was stated, that the King, through the intercession of the Queen, had been induced to pardon his penitent son, who had given up the names of the parties concerned in this horrible plot.

On October 27, a treaty was concluded, and signed at Fontainbleau, between his Catholic Majesty and France, by which it was agreed:

"That the province of Entre Minho y Douro, with the city of Oporto, should be made over in entire property and sovereignty to the King of Etruria, with the title of King of Northern Lusitania. The province of Alentejo, and the kingdom of the Algarves, in entire property and sovereignty, to the Prince of the Peace, to be by him enjoyed under the title of Prince of the Algarves. The provinces of Beira, Tras los Montes, and Portuguese Estremadura, were to remain undisposed of, until there should be a general peace. The kingdom of Northern Lusitania, and the principality of the Algarves, were to acknowledge, as their protector, his Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain, and in no case to make peace or war without his consent. In case of the provinces of Beira, Tras los Montes, and Portuguese Estremadura, held in sequestration, devolving at a general peace to the house of Braganza, in exchange for Gibraltar, Trinidad, and other colonies, which the English had conquered from Spain and her allies: the new sovereign of these provinces was to have, with respect to his Catholic Majesty, the same obligations as the King of Northern Lusitania, and to hold them on the same conditions. His Majesty the King of Etruria ceded the kingdom of Etruria, in full property and sovereignty, to his Majesty the Emperor of the French, and King of Italy. By a secret convention, it was agreed that French troops should be admitted into Spain, where they were to be joined by bodies of Spanish troops, and march into Portugal. The troops to be subsisted and maintained by Spain, during their march through that country, but to be paid by France. The main body of the army to be under the orders of the commander of the French troops: nevertheless, it was added, should the King of Spain, or the Prince of the Peace, think fit to join that body, the French troops, with the General commanding them, were to be subject to their order."

At the opening of the winter of 1807, Napoleon had signified his intention of making a tour; but, as it was observed in a French print of celebrity,† "The Emperor does not disclose his secrets, and we shall probably not know where he is gone, till after he is gone." This journey, represented as so mysterious in its nature, was soon found to be into Italy. At Milan, Bonaparte received the homage of the inhabitants. Here he transacted a variety of business; and the old and foolish King of Bavaria attended his levees; as did also Eugene Beauharnois, the Viceroy of Italy, who was appointed successor, in case of the death of Bonaparte, to the kingdom of Italy. After visiting Naples, and Venice, Napoleon returned to Paris, in January, 1808.

1808.

Europe had not beheld the power of France so 1807, enormous and gigantic, as at the close of the year 1807, and the opening of the year 1808: and the insatiable ambition of the proud ruler of France was now working the destruction of other kingdoms and states, which had hitherto been freed from his destructive attacks. The Emperor Napoleon now made a formal demand of the court of Lisbon, "To shut up the ports of Portugal against England, to detain all the English resident in Portugal, and to confiscate all English property." These iniquitous demands, which, if complied with, would have amounted to a declaration of war with England, from the court af Lisbon, were followed with an assurance, that if the Prince Regent of Portugal did not comply with the above demands, France would declare war against Portugal. To strike terror into the Portuguese government, Bonaparte immediately gave orders for detaining all ships belonging to Portugal, which were in the ports of France.

The Prince Regent acquiesced in the first proposition of the French Emperor, namely, closing his ports against the English; the others, justly viewing them as tyrannical in the extreme, he refused to comply with; neither would he have granted the former, but from his state of non-resistance, he being totally unable to resist the power of France. Hence, immediately upon this imperious application being made, he formed an idea of migrating to the Brazils: he foresaw the inevitable

Moniteur, November, 1807.

event of an invasion of his dominions. To avoid as much as in his power lay, a circumstance so disastrous, he made every concession consistent with national honor and justice, to the Emperor Napoleon; but Bonaparte peremptorily insisted upon the imprisonment of all the English in his dominions, and the confiscation of their property.

The court of St. James's had instructed Lord Strangford, the English Ambassador at Lisbon, to communicate to the Portuguese court, that his Britannic Majesty, in consequence of the peculiar existing circumstances of the Prince Regent, had passed over the great indignity offered to Great Britain, by the closing of the Portuguese ports; at the same time, protesting against any further compliance with the tyrannical demands of the ruler of France.

The situation of the heir apparent to the crown of Portugal was, assuredly, very critical; he wished to preserve his dominions from invasion, while, at the same time, he wished to preserve the friendship of his faithful ally, the King of Great Britain: the line of conduct he pursued went beyond the limits which the declaration of Lord Strangford pointed out, for he consented to issue an order agreeable to the tenor of Bonaparte's two last propositions, the seizure of the persons, and the confiscation of the property, of the English in Portugal. The Prince had, however, previously taken measures, that the greater part of the English should have quitted his dominions, and secured their property, ere this edict was issued: notwithstanding this conduct of the Prince Regent, was so displeasing to the British court, that Lord Strangford immediately ordered the arms of England to be taken down from his residence, and presented a strong remonstrance; he also demanded his passports, Orders were likewise given to Sir Sydney Smith to blockade, with a small squadron, the mouth of the Tagus.

Irresolution, and want of firmness, are generally fruitful sources of numerous evils. Could it be supposed that Bonaparte would abandon his designs on Portugal, nerely on account of the shuffling conduct of the Prince Regent? And it was foolish in the extreme for the latter to entertain an idea, that his forced measures would VOL. II.-31.

LL

avert the impending blow; for even while the Prince Regent had been enforcing the plan chalked out to him by Napoleon, the latter had issued a proclamation, declaring, "That the house of Braganza had ceased to reign" and a French army had already entered Portugal. The Prince now threw himself upon the protection of Lord Strangford, who generously promised, that the fleet which blockaded, should be employed in protecting the Prince and his court in their retreat to South America.

1

On November 29, the Portuguese fleet, having on board the heir apparent, with the whole of the royal family of Portugal, and the principal persons of the court, sailed from the Tagus, with an immense deal of treasure. Lord Strangford accompanied the royal exiles, and four English ships of the line convoyed them. The invading army of France was under the command of General Junot, who, to the utmost consternation of the Portuguese, soon made his appearance not far from the capital, which he entered without molestation.

While Bonaparte had thus successfully obtained possession of Portugal, he was sedulously carrying on his designs with respect to Spain: profiting by the divisions he had sown amongst the members of the royal family, he had inundated the Spanish dominions with French troops, who appeared in the disguise of friends, and were treated as such by the Spaniards. To accelerate the completion of his projects, he transmitted a letter to his Catholic Majesty, upbraiding him with procrastinating the marriage of the Prince of Asturias with his relative this was followed by a special mission to the royal family of Spain, through the medium of a Spanish grandee. who had been detained at Paris. The late emigration of the Braganza family, and the miserable situation of Portugal, deeply affected the royal family of Spain; and, amidst the tumultuous confluence of ideas, it was proposed to emigrate to Mexico; but while such a measure was in contemplation, a most extraordinary event, excited by the villany of Bonaparte, took place; popular commotions had broken out at Aranjuez, and other parts of the kingdom, upon which Charles took the strange resolution of abdicating the throne, and resigning the crown to his son, Ferdinand. Murat was now ordered by Napoleon to advance with his army to