1802.
The most glorious epoch for France--The First Consul's desire of
peace--Malta ceded and kept--Bonaparte and the English journals--
Mr. Addington's letter to the First Consul--Bonaparte prosecutes
Peltier--Leclerc's expedition to St. Domingo--Toussaint Louverture--
Death of Leclerc--Rochambeau, his successor, abandons St. Domingo--
First symptoms of Bonaparte's malady--Josephine's intrigues for the
marriage of Hortense--Falsehood contradicted.
The epoch of the peace of Amiens must be considered as the most glorious
in the history of France, not excepting the splendid period of Louis
XIV.'s victories and the more brilliant era of the Empire. The Consular
glory was then pure, and the opening prospect was full of flattering
hope; whereas those who were but little accustomed to look closely into
things could discern mighty disasters lurking under the laurels of the
Empire.
The proposals which the First Consul made in order to obtain peace
sufficiently prove his sincere desire for it. He felt that if in the
commencement of his administration he could couple his name with so hoped
for an act he should ever experience the affection and gratitude of the
French. I want no other proof of his sentiments than the offer he made
to give up Egypt to the Grand Seignior, and to restore all the ports of
the Gulf of Venice and of the Mediterranean to the States to which they
had previously belonged; to surrender Malta to the order of the Knights
of St. John, and even to raze its fortifications if England should think
such a measure necessary for her interests. In the Indies, Ceylon was to
be left to him,
--[Ceylon belonged to Holland, but was retained by England under the
treaty of Amiens.]--
and he required the surrender of the Cape of Good Hope and all the places
taken by the English in the West Indies.
England had firmly resolved to keep Malta, the Gibraltar of the
Mediterranean, and the Cape of Good Hope, the caravanserai of the Indies.
She was therefore unwilling to close with the proposition respecting
Malta; and she said that an arrangement might be made by which it would
be rendered independent both of Great Britain and France. We clearly saw
that this was only a lure, and that, whatever arrangements might be
entered into, England would keep Malta, because it was not to be expected
that the maritime power would willingly surrender an island which
commands the Mediterranean. I do not notice the discussions respecting
the American islands, for they were, in my opinion, of little consequence
to us.
--[It is strange that Bourrienne does not allude to one of the first
arbitrary acts of Napoleon, the discussions on which formed part of
those conversations between Napoleon and his brother Lucien of which
Bourrienne complained to Josephine he knew nothing. In 1763 France
had ceded to England the part of Louisiana on the east of the
Mississippi, and the part on the west of that river, with New
Orleans, to Spain. By the treaty negotiated with Spain by Lucien
Bonaparte in 1800 her share was given back to France. On the 80th
April 1803 Napoleon sold the whole to the United States for
80,000,000 francs (L 3,260,000), to the intense anger of his
brothers Joseph and Lucien. Lucien was especially proud of having
obtained the cession for which Napoleon was, at that time, very
anxious; but both brothers were horrified when Napoleon disclosed
how little he cared for constitutional forms by telling them that if
the Legislature, as his brothers threatened, would not ratify the
treaty, he would do without the ratification; see Iung's Letter,
tome ii. p. 128.
Napoleon's most obvious motives were want of money and the certainty
of the seizure of the province by England, as the rupture with her
was now certain. But there was perhaps another cause. The States
had already been on the point of seizing the province from Spain,
which had interfered with their trade (Hinton's United States, p.
435, and Thiers tome iv, p. 320).
Of the sum to be paid, 20,000,000 were to go to the States, to cover
the illegal seizures of American ships by the French navy, a matter
which was not settled for many years later. The remaining
80,000,000 were employed in the preparations for the invasion of
England; see Thiers, tome iv. pp. 320 and 326, and Lanfrey, tome
iii. p. 48. The transaction is a remarkable one, as forming the
final withdrawal of France from North America (with the exception of
some islands on the Newfoundland coast), where she had once held
such a proud position. It also eventually made an addition to the
number of slave States.
They cost more than they produce; and they will escape from us, some time
or other, as all colonies ultimately do from the parent country. Our
whole colonial system is absurd; it forces us to pay for colonial produce
at a rate nearly double that for which it may be purchased from our
neighbours.
