Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. II
by baron Pierre Alexandre Édouard Fleury de Chaboulon · English · Gutenberg #24718 · 552,863 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. II
Author: baron Pierre Alexandre Édouard Fleury de Chaboulon
Release date: February 29, 2008 [eBook #24718]
Language: English
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MEMOIRS
OF THE
PRIVATE LIFE,
RETURN, AND REIGN
OF
NAPOLEON
IN 1815.
_Ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem habes._ SCIPIO.
BY M. FLEURY DE CHABOULON,
Ex-Secretary of the Emperor Napoleon and of his Cabinets,
Master of Requests to the Council of State, Baron, Officer
of the Legion of Honour, and Knight of the Order of Reunion.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
1820.
MEMOIRS,
&c. &c.
At the same period (May the 1st) the Emperor received a fresh proof of
the little confidence, that men deserve, and of the horrible facility,
with which they sacrifice their duties and their sentiments, to the
suggestions of their covetousness or their ambition.
Of all the ministers of Napoleon there was not one, who, at the time
of his return, lavished on him so many protestations of fidelity and
devotion to his service, as the Duke of Otranto. "And this fidelity,
if he could have doubted it, would have been guarantied by the
mandate, under which he (M. Fouché) groaned, at the moment when the
return of Napoleon restored him to liberty, and perhaps to life[1]."
[Footnote 1: Fragment of a letter from M. Fouché to the
Emperor, on the 21st of March.]
Yet what was the astonishment of the Emperor, when the Duke of Vicenza
came to inform him, that a secret agent of M. de Metternich had
arrived at Paris from Vienna, and appeared to have had a mysterious
interview with M. Fouché! The Emperor immediately ordered M. Réal,
prefect of the police, to make search after this emissary. He was
arrested, and declared:
That, being employed by a banking-house at Vienna, to settle accounts
of interest with several bankers at Paris, he had been sent for by M.
de Metternich; and that this prince had entrusted him with a letter
for the French minister of police:
That he was ignorant of the contents of this letter; but knew it was
interlined with sympathetic ink: and the prince had delivered to him a
powder for making the hidden characters appear:
That Baron de Werner, diplomatic agent, was to be at Bâle on the 1st
of May, to receive the answer of the Duke of Otranto:
That a fictitious statement of an account had been given him, which
was to serve as a sign, to make known to M. Werner the agent sent by
the French minister:
In fine, that he had delivered the letter and the account to the Duke
of Otranto, who had told him, to attend quickly to his business, and
return to Vienna as soon as possible.
The Emperor immediately sent for M. Fouché, under pretence of
conversing with him on affairs of state.
M. Fouché preserved the most profound silence on what had passed with
the envoy of M. de Metternich, and displayed no marks of embarrassment
or uneasiness.
The first thought of Napoleon was, to seize the papers of his
treacherous minister: but persuaded, that he was too adroit, and too
prudent, to retain any traces of his treason, he deemed it preferable,
in order to come at the truth, to send some one to Bâle, who should
introduce himself to M. Werner as from the Duke. Napoleon attached
great importance to this mission. He condescended to cast his eyes on
me to execute it; and, after having disclosed to me "_the perfidy of
that infamous Fouché,_" he said to me: "You will go immediately to the
Duke of Vicenza: he will give you passports both in the King's name
and in mine: you will learn at the frontier, which will avail you
most. Here is an order under my own hand, to all the generals,
prefects, and lieutenants of police, who may be on the Rhine, to
furnish you with the means of leaving and returning to France, and
with all the assistance you may require, within the kingdom and even
without. I command them, strictly to conform to every thing you may
judge proper to direct. I think you will pass. I have never heard of
this M. Werner, but M. de Metternich is a man of honour: he would not
be concerned in a plot against my life. I do not believe the business
is to renew the attempts of Georges, or the snares of the 3d of
Nivose. However, you will sound M. Werner on this head. I believe,
they are desirous of fomenting disturbances, and forming a conspiracy,
rather against my throne, than against my life. This point it is
essential to ascertain. I give you no farther instructions: you will
act as your own master: I rely entirely on you. If the safety of the
state be threatened, or if you discover any thing of importance,
apprise me of it by the telegraph, and send off a courier with all
speed. If you find there is nothing in it but the commencement of an
intrigue, nothing but a trial; waste no time in useless parleying, but
frankly avail yourself of the opportunity, to make M. de Metternich
acquainted with my situation, and my pacific intentions; and endeavour
to establish a reconciliation between me and Austria. I should also
like to know, what the allies think of Eugene; and whether they would
be disposed to call him to the head of affairs in a regency, if I
should lose my life on the field of battle. Go and see the Duke of
Vicenza, talk with him, and return in half an hour. I will see if I
have any thing more to say to you." Half an hour after, I returned.
The Emperor was in his saloon, surrounded by Marshal Ney and several
persons of consequence. Making a motion with his hand, he said to me:
"I rely upon you: fly."
It was by such expressions, that he knew how to flatter self-love, and
animate zeal. I flew to Bâle. Had it been necessary for me, in order
to justify the expectations of Napoleon, to cross the Rhine under the
mouths of the enemy's cannon, I should have done it.
I began to employ the unlimited powers given me by the Emperor, by
directing provisionally, that no person coming from Paris should be
allowed to quit France. I was not willing to be preceded by the real
agent of the Duke of Otranto.
The communication with Bâle was not yet interrupted: but it was
necessary, to have a permit to enter the city, another to go out of
it, and, on the slightest suspicion, you were carried before the
director of the police, who, without taking his pipe out of his mouth,
gave orders, according to his own good pleasure, either to turn you
out at the gate, or to throw you into prison, I had provided myself
with a commission of inspector general of provision, and presented
myself at Bâle under the pretence of making large purchases there.
Money will always secure a good reception in Switzerland.
I repaired without meeting any obstacle to the Three Kings inn, where
M. Werner had alighted. He was already arrived. I announced to him,
that I had been commissioned by a person at Paris, to confer with him.
He showed me the account he had as a token; and I showed him _at a
distance_ that I had, for I knew it was good for nothing. It had been
written out from memory by our prisoner, the token having remained in
the hands of M. Fouché.
M. Werner began by expressing to me with all the pomp of diplomatic
politeness the pleasure, which he felt at seeing me; that he had
expected me ever since the 1st of May (this was the 3d); and that he
began to fear, that M. Fouché was indifferent about entering into a
conference with the prince. This conjecture led me to suppose, that
nothing had yet been agreed upon or proposed. I answered M. Werner,
that in fact the Duke of Otranto had shown a little hesitation,
because the letter of M. de Metternich left _some uncertainty_; but
that, still filled with esteem and deference for this prince, he would
be eager to offer him every proof of his zeal, that should be in his
power; that he had chosen me for his interpreter, and that I should
take a pleasure in answering with unbounded confidence the _new_
overtures, which M. Werner was no doubt commissioned to make to me. I
added, that the Duke of Otranto had recommended to me, to lay aside
diplomatic forms, and to explain myself with that complete _absence of
restraint_, which M. de Metternich must inspire. That in consequence,
I intreated him, to follow my example, and to tell me without
circumlocution, _what he expected of us_.
He answered me, that M. de Metternich had retained the highest opinion
of M. Fouché's merit: that he imagined, a man like him could not
suppose, that Napoleon would maintain himself on the throne: that he
was persuaded, he had accepted the ministry of police, only to spare
France the calamities of a civil and a foreign war: and that, under
this persuasion, he hoped M. Fouché would not hesitate, to second the
efforts the allies were about to make, to get rid of Bonaparte, and
re-establish the Bourbons in France.
I replied, that M. Fouché, whose patriotism was well known, had not
been able to contemplate without pain the misfortunes, with which
France was threatened; but that hitherto he had not perceived the
possibility of remedying them. "Frequently," I said, "people at a
distance see more clearly, than those who are nigh: what are the views
of M. de Metternich and the allies on this point? _what means do they
conceive may be employed, to get rid of Napoleon?_"
"M. de Metternich," said he, "has not fully communicated to me his
views in this respect. I have even reason to believe, that nothing has
yet been determined; and that it is in order to arrive at some certain
result, that he is desirous of concerting matters with M. Fouché, who
must be better acquainted with the true state of affairs than he is.
As to the means of getting rid of Bonaparte, there is one, the issue
of which cannot be doubtful: this is force: but the allies are
unwilling to have recourse to it, unless in the last extremity; and
they would have wished, _that M. Fouché could have found means of
delivering France from Bonaparte_, without shedding fresh torrents of
blood."
This ambiguous answer giving me some uneasiness, I replied: "I know but
two ways of overturning the throne of Napoleon: the first is, to
assassinate him!" As I pronounced these words, I turned my eyes a little
aside, that I might not embarrass M. Werner, and might observe him at my
ease. "Assassinate him!" exclaimed he with indignation: "such a step
never entered into the thoughts of M. de Metternich."--"So I presume;
and accordingly I began with expressing to you the high veneration,
which I feel for M. de Metternich. The second way," I continued, "is of
secretly uniting, or, to speak plainly, of conspiring against Napoleon;
and I do not see very clearly at present, _on whom we can reckon_: have
M. de Metternich and the allies _any connexions yet formed_?"
"They have none," he answered: "scarcely have they had time to come to
any mutual understanding at Vienna. It is for M. Fouché to prepare and
arrange his plans: it is to him, that the allies are desirous of
confiding the care and honour of saving France from the calamities of
a new war, and from the tyranny prepared for her by the Emperor."
Convinced by the turn the conversation had taken, that there had been
no previous connexion between the Duke of Otranto and M. de
Metternich; convinced, that the life of the Emperor, and the safety of
the state, were not threatened; I changed my style, and proceeded
straight to the end, which I had principally in view; that of
endeavouring to establish, if not a reconciliation, at least
conferences between France and Austria.
"Do the allies then imagine," resumed I, "that it would be easy for M.
Fouché to stir France against Napoleon? There was a time, it is true,
when the Emperor was not liked; but the Bourbons have treated the
nation so ill, that they succeeded in rendering him regretted, so that
his enemies are become his partisans."
"What you tell me," answered M. Werner with astonishment, "is
completely the reverse of the reports, that reach us from Paris."
"I can assure you," continued I, "that they have deceived you. The
acclamations and good wishes, that accompanied Napoleon from the gulf
of Juan to Paris, ought however to have informed you, that he had in
his favour the unanimous suffrages of the army, and of the
nation."--"Say of the army."--"No: I persist in saying of the nation,
and of the army. From the moment when Napoleon re-appeared on French
ground, he was received with enthusiasm, not only by his soldiers,
but by the citizens also. If he had the suffrages of only a few
regiments in a state of insubordination, would he have traversed
France without any obstacle? Would he have received on his journey
that unanimous testimony of love and devotion, which the whole
population of Dauphiny, the Lyonese, and Burgundy, emulated each other
in displaying?"--"It is possible, that Bonaparte may have been well
received in some places; but a few solitary acclamations do not
express the wishes of a whole nation; and, had it not been for the
army, he would never have re-entered the Tuileries."--"It is certain,
that, if Napoleon had had the army against him, he could never have
dethroned Louis XVIII. with eight hundred men: but we must not
conclude, that, because the army declared for him, it was the army
alone, that re-established him on the throne. When he took Lyons, he
had with him only two thousand men; he had but eight thousand, when he
marched for Paris; and he had only eight hundred with him, when he
entered the capital. Had not the nation entertained the same
sentiments as the army, could he, with such a contemptible force, have
given the law to two millions of individuals scattered on his road;
and to the fifty thousand soldiers, national guards and volunteers,
who were assembled under the walls of Paris? If indeed the nation had
opposed the proceedings and wishes of the army, and the army had
overcome the nation, it might have been asserted with reason, that the
restoration of Napoleon was the work of the soldiers exclusively: but
you know, as well as I, that not a single act of violence was
committed, not a single musket was fired, and that they were every
where welcomed and feasted as friends and deliverers. I ask you, now,
what ought we to conclude from this union, this unanimity of
sentiments and actions?"--
"We may infer, that the people, naturally weak and timid, were afraid
of the army; and gave it a good reception, that they might not be
exposed to its violence: but this does not prove, that in the bottom
of their hearts they shared the sentiments of the army for Napoleon."
"God alone knows what passes in the bottom of the heart: we mortals
can judge only by appearances, by men's words and actions. Now
actions, words, and appearances combine to prove evidently, that the
nation approved and shared the enthusiasm of the army. Besides, you
are wrong in thinking, that in France the people can entertain
sentiments different from those of the army. Under the ancient
monarchy, when the army was composed of the dissolute reduced to want,
of malefactors pursued by the hand of justice, there did not, and
could not, exist any affinity between the army and the nation: but now
that the army is a national body, composed of the sons and brothers of
our best citizens; and that these sons, these brothers, though
separated from their families, remain united with them in heart, mind,
and interests; the nation and the army are one. If the allies have
founded their hopes solely on a disagreement of opinions and wishes
between the nation and the army, they have calculated erroneously: the
approach of their troops, far from dividing the French, will only draw
their union closer. They will not fight for Napoleon, they will fight
for the honour and independence of the nation."--"From what you tell
me it would seem, that France is determined to run the hazard of war;
and that it is ready, if Napoleon require it, to second as heretofore
his schemes of conquest."--"No, sir: the glory of Napoleon has cost us
too dear; we desire no more laurels at such a price. Napoleon has the
wishes of the nation on his side, less from affection to his person,
than because he is a man of the revolution, and his government will
secure us pledges, which we have demanded in vain from the Bourbons;
but if the Emperor were to suffer himself to be led away by the thirst
of conquest, France would abandon him; and then you might reckon on M.
Fouché and all true patriots uniting, to get rid of Napoleon for
ever."--
"You do not think, then, it appears to me, that M. Fouché is disposed
at the present moment, to second the views of the allied sovereigns
and M. Metternich?"--"I do not; M. Fouché is convinced, that the
Bourbons cannot reign: that the nation has an antipathy to them, which
nothing can remove."--"The allies are not so much bent on restoring
the crown to Louis XVIII., as on taking it from Napoleon, whose
remaining on the throne is incompatible with the safety and repose of
Europe: I am even authorized to think, that they would leave the
French free to choose whatever sovereign, and whatever government,
they might think proper. The Duke of Orleans, for instance, would not
he suit the nation? He served formerly in the republican armies; he
has been a partisan of the revolution; his father voted for the death
of Louis XVI."--"The Duke of Orleans, no doubt, would offer the
nation most of the pledges it requires: but his elevation to the
throne, far from annihilating our troubles, would increase them; he
would have against him the partisans of Louis XVIII., of Napoleon, and
of the regency; that is to say, almost the whole nation."--"Well,
then, the allies might consent to give you the young prince Napoleon
and the regency, or perhaps a federal government."--"At the time of
the invasion in 1814, we had several times occasion to debate the
question of the regency with M. Fouché. He thought, that, with a
regency, France would experience the renovation of those discords, to
which minorities commonly give birth. A people, that has been at war
with itself, and with its neighbours, has need of being swayed by a
man, who knows how to hold the reins of government with a firm hand,
and to make himself respected at home and abroad."--"But you have no
want of firm and able men; and a council of regency might be composed
for you, that would answer the wishes both of the allies and of
France."--"I know well, that we have in the archchancellor, in the
Duke of Vicenza, and in several of our principal functionaries,
statesmen abounding in talents, wisdom, and moderation: but the
difficulty would be, to make a choice among the military men. Most of
these have equal rights, and their pretensions, their jealousies,
their rivalries, could not but be fatal to our tranquillity."--"We
should know how to keep them in order; and I do not see one among them
whose ambition could prove formidable."--"Their ambition has not
displayed itself for want of opportunity. I know but one military man,
who could be placed at the head of the government with safety; this is
Eugene, the prince who said, in 1814, in his memorable proclamations,
that 'they alone are immortal, who know how to live and die faithful
to their duty, faithful to gratitude and honour:' this prince, I say,
far from aspiring to the throne, would be on the contrary its glory
and support: but his family ties, and the duties they impose on him,
perhaps would not permit him to quit Bavaria. Perhaps too the allies
would not allow the direction of affairs in France, to be entrusted to
him: do you think they would?"--"I am perfectly ignorant of what might
be the determination of the prince and his family."--"But cannot you
guess, what would be that of the allies?"--"Not in the least."--"What
men," said I to him jocularly, "you diplomatists are! why are not you
as open with me, as I am with you? have I left one of your desires
unsatisfied? have I avoided answering one of your questions?"--"I am
not endeavouring to dissemble, I assure you: but, as the question you
have put to me was not foreseen, I cannot, and ought not, to allow
myself to answer it."--"Well, we will say no more of it. As to a
federal government, this would too much resemble our republic, and we
have paid so dear for the honour of being republicans, that we have no
farther inclination for it. A federal government may suit a country
with a scanty population, like Switzerland; or a new nation, like
America; but it would be a calamity to our old France: we are too
volatile, too impassioned; we want a ruler, a master who knows how to
make himself obeyed. Hark you, M. Werner, I must continue to speak to
you frankly: the only chief, that suits us, is Napoleon: no longer
Napoleon the ambitious and the conqueror, but Napoleon corrected by
adversity. The desire of reigning will render him docile to the will
of France, and of Europe. He will give them both such pledges, as they
may require: and I believe the Duke of Otranto will then esteem
himself very happy, to be able to concur with M. de Metternich in
pacifying Europe, re-establishing harmony between Austria and France,
and so restricting the power of the Emperor, that it shall no longer
be possible for him, to disturb a second time the general
tranquillity. This, I believe, must be the object of the allies; it
depends on themselves alone to attain it: but if they reckon upon
subjugating us by means of our intestine divisions, they will be
deceived; of this you may assure M. de Metternich.
"For the rest, I shall give the Duke of Otranto an account of the
overtures you have made me, and particularly of those relating to a
regency: but, suppose we should consent to accept either one or the
other of your proposals, what is to be done with Napoleon? for, as it
is neither your intention, nor ours, to kill him, he must live; and
where shall he live? Have the allies come to any determination on this
point?"--"I do not know: M. de Metternich did not explain himself on
this point: I will submit the question to him. I will acquaint him
with your opinion of the state of France, and the situation of
Napoleon, and of the possibility of a general arrangement: but I
foresee, that the present sentiments of M. Fouché will astonish him
greatly. He thought, that he detested Bonaparte."--"Men change with
circumstances: M. Fouché may have detested the Emperor, when he
tyrannized over France; yet be reconciled to him, since he has been
willing to render it free and happy."
We parted, after having exchanged a few supplementary questions, and
agreed to return with all speed, he to Vienna, and I to Paris; and to
meet again at Bâle in the course of a week.
As soon as I arrived at Paris, I presented myself before the Emperor.
I had spent only four days in going and returning; and he imagined, on
seeing me so quickly, that I had not been able to pass. He was
surprised and delighted to learn, that I had seen and conversed with
M. Werner; led me into the garden (it was at the Élysée), and there we
talked together, if I may use the term, for near two hours. Our
conversation was so desultory, that it almost entirely escaped my
memory: I could retain only a few fragments of it. "I was fully
persuaded," said Napoleon to me, "that M. de Metternich had plotted
nothing against my life: he does not like me, but he is a man of
honour. If Austria chose it, every thing might be arranged: but she
has an expectant policy, that loses every thing: she never knew how to
take a decided part at the proper moment. The Emperor is ill advised:
he does not know Alexander; and is not aware, how crafty and ambitious
the Russians are: if once they get the upper hand, all Germany will
be subverted. Alexander will set the good-natured Francis, and all the
little kings, to whom I gave crowns, playing at catch-corners. The
Russians will become masters of the world when I have nothing to do in
it. Europe will not be sensible of my value, till she has lost me.
