World's Best Histories Part 10

To this circuitous demand for the recognition of Joseph Bonaparte, the Pope replied by urging his ancient feudal rights over the kingdom of Naples--"agreements," said Cardinal Consalvi, "which have always been observed, especially in the case of conquests; not only at the establishment of a new dynasty, but also at the commencement of each new reign."

It was going very far back into history to reclaim doubtful rights.

Napoleon keenly criticised the pretension: "His Majesty needs to make no researches to become aware of the fact that in times of ignorance the court of Rome usurped the right of giving away crowns and temporal rights to the princes of the earth; but if we found that in other ages the court at Rome dethroned sovereigns, preached crusades, and laid entire kingdoms under interdict, we should also discover that the Popes have always considered their temporal power as springing from the French emperors; and the court of Rome, without doubt, does not claim that Charlemagne received from it the invest.i.ture of his kingdom. If this is to go on," added Napoleon, brusquely abandoning his historic researches, "I shall cause Consalvi to quit Rome, and make him responsible for what he is trying to do, because he is evidently bought by the English. He will see whether or not I have the power to maintain my imperial crown. Lay stress on that word _imperial_, and not royal, and upon the fact that the relations of the Pope with me must be those of his predecessors with the emperors of the west." [Footnote: Draft of a note sent to Talleyrand by the emperor.]

At the same time, and as the thunder follows the lightning, the court of Rome learnt that the threat had been followed by performance. Upon the express order of the Emperor Napoleon, Civita Vecchia had been occupied by two regiments of the Neapolitan army. The districts of Benevento and Ponte-Corvo, surrounded by the kingdom of Naples, and belonging to the Holy See, were erected into princ.i.p.alities in favor of Talleyrand and Marshal Bernadotte. Cardinal Fesch was recalled. He quitted Rome after a warm altercation with the Pope. A few days later, and in the vain hope of ameliorating political relations becoming more and more difficult, Cardinal Consalvi gave in his resignation. He wrote to Cardinal Caprara, perpetual papal legate at Paris and completely subject to the imperial authority: "If any one had told me when I was negotiating the Concordat that in a short time I should appear to the French Government in the light of an enemy, I should have thought I was dreaming. But I am too much attached to the Holy See, to my sovereign, to my benefactor, and to my country, not to consider myself as compelled to dispel by my retirement the evils which might result from my presence. His Holiness consents to my resignation. His object has been to satisfy the emperor, and give him a proof of his desire to preserve harmony with his government by removing everything that might compromise it."

The sacrifice of Cardinal Consalvi was useless, and pa.s.sed unnoticed.

Napoleon required from the Holy See not only submission to his will, but the acceptance of his principles. The caution of the court of Rome irritated him more and more. He frightened Cardinal Caprara with a violent scene: "Write that I demand from his Holiness a declaration without ambiguity, stating that during the present war, and any other future war, all the ports of the pontifical states shall be closed to all English vessels, either of war or commerce. Without this I shall cause all the rest of the pontifical states to be occupied, I will have the eagles fixed up over the gates of all its cities and domains, and, as I have done for Benevento and Ponte Corvo, I shall divide the provinces possessed by the Pope into so many duchies and princ.i.p.alities, which I shall confer upon whomsoever I please. If the Pope persists in his refusal, I will establish a senate at Rome; and when once Rome and the pontifical states shall be in my hands, they will never be out of them again." Already the revenues of Civita Vecchia had been seized by Generals Lemarrois and Duhesme. "By what right do you do this?" demanded an employe of the pontifical treasury.

"You serve a little prince and I serve a great sovereign," replied the officer; "in that you can see all my right." Such was throughout Europe the foundation of the right of the Emperor Napoleon. The governor of Civita Vecchia, Mgr. Negreta, had been seized by force in his residence, and sent back to Rome without an escort. Personal communication no longer existed between the Pope and the emperor. The letter of Pius VII., sent by the hands of Cardinal Caprara, remained unanswered. Alquier alone, who had succeeded Cardinal Fesch at Rome, still informed Napoleon as to the state of feeling there. An old Conventional, intelligent and moderate, the Minister of France, reported to Talleyrand, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, "People are strangely mistaken as to the character of the sovereign pontiff, if they have thought his apparent flexibility was yielding to all that they were striving to impress upon him. In all that pertains to the authority of the head of the Church, he takes counsel with himself alone. The Pope has a mild character, but very irritable, and susceptible of displaying a firmness proof against any trial; already they are openly saying, 'If the emperor overturns us, his successor will re- establish us.'"

