JOSEPH THE PEACE-MAKER.
1798-1802
Elected to the Council of Five Hundred.--Remarks of Napoleon.
--Napoleon's Patriotism.--The Directory.--State of France.--Anarchy.
--Joseph sends to Napoleon.--Return of Napoleon.--Remarks of Moreau.
--18th Brumaire.--Character of Joseph.--Plans and Measures of Napoleon.
--Joseph an Ambassador.--Peace of Luneville.--Hostility of England.
--Religious Reaction.--The Concordat.--The Re-establishment of
Christianity.--Peace of Amiens.--Anecdote of Lord Cornwallis.--Hostility
of the English Government.--Treaty of Amiens Concluded.--Bernardin de
St. Pierre.--Talleyrand.--Madame de Stael.
Joseph, after a short tarry at Florence, returned to Paris, where he
again met his brother. Napoleon was much disappointed with the result
of the embassy to Rome, for he had ardently hoped to cultivate the
most friendly relations with that power. Joseph was favored with a
long interview with the Directory, by whom he was received with great
cordiality. In testimony of their satisfaction, they offered him
the embassy to Berlin. He, however, declined the appointment, as he
preferred to enter the Council of Five Hundred, to which office he had
been nominated by the Electoral College of one of the departments. The
Government of France then consisted of an Executive of five Directors, a
Senate, called the Council of Ancients, and a House of Representatives,
called the Council of Five Hundred.
Preparations were now making for the expedition to Egypt. The command
was offered to Napoleon. For some time he hesitated before accepting it.
One day he said to his brother Joseph,
"The Directory see me here with uneasiness, notwithstanding all my
efforts to throw myself into the shade. Neither the Directory nor I can
do any thing to oppose that tendency to a more centralized government,
which is so manifestly inevitable. Our dreams of a republic were the
illusions of youth. Since the ninth Thermidor,[D] the Republican
instinct has grown weaker every day. The efforts of the Bourbons, of
foreigners, sustained by the remembrance of the year 1793, had re-united
against the Republican system an imposing majority. But for the
thirteenth Vendemiaire[E] and the eighteenth Fructidor,[F] this majority
would have triumphed a long time ago. The feebleness, the dissensions
of the Directory, have done the rest. It is upon me that all eyes are
fixed to-day. To-morrow they will be fixed upon some one else. While
waiting for that other one to appear, if he is to appear, my interest
tells me that no violence should be done to fortune. We must leave to
fortune an open field.
[Footnote D: 9th Thermidor, 28th of July, 1794. This was the date of the
overthrow of Robespierre, and of the termination of the Reign of Terror.
The enormous atrocities perpetrated under the name of the Republic had
excited general distrust of republican institutions.]
[Footnote E: 13th Vendemiaire, 5th of October, 1795, when Napoleon
quelled the insurgent sections.]
[Footnote F: 18th Fructidor, 4th of September, 1797. On this day the
majority of the French Directory overthrew the minority, who were in
favor of monarchical institutions. Sixty-three Deputies were banished
for conspiring to introduce monarchy. Both councils renewed their oath
of hatred against royalty.]
"Many persons hope still in the Republic. Perhaps they have reason. I
leave for the East, with all means for success. If my country has need
of me--if the number of those who think with Talleyrand, Sieyes, and
Roederer should increase, should war be resumed, and prove unfriendly
to the arms of France, I shall return more sure of the opinion of
the nation. If, on the contrary, the war should be favorable to the
Republic, if a military statesman like myself should rise and gather
around him the wishes of the people, very well, I shall render, perhaps,
still greater services to the world in the East than he can do. I shall
probably overthrow English domination, and shall arrive more surely at
a maritime peace, than by the demonstrations which the Directory makes
upon the shores of the Channel.
"The system of France must become that of Europe in order to be durable.
We see thus very evidently what is required. I wish what the nation
wishes. Truly I do not know what it wishes to-day, but we shall know
better hereafter. Till then let us study its wishes and its necessities.
