_Napoleon meditates a change of title from Chief Consul to
Emperor--A Motion to this purpose brought forward in the
Tribunate--Opposed by Carnot--Adopted by the Tribunate and
Senate--Outline of the New System--Coldly received by the
People--Napoleon visits Boulogne, Aix-la-Chapelle, and the
Frontiers of Germany, where he is received with respect--The
Coronation--Pius VII. is summoned from Rome to perform the Ceremony
at Paris--Details--Reflections--Changes that took place in
Italy--Napoleon appointed Sovereign of Italy, and Crowned at
Milan--Genoa annexed to France._
[Sidenote: NAPOLEON MEDITATES A CHANGE OF TITLE.]
The time seemed now propitious for Buonaparte to make the last remaining
movement in the great game, which he had hitherto played with equal
skill, boldness, and success. The opposing factions of the state lay in
a great measure prostrate before him. The death of the Duke d'Enghien
and of Pichegru had intimidated the Royalists, while the exile of Moreau
had left the Republicans without a leader.
These events, while they greatly injured Buonaparte's character as a
man, extended, in a like proportion, the idea of his power, and of his
determination to employ it to the utmost extremity against whoever might
oppose him. This moment, therefore, of general submission and
intimidation was the fittest to be used for transmuting the military
baton of the first consul into a sceptre, resembling those of the
ancient and established sovereignties of Europe; and it only remained,
for one who could now dispose of France as he listed, to dictate the
form and fashion of the new emblem of his sway.
The title of King most obviously presented itself; but it was connected
with the claims of the Bourbons, which it was not Buonaparte's policy to
recall to remembrance. That of Emperor implied a yet higher power of
sovereignty, and there existed no competitor who could challenge a claim
to it. It was a novelty also, and flattered the French love of change;
and though, in fact, the establishment of an empire was inconsistent
with the various oaths taken against royalty, it was not, in terms, so
directly contradictory to them. As the re-establishment of a kingdom, so
far it was agreeable to those who might seek, not indeed how to keep
their vows, but how to elude, in words at least, the charge of having
broken them. To Napoleon's own ear, the word King might sound as if it
restricted his power within the limits of the ancient kingdom; while
that of Emperor might comprise dominions equal to the wide sweep of
ancient Rome herself, and the bounds of the habitable earth alone could
be considered as circumscribing their extent.
The main body of the nation being passive or intimidated,[73] there was
no occasion to stand upon much ceremony with the constitutional bodies,
the members of which were selected and paid by Buonaparte himself, held
their posts at his pleasure, had every species of advancement to hope if
they promoted his schemes, and every evil, of which the least would be
deprivation of office, to expect, should they thwart him.
[Sidenote: CHANGE OF TITLE.]
On the 30th of April, 1804, Curée,[74] an orator of no great note, (and
who was perhaps selected on that very account, that his proposal might
be disavowed, should it meet with unexpected opposition,) took the lead
in this measure, which was to destroy the slight and nominal remains of
a free constitution which France retained under her present form of
government. "It was time to bid adieu," he said, "to political
illusions. The internal tranquillity of France had been regained, peace
with foreign states had been secured by victory. The finances of the
country had been restored, its code of laws renovated and
re-established. It was time to ascertain the possession of these
blessings to the nation in future, and the orator saw no mode of doing
this, save rendering the supreme power hereditary in the person and
family of Napoleon, to whom France owed such a debt of gratitude. This,
he stated, was the universal desire of the army and of the people. He
invited the Tribunate, therefore, to give effect to the general wish,
and hail Napoleon Buonaparte by the title of Emperor, as that which best
corresponded with the dignity of the nation."[75]
The members of the Tribunate contended with each other who should most
enhance the merits of Napoleon, and prove, in the most logical and
rhetorical terms, the advantages of arbitrary power over the various
modifications of popular or limited governments. But one man, Carnot,
was bold enough to oppose the full tide of sophistry and adulation. This
name is unhappily to be read among the colleagues of Robespierre in the
Revolutionary Committee, as well as amongst those who voted for the
death of the misused and unoffending Louis XVI.; yet his highly
honourable conduct in the urgent crisis now under discussion, shows that
the zeal for liberty which led him into such excesses was genuine and
sincere; and that, in point of firmness and public spirit, Carnot
equalled the ancient patriots whom he aspired to imitate. His speech was
as temperate and expressive as it was eloquent. Buonaparte, he admitted,
had saved France, and saved it by the assumption of absolute power; but
this, he contended, was only the temporary consequence of a violent
crisis of the kind to which republics were subject, and the evils of
which could only be stemmed by a remedy equally violent. The present
head of the government was, he allowed, a dictator; but in the same
sense in which Fabius, Camillus, and Cincinnatus, were so of yore, who
retired to the condition of private citizens when they had accomplished
the purpose for which temporary supremacy had been intrusted to them.
