Books: Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, V7
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Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne >> Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, V7
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Moreau was not treated with the degree of rigour observed towards the
other prisoners. Indeed, it would not have been safe so to treat him,
for even in his prison he received the homage and respect of all the
military, not excepting even those who were his guards. Many of these
soldiers had served under him, and it could not be forgotten how much he
was beloved by the troops he had commanded. He did not possess that
irresistible charm which in Bonaparte excited attachment, but his
mildness of temper and excellent character inspired love and respect.
It was the general opinion in Paris that a single word from Moreau to the
soldiers in whose custody he was placed would in a moment have converted
the gaoler-guard into a guard of honour, ready to execute all that might
be required for the safety of the conqueror of Hohenlinden. Perhaps the
respect with which he was treated and the indulgence of daily seeing his
wife and child were but artful calculations for keeping him within the
limits of his usual character. Besides, Moreau was so confident of the
injustice of the charge brought against him that he was calm and
resigned, and showed no disposition to rouse the anger of an enemy who
would have been happy to have some real accusation against him. To these
causes combined I always attributed the resignation; and I may say the
indifference, of Moreau while he was in prison and on his trial.
When the legal preparations for the trial were ended the prisoners of the
Temple were permitted to communicate with each other, and, viewing their
fate with that indifference which youth, misfortune, and courage
inspired, they amused themselves with some of those games which usually
serve for boyish recreation. While they were thus engaged the order
arrived for their removal to the Conciergerie. The firmness of all
remained unshaken, and they made their preparations for departure as if
they were going about any ordinary business. This fortitude was
particularly remarkable in Georges, in whose manner a change had taken
place which was remarked by all his companions in misfortune.
For some time past the agents of Government throughout France had been
instructed to solicit the First Consul to grant for the people what the
people did not want, but what Bonaparte wished to take while he appeared
to yield to the general will, namely, unlimited sovereign authority, free
from any subterfuge of denomination. The opportunity of the great
conspiracy just discovered, and in which Bonaparte had not incurred a
moment's danger, as he did at the time of the infernal machine, was not
suffered to escape; that opportunity was, on the contrary,, eagerly
seized by the authorities of every rank, civil, ecclesiastical, and
military, and a torrent of addresses, congratulations, and thanksgivings
inundated the Tuileries. Most of the authors of these addressee did not
confine themselves to mere congratulations; they entreated Bonaparte to
consolidate his work, the true meaning of which was that it was time he
should make himself Emperor and establish hereditary succession. Those
who on other occasions had shown an officious readiness to execute
Bonaparte's commands did not now fear to risk his displeasure by opposing
the opinion he had expressed in the Council of State on the discussion of
the question of the Consulate for life. Bonaparte then said, "Hereditary
succession is absurd. It is irreconcilable with the principle of the
sovereignty of the people, and impossible in France."
In this scene of the grand drama Bonaparte played his part with his
accustomed talent, keeping himself in the background and leaving to
others the task of preparing the catastrophe. The Senate, who took the
lead in the way of insinuation, did not fail, while congratulating the
First Consul on his escape from the plots of foreigners, or, as they were
officially styled, the daggers of England, to conjure him not to delay
the completion of his work. Six days after the death of the Due
d'Enghien the Senate first expressed this wish. Either because Bonaparte
began to repent of a useless crime, and felt the ill effect it must
produce on the public mind, or because he found the language of the
Senate somewhat vague, he left the address nearly a month unanswered, and
then only replied by the request that the intention of the address might
be more completely expressed. These negotiations between the Senate and
the Head of the Government were not immediately published. Bonaparte did
not like publicity except for what had arrived at a result; but to attain
the result which was the object of his ambition it was necessary that the
project which he was maturing should be introduced in the Tribunate, and
the tribune Curee had the honour to be the first to propose officially,
on the 30th of April 1804, the conversion of the Consular Republic into
an Empire, and the elevation of Bonaparte to the title of Emperor; with
the rights of hereditary succession.
If any doubts could exist respecting the complaisant part which Curee
acted on this occasion one circumstance would suffice to remove them;
that is, that ten days before the development of his proposition
Bonaparte had caused the question of founding the Empire and establishing
hereditary succession in his family to be secretly discussed in the
Council of State. I learned from one of the Councillors of State all
that passed on that occasion, and I may remark that Cambaceres showed
himself particularly eager in the Council of State, as well as afterwards
in the Senate, to become the exalted subject of him who had been his
first colleague in the Consulate.