There was no one but myself strong enough, to tame England with one
hand, and restrain Russia with the other. I will spare them the
trouble of deliberating where they shall put me: if they dared, they
would cram me into an iron cage, and show me to their cockneys as a
wild beast: but they shall not have me; they shall find, that the lion
is still alive, and will not suffer himself to be chained. They do not
know my strength: _if I were to put on the red cap, it would be all
over with them._ Did you inquire of M. Werner after the Empress and my
son?"--"Yes, Sire: he told me, that the Empress was well, and the
young prince a charming boy."--The Emperor, with fire: "Did you
complain, that the law of nations, and the first rights of nature, had
been violated in respect to me? Did you tell him how detestable it is,
to deprive a husband of his wife, a father of his son? that such an
action is unworthy a civilized people?"--"Sire, I was only the
ambassador of M. Fouché."
After a few moments' silence, the Emperor continued: "Fouché, during
your absence, has come and told me the whole affair[2]: he has
explained the whole to my satisfaction. It is his interest not to
deceive me. He has always been fond of intriguing; we must let him do
it. Go and see him, tell him all that has passed with M. Werner; show
confidence in him; and, if he question you about me, tell him, that I
am perfectly easy, and that I have no doubt of his attachment and
fidelity."
[Footnote 2: I have since been assured, that M. Réal had
warned him, by means of Madame Lacuée, his daughter,
that the Emperor knew the whole affair.]
Already the Emperor had had reason to complain of M. Fouché on several
important occasions; but, subjugated by I know not what charm, he had
always placed more confidence in him than he wished.
Few men, it is true, possess the gift of pleasing and persuading in a
higher degree than the Duke of Otranto: equally profound and witty,
equally endowed with foresight and ability, his mind embraces at once
the past, present, and future: he alternately seduces and astonishes
by the boldness of his thoughts, the acuteness of his perception, and
the solidity of his judgment.
Unhappily his mind, overstrained by the revolution, has contracted a
habit and taste for strong emotions: quiet is tiresome to him: he
wants agitation, danger, convulsions: hence that desire of stirring,
intriguing, I had almost said of conspiring, which has driven M.
Fouché into errors so deplorable, and so fatal to his reputation.
Conformably to the orders of Napoleon, I repaired immediately to the
Duke of Otranto's, and told him laughing, that I was come to give him
an account of the mission which he had confided to me. "A fine
mission, indeed!" said he to me. "It is just like the Emperor; he is
always suspicious of those who serve him best. Do you think, for
example, that you are sure of him? You deceive yourself. If you should
involuntarily be guilty of the slightest inconsistency, and he knew it
(these words he pronounced in such a way, as to give me to understand,
that it was through him the Emperor might be informed of it), nothing
more would be wanting to ruin you. But let us have done with princes,
and talk together." Leading me to his sofa, he said: "Do you know,
that you gave me some uneasiness? if you had been betrayed, you would
probably have been sent to some fortress, and kept there till a peace
took place."--"Very true; I certainly ran that risk; but when an
affair of such importance is at stake, a man should not think of
himself."
I gave him a faithful account of what M. Werner said; but took care,
not to let him know the time of our next interview; for I was afraid,
that he would play me some trick with the Swiss, or would hasten to
undeceive M. de Metternich.
When I had finished my tale, he resumed: "I first thought the whole of
this a hum, but I find I was mistaken. Your conference with M. Werner
may lead to a reconciliation between us and Austria; what you said
must open the eyes of M. Metternich. To convince him completely, I
will write to him; and depict with so much clearness and truth the
real situation of France, as will make him sensible, that the best
thing that can be done is, to abandon the Bourbons to their unlucky
fate, and leave us to arrange matters with Bonaparte in our own way.
When you are ready to set off, come to me, and I will give you my
letter."
He then said, "I did not speak to Napoleon about the letter of M. de
Metternich immediately, because his agent had not delivered to me the
powder, necessary to make the writing appear; I was obliged to have
recourse to chemical experiments, which required time. Here is the
letter (he made me read it): you see it says nothing: however, if I
could have deciphered it immediately, Napoleon should have known
nothing of it; I would have served him, without saying any thing to
him. In affairs of this kind secrecy is necessary; and Napoleon is
incapable of it: he would have been so much agitated, and have set so
many men and so many pens in motion, that the whole would have taken
wind. He ought to know my sentiments and opinions; and no person, but
himself, could have taken it into his head for a moment, that I could
betray him for the Bourbons: I despise and detest them at least as
much as he."
The indirect threats of M. Fouché, and the whole of his discourse,
persuaded me, that he was not sincere. I imparted my suspicions to the
Emperor, who did not agree in them: he told me, that M. Fouché's
insinuation of his having it in his power to ruin me was only meant,
to give himself an air of importance. That, however, I had nothing to
fear from him, or from any other person. In fact, I did not fear; for,
when the Emperor had conceived a liking for any one, he took him
under his own protection, and no person whatever was allowed to hurt
him.
The next day but one I went to the Duke of Otranto's, to receive the
letters he had promised me. He appeared surprised, to see me so soon.
In fact I had made him believe, that I was not to return to Bâle till
the 1st of June. To give a colour to this hasty departure, I informed
him, that M. Werner, whom I had requested to write to me, in case of
any unforeseen occurrence, under cover to M. **** the banker, had just
desired me, to repair to Bâle immediately. He let me see, that he was
not the dupe of this falsehood yet nevertheless delivered me with a
good grace two letters for M. de Metternich.
One of these, which has been published in the English newspapers,
tended to show, that the throne of Napoleon, supported by the love and
confidence of the French, had nothing to fear from the attacks of the
coalition.
In the other he went over the proposals of M. Werner: he discussed
with admirable sagacity the advantages and inconveniences, that might
result from them to the interests of France and of Europe; and he
finished, by declaring, after having successively rejected a republic,
a regency, and the Duke of Orleans, that Napoleon, whom he loaded
with extravagant praises, was evidently the chief best suited to the
French, and to the interests of the allied monarchs rightly
understood. Nevertheless, he had contrived to turn his expressions
with so much art and address, that it was impossible not to perceive,
that he thought in the bottom of his heart the Duke of Orleans the
only prince, capable of ensuring the happiness of France, and the
tranquillity of foreign nations.
I laid this letter before the Emperor, and endeavoured in vain to make
him sensible of the treachery. He could see nothing but the eulogiums
of his genius: the rest he overlooked.
M. Werner had been punctual to his rendezvous and I hastened to his
residence. "I was afraid," said he to me obligingly, "that you had
been refused admission into Bâle: I have spoken about it to the
authorities, and, if you wish it, I will cause to be delivered to you
the necessary passport, to enable you to enter Switzerland, depart, or
reside in it, without obstacle, and without danger."
I thanked him for this offer, which convinced me, that the Swiss were
as well disposed towards our enemies, as they were the reverse to us.
We afterwards entered on business. "I related to M. de Metternich,"
said he to me, "the frank and loyal conversation, which I had the
honour of holding with you. He hastened to give an account of it to
the allied sovereigns: and the sovereigns have thought, that it ought
to produce no alteration in the resolution they have formed, never to
acknowledge Napoleon as sovereign of France, or to enter into any
negotiation with him individually: _but at the same time, I am
authorized formally to declare to you, that they renounce the idea of
re-establishing the Bourbons on the throne, and that they consent to
grant you the young Prince Napoleon._ They know, that in 1814 a
regency was the wish of France; and they would think themselves happy,
to be able to accomplish it now."
"This is direct," answered I: "but what is to be done with the
Emperor?"--"Begin you with deposing him: the allies will afterwards
come to a suitable determination, according to circumstances. They are
great, generous, and humane; and you may depend on it, they will treat
Napoleon with the respect due to his rank, his alliance, and his
misfortunes."--"This answer does not explain, whether Napoleon will be
free, to choose a place of retreat for himself; or remain a prisoner
to France and the allies."--"This is all I know."--"I perceive, that
the allies want Napoleon to be delivered up to them bound hand and
foot: never will the French be guilty of such a cowardly act. Since
our interview, the public opinion in his favour has been expressed
with fresh strength; and I protest to you, that he never possessed the
love of the French to so high a degree. The electors convoked for the
_Champ de Mai_, and the new representatives of France[3], are arriving
at Paris from all quarters. Do you think, that these electors, and
these deputies, who are the choice of the nation, would have embraced
the perilous cause of Napoleon, were it not the common cause of all
France? Do you think, that, if they were not resolved to defend it
against all the world, they would be so stupid, or so imprudent, as to
come forward in the face of that world, to swear fealty to the
Emperor, and proscription and hatred to the Bourbons? The allies
subdued us in 1814, because we were then without union, without will,
without the means of resistance. But a great nation is not to be
subdued two years following; and every thing indicates, that, if a
contest take place, it will turn out to the advantage of the French
this time."--"If you knew the force, that will be opposed to you, you
would hold a different language: you will have twelve hundred thousand
men to fight against, twelve hundred thousand men accustomed to
conquer, and who already know the road to Paris."--"They know it,
because they were taught it by treachery."--"Consider, too, that you
are without artillery, without an army, without cavalry."--"The
Spaniards resisted all the force of Bonaparte, though they had fewer
resources than we have."--"You have no money."--"We shall procure it
at the expense of the nobles and royalists, or do without it. The
armies of the republic were paid with garlands of oak, yet were they
the less able, to overcome the armies of the coalition?"--"You are
wrong, I assure you, in viewing your situation under such fine
colours. This new war will be more cruel, and more obstinate, than the
others. The allies are determined, never to lay down their arms, while
Napoleon remains on the throne."--"I by no means look with
tranquillity on the war that is preparing. I cannot think of it
without alarm. If Napoleon prove victorious, it is possible, that
success may turn our brains, and inspire us anew with the desire of
revisiting Vienna and Berlin. If he be unsuccessful, it is to be
feared, that our defeats will animate the people with rage and
despair, and that the nobles and royalists will be massacred."--"The
prospect is no doubt extremely distressing; but I have already told
you, and I repeat it, nothing will alter the determination of the
allied monarchs: they have learned to know the Emperor, and will not
leave him the means of disturbing the world. Even would the sovereigns
consent, to lay down their arms, their people would oppose it: they
consider Bonaparte as the scourge of the human race, and would all
shed their blood to the last drop, to tear from him the sceptre, and
perhaps his life."--
[Footnote 3: The greater part of the deputies were not
yet named; but there was no harm in anticipating
events.]
"I know, that the Prussians have sworn him implacable animosity: but
the Russians and Austrians surely are not so exasperated as the
Prussians."--
"On the contrary, the Emperor Alexander was the first, to declare
against Napoleon."--
"Be it so: but the Emperor of Austria is too virtuous, and too
politic, to sacrifice his son-in-law, and his natural ally, a second
time to vain considerations."--
"The Emperor is not guided by vain considerations: he had to choose
between his affections as a father, and his duties as a sovereign; he
had to decide between the fate of a wife and child, and the fate of
Europe: the choice he would make could not be doubted, and the
magnanimous resolution taken by the Emperor is incontestably a noble
title to the gratitude of his contemporaries, and the admiration of
posterity."--
"I am fully aware, how much it must have cost him, to overturn the
throne of his daughter, and of his grandson; and condemn them to lead
a painful life on the face of the earth, without father, without
husband, without a country. Though a Frenchman, I do justice to the
strength of mind, that the Emperor has shown on this memorable
occasion: but if the part he then took were proper, it appears to me,
that the path he now seems inclined to pursue will be as dangerous, as
it is impolitic. Austria, in the critical situation in which it is
placed by the vicinity, ambition, and alliance of Prussia and Russia,
has need of being protected and supported by a powerful ally; and no
prince is more capable of succouring and defending it than
Napoleon."--
"Austria has nothing to fear from its neighbours: such harmony reigns
between them, as nothing can disturb: their sentiments and principles
are the same. M. de Metternich has charged me, to declare to you
positively, that he acted only in concert with the allies; and that
he would enter into no negotiation without their consent."--
This word, negotiation, struck me. "Since we must not think, M.
Werner," answered I, "of re-establishing that union and friendship
between Austria and France separately, which their interests, and
their family connexion, demand; at least let us not renounce the hope
of a general accommodation. Never perhaps was humanity threatened with
a war so terrible: it will be a conflict to the death, not between
army and army, but between nation and nation. The idea makes me
tremble. The name of M. de Metternich is already celebrated; but with
what glory would it be surrounded, if M. de Metternich, in becoming
the mediator of Europe, should accomplish its pacification! And we,
too, M. Werner, do you think we should not obtain a share in the
blessings of the people? Let us lay aside our character of
negotiators, and examine the situation of the belligerent powers, not
as their agents, but as disinterested persons, as friends of humanity.
You say, you have twelve hundred thousand fighting men; but we had a
million in 1794, and shall have still. The love of honour and
independence is not extinct in France; it will fire every heart, when
the business is to repel the humiliating and unjust yoke, that you
would impose on us.
"If the picture I have drawn you of the state of France, and the
patriotism with which she is animated, appear to you unfaithful, or
exaggerated, come with me; I offer you a passport, and all the pledges
you can require; we will travel together incognito; we will go
wherever you please; we will hear, we will interrogate, the peasants,
the townspeople, the soldiers, the rich, and the poor; and when you
have seen, seen every thing with your own eyes, you may aver to M. de
Metternich, that he has been deceived; and that the efforts of the
allies, to impose upon us the law, can have no other result, than that
of watering the ground in vain with blood."
The emotion, that I could not restrain, had transfused itself into M.
Werner: "I wish," said he to me with tenderness, "it was in my power
to second your wishes, and to concur with you in stopping the effusion
of human blood: but I dare not indulge this hope. However, I will give
M. de Metternich an account of the energy, with which you have pleaded
the cause of humanity: and, if he can accept the office of a mediator,
I know so well the loftiness of his soul, to pledge myself to you,
that he will not refuse it."
Thus far, in order to accustom M. de Metternich to treat directly with
me, I had avoided bringing forward M. Fouché. However, as he had
directed me to make use of his letters, I took an opportunity of
mentioning them to M. Werner. I read them to him; and took care to
comment on them in such a way, as to destroy the unpleasant
impression, which I foresaw the partiality of the praises lavished on
Napoleon would make upon him. When we came to the passage, where M.
Fouché discussed the inconveniences of a republic, M. Werner stopped
me, and said, that I certainly had not conceived him rightly; that he
had spoken to me merely indirectly of a republic, as it never entered
into the thoughts of the allied monarchs, to give way to its
re-establishment; for their endeavours would rather be exerted, to
crush the seeds of a republican spirit, than to favour their dangerous
germination. I reminded him of the conversation we had had on the
subject; but, as it was of little importance to me, to prove myself in
the right, I readily admitted myself to be in the wrong.
"At any rate," said he, taking the letters, "the language of M.
Fouché will greatly surprise M. de Metternich. He repeated to me
again, the evening before I set out, that the Duke of Otranto had on
all occasions expressed to him an inveterate hatred of Bonaparte; and
that even in 1814 he blamed him, for not having caused him to be
confined in some strong fortress; predicting to him, that he would
return from the island of Elba, to ravage Europe anew. M. Fouché must
be totally ignorant of what passes at Vienna, to believe in the
Emperor's security: what he will learn from M. de Montron and M.
Bresson will no doubt lead him to adopt a different opinion; and will
make him sensible, that it will be for his own interest, as well as
that of France, to second the efforts of the allies."
"I know the connexions of the Duke of Otranto with those gentlemen,"
answered I: "he will not pay much credit to what they tell him. I
regret that you were not commissioned to say so much to me on our
first interview, it would unquestionably have made a very different
impression on him; but what has not yet been done may be done; and, if
you wish it, I will readily be your interpreter."
"M. de Metternich," replied M. Werner, "did not positively inform me
what he had commissioned those gentlemen to say to the Duke of
Otranto; but I presume it could only be a repetition of what he
directed me to say to you."
"If this be the case," rejoined I, "you would be wrong, to flatter
yourself with the least success. If the question related to Napoleon
alone, we should not hesitate to sacrifice the cause of one man to
that of a whole people: Napoleon, personally, is nothing to us; but
his continuance on the throne is so connected with the happiness and
independence of the nation, that we cannot betray him, without
betraying our country at the same time; and this is a crime, of which
M. Fouché and his friends will never render themselves guilty.
"In short, M. Werner, I hope you will succeed in convincing our
enemies, that they would attempt in vain to dethrone Napoleon by force
of arms; and that the most prudent part that can be taken is, to be
contented with tying his hands in such a manner, as to prevent him
from oppressing France and Europe anew.
"If M. de Metternich approve this step, he will find us disposed,
secretly or openly to second his salutary views; and to join with him
in rendering it morally and physically impossible for Napoleon, to
recommence his tyranny. I will then return to Bâle, and I will go to
Vienna, if you desire it: and in a word I will do every thing, that
can be done, to arrive promptly at a secure result.
"But if M. de Metternich will not enter frankly into a conference, and
his sole intention be, to instigate treachery, his endeavours will
prove fruitless; and M. Fouché requests, that M. de Metternich and the
allies will spare him the trouble of convincing them of it."
M. Werner assured me, that he would faithfully report to M. de
Metternich all he had heard; and we parted, after promising to meet at
Bâle again on the 1st of June.
I gave the Emperor an account of this new conference. He appeared, to
conceive some hopes from it. "These gentlemen," said he, "begin to
soften, since they offer me the regency: my attitude imposes on them.
Let them allow me another month, and I shall no longer have any fear
of them."
I did not forget to remark to him, that M. M. de Montron and Bresson
had been charged with fresh communications for M. Fouché. "He has
never opened his mouth to me on the subject," said Napoleon. "I am now
persuaded, that he is betraying me. I am almost certain, that he is
intriguing both at London and at Ghent: I regret, that I did not
dismiss him, before he came to disclose to me the intrigues of
Metternich: at present, the opportunity is gone by; and he would every
where proclaim me for a suspicious tyrant, who had sacrificed him
without any cause. Go to him: say nothing to him of Montron or
Bresson; let him prate at his ease, and bring me a full account of all
he says."
The Emperor imparted this second interview to the Duke of Vicenza; and
directed him, to send for M. de Montron, and M. Bresson, and endeavour
to set them talking. The Duke de Vicenza having been able to get
nothing out of them, the Emperor, as I have been informed, would see
them himself; and, after having questioned and sounded them for four
hours, he dismissed them both, without having heard any thing but
accounts of the hostile dispositions of the allies, and the
conversations they had had at Vienna with M. de Talleyrand and M. de
Metternich, the substance of which was the same as that of my
conferences with M. Werner.
As the Emperor had rejected my first suspicions with so much
indifference, I was flattered to see him sharing my distrust: but
this gratification of self-love gave way to the most painful
reflexions.
I had conceived the highest opinion of the character and patriotism of
the Duke of Otranto; I considered him as one of the first statesmen in
France; and I bitterly regretted, that such qualities, and such
talents, instead of being devoted to the good of his country, should
be employed in favouring the designs of our enemies, and in coolly
contriving with them the means of subjugating us.
These reflexions, which ought to have inspired me with horror for M.
Fouché, had on me an opposite effect: I was staggered by the enormity
of the crime I ascribed to him. No, said I to myself, M. Fouché cannot
be guilty of such baseness: he has received too many benefits from the
Emperor, to be capable of betraying him, and has given too many proofs
of attachment and affection to his country, to conspire its dishonour
and ruin. His propensity to intrigue may have led him astray; but his
intrigues, if reprehensible, are at least not criminal.
