Ver.10/04/01*END*
This etext was produced by David Widger
[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, at the end of several of the
files for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making
an entire meal of them. D.W.]
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, VOLUME 10.
By LOUIS ANTOINE FAUVELET DE BOURRIENNE
His Private Secretary
Edited by R. W. Phipps
Colonel, Late Royal Artillery
1891
CONTENTS:
CHAPTER XI. to CHAPTER XVIII. 1807-1809
CHAPTER XI.
1807
Abuse of military power--Defence of diplomatic rights--Marshal Brune
--Army supplies--English cloth and leather--Arrest on a charge of
libel--Dispatch from M. Talleyrand--A page of Napoleon's glory--
Interview between the two Emperors at Tilsit,--Silesia restored to
the Queen of Prussia--Unfortunate situation in Prussia--
Impossibility of reestablishing Poland in 1807--Foundation of the
Kingdom of Westphalia--The Duchy of Warsaw and the King of Saxony.
Meanwhile the internal affairs of the towns over which my diplomatic
jurisdiction extended soon gave me more employment than ever. The
greatest misfortune of the Empire was, perhaps, the abuse of the right
arrogated by the wearers of epaulettes. My situation gave me an
opportunity of observing all the odious character of a military
government. Another in my place could not have done all that I did. I
say this confidently, for my, situation was a distinct and independent
one, as Bonaparte had told me: Being authorised to correspond directly
with the Emperor; the military chiefs feared, if they did not yield to my
just representations, that I would made private reports; this
apprehension was wonderfully useful in enabling me to maintain the rights
of the towns, which had adopted me as their first citizen.
A circumstance occurred in which I had to defend the rights of the
diplomatic and commercial agents against the pretensions of military
power. Marshal Brune during his government at Hamburg, went to Bremman.
to watch the strict execution of the illusive blockade against England.
The Marshal acting no doubt, in conformity with the instructions of
Clarke, then Minister of War and Governor of Berlin, wished to arrogate
the right of deciding on the captures made by our cruisers.
He attempted to prevent the Consul Lagau from selling the confiscated
ships in order to sell them himself. Of this M. Lagau complained to me.
The more I observed a disposition to encroach on the part of the military
authorities, the more I conceived it necessary to maintain the rights of
the consuls, and to favour their influence, without which they would have
lost their consideration. To the complaints of M. Lagau I replied,
"That to him alone belonged the right of deciding, in the first instance,
on the fate of the ships; that he could not be deprived of that right
without changing the law; that he was free to sell the confiscated
Prussian ships; that Marshall Brune was at Bremen only for the execution
of the decree respecting the blockade of England, and that he ought not
to interfere in business unconnected with that decree." Lagau showed
this letter to Brune, who then allowed him to do as he wished; but it was
an affair of profit, and the Marshal for a long time owed me a grudge.
Bernadotte was exceedingly disinterested, but he loved to be talked
about. The more the Emperor endeavoured to throw accusations upon him,
the more he was anxious to give publicity to all his actions. He sent to
me an account of the brilliant affair of Braunsburg, in which a division
of the first corps had been particularly distinguished. Along with this
narrative he sent me a note in the following terms:--"I send you, my
dear. Minister, an account of the affair of Braunsburg. You will,
perhaps, think proper to publish it. In that case I shall be obliged by
your getting it inserted in the Hamburg journals," I did so. The
injustice of the Emperor, and the bad way in which he spoke of
Bernadotte, obliged the latter,--for the sake of his own credit, to make
the truth known to the world.
I have already mentioned that I received an order from the Emperor to
supply 50,000 cloaks for the army. With this order, which was not the
only one I received of the same kind, some circumstances were connected
which I may take the present opportunity of explaining.
The Emperor gave me so many orders for army clothing that all that could
be supplied by the cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck would have been
insufficient for executing the commissions. I entered into a treaty with
a house in Hamburg, which I authorised, in spite of the Berlin decree,
to bring cloth and leather from England. Thus I procured these articles
in a sure and cheap way. Our troops might have perished of cold had the
Continental system and the absurd mass of inexecutable decrees relative
to English merchandise been observed.
