Charlemont, are furnished with ordnance, provision, and stores: the
sluices are put into order, and the country will be inundated at the
first hostile movement: field-works have been laid out in the forest
of Mormale: measures are taken for throwing up intrenchments in the
different passes of the forest of Aregonne: all the strong places of
Lorraine are prepared: intrenchments are formed at the five passes of
the Vosges: the fortresses of Alsace are equipped: orders are given
for the defence of the pass of Jura, and all the frontiers of the
Alps. The passes of the Somme, which are in the third line, are
putting into order. In the interior, Guise, la Ferte, Vitry,
Soissons, Chateau Thierry, and Langres, are equipping and fortifying.
Orders have been issued even for constructing works on the heights of
Montmartre and Menilmontant, and furnishing them with three hundred
pieces of ordnance: they will be formed at first of earth, and the
solidity of permanent fortifications will be given them in succession.
"His Majesty has ordered, that Lyons should be put into a state of
defence: a _tete-de-pont_ will be established at Broteaux. The
drawbridge at La Guillotiere is replacing. The space between the Saone
and the Rhone will be fortified: some redoubts are preparing to be
constructed in advance of this space. A redoubt will be constructed on
the height of Pierre en Size, to support a work, that closes the city
on the right bank. The heights, that command the quarter of St. Jean,
on the right bank of the Saone, will be defended by several redoubts:
a train of eighty pieces of cannon, with the necessary stores, is sent
off for Lyons. Sisteron and the bridge of St. Esprit will be placed in
a state of defence. Eight armies or corps of observation are formed:
namely
"The army of the North;
"The army of the Moselle;
"The army of the Rhine;
"The corps of observation of the Jura, which is assembling at Befort;
"The army of the Alps, which is assembling at Chambery;
"The corps of observation of the Pyrenees, which is assembling at
Perpignan and at Bordeaux;
"And the army of reserve, which is assembling at Paris and at Laon.
"The old soldiers are every where on the march, animated with the
greatest enthusiasm, and come to complete our hundred and twenty
regiments of infantry. The purchases made for remounting the cavalry
have been going on rapidly for this month, and will soon render our
seventy regiments of cavalry fully complete. Regiments of volunteer
cavalry are forming in many parts: Alsace has already furnished two
regiments of lancers, of a thousand men each. We have reason to think,
that this example will be followed in Brittany, Normandy, and
Limousin, the province in which the greatest number of horses are
bred.
"Parks of artillery, forming more than a hundred and fifty batteries,
are already harnessed, and on the march for the different armies. The
corps of artillery for the defence of Lyons is composed of two
companies formed in the school of Alfort. The corps for serving the
three hundred pieces of ordnance, that will be placed on the heights
of Paris, will consist of twelve companies of marine artillery, two
companies of invalids, two companies of the school of Alfort, two
companies of the polytechnic school, two companies of the school of
St. Cyr, and six companies of foot artillery.
"Corps of partisans and free corps are forming in a great number of
departments. An adjutant-general, stationed with each general
commanding in chief, will conduct the correspondence with these corps;
which, if the enemy be rash enough to penetrate into our territories,
will fall upon his communications in the mountains and forests, and
find support in the fortified towns.
"The organization of the levy in mass of Alsace, Lorraine, the county
of Messin, Franche Comte, Burgundy, Dauphiny, and Picardy, is
prepared.
"All the cities will arm in defence of their vicinity: they will
follow the example of Chalons sur Saone, Tournus, and St. Jean de
Losne. Every unfortified town even would betray the national honour,
if it surrendered to light troops, and did not make the best defence
its means will allow, till the arrival of infantry and artillery in
such force, that its resistance would cease to be prescribed by the
laws of war.
"Every thing is in motion in all parts of France. If the coalition
persist in the designs they have announced of making war on us, if
they violate our frontiers, it is easy to foresee, what fruits they
will reap from their attempt on the rights of the French nation: all
the departments will emulate in zeal those of Alsace, the Vosges,
Franche Comte, Burgundy, and the Lyonese; every where the people are
animated with a patriotic spirit, and ready to make any sacrifice, to
maintain the independence of the nation, and the honour of the
throne."