Thus I repaired to the Duke of Otranto's in the persuasion, that I had
judged him too severely. But his air of constraint, and his captious
endeavours, to penetrate what M. Werner might have said to me,
convinced me, that his conscience was not at ease; and I felt my just
prejudices revived and increased[4]. The time I staid with him was
spent in idle questions and dissertations on the probabilities of
peace or war. It would be useless and tiresome, to recite them here.
[Footnote 4: When the Duke of Otranto became minister to
the King, and was appointed to make out lists of
proscription, I was desirous of knowing, what I had to
expect from his resentment; and wrote to him, to sound
his intentions. He sent for me, received me with much
kindness, and assured me of his friendship and
protection. "You did your duty," said he to me, "and I
did mine. I foresaw, that Bonaparte could not maintain
his situation. He was a great man, but had grown mad. It
was my duty, to do what I did, and prefer the good of
France to every other consideration."
The Duke of Otranto behaved with the same generosity
towards most of the persons, of whom he had any reason
to complain; and, if he found himself obliged, to
include some of them in the number of the proscribed, he
had at least the merit of facilitating their escape from
death, or the imprisonment intended for them, by
assisting them with his advice, with passports, and
frequently with the loan of money.]
The rising of the King of Naples became afterwards the subject of our
conversation. "Murat is a lost man," said M. Fouché to me: "he is not
strong enough, to contend with Austria. I had advised him, and I have
written again lately to the Queen, to keep himself quiet, and wait the
course of events: they would not listen to me, and have done wrong:
they might have had it in their power to treat; now they cannot; they
will be sent about their business without pity, and without any
conditions."
The Emperor, who had become uneasy, directed M. de Montron and M.
Bresson to be watched. He was informed, that the latter had just been
sent to England by order of the minister at war.
The Prince of Eckmuhl, being questioned, said, that an English dealer
had forty thousand muskets to sell; and he had commissioned M.
Bresson, to go and examine them, and treat for their purchase. This
mission, which did not at first excite the Emperor's attention,
afterwards recurred to his mind: he first thought it strange, and then
suspicious. "If Davoust," said he, "had not had some motive for
concealing this business from me, he would have mentioned it: it is
not natural: he is acting in concert with Fouché."
This glimpse of light produced no effect. Napoleon contented himself
with severely reprimanding the minister at war; and ordering him,
never again to send any person whatever out of France, without his
consent.
A new incident occurred, to strengthen the Emperor's apprehensions. He
was informed by the prefect of police, that M. Bor..., formerly one of
the principal agents of the police, and one of the habitual confidants
of the minister, had set off for Switzerland with a passport from M.
Fouché. An order for arresting M. Bor... was transmitted by telegraph
to General Barbanegre, who commanded at Huninguen: but it arrived too
late; M. Bor..., as quick as lightning, had already passed the
frontier.
The Emperor no longer had any doubt of M. Fouché's treachery; but he
was afraid the disclosure of it would occasion alarm and
discouragement. In fact, people would not have failed to infer, that
the imperial cause was lost; since this minister, whose perspicacity
was well known, quitted it to join the Bourbons.
Napoleon foresaw too the approaching commencement of hostilities; and,
convinced, that the fate of France would not be decided by the
manoeuvres of the Duke of Otranto, he resolved, to wait for a more
favourable opportunity of getting rid of him. If the victory of
Fleurus had not been followed by the disasters of Waterloo, the first
decree the Emperor would have signed, on his arrival at Brussels,
would probably have been for displacing the Duke of Otranto.
The time of the rendezvous given me by M. Werner being come, I asked
Napoleon for orders. "Fouché," said he to me, "will no doubt have
warned Metternich; and it is probable, that his agent will return no
more: it is even possible, that measures will be taken, to arrest you.
I think, therefore, you may as well remain here."--"I do not think,
sire, that M. de Metternich is capable of such an action. The
patriotism and frankness, which I displayed in my conferences with M.
Werner, appear to have pleased the prince; and M. Werner informed me,
that he was particularly directed, to express to me the good opinion
(permit me to repeat the terms) which he had conceived of my character
and merit. Your Majesty would be wrong, I think, not to allow me to
make this last attempt. As the point in question was not a conspiracy,
but to set on foot a negotiation, it is possible, that M. Werner may
return."--"You have my consent very willingly; but I am afraid, they
will lay hold of you: be prudent."
I was afraid so too. I set off.
It happened as the Emperor foresaw. M. Werner appeared no more.
Thus ended this negotiation, which might perhaps have realized many
hopes, had not M. Fouché occasioned its failure.
At the period when it took place, England, in its celebrated Memoir of
the 25th of April, and Austria, in that it published the 9th of May
following, had authentically declared, subsequently to my first
interview at Bâle, that they had not engaged by the treaty of the 29th
of March, to restore Louis XVIII. to the throne; and that their
intentions in pursuing the war were not, to impose on France any
particular government whatever.
These declarations gave great weight to the proposals of M. Werner.
The Emperor thought them sincere; and in one of those moments of
openness, which he was not always sufficiently master of himself to
suppress, he said at his levee: "Well, gentlemen, they offer me the
regency already: it depends only on myself, whether I shall accept
it." These inconsiderate words made some impression; and they who
remembered them have since asserted, that, if the Emperor had not been
enamoured of the crown, he might have placed his son on the throne,
and spared France the carnage of Mont St. Jean. The Emperor descending
from his throne, to place on it his son, and peace, would have added,
no doubt, a noble page to his history: but, ought he to have accepted
the loose proposals of M. Werner, and trusted to the faith of his
enemies? I think not. The first question to be decided, before
treating of a regency, was this: What is to be done with Napoleon? and
it has been seen, that on this point the allies held the profoundest
silence.
I am far from thinking, that the Emperor would have consented in any
case, to lay aside his crown, which he considered as the price of
twenty years toil and victory; I only maintain, that he cannot be
blamed on this occasion, for having retained it.
This confidential avowal to his courtiers is not the only
indiscretion, of which they laid hold, to charge him with imaginary
faults. What will appear surprising is, that, with the character for
negation and dissimulation ascribed to him, he was capable of
indiscretions.
Napoleon conceived in secret, and conducted to their close in mystery,
schemes, that did not call his passions into play, because then he
never ceased to be master of himself: but it was excessively rare for
him, to preserve a continued, and complete dissimulation in affairs,
that strongly agitated his soul. The object, on which he was then
occupied, assailed his mind, and heated his imagination: his head,
continually at work, abounded in ideas, that diffused themselves in
spite of him, and displayed themselves externally by broken words, and
demonstrations of joy or anger, that afforded a clew to his designs,
and entirely destroyed the mystery, in which he would have enveloped
them.
This narration, which I would not interrupt, has made me lose sight of
Napoleon. I left him meditating the constitution he had promised the
French, and now return to him.
Napoleon had at first announced his intention of amalgamating the
ancient constitutions with the charter, and composing from the whole a
new constitution, which should be subjected to the free discussion of
the delegates of the nation. But he thought, that present
circumstances, and the agitation of men's minds, would not permit
subjects of such high importance, to be debated publicly without
danger; and he resolved to confine himself for the moment, to sanction
by a particular act, supplementary to the constitutions of the empire,
the new guarantees, that he had promised the nation.
Napoleon was swayed also by another consideration. He considered the
constitutions of the empire as the title-deeds of his crown; and he
was afraid, if he annulled them, that he should effect a sort of
novation, that would give him the appearance of beginning a new reign.
For Napoleon, such is human weakness, after having devoted to ridicule
the pretensions of "_the King of Hartwell_," was inclined to persuade
himself, that his own reign had not been interrupted by his residence
in the island of Elba.
The Emperor had entrusted to M. Benjamin Constant, and to a committee
composed of ministers of state, the double task of preparing the bases
of a new constitution. After having seen and amalgamated their
labours, he subjected the result to the examination of the council of
state, and of the council of ministers. Toward the end of the
discussion, Napoleon suggested the idea of not submitting this
constitution to public debate, but presenting it only as an additional
act to the preceding constitutions. This idea was combated
unanimously. M. Benjamin Constant, the Duke Decrès, the Duke of
Otranto, the Duke of Vicenza, &c. &c., remonstrated with the Emperor,
that this was not what he had promised France; that a new constitution
was expected from him, purged from the despotic acts of the senate;
and that he must fulfil the expectations of the nation, or prepare to
lose its confidence for ever.
The Emperor promised to reflect on it: but, after having weighed in
his sagacity the observations, that had been submitted to him, he
persisted in his scheme; and the next day the additional act appeared
in the Moniteur in the following form:
ADDITIONAL ACT.
Paris, April the 24th.
Napoleon, by the grace of God and the constitutions, Emperor of the
French, to all present and to come, health.
Since we were called, fifteen years ago, by the wishes of France, to
the government of the empire, we have sought to bring to perfection,
at different periods, the forms of the constitution, according to the
wants and desires of the nation, and profiting by the lessons of
experience.
Thus the constitution of the empire has been formed by a series of
acts, which have been invested with the acceptance of the people. We
had then for our object, to organize a grand European federal system,
which we had adopted as conformable to the spirit of the age, and
favourable to the progress of civilization. To effect its completion,
and give it all the extension and stability, of which it is
susceptible, we had adjourned the establishment of several domestic
institutions, more particularly designed to protect the liberty of the
citizens. Our object is nothing more henceforward, than to increase
the prosperity of France by the confirmation of public liberty; whence
results the necessity of several important modifications of the
constitution, the decrees of the senate, and other acts, by which this
empire is governed.
For these reasons, willing, on the one hand, to retain whatever is
good and salutary of the past, and on the other to render the
constitution of our empire conformable in every respect to the wishes
and wants of the nation, as well as to that state of peace, which we
are desirous of maintaining with Europe, we have resolved, to propose
to the people a series of arrangements, tending to modify and improve
its acts, to surround the rights of citizens with all their
guarantees, to give to the representative system its full extent, to
invest the intermediate bodies with the respectability and powers that
are desirable; in a word, to combine the highest degree of political
liberty, and personal security, with the strength and concentration
necessary, to render the independence of the French people, and the
dignity of our crown, respected by foreigners: in consequence, the
following articles, forming an act supplementary to the constitution
of the empire, will be submitted to the free and solemn acceptance of
all the citizens, throughout the whole extent of France[5].
[Footnote 5: This preamble, which gave the death-blow to
the additional act, was, I believe, the work of M.
Benjamin Constant.]
HEAD I.
_General provisions._
ART. 1. The constitution of the empire, consisting of the
constitutional act of the 22d of Frimaire, year 8; of the decrees of
the senate of the 14th and 16th of Thermidor, year 10; and of that of
the 28th of Floreal, year 12; will be modified by the provisions
following: all the rest of their provisions are maintained and
confirmed.
ART. 2. The legislative power is exercised by the Emperor and by two
chambers.
ART. 3. The first chamber, styled the chamber of peers, is hereditary.
ART. 4. The Emperor names its members, who are irremovable, they and
their male descendants, from eldest to eldest, in direct descent. The
number of peers is unlimited. Adoption does not transmit the dignity
of the peerage to the person adopted. The peers take their seats at
the age of twenty-one; but have no deliberative voice before the age
of twenty-five.
ART. 5. The chamber of peers has for its president the archchancellor
of the empire, or, in the case provided for by article 5 of the decree
of the senate of the 28th of Floreal, year 12, by one of the members
of the chamber appointed by the Emperor.
ART. 6. The members of the imperial family, in hereditary succession,
are peers by right. They are seated next to the president. They take
their seats at the age of eighteen, but have no deliberative voice
before the age of twenty-one.
ART. 7. The second chamber, styled the chamber of representatives, is
elected by the people.
ART. 8. The members of this chamber are to the number of six hundred
and twenty-nine: they must be twenty-five years of age at least.
ART. 9. The president of the chamber of representatives is appointed
by the chamber at the opening of the session. He remains in office,
till the chamber is renewed. His appointment is submitted to the
approbation of the Emperor.
ART. 10. The chamber of representatives verifies the powers of its
members, and decides on the validity of contested elections.
ART. 11. The members of the chamber of representatives receive for
travelling expenses, and during the session, the indemnity decreed by
the constituent assembly.
ART. 12. They are re-eligible without limit.
ART. 13. The chamber of representatives is entirely renewed, of right,
every five years.
ART. 14. No member of either chamber can be arrested, except in case
of being taken in the fact of committing a crime; or prosecuted for a
criminal or correctional cause, during the sessions, except in
consequence of a resolution of the chamber to which he belongs.
ART. 15. No one can be arrested or detained for debt, from the time of
convening the meeting till forty days after the session.
ART. 16. The peers are to be tried by their own chamber in criminal or
correctional cases, according to the forms prescribed by the law.
ART. 17. The quality of peer and of representative is compatible with
all public functions, except those that are responsible
(_comptables_).
All prefects and subprefects are not eligible by the electoral college
of the department or circle (_arrondissement_), for which they are
serving.
ART. 18. The Emperor sends to the chambers the ministers of state, and
counsellors of state, who sit, and take a part in the discussions, but
have no deliberative voice, unless they are members of the chamber,
either as peers or being elected by the people.
ART. 19. The ministers, who are members of the chamber of peers, or of
that of representatives, or who sit in consequence of being sent by
the government, will give the chambers the information deemed
necessary, when making it public does not compromise the interests of
the state.
ART. 20. The sittings of both chambers are public. Nevertheless, they
may resolve themselves into secret committees; the chamber of peers on
the demand of ten members, that of deputies on the demand of
twenty-five. The government also may demand secret committees for any
communications it may have to make. In all cases deliberations and
votes can take place only in a public sitting.
ART. 21. The Emperor may prorogue, adjourn, or dissolve, the chamber
of representatives. The proclamation, that pronounces the dissolution,
convokes the electoral colleges for a new election, and indicates the
re-assembling of representatives in six months at the latest.
ART. 22. During the interval between the sessions of the chamber of
representatives, or in case of the dissolution of this chamber, the
chamber of peers cannot assemble.
ART. 23. The government has the proposal of the law: the chambers may
propose amendments: if these amendments be not adopted by the
government, the chambers are bound to vote for or against the law, in
the form in which it was proposed.
ART. 24. The chambers have the power of inviting the government to
propose a law on a given subject, and to draw up what appears to them
proper to be inserted in the law. This demand may be made by either of
the two chambers.
ART. 25. When a draught of a law is adopted by one of the two
chambers, it is carried to the other; and, if it be approved there,
it is carried to the Emperor.
ART. 26. No written discourse, except the reports of committees, the
reports of ministers on the laws that are presented, and the accounts
that are delivered, can be read in either of the chambers.
HEAD II.
_Of the electoral colleges, and the mode of election._
ART. 27. The electoral colleges of the departments and circles are
retained, conformably to the decree of the senate of the 16th of
Thermidor, year 10, excepting the following modifications.
ART. 28. The district assemblies (_les assemblées de canton_) will
fill up every year, by annual elections, all the vacancies in the
electoral colleges.
ART. 29. From the year 1816, a member of the chamber of peers,
appointed by the Emperor, will be president of the electoral college
of each department for life, and not removable.
ART. 30. Dating from the same period, the electoral college of each
department will appoint, from among the members of the college of
each circle, the president and two vice-presidents: for this purpose
the assembling of the electoral college of the department will precede
that of the college of the circle fifteen days.
ART. 31. The colleges of departments and circles will appoint the
number of representatives established for each by the annexed table
and act, No. 1.[6]
[Footnote 6: This table, and that mentioned in Art. 33,
being of no importance, are not inserted here.]
ART. 32. The representatives may be chosen throughout the whole extent
of France indifferently.
Every college of a department or circle, that shall choose a member
not belonging to the department or circle, shall appoint a substitute
(_suppléant_), who must necessarily be taken from the department or
circle.
ART. 33. Manufacturing and commercial labour and property shall have a
particular representation.
The election of commercial and manufacturing representatives shall be
made by the electoral college of the department from a list of
eligible persons, drawn up by the chambers of commerce and consulting
chambers in conjunction, according to the annexed table and act, No.
2.
HEAD III.
_Of the law of taxation._
ART. 34. Direct general taxes, whether on land or personal property,
are voted only for one year: indirect taxes may be voted for several
years. In case of a dissolution of the chamber of representatives, the
taxes voted in the preceding session are continued, till the chamber
meets anew.
ART. 35. No tax, direct or indirect, in money or in kind, can be
levied; no loan can take place; no entry of credit in the great book
of the public debt can be made; no domain can be alienated or
exchanged; no raising of men for the army can be ordered; no portion
of territory can be exchanged; except by virtue of a law.
ART. 36. No proposal of a tax, of a loan, or of a levy of men, can be
made, except in the chamber of representatives.
ART. 37. It is in the chamber of representatives also, that, 1st, the
general budget of the state, containing an estimate of the receipts,
and the proposal of the funds assigned for the year to each
department of the ministry; and, 2dly, an account of the receipts and
expenses of the year, or years, preceding; are to be introduced in the
first instance.
HEAD IV.
_Of ministers and their responsibility._
ART. 38. All the acts of the government must be countersigned by a
minister having some department.
ART. 39. The ministers are responsible for the acts of government
signed by them, as well as for the execution of the laws.
ART. 40. They may be accused by the chamber of representatives, and
are to be tried by that of peers.
ART. 41. Every minister, every commander of an army by land or sea,
may be accused by the chamber of representatives, and tried by the
chamber of peers, for having compromised the safety or honour of the
nation.
ART. 42. In this case the chamber of peers exercises a discretionary
power, both in assigning the character of the crime, and in the
punishment to be inflicted.
ART. 43. Before it is decided, that a minister shall be put upon his
trial, the chamber of representatives must declare, that there are
grounds for examining into the charge brought against him.
ART. 44. This declaration can be made only on the report of a
committee of sixty members drawn by lot. This committee cannot make
its report till at least ten days after its nomination.
ART. 45. When the chamber has declared, that there are grounds for
examination, it may summon the minister before it, to demand an
explanation of him. This summons cannot take place, till ten days
after the committee has made its report.
ART. 46. In all other cases, ministers having departments cannot be
summoned or sent for by the chambers.
ART. 47. When the chamber of representatives has declared, that there
are grounds for examination against a minister, a new committee is to
be formed, of sixty members, drawn by lot as the former; and this
committee makes a fresh report on the subject of bringing him to
trial. This committee does not make its report till ten days after its
nomination.
ART. 48. The bringing to trial cannot be decided upon, till ten days
after the report has been read, and distributed among the members.
ART. 49. The accusation being resolved upon, the chamber of
representatives names five commissioners, chosen from among its own
members, to conduct the charge before the chamber of peers.
ART. 50. Article 75 of head 8 of the constitutional act of the 22d of
Frimaire, year 8, declaring, that the agents of the government can be
prosecuted only in consequence of a decision of the council of state,
shall be modified by a law.
HEAD V.
_Of the judicial power._
ART. 51. The Emperor appoints all the judges. They are for life, and
irremovable, from the instant of their appointment; the nomination of
judges of the peace, and of commerce, excepted, which will take place
as heretofore.
The present judges, appointed by the Emperor agreeably to the decree
of the senate of the 12th of October, 1807, and whom he may think
proper to retain, will receive appointments for life before the 1st of
January next.
ART. 52. The institution of juries is retained.
ART. 53. The debating of criminal causes is to be public.
ART. 54. Military crimes alone are amenable to military tribunals.
ART. 55. All other crimes, even if committed by military men, are
under the jurisdiction of the civil tribunals.
ART. 56. All crimes and offences, that were amenable to the high
imperial court, and the trial of which is not reserved by the present
act for the chamber of peers, are to be carried before the ordinary
tribunals.
