the plains and the cities, had sided warmly with the French party;
they were connected with the clubs; and Salicetti was their organ
at the National Convention, to denounce Paoli and Pozzo di Borgo as
propagators of a system tending to separate Corsica from France;
and as that island had been declared an integral part of the French
Republic, they were both summoned to the bar of the nation to offer
a justification of their conduct. In this lay one of the first germs
of the deeply rooted hatred entertained by Salicetti, Arena, and
Buonaparte, against Paoli and Pozzo di Borgo; from thence arose the
enmity which, in their inflamed minds, overstepped the limits of the
island of Corsica, and contributed, more than people suspected, to the
marvellous events of the Revolution and the Empire.
When Paoli and Pozzo di Borgo received this terrible summons, they
were together at Corte, the capital of the mountainous district. It
was not unexpected, and they were both well aware of the consequences
of a refusal to obey the commands of the Convention, for the conduct
of this inexorable tribunal was that of a victor with whom lenity and
forgiveness are unknown. What was to be done? To obey would be to
submit at once to the yoke of the territorial unity, which sought to
reduce all the various nations comprehended within it to one level.
Resistance would, perhaps, be a still more dangerous course, for the
French Republic had an army which they would be utterly incapable of
withstanding, and it was also supported by a considerable party in
Corsica. A few regiments occupied the city of Ajaccio, and a battalion
formed the garrison of the fort of Corte and several posts on the
sea-coast. Signals announced the arrival of a squadron bearing the
tricoloured flag. Under these circumstances, the commissioners of the
departments declared themselves a permanent assembly in a meeting of
the people of Corte, and the tumultuous _comitia_ of the national party
unanimously invited their chief, Paoli, and Pozzo di Borgo, to continue
their administration. Finally, they declared _that it was beneath the
dignity of the people of Corsica to trouble themselves with the two
families of Arena and Buonaparte, and that they should be abandoned to
their remorse and to infamy for having deserted the public cause_. I
here copy the expressions of the national _consulta_.[17]
[17] I saw all these papers, which were printed in 1793, in the hands
of Count Pozzo di Borgo; he took pleasure in shewing the curious
decree against Napoleon, afterwards the pride and glory of Corsica.
The _consulta_ was composed of 1200 deputies.
The popular energy, which sways in all instances the first movements in
favour of liberty, was here very evident. What steps did they propose
taking to maintain themselves in this _improvisé_ independence, as well
as to uphold the decrees published by the assembly of Corsica? In the
meanwhile fearful intelligence arrived among the mountains: Toulon,
hitherto in the occupation of the English, had just fallen into the
hands of the French Republic, whose orders Corsica had treated with
contempt; and, to crown the whole, a young officer of twenty-six
years of age, even the Buonaparte devoted to infamy and remorse by the
Corsican council, had taken part in that memorable enterprise, and had
been the principal cause of its success. The port of Toulon being now
in the hands of the Republic, in thirty-six hours a squadron might
arrive, and threaten with entire destruction the companions of Paoli.
Just at this difficult juncture the English Mediterranean fleet
appeared off Ajaccio, bringing news from Toulon and tidings of the
warlike preparations going on there; the admiral also offered his
protection to Corsica, agreeing to recognise her independence, under
the sovereignty of the king of Great Britain. Paoli went on board the
squadron to treat with the admiral regarding his country, and a general
assembly was convoked to meet on the 10th of June, 1794, for the
purpose of determining upon the form of constitution to be established.
Their plan tallied nearly with the ideas of the English Magna Charta,
proposing the establishment of a parliament which should consist of two
chambers, a council of state, and a viceroy supported by responsible
ministers. Paoli proposed Pozzo di Borgo as president of the council.
When the latter was presented to Admiral Elliott he gazed upon his
swarthy complexion, his sparkling eyes, and meagre and active figure,
and asked Paoli whether that was the person he proposed placing at
the head of the government. "I can answer for him," said Paoli; "he
is a young man as well fitted for the government of a nation as he is
capable of leading his countrymen unflinchingly on the field of battle.
You may place implicit confidence in him." Upon this testimony the
admiral confirmed his choice.
The state-council being the executive portion of the Corsican
government, the duty devolved upon Pozzo di Borgo of remodelling the
institutions of his country, which was henceforward to be free. I have
seen the complete code of this administration: it is a summary of the
public rights of the nation, a collection of primitive laws, one of
those codes which regulates the most trifling circumstances affecting
the interests of the people; among us it is a great historical
curiosity, for we are too far advanced in civilisation to be capable of
forming an idea of the first requirements of a people of such primitive
habits.
