Transcription
Madrid Friday January 6h 1843.
[STAMP OF SHR, black ink, illuminated candle graphic]
My dear Papa,
If you have read the English or French Papers, you will have / seen that the late events in Spain have attracted much of their attention and / been the subject of warm and even angry discussion _ As I well remember that / with all my efforts at home, I could only get a confused idea of what was / passing here, you shall have the benefit of my being a looker-on, and in some / degree behind the political curtain.
The events of every day convince me that the affairs of this / Nation must become more and more entangled before they can arrive at / a well-ordered Government, and this operation going on before one’s eyes in / a land, where every thing, public or private has a sort of melodramatic / air gives a deep interest to political movements.
The English Minister Mr. Aston, who is inactive who is an active, clever man / has been putting every spring in motion to obtain from the present Rulers, / a commercial Treaty, by which the English Manufacturer, _ now prohibited + / of course smuggled into the Country _ should be admitted [^ at] a very moderate duty. /
With the Executive branch he is supposed to have succeeded completely and / in October last while I was in Andalusia, rumors were very current that a / treaty had been actually signed, and would be presented to the Cortes at the / session which was to commence on the 14 Nov’r_ IN Catalonia where the / Manufactories are chiefly situated, and which has always been a turbulent / excitable province, these reports created naturally great excitement and / joined to the arbitrary acts of Gen’l. Zurbano, who commanded one of the princi - / pal Towns, caused a decided feeling of hostility to the existing Gov’t. _
On the Eve of the 14h of Nov’. a quarrel at one of the Gates of Bar - / celona led to an affair with the Guard which in the excited state of the / populace soon spread into a general insurrection _ It is now asserted by one / party that French emisaries were the cause of the outbreak; but tho I / believe the French agents had been for some time at work fanning the /
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Discontent of the lower orders, It appears to me evident that the beginning of the / affair was accidental _ when once however the struggle had commenced the national / Militia united with the people, and after two days of hard fighting, drove the Troops / from the City with great loss, and compelled the Citadel and another fort to surrender. / There still remained Monjuich [sic - Montjuic], a Fortress overlooking and completely commanding / the Town; but with the news of the success of the Revolters, there also came intelligence / that this last stronghold was almost destitute of provisions and ammunition _ In / this emergency Mr. Aston, as I knew at the time, promptly sent orders to the vessels of / War at Gibraltar to proceed without delay to Barcelona to succour Monjuich, and / the Regent himself after confiding the safety of the Queen and of the City to the / National Guard of Madrid set off for the scene of action with all the troops that could / be spared from this section of the country _ Before the nNglish vessels arrived, Zurbano / had fought his way into Monjuich with supplies for the Garrison, and the troops [ ^ beginning] began / to assemble from other districts, threats were repeated from day to day to bombard / the Town, unless it should promptly surrender _ The Insurgents, tho they received very / little aid from the other parts of the province, continued to hold out until at / length on the 3d of Dec.’ the batteries of Monjuich opened upon the City and continued their fire for thirteen houres [sic] _ several public Buildings were destroyed, but no lives / lost, a few persons only being wounded. _ During the confusion of the bombardment / the members of the “last Junta” (for there were several during the Insurrection) embar - / ked in the French + other vessels in the Harbour, and made their escape, and the City / had been for several hours at the mercy of 3 or 4 thousands desperadoes, who were / fighting amongst themselves, when the Inhabitants surrendered at discretion and the / Troops marched in _ Espartero who had arrived some days previously did not him - / self enter the Town, remaining at Sarria (a few miles off) quite unwell _ Van / Halen the General commanding, caused 14 men shosen by lot from a Company which lad / been most conspicuous in the revolt to be shot the day after the entry, and these are / the only executions, it is believed, which have taken place _ A new Captain General / who has the reputation of being a stern soldier, has been appointed to rule over the / refractory Catalans, and to aid him in keeping under subjection their sullen and / discontented temper, large bodies of troops [^ have been] are concentrated in the Province.
A few days after the Surrender Espartero set out on his return / to Madrid, which he entered in full military pomp on the 1st of January _ His
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Reception by the People was very cold and in marked contrast to his former triumphal / entries _ This evidence of the apathy or dislike of the People is said to have had much / effect upon him _ The Diplomatic Corps called on him in a body in the [?Col?] but he / was confined to his bed, and of course could not receive us.
