py them with French troops, and not to permit the
Spaniards to garrison a single one. His first object, he had been
already told, should be to capture the fleet lying in the Tagus and to
take the regent prisoner. The clever and ambitious general marched
swiftly, and on November twenty-seventh reached, with his exhausted
troops, Abrantes, a town about eighty miles from Lisbon. The news of
his arrival was unexpected in the capital; worse still, as it appeared
to the dismayed court, were the evidences that he would receive an
enthusiastic reception from many influential elements of the
population, who still considered the word "French" a synonym for
"democratic." Sir Sidney Smith, who commanded the British ships in the
Tagus, addressed a letter to Don John promising that England would
never recognize a rule in Portugal hostile to the house of Braganza,
and strongly urging him to embark the royal family for the Portuguese
dominions in South America. The prince had probably read what had been
published in the "Moniteur" of November thirteenth: to wit--"The
regent of Portugal loses the throne. The fall of the house of Braganza
is a new proof of the inevitable destruction attending those who unite
with England." At any rate the hard-pressed ruler was unnerved, and
issued a jerky, feeble proclamation, declaring that he would never
submit to the tyranny of Napoleon, announcing his flight, naming a
council of regency, and requesting those who were so disposed to
accompany him. A very few faithful subjects joined themselves to the
royal family, and with the mad Queen in their midst the little band
embarked.

The fleet had hardly worked its way out of the river when Junot
reached Lisbon with a small corps of panting, worn-out men. His prey
had escaped, but so had the mad Queen, and from that moment he began
to wonder why a crown would not sit comfortably on his own head. He
had been Bonaparte's faithful confidant from the outset of his career,
and could furnish a queen who boasted an ancestry no less
distinguished than that of the Greek emperors of the Comnenian family.
The people were most friendly, deputations from the powerful secret
society of Freemasons presented addresses, the regency made no
resistance, the commander-in-chief and his army gave in their
submission. But the French general showed no sign of organizing the
liberal government which they so earnestly desired and fully expected.
On the contrary, he established mil