The central junta soon after arriving at Cadiz resigned its power into the hands of a council of regency composed of five individuals, but before its resignation it issued a decree approving of the plan of Jovellanos for two chambers, and recom mending it to the regency. The regency however paid little attention to this re commendation ; it seemed to hesitate during several months about convoking any cortes at all, for there was at Cadiz a party of pure absolutists opposed to any representation whatever. The regency again consulted the consejo reunido, the majority of which, departing from its former opinion, gave up the idea of cortes by estamentos, and proposed the election of deputies without distinction of classes. The council of state being likewise con sulted by the regency, decided that, owing to the actual state of affairs, it was best to elect the deputies without esta mentos, reserving to the " representatives of the nation once assembled to decide whether the cortes should be divided by brazos or into two chambers, after listen ing to the claims of the nobility and clergy." The regency at length issued letters of convocation for the deputies of all the provinces to assemble in cortes at the Isla de Leon on the 24th September, 1810. The elections for those provinces which were entirely occupied by the French were made at Cadiz by electoral juntas, composed of individuals of those provinces who had taken refuge there. A similar process was adopted with re gard to the American provinces. (Ar guelles, Examen historico de la Reforma Constitucional ; Jovellanos, Memoria a sus Compatriotas, with appendix and notes to the same.) The cortes, styled "extraordinary," sat at Cadiz from September, 1810, till Sep tember, 1813. During this time, amidst numerous enactments which they passed, they framed a totally new constitution for Spain, which has become known by the name of " the Constitution of 1812," the year in which it was proclaimed. This constitution established the repre sentative system with a single popular chamber, elected in a numerical propor tion of one deputy for every 70,000 in dividuals. The elections were not direct, 'but by means of electoral juntas or col leges, as in France : assembled citizens of every parish appointed, by open written votes, a certain number of delegates, who chose, by conference among themselves, one or more parish electors, in proportion to the population. All the parish elec tors, of every district, assembled together at the head town or village of the same, and there proceeded to elect by ballot the electors for the district. All the district electors of one province formed the elec toral junta which assembled in the chief town of that province to appoint the deputies to the cortes, either from among themselves or from among the citizens who were not district electors, provided they were Spanish citizens born, in the full exercise of their civil rights, were more than 25 years of age, and had had their domicile in the province for at least seven years past. By Art. 92, a quail& cation was inserted of a yearly income, the amount and nature of which were left to the discretion of future cones to deter mine. Every district elector, in succession, stepped up to the table where the presi dent and secretary were, and told the name of his candidate, which the secre tary wrote down. The scrutiny then took place, and the majority of votes decided the election. The deputies elected re ceived full powers, in writing, from their electors, " to act as they think best for the general welfare, within the limits pre scribed by the constitution, and without derogating from any of its articles." They were allowed by the respective provinces a fixed emolument during the time of the sessions. The ordinary cortes assembled once every year, in the month of March; and the session lasted three or, at the utmost, four months. The deputies were renewed every two years.
These were the principles of the forma tion of the cortes of Cadiz of 1812, which; whatever might have been their merits, had evidently little in common, except the name, with the old cortes of Castile or Aragon. The king had a veto for two years following ; but if the resolution were persisted in the third year, his veto ceased.
The extraordinary cortes of Cadiz were succeeded in October, 1813, by the ordi nary cortes, elected according to the prin ciple of the Constitution. In January, 1814, they transferred their sittings to Madrid, which had been freed from the French. In March, of that year, King Ferdinand returned to Spain, and soon after dissolved the cortes, abrogated the Constitution, and punished its supporters. In 1820 the Constitution was proclaimed again through a military insurrection ; the king accepted it, and the cortes assem bled again. The king and the cortes, however, did not remain long in harmony. In 1823 a French army, under the Duke of Angouleme, entered Spain ; the cortes left Madrid, taking the king with them to Seville, and thence transferred him by force to Cadiz. Cadiz having surrendered to the French, the cortes were again dis persed, the Constitution was again abo lished, and the liberals were again punished. This name of "liberal," which has become of such general use in our days, originated in the first cortes of Cadiz, where it was used to designate those deputies who were favourable to reform, whilst the opposite party were styled " serviles." (Arguelles, end of chap. v.) The history of the first cortes of Cadiz has been eloquently written by Arguelles; that of the cortes of 1820-23 and of the subsequent royalist reaction is found in numerous works and pamphlets of con temporary history, written with more or less party spirit, among which the least partial is perhaps the Revolution d'Es pagne, Examen Critique, 8vo., Paris, 1836: it professes to be written by a Spanish emigrant, who, though no great admirer of the Constitution of 1812, speaks with equal freedom of the guilt and blunders of the violent men of both parties.