On the morrow of the battle of Jena, when the ruin of the Prussian monarchy had added new l.u.s.tre to the splendor of Napoleon's victories, the emperor wished to make one last effort in order to establish an absolute dominion over that little corner of Italy which still preserved an independent sovereignty. For more than a year he had not accepted any direct communication with the court of Rome: he commanded the attendance of Mgr. Arezzo, Bishop _in partibus_ of Seleucia, formerly papal nuncio in Russia, and who then happened to be at Dresden. The prelate was admitted to the emperor at Berlin, in the cabinet of the great Frederick: he has preserved a textual account of his conversation with Napoleon. "What did you have to do with Russia?" "Your Majesty is aware that there are in Russia 4,000,000 of Catholics. It is for that reason that the Pope maintains a representative there." "The Pope ought not to have a minister at St. Petersburg; the Greeks have always been the enemies of Rome, and I do not know by what spirit of madness Rome can be possessed to desire the good of its enemies rather than of its friends. You are about to quit Dresden, and repair to Rome. You are my enemy. In the first place, you are not a Sicilian for nothing. I do not mean by that that you have spoken abusively of me, but you have desired that I should come to nothing, that my armies should be beaten, and that my enemies should triumph. You are not the only one to wish me evil; at Rome people think no better than elsewhere. The Pope is a holy man, whom they make believe whatever they please. They represent my demands to him under a false aspect, as Cardinal Consalvi has done, and then the good Pope is roused up to say that he will be killed rather than yield. Who thinks of killing him, _bon Dieu_? If he will not take the course I wish, I will certainly deprive him of his temporal power at Rome, but I shall always respect him as the head of the Church. There is no necessity that the Pope should be sovereign of Rome.

The most holy Popes were not so. I shall secure him a good appanage of three millions, upon which he can properly keep up his position; and I shall place at Rome a king or a senator, and I shall divide his states into so many duchies. In reality, the main point of the matter is, that I wish the Pope to accede to the confederation; I expect him to be the friend of my friends, and the enemy of my enemies. In fifteen days you will be at Rome, and will peremptorily signify this to him." "Your Majesty will permit me to repeat to him that which has been already said to him so many times: that the Pope, being the common father of the faithful, cannot separate himself from some to attach himself to others; and his ministry being a ministry of peace, he cannot make war against anybody, nor declare himself the enemy of any one whatever without failing in his duties and compromising his sacred character." "But I do not claim at all that he should make war against anybody. I wish him to shut his ports against the English, and that he should not receive them into his states, and that not being able to defend his ports and fortresses he should permit me to defend them. Rest a.s.sured that at Rome they have lost their heads. They have no longer there the great men of the time of Leo X. Ganganelli would not have conducted himself in this style. I wish to be in safety in my own house. The whole of Italy belongs to me by right of conquest. Let the Pope do what I wish, and he will be recompensed for the past and for the future. I only forewarn you that all must be completed before the 1st of January: if the Pope will consent, he will lose nothing; if he will refuse, then I shall take away his states. Excommunications are no longer in fas.h.i.+on, and my soldiers will not refuse to march wherever I send them.

Call to mind Charles V., who kept the Pope prisoner, and who made him recite prayers for him at Madrid. I shall take the same course if I am brought to bay."

Mgr. Arezzo having asked for some prolongation of the delay: "Ah well! I give you till February," replied the emperor; "but let everything be finished before February." "And where will it be necessary to send the amba.s.sador of the Pope? to Berlin, to Warsaw, to St. Petersburg? Your Majesty moves so quickly!" Napoleon began to laugh. "No, to Paris," said he.

It was in fact at Paris, in the month of October, 1807, when the victory of Friedland had delivered Russia, like Prussia, to the influence of Napoleon, that the envoy of the Pope succeeded in obtaining an audience-- not of the emperor, but of Champagny, his new Minister of Foreign Affairs.

New difficulties had aggravated the bitterness of the relations between France and Rome. Pius VII., however, had perceived that the requirements of the emperor, so absolute in their harshness, would not yield to his moderate and pa.s.sive resistance. He had authorized his French representative, the Cardinal de Bayanne, to make an important concession.

"The last demands of his Imperial Majesty," wrote Cardinal Casoni, Minister of State, on the 14th of October, "are limited as regards the English to the closure of the ports. The holy father has every reason to think that his adherence ought to be limited to this closure; but if anything else is required of him he will consent to it, provided that it does not compel him to engage in actual war, and that it does not injure the independence of the pontifical sovereignty. It will he desirable then that your Eminence and the cardinal legate, to whom this despatch is common, should be on your guard, to concert the explanation and import of these words in order to satisfy his Imperial Majesty as the holy father desires, but at the same time not to impose upon his Holiness an obligation opposed to his duties and his honor."

This was a good deal to grant, and it curtailed considerably the formal declarations of neutrality so often repeated by the court of Rome.

