There is a danger in attempting stories of prime importance, lest they should excite expectations which it is fatal to disappoint, and yet impossible to fulfil. Great talents have sunk, and lofty reputations have been wrecked in such attempts. I might well be apprehensive for my own fortune in the present undertaking, were it not for a belief, that in the variety of details which this narration contains, in the importance of its events, in its splendid examples of heroism and virtue, and, above all, in the moral interest that pervades it, the reader will find attractions which may compensate for any defects in the execution of so arduous a work.
Keswick, July 22, 1822.
CONTENTS.
| PAGE | |
| Introduction | [1] |
| [CHAPTER I]. | |
| Gradual degradation of Spain and Portugal | [4] |
| Tyranny of the Church and of the Governments | [5, 6] |
| Mal-administration of the laws | [6] |
| Disuse of the Cortes | [7] |
| Condition of the Nobles | [7] |
| Of the army | [8] |
| Improvement among the Clergy | [9] |
| State of the Religious Orders | [11] |
| Improving literature | [12] |
| Morals | [12] |
| National character unchanged | [14] |
| Both countries in a favourable state for improvement | [14] |
| Both become dependent upon France | [15] |
| Causes and progress of the French Revolution | [16] |
| Buonaparte | [19] |
| Military power of France | [23] |
| The Conscription | [23] |
| Change in the constitution and character of the French army | [29] |
| Levelling principle of the Revolutionary service | [30] |
| Honourable character of the old French army | [32] |
| Honour not the principle of despotism | [32] |
| Education in the hands of the Clergy before the Revolution | [33] |
| The whole system destroyed | [35] |
| Public instruction promised by the Revolutionists | [36] |
| Talleyrand’s scheme | [36] |
| Religion omitted | [36] |
| Condorcet’s scheme | [36] |
| Religion proscribed | [37] |
| Scheme of the National Convention | [37] |
| Domestic education proscribed | [38] |
| None of these schemes attempted in practice | [39] |
| Normal schools | [40] |
| Consequences of these visionary schemes | [41] |
| Attachment of the Jacobins to Buonaparte | [42] |
| A system of education necessary for his views | [43] |
| Imperial University | [44] |
| Communal Colleges | [46] |
| Ecclesiastical schools | [47] |
| Lyceums | [49] |
| First Catechism | [50] |
| Special Military Academies | [51] |
| Youths from the conquered countries | [51] |
| Moral effect of the Lyceums | [52] |
| System of inspection | [52] |
| Uniformity of education | [53] |
| Effects of the Revolution upon morals | [55] |
| Frequency of divorces | [55] |
| Obscene publications | [56] |
| Gaming-houses established by Government | [56] |
| Abolition of primogeniture | [57] |
| Degradation of the Church | [60] |
| State of Europe | [61] |
| England | [63] |
| Duke of Portland’s administration | [64] |
| The Grenville party | [66] |
| The Foxites | [67] |
| Attempts to raise a cry for peace | [68] |
| Superstition concerning Buonaparte | [68] |
| Admirers of the French Revolution | [69] |
| Increased expenditure, activity, and wealth | [70] |
| Manufacturing system | [71] |
| Weakness of the Government | [73] |
| Hopes of Buonaparte | [74] |
| [CHAPTER II]. | |
| Conjectures concerning the projects of Buonaparte | [76] |
| Rise of D. Manuel de Godoy | [79] |
| He is created a Prince for making peace with France | [80] |
| Disgraceful terms of that peace | [81] |
| Court of Spain not willingly subservient to France | [80] |
| Godoy not corrupted by France | [82] |
| Disposition to join with the allies before the peace of Tilsit | [82] |
| The Prince of Asturias inimical to Godoy | [83] |
| Parties in favour of the French | [83] |
| Unpopularity of Godoy | [85] |
| The French Ambassador advises the Prince to solicit an alliance with Buonaparte’s family | [86] |
| The Prince applies secretly to Buonaparte | [87] |
| Buonaparte intends to seize the Peninsula | [88] |
| Spanish troops sent to the North of Europe and to Tuscany | [88] |
| Condition of the Portugueze Government | [89] |
| Portugal required to act against Great Britain | [90] |
| Middle course proposed by the Portugueze Court | [91] |
| Preparations for occupying Portugal | [91] |
| The French and Spanish Ambassadors leave Lisbon | [93] |
| Secret treaty of Fontainebleau | [93] |