The like was to be expected from Buonaparte, who, on entering on the
government of the state, had invested it with republican forms, which he
had taken a solemn oath to maintain, and which it was the object of
Curée's motion to invite him to violate. He allowed that the various
republican forms of France had been found deficient in stability, which
he contended was owing to the tempestuous period in which they had been
adopted, and the excited and irritable temper of men fired with
political animosity, and incapable at the moment of steady or
philosophical reflection; but he appealed to the United States of
America, as an example of a democratical government, equally wise,
vigorous, and permanent. He admitted the virtues and talents of the
present governor of France, but contended that these attributes could
not be rendered hereditary along with the throne. He reminded the
Tribunate that Domitian had been the son of the wise Vespasian, Caligula
of Germanicus, and Commodus of Marcus Aurelius. Again, he asked, whether
it was not wronging Buonaparte's glory to substitute a new title to that
which he had rendered so illustrious, and to invite and tempt him to
become the instrument of destroying the liberties of the very country to
which he had rendered such inestimable services? He then announced the
undeniable proposition, that what services soever an individual might
render to the state of which he was a member, there were bounds to
public gratitude prescribed by honour as well as reason. If a citizen
had the means of operating the safety, or restoring the liberty of his
country, it could not be termed a becoming recompense to surrender to
him that very liberty, the re-establishment of which had been his own
work. Or what glory, he asked, could accrue to the selfish individual
who should claim the surrender of his country's independence in requital
of his services, and desire to convert the state which his talents had
preserved into his own private patrimony![76]
Carnot concluded his manly and patriotic speech by declaring, that
though he opposed, on grounds of conscience, the alteration of
government which had been proposed, he would, nevertheless, should it
be adopted by the nation, give it his unlimited obedience. He kept his
word accordingly, and retired to a private station, in poverty most
honourable to a statesman who had filled the highest offices of the
state, and enjoyed the most unlimited power of amassing wealth.[77]
When his oration was concluded, there was a contention for precedence
among the time-serving speakers, who were each desirous to take the lead
in refuting the reasoning of Carnot. It would be tedious to trace them
through their sophistry. The leading argument turned upon the talents of
Buonaparte, his services rendered to France, and the necessity there was
for acknowledging them by something like a proportionate act of national
gratitude. Their eloquence resembled nothing so nearly as the pleading
of a wily procuress, who endeavours to persuade some simple maiden, that
the services rendered to her by a liberal and gallant admirer, can only
be rewarded by the sacrifice of her honour. The speaking (for it could
neither be termed debate nor deliberation) was prolonged for three days,
after which the motion of Curée was adopted by the Tribunate,[78]
without one negative voice, excepting that of the inflexible Carnot.
[Sidenote: EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH.]
The Senate, to whom the Tribunate hastened to present their project of
establishing despotism under its own undisguised title, hastened to form
a senatus consultum, which established the new constitution of France.
The outline,--for what would it serve to trace the minute details of a
design sketched in the sand, and obliterated by the tide of subsequent
events,[79]--was as follows:--
1st, Napoleon Buonaparte was declared hereditary Emperor of the French
nation. The empire was made hereditary, first in the male line of the
Emperor's direct descendants. Failing these, Napoleon might adopt the
sons or grandsons of his brothers, to succeed him in such order as he
might point out. In default of such adoptive heirs, Joseph and Louis
Buonaparte were, in succession, declared the lawful heirs of the empire.
Lucien and Jerome Buonaparte were excluded from this rich inheritance,
as they had both disobliged Napoleon by marrying without his consent.
2d, The members of the Imperial family were declared Princes of the
Blood, and by the decree of the Senate, the offices of Grand Elector,
Archchancellor of the Empire, Archchancellor of State, High Constable,
and Great Admiral of the Empire, were established as necessary
appendages of the empire. These dignitaries, named of course by the
Emperor himself, consisting of his relatives, connexions, and most
faithful adherents, formed his Grand Council. The rank of Marshal of the
Empire was conferred upon seventeen of the most distinguished generals,
comprehending Jourdan, Augereau, and others, formerly zealous
Republicans.[80] Duroc was named Grand Marshal of the Palace;
Caulaincourt, Master of the Horse; Berthier, Grand Huntsman, and the
Comte de Ségur, a nobleman of the old court, Master of Ceremonies.
Thus did republican forms, at length and finally, give way to those of a
court; and that nation, which no moderate or rational degree of freedom
would satisfy, now contentedly, or at least passively, assumed the yoke
of a military despot. France, in 1792, had been like the wild elephant
in his fits of fury, when to oppose his course is death; in 1804, she
was like the same animal tamed and trained, who kneels down and suffers
himself to be mounted by the soldier, whose business is to drive him
into the throng of the battle.
Measures were taken, as on former occasions, to preserve appearances, by
obtaining, in show at least, the opinion of the people, on this radical
change of their system.[81] Government, however, were already confident
of their approbation, which, indeed, had never been refused to any of
the various constitutions, however inconsistent, that had succeeded each
other with such rapidity. Secure on this point, Buonaparte's accession
to the empire was proclaimed with the greatest pomp, without waiting to
inquire whether the people approved of his promotion or otherwise. The
proclamation was coldly received, even by the populace, and excited
little enthusiasm.[82] It seemed, according to some writers, as if the
shades of D'Enghien and Pichegru had been present invisibly, and spread
a damp over the ceremony. The Emperor was recognised by the soldiery
with more warmth. He visited the encampments at Boulogne, with the
intention apparently, of receiving such an acknowledgment from the
troops as was paid by the ancient Franks to their monarchs, when they
elevated them on their bucklers. Seated on an iron chair, said to have
belonged to King Dagobert, he took his place between two immense camps,
and having before him the Channel and the hostile coasts of England. The
weather, we have been assured, had been tempestuous, but no sooner had
the Emperor assumed his seat, to receive the homage of his shouting
host, than the sky cleared, and the wind dropt, retaining just breath
sufficient gently to wave the banners. Even the elements seemed to
acknowledge the imperial dignity, all save the sea, which rolled as
carelessly to the feet of Napoleon as it had formerly done towards those
of Canute the Dane.
