_Seville, July 25, 1808._
Acquainted as you must be with the events which, for these last two
months, have fixed the eyes of Europe on this country, it can give
you little surprise to find me dating again from my native town. I
have arrived just in time to witness the unbounded joy which the
defeat of Dupont’s army, at Baylen, has diffused over this town. The
air resounds with acclamations, and the deafening clangour of the
Cathedral bells, announces the arrival of the victorious General
Castaños, who, more surprised at the triumph of his arms than any
one of his countrymen, is just arrived to give thanks to the body of
Saint Ferdinand, and to repose a few days under his laurels.
There is something very melancholy in the wild enthusiasm, the
overweening confidence, and mad boasting which prevail in this town.
Lulled into a security which threatens instant death to any who
should dare disturb it with a word of caution, both the _Junta_ and
the people look on the present war as ended by this single blow; and
while they spend, in processions and Te-Deums, the favourable moments
when they might advance on Madrid, their want of foresight, and utter
ignorance of the means of retaliation possessed by the enemy, induce
them loudly to call for the infraction of the capitulation which has
placed a French army in their power. The troops, which the articles
agreed upon entitle to a conveyance to their own country, are, by
the effect of popular clamour, to be confined in hulks, in the Bay
of Cadiz. General Dupont is the only individual who, besides being
treated with a degree of courtesy and respect, which, were it not
for the rumours afloat, would bring destruction upon the Junta; has
been promised a safe retreat into France. He is now handsomely lodged
in a Dominican convent, and attended by a numerous guard of honour.
The morning after his private arrival, the people began to assemble
in crowds, and consequences fatal to the General were dreaded.
Several members of the Junta, who were early to pay the general their
respects, and chiefly one Padre Gil,[52] a wild, half-learned monk,
whose influence over the Sevillian mob is unbounded; came forward,
desiring the multitude to disperse. Whether truth and the urgency of
the case forced out a secret, known only to the Junta; or whether
it was an artifice of the orator, who, among his eccentricities
and mountebank tricks, must be allowed the praise of boldness in
openly condemning the murders of which the mob has been guilty; he
asserted in his speech, that “Spain was more indebted to Dupont than
the people were aware of.” These words, uttered with a strong and
mysterious emphasis, had the desired effect, and the French general
has now only to dread the treatment which may await him in France, in
consequence of his defeat and surrender.
[52] See Letter X. p. 309.
Having made you acquainted with the only circumstances in the last
most important event, which the public accounts are not likely to
mention, I shall have done with news--a subject to which I feel an
unconquerable aversion--and begin my account of the limited field of
observation in which my own movements, since the first approach of
the present troubles, have placed me.
The first visible symptom of impending convulsions was the arrest
of Ferdinand, then Prince of Asturias, by order of his father. My
inseparable companion, Leandro, had been for some time acquainted
with a favourite of the Prince of the Peace, who, being like my
friend, addicted to music, had often asked us to his amateur parties.
On the second of last November we were surprised by a letter from
that gentleman, requesting my friend to proceed to the Escurial
without delay, on business of great importance. As we walked to the
Puerta del Sol, to procure a one-horse chaise, called _Caleza_, the
news of the Prince’s arrest was whispered to us, by an acquaintance,
whom we met at that winter resort of all the Madrid loungers. We
consulted for a few minutes on the expediency of venturing near the
Lion’s den, when his Majesty was so perfectly out of all temper; but
curiosity and a certain love of adventure prevailed, and we set off
at a round trot for the Escurial.