Ferdinand VII., before his death, in 1833, assembled the deputies of the royal towns, according to the ancient form, not to deliberate, but to acknowledge as his successor his infant daughter Isabella..
On the 10th of April, 1834, the queen regent proclaimed a charter for the Spanish nation, which was called Estatuto Real. It established the convocation of the cortes and its division into two houses, the procuradores, or deputies from the provinces, and the proceres, or upper house, consisting of certain nobles, pre lates, and also of citizens distinguished by their merit. The power of the cortes, however, was very limited, the initia tive of all laws being reserved to the crown. This charter was in force only to the 14th August, 1836. In the summer of 1836 insurrections broke out at Malaga and other places, where the Constitution of 1812 was again proclaimed ; and at last the insurrection spread among the troops which were doing duty at the queen's residence at La Granja, in conse quence of which the queen accepted the Constitution, "subject to the revision of the cortes." The cortes were therefore convoked according to the plan of 1812. Early in 1837 they commenced their duties, and finally approved of and decreed a Constitution, which was pro claimed in Madrid on the 16th of June, 1837. This Constitution has since been arbitrarily suspended.
The following were some of the leading provisions of the Constitution of 1837, so far as they related to the powers of the cortes :—The power of enacting the laws is possessed by the cortes in conjunction with the king, who sanctions and promul gates the laws. The cortes is composed of two co-legislative bodies, equal in powers, the Senate and Congress of De puties. Of the Senate : The number of senators shall be equal to three-fifths of the total number of deputies. They are appointed by the king, from a triple list, proposed by the electors of each province who elect the deputies. To each province belongs the right of proposing a number of senators, proportionable to its popula tion ; but each is to return one senator at least. To be a senator, it is necessary to be a Spaniard ; to be forty years of age, and to be possessed of the income and other qualifications defined in the electoral law. All Spaniards possessed of these qualifications may be proposed for the office of senator in any of the provinces. The sons of the king and of the imme diate heir to the throne are senators of right at the age of twenty-five years. Of the Congress of Deputies : Each province shall appoint one deputy, at least, for every 50,000 souls of the population. The deputies are elected by the direct method, and may be re elected indefinitely. To be a deputy it is to be a Spaniard, in the seciatr state, to completed the twenty-fifth year, and to possess all the qualifications prescribed by the electoral law. Every Spaniard possessing these qualifications, may be named a for any of the provinces. The deputies shall be ap pointed for three years. The Cortes are to assemble each year. It is the right of the king to convoke them, to suspend and close their meetings, and dissolve the Cortes ; but under the obligation, in the case of dissolution, of convoking and reassembling another Cortex within three months. If the king should omit to con voke the Cortes on the 1st of December in any one year, the Cortes are notwith standing to assemble precisely on that day ; and in case of the conclusion of the term of the congress holding office hap pening to occur in that year, a general election for the nomination of deputies is to commence on the first Sunday of the month of October. On the demise of the crown, or on the king being incapacitated to govern, through any cause, the extra ordinary cortes are immediately to as semble. . . . . The sessions of the senate and of the congress shall be public, and only in cases requiring reserve can private sitting be held. The king and each of the co-legislative bodies possess the right of originating laws. Laws re lating to taxes and public credit shall be presented first to the congress of deputies; and if altered in the senate contrary to the form in which they have been ap proved by the congress, they are to receive the royal sanction in the form definitely decided on by the deputies. The reso lutions of each of the legislative bodies are to be determined by an absolute plu rality of votes ; but in the enactment of the laws, the presence of more than half the number bf each of these bodies is necessary. If one of the co-legislative bodies should reject any project of law submitted to them, or if the king should refuse it his sanction, such project of law is not to be submitted anew in that con gress. Besides the legislative powers which the cortes exercise in conjunction with the king, the following faculties be long to them :-1st, To receive from the king, the immediate successor to the throne, from the regency or regent of the empire, the oath to observe the constitu tion and the laws. 2ndly, To resolve any doubt that may arise of fact or of right with respect to the order of succes sion to the crown. &dip, To elect the regent, or appoint the regency, of the em pire, and to name the tutor of the sove reign while a minor, when the constitu tion deems it necessary. 4thly, To render effective the responsibility of the minis ters of the crown, who are to be impeached by the deputies, and judged by the senators. The senators and deputies are irresponsible and inviolable for opinions expressed and votes given by them in the discharge of their duties. Deputies and senators who receive from the government, or the royal family any pension, or employment which may not be an instance of promotion from a lower to a higher office of the same kind, commission with salary, honours, or titles, are subject to re-election.