About the middle of April, the Council of State being assembled as for an
ordinary sitting, the First Consul, who was frequently present at the
sittings, did not appear. Cambaceres arrived and took the Presidency in
his quality of Second Consul, and it was remarked that his air was more
solemn than usual, though he at all times affected gravity.
The partisans of hereditary succession were the majority, and resolved to
present an address to the First Consul. Those of the Councillors who
opposed this determined on their part to send a counter-address; and to
avoid this clashing of opinions Bonaparte signified his wish that each
member of the Council should send him his opinion individually, with his
signature affixed. By a singular accident it happened to be Berlier's
task to present to the First Consul the separate opinions of the Council.
Out of the twenty-seven Councillors present only seven opposed the
question. Bonaparte received them all moat graciously, and told them,
among other things, that be wished for hereditary power only for the
benefit of France; that the citizens would never be his subjects, and
that the French people would never be his people. Such were the
preliminaries to the official proposition of Curee to the Tribunate, and
upon reflection it was decided that, as all opposition would be useless
and perhaps dangerous to the opposing party, the minority should join the
majority. This was accordingly done.
The Tribunate having adopted the proposition of Curee, there was no
longer any motive for concealing the overtures of the Senate. Its
address to the First Consul was therefore published forty days after its
date: the pear was then ripe. This period is so important that I must
not omit putting together the most remarkable facts which either came
within my own observation, or which I have learned since respecting the
foundation of the Empire.
Bonaparte had a long time before spoken to me of the title of Emperor as
being the most appropriate for the new sovereignty which he wished to
found in France. This, he observed, was not restoring the old system
entirely, and he dwelt much on its being the title which Caesar had
borne. He often said, "One may be the Emperor of a republic, but not the
King of a republic, those two terms are incongruous."
In its first address the Senate had taken as a test the documents it had
received from the Government in relation to the intrigues of Drake, who
had been sent from England to Munich. That text afforded the opportunity
for a vague expression of what the Senate termed the necessities of
France. To give greater solemnity to the affair the Senate proceeded in
a body to the Tuileries, and one thing which gave a peculiar character to
the preconcerted advances of the Senate was that Cambaceres, the Second
Consul, fulfilled his functions of President on this occasion, and
delivered the address to the First Consul.
However, the First Consul thought the address of the Senate, which, I
have been informed, was drawn up by Francois de Neufchateau, was not
expressed with sufficient clearness; he therefore, after suffering a
little interval to elapse, sent a message to the Senate signed by
himself, in which he said, "Your address has been the object of my
earnest consideration." And though the address contained no mention of
hereditary succession, he added, "You consider the hereditary succession
of the supreme magistracy necessary to defend the French people against
the plots of our enemies and the agitation arising from rival ambition.
At the same time several of our institutions appear to you to require
improvement so as to ensure the triumph of equality and public liberty,
and to offer to the nation and the Government the double guarantee they
require." From the subsequent passages of the message it will be
sufficient to extract the following: "We have been constantly guided by
this great truth: that the sovereignty dwells with the French people, and
that it is for their interest, happiness, and glory that the Supreme
Magistracy, the Senate, the Council of State, the Legislative Body, the
Electoral Colleges, and the different branches of the Government, are and
must be instituted." The omission of the Tribunate in this enumeration
is somewhat remarkable. It announced a promise which was speedily
realised.
The will of Bonaparte being thus expressed in his message to the--Senate,
that body, which was created to preserve the institutions consecrated by
the Constitution of the year VIII., had no alternative but to submit to
the intentions manifested by the First Consul. The reply to the message
was, therefore, merely a counterpart of the message itself. It
positively declared that hereditary government was essential to the
happiness, the glory, and the prosperity of France, and that that
government could be confided only to Bonaparte and his family. While the
Senate so complaisantly played its part in this well-get-up piece, yet,
the better to impose on the credulity of the multitude, its reply, like
Bonaparte's message, resounded with the words liberty and equality.