The village adjacent to the building bearing that name, is one of
the meanest in that part of Castille. Houses for the accommodation
of the King’s suite have been erected at a short distance from the
monastic palace, which the royal family divide with the numerous
community of Hieronymites, to whom Philip II. assigned one wing of
that magnificent structure. But such as, following the Court on
business, are obliged to take lodgings in the neighbourhood, must be
contented with the most wretched hovels. In one of these we found
our friend, Colonel A., who, though military tutor to the youngest
of the King’s sons, might well have exchanged his room and furniture
for such as are found in England at the most miserable pot-house. My
intimacy with Leandro was accepted as an excuse for my intrusion,
and we were each accommodated with a truckle-bed, quickly set up in
the two opposite corners of the Colonel’s sitting-room. The object
of the summons which had occasioned our journey, was not long kept a
secret. The clergyman who superintended the classical studies of the
Infante Don Francisco de Paula, was suspected of having assisted the
Prince of Asturias in the secret application to Buonaparte, which
had produced the present breach in the royal family. Should the
proofs of his innocence, which the tutor had presented to the King
and Queen, fail to re-establish him in their good opinion, my friend
would be proposed as a successor, and enter without delay upon the
duties of the office. The whole business was to be decided in the
course of the next day. The present being the commemoration of the
Departed, or All-Souls’ Day, we wished to visit the church during the
evening service. On taking leave of the Colonel, he cautioned us not
to approach that part of the building where the Prince was confined
under a guard, to his own apartments.
Though this was our first visit to the Escurial, the disclosure which
had just been made to my friend, was of too important a nature to
leave us in a fit mood to enjoy the solemn grandeur of the structure
to which we were directing our steps, and the rude magnificence of
the surrounding scene. To be placed near one of the members of the
royal family, when that family had split into two irreconcileable
parties, and to be reckoned among the enemies of the heir apparent,
was, at once, to plunge headlong into the most dangerous vortex of
Court intrigue which had yet threatened to overwhelm the country. To
decline the offer, when the candidate’s name had in all probability
received the sanction of the Prince of the Peace, was to incur
suspicion from those who had arbitrary power in their hands. In this
awkward dilemma, our most flattering prospect was the acquittal
of the tutor, an event by no means improbable, considering the
well-known dulness of that grave personage, and the hints of the
approaching release of the Prince, which we had gathered from the
Colonel. We therefore proposed to divert our thoughts from the
subject of our fears by contemplating the objects before us.
The Escurial incloses within the circuit of its massive and lofty
walls, the King’s palace, the monastery, with a magnificent church,
and the Pantheon, or subterranean vault of beautiful marble,
surrounded with splendid sarcophagi, for the remains of the Spanish
Kings and their families. It stands near the top of a rugged
mountain, in the chain which separates Old from New Castille, and by
the side of an enormous mass of rock, which supplied the architect
with materials. It was the facility of quarrying the stone where it
was to be employed, that made the gloomy tyrant, Philip II., mark out
this wild spot in preference to others, equally sequestered and less
exposed to the fury of the winds, which blow here with incredible
violence. To have an adequate shelter from the blast, an ample
passage, well aired and lighted, was contrived by the architect from
the palace to the village.
The sullen aspect of the building; the bleak and rude mountain
top, near which it stands more in rivalry than contrast; the wild
and extensive glen opening below, covered with woods of rugged,
shapeless, stunted ilex, surrounded by brushwood; the solitude and
silence which the evening twilight bestowed on the whole scenery,
increased to the fancy by the shy and retiring manners of a scanty
population, trained under the alternate awe of the Court, and
their own immediate lords, the monks,--all this, heightened by the
breathless expectation which the imprisonment of the heir apparent
had created, and the cautious looks of the few attendants who had
followed the royal family on this occasion; impressed us with a vague
feeling of insecurity, which it would be difficult to express or
analyze. No one except ourselves and the monks, perambulating the
aisles with lighted tapers in their hands, in order to chant dirges
to the memory of the founder and benefactors, was to be seen within
the precincts of the temple. The vaults re-echoed our very steps when
the chorus of deep voices had yielded to the trembling accents of the
old priest who presided at the ceremony. To skulk in the dark, might
have excited suspicion, and to come within the glare of the monks’
tapers, was the sure means of raising their unbounded curiosity. We
soon therefore glided into the cloisters next to the church. But, not
being well acquainted with the locality of the immense and intricate
labyrinth which the monastery presents to a stranger, the fear of
getting upon forbidden ground, or of being locked up for the night,
induced us to retire to our lodgings.