Napoleon required still more, and his secret thoughts were not in accord with his public declarations. The obstacles to the free choice of an amba.s.sador; the requirements with regard to the full powers which were to be conferred on Cardinal de Bayanne; the forcible hindrance to the journey of the latter, arbitrarily detained at Milan; the systematic neglect of his requests for an audience--clearly proved the decision taken to obtain all or nothing--to subjugate or break the pontifical power. The last offers of the Pope fully satisfied the demands of the emperor, as expressed by Cardinal Fesch, Talleyrand, and Napoleon himself again and again. Champagny declared that these concessions were no longer sufficient. The Pope was to engage himself to make common cause with the Emperor Napoleon, and to unite his land and sea forces with those of France in all wars against England. The ports closed against the English; the care of the ports of Ostia, Ancona, and Civita Vecchia confided to France; 2000 men of the French troops maintained at Ancona at the cost of the Holy See; and concessions without reserve on the subject of the number of French cardinals, as of the consecration of Italian bishops--such were the conditions of the convention presented to the Cardinal de Bayanne by Champagny. A few other articles, treating of the spiritual power, and which had been abandoned at the request of Cardinal Fesch, remained as a menace suspended over the head of the negotiator, in case his submission should not be sufficiently prompt and complete. General Lemarrois had already taken possession of the duchy of Urbino, of the province of Macerata, of Fermo, and Spoleto. The Cardinal de Bayanne was still negotiating, but the order for his recall had been sent from Rome (9th of November, 1807). "G.o.d and the world will do us justice against the proceedings of the emperor, let them be what they may," wrote Pius VII.

The exactions of Champagny had heaped up a measure which was already overflowing. In full Consistory, and without any hesitation on the part of either Pope or cardinals, the proposals were unanimously rejected. "This is the fruit of our journey to Paris, of our patience, of the forbearance which has led us to make so many sacrifices, to suffer so many humiliations. If such pretensions are persisted in, you must immediately demand your pa.s.sport, and come away." Such were the instructions sent on the 2nd of December to the Cardinal de Bayanne by the holy father. The orders sent by the emperor to his agents did not wait long for a response.

Already for some time past very considerable forces had been grouped to the north and south of the pontifical states, under the orders of General Miollis. Six thousand Frenchmen were destined for this expedition. A Neapolitan column of 3000 men was to occupy Terracina. All the movements of the troops had been carefully calculated and foreseen; the care of watching over their execution was confided to Prince Eugene and the King of Naples. The emperor wrote to Champagny on the 22nd of January, 1808:

"On the 25th of January the French army will be at Perugia; on the 3rd of February it will be at Rome. The express, setting out on the 25th, will arrive at Rome on the 1st of February, and will thus carry your orders to Signer Alquier two days before the troops arrive. You ought to make known to Signer Alquier that General Miollis, who commands my troops, and who appears to be directing his course towards Naples, will stay at Rome and take possession of the castle of St. Angelo. When Signer Alquier shall become aware that the troops are at the gate of Rome, he shall present to the Cardinal Secretary of State the subjoined note: 'The arrival of General Miollis has for its aim the protection of the rearguard of the army of Naples. On his way, he presents himself at Rome to give force to the measures which the emperor has resolved on taking to purge this city of the scoundrels to whom it has given asylum, and consequently to all the enemies of France.' You will put in cipher in your despatch the following paragraph: 'The intention of the emperor is to accustom by this note, and by these proceedings, the people of Rome and the French troops to live together, in order that if the court of Rome should continue to show itself as insensate as it now is, it might insensibly cease to exist as a temporal power without any notice being taken of it.' Nevertheless, whilst desiring to avoid disturbance, and to leave things _in statu quo_, I am prepared to take strong measures the first time the Pope indulges in any bull or manifesto; for a decree shall be immediately published, revoking the gift of Charlemagne, and reuniting the states of the Church to the kingdom of Italy, furnis.h.i.+ng proofs of the evils that religion has suffered through the sovereignty of Rome, and making apparent the contrast between Jesus Christ dying on the cross and His successor making himself a king!"

It was not without a certain uneasiness that the emperor was preparing thus to use violence against an unarmed sovereign, and historical decrees were not the only arms on which he expected to rely. "The slightest insurrection that may break out," wrote he to Prince Eugene (February 7th, 1808), "must be repressed with grape-shot, if necessary, and severe examples must be made."

No insurrection broke out; the Pope and his followers had resolved upon giving to the world a startling demonstration of the material powerlessness of the Holy See in presence of brute force. Whilst General Miollis was entering Rome, on February 2nd, 1808, at eight o'clock in the morning, disarming the pontifical troops in order to seize upon the Castle of St. Angelo, the Pope was officiating in the chapel of the Quirinal, surrounded by the Sacred College. The palace was invested by the troops, and cannon were pointed at the walls; the cardinals went forth without tumult or protest. The French officers were not a little surprised to see them get into their carriages and retire without letting any trace of annoyance be visible on their countenances. [Footnote: Memoirs of Cardinal Pacca.]

Only a protest by the holy father, conceived in the most moderate terms, was affixed to the walls of Rome: "Not having been able to comply with all the demands which have been made to him on the part of the French Government, because the voice of his conscience and his sacred duties forbade it, his Holiness Pius VII. has believed it his duty to submit to the disastrous consequences with which he has been threatened as the result of his refusal, and even the military occupation of his capital.

