CHAPTER III
HOW NAPOLEON I. CHECKMATED THE SPANISH ROYAL FAMILY
1808–1814
As Napoleon was not quite satisfied with Murat’s reports, he determined to go himself to Spain, and Ferdinand was advised by Escoiquiz to go to Bayonne to meet the Emperor. After holding a council on the subject at Vittoria in the bedroom of Escoiquiz, who was ill, Ferdinand wrote a humble letter to the Emperor, promising to go and meet him, in spite of Savary’s objections to the want of dignity in the suggested proceeding. In his letter to Napoleon, Ferdinand declared that he had been raised to the throne by the free and spontaneous abdication of his father, and to this epistle the Emperor replied:[7]
[7] Published in the Moniteur in 1808.
“In Bayonne,
“April 16, 1808.
“My Brother,
“I have received the letter of Your Royal Highness. You will have seen by your father’s papers what an interest I have always shown in him, so you will allow me now to speak to you with frankness and loyalty.
“I had hoped to come to Madrid and persuade my august friend to make certain necessary reforms in his dominions which would give public satisfaction. The separation of His Majesty from the Prince of the Peace seemed to me absolutely necessary for his happiness and that of his vassals. Events in the North retarded my journey, and the occurrences of Aranjuez have intervened.