With the approbation of our host, we ventured the next morning to
apply to the monk, who acts, by appointment, as the _Cicerone_ of
the monastery, for a view of the chief curiosities it contains. He
allowed us a walk in the magnificent and valuable library, which
is said to be one of the richest European treasures of ancient
manuscripts--a treasure, indeed, which, amidst those mountains, and
under the control of an illiberal government and a set of ignorant,
lazy monks, may be said to be hid in the earth. The collection of
first-rate pictures at the Escurial is immense; and the walls may
be said to be covered with them. One has only to lounge about the
numerous cloisters of the Monastery, to satiate the most craving
appetite for the beauties of art. Our guide, however, who took no
pleasure in going over the same ground for the ten-thousandth time,
hurried us to the collection of relics, in which he seemed to take
a never failing delight. I will not give you the list of these
spiritual treasures. It fills up a large board from three to four
feet in length, and of a proportionate breadth, at the entrance of
the choir. Yet I cannot omit that we were shewn the body of one of
the innocents massacred by Herod, and some coagulated milk of the
Virgin Mary. The monk cast upon us his dark, penetrating eyes, as
he exhibited these two most curious objects;--but the air of the
Escurial has a peculiar power to lengthen and fix the muscles of the
face. There is, in the same room which contains the relics, a curious
box of a black shining wood, probably ebony, the whole lid of which
is covered, on the inside, with the wards of a most complicated
lock. It is said to have contained the secret correspondence of the
unfortunate Don Carlos, which his unnatural father, Philip II., made
the pretext for his imprisonment, and probably for the violent death
which is supposed to have ended his misery.
On returning from the inspection of the Monastery, our suspense was
relieved by the welcome intelligence that the Infante’s tutor had
been fully acquitted. The Prince of Asturias, we were told also, had
mentioned to the King the names of his advisers, and was now released
from confinement. My friend was too conscious of the danger which, in
the shape of promotion, had hung over his head for some hours, not to
rejoice in what many would call his disappointment. He had probably
dallied some moments with ambition; but, if so, he was fortunate
enough to perceive that she had drawn him to the brink of a precipice.
The Prince of the Peace had, against his custom, remained at Madrid
during the Escurial season, that he might escape the imputation
of promoting the unhappy divisions of the royal family. Something
was rumoured at Madrid of a dismemberment of Portugal intended by
Bonaparte, in consequence of which Godoy was to obtain an independent
sovereignty. This report, originally whispered about by the friends
of the latter, was completely hushed up in a few days; while, instead
of the buoyancy of spirits which the prospect of a crown was likely
to produce in the favourite, care and anxiety were observed to
lurk in all his words and motions. He continued, however, holding
his weekly levees; and as the French troops were pouring into the
Spanish territory, endeavoured to conceal his alarm by an air of
directing their movements. When, however, the French had taken
almost violent possession of some of our fortresses, and were seen
advancing to Madrid with Murat at their head, there was no farther
room for dissimulation. Though I had no object at Godoy’s levees but
the amusement of seeing a splendid assembly, open to every male or
female who appeared in a decent dress; that idle curiosity happened
to take me to the last he held at Madrid. He appeared, as usual,
at the farthest end of a long saloon or gallery, surrounded by a
numerous suite of officers, and advanced slowly between the company,
who had made a way for him in the middle. Such as wished to speak to
him took care to stand in front, while those who, like myself, were
content to pay for their admission with a bow, kept purposely behind.
Godoy stood now before the group, of which I formed one of the least
visible figures, and bowing affably, as was his manner, said, in a
loud voice, “Gentlemen, the French advance fast upon us; we must be
upon our guard, for there is abundance of bad faith on their side.”
It was now evident that Napoleon had cast off the mask under which he
was hitherto acting; and such as heard this speech had no doubt that
the arrival of Izquierdo, Godoy’s confidential agent at Paris, had at
once undeceived him; filling him with shame and vexation at the gross
artifice to which he had been a dupe.
This happened about the beginning of March. The Court had proceeded
to their spring residence of Aranjuez, and the Prince of the Peace
joined the royal family soon after. A visible gloom had, by this
time, overcast Madrid, arising chiefly from a rumour, that it
was intended by the King and Queen to follow the example of the
Portuguese family, and make their escape to Mexico. Few among the
better classes were disposed, from love or loyalty, to oppose such
a determination. But Madrid and the royal _Sitios_ would sink
into insignificance, were the Court to be removed to a distance.
