Books: Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, v10

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Dupas was as much execrated in the Hanse Towns as Clarke had been in
Berlin when he was governor of that capital during the campaign of 1807.
Clarke had burdened the people of Berlin with every kind of oppression
and exaction. He, as well as many others, manifested a ready obedience
in executing the Imperial orders, however tyrannical they might be; and
Heaven knows what epithets invariably accompanied the name of Clarke when
pronounced by the lips of a Prussian.

Dupas seemed to have taken Clarke as his model. An artillery officer,
who was in Hamburg at the time of the disturbance I have just mentioned,
told me that it was he who was directed to place two pieces of light-
artillery before the gate of Altona. Having executed this order, he went
to General Dupas, whom he found in a furious fit of passion, breaking and
destroying everything within his reach. In the presence of the officer
he broke more than two dozen plates which were on the table before him:
these plates, of course, had cost him very little!

On the day after the disturbance which had so fatal a termination I wrote
to inform the Prince of Porte-Corvo of what had taken place; and in my
letter I solicited the suppression of an extraordinary tribunal which had
been created by General Dupas. He returned me an immediate answer,
complying with my request. His letter was as follows:

I have received your letter, my dear Minister: it forcibly conveys
the expression of your right feeling, which revolts against
oppression, severity, and the abase of power. I entirely concur in
your view of the subject, and I am distressed whenever I see such
acts of injustice committed. On an examination of the events which
took place on the 19th it is impossible to deny that the officer who
ordered the gates to be closed so soon was in the wrong; and next,
it may be asked, why were not the gates opened instead of the,
military being ordered to fire on the people? But, on the other
hand, did not the people evince decided obstinacy and
insubordination? were they not to blame in throwing stones at the
guard, forcing the palisades, and even refusing to listen to the
voice of the magistrates? It is melancholy that they should have
fallen into these excesses, from which, doubtless, they would have
refrained had they listened to the civil chiefs, who ought to be
their first directors. Finally, my dear Minister, the Senator who
distributed money at the gate of Altona to appease the multitude
would have done better had he advised them to wait patiently until
the gates were opened; and he might, I think, have gone to the
Commandant or the General to solicit that concession.

Whenever an irritated mob resorts to violence there is no safety for
any one. The protecting power mast then exert its utmost authority
to stop mischief. The Senate of ancient Rome, so jealous of its
prerogatives, assigned to a Dictator, in times of trouble, the power
of life and death, and that magistrate knew no other code than his
own will and the axe of his lictors. The ordinary laws did not
resume their course until the people returned to submission.

The event which took place in Hamburg produced a feeling of
agitation of which evil-disposed persons might take advantage to
stir up open insurrection. That feeling could only be repressed by
a severe tribunal, which, however, is no longer necessary. General
Dupas has, accordingly, received orders to dissolve it, and justice
will resume her usual course.
J. BERNADOTTE
DENSEL, 4th May, 1808.

When Bernadotte returned to Hamburg he sent. Dupas to Lubeck. That
city, which was poorer than Hamburg, suffered cruelly from the visitation
of such a guest.

Dupas levied all his exactions in kind, and indignantly spurned every
offer of accepting money, the very idea of which, he said, shocked his
delicacy of feeling. But his demands became so extravagant that the city
of Lubeck was utterly unable to satisfy them. Besides his table, which
was provided in the same style of profusion as at Hamburg, he required to
be furnished with plate, linen, wood, and candles; in short, with the
most trivial articles of household consumption.

The Senate deputed to the incorruptible General Dupas M. Nolting, a
venerable old man, who mildly represented to him the abuses which were
everywhere committed in his name, and entreated that he would vouchsafe
to accept twenty Louis a day to defray the expenses of his table alone.
At this proposition General Dupes flew into a rage. To offer him money
was an insult not to be endured! He furiously drove the terrified
Senator out of the house, and at once ordered his 'aide de camp' Barrel
to imprison him. M. de Barrel, startled at this extraordinary order,
ventured to remonstrate with the General, but in vain; and, though
against his heart, he was obliged to obey. The aide de camp accordingly
waited upon the Senator Notting, and overcome by that feeling of respect
which gray hairs involuntarily inspire in youth, instead of arresting
him, he besought the old man not to leave his house until he should
prevail on the General to retract his orders. It was not till the
following day that M. de Barrel succeeded in getting these orders
revoked--that is to say, he obtained M. Notting's release from
confinement; for Dupas would not be satisfied until he heard that the
Senator had suffered at least the commencement of the punishment to which
his capricious fury had doomed him.

