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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7054-8.txt b/7054-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d243b25 --- /dev/null +++ b/7054-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16895 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Worlds Best Histories - France Vol 7 +by M. Guizot and Madame Guizot De Witt + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Worlds Best Histories - France Vol 7 + +Author: M. Guizot and Madame Guizot De Witt + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7054] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on March 2, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORIES, FRANCE, V7 *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + +[Illustration: JOSEPHINE] + + + + +World's Best Histories: FRANCE + +BY +M. GUIZOT AND MADAME GUIZOT DE WITT + +IN EIGHT VOLUMES +VOLUME SEVEN + + + + +HISTORY OF FRANCE + +VOLUME SEVEN + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS--VOL. VII. + + +CHAPTER VII. The Consulate (1799-1804) + +CHAPTER VIII. Glory and Success (1804-1805) + +CHAPTER IX. Glory and Conquest (1805-1808) + +CHAPTER X. The Home Government (1804-1808) + +CHAPTER XI. Glory and Illusions. Spain and Austria + +CHAPTER XII. The Divorce (1809-1810) + +CHAPTER XIII. Glory and Madness. The Russian Campaign (1811-1812) + + + + +THE HISTORY OF FRANCE + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE CONSULATE (1799-1804). + + +For more than ten years, amid unheard of shocks and sufferings, France had +been seeking for a free and regular government, that might assure to her +the new rights which had only been gained through tribulation. She had +overthrown the Monarchy and attempted a Republic; she had accepted and +rejected three constitutions, all the while struggling single-handed with +Europe, leagued against her. She had undergone the violence of the Reign +of Terror, the contradictory passions of the Assemblies, and the +incoherent feebleness of the Directory. For the first time since the death +of King Louis XIV., her history finds once more a centre, and henceforth +revolves round a single man. For fifteen years, victorious or vanquished, +at the summit of glory, or in the depths of abasement, France and Europe, +overmastered by an indomitable will and unbridled passion for power, were +compelled to squander their blood and their treasure upon that page of +universal history which General Bonaparte claims for his own, and which he +has succeeded in covering with glory and crime. + +On the day following the 18th Brumaire, in the uncertainty of parties, in +face of a constitution audaciously violated, and a government mainly +provisional, the nation was more excited than apprehensive or disquieted. +It had caught a glimpse of that natural power and that free ascendancy of +genius to which men willingly abandon themselves, with a confidence which +the most bitter deceptions have never been able to extinguish. Ardent and +sincere republicans, less and less numerous, felt themselves conquered +beforehand, by a sure instinct that was not misled by the protest of their +adversaries. They bent before a new power, to which their old hatreds did +not attach, which they believed to be in some sort created by their own +hands, and of which they had not yet measured the audacity. The mass of +the population, the true France, hailed with joy the hope of order and of +a regular and strong administration. They were not prejudiced in favor of +the philosophic constitution so long propounded by Sieyès. In the eyes of +the nation, the government was already concentrated in the hands of +General Bonaparte; it was in him that all were trusting, for repose at +home and glory and peace abroad. + +In fact, he was governing already, disregarding the prolonged discussions +of the two legislative commissions, and the profound developments of the +projects of Sieyès, expounded by M. Boulay. Before the Constitution of the +year VIII, received the sanction of his dominant will, he had repealed the +Law of Hostages, recalled the proscribed priests from the Isle of Oléron, +and from Sinnamari most of those transported on 18th Fructidor. He had +reformed the ministry, and distributed according to his pleasure the chief +commands in the army. As Moreau had been of service to Bonaparte in his +_coup d'état_, he was placed at the head of the army of the Rhine joined +to the army of Helvetia, taken from Massena on the morrow of his most +brilliant victories. Distrust and ill-will struggled with his admiration +of Bonaparte in the mind of the conqueror of Zurich; he was sent to the +army of Italy, always devoted to Bonaparte. Berthier remained at Paris in +the capacity of minister of war. Fouché was placed at the police, and +Talleyrand undertook foreign affairs. By a bent of theoretical fancy, +which was not borne out by experience in government, the illustrious +mathematician Laplace was called to the ministry of the interior. Gaudin +became minister of finances; he replaced immediately the forced loans with +an increase of direct taxes, and introduced into the collection of the +public revenues some important improvements, which paved the way for our +great financial organization. + +At the same time, without provocation and without necessity, as if simply +in compliance with the mournful traditions of past violence, a list of +proscriptions, published on the 23rd Brumaire, exiled to Guiana or the Île +de Ré nine persons--a mixture of honest republicans opposed to the new +state of things, and of wretches still charged with the crimes of the +Reign of Terror. Only the name of General Jourdan excited universal +reprobation, and it was immediately struck out. The measure itself was +soon mitigated, and the decree was never executed. + +Through the revolutionary storms and the murderous epochs which had +successively seen all the great actors in the political struggles +disappear from the scene, the Abbé Sieyès emerged as a veteran associated +with the first free impulses of the nation. In 1789, his pamphlet, "What +is the Third Estate?" had arrested the attention of all serious minds. He +had several times, and in decisive circumstances, played an important part +in the Constituent Assembly. Since his vote of the 20th January, and until +the 9th Thermidor, he remained in voluntary obscurity; mingling since then +in all great theoretical discussions, he had exercised a preponderating +influence in recent events. From revolution to revolution, popular or +military, he came out in the part of legislator, his spirit escaping from +the influence of pure democracy. He had formerly proposed the banishment +_en masse_ of all the nobility, and he still nursed in the depths of his +soul a horror for all traditional superiority. He had said, "Whoever is +not of my species is not my fellow-creature; the nobles are not of my +species; they are wolves, and I fire upon them." He had, however, been +brought, by his reflections and the course of events, to construct +eccentric theories, of a factitious aristocracy, the wielders of power to +the exclusion of the nation, recruited from a limited circle--a disfigured +survival of the Italian republics of the middle ages, without the free and +salutary action of representative government. + +"Confidence ought to proceed from below, and power to act from above," +declared the appointed legislator of the 18th Brumaire. He himself +compared his political system to a pyramid, resting on the entire mass of +the nation, terminating at the top in a single man, whom he called the +Great Elector. He had not the courage to pronounce the word king. + +Five millions of electors, constituted into primary assemblies, were to +prepare a _municipal_ list of 500,000 elected who in their turn were +entrusted with the formation of a _departmental_ list of 50,000 names. To +these twice sifted delegates was confided the care of electing 5000 as a +_national_ list, alone capable of becoming the agents of executive power +in the whole of France. The municipal and departmental administrations +were to be chosen by authority from their respective lists. The +_Conservative Senate_, composed of eighty members, self-elective, had the +right of appointing the members of the Corps Législatif, the Tribuneship, +and the Court of Cassation. It was besides destined to the honor of +choosing the Great Elector. The senators, richly endowed, might exercise +no other function. The Corps Législatif was dumb, and limited to voting +the laws prepared by the Council of State, and discussed by the Tribunate. +The Great Elector, without actively interfering in the government, +furnished with a civil list of six millions, and magnificently housed by +the state, appointed the two councils of peace and war, upon whom depended +the ministers and all the administrative _personnel_ of prefects and sub- +prefects entrusted with the government of the departments. In case the +magistrate, so highly placed in his sumptuous indolence, should seem to +menace the safety of the State, the Senate was authorized to _absorb_ him +by admitting him into its ranks. The same action might be exercised with +respect to any of the civil or military functionaries. + +So many complicated wheels calculated to hinder rather than to sustain +each other, so much pomp in words and so little efficacy in action, could +never suit the intentions or the character of General Bonaparte. He +claimed at once the position of Great Elector, which Sieyès had perhaps +secretly thought to reserve for himself. + +"What!" said he, "would you want to make me a pig in a dunghill?" Then +demolishing the edifice laboriously constructed by the legislator, "Your +Great Elector is a slothful king," said he to Sieyès; "the time for that +sort of thing is past. What! appoint people to act, and not act himself! +It won't do. If I were this Great Elector I should certainly do everything +which you would desire me not to do. I should say to the two consuls of +peace and war: 'If you don't choose such and such a man, or take such and +such a measure, I shall send you about your business.' And I would compel +them to proceed according to my will. And these two consuls? How do you +think they could agree? Unity of action is indispensable in government. Do +you think that serious men would be able to lend themselves to such +shams?" + +Sieyès was not fond of discussion, for which indeed he was not suited; +with the prudent sagacity which always characterized his conduct, he +recognized the inferiority of his will and his influence in comparison +with General Bonaparte. Three consuls were substituted for the Great +Elector and his two chosen subordinates equal in appearance, but already +classed according to the origin of their power. As first consul, Bonaparte +was not to be subjected to any election; he held himself as appointed by +the people. "What colleagues will they give me?" said he bluntly to +Roederer and Talleyrand who served him constantly as his agents of +communication. "Whom do you wish?" He named Cambacérès, then minister of +justice, clever and clear-sighted, of an independent spirit joined to a +docile character; and Lebrun, the former secretary of the Chancellor +Maupeou, minister for foreign affairs under the Convention, and respected +by moderate republicans. Some had spoken of M. Daunou, honestly courageous +in the worst days of the Revolution; the clever author of the Constitution +of the year III., and whom Bonaparte had taken a malicious pleasure in +entrusting with the drawing up of the new Constitution. A certain number +of voices in the two legislative commissions had supported his name. The +resolution of M. Daunou was known; Bonaparte did not complete the counting +of the votes. "We shall do better," said he, "to keep to those whom M. +Sieyès has named." Cambacérès and Lebrun were appointed consuls. Sieyès +received from the nation a rich grant and the estate of Crosne. In concert +with Roger-Ducos and the new consuls, he formed the list of the Senate, +who immediately completed its numbers, as well as the lists of the 300 +members of the Corps Législatif, and the 100 members of the Tribunate. +Moderation presided over the composition of the lists; Bonaparte attached +no importance to them, and took no part in their preparation. He had +formed with care the Council of State, many capable men finding a place in +it. It was the instrument which the First Consul destined for the +execution of his ideas. Once only, on the 19th Brumaire, he came for a +moment into contact with the assemblies. Henceforth he left them in the +shade; all power rested in his hands. Under the name of Republic, the +accent of an absolute master resounded already in the proclamation +everywhere circulated on the day following the formation of the new +government:-- + +"Frenchmen, + +"To render the Republic dear to citizens, respected by foreigners, +formidable to our enemies, are the obligations which we have contracted in +accepting the chief magistracy. + +"It will be dear to citizens if the laws and the acts of authority bear +the impress of the spirit of order, justice and moderation. + +"The Republic will be imposing to foreigners if it knows how to respect in +their independence the title of its own independence, if its engagements, +prepared with wisdom and entered upon with sincerity, are faithfully kept. + +"Lastly, it will be formidable to its enemies, if the army and navy are +made strong, and if each of its defenders finds a home in the regiment to +which he belongs, and in that home a heritage of virtue and glory; if the +officer, trained by long study, obtains by regular promotion the +recompense due to his talents and work. + +"Upon these principles depend the stability of government, the success of +commerce and agriculture, the greatness and prosperity of nations. + +"We have pointed out the rule, Frenchmen, by which we ought to be judged, +we have stated our duties. It will be for you to tell us whether we have +fulfilled them." + +"What would you have?" said the First Consul to La Fayette. "Sieyès has +put nothing but shadows everywhere; the shadow of legislative power, the +shadow of judicial power, the shadow of government; some part of the +substance was necessary. Faith! I have put it there." The very preamble of +the Constitution affirmed the radical change brought about in the +direction of affairs. "The powers instituted to-day will be strong and +lasting, such as they ought to be in order to guarantee the rights of +citizens and the interests of the State. Citizens, the Revolution is fixed +upon the same principles which began it. It is finished!" + +It was not the apotheosis, but the end of the Revolution that the authors +of the Constitution of the year VIII. arrogantly announced. In the first +impulse of a great spirit brought face to face with a difficult task, +Bonaparte conceived the thought of terminating the war like the +Revolution, and of re-establishing, at least for some time, the peace he +needed in order to govern France. Disdainful of the ordinary forms of +diplomacy, he wrote directly to George III., as he had formerly written to +the Archduke Charles (18th December, 1799). + +"Called by the will of the French nation to be first magistrate, I deem it +expedient on entering upon my charge to communicate directly with your +Majesty. + +"Must the war which for eight years has ravaged the four quarters of the +globe, be eternal? Is there no other means of arriving at a mutual +understanding? + +"How can the most enlightened nations of Europe, powerful and strong +beyond what their security and independence require, sacrifice the +interest of commerce, the prosperity of their people, and the happiness of +families, to ideas of vainglory? + +"These sentiments cannot be foreign to the heart of your Majesty, who +governs a free nation with the sole aim of rendering it happy. + +"Your Majesty will see in these overtures only my sincere desire to +contribute effectively, for the second time, to a general pacification by +a prompt procedure, full of confidence and divested of those forms which, +necessary perhaps, in order to disguise the dependence of feeble States, +only reveal between strong States a mutual desire to deceive each other. + +"France and England, by the abuse of their power, may for a long time yet +retard its termination; but I dare to say that every civilized nation is +interested in the close of a war which embraces the whole world." + +At the same time, and in nearly the same terms, Bonaparte wrote to the +Emperor Francis. He had treated formerly with this sovereign, and would +not perhaps have found him inflexible; but Pitt did not believe the +Revolution finished, and had no confidence in a man who had just seized +with a victorious hand the direction of the destinies of France. A +frigidly polite letter, addressed by Lord Granville to Talleyrand, the +minister of foreign affairs, repelled the advances of the First Consul. +The English then prepared a new armament intended to second the attempts +which the royalists were at that time renewing in the west. In enumerating +the causes of European mistrust with regard to France, Lord Granville +added, "The best guarantee, the most natural guarantee, for the reality +and the permanence of the pacific intentions of the French government, +would be the restoration of that royal dynasty which has maintained for so +many ages the internal prosperity of France, and which has made it +regarded with respect and consideration abroad. Such an event would clear +away all the obstacles which hinder negotiations for peace, it would +ensure to France the tranquil possession of her ancient territory, and it +would give to all the nations of Europe that security which they are +compelled to seek at present by other means." + +During the violent debate raised in Parliament by the pacific propositions +of the First Consul, Pitt based all his arguments upon the instability and +insecurity of a treaty of peace with the French Revolution, whatever might +be the name of its chief rulers. "When was it discovered that the dangers +of Jacobinism cease to exist?" he cried. "When was it discovered that the +Jacobinism of Robespierre, of Barère, of the five directors, of the +triumvirate, has all of a sudden disappeared because it is concentrated in +a single man, raised and nurtured in its bosom, covered with glory under +its auspices, and who has been at once the offspring and the champion of +all its atrocities?... It is because I love peace sincerely that I cannot +content myself with a vain word; it is because I love peace sincerely that +I cannot sacrifice it by seizing the shadow when the reality is not within +my reach. _Cur igitur pacem nolo? Quia infida est, quia periculosa, quia +esse non potest!_" + +More moderate in form, Austria had in reality replied like England. War +was inevitable, and in the internal disorder in which the Directory had +left affairs, in the financial embarrassment and in the deplorable state +of the armies, the First Consul felt the weight of a government that had +been so long disorganized and weak, pressing heavily on his shoulders. His +first care was to achieve the pacification of the west, always agitated by +royalist passions. For a moment the chiefs of the party thought it +possible to engage General Bonaparte in the service of the monarchical +restoration: they were speedily undeceived. But the First Consul knew how +to make use in Vendée of the influence of the former curé of St. Laud, the +Abbé Bernier; he made an appeal to the priests, who returned from all +parts to their provinces, "The ministers of a God of Peace," said the +proclamation of the 28th December, 1799, "will be the first promoters of +reconciliation and concord; let them speak to all hearts the language +which they learn in the temple of their Master! Let them enter temples +which will be reopened to them, and offer for their fellow-citizens the +sacrifice which shall expiate the crime of war and the blood which has +been made to flow!" Always in intimate unison with the religious sentiment +of the populace who fought under their orders, the Vendean chiefs +responded to this appeal, laying down their arms. In Brittany and in +Normandy, Georges Cadoudal and Frotté continued hostilities; severe +instructions were sent, first to General Hédouville, and then to General +Brune. "The Consuls think that the generals ought to shoot on the spot the +principal rebels taken with arms in hand. However cunning the Chouans may +be, they are not so much so as Arabs of the desert. The First Consul +believes that a salutary example would be given by burning two or three +large communes, chosen from among those who have behaved themselves most +badly." Six weeks later the insurrection was everywhere subdued; Frotté, +and his young aide-de-camp Toustain, had been shot; Bourmont had accepted +the offers of the First Consul, and enrolled himself in his service; +Georges Cadoudal resisted all the advances of him whom he was soon to +pursue with his hatred even to attempting a crime. "What a mistake I have +made in not stifling him in my arms!" repeated the hardy chief of the +Chouans on quitting General Bonaparte. He retired into England. The civil +war was terminated; the troops which had occupied the provinces of the +west could now rejoin the armies which were preparing on the frontiers. +Carnot, who had just re-entered France, replaced at the ministry of war +General Berthier, called upon active service. It was the grand association +connected with his name, rather than the hope of an active and effective +co-operation, which decided the First Consul to entrust this post to +Carnot; possibly he wished to remove it from the little group of obstinate +liberals justly disquieted at the dangers with which they saw freedom +menaced. Already the journals had been suppressed, with the exception of +thirteen; the laws were voted without dispute; and, "in a veritable +whirlwind of urgency," the government claimed to regulate the duration of +the discussions of the Tribunate. Benjamin Constant, still young, and +known for a short time previously as a publicist, raised his voice +eloquently against the wrong done to freedom of discussion. "Without +doubt," said he "harmony is desirable amongst the authorities of the +Republic; but the independence of the Tribunate is no less necessary to +that harmony than the constitutional authority of the government; without +the independence of the Tribunate, there will be no longer either harmony +or constitution, there will be no longer anything but servitude and +silence, a silence that all Europe will understand." + +The past violence of the assemblies, and their frequent inconsistencies, +had wearied feeble minds, and blinded short-sighted spirits. The speech of +Benjamin Constant secured for his friend Madame de Staël a forced +retirement from Paris. The law was voted by a large majority, and the +adulations of flatterers were heaped up around the feet of the First +Consul. He himself took a wiser view of his position, which he still +considered precarious. On taking up his residence at the Tuileries, in +great state, on February 19, 1800, he said to his secretary, "Well, +Bourienne, we have reached the Tuileries; the thing is now to stop here." + +Already, and by the sole effort of a sovereign will, which appeared to +improve by exercise, the power formerly distributed among obscure hands +was concentrated at Paris, under the direction of a central administration +suddenly organized; exactions borne with difficulty resulted in abundant +resources from the conquered or annexed countries, at Genoa, in Holland, +at Hamburg. The young King of Prussia, sensible and prudent, had refused +to transform his neutrality into alliance; but he had used his influence +over the smaller states of the empire, to induce them to maintain the same +attitude. The Emperor Paul I., tossed to and fro by the impetuous +movements of his ardent and unhealthy spirit, was piqued by the defeats of +Suwarrow, and offended by the insufficiency of the help of Austria; he was +discontented with the English government, and ill-humoredly kept himself +apart from the coalition. The resumption of hostilities was imminent, and +the grand projects of the First Consul began to unroll themselves. Active +preparations had been till then confined to the army of the Rhine under +Moreau. The army of Liguria, placed under the command of Masséna, with +Genoa as a centre of operations, had received neither reinforcements nor +munitions; its duty was to protect the passage of the Appenines against +Mélas, whilst Moreau attacked upon the Rhine the army of Suabia, commanded +by Marshal Kray. The occupation of Switzerland by the French army impeded +the movements of the allies, by compelling them to withdraw their two +armies from each other; the First Consul meditated a movement which should +give him all the advantages of this separation. Moreau in Germany, Masséna +in Italy, were ordered at any cost to keep the enemy in