Four days after the insurMay 6. rection, a circular letter was addressed by the Inquisitor-General, in the name of the supreme council, to all its subordinate tribunals. That insurrection, the anniversary of which, however hopelessly it began, and disastrously it terminated, will be celebrated hereafter by Spain, as one of the most solemn days in her kalendar, a day of proud and pious commemoration, was here styled a disgrace ful tumult, occasioned by the evil intentions or ignorance of thoughtless men, who, under the mask of patriotism and loyalty, were preparing the way for revolutionary disorders. The melancholy consequences which had already occurred, rendered, it was said, the most active vigilance necessary on the part of all the magistracies and respectable bodies, to prevent the renewal of such excesses, and to preserve tranquillity,-the nation, indeed, being bound to such conduct, not only by its own interests, but by the laws of hospitality towards a friendly army which injured no person, and which had given the greatest proofs of good order and discipline. It became, therefore, the duty of the well-informed to enlighten the people, and deliver them from their dangerous error, by shewing them that tumultuous proceedings could only serve to throw the country into confusion; by tearing asunder those bonds of subordination upon which the peace of the community depends; by destroying the feeling of humanity, and annihilating all confidence in the government, to which it alone belonged to give a uniform direction and impulse to the sentiment of patriotism."These most important truths," said this vile address, " can by no

VOL. I. PART I.

persons be imprest upon the minds and hearts of the people with more beneficial effect, than by the ministers of the religion of Jesus Christ, which breathes nothing but peace and brotherly love among men, and subjection, honour, and obedience to all that are in authority :-and, as the holy college ought to be, and always has been, the first to give an example to the ministers of peace, it accords with our duty and office to address this letter to you, that you, on perusing its contents, may likewise co-operate in the preservation of the public tranquillity. You are required to notify the same to all the subordinate officers of your respective courts, and also to the commissioners of districts, that all and each of you should, with all possible zeal, vigilance, and prudence, co-operate in the attainment of so important an object."

May 12.

Thus had Murat procured the assent of the highest civil and religious authorities in Spain to the subjection of their country, their sanction of all his cruelties, and their support. That no colour of authority for this usurpation might be wanting, the names of Ferdinand, his brother Don Carlos, and the Infante Don Antonio, were affixed to a proclamation from Bourdeaux, condemn ing the spirit of resistance which had shewn itself, absolving the people from all duties towards them, and exhorting them to obedience to France. In this address, which certainly was never dictated by the Infantes, and for which it is scarcely probable that the form of obtaining their real signatures was observed, since it was as easy to affix as to extort themthey are made to say, that, being deeply sensible of the attachment

and fidelity displayed towards them by all the Spaniards, with the utmost grief they beheld them on the point of being plunged into anarchy, and threatened with all the dreadful cala nities consequent thereupon :— Aware that these might, in great measure, proceed from the state of ignorance in which the people were, both as to the principles of the conduct hitherto pursued by their highnesses, and the plans already formed for the benefit of their country, they found themselves under the necessity of making an effort to open their eyes, by salutary counsel, in order to prevent any obstruction to the execution of those plans; and thus to give them the dearest proof of the affection which they cherished for them.

"The circumstances under which

the prince assumed the reins of government; the occupation of several provinces of the kingdom, and of all the frontier fortresses, by a numerous body of French troops; the actual presence of more than 60,000 of that nation in the capital and the environs; in short, the knowledge of many other circumstances known only to themselves, convinced them that, surrounded by difficulties, they had only chosen, among various expedients, that which was likely to produce the least evil; and that, as such, they resolved upon a journey to Bayonne.

"On their arrival at Bayonne, the prince, then king, was unexpectedly apprised that his father had protested against his act of abdication, declaring that it was not voluntary. Having accepted the crown only under the impression that the abdication was voluntary, he was no sooner informed of the existence of

such a protest, than his sense of fi lial duty instantly determined him to give back the throne. But a short time after, the king his father abdicated it in his own name, and that of his whole race, in favour of the emperor of the French, in order that the emperor, consulting the good of the nation, should determine the person and race which should hereafter occupy it.

"In this state of things, considering their own situation, and the difficult circumstances in which Spain was placed-considering that, under these circumstances, any attempt on the part of the Spaniards for the maintenance of their rights, would be not only useless but ruinous, and could tend only to make streams of blood flow, and to render certain the loss of at least a great part of her provinces, and that of all her transmarine colonies:-Being further convinced, that the most effectual means of preventing these evils, was that their royal highnesses, for themselves, and all connected with them, should assent to the renunciation of their rights to the throne; a renunciation already executed by the king their father; taking also into consideration, that his majesty the emperor of the French engaged, in this case, to maintain complete the independence and integrity of the Spanish monarchy, and its transmarine colonies, without retaining the smallest of its dominions for himself, or separating any part from the whole; that he engaged to maintain the unity of the Catholic religion, the security of property, and the continuance of the existing laws and usages which have for so long a period of time, and in so indisputable a manner, preserved the power and