Indeed, it was impudently asserted in that reply that Bonaparte's
accession to hereditary power would be a certain guarantee for the
liberty of the press, a liberty which Bonaparte held in the greatest
horror, and without which all other liberty is but a vain illusion.
By this reply of the Senate the most important step was performed. There
now remained merely ceremonies to regulate and formulas to fill up.
These various arrangements occasioned a delay of a fortnight. On the
18th of May the First Consul was greeted for the first time by the
appellation of Sire by his former colleague, Cambaceres, who at the head
of the Senate went to present to Bonaparte the organic 'Senatus-consulte'
containing the foundation of the Empire. Napoleon was at St. Cloud,
whither the Senate proceeded in state. After the speech of Cambaceres,
in which the old designation of Majesty was for the first time revived,
the EMPEROR replied:--
All that can contribute to the welfare of the country is essentially
connected with my happiness. I accept the title which you believe
to be conducive to the glory of the nation. I submit to the
sanction of the people the law of hereditary succession. I hope
that France will never repent the honours she may confer on my
family. At all events, my spirit will not be with my posterity when
they cease to merit the confidence and love of the great nation.
Cambaceres next went to congratulate the Empress, and then was realised
to Josephine the prediction which I had made to her three years before at
Malmaison.
--[In the original motion as prepared by Curee, the Imperial dignity
was to be declared hereditary in the family of Napoleon. Previous to
being formerly read before the Tribunate, the First Consul sent for
the document, and when it was returned it was found that the word
family was altered to descendants. Fabre, the President of the
Tribunate, who received the altered document from Maret, seeing the
effect the alteration would have on the brothers of Napoleon, and
finding that Maret affected to crest the change as immaterial, took
on himself to restore the original form, and in that shape it was
read by the unconscious Curee to the Tribunals. On this curious,
passage see Miot de Melito, tome ii, p. 179. As finally settled the
descent of the crown in default of Napoleon's children was limited
to Joseph and Louis and their descendants, but the power of adoption
was given to Napoleon. The draft of the 'Senates-consulte' was
heard by the Council of State in silence, and Napoleon tried in vain
to get even the most talkative of the members now to speak. The
Senate were not unanimous in rendering the 'Senatus-consulte'. The
three votes given against it were said to have been Gregoire, the
former constitutional Bishop of Blois, Carat, who as Minister of
Justice had read to Louis XVI. the sentence of death, and
Lanjuinais, one of the very few survivors of the Girondists, Thiers
says there was only one dissentient voice. For the fury of the
brothers of Napoleon, who saw the destruction of all their ambitions
hopes in any measure for the descent of the crown except in the
family, see Miot, tome ii. p.. 172, where Joseph is described as
cursing the ambition of his brother, and desiring his death as a
benefit for France and his family.]--
Bonaparte's first act as Emperor, on the very day of his elevation to the
Imperial throne, was the nomination of Joseph to the dignity of Grand
Elector, with the title of Imperial Highness. Louis was raised to the
dignity of Constable, with the same title, and Cambaceres and Lebrun were
created Arch-Chancellor and Arch-Treasurer of the Empire. On the same
day Bonaparte wrote the following letter to Cambaceres, the first which
he signed as Emperor, and merely with the name of Napoleon:--
CITIZEN CONSUL CAMBACERES--Your title has changed; but your
functions and my confidence remain the same. In the high dignity
with which you are now invested you will continue to manifest, as
you have hitherto done in that of Consul, that wisdom and that
distinguished talent which entitle you to so important a share in
all the good which I may have effected. I have, therefore, only to
desire the continuance of the sentiments you cherish towards the
State and me.
Given at the Palace of St. Cloud, 28th Floreal, an XII.
(18th May 1804).
(Signed) NAPOLEON.
By the Emperor.
H. B. MARET.
I have quoted this first letter of the Emperor because it is
characteristic of Bonaparte's art in managing transitions. It was to the
Citizen Consul that the Emperor addressed himself, and it was dated
according to the Republican calendar. That calendar, together with the
delusive inscription on the coin, were all that now remained of the
Republic. Next day the Emperor came to Paris to hold a grand levee at
the Tuileries, for he was not the man to postpone the gratification that
vanity derived from his new dignity and title. The assembly was more
numerous and brilliant than on any former occasion. Bessieres having
addressed the Emperor on the part of the Guards, the Emperor replied in
the following terms: "I know the sentiments the Guards cherish towards
me. I repose perfect confidence in their courage and fidelity. I
constantly see, with renewed pleasure, companions in arms who have
escaped so many dangers, and are covered with so many honourable wounds.
