Joseph Bonaparte Part 9

Simon, of Nantes, a nephew of the bishop.]

"May your felicitations, Monsieur the Bishop, prove of happy augury to your former pupil. May your prayers avert the calamities which I foresee. As for me, ambition does not blind me. The joys of the crown of Spain do not dazzle my eyes. I leave a country in which I think that I have done some good, where I flatter myself to have been beloved, and that I leave behind me some regrets. Will it be the same in the new realm which awaits me?

"The Neapolitans have, so to speak, never known nationality. By turns conquered by the Normans, the Spaniards, the French, it was little matter to them who their masters were, provided that these masters left them their blue skies, their azure sea, their spot in the sunshine, and a few pence for their macaroni.

"Arriving among them, I found every thing to do. I stimulated their natural apathy, gave nerve to the administration, introduced some order everywhere. They were pleased with my good intentions, with my efforts.

They loved me with the same fervor with which they hated the King of Sicily and his odious ministers. In Spain, on the contrary, I shall labor in vain; I can not so completely lay aside my t.i.tle of a foreigner that I can escape the hatred of a people proud and sensitive upon the point of honor; of a people who have known no other wars but wars of independence, and who abhor, above all things, the French name.

"The Peninsula contains at this moment, under arms, nearly one hundred thousand national soldiers, who will excite, at the same time, against my government, the monks, the clergy, the friends (and they are still numerous) of legitimacy, the ancient and faithful servants of old Charles IV., the gold and the intrigues of England. Every thing will prove an obstacle to my plans of amelioration. They will be misrepresented, calumniated, disowned.

"In view of the insurrection of which the Prince of Asturias has recently given an example against his own father, in the midst of license and anarchy, the natural consequence of long demoralization and the disorders of a dissolute court, of a dynasty used up, will not all wise and well-moderated liberty be regarded as the equal of tyranny?

Monsieur the Bishop, I see a horizon charged with very black clouds.

They contain in their bosom a future which terrifies me. The star of my brother, will it always shine luminous and brilliant in the skies? I do not know; but sad presentiments oppress me in spite of myself. They besiege me; they govern me. I greatly fear that, in giving me a crown more ill.u.s.trious than that which I lay aside, the Emperor will place upon my brow a burden heavier than it can bear. Pity me, then, my dear teacher, pity me; do not felicitate me."

The brigands in the kingdom of Naples, and the eternal and natural enemies of repose which are to be found in all countries, availing themselves of the absence of King Joseph, and encouraged by the presence of the British fleet and the gold of the British Cabinet, redoubled their efforts in local insurrections, and committed cowardly a.s.sa.s.sinations. The bandits would land here and there, and perpetrate the most atrocious crimes, burning, plundering, murdering.

Joseph was anxious, before leaving Naples, to establish _inst.i.tutions of liberty_ which might be permanent. On the 21st of July, the Council of State received from the King a const.i.tution, which he had drawn up with the aid of his ministers. It contained the clear announcement of the principles which had animated him during his reign, and was founded upon the const.i.tutions in France and in the kingdom of Italy. Though the const.i.tution was not perfect--for the world is ever making progress--it was greatly in advance of any thing which had been known in the kingdom of Sicily before, and conferred immense advantages upon the realm. There was but one legislative body. It consisted of five sections, equal in number: the clergy, the n.o.bility, the landed proprietors, the philosophers, and the merchants. The Council of State chose five of the most distinguished persons, of the various cla.s.ses, to convey to Joseph their thanks for the const.i.tution he had conferred upon the realm.

[Ill.u.s.tration: QUEEN JULIE LEAVING NAPLES.]

On the 6th of July, Queen Julie, with her children, left Naples to join her husband in Spain. A numerous cortege escorted her from the city with every testimonial of regret. On the 8th Joseph abdicated the crown, which was subsequently transferred to the brow of Napoleon's cavalry leader, Murat, who had married Caroline Bonaparte.

"Here terminates," writes M. du Ca.s.se, "our task relative to the short reign of Joseph in Naples. That prince had rendered to that beautiful country services which, long after his departure, conferred blessings upon the realm, which had been surrendered until then to the sad regime of a feudalism crushing to the people. His successor found the ground clear, war extinct almost everywhere, the conquest a.s.sured, tranquillity established, abuses reformed, civil administration organized, the monks suppressed, the finances restored, credit consolidated, public instruction and legislation founded upon liberal bases, and wisely adapted to the manners of the inhabitants.