In fine, to complete his means of resistance and attack, the Emperor
remodelled the national guard, and divided it into three thousand one
hundred and thirty battalions, forming a body of two millions two
hundred and fifty thousand men. All the national guards from twenty
years old to forty were classed in active companies of light infantry
and grenadiers, and fifteen hundred of these companies, or a hundred
and eighty thousand men, were immediately placed at the disposal of
the minister at war, to form the garrisons of the frontier places,
and reinforce the armies of reserve.
The general officers sent to the frontier departments, to accelerate
the raising and departure of this national militia, had need only to
show themselves, to accomplish their mission. Every citizen aspired
beforehand to the honour of making a part of it; and in the provinces
of the east, the north, and the centre, it was found necessary to form
supernumerary companies[99]. The father would have renounced his son,
the wife her husband, the girl her betrothed lover, if they had been
deaf to the voice of honour and their country. The mothers themselves,
who at other times had so bitterly deplored the departure of their
children, encouraged them, like the Spartans, to march against the
enemy, and fall, if it must be so, in the sacred cause of their
country. This picture is not an exaggeration, it is faithful, it is
true. Never was a more beautiful spectacle exhibited to the eyes of
any man, to whom the glory and independence of his country were dear,
than that of the enthusiasm and martial joy, with which the warlike
inhabitants of Alsace, Lorraine, Burgundy, Champagne, and the Vosges,
were animated. The roads were covered with waggons loaded with young
warriors, who hastened, gaily singing, to the post of honour assigned
them by Napoleon: the population of the towns and villages received
them on their way with applauses, which inflamed their minds with
fresh ardor, and made them enjoy by anticipation the praises and
acclamations, that their friends, parents, and fellow-citizens would
lavish on them at their return.
[Footnote 99: I cannot avoid here making a
comparison. On the 15th of March, the Count
d'Artois wished to form a legion from the light
infantry and grenadiers of the national guard of
Paris. He reviewed the twelve legions, harangued
them, and announced, that he would march at the
head of the volunteer national guards: a hundred
and fifty turned out.
Napoleon from his closet called the national guard
to the defence of the imperial cause: 150,000 men
took up arms, and hastened to battle.
What must we conclude from this coldness on the one
hand, and this enthusiasm on the other? I leave the
question to be answered by those, who pretend, that
the revolution of the 20th of March obtained the
assent only of a handful of factious persons.]
France seemed to call aloud, to see her eclipsed greatness restored.
She had recovered all her energy: an evident proof, that the strength
of a nation is always the work of the prince, by whom it is governed.
It is he, who enervates the public spirit, and bastardizes his
subjects, by the effeminacy of his government: or it is he, who
inspires them with the love of their country, with priding themselves
in it, and leads them to undertake, whatever can augment its glory and
its power.
To draw still more closely the bonds of union between the French
people, and impart greater intensity to their patriotism, Napoleon
authorized the re-establishment of popular clubs, and the formation of
civic confederations. This time his expectations were not answered by
success. The major part of the clubs were filled with men, who
formerly composed the revolutionary tribunals and societies; and their
imprecations against kings, and their liberticide motions, made the
Emperor fear, that he had revived the spirit of anarchy.
The sentiments manifested by the federates equally disquieted him. He
perceived, that he did not occupy the first place in their thoughts
and affections; that the primary wish of their hearts was liberty;
and, as this liberty was in his eyes synonimous with republicanism, he
exerted all his endeavours to moderate, restrain, and repress, the
development of these patriotic associations. Perhaps there were men
among the federates, whose principles might be dangerous, and their
intentions criminal: but in general they consisted of pure patriots,
who had taken up arms to defend the imperial government, and not to
overturn it.
Napoleon had never been able to surmount the aversion, which he felt
for the veterans of the revolution. He dreaded their constancy, and
their daring spirit; and he would have thought himself in danger, if
not lost, had they become consolidated, and resumed their ascendancy.
