they were desirous of drawing into France, to rouse the Republican
party by the influence of his name; the second with Eugène and Murat,
between whom they wanted to divide the kingdom of Italy; the third
and last with Bernadotte, who was to join with the Swedish troops
and effect a division in the French army. Pozzo di Borgo was charged
with this last mission, furnished with full powers from the Emperor
Alexander, while the Russians were advancing into Saxony. Without
clearly explaining the views of the alliance with regard to France, or
on the distinctive and positive results of the war, he was directed to
suggest, in his conversations with the crown prince, all the possible
events which might encourage the emulation of the old companions of
the Emperor Napoleon; and he engaged, in the name of the Czar, to
acknowledge Bernadotte as Crown Prince, and eventually, according to
the order of succession, as King of Sweden: in the same manner he
had promised to Moreau the presidency of a republic, if it should
arise from the order of affairs, or from a popular anti-Buonapartist
movement in Paris. One ought to have heard the ambassador himself
recount all the trouble and anxiety he experienced during this
negociation; the vacillations of the Crown Prince, his ill-humours
and discontent. Still he hesitated. At last, when the Swedish army
was embarking at Karlscrona and landing at Stralsund, the artillery
of Lutzen and Bautzen were heard in thunders through the whole of
Germany. These brilliant victories had astonished the Crown Prince,
and the Russian army was in full retreat through Upper Silesia. Still,
though his troops were already assembled, he did not dare to come to
a final decision; he could not forget the star of his former master,
the remembrance of his victorious eagles, the irresistible influence
of his glory; the Swedes, therefore, halted at Stralsund, and awaited
the course of events. Bernadotte was a powerful ally; not only did he
bring into the field 20,000 brave Swedes, but also his name, like that
of Moreau, might be the means of sowing dissension and uneasiness in
the French army, if the invasion were to take place; when, therefore,
in the interval afforded by the armistice of Neumark, Colonel Pozzo
observed the hesitation he still exhibited, he hastened to Stralsund,
by the desire of Alexander, to endeavour to persuade him to march at
once. He had, however, the greatest difficulty in inducing him to
join the military congress of Trachenburg, where the plans were laid
for the campaign against Napoleon, and it was necessary he should
exhibit, at the same time, firmness with Bernadotte and forbearance
towards Sir Charles Stewart, afterwards Lord Londonderry, a young and
rather presumptuous officer, who was commissioner from England, and
was always ready to give offence to an old soldier like Bernadotte.
His efforts were crowned with success; the Crown Prince had already
had an interview with Moreau, and Pozzo di Borgo afterwards held
a confidential conversation with both those personal enemies of
Napoleon, in which they reciprocally exchanged their hopes, their
present hatred, and old resentments, Pozzo against the adversary of
Paoli, Moreau against the Consul, and Bernadotte against the Emperor.
The plan adopted by the allied powers at the military congress of
Trachenburg was very simple. Colonel Pozzo di Borgo maintained that
they ought to march at once upon Paris, the central point of Napoleon's
strength or weakness, where the question would speedily be settled; and
this was the opinion entertained by all those military men who mingled
any political ideas of the decline of Buonaparte's power and of his
personal character with the question of war. Besides, in the opinion of
the Russian envoy, Buonaparte and France were not synonymous terms; and
it was to save France and her liberty that he so closely pursued the
Emperor.
At this time the congress of Prague was assembled, which was in reality
nothing more than an armistice required by all the forces. Metternich
had assumed for Austria a position of armed mediation, being the
commencement of a new political system, a wary and provident plan,
which, in her state of relative weakness and isolation, gave her a
predominant influence over cabinets far more powerful than her own.
All the negotiations of this congress tended to one point only; the
endeavour to detach Austria from this mediatorial system, and to induce
her to decide in favour of one side or the other,--either for the
coalition, or for France. In the army of Napoleon, as well as among
the allies, a strong desire for peace existed, with this difference,
that the victorious soldiers of the Emperor were thoroughly weary of
war; for them the illusions of conquest had no longer any charms, and
their generals, in the midst of the wonderful success that had crowned
their arms, regretted the life of luxury and enjoyment they had been
accustomed to lead in Paris. The sons of Germany, ardent in their
desire for liberty, flocked to the ranks of the allied armies, under
the command of old Blucher, whose mind was also full of enthusiasm
for the German unity; while the general officers of the French army
indulged in dreams of their hotels, in the Chaussée d'Antin, or the Rue
de Bourbon, or their delightful retreats at Malmaison and Grosbois,
while their brothers-in-arms were falling under the enemy's fire,--that
fire which no longer respected the marshals. An unanimous cry of bitter
accusation was heard among the staff, "That man will make an end of us
all!" Exaggerated accounts of disaffection were brought to the Emperor.
