Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Volume III

357

"I am sure of Alexander, who is very sincere. I now exercise over him a kind of charm, independently of the guarantee offered me by those about him, of whom I am equally certain." – Fouché, tom. i., p. 315.

358

Memoir of the Queen of Etruria, p. 70; Southey, vol. i., p. 193.

359

Southey, vol. i., p. 196.

360

Southey, vol. i., p. 201.

361

"Maria Louisa," said Charles to the Queen, in the presence of Cevallos and of all the other ministers of state, "we will retire to one of the provinces, and Ferdinand, who is a young man, will take upon himself the burden of the government." – Southey, vol. i., p. 206.

362

"This wretched minion now felt that there are times when despotism itself proves even-handed as justice. He was sent prisoner to the castle of Villa Viciosa: with that measure wherewith he had dealt to others, it was now meted to him; a judicial inquiry into his conduct was ordered, and before any trial – before any inquiry – the whole of his property was confiscated." – Southey, vol. i., p. 220.

363

"The Grand Duke of Berg demanded the sword of Francis I. from the arsenal of Madrid. This mode of recovering it was not calculated to soothe the mortification of seeing it transferred to the hands of a conqueror. The Spaniards were sensible to this affront, and it diminished the popularity of the Grand Duke of Berg." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 169.

364

Southey, vol. i., p. 235.

365

"Every letter was filled with anxious solicitations; of the throne there seemed to be neither thought nor care; with the mob at Aranjuez before her eyes, and the recollection of Marie Antoinette in her heart, this wretched woman was sick of royalty; she asked only an allowance for the King, herself, and Godoy, upon which they might live all three together – a corner in which they might quietly finish their days." – Southey, vol. i., p. 233. See the Letters in Savary, tom. ii., p. 175, and Annual Register, vol. i., p. 240.

366

For the instructions given by Napoleon to Savary, see his Mémoires, tom. ii., p. 164.

367

Mémoires de Savary, tom. ii., p. 182; Southey, vol. i., p. 244.

368

"The Emperor constantly recommended the Grand Duke of Berg to act with the utmost caution. He was no doubt apprehensive of his fits of zeal and ambition; for my departure had been preceded by several couriers, and I had scarcely set out when fresh instructions were despatched. This letter abundantly shows the doubts which existed in Napoleon's mind, and the point of view in which the question presented itself to him." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 169.

369

Las Cases, tom. iv., p. 203; Savary, tom. ii., p. 169.

370

Southey, vol. i., p. 240.

371

"I asked leave to accompany the King, solely for this reason – I had come from Bayonne to Madrid on horseback, which was then the usual mode of travelling in Spain. I had not been long arrived, and it was now necessary to go back, that I might be with the Emperor as soon as Ferdinand; but I did not wish to travel over again the same road in the same manner. I therefore requested the King's grand equery to include in the relays harness and draught-horses for me. He consented; and this is the way in which my carriage happened to be in the suite of the King." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 187.

372

Savary, tom. ii., p. 203; Southey, vol. i., p. 249.

373

Savary, tom. ii., p. 243; Southey, vol. i., p. 254.

374

"Ferdinand's counsellors, who were present when I delivered the letter, did not appear satisfied with the manner in which the Emperor expressed himself, because he used the title of royal highness. I felt myself obliged to observe, that the Emperor could not, with propriety, make use of any other address, because, on his part, the recognition was yet a thing to be done; that there were questions still more important than that to be settled between them; and these once adjusted, the rest would follow naturally." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 216.

375

"I was convinced that all would proceed quietly, when a fierce-looking man, armed, dressed in a way corresponding with his appearance, approached the King's carriage, and with one hand seizing the traces of the eight mules which were harnessed to it, with the other, in which he held a hedgebill, like a sickle, cut with one stroke, the traces of all the mules. The King himself appeared at the window smiling to the multitude, who greeted him with cries of 'Viva Fernando!' At this moment it struck me, that the scene I witnessed was merely a preconcerted trick." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 248.

