even the Queen, it is said, had temporarily fallen in love with another guardsman named Mallo, and all presaged the early fall of the favourite. Another personality, moreover, was gradually gathering ro\md it those who for various reasons 36 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY were dissatisfied with the present order of things. Godoy had some time previously recommended to the King as tutor to the Prince of Asturias, the heir to the crown, a certain Juan de Escoiquiz, a Canon of Zaragoza, a man of some small literary attainment, who behind a mask of sanctity concealed immense cunning and unlimited ambition. He lost no opportunity of placing conspicuously before his pupil every fact which could tell against Godoy, and very soon established a complete dominion over the mind of the youth. Round the young prince the clever tutor managed to gather all the enemies of the favourite, and even ventured to attack Godoy to the King himself under the veil of a discourse which he presented to Charles. But this was too much, and he was suddenly dismissed from Court and sent to Toledo, where he carried on still an active clandestine corre- spondence with his former pupil and the leaders of the popular party against Godoy. All these instru- mentalities at length succeeded in bringing about the downfall of the minister. He artfully tried to parry the blow by bringing into his ministry, just before his own dismissal, the illustrious literary genius, Caspar Melchior de Jovellanos, and the almost as talented Francisco Saa^cdra; but to no purpose, and on the 29th of March, 1798, Madrid went mad with joy at the news that the Choricero was no longer a minister. The decree relieving him from the Secretaryship of State and the command of the Guards is couched in the most flattering terms. It was only, it says, at Godoy 's repeated requests that the King had con- sented to part with him, but he was " still to enjoy all RETIREMENT OF GODOY. 37 his honours, pay, emoluments, and privileges," and the King emphatically expresses his gratitude and satis- faction with him. Godoy, indeed, says that only by great pressure could he obtain his dismissal, which at last Charles gave with tears in his eyes. But the gossips — and some people of far more importance — told a different tale. Charles's mind they said had been so influenced that he at first signed a furious decree of proscription against Godoy and even thought of putting him to death, from which he was only dis- suaded by Jovellanos and Saavedra for reasons of State. If such was the case the mood did not last long, for though Godoy was nominally dismissed he hardly ceased for a month to exercise the same power as ever over the King and Queen, although the ministers, Jovellanos and Saavedra, bore the responsi- bility, and bitterly resented the illegitimate interference of the favourite. Matters soon became too irksome for Jovellanos to bear. Both he and Saavedra fell ill of a mysterious malady attributed to poison, and the great writer with delight turned his back upon the corrupt Court and resumed his duties in far-away Asturias (August, 1798), Saavedra remaining Prime Minister, with Don Luis de Urquijo as Secretary of State, and Cayetano Soler in the Ministry of Finance, whilst Don Jose Caballero replaced Jovellanos in the Ministry of Justice. Saavedra, warned by the fall of Godoy, and determined not to incur the anger of the French Government, at once became the obsequious servant of the Directory and its representative Truguet. The emigres were rigidly expelled from Spain 38 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. without exception, the introduction and sale ot English merchandise were prohibited under crush- ing penalties, and even the priests were sternly warned that they must avoid any expression offen- sive to the susceptibilities of the neighbouring Republic which had persecuted the Christian faith and martyred its ministers. Base and undignified compliance could go no further than the address of Azara, the new Francophil Spanish ambassador to the Directory (May, 1798), assuring them that: "The changes which have occurred in your government, instead of weakening the ties which bind my master to you, only render them stronger than ever." This was from the pre-eminently Catholic king who had jeopardised his own country to save the life, if not the crown, of his French kinsman ! Spain was humble enough now for Napoleon to be certain that he need fear no opposition from her to his vast project of making the Mediterranean a French lake, and Egypt the high-road to a French empire of Hindostan. Early in June the island of Malta surrendered to the conqueror without a blow, and on the 1st of July Bonaparte's great expedition sighted Alexandria. How Egypt was conquered and over- run this is not the place to tell, but in the midst of the triumph came the fell news of the Battle of the Nile (August i, 1798). Nelson had just missed Bonaparte at Malta, but crushed his fleet in Aboukir Bay and caught him in a trap. The Spanish Bourbon King of Naples immediately threw off the French tutelage that galled him and SPAIN AND THE DIRECTORY. 