came to the door the following morning, | nand, to whom he instantly despatched a vast crowd assembled, and cut the a courier for instructions. Meanwhile traces. A proclamation was imme- the French general continued to indiately issued to calm the general effer- sist for the delivery of the important vescence, in which the King declared, prisoner, threatening, at the same "that he was assured of the constant time, to put to the sword, in case of and sincere friendship of the Emperor refusal, the six hundred provincial of France, and that, in a few days, the guards intrusted with his custody. people would return thanks to God At length authority arrived from the for the prudence which dictated the King for his surrender, which the Intemporary absence which gave them fant communicated to the officer in comso much disquietude." Upon this re- mand of the Guards, with the simple sistance ceased, and the carriage, sur- observation, "that on the surrender rounded by a mournful and submis- of Godoy depended the preservation sive, but still unconvinced crowd, of the crown of Spain to his nephew." took its departure, guarded by the On the same day Godoy set out from MaFrench division of Verdier. At Vit- drid under a strong French escort, and toria it was surrounded by the superb six days afterwards arrived at Baysquadrons of the Imperial Guard, and onne. Meanwhile Murat harassed the Ferdinand set out at the gallop in regency with repeated and vexatious state, a real prisoner in the hands of demands, apparently prompted by no his perfidious ally. Two days after other motive than to disgust them wards he crossed the Bidassoa, and, with the cares of an unsubstantial proceeding to Bayonne, finally com- command, and accustom the people mitted himself to the honour of the to regard the French headquarters as French Emperor. In former days, the centre from which all real authorother kings, won by the arts of the ity emanated. Soon after he repaired Roman Emperors, had done the same, in person to the Escurial, and had and had experienced the fate which long and repeated conferences with awaited Ferdinand. Already was the Charles IV. and the old Queen. The French Revolution terminating in the result of their deliberations soon apsame dark atrocities as the Roman.* peared in the transmission to Don AnAfter having rivalled the glory of tonio of the ante-dated and secret state Cæsar, Napoleon had descended to paper, already noticed, in which the the arts of Tiberius ! King protested against his abdication 59. Upon his departure from Ma- as brought about by constraint and drid, Ferdinand had intrusted the gov-intimidation; and by the earnest adernment to a regency, of which Don Antonio, uncle to Ferdinand, was the head. Murat, however, was the real centre of authority: the presence of thirty thousand French troops gave him an influence which was irresistible. | No sooner had the King left the capital than he insisted that the Prince of the Peace should be immediately given up to him. Don Antonio refused to do so, until he received authority from Ferdi

* "He repressed hostile and suspected kings by force, rather than by complaints. Certain of these, drawn to him by flattery and promises, he did not permit to depart -as Marobodicus the German, Rheuscopo the Thracian, Archelaus the Cappadocian, whose kingdom he also reduced to the "" -SUETONIUS’“Tiberius,” form of a province."-SUETONIUS” “ i. 474. Valpy's Classics.

vice of Murat, he set out immediately after, in company with the Queen, surrounded by French guards, for Bayonne, to lay his grievances at the feet of Napoleon, where he arrived four days after his fallen favourite. Thus did the French Emperor, by the influence of his name, the terrors of his armies, and the astuteness of his diplomatists, succeed in inducing the leaders of all the parties which distracted Spain, including the late and present sovereign, to place their persons at his disposal; while, at the same time, the communications on his part which brought about this extraordinary result were managed with such address, and enveloped in such mystery, that not only could none of

them boast of possessing a distinct | were by nature and temperament vehepledge of what he intended to do, but ment and impassioned, and inclined to all had reason to hope that the result act, alike individually and collectively, would prove entirely conformable to on the impulse of the moment. These their interests. wise representations for a brief period made a great impression on Napoleon. His instructions to Murat, accordingly, at this period, were to conduct himself with the utmost circumspection; to avoid everything which might excite an angry feeling or provoke a hostile collision; to strengthen his military hold of the country; but to do nothing which might disturb the pacific negotiations by which he hoped, without drawing the sword, to obtain in a few days the whole objects of his ambition.*

60. Meanwhile Napoleon, though possessed of such extraordinary influence, and invested with almost absolute power over the affairs of Spain and Portugal, and the interests of the crowned heads which they contained, was extremely embarrassed how to act. Not that he swerved in the slightest degree from his intention of making, as he himself said, "a clean sweep of them," (maison nette), but that he perceived, in the clearest light, the abyss on the edge of which he was placed, and anticipated, with just and sagacious foresight, the incalculable consequences which might result from the lighting of the flames of a national war in the Peninsula. Through all the weakness and submission of the last century, he still discerned the traces of energy and resolution in the Spanish character. The timidity of its foreign conduct, the abuses of its internal administration, he justly asjustly as cribed to the corruption of the nobles, or the imbecility of the court. His generals had transmitted daily accounts of the alarming excitement which seemed to prevail, especially among the lower classes of the community; and he rightly concluded that he would be involved in inextricable embarrassment if, on a side where he had so long been entirely secure, there should arise a contest animated by the indignant feelings of a nation hitherto a stranger to revolutionary passions. M. de Tournon, a secret agent whom he employed at Madrid, from a wellfounded distrust of Murat's political capacity, and a thorough perception of his ambitious views on the Spanish crown, transmitted at this critical juncture detailed and graphic accounts of the enthusiasm of the people in favour of Ferdinand VII., of the extreme jealousy which prevailed of French interference, and of the great danger of lighting up a national war in Spain, where political passions had not yet worn themselves out, and the people