When Lord Hawkesbury consented to evacuate Malta, on condition that it
should be independent of France and Great Britain, he must have been
aware that such a condition would never be fulfilled. He cared little
for the order of St. John, and he should have put, by way of postscript,
at the bottom of his note, "We will keep Malta in spite of you."
I always told the First Consul that if he were in the situation of the
English he would act the same part; and it did not require much sagacity
to foretell that Malta would be the principal cause of the rupture of
peace. He was of my opinion; but at that moment he thought everything
depended on concluding the negotiations, and I entirely agreed with him.
It happened, as was foreseen, that Malta caused the renewal of war. The
English, on being called upon to surrender the island, eluded the demand,
shifted about, and at last ended by demanding that Malta should be placed
under the protection of the King of Naples,--that is to say, under the
protection of a power entirely at their command, and to which they might
dictate what they pleased. This was really too cool a piece of irony!
I will here notice the quarrel between the First Consul and the English
newspapers, and give a new proof of his views concerning the freedom of
the press. However, liberty of the press did once contribute to give him
infinite gratification, namely, when all the London journals mentioned
the transports of joy manifested in London on the arrival of General
Lauriston, the bearer of the ratification of the preliminaries of peace.
The First Consul was at all times the declared enemy of the liberty of
the press, and therefore he ruled the journals with a hand of iron.
--[An incident, illustrative of the great irritation which Bonaparte
felt at the plain speaking of the English press, also shows the
important character of Coleridge's writings in the 'Morning Post'.
In the course of a debate in the House of Commons Fox asserted that
the rupture of the trace of Amiens had its origin in certain essays
which had appeared in the Morning POST, and which were known to have
proceeded from the pen of Coleridge. But Fox added an ungenerous
and malicious hint that the writer was at Rome, within the reach of
Bonaparte. The information reached the ears for which it was
uttered, and an order was sent from Paris to compass the arrest of
Coleridge. It was in the year 1806, when the poet was making a tour
in Italy. The news reached him at Naples, through a brother of the
illustrious Humboldt, as Mr. Gillman says--or in a friendly warning
from Prince Jerome Bonaparte, as we have it on the authority of Mr.
Cottle--and the Pope appears to have been reluctant to have a hand
in the business, and, in fact, to have furnished him with a
passport, if not with a carriage for flight, Coleridge eventually
got to Leghorn, where he got a passage by an American ship bound for
England; but his escape coming to the ears of Bonaparte, a look-out
was kept for the ship, and she was chased by a French cruiser, which
threw the captain into such a state of terror that he made Coleridge
throw all his journals and papers overboard (Andrews' History of
Journalism, vol. ii. p. 28).]--
I have often heard him say, "Were I to slacken the reins, I should not
continue three months in power." He unfortunately held the same opinion
respecting every other prerogative of public freedom. The silence he had
imposed in France he wished, if he could, to impose in England. He was
irritated by the calumnies and libels so liberally cast upon him by the
English journals, and especially by one written in French, called
'L'Ambigu', conducted by Peltier, who had been the editor of the 'Actes
des Apotres' in Paris. The 'Ambigu' was constantly teeming with the moat
violent attacks on the First Consul and the French nation. Bonaparte
could never, like the English, bring himself to despise newspaper libels,
and he revenged himself by violent articles which he caused to be
inserted in the 'Moniteur'. He directed M. Otto to remonstrate, in an
official note, against a system of calumny which he believed to be
authorised by the English Government. Besides this official proceeding
he applied personally to Mr. Addington, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
requesting him to procure the adoption of legislative measures against
the licentious writings complained of; and, to take the earliest
opportunity of satisfying his hatred against the liberty of the press,
the First Consul seized the moment of signing the preliminaries to make
this request.
Mr. Addington wrote a long answer to the First Consul, which I translated
for him. The English Minister refuted, with great force, all the
arguments which Bonaparte had employed against the press. He also
informed the First Consul that, though a foreigner, it was competent in
him to institute a complaint in the courts of law; but that in such case
he must be content to see all the scandalous statements of which he
complained republished in the report of the trial. He advised him to
treat the libels with profound contempt, and do as he and others did, who
attached not the slightest importance to them. I congratulate myself on
having in some degree prevented a trial taking place at that time.