The dissolution of the most wretched Government always fills its
dependents with consternation; and the pampered guards with which the
pride of Spanish royalty had surrounded the throne, could not endure
to be levelled, by the absence of the sovereign, with the rest of
the army. The plan, therefore, of a flight out of Spain, with the
ocean at the distance of four hundred miles, was perfectly absurd and
impracticable.
The departure of the royal family had, with all possible secrecy,
been fixed for the 19th of March. Measures, however, were taken by
Ferdinand’s friends, on the first appearance of preparations for
the journey, to defeat the intentions of the King, the Queen, and
the favourite. Numbers of the peasantry were sent to Aranjuez from
villages at a considerable distance; and the Spanish foot-guards, the
Walloons, and the horse-guards engaged to support the people. Soon
after midnight, before the 19th, a furious attack was made by the
populace on the house of the Prince of the Peace, who, leaping out of
his bed, had scarcely time to escape the knives which were struck,
in frenzied disappointment, where the warmth of the sheets clearly
shewed how recently he had left them. As the doors were carefully
guarded, no doubt remained of his being still in the house; and after
the slight search which could be made by artificial light, it was
determined to guard all the outlets till the approaching day.
The alarm soon spread to the royal palace, where the Prince’s
friends, among whom policy had ranged at this critical moment, the
ministers who owed most to Godoy; hailed, in the King’s terror,
and the Queen’s anxiety to save the life of her lover, the fairest
opening for placing Ferdinand on the throne. Day-light had enabled
the ringleaders to begin the most active search after the Prince
of the Peace; and the certainty of his presence on the spot
rendered his destruction inevitable. It does honour, indeed, to the
affectionate and humane character of Charles, whatever we may think
of his other qualities, that he resigned the crown from eagerness to
rescue his faithless friend. The King’s abdication was published to
the multitude, with whom the guards had taken an open and decided
part, and Ferdinand appeared on horseback to fulfil the engagement
he had made to his parents of protecting the favourite from the
assassins. The unfortunate man, after a confinement of more than
twelve hours, in a recess over the attics of his house, where he had
lurked, with scarcely any clothing, and in absolute want of food
and drink, was, if I may credit report, compelled by thirst to beg
the assistance of a servant who betrayed him to his pursuers. What
saved him from falling on the spot, a victim to the fierceness of
his enemies--whether the desire of the leaders to inflict upon him
a public and ignominious death, or some better feelings, of such
as, at this fearful moment, surrounded his person--I am not able to
tell. Nor would I deprive the new King of whatever claim to genuine
humanity his conduct on this occasion may have given him. I can only
state the fact that, under his escort Godoy was carried a prisoner to
the Horse-guard Barracks, not, however, without receiving some severe
wounds on the way, inflicted by such as would not miss the honour of
fleshing their knives on the man whom but a few hours before, they
would not have ventured to look boldly in the face.
The news of the revolution at Aranjuez had spread through the
capital by the evening of the 19th; and it was but too evident that
a storm was gathering against the nearest relations of Godoy. Night
had scarcely come on, when a furious mob invaded the house of Don
Diego, the favourite’s younger brother. The ample space which the
magnificent Calle de Alcalá leaves at its opening into the Prado,
of which that house forms a corner, afforded room not only for the
operations of the rioters, but for a multitude of spectators, of
whom I was one myself. The house having been broken into, and found
deserted, the whole of the rich furniture it contained was thrown
out at the windows. Next came down the very doors, and fixtures of
all kinds, which, made into an enormous pile with tables, bedsteads,
chests of drawers, and pianos, were soon in a blaze, that, but for
the stillness of the evening, might have spread to the unoffending
neighbourhood. Having enjoyed this splendid and costly bonfire, the
mob ranged themselves in a kind of procession, bearing lint-torches,
taken from the numerous chandlers-shops which are found at Madrid;
and directed their steps to the house of the Prince Franciforte,
Godoy’s brother-in-law.
The magistrates, however, had by this time fixed a board on the
doors both of that and Godoy’s own house, giving notice that the
property both of the favourite and his near relations had been
confiscated by the new King. This was sufficient to turn away the mob
from the remaining objects of their fury; and without any farther
mischief, they were contented with spending the whole night in the
streets, bearing about lighted torches, and drinking at the expense
of the wine-retailers, whose shops, like your pot-houses, are the
common resort of the vulgar. The riot did not cease with the morning.