Resigned in the humility of his heart to the unsearchable judgments of heaven, he commits his cause into the hands of G.o.d; but at the same time, unwilling to fail in his essential obligations to guarantee the rights of his sovereignty, he has given orders to protest, as he protests daily, against every usurpation of his dominions, his will being that the rights of the Holy See should be and remain always intact."

The times of supreme violence had not yet come, and the emperor himself had not perhaps foreseen to what extremities he would be led, by the aggression he had just committed, and the underhand struggle he had been maintaining for three years against the conscientious will of an unarmed old man. However, the habitual roughness of his arbitrary proceedings did not fail to manifest themselves from the beginning. Champagny had been ordered to declare to the Cardinal de Bayanne that the French soldiers established at Rome would remain there until the Pope should have entered into the Italian Confederation, and should have consented to make common cause with the powers composing it, in every case and against all enemies.

"This condition is the _sine qua non_ of his Majesty's proposal. If the Pope does not accept it, his Majesty will not know how to recognize his temporal sovereignty. He has decided to transfer the power of Rome into secular hands."

At the same time, and as a necessary commentary on these imperious injunctions, the foreign cardinals in the pontifical states received orders from Napoleon to quit Rome. The Neapolitan cardinals, to the number of seven, had up to that time refused to take an oath to King Joseph. At the first news of the measure which threatened them, the Pope ordered them to remain near himself, "for the service of the Holy See;" they were seized in their houses, and conducted to the frontiers of the kingdom of Naples by gendarmes. On March 10th the same order was addressed by the emperor to the vice-King of Italy for fourteen new members of the Sacred College. "Let Litta return to Milan; let the Genoese return to Genoa, the Italians to the kingdom of Italy, the Piedmontese to Piedmont, the Neapolitans to Naples. This measure is to be executed by fair means or foul. Since it is the cardinals who have lost the states of the Church by their evil counsels, let them return every one to his own place." Cardinal Casoni, till recently Secretary of State to the Pope, and Cardinal Doria Pamphili, now officiating--the one born at Sarzana, the other a Genoese-- were prevented by this interdiction from living in the Roman States.

Alquier, the minister of France, was quietly recalled to Paris; a simple secretary of legation remained at Rome to represent the diplomatic service. General Miollis well seconded the intentions of the emperor with regard to the Holy See. Against the advice of his counsellors, the Pope sent to Cardinal Caprara an order to quit Paris. "Violence has been resorted to," wrote Pius VII. to his easygoing legate, "even to laying hands on four of our cardinals and conducting them to Naples in the midst of an armed force; an excess which only requires the violation of our own personal freedom for the scandal to be complete. We cannot, by the residence of our representative with the French Government, give occasion for thinking any longer that we are not deeply wounded by the persecution we have been made to suffer, and the oppression manifested towards the Holy See. Our intention is, then, if our capital is not without delay evacuated by the French troops, that you should demand your pa.s.sports, and that you should set out with the Cardinal de Bayanne, our legate extraordinary, in order to come and share with us and your brothers the lot which is reserved for us."

I wished to tell in some detail the relations of Napoleon with the court of Rome, because they clearly point out the first steps decidedly taken along a path that grew more and more daring. Conquest had for a long time borne its bitter fruits. Conquered sovereigns had submitted to the yoke and to the haughty requirements of the conqueror; such was the absolute right of victory, and those who suffered from it recognized a power which in all time had belonged to the conqueror. The emperor henceforth went much further than this; he did not confine himself to fighting, conquering, and dispossessing those he had vanquished, and dividing their spoils. He began at Rome to impose his arbitrary caprices upon a prince who had never taken up arms against him. At the same time, and by a manoeuvre concocted in the most masterly manner, and yet most inexcusable, he was about to dethrone a king, his ally, humbly submissive to his power and his exactions. The throne of Spain was the only one still occupied by a prince of the house of Bourbon. Napoleon had resolved upon seating a Bonaparte upon it. Already the troops destined for this enterprise were quitting Paris, marching, without knowing it, towards long disasters.

Yielding to the irresistible impulses of absolute power without limits and without a curb, Napoleon was led into having recourse to every description of violence, and making use of every kind of perfidy. He wished to be everywhere and always obeyed. For six years past no one had resisted his will without being crushed; he was at last about to meet with a check--at Rome, in the conscience of the Pope; in Spain, in the pa.s.sions of an aroused people.

