610 



BONAPARTE. 



attention. Spain, ever since 1795 subservient to 

 France, luul been so merely (rum tear ; ami. when 

 Napoleon, in 1806, was occupied with Prussia, Godoy, 

 the prince of peace, hud isMitti a proclamation, call- 

 ing upon the Spaniards to take up anns against the 

 common enemy, who, howrvt r, was nut named more 

 definitely. Pradt (Memoires tur la Revolution d'Esp.) 

 ascribes Napoleon's conduct towards Spain, to his 

 being irritated l>y this iuniisli proclamation ; but the 

 plans of Napoleon were not likely to be influenced by 

 the proclamation of ;i suhjrrt like Godoy. Between 

 the agent of the hitter at Paris (Izquierdo by name) 

 ami the French court, a convention was signed, on 

 October 27, at Fontainebleuu, in which it was provid- 

 ed that the house of Bragnnzu should cease to reign 

 in Portugal, which was to IK: divided into North Lu- 

 siUtuia, lor the king of Ktrnria, who was to restore 

 Tuscany to France ; South Lusitania for Godoy, as a 

 sovereign prince ; and the central provinces, which 

 were to be subsequently disposed of: Napoleon had 

 informed the prince regent of Portugal, in August, 

 ' that he must give up all connexion with Britain, 

 confiscate British merchandise in Portuguese ports, 

 and adhere, without reserve, to the continental sys- 

 tem, if the house of Braganza wished to remain on 

 the throne " a demand which was actually impos- 

 sible to fulfil, besides being inconsistent with the 

 oath taken by every ruler of Portugal. When a 

 French and Spanish anny approached, he and his 

 family embarked, November 29, for Brazil : the next 

 day, Junot entered Lisbon, and the conquest of Por- 

 tugal was completed. 



The political state of Spain at this time was de- 

 plorable, and the condition of the Spanish court 

 shocking. It consisted of a king, universally called 



are estimated to cort.and compare it with the sums which 

 three old canals have cost that I wish to sell. 



" Yon understand what I wish. My intention is, to go 

 beyond your report. Perhaps it will lead to opening a 

 fund for public works, into which the proceeds of the navi- 

 gation of the canals would be immediately thrown. We 

 might thus grant to this the proceeds of the sale of the three 

 canals, and of others besides, if there are any which can be 

 cold. With this institution we should change the face of 

 the country. 



" I have made the glory of my reign to consist in chang- 

 ing the face of the territory of my empire. The execution 

 of these great works is as necessary to the interests of my 

 people as to my own satisfaction. I attach equal import- 

 ance and great glory to the suppression of mendicity. 

 Funds are not wanting ; but it seems to me that the work 

 proceeds slowly, and, meantime, years are passing away. 

 \V'e must not pass through this world without leaving 

 traces which may commend our memory to posterity. I 

 am going to be absent for a month. Be ready on the 15th 

 December to answer all these questions, which you will 

 have examined in detail, that I may be able, by a general 

 decree, to put the finishing blow to mendicity. You must 

 find, before the 15th December, in the reserved funds, and 

 the funds of the communes, the necessary meaas for the 

 support of sixty or one hundred houses for the extirpation 

 of beggary. The places where they shall be erected must 

 be designated, and the regulations completed. Do not ask 

 me for three or four months to obtain further instructions. 

 You have young auditors, intelligent prefects, skilful en- 

 gineers ; bring all into action, and do not sleep in the ordi- 

 nary labours of the bureau. It is necessary, likewise, that, 

 at the same time, all that relates to the administration of 

 the public works, should be completed ; so that, at the com- 

 mencement of the fine season, France may present the 

 spectacle of a country without a single beggar, and where 

 all the population may be in action to embellish and render 

 productive our immense territory. 



" You must, also, prepare for me all that is necessary 

 respectingthe measures to be taken for obtaining from the 

 draining of the marshes of Cottentin and Rochefort, money 

 for supporting the fund for public works, and for finishing 

 the drainings, or preparing others. 