376

"The Prince was received with a salute of artillery from the ramparts, and all the civil and military authorities paid him their respects. The Emperor himself was the first to go and visit him; and his carriage not being ready as soon as he wanted it, he went on horseback. I was present at the interview, during which every thing was as it should be." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 219.

377

Southey, vol. i., p. 262.

378

"This canon, who had besides a very high opinion of his own talents, did not despair of making an impression on my decisions, by his arguments, and of inducing me to acknowledge Ferdinand, making me a tender, on his own account, of his services to govern, altogether under my control, as effectually as the Prince of the Peace could, under the name of Charles IV.; and it must be owned, that, had I listened to several of his reasons, and adopted some of his ideas, I should have been much better off." – Napoleon, Las Cases, tom. iv., p. 199.

379

Southey, vol. i., p. 262.

380

Southey, vol. i., p. 269.

381

"I believe this was one of the occasions on which the Emperor was most anxious to have M. de Talleyrand near him, and that he would have sent for him, had he not been afraid of offending M. de Champagny. Cases of this kind often happened to the Emperor. He sometimes offended by mere trifles men who were of an irritable disposition, and, at other times, he sacrificed his own interests through the fear of offending the self-love of a good servant. If M. de Talleyrand had come to Bayonne while there was yet time to bring about an adjustment, the affairs of Spain would have taken a different turn. He would not have been so hasty; for he would have taken care to have many conferences before he committed any thing to writing. M. de Talleyrand had the excellent quality of being quite impassive; when he found that the disposition of the Emperor's mind was not what he thought best suited to the consideration of the subject to which he wished to call his attention, he never said a word about it until he had led him back to that tranquil state which benefited the business. If an order was given in a moment of irritation, he found means to make its execution be evaded; and it seldom happened that he was not thanked for a delay which was almost always attended with good effects." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 221.

382

"I was present when Charles alighted from his carriage. He spoke to every body, even to those he did not know; and on seeing his two sons at the foot of the staircase, where they were waiting for him, he pretended not to observe them. He, however, said, as he advanced to the Infantado Don Carlos – 'Good morning, Carlos,' and the Queen embraced him. When Ferdinand advanced to embrace him, the King stopped, with an expression of indignation, and then passed on to his apartment." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 223.

383

"Charles IV. dined with Napoleon on the very day of his arrival. He had some difficulty in ascending the steps leading to the saloon, and he said to the Emperor, who offered him his arm, 'It is because I am so frail that they want to drive me away.' The Emperor replied, 'Oh! oh! we shall see that: let me support you: I have strength enough for us both.' On hearing this, the King stopped, and said, looking at the Emperor, 'I believe and hope so!'" – Savary, tom. ii., p. 224.

384

Southey, vol. i., p. 281-292. – Annual Register, vol. l., pp. 233-236.

385

"Charles IV. carried constantly in his hand a long cane. He was so enraged, that it sometimes seemed to us he was going to forget himself so far as to use the cane against his son, who maintained all the time a sullen look. We heard the Queen say, 'Why don't you speak? This is always the way with you; for every new folly you have nothing to say.' She approached him, lifting up her hand, as if she meant to give him a slap on the face." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 228.

386

Southey, vol. i., p. 292.

387

"Trust to my experience, and obey that authority which I hold from God and my fathers! Follow my example, and think that, in your present situation, there is no prosperity or safety for the Spaniards, but in the friendship of the Great Emperor, our ally."

388

"When I had them all assembled at Bayonne, I felt a confidence in my political system, to which I never before had the presumption to aspire. I had not made my combinations, but I took advantage of the moment. I here found the Gordian knot before me, and I cut it. I proposed to Charles IV. and the Queen, to resign the crown of Spain to me, and to live quietly in France. They agreed, I could say, almost with joy, to the proposal. The Prince of Asturias made no extraordinary resistance to the plan; but neither violence nor threats were employed against him. There you have, in very few words, the complete historical sketch of the affair of Spain; whatever may be said, or written on it, must amount to that; and you see, that there could be no occasion for me to have had recourse to paltry tricks, to falsehoods, to breaches of faith, or violation of engagements." – Napoleon, Las Cases, tom. iv., p. 200.