| British residents expelled from Lisbon | [96] |
| Edict for the exclusion of British commerce | [96] |
| For registering the persons and property of the British | [97] |
| The British Minister leaves Lisbon | [97] |
| A Russian squadron enters the Tagus | [98] |
| Buonaparte endeavours to seize the Royal Family | [99] |
| Junot’s proclamation from Alcantara | [100] |
| The French enter Portugal | [102] |
| Their rapacity upon the march | [102] |
| Conduct at Abrantes | [103] |
| Representation of the British Ambassador | [105] |
| The Prince determines upon removing to Brazil | [106] |
| He refuses to let the people and the English fleet defend the city | [107] |
| Embarkation of the Royal Family | [109] |
| Regency appointed by the Prince | [112] |
| Junot advances rapidly | [114] |
| The French enter Lisbon | [115] |
| Miserable plight of those who first entered | [117] |
| Arrival of the second division | [118] |
| Forced loan required | [120] |
| A Frenchman added to the Regency | [120] |
| Edict for confiscating English goods | [121] |
| Use of arms prohibited | [121] |
| Pastoral letter of the Cardinal Patriarch | [122] |
| Conduct of the Inquisitor General | [124] |
| The French flag hoisted | [124] |
| Insult at the theatre, and commotion in Lisbon | [126] |
| Precautions of the French | [128] |
| Regulations concerning English goods | [130] |
| Scarcity of corn apprehended | [131] |
| Measures for providing the army | [132] |
| The Portugueze leave their fields unsown | [133] |
| Spaniards under General Carraffa at Porto | [134] |
| General Taranco takes the command there | [134] |
| Good conduct of the troops | [135] |
| Solano at Setubal | [135] |
| His schemes for the improvement of society | [136] |
| Emigration from Lisbon | [138] |
| Falsehoods respecting England | [140] |
| Report of the French Minister, M. Champagny, concerning Portugal | [141] |
| Second report, indicating intentions against Spain | [144] |
| Conscription for 1809 required | [145] |
| Threats against England | [146] |
| The royal arms of Portugal broken | [147] |
| Junot declares that the Portugueze Government is dissolved | [148] |
| Junot appointed Governor for the Emperor Napoleon | [149] |
| Council of Government formed | [150] |
| War-contribution extraordinary | [152] |
| Godoy recalls the Spanish troops from Portugal | [156] |
| Part of them detained by the French | [156] |
| The whole of Portugal under command of the French | [157] |
| The flower of the Portugueze army marched into France | [157] |
| Discontent of the people | [158] |
| Executions at Caldas | [159] |
| Conduct of the French Generals | [163] |
| State of Lisbon | [166] |
| Increase of the Sebastianists | [169] |
| Edicts to prevent emigration | [174] |
| Special criminal tribunal | [176] |
| Measures of police | [177] |
| Deputation of Portugueze to Bayonne | [179] |
| Letter from the Deputation | [180] |
| Junot made Duke of Abrantes | [181] |
| He hopes to be made King of Portugal | [182] |
| The Juiz do Povo proposes to ask for a King of Buonaparte’s family | [183] |
| Fate of the mover of this scheme | [185] |
| [CHAPTER III]. | |
| Affair of the Escurial | [187] |
| Ferdinand accused of plotting to dethrone his father, and attempting his mother’s life | [187] |
| Persons implicated in the charge | [188] |
| Ferdinand confesses himself faulty, and intreats forgiveness | [189] |
| This affair disgraceful to all parties | [189] |
| Not instigated by Buonaparte | [190] |
| His conduct | [191] |
| Anxiety of Godoy | [192] |
| The Queen of Etruria expelled from Tuscany | [193] |
| Buonaparte writes to the King of Spain | [194] |
| Troops marched into Spain | [194] |
| Seizure of Pamplona | [195] |
| Seizure of Barcelona | [198] |
| Seizure of Monjuic | [201] |
| Seizure of St. Sebastians and Figueras | [201] |
| Depôts established at Barcelona | [202] |
| Alarm of the Spaniards | [204] |
| Fears and perplexities of the Spanish Court | [205] |
| Measures for protecting the intended emigration | [207] |
| Hopes of the Prince’s party | [209] |
| Vacillation of the King | [210] |
| Insurrection at Aranjuez | [211] |
| Abdication of Charles IV. | [214] |
| [CHAPTER IV]. | |
| Ministry formed by Ferdinand | [219] |
| Godoy’s property confiscated without a trial | [220] |
| Murat enters Spain | [222] |
