16th.—In the morning, my servant came to tell me that there was neither
coffee, sugar, milk, nor bread, for breakfast. Yesterday, some hours
before dinner, feeling hungry, I asked for a mouthful of bread, and was
told that there was none for me. Thus we are denied the very necessaries
of life. This fact will scarcely be credited, and yet I have stated
nothing but the truth.
The weather has now become fine. For some time the Emperor has been
unable to walk out; but to-day he went into the garden, and he
afterwards ordered the calash, with the intention of taking his usual
drive, which had been so long suspended. As we were walking about,
Madame de Montholon drove away a dog that had come near her.—“You do not
like dogs, Madam?” said the Emperor,—“No, Sire.”—“If you do not like
dogs, you do not like fidelity; you do not like those who are attached
to you; and, therefore, you are not faithful.”—“But ... but....” said
she—“But ... but....” repeated the Emperor, “where is the error of my
logic? Refute my arguments if you can!”
One of the suite having a few days ago proposed making some chemical
experiments, the Emperor enquired whether he had been successful. The
other complained of not having the necessary apparatus. “A true child of
the Seine,” said Napoleon, “an absolute Parisian cockney! Do you think
you are still at the Tuileries? True industry does not consist in
executing by known and given means; the proof of art and genius is to
accomplish an object in spite of difficulties, and to find little or no
_impossibility_. But what do you complain of? The want of a pestle, when
the bar of any chair might answer your purpose? The want of a mortar?
Any thing is a mortar that you choose to convert to that use; this table
is a mortar; any pot or kettle is a mortar. Do you think you are still
in the Rue Saint-Honoré, amidst all the shops in Paris?”
The Grand Marshal here remarked that this circumstance reminded him of
something that had occurred the first time he had the honour of being
presented to Napoleon, and of the first words he had received from him.
When Bertrand was about to leave the army of Italy, to proceed on a
mission to Constantinople, the young General, perceiving that he was an
officer of engineers, gave him a commission relative to that department.
“On my return,” said Bertrand, “I came up with you at a short distance
from head quarters, and I informed you that I had found the thing
impossible. On this your Majesty, whom I had addressed with great
diffidence, said with the most familiar air—‘But let us see how you set
to work, Sir: that which you found impossible may not be so to me.’
Accordingly,” continued Bertrand, “when I mentioned the means by which I
had proposed to execute what your Majesty wished, you immediately
substituted others. In a few moments I was perfectly convinced of the
superiority of your Majesty’s plans; and this circumstance furnished me
with sentiments and recollections which have since proved very useful to
me.”
The Emperor retired to rest early. We observed that he is very much
altered in his looks, particularly since his last illness. He grows very
weak, and feels fatigued after two turns round the garden.
STATISTICAL CALCULATION.—POPULATION OF THE
ISRAELITES IN EGYPT.
17th—18th. The fine weather has now completely set in. The Emperor went
into the garden, attended by all his suite. After walking about for a
short time, he proceeded to the wood.
On his return from his walk, we all breakfasted together under the tent;
and, the weather being very favourable, the Emperor expressed his wish
to take a drive in the calash.
About five o’clock, he desired me to attend him in his closet, to assist
in searching for some documents on the interior of Africa, bordering
upon Egypt. This is a point on which he has been engaged for some days
past, as he intends to make it the subject of some chapters in his
Campaign of Egypt.
He complained of being unwell, and desired me to order some tea for him.
This was something extraordinary. The Grand Marshal soon after came to
take my place in writing from his dictation.
After dinner, the Emperor was engaged with the pen in his hand, in
investigating the comparative production of the soils of Egypt and
France. He found the production of France to be greatly inferior to that
of Egypt. This calculation was made from Peuchet’s “Statistical Surveys
of France.” The Emperor was satisfied with the result at which he had
arrived; it corresponded with the opinion he had previously formed. This
naturally gave rise to the consideration of several other subjects; for
instance, what was the probable and possible population of Egypt in
ancient times?—what might have been the population of the Israelites,
if, during the short period that they remained in captivity, they had
increased to the degree mentioned in Scripture? &c. The Emperor desired
me to present to him next day something on this latter subject. A great
deal was said on the probabilities of human life, the tables of which
were also found in Peuchet’s work; and on this subject the Emperor made
some very ingenious, novel, and striking remarks.
I presented to the Emperor the calculation I had made on the problem
which he had given to me the preceding day. The result surprised him not
a little; and it furnished a subject for considerable discussion. The
following is the substance of what I presented to him.
The Israelites remained two hundred years in Egypt, during which time we
may calculate ten generations. They married early, and their marriages
were very fruitful. I supposed the children of Jacob, the twelve chiefs
of tribes, to be all married; I also supposed each of them to have had
the same number of children, or six couples, and so on in succession.
