In 1812, to assuage popular clamor, the Spanish Cortés adopted a more liberal constitution, and decreed that monuments be erected to commemorate it. At St. Augustine a coquina shaft was raised that still graces its Plaza, but scarcely had it been dedicated when the constitution was revoked, and the monuments were ordered dismantled. Here only the tablets were removed and later replaced. _The North Florida Republic_ When the war of 1812 broke out between England and the United States, it was feared that England, then allied with Spain, might seize the Floridas as a base for military operations. The Congress authorized President Madison to appoint two agents, who were to endeavor to secure the temporary cession of East and West Florida to the United States. In the event this failed, steps were to be taken to forcibly occupy the provinces, should England threaten to seize them. President Madison appointed old General Matthews as his agent to East Florida. He was a Revolutionary War veteran and a former governor of Georgia. With promises of liberal grants of land, Matthews encouraged the planters along the northern borders of East Florida to set up an independent republic. The plan was to then turn over the territory it occupied to the United States. After seizing Fernandina these Patriots, as they were termed, advanced on St. Augustine with a small detachment of regular troops, occupied Fort Mosa on its northern outskirts, and called upon the Spanish governor to surrender. He sent a gunboat up the river to dislodge them, but they continued to camp in the vicinity for several months. St. Augustine was cut off from supplies and the surrounding country plundered by Indians and outlaws. [Illustration: _The unfinished Spanish Treasury on St. George Street, from a sketch made in 1867. Present Old Spanish Treasury, shown in the background, still stands._] Loud Spanish and English protests caused President Madison to recall his agents and repudiate their actions. [Illustration: _Streets such as this once were gay with costumed revelers._] _A Bit of Spain_ In a _Narrative of a Voyage to the Spanish Main_, published in 1819, an Englishman gives the following description of St. Augustine’s residents during this period: “The women are deservedly celebrated for their charm, their lovely black eyes have a vast deal of expression, their complexions a clear brunette; much attention is paid to the arrangement of their hair; at Mass they are always well dressed in black silk _basquinas_ with the little _mantilla_ over their heads; the men in their military costumes.” The same traveler later returned to St. Augustine by land, and found the city in a gay mood despite its difficulties.