389

"The Marquis de Cartellar, to whose custody Godoy had been committed, was instructed to deliver him up, and he was removed by night. Had the people been aware that this minister was thus to be conveyed away from their vengeance, that indignation which soon afterwards burst out would probably have manifested itself now, and Godoy would have perished by their hands." – Southey, vol. i., p. 279.

390

From his brother King Charles.

391

"It is certain that, including the peasants shot, the whole number of Spaniards slain did not amount to one hundred and twenty persons, while more than seven hundred French fell. Of the imperial guards seventy men were wounded, and this fact alone would suffice to prove that there was no premeditation on the part of Murat; for if he was base enough to sacrifice his own men with such unconcern, he would not have exposed the select soldiers of the French empire in preference to the conscripts who abounded in his army. The affair itself was certainly accidental, and not very bloody for the patriots, but policy induced both sides to attribute secret motives, and to exaggerate the slaughter." – Napier, vol. i., p. 26.

392

"In the first moment of irritation, Murat ordered all the prisoners to be tried by a military commission, which condemned them to death; but the municipality representing to him the extreme cruelty of visiting this angry ebullition of the people with such severity, he forbade any executions on the sentence; but forty were shot in the Prado, by direction of General Grouchy, before Murat could cause his orders to be effectually obeyed." – Napier, vol. i., p. 25.

393

Southey, vol. i., p. 324.

394

"Your Imperial Majesty," said they, "who foresees all things, and executes them still more swiftly, has chosen for the provisional government of Spain, a prince educated for the art of government in your own great school. He has succeeded in stilling the boldest storms, by the moderation and wisdom of his measures."

395

A letter was also transmitted to Napoleon from the Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, the last of the Bourbons who remained in Spain: "May your Imperial and Royal Majesty," he said, "be graciously pleased to look upon me as one of your most dutiful subjects, and instruct me concerning your high purposes."

396

"The firing on the end of May was heard at Mostoles, a little town about ten miles south of Madrid; and the alcalde, who knew the situation of the capital, despatched a bulletin to the south, in these words: 'The country is in danger; Madrid is perishing through the perfidy of the French; all Spaniards, come to deliver it!' No other summons was sent abroad than this!" – Southey, vol. i., p. 336.

397

The mob brought cannon against his house, shattered the doors, and rushed in. Seeing that they were bent upon his death, Solano escaped by the roof, and took shelter in the house of an English merchant, whose lady concealed him in a secret closet. The mistress of the house, Mrs. Strange, in vain endeavoured to save him, by the most earnest entreaties, and by interposing between him and his merciless assailants. She was wounded in the arm; and Solano, as he was dragged away, bade her farewell till eternity! They hauled him towards the gallows, that his death might be ignominious; others were too ferocious to wait for this – they cut and stabbed him, while he resigned himself with composure and dignity to his fate. – See Nellerto, Mem., tom. iii., and Carr's Travels, p. 47.

398

"The Emperor could not restrain his passion on reading these details. Instead of returning home, he went straight to Charles IV. I accompanied him. On entering, he said to the King, 'See what I have received from Madrid. I cannot understand this.' The King read the Grand Duke of Berg's despatch; and no sooner finished it, than with a firm voice, he said to the Prince of the Peace, 'Emanuel, send for Carlos and Ferdinand.' They were in no haste to obey the call; and, in the meantime, Charles IV. observed to the Emperor – 'I am much deceived if these youths have not had something to do with this business. I am very vexed, but not surprised at it.'" – Savary, tom. ii., p. 227.

399

"Plusieurs milliers des plus mauvais sujects du pays." —Moniteur.