This panic fear was the cause, that he did not reap from the
confederations the advantages he promised himself; and which they
would unquestionably have afforded him, if he had not clogged their
wings. It was also the cause of his committing a perhaps still greater
fault, that of putting a stop to the popular movements, that had shown
themselves in most of the departments. In the critical state in which
he found himself, and into which he had drawn France, he should not
have disregarded any means of security; and the most efficacious, the
most analogous to his situation, was indisputably that of engaging the
people most intimately in his fate, and in his defence. It was
necessary, therefore, while preventing them from spilling a single
drop of blood, to let them compromise themselves with some of those
incorrigible ultras, who had harassed, ill-treated, and insulted
them, since the restoration. The people would then have been more
sensible, that it was no longer the personal cause of Napoleon alone,
that they had to defend; and the dread of chastisement, and of the
yoke, would have restored to them that ancient enthusiasm, which had
proved so fatal to the first coalition.
The moderation adopted by Napoleon on this occasion was honourable,
but not politic. He conducted himself, as he might have done at a
time, when all parties, confounded together and reconciled,
acknowledged him for their sole and only sovereign. But things had
changed: he had no longer the whole of France in his favour; and hence
it was necessary, that he should conduct himself rather as the head of
a party, than as a sovereign; and that he should display as it were
all the vigour and energy of the leader of a faction. Energy unites
men, by taking from them all uncertainty, and hurrying them with
violence toward their object. Moderation, on the contrary, divides and
enervates them, because it leaves them to their own irresolution, and
allows them leisure, to listen to their interests, their scruples, and
their fears.
The attention paid by the Emperor to his military preparations did not
prevent his continuing to occupy himself on the welfare of the state,
and endeavour more and more to conciliate the confidence and affection
of the public.
Already, in other days, he had drawn out from its ruins the ancient
University. A new basis, more broad, more extensive, more majestic,
had raised this noble institution to a level with the age, and with
France. But the first stage of education did not answer the efforts
made to improve it, and to diffuse it among the younger classes of
society.
M. Carnot, in a report that combined the most pleasing philanthropy
with the most sage and lofty views, taught the Emperor the advantages
of the methods of Bell and Lancaster, and the monarch and the minister
made a present to France, to morality, to humanity, of the system of
mutual instruction.
The Emperor, on removing his eyes from this interesting youth, the
hope of the country, turned them to those old soldiers, who had
formerly been its pride and support.
A royal ordinance had expelled from their asylum a considerable number
of invalids, and had taken from them a portion of their endowments: a
decree restored them to their rights; and a visit, which the Emperor
paid these veterans in glory, added a kindness to the benefit.
He also repaired to the Polytechnic school. It was the first time of
his showing himself to its pupils. Their love of perfect liberty,
their inclination for republican institutions, had long alienated from
them the affections of the Emperor: but the striking bravery they had
displayed under the walls of Paris had restored to them his esteem and
friendship; and it was satisfactory to him (these are his own words),
to have such a fine occasion of reconciling himself with them.
The suburb of St. Antoine, that cradle of the revolution, was not
forgotten. The Emperor traversed it from one end to the other. He had
the doors of all the workshops opened to him, and examined them very
minutely. The numerous workmen of the manufactory of M. Lenoir, who
retained a grateful remembrance of what the Emperor had done for their
master and for themselves, loaded him with expressions of their
attachment. The commissary of police of the quarter had followed
Napoleon into this manufactory; and, willing to set the example,
opened his mouth to its utmost extent, to holla as loud as he could
bawl "Long live the Emperor!" but, by a terrible slip of the tongue, a
very distinct "Long live the King!" on the contrary issued from it.
This caused great confusion: but the Emperor, turning to him, said in
a rallying tone: "So, Mr. Commissary, you are determined then not to
get rid of your bad habits." This sally was the signal for a general
laugh: and the commissary, plucking up his spirits, convinced Napoleon
by many a vigorous "Long live the Emperor!" that we never lose any
thing by a little patience.