In spite of his parade of disinterestedness General Dupas yielded so far
as to accept the twenty Louis a day for the expense of his table which
M. Notting had offered him on the part of the Senate of Lubeck; but it
was not without murmurings, complaints, and menaces that he made this
generous concession; and he exclaimed more than once, "These fellows have
portioned out my allowance for me." Lubeck was not released from the
presence of General Dupes until the month of March 1809, when he was
summoned to command a division in the Emperor's new campaign against
Austria. Strange as it may appear, it is nevertheless the fact, that,
oppressive as had been his presence at Lubeck, the Hanse Towns soon had
reason to regret him.

CHAPTER XV.

1808.

Promulgation of the Code of Commerce--Conquests by Status-consulte--
Three events in one day--Recollections--Application of a line of
Voltaire--Creation of the Imperial nobility--Restoration of the
university--Aggrandisement of the kingdom of Italy at the expense of
Rome--Cardinal Caprara'a departure from Paris--The interview at
Erfurt.

The year 1808 was fertile in remarkable events. Occupied as I was with
my own duties, I yet employed my leisure hours in observing the course of
those great acts by which Bonaparte seemed determined to mark every day
of his life. At the commencement of 1808 I received one of the first
copies of the Code of Commerce, promulgated on the 1st of January by the
Emperor's order. This code appeared to me an act of mockery; at least it
was extraordinary to publish a code respecting a subject which it was the
effect of all the Imperial decrees to destroy. What trade could possibly
exist under the Continental system, and the ruinous severity of the
customs? The line was already extended widely enough when, by a
'Senatus-consulte', it was still further widened. The Emperor, to whom
all the Continent submitted, had recourse to no other formality for the
purpose of annexing to the Empire the towns of Kehl, Cassel near Mayence,
Wesel, and Flushing, with the territories depending on them.

--[A resolution of the senate, or a "Senatus-consulte" was the means
invented by Napoleon for altering the imperial Constitutions, and
even the extent of the Empire. By one of these, dated 21st January
1808, the towns of Kehl, Cassel, and Wesel, with Flushing, all
already seized, were definitely united to France. The loss of
Wesel, which belonged to Murat's Grand Duchy of Berg, was a very
sore point with Murat.]--

These conquests, gained by decrees and senatorial decisions, had at least
the advantage of being effected without bloodshed. All these things were
carefully communicated to me by the Ministers with whom I corresponded,
for my situation at Hamburg had acquired such importance that it was
necessary I should know everything.

At this period I observed among the news which I received from different
places a singular coincidence of dates, worthy of being noted by the
authors of ephemrides. On the same day-namely, the 1st of February
Paris, Lisbon, and Rome were the scenes of events of different kinds,
but, as they all happened on one day, affording a striking example of the
rapidity of movement which marked the reign of Bonaparte. At Paris the
niece of Josephine, Mademoiselle de Tascher, whom Napoleon had lately
exalted to the rank of Princess, was married to the reigning Prince of
Ahremberg, while at the same time Junot declared to Portugal that the
house of Braganza had ceased to reign, and French troops were, under the
command of General Miollis, occupying Rome. This occupation was the
commencement of prolonged struggles, during which Pins VII. expiated the
condescension he had shown in going to Paris to crown Napoleon.

Looking over my notes, I see it was the day after these three events
occurred that Bonaparte gave to his brother-in-law, Prince Borghese, the
Governorship-General of the departments beyond the Alps which he had just
founded; and of which he made the eighth Grand Dignitary of the Empire.
General Menou, whom I had not seen since Egypt, was obliged by this
appointment to leave Turin, where he had always remained. Bonaparte, not
wishing to permit him to come to Paris, sent Menou to preside over the
Junta of Tuscany, of which he soon afterwards made another General-
Governorship, which he entrusted to the care of his sister Elisa.

