58 University of California Publications in History

time tutor, the Duke of San Carlos, directed a royalist movement
in which the leaders of the Cortes were arrested. All of its enact-
ments were declared null and void by a decree of May 4, 1814.'
 Meanwhile the allied troops had entered Paris, paving the way
for a wave of absolutism throughout Europe. Naturally imbued
with that spirit, Ferdinand set out to govern not only by innumer-
able secret maneuverings, but also by a vengeful severity toward
the Liberals. He refused to accept the Constitution of 1812, and
in this he evidently had the support of the masses, who welcomed
him with acclaim.
 In his effort to restore the grandeur of the courts of Philip II
and Charles III, the King indulged in luxuries which were hardly
in keeping with the needs of the country. In the midst of recon-
struction, after a grueling civil and foreign war, the major prob-
lems of his reign seem to have been, not the rebuilding of Spain,
but his marriage alliances and the aggrandizement of his family
and favorites.'
 The position of the country as a diplomatic power is well por-
trayed in a description of the Spanish ambassadors of the time as
in tow of the others, obscured as inferiors in diplomacy, in spite of the magnifi-
cent effort which the nation had just made [in the Peninsular War] which
enabled the other European powers to begin their work of rushing the ty-
rant. The Spanish court, crowned by the repellent figure of Ferdinand VII,
appeared here with its constant characteristics of lack of foresight, lack of
continuity, disagreement among its ministers, blindness and absence of judge-
ment, defects which were reflected in the work of our ministers abroad, dis-
turbed by insecurity and lack of means and full of continual vexations.'
 The first foreign minister under the restoration was San Carlos,
archabsolutist of the regime. He was followed in November, 1814,
by Cevallos, now restored to favor. A poignant estimate of Cevallos
comes from Erving, the United States minister, who had had some
years' experience in observing European diplomats. It must be
remembered that he always showed a bitter attitude toward the
Spanish court, which is clearly revealed in the following:
 The first minister Cevallos is a running, selfih, pusillanimous, weak man.
 He was once thought to be honest. That opinion has gone by. He lives in penury,
 and profits of his situation to amass and to hoard money which he sends out of
 the country, preparing for an evil day which he has just discernment enough to
 see is not far distant (some say that in this precaution he but follows the
 example of his King). In the mean time he holds his place by the base servile