Things remained in this state for the moment; but after the peace of
Amiens the First Consul prosecuted Pettier, whose journal was always full
of violence and bitterness against him. Pettier was defended by the
celebrated Mackintosh, who, according to the accounts of the time,
displayed great eloquence on this occasion, yet, in spite of the ability
of his counsel, he was convicted. The verdict, which public opinion
considered in the light of a triumph for the defendant, was not followed
up by any judgment, in consequence of the rupture of the peace occurring
soon after. It is melancholy to reflect that this nervous susceptibility
to the libels of the English papers contributed certainly as much as, and
perhaps more than, the consideration of great political interests to the
renewal of hostilities. The public would be astonished at a great many
things if they could only look under the cards.
I have anticipated the rupture of the treaty of Amiens that I might not
interrupt what I had to mention respecting Bonaparte's hatred of the
liberty of the press. I now return to the end of the year 1801, the
period of the expedition against St. Domingo.
The First Consul, after dictating to me during nearly: the whole of one
night instructions for that expedition, sent for General Leclerc, and
said to him in my presence, "Here, take your instructions; you have a
fine opportunity for filling your purse. Go, and no longer tease me with
your eternal requests for money." The friendship which Bonaparte felt
for his sister Pauline had a good deal of influence in inducing him to
take this liberal way of enriching her husband.
The expedition left the ports of France on the 14th of December 1801, and
arrived off Cape St. Domingo on the 1st of February 1802. The fatal
result of the enterprise is well known, but we are never to be cured of
the folly of such absurd expeditions. In the instructions given to
Leclerc everything was foreseen; but it was painful to know that the
choice of one of the youngest and least capable of all the generals of
the army left no hope of a successful result. The expedition to St.
Domingo was one of Bonaparte's great errors. Almost every person whom he
consulted endeavoured to dissuade him from it. He attempted a
justification through the medium of his historians of St. Helena; but
does he succeed when he says, "that he was obliged to yield to the advice
of his Council of State?" He, truly, was a likely man to submit a
question of war to the discussion of the Council of State, or to be
guided in such an affair by any Council! We must believe that no other
motive influenced the First Consul but the wish, by giving him the means
of enriching himself, to get rid of a brother-in-law who had the gift of
specially annoying him. The First Consul, who did not really much like
this expedition, should have perhaps reflected longer on the difficulties
of attempting to subdue the colony by force. He was shaken by this
argument, which I often repeated to him, and he agreed with it, but the
inconceivable influence which the members of his family exercised on him
always overcame him.
Bonaparte dictated to me a letter for Toussaint, full of sounding words
and fine promises, informing him that his two children, who had been
educated in Paris, were sent back to him, offering him the title of vice-
governor, and stating that he ought readily to assist in an arrangement
which would contribute to reconnect the colony with the mother-country.
Toussaint, who had at first shown a disposition to close with the
bargain, yet feeling afraid of being deceived by the French, and probably
induced by ambitious motives, resolved on war. He displayed a great deal
of talent; but, being attacked before the climate had thinned the French
ranks, he was unable to oppose a fresh army, numerous and inured to war.
He capitulated, and retired to a plantation, which he was not to leave
without Leclerc's permission. A feigned conspiracy on the part of the
blacks formed a pretence for accusing Toussaint, and he was seized and
sent to France.
Toussaint was brought to Pains in the beginning of August. He was sent,
in the first instance, to the Temple, whence he was removed to the
Chateau de Joux. His imprisonment was rigorous; few comforts were
allowed him. This treatment, his recollection of the past, his
separation from the world, and the effects of a strange climate,
accelerated his death, which took place a few months after his arrival in
France. The reports which spread concerning his death, the assertion
that it was not a natural one, and that it had been caused by poison,
obtained no credit. I should add that Toussaint wrote a letter to
Bonaparte; but I never saw in it the expression attributed to him, "The
first man of the blacks to the first man of the whites" Bonaparte
acknowledged that the black leader possessed energy, courage, and great
skill. I am sure that he would have rejoiced if the result of his
relations with St. Domingo had been something else than the kidnaping and
transportation of Toussaint.
Leclerc, after fruitless efforts to conquer the colony, was himself
carried off by the yellow fever. Rochambeau succeeded him by right of
seniority, and was as unsuccessful as Menou had been in Egypt. The
submission of the blacks, which could only have been obtained by
conciliation, he endeavoured to compel by violence. At last, in December
1803, he surrendered to an English squadron, and abandoned the island to
Dessalines.
