Bonaparte's wish to negotiate with England and Austria--
An emigrant's letter--Domestic details--The bell--Conspiracy of
Ceracchi, Arena, Harrel, and others--Bonaparte's visit to the opera
--Arrests--Rariel appointed commandant of Vincennes--The Duc
d'Enghien's foster-sister--The 3d Nivoise--First performance of
Haydn's "Creation"--The infernal machine--Congratulatory addresses--
Arbitrary condemnations--M. Tissot erased from the list of the
banished--M. Truguet--Bonapartes' hatred of the Jacobins explained--
The real criminals discovered--Justification of Fouche--Execution of
St. Regent and Carbon--Caesar, Cromwell, and Bonaparte--Conversation
between Bonaparte and Fouche--Pretended anger--Fouche's
dissimulation--Lucien's resignation--His embassy to Spain--War
between Spain and Portugal--Dinner at Fouche's--Treachery of Joseph
Bonaparte--A trick upon the First Consul--A three days' coolness--
Reconciliation.
The happy events of the campaign of Italy had been crowned by the
armistice, concluded on the 6th of July. This armistice was broken on
the 1st of September, and renewed after the battle of Hohenlinden. On
his return from Marengo Bonaparte was received with more enthusiasm than
ever. The rapidity with which, in a campaign of less than two months, he
had restored the triumph of the French standard, excited universal
astonishment. He then actively endeavoured to open negotiations with
England and Austria; but difficulties opposed him in every direction. He
frequently visited the theatre, where his presence attracted prodigious
throngs of persons, all eager to see and applaud him.
The immense number of letters which were at this time addressed to the
First Consul is scarcely conceivable. They contained requests for
places, protestations of fidelity, and, in short, they were those
petitionary circulars that are addressed to all persons in power. These
letters were often exceedingly curious, and I have preserved many of
them; among the rest was one from Durosel Beaumanoir, an emigrant who had
fled to Jersey. This letter contains some interesting particulars
relative to Bonaparte's family. It is dated Jersey, 12th July 1800, and
the following are the moat remarkable passages it contains:
I trust; General, that I may, without indiscretion, intrude upon
your notice, to remind you of what, I flatter myself, you have not
totally forgotten, after having lived eighteen or nineteen years at
Ajaccio. But you will, perhaps, be surprised that so trifling an
item should be the subject of the letter which I have the honour to
address to you. You cannot have forgotten, General, that when your
late father was obliged to take your brothers from the college of
Autun, from whence he went to see you at Brienne, he was unprovided
with mousy, and he asked me for twenty-five louis, which I lent him
with pleasure. After his return he had no opportunity of paying me,
and when I left Ajaccio your mother offered to dispose of some plate
in order to pay the debt. To this I objected, and told her that I
would wait until she could pay me at her convenience, and previous
to the breaking out of the revolution I believe it was not in her
power to fulfil her wish of discharging the debt.
I am sorry, General, to be obliged to trouble yon about such a
trifle. But such is my unfortunate situation that even this trifle
is of some importance to me. Driven from my country, and obliged to
take refuge in this island, where everything is exceedingly
expensive, the little sum I have mentioned, which was formerly a
matter of indifference, would now be of great service to me.
You will understand, General, that at the age of eighty-six, after
serving served my country well for sixty years, without the least
interruption, not counting the time of emigration, chased from every
place, I have been obliged to take refuge here, to subsist on the
scanty succour given by the English Government to the French
emigrant. I say emigrant because I have been forced to be one.
I had no intention of being one, but a horde of brigands, who came
from Caen to my house to assassinate me, considered I had committed
the great crime in being the senior general of the canton and in
having the Grand Cross of St. Louis: this was too much for them; if
it had not been for the cries of my neighbours, my door would have
been broken open, and I should have been assassinated; and I had but
time to fly by a door at the back, only carrying away what I had on
me. At first I retired to Paris, but there they told me that I
could do nothing but go into a foreign country, so great was the
hate entertained for me by my fellow-citizens, although I lived in
retirement, never having any discussion with any one. Thus,
General; I have abandoned all I possessed, money and goods, leaving
them at the mercy of what they call the nation, which has profited a
good deal by this, as I have nothing left in the world, not even a
spot to put my foot on. If even a horse had been reserved for me,
General, I could ask for what depends on you, for I have heard it
said that some emigrants have been allowed to return home. I do not
even ask this favour, not having a place to rest my foot. And,
besides, I have with me here an exiled brother, older than I am,
very ill and in perfect second childhood, whom I could not abandon.
I am resigned to my own unhappy fate, but my sole and great grief is
that not only I myself have been ill-treated, but that my fate has,
contrary to the law, injured relations whom I love and respect. I
have a mother-in-law, eighty years old, who has been refused the
dower I had given her from my property, and this will make me die a
bankrupt if nothing is changed, which makes me miserable.
