on the parade as if to proceed upon their march-their hosts and acquaintances came to bid them farewell, and the idlers of the place gathered round to see them depart. On a sudden they filed off in two divisions, one to the citadel, the other to Monjui, a fort upon a hill which commands the town. Here there was a garrison capable of resisting them; but, though the commander demurred at their summons, saying he must receive instructions from his government, he had not resolution enough to act up to his du ty. The French general insisted that his orders were peremptory, and must be executed. To have resisted would have brought on an immediate attack; and, though the commander could have defended Monjui, he dared not venture upon an act which would have involved his country in war with France.In this manner the French surprised Barcelona. A century ago it was taken by the Earl of Peterborough, and his conduct presents a contrast too honourable and too characteristic to be forgotten on this occasion. Mon jui had fallen, and he was treating in person with the governor at the gates; the articles were agreed upon, but not yet compleated, when an uproar was heard within the town, and the Spaniard accused Peterborough of betraying them; "while we were capitulating," said he," with honour and sincerity, your troops have forced their way in, and are sacking the place." "Peterborough replied," they must be the Prince of Darmstadt's troops; and that there was but one means of saving the town, which was to let him and the English enter, he would drive them out, and return to finish the capitulation." Nothing was risked in assenting to this, even if the governor had for a moment doubted of a proposal, which was made with such evident sincerity of heart, and was so congenial with the character of our great Peterborough, a man who carried into modern warfare, all the enterprize and all the virtues of the best ages of chivalry. He with his English troops accordingly entered the town, drove out the Germans and Catalans, made them restore their plunder, then peaceably returned to the gate, and signed the terms of capitulation. The government of Spain had not virtue enough to know the strength which it possessed in such a people as the Spaniards; feeling nothing but its own imbecility, it had not had courage to prevent these aggressions, and consequently dared not resent them; and as the French seized these places in the name of their Emperor as an ally, this wretched court consented to the occupation of them upon the same plea. Symptoms of a far different spirit appeared in Barcelona; and the Count of Espeleta, captain-general of Catalonia, found it necessary Feb. 29. to issue a proclamation, calling upon all fathers of families, and heads of houses, to preserve tranquillity, and thus co-operate with the intentions of their rulers; and declaring that the late transactions did in no way obstruct or alter the system of government, neither did they disturb public nor private order. His proclamation was posted in all parts of the city. Duhesme, however, soon gave the inhabitants new cause for alarm, by calling upon the captain-general to fill the maga zines, and establish depots for the subsistence of his troops. The Count of Espeleta returned for March 18. answer to this requisition, "that the French general might consider the whole city as his magazine: that, as he had no enemy to dread, and was quartered there as an ally, the measures which he proposed to take could only serve to create suspicion and distrust: and that the Emperor would be ill pleased to hear that he had alarmed, with fearful forebodings, a city which had afforded him so hospitable a reception. Your Excellency," he pursued, "will be pleased to request the opinion of his Imperial Majesty respecting your determination, before you carry it into effect, and to accompany your request with this explanation of mine; as I shall also lay the business before the King my master, without whose orders I cannot give to your Excellency what the forts in possession of the Spanish troops have not. Meanwhile I wish to impress upon your mind, that it will serve no good purpose to supply the forts with stores of provisions; that such an intention is pointed and offensive; and that it will neither be in the power of your Excellency, nor of myself, to remedy the consequences of the sensation which such a measure may excite among the inhabitants.” It seems at this time to have been Buonaparte's intention that the royal family should fly to their American empire; he might then take possession of the kingdom as left to him by their abdication; and there were no means of ultimately securing Spanish America also, so likely as by letting this family retire there; both countries would needs be desirous that the intercourse between them should continue; nor were there any Spaniards who would with less reluctance submit to hold it in dependence upon him, than those persons who had given so many proofs of abject submission to his will. For the purpose of increasing the fear of Charles and his ministers, he wrote an angry letter, complaining, in the severest terms of reproach, that no farther measures had been taken for negociating the proposed marriage. The King replied, that he was willing it should take place immediately. He probably considered Buonaparte to be sincere in his intentions of forming this alliance, and never having been fit for business, and now, perhaps, for the first time really feeling its cares, a natural wish for repose began to be felt, and a thought of abdication passed across his mind. "Maria Louisa," said he to the Queen, in the presence of Cevallos, and of all the other Ministers of State, "we will retire to one of the provinces, where we will pass our days in tranquillity, and Ferdinand, who is a young man, will take upon himself the burden of the government."This was a thought which the example of his predecessors would readily suggest to a King of Spain. But it was not this which the Corsican desired; that tyrant perceived his victim was not yet sufficiently terrified, and therefore Izquierdo, who had been kept at Paris in a state of perpetual suspense and agitation, was now commanded to return to Spain. No written proposals were sent with him, neither was he to receive any; and he was ordered not to remain longer than three days. Under these circumstances he arrived at Aranjuez, and was im mediately conducted by Godoy to the King and Queen. What passed in their conferences has never transpired; but, soon after his departure from Madrid, Charles began to manifest a disposition to abandon Spain, and emigrate to Mexico. If he were capable of feeling any compunctious visitations, how must he have felt at reflecting that he had assisted in driving his kinsman and son-in-law to a similar emigration; that he was now become the victim of his own misconduct; and, envying the security which that injured Prince had obtained, was