We were conducted to Kiow. We were there informed of the prodigies
performed by that handful of brave men who had not despaired of the
safety of their country. They had triumphed at Montmirail, at Sézanne,
at Champaubert, in every part where the enemy had dared to await
them. All Europe fled before them; the coalition was dissolved. The
obstinacy of a soldier snatched from us the fruits of victory. It
became necessary to fight and conquer again; but ammunition failed us;
the corps did not arrive, the generals were haranguing the troops to
make them capitulate. Every thing was lost; our glory, our conquests
vanished as a shadow; even the signs of them were repudiated.
The end of the coalition was attained. Our captivity was no longer
profitable; we were set at liberty. We returned to France: what a
spectacle did she present! The body of emigrants had invaded the army
and the anti-chambers; they were bending under the ensigns of command
and decorations. The first person that I met at the Tuileries was a
chief of a battalion, whom I had formerly assisted and protected: he
was become lieutenant-general; he did not know me again. Another,
who was with me a long time at Dantzic, had not a better memory.
This last person I had received at the recommendation of the Duke
de Cadore, I had experienced his sickening adulations: he used to
style me _Monseigneur_, your _Excellency_; he would willingly have
called me the _Eternal_. In proportion as I told him how much these
fooleries displeased me, he increased them; he even conceived the idea
of attending at my _levee_. If it had depended on him I must have
conceived myself a sovereign. His malversations delivered me from this
obstinate flatterer; they became so glaring that the government was
on the point of proceeding against him. I saved this gentleman from
the shame of punishment; but I made him retire: he went to exercise
his industry at.... He soon became acquainted with our reverses, was
alarmed, took post, and never stopped till he was on this side of the
Rhine: his fear had served him better than courage could have done. He
had large epaulets, and four or five decorations. This was well for
the opening of his career:—promotion does not go on so quickly on
the field of battle. He withdrew as soon as he saw me: apparently his
costume embarrassed him. I met a third, who, also, did not feel quite
at ease in my presence. Formerly attached to Josephine, he had given
proof of a truly exquisite foresight; in order to be provided against
all unforeseen cases which might occur in promenades and journeys, he
had provided himself with a silver gilt vessel. When a circumstance
required it, he drew it from his pocket, presented it, took it,
emptied it, wiped it, and put it away with care. This shewed the very
instinct of domesticity.
But all these worthies, so ardent for the treasury, for decorations
and commands, soon shewed the amount of their courage. Napoleon
appeared, they were eclipsed. They had flocked to Louis XVIII., the
dispenser of favours; but they had not a trigger to pull for Louis
XVIII. in misfortune. We tried a few dispositions; but the people, the
soldiers had never been accomplices of the humiliations of France;
they refused to fight against the colours that they adored, and the
Emperor peaceably resumed the reins of government.
Generals Bertrand and Lemarrois wrote to me to come to the Tuileries;
I returned to Paris. A new invitation was waiting for me at my hotel;
the grand-marshal informed me that his Majesty wished to see me. I
did not like to keep him waiting; I went just as I was, quite sure
that Napoleon would know how to appreciate duty and affection. I was
introduced immediately.
_Napoleon._ “You are there, Monsieur General Rapp; you have been much
wanted? Whence do you come?”
_Rapp._ “From Ecouen, where I have left my troops at the disposal of
the minister of war.”
_Napoleon._ “Did you really intend to fight against me?”
_Rapp._ “Yes, Sire.”
_Napoleon._ “The Devil!”
_Rapp._ “The determination was compulsory.”
_Napoleon._ (In an animated tone.) “F....! I was very well aware that
you were before me. If an engagement had taken place, I would have
sought you out on the field of battle: I would have shewn you the head
of Medusa: Would you have dared to fire at me?”
_Rapp._ “Undoubtedly,—my duty ...”
_Napoleon._ “This is going too far. But the soldiers would not have
obeyed you; they have preserved more affection for me. Besides, if you
had fired a single shot, your peasants of Alsace would have stoned
you.”
_Rapp._ “You will agree, Sire, that the situation was a very painful
one: you abdicate, you leave us, you engage us to serve the King; you
return. All the power of old recollections cannot deceive us.”
_Napoleon._ “How is that? What do you mean to say? Do you think that I
have returned without alliance, without an agreement?... Moreover, my
system is changed: no more war, no more conquests; I wish to reign in
peace, and promote the welfare of my subjects.”
_Rapp._ “You are pleased to say so; but your anti-chambers are already
full of those flatterers who have always encouraged your inclination
for arms.”
_Napoleon._ “Bah! bah!... Did you often go to the Tuileries?”
_Rapp._ “Sometimes, Sire.”
_Napoleon._ “How did those folks behave to you?”
_Rapp._ “I have no reason to complain of them.”
_Napoleon._ “The King appears to have received you well on your return
from Russia?”
_Rapp._ “Quite so, Sire.”
_Napoleon._ “Without doubt. Cajoled first, then sent about your
business. This is what would have befallen you all;—for, after all,
you were not their men; you could not suit them: other titles, other
rights were necessary to please them.”