ART. 57. The Emperor has the right of pardoning, even in correctional
cases, and of granting amnesties.
ART. 58. The interpretations of laws demanded by the court of
cassation shall be given in the form of a law.
HEAD VI.
_Rights of citizens._
ART. 59. Frenchmen are equal in the eye of the law, both in
contributing to the taxes and public expenses, and in regard to
admission to employments civil or military.
ART. 60. No one can be taken out of the hands of the judges assigned
him by the law, on any pretence.
ART. 61. No one can be prosecuted, arrested, detained in custody, or
banished, except in cases provided for by the law, and according to
the forms prescribed.
ART. 62. Freedom in religious worship is guarantied to all.
ART. 63. All property possessed or acquired agreeably to the laws, and
all debts of the state, are inviolable.
ART. 64. Every citizen has a right to print and publish his opinions,
he signing them, without any previous censorship; saving that he is
legally responsible, after publication, to be tried by a jury, even
though the application of a correctional punishment only should be
requisite.
ART. 65. The right of petition is secured to all the citizens. Every
petition is that of an individual (_est individuelle_). These
petitions may be addressed, either to the government, or to the two
chambers; nevertheless, even the latter must be superscribed "to his
Majesty the Emperor." They must be presented to the chambers under the
guarantee of a member, who recommends the petition. They are read
publicly; and, if the chamber take them into consideration, they are
carried to the Emperor by the president.
ART. 66. No place, no part of the territory, can be declared in a
state of siege, except in case of invasion by a foreign power, or of
civil disturbance.
In the former case, the declaration is made by an act of the
government.
In the second case, it can be made only by the law. However, if the
case occur, when the chambers are not assembled, the act of
government, declaring the state of siege, must be converted into a
proposal for a law in the first fifteen days after the meeting of the
chambers.
ART. 67. The French people declare farther, that, in the delegation it
has made, and now makes, of its powers, it has not intended, and does
not intend, to confer the right of proposing the re-establishment of
the Bourbons, or of any prince belonging to that family, on the
throne, even in case of the extinction of the imperial dynasty; or the
right of re-establishing either the ancient feudal nobility, or feudal
and seigniorial rights, or tithes, or any privileged and predominant
form of worship; or the power of making any infringement of the
irrevocability of the sale of national domains: it formally prohibits
the government, the chambers, and the citizens, from every proposal
in respect to these.
Done at Paris, the 22d of April, 1815.
(_Signed_) NAPOLEON.
By the Emperor,
_The minister secretary of state,_
(_Signed_) The Duke of BASSANO.
* * * * *
This additional act did not answer the general expectation.
The public had hoped, to receive from Napoleon a new constitution,
freed from the faults and abuses of the preceding constitutions; and
it was surprised, grieved, dissatisfied, when it saw, by the very
preamble of the additional act, that it was nothing but a
_modification_ of the former constitutions, decrees of the senate, and
other acts, by which the empire was governed.
What confidence, people cried, can such a production inspire? What
guarantee can it afford the nation? Do we not know, that it was by
means of these decrees of the senate, that Napoleon sported with our
most sacred laws? and, since they are now maintained and confirmed,
may he not employ them, as he formerly did, to interpret after his
own fashion his additional act, alter its nature, and render it
illusory?
It had been to be wished, undoubtedly, that the additional act had not
revived the name, and borrowed the assistance, of all the senatorial
acts, become on so many accounts objects of the public contempt and
derision: but this was impossible[7]. They were the basis of our
institutions; and they could not have been proscribed in a body,
without arresting the progress of government, and subverting the
established order of things from top to bottom.
[Footnote 7: Notwithstanding the charter, and the laws
daily passed, it is found necessary, to recur every day
to rules established by the ancient legislation of the
senate.]
Besides, the fear of Napoleon's putting them in vigour was founded
only on vague suppositions. The oppressive arrangements of the decrees
of the senate were annulled, both in fact and in law, by the
principles, which the additional act sanctioned: and Napoleon had
rendered it impossible for him to augment his authority, or to abuse
it, by the immense power, with which he had invested the chambers, the
responsibility he had thrown on his agents and ministers, and the
inviolable guarantees he had conferred on freedom of opinion and
personal liberty. The slightest attempt would have betrayed his secret
intentions; and a thousand voices would have been raised, to say to
him: "We, who are as good as you, have made you our King, on
condition, that you keep our laws: if not, not[8]."
[Footnote 8: The well-known words, in which the cortes
of Arragon address the kings of Spain at their
coronation.]
The re-establishment of the chamber of peers, imported from England by
the Bourbons, excited no less vividly the public discontent.
It was clear, in fact, that the privileges, and peculiar jurisdiction,
which the peers exclusively enjoyed, constituted a manifest violation
of the laws of equality; and that the hereditary state of the peerage
was a formal infraction of the right of all Frenchmen, to be equally
admissible to the offices of the state.
Accordingly the friends of liberty and equality with reason reproached
Napoleon for having falsified his promises; and given them, instead of
a constitution bottomed on the principles of equality and liberty,
which he had solemnly professed, a shapeless act, more favourable than
the charter, or any of the preceding constitutions, to the nobility
and their institutions.
But Napoleon, when he promised the French a constitution, that might
be termed _republican_, had rather followed the political suggestions
of the moment, than consulted the welfare of France. Restored to
himself, ought he to have adhered strictly to the letter of his
promises, or interpreted them merely as an engagement, to give France
a liberal constitution, as perfect as possible?
The answer cannot be doubtful.
Now the testimony of the most learned civilians, the experience of
England for 125 years, had demonstrated to him, that the government
best adapted to the habits, manners, and social relations of a great
nation; that which affords the greatest pledge of happiness and
stability; in fine, that which best reconciles political liberty with
the degree of power necessary to the chief of a state; is a
representative monarchical government. It was Napoleon's duty,
therefore, as a legislator, and a paternal sovereign, to give this
mode of government the preference.
This point granted, and it is incontestable, Napoleon was under the
necessity of establishing an hereditary and privileged chamber of
peers; for a representative monarchy cannot subsist, without an upper
chamber, or chamber of peers; as a chamber of peers cannot subsist
without privileges, and without being hereditary.
None therefore but the insincere; or men, who, though good patriots,
unconsciously substitute their passions or prejudices in the place of
the public welfare; can reproach Napoleon for having introduced this
institution into our political organization.
The re-establishment of an intermediate chamber, perhaps, would not
have wounded them so deeply, if care had been taken, to give it a name
less sullied by feudal recollections: but the revolution had exhausted
the nomenclature of public magistracies. Besides, the Emperor thought,
that this was the only title answerable to its high destination.
Perhaps, too, as Louis XVIII. had had his peers, he was not
displeased, to have his also.
A third accusation bore hard on Napoleon. He promised us, it was
urged, as a natural consequence of the fundamental truth, _the throne
is made for the nation, and not the nation for the throne_, that our
deputies, assembled at the _Champ de Mai_, should give to France,
jointly with him, a constitution conformable to the interests and
wishes of the nation; and by an odious breach of faith, he grants us
an additional act, after the manner of Louis XVIII; and this he
forces us to adopt in the lump, without allowing us to reject those
parts, that may wound our dearest and most sacred rights.
Napoleon had proclaimed, it is true, on the 1st of March, that this
constitution should be the work of the nation: but since this period
circumstances had altered. It was of importance to the preservation of
peace at home, and to the relations between Napoleon and foreign powers,
that the state should be speedily established and that Europe should
find in its new laws those safeguards against the ambition and despotism
of the Emperor, _and perhaps too against the re-establishment of a
republic_, that it might deem desirable.
Literally to comply with the words of Napoleon, it would have been
necessary, for the electoral colleges to give their deputies written
instructions, as in 1789. The assembling of these colleges, the
drawing up of their instructions after discussion, the choosing of
delegates, their journeying to Paris, the distribution of the labour,
the preparation, examination, and discussion of the bases of the
constitution, the disputative conferences with the delegates of the
Emperor, &c. &c., would have consumed an incalculable portion of
time, and left France in a state of anarchy, that would have deprived
it of the means or possibility of making peace or war with foreigners.
Thus, then, far from blaming the Emperor for deviating at the moment
from this part of his promises, he on the contrary deserves credit for
having voluntarily resigned the dictatorship, with which circumstances
had invested him, and placed public liberty under the protection of
the laws. Had he not been _sincere_; had he not been _honestly_
disposed, to restore to the people their rights, and confine his own
within proper limits, he would not have been in haste, to publish the
additional act: he would have been for gaining time, in hopes that
victory or peace, by consolidating the sceptre in his hands, would
have enabled him to dictate laws, instead of subjecting himself to
them.
In fine, the additional act was reproached with having re-established
the confiscations abolished by the charter.
The majority of the counsellors of state and ministers, and M. de
Bassano more particularly, strongly opposed this renewed provision of
our revolutionary laws. But the Emperor considered the confiscation of
estates as the most efficacious means of bridling the royalists; and
he persisted obstinately in not giving it up; reserving the power of
relinquishing it, when circumstances would permit.
Upon the whole, the additional act was not without blemishes; but
these blemishes, easy to be removed, no way affected the beauty or
goodness of its basis.
It acknowledged the principle of the sovereignty of the people.
It secured to the three powers of the state the strength and
independence necessary, to render their actions free and efficacious.
The independence of the representatives was guarantied by their
number, and the mode of their election.
The independence of the peers, by their being hereditary.
The independence of the sovereign by the imperial _veto_, and the
happy establishment of the other two powers, which serve him mutually
as a safeguard.
The liberties of the people, solidly established, were liberally
endowed with all the concessions granted by the charter, and all those
subsequently claimed.
The trial of all libels (_délits de la presse_) by a jury, protected
and secured freedom of opinion. It defended patriotic writers from
the anger of the prince, and the complaisance of his agents. It even
assured them of impunity, whenever their writings are in harmony with
the secret opinions and wishes of the nation.
Personal liberty was guarantied, not only by the old laws, and the
irremoveableness of the judges, but also by two new provisions; one,
the responsibility of ministers; the other, the approaching abolition
of the impunity, with which public functionaries of all classes had
been invested by the constitution of the year 8, and afterward by the
regal government.
It was still farther guarantied by the insurmountable barrier opposed
to the abuse of the right of banishment, by reducing the jurisdiction
of military courts within their natural limits, and by restricting the
power of declaring any portion of the country in a state of siege; a
power hitherto arbitrary, and by help of which the sovereign suspended
at will the authority of the constitution, and placed the citizens, in
fact, out of the pale of the law.
The additional act, in fine, by the obstacles it opposed to the
usurpations of supreme power, and the innumerable guarantees it
secured to the nation, established public and private liberty on
foundations not to be shaken; yet, from the most whimsical of all
inconsistencies, it was considered as _the work of despotism_, and
occasioned Napoleon the loss of his popularity.
The writers most celebrated for their understanding and patriotism
took up the defence of Napoleon: but in vain did they quote Delolme,
Blackstone, Montesquieu; and demonstrate, that no modern state, no
republic, had possessed such liberal and beneficial laws: their
eloquence and their erudition were without success. The contemners of
the additional act, deaf to the voice of reason, would judge of it
only from its title; and as this title displeased and alarmed them,
they persisted in blackening and condemning the work on the score of
its name, according to the vulgar proverb, _Give a dog a bad name, and
hang him_.
Napoleon, far from foreseeing this fatal result, had persuaded
himself, on the contrary, that he should receive credit for having so
promptly and generously accomplished the hopes of the nation; and he
had prepared a long proclamation to the French people in his own hand,
in which he sincerely congratulated himself and them on the happiness,
that France was about to enjoy under the sway of his new laws.
This proclamation, as may easily be guessed, came to nothing[9]. In
its place came a decree for convoking the electoral colleges, in which
Napoleon, informed of the public rumours, excused himself, on the
ground of the pressure of circumstances, for having abridged the forms
he had promised to follow in composing the constitutional act; and
announced, that this act, containing in itself the principles of every
improvement, might be modified in conformity to the wishes of the
nation. By the terms of this decree, the electoral colleges were
called on to choose the members of the approaching assembly of
representatives; and Napoleon excused himself afresh, for being
compelled by the state of affairs, to require them to proceed to the
election of deputies previous to the acceptance of the constitution.
[Footnote 9: The Emperor had ordered this proclamation
to be burned; but I found it so excellent, that I
thought it my duty to preserve it. At the moment when
Napoleon set out for the army, I was not in Paris; and
one of the principal clerks of the cabinet, M. Rathery,
having found it among my papers, had the courage to
throw it into the fire.]
It was at the _Champ de Mai_, that the electors of all the departments
were to assemble, and proceed to the collection of votes for its
rejection or adoption.
The idea of renewing the ancient assemblies of the nation, as it was
first formed by the Emperor, was no doubt a grand and generous
conception, and singularly calculated to restore to patriotism its
energy and lustre; but at the same time, it must be confessed, it bore
the stamp of imprudent daring, and might have given Napoleon an
irreparable stroke. Was it not to be feared, that, in the equivocal
situation in which he was placed, the electors, having every thing to
dread from the Bourbons and foreign powers, would not accept so
hazardous a mission, and leave the assembly unattended?
Was it not also probable, that no one would covet the dangerous honour
of making part of the new national representation, the first act of
which must necessarily be, to proscribe for ever the dynasty of the
Bourbons, and acknowledge Napoleon, in spite of the foreign powers,
the sole and legitimate sovereign of France?
However, so true it is, that with Napoleon events always belied the
most sagacious conjectures, the electors hastened in crowds to Paris;
and men most respectable for wealth and character entered the lists to
be chosen deputies, soliciting votes with as much ardour, as if
France had been tranquil and happy[10].
[Footnote 10: I speak generally: I know there were
departments, the electoral colleges of which, from
various causes, were composed only of a small number of
individuals.]
And why was it so? Because, in the eyes of the electors and of the
deputies, the object at stake was not the fate of a particular man,
but of their country. It was because the critical situation of France,
instead of intimidating the partisans of the revolution, awakened in
their hearts the most courageous sentiments of patriotism.
They, whom I here call the partisans of the revolution, were not, as
certain persons endeavour to persuade the world, those sanguinary
beings, who were branded with the title of Jacobins, but that immense
body of Frenchmen, who, since the year 1789, have concurred more or
less in the destruction of the feudal system, with its privileges and
abuses; of those Frenchmen, in fine, who are no strangers to the value
of liberty, and the dignity of man.
But was the assembly of the _Champ de Mai_ to be deprived of its chief
ornament, the Empress and her son? The Emperor was not ignorant, that
this princess was carefully watched; and that she had been surprised
and threatened into an oath, to communicate all the letters she might
receive. He knew, also, that she was surrounded by improper persons:
but he thought, that he owed it to himself, and to his affection for
the Empress, to exhaust every means of putting an end to her
captivity. At first he attempted by several letters, full of feeling
and dignity, to move the justice and sensibility of the Emperor of
Austria. Entreaties and reclamations proving ineffectual, he resolved,
to despatch an officer of the crown to Vienna, to negotiate, or demand
publicly, in the name of nature and the law of nations, the
deliverance of the Empress and her son. This mission was entrusted to
the Count de Flahaut, one of his aides-de-camp. No person was more
capable of fulfilling it worthily than this officer. He was a true
Frenchman, spirited, amiable, and brave. He shone equally in the field
of battle, in a diplomatic conference, and in the drawing-room
pleasing every where by the agreeableness and firmness of his
character.
M. de Flahaut set out, but could not advance beyond Stutgard. This
disgrace converted into painful regret the joy, to which the hope of
seeing again the young prince and his august mother had already given
birth.
The people who resided near the road they would pass had already made
preparations for testifying their love and their respect.
The return of Napoleon had been celebrated by enthusiastic shouts,
that resembled the intoxication of victory: that of the Empress would
have inspired only tender emotions. Acclamations tempered by tears of
joy, the roads strewed with flowers, the village maidens adorned in
their best attire and happy looks, would have given this sight the
appearance of a family festival; and Marie Louise would have seemed,
not the daughter of the Cæsars returning to her territories, but a
beloved mother, who, after a long and painful absence, is at length
restored to the wishes of her children.
Her son, over whose head such high destinies were then depending,
would have excited transports not less vivid, or less affecting. Torn
from a throne, and from his country, while yet in his cradle, he had
not ceased to turn his eyes and his remembrances toward the land that
had given him birth: a number of bold and ingenious expressions had
disclosed his regrets and his hopes; and these expressions, repeated
and learned by heart, had rendered this august infant the object of
the dearest thoughts and affections.
With strange inconsistency, the French had deplored the imperious
temper and warlike disposition of Napoleon; yet they loved the son,
precisely because he gave promise of possessing the genius and
audacity of his father; and because they hoped, that he would at some
future day restore to France "the lustre of victories, and the
language of a master[11]."
[Footnote 11: The following anecdote of the young
Napoleon I have never seen published. When he came into
the world, he was believed to be dead; he was without
warmth, without motion, without respiration. M. Dubois
(the accoucheur of the Empress) had made reiterated
attempts, to recall him to life, when a hundred guns
were discharged in succession, to celebrate his birth.
The concussion and agitation produced by this firing
acted so powerfully on the organs of the royal infant,
that his senses were reanimated.]
The Emperor was deeply afflicted at the arbitrary detention of his
wife and her son. He felt all the importance of it. Offers had been
made him several times, to carry them off: I myself was employed, by a
very great personage, to make him an offer of this nature. But he
obstinately persisted in listening to no proposal of the kind. Perhaps
his affection, or his pride, forbade him, to expose to the hazards of
such an enterprise persons so dear to him, and whom he felt assured of
obtaining in a manner more worthy of him by victory, or by a peace.
Perhaps he was apprehensive of endangering their fate, should he
succumb in the struggle, that was about to take place between him and
Europe; for unhappily this struggle, that had so long remained a
matter of doubt, had now ceased to be questionable even to himself.
The indirect overtures made to foreign cabinets, and those renewed in
every form by the Emperor, and by the Duke of Vicenza, had completely
miscarried.
The efforts made in favour of France in the British parliament, by the
generous defenders of the independence and rights of nations, had
remained without success.
M. de St. L.... and M. de Mont...., who were returned from Vienna, had
announced, that the allies would never depart from the principles
manifested in their declaration and treaty of the 13th and 25th of
March.
M. de Talleyrand, on whom Napoleon had depended, convinced of the
triumph of the Bourbons, had refused to betray or abandon them.
M. de Stassard had been stopped at Lintz, and obliged to return. His
despatches, which were seized and sent to the Emperor of Austria, had
been shown to the foreign monarchs; and these monarchs had unanimously
decreed, that they should not be taken into consideration, and that
they adhered anew, and more formally than ever, to their declaration.
The Princess Hortense had received from the Emperor of Russia this
laconic answer: "No peace, no truce, with that man: any thing except
him[12]."
[Footnote 12: The Emperor Alexander, at the time of the
affair of Fontainebleau, had guarantied to the Duke of
Vicenza, for Napoleon, the possession of the island of
Elba. M. de Talleyrand and the foreign ministers
remonstrated to him strongly, on the danger of leaving
the Emperor on a spot so near to France and Italy; and
conjured him, not to oppose their compelling him to
choose another place of retreat. Alexander, faithful to
his engagements, would not consent to this. When the
Emperor returned, Alexander made it a point of honour,
to repair the noble fault he had committed; and became,
rather from duty than from animosity, the most
inveterate enemy of Napoleon and of France.]
The agents maintained by the Emperor in foreign countries informed
him, that the troops of all the powers were in arms; and that the
arrival of the Russians alone was waited for, to commence the
campaign[13].