| People of Madrid exhorted to receive the French as friends | [223] |
| The French enter Madrid | [224] |
| Murat refuses to acknowledge Ferdinand | [226] |
| Grouchy made Governor of Madrid | [226] |
| Declaration concerning the affair of the Escurial | [227] |
| The abdication represented as a voluntary act | [227] |
| Charles complains to the French | [228] |
| He writes to Buonaparte, intreating him to interfere | [230] |
| Letters of the Queen to Murat | [231] |
| The Infante D. Carlos sent to meet Buonaparte | [234] |
| Ferdinand is urged to go and meet the Emperor | [235] |
| The sword of Francis I. restored to the French | [236] |
| Alarm of the people | [237] |
| Perplexity of Ferdinand and his Ministers | [238] |
| Dispatches from Izquierdo | [240] |
| The Ministers deceived by these dispatches | [243] |
| General Savary arrives at Madrid | [244] |
| Ferdinand consents to go | [245] |
| He sets out from Madrid | [247] |
| Urquijo’s advice to him at Vitoria | [249] |
| Ferdinand writes to Buonaparte from Vitoria | [252] |
| Buonaparte’s reply | [254] |
| Ferdinand is advised to proceed | [258] |
| Promises of Savary, and preparations for seizing Ferdinand | [259] |
| Ferdinand passes the frontiers | [260] |
| Buonaparte receives him with an embrace | [261] |
| Ferdinand is required to renounce the throne for himself and all his family | [261] |
| Conversation between Buonaparte and Escoiquez | [262] |
| Second conference with Escoiquez | [268] |
| Cevallos is required to discuss the terms of the renunciation with M. Champagny | [269] |
| Buonaparte’s declaration to Cevallos | [271] |
| Terms proposed to Escoiquez | [272] |
| Debates among Ferdinand’s Counsellors | [273] |
| Labrador appointed to treat with M. Champagny | [274] |
| Ferdinand is prevented from returning | [275] |
| Buonaparte sends for Charles and the Queen to Bayonne | [277] |
| Godoy released by Murat, and sent to Bayonne | [278] |
| He is reinstated as Charles’s Minister | [280] |
| Ferdinand’s proposals to his Father | [281] |
| Letter from Charles to his Son | [282] |
| Ferdinand’s reply | [287] |
| Terms upon which he offers to restore the crown | [291] |
| Interview between Charles and Ferdinand in presence of Buonaparte | [292] |
| Ferdinand’s renunciation | [293] |
| Proclamation of Charles to the Spaniards | [294] |
| Charles cedes his rights to Buonaparte | [295] |
| Treaty of cession | [296] |
| Ferdinand threatened by Buonaparte | [298] |
| His act of renunciation | [299] |
| The Royal Family sent into France | [300] |
| [CHAPTER V]. | |
| Conduct of Murat towards the Junta of Government | [302] |
| The Junta apply to Ferdinand for instructions as to resisting the French | [305] |
| Absurdity of their conduct | [306] |
| Agitation of the public mind | [307] |
| Orders for sending the Queen of Etruria and the Infante D. Francisco to Bayonne | [308] |
| The Junta deliberate concerning the Infante | [309] |
| Agitation of the people of Madrid | [310] |
| Departure of the Queen and the Infante | [311] |
| Insurrection of the people | [312] |
| Defence of the arsenal by Daoiz and Velarde | [314] |
| Executions by sentence of a military tribunal | [316] |
| The Infante D. Antonio sent to Bayonne | [317] |
| Murat claims a place in the Junta | [318] |
| Edicts for preserving peace in the capital | [318] |
| Circular letter of the Inquisition | [320] |
| The Junta discharged from their authority by Charles’s reassumption | [321] |
| Means of resistance authorized by Ferdinand | [322] |
| The Junta resolve that they have no longer authority to obey | [323] |
| Address from Ferdinand and the Infantes, exhorting the people to submission | [324] |
| Joseph Buonaparte chosen by his brother for King of Spain | [327] |
| Addresses from the Junta and Council of Castille to Buonaparte | [329] |
| Address from the City of Madrid | [330] |
| Assembly of Notables convoked at Bayonne | [332] |
| Proclamation of Buonaparte to the Spaniards | [332] |
| [CHAPTER VI]. | |
| General insurrection | [334] |
| Deputies from Asturias sent to England | [337] |
| Insurrection at Coruña | [338] |
| Excesses of the populace | [341] |
| Juntas established every where | [342] |
| Formation of the Junta of Seville | [342] |
| They declare war against France | [346] |
| Solano hesitates to co-operate with them | [346] |