check. Bonaparte +silently formed a third army, the corps of which he cleverly dispersed, +distracting the attention of Europe by the camp of the army of reserve at +Dijon. Already he was preparing the grand campaign which should raise his +glory to its pinnacle, and establish his power upon victory. In his idea +everything was to be sacrificed to the personal glory of his successes. He +conceived a project of attack by crossing the Rhine. Moreau, modest and +disinterested, accepted the general plan of the war, and subordinated his +operations to those of the First Consul; in his military capacity +independent and resolute, he persisted in passing the Rhine at his +pleasure. Bonaparte was enraged. "Moreau would not seek to understand me," +cried he. He yielded, however, to the observations of General Dessoles, +and always clever in subjugating those of whom he had need, he wrote to +Moreau to restore him liberty of action. "Dessoles will tell you that no +one is more interested than myself in your personal glory and your good +fortune. The English embark in force; what do they want? I am to-day a +sort of manikin, who has lost his liberty and his good fortune. Greatness +is fine but in prospective and in imagination. I envy you your luck; you +go with the heroes to do fine deeds. I would willingly barter my consular +purple against one of your brigadier's epaulettes" (16th March, 1800). + +The army of Italy had been suffering for a long time with heroic courage; +the well-known chief who took the command was more than any other suited +to obtain from it the last efforts of devotion; it was the first to +undergo the attack of the allied forces. The troops of Masséna were still +scattered when he was assailed by Mélas. The fear of prematurely +exhausting the insufficient resources of Genoa had prevented him from +following the wise councils of Bonaparte, by massing his troops round that +town. After a series of furious combats upon the upper Bormida, the French +line found itself cut in two by the Austrians; General Suchet was obliged +to fall back upon Nice, Masséna re-entered Genoa. A new effort forced back +General Mélas beyond the Appenines. The attempt to rejoin the corps of +General Suchet having failed, Masséna saw himself constrained to shut +himself up in Genoa, in the midst of a population divided in opinion, but +whose confidence he had already known how to win. Resolved to occupy by +resistance and by sorties all the forces of the allies, the general made +preparations for sustaining the siege to the last extremity. All the +provisions of the place were brought into the military magazines; the most +severe order reigned in the distribution, but already scarcity was felt. +The forces of Masséna, exhausted by frequent fights, diminished every day; +bread failed; and the heroic obstinacy of the general alone compelled the +Austrians to keep a considerable corps d'armée before a famished town (5th +May, 1800). Mélas had in vain attempted to force the lines of Var, behind +which General Suchet, too feeble to defend Nice, had cleverly entrenched +himself. + +Moreau delayed to commence the campaign; his material was insufficient; +Alsace and Switzerland, exhausted of resources, could not furnish the +means of transport required by his movement. The First Consul urged him. +"Obtain a success as soon as possible, that you may be able by a diversion +in some degree to expedite the operations in Italy," he wrote to him on +April 24; "every day's delay is extremely disastrous to us." On April 26, +Moreau passed the Rhine at Strasburg, at Brisach, and at Basle, thus +deceiving General Kray, who defended the defiles of the Black Forest, +whilst the different divisions of the French army reascended and repassed +the Rhine, in order to cross it afresh without difficulty at Schaffhausen. +The Austrians had not yet collected their forces, dispersed by the +unlooked-for movement they found themselves obliged to execute; the French +corps were themselves dispersed when the battle commenced, on May 3, at +Engen. After a furious struggle at several points, General Moreau achieved +a splendid victory; two days later the same fortune crowned the battle of +Moesskirch; the loss on both sides was great. The action was not well +combined; Marshal Kray at first fell back behind the Danube; by the advice +of his council of war he decided to defend the magazines at Biberach. He +repassed the river, and offered battle to the corps of Gouvion St. Cyr, +then hampered with Moreau, bearing his direction with difficulty. The +positions occupied by the Austrians were everywhere attacked at once; +their troops, already demoralized by several defeats, retired in disorder. +Kray fell back on Ulm, where an entrenched camp was ready for him. General +Moreau was compelled to weaken his army by detaching a corps of 1800 men, +necessary for the operations of the First Consul. He attempted without +success a movement intended to turn the flank of General Kray, and +resolved to blockade him in his positions, and wait for the result of the +manoeuvres of Bonaparte. On the 27th May he wrote to Bonaparte, "We await +with impatience the announcement of your success. M. de Kray and I are +groping about here--he to keep his army round Ulm, I to make him quit the +post. It would have been dangerous, especially for you, if I had carried +the war to the left bank of the Danube. Our present position has forced +the Prince of Reuss to remove himself to the passes of the Tyrol, to the +sources of the Lech and the Iller; thus he is no longer dangerous for you. +If M. de Kray comes towards me, I shall still retreat as far as Meiningen; +there I shall join General Lecourbe, and we shall fight. If M. de Kray +marches upon Augsburg, I shall do the same; he will quit his support at +Ulm, and then we shall see what will have to be done to cover your +movements. We should find more advantages in carrying on the war upon the +left bank of the Danube, and making Wurtemberg and Franconia contribute to +it; but that would not suit you, as the enemy would be able to send +detachments down into Italy whilst leaving us to ravage the provinces of +the Empire. + +"Give me, I pray you, some news of yourself, and command me in every +possible service I can render you." + +All was thus prepared in Germany and Italy for the success of that +campaign of the First Consul of which the enemy were still ignorant. +Always deceived by the fictitious concentrations carried on at Dijon, the +Austrians saw without disquietude the departure of Bonaparte, who left +Paris, as it was said, for a few days, in order to pass in review the army +of reserve. The French public shared the same illusion; the preparations +eagerly pushed forward by the First Consul, remained secret. He set out at +the last moment, leaving with regret, and not without uneasiness, his +government scarcely established, and new institutions not yet in working +order. "Keep firmly together," said he to Cambacérès and Lebrun; "if an +emergency occurs, don't be alarmed at it. I will return like a +thunderbolt, to crush those who are audacious enough to raise a hand +against the government." He had in advance, by the powerful conceptions of +his genius arranged the whole plan of operations, and divined the +movements of his enemies. Bending over his maps, and designating with his +finger the positions of the different corps, he muttered in a low voice, +"This poor M. de Mélas will pass by Turin, he will fall back upon +Alessandria. I shall pass the Po, and come up with him again on the road +of Placenza, in the plains of the Scrivia; and I shall beat him there, and +then there." The Tribunate expressed their desire that the First Consul +might return soon, "conqueror and pacificator." An article of the +Constitution forbade him to take the command of the armies; Berthier +received the title of general-in-chief. The First Consul passed in review +the army of conscripts and invalids assembled at Dijon. On May 13, he +combined the active forces at Geneva; the troops coming from Germany under +the command of General Moncey had not yet arrived; they were to pass by +the St. Gothard. General Marescot had been ordered to reconnoitre the +Alps; the pass of the St. Bernard, more difficult than that of the Simplon +or Mont Cenis, was much shorter, and the passage from it could be much +more easily defended. "Difficult it may be," replied the First Consul to +the report of Marescot, "but is it possible?" "I think so," said the +general, "with extraordinary efforts." "Ah, well! let us set out," said +Bonaparte. + +From Geneva to Villeneuve the journey was easy, and vessels carried +provisions to that point. The First Consul had carefully arranged places +for revictualling all along the road. At Montigny half the mules, +requisitioned at great cost in the neighborhood, were loaded with victuals +and munitions of war; the other half were attached to the gun carriages +relieved of the cannon, which were to be again put in working order at San +Remi, on the other side of the pass. The cannon themselves were enveloped +in the hollowed trunks of trees; they could then be dragged over the ice +and snow. The number of mules proving insufficient, and the peasants +refusing to undertake this rough work, the soldiers yoked themselves to +the cannon, and dragged them across the mountain without wishing to accept +the rewards promised by the First Consul. He rode on a mule at the head of +the rear-guard, wrapped in a gray greatcoat, chatting familiarly with his +guide, and sustaining the courage of his soldiers by his unalterable +coolness. After a few hours' rest at the hospice of St. Bernard commenced +the descent, more difficult still than the ascent. From the 15th to the +20th of May the divisions followed each other. Lannes and Berthier, who +commanded the vanguard, had already advanced to Aosta, when they found +themselves stopped by the little fort of Bard, built upon a precipitous +rock, and with artillery commanding the defile. It was now night; a layer +of straw and refuse was spread over the frozen foot-path; the wheels of +the gun-carriages were encased in tow; at the break of day the passage had +been safely cleared. The French army, descending like a torrent into the +valley, seized upon Ivry, and repulsed the Austrians at the Chiusella on +May 26th. All the divisions of Bonaparte's army assembled by degrees; the +corps of Moncey debouched by the St. Gothard, 4000 men under the orders of +General Thureau crossed by Mont Cenis. General Mélas still refused to +believe in the danger which menaced him, and already an imposing army was +advancing against his scattered and divided forces. Already Lannes had +beaten General Ott at Montebello, after a hotly disputed engagement. "I +heard the bones crackle like a hailstorm on the roofs," said the +conqueror. + +Bonaparte threw himself upon Milan, neglecting Genoa, which he might have +delivered without risk; thereby condemning Masséna and his army to the +sufferings of a prolonged siege, terminated by a sad defeat. He had +conceived vaster projects, and the design of annihilating the Austrian +army by a single blow. Everything had to give way to the consideration of +personal success and his egotistical thirst for glory. The Lombard +populace received the First Consul with transport, happy to see themselves +delivered from the Austrian yoke, and beguiled in advance with the hope of +liberty. General Mélas was at Alessandria, summoning to his aid the forces +that were attacking Suchet on the Var, and the troops of General Ott, +detained by the siege of Genoa. He was assured of the impossibility of any +succor being sent by Marshal Kray. It was necessary to conquer or die. In +the prison in which the Austrian army detained him, Masséna had divined +the situation of the enemy. He was still hoping for the assistance that +had been promised him; already General Ott had sent him a flag of truce. +"Give me only provisions for two days, or one day," said he to the +Genoese, "and I will save you from the Austrian yoke, and spare my army +the sorrow of surrender." + +All resources were exhausted; the horrors of famine had worn out the +courage of the inhabitants; even the soldiers were yielding to +discouragement. "Before he will surrender," said they, "the general will +make us eat his boots." For a long time the garrison had lived on +unwholesome bread made with starch, upon linseed and cocoa, which scarcely +sufficed to keep the soldiers alive; the population, reduced to live on +soup made of herbs gathered on the ramparts, died by hundreds; the +prisoners cantoned in the port in old dismasted vessels, uttered cries +that reached the ears of their old generals. The latter had refused to +send in provisions for the prisoners, in spite of the promise of Masséna +to reserve it for them. The last food was used up; on the 3rd of June the +general consented to receive the flag of truce. He asked for, and +obtained, the honors of war; the army was authorized to depart from Genoa +with arms and baggage, flags displayed, and free to direct its course +towards the corps of General Suchet. "Without that I should issue arms in +hand, and it should be seen what eight thousand famished men could do." +War and famine had reduced to this number the soldiers in condition to +carry arms. After their cure, the sick, who filled the hospitals, were to +be sent to the quarters of General Suchet. Masséna defended the interests +of the Genoese, and asked in their favor for a free government. The +Austrian generals refused to make any engagement. "In less than a +fortnight I shall be back again in Genoa," declared the French general. +"You will find there the men whom you have taught how to defend it," +replied St. Julien, one of the plenipotentiaries. General Soult remained +in the place, seriously wounded. Masséna brought his exhausted troops to +the Var. In the depths of their souls, generals and soldiers cherished a +bitter resentment for the manner in which they had been abandoned. When +the Austrian troops, beaten by Suchet, had retired towards Alessandria, +Masséna did not allow him to pursue them; he contented himself with +guarding the gates of France. + +Bonaparte had just quitted Stradella, which he had occupied after leaving +Milan. He had been obliged to disperse his forces, in order to cut off all +the passages open to the enemy. When he entered, on June 13th, the plain +that extends between the Scrivia and the Bormida, near the little village +of Marengo, he was badly instructed as regards the movements of the enemy, +as well as the resources of the country. On the morning of the 14th, +General Mélas, constrained by necessity, evacuated Alessandria, and, +passing the Bormida upon three bridges, attacked General Victor before +Marengo. Lannes was at the same time surrounded on every side, and obliged +to retreat in spite of prodigies of courage. Marengo had been destroyed by +the artillery of the enemy, when Bonaparte arrived upon the field of +battle with his guard and his staff officers, at once drawing upon himself +the brunt of the fight. Meanwhile the retreat continued; the army seemed +about to be cut in two; the Austrian general, old and fatigued, believing +himself assured of victory, re-entered Alessandria. It was now three +o'clock, and Bonaparte still hoped and kept on fighting. He despatched an +aide-de-camp to Desaix, returned from Egypt two days before, and whom he +had detached in the direction of Novi; upon his return depended the +fortune of the day. Desaix had divined this, and forestalled the message +of Bonaparte; before he could be expected he was beside the general, who +questioned him as to the aspect of affairs. "Well," said Desaix, after +having rapidly examined the situation of the different corps, "it is a +lost battle; but it is not late; we have time to gain another." His +regiments were forming whilst he spoke, stopping the march of the +Austrians. "My friends," said the First Consul to the reanimated soldiers, +"remember that it is my custom to sleep upon the field of battle." + +At the same moment Desaix advanced at the heads of his troops. "Go and +tell the First Consul that I am about to charge," said he to his aide-de- +camp, Savary; "I need to be supported by cavalry." He was crossing an +undulation in the ground when a ball struck him in the breast; from +daybreak he had been oppressed by gloomy presentiments. "I have been too +long making war in Africa," said he; "the bullets of Europe know me no +longer." On falling he said to General Boudet, "Conceal my death; it might +unsettle the troops." The soldiers had perceived it and rushed forward to +avenge him. Kellermann arrived at the same instant, urged forward by one +of those sudden inspirations which mark great generals; hurling his +dragoons upon the Austrian cavalry, which he broke through, he attacked +the column of grenadiers which arduously sustained the assault of the +division of Desaix. Their ranks fell into disorder; one entire corps threw +down its arms. General Zach, entrusted with the command in the absence of +Mélas, was forced to give up his sword. When the old general hurried up in +agitation, the battle was lost. The Austrian troops, repulsed and routed, +and crowded against the banks of the Bormida, blocked up all the bridges, +or cast themselves into the river, everywhere pursued by the victorious +French. The cannon, which stuck fast in the Bormida, fell into the hands +of the conquerors. The staff was decimated. + +The First Consul regretted the loss of Desaix, the only one among the +companions of his youth who had seemed able to inspire in him any +particular regard. He was, however, triumphant, and this great day made +him in fact the master of Italy. He had the wisdom to perceive it. The +needs of government recalled him to France; the conditions he proposed to +Mélas, although hard, were such as could be accepted. The Austrian army +was authorized to retire with the honors of war; but it was to surrender +to the French troops all its positions in Liguria, Piedmont, Lombardy, and +the Legations, whilst evacuating the Italian territory as far as the +Mincio. To the protests of Mélas, Bonaparte replied by a formal refusal to +listen. "Sir," said he, "my conditions are irrevocable. I did not begin to +made war yesterday. Your position is as well known to me as to yourself. +You are in Alessandria, encumbered with the dead, the wounded, and the +sick, and destitute of provisions; you have lost the _élite_ of your army; +you are surrounded on all sides. I could exact everything, but I only +demand of you that which the situation of affairs imperatively requires. +Return to Alessandria; you will have no other conditions." + +Mélas signed, pledging his word until he should receive a reply from +Vienna. On the same evening, before quitting the field of battle, the +First Consul wrote for the second time to the Emperor Francis Joseph. He +was moved to the very depths of his impassable and haughty soul by the +spectacle of the carnage and fury of the battle. In subsequent calmer +moments he perhaps regretted his letter. "It is upon the battlefield of +Marengo," said he, "in the midst of agonies, and surrounded by 15,000 +corpses, that I conjure your Majesty to listen to the cry of humanity, and +not permit the children of two brave and powerful nations to massacre each +other for interests which are foreign to them. It is for me to press this +upon your Majesty, since I am the nearest to the theatre of war. Your +heart cannot be so keenly alive to it as mine. The arms of your Majesty +have achieved sufficient glory. You govern a large number of States. What +then can those in the cabinet of your Majesty allege in favor of the +continuation of hostilities? Is it the interests of religion and of the +Church? Why do they not counsel your Majesty to make war on the English, +the Muscovites, and the Prussians? They are further from the Church than +we. Is it the form of the French Government, which is not hereditary but +simply elective? But the government of the Empire is also elective; and +besides, your Majesty is thoroughly convinced of the powerlessness of the +entire world to change the desire which the French people have received +from nature to govern themselves as they please. Is it the destruction of +revolutionary principles? If your Majesty will take account of the effects +of war you will see that it tends to revolutionize Europe, by increasing +everywhere the public debt and the discontent of the people. In compelling +the French people to make war, you compel them only to think of war, only +to live in war; and the French legions are numerous and brave. If your +Majesty wishes for peace it is done; let us give repose and tranquillity +to the present generation. If future generations are foolish enough to +fight--well, they will learn after a few years of war to become wise and +live in peace. I might take captive the entire army of your Majesty. I am +satisfied by a suspension of hostilities, having hopes that it may be the +first step towards the repose of the world; an object for which I can +plead all the more forcibly because, nurtured and schooled by war, I might +be suspected of being more accustomed to the evils it drags after it. If +your Majesty refuses these proposals, the hostilities will recommence; and +let me be permitted to tell you frankly, in the eyes of the world you +alone will be responsible for the war." + +Peace was still to be delayed, but the Convention of Alessandria was +concluded at once; and the success of General Moreau sustained in Germany +the victorious arguments of the First Consul. The former passed the Danube +near Hochstedt; after a very brilliant action, which lasted eighteen hours +(June 19), he took 5000 prisoners, and captured twenty pieces of cannon +and considerable magazines. Kray, menaced with the probability of having +his line of retreat cut off, had abandoned his position at Ulm, forcing +his march so precipitately that General Moreau had not been informed of +it. Meanwhile he attacked the Grisons and the Tyrol, repulsed the Prince +of Reuss, and established himself upon the Isar. On the 15th of July a +suspension of arms was signed at Parsdorf, near Munich. Like the soldiers +of the army of Italy, the soldiers of the army of the Rhine were about to +take some repose. + +Masséna had re-entered Genoa on the 24th of June, justifying to the letter +his glorious bravado; his ill-humor was dissipated, and he remained +entrusted with the chief command of the army of Italy. The First Consul +had received at Milan the eager homage of the Lombards, but the Cisalpine +Republic was not reconstituted; a Grand Council governed it under the +Presidency of Pétiet, the French minister. At Turin, General Jourdan +directed the provisional government; at Genoa, General Dejean filled the +same functions; everywhere the paraded power of France was substituted for +the semblance of liberty; the Roman States were still in the hands of the +Neapolitans. The new Pope, Barnabus Chiaramonti, formerly Bishop of Imola, +who had shown himself well disposed towards the French, had just arrived +unexpectedly at Ancona, whence he negotiated his re-entry into the eternal +city. The First Consul assured him of his good intentions as regards the +Catholic Church, and the Holy See. The far-seeing _finesse_ of the Court +of Rome did not permit it to be deceived. The Secretary of the Sacred +College, Monsignor Consalvi, had said during the conclave, "It is from +France that we have received persecutions for ten years past; well, it is +from France that will perhaps come in the future our succors and our +consolations. A very extraordinary young man, and even more difficult to +be judged, rules there to-day. There is no doubt he will soon have +reconquered Italy. Remember that he protected the priests in 1797, and +that he has recently rendered funeral honors to Pius VI. Let us not +neglect the resources which offer themselves to us on this side." On the +day after the battle of Marengo preliminary negotiations already +commenced. The First Consul was officially present at the grand _Te Deum_ +chanted in the cathedral of Milan. "Our atheists at Paris may say of it +what they will," wrote Bonaparte to Cambacérès. + +During the night of the 2nd and 3rd July, 1800, Bonaparte re-entered +Paris, overwhelmed on the way by evidences of public joy, which were most +brilliantly manifested at Lyons. He had forbidden all preparations for his +return: "My intention is to have neither arches of triumph nor any species +of ceremony," he wrote to his brother Lucien, who had replaced Laplace at +the ministry of the interior. "I have too good an opinion of myself to +hold such baubles in much estimation. I know no other triumph than the +public satisfaction." + +The day would come when public satisfaction, of a truth much mitigated by +long sufferings, would no longer suffice for the triumph of the absolute +master who dragged exhausted France across fields of battle; the +remembrance of his return to Paris after the