The national government in Corsica lasted, however, barely two years;
the protection afforded by England was at too great a distance, and
a few regiments despatched from Gibraltar did not possess sufficient
influence to restrain the population of the cities devoted to France,
which was at that time every where victorious, and, by its proximity,
constantly held a sword suspended over the government of Paoli and
Pozzo di Borgo. The latter embarked on board the English fleet when
it became evident the crisis could no longer be averted, and that the
standard of the French Republic was about to be planted at Ajaccio.
This squadron quitted the shores of Corsica, bearing with it all the
sad remains of the ruined government; it touched at the island of
Elba, sailed towards Naples, and from thence again to Elba--rather a
curious circumstance, which long held a place in the recollection of
Pozzo di Borgo, and which may possibly have in some degree influenced
the resolution of the Allies, in 1814, to confer upon Napoleon the
sovereignty of Porto Ferrajo. The Corsican president completed his
voyage to England in the Minerva, which formed part of the squadron of
Nelson, who lost an eye in Corsica, and was afterwards so celebrated;
but he was then only in the dawn of his fame, and had not attained to
the renown which crowned his name at Aboukir and Trafalgar.
Pozzo di Borgo remained eighteen months in London, where he received
great attention from the English ministry, who considered him to have
displayed great method and ability during his short administration.
Having become intimate with some old French families, he then began
his career of diplomacy and secret negotiations; which, at a late
period, led him into a more extended sphere of action. He was at Vienna
in 1798, at the time of the campaign of Suwarof, when foreign courts
were agitated by so many various projects. Tremendous shocks had been
experienced in France. On emerging from the reign of terror, and the
formidable system of unity proclaimed by the Convention, a strong and
deeply rooted reaction towards the restoration of the royal family
had taken place; the royalist colours were worn in good society, and
the most extreme detestation was felt for the revolution, because
it had not as yet given birth to any regular system of government.
At this time Buonaparte was in Egypt, with the greater part of the
brave legions who had conquered Italy and the Rhine; all our foreign
conquests were lost to us; on the Alps we were hardly able to retain
a few posts, and they were closely pressed; and, as a climax, Suwarof
appeared with victory in his train--Suwarof, the hero and saint of
the Russian army--Suwarof, around whom rallied all the hopes of
the coalition! Pozzo di Borgo was engaged in all the diplomatic
arrangements that accompanied the military proceedings.
The antipathy that existed between the Austrians and Russians, far
more than the battle of Zurich, put a stop to the progress of the
coalition, and Pozzo di Borgo remained some time at Vienna, receiving a
pension there as a French emigrant of noble birth. It was at the time
when one of that family of Buonapartes, proscribed by the Assembly of
Corsica, was elevated to the Consulate, and being now in the position
of a powerful dictator, he had established an efficient government in
France, and was engaged in repairing the wrecks of the administration
by means of his steady energy. The power of the laws once more became
manifest; the executive administration was lodged in the hands of a
few, and was active and advantageous to the people; and, by a singular
chance, which the caprices of fortune can alone explain, the old
friends of the Buonapartes, the Arenas of Ajaccio, were proscribed by
the young Corsican, and delivered over to military law, or driven into
exile. Other destinies, besides those of a city, or a population of
about 100,000 souls, claimed the attention of Napoleon Buonaparte, now
completely detached from his native country; but, in spite of all these
commotions, his thoughts more than once turned upon his old personal
enemy, Pozzo di Borgo, then on his journey from London to Vienna, and
who must have shed some tears of vexation when he saw the power of
the young consul extend so far as to prescribe to Europe the peace
of Amiens. The shade of Paoli arose to protest against this immense
advancement of the Buonapartes.[18]
[18] This observation appears to indicate some inaccuracy regarding
the date of Paoli's demise. It took place in Feb. 1807.--_Editor._
When war again resounded on the earth, Pozzo di Borgo entered the
service of Russia, and devoted himself to the diplomatic line. The
firmness of character, the quick apprehension of facts, and the
knowledge of mankind which he evinced, together with an extreme
delicacy of judgment, were certain pledges of his success in the
conduct of business between one government and another. He received the
title of Conseiller d'Etat at St. Petersburg, and was soon despatched
to the court of Vienna, charged with a secret mission. The prince
whose service he had entered was that Alexander whose generous and
mystical mind was sadly employed in veiling, by the uprightness of his
conduct, and the exalted tenor of his life, a mournful recollection
which weighed upon his heart and his conscience. The revolution of the
palace, that had placed Alexander on the throne, had been directed
by England; and consequently must have been inclined to favour the
coalition against Buonaparte, who was about to place the imperial crown
upon his heroic brow; and Pozzo di Borgo was one of the diplomatic
agents charged with special and secret missions to the allied courts,
once more united against France.
