It is true that the French, by repeated edicts, have declared they will make the Spaniards who are in subjection responsible for every injury which they receive from the guerillas, and so far as these decrees are enforced, so far the guerillas may be said to occasion the additional exactions which the people suffer; but to whom is this to be imputed, and upon whom will the indignation of the injured fall, but on the primary authors of all the miseries of Spain? There are very few parts of the peninsula in which the enemy can possibly enforce their own abominable laws. The experiment of nailing the patriots alive to the oak trees of Guadarrama has not been repeated since the Empecinado took down the bodies of his murdered comrades, and fastened up the same number of their murderers to fill the same forest with their groans. Notwithstanding this dreadful retaliation, and notwithstand ing the maddening wrongs which the Empecinado has suffered, both he and Mina are distinguished for their humanity: the latter has even personally escorted his prisoners to the sea

coast, to deliver them safely into British custody. On some occasions exchanges have taken place between the guerillas and the French, though none has been effected between the two governments.

To follow the atchievements of these indefatigable leaders would require an historian like Froissart, or his more noble and more delightful contemporary, Fernam Lopez. Should they survive to give us their own memoirs, the life of Scanderbeg himself would not present a series of more daring enterprizes, incessant danger, and hairbreadth escapes. Whatever may be their fate, whether they fall in the field, rot in the dungeons of the tyrant, perish, like Hofer, by his executioners, or, like Captain Wright and Mariano Alvarez, by his midnight murderers, or whether they survive to enjoy in peace the blessings and the rewards of their grateful country, their names will ever be distinguished in her annals, and they will take their place in the popular songs of Spain with Bernardo, and the Infantes of Lara, and the Campeador.

2 N

VOL. III. PART I.

WHILE the peninsula in every part, from the Pyrenees to the Pillars of Hercules, was filled with mourning, and with all the horrors of a war carried on on the one side with unexampled cruelty, and on the other with proportionate hatred, the Madrid Gazette spoke with the most ridiculous affectation of public diversions, and public projects, as if the people of Madrid, like the Parisians, were to be amused with plans of great works upon paper, and entered into the affairs of the theatre and opera with perfect forgetfulness of the miseries of their country. The gazette had now its regular portion devoted to theatrical criticism, but the numbers of the audience and the accounts of the theatre were no longer published: needy as the intrusive government was, it kept these places of amusement open, in the spirit of Parisian policy, taking its erroneous estimate of human nature from man in his most corrupted state. Schemes of education were hinted at, and for the encouragement of literature, the unction which such miserable men as Cabarrus and Urquijo laid to their souls; endeavouring by these fallacious promises to cheat

themselves, as well as their countrymen,-into a persuasion, that their treason might be palliated by the motives which had induced them to become the partizans of France, when France professed herself the friend of liberty. Canals were projected, when the couriers of the intruder were not safe even at the gates of Madrid; and the improvement of agriculture was announced, while, at the same time, circular letters were sent from Joseph's mock ministers to the generals and military governors, urging them to prevent the destruction of the vines and olives by the troops : it was confessed, that for want of fuel the soldiers had resorted to these means, but it was promised that this ruinous course would not be continued, if the peasants would be careful always to provide them at the places appointed with wood of their own cutting.

Spain also, like Italy, was to be despoiled of its works of art. Joseph gave orders that a selection of the best pictures should be sent to Buonaparte, to be placed in one of the halls of the Napoleon Museum, as a pledge of the union of the two nations. This robbery did not excite

the indignation of the people so much as a decree, directing that the bones of Cortes and Cervantes, and other eminent Spaniards who were buried either in or near Madrid, should be translated with great pomp to the church of St Isidro. The Spaniards observed that it was part of the system of the intrusive government to mock the people with pompous pro-, jects, which were never to be realised. They remarked also, that though it was known in what churches some of these illustrious men had been interred, their graves could not be ascertained; and they asked whence the money was to come for this promised translation, when the intruder could pay none of his servants, and wanted Funds for things of the utmost necessity. "These difficulties, however," they said, "were of little importance, inasmuch as the decree, like many others, was intended to figure in the gazette, and for nothing else. Nevertheless," they continued, viewing the subject with natural and honourable feeling, "it excites our indignation that they, who are endeavouring to degrade us, should affect this vene, ration for our ancestors; that they should talk of honouring the illustrious Spaniards, who omit no means for debasing Spain, and subjecting her to the infamy of a foreign yoke."