At one time some thousands of conscripts were said to have mutilated
their fingers, in order that they might be sent back to their homes;
at another they reported the desertion of the brave fellows who had
cried "Vive l'Empereur!" under the grape-shot of Lutzen and Bautzen.
The allies were well aware of this decline of military ardour in the
French camp, and they knew a feeling of weakness and a disposition to
discord were connected with it. The proposals for peace at Prague never
were sincere on the part of Russia and Prussia, and the Emperor was
thoroughly deceived in imagining them to be so.
The main object was to prevail upon Austria to declare herself openly;
and here Napoleon was guilty of many faults. In the situation assumed
by the cabinet of Vienna, a good deal was naturally exacted, and with
perfect justice, for upon them depended the strength, and we may almost
say the success, of the coalition. In offering herself as a mediator,
Austria was desirous of regaining the position she had lost during the
struggle with Napoleon, and the law was now in her own hands, for she
could throw the weight of 300,000 men into either scale. Napoleon
committed the great oversight of not acceding to the offers of the
cabinet of Vienna: he went farther still; he deeply offended the
minister who directed the fates of that cabinet--Prince Metternich, a
man of extraordinary ability and consideration, and whose inclinations
had previously tended towards France. I have elsewhere related the
stormy and imprudent scene which broke up the conference between
Buonaparte and the Austrian minister.[19]
[19] _Vide_ the article "Metternich."
The allied sovereigns awaited the decision of the cabinet of Vienna
with indescribable anxiety. It was eleven o'clock at night, and they
were all assembled in a barn; the ministers, Count Nesselrode, Pozzo di
Borgo, and Hardenburg, in the lower apartment; the Emperor Alexander
and the King of Prussia on the first floor: the rain descended in
torrents, and it was one of those stormy nights which add even to the
horrors of war, when all at once a courier arrived, bearing a letter
for Count Nesselrode, which contained merely these words,--"Austria
has decided, and four armies will be at the disposal of the Alliance."
Imagination may picture the shouts of joy, the transports of the
coalition, on thus receiving the support of 300,000 men, who were to
join the rest of the army by the mountains of Bohemia. The chances of
war were now clearly against Napoleon; and General Pozzo di Borgo,
for he had lately been raised to the rank of major-general, was
again despatched, in the character of commissioner, from the Emperor
Alexander to the Crown Prince of Sweden, who at this time covered
Berlin at the head of an army, composed of 40,000 Prussians, 30,000
Russians, and 20,000 Swedes.
The most glorious events recorded in the military history of France
have nothing that can bear a comparison with the admirable defence
of Dresden by Napoleon, when all the armies of the coalition went
successively to try their strength under its walls. They were repulsed
with considerable loss, and Moreau was mortally wounded on the field of
battle; but this admirable manœuvre of concentration was followed
by a very great fault--the division of the main body of his army, one
portion being intrusted to General Vandamme, the other to some marshals
upon whose deeds the star of Napoleon's fortune did not shine. At Gross
Beeren, Bernadotte broke the brilliant line of the French, at the same
time that the corps of Vandamme was cut to pieces or taken prisoner by
the coalesced enemy, and the Emperor was obliged to retreat beyond the
Elbe. I cast a veil over the mournful catastrophe of Leipsic, where so
many faults were committed, and so much want of foresight exhibited,
both on the part of Napoleon, and also of those who were charged with
the execution of his orders; the sad disorder, the horrible confusion
that prevailed, when the soldiers were decimated at once by sickness in
the hospital, the steel of the enemy, and the hordes of peasants raised
by Blucher along his path, and which swallowed up the French army,
already perishing with hunger, without guns, and barefooted, in the
midst of the cold rains of October.
