re of independence that not only might he never prorogue or
dissolve the Cortes, but not even might he marry or set foot outside
the kingdom without express permission. For the actual exercise of the
executive functions there were created seven departments, or
ministries, each presided over by a responsible official. The
fundamental powers of state were conferred upon a Cortes of one
chamber, whose members were to be elected for a term of two years by
indirect manhood suffrage. Various features of the French constitution
which experience had shown to be ill-advised were reproduced blindly
enough, among them the ineligibility of members of the legislative
body for re-election and the disqualification of ministers to sit as
members. The government of the towns was intrusted to the inhabitants;
that of the provinces, to a governor appointed by the central
authorities and an assembly of deputies popularly chosen for a term of
four years. As the starting point of Spanish constitutional
development the fundamental law of 1812 is of genuine interest. It is
not to be imagined, however, that the instrument reflects with any
degree of accuracy the political sentiment and ideals of the mass of
the Spanish people. On the contrary, it was the work of a slender (p. 605)
democratic minority, and it was never even submitted to the nation for
ratification. It was a product of revolution, and at no time was there
opportunity for its framers to put it completely into operation.[837]

[Footnote 837: For brief accounts of the Napoleonic
regime in Spain see Cambridge Modern History, IX.,
Chap. 11 (bibliography, pp. 851-853); Lavisse et
Rambaud, Histoire Generale, IX., Chap. 6; A.
Fournier, Life of Napoleon the First, 2 vols., (new
ed. New York, 1911), II., Chaps. 14-15; J. H. Rose,
Life of Napoleon I. (London, 1902), Chap. 28; M. A.
S. Hume, Modern Spain, 1788-1898 (London, 1899),
Chaps. 2-4; and H. B. Clarke, Modern Spain,
1815-1898 (Cambridge, 1906), Chap. 1. Of the
numerous histories of the Peninsular War the most
celebrated is W. Napier, History of the War in the
Peninsula and the South of France, 1807-1814, 10
vols. (London, 1828).]

*669. The Restoration and the Reign of F