himself preparing, in fear and in peril, to follow his example. Preparations for such a removal could not so easily be made at Madrid and at Aranjuez as at Lisbon. There was also a wide difference between the circumstances of Spain and Portugal, making that a base action in the Sovereign of the former kingdom which, for the last half century, would have been the wisest measure that the House of Braganza could have adopted. The Spaniards were confident in the size and strength of their country, and in the Prince of Asturias and his party they had leaders to whom they were enthusiastically attached. Great agitation prevailed in the metropolis, the French were rapidly advancing there, the intentions of the Royal Family were soon suspected, and probably the Prince's friends in the ministry, to whom those intentions were necessarily entrusted, spread the alarm abroad. It is said that the Council of Castille was assembled, and that, after a deliberation of six hours, the answer of that Assembly to the King was, that he ought not to leave the country, and that they would not al low him to do so. If such an answer was returned, it must have been under the fear of popular opinion. Aranjuez was as much disturbed as Madrid. A decree was posted up, in which the March 16. King endeavoured to remove the suspicions of the people. "The army of his dear ally the Emperor of the French," he said, “were traversing his kingdom in peace and friendship, their object being to march to those points which were threatened by the enemy." And the junction of his life-guards (a circumstance which confirmed the opinion of the citizens respecting his intended flight) was explained by saying, that they were only summoned to protect his person,-not to escort him on a journey which malice endeavoured to represent as necessary. This did not satisfy the public; the proofs of such an intention were unequivocal, carriages and horses had been embargoed; loaded carts had set off; relays of horses were stationed on the road to Seville. The people flocked to Aranjuez; they found the baggage of the Court packing up for removal. It was now beyond a doubt that their government was on the point of abandoning them, and, seeing no better way of saving themselves, they determined to stop them by force, and to take vengeance upon Godoy, to whom they imputed all their calamities. According to the fullest accounts of these transactions which have appeared in England, the favourite remained at the palace till late at night, and attempted to escape from his own house about one. The alarm was given by one of the life-guards, who fired a pistol, others of that company instantly assembled, and the peo ple gathered round the house, and endeavoured to force their way in. Godoy's own soldiers were faithful to him; and some of the life-guards fell in this attempt. His brother, Don Diego Godoy, came with his regiment of guards to his assistance, and ordered them to fire upon the people but they refused to obey, and suffered him to be disarmed and bound hand and foot. The tumult increased, it was reported that the Royal Family were about to fly; they were in bed at the time; --but when the house of Godoy was forced, it was found that he had escaped, and a party of life-guards pursued at full speed, and overtook him at Ocana. The Princess de la Paz and her daughter were with them; and it is not improbable that their presence preserved him from that vengeance which he had so righteously deserved. They were conducted back, and delivered by the populace to the Prince of Asturias. This took place during the night of the 17th. On the following morning, the King issued a decree, saying, that, as he intended to command his army and navy in person, he released Godoy from his employs of Generalissimo and Admiral, ́ ́ and gave him leave to withdraw whither he pleased. The people were not to be appeased by a measure, the obvious intention of which was to screen the favourite from punishment, and give him an opportunity of effecting his escape. Their agitation still continued; and March 19. Charles the next day, by a public decree, abdicated the throne. "The complaints," he said, "under which he laboured would not permit him longer to support the heavy burthen of government; and, as it was necessary, for the recovery of his health, to enjoy the tranquillity of a private life in a more temperate climate, he had determined, after the most serious deliberation, to abdicate the Crown in favour of his very dear son." He therefore, by this decree of" free and voluntary abdication," made known his royal will," that the Prince of Asturias should be acknowledged and obeyed as King and natural Lord of all his kingdoms and dominions.” * * Appendix, No. XVI. CHAP. XIII. First Acts of Ferdinand VII-Murat enters Madrid-Buonaparte decoys the whole of the Royal Family to Bayonne.-Transactions there, till their compulsory Renunciation of the Crown. THE first act of Ferdinand VII.* was to re-appoint the five secretaries of state, whose offices terminated with the former reign. Ceval los was thus confirmed in the same situation under the son which he had held under the father. Assuredly no inconsistency or want of principle ought to be imputed to him on this account; it was his duty to serve his country as best he could under any administration. Ministers in other kingdoms are not to be overthrown by opposition, as they are in England. Those persons who are not employed must be in retirement, and the friends of Ferdinand would be more useful to him by acting under Godoy, than they possibly could be while unemployed. These re-appointments were made March 19. public on the day of the abdication. Cevallos, however, sent in his resignation; the reasons which he alledged for so doing have not been made public; perhaps he wished to withdraw as much as possible from increasing difficulties and dangers, against which there appeared no remedy; perhaps some degree of unpopularity attached to him because of his connection with Godoy. The language in which Ferdinand, by a public decree, refused to receive his resignation, implies this. It had been proved to him, he said, March 21. that, though Cevallos had married a cousin of the Prince de la Paz, he never participated in the projects of which that man was accused, into which judicial inquiries had been instituted. This manifested in him a noble and a loyal heart, and he was therefore a servant of whom the king would not deprive himself. On the March 20. day after the accession the senior governor of the council published a proclamation at Madrid, whereby the king confiscated the whole of Godoy's property of every *Some of our newspapers, at the time when this revolution was supposed by them to be the work of Buonaparte, commented indignantly upon the title of the new king, asserting that he had chosen to be called Fernando VII, instead of Charles V. But his name was Fernando Carlos, not Carlos Fernando. |