| He refuses the assistance of the British squadron | [348] |
| Solano summons a council of officers | [349] |
| They exhort the people not to engage in hostilities with the French | [350] |
| The people insist upon taking arms | [352] |
| Solano is advised to withdraw | [353] |
| He is murdered by the mob | [354] |
| Morla appointed Governor of Cadiz | [356] |
| Surrender of the French squadron | [358] |
| Massacre at Valencia | [362] |
| Punishment of the assassins | [368] |
| Duhesme fails in an attempt to occupy Lerida | [370] |
| Palafox escapes from Bayonne to Zaragoza | [371] |
| Insurrection in that city | [373] |
| Palafox made Captain-General of Aragon | [374] |
| Jovellanos and Cabarrus at Zaragoza | [374] |
| Palafox declares war against France | [376] |
| Addresses to the people | [378] |
| Proclamation of the Junta of Seville | [386] |
| Directions for conducting the war | [391] |
| Measures for enrolling the people | [394] |
| Appeal to the French soldiers | [395] |
| Movements of the French against the insurgents | [397] |
| Murat leaves Spain | [398] |
| Several Frenchmen poisoned by the wine at Madrid | [397] |
| [CHAPTER VII]. | |
| The Notables assemble at Bayonne | [400] |
| Azanza appointed President | [401] |
| Urquijo summoned thither | [401] |
| He represents the state of Spain to Buonaparte | [402] |
| Arrival of Joseph Buonaparte | [403] |
| The Notables receive him as King | [404] |
| Their address to the Spanish nation | [405] |
| Proclamation of the Intrusive King | [407] |
| Bishop of Orense’s answer to his summons | [408] |
| Buonaparte delivers a constitution to Azanza | [411] |
| Speech of Azanza at the opening of their sittings | [412] |
| Address of the Notables to King Joseph | [413] |
| The Bayonne Constitution | [414] |
| Religion | [415] |
| The succession | [415] |
| Patrimony of the Crown | [416] |
| Ministry | [417] |
| The Senate | [417] |
| Senatorial Junta for the preservation of personal liberty | [417] |
| Senatorial Junta of the Liberty of the Press | [418] |
| Council of State | [419] |
| Cortes | [420] |
| The Colonies | [423] |
| Judicature | [424] |
| Finance | [425] |
| Alliance with France | [426] |
| Security of persons | [426] |
| Limitation of entails | [427] |
| Abolition of privileges | [427] |
| Time for introducing the Constitution, and for amending it | [428] |
| The Nobles and Regulars contend for their respective orders | [429] |
| Joseph appoints his Ministers | [430] |
| Letter from Ferdinand to the Intruder | [432] |
| Joseph presents the Constitution to the Notables | [433] |
| Ceremony of accepting it | [434] |
| Medals voted in honour of this event | [436] |
| Address of thanks to Buonaparte | [436] |
| Buonaparte is embarrassed in replying to it | [438] |
| Joseph enters Spain | [440] |
| Buonaparte returns to Paris | [441] |
| [CHAPTER VIII]. | |
| Feelings of the English people concerning the transactions in Spain | [443] |
| Proceedings in Parliament | [445] |
| Mr. Whitbread proposes to negotiate with France | [447] |
| Mr. Whitbread speaks in favour of the Spaniards | [447] |
| Mr. Whitbread’s letter to Lord Holland | [448] |
| Measures of the British Government | [451] |
| Movements of the French in Navarre and Old Castille | [452] |
| Torquemada burnt | [453] |
| General Cuesta attempts at first to quiet the people | [453] |
| He takes the national side | [454] |
| Evil of his hesitation | [454] |
| He is defeated at Cabezon | [455] |
| The French enter Valladolid | [456] |
| They enter Santander | [456] |
| General Lefebvre Desnouettes defeats the Aragonese | [456] |
| He marches against Zaragoza | [457] |
| Troops sent from Barcelona towards Zaragoza and Valencia | [458] |
| General Schwartz marches towards Manresa | [459] |
| He is defeated at Bruch, and retreats to Barcelona | [460] |
| General Chabran recalled in consequence of Schwartz’s defeat | [462] |
| Arbos burnt by the French | [462] |
| Chabran defeated at Bruch | [463] |
| Duhesme endeavours to secure Gerona | [463] |
| Mataro sacked by the French | [465] |
| Failure of the attempt on Gerona | [465] |
| Figueras relieved by the French | [466] |
| Movements of Moncey against Valencia | [467] |
| Defeat of the Valencians | [468] |
| He approaches the city | [468] |
| Preparations for defence | [469] |
| The Valencians defeated at Quarte | [471] |