I do not wish to usurp any thing. I shall, at all events, find renown in
the East; and if that renown can be made serviceable to my country, I
will return with it. I will then endeavor to secure the stability of the
happiness of France in securing, if it is possible, the prosperity of
Europe, and extending our free principles into neighboring states, who
may be made friends if they can profit from our misfortunes."
"Such," says Joseph, "were the habitual thoughts of General Bonaparte.
His happiness was not to depend merely upon the possession of power. He
wished to merit the gratitude of his country and of posterity by his
deeds, and to conform his life to duty, sure that it was by such renown
alone that his name could pass down to future ages."
Joseph was now a member of the Council of Five Hundred. His brother
Lucien, though he was still very young, had also been elected a member
of the same body. The brilliant achievements of the young conqueror in
the East roused the enthusiasm of France. The conquest of Malta, the
landing at Alexandria, the battle of the Pyramids, and the entrance
into Cairo, had been reported through France, rousing in every hill
and valley shouts of exultation. Napoleon was rapidly gaining that
renown which would enable him to control and to guide his countrymen.
The Directory still nominally governed France, though the affairs of
the nation, under their inefficiency and misrule, were passing rapidly
to ruin. The Directors contemplated with alarm the rising celebrity
which Napoleon was acquiring in the East. They made a formidable attack
upon him, through a committee, in the Council of Five Hundred. Joseph
defended his absent brother with so much eloquence and power, as to
confound his accusers, and he obtained a unanimous verdict in his favor.
The state of things in France was now very deplorable. The Allies with
vigor had renewed the war. The Austrian armies had again overrun Italy,
and were threatening to scale the Alps, and to rush down upon the plains
of France. The British fleet, the most powerful military arm the world
has ever known, had swept the commerce of France from all seas, had
captured many of her colonies, and was bombarding, with shot and shell,
every city of the Republic within reach of its broadsides. The five
Directors were quarrelling among themselves, some favoring monarchy,
others republicanism. The two councils, that of the Ancients and that of
the Five Hundred, were at antagonism. Many formidable conspiracies were
formed, some for the support of the Allies and the restoration of the
Bourbons, others for the re-introduction of the Jacobinical Reign of
Terror.
France was in a state of general anarchy. There was no man of sufficient
celebrity to gain the confidence of the people, so that he could assume
the office of leader, and bring order out of chaos. The once mighty
monarchy of France was in the condition of a mob, without a head,
careering this way and that way, in tumultuous and inextricable
confusion. Joseph sent a special messenger, a Greek by the name of
Bourbaki, to Jean d'Acre, to communicate to Napoleon the state of
affairs.
Informed of these facts, at this momentous crisis Napoleon, having
attained renown which caused every eye in France to be fixed upon him,
landed at Frejus, and was borne along, with the acclamations of the
multitude, to Paris. Immediately upon the young general's arrival,
General Moreau hastened to his humble residence in the Rue de la
Victoire, and earnestly said to him,
"Disgusted with the government of the lawyers, who have ruined the
Republic, I come to offer you my aid to save the country."
A number of the most distinguished men of France crowded the small
parlors of General Bonaparte. As he was speaking, with that genius which
ever commanded attention and assent, of the political condition and
wants of France, Moreau interrupted him, saying,
"I only desire to unite my efforts with yours to save France. I am
convinced that you only have the power. The generals and the officers
who have served under me are now in Paris, and are ready to co-operate
with you." The little saloon was crowded. General Macdonald was present.
Generals Jourdan and Augereau had conversed with Salicetti, and reported
that Bernadotte and a majority of the Council of Five Hundred were in
favor of the movement.
Joseph co-operated diligently with Napoleon in the measures now set on
foot to rescue France from destruction. Joseph dined with Sieyes. At
the table Sieyes said to his guests,
"I wish to unite with General Bonaparte, for of all the military men he
is the most of a statesman."
On the 18th Brumaire[G] the Directory was overthrown, and, without one
drop of blood being shed, a new government was organized, and Napoleon
was made consul. The world is divided, and perhaps may forever remain
divided, in its judgment of this event. Some call Napoleon a usurper.
