Verdun, the depôt of the English prisoners of war, we enjoyed the same
privileges as the inhabitants. Verdun is a very pleasant town, and we
found provisions and wine exceedingly cheap. We were allowed to walk
several miles beyond the town, without the trouble of asking permission;
and we could, if we pleased, obtain leave to absent ourselves for
several days at a time. In short, we were so well protected against all
sorts of vexations, that the General, under whose command we were
placed, having been guilty of some irregularities in his treatment of
us, was ordered to Paris, by the special command of Napoleon, and from
fear of the punishment that awaited him, he committed suicide. It once
happened that we received orders to confine ourselves to our lodgings,
and we were informed that we should not be allowed to quit them for
several days; the reason assigned for this measure was that the Emperor
intended to pass through Verdun, and that it was not thought safe to
allow him to be surrounded by so many of the enemy’s prisoners. Besides
the disappointment of our curiosity (for we very much wished to see
Napoleon), this order hurt us exceedingly. Do they distrust brave
English seamen? we thought. Is it possible that they confound us with
assassins? Be this as it might, we were doomed to be close prisoners;
when, on the day of Napoleon’s arrival, we were, to our surprise,
informed that we were again at liberty, and that the Emperor very much
disapproved of the order that had been given for our confinement. We
eagerly thronged to see the Emperor, and he passed us unattended by any
escort, with an air of perfect security, and even with an expression of
kindness, which quite delighted us. Our acclamations were not less
sincere than those of the French themselves.
“Napoleon and Maria Louisa, returning from their journey in Holland,
arrived at Givet on the Meuse, where several hundred English prisoners
were at that time collected. A sudden storm arose; there was a heavy
fall of rain, the river overflowed its banks, and the pontoon bridge was
broken and rendered impassable. However, the Emperor, anxious to
continue his journey, and not being in the habit of thinking any thing
impossible, resolved to cross the river at all hazards. All the boatmen
in the neighbourhood were collected together; but not one would attempt
to cross. ‘However,’ said Napoleon, ‘I am determined to be on the other
side of the river before noon.’ He immediately ordered some of the
principal English prisoners to be brought to him: ‘Are there many of you
here?’ said he, ‘and are there any sailors among you?’ ‘There are 500 of
us, and we are all seamen,’ was the reply. ‘Well, I want to know whether
you think it possible to cross the river, and whether you will undertake
to convey me to the opposite bank.’ It was acknowledged to be a
hazardous attempt, but some of our veterans undertook to accomplish it.
Napoleon got into the boat with a degree of confidence that surprised
us, and he reached the opposite bank in safety. He heartily thanked
those who had rendered him this service, and ordered that they should be
supplied with new clothes. To this he added a pecuniary present, and
granted them their liberty.
“A young English sailor, seized with an ardent longing to return to his
country, escaped from a depôt, and succeeded in making his way to the
coast, in the neighbourhood of Boulogne, where he concealed himself in
the woods. His eager desire to return home suggested to him the idea of
making a little boat, to enable him to reach some of the English
cruisers, which he spent the greater part of the day in watching, from
the tops of the trees on the shore. He was seized just at the moment
when he was about to put to sea with his little boat, and to make a
desperate attempt to secure his liberty. He was imprisoned on suspicion
of being a spy or a robber. This circumstance reached the ears of
Napoleon, who was then at Boulogne, and he felt a curiosity to see the
boat, of which he heard so much. When it was shown to him, he could not
bring himself to believe that any rational being would have ventured to
put to sea in it. He ordered the sailor to be brought to him, and the
young man declared that he had really intended to escape, with the aid
of his boat, and the only favour he asked was permission to execute his
project. ‘You appear very eager to return to England,’ said the Emperor;
‘Perhaps you have left a sweetheart behind you?’ ‘No,’ replied the young
man, ‘but I have a mother, at home, who is old and infirm, and I am
anxious to return to her.’—‘Well, you shall return,’ said Napoleon; and
he immediately ordered that the young man should be provided with new
clothes, and sent on board the first English cruiser that might appear
in sight. He also directed that he should be furnished with a sum of
money, as a present to his mother, remarking that she must be a good
mother, to have so good a son.”[3]
Footnote 3:
Since my return to Europe, some Letters from St. Helena have been
published, in which the above anecdotes are related, almost word for
word. This and other circumstances induced me to make some inquiry
respecting the publication; and I am enabled to affirm that, though
anonymous, its contents are derived from the most authentic sources,
and are entitled to full credit.