Bonaparte often experienced severe bodily pain, and I have now little
doubt, from the nature of his sufferings, that they were occasioned by
the commencement of that malady which terminated his life at St. Helena.
These pains, of which he frequently complained, affected him most acutely
on the night when he dictated to me the instructions for General Leclerc.
It was very late when I conducted him to his apartment. We had just been
taking a cup of chocolate, a beverage of which we always partook when our
business lasted longer than one o'clock in the morning. He never took a
light with him when he went up to his bedroom. I gave him my arm, and we
had scarcely got beyond the little staircase which leads to the corridor,
when he was rudely run against by a man who was endeavouring to escape as
quickly as possible by the staircase. The First Consul did not fall
because I supported him. We soon gained his chamber, where we, found
Josephine, who, having heard the noise, awoke greatly alarmed. From the
investigations which were immediately made it appeared that the uproar
was occasioned by a fellow who had been keeping an assignation and had
exceeded the usual hour for his departure.
On the 7th of January 1802 Mademoiselle Hortense was married to Louis
Bonaparte. As the custom was not yet resumed of adding the religious
ceremony to the civil contract, the nuptial benediction was on this
occasion privately given by a priest at the house Rue de la Victoire.
Bonaparte also caused the marriage of his sister Caroline,--[The wife of
Murat, and the cleverest of Bonaparte's sisters.]-- which had taken place
two years earlier before a mayor, to be consecrated in the same manner;
but he and his wife did not follow the example. Had he already, then, an
idea of separating from Josephine, and therefore an unwillingness to
render a divorce more difficult by giving his marriage a religious
sanction? I am rather inclined to think, from what he said to me, that
his neglecting to take a part in the religious ceremony arose from
indifference.
Bonaparte said at St. Helena, speaking of Louis and Hortense, that "they
loved each other when they married: they desired to be united. The
marriage was also the result of Josephine's intrigues, who found her
account in it." I will state the real facts. Louis and Hortense did not
love one another at all. That is certain. The First Consul knew it,
just as he well knew that Hortense had a great inclination for Duroc, who
did not fully return it. The First Consul agreed to their union, but
Josephine was troubled by such a marriage, and did all she could to
prevent it. She often spoke to me about it, but rather late in the day.
She told me that her brothers-in law were her declared enemies, that I
well knew their intrigues, and that I well knew there was no end to the
annoyances they made her undergo. In fact, I did know all this
perfectly. She kept on repeating to me that with this projected marriage
she would not have any support; that Duroc was nothing except by the
favour of Bonaparte; that he had neither fortune, fame, nor reputation,
and that he could be no help to her against the well-known ill-will of
the brothers of Bonaparte. She wanted some assurance for the future.
She added that her husband was very fond of Louis, and that if she had
the good fortune to unite him to her daughter this would be a
counterpoise to the calumnies and persecutions of her other brothers-in-
law. I answered her that she had concealed her intentions too long from
me, and that I had promised my services to the young people, and the more
willingly as I knew the favourable opinion of the First Consul, who had
often said to me, "My wife has done well; they suit one another, they
shall marry one another. I like Duroc; he is of good family. I have
rightly given Caroline to Murat, and Pauline to Leclerc, and I can well
give Hortense to Duroc, who is a fine fellow. He is worth more than the
others. He is now general of a division there is nothing against this
marriage. Besides, I have other plans for Louis." In speaking to Madame
Bonaparte I added that her daughter burst into tears when spoken to about
her marriage with Louis.
The First Consul had sent a brevet of general of division to Duroc by a
special courier, who went to Holland, through which the newly-made
general had to pass on his return from St. Petersburg, where, as I have
already said, he had been sent to compliment the Emperor Alexander on his
accession to the throne. The First Consul probably paid this compliment
to Duroc in the belief that the marriage would take place.
During Duroc's absence the correspondence of the lovers passed, by their
consent, through my hands. Every night I used to make one in a party at
billiards, at which Hortense played very well. When I told her, in a
whisper, that I had got a letter for her, she would immediately leave off
playing and run to her chamber, where I followed and gave her Duroc's
epistle. When she opened it her eyes would fill with tears, and it was
some time before she could return to the salon. All was useless for her.
