1805-1806.
Declaration of Louis XVIII.--Dumouriez watched--News of a spy--
Remarkable trait of courage and presence of mind--Necessity of
vigilance at Hamburg--The King of Sweden--His bulletins--Doctor Gall
--Prussia covets Hamburg--Projects on Holland--Negotiations for
peace--Mr. Fox at the head of the British Cabinet--Intended
assassination of Napoleon--Propositions made through Lord Yarmouth
--Proposed protection of the Hanse towns--Their state--
Aggrandisement of the Imperial family--Neither peace nor war--
Sebastiani's mission to Constantinople--Lord Lauderdale at Paris,
and failure of the negotiations--Austria despoiled--Emigrant
pensions--Dumouriez's intrigues--Prince of Mecklenburg-Schwerin--
Loizeau.
I have been somewhat diffuse respecting the vast enterprises of M.
Ouvrard, and on the disastrous state of the finances during the campaign
of Vienna. Now, if I may so express myself, I shall return to the
Minister Plenipotentiary's cabinet, where several curious transactions
occurred. The facts will not always be given in a connected series,
because there was no more relation between the reports which I received
on a great variety of subjects than there is in the pleading of the
barristers who succeed each other in a court of justice.
On the 2d of January 1806 I learned that many houses in Hamburg had
received by post packets, each containing four copies of a declaration of
Louis XVIII. Dumouriez had his carriage filled with copies of this
declaration when he passed through Brunswick; and in that small town
alone more than 3000 were distributed. The size of this declaration
rendered its transmission by post very easy, even in France.
All my letters from the Minister recommended that I should keep a strict
watch over the motions of Dumouriez; but his name was now as seldom
mentioned as if he had ceased to exist. The part he acted seemed to be
limited to disseminating pamphlets more or less insignificant.
It is difficult to conceive the great courage and presence of mind
sometimes found in men so degraded as are the wretches who fill the
office of spies. I had an agent amongst the Swedo-Russians, named
Chefneux, whom I had always found extremely clever and correct. Having
for a long time received no intelligence from him I became very anxious,
--an anxiety which was not without foundation. He had, in fact, been
arrested at Lauenburg, and conducted, bound, tied hand and foot, by some
Cossacks to Luneburg. There was found on him a bulletin which he was
about to transmit to me, and he only escaped certain death by having in
his possession a letter of recommendation from a Hamburg merchant well
known to M. Alopaeus, the Russian Minister in that city. This
precaution, which I had taken before he set out, saved his life.
M. Alopaeus replied to the merchant that, in consequence of his
recommendation the spy should be sent back safe and sound, but that
another time neither the recommended nor the recommender should escape so
easily. Notwithstanding this, Chefneux would certainly have paid with
his head for the dangerous business in which he was embarked but for the
inconceivable coolness he displayed under the most trying circumstances.
Though the bulletin which was found upon him was addressed to M. Schramm,
merchant, they strongly suspected that it was intended for me. They
demanded of the prisoner whether he knew me; to which he boldly replied
that he had never seen me. They endeavoured, by every possible means, to
extort a confession from him, but without success. His repeated denials,
joined to the name of M. Schramm, created doubts in the minds of his
interrogators; they hesitated lest they should condemn an innocent man.
They, however, resolved to make a last effort to discover the truth, and
Chefneux, condemned to be shot, was conducted to the plain of Luneburg.
His eyes were bandaged, and he heard the command of preparation given to
the platoon, which was to fire upon him; at that moment a man approaching
him whispered in his ear, in a tone of friendship and compassion, "They
are going to fire; but I am your friend; only acknowledge that you know
M. de Bourrienne and you are safe."--"No," replied Chefneux in a firm
tone; "if I said so I should tell a falsehood." Immediately the bandage
was removed from his eyes, and he was set at liberty. It would be
difficult to cite a more extraordinary instance of presence of mind.
Much as I execrate the system of espionage I am nevertheless compelled to
admit that the Emperor was under the necessity of maintaining the most
unremitting vigilance amidst the intrigues which were going forward in
the neighbourhood of Hamburg, especially when the English, Swedes, and
Russians were in arms, and there were the strongest grounds for
suspecting the sincerity of Prussia.