--[Prince Camille Philippe Louis Borghese (1755-1832), an Italian,
had married, 6th November 1808, Pauline Bonaparte, the sister of
Napoleon, and the widow of General Leclerc. He had been made Prince
and Duke of Guastalla when that duchy was given to his wife, 30th
Marsh 1806. He separated from his wife after a few years. Indeed
Pauline was impossible as a wife if half of the stories about her
are true. It was she who, finding that a lady was surprised at her
having sat naked while a statue of her was being modelled for
Canova, believed she had satisfactorily explained matters by saying,
"but there was a fire in the room."]--

My correspondence relative to what passed in the south of France and of
Europe presented to me, if I may so express myself, merely an anecdotal
interest. Not so the news which came from the north. At Hamburg I was
like the sentinel of an advanced post, always on the alert. I frequently
informed the Government of what would take place before the event
actually happened. I was one of the first to hear of the plans of Russia
relative to Sweden. The courier whom I sent to Paris arrived there at
the very moment when Russia made the declaration of war. About the end
of February the Russian troops entered Swedish Finland, and occupied also
the capital of that province, which had at all times been coveted by the
Russian Government. It has been said that at the interview at Erfurt
Bonaparte consented to the usurpation of that province by Alexander in
return for the complaisance of the latter in acknowledging Joseph as King
of Spain and the Indies.

The removal of Joseph from the throne of Naples to the throne of Madrid
belongs, indeed, to that period respecting which I am now throwing
together a few recollections. Murat had succeeded Joseph at Naples, and
this accession of the brother-in-law of Napoleon to one of the thrones of
the House of Bourbon gave Bonaparte another junior in the college of
kings, of which he would have infallibly become the senior if he had gone
on as he began.

I will relate a little circumstance which now occurs to me respecting the
kings manufactured by Napoleon. I recollect that during the King of
Etruria's stay in Paris--the First Consul went with that Prince to the
Comedie Francaise, where Voltaire's 'OEdipus' was performed. This piece,
I may observe, Bonaparte liked better than anything Voltaire ever wrote.
I was in the theatre, but not in the First Consul's box, and I observed,
as all present must have done, the eagerness with which the audience
applied to Napoleon and the King of Etruria the line in which Philoctetes
says--

"J'ai fait des souverains et n'ai pas voulu l'etre."

[I have made sovereigns, but have not wished to be one myself."]

The application was so marked that it could not fail to become the
subject of conversation between the First Consul and me. "You remarked
it, Bourrienne?" . . . "Yes, General." . . "The fools! . . .
They shall see! They shall see! "We did indeed see. Not content with
making kings, Bonaparte, when his brow was encircled by a double crown,
after creating princes at length realised the object he had long
contemplated, namely, to found a new nobility endowed with hereditary
rights. It was at the commencement of March 1808 that he accomplished
this project; and I saw in the 'Moniteur' a long list of princes, dukes,
counts, barons, and knights of the Empire; there were wanting only
viscounts and marquises.

At the same time that Bonaparte was founding a new nobility he determined
to raise up the old edifice of the university, but on a new foundation.
The education of youth had always been one of his ruling ideas, and I had
an opportunity of observing how he was changed by the exercise of
sovereign power when I received at Hamburg the statutes of the new elder
daughter of the Emperor of the French, and compared them with the ideas
which Bonaparte, when General and First Consul, had often expressed to me
respecting the education which ought to be given youth. Though the sworn
enemy of everything like liberty, Bonaparte had at first conceived a vast
system of education, comprising above all the study of history, and those
positive sciences, such as geology and astronomy, which give the utmost
degree of development to the human mind. The Sovereign, however, shrunk
from the first ideas of the man of genius, and his university, confided
to the elegant suppleness of M. de Fontaines, was merely a school capable
of producing educated subjects but not enlightened men.

Before taking complete possession of Rome, and making it the second city
of the Empire, the vaunted moderation of Bonaparte was confined to
dismembering from it the legations of Ancona, Urbino, Macerata, and
Camerino, which were divided into three departments; and added to the
Kingdom of Italy. The patience of the Holy See could no longer hold out
against this act of violence, and Cardinal Caprara, who had remained in
Paris since the coronation, at last left that capital. Shortly
afterwards the Grand Duchies of Parma and Piacenza were united to the
French Empire, and annexed to the government of the departments beyond
the Alps. These transactions were coincident with the events in Spain
and Bayonne before mentioned.