Crowds of men and women paraded the streets the whole day, with cries
of “Long live King Ferdinand!--Death to Godoy!” The whole garrison of
Madrid were allured out of their barracks by bands of women bearing
pitchers of wine in their hands; and a procession was seen about the
streets in the afternoon, where the soldiers, mixed with the people,
bore in their firelocks the palm-branches which, as a protection
against lightning, are commonly hung at the windows. Yet, amidst this
fearful disorder, no insult was offered to the many individuals of
the higher classes, who ventured among the mob. Nothing, however,
appears to me so creditable to the populace of Madrid, as their
abstaining from pillage at the house of Diego Godoy--every article,
however valuable, was faithfully committed to the flames.
Murat, with his army, was, during these events, at a short distance
from Madrid. The plan of putting the royal family to flight had been
frustrated by the popular commotion at Aranjuez, and the unexpected
accession of Ferdinand. But the new King, no less than his parents,
hastening by professions of friendship to court the support of French
power, Murat proceeded to the Spanish capital, there to pursue the
course which might be most conducive to the views of his sovereign.
I saw the entrance of the division which was to make the town their
head-quarters. The rest occupied the environs, some in a camp within
half a mile, and some in the neighbouring villages. The French
entered as friends, and they cannot say that the inhabitants shewed,
upon that occasion, the least symptoms of hostility. The prominent
feeling which might be observed in the capital, was a most anxious
expectation; but I know several instances of French soldiers relieved
by the common people; and had Murat acknowledged Ferdinand VII., he
with his troops would have been hailed and treated as brothers.
The French troops had been but a few days at Madrid, when Ferdinand
left Aranjuez for his capital, where Murat inhabited the magnificent
house of the Prince of the Peace, within a very short distance of the
royal palace. From thence he encouraged the young King’s hopes of
a speedy recognition by the Emperor, excusing himself, at the same
time, for taking no notice of Ferdinand’s approach and presence,
either by himself or his troops. Without any other display but that
of the most enthusiastic applause from the multitude, Ferdinand, on
horseback, and attended by a few guards, appeared at the gate of
Atocha. I had placed myself near the entrance, and had a full view
of him, as, surrounded by the people on foot, he moved on slowly,
up the beautiful walk called El Prado. Never did monarch meet with
a more loyal and affectionate welcome from his subjects; yet, never
did subjects behold a more vacant and unmeaning countenance, even
among the long faces of the Spanish Bourbons. To features not at all
prepossessing, either shyness or awkwardness had added a stiffness,
which, but for the motion of the body, might induce a suspicion that
we were wasting our greetings on a wax figure.
As if for the sake of contrast, Murat, whose handsome figure on
horseback was shewn to the greatest advantage by a dress almost
theatrical, appeared every Sunday morning in the Prado, surrounded
by generals and aid-de-camps, no less splendidly accoutred, there to
review the picked troops of his army. Numbers of people were drawn
at first by the striking magnificence of this martial spectacle; but
jealousy and distrust were fast succeeding to the suspense and doubt
which the artful evasions of the French Prince had been able to keep
up for a time.
The first burst of indignation against the French was caused by
their interference in favour of the Prince of the Peace. The people
of Madrid were so eager for the public execution of Godoy, that
when it was known that the man on whose hanging carcase they daily
expected to feast their eyes, was proceeding out of the kingdom under
a French escort; loud and fierce murmurs from all quarters of the
town announced the bitter resentment of disappointed revenge. It
was, nevertheless, still in the power of Napoleon to have kept the
whole nation at his devotion, by making the long-expected recognition
of Ferdinand. Even when, through the unworthy artifices which are
already known to the world, Ferdinand had been decoyed to Bayonne,
and the greatest anxiety prevailed at Madrid as to the result of the
journey, I witnessed the joy of an immense multitude collected at
the Puerta del Sol, late in the evening, when, probably with a view
to disperse them, the report was spread that the courier we had seen
arrive, brought the intelligence of Napoleon’s acknowledgement of the
young King, and his determination to adopt him by marriage into his
own family. The truth, however, could not be concealed any longer;
and the plan of usurpation, which was disclosed the next morning,
produced the clearest indications of an inevitable catastrophe.
