on till, the last fleet having been fitted out, the last regiment having been sent to perish of yellow fever, and the last dollar having been drawn from the treasury, Ferdinand turned to the sovereigns of Europe for aid. They had restored to him his throne. It is not surprising, therefore, that he should ask them to restore his colonies; but it is amusing to note the impudence with which he intimated that the work of subjugation should be done by Great Britain. She might have acted as mediator. More she would not do, and as subjugation, not mediation, was wanted, Alexander came to the relief of Ferdinand and sold him a fleet of war. When it reached Cadiz it was found that this Emperor, who in 1815 was so eager to see all Europe ruled in accordance with the teachings of Christ, had sold his friend ships so rotten and unseaworthy that not one of them was fit to cross the Atlantic.

The expedition was put off, and the condition of Spanish America was laid before the sovereigns when they met at Aix-la-Chapelle. The dangers which threatened Europe if a federation of republics was allowed to grow up in America were discussed; a proposition was made that a conference between Spain and the powers should be held at Madrid, and that Wellington should preside; but Spain wanted troops, not advice, and the proposition was not accepted.

That our countrymen could look on with indifference while so gallant a struggle for liberty was at their very doors was impossible. They were deeply concerned, and, as time passed, the belief gained ground among them that something more than the independence of a few colonies was at stake; that Spain was less eager to put down rebellion than to stamp out liberal ideas; that rather than see her fail, all European nations would aid her; and that, if they succeeded, it was just possible that the United States, whose example was the cause of so much political unrest, might be the next to feel their vengeance. Monroe therefore said no more than many of his countrymen were thinking when he told them in his first inaugural speech that dangers from abroad were threatening, and that the day might come when, in spite of the

1817-18.

MONROE'S POLICY.

37

wide ocean and our policy of non-intervention, we might be attacked and the attempt made to demolish us as a nation.*

Till that day came, however, our policy was to be strict neutrality, and year after year in his annual messages Monroe insisted on it. Even when it was known that the powers were to meet at Aix-la-Chapelle and that Spain would surely ask the Holy Allies to help her, the President, unwilling to believe that force would be used, still held to non-intervention. +

The failure of the Holy Allies to interfere left Spain to deal with her colonies in her own way. Her way was to gather a rabble at Cadiz in the summer of 1819, call it an

Dangers from abroad are not less deserving of attention. Experiencing the fortune of other nations, the United States may again be involved in war, and it may, in that event, be the object of the adverse party to overset our government, to break our union, and demolish us as a nation. Our distance from Europe, and the just, moderate, and pacific policy of our Government, may form some security against these dangers, but they ought to be anticipated and guarded against.— Monroe's Inaugural Speech, March 4, 1817.

† Monroe's First Annual Message, December 2, 1817.-It was anticipated, at an early stage, that the contest between Spain and the colonies would become highly interesting to the United States. It was natural that our citizens should sympathize in events which affected their neighbors. It seemed probable, also, that the prosecution of the conflict, along our coasts and in contiguous countries, would occasionally interrupt our commerce and otherwise affect the persons and property of our citizens. These anticipations have been realized. Such injuries have been received from persons acting under the authority of both the parties, and for which redress has in most instances been withheld. Through every stage of the conflict, the United States have maintained an impartial neutrality, giving aid to neither of the parties in men, money, ships, or munitions of war. They have regarded the contest not in the light of an ordinary insurrection or rebellion, but as a civil war between parties nearly equal, having, as to neutral powers, equal rights. It appears that the allies have undertaken to mediate between Spain and the South American provinces, and that the manner and extent of their interposition would be settled by a congress which was to have met at Aix-la-Chapelle in September last. From the general policy and course of proceedings observed by the allied powers in regard to this contest, it is inferred that they will confine their interposition to the expression of their sentiments, abstaining from the application of force. . . . From the view taken of this subject, founded on all the information that we have been able to obtain, there is good cause to be satisfied with the course heretofore pursued by the United States with regard to this contest, and to conclude that it is proper to adhere to it, especially in the present state of affairs.-Monroe's Annual Message, November 17, 1818.

army, and send it off to America. Before it could sail, yellow fever broke out, the troops went into camp, and while there were won over to the cause of constitutional government by the agents of a great conspiracy which had long been growing under the tyranny of the King. On January first, 1820, the day fixed for the outbreak, the troops, under Colonels Quiroga and Riego, rose and declared for the Constitution of 1812. The rebellion of the soldiers was a small affair in itself, but it set an example; it stirred up others, and on February twentieth the garrison and people of Corunna in their turn proclaimed the Constitution.