duke of Berg, that you are deceiving me on * "I fear," said Napoleon, "M. Grand-, the real situation of Spain, and that you deceive yourself also. The events of the 19th March have singularly complicated our affairs; pose that you are engaged with a disarmed I am in the greatest perplexity; never supnation, and that you have only to show yourself to insure the submission of Spain. The still have energy. You have to deal with a revolution of 20th March proves that they virgin people; they already have all the courage, and they will soon have all the enwho are not worn out by political passions. thusiasm, which you meet with among men

"The aristocracy and the clergy are the masters of Spain; if they become seriously alarmed for their privileges and their existence, they will rouse the people and induce an unending war. At present I have many partisans among them; if I show myself as a conqueror, I will soon cease to have any. The Prince of the Peace is detested, because they France: that is the cry which led to the accuse him of having given up Spain to usurpation of Ferdinand; but for it the popular party would have been the least powerful. The Prince of Asturias has none of the qualities essential for the chief of a nation; that want, however, will not prevent them, in order to oppose us, from making him a hero. I have no wish to use violence towards one's-self odious, and inflame hatred. Spain that family; it is never expedient to render has above one hundred thousand men in arms; less would suffice to sustain an interior might succeed in effecting the total overwar; scattered over several points, they throw of the monarchy. I have now exhibited to you the difficulties which are manifest; there are others which you will not

fail soon to discover.

"England will not let slip this opportunity of multiplying our embarrassments; she sends out forces daily, which she keeps on the she is making enrolments of Sicilians and coasts of Portugal and the Mediterranean; Portuguese. The royal family having quitted

61. Murat, however, was not a char- | Ferdinand VII. Already, without his acter to execute with skill the deli- being aware of it, the real sentiments cate mission with which he was in- of the people had made themselves trusted; and he was too much accus- known. An alarming explosion had tomed to make everything bend to taken place at Toledo: cries of "Long military force, to be qualified to assume live Ferdinand VII.!" had been heard at once, in circumstances singularly dif- in the streets from countless multificult, the foresight and circumspection | tudes; and when General Dupont was of an experienced diplomatist. His pre- despatched, five days afterwards, to recipitance and arrogance, accordingly, store order, it was only by a well-timed accelerated the catastrophe the Empe- and earnest mediation of the archror was so solicitous to avoid. The bishop that a serious conflict was Emperor, too, on hearing of the accla- avoided. The fermentation in the mations with which Murat had been capital was hourly increasing, espereceived on entering Madrid, got the cially since it was known that Ferdibetter of all his scruples, and returned nand had crossed the frontier to throw with more determination than ever to himself into the arms of Napoleon, his ambitious designs. He entirely and that his father and Godoy had mistook the cause of the favourable since set out in the same direction. demonstration which had been made, thinking it was an indication of a partiality for French government, when in fact it was only an expression of joy at beholding the supposed supporter of

Portugal to establish itself in the Indies, nothing but a revolution can change the state of that country, and that is the event for which, perhaps, Europe is the least prepared. The persons who see the monstrous state of the government in its true light are a small minority; the great majority profit by its abuses. Consistently with the interests of my empire, I can do infinite good to Spain. What are the best means of attaining that object? Should I advance to Madrid, and assume the rights of a protector by declaring for the father against the son? It is difficult to re-establish Charles IV. His rule and his favourite have become so unpopular, they could not stand three months. Ferdinand, again, is the enemy of France; it is because he is so that they have put him on the throne. To keep him there would be to assist the factions who, for twenty-five years, have wished the subjugation of France. A family alliance would be a feeble bond; the Queen Elizabeth and other princesses perished miserably when it was wished to sacrifice them to atrocious vengeance. I think we should precipitate nothing, and take counsel from future events.

62. Though the French had hitherto observed tolerable discipline, yet. the disorders inseparable from the continued passage of such large bodies. of men, accustomed to the license of

have no difficulty in doing so, for I have not. fixed upon one myself.