The Emperor was accompanied only by three officers of his household.
It was impossible for them to defend him from the approaches and
caresses of the people: the women kissed his hands; the men squeezed
them, till they made him cry out; both expressed to him in a thousand
ways, which I cannot transcribe, the difference they made between him
and his predecessor. At all times he had been much beloved by the
class of workmen and artisans. He had enriched it: and interest is the
prime mover of regard among the people, as well as among the
great[100].
[Footnote 100: The reverses of Napoleon's fortune
had been so rapid, that the possessors of great
places, and of great preferment, had not had time
to retrench their way of living. When the Bourbons
were recalled, they were obliged to come to a
reckoning with their means, and all these
extravagant expenses ceased at once.
On the other hand, the new court, in order to
distinguish itself from the imperial court,
substituted the most offensive simplicity for the
useful pomp of Napoleon. The richest emigrants
imitated this pernicious example; and, as Napoleon
remarked, the luxury of the table was almost the
only kind, on which encouragement was not spared.
The result of this economical system was, that the
produce of our manufactories remained unemployed,
and industry was suddenly paralyzed.
Thus commerce, which had loudly called for peace,
was almost totally annihilated by it: and the
manufacturers, the mechanics, the merchants (those
of the sea-ports excepted), greatly regretted those
_happy_ times, when we were at war.
In fact, it must be admitted, that our industry was
indebted to the war, and to our conquests, for its
progress, and its prodigious increase. The war, by
depriving us of the products of the English
manufactories, had taught us, to manufacture for
ourselves. The continual prohibition of these
articles protected our rising manufactures from the
danger of competition; and allowed them to engage
with safety in the trials and expenses necessary
for equalling or surpassing in perfection foreign
manufactures. In all parts of the empire were seen
manufactories for spinning and weaving cotton; and
this branch of trade, almost unknown before,
employed three hundred thousand work people, and
produced goods to the value of more than two
hundred and fifty millions.
The other products of our industry equally received
improvements and extension; and France, in spite of
the conscription, reckoned in its numerous
workshops nearly twelve hundred thousand
workpeople.
If this flourishing state of our continental trade
were the effect of the enlargement of our
territory, and the scope the war had given to our
industry, we must say, that it was also the result
of the succour, encouragement, and honorary
distinctions, which Napoleon knew how to bestow
appropriately on our manufacturers; and the return
for those enormous sacrifices he made, to create,
repair, and keep in order, those superb roads, and
those numerous canals, which rendered the
communications between France, and the countries
subjected to its empire, equally easy, safe, and
pleasant.]
The Emperor received a great number of petitions during his
excursions. Unable to read them all, he ordered me, to examine them
carefully, and give him an account of them. He loved to repay the
confidence that the people reposed in him; and frequently granted to
the request of an obscure and unknown citizen, what he would perhaps
have refused to the entreaties of a marshal or a minister. The utility
of these familiar communications between the nation and the sovereign
was not confined, in his eyes, to the solitary interests of the
petitioner. He considered them as efficacious means of coming at the
knowledge of abuses and acts of injustice, and of keeping the
depositaries of authority within the limits of their duty. He was
fond of encouraging them, that the phrase, If the Emperor knew it, or
The Emperor shall know it, might solace the heart of the oppressed,
and make the oppressor tremble.
In former days he had appointed a special commission, to receive
petitions, and give them suitable effect. This benefit not appearing
to him sufficiently complete, he would have them subjected to a
preliminary examination, under his own eye. He decided himself the
method to be followed: and directed me, to make known to him every
day, without disguise, the complaints, wants, and wishes, of the
French people. I made it a point of duty, of honour, to execute this
task in a proper manner, and to become the zealous protector of those
who had none. Every morning I laid before the Emperor an analytical
report of the requests capable of demanding his attention: he examined
them with care, made marginal notes on them with his own hand, and
sent them to his ministers with a favourable decision, or an order to
verify them, and give him an account of the result.