On the 5th of January 1806 the King of Sweden arrived before the gates of
Hamburg. The Senate of that city, surrounded on all sides by English,
Swedish, and Russian troops, determined to send a deputation to
congratulate the Swedish monarch, who, however, hesitated so long about
receiving this homage that fears were entertained lest his refusal should
be followed by some act of aggression. At length, however, the deputies
were admitted, and they returned sufficiently well satisfied with their
reception.
The King of Sweden then officially declared, "That all the arrangements
entered into with relation to Hanover had no reference to hint, as the
Swedish army was under the immediate command of its august sovereign."
The King, with his 6000 men, seemed inclined to play the part of the
restorer of Germany, and to make himself the Don Quixote of the treaty of
Westphalia. He threatened the Senate of Hamburg with the whole weight of
his anger, because on my application the colours which used to be
suspended over the door of the house for receiving Austrian recruits had
been removed. The poor Senate of Hamburg was kept in constant alarm by
so dangerous a neighbour.
The King of Sweden had his headquarters at Boetzenburg, on the northern
bank of the Elbe. In order to amuse himself he sent for Dr. Gall, who
was at Hamburg, where he delivered lectures on his system of phrenology,
which was rejected in the beginning by false science and prejudice, and
afterwards adopted in consequence of arguments, in my opinion,
unanswerable. I had the pleasure of living some time with Dr. Gall, and
I owe to the intimacy which subsisted between us the honour he conferred
on me by the dedication of one of his works. I said to him, when he
departed for the headquarters of the King of Sweden, "My dear doctor, you
will certainly discover the bump of vanity." The truth is, that had the
doctor at that period been permitted to examine the heads of the
sovereigns of Europe they would have afforded very curious craniological
studies.
It was not the King of Sweden alone who gave uneasiness to Hamburg; the
King of Prussia threatened to seize upon that city, and his Minister
publicly declared that it would very soon belong to his master. The
Hamburgers were deeply afflicted at this threat; in fact, next to the
loss of their independence, their greatest misfortune would have been to
fall under the dominion of Prussia, as the niggardly fiscal system of the
Prussian Government at that time would have proved extremely detrimental
to a commercial city. Hanover, being evacuated by the French troops, had
become a kind of recruiting mart for the British army, where every man
who presented himself was enrolled, to complete the Hanoverian legion
which was then about to be embodied. The English scattered gold by
handfuls. One hundred and fifty carriages, each with six horses, were
employed in this service, which confirmed me in the belief I had
previously entertained, that the English were to join with the Russians
in an expedition against Holland. The aim of the Anglo-Russians was to
make a diversion which might disconcert the movements of the French
armies in Germany, the allies being at that time unacquainted with the
peace concluded at Presburg. Not a moment was therefore to be lost in
uniting the whole of our disposable force for the defence of Holland; but
it is not of this expedition that I mean to speak at present. I only
mention it to afford some idea of our situation at Hamburg, surrounded,
as we then were, by Swedish, English, and Russian troops. At this period
the Russian Minister at Hamburg, M. Forshmann, became completely insane;
his conduct had been more injurious than advantageous to his Government.
He was replaced by M. Alopcous, the Russian Minister at Berlin; and they
could not have exchanged a fool for a more judicious and able
diplomatist.
I often received from the Minister of Marine letters said packets to
transmit to the Isle of France,(Mauritius) of which the Emperor was
extremely anxious to retain possession; and I had much trouble in finding
any vessels prepared for that colony by which I could forward the
Minister's communications. The death of Pitt and the appointment of
Fox as his successor had created a hope of peace. It was universally
known that Mr. Fox, in succeeding to his office, did not inherit the
furious hatred of the deceased Minister against France and her Emperor.
