Napoleon at St. Helena--The Briars--Longwood--Charges against the
English Government respecting his accommodations and treatment at
St. Helena--Charges against the Governor, Sir Hudson
Lowe--Napoleon's mode of life at Longwood--His Health falls
off--His Death and Funeral--Conclusion.
Napoleon was weary of shipboard, and, therefore, landed immediately.
Finding the curiosity of the people troublesome, he took up his quarters
at _The Briars_, a small cottage about half a mile from James's Town,
during the interval which must needs elapse before the admiral could
provide suitable accommodation for his permanent residence. For that
purpose Longwood, a villa about six miles from James's Town, was, after
an examination of all that the island afforded, determined on; except
Plantation House, the country residence of the governor, there was no
superior house in St. Helena; and two months having been employed
diligently in some additions and repairs, the fallen Emperor took
possession of his appointed abode on the 10th of December. The very
limited accommodation of the Briars (where, indeed, Napoleon merely
occupied a pavilion of two chambers in the garden of a Mr. Balcombe),
had hitherto prevented him from having, all his little suite of
attendants under the same roof with him. They were now re-assembled at
Longwood, with the exception of M. and Mme. Montholon, who occupied a
separate house at some little distance from it. While at The Briars,
Napoleon made himself eminently agreeable to the family of the
Balcombes, particularly the young ladies and children, and submitted on
the whole with temper and grace to the inconveniences of narrow
accommodation in-doors, and an almost total want of exercise
abroad--this last evil occasioned wholly by his own reluctance to ride
out in the neighbourhood of the town. He continued also to live on terms
of perfect civility with Sir George Cockburn; and, notwithstanding some
occasional ebullitions of violence, there seemed to be no reason for
doubting that, when fairly established with his suite about him, he
would gradually reconcile himself to the situation in which he was
likely to remain, and turn his powerful faculties upon some study or
pursuit worthy of their energy, and capable of cheating captivity of
half its bitterness. These anticipations were not realised.
The accusations brought by the prisoner and his instruments against the
government of England, in regard to the accommodations at Longwood, the
arrangements concerning the household establishment, and the regulations
adopted with a view to the security of his person, have been so often
answered in detail, that we may spare ourselves the pain of dwelling on
transactions little worthy of filling a large space in the story of
Napoleon. It being granted that it was necessary to provide against the
evasion of Buonaparte; that the protracted separation from him of his
wife and son (not, at any rate, the act of England, but of Austria) was
in itself justified by obvious political considerations; and that
England would have given good reason of offence to the King of France,
had she complied with Napoleon's repeated demands, to be styled and
treated as Emperor--if these things be granted, we do not see how even
the shadow of blame can attach to the much-abused ministers, on whom
fortune threw one of the most delicate and thankless of all offices. His
house was, save one (that of the governor), the best on the island: from
the beginning it was signified that any alterations or additions,
suggested by Napoleon, would be immediately attended to; and the
framework of many apartments was actually prepared in England, to be
sent out and distributed according to his pleasure. As it was, Napoleon
had for his own immediate personal accommodation, a suite of rooms,
consisting of a saloon, an eating-room, a library, a billiard-room, a
small study, a bedroom, and a bathroom; and various English gentlemen,
accustomed to all the appliances of modern luxury, who visited the exile
of Longwood, concur in stating that the accommodations around him
appeared to them every way complete and unobjectionable. He had a good
collection of books, and the means of adding to these as much as he
chose. His suite consisted in all of five gentlemen and two ladies: the
superior French and Italian domestics about his own person were never
fewer than eleven; and the sum allowed for his domestic expenditure was
L12,000 per annum--the governor of St. Helena, moreover, having
authority to draw on the treasury for any larger sum, in case he should
consider L12,000 as insufficient. When we consider that wines, and most
other articles heavily taxed in England, go duty-free to St. Helena, it
is really intolerable to be told that this income was not adequate--nay,
that it was not munificent--for a person in Napoleon's situation. It was
a larger income than is allotted to the governor of any English colony
whatever, except the governor-general of India. It was twice as large as
the official income of a British secretary of state has ever been. We
decline entering at all into the minor charges connected with this
humiliating subject: at least a single example may serve. One of the
loudest complaints was about the deficiency and inferior quality of
wine: on examination it appeared, that Napoleon's upper domestics were
allowed each day, per man, a bottle of claret, costing L6 per dozen
(without duty) and the lowest menial employed at Longwood a bottle of
good Teneriffe wine daily.--That the table of the fallen Emperor himself
was always served in a style at least answerable to the dignity of a
general officer in the British service--this was never even denied.
Passing from the interior--we conceive that we cannot do better than
quote the language of one of his casual and impartial visitors, Mr.
Ellis. "There never, perhaps," (says this gentleman), "was a prisoner,
so much requiring to be watched and guarded, to whom so much liberty and
range for exercise was allowed. With an officer he may go over any part
of the island: wholly unobserved, his limits extend four
miles--partially observed, eight--and overlooked twelve. At night the
sentinels certainly close round Longwood itself." It indeed appears
impossible to conceive of a _prisoner_ more liberally treated in all
these respects. There remains the constantly repeated vituperation of
the climate of St. Helena. It appears, however, by tables kept and
published by Dr. Arnott, that the sick list of a regiment, stationed
close to Buonaparte's residence during his stay, rarely contained more
than one name out of forty-five--a proportion which must be admitted to
be most remarkably small. In effect, the house of Longwood stands 2000
feet above the level of the sea; the ocean breezes purify the air
continually; and within the tropics there is probably no healthier
situation whatever. If it be said that Napoleon should not have been
confined within the tropics at all--it is answered that it was
_necessary_ to remove him from the neighbourhood of the countries in
which his name was the watchword of rebellion and discord--and that,
after all, Napoleon was a native of Corsica, one of the hottest climates
in Europe, and was at all times, constitutionally, able to endure the
extremes of heat much better than of cold--witness Egypt and Russia.
There was a rule that Napoleon's correspondence should all pass through
the hands of the governor of St. Helena--and this Sir Walter Scott
condemns. Had the English government acted on the Buonapartean model,
they would have made no such regulation, but taken the liberty of
privately examining his letters, and resealing them, after the fashion
of the post-office under Lavalette. It diminishes our regret when we
learn from Sir Walter Scott's next page, that, in spite of all laws and
severities on this score, Napoleon and the companions of his exile
contrived, from the beginning to the end, to communicate with their
friends in Europe, without the supervision of any English authorities
whatever.
The finishing touch is put to the picture of unworthy duplicity by one
of Napoleon's own followers, and most noisy champions, General Gourgaud.
This gentleman himself informed the English government, that at the time
when Napoleon, in order to create the notion that his supplies were
restricted beyond all endurance, sent some plate to James's Town to be
broken up and sold, he, Napoleon, had in his strong box at Longwood at
least L10,000 in gold coin.