The situation of Spain had for a long time been sad and wretched. Governed by a favorite, whose crimes he ignored, King Charles IV. had abandoned power into the hands of the Prince de la Paix. At his side, and in a condition of suspicion which resembled captivity, the heir to the throne, Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias, had become the idol of the people, as a consequence of the scorn and aversion inspired by the favorite. The young prince, weak and cunning, submissive in his turn to his old tutor, the Canon Escoiquiz, was carrying on underhand intrigues with a few great lords who were devoted to him. He had attached to himself Beauharnais, the amba.s.sador of France, an upright and sincere man, with no great political penetration. The little council of the prince had thought themselves capable of concluding an alliance between Ferdinand and the all-powerful sovereign of France. On the 11th of October, 1807, the Prince of Asturias sent by Beauharnais a letter addressed to the "hero who threw into the shade all those who had preceded him;" Ferdinand solicited the hand of a princess of the imperial house.

It was the moment of the negotiation of the treaty of Fontainebleau and the antic.i.p.ated part.i.tion of Portugal. On the same day on which the signatures were exchanged (October 27th, 1807) the Prince of Asturias, for a long time suspected of criminal intrigues, was arrested at Madrid, as well as his accomplices. On the 29th, King Charles IV. wrote to the emperor, in order to make him acquainted with the sad discovery which had just wounded all his paternal sentiments. "I pray your Majesty," added the unfortunate monarch, "to aid me with your knowledge and advice."

The troops that were to enter Spain were ready, and the first movement of Napoleon was to march them forward immediately. The trouble existing in the royal house afforded a ready excuse for an intervention entreated at once by both father and son. The King of Spain himself invoked a.s.sistance.

The army of the Gironde was immediately reinforced and provisioned. A second corps was already preparing, but the Prince de la Paix discovered in the correspondence of Ferdinand the proof of his relations with Beauharnais. He did not wish to compromise his princ.i.p.ality of Algarve by exciting the anger of Napoleon: the Prince of Asturias was exempted from the law, and his pardon solemnly proclaimed in an official decree by Charles IV. Only his accomplices were prosecuted, but the tribunals acquitted them. Meanwhile the army of the Gironde, under General Dupont, had entered Spain. The corps for watching the sea coasts, commanded by Marshal Moncey, followed in the same direction. Other detachments seized upon the fortresses of the frontiers. "On arriving at Pampeluna, General Duhesme will take possession of the town," wrote the emperor to General Clarke, Minister of War (January 28th, 1808), "and without making any show he will occupy the citadel and the fortifications, treating the commandants and the inhabitants with the greatest courtesy, making no movement, and saying that he is expecting further orders."

The orders were not long in arriving; 100,000 men of the grand army were effecting a backward movement, approaching France, and consequently Spain.

At the same time, Joachim Murat, the living hero of hazardous and doubtful enterprises, had just been appointed general-in-chief of the armies in Spain. His instructions were all military. "Do not disturb in any manner the division of Duhesme," wrote the emperor to his lieutenant, on the 16th of March, 1808; "leave that where it is. It guards Barcelona and holds that province, and fulfils its purpose sufficiently. When the 3000 men of the reinforcement who are about to rejoin this division, and who will be at Barcelona towards the 5th or 6th of April, shall have arrived, it will be another thing. Then he will have an army capable of carrying him anywhere. At the moment when you receive this letter, the head of General Verdier's corps will touch the borders of Spain, and General Merle ought to find himself at Burgos. Continue to speak smooth words. Rea.s.sure the king, the Prince de la Paix, the Prince of Asturias, and the queen. The great thing is to arrive at Madrid, and there let your troops rest, and replenish their stores of provisions. Say that I am soon coming in order to reconcile and arrange matters; above all, do not commit any hostilities, if it can possibly be helped. I hope that everything may be arranged, and it would be dangerous to scare these folks too much."

Murat had conceived intoxicating hopes which did not tend to the tranquillity of the Spanish court. He had asked for political instructions, which were refused to him. "What I do not tell you is what you ought not to know," wrote Napoleon to his lieutenant. Uneasiness and fear reigned in the household of the king, under the outside show of welcome lavished on the French soldiers. Already the Prince de la Paix was preparing for the flight of the royal family. That which the house of Braganza had done by setting out for Brazil, the house of Bourbon could do by taking refuge in Peru. The departure of the court for Seville was announced; it was the first step in a longer journey, of which the project had not yet been revealed to Charles IV. The royal family were besides profoundly divided. The Prince of Asturias swore that he would not quit Aranjuez; his uncle Don Antonio supported him in resistance. A few of the ministers were seemingly throwing off the yoke of the Prince de la Paix.

The Marquis of Caballero, the Minister of Justice, refused to sign the orders necessary for the departure. "I command it," said the Prince de la Paix imperiously. "I only receive orders from the king," said the Spanish n.o.bleman in a tone to which the favorite was not accustomed.