We now find him at Vienna; but he only remained there a few months,
for the Czar was desirous of acting with great vigour, and therefore
despatched him, as Russian commissioner, to the Anglo-Russian and
Neapolitan army, which was about to commence operations in the south
of Europe under the influence of the noble Queen Caroline, so grossly
slandered in the pamphlets issued by Napoleon. This army had hardly
assembled at Naples, when the artillery of Austerlitz and the shouts
of victory filled the air; and, as an immediate consequence, the peace
of Presburg was signed. As this treaty separated Austria from the
coalition, it occasioned the dissolution of the army of Naples; and
Pozzo di Borgo returned to Vienna, and from thence to St. Petersburg,
where great military events were in preparation.
During the campaign crowned by the battle of Austerlitz, when Napoleon
had advanced so boldly into the interior of Moravia, Prussia had
hesitated whether she should join the coalition. It was impossible to
deny her public conduct in that respect, and Napoleon had borne it in
mind; this indecision, however, ceased after the battle of Austerlitz,
and a twelvemonth afterwards the united force of the Russians and
Prussians was drawn up together.
Pozzo di Borgo was called upon to accompany the emperor in this
campaign, and the Czar offered him rank in the army; such being the
custom of Russia, where there is no advancement except by means of
military rank: he therefore received the title of Colonel in the
suite of the emperor, a post which attached him to the person of the
sovereign. Being, for the fourth time, despatched to Vienna, after the
battle of Jena, he strove to arouse Austria from the torpor into which
the peace of Presburg had plunged her, but in vain; for the Austrian
cabinet was then desirous of peace at any price. Colonel Pozzo received
a commission to proceed to the Dardanelles, to treat for peace with the
Turks, in conjunction with the English envoy; he was received on board
the Russian fleet, under the orders of Admiral Siniavim, stationed at
the entrance of the Dardanelles, and off the island of Tenedos; he was
present in the admiral's ship at the battle of Mount Athos, between
the Russian fleet and that of the sultan, and there received his first
military decoration.
Napoleon was now approaching the apogée of his glory: the French and
Russian armies had bravely measured their strength, and the French
emperor had so greatly risen in Alexander's estimation that, at the
peace of Tilsit, Napoleon was saluted with the title of Brother, at the
very time the old Russian aristocracy were accusing their sovereign of
abandoning the cause of his country. In the interchange of projects
which took place at Tilsit--in those friendly meetings, when the
waters of the Niemen flowed beneath the two emperors, locked in each
other's arms, was it possible Colonel Pozzo should not be aware that
his services would henceforth be an embarrassment to Russia? Upon his
arrival at St. Petersburg he held a conversation with the emperor,
full of confidence and unreserve on both sides, when each party took
a candid survey of his position. The Emperor Alexander declared to
Colonel Pozzo that there was no reason he should leave his service, and
that the ties of friendship he had contracted with Napoleon did not
oblige him to make such a sacrifice. The colonel replied that he could
no longer be useful to his sovereign; on the contrary, he should be a
source of embarrassment to him, for Buonaparte had not forgotten the
feud of his early days: sooner or later he would demand the banishment
of his old enemy, the Czar would be too generous to agree to this, and
his refusal would raise difficulties for his government. "Besides,"
said he, "the alliance between your majesty and Napoleon will not be of
long duration; I am well acquainted with the deceitful character and
insatiable ambition of Buonaparte. At this moment one of your majesty's
hands is held by Persia, the other by Turkey, and Buonaparte presses
upon your chest; get your hands free in the first instance, and then
you will cast off the weight that now troubles you. Some years hence we
shall meet again."
Count Pozzo requested permission to travel; and he was again at Vienna
in 1808, when Austria, with her patient resignation, was preparing
fresh armaments against Napoleon, and declaring the rupture that had
taken place with him. I am not aware if history records a longer or
more honourable struggle than that of Austria against the Revolution
and the Empire. She submitted to every sacrifice, then prepared for
battle; vanquished, she had recourse to negotiation; then again tried
the fortune of war, until victory finally decided against her, and
she was crushed under the weight of the French eagles. Patient and
laborious German nation, never didst thou despair of thy cause!
Pozzo di Borgo remained at Vienna during the whole campaign of 1809,
and when peace was again imposed, Buonaparte did not forget him. He had
taken an active part in all the diplomatic proceedings of Austria and
Russia, and Napoleon was a person who always retained the remembrance
of his enemies; accordingly, after the peace of Vienna, his first
step was to demand the banishment of Colonel Pozzo di Borgo from the
Austrian dominions. Alexander, warmly attached to Napoleon, had the
weakness to consent, and this gave occasion to the fine and energetic
letter, in which Colonel Pozzo already prophesied the invasion of
Russia, and said to the Czar, "Sire, it will not be long before your
majesty again summons me to your presence." In order to escape the fate
which awaited him if his enemy of Ajaccio should succeed in seizing his
person, he took the precaution of retiring to Constantinople, the only
spot which still afforded him the power of quitting continental Europe
and seeking refuge in England.
