apoleon took a step of great significance. Murat,
Grand Duke of Berg, arrived at Burgos on March thirteenth, with full
powers as commander-in-chief, and at once assumed command. Ordering a
concentration of all the divisions, he slowly marched on Madrid. The
Prince of the Peace and the King heard their hour striking. Godoy's
first thought was to imitate the example set by the house of Braganza,
and, flying beyond the seas, to establish the Spanish Bourbons in
Mexico or Peru. The Queen was from the first ardent for a project
which would prolong the semblance of power for herself and the
favorite, but it was days before Charles could bring himself to such a
conclusion. At last, on March fifteenth, the council was summoned to
hear his determination, and orders were given to keep open the route
to Cadiz. The populace felt that disgrace could go no further, and,
denouncing Godoy, besought the King to remain.

They could get no satisfactory answer from Aranjuez, where the
vacillating, terrified, and disunited court now was. One day followed
another, and the streets of that town swarmed with angry men whose
pride and scorn found expression in calls for Godoy's death. On the
evening of the seventeenth they began to riot, and the wretched
prince saw his house surrounded. Half clad and half starved, he tried
first one door and then another; all were beset, and he was compelled
to take refuge in the loft, where he remained hidden under a rubbish
heap while the mob worked their will in the handsome rooms below. Next
morning Charles yielded to the popular clamor, and deposed Godoy from
his high offices. For forty-eight hours the minister lay concealed. At
last he could no longer endure the tortures of hunger and thirst;
evading the attention of his own household, he reached the street, and
on the nineteenth was taken in charge by the guards who held it. The
rumor of his capture spread fast, and it required great courage on the
part of the soldiers to protect their prisoner from violence. Their
efforts were only partly successful; they had a bloody and fainting
burden when they reached their barracks and withdrew behind the doors.
In that moment, when it seemed as if the mob would finally break down
even the strong entrance and seize its prey, Charles despatched his
son to calm the storm.

The people adored the Prince of Asturias, and without difficulty he
quieted the rioters and offered life to his enemy. The haughty
grandee, broke