LII. 1808. tiality for French government, when in fact it was only CHAP. an expression of joy at beholding the supposed supporter of Ferdinand VII. Already, without his being aware of it, the real sentiments of the people had made themselves known. An alarming explosion had taken place at Toledo: cries of "Long live Ferdinand VII.!" had been heard in the streets from countless multitudes; and when General Dupont was despatched, five days afterwards, to restore order, it was only by a well-timed and earnest mediation of the archbishop that a serious conflict was April 26. avoided. The fermentation in the capital was hourly 1 169. Tor. increasing, especially since it was known that Ferdinand 124, 126. had crossed the frontier to throw himself into the arms 369, 371. Thiers, viii. of Napoleon, and that his father and Godoy had since set 546. out in the same direction.1 "I do not approve of your taking possession so precipitately as you have done of Madrid: you should have kept the army ten leagues from the capital. Your entry into Madrid, by exciting the alarm of the Spaniards, has powerfully supported Ferdinand. I will write to you what part to adopt in regard to the old King: take care you do not commit me to meet with Ferdinand in Spain, unless you deem it expedient for me to recognise him as King of Spain. Above all, take care that the Spaniards do not suspect what course I am about to adopt: you can have no difficulty in doing so, for I have not fixed upon one myself. 66 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 MURAT, 29th March 1808; SAVARY, iii. 68, 171. History does not afford a more luminous example of sagacious foresight than this letter presents; and yet the Emperor soon after fell headlong into the very dangers which he here so clearly depicted, and was so desirous to avoid! It is remarkable as a proof of his profound habits of dissimulation, even with his most confidential servants, that, in this letter to his lieutenant at Madrid, he makes no mention of the design to place a relation of his own on the throne of Spain, though only three days before he had offered it to Louis, King of Holland.—See ante, Chap. LI., § 50. 1 Thib. vi. CHAP. LII. 1808. 62. Arrogant conduct of Murat. 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 campaigns, had produced repeated conflicts between them and the inhabitants; blood had flowed in several places, and at Burgos the assemblage had been so alarming, that it required to be dispersed by regular discharges of the French infantry. The common people, whose instinct often sees deeper into the real tendency of events than the speculations of more learned persons, were in such a state of agitation at the King's departure, that they would have broken out into open insurrection, had not his counsellors issued a proclamation, in which it was declared that Napoleon was coming in person to Madrid, to consolidate the happiness of Spain, and that the King had only gone to meet his august guest, and conduct him to the capital. Irritated at these symptoms of resistance, and looking to no means but force for its suppression, Murat wrote in the most menacing terms to Don Antonio, stating that he could permit no concourse of men in the streets; that the anarchy which prevailed was intolerable; that his resolution to suppress it was irrevocably taken; and that, if the government was not sufficiently strong to enforce obedience to its orders, he would take upon himself the maintenance of the public tranquillity. The regency issued severe proclamations against seditious assemblages or meetings, and replied in the most submissive manner to the thundering menaces of Murat but though no public demonstration had yet taken place, the most alarming reports were in circulation. The French officers publicly gave out that Napoleon would reinstate Tor. i. 124, Charles IV. on the throne; the departure of that soveiii. 159, 160. reign with the Prince of the Peace for the Pyrenees seemed 72. Thiers, to countenance that idea; and reports were circulated, April 23. April 24, 1 Thib, vi. 369, 371. 127. Foy, Lond. i. 71, viii. 562, 563. and greedily credited, that thirty thousand armed Biscayans had fallen on Bayonne,' and rescued their beloved LII. Prince from his oppressors, while Aragon, Catalonia, and CHAP. Navarre had risen in a body to cut off the retreat of the French army. 1808. 63. agitation at the ap of Madrid at and proaching were of the rest departure of the royal family. At length, in the beginning of May, matters came to extremities. The goverment was a prey to the most Extreme cruel disquietude, being left in the approaching crisis the monarchy with the responsibility of command, without its powers; ignorant which sovereign they ultimately to obey; fearful of betraying their country, and equally so of precipitating it into a hopeless struggle; actuated at times by a generous desire to maintain the national independence, and throw themselves on public sympathy for their support, and apprehensive at others that in so doing they might mar an accommodation when on the point of being concluded, and incur the pains of treason from a sovereign whom they had involved in irretrievable