I experience a sentiment of satisfaction when I look at the Guards, and
think that there has not, for the last fifteen years, in any of the four
quarters of the world, been a battle in which some of them have not taken
part."
On the same day all the generals and colonels in Paris were presented to
the Emperor by Louis Bonaparte, who had already begun to exercise his
functions of Constable. In a few days everything assumed a new aspect;
but in spite of the admiration which was openly expressed the Parisians
secretly ridiculed the new courtiers. This greatly displeased Bonaparte,
who was very charitably informed of it in order to check his
prepossession in favour of the men of the old Court, such as the Comte de
Segur, and at a later period Comte Louis de Narbonne.
To give all possible solemnity to his accession Napoleon ordered that the
Senate itself should proclaim in Paris the organic 'Senates-consulte',
which entirely changed the Constitution of the State. By one of those
anomalies which I have frequently had occasion to remark, the Emperor
fixed for this ceremony Sunday, the 30th Floral. That day was a festival
in all Paris, while the unfortunate prisoners were languishing in the
dungeons of the Temple.
On the day after Bonaparte's accession the old formulae were restored.
The Emperor determined that the French Princes and Princesses should
receive the title of Imperial Highness; that his sisters should take the
same title; that the grand dignitaries of the Empire should be called
Serene Highnesses; that the Princes and titularies of the grand
dignitaries should be addressed by the title of Monseigneur; that M.
Maret, the Secretary of State, should have the rank of Minister; that the
ministers should retain the title of Excellency, to which should be added
that of Monseigneur in the petitions addressed to them; and that the
title of Excellency should be given to the President of the Senate.
At the same time Napoleon appointed the first Marshals of the Empire,
and determined that they should be called Monsieur le Marechal when
addressed verbally, and Monseigneur in writing. The following are the
names of these sons of the Republic transformed into props of the Empire:
Berthier, Murat, Moncey, Jourdan, Massena, Augereau, Bernadotte, Soult,
Brune, Lannes, Mortier, Ney, Davoust, and Besaieres. The title of
Marshal of the Empire was also granted to the generals Kellerman,
Lefebvre, Perignon, and Serrurier, as having served as commander-in-
chief.
The reader cannot have failed to observe that the name of Lucien has not
been mentioned among the individuals of Bonaparte's family on whom
dignities were conferred. The fact is, the two brothers were no longer
on good terms with each other. Not, as it has been alleged, because
Lucien wished to play the part of a Republican, but because he would not
submit to the imperious will of Napoleon in a circumstance in which the
latter counted on his brother's docility to serve the interests of his
policy. In the conferences which preceded the great change in the form
of government it was not Lucien but Joseph who, probably for the sake of
sounding opinion, affected an opposition, which was by some mistaken for
Republicanism. With regard to Lucien, as he had really rendered great
services to Napoleon on the 19th Brumaire at St. Cloud, and as he himself
exaggerated the value of those services, he saw no reward worthy of his
ambition but a throne independent of his brother. It is certain that
when at Madrid he had aspired to win the good graces of a Spanish
Infanta, and on that subject reports were circulated with which I have
nothing to do, because I never had any opportunity of ascertaining their
truth. All I know is that, Lucien's first wife being dead, Bonaparte,
wished him to marry a German Princess, by way of forming the first great
alliance in the family. Lucien, however, refused to comply with
Napoleon's wishes, and he secretly married the wife of an agent, named,
I believe, Joubertou, who for the sake of convenience was sent to the
West Indies, where he: died shortly after. When Bonaparte heard of this
marriage from the priest by whom it had been clandestinely performed, he
fell into a furious passion, and resolved not to confer on Lucien the
title of French Prince, on account of what he termed his unequal match.
Lucien, therefore, obtained no other dignity than that of Senator.
