In this contest the government, assisted by the no bles, was victorious; and this " bold attempt of the Commons," says Dr. Robertson, " like all unsuccess ful insurrections, contributed to confirm and extend the power of the crown, which it was intended to moderate and abridge. The Cortes still continued to make a part of the Castilian constitution, and was summoned to meet whenever the king stood in need of money; hut, instead of adhering to their ancient and cautious form of examining and redressing public grievances before they proceeded to grant any sup plies, the more courtly custom of voting a donative in the first place was introduced, and the sovereign, having obtained all that he wanted, never allowed them to enter into any inquiry, or to attempt any re formation injurious to his authority. The privileges which the cities had enjoyed were gradually circum scribed or abolished; their commerce began from this period to decline, and becoming less wealthy and less populous, they lost that power and influence which they had acquired in the Cortes." The Cortes, how ever, were not always so submissive to the will of the monarch. On several occasions they peremptorily refused any supplies, and resisted all the solicitations and threatenings of the king. In 1539, when the exi gencies of Charles were at the utmost, he proposed to establish a general excise upon commodities; but the nobles, who had now begun to see, with regret, the miseries which their acquiescence to the will of the monarch had entailed upon the country, that it was drained not only of its wealth, but or its inhabi tants, in order to prosecute quarrels in which it was not interested, and to fight battles from which it could reap no benefit; and also to feel that the most valuable and distinguished privileges of their order—an ex emption from all taxes—was about to be wrested from them, opposed the measure so steadily, by the per suasion of the constable of Castile, that the scheme miscarried, when Charles dismissed the assembly with indignation. This disappointment of Charles was accompanied by another still more mortifying to a prince o?-his temper. As he was returning from a tournament on the plain of Toledo, one of the harbin gers, in clearing the way for the king, struck the Duke of Infantado's horse with his baton, when that proud noble drew his sword and cut him over the head. Such an outrage in the presence of the sove reign called for immediate punishment, and the pro vost of the household was ordered to arrest the duke; but the constable of Castile interposed, asserting that it belonged to his office to take cognizance of such offences, and conducted Infantado to his own house. The other nobles applauded the boldness of the con stable, and retired with him and the duke, leaving the king unattended except by the Cardinal Tavera, with whom he was conversing at the time. Charles, however mortified, saw the danger of irritating a jeal ous and high-spirited body of men, and had the pru dence to conceal his displeasure. He even sent next morning to Infantado, offering to punish the person who had affronted him; but the duke pardoned the officer, and gave him five hundred ducats as a com pensation for his wound. Charles, however, by de grees broke the power of this formidable body, and left them nothing but the vain distinction of being covered in the presence of their sovereign. From that " period neither the nobles nor the prelates have been called to the Cortes, on pretence that such as pay no part of the public taxes should not claim any vote in laying them on. None have been admitted but the procurators or representatives of eighteen cities. These, to the number of thirty-six, being two from each community, formed an assembly which bore no resemblance to the ancient Cortes, and became rather a junto of the servants of the crown, than an assembly of the representatives of the people. Philip II. per severed in the same system. Taking advantage of an insurrection in Aragon, he curtailed many of their privileges, and abolished the office of Justiza, which extinguished the liberties of that kingdom; and so successful was he in extending the royal prerogative, that, during the reigns of his successors of the house of Austria, the will of the sovereign became the su preme law in all the kingdoms of the monarchy.
