white flag on the again reared walls of the Bastile, and the Camp of
Jalès been dominant at Marseilles.
_Marseillese._--La Vendée is anxious for a king--a counter-revolution:
the war of La Vendée, of the camp of Jalès, is that of fanaticism, of
despotism. Ours, on the contrary, is that of true Republicans, friends
of the laws, of order; enemies of anarchy and of bad men. Is not ours
the tri-coloured flag? and what interest could we have in wishing for
slavery?
_Militaire._--I well know that the people of Marseilles differ widely
from those of La Vendée as to the subject of counter-revolution. The
people of La Vendée are robust and healthy: the people of Marseilles
weak and sickly. They stand in need of honey, to induce them to swallow
the pill: to establish among them the new doctrine, they must be
deceived. But after four years of revolution, after so many plots, and
counterplots, and conspiracies, all the perversity of human nature has
been developed under all its different aspects, and bad men have
perfected their subtlety. You have, you say, the tri-coloured flag?
Paoli also hoisted it in Corsica to have time to deceive the people, to
crush the true friends of liberty, to entice his countrymen to join him
in his ambitious and criminal projects; he hoisted the tri-coloured
flag, and he nevertheless fired upon the vessels of the Republic, and
drove our troops from the fortresses; he disarmed all the detachments he
could surprise; he collected forces to drive the garrison from the
island; he plundered the magazines, selling at a low price every thing
found within them, to secure money to carry on his revolt; he
confiscated the property of the wealthiest families, because they were
attached to the unity of the Republic; he got himself appointed
generalissimo, and he declared all those who should continue in our
armies enemies of their country. Before this, he had caused the failure
of the expedition to Sardinia; and yet he had the shamelessness to call
himself the friend of France and a good Republican; and he deceived the
Convention still, after all. He acted, in short, in such a way, that
when at length he was unmasked by his own letters found at Calvi,--it
was too late,--the fleets of our enemies intercepted all intercourse
with the island.
It is no longer to words that we must trust. We must analyse deeds; and
in appreciating yours, it is easy, you must acknowledge, to show you to
be counter-revolutionary. Take my advice, people of Marseilles: shake
off the yoke of the handful of wretches who are leading you to a
counter-revolution; restore your constituted authorities; accept the
constitution; liberate the representatives; let them go to Paris and
intercede for you: you have been misled--it is no new thing for the
people to be so--by a few conspirators and intriguers. In all ages, the
flexibility and ignorance of the multitude have been the causes of most
civil wars.
_Marseillese._--Ah! sir, who is to bring the good about? Can it be the
refugees who arrive on all sides from the department? They are
interested in acting with desperation. Can it be those who at this
moment govern us? Are not they in the same situation? Can it be the
people? One portion of them knows nothing of its real position; it is
blinded and _fanaticized_; the other portion is disarmed, suspected,
humbled. I see, therefore, with deep affliction, miseries without
remedy.
_Militaire._--At last you are brought to reason. Why should not a like
change be effected in the minds of a large portion of your
fellow-citizens, who are deluded and sincere? In that case, Albitte, who
can have no other wish than to spare French blood, will send you some
honest and able man; matters will be arranged; and without a moment's
delay, the army will march under the walls of Perpignan, to make the
Spaniard dance the Carmagnole; and Marseilles will continue to be the
centre of gravity to liberty. The only thing necessary will be to tear a
few leaves out of its history.
This happy prognostic put us all in excellent humour. The citizens of
Marseilles, with great readiness, treated us to some bottles of
champagne, which dispelled all our doubts and anxieties. We retired to
rest at two in the morning, having agreed to meet again at breakfast;
where my new acquaintance had still many doubts to suggest, and I many
interesting truths to impart.
_July 29, 1793._
FOOTNOTES:
[661] A small town in the department of Vaucluse, four leagues east of
Avignon, having resisted Cartaux's army, was carried by assault, 26th
July, 1793.--S.
No. IV.
LETTERS OF NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE.
[See p. 166.]
[In the first Edition of this Work, Sir Walter Scott introduced,
by way of foot notes, a few translations from the Letters of
Napoleon and Josephine during the campaign of 1796, published in
1824 by Mr. Tennant. But the larger collection of those letters,
edited by Josephine's daughter, the Duchess of St. Leu, had not
then appeared. We now reprint the _versions_ which Sir Walter
thought fit to give; and append to them some specimens of the
native style and orthography of the correspondence.]
(1.)
NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE.
(_Translation._)
"_Port Maurice, the 14th Germinal,
(April 4,) 1796._
"I have received all thy letters: but not one of them has affected me so
much as thy last. Dost thou think, my adorable love, of writing to me in
such terms? Dost thou imagine, then, that my position is not already
cruel enough, without an increase of my sorrows, and an overthrow of my
soul? What a style! what sentiments dost thou describe. They are of
fire--they burn my poor heart. My only Josephine!--far from thee there
is no joy;--far from thee the world is a desert, where I remain an
isolated being, without enjoying the sweets of confidence. Thou hast
deprived me of more than my soul; thou art the only thought of my life.
If I am tired of the troubles of business--if I dread the result--if
mankind disgust me--if I am ready to curse this life--I place my hand
upon my heart--there thy portrait beats--I look at it, and love becomes
to me absolute happiness; all is smiling, save the time when I am
separated from my beloved.
"By what is it that thou hast been able to captivate all my faculties,
and to concentrate in thyself my moral existence? It is a magic, my
sweet love, which will finish only with my life. To live for
Josephine--there is the history of my life. I am trying to reach thee--I
am dying to be near thee. Fool that I am, I do not perceive that I
increase the distance between us. What lands, what countries separate
us! What a time before you read these weak expressions of a troubled
soul in which you reign! Ah! my adorable wife! I know not what fate
awaits me, but if it keep me much longer from thee, it will be
insupportable--my courage will not go so far. There was a time when I
was proud of my courage; and sometimes, when contemplating on the ills
that man could do me, on the fate which destiny could reserve for me, I
fixed my eyes steadfastly on the most unheard-of misfortunes without a
frown, without alarm. But now, the idea that my Josephine may be unwell,
the idea that she may be ill, and, above all, the cruel, the fatal
thought, that she may love me less, withers my soul, stops my blood,
renders me sad, cast down, and leaves me not even the courage of fury
and despair. Formerly I used often to say to myself, men cannot hurt him
who can die without regret; but now, to die without being loved by thee,
to die without that certainty, is the torment of hell; it is the lively
and striking image of absolute annihilation--I feel as if I were
stifled. My incomparable companion, thou whom fate has destined to make
along with me the painful journey of life, the day on which I shall
cease to possess thy heart will be the day on which parched nature will
be to me without warmth or vegetation.
"I stop, my sweet love, my soul is sad--my body is fatigued--my head is
giddy--men disgust me--I ought to hate them--they separate me from my
beloved.
"I am at Port Maurice, near Oneille; to-morrow I shall be at Albenga;
the two armies are in motion--We are endeavouring to deceive each
other--Victory to the most skilful! I am pretty well satisfied with
Beaulieu--If he alarm me much, he is a better man than his predecessor.
I shall beat him I hope in good style. Do not be uneasy--love me as your
eyes--but that is not enough--as yourself, more than yourself, than your
thought, your mind, your sight, your all. Sweet love, forgive me--I am
sinking. Nature is weak for him who feels strongly, for him whom you
love!!"
(2.)