There moreover existed between Napoleon and Mr. Fox a reciprocal esteem,
and the latter had shown himself really disposed to treat. The
possibility of concluding a peace had always been maintained by that
statesman when he was in opposition to Mr. Pitt; and Bonaparte himself
might have been induced, from the high esteem he felt for Mr. Fox, to
make concessions from which he would before have recoiled. But there
were two obstacles, I may say almost insurmountable ones. The first was
the conviction on the part of England that any peace which might be made
would only be a truce, and that Bonaparte would never seriously
relinquish his desire of universal dominion. On the other side, it was
believed that Napoleon had formed the design of invading England. Had he
been able to do so it would have been less with the view of striking a
blow at her commerce and destroying her maritime power, than of
annihilating the liberty of the press, which he had extinguished in his
own dominions. The spectacle of a free people, separated only by six
leagues of sea, was, according to him, a seductive example to the French,
especially to those among them who bent unwillingly under his yoke.
At an early period of Mr. Fox's ministry a Frenchman made the proposition
to him of assassinating the Emperor, of which information was immediately
transmitted to M. de Talleyrand. In this despatch the Minister said
that, though the laws of England did not authorise the permanent
detention of any individual not convicted of a crime, he had on this
occasion taken it on himself to secure the miscreant till such time as
the French Government could be put on its guard against his attempts.
Mr. Fox said in his letter that he had at first done this individual "the
honour to take him for a spy," a phrase which sufficiently indicated the
disgust with which the British Minister viewed him.
This information was the key which opened the door to new negotiations.
M. de Talleyrand was ordered to express, in reply to the communication of
Mr. Fox, that the Emperor was sensibly affected at the index it afforded
of the principles by which the British Cabinet was actuated. Napoleon
did not limit himself to this diplomatic courtesy; he deemed it a
favourable occasion to create a belief that he was actuated by a sincere
love of peace. He summoned to Paris Lord Yarmouth, one of the most
distinguished amongst the English who had been so unjustly detained
prisoners at Verdun on the rupture of the peace of Amiens. He gave his
lordship instructions to propose to the British Government a new form of
negotiations, offering to guarantee to England the Cape of Good Hope and
Malta. Some have been inclined from this concession to praise the
moderation of Bonaparte; others to blame him for offering to resign these
two places, as if the Cape and Malta could be put in competition with the
title of Emperor, the foundation of the Kingdom of Italy, the acquisition
of Genoa and of all the Venetian States, the dethronement of the King of
Naples and the gift of his kingdom to Joseph, and finally, the new
partition of Germany. These transactions, of which Bonaparte said not a
word, and from which he certainly had no intention of departing, were all
long after the treaty of Amiens.
Every day brought with it fresh proofs of insatiable ambition. In fact,
Napoleon longed to obtain possession of the Hanse Towns. I was, however,
in the first place, merely charged to make overtures to the Senates of
each of these towns, and to point out the advantages they would derive
from the protection of Napoleon in exchange for the small sacrifice of
6,000,000 francs in his favour. I had on this subject numerous
conferences with the magistrates: they thought the sum too great,
representing, to me that the city was not so rich as formerly, because
their commerce had been much curtailed by the war; in short, the Senate
declared that, with the utmost goodwill, their circumstances would not
permit them to accept the "generous proposal" of the Emperor.
I was myself, indeed, at a loss to conceive how the absurdity of
employing me to make such a proposition was overlooked, for I had, really
no advantage to offer in return to the Hanse Towns. Against whom did
Bonaparte propose to protect them? The truth is, Napoleon then wished to
seize these towns by direct aggression, which, however, he was not able
to accomplish until four years afterwards.
During five years I witnessed the commercial importance of these cities,
and especially of Hamburg. Its geographical situation, on a great river
navigable by large vessels to the city, thirty leagues from the mouth of
the Elbe; the complete independence it enjoyed; its municipal regulations
and paternal government, were a few amongst the many causes which had
raised Hamburg to its enviable height of prosperity. What, in fact, was
the population of these remnants of the grand Hanseatic League of the
Middle Ages? The population of Hamburg when I was there amounted to
90,000, and that of its small surrounding territory to 25,000. Bremen
had 36,000 inhabitants, and 9000 in its territory; the city of Lubeck,
which is smaller and its territory a little more extensive than that of
Bremen, contained a population of 24,000 souls within and 16,000 without
the walls. Thus the total population of the Hanse Towns amounted to only
200,000 individuals; and yet this handful of men carried on an extensive
commerce, and their ships ploughed every sea, from the shores of India to
the frozen regions of Greenland.