honour of the Spanish nation-they conceived that they were affording the most undoubted proof of their generosity, and their affection towards it, and their eagerness to return the ardent attachment which it bore towards them, by sacrificing, to the utmost extent of their power, their individual and personal interests for the benefit of that nation, and by this instrument to assent, as they already had assented in a particular treaty, to the renunciation of all their rights to the throne.— They accordingly released the Spaniards from all their duties in this respect, and exhorted them to consult the common interests of their country, by conducting themselves in a peaceable manner, and by look ing for their happiness to the power and wise arrangements of the Emperor Napoleon.-The Spaniards might assure themselves, that, by their zeal to conform their conduct to those arrangements, they would give their Prince and the two Infantes the strongest proof of their loyalty, in like manner, as their Royal Highnesses gave them the greatest example of their paternal affection, by renouncing all their rights, and sacrificing their own interests for the happiness of the Spaniards, the sole object of their wishes."

Murat, who was acquainted with the design of Buonaparte to place Joseph upon the throne, intimated this to the junta, and procured an address upon the subject from that traitorous assembly to the Emperor. Convinced, they said, that May 13. the condition of Spain demanded the closest connection with the political system of the empire, which he governed with

so much glory, they considered the resignation of the Bourbons as the greatest proof of kindness to the Spanish nation which their sovereign' had ever given. "O! that there were no Pyrenees!" exclaimed these sycophants and slaves. "This was the constant wish of good Spaniards; because there could be no Pyrenees, whenever the wants of each should be the same, when confidence should be returned again, and each of the two nations have received, in the same degree, the respect due to their independence and worth. The interval which yet separates us from this happy moment cannot now be long. Your Imperial Majesty, who foresees all things, and executes them still more swiftly, has chosen for the provisional government of Spain, a Prince educated for the art of government in your own great school. He has succeeded in stilling the boldest storms, by the moderation and wisdom of his measures. What have we not, therefore, to hope from him, now that all Spaniards unite to devote to him that admiration to which he has so many claims, and to assist him in those labours which he applies for our service! The Spanish monarchy will resume the rank which belongs to it among the powers of Europe, as soon as it is united by a new family compact to its natural ally, whose power great. Whoever the Prince may be whom you destine for us, chosen from among your illustrious family, he will bring that security which we need so much. The Spanish throne rises to a greater height. The consequences arising from its relation to France, are of an importance com mensurate with the extent of its possessions. It seems, therefore, that

the throne itself calls for your Ma jesty's eldest brother to govern it. Surely it is a happy presage, that this arrangement, which Nature has con. firmed, so well corresponds with the sentiments of reverence and admiration, with which the actions of this Prince, and the wisdom of his government, had inspired us." The council of Castille was implicated in the shame of this address. Their wisdom, it was said, obliged them to give all their support to these principles, and they united in the expression of the wish of the Supreme Junta.

An address was also framed in the name of the city of Madrid, to Murat, as "his Imperial and May 15. Royal Highness, the Serene Grand Admiral of the French Empire, Grand Duke of Berg and Cleves, and LieutenantGeneral of the kingdom of Spain." "That city," it is said, "thinking it certain that the Emperor of the French intended to place the crown upon the head of his illustrious brother Joseph Napoleon king of Naples; and being distinguished for its love of its sovereigns and its obedience to them, could not omit joining its homage to that of the Supreme Junta and of the Council, and requested his Highness would notify the same to the Emperor. The city also availed itself of that opportunity to assure him of its respect and submission." Graves could hardly yet have been dug for those who were massacred, and the places of execution were still covered with flakes of blood, 'when the wretches of the Junta thus fawned upon Murat, and praised the butcher for his moderation: and this address was presented in the name of the city, while mo

thers, widows, and orphans were cursing him and his accursed master in every street, and well nigh in every house! A letter was also obtained from May 22. the cardinal Archbishop of Toledo. "The resignation of Charles," he said, "and the confirmation of that act, by the Prince and the Infantes, imposed upon him, according to God's will, the pleasing duty of laying at the Emperor's feet the assurance of his homage, fidelity, and reverence. May your Imperial and Royal Majesty (he added) be graciously pleased to look upon me as one of your most dutiful subjects, and instruct me concerning your high purposes, that I may be furnished with the means of manifesting my unfeigned and zealous submission.'

Buonaparte now convoked an assembly of the Notables, as he styled it, to be held on May 25. the 15th of June, at Bayonne, confirming meantime Murat as Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, and continuing all the existing authorities. At the same time he issued one of his hypocritical proclamations: "Spaniards !" it said, “after a long, lingering disease, your nation sunk into decay. I have seen your sufferings; I will relieve them. Your greatness makes a part of mine. Your Princes have ceded to me all their rights to the Spanish crown. I will not reign over your provinces, but I will acquire an eternal right to the love and gratitude of your posterity. Your monarchy is old; it must be renovated, that you may enjoy the blessings of a renovation which shall not be purchased by civil war or desolation.

"Spaniards! I have convened a