"_Albenga, 16th Germinal, (April 6.)_
"[It is one hour after midnight. They have just brought me a letter. It
is sad--my soul is affected by it: It is the death of Chauvet. He was
commissary-in-chief of the army. You have seen him sometimes with
Barras. My love, I feel the want of consolation that is to be obtained
by writing to thee--to thee alone!--Chauvet is dead! He was attached to
me. He has rendered essential services to his country. His last words
were, that he was setting off to join me. Soul of my existence! write to
me by every courier, otherwise I cannot live. I am here very much
occupied; Beaulieu moves his army. We are in sight. I am a little
fatigued; I am every day on horseback. Adieu, adieu, adieu. I am going
to sleep. Sleep consoles me--it places me at thy side. But alas! on
waking, I find myself three hundred leagues from thee!"
(3.)
"_Albenga, 18 Germinal, (April 8.)_
"My brother [Joseph] is here. He has heard of my marriage with pleasure.
He is most anxious to know thee. I am trying to decide him to go to
Paris. His wife has been brought to bed of a girl. He sends you a
present of a box of Genoese sugar-plums. You will receive some oranges,
perfumes, and orange-flower water, which I send you. Junot and Murat
present you their respects."]
(4.)
"_Headquarters, Carru, April 24._
"TO MY SWEET LOVE,
"My brother [Joseph] will give you this letter. I have the warmest
regard for him. I hope he will obtain yours. He merits it. Nature has
endowed him with a character, gentle, equal, and unchangeably good. He
is made up of good qualities. I have written to Barras, that he may be
appointed consul in some part of Italy. He wishes to live with his
little wife, far away from the great whirlwind, and from great affairs.
I recommend him to thee.
"Junot carries to Paris twenty-two standards. You must return with him.
Should he come without thee--misfortune without remedy, grief without
consolation, endless sufferings!--My adorable love, he will see thee--he
will breathe in thy temple--perhaps even thou wilt accord him the rare
and invaluable favour of a kiss on thy cheek. And I--I shall be alone,
and far, very far away. But thou art coming, art thou not? Take
wings!--come! come! but travel gently--the road is long, bad, fatiguing.
If you were to be overturned, or to be taken ill! If the fatigue * * *.
Go gently, my adorable love: but be often and rapidly with me in your
thoughts.
"I have received a letter from Hortense. She is altogether lovely. I am
going to write to her. I love her dearly, and I will soon send her the
perfumes she wishes to have.
"I do not know whether you want money, for you have never spoken to me
of these matters. If you do, speak to my brother, who has 200 Louis of
mine.--N. B."
(5.)
_tortone midi le 27 prarial._
A Josephine
Ma vie est un cochemar perpetuel un presentiment funeste m empeche de
respirer. je ne vis plus j'ai perdu plus que la vie plus que le bonheur
plus que le repos je suis presque sans espoir. je t expedie un courrier.
il ne restera que 4 heure a paris et puis m aportera ta reponse--ecris
moi 10 pages cela seul peut me consoler un peu--tu es malade, tu m aime,
je t ai affligé, tu es grosse et je te ne vois pas! cett idée me
confond. j'ai tant de tord avec toi que je ne sais comment les expier je
t accuse de rester a paris et tu y etois malade--pardonne moi ma bonne
amie l amour que tu m a inspiré m a ote la raison je ne la retrouverai
jamais l'on ne guerit pas de ce mal la. mes presentimens sont si
funestes que je me bornerois a te voir te presser 2 heures contre mon
cœur et mourir ensemble! qu est ce qui a soin de toi. j'imagine que
tu a fait appeller hortense j aime mille fois plus cet aimable enfant
depuis que je pense qu'elle peut te consoler un peu quand a moi point de
consolation point de repos, point d espoir jusqu 'a ce que j' ai reçu le
courrier que je t expedie et que par une longue lettre tu m explique ce
que c est que maladie et jusqu' a quel point elle doit etre serieuse--si
elle est dangereuse, je t en previens je pars de suite pour paris. mon
arrivé vaudra ta maladie. J'ai ete toujours heureux. jamais mon sort n a
resiste a ma volonte et aujourdhui je suis frappe dans ce qui me touche
uniquement. Josephine comment peut tu rester tant de tems sans m
ecrire--ta derniere lettre laconique est du 3 du mois encore est elle
affligante pour moi je l ai cependant toujours dans ma poche--ton
portrait et tes lettres sont sans cesse devant mes yeux.
je ne suis rien sans toi je concois a peine comment j ai existe sans te
connoitre ah! Josephine si tu eusse connu mon cœur serois tu rester
depuis le 29 au 16 pour partir? aurois tu prete l oreil a des amis
perfides qui vouloient peutetre te tenir eloignée de moi? je l avoue*
tout le monde, j en veux a tout ce qui t entourre je te calculois partie
depuis le 5 et le 15 arrivé a Milan.
josephine si tu m 'aime si tu crois que tout depend de ta conservation,
ménage toi, je n ose pas te dire de ne pas entreprendre un voyage si
long et dans les chaleurs a moins si tu es dans le cas de fair la route
va a petites journées ecris moi a toutes les couchés et expedie moi d
avance tes lettres.
toutes mes pensées sont concentrées dans ton alcove dans ton lit sur ton
cœur ta maladie voyla ce qui m occupe la nuit et le jour--sans
apetit, sans someil, sans interet pour l amitie, pour la gloire, pour la
patrie, toi, toi et le reste du monde n existe pas plus pour moi que s
il etoit anneanti je tiens a l honneur puisque tu y tiens, a la victoire
puisque cela te fait plaisir sans quoi j aurois tout quitte pour me
rendre a tes pieds.
quelquefois je me dis je m allarme sans raison deja elle est guerie elle
part elle est partie, elle est peutetre deja a lion--vaine
imagination--tu es dans ton lit souffrante, plus belle, plus
interessante plus adorable tu es palle et tes yeux sont plus languissans
mais quand sera tu guerie? si un de nous deux devoit etre malade ne doit
il pas etre moi, plus robuste et plus courageux jeusse suporte la
maladie plus facilement la destinée est cruelle elle me frappe dans toi.
ce qui me console quelque fois c est de penser qu il depend du sort de
te rende malade mais qu il ne depend de personne de m obliger a te
survivre.
dans ta lettre ma bonne amie aie soin de me dire que tu est convaincue
que je t aime au dela de ce qu il est possible d imaginer, que tu es
persuade que tous mes instans te sont consacrés que jamais il ne se
passe une heure sans penser à toi, que jamais il ne m est venu dans l
idée de penser a une autre femme qu elles sont toutes a mes yeux sans
grace sans beauté et sans esprit que toi toi toute entière telle que je
te vois telle que tu est pouvoit me plaire et absorber toutes les
facultes de mon ame que tu en a touché toute l etendue que mon cœur n
a point de replis que tu ne voye, point de pensées qui ne te sont
subordonnes, que mes forces mes bras mon esprit sont tout a toi, que mon
ame est dans ton corps, et que le jour ou tu aurois change ou ou tu
cesserois de vivre seroit celui de ma mort, que la nature, la terre n
est belle a mes yeux que parceque tu l habite--si tu ne crois pas tout
cela si ton ame n'en est pas convaincue penetree, tu m afflige, tu ne m
aime pas--il est un fluide magnetique entre les personnes qui s
aiment----tu sais bien que jamais je ne pourrois te voir un amant encore
moins t en offrir un, lui dechirois le cœur et le voir seroit pour
moi la meme chose et puis si je [+] porter la main sur ta personne
sacrée--non je ne l'oserai jamais mais je sorterois d une vie ou ce qui
existe de plus vertueuse m auroit trompé.