The Director of the Customs at Hamburg got angry, but I held firm: my
cloths and my leather arrived; cloaks, coats; boots, all were promptly
made, and our soldiers thus were sheltered from the severity of the
season. To preserve peace with the Imperial Custom-house I wrote to M.
Collie, then Director-General, that M. Eudel having wished to put in
execution the law of the 10th Brumaire and complaints had been made on
every side. Marshal Brune asked for my opinion on this matter, and I
gave it to him. I declared to M. Collie that the full execution of the
decree of 31st October 1796 was impracticable, injurious to France, and
to the Hanseatic Towns, without doing harm to England. Indeed, what said
article 5 of this law? "All goods imported from foreign countries,
whatever may be their origin, are to be considered as coming from English
manufacturers." According to this article France was a foreign country
for the Hanseatic Towns, and none of the objects enumerated in this
article ought to enter Hamburg! But the town received from England a
large quantity of fine cloths, buttons; ironmongery, toys, china; and
from France only clocks, bronzes, jewellery, ribbons, bonnets, gauzes and
gloves. "Let," said I to M. Eudel, "the Paris Duane be asked what that
town alone exports in matters of this sort and it will be seen how
important it is not to stop a trade all the more profitable to France,
as the workmanship forms the greatest part of the price of the goods
which make up this trade. What would happen if the importation of these
goods were absolutely prohibited in Hamburg? The consignments would
cease, and one of the most productive sources of trade for France, and
especially for Paris would be cut off."
At this time neither Hamburg nor its territory had any manufacture of
cloth. All woollen stuffs were prohibited, according to M. Eudel, and
still my duty was to furnish, and I had furnished, 50,000 cloaks for the
Grand Army. In compliance with a recent Imperial decree I had to have
made without delay 16,000 coats, 37,000 waistcoats, and the Emperor
required of me 200,000 pairs of boots, besides the 40,000 pairs I had
sent in. Yet M. Eudel said that tanned and worked leather ought not to
enter Hamburg! If such a ridiculous application of the law of 1796 had
been made it would have turned the decree of 21st November 1796 against
France, without fulfilling its object.
These reflections, to which I added other details, made the Government
conclude that I was right, and I traded with England to the great
advantage of the armies, which were well clothed and shod. What in the
world can be more ridiculous than commercial laws carried out to one's
own detriment?
At the beginning of 1807 my occupations at Hamburg were divided between
the furnishing of supplies for the army and the inspection of the
emigrants, whom Fouche pretended to dread in order to give greater
importance to his office.
I never let slip an opportunity of mitigating the rigour of Fouche's
orders, which, indeed, were sometimes so absurd that I did not attempt to
execute them. Of this an instance occurs to my recollection. A printer
at Hamburg had been arrested on the charge of having printed a libel in
the German language. The man was detained in prison because, very much
to his honour, he would not disclose the name of the writer of the
pamphlet. I sent for him and questioned him. He told me, with every
appearance of sincerity, that he had never but once seen the man who had
brought him the manuscript. I was convinced of the truth of what he
said, and I gave an order for his liberation. To avoid irritating the
susceptibility of the Minister of Police I wrote to him the following few
lines:--"The libel is the most miserable rhapsody imaginable. The author,
probably with the view of selling his pamphlet in Holstein, predicts that
Denmark will conquer every other nation and become the greatest kingdom
in the world. This alone will suffice to prove to you how little clanger
there is in rubbish written in the style of the Apocalypse."
After the battle of Eylau I received a despatch from M. de Talleyrand, to
which was added an account in French of that memorable battle, which was
more fatal to the conqueror than to the other party,--I cannot say the
conquered in speaking of the Russians, the more especially when I
recollect the precautions which were then taken throughout Germany to
make known the French before the Russian version. The Emperor was
exceedingly anxious that every one should view that event as he himself
viewed it. Other accounts than his might have produced an unfavourable
impression in the north. I therefore had orders to publish that account.
I caused 2000 copies of it to be issued, which were more than sufficient
for circulation in the Hanse Towns and their territories.