| The French repulsed from Valencia | [472] |
| Moncey retreats into Castille | [473] |
| Movements of the French in Andalusia | [473] |
| Dupont defeats the Spaniards at the Bridge of Alcolea | [475] |
| Cordoba entered and pillaged by the French | [476] |
| Dupont unable to advance | [476] |
| He is disappointed of succours from Portugal | [477] |
| Reinforcements from Madrid join him | [478] |
| Cuesta and Blake advance against the French | [479] |
| M. Bessieres defeats them at Rio Seco | [480] |
| The way to Madrid opened by this victory | [481] |
| Joseph enters Madrid | [482] |
| Fears of the Intrusive Government | [483] |
| The Council of Castille demur at the oath of allegiance | [484] |
| General Cassagne enters Jaen | [487] |
| He is compelled to evacuate it, and returns to Baylen | [488] |
| Preparations of General Castaños | [490] |
| Dupont’s dispatches intercepted | [491] |
| Plan for attacking the French | [493] |
| Battle of Baylen | [494] |
| Surrender of the French army | [496] |
| Terms of the surrender | [497] |
| Difficulty of executing the terms | [500] |
| Correspondence between Dupont and Morla | [504] |
| Treatment of the prisoners | [508] |
| Rejoicings for the victory | [510] |
| Movements of Bessieres after the battle of Rio Seco | [511] |
| Correspondence between Bessieres and Blake | [512] |
| The French leave Madrid, and retire to Vitoria | [514] |
HISTORY
OF THE
PENINSULAR WAR.
The late war in the Peninsula will be memorable above all of modern times. It stands alone for the perfidiousness with which the French commenced it, and the atrocious system upon which they carried it on. The circumstances of the resistance are not less extraordinary than those of the aggression, whether we consider the total disorganization to which the kingdom of Spain was reduced; the inveterate abuses which had been entailed upon it by the imbecility, misrule, and dotage, of its old despotism; the inexperience, the weakness, and the errors, of the successive governments which grew out of the necessities of the times; or the unexampled patriotism and endurance of the people, which bore them through these complicated disadvantages. There are few portions of history from which lessons of such political importance are to be deduced; none which can more powerfully and permanently excite the sympathy of mankind, because of the mighty interests at stake. For this was no common war, of which a breach of treaty, an extension of frontier, a distant colony, or a disputed succession, serves as the cause or pretext: it was as direct a contest between the principles of good and evil as the elder Persians, or the Manicheans, imagined in their fables: it was for the life or death of national independence, national spirit, and of all those holy feelings which are comprehended in the love of our native land. Nor was it for the Peninsula alone that the war was waged: it was for England and for Europe; for literature and for liberty; for domestic morals and domestic happiness; for the vital welfare of the human race. Therefore I have thought that I could not better fulfil my duties to mankind, and especially to my own country, nor more fitly employ the leisure wherewith God has blessed me, nor endeavour in any worthier manner to transmit my name to future ages, than by composing, with all diligence, the faithful history of this momentous struggle. To this resolution I have been incited, as an Englishman, by the noble part which England has borne in these events; and as an individual, by the previous course of my studies, which, during the greater part of my life, have been so directed, that the annals and the literature of Spain and Portugal have become to me almost as familiar as our own. It is not strange, then, that having thus, as it were, intellectually naturalized myself in those countries, I should have watched them with the liveliest interest through their dreadful trial: and being thus prepared for the task, having some local knowledge of the scene of action, rich in accumulated materials, and possessing access to the best and highest sources of information, I undertake it cheerfully; fully assured that the principles herein to be inculcated and exemplified are established upon the best and surest foundation, and that nations can be secure and happy only in proportion as they adhere to them.