Meanwhile the population of Madrid, and the peasants in the environs of Aranjuez, were stirred up by the reports of the departure which circulated in the country; the preparations carried on by the confidants of the Prince de la Paix, excited much anger and uneasiness. An agitated and inquisitive crowd ceaselessly surrounded the palace, carefully watching all the movements of the inmates: a proclamation of the King, promising not to withdraw, did not suffice to allay suspicion. On the night of March 17th, a veiled lady came forth from the house of the Prince de la Paix to a carriage which was waiting for her. The mult.i.tude thought they had discovered a prelude to the departure; all hands were extended to stay the fugitive. In the struggle a shot was fired; the crowd immediately rushed forward, forcing the gates, and overturning the guards who protected the palace of the favorite. In an instant his dwelling was pillaged, his art treasures destroyed, his tapestries torn up and scattered to the winds. We have been witnesses of the sorrowful results of popular fury. The Princess de la Paix alone, trembling for her life in the palace where her just pride had so often suffered, was spared by the vengeance of the mult.i.tude; they brought her in triumph to the house of the king. "Behold innocence!"

cried the people. The Prince de la Paix had disappeared.

They were seeking for him thirty-six hours, and the anxiety of the king and queen was becoming insupportable; both loudly demanded their favorite.

With a view of turning away the anger of the people from his head, Charles IV. issued an edict depriving Emanuel G.o.doy, Prince de la Paix, of all his offices and dignities, and authorizing him to choose for himself the place of his retreat. The favorite had more correctly estimated the hatred excited against himself; he had sought no other retreat than a loft in his palace. There, rolled up in a mat, with a few pieces of gold in his hands, he waited for the moment to take his flight. On March 19th, at ten o'clock in the morning; as he attempted to escape secretly, he was perceived by a soldier of that guard to which he had formerly belonged; immediately arrested, he was dragged to a guard-house. When he at length reached this sad refuge he was bruised and bleeding, from the blows showered upon him by all those who could reach him through the crowding ranks of the mult.i.tude and the barriers formed by the soldiers. At the barracks where the Prince de la Paix lay on the straw, the Prince of Asturias came to seek him out in the name of his parents, and to promise him his life. "Art thou already king, that thou canst thus dispense pardon?" asked G.o.doy, with a bitter perception of the change which had been effected in the position of the prince as in his own. "No," replied Ferdinand, "but I soon shall be."

The royal uneasiness did not permit them long to leave the favorite in a guard-house, a prey to the insults and ill-usage of the populace; the king and queen remained obstinately faithful to their friend. A coach was got ready to take him away to a place of safety; as soon as it appeared, the people threw themselves upon the carriage and broke it up. When the noise reached the palace the old king burst into tears: "My people no longer love me!" cried he; "I will no longer reign over them. I shall abdicate in favor of my son." The queen's mind was occupied with no other thought than the safety of G.o.doy; she thought it a.s.sured by this renunciation of the throne, and willingly set her hands to it. The act of abdication was immediately made public, and saluted, at Madrid as at Aranjuez, by the transports of the mult.i.tude. Henceforth King Ferdinand VII. was alone surrounded by the courtiers; his aged father remained abandoned in the palace of Aranjuez. Murat was already approaching Madrid, and all eyes were turned towards him as towards the forerunner of the supreme arbiter.

Ferdinand VII. hastened to send emissaries to him. The Queen of Etruria, who had only just reached her parents, wrote to him conjuring him to come to Aranjuez, to judge for himself of the situation. On March 25th, 1808, the French army made its entry into the capital.

The popular insurrection which had overthrown the Prince de la Paix and provoked the abdication of Charles IV., had thwarted the plans of Napoleon so far as his lieutenant was able to divine them. The flight of the royal family would have left the throne of Spain vacant, and Murat had cherished the hope of posing as a liberator of the Spanish nation, delivered from the yoke so long imposed on it by a miserable favorite. In the presence of a new and popular royalty, born of a patriotic sentiment, Murat comprehended for the first time the necessity of reserve and prudence. The distrust of the new monarch as regards fallen royalty, the anger and ill- will of the parents as regards the son who had dethroned them, were to bring both parties before the powerful protector who had been wise enough beforehand to effect a military occupation of their country. It was important to remain free, and to prepare for war with King Ferdinand VII.

The popular pa.s.sion naturally offered a point of support against Charles IV., his wife, and his favorite. Montyon, aide-de-camp to Murat, repaired to Aranjuez, counselling the old king to draw up a protest against the violence of which he had been the victim. Until then, the queen in the letters which she had addressed to Napoleon and to Murat, had only asked for a place in which to lay her head: "Let the grand duke prevail upon the emperor to give to the king my husband, to myself, and to the Prince de la Paix, sufficient for all three to subsist upon in a place good for our health, free from oppression or intrigues." At the instigation of Murat, and not without some hesitation, Charles IV. declared that he had only abdicated in order to avoid greater evils, and to prevent the effusion of the blood of his subjects, "which rendered the act null and of no effect."

Murat at the same time made use of the friends.h.i.+p and confidence which had long existed between Beauharnais and Ferdinand VII., to suggest to this prince the idea of presenting himself before the emperor and asking sanction for his royal authority. The Spanish troops received orders to effect a retrograde movement, and the new monarch solemnly entered into Madrid on the 24th of March, amidst impa.s.sioned cries of joy from the populace.