The tenth generation would then have amounted to 2,480,064,704 persons.
But the ninth generation and even the eighth was still in existence.
Hence what an awful number of figures. At any rate, let an ample
deduction be made from the number of children, for the mortality
occasioned by accidents, disease, &c., and still it is very certain that
no calculation can be brought forward to contradict the account of
Moses. The Emperor amused himself for a considerable time in detecting
and shewing the errors of my reasoning.
During dinner, he exercised himself in English, by asking my son
questions in that language, in history and geometry. After dinner the
Emperor took up the Odyssey, the reading of which afforded a treat to us
all.
THE EMPEROR ALTERS VISIBLY, AND LOSES HIS
STRENGTH.—SALE OF HIS PLATE.
19th.—Napoleon spent the morning in collecting information on the
sources of the Nile, from the works of several modern authors, Bruce,
&c.... I assisted him in this labour. At three o’clock, he dressed and
went out. The weather was tolerably fine. He ordered the calash, and
then went into the wood on foot, and we walked till we came within sight
of the Signal Hill. He conversed with me on our moral position, and the
vexations which even circumstances arising from our intimacy with him
could not fail to cause him. The calash came up with us, and Monsieur
and Madame Montholon were in it. The Emperor was very glad of this, as
he said he did not feel strong enough to walk back to the house. He
evidently grows feeble, his step becomes heavy and lagging, and his
features alter. His resemblance to his brother Joseph is now striking;
so much so, that, on going to meet him the other day in the garden, I
could have sworn it was Joseph, until the very moment when I came close
to him. Others have remarked the likeness, as well as myself; and we
have often said, that, if we believed in the _second sight_ of the
Scotch Highlanders, we should be inclined to expect that something
extraordinary would happen to Joseph or to the Emperor.
On our return, the Emperor examined a large basket full of broken plate,
which was to be sent next day to the town. This was to be for the future
the indispensable complement for our monthly subsistence, in consequence
of the late retrenchments of the Governor.
We knew that captains in the East India Company’s service had offered as
much as a hundred guineas for a single plate. This circumstance induced
the Emperor to order the arms to be erased and the pieces to be broken,
so as to leave no trace of the plate having belonged to him. All the
dish covers were topped with small massive eagles; these were the only
things he wished to save, and he had them put by. These last fragments
were the objects of the wishes of every one of us; we looked upon them
as relics. There was something religious, and at the same time mournful,
in this feeling.
When the moment came for breaking up this plate, it had produced a most
painful emotion and real grief amongst the servants. They could not
without the greatest reluctance, bring themselves to apply the hammer to
these objects of their veneration. This act upset all their ideas; it
was to them a sacrilege, a desolation. Some of them shed tears on the
occasion. After dinner, the Emperor continued the Odyssey, and
afterwards read some passages of Esmenard’s poem, “La Navigation,” which
he was pleased with.
FRESH VEXATION FROM THE GOVERNOR.—TOPOGRAPHY
OF ITALY.
20th.—The Emperor sent to wake me before eight o’clock, desiring that I
should join him with the calash in the wood, where he was already
walking with M. de Montholon, conversing about the household expenses of
the establishment. The weather had at last become fine once more, it was
like a delightful spring morning. We took two turns.
We have experienced to-day a fresh and inconceivable vexation from the
Governor. He has forbidden us to sell our plate, when broken up, to any
other person than the one he should appoint. What can have been his
intention in committing this new act of injustice? To make himself more
obnoxious, and to give another instance of the abuse of authority.
The Emperor breakfasted under the tent; immediately afterwards, he
dictated the account of the Battle of Marengo to General Gourgaud. He
bade me remain with them and listen. About twelve o’clock he retired to
his apartment to endeavour to rest himself.
Towards three o’clock, the Emperor came into my room again. He found my
son and myself engaged in comparing and looking over the account of the
Battle of Arcole. He knew that it was my favourite chapter, and that I
called it a canto of the Iliad. He wished to read it again, and
expressed himself also pleased with it.
The perusal of this account of Arcole awakened the Emperor’s ideas
respecting what he called “that beautiful theatre, Italy.” He ordered us
to follow him into the drawing-room, where he dictated to us for several
hours. He had caused his immense map of Italy, which covered the
greatest part of the drawing-room, to be spread open on the floor, and
having laid himself down upon it, he went over it on his hands and his
knees, with a compass and a red pencil in his hand, comparing and
measuring the distance with a long piece of string, of which one of us
held one of the ends. “It is thus,” said he to me, laughing at the
posture in which I saw him, “that a country should be measured in order
to form a correct idea of it, and lay down a good plan of a campaign.”