[Footnote 13: He had agents in Germany and in England,
who informed him, with perfect accuracy, of every thing
going on there. It is true, that these agents made him
pay dearly for their services. In London, for instance,
he had two persons, who cost him two thousand guineas a
month. "If my Germans," said he on this subject, "were
so dear, I must give them up."]
Thus every hope of conciliation was annihilated: the friends of
Napoleon began to doubt his safety: he alone contemplated with
imperturbable firmness the dangers, with which he was menaced.
The events of 1814 had disclosed to him the importance of the capital;
and it may well be presumed, that he did not neglect the means of
putting it into a state of defence. When the moment was arrived, for
definitively resolving on the work of the fortifications, which he had
already sketched out, M. Fontaine, his favourite architect, was with
him, and was going to withdraw. "No," said the Emperor to him, "stay
here: you shall help me to fortify Paris." He ordered the map of
levels to be brought him; examined the sinuosities of the ground;
consulted M. Fontaine on the placing of redoubts, and the erection of
crown-works, triple crown-works, lunettes, &c. &c.; and in less than
half an hour he conceived and settled, under the approbation of his
architect, a definitive plan of defence, that obtained the suffrages
of the most experienced engineers.
A swarm of workmen soon covered the vicinity of Paris: but to increase
the effect, that the fortification of this city would produce both in
France and in foreign countries, Napoleon caused it to be suggested to
the national guard, to join in the work. Immediately detachments from
the legions, accompanied by a number of citizens and federates from
the suburbs of St. Antoine, and St. Marceau, repaired to Montmartre
and Vincennes, and proceeded to the opening of the trenches with
songs. The grenadiers of the guard would not remain idle; and came to
take their part in the labour with their band of music at their head.
The Emperor, accompanied only by a few of the officers of his
household, frequently went to encourage the zeal of the workmen. His
presence and his words fired their imagination: they fancied they saw
Thermopylæ in every pass they fortified and, like new Spartans, swore
with enthusiasm, to defend them till death.
The federates did not stop at these demonstrations of their zeal,
empty as they often are; they called for arms, and were angry, at the
dilatoriness with which they were given them. They complained no less
eagerly, that they had not yet been reviewed by the Emperor.
To pacify them, the Emperor hastened to announce to them, that he
would admit them with pleasure to file off before him on the first
parade day.
On the 24th of May, they presented themselves at the Tuileries. Their
battalions were composed in great part of old soldiers and laborious
work people: but some of those vagabonds, who abound in great cities,
had crept in among them; and these, with their jailbird countenances,
and ragged clothes, recalled to mind but too forcibly those murderous
bands, who formerly stained the dwelling of the unfortunate Louis XVI.
with blood.
When Louis XIII., and the arrogant Richelieu, invoked the assistance
of the corporations of arts and trades, they admitted their deputies
to a solemn audience, took them by the hand, and embraced them all,
history says, down to the very cobblers. Napoleon, though in a far
more critical situation, would not humble himself before necessity: he
preserved his dignity, and, in spite of himself, suffered symptoms to
escape him of what he felt, at being obliged by circumstances to
accept such assistance.
The chiefs of the confederation addressed him in a speech, in which
the following passages were principally remarked.
"You, sire, are the man of the nation, the defender of our country:
from you we expect independence, and a sage liberty. You will secure
to us these two precious possessions; you will render sacred for ever
the rights of the people: you will reign according to the constitution
and the laws. We come to offer you our arms, our courage, and our
blood, for the safety of the capital.
"Ah! sire, why had we not arms at the time when foreign kings,
emboldened by treason, advanced up to the walls of Paris? ... we shed
tears of rage, at seeing our hands useless to the common cause: ... we
are almost all of us old defenders of our country; our country should
give arms with confidence to those, who have shed their blood for her.
Give us arms in her name ... we are not the instruments of any party,
the agents of any faction.... As citizens, we are obedient to our
magistrates, and to the laws; as soldiers, we are obedient to our
chiefs....
"Long live the nation, long live liberty, long live the Emperor!"
The Emperor answered them in the following terms:
"Soldiers, federates of the suburbs of St. Antoine and St. Marceau: I
returned alone, because I reckoned on the people of the towns, the
inhabitants of the country, and the soldiers of the army, whose
attachment to the honour of the nation I well knew. You have all
justified my confidence. I accept your offer. I will give you arms; to
lead you, I will give you officers covered with honourable scars, and
accustomed to see the enemy flee before them. Your robust limbs,
inured to the most laborious work, are better adapted than any other,
to handle arms. As to courage, you are Frenchmen: you shall be the
skirmishers (_éclaireurs_) of the national guard. I shall be without
any anxiety for the capital, while the national guard and you are
employed in its defence: and if it be true, that foreigners persist in
the impious design of attacking our independence and our honour, I may
avail myself of victory, without being checked by any solicitude.
"Soldiers, federates; if there be men among the higher classes of
society, who have dishonoured the French name; the love of our
country, and the sentiment of national honour, have been preserved
entire among the people of our towns, the inhabitants of the country,
and the soldiers of the army. I am glad to see you. I have confidence
in you: long live the nation!"
Notwithstanding his promise, however, the Emperor, under the pretence,
that there was not a sufficient number of muskets, only gave arms to
those federates who were on duty; so that they passed daily from one
hand to another, and consequently did not remain in the possession of
any one. Various motives induced him, to take this precaution. He
wished to preserve to the national guard a superiority, which it would
have lost, if the whole of the federates had been armed. He was
afraid, also, that the republicans, whom he ever considered as his
most implacable enemies, would obtain sway over the minds of the
federates; and induce them, in the name of liberty, to turn against
himself those arms, that he had put into their hands. Fatal prejudice!
that induced him to place his reliance elsewhere than on the people,
and consequently deprived him of his firmest support.
At the moment when the population of Paris was testifying the most
faithful attachment to the Emperor and their country, the alarm-bell
of insurrection resounded through the plains of la Vendée.
As early as the 1st of May, some symptoms of commotion had been
observed in le Bocage[14]. The brave but unfortunate Travot had
effected by his firmness, and by his persuasions, the restoration of
order; and every thing appeared quiet, when emissaries arrived from
England, to kindle the flames anew.
[Footnote 14: A small county in Lower Normandy, the
common focus of the rebellion.]
MM. de la Roche-jaquelin, d'Autichamp, Suzannet, Sapineau, Daudigné,
and some others of the chiefs of la Vendée, re-assembled. A civil war
was determined on. On the 15th of May, the day appointed, the
alarm-bell was heard; energetic proclamations called the inhabitants
of Anjou, la Vendée, and Poitou, to arms; and the assembling of a
confused body of seven or eight thousand peasants was effected.
The English agents had announced, that the Marquis Louis de la
Roche-jaquelin was bringing to the provinces in the West arms,
ammunition, and money. The insurgents immediately repaired to Croix de
Vic, to favour his landing. A few custom-house officers, assembled in
haste, opposed them in vain: la Roche-jaquelin triumphantly delivered
into the hands of the unfortunate Vendeans the fatal presents of
England[15].
[Footnote 15: The succours, so pompously announced by
the royalist emissaries, amounted only to 2400 muskets,
and a few barrels of gunpowder. The chiefs of the
insurrection, disappointed in their expectations,
bitterly reproached M. de la Roche-jaquelin with having
deceived and implicated them by false promises.]
The news of this insurrection, considerably exaggerated by inaccurate
accounts, reached the Emperor in the night of the 17th. He called me
to his bedside; made me set down on the map the positions of the
French and of the insurgents; and dictated to me his commands.
He directed a part of the troops stationed in the neighbouring
divisions, to march with all possible speed for Niort and Poitiers;
General Brayer, to hasten post to Angers, with two regiments of the
young guard; and General Travot, to call in his detachments, and
concentrate his force, till he received fresh orders. Experienced
officers _d'ordonnances_ were appointed, to go and reconnoitre the
country; and General Corbineau, whose talents, moderation, and
firmness were known to the Emperor, was sent to the spot, to appease
the revolt, or preside over the military operations in case of need.
All these arrangements being made, the Emperor quietly closed his
eyes; for the faculty of tasting at pleasure the sweets of sleep was
one of the prerogatives conferred on him by nature.
Telegraphic despatches soon brought more circumstantial and more
heartening accounts. "It was known, that the peasants, who had been
ordered to furnish merely four men from each parish, had shown
hesitation and ill will; and that the chiefs had found great trouble
in collecting four or five thousand men, consisting in great part of
vagabonds, and workmen out of employ." In fine it was known, that
General Travot, having been informed of the landing, and the road the
convoy had taken, went in pursuit of the insurgents, came up with them
in advance of St. Gilles, killed about three hundred men, and seized
the greater part of the arms and ammunition.
The Emperor thought, that this insurrection might be quashed by other
means than by force; and, adopting in this respect the conciliatory
views proposed by General Travot, he directed the minister of police
to invite MM. de Malartie and two other Vendean chiefs, MM. de la
Beraudiere and de Flavigny, to repair in the character of pacificators
to their ancient companions in arms; and remonstrate with them, that
it was not in the plains of the West, the fate of the throne would be
decided; and that, the final expulsion or restoration of Louis XVIII.
depending neither on their efforts, nor on their defeat, the French
blood, which they were about to shed in la Vendée, would be spilt to
no purpose.
He sent orders to General Lamarque, whom he had just invested with the
supreme direction of this war[16], to favour the negotiations of M. de
Malartie to the utmost of his power: at the same time he directed him,
to declare formally to la Roche-jaquelin, and to the other chiefs of
the insurgents, that, if they persisted in continuing the civil war,
quarter would no longer be given them, and their houses and
possessions should be sacked and burned[17].
[Footnote 16: The Emperor had intended this command in
chief for the Duke of Rovigo, or General Corbineau: but
he foresaw, that it might perhaps be necessary, to
proceed to rigorous measures; and he was unwilling, that
these should be conducted by an officer attached to his
own person.]
[Footnote 17: The Emperor considered this rigorous
measure as a just reprisal for the means employed by the
Vendean chiefs, to recruit their army. They are the
following:
When the families, that reign in la Vendée, have
resolved on war, they send orders to their agents, to
travel over the country, preaching up revolt, and
indicating to every parish the number of men, that it
must furnish. The chiefs of the insurrection in each
parish then point out the peasants, who are to go; and
enjoin them, to be at such an hour, on such a day, at
the place appointed for assembling. If they fail, armed
bands are sent in quest of them, generally composed of
the men most dreaded in the country: if they resist,
they are threatened with being shot, or having their
houses burnt; and as this is never an empty threat, the
unhappy peasants obey, and set out.
It has been asserted, that the Emperor had given orders,
to set a price on the heads of the chiefs of the
insurgents. The instructions given to the ministers at
war were transcribed by me, and I have not the least
recollection of any such order having been given.]
He likewise recommended to him, to press as closely as possible on the
bands of la Vendée, in order to leave them no hope of safety but in
prompt submission. But this recommendation was superfluous. By
unexpected attacks, skilful marches, and continually increasing
successes, General Travot had already struck such terror and alarm
into the insurgents, that they took much more pains to shun than to
fight him.
In pursuing the movement of concentration, that had been prescribed
him, this general accidentally fell in with the royal army by night,
at Aisenay. A few musket shots spread dismay and disorder through
their ranks; they rushed one upon another, and dispersed so
completely, that MM. de Sapineau and Suzannet were several days
without soldiers. M. d'Autichamp, though distant from the place of
engagement, experienced the same fate. His troops abandoned him with
no less readiness, than he had found difficulty in assembling them.
This defection was not solely the effect of the terror, with which the
imperial army could not fail naturally to inspire a body of wretched
peasants; it was promoted by several other circumstances. In the first
place it resulted from the little confidence of the insurgents in the
experience and capacity of their General in chief, the Marquis de la
Roche-jaquelin. They did justice to his conspicuous bravery; but he
had forfeited their good opinion, by incessantly endangering them
through false manoeuvres, and by endeavouring to subject them to a
regular service, incompatible with their domestic habits, and with
their mode of making war.
In the next place it arose from the dissension, that had introduced
itself among their generals from the commencement of the war. The
Marquis de la Roche-jaquelin, ardent and ambitious, had arrogated to
himself the supreme command; and the old founders of the royal army,
the Autichamps, Suzannets, and Sapineaus, did not obey without regret
the imperious orders of a young officer, hitherto without experience
or reputation.
But the first, the fundamental cause of the slackness or inactivity of
the Vendeans, was still more the change, that had taken place in the
political and military state of France since the coronation of
Napoleon. They knew, that the time when they struck terror into the
blues, and made themselves masters of their artillery with clubs, was
no more. They knew, that the days of terror, of anarchy, were
terminated for ever; and that they had no longer to dread those
abuses, or those excesses, or those crimes, which had provoked and
fomented their first insurrection. As to the attachment for the
Bourbon family, which they had inherited from their fathers, this,
though not banished from their hearts, was balanced by the fear of
seeing the calamities and devastations of the late civil war revived;
by the uneasiness they felt from the renewal of the double despotism
of the nobles and priests; and perhaps also by the remembrance of the
kindness of Napoleon. It was he, who had restored to them their
churches and their ministers; who had raised from their ruins their
desolate habitations[18]; and who had freed them at once from
revolutionary exactions, and from the plunderings of chouanry.
[Footnote 18: Fourteen millions of francs had been
appropriated to the rebuilding of the houses burned
down.]
The Emperor, having no doubt of the approaching termination and happy
issue of this war, announced it openly at a public audience. "Every
thing will soon be finished," said he, "in la Vendée. The Vendeans
will not fight any more. They are retiring to their homes one by one;
and the fight will be at an end for want of combatants."
The news he received from the King of Naples by no means inspired him
with the same satisfaction.
This prince, as I have said above, after having obtained several
tolerably brilliant advantages, had advanced to the gates of
Placentia; and was preparing, to march through the Piedmontese
territory to Milan; when Lord Bentinck notified to him, that England
would declare against him, if he did not respect the dominions of the
King of Sardinia. Joachim, apprehensive of the English making a
diversion against Naples, consented to alter his course. The
Austrians had time to come up, and Milan was saved.
While these things were going on, a Neapolitan army, that had
penetrated into Tuscany, and driven General Nugent before it, was
surprised, and forced to retire precipitately to Florence.
This unexpected check, and the considerable reinforcements, that the
Austrians received, determined Joachim to fall back. He retreated
slowly to Ancona.
The English, who had hitherto remained neutral, now declared against
him, and joined Austria and the Sicilians. Joachim, menaced and
pressed on all sides, concentrated his forces. A general engagement
took place at Tolentino. The Neapolitans, animated by the presence and
valour of their king, briskly attacked General Bianchi, and every
thing foreboded victory, when the arrival of General Neipperg, at the
head of fresh troops, changed the aspect of affairs. The Neapolitan
army was broken, quitted the field of battle, and fled to Macerata.
A second battle, equally disastrous, was fought at Caprano; and the
capture of this city by the Austrians opened them an entrance into the
kingdom of Naples, while the corps of General Nugent, which had
marched from Florence to Rome, penetrated into the Neapolitan
territory by another road.
The rumour of the defeat and death of the king, the approach of the
Austrian armies, and the proclamations[19] issued by them, excited a
sedition at Naples. The Lazaroni, after having assassinated a few
Frenchmen, and massacred the minister of police, repaired to the royal
palace, with the design of murdering the Queen. This princess, worthy
of the blood that circulated in her veins, was not affrighted by their
shouts and threats; she courageously made head against them, and
obliged them, to return to their obedience.
[Footnote 19: These announced and promised to the
Neapolitans the restoration of Ferdinand, their former
king, to the throne.]
Joachim, remaining erect amid the ruins of his army, sustained with
heroic firmness the efforts of his enemies. Resolved to fall with arms
in his hand, he rushed on the battalions, and carried terror and death
into the midst of their ranks. But his valour could only ennoble his
fall. Still repulsed, still invulnerable, he relinquished the hope of
meeting death or victory. In the night of the 19th of March he
returned to Naples: the Queen appeared indignant at seeing him.
"Madame," said he to her, "I was not able to find death." He departed
immediately, that he might not fall into the hands of the Austrians,
and came to take refuge in France. The Queen, notwithstanding the
dangers, that threatened her life, resolved to remain at Naples, till
her fate and that of the army were decided. When the treaty was
signed, she withdrew on board an English vessel and repaired to
Trieste.
The catastrophe of the King made the most profound impression on the
superstitious mind of Napoleon; but the French it inspired with little
regret, and no fear. I say no fear, for the nation was familiarised
with the idea of war. The patriotism and energy, with which it felt
itself animated, filled it with such confidence, that it deemed itself
sufficiently strong, to dispense with the support of the Neapolitans,
and struggle alone against the coalition. It recalled to mind the
campaign of 1814; and, if at that period Napoleon, with sixty thousand
soldiers, had beaten and held in check the victorious foreign armies,
what might it not hope now, when an army of three hundred thousand
fighting men would form, in case of need, only the advanced guard of
France? The royalists and their newspapers, by repeating the
manifestoes of Ghent and Vienna, enumerating the foreign armies, and
exaggerating our dangers, had indeed succeeded in abating the courage
of a few, and shaking their opinions; but the sentiments of the bulk
of the nation had lost nothing of their vigour and energy. Every day
fresh offerings[20] were deposited on the altar of their country; and
every day new corps of volunteers, equally numerous and formidable,
were establishing, under the names of lancers, partisans, federates,
mountain chasseurs, and tirailleurs.
[Footnote 20: The departments of the Centre, and of the
East, particularly distinguished themselves. A great
number of their inhabitants gave considerable sums, and
equipped at their own expense companies, battalions,
whole regiments, of partisans or national guards.
A single citizen of Paris, Mr. Delorme, proprietor of
the fine _passage_ of the same name, offered his country
a hundred thousand francs.
Another, one day when the national guard was reviewed,
caused a roll of paper, tied with a ribbon of the legion
of honour, to be delivered to the Emperor. On opening
it, it was found to contain twenty-five thousand francs,
in notes on the Bank, with these words: "for Napoleon,
for my country." The Emperor was desirous of knowing the
person, who had made this delicate and mysterious
offering; and at length discovered, that it was M.
Gevaudan, whose noble sentiments and patriotism had
already been proved by several actions of a similar
kind.]
The Parisians, so frequently peaceable spectators of events,
participated in this burst of patriotism: not contented with erecting
their intrenchments with their own hands, they solicited the honour of
defending them; and twenty thousand men, composed of national guards,
federates of the suburbs, and citizens of all ranks, were formed into
battalions for actual service under the denomination of tirailleurs of
the national guard.
Napoleon applauded the noble efforts of the great nation: but
unfortunately our arsenals had been plundered in 1814; and,
notwithstanding the activity of our workmen, he was grieved to the
heart at his inability, to arm every hand raised in his defence. This
would have required six hundred thousand muskets; and scarcely could
enough be supplied, to arm the troops of the line, and the national
guards, that were sent to garrison the fortified towns.
But while Paris was contemplating its ramparts on the one hand, on the
other it saw the preparations for the festival of the _Champ de Mai_
completing. On both there was an equal crowd; and the French, always
the same, always brave and frivolous, traversed with equal pleasure
the spots where they were to fight, and those where they expected to
amuse themselves.
At length the assembly of the _Champ de Mai_, which several unforeseen
circumstances had delayed, took place on the 1st of June. The Emperor
believed, that he ought to display at it all the imperial pomp; but in
this he was wrong. He was about to appear before old patriots, whom he
had deceived; and he should have avoided awakening their memories, and
clouding their brows.