The Emperor arrived at Paris towards the end of January 1806. Having
created kings in Germany he deemed the moment favourable for surrounding
his throne with new princes. It was at this period that he created
Murat, Grand Duke of Cleves and Berg; Bernadotte, Prince of Ponte-Corvo;
M. de Talleyrand, Duke of Benevento; and his two former colleagues,
Cambaceres and Lebrun, Dukes of Parma and Piacenza. He also gave to his
sister Pauline, a short time after her second marriage with the Prince
Borghese, the title of Duchess of Guastalla. Strange events! who could
then have foreseen that the duchy of Cambaceres would become the refuge
of a Princess of Austria, the widowed wife of Napoleon Bonaparte?
In the midst of the prosperity of the Imperial family, when the eldest of
the Emperor's brothers had ascended the throne of Naples, when Holland
was on the eve of being offered to Louis, and Jerome had exchanged his
legitimate wife for the illegitimate throne of Westphalia, the Imperial
pillow was still far from being free from anxiety. Hostilities did not
actually exist with the Continental powers; but this momentary state of
repose lacked the tranquillity of peace. France was at war with Russia
and England, and the aspect of the Continent presented great uncertainty,
while the treaty of Vienna had only been executed in part. In the
meantime Napoleon turned his eyes towards the East. General Sebastiani
was sent to Constantinople. The measures be pursued and his judicious
conduct justified the choice of the Emperor. He was adroit and
conciliating, and peace with Turkey was the result of his mission. The
negotiations with England did not terminate so happily, although, after
the first overtures made to Lord Yarmouth, the Earl of Lauderdale had
been sent to Paris by Mr. Fox. In fact, these negotiations wholly
failed. The Emperor had drawn enormous sums from Austria, without
counting the vases, statues, and pictures. With which he decorated the
Louvre, and the bronze with which he clothed the column of the Place
Vendome,--in my opinion the finest monument of his reign and the most
beautiful one in Paris. As Austria was exhausted all the contributions
imposed on her could not be paid in cash, and they gave the Emperor bills
in payment. I received one for about 7,000,000 on Hamburg on account of
the stipulations of the treaty of Presburg.
The affairs of the Bourbon Princes became more and more unfavourable, and
their finances, as well as their chances of success, were so much
diminished that about this period it was notified to the emigrants in
Brunswick that the pretender (Louis XVIII.) had no longer the means of
continuing their pensions. This produced great consternation amongst
those emigrants, many of whom had no other means of existence; and
notwithstanding their devotion to the cause of royalty they found a
pension very useful in strengthening their zeal.
--[When Louis XVIII. returned to France, and Fouche was his Minister
of Police, the King asked Fouche whether during his (the King's)
exile, had not set spies over him, and who they were. Fouche
hesitated to reply, but the King insisting he said: "If your Majesty
presses for an answer, it was the Due de Blacas to whom this matter
was confided."--"And how much did you pay him?" said the King.
"Deux cents mille livres de rents, Sire."--"Ah, so!" said the King,
"then he has played fair; we went halves."--Henry Greville's Diary,
p. 430.]--
Amongst those emigrants was one whose name will occupy a certain place in
history; I mean Dumouriez, of whom I have already spoken, and who had for
some time employed himself in distributing pamphlets. He was then at
Stralsund; and it was believed that the King of Sweden would give him a
command. The vagrant life of this general, who ran everywhere begging
employment from the enemies of his country without being able to obtain
it, subjected him to general ridicule; in fact, he was everywhere
despised.
To determine the difficulties which had arisen with regard to Holland,
which Dumouriez dreamed of conquering with an imaginary army, and being
discontented besides with the Dutch for not rigorously excluding English
vessels from their ports, the Emperor constituted the Batavian territory
a kingdom under his brother Louis. When I notified to the States of the
circle of Lower Saxony the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of
Holland, and the nomination of Cardinal Fesch as coadjutor and successor
of the Arch-chancellor of the Germanic Empire, along with their official
communications, the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was the only member of
the circle who forebore to reply, and I understood be had applied to the
Court of Russia to know "whether" and "how" he should reply. At the same
time he made known to the Emperor the marriage of his daughter, the
Princess Charlotte Frederica, with Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark.