Josephine required a support in the family against the family. Seeing
her firm resolution, I promised to no longer oppose her wishes, which I
could not disapprove, but I told her I could only maintain silence and
neutrality in these little debates, and she seemed satisfied.
When we were at Malmaison those intrigues continued. At the Tuileries
the same conduct was pursued, but then the probability of success was on
Duroc's side; I even congratulated him on his prospects, but he received
my compliments in a very cold manner. In a few days after Josephine
succeeded in changing the whole face of affairs. Her heart was entirely
set on the marriage of Louis with her daughter; and prayers, entreaties,
caresses, and all those little arts which she so well knew how to use,
were employed to win the First Consul to her purpose.
On the 4th of January the First Consul, after dinner, entered our
cabinet, where I was employed. "Where is Duroc?" he inquired.--"He has
gone to the opera, I believe."--"Tell him, as soon as he returns, that I
have promised Hortense to him, and he shall have her. But I wish the
marriage to take place in two days at the latest. I will give him
500,000 francs, and name him commandant of the eighth military division;
but he must set out the day after his marriage with his wife for Toulon.
We must live apart; I want no son-in-law at home. As I wish to come to
some conclusion, let me know to-night whether this plan will satisfy
him."--"I think it will not."--"Very well! then she shall marry Louis."
--"Will she like that?"--"She must like it." Bonaparte gave me these
directions in a very abrupt manner, which made me think that some little
domestic warfare had been raging, and that to put an end to it he had
come to propose his ultimatum. At half-past ten in the evening Duroc
returned; I reported to him, word for word, the proposition of the First
Consul. "Since it has come to that, my good friend," said he, "tell him
he may keep his daughter for me. I am going to see the -----," and, with
an indifference for which I cannot account, he took his hat and went off.
--[Duroc eventually married a Mademoiselle Hervae d'Almenara, the
daughter of a Spanish banker, who was later Minister of Joseph, and
was created Marquis of Abruenara. The lady was neither handsome nor
amiable, but she possessed a vast fortune, and Bonaparte himself
solicited her hand for his aide de camp. After the death of Duroc
his widow married a M. Fabvier, and Napoleon gave his Duchy of
Frioul to his daughter.]--
The, First Consul, before going to bed, was informed of Duroc's reply,
and Josephine received from him the promise that Louis and Hortense
should be married. The marriage took place a few days after, to the
great regret of Hortense, and probably to the satisfaction of Duroc.
Louis submitted to have forced on him as a wife a woman who had hitherto
avoided him as much as possible. She always manifested as much
indifference for him as he displayed repugnance for her, and those
sentiments have not been effaced.
--[The marriage of Louis Bonaparte took place on the 7th January.
The bride and bridegroom were exceedingly dull, and Mademoiselle
Hortense wept daring the whole of the ceremony. Josephine, knowing
that this union, which commenced so inauspiciously, was her own
work, anxiously endeavoured to establish a more cordial feeling
between her daughter and son-in-law. But all her efforts were vain,
and the marriage proved a very unhappy one (Memoirs de Constant).
Napoleon III. was the son of the Queen of Holland (Hortense
Beauharnais).]--
Napoleon said at St. Helena that he wished to unite Louis with a niece of
Talleyrand. I can only say that I never heard a word of this niece,
either from himself, his wife, or his daughter; and I rather think that
at that time the First Consul was looking after a royal alliance for
Louis. He often expressed regret at the precipitate marriages of his
sisters. It should be recollected that we were now in the year which saw
the Consulship for life established, and which, consequently, gave
presage of the Empire. Napoleon said truly to the companions of his
exile that "Louis' marriage was the result of Josephine's intrigues," but
I cannot understand how he never mentioned the intention he once had of
uniting Hortense to Duroc. It has been erroneously stated that the First
Consul believed that he reconciled the happiness of his daughter with his
policy. Hortense did not love Louis, and dreaded this marriage. There
was no hope of happiness for her, and the event has proved this. As for
the policy of the First Consul, it is not easy to see how it was
concerned with the marriage of Louis to Hortense, and in any case the
grand policy which professed so loudly to be free from all feminine
influences would have been powerless against the intrigues of Josephine,
for at this time at the Tuileries the boudoir was often stronger than the
cabinet. Here I am happy to have it in my power to contradict most
formally and most positively certain infamous insinuations which have
prevailed respecting Bonaparte and Hortense. Those who have asserted
that Bonaparte ever entertained towards Hortense any other sentiments
than those of a father-in-law for a daughter-in-law have, as the ancient
knights used to say, "lied in their throats." We shall see farther on
what he said to me on this subject, but it is never too soon to destroy
such a base calumny. Authors unworthy of belief have stated, without any
proof, that not only was there this criminal liaison, but they have gone
so far as to say that Bonaparte was the father of the eldest son of
Hortense. It is a lie, a vile lie. And yet the rumour has spread
through all France and all Europe. Alas! has calumny such powerful
charms that, once they are submitted to, their yoke cannot be broken?
