the Spaniards prepared, and was defeated, losing two of his ships and many
men as prisoners. He escaped with the other boat to Trinidad. In the West
Indies he obtained the help of an English admiral, Sir A. Cochrane, and
with larger forces returned to Venezuela, landing at Coro, which he took
in August, 1806. But there he found the greatest enemy with which he and
Bolivar had to contend, and that was the lack of the sanction of public
opinion. Men whom Miranda had expected to increase his army failed to
appear, and perhaps this indifference was aggravated by the antipathy with
which the natives saw the foreign element which predominated in Miranda's
army. Lacking the support of the people and the reserves which Miranda had
expected to get from the English colony of Jamaica, he withdrew and went to
London, altogether discouraged.

At that time great changes had occurred in Spain. Charles IV, its weak
monarch, saw the French army invading his country under the pretense of
going to Portugal, and feared that Napoleon would end by wresting the
Spanish throne from him. If he allied himself with Napoleon, England
could easily seize America, and should he ally himself with England, he
would make an enemy of Napoleon, who already was in possession of Spain
itself. The Crown Prince of Spain, Fernando, was intriguing against his
father, and Charles IV had him imprisoned. Then it was discovered that
the Prince was in treacherous relations with the ministers of Napoleon.
The King complained to the French Emperor, who persuaded him to forgive
and release his son. Meanwhile, the French army was advancing into Spain
while the English were fomenting among the Spanish people the hatred for
the French. The latter availed themselves of their advantageous position
and, feeling sure of their strength in Spanish lands, demanded from the
Court the cession of the northern section of Spain contiguous to
Portugal. Rumors ran wild in the Court, and it was even said that the
monarch and his family would leave Spain for Mexico. A favorite of the