The Emperor, accompanied with his Empress, who bore her honours both
gracefully and meekly, visited Aix-la-Chapelle, and the frontiers of
Germany. They received the congratulations of all the powers of Europe,
excepting England, Russia, and Sweden, upon their new exaltation; and
the German princes, who had every thing to hope and fear from so
powerful a neighbour, hastened to pay their compliments to Napoleon in
person, which more distant sovereigns offered by their ambassadors.[83]
But the most splendid and public recognition of his new rank was yet to
be made, by the formal act of coronation, which, therefore, Napoleon
determined should take place with circumstances of solemnity, which had
been beyond the reach of any temporal prince, however powerful, for many
ages. His policy was often marked by a wish to revive, imitate, and
connect his own titles and interest with some ancient observance of
former days; as if the novelty of his claims could have been rendered
more venerable by investing them with antiquated forms, or as men of low
birth, when raised to wealth and rank, are sometimes desirous to conceal
the obscurity of their origin under the blaze of heraldic honours. Pope
Leo, he remembered, had placed a golden crown on the head of
Charlemagne, and proclaimed him Emperor of the Romans. Pius VII., he
determined, should do the same for a successor to much more than the
actual power of Charlemagne. But though Charlemagne had repaired to Rome
to receive inauguration from the hands of the Pontiff of that day,
Napoleon resolved that he who now owned the proud, and in Protestant
eyes profane, title of Vicar of Christ, should travel to France to
perform the coronation of the successful chief, by whom the See of Rome
had been more than once humbled, pillaged, and impoverished, but by whom
also her power had been re-erected and restored, not only in Italy, but
in France itself.
Humiliating as the compliance with Buonaparte's request must have seemed
to the more devoted Catholics, Pius VII. had already sacrificed, to
obtain the Concordat, so much of the power and privileges of the Roman
See, that he could hardly have been justified if he had run the risk of
losing the advantages of a treaty so dearly purchased, by declining to
incur some personal trouble or, it might be termed, some direct
self-abasement. The Pope, and the cardinals whom he consulted, implored
the illumination of Heaven upon their councils; but it was the stern
voice of necessity which assured them, that except at the risk of
dividing the Church by a schism, they could not refuse to comply with
Buonaparte's requisition. The Pope left Rome on the 5th November. He was
every where received on the road with the highest respect, and most
profound veneration; the Alpine precipices themselves had been secured
by parapets wherever they could expose the venerable Father of the
Catholic Church to danger, or even apprehension. Upon the 25th November
he met Buonaparte at Fontainbleau;[84] and the conduct of the Emperor
Napoleon was as studiously respectful towards him as that of
Charlemagne, whom he was pleased to call his predecessor, could have
been towards Leo.
[Sidenote: THE CORONATION.]
On the 2d December, the ceremony of the coronation took place in the
ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, with the addition of every ceremony
which could be devised to add to its solemnity.[85] Yet we have been
told, that the multitude did not participate in the ceremonial with that
eagerness which characterises the inhabitants of all capitals, but
especially those of Paris, upon similar occasions.[86] They had, within
a very few years, seen so many exhibitions, processions and festivals,
established on the most discordant principles, which, though announced
as permanent and unchangeable, had successively given way to newer
doctrines, that they considered the splendid representation before them
as an unsubstantial pageant, which would fade away in its turn.
Buonaparte himself seemed absent and gloomy, till recalled to a sense of
his grandeur by the voice of the numerous deputies and functionaries
sent up from all the several departments of France, to witness the
coronation.[87] These functionaries had been selected with due attention
to their political opinions; and many of them holding offices under the
government, or expecting benefits from the Emperor, made up, by the
zealous vivacity of their acclamations, for the coldness of the good
citizens of Paris.
[Sidenote: EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH.]
The Emperor took his coronation oath, as usual on such occasions, with
his hands upon the Scripture, and in the form in which it was repeated
to him by the Pope. But in the act of coronation itself, there was a
marked deviation from the universal custom, characteristic of the man,
the age, and the conjuncture. In all other similar solemnities, the
crown had been placed on the sovereign's head by the presiding spiritual
person, as representing the Deity, by whom princes rule. But not even
from the Head of the Catholic Church would Buonaparte consent to receive
as a boon the golden symbol of sovereignty, which he was sensible he
owed solely to his own unparalleled train of military and civil
successes. The crown having been blessed by the Pope, Napoleon took it
from the altar with his own hands, and placed it on his brows. He then
put the diadem on the head of his Empress, as if determined to show that
his authority was the child of his own actions. _Te Deum_ was sung; the
heralds (for they also had again come into fashion) proclaimed, "that
the thrice glorious and thrice august Napoleon, Emperor of the French,
was crowned and installed." Thus concluded this remarkable ceremony.
Those who remember having beheld it, must now doubt whether they were
waking, or whether fancy had framed a vision so dazzling in its
appearance, so extraordinary in its origin and progress, and so
ephemeral in its endurance.[88]
The very day before the ceremony of coronation, (that is, on the 1st of
December,) the Senate had waited upon the Emperor with the result of the
votes collected in the departments, which, till that time, had been
taken for granted. Upwards of three millions five hundred thousand
citizens had given their votes on this occasion; of whom only about
three thousand five hundred had declared against the proposition. The
vice-president, Neufchateau, declared, "this report was the unbiassed
expression of the people's choice. No government could plead a title
more authentic."[89]
This was the established language of the day; but when the orator went
farther, and mentioned the measure now adopted as enabling Buonaparte to
guide into port the vessel of the _Republic_, one would have thought
there was more irony than compliment in the expression.