France then called him, and still calls him, the saviour of his country.
[Footnote G: _18th Brumaire_, Nov. 9th, 1799.]
In the midst of these tumultuary scenes, when it was uncertain whether
Napoleon would gain his ends or fall upon the scaffold, General Augereau
came, in great alarm, to St. Cloud, and informed Napoleon that his
enemies in the two councils were proposing to vote him an outlaw.
"Very well," said Napoleon calmly, "you and I, General Augereau, have
long been acquainted with each other. Say to your friends the cork is
drawn, we must now drink the wine."
Joseph Bonaparte, who a little before these events had withdrawn from
the Council of Five Hundred, was with his brother constantly through
these momentous scenes. Immediately after the establishment of the new
government he was appointed a member of the legislative body, and soon
after of the Council of State. Joseph had become a very wealthy man,
having acquired a large fortune by his marriage. He owned a very
beautiful estate at Mortfontaine, but a few leagues from Paris. Both
Joseph and his wife were extremely fond of the quiet, domestic pleasures
of rural life. Neither of them had any taste for the excitement and the
splendors of state. But France, in her condition of peril, assailed by
the allied despotism of Europe without, and agitated by conspiracies
within, demanded the energies of every patriotic arm. Joseph was thus
constrained to sacrifice his inclinations to his sense of duty. He
rendered his brother invaluable assistance by the energy and the
conciliatory manners with which he endeavored to carry out the plans of
the First Consul. Lucien Bonaparte, eight years younger than Joseph,
accepted the post of Minister of the Interior.
Before the overthrow of the Directory mob law had reigned triumphant in
Paris. Napoleon, as first consul, immediately took up his residence in
the palace of the Tuileries. It was proposed to him that he should close
the gates of the garden of the Tuileries, that it might no longer be a
place of public resort. Joseph strenuously opposed the measure, and it
was renounced. The great object Napoleon aimed at was to ascertain the
wishes of the people, that he might be the executor of their will. His
only power consisted in having cordially with him the masses of the
population. He was untiring in his endeavors to ascertain public
sentiment, and endeavored to adopt those measures which should, from
their manifest wisdom and justice, secure public approbation. In this
service Joseph was invaluable to his brother. He gave brilliant
entertainments at his chateau at Mortfontaine; and being a man of
remarkably amiable spirit and polished manners, he secured the
confidence of all parties, and exerted a very powerful influence in
healing the wounds of past strife. At these entertainments Joseph made
it his constant object to study the wishes and the opinions of the
different classes of society.
The Directory had involved the public in serious difficulties with the
United States. Napoleon immediately appointed Joseph, with two
associates, to adjust all the differences between the two countries. As
both parties were disposed to friendly relations, all difficulties were
speedily terminated, and a treaty was signed on the 30th of September,
1800, at Joseph's mansion at Mortfontaine.
England and Austria, with great vigor, still pressed the war upon
France, notwithstanding the earnest appeals of Napoleon to the King of
England and the Emperor of Austria in behalf of peace. This refusal to
sheathe the sword rendered the campaign of Marengo a necessity. Napoleon
crossed the Alps, and upon the plains of Marengo almost demolished the
armies of Austria. The haughty Emperor was compelled to sue for that
peace which he had so scornfully rejected. The commissioners of the two
powers met at Luneville. Napoleon, highly gratified at the skill which
Joseph had displayed in adjusting the difficulties in the United States,
appointed him as the ambassador from France to secure a treaty with
Austria. The two brothers were in daily, and sometimes in hourly
conference in reference to the questions of vast national importance
which this treaty involved. But Joseph was again entirely successful. On
the 9th of February, 1801, the peace of Luneville was concluded, to the
great satisfaction of the Emperor, and to the great gratification of
France. Napoleon says, in the conclusion of a letter which he wrote to
Joseph upon this subject, "The nation is satisfied with the treaty, and
I am exceedingly pleased with it."
