The whole was performed with out resistance and without bloodshed, by means of the great ascendancy of the commander over the minds of his troops, but the expedition was totally disconcerted; the mutinous troops could not be trusted, and the regiments by whom they had been disarmed had only been bribed to render this piece of service by the promise of count Abisbal that they should not be embarked for South America: the conduct of this general himself incurred suspicion, and he was dismissed from his command. General Elio continued to pursue his measures for the suppression of conspiracy in the kingdom of Valencia with a keenness which produced not discontent alone among the inhabitants, but resistance on the part of the local magistrates; several of whom were thrown into prison on their refusal to execute the commands of the military governor. The dungeons of the city became so crowded with political delinquents, that it was found necessary to transfer some of the number to Murviedro. Torture is said to have been applied to one of the prisoners on his refusal to acknowledge the words which he was accused of having uttered by one of the secret agents of the police, who had treacherously drawn him into discourse on public affairs. The Inquisition, which had lent itself without scruple to the political enterprises of the government, was invested with the superintendence and control of all the other magistracies.

The scourge of pestilence was soon after added to all the otheɩ

evils of this distracted country, The yellow fever declared itself at Cadiz in the month of August, and spreading to Seville and other towns in the south, committed horrible ravages, some particulars of which will be found in our Chronicle articles.

The king, who had become a widower at the close of the preceding year, issued on August 12th the following decree, rendered worthy of preservation by the extraordinary style in which it is expressed.

"The supreme tribunals of the capital, the deputies of my kingdom, the different municipalities, several religious communities and many other corporate bodies, have represented to me how advantageous and necessary it would be to the well-being of the nation in general, and to all Christendom, to preserve by means of a new nuptial union the legitimate succession of the throne upon which Divine Providence has placed me. I have listened with favour to the just desires with which all these bodies are animated, and have yielded to their ardent wishes; and considering the high nobility of the Saxon blood, and of the most serene princes who compose that august family, the alliances, ancient as well as recent, that adorn it, the particular attachment that his majesty king Frederick Augustus has always entertained for the crown of Spain, and above all the rare and sublime qualities which heaven has granted to the most serene princess Maria Josephine Amelia, his niece, daughter of the most high and most puissant prince Maximilian, and of the most serene

princess

princess Caroline Maria Theresa, of glorious memory; I have chosen Don Ferdinand de Aguilar y Contreras, marquis of Cerralbo, that he should go and propose to that monarch my hand and my throne for the said princess. Having then imparted to his majesty and her highness my sovereign intentions, they have testified with profound veneration how agreeable such an union would be to them, as also to all Saxony. I now inform the council thereof, that it may be apprised of it, and share the satisfaction which this new union creates in me, from which I trust will ensue conse

quences the most favourable to the Catholic religion and my subjects."

The new queen arrived safely in Spain in the following month. It was hoped that on this joyful occasion an act of grace would have sanctioned the return of a portion at least of the exiled patriots; but conciliation formed at this period no part of the policy of Ferdinand VII; and in answer to certain solicitations on this subject, a confidential minister of his majesty drily answered: "This affair must be left to time."

CHAPTER

promised to their subjects constitutions and a representative system. The boon was eagerly claimed; and in all those countries where national councils were actually convoked, their proceedings exhibited a frank and bold spirit which recalls the ancient times of German liberty. In other states, where the formation of a constitution was delayed from time to time, and no summonses were issued, according to general expectation, for the meeting of national assemblies, the people, or at least the educated of the middling class, grew jealous, gloomy and perturbed; a fanaticism of hatred and revenge against the instruments of despotism took posses-. sion of many young and ardent minds, and in two instances broke out in deeds of blood. The German potentates became at once exasperated and alarmed; and the measures of chastisement and repression by which they have judged it necessary to encounter the revolutionary principle, form the chief theme of historical narrative for the period here treated, which we now proceed to survey more in detail.

HANOVER. The states of the kingdom of Hanover were assembled in the month of January, and immediately proceeded to recommend some very important reforms. Torture was abolished on their suggestion, and the regency consented to take into consideration their proposal for doing away the use of expurga. tory oaths in criminal Cases. They presented a remonstrance against a decree forbidding actions to be instituted for the

payment of the arrears of interest of the royal chamber, declaring themselves ready to pay such arrears; a step which had the immediate effect of raising the value of the paper currency; all confidence in which had previously been lost in consequence of the above decree. The states also petitioned that the army might be reduced from 30,000 to 17,000 men; and this suggestion, notwithstanding an unequivocal wish expressed from England to the contrary, was so far complied with, that the standing force was finally fixed at 20,000. The next great question debated was :whether the nobles should share in the liability of the third estate to contribute to the public burthens ? The deputies of the nobility, apprehensive on this occasion of being outvoted, sought to evade a decision by quitting the chamber; the deputies of the third estate alone not amounting to 52, the number legally necessary for dispatch of business: but this stratagem was defeated by one of the deputies of the third estate, who, placing his back against the door, detained the 52nd member till the proposition was carried in the affirmative. The prince regent (his royal highness the duke Cambridge), obtained the thanks of the chamber by declaring that all the estates under the administration of the chamber of convents, should in future be separated from the civil list, and applied exclusively to the support of schools and churches. The chamber, however, expressed a wish that these estates should be placed under its superinten

dence,

dence, and that accounts of the employment of their revenue should be annually presented to it. Near the close of the session, in April, a message was read from the regent stating, "That it is not the plan to make great changes in the constitution, according to which the states have the right to grant taxes, and to share in the legislation; partly because experience has shown the utility of this ancient constitution of the country, and partly because constitutions introduced upon merely theoretical principles will never be so advantageous as those which have been gradually formed according to the wants of the state."

The following sketch has been given of the most important rules according to which the representative assemblies of Hanover will in future be constituted.

In the second chamber will be the members of the board of taxes who are not noble; 3 deputies from the administration of ecclesiastical property; the deputies of the smaller abbeys; one deputy from the university of Gottingen; 29 from the cities; and 22 from the possessors of free estates who do not belong to the equestrian order. The hereditary land-marshal (and in his absence the president of the chief board of taxes), presides over the united chambers. Each chamber proposes three of its members, from whom the sovereign selects one to be its president. The diet meets every year; the members are elected for 6 years, but may be re-elected: no persons will ever be admitted to hear the debates.

The propositions from the sovereign are to be addressed to both chambers: if their decisions do not agree, an union is to be attempted by a commission chosen by both, to which commissioners from the sovereign may be added, to promote an agreement. It is necessary in propositions from the state that both chambers should agree.

In November, the provincial assemblies met to elect deputies to the general diet of the kingdom; which sat on Dec. 28th for the first time in its new form as two chambers.

Wirtemberg. The sovereign of this kingdom leans to popular principles, and in the struggle between the privileged orders and the citizens at large of which his country has been the scene, has evidently taken part with the latter. The states-general assembled at Stutgard in January; and prince Paul, the king's brother, whose property had long been sequestered, whilst he himself lived in a kind of banishment at Paris, received a notification that his revenues would be restored, and that he was expected to appear at the opening of the diet in quality of heir apparent. It seems that the pretensions of the mediatised princes and nobility, who lately held directly of the empire, opposed some obstacles to the reconvocation of the states; and the king appointed a commission to treat with them respecting their claims. They did not at first evince a very tractable spirit; but the perseverance of the king surmounted all difficulties; and in September, the plan of a constitution was ac

cepted