CHAP. 1808. June 17. June 10. June 24. 1 Thib. vi. 395, 401. South. i. 400, 409. Nell. ii. 214, 224, 226. 50. onne by Napoleon to the Spaniards. took the oath of allegiance to Joseph; but under a reservation that his appointment was ratified by a free Cortes, convened in Spain according to the fundamental customs of the monarchy. A proclamation was issued by the new king, in which he accepted the cession of the crown of Spain, made to him by his august brother Napoleon I., and appointed Murat his lieutenant-general. The consent of Russia was already secured to all the changes in the Peninsula; and, in order to reconcile the other courts in Europe to them, an elaborate circular note was addressed to their respective cabinets, in which it was announced that "the occupation of the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal, the regeneration of these fine nations, the creation of the fleets of Cadiz and the Tagus, would be a mortal stroke to the power of England, and put the finishing hand to the triumph of the maritime system, in which all the continental powers were so warmly interested." Finally, on the 15th June, ninety-two deputies, out of the one hundred and fifty summoned, assembled at Bayonne, and formally accepted the constitution prepared for them by the Emperor Napoleon.1 By this constitution it was provided that the crown was to be vested in Joseph and his heirs-male; whom Constitution failing, in the Emperor and his heirs-male; and in default given at Bay-of both, in the other brothers of the imperial family, in their order of seniority, but under the condition that the crown of Spain was not to be united on the same head with another. The legislature was to consist of a Senate of eighty members, nominated by the king: a Cortes composed of one hundred and seventy-two members, arranged in the following proportions and order ;-twenty-five archbishops and bishops, and twenty-five grandees on the first bench; sixty-two deputies of the provinces of Spain and Degrading letter of Escoiquiz and Ferdinand's counsellors to Joseph. sincerity of the oath which they now take of obedience to the new constitution of their country, and fidelity to the King of Spain, Joseph I. The generosity of your Catholic Majesty, your goodness and humanity, induce them to hope that, considering the need which these princes have of a continuation of their services in the situations which they respectively held under the old dynasty, the magnanimity of your august Majesty will induce you to continue them in the enjoyment of the estates and offices which they formerly held. Assured thus of the continuance of the posts which they have hitherto enjoyed, they will ever prove faithful subjects to your Majesty, and true Spaniards, ready to obey blindly_even the smallest wish which your Majesty may express." Signed SAN CARLOS, JUAN ESCOIQUIZ, MARQUIS AYERLEE, and others, 22d June 1808.-NELLERTO, i 250, 251. LIII. 1808. the Indies; thirty of the principal towns; fifteen of the CHAP. merchants and manufacturers; and fifteen of the arts and sciences. The first fifty, composing the peers, were appointed by the king, but could not be displaced by him; the second class was elected by the provinces and municipalities; the third was appointed by the king out of lists presented to him by the tribunals and chambers of commerce, and the universities. The deliberations of the Cortes were not to be public; none of their proceedings were to be published, under the penalties of high treason ; the finances and expenditure were to be settled by them at one sitting for three years; the colonies were constantly to have a deputation of twenty-two persons at the seat of government to watch over their interests; all exclusive exemptions from taxation were abolished; entails per- 1 See Cónmitted only to the amount of twenty thousand piastres stitution of Bayonne, (£2,000) yearly, and with the consent of the king; an Thib. vi. 402, alliance, offensive and defensive, was concluded with 403; and France, and a promise held out of the establishment of 295. the liberty of the press within two years after the commencement of the new constitution.1 Every thing was conducted by the junta of Notables Tor. i. 292, of Napoleon, Joseph, and the Junta of Notables, at June 26. at Bayonne to the entire satisfaction of Napoleon. The 51. grandees of Spain rivalled his own senate in graceful adu- Proceedings lation of his achievements, in obsequious submission to his will. When the constitution was read to them, it was received with transport, and adopted by acclamation. Bayonne. Thunders of applause shook the hall when the new king July 7. made his appearance in his royal robes; when he retired, two medals were unanimously voted to record the memorable acts of Bayonne; and the assembly, in a body, hastened to the Emperor to lay at his feet the homage of their gratitude for the unparalleled services which he had rendered to their country. There was in the flattery of the Spanish nobles a mixture of studied servility with Oriental grandiloquence, which was novel and agreeable to a sovereign toward whom had been exhausted all the arts of European adulation.