I acknowledge, General, that I know little of the new style, but,
according to the old form, I am your humble servant,
DUROSEL BEAUMANOIR.
I read this letter to the First Consul, who immediately said,
"Bourrienne, this is sacred! Do not lose a minute. Send the old man ten
times the sum. Write to General Durosel that he shall be immediately
erased from the list of emigrants. What mischief those brigands of the
Convention have done! I can never repair it all." Bonaparte uttered
these words with a degree of emotion which I rarely saw him evince. In
the evening he asked me whether I had executed his orders, which I had
done without losing a moment. The death of M. Froth had given me a
lesson as to the value of time!
Availing myself of the privilege I have already frequently taken of
making abrupt transitions from one subject to another, according as the
recollection of past circumstances occurs to my mind, I shall here note
down a few details, which may not improperly be called domestic, and
afterwards describe a conspiracy which was protected by the very man
against whom it was hatched.
At the Tuileries, where the First Consul always resided during the winter
and sometimes a part of the summer, the grand salon was situated between
his cabinet and the Room in which he received the persons with whom he
had appointed audiences. When in this audience-chamber, if he wanted
anything or had occasion to speak to anybody, he pulled a bell which was
answered by a confidential servant named Landoire, who was the messenger
of the First Consul's cabinet. When Bonaparte's bell rung it was usually
for the purpose of making some inquiry of me respecting a paper, a name,
a date, or some matter of that sort; and then Landoire had to pass
through the cabinet and salon to answer the bell and afterwards to return
and to tell me I was wanted. Impatient at the delay occasioned by this
running about, Bonaparte, without saying anything to me, ordered the bell
to be altered so that it should ring within the cabinet; and exactly
above my table. Next morning when I entered the cabinet I saw a man
mounted-upon a ladder. "What are you doing here?" said I. "I am hanging
a bell, sir." I called Landoire and asked him who had given the order.
"The First Consul," he replied. I immediately ordered the man to come
down and remove the ladder, which he accordingly did. When I went,
according to custom, to awaken the First Consul and read the newspapers
to him I said, "General, I found a man this morning hanging a bell in
your cabinet. I was told it was by your orders; but being convinced
there must be some mistake I sent him away. Surely the bell was not
intended for you, and I cannot imagine it was intended for me: who then
could it be for?--"What a stupid fellow that Landoire is!" said
Bonaparte. "Yesterday, when Cambaceres was with me, I wanted you.
Landoire did not come when I touched the bell. I thought it was broken,
and ordered him to get it repaired. I suppose the bell-hanger was doing
it when you saw him, for you know the wire passes through the cabinet."
I was satisfied with this explanation, though I was not deceived, by it.
For the sake of appearance he reproved Landoire, who, however, had done
nothing more than execute the order he had received. How could he
imagine I would submit to such treatment, considering that we had been
friends since our boyhood, and that I was now living on full terms of
confidence and familiarity with him?
Before I speak of the conspiracy of Ceracchi, Arena, Topino-Lebrun, and
others, I must notice a remark made by Napoleon at St. Helena. He said,
or is alleged to have said, "The two attempts which placed me in the
greatest danger were those of the sculptor Ceracchi and of the fanatic of
Schoenbrun." I was not at Schoenbrun at the time; but I am convinced
that Bonaparte was in the most imminent danger. I have been informed on
unquestionable authority that Staps set out from Erfurth with the
intention of assassinating the Emperor; but he wanted the necessary
courage for executing the design. He was armed with a large dagger, and
was twice sufficiently near Napoleon to have struck him. I heard this
from Rapp, who seized Stags, and felt the hilt of the dagger under his
coat. On that occasion Bonaparte owed his life only to the irresolution
of the young 'illuminato' who wished to sacrifice him to his fanatical
fury. It is equally certain that on another occasion, respecting which
the author of the St. Helena narrative observes complete silence, another
fanatic--more dangerous than Steps attempted the life of Napoleon.
--[At the time of this attempt I was not with Napoleon; but he
directed me to see the madmen who had formed the design of
assassinating him. It will be seen in the coarse of these Memoirs
what were has plans, and what was the result of them--Bourrienne]--
The following is a correct statement of the facts relative to Ceracchi's
conspiracy. The plot itself was a mere shadow; but it was deemed
advisable to give it substance, to exaggerate, at least in appearance,
the danger to which the First Consul had been exposed:--
There was at that time in Paris an idle fellow called Harrel; he had been
a 'chef de battalion', but he had been dismissed the service, and was
consequently dissatisfied. He became connected with Cerracchi, Arena,
Topino-Lebrun, and Demerville. From different motives all these
individuals were violently hostile to the First Consul, who on his part,
was no friend to Cerracchi and Arena, but scarcely knew the two others.
These four individuals formed, in conjunction with Harrel, the design of
assassinating the First Consul, and the time fixed for the perpetration
of the deed was one evening when Bonaparte intended to visit the opera.