"Impress upon the nobles and clergy, that if France is obliged to interfere in the affairs of Spain, their privileges will be respected. Say to the magistrates and citizens of towns, and to the enlightened persons, that Spain requires the re-creation of the machine of government: that it has need of institutions which will preserve it from the pressure of feudality, and protect and encourage industry. Paint to them the present condition of France, despite the wars it has undergone: the splendour of its religion; the importance of a political regeneration; the internal security and external respect which it brings in its train. I will attend to your private interests-have no thought of them-Portugal remains at my disposal. Let the French army avoid every encounter, either with the Spanish army or detached bodies; not a cartridge should be burned on either side. Keep the army always some days' march distant from the Spanish corps. If war break out, all is lost.' -NAPOLEON to MORAT, 29th March 1808; SAVARY. iii. 68, 171. History does not afford "I do not approve of your taking posses- a more luminous example of sagacious foresion so precipitately as you have done of sight than this letter presents; and yet the Madrid: you should have kept the army ten Emperor soon after fell headlong into the leagues from the capital. Your entry into very dangers which he here so clearly deMadrid, by exciting the alarm of the Span-picted, and was so desirous to avoid! It is iards, has powerfully supported Ferdinand. remarkable as a proof of his profound habits I will write to you what part to adopt in re- of dissimulation, even with his most configard to the old King: take care you do not dential servants, that, in this letter to his commit me to meet with Ferdinand in Spain, lieutenant at Madrid, he makes no mention unless you deem it expedient for me to re- of the design to place a relation of his own on cognise him as King of Spain. Above all, the throne of Spain, though only three days take care that the Spaniards do not suspect before he had offered it to Louis, King of what course I am about to adopt: you can Holland.-Ante, Chap. LI. § 50.

campaigns, had produced repeated con- The government was a prey to the
flicts between them and the inhabi- most cruel disquietude, being left in
tants; blood had flowed in several the approaching crisis of the monarchy
places, and at Burgos the assemblage with the responsibility of command,
had been so alarming, that it required and without its powers; ignorant
to be dispersed by regular discharges which sovereign they were ultimately
of the French infantry. The common to obey; fearful of betraying their
people, whose instinct often sees deep-country, and equally so of precipitating
er into the real tendency of events it into a hopeless struggle; actuated
than the speculations of more learned at times by a generous desire to main-
persons, were in such a state of agitation tain the national independence, and
at the King's departure, that they throw themselves on public sympathy
would have broken out into open in- for their support, and apprehensive at
surrection, had not his counsellors is- others that in so doing they might
sued a proclamation, in which it was mar an accommodation when on the
declared that Napoleon was coming in point of being concluded, and incur the
person to Madrid, to consolidate the pains of treason from a sovereign whom
happiness of Spain, and that the King they had involved in irretrievable em-
had only gone to meet his august barrassments. Unable to determine on
guest, and conduct him to the capital. any decided course in the midst of such
Irritated at these symptoms of resist- unparalleled difficulties, they adopted
ance, and looking to no means but meanwhile the prudent step of confin-
force for its suppression, Murat wrote ing the troops to their barracks, and
in the most menacing terms to Don exercising the most rigid vigilance, by
Antonio, stating that he could permit means of the police, to prevent the
no concourse of men in the streets; quarrels, often attended with blood-
that the anarchy which prevailed was shed, which were perpetually occurring
intolerable; that his resolution to between the French soldiers and the
suppress it was irrevocably taken; and Spanish citizens. The Imperial Guard,
that, if the government was not suffi- with a division of infantry and brigade
ciently strong to enforce obedience to of cavalry, alone were quartered in
its orders, he would take upon himself Madrid; the artillery was all in the
the maintenance of the public tran- Retiro; but large bodies of troops,
quillity. The regency issued severe amounting in all to above thirty thou-
proclamations against seditious as- sand men, were in the immediate
semblages or meetings, and replied in neighbourhood, ready to pour in on
the most submissive manner to the the first signal. The whole population
thundering menaces of Murat: but of the capital was in the streets;
though no public demonstration had ness was everywhere at a stand; and
yet taken place, the most alarming re- in the menacing looks and smothered
ports were in circulation. The French agitation of the groups might be seen
officers publicly gave out that Napo- decisive proofs that a great explosion
leon would reinstate Charles IV. on the was at hand. Agebatur huc illuc
throne; the departure of that sove- urbs vario turbæ fluctuantis impulsu;
reign with the Prince of the Peace for completis undique basilicis ac templis,
the Pyrenees seemed to countenance lugubri prospectu, neque populi aut
that idea; and reports were circulated, plebis ulla vox: sed attoniti vultus, et
and greedily credited, that thirty thou- conversæ ad omnia aures: non tumul-
sand armed Biscayans had fallen on
Bayonne, and rescued their beloved
Prince from his oppressors, while
Aragon, Catalonia, and Navarre had
risen in a body to cut off the retreat of
the French army.

63. At length, in the beginning of May, matters came to extremities.

*

busi

"The city was agitated various ways by the changing impulse of the mob; the temples and courts were everywhere filled by crowds with a mournful aspect, from whom not a voice was to be heard: but the countenances were bewildered, the ears of all erect-it was neither a tumult nor quiet,

but the silence which bespoke mighty fear and mighty wrath."