Mais je suis sur et fier de ton amour--les malheurs sont des epreuves
qui nous decellent mutuelment toute la force de notre passion un enfant
adorable comme la maman va voir le jour et pourroit passer plusieurs ans
dans tes bras--infortuné! je me contenterais d une journèe--Mille baise
sur tes yeux, sur tes levres sur ta langue sur ton cœur--adorable
femme quelle est ton ascendant je suis bien malade de ta maladie,j ai
encore une fiévre brulante! ne garde pas plus de 6 heure le Simple* et
qu il retourne de suite me porter la lettre cherie de ma Souveraine.
te souviens tu de ce reve ou j etois tes souliers tes chiffons et je te
faisois entrer toute entière dans mon cœur--pourquoi la nature n
a-t-elle pas arrange cela comme cela--il y a bien des choses a faire.
N. B.
A la Citoyenne
Bonaparte,
Rue Chautreine, No. 6
Paris.
(6.)
_de Pistoa en toscane le 8 messidor._
A Josephine,
Depuis un mois je n'ai reçu de ma bonne amie que 2 billets de trois
lignes chacun--a-t-elle des affaires? celle d'écrire a son bon ami n'est
donc pas un besoin pour elle des lors celle d'y penser--vivre sans
penser a josephine ce seroit pour ton mari etre mort et ne pas
exister--ton image embelit ma pensée et egaye le tableau sinistre et
noire de la melancolie et de la douleur----un jour peutetre viendra ou
je te verai, car je ne doute pas que tu ne sois encore a paris et bien
ce jour la je te montrerai mes poches pleines de lettres que je ne t'ai
pas envoyé par qu'elles etoient trop bete, bien c'est le mot. bon dieu
dis mois toi qui sais si bien faire aimer les autres sans aimer saurez
tu me guerir de l'amour??? je pairai ce remede bien chère tu devois
partir le 5 prairal--bon que j'etois je tendois le 13 comme si une jolie
femme pouvoit abandoner ses habitudes, ses amis, et Me. tallien et un
diné chez baras, et une representation d'une piece nouvelle et fontane*
oui fontane* tu aime tout plus que ton mari tu n'a pour lui qu'un peu
d'estime et une portion de cette bienveillance dont ton cœur abonde
tous les jours [+][+] recapituler tes tord, tes fautes je me bat le
flanc pour ne te plus aimer bah n' est* ce* pas que je taime davantage
enfin mon incomparable petite mere je vais te dire mon secret. Mocque
toi de moi reste a Paris, aie des amans, que tout le monde le sache, n
ecris jamais eh! bien je t en aimerai 10 fois davantage--et ce n est pas
folie fiévre delire!! et je ne guerirai pas de cela--oh si par dieu j'en
guerirai--mais ne vas pas me dire que tu es malade--n entrepend pas de
te justifie bon dieu tu es pardonnée je t aime a la folie et jamais mon
pauvre cœur ne cessera de donner tout* a* l'*amour* si tu ne m aimois
pas mon sort seroit bien byzare. tu ne m'a pas ecrit--tu etois
malade--tu n es pas venue. [+][+] n'a pas voulu et puis ta maladie et
puis ce petit enfant qui se remuoit si fort qu il te faisoit mal? mais
tu as passe lion tu seras le 10 a turin le 12 a milan ou tu m atendira.
tu seras en italie et je serois encore loin de toi--adieu, ma bien aimé,
un baisé sur ta bouche--un autre sur ton cœur--et un autre sur ton
petit enfants.
Nous avons fait la paix avec Rome qui nous donne de l'argent--nous
serons demain a livourne et le plutot que je pourrois dans tes bras, a
tes pieds, sur ton sein.
A la Citoyenne
Bonaparte,
Rue chautreinne No. 6
Paris.
No. V.
DESCENT OF THE FRENCH IN SOUTH WALES, UNDER GENERAL TATE.
[See p. 199.]
We have found some curious particulars respecting Tate's descent in the
Memoirs of Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the unfortunate and misguided
Irish gentlemen who were engaged in the Rebellion 1796, and who, being
taken on his return to Ireland with a French expedition, was condemned
and executed there. The author, for whom we entertain much compassion,
seems to have been a gallant light-hearted Irishman, his head full of
scraps of plays, and his heart in a high fever on account of the
supposed wrongs which his country had sustained at the hands of Great
Britain. His hatred, indeed, had arisen to a pitch which seems to have
surprised himself, as appears from the conclusion of the following
extracts, which prove that nothing less than the total destruction of
Bristol was expected from Tate and his merry-men, who had been
industriously picked out as the greatest reprobates of the French army.
We have that sort of opinion of Citizen Wolfe Tone, which leads us to
think he would have wept heartily had he been to witness the havoc of
which he seems ambitious to be an instrument. The violence of his
expressions only shows how civil war and political fury can deform and
warp the moral feelings. But we should have liked to have seen Pat's
countenance when he learned that the Bande Noire had laid down their
arms to a handful of Welsh militia, backed by the appearance of a body
of market women, with red cloaks, (such was the fact,) whom they took
for the head of a supporting column. Even these attempts at pillage, in
which they were supposed so dexterous, were foiled by the exertions of
the sons of Owen Glendower. The only blood spilt was that of a French
straggler, surprised by a Welsh farmer in the act of storming his
hen-roost. The bold Briton knocked the assailant on the head with his
flail, and, not knowing whom he had slain, buried him in the dunghill,
until he learned by the report of the country that he had slain a French
invader, when he was much astonished and delighted with his own valour.
Such was the event of the invasion; Mr. Tone will tell us what was
expected.
_Nov. 1st and 2d, 1796, (Brest.)_
Colonel Shee tells me that General Quantin has been dispatched from
Flushing with 2000 of the greatest reprobates in the French army, to
land in England, and do as much mischief as possible, and that we have
3000 of the same stamp, whom we are also to disgorge on the English
coast....
_Nov. 24th and 25th._
Colonel Tate, an American officer, has offered his services, and the
general has given him the rank of chef-de-brigade, and 1050 men of the
Legion Noire, in order to go on a bucaneering party into England.
Excepting some little errors in the locality, which, after all, may seem
errors to me from my own ignorance, the instructions are incomparably
well drawn; they are done, or at least corrected, by the general
himself; and if Tate be a dashing fellow, with military talents, he may
play the devil in England before he is caught. His object is Liverpool;
and I have some reason to think the scheme has resulted from a
conversation I had a few days since with Colonel Shee, wherein I told
him that, if we were once settled in Ireland, I thought we might make a
piratical visit in that quarter; and, in fact, I wish it was we that
should have the credit and profit of it. I should like, for example, to
pay a visit to Liverpool myself, with some of the gentlemen from Ormond
Quay, though I must say the citizens of the Legion Noire are very little
behind my countrymen either in appearance or morality, which last has
been prodigiously cultivated by three or four campaigns in Bretagne and
La Vendée. A thousand of these desperadoes, in their black jackets, will
edify John Bull exceedingly, if they get safe into Lancashire.
_Nov. 26th._
To-day, by the general's orders, I have made a fair copy of Colonel
Tate's instructions, with some alterations from the rough draught of
yesterday, particularly with regard to his first destination, which is
now fixed to be Bristol. If he arrives safe, it will be very possible to
carry it by a _coup-de-main_, in which case he is to burn it to the
ground. I cannot but observe here that I transcribed, with the greatest
_sang froid_, the orders to reduce to ashes the third city of the
British dominions, in which there is, perhaps, property to the amount of
L.5,000,000.