--[According to Lucien himself, Napoleon wished him to marry the
Queen of Etruria Maria-Louise, daughter of Charles IV. of Spain, who
had married, 1795 Louie de Bourbon, Prince of Parma, son of the Duke
of Parma, to whom Napoleon had given Tuscany in 1801 as the Kingdom
of, Etruria. Her husband had died in May 1808, and she governed in
the name of her son. Lucien, whose first wife, Anne Christine
Boyer, had died in 1801, had married his second wife, Alexandrine
Laurence de Bleschamps, who had married, but who had divorced, a M.
Jonberthon. When Lucien had been ambassador in Spain in 1801,
charged among other things with obtaining Elba, the Queen, he says,
wished Napoleon should marry an Infanta,--Donna Isabella, her
youngest daughter, afterwards Queen of Naples, an overture to which
Napoleon seems not to have made any answer. As for Lucien, he
objected to his brother that the Queen was ugly, and laughed at
Napoleon's representations as to her being " propre": but at last he
acknowledged his marriage with Madame Jouberthon. This made a
complete break between the brothers, and on hearing of the execution
of the Due d'Enghien, Lucien said to his wife, "Alexandrine, let us
go; he has tasted blood." He went to Italy, and in 1810 tried to go
to the United States. Taken prisoner by the English, he was
detained first at Malta, and then in England, at Ludlow Castle and
at Thorngrove, till 1814, when he went to Rome. The Pope, who ever
showed a kindly feeling towards the Bonapartes, made the ex-
"Brutus" Bonaparte Prince de Canino and Due de Musignano. In 1815
he joined Napoleon and on the final fall of the Empire he was
interned at Rome till the death of his brother.]--
Jerome, who pursued an opposite line of conduct, was afterwards made a
King. As to Lucien's Republicanism, it did not survive the 18th
Brumaire, and he was always a warm partisan of hereditary succession.
But I pass on to relate what I know respecting the almost incredible
influence which, on the foundation of the Empire, Bonaparte exercised
over the powers which did not yet dare to declare war against him.
I studied Bonaparte's policy closely, and I came to this conclusion on
the subject, that he was governed by ambition, by the passion of
dominion, and that no relations, on a footing of equality, between
himself and any other power, could be of long duration. The other States
of Europe had only to choose one of two things--submission or war. As to
secondary States, they might thenceforth be considered as fiefs of the
French Government; and as they could not resist, Bonaparte easily
accustomed them to bend to his yoke. Can there be a stronger proof of
this arbitrary influence than what occurred at Carlsruhe, after the
violation of the territory of Baden, by the arrest of the Due d'Enghien?
Far from venturing to make any observation on that violation, so contrary
to the rights of nations, the Grand Duke of Baden was obliged to publish,
in his own State, a decree evidently dictated by Bonaparte. The decree
stated, that many individuals formerly belonging to the army of Conde
having come to the neighbourhood of Carlsruhe, his Electoral Highness had
felt it his duty to direct that no individual coming from Conde's army,
nor indeed any French emigrant, should, unless he had permission
previously to the place, make a longer sojourn than was allowed to
foreign travellers. Such was already the influence which Bonaparte
exercised over Germany, whose Princes, to use an expression which he
employed in a later decree, were crushed by the grand measures of the
Empire.
But to be just, without however justifying Bonaparte, I must acknowledge
that the intrigues which England fomented in all parts of the Continent
were calculated to excite his natural irritability to the utmost degree.
The agents of England were spread over the whole of Europe, and they
varied the rumours which they were commissioned to circulate, according
to the chances of credit which the different places afforded. Their
reports were generally false; but credulity gave ear to them, and
speculators endeavoured, each according to his interest, to give them
support. The headquarters of all this plotting was Munich, where Drake,
who was sent from England, had the supreme direction. His
correspondence, which was seized by the French Government, was at first
placed amongst the documents to be produced on the trial of Georges,
Moreau, and the other prisoners; but in the course of the preliminary
proceedings the Grand Judge received directions to detach them, and make
them the subject of a special report to the First Consul, in order that
their publication beforehand might influence public opinion, and render
it unfavourable to those who were doomed to be sacrificed. The
instructions given by Drake to his agents render it impossible to doubt
that England wished to overthrow the Government of Bonaparte. Drake
wrote as follows to a man who was appointed to travel through France:--
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