France was now at peace with all the Continent. England alone implacably
continued the war. But England was inaccessible to any blows which
France could strike without making efforts more gigantic than nation
ever attempted before. Napoleon resolved to make these efforts to attain
peace. He prepared almost to bridge the Channel with his fleet and
gun-boats, that he might pour an army of invasion upon the shores of the
belligerent isle, and thus compel the British to sheathe the sword.
While these immense preparations were going on, the First Consul devoted
his energies to the reconstruction of society in France.
Revolutionary fury had swept all the institutions of the past into
chaotic ruin. The good and the bad had been alike demolished.
Christianity had been entirely overthrown, her churches destroyed, and
her priesthood either slaughtered upon the guillotine, or driven from
the realm. France presented the revolting aspect of a mighty nation
without morality, without religion, and without a God. The masses of the
people, particularly in the rural districts of France, had become
disgusted with the reign of vice and misery. They longed to enjoy again
the quietude of the Sabbath morning, the tones of the Sabbath bell,
the gathering of the congregations in the churches, and all those
ministrations of religion which cheer the joyous hours of the bridal,
and which convey solace to the chamber of death. The overwhelming
majority of the people of France were Roman Catholics. Among the
millions who peopled the extensive realm there were but a few thousands
who were Protestants. Napoleon had not the power, even had he wished it,
of establishing Protestantism as the national religion.
He therefore, in accordance with his policy of adopting those measures
which were in accordance with the wishes of the people, resolved to
recognize the Catholic religion as the religion of France, while at the
same time he enforced perfect liberty of conscience for all other
religious sects. He also determined that all the high dignitaries of the
Church should be appointed by the French Government, and not by the
Pope. He deemed it not befitting the dignity of France, or in accordance
with her interests, that a foreign potentate, by having the appointment
of all the places of ecclesiastical power, should wield so immense an
influence over the French people.
But to re-establish the Catholic religion, and to invest it with the
supremacy which it had gained over the imaginations of men, it was
necessary to bring the system under the paternal jurisdiction of the
Pope, who throughout all Europe was the recognized father and head of
the Church.
But the Pope was jealous of his power. He would be slow to consent that
any officers of the Church should be appointed by any voice which did
not emanate from the Vatican. It was also an established decree of the
Church that heresy was a crime, meriting the severest punishment, both
civil and ecclesiastical. The Pope, therefore, could not consent that
anywhere within his spiritual domain freedom of conscience should be
tolerated. Under these circumstances, nothing could be more difficult
than the accomplishment of the plan which Napoleon had proposed for the
promotion of the peace and prosperity of France.
The eyes of the First Consul were immediately turned to his brother
Joseph, as the most fitting man in France to conduct negotiations of
somuch delicacy and importance. He consequently was appointed, in
conjunction with M. Cretet, Minister of the Interior, and the abbe
Bernier, subsequently Bishop of Orleans, as commissioner on the part
of France to a conference with the Holy See. The Pope sent, as his
representatives, the cardinals Consalvi and Spina, and the father
Caselli. Here again Joseph was entirely successful, and accomplished
hismission by securing all those results which the First Consul so
earnestly had desired.
The celebrated Concordat[H] was signed July 15th, 1801, at the
residence of Joseph in Paris, in the Rue Faubourg St. Honore. It was two
o'clock in the morning when the signatures of the several commissioners
were affixed to this important document.
[Footnote H: "I hold it for certain that in 1802 the Concordat was, on
the part of Napoleon, an act of superior intelligence, much more than of
a despotic spirit, and for the Christian religion in France an event as
salutary as it was necessary. After the anarchy and the revolutionary
orgies, the solemn recognition of Christianity by the State could alone
give satisfaction to public sentiment, and assure to the Christian
influence the dignity and the stability which it was needful that it
should recover."--Meditations sur l'etat Actuel de la Religion
Chretienne, par M. Guizot, p. 5.]
"At the same hour," writes Joseph, "I became the father of a third
infant, whose birth was saluted by the congratulations of the
plenipotentiaries of the two great powers, and whose prosperity was
augured by the envoys of the vicar of Christ. Their prayers have not
been granted. A widow at thirty years of age, separated from her father,
proscribed, as has been all the rest of her family, there only remains
to her the consolation of reflecting that she has not merited her
misfortunes."[I]
[Footnote I: This daughter subsequently married her cousin, the brother
of the Emperor Napoleon III., the second son of Louis Bonaparte. He died
at an early age, in a campaign for the liberation of Italy.]
