1808.

ABDICATION OF THE SPANISH PRINCES.

225

that rendered the French still more odious in the eyes of the Spaniards.

Tidings of this insurrection soon reached Bayonne, and had the unfortunate effect of exasperating the emperor against Ferdinand, whilst the easy suppression of the tumult seemed to argue, that Spain would be forced to submit to a Bonaparte sovereign with as little difficulty as Naples. Through the influence of Godoy, Charles was induced to resign his crown in favor of the emperor Napoleon. Ferdinand was more stubborn. His sire, and, above all, the queen his mother, inveterate against a son whom she detested, aided the emperor's views with a blind rage, that shocked even Napoleon himself. The queen threatened to declare Ferdinand illegitimate unless he yielded. Napoleon hinted that he might meet the fate of D'Enghien; and on the 6th of May the prince consented to yield back to Charles the crown that he had but just assumed. On the 10th, the Spanish royal family, having played the part required of them, were sent off; the old king and queen to Fontainbleau, the princes to Valencay. Bonaparte then summoned 150 Spanish nobles of his choice to assemble at Bayonne. They met in June, and assumed the name of the Cortes. They were informed that Joseph Bonaparte was to be king of Spain. To this they acceded, about as voluntarily as Ferdinand had done; the duke of Infantado nevertheless making restrictions to his declaration of allegiance. A menace to have him shot overcame the scruples of the Spanish grandee. Joseph was declared king of Spain and the Indies. His place on the throne of Naples was given to Murat.

Whilst Bonaparte was completing this act of machiavelism, his brother of the north was accomplishing his balance of usurpation. Finland was invaded by the Russian armies in February; and on the very day that Ferdinand was forced to sign away his rights at Bayonne, the ancient province of Sweden was declared by an Imperial ukase to be annexed to Russia.

Napoleon had allotted to himself a far more difficult enterprise, of which he foresaw the perils. One who had so well known the Vendéan insurrection, as to refuse, whilst his fortune was yet to make, to serve against it, and who had no sooner attained power than he hastened to pacify remaining disaffection by concession, was well aware, that should Spain rise, it might prove, in his own words, "a cancer” that would eat into his empire's very heart. But Napoleon hoped that the Spanish would not rise. The Bourbon dynasty was not old; had not been glorious; and, in fact, the Spanish attachment to Ferdinand was the product of chance. He had ex

pressed the national wish in hating Godoy, became accordingly identified with it: the insurrection completed his popularity. And in overthrowing him, Napoleon insulted the nation. Had the emperor the aid of Talleyrand's sagacity, had he even a civilian, a statesman, to act for or counsel him! But Murat and Savary were his agents and envoys,-rude military men, displaying the hilt of the soldier in their policy: and these provoked a war, of which Napoleon was doomed never to see the term.

The insurrection of the 2d of May provoked a tendency to similar movements all over the kingdom. When the tidings of Joseph Bonaparte being proclaimed king, and his having passed the Pyrenees, succeeded, the national fury lost all forbearance, and started into open display. The French were assailed and massacred in most towns; the soldiers made common cause with the people; and the commanders who sought to resist the general will, were mercilessly sacrificed. By a precaution, that proved long premeditation, the flower of the Spanish forces had been marched to the north of Europe by the order of the French emperor. But the void left by them was soon filled up; and insurgent armies, commanded by able generals, made their appearance in a few weeks' time in all parts of the Peninsula. In the north, however, where the French were strongest, their patriotic attempts were attended with bad success. In July, Bessières defeated Blake and Cuesta at Rio Seco so decisively, and with such slaughter, that Napoleon declared that the victor had placed the crown on Joseph's head. In fact, the Prussians had scarcely suffered more at Jena; and their monarchy fell in consequence. But in Prussia Bonaparte attacked but an army; here he was op posed by a nation-that hydra, whose powers of resistance increase in proportion to defeat. Thus, at Arragon, Lefebvre. though successful in the field, was repulsed from Saragossa whilst in the south, Dupont, after vainly stretching in the di rection of Cadiz, as vainly sought to retreat across the Sierra Morena. He was environed, and obliged to surrender. This was the first French army that had laid down its arms since the revolution. A national inveterate rage had hitherto pervaded it; an enthusiasm founded, right or wrong, upon a sense of the justice of their cause. But now this had evaporated; they felt that it was not for France, but for the mad ambition of their ruler, nat they fought. They sunk to the mere mercenary soldiers, determined to do their duty, but no more. We see the first symptoms of this new spirit in the surrender of Dupont at Baylen; a position out of which a revolutionary army would have fought its way, reckless of the loss.

Meantime the flame of insurrection had spread to Portu

808.

WAR IN PORTUGAL.

227

gal. The inhabitants rose against Junot, and united with the Spanish in asserting their independence against the French. The opportunity was seized by the British government. A small army, collected for a far distant enterprise, was, by good fortune, but not without hesitation, ordered to Portugal; and once more an English soldier placed his foot on the European continent, with better fortune than had hitherto attended such attempts. In August, 1808, Sir Arthur Wellesley landed with about 15,000 men at the mouth of the river Mondego, to the north of Lisbon. Junot's lieutenant, Delaborde, thought fit to oppose him with inferior forces: the French, as yet, depreciated British military skill and valor. Delaborde was defeated at Roliça, and driven back upon Lisbon. Junot, learning this, and hearing that the English were as yet unsupported by the Peninsular insurgents, mustered all his forces, and marched from the capital to the encounter of those of Wellesley. The latter was posted chiefly on a height in front of Vimiero, his back to the sea, and thus with small chance of escape in case of defeat. But the possibility of the latter was not allowed by the British general, who was somewhat superior in force to the French. The latter, nevertheless, attacked, charging up the hill where the British were posted. The foremost had no sooner reached the summit, than they were met by a discharge, and then with the bayonet, which rolled the assailants back in disorder. They made another and more partial attempt by the road; but these, too, were repulsed; and before mid-day the battle was won, and the French in full retreat. Want of cavalry prevented the conqueror from following it up immediately; and Sir Harry Burrard superseding Wellesley in the command, all active pursuit ceased. Kellerman, the hero of Marengo, was now sent by Junot to demand a truce. The English commanders unsuspectingly communicated their observations to each other in his presence. Kellerman understood English, and was able to report to Junot the hesitating character and sentiments of the British commanders. Junot rose in his tone; and by the convention of Cintra, the French were to evacuate Portugal in British ships, which were to convey them to their country. By one article the French were allowed to carry off their property, in other words, their plunder. At the capitulation of Baylen, Dupont had stipulated that each officer should carry off a wagon-load unsearched. Such attention paid to private interest, showed that the soldier of freedom was merging into a soldier of the empire, and divesting himself of that disinterested enthusiasm which is an armor of proof.

