confessed, that he conducted himself so as to deserve it: on one hand
he caressed the nation, and on the other private interests, which it
is much more difficult to conciliate than what is called the public
interest.
The decrees of Lyons had sequestrated anew the estates restored to
emigrants since 1814. Part of these had been sold by those who had
recovered them; and it was necessary, to quiet the apprehensions of
the purchasers. The Emperor declared irrevocable all the sales, that
had been completed; and confirmed those, that had taken place
subsequently to the decree, when it could be proved, that they were
not collusive.
On the other hand, the emigrants, who had returned, had purchased
property, the price of which might not have been entirely paid: and in
order to do justice both to the emigrants and to the sellers, he
ordered, that estates recently acquired should not be subject to
sequestration, on condition of being re-sold within a certain period.
Another decree from Lyons had indiscriminately abolished all
promotions in the legion of honour, and in the army, made since the
royal restoration. He subjected to revision the nominations, that
appeared to him the result of favour, intrigue, and venality; and
confirmed all, that had been the reward of real and meritorious
services. He would not even allow men's opinions, to constitute a line
of demarcation and directed the minister, to pay regard to ancient
services rendered by officers since incorporated in the King's
household.
He confirmed also the decorations granted to the national guard; and
distributed new ones among the brave pupils of the polytechnical
school, whose noble conduct had so much excited the admiration of
Paris, and of foreigners, at the time of the occurrences of 1814.
The daughters of the members of the legion of honour had claims to
his remembrance, and his consolation, too sacred, not to participate
in his favours. He went to visit them. His presence excited
inexpressible enthusiasm among these young orphans: they threw
themselves at his feet, embraced his knees, and watered them with
their tears. He had taken a spoon, to taste their food: after he was
gone, as every one wished to have it, they broke it to pieces, and
shared it amongst them. Most of them had braided rings of hair, on
which were traced patriotic devices, or the ingenious expression of
their sentiments for Napoleon. The Emperor having condescended to
accept some of these, and place them on his fingers, every one of the
orphans was desirous of obtaining the same favour: they rushed on him,
seized his hands, and in an instant covered them with these innocent
pledges of love and gratitude. The Emperor, moved, enchanted,
submitted with kind complaisance to the gentle fetters of these
amiable infants. They ingeniously intreated him, not to give away the
rings they had presented to him; and he promised to keep them,
assuring them, that they would be as valuable in his eyes as the
jewels of his crown.
The working class, who had surnamed Napoleon _le grand
entrepreneur_[84], also received its share of the imperial favours.
The works commenced in his reign, and buried in dust under that of the
Bourbons, were resumed with activity. The capital became, as before, a
vast workshop: and the Parisians, who had learned from strangers to
perceive the beauty of their edifices, saw with a mingled sentiment of
gratitude and pride, that new marvels were still more to embellish
their majestic city.
[Footnote 84: We have no single word in our
language answering to this: it implies one who
undertakes works of different kinds, including our
architect and civil engineer.--Tr.]
In fine, all classes received testimonies of the solicitude and
justice of Napoleon. Must it be said? his old companions in the island
of Elba alone were forgotten.
While Napoleon had no throne but his rock, they had shown themselves
as disinterested as faithful: when he had recovered his crown, they
flattered themselves, that they should be recompensed with generosity.
Some, whom honour alone had attached to Napoleon, enjoyed in prospect
the praises, titles, ribands, that would be bestowed on them: others,
inspired with less lofty sentiments, expected benefits more solid.
The guard and its worthy chiefs were ambitious only of the favour of
retaining the glorious title of grenadiers of the island of Elba. Vain
illusions! the Emperor's thoughts, entirely absorbed by other cares,
were no longer turned to those brave fellows, who had shared his exile
and his misfortunes. The moment of forgetfulness, however, had not
time to degenerate into ingratitude: it was repaired: promotions,
endowments, indemnifications, were bestowed on them; and, if they did
not feel themselves completely satisfied with the conduct of Napoleon,
they had at least no reason to complain.