Napoleon replied, by promises to employ the power which the unanimous
consent of the Senate, the people, and the army, had conferred upon him,
for the advantage of that nation which he himself, writing from fields
of battle, had first saluted with the title of the Great. He promised,
too, in name of his Dynasty, that his children should long preserve the
throne, and be at once the first soldiers in the army of France, and the
first magistrates among her citizens.[90]
As every word on such an occasion was scrupulously sifted and examined,
it seemed to some that this promise, which Napoleon volunteered in
behalf of children who had as yet no existence, intimated a meditated
change of consort, since from his present Empress he had no longer any
hope of issue. Others censured the prophetic tone in which he announced
what would be the fate and conduct of unborn beings, and spoke of a
reign, newly commenced, under the title of a Dynasty, which is usually
applied to a race of successive princes.
[Sidenote: THE IMPERIAL CONSTITUTION.]
We pause for a moment to consider the act of popular accession to the
new government; because there, if any where, we are to look for
something like a legal right, in virtue of which Napoleon might claim
obedience. He himself, when pleading his own cause after his fall,
repeatedly rests his right to be considered and treated as a legitimate
monarch, upon the fact, that he was called to the crown by the voice of
the people.[91]
We will not stop to inquire how the registers, in which the votes of the
citizens were enrolled, were managed by the functionaries who had the
charge of them;--it is only necessary to state in passing, that these
returning officers were in general accessible to the influence of
government, and that there was no possibility of instituting any
scrutiny into the authenticity of the returns. Neither will we repeat,
that instead of waiting for the event of the popular vote, he had
accepted of the empire from the Senate, and had been proclaimed Emperor
accordingly. Waving those circumstances entirely, let it be remembered,
that France is usually reckoned to contain upwards of thirty millions of
inhabitants, and that three millions five hundred thousand, only gave
their votes. This was not a third part, deducing women and children, of
those who had a title to express their opinion, where it was to be held
decisive of the greatest change which the state could undergo; and it
must be allowed that the authority of so limited a portion of the people
is far too small to bind the remainder. We have heard it indeed argued,
that the question having been formally put to the nation at large, every
one was under an obligation to make a specific reply; and they who did
not vote, must be held to have acquiesced in the opinion expressed by
the majority of such as did. This argument, being directly contrary to
the presumption of law in all similar cases, is not more valid than the
defence of the soldier, who, accused of having stolen a necklace from an
image of the Virgin, replied to the charge, that he had first asked the
Madonna's permission, and, receiving no answer, had taken silence for
consent.
In another point of view, it must be remembered that this vote, by which
Napoleon claimed the absolute and irredeemable cession of the liberties
of France in his favour, was not a jot more solemn than those by which
the people had previously sanctioned the Constitutional Monarchy of
1791, the Republic of 1792, the Directory of 1795, and the Consular
Government of 1799. Now, either the vote upon all those occasions was
binding and permanent, or it was capable of being denied and recalled at
the pleasure of the people. If the former was the case, then the people
had no right, in 1804, to resume the votes they had given, and the oaths
they had sworn, to the first form of government in 1791. The others
which they sanctioned in its stead, were in consequence, mere
usurpations, and that now attempted the most flagrant of all; since
three constitutions, each resting on the popular consent, were
demolished, and three sets of oaths broken and discarded, to make room
for the present model. Again, if the people, in swearing to one
constitution, retained inalienably the right of substituting another
whenever they thought proper, the imperial constitution remained at
their mercy as much as those that preceded it; and then on what could
Buonaparte rest the inviolability of his authority, guarded with such
jealous precaution, and designed to descend to his successors, without
any future appeal to the people? The dynasty which he supposed himself
to have planted, was in that case not the oak-tree which he conceived
it, but, held during the good pleasure of a fickle people, rather
resembled the thistle, whose unsubstantial crest rests upon the stalk
only so long as the wind shall not disturb it.
But we leave these considerations; nor do we stop to inquire how many,
amid the three millions and upwards of voters, gave an unwilling
signature, which they would have refused if they had dared, nor how many
more attached no greater consequence to the act than to a piece of
formal complaisance, which every government expected in its turn, and
which bound the subject no longer than the ruler had means to enforce
his obedience. Another and more formidable objection remains behind,
which pervaded the whole pretended surrender by the French nation of
their liberties, and rendered it void, null, and without force or effect
whatever. It was, from the commencement, what jurists call a _pactum in
illicito_:--the people gave that which they had no right to surrender,
and Buonaparte accepted that which he had no title to take at their
hands. In most instances of despotic usurpation--we need only look at
the case of Cæsar--the popular party have been made the means of working
out their own servitude; the government being usurped by some demagogue
who acted in their name, and had the art to make their own hands the
framers of their own chains. But though such consent on the part of the
people, elicited from an excess of partial confidence or of gratitude,
may have rendered such encroachments on the freedom of the state more
easy, it did not and could not render it in any case more legal. The
rights of a free people are theirs to enjoy, but not theirs to alienate
or surrender. The people are in this respect like minors, to whom law
assures their property, but invests them with no title to give it away
or consume it; the national privileges are an estate entailed from
generation to generation, and they can neither be the subject of gift,
exchange, nor surrender, by those who enjoy the usufruct or temporary
possession of them. No man is lord even of his person, to the effect of
surrendering his life or limbs to the mercy of another; the contract of
the Merchant of Venice would now be held null from the beginning in any
court of justice in Europe. But far more should the report of 1804, upon
Buonaparte's election, be esteemed totally void, since it involved the
cession on the part of the French people of that which ought to have
been far more dear to them, and held more inalienable, than "the pound
of flesh nearest the heart,"[92] or the very heart itself.