Among the many acts of kindness which the Emperor exercised towards the
English, who were detained in France, there is one which happened to
come within my own knowledge, and of which a Mr. Manning was the object.
This gentleman, whom I knew very well in Paris, and who had been induced
to travel for the sake of scientific investigation, thought he might
obtain his liberty by addressing a petition to Napoleon, praying for
permission to visit the interior of Asia. His friends laughed at his
simplicity; but he turned the laugh against us when, at the expiration
of a few weeks, he triumphantly informed us of the success of his
application. I find it mentioned in Dr. O’Meara’s work, that this same
Mr. Manning, after a peregrination of several years, touched at St.
Helena, on his return to Europe, and urgently requested leave to see
Napoleon, in order to express his gratitude by laying a few presents at
his feet, and answering any inquiries he might make respecting the Grand
Lama, whom he had had an opportunity of visiting through the Emperor’s
particular favour.
PHYSICAL ADVANTAGES OF RUSSIA.—HER POLITICAL POWER.—REMARKS ON
INDIA.—PITT AND FOX.—IDEAS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY.—COMPANIES, OR FREE
TRADE.—M. DE SUFFREN.—THE EMPEROR’S REMARKS ON THE NAVY.
6th.—The Emperor continued in a state of convalescence, and he received
some visitors about the middle of the day. I waited upon him,
accompanied by Madame de Montholon. He conversed a great deal about the
society of Paris, and related several anecdotes of the Tuileries.
In the evening, the Emperor resumed his geographical observations. He
dwelt particularly on Asia; on the situation of Russia, and the facility
with which the latter power might make an attempt on India, or even on
China, and the alarm which she might, therefore, justly excite in the
English. He calculated the number of troops that Russia might employ,
their probable point of departure, the route they would be likely to
pursue, and the wealth they would obtain in such an enterprise. On all
these subjects he made the most curious and valuable remarks. I very
much regret my inability to record them here, for my notes, in this
instance, afford me only slight hints, and I cannot trust to the
accuracy of my memory for filling up the details.
The Emperor next adverted to what he called the admirable situation of
Russia against the rest of Europe, to the immense mass she possessed for
invasion. He represented that power seated beneath the pole, and backed
by eternal bulwarks of ice, which, in case of need, would render her
inaccessible. Russia, he said, could only be attacked during one third
or fourth of the year; while, on the contrary, she had the whole year,
the whole twelve months, to act against us; her assailants would
encounter the rigours and privations of a frigid climate and a barren
soil, while her troops, pouring down upon us, would enjoy the fertility
and charms of our southern region.
To these physical circumstances, continued the Emperor, may be added the
advantage of an immense population, brave, hardy, devoted and passive,
including those numerous uncivilized hordes, to whom privation and
wandering are the natural state of existence. “Who can avoid
shuddering,” said he, “at the thought of such a vast mass, unassailable
either on the flanks or in the rear, descending upon us with impunity;
if triumphant, overwhelming every thing in its course; or, if defeated,
retiring amidst the cold and desolation, that may be called its reserves
in case of defeat; and possessing every facility of issuing forth again
at a future opportunity. Is not this the head of the Hydra, the Antæus
of fable, which can only be subdued by grappling it bodily, and stifling
it in one’s arms. But where is the Hercules to be found? France alone
could think of such an achievement, and it must be confessed we made but
an awkward attempt at it.”
The Emperor was of opinion that, in the new political combination of
Europe, the fate of that portion of the world depended entirely on the
capacity and disposition of a single man. “Should there arise,” said he,
“an Emperor of Russia, valiant, impetuous, and intelligent; in a word, a
Czar with a beard on his chin, (this he pronounced very emphaticallly)
Europe is his own. He may commence his operations on the German
territory, one hundred leagues from the two capitals, Berlin and Vienna,
whose sovereigns are his only obstacles. He secures the alliance of the
one by force, and with his aid subdues the other, at a single stroke. He
then finds himself in the heart of Germany, amidst the Princes of the
second rank, most of whom are either his relations or dependents.
