1799.
General approbation of the 18th Brumaire--Distress of the treasury--
M. Collot's generosity--Bonaparte's ingratitude--Gohier set at
Liberty--Constitution of the year VIII.--The Senate, Tribunate, and
Council of State--Notes required on the character of candidates--
Bonaparte's love of integrity and talent--Influence of habit over
him--His hatred of the Tribunate--Provisional concessions--The first
Consular Ministry--Mediocrity of La Place--Proscription lists--
Cambacérès report--M. Moreau de Worms--Character of Sieyès--
Bonaparte at the Luxembourg--Distribution of the day and visits--
Lebrun's opposition--Bonaparte's singing--His boyish tricks--
Assumption of the titles "Madame" and "Monseigneur"--The men of the
Revolution and the partisans of the Bourbons--Bonaparte's fears--
Confidential notes on candidates for office and the assemblies.
It cannot be denied that France hailed, almost with unanimous voice,
Bonaparte's accession to the Consulship as a blessing of Providence.
I do not speak now of the ulterior consequences of that event; I speak
only of the fact itself, and its first results, such as the repeal of
the law of hostages, and the compulsory loan of a hundred millions.
Doubtless the legality of the acts of the 18th Brumaire may be disputed;
but who will venture to say that the immediate result of that day ought
not to be regarded as a great blessing to France? Whoever denies
this can have no idea of the wretched state of every branch of the
administration at that deplorable epoch. A few persons blamed the
18th Brumaire; but no one regretted the Directory, with the exception,
perhaps, of the five Directors themselves. But we will say no more of
the Directorial Government. What an administration! In what a state were
the finances of France! Would it be believed? on the second day of
the Consulate, when Bonaparte wished to send a courier to General
Championet, commander-in-chief of the army of Italy, the treasury had
not 1200 francs disposable to give to the courier!
It may be supposed that in the first moments of a new Government money
would be wanted. M. Collot, who had served under Bonaparte in Italy, and
whose conduct and administration deserved nothing but praise, was one
of the first who came to the Consul's assistance. In this instance
M. Collot was as zealous as disinterested. He gave the Consul 500,000
francs in gold, for which service he was badly rewarded. Bonaparte
afterwards behaved to M. Collot as though he was anxious to punish him
for being rich. This sum, which at the time made so fine an appearance
in the Consular treasury, was not repaid for a long time after, and then
without interest. This was not, indeed, the only instance in which M.
Collot had cause to complain of Bonaparte, who was never inclined to
acknowledge his important services, nor even to render justice to his
conduct.
On the morning of the 20th Brumaire Bonaparte sent his brother Louis
to inform the Director Gohier that he was free. This haste in relieving
Gohier was not without a reason, for Bonaparte was anxious to install
himself in the Luxembourg, and we went there that same evening.
Everything was to be created. Bonaparte had with him almost the whole of
the army, and on the soldiers he could rely. But the military force was
no longer sufficient for him. Wishing to possess a great civil power
established by legal forms, he immediately set about the composition of
a Senate and Tribunate; a Council of State and a new legislative body,
and, finally, a new Constitution.
--[The Constitution of the year VIII. was presented on the 18th of
December 1799 (22d Frimaire, year VIII.), and accepted by the people
on the 7th of February 1800 (18th Pluviôse, year VIII.). It
established a Consular Government, composed of Bonaparte, First
Consul, appointed for ten years; Cambacérès, Second Consul, also for
ten years; and Lebrun, Third Consul appointed for five years. It
established a conservative Senate, a legislative body of 800
members, and a Tribunate composed of 100 members. The establishment
of the Council of State took place on the 29th of December 1799.