The Emperor would have wished from feeling, and perhaps too from
ostentation, to have had it in his power, to acknowledge in a manner
more worthy of himself their services and attachment: but he was
deterred by the fear of being charged with imitating the Bourbons, and
of preferring those Frenchmen, who had gone into exile with him, to
those who had retained their fidelity in their mother country.
These scruples appear to me unfounded.
The emigrants had sullied their native land with blood, shed either by
their own weapons, or in the civil wars they had fomented and
cherished; and the indignant nation had long combated them, and
pursued them with its maledictions, as the enemies of its happiness
and tranquillity.
The Frenchmen who returned from the island of Elba with Napoleon, on
the contrary, had spilt their blood in the defence of their country.
They were beloved, honoured, respected and the recompenses the Emperor
might have bestowed upon them, instead of tending to alienate France,
would have fulfilled her wishes. She would have enjoyed it with that
feeling of pride and pleasure, which a mother experiences, when she
hears the triumphs of her children proclaimed in the lists opened for
youth, and sees their heads adorned with the rewards of their success.
Policy, no less than justice, required, that Napoleon should confer,
even with prodigality, his favours and benefits on men, who had
sacrificed themselves for him. In his situation it would have been
better, to have been deemed prodigal than ungrateful: but fortune
favoured him so highly, that he might be allowed, in some degree, to
neglect the means of securing the feeble support of men.
The re-establishment of the imperial government, which appeared as if
it would experience some obstacles, took place on all sides with a
promptitude and facility truly extraordinary. Marshal Augereau, who
had endeavoured in his proclamation of 1814 to disgrace the Emperor,
was eager to make his public recantation in a fresh proclamation.
The Duke of Belluno, and Count Gouvion St. Cyr, after attempting in
vain to curb their insurgent troops, were forced to shun their
resentment by flight.
The troubles excited in La Vendee and Calvados by a few royal
volunteers had been appeased, and the perturbators disarmed.
The military household of the King had submitted to their discharge,
and readily surrendered their horses and arms.
In fine, the royal family had evacuated the imperial territory.
The Emperor thought proper, to acquaint his army in person with these
happy results. "Thanks to the French people and you," said he, on
reviewing the troops on the 27th of March, "the imperial throne is
re-established. It is acknowledged throughout the empire, and not a
single drop of blood has been spilt. The Count de Lille, the Count
d'Artois, the Duke de Berri, the Duke of Orleans, have passed our
northern frontier, and sought an asylum among foreigners. The
tricoloured flag waves on the towers of Calais, Dunkirk, Lille,
Valenciennes, Conde, &c. A few bands of Chouans had attempted to form
themselves in Poitou and La Vendee: popular opinion, and the march of
a few battalions, were sufficient to disperse them. The Duke of
Bourbon, who came to excite disturbances in the provinces, has
embarked at Nantes.
"How senseless were they," continued the Emperor, "and how little did
they know of the nation, who imagined, that the French would consent
to receive a prince from those very hands, that had ravaged our
territory, and, aided by treason, had for a moment obscured our
laurels!"
The King, who at first took refuge at Lille, had in fact just retired
to Ghent. His Majesty had given orders to his household and the
princes, to join him in the former city, where it had been apparently
his intention, to take up his residence, and convene the chambers. But
marshal the Duke of Treviso, governor of that division, declared to
him, that he would no longer answer for his troops, if the musketeers,
the body guards, &c., entered the place; and advised him to repair to
Dunkirk, which, from its geographical position, and the attachment of
its inhabitants, afforded him an opportunity of awaiting the issue of
events without danger. M. de Blacas and the emigrants with the King
remonstrated with him strongly, that he would not be out of danger
there; and that he could no longer be safe from the pursuit of
Napoleon, except in a foreign country. The Duke of Treviso still
insisted on the contrary: and the King, in spite of the alarm and
entreaties of the Count de Blacas and the other courtiers, had
resolved to follow the advice of the marshal, when some despatches
from the Count d'Artois, received in the course of the night,
determined him to pass the frontier.