39 opened his ports gladly to Nelson and his fleet ; Russia and Turkey joined England against France ; Austria more slowly came round to Pitt's suggestion of a universal league against the turbulent disturbers of Europe, and adhered in March, 1799. Portugal, too, now governed by the Prince of Brazil, who had married a daughter of Charles IV., openly braved France and added its squadron to the English fleet. This was a fresh blow to the Spaniards, who had struggled hard and long to bring about a reconciliation between Portugal and the Directory, and sometimes had seemed on the verge of success, but English influence and money had always in the end prevailed ; and now Spain, exhausted and poor as she was, saw herself bound in unnatural union with the Republic during its great struggle against all Europe. Naples, Portugal, and the Bour- bons everywhere were on the side of the monarchies against an infidel, anarchical, unpopular, and dis- credited government. Charles IV., almost alone by his ignoble compliance and his silly ineptitude, found himself on the wrong side. He tried desperately to bring about peace, and in every capital in Europe Spanish ambassadors pleaded for an arrangement, but without effect. Beaten by the French troops, Ferdinand of Naples took refuge on Nelson's ships (January, 1799), and the Spanish King had the baseness to supplicate the conquerors to give his brother's crown to one of his own sons, in order that he might hold it as the humble servant of the French Republic. The more cringing became Charles IV., the more exacting became the Directory. In vain 40 CHARLES IV. AND GODOY. the allied Powers offered the Spanish king ships and men to enable him to shake off the yoke, in vain Russia threatened him with war if he did not (July, 1799). Charles, blind to the interests of his country and his order, clung with increasing servility to those whose very existence was a negation of the right of kings to rule. The explanation of the extraordinary infatuation of Charles IV. can only be found in his continued belief, at the prompting of Godoy, in the possibility of the French adopting himself or his son as their king. The Directory itself was tottering to its fall, for the fresh reverses sustained by the French in Italy and on the Rhine had completed its unpopu- larity : intrigue and unrest were rife in Paris, the frontiers of France itself were threatened, and when three members of the Directory resigned (June, 1799), it looked for a moment as if the dream of Charles IV. might possibly come true. But the arrival of Bonaparte in Paris in October, 1799, soon put an end to such idle visions. The " man and the sword " were both there at the psychological moment when all around them institutions were crumbling. " Vive Bonaparte ! " greeted him on all sides, and the coup d'etat of 18 Brumaire (November 10) decided the matter. The Legislature was expelled at the point of the bayonet, the prating doctrinaires and corrupt politicians gave way to the stern soldier, and by the end of the year 1799 Napoleon was installed as first Consul in the Tuilleries, a more absolute despot than any Louis of them all. To this pass had the servile pusillanimity of SPAIN AND NAPOLEON. 4I Charles IV. brought Spain in eleven years. Tied to the triumphal car of victorious anarchy and atheism, the proudest and most Catholic monarchy in Europe had sacrificed its own interests more absolutely than it had done in the darkest days of its history to the imperious ambition of Louis XIV., with the result that the sole reward for its baseness was to find itself obliged to look for sup- port and friendship alone to a usurping despot, to whom all crowns and all men were merely pawns in the play of his own unbounded ambition. From the actions of Charles IV. in the first twelve years of his reign the subsequent disasters that fell upon his unhappy country m a great measure sprang. o II. SPAIN AND NAPOLEON — " CLAY IN THE HANDS OP^ THE POTTER." In the preceding chapter we have sketched the pohtical position of Spain in the last years of the eighteenth century : we will now briefly glance at the material, moral, and financial condition of the nation at the same period. From a great variety of causes, which need not here be set forth, the population of Spain had steadily declined from the time of the Goths, when it was very numerous, down to the first quarter of the eighteenth century. The emigration to America, the constant foreign wars, the crushing of industry and agriculture by unwise taxation, the expulsion of the Jews and Moriscos, and the consequent absence of food for a large population, had reduced the inhabitants of Spain at the opening of the eighteenth century to eight millions. The long War of Succes- sion had, by the year 171 5, further brought down the numbers to six millions, the lowest point ever reached. The efforts of the Bourboif kings and their reforming ministers to lighten the pressure of 42 CONDITION OF SPAIN. 43 taxation, and to re-establish Spanish industry and commerce, however, soon produced effect, and in 1768 the population had increased to 9,307,000, and again on the accession of Charles IV., 1788, to 10,143,000, whilst the inhabited villages and parishes had risen in number from 34,530 in 1768 to 39,300 in 1788. This improvement had been largely owing to the promotion of industry by th€' Government, the continued discouragement of the flocking of idlers into the Church and religious houses, the severe laws against vagrancy. The food of the people had been cheapened by the facilitation of transport, by the opening of roads and by the abolition of local tolls and duties on merchandise in transit, and, above all, by the enactment of free trade in grain, the forbid- ding of speculative forestalling of breadstufifs, and the establishment of five thousand public granaries to supplement supply in times of scarcity (1789). The persistent attempts of the reformers to check some of the crying abuses with which the Church afflicted Spain had in the same period reduced very considerably the number of unproductive ecclesias- tics, who for centuries had been absorbing much of the national riches and giving nothing in return. In 1768 there had been — In 1788 — Secular Clergy 66,687 60,240 Monks ... ... ... ... 