There is one name which will descend to posterity laden with a tenfold
portion of the abuse which Napoleon and his associates lavished on all
persons connected in any degree with the superintendence and control of
his captive condition--that of Sir Hudson Lowe, a general officer in the
English army, who became governor of St. Helena in May, 1816, and
continued to hold that situation down to the period of the ex-emperor's
death in 1821. The vanity of Napoleon appears to have been wounded from
the beginning by this appointment. According to him, no person ought in
decency to have been entrusted with the permanent care of his detention,
but some English nobleman of the highest rank. The answer is very plain,
that the situation was not likely to find favour in the eyes of any
such person; and when one considers what the birth and manners of by far
the greater number of Buonaparte's own courtiers, peers and princes
included, were, it is difficult to repress wonder in listening to this
particular subject of complaint. Passing over this original quarrel--it
appears that, according to Buonaparte's own admission, Sir H. Lowe
endeavoured, when he took his thankless office upon him, to place the
intercourse between himself and his prisoner on a footing as gracious as
could well be looked for under all the circumstances of the case; and
that he, the ex-emperor, ere the governor had been a week at St. Helena,
condescended to insult him to his face by language so extravagantly,
intolerably, and vulgarly offensive, as never ought, under any
circumstances whatever, to have stained the lips of one who made any
pretension to the character of a gentleman. Granting that Sir Hudson
Lowe was not an officer of the first distinction--it must be admitted
that he did no wrong in accepting a duty offered to him by his
government; and that Napoleon was guilty, not only of indecorum, but of
meanness, in reproaching a man so situated, as he did almost at their
first interview, with the circumstances--of which at worst it could but
be said that they were not splendid--of his previous life. But this is
far too little. Granting that Sir Hudson Lowe had been in history and in
conduct, both before he came to St. Helena and during his stay there,
all that the most ferocious libels of the Buonapartists have ever dared
to say or to insinuate--it would still remain a theme of unmixed wonder
and regret, that Napoleon Buonaparte should have stooped to visit on his
head the wrongs which, if they were wrongs, proceeded not from the
governor of St. Helena, but from the English ministry, whose servant he
was. "I can only account," says Mr. Ellis, "for his petulance and
unfounded complaints from one of two motives--either he wishes by these
means to keep alive an interest in Europe, and more especially in
England, where he flatters himself he has a party; or his troubled mind
finds an occupation in the tracasseries which his present conduct gives
to the governor. If the latter be the case, it is in vain for any
governor to unite being on good terms with him to the performance of his
duty."
Napoleon did everything he could to irritate this unfortunate governor.
He called him _scrivener, thieftaker, liar, hangman_; rejected all his
civilities as insults; encouraged his attendants to rival in these
particulars the audacity of his own language and conduct; refused by
degrees to take the exercise which his health required, on pretext that
it did him more harm than good when he knew himself to be riding within
view of English sentinels (which was not necessary at all within four
miles of Longwood), or attended by an English officer--which was not
necessary unless at the distance of twelve miles from Longwood: above
all, opposed every obstacle to the enforcement of that most proper
regulation which made it necessary that his person should, once in every
twenty-four hours, be visible to some British officer. In a word,
Napoleon Buonaparte bent the whole energies of his mighty intellect to
the ignoble task of tormenting Sir Hudson Lowe; and the extremities of
degradation to which these efforts occasionally reduced himself, in the
eyes of his own attendants, are such as we dare not particularise, and
as will be guessed by no one who has not read the memoir of his Italian
doctor, Antommarchi.
Meantime, the great object was effectually attained. The wrongs of
Napoleon, the cold cruelty of the English government, and the pestilent
petty tyranny of Sir Hudson Lowe, were the perpetual themes of
table-talk all over Europe. There were statesmen of high rank in either
house of the British parliament, who periodically descanted on these
topics--and the answers as often elicited from the ministers of the
crown, only silenced such declamations for the moment, that they might
be renewed with increased violence after time had elapsed sufficient to
allow the news to come back to England with the comments of Longwood.
The utter impossibility of an escape from St. Helena was assumed on all
such occasions, with the obvious inference that there could be no use
for sentinels and domiciliary visitations at Longwood, except for the
gratification of malignant power. But it is now ascertained, that,
throughout the whole period of the detention, schemes of evasion were in
agitation at St. Helena, and that agents were busy, sometimes in London,
more frequently in North America, with preparations which had no other
object in view. A steamship, halting just beyond the line of sight,
might undoubtedly have received Napoleon at certain seasons of the year
without difficulty, could he only contrive to elude the nocturnal
vigilance of the sentinels about the house of Longwood: and that this
was impossible, or even difficult, General Gourgaud himself does not
hesitate to deny. The rumours of these plots reached from time to time
Sir Hudson Lowe; and, quickening of course his fears and his
circumspection, kept the wounds of jealousy and distrust continually
open and angry.
There were moments, however, in which Napoleon appeared, to persons
likely to influence public feeling in Europe by their reports, in
attitudes of a far different description. When strangers of eminence
(generally officers on their way to or from India), halting at St.
Helena, requested and obtained permission to pay their respects at
Longwood, Napoleon received them, for the most part, with the ease and
dignity of a man superior to adversity. It was by these worthier
exhibitions that the fallen Emperor earned the lofty eulogy of Byron:
"--Well thy soul hath brooked the turning tide,
With that untaught innate philosophy,
Which, be it wisdom, coldness, or deep pride,
Is gall and wormwood to an enemy.
When the whole host of hatred stood hard by,
To watch and mock thee shrinking, thou hast smiled
With a sedate and all-enduring eye;
When Fortune fled her spoiled and favourite child,
He stood unbowed beneath the ills upon him piled."
Among the visitors now alluded to was Captain Basil Hall: and he has,
perhaps, presented the world with the most graphic sketch of Napoleon as
he appeared on such occasions at Longwood. "Buonaparte" (says this
traveller) "struck me (Aug. 13, 1817) as differing considerably from all
the pictures and busts I had seen of him. His face and figure looked
much broader and more square--larger, indeed, in every way, than any
representation I had met with. His corpulency, at this time reported to
be excessive, was by no means remarkable. His flesh looked, on the
contrary, firm and muscular. There was not the least trace of colour in
his cheeks; in fact, his skin was more like marble than ordinary flesh.
Not the smallest wrinkle was discernible on his brow, nor an approach to
a furrow on any part of his countenance. His health and spirits, judging
from appearances, were excellent; though, at this period, it was
generally believed in England that he was fast sinking under a
complication of diseases, and that his spirits were entirely gone. His
manner of speaking was rather slow than otherwise, and perfectly
distinct: and he waited with great patience and kindness for my answers
to his questions. The brilliant and sometimes dazzling expression of his
eye could not be overlooked. It was not, however, a permanent lustre,
for it was only remarkable when he was excited by some point of
particular interest. It is impossible to imagine an expression of more
entire mildness, I may almost call it of benignity and kindliness, than
that which played over his features during the whole interview. If,
therefore, he was at this time out of health and in low spirits, his
power of self-command must have been even more extraordinary than is
generally supposed; for his whole deportment, his conversation, and the
expression of his face, indicated a frame in perfect health, and a mind
at ease."
These favourable reports from seemingly impartial witnesses, lent new
wings to the tale of Sir Hudson Lowe's oppression; and perhaps the exile
of St. Helena continued to fill a larger space in the eye of the world
at large, than had ever before fallen to the lot of one removed for
ever, to all appearance, from the great theatre of human passions. It
was then that Lord Byron thus apostrophised him:
"Conqueror and Captive of the Earth art thou!
She trembles at thee still--and thy wild name
Was ne'er more bruited in men's minds than now
That thou art nothing, save the jest of Fame,
Who woo'd thee once, thy vassal and became
The flatterer of thy fierceness, till thou wert
A god unto thyself--nor less the same
To the astounded kingdoms all inert,
Who deemed thee for a time whate'er thou didst assert."