victory of Marengo was to +recur to his sorrowful mind when he dictated at St. Helena the memoirs +explanatory of his life: "It was a great day," said he. + +Already the adulations and mean worship of courtiers were encompassing +him; already, also, was revealed the provisional character of that power +which depended so completely upon the life of a single man. Sinister +reports were circulated during the campaign in Italy; the names of Carnot, +Moreau, and La Fayette had been put forward. The triumphant arrival of the +First Consul promptly baffled the intrigues in which the principals +interested had never taken part; nevertheless, he nursed against Carnot an +unjust feeling, which soon betrayed itself in his dismissal. Lucien +Bonaparte had forestalled, or badly comprehended, the wishes of his +brother; he had got Fontanes to write a pamphlet entitled "Caesar, +Cromwell, and Bonaparte," which revealed projects and hopes in favor of +the First Consul for which the public was not prepared. "Happy for the +Republic," it was said, "if Bonaparte were immortal? But where are his +successors? Who is the successor of Pericles? Frenchmen, you slumber over +an abyss, and your sleep is madly tranquil." + +It was too soon to allow these premature pretensions to be thus made +public. The _finesse_ of La Fayette enabled him to penetrate the secret +hope of the First Consul, who was already occupied, and for most serious +reasons, with the re-establishment of religion in France. He was able to +say to him, with an irony that was a little scornful, "Come, general, +confess that this has no other aim than to get the little phial broken on +your head." Public opinion was not yet calling for the re-establishment of +the monarchy; it did not connect the idea of hereditary power with a +victorious general, still young, and who had scarcely seized the reins of +the government of the interior. The pamphlet, and the insinuations it +contained, had no success; Fouché was openly reprimanded for allowing the +publication. Lucien Bonaparte was sent as ambassador to Madrid, bearing, +he has declared, the manuscript of the pamphlet, with four corrections in +the handwriting of the First Consul. The latter began to surround himself +with a court. Madame Bonaparte had already her ladies and chevaliers of +honor. + +St. Julien had just arrived at Paris with the ratification of the treaty +of Alessandria, and for the purpose of sounding the First Consul as to his +intentions on the subject of a definitive peace. Major-general of the +imperial armies, and little versed in diplomatic usages, he, in all +simplicity, avowed his ignorance to Talleyrand. The latter profited by +this to prevail upon the Austrian ambassador to sign the preliminary +articles. "So be it," said St. Julien, "but they will have no authority +until after their ratification by my sovereign." The major-general was not +authorized to treat; and the conventions he had accepted being vague as to +the most important point, the settlement of the frontiers of Italy, were +disavowed at Vienna. Thugut proposed the opening of a congress, in which +England was disposed to take part. General Duroc, aide-de-camp of the +First Consul, who had accompanied St. Julien on his return to Vienna, was +not admitted to negotiate, and found himself compelled to return to Paris. + +Bonaparte's temper was quick; his irritation against England was old and +inveterate. For more than two years that power had hindered the success of +his favorite enterprises; and he struggled against her in her commercial +interests, as well as in her military efforts, with a perseverance worthy +of Pitt. He had already won over the United States to the doctrine of the +greater part of European States as to the rights of neutrals, and +concluded with their diplomatists the treaty of Morfontaine; he then +worked to raise up against England a formidable coalition, at the head of +which the Emperor Paul I. had just placed himself. Strongly influenced in +favor of France by the offer the First Consul had made to cede to him +Malta, then besieged by the English, the Czar also received with +satisfaction the 6000 Russian prisoners whom Bonaparte sent to him without +ransom, after having vainly solicited exchanges with England and Russia. +The maritime powers of the north of Europe had to complain of vexatious +interference with merchant vessels on the part of England. The law of the +seas, said they, authorized them to carry on commerce between one power +and another, goods contraband of war alone excepted; as the flag covered +the merchandise, English vessels could not legitimately stop and visit +ships of neutral countries, in order to seize French or Spanish +commodities. The theory of England was different, serving her own +commercial and military interests. In 1800 the Emperor Paul embraced the +cause of the maritime powers, and formed against England the League of +Neutrals, whilst he entered into amicable relations, and a sort of +alliance, with the First Consul. At the same time Bonaparte negotiated +with the King of Spain, offering him Tuscany, with the title of King of +Etruria, for his son-in-law the Duke of Parmo, on condition that France +should receive back Louisiana, formerly ceded to Spain by Louis XV. for an +indemnity claim. Charles IV. also engaged himself to use his influence to +have the ports of Portugal closed against England. Before admitting +England to the congress, the First Consul demanded that the continental +armistice should be extended to naval forces, as the suspension of +maritime hostilities would permit him to revictual Malta and Egypt; he +accepted on these terms the common negotiations. + +England rejected, and could not but reject, these proposals. She already +held the conquest of Malta as certain; and since Bonaparte himself had +quitted Egypt, the English soldiers and marines no longer doubted the +ultimate success of their efforts against us, everywhere united with those +of the Porte. Egypt was henceforth a point so important for England that +she had resolved never to yield to the passionate caprices which had led +General Bonaparte to establish the French dominion there. In the month of +August, 1800, she could not accept an armistice which would of necessity +have prolonged the war in the East. In the month of November, 1799, +letters of General Kléber, sincere and discouraged, had fallen into the +hands of the English Government. Entrusted since the departure of General +Bonaparte with the chief command, Kléber displayed to the Directory the +sad state of his army and his finances. Five months had passed, and +nothing new had taken place; no succor had arrived from France. Kléber had +lent his ear to the proposals of the vizier and Sir Sidney Smith. +Bonaparte himself had foreseen the circumstances under which the +evacuation of Egypt would become necessary; he had left upon this subject +peremptory and haughty instructions. Kléber forestalled the term marked +out by the general who had let his mantle fall upon his shoulders, and he +concluded the treaty of El Arish, a monument of his sorrow and desolation. +The signature of Desaix, who negotiated it, was mournfully wrung from him, +after he had required from the general-in-chief a formal order to put his +name to it. Negotiated between military men, it was not countersigned with +the signature of the plenipotentiary, who himself had not better authority +to negotiate. The Government of Great Britain, informed of the distress of +General Kléber, sent to Admiral Keith a formal injunction forbidding him +to treat with the French army, unless they surrendered as prisoners of +war. Sir Sidney Smith immediately made known to Kléber the orders he had +received; the honorable conditions which the French general had previously +accepted were already in process of execution; several places had been +given up to the Turks; the vizier had advanced. Kléber, however, did not +hesitate. He published to the army the letter of the English commodore, +with these words: "Soldiers! such insolence as this is only answered by +victories: prepare to give battle." + +It is a noble spectacle, that of resolute men reduced to extremities +without fleeing from danger. On March 20 the French army went out from +Cairo; diminished by death and sickness it numbered no more than 12,000 +men, who formed themselves into squares, according to the old tactics of +the troops of Egypt, in front of the ancient ruins of Heliopolis. Kléber +estimated at 70,000 or 80,000 men the Turkish army which was to assail +him. "My friends," said he in passing along the ranks, "you possess in +Egypt only the ground which you have beneath your feet! If you retreat a +step, you are lost!" Having thus spoken, he gave the order to carry the +entrenched village of El Matarieh. The little redoubts were already in our +possession when the Janissaries made their first rush upon the Friant +division. The squares remained immovable, keeping up a continuous fire, +enveloped in smoke, and scarcely distinguishing the mass of the enemies +who were falling at their feet. When the clouds began to disperse, a +rampart of corpses surrounded all the French corps; in the distance were +seen the enemy in flight. Kléber order a pursuit, which was continued +during three days. When the general-in-chief at length reached the camp of +the vizier at Salahieh he only found a few detachments of the enemy. The +chiefs had disappeared in the desert, with their best troops. The French +soldiers pillaged the tents: they were loaded with rich spoils when they +retook the road to Cairo. + +The capital of Egypt, never in complete submission, and disturbed by +frequent insurrections, had revolted at the announcement of the evacuation +and the departure of the French army; crimes had been committed, and the +Christians had been massacred in several quarters. Kléber laid siege to +it; the resistance was long and furious, and it was as conquerors that the +French re-entered the city which formerly cost them such slight efforts. +All the rebel cities of Lower Egypt were again brought back into obedience +to France. The war indemnities and the prizes taken from the enemy +restored the finances. Kléber labored for the completion of the forts +scattered over the hills; he enrolled Copts, Syrians, and some blacks from +Darfour; he treated with Murad Bey, who had driven from Upper Egypt the +Turkish corps of Dervish Pacha; Ibrahim Bey and Nassif Pacha, who had +sustained the revolt of Cairo, obtained an authorization to retire. Egypt +appeared to be once more submissive; but the illusions which the +Mohammedans had conceived were promptly dissipated: they recognized their +traditional enemies, and the old fanaticism was reawakened. An assassin +had already arrived in Cairo from Palestine, and shut up in the great +mosque he had confided to the sheiks his project of killing General +Kléber. They sought to dissuade him from it, but without informing the +French. On the 14th of June, as the general was walking in his garden with +the architect of the army, Suleiman presented himself before him, +pretending to ask alms, and struck him several times with his dagger. The +architect was wounded in striving to defend Kléber. When the soldiers came +hurrying up the general had already breathed his last. The assassin made +no attempt to flee; he expired under torture. At Cairo, and on the +battlefield of Marengo, Kléber and Desaix succumbed on the same day, and +almost at the same hour, both young, and serving to their last day the +designs of the chief to whom they were very unequally attached. The First +Consul wished to unite them in the same patriotic honors; he had never had +much liking for Kléber, but he did not the less keenly feel the greatness +of his loss. General Menou, who took by seniority the command of the army +of Egypt was incapable, and of a chimerical spirit. Bonaparte comprehended +the danger which threatened that one of his conquests to which he attached +the most importance; he increased the reinforcements of men and munitions, +but he was in want of generals, and the war was recommencing in Europe. +The English had just succeeded at last in taking Malta. + +The armistice had been prolonged for eighty-five days, and the Emperor of +Austria had paid for this moment of peace by the surrender of the cities +of Ulm, Philipsburg, and Ingoldstadt; the preliminaries, which Cobentzel +had drawn out to great length, had brought about no result. Austria +refused to negotiate without England, to whom she was allied by a treaty +of subsidies. In contempt of the convention of Alessandria, the French +troops occupied Tuscany; Masséna no longer commanded the army of Italy. +Quarrels had arisen with the Italian administrations, who said they were +victims of heavy exactions. Masséna was accused; in the depth of his soul +he was discontented, and was always little favorable to the First Consul. +Brune had replaced him. At the expiration of the armistice, and in spite +of the new attempts at negotiations, the troops entered on the campaign. +General Bonaparte still remained at Paris, ready to proceed at need to the +threatened points. All eyes were fixed on Germany; by a common instinct +great military events upon this theatre were look forward to. + +The Archduke John was young and daring; he conceived the hope of cutting +off the army of General Moreau, and imprudently crossing the Inn, the +difficult passage of which the French dreaded, he advanced immediately +towards the Isar, intending to reascend the river in our rear. But already +the difficulties of the enterprise became apparent; the young general +resolved to give battle immediately. An advantage gained on the 1st of +December, over the left wing of the French army, emboldened him to the +point of pushing forward across the forest of Hohenlinden, in the vain +hope of encountering no resistance. General Moreau waited for him in the +plain between Hohenlinden and Harthofen; Generals Richepanse and Decaen +had been directed to take the Austrians in the rear. Moreau had exactly +calculated the time necessary for this operation. The battle commenced at +the exit from the forest; as fast as they debouched upon the plain the +Austrian corps encountered the attack of our troops. Across the snow, +which fell in great flakes, the general-in-chief discerned a little +confusion in the ranks of the enemy. "The moment has come to charge," he +cried; "Richepanse has taken them in the rear." General Ney rushed forward +at the head of his division; he rejoined his companions at the centre of +the defile mingled with the confused crowd of the enemy, which they drove +before them. The centre of the Austrian army was completely hemmed in; the +left wing had been thrown back upon the Inn by Decaen. The French +divisions who were engaged on the right, repulsed for a moment, had in +their turn forced the Austrians to redescend into the valley. The plain of +Hohenlinden remained in the hands of the French army. The enemy lost 8000 +men killed or wounded, 12,000 prisoners, and eighty-seven pieces of +cannon. General Lecourbe passed the Inn close behind the Archduke John, +the division of Decaen crossed the Salza and seconded the movement of +Lecourbe; General Moreau crossed the Traun, and advanced towards the Ens. +The Archduke Charles, drawn from his disgrace by the danger of his +country, resumed the command of the Austrian troops. It was too late to +snatch back victory; he accepted the sorrowful duty of arresting the +conqueror's progress by negotiations. Moreau had arrived at Steyer, a few +leagues from Vienna; the ardor of his lieutenants urged him to march +forward. "It would, without doubt, be a fine thing to enter Vienna," he +replied; "but it is a much finer thing to dictate peace." The armistice +was signed on the 25th of December, 1800, delivering to the French all the +valley of the Danube, with the Tyrol, various fortresses, and immense +magazines. The army of Augereau, which had had adventure enough on the +Rednitz, was included in the armistice; the generals commanding in Italy +and in the Grisons, Macdonald and Brune, were to be engaged to accept a +suspension of arms. The modest prudence and consummate cleverness of +General Moreau had assured to our arms advantages which at length promised +peace. Bonaparte perceived this, not without secret heartburning; but for +a time he felt himself compelled to dissemble. "I cannot tell you all the +interest I have taken in your admirable and wise manoeuvres," he wrote to +Moreau; "in this campaign you have surpassed yourself." + +The orders of the First Consul caused the war in Italy to be ardently +pushed forward. "Wherever a couple of men can plant their feet, an army +can find the means of passing," said General Bonaparte; and Macdonald had +led his 15,000 men across the passes of the Splügen, among rocks and +glaciers, obliged to open a path by the oxen, who trod down the snow in +order to permit the soldiers to advance; he left behind him numerous +victims of cold and fatigue. The army of the Grisons had arrived at Trent, +the efforts of General Wukassovich having failed to arrest its progress. +Brune had conducted his operations more gently; when he marched towards +the Mincio, in order to cross it at two points, the imprudence of the +attack and the division of the forces led to a great shedding of blood; it +was only on the 31st December that the passage of the Adige was at last +effected. The corps of General Moncey rejoined the forces of Macdonald at +Trent; the Count of Laudon, close pressed, could only save his troops by a +subterfuge, by forestalling the armistice, which did not yet extend to the +armies of Italy. He had rejoined the Count of Bellegarde, when all +military operations were suspended by a convention signed at Treviso. + +Cobentzel and Joseph Bonaparte had remained at Lunéville during the +resumption of hostilities, negotiating mutual concessions, of which the +cannon every day altered the conditions. The success of his armies, and +the attitude of the powers of the north, enlarged the pretensions of the +First Consul; the Austrian plenipotentiary defended with persevering +courage the frontier of the Adda, and the re-establishment of the Italian +princes in their States, when the instructions of Bonaparte to his brother +were all of a sudden altered. Order was given to retard the conclusion of +peace; at the same time, as if for the purpose of calling upon Austria to +bow to imperious necessity, the First Consul sent to the Corps Législatif +a message, which was a bold evidence of the newest phase of his diplomacy. + +"Legislators, the Republic triumphs, and its enemies once more implore its +moderation. + +"The news of the victory of Hohenlinden has resounded throughout Europe; +that day will be reckoned in history as one of the grandest examples of +French valor. But it has been thought little of by our defenders, who only +think themselves victors when the country has no more enemies. The army of +the Rhine has passed the Inn; every day has been a battle, and every +battle a triumph. The Gallo-Batavian army has conquered at Bamberg; the +army of the Grisons, through snow and ice, has crossed the Splügen, in +order to turn the formidable lines of the Mincio and the Adige. The army +of Italy has carried by main force the passage of the Mincio, and has +blockaded Mantua. Lastly, Moreau is no more than five days' march from +Vienna, master of an immense tract of country, and of all the magazines of +the enemy. + +"It is at this juncture that the Archduke Charles has asked, and the +general-in-chief of the army of the Rhine has accorded, the armistice of +which the conditions are about to be placed before you. + +"Cobentzel, plenipotentiary of the Emperor at Lunéville, has declared +himself ready to open negotiations for a separate peace. Thus Austria is +freed from the influence of the English Government. + +"The Government, faithful to its principles and to the prayer of humanity, +confides to you, and proclaims to France and entire Europe, the intentions +which animate it. + +"The left bank of the Rhine shall be the limit of the French Republic; she +claims nothing on the right bank. The interests of Europe will not permit +the emperor to pass the Adige. The independence of the Helvetic and +Batavian Republics shall be assured and recognized. Our victories add +nothing to the claims of the French people. Austria ought not to expect +from its defeats that which it would not have obtained by victories. Such +are the unchangeable intentions of the Government. It will be the +happiness of France to restore calm to Germany and Italy; its glory to +enfranchise the continent from the covetous and malevolent influence of +England. + +"If our good faith is still deceived, we are at Prague, at Vienna, at +Venice." + +So many rigorous conditions, thus arrogantly announced, were, and could +not fail to be, the object of discussions and stubborn resistance. But +even these did not satisfy the will of the First Consul, and his +resolution to snatch the last concessions from the conquered. The Emperor +Paul, in his capacity of Grand Master of the Order, demanded from England +the cession of the island of Malta. Upon the refusal of the British +Government, he placed an embargo on all English vessels found in his +ports, at the same time announcing the despatch of a plenipotentiary to +Paris. In accord with Prussia, he admitted the principle of the granting +of indemnities to the deposed Italian princes by the secularization of the +ecclesiastical territories in Germany. Cobentzel was constantly opposed to +this arrangement; he equally refused to deliver Mantua to France as a +condition of the armistice in Italy. Abandoned by the neutral powers, +isolated in Germany, and separated from England, who alone remained openly +hostile to France, the Austrian envoy saw himself constrained to accept +conditions harder than those the rigor of which he had formerly deplored. +On the 9th February, 1801, the treaty of Lunéville was at last signed. A +single concession had been accorded to Cobentzel; France had consented to +surrender the places which she held on the right bank of the Rhine. She +insisted, however, that the fortifications should be demolished. +"Dismantle them yourselves," said the Austrian plenipotentiary, +sorrowfully, "and we will engage that they shall remain in the condition +in which they are surrendered." This was the last hope, and the last +effort of diplomacy. Upon the very morning of the signature, and with +reference to the obstinate persistence of Cobentzel, Joseph Bonaparte +declared, in language which was not his own, "that if the termination of +the war was favorable to France, the house of Austria ought to expect to +find the valley of the Adige on the crest of the Julian Alps; and that +there was no power in Europe which did not see with pleasure the Austrians +expelled from Italy." + +The bases of the treaty of Lunéville were identical with those of the +treaty of Campo Formio. Austria lost in Germany the bishopric of Salzburg, +assured as an indemnity to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and in Italy the +territories of this prince were granted to the Duke of Parma. The articles +made no mention of Piedmont or Parma, or of the Pontifical States. The +First Consul did not wish to commit himself on this point or encounter the +sluggish proceedings of a congress. The Emperor of Austria had treated for +the Empire as for himself. The Diet assembled at Ratisbon simply ratified +the conditions of the treaty. Henceforth England found itself isolated in +Europe, as France had been in 1793. The duel continued between Bonaparte +and Pitt. + +So much _éclat_ abroad, so much glory and success terminating in an almost +general peace, did not absorb all the thoughts of the First Consul, and +had not yet succeeded in founding his power on a lasting basis. He felt it +bitterly, and the irritation which he experienced habitually manifested +itself against the remnants of the Jacobin party, the declared enemies of +the order of things which he wished to establish, capable, he thought, of +any crimes, and whose works he had had the opportunity of judging. This +exclusive preoccupation sometimes turned away his attention from more +pressing perils and bolder enemies. A conspiracy to which the police had +lent themselves, and which had failed without any of the accomplices +daring to put their hands on their arms, roused public attention, in the +month of October, 1800, to the dangers which pursued the First Consul. +Since then there had been seized, at the house of a mechanician named +Chevalier, an explosive machine which had given rise to certain +suspicions; but no attempt had been made, and the conspirators, who +plotted in the dark, were as yet only known to Fouché, the minister of +police, clever and foreseeing, constantly hostile to the old enemies of +the Republic, and more disquieted than the First Consul at the royalist +manoeuvres. It was to the Chouans and men of that class that the police +attributed