The reader will perhaps complain that I have been almost silent with
respect to the grand manoeuvres of the French army from the battle of
Eylau to that of Friedland, where, at all events, our success was
indisputable. There was no necessity for printing favourable versions of
that event, and, besides, its immense results were soon felt throughout
Europe. The interview at Tilsit is one of the culminating points of
modern history, and the waters of the Niemen reflected the image of
Napoleon at the height of his glory. The interview between the two
Emperors at Tilsit, and the melancholy situation of the King of Prussia,
are generally known. I was made acquainted with but few secret details
relative to those events, for Rapp had gone to Dantzic, and it was he who
most readily communicated to me all that the Emperor said and did, and
all that was passing around him.--
--[Savory gives the following account of the interview between
Napoleon and Alexander at Tilsit.
"The Emperor Napoleon, whose courtesy was manifest in all his
actions, ordered a large raft to be floated in the middle of the
river, upon which was constructed a room well covered in and
elegantly decorated having two doors on opposite aides, each of
which opened into an antechamber. The work could not have been
better executed in Paris. The roof was surmounted by two
weathercocks: one displaying the eagle of Russia, and the other the
eagle of France. The two outer doors were also surmounted by the
eagles of the two countries.
"The raft was precisely in the middle of the river, with the two
doors of the salon facing the two opposite banks.
"The two sovereigns appeared on the banks of the river, and embarked
at the same moment But the Emperor Napoleon having a good boat,
manned by marines of the Guard, arrived first on the raft, entered
the room, and went to the opposite door, which he opened, and then
stationed himself on the edge of the raft to receive the Emperor
Alexander, who had not yet arrived, not having each good rowers as
the Emperor Napoleon.
"The two Emperors met in the most amicable way, et least to all
appearance. They remained together for a considerable time, and
then took leave of each other with as friendly an air as that with
which they had met.
"Next day the Emperor of Russia established himself at Tilsit with a
battalion of his Guard. Orders were given for evacuating that part
of the town where he and his battalion were to be quartered; and,
though we were very much pressed for room, no encroachment on the
space allotted to the Russians was thought of.
"On the day the Emperor Alexander, entered Tilsit the whole army was
under arms. The Imperial Guard was drawn out in two lines of three
deep from the landing-place to the Emperor Napoleon's quarters, and
from thence to the quarters of the Emperor of Russia. A salute of
100 guns was fired the moment Alexander stepped ashore on the spot
where the Emperor Napoleon was waiting to receive him. The latter
carried his attention to his visitor so far as to send from his
quarters the furniture for Alexander's bedchamber. Among the
articles sent was a camp-bed belonging to the Emperor, which he
presented to Alexander, who appeared much pleased with the gift.
"This meeting; the first which history records of the same kind and
of equal importance, attracted visitors to Tilsit from 100 leagues
round. M. de Talleyrand arrived, and after the observance of the
usual ceremonies business began to be discussed." (Memoirs of the
Due de Rovigo, tome iii. p. 117).
"When," said Napoleon, "I was at Tilsit with the Emperor Alexander
and the King of Prussia, I was the most ignorant of the three in
military affairs. These two sovereigns, especially the King of
Prussia, were completely 'au fait' as to the number of buttons there
ought to be in front of a jacket, how many behind, and the manner in
which the skirts ought to be cut. Not a tailor in the army knew
better than King Frederick how many measures of cloth it took to
make a jacket. In fact," continued he laughing, "I was nobody in
comparison with them. They continually tormented me about matters
belonging to tailors, of which I was entirely ignorant, although, in
order not to affront them, I answered just as gravely as if the fate
of an army depended upon the cut of a jacket. When I went to see
the King of Prussia, instead of a library, I found that he had a
large room, like an arsenal, furnished with shelves and pegs; on
which were hung fifty or sixty jackets of different patterns. Every
day he changed his fashion and put on a different one. He attached
more importance to this than was necessary for the salvation of a
kingdom." (O'Meara's Napoleon in Exile.)]--
I, however, learned one circumstance peculiarly worthy of remark which
occurred in the Emperor's apartments at Tilsit the first time he received
a visit from the King of Prussia. That unfortunate monarch, who was
accompanied by Queen Louisa, had taken refuge in a mill beyond the town.