" The winter evenings are long; fill your portfolios, that 

 we may be able during the evenings of these three months, 

 to discuss the means for attaining great results. 



'' Upon this, *c. 



" NAPOLEON." 



" M. CRrrrr, my minuter of the interior." 



incpte and imbfcil; which, indeed, the conduct of 

 Charles 1Y. shows that he must have been; a crimi- 

 nal queen, who did not even observe appearances; an 

 ambii ions and intriguing favourite and prime-minister ; 

 and an heir-apparent conspiring against his father's 

 throne. A conspiracy of the prince of Asturias in- 

 duced even the king to make public avowals, which 

 proved the truth of all the scandal, political and do- 

 mestic, respecting the royal family, that many, till 

 then, had not fully credited. These, circumstances 

 had taken place when Napoleon made a journey to 

 Italy, towards the end of 1807. In Venice, he saw 

 Joseph, king of Naples ; and when he returned to 

 Mantua from Venice, he met his brother Lucien \\ ho 

 had come thither from Rome. Some have believed 

 that he then offered the latter the crown of Spain ; 

 but we cannot judge whether he had then fully 

 formed the project of placing a new race on the 

 Spanish throne. Eugene at this time was made 

 prince of Venice, his infant daughter princess of Bo- 

 logna, and Melzi d'Erile duke of Lodi, and the order 

 01 the iron crown was extended. The kingdom of 

 Etruria was again changed into the grand duchy of 

 Tuscany, and added provisionally to France. The 

 queen Maria Louisa, of Etruria, returned to Spain. 



December 17, 1807, Napoleon issued the famous 

 decree of Milan (see Continental System), which was 

 followed by a still severer decree, of Jan. 11, 1808. 

 In the same month, Khel and Castel, Wesel and 

 Flushing, were united to the French empire. C'ene- 

 ral Miollis marched into Rome, occupied it, and kept 

 the pope in a state of dependence, but not, as many 

 have believed, in order to prevent him from imped- 

 ing the execution of the plans respecting Spain. A 

 new hereditary nobility was now created, in order, as 

 the emperor expressed himself, to give the imperial 

 throne the requisite dignity, and to excite a praise- 

 worthy emulation in the hearts of the French. The 

 titles of the new nobility were those of the feudal 

 times ; yet no privileges were attached to these titles. 

 This blow was considered by the old nobility more 

 severe than any previous one, and, perhaps, was so. 

 This event took place a short time before the great 

 changes in Spain. For a connected relation of these 

 occurrences, and for the war in Spain, see the article 

 Spain. The schools and institutions of instruction in 

 the whole empire were uniformly organized, but in a 

 military manner ; and a new religious catechism was 

 prepared for the French empire, which was offensive 

 to the thinking part of the nation, though the object 

 of it was probably to deprive certain fanatics of the 

 influence, which they exerted over the uninformed 

 against Napoleon and the new order of things. 



The British landed in Portugal, and the Portu- 

 guese showed a great disposition to rise against the 

 French. -Napoleon brought about the congress of 

 Erfurt, in order to make one effort more to establish 

 peace, or at least to secure himself in the east, that 

 he might devote his whole strength to the reduction 

 of the Pyrenean peninsula, particularly as Austria 

 had shown a great disposition to break once more 

 with France. The article Erfurt contains some de- 

 tails respecting this congress, which took place in 

 September, 1808, and at which the emperor Alexan- 

 der appeared, with many other potentates. The 

 reader will find there also the joint letter of Napoleon 

 and Alexander to George III. Britain, however, 

 refused to enter into negotiations for peace, and re- 

 plied to the letter by a public note, written by Can- 

 ning ; as a different mode of answer, said the minis- 

 ter, would have amounted to an acknowledgment of 

 the title of Napoieon. 



October 18, Napoleon returned to St Cloud: on 

 the 29th, he sei out for Spain, where his presence 

 brought victory to the French arms. But threatening 