the brigandage which infested the roads in the departments of +the west, the centre, and the south; it was the descents of their former +chiefs upon the Norman coasts which preoccupied Fouché. At one period the +royalists had thought General Bonaparte capable of playing the _rôle_ of +Monk, and accepting that modest ambition. On the 20th of February, 1800, +Louis XVIII. wrote to him with his own hand, "Whatever may be their +apparent conduct, men like yourself, monsieur, never inspire uneasiness. +You have accepted an eminent place, and I am thankful for it. Better than +any one you know how much force and power are needed to make the happiness +of a great nation. Save France from its own madness, and you will have +accomplished the first desire of my heart; restore to it its king, and +future generations will bless your memory. You will always be too much a +necessity of the State for me ever to discharge by the highest +appointments the debt of my forefathers and my own." + +This letter remained unanswered. Louis XVIII. thought he ought to write +again. "For a long time, general," said he yon ought to know that you have +won my esteem. If you have any doubt as to my being susceptible of +gratitude, appoint your place, and decide as to the position of your +friends. As to my principles, I am French; merciful by character, I should +be still more so by reason. + +"No, the conqueror of Lodi, of Castiglione, of Arcola, the conqueror of +Italy and Egypt, cannot prefer a vain notoriety to glory. But you are +losing precious time. We can assure the peace of France; I say _we_, +because I need Bonaparte for that, and he cannot do it without me. + +"General, Europe observes you, glory waits for you, and I am impatient to +restore peace to my people." + +Sad illusions of exiles, who in a remote country know not how to judge +either men or circumstances! Louis XVIII. and his friends were blind as to +the state of men's minds in France, which they believed ripe for a +monarchical restoration; they comprehended neither the character nor the +still veiled designs of the man who had conquered, by the audacity of his +genius, military glory and the civil authority. In the depth of his soul, +and in spite of his firm design to mount the throne by means of absolute +power, Bonaparte was, and remained, revolutionary--hostile to the remains +of the past by conviction as well as by personal ambition. He wrote to +Louis XVIII. on the 7th September, 1800. "I have received, monsieur, your +letter; I thank you for the fair words you have spoken. You ought not to +desire your return to France; it would be necessary for you to march over +500,000 corpses. Sacrifice your interests for the repose and happiness of +France; history will take account of you for it. + +"I am not insensible to the misfortune of your family. I shall contribute +with pleasure to the comfort and tranquillity of your retreat." + +Five hundred thousand corpses of French soldiers were yet to strew the +soil of Europe to serve the ambition of Bonaparte, without hindering that +return of the House of Bourbon which he declared to be so disastrous. In +1800 the First Consul deigned to promise his benevolence to the +descendants of Henry IV., and felt no fear as to royalist intrigues in +France. Since the troubles had ceased in the west, only Georges Cadoudal +had continued sometimes to attract his attention. A letter in the month of +July had ordered Bernadotte to pursue him: "Have this miserable Georges +arrested, and shot within twenty-four hours," he wrote. Georges had +returned to England. + +He was back again in France on the 24th December, 1800, when the coach of +the First Consul was stopped in the Rue St. Nicaise by a small cart which +barred the way; the coachman urged forward the horses, and passed it. At +the same instant an explosion was heard; the dead and the wounded fell +round the carriage of Bonaparte, shaken by the violence of the shock, all +the windows being broken. Bonaparte stopped his carriage, and comprehended +at once the cause of the accident. "Drive to the opera!" said he. Madame +Bonaparte was waiting for him there. When the public was reassured by his +presence, he returned to the Tuileries. A barrel of powder, loaded with +grape-shot, had been placed upon the road; the victims were numerous, and +the assassins escaped. + +The general fright was of use to the anger and emotion of the First +Consul. The enemies of Fouché denounced a police everywhere favorable to +the old Jacobins. The suspicions of Bonaparte were all directed against +these known and furious enemies of his person and his policy. He was +enraged in his irritation, and disdained, according to his custom, the +legal forms and the justice of the tribunals. "We must make the number of +the convicted equal to the number of their victims," he said, "and +transport all their adherents. I will not have all quarters of Paris +successively undermined. There are always Septembrisers, miscreants +covered with crimes, in square battalion against every successive +government. It is necessary to make an end of them." Fouché, silent but +imperturbable, for a long time on the traces of the conspiracy, persisted +in seeing in the infernal machine the work of the agents of Chouannerie. +The Council of State proposed to institute a military commission and +authorize the First Consul to remove the men who appeared dangerous. +Bonaparte was irritated by this slowness of justice. "The action of a +special tribunal will be slow," said he; "it will not get hold of the +truly guilty. It is not a question of judicial metaphysics. There are in +France 10,000 miscreants who have persecuted all honest men, and who are +steeped in blood. They are not all culpable in the same degree, far from +it. Strike the chiefs boldly and the soldiers will disperse. There is no +middle course here; it is necessary to pardon all, like Augustus, or else +there must be a prompt and terrible vengeance proportionate to the crime. +It is necessary to shoot fifteen or twenty of these miscreants, and +transport 200 of them. I am so convinced of the necessity of purging +France from these sanguinary dregs that I am ready to constitute myself +sole tribunal--to bring forward the guilty, examine them, judge them, and +have their condemnation carried into effect. It is not myself that I seek +to avenge here. I am as ready to die as First Consul for the preservation +of the Republic and the Constitution as to fall upon the field of battle; +but it is necessary to reassure France, who will approve my policy." + +The members of the council listened, struck with consternation at such +absolutist and revolutionary violence, but already too much dismayed to +defend the cause of the most elementary justice. Admiral Truguet alone +suggested doubts as to the true authors of the crime. "It is desired," +said he, "to defeat the miscreants who trouble the Republic, so be it; but +the miscreants are of more than one kind. The returned emigrants menace +those who have acquired national property, the Chouans infest the +highways, the priests inflame the passions of the people, the public +spirit is corrupted by pamphlets." The First Consul blushed violently at +this allusion; the reminder of the unfortunate attempt of Lucien Bonaparte +increased his anger. Advancing towards the admiral, "Of what pamphlets do +you speak?" cried he. "You know as well as I do," without giving way, +answered the brave sailor. + +The First Consul paced the hall; the councillors of State watched him, +vaguely recognizing in the outbursts of the anger of the master the +powerful instinct of government, which discerned the permanent hostility +of the revolutionaries without being able to divest itself of their +principles or of their modes of action. "Do people take us for children?" +he cried. "Do they expect to draw us aside with these declamations against +the emigrants, the Chouans, and the priests? Because there are still a few +partial attempts in Vendée, must we be called upon to declare the country +in danger? If the Chouans commit crimes, I will have them shot. But must I +commence proscribing for a quality? Must I strike these because they are +priests, those because they are old nobles? Must I send away into exile +10,000 old men, who only ask to be allowed to live peaceably in obedience +to the established laws? Do you not know, gentlemen, members of the +council, that excepting two or three you all pass for royalists? You, +Citizen Defermon, don't they take you for a partisan of the Bourbons? Must +I send Citizen Portalis to Sinnamari, and Citizen Devaisne to Madagascar, +and then must I make for myself a Babeuf council? No, no, Citizen Truguet, +you won't get me to make any change; there are none to fear except the +Septembrisers. They would not spare even you yourself, and it would be in +vain for you to tell them that you defended them at the Council of State. +They would cut your throat, just the same as mine or the throats of your +colleagues." + +He went out without giving time for any one to answer him. Cambacérès, +moderate and prudent, equally clever in giving counsel and at yielding +when counsels were useless, deemed the anger of the First Consul too +passionate to admit of contradiction. The Council of State, several times +consulted, was brought over with repugnance to the idea of an +extraordinary measure. The First Consul wished a law; it was decided to +involve the great bodies of the State in the arbitrary act which he was +about to commit. "The consuls do not know what may happen," said he. "So +long as I am alive I am not afraid of any one daring to ask me an account +of my actions; but I may be killed, and then I cannot answer for my two +colleagues. You are not very firmly placed in your stirrups," he added, +turning to Cambacérès, with a smile. "Better to have a law now as well as +for the future." The Council of State hesitated from a repugnance to form +a proscription list, assuring him that it would be rejected by the +Tribunate and the Legislative Body. "You are always afraid of the +Tribunate," said Bonaparte, "because it rejected one or two of your laws; +but there are only a few Jacobins in the Legislative Body, ten or twelve +at most. The others know well that but for me they would all have been +massacred. The law will be passed." + +At last, Talleyrand, who had previously remained silent, said that since +there was a Senate, some use should be made of it. The proscription list +was sent to the Senate. It had been written by Fouché, who knew the real +criminals; and the statement of reasons were drawn up by the two sections +of the Council of State who were at first unanimously opposed to the +measure: the Senate voted, the First Consul having signed the act. "All +these men have not taken the dagger in their hands," said the preamble, +"but they are all universally known to be capable of sharpening it and +taking it." Two days afterwards 133 Jacobins sailed from Nantes for +Guiana--formerly members of the Convention and the Commune, proved or +supposed to have had a part in the massacres of September, all certainly +loaded with crime, and worthy of the punishment which they underwent, +strangers to the attempt to assassinate the First Consul, and condemned +without regard to moral or legal justice. At the same time, and as if to +clear off all old accounts with the conspirators, the four men accused in +October, Aréna, formerly a representative, and recently employed by the +Committee of Public Safety, and the artists Ceracchi and Topino-Lebrun, +were at last tried, and condemned to perish on the scaffold. Chauveau- +Lagarde defended them, as he had formerly defended Charlotte Corday and +the men of Nantes denounced by Carrier. His efforts were not crowned with +success; whether acknowledged or only suspected, the Jacobin conspiracy +was everywhere repressed with the same rigor. + +Nevertheless, Fouché had at last recovered the temporarily lost traces of +the real criminals. Two assistants of Georges Cadoudal, Limoëlan and St. +Réjant, who had formerly taken part in the civil wars, entered into +partnership with a man of the lower orders named Carbon, who bought them +the cart, the horse, and powder. He was found concealed in Paris; Limoëlan +had fled abroad. St. Réjant, who had let off the infernal machine, had not +yet recovered from the injuries caused by it; and Carbon having betrayed +his place of concealment, and all the details of the plot, they were both +executed. Fouché's penetration on this occasion gained him still greater +confidence with the First Consul. "He was right," repeated Bonaparte: "his +opinion was better than that of the others. The returned emigrants, the +royalist plotters, and people of that sort, ought to be closely watched. I +am pleased, however, to be rid of the Jacobin staff." + +Neither the banishment of the old revolutionists, nor the condemnation of +those who had contrived the infernal machine, had disturbed the repose of +public opinion, then in close alliance with the steady and firm power +which ruled France. The abstract principles of justice were no longer +thought of by men in general: the desire for permanent freedom had given +place to the longing for rest and quiet, and all were pleased with the +energy which the government had shown against disturbers of the peace; and +the oppressive laws being modified, prosperity was reappearing. The state +of the finances became more satisfactory: a part of the public funds had +been paid, and that which still remained had just been registered in the +"Great Ledger;" the fundholders accepted without too much difficulty the +delay in paying the first dividend. The national property not yet sold was +set apart for the liquidation, excepting what was assigned for public +instruction and the support of the Invalides. Everywhere roads were being +made or repaired, canals dug, and three bridges were built over the Seine. +In spite of the formation of extraordinary tribunals, the great Code of +Civil Law was being slowly made--destined to rule France and extend her +useful action. An agent, almost unknown at Rome and only recently arrived +in Paris, was already discussing with Abbé Bernier those great questions +of order and organization which were afterwards to introduce the +concordat. Peace, even when partial and precarious, was everywhere bearing +its fruits; at home, France displayed that wonderful recuperative power so +frequently and painfully put to the proof by the severe shocks of our +modern history; abroad, her importance in Europe was daily increasing, and +caused more disquiet to all her enemies. The government of England, +however, was soon to pass from Pitt's hands: the whole English nation +called loudly to stop a war of which they had financially borne the +burden, even though their armies had generally had little share in it. + +In the south of Europe the First Consul, while negotiating with the Pope, +and occupying Piedmont without diplomacy, had no longer any enemy to +subdue worthy of his power. Murat had invaded the kingdom of Naples, +causing so great terror that the queen herself was on the point of +accepting an armistice by which the ports of the Two Sicilies were closed +to the English. The treaty of definitive peace was signed at Florence on +the 18th of March, 1801, the conditions being the same as those of the +armistice, with the important addition that the territory of Elba, a +dependency of the kingdom of Naples, was to be ceded. By a secret article, +the sovereign of the Two Sicilies was obliged to receive and maintain a +body of fifteen thousand men, which the First Consul intended to transport +to Egypt, important armaments being prepared in our ports in order to be +sent to the same place, their real destination being yet concealed. A +Franco-Spanish expedition, nominally commanded by Prince de la Paix but +really directed by General Gouvion St. Cyr, was to attempt in April the +conquest of Portugal. In spite of repeated promises, the government of +that small State remained obstinately faithful to England. + +England was suffering from a scarcity of food which threatened to become a +famine, constantly made worse by the hindrances put in the way of her +commerce. The difficulties of the home government increased those of the +diplomatic and military isolation which she underwent in Europe. At the +moment of the conclusion of the Treaty of Union, Pitt had entered upon +engagements with the Irish Catholics which he felt himself bound to +fulfil. The conscientious but shortsighted and narrow-minded George III. +opposed every act of toleration with respect to his Catholic subjects: he +refused to give his assent, and Pitt by resigning his post sacrificed, at +a perilous crisis for his country, foreign policy to the duties and +obligations of parliamentary tactics. The reason of King George, already +tottering, was unable to undergo so much agitation; he remained faithful +to his convictions, but was for a short time out of his mind. When he +regained his faculties, Pitt, who was moved to the heart by the trouble +which he had caused to his aged king, and disturbed by the evils which +threatened England under the regency of the Prince of Wales, undertook +never to raise the question of the emancipation of the Catholics during +the life of George III. He had no seat, however, in the new cabinet, which +was obviously incapable, and unequal to the difficult task which it had +undertaken, and in their earlier proceedings still influenced by Pitt's +action, and following the line of policy which he had traced. Scarcely had +Addington become prime minister, when an attempt which had long been +projected against Denmark was put in execution. Nelson had charge of it +under the superior command of Sir Hyde Parker, who was above him in the +order of seniority. "This is no time to feel nervous," said Nelson to his +superior as they were setting sail. "Dark nights and mountains of ice +matter little; we must take courage to meet the enemy." + +Having passed the Sound, the English squadron blockaded the fleet which +covered Copenhagen. The Danes made an heroic defence, and the old Admiral +Parker, somewhat alarmed, gave the signal for the action to cease. "I'll +be d----d first!" cried Nelson in a passion: "I have the right of seeing +badly"--putting his telescope to the eye which he had lost at Aboukir. "I +don't see the signal. Nail mine to the mast. Let them press closer on the +enemy. That's my reply to such signalling." It was Nelson, moreover, who, +when the battle was gained, arranged with the Prince Royal of Denmark the +terms of the armistice which separated his country from the number of the +neutral states. + +Almost at the same moment the coalition of maritime powers underwent a +more fatal check. For several months the strange workings of the mind of +the Emperor Paul I. had become more obvious. Everybody trembled before +him, and even the empress, as well as her sons, had been threatened with +banishment to Siberia. A caricature was published representing the Czar +holding in one hand a paper on which was written the word "order;" in the +other, the word "counter-order;" on his forehead was read the word +"disorder." A conspiracy was formed, including the principal nobles and +the most intimate members of his household. "They are conspiring against +me, Pahlen," said the emperor to the Governor of St. Petersburg. "Let your +Majesty's mind be easy," replied the Russian, coolly; "I am up to them." +He really was so, and on the night of the 23rd March, 1801, he entered the +Michael palace with the conspirators. The next in importance to him, +General Benningsen, had afterwards the honor of fighting bravely against +the Emperor Napoleon when subduing Poland; he was already distinguished, +and had been decorated with all the orders of the empire. On making his +way to the bedroom of the Czar, who was asleep, the two Hungarians who +formed the only guard ran away after striking one or two blows; the +palace-guard were already on an understanding with the conspirators. The +unfortunate Czar, pursued by the assassins, took refuge behind a screen. +Benningsen observing him held out a paper: "There is your act of +abdication," said he; "sign it and I answer for your life." The emperor +resisted; the conspirators crowded into the room; the lamp fell and was +extinguished, and in that moment of darkness a scarf was tightened round +the neck of Paul I., and he was struck on the head with the pummel of a +sword. When a light was brought in he was dead. + +Count Pahlen had not entered the room, being engaged in guarding the doors +with a troop of soldiers: he went to call on the new emperor. Alexander +was not ignorant of the plot formed to force from his father an abdication +which had become necessary; but he had not considered, and did not +anticipate, the fatal consequences of that enterprise. Pahlen's silence +was the only reply to his questions about the Czar: the young man burst +into tears, hiding his face in his hands and heaping reproaches upon the +Governor of St. Petersburg, who still remained motionless before him. But +by this time the empress, out of her mind from sorrow, and suddenly seized +with an ill-regulated ambition, sent to announce to her son that she was +resolved to take possession of the power. Count Pahlen at once threw off +his apathy. "Enough of childish tears," said he to the young emperor; +"now, come and reign!" He then presented him to the troops, by whom he was +well received. + +A few days afterwards the Emperor Alexander was crowned. "Before him +marched his grandfather's murderers," wrote Madame de Bonneuil, "beside +him those of his father, and behind him his own." Count Pahlen's ambition +was to govern the young monarch, but he was not to reap the fruits of his +crime. The empress-mother insisted upon the banishment of the murderers of +Paul I. In the retirement of his country estate, where he lived a long +time, the count on the 23rd of March made himself drunk from daybreak, in +order to pass in oblivion the dreaded anniversary which awoke in his mind +a remorse which was only slumbering. "That's the regular mode of +deposition in Russia," said Talleyrand, cynically, on hearing of the +emperor's assassination. The First Consul's anger overcame his judgment. +"The wretches!" he exclaimed; "they failed here on the 3rd Nivôse, but +they have not failed in St. Petersburg." And bent on showing his spite +towards his enemies, he had the following note inserted in the _Moniteur_: +"Paul I. died on the night of the 23rd March, and the English squadron +passed the Sound on the 31st. History will inform us the relation that +possibly exists between these two events." + +History has done justice to those false insinuations, unworthy even of him +who pronounced them. Admiral Nelson felt no joy at the death of the +Emperor Paul, which finally broke the league of the neutrals, and deprived +him of the easy triumph which he made sure of gaining over the Russian +fleet. It was of service, however, to England, and contributed to assist +the wish for peace which was beginning to be awakened in the mind of the +First Consul. Scarcely was the Emperor of Russia dead, when Piedmont, long +protected by his favor, was reduced to the condition of a French +department: but it was in vain that Bonaparte pretended to reckon on the +alliance of the young Czar, in vain that Duroc was despatched to St. +Petersburg with a mission of confidence; he was not deceived as to the +Emperor Alexander's leaning to ally himself with England. In fact, M. +Otto, who had been sent to London to arrange the exchange of prisoners, +had already several weeks previously been authorized to meet favorably the +advances made by Lord Hawkesbury, then the foreign minister. On both sides +they tried to gain time. The great question which then separated France +and England, the possession of Egypt, remained undecided, and both sides +determined that it should be settled. On the 7th of March, 1801, the +English squadron of the Mediterranean, which was long stationed at Mahon, +and had recently been directed towards Malta, suddenly disembarked a body +of 18,000 soldiers under the orders of Sir Ralph Abercromby. Thus, with a +Turkish contingent and the regiments of sepoys brought from India, there +were 60,000 men united against the army of occupation, which was reduced +to 15,000 or 18,000 soldiers, commanded by dissatisfied officers, and +generals who could not act together. Unfortunate in his relations to his +colleagues, and showing little tact in his application of European methods +of organization to the native population, General Menou was unable to take +the necessary precautions against the English invasion of Egypt; and in +spite of his bravery, General Friant, who was in charge of 15,000 men +defending Alexandria, could make only a feeble resistance to the landing +of the English. Assisted by General Lanusse, he again joined battle, 13th +March, on the road to Ramanièh; while General Menou--"Abdallah Menou," as +his soldiers called him