* Two days after, the new king set out * "Sire!" said M. Azanza, the President of the Notables, "the junta of Spain has accomplished the glorious task for which your Majesty convened it in this city. It has accepted, with as much eagerness as freedom, the great charter which fixes upon a sure foundation the happiness of Spain. Happily for our country, an overruling Providence has employed your irresistible hand to snatch СНАР. 1808. July 9. July 20. for the capital of his dominions; he was accompanied as far as the frontier by his imperial brother in a splendid cortège of a hundred carriages, and crossed the Bidassoa amidst the roar of artillery and all the pomp of more than regal magnificence. On the 20th, Napoleon himself set out from Bayonne, having first given such instructions to Savary as he deemed sufficient to bring the insurrection, which had now broken out on all sides, to a successful issue; and returned by Pau, where he visited the birth-place of Henry IV., Bordeaux, La Vendée, the mouth of the Loire, Nantes, and Tours, to St Cloud, which he reached in the middle of August. Meanwhile, Ferdinand VII., resigning himself to his chains, wrote to the Emperor from Valençay, thanking him for his condescension, and requesting permission to meet him on his route to lay his homage at his feet, which was not granted; and Charles IV., * after testifying his entire satisfaction with the palace, parks, and country around Compeigne, requested permission, on Thib. vi. 406, account of his health, to pass the winter in a warmer cli408. Tor. i. 294, 295. mate, which was graciously accorded. In the autumn he moved to Marseilles, where he lingered out in ease and obscurity the remainder of his inglorious life.1 Aug. 14. July 26. Aug. 1. 1 See the Letter in Nell. ii. 262. The ministry appointed by Joseph, before his departure "from Bayonne, was mainly taken from the counsellors of the Prince of Asturias; and this selection, joined to their ready acceptance of their new dignities, throws a dark shade of doubt over the fidelity with which they had served that unhappy prince during his brief but eventful it from the abyss into which it was about to be precipitated. It is well that it was irresistible; for an inexplicable blindness has caused those who ought most to rejoice at this benefit to misapprehend it. But all Spain, Sire! will open its eyes. It will see that it required a total regeneration, and that from your Majesty alone it could obtain it. Public evil was at its height; the agents of a feeble government devoured the public patrimony, or extended unceasingly the limits of arbitrary power; the finances were a chaos; the public debt an abyss; the period of total dissolution was approaching. To what other power but that of your imperial and royal Majesty could it be reserved, not merely to arrest the evil, but entirely to remove it? Such are the wonders, Sire, which you have wrought in a few days, and which fill the world with astonishment."-SOUTHEY, i. 436, 437. "My uncle and brother have been equally charmed with myself at the announcement of the arrival of your imperial and royal Majesty at Pau, which brings us nearer your presence; and since, whatever route you choose, you must pass near this, we should regard it as a very great satisfaction if your imperial and royal Majesty would permit us to meet you, and renew in person that homage of sincere attachment and respect which we all feel, if it is not inconvenient."-FERDINAND VII. to NAPOLEON, 26th July 1808: NELLERTO, ii. 262. Napoleon, however, declined the honour, and never saw Ferdinand or any of his family more. СНАР. 1808. 52. New Ministry of Joseph. ney to, and Madrid. possession of the throne. Don Luis de Urquijo was made secretary of state; Don Pedro Cevallos, minister for foreign affairs; Don Sebastian de Pinuela, and Don Gonzalo O'Farrel, ministers of justice and at war; Don Miguel Azanza obtained the colonies, and Mazaredo the marine. Even Escoiquiz wrote to Joseph, protesting his devotion and his jourto him, and declaring that he and the rest of Ferdinand's arrival and household " were willing to obey his will blindly, down reception at to the minutest particulars." The Duke del Infantado was July 22 appointed to the command of the Spanish, and the Prince Castel-Franco to that of the Walloon Guards. Joseph entered Spain surrounded by the highest grandees and most illustrious names of Spain. He reached Madrid on the 