His dress, and that of his brothers and his court, made at first a
disagreeable impression; but it soon vanished, and gave place to the
sensations, that this grand union of the nation excited. What in fact
could be more impressive, than the aspect of a people, threatened with
a tremendous war, forming peaceably a solemn compact with the
sovereign, of whom its enemies were desirous of depriving it; and
joining with him, to defend together the honour and independence of
its country, in life or death?
An altar was erected in the midst of the vast and superb enclosure of
the _Champ de Mars_; and the ceremony commenced with the invocation of
the Supreme Being. The homage paid to God in the presence of nature
seems more fully to inspire man with religion, confidence, and
respect. At the instant of the elevation of the host, this crowd of
citizens, soldiers, officers, magistrates, and princes, prostrated
themselves in the dust, and implored for France, with a tender and
religious emotion, the tutelary protection of the sovereign Arbiter of
kings and people. The Emperor himself, usually so absent, displayed a
great deal of inward devotion. All eyes were fixed on him: people
called to mind his victories and his disasters, his greatness and his
fall; they were softened by the fresh dangers, that accumulated round
his head; and they put up prayers, truly sincere prayers, that he
might triumph over his implacable enemies.
A deputation, composed of five hundred electors, advanced to the foot
of the throne; and one of them, in the name of the French people,
addressed him in the following terms:
"Sire,
"The French people had decreed you the crown; you laid it down,
without their consent their suffrages impose on you the duty of
resuming it.
"A new compact is formed between the nation and your Majesty.
"Assembled from all parts of the empire round the tables of the law,
on which we are come to inscribe the wish of the people, the wish that
constitutes the only legitimate source of power, it is impossible for
us, not to proclaim aloud the voice of France, of which we are the
immediate organs; and not to say, in the face of Europe, to the august
chief of the nation, what it expects of him, and what he has to expect
of it.
"Our words are as serious, as the circumstances by which they are
inspired.
"What means this league of allied kings, with that preparation for
war, with which it appals Europe, and grieves humanity?
"By what act, what transgression, have we provoked their vengeance, or
given cause for an attack?
"Have we attempted, to impose laws on them, since the peace? We only
wish, to make and follow such, as are adapted to our manners.
"We refuse the chief, whom our enemies choose for us; and we choose
him, whom they refuse us.
"They dare to proscribe you personally: you, sire, who, so many times
master of their capitals, had generously confirmed them on their
tottering thrones! This hatred of our enemies adds to our love of you:
were they to proscribe the most insignificant of our citizens, it
would be our duty, to defend him with the same energy; he would be,
like you, under the aegis of the laws and power of France.
"We are threatened with an invasion; yet, confined within frontiers,
which nature did not impose on us; and which victory, and even peace,
had extended, long before your reign; we have not overstepped this
narrow boundary, out of regard to treaties, which you did not sign,
yet have offered to respect.
"Do they demand only guarantees? They have them in our institutions;
and in the will of the French people, henceforward united with yours.
"Are they not afraid of reminding us of times, of a state of things,
but lately so different, and which may again return?
"It would not be the first time, that we have vanquished Europe in
arms against us.
"It is to the French nation, that they dare refuse a second time, in
the nineteenth century; in the face of the civilised world, those
sacred, imprescriptible rights, which the smallest tribe never
claimed in vain at the tribunal of history and justice.
"Because France resolves to be France, must it be degraded, torn to
pieces, dismembered and is the fate of Poland reserved for us? Vainly
would they conceal their fatal intentions, under the appearance of the
sole design of separating you from us, to give us to masters, with
whom we have no longer any thing in common, and who can no longer
understand us.
"The three branches of the legislature are about to enter into a state
of activity: one sentiment will animate them. Confiding in the
promises of your Majesty, we resign to you, we resign to our
representatives and to the chamber of peers, the care of revising,
consolidating, and perfecting in concert, without precipitancy,
without concussion, maturely, and with wisdom, our constitutional
system, and the institutions that must guaranty it.
"And if, however, we be compelled to fight, let one sole voice resound
from every heart. Let us march against the enemy, that would treat us
as the lowest of nations. Let us all press around the throne, on which
is seated the father and chief of the people and of the army.
"Sire, nothing is impossible: nothing shall be spared, to ensure our
honour and independence, possessions dearer than life: every thing
shall be attempted, every thing done, to repel an ignominious yoke. We
say it to the nations, may their rulers hear us! if they accept your
offers of peace, the French people will expect from your strong,
liberal, and paternal government, motives of consolation for the
sacrifices, which the peace has cost them: but if they leave us no
other alternative, than war or disgrace, the whole nation is for war;
it is ready to absolve you from the offers, perhaps too moderate, that
you have made, in order to spare Europe fresh convulsions. Every
Frenchman is a soldier: victory will follow your eagles; and our
enemies, who have reckoned on a division, will soon regret their
having provoked us."
This speech being ended, the result of the votes[21] was proclaimed,
and the acceptance of the constitutional act.
[Footnote 21:
Votes, Affirmative 1,288,357
Negative 4,207
Armies, Affirmative 222,000
Negative 320
Navy, Affirmative 22,000
Negative 275
Eleven departments did not send their registers in time.
A great number of soldiers, unable to write their names,
did not vote; and the registers of fourteen regiments
did not arrive, till the votes had been summed up.]
The Emperor then, turning toward the electors, said:
"Gentlemen, electors of the colleges of departments and circles;
"Gentlemen, deputies of the armies by sea and land to the _Champ de
Mai_:
"Emperor, consul, soldier, I hold every thing from the people. In
prosperity, in adversity; on the field of battle, in the council
chamber; on the throne, and in exile; France has been the sole and
constant object of my thoughts, and of my actions.
"Like the King of Athens, I sacrificed myself for my people, in the
hope of seeing the promise realized, that had been given, to preserve
to France its natural integrity, its honours, and its rights.
"Indignation at seeing these sacred rights, acquired by five and
twenty years of victory, disregarded, and lost for ever; the cry
raised by, French honour disgraced; and the wishes of the nation;
have brought me back to the throne, which is dear to me, because it is
the palladium of the independence, the honour, and the rights of the
people.
"Frenchmen, from the public joy, amid which I traversed the different
provinces of the empire, to arrive at my capital, I could not but
reckon on a long peace; for nations are bound by the treaties
concluded with their governments, be these what they may.
"My thoughts were then turned wholly on the means of establishing our
liberty by a constitution conformable to the will and the interests of
the people. I convened the _Champ de Mai_.
"It was not long before I learned, that the princes, who have
disregarded all principles, and wounded the opinions and dearest
interests of so many nations, resolved to make war on us. They
purpose, to enlarge the kingdom of the Netherlands, to give it for
barriers all our strong places on the North, and to reconcile the
differences, which still keep them at variance, by dividing among them
Lorraine and Alsace.
"It was necessary, to prepare for war.
"However, before incurring personally the dangers of battle, my first
care necessarily was, to consult the nation without delay. The people
has accepted the act I have laid before it.
"Frenchmen, when we have repelled these unjust aggressions, and Europe
is convinced of what is due to the rights and independence of
twenty-eight millions of Frenchmen, a solemn law, made according to
the forms willed by the constitutional act, shall combine the
different arrangements of our constitutions, that are at present
scattered.
"Frenchmen, you are about to return to your departments. Tell the
citizens, that the present circumstances are important! That with
union, energy, and perseverance, we shall rise victorious from this
struggle of a great people against its oppressors; that generations to
come will severely scrutinize our conduct; and that a nation has lost
every thing, when it has lost its independence. Tell them, that the
foreign kings, whom I raised to a throne, or who are indebted to me
for the preservation of their crowns; all of whom, in the days of my
prosperity, courted my alliance, and the protection of the French
people; now direct their blows against my person. Did I not see, that
it is our country at which they really aim, I would place at their
mercy this life, against which they appear so exasperated. But tell
the citizens also, that, as long as the French retain for me those
sentiments of affection, of which they have given me so many
testimonies, this rage of our enemies will prove impotent.
"Frenchmen, my will is that of the people: my rights are its rights;
my honour, my glory, my happiness, can be no others than the honour,
the glory, and the happiness of France."
These words of Napoleon, pronounced with a strong and emphatic voice,
produced the most lively sensation. A cry of "Long live the Emperor!"
resounded in an instant throughout the immense space of the Champ de
Mars, and was repeated from one to another in the places around.
The Emperor, after having sworn on the Gospels, to observe, and cause
to be observed, the constitutions of the empire, made the
archchancellor proclaim the oath of fealty of the French people,
represented by the electors. This oath was spontaneously repeated by
thousands and thousands of voices.
The ministers of war and of the navy, in the name of the armies by
land and sea, and at the head of their deputations; the minister of
the interior, in the name of the national guards of France, and at
the head of the electors; the staff of the imperial guard, and that of
the national guard; afterwards advanced to take the oath, and receive
from the hands of the Emperor the eagles intended for them.
This ceremony ended, the troops, making about fifty thousand men,
filed off before Napoleon and the festival concluded, as it had
commenced, amid the acclamations of the people, the soldiers, and the
majority of the electors: but to the discontent of a certain number of
them, who complained, and with reason, that the Emperor had
substituted a steril distribution of colours, instead of the grand
national congress, which he had convened.
The parties too, that already began to pullulate, were not better
satisfied with the issue of the _Champ de Mai_.
The old revolutionists would have wished Napoleon, to have abolished
the empire, and re-established a republic.
The partisans of the regency reproached him for not having proclaimed
Napoleon II.
And the liberals maintained, that he ought to have laid down the
crown, and left to the sovereign nation the right of restoring it to
him, or offering it to the most worthy.
Were these different pretensions well founded? No.
The re-establishment of the republic would have ruined France.
The abdication in favour of Napoleon II. would not have saved it. The
allies had explained their intentions at Bâle: they would not have
laid down their arms, till the Emperor had consented, to deliver
himself up. "A circumstance, that, being to a prince the greatest of
misfortunes, can never form a condition of peace[22]?"
[Footnote 22: Montesquieu. Greatness and Decline of the
Romans.]
As to the latter proposition, I confess, that Napoleon, if on the 21st
of March, or the 12th of April[23], he had returned into the hands of
the French the sceptre, which he had just torn from those of the
Bourbons, would have stamped a character completely heroic on the
revolution of the 20th of March. He would have disconcerted the
foreign powers, augmented his popularity, centuplicated his forces:
but on the first of June it was too late: the additional act had
appeared.
[Footnote 23: The day on which the Act of Congress
appeared.]
Unhappily for himself, therefore, Napoleon could do nothing better at
the _Champ de Mai_, than what he did: namely, to endeavour to conceal
the emptiness of the day under the pomp of a religious and military
solemnity, calculated to move the heart, and strengthen by fresh bands
the union, already subsisting between him, the people, and the army.
The Emperor had not been able to deliver with his own hands to the
electors the eagles of their departments. It had not been concealed
from him, that some among them appeared dissatisfied; and he wished to
attempt to dissipate their ill-humour, and revive their zeal. Ten
thousand persons were assembled in the vast galleries of the Louvre;
on one side were seen the deputies and electors of the nation; on the
other, its glorious defenders. The eagle of each department, and that
of each deputation from the armies, were placed at the head of groups
of citizens or warriors; and nothing could exhibit a more animated,
and more impressive picture, than this confused assembly of Frenchmen,
of all the orders of the state, crowding mutually around the standards
and the hero, that were to conduct them to victory and to peace.
The Emperor was polite, affectionate, amiable: with infinite art he
accommodated his manners to every body, and almost every body was
enchanted with him. He was convinced of the mischief he had done
himself by the additional act: and, in order to regain the good
opinion of the public, he repeated to satiety, to the representatives
and electors, that he would employ himself in concurrence with the two
chambers, to collect together those provisions of the constitutional
laws, that were not abrogated, and form the whole into one sole
constitution, that should become the fundamental law of the nation.
This retraction was the consequence of the remonstrances of his
ministers, and particularly of M. Carnot. "Sire," he was incessantly
repeating to him, "do not strive, I conjure you, against public
opinion. Your additional act has displeased the nation. Promise it,
that you will modify it, and render it conformable to its wishes. I
repeat to you, Sire, I have never deceived you; your safety and ours
depend on your deference to the national will. This is not all, Sire;
the French are become a free people. The appellation of 'subject,'
which you are continually giving them, wounds and humbles them. Call
them citizens, or your children. Neither suffer your ministers, your
marshals, your great officers, to be called '_monseigneur_:' there is
no _seigneur_ in a country, where equality forms the basis of the
laws; there are none but citizens."
The Emperor, however, did not see the opening of the chambers
approach, without a certain degree of apprehension. His intention was,
frankly to submit to the principles and consequences of a
representative government; in the first place, because he wished to
reign, and was convinced, that he could not retain the throne, unless
he governed as the nation demanded.
In the second place, because he was persuaded, that the nation now
placed its ideas of happiness on a representative government; and
because, greedy of every kind of celebrity, he found, as he told me at
Lyons, that it was glorious, to render a great people happy. But,
whatever were the sentiments and good inclinations of Napoleon, he had
not had time, to divest himself completely of his old notions and
ancient prejudices. The remembrance of our preceding assemblies
besieged him still in spite of himself: and he appeared to fear, that
the French had too much warmth of imagination, instability of will,
and propensity to abuse their rights, to be capable of enjoying on a
sudden, without any preparation, the benefits of absolute liberty. He
feared, too, that the opposition inherent in representative
governments would not be rightly comprehended in France, and would
make a bad impression; that it would degenerate into resistance; and
that it would clog the action of the sovereign power, take from it its
illusion, its moral strength, and make of it nothing but an instrument
of oppression[24].
[Footnote 24: At the time of the discussion of the
additional act, M. de Bassano, conversing with the
Emperor on the chamber of deputies, said to him, that
the muteness of the legislative body, was one of the
things, that had contributed most to discredit the
imperial government. "My mute legislative body,"
answered Napoleon, with a smile, "was never well
understood. It was a grand legislative jury. If it be
thought right, that twelve jurymen shall pronounce on
the life and honour of their fellow citizens by a simple
yes, or no; why deem it strange or tyrannical, that five
hundred jurymen, selected from the most eminent men in
the nation, should pronounce in a similar manner on the
simple interests of society?"]
Independently of these general considerations, Napoleon had still
other motives, to dread the approaching assembly of the chambers. They
were going to meet under circumstances, in which it was indispensable,
that the chief of the state should govern without contradiction: yet
he foresaw, that the representatives, misled by their ardent love of
liberty, and by the fear of despotism, would seek to fetter his
exercise of authority, instead of seconding its full display.
"When a war has commenced," said he one day, "the presence of a
deliberative body is as embarrassing, as it is fatal. _It must have
victories._ If the monarch meet with any check, fear seizes the timid,
and renders them unconsciously the instruments and accomplices of the
audacious. The apprehension of danger, and the desire of withdrawing
from it, derange every head. Reason has no longer any sway: _physical
feelings are everything_. The turbulent, the ambitious, greedy of
rule, of popularity, of making a noise, erect themselves of their own
authority into advocates of the people, and advisers of the prince:
they want to know all, regulate all, direct all. If no regard be paid
to their counsels, from advisers they become censors, from censors
factionaries, and from factionaries rebels. The necessary consequence
then is, that the prince must either submit to their yoke, or expel
them; and in either case he almost always compromises his crown and
the state."
Napoleon, tormented by the anxiety, which the sudden and inconsiderate
application of the popular system, and the dispositions of the
deputies, inspired, rested all his security on the chamber of peers.
He hoped, that this chamber would influence the representatives by its
example, or check them by its firmness.
The ministers received orders, each to present to him a list of
candidates.
M. Delavalette, in whom the Emperor had particular confidence, was
also desired to furnish him with a list.
Formerly an aide-de-camp of Napoleon, and connected with him by
marriage[25], M. Delavalette had vowed to him an attachment proof
against all temptations. Phocion said to Antipater, "I cannot be at
once thy flatterer, and thy friend:" and M. Delavalette, thinking like
Phocion, had abjured every kind of flattery, to adhere to the rigid
language of friendship. Endowed with a cool head, and sound judgment,
he appreciated events with skill and sagacity. Reserved in the world,
frank and open with Napoleon, he avowed his opinions to him with the
freedom of an affectionate, pure, and upright heart. Accordingly
Napoleon set much value on his advice; and confessed with noble
candour, that he had frequently had to congratulate himself for
having followed it.
[Footnote 25: He had married a Miss Beauharnais, since
so celebrated for her generously risking her own life to
save his.]
The lists presented to the Emperor exhibited a complete assortment of
ancient nobles, senators, generals, land-holders, and merchants[26].
The Emperor, it is right to say, had only the trouble of choosing, but
this was great.
[Footnote 26: It was the Duke of Vicenza, who first
conceived the idea of conferring the peerage on great
land-holders, and distinguished merchants. He was not of
opinion, that the peerage should be hereditary, and that
the choice of peers should be left exclusively to the
crown. He would have wished, that men of great landed
property, manufacturers, merchants of the first rank,
the men of letters, civilians, and lawyers, who had
acquired a great name, should be allowed to propose a
list of candidates, out of which the Emperor should be
at liberty to choose a certain number of peers.]
On the one hand he could have wished, both from self-love and a spirit
of conciliation, to have had in the chamber of peers some of those
great names, that sound so gratefully to the ear. On the other hand he
was desirous, as I have said above, that this chamber should hold the
deputies in check; and he could not conceal from himself, that, if he
introduced into it any of the ancient nobility, it would have no
influence over that of the representatives, and probably be on very
bad terms with it.
He decided, therefore, to sacrifice his inclinations to the good of
the cause; and, instead of granting the peerage to that crowd of
parchment nobles, who had humbly solicited it, he conferred it only on
a few of them, noted for their patriotism, and their attachment to
liberal principles. Many of these illustrious solicitors have since
boasted of having refused it. This is very natural, but is it true? I
leave it to their own hearts, their own consciences, to answer the
question.
The Emperor, fearful of refusals, had taken the precaution to have the
inclinations of the doubtful candidates previously sounded. Some
hesitated; others plainly refused. Of all these refusals, direct and
indirect, which amounted but to five or six at most, no one more
painfully disappointed Napoleon, than that of Marshal Macdonald. He
had not forgotten the noble fidelity that the Marshal preserved
towards him in 1814, to the last moment; and he regretted, that his
scruples deprived him of a dignity, to which he was called by his
rank, his services, and the public esteem.
The 3d of June being come, the chamber of representatives assembled in
the ancient palace of the legislative body, and formed itself
provisionally under the presidency of the oldest of its members.
The constitution had left to the representatives the right of choosing
their president. The Emperor hoped, that their suffrages would be
given in favour of his brother Lucien; and in this hope he did not
publish immediately the list of peers, that he might retain the power
of comprising this prince in it, or not, according as he should or
should not be appointed to the _presidency_[27]. But the chamber,
notwithstanding the esteem and confidence, with which the principles
and character of Prince Lucien inspired it, thought, that his election
would be considered as a deference to the will of the Emperor; and
resolved therefore, to make a different choice, in order to prove to
France, and to the foreign powers, that it was, and would remain, free
and independent. M. Lanjuinais was elected: and Napoleon, who knew
that M. Lanjuinais, a malecontent by nature, had never been able to
agree with any government[28], was doubly vexed, that Prince Lucien
had been rejected, and that such a successor had been given him.
[Footnote 27: Lucien Bonaparte had not been acknowledged
as a prince of the imperial family by the ancient
statutes. Consequently he might be considered, as not
making a part of the chamber of peers by right.]