And it was then that an English nobleman of high rank, who throughout
manifested especial interest in the fortunes of Napoleon, inscribed his
statue (in the gardens of Holland House) with the lines of Homer:
[Greek: Ou gar po tethneken epi chthoni dios Odysseus,
All' eti po zoos kateryketai eurei ponto
Neso en amphiryte; chalepoi de min andres echousin.][74]
In ordinary times, the course of Napoleon's life at Longwood appears to
have been as follows. He rose early, and, as soon as he was out of bed,
either mounted on horseback, or began to dictate some part of the
history of his life to Montholon or Gourgaud. He breakfasted _a la
fourchette_, sometimes alone, sometimes with his suite, between 10 and
11 o'clock; read or dictated until between 2 and 3, when he received
such visitors as he chose to admit. He then rode out, either on
horseback or in his carriage, for a couple of hours, attended generally
by all his suite; then read or dictated again until near eight, at which
hour dinner was served. He preferred plain food, and ate plentifully. A
few glasses of claret, less than an English pint, were taken during
dinner; and a cup of coffee concluded the second and last meal of the
day, as the first. A single glass of champagne, or any stronger wine,
was sufficient to call the blood into his cheek. His constitutional
delicacy of stomach, indeed, is said to have been such, that it was at
all times actually impossible for him to indulge any of the coarser
appetites of our nature to excess. He took, however, great quantities of
snuff. A game of chess, a French tragedy read aloud, or conversation,
closed the evening. The habits of his life had taught him to need but
little sleep, and to take this by starts; and he generally had some one
to read to him after he went to bed at night, as is common with those
whose pillows are pressed by anxious heads.
Napoleon was elaborately careful of his person. He loved the bath, and
took it at least once every day. His dress at St. Helena was generally
the same which he had worn at the Tuileries as Emperor--viz. the green
uniform, faced with red, of the chasseurs of the guard, with the star
and cordon of the Legion of Honour. His suite to the last continued to
maintain around him, as far as was possible, the style and circumstance
of his court.
As early as the battle of Waterloo, reports were prevalent in France
that Napoleon's health was declining; yet we have already seen that, so
late as April, 1817, no symptom of bodily illness could be traced in his
external appearance. From this time, however, his attendants continued
to urge, with increasing vehemence, the necessity of granting more
indulgence, in consequence of the shattered condition of his
constitution: and, although such suggestions were, for obvious reasons,
listened to at first with considerable suspicion, there can be little
doubt now, that in this matter the fame of Longwood spake truth.
Dr. Arnott, an English physician, already referred to, who attended on
Napoleon's death-bed, has informed us that he himself frequently
reverted to the fact, that his father died of scirrhus of the pylorus.
"We have high authority" (says this writer) "that this affection of the
stomach cannot be produced without a considerable predisposition of the
parts to disease. If, then, it should be admitted that a previous
disposition of the parts to this disease did exist, might not the
depressing passions of the mind act as an exciting cause? It is more
than probable that Napoleon Buonaparte's mental sufferings in St. Helena
were very poignant. By a man of such unbounded ambition, and who had
once aimed at universal dominion, captivity must have been severely
felt. I can safely assert, that any one of temperate habits, who is not
exposed to much bodily exertion, night air, and atmospherical changes,
may have as much immunity from disease in St. Helena as in Europe; and I
may, therefore, further assert, that the disease of which Buonaparte
died was _not_ the effect of climate."--It is added, that out of all
Napoleon's family, which, including English and Chinese servants,
amounted to fifty persons, only one individual died during the five
years of their stay in St. Helena, and this man, an Italian major-domo,
had brought the seeds of consumption with him from Europe.
In March, 1817, Lord Holland made a solemn appeal to the British
Parliament on the subject of Napoleon's treatment, and was answered by
Lord Bathurst--in such a manner that not one could be found to second
him. The intelligence of this appears to have exerted a powerful
influence on the spirits of the captive. It was about the 25th of
September 1818, that his health began to be affected in a manner
sufficient to excite alarm in Dr. O'Meara, who informed him, that unless
he took regular exercise out of doors (which of late he had seldom
done), the progress of the evil would be rapid. Napoleon declared, in
answer, that he would never more take exercise while exposed to the
challenge of sentinels. The physician stated, that if he persisted, the
end would be fatal. "I shall have this consolation at least," answered
he, "that my death will be an eternal dishonour to the English nation,
who sent me to this climate to die under the hands of...." O'Meara again
represented the consequences of his obstinacy. "That which is written,
is written," said Napoleon, looking up, "our days are reckoned."
Shortly after this, O'Meara--being detected in a suspicious
correspondence with one Holmes, Napoleon's pecuniary agent in
London--was sent home by Sir Hudson Lowe; and, Napoleon declining to
receive any physician of the governor's nomination instead, an Italian,
by name Antommarchi, was sent out by his sister Pauline. With this
doctor there came also two Italian priests, whose presence Napoleon
himself had solicited, and selected by his uncle, Cardinal Fesch.
His obstinate refusal to take bodily exercise might have sprung in some
measure from internal and indescribable sensations. To all Antommarchi's
medical prescriptions, he opposed the like determination. "Doctor," he
said (14th October 1820), "no physicking; we are a machine made to live;
we are organised for that purpose, and such is our nature; do not
counteract the living principle--let it alone--leave it the liberty of
self-defence--it will do better than your drugs. Our body is a watch,
intended to go for a given time. The watchmaker cannot open it, and must
work at random. For once that he relieves or assists it by his crooked
instruments, he injured it ten times, and at last destroys it."
With the health of Napoleon his mind sank also. Some fishes in a pond in
the garden at Longwood had attracted his notice; a deleterious substance
happened to mix with the water--they sickened and died. "Everything I
love," said Napoleon, "everything that belongs to _me_--is stricken.
Heaven and mankind unite to afflict me." Fits of long silence and
profound melancholy were now frequent. "In those days," he once said
aloud, in a reverie, "In those days I was Napoleon. Now I am nothing--my
strength, my faculties forsake me--I no longer live, I only exist."
When Sir Hudson Lowe was made aware of the condition of the captive, he
informed the government at home; and by his Majesty's desire, authority
was immediately given for removing to St. Helena from the Cape, any
medical officer on whom Napoleon's choice might fall. This despatch did
not, however, reach St. Helena, until Napoleon had breathed his last.
About the middle of April, 1821, the disease assumed such an appearance,
that Dr. Antommarchi became very anxious to have the advice of some
English physician, and the patient at length consented to admit the
visits of Dr. Arnott, already referred to. But this gentleman also was
heard in vain urging the necessity of medical applications. "Quod
scriptum scriptum," once more answered Napoleon; "our hour is marked,
and no one can claim a moment of life beyond what fate has predestined."
From the 15th to the 25th of April, Napoleon occupied himself with
drawing up his last will--in which he bequeathed his orders, and a
specimen of every article in his wardrobe, to his son. On the 18th he
gave directions for opening his body after death, expressing a special
desire that his stomach should be scrutinised, and its appearances
communicated to his son. "The vomitings," he said, "which succeed one
another without interruption, seem to show that of all my organs the
stomach is the most diseased. I am inclined to believe it is attacked
with the disorder which killed my father--a scirrhus in the pylorus--the
physicians of Montpelier prophesied it would be hereditary in our
family." He also gave directions to the priest Vignali as to the manner
in which he wished his body to be laid out in a _chambre ardente_ (a
state-room lighted with torches). "I am neither an atheist," said
Napoleon, "nor a rationalist; I believe in God, and am of the religion
of my father. I was born a Catholic, and will fulfil all the duties of
that church, and receive the assistance which she administers."