20th, having lingered for several days at Burgos and July 20. Vittoria, and received there the oaths of allegiance from the Council of State, the Council of the Indies, and that of the finances. His reception in the capital was melancholy in the extreme. Orders had been given that the houses of the inhabitants should be decked out to receive their new sovereign, but very few obeyed the injunction. A crowd assembled to see the brilliant cortège and splendid guards which accompanied the King, but no cheers or applauses were heard. Every countenance bore a mournful expression; hardly any ladies appeared at the windows, notwithstanding the passionate fondness of the Spanish 1 Thib. vi. women for such displays. The bells of all the churches 427. Tor. i. rang together, but they resembled rather the dismal toll 1.482. at the interment of the dead, than the merry chime which announces a joyful event to the living.1 355. South. 53. resistance to torrent of To the honour of Spain and of human nature it must be stated, that, in the midst of this humiliating scene of aristocratic baseness, some sparks of an independent spirit Honourable were elicited, and some men in high station asserted the instances of ancient honour of the Spanish character. When the Duke the general del Infantado, at the head of the grandees of the monarchy, adulation delivered their address to the new sovereign, he concluded in his favour it with these words :-"The laws of Spain do not permit grandees. us to go farther at present. We await the decision of the nation, which can alone authorise us to give a freer vent to our sentiments." No words can convey an idea of the anger of Napoleon at this unexpected reservation. Instantly approaching the Duke, he said, "As you are a gentleman, among the CHAP. 1808. you should conduct yourself as such; and instead of dis puting here on the words of an oath, which you will' doubtless violate as soon as you have an opportunity, you would do better to withdraw at once, put yourself at the head of your party, and combat there openly and honourably. But you may rest assured, that if you take an oath here, and afterwards fail in its performance, before eight days you shall be shot." This violent apostrophe intimidated the Duke; the address was corrected, and delivered in the form above mentioned, by Azanza; but the Duke retained his opinions, and ere long appeared in the ranks of his country. The Council of Castile prefaced their address by the fulsome expression,-"Your Majesty is one of the principal branches of a family destined by Heaven to reign over mankind ;" but they eluded, by alleging want of authority, the simple and unqualified taking of the oath of allegiance. Jovellanos, who had been liberated by the resignation of Charles IV. and the fall of Godoy from his long captivity in the dungeons of Minorca, was offered by Joseph the portfolio of the minister of the interior. But the lengthened sufferings of that incorruptible patriot, under an oppressive government, could not blind him to the injustice now attempted by his deliverers, and he declared his resolution to abide by the fortunes of his suffering countrymen rather than accept wealth and greatness from their oppressors.* The bishop of Orense, when nominated as one of the junta to proceed to Bayonne by the regency of Madrid, returned an answer 1 Tor. i, 281, declining the honour in such independent and elevated 299, 413. Pièces Just. terms as must for ever command the respect of the generous among mankind.1+ Memorable answer of the Bishop of Orense to his summons to Bayonne. *"I am resolved," said he, in reply to the reiterated instances of Joseph and his ministers," to decline the place in the administration which you offer me: and I am convinced that you will strive in vain to overcome the resistance, by means of exhortations, of a people so brave and resolute to recover their liberties. Even if the cause of my country were as desperate as you suppose it, it will never cease to be that of honour and loyalty, and that which every good Spaniard should embrace at any hazard."-TORENO, i. 299. "Spain," said this courageous prelate, in his letter to the junta at Madrid, "now sees in the French Emperor the oppressor of its princes and its own tyrant; it feels itself enslaved, while it is told of its happiness: and these chains it owes even less to perfidy, than the presence of an army which it admitted to its strongholds when on terms of perfect amity. The nation is without a king, and knows not which way to turn. The abdication of its sovereign, and the appointment of Murat as Lieutenant-general of the kingdom, all took place in France amidst foreign armies, and under the eyes of an Emperor who conceived he was bestowing prosperity on Spain by placing on her throne a prince of his |