Madrid, and immediately occupy the capital with his troops. The new King, Ferdinand VII. viewed it as most expedient to behave with due submission to Bonaparte; he accordingly communicated his accession to the throne, to the Emperor of France, in due form. Ferdinand was all this time amused with the hopes of seeing the Emperor Napoleon in Madrid, and great prepa rations were made for his reception. Murat was not idle, he was scattering around him the seeds of division; he behaved with great reserve to Ferdinand, and hesitated to recognise the legality of his regal title; Murat made this manœuvre, to ingratiate himself with the old King and Queen, and again renew the breach in the royal family. At this time the Queen addressed the following letter to Murat, who sustained the title of Grand Duke of Berg:

"Neither the King, nor myself, would be troublesome to the Grand Duke, who has so much to do: but we have no other friend, no other support than him, and the Emperor; in whom all four of us, the King, our intimate friend, who is also a friend of the Grand Duke, the poor Prince of the Peace; my daughter Louisa, and myself, place our hopes. The letter I received from my daughter last evening, containing an account of what the Grand Duke had mentioned,+ his gracious assurances has penetrated us with the liveliest emotions of gratitude, and filled us with joyful expectations of what we may experience from such amiable and sublime persons, as the Grand Duke, and the Emperor. We feel no desire that the Duke should remain ignorant of what we know, all our concern relates to the welfare of our innocent and only friend, the Prince of the Peace, who always, with the deepest emotion, called the Grand Duke his friend. If I were so happy as to have him here, and the Grand Ďuke was near at hand, we should have nothing to fear. The Prince of the Peace wished for the Grand Duke's arrival, as he had some trinkets to present to him; and he also hoped his highness would honor him by residing in his house: the hopes of seeing the Grand Duke absorbs all his thoughts. We are under perpetual apprehensions lest he should be poisoned, if his enemies

This refers to the proposed release of the Prince of the Peace.

should suspect there is a design to release him. Is it not possible to prevent any measures of this nature? The Grand Duke might march his troops, without saying for what purpose, and enter the place where the poor Prince of the Peace is confined, and, without giving time for any injury to be done to his person, remove those guards he has about him, and replace them with his own; for I am certain, that if he is suffered to remain in the hands of those traitors, and under the orders of my son, the Grand Duke may rest assured he will be killed: yes, so long as he is in those sanguinary hands, the body guards of my son, we cannot but tremble for his life; for though both the Grand Duke and the Emperor are desirous to save him, they will not give them time. For heaven's sake, we implore of the Grand Duke to take measures for the accomplishment of our wishes and request. He would be safer in the paws of lions and tygers. My son was yesterday closeted with Infantado, Escocquitz, that wicked priest, and St. Charles, the most malignant of his profession. The gentleman who goes with my son Charles is a cousin of this priest, but he is a vile American, although a man of parts, and not ill informed; but he, like St. Charles, is extremely hostile to us. All the rest who go with my son Charles to Bayonne, are of the same party; extremely well qualified to do mischief, and to set forth the most horrid falsehoods in the garb of truth.

"I entreat the Grand Duke to pardon my wretched composition, for I frequently forget the French words and idioms, having been accustomed to speak Spanish for two and forty years; I came to Spain to be married when only thirteen years and a half old; and although I speak French, it is not with fluency; but the Grand Duke will be enabled to ascertain my meaning, and will be pleased to overlook those imperfections he will perceive." †

Such was the language of this royal adulteress, in interceding for her paramour. Queen Louisa also addressed several other letters to the Duke of Berg, expressly on the subject of Godoy.

Ferdinand VII. made his entry into Madrid amidst the

+ Moniteur, 1808.

loud acclamations of his subjects. The Duke of Berg was mortified at this testimony of respect, and was resolved to hasten the accomplishment of the plan his master had sketched out for him. The report was now renewed, that the Emperor Napoleon was coming to Madrid; and at the repeated solicitations of Murat, the Infant Don Carlos, was prevailed upon to set off from Madrid to meet the Emperor. At this time General Savary arrived as a special envoy from Bonaparte, and immediately demanded an audience of the King; in this interview the General intimated, that the Emperor had already left Paris, and was then on his way to Madrid: Savary then so energetically enforced the necessity of Ferdinand going to meet Napoleon, that the King at length consented.