No. VI.
BUONAPARTE'S CAMP LIBRARY.
[See p. 203.]
BIBLIOTHÈQUE DU CAMP.
_Sciences et Arts._
VOL.
Mondes de Fontenelle, 1
Lettres à une Princess d'Allemagne, 2
Le Cours de l'Ecole--Normande, 6
Aide nécessaire pour l'Artillerie, 1
Traité des Fortifications, 3
Traité des Feux--d'Artifice, 1
_Géographie et Voyages._
Géographie de Barclay, 12
Voyages de Cook, 3
Voyages Française de la Harpe, 24
_Histoire._
Plutarque, 12
Turenne, 2
Condé, 4
Villars, 4
Luxembourg, 2
Duguesclin, 2
Saxe, 3
Mémoires des Maréchaux de France, 20
President Henault, 4
Chronologie, 2
Marlborough, 4
Prince Eugene, 6
Histoire Philosophique des Indes, 12
D'Allemagne, 2
Charles XII., 1
Essai sur les Mœurs des Nations, 6
Pierre-le-Grand, 1
Polybe, 6
Justin, 2
Arrien, 3
Tacite, 2
Tite-Live,
Thucydide, 2
Vertot, 4
Denina, 8
Frédéric II., 8
_Poésie._
Ossian, 1
Tasse, 6
Arioste, 6
Homère, 6
Virgile, 4
Henriade, 1
Télémaque, 2
Les Jardins, 1
Les Chefs-d'Œuvre du Théâtre-Français, 20
Poésies Légères (choisies,) 10
Fontaine,
_Romans._
Voltaire, 4
Héloise, 4
Werther, 1
Marmontel, 4
Romans Anglais, 40
Le Sage, 10
Prevost, 10
_Politique et Morale._
Le Vieux Testament.
Le Nouveau.
Le Coran.
Le Vedam.
Mythologie.
Montesquieu--L'Esprit des Lois.
(In all, about 320 vols.)
No. VII.
BUONAPARTE, MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, TO THE
PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
[See p. 212.]
_Alexandria, July the ____, 6th Year of the Republic, One and
Indivisible, the ____ of the Month of Muharrem, the Year of the Hegira
1213._
For a long time the Beys, who govern Egypt, have insulted the French
nation, and covered her merchants with injuries: the hour of their
chastisement is come.
For too long a time this rabble of slaves, purchased in Caucasus and in
Georgia, has tyrannized over the fairest part of the world; but God, on
whom every thing depends, has decreed that their empire shall be no
more.
People of Egypt! you will be told that I am come to destroy your
religion; do not believe it. Reply, that I am come to restore your
rights, to punish usurpators; and that I reverence more than the
Mameloucs themselves, God, his prophet Mahomet, and the Koran!
Tell them that all men are equal before God. Wisdom, talents, and
virtue, are the only things which make a difference between them.
Now, what wisdom, what talents, what virtues, have the Mameloucs, that
they should boast the exclusive possession of every thing that can
render life agreeable?
If Egypt is their farm, let them show the lease which God has given them
of it! But God is just and merciful to the people.
All the Egyptians shall be appointed to all the public situations. The
most wise, the most intelligent, and the most virtuous, shall govern;
and the people shall be happy.
There were formerly among you great cities, great canals, and a great
commerce. What has destroyed them all? What! but the avarice, the
injustice, and the tyranny of the Mameloucs.
Cadis, Cheiks, Imans, Tchorbadgis! tell the people that we are the
friends of the true Mussulmans. Is it not we, who have destroyed the
Pope; who said that it was necessary to make war on Mussulmans? Is it
not we, who have destroyed the Knights of Malta, because these madmen
believed that it was the good pleasure of God, that they should make war
on Mussulmans? Is it not we, who have been in all ages the friends of
the Grand Signior, (on whose desires be the blessings of God!) and the
enemy of his enemies? And, on the contrary, have not the Mameloucs
always revolted against the authority of the Grand Signior, which they
refuse to recognize at this moment?
Thrice happy those who shall be with us! they shall prosper in their
fortune and their rank. Happy those who shall be neutral! they shall
have time to know us thoroughly, and they will range themselves on our
side.
But woe, woe, woe, to those who shall take up arms in favour of the
Mameloucs, and combat against us! There shall be no hope for them: they
shall all perish.
(Signed) BUONAPARTE.
A true copy.
(Signed) BERTHIER.
No. VIII.
HISTORICAL NOTES ON THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE.[662]
[See p. 266.]
The following facts, which have never been made public, but with which
we have been favoured from an authentic channel, throw particular light
on the troubled period during which Napoleon assumed the supreme
power--the risks which he ran of being anticipated in his aim, or of
altogether missing it.
In the end of July, 1799, when all those discontents were fermenting,
which afterwards led to the Revolution of the 18th Brumaire.
General Augereau, with one of the most celebrated veterans of the
Republican army, attended by a deputation of six persons, amongst whom
were Salicetti and other members of Convention, came on a mission to
General Bernadotte, their minister at war, at an early hour in the
morning.
Their object was to call the minister's attention to a general report,
which announced that there was to be a speedy alteration of the
constitution and existing order of things. They accused Barras, Siêyes,
and Fouché, as being the authors of these intrigues. It was generally
believed, they said, that one of the directors (Barras) was for
restoring the Bourbons; another (Siêyes is probably meant) was for
electing the Duke of Brunswick. The deputation made Bernadotte
acquainted with their purpose of fulminating a decree of arrest against
the two official persons. Having first inquired what proofs they could
produce in support of their allegations, and being informed that they
had no positive proof to offer, the minister informed them that he would
not participate in the proposed act of illegal violence. "I require your
word of honour," he said, "that you will desist from this project. It is
the only mode to ensure my silence on the subject." One of the
deputation, whom the minister had reason to regard as a man of the most
exemplary loyalty, and with whom he had had connexions in military
service, replied to him, "Our intention was to have placed you in
possession of great power, being well persuaded that you would not abuse
it. Since you do not see the matter as we do, the affair is at an end.
We give up our scheme. Let the affair be buried in complete oblivion."
In less than two months afterwards, Buonaparte's arrival gave a new
turn to the state of affairs.
He landed, as is well known, at Frejus, after having abandoned his army,
and broke the quarantine laws. When this intelligence reached
Bernadotte, he intimated to the Directory, that there was not an instant
to lose in having him brought before a council of war. General Debel was
instructed to make this communication to a member of the Directory, who
was one of his friends. Colonel St. Martin, of the artillery, spoke to
this director to the same purpose. His answer was, "We are not strong
enough." On its being said that Bernadotte was of opinion that
Buonaparte should be proceeded against according to the principles of
military discipline, and that the opportunity which occurred should be
laid hold of, the director replied, "Let us wait."
