PARIS, August, 1805.
MY LORD:--Although the seizure of Sir George Rumbold might in your
country, as well as everywhere else, inspire indignation, it could
nowhere justly excite surprise. We had crossed the Rhine seven months
before to seize the Duc d’Enghien; and when any prey invited, the passing
of the Elbe was only a natural consequence of the former outrage, of
audacity on our part, and of endurance or indifference on the part of
other Continental States. Talleyrand’s note at Aix-la-Chapelle had also
informed Europe that we had adopted a new and military diplomacy, and, in
confounding power with right, would respect no privileges at variance
with our ambition, interest or, suspicions, nor any independence it was
thought useful or convenient for us to invade.
It was reported here, at the time, that Bonaparte was much offended with
General Frere, who commanded this political expedition, for permitting
Sir George’s servant to accompany his master, as Fouche and Real had
already tortures prepared and racks waiting, and after forcing your agent
to speak out, would have announced his sudden death, either by his own
hands or by a coup-de-sang, before any Prussian note could require his
release. The known morality of our Government must have removed all
doubts of the veracity of this assertion; a man might, besides, from the
fatigues of a long journey, or from other causes, expire suddenly; but
the exit of two, in the same circumstances, would have been thought at
least extraordinary, even by our friends, and suspicious by our enemies.
The official declaration of Rheinhard (our Minister to the Circle of
Lower Saxony) to the Senate at Hamburg, in which he disavowed all
knowledge on the subject of the capture of Sir George Rumbold, occasioned
his disgrace. This man, a subject of the Elector of Wurtemberg by birth,
is one of the negative accomplices of the criminals of France who, since
the Revolution, have desolated Europe. He began in 1792 his diplomatic
career, under Chauvelin and Talleyrand, in London, and has since been the
tool of every faction in power. In 1796 he was appointed a Minister to
the Hanse Towns, and, without knowing why, he was hailed as the point of
rally to all the philosophers, philanthropists, Illuminati and other
revolutionary amateurs, with which the North of Germany, Poland, Denmark,
and Sweden then abounded.
A citizen of Hamburg--or rather, of the world--of the name of Seveking,
bestowed on him the hand of a sister; and though he is not accused of
avarice, some of the contributions extorted by our Government from the
neutral Hanse Towns are said to have been left behind in his coffers
instead of being forwarded to this capital. Either on this account, or
for some other reason, he was recalled from Hamburg in January, 1797, and
remained unemployed until the latter part of 1798, when he was sent as
Minister to Tuscany.
When, in the summer of 1799, Talleyrand was forced by the Jacobins to
resign his place as a Minister of the Foreign Department, he had the
adroitness to procure Rheinhard to be nominated his successor, so that,
though no longer nominally the Minister, he still continued to influence
the decisions of our Government as much as if still in office, because,
though not without parts, Rheinhard has neither energy of character nor
consistency of conduct. He is so much accustomed, and wants so much to
be governed, that in 1796, at Hamburg, even the then emigrants, Madame de
Genlis and General Valence, directed him, when he was not ruled or
dictated to by his wife or brother-in-law.
In 1800 Bonaparte sent him as a representative to the Helvetian Republic,
and in 1802, again to Hamburg, where he was last winter superseded by
Bourrienne, and ordered to an inferior station at the: Electoral Court at
Dresden. Rheinhard will never become one of those daring diplomatic
banditti whom revolutionary Governments always employ in preference. He
has some moral principles, and, though not religious, is rather
scrupulous. He would certainly sooner resign than undertake to remove by
poison, or by the steel of a bravo, a rival of his own or a person
obnoxious to his employers. He would never, indeed, betray the secrets
of his Government if he understood they intended to rob a despatch or to
atop a messenger; but no allurements whatever would induce him to head
the parties perpetrating these acts of our modern diplomacy.
Our present Minister at Hamburg (Bourrienne) is far from being so nice. A
revolutionist from the beginning of the Revolution, he shared, with the
partisans of La Fayette, imprisonment under Robespierre, and escaped
death only by emigration. Recalled afterwards by his friend, the late
Director (Barras), he acted as a kind of secretary to him until 1796,
when Bonaparte demanded him, having known him at the military college.