On the 20th of September 1804 Harrel came to me at the Tuileries. He
revealed to me the plot in which he was engaged, and promised that his
accomplices should be apprehended in the very act if I would supply him
with money to bring the plot to maturity. I knew not how to act upon
this disclosure, which I, however, could not reject without incurring too
great a responsibility. I immediately communicated the business to the
First Consul, who ordered me to supply Harrel with money; but not to
mention the affair to Fouche, to whom he wished to prove that he knew
better how to manage the police than he did.
Harrel came nearly every evening at eleven o'clock to inform me of the
progress of the conspiracy, which I immediately communicated to the First
Consul, who was not sorry to find Arena and Ceracchi deeply committed.
But the time passed on, and nothing was done. The First Consul began to
grow impatient. At length Harrel came to say that they had no money to
purchase arms. Money was given him. He, however, returned next day to
say that the gunsmith refused to sell them arms without authority. It
was now found necessary to communicate the business to Fouche in order
that he might grant the necessary permission to the gunsmith, which I was
not empowered to do.
On the 10th of October the Consuls, after the breaking up of the Council,
assembled in the cabinet of their colleague. Bonaparte asked them in my
presence whether they thought he ought to go to the opera. They observed
that as every precaution was taken no danger could be apprehended, and
that it was desirable to show the futility of attempts against the First
Consul's life. After dinner Bonaparte put on a greatcoat over his green
uniform and got into his carriage accompanied by me and Duroc. He seated
himself in front of his box, which at that time was on the left of the
theatre between the two columns which separated the front and side boxes.
When we had been in the theatre about half an hour the First Consul
directed me to go and see what was doing in the corridor. Scarcely had I
left the box than I heard a great uproar, and soon discovered that a
number of persons, whose names I could not learn, had been arrested. I
informed the First Consul of what I had heard, and we immediately
returned to the Tuileries.
It is certain that the object of the conspiracy was to take the First
Consul's life, and that the conspirators neglected nothing which could
further the accomplishment of their atrocious design. The plot, however,
was known through the disclosures of Harrel; and it would have been easy
to avert instead of conjuring up the storm. Such was, and such still is,
my opinion. Harrel's name was again restored to the army list, and he
was appointed commandant of Vincennes. This post he held at the time of
the Duc d'Enghien's assassination. I was afterwards told that his wife
was foster-sister to the unfortunate prince, and that she recognised him
when he entered the prison which in a few short hours was to prove his
grave.
Carbonneau, one of the individuals condemned, candidly confessed the part
he had taken in the plot, which he said was brought to maturity solely by
the agents of the police, who were always eager to prove their zeal to
their employers by some new discovery.
Although three months intervened between the machinations of Ceracchi and
Arena and the horrible attempt of the 3d Nivose, I shall relate these two
events in immediate succession; for if they had no other points of
resemblance they were at least alike in their object. The conspirators
in the first affair were of the revolutionary faction. They sought
Bonaparte's life as if with the view of rendering his resemblance to
Caesar so complete that not even a Brutus should be wanting. The latter,
it must with regret be confessed, were of the Royalist party, and in
their wish to destroy the First Consul they were not deterred by the fear
of sacrificing a great number of citizens.
The police knew nothing of the plot of the 3d Nivose for two reasons;
first, because they were no parties to it, and secondly, because two
conspirators do not betray and sell each other when they are resolute in
their purpose. In such cases the giving of information can arise only
from two causes, the one excusable, the other infamous, viz. the dread of
punishment, and the hope of reward. But neither of these causes
influenced the conspirators of the 3d Nivose, the inventors and
constructors of that machine which has so justly been denominated
infernal!
On the 3d Nivose (24th December 1800) the first performance of Haydn's
magnificent oratorio of the "Creation" took place at the opera, and the
First Consul had expressed his intention of being present. I did not
dine with him that day, but as he left me he said, "Bourrienne, you know
I am going to the opera to-night, and you may go too; but I cannot take
you in the carriage, as Lannes, Berthier, and Lauriston are going with
me." I was very glad of this, for I much wished to hear one of the
masterpieces of the German school of composition. I got to the opera
before Bonaparte, who on his entrance seated himself, according to
custom, in front of the box. The eye's of all present were fixed upon
him, and he appeared to be perfectly calm and self-possessed. Lauriston,
as soon as he saw me, came to my box, and told me that the First Consul,
on his way to the opera, had narrowly escaped being assassinated in the
Rue St. Nicaise by the explosion of a barrel of gunpowder, the concussion
of which had shattered the windows of his carriage. "Within ten seconds
after our escape," added Lauriston, "the coachman having turned the
corner of the Rue St Honore, stopped to take the First Consul's orders;
and he coolly said, 'To the opera.'"