after he became a Mussulman--was on march with all +his troops to assist Alexandria. After committing the fault of allowing +the English army to land, it was necessary to make haste to fight it +before it should have received the expected reinforcements. The battle of +Canopa was fought on the 21st March under disadvantageous circumstances; +and General Lanusse being killed in the action, General Reynier's +disposition prevented his supplying his chief's incapacity. The battle, +though remaining indecisive, left the English masters of the coast, and +constantly revictualled by the fleet. + +For more than two months, the French army hoped and waited for the +assistance which had been promised them. Admiral Ganteaume, provided with +the best vessels of our navy, a body of picked soldiers, and supplies and +resources of every kind, had in fact set sail on the 23rd January, leaving +Brest in the midst of a frightful tempest in the hopes of escaping the +English cruisers. After being beaten about and somewhat damaged by the +sea, the French vessels made for the Straits of Gibraltar, without any +accident except a short engagement between the frigate "Bravoure" and an +English one. The admiral hesitated; in spite of his personal courage, he +felt loaded with too great a responsibility. Bringing back his squadron +almost within view of Toulon, he thought he saw Mahon's English fleet +making straight for him, and as the struggle threatened to be unequal he +returned into the harbor of Toulon. Leaving it on the 19th of March, after +his vessels were repaired and urgent orders were received from the First +Consul, he again delayed, on account of an accident which had happened to +one of his ships, and it was only on the 22nd that he finally put to sea. +On the 26th he was delayed by the collision of two vessels at Cape +Carbonara in Sardinia, and becoming discouraged and uneasy, the admiral +again entered Toulon on the 5th of April, at the moment when the English +fleet were passing Rosetta. The town was badly defended and fell into the +hands of the enemies, who thus became masters of the mouth of the Nile; +and sending some gun-boats up as far as Fouèh, they soon took it. Generals +Lagrange and Morand held Ramanièh; and Menou delaying to lend the +assistance which he promised, Lagrange fell back upon Cairo, and +communication with Alexandria was interrupted. General Billiard, who +commanded in the capital of Egypt, made a sally to repulse the vizier's +troops; but in spite of several skirmishes he could not reach the main +body of the army, and returning to the town, he offered to capitulate. The +English were anxious to finish, being afraid of one of those strokes of +good fortune to which the French arms had so often owed their success. The +most honorable conditions were granted to the army, the troops evacuating +Egypt being carried back to France at the expense of England, and in their +vessels (27th June, 1801). Almost at the same moment (24th June), Admiral +Ganteaume, with his squadron reduced by sickness, at last anchored before +Derne, several marches from Alexandria; but as the people on the coast +opposed his landing, and the undertaking was hazardous and the land route +difficult, he again put to sea, thinking himself fortunate in finding in +the Straits at Candia an English ship, which he captured and brought +triumphantly to Toulon. General Menou, now alone, and shut up in +Alexandria, obstinately and heroically resisted in vain. When at last he +surrendered, he had been long forgotten in his isolation. Thus though +Bonaparte's thoughts often went back to that famous and chimerical +conquest of his youth, Egypt was definitively lost to France. + +The negotiations with England had undergone the fluctuations inseparable +from the vicissitudes of a distant war, the events of which remained still +doubtful in Europe several weeks after their occurrence. The successes +gained by Admiral Linois against the English before Algesiras and Cadiz, +and the danger of Portugal threatened by the Spanish army, had their +influence no doubt upon the English cabinet, but it was still haughty and +exacting. The First Consul himself drew up a minute for the minister of +foreign affairs, giving an abstract of the concessions which he was +disposed to accept. "The French Government wishes to overlook nothing +which may lead to a general peace, that being for the interests both of +humanity and of the allies. It is for the King of England to consider if +it is also for the interests of his policy, his commerce, and his nation: +and if so, a distant island more or less can be no sufficient reason for +prolonging the unhappiness of the world. + +"The question consists of three points: the Mediterranean--the Indies-- +America. + +"Egypt will be restored to the Porte. + +"The Republic of the Seven Islands will be recognized. + +"All the ports of the Adriatic and Mediterranean occupied by French troops +will be restored to the King of Naples and to the Pope. + +"Mahon will be restored to Spain. + +"Malta will be restored to the Order; and if the King of England should +consider it conformable to his interests as a preponderating naval power +to destroy the fortifications, that clause will be admitted. + +"In India, England will keep Ceylon, and so become unassailable mistress +of those immense and wealthy countries. + +"The other establishments will be restored to the allies, including the +Cape of Good Hope. + +"In America, all will be restored to the former possessors. The King of +England is already so powerful in that part of the world that to wish for +more is, being absolute master of India, to wish to be so of America also. + +"Portugal will be preserved in all its integrity. + +"Such are the conditions which the French Government is ready to sign. + +"The advantages which the British Government thus derive are immense: to +claim greater ones is not to wish a peace which is just and reciprocally +honorable. + +"Martinico not having been conquered by the English arms, but placed by +the inhabitants in the hands of the English till France should have a +government, cannot be considered an English possession. France will never +give it up. + +"All that now remains is for the British Government to make known the +course they wish to adopt; and if these conditions do not satisfy them, it +will be at least proved before the eyes of the world that the First Consul +has left nothing undone, and has shown himself disposed to make any +sacrifice, in order that peace may be restored and humanity spared the +tears and bloodshed which must inevitably result from a new campaign." + +The concessions were in fact great, the First Consul abandoning points +which had long been disputed,--Egypt, Malta, and Ceylon; and he showed +extreme annoyance when Lord Hawkesbury refused to admit the principle of +complete restitution in America. Several threatening articles were +inserted in the _Moniteur_, and Bonaparte urgently hurried the preparation +of a fleet of gun-boats at Boulogne, which were supposed to be intended +for the invasion of England. It had long been an idea of the First +Consul's thus to intimidate the English Government, but it was only the +people on the coast who were really alarmed. Nelson wrote immediately to +the Admiralty, that "even on leaving the French harbors the landing is +impossible were it only for the difficulties caused by the tides: and as +to the notion of rowing over, it is impracticable humanly speaking." An +attempt to land a large army on the English coast was soon to become a +fixed idea in Bonaparte's mind; but then he used his armaments to disquiet +the British Government. Twice Nelson attempted to destroy our fleet, and +twice he failed completely: in the second attack, which was begun at +night, and vigorously carried on to boarding, Admiral Latouche-Tréville +compelled the English ships to withdraw, after inflicting severe losses +upon them. Nevertheless, England still insisted on obtaining possession of +the island of Trinidad, which belonged to Spain. The First Consul refused +for a long time, but the Prince de la Paix had betrayed the hopes of his +imperious ally. Bonaparte had guaranteed the throne of "Etruria" to the +young Duke of Parma, and recently received in Paris the new sovereign, and +his wife, the daughter of the King of Spain, and showed the nation that +the prince was a simple lad, to be easily bent to his purposes. In return +for so many favors, the Spanish troops had with difficulty conquered a few +provinces, and King Charles IV., already reconciled to his son-in-law, the +King of Portugal, concluded the treaty of Badajoz, which closed the +harbors to the English, and granted an indemnity of twenty millions to +France. The First Consul was extremely indignant, having counted on the +threat of a war in Portugal to exercise a preponderating influence in the +negotiations in London. At first he insisted that the treaty must be +broken. "At the very time," said he, "when the First Consul places a +prince of the house of Spain on a throne which is the fruit of the +victories of the French nation, the French Republic is treated as the +Republic of San Marino might with impunity be treated. Let the Prince de +la Paix know that if he has been bought by England, and has drawn the king +and queen into measures contrary to the honor and interest of the +Republic, the last hour of the Spanish monarchy has struck." + +The Prince de la Paix made ample excuses, but refused to break the treaty +of Badajoz. The real intention of the First Consul was to have peace: he +had three vessels granted him by Portugal, and abandoned the island of +Trinidad to the demands of the English Government. At one time England +also claimed Tobago, but the very terms of the treaty were displeasing to +Bonaparte's pride, and he assumed the insulting tone which he had been +accustomed to use with foreign diplomatists. "The following is what I am +directed to tell you," wrote Talleyrand: "excepting Trinidad, the First +Consul will not yield, not only Tobago, but even a single rock, if there +is one, with only a village of a hundred people; and the ground of the +First Consul's conduct is, that in the treaty he has yielded to England to +the last limit of honor, and that further there would be for the French +nation dishonor. He will grant nothing more, even if the English fleets +were anchored before Chaillot." + +Lord Hawkesbury withdrew his demands as to Tobago, and the First Consul +modified his threats, both nations being eagerly desirous of peace. The +preliminaries were at last signed in London, on the 1st October, 1801; and +when, two days afterwards, the ratifications were brought from Paris by +Colonel Lauriston, the welcome news caused an irresistible outburst of joy +amongst the populace. The horses of the French envoy's carriage were +unharnessed, that he might be drawn in triumph to Lord Hawkesbury's house; +and everywhere in the streets there were shouts of "Long live Bonaparte!" +At the banquets the First Consul's health was drunk, and cheered as loudly +as the speeches in favor of the friendship of the two nations. The same +excessive delight was shown in Paris, which was soon crowded with the +foreigners whom war had long kept away; and Fox was received by the First +Consul with such flattering attentions as made a deep impression on his +mind. Party feeling had so influenced the mind of the illustrious orator +as to partially efface his patriotic sentiments. A few days after the +preliminaries were signed, he wrote to his friend Lord Grey, "I confess to +you that I go farther than you in my hatred of the English Government: the +triumph gained by France excites in me a joy I can scarcely conceal." + +The public joy and hopes, both in France and England, were founded on +motives superior to those which inspired Fox's satisfaction, but they were +not more permanent, or better founded. On the day after signing the +preliminaries of London, and as if to increase the renown of his +successes, the First Consul took pleasure in concluding successively +treaties with Portugal, the Sublime Porte, the Deys of Algiers and Tunis, +Bavaria, and finally Russia. One clause of the last treaty stipulated that +both sovereigns should prevent criminal conduct on the part of emigrants +from either country. The House of Bourbon and the Poles were thus equally +deprived of important protection. The situation of the King of Sardinia +was to be regulated in every way according to actual circumstances. Each +of the conventions, and especially the treaty of peace with England +contained reticences and obscurities, which were fertile in pretexts for +war and in unfriendly interpretations. The First Consul wished to secure +an interval of rest and leisure, to consolidate his conquests at home and +abroad. He had not renounced the glorious and ill-defined project of the +imperial government which he affected to exercise over Europe. "If England +made a new coalition," he wrote to M. Otto, "the only result would be a +renewal of the history of the greatness of Rome." + +It was to the honor of the First Consul, in the midst of this brilliant +political and military renown, and in spite of his impulsive and +ungovernable disposition, that he understood that the restoration of +peace, the joy of victory, and the hope of a regular government, were +unable to satisfy all the wants or regulate all the movements of the human +soul. Personally without experience of religious prejudices or feelings, +free from any connection with philosophical coteries, Bonaparte did not +limit himself to a sense of the support which religion could lend in +France to the new order which he wished to establish: he understood the +higher wants of minds and consciences, and the supreme law which assigns +to Heaven the regulation of human life. The doctrines of Christianity, as +well as the divisions of the Christian Church, were indifferent to him; he +did not understand their importance, and would have thought little of +them; but he knew that, in spite of the efforts of the eighteenth century +philosophy--in spite of the ravages caused by the French Revolution, the +attachment and respect of many for the Catholic religion had still great +power. He knew also that Catholicism could not be re-established in +France, under his auspices, without the assistance and good will of the +Court of Rome. No impression was made on his mind by the attempts made to +persuade him to found in France an independent church freed from all +connection with the Papacy, or by the arguments used in favor of +Protestantism. His traditional respect, as well as the religious sentiment +of the mass of the French nation, were in favor of Catholicism. His good +sense, as well as his profound instinct of the means of action in +government, had long urged him towards religious toleration. During his +last campaign in Italy, a circular to the curés of Milan had revived the +hopes of the Roman Court; and after Pope Pius VII. returned to his +capital, on its evacuation by the Neapolitan troops, M. Spina, at first +envoy at Turin, had followed the First Consul to Paris. He treated with +Abbé Bernier who had skilfully negotiated to bring about the pacification +of Vendée--a man of great ambition, determined to serve the government +which could raise him to the episcopal purple. The _pourparlers_ were +prolonged; the situation was difficult; the new powers founded in France +by the Revolution and by victory raised pretensions which were contrary to +the Roman tradition. They were, moreover, embarrassed by the unequal +position of the ecclesiastics who were performing in France their sacred +functions, some having submitted to the republican demands rather than +leave their country and their flocks, others believing it was their duty +to sacrifice everything to their former oaths. Proscribed and outlawed, +they had for a long time preached, said mass, and given the sacraments in +spite of an unrelenting persecution. A large number had decided to take to +flight, but having now returned, the faithful were divided between them +and the priests who had remained in France. Almost alone in Paris, and +among those men whose opinion he was accustomed to consult, the First +Consul persevered in his idea of again joining the French Church to the +general Catholic body. His patience, however, was exhausted by the delay +of the Holy College, and he resolved to have recourse to means which were +more efficacious, and more in accordance with his character. On the 13th +May, 1801, he wrote to M. Cacault, French minister at Rome, that he had +determined to accept no longer the irresolution and dilatory procedure of +the Court of Rome; if in five days the scheme sent from Paris, and long +discussed by the Sacred College, was not accepted, Cacault must leave Rome +to join, in Florence, General Murat, the commander-in-chief of the army of +Italy. + +The emotion at the Vatican was great. Shortly before, when giving Cacault +his final instructions, the First Consul said, "Forget not to treat the +Pope as if he had 200,000 men at his orders." The French minister had +faithfully observed this injunction, which agreed with his personal +opinions: he knew the obstacles which still separated the new master of +France from the Roman Court. The scheme of ecclesiastical organization +proposed by Bonaparte was simple: sixty bishops named by the civil power +and confirmed by the Pope, the clergy salaried by the State, the +ecclesiastical jurisdiction transferred to the Council of State, and the +official management of religious bodies to the temporal authority. Pius +VII. agreed to accept this new condition of the Church exclusively +restored to her spiritual functions. The situation in the Church of the +priests who had taken the oath to the civil constitution of 1789, their +reconciliation to the papacy, the tacit admission of the appropriation by +the State of the ecclesiastical property, the nomination of new bishops +and consequent resignation or deprivation of those already holding the +titles,--such were the various questions which occupied Pope Pius VII. and +his skilful minister Cardinal Consalvi. Cacault tried to persuade them +that the cardinal himself must go to Paris. "Most Holy Father," said the +French minister, "it is necessary that Consalvi himself carry your reply +to Paris. What alarms me most is the character of the First Consul; that +man is never open to persuasion. Believe me, something stronger than cold +reason advises me in this matter: a mere animal instinct some would call +it, but it never deceives. What inconvenience if somehow or other you +appear yourself? You are blamed. What did they say? They wish for a +'Concordat' of religion; we anticipate them and bring it, there it is!" + +Pope Pius VII. had long felt for General Bonaparte an attraction caused by +a mixed feeling of alarm and confidence. Alarm reigned in the mind of his +minister, who made up his mind to set out for Paris as if he were going to +martyrdom. "Since a victim is necessary," said he, "I devote myself, and +go to see the First Consul: let the will of God be done!" He rode in +Cacault's carriage from Rome to Florence, whence the French minister wrote +to Talleyrand,-- + +"Citizen Minister, here I am, arrived in Florence. The cardinal secretary +of state set out with me from Rome, and we have travelled together in the +same carriage. We were looked upon everywhere with great astonishment. The +cardinal was much afraid people should think I had withdrawn on account of +a rupture, and kept saying to everybody, 'This is the French minister.' +This country, crushed under the recent evils of war, shudders at the least +thought of military disturbance. The Roman Government has still greater +fear of its own dissatisfied subjects, especially those who have been +allured to authority and pillage by the sort of revolution just gone +through.... The cardinal set out this morning for Paris, and will arrive +shortly before my despatch, as he goes extremely quickly. The wretched man +feels that if he fails he will be irretrievably lost, and that all will be +lost for Rome. He is eager to know his lot. I tried at Rome to bring the +Pope to sign the Concordat only; and if he had granted me that point, I +should not have left Rome; but that idea was unsuccessful. + +"You understand that the cardinal is not sent to Paris to sign that which +the Pope has refused to sign at Rome; but being the prime minister of his +Holiness, and his favorite, it is with the Pope's mind that you will be in +communication. I hope the result will be an agreement as to the +modifications. It is a matter of phrases and words, which can be turned in +so many meanings that at last the good meaning is got hold of." + +The First Consul had resolved to make from the very first an impression on +the mind of the pontifical envoy by the display of his power. Scarcely had +the cardinal stepped out of his carriage when he received a visit from +Abbé Bernier, whom he at once employed to ask an audience for him. The +same day, at the Tuileries, before the crowd of courtiers who were +thronging to one of the grand receptions, Cardinal Consalvi was presented +to the First Consul. "My astonishment," says he in his correspondence, +"was like that felt in the theatre by the sudden scene-shifting, when a +cottage, prison, or wood is unexpectedly changed to the dazzling spectacle +of the most magnificent court. You can easily imagine that a person +arriving at Paris on the night preceding, without being told beforehand, +without knowing anything of the habits, customs, and dispositions of those +before whom he appeared, and who was in a measure considered responsible +for the bad success of the negotiations so far as they had been carried, +must, at the sight of such grandeur, as imposing as it was unexpected, +have felt not only profound emotion, but even a too evident +embarrassment." As the cardinal approached the three consuls, alone in the +midst of a magnificent drawing-room filled with a brilliant throng, +Bonaparte left him no time to speak. "I know the object of your journey to +France," said he. "I wish the conferences to be immediately opened. I +leave you five days' time; and I tell you beforehand that if at the +expiration of the fifth day the negotiations are not finished, you must +return to Rome; whilst as for me, I have decided what to do in that case." + +Consalvi came to Paris ardently wishing to bring to a successful +completion the difficult negotiations which had been entrusted to him. His +Italian cunning was not deceived as to the motive of the display of +magnificence, and the rough reception of himself which signalized his +first audience. He was conscientious and resolute without narrowness of +mind, and he understood the immense importance to religion and politics of +the restoration of agreement between France and the Court of Rome. He +appeared neither astonished nor disturbed with reference to the First +Consul. When they came to the discussion of the questions which had +brought him to Paris, the Pope's envoy showed himself easily influenced on +most of the points. Bonaparte himself summarized the whole of the +Concordat in a few words: "Fifty emigrant bishops, paid by England, manage +all the French clergy, and their influence must be destroyed. The +authority of the Pope is necessary for that. He deprives them of their +charge, or obliges them to resign. As it is said that the Catholic +religion is that of the majority of the French, the exercise of it should +be organized. The First Consul nominates the fifty bishops; the Pope +institutes them; they name the curés, and the State pays their salaries. +They take the oath: the priests who refuse to submit are removed, and +those who preach against the government are referred to their superiors. +After all, enlightened men will not rise against Catholicism; they are +indifferent." + +A rather keen opposition, however, was raised among the courtiers and in +the army against the Concordat, which assisted in hampering the progress +of the negotiations. Most of the military men were still imbued with the +spirit of the Revolution, and suspicious of the influence of the priests. +The constitutional clergy, who had no serious objection to the Concordat, +the only means of securing them a regular ecclesiastical standing, feared +lest they should be sacrificed in favor of the priests who had refused to +take the oath. Several of them were married, and had thus increased the +difficulties of their position by new ties. So many personal interests and +different motives kept the First Consul's advisers in a state of hostility +to the claims of the Holy See. Even the preamble of the Concordat gave +room to long discussions. On the refusal to apply the title "State +religion" to the Catholic religion, Cardinal Consalvi agreed to the simple +statement of the fact that the Catholic Apostolic and Roman religion was +the religion of the great majority of the French people. On the other +hand, the Pope admitted the great advantage that