Murat, who was the person intended to succeed at Naples, intimated to the Spanish Junta whom they were to expect for their new King, and procured from them an address upon that subject to the Emperor. Convinced, they said, that the condition of Spain required the closest connexion with the political system of the empire, which he governed with so much glory, they considered the resignation of the Bourbons as the greatest proof of kindness to the Spanish nation which their sovereign had ever given. “Oh! that there were no Pyrenees!” exclaimed these sycophants and slaves. “This was the constant wish of good Spaniards; because there could be no Pyrenees, whenever the wants of both countries should be the same, when confidence should be restored, and each of the two nations have received, in the same degree, the respect due to its independence and worth. The interval which yet separates us from this happy moment cannot now be long. Your Imperial Majesty, 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. What have we not, therefore, to hope, now that all Spaniards unite in devoting to him that admiration to which he has so many claims! The Spanish monarchy will resume the rank which belongs to it among the powers of Europe, as soon as it is united by a new family compact to its natural ally. Whoever the Prince may be whom you destine for us, chosen from among your illustrious family, he will bring that security which we need so much. The Spanish throne rises to a greater height. The consequences resulting from its relation to France, are of an importance commensurate with the extent of its possessions. It seems, therefore, that the throne itself calls for your Majesty’s eldest brother to govern it. Surely it is a happy presage, that this arrangement, which nature has confirmed, so well corresponds with the sentiments of reverence and admiration, with which the actions of this Prince, and the wisdom of his government, had inspired us.” The Council of Castille were implicated in the shame of this address. Their wisdom, it was said, obliged them to give all their support to these principles, and they united in the expression of the wish of the Supreme Junta.
♦Address from the city of Madrid.
An address was also framed in the name of the city of Madrid, to Murat, as “Lieutenant-general of the kingdom of Spain.” “That city,” it said, “thinking it certain that the Emperor of the French intended to place the crown upon the head of his illustrious brother Joseph Napoleon, King of Naples; and being distinguished for its love of its sovereigns and its obedience to them, could not omit joining its homage to that of the Supreme Junta and of the Council, and requested his Highness would notify the same to the Emperor. The city also availed itself of that opportunity to assure him of its respect and submission.” Graves could hardly yet have been dug for those who were massacred, and the places of execution were still covered with flakes of blood, when the existing authorities thus fawned upon Murat, and praised his moderation: and this address was presented in the name of the city, where mothers, widows, and orphans, were cursing him and the tyrant his master in every street, and well nigh in every house! ♦May 22.♦ A letter was also obtained from the Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, the last of the Bourbons who remained in Spain. “The resignation of Charles,” he said, “and the confirmation of that act, by the Prince and the Infantes, imposed upon him, according to God’s will, the pleasing duty of laying at the Emperor’s feet the assurance of his homage, fidelity, and reverence. May your Imperial and Royal Majesty (he added) be graciously pleased to look upon me as one of your most dutiful subjects, and instruct me concerning your high purposes, that I may be furnished with the means of manifesting my unfeigned and zealous submission.”
The next demand of Murat was that the Council of Castille should send a deputation of its members to repeat what their address had expressed, and renew their petition that the Emperor would deign to nominate the King of Naples, Joseph Napoleon, to the throne of Spain. This also was obeyed, the Council, like the Junta of Government, being now in a state of habitual submission to his supreme commands. ♦Assembly of Notables convoked at Bayonne.♦ ♦May 25.♦ An Assembly of Notables was then, first by a circular decree from Murat, and afterwards by Buonaparte himself, in virtue of the right which had been ceded to him, convoked to meet at Bayonne on the 15th of June, charged with the wishes, the demands, and wants and complaints of those whom they represented, that they might fix the bases of the new constitution by which the monarchy was thenceforth to be governed. Till that should be effected Murat was to continue in the exercise of his power as Lieutenant-general of the kingdom; the course of justice was to proceed as usual, and the existing ministers, the council of Castille, and all other authorities, religious, civil, and military, were confirmed for as long a time as might be necessary. ♦Proclamation of Buonaparte to the Spaniards.♦ This edict was accompanied by a proclamation in that peculiar style which Buonaparte affected: “To all who shall see these presents, health! Spaniards, after a long agony your nation was perishing. I saw your evils. I am about to remedy them. Your greatness, your power, are part of mine. Your Princes have ceded to me all their rights to the crown of the Spains. I will not reign over your provinces, but I will acquire an eternal title to the love and gratitude of your posterity. Your monarchy is old; my mission is to rejuvenize it. I will improve all your institutions, and I will make you enjoy, if you will second me, the benefits of a reformation without destruction, without disorder, without convulsions. Spaniards, I have convoked a general assembly of deputies from your provinces and towns. I myself well know your wishes and your wants. Then I will lay down all my rights, and will place your glorious crown upon the head of one who is my other self, guaranteeing to you a constitution which conciliates the sacred and salutary authority of the Sovereign, with the liberties and the privileges of the people. Spaniards, remember what your fathers were; behold what you yourselves are become! The fault is not yours, but that of the bad administration which has governed you. Be full of hope and of confidence in the existing circumstances, for it is my wish that your latest descendants shall preserve my memory, and say of me, he was the regenerator of our country.”
But these vain promises and hypocritical professions were too late.
CHAPTER VI.
GENERAL INSURRECTION. PROCEEDINGS IN ASTURIAS AND GALLICIA. JUNTAS FORMED IN THE PROVINCES. JUNTA OF SEVILLE. MURDER OF SOLANO AT CADIZ; CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH SQUADRON IN THAT HARBOUR. MASSACRE OF THE FRENCH AT VALENCIA. PROCLAMATIONS OF THE PATRIOTS. MOVEMENTS OF THE FRENCH AGAINST THEM.