The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-20 00:00:00

THE SPANISH INSURRECTION.

The elements of popular disaffection and of mi-
litary revolt are so abundant in Spain that the
only wonder is how the oppression of the Govern-
ment and the scandals of the Court could be en-
dured so long by a nation once jealous of the liberty
of the people and the honour of the Crown ; in-
deed, the worst symptom in the condition of the
country seemed to be that the nation was inca-
pable of asserting its rights or its power until the
army gave the signal of insurrection. It had,
however, long been foreseen that by some part
of the army this blow must eventually be struck.
The attempt of Brigadier Hore at Saragossa in
February last to induce the garrison of that city
to declare against the Government of Sartorius,
and to demand the convocation of the Cortes,
was one of those premonitory symptoms the
failure of which attests the existence of a deep-
seated hatred of existing authority, and pre-
pares the way for a more successful repetition of
the attack. The Court, not warned by this oc-
currence, persevered in a course of policy recom-
mended only by men whose talents and whose
character were alike unworthy of the public con-
fidence, and attempted to impose the most unpo-
pular of measures—aforced loan—upon the country.
It was commonly believed that a plan was in pre-
paration for the entire subversion of the consti-
tutional system, and that a coup d'etat might any
day be attempted to confer absolute power on the
wretched and profligate rulers, who had already
abused every power vested in them by the law.
Every man in the army or the civil service of the
Crown who had any claim upon the gratitude of the
Queen or the respect of the country had been
disgraced and banished ; and even among those
who retained military rank or civil power the
greater number were silently watching-, the ap-
proach of a change which the vices and follies of
the Court rendered inevitable.
whetherUnderthe first
s t
demonstrationcircumstances, it
of
the mattered l
militaryittle
suc
insurgents in Madrid was attended with success,
for it was evident, althou9h the
aloof from General D I ' •
u ce s pronunciamento, that
the skirmish outside the gates did not decide the
fate of the movement, and that General O'Donnell's
retreat was not so much
a disorderly flight from
the Queen's forces as an appeal to the provincial
garrisons and to public • •
opinion throughout the
country. In the fortnight which has succeeded
the disturbance at i Mad d General Blaser, the
ar,
Minister of W r
, has failed to check the insur-
gents in their march
upon Andalusia ; the Regi-
ment of IVlontesa, which had been summoned to
strengthen the • garrison of the. capital, deserted
its officers a few miles from Madrid ; the Regi-
ments of Navarre and Guad alaxara, form-
ing the garrison of Barcelona, declared them-
selves against the Government ; and on the follow-
ing day two battalions of the Regiment of Bour-
bon, at St. Sebastian, followedexample. The
.their
forces which had • previously joined O'Donnell may
be inconsiderable in numbers but although the
, b ,
Minister of War is in ' head
pursuit of them at the
of a column of more thanP men, he has failed
10,000
in h iis attempts to disperse them, and the simulta-
neous movement in other parts of Spain, and espe-
cially at Barcelona, confirms our opinion that this
insurrection will seriously the present Go-
vernment of Spain. It imperil
assisted only by the may struggle fora. while,
indifference of the nation, but,
if it perishes, it will •without one line in
perish
history to palliate its crimes, or one partisan to
lament its fall.
At present the movement has been so entirely
military, that it is not easy to assign to it any
marked political character• c•and
probable t .ha t the opposition to the Queen's
Government has in the first instance rallied
men of very different opi •
nions to the same
standard. Some of the
bands which have
taken up arms are said to be Republicans,
and it is probable that the disgust excited
by the Court in the minds of the people
has given the Republican party greater in-
fluence in Spain at this time than it ever be-1
fore possessed. Others are d •
estrous to restore
the Constitution of 1837, and others again are
pursing the common objects of military ambition
la•t•
military am i ion
in civil war. General Dulce has published a
letter, in which he openly declares that in his
opinion the Queen has been wanting to her oath,
and that he and his troops have therefore thought
it less treasonable to forsake their Sovereign than
to betray the nation. General
, O'Donnell, in a
proclamation iu which he styles
himself the Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Constitutional Army, drops
all pretence of allegiance to the House of Bourbon,
and declares significantly that he desires the main-
tenance of the Throne, but without the camarilla
which disgraces it. He also announces that the
provincial juntas about to be formed in the libe-
rated provinces will precede the convocation of the
national Cortes, elected on a liberal basis, to estab-
lish• nof the nation. We the regenerate:, know not
whether General O'Donnell has all the necessary
qualifications to play . the part liberator of a
or to
,
direct the affairs of Spam in the midst of another
revolution ; but he is a man of wealth, station,
and ability, far removed above the soldiers of for-
tune who have sometimes contended for supremo
power in that unhappy kingdom ; and it is not
improbable that he will ere long be joined by men
of high reputation, who have suffered from the
caprices and avarice of the Court. The conduct
of Narvaez and of Espartero, who are now said
to be reconciled to each other, cannot but be
watched at such a crisis with peculiar interest, and.
it is probable that the best chance for the. preser-
vation of Queen Isabella's crown would be to throw
herself without reserve on the protection of those
who established the Constitutional Government,
and were long the firmest champions of its cause.
The expulsion of Queen Christina and the whole
Munoz race would of course be their first condition,
but it will require more address than has yet been
shown to prevent the race of Bourbon from fol-
lowing its connexions into exile.
It happens fortunately that there is at present
nothing in these occurrences which either invites
or justifies in the remotest degree the interference
•