On the 3rd of May it became evident that the scene was near its close.
The attendants would fain have called in more medical men; but they
durst not, knowing his feelings on this head: "Even had he been
speechless," said one of them, "we could not have brooked his eye." The
last sacraments of the church were now administered by Vignali. He
lingered on thenceforth in a delirious stupor. On the 4th the island was
swept by a tremendous storm, which tore up almost all the trees about
Longwood by the roots. The 5th was another day of tempests; and about
six in the evening, Napoleon--having pronounced the words "tete
d'armee," passed for ever from the dreams of battle.
On the 6th of May the body being opened by Antommarchi, in the presence
of five British medical men, and a number of the military officers of
the garrison, as well as Bertrand and Montholon, the cause of death was
sufficiently manifest. A cancerous ulcer occupied almost the whole of
the stomach.
Napoleon desired in his will, that his body should be buried "on the
banks of the Seine; among the French people, whom he had loved so well."
Sir Hudson Lowe could not, of course, expect the King of France to
permit this to take place; and a grave was prepared among some weeping
willows beside a fountain, in a small valley called _Slane's_, very near
to Longwood. It was under the shade of these willows that the Exile had
had his favourite evening seat; and it was there he had been heard to
say, that if he must be interred in St. Helena, he would prefer to lie.
The body of the Emperor, clad in his usual uniform, was now exposed to
the public view, and visited accordingly by all the population of the
island. The soldiers of the garrison passed the couch slowly, in single
file; each officer pausing, in his turn, to press respectfully the
frozen hand of the dead. On the 8th, his household, the governor, the
admiral, and all the civil and military authorities of the place,
attended him to the grave--the pall spread over his coffin being the
military cloak which he wore at Marengo. The road not being passable for
carriages, a party of English grenadiers bore Napoleon to his tomb. The
admiral's ship fired minute guns, while Vignali read the service of his
church. The coffin then descended amidst a discharge of three volleys
from fifteen cannon; and a huge stone was lowered over the remains of
one who needs no epitaph.
* * * * *
Napoleon confessed more than once at Longwood that he owed his downfall
to nothing but the extravagance of his own errors. "It must be owned,"
said he, "that fortune spoiled me. Ere I was thirty years of age, I
found myself invested with great power, and the mover of great events."
No one, indeed, can hope to judge him fairly, either in the brilliancy
of his day or the troubled darkness of his evening, who does not task
imagination to conceive the natural effects, on a temperament and genius
so fiery and daring, of that almost instantaneous transition from
poverty and obscurity to the summit of fame, fortune, and power. The
blaze which dazzled other men's eyes, had fatal influence on his. He
began to believe that there was something superhuman in his own
faculties, and that he was privileged to deny that any laws were made
for him. Obligations by which he expected all besides to be fettered, he
considered himself entitled to snap and trample. He became a deity to
himself; and expected mankind not merely to submit to, but to admire and
reverence, the actions of a demon. Well says the Poet,
"O! more or less than man--in high or low,
Battling with nations, flying from the field;
Now making monarchs' necks thy footstool, now
More than thy meanest soldier taught to yield;
An empire thou couldst crush, command, rebuild,
But govern not thy pettiest passion, nor,
However deeply in, men's spirits skilled,
Look through thine own--nor curb the lust of war,
Nor learn that tempted fate will leave the loftiest star."
His heart was naturally cold. His school-companion, who was afterwards
his secretary, confesses that, even in the spring of youth, he was very
little disposed to form friendships.[75] To say that he was incapable of
such feelings, or that he really never had a friend, would be to deny to
him any part in the nature and destiny of his species.--No one ever
dared to be altogether alone in the world.--But we doubt if any man ever
passed through life, sympathising so slightly with mankind; and the most
wonderful part of his story is, the intensity of sway which he exerted
over the minds of those in whom he so seldom permitted himself to
contemplate anything more than the tools of his own ambition. So great a
spirit must have had glimpses of whatever adorns and dignifies the
character of man. But with him the feelings which bind love played only
on the surface--leaving the abyss of selfishness untouched. His one
instrument of power was genius; hence his influence was greatest among
those who had little access to observe, closely and leisurely, the
minutiae of his personal character and demeanour. The exceptions to this
rule were very few.
Pride and vanity were strangely mingled in his composition. Who does
not pity the noble chamberlain that confesses his blood to have run cold
when he heard Napoleon--seated at dinner at Dresden among a circle of
crowned heads--begin a story with, _When I was a lieutenant in the
regiment of La Fere_? Who does not pity Napoleon when he is heard
speaking of some decorations in the Tuileries, as having taken place "in
the time of the king, my uncle?"[76]
This last weakness was the main engine of his overthrow. When he
condescended to mimic all the established etiquettes of feudal
monarchy--when he coined titles and lavished stars, and sought to melt
his family into the small circle of hereditary princes--he adopted the
surest means which could have been devised for alienating from himself
the affections of all the men of the revolution, the army alone
excepted, and for re-animating the hopes and exertions of the
Bourbonists. It is clear that thenceforth he leaned almost wholly on the
soldiery. No civil changes could after this affect his real position.
Oaths and vows, charters and concessions, all were alike in vain. When
the army was humbled and weakened in 1814, he fell from his throne,
without one voice being lifted up in his favour. The army was no sooner
strengthened, and re-encouraged, then it recalled him. He re-ascended
the giddy height, with the daring step of a hero, and professed his
desire to scatter from it nothing but justice and mercy. But no man
trusted his words. His army was ruined at Waterloo; and the brief day of
the second reign passed, without a twilight, into midnight.
We are not yet far enough from Buonaparte to estimate the effects of his
career. He recast the art of war; and was conquered in the end by men
who had caught wisdom and inspiration from his own campaigns. He gave
both permanency and breadth to the influence of the French Revolution.
His reign, short as it was, was sufficient to make it impossible that
the offensive privileges of _caste_ should ever be revived in France;
and, this iniquity being once removed, there could be little doubt that
such a nation would gradually acquire possession of a body of
institutions worthy of its intelligence. Napoleon was as essentially,
and irreclaimably, a despot, as a warrior; but his successor, whether a
Bourbon or a Buonaparte, was likely to be a constitutional sovereign.
The tyranny of a meaner hand would not have been endured after that
precedent.
On Europe at large he has left traces of his empire, not less marked or
important. He broke down the barriers everywhere of custom and
prejudice; and revolutionised the spirit of the Continent. His successes
and his double downfall taught absolute princes their weakness and
injured nations their strength. Such hurricanes of passion as the French
Revolution--such sweeping scourges of mankind as Napoleon Buonaparte,
are not permitted but as the avengers of great evils, and the harbingers
of great good. Of the influence of both, as regards the continent, it
may be safely said--that even now we have seen only "the beginning of
the end." The reigning sovereigns of Europe are, with rare exceptions,
benevolent and humane men; and their subjects, no less than they, ought
to remember the lesson of all history--that violent and sudden changes,
in the structure of social and political order, have never yet occurred,
without inflicting utter misery upon at least one generation.
It was England that fought the great battle throughout on the same
principle, without flinching; and, but for her perseverance, all the
rest would have struggled in vain. It is to be hoped that the British
nation will continue to see, and to reverence, in the contest and in its
result, the immeasurable advantages which the sober strength of a free
but fixed constitution possesses over the mad energies of anarchy on the
one hand, and, on the other, over all that despotic selfishness can
effect, even under the guidance of the most consummate genius.