As the people of France had no right to resign their own liberties, and
that of their posterity, for ever, so Buonaparte could not legally avail
himself of their prodigal and imprudent cession. If a blind man give a
piece of gold by mistake instead of a piece of silver, he who receives
it acquires no legal title to the surplus value. If an ignorant man
enter unwittingly into an illegal compact, his signature, though
voluntary, is not binding upon him. It is true, that Buonaparte had
rendered the highest services to France by his Italian campaigns in the
first instance, and afterwards by that wonderful train of success which
followed his return from Egypt. Still the services yielded by a subject
to his native land, like the duty paid by a child to a parent, cannot
render him creditor of the country, beyond the amount which she has
legal means of discharging. If France had received the highest benefits
from Buonaparte, she had in return raised him as high as any subject
could be advanced, and had, indeed, in her reckless prodigality of
gratitude, given, or suffered him to assume, the very despotic
authority, which this compact of which we treat was to consolidate and
sanction under its real name of Empire. Here, therefore, we close the
argument; concluding the pretended vote of the French people to be
totally null, both as regarding the subjects who yielded their
privileges, and the emperor who accepted of their surrender. The former
could not give away rights which it was not lawful to resign, the latter
could not accept an authority which it was unlawful to exercise.
An apology, or rather a palliation of Buonaparte's usurpation, has been
set up by himself and his more ardent admirers, and we are desirous of
giving to it all the weight which it shall be found to deserve. They
have said, and with great reason, that Buonaparte, viewed in his general
conduct, was no selfish usurper, and that the mode in which he acquired
his power was gilded over by the use which he made of it. This is true;
for we will not under-rate the merits which Napoleon thus acquired, by
observing that shrewd politicians have been of opinion, that sovereigns
who have only a questionable right to their authority, are compelled,
were it but for their own sakes, to govern in such a manner as to make
the country feel its advantage in submitting to their government. We
grant willingly, that in much of his internal administration Buonaparte
showed that he desired to have no advantage separate from that of
France; that he conceived her interests to be connected with his own
glory; that he expended his wealth in ornamenting the empire, and not
upon objects more immediately personal to himself. We have no doubt that
he had more pleasure in seeing treasures of art added to the Museum,
than in hanging them on the walls of his own palace; and that he spoke
truly, when asserting that he grudged Josephine the expensive plants
with which she decorated her residence at Malmaison, because her taste
interfered with the prosperity of the public botanical garden of
Paris.[93] We allow, therefore, that Buonaparte fully identified himself
with the country which he had rendered his patrimony; and that while it
should be called by his name, he was desirous of investing it with as
much external splendour, and as much internal prosperity as his gigantic
schemes were able to compass. No doubt it may be said, so completely
was the country identified with its ruler, that as France had nothing
but what belonged to its Emperor, he was in fact improving his own
estate when he advanced her public works, and could no more be said to
lose sight of his own interest, than a private gentleman does, who
neglects his garden to ornament his park. But it is not fair to press
the motives of human nature to their last retreat, in which something
like a taint of self-interest may so often be discovered. It is enough
to reply, that the selfishness which embraces the interests of a whole
kingdom, is of a kind so liberal, so extended, and so refined, as to be
closely allied to patriotism; and that the good intentions of Buonaparte
towards that France, over which he ruled with despotic sway, can be no
more doubted, than the affections of an arbitrary father whose object it
is to make his son prosperous and happy, to which he annexes as the only
condition, that he shall be implicitly obedient to every tittle of his
will. The misfortune is, however, that arbitrary power is in itself a
faculty, which, whether exercised over a kingdom, or in the bosom of a
family, is apt to be used with caprice rather than judgment, and becomes
a snare to those who possess it, as well as a burden to those over whom
it extends. A father, for example, seeks the happiness of his son, while
he endeavours to assure his fortunes, by compelling him to enter into a
mercenary and reluctant marriage; and Buonaparte conceived himself to be
benefiting as well as aggrandizing France, when, preferring the
splendour of conquest to the blessings of peace, he led the flower of
her young men to perish in foreign fields, and finally was the means of
her being delivered up, drained of her population,[94] to the mercy of
the foreign invaders, whose resentment his ambition had provoked.
[Sidenote: CHANGES IN ITALY.]
Such are the considerations which naturally arise out of Napoleon's
final and avowed assumption of the absolute power, which he had in
reality possessed and exercised ever since he had been created First
Consul for life. It was soon after made manifest, that France, enlarged
and increased in strength as she had been under his auspices, was yet
too narrow a sphere for his domination. Italy afforded the first
illustration of his grasping ambition.[95]
The northern states of Italy had followed the example of France through
all her change of models. They had become republican in a directorial
form, when Napoleon's sword conquered them from the Austrians; had
changed to an establishment similar to the consular, when that was
instituted in Paris by the 18th Brumaire; and were now destined to
receive, as a king, him who had lately accepted and exercised with regal
authority the office of their president.