Meanwhile, he may, should he think it necessary, throw a few firebrands
across the Alps, on the soil of Italy, ripe for explosion, and he may
then march triumphantly to Paris to proclaim himself the new Liberator.
I know if I were in such a situation, I would undertake to reach Calais
in a given time, and by regular marching stations, thereto become the
master and arbiter of Europe....” Then, after a few moments’ silence, he
added, “Perhaps, my dear Las Cases, you may be tempted to say, as the
minister of Pyrrhus said to his master, ‘_And after all, to what
purpose?_’ My answer is, to establish a new state of society, and to
avert great misfortunes. This is a blessing which Europe expects and
solicits. The old system is ended, and the new one is not consolidated,
and will not be so until after long and furious convulsions.”
The Emperor was again silent, and after measuring, with his compasses,
the distances on the map, he observed that Constantinople was, from its
situation, calculated to be the centre and seat of universal dominion.
He then alluded to the English settlements in India, and asked me
whether I knew any thing of their history. I told him what little I knew
on this subject.
Queen Elizabeth created an East India Company by virtue of her royal
prerogative.
A century later, the Parliament created another. However, as these two
companies were found to injure each other by their competitions, they
were united under one charter.
In 1716, the Company obtained from the sovereigns of India the famous
firman or Indian charter, authorizing them to export or import free of
all duty.
In 1741, the Company first commenced military interference in the
affairs of India, in opposition to the French Company, who took the
adverse side. Since then, the two nations have constantly waged war in
that distant land, whenever a contest arose between them in Europe.
France had a short interval of success in the war of 1740, was crushed
in 1755, maintained an equality in 1779, and at length totally
disappeared during the war of the Revolution.
The English East India Company now rules the whole peninsula, including
a population of more than 60,000,000, of which 20,000,000 are its
subjects, 20,000,000 its tributaries or allies, and the rest are
involved in its system and obliged to go along with it.[4]
Footnote 4:
This was written in 1816, before those events took place in India, by
which the subjection of the whole peninsula seems to have been
accomplished.
Such is the famous East India Company, which at once acts the part of
merchant and sovereign; whose wealth is derived both from commercial
profits and territorial revenues. Hence it results that the merchant is
frequently actuated by the ambition of the sovereign, while the
sovereign plans, directs, and executes with the cupidity of the
merchant. In these peculiar circumstances, in this two-fold character,
we may trace the cause of the progress, measures, conflicts,
contradictions, disorders, and clamours, that compose the history of
this celebrated Company.
The English East India Company has long reigned absolute and
independent. It was and still continues to be represented by a Court of
Directors, chosen from among the proprietors. These Directors delegate
and direct in India, by despatches, a regency or council, consisting of
a Governor and some assessors, who represent and exercise the sovereign
authority.
In 1767, the Crown for the first time put forward claims on the
territory and revenues of India; but the Company purchased its
relinquishment of them by a subsidy equivalent to ten or twelve millions
of francs.
About the year 1773, the East India Company, finding its affairs
extremely deranged, made application to Parliament, which took advantage
of its embarrassment to secure its dependence. The Company’s possessions
were subjected to new political, judicial, and financial regulations,
which, however, produced no very satisfactory result. The Indian
peninsula was thrown into the utmost disorder; and the establishment of
a Supreme Court of Justice, operating as a rival to the Sovereign
Council, and appointed for the purpose of introducing English laws in
the country, particularly excited the dissatisfaction and alarm of the
natives. The fury of parties, and their reciprocal accusations and
complaints, have transmitted to us a picture of the odious measures, the
boundless rapacity and atrocious tyranny of this stormy period, which is
the least honourable in the history of the East India Company.