After the snare laid at Bayonne the Emperor entered Paris on the 14th of
August, the eve of his birthday. Scarcely had he arrived in the capital
when he experienced fresh anxiety in consequence of the conduct of
Russia, which, as I have stated, had declared open war with Sweden, and
did not conceal the intention of seizing Finland. But Bonaparte,
desirous of actively carrying on the war in Spain, felt the necessity of
removing his troops from Prussia to the Pyrenees. He then hastened the
interview at Erfurt, where the two Emperors of France and Russia had
agreed to meet. He hoped that this interview would insure the
tranquillity of the Continent, while he should complete the subjection of
Spain to the sceptre of Joseph. That Prince had been proclaimed on the
8th of June; and on the 21st of the same month he made his entry into
Madrid, but having received, ten days after, information of the disaster
at Baylen, he was obliged to leave the Spanish capital.

--[The important battle of Daylen, where the French, under General
Dupont, were beaten by the Spaniards, was fought on the 19th of July
1808.]--

Bonaparte's wishes must at this time have been limited to the
tranquillity of the Continent, for the struggle between him and England
was more desperate than ever. England had just sent troops to Portugal
under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley. There was no longer any hope
of a reconciliation with Great Britain: The interview at Erfurt having
been determined on, the Emperor, who had returned from Bayonne to Paris,
again left the capital about the end of September, and arrived at Metz
without stopping, except for the purpose of reviewing the regiments which
were echeloned on his route, and which were on their march from the Grand
Army to Spain.

I had heard some time previously of the interview which was about to take
place, and which was so memorable in the life of Napoleon. It excited so
much interest in Germany that the roads were covered with the equipages
of the Princes who were going to Erfurt to witness the meeting. The
French Emperor arrived there before Alexander, and went forward three
leagues to meet him. Napoleon was on horseback, Alexander in a carriage.
They embraced, it is said, in a manner expressive of the most cordial
friendship. This interview was witnessed by most of the sovereign
Princes of Germany. However, neither the King of Prussia nor the Emperor
of Austria was present. The latter sovereign sent a letter to Napoleon,
of which I obtained a copy. It was as follows:

SIRE, MY BROTHER,--My Ambassador in Paris informs me that your
Majesty is about to proceed to Erfurt to meet the Emperor Alexander.
I eagerly seize the opportunity of your approach to my frontier to
renew those testimonials of friendship and esteem which I have
pledged to you; and I send my Lieutenant-General, Baron Vincent, to
convey to you the assurance of my unalterable sentiments. If the
false accounts that have been circulated respecting the internal
institutions which I have established in my monarchy should for a
moment have excited your Majesty's doubts as to my intentions, I
fatter myself that the explanations given on that subject by Count
Metternich to your Minister will have entirely removed them. Baron
Vincent is enabled to confirm to your Majesty all that has been said
by Count Metternich on the subject, and to add any further
explanations, you may wish for. I beg that your Majesty will grant
him the same gracious reception he experienced at Paris and at
Warsaw. The renewed marks of favour you may bestow on him will be
an unequivocal pledge of the reciprocity of your sentiments, and
will seal that confidence which will render our satisfaction mutual.

Deign to accept the assurance of the unalterable affection and
respect with which I am, Sire, my Brother, Your imperial and royal
Majesty's faithful brother and friend,
(Signed) FRANCIS.
PRESBURG, 8th September 1808.

This letter appears to be a model of ambiguity, by which it is impossible
Napoleon could have been imposed upon. However, as yet he had no
suspicion of the hostility of Austria, which speedily became manifest;
his grand object then was the Spanish business, and, as I have before
observed, one of the secrets of Napoleon's genius was, that he did not
apply himself to more than one thing at a time.

At Erfurt Bonaparte attained the principal object he had promised himself
by the meeting. Alexander recognized Joseph in his new character of King
of Spain and the Indies. It has been said that as the price of this
recognition Napoleon consented that Alexander should have Swedish
Finland; but for the truth of this I cannot vouch. However, I remember
that when, after the interview at Erfurt, Alexander had given-orders to
his ambassador to Charles IV. to continue his functions under King
Joseph, the Swedish charge d'affaires at Hamburg told me that
confidential letters received by him from Erfurt led him to fear that the
Emperor Alexander had communicated to Napoleon his designs on Finland,
and that Napoleon had given his consent to the occupation. Be this as it
may, as soon as the interview was over Napoleon returned to Paris, where
he presided with much splendour at the opening of the Legislative Body,
and set out in the month of November for Spain.

