LII. 1808. views of the Emperor, and entirely regardless of any CHAP. breach of faith in carrying them into effect," he spared neither menaces, nor flattery, nor assurances of safety, to accomplish the grand object of getting Ferdinand into the hands of his master. No sooner had he arrived at Madrid than he demanded a special audience of the King, which was immediately granted. He there declared, "I have come at the particular desire of the Emperor solely to offer his compliments to your majesty, and to know if your sentiments in regard to France are in conformity with those of your father. If they are, the Emperor will shut his eyes to all that is past; he will not intermeddle in the smallest particular in the internal affairs of the kingdom, and he will instantly recognise you as King of Spain and the Indies." Murat also had an audience of Ferdinand, and made the same 1 Cevallos, protestations in still more emphatic terms.1 This grati- April 10. fying assurance was accompanied with so many flattering expressions and such apparent cordiality, that it entirely imposed not only on Ferdinand, but on his most expe- 28, 29. Tor. rienced counsellors; and Savary's entreaties that he i 112, 113. would go at least as far as Burgos to meet the Emperor, Savary, who was already near Bayonne, on the road to Madrid, Foy, iii. were so pressing, that their reluctance to his departure viii. 559. from the capital was at length overcome, and he set out 2 * He admitted to the Abbé de Pradt, that his mission was, by one means or another, to get Ferdinand to Bayonne.-DE PRADT, 73. "Murat le vit (Ferdinand VII.), se garda bien de promettre à l'avance la reconnaissance de Ferdinand VII., mais déclara plusieurs fois que Napoléon n'avait que des intentions parfaitement amicales, qu'il ne voulait en rien se mêler des affaires intérieures de l'Espagne, que si ses troupes se trouvaient aux portes de Madrid au moment de la dernière révolution, c'était un pur hasard ; mais que, l'Europe pouvant le rendre responsable de cette révolution, il était obligé de s'assurer, avant de reconnaître le nouveau roi, que tout s'était passé à Aranjuez légitimement et naturellement; que personne mieux que Ferdinand VII. ne saurait l'édifier complètement à ce sujet, et que la présence de ce prince, les explications qui sortiraient de sa bouche, ne pouvaient manquer de produire sur l'esprit de Napoléon un effet décisif."-THIERS, viii. 557, 558. "I asked permission," says Savary," to accompany the king on his journey to the north, solely for this reason:-I had come from Bayonne to Madrid as a 28, 29. 2 Cevallos, i. Escoiq. 54. 181, 182. 145. Thiers, CHAP. from Madrid, in company with the French envoy, to meet his august protector. LII. 1808. 54. Ferdinand at Savary's earnest de sire. The King was everywhere received on his route to the Journey of northern provinces with the same enthusiastic joy as at to Burgos Aranjuez and Madrid; though the simple inhabitants of Castile, not involved in the trammels of intrigue, and uninfluenced by the delusions which were practised on their superiors, beheld with undisguised anxiety the progress of their sovereign towards the French frontier. At Burgos, however, the uneasiness of the royal counsellors greatly increased; for not only were they now surrounded by the French troops, but the Emperor had not arrived, and no advices of his having even crossed the frontier were received. The matter was warmly and anxiously debated in his council, and opinions were much divided as to the course which should be adopted; Don Pedro Cevallos earnestly insisting that the King should go no farther, and portraying in vivid colours the evident peril with which such an inconsiderate surrender of his person into the hands of so ambitious a potentate would be attended. The other counsellors of the King were more undecided; alleging for their public justification that it was utterly inconceivable that Napoleon should entertain any sinister designs against the person of the monarch on the throne of Spain, and thus run the risk not only of lighting up the flames of a frightful war in the Peninsula, but of placing the whole resources of its Transatlantic possessions at the disposal of the English government.1 1 Cevallos, 31. Foy, Escoiq. 44. iii. 147. Thiers, viii. 566. These, however, were not their only, not their real reasons; in truth they had gone too far to recede. It had common courier, as was the custom of travelling at that time in Spain. I had scarcely arrived when I was under the necessity of retracing my steps in the same fashion in order to meet the Emperor, at the same time that Ferdinand was pursuing the same route. I found it much more convenient to request leave for my carriage to join that of his majesty; I did so, and my carriage accordingly made part of the royal cortège."-SAVARY, iii. 185, 186.—It is not credible that this was the real reason which induced Savary to accompany the King back to Burgos. Don Pedro Cevallos says, General Savary made use of the most pressing instances to induce the King to go to meet the Emperor, LII. 1808. 55. tives of his in agreeing journey. already transpired that Charles IV. had denounced the CHAP. resignation of Aranjuez as a forced act, and was doing his utmost to engage the French government in his interest. They were all, with the exception of Cevallos, involved Secret moin that transaction, and they thus saw the penalties of counsellors treason menacing them in rear. The country was over- to his conrun by French troops; a national struggle in defence of tinuing his Ferdinand appeared hopeless, or at least there were no preparations for it; and there seemed no safety even to their lives but in advancing rapidly, and, by early submission and adroit flattery, winning the powerful protection of the French Emperor before the partisans of the late monarch had had time to make any impression. This is the true secret of the majority of Ferdinand's counsellors advising him to go on to Bayonne, after the danger of it had become so evident as to excite tumults 146, 147. even in the humblest ranks of the people.1 1 Foy, iii. 56. assurances given by Cevallos, however, with honourable constancy maintained his opinion, and the ultimate determination appeared Perfidious still uncertain, when Savary joined the deliberations. He of his safety protested loudly against any change in