religion should derive +from the re-establishment of Catholic worship in France, and from the +personal profession of it made by the consuls of the republic. He at the +same time agreed to ask the old titular bishops to resign. The resignation +of the constitutional bishops had been already secured. The First Consul +wrote to Pius VII.: "Most holy Father, Cardinal Consalvi has showed me +your Holiness' letter, and I recognize the evangelical sentiments which +distinguish it. The cardinal will inform your Holiness of my intention to +do all that may contribute to your happiness. It will depend only on you +to find again in the French Government the support which it has always +granted to your predecessors, when they have classed with their principal +duties the preaching of maxims which help to confirm peace, morality, and +obedience to the civil power. + +"It only depends on me that the tears of Europe cease to flow, that the +revolutions and wars be followed by general peace and order. + +"On all occasions, I beg your Holiness to reckon upon the assistance of +your devoted son." + +Cardinal Consalvi had made several concessions; the French negotiators had +more than once extended as they chose the exact sense of his concessions; +but he refused absolutely to entrust the regulation of the public worship +to the civil authority. In view of the cardinal's conscientious obstinacy, +the First Consul at last agreed to important modifications of this point. +When the day for signing arrived, Joseph Bonaparte, who had always a share +in diplomatic negotiations, being one of the appointed signatories, the +cardinal went to his house with the Abbé Bernier, both bringing a copy of +the act. At the moment when the papal envoy was taking the pen, he cast +his eyes over the text of the convention, and saw that the article +referring to the exercise of worship had been restored to the form which +he had objected to. Reading further, and finding other changes and +additions, the cardinal protested against it. Joseph Bonaparte declared +that he knew nothing of it. "The First Consul wished it to be so," said +Bernier with some confusion, "declaring that anything may be changed so +long as it is not signed. Besides, the draft agreed upon did not please +him; and he insists upon the articles being so modified." + +The time was short, the First Consul having announced his intention of +announcing publicly the signature of the Concordat at a great banquet the +same evening. The outbursts of his anger even reached the cardinal's ears. +He had torn the Concordat, and threatened to declare the rupture of the +negotiations if Consalvi did not consent to give way. "I underwent the +agonies of death," said the cardinal. But he was convinced of his duty, +and went to the Tuileries as unbending in his resolution as the First +Consul in his imperious will. Bonaparte came to him as he entered the +drawing-room, and called loudly, "Well, cardinal, you wish then to break! +I have no need of Rome! Let it be so! I have no need of the Pope! If Henry +VIII., who had not the twentieth part of my power, was able to change the +religion of his country, I am much more able to do so! By that change of +religion I shall change the religion through nearly the whole of Europe, +wherever the influence of my power extends. Rome will be sensible of the +losses she brings on herself. She will lament them, but there will be no +remedy. You wished to break.... Very well! let it be so, since you wished +it. When do you set out?" "After dinner, general," replied the cardinal +with calmness. + +Consalvi did not set out. Next day, in spite of the reiterated attempt +made to influence him, in spite of the weakness of the majority of his +legation, the Pope's secretary of state held firm. The First Consul gave +way, or pretended it, in order afterwards to withdraw the concessions +granted, but sufficiently to satisfy the conscience of the cardinal, and +persuade him to put his signature to the Concordat. The ratification at +Rome quickly succeeded, and a legate was sent to Paris, chosen at the +First Consul's express desire. After Cardinal Caprara's arrival, the +publication of the Concordat was still delayed by the choosing of the new +bishops. Thirteen of the former prelates, who had taken refuge in England, +alone refused to resign at the command of the Holy See; and thirty-three +bishops, still abroad or already returned to France, obeyed generously and +without reluctance. The constitutional bishops had just dissolved their +council, which Bonaparte had authorized in order to influence the Court of +Rome; but he ordered its cessation as soon as the Concordat was signed. +His resolution to place several constitutional priests among the new +bishops annoyed and disturbed the Pope. The First Consul became angry, +making charges of systematic delay which prevented him from publishing the +Concordat, and introducing into their dioceses the prelates nominated +during Lent. The legate quietly claimed the submission which the +constitutional priests had promised. "There is haughtiness in asking it," +exclaimed Bonaparte; "there would be cowardice in submitting." The conduct +of the constitutional prelates remained doubtful: ten, however, were +nominated. Cardinal Caprara was both less resolute and less clear-sighted +than Consalvi: at one time frightened, at another easily persuaded. In +spite of his resistance, "his cries and tears," he at last yielded to the +pressing demands of the First Consul. On the 18th April, 1802, Easter +Sunday, the Concordat was proclaimed in the streets of Paris. At eleven +o'clock an immense crowd thronged Notre Dame, curious to see the legate +officiating, and gaze again on the pompous ritual of the Catholic service; +but still more eager to look at the First Consul in the brilliancy of his +triumph and power, surrounded by his companions in arms, all compelled by +his will to assist at a ceremony at variance with the opinions of several +of them. The concessions of the Court of Rome and the obedience of the +generals could not conceal the vast gulf that separated Revolutionary +France from the religious tradition of the past. Bonaparte felt this. He +wished for the Concordat, understanding its lofty aim and practical +utility; he had conceded more in appearance than he intended to grant in +reality. The _Te Deum_ was chanted: the bishops were confirmed, and had +now set out for their dioceses. In every district, along with the +Concordat, and as if invested with the same sanction, the First Consul +published a series of "organic articles," regulating in detail the +relations of the civil power with the religious authority. Already, when +discussing the Concordat the representative of the Holy See had rejected +most of Bonaparte's pretensions on that subject; but he now reproduced +them, transformed, by the power of his will alone, into administrative +measures, voted like the Concordat by the Corps Législatif, and having +equal force for the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, and the Jewish +form of worship. The anger and sorrow of the Court of Rome had no effect +in modifying the resolution of the First Consul. Cardinal Caprara was +constantly passing from submission to despair. "He who is fated to treat +with the First Consul," he wrote to Cardinal Consalvi, "must bear always +in mind that he is treating with a man who is arbiter of the affairs of +the world--a man who has paralyzed, one might say, all the other powers of +Europe, who has conceived projects the execution of which seemed +impossible, and who has conducted them with a success which astonishes the +whole world. Nor should it be forgotten that I am appointed here in a +nation where the Catholic religion has not a ruling power, even in peace. +Here all the powerful personages are against her, and they strive as much +as possible against the First Consul. He is the only man who watches over +her. Unfortunately, her future depends on his intention, but at least that +intention is sure of completion. When the First Consul is against us, +things proceed with a frightful rapidity." The Pope felt obliged to +protest against the organic articles in an allocution to the Consistory, +and to address his claims to the First Consul, who took no notice of them. +In his communications with the religious authority in France, he proved +imperious and insolent. "If the morality of the gospel is insufficient to +direct a bishop," he wrote Portalis, "he must act by policy, and by fear +of the prosecution which government might institute against him as a +disturber of the public peace. I could not be otherwise than full of +sorrow at the conduct of certain bishops. Why have you not informed the +_préfets_?" + +The ecclesiastical organization in France would have been incomplete, had +Bonaparte not extended his care to the Protestant churches. In a kindly +report addressed to him on the subject, it was stated that "the +government, in declaring that Catholicism was in a majority in France, had +no wish to authorize in its favor any political or civil pre-eminence. +Protestanism is a Christian communion, bringing together, in the same +faith and to the same rites, a very large number of Frenchmen. In recent +times the Protestants were in the foremost ranks under the standards of +liberty, and have never abandoned them. All that is secured to the various +Christian communions by the articles of agreement between his Holiness and +the Government of the Republic is equally guaranteed to the Protestants, +_with the exception of the pecuniary subvention_." + +The original idea of Bonaparte had, in fact, been to leave to the +Protestants the full liberty of their internal government, as well as the +charge of their worship. The principle, admitted by the Constituent +Assembly, of compensating the Catholic clergy for the confiscation of +their property, was not applicable to the Protestant Church. On a +consideration of the administrative advantages of a church paid by the +state, Bonaparte decided that the law of the 18th Germinal, year X., +should be drawn up, regulating the nomination of pastors and consistories +after the manner of the interior government of the Protestant Church. The +principle which, in this respect, equalized the Protestant and Catholic +modes of worship was hailed with satisfaction by the reformers. The Jews +established in France were admitted to enjoy the same privileges. + +At the same time that an alliance between religion and the state was being +re-established in France, Chateaubriand, still a very young man, published +his "Genius of Christianity." The sense of the poetic beauty of +Christianity then reawakening in men's minds, the success of the book was +deservedly great. It marked in recent history the epoch of literary +admiration for the greatness and beauty of the gospel. We have since sadly +learnt that it was only a shallow and barren admiration. + +Peace seemed again established in the world and the church. In spite of +several difficulties and suspicions, the definitive treaty with England +was at last to be signed at Amiens. But rest seemed already to weigh +heavily on the new master of France, and the increasing ambition of his +power could not deceive men of foresight as to the causes of disturbance +in Europe which were perpetually reappearing. Scarcely were the +preliminaries of peace signed in London, when the Batavian Republic-- +recently composed, after the example of the French Republic, of a +Directory and two Legislative Chambers--found itself again undergoing a +revolution, the necessary reaction of what was being done in France. On a +new constitution being proposed to the Chambers they rejected it. The +Dutch Directory, with the assistance of General Augereau, effected at the +Hague, in September, 1800, the _coup d'état_ which took place in Paris on +the 18th Brumaire; the representatives were dismissed, and the people were +assembled to pronounce upon the new constitution. Only 50,000 voters out +of 400,000 electors presented themselves in the Assemblies. A president +was chosen for three months. The absolute authority of the First Consul +was secured in the Batavian Republic. + +In Switzerland, an agitation diligently kept up throughout all the +cantons, rendered a government there impossible. The French minister at +Berne, "a powerless conciliator of the divided parties," as Bonaparte +called him, received secret instructions from him. "Citizen Verninac must, +under all the circumstances, say publicly that the present government can +only be considered provisional, and give them to understand that, not only +does the French Government not rely upon it, but it is even dissatisfied +with its composition and procedure. It is a mockery of nations to believe +that France will acknowledge as the intention of the Helvetic people the +will of the sixteen persons who compose the Legislative Body." The French +troops had evacuated Switzerland. The First Consul was scheming to annex +the canton of Valais to the two departments of Mont Terrible and Léman, +which he had already taken from the Helvetian territory. After several +months passed, the seeds of discord began to bear fruit; and Aloys of +Reding, formerly Landamman, being overthrown, Dolder, the leader of the +radicals, was raised in his place. As a concession to the patriotic wishes +of the Swiss, the French troops were suddenly recalled from their +territory. When freed from that constant menace, interior dissensions +burst forth; the Landamman Dolder, replaced at Berne by Mulinen, took +refuge in Lausanne, where he founded a new government. The cantons were +already taking sides, when the First Consul launched a proclamation as the +natural arbiter of the destinies of Switzerland:-- + +"People of Helvetia, you have been disputing for three years without +understanding each other. If you are left longer to yourselves, you will +kill yourselves in three years without understanding each other any +better. Your history, moreover, proves that your civil wars have never +been finished unless by the efficacious intervention of France. I shall +therefore be mediator in your quarrels, but my mediation will be an active +one, such as becomes the great nation in whose name I speak. All the +powers will be dissolved. The Senate alone, assembled at Berne, will send +deputies to Paris; each canton can also send some; and all the former +magistrates can come to Paris, to make known the means of restoring union +and tranquillity and conciliating all parties. Inhabitants of Helvetia! +revive your hopes!" At the same time Bonaparte said to Mulinen, who had +already escaped to Paris, "I am now thoroughly persuaded of the necessity +of some definitive measure. If in a few days the conditions of my +proclamation are not fulfilled, 30,000 men will enter Switzerland under +General Ney's orders; and if they thus compel me to use force it is all +over with Switzerland. It is time to put an end to that; and I see no +middle course between a Swiss government strongly organized, and friendly +to France, or no Switzerland at all." + +On the 15th October, 1802, General Ney received orders to enter +Switzerland, and publish "a short proclamation in simple terms, announcing +that the small cantons and the Senate had asked for the mediation of the +First Consul, who had granted it; but a handful of men, friends of +disorder, and indifferent to the evils of their country, having deceived +and led astray a portion of the people, the First Consul was obliged to +take measures to disperse these senseless persons, and punish them if they +persisted in their rebellion." At the same time, after an imperious +summons, the chiefs of the Swiss aristocracy, Mulinen, Affry, and +Watteville, joined the radical deputies in Paris. There could be no long +discussion, as the plan of the Helvetic Constitution was decided upon in +the mind of the First Consul. He had recognized the inconveniences arising +from the "unitary government:" he next abolished the old independent +institutions of the cantons, and systematically weakened the central +power, as the Diet, composed of twenty-five deputies, was to sit by +rotation in the six principal cantons; he at the same time nominated Affry +as President of the Helvetian Confederation, after carefully securing his +services. Henceforward the Swiss cantons, free in their internal +government, fell as a state under the rule of France. "I shall never +permit in Switzerland any other influence than my own, though it should +cost me 100,000 men," Bonaparte had said to the assembled deputies. "It is +acknowledged by Europe that Italy, Holland, and Switzerland are at the +disposition of France." At the same time (11th September, 1802), and as if +to justify this haughty declaration, the territory of Piedmont was divided +into six French departments, the Isle of Elba was united to France, and +the Duchy of Parma was definitively occupied by our troops. + +For a long time the north of Italy was subjected to the laws of its +conqueror, and he arrogantly made it bear the whole burden. When the +Congress of Vienna had begun its sittings, Talleyrand absolutely forbade +Joseph Bonaparte to allow the usurpations of France in Europe to be +discussed. "You will consider it a fixed point that the French Government +can listen to nothing regarding the King of Sardinia, the Stadtholder, or +the internal affairs of Batavia, Germany, Helvetia, or the Italian +republics. All these subjects are absolutely unknown to our discussions +with England." + +England admitted the truce of which she stood in need. She tacitly +accepted the reticences of the negotiators; and without any protest on her +part the First Consul set out for Lyons, where he had summoned the 500 +members of the Italian Consulte. Overwhelmed with the gifts of her +conqueror, the Cisalpine Republic was now to receive from his hands a +definitive constitution. Lombardy as far as the Adige, the Legations, the +Duchy of Modena, had sent their deputies to France, prepared to vote by +acclamation for the constitution, which had been carefully prepared by +several leading Italians under the eyes of the First Consul. The Consulte +of Milan had accepted it. Bonaparte reserved to himself the direction of +the choice of functionaries, and the important nomination of the President +of the Republic. Lyons was in grand holiday, crowded by the Italians and +numerous bodies of troops. The old army of Italy, on arriving from Egypt, +had been ordered to Lyons; and the populace hailed with delight the +arrival of the First Consul, who was always popular personally. The +Consulte opened its sittings with distinction; and soon the Italian +deputies understood who was the president designed for them by the +solicitude of General Bonaparte. They accepted without repugnance his +proclamation:--"The Consulte has appointed a committee of thirty persons," +wrote the First Consul to his colleagues; "they have reported that, +considering the internal and external circumstances of the Cisalpine, it +was indispensable to allow me to conduct the first magistracy, till such +time as the situation may permit, and I may judge it suitable, to name a +successor." To the request of the Consulte, in humble terms, the general +replied, "I find no one among you who has sufficient claims upon public +opinion--who would be sufficiently independent of local influences--who, +in short, has rendered to his country sufficiently great services, for me +to trust him with the first magistracy." The Count Melzi accepted the +vice-presidentship of the Republic. On the 28th January, after reviewing +the army of Egypt, the First Consul, president of the Italian Republic, +started again for Paris. + +He was now waiting for news of the expedition which he had recently sent +to St. Domingo. The horrors which signalized the violent emancipation of +our negroes and their possession of the territory, was succeeded by a +state somewhat regular, largely due to the unexpected authority of a +black, recently a slave, who displayed faculties which are very unusual in +his race. In his difficult government, Toussaint Louverture had given +proofs of a generalship, foresight, courage, and gentleness which gave him +the right to address Bonaparte, the object of his passionate admiration, +in the following terms: "The first of the blacks to the first of the +whites." Toussaint Louverture loved France, and rendered homage to it by +driving from the island the Spanish and English troops. He claimed the +ratification of his Constitution, and sent his sons to France to be +properly educated. + +The instructions given by the First Consul to his brother-in-law, General +Leclerc, are still secret. He had placed under his command 20,000 men, +excellent troops, borrowed from the old army of the Rhine, the generals +and officers of which were unwilling to resign during the peace. The +squadron, in charge of Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse, was a large one. The +English had been informed of the expedition, by a note signed by +Talleyrand but drawn up by Bonaparte himself. "Let England know," said he, +"that in undertaking to destroy the government of the negroes at St. +Domingo, I have been less guided by commercial and financial +considerations than by the necessity of smothering in all parts of the +world every kind of inquietude and disturbance--that one of the chief +benefits of peace for England at the present moment was that it was +concluded at a time when the French Government had not yet recognized the +organization of St. Domingo, and afterwards the power of the negroes. The +liberty of the blacks acknowledged at St. Domingo, and legitimized by the +French Government, would be for all time a fulcrum for the Republic in the +New World. In that case the sceptre of the New World must sooner or later +have fallen into the hands of the negroes; the shock resulting for England +is incalculable, whereas the shock of the empire of the negroes would, +with reference to France, reckon as part of the Revolution." + +At the same time, and in contradiction to the intentions which he +announced to England, Bonaparte wrote to Toussaint Louverture: "We have +conceived esteem for you, and we are pleased to recognize and proclaim the +services which you have rendered to the French people. If their flag still +floats over St. Domingo, it is to you and the brave blacks it is due. +Called by your talents and the force of circumstances to the first +command, you have overthrown the civil war, curbed the persecution of +several fierce men, restored honor to religion and the worship to God, to +whom everything is due. The Constitution which you have made contains many +good things: the circumstances in which you are placed, surrounded on +every side by enemies, without the power of being assisted or provisioned +by the capital (mother country), have rendered legitimate the articles of +the Constitution which otherwise are not so. We have informed your +children and their tutor of our sentiments towards you. We shall send them +back to you. Assist the general by your advice, your influence, and your +talents. What can you desire? The liberty of the negroes? You know that in +every country in which we have been, we have given it to the peoples who +had it not. Hence consideration, honors, fortune! After the services which +you have rendered, which you can render in this matter, with the personal +feelings which we entertain for you, you ought not to be doubtful as to +the position before you. Consider, general, that if you are the first of +your color who has arrived at so great power, and is distinguished by his +valor and military talents, you are also before God and before us the most +responsible for their conduct. Count without reserve upon our esteem, and +let your behavior be that which becomes one of the principal citizens of +the greatest nation of the world." + +One of the incurable evils of a long state of slavery is the distrust +begot in those who have undergone it, though it is also the defence and +instinctive protection of weakness. Along with his admiration for the +First Consul and his traditional attachment to France, Toussaint +Louverture remained uneasy and suspicious as a slave. Already, under the +orders of General Richepanse, the expedition was being prepared which was +to re-establish slavery in Guadeloupe, in spite of the decrees of the +Constituent Assembly and the formal declaration of the First Consul in a +statement of the State of the Republic (November 30th, 1801). When the +French squadron was signalled at St. Domingo, and the negro dictator +ascertained the crushing force brought to impose upon him the will of the +mother country, he made preparations for defence, entrusted his +lieutenant, Christophe, with the guard of the shore and the town of Le +Cap, ordering him to oppose the landing by threatening the white +population with fire and sword should they offer to assist the French +troops. Toussaint, counting upon the effect of threats, had not estimated +the savage horror of slavery which