The authorities of the Italian (late Cisalpine) republic had a prescient
guess of what was expected of them. A deputation[96] appeared at Paris,
to declare the absolute necessity which they felt, that their government
should assume a monarchical and hereditary form. On the 17th March,
1805, they obtained an audience of the Emperor, to whom they intimated
the unanimous desire of their countrymen, that Napoleon, founder of the
Italian Republic, should be monarch of the Italian Kingdom. He was to
have power to name his successor, such being always a native of France
or Italy. With an affectation of jealous independence, however, the
authors of this "humble petition and advice" stipulated, that the crowns
of France and Italy should never, save in the present instance, be
placed on the head of the same monarch. Napoleon might, during his life,
devolve the sovereignty of Italy on one of his descendants, either
natural or adopted; but it was anxiously stipulated, that such
delegation should not be made during the period while France continued
to occupy the Neapolitan territories, the Russians Corfu, and the
British Malta.[97]
Buonaparte granted the petition of the Italian states, and listened with
indulgence to their jealous scruples. He agreed with them, that the
separation of the crowns of France and Italy, which might be useful to
their descendants, would be in the highest degree dangerous to
themselves; and therefore he consented to bear the additional burden
which their love and confidence imposed, at least until the interest of
his Italian subjects should permit him to place the crown on a younger
head, who, animated by his spirit, should, he engaged, "be ever ready to
sacrifice his life for the people over whom he should be called to
reign, by Providence, by the constitution of the country, and by the
will of Napoleon."[98] In announcing this new acquisition to the French
Senate, Buonaparte made use of an expression so singularly audacious,
that to utter it required almost as much courage as to scheme one of his
most daring campaigns. "The power and majesty of the French empire," he
said, "are surpassed by the moderation which presides over her political
transactions."
[Sidenote: CORONATION AT MILAN.]
Upon the 11th April, Napoleon, with his Empress, set off to go through
the form of coronation, as King of Italy.[99] The ceremony almost
exactly resembled that by which he had been inaugurated Emperor. The
ministry of the Pope, however, was not employed on this second occasion,
although, as Pius VII. was then on his return to Rome, he could scarcely
have declined officiating, if he had been requested by Buonaparte to
take Milan in his route for that purpose. Perhaps it was thought too
harsh to exact from the Pontiff the consecration of a King of Italy,
whose very title implied a possibility that his dominion might be one
day extended, so as to include the patrimony of Saint Peter. Perhaps,
and we rather believe it was the case, some cause of dissatisfaction had
already occurred betwixt Napoleon and Pius VII. However this may be, the
ministry of the Archbishop of Milan was held sufficient for the
occasion, and it was he who blessed the celebrated iron crown, said to
have girded the brows of the ancient Kings of the Lombards. Buonaparte,
as in the ceremony at Paris, placed the ancient emblem on his head with
his own hands, assuming and repeating aloud the haughty motto attached
to it by its ancient owners, _Dieu me l'a donné; Gare qui la touche_.
"God has given it me: Let him beware who touches it."[100]
The new kingdom was, in all respects, modelled on the same plan with the
French empire. An order, called "of the Iron Crown," was established on
the footing of that of the Legion of Honour. A large French force was
taken into Italian pay, and Eugene Beauharnois,[101] the son of
Josephine by her former marriage, who enjoyed and merited the confidence
of his father-in-law, was created viceroy, and appointed to represent,
in that character, the dignity of Napoleon.[102]
Napoleon did not leave Italy without further extension of his empire.
Genoa, once the proud and the powerful, resigned her independence, and
her Doge presented to the Emperor a request that the Ligurian republic,
laying down her separate rights, should be considered in future as a
part of the French nation. It was but lately that Buonaparte had
declared to the listening Senate, that the boundaries of France were
permanently fixed, and should not be extended for the comprehension of
future conquests. It is farther true, that, by a solemn alliance with
France, Genoa had placed her arsenals and harbours at the disposal of
the French government; engaged to supply her powerful ally with six
thousand sailors, and ten sail of the line, to be equipped at her own
expense; and that her independence, or such a nominal share of that
inestimable privilege as was consistent with her connexion with this
formidable power, had been guaranteed by France. But neither the charge
of inconsistency with his own public declarations, nor consideration of
the solemn treaty acknowledging the Ligurian republic, prevented
Napoleon from availing himself of the pretext afforded by the petition
of the Doge. It was convenient to indulge the city and government of
Genoa in their wish to become an integral part of the Great Nation.[103]
Buonaparte was well aware, that, by recognising them as a department of
France, he was augmenting the jealousy of Russia and Austria, who had
already assumed a threatening front towards him; but, as he visited the
splendid city of the Dorias, and saw its streets of marble palaces,
ascending from and surrounding its noble harbours, he was heard to
exclaim, that such a possession was well worth the risks of war.[104]
The success of one mighty plan only induced him to form another; and
while he was conscious that he was the general object of jealousy and
suspicion to Europe, Napoleon could not refrain from encroachments,
which necessarily increased and perpetuated such hostile sentiments
towards him.[105]
FOOTNOTES:
[73] "I advised Buonaparte to make himself master of the crisis, and
cause himself to be proclaimed Emperor, in order to terminate all our
uncertainties, by the foundation of his dynasty. I knew that his
resolution was taken. Would it not have been absurd, on the part of the
men of the Revolution, to compromise every thing, in order to defend our
principles, while we had nothing further to do but enjoy the
reality?"--FOUCHÉ, tom. i., p. 268.