"The army was formed under the shade of the flag of France; the marine commenced to be regenerated. The sciences and the arts, encouraged, were beginning to diffuse themselves; brigandage was breathing its last sigh. There remained for Murat only to reap the fruits of the wise and paternal conduct of the older brother of the Emperor. He inherited a country of rich and fertile soil, with a delightful climate, inhabited by a population blessing the guardian hand which had delivered them from the ignorance into which the ancient Government seemed to have plunged them by design. The task of the new sovereign seemed to be only to complete the work of the philosophic King."

It was the implacable hostility of the British Government, ever ready to avail itself of the treachery of Spain, which in the view of Napoleon rendered it necessary for him, as an act of self-preservation, to place the government of the Spanish Peninsula in friendly hands. On the 18th of April, 1808, Napoleon had written to Joseph,

"England begins to suffer. Peace with that power alone will enable me to sheathe the sword and restore tranquillity to Europe."

Before we accompany Joseph to Spain, let us briefly review the condition of Europe at this time. By the peace of Tilsit, the Emperor Alexander had recognized all the changes which the sword of Napoleon had effected upon the Continent of Europe. The Czar was on terms of personal friendship with Napoleon, and it was understood that he had given his consent to Napoleon's design to dethrone the Bourbons of Spain. The infamous British expedition to Copenhagen, with the bombardment of the city and the destruction of the Danish fleet, had created general indignation throughout the European world. England had but one single ally left, the half-mad King of Sweden. The ships of England, excluded from every port upon the Continent, wandered idly over the seas.

Austria, humiliated by the treaty of Presburg, was sullen and silent, watching for an opportunity to regain its former ascendency and military prestige. In Prussia the House of Brandenburg had been terribly punished. Though it still reigned, it was with diminished territory, with its military strength nearly destroyed, and with all its strong places held by French troops. The Cabinet at Berlin could not venture in any way to oppose the will of Napoleon. All the kings and princes of the Confederation of the Rhine were united to France by the closest alliance.

Jerome, Napoleon's youngest brother, was king of Westphalia. Louis reigned in Holland. French influence was supreme in Switzerland. The Emperor Napoleon was king of Italy, and Joseph, reigning at Naples, was about to be transferred to Spain. Turkey was allied with France, seeking from the Emperor protection from the encroachments of Russia.

Consequently England was at war with the Porte.

Spain occupied a peculiar position. The King, Charles IV., a near relative of Louis XVI., had united with allied Europe in the war against the French Republic. Terribly punished by the French armies, Spain had made peace at the treaty of Basle in July, 1795. Soon after, the two powers entered into an alliance, offensive and defensive, engaging to a.s.sist each other with both land and sea forces.

This brought down upon Spain the vengeance of the British Government, which, with its invincible fleet, swept all seas. Spanish commerce at once became the prey of English privateers. Cadiz was bombarded, and the Spanish naval fleet encountered very severe loss. The peace of Amiens, to which the British Government had been very reluctantly compelled to a.s.sent by the pressure of English public opinion, gave peace to Spain.

But when the Court of Saint James, by the rupture of the peace of Amiens, renewed its a.s.sault upon France, the Spanish Court, anxious to avoid a war with England, proposed to Napoleon that, instead of aiding him directly by fleet and army, according to the terms of the alliance, Spain should pay France an annual subsidy of six million francs. The proposition was accepted.

The English minister, ascertaining this, _without any declaration of war_, seized every thing belonging to Spain which could be found afloat.

As Spain, supposing that her a.s.sumed neutrality would be respected, had her fleet and merchandise everywhere exposed, her loss was very severe.

When the Bourbons of Spain saw that the British Government had succeeded in forming a new alliance against Napoleon, which would compel the French Emperor to take his armies hundreds of leagues north to struggle against the united armies of Prussia and Russia, it was thought that Napoleon must inevitably fall. Spain decided again to make common cause with the Allies, as we have before mentioned. A vehement proclamation was issued, calling the Spaniards to arms. The utter crushing of Prussia on the fields of Jena and Auerstadt literally frightened Spain out of her wits. She sent an amba.s.sador extraordinary to _congratulate Napoleon upon his victory, and to a.s.sure him of the continued friendship of the Spanish Government_. Napoleon concealed his just resentment. The time to rectify the wrong had not yet come.

Queen Caroline, the wife of Charles IV. of Spain, was one of the most infamous of women; still she could not be worse than her husband.

There was a very handsome young fellow in the body-guard, named G.o.doy.

Caroline fell in love with him, made him her intimate friend, lavished upon him t.i.tles and wealth and posts of responsibility. He was called the Prince of Peace, in consequence of the agency he had in effecting the treaty of Basle. He was in all respects a very weak and worthless creature, but he had become in reality the sovereign of Spain, governing with unlimited power. This man, in his anxiety to disarm the anger of Napoleon, sent an amba.s.sador to the Emperor to renew his pledges of friendship, and to give a.s.surance of his entire submission in all things to Napoleon's will. A secret treaty was accordingly made on the 27th of October, 1807, which enabled Napoleon, among other concessions, to station large bodies of French troops within the Spanish territory.