animated his companions, nor the +ferocity which could be displayed by men of his race when let loose upon +their former masters. On entering the roads the French squadron began to +fire; the negroes set the town on fire, put chains on some of the +principal white men, and withdrew to the mountains or hills. Toussaint +having preceded them, the army of negroes was again formed round him. The +coast, however, being already taken by General Leclerc, the white +population joined them; and a large number of the negroes, becoming +alarmed, accepted the conditions offered by the general. Then, after +offering some defence, several of Toussaint's lieutenants, one after +another, surrendered. The most ferocious of them, Dessalines, had just +been driven from St. Marc, where he committed great atrocities. Toussaint +was pursued to his retreat, and after his entrenchments were forced he +accepted a capitulation, and withdrew to his plantation at Ennery. The +climate of St. Domingo caused frightful ravages to the French army, and +the consequent weakness of his troops greatly increased General Leclerc's +alarm. He had, moreover received peremptory orders, the severity of which +he frequently modified. "Follow exactly my instructions," General +Bonaparte wrote to him on the 16th of March, 1802, "and as soon as ever +you have got rid of Toussaint, Christophe, Dessalines, and the leading +brigands, and the masses of the blacks are disarmed, send away all the +blacks and men of color who shall have played any part in the civil +troubles." A certain agitation continued to reign among the blacks, and +Leclerc seized upon this pretext to summon Toussaint to a conference. The +vanity of the former dictator was flattered, and triumphed over his +mistrust. "These white gentlemen who know everything still have need of +the old negro," said he, and he set out for the French camp (June 10, +1802). Immediately arrested and cast into a frigate, he was taken to the +town of Le Cap; his family had been captured as well as himself, and he +found them on board the vessel that carried him to France. He was alone +when he was imprisoned in the Temple, and afterwards transferred to the +fortress of Joux, in the icy casemates under the canopy of the mountains. +The only question asked him was where he had hidden his treasures. The +dictator of the blacks gave no answer; he had fallen into a deep lethargy. +On the 27th April, 1803, he at last expired, the victim of cold, +imprisonment, and solitude. A few months later (November, 1803) the +mournful remains of our army evacuated St. Domingo, for ever lost to the +power of France. General Leclerc was dead of fever, as well as the greater +part of his officers, like Richepanse at Guadeloupe. The climate of his +country had avenged Toussaint Louverture; the instruments of Bonaparte had +perished, the enterprise had failed. The sister of General Bonaparte +returned to France, ready for higher destinies; the wife and children of +the dictator of St. Domingo pined away slowly in exile. + +This check was insignificant in the midst of so much success for his +armies, and so many easy triumphs over the subdued nations; but the +jealous susceptibility of the First Consul kept increasing. He had +punished Toussaint Louverture for the resistance he had encountered in St. +Domingo; he was irritated against the remnants of isolated opposition +which he encountered at times among a few members of the Tribunate. The +treaties of peace, so brilliantly concluded after the signature of the +preliminaries of London, had been ratified without difficulty by the Corps +Législatif. A single article of the treaty with Russia raised strong +objections; it was obscure, and assured the Czar of the repression of +Polish plots in France. The republican pride was irritated at the word +_subjects_ which, was found in the clause. "Our armies have fought for ten +years because we were citizens," cried Chenier, "and we have become +subjects! Thus has been accomplished the desire of the double coalition!" +The treaty was, nevertheless, ratified by an immense majority. But the +anger of the master had been roused; "The tribunes are _dogs_ that I +encounter everywhere," he often exclaimed. The Tribunate and the Corps +Législatif soon incurred his displeasure afresh--the one by discussing, +the other by rejecting, a few preliminary articles of the new civil code. +The First Consul was present at the discussions of the Council of State, +often taking part in them with singular spirit and penetration, sometimes +warped by personal or political prejudices. He had adopted as his own the +work of the learned lawyers who had drawn up and compiled for the honor +and utility of France the wisest and the simplest doctrines of civil and +commercial law. "We can still risk two battles," said Bonaparte, after the +rejection of the first head of the code. "If we gain them we will continue +the march we have commenced. If we lose them we will enter into our winter +quarters, and will advise as to the course to be taken." + +The second head of the code was voted; the third, relative to the +deprivation of civil rights, was excessive in its rigor; it was rejected. +At the same time, and as if to give proof of its independence, the Corps +Législatif, which had just chosen as its president Dupuis, author of a +philosophical work, then famous, upon the "Origin of all Religions," sent +up as candidates for the Senate the Abbé Grégoire and Daunou. The former +had been dismissed from his charge as constitutional bishop at the time of +the Concordat, the second was honored of all men, moderate in a very firm +opposition. The Abbé Grégoire was elected. The First Consul had presented +Generals Jourdan, Lamartillière, and Berruyer, accompanying their +candidature with a message. He broke out violently during a sitting of the +Senate. "I declare to you," he said, "that if you appoint Daunou senator, +I shall take it as a personal injury, and you know that I never suffer +that!" General Lamartillière was appointed, but the slight notion of +independence in the constituent bodies had troubled and displeased +Bonaparte; he recoiled before the risks that awaited the Concordat and the +great project of public instruction presented for the acceptance of the +Corps Législatif. On the 8th of January, 1802, a message was brought in +during the sitting. "Legislators," said the First Consul, "the government +has resolved to withdraw the projects of law of the civil code. It is with +pain that it finds itself obliged to defer to another period laws in which +the interests of the nation are so much involved, but it is convinced that +the time has not yet come when these great discussions can be carried on +with that calm and unity of intention which they require." + +This was not enough to assure the repose of General Bonaparte and the +docile acceptance of his wishes; Consul Cambacérès, clever at veiling +absolute power with an appearance of legality, proposed to confide to the +Senate the task of eliminating from the Tribunate and the Corps Législatif +the fifth who ought regularly to be designated by lot. The legislative +labors were suspended; the First Consul had set out for Lyons, in order to +guide the destinies of the Italian Republic. He wrote thence to his +colleagues: "I think that I shall be in Paris at the end of the decade, +and that I shall myself be able to make the Senate understand the +situation in which we find ourselves. I do not think it will be possible +to continue to march forward when the constituted authorities are composed +of enemies; the system has none greater than Daunou; and since, in fine, +all these affairs of the Corps Législatif and the Tribunate have resulted +in scandal, the least thing that the Senate can do is to remove the twenty +and the sixty bad members, and replace them by well-disposed persons. The +will of the nation is that the government may not be hindered from doing +well, and that the head of Medusa may no longer be displayed in our +Tribunes and in our Assemblies. The conduct of Sieyès in this circumstance +proves perfectly that, after having concurred in the destruction of all +the constitutions since 1791, he still wishes to try his hand against this +one. It is very extraordinary that he does not see the folly of it. He +ought to go and burn a wax taper at Notre Dame for having been delivered +so happily and in a manner so unhoped for. But the older I grow the more I +perceive that every one has to fulfil his destiny." + +When the First Consul returned to Paris, the opposition, more brilliant +than effective, of a few eloquent members, had ceased in the Tribunate; +the Corps Législatif had undergone the same purification. Faithful +servants had been carefully chosen by the Senate--some capable of ill- +temper and anger, like Lucien Bonaparte and Carnot; others distinguished +by their administrative merit, like Daru--all fit to vote the great +projects which the First Consul meditated. He did not, however, condescend +to submit to them the general amnesty in favor of all the emigrants whose +names had not yet been erased from the fatal list. Perhaps he still +dreaded some remains of revolutionary passion. This act of justice and +clemency was the object of a Senatus Consultum. The First Consul kept in +his own hands the unsold confiscated property of emigrants--a powerful +means of action, which he often exercised in order to attach to himself +men and families of consideration by direct or personal restitution. + +He created at the same time a new instrument of government the fruit of a +powerful mind and profound acquaintance with human nature. Formerly the +honorary orders successively founded by kings of France had been reserved +for a small number of privileged persons; in this limited circle they had +been the object of great ambition and of long intrigues. By the +institution of the Legion of Honor, Bonaparte resolved to extend to the +entire nation, in the camp and in civil life, that rivalry of hopes and +that ardent thirst for honors which formerly animated the courtiers. He +had proved the importance which the military attached to arms of honor, +and he was impatient of the objections which the Council of State brought +before him on this subject. "People call this kind of thing a bauble," +said he. "Well! it is with baubles that men are managed. I would not say +it to a Tribune, but I do not believe that Frenchmen love liberty and +equality; they have not been changed by ten years of Revolution; like the +Gauls, they must have distinctions. It is one means more of managing men." +The experience of the rulers who have succeeded him has justified the far- +seeing and cynical conception of Bonaparte. It has proved once more what +abuses can be brought about, and what weaknesses can be created, by an +institution originally intended to appeal to noble sentiments. The passion +for equality was much stronger than the First Consul thought; the +institution of the Legion of Honor encountered great opposition in the +purified Tribunate and Corps Législatif, and was only voted by a small +majority. + +A great law on public instruction prepared the way for the foundation of +the University, from that time one of the favorite ideas of the First +Consul. Primary instruction remained neglected, as it had been practically +by the Convention. The communes were entrusted with the direction and +construction of schools; no salary was assured to the instructor beyond +the school fees. The central schools were suppressed; their method of +mixed instruction had succeeded badly. The project of the First Consul +instituted thirty-two Lycées, intended for instruction in the classical +languages and in the sciences. He had little taste for the free exercise +of reflection and human thought; instruction in history and philosophy +found no place in his programme. "We have ceased to make of history a +particular study," said M. Roederer, "because history properly so called +only needs to be read to be understood." The great revival of historic +studies in France was soon to protest eloquently against a theory which +separated the present from the past, and which left in consequence a most +grievous blank in education. Military exercises were everywhere carefully +organized. Six thousand four hundred scholarships, created by the State, +were to draw the young into the new establishments, or into the schools +already founded to which the State extended its grants and its patronage. +Without being officially abolished, the freedom of secondary instruction +was thus subjected to a destructive rivalry, and the action of the +government penetrated into the bosom of all families. "What more sweet," +said M. Roederer, "than to see one's children in a manner adopted by the +State, at the moment when it becomes a question of providing for their +establishment?" "This is only a commencement," said the First Consul to +Fourcroy, the principal author of the project, and its clever defender +before the Corps Législatif; "by and by we shall do better." + +The Treaty of Amiens had already been signed several months (25th March, +1802), but it had not yet been presented for the ratification of the Corps +Législatif; this was the supreme satisfaction reserved for it, and the +brilliant consummation of its labors. It was at the same time the price +paid in advance for a manifestation long prepared for, but which, however, +still remained obscure even among those most trusted by the all-powerful +master of France. The destinies of the nation rested in his hands, but the +power had been confided to him for ten years only; it was necessary to +insure the prolongation of this dictatorship, which all judged useful at +the present moment, and of which few people had foreseen the danger. +Bonaparte persisted in hiding his thought; he waited for the spontaneous +homage of the constituent bodies in the name of the grateful nation. +Cambacérès was acquainted with this desire, and he exerted himself to +prepare the votes in the Senate. A certain mistrust reigned in some minds. +The Tribunate, alone permitted to speak, at length took the initiative. +Its President, Chabot de l'Allier, the friend of Cambacérès made this +proposal:--"The Senate is invited to give the consuls a testimony of the +national gratitude." This wish, transmitted to the Senate, was at the same +time carried to the Tuileries; Siméon was entrusted with presenting it to +the First Consul. "I desire no other glory than that of having entirely +completed the task which was imposed on me," replied Bonaparte; "I am +ambitious of no other recompense than the affection of my fellow-citizens; +life is only dear to me for the services I can render to my country; death +itself will have for me no bitterness, if I can only see the happiness of +the Republic as well assured as its glory." + +So many protestations of disinterestedness deceived nobody; the thirst for +power betrayed itself even in the most modest words. Through ignorance, or +uneasiness as to the future, the Senate made a mistake as to the measure +of an ambition that knew no limit. It voted for General Bonaparte a +prolongation of his powers during ten years; Lanjuinais alone protested +against the dictatorship, as he had formerly protested against demagogy. +The officials, badly informed, ran with eagerness to the Tuileries; they +were received with evident ill-temper. The first impulse of Bonaparte was +to refuse the proposal of the Senate; prudent counsels opened to him +another way. + +It was from Malmaison, the pretty country-house dear to Madame Bonaparte, +that the First Consul replied to the message of the Senate. "Senators," +said he, "the honorable proof of esteem embodied in your deliberation of +the 18th will be always graven upon my heart. In the three years that have +just passed away, fortune has smiled upon the Republic; but fortune is +inconstant, and how many men whom she has loaded with her favors have +lived more than a few years! + +"The interest of my glory and that of my happiness would seem to assign as +the term of my public life the moment when the peace of the world is +proclaimed. + +"But you judge that I ought to make a new sacrifice for the people; I will +do it if the wish of the people commands what your suffrage authorizes." +In all times, and under all forms of arbitrary government, the appeal to +the people has offered to power an easy resource; Cambacérès had cleverly +suggested it to the First Consul. In explaining to the Council of State +the reasons which rendered the vote of the Senate unacceptable, he +formulated immediately the proposal which ought to be put before the +nation: "Napoleon Bonaparte, shall he be consul for life?" To this first +question Roederer proposed to add a second, immediately rejected by the +explicit wish of the First Consul himself: "Shall he have the right of +appointing his successor?" For three weeks, in all the cities and in all +the villages, the registries of votes remained open. The Tribunate and the +Corps Législatif presented themselves in a body at the Tuileries, in order +to vote into the hands of the First Consul. The Senate had the honor of +casting up the votes. It remained mute and powerless in consequence of its +awkward proposal. "Come to the help of people who have made a mistake in +trying to divine your purposes too deeply," said Cambacérès to the First +Consul. 3,577,259 "Yeas" had agreed to the Consulate for life. Rather more +than 800 "Noes" alone represented the opposition. La Fayette refused his +assent; he wrote upon the registry of votes, "I should not know how to +vote for such a magistracy, inasmuch as political liberty will not be +guaranteed." + +The feeble and insufficient guarantees of political liberty were about to +undergo fresh restrictions. In receiving from the Senate the return of the +votes, the First Consul said, "The life of a citizen is for his country. +The French people wish mine to be entirely consecrated to it; I obey its +will. In giving me a new pledge--a permanent pledge of its confidence, it +imposes upon me the duty of basing the legal system on far-seeing +institutions." A Senatus Consultum, reforming the Constitution of the year +VIII., substituted for the lists of notables, the formation of Cantonal +Colleges, Colleges of Arrondissements, and Colleges of Departments, the +members of which, few in number, and appointed for life by the cantonal +assemblies, were to nominate candidates for selection by the executive +authority. The Tribunate was limited to fifty members; the Council of +State saw its importance diminished by the formation of a Privy Council. +The number of senators was fixed at eighty, but the First Consul was left +at liberty to add forty members at his pleasure. This assurance of the +docility of the Assembly was not sufficient. The Senate was invested with +the right of interpreting the constitution, of suspending it when +necessary, or of dissolving the Tribunate and the Corps Législatif; but it +might not adopt any measure without the initiative of the government. The +First Consul reserved for himself the right of pardon and the duty of +naming his successor. This last clause was forced on him by reasons of +State policy, but he deferred it for a long time. His mind could only be +satisfied with the principle of hereditary succession, and he had no +children. Madame Bonaparte feared a divorce, the principle of which had +been maintained by the First Consul in the Council of State with +remarkable earnestness. The choice of a successor remained an open +question, which encouraged many hopes. The brothers of the First Consul +were loaded with honors; the family of the master took rank by themselves +from the moment when the name they bore in common appeared with a +freshness which was in part to eclipse its glory. In imitation of the +Italian Consulate, the Senate proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte Consul for +life. + +A few prudent friends of liberty in France began to feel uneasy at this +unheard-of aggrandizement of power without a curb. To the fear which +France in anarchy had caused in Europe already succeeded the disquietude +inspired by an absolute master, little careful of rights or engagements, +led by the arbitrary instincts of his own mind, susceptible by nature or +by policy, and always disposed to use his advantages imperiously. Peace +was already beginning to be irksome to him; he cherished hopes of new +conquests; his temper became every day more exacting, and the feebleness +of the English minister furnished him with occasions of quarrel. A +stranger to the liberal spirit of the English constitution, a systematic +enemy to the freedom of the press, Bonaparte required from Addington and +Lord Hawkesbury that they should expel from England the revolutionary +libellers, whose daily insults in the journals irritated him, and the +emigrant Chouans, whose criminal enterprises he dreaded. To the demands of +the French minister at London was added the official violence of the +_Moniteur_, edited and inspired by Barère. "What result," said the journal +of the First Consul, "what result can the English Government expect by +fomenting the troubles of the Church, by harboring, and re-vomiting on our +territory, the scoundrels of the Côtes-du-Nord and Morbihan, covered with +the blood of the most important and richest proprietors of those +unfortunate departments? Does it not know that the French Government is +now more firmly established than the English Government? Does it imagine +that for the French Government reciprocity will be difficult? What might +be the effect of an exchange of such insults--of this protection and this +encouragement accorded to assassins?" + +The irritation was real, and its manifestations sincere; but they cloaked +more serious incentives to anger, and pretensions fatal to the repose of +Europe. For a long time the First Consul had repelled with scorn any +intervention of England in the affairs of the new States he had created, +and which the English Government had constantly refused to recognize. The +complaints of Lord Hawkesbury on the subject of the French mediation in +Switzerland provoked an explosion of anger and threats. "Whatever may be +said or not said," wrote Talleyrand to Otto, "the resolution of the First +Consul is irrevocable. He will not have Switzerland converted into a new +Jersey. You will never speak of war, but you will not suffer any one to +speak to you of it. With what war could they threaten us? With a naval +war? But our commerce has only just started afresh, and the prey that we +should afford the English would be scarcely worth while. Our West Indies +are supplied with acclimatized soldiers! St. Domingo alone contains 25,000 +of them. They might blockade our ports, it is true; but at the very moment +of the declaration of war England would find herself blockaded in turn. +The territory of Hanover, of Holland, of Portugal, of Italy, down to +Tarento, would be occupied by our troops. The countries we are accused of +domineering over too openly--Liguria, Lombardy, Switzerland, Holland-- +instead of being left in this uncertain situation, from which we sustain a +thousand embarrassments, would be converted into French provinces, from +which we should draw immense resources; and we should be compelled to +realize that empire of the Gauls which is ceaselessly held up as a terror +to Europe. And what would happen if the First Consul, quitting Paris for +Lille or St. Omer, collecting all the flat-bottomed vessels of Flanders +and Holland, and preparing the means of transport for 100,000 men, should +plunge England into the agonies of an invasion--always possible, almost +certain? Would England stir up a continental war? But where would she find +her allies? In any case, if the war on the continent were to be renewed, +it would be England who would compel us to conquer Europe. The First +Consul is only thirty-three years old; he has as yet only destroyed States +of the second rank. Who knows but that he might have time enough yet (if +forced to attempt it) to change the face of Europe, and resuscitate the +Empire of the West?" + +The violence of these words went beyond the thought of the First Consul; +he had not yet firmly made up his mind for the recommencement of +hostilities. France submissive, Europe silent and resigned, accepting +without a murmur the encroachments of his ambition--such were for him the +conditions of peace; England could not accept them. With Piedmont and the +island of Elba annexed to France, Holland and Switzerland subdued, and the +Duchy of Parma occupied, England had eluded the agreements relative to the +island of Malta. Profiting by the difficulties which opposed themselves to +the reconstitution of the order of things guaranteed by the great powers, +she had detained in her hands this pledge of empire in the Mediterranean. +It was the object of continual complaints from the First Consul, and the +pretext for his outburst of anger. "The whole Treaty of Amiens, and +nothing but the Treaty of Amiens," Otto kept constantly repeating to Lord +Hawkesbury. The minister of foreign affairs responded by a declaration +equally peremptory: "The condition of the continent at the time of the +Treaty of Amiens, and nothing but that condition." The mutual +understandings and reticences which had enabled a truce to be arranged, +little by little disappeared. The truth began to come to light. A mission +of General Sébastiani to Egypt resulted in awakening general uneasiness. + +The report of the First Consul's envoy was textually published in the +_Moniteur_; it enumerated the forces at the disposal of England and Turkey +in the East, and in conclusion expressed its opinion that "6000 Frenchmen +would now be sufficient to reconquer Egypt." + +This was, perhaps, saying more than Napoleon Bonaparte had resolved upon; +and the ambassador's desire to please had responded to the remote and +vague desires of the master. England was much disturbed at it, and yet +more so at the haughty declarations of the First Consul in a statement of +the condition of the republic. "In England," said he, "two parties contend +for power. One has concluded peace and appears resolved on its +maintenance; the other has sworn implacable hatred to France. Whilst this +strife of parties lasts, there are measures which prudence dictates to the +government. Five hundred thousand men ought to be, and shall be, ready to +defend and to avenge her. Whatever be the success of her intrigues, +England will not be able to draw other nations into new leagues, and the +government declares with just pride that England alone could not now +contend with France." The spirited indignation of the English people +prevailed over the moderation and weakness of the government. George III., +in a message to his Parliament, said, "In view of the military +preparations which are being made in the ports of France and Holland, the +king has believed it to be his duty to adopt new measures of precaution +for the security of his States. These preparations are, it is true, +officially intended for colonial expeditions; however, as there exists +important differences of sentiment between his Majesty and the French +Government, his Majesty has felt it necessary to address his Parliament, +counting on its concurrence in order to assure all the measures which the +honor and interests of the English people require." The public voice +demanded the return to power of Pitt. "It is an astonishing and sorrowful +fact," said his old adversary, Sir Philip Francis, "that in a moment like +this all the eminent men of England are excluded from its government and +its councils. For calm weather an ordinary amount of ability in the pilot +might suffice; the storm which is now brewing calls for men of greater +experience. If the vessel founders, we shall all perish with her." + +The ambassador from England had just arrived at Paris. Lord Whitworth was +a man of resolute and simple character, without either taste or ability +for the complicated manoeuvres of diplomacy; he was well received by the +First Consul, and conversation soon began. "He reproaches us above all +with not having evacuated Egypt and Malta," wrote the ambassador to Lord +Hawkesbury. "'Nothing will make me accept that,' he said to me. 