He was now a proscribed man, travelling in Syria, visiting Smyrna
and Malta, and from Malta proceeding to London, where he arrived in
October 1810. He was already an agent of some importance, on account
of the missions upon which he had been employed; and the limited
intercourse between England and the Continent made her set a value
upon the information to be obtained from a man of political talent and
experience, who had just arrived from the principal capitals of Europe.
In several conferences with Lord Castlereagh, Colonel Pozzo explained
to him the hopes he still entertained of a continental rising against
the colossal empire of France: in the midst of all his great qualities,
Napoleon had still some vulnerable points, and nobody was better
aware of them than Pozzo di Borgo, because he had studied them through
the medium of his resentment. Who could be so well acquainted as he
with that Buonaparte, whom he had had such opportunities of observing
in the closest manner, with his infirmities, his fits of anger, his
weaknesses, and his ambition?
At last the terrible war of 1812 broke out, and the French armies
passed the Niemen. Russia was invaded; the battles of Moscowa and the
Mojaisk drove back the armies of Alexander towards the sacred city
of Moscow, and the ancient capital was reduced to ashes. During the
whole of this campaign Pozzo di Borgo remained in London, and his
influence was of service in promoting the union between Alexander
and the English cabinet; he did not join the army of the Czar,
because a revolution had taken place in the ideas of the cabinet of
St. Petersburg. The fact was, that when Alexander found his finest
provinces invaded, and the murderous war which was desolating his
territory, he summoned to his assistance the old Russian spirit and
the ancient traditions of the country; the banner of St. Nicholas
was unfurled, the churches resounded with prayers and calls to arms
against the invader, and the Czar placed himself at the head of the
army: but this popular appeal had precisely the effect of rousing the
national spirit against foreigners. Ever since the time of Peter the
Great, the ideas of civilisation had favoured in Russia the influence
of the Italians, the Germans, and the French, who filled many important
military situations, and were raised to the first dignities of the
state; and the old Russian families naturally entertained a jealous
feeling regarding this influence. This colony of courtiers offended
their pride, and interfered with their interests; therefore, when
Alexander had occasion to invoke the shades of his country at the foot
of the Kremlin, and to rouse the devotion of the Muscovite nobility,
who lived among their serfs in the central provinces, he was obliged
to sacrifice the strangers to their prejudices. Pozzo di Borgo was not
recalled till the close of the campaign, when the impulse had ceased
to be entirely Russian, but had become more eccentric and inclined
towards Poland and Prussia, and he returned through Sweden just at the
time when Bernadotte was becoming more nearly connected with England,
and, without however openly committing himself, had begun to lend a
favourable ear to the overtures of the court of London. The Russian
councillor was commissioned to encourage the inclination of Bernadotte,
and to strive to forward a decision which would afford his sovereign a
new opportunity of taking vengeance for the invasion of his country by
the Emperor of the French. This was the first beginning of his intimacy
with the Crown Prince of Sweden.
The Emperor Alexander received Pozzo di Borgo at Kalisch, after a
separation of five years. They had parted immediately after the
interview of Tilsit, which had so greatly reconciled the Czar to the
politics of Napoleon. Now, how different was the situation of affairs!
Alexander had seen his empire invaded by his ancient ally, his cities
in flames; and, according to the excited ideas of Alexander, it was
the sainted spirits of the ancient Russians who had raised the stormy
tempests, and engulfed the immense army of Napoleon in the icy floods
of the Beresina. The language of Alexander to Pozzo di Borgo reminded
him of his sagacious prophecies, and the colonel made great efforts
to win him back to simple and positive plans against the power of
Napoleon; for having been one of the patriots of 1789, Colonel Pozzo
perfectly understood the importance of the conspiracy of Mallet,
and of the discontent that was beginning to pervade France. He was
opposed to all species of compromise, and his view of the case was
to strive to effect a separation between the interests of France and
her leader. Whilst Alexander, still prepossessed with the idea of the
stupendous power of Napoleon, hesitated to plunge into the perils of a
distant campaign, Pozzo di Borgo advised him to induce Prussia to take
advantage of the secret societies, which proudly raised their heads at
the cry of _Germania_ or _Teutonia_, and to assemble all Buonaparte's
rivals in glory under their banners, so as to occasion confusion and
disorder in his preparations for war.