The Emperor thought at first, that the design of Louis XVIII. was to
return to England. He was glad of this: and it was not without extreme
vexation, that he learned the intention of this Prince, to remain on
the Belgic frontiers, observing the course of affairs. But if this
resolution, to which perhaps the King was indebted for the recovery of
his throne, was displeasing to Napoleon, it never inspired him with
the criminal desire, as some wicked writers have pretended, of making
any attempts against the lives or liberty of the Bourbons.
The orders given to General Excelmans merely were, to drive the King
and the Princes out of France step by step. He was never commanded,
"either to secure their persons, or to kill them in case of
resistance."
The instructions given at the same time to Marshal Ney, sent on a
mission to the frontiers of the North and East, directed him also in
express words, "to cause the royal family to be respected, and
facilitate its procuring the means of quitting France freely and
quietly[85]."
[Footnote 85: It was this mission, that became the
source of the disgrace, in which the marshal lived,
till the day of his being recalled to the army. The
Emperor had ordered him, to set off immediately: he
answered, that he could not go, till he was paid
some twenty thousand francs, which were owing to
him. The Emperor, swearing, ordered them to be
paid.
The next day General Le Courbe, to whom the Emperor
had just entrusted an important command, wrote to
him, to demand several favours, and in addition a
hundred and fifty thousand francs, as arrears of
pay, in order to discharge his debts.
Two other generals, less known, were equally
desirous of being paid for their services. He was
disgusted at their claims. "Do these men think,"
said he, "that I throw away my money? I am not
inclined to suffer myself to be plundered like
Henry IV; if they be not inclined to fight, let
them put on petticoats, and go and take an
airing."]
It has been asserted, that the Duke of Bassano, who had the temporary
charge of the port-folio of the home department, had sent orders to
M. Simeon, then royal prefect at Lille, to arrest the King. The Duke
of Bassano, indignant at such an odious charge, would not quit France,
without having refuted it. He proposed, to summon M. Simeon to declare
the truth; and his declaration would have been made public through the
means of the newspapers and the press, if the police had not opposed
it.
The King quitted Lille on the 23d of March. The Duke of Orleans, who
had attended his Majesty, and whom the King on his departure had
invested with the command of that place, did not quit it till
twenty-four hours after; when he addressed the following letter to
Marshal Mortier.
"I commit entirely to your hands, my dear Marshal, the command which I
was so happy as to exercise with you in the department of the North. I
am too good a Frenchman, to sacrifice the interests of France, because
fresh misfortunes compel me to quit it. I go to bury myself in
retirement and oblivion. The King being no longer in France, I cannot
issue orders in his name: and nothing remains for me, but to absolve
you from all obedience to the orders I have already transmitted to
you; requesting you, to do whatever your own excellent judgment, and
pure patriotism, shall suggest to you as most conducive to the
interests of France, and most agreeable to the duties you have to
fulfil."
The Emperor, after having read this letter, turned to the Duke of
Bassano, and said: "See what the Duke of Orleans writes to Mortier;
this letter does him honour. _His heart was always French._"
I then informed him, that I had been assured, that the Duke of
Orleans, when he parted from his officers, said to one of them,
Colonel Athalin: "Go, sir, resume the national cockade: I take a pride
in having worn it, and I wish I could wear it still." The Emperor
appeared struck with these words, and made no reply. A few minutes
after he asked me, if I had not a letter from Madame the Duchess of
Orleans. I delivered it to him: he read it, and said: "Let his mother
_be treated with the regard he merits_." And he ordered, that the
duchess, whose property had just been sequestrated, should receive
annually from the public treasury three hundred thousand francs as an
indemnification. At the same time another indemnification of a
hundred and fifty thousand francs was granted to the Duchess of
Bourbon.
The Duke of Bourbon, though the Emperor had announced his embarkation,
did not sail however till several days afterward. His presence and his
proclamation had produced a partial rising in the circle of Beaupreau;
but convinced by his own eyes, and by the reports of his principal
officers, that the great body of the Vendeans would not stir, he
yielded to the wishes of Colonel Noirot, commandant of the
gendarmerie, expressed in the following letter:
"Monseigneur,
"It will not be in vain, I am persuaded, that I make an appeal to your
magnanimity. It is in your power, with a single word, to calm an
effervescence, the first results of which may once more stain with
blood the fields of the too unhappy Vendee: this word your Highness
will pronounce, and every thing will be restored to order. You will be
aware likewise, Monseigneur, that a longer stay in the circle of
Beaupreau, while it endangers the internal security of the country,
will also endanger the personal safety of your Highness.
