NEWS OF THE WEEK.
HAVING said farewell to the unsatisfactory session of the British Parliament, we follow the changing scene, and find events in Spain arrived at a crisis of "most admired disorder" and politician- puzzling perplexity.
At length there are ample details of the revolutionary move- ments at St. Ildefonso and Madrid. The guards of the Palace forced the Queen to adopt the Constitution of 1812. On the night of the 12th instant, about eight o'clock, they began to show symp- toms of mutiny in their barracks, outside of the wall which sur- rounds the Royal Palace and garden at St. Ildefonso. On the first appearance of disorder, the iron gates of the garden were closed, and the troops of the garrison within the gates were ordered to their quarters ; but upon the guards outside advancing with cries of "Live the Constitution, and Isabel the Second unto death!" they left their quarters, and making common cause with their comrades, obliged their officers to deliver up the keys of the gates. The whole of the troops stationed at St. Ildefonso, except the cavalry and the body guard of the Queen, then arranged themselves in ranks, and moved up to the Palace, the bands playing patriotic tunes and the men shouting "Live the Constitution !" The number of these soldiers was eleven hundred ; but four more com- panies made their way into the gardens in another direction, and drew up close to the "back front" of the Palace. For some time there was nothing but noise and confusion; but towards midnight, a deputation front each company, consisting of a sergeant, asor- poml, and two privates, were admitted into the Queen's presence. They fiercely told her Majesty that she must choose between the adoption of the Constitution of 1812, and the massacre of every- body in the Palace. The parley lasted about three hours. The soldiers were not to be cajoled, and gained all they demanded. With the aid of the Mayor of La Granja and General SAN ROMAN, the Queen drew up and executed a decree, adopting the Constitu- tion of 1812 until the meeting of the Cortes. Wine was distri- buted among the soldiery; and after an interval of drunken jollity, most of them fell asleep, and by half-past four all was quiet. The next morning, "the Stone of the Constitution" (which is made of wood, by the way) was placed in the square before the Palace; and the officers, who joined the troops at the Queen's command, swore fidelity to the Constitution,—that is, they cried out "Live the Constitution !"
These events soon became known at Madrid ; where the Ministers, having received the Royal decree for proclaiming the Constitution, were occupied in council, assisted by QUESADA, Captain-General of the capital. They considered the Queen a prisoner in the hands of the soldiery, and her acceptance of the Constitution to be therefore invalid. The Park. a large fortified Louse formerly occupied by GODOY the Prince of Peace, was pro- visioned and garrisoned as if to withstand a siege ; a considerable quantity of cannon being always deposited there. The troops could not be spared or trusted to march to St. Ildefonso; so the Queen was left at the mercy of the insurgents. There was no disturbance in Madrid on the 13th; but on the 14th, Sunday,
crowds of persons were collected in the Puerta del Sol, an open space in the centre of the city, where the principal streets meet.
About twelve o'clock, a tumultuous cry of "Live the Consti- tutiou!" broke forth, as if by concert, from the multitude. Orders had been given to the military by QUESADA, to fire upon the people who uttered any cries in the streets ; hut the Foot Guards, who were ou duty at the Post-office, only examined the primings of their muskets, and the Cuirassiers allowektheir horses to be pushed back by the populace when they made a show of charg- ing them. A soldier raised the Constitutional cry, which was taken up by the Cavalry. BARUTELL, the commander of the
Foot Guards, ordered his men to follow the example ; the Na- tional Guards, who had been disarmed and disbanded by QUESADA, "fraternized" with the regular troops ; and it appeared that the Constitutionalists had gained the day in Madrid. The rip- (LATEST EDITION.] pearance of fresh troops, marched by QUESADA'S orders into the Puerta del Sol, and the arrival of QUESADA himself at the head of' a body of dragoons, overawed the people and the mutineers. QUESADA. dispersed the crowd without bloodshed, though a few were knocked down, and trampled upon by the horses. He ordered the commander of the Cuirassiers to his quarters, and the compromised troops to follow him ; and they obeyed. Some of the populace reassembled, and cried " Death to Quesada !"—he turned round and faced them, and they ran away. In passing through the streets where similar cries were uttered from the windows, he halted, and looked to the quarter whence they came. A shot was fired, and a brickbat hurled at him ; but lie suffered no injury. About five hundred National Guards concealed themselves in the Church of St. Ba- silio, intending to sally forth on a favourable apportunity. QUE- SADA. brought up a hundred men, and planted a piece of artillery against the door, giving those inside five minutes to surrender : they opened the door within the time allowed, and nearly one- third of their number were sent to prison. Cannon were placed ill the streets and squares ; the principal thoroughfares were blocked up by large bodies of soldiery ; the inhabitants remained within their houses ; and on Sunday night the whole of Madrid was completely in the power of QUESADA. While these operations were going on, ISTURITZ, G A LI ANO, and others of the Ministry, re- mained in the Palace of Madrid, helpless and alarmed ; especially GALIANO, who is represented as being in a state of great trepida-
tion, weeping, and entreating ISTURITZ not to allow him "to be dragged through the streets by an infuriated people."