--[The following particulars respecting the affair of the infernal
machine are related by Rapp, who attended Madame Bonaparte to the
opera. He differs from Bourrienne as to the total ignorance of the
police:
"The affair of the infernal machine has never been property
understood by the public. The police had intimated to Napoleon that
an attempt would be made against his life and cautioned him not to
go out. Madame Bonaparte, Mademoiselle Beauharnais, Madame Murat,
Lannes, Bessieres, the aide de camp on duty, Lieutenant Lebrun, now
duke of Placenza were all assembled in the salon, while the First
Consul was writing in his cabinet. Haydn's oratorio was to be
performed that evening; the ladies were anxious to hear the music,
and we also expressed a wish to that effect. The escort piquet was
ordered out; and Lannes requested that Napoleon would join the
party. He consented; his carriage was ready, and he took along with
him Bessieres and the aide de camp on duty. I was directed to
attend the ladies. Josephine had received a magnificent shawl from
Constantinople and she that evening wore it for the first time.
'Permit me to observe,' said I, 'that your shawl is not thrown on
with your usual elegance.' She good-humouredly begged that I would
fold it after the fashion of the Egyptian ladies. While I was
engaged in this operation we heard Napoleon depart. 'Come sister,'
said Madame Murat, who was impatient to get to the theatre:
'Bonaparte is going:' We stopped into the carriage: the First
Consul's equipage had already reached the middle of the Place du
Carrousel. We drove after it, but we had scarcely entered the place
when the machine exploded. Napoleon escaped by a singular chance,
St. Regent, or his servant Francois, had stationed himself in the
middle of tho Rue Nicaise. A grenadier of the escort, supposing he
was really what he appeared to be, a water-carrier, gave him a few
blows with the flat of his sabre and drove him off. The cart was
turned round, and the machine exploded between the carriages of
Napoleon and Josephine. The ladies shrieked on hearing the report;
the carriage windows were broken, and Mademoiselle Beauharnais
received a slight hurt on her hand. I alighted and crossed the Rue
Nicaise which was strewed with the bodies of those who had been
thrown down, and the fragments of the walls that had been shattered
with the explosion. Neither the consul nor any individual of his,
suite sustained any serious injury. When I entered the theatre
Napoleon was seated in his box; calm and composed, and looking at
the audience through his opera-glass. Fouche was beside him.
'Josephine' said he as soon as he observed me. She entered at that
instant and he did not finish his question 'The rascals' said he
very cooly, wanted to blow me up: Bring me a book of the oratorio'"
(Memoirs of General Count Rape. P. 19)]--
On hearing this I left the theatre and returned to the Palace, under the
expectation that I should speedily be wanted. Bonaparte soon returned
home; and as intelligence of the affair had spread through Paris the
grand salon on the ground-floor was filled with a crowd of functionaries,
eager to read in the eye of their master what they were to think and say
on the occasion. He did not keep them long in suspense. "This,"
exclaimed he vehemently, "is the work of the Jacobins: they have
attempted my life.... There are neither nobles, priests, nor Chouans in
this affair!.... I know what I am about, and they need not think to
impose on me. These are the Septembrizers who have been in open revolt
and conspiracy, and arrayed against every succeeding Government. It is
scarce three months since my life was attempted by Uracchi, Arena;
Topino-Lebrun, and Demerville. They all belong to one gang! The
cutthroats of September, the assassins of Versailles, the brigands of the
81st of May, the conspirators of Prairial are the authors of all the
crimes committed against established Governments! If they cannot be
checked they must be crashed! France must be purged of these ruffians!"
It is impossible to form any idea of the bitterness with which Bonaparte,
pronounced these words. In vain did some of the Councillors of State,
and Fouche in particular, endeavour to point out to him that there was no
evidence against any one, and that before he pronounced people to be
guilty it would be right to ascertain the fact. Bonaparte repeated with
increased violence what he had before said of the Jacobins; thus adding;
not without some ground of suspicion, one crime more to, the long
catalogue for which they had already to answer.
Fouche had many enemies, and I was not, therefore, surprised to find some
of the Ministers endeavouring to take advantage of the difference between
his opinion and that of the First Consul; and it must be owned that the
utter ignorance of the police respecting this event was a circumstance
not very favourable to Fouche. He, however, was like the reed in the
fable--he bent with the wind, but was soon erect again. The most skilful
actor could scarcely imitate the inflexible calmness he maintained during
Bonaparte's paroxysm of rage, and the patience with which he allowed
himself to be accused.
Fouche, when afterwards conversing with me, gave me clearly to understand
that he did not think the Jacobins guilty. I mentioned this to the First
Consul, but nothing could make him retract his opinion. "Fouche," said
he, "has good reason for his silence. He is serving his own party. It
is very natural that he should seek to screen a set of men who are
polluted with blood and crimes! He was one of their leaders. Do not I
know what he did at Lyons and the Loire? That explains Fouche's conduct
now!"