"Deign then, I conjure you, Monseigneur, to yield to the wishes I
entertain for your happiness, and for that of my country. For all the
means of safety, which your Highness may desire, to repair to the
place of destination you may choose, I will engage."
This letter, which I take a pleasure in quoting, to prove what was the
language of the men of the 20th of March, was not without effect. The
Duke of Bourbon directed his aide-de-camp to have an interview with
Colonel Noirot and it was determined, that his Highness should quit la
Vendee, and embark at Nantes for England.
For reasons with which I am unacquainted, the prince did not fulfil
his engagements. In fact, he quitted Beaupreau, but still roamed about
the coast some time with a fictitious passport, and under a borrowed
name. General--[86] recognised him, but respected his disguise. The
Emperor approved this deference, and gave orders, that he should
merely be obliged to depart: the father of the Duke of Enghien was
become sacred to him, and to France.
[Footnote 86: I regret, that I did not learn his
name.]
Of all the family of the Bourbons the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme
alone persisted in struggling against their ill-fortune.
She was at Bordeaux at the time of the landing. The entrance of
Napoleon into Paris, the flight of the King, and the general defection
of the army, did not abate her courage. She made the national guard
take up arms: she hastened to the barracks, to harangue the soldiers,
and remind them of what they owed to their oaths and to their King.
Numerous battalions of volunteers were instantly formed, and directed
by her orders, to defend the avenues to the city, intercept all
communication, and prevent popular commotions.
General Clausel, however, appointed by the Emperor head commandant of
the 11th division, had advanced as far as St. Andre de Cubsac, six
leagues from Bordeaux, at the head of about five and twenty gendarmes
collected on the road, and of a hundred and fifty men from the
garrison of Blayes, who, informed of his arrival by his emissaries,
had come to meet him.
On his approach, a battalion of volunteers, posted at Cubsac with two
pieces of cannon, retreated hastily to St. Vincent, and there joined
some other volunteers, to defend with them the passage of the
Dordogne.
The soldiers of General Clausel attempted to seize the flying bridge,
and were saluted with several discharges of artillery and small arms,
which they received without returning. Their chief, desirous of
avoiding a civil war, requested, that some person might be sent, to
hold a parley with him. The Bordelese having deputed their commandant,
M. de Martignac, for this purpose, he charged this officer, to make
known to them, that he had no design of making any attempts against
their persons or property; and that he conjured them, in the name of
their country, not to spill the blood of Frenchmen to no purpose.
Nevertheless some hostile appearances were continued on both sides;
but the royal volunteers were alarmed at the sight of three boats,
which they supposed to be filled with troops, and took flight.
General Clausel, thus become master of the Dordogne, was preparing to
cross it, when M. de Martignac returned to inform him, that Madame the
Duchess of Angouleme consented to retire, and that the city should be
delivered up to him in twenty-four hours.
Madame, instead of fulfilling this double promise, allowed herself to
yield to the desire and hope of prolonging the defence. She assembled
the national guard, and made fresh attempts to bring over the troops
of the garrison to the royal party.
General Clausel perceived her at a distance reviewing the national
guards and volunteers: he ordered M. de Martignac to be called back,
and complained of the promises made him not being fulfilled. He urged
in excuse, that the national guard and the garrison were no longer
disposed to surrender the city. The general, perceiving that the
Bordelese flattered themselves with being seconded by the troops of
the line, assured M. de Martignac, that, on the contrary, they only
waited for a concerted signal, to declare themselves in favour of the
imperial cause. M. de Martignac appearing to doubt this, the general
ordered a flag to be waved in the air, and immediately the tricoloured
standard was hoisted on Trompette castle[87].
[Footnote 87: The fortress in which the garrison
was quartered.]