Buonaparte arrived at Paris. All the generals went to visit him. A
public dinner to him was proposed, and a list for that purpose handed
about. When it was presented to Bernadotte by two members of the Council
of Five Hundred, he said to them, "I would advise you to put off this
dinner till he account satisfactorily for having abandoned his
army."[663]
More than twelve days had elapsed before Bernadotte saw Buonaparte. At
the request of Joseph, his brother-in-law, and of Madame Leclerc,
Buonaparte's sister, Bernadotte at length went to visit him. The
conversation turned upon Egypt. Buonaparte having begun to talk of
public affairs, Bernadotte allowed him to enlarge on the necessity of a
change in the government; and at last, perceiving that Buonaparte, aware
of the awkwardness of his situation, was exaggerating the unfavourable
circumstances in the situation of France,--"But, general," said
Bernadotte, "the Russians are beaten in Switzerland, and have retired
into Bohemia; a line of defence is maintained between the Alps and the
Ligurian Apennines; we are in possession of Genoa; Holland is saved--the
Russian army that was there is destroyed, and the English army has
retired to England:--15,000 insurgents have just been dispersed in the
department of the Upper Garonne, and constrained to take refuge in
Spain:--at this moment we are busied in raising two hundred auxiliary
battalions of 1000 men each, and 40,000 cavalry; and in three months at
most, we shall not know what to do with this multitude of torrents.
Indeed, if you had been able to bring the army of Egypt with you, the
veterans who compose it would have been very useful in forming our new
corps. Though we should look upon this army as lost, unless it return by
virtue of a treaty, I do not despair of the safety of the Republic, and
I am convinced she will withstand her enemies both at home and abroad."
While pronouncing the words _enemies at home_, Bernadotte
unintentionally looked in the face of Buonaparte, whose confusion was
evident. Madame Buonaparte changed the conversation, and Bernadotte soon
after took leave.
Some days afterwards, M. R----, formerly chief secretary to the minister
of war, begged General Bernadotte to introduce him to Buonaparte. The
general carried him along with him. After the usual compliments, they
began to talk of the situation of France. Buonaparte spoke much of the
great excitement of feeling among the republicans, and particularly in
the "_club du manège_." Bernadotte said in answer, "When an impulse is
once given, it is not easily stopped. This you have often experienced.
After having impressed on the army of Italy a movement of patriotic
enthusiasm, you could not repress this feeling when you judged it proper
to do so. The same thing happens now. A number of individuals, and your
own brothers principally, have formed the club you speak of. I have
never belonged to it. I was too busy, and had too many duties to perform
as minister, to be able to attend it. You have alleged that I have
favoured these meetings. This is not correct. I have indeed supported
many respectable persons who belonged to this club, because their views
were honest, and they hoped to give prevalence to a spirit of moderation
and prudence, which is generally thrown aside by ambitious men.
Salicetti, a particular friend and secret confidant of your brothers,
was one of the directors of that meeting. It has been believed by
observers, and is believed still, that the state of excitement which you
complain of, has originated in the instructions received by Salicetti."
Here Buonaparte lost temper, and declared that he would rather live in
the woods, than continue to exist in the midst of a society which gave
him no security.
"What security do you want?" answered General Bernadotte. Madame
Buonaparte, fearing that the conversation would become too warm, changed
the subject, addressing herself to M. R----, who was known to her.
General Bernadotte did not persist in his questions, and, after some
general conversation, he withdrew.
A few days afterwards, Joseph had a large party at Morfontaine.
Buonaparte, meeting General Bernadotte coming out of the _Théâtre
Française_, inquired if he was to be of the party on the following day.
Being answered in the affirmative--"Will you," said he, "give me my
coffee to-morrow morning? I have occasion to pass near your house, and
shall be very glad to stop with you for a few moments." Next morning,
Buonaparte and his wife arrived; Louis followed them a moment
afterwards. Buonaparte made himself very agreeable.[664] In the evening
there was some conversation between Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely,
Joseph, and Lucien. Buonaparte conversed with Bernadotte, who saw, from
his embarrassed air, and frequent fits of absence, that his mind was
deeply occupied. He had no longer any doubt that it was Buonaparte's
determined purpose to save himself, by the overthrow of the
constitution, from the danger with which he was threatened in
consequence of his leaving Egypt, abandoning his army, and violating the
quarantine laws. He resolved to oppose it by every means in his power.
On his return to Paris, he happened, accidentally, to be in a house
belonging to a fellow-countryman and friend of Moreau's. That general
having inquired if he had been at the party at Morfontaine, and if he
had spoken with Buonaparte, and Bernadotte having told him he had,
Moreau said, "That is the man who has done the greatest harm to the
Republic."--"And," added Bernadotte, "who is preparing the
greatest."--"We shall prevent him," replied Moreau. The two generals
shook hands, and promised to stand by each other in resisting the
deserter from Egypt. So they called him in presence of a number of
persons, among whom was the ex-minister, Petiet.
The Directory, it is true, did not enjoy the public esteem. Siêyes stood
first in reputation among the five members, but he was looked upon as
being timid and vindictive. He was believed to be disposed to call the
Duke of Brunswick to the throne of France. Barras was suspected by some
persons of being in treaty with the Comte Lille. Gohier, Moulines, and
Roger Ducos, were very respectable men, but considered to be unfit for
the government of a great nation. Gohier, however, was known to be one
of the first lawyers of that period, to be of incorruptible integrity,
and an ardent lover of his country.
When Siêyes obtained a place in the Directory, he had desired to have
General Bernadotte for war-minister. Some confidential relations between
them, and a certain degree of deference which Bernadotte paid to Siêyes,
in consequence of his great celebrity, had flattered his self-love.
Buonaparte's two brothers, Joseph and Lucien, thinking they should find
in Bernadotte a ready instrument for the execution of the plans of their
brother, whom they believed to be on the point of landing in France,
agreed with Siêyes in bringing Bernadotte into the ministry. Gohier,
Moulines, and Roger Ducos joined the Buonapartes and Siêyes; Barras
alone inclined towards Dubois-Crancé; but he yielded with a good grace
to the opinion of his colleagues.
The proposal was made to Bernadotte at a dinner at Joseph's, in the _rue
du Rocher_. Joubert, one of the party, who had recently formed an
intimacy with the candidate for the place of minister, was chosen by the
Buonapartes to propose it to him. The proposal was refused, and the
remonstrances of Joubert had no effect on the resolution of Bernadotte,
which at that time appeared immovable. The Buonapartes, who were the
prime movers of all the changes which took place, and enjoyed the
distribution of all the great posts, were astonished when they heard
General Joubert's report. They got several members of the council to
endeavour to induce Bernadotte to accept. Their attempts were vain.
Every solicitation was followed by a most obstinate refusal. But what
could not be done by Bernadotte's friends and partisans, duped by the
apparent friendship of the Buonapartes for him, was accomplished by his
wife and sister-in-law. After many days spent in entreaties, Bernadotte
yielded, and received the _porte-feuille_ from the hands of General
Millet-Moreau, who then had the charge of that department. The
Buonapartes were not slow in showing a desire to exercise a direct
influence in the war department. Many of their creatures were raised, by
the new minister, to higher situations; but the number of fresh
applications continually made to him, convinced him that they considered
him as holding his place merely to serve their purposes, and prepare the
way for their elevation.
The minister, who went regularly at five o'clock in the morning to the
office of the war-department, where he had to repair heavy disasters,
recruit the army, put a stop to dilapidations, organise two hundred
battalions of a thousand men each, bring back to their corps 80,000 men,
who had, in the course of a few years, absented themselves without
permission, and accomplish an extraordinary levy of 40,000 horse, did
not return to his house, in the _rue Cisalpine_, till between five and
six in the evening. Joseph and his wife were almost always there. Joseph
sometimes turned the conversation on the incapacity of the Directory,
the difficulty of things remaining as they were, and the necessity of
new-modelling the administration.