[74] Curée was born at St. André, near Lodève, in 1756. When, in 1807,
the Tribunate was dissolved, he was appointed a member of the
Conservative Senate. In 1808, Napoleon bestowed on him the title of
Count de Labédissières.
[75] Moniteur, No. 222, An. xii.; Montgaillard, Hist. de France, tom.
vi., p. 57.
[76] Montgaillard, tom. vi., p. 76; Moniteur, No. 222, An. xii.
[77] "When a member of the Tribunate, Carnot spoke and voted against the
establishment of the empire; but his conduct, open and manly, gave no
uneasiness to the administration."--NAPOLEON, _Las Cases_, tom. iv., p.
141.
[78] For the decree, passed the Tribunate on the 3d of May, and carried
up to the Conservative Senate on the following day, see Annual Register,
vol. xlvi., p. 658.
[79] See Organic Senatus Consultum, May 18, Annual Register, vol. xlvi.,
p. 664.
[80] Montgaillard, tom. vi., p. 103; Annual Register, vol. xlvi., p.
663.
[81] "In the army the proposed change went down of itself; this is
easily accounted for. The dragoons gave the first impulsion. They sent
an address to the first consul, in which they alleged that their efforts
would be of no service if wicked men should succeed in taking away his
life; that the best way to thwart their designs, and to fix their
resolute, was to put the imperial crown on his head, and to fix that
dignity in his family. After the dragoons came the cuirassiers, then all
the corps of infantry, and then the seamen; and lastly, those of the
civil orders who wished for the change, followed the example of the
army. The spirit spread in an instant to the smallest parishes; the
first consul received carriages full of such addresses. A register for
the reception of votes was opened in every parish in France. It was the
summary of all these votes, laid before the senate, that formed the
basis of the _procès-verbal_ of inauguration of the Buonaparte family to
the imperial dignity."--SAVARY, tom. ii., p. 69.
[82] "Napoleon's elevation to the imperial dignity met, from all
quarters, with the most chilling reception; there were public _fêtes_
without animation, and without joy."--FOUCHÉ, tom. i., p. 272.
[83] Fouché, tom. ii., p. 280.
[84] "The Emperor went to meet the Pope on the road to Nemours. To avoid
ceremony, the pretext of a hunting party was assumed: the attendants,
with his equipages, were in the forest. The Emperor came on horseback,
and in a hunting dress, with his retinue. It was at the half moon at the
top of the hill that the meeting took place. There the Pope's carriage
drew up; he got out at the left door in his white costume; the ground
was dirty; he did not like to step upon it with his white silk shoes,
but was obliged to do so at last. Napoleon alighted to receive him. They
embraced; and the Emperor's carriage, which had been purposely driven
up, was advanced a few paces; but men were posted to hold the two doors
open; at the moment of getting in, the Emperor took the right door, and
an officer of the court handed the Pope to the left, so that they
entered the carriage by the two doors at the same time. The Emperor
naturally seated himself on the right; and this first step decided,
without negotiation, upon the etiquette to be observed during the whole
time that the Pope was to remain at Paris."--SAVARY, tom. ii., p. 73.
[85] "The departure of the Pope from the Tuileries for the
Archiepiscopal Palace, was delayed for a short time by a singular cause.
Every body was ignorant in France, that it was customary at Rome when
the Pope went out to officiate in the great churches, for one of his
principal chamberlains to set off a little before him, mounted on an
ass, and carrying a large cross, such as is used in processions. It was
not till the very moment of departure that this custom was made known.
The chamberlain would not, for all the gold in the world, have derogated
from the practice, and accepted a nobler animal. All the grooms of the
Tuileries were instantly despatched in quest of an ass; and they were
fortunate enough to find a tolerably well-looking one, which was hastily
caparisoned. The chamberlain rode with a composure which nothing could
disturb, through the innumerable multitudes who lined the quays, and
could not help laughing at this odd spectacle, which they beheld for the
first time."--SAVARY, tom. ii., p. 75.
[86] "At the ceremony of the coronation, the acclamations, at first
extremely few, were afterwards reinforced by the multitude of men in
office, (_fonctionnaires_,) who were summoned from all parts of France
to be present at the coronation. But upon returning to his palace,
Napoleon found cold and silent spectators."--FOUCHÉ, tom. ii., p. 285.
[87] Montgaillard, tom. vi., p. 142.
[88] Montgaillard, tom. vi., p. 144; Annual Register, vol. xlvi., p.
680; Savary, tom. ii., p. 75.
[89] Annual Register, vol. xlvi., p. 685.
[90] "I ascend the throne, to which the unanimous wishes of the senate,
the people, and the army have called me, with a heart penetrated with
the great destinies of that people, whom, from the midst of camps, I
first saluted with the name of GREAT. From my youth, my thoughts have
been solely fixed upon them, and I must add here, that my pleasures and
my pains are derived entirely from the happiness or misery of my people.
My descendants shall long preserve this throne; in the camps, they will
be the first soldiers of the army, sacrificing their lives in the
defence of their country. As magistrates, they will never forget that
the contempt of the laws, and the confusion of social order, are only
the result of the imbecility and unsteadiness of princes. You, senators,
whose councils and support have never failed me in the most difficult
circumstances; your spirit will be handed down to your successors. Be
ever the props and first counsellors of that throne, so necessary to the
welfare of this vast empire."