This is the exact truth; and now let me contradict one of the thousand
fictions about this event. It has been said and printed that "the
dignitaries and the Ministers were assembled at the Tuileries. 'Well,'
said the First Consul, advancing angrily towards Fouche, 'will you still
say that this is the Royalist party?' Fouche, better informed than was
believed, answered coolly, 'Yes, certainly, I shall say so; and, what is
more, I shall prove it.' This speech caused general astonishment, but
was afterwards fully borne out." This is pure invention. The First
Consul only said to Fouche; "I do not trust to your police; I guard
myself, and I watch till two in the morning." This however, was very
rarely the case.
On the day after the explosion of the infernal machine a considerable
concourse assembled at the Tuileries. There was absolutely a torrent of
congratulations. The prefect of the Seine convoked the twelve mayors of
Paris and came at their head to wait on the First Consul. In his reply
to their address Bonaparte said, "As long as this gang of assassins
confined their attacks to me personally I left the law to take its
course; but since, by an unparalleled crime, they have endangered the
lives of a portion of the population of Paris, their punishment must be
as prompt as exemplary. A hundred of these wretches who have libeled
liberty by perpetrating crimes in her name must be effectually prevented
from renewing their atrocities." He then conversed with the Ministers,
the Councillors of State, etc., on the event of the preceding day; and as
all knew the First Consul's opinion of the authors of the crime each was
eager to confirm it. The Council was several times assembled when the
Senate was consulted, and the adroit Fouche, whose conscience yielded to
the delicacy of his situation, addressed to the First Consul a report
worthy of a Mazarin. At the same time the journals were filled with
recollections of the Revolution, raked up for the purpose of connecting
with past crimes the individuals on whom it was now wished to cast odium.
It was decreed that a hundred persons should be banished; and the senate
established its character for complaisance by passing a 'Senatus-
consulte' conformable to the wishes of the First Consul.
A list was drawn up of the persons styled Jacobins, who were condemned to
transportation. I was fortunate enough to obtain the erasure of the
names of several whose opinions had perhaps been violent, but whose
education and private character presented claims to recommendation. Some
of my readers may probably recollect them without my naming them, and I
shall only mention M. Tissot, for the purpose of recording, not the
service I rendered him, but an instance of grateful acknowledgment.
When in 1815 Napoleon was on the point of entering Paris M. Tissot came
to the prefecture of police, where I then was, and offered me his house
as a safe asylum; assuring me I should there run no risk of being
discovered. Though I did not accept the offer yet I gladly seize on this
opportunity of making it known. It is gratifying to find that difference
of political opinion does not always exclude sentiments of generosity and
honour! I shall never forget the way in which the author of the essays
on Virgil uttered the words 'Domus mea'.
But to return to the fatal list. Even while I write this I shudder to
think of the way in which men utterly innocent were accused of a
revolting crime without even the shadow of a proof. The name of an
individual, his opinions, perhaps only assumed, were sufficient grounds
for his banishment. A decree of the Consuls, dated 4th of January 1801,
confirmed by a 'Senates-consulte' on the next day, banished from the
territory of the Republic, and placed under special inspectors, 130
individuals, nine of whom were merely designated in the report as
Septembrizers.
The exiles, who in the reports and in the public acts were so unjustly
accused of being the authors of the infernal machine, were received at
Nantes, with so much indignation that the military were compelled to
interfere to save them from being massacred.
In the discussions which preceded the decree of the Consuls few persons
had the courage to express a doubt respecting the guilt of the accused.
Truguet was the first to mount the breach. He observed that without
denying the Government the extraordinary means for ,getting rid of its
enemies he could not but acknowledge that the emigrants threatened the
purchasers of national domains, that the public mind was corrupted by
pamphlets, and that-- Here the First Consul, interrupting him, exclaimed,
"To what pamphlets do you allude?"-- "To pamphlets which are publicly
circulated."--"Name them!"--"You know them as well as I do."
--[The Parallel between Caesar, Cromwell, and Bonaparte, of which I
shall speak a little farther on, is here alluded to.--Bourrienne.]--
After a long and angry ebullition the First Consul abruptly dismissed the
Council. He observed that he would not be duped; that the villains were
known; that they were Septembrizers, the hatchers of every mischief. He
had said at a sitting three days before, "If proof should fail, we must
take advantage of the public excitement. The event is to me merely the
opportunity. They shall be banished for the 2d September, for the 31st
May, for Baboeuf's conspiracy--or anything else."
On leaving one of the sittings of the Council, at which the question of a
special tribunal had been discussed, he told me that he had been a little
ruffled; that he had said a violent blow must be struck; that blood must
be spilt; and that as many of the guilty should be shot as there had been
victims of the explosion (from fifteen to twenty); that 200 should be
banished, and the Republic purged of these scoundrels.
The arbitrariness and illegality of the proceeding were so evident that
the 'Senatus-consulte' contained no mention of the transactions of the 3d
Nivose, which was very remarkable. It was, however, declared that the
measure of the previous day had been adopted with a view to the
preservation of the Constitution. This was promising.