_Rapp._ “The King delivered France from the Allies.”
_Napoleon._ “Very true; but at what price! and his engagements, has he
kept them? Why did he not hang Ferrand for his speech on the national
domains? It is that, it is the insolence of the nobles and priests
which made me leave the island of Elba. I might have come with three
millions of peasants who ran to me to tell their grievances, and offer
their services. But I was certain of not finding resistance in my
way to Paris. The Bourbons are very fortunate that I have returned:
without me they would at last have had a dreadful revolution.
“Have you read Chateaubriand's pamphlet, which does not even allow me
courage on the field of battle? Have you not sometimes seen me stand
fire? Am I a coward?”
_Rapp._ “I have felt, in common with all honourable men, indignation
at an accusation as unjust as it is mean.”
_Napoleon._ “Did you sometimes see the Duke d'Orleans?”
_Rapp._ “I only saw him once.”
_Napoleon._ “He is the only one who has discretion and tact! The
others have bad men about them and are very ill-advised. They do not
like me; they will now be more furious than ever; there is good reason
for it. I am arrived without striking a blow. They are now about to
cry me down as _ambitious_; that is their eternal reproach: they have
nothing else to say.”
_Rapp._ “They are not the only persons who accuse you of ambition.”
_Napoleon._ “How ... am I ambitious? When people are ambitious are
they as fat as I am?” (He struck his stomach with both hands).
_Rapp._ “Your Majesty jokes.”
_Napoleon._ “No: I have wished that France should be what she ought
to be; but I have never been ambitious. Besides, what do these folks
think of? It becomes them well to assume importance with the nation
and the army. Is it their courage on which they pride themselves?”
_Rapp._ “They have occasionally shewn some—in the army of Condé for
instance.”
_Napoleon._ “What is that order that I see on you?”
_Rapp._ “The Legion of Honour.”
_Napoleon._ “The Devil! They have had, however, the sense to make a
handsome decoration of it. And these two crosses here?” (He touched
them).
_Rapp._ “Saint Louis and the Lily.” (He smiled).
_Napoleon._ “What do you think of that ... Berthier, who did not
like to remain. He will return; I forgive him all; on one condition
however—it is, that he will wear his _garde du corps_ uniform to
appear before me. But enough of this. Well, General Rapp, we must
serve France once more, and we shall rescue ourselves from the
condition in which we are.”
_Rapp._ “Confess, Sire, (since you have had the goodness sometimes to
permit me to speak to you freely), confess that you were wrong in not
making peace at Dresden? every thing was repaired if you had concluded
it. Do you recollect my reports on the spirit of Germany? you treated
them as pamphlets; you blamed me.”
_Napoleon._ “I could not make peace at Dresden; the Allies were not
sincere. Besides, if every one had done his duty at the renewal of
hostilities, I should again have been the master of the world. I had
already gained to my side 32,000 Austrians.”
_Rapp._ “It is only a moment since your Majesty had no ambition, and
now we hear again of the sovereignty of the world.”
_Napoleon._ “Ah! well, that's true.—Besides, Marmont, the senators....
My plan was arranged so as not to let a single ally escape.”
_Rapp._ “All these misfortunes are the consequence of the reverses at
Leipsic: you might have prevented them by accepting peace at Dresden.”
_Napoleon._ “You are ignorant what such a peace would have been:” (and
suddenly growing warm,) “Would you be afraid to go to war again; you,
who have been my aide-de-camp for fifteen years? On your return from
Egypt, at the death of Desaix, you were nothing but a soldier; I have
made a man of you: now you may pretend to any thing.”
_Rapp._ “I have never let slip any opportunity of shewing my gratitude
to you for it; and if I am yet alive, it is not my fault.”
_Napoleon._ “I shall never forget your conduct in the retreat from
Moscow. Ney and you are of that small number who have the soul
thoroughly well tempered. Besides, at your siege of Dantzic you did
more than impossibilities.”
Napoleon fell on my neck and pressed me with vehemence against him for
at least two minutes, He embraced me several times, and said to me,
pulling my mustachios—
“Come, come, a hero of Egypt and Austerlitz can never forsake me.
You shall take the command of the army of the Rhine, while I treat
with the Austrians and Russians. I hope that, in a month's time, you
will receive my wife and son at Strasburg. It is my pleasure that from
this evening you perform the duty of my _aide-de-camp_. Write to Count
Maison to come to embrace me; he is a brave man, I wish to see him.”
Napoleon related a part of this conversation to some persons about
him. He told them that I had spoken to him with too great liberty,
and that he had pulled my ears. Fortune smiled on him. The courtiers
came round him in multitudes:—it was enthusiasm, devotion: they boiled
with zeal. These protestations had not, however, all the effect they
had promised themselves. Many were rejected; one particularly, who
persisted in obtruding his services, was repulsed with severity.