Thus did Napoleon re-establish the Christian religion throughout the
whole territory of France. In this measure he was strenuously opposed by
many of his leading officers, and by the corrupt revolutionary circles
of France, yet throughout all the rural districts the restoration of
religion was received with boundless enthusiasm.
"The sound of the village bells," writes Alison, "again calling the
faithful to the house of God, was hailed by millions as the dove with
the olive-branch, which first pronounced peace to the green, undeluged
earth. The thoughtful and religious everywhere justly considered the
voluntary return of a great nation to the creed of its fathers, from the
experienced impossibility of living without its precepts, as the most
signal triumph which has occurred since it ascended the imperial throne
under the banners of Constantine."
Nearly all the powers upon the Continent of Europe were now at peace
with France. England alone still refused to sheathe the sword. But the
_people_ of England began to remonstrate so determinedly against this
endless war, which was openly waged to force upon France a detested
dynasty, that the English Government was compelled, though with much
reluctance, to listen to proposals for peace.
The latter part of the year 1801, the plenipotentiaries of France and
England met at Amiens, an intermediate point between London and Paris.
England appointed, as her ambassador, Lord Cornwallis, a nobleman of
exalted character, and whose lofty spirit of honor was superior to every
temptation. "The First Consul," writes Thiers, "on this occasion made
choice of his brother Joseph, for whom he had a very particular
affection, and who, by the amenity of his manners, and mildness of his
character, was singularly well adapted for a peace-maker, an office
which had been constantly reserved for him."
Napoleon, who had nothing to gain by war, was exceedingly anxious for
peace with all the world, that he might reconstruct French society from
the chaos into which revolutionary anarchy had plunged it, and that he
might develop the boundless resources of France. Lord Cornwallis was
received in Paris, with the utmost cordiality by Napoleon. Joseph
Bonaparte gave, in his honor, a magnificent entertainment, to which all
the distinguished Englishmen in France were invited, and also such
Frenchmen of note as he supposed Lord Cornwallis would be glad to meet.
La Fayette was not invited. Cornwallis had commanded an army in
America, where he had met La Fayette on fields of blood, and where he
subsequently, with his whole army, had been taken prisoner. Joseph
thought that painful associations might be excited in the bosom of his
English guest by meeting his successful antagonist. He therefore, from a
sense of delicacy, avoided bringing them together. But Cornwallis was a
man of generous nature. As he looked around upon the numerous guests
assembled at the table, he said to Joseph,
"I know that the Marquis de la Fayette is one of your friends. It would
have given me much pleasure to have met him here. I do not, however,
complain of your diplomatic caution. I suppose that you did not wish to
introduce to me at your table the general of Georgetown. I thank you for
your kind intention, which I fully appreciate. But I hope that when we
know each other better, we shall banish all reserve, and not act as
diplomatists, but as men who sincerely desire to fulfill the wishes of
their governments, and to arrive promptly at a solid peace. Moreover,
the Marquis de la Fayette is one of those men whom we can not help
loving. During his captivity I presented myself before the Emperor (of
Germany) to implore his liberation, which I did not have the happiness
of obtaining."
Cornwallis left Paris for Amiens. Joseph immediately after proceeded to
the same place. As he alighted from his carriage in the court-yard of
the hotel which had been prepared for him, one of the first persons whom
he met was Lord Cornwallis. The English lord, disregarding the
formalities of etiquette, advanced, and presenting his hand to Joseph,
said,
"I hope that it is thus that you will deal with me, and that all our
etiquette will not retard for a single hour the conclusion of peace.
Such forms are not necessary where frankness and honest intentions rule.
My Government would not have chosen me as an ambassador, if it had not
been intended to restore peace to the world. The First Consul, in
choosing his brother, has also proved his good intentions. The rest
remains for us."