[Footnote 74:
"The godlike Ulysses is not yet dead upon the earth;
He still lingers a living captive within the breadth of ocean,
In some unapproachable island, where savage men detain him."
ODYSS. book i. ver. 195.]
[Footnote 75: Tres peu aimant.]
[Footnote 76: _Louis XVI.!_--married to the aunt of Maria Louisa--See
Bourienne.]
INDEX
Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, in Egypt, 164
Aberdeen, Earl of, 399
Aboukir, battle of, 95;
Turks defeated at, 107
Acre, siege of, 101, 102
Alexander, Emperor of Russia, resents the murder of the Duke
d'Enghien, 210;
stimulates King of Prussia against Napoleon, 211;
meets Napoleon at Tilsit, 254
Alexandria captured by French, 89;
battle of, 164
Allies approach Paris, 420;
their proclamation, 427;
enter Paris, 429;
refuse to treat with Napoleon, 430;
resolved to restore Louis XVIII., 430
Almeida, siege of, 327
Aloys Reding, 178
Alps, passage of the, 143-145
Alvinzi, Marshal, opposes Napoleon, 50, _et seq._
Amiens, peace of, 166, 168;
rupture of treaty of, 187
Ancona occupied by French, 61
Andalusia, Dupont marches into, 279
Andreossi, General, 30
Antommarchi, Dr., 501
Arcola, Napoleon's narrow escape at, 54;
three battles at, 52-54
Arnott, Dr., 493, 500
Asperne, battle of, 300, 301
Augereau, General, 24, 44, 61;
made Marshal, 207
Austerlitz, battle of, 223
Austria, Venice handed over to, 75;
declares war against France, 296, 382
Badajos taken by Lord Wellington, 329
Bagrathion, General, 344;
death of, 347
Baird, General, 165
Barclay de Tolly, 337
Barras, 20, 21
Bassano, battle of, 48
Bavaria, Elector of, created King, 225
Bautzen, battle of, 379
Baylen, battle of, 279
Beauharnois, Eugene, first meeting with Napoleon, 22:
appointed Viceroy of Italy, 209;
marries daughter of King of Bavaria, 225
Beauharnois, Hortense, marries Louis Buonaparte, 310;
her intrigues, 314
Beauharnois, Josephine, first meeting with Napoleon, 22;
marries Napoleon, 23;
her influence, 23, 310;
her court at Montebello, 74;
her extravagance, 134;
divorced, 309;
her death, 437
Beaulieu, 26, 27;
superseded by Wurmser, 42
Bennigsen, General, 244-252
Beresina, passage of the, 365
Berlin decrees, 240
Bernadotte, his conduct on 18th Brumaire, 119;
made Marshal, 207;
created Prince of Corvo, 226;
elected Crown Prince of Sweden, 317;
Napoleon's conduct towards, 332;
lands in Germany, 375
Berri, Duke of, 458
Berthier made Marshal, 207;
created Prince of Neufchatel, 226
Bertrand, General, 438
Bessieres, made Marshal, 207;
death of, 377
Blucher, General, opposes Napoleon, 374, _et seq._;
at Ligny and Waterloo, 466, _et seq._
Borodino, battle of, 347
Boulogne, flotilla of, 166, 191
Bourbons, restoration of, 435
Bourienne, De, 4, 7, 67, 105
Braganzas, flight of the, 267
Brienne, battle of, 407
Brueyes, Admiral, 94, 95
Brumaire, revolution of 18th, 119
Buonaparte, Charles, 1
Buonaparte, Eliza, made Princess of Lucca. 226
Buonaparte, Jerome, made King of Westphalia, 255
Buonaparte, Joseph, made King of Naples, 225;
made King of Spain, 274;
leaves Madrid, 280;
civil commander of Paris, 406;
flight from Paris, 423
Buonaparte, Louis, made King of Holland, 226;
deposed by Napoleon and retires to Gratz, 314
Buonaparte, Lucien, president of Council of Five Hundred, 115;
conduct on 19th Brumaire, 121;
his pamphlet, 158;
ambassador to Spain, 159;
quits France for England, 323
Buonaparte, Napoleon, birth and parentage, 1;
education at Brienne, 3, 4;
at Paris, 5;
appointed second lieutenant of artillery, 6;
political views, 6;
made captain of artillery, 6;
De Bourienne's description of, 7;
first military service, 8;
commands artillery at Toulon, 9;
wounded at Toulon, 12;
surveys Mediterranean coast fortifications, 14;
chief of battalion in army of Italy, 15;
is superseded, 15;
in love with Mdlle. Clery, 16;
at Paris, 16;
refuses to go to La Vendee, 16;
name erased from list of officers, 16;
asks to be sent to Turkey, 16;
commands artillery brigade, 17;
commands army of interior, 21;
meets Josephine, 22;
marries Josephine, 23;
commands army of Italy, 24;
at Monte Notte, 27;
at Millesimo, 27;
at Mondovi, 28;
dictates peace to Sardinia, 28;
crosses the Po, 30;
at the bridge of Lodi, 31;
enters Milan, 33;
seizes works of art, 34;
suspected by the Directory, 35;
crosses the Mincio, 36;
escapes capture at Valleggio, 37;
besieges Mantua, 38;
insults Venice, 39;
peace with Sicily, 39;
grants respite to Pope, 40;
seizes Leghorn and enters Florence, 40;
policy in Italy, 41;
at battle of Lonato and narrow escape, 44, 45;
defeats Wurmser, 45;
marches on Mantua, 46;
at Roveredo, 47;
at Primolano and Bassano, 48;
escapes capture at Arcola, 49;
sends expedition to Corsica, 50;
at Arcola, 52;
life saved by Muiron, 54;
forms new Italian republics, 55;
at battle of Rivoli, 57;
grants terms to Mantua, 60;
wars against the Pope, 61;
treaty of Tollentino, 63;
at battle of Tagliamento, 65;
treaty of Leoben, 67;
conquers Venice, 69;
offered bribes, 70;
discovers Pichegru's intrigues, 70;
at Montebello, 74;
treaty of Campo-Formio, 75;
at congress at Rastadt, 78;
returns to Paris, 79;
conduct in Paris, 79, 80;
appointed to command army for invasion of England, 83;
opinion of projected invasion, 84;
suggests seizure of Malta and invasion of Egypt, 85;
forms troop of "Savans," 86;
at Toulon, 86;
embarks for Egypt, 87;
captures Malta, 88;
escapes Nelson and takes Alexandria, 89;
conduct in Egypt, 89-92;
at the Pyramids, 93;
enters Cairo, 94;
administration in Egypt, 96;
remarks on battle of Aboukir, 96;
quells insurrection at Cairo, 98;
explores isthmus of Suez, 99;
visits Mount Sinai and explores Red Sea, 99;
marches for Syria, 99;
captures El-Arish, Gazah and Jaffa, 100;
orders massacre of prisoners, 100;
besieges Acre, 101;
rescues Junot at Nazareth and Kleber at Mount Tabor, 102;
retreats to Jaffa, 104;
massacres Turkish prisoners, 104;
arrives at Alexandria and defeats Turks at Aboukir, 107;
embarks for France, 109;
instructions to Kleber, 109, 110;
occupations on voyage, 113;
lands at Frejus, 114;
reception by Directory in Paris, 114;
conduct on 18th Brumaire, 118;