Bernadotte, on the contrary, thought that if the five directors were
reduced to three, one of whom should go out of office every three years,
the constitution would go on very well. He found in that form of
government the creation of a patrician order exclusively charged with
the government of the state. The Roman republic was his model, and he
saw in the constitution of the year four a great analogy to the consular
privileges and the rights of senators. By the 135th article of that
constitution, no one could aspire to become a Director, without having
been first a member of one of the two councils, a minister of state, &c.
As that condition was already fulfilled in his case, it was natural that
he should incline towards the preservation of a form of government which
placed him on an equality with kings, and gave him the hopes of seeing
many kings tributary to, or at least protected by, the Republic. These
discussions sometimes became rather unreserved, and it was at such a
time that Joseph intimated to Bernadotte, in a sort of half-confidence,
the possibility of his brother's speedy return. The minister had
sufficient presence of mind to conceal his indignation; but his surprise
was so visible that Joseph was alarmed by it. He endeavoured to diminish
the impression which his communication had produced. He said, "That what
he had advanced was merely a simple conjecture on his part, which might
become a probability--perhaps, even (added he) a reality; for he has
conquered Egypt--his business is at an end--he has nothing more to do in
that quarter."--"Conquered!" replied Bernadotte--"Say rather, _invaded_.
This conquest, if you will call it so, is far from being secure. It has
given new life to the coalition, which was extinct; it has given us all
Europe for our enemies; and rendered the very existence of the Republic
doubtful. Besides, your brother has no authority to quit the army. He
knows the military laws, and I do not think that he would be inclined,
or would dare, to render himself liable to punishment under them. Such a
desertion would be too serious a matter; and he is too well aware of its
consequences." Joseph went away a few moments afterwards; and this
conversation having proved to him that Bernadotte did not concur in his
opinions, it became an object to produce a breach between him
(Bernadotte) and Siêyes.
Bernadotte retired from the ministry, and Buonaparte arrived about three
weeks afterwards. Not being able to doubt that the Directors themselves
were either dupes of Buonaparte's ambition, or his accomplices, and that
they were meditating with him the overthrow of the established order of
things, General Bernadotte persevered in offering his counsels and
services to those members of the government, or of the Legislative Body,
who might have opposed those designs. But the factions and the
intriguing went on at a more rapid pace; and every day Buonaparte
increased his party by the accession of some distinguished personage.
On the 16th Brumaire, at five o'clock, Bernadotte went to General
Buonaparte's where he was invited to dinner. General Jourdan was of the
party. He arrived after they had sat down to table. The conversation was
entirely on military subjects; and Bernadotte undertook to refute the
maxims which Buonaparte was laying down relative to the system of war by
invasion. Bernadotte concluded nearly in these words:--"There is more
trouble in preserving than in invading;" alluding to the conquest of
Egypt. The company rose and went to the drawing-room. Immediately
afterwards there arrived several very distinguished members of the
council, and a good many men of letters; Volney and Talleyrand were of
the number. The conversation was general, and turned on the affairs of
the west of France. Buonaparte, raising his voice a little, and
addressing somebody near him, said--"Ah! you see a Chouan in General
Bernadotte." The general, in answering him, could not refrain from
smiling. "Don't contradict yourself," said he; "it was but the other day
that you complained of my favouring the inconvenient enthusiasm of the
friends of the Republic, and now you tell me that I protect the Chouans.
This is very inconsistent." The company continued to increase every
minute; and, the apartments not being very spacious, Bernadotte went
away.
Many persons have thought that the answers given by Bernadotte to
Buonaparte on this occasion, had retarded for twenty-four hours the
movement which had been prepared. Others, on the contrary, have alleged
that, the 17th being a Friday, Buonaparte, naturally superstitious, had
deferred the execution of the project till the 18th.
On the 17th Brumaire, between eleven and twelve at night, Joseph
Buonaparte, returning to his house in the _rue du Rocher_ by the way of
the _rue Cisalpine_, called at the house of Bernadotte. He, being in
bed, sent to request Joseph to return next day. He did so before seven
o'clock in the morning of the 18th. He told Bernadotte that his brother
desired to speak with him; that the measures to be taken had been
discussed the evening before, and that they wished to inform him of
them. They both went immediately to Buonaparte's house in the _rue de la
Victoire_. The court, the vestibule, and the apartments, were filled
with generals and officers of rank. Many of the officers had the air of
persons in a state of excitation from wine. Bernadotte was shown into a
small room; Joseph did not go in. Buonaparte was sitting at breakfast
with one of his aides-de-camp, who, as far as can be remembered, was
Lemmarois. General Lefebvre, afterwards Duke of Dantzic, then commanding
the 17th military division, of which Paris was the headquarters, was
standing. Bernadotte, seeing him in that attitude, did not doubt that he
was detained a prisoner. He immediately took a chair, sat down, and made
a sign to Lefebvre to do the same. Lefebvre hesitated, but a glance from
Buonaparte reassured him. He sat down respectfully, looking at
Buonaparte. The latter, addressing himself to Bernadotte, said, with
embarrassment,--"Why, you are not in uniform!" On Bernadotte
answering--"I am not on duty," Buonaparte replied--"You shall be
immediately."--"I do not think so," said Bernadotte. Buonaparte rose,
took Bernadotte by the hand, and carried him into an adjoining room.
"This Directory governs ill," said he; "it would destroy the Republic if
we did not take care. The Council of Ancients has named me commandant of
Paris, of the national guard, and of all the troops in the division. Go
and put on your uniform, and join me at the Tuileries, where I am now
going."
Bernadotte having declined doing this, Buonaparte said--"I see you think
you can count upon Moreau, Bournonville, and other generals. You will
see them all come to me--Moreau himself;" and, speaking very fast, he
named about thirty members of the Council of Ancients, whom Bernadotte
had believed to be the greatest friends of the constitution of the year
IV. "You don't know mankind," added he; "they promise much, and perform
little."
Bernadotte having declared that he did not choose to be involved in a
rebellion of this kind, nor to overturn a constitution which had cost
the lives of a million of men,--"Well," said Buonaparte, "you will stay
till I receive the decree of the Council of Ancients; for till then I am
nothing." Bernadotte, raising his voice, said--"I am a man whom you may
put to death, but whom you shall not detain against his will."--"Well,
then!" said Buonaparte, softening his voice, "give me your word that you
will do nothing against me."--"Yes, as a citizen; but if I am called
upon by the Directory, or if the Legislative Body gives me the command
of its guard, I shall oppose you, and you shall not have the upper
hand."--"What do you mean by _as a citizen_?"--"I will not go to the
barracks, nor places of public resort, to inflame the minds of the
soldiers and the people."
"I am quite easy," answered Buonaparte; "I have taken my measures; you
will receive no appointment; they are more afraid of your ambition than
of mine. I wish merely to save the Republic; I want nothing for myself;
I shall retire to Malmaison, after having brought about me a circle of
friends. If you wish to be of the number, you shall be made very
welcome." Bernadotte said in reply, as he was going away--"As to your
being a good friend, that may be; but I am convinced that you will
always be the worst of masters."
Bernadotte left the room; Buonaparte followed him into the lobby, and
said to Joseph with an agitated voice--"Follow him." Bernadotte passed
through a crowd of generals, officers of rank, and soldiers, who filled
the court of the house, and a part of the street, making some impression
upon them by his looks, which expressed his disapprobation of their
conduct. Joseph followed Bernadotte, and came up to him in the court of
the house. He asked him to go to his house, in the _rue du Rocher_,
where he had assembled several members of the Legislative Body. When he
arrived at Joseph's, he found a dozen of persons, among whom were
several deputies devoted to Buonaparte, and particularly Salicetti.
