ssion to return to Spain, his titles and most of his property being
restored. But he preferred to live in Paris, where he died in 1851.

[Illustration: THE CITY OF SARAGOSSA.]

THE CITY OF SARAGOSSA.

THE SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA.

On the banks of the Ebro, in northwestern Spain, stands the ancient city
of Saragossa, formerly the capital of Aragon, and a place of fame since
early Roman days. A noble bridge of seven arches, built nearly five
centuries ago, crosses the stream, and a wealth of towers and spires gives
the city an imposing appearance. This city is famous for its sieges, of
which a celebrated one took place in the twelfth century, when the
Christians held it in siege for five years, ending in 1118. In the end the
Moors were forced to surrender, or such of them as survived, for a great
part of them had died of hunger. In modern times it gained new and high
honor from its celebrated resistance to the French in 1808. It is this
siege with which we are concerned, one almost without parallel in history.

We have told in the preceding tale how Charles IV. of Spain was forced to
yield the throne to his son Ferdinand, who was proclaimed king March 20,
1808. This act by no means agreed with the views of Napoleon, who had
plans of his own for Spain, and who sought to end the difficulty by
deposing the Bourbon royal family and placing his own brother, Joseph
Bonaparte, on the throne.

The imperious emperor of the French had, however, the people as well as
the rulers of Spain to deal with. The news of his arbitrary action was
received throughout the Peninsula with intense indignation, and suddenly
the land blazed into insurrection, and the French garrisons, which had
been treacherously introduced into Spain, found themselves besieged.
Everywhere the peasants seized arms and took to the field, and a fierce
guerilla warfare began which the French found it no easy matter to
overcome. At Baylen, a town of Andalusia, which was besieged by the
insurgents, the French suffered a serious defeat, an army of eighteen
thousand men being forced to surrender as prisoners of war. This was the
only important success of the Spanish, but they courageously resisted
their foes, and at Saragossa gained an honor unsurpassed in the history of
Spain. Never had there been known such a siege and such a defence.

Saragossa was attacked by General Lefebre on June 15, 1808. Thinking that