The coalition was now victorious; its advanced guard had reached the
banks of the Rhine. Still they could not refrain from a degree of
secret terror as they approached the French territory, which was still
pervaded by the presiding genius of Napoleon. The army of Bernadotte
was separated from the allies to march against Holstein, invade
Denmark, and prepare a rising in Holland; and General Pozzo di Borgo
quitted him to proceed on a mission to Frankfort, to concert military
operations with the allies. They had there a better opportunity of
judging of the state of public feeling in France, and were able to
study the progress that had been made by the different opinions and
parties against the imperial government. The Emperor's administration
had surpassed itself; the Senate had voted troops upon troops, the
levies proceeded with extraordinary energy, and they sought by every
means, pamphlets, songs, operas--in short, nothing was neglected to
re-awaken the cry of national independence in the breasts of the French
nation. But though from the powerful organisation of the empire every
thing appeared clear on the surface, its stability went no deeper;
there was an under-current of murmurs, complete dissatisfaction, and
weariness of mind; commerce was annihilated, leaving the unemployed
workmen no resource but a musket, and no choice but of seeking bread
or death with the army. Secret agitations began to be whispered about
every where; the legislative body had separated itself from Napoleon by
a protest, executed under the influence of discontent, and of MM. Lainé
and Reynouard, and it had in consequence been dissolved; the council
of the regency of Maria Louisa was composed of timid, hesitating
men; some, like Talleyrand, ready to abandon a falling cause; the
people called for a termination of this state of affairs, and gloomy,
foreboding clouds hung on the brow of Napoleon.
Existing circumstances certainly offered a favourable opportunity for
invading the imperial territory; but were the allies well agreed upon
the end they proposed to themselves? Were they all actuated by the
same interests? Although Austria had made an effort to shake off the
enormous power of Napoleon, would she be willing to ruin the son-in-law
of her own emperor, Francis II., especially when the advantages
resulting from it would fall principally to the share of Russia and
Prussia, whose power had been already excessively augmented by the late
events? Having regained the territories of which Napoleon had formerly
deprived her, why should she join in the invasion of France, and aim a
last blow at a nation so necessary to the balance of power in Europe?
Even England, though the determined enemy of Buonaparte, could not
fail to entertain some degree of uneasiness in observing the immense
increase of the Russian influence, and the ministers were assailed
with incessant questions as to the object and probable termination of
the war. All these circumstances caused a dread that the coalition was
ready to fall to pieces at the very moment its great object had been
attained. This state of affairs soon became evident to the diplomatic
chiefs assembled at the conference of Frankfort, and Pozzo di Borgo was
despatched by the three sovereigns on a mission to the Prince Regent to
request the presence of Lord Castlereagh, the English prime minister,
at head-quarters, in order to strengthen the bands of the coalition and
determine its object. The general lost no time in accomplishing his
voyage, and arrived in London in the beginning of January 1814, while
parliament was sitting, and just at the time when Lord Castlereagh had
been obliged to enter into an explanation in answer to the pressing
requisitions of the Whigs. He was the bearer of an autograph letter to
the Prince Regent from the allied sovereigns, by which they engaged
to follow the most moderate measures, and as far as possible to keep
the balance of power in Europe in view, so as to remove any fears on
the part of England. It was just six years since Pozzo di Borgo, as
a proscribed person, had last visited that country, and under what
different auspices he now returned to it! He came as the organ of
the triumphant coalition, and his reception was distinguished by all
the magnificence and joy inspired by the late victories. With what
cordiality Lord Wellesley pressed his hand! "I believe, my dear Pozzo,"
said the marquess, "you and I are the two men who most earnestly
desire the fall of Buonaparte." Lord Castlereagh had already begun to
entertain some thoughts of the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty,
and he communicated his idea to General Pozzo di Borgo, who replied,
"You are well aware, my lord, that we must never present any but a
perfectly simple idea to the sovereigns; complicated matters do not
take hold of their minds. Let us first overturn Buonaparte,--this is
a thing we shall easily make the Emperor of Russia and the King of
Prussia understand,--and then afterwards, when the coast is clear,
we can return to examine the second difficulty." "Very well," said
Lord Castlereagh, "whom do you wish us to send to the Continent?" "If
Mr. Pitt were alive," replied the general, "I would tell him to hold
himself in readiness; it is sufficient to make you understand that we
are most anxious to see you in person on the Rhine, that the question
may not get perplexed and confused."