400

Southey, vol. i., p. 403.

401

Southey, vol. i., p. 438.

402

"From Vittoria, Joseph sent abroad a proclamation. 'I come among you,' he said, 'with the utmost confidence, surrounded by estimable men, who have not concealed from you any thing which they believed to be useful for your interests. Blind passions, deceitful vices, and the intrigues of the common enemy of the continent, whose only view is to separate the Indies from Spain, have precipitated some among you into the most dreadful anarchy. My heart is rent at the thought. Yet this great evil may in a moment cease. Spaniards, unite yourselves! come around my throne! and do not suffer intestine divisions to rob me of the time, and consume the means which I would fain employ solely for your happiness.'"

403

Before Murat had well recovered from a severe attack of the Madrid cholic an intermittent fever supervened, and when that was removed, he was ordered by his physicians to the warm baths of Barèges.

404

"As some person was immediately wanted to supply the place of the Grand Duke of Berg, he directed me to proceed to Madrid, where I found myself in a more extraordinary situation than any general officer had ever been placed in. My mission was for the purpose of perusing all the reports addressed to the Grand Duke of Berg, to return answers, and issue orders in every case of emergency; but I was not to affix my signature to any paper; every thing was to be done in the name of General Belliard, in his capacity of chief of the staff of the army. The Emperor adopted this course, because he intended to send the new King forward in a very short time; and felt it to be unnecessary to make any alterations until the King's arrival at Madrid, when I was to be recalled." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 250.

405

History of the Peninsular War, vol. i., p. 453.

406

"Filangieri, the Governor of Corunna, being called on by a tumultuous crowd to exercise the rights of sovereignty, and to declare war in form against the French, was unwilling to commence such an important revolution upon such uncertain grounds; the impatient crowd instantly attempted his life, which was then saved by the courage of an officer of his staff; but his horrible fate was only deferred. A part of the regiment of Navarre seized him at Villa Franca del Bierzo, planted the ground with their bayonets, and then tossing him in a blanket, let him fall on the points thus disposed, and there leaving him to struggle, they dispersed and retired to their own homes." – Napier, vol. i., p. 37.

407

Southey, vol. i., p. 481; Napier, vol. i., p. 110.

408

"King Joseph made his entry into Madrid at four in the afternoon, with no other escort than the Emperor's guard. Although his suite was numerous, he was accompanied by no other Spaniard than the Captain-general of Navarre; the ministers and deputies who had left Bayonne in his train had already deserted him. The inhabitants manifested some degree of curiosity, and even gave some signs of approbation; public decorum, however, was not in the least interrupted." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 276.

409

Napier, vol. i., p. 75.

410

Southey, vol. i., p. 470; Napier, vol. i., p. 94.

411

Moncey could hardly have expected to succeed against the town of Valencia; for, to use Napoleon's words, "a city, with eighty thousand inhabitants, barricadoed streets, and artillery placed at the gates, cannot be taken by the collar." – Napier, vol. i., p. 99.

412

Savary, tom. ii., p. 255; Napier, vol. i., p. 116.

413

Southey, vol. i., p. 497; Napier, vol. i., p. 125.

414

"Dupont surrendered an effective force of 21,000 infantry, forty pieces of cannon, and 2400 cavalry; in short, a full third of the French forces in Spain." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 273.

415

"The moral effect of the battle of Baylen was surprising; it was one of those minor events which, insignificant in themselves, are the cause of great changes in the affairs of nations. Opening as it were a new crater for the Spanish fire, the glory of past ages seemed to be renewed, every man conceived himself a second Cid, and perceived in the surrender of Dupont, not the deliverance of Spain, but the immediate conquest of France. 'We are much obliged to our good friends, the English,' was a common phrase among them, when conversing with the officers of Sir John Moore's army; 'we thank them for their good-will, and we shall have the pleasure of escorting them through France to Calais.' This absurd confidence might have led to great things, if it had been supported by wisdom, activity, or valour; but it was a 'voice, and nothing more.'" – Napier, vol. i., p. 131.