The lieutenant had well divined the idea of the imperious master from whom he was separated by a distance that perilously r.e.t.a.r.ded his orders. The emperor had heard the news of the royal departure for Seville and for America. He had written, on March 23rd, the same day upon which Murat had watered Madrid in the footprints of the revolutions: "I suppose I am about to receive the news of all that will have taken place at Madrid on the 17th and 18th of March." Unforeseen events having occurred, he wrote to Murat on the 27th: "You are to prevent any harm from being done, either to the king or queen or to the Prince de la Paix. If the latter is brought to trial, I imagine that I shall be consulted. You are to tell M. de Beauharnais that I desire him to intervene, and that this affair should be hushed up. Until the new king is recognized by me you are to act as if the old king was still reigning; on that point you are to await my orders. As I have already commanded you, maintain good order at Madrid; prevent any extraordinary warlike preparations. Employ M. de Beauharnais in all this until my arrival, which you are to declare to be imminent. You are always saying that you have no instructions; I give you them every time; I tell you to keep your troops well rested, to replenish your commissariat, and not to prejudice the question in any way. It seems to me that you have no need to know anything more."

The political instructions were to reach Murat through the agency of General Savary, often charged by the emperor with delicate missions requiring absolute and unscrupulous devotion. On seizing by stratagem the fortress of Pampeluna, General Darmagnac had frankly said, "This is dirty work." General Savary obeyed without reserve, always absorbed in the enterprise confided to him, and never letting himself be turned aside by any obstacle. The emperor wrote on the 30th of March to the Grand Duke of Berg:--

"I received your letters with those of the King of Spain. s.n.a.t.c.h the Prince de la Paix from the hands of these people. My intention is that no harm shall be done to him, since he is two leagues from Madrid and almost in your reach; I shall be much vexed to hear that any evil has happened to him.

"The king says that he will repair to your camp; I wait to know that he is in safety, in order to make known to you my intentions. You have done well in not recognizing the Prince of Asturias.

"You are to place King Charles IV. at the Escurial, to treat him with the greatest respect, to declare that he continues always to rule in Spain, until I shall have recognized the revolution.

"I strongly approve your conduct in these unforeseen circ.u.mstances. I suppose you will not have allowed the Prince de la Paix to perish, and that you will not have permitted King Charles to go Badajoz. If he is still in your hands, you must dissemble with Beauharnais, and say that you cannot recognize the Prince of Asturias, whom I have not recognized; that it is necessary to let King Charles come to the Escurial; that the first thing I shall require on my arrival will be to see him. Take all measures not to have his life in jeopardy. I hope the position in which you find yourself will have led you to adopt a sound policy."

On the 27th of March, three days before ordering Murat to hold the balance suspended between father and son, Napoleon had written to the King of Holland, Louis Bonaparte: "My brother, the King of Spain has just abdicated; the Prince de la Paix has been thrown into prison. The commencement of an insurrection has broken forth at Madrid. On that occasion my troops were forty leagues away from Madrid. The Grand Duke of Berg was to enter on the 23rd with 40,000 men. Up to this time the people loudly call for me. Certain that I should have no solid peace with England except by effecting a great change on the continent, I have resolved to place a French prince upon the throne of Spain. The climate of Holland does not suit you. Besides, Holland would never know how to emerge from its ruins. In this whirlwind of the world, whether we have peace or not, there are no means by which Holland can sustain herself. In this state of things, I think of you for the throne of Spain. You will be the sovereign of a generous nation, of 11,000,000 of men, and of important colonies.

With economy and activity, Spain could have 60,000 men under arms and fifty vessels in her ports. You perceive that this is still only a project, and that, although I have 100,000 men in Spain, it is possible, according to the circ.u.mstances that may arise, either that I may march directly, and that all may be accomplished in a fortnight, or that I may march more slowly, and that this may be a secret during several months of operations. Answer me categorically. If I appoint you King of Spain, do you agree? Can I count upon you? Answer me only these two words: 'I have received your letter of such date; I answer Yes;' and then I shall conclude that you will do what I wish; or, otherwise, 'No,' which will give me to understand that you do not agree to my proposition. Do not take anyone into your confidence, and do not speak to anyone whatever as to the purport of this letter, for a thing must be done before we confess to having thought of it."

Full of these resolves, which he had not yet completely revealed to his most intimate confidants, the emperor quitted Paris on the 2nd of April.

He was expected in Spain, and he had announced his arrival over and over again, but his purpose was not to push forward his journey so far.