This was his sole habitation, whilst the Emperors occupied the two
portions of the town, which is divided by the Niemen. The fact I am
about to relate reached me indirectly through the medium of an offices of
the Imperial Guard, who was on duty in Napoleon's apartments and was an
eye-witness of it. When the Emperor Alexander visited Napoleon they
continued for a long time in conversation on a balcony below, where as
immense crowd hailed their meeting with enthusiastic shouts. Napoleon
commenced the conversation, as he did the year preceding with the Emperor
of Austria, by speaking of the uncertain fate of war. Whilst they were
conversing the King of Prussia was announced. The King's emotion was
visible, and may easily be imagined; for as hostilities were suspended,
and his territory in possession of the French, his only hope was in the
generosity of the conqueror. Napoleon himself, it is said, appeared
moved by his situation, and invited him, together with the Queen, to
dinner. On sitting down to table Napoleon with great gallantry told the
beautiful Queen that he would restore to her Silesia, a province which
she earnestly wished should be retained in the new arrangements which
were necessarily about to take place.
--[Las Cases mentions that at the time of the treaty of Tilsit
Napoleon wrote to the Empress Josephine as follows:
"'The Queen of Prussia is really a charming woman. She is fond of
coquetting with me; but do not be jealous: I am like oilcloth, along
which everything of this sort elides without penetrating. It would
cost me too dear to play the gallant'
"On this subject an anecdote was related in the salon of Josephine.
It was said that the Queen of Prussia one day had a beautiful rose
in her hand, which the Emperor asked her to give him. The Queen
hesitated for a few moments, and then presented it to him, saying,
'Why should I so readily grant what you request, while you remain
deaf to all my entreaties?' (She alluded to the fortress of
Magdeburg, which she had earnestly solicited)." (Memorial de St.
Helene).]--
The treaty of peace concluded at Tilsit between France and Russia, on the
7th of July, and ratified two days after, produced no less striking a
change in the geographical division of Europe than had been effected the
year preceding by the Treaty of Presburg. The treaty contained no
stipulation dishonourable to Russia, whose territory was preserved
inviolate; but how was Prussia treated? Some historians, for the vain
pleasure of flattering by posthumous praises the pretended moderation of
Napoleon, have almost reproached him for having suffered some remnants of
the monarchy of the great Frederick to survive. There is, nevertheless,
a point on which Napoleon has been wrongfully condemned, at least with
reference to the campaign of 1807. It has been said that he should at
that period have re-established the kingdom of Poland; and certainly
there is every reason to regret, for the interests of France and Europe,
that it was not re-established. But when a desire, even founded on
reason, is not carried into effect, should we conclude that the wished-
for object ought to be achieved in defiance of all obstacles? At that
time, that is to say, during the campaign of Tilsit, insurmountable
obstacles existed.
If, however, by the Treaty of Tilsit, the throne of Poland was not
restored to serve as a barrier between old Europe and the Empire of the
Czars, Napoleon founded a Kingdom of Westphalia, which he gave to the
young 'ensigne de vaisseau' whom he had scolded as a schoolboy, and whom
he now made a King, that he might have another crowned prefect under his
control. The Kingdom of Westphalia was composed of the States of Hesse-
Cassel, of a part of the provinces taken from Prussia by the moderation
of the Emperor, and of the States of Paderborn, Fulda, Brunswick, and a
part of the Electorate of Hanover. Napoleon, at the same time, though he
did not like to do things by halves, to avoid touching the Russian and
Austrian provinces of old Poland, planted on the banks of the Vistula the
Grand Duchy of Warsaw, which he gave to the King of Saxony, with the
intention of increasing or destroying it afterwards as he might find
convenient. Thus he allowed the Poles to hope better things for the
future, and ensured to himself partisans in the north should the chances
of fortune call him thither. Alexander, who was cajoled even more than
his father had been by what I may call the political coquetry of
Napoleon, consented to all these arrangements, acknowledged 'in globo'
all the kings crowned by the Emperor, and accepted some provinces which
had belonged to his despoiled ally, the King of Prussia, doubtless by way
of consolation for not having been able to get more restored to Prussia.
The two Emperors parted the best friends in the world; but the
Continental system was still in existence.