At this period it would have been difficult to foresee the way in which
this union would terminate. The Prince was young and handsome, and of an
amiable disposition, which seemed to indicate that he would prove a good
husband. As for the Princess, she was as beautiful as love; but she was
heedless and giddy; in fact, she was a spoiled child. She adored her
husband, and during several years their union proved happy. I had the
honour of knowing them at the period when the Duke of Mecklenburg, with
his family, sought refuge at Altona. Before leaving that town the
Duchess of Mecklenburg, a Princess of Saxony, paid a visit to Madame de
Bourrienne and loaded her with civilities. This Princess was perfectly
amiable, and was therefore generally regretted when, two years
afterwards, death snatched her from her family. Before leaving Altona
the Duke of Mecklenburg gave some parties by way of bidding adieu to
Holstein, where he had been so kindly received; and I can never forget
the distinguished reception and many kindnesses Madame de Bourrienne and
myself received from that illustrious family.
It consisted of the hereditary Prince, so distinguished by his talents
and acquirements (he was at that time the widower of a Grand Duchess of
Russia, a sister of the Emperor Alexander), of Prince Gustavus, so
amiable and graceful, and of Princess Charlotte and her husband, the
Prince Royal of Denmark.
This happy couple were far from foreseeing that in two years they would
be separated for ever. The Princess was at this period in all the
splendour of her beauty; several fetes were given on her account on the
banks of the Elbe, at which the Prince always opened the ball with Madame
de Bourrienne. Notwithstanding her amiability the Princess Charlotte was
no favourite at the Danish Court. Intrigues were formed against her. I
know not whether any foundation existed for the calumnies spread to her
disadvantage, but the Court dames accused her of great levity of conduct,
which, true or false, obliged her husband to separate from her; and at
the commencement of 1809 he sent her to Altona, attended by a chamberlain
and a maid of honour. On her arrival she was in despair; hers was not a
silent grief, for she related her story to every one. This unfortunate
woman really attracted pity, as she shed tears for her son, three years
of age, whom she was doomed never again to behold. But her natural
levity returned; she did not always maintain the reserve suitable to her
rank, and some months afterwards was sent into Jutland, where I believe
she still lives.
The enemies of the French Government did not confine themselves to
writing and publishing invectives against it. More than one wretch was
ready to employ daggers against the Emperor. Among this number was a man
named Louis Loizeau, recently arrived from London. He repaired to
Altona, there to enjoy the singular privilege which that city afforded of
sheltering all the ruffians, thieves, and bankrupts who fled from the
justice of their own Governments. On the 17th of July Loizeau presented
himself to Comte de Gimel, who resided at Altona, as the agent of the
Comte de Lille. He offered to repair to Paris and assassinate the
Emperor. Comte de Gimel rejected the proposal with indignation; and
replied, that if he had no other means of serving the Bourbons than
cowardly assassination he might go elsewhere and find confederates. This
fact, which was communicated to me by a friend of M. de Gimel, determined
me to arrest Loizeau. Not being warranted, however, to take this step at
Altona, I employed a trusty agent to keep watch, and draw him into a
quarrel the moment he should appear on the Hamburg side of a public walk
which divides that city from Altona, and deliver him up to the nearest
Hamburg guard-house. Loizeau fell into the snare; but finding that he
was about to be conducted from the guardhouse to the prison of Hamburg,
and that it was at my request he had been arrested, he hastily unloosed
his cravat, and tore with his teeth the papers it contained, part of
which he swallowed. He also endeavoured to tear some other papers which
were concealed under his arm, but was prevented by the guard. Furious at
this disappointment, he violently resisted the five soldiers who had him
in custody, and was not secured until he had been slightly wounded. His
first exclamation on entering prison was, "I am undone!" Loizeau was
removed to Paris, and, though I am ignorant of the ultimate fate of this
wretch, I am pretty certain that Fouche would take effectual means to
prevent him from doing any further mischief.