The Bordelese, astonished and affrighted, requested a capitulation.
General Clausel was eager to grant all their proposals, and the next
day they opened the gates of the city to him.
The Emperor was well pleased with the happy issue of this affair. He
gave orders, to publish the report of General Clausel immediately:
but as this report was a mere military statement, he added to it
himself the supplementary particulars below, which he directed to be
inserted in the Moniteur under the head of Bordeaux.
"The firm and courageous conduct of General Clausel has prevented
great evils: the passage of the Dordogne made a strong impression
here. Before he reached la Bastide, the Duchess of Angouleme, feeling
an alarm she was unable to conceal, sent him a promise, that she would
quit Bordeaux in the morning of the 1st of April; which induced
General Clausel, to halt at la Bastide, in front of Bordeaux, on the
right bank of the Garonne, where he arrived on the 31st of March in
the evening. The Duchess of Angouleme thought proper, to avail herself
of this delay, and break her promise: she went to the barracks, caused
the troops to be assembled, and endeavoured to persuade them, to
oppose the entrance of General Clausel into Bordeaux. The officers of
all ranks told her plainly, that they would pay her all the respect
due to her unfortunate situation, and to her sex, but that, being
Frenchmen themselves, no motive could induce them, to take up arms
against Frenchmen. The Duchess shed abundance of tears: she requested,
that the troops would at least remain neutral, if the national guards
should be willing to fight for her. The officers answered, that they
would not fire on the national guard; but they would not suffer the
national guard, to fire on the troops of General Clausel: they would
not allow a single drop of French blood to be spilt. The soldiers
joined with one voice in the sentiments of their officers: the Duchess
retired with alarm in her heart, and threats in her mouth: she was all
trembling. When she reached the quay, where the national guard was
under arms, she was received in profound silence. A murmur pervaded
the ranks of "No fighting! no civil war!" The Duchess hastened to
retire to the imperial palace, where she gave orders for her
departure[88]. At eight o'clock she had quitted Bordeaux. The fire she
had kindled was not extinguished in every bosom. The national guard,
which had just conducted itself so prudently, had in company with it
some unruly persons. These were the dregs of the people, forming the
bulk of the companies of royal volunteers, who had been bribed to
enlist, and reckoned upon plunder. Their hopes were already
disappointed by the firmness of the national guard. A small number of
the most outrageous fired on the company of M. Troplong, who was
reputed to be of the soundest principles. The national guard returned
the fire. The volunteers fled, but Captain Troplong had received a
mortal wound. He has just been interred with military honours. More
than ten thousand persons attended the funeral of this excellent
citizen; the regret occasioned by his death suspended for a moment the
gaiety of the people, happy in being at length freed from the evils,
with which they were threatened."
[Footnote 88: She set off in the evening for
Pouillac; where, having bidden adieu to the
volunteer cavalry, who had escorted her, she went
on board an English vessel, and sailed for England
on the 2d of April.]
The energy and intrepidity, which the granddaughter of Maria Theresa
displayed on this occasion, excited the praise of the Emperor, and
drew from him the well known phrase: "She is the only man in the
family."
He no less admired the firm and respectful demeanour maintained by the
regiments of the garrison, amid the provocations and reproaches of the
Duchess. "Every thing that passed at Bordeaux," said he, "is truly
extraordinary; and I know not which most demands our astonishment, the
noble boldness of Madame d'Angouleme, or the magnanimous patience of
my soldiers."
The effervescence of the Bordelese having subsided, Provence and
Languedoc, where the Duke of Angouleme had excited and maintained the
flames of insurrection, still remained to be pacified.
This prince, having heard at Toulouse, that the Emperor had landed in
the gulf of Juan, repaired immediately to the principal towns in the
South, and made the partisans of the Bourbons and of royalty take up
arms.
Three thousand two hundred Marseillese, and three thousand five
hundred volunteers from Nismes, Avignon, and Montpelier, ranged
themselves under his standards.
The 10th, 53d, and 83d, regiments of the line, containing about nine
hundred men each;
The depots of the 9th and 87th of foot, about five hundred and fifty
strong;