In 1783, with the view of providing a radical remedy for these evils,
Mr. Fox, who was then Prime Minister, brought forward his famous Bill,
the failure of which occasioned his resignation. Mr. Pitt, who had been
the opponent of this Bill, in the following year introduced another,
which laid the foundation of his celebrity, and which still continues to
regulate the affairs of the East India Company. Fox’s Bill would, in
fact, have been a judicial seizure; it would have placed all the
Company’s property in the hands of a managing committee, who were to
liquidate its debts, and dispose of all employments. The members of this
Committee, appointed by the King or by Parliament, were to be
irremoveable, and were to sit until they should have established the
affairs of the Company on a better footing. A general outcry was raised
against these propositions, which, it was said, would place important
interests, vast patronage, and enormous influence, in the hands of a few
individuals. It was said that the Bill was calculated to introduce a
fourth power in the state, and to set up a rival to the Crown itself.
Mr. Fox was even accused of a wish to establish himself permanently in
office, by creating a sort of concealed sovereignty, superior to that of
the King; for, Fox being at this time Minister, and having Parliament
under his control, he would have appointed and ruled the proposed
Committee. Through the influence of this Committee, he would have
composed and governed Parliament, and with the aid of Parliament, he
would have established and perpetuated the Committee; in short, there
was no end to the power which he would thus have exercised. A violent
clamour arose, and the King made the business a personal matter. He
appealed to his own friends, to those individuals in the House of Peers
who were sincerely attached to him, and regarded the measures proposed
as an attack on his very existence. The Bill failed, and Fox quitted the
ministry.
Pitt was more adroit, and assumed the appearance of greater moderation.
In his Bill, he merely contented himself with placing the Company under
a sort of guardianship; submitting all its operations to a Committee
appointed to revise and counter-sign them. He left to the Company the
power of nomination to all employments; but reserved to the Crown the
appointment of the Governor General, and the veto on all other
nominations. This Committee, which was appointed by the King, formed a
new branch in the administration. Complaints were now raised against the
vast increase of influence which this measure would give to the royal
authority, and which, it was affirmed, would infallibly break the
constitutional equilibrium. Fox had been reproached with having wished
to keep this influence wholly apart from the King; and Pitt was accused
of having placed it entirely in his hands. All that the one had desired
to do for the people, it was said the other had done for the monarch.
Indeed, these two distinct characters, these two opposite evils,
constituted the whole difference between the two Bills, which produced a
decisive battle between the Whigs and Tories. Mr. Pitt gained the
victory, and the Tories triumphed.
The faults of Fox’s Bill still remain hypothetical, since they were
never put to the test; but the evils that were predicted from Pitt’s
measures have been formally fulfilled. The equilibrium of power has been
broken, the true English constitution has ceased to exist, the royal
authority, daily augmented, has encroached in every direction, and is
now marching, unimpeded, on the high road, to arbitrary and absolute
power.
The Ministers command in Parliament a majority, which they have
themselves created, which perpetuates their power and legalizes their
arbitrary measures. Thus, English liberty is daily more and more
fettered by the very forms which were intended for its defence; and the
future, instead of affording a prospect of remedy, appears to threaten
greater misfortunes! How could Fox’s plan have produced more fatal
results? For it may truly be said that all the great encroachments that
have been made on the English constitution have been occasioned by the
interests of India. Surely the weight which Fox wished to secure to the
popular side could not have been more disastrous to the cause of liberty
than that with which Pitt surcharged the royal prerogative!
Consequently, it is now often boldly asserted that Fox was in the right,
that he was wiser, and could not have been so mischievous as his rival.
The names of Pitt and Fox having been thus introduced, the Emperor dwelt
long on the characters, systems, and measures of those two celebrated
statesmen; and concluded with the following remarks, which had already
fallen from him on several previous occasions: “Pitt,” said he, “was the
master of European policy; he held in his hand the moral fate of
nations; but he made an ill use of his power. He kindled the fire of
discord throughout the universe; and his name, like that of Erostratus,
will be inscribed in history, amidst flames, lamentations, and tears!...