But the most remarkable of the intruder's acts, was the promise of convoking the cortes. "It was long," his partizans said, "since the junta had promised to do April 18. this, and amused the nation with vain hopes; but

Spain was to be indebted for this be nefit to her new sovereign, and the prospect had already excited the most lively sensation throughout the whole country." It must have been the intention of the intrusive government at this time, by calling a cortes of its own, conformably to the mock con. stitution of Bayonne, to take off the attention of the Spaniards in those parts of the country which the French occupied, from the true cortes; and that this intention, after having been thus announced, should never have been carried into effect, is a striking proof how well the traitors, who were ostensibly at the head of Joseph Buonaparte's councils, knew the insecu rity of the puppet whom they served. Almost the last paper which issued from the royal press at Seville, was an edict, declaring in what manner the members of the cortes should be chosen. Upon this subject the central junta had solicited the advice of all the Spanish universities, and public bodies, and many memoirs, replete with erudition and patriotism, had been received in consequence. Great difficulties had been apprehended from the obscurity in which the forms of the old cortes were involved, as well as from the different forms observed in the different kingdoms, which had each their own. It was wisely remarked by the university of Seville, *that these things were matters of historical research, not of practical importance,-there was now neither time nor necessity for the inquiry; the present business of the government was to convene the re

corregidor of the district, which was to be within eight days after the primary election, the parochial electors should assemble in the principal town of the district, and form a junta, over which the corregidor and the bishop, or if there were not a bishop's see, the ecclesiastic of highest rank in the place presided. The testimonials of the electors were to be scrutinized; the same religious ceremonies to take place, and twelve persons to be chosen in the same manner, to appoint one or more electors for the district, according to its extent. They might chuse them out of their own number: but any persons born in the district, and resident in it, were eligible, though they were not among the parochial electors. The business was to be transacted in the consistory, and a record of its proceedings deposited among the archives; a copy of this was sent to every parish, and to the capital of the kingdom or province, where the final election took place.

Here the electors of the district were to assemble. A junta should have been previously constituted here, consisting of the president of the superior junta of the province; the archbishop or bishop, regent, intendant, and corregidor of the city, and a secretary. It was presumed that these persons would all be members of the provincial junta; if, however, this was not the case, they were called to this duty by virtue of their rank, and an equal number of members of the junta added; this proviso being intended to secure to the provincial junta that influence to which their services entitled them, for which their experience qualified them, and which it might not have been easy to deprive them of, even if it had been thought desirable. The board thus appointed, were to see that the primary and se

condary elections were made throughout the province. After the same religious observances, and the same scrutinies as on the former occasions, the final election was to be made. The person proposed must be a native of the province, but it was not necessary that his property should be there: nobles, plebeians, and secular priests, were equally eligible; no other qualification was required, than that the person should be above five-and-twenty, of good repute, and not actually the salaried servant of any individual or body.

In this final election, the first step was to elect three persons successively. A simple majority was not sufficient in this stage of the business; it was required that more than half the electors should vote for the same person, and the voting was to be repeated till this should be the case: three having thus been chosen, the ultimate decision was left to chance; their names were to be placed in an urn, and he whose lot was drawn, was the deputy to the cortes. A fourth was then to be elected, whose name, in like manner, was submitted to the lot with the two which had been left undrawn, and this was repeated till the whole number of deputics for the province was chosen. Supplementary deputies were then to be chosen, who were to take their seats in case of any vacancy by death; the supplementaries were, as nearly as could be, in the proportion of one to three; but this proportion could only partially be observed, for the province which only sent one deputy required a supplementary, and that which returned four required but one also. The whole number of provincial deputies amounted to 208; that of the supplementaries to 68.

The provincial juntas were to choose