Loaded with favours, gold, and dignities, he had overwhelmed his
unfortunate benefactor with insults; he was treated with loathing
and contempt. These gentlemen boast at present of an incorruptible
fidelity. They find fault with the indulgence of the King in the
saloons of the Faubourg Saint-Germain. They would like to see all
those who were employed during the hundred days led to the scaffold.
Chance has served them, appearances are for them; let it be so:
but the generals, the ministers of Napoleon, the officers attached
to his person, know full well what to think of these stoics of
the ante-chamber. Sooner or later the royal government will be
enlightened: there is wherewithal to supply the place of the red book.
Napoleon sent for me on the 29th of March, and informed me that I
must set out for the army of the Rhine. He gave me the grand eagle
of the Legion of Honour, which he had destined for me after the
siege of Dantzic. He told me that within fifteen days my forces
should be raised to 40,000 men, (I had 15,000 at the commencement
of hostilities); I observed to him that this was very little in
comparison with those that we were going to have on our hands; that
the Congress (its declaration was already known) threatened us with
a deluge of soldiers. “The declaration you allude to is false,” he
replied angrily; “it was fabricated at Paris: however, go. Lecourbe
will command in Franche Comté; Suchet in the Alps; Clausel on the
Garonne. We have great chance of success. Gerard goes to Metz: he has
just tormented me to give him that Bourmont, I yielded to him with
regret: I never liked that man's countenance.”
“The propositions I have made to the Sovereigns have been coldly
received. Nevertheless all hopes of arrangement are not destroyed.
It is possible that the energy with which opinion is pronounced,
may incline them to sentiments of peace. I am going to make another
attempt. This is the letter that I write to them:
“Sir, my Brother.
“You will have learnt in the course of the last month, my return
to the coasts of France, my entry into Paris, and the departure
of the family of the Bourbons. The true nature of these events
must already be known to your Majesty. They are the work of an
irresistible power, the work of the unanimous wish of a great
nation which knows its duties, and its rights. The dynasty, which
force restored to the French people, was not made for them. The
Bourbons have not consented to link themselves either to their
opinions or their manners. France had a right to separate herself
from them. Her voice called for a liberator. The hope which
prompted me on to the greatest of sacrifices had been deceived.
I came, and from the point at which I reached the shore, the
love of my people has borne me even to the bosom of my capital.
The first wish of my heart is to repay so much kindness by the
maintenance of an honourable peace. The reestablishment of the
Imperial Throne was necessary for the happiness of the French:
my most earnest wish is to render it, at the same time, useful
to the consolidation of the repose of Europe. Enough glory has
shone by turns around the colours of different nations; the
vicissitudes of fortune have often enough made great calamities
follow great successes. A finer arena is open to-day to
Sovereigns, and I am the first to descend into it: after having
presented to the world the spectacle of great combats, it will
be more pleasant henceforth to know no other rivalry than that
of the advantages of peace; and no other struggle than the holy
contest, whose people shall be most happy. France hastens to
proclaim with frankness this noble end of her wishes. Jealous
of her own independence, the invariable principle of her policy
will be the most unbounded respect for the independence of other
nations. If, happily, such are, as I trust they are, the personal
sentiments of your Majesty, a general calm is secured for a long
time, and justice seated on the confines of the different states,
will suffice alone to guard their frontiers.
“I am with esteem, &c.”
But all overtures were useless. He was above human stature; he secured
the supremacy of France; this was the grievance which nothing could
counterbalance; I was convinced of it. His destruction was resolved on.
I set out for Alsace: the hostile attitude of foreign courts had
excited general indignation in that province: all generous minds,
all who abhor a foreign yoke, were preparing themselves to repulse
this league of kings, who, under pretext of fighting with one man,
only sought to enrich themselves with our spoils. The inhabitants,
by concert and by a spontaneous movement, had rushed to the heights
which command the defiles, to the roads or passages, and laboured
at the construction of entrenchments; women and children put their
hands to the work. They diverted and animated each other, by singing
patriotic songs. There was between all the citizens a rivalry in
zeal and devotion; some raised redoubts, others cast balls, mounted
old muskets, and fitted the cartouches. In fine, every hand was in
movement, every one wished to labour in the common defence.
An affecting scene, and worthy of ancient times, took place at
Mulhausen, when I arrived there. A ball was given, the most
distinguished persons of the town were met, the assembly was
brilliant and numerous. Towards the close of the evening, war and
invasion of the territory were talked of; every one communicated his
advice, every one told his hopes and his fears.
The ladies were talking together, and conversed on the dangers of
their country. On a sudden one of the youngest proposed to her
companions that they should swear, never to marry any Frenchman who
had not defended the frontiers. Cries of joy, clapping of hands,
resounded from every part of the room. The looks of all present were
directed towards the ladies; the rest of the company came up, and
crowded round them. I went with the throng, I applauded this generous
proposal, I had the honour of administering the oath, which every one
of the fair patriots came to receive at my hands.
This trait recalls the marriage of the Samnites, but it has something
perhaps still more admirable in it: that which was an institution
among the people in question, was with us the effect of a spontaneous
resolution; with them patriotism was in the law, with us it was in the
hearts of our fair countrywomen.