Breakfast was served. During the few moments they remained at table,
they spoke of the resolutions which would be taken, and Joseph repeated
that his brother wished for nothing but the consolidation of freedom,
that he might then have it in his power to live like a philosopher at
Malmaison.
Bernadotte went to the garden of the Tuileries, and passed along the
front of the 79th demi-brigade. The officers having recognised him,
though not in uniform, came up to him, and asked him for information as
to what was going to happen. Bernadotte answered in general terms,
expressing his wish that the public tranquillity might not be endangered
by the movement about to take place. The soldiers, having in their turn
recognised the general who had commanded them at the siege and taking of
Maestricht, loudly expressed their astonishment at his not being along
with the generals, who, said they, were then deciding, in the palace,
the fate of France.
Bernadotte having observed what he might expect, in case of need, from
this corps, and from some detachments before whom he had presented
himself on the _Boulevard_ and on the _Pont de la Révolution_, went to
General Jourdan's, presuming that the Directory would send for him to
take care of the safety of the government. He found at Jourdan's a good
many members of the Council of Five Hundred, among others Augereau,
afterwards Duke of Castiglione. He had scarcely arrived, when a great
number of the members came to announce the communication of the decree
of the Council of Ancients, which, in virtue of the 102d article of the
Constitution, transferred the sitting of the Legislative Body to St.
Cloud.
Bernadotte, on his return home, learned from his wife that the
Adjutant-General Rapatel, attached to General Moreau's staff, had just
been there, and that he had been sent by Buonaparte and Moreau, to
persuade him to join them at the Tuileries. Buonaparte had said to
him--"You have served under General Bernadotte. I know that he has
confidence in you. Tell him that all his friends are assembled at the
Tuileries, and that they are desirous of seeing him among them; add that
they love their country as much as he, and that they strongly wish to
see him appear among the number of those to whom she this day owes her
safety."
Siêyes and Roger Ducos had already joined Buonaparte at the Tuileries.
The three Directors, Gohier the President, Moulins and Barras, remained
at the Luxembourg. The secretary-general, Lagarde, was still faithful to
the majority of the Directory. As General Bernadotte had foreseen, that
majority cast their eyes on him for the ministry of war, and the general
command of the troops, and of the national guards of the 17th division.
The resignation of Barras, and the defection of the secretary-general,
put a stop to this nomination. Buonaparte, having no longer any thing to
fear, made a new division of the different commands, and assigned to
Moreau, with an hundred horse, that of the Luxembourg, where Gohier and
Moulins were detained.
Moreau, dissatisfied with the indifference with which he had been
treated by Buonaparte, and acquainted with his intentions and projects,
was already thinking of forsaking his cause, which he regarded as unjust
and traitorous to the nation. He again desired Rapatel to go, towards
evening, to Bernadotte's, to invite him, on the part of Moreau, to go to
the Luxembourg, that they might consult together as to the measures to
be taken for preventing Buonaparte from seizing the Dictatorship.
Bernadotte's answer to these overtures was, that he was bound by the
word of honour which he had given, not to undertake any thing as a
citizen; but that he was free to act if called on or summoned to do so
by a public man; that if Moreau would march out of the Luxembourg, at
the head of the detachment which he commanded, present himself at his
door, and summon him, in the name of the public good, to make common
cause with him in the defence of liberty and of the constitution which
had been sworn to, he, Bernadotte, would mount his horse with his
aides-de-camp, put himself under Moreau's command, address the troops,
and cause Buonaparte to be immediately arrested and tried as a deserter
from the army of Egypt, and as having violated the constitution, by
accepting a command given him by a mere fraction of the Legislative
Body. Moreau, bound down by the duty of military discipline, according
to which he was under the orders of General Buonaparte, did not agree to
Bernadotte's proposal; and the latter, therefore, did not think himself
at liberty to go to the Luxembourg.
Bernadotte, from seven o'clock till ten, had conferences with Salicetti,
Augereau, Jourdan, Gareau, and a dozen of the most influential members
of the Council of Five Hundred. It was decided, that, next morning,
Bernadotte should be named commandant of the guard of the Legislative
Body, and of all the troops in the capital, and they separated.
Salicetti ran to the Tuileries to tell Buonaparte what had happened, and
he, who dreaded so courageous an adversary as Bernadotte, charged
Salicetti to be present next morning at five o'clock, at the preparatory
meeting which was to take place before going to St. Cloud, and to tell
every one of the deputies, that he, Buonaparte, had made the greatest
efforts to prevent a decree of deportation being issued against the
deputies who had formed the design of giving to Bernadotte the command
of the armed force.
On the 19th, at seven o'clock in the morning, Generals Jourdan and
Augereau, followed by eight or ten deputies of the Council of Five
Hundred, (among whom were Gareau and Talot,) went to General
Bernadotte's in the _rue Cisalpine_. They informed him that Salicetti
had made them aware, on the part of Buonaparte, that Siêyes had proposed
to arrest a number of the deputies of the two Councils, in order to
prevent their appearing at St. Cloud. They asked Bernadotte what he
thought of the events of the day. He saw nothing in the communication of
Salicetti, but the desire of rendering these deputies favourable to
Buonaparte. Some of these legislators seemed to feel grateful for the
service which Buonaparte had done them the evening before. Bernadotte
did not appreciate this act of generosity as they did; but he agreed in
their opinion as to the conciliatory measures which they seemed to wish
to adopt, and, entering into their views, he explained himself in these
terms:--"Let one of you mount the tribune; let him describe succinctly
the internal situation of France, and her successes abroad; let him say,
that the departure of an army for Egypt, while it has involved us in
war, has deprived us of an army of more than 30,000 veterans, and a
great many experienced generals; that, nevertheless, the Republic is
triumphant; that the coalition is broken up, since Suwarrow is returned
to Russia; that the English, with a prince of the blood at their head,
have left the Batavian republic and retired to England; that the line of
defence is maintained between the Alps and the Ligurian Appenines; that
200,000 conscripts are hastening to arrange themselves into battalions
to reinforce the armies, and 40,000 cavalry are raising; that the
insurrection of the west is reduced to a few scattered bands, and that a
royalist army in the Upper Garonne has been destroyed or dispersed;
that, to obtain a peace quite as honourable as that of Campo Formio, it
is only necessary for France to maintain this formidable attitude; that,
in order to maintain it, union and mutual confidence are indispensable;
that, although the Council of Ancients have violated the constitution,
in naming Buonaparte general-in-chief of the 17th division, and in
giving him the command of the national guard and the guard of the
Directory, the Council of Five Hundred is not now engaged in
deliberating on this violation of the constitution, but rather on the
means of giving security to the French people, the two Councils, and the
Government of the State; that, for this purpose, the Council of Five
Hundred names General Bernadotte colleague to General Buonaparte; that
these two generals shall understand each other in regard to the
employment of the armed force, and the distribution of commands, in case
of this force being employed; but that the tranquillity which prevails
in Paris and the vicinity, renders it certain that there will be no
occasion for this force being put in motion. Send me this decree; in
twenty minutes after receiving it, I shall be in the midst of you with
my aides-de-camp; I shall take the command of the corps that I shall
find on my way, and we shall see what is to be done. If it is necessary
to declare Buonaparte an outlaw, you will always have on your side a
general, and a great proportion at least of the troops."
The deputies immediately set off for St. Cloud. The unhappy custom of
delivering set speeches from the tribune, produced the loss of precious
time. The debate became warm: and the taking individually the oath to
the constitution caused a useless loss of more than an hour and a half.
