A history of the Peninsular War, Vol. 1, 1807-1809 : $b From the treaty of Fontainbleau to the battle of CorunnaOman, Charles
History
A history of the Peninsular War, Vol. 1, 1807-1809 : $b From the treaty of Fontainbleau to the battle of Corunna
Oman, Charles
Peninsular War, 1807-1814
The usurper had resolved to give himself as much as possible the air
of a Spanish national king. Of all his Neapolitan court he had brought
with him only one personage, his favourite Saligny, whom he had made
Duke of San Germano. The rest of his household was composed of nobles
and officials chosen from among the herd which had bowed before him at
Bayonne. There were among them several of the late partisans of King
Ferdinand, of whom some had frankly sold themselves to his supplanter,
while others (like the Duke of Infantado) were only looking for an
opportunity to abscond when it might present itself. The first list
of ministers was also full of names that were already well known in
the Spanish bureaucracy. Of the cabinet of Ferdinand VII, Cevallos the
minister of Foreign Affairs, O’Farrill at the War Office, Piñuela at
the ministry of Justice, were base enough to accept the continuation
of their powers by the usurper. Urquijo, who took the Secretaryship of
State, was an old victim of Godoy’s, who had once before held office
under Charles IV. Mazarredo, who was placed at the ministry of Marine,
was perhaps the most distinguished officer in the Spanish navy. But
Joseph imagined that his greatest stroke of policy was the appointment
as minister of the Interior of Gaspar de Jovellanos, the most prominent
among the Spanish liberals, whose reputation for wisdom and patriotism
had cost him a long imprisonment during the days of the Prince of the
Peace. The idea was ingenious, but the plan for strengthening the
ministry failed, for Jovellanos utterly refused to take office along
with a clique of traitors and in the cabinet of a usurper. Yet even
without him, the body of courtiers and officials whom Joseph collected
was far more respectable, from their high station and old experience,
than might have been expected--a fact very disgraceful to the Spanish
bureaucrats.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account