THE CELEBRATED BILLS OF ST. DOMINGO.—INSPECTORS OF THE REVIEWS,
&C.—PLANS OF ADMINISTRATION, &C.—GAUDIN, MOLLIEN, DEFERMONT, LACUEE,
&C.—MINISTER OF THE TREASURY.—MINISTER SECRETARY OF STATE.—IMPORTANCE
OF THEIR FUNCTIONS.
21st.—Admiral Malcolm called upon me to-day. He came to take leave of us
all; he was to sail the next day for the Cape, and would be two months
absent.
We are sorry to lose the Admiral; his manners, always polite, and a kind
of tacit sympathy existing between us, contrast him continually in our
mind with Sir Hudson Lowe, who is so unlike him.
The Admiral had seen the Emperor, who is also partial to him. They had
taken together some turns in the garden, and the Admiral told me had
collected some excellent information respecting the Scheldt and the
Nievendip, a maritime establishment in Holland which was entirely
unknown to him, and which was founded by Napoleon.
After dinner, the conversation turned upon what the Emperor termed the
celebrated bills of St. Domingo. It gave rise to the following curious
details.—“The administrator of St. Domingo,” said the Emperor, “took it
into his head one day to draw from the Cape, without authority, for the
sum of sixty millions, in bills, on the treasury in Paris, which bills
were all payable on the same day. France was not then, and had, perhaps,
never been, rich enough to meet such a demand. Besides, where and by
what means had the administration of St. Domingo acquired such a credit?
The First Consul could not command any thing like it in Paris; it was as
much as M. Necker could have done at the time of his greatest
popularity. Be that as it may, when these bills appeared in Paris, where
they arrived before the letters of advice, the First Consul was applied
to from the treasury, to point out what was to be done. ‘Wait for the
letters of advice,’ said he, ‘in order to learn the nature of the
transaction. The treasury is like a capitalist; it possesses the same
rights, and should follow the same course. These bills are not accepted,
they are, consequently, not payable.’ However, the necessary
information, and the vouchers, arrived. These bills stated value
received, but the receipts of the officers in charge of the chest, into
whose hands the money had been paid, were for only one tenth, one fifth,
one third of the amount of the respective bills. The treasury,
therefore, would only acknowledge and refund the sum really and _bona
fide_ paid; and the bills in their tenour were declared to be false.
This raised a great clamour, and produced a terrible agitation amongst
the merchants. A deputation waited upon the First Consul, who, far from
endeavouring to avoid it, opened the business at once, and asked
‘whether they took him for a child, whether they thought he would sport
thus with the purest blood of the people, or that he was so indifferent
a guardian of the public interest? What he refused to give up,’ he said,
‘did not affect him personally, did not trench upon his civil list, but
it was public property, of which he was the guardian, and which was the
more sacred in his eyes on that account.’ Then, addressing the two
persons at the head of the deputation, he said: ‘You, gentlemen, who are
merchants, bankers, men of business, give me a positive answer. If one
of your agents abroad were to draw upon you for very large sums contrary
to your expectations and to your interests, would you accept, would you
pay his bills?’ They were obliged to admit they would not. ‘Then,’ said
the First Consul, ‘you, who are simple proprietors, and in the right of
your majority responsible for your own actions only, you would wish to
possess a right which you refuse to allow to me, proprietor in the name
of all, and who am in that quality always a minor and subject to
revision! No, gentlemen, I shall enjoy your privileges in the name and
for the benefit of all; the actual amount received for your bills shall
be repaid you and no more. I do not ask the merchants to take the bills
of my agents: it is an honour, a mark of credit, to which I do not
aspire; if the merchants do take them, it must be at their own risk and
peril; I only acknowledge and consider as sacred the acceptance of my
Minister of the Treasury.’ Upon this they again expostulated, and a
great deal of idle talk ensued. They should be obliged, they said, to
declare themselves bankrupts; they had received these bills, for ready
money; their agents abroad had committed the error of taking them,
through respect for, and confidence in, the government. ‘Very well,’
said the First Consul, ‘become bankrupts. But they did not,’ observed
the Emperor, ‘they had not received these bills for ready money, and
their agents had not committed any error.’
“The members of the deputation left the First Consul, convinced in their
own minds of the validity of his reasons; nevertheless, they filled
Paris with their clamours and with falsehoods, misrepresenting the
affair altogether.
“This transaction,” said the Emperor, “and its details, explain many
other transactions which have been much spoken of in Paris under the
Imperial administration.
“The commercial world had particularly said, and repeated, that this
proceeding was unexampled; that such a violation of credit was a thing
hitherto unheard of; but to that the First Consul replied that he would
set the question at rest by quoting precedents, and he recalled to their
minds the Bills of Louis XIV., the liquidations of the Regent, the
Mississippi Company, the liquidations of the wars of 1763 and of 1782,
&c.; and proved to them that what they contended to be a thing
unexampled had been the constant practice of the monarchy.”