No other resolution was taken. Buonaparte made his appearance, and the
events which then happened at St. Cloud are well known.
After having been repulsed from the Council of Five Hundred, Buonaparte,
stammering with agitation, addressed the soldiers. "Are you for
me?"--"We are for the Republic," said they--(It was at this time that
Lucien, President of the Council, harangued the troops.) What would have
become of him had Bernadotte been there? Buonaparte felt this himself;
for he said, at this period--"I am not afraid of Bernadotte's consenting
to my being assassinated; but he will harangue the troops, and that is
what I have to fear."
Buonaparte was made aware, the same evening, of the language which
Bernadotte had used to the deputies at his house in the _rue Cisalpine_.
The expressions he had really made use of, though they must have been
disagreeable enough to Buonaparte, particularly in so far as related to
his escape from Egypt, and his ulterior designs against the liberty of
France, were exaggerated, and represented to Buonaparte so as to
indicate personal hatred.
Buonaparte, though he never found an opportunity of taking open revenge
against Bernadotte, let slip no opportunity of injuring him, by placing
him, as a general, in difficult situations, and leaving him, in the most
perilous and delicate circumstances, without instructions or orders. The
following occurrence, which took place soon afterwards, will give a
correct idea of this conduct on the part of Buonaparte.
The measures for restoring tranquillity in the west of France, in the
month of January 1800, had never been entirely completed; for, at the
same moment that they were taken, several departments were put out of
the pale of the constitution. The Chouans of these departments were
organised as militia, and as guerillas, who plundered the diligences,
and murdered the persons who became proprietors of the national domains.
They were regularly paid, and had communications with the enemies of the
Republic, by means of the English fleets which threatened the coasts. At
this critical moment, Bernadotte was invested with the civil and
military command of these departments. By his firm and prudent conduct,
he repressed the seditious movements, and re-established good order and
obedience to the laws. Many free corps, numbers of individuals belonging
to which, for want of being properly employed, were in the pay of the
Chouan chiefs, were organised as regular troops; and by this measure he
furnished government with the means of drawing from these departments
troops for the army of Italy. But when these troops were to begin their
march to Dijon, a serious insurrection broke out at Vannes, on the 28th
Fructidor, year VIII., (4th September 1800.) The 52d demi-brigade
refused to march till they should receive their arrears of pay. The
commandant and officers who wished to restore order among them were
maltreated. Bernadotte being informed of this transaction, hastened to
Vannes to quell the insurrection; but the corps had left the place. He
gave orders to General Liebert, commanding the 22d military division, to
assemble the 52d demi-brigade on its way to Tours; to come before it,
followed by his staff and the council of war; to make the military penal
code be read; to order the colonels to point out one or two men in each
company who had made themselves most remarkable in the revolt of the
28th; to deliver these men to the council of war, and to have them tried
on the spot, &c. &c.
Bernadotte's orders were executed on the 4th Vendemaire, (25th
September,) when the 52d demi-brigade was drawn up on the parade at
Tours, and the ringleaders of the revolt arrested in presence of a great
number of spectators, without the smallest disturbance taking place.
Bernadotte made a report of this event to the First Consul, and to
Carnot, the minister of war; but as the result of the measures he had
taken was not yet known, the Consul put on the margin of the
report:--"General Bernadotte has not done well in taking such severe
measures against the 52d demi-brigade, not having sufficient means to
bring them to order in the heart of a town where the garrison is not
strong enough to repress mutiny."
The result was different. The soldiers returned to their duty, and
themselves denounced the authors of the insurrection. The demi-brigade
continued its route to Italy; and, two days afterwards, the Consul was
profuse in his encomiums on the prudence, foresight, and firmness of the
general whose conduct he had been so hasty in disapproving.--The letter
which he wrote to Bernadotte on this subject, was in these terms:--
"Paris, 10th Vendemaire, year IX.
"I have read with interest, Citizen-general, the account of what you
have done to restore order in the 52d, and also the report of General
Liebert, of the 5th Vendemaire. Give this officer the assurance of the
satisfaction of Government with his conduct. Your promotion of the
colonel of brigade to the rank of general of brigade is confirmed. I
desire that this brave officer may come to Paris. He has given an
example of firmness and energy most honourable to a military man.
"I salute you,
"BUONAPARTE."
All men, doubtless, are liable to err; but the eagerness of the Consul
to attach blame to the conduct of a military and political commander,
charged with the maintenance of discipline and obedience to the laws,
appears evidently to have proceeded more from private hatred than from
any duty which the government had to perform; for there was no occasion
to give his judgment so precipitately, and he might have waited the
final result of the measures he censured, more especially as the scene
had taken place in a district agitated by faction and civil war.
Bernadotte's friends, who were still in the ministry of war, and even
frequented the saloons of the Consul, were anxious to make him
acquainted with Buonaparte's evil intentions towards him. Every despatch
which he received informed him that the police were forming secret
intrigues and conspiracies; that agents were scattered among the Army of
the West and the Army of the Rhine, to endeavour to make the staffs of
those armies commit themselves, in order to have a pretext for
disgracing the generals who commanded them. Reports were circulated
among the members of these staffs; one day the Consul was dying; next
day the population of Paris had risen, and the constitution of the year
IV. was re-established, with the necessary modifications. The persons
employed in raising these reports, watched the looks of the generals,
and reported their slightest expressions. These snares roused the
indignation of General Bernadotte, and the army he commanded; and it is
not going too far to say, that it was in the Army of the West and the
Army of the Rhine that plans for the preservation and security of
constitutional freedom originated. Men who were obliged by profession
and duty to yield to the force of military discipline, and who neither
had, nor wished to have any thing to do with the intricacies of civil
policy, were all at once inspired with a new spirit, and tacitly formed
an association guided by their opinions; so much so, that, during the
course of the year 1801, the Consul perceived, from the reserve and
behaviour of many of the generals towards him, that a change had taken
place in the confidence entertained as to his intentions on the subject
of public liberty and individual security.
This reserve, the cause of which he penetrated, determined him to make a
set of new creatures, and bring around him men from whom he was sure, as
he said, to meet with no contradiction. His having laid down this
principle of action, and his well-known system of degrading every thing,
were the cause of the entry of foreign armies into France, and the fall
of his dynasty.
END OF VOLUME SECOND.
FOOTNOTES:
[662] "Les notes historiques, qui sont inserees comme appendice à la fin
du dernier volume de la Vie de Napoleon, sont attribées au General
Bernadotte, actuellement Roi de Suède, mais qu'il faut plutôt regarder
comme l'ouvrage d'un ami indiscret. C'est pourtant dans ces notes que,
sans les citer jamais, Bourrienne a évidemment puisé à pleines
mains."--_Observations sur le 18 Brumaire de M. de Bourrienne, par_ M.
BOULAY DE LA MEURTHE, _Ancien Ministre d'Etat_.
[663] When Bernadotte came into the ministry, it became a question
whether Buonaparte should not be sent for from Egypt.--"It is the army
you mean," said the minister,--"for as to the general, you know he has
an eye to the dictatorship; and sending vessels to bring him to France,
would just be giving it to him."
A French fleet was at that time cruizing in the Mediterranean,--the
minister insisted that it should be ordered to Toulon.
[664] It was by no means from friendship that Buonaparte went to
Bernadotte's on this occasion; but really to render the Directory and
the friends of the Republic suspicious as to that general's intentions.