Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1857-08-13
The Queens Palace at Madrid.

aa'ioh, represented as littering in the sun like
pile of marble, and in the moonlipht like
mountain of snow SUCH is the exterior of that
royal residence, where dark innpues against
constitutional freedom have been carried on for
months where councils of which the issue
had been pre- arranged have been he at mid
night; where ministers, whose lease of mower |
appeared secure. have been supplanted by those
10 whom they had been benefacors. and dis
ssed al the word OF shameless woman; ; and !
sWhere rival politicians have shown their capac-
sy for affairs bp sIappipe the faces Of each 9th
y W IN the presence Of royalty. When we read
fof political transactions so little in accordance
with The notion entertained by Eng lishmen of
public affairs, the fancy naturally conjures up
The palace at Madrid, shrouded in an impene!ra-
BILE veil of mystery.
The palace of Madrid does not, like the Es-
curia, owe its origin to the grand days of the
Spanish monarchy; but is associated with the
history of those Spanish l}ourbons, whose
blood is chari,ably supposed to flow in the veins
of Isabella the Second. i is now rather more
than century and a halt since the last King
OF the house of Austria, who reigned over
Spain ard the Indies, bequealhcd his kingdom 10
Philip, grandson of Louis the Four,ee,h, and
since the Grand M onarch, with fragrant dis
regard of treaties, accompanied his grandson to
the frontiers and with the words. g the Py-
renees exist no longer" sent him TO take pos
session of his splendid legacy,
The War Of the Succession having termina-
ted in Philips favor, his throne having been
established by the Spanish peasan,ry, and fire
having desolated the site of the Alcazar of the
Moors, he be,hought him of building palace
to rival Versailles, and appointed distinguished
Sicllian architect to execute the project. But
even Philip the Fifth nd not do quite as he
wished. The ruler of an empire, on which it
was said the sun never set, was ru led by a
spouse Elizabeth Farnese his second wife,
had concentrated her amb i,on on one single OBJ
ject-that Of finding thrones for her ch idren !;
and she could not quite see how erecting a rival
TO Versriles would fUrv ard hei views so the
Sican architect thwarted in every way, died
of grief; --and after his death native of Turin
took his place, and plan much less expensive
than thht of the Sicilan architect was adop-
ted
Nevertheless, the Palace of Madrid was COM
pleted and soon its enormous exterior and chef
saloon. the receptlon-roOm of the King of
Spain, magnifcently decorated with crimson
\ velvet ard gold, lis chandeliers manufactured
Y AZ 81; ~ lefeuso, and its Rbies formed Of ,he
\ finest Spanish marble, Impressed strangers with
the idea that it wae one Of the grandest and
most sumptuous in Europe. Strange scenes 1t
was destined to witness.
When lime passed on, and when the French
Revolution broke out, that great event found
the Spanish king, Charles w., under the sway
Of Cooley, whom criminal affection on the
part of the Queen had elevated from a private
in the Palace Guard to the position of the first
minister in Spain. Ferdinand, the son aud heir
of Charles not relishng this state of affairs,
kicked up row, deposed his ia ther and threw
himself upon the Emperor Napoleon He was
Just the man to settle such an affair. Murat
was sent with an army across the Pyrenees, and
the members of the Royal family Of spain were
summoned to meet Napoleon al Bayome. Thith-
er they went, and if all stories about them are
true, enacted scene such as has seldom dis
eraced least responsible and most abandoned
families in Chrslendom. The proAigate ran
cour of their domestic feuds is said TO have
reached an almost incredible point; indeed the
queen, whose evidence on the question was
somewhat conclusive, went the length of n'
forming her son, in the presnce of her Roya
husband and the cnnqueror of AusleliIz, tina
the King was not his father.
After this, The Palace Of Madrid sheltered
personages rather more ustrious than the Bour
bons of Spain. While Ferdinand was cap
tive at VaIencay the great Napo eon marched
to Madrid, assembled its grand staircase, walked
through its spacious halls, and exclaimed to hi:
brother with emphasis. that now he had posses
sion of Spain, it should not easily slip from his
grasp, When circumstance proved stronger
than Napoleons will, the duke Of Wellington
was, after Salamanca. lodged in the palace, ant
from it he wrote his ceebtaie despatch, stating
how gladly the English had been received BY
the ancient enemies of their country But the
restoration brought Ferdinand back new
scene was opened and the Palace of MadriC
threats, by the people, who did so much fo
him and who were so basely deceived.
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