The First Consul manifested the most violent hatred of the Jacobins;
for this he could not have been blamed if under the title of Jacobins he
had not comprised every devoted advocate of public liberty. Their
opposition annoyed him and he could never pardon them for having presumed
to condemn his tyrannical acts, and to resist the destruction of the
freedom which he had himself sworn to defend, but which he was
incessantly labouring to overturn. These were the true motives of his
conduct; and, conscious of his own faults, he regarded with dislike those
who saw and disapproved of them. For this reason he was more afraid of
those whom he called Jacobins than of the Royalists.
I am here recording the faults of Bonaparte, but I excuse him; situated
as he was, any other person would have acted in the same way. Truth now
reached him with difficulty, and when it was not agreeable he had no
disposition to hear it. He was surrounded by flatterers; and, the
greater number of those who approached him, far from telling him what
they really thought; only repeated what he had himself been thinking.
Hence he admired the wisdom of his Counsellors. Thus Fouche, to maintain
himself in favour, was obliged to deliver up to his master 130 names
chosen from among his own most intimate friends as objects of
proscription.
Meanwhile Fouche, still believing that he was not deceived as to the real
authors of the attempt of the 3d Nivose, set in motion with his usual
dexterity all the springs of the police. His efforts, however, were for
sometime unsuccessful; but at length on Saturday, the 31st January 1801,
about two hours after our arrival at Malmaison, Fouche presented himself
and produced authentic proofs of the accuracy of his conjectures. There
was no longer any doubt on the subject; and Bonaparte saw clearly that
the attempt of the 3d Nivose was the result of a plot hatched by the
partisans of royalty. But as the act of proscription against those who
were jumbled together under the title of the Jacobins had been executed,
it was not to be revoked.
Thus the consequence of the 3d Nivose was that both the innocent and
guilty were punished; with this difference, however, that the guilty at
least had the benefit of a trial.
When the Jacobins, as they were called, were accused with such
precipitation, Fouche had no positive proofs of their, innocence; and
therefore their illegal condemnation ought not to be attributed to him.
Sufficient odium is attached to his memory without his being charged with
a crime he never committed. Still, I must say that had he boldly opposed
the opinion of Bonaparte in the first burst of his fury he might have
averted the blow. Every time he came to the Tuileries, even before he
had acquired any traces of the truth, Fouche always declared to me his
conviction of the innocence of the persons first accused. But he was
afraid to make the same observation to Bonaparte. I often mentioned to
him the opinion of the Minister of Police; but as proof was wanting he
replied to me with a triumphant air, "Bah! bah! This is always the way
with Fouche. Besides, it is of little consequence. At any rate we shall
get rid of them. Should the guilty be discovered among the Royalists
they also shall be punished."
"The real criminals being at length discovered through the researches of
Fouche, St. Regent and Carbon expiated their crimes by the forfeit of
their heads. Thus the First Consul gained his point, and justice gained
hers.
--[It was St. Regent, or St. Rejeant, who fired the infernal
machine. The violence of the shock flung him against a post and
part of his breast bone was driven in. He was obliged to resort to
a surgeon, and it would seem that this man denounced him. (Memoirs
of Miot de Melito, tome i. p. 264).
The discussions which took place in the Council of State on this
affair are remarkable, both for the violence of Napoleon and for the
resistance made in the Council, to a great extent successfully, to
his views as to the, plot being one of the Jacobin party.]--
I have often had occasion to notice the multifarious means employed by
Bonaparte to arrive at the possession of supreme power, and to prepare
men's minds for so great change. Those who have observed his life must
have so remarked how entirely he was convinced of the truth that public
opinion wastes itself on the rumour of a project and possesses no energy
at the moment of its execution. In order, therefore, to direct public
attention to the question of hereditary power a pamphlet was circulated
about Paris, and the following is the history of it:--
In the month of December 1800, while Fouche was searching after the real
authors of the attempt of the 3d Nivose, a small pamphlet, entitled
"Parallel between Caesar, Cromwell, anal Bonaparte," was sent to the
First Consul. He was absent when it came. I read it, and perceived that
it openly advocated hereditary monarchy. I then knew nothing about the
origin of this pamphlet, but I soon learned that it issued from the
office of the Minister of the Interior [Lucien Bonaparte], and that it
had been largely circulated. After reading it I laid it on the table.