Prior to Ferdinand's leaving Madrid, he appointed a supreme junta of government, of which the Infant Don Antonio, was appointed president. The King now left Madrid, followed by General Savary: upon arriving at Burgos, Ferdinand had the mortification to find that the Emperor had not arrived. He then proceeded on to Vittoria; here General Savary left the King, and proceeded to Bayonne, where also the Emperor and Empress of France arrived. Upon Savary's return, he presented a letter from Bonaparte to Ferdinand, of which the following is a copy:

"MY BROTHER!

"I have received the letter of your Royal Highness: in the papers which you have received, from the King, your Royal Highness's father, you must have experienced a demonstration of the interest I have taken ever in your welfare. You will permit me, under the present circumstances, to speak freely the truth: as it was my wish in my journey to Madrid, to prevail upon my illustrious friend to grant some necessary amelioration to the public feelings. The removal of the Prince of the Peace appeared to me to be necessary for the prosperity of his Majesty, and that of his subjects. The affairs of the North retarded my journey. The events at Aranjuez took place. I give no decision on what had previously transpired; nor upon the conduct of the Prince of the Peace; but I am sensible that it is dangerous for crowned heads to accustom their people to shed blood,

or to seek to redress themselves. I pray God that your Royal Highness may never feel this by your own experience.

It is not the interest of Spain to injure a Prince who has married a Princess of the blood royal, and who for a long time directed the affairs of the kingdom. He no longer possesses friends, and your Royal Highness will possess them no longer than while you shall prove fortunate. The people willingly revenge themselves for that homage which they pay us. How also can the process be drawn up against the Prince of the Peace, without involving in it the Queen, and the King your father? This process would tend to promote sedition and faction, which must prove fatal to your crown, to which your Royal Highness has no other right, than that which derive from your mother. If the intended process should expose her to degradation, your Royal Highness destroys your own right. He who has been guided by weak and dangerous councils, can havé no right to pass sentence on the Prince of the Peace; his crimes, if he can be charged with any, go to destroy the rights of the

crown.

you

"I have frequently expressed a desire, that the Prince of the Peace should be removed from the administration of affairs; the friendship of King Charles alone has induced me to turn away mine eyes from animadverting on the weakness of his conduct. Unhappy mortals that we are. Imbecility and error are the mottos of mankind. All, however, may yet be amicably arranged, provided that the Prince of the Peace should be banished from Spain, in which case I should invite him to a place of retirement in France. As to the abdication of King Charles IV. that has taken place at a moment when my troops were traversing Spain, it must appear in the eyes of Europe, and of posterity, as if I should have sent my troops solely for the purpose of hurling from his throne my friend and ally. As a neighbouring sovereign it was requisite that I should have been acquainted with the abdication, before that I should have been called upon to acknowledge it. I declare to your Royal Highness, to the Spanish nation, and to the whole world, that if the abdication of King Charles was really voluntary, if he was not driven to it by the insurrection at Aranjuez,

I do not hesitate to accede to it, and to acknowledge your Royal Highness as King of Spain.

"The circumspection which I have observed for this month past, must be a security to you for the support which you shall find in me, should ever party differences disturb you in your turn upon the throne.

"When King Charles made us acquainted with the events of last October, I was very much affected by them; and I think that my efforts in the affair of the Escurial received a happy issue. Your Royal Highness was much to blame; I need no other evidence of this, than the letter which you wrote to me, and which I always wish to disavow. Your Royal Highness must ever be distrustful of popular commotions and insurrections. In such cases a few of my soldiers may be murdered; but the subjugation of Spain shall be the retaliation inflicted.

"I am sorry to find that some persons at Madrid have disseminated certain letters of the Captain General of Catalonia, and have used every effort to excite sedition amongst the people. Your Royal Highness will perfectly comprehend my meaning. You perceive that I have touched slightly upon many points, which it would not be proper to enlarge upon.

"You may be assured that I will conduct myself in every respect towards you, as to your royal father. You may rely upon my desire to arrange every thing, and of seizing every opportunity of testifying to you my perfect regard and esteem.

Be pleased to accept, &c. Bayonne, April 16, 1808.

Ferdinand had scarcely set foot on the French territory when he had reason to corroborate his suspicions, that he was a royal prisoner. Upon arriving at Bayonne, Ferdinand was received with apparent cordiality; he had an interview with Bonaparte, and they mutually exchanged embraces at parting.

We have thus noticed the circumstances which led to the captivity of King Ferdinand; we now notice some circumstances of the most important nature, that transpired prior to it.

On March 17, when the Spanish guards were about to leave Madrid, the inhabitants assembled around the