The installation of the new legislative body and the Tribunate was
fixed for the 1st of January 1800.--Bourrienne. Lanfrey (tome i.
p. 329) sees this Constitution foreshadowed in that proposed by
Napoleon in 1797 for the Cisalpine Republic.]--
As Bonaparte had not time to make himself acquainted with the persons
by whom he was about to be surrounded, he requested from the most
distinguished men of the period, well acquainted with France and the
Revolution, notes respecting the individuals worthy and capable of
entering the Senate, the Tribunate, and the Council of State. From the
manner in which all these notes were drawn up it was evident that the
writers of them studied to make their recommendation correspond with
what they conceived to be Bonaparte's views, and that they imagined
he participated in the opinions which were at that time popular.
Accordingly they stated, as grounds for preferring particular
candidates, their patriotism, their republicanism, and their having had
seats in preceding assemblies.
Of all qualities, that which most influenced the choice of the First
Consul was inflexible integrity; and it is but just to say that in this
particular he was rarely deceived. He sought earnestly for talent; and
although he did not like the men of the Revolution, he was convinced
that he could not do without them. He had conceived an extreme aversion
for mediocrity, and generally rejected a man of that character when
recommended to him; but if he had known such a man long, he yielded to
the influence of habit, dreading nothing so much as change, or, as he
was accustomed to say himself, new faces.
--[Napoleon loved only men with strong passions and great weakness;
he judged the most opposite qualities in men by these defects
(Metternich, tome iii. p.589)]--
Bonaparte then proceeded to organise a complaisant Senate, a mute
legislative body, and a Tribunate which was to have the semblance of
being independent, by the aid of some fine speeches and high-sounding
phrases. He easily appointed the Senators, but it was different with
the Tribunate. He hesitated long before he fixed upon the candidates
for that body, which inspired him with an anticipatory fear. However, on
arriving at power he dared not oppose himself to the exigencies of the
moment, and he consented for a time to delude the ambitious dupes who
kept up a buzz of fine sentiments of liberty around him. He saw that
circumstances were not yet favourable for refusing a share in the
Constitution to this third portion of power, destined apparently to
advocate the interests of the people before the legislative body. But
in yielding to necessity, the mere idea of the Tribunate filled him with
the utmost uneasiness; and, in a word, Bonaparte could not endure the
public discussions on his projects.
--[The Tribunate under this Constitution of the year VIII. was the
only body allowed to debate in public on proposed laws, the
legislative body simply hearing in silence the orators sent by the
Council of State and by the Tribunals to state reasons for or
against propositions, and then voting in silence. Its orators were
constantly giving umbrage to Napoleon. It was at first purified,
early in 1802, by the Senate naming the members to go out in
rotation then reduced to from 100 to 50 members later in 1802, and
suppressed in 1807; its disappearance being regarded by Napoleon as
his last break with the Revolution.]--
Bonaparte composed the first Consular Ministry as follows: Berthier was
Minister of War; Gaudin, formerly employed in the administration of
the Post Office, was appointed Minister of Finance; Cambacérès remained
Minister of Justice; Forfait was Minister of Marine; La Place of the
Interior; Fouché of Police; and Reinhard of Foreign Affairs.
Reinhard and La Place were soon replaced, the former by the able M.
Talleyrand, the latter by Lucien Bonaparte.
--[When I quitted the service of the First Consul Talleyrand was
still at the head of the Foreign Department. I have frequently been
present at this great statesman's conferences with Napoleon, and I
can declare that I never saw him flatter his dreams of ambition;
but, on the contrary, he always endeavoured to make him sensible of
his true interests.--Bourrienne.]--
It may be said that Lucien merely passed through the Ministry on his
way to a lucrative embassy in Spain. As to La Place, Bonaparte always
entertained a high opinion of his talents. His appointment to the
Ministry of the Interior was a compliment paid to science; but it was
not long before the First Consul repented of his choice. La Place,
so happily calculated for science, displayed the most inconceivable
mediocrity in administration. He was incompetent to the most trifling
matters; as if his mind, formed to embrace the system of the world, and
to interpret the laws of Newton and Kepler, could not descend to the
level of subjects of detail, or apply itself to the duties of the
department with which he was entrusted for a short, but yet, with regard
to him, too long a time.