[91] "If I was not a legitimate sovereign, William the Third was a
usurper of the throne of England, as he was brought in chiefly by the
aid of foreign bayonets. George the First was placed on the throne by a
faction, composed of a few nobles. I was called to that of France by the
votes of nearly four millions of Frenchmen."--NAPOLEON, _Voice_, &c.,
vol. ii., p. 113.
[92] Merchant of Venice, act iv., scene 1.
[93] Las Cases, tom. vii., p. 120.
[94] "The Emperor constantly insisted on subjecting the whole nation to
the laws of the conscription. 'The conscription,' he said, 'is the root
of a nation, its moral purification, the real foundation of its habits.
Organized, built up in this way, the French people might have defied the
world, and might with justice have renewed the saying of the proud
Gauls: 'If the sky should fall, we will keep it up with our
lances.'"--LAS CASES, tom. vii., p. 98.
[95] "We soon perceived that Napoleon meditated a great diversion. When
he mentioned in council his idea of going to be crowned King of Italy,
we all told him he would provoke a new continental war. 'I must have
battles and triumphs,' replied he. And yet he did not relax his
preparations for the invasion of England. One day, upon my objecting to
him that he could not make war at the same time, against England and
against all Europe, he replied, 'I may fail by sea, but not by land;
besides, I shall be able to strike the blow before the old coalition
machines are ready. The people of the old school (_têtes à perruques_)
understand nothing about it, and the kings have neither activity nor
decision of character. I do not fear old Europe."--FOUCHÉ, tom. i., p.
285.
[96] Consisting of M. Melzi, vice-president of the Italian republic; M.
Mareschalchi, ambassador of that republic; and the representatives of
its principal bodies.
[97] See official proceedings relative to the assumption of the crown of
Italy by Napoleon, emperor of the French.--_Annual Register_, vol.
xlvii., p. 720.
[98] "I shall keep this crown; but only so long as your interests shall
require; and I shall with pleasure see the moment arrive, when I can
place it on the head of a younger person, who, animated by my spirit,
may continue my work, and be on all occasions ready to sacrifice his
person and interests to the security and the happiness of the people
over whom Providence, the constitutions of the kingdom, and my wish,
shall have called him to reign."
[99] "Napoleon remained three weeks at Turin, and was in that city when
the Pope arrived there. His holiness had lodgings provided for him in
the royal palace; the Emperor went thither to see him, and set out the
next day by Asti for Alexandria; the Pope took the road to Casal on his
way back to Rome. At Alexandria the Emperor inspected the immense works
which, by his direction, were carrying on there. He held a review on the
field of Marengo; he put on that day the same coat and laced hat which
he wore in the engagement; the coat was quite moth-eaten."--SAVARY, tom.
ii., p. 80.
[100] See official account of the coronation of the Emperor of the
French, as king of Italy, at Milan, 26th May, 1805.--Annual Register,
vol. xlvii., p. 723. See also Botta, Storia d'Italia, tom. iv., p. 209;
Jomini, Vie Politique, tom. ii., p. 86.
[101] "After the ceremony of the coronation, the Emperor went in
procession to the Italian senate, where he invested Prince Eugene with
the viceroyalty of Italy."--SAVARY, tom. ii., p. 80.
[102] "During Napoleon's stay at Milan, he directed his attention
towards the embellishment of that city, with the same zeal as if it had
been Paris. He had always regretted that none of the governments of that
country had undertaken the completion of the cathedral of Milan, the
largest edifice of the kind, after St. Peter's at Rome. He ordered the
works to be immediately resumed, forbidding them to be interrupted on
any pretext whatever, and created a special fund for defraying the
expenses. To him the Milanese are indebted for the completion of that
noble structure."--SAVARY, tom. ii., p. 81.
[103] "The Doge and Senate had come to Milan to beg the Emperor to
accept them, and to incorporate them with the French empire. I have no
doubt that this resolution had been somewhat assisted. Such was the
state of this unfortunate republic, that its inhabitants were almost
famishing: the English closely blockaded it by sea; the French _douanes_
cooped it up by land: it had no territory, and could not, without
difficulty, procure wherewithal to subsist. Add to this, that whenever a
quarrel took place in Italy, the first thing was to send it a garrison,
which it had not the means of refusing. It had, therefore, all the
inconveniences arising from a union with France, without possessing any
of the advantages: it determined, therefore, to make application to be
incorporated with the empire."--SAVARY, tom. ii., p. 83. See also Botta,
tom. iv., p. 214; Dumas, Précis des Evénemens Militaires; and Jomini,
Vie Politique, tom. ii., p. 87.
[104] "In order to show himself to his new subjects, Napoleon traversed
his kingdom of Italy. Upon seeing the magnificent city of Genoa and its
picturesque environs, he exclaimed--'This is indeed worth a
war.'"--FOUCHÉ, tom. i., p. 286.
[105] "All the organisations of Italy were provisional. Napoleon wished
to make a single power of that great peninsula; for which reason he
reserved the iron crown to himself, in order to keep in his own hands
the direction of the different people of Italy. He preferred uniting
Genoa, Rome, Tuscany and Piedmont to the empire, rather than to the
kingdom of Italy, because the people of those countries preferred it;
because the imperial influence would be more powerful; because it was a
means of calling a great number of the inhabitants of those countries
into France, and of sending a number of French thither in exchange; and
because it would bring the conscripts and sailors of those provinces to
strengthen the French regiments, and the crews of Toulon."--NAPOLEON,
_Montholon_, tom. ii., p. 234.