[Footnote 28: This opinion did not prevent the Emperor
from doing justice to the courage and patriotism, which
M. Lanjuinais had displayed on some trying occasions.]
The sitting of the day following gave Napoleon another subject of
dissatisfaction. The assembly had expressed its wish the day before,
to be acquainted with the list of the members of the Chamber of Peers.
The Emperor, from the motive I have mentioned, made answer, that this
list would not be fixed, till after the opening of the session. This
answer excited violent murmurs: one member proposed, to declare, that
the chamber would not proceed to constitute itself definitively, till
it was furnished with the list, which it had required. Thus from its
entrance on its career, and even before it was installed, the chamber
announced its design, of establishing itself in a state of
insurrection against the head of the government.
The third sitting witnessed an opprobrium, hitherto unheard of in our
national assemblies. The same member, M. Dupin[29], advanced, that
the oath to be taken to the sovereign by the nation, in order to be
valid and legitimate, should not be administered by virtue of a
decree, that emanated from the will of the prince alone, but by virtue
of a law, which is the will of the nation constitutionally expressed.
In consequence he proposed, to resolve, that no oath could be required
of it, but in execution of a law; and that this oath should no way
prejudice its right, subsequently to improve the constitution.
[Footnote 29: A celebrated counsel, who defended Marshal
Ney, and the three generous liberators of M.
Delavalette, Wilson, Bruce, and Hutchinson.]
This proposal, seconded by M. Roi[30], tended to declare null in law
and fact the oath, which the nation and army, represented by their
electors and deputies, had just taken to the Emperor and the
constitution in the solemnity of the _Champ de Mai_: and as it was
this oath, that hitherto formed the only tie binding the nation to the
Emperor, and Napoleon to the nation, it followed that the annulling it
deprived the Emperor of that character of sovereignty and legitimacy,
with which he had been invested, and rendered his rights a subject of
deliberation.
[Footnote 30: Since minister of finance to the king.]
The motion of M. Dupin was rejected unanimously: but the chamber, in
complaisantly permitting a man, to dare within its walls, to call in
question the legitimacy of the Emperor and his authority, and
endeavour to render him foreign to the nation, was guilty of an act of
weakness and indifference, that deeply grieved Napoleon. "I perceive
with sorrow," he said, "that the deputies are not disposed, to act in
union with me; and that they let no opportunity escape of seeking a
quarrel. Of what have they to complain? What have I done to them? I
have given them liberty with an unsparing hand; I have given them
perhaps too much; for kings in the present day have more need than
nations of guarantees. I will act with them as long as I can: but if
they think to make of me a King Log, or a second Louis XVI., they are
mistaken; I am not a man to receive the law from counsellors[31], or
to allow my head to be cut off by factionaries."
[Footnote 31: MM. Dupin and Roi, who appeared to him the
heads of the party of insurgents.]
The hostile disposition of the representatives would have given him no
uneasiness at any other time: the constitution conferred on him the
right of dissolving the chamber, and he would have availed himself of
it: but on the eve of a war, and in the critical situation in which he
was placed, he could not have recourse to such an expedient, without
endangering the fate of France. He resolved, therefore, to conceal his
vexation and ill humour, and permit what he could not prevent.
On the 7th of June he repaired to the legislative body, to open the
chambers; and, after having received the oaths of the peers and
deputies, delivered the following speech:
"Gentlemen of the chamber of peers, and gentlemen of the chamber of
representatives:
"Circumstances, and the confidence of the people, have invested me
these three months with unlimited power. To-day the most urgent desire
of my heart is accomplished: I come to commence the constitutional
monarchy.
"Men are too feeble, to ensure the future: institutions alone fix the
fate of nations. Monarchy is necessary in France, to guaranty the
liberty, the independence, and the rights of the people.
"Our constitution is made up of scattered parts: one of our most
important occupations will be, to unite them within one frame, and
arrange them in one simple design. This labour will transmit the fame
of the present period to future generations.
"I am ambitious of seeing France enjoy all the liberty possible: I say
possible, because anarchy always leads to an absolute government.
"A formidable coalition of kings aims at our independence: their
armies are arriving on our frontiers.
"The frigate _la Melpomène_ has been attacked and taken in the
Mediterranean, after a bloody engagement, by an English seventy-four.
Blood has been shed during peace[32].
[Footnote 32: She was attacked and taken near the island
of Ischia, on the 30th of April.]
"Our enemies reckon upon our intestine divisions. They are exciting
and fomenting civil war. Meetings have taken place; and a
communication is kept up with Ghent, as in 1792 it was with Coblentz.
Legislative measures are indispensable: to your patriotism, your
intelligence, and your attachment to my person, I confide myself
without reserve.
"The liberty of the press is inherent in our present constitution: no
change can be made in this, without altering our whole political
system: but we want repressive laws, particularly in the present
state of the nation. I recommend this important subject to your
consideration.
"The ministers will make known to you the state of our affairs.
"The finances would be in a satisfactory condition, were it not for
the increased expense, which the present circumstances have required.
"Still we might answer the whole, if the sums to be received, included
in the budget, could all be realised in the course of the year; and my
minister of finance will turn your attention to the means of attaining
this result.
"It is possible, that the first duty of a prince may soon call me, to
fight for our country at the head of the children of the nation. The
army and I will do our duty.
"Do you, peers and representatives, set the nation an example of
confidence, energy, and patriotism: and, like the senate of the great
people of antiquity, resolve rather to die, than to survive the
dishonour and degradation of France. The sacred cause of our country
will be triumphant!"
This speech, full of moderation and reason, made a profound
impression on the assembly. Shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" much
more numerous than had burst out at his arrival, were heard, and
continued long after his departure.
The next day, the chamber of representatives was employed in drawing
up its address.
An indiscreet admirer of Napoleon, after having observed, that
flattery had decreed the surname of Desired to a prince, whom the
nation had neither called nor expected, moved, that the title of
Saviour should be decreed to Napoleon, who had come to save France
from regal slavery. This ridiculous motion, smothered by ironical
laughter, gave rise to a multitude of sarcasms and offensive
reflections, which were reported to Napoleon, and which, without
personally wounding him, for he had too high a sense of his glory, to
think it affected by such clamours, injured him in the opinion of
France.
Napoleon, like all great men, loved praise: public censure, when he
thought it unjust, made no impression on him. This indifference did
not arise from the pride of the diadem; it was the result of the
contempt he felt for the judgment of men in general. "He was
accustomed to look for the reward of the pains and labours of life
only in the opinion of posterity."
The assembly rejected the adulatory proposal of M. *****; and in this
it did right. But it did wrong, not to express its decision so as to
soften what there was in it of harsh, unjust, and disagreeable to the
Emperor, who had not provoked it.
This rudeness did not surprise him: experience had already convinced
him, that the chamber would let no opportunity of vexing him escape
it.
This chamber, notwithstanding, was composed entirely of partisans of
the 20th of March: but all the deputies were not partisans of
Napoleon, if they were of the revolution; some in consequence of
personal enmity, others from remembrance of his despotism, and fear of
its return.
The enemies of Napoleon, disguising their hatred under the cloak of a
love of liberty, had insinuated themselves into the minds of the
patriots; and, with the additional act in their hands, had drawn them
into their ranks, under the apparent pretence of combating and
bridling the incurable tyranny of the Emperor.
On the other hand, the friends of Napoleon, while they refused to join
in this coalition, did not attempt to break it; because they inwardly
dreaded the encroachments of the imperial power, and were not sorry to
leave to others the task of opposing it.
Thus the whole assembly, though instigated by different motives,
joined to set themselves in a state of hostile opposition to the head
of the government; without perceiving, that this inconsiderate,
unjust, and ill-timed opposition, would occasion anxiety, mistrust,
and irresolution, in the minds of all; and destroy that national
harmony, that union of interests, wills, and sentiments, the only
source of strength to Napoleon, of safety to France.
Be this as it may, the chamber of deputies, after having spent two
days in discussing the substance and style of its address, was
admitted, as well as the chamber of peers, to appear at the foot of
the throne.
The chamber of peers spoke first, and said:
"Sire; your readiness to subject to constitutional forms and rules
that absolute power, which circumstances, and the confidence of the
people, had imposed on you; the past guarantee given to the rights of
the nation; the devotion, that leads you into the midst of the perils,
which the army is about to brave; penetrate every heart with profound
gratitude. The peers of France are come to offer to your Majesty the
homage of this sentiment.
"You have manifested, Sire, principles, that are those of the nation:
they must necessarily be ours. Yes, all power proceeds from the
people, is instituted far the people; a constitutional monarchy is
necessary for the French nation, as a guarantee of its liberty, and of
its independence.
"Sire, while you shall be on the frontiers, at the head of the
children of the country, the chamber of peers will concur with zeal in
all the legislative measures, that circumstances may require, to
compel foreigners to acknowledge the independence of the nation, and
render the principles sanctioned by the will of the people triumphant
at home.
"The interest of France is inseparable from yours. If fortune should
deceive your efforts, disasters, Sire, will not weaken our
perseverance, and would redouble our attachment to you.
"If success should correspond to the justice of our cause, and the
hopes; we are accustomed to conceive from your genius and the valour
of our armies, France desires no other fruit from it than peace. Our
institutions are a pledge to Europe, that the French government can
never be hurried on by the seductions of victory."
The Emperor answered:
"The contest in which we are engaged is serious. The ardour of
prosperity is not the danger that threatens us at present. Foreigners
are desirous of making us pass under the _Caudine forks_!
"The justice of our cause, the public spirit of the nation, and the
courage of the army, are potent grounds, to hope for success; but, if
we should experience disasters, then in particular I should wish, to
see all the energy of this great people displayed; then I should find
in the chamber of peers proofs of attachment to their country, and to
myself.
"It is in times of difficulty, that great nations, like great men,
display all the energy of their character, and become an object of
admiration to posterity[33].
[Footnote 33: This is a remarkable sentence; as it
expresses a sound principle: events have shown, how
little the French deserve the name of a _great nation_.
_Tr._]
"Mr. President and gentlemen deputies of the chamber of peers, I thank
you for the sentiments which you have expressed to me in the name of
the chamber."
Count Lanjuinais, at the head of the deputation of the chamber of
representatives, then delivered the following speech:
"Sire, the chamber of representatives received with profound emotion
the words pronounced from the throne at the solemn sitting, when your
Majesty, laying down the extraordinary power you were exercising,
proclaimed the commencement of a constitutional monarchy.
"The principal bases of this monarchy, the guardian of the liberty,
equality, and happiness of the people, have been acknowledged by your
Majesty, who, voluntarily meeting every scruple, as well as every
wish, has declared, that the care of collecting together our scattered
constitutions, and arranging them in one whole, was among the most
important occupations reserved for the legislature. Faithful to its
mission, the chamber of representatives will fulfil the task that is
devolved to it, in this noble work: it demands, that, to satisfy the
will of the public, as well as the wishes of your Majesty, the
deliberations of the nation shall rectify, as soon as possible, what
the urgency of our situation may have produced defective, or left
imperfect, in the whole of our constitutions.
"But at the same time, Sire, the chamber of representatives will not
show itself less eager, to proclaim its sentiments and its principles
with regard to the terrible conflict, that threatens to ensanguine the
fields of Europe. After a series of disastrous events, invaded France
appeared listened to for a moment on the establishment of its
constitution, only to see itself almost immediately subjected to a
royal charter, emanating from absolute power, to a system of
reformation, in its nature always revocable....
"Resuming now the exercise of its rights; rallying round the hero,
whom its confidence invests anew with the government of the state;
France is astonished and grieved, to see sovereigns in arms demand of
it the reason of an internal change, which is the result of the
national will, and affects neither its existing connexions with other
governments, nor their security. France cannot admit the distinctions,
under which the coalized powers endeavour to cloak their aggression.
To attack the monarch of its choice is to attack the independence of
the nation. It is entirely in arms, to defend this independence; and
to repel every family, and every prince, that they may dare wish to
impose on it. No ambitious project enters into the thoughts of the
French people: even the will of a victorious prince would be
impotent, to carry the nation beyond the limits of its own defence.
But to protect its territory, to maintain its liberty, its honour, its
dignity, it is ready to make any sacrifice. Why are we not allowed,
Sire, still to hope, that these preparations for war, caused perhaps
by the irritations of pride, and by illusions that every day must
weaken, will vanish before the want of a peace necessary to all the
nations of Europe; and which would restore to your Majesty your
consort, to the French the heir to the throne? But already blood has
been shed: the signal of battles, prepared against the independence
and liberty of the French, has been given in the name of a people, who
carry to the highest point their zeal for independence and liberty. No
doubt among the communications, which your Majesty has promised us,
the chambers will find proofs of the efforts you have made, to
maintain the peace of the world. If all these efforts must remain
useless, may the calamities of the war fall on those, by whom it has
been provoked!
"The chamber of deputies waits only for the documents, that have been
announced to it, to concur with all its power in the measures, that
the success of a war so legitimate may demand. It is eager, to be
acquainted with the wants and resources of the state, in order to
enunciate its wishes: and while your Majesty, opposing to the most
unjust aggression the valour of our national armies, and the force of
your genius, seeks in victory only the means of arriving at a durable
peace, the chamber of representatives is persuaded, that it shall be
proceeding toward the same end, by labouring unremittingly at the
compact, the perfecting of which must cement still more closely the
union between the people and the throne; and strengthen in the eyes of
Europe the pledge of our engagements, by the improvement of our
institutions."
The Emperor answered:
"I find with satisfaction my own sentiments, in those you express to
me. Under our present weighty circumstances, my thoughts are absorbed
by the imminent war, to the success of which are attached the honour
and independence of France.
"I shall set out this night, to place myself at the head of my armies:
the movements of the different corps of the enemy render my presence
there indispensable. During my absence, I shall see with pleasure,
that a committee named by each chamber is meditating on our
constitution.
"The constitution is our rallying point: it should be our pole-star in
this season of tempests. Every public discussion, that would tend,
directly or indirectly, to diminish the confidence we ought to have in
its arrangements, would be a misfortune to the state: we should find
ourselves in the midst of shoals, without a compass, and without a
chart. The crisis in which we are engaged is violent. Let us not
imitate the example of the Lower Empire, which, pressed on all sides
by the barbarians, rendered itself the laughing-stock of posterity, by
engaging in abstract discussions, at the moment when the battering ram
was bursting open the gates of the city.
"Independently of the legislative measures, which internal
circumstances require, you will deem it useful perhaps, to occupy
yourselves on regulating laws, calculated to render the constitution
active. These may be subjects of your public labours without any
inconvenience.
"Mr. President, and gentlemen deputies of the chamber of
representatives, the sentiments expressed in your address sufficiently
demonstrate the attachment of the chamber to my person, and all the
patriotism, with which it is animated. In all events my course will
ever be straight and firm. Assist me to save our country. The first
representative of the people, I have contracted the obligation, which
I renew, of employing, in times of greater tranquillity, all the
prerogatives of the crown, and the little experience I have acquired,
to second you in the improvement of our institutions."
The voice of Napoleon, naturally emphatic, gave prominence to the
masculine thoughts, that sparkled throughout both these speeches: and
when he arrived at this passage, "every public discussion, that would
tend to diminish the confidence," &c.; and at this, "let us not
imitate the Lower Empire;" he gave these salutary exhortations with a
penetrating look, that made the instigators of discord cast down their
eyes. The sound part of the representatives approved the Emperor's
answer: the rest considered it as a lecture offensive to the dignity
of the chamber. There are some men, who think they may be allowed to
push remonstrance to insult, yet cannot listen to the most prudent and
temperate advice, without being offended.
The Emperor set out, as he had announced, in the night of the 12th of
May.
The question of deciding, whether he ought to be the first, to give
the signal for hostilities, or not, had frequently recurred to his
reflections.
By attacking the enemy, he had the advantage of engaging before the
arrival of the Russians, and of carrying the war out of the French
territories. If he were victorious, he might raise up Belgium, and
detach from the coalition a part of the old confederation of the
Rhine, and perhaps Austria.
By waiting to be attacked, he retained it in his power to choose his
field of battle, to increase his means of resistance in an infinite
degree, and of carrying the strength and devotion of his army to the
highest pitch. An army of Frenchmen, fighting under the eyes of their
mothers, their wives, and their children, for the preservation of
their well-being, and in defence of the honour and independence of
their country, would have been invincible. It was the latter
alternative, to which Napoleon gave the preference: it agreed with the
hope he involuntarily cherished of coming to an agreement with the
foreign powers, and with his fear of gaining the ill-will of the
chamber, if he commenced the war without previously exhausting all
means of obtaining peace.
But Napoleon felt, that, to render a war national, all the citizens
must be united in heart and will with their chief: and convinced,
that the untoward disposition of the chamber would increase daily, and
introduce division and trouble into the state, he resolved to commence
the war; hoping, that fortune would favour his arms, and that victory
would reconcile him to the deputies, or furnish him with the means of
reducing them to order.
The Emperor entrusted the government during his absence to a council,
composed of the fourteen persons following:
Prince Joseph, president.
Prince Lucien.
_Ministers._
Prince Cambacérès.
The prince of Eckmuhl.
The duke of Vicenza.
The duke of Gaëta.
The duke of Decrès.
The duke of Otranto.
Count Mollien.
Count Carnot.
_Ministers of State_[34].
Count Défermon.
Count Regnaud de St. Jean d'Angeli.
Count Boulay de la Meurthe.
Count Merlin.
[Footnote 34: Ministers without any ostensible office,
for their conduct in which they would be responsible. We
have had members somewhat similar in our privy council.
_Tr._]
He said to them: "To-night I set off: do your duty: the French army
and I will do ours: I recommend to you union, zeal, and energy."
It appeared strange, in a representative monarchy, where
responsibility bore hard on ministers, to see ministers of state, who
were not responsible, associated in the government.
This was remarked to the Emperor, and he answered, that he had added
ministers of state to the council, that they might be the interpreters
of the government to the chamber of deputies; that he wished the
ministers at the head of particular offices, to appear in this chamber
as little as possible, as long as their constitutional education was
incomplete; that they were not familiarized to the tribune[35]; that
they might there disclose opinions or principles, without intending
it, that government could not avow; and that it would be inconvenient
and difficult, to contradict the words of a minister, while those of a
minister of state might be disavowed, without implicating the
government, or wounding its dignity.
[Footnote 35: The members of the French chambers do not
speak in their places, but from a pulpit erected for the
purpose. _Tr._]
Were these the only motives? I think not. He distrusted the perfidy of
the Duke of Otranto, and the indifference of more ministers than one;
and he was glad to find a reason, or a pretence, for introducing into
the council of regency the four ministers of state, whose devotion and
unshaken fidelity appeared to him an additional guarantee. When he
made known his intention of commencing the war, the Duke of Vicenza
solicited the favour of attending him to the army, "If I do not leave
you at Paris," answered Napoleon, "on whom can I depend?" How much is
expressed in these few words!
The day after his departure, the ministers of the interior and for
foreign affairs repaired to the chamber of peers. M. Carnot laid
before it a statement of the situation of the Emperor and the empire.
"His Majesty," said he, "enlightened by past events, has returned,
having at heart the full desire and hope of preserving peace abroad,
and of governing paternally at home....
"If the Emperor were less secure of the firmness of his character,
and the purity of his resolutions, he might consider himself as placed
between two shoals, the partisans of the expelled dynasty, and those
of the _republican system_. But the former, having been unable to
retain what they possessed, must be still less capable of seizing on
it anew: the latter, undeceived by long experience, and bound by
gratitude to the prince, who has been their deliverer, are become his
most zealous defenders; their candour, as well known as their
philanthropic ardour, surround the throne occupied by the august
founder of a new dynasty, who glories in having issued from the ranks
of the people."