56,457 ....;. 49,270 Nuns and Friars 27,665 22,337 Assistant Ministers 25,248 I5;875 Total 176,057 147,722 The decrease, therefore, of unproductive and un- fruitful persons under this head alone in the twenty 44 SPAIN AND NAPOLEON. years (1768 to 1788) was no less than 28,335. The process continued uninterruptedly under Florida- blanca and Godoy, until the whole population reached 1 2,000,000 in the first year of the present century. But great as had been the improvement in this respect it had only been attained by the cease- less efforts of enlightened ministers to force upon an unwilling people measures which ran counter to their traditions and prejudices. The Spanish nation had two centuries before been forced into sloth, and it had grown to like it, so that the task of the reformers was a hard one. Mendicants and vagrants, airing their deformities and crying for alms in the name of the Virgin, still found their profession profitable, for the people sympathised with them if the law did not. Tradition was still strong against the hard, patient toil of the husbandman, and the fear of the rapacious tax-collector still survived. Hardly a hamlet in Spain lacked its church or monastery school, where the peasants' sons could learn the scraps of Latin which made them scorn the spade and sickle, and crowd into the lazy ranks of the Churchmen or the formidable army of " preten- dientes," seekers after Government offices, who are still the bane of the country. The seventeen uni- versities of Spain opened their doors wide to the poorest class of students, 90 per cent, of whom adopted study simply as a mask for idleness and mendicancy ; living on the doles of food at the monastery gates — for which purpose they carried in their hat-brims the traditional wooden spoon — begging at the street corners on the pretence of a CONDITION OF SPAIN. 45 need to buy books, or earning, by occasional menial service in private families, enough to eke out their profits from begging. The number of persons claiming nobility, too, although they had decreased by one-third in twenty years (1768- 1788), reached the enormous total of over 470,000 at the end of the period, and most of these lived idly or unproduc- tively. It had always been a feature of Spanish life that persons of all ranks above the lowest were surrounded by a disproportionate number of more or less dependent domestics, and it was calculated that at the end of the period under review at least 276,000 of such relatively unproductive persons existed in Spain. It will thus be seen that, hard as the reforming governments had striven, they had not at the opening of this century penetrated very deeply into the inert mass of national tradition. It may be interesting to notice a iew of the measures by which even partial improvement in the condition of the people had been brought about. The alcabalas, or taxes of 14 per cent, upon all merchandise every time it changed hands, which had killed Spanish industry, had already been largely commuted for fixed local quotas, but were still grievously oppressive. They were now abolished altogether upon sales at first hand, and very greatly reduced upon subsequent sales, and the taxes on the principal articles of food (the millions) were also lightened, and the incidence was equalised by the imposition of a 5 per cent, income-tax on rents and revenues from land, and 2 or 3 per cent, on the rent of the holdings to be paid by tenants. The splendid 46 SPAIN AND NAPOLEON. system of high-roads inaugurated by Charles II L had been nearly completed by the end of the century, and for the first time travel in Spain became easy and safe. Inns were established on the principal highways under Government subvention, and on the initiative of Floridablanca regular stage-coaches were started at the risk of the Government in 1789 on the various main routes, and a post service organised from Madrid to Bayonne twice a week. The coach with six passengers occupied, it is. true, a period of six or seven days on the journey from the capital to the French frontier ; but even this was an immense advance upon the adventurous journey on muleback which had up to that time been the only mode of travel or communication by land with the rest of Europe. The further to encourage industry a great number of skilled foreign artisans were introduced and estab- lished in factories under Government subvention, each master being bound to take and teach a number of Spanish apprentices ; the tyrannical con- trol of the ancient trade guilds {gremios) over their respective crafts was limited, whilst bounties were given to Spanish shipbuilders ; timber, hemp, and other materials for the industry were allowed to be introduced free of duty, and export duties on Spanish merchandise were abrogated. The antiquated and oppressive privileges of the Mesta were curtailed and subsequently abolished, and the vast tracts of common pasturage turned to more civilised use.' ' This peculiarly Spanish institution, which had existed for ages, con- sisted of a powerful chartered association of graziers, who were < X O o