94 M EX ICO. ninsula,) during this period, is so intimately connected with that of American Independence, that it is impossible to con- sider them apart, or even to understand the one, without a previous acquaintance with the other. I shall, therefore, not apologize for reminding such of my readers, as may have forgotten the course of Spanish affairs, amidst the end- less changes which have since occurred, that, in 1808, the schemes long cherished by Napoleon, for the establishment of his brother on the throne of Spain, were carried into effect. Advantage was taken of the burst of national indignation, by which the ministry of the Prince of Peace was terminated, and of the abdication of Charles IV., which followed the dis- missal of his favourite, to entice the whole Royal Family to Bayonne, under pretence of deciding an appeal, preferred by the Ex-king against his son, (the actual monarch,) where, by an act unparalleled in the history of the world, they both re- nounced the throne, in favour of the family of the Umpire, and consented to live in retirement, upon a stipend assigned to them by his munificence. This act, although supported by a party amongst the Spaniards themselves, (los Afrancesa- dos,) and by the armies of Napoleon, only served to rouse the spirit of the nation, and a popular government was sub- stituted, in every province, for that, by which the youthful monarch had been betrayed. A Central Junta* was entrust- ed with the management of affairs, which was followed by a Regency -f, and this, again, by a second;}:, created by the Cortes, which were assembled in the Isla de Leon, in Septem- ber 1810, as the only legitimate source of power during the captivity of the sovereign. By these unexpected events, the
- Installed 25th September, 1808.
-|- First Regency, 29th January, 1810. Vide Decree of Central Junta of that date. Isla de Leon. X Second Regency 18— 29th October^ 1810. Vide Decree of Cortes of that date.