The King's eldest son, Ferdinand, the heir to the throne, was then twenty-five years of age, and bore the t.i.tle of the Prince of Asturias.

His mother had truly characterized him as having "a mule's head and a tiger's heart." He hated G.o.doy, and was accused of attempting to poison his father and mother, that he might get the crown. His arrest and threatened execution by his father roused the ma.s.ses of Madrid to a fury of insurrection. Much as they detested Ferdinand, they hated still more implacably the King and Queen, and the Queen's infamous paramour, G.o.doy. A raging insurrection swept the streets of Madrid. The King was terror-stricken, and implored help from Napoleon. He wrote:

"SIRE, MY BROTHER,--I have discovered with horror that my eldest son, the heir presumptive to the throne, has not only formed the design to dethrone me, but even to attempt the life of myself and his mother. Such an atrocious attempt merits the most exemplary punishment. I pray your Majesty to aid me by your light and council."

Ferdinand also appealed to the Emperor. He wrote, "The world more and more daily admires the greatness and goodness of Napoleon. Rest a.s.sured that the Emperor shall ever find in Ferdinand the most faithful and devoted son. Ferdinand implores, therefore, his powerful protection, and prays that he will grant him the honor of an alliance with some august princess of his family."

Thus Napoleon suddenly and unexpectedly found the King of Spain, G.o.doy, and the Ferdinands, all kneeling at his feet. Speaking upon this subject at Saint Helena, he said:

"The fact is, that had it not been for their broils and quarrels among themselves, I should never have thought of dispossessing them. When I saw those imbeciles quarrelling and trying to dethrone each other, I thought I might as well take advantage of it, and dispossess an inimical family. Had I known at first that the transaction would have given me so much trouble, or that even it would have cost the lives of two hundred men, I would never have attempted it. But being once embarked, it was necessary to go forward."

[Ill.u.s.tration: JOSEPH RECEIVING THE ADDRESSES OF THE SPANISH SENATE.]

CHAPTER VII.

JOSEPH KING OF SPAIN.

1808

Abdication of Charles IV.--Ferdinand claims the Crown.--Measures of Murat.--Ferdinand visits Bayonne.--The Royal Family follow.--Remarks of Napoleon.--Proclamation of Charles IV.--Joseph Proclaimed King of Spain.--Remarks of Napoleon.--Opinions of the Junta.--Motives of Joseph.--Address of the Duke of Infantado.--Addresses from other Bodies.--Letter from Ferdinand.--A Const.i.tution adopted.--Joseph leaves Bayonne.--Efforts of the Monks.--Insurrections.--Disappointment of Joseph.--The Friends of Joseph overawed and silenced.--Encouragement from the Emperor.--Capitulation of Junot.--Napoleon aroused.--Peril of Joseph's Government.--Speech to the Legislative Corps.--The marvellous Energy of Napoleon.--Napoleon visits Spain.--Spanish Boasting.--The triumphant March of the Emperor.--Napoleon enters Madrid.--Proclamation of Napoleon.

After a series of the wildest, most tumultuous, and frantic scenes of which even Spanish history gives any account, Charles IV. abdicated in favor of his son Ferdinand. On the 20th of March, 1808, the new King, Ferdinand VII., was saluted by the acclamations of the people and the soldiers, and received the homage of the Court. One of his first acts was to arrest the hated Manuel G.o.doy. Murat was then in command of the French troops in Spain, and was about entering Madrid. Junot, with a French army, had taken possession of Portugal. Spain was nominally in alliance with France. England was consequently waging war against Spain.

The French troops were in Spain to protect the kingdom from the English.

The young King Ferdinand immediately dispatched the Duke of Pargue to convey a.s.surances of friendship to Murat, and to sound his intentions.

At the same time he sent three of the grandees of Spain to announce his accession to the throne to Napoleon, and to give him renewed pledges of his friendship and devotion. On the 23d of April Murat took military possession of Madrid. The next day Ferdinand made his triumphal entrance into the metropolis. He was received with boundless exultation, so greatly were the people rejoiced to be delivered from the detestable G.o.doy. Thus far Napoleon did not recognize the accession of Ferdinand.

He however sent the Duke of Rovigo to Madrid to ascertain the circ.u.mstances of the abdication. In the mean time the old King, who had retired with the Queen to Aranjuez, wrote a letter to the Emperor, in which he said that he had been forced to abdicate in favor of his son by the clamors of the people and the insurrection of the soldiers, threatening him with instant death if he refused.