Already, at the instigation of General Savary, who knowingly seconded the advice innocently given by Beauharnais, the new king had resolved upon presenting himself before Napoleon. The latter was equally expecting the arrival of the Prince de la Paix, the bearer of messages from the king, Charles IV., and the queen. The emperor had written on his behalf to Marshal Bessieres, recommending him to protect the progress of the formerly all-powerful favorite. "I have not to complain of him in any way," said he; "he is only sent into France for his safety; rea.s.sure him by all means." The counsellors of Ferdinand VII. refused to allow the Prince de la Paix to set out; he was regarded as a hostage. The young king had vainly solicited from his father a letter of introduction to Napoleon.

"In this letter," said he, "you will felicitate the emperor on his arrival, and you bear witness that I have the same sentiments with regard to him that you have always shown." Anger and distrust remained very powerful in the little court of Aranjuez. Ferdinand VII. set out on the 10th of April, accompanied by General Savary, who lavished upon him the royal t.i.tles rigorously refused by Murat. The emperor had given similar instructions to Bessieres. "Without entering into the political question, on those occasions on which you will be compelled to speak of the Prince of Asturias do not call him Ferdinand VII.; evade the difficulty by calling those who rule at Madrid the government." A junta, or Council of State, had been formed at Madrid, under the presidency of the Infanta Don Antonio, in order to direct affairs in the absence of the new monarch. The latter had already arrived at Burgos.

Napoleon had not yet pa.s.sed Bordeaux, where he remained a few days, designedly vying in delay with the Spanish court. He wrote on the 10th of April to Murat: "If the Prince of Asturias presents himself at Burgos and at Bayonne, he will have kept his word. When the end that I propose to myself, and with which Savary will have made you acquainted, is accomplished, you will be able to declare verbally and in all conversations that my intention is not only to preserve the integrity of the provinces and the independence of the country, but also the privileges of all cla.s.ses, and that I will pledge myself to do that; that I am desirous of seeing Spain happy, and in such circ.u.mstances that I may never see it an object of dread to France. Those who wish for a liberal government and the regeneration of Spain will find them in my plan; those who fear the return of the queen and the Prince de la Paix may be rea.s.sured, since those individuals will have no influence and no credit.

The n.o.bles who wish for consideration and honors which they did not have in the past administration, will find them. Good Spaniards who wish for tranquillity and a wise administration, will find these advantages in a system which will maintain the integrity and independence of the Spanish monarchy."

Perhaps some provision of the _system_ that the Emperor Napoleon was projecting had crossed the mind of Ferdinand VII. and of his counsellors; perhaps the Spanish pride was wounded by the little eagerness to set foot in Spain shown by the all-powerful sovereign of the French. Certain it is that General Savary, who had had much difficulty in persuading Ferdinand VII. to decide on pursuing his journey beyond Burgos, failed in his efforts to induce him to quit Vittoria. The behavior of the general became rude and haughty. "I set out for Bayonne," said he; "you will have occasion to regret your decision." Napoleon arrived, in fact, at Bayonne a few hours after his envoy.

Two days later General Savary retook the road to Vittoria, $he bearer of a letter from the emperor for the _Prince of Asturias_.

"My brother, I have received the letter of your Royal Highness. You ought to have found proof, by the papers which you have had from the king your father, of the interest I have always taken in him. You will permit me, under the circ.u.mstances, to speak to you freely and faithfully. On arriving at Madrid I was hoping to induce my ill.u.s.trious friend to accept a few reforms necessary in his states, and to give some satisfaction to public opinion. The dismissal of the Prince de la Paix appeared to me necessary for his happiness and that of his subjects. The affairs of the north have r.e.t.a.r.ded my journey. The events of Aranjuez have taken place. I am not the judge of what has pa.s.sed, and of the conduct of the Prince de la Paix; but I know well that it is dangerous for kings to accustom their people to shed blood and do justice for themselves. I pray G.o.d that your Royal Highness may not one day have to make the experiment. How could you bring the Prince de la Paix to trial without including with him the queen, and your father the king? He has no longer any friends. Your Royal Highness will have none if ever you are unfortunate. The people willingly avenge themselves for the honor they render to us. I have often manifested a desire that the Prince de la Paix should be withdrawn from affairs; the friends.h.i.+p of King Charles has as often induced me to hold my tongue and turn away my eyes from the weakness of his attachment. Miserable men that we are! feebleness and error are our mottoes. But all this can be set right. Let the Prince de la Paix be exiled from Spain, and I will offer him a refuge in France. As to the abdication of Charles IV., it took place at a moment when my armies covered Spain, and in the eyes of Europe and of posterity I should appear to have despatched so many troops only to precipitate from the throne my ally and friend. As a neighboring sovereign it is permitted me to wish to become fully acquainted with this abdication before recognizing it. I say to your Royal Highness, to the Spaniards, to the entire world, If the abdication of King Charles is a spontaneous movement, if it has not been forced upon him by the insurrection and the mob of Aranjuez, I make no difficulty about admitting it, and I recognize your Royal Highness as King of Spain. I desire then to talk with you on this point. When King Charles informed me of the occurrence of October last I was sorrowfully affected by it.