Madrid had lost more than two-thirds of its inhabitants since its occupation by the French, but an influx of people from all the surrounding country now filled it as if there had been no depopulation; and amid this multitude, on the following day, the new constitution was proclaimed by D. Carlos de España, who was appointed governor of the capital and province, ... a charge for which no one could be better qualified by clearness of judgment, and promptitude in executing what he saw to be right. Their acclamations were hushed as soon as they knew what they were called upon to hear; and the deep silence with which they listened to the constitutional act was interrupted only by the enemy’s cannon from the Retiro, which seemed rather like a salute in honour of the ceremony, than an enemy’s artillery employed in defence of their last hold in the capital. The act was received with exultant delight; young minds and generous ones, whose natural ardour enabled them to believe what they eagerly desired, persuaded themselves that the Spaniards had now established their freedom as well as achieved their independence; the happy days of Athens and of Sparta, they said, seemed to be restored; and the people of Madrid already appeared like a nation accustomed to liberty, and to deliberate concerning their own interests. ♦THE BUEN RETIRO.♦ On that evening Lord Wellington invested the Retiro, where Marshal Jourdan, with little prudence, had left a garrison of 1700 men. At the eastern extremity of Madrid, Philip II. had a small palace, or rather house of retreat, pleasantly situated by the Prado or public walk, on a rising ground, and immediately adjoining the convent of S. Geronimo. Philip IV. took a fancy to the site; and Olivares, whose chief object seemed to be that of amusing his royal master at whatever cost, purchased adjacent land enough for a large palace, with its gardens and a park four miles in circuit; and such enormous sums were lavished upon the edifice and the grounds, that the additional imposts which were required for this expenditure, or artfully, perhaps, imputed to it, were one of the causes which provoked the revolt in Catalonia, and occasioned the separation of Portugal from the Spanish monarchy. The palace contained a theatre, spacious itself, and opening into the gardens, which might thus be made upon occasion a continuation of the scene; in this theatre the master-pieces of the Spanish drama were represented before a court who delighted in dramatic literature; and Ferdinand VI. gratified his dear Queen Barbara’s hereditary love of music, with Italian operas, performed under Farinelli’s direction. Formerly the Buen Retiro contained a large collection of pictures by the greatest masters of Italy, Spain, and the Low Countries; many of these were transferred to other palaces when this began to be neglected, and the French had now made spoil of the rest. But there were ceilings painted by Luca Jordano, which were not removable; and