The outbreak of cholera in the city soon after the King’s death cast additional gloom on the capital. Cristina’s partisans declared that the clerical party had poisoned the water, and a young man who was said to have been seen throwing powder into the fountain which was then in the Puerta del Sol was assassinated on the spot. Such animosity was stirred up against the clerics that the monasteries were invaded, and the friars killed at the very altars; and these deeds were not limited to the capital. Indignation against these attacks on the clerics added force to the Carlists in the north. Martinez Rosa’s position as Prime Minister was fraught with difficulty. It was characteristic of the courage of the Queen-Regent that in such a time of danger and dissension she calmly repaired from the Pardo to Madrid to fulfil her duty of opening the Parliament. It was very soon after this act that Don Carlos, in defiance of all political obligations, appeared in Madrid to join his troops; and Miraflores advised the Queen putting herself at the head of her army. The immense power of the secret societies in Spain was now seen in La Granja. The Government flattered itself that the Royal Guard, at least, was proof against the power of these unions which permeated the country, and the Queen-Regent was considered safe with her little daughters in the Palace of San Ildefonso, with its barracks flanking the fine promenade in front of the royal domain. But the secret societies had gauged the force of money, and 12,000 crowns, distributed among those who were bound in honour to defend their Sovereign, were found sufficient to cause an insurrection of six or seven hundred soldiers within the precincts of the royal palace itself. A hundred and fifty grenadiers on horseback sought to quell the _émeute_, but their superior officers seemed powerless to still the ever-increasing cries of “Hurrah for the Constitution!” “Death to Quesada and San Roman!” “Hurrah for England!” Maria Cristina was terrified at this unexpected uproar at her own gates, especially when she found herself obliged to receive a deputation of sergeants and soldiers, who pressed for an audience within the palace. In this historic scene the Queen was attended by Barrio Ayuso, the Minister of Grace and Justice; the Duke of Alagon, the Captain of the Guards, who had been such a favourite of the late King; the Count of San Roman; the Marquis of Cerralbo; and the commanding officers of the regiments. The deputation was plain and curt in its demand that the Queen-mother should at once sign the Constitution of Cadiz of 1812. Maria Cristina sought to temporize by promising that the Cortes, which was about to open, would take the matter into consideration. But the insurgents insisted on their demand, so she sent them into the antechamber whilst she consulted with her advisers in the salon.