It was with these opinions that Pozzo di Borgo visited the French
princes, especially the Comte d'Artois. His royal highness was anxious
to appear at head-quarters, and blend the idea of a restoration with
the plan of the campaign of the allies, but General Pozzo strongly
opposed his design. "Monseigneur," said he, "you are well aware of
my devotion to your person and to your interests, but do not come to
spoil our game; we still have great difficulties to overcome effecting
the fall of Napoleon, when that point is gained it will be necessary
to turn to something else, and your turn and your name will naturally
occur."
It was a matter of some delicacy to obtain the departure of Lord
Castlereagh and the full and entire adhesion of England to the
coalition; they were obliged to work at it a long while with the
Prince Regent and some influential members of parliament; at last, at
a dinner given by Lady Castlereagh, the English minister, on rising
from table, said to the emperor's messenger, "Well, my dear Pozzo, it
is decided that I am to accompany you; the Prince Regent has given me
an autograph letter for the sovereigns, and we shall act in concert and
good fellowship with you." The two diplomatists embraced each other
with delight, two days afterwards they embarked for the Continent, and
in three weeks rejoined the sovereigns at Baden.
Lord Castlereagh's arrival at head-quarters strengthened the unity of
the alliance and enabled them to form some resolutions for the general
benefit, and also to decide upon the plan of the political campaign
about to be commenced against Buonaparte. England had never recognised
the Emperor of the French, and in all the acts of parliament, as well
as those of the cabinet, he had no other designation than that of _the
common enemy_, or _the head of the government_, a circumstance which
facilitated Pozzo di Borgo's labours with Lord Castlereagh towards
gaining the object he had in view, viz., the complete overthrow of
Napoleon. The English minister, who was armed with full powers, laid
down as the fundamental principle of all their diplomatic transactions,
that France, although necessary to the balance of power in Europe,
must be reduced within her ancient territorial limits, a principle
which almost inevitably involved the restoration of the ancient
dynasty. This, however, was only mentioned in the acts, both public
and secret, of the congress, as a _possibility_ reserved for a further
consideration of the French question.
One of the most important principles laid down in the political plan
of the alliance was the separation of the question concerning Napoleon
from those regarding the interests of France. This line of conduct was
recommended by Bernadotte, Pozzo di Borgo, and the patriot party, who
were the enemies of the emperor, and it was formally announced in the
public acts of Frankfort and the proclamations of all the allied troops
who crossed the Rhine. Their great object was to weaken the common
enemy, at the same time that they promised France that her ancient
territory should remain untouched, and hinted at the possibility of
establishing a constitution independent of the emperor. By adopting
this plan they summoned all disaffected persons to the assistance of
the coalition; and, without entering into engagements with any one
party, they offered to _all_ the hope of bringing their pretensions and
wishes to a favourable issue; they even contrived to conciliate the
partisans of a republican form of government as well as the advocates
of the regency of Maria Louisa.
Pozzo di Borgo continued attached to the person of the Emperor
Alexander during the whole of the operations of 1814, that glorious
but melancholy campaign where the military genius of Napoleon shone
with so brilliant a lustre--a bright ray emanating from that star which
appeared but for a fleeting moment, soon to grow dim and set for ever!
During the negotiations at Chatillon, General Pozzo urged the rejection
of all the propositions of the French emperor, and also that the time
and circumstances granted by the coalition to him whose attempts had so
often been crowned with victory, should have a limit defined with the
utmost accuracy. "Grant no armistice, but march _en masse_ straight to
Paris!" Such was the advice of Pozzo di Borgo, to whom some overtures
had already been made by Talleybrand and the disaffected party in the
capital. Had the preliminaries of peace been accepted, a treaty might
possibly have been entered into at Chatillon with Napoleon and Maria
Louisa; but how would it have been possible for the emperor to submit
to the ancient limits of France, without exposing himself to inevitable
ruin in the interior of his kingdom? M. de Caulaincourt, it is true,
received orders to accede to the proposed conditions, but it was then
too late. It would, however, have been impossible for Napoleon to have
continued peaceably on the throne, even had pacific terms been granted
him, under existing circumstances; for his government would have
been overturned by an internal revolution. How could the victorious
emperor, who had given laws to the world, now in his turn submit to
receive laws from the whole of Europe combined against him? And,
supposing he had returned to Paris with the humiliating treaties which
deprived France of all her conquests and reduced her within the narrow
limits she formerly occupied, would not the loss of his throne have
been, sooner or later, the inevitable consequence of such a change of
circumstances? Would not discontent have reared its head at every step
he took? Or would his government still have retained sufficient power
and influence to secure him the possession of absolute dominion? As
soon as peace had been proclaimed, the adverse parties would have burst
forth with violence, and Napoleon have been overcome by a republican
insurrection. They would have said to the emperor, "What have you done
with the conquests of the republic and with the legions it bequeathed
to you?" And, to escape from the tumult of public opinion, the emperor
would have been forced again to engage in some military enterprise.