On the 26th Brumaire (17th November 1799) the Consuls issued a decree,
in which they stated that, conformably with Article III. of the law
of the 19th of the same month, which especially charged them with the
reestablishment of public tranquillity, they decreed that thirty-eight
individuals, who were named, should quit the continental territory of
the Republic, and for that purpose should proceed to Rochefort, to
be afterwards conducted to, and detained in, the department of French
Guiana. They likewise decreed that twenty-three other individuals, who
were named, should proceed to the commune of Rochelle, in the department
of the lower Charente, in order to be afterwards filed and detained in
such part of that department as should be pointed out by the Minister
of General Police. I was fortunate enough to keep my friend M. Moreau de
Worms, deputy from the Youne, out of the fiat of exiles. This produced
a mischievous effect. It bore a character of wanton severity quite
inconsistent with the assurances of mildness and moderation given at
St. Cloud on the 19th Brumaire. Cambacérès afterwards made a report,
in which he represented that it was unnecessary for the maintenance of
tranquillity to subject the proscribed to banishment, considering it
sufficient to place them under the supervision of the superior police.
Upon receiving the report the Consuls issued a decree, in which they
directed all the individuals included in the proscription to retire
respectively into the different communes which should be fixed upon by
the Minister of Justice, and to remain there until further orders.
At the period of the issuing of these decrees Sieyès was still one of
the Consuls, conjointly with Bonaparte and Roger Ducos; and although
Bonaparte had, from the first moment, possessed the whole power of the
government, a sort of apparent equality was, nevertheless, observed
amongst them. It was not until the 25th of December that Bonaparte
assumed the title of First Consul, Cambacérès and Lebrun being then
joined in the office with him. He had fixed his eyes on them previously
to the 18th Brumaire, and he had no cause to reproach them with giving
him much embarrassment in his rapid progress towards the imperial
throne.
I have stated that I was so fortunate as to rescue M. Moreau de
Worms from the list of proscription. Some days after Sieyès entered
Bonaparte's cabinet and said to him, "Well, this M. Moreau de Worms,
whom M. Bourrienne induced you to save from banishment, is acting very
finely! I told you how it would be! I have received from Sens, his
native place, a letter which informs me that Moreau is in that town,
where he has assembled the people in the market-place, and indulged in
the most violent declamations against the 18th Brumaire,"--"Can you
rely upon your agent" asked Bonaparte.--"Perfectly. I can answer for the
truth of his communication." Bonaparte showed me the bulletin of Sieyès'
agent, and reproached me bitterly. "What would you say, General," I
observed, "if I should present this same M. Moreau de Worms, who
is declaiming at Sens against the 18th Brumaire, to you within an
hour?"--"I defy you to do it."--"I have made myself responsible for him,
and I know what I am about. He is violent in his politics; but he is a
man of honour, incapable of failing in his word."--"Well, we shall see.
Go and find him." I was very sure of doing what I had promised, for
within an hour before I had seen M. Moreau de Worms. He had been
concealed since the 19th Brumaire, and had not quitted Paris. Nothing
was easier than to find him, and in three-quarters of an hour he was at
the Luxembourg. I presented him to Bonaparte, who conversed with him
a long time concerning the 18th Brumaire. When M. Moreau departed
Bonaparte said to me, "You are right. That fool Sieyès is as inventive
as a Cassandra. This proves that one should not be too ready to believe
the reports of the wretches whom we are obliged to employ in the
police." Afterwards he added, "Bourrienne, Moreau is a nice fellow: I am
satisfied with him; I will do something for him." It was not long before
M. Moreau experienced the effect of the Consul's good opinion. Some days
after, whilst framing the council of prizes, he, at my mere suggestion,
appointed M. Moreau one of the members, with a salary of 10,000 francs.
On what extraordinary circumstances the fortunes of men frequently
depend! As to Sieyès, in the intercourse, not very frequent certainly,
which I had with him, he appeared to be far beneath the reputation which
he then enjoyed.'