But the success of QUESADA at Madrid was of little avail, as long as the Queen Regent was in the power of the insurgents at St. Ildefonso. MENDEZ Via°, the Minister of War, arrived at that Palace on Sunday morning. After holding a consultation with the Queen, he told the sergeants, corporals, and the men who had played so conspicuous a part on the previous night, that it was necessary for the Queen to go to Madrid, whither they might accompany her. The soldiers made no objection ; and MENDEZ VIGO told Mr. VILLIERS, the English Minister, and M. Bois LE COMTE, who had arrived from Paris on a special mission, and acted for the dying RAYNEVAL, that the Court would depart for Madrid at five in the afternoon. But almost immediately after the sergeants and their comrades had left the Minister, the sen- tinels at the gates were doubled; only soldiers were allowed admission within the Palace garden-walls ; and the Queen was confined to her apartment, and strictly guarded. It appeared that intelligence from Madrid had made the soldiers suspicious of treachery. The Queen Regent had warned VIGO, that the pro- posal to remove her to Madrid would end in the conversion of her palace into a prison : and she was right. The commander of one of the revolted regiments, at the instance of VIGO, tried to per- suade the men to march to Madrid; and they all promised to march, but in a few minutes changed their minds. The Minister harangued them, to as little purpose; then returned to the Queen, and held a consultation with her, Mr. VILLIERS, and M. Bois LE COMTE. The result was an assurance that the English and French Ministers were ready to guarantee the execution of the Queen's decree for establishing the Constitution, if her Majesty were only suffered to go to Madrid. Still the soldiers would not give way. They said that they suspected treachery : they de- manded that the arms of the National Guards of Madrid should be returned to them; that the National Guards should come to St. Ildefonso, or at least meet them half-way, and enter the capital in triumph with them; and that the Ministry should be imme- diately changed. No reply was made to these demands. VIGO, about six o'clock in the evening, attempted to return to Madrid ; but he was stopped, turned out of his carriage, and ordered to walk back again to the Palace. The soldiery became very unruly towards night. They wandered drunk about the town of La Granja, robbed several houses, and jumped from the pit of the theatre into the orchestra, where the officers were sitting,—saying, that now they were every bit as good as the officers. In the course of the night, however, they sent a deputation of sergeants, headed by GARCIA, the chief of the revolt, to the Palace, to insist upon their terms being granted. After a struggle they succeeded. General SEOANE was appointed Captain-General of Madrid, in the place of the bated QUESADA; CALATRAVA was made President of the Council ; FERRER, Minister of Finance; GIL DE LA CUADRA, of the Inte- rior ; ULLOA, of Marine ; RODIL, of War. Articles of agreement were drawn up and signed by the Queen and the sergeants at the Palace ; and VIGO, with a deputation of sergeants, again set out for Madrid for the purpose of executing them. When they reached the gates of the Palace, however, the whole party were stopped. The soldiers about the gate said they were betrayed, and would go and tell the Queen so. VIGO, the sergeants of the deputation, and about twenty soldiers, by no means sober, then went to the Queen. A musician of the Provincial Guard was the,
orator of the insurgents. He said that the Minister of War
should not be suffered le go to Madrid, till the decrees were actually put in force. The Queen complained that they would not trust
even their own deputation; adding, that she had never deceived
them, and never would. One of the soldiers said that she had deceived him—she had promised him a cross of honour, which he never got.
The Queen replied, that her Generals must have been in fault ; for she always intended to keep such promises. The musician then told the Queen, "It was no use her talking—he wanted to see the decrees." They were shown to him, formally sealed, and packed up; and the Queen told VIGO to read them. The sergeant GARCIA then exclaimed—" Your Majesty, it is time to tell it : / made this re-
volution ; I planned and executed it ; / commanded every thing : and now these scoundrels distrust me ! this is the payment I get !" He burst into tears, and flung himself on a chair. Vino
read the decrees: the soldiers said all was right ; but wished that VIGO should not go to Madrid—that the sergeants should go without him. After much ado, they were persuaded at last that
it was necessary for Vino to accompany them : the musician was added to the deputation ; and the meeting was concluded by a gallant soldier insisting upon kissing the Queen's hand, and de- livering, rather indistinctly, a long speech about his loyalty and the blood he had shed for her husband and her daughter.
