n by pain, fell on his knees and implored protection;
but he retained enough of interest in the situation to murmur through
his gory lips, "Are you already king?" "Not yet, but I shall be soon,"
was the reply. On a promise that the traitorous betrayer of his
country's honor should be delivered to the courts and tried by the
rigor of the law, the excited populace withdrew. At once Charles began
preparations to carry Godoy beyond their reach; but the fact could not
be kept secret, and once more rioting began. The populace of Madrid
burned all the palaces belonging to the prince, except one, which
they spared because they thought it was the property of their
sovereign. The King submitted to what was inevitable, but determined
to lay down the burden of his royal dignity. On the same day, the
nineteenth, he signed the necessary papers and abdicated in favor of
his son. Next morning, in the presence of a great council summoned to
Aranjuez, he explained that he was overwhelmed by misfortune and the
weight of government, and that for his health's sake he must seek the
ease of private life in a milder clime.

CHAPTER X

THE AWAKENING OF SPAIN[21]

[Footnote 21: See Baumgarten: Geschichte Spaniens vom
Ausbruch der Franzoesischen Revolution bis auf unsere Tage.
Manini: Historia de la marina real espanola. Arteche y Maro:
Guerra de la Independencia. Torino: Guerra de la
Independencia.

On the question of the national rising in Spain see an
article by J. B. Rye and R. A. Bence-Pembroke, of Oxford, in
the Army Service Corps Quarterly, October, 1905.]

The National Spirit -- The Spaniards and their Dynasty -- Murat's
Fatal Blunder -- Louis Napoleon and the Spanish Throne --
Napoleon's Subterfuge -- A Trap for Charles and Ferdinand -- The
Course of Savary -- Napoleon and Ferdinand -- Dethronement of the
Spanish Bourbons -- Quarrels of Father and Son -- The Madrid
Massacre -- Ferdinand a Prisoner -- Napoleon's Idea of Legitimacy
-- The Spanish Cortes at Bayonne -- Joseph, King of Spain -- The
Spanish People -- Agitations in Madrid -- Uprising of Spain.

If there be a time when the turn of Napoleon's fortunes is evident, it
is the spring of 1808. Between the determination to complete his
system of commercial warfare in western Europe and the contempt which
he entertained for the Spanish throne, he appears to have