The wildest schemes for the destruction of the French division at
Madrid were canvassed almost in public, and with very little reserve.
Nothing indeed so completely betrays our present ignorance as to the
power and efficiency of regular troops, as the projects which were
circulated in the capital for an attack on the French corps, which
still paraded every Sunday morning in the _Prado_. Short pikes,
headed with a sharp-cutting crescent, were expected to be distributed
to the spectators, who used to range themselves behind the cavalry.
At one signal the horses were to be houghed with these instruments,
and the infantry attacked with poniards. To remonstrate against such
absurd and visionary plans, or to caution their advocates against
an unreserved display of hostile views, which, of itself, would be
enough to defeat the ablest conspiracy; was not only useless, but
dangerous. The public ferment grew rapidly, and Murat, who was fully
apprised of its progress, began to shew his intention of anticipating
resistance.
One Sunday afternoon, towards the end of April, as I was walking with
a friend in the extensive gardens of the old royal palace El Retiro,
(which, as they adjoin the Prado, are the usual resort of such as
wish to avoid a crowded walk,) the sound of drums beating to arms
from several quarters of the town, drew us, not without trepidation,
to the inner gate of the large square, through which lay our way out
of the palace. The confused voices of men, and the more distinct
cries of the women, together with the view of two French regiments
drawn up in the square, and in the act of loading their muskets,
would have placed us in the awkward dilemma whether to venture out,
or to stay, we knew not how long, in the solitary gardens; had not
a French officer, whom I addressed, assured us that we might pass
in front of the troops without molestation. The Prado, which we had
left thronged with people, was now perfectly empty, except where
some horse-patroles of the French were scudding away in different
directions. As we proceeded towards the centre of the town, we were
told that the alarm had been simultaneous and general. Parties of
French cavalry had been scouring the streets; and, in the wantonness
of military insolence, some soldiers had made a cut now and then at
such as did not fly fast enough before them. The street-doors were,
contrary to the usual practice, all shut as in the dead of night,
and but a few groups of men were seen talking about the recent and
now subsiding alarm. Among these we saw one shewing his hat cut
through by the sabre of a French dragoon. No one could either learn
or guess the cause of this affray; but I am fully convinced that it
was intended just to strike fear into the people, and to discourage
large meetings at the public walks. It was a prelude to the second of
May--that day which has heaped the curses of every Spaniard on the
head which could plan its horrors, and the heart that could carry
them through to the last, without shrinking.
The insurrection of the second of May did not arise from any
concerted plan of the Spaniards; it was, on the contrary, brought
about by Murat, who, wishing to intimidate the country, artfully
contrived the means of producing an explosion in the capital. The
old King’s brother and one of his sons, who had been left at Madrid,
were, on that day, to start for Bayonne. The sight of the last
members of the royal family leaving the country, under the present
circumstances, could not but produce a strong sensation on a people
whose feelings had for some months been racked to distraction. The
Council of Regency strongly recommended the Infante’s departure in
the night; but Murat insisted on their setting off at nine in the
morning. Long before that hour an extensive square, of which the new
Palace forms the front, was crowded with people of the lower classes.
On the Princes appearing in their travelling dresses, both men and
women surrounded the carriages, and cutting the traces, shewed a
determination to prevent their departure. One of Murat’s aid-de-camps
presenting himself at this moment, was instantly assaulted by the
mob, and he would have fallen a victim to their fury but for the
strong French guard stationed near that general’s house. This guard
was instantly drawn up, and ordered to fire on the people.
My house stood not far from the Palace, in a street leading to one
of the central points of communication with the best part of the
town. A rush of people crying “To arms,” conveyed to us the first
notice of the tumult. I heard that the French troops were firing
on the people; but the outrage appeared to me both so impolitic and
enormous, that I could not rest until I went out to ascertain the
truth. I had just arrived at an opening named Plazuéla de Santo
Domingo, the meeting point of four large streets, one of which leads
to the Palace, when, hearing the sound of a French drum in that
direction, I stopped with a considerable number of decent and quiet
people, whom curiosity kept rivetted to the spot. Though a strong
piquet of infantry was fast advancing upon us, we could not imagine
that we stood in any kind of danger. Under this mistaken notion we
awaited their approach; but, seeing the soldiers halt and prepare
their arms, we began instantly to disperse. A discharge of musketry
followed in a few moments, and a man fell at the entrance of the
street, through which I was, with a great throng, retreating from
the fire. The fear of an indiscriminate massacre arose so naturally
from this unprovoked assault, that every one tried to look for safety
in the narrow cross streets on both sides of the way. I hastened
on towards my house, and having shut the front door, could think
of no better expedient, in the confused state of my mind, than to
make ball-cartridges for a fowling-piece which I kept. The firing
of musketry continued, and was to be heard in different directions.