In a few minutes Bonaparte entered, and taking up the pamphlet pretended
to look through it: "Have you read this?" said he.--"Yes, General."--
"Well! what is your opinion of it?"--"I think it is calculated to
produce an unfavourable effect on the public mind: it is ill-timed, for
it prematurely reveals your views." The First Consul took the pamphlet
and threw it on the ground, as he did all the stupid publications of the
day after having slightly glanced over them. I was not singular in my
opinion of the pamphlet, for next day the prefects in the immediate
neighbourhood of Paris sent a copy of it to the First Consul, complaining
of its mischievous effect; and I recollect that in one of their letters
it was stated that such a work was calculated to direct against him the
poniards of new assassins. After reading this correspondence he said to
me, "Bourrienne, sent for Fouche; he must come directly, and give an
account of this matter." In half an hour Fouche was in the First
Consul's cabinet. No sooner had he entered than the following dialogue
took place, in which the impetuous warmth of the one party was strangely
contrasted with the phlegmatic and rather sardonic composure of the
other.
"What pamphlet is this? What is said about it in Paris?"--"General,
there is but one opinion of its dangerous tendency."--"Well, then, why
did you allow it to appear?"--"General, I was obliged to show some
consideration for the author!"--"Consideration for the author! What do
you mean? You should have sent him to the temple."--"But, General, your
brother Lucien patronises this pamphlet. It has been printed and
published by his order. In short, it comes from the office of the
Minister of the Interior."--"No matter for that! Your duty as Minister
of Police was to have arrested Lucien, and sent him to the Temple. The
fool does nothing but contrive how he can commit me!"
With these words the First Consul left the cabinet, shutting the door
violently behind him. Being now alone with Fouche, I was eager to get an
explanation of the suppressed smile which had more than once curled his
lips during Bonaparte's angry expostulation. I easily perceived that
there was something in reserve. "Send the author to the Temple!" said
Fouche; "that would be no easy matter! Alarmed at the effect which this
parallel between Caesar, Cromwell, and Bonaparte was likely to produce,
I went to Lucien to point out to him his imprudence. He made me no
answer, but went and got a manuscript, which he showed me, and which
contained corrections and annotations in the First Consul's handwriting."
When Lucien heard how Bonaparte had expressed his displeasure at the
pamphlet, he also came to the Tuileries to reproach his brother with
having thrust him forward and then abandoned him. "'Tis your own fault,"
said the First Consul. "You have allowed yourself to be caught! So much
the worse for you! Fouche is too cunning for you! You are a mere fool
compared with him!" Lucien tendered his resignation, which was accepted,
and he departed for Spain. This diplomatic mission turned to his
advantage. It was necessary that one should veil the Machiavellian
invention of the 'Parallel.'
--[The 'Parallel' has been attributed to different writers; some
phrases seemed the work of Lucien, but, says Thiers (tome ii p.
210), its rare elegance of language and its classical knowledge of
history should attribute it to its real anchor, Fontanel, Joseph
Bonaparte (Erreurs tome i. p. 270) says that Fontanel wrote it, and
Lucien Bonaparte corrected it. See Meneval, tome iii. p. 105.
Whoever wrote it Napoleon certainly planned its issue. " It was,"
said he to Roederer, a work of which he himself had given the idea,
but the last pages were by a fool" (Miot, tome i, p. 318). See also
Lanfrey, tome ii. p. 208; and compare the story in Iung's Lucien,
tome ii. p. 490. Miot, then in the confidence of Joseph, says,
that Lucien's removal from, office was the result of an angry
quarrel between him and Fouche in the presence of Napoleon, when
Fouche attacked Lucien, not only for the pamphlet, but also for the
disorder of his public and his private life; but Miot (tome i, p,
319) places the date of this as the 3d November, while Bourrienne
dates the disapproval of the pamphlet in December.]--
Lucien, among other instructions, was directed to use all his endeavours
to induce Spain to declare against Portugal in order to compel that power
to separate herself from England.
The First Consul had always regarded Portugal as an English colony, and
he conceived that to attack it was to assail England. He wished that
Portugal should no longer favour England in her commercial relations,
but that, like Spain, she should become dependent on him. Lucien was
therefore sent as ambassador to Madrid, to second the Ministers of
Charles IV. in prevailing on the King to invade Portugal. The King
declared war, but it was not of long duration, and terminated almost
without a blow being struck, by the taking of Olivenza. On the 6th of
June 1801 Portugal signed the treaty of Badajoz, by which she promised to
cede Olivenza, Almeida, and some other fortresses to Spain, and to close
her ports against England. The First Consul, who was dissatisfied with
the treaty, at first refused to ratify it. He still kept his army in
Spain, and this proceeding determined Portugal to accede to some slight
alterations in the first treaty. This business proved very advantageous
to Lucien and Godoy.
The cabinet of the Tuileries was not the only place in which the question
of hereditary succession was discussed. It was the constant subject of
conversation in the salons of Paris, where a new dynasty was already
spoken of. This was by no means displeasing to the First Consul; but he
saw clearly that he had committed a mistake in agitating the question
prematurely; for this reason he waged war against the Parallel, as he
would not be suspected of having had any share in a design that had
failed. One day he said to me, "I believe I have been a little too
precipitate. The pear is not quite ripe!" The Consulate for life was
accordingly postponed till 1802, and the hereditary empire till 1804.