416

De Pradt, Mémoire Hist. sur la Rév. de l'Espagne, p. 192.

417

Napier, vol. i., p. 65.

418

Southey, vol. i., p. 37.

419

"Augustina Zaragoza, a handsome woman of the lower class, about twenty-two years of age, arrived at one of the batteries with refreshments at the time when not a man who defended it was left alive, so tremendous was the fire which the French kept up against it. For a moment the citizens hesitated to re-man the guns. Augustina sprung forward over the dead and dying, snatched a match from the hand of a dead artilleryman, and fired off a six-and-twenty pounder; then jumping upon the gun, made a solemn vow never to quit it alive during the siege." – Southey, vol. ii., p. 14. – Lord Byron states, that when he was at Seville, in 1809, the Maid of Zaragoza was seen walking daily on the Prado, decorated with medals, and orders, by command of the Junta. She has further had the honour of being painted by Wilkie.

420

"Such be the sons of Spain, and strange her fateThey fight for freedom who were never free;A kingless people for a nerveless state,Her vassals combat when their chieftains flee,True to the veriest slaves of treachery:Fond of a land which gave them nought but life,Pride points the path that leads to liberty;Back to the struggle, baffled in the strife,War, war is still the cry, 'War even to the knife!'" Childe Harold, c. i., st. 86.

421

"Just before the day closed, Don Francisco Palafox, the general's brother, entered the city with a convoy of arms and ammunition, and reinforcement of three thousand men." – Southey, vol. ii., p. 26.

422

"A hideous and revolting spectacle was exhibited during the action; the public hospital being taken and fired, the madmen confined there issued forth among the combatants, muttering, shouting, singing, and moping, according to the character of their disorder, while drivelling idiots mixed their unmeaning cries with the shouts of contending soldiers." – Napier, vol. i., p. 70.

423

Southey's History of the Peninsular War, vol. i., p. 444.

424

Mr. Whitbread. See Parliamentary Debates, vol. xi., pp. 886, 891. As a farther avowal of these sentiments, Mr. Whitbread addressed a letter, on the situation of Spain, to Lord Holland; "the subject," he said, "being peculiarly interesting to that distinguished nobleman, from the attachment he had formed to a people, the grandeur of whose character he had had the opportunity to estimate."

425

At that time Secretary of State for foreign affairs.

426

Southey, vol. i., p. 451.

427

"I will look after your private interests; give yourself no concern about them. Portugal will remain at my disposal. Let no personal project occupy you, or influence your conduct; that would be injurious to my interests, and would injure you still more than me."

428

Loison's conduct at Evora was marked by deliberate and sportive cruelty, of the most flagitious kind. The convents and churches afforded no asylum. He promised the archbishop that his property should not be touched, but, after this promise, he, with some of his officers, entered the Episcopal library, took down the books in the hope of discovering valuables behind them, broke off the gold and silver clasps, and, in their wrath at finding so little plunder, tore in pieces a whole pile of manuscripts. They took every gold and silver coin from his cabinet of medals, and every jewel and bit of the precious metals with which the relics were adorned. Loison was even seen in noon-day, to take the archbishop's ring from the table and pocket it. These circumstances are stated by Mr. Southey, on the authority of the archbishop himself.

429

"In such detestation was Loison held by the Portuguese, that he was scarcely safe from their vengeance when surrounded by his troops. The execrations poured forth at the mere mention of 'the bloody Maneta,' as, from the loss of his hand, he was called, proves that he must have committed many heinous acts." – Napier, vol. i., p. 167.

430

Southey, vol. ii., p. 188; Napier, vol. i., p. 204. The loss of the French was 600 killed and wounded; among the latter was Laborde himself. The British also suffered considerably; two lieutenants and nearly 500 men being killed, taken, or wounded.