LII. 1808. of Charles March 19. The night passed quietly over, but next morning, at ten o'clock, a frightful disturbance arose in consequence of the discovery of Godoy in his own palace. This 46. unhappy victim of popular fury had remained for thirty- Abdication six hours undiscovered in his place of concealment; but iv. at length the pangs of thirst became so intolerable as to overcome the fear of death, and he ventured down stairs to get a glass of water. He was recognised by a Walloon sentinel at the foot of the steps, who immediately gave the alarm. A crowd instantly collected; he was seized by a furious multitude, and with difficulty rescued from instant death by some guards who collected around him, and, at the imminent risk of their own lives, dragged him, suspended from their saddles almost in the air, covered with contusions and half dead with terror, at a rapid pace across the Place San Antonio to the nearest barrack, amidst the most dreadful cries and imprecations. His feet were crushed by the horses' hoofs, his thigh pierced by a deep wound, and one eye almost torn from its socket. He was thrown on a bed of straw-the same, by a singular coincidence, which he had occupied as a private in the Royal Guard, before his extraordinary and almost fabulous rise commenced. Prevented from wreaking their vengeance on the chief object of their hatred, the mob divided into separate parties, and, traversing the streets in different directions, sacked and levelled with the ground the houses of the principal friends and dependants of Godoy. At length Ferdinand, to whom all eyes were now turned as the only person capable of arresting the public disorders, at the earnest entreaty of the King and Queen-whose anxiety, amidst all the perils with which they were themselves surrounded, was chiefly for the life of their fallen favourite-flew to the prison at the head of his guards, and prevailed on the menacing mob by which it was surrounded to retire. "Are you yet king?" inquired the Prince of the Peace, when Ferdinand first presented himself before him. "Not as yet, LII. 1808. 1 Lond. i. 65, CHAP. but I shall soon be so." In effect, Charles IV., deserted by the whole court, overwhelmed by the opprobrium heaped on his obnoxious minister, unable to trust his own 66. Tor. i.' guards, and in hourly apprehension for the life, not only 78, 79. Foy, of Godoy, but of himself and the Queen, deemed a Nell. i. 15, resignation of the crown the only mode of securing the personal safety of any of the three; and in the evening a proclamation appeared, in which he relinquished the throne to the Prince of Asturias.1* iii. 118, 122. 20. Thib. vi. 321, 323. Thiers, viii. 511, 514. 47. Universal joy of the The Prince was proclaimed king under the title of Ferdinand VII. on the day of his father's abdication; people at and this auspicious event, coupled with the fall of Godoy, these events. diffused universal transport. All ranks and classes of the people shared in it: the surrender of the frontier forces, the hundred thousand men in the northern provinces, the approach of Napoleon with his Guards, were forgotten, now that the traitors who, it was thought, had betrayed the nation, were fallen: the houses in Madrid were decorated during the day with flowers and green boughs; at night a vast illumination burst forth spontaneously in every part of the city. Ferdinand VII. was 66. South. hailed with enthusiastic applause, as the saviour of his Nell. 21, country, whenever he appeared in public; while the public fury against the Prince of the Peace rose to such a height, that the people in many parts of the kingdom 85. Lond. i. i. 209, 218. 22. Thiers, viii. 515. mation, and secret feelings on the subject. * "As my habitual infirmities no longer permit me to bear the weight of the His procla- government of my kingdom, and standing in need, for the re-establishment of my health, of a milder climate and a private life, I have determined, after the most mature deliberation, to abdicate the crown in favour of my heir and well-beloved son, the Prince of Asturias, and desire that this, my free and spontaneous abdication, should be fully carried into execution in all points."— Decree, 19th March 1808; Fox, iii. 371. On the day following, the King informed Murat of his resignation, with full details of his reasons for so doing, but without alleging any others than those set forth in the public instrument; but on the 21st he wrote a secret despatch to Napoleon, in which he asserted—“ I have only resigned in favour of my son from the force of circumstances; and when the din of arms and the clamours of my insurgent guards left me no alternative but resignation or death, which would speedily have been followed by that of the Queen, I have been forced to abdicate, and have no longer any hope but in the aid and support of my magnanimous ally, the Emperor Napoleon." On the same day he drew up a secret protest, which sets forth-"I March 21. LII. destroyed the institutions which he had established for CHAP. the promotion even of agriculture, manufactures, and the arts, from which nothing but unmixed good could have been anticipated. 1808. 48. advance of entry of Murat into Madrid. While the Spanish people were thus abandoning themselves to transports of joy at the accession of a new Continued monarch, Murat, at the head of the French troops, was the French rapidly approaching Madrid. On the 15th March, he troops, and set out at the head of the corps of Moncey, the Imperial Mid Guard and the artillery, from Burgos, taking the road of March 15. Aranda and the Somo-Sierra. On the same day, Dupont, with two divisions of his corps and the cavalry, broke up for the Guadarrama pass and the Escurial, by the route of Segovia; the third division of Dupont's corps remained at Valladolid to observe the Spanish troops which occupied Galicia. No sooner had these forces advanced on the roads towards Madrid, than their place at Burgos was supplied by the army of reserve under Bessières. The whole body moved on by brigades, taking with them provisions for fifteen days, and fifty rounds of ball-cartridge each man; the troops bivouacked at night with all the precautions usual in an enemy's territory. They everywhere gave out that they were bound for the camp of San Roque, to act against the English, at the same time belying these pacific declarations by arresting all the Spanish soldiers and posts whom they met on the road, declare that my decree of 19th March, by which I abdicated the crown in favour of my son, is an act to which I was forced, to prevent the effusion of the blood of my beloved subjects. It should, therefore, be regarded as null."