HISTORY OF THE WAR

imputation of beholding it with indifference, they amply redeemed themselves. Murat, upon receiving it, pronounced a flattering eulogium on the Spanish nation, that nation which he was in the act of plundering, and which he came to betray and to enslave.

Notwithstanding the patroles and rounds, and military government, the suspicions of the people began to manifest themselves more and more, and their poor prince was compelled, while he concealed his own fears, to exert his authority for suppressing theirs. By a new edict, (April 3rd,) it was enacted, that no liquors should be sold after eight in the evening, master-manufacturers and tradesmen were ordered to give notice to the police if any of their workmen or apprentices absented themselves from their work, fathers of families were enjoined to keep their children and families from mixing with seditious assemblies, and to restrain them by good example, good advice, and the fear of punishment. It was declared, at the same time, that the guilty would be most severely punished, without remission and without delay.

On the introduction of Savary, the French ambassador, to the closet of Ferdinand, he assured the unfortunate prince that the emperor was already near Bayonne, on his way to Madrid, and that it would be highly flattering to his imperial majesty, if the king would meet him on the road. Ferdinand, incapable of suspecting that the envoy was sent merely to deceive him, yielded to his solicitations; and, having issued a proclamation, in which he announced his departure to meet his "friend and mighty ally the emperor of France," and appointed the infante Don Antonio president of the high council of government, he began on the 11th of April, his unhappy journey. Savary affected the most zealous and assiduous attention, solicited the honor of accompanying him, and asserted that the emperor would certainly be found at Burgos on their arrival. When they reached Burgos, Buonaparte was not there, and Ferdinand hesitated whether to advance or return, but, again deceived by the flatteries of Savary, and afraid to refuse a favor so

earnestly required, proceeded to Vittoria, yet so reluctantly, that on their entrance into that town, thinking it would be useless to renew his solicitations, Savary left him there and continued his journey to Bayonne, there to arrange measures with his master for securing the prey which was At Vittoria, now already in the toils. Ferdinand received intelligence that Buonaparte had reached Bourdeaux, and was on his way to Bayonne. In consequence of this advice, the infante Don Carlos, who had been waiting at Tolosa, proceeded to Bayonne, whither the emperor had invited him, and when the modern Cæsar Borgia arrived there, he found one victim in his power. Don Carlos soon discovered the views of Buonaparte; and, having communicated his fears to Pignatelli, on whom he relied as a Spaniard and a man of honor, drew up with his advice a letter to Ferdinand, beseeching him to abandon his jour ney to Bayonne. Pignatelli was in Naney to Bayonne. poleon's interest, and intercepted the messengers. Their measures were soon solved upon: Savary returned to Vittoria with a letter from Buonaparte to Ferdinand, Such a couched in terms of mingled sarcasm, menace, and ardent friendship. letter might well have intimidated Ferdinand from proceeding on his journey to Bayonne, but he had advanced too far to recede, and the French troops in the neighbourhood of Vittoria surrounded him, ready to intercept his retreat, should he attempt it. Cevallos, his other counsellors, and the people of Vittoria, besought him not to advance, while general Savary assured him with the most vehement protestations, that in a few minutes after his arrival at Bayonne, he would be recognised as king of Spain and of the Indies. Confused, terrified, and in the power of Buonaparte, the only relief he could find was in yielding implicit belief to these repreHis credulity can hardly sentations.

re

The treachery was too be condemned. complicated, too monstrous to be suspected. Centuries had elapsed since any act of similar perfidy had stained the history of Europe.

He proceeded and crossed the stream

the purpose of transferring it to a despot and a stranger, from whose unprovoked aggression, he himself a few weeks before, attempted to abandon his kingdom and fly to America.

Ferdinand was now reduced to the necessity of choice between degradation and absolute destruction. He made however one effort in behalf of Spain and of himself, and addressed his father in a letter not less dignified than respectful, in which he asserted his right to the crown, and his readiness to restore it. In the answer to this letter, the style as well as the purposes of Buonaparte were apparent. The hatred of popular assemblies, the affectation of philosophy, the perpetual reference to brutal force, and the number and inconsistency of the falsehoods it contained were all characteristic of the bureau from which it originally proceeded. Ferdinand's answer to this extraordinary paper was highly honorable to himself and his advisers, and Buonaparte irritated and surprised by the firmness of his resistance, demanded an hour's conference with Charles, at the conclusion of which Ferdinand was called in by his father, to hear in the presence of Napoleon, and of the queen of Spain, expressions so indecent and disgust ing, that I dare not record them. It may be mentioned however, that intimidated by the threats of Buonaparte, the queen declared Ferdinand to have been born in adultery, and authorised the emperor of France to assert that he had no other right to the crown than what he derived from his mother. While all the rest of the visitors were seated, Ferdinand was kept standing, and his father (May 6th) ordered him to make an absolute renunciation of the crown, under pain of being treated with all his household as a usurper and conspirator against the lives of his parents. For the sake of his adherents he submitted, and delivered in a renunciation couched in such terms as at once to imply compulsion, and reserve the condition of his father's return to Spain. He was not aware when he executed this form of renunciation that his father was no longer qualified to receive it. Napoleon had not waited for this pre

liminary to conclude his mock negotiation with Charles. This wretched puppet addressed an edict on the 4th of May to the supreme junta of Madrid, in which he nominated Murat, lieutenant-general of the kingdom, and president of the government. The message was immediately succeeded by a resignation on the part of Charles, of the sovereignty of Spain to the emperor of France, in return for an asylum in France, and various pecuniary gratuities dependent on the punctuality and integrity of Napoleon. The agreement was signed by general Duroc, grand master of the palace, on the part of Buonaparte, and on the part of Charles, by Godoy, under his titles, Spanish and Portuguese, of prince de la Paz, and count of Evora Monte. Having executed his commission, the latter retired into the interior of France, there to remain for a while, neglected, and despised, and ultimately to leave beliind him a name more infamous than any which Spanish history replete as it is with atrocious narratives, had yet recorded.

Ferdinand had hitherto renounced his right in reference to his father only. It was now demanded that he should cede his claims to the emperor of France, and he was told to choose between cession and death. That Ferdinand should at length have yielded is not to be severely con demned, it is rather to be admired that he should have resisted so long. Even had he been of a more heroic frame than from his family and education there is any reason to suppose, imprisonment and death were all that he could expect from further opposition. Thus intimidated he ordered his former tutor, Escoiquiz, to treat with of his own Duroc for the surrender of his rights, and those of his brothers and his uncle Don Antonio, who had now been sent from Madrid, rather as prisoners, than in any other character. The preamble declared that the emperor of the French and the prince of Asturias having differences to regulate had agreed to these terms: I. That Ferdinand acceded to the cession made by his father, and reuounced as far as might be necessary the rights accruing to him as prince of Asturias. II. The title