embarrassments. Unable to determine on any decided course in the midst of such unparalleled difficulties, they adopted meanwhile the prudent step of confining the troops to their barracks, and exercising the most rigid vigilance, by means of the police, to prevent the quarrels, often attended with bloodshed, which were perpetually occurring between the French soldiers and the Spanish citizens. The Imperial Guard, with a division of infantry and brigade of cavalry, alone were quartered in Madrid; the artillery was all in the Retiro: but large bodies of troops, amounting in all to above thirty thousand men, were in the immediate neighbourhood, ready to pour in on the first signal. The whole population of the capital was in the streets; business was everywhere at a stand; and in the menacing looks and smothered agitation of the groups might be seen decisive proofs that a great explosion was at hand. Agebatur huc illuc urbs vario turbæ fluctuantis impulsu; completis undique basilicis ac templis, lugubri prospectu, neque populi aut plebis ulla vox: sed attoniti vultus, et conversæ ad omnia aures: non tumultus, non CHAP. quies: quale magni metus et magnæ iræ silentium erat."1* LII. Matters were in this combustible state when Murat de 1808. 1 Tac. Hist. i. 40. April 29. manded that the Queen of Etruria, and the Infants Don Francisco and Don Antonio, should forthwith set out for Bayonne. The government hesitated on this demand, which was in effect delivering up the whole remainder of the royal family into the hands of the French Em2 Tor. i. 127, peror: Murat insisted, throwing upon them the whole 159, 163, responsibility of a war in case of refusal; and the minister Nell. i. 49, of war, upon being referred to, drew so gloomy a picture i. 72, 73. of the military resources of the monarchy, that resistance was deemed impossible, and this last requisition was 607, 608. agreed to, and the hour of their departure fixed for the following morning.2 135. Foy, 55. Lond. Thib. vi. 370, 372. Thiers, viii. 64. at Madrid At ten o'clock on that day the royal carriages came to Commotion the door of the palace, and preparations for the departure on 24 May. of the princes took place. The Queen of Etruria, who from her long residence in Italy had ceased to be an object of interest to the people, set off first, and was allowed to depart without disturbance, though an immense crowd was collected, and the whole city was in violent agitation. Two other carriages remained, and it was known among the bystanders that they were to conthe Infants Don Antonio and Don Francisco: a report soon spread that Don Francisco, who was a boy of thirteen, was weeping in the apartments above, and refused to go away: presently an aide-de-camp of Murat arrived on horseback, and making his way through the throng, ascended the stairs of the palace; the report instantly flew through the crowd that he was come to force the royal youth from the palace of his fathers. Nothing more was requisite to throw the already excited. vey "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." CHAP. LII. 1808. multitude into a commotion: the French officer was violently assailed, and would have been despatched on the spot, if Don Miguel Flores, an officer of the Walloon Guards had not protected him at the hazard of his own life. Both would, however, in all probability, have fallen victims to the fury of the populace, had not a French picquet at that moment come up, which withdrew the officer in safety to his comrades. Murat instantly resolved to punish severely this insult to his authority; a detachment of foot-soldiers appeared with two pieces. of cannon, and by several discharges with grapeshot, within point-blank range, easily dispersed the crowd 1 Nell. i. 53, which was collected round the palace. But the sound of 54. Tor. i. these cannon resounded from one end of the Peninsula to Foy, iii.163, the other; in its ultimate effects it shook the empire of i. 73. Napoleon to its foundation: it was literally the beginning 609, 610. of the end.1 135, 137. 165. Lond. Thiers, viii. flicts in the Instantly, as if by enchantment, the city was in a 65. tumult: the Spanish vehemence was roused at once into Severe conaction. All considerations of prudence, consequences, streets. and probabilities of success were forgotten in the intense indignation of the moment. Everywhere the people flew to arms knives, daggers, bayonets, were seized wherever they could be found; the gun-smiths' shops ransacked for firearms, and all French detachments passing through the streets surrounded, and in many cases cut to pieces. Such a tumultuary effort, however, could not long prevail against the discipline and skill of regular soldiers: the Spanish troops were locked up, by orders of their government, in their barracks, and could render no assistance; and though the rapid concentration of the French, when the firing commenced, induced the people for a time to imagine that they had driven them from the capital, yet they were soon, and cruelly, undeceived. Reinforced by the numerous battalions which now poured from all quarters into the city, and supported by the artillery, which on the first alarm had been brought from the |