It has been seen that the court of Vienna began to display signs of returning spirit. Excluded from the conference of III.-15

Tilsit, when the fate of Europe was decided as in a sovereign court, Austria had been ever since in ill-humor. This increased, as she saw the consequences of Tilsit,-Spain and Finland conquered, Turkey menaced. She armed, increased her regular force, and organized a militia. Napoleon, in the month of August, took the opportunity of a public levee to reproach Metternich, the Austrian envoy. But tidings of the Spanish resistance, and of English successes in Portugal, gave hardihood to German independence. Napoleon resolved at once to menace and insult Austria. He had a meeting with the emperor of Russia at Erfurt, in Germany, where, as at Tilsit, the great European interests were of course discussed, and Austria excluded as a secondary power. The sovereigns of the confederation of the Rhine all appeared at Erfurt, paying court to Napoleon, who, thus acting Charlemagne, quite usurped the place of the modern Cæsars. Her pride being thus trampled on afresh, Austria determined, though alone, although even opposed by Russia, to renew the struggle with France. But her effort was reserved for the year 1809.

Ere this storm burst forth in the East, it was incumbent on Napoleon to quench the Spanish insurrection, and settle the government of Spain. Whilst at Erfurt, therefore, he ordered his best troops, his veterans, to march to that country. Each corps, as it traversed Paris, was received with honors and banquets. Nevertheless, its mission of quelling a penin sular Vendée, and combating peasants, where all the perils of war, and little of either its glory or advantages were to be reaped, appeared by no means pleasing. In the first days of November, the emperor crossed the Pyrenees, and met king Joseph at Vittoria, Madrid being in the possession of the insurgents.

The Spanish forces exceeded 100,000 men; but in a coun try without any unity (of government, and where the word commissariat is unknown, they were necessarily divided. Napoleon was in the midst of them with superior numbers; and to crush one army after the other, was his obvious and feasible plan. From the central position of Vittoria, the French first attacked Blake, who menaced from the side of Biscay, and defeated him at Espinosa. Belvedere, another Spanish general, was beaten near Burgos. And thus whilst the English, under Sir John Moore and general Baird, were slowly wending their way into Spain, uncertain and irresolute, the corps which they came to support were totally destroyed. Delivered from all enemies on the right, except the remote English army, the French now turned upon Castanos. He prudently wished to retreat, but was overruled by Palafox; and thus awaiting the onset of the French, he was completely de

809.

WAR IN SPAIN.

229 feated at Tudela. Vapoleon now pushed forward to Madrid. He always aimed at an enemy's capital, the heart of the country, as he deemed it. A vain stand was made against him on the heights of Somo Sierra, which the road to Madrid traverses. As if to show their contempt for Spanish artillery, the Polish lancers were ordered to charge the battery. They did so, and actually carried it. On the 2d of December, the anniversary of his coronation and of Austerlitz. Napoleon was under the walls of Madrid. A furious population filled the city. The emperor avoided committing his troops amidst such a mob. Despite the preciousness of time to him, if he hoped to intercept the English, he shrunk from ordering an assault, such as Lefebvre had at once attempted at Saragossa. He took possession of the suburbs, of the Retiro, and wished rather to intimidate the capital, than capture it at the expense of a massacre or a loss. The enthusiasm of the populace was wearied by this delay, and Madrid surrendered on the fourth.

After some acts of vengeance, and decrees to conciliate the liberal Spaniards, such as the abolition of the inquisition, suppression of convents, Napoleon turned his arms against the English. There were little more than 20,000; and these had been scattered, some at Salmanaca, some more southward still, whilst others were at Astorga. Their schemes, hopeless at first, had left their present situation desperate. Retreat was imperative, and yet it had been deferred to the last moment. Napoleon arrived too late to intercept the British, but in time to enjoy the pleasure of seeing such inveterate foes at least flying before him. He expressed aloud his feelings of satisfaction; and his officers sought to flatter them by attacking the English, and endeavoring to put them to the rout before the eyes of their sovereign. In these attempts they failed, however. Lefebvre Desnouettes, leader of the imperial guard, was taken prisoner on one of these occasions: and general Colbert, who succeeded him, was slain upon another. Wearied, however, of such warfare, deeming Spain sufficiently pacified, and receiving fresh accounts of the preparations of Austria, the emperor suddenly turned his horse from the pursuit of the British, literally galloped back to Burgos with unusual speed, and from thence hurried to Paris.

Soult was left to complete the destruction of Sir John Moore's army. He pursued with unremitting activity, yet refused battle when offered at an equality of strength. At length the British reached Corunna, their own element, the sea, behind them; but to escape thither, to embark in safety, remained, and was almost impossible in the presence of 20,000 French, the British being not more than two thirds of the