From this affair the Emperor turned to different branches of the
administration. He defended the institution of the post of Inspectors of
Reviews. “It was only through them that the actual number of men present
could be ascertained; through them alone had this advantage been
obtained, and it was one of immense importance in the active operations
of war. And these inspectors were not less useful in an administrative
point of view; for, whatever trifling abuses might exist in the details,
and however numerous these abuses might be, it is on a general principle
that such things should be considered; and, in order to estimate fairly
the utility of this institution, it should be asked what other abuses
would have taken place if it had not existed? For myself,” said
Napoleon, “I must say that, checking the expenditure, by trying how much
the total number of troops ought to have cost according to their fixed
rates of pay, I have always found the sum paid by the treasury to fall
short of my estimate. The army, therefore, cost less than it ought to
have cost: what result more beneficial could be required?”
The Emperor quoted the administration of the navy as having been the
most regular and the most honest; it had become a master-piece. “In
that,” said he, “consisted the great merit of Decrès.” The Emperor
considered that France was too large to have only one minister for the
administration of the war department. “It was,” he said, “a task beyond
the powers of one man. Paris had been made the centre of all decisions,
contracts, supplies, and organizations; whilst the correspondents of the
minister had been subdivided amongst a number of persons equal to the
number of regiments and corps. The contrary ought to have been the case;
the correspondences should have been entered, and the resources
subdivided, by raising them on the spot where they were required. I had
long meditated a plan to establish in France twenty or twenty-five
military districts, which would have composed so many armies. There
would have been no more than that number of accountants; these would
have been twenty under-ministers; it would have been necessary to find
twenty honest men. The minister would have had only twenty
correspondents; he would have centralised the whole and made the machine
move with rapidity.
“Messieurs Gaudin and Mollien,” said the Emperor, “were of opinion that
it was necessary that the receivers-general, public financiers and
contractors, should have very large fortunes, that they should have it
in their power to make considerable profits, and openly avow them, in
such a manner as to retain a degree of consideration which they might be
careful not to endanger; and a character of honour, which they might be
anxious not to compromise. This could not be otherwise,” he said, “in
order to obtain from them support, service, and credit, in case of need.
“Another set of men, Defermont, Lacuée, and Marbois, thought, on the
contrary, that it was impossible to be too watchful, too economical, and
too strict. For my own part, I was inclined to be of the opinion of the
first, considering the views of the last to be narrow, and such as were
applicable to a regiment, but not to an army; to the expenses of a
private household, but not to the expenditure of a great empire. I
called them the Puritans and the Jansenists of the profession.”
The Emperor observed that the minister of the treasury, and the minister
secretary of state, were two of his institutions on which he most
congratulated himself, and from which he had derived the greatest
assistance. “The minister of the treasury concentrated all the
resources, and controlled all the expenses of the empire. From the
minister secretary of state all acts emanated. He was the minister of
ministers, imparting life to all intermediate acts; the grand notary of
the empire, signing and authenticating all documents. Through the first
I knew, at every moment, the state of my affairs; and through the second
I made known my decisions and my will in all directions and every where.
So that, with my minister of the treasury and my minister secretary of
state alone, and half-a-dozen clerks, I would have undertaken to govern
the empire from the remotest parts of Illyria, or from the banks of the
Niemen, with as much facility as in my capital.”
The Emperor could not conceive how affairs could go on with the four or
five secretaries of state of our kings. “And, indeed, how did they go
on?” said he. “Each imagined, executed, and controlled his own
operations. They might act in direct opposition one to another; for as
the kings only affixed their sign on the margin of the plans proposed,
or authenticated only the rough draft of their ordinances, the
secretaries of state could fill them up, or act as they pleased, without
fear of any great responsibility. Add to this that the secretaries of
state had the _griffe_[29], a contrivance, which they wanted to make me
adopt, but which I rejected as a tool appropriated to the _Rois
faineans_. Amongst these ministers, some might have money for which they
had no employment, and others might be unable to proceed for want of a
farthing. There was no common centre to combine their movements, provide
for their wants, and direct the execution of their measures.”
Footnote 29:
A kind of seal on which a signature is engraved.
The Emperor said that a minister secretary of state was exactly suited
for kings without talents, but vain, who would want the assistance of a
prime minister and not like to own it. “Had my minister secretary of
state been made president of the council of state,” said he, “he would
have been from that moment a real prime minister, in the fullest
acceptation of the term; for he would have carried his plans to the
council of state to have them digested into laws, and would have signed
for the Prince. There can be no doubt that, with the manners and habits
of the first race of our kings, or with princes like them, my minister
secretary of state would have become in a very short time a Mayor of the
Palace.”