CHAPTER XVI.

1808.

The Spanish troops in Hamburg--Romana's siesta--His departure for
Funen--Celebration of Napoleon's birthday--Romana's defection--
English agents and the Dutch troops--Facility of communication
between England and the Continent--Delay of couriers from Russia--
Alarm and complaints--The people of Hamburg--Montesquieu and the
Minister of the Grand Duke of Tuscany--Invitations at six months--
Napoleon's journey to Italy--Adoption of Eugene--Lucien's daughter
and the Prince of the Asturias--M. Auguste de Stael's interview with
Napoleon.

Previous to the interview at Erfurt an event took place which created a
strong interest in Hamburg and throughout Europe, an event which was
planned and executed with inconceivable secrecy. I allude to the
defection of the Marquis de la Romans, which I have not hitherto noticed,
in order that I might not separate the different facts which came to my
knowledge respecting that defection and the circumstances which
accompanied it.

The Marquis de la Romans had come to the Hanse Towns at the head of an
army corps of 18,000 men, which the Emperor in the preceding campaign
claimed in virtue of treaties previously concluded with the Spanish
Government. The Spanish troops at first met with a good reception in the
Hanse Towns. The difference of language, indeed, occasionally caused
discord, but when better acquainted the inhabitants and their visitors
became good friends. The Marquis de la Romans was a little swarthy man,
of unprepossessing and rather common appearance; but he had a
considerable share of talent and information. He had travelled in almost
every part of Europe, and as he had been a close observer of all he saw
his conversation was exceedingly agreeable and instructive.

During his stay at Hamburg General Romans spent almost every evening at
my house, and invariably fell asleep over a game at whist. Madame de
Bourrienne was usually his partner, and I recollect he perpetually
offered apologies for his involuntary breach of good manners. This,
however, did not hinder him from being guilty of the same offence the
next evening. I will presently explain the cause of this regular siesta.

On the King of Spain's birthday the Marquis de la Romans gave a
magnificent entertainment. The decorations of the ballroom consisted of
military emblems. The Marquis did the honours with infinite grace, and
paid particular attention to the French generals. He always spoke of the
Emperor in very respectful terms, without any appearance of affectation,
so that it was impossible to suspect him of harbouring disaffection. He
played his part to the last with the utmost address. At Hamburg we had
already received intelligence of the fatal result of the battle of the
Sierra Morena, and of the capitulation of Dupont, which disgraced him at
the very moment when the whole army marked him out as the man most likely
next to receive the baton of Marshal of France.

Meanwhile the Marquis de la Romans departed for the Danish island of
Funen, in compliance with the order which Marshal Bernadotte had
transmitted to him. There, as at Hamburg, the Spaniards were well liked,
for their general obliged them to observe the strictest discipline.
Great preparations were made in Hamburg on the approach of Saint
Napoleon's day, which was then celebrated with much solemnity in every
town in which France had representatives. The Prince de Ponte-Corvo was
at Travemunde, a small seaport near Lubeck, but that did not prevent him
from giving directions for the festival of the 15th of August. The
Marquis de la Romana, the better to deceive the Marshal, despatched a
courier, requesting permission to visit Hamburg on the day of the fete in
order to join his prayers to those of the French, and to receive, on the
day of the fete, from the hands of the Prince, the grand order of the
Legion of Honour, which he had solicited, and which Napoleon had granted
him. Three days after Bernadotte received intelligence of the defection
of de la Romana. The Marquis had contrived to assemble a great number of
English vessels on the coast, and to escape with all his troops except a
depot of 600 men left at Altona. We afterwards heard that he experienced
no interruption on his passage, and that he landed with his troops at
Corunna. I now knew to what to attribute the drowsiness which always
overcame the Marquis de la Romana when he sat down to take a hand at
whist. The fact was, he sat up all night making preparations for the
escape which he had long meditated, while to lull suspicion he showed
himself everywhere during the day, as usual.

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