[Illustration: CORNWALLIS AND JOSEPH.]
Louis Napoleon gives the following rather amusing account of this
incident.
"When Joseph, plenipotentiary of the French Republic, journeyed with his
colleagues toward Amiens, to conclude peace with England, in 1802, they
were much occupied, he said, during the route, as to the ceremonial
which should be observed with the English diplomatists. In the interests
of their mission they desired not to fail in any proprieties. Still,
being representatives of a republican state, they did not wish to show
too much attention, _prevenance_, to the grand English lords with whom
they were to treat.
"The French ambassadors were therefore much embarrassed in deciding to
whom it belonged to make the first visit. Quite inexperienced, they were
not aware that foreign diplomatists always conceal the inflexibility of
their policy under the suppleness of forms. Thus they were promptly
extricated from their embarrassment; for, to their great astonishment,
they found, upon their arrival at Amiens, Lord Cornwallis waiting for
them at the door of his hotel, and who, without any ceremony, himself
opened for them the door of their carriage, giving them a cordial grasp
of the hand."[J]
[Footnote J: Oeuvres de Napoleon III. tome ii. p. 456.]
Lord Cornwallis, however, found himself incessantly embarrassed by
instructions he was receiving from the ministry at London. They were
very reluctantly consenting to peace, being forced to it by the pressure
of public opinion. They were, therefore, hoping that obstacles would
arise which would enable them, with some plausibility, to renew the war.
Napoleon continually wrote to his brother urging him to do every thing
in his power to secure the signing of the treaty. In a letter on the
10th of March, he writes,
"The differences at Amiens are not worth making such a noise about. A
letter from Amiens caused the alarm in London by asserting that I did
not wish for peace. Under these circumstances delay will do real
mischief, and may be of great consequence to our squadrons and our
expeditions. Have the kindness, therefore, to send special couriers to
inform me of what you are doing, and of what you hear; for it is clear
to me that, if the terms of peace are not already signed, there is a
change of plans in London."
The treaty was signed on the 25th of March, 1802. Joseph immediately
prepared to return to Paris. Lord Cornwallis, in taking leave of Joseph,
said,
"I must go as soon as possible to London, in order to allay the storm
which will there be gathering against me."
"When I arrived in Paris," writes Joseph, "the First Consul was at the
opera; he caused me to enter into his box, and presented me to the
public in announcing the conclusion of the peace. One can easily imagine
the emotions which agitated me, and also him, for he was as tender a
friend, and as kind a brother, as he was prodigious as a man and great
as a sovereign."
Bernardin de St. Pierre, in his preface to "Paul and Virginia," renders
the following homage to the character of Joseph at this time:
"About a year and a half ago I was invited by one of the subscribers to
the fine edition of Paul and Virginia to come and see him at his
country-house. He was a young father of a family, whose physiognomy
announced the qualities of his mind. He united in himself every thing
which distinguishes as a son, a brother, a husband, a father, and a
friend to humanity. He took me in private, and said, 'My fortune, which
I owe to the nation, affords me the means of being useful. Add to my
happiness by giving me an opportunity of contributing to your own.' This
philosopher, so worthy of a throne, if any throne were worthy of him,
was Prince Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte."
While the treaty of Amiens was under discussion, Talleyrand wrote to
Joseph: "Your lot will indeed be a happy one if you are able to secure
for your brother that peace which alone his enemies fear. I embrace you,
and I love you. I think that this affair will kill me unless it is
closed as we desire."
At the conclusion of the treaty, Talleyrand again wrote: "MY DEAR
JOSEPH,--Citizen Dupuis has just arrived. He has been received by the
First Consul as the bearer of such good, grand, glorious news as you
have just sent by him should be received. Your brother is perfectly
satisfied (_parfaitement content_").
Madame de Stael wrote to Joseph: "Peace with England is the joy of the
world. It adds to my joy that it is you who have promoted it, and that
every year you have some new occasion to make the whole nation love and
applaud you. You have terminated the most important negotiation in the
history of France. That glory will be without any alloy."