During all Bonaparte’s campaigns in Italy, Egypt, and Syria, he was his
sole and confidential secretary--a situation which he lost in 1802, when
Talleyrand denounced his corruption and cupidity because he had rivalled
him in speculating in the funds and profiting by the information which
his place afforded him. He was then made a Counsellor of State, but in
1803 he was involved in the fraudulent bankruptcy of one of our principal
houses to the amount of a million of livres--and, from his correspondence
with it, some reasons appeared for the suspicion that he frequently had
committed a breach of confidence against his master, who, after erasing
his name from among the Counsellors of State, had him conveyed a prisoner
to the Temple, where he remained six months. A small volume, called Le
Livre Rouge of the Consular Court, made its appearance about that time,
and contained some articles which gave Bonaparte reason to suppose that
Bourrienne was its author. On being questioned by the Grand Judge
Regnier and the Minister Fouce, before whom he was carried, he avowed
that he had written it, but denied that he had any intention of making it
public. As to its having found its way to the press during his
confinement, that could only be ascribed to the ill-will or treachery of
those police agents who inspected his papers and put their seals upon
them. “Tell Bonaparte,” said he, “that, had I been inclined to injure
him in the public opinion, I should not have stooped to such trifles as
Le Livre Rouge, while I have deposited with a friend his original orders,
letters, and other curious documents as materials for an edifying history
of our military hospitals during the campaigns of Italy and Syria all
authentic testimonies of his humanity for the wounded and dying French
soldiers.”
After the answers of this interrogatory had been laid before Bonaparte,
his brother Joseph was sent to the Temple to negotiate with Bourrienne,
who was offered his liberty and a prefecture if he would give up all the
original papers that, as a private secretary, he had had opportunity to
collect.
“These papers,” answered Bourrienne, “are my only security against your
brother’s wrath and his assassins. Were I weak enough to deliver them up
to-day, to-morrow, probably, I should no longer be counted among the
living; but I have now taken my measures so effectually that, were I
murdered to-day, these originals would be printed to-morrow. If Napoleon
does not confide in my word of honour, he may trust to an assurance of
discretion, with which my own interest is nearly connected. If he
suspects me of having wronged him, he is convinced also of the eminent
services I have rendered him, sufficient surely to outweigh his present
suspicion. Let him again employ me in any post worthy of him and of me,
and he shall soon see how much I will endeavour to regain his
confidence.”
Shortly afterwards Bourrienne was released, and a pension, equal to the
salary of a Counsellor of State; was granted him until some suitable
place became vacant. On Champagny’s being appointed a Minister of the
Home Department, the embassy at Vienna was demanded by Bourrienne, but
refused, as previously promised to La Rochefoucauld, our late Minister at
Dresden. When Rheinhard, in a kind of disgrace, was transferred to that
relatively insignificant post, Bourrienne was ordered, with extensive
instructions, to Hamburg. The Senate soon found the difference between a
timid and honest Minister, and an unprincipled and crafty intriguer. New
loans were immediately required from Hanover; but hardly were these
acquitted, than fresh extortions were insisted on. In some secret
conferences Bourrienne is, however, said to have hinted that some
douceurs were expected for alleviating the rigour of his instructions.
This hint has, no doubt, been taken, because he suddenly altered his
conduct, and instead of hunting the purses of the Germans, pursued the
persons of his emigrated countrymen; and, in a memorial, demanded the
expulsion of all Frenchmen who were not registered and protected by him,
under pretence that every one of them who declined the honour of being a
subject of Bonaparte, must be a traitor against the French Government and
his country.
Bourrienne is now stated to have connected himself with several
stock-jobbers, both in Germany, Holland, and England; and already to have
pocketed considerable sums by such connections. It is, however, not to
be forgotten that several houses have been ruined in this capital by the
profits allowed him, who always refused to share their losses, but,
whatever were the consequences, enforced to its full amount the payment
of that value which he chose to set on his communications.
A place in France would, no doubt, have been preferable to Bourrienne,
particularly one near the person of Bonaparte. But if nothing else
prevented the accomplishment of his wishes, his long familiarity with all
the Bonapartes, whom he always treated as equals, and even now (with the
exception of Napoleon) does not think his superiors, will long remain an
insurmountable barrier.
I cannot comprehend how Bonaparte (who is certainly no bad judge of men)
could so long confide in Bourrienne, who, with the usual presumption of
my countrymen, is continually boasting, to a degree that borders on
indiscretion, and, by an artful questioner, may easily be lead to
overstep those bounds. Most of the particulars of his quarrel with
Napoleon I heard him relate himself, as a proof of his great consequence,
in a company of forty individuals, many of whom were unknown to him. On
the first discovery which Bonaparte made of Bourrienne’s infidelity,
Talleyrand complimented him upon not having suffered from it. “Do you
not see,” answered Bonaparte, “that it is also one of the extraordinary
gifts of my extraordinary good fortune?
“Even traitors are unable to betray me. Plots respect me as much as
bullets.” I need not tell you that Fortune is the sole divinity
sincerely worshipped by Napoleon.