commands troops in Paris, 118;
enters Council of Five Hundred, 121;
dissolves Council and establishes provisional consulate, 123;
at the Luxembourg, 124;
re-opens churches, 126;
pacifies Chouans, 127;
made Chief Consul, 129;
occupies the Tuileries, 131;
writes to King of England, 136;
at Dijon, 142;
crosses the Alps, 143;
takes St. Bard, 146;
enters Milan, 149;
at Marengo, 151;
establishes Cisalpine Republic, 154;
arrives in Paris, 155;
attempted assassination, 157;
conduct towards the Pope, 162;
prepares to invade England, 165;
peace with England, 166;
his court, 169;
allows emigrants to return, 169;
re-establishes Catholic religion, 170;
concordat with Pope, 171;
institutes Legion of Honour, 175;
First Consul for life, 176;
Grand Mediator of Helvetic Republic, 178;
sends expedition to St. Domingo, 178;
banishes negroes, 180;
negotiates with Louis XVIII., 183;
arrests English subjects, 187;
seizes Hanover and Naples, 189;
prepares to invade England, 190;
conspiracy against him, 194;
condemns the Duke d'Enghien, 198;
declared Emperor, 206;
at Boulogne and Aix-la-Chapelle, 207;
crowned in Notre Dame, and at Milan, 208;
heads army in Germany, 212;
enters Vienna, 215;
at Austerlitz, 221;
offers Hanover to Prussia, 224;
confers crowns on his relatives, 226;
at Jena, 234;
exactions in Prussia, 238;
robs monument of Frederick the Great, 239;
issues decrees of Berlin, 240;
takes Warsaw, 244;
at battle of Preuss-Eylau, 247;
meets Russian Emperor at Tilsit, 254;
his administration in France, 259-264;
relations with Spain, 265, _et seq._;
at Erfurt, 288;
at Vittoria, 289;
at Samosierra, 290;
takes Madrid and abolishes Inquisition, 292;
leaves Spain, 295;
in Germany, 296;
at battle of Eckmuhl, 297;
wounded at Ratisbonne, 298;
takes Vienna, 298;
at Asperne and Essling, 301;
at Wagram, 302;
attempted assassination, 305;
decree against the Pope, 306;
concludes peace with Austria, 307;
divorces Josephine, 311;
marries Maria Louisa, 312;
deposes his brother Louis, 314;
annexes Holland, 315;
birth of his son, 320;
prepares for war with Russia, 324;
at Dresden, 336;
at Dantzick, 337;
address to his army, 337;
passes the Niemen, 340;
at Wilna, 341;
marches for Moscow, 344;
at battle of Borodino, 346;
enters Moscow, 348;
at the Kremlin, 349;
retreats from Moscow, 355;
at Verreia, 357;
at Smolensko, 358;
sufferings of his army, 358;
passes the Beresina, 365;
quits his army, 367;
arrives in Paris, 368;
his military preparations, 372;
heads his army in Saxony, 376;
at battle of Lutzen, 377;
enters Dresden, 377;
at Bautzen, 379;
agrees to an armistice, 380;
interview with Metternich, 381;
at battle of Dresden, 387;
at battle of Leipsig, 390;
at battle of Hanau, 394;
returns to Paris, 394;
his obstinacy, 398;
dissolves Legislative Senate, 401;
releases the Pope and Ferdinand VII., 401;
announces the invasion of France, 404;
leaves Paris, 406;
life saved at battle of Brienne, 407;
at battle of La Rothiere, 407;
his expedition to the Marne, 409;
at Nangis, 410;
dismisses Victor, 411;
at battle of Montereau, 411;
refuses to sign peace preliminaries, 412;
at Troyes, 413;
repulsed at Soissons, 414;
at battles of Craonne and Laon, 414;
captures Rheims, 415;
his remarkable energy, 416;
distrusted at Paris, 419;
at St. Dizier, 419;
Macdonald's advice to him, 424;
at Fontainebleau, 425;
throne declared empty, 431;
he abdicates, 432;
abdication accepted, 434;
paroxysm of illness, 435;
bids his officers and guards farewell, 436;
sails from Frejus for Elba, 439;
conduct and occupations at Elba, 440, _et seq._;
intrigues of his friends, 445;
escapes from Elba and lands at Cannes, 447;
reaches Gap, 448;
proclamation to the army and nation, 448, 449;
at Grenoble and Lyons, 450;
resumes functions of civil government, 452;
enters Paris, 454;
prepares for war, 457;
schemes to regain his wife and son, 459;
publishes "Additional Act." 463;
at the Champ de Mai, 464;
heads his army on Belgian frontier, 466;
passes the Sambre at Charleroi, 468;
defeats Blucher at Ligny, 470;
at the battle of Waterloo, 473-476;
is defeated and flees to Charleroi, 476;
reaches Paris, 477;
his second abdication, 479;
is sent to Malmaison, 481;
at Rochefort, 482;
negotiates with Captain Maitland, 483;
letter to the Prince Regent of England, 484;
embarks in the _Bellerophon_, 485;
interview with Lord Keith at Torbay, 485;
ordered to St. Helena, 485;
his protest, 486;
sails on _Northumberland_ for St. Helena, 490;
arrival there, 491;
resides at The Briars, 491;
removes to Longwood, 491;
complaints against English Government, 492;
and against Sir Hudson Lowe, 495;
manner of life at Longwood, 499;
health failing, 500;
refuses to take exercise, 501;
draws up his will, 502;
his death, 502;
his burial, 503
Buonaparte, Pauline, marries Prince Borghese, 226;
her intrigues at Elba, 445
Buonapartes, the, banished from Corsica, 8
Burrard, General Sir H., 283
Busaco, battle of, 319
Byron, Lord, quoted, 143, 497, 498, 504
Cairo, surrender of, 93;
English occupy, 165
Calder, Sir Robert, 216
Cambaceres, 126
Campbell, Sir Neil, 439, 445
Campo-Formio, treaty of, 75
Canning, Mr., quoted, 218
Carnot, 20;
made minister of war, 126;
Napoleon's opinion of, 133;
in opposition to Napoleon, 104, 206;
governor of Antwerp, 404;
minister of war, 457;
assists at the Champ de Mai, 463
Cartaux, 10
Castanos, General, 279
Castiglione, battle of, 45
Castlereagh, Lord, 408
Caulaincourt, 207, 368, 408, 426, 431
Ceracchi plans assassination of Napoleon, 157
Champ de Mai, 464
Charles, Archduke of Austria, 65
Charles IV. of Spain abdicates, 271
Chateaubriand, his tract, 427
Cherasco, armistice of, 28
Chouans, submission of, 127
Cintra, convention of, 283
Cisalpine Republic, 175
Ciudad Rodrigo, blockade of, 327;
capture of, 329
Clery, Mademoiselle, 16
Clichy, Royalist Club of, 72
Coalition against France, 210;
against English commerce, 259
Cobentzel at Campo-Formio, 75, 76
Code Napoleon projected, 173;
Napoleon's dictum of the, 261
Col di Tende, 15
Collingwood, Admiral, at Trafalgar, 219
Concordat, the, 170;
rejected by bishops, 171
