, as well as that of his master, was at an end. He advised the
royal family to take refuge in flight; but the people seeing that this
was determined upon, resolved upon a desperate resistance. One voice
alone was heard throughout the provinces, and that one voice loudly
accused Godoy of imbecility or treason. A terrible sedition broke out at
Aranguez, in March of the present year. Summoned to arms by Ferdinand,
the Prince of Austria, an avowed foe to Godoy, the whole population
rose, stormed the palace in which the favourite dwelt, abused him, and
would have murdered him, but for the intercession of the queen. Covered
with wounds, he was, however, conducted to prison, and then they
compelled the king to resign, and placed the sceptre of power in the
hands of his son Ferdinand, who had incited the revolt. Ferdinand
entered Madrid in the character of King of the two Spains; but the
French troops, under Murat, entered that city on the next day, and the
newly-created king soon discovered who was to be master. Murat refused
to acknowledge the Prince of Austria as king, and announced the near
arrival of Napoleon in Madrid. He was advised to go to meet Napoleon,
in order to secure his favour; but when he met him at Bayonne, he was
informed that the French emperor's determination was to remove the
Bourbon house from the Spanish throne. He was compelled to declare the
unconditional restoration of the crown to his father, who was called to
Bayonne for the purpose of receiving it; and then the old monarch ceded
to Napoleon by treaty all his rights to the throne of Spain and India,
with the single condition, that the prince whom the emperor intended
to place thereon should be independent, and that the Roman Catholic
religion should continue to be the only religion in Spain. The king, the
queen the royal family, and Godoy received in return an assured abode in
France, with certain pensions; and the whole court went immediately to
the castle of Compeigne, which the conqueror allotted them. Napoleon now
gave the throne of Spain to his brother Joseph, who reigned at Naples,
giving the latter throne to Joachim Murat, Grand Duke of Bergand Cleves.
The members of the national junta were now convoked to Bayonne from
all parts of the kingdom, and anew constitution was formed, after which
Joseph set out for his kingdom in Spain. Napoleon thought his work
consummated; but events proved that it was only now commenced. The royal
house of the Bour