--[M. de Talleyrand, who is so capable of estimating men, and whose
admirable sayings well deserve to occupy a place in history, had
long entertained a similar opinion of Sieyès. One day, when he was
conversing with the Second Consul concerning Sieyès, Cambacérès said
to him. "Sieyès, however, is a very profound man."--"Profound?"
said Talleyrand. "Yes, he is, a cavity, a perfect cavity, as you
would say."--Bourrienne.]--
He reposed a blind confidence in a multitude of agents, whom he sent
into all parts of France. When it happened, on other occasions, that
I proved to him, by evidence as sufficient as that in the case of M.
Moreau, the falseness of the reports he had received, he replied, with a
confidence truly ridiculous, "I can rely on my men." Sieyès had written
in his countenance, "Give me money!" I recollect that I one day alluded
to this expression in the anxious face of Sieyès to the First Consul.
"You are right," observed he to me, smiling; "when money is in question,
Sieyès is quite a matter-of-fact man. He sends his ideology to the
right about and thus becomes easily manageable. He readily abandons
his constitutional dreams for a good round sum, and that is very
convenient."
--[Everybody knows, in fact, that Sieyès refused to resign his
consular dignities unless he received in exchange a beautiful farm
situated in the park of Versailles, and worth about 15,000 livres a
year. The good abbé consoled himself for no longer forming a third
of the republican sovereignty by making himself at home in the
ancient domain of the kings of France.--Bourrienne.]--
Bonaparte occupied, at the Little Luxembourg, the apartments on
the ground floor which lie to the right on entering from the Rue de
Vaugirard. His cabinet was close to a private staircase, which conducted
me to the first floor, where Josephine dwelt. My apartment was above.
After breakfast, which was served at ten o'clock, Bonaparte would
converse for a few moments with his usual guests, that is to say, his
'aides de camp', the persons he invited, and myself, who never left him.
He was also visited very often by Deferment, Regnault (of the town of
St. Jean d'Angély), Boulay (de la Meurthe), Monge, and Berber, who were,
with his brothers, Joseph and Lucien, those whom he most delighted to
see; he conversed familiarly with them. Cambacérès generally came at
mid-day, and stayed some time with him, often a whole hour. Lebrun
visited but seldom. Notwithstanding his elevation, his character
remained unaltered; and Bonaparte considered him too moderate, because
he always opposed his ambitious views and his plans to usurp power. When
Bonaparte left the breakfast-table it was seldom that he did not add,
after bidding Josephine and her daughter Hortense good-day, "Come,
Bourrienne, come, let us to work."
After the morning audiences I stayed with Bonaparte all the day, either
reading to him, or writing to his dictation. Three or four times in the
week he would go to the Council. On his way to the hall of deliberation
he was obliged to cross the courtyard of the Little Luxembourg and
ascend the grand staircase. This always vexed him, and the more so as
the weather was very bad at the time. This annoyance continued until the
25th of December, and it was with much satisfaction that he saw himself
quit of it. After leaving the Council he used to enter his cabinet
singing, and God knows how wretchedly he sung! He examined whatever work
he had ordered to be done, signed documents, stretched himself in
his arm-chair, and read the letters of the preceding day and the
publications of the morning. When there was no Council he remained
in his cabinet, conversed with me, always sang, and cut, according to
custom, the arm of his chair, giving himself sometimes quite the air of
a great boy. Then, all at once starting up, he would describe a plan
for the erection of a monument, or dictate some of those extraordinary
productions which astonished and dismayed the world. He often became
again the same man, who, under the walls of St. Jean d'Acre, had dreamed
of an empire worthy his ambition.
At five o'clock dinner was served up. When that was over the First
Consul went upstairs to Josephine's apartments, where he commonly
received the visits of the Ministers. He was always pleased to see
among the number the Minister of Foreign Affairs, especially since the
portfolio of that department had been entrusted to the hands of M.
de Talleyrand. At midnight, and often sooner, he gave the signal for
retiring by saying in a hasty manner, "Allons nous coucher."
It was at the Luxembourg, in the salons of which the adorable Josephine
so well performed the honours, that the word 'Madame' came again into
use. This first return towards the old French politeness was startling
to some susceptible Republicans; but things were soon carried farther
at the Tuileries by the introduction of 'Votre Altesse' on occasions of
state ceremony, and Monseigneur in the family circle.
If, on the one hand, Bonaparte did not like the men of the Revolution,
on the other he dreaded still more the partisans of the Bourbons. On
the mere mention of the name of those princes he experienced a kind of
inward alarm; and he often spoke of the necessity of raising a wall
of brass between France and them. To this feeling, no doubt, must be
attributed certain nominations, and the spirit of some recommendations
contained in the notes with which he was supplied on the characters of
candidates, and which for ready reference were arranged alphabetically.
Some of the notes just mentioned were in the handwriting of Regnault de
St. Jean d'Angély, and some in Lucien Bonaparte's.
--[Among them was the following, under the title of "General
Observations": "In choosing among the men who were members of the
Constituent Assembly it is necessary to be on guard against the
Orleans' party, which is not altogether a chimera, and may one day
or other prove dangerous.
"There is no doubt that the partisans of that family are intriguing
secretly; and among many other proofs of this fact the following is
a striking one: the journal called the 'Aristargue', which
undisguisedly supports royalism, is conducted by a man of the name
of Voidel, one of the hottest patriots of the Revolution. He was
for several months president of the committee of inquiry which
caused the Marquis de Favras to be arrested and hanged, and gave so
much uneasiness to the Court. There was no one in the Constituent
Assembly more hateful to the Court than Voidel, so much on account
of his violence as for his connection with the Duke of Orleans,
whose advocate and counsel he was. When the Duke of Orleans was
arrested, Voidel, braving the fury of the revolutionary tribunals,
had the courage to defend him, and placarded all the walls of Paris
with an apology for the Duke and his two sons. This man, writing
now in favour of royalism, can have no other object than to advance
a member of the Orleans family to the throne."--Bourrienne.]--
At the commencement of the First Consul's administration, though he
always consulted the notes he had collected, he yet received with
attention the recommendations of persons with whom he was well
acquainted; but it was not safe for them to recommend a rogue or a fool.
The men whom he most disliked were those whom he called babblers,
who are continually prating of everything and on everything. He often
said,--"I want more head and less tongue." What he thought of the
regicides will be seen farther on, but at first the more a man had
given a gage to the Revolution, the more he considered him as offering
a guarantee against the return of the former order of things. Besides,
Bonaparte was not the man to attend to any consideration when once his
policy was concerned.
As I have said a few pages back, on taking the government into his own
hands Bonaparte knew so little of the Revolution and of the men engaged
in civil employments that it was indispensably necessary for him to
collect information from every quarter respecting men and things. But
when the conflicting passions of the moment became more calm and the
spirit of party more prudent, and when order had been, by his severe
investigations, introduced where hitherto unbridled confusion had
reigned, he became gradually more scrupulous in granting places, whether
arising from newly-created offices, or from those changes which
the different departments often experienced. He then said to me,
"Bourrienne, I give up your department to you. Name whom you please for
the appointments; but remember you must be responsible to me."
What a list would have been which should contain the names of all the
prefects, sub-prefects, receivers-general, and other civil officers to
whom I gave places! I have kept no memoranda of their names; and indeed,
what advantage would there have been in doing so? It was impossible for
me to have a personal knowledge of all the fortunate candidates; but I
relied on recommendations in which I had confidence.
I have little to complain of in those I obliged; though it is true that,
since my separation from Bonaparte, I have seen many of them take the
opposite side of the street in which I was walking, and by that delicate
attention save me the trouble of raising my hat.