Confederation of the Rhine, 226
Congress at Rastadt, 78;
at Prague, 380
Conscription in France, 262
Constitution of the year VIII., 128, 129
"Continental System," the, 240
Convention of Cintra, 283
Copenhagen, battle of, 163;
British expedition to, 258
Corsica, 1, 7, 8, 50
Coruna, battle of, 294
Cossacks attack French, 356
Craonne, battle of, 414
Culm, battle of, 387
Dalrymple, Sir Hew, 283
D'Angouleme, Duke, capitulates, 458
D'Angouleme, Duchess, heroic conduct of, 458
Danican, General, 19
Dantzick taken by French, 249
D'Argenteau, 26, 27
D'Artois, Count, 156
Davidowich, at Roveredo, 46
Davoust made Marshal, 207;
his conduct at Hamburg, 377
D'Enghien, Duke, arrested, 196;
murdered, 199;
reflections thereon, 201
Dennewitz, battle of, 388
D'Entraigues, Count, 70
De Pradt, Abbe, 368, 430
Desgenettes, 105
Dessaix, General, Napoleon's opinion of, 150;
killed at Marengo, 153
Detention of English travellers in France, 187
Directory, the, ask Napoleon's aid, 72;
their jealousy of him, 82;
oppose grant of estate to him, 218
Doppet, cowardice of, at Toulon, 12
Dresden, battle of, 387
Dubois, death of, 47
Dufour, Colonel, 146
Dugommier, General, 13
Dumanoir, Commodore, 218
Dupont marches into Andalusia, 279;
surrenders at Baylen, 280
Duroc, death of, at Bautzen, 379
Eckmuhl, battle of, 297
Education under Napoleon, 261
Egypt, French expedition to, 86;
Napoleon's administration in, 96;
English expedition to, 164;
conquered from France, 165
El Arish taken by French, 100
Elba, Napoleon at, 439, _et seq._
Elgin, Lord, sagacity of, 205
Emigrants allowed to return to France, 169
England, Napoleon's letter to King of, 136;
treaty of peace with, 166;
rupture of treaty, 187
Erfurt, conferences at, 288, 289
Essling, battle of, 301
Etruria, Napoleon's treatment of Queen of, 326
Fatalism, Napoleon's tendency to, 23
Fayette, La, his recall, 126
Ferdinand VII., abdication of, 271;
prisoner at Valencay, 326;
released, and re-enters Spain, 401, 402
Ferrara, Archbishop of, 46
Fersen, Count, conduct of Napoleon towards, 78
Fesch, Cardinal, remonstrates with Napoleon, 336
Flotilla of Boulogne, 165, 191
Fombio, battle of, 31
Fontainebleau, treaty of, 266;
Napoleon abdicates at, 435
Fouche, Napoleon's character of, 133;
Josephine demands his dismissal, 311;
in disgrace, 322;
made governor of Rome, 322;
his memorial against the war with Russia, 335;
joins Napoleon on his return from Elba, 455;
corresponds with Louis XVIII. at Ghent, 468;
advises Napoleon to escape to America, 481
Fox, Mr., and Napoleon, 168, 229
Frankfort, declaration of Allies at, 398
Francis, Emperor of Germany, his interview with Napoleon, 224
Friedland, battle of, 251
Fructidor, revolution of 18th, 73
Fuentes d'Onor, battle of, 327
Gazah, capture of, 100
Genoa, revolution of, 72;
siege of, 147
Georges Cadoudal, conspiracy of, 194;
trial and condemnation of, 203
Godoy, Manuel, his intrigues, 266;
arrested, 269
Gourgaud, General, 494
Grenville, Lord, 137
Grossbeeren, battle of, 388
Guiche, Duchess of, 156
Hall, Captain Basil, 497
Hamburg, Davoust's cruelties at, 377
Hanau, battle of, 394
Hanover seized by French, 189
Haugwitz, Count, 222, 224
Helvetic Republic, 177
Hesse Cassel, Landgrave of, 244
Hofer and his followers, massacre of, 299, 300
Hohenlinden, battle of, 160
Holland, annexed to France, 315;
revolution of, 396
Hospitallers of St. Bernard, Napoleon's visit to, 144
Hullin, General, 197, 198
Hundred Days, the, 436, _et seq._
Hutchinson, General, succeeds Sir Ralph Abercrombie, 164
Inquisition abolished by Napoleon, 292
Invasion of England, scheme for, 190
Jaffa, capture of, 100;
garrison massacred, 100;
Turkish prisoners massacred at, 104
Jena, battle of, 235
Joubert, 57
Jourdan, Marshal, enters Germany, 42;
in Spain, 382
Junot, coolness of, at siege of Toulon, 14;
marches on Portugal, 267
Kellerman made Marshal, 207
Kleber, General, rescued by Napoleon, 102;
left in command of army in Egypt, 109;
his assassination, 164
Kosciusko, 243
Kutusoff, General, commands Russian army, 345, _et seq._
Labedoyere, Colonel, 449, 480
Landshut, battle of, 297
Lannes at Placenza, 30;
wounded at Acre, 103;
made Marshal, 207;
killed at Asperne, 302
Laon, battle of, 415
La Rothiere, battle of, 407
Law of Hostages repealed, 125
Le Clerc, 122, 123, 179
Lefebre Desnouettes, 278, 280, 281
Leghorn seized by Napoleon, 40
Legion of Honour instituted, 175
Leipsig, battle of, 390-392
Leoben, treaty of, 67
Licence System, 325
Lodi, passage of bridge of, 32
Lonato, battle of, 44
Loretto, French enter, 61:
image of Virgin at, 61;
Holy House at, 62
Louvre, Gallery of the, 34
Louis XVIII., his letter to Napoleon, 155;
Napoleon's proposition to, 182;
his restoration, 441;
quits Paris and retires to Ghent, 454
Lowe, Sir Hudson, 494-497
Luneville, treaty of, 160
Lutzen, battle of, 377
Macdonald, General, 112, 384, 454
Mack, General, surrender of, at Ulm, 213, 214
Madrid occupied by Murat, 269;
massacre of, 272;
surrender of, 292
Mahomet, Napoleon's admiration of, 91
Maitland, Captain, 483, 490
Mallet, conspiracy of, 371
Malo-Yaraslovetz, battle of, 355, 356
Malta, Napoleon suggests seizure of, 85;
surrenders to French, 88;
surrenders to English, 155
Mamelukes, description of, 90
Mantua, siege of, 38;
surrender of, 60
Marengo, battle of, 151
Maria Louisa, Archduchess of Austria, marries Napoleon, 312;
quits Paris and retires to Blois, 422
Marmont crosses the Rhine, 212
Massena, General, in Italy, 139;
his retreat from Portugal, 327
Mehrfeldt, General, 391
Menou, General, 19, 165
Metternich, Prince, his interview with Napoleon, 381
Milan occupied by French, 33;
decrees against English commerce, 259
Millesimo, battle of, 27
Mincio, passage of the, 36
Miollis, General, occupies Rome, 306
Modena, Duke of, offers bribe to Napoleon, 70
Moncey made Marshal, 207
Mondovi, battle of, 28
Montebello, battle of, 149
Monte Notte, battle of, 27
Montmartre, battle of, 423
Moore, Sir John, commands army in Portugal, 286;
advances into Spain, 293;
retreat and death at Coruna, 294
Moreau, his retreat through the Black Forest, 42;