After this declaration, to which the republican opinions of M. Carnot
gave great weight, he entered into an examination of the several
branches of the public administration in succession.
He disclosed the state, to which the calamities of the times, and the
mismanagement of the regal government, had reduced the finances of the
communes, the hospitals, religious worship, public works, mines,
manufactures, commerce, and public instruction; and made known the
system of improvement, which the Emperor had formed, and already
commenced, to restore to the communes and hospitals their former
resources, to public works their activity, to commerce its scope, to
the university its lustre, to manufactures their prosperity, to the
clergy that respect and easiness of circumstances, which it had
forfeited through the persecutions, directed by it, at the instigation
of the emigrants, against the pretended spoilers of their property.
When come to the war department, he announced, that the Emperor had
re-established on its old foundations the army, the elements of which
had been intentionally dispersed by the late government. That since
the 20th of March our forces had been raised by voluntary enlistments,
and the recall of the ancient soldiery, from a hundred thousand men,
to three hundred and seventy-five thousand. That the imperial guard,
the noblest ornament of France during peace, and its strongest rampart
during war, would soon amount to forty thousand men. That the
artillery, notwithstanding the twelve thousand six hundred pieces of
ordnance delivered to the enemy by the fatal convention of the 23d of
April, 1814, had risen from its ruins, and now reckoned a hundred
batteries, and twenty thousand horses. That our disorganised arsenals
had resumed their labours, and were replacing the army stores. That
our manufactories of arms, lately abandoned and empty, had made or
repaired four hundred thousand muskets in the course of two months.
That a hundred and seventy fortified towns, or fortresses, both on the
frontiers and in the interior, had been provisioned, repaired, and put
into a condition, to resist an enemy. That the national guard,
completely re-organised, had already supplied for the defence of the
frontiers two hundred and forty battalions, or a hundred and fifty
thousand men; and that the successive formation of the other
battalions of flank companies would produce more than two hundred
thousand men. That the volunteers in the walled towns, and the pupils
of the Lyceums and _special_ schools[36], had been formed into
companies of artillery, and constituted a body of more than
twenty-five thousand excellent gunners. So that eight hundred and
fifty thousand Frenchmen would defend the independence, the liberty,
and the honour of the country; while the sedentary national guards
were preparing themselves in the interior, to furnish fresh resources
for the triumph of the national cause.
[Footnote 36: These were schools intended for finishing
public education.--_Tr._]
In fine, after having taken a hasty view of the hostile dispositions
of our enemies, of the interior disturbances they had excited, and of
the means the Emperor had adopted to suppress them, M. Carnot
concluded his report by expressing a wish, that the two chambers might
soon bestow on France, in concert with the Emperor, those organising
laws, which were necessary _to prevent licentiousness from assuming
the place of liberty, and anarchy that of order_.
This report, in which M. Carnot did not totally conceal the
apprehensions, with which the progress of that spirit of
insubordination and demagogism, manifested by certain members of the
chamber, inspired the Emperor and the nation, was immediately followed
by one from the Duke of Vicenza, on the menacing dispositions of
foreign powers, and the fruitless efforts, that the Emperor had made,
to bring them to moderate and pacific sentiments. Their hostile
resolutions he ascribed chiefly to the suggestions of the cabinet of
London. He afterward made known the military preparations of the four
great powers, the leagues renewed or recently formed against us, and
concluded thus:
"To believe it possible, to maintain peace, at present, therefore,
would be a dangerous blindness: war surrounds us on all sides, and it
is on the field of battle alone, that peace can be regained by France.
The English, the Prussians, the Austrians, are in line of battle; the
Russians are in full march. It becomes a duty, to hasten the day of
engagement, when too long hesitation might endanger the welfare of the
state."
These two reports were presented to the chamber of deputies by
ministers of state, at the same time when the ministers were making
them known to the chamber of peers. Instead of impressing upon the
representatives the necessity of frankly joining the Emperor, and, as
one of them observed, of not entering into a contest with the
government, at a moment when the blood of Frenchmen was about to be
shed, they suggested to them only steril discussions of the
impropriety of the connexion of ministers of state with the chamber,
and of the urgency of appointing a committee, to remould the
additional act. An immoderate desire of speechifying, and of making
laws, had seized the greater number of the deputies: but a state is
not to be saved by empty words, and schemes of a constitution. The
Romans, when their country was in danger, instead of deliberating,
suspended the sway of the laws, and gave themselves a dictator.
The next day, the 17th, a new report, made to the Emperor by the
minister of police, on the moral state of France, was communicated to
the two chambers.
"Sire," said this minister, "it is my duty, to tell you the whole
truth. Our enemies are emboldened by instruments without, and
supporters within. They wait only for a favourable moment, to realize
the plan they conceived twenty years ago, and which during these
twenty years has been continually frustrated, of uniting the camp of
Jalès to Vendée, and seducing a part of the multitude into that
confederacy which extends from the Mediterranean to the Channel.
"In this system, the plains on the left bank of the Loire, the
population of which it is most easy to mislead, are the principal
focus of the insurrection; which, by the help of the wandering bands
of Britanny, is to spread into Normandy, where the vicinity of the
islands, and the disposition of the coasts, will render communication
more easy. On the other side it rests on the Cevennes, to extend
thence to the banks of the Rhone by the revolts, that may be excited
in some parts of Languedoc and Provence. Bordeaux has been the centre
of the direction of these movements from the beginning.
"This plan is not abandoned. Nay more: the party has been increased,
at every change in our revolution, by all the malecontents, that
events have produced; by all the factious, that a certainty of amnesty
has encouraged; and by all the ambitious, who have been desirous of
acquiring some political importance in the changes they foreboded.
"...... It is this party, that now disturbs the interior. Marseilles,
Toulouse, and Bordeaux, are agitated by it. Marseilles, where the
spirit of sedition animates even the lowest classes of the population;
where the laws have been disregarded: Toulouse, which seems still
under the influence of that revolutionary organisation, which was
imparted to it some months ago: Bordeaux, where all the germs of
revolt are deposited, and intensely fermenting.
"It is this party, which by false alarms, false hopes, distribution of
money, and the employment of threats, has succeeded in stirring up
peaceable agriculturists, throughout the territory included between
the Loire, la Vendée, the ocean, and the Rhone. Arms and ammunition
have been landed there. The hydra of rebellion revives, re-appears
wherever it formerly exercised its ravages, and is not destroyed by
our successes at St. Gilles and Aisenay. On the other side of the
Loire, bands are desolating the department of Morbihan, and some parts
of those of Isle and Vilaine, the Coasts of the North, and Sarthe.
They have invaded in a moment the towns of Aurai, Rhedon, and
Ploermel, and the plains of Mayenne as far as the gates of Laval; they
stop the soldiers and sailors, that are recalled; they disarm the
land-holders; increase their numbers by peasants, whom they compel to
march with them; pillage the public treasures, annihilate the
instruments of administration, threaten the persons in office, seize
the stage coaches, stop the couriers, and for a moment intercepted the
communication between Mans and Angers, Angers and Nantes, Nantes and
Rennes, and Rennes and Vannes.
"On the borders of the Channel, Dieppe and Havre have been agitated by
seditious commotions. Throughout the whole of the 15th division, the
battalions of the national militia have been formed only with the
greatest difficulty. The soldiers and sailors have refused, to answer
their call; and have obeyed it only by compulsion. Caen has twice been
disturbed by the resistance of the royalists; and in some of the
circles of the Orne bands are formed as in Britanny and Mayenne.
"In fine, all kinds of writings, that can discourage the weak,
embolden the factious, shake confidence, divide the nation, bring the
government into contempt; all the pamphlets, that issue from the
printing-offices of Belgium, or the clandestine presses of France; all
that the foreign newspapers publish against us, all that the
party-writers compose; are distributed, hawked about, and diffused
with impunity, for want of restrictive laws, and from the abuse of the
liberty of the press.
"Firm in the system of moderation, which your Majesty had adopted, you
have thought it right, to wait for the meeting of the chambers, that
legal precautions only might be opposed to manoeuvres, which by the
ordinary course of law are not always punishable, and which it could
neither foresee, nor prevent......"
The Duke of Otranto, entering on the subject, then discussed the laws,
which, issued under analogous circumstances, might have been applied
on the present occasion; and, as these laws appeared to him,
impolitic, dangerous, and inadequate, he concluded, that it was
indispensable for the chambers, immediately to set about framing new
laws, which were necessary to check the licentiousness of the press,
and circumscribe personal liberty, till internal peace and order were
restored.
This report did not make the impression, that might have been expected
from it. The deputies, accurately acquainted with what was passing in
their departments, knew, that facts had been misrepresented. They
persuaded themselves, that the melancholy picture of the situation of
France, presented to them by M. Fouché, had been drawn up by order of
the Emperor, with the view to alarm them, and render them more docile
to his will.
The separate committees of the chamber rung with the contradictions,
more or less direct, that each representative gave to the assertions
of the minister. One of the members of the deputation from Calvados,
would not rest satisfied with this civil way of giving him the lie,
but declared openly from the tribune, that the agents of the minister
had deceived their principal, by describing to him a personal quarrel
of no consequence, and quelled on the spot, as a general insurrection
of the royalists. They might have spared themselves the trouble of
telling M. Fouché, that his report exaggerated the truth, and
transformed private occurrences into public events: he knew this.
Already devoted to the cause of the Bourbons, he had intentionally
distorted facts, with the design of giving hope and consistency to the
royalists, and of intimidating, cooling, and dividing, the partisans
of Napoleon[37].
[Footnote 37: The Duke of Otranto excelled in the art of
bending facts to his own liking. He exaggerated or
extenuated them with so much skill, grasped them with so
much address, and deduced consequences from them so
naturally, that he was often able, to fascinate
Napoleon. More securely to deceive and seduce him, he
loaded him in his reports with protestations of
attachment and fidelity; and he took care to contrive
occasions of adding marginal notes with his own hand, in
which he adroitly displayed in a distinguished manner
his devotion, discernment, and activity. All his reports
in general bore the same stamp: with much of cunning,
and much of talent, they offered to the eye a rare and
valuable assemblage of quickness and judgment, of
moderation and firmness: at every word you might
discover the able minister, the profound politician, the
consummate statesman: in short, M. Fouché would have
wanted nothing, to place him in the rank of great
ministers, had he been what I shall call an honest
statesman (_un ministre honnête homme._)]
The chamber, instead of occupying itself on laws and measures for
promoting the public safety, the introduction of which had been
referred to them, left to the minister the task of proposing them. It
preferred the resumption of its discussions on its favourite subject,
the additional act; and I shall leave it, to waste its time in
abstract dissertations, while I return to Napoleon.
The Emperor, who set out on the 12th at three in the morning, had gone
over the fortifications of Soissons and Laon in his way, and arrived
at Avesnes on the 13th. His anxious thoughts were incessantly turned
toward Paris. Placed as it were between two fires, he seemed less to
dread the enemies he had before him, than those he left behind.
On the 14th of June the whole of his forces amounted to three hundred
thousand men; of which only a hundred and fifty thousand infantry, and
thirty-five thousand cavalry, were in a state to take the field.
These hundred and eighty-five thousand men he had formed into four
armies, and four corps of observation.
The first, under the name of the grand army, was intended to act
immediately under his own orders. This was subdivided into five
principal corps, commanded
The 1st by Count d'Erlon;
The 2d by Count Reille;
The 3d by Count Vandamme;
The 4th by Count Gérard;
The 5th (called the 6th) by Count de Lobau[38]:
[Footnote 38: The 5th corps became the army of the
Rhine, and the 6th, which at first was only a corps of
reserve, took its place, without changing its number.]
And into a corps of cavalry commanded by Marshal Grouchy.
This army, exclusive of the imperial guard, which was 4500 horse, and
14,000 foot, amounted to a hundred thousand men, or thereabouts, of
whom sixteen thousand were cavalry.
The second, entitled the army of the Alps, was commanded by Marshal
the Duke of Albuféra. It was to occupy the passes of Italy, and the
border country of the Pays de Gex. Its strength might be twelve
thousand men.
The third, styled the army of the Rhine, had at its head General Count
Rapp; and its business was, to protect the frontiers of Alsace. It was
estimated at eighteen thousand men.
The fourth, called the army of the West, was employed in La Vendée;
and, after that country was quieted, it was to be incorporated in the
grand army. It consisted of seventeen thousand men; and General
Lamarque was its commander-in-chief.
The first corps of observation, stationed at Béford, was commanded by
General Lecourbe. It had to defend the passages from Switzerland, and
Franche Comté; and to form a communication, according to
circumstances, by its left with the army of the Alps, or by its right
with the army of the Rhine[39].
[Footnote 39: Surely the army of the Alps must have been
on its right, and that of the Rhine on its left, unless
it was stationed with its rear to the enemy.--_Tr._]
The other three corps, the commanders of which were Marshal Brune at
Marseilles, General Clausel at Bordeaux, and General Decaen at
Toulouse, were to maintain the tranquillity of the country; and, in
case of need, to oppose any invasion, that the Spaniards might attempt
on the one side, or the Piedmontese and English on the other.
These four corps of observation amounted together to about twenty
thousand men.
They were to be supported and reinforced by ten thousand soldiers, and
fifty thousand national guards receiving pay.
The two armies of the Rhine and of the Alps were to be the same,
fifty thousand men of the line, and a hundred thousand chasseurs and
grenadiers of the national guard.
In fine, the army commanded by the Emperor in person was to be
augmented by a hundred thousand national guards, who would have been
stationed in a second line; and by sixty thousand regulars, who, as
well as those mentioned above, were daily forming in the _dépôts_.
All these resources, when they should be disposable, and they might be
before the end of the campaign, would have mounted the strength of the
acting army to more than three hundred thousand fighting men; and that
of the army of reserve, namely the national guards in the second line,
or in the fortified towns, to four hundred thousand men. They would
have been recruited, the first by levies from the conscriptions of
1814 and 1815; the second, by calling into service fresh battalions of
the flank companies.
The whole army was superb, and full of ardour: but the Emperor, more a
slave, than could have been believed, to his remembrances and
habitudes, committed the fault of replacing it under the command of
its former chiefs. Most of these, notwithstanding their addresses to
the King, had not ceased to pray for the triumph of the imperial
cause; yet they did not appear disposed to serve it with the ardour
and devotion, that circumstances demanded. They were not now the men,
who, full of youth and ambition, were generously prodigal of their
lives, to acquire rank and fame; they were men tired of war, and who,
having reached the summit of promotion, and being enriched by the
spoils of the enemy or the bounty of Napoleon, had no further wish,
than peaceably to enjoy their good fortune under the shade of their
laurels.
The colonels and generals, who entered on their career subsequent to
them, murmured at finding themselves placed under their tutelage. The
soldiers themselves were dissatisfied: but this dissatisfaction did
not abate their confidence of victory, for Napoleon was at their
head[40].
[Footnote 40: The ascendancy he possessed over the minds
and courage of the soldiers was truly incomprehensible.
A word, a gesture, was sufficient, to inspire them with
enthusiasm, and make them face with joyful blindness the
most terrible dangers. If he ordered them mal-à-propos,
to rush to such a point, to attack such another, the
inconsistency or temerity of the manoeuvre at first
struck the good sense of the soldiers: but immediately
they thought, that their general would not have given
such an order, without a motive for it, and would not
have exposed them wantonly. "He knows what he is about,"
they would say, and immediately rush on death, with
shouts of "Long live the Emperor!"]
On the 14th the Emperor directed the following proclamation, to be
issued in the orders of the day.
"Avesnes, June 14, 1815.
"Soldiers,
"This is the anniversary of Marengo and of Friedland, which twice
decided the fate of Europe: then, as after Austerlitz, as after
Wagram, we were too generous! We trusted to the protestations and
oaths of the princes, whom we left on the throne! Now, however, in
coalition against us, they aim at the independence and the most sacred
rights of France, They have commenced the most unjust of aggressions.
Let us then march to meet them: are not they and we still the same
men?
"Soldiers, at Jena, against these same Prussians, now so arrogant, you
were but one to three, and at Montmirail one to six! Let those among
you, who were prisoners to the English, give you an account of their
hulks (_pontons_), and of the dreadful miseries they endured.
"The Saxons, the Belgians, the Hanoverians, the soldiers of the
confederation of the Rhine, groan at being obliged to lend their arms
to the cause of princes, who are enemies to justice, and to the
rights common to all people. They know, that this coalition is
insatiate. After having devoured twelve millions of Polanders, twelve
millions of Italians, a million of Saxons, six millions of Belgians,
it would devour all the states of the second order in Germany.
"Madmen! a moment of prosperity has blinded them. The oppression and
humiliation of the French people are out of their power! If they enter
France, they will find in it their graves.
"Soldiers, we have forced marches to make, battles to fight, hazards
to run; but, with firmness, victory will be ours: the rights, the
honour, and the happiness of our country will be reconquered.
"To every Frenchman, who has any heart, the moment is come, to conquer
or die!"
The plan of the campaign adopted by the Emperor was worthy the courage
of the French, and the high reputation of their chief.
Information given by a hand to be depended upon, and agents furnished
by the Duke of Otranto[41], had made known the position of the allies
in all its particulars. Napoleon knew, that the army of Wellington was
dispersed over the country from the borders of the sea to Nivelles:
that the right of the Prussians rested on Charleroy; and that the rest
of their army was stationed in échélon indefinitely as far as the
Rhine. He judged, that the enemies' lines were too much extended; and
that it would be practicable for him, by not giving them time to close
up, to separate the two armies, and fall in succession on their troops
thus surprised.
[Footnote 41: These agents, paid by the king, went and
came from Ghent to Paris, and from Paris to Ghent. The
Duke of Otranto, who, no doubt, had good reasons for
knowing them, offered the Emperor, to procure him news
of what passed beyond the frontiers; and it was by their
means the Emperor knew in great part the position of the
enemies' armies. Thus the Duke of Otranto, if we may
credit appearances, with one hand betrayed to the enemy
the secrets of France, and with the other to Napoleon
the secrets of the Bourbons and the foreign powers.]
For this purpose he had united all his cavalry into a single body of
twenty thousand horse, with which he intended to dart like lightning
into the midst of the enemies' cantonments.
If victory favoured this bold stroke, the centre of our army would
occupy Brussels on the second day, while the corps of the right and of
the left drove the Prussians to the Meuse, and the English to the
Scheldt. Belgium being conquered, he would have armed the
malecontents, and marched from success to success as far as the Rhine,
where he would have solicited peace anew.
On the 14th, in the night, our army, the presence of which the Emperor
had taken care to conceal, was to commence its march: nothing
indicated, that the enemy had foreseen our irruption, and every thing
promised us grand results; when Napoleon was informed, that General
Bourmont, Colonels Clouet and Villoutreys, and two other officers, had
just deserted to the enemy.
He knew from Marshal Ney, that M. de Bourmont, at the time of the
occurrences at Besançon, had shown some hesitation, and was backward
to employ him. But M. de Bourmont, having given General Gérard his
word of honour, to serve the Emperor faithfully; and this general,
whom Napoleon highly valued, having answered for Bourmont; the Emperor
consented, to admit him into the service. How could he have supposed,
that this officer, who had covered himself with glory in 1814, would,
in 1815, go over to the enemy on the eve of a battle?
Napoleon immediately made such alterations in his plan of attack, as
this unexpected treason rendered necessary, and then marched forward.
On the 15th, at one in the morning, he was in person at Jumiguan on
the Eure.
At three, his army moved in three columns, and debouched suddenly at
Beaumont, Maubeuge, and Philippeville.
A corps of infantry, under General Ziethen, attempted to dispute the
passage of the
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