the King's plans Savary. as uncalled for and unnecessary, prejudicial alike to the honour of the French Emperor and of himself as his envoy, and likely, more than any other step which could be taken to embroil the two kingdoms, and destroy that good understanding which was just beginning to arise between their respective monarchs. "I will let you cut off my head," said he, “if, in a quarter of an hour after the arrival of your majesty at Bayonne, he does not recognise you as the King of Spain and of the Indies. To preserve consistency, he will, perhaps, in the first alleging that such a step would appear infinitely flattering to his imperial majesty; and this he repeated so often, and in such insinuating terms, asserting, at the same time, that the Emperor might be hourly expected, that it was impossible to withhold credit from the assertion. When the day of departure was fixed, the French general 'solicited the honour of accompanying his majesty in his journey, which could in no event be prolonged beyond Burgos, according to the positive intelligence he had just received of the approach of his majesty.'"-CEVALLOS, 31. VOL. VIII. Z LII. 1808. CHAP. instance, address you by the title of your Highness; but in a few minutes he will give you that of your Majesty. The moment that is done, everything is at an end; then your majesty may instantly return to Spain." The King was in great perplexity, and it was extremely doubtful what course would be finally resolved on, when 31,32. Foy, Savary again represented that the nearer they approached Escoiq. 44, Napoleon the more he would become disposed in their favour, and that, by going forward to Bayonne, their suspense would be terminated two days sooner than it otherwise would.1 April 14. iii. 147, 149. 45. Sav. iii. 186, 187. Thiers, viii. 567. 57. These words were decisive: the King was surrounded At length by eight thousand of the French troops, without a single his journey guard of his own. The earnest manner and apparent to Bayonne. sincerity of Savary disarmed suspicion. Even if it had he prolongs still existed, resistance was hardly possible where there was not a battalion to support it; and the fatal resolution to continue the journey to Bayonne was taken almost from necessity, although the people were so alive to the danger that they everywhere manifested the utmost repugnance to the journey being continued, and rose at Vitoria in menacing crowds to prevent it.* At that place a faithful counsellor of the King, Don Mariano de Urquijo, arrived from Bilbao, and not only laid before him a memoir, distinctly foretelling the danger which awaited him from the French Emperor, but suggested a plan by which escape in disguise was still possible, and mentioned that both the captain-general of Biscay and a faithful battalion would be at hand at Mondragon to conduct him to Durango, and from thence to the fortified town of Bilbao. Hervax repeated the same advice: the chief of the customhouse tendered two thousand of his officers to protect his majesty the Duke of Mahon, governor of Guipuscoa, offered to pledge his head that he should escape safely * "Tribuni et milites, monendo, suadendo, et quanto longius abscidebatur; apertiore custodiâ, postremo gnarum necessitatis in urbem traxere."-TACITUS, Annal. The arts of tyranny are the same in all ages. LII. into Aragon, and to accompany him in his flight, observ- CHAP. ing that it should never be said that a great-grandson of the brave Crillon was wanting in the hour of need to a descendant of Henry IV. 1808. 58. Napoleon, termines his So many and such concurring efforts would probably have diverted the King from his design, were it not that Letter from at that very moment Savary, who had gone on to Bay- which deonne, and seen the Emperor, returned, bringing a letter hesitation. from Napoleon himself to Ferdinand, dated from that town only two days before. This letter was couched in such encouraging terms, and held out such flattering though equivocal assurances of an immediate recognition, which were strongly repeated by Savary on his word of honour, that it relieved Ferdinand's counsellors of all their perplexities; and it was finally resolved to continue the journey without delay to Bayonne.* It is now known that this resolution was not the cause of the catastrophe which followed. Ferdinand in reality had no alternative; he was surrounded by French troops, and they had distinct orders to arrest him, and bring him a prisoner to Napoleon said in this letter," The affair of Aranjuez took place when I was occupied with the concerns of the north. I am not in a situation to form an Guarded but opinion concerning it, nor of the conduct of the Prince of the Peace; but what I deceitful expressions in am clear about is, that it is dangerous for kings to accustom their subjects to Napoleon's the shedding of blood, and to taking justice into their own hands. The King letter. has no longer any friends. Your highness will have none, if ever you prove unfortunate. The people willingly take vengeance for the homage which they in general pay us. As to the abdication of Charles IV., it took place at a moment when our armies covered Spain; and, in the eyes of Europe and posterity, I shall appear to have sent my troops for no other purpose but to precipitate from the throne my friend and ally. As a neighbouring sovereign, I am called on to inquire into, before I recognise, that abdication. I declare to your royal highness, and to the whole world, that if the abdication of King Charles was really voluntary, if he was not constrained to it by the revolt and insurrection of Aranjeuz, I will, without hesitation and at once, recognise you as King of Spain. I desire much to converse with you on this subject. The circumspection which, for some months, I have employed in these affairs, should induce you to rely with the more confidence on me, if, in your turn, factions of any sort should disturb you on the throne. Your royal highness has now my whole thoughts. You see that I vacillate between different ideas, and have need to be fixed. You may, however, rest assured, that, in any event, I shall conduct myself towards you as I have done towards your father. Rely on my desire to reconcile everything, and on my wish to find occasion to give you proofs of my affection and perfect esteem."-NAPOLEON to FERDINAND, Bayonne, April 16, 1808.— |