Napoleon's suspicions of, 193;
his arrest, 195;
exiled, 203;
returns and joins allies, 385;
his death, 386
Morla, Governor of Madrid, 292
Mortier seizes Hanover, 189;
made Marshal, 207
Moscow, French enter, 348;
burning of, 349;
French retreat from, 355
Muiron, at Toulon, 12;
saves Napoleon's life, 54
Murat, his conduct on Day of the Sections, 20;
marries Caroline Buonaparte, 134;
made Marshal, 207;
occupies Madrid, 269;
created King of Naples, 274;
his rash expedition, 460;
takes refuge in France, is seized and executed, 460
Napier, Colonel, quoted, 272, 274, 276
Naples, Queen of, her journey to Russia, 161;
seized by French, 189
"Napoleon's Grotto," 2
National Convention, the, 17
Naumburg, capture of, 233
Negroes banished from France, 180
Nelson, Lord, at Alexandria, 74;
at Aboukir, 95;
at Copenhagen, 163;
at Trafalgar, 217
Ney, Marshal, at Clagenfurt, 214;
at battle of Borodino, 347;
retreats from Smolensko, 360;
"the bravest of the brave," 364;
his treason, 453;
at Waterloo, 476;
at Paris, 480
Niemen, passage of the, 341
Nile, French army march up, 91
Northern confederacy against England, 162
Ocana, battle of, 303
O'Meara, Dr., 500
Ossian, Napoleon's favourite poet, 5
Palafox, General, 280
Palm, the bookseller, murder of, 231
Paoli, General, 7
Passage of the Po, 31;
of the Mincio, 36
Pavia, insurrection of, 36
Paul, Emperor of Russia, admires Napoleon, 161;
assassinated, 163
Peltier, trial of, 182
Perignon made Marshal, 207
"Philadelphes," Society of, 371
Pichegru, Napoleon's monitor, 4;
listens to the Bourbons' proposals, 70;
arrested and exiled, 73;
returns, 195;
arrested in Paris, 195;
found dead in prison, 202
Piedmont conquered, 28
Pitt, Mr., death of, 229
Po, passage of the, 31
Poles, Napoleon's conduct towards, 338
Polytechnic School, 173
Pope, the, buys respite of Napoleon, 40;
negotiates with Napoleon, and concludes treaty at Tollentino, 62;
restored by England, 161;
arrested by Miollis, 306;
sent to Fontainebleau, 307;
released, 401
Popham, Admiral Sir Home, court-martialled, 253
Prague, congress at, 380;
congress dissolved, 382
Presburg, treaty of, 224
Preuss-Eylau, battle of, 247
Primolano, battle of, 48
"Prince of the Peace," 266
Prussia, makes peace with Napoleon, 224;
accepts Hanover from him, 225;
declares war against France, 232, 373;
Queen of, Napoleon's treatment of, 255
Pultusk, battle of, 245
Pyramids, battle of the, 93
Quasdonowich, 43, 44, 48
Quatre-bras, battle of, 468
Raab, battle of, 299
Rastadt, battle of, 78;
murder of French commissioners at, 111
Ratisbonne, taken by French, 297
Red Sea explored by Napoleon, 99
Reign of Terror, the, 9
Revolution of the 18th Fructidor, 73
Rhine, confederation of the, 226
Riosecco, battle of, 278
Rivoli, battle of, 57
Robespierre, fall of, 17
Rome seized by Miollis, 306;
King of, 320
Rostophchin burns Moscow, 349
Roveredo, battle of, 47
Rumbold, Sir George, 205
Russia, French relations with, 323;
Napoleon's invasion of, 340
"Sacred Band," the, 19
St. Bard, capture of, 146
St. Bernard, passage of the Great, 143-145
St. Domingo, French expedition to, 178
St. George, battle of, 59
St. Helena, Napoleon at, 491, _et seq._
Salamanca, battle of, 330
Samosierra, passage of the, 290
Saorgio, surrender of, 15
"Savans" accompany army in Egypt, 86, 92, 94
Savary quoted, 99;
at trial of Duke d'Enghien, 198
Schill, Colonel, 299
Schoenbrunn, treaty of, 307
Scott, Sir Walter, quoted, 41, 191, 494
Sebastiani, his memorial, 183
Sections, Day of the, 21
Serrurier made Marshal, 207
Sheridan, Mr., quoted, 185
Sieyes, Abbe, 115-119, 127, 130, 463
Smith, Sir Sydney, at Acre, 101;
Napoleon's hatred of, 103
Smolensko, battle of, 359
Soult, Marshal, in Spain, 290
Stabbs, his attempt to assassinate Napoleon, 305
Stael, Madame de, 80, 169
Suchet, Marshal, defeats Blake, 303;
defeats O'Donnell, 318
Suez, Napoleon explores isthmus of, 99
"Sun of Austerlitz," 223
"Suns of Napoleon," 87
Sweden, revolution in, 316
Swiss Cantons, Napoleon's letter to, 178
Tacitus, Napoleon's chosen author, 5
Tactics, Napoleon's military, 25
Tagliamento, battle of, 65
Talaveyra, battle of, 303
Talleyrand, his character, 133;
created Prince of Benevento, 227;
corresponds with the Bourbons, 421;
his billet to Alexander of Russia, 421
Talma, early associate of Napoleon, 16
Taxation under Napoleon, 263
Tilsit, treaty of, 255
Tollentino, treaty of, 62
Torres Vedras, Wellington at, 319
Toulon, siege of, 9-14
Toussaint l'Ouverture, 179
Trafalgar, battle of, 217-219
Tugend-bund, the, 288
Tyrol, peasants revolt in, 299
Ulm, surrender of, by Mack, 213, 214
Usher, Captain, 439
Vandamme, surrender of, 387
Vendemaire, the 13th, 20
Venice threatened by Napoleon, 38;
neutrality of, 64;
conquered by Napoleon, 69;
handed over to Austria, 75
Victor, Marshal, 149, 303
Vienna taken by French, 313, 298;
congress at, 456
Villeneuve, Admiral, 217
Vimiero, battle of, 283
Vincovo, battle of, 354
Vittoria, battle of, 382
Volney, 171
Wagram, battle of, 303
Wahlstadt, battle of, 388
Walcheren, expedition to, 304
Warsaw taken by French, 244;
Grand Duchy of, 255
Waterloo, battle of, 472-477
Wellesley, Sir Arthur, commands British army in the Peninsula, 281;
lands in Mondego Bay, 282;
defeats French at Rorica, 283;
defeats Junot at Vimiero, 283;
lands at Lisbon, 303;
defeats Soult, 303;
at Talaveyra, 303;
created Lord Wellington, 304;
retreats to lines of Torres Vedras, 319;
at Fuentes d'Onor, 327;
captures Ciudad Rodrigo, 329;
takes Badajos, 329;
at Salamanca, 330;
at Vittoria, 382;
interview with Blucher, 470;
at battle of Waterloo, 472-477
Westphalia, new kingdom of, 255
Whitelocke, General, repulsed at Buenos Ayres, 253, 254
Whitworth, Lord, confers with Napoleon, 185
Wilna, Napoleon at, 341
Wilson, Sir Robert, 105, 184
Wirtemberg, Elector of, made king, 225
Witzingerode taken prisoner, 357;
interview with Napoleon, 357
Wordsworth, Mr., quoted, 177, 179, 180, 191
Wright, Captain, 195, 203 (note)
Wurmser, General, 42, _et seq._
Yarmouth, Lord, 230
Zaragossa, siege of, 281
Znaim, armistice of, 302
THE END
THE TEMPLE PRESS
LETCHWORTH, ENGLAND