After the failure of the artful publication of the pamphlet Fouche
invited me to dine with him. As the First Consul wished me to dine out
as seldom as possible, I informed him of the invitation I had received.
He was, however, aware of it before, and he very readily gave me leave to
go. At dinner Joseph was placed on the right of Fouche, and I next to
Joseph, who talked of nothing but his brother, his designs, the pamphlet,
and the bad effect produced by it. In all that fell from him there was a
tone of blame and disapproval I told him my opinion, but with greater
reserve than I had used towards his brother. He seemed to approve of
what I said; his confidence encouraged me, and I saw with pleasure that
he entertained sentiments entirely similar to my own. His unreserved
manner so imposed upon me that, notwithstanding the experience I had
acquired, I was far from suspecting myself to be in the company of a spy.
Next day the First Consul said to me very coldly, "Leave my letters in
the basket, I will open them myself." This unexpected direction
surprised me exceedingly, and I determined to play him a trick in revenge
for his unfounded distrust. For three mornings I laid at the bottom of
the basket all the letters which I knew came from the Ministers, and all
the reports which were addressed to me for the First Consul. I then
covered them over with those which; judging from their envelopes and
seals, appeared to be of that trifling kind with which the First Consul
was daily overwhelmed: these usually consisted of requests that he would
name the number of a lottery ticket, so, that the writer might have the
benefit of his good luck--solicitations that he would stand godfather to
a child--petitions for places--announcements of marriages and births--
absurd eulogies, etc. Unaccustomed to open the letters, he became
impatient at their number, and he opened very few. Often on the same
day, but always on the morrow, came a fresh letter from a Minister, who
asked for an answer to his former one, and who complained of not having
received one. The First Consul unsealed some twenty letters and left the
rest.
The opening of all these letters, which he was not at other times in the
habit of looking at, annoyed him extremely; but as I neither wished to
carry the joke too far, nor to remain in the disagreeable position in
which Joseph's treachery had placed me, I determined to bring the matter
to a conclusion. After the third day, when the business of the night,
which had been interrupted by little fits of ill-humour, was concluded,
Bonaparte retired to bed. Half an hour after I went to his chamber, to
which I was admitted at all hours. I had a candle in my hand, and,
taking a chair, I sat down on the right side of the bed, and placed the
candle on the table. Both he and Josephine awoke. "What is the matter?"
he asked with surprise. "General, I have come to tell you that I can no
longer remain here, since I have lost your confidence. You know how
sincerely I am devoted to you; if you have, then, anything to reproach me
with, let me at least know it, for my situation during the last three
days lies been very painful."--"What has Bourrienne done?" inquired
Josephine earnestly. --"That does not concern you," he replied. Then
turning to me he said, "Tis true, I have cause to complain of you. I
have been informed that you have spoken of important affairs in a very
indiscreet manner."--"I can assure you that I spoke to none but your
brother. It was he who led me into the conversation, and he was too well
versed in the business for me to tell him any secret. He may have
reported to you what he pleased, but could not I do the same by him?
I could accuse and betray him as he has accused and betrayed me. When I
spoke in confidence to your brother, could I regard him as an
inquisitor?"--"I must confess," replied Bonaparte, "that after what I
heard from Joseph I thought it right to put my confidence in
quarantine."--"The quarantine has lasted three days, General; surely that
is long enough."--"Well, Bourrienne, let us say no more about it. Open
my letters as usual; you will find the answers a good deal in arrear,
which has much vexed me; and besides, I was always stumbling on some
stupid nonsense or other!"
I fancy I still see and hear the amiable Josephine sitting up in bed and
saying, in her gentle way, "What! Bonaparte, is it possible you could
suspect Bourrienne, who is so attached to you, and who is your only
friend? How could you suffer such a snare to be laid for him? What!
a dinner got up on purpose! How I hate these odious police manoeuvres!"
--"Go to sleep," said Bonaparte; let women mind their gewgaws, and not
interfere with politics." It was near two in the morning before I
retired.
When, after a few hours' sleep, I again saw the First Consul, he was more
kind to me than ever, and I perceived that for the present every cloud
had dispersed.'
--[Joseph Bonaparte (Erreurs, tome i. p. 273) says what he
reported to his brother was Bourrienne's conversation to him in the
First Consul's cabinet during Napoleon's absence. It is curious
that at the only time when Napoleon became dissatisfied with Meneval
(Bourrienne's successor), and ordered him not to open the letters,
he used the same expression when returning to the usual order of
business, which in this case was to a few hours. "My dear Meneval,"
said he, "there are circumstances in which I am forced to put my
confidence in quarantine " (Meneval, tome i. p. 123). For any one
who has had to manage an office it is pleasant to find that even
Napoleon was much dependent on a good secretary. In an illness of
his secretary he said, showing the encumbrance of his desk, "with
Meneval I should soon clear off all that."(Meneval, tome i. p. 151.]