After the lapse of a few minutes, the report of large pieces of
ordnance, at a short distance, greatly increased our alarm. They
were fired from a park of artillery, which, in great neglect, and
with no definite object, was kept by the Spanish Government, in that
part of the town. Murat, who had this day all his troops under arms,
on fixing the points of which they were to gain possession, had
not forgotten the park of artillery. A strong column approached it
through a street facing the gate, at which Colonel Daoiz, a native
of my town, and my own acquaintance, who happened to be the senior
officer on duty, had placed two large pieces loaded with grape shot.
Determined to perish rather than yield to the invaders, and supported
in his determination by a few artillery-men, and some infantry under
the command of Belarde, another patriot officer; he made considerable
havock among the French, till, overpowered by numbers, both these
gallant defenders of their country fell, the latter dead, the former
desperately wounded. The silence of the guns made us suspect that the
artillery had fallen into the hands of the assailants; and the report
of some stragglers confirmed that conjecture.
A well-dressed man had, in the mean time, gone down the street,
calling loudly on the male inhabitants to repair to an old depôt of
arms. But he made no impression on that part of the town. To attempt
to arm the multitude at this moment was, in truth, little short of
madness. Soon after the beginning of the tumult, two or three columns
of infantry entered by different gates, making themselves masters of
the town. The route of the main corps lay through the _Calle Mayor_,
where the houses, consisting of four or five stories, afforded the
inhabitants the means of wreaking their vengeance on the French,
without much danger from their arms. Such as had guns, fired from the
windows; while tiles, bricks, and heavy articles of furniture, were
thrown by others upon the heads of the soldiers. But, now, the French
had occupied every central position; their artillery had struck panic
into the confused multitude; some of the houses, from which they had
been fired at, had been entered by the soldiers; and the cavalry were
making prisoners among such as had not early taken to flight. As the
people had put to death every French soldier, who was found unarmed
about the streets, the retaliation would have been fearful, had not
some of the chief Spanish magistrates obtained a decree of amnesty,
which they read in the most disturbed parts of the town.
But Murat thought he had not accomplished his object, unless an
example was made on a certain number of the lower classes of
citizens. As the amnesty excluded any that should be found bearing
arms, the French patroles of cavalry, which were scouring the
streets, searched every man they met, and making the clasp knives
which our artisans and labourers are accustomed to carry in their
pockets, a pretext for their cruel and wicked purpose, led about
one hundred men to be tried by a Court Martial; in other words,
to be butchered in cold blood. This horrid deed, the blackest,
perhaps, which has stained the French name during their whole career
of conquest, was performed at the fall of day. A mock tribunal of
French officers having ascertained that no person of note was among
the destined victims, ordered them to be led out of the Retiro, the
place of their short confinement, into the Prado; where they were
despatched by the soldiers.
Ignorant of the real state of the town, and hearing that the tumult
had ceased, I ventured out in the afternoon towards the Puerta del
Sol, where I expected to learn some particulars of the day. The
cross streets which led to that place were unusually empty; but as
I came to the entrance of one of the avenues which open into that
great rendezvous of Madrid, the bustle increased, and I could see an
advanced guard of French soldiers formed two-deep, across the street,
and leaving about one-third of its breadth open to such as wished
to pass up and down. At some distance behind them, in the irregular
square which bears the name of the _Sun’s Gate_, I distinguished
two pieces of cannon, and a very strong division of troops. Less
than this hostile display would have been sufficient to check my
curiosity, if, still possessed with the idea that it was not the
interest of the French to treat us like enemies, I had not, like
many others who were on the same spot, thought that the peaceful
inhabitants would be allowed to proceed unmolested about the streets
of the town. Under this impression I went on without hesitation, till
I was within fifty yards of the advanced guard. Here a sudden cry
of _aux armes_, raised in the square, was repeated by the soldiers
before me; the officer giving the command to make ready. The people
fled up the street in the utmost consternation; but my fear having
allowed me, instantly, to calculate both distances and danger, I made
a desperate push towards the opening left by the soldiers, where a
narrow lane, winding round the Church of San Luis, put me in a few
seconds out of the range of the French muskets. No firing however
being heard, I concluded that the object of the alarm was to clear
the streets at the approach of night.