And now rebellion spread fast. Town after town followed Corunna. The whole country was up, and Ferdinand in great alarm announced his willingness to assemble the Cortes. His people had long since learned that his word was of no value, and, filling the great squares in Madrid, they clamored all day long for the Constitution. Then he gave way, and agreed to take the oath to support the Constitution. The next day-the famous eighth of March, 1820-was one of wild rejoicing. The prison of the Inquisition was sacked; the instruments of torture were broken in pieces; political prisoners were set free, and the Constitution carried in procession through the streets. March ninth a mob entered the palace, forced the King to make good his promise, and constitutional government once more existed in Spain.

As tidings of the collapse of absolute government in Spain spread over Europe, all the members of the Holy Alliance save Alexander seemed uncertain what to do. He alone acted with decision, and at once insisted that the great powers should require the Cortes to disavow the revolution of the eighth of March-the revolution to which it owed its existence and give a pledge of obedience to the King. In such a demand England flatly refused to join, and the first proposed attack on Spanish liberty by the Holy Alliance was postponed.

Meantime absolute monarchy fell at Naples. The success of the Liberalists in Spain aroused the Carbonari, a great secret society with lodges in every city and hamlet, and a membership numbering at least one quarter of the male in

1820.

RISE OF LIBERALISM IN EUROPE.

39

habitants of the Kingdom of Naples. They had long been plotting and secretly waiting for the hour of deliverance which now seemed at hand. Ferdinand of Sicily was the uncle of Ferdinand of Spain, and, as he might some day be called to the Spanish throne, he too had signed and sworn to support the Constitution of 1812 that his claims to the Crown might not be endangered. If he were willing to have a Constitution in a country which he might some day rule, why not force him to give the same Constitution to the kingdoms over which he was already ruler? The Carbonari could see no reason, and, rising in armed rebellion, they compelled Ferdinand to proclaim the Constitution of Spain to be the law of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and on July thirteenth, 1820, he took the oath to maintain it.

The men of Portugal were next to awake, and in September, 1820, they deposed the Regency which ruled in the name of the absent King, set up a junta, and elected a Cortes to frame a constitution. For a moment it seemed not unlikely that France might be the next nation to throw off the yoke of absolutism. But Louis cried out for another meeting of the powers, and in October, 1820, the Emperor of Austria met the Czar and the King of Prussia in the little town of Troppau, in Moravia. England sent an ambassador, but he was instructed to look on and do nothing. France sent two envoys, but they took opposite sides, and her influence counted for nothing. The three founders of the Holy Alliance were thus free to do as they pleased, and very quickly decided what course to take. Ferdinand was to be invited to meet them at Laybach; a summons was to be sent, through him, to the Neapolitans to abandon their Constitution or fight; and a circular explaining and defending the new doctrine of armed intervention was to be issued, in the name of the three powers, to all the Courts of Europe. The events of March eighth in Spain, and those of July second in Naples, have produced, said the circular, a deep feeling of inquietude and alarm, and a desire to unite and save Europe from the evils ready to burst upon her. That this desire should be most keen with governments which not long ago conquered the revolution, and now see it once more appearing trium

phant, is natural. The allied powers have therefore availed themselves of an incontestable right, and have decided to take common measures of precaution and restrain such states as, having revolted against legitimate governments and institutions, are seeking by their agents to introduce like disorders and insurrections into other states. As the revolution at Naples strikes deeper root every day, and sensibly menaces the tranquillity of the neighboring powers, it is necessary to immediately apply to her the principles agreed on.

Before resorting to force, however, it was thought best, the circular went on to say, to make one effort of a peaceful character and summon the King of Naples to meet the Allied Powers at Laybach.

Thither in January, 1821, with the consent of the Neapolitan Parliament, the old King accordingly went, leaving his son to act as regent, only to be told that if the order of things existing since July, 1820, was not at once abolished an Austrian army would occupy Neapolitan soil. The same ultimatum was made known to the prince regent at Naples, who stoutly refused to consider it, and summoned the Parliament, which declared that it considered the old King as under restraint at Laybach, bade the Grand Duke of Calabria continue to exercise the regency, and ordered measures to be taken for the safety of the state. A rush to arms followed. The Prince put himself at the head of most of the troops. The King appealed to the others; but they answered that they would not serve against their fellow-countrymen, and cried out for the Constitution. Ferdinand, now reduced to impotence, abdicated and went back to Sicily, and one hundred thousand Austrians entered Italy and crushed the republican uprisings in Naples, in Piedmont, in all Italy, and Ferdinand, in spite of his abdication, was restored to the throne of Naples.

A new declaration and a new circular were then issued by the Holy Allies, about to separate at Laybach, and in this circular was announced a principle which was to guide them in their future dealings with nations struggling for liberty. Having, in the language of the time, "taken the people of Europe into their holy keeping," the three autocrats declared