In spite of the outcry and abuse which has been lavished on the / bombardment of Barcelona, it appears to me that it was after all the best way to / reduce the Town: In comparison with the probable result of an assault, the event / has shown that it was [^ by] far the most merciful course. It is impossible that a popu - / lous City should be captured at the point of the bayonet by an army exasperated / by a recent defeat within its streets, without great slaughter, and the situation / of the pRovince was too critical, if other reasons had been wanted, to wait for / the slow process of reduction by famine, in which too the suffering must / fall chiefly on the innocent and defenceless. _
Such is the domestic history of this affair, and the consideration / connected with with I will now show you how Englad + France are connected with / what they call “the crisis in the Peninsula ''.
As the Catalonians oppose with great vehemence any approach to a treaty, / with England; to aid the Government of Espertero to triumph over this opposition is / to remove one of the chief obstacles in the way of a Treaty; _ This Mr. Aston has done / as I have said by sending ships of war with supplies; but this open connection / and armed assistance in suppressing a rebellion has roused the feeling / the Spaniards, who are exceedingly sensitive in regard to foreign interference, and / so strong has been its influence, that tho the whole of SPain with the exception of / Catalonia, has could be directly benefited by a Treaty of Commerce, the prospect / of its [^ being] accomplished, seems now to be more distant than ever.
[sideways STAMP OF SHR, in black, illuminated candle graphic] The French Consul in Barcelona, was very active on several / occasions during the Commotion, and in some instances certainly behaved very well / in saving the families of both parties alternately _ Prejudiced however as the Spanish / Govt and its agents were against those of France, they saw or thought they saw in what / he did the evidence of a direct participation in the movement: This they were so Indir - / [rect?] as to publish to the world in their official Gazette thereby making a most / serious charge against the French Govt _ this has given rise to many conferences + / negotiations in Paris, and the English + French Govts have been it is said very /
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Busy upon this subject _ as soon as the charge against the French consul the / reached Paris, the French Govt by way of answer immediately sent him the cross / of the Legion of Honor, which has since been extended to the Commander of the / French Squadron on that Coast, and I learn that two days since, the French / chargé here, the Duke of Glucksberg, called upon the Secretary of State to require an / apology, or explanation of some sort, when he was requested to make his demand / in writing; and there the matter stands at present.
But this is not all: at the last session [^ of the Cortes], the Ministry of Mr. / Gonzalez was in a minority and compelled to resign; but the Regent was / unwilling to select the members of his Cabinet from [^ among the] majority, but chose / moderate men of all parties _ When the Cortes again assembled in Nov. Ministers / were again completely defeated _ the Barcelona news arrived, and before he / left Madrid the Regent signed a Decree [??-ing] the Congress indefinitely, now / however fearing the additional clamor which these late events would create / the ministry have dissolved the Cortes, called for a new election, and a meeting / of the Chambers on the 3d of April _ In the mean time as their “Resupuestos” / or appropriation bill expires on the 1st of this month, the revenue must be raised / without the sanction of law, trusting to a bill of [??padonnity] hereafter _ The / official paper this morning says that the Govt relies or leans (“apoye”) on / the army; which (tho’ it maybe be true enough) seems [^to be] a very improper support / for a constitutional monarchy.
The Regent gave notice that he would receive the Foreign Repre: - / sentatives today, and when he arrived at Buena Vista, we found the Palace and / the approaches to it crowded with officers of every grade = It appeared very / like what the opposition papers all it, the “Cuartel General” or Head / Quarters” of a Military Govt _ Saturday morng. JAnu’y. 7th We received yesterday / news by the Columbia; dates from New York to the 15h Dec. and Boston to the 16h _ I hope / to have letters today; but as the French Courier starts at 12, they may not arrive in time [^ to acknowledge them] / The message has been much canvasses both in France + England; the papers for a day or / two have been filled with Comments + Extracts: Your friend Lord Palmerston in the “Chroni : / cle” hits us hard; He will not make the distinction between the state + Gen’l Govts in the / disgrace of repudiation, but says truly that if an attempt were amde to punish Miss ??? [illegible] / for her bad faith, the whole union would defend her but when it is a question of dishonor / we refuse to hear any part of it _ Our reputation + character are at the lowest point / throughout the civilized world; and will not improve until these abominable doctrines / are in turn repudiated _ I am amused at the Quarrel between the Globe and the Adminis =
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= tration since the late election _ The Madisonian’s appeal from the Globe to the Democratic party generally to be / What an olla padrida [a type of Spanish stew] of political parties! _ I’m afraid an election by the House is inevitable. /
I send a kiss for Mama and the Girls _ your affec. son Alex: HamiltonTranscriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
