“Finally, I beg your Majesty most affectionately, that you will seriously consider your situation, and that you will reflect on the evil of excluding our dynasty for ever from the throne of Spain, and substituting in its room the imperial family of France. It is a step which we cannot take without the express consent of all the individuals who have, or may have, a right to the crown; much less without an equally-expressed consent of the Spanish people, assembled in Cortes in a place of security; and besides, being now in a foreign country, it would be impossible for us to persuade any one that we acted freely; and this consideration alone would annul whatever we might do, and might produce the most fatal consequences. Before I conclude, your Majesty will permit me to say, that the counsellors whom you call perfidious have never advised me to derogate from the love, respect, and honour, which I have always professed to your Majesty, whose valuable life I pray God to preserve to a happy and good old age.”
♦May 5.
On the day after this letter was written, Buonaparte had an hour’s conference with Charles; at the conclusion of which, Ferdinand was called in by his father, to hear, in the presence of this tyrant, and of the Queen, expressions, says Cevallos, so disgusting[28] and humiliating, that I do not dare to record them. While all the rest were seated, he was kept standing, and his father ordered him to make an absolute renunciation of the crown, under pain of being treated as an usurper, and a conspirator against the lives of his parents. His household also were threatened to be proceeded against as men guilty of treason. ♦May 6.♦ ♦Ferdinand’s renunciation.♦ Overcome by the sense of their danger, and of his own, the poor pitiable Prince submitted, and delivered in a renunciation, couched in such terms as at once to imply compulsion, and reserve the condition of his father’s return to Spain. “His former renunciation,” he said, “he had believed himself bound to modify with such conditions as were equally required by the respect due to the King, the tranquillity of his dominions, and the preservation of his own honour.” These modifications, to his great astonishment, had excited indignation in the King, who, without any other grounds, had thought proper, in the presence of Buonaparte and of his mother, to revile him with the most humiliating appellations, and to require from him an unconditional renunciation, on pain of being treated, with all those of his council, like a traitor. “Under these circumstances,” said he, “I make the renunciation which your Majesty commands, that you may return to the government of Spain in the same state as when you made your voluntary abdication in my favour.”
♦Proclamation of Charles to the Spaniards.♦
Ferdinand was not aware, when he executed this form of renunciation, that his father was no longer qualified to receive it. The tyrant had not waited for this preliminary to conclude his mock negotiations with Charles. This wretched puppet addressed an edict on the 4th to the supreme Junta at Madrid, nominating Murat lieutenant-general of the kingdom, and in that quality, president of the government: the reason assigned was, that one same direction might be given to all the forces of Spain, in order to maintain the security of property and public tranquillity against enemies, as well exterior as interior. All persons, therefore, were enjoined to obey the Grand Duke’s orders. A proclamation to the people accompanied this edict. They were told that their King was occupied in concerting with his ally the Emperor whatever concerned their welfare, and they were warned against listening to perfidious men, who sought to arm them against the French, and the French against them. All those who spoke against France were said to be men who thirsted for the blood of the Spaniards, enemies of that nation, or agents of England, whose intrigues would involve the loss of the colonies, the separation of provinces, and a series of years of calamity for the country. “Trust to my experience,” said this poor mouthpiece of a perfidious and remorseless tyrant; “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.” On the same day, Charles addressed a letter to the supreme council of Castille and the council of Inquisition, informing them that having resolved, in the present extraordinary circumstances, to give a new proof of affection towards his beloved subjects, he had abdicated all claims upon the Spanish kingdoms, in favour of his friend and ally, the Emperor of the French. The treaty of resignation, he said, stipulated for the integrity and independence of those kingdoms, and the preservation of the Catholic faith, not only as the predominant, but as the sole and exclusive religion in Spain. The councils were ordered to make every exertion in support of the Emperor, and, above all, with their utmost care to preserve the country from insurrections and tumults.
♦May 5. Charles cedes his rights to Buonaparte.♦
The preamble to the treaty of resignation stated, that the object of the two contracting princes was to save Spain from the convulsions of civil and foreign war, and to place it in the only position, which, under its present extraordinary circumstances, could maintain its integrity, guarantee its colonies, and enable it to unite all its means to those of France, for the purpose of obtaining a maritime peace. By the first article, Charles ceded all his rights to the throne of Spain and the Indies, having only had in view, he said, during his whole life, the happiness of his subjects, and constantly adhering to the principle, that all the acts of the sovereign ought to be directed to that object solely. This cession was represented as the only means which could re-establish order; and it was covenanted, 1. that it took place only on condition that the integrity of the Spanish kingdom should be maintained; that the prince whom it might please the Emperor to place on the throne should be independent; and that the limits of Spain were to undergo no alteration: 2. that the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion, should be the only one in Spain; no reformed religion should be tolerated, still less should infidelity: these things were to be prevented or punished according to the established usage. 3. All property confiscated since the revolution at Aranjuez should be restored; and all decrees which had been passed against the friends of Charles were declared null and void. 4. Charles having thus secured the prosperity, the integrity, and the independence of his kingdom, (such was the monstrous language of this convention!) the Emperor engaged to grant an asylum in his states to him, the Queen, the Prince of the Peace, and such of their servants as might choose to follow them, who should enjoy in France a rank equivalent to that which they possessed in Spain. 5, 6, 7, 8. The palace of Compeigne, with its parks and forests, should be at the disposal of King Charles during his life, and a civil list of 80,000,000 reales should be paid him in monthly payments; after his death the Queen should have a revenue of 2,000,000 for her dowry. An annual rent of 400,000 livres should be granted to each of the Infantes, in perpetuity, reverting from one branch to another, in case of the extinction of one, according to the civil law, and to the crown of France, in case of the extinction of all the branches. It was to be understood that this civil list and these rents were to be looked for exclusively from the treasury of France. The Infantes were, however, by a subsequent article, to continue to enjoy the revenues of their commanderies in Spain. 9, 10. The Castle of Chambord, with its parks, forests, and farms, was given by the Emperor to King Charles, in full property, being in exchange for all the allodial and particular property appertaining to the crown of Spain, but possessed personally.... This convention was signed by General Duroc, grand master of the palace, on the part of Buonaparte, and on the part of Charles by Godoy, under his titles, Spanish and Portugueze, of Prince de la Paz, and Count of Evora-monte. Thus did this man, the last and worst of that succession of favourites who have been the curse of Spain, consummate his own crimes, and, as far as in him lay, the total degradation of his country; rejoicing probably in the vengeance which he was taking upon a nation by whom he was so righteously abhorred. Having done his work, he passed on into France, to live out the remainder of his days, neglected and despised, and to leave behind him a name more infamous than any in Spanish history. One proclamation more was issued in the name of Charles, calling upon all his former subjects to concur in carrying into effect the dispositions of his “dear friend the Emperor Napoleon,” and exhorting them to avoid popular commotions, the effect of which could only be havoc, the destruction of families, and the ruin of all.
♦Ferdinand threatened by Buonaparte.♦
Ferdinand had hitherto renounced his right in reference to his father only. A farther renunciation was demanded from him: it was not tamely yielded; and in his last conference with him upon the subject, Buonaparte bade him choose between cession and death. He was informed that he might return to Spain, and that a convoy of French soldiers should escort him to any part of the Peninsula which he might choose. But he was also told, that France would immediately make war upon him, and never suffer him to reign; for it was the duty of the Emperor to maintain the rights of his crown, and those which had been ceded to him by Charles, and to destroy the projects of the partizans of England.