her men, and
as wicked when made by "apostolicos" as by liberals. He would do no more
than assert his rights, and those of his children, in words. His wife
and her sister, the princess of Beira, widow of his first cousin the
infante Pedro, were less scrupulous. They were actively engaged in
intrigues with the "apostolicos." In March 1833 the princess of Beira
was informed by the king that her brother Don Miguel, then regent in
Portugal, desired her presence, and that she must pay him a visit. On
the 16th of March Don Carlos left for Portugal with his wife, in company
with the princess, after an interview with his brother the king which is
said to have been friendly. In the following month he was called upon by
the king to swear allegiance to the infanta Isabella, afterwards queen.
Don Carlos refused, in respectful terms but with great firmness, to
renounce his rights and those of his sons, in a public letter dated the
29th of April. The death of his brother on the 29th of September 1833
gave him an opportunity to vindicate his claims without offence to his
principles, for in his own opinion and that of his partisans he was now
king. But he was entangled in the civil war of Portugal and was shut off
from Spain. He did, and perhaps could do, nothing to direct the
Spaniards who rose on his behalf, and had proclaimed him king as Charles
V. When the Miguelite party was beaten in Portugal, Don Carlos escaped
to England on the 1st of June 1834 in H.M.S. "Donegal." His stay in
England was short. On the 2nd of July he passed over to France, where he
was actively aided by the legitimist party, and on the 11th he joined
his partisans at Elizondo in the valley of Bastan, in the western
Pyrenees. On the 27th of October of this year he was deprived of his
rights as infante by a royal decree, confirmed by the Cortes on the 15th
of January 1837. Don Carlos remained in Spain till the defeat of his
party, and then escaped to France on the 14th of September 1839. During
these years he accompanied his armies, without displaying any of the
qualities of a general or even much personal courage. But he endured a
good deal of hardship, and was often compelled to take to hiding in the
hills. On these occasions he was often carried over difficult places on
the back of a stout guide commonly known as the royal jackass (_burro
real_). The semblance of a court which he maintained was torn by
incessant personal intrigues, and by conflicts between his g