"I protest and declare," he said, "that my decree of the 19th of March, in which I abdicated the crown in favor of my son, is an act to which I have been forced to prevent the greatest misfortunes and the effusion of the blood of my well-beloved subjects. It ought consequently to be regarded as of no value."

The Queen also wrote to Murat, entreating him, in the most supplicating terms, to rescue her paramour G.o.doy from prison, and stating that they had abdicated only to save their lives. While Charles IV. and Caroline were making these secret protestations to Napoleon and Murat, the abdicated King, to lull the suspicions of Ferdinand, was reiterating the public declaration that the abdication was free and unconstrained, and that never in his life had he performed an act more agreeable to his inclinations.

Murat took the old King and Queen under his protection, provided them with a suitable guard, and demanded the liberation of G.o.doy. Ferdinand, convinced that he could not maintain the throne without the support of Napoleon, sent his younger brother, Don Carlos, to intercede with the Emperor in his favor. While these scenes were transpiring, Savary, Duke of Rovigo, arrived at Madrid. He a.s.sured Ferdinand that it was the Emperor's desire to unite France and Spain in the closest alliance.

He proposed that Ferdinand should visit Napoleon, that in a personal interview they might the better mutually understand each other. The counsellors of Ferdinand urged the adoption of this measure, as one which would secure the confidence of the Emperor, and which might induce him to give a princess of his family to Ferdinand. Such was the condition of affairs in April, 1808. The great object of Napoleon was to secure a government in Spain whose treachery he need not fear, and upon whose friendly co-operation he could rely. Charles IV., the weakest of weak men, enslaved by long habit, was the obsequious tool of his stronger-minded wife. The Queen, Caroline, sought, at whatever price, to save her lover G.o.doy. Ferdinand wished to crush G.o.doy, his implacable foe.

Ferdinand decided to visit the Emperor, and on the 10th of April left Madrid for that purpose. When he reached his frontiers he wrote a very suppliant letter to Napoleon, entreating the recognition of his right to the throne, and pledging his friendship. Napoleon replied that he was ready to recognize the Prince of Asturias as King of Spain if it should appear that Charles IV. had not been compelled to abdicate through fear of his life. By this extraordinary concurrence of circ.u.mstances Napoleon became the judge between the father and the son, both of whom had appealed to his decision.

Ferdinand, with his suite, crossing the frontiers, hastened to Bayonne, and entered the city on the morning of the 20th of April. He was received by the Emperor with distinguished marks of attention and kindness, but not with regal honors. The Prince of Peace, whose liberation Murat had secured, came hurrying on to Bayonne, to plead his cause before the Emperor; and he was followed, in a few hours, by Charles IV. and the Queen. Thus the whole family was a.s.sembled at Bayonne. The result of several stormy interviews, in which the King, the Queen, and their son exhausted upon each other the language of vituperation, and in which the enraged old King was with difficulty restrained from a violent personal attack upon his son, the parties all agreed to cede to Napoleon the crown of Spain. Ferdinand first renounced his rights in favor of his father, and Charles IV. transferred the sceptre to Napoleon. The imperial palace of Campiegne, its parks and forests, were placed at the disposition of Charles IV. for himself, his Queen, and G.o.doy, during his life, with an annual pension of thirty million reals. He was also given the _proprietorship_ of the chateau of Chambord, with its parks, forests, and farms, to dispose of as he pleased. Upon the death of the King, the Queen was to receive a pension of two million reals. The two princes, Ferdinand and Don Carlos, were a.s.signed to the castle of Valencay, its park, forests, and farms, with an income amounting to about half a million dollars.

It is said that Napoleon obtained at Bayonne such developments of the character of Ferdinand that he saw that it was utterly in vain to attempt to make a respectable king of him; one upon whom he could repose the slightest reliance; and he could no longer think of sacrificing the daughter of Lucien to so worthless a creature. Speaking upon this subject at Saint Helena, Napoleon said to Las Casas:

"Ferdinand offered, on his own account, to govern entirely at my devotion, as much so as the Prince of Peace had done in the name of Charles IV. And I must admit that if I had fallen into their views I should have acted much more prudently than I have actually done. When I had them all a.s.sembled at Bayonne, I found myself in command of much more than I could have ventured to hope for. The same occurred there, as in many other events of my life, which have been ascribed to my policy, but in fact were owing to my good-fortune.

"Here I found the Gordian knot before me. I cut it. I proposed to Charles IV. and the Queen that they should cede to me their rights to the throne. They at once agreed to it, I had almost said voluntarily; so deeply were their hearts ulcerated toward their son, and so desirous had they and their favorite now become of security and repose. The Prince of Asturias did not make any extraordinary resistance. Neither violence nor menaces were employed against him. And if fear decided him, which I well believe was the case, it concerns him alone."