Upon the death of Charles II., the junta of regency immediately assumed the functions of government; and communicated to the king of France the testament of their late sovereign. Louis, aware of the glaring violation of his most solemn engagements with respect to the treaty of partition, pretended to hesitate about accepting the will in favour of his grandson; but his scruples were easily overcome, and Philip was con ducted to the frontiers to take possession of the Span ish crown. The reception of the young monarch was most cordial and joyful. He made his public entry into Madrid with all possible magnificence, surrounded by exulting and admiring crowds, who contrasted his youthful and prepossessing countenance with the de crepitude and gloomy melancholy of their former sove - reign. His title was acknowledged not only by the
distant provinces of the monarchy, but by the mari time powers who had been parties to the treaty of par tition. But while Philip seemed in quiet possession of the throne, the Emperor of Germany issued a bold and vehement remonstrance against this act ofusurpa tion on the part of France; and " questioned not only the authenticity of Charles' a ill, but the right Or that sovereign to make such it disposition, which was con trary to the acknowledged claims of his family, and the solemn obligation of treaties." This was immediately followed by vigorous preparations for ‘v"1; and before the conclusion of the year, the emperor was joined by England and lIolland, and sometime after by Portugal, who formed what was called the grand alliance, the object of which was, to secure satisfaction for the claims of Austria upon the Spanish monarchy, and to prevent the union of the crowns of France and Spain under one government. Louis had foreseen the issue, and was prepared for it; but the deplorable state of Spain—her revenue exhausted, her fortifications in ruins, without garrisons. or magazines, and her naval and military estabi'-shments almost annihilated,— precluded any hope of efficient support from that quarter; and convinced him that the preservation of the crown of Spain for his grandson, must depend chiefly upon his own exertions. lie had commenced the war in Italy with considerable success, but was checked on the side of Flanders by the talents of Marlborough. The war was at first confined to the distant provinces; but the internal tranquillity of the Peninsula, began soon to be disturbed by the impolicy and imprudence of the Spanish rulers.
Portocarrero, thinking no reward too high for his services to the house of Bourbon, had absorbed all the influence of the crown, and directed every measure of the state. A thorough reform was indeed requisite in every department, particularly in the finances; but the attempts of the minister, which were confined chiefly to the suppression of various offices and places under government, and the withdrawing of pensions, which the piety of former sovereigns had granted for the subsistence of poor widows, and the maintenance of charitable institutions, produced a very trifling saving, while it involved numerous families in embarrassment and ruin. The Spaniards had formed very extrava gant notions of the wisdom and energy of the new government, and flattered themselves that their coun try would resume all its pristine splendour, without sweeping away those abuses and encumbrances which had been accumulating for ages. This impolitic par simony therefore tended only to excite discontent among the people; and the attachment of Philip to French customs and manners, and the admission of the peers of France to the same rank and honours as were enjoyed by the grandees of Castile. disgusted and alienated the high-spirited nobles. The spirit of disaffection to the new dynasty was aggravated by the destruction of a French squadron and the Spanish galleons, in the harbour of Vigo, by the Duke of Or mond; and by the defection of some of the principal grandees, among whom was the Duke of Medina de Rio Seco, admiral of Castile, '' whose vast posses sions, splendid talents, and high descent, rendered him one of the most powerful and distinguished mem bers of the nobility." At the same time the Spanish cabinet was torn by personal feuds and petty cabals. The princess Orsini, camarera mayor to the queen, was a woman of superior talents and attractions, and had gained such an ascendency over both their ma jesties, that no affair of importance was transacted without her knowledge and advice. Though devoted to the court of' Versailles, both from self-interest and gratitude, yet she soon perceived the evil effects of that despotic control which the French monarch was labouring to acquire in the councils of his grandson. She therefore resolved to employ all her influence in organizing an administration entirely Spanish, " to level all the distinctions of Austrian and Bourbon par tisans, and to admit into all places of trust persons of known talents and capacity." Such a plan was well calculated to promote the welfare and the inde pendence of Spain. But the French ambassador, who wished to arrogate to himself the whole direction of affairs, represented to his master that the interference of the princess was most hurtful to the French influ ence, and that the king was completely under her con trol. This gave occasion to endless wrangling and recrimination. Nor was this confined to one or two. " The whole court seemed to be involved in one com mon dispute, each individual striving who should most thwart, or calumniate the others." The public interest was thus sacrificed to personal antipathy and private ambition; and, while in this distracted state, the nation was totally unprovided with the means of defence against a powerful enemy.