ished the Inquisition, which had been abolished by the
Cortes, when he had publicly burned the impertinent Constitution,
and quenched conspiracies here and there, he settled himself for a
comfortable reign after the good old arbitrary fashion.

The Napoleonic empire having been effaced by a combined Europe,
Ferdinand's Bourbon cousins were in the same way restoring the
excellent methods of their fathers in France.

But there was a spirit in the air which was not favorable to the peace
of Kings. On the American coast there stood "Liberty Enlightening the
World!" A growing, prosperous republic was a shining example of what
might be done by a brave resistance to oppression and a determined
spirit of independence.

The pestilential leaven of freedom had been at work while monarchies
slept in security. Ferdinand discovered that not only was there a
seditious sentiment in his own kingdom, but every one of his American
colonies was in open rebellion, and some were even daring to set up
free governments in imitation of the United States.

Not only was Ferdinand's sovereignty threatened, but the very
principle of monarchy itself was endangered.

Russia, Austria, and Prussia formed themselves into a league for the
preservation of what they were pleased to call "The Divine Right of
Kings." It was the attack upon this sacred principle, which was the
germ of all this mischievous talk about freedom. They called their
league "The Holy Alliance," and what they proposed to do was to _stamp
out free institutions in the germ_.

In pursuance of this purpose, in 1819 there appeared at Cadiz a large
fleet, assembled for the subjugation of Spanish America.

But there was an Anglo-Saxon America, which had a preponderating
influence in that land now; and there was also an Anglo-Saxon race in
Europe which had its own views about the "Divine Right of Kings," and
also concerning the mission of the "Holy Alliance."

The right of three European Powers to restore to Spain her revolted
colonies in America was denied by President Monroe; not upon the
ground of Spain's inhumanity, and the inherent right of the colonies
to an independence which they might achieve. Such was the nature
of England's protest, through her Minister Canning. But President
Monroe's contention rested on a much broader ground. In a message
delivered in 1823 he uttered these words: "European Powers must
not extend their political systems to any portion of the American
con