--[Bourrienne's account of this marriage, and his denial of the vile
calumny about Napoleon, is corroborated by Madame Remusat. After
saying that Hortense had refused to marry the son of Rewbell and
also the Comte de Nun, she goes on: "A short time afterwards Duroc,
then aide de camp to the Consul, and already noted by him, fell in
love with Hortense. She returned the feeling, and believed she had
found that other half of herself which she sought. Bonaparte looked
favourably on their union, but Madame Bonaparte in her turn was
inflexible. 'My daughter,' said she, 'must marry s gentleman or a
Bonaparte.' Louis was then thought of. He had no fancy for
Hortense; defeated the Beauharnais family, and had a supreme
contempt for his sister-in-law. But as he was silent, he was
believed to be gentle; and as he was severe by character, he was
believed to be upright. Madame Louis told me afterwards that at the
news of this arrangement she experienced violent grief. Not only
was she forbidden to think of the man she loved, but she was about
to be given to another of whom she had a secret distrust" (Remusat,
tome i. p. l56). For the cruel treatment of Hortense by Louis see
the succeeding pages of Remusat. As for the vile scandal about
Hortense and Napoleon, there is little doubt that it was spread by
the Bonapartist family for interested motives. Madame Louis became
enceinte soon after her marriage. The Bonapartists, and especially
Madame Murat (Caroline); had disliked this marriage because Joseph
having only daughters, it was forseen that the first son of Louis
and the grandson of Madame Bonaparte would be the object of great
interest. They therefore spread the revolting story that this was
the result of a connection of the First Consul with his daughter-in-
law, encouraged by the mother herself. 'The public willingly
believed this suspicion.' Madame Murat told Louis," etc. (Remusat,
tome i, p. 169). This last sentence is corroborated by Miot de
Melito (tome ii. p. 170), who, speaking of the later proposal of
Napoleon to adopt this child, says that Louis "remembered the
damaging stories which ill-will had tried to spread among the public
concerning Hortense Beauharnais before be married her, and although
a comparison of the date of his marriage with that of the birth of
his son must have shown him that these tales were unfounded, he felt
that they world be revived by the adoption of this child by the
First Consul." Thus this wretched story did harm in every way.
The conduct of Josephine mast be judged with leniency, engaged as
she was in a desperate straggle to maintain her own marriage,--a
struggle she kept up with great skill; see Metternich, tome ii. p.
296. "she baffled all the calculations, all the manoeuvres of her
adversaries." But she was foolish enough to talk in her anger as if
she believed some of the disgraceful rumours of Napoleon. "Had he
not seduced his sisters, one after the other?" (Remusat, tome i. p.
204). As to how far this scandal was really believed by the
brothers of Napoleon, see Iung's Lucien (tome ii. pp. 268-269),
where Lucien describes Louis as coming three times to him for advice
as to his marriage with Hortense, both brothers referring to this
rumour. The third time Louis announces he is in love with Hortense.
"You are in love? Why the devil, then, do you come to me for
advice? If so, forget what has been rumoured, and what I have
advised you. Marry, and may God bless you."
Thiers (tome iii. p. 308) follows Bourrienne's account. Josephine,
alluding to Louis Bonaparte, said, "His family have maliciously
informed him of the disgraceful stories which have been spread on
the conduct of my daughter and on the birth of her son. Hate
assigns this child to Napoleon." (Remusat, tome i, p. 206). The
child in question was Napoleon Charles (1802-1807).