— See both documents in Fox, iii. 392, 393; Pièces Just. On the other hand, the day after his abdication, Charles IV. said to the diplomatic body assembled at the Escurial-" I never performed an action in my life with more pleasure." The truth appears to be, that the abdication, in the first instance, was prompted chiefly by terror for the life of the Prince of the Peace, for whose safety throughout the royal pair manifested more solicitude than for their own concerns; and it was an after-thought to protest against it as null, or attempt to recede from the act. Thibaudeau seems to incline to the opinion that the protest on 21st March was drawn out subsequent to its date, and after the arrival of Murat, though, doubtless, the resignation of the crown, even if suggested only by terrors for Godoy's life, cannot be considered as a voluntary deed.-See TORENO, i. 85, 86; and THIBAUDEAU, vi. 328. CHAP. 1808. so as to prevent any intelligence of their approach being received. In this way they passed without opposition, and almost without their advance being known, the imMarch 23. portant range of mountains which separates Old from New Castile; and Murat having received intelligence at Beytrajo, on their southern side, of the events at Aranjuez, redoubled his speed, entered Madrid at the head of the cavalry and Imperial Guard and a brilliant staff on the day following, and took up his quarters in the hotel of the Prince of the Peace. This formidable apparition excited much less attention than it would otherwise have March 24. done, in consequence of all minds being intent on the preparations for Ferdinand VII. on the following day making his public entry into the capital, and of the mean look of the French soldiers, who, with the exception of the magnificent Imperial Guard, presented a very despicable appearance, widely different from the stalwart peasantry who gazed on their array. They had yet to learn the difference between disciplined conscripts and an undisciplined mob. Ferdinand next day came in accordingly, accompanied by two hundred thousand citizens of all ranks, in carriages, on foot, and horseback, who had i. 219, 225. gone out to welcome their sovereign; and Murat, who Foy, 128, was an eye-witness to the universal transports which his 93,97. Thib. presence occasioned, failed not instantly to write off to Thiers, viii. Napoleon intelligence of what he had seen, with many observations on the probable effect of so popular a prince permanently retaining the supreme direction of affairs.1 The first care of Ferdinand, after he ascended the Murat de- throne, was to transmit to Napoleon a full account of the transactions at Aranjuez, according to his version of the Ferdinand, affair; and he anxiously awaited the answer which was military to be received from the supreme arbiter of his fate. In of Madrid. the interim, however, he experienced from the French authorities the utmost reserve; and when he made a visit to Murat, and was announced as King of Spain, he had the mortification of being obliged to return, not only Lond. i. 67, 68. South. 130. Tor. i. vi. 329. 483, 487, 527. 49. clines to recognise and takes possession LII. 1808. without any of the honours due to his rank, but without CHAP. having had a single word addressed to him by that officer or his attendants.* As, however, it was of the utmost importance to the new sovereign that he should be recognised by the French Emperor and his situation without such countenance was not only precarious but full of danger-no pains were spared to conciliate his favour, and win the good-will of the French generals in Madrid. Flattery, caresses, obsequious obedience to every demand, were all tried, but in vain. Murat, aware of the secret designs of his brother-in-law on the throne of Spain, was careful to avoid everything which could have the semblance even of recognising Ferdinand's title to the throne. In truth, he nourished secret hopes of it for himself; and the very day after his arrival wrote accordingly to the Emperor, that if he chose it, nothing was easier than to supplant the Bourbon dynasty by "a prince of his house." Meanwhile Charles IV. and the Queen, more and more alarmed for the safety of their fallen favourite, did not let a day pass without reiterating their entreaties to Murat to take him under his protection, and now Thiers, openly represented the resignation as a compulsory act; 524,526, while that general, careful above all to advance the Thib. vi. interests of his master, took military possession of the i. 108, 109. capital, occupied and fortified the Retiro,' reviewed all * "The Queen of Etruria had, unknown to Murat, arranged matters for an interview between him and Ferdinand VII., and accordingly he made his appearance and was announced as King of Spain, when the French general was paying a visit to the Ex-Queen of Tuscany. Murat stood up when he entered the room, but did not advance a step to meet him: Ferdinand paused at his unexpected reserve; and the Queen, to put an end to so awkward a scene, sat down to the piano and began to play. Neither said a word: at length Ferdinand mechanically drew near to his sister, and stood beside the instrument; Murat never stirred, and soon after, bowing to the Queen, retired, without having taken any further notice of the embarrassed monarch."-Foy, iii. 140, note. "Je croyais, Sire,' écrivait-il à Napoléon, 'après tant d'années de services et de dévouement, avoir mérité votre confiance, et, revêtu du commandement de vos troupes, devoir connaître à quelles fins elles allaient être employées. Je vous en supplie, donnez-moi des instructions. Quelles qu'elles soient, elles seront exécutées. Voulez-vous renverser Godoy, faire régner Ferdinand, rien 1 viii. 485, Foy, i. 140. 332. Tor. |