f 140...) 
| March 1, 
MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 
Serer eae 
MEMOIRS of the PRINCE of PEACE, 
GENERALISSIMO of the SPANISH -AR- 
Mits. By a Gentleman lately returned 
Srom Spat. , 
}\\ON Menuel Godoy was born at Ba-- 
dajos about the year 1766 or 1757, 
of parents, whefle neceffities were ofren 
Felieved by the ulval dovation of feup, &e. 
at the Convents, and whe were ecéafienally 
eraployed in fecreting fmugeled goods 
during the night.’ Many of the refpecta- 
ble inhabitants of that city are (iil living 
witreffes of the miferable fituation of the 
Godoy family. Their conneMion with 
fraugelers*, however, eficreafing as the 
family acquired ftrength, it was doubtlefs 
that idea that-firft induced the two elder 
brothers, Luis and Manuel, to beccime 
foidiers in the king’s life guards, where 
fmuggling is carried on in the moit open 
manner. Luis fet ott fer Madrid and 
entered a private foldier in the life guards, 
where he had net dene duty long before 
his portly Agure caught the attention of 
the then Princefs of Aftwrias, who enjoyed 
the honours of Queen, Charles 111. being 
awidower. She began in her ufval man- 
nef of fending him rich prefents, fuch as 
2 fnuff box of tor:oie-fhell, with her por- 
Erait fet i gold,which was generally worth 
an ounce of Spanifh gold, or gl. rzs. fter- 
ling. Sometimes articles ef nsuch greater 
value, and fometinies a purle full of 
ounces of gold. At length fhe ventured 
to procufe him 4 pair of colours, and 
Luis appeared a complete officer. Dur. 
ing this time Manwel arrived; and his 
brother’s fuccefs enabled him ¢o keep him 
as 4 cadet rather then to enter as a private 
foldier, hoping that he thould foon be abié 
to procure’ him preferment. In the mean 
time the jealous eye of Charles TIT. re. 
gretting his error of forcing his fon to 
marry, became every day more aleft to the 
grofs imprudeneies ef his daughter-in-law, 
and he beheld her-attachinent to this new- 
mace officer with the moft poignant indig:. 
nation, and fcnt him immediately into 
exile, prchibiting his ever coming within 
twenty five leagues of Madrid, giving him 
however the command of a company in 
the militia of Extremadtira, and alfo of an 
oid fortrefs in that province. He was alfo 
promifed the crofs of the military order of 
Alcantara, but Charles’s paffion was too 
* Badajos has exifted many years by {mug- 
gling only, there being no legal commerce 
purfucd that can be avoided. 
violent to wait that ceremony, and he was 
difmiffed wich the nominal title of the or- 
der. This was the period when the family 
kegan to tiink ferioufly of nobility; and 
it was then that they found the noble ap- 
pendage of de Alvarcz. Whether the 
Godoys were originally of Alvarez, and 
had acquired a title te that feignory, which 
the vulgar pronunciation of the Extrema. 
durians had originally contracted, and in 
fine omitted, is aqueftion I have net found 
any Spanifh antiquary difpofed to.ré‘olves 
Tc now refts on the ipfe dixit of the Prinee, 
and there exifts no negative evidence. The 
exile of Luis was effected ; and the Queen. 
(the Princels of Afturias) with all the fa- 
cility that one forgets a lady of eafy virtue. 
forgot her lover in the purfvit of other gal~ 
lants. It has been faid, but erroneonfly, 
that her majefty kept fending him prefents 
in his exile, by the hands of Manuel, who © 
was introduced to her by the Dachefs of 
Alva, under pretext of playing on the eui- 
tar; the Jatter circumftance is too Fidicu. 
lous to réquiré fefutation: but the cén- 
trary is the fact, Mer éoes it appear 
that the Quéea ever faw Manuel till after 
the Geath of Charles HI. Isdeed fhe was 
teo much occupied in meeting with gals 
lants wiom {he could enjoy, without fpend. 
ing in fruitlets efforts the time necéflary to 
her other amufements. During the lon 
banihment} of Luis, Manuel proctred 
an appointment in the guards, and alice 
had married an amiable youre woman, 
by whom he has had four or five chileren. 
At length the death ef Charles TH. gave 
exiftence to the era of our hero’s glory. 
Oa this event Luis, hoping’to he récalied 
front exile, determined on addreffing a love 
ing Memorial to her majefy, recailirg to 
hermemory the numérous ténder pledges of © 
his atté¢hment, and his eegerhefs to- again 
epptoach her pérfon. “The difficulty of 
picfenting this memorial ‘to the hands of 
The precipitation and rigour of banith- 
“ment from the court of Madrid, prefent an €x- - 
ample of mercilefs cruelty and tyranny: the 
deferrados ate gone in an hour, ho one. knows 
where, noone dates to afk, ané ho oe knows 
their former friends or connections, Jef they 
. fhould be involved in a fimilar fate. Nor does 
any one dare either to write or receive a letter, 
Thusa charaéter, as popular inMadrit-as fome 
{peakers in the Houfe of Commonsin:Londony 
will be precipitated in.a day into an oblixion as 
great as if dead forty years. Theft 
bleflings of aviolyte monarchy J \ 
‘ 
Thefe are the 
a 