"The peace you grant to Napoleon," said Pozzo di Borgo, "will merely
be giving him an opportunity of recruiting his strength, and in less
than a year you will find him again engaged in an attack upon your
territories; with the spirit of a gambler, he will stake his last crown
upon his last card."
For the sake of giving a powerful unity to the alliance, the sovereigns
signed the famous treaty of Chaumont, which was a general coalition of
the whole of Europe against the common enemy; they declared, in the
first place, that they would not separate until they had attained the
objects they proposed to themselves, which were a general peace and the
establishment of independence and of the rights of all the nations of
Europe. In addition to this, it was agreed that each power was to keep
up a standing army of 150,000 men besides those in garrison; England
undertook to furnish immense subsidies; and they engaged mutually to
support each other with a formidable armed contingent, in case any
of the governments should be threatened. The campaign then proceeded
with fresh vigour, and the advance upon Paris produced all the effect
anticipated by the sovereigns. I will not describe the sad events that
succeeded; they are, alas! but too well known. General Pozzo di Borgo
was in the suite of the Emperor Alexander when he entered the city, and
from that time forth he assumed the part of a mediator between France
and the allies.
We must take a retrospect of that melancholy period of our disasters
in order to form a reasonable judgment of the events about to be
accomplished. The hearts of the whole nation were filled with weariness
to a most painful degree. Some few soldiers might, perhaps, have been
ready to range themselves around the emperor and defend his eagles
which, though now abased, had so often led them to victory; but the
great mass of the population was no longer desirous of war; a feeling
of hatred towards Napoleon had gradually arisen among the republican
party and the Royalists, who were in a state of commotion; while, on
the other hand, the proclamations of Schwartzenburg, and the promises
he had made at the time of his entry into Paris, had inspired hopes of
repose and reasonable liberty. Pozzo di Borgo exerted all his influence
over the mind of Alexander to lead him towards the liberal system,
upon which his resolutions appear to have been formed. The whole idea
of the constitutional charter, and all the plans breathing a spirit of
liberty, were suggested at the meetings in Talleyrand's house, where
the patriots used to assemble to give vent to their dissatisfaction
with the conduct of Napoleon. I must here mention a curious
circumstance relating to the famous proclamation of Schwartzenburg
which first made open mention of the Bourbons. It was the work of Count
Pozzo, and Schwartzenburg had not signed it when Alexander said to him
in a meeting at the head-quarters of Bondy, "My dear prince, you have
written an admirable proclamation--it is perfect; sign it, you will get
great credit for it." And the prince, partly through self-love, and
partly through respect for the Emperor Alexander, affixed his signature
to the document.[20]
[20] I have seen the rough copy of this proclamation written in
pencil by Count Pozzo and corrected by Alexander himself.
General Pozzo di Borgo had kept up his acquaintance with all the
patriots of 1789, whose noble and generous principles of independence
met with a sympathetic feeling in the breast of Alexander. Napoleon,
the representative of a powerful and united system of government,
would only be overcome by the principle of liberty. "Europe," said
Talleyrand, "was then on the highroad to emancipation; it was with the
name of Fatherland, with the enthusiasm for free institutions, that
the people had been excited to rise against him, who was termed by the
Germans _the oppressor of mankind_." These ideas prevailed, and Count
Pozzo di Borgo was appointed commissioner from the Emperor Alexander to
the provisional government.