The Washington herald., 1914-07-05

troduced into Spain until 5000 were gar
risoned in the kingdom.
r A squalid brawl in the wretched royal
family at Madrid arose in a most timely
manner to give Napoleon a fair chance
to take their throne away from them.
Ferdinand. the Prince OF the Asturias
and heir to the crown, a narrow. dark
souled young man OF twenty-three, re-
belIed against the reign Of his mothers
lover Godoy, who ruled both his mis-
tress, the Queen. and her husband. the
sixty-year-old King. the weak-spirited
and feeble minded Charles ". Both
father and son in their ugly quarrel
turned to the mighty Emperor, and each
appealed for his protection against the
other. Ferdinand cravenly begging him
for the hand of a Bonaparte princess.
Napoleon replied to their petitions by
sending Prince Murat to Madrid and ap-
pointing him to the command OF the
French forces in Spain. The King and
Queen and Godoy realized too late that
they had put their heads in the lions
mouth. and they would have emulated
the BraganZas. had not the French pre-
vented, and taken fight to Spanish
America Meanwhile Ferdinand aroused
the people: roaring mob surged about
the palace: the terrified King surrendered
Godoy was hunted into a loft. where he
rolled himself up in rug and hid from
the rage of the populace for twenty-four
hours without food or water.
"nen SnaTleS was over MS IeTTOT ne
tried to recall his abdication and sought
the assistance of Napoleon to reclaim the
throne. while his son continued to solicit
a matrimonial alliance with the imperial
to pay a visit to the distracted family
and be a peacemaker among them.
Murat, thereupon, thoughtfully suggest
ed that the youthful usurper Of the
crown should go forth to welcome him at
Burgos.
u,.-si,o,a.s r,aTnbosan oar,napfop an
that journey was Savary. he who escort
ed the Duke dEnghein to the moat at
Vincennes. AS they drove along. their
guard of French soldiers grew In
strength and Ferdinand soon found that
his escorts really were his kidnapers.
The helpless prince instead of meeting
the Emperor at Burgos or at any other
point in Spanish territory was hurried to
the frontier and spirited into France.
where Napoleon awaited him at the bor-
der town of Bayonne and received him
not as King of Spain, but as still the
Prince of the Asturias.
The old King. with the Queen and her
Godoy, hastened on to Bayonne TO have
the Emperor restore the crown to his un-
worthy head: but son and father were
plainly told that neither should have il.
The ignominious pair were not long in
resigning themselves to their imperious
master and signing away their dominion
in two worlds, accepting in return large
pensions and gilded prison cells in French
chateaux.
As coolly as IL he were appointing pre-
fects TO govern French departments Ma
poleon assigned Joseph TO be King of
Spain and Emperor OF the Two Ameri-
cas- and ordered Murat to mount the
throne OF Naples. At the same time. as
always when Incorporating a new coun-
try in his empire, he gave Spain the
boon of a liberal constitution and sound
guarantees Of government infinitely
better than II ever had known. But to
his astonishment he found that the
Spanish people cared much more for
their pride than for any progress he
could offer them. that they much pre-
ferred their own antiquated. oppressive
~ n M m Nrs an 4