The first sparks of our Revolution, then the resistance that was opposed
to the national will, and, finally, the horrid crimes that ensued, all
were his work. Twenty-five years of universal conflagration; the
numerous coalitions that added fuel to the flame; the revolution and
devastation of Europe; the bloodshed of nations; the frightful debt of
England, by which all these horrors were maintained; the pestilential
system of loans, by which the people of Europe are oppressed; the
general discontent that now prevails;—all must be attributed to Pitt.
Posterity will brand him as a scourge; and the man so lauded in his own
time will hereafter be regarded as the genius of evil. Not that I
consider him to have been really wicked, or doubt his having entertained
the conviction that he was acting right. But St. Bartholomew had also
its conscientious advocates; the Pope and Cardinals celebrated it by a
_Te Deum_; and we have no reason to doubt their having done so in
perfect sincerity. Such is the weakness of human reason and judgment!
But that for which posterity will, above all, execrate the memory of
Pitt, is the hateful school that he has left behind him, its insolent
Machiavelism, its profound immorality, its cold egotism, and its utter
disregard of justice and human happiness.
“Whether it be the effect of admiration and gratitude, or the result of
mere instinct and sympathy, Pitt is, and will continue to be, the idol
of the European aristocracy. There was, indeed, a touch of the Sylla in
his character. His system has kept the popular cause in check, and
brought about the triumph of the patricians. As to Fox, one must not
look for his model among the ancients. He is himself a model, and his
principles will sooner or later rule the world.”
The Emperor said a great deal about Fox, and expressed the great
attachment he entertained for him. He had had his bust put up at
Malmaison, before he knew him personally. He concluded with a remark,
which he used often to make, at different times, and in various ways:
“Certainly,” said he, “the death of Fox was one of the fatalities of my
career. Had his life been prolonged, affairs would have taken a totally
different turn; the cause of the people would have triumphed, and we
should have established a new order of things in Europe.”
Returning to the subject of the East India Company, the Emperor observed
that the question respecting the comparative advantage of the monopoly
of a company, or free trade for all, was an important subject of
consideration. “A Company,” said he, “places great advantages in the
hands of a few individuals, who may attend very well to their own
interests, while they neglect those of the mass. Thus every company soon
degenerates into an oligarchy: it is always the friend of power, to
which it is ready to lend every assistance. In this point of view,
companies were exclusively suited to old times and old systems. Free
trade, on the contrary, is favourable to the interests of all classes;
it excites the imagination and rouses the activity of a people; it is
identical with equality, and naturally leads to independence. In this
respect, it is most in unison with our modern system. After the treaty
of Amiens, by which France regained her Indian possessions, I had this
grand question thoroughly discussed before me, and at great length; I
heard both statesmen and commercial men; and my final opinion was in
favour of free trade, and against companies.”
The Emperor then discussed several points of political economy which are
treated by Smith in his _Wealth of Nations_. He admitted that they were
true in principle; but proved them to be false in application.
Unfortunately, the scantiness of my notes here prevents me from entering
into particulars.
“Formerly,” said he, “only one kind of property was known, that which
consisted in landed possessions; afterwards, a second kind arose, that
of industry or manufactures, which is now in opposition to the first;
then arose a third, that which is derived from the burdens levied on the
people, and which, distributed by the neutral and impartial hands of
government, might obviate the evils of monopoly on the part of the two
others, intervene between them, and prevent them from coming into actual
conflict.” This great contest of modern times, he called the war of the
_fields_ against the _factories_, of the _castles_ against the
_counting-houses_.
“It is,” said he, “because men will not acknowledge this great
revolution in property, because they persist in closing their eyes on
these truths, that so many acts of folly are now committed, and that
nations are exposed to so many disorders. The world has sustained a
great shock, and it now seeks to return to a settled state. There,” said
he, “is in two words, the Key to the universal agitation that at present
prevails: the ship’s cargo has been shifted, her ballast has been
removed from the stem to the stern; hence are produced those violent
oscillations which may occasion her wreck in the first storm, if the
crew persist in working the vessel according to the usual method, and
without obtaining a new balance.”
This day has been rich in materials for my Journal. Besides the subjects
to which I have already alluded, several others were introduced. When
speaking of India and the English East India Company, the name of M. de
Suffren was mentioned.