The increasing horror of the inhabitants, as they collected the
melancholy details of the morning, would have accomplished that
end, without any farther effort on the part of the oppressors. The
bodies of some of their victims seen in several places; the wounded
that were met about the streets; the visible anguish of such as
missed their relations; and the spreading report that many were
awaiting their fate at the Retiro, so strongly and painfully raised
the apprehensions of the people, that the streets were absolutely
deserted long before the approach of night. Every street-door
was locked, and a mournful silence prevailed wherever I directed
my steps. Full of the most gloomy ideas, I was approaching my
lodgings by a place called Postígo de San Martin, when I saw four
Spanish soldiers bearing a man upon a ladder, the ends of which
they supported on their shoulders. As they passed near me, the
ladder being inclined forward, from the steepness of the street, I
recognized the features of my townsman and acquaintance, Daoiz, livid
with approaching death. He had lain wounded since ten in the morning,
in the place where he fell. He was not quite insensible when I met
him. The slight motion of his body, and the groan he uttered as the
inequality of the ground, probably, increased his pain, will never be
effaced from my memory.
A night passed under such impressions, baffles my feeble powers of
description. A scene of cruelty and treachery exceeding all limits
of probability, had left our apprehensions to range at large, with
scarcely any check from the calculations of judgment. The dead
silence of the streets since the first approach of night, only
broken by the trampling of horses which now and then were heard
passing along in large parties, had something exceedingly dismal
in a populous town, where we were accustomed to an incessant and
enlivening bustle. The _Madrid cries_, the loudest and most varied in
Spain, were missed early next morning; and it was ten o’clock before
a single street-door had been open. Nothing but absolute necessity
could induce the people to venture out.
On the third day after the massacre, a note from an intimate friend
obliged me to cross the greatest part of the town; but though my way
lay through the principal streets of Madrid, the number of Spaniards
I met, did not literally amount to six. In every street and square
of any note I found a strong guard of French infantry, lying beside
their arms on the pavement, except the sentinel, who paced up and
down at a short distance. A feeling of mortified pride mixed itself
with the sense of insecurity which I experienced on my approaching
these parties of foreign soldiers, whose presence had made a desert
of our capital. Gliding by the opposite side of the street, I passed
them without lifting my eyes from the ground. Once I looked straight
in the face of an inferior officer--a serjeant I believe, wearing
the cross of the _Legion d’honneur_--who, taking it as an insult,
loaded me with curses, accompanied with threats and the most abusive
language. The Puerta del Sol, that favourite lounge of the Madrid
people, was now the _bivouac_ of a French division of infantry and
cavalry, with two twelve-pounders facing every leading street. Not a
shop was open, and not a voice heard but such as grated the ear with
a foreign accent.
On my return home, a feeling of deep melancholy had seized upon me,
to which the troubles of my past life were lighter than a feather in
the scale of happiness and misery. I confined myself to the house
for several days, a prey to the most harassing anxiety. What course
to take in the present crisis, was a question for which I was not
prepared, and in which no fact, no conjecture could lead me. My
friend, the friend for whose sake alone I had changed my residence,
had a mortal aversion to Seville--that town where he could not avoid
acting in a detested capacity.[53] Some wild visions of freedom from
his religious fetters, had been playing across his troubled mind,
while the French approached Madrid; and though he now looked on their
conduct with the most decided abhorrence, still he could hardly
persuade himself to escape from the French bayonets, which he seemed
to dread less than Spanish bigotry.
[53] That of a Catholic Clergyman.
But my mind has dwelt too long on a painful subject, and I hope you
will excuse me if I put off the conclusion till another Letter.