In fine, to fulfil, as much as in him lay, the public expectation, the
Emperor made numerous changes in the laws relating to the
consolidated taxes (_droits reunis_), which, while they diminished the
impost, freed it from its abuses and tyrannical forms, and rendered it
less odious, and more supportable. These beneficial meliorations,
though incomplete, were received with gratitude; and the Emperor was
thanked for his endeavours to reconcile the interests of individuals
with the wants of the public treasury.
But the satisfaction Napoleon derived from the happy effects of his
solicitude was frequently disturbed by the disquietude and perplexity,
which the cabals and manoeuvres of the royalists occasioned him.
"The priests and the nobles," said he one day in a fit of ill-humour,
"are playing a deep game. If I were to let loose the people upon them,
they would all be devoured in the twinkling of an eye[101]."
[Footnote 101: These words, and several others that
I have quoted, prove Napoleon not to have been
ignorant of the use he might make of the people. If
he did not have recourse to them, no doubt it was
because he feared, that the remedy might prove
worse than the disease.]
By a decree of the 25th of March, he had already ordered the ministers
of the King, and the civil and military officers of his household, as
well as of those of the princes, as also the chiefs of the Chouans, of
the Vendeans, and of the royal volunteers, to remove to a distance of
thirty leagues from Paris. This prudent precaution was but imperfectly
executed. M. Fouche, to secure himself a refuge in the King's party,
had sent for the principal of the proscribed persons to his house;
expressed to them how much he felt interested for their situation, and
the efforts he had made, to prevent their banishment; and finally
authorised them pretty generally, to remain at Paris.
The Emperor, not aware that their audacity was owing to the protection
of his minister, watched for an opportunity of intimidating them by an
act of severity. While things were in this state, a M. de Lascours, a
colonel, was arrested at Dunkirk, where he had introduced himself as
an emissary from the King. Napoleon, deceived by the similarity of the
name, supposed this officer to be the person, who pretended, in 1814,
to have received orders, to blow up the powder magazine at Grenelle,
and refused to execute them. "I should be sorry," said he, "to
sacrifice by way of example a worthy man; but an impostor like this
deserves no pity. Write to the minister at war, to have him taken
before a military commission, and tried as an instigator to civil war,
and to the overturning of the established government."
The Emperor, turning towards me, added: "How is it, that the absurd
fable of this man has not been contradicted?"--"Sire," I answered,
"Gourgaud has often assured me, that all your officers had publicly
avowed their sentiments on it; and that it had been the intention of
several generals, and particularly of general Tirlet, to unmask this
odious lie to the King; but...." "Enough," said the Emperor, "I make
no account of intentions: send the order, and let me hear no more of
him."
I lost sight of this business: but I have since learned, that M. de
Lascours was acquitted.
If M. de Lascours had been so unfortunate, as to fall a victim to his
zeal, the Emperor would have been accused of barbarity; yet he was
neither cruel nor sanguinary, for cruelty must not be confounded with
severity. I know but one single act, the result of the most fatal
counsels, for which, alas! he may be reproached by posterity[102].
Who besides have been the victims of his pretended ferocity? Will the
death of Georges, and his obscure accomplices, be considered as a
judicial murder? Are the infernal machine and its terrible ravages
forgotten? Georges, at the head of the Chouans, was a misled
Frenchman, to be pitied, and to be spared. Georges, at the head of a
band of assassins, was undeserving of pity, and the cause of
morality, as well as of humanity, demanded his punishment.
[Footnote 102: Napoleon, during the hundred days,
entertained for a moment the design of issuing a
demi-official note on the arrest and death of the
Duke of Enghien.
The following memorandums are taken from papers,
from which the note was to have been compiled.
Reports from the police had informed Napoleon, that
there were conspiracies of the royalists beyond the
Rhine, and that they were conducted and supported,
1st, by Messrs. Drake and Spencer Smith, the
English ministers at Stutgard, and at Munich;
2dly, by the Duke d'Enghien and General Dumourier: