fictions about this event. It has been said and printed that "the
dignitaries and the Ministers were assembled at the Tuileries. 'Well,'
said the First Consul, advancing angrily towards Fouché, 'will you still
say that this is the Royalist party?' Fouché, better informed than was
believed, answered coolly, 'Yes, certainly, I shall say so; and, what
is more, I shall prove it.' This speech caused general astonishment,
but was afterwards fully borne out." This is pure invention. The First
Consul only said to Fouché; "I do not trust to your police; I guard
myself, and I watch till two in the morning." This however, was very
rarely the case.
On the day after the explosion of the infernal machine a considerable
concourse assembled at the Tuileries. There was absolutely a torrent of
congratulations. The prefect of the Seine convoked the twelve mayors of
Paris and came at their head to wait on the First Consul. In his reply
to their address Bonaparte said, "As long as this gang of assassins
confined their attacks to me personally I left the law to take its
course; but since, by an unparalleled crime, they have endangered the
lives of a portion of the population of Paris, their punishment must
be as prompt as exemplary. A hundred of these wretches who have libeled
liberty by perpetrating crimes in her name must be effectually prevented
from renewing their atrocities." He then conversed with the Ministers,
the Councillors of State, etc., on the event of the preceding day; and
as all knew the First Consul's opinion of the authors of the crime each
was eager to confirm it. The Council was several times assembled when
the Senate was consulted, and the adroit Fouché, whose conscience
yielded to the delicacy of his situation, addressed to the First Consul
a report worthy of a Mazarin. At the same time the journals were filled
with recollections of the Revolution, raked up for the purpose of
connecting with past crimes the individuals on whom it was now wished
to cast odium. It was decreed that a hundred persons should be banished;
and the senate established its character for complaisance by passing a
'Senatus-consulte' conformable to the wishes of the First Consul.
A list was drawn up of the persons styled Jacobins, who were condemned
to transportation. I was fortunate enough to obtain the erasure of the
names of several whose opinions had perhaps been violent, but whose
education and private character presented claims to recommendation. Some
of my readers may probably recollect them without my naming them, and
I shall only mention M. Tissot, for the purpose of recording, not the
service I rendered him, but an instance of grateful acknowledgment.
When in 1815 Napoleon was on the point of entering Paris M. Tissot came
to the prefecture of police, where I then was, and offered me his
house as a safe asylum; assuring me I should there run no risk of being
discovered. Though I did not accept the offer yet I gladly seize on this
opportunity of making it known. It is gratifying to find that difference
of political opinion does not always exclude sentiments of generosity
and honour! I shall never forget the way in which the author of the
essays on Virgil uttered the words 'Domus mea'.
But to return to the fatal list. Even while I write this I shudder
to think of the way in which men utterly innocent were accused of a
revolting crime without even the shadow of a proof. The name of an
individual, his opinions, perhaps only assumed, were sufficient grounds
for his banishment. A decree of the Consuls, dated 4th of January 1801,
confirmed by a 'Senates-consulte' on the next day, banished from the
territory of the Republic, and placed under special inspectors, 130
individuals, nine of whom were merely designated in the report as
Septembrizers.
The exiles, who in the reports and in the public acts were so unjustly
accused of being the authors of the infernal machine, were received at
Nantes, with so much indignation that the military were compelled to
interfere to save them from being massacred.
In the discussions which preceded the decree of the Consuls few persons
had the courage to express a doubt respecting the guilt of the accused.
Truguet was the first to mount the breach. He observed that without
denying the Government the extraordinary means for getting rid of its
enemies he could not but acknowledge that the emigrants threatened the
purchasers of national domains, that the public mind was corrupted by
pamphlets, and that--Here the First Consul, interrupting him, exclaimed,
"To what pamphlets do you allude?"--"To pamphlets which are publicly
circulated."--"Name them!"--"You know them as well as I do."
--[The Parallel between Caesar, Cromwell, and Bonaparte, of which I
shall speak a little farther on, is here alluded to.--Bourrienne.]--
After a long and angry ebullition the First Consul abruptly dismissed
the Council. He observed that he would not be duped; that the villains
were known; that they were Septembrizers, the hatchers of every
mischief. He had said at a sitting three days before, "If proof should
fail, we must take advantage of the public excitement. The event is to
me merely the opportunity. They shall be banished for the 2d September,
for the 31st May, for Baboeuf's conspiracy--or anything else."
On leaving one of the sittings of the Council, at which the question
of a special tribunal had been discussed, he told me that he had been
a little ruffled; that he had said a violent blow must be struck; that
blood must be spilt; and that as many of the guilty should be shot as
there had been victims of the explosion (from fifteen to twenty); that
200 should be banished, and the Republic purged of these scoundrels.
The arbitrariness and illegality of the proceeding were so evident that
the 'Senatus-consulte' contained no mention of the transactions of the
3d Nivôse, which was very remarkable. It was, however, declared that
the measure of the previous day had been adopted with a view to the
preservation of the Constitution. This was promising.
The First Consul manifested the most violent hatred of the Jacobins; for
this he could not have been blamed if under the title of Jacobins he had
not comprised every devoted advocate of public liberty. Their opposition
annoyed him and he could never pardon them for having presumed to
condemn his tyrannical acts, and to resist the destruction of the
freedom which he had himself sworn to defend, but which he was
incessantly labouring to overturn. These were the true motives of his
conduct; and, conscious of his own faults, he regarded with dislike
those who saw and disapproved of them. For this reason he was more
afraid of those whom he called Jacobins than of the Royalists.
I am here recording the faults of Bonaparte, but I excuse him; situated
as he was, any other person would have acted in the same way. Truth now
reached him with difficulty, and when it was not agreeable he had
no disposition to hear it. He was surrounded by flatterers; and, the
greater number of those who approached him, far from telling him what
they really thought; only repeated what he had himself been thinking.
Hence he admired the wisdom of his Counsellors. Thus Fouché, to maintain
himself in favour, was obliged to deliver up to his master 130
names chosen from among his own most intimate friends as objects of
proscription.
Meanwhile Fouché, still believing that he was not deceived as to the
real authors of the attempt of the 3d Nivôse, set in motion with his
usual dexterity all the springs of the police. His efforts, however,
were for sometime unsuccessful; but at length on Saturday, the 31st
January 1801, about two hours after our arrival at Malmaison, Fouché
presented himself and produced authentic proofs of the accuracy of his
conjectures. There was no longer any doubt on the subject; and Bonaparte
saw clearly that the attempt of the 3d Nivôse was the result of a plot
hatched by the partisans of royalty. But as the act of proscription
against those who were jumbled together under the title of the Jacobins
had been executed, it was not to be revoked.
Thus the consequence of the 3d Nivôse was that both the innocent and
guilty were punished; with this difference, however, that the guilty at
least had the benefit of a trial.
When the Jacobins, as they were called, were accused with such
precipitation, Fouché had no positive proofs of their innocence; and
therefore their illegal condemnation ought not to be attributed to him.
Sufficient odium is attached to his memory without his being charged
with a crime he never committed. Still, I must say that had he boldly
opposed the opinion of Bonaparte in the first burst of his fury he might
have averted the blow. Every time he came to the Tuileries, even before
he had acquired any traces of the truth, Fouché always declared to me
his conviction of the innocence of the persons first accused. But he was
afraid to make the same observation to Bonaparte. I often mentioned to
him the opinion of the Minister of Police; but as proof was wanting he
replied to me with a triumphant air, "Bah! bah! This is always the way
with Fouché. Besides, it is of little consequence. At any rate we shall
get rid of them. Should the guilty be discovered among the Royalists
they also shall be punished."
The real criminals being at length discovered through the researches of
Fouché, St. Regent and Carbon expiated their crimes by the forfeit of
their heads. Thus the First Consul gained his point, and justice gained
hers.
--[It was St. Regent, or St. Rejeant, who fired the infernal
machine. The violence of the shock flung him against a post and
part of his breast bone was driven in. He was obliged to resort to
a surgeon, and it would seem that this man denounced him. (Memoirs
of Miot de Melito, tome i. p. 264).
The discussions which took place in the Council of State on this
affair are remarkable, both for the violence of Napoleon and for the
resistance made in the Council, to a great extent successfully, to
his views as to the plot being one of the Jacobin party.]--
I have often had occasion to notice the multifarious means employed by
Bonaparte to arrive at the possession of supreme power, and to prepare
men's minds for so great change. Those who have observed his life must
have so remarked how entirely he was convinced of the truth that public
opinion wastes itself on the rumour of a project and possesses no energy
at the moment of its execution. In order, therefore, to direct public
attention to the question of hereditary power a pamphlet was circulated
about Paris, and the following is the history of it:--
In the month of December 1800, while Fouché was searching after the
real authors of the attempt of the 3d Nivôse, a small pamphlet, entitled
"Parallel between Caesar, Cromwell, and Bonaparte," was sent to the
First Consul. He was absent when it came. I read it, and perceived that
it openly advocated hereditary monarchy. I then knew nothing about the
origin of this pamphlet, but I soon learned that it issued from the
office of the Minister of the Interior [Lucien Bonaparte], and that it
had been largely circulated. After reading it I laid it on the table. In
a few minutes Bonaparte entered, and taking up the pamphlet pretended
to look through it: "Have you read this?" said he.--"Yes, General."--
"Well! what is your opinion of it?"--"I think it is calculated to
produce an unfavourable effect on the public mind: it is ill-timed, for
it prematurely reveals your views." The First Consul took the pamphlet
and threw it on the ground, as he did all the stupid publications of the
day after having slightly glanced over them. I was not singular in my
opinion of the pamphlet, for next day the prefects in the immediate
neighbourhood of Paris sent a copy of it to the First Consul,
complaining of its mischievous effect; and I recollect that in one of
their letters it was stated that such a work was calculated to
direct against him the poniards of new assassins. After reading this
correspondence he said to me, "Bourrienne, send for Fouché; he must come
directly, and give an account of this matter." In half an hour Fouché
was in the First Consul's cabinet. No sooner had he entered than the
following dialogue took place, in which the impetuous warmth of the one
party was strangely contrasted with the phlegmatic and rather sardonic
composure of the other.
"What pamphlet is this? What is said about it in Paris?"--"General,
there is but one opinion of its dangerous tendency."--"Well, then,
why did you allow it to appear?"--"General, I was obliged to show some
consideration for the author!"--"Consideration for the author! What do
you mean? You should have sent him to the temple."--"But, General,
your brother Lucien patronises this pamphlet. It has been printed
and published by his order. In short, it comes from the office of the
Minister of the Interior."--"No matter for that! Your duty as Minister
of Police was to have arrested Lucien, and sent him to the Temple. The
fool does nothing but contrive how he can commit me!"
With these words the First Consul left the cabinet, shutting the door
violently behind him. Being now alone with Fouché, I was eager to get an
explanation of the suppressed smile which had more than once curled his
lips during Bonaparte's angry expostulation. I easily perceived that
there was something in reserve. "Send the author to the Temple!" said
Fouché; "that would be no easy matter! Alarmed at the effect which this
parallel between Caesar, Cromwell, and Bonaparte was likely to produce,
I went to Lucien to point out to him his imprudence. He made me no
answer, but went and got a manuscript, which he showed me, and
which contained corrections and annotations in the First Consul's
handwriting."
When Lucien heard how Bonaparte had expressed his displeasure at the
pamphlet, he also came to the Tuileries to reproach his brother with
having thrust him forward and then abandoned him. "'Tis your own fault,"
said the First Consul. "You have allowed yourself to be caught! So much
the worse for you! Fouché is too cunning for you! You are a mere fool
compared with him!" Lucien tendered his resignation, which was accepted,
and he departed for Spain. This diplomatic mission turned to his
advantage. It was necessary that one should veil the Machiavellian
invention of the 'Parallel.'
--[The 'Parallel' has been attributed to different writers; some
phrases seemed the work of Lucien, but, says Thiers (tome ii p.
210), its rare elegance of language and its classical knowledge of
history should attribute it to its real anchor, Fontanel, Joseph
Bonaparte (Erreurs tome i. p. 270) says that Fontanel wrote it, and
Lucien Bonaparte corrected it. See Meneval, tome iii. p. 105.
Whoever wrote it Napoleon certainly planned its issue. "It was,"
said he to Roederer, "a work of which he himself had given the idea,
but the last pages were by a fool" (Miot, tome i, p. 318). See also
Lanfrey, tome ii. p. 208; and compare the story in Iung's Lucien,
tome ii. p. 490. Miot, then in the confidence of Joseph, says,
that Lucien's removal from, office was the result of an angry
quarrel between him and Fouché in the presence of Napoleon, when
Fouché attacked Lucien, not only for the pamphlet, but also for the
disorder of his public and his private life; but Miot (tome i, p,
319) places the date of this as the 3d November, while Bourrienne
dates the disapproval of the pamphlet in December.]--
Lucien, among other instructions, was directed to use all his endeavours
to induce Spain to declare against Portugal in order to compel that
power to separate herself from England.
The First Consul had always regarded Portugal as an English colony, and
he conceived that to attack it was to assail England. He wished that
Portugal should no longer favour England in her commercial relations,
but that, like Spain, she should become dependent on him. Lucien was
therefore sent as ambassador to Madrid, to second the Ministers of
Charles IV. in prevailing on the King to invade Portugal. The King
declared war, but it was not of long duration, and terminated almost
without a blow being struck, by the taking of Olivenza. On the 6th of
June 1801 Portugal signed the treaty of Badajoz, by which she promised
to cede Olivenza, Almeida, and some other fortresses to Spain, and to
close her ports against England. The First Consul, who was dissatisfied
with the treaty, at first refused to ratify it. He still kept his army
in Spain, and this proceeding determined Portugal to accede to some
slight alterations in the first treaty. This business proved very
advantageous to Lucien and Godoy.
The cabinet of the Tuileries was not the only place in which the
question of hereditary succession was discussed. It was the constant
subject of conversation in the salons of Paris, where a new dynasty was
already spoken of. This was by no means displeasing to the First Consul;
but he saw clearly that he had committed a mistake in agitating the
question prematurely; for this reason he waged war against the Parallel,
as he would not be suspected of having had any share in a design that
had failed. One day he said to me, "I believe I have been a little too
precipitate. The pear is not quite ripe!" The Consulate for life was
accordingly postponed till 1802, and the hereditary empire till 1804.
After the failure of the artful publication of the pamphlet Fouché
invited me to dine with him. As the First Consul wished me to dine out
as seldom as possible, I informed him of the invitation I had received.
He was, however, aware of it before, and he very readily gave me leave
to go. At dinner Joseph was placed on the right of Fouché, and I next
to Joseph, who talked of nothing but his brother, his designs, the
pamphlet, and the bad effect produced by it. In all that fell from him
there was a tone of blame and disapproval. I told him my opinion, but
with greater reserve than I had used towards his brother. He seemed to
approve of what I said; his confidence encouraged me, and I saw with
pleasure that he entertained sentiments entirely similar to my own.
His unreserved manner so imposed upon me that, notwithstanding the
experience I had acquired, I was far from suspecting myself to be in
the company of a spy. Next day the First Consul said to me very
coldly, "Leave my letters in the basket, I will open them myself." This
unexpected direction surprised me exceedingly, and I determined to play
him a trick in revenge for his unfounded distrust. For three mornings I
laid at the bottom of the basket all the letters which I knew came from
the Ministers, and all the reports which were addressed to me for the
First Consul. I then covered them over with those which; judging from
their envelopes and seals, appeared to be of that trifling kind with
which the First Consul was daily overwhelmed: these usually consisted of
requests that he would name the number of a lottery ticket, so, that the
writer might have the benefit of his good luck--solicitations that he
would stand godfather to a child--petitions for places--announcements
of marriages and births--absurd eulogies, etc. Unaccustomed to open the
letters, he became impatient at their number, and he opened very few.
Often on the same day, but always on the morrow, came a fresh letter
from a Minister, who asked for an answer to his former one, and who
complained of not having received one. The First Consul unsealed some
twenty letters and left the rest.
The opening of all these letters, which he was not at other times in the
habit of looking at, annoyed him extremely; but as I neither wished to
carry the joke too far, nor to remain in the disagreeable position in
which Joseph's treachery had placed me, I determined to bring the matter
to a conclusion. After the third day, when the business of the night,
which had been interrupted by little fits of ill-humour, was concluded,
Bonaparte retired to bed. Half an hour after I went to his chamber,
to which I was admitted at all hours. I had a candle in my hand, and,
taking a chair, I sat down on the right side of the bed, and placed the
candle on the table. Both he and Josephine awoke. "What is the matter?"
he asked with surprise. "General, I have come to tell you that I can
no longer remain here, since I have lost your confidence. You know how
sincerely I am devoted to you; if you have, then, anything to reproach
me with, let me at least know it, for my situation during the last
three days has been very painful."--"What has Bourrienne done?" inquired
Josephine earnestly.--"That does not concern you," he replied. Then
turning to me he said, "'Tis true, I have cause to complain of you. I
have been informed that you have spoken of important affairs in a very
indiscreet manner."--"I can assure you that I spoke to none but your
brother. It was he who led me into the conversation, and he was too
well versed in the business for me to tell him any secret. He may have
reported to you what he pleased, but could not I do the same by him? I
could accuse and betray him as he has accused and betrayed me. When
I spoke in confidence to your brother, could I regard him as an
inquisitor?"--"I must confess," replied Bonaparte, "that after what
I heard from Joseph I thought it right to put my confidence in
quarantine."--"The quarantine has lasted three days, General; surely
that is long enough."--"Well, Bourrienne, let us say no more about
it. Open my letters as usual; you will find the answers a good deal in
arrear, which has much vexed me; and besides, I was always stumbling on
some stupid nonsense or other!"
I fancy I still see and hear the amiable Josephine sitting up in bed and
saying, in her gentle way, "What! Bonaparte, is it possible you could
suspect Bourrienne, who is so attached to you, and who is your only
friend? How could you suffer such a snare to be laid for him? What!
a dinner got up on purpose! How I hate these odious police
manoeuvres!"--"Go to sleep," said Bonaparte; "let women mind their
gewgaws, and not interfere with politics." It was near two in the
morning before I retired.
When, after a few hours' sleep, I again saw the First Consul, he was
more kind to me than ever, and I perceived that for the present every
cloud had dispersed.'
--[Joseph Bonaparte (Erreurs, tome i. p. 273) says what he
reported to his brother was Bourrienne's conversation to him in the
First Consul's cabinet during Napoleon's absence. It is curious
that at the only time when Napoleon became dissatisfied with Meneval
(Bourrienne's successor), and ordered him not to open the letters,
he used the same expression when returning to the usual order of
business, which in this case was to a few hours. "My dear Meneval,"
said he, "there are circumstances in which I am forced to put my
confidence in quarantine." (Meneval, tome i. p. 123). For any one
who has had to manage an office it is pleasant to find that even
Napoleon was much dependent on a good secretary. In an illness of
his secretary he said, showing the encumbrance of his desk, "with
Meneval I should soon clear off all that." (Meneval, tome i. p. 151.)]
CHAPTER IV.
1800-1801
Austria bribed by England--M. de St. Julien in Paris--Duroc's
mission--Rupture of the armistice--Surrender of three garrisons--
M. Otto in London--Battle of Hohenlinden--Madame Moreau and Madame
Hulot--Bonaparte's ill-treatment of the latter--Congress of
Luneville--General Clarke--M. Maret--Peace between France and
Austria--Joseph Bonaparte's speculations in the funds--
M. de Talleyrand's advice--Post-office regulation--Cambacérès--
Importance of good dinners in the affairs of Government--Steamboats
and intriguers--Death of Paul I.--New thoughts of the
reestablishment of Poland--Duroc at St. Petersburg--Bribe rejected--
Death of Abercromby.
The armistice concluded after the battle of Marengo, which had been
first broken and then resumed, continued to be observed for some time
between the armies of the Rhine and Italy and the Imperial armies. But
Austria, bribed by a subsidy of 2,000,000 sterling, would not treat
for peace without the participation of England. She did not despair of
recommencing the war successfully.
M. de St. Julien had signed preliminaries at Paris; but the Court of
Vienna disavowed them, and Duroc, whom Bonaparte sent to convey the
preliminaries to Vienna for the Imperial ratification, was not permitted
to pass the Austrian advance posts. This unexpected proceeding, the
result of the all-powerful influence of England, justly incensed the
First Consul, who had given decided proofs of moderation and a wish
for peace. "I want peace," said he to me, "to enable me to organise
the interior; the people also want it. You see the conditions I offer.
Austria, though beaten, obtains all she got at Campo-Formio. What can
she want more? I could make further exactions; but, without fearing
the reverses of 1799, I must think of the future. Besides, I want
tranquillity, to enable me to settle the affairs of the interior, and
to send aid to Malta and Egypt. But I will not be trifled with. I will
force an immediate decision!"
In his irritation the First Consul despatched orders to Moreau,
directing him to break the armistice and resume hostilities unless he
regained possession of the bridges of the Rhine and the Danube by
the surrender of Philipsburg, Ulm, and Ingolstadt. The Austrians then
offered to treat with France on new bases. England wished to take part
in the Congress, but to this the First Consul would not consent until
she should sign a separate armistice and cease to make common cause with
Austria.
The First Consul received intelligence of the occupation of the three
garrisons on the 23d of September, the day he had fixed in his ultimatum
to England for the renewal of hostilities. But for the meanwhile he
was satisfied with the concessions of Austria: that power, in the
expectation of being supported by England, asked her on what terms she
was to treat.
During these communications with Austria M. Otto was in London
negotiating for the exchange of prisoners. England would not hear of an
armistice by sea like that which France had concluded with Austria by
land. She alleged that, in case of a rupture, France would derive from
that armistice greater advantage than Austria would gain by that
already concluded. The difficulty and delay attending the necessary
communications rendered these reasons plausible. The First Consul
consented to accept other propositions from England, and to allow her
to take part in the discussions of Luneville, but on condition that she
should sign a treaty with him without the intervention of Austria. This
England refused to do. Weary of this uncertainty, and the tergiversation
of Austria, which was still under the influence of England, and feeling
that the prolongation of such a state of things could only turn to his
disadvantage, Bonaparte broke the armistice. He had already consented to
sacrifices which his successes in Italy did not justify. The hope of an
immediate peace had alone made him lose sight of the immense advantages
which victory had given him.
Far from appearing sensible to the many proofs of moderation which the
First Consul evinced, the combined insolence of England and Austria
seemed only to increase. Orders were immediately given for resuming the
offensive in Germany and Italy, and hostilities then recommenced.
The chances of fortune were long doubtful. After a reverse Austria made
promises, and after an advantage she evaded them; but finally, fortune
proved favourable to France. The French armies in Italy and Germany
crossed the Mincio and the Danube, and the celebrated battle of
Hohenlinden brought the French advanced posts within ten leagues of
Vienna. This victory secured peace; for, profiting by past experience,
the First Consul would not hear of any suspension of arms until Austria
should consent to a separate treaty. Driven into her last intrenchments,
Austria was obliged to yield. She abandoned England; and the English
Cabinet, in spite of the subsidy of 2,000,000 sterling, consented to
the separation. Great Britain was forced to come to this arrangement
in consequence of the situation to which the successes of the army of
Moreau had reduced Austria, which it was certain would be ruined by
longer resistance.
England wished to enter into negotiations at Luneville. To this the
First Consul acceded; but, as he saw that England was seeking to deceive
him, he required that she should suspend hostilities with France, as
Austria had done. Bonaparte very reasonably alleged that an indefinite
armistice on the Continent would be more to the disadvantage of France
than a long armistice by sea would be unfavourable to England. All this
adjourned the preliminaries to 1801 and the peace to 1802.
The impatience and indignation of the First Consul had been highly
excited by the evasions of Austria and the plots of England, for he
knew all the intrigues that were carrying on for the restoration of
the Bourbons. His joy may be therefore conceived when the battle of
Hohenlinden balanced the scale of fortune in his favour. On the 3d of
December 1800 Moreau gained that memorable victory which at length put
an end to the hesitations of the Cabinet of Vienna.
--[On the eve of the battle of Hohenlinden Moreau was at supper with
his aides de camp and several general officers, when a despatch was
delivered to him. After he had read it be said to his guests,
though he was far from being in the habit of boasting, "I am here
made acquainted with Baron Kray's movements. They are all I could
wish. To-morrow we will take from him 10,000 prisoners." Moreau
took 40,000, besides a great many flags.--Bourrienne.]--
On the 6th of December the First Consul received intelligence of the
battle of Hohenlinden. It was on a Saturday, and he had just returned
from the theatre when I delivered the despatches to him. He literally
danced for joy. I must say that he did not expect so important a result
from the movements of the army of the Rhine. This victory gave a new
face to his negotiations for peace, and determined the opening of the
Congress of Luneville, which took place on the 1st of January following.
On receiving information of the battle of Hohenlinden, Madame Moreau
came to the Tuileries to call on the First Consul and Madame Bonaparte.
She did not see them, and repeated her calls several times with no
better success. The last time she came she was accompanied by her
mother, Madame Hulot. She waited for a considerable time in vain, and
when she was going away her mother, who could no longer restrain her
feelings, said aloud, before me and several persons of the household,
that "it ill became the wife of the conqueror of Hohenlinden to dance
attendance in this way." This remark reached the ears of those to whom
it was directed. Madame Moreau shortly after rejoined her husband
in Germany; and some time after her departure Madame Hulot came to
Malmaison to solicit promotion for her eldest son, who was in the navy.
Josephine received Madame Hulot very kindly, and requested her to stay
to dinner. She accepted the invitation. The First Consul, who did not
see her until the hour of dinner, treated her very coolly: he said
little to her, and retired as soon as dinner was over. His rudeness was
so marked and offensive that Josephine, who was always kind and amiable,
thought it necessary to apologise, by observing that his mind was
disturbed by the non-arrival of a courier whom he expected.
Bonaparte entertained no dislike of Moreau, because he did not fear
him; and after the battle of Hohenlinden he spoke of him in the highest
terms, and frankly acknowledged the services he had rendered on that
important occasion; but he could not endure his wife's family, who, he
said, were a set of intriguers.
--[Napoleon had good reason for his opinion. "Moreau had a mother-
in-law and a wife lively and given to intrigue. Bonaparte could not
bear intriguing women. Besides, on one occasion Madame Moreau's
mother, when at Malmaison, had indulged in sharp remarks on a
suspected scandalous intimacy between Bonaparte and his young sister
Caroline, then just married. The Consul had not forgiven such
conversation" (Rémusat tome i. P. 192). see also Meneval, tome
iii. p. 57, as to the mischief done by Madame Hulot.]--
Luneville having been fixed upon for the Congress, the First Consul sent
his brother Joseph to treat with Count Louis de Cobentzel. On his way
Joseph met M. de Cobentzel, who had passed Luneville, and was coming to
Paris to sound the sentiments of the French Government. Joseph returned
to Paris with him. After some conversation with the First Consul they
set out next day for Luneville, of which place Bonaparte appointed
General Clarke governor. This appeared to satisfy Clarke, who was very
anxious to be something, and had long been importuning Bonaparte for an
appointment.
A day or two after the news of the battle of Hohenlinden M. Maret came
to present for Bonaparte's signature some, decrees made in Council.
While affixing the signatures, and without looking up, the First Consul
said to M. Maret, who was a favourite with him, and who was standing
at his right hand, "Are you rich, Maret?"--"No, General."--"So much
the worse: a man should be independent."--"General, I will never be
dependent on any one but you." The First Consul then raised his eyes to
Maret and said, "Hem! that is not bad!" and when the secretary-general
was gone he said to me, "Maret is not deficient in cleverness: he made
me a very good answer."
On the 9th of February 1801, six weeks after the opening of the
Congress of Luneville, peace was signed between Austria and France. This
peace--the fruit of Marengo and Hohenlinden--restored France to that
honourable position which had been put in jeopardy by the feeble and
incapable government of the pentarchy and the reverses of 1799. This
peace, which in the treaty, according to custom, was called perpetual,
lasted four years.
Joseph Bonaparte, while treating for France at Luneville, was
speculating on the rise of the funds which he thought the peace would
produce. Persons more wise, who were like him in the secret, sold out
their stock at the moment when the certainty of the peace became known.
But Joseph purchased to a great extent, in the hope of selling to
advantage on the signature of peace. However, the news had been
discounted, and a fall took place. Joseph's loss was considerable,
and he could not satisfy the engagements in which his greedy and silly
speculations had involved him. He applied to his brother, who neither
wished nor was able to advance him the necessary sum. Bonaparte
was, however, exceedingly sorry to see his elder brother in this
embarrassment. He asked me what was to be done. I told him I did not
know; but I advised him to consult M. de Talleyrand, from whom he had
often received good advice. He did so, and M. de Talleyrand replied,
with that air of coolness which is so peculiar to him, "What! is that
all? Oh! that is nothing. It is easily settled. You have only to raise
the price of the funds."--"But the money?"-- "Oh, the money may be
easily obtained. Make some deposits in the Mont-de-Piste, or the sinking
fund. That will give you the necessary money to raise the funds; and
then Joseph may sell out, and recover his losses." M. de Talleyrand's
advice was adopted, and all succeeded as he had foretold. None but those
who have heard M. de Talleyrand converse can form an accurate idea of
his easy manner of expressing himself, his imperturbable coolness, the
fixed unvarying expression of his countenance, and his vast fund of wit.
--[Talleyrand had a large experience in all sorts of speculation.
When old he gave this counsel to one of his proteges: "Do not
speculate. I have always speculated on assured information, and
that has cost me so many millions;" and he named his losses. We may
believe that in this reckoning he rather forgot the amount of his
gains (Sainte-Beuve, Talleyrand, 93).]--
During the sitting of the Congress the First Consul learnt that the
Government couriers conveyed to favoured individuals in Paris various
things, but especially the delicacies of the table, and he ordered that
this practice should be discontinued. On the very evening on which this
order was issued Cambacérès entered the salon, where I was alone with
the First Consul, who had already been laughing at the mortification
which he knew this regulation would occasion to his colleague: "Well,
Cambacérès, what brings you here at this time of night?"--"I come to
solicit an exception to the order which you have just given to the
Director of the Posts. How do you think a man can make friends unless he
keeps a good table? You know very well how much good dinners assist
the business of Government." The First Consul laughed, called him a
gourmand, and, patting him on the shoulder, said, "Do not distress
yourself, my dear Cambacérès; the couriers shall continue to bring you
your 'dindes aux truffes', your Strasburg 'pates', your Mayence hams,
and your other titbits."
Those who recollect the magnificent dinners given by Cambacérès and
others, which were a general topic of conversation at the time, and who
knew the ingenious calculation which was observed in the invitation of
the guests, must be convinced of the vast influence of a good dinner
in political affairs. As to Cambacérès, he did not believe that a good
government could exist without good dinners; and his glory (for every
man has his own particular glory) was to know that the luxuries of his
table were the subject of eulogy throughout Paris, and even Europe.
A banquet which commanded general suffrage was to him a Marengo or a
Friedland.
--[Bourrienne does not exaggerate this excellent quality of the
worthy Cambacérès. When Beugnot was sent to administer the Grand
Duchy of Berg, Cambacérès said to him, "My dear Beugnot, the Emperor
arranges crowns as he chooses; here is the Grand Duke of Berg
(Murat) going to Naples; he is welcome, I have no objection, but
every year the Grand Duke sent me a couple of dozen hams from his
Grand Duchy, and I warn you I do not intend to lose them, so you
must make your preparations.". . . . I never once omitted to
acquit myself of the obligation, and if there were any delay, . . .
his Highness never failed to cause one of his secretaries to write a
good scolding to my house steward; but when the hams arrived
exactly, his highness never failed to write to my wife himself to
thank her.
This was not all; the hams were to come carriage free. This petty
jobbery occasioned discontent, . . . and it would not have cost
me more to pay the carriage. The Prince would not allow it. There
was an agreement between him and Lavalette (the head of the Posts),
. . . And my Lord appeared to lay as much stress on the
performance of this treaty as on the procuring of the ham, (Beugnot,
tome i. p. 262).
Cambacérès never suffered the cares of Government to distract his
attention from the great object of life. On one occasion, for
example, being detained in consultation with Napoleon beyond the
appointed hour of dinner--it is said that the fate of the Duc
d'Enghien was the topic under discussion--he was observed, when the
hour became very late, to show great symptoms of impatience and
restlessness. He at last wrote a note which he called a gentleman
usher in waiting to carry. Napoleon, suspecting the contents,
nodded to an aide de camp to intercept the despatch. As he took it
into his hands Cambacérès begged earnestly that he would not read a
trifling note upon domestic matters. Napoleon persisted, and found
it to be a note to the cook containing only the following words,
"Gardez les entremetes--les rotis sont perdue." When Napoleon was
in good humor at the result of a diplomatic conference he was
accustomed to take leave of the plenipotentiaries with, "Go and dine
Cambacérès." His table was in fact an important state engine, as
appears from the anecdote of the trout sent to him by the
municipality of Geneva, and charged 300 francs in their accounts.
The Imperial 'Cour des Comptes' having disallowed the item, was
interdicted from meddling with similar municipal affairs in future
(Hayward's Art of Dining, p. 20).]
At the commencement of 1801 Fulton presented to Bonaparte his memorial
on steamboats. I urged a serious examination of the subject. "Bah!" said
he, "these projectors are all either intriguers or visionaries. Don't
trouble me about the business." I observed that the man whom he called
an intriguer was only reviving an invention already known, and that it
was wrong to reject the scheme without examination. He would not listen
to me; and thus was adjourned, for some time, the practical application
of a discovery which has given such an important impulse to trade and
navigation.
Paul I. fell by the hands of assassins on the night of the 24th of March
1801. The First Consul was much shocked on receiving the intelligence.
In the excitement caused by this unexpected event, which had so
important an influence on his policy, he directed me to send the
following note to the Moniteur:--
Paul I. died on the night of the 24th of March, and the English
squadron passed the Sound on the 30th. History will reveal the
connection which probably exists between these two events.
Thus were announced the crime of the 24th of March and the not
ill-founded suspicions of its authors.
--[We do not attempt to rescue the fair name of our country. This
is one among many instances in which Bourrienne was misled.--Editor
of 1886 edition.]--
The amicable relations of Paul and Bonaparte had been daily
strengthened. "In concert with the Czar," said Bonaparte, "I was sure
of striking a mortal blow at the English power in India. A palace
revolution has overthrown all my projects." This resolution, and
the admiration of the Autocrat of Russia for the head of the French
Republic, may certainly be numbered among the causes of Paul's death.
The individuals generally accused at the time were those who were
violently and perseveringly threatened, and who had the strongest
interest in the succession of a new Emperor. I have seen a letter from a
northern sovereign which in my mind leaves no doubt on this subject, and
which specified the reward of the crime, and the part to be performed by
each actor. But it must also be confessed that the conduct and character
of Paul I., his tyrannical acts, his violent caprices, and his frequent
excesses of despotism, had rendered him the object of accumulated
hatred, for patience has its limit. These circumstances did not probably
create the conspiracy, but they considerably facilitated the execution
of the plot which deprived the Czar of his throne and his life.
As soon as Alexander ascended the throne the ideas of the First Consul
respecting the dismemberment of Poland were revived, and almost wholly
engrossed his mind. During his first campaign in Italy, and several
times when in Egypt, he told Sulkowsky that it was his ardent wish to
reestablish Poland, to avenge the iniquity of her dismemberment, and by
that grand repertory act to restore the former equilibrium of Europe.
He often dictated to me for the 'Moniteur' articles tending to prove,
by various arguments, that Europe would never enjoy repose until those
great spoilations were avenged and repaired; but he frequently destroyed
these articles instead of sending them to press. His system of policy
towards Russia changed shortly after the death of Paul. The thought of a
war against that empire unceasingly occupied his mind, and gave birth
to the idea of that fatal campaign which took place eleven years
afterwards, and which had other causes than the re-establishment of
Poland. That object was merely set forward as a pretext.
Duroc was sent to St. Petersburg to congratulate the Emperor Alexander
on his accession to the throne. He arrived in the Russian capital on
the 24th of May. Duroc, who was at this time very young, was a great
favourite of the First Consul. He never importuned Bonaparte by his
solicitations, and was never troublesome in recommending any one or
busying himself as an agent for favour; yet he warmly advocated
the cause of those whom he thought injured, and honestly repelled
accusations which he knew to be false. These moral qualities; joined to
an agreeable person and elegant manners, rendered him a very superior
man.
The year 1801 was, moreover, marked by the fatal creation of
special tribunals, which were in no way justified by the urgency of
circumstances. This year also saw the re-establishment of the African
Company, the treaty of Luneville (which augmented the advantages France
had obtained by the treaty of Campo-Formio), and the peace concluded
between Spain and Portugal by means of Lucien. On the subject of this
peace I may mention that Portugal, to obtain the cession of Olivenza,
secretly offered Bonaparte, through me, 8,000,000 of francs if he
would contribute his influence towards the acquisition of that town by
Portugal. He, rejected this offer indignantly, declaring that he would
never sell honour for money. He has been accused of having listened to
a similar proposition at Passeriano, though in fact no such proposition
was ever made to him. Those who bring forward such accusations little
know the inflexibility of his principles on this point.
One evening in April 1801 an English paper--the London Gazette--arrived
at Malmaison. It announced the landing in Egypt of the army commanded
by Abercromby, the battle given by the English, and the death of their
General. I immediately translated the article, and presented it to the
First Consul, with the conviction that the news would be very painful
to him. He doubted its truth, or at least pretended to do so. Several
officers and aides de camp who were in the salon coincided in his
opinion, especially Lannes, Bessières, and Duroc. They thought by so
doing to please the First Consul, who then said to me, in a jeering
tone, "Bah! you do not understand English. This is the way with you: you
are always inclined to believe bad news rather than good!" These words,
and the approving smiles of the gentlemen present, ruffled me, and I
said with some warmth, "How, General, can you believe that the English
Government would publish officially so important an event if it were not
true? Do you think that a Government that has any self-respect would, in
the face of Europe, state a falsehood respecting an affair the truth of
which cannot long remain unknown? Did you ever know an instance of so
important an announcement proving untrue after it had been published
in the London Gazette? I believe it to be true, and the smiles of these
gentlemen will not alter my opinion." On these observations the First
Consul rose and said, "Come, Bourrienne, I want you in the library."
After we had left the salon he added, "This is always the way with you.
Why are you vexed at such trifles? I assure you I believe the news but
too confidently, and I feared it before it came. But they think they
please me by thus appearing to doubt it. Never mind them."--"I ask your
pardon," said I, "but I conceive the best way of proving my attachment
to you is to tell you what I believe to be true. You desire me not to
delay a moment in announcing bad news to you. It would be far worse to
disguise than to conceal it."
CHAPTER V.
1801-1802.
An experiment of royalty--Louis de Bourbon and Maria Louisa, of
Spain--Creation of the kingdom of Etruria--The Count of Leghorn in
Paris--Entertainments given him--Bonaparte's opinion of the King of
Etruria--His departure for Florence, and bad reception there--
Negotiations with the Pope--Bonaparte's opinion on religion--Te Deum
at Notre Dame--Behaviour of the people in the church--Irreligion of
the Consular Court--Augereau's remark on the Te Deum--First Mass at
St. Cloud-Mass in Bonaparte's apartments--Talleyrand relieved from
his clerical vows--My appointment to the Council of State.
Before he placed two crowns on his own head Bonaparte thought it would
promote the interests of his policy to place one on the head of a
prince, and even a prince of the House of Bourbon. He wished to accustom
the French to the sight of a king. It will hereafter be seen that he
gave sceptres, like his confidence, conditionally, and that he was
always ready to undo his own work when it became an obstacle to his
ambitious designs.
In May 1801 the Infanta of Spain, Maria Louisa, third daughter of
Charles IV., visited Paris. The Infante Louis de Bourbon, eldest son
of the Duke of Parma, had gone to Madrid in 1798 to contract a marriage
with Maria Amelia, the sister of Maria Louisa; but he fell in love
with the latter. Godoy favoured the attachment, and employed all his
influence to bring about the marriage. The son who, six years later, was
born of this union, was named Charles Louis, after the King of Spain.
France occupied the Duchy of Parma, which, in fulfilment of the
conventions signed by Lucien Bonaparte, was to belong to her after the
death of the reigning Duke. On the other hand, France was to cede the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany to the son of the Duke of Parma; and Spain paid
to France, according to stipulation, a considerable sum of money. Soon
after the treaty was communicated to Don Louis and his wife they left
Madrid and travelled through France. The prince took the title of Count
of Leghorn. All accounts are unanimous as to the attentions which the
Prince and Princess received on their journey. Among the fetes in honour
of the illustrious couple that given by M. de Talleyrand at Neuilly was
remarkable for magnificence.
When the Count of Leghorn was coming to pay his first visit to Malmaison
Bonaparte went into the drawing-room to see that everything was suitably
prepared for his reception. In a few minutes he returned to his cabinet
and said to me, somewhat out of humour, "Bourrienne, only think of their
stupidity; they had not taken down the picture representing me on the
summit of the Alps pointing to Lombardy and commanding the conquest of
it. I have ordered its removal. How mortifying it would have been if the
Prince had seen it!"
Another picture in the drawing-room at Malmaison represented the First
Consul sleeping on the snow on the summit of the Alps before the battle
of Marengo.
The Count of Leghorn's visit to Paris imparted brilliancy to the first
years of the reign of Bonaparte, of whom it was at that time said, "He
made kings, but would not be one!"
At the representation of Oedipus, the following expression of
Philactetes was received with transport:--
"J'ai fait des Souverains, et n'ai pas voulu l'etre."
["Monarchs I've made, but one I would not be."]
The First Consul, on leaving the theatre, did not conceal his
satisfaction. He judged, from the applause with which that verse had
been received, that his pamphlet was forgotten. The manner, moreover, in
which a king, crowned by his hands, had been received by the public, was
no indifferent matter to him, as he expected that the people would thus
again become familiar with what had been so long proscribed.
This King, who, though well received and well entertained, was in all
respects a very ordinary man, departed for Italy. I say very ordinary,
not that I had an opportunity of judging of his character myself, but
the First Consul told me that his capabilities were extremely limited;
that he even felt repugnance to take a pen in his hand; that he never
cast a thought on anything but his pleasures: in a word, that he was a
fool.
One day, after the First Consul had spent several hours in company with
him and his consort, he said to me, "I am quite tired. He is a mere
automaton. I put a number of questions to him, but he can answer none.
He is obliged to consult his wife, who makes him understand as well as
she is able what he ought to say." The First Consul added, "The poor
Prince will set off to-morrow, without knowing what he is going to do."
I observed that it was a pity to see the happiness of the people of
Tuscany entrusted to such a prince. Bonaparte replied, "Policy requires
it. Besides, the young man is not worse than the usual run of kings."
The Prince fully justified in Tuscany the opinion which the First Consul
formed of him.
--[This unfortunate Prince was very ill-calculated to recommend, by
his personal character, the institutions to which the nobility clung
with so much fondness. Nature had endowed him with an excellent
heart, but with very limited talents; and his mind had imbibed the
false impress consequent upon his monastic education. He resided at
Malmaison nearly the whole time of his visit to Paris. Madame
Bonaparte used to lead the Queen to her own apartments; and as the
First Consul never left his closet except to sit down to meals, the
aides de camp were under the necessity of keeping the King company,
and of endeavoring to entertain him, so wholly was he devoid of
intellectual resources. It required, indeed, a great share of
patience to listen to the frivolities which engrossed his attention.
His turn of mind being thus laid open to view, care was taken to
supply him with the playthings usually placed in the hands of
children; he was, therefore, never at a loss for occupation. His
nonentity was a source of regret to us: we lamented to see a tall
handsome youth, destined to rule over his fellow-men, trembling at
the neigh of a horse, and wasting his time in the game of
hide-and-seek, or at leap-frog and whose whole information consisted
in knowing his prayers, and in saying grace before and after meals.
Such, nevertheless, was the man to whom the destinies of a nation
were about to be committed! When he left France to repair to his
kingdom, "Rome need not be uneasy," said the First Consul to us
after the farewell audience, "there is no danger of his crossing the
Rubicon" (Memoirs of the Duke of Rovigo, vol. i. p. 363).]--
In order to show still further attention to the King of Etruria, after
his three weeks' visit to Paris, the First Consul directed him to be
escorted to Italy by a French guard, and selected his brother-in-law
Murat for that purpose.
The new King of a new kingdom entered Florence on the 12th of April
1801; but the reception given him by the Tuscans was not at all similar
to what he had experienced at Paris. The people received the royal
pair as sovereigns imposed on them by France. The ephemeral kingdom of
Etruria lasted scarcely six years. The King died in 1803, in the flower
of his age, and in 1807 the Queen was expelled from her throne by him
who had constructed it for her.
At this period a powerful party urged Bonaparte to break with the Pope,
and to establish a Gallican Church, the head of which should reside in
France. They thought to flatter his ambition by indicating to him a new
source of power which might establish a point of comparison between him
and the first Roman emperors. But his ideas did not coincide with theirs
on this subject. "I am convinced," said he, "that a part of France would
become Protestant, especially if I were to favour that disposition. I
am also certain that the much greater portion would remain Catholic, and
would oppose, with the greatest zeal and fervour, the schism of a part
of their fellow-citizens. I dread the religious quarrels, the family
dissensions, and the public distractions, which such a state of things
would inevitably occasion. In, reviving a religion which has always
prevailed in the country, and which still prevails in the hearts of the
people, and in giving the liberty of exercising their worship to the
minority, I shall satisfy every one."
The First Consul, taking a superior view of the state of France,
considered that the re-establishment of religious worship would prove a
powerful support to his Government: and he had been occupied ever since
the commencement of 1801 in preparing a Concordat with the Pope. It was
signed in the month of July in the same year. It required some time to
enable the parties to come to an understanding on the subject.
Cardinal Consalvi arrived, in the month of June 1801, at Paris, to
arrange matters on the part of the Pope. Cardinal Caprara and M. de
Spina also formed part of the embassy sent by the Holy Father. There
were, besides, several able theologians, among whom Doctor C---- was
distinguished.
--[The "Doctor C----" was Caselti, later Archbishop of Parma. Bonier
was green the Bishopric of Orleans, not Versailles; see Erreurs,
tome i, p. 276. The details of the surprise attempted at the last
moment by putting before Cardinal Consalvi for his signature an
altered copy of the Concordat should be read in his Memoirs (tome i.
p. 355), or in Lanfrey (tome ii. p. 267). As for Napoleon's
belief that part of the nation might become Protestant, Narbonne
probably put the matter truly when he said there was not religion
enough in France to stand a division. It should be noted that the
Concordat did not so much restore the Catholic Church as destroy the
old Gallican Church, with all its liberties, which might annoy
either Pope or Emperor. But on this point see The Gallican Church
and the Revolution, by Jervis: London, Began Paul, Trench and Co.,
1882. The clergy may, it is true, have shown wisdom in acceding to
any terms of restoration.]--
He was a member of the Pope's chancery; his knowledge gave him so much
influence over his colleagues that affairs advanced only as much as he
pleased. However, he was gained over by honours conferred on him, and
promises of money. Business then went on a little quicker. The Concordat
was signed on the 15th of July 1801, and made a law of the State in the
following April. The plenipotentiaries on the part of Bonaparte were
Joseph Bonaparte, Cretet, and the Abby Bernier, afterwards Bishop of
Versailles.--[Orleans not Versailles. D.W.]
A solemn Te Deum was chanted at the cathedral of Notre Dame on Sunday,
the 11th of April. The crowd was immense, and the greater part of those
present stood during the ceremony, which was splendid in the extreme;
but who would presume to say that the general feeling was in harmony
with all this pomp? Was, then, the time for this innovation not yet
arrived? Was it too abrupt a transition from the habits of the twelve
preceding years? It is unquestionably true that a great number of the
persons present at the ceremony expressed, in their countenances
and gestures, rather a feeling of impatience and displeasure than of
satisfaction or of reverence for the place in which they were. Here and
there murmurs arose expressive of discontent. The whispering, which I
might more properly call open conversation, often interrupted the divine
service, and sometimes observations were made which were far from being
moderate. Some would turn their heads aside on purpose to take a bit of
chocolate-cake, and biscuits were openly eaten by many who seemed to pay
no attention to what was passing.
The Consular Court was in general extremely irreligious; nor could it
be expected to be otherwise, being composed chiefly of those who had
assisted in the annihilation of all religious worship in France, and
of men who, having passed their lives in camps, had oftener entered a
church in Italy to carry off a painting than to hear the Mass. Those
who, without being imbued with any religious ideas, possessed that good
sense which induces men to pay respect to the belief of others, though
it be one in which they do not participate, did not blame the First
Consul for his conduct, and conducted themselves with some regard to
decency. But on the road from the Tuileries to Notre Dame, Lannes and
Augereau wanted to alight from the carriage as soon as they saw that
they were being driven to Mass, and it required an order from the First
Consul to prevent their doing so. They went therefore to Notre Dame, and
the next day Bonaparte asked Augereau what he thought of the ceremony.
"Oh! it was all very fine," replied the General; "there was nothing
wanting, except the million of men who have perished in the pulling
down of what you are setting up." Bonaparte was much displeased at this
remark.
--[This remark has been attributed elsewhere to General Delmas.
According to a gentleman who played a part in this empty pageantry,
Lannes at one moment did get out of the carriage, and Augereau kept
swearing in no low whisper during the whole of the chanted Mass.
Most of the military chiefs who sprang out of the Revolution had no
religion at all, but there were some who were Protestants, and who
were irritated by the restoration of Catholicism as the national
faith.--Editor of 1896 edition.]--
During the negotiations with the Holy Father Bonaparte one day said to
me, "In every country religion is useful to the Government, and those
who govern ought to avail themselves of it to influence mankind. I was
a Mahometan in Egypt; I am a Catholic in France. With relation to the
police of the religion of a state, it should be entirely in the hands
of the sovereign. Many persons have urged me to found a Gallican Church,
and make myself its head; but they do not know France. If they did, they
would know that the majority of the people would not like a rupture with
Rome. Before I can resolve on such a measure the Pope must push matters
to an extremity; but I believe he will not do so."--"You are right,
General, and you recall to my memory what Cardinal Consalvi said: 'The
Pope will do all the First Consul desires.'"--"That is the best course
for him. Let him not suppose that he has to do with an idiot. What do
you think is the point his negotiations put most forward? The salvation
of my soul! But with me immortality is the recollection one leaves
in the memory of man. That idea prompts to great actions. It would be
better for a man never to have lived than to leave behind him no traces
of his existence."
Many endeavours were made to persuade the First Consul to perform in
public the duties imposed by the Catholic religion. An influential
example, it was urged, was required. He told me once that he had put an
end to that request by the following declaration: "Enough of this. Ask
me no more. You will not obtain your object. You shall never make a
hypocrite of me. Let us remain where we are."
I have read in a work remarkable on many accounts that it was on the
occasion of the Concordat of the 15th July 1801 that the First Consul
abolished the republican calendar and reestablished the Gregorian.
This is an error. He did not make the calendar a religious affair. The
'Senatus-consulte', which restored the use of the Gregorian calendar,
to commence in the French Empire from the 11th Nivôse, year XIV.
(1st January 1806), was adopted on the 22d Fructidor, year XIII.
(9th September 1805), more than four years after the Concordat. The
re-establishment of the ancient calendar had no other object than to
bring us into harmony with the rest of Europe on a point so closely
connected with daily transactions, which were much embarrassed by the
decadary calendar.
Bonaparte at length, however, consented to hear Mass, and St. Cloud was
the place where this ancient usage was first re-established. He directed
the ceremony to commence sooner than the hour announced in order that
those who would only make a scoff at it might not arrive until the
service was ended.
Whenever the First Consul determined to hear Mass publicly on Sundays in
the chapel of the Palace a small altar was prepared in a room near his
cabinet of business. This room had been Anne of Austria's oratory. A
small portable altar, placed on a platform one step high, restored it
to its original destination. During the rest of the week this chapel was
used as a bathing-room. On Sunday the door of communication was opened,
and we heard Mass sitting in our cabinet of business. The number of
persons there never exceeded three or four, and the First Consul seldom
failed to transact some business during the ceremony, which never lasted
longer than twelve minutes. Next day all the papers had the news that
the First Consul had heard Mass in his apartments. In the same way Louis
XVIII. has often heard it in his!
On the 19th of July 1801 a papal bull absolved Talleyrand from his vows.
He immediately married Madame Grandt, and the affair obtained little
notice at the time. This statement sufficiently proves how report has
perverted the fact. It has been said that Bonaparte on becoming Emperor
wished to restore that decorum which the Revolution had destroyed,
and therefore resolved to put an end to the improper intimacy which
subsisted between Talleyrand and Madame Grandt. It is alleged that the
Minister at first refused to marry the lady, but that he at last found
it necessary to obey the peremptory order of his master. This pretended
resurrection of morality by Bonaparte is excessively ridiculous. The
bull was not registered in the Council of State until the 19th of August
1802.
--[The First Consul had on several occasions urged M. de Talleyrand
to return to holy orders. He pointed out to him that that course
would be most becoming his age and high birth, and promised that he
should be made a cardinal, thus raising him to a par with Richelieu,
and giving additional lustre to his administration (Memoirs of the
Duke of Rovigo, vol. i. p. 426).
But M. de Talleyrand vindicated his choice, saying, "A clever wife
often compromises her husband; a stupid one only compromises
herself" (Historical Characters, p.122, Bulwer, Lord Dulling).]--
I will end this chapter by a story somewhat foreign to the preceding
transactions, but which personally concerns myself. On the 20th of July
1801 the First Consul, 'ex proprio motu', named me a Councillor of State
extraordinary. Madame Bonaparte kindly condescended to have an elegant
but somewhat ideal costume made for me. It pleased the First Consul,
however, and he had a similar one made for himself. He wore it a short
time and then left it off. Never had Bonaparte since his elevation shown
himself so amiable as on this occasion.
CHAPTER VI.
1802.
Last chapter on Egypt--Admiral Gantheaume--Way to please Bonaparte--
General Menou's flattery and his reward--Davoust--Bonaparte regrets
giving the command to Menou, who is defeated by Abercromby--Otto's
negotiation in London--Preliminaries of peace.
For the last time in these Memoirs I shall return to the affairs of
Egypt--to that episode which embraces so short a space of time and holds
so high a place in the life of Bonaparte. Of all his conquests he set
the highest value on Egypt, because it spread the glory of his name
throughout the East. Accordingly he left nothing unattempted for the
preservation of that colony. In a letter to General Kléber he said, "You
are as able as I am to understand how important is the possession of
Egypt to France. The Turkish Empire, in which the symptoms of decay are
everywhere discernible, is at present falling to pieces, and the evil of
the evacuation of Egypt by France would now be the greater, as we should
soon see that fine province pass into the possession of some other
European power." The selection of Gantheaume, however, to carry
assistance to Kléber was not judicious. Gantheaume had brought the First
Consul back from Egypt, and though the success of the passage could only
be attributed to Bonaparte's own plan, his determined character, and
superior judgment, yet he preserved towards Gantheaume that favourable
disposition which is naturally felt for one who has shared a great
danger with us, and upon whom the responsibility may be said to have
been imposed.
This confidence in mediocrity, dictated by an honourable feeling, did
not obtain a suitable return. Gantheaume, by his indecision and creeping
about in the Mediterranean, had already failed to execute a commission
entrusted to him. The First Consul, upon finding he did not leave Brest
after he had been ordered to the Mediterranean, repeatedly said to me,
"What the devil is Gantheaume about?" With one of the daily reports sent
to the First Consul he received the following quatrain, which made him
laugh heartily:
"Vaisseaux lestes, tete sans lest,
Ainsi part l'Amiral Gantheaume;
Il s'en va de Brest a Bertheaume,
Et revient de Bertheaume a Brest!"
"With ballast on board, but none in his brain,
Away went our gallant Gantheaume,
On a voyage from Brest to Bertheaume,
And then from Bertheaume--to Brest back again!"
Gantheaume's hesitation, his frequent tergiversations, his arrival at
Toulon, his tardy departure, and his return to that port on the 19th of
February 1801, only ten days prior to Admiral Keith's appearance with
Sir Ralph Abercromby off Alexandria, completely foiled all the plans
which Bonaparte had conceived of conveying succour and reinforcements to
a colony on the brink of destruction.
Bonaparte was then dreaming that many French families would carry back
civilisation, science, and art to that country which was their cradle.
But it could not be concealed that his departure from Egypt in 1799 had
prepared the way for the loss of that country, which was hastened by
Kléber's death and the choice of Menou as his successor.
A sure way of paying court to the First Consul and gaining his favour
was to eulogise his views about Egypt, and to appear zealous for
maintaining the possession of that country. By these means it was that
Menou gained his confidence. In the first year of the occupation of that
country he laid before him his dreams respecting Africa. He spoke of the
negroes of Senegal, Mozambique, Mehedie, Marabout, and other barbarous
countries which were all at once to assume a new aspect, and become
civilised, in consequence of the French possession of Egypt. To Menou's
adulation is to be attributed the favourable reception given him by the
First Consul, even after his return from Egypt, of which his foolish
conduct had allowed the English to get possession. The First Consul
appointed him Governor of Piedmont, and at my request gave my elder
brother the situation of Commissary-General of Police in that country;
but I am in candour obliged to confess that the First Consul was obliged
to retract this mark of his favour in consequence of my brother's making
an abuse of it.
It was also by flattering the First Consul on the question of the East
that Davoust, on his return from Egypt in 1800 in consequence of the
Convention of El-Ariah, insinuated himself into Bonaparte's good graces
and, if he did not deserve, obtained his favour. At that time Davoust
certainly had no title whatever to the good fortune which he suddenly
experienced. He obtained, without first serving in a subordinate rank,
the command-in-chief of the grenadiers of the Consular Guard; and from
that time commenced the deadly hatred which Davoust bore towards me.
Astonished at the great length of time that Bonaparte had been one day
conversing with him I said, as soon as he was gone, "How could you talk
so long with a man whom you have always called a stupid fellow?"--"Ah!
but I did not know him well enough before. He is a better man, I assure
you, than he is thought; and you will come over to my opinion."--"I hope
so." The First Consul, who was often extremely indiscreet, told Davoust
my opinion of him, and his hostility against me ceased but with his
life.
The First Consul could not forget his cherished conquest in the East.
It was constantly the object of his thoughts. He endeavoured to send
reinforcements to his army from Brest and Toulon, but without success.
He soon had cause to repent having entrusted to the hands of Menou the
command-in-chief, to which he became entitled only by seniority,
after the assassination of Kléber by Soleiman Heleby. But Bonaparte's
indignation was excited when he became acquainted with Menou's neglect
and mismanagement, when he saw him giving reins to his passion for
reform, altering and destroying everything, creating nothing good in
its stead, and dreaming about forming a land communication with the
Hottentots and Congo instead of studying how to preserve the country.
His pitiful plans of defence, which were useless from their want of
combination, appeared to the First Consul the height of ignorance.
Forgetful of all the principles of strategy, of which Bonaparte's
conduct afforded so many examples, he opposed to the landing of
Abercromby a few isolated corps, which were unable to withstand
the enemy's attack, while the English army might have been entirely
annihilated had all the disposable troops been sent against it.
The great admiration which Menou expressed at the expedition to Egypt;
his excessive fondness for that country, the religion of which he had
ridiculously enough embraced under the name of Abdallah; the efforts he
made, in his sphere, to preserve the colony; his enthusiasm and blind
attachment to Bonaparte; the flattering and encouraging accounts he
gave of the situation of the army, at first had the effect of entirely
covering Menou's incapacity.
--[For a ludicrous description of Menou see the Memoirs of Marmont:--
"Clever and gay, he was an agreeable talker, but a great liar. He
was not destitute of some education. His character, one of the
oddest in the world, came very near to lunacy: Constantly writing,
always in motion in his room, riding for exercise every day, he was
never able to start on any necessary of useful journey. . . .
When, later, Bonaparte, then First Consul, gave him by special
favour the administration of Piedmont, he put off his departure from
day to day for six months; and then he only did start because his
friend Maret himself put him into his carriage, with post-horses
already harnessed to it. . . . When he left this post they
found in his cabinet 900 letters which he had not opened. He was an
eccentric lunatic, amusing enough sometimes, but a curse to
everything which depended on him." (Memoirs of the Duc de Raguse,
tome i. p. 410).]--
This alone can account for the First Consul's preference of him. But I
am far from concurring in what has been asserted by many persons,
that France lost Egypt at the very moment when it seemed most easy of
preservation. Egypt was conquered by a genius of vast intelligence,
great capacity, and profound military science. Fatuity, stupidity, and
incapacity lost it. What was the result of that memorable expedition?
The destruction of one of our finest armies; the loss of some of our
best generals; the annihilation of our navy; the surrender of Malta; and
the sovereignty of England in the Mediterranean. What is the result at
present? A scientific work. The gossiping stories and mystifications of
Herodotus, and the reveries of the good Rollin, are worth as much, and
have not cost so dear.
The First Consul had long been apprehensive that the evacuation of Egypt
was unavoidable. The last news he had received from that country was
not very encouraging, and created a presentiment of the approach of the
dreaded catastrophe. He, however, published the contrary; but it was
then of great importance that, an account of the evacuation should not
reach England until the preliminaries of peace were signed, for which
purpose M. Otto was exerting all his industry and talent. We made a
great merit of abandoning our conquests in Egypt; but the sacrifice
would not have been considered great if the events which took place at
the end of August had been known in London before the signing of the
preliminaries on the 1st of October. The First Consul himself answered
M. Otto's last despatch, containing a copy of the preliminaries ready to
be adopted by the English Ministry. Neither this despatch nor the answer
was communicated to M. de Talleyrand, then Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The First Consul, who highly appreciated the great talents and knowledge
of that Minister, never closed any diplomatic arrangement without first
consulting him; and he was right in so doing. On this occasion, however,
I told him that as M. de Talleyrand was, for his health, taking the
waters of Bourbon-l'Archambault, four days must elapse before his reply
could be received, and that the delay might cause the face of affairs to
change. I reminded him that Egypt was on the point of yielding. He took
my advice, and it was well for him that he did, for the news of the
compulsory evacuation of Egypt arrived in London the day after the
signing of the preliminaries. M. Otto informed the First Consul by
letter that Lord Hawkesbury, ill communicating to him the news of the
evacuation, told him he was very glad everything was settled, for it
would have been impossible for him to have treated on the same basis
after the arrival of such news. In reality we consented at Paris to the
voluntary evacuation of Egypt, and that was something for England, while
Egypt was at that very time evacuated by a convention made on the spot.
The definitive evacuation of Egypt took place on the 30th of August
1801; and thus the conquest of that country, which had cost so dear, was
rendered useless, or rather injurious.
CHAPTER VII.
1802.
The most glorious epoch for France--The First Consul's desire of
peace--Malta ceded and kept--Bonaparte and the English journals--
Mr. Addington's letter to the First Consul--Bonaparte prosecutes
Peltier--Leclerc's expedition to St. Domingo--Toussaint Louverture--
Death of Leclerc--Rochambeau, his successor, abandons St. Domingo--
First symptoms of Bonaparte's malady--Josephine's intrigues for the
marriage of Hortense--Falsehood contradicted.
The epoch of the peace of Amiens must be considered as the most glorious
in the history of France, not excepting the splendid period of Louis
XIV.'s victories and the more brilliant era of the Empire. The Consular
glory was then pure, and the opening prospect was full of flattering
hope; whereas those who were but little accustomed to look closely into
things could discern mighty disasters lurking under the laurels of the
Empire.
The proposals which the First Consul made in order to obtain peace
sufficiently prove his sincere desire for it. He felt that if in the
commencement of his administration he could couple his name with so
hoped for an act he should ever experience the affection and gratitude
of the French. I want no other proof of his sentiments than the offer
he made to give up Egypt to the Grand Seignior, and to restore all the
ports of the Gulf of Venice and of the Mediterranean to the States to
which they had previously belonged; to surrender Malta to the order of
the Knights of St. John, and even to raze its fortifications if England
should think such a measure necessary for her interests. In the Indies,
Ceylon was to be left to him,
--[Ceylon belonged to Holland, but was retained by England under the
treaty of Amiens.]--
and he required the surrender of the Cape of Good Hope and all the
places taken by the English in the West Indies.
England had firmly resolved to keep Malta, the Gibraltar of the
Mediterranean, and the Cape of Good Hope, the caravanserai of the
Indies. She was therefore unwilling to close with the proposition
respecting Malta; and she said that an arrangement might be made by
which it would be rendered independent both of Great Britain and
France. We clearly saw that this was only a lure, and that, whatever
arrangements might be entered into, England would keep Malta, because it
was not to be expected that the maritime power would willingly surrender
an island which commands the Mediterranean. I do not notice the
discussions respecting the American islands, for they were, in my
opinion, of little consequence to us.
--[It is strange that Bourrienne does not allude to one of the first
arbitrary acts of Napoleon, the discussions on which formed part of
those conversations between Napoleon and his brother Lucien of which
Bourrienne complained to Josephine he knew nothing. In 1763 France
had ceded to England the part of Louisiana on the east of the
Mississippi, and the part on the west of that river, with New
Orleans, to Spain. By the treaty negotiated with Spain by Lucien
Bonaparte in 1800 her share was given back to France. On the 80th
April 1803 Napoleon sold the whole to the United States for
80,000,000 francs (L 3,260,000), to the intense anger of his
brothers Joseph and Lucien. Lucien was especially proud of having
obtained the cession for which Napoleon was, at that time, very
anxious; but both brothers were horrified when Napoleon disclosed
how little he cared for constitutional forms by telling them that if
the Legislature, as his brothers threatened, would not ratify the
treaty, he would do without the ratification; see Iung's Letter,
tome ii. p. 128.
Napoleon's most obvious motives were want of money and the certainty
of the seizure of the province by England, as the rupture with her
was now certain. But there was perhaps another cause. The States
had already been on the point of seizing the province from Spain,
which had interfered with their trade (Hinton's United States, p.
435, and Thiers tome iv, p. 320).
Of the sum to be paid, 20,000,000 were to go to the States, to cover
the illegal seizures of American ships by the French navy, a matter
which was not settled for many years later. The remaining
80,000,000 were employed in the preparations for the invasion of
England; see Thiers, tome iv. pp. 320 and 326, and Lanfrey, tome
iii. p. 48. The transaction is a remarkable one, as forming the
final withdrawal of France from North America (with the exception of
some islands on the Newfoundland coast), where she had once held
such a proud position. It also eventually made an addition to the
number of slave States.]--
They cost more than they produce; and they will escape from us, some
time or other, as all colonies ultimately do from the parent country.
Our whole colonial system is absurd; it forces us to pay for colonial
produce at a rate nearly double that for which it may be purchased from
our neighbours.
When Lord Hawkesbury consented to evacuate Malta, on condition that it
should be independent of France and Great Britain, he must have been
aware that such a condition would never be fulfilled. He cared little
for the order of St. John, and he should have put, by way of postscript,
at the bottom of his note, "We will keep Malta in spite of you." I
always told the First Consul that if he were in the situation of the
English he would act the same part; and it did not require much sagacity
to foretell that Malta would be the principal cause of the rupture of
peace. He was of my opinion; but at that moment he thought everything
depended on concluding the negotiations, and I entirely agreed with him.
It happened, as was foreseen, that Malta caused the renewal of war.
The English, on being called upon to surrender the island, eluded the
demand, shifted about, and at last ended by demanding that Malta should
be placed under the protection of the King of Naples,--that is to say,
under the protection of a power entirely at their command, and to which
they might dictate what they pleased. This was really too cool a piece
of irony!
I will here notice the quarrel between the First Consul and the English
newspapers, and give a new proof of his views concerning the freedom of
the press. However, liberty of the press did once contribute to give him
infinite gratification, namely, when all the London journals mentioned
the transports of joy manifested in London on the arrival of General
Lauriston, the bearer of the ratification of the preliminaries of peace.
The First Consul was at all times the declared enemy of the liberty of
the press, and therefore he ruled the journals with a hand of iron.
--[An incident, illustrative of the great irritation which Bonaparte
felt at the plain speaking of the English press, also shows the
important character of Coleridge's writings in the 'Morning Post'.
In the course of a debate in the House of Commons Fox asserted that
the rupture of the Peace of Amiens had its origin in certain essays
which had appeared in the Morning POST, and which were known to have
proceeded from the pen of Coleridge. But Fox added an ungenerous
and malicious hint that the writer was at Rome, within the reach of
Bonaparte. The information reached the ears for which it was
uttered, and an order was sent from Paris to compass the arrest of
Coleridge. It was in the year 1806, when the poet was making a tour
in Italy. The news reached him at Naples, through a brother of the
illustrious Humboldt, as Mr. Gillman says--or in a friendly warning
from Prince Jerome Bonaparte, as we have it on the authority of Mr.
Cottle--and the Pope appears to have been reluctant to have a hand
in the business, and, in fact, to have furnished him with a
passport, if not with a carriage for flight, Coleridge eventually
got to Leghorn, where he got a passage by an American ship bound for
England; but his escape coming to the ears of Bonaparte, a look-out
was kept for the ship, and she was chased by a French cruiser, which
threw the captain into such a state of terror that he made Coleridge
throw all his journals and papers overboard (Andrews' History of
Journalism, vol. ii. p. 28).]--
I have often heard him say, "Were I to slacken the reins, I should not
continue three months in power." He unfortunately held the same opinion
respecting every other prerogative of public freedom. The silence he had
imposed in France he wished, if he could, to impose in England. He was
irritated by the calumnies and libels so liberally cast upon him by
the English journals, and especially by one written in French, called
'L'Ambigu', conducted by Peltier, who had been the editor of the 'Actes
des Apotres' in Paris. The 'Ambigu' was constantly teeming with the most
violent attacks on the First Consul and the French nation. Bonaparte
could never, like the English, bring himself to despise newspaper
libels, and he revenged himself by violent articles which he caused to
be inserted in the 'Moniteur'. He directed M. Otto to remonstrate, in
an official note, against a system of calumny which he believed to be
authorised by the English Government. Besides this official proceeding
he applied personally to Mr. Addington, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
requesting him to procure the adoption of legislative measures against
the licentious writings complained of; and, to take the earliest
opportunity of satisfying his hatred against the liberty of the press,
the First Consul seized the moment of signing the preliminaries to make
this request.
Mr. Addington wrote a long answer to the First Consul, which I
translated for him. The English Minister refuted, with great force, all
the arguments which Bonaparte had employed against the press. He also
informed the First Consul that, though a foreigner, it was competent in
him to institute a complaint in the courts of law; but that in such
case he must be content to see all the scandalous statements of which
he complained republished in the report of the trial. He advised him to
treat the libels with profound contempt, and do as he and others did,
who attached not the slightest importance to them. I congratulate myself
on having in some degree prevented a trial taking place at that time.
Things remained in this state for the moment; but after the peace of
Amiens the First Consul prosecuted Pettier, whose journal was always
full of violence and bitterness against him. Pettier was defended by
the celebrated Mackintosh, who, according to the accounts of the time,
displayed great eloquence on this occasion, yet, in spite of the ability
of his counsel, he was convicted. The verdict, which public opinion
considered in the light of a triumph for the defendant, was not followed
up by any judgment, in consequence of the rupture of the peace occurring
soon after. It is melancholy to reflect that this nervous susceptibility
to the libels of the English papers contributed certainly as much as,
and perhaps more than, the consideration of great political interests
to the renewal of hostilities. The public would be astonished at a great
many things if they could only look under the cards.
I have anticipated the rupture of the treaty of Amiens that I might not
interrupt what I had to mention respecting Bonaparte's hatred of the
liberty of the press. I now return to the end of the year 1801, the
period of the expedition against St. Domingo.
The First Consul, after dictating to me during nearly: the whole of one
night instructions for that expedition, sent for General Leclerc, and
said to him in my presence, "Here, take your instructions; you have a
fine opportunity for filling your purse. Go, and no longer tease me with
your eternal requests for money." The friendship which Bonaparte felt
for his sister Pauline had a good deal of influence in inducing him to
take this liberal way of enriching her husband.
The expedition left the ports of France on the 14th of December 1801,
and arrived off Cape St. Domingo on the 1st of February 1802. The fatal
result of the enterprise is well known, but we are never to be cured
of the folly of such absurd expeditions. In the instructions given to
Leclerc everything was foreseen; but it was painful to know that the
choice of one of the youngest and least capable of all the generals
of the army left no hope of a successful result. The expedition to St.
Domingo was one of Bonaparte's great errors. Almost every person whom
he consulted endeavoured to dissuade him from it. He attempted a
justification through the medium of his historians of St. Helena; but
does he succeed when he says, "that he was obliged to yield to the
advice of his Council of State?" He, truly, was a likely man to submit
a question of war to the discussion of the Council of State, or to be
guided in such an affair by any Council! We must believe that no other
motive influenced the First Consul but the wish, by giving him the means
of enriching himself, to get rid of a brother-in-law who had the gift of
specially annoying him. The First Consul, who did not really much
like this expedition, should have perhaps reflected longer on the
difficulties of attempting to subdue the colony by force. He was shaken
by this argument, which I often repeated to him, and he agreed with
it, but the inconceivable influence which the members of his family
exercised on him always overcame him.
Bonaparte dictated to me a letter for Toussaint, full of sounding words
and fine promises, informing him that his two children, who had been
educated in Paris, were sent back to him, offering him the title
of vice-governor, and stating that he ought readily to assist in an
arrangement which would contribute to reconnect the colony with the
mother-country. Toussaint, who had at first shown a disposition to close
with the bargain, yet feeling afraid of being deceived by the French,
and probably induced by ambitious motives, resolved on war. He displayed
a great deal of talent; but, being attacked before the climate had
thinned the French ranks, he was unable to oppose a fresh army, numerous
and inured to war. He capitulated, and retired to a plantation, which he
was not to leave without Leclerc's permission. A feigned conspiracy on
the part of the blacks formed a pretence for accusing Toussaint, and he
was seized and sent to France.
Toussaint was brought to Paris in the beginning of August. He was sent,
in the first instance, to the Temple, whence he was removed to the
Chateau de Joux. His imprisonment was rigorous; few comforts were
allowed him. This treatment, his recollection of the past, his
separation from the world, and the effects of a strange climate,
accelerated his death, which took place a few months after his arrival
in France. The reports which spread concerning his death, the assertion
that it was not a natural one, and that it had been caused by poison,
obtained no credit. I should add that Toussaint wrote a letter to
Bonaparte; but I never saw in it the expression attributed to him,
"The first man of the blacks to the first man of the whites" Bonaparte
acknowledged that the black leader possessed energy, courage, and
great skill. I am sure that he would have rejoiced if the result of his
relations with St. Domingo had been something else than the kidnaping
and transportation of Toussaint.
Leclerc, after fruitless efforts to conquer the colony, was himself
carried off by the yellow fever. Rochambeau succeeded him by right
of seniority, and was as unsuccessful as Menou had been in Egypt.
The submission of the blacks, which could only have been obtained by
conciliation, he endeavoured to compel by violence. At last, in December
1803, he surrendered to an English squadron, and abandoned the island to
Dessalines.
Bonaparte often experienced severe bodily pain, and I have now little
doubt, from the nature of his sufferings, that they were occasioned by
the commencement of that malady which terminated his life at St. Helena.
These pains, of which he frequently complained, affected him most
acutely on the night when he dictated to me the instructions for General
Leclerc. It was very late when I conducted him to his apartment. We
had just been taking a cup of chocolate, a beverage of which we always
partook when our business lasted longer than one o'clock in the morning.
He never took a light with him when he went up to his bedroom. I gave
him my arm, and we had scarcely got beyond the little staircase which
leads to the corridor, when he was rudely run against by a man who was
endeavouring to escape as quickly as possible by the staircase. The
First Consul did not fall because I supported him. We soon gained his
chamber, where we, found Josephine, who, having heard the noise, awoke
greatly alarmed. From the investigations which were immediately made it
appeared that the uproar was occasioned by a fellow who had been keeping
an assignation and had exceeded the usual hour for his departure.
On the 7th of January 1802 Mademoiselle Hortense was married to Louis
Bonaparte. As the custom was not yet resumed of adding the religious
ceremony to the civil contract, the nuptial benediction was on this
occasion privately given by a priest at the house Rue de la Victoire.
Bonaparte also caused the marriage of his sister Caroline,--[The wife of
Murat, and the cleverest of Bonaparte's sisters.]--which had taken place
two years earlier before a mayor, to be consecrated in the same manner;
but he and his wife did not follow the example. Had he already, then,
an idea of separating from Josephine, and therefore an unwillingness
to render a divorce more difficult by giving his marriage a religious
sanction? I am rather inclined to think, from what he said to me, that
his neglecting to take a part in the religious ceremony arose from
indifference.
Bonaparte said at St. Helena, speaking of Louis and Hortense, that
"they loved each other when they married: they desired to be united.
The marriage was also the result of Josephine's intrigues, who found her
account in it." I will state the real facts. Louis and Hortense did not
love one another at all. That is certain. The First Consul knew it, just
as he well knew that Hortense had a great inclination for Duroc, who
did not fully return it. The First Consul agreed to their union, but
Josephine was troubled by such a marriage, and did all she could to
prevent it. She often spoke to me about it, but rather late in the day.
She told me that her brothers-in law were her declared enemies, that I
well knew their intrigues, and that I well knew there was no end to
the annoyances they made her undergo. In fact, I did know all this
perfectly. She kept on repeating to me that with this projected marriage
she would not have any support; that Duroc was nothing except by the
favour of Bonaparte; that he had neither fortune, fame, nor reputation,
and that he could be no help to her against the well-known ill-will of
the brothers of Bonaparte. She wanted some assurance for the future. She
added that her husband was very fond of Louis, and that if she had the
good fortune to unite him to her daughter this would be a counterpoise
to the calumnies and persecutions of her other brothers-in-law. I
answered her that she had concealed her intentions too long from me,
and that I had promised my services to the young people, and the more
willingly as I knew the favourable opinion of the First Consul, who had
often said to me, "My wife has done well; they suit one another, they
shall marry one another. I like Duroc; he is of good family. I have
rightly given Caroline to Murat, and Pauline to Leclerc, and I can well
give Hortense to Duroc, who is a fine fellow. He is worth more than the
others. He is now general of a division there is nothing against this
marriage. Besides, I have other plans for Louis." In speaking to Madame
Bonaparte I added that her daughter burst into tears when spoken to
about her marriage with Louis.
The First Consul had sent a brevet of general of division to Duroc by
a special courier, who went to Holland, through which the newly-made
general had to pass on his return from St. Petersburg, where, as I have
already said, he had been sent to compliment the Emperor Alexander
on his accession to the throne. The First Consul probably paid this
compliment to Duroc in the belief that the marriage would take place.
During Duroc's absence the correspondence of the lovers passed, by their
consent, through my hands. Every night I used to make one in a party
at billiards, at which Hortense played very well. When I told her, in
a whisper, that I had got a letter for her, she would immediately
leave off playing and run to her chamber, where I followed and gave her
Duroc's epistle. When she opened it her eyes would fill with tears, and
it was some time before she could return to the salon. All was useless
for her. Josephine required a support in the family against the family.
Seeing her firm resolution, I promised to no longer oppose her wishes,
which I could not disapprove, but I told her I could only maintain
silence and neutrality in these little debates, and she seemed
satisfied.
When we were at Malmaison those intrigues continued. At the Tuileries
the same conduct was pursued, but then the probability of success was on
Duroc's side; I even congratulated him on his prospects, but he received
my compliments in a very cold manner. In a few days after Josephine
succeeded in changing the whole face of affairs. Her heart was entirely
set on the marriage of Louis with her daughter; and prayers, entreaties,
caresses, and all those little arts which she so well knew how to use,
were employed to win the First Consul to her purpose.
On the 4th of January the First Consul, after dinner, entered our
cabinet, where I was employed. "Where is Duroc?" he inquired.--"He has
gone to the opera, I believe."--"Tell him, as soon as he returns, that
I have promised Hortense to him, and he shall have her. But I wish
the marriage to take place in two days at the latest. I will give him
500,000 francs, and name him commandant of the eighth military division;
but he must set out the day after his marriage with his wife for Toulon.
We must live apart; I want no son-in-law at home. As I wish to come to
some conclusion, let me know to-night whether this plan will satisfy
him."--"I think it will not."--"Very well! then she shall marry
Louis."--"Will she like that?"--"She must like it." Bonaparte gave me
these directions in a very abrupt manner, which made me think that some
little domestic warfare had been raging, and that to put an end to it he
had come to propose his ultimatum. At half-past ten in the evening Duroc
returned; I reported to him, word for word, the proposition of the First
Consul. "Since it has come to that, my good friend," said he, "tell him
he may keep his daughter for me. I am going to see the -----," and, with
an indifference for which I cannot account, he took his hat and went
off.
--[Duroc eventually married a Mademoiselle Hervae d'Almenara, the
daughter of a Spanish banker, who was later Minister of Joseph, and
was created Marquis of Abruenara. The lady was neither handsome nor
amiable, but she possessed a vast fortune, and Bonaparte himself
solicited her hand for his aide de camp. After the death of Duroc
his widow married a M. Fabvier, and Napoleon gave his Duchy of
Frioul to his daughter.]--
The First Consul, before going to bed, was informed of Duroc's reply,
and Josephine received from him the promise that Louis and Hortense
should be married. The marriage took place a few days after, to the
great regret of Hortense, and probably to the satisfaction of Duroc.
Louis submitted to have forced on him as a wife a woman who had
hitherto avoided him as much as possible. She always manifested as
much indifference for him as he displayed repugnance for her, and those
sentiments have not been effaced.
--[The marriage of Louis Bonaparte took place on the 7th January.
The bride and bridegroom were exceedingly dull, and Mademoiselle
Hortense wept during the whole of the ceremony. Josephine, knowing
that this union, which commenced so inauspiciously, was her own
work, anxiously endeavoured to establish a more cordial feeling
between her daughter and son-in-law. But all her efforts were vain,
and the marriage proved a very unhappy one (Memoirs de Constant).
Napoleon III. was the son of the Queen of Holland (Hortense
Beauharnais).]--
Napoleon said at St. Helena that he wished to unite Louis with a niece
of Talleyrand. I can only say that I never heard a word of this niece,
either from himself, his wife, or his daughter; and I rather think that
at that time the First Consul was looking after a royal alliance for
Louis. He often expressed regret at the precipitate marriages of his
sisters. It should be recollected that we were now in the year which
saw the Consulship for life established, and which, consequently, gave
presage of the Empire. Napoleon said truly to the companions of his
exile that "Louis' marriage was the result of Josephine's intrigues,"
but I cannot understand how he never mentioned the intention he once had
of uniting Hortense to Duroc. It has been erroneously stated that the
First Consul believed that he reconciled the happiness of his daughter
with his policy. Hortense did not love Louis, and dreaded this marriage.
There was no hope of happiness for her, and the event has proved this.
As for the policy of the First Consul, it is not easy to see how it was
concerned with the marriage of Louis to Hortense, and in any case the
grand policy which professed so loudly to be free from all feminine
influences would have been powerless against the intrigues of Josephine,
for at this time at the Tuileries the boudoir was often stronger than
the cabinet. Here I am happy to have it in my power to contradict most
formally and most positively certain infamous insinuations which have
prevailed respecting Bonaparte and Hortense. Those who have asserted
that Bonaparte ever entertained towards Hortense any other sentiments
than those of a father-in-law for a daughter-in-law have, as the ancient
knights used to say, "lied in their throats." We shall see farther on
what he said to me on this subject, but it is never too soon to destroy
such a base calumny. Authors unworthy of belief have stated, without any
proof, that not only was there this criminal liaison, but they have
gone so far as to say that Bonaparte was the father of the eldest son of
Hortense. It is a lie, a vile lie. And yet the rumour has spread through
all France and all Europe. Alas! has calumny such powerful charms that,
once they are submitted to, their yoke cannot be broken?
--[Bourrienne's account of this marriage, and his denial of the vile
calumny about Napoleon, is corroborated by Madame Rémusat. After
saying that Hortense had refused to marry the son of Rewbell and
also the Comte de Nun, she goes on: "A short time afterwards Duroc,
then aide de camp to the Consul, and already noted by him, fell in
love with Hortense. She returned the feeling, and believed she had
found that other half of herself which she sought. Bonaparte looked
favourably on their union, but Madame Bonaparte in her turn was
inflexible. 'My daughter,' said she, 'must marry a gentleman or a
Bonaparte.' Louis was then thought of. He had no fancy for
Hortense; defeated the Beauharnais family, and had a supreme
contempt for his sister-in-law. But as he was silent, he was
believed to be gentle; and as he was severe by character, he was
believed to be upright. Madame Louis told me afterwards that at the
news of this arrangement she experienced violent grief. Not only
was she forbidden to think of the man she loved, but she was about
to be given to another of whom she had a secret distrust" (Rémusat,
tome i. p. 156). For the cruel treatment of Hortense by Louis see
the succeeding pages of Rémusat. As for the vile scandal about
Hortense and Napoleon, there is little doubt that it was spread by
the Bonapartist family for interested motives. Madame Louis became
enceinte soon after her marriage. The Bonapartists, and especially
Madame Murat (Caroline); had disliked this marriage because Joseph
having only daughters, it was forseen that the first son of Louis
and the grandson of Madame Bonaparte would be the object of great
interest. They therefore spread the revolting story that this was
the result of a connection of the First Consul with his
daughter-in-law, encouraged by the mother herself. "The public
willingly believed this suspicion.' Madame Murat told Louis," etc.
(Rémusat, tome i, p. 169). This last sentence is corroborated by
Miot de Melito (tome ii. p. 170), who, speaking of the later
proposal of Napoleon to adopt this child, says that Louis
"remembered the damaging stories which ill-will had tried to spread
among the public concerning Hortense Beauharnais before he married
her, and although a comparison of the date of his marriage with
that of the birth of his son must have shown him that these tales
were unfounded, he felt that they would be revived by the adoption
of this child by the First Consul." Thus this wretched story did
harm in every way. The conduct of Josephine must be judged with
leniency, engaged as she was in a desperate struggle to maintain
her own marriage,--a struggle she kept up with great skill; see
Metternich, tome ii. p. 296. "she baffled all the calculations,
all the manoeuvres of her adversaries." But she was foolish enough
to talk in her anger as if she believed some of the disgraceful
rumours of Napoleon. "Had he not seduced his sisters, one after
the other?" (Rémusat, tome i. p. 204). As to how far this scandal
was really believed by the brothers of Napoleon, see Iung's Lucien
(tome ii. pp. 268-269), where Lucien describes Louis as coming
three times to him for advice as to his marriage with Hortense,
both brothers referring to this rumour. The third time Louis
announces he is in love with Hortense. "You are in love? Why the
devil, then, do you come to me for advice? If so, forget what has
been rumoured, and what I have advised you. Marry, and may God
bless you."
Thiers (tome iii. p. 308) follows Bourrienne's account. Josephine,
alluding to Louis Bonaparte, said, "His family have maliciously
informed him of the disgraceful stories which have been spread on
the conduct of my daughter and on the birth of her son. Hate
assigns this child to Napoleon." (Rémusat, tome i, p. 206). The
child in question was Napoleon Charles (1802-1807).]--
CHAPTER VIII.
1802-1803.
Bonaparte President of the Cisalpine Republic--Meeting of the
deputation at Lyons--Malta and the English--My immortality--Fete
given by Madame Murat--Erasures from the emigrant list--Restitution
of property--General Sebastiani--Lord Whitworth--Napoleon's first
symptoms of disease--Corvisart--Influence of physical suffering on
Napoleon's temper--Articles for the Moniteur--General Andreossi--
M. Talleyrand's pun--Jerome Bonaparte--Extravagance of Bonaparte's
brothers--M. Collot and the navy contract.
Bonaparte was anxious to place the Cisalpine Republic on a footing of
harmony with the Government of France. It was necessary to select a
President who should perfectly agree with Bonaparte's views; and in
this respect no one could be so suitable as Bonaparte himself. The
two Presidencies united would serve as a transition to the throne. Not
wishing to be long absent from Paris, and anxious to avoid the trouble
of the journey to Milan, he arranged to meet the deputation half-way at
Lyons. Before our departure I said to him, "Is it possible that you
do not wish to revisit Italy, the first scene of your glory, and the
beautiful capital of Lombardy, where you were the object of so much
homage?"--"I certainly should," replied the First Consul, "but the
journey to Milan would occupy too much precious time. I prefer that the
meeting should take place in France. My influence over the deputies will
be more prompt and certain at Lyons than at Milan; and then I should be
glad to see the noble wreck of the army of Egypt, which is collected at
Lyons."
On the 8th of January 1802 we set out. Bonaparte who was now ready to
ascend the throne of France, wished to prepare the Italians for one
day crowning him King of Italy, in imitation of Charlemagne, of whom in
anticipation he considered himself the successor. He saw that the title
of President of the Cisalpine Republic was a great advance towards the
sovereignty of Lombardy, as he afterwards found that the Consulate for
life was a decisive step towards the throne of France. He obtained the
title of President without much difficulty on the 36th of January 1802.
The journey to Lyons and the conferences were only matters of form; but
high sounding words and solemn proceedings were required for the public
mind.
The attempts which had been made on the life of the First Consul gave
rise to a report that he took extraordinary precautions for his safety
during this journey to Lyons. I never saw those precautions, and
Bonaparte was at all times averse to adopt any. He often repeated "That
whoever would risk his own life might take his." It is not true that
guards preceded his carriage and watched the roads. The Consul travelled
like a private person, and very rarely had arms in his carriage.
--[Bonaparte may have been careless of his own safety, but that he
took great pains in regard to his brother's may be inferred from the
following letter, written a few years later:
"Take care that your valets de chambre, your cooks, the guards that
sleep in your apartments, and those who come during the night to
awaken you with despatches, are all Frenchmen. No one should enter
your room during the night except your aides de camp, who should
sleep in the chamber that precedes your bedroom. Your door should
be fastened inside, and you ought not to open it, even to your aide
de camp, until you have recognised his voice; he himself should not
knock at your door until he has locked that of the room which he is
in, to make sure of being alone, and of being followed by no one.
These precautions are important; they give no trouble, and they
inspire confidence--besides, they may really save your life. You
should establish these habits immediately and permanently; You ought
not to be obliged to have resource to them on some emergency, which
would hurt the feelings of those around you. Do not trust only to
your own experience. The Neapolitan character has been violent in
every age, and you have to do with a woman [Queen of Naples] who is
the impersonation of crime" (Napoleon to Joseph, May 31, 1806.--Du
Casse, tome ii. p. 260).]--
At this time, when the ambition of Bonaparte every day took a farther
flight, General Clarke took it into his head to go into the box of the
First Consul at the "Francais," and to place himself in the front seat.
By chance the First Consul came to the theatre, but Clarke, hardly
rising, did not give up his place. The First Consul only stayed a
short time, and when he came back he showed great discontent at this
affectation of pride and of vanity. Wishing to get rid of a man whom
he looked on as a blundering flatterer and a clumsy critic, he sent him
away as charge d'affaires to the young extemporized King of Etruria,
where Clarke expiated his folly in a sort of exile. This is all the
"great disfavour" which has been so much spoken about, In the end
General Clarke returned to favour. Berlin knows and regrets it.
On the 25th of March of the same year England signed, at Amiens, a
suspension of arms for fourteen months, which was called a treaty of
peace. The clauses of this treaty were not calculated to inspire the
hope of a very long peace. It was evident, as I have already said, that
England would not evacuate Malta; and that island ultimately proved
the chief cause of the rupture of the treaty of Amiens. But England,
heretofore so haughty in her bearing to the First Consul, had at
length treated with him as the Head of the French Government. This, as
Bonaparte was aware, boded well for the consolidation of his power.
At that time, when he saw his glory and power augmenting, he said to me
in one of our walks at Malmaison, in a moment of hilarity, and clapping
me on the shoulder, "Well, Bourrienne, you also will be immortal!"--
"Why, General?"--"Are you not my secretary?"--"Tell me the name of
Alexander's," said I.
--[Bonaparte did not know the name of Alexander's secretary, and I
forgot at the moment to tell him it was Clallisthenes. He wrote
Alexander's Memoirs, as I am writing Bonaparte's; but,
notwithstanding this coincidence, I neither expect nor desire the
immortality of my name.--Bourrienne.]--
Bonaparte then turned to me and laughing, said, "Hem! that is not bad."
There was, to be sure, a little flattery conveyed in my question, but
that never displeased him, and I certainly did not in that instance
deserve the censure he often bestowed on me for not being enough of a
courtier and flatterer.
Madame Murat gave a grand fete in honour of Bonaparte at her residence
at Neuilly. At dinner Bonaparte sat opposite Madame Murat at the
principal table, which was appropriated to the ladies. He ate fast,
and talked but little. However, when the dessert was served, he put a
question to each lady. This question was to inquire their respective
ages. When Madame Bourrienne's turn came he said to her, "Oh! I know
yours." This was a great deal for his gallantry, and the other ladies
were far from being pleased at it.
Next day, while walking with me in his favourite alley at Malmaison,
he received one of those stupid reports of the police which were so
frequently addressed to him. It mentioned the observations which had
been made in Paris about a green livery he had lately adopted. Some said
that green had been chosen because it was the colour of the House
of Artois. On reading that a slight sneer was observable in his
countenance, and he said, "What are these idiots dreaming of? They must
be joking, surely. Am I no better than M. d'Artois? They shall soon see
the difference."
Until the middle of the year 1801 the erasures from the emigrant list
had always been proposed by the Minister of Police. The First Consul
having been informed that intrigue and even bribery had been employed
to obtain them, determined that in future erasures should be part of the
business of his cabinet. But other affairs took up his attention, and a
dozen or fifteen erasures a week were the most that were made. After Te
Deum had been chanted at Malmaison for the Concordat and the peace, I
took advantage of that moment of general joy to propose to Bonaparte
the return of the whole body of emigrants. "You have," said I in a
half-joking way, "reconciled Frenchmen to God--now reconcile them to
each other. There have never been any real emigrants, only absentees;
and the proof of this is, that erasures from the list have always been,
and will always be, made daily." He immediately seized the idea. "We
shall see," said he; "but I must except a thousand persons belonging
to high families, especially those who are or have been connected with
royalty or the Court."
I said in the Chamber of Deputies, and I feel pleasure in repeating
here, that the plan of the 'Senatus-consults', which Bonaparte dictated
to me, excepted from restitution only such mansions as were used for
public establishments. These he would neither surrender nor pay rent
for. With those exceptions he was willing to restore almost all that was
possessed by the State and had not been sold.