In the evening, Sergeant GARCIA and his comrades amused themselves with reading the letters they found in the Royal box, which they had seized. One from the mother of MUNOZ, to the Queen, is said to have entertained them excessively. The despatches and diplomatic papers were forwarded to the parties for whom they were intended, but much torn and very dirty.
The next day a detachment of troops from Segovia with some can- non arrived at La Granja. Sergeant GARCIA, in his foraging-cap
and jacket, covered with ribands of Constitutional green, went out to meet them in triumph. They marched up to the Palace, and made the Queen with her two children come to a balcony to salute them. Soon afterwards, GARCIA, finding that the men disobeyed him, resigned his command to an officer of the Royal Guards.
The decrees signed at St. Ildefonso were promulgated in Madrid on the morning of Monday the 15th. The people rejoiced exceed- ingly; but demanded the heads of ISTURITZ, GALIANO, and
QUESADA. RODIL, the new Minister of War, said that they had escaped ; but QUESADA, who had endeavoured in vain to conceal
himself in a carpet-warehouse in Madrid, was seized at a village called Hortaleza, a league and a half from Madrid ; whither he had fled attended by two servants. The National Guards of
Hortaleza killed one of his attendants, and put QUESADA into
prison. The news of his capture soon reached Madrid ; and a crowd of about three thousand persons immediately went to Hortaleza, discoursing on their way on the admirable Spanish practice of executing summary justice on great offenders. One of the party was an officer, who entered QUESADA'S prison, and said, that if he could produce instructions from ISTURITZ for what he had done, his life might be spared. QUESADA replied, that he had ample instructions in his office at Madrid ; and that if he had performed half of his instructions, Madrid would then be in a blaze..
The crowd soon interrupted this conversation. They broke into the prison, murdered QUESADA, and mutilated his body in the most savage manner. His ears and fingers were exhibited in Madrid by the National Guards, amidst songs and cries of " Liberty !" Boys and girls went about the streets repeating kering verses on his death.
Madrid was illuminated on the nights of the 15th, 16th, and 17th of August. In the evening of the 17th, the Queen arrived from St. Ildefonso, and was greeted with apparent enthusiasm by an immense concourse of people, assembled on the Prado. There was no disturbance or attempt at riot. The Madrid Gazette of the 16th announces some additional Ministerial appointments ; but they are merely provisional. The meeting of the Cortes, which was to have been on the 20th of this month, has been in- definitely postponed.
For most of the above particulars we are indebted to the copious correspondence of the Morning Chronicle. It is seldom
that so minute and apparently authentic an account of the cir- enmstances by which a great political revolution was immediately effected, has been supplied within a few days of the events them- selves. But we look in vain for any explanation of the latent causes of the movement. It does not appear that the Government meditated any outrage on the liberties or privileges of the people. The war against the Carlists, even supposing Carlism to be un- popular in Spain, had not been more disastrous under ISTUR1TZ than under MENDIZABAL ; and the prospect of an effectual inter- vention on the part of France was close at hand. We have seen
no account of any political excitement in any of the great cities. The cry for the Constitution of 1812 is only a sign of discontent; for
it is most certain that the parties who have effected this revolution —namely the uneducated soldiery—are incapable of comprehending the nature and probable operation of a system of government laid
down in 377 articles. They appear, however, to have vague notions of its being something better than the present. Probably, too, they had instigators among the adherents of the displaced MENDIZA- -HAL Ministry ; though we cannot find the name of any person of n:te implicated in the insurrection at Madrid and St. Ildefonso- the assertion of the Morning Post, that MENDIZABAL promoted the movement with a view to overtloow a Ministry preparing to call him to account for peculation, Testa upon no given authority. The soldiery at St. Ildefonso were a mere drunken rabble, short of pay, and excited probably by the perflarmanee of a drama called A Day of Revolution at Paris," on the evening of the 13th of August. All these circumstances combined, are insufficient to account for an insurrection which, we suspect, cannot properly be termed a national movement. Had that been its character, it is all but certain that MINA would have put himself at the head of it ; whereas he appears to have discouraged, in his province of Cata- lonia, all attempts at imitating the example of other parts of Spain. In a very cautiously-worded manifesto, he advises the Queen to pay attention to the wishes of the people, and laments the dismissal of MENDIZABAL, but abstains from any enthusiastic commendation of the Cadiz Constitution.
We must wait for the real, which at present is the secret, his- tory of the causes of the late revolution; merely observing, that the misery of the bulk of the Spanish people, and the wretched public morality that prevails among those calling themselves statesmen, are sufficient to render any political change not impro- bable at any time. The materials for insurrection against the best Government abound in Spain.
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