'Of the +two, I would sooner see you master of the Faubourg St. Antoine than of +Malta. My irritation against England is constantly increasing. Every wind +that blows from England bears to me the evidence of its hatred and ill- +will. If I wanted to take back Egypt by force, I could have had it a month +ago, by sending 25,000 men to Aboukir; but I should lose there more than I +should gain. Sooner or later Egypt must belong to France, either by the +fall of the Ottoman Empire, or by some arrangement concluded with it. What +advantage should I derive from making war? I can only attack you by means +of a descent upon your coasts. I have resolved upon it, and shall be +myself the leader. I know well that there are a hundred chances to one +against me; but I shall attempt it if I am forced to it; and I assure you +that such is the feeling of the troops, that army after army will be ready +to rush forward to the danger. If France and England understand each +other, the one, with its army of 480,000 men which is now being got in +readings, and the other with the fleet which has rendered it mistress of +the seas, and which I should not be able to equal in less than ten years-- +they might govern the world; by their hostility they will ruin it. Nothing +has been able to overcome the enmity of the English Government. Now we +have arrived at this point: Do you want peace or war? It is upon Malta +that the issue depends.'" Lord Whitworth attempted in vain a few +protestations. "I suppose you want to speak about Piedmont and +Switzerland? These are bagatelles! That ought to have been foreseen during +the negotiations; you have no right to complain at this time of day." + +The warlike ardour of the Parliament and the English nation was the answer +to the hostile declaration of the First Consul. He had counted upon a more +confirmed desire for peace, and upon the disquietude his threats would +produce. He attempted once more the effect produced by one of those +outbursts of violence to which he was subject, and of which he was +accustomed to make use. + +The message of George III. to Parliament was known to the First Consul +when, on Sunday, March 13, 1803, the ambassador of England presented +himself at the Tuileries. Bonaparte was still in the apartment of his +wife; when Lord Whitworth was announced, he entered immediately into the +salon. The crowd was large; the entire corps diplomatique was present. The +First Consul, advancing towards Lord Whitworth, said, "You have news from +London;" then, without leaving the ambassador time to answer: "So you wish +for war!" "No," replied Lord Whitworth; "we know too well the advantages +of peace." "We have already made war for ten years; you wish to make it +for another fifteen years; you force it upon me." He strode with long +steps before the amazed circle of diplomats. "The English wish for war," +said he, drawing himself up before the ambassadors of Russia and Spain-- +Markoff and Azara; "but if they are the first to draw the sword, I will +not be the last to put it back in the scabbard. They will not evacuate +Malta. Since there is no respect for treaties, it is necessary to cover +them over with a black pall!" The First Consul returned to Lord Whitworth, +who remained motionless in his place. "How is it they have dared to say +that France is arming? I have not a single vessel of the line in our +ports! You want to fight; I will fight also. France may be killed, my +lord; but intimidated, never!" "We desire neither the one nor the other," +replied the ambassador; "we only aspire to live on a good understanding +with her." "Then treaties must be respected," cried Bonaparte. "Woe to +those who don't respect treaties." + +He went away his eyes sparkling, his countenance full of wrath--when he +stopped for a moment; the sentiment of decorum had again taken possession +of his mind. "I hope," said he to Lord Whitworth, "that the Duchess of +Dorset [Footnote: Wife of Lord Whitworth.] is well, and that after having +passed a bad season in Paris, she will be able to pass a good one there." +Then suddenly, and as if his former anger again seized him: "That depends +upon England. If things so fall out that we have to make war, the +responsibility, in the eyes of God and man, will rest entirely upon those +who deny their own signature, and refuse to execute treaties." + +It was one of Bonaparte's habits to calm himself suddenly after an +outburst of violence. A few days were passed by Talleyrand and Lord +Whitworth in sincere efforts to plan pacific expedients; the ambassador +had received from the English Cabinet its ultimatum: "1. The cession of +the isle of Lampedusa. 2. The occupation of Malta for ten years. 3. The +evacuation of the Batavian Republic and Switzerland. 4. An indemnity for +the King of Sardinia. On these conditions England would recognize the +Kingdom of Etruria and the Cisalpine Republic." + +The warmth of public opinion in England had obliged the minister to take +up a fixed attitude; the consequences could not be doubtful. In vain Lord +Whitworth retarded to the utmost limits of his power the departure for +which he had received orders. The advances of Talleyrand and the +concessions of the First Consul did not seriously touch the essence of the +questions in dispute. The decision of Napoleon remained the same: "I will +not let them have two Gibraltars in the Mediterranean, one at the entrance +and another in the middle." The ambassador quitted Paris on the 12th of +May, journeying by short stages, as if still to avert the inevitable +rupture between the two nations; at the same time General Andréossy, +accredited at the court of George III., quitted London. The two +ambassadors separated on the 17th of May at Dover, sorrowful and grave, as +men who had striven to avert indescribable sorrows and struggles from +their country and the world. + +It was the harsh and barbarous custom of the English navy to fall upon the +merchant vessels of an enemy's country immediately peace was broken. Two +French ships of commerce were thus captured on the day following the +departure of General Andréossy for Paris. The First Consul replied to this +act of hostility by causing to be arrested, and soon afterwards interned +at various places in his territory, all the English sojourning or +travelling in France. Some had recently received from Talleyrand the most +formal assurances of their safety. "Many English addressed themselves to +me," said Napoleon in his "Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène;" "I constantly +referred them to their government. On it alone their lot depended." +England did not claim its citizens, it resolutely persisted in leaving +upon its author the full weight of this odious act, disapproved by his +most faithful adherents. No Frenchmen were annoyed on English soil. + +Europe was agitated and disquieted, still entrenched in its neutrality, +more or less malevolent, and terrified at the consequences it foresaw from +the renewal of the strife between France and England. "If General +Bonaparte does not accomplish the miracle that he is preparing at this +moment," said the Emperor of Germany, Francis II., "if he does not pass +the straits, he will throw himself upon us, and will fight England in +Germany." "You inspire too much fear in all the world, for it to dream now +of fearing England," cried Philippe de Cobentzel, ambassador of Austria at +Paris. It was upon this universal fear that the First Consul had counted. +Already his troops had invaded Hanover, without England thinking it +possible to defend the patrimonial domains of its sovereign. The +Hanoverian army did not attempt to resist: Marshal de Walmoden concluded +with General Mortier at Suhlingen a convention which permitted the former +to retire beyond the Elbe with arms and baggage, on condition of not +serving against France in the present war. These resolutions not having +been ratified by George III., the Hanoverian army was disbanded after +laying down its arms; 30,000 Frenchmen continued to occupy Hanover. The +uneasiness of Germany continued to increase. The Emperor of Russia offered +himself as mediator; the King of Prussia offered to arrange for the +neutrality of the north; but the First Consul remained deaf to these +advances. He sent Gouvion de Saint Cyr into the gulf of Tarento, formerly +evacuated after the peace of Amiens. The forces intended for this +expedition were to live at the expense of the kingdom of Naples. "I will +no more suffer the English in Italy than in Spain or Portugal," he had +said to Queen Caroline. "At the first act of complicity with England, war +will give me redress for your enmity." + +The attitude of Spain was doubtful, and its language little satisfactory. +By the threat of invasion by Augereau, whose forces were already collected +at Bayonne, the First Consul acted on the disgraceful terrors of the +Prince de la Paix; he only exacted money from his powerless ally. As he +now found it impossible to occupy Louisiana, Bonaparte conceived the idea +of ceding it to the United States for a sum of 80,000,000 francs, which +the Americans hastened to pay. Holland was to furnish troops and vessels, +Etruria and Switzerland soldiers. + +It was upon a maritime enterprise that the efforts and thoughts of the +First Consul were at this moment entirely concentrated. The attempt at an +invasion of England which the Directory had formerly wished to impose on +him, and which he had rejected with scorn on the eve of the campaign in +Egypt, had become the object of his most serious hopes. To throw 150,000 +men into England on a calm day by means of a flotilla of flat-bottomed +boats, which should be rowed across whilst the great vessels of the +English navy would be immovable through the absence of wind--such was the +primitive conception of the enterprise. Bonaparte prepared for it with +that persevering activity, and that marvellous pre-arrangement of details +with a view to the entire plan, which he knew how constantly to carry out +in administration as in war. To the original project of the Directory he +had added more masterly combinations, which still remained secret. A +squadron was preparing at Brest, under the orders of Admiral Ganteaume; +the Dutch vessels, commanded by Admiral Verhuell, were collected at Texel; +Admiral Latouche-Tréville, clever and daring, was to direct the squadron +of Toulon destined for a decisive manoeuvre. Admiral Brueix was entrusted +with the conduct of the flotilla of the Channel; everywhere boats had been +requisitioned, gun-boats and pinnaces were in course of construction; the +departments, the cities, the corporate bodies, offered gifts of vessels or +maritime provisions; the forests of the departments of the north fell +under the axe. Camps had been formed at Boulogne, at Étaples, at St. Omer; +fortifications rose along the coast; the First Consul undertook a journey +through the Flemish and Belgian departments, accompanied by Madame +Bonaparte and all the splendor of a royal household. The presence of the +Legate in the _cortège_ was to impress with respect and confidence the +minds of the devout populations of the north. The first point at which +Napoleon Bonaparte stayed his progress was at Boulogne; he pressed forward +the works, commenced, and ordered new ones. On his return from the +triumphal march to Brussels and back, he resumed himself the direction of +his great enterprise. Established in the little chateau of Pont de Briques +at the gate of Boulogne, he hastened over to St. Cloud, and returned, with +a rapidity which knew no fatigue. Without cessation, on the shore, in the +workshops, in the camps, he animated the sailors, the workmen, and the +soldiers with the indomitable activity of his soul. The minister of +marine, Decrès, clever, penetrating, with a nature gloomy and mournful, +suggested all the difficulties of the expedition, and yielded to the +imperial will that dominated all France. Admiral Brueix, already ill, and +soon afterwards dying, was installed in a little house which overlooked +the sea, witnessing the frequent experiments tried on the new vessels, +sometimes even the little encounter that took place with the English +ships. The First Consul braved all inclemencies of weather; he was eager +"to play his great game." "I received your letter of the 18th Brumaire," +wrote he to Cambacérès. "The sea continues to be very bad, and the rain to +fall in torrents. Yesterday I was on horseback or in a boat all day. That +is the same thing as telling you I was continually wet. At this season +nothing can be accomplished without braving the water. Fortunately for my +purpose, it suits me perfectly, and I was never better in health." + +Already the night expeditions, intended to exercise the sailors and inure +the soldiers, had commenced; the ardor of the chief spread to the army. On +the 7th of January, 1804, the minister of marine wrote from Boulogne to +the First Consul: "In the flotilla they are beginning to believe firmly +that the departure will be more immediate than is generally supposed, and +they have promised to prepare seriously for it. They shake off all +thoughts of danger, and each man sees only Cæsar and his fortunes. The +ideas of all the subalterns do not pass the limits of the roadstead and +its currents. They argue about the wind, and the anchorage, and the line +of bearing. As for the crossing, that is your affair. You know more about +it than they do, and your eyes are worth more than their telescopes. They +have implicit faith in everything that you do. The admiral himself is in +just the same condition. He has never presented you any plan, because in +fact he has none. Besides, you have not yet asked him for it; it will be +the moment of execution which will decide him. Very possibly he will be +obliged to sacrifice a hundred vessels to draw down the enemy upon them, +whilst the rest, setting out at the moment of the defeat of the others, +will go across without hindrance." + +The First Consul, ceasingly watching the sea which protected his enemies, +wrote to Cambacérès on November 16th: "I have passed these three days in +the midst of the camp and the port. I have seen from the heights of +Ambleteuse the coasts of England, as one sees the Calvaire from the +Tuileries. You can distinguish the houses, and the movements going on. It +is a ditch, which shall be crossed as soon as we shall have the audacity +to attempt it." + +So many preparations, pushed forward with such ardor, disquieted England. +The most illustrious of her naval officers--Nelson, Lord Cornwallis, and +Lord Keith--were ordered to blockade the French ports, and hinder the +return of distant squadrons. Everywhere corps of volunteers were formed, +and actively exercised on the coasts. Men of considerable note in the +political or legal world--Pitt and Addington, as well as the great lords +and the great judges--clothed themselves in uniform, and commanded +regiments. Pitt proposed to fortify London. Insurrectionary movements were +being fomented in Ireland; the French squadron at Brest was destined to +aid them. + +In the midst of this warlike and patriotic agitation, it was only natural +that the excitement should gain a party, naturally restless and credulous. +The French emigrants could not but feel a desire for action, in the hope +of taking an active part in the general struggle waged against the enemy +who kept them far from their country by the very fact of his existence and +his power. The First Consul had offered an amnesty to all the emigrants, +restored their property to some, and attracted a certain number of them +round his own person; he had recalled the priests, and re-established the +Catholic religion; but he had repelled the advances of the House of +Bourbon. His hostility to the restoration of the monarchy had always been +flagrant; the throne might be re-erected, but it should be for his own +profit. He alone was the obstacle to the hopes cherished by the exiled +princes and their friends, in presence of the re-establishment of order +and the public prosperity. Delivered from his yoke, that pressed heavily +upon her, France would salute with enthusiasm the return of her legitimate +sovereign. + +It was in England even, and amongst the circle that surrounded the Count +d'Artois, that expression was given to these hopes and ignorant illusions +as to the true state of men's minds in France. The Princes of the House of +Condé, recently enrolled with their little army in the service of England, +held themselves ready to fight, without conspiring. Louis XVIII. lived in +Germany, withdrawn from the centre of warlike preparations; he was cold, +sensible, and prudent; he thought little of plots, and had a healthier +judgment than his brother as to the chances which might restore his +fortune. The actual resources, the noisy agents of the emigration, were +collected in England: there were found the chiefs of the Chouans, with +Georges Cadoudal at their head; there dwelt the generals who had had the +misfortune to abandon their country or betray their honor--Willot, +Dumouriez, Pichegru; there were hatched chimerical projects, impressed +from the first with the fatal errors and the terrible ignorance which doom +to inevitable sterility the hopes and the efforts of exiles. + +By his counsels, or his orders, Georges Cadoudal had taken part in the +plot which had been discovered in 1801. After the failure of the infernal +machine of St. Réjant he had felt regret, and some repugnance, for such +proceedings. He proposed to go to Paris, with twenty or twenty-five +resolute men, to attack the guard of the First Consul while he passed +along the street, and strike him in the midst of his defenders. In order +to profit by this bold stroke intrigues were to be carried on beforehand +with discontented generals, who might be able to dispose the forces +necessary for the sudden overthrow of the consular government. Bonaparte +dead, the Count d'Artois and his son the Duc de Berry, secretly brought +into France, would rally their friends round them, and proclaim the +restoration of the House of Bourbon. + +Two principal actors were indispensable to the execution of the project; +Georges at Paris, unknown to the prying police of the First Consul; and +General Moreau, favorable to the fall of Bonaparte, if not to his +assassination. A nearly complete rupture had succeeded to the professed +regard which for a long time covered the secret jealousy of the First +Consul with respect to his glorious companion-in-arms. At the summit of +his power and glory, Napoleon Bonaparte was never exempt from a +recollection of rivalry with regard to the former chiefs of the republican +army, his old rivals, and who had not bowed before the prestige of his +recognized superiority. He liked neither Kléber, nor Masséna, nor Gouvion +St. Cyr. As regards Moreau, he experienced a concealed uneasiness; it was +the only military name that had been mentioned as that of a possible +successor to himself. Wounded susceptibilities, and the quarrels of women, +had aggravated a situation naturally delicate and strained. Moreau was +spirited as well as modest; he felt himself injured; he dwelt in the +country, living in grand style, sought after by the discontented, and +speaking of Bonaparte without much reserve. The emigrant conspirators +believed that circumstances were favorable for engaging him in their +plans. General Pichegru had formerly been his friend. Moreau had long +concealed the proofs of the former treason; perhaps he regretted having +given them up at the moment of his comrade's just disgrace: he was known +to be favorable to the return of Pichegru to France. It was in the name of +Pichegru, and for his interests, that Moreau was to be approached. The +first agent sent to Moreau was soon arrested; he has said in his +"Mémoires," "Moreau would have nothing to do with conspiracy, and said, +'he must cease to waste men and things.'" Other emissaries had no better +success. An active intriguer, General Lajolais, an old friend of Pichegru, +meanwhile left Paris for London; he repeated the bitter words of Moreau +respecting the First Consul--words which created illusions and hopes. On +the 21st August, 1803, Georges landed at the cliff of Biville, crossing +the rocks by the footpaths of smugglers. The police had for some time been +on the traces of the conspiracy: they were, perhaps, actively concerned in +it. A few Chouans, obscure companions of Cadoudal, were arrested and put +in prison, without their trial being proceeded with; their chief succeeded +in reaching Paris safely, where he hid himself. Two successive arrivals +completed the band of conspirators; on January 16th, 1804, General +Pichegru, the Marquis de la Rivière, Jules and Armand de Polignac, landed +in France. On the same day, and by a coincidence which suggests the idea +of a certain knowledge of the situation, the First Consul said in his +statement as to the condition of the republic,-- + +"The British Government will attempt to cast, and has perhaps already cast +upon our shores, a few of those monsters which it has nourished during the +peace, in order to injure the land which gave them birth. But they will no +longer find the impious bands who were the instruments of their first +crimes; terror has dissolved them, or justice has purged our country of +their presence. They will no longer find that credulity they abused, or +that hatred which once sharpened their daggers. Surrounded everywhere by +the public power, everywhere within the grasp of the tribunals, these +horrible wretches will be able henceforth neither to make rebels, nor to +resume with impunity their profession as brigands and assassins." + +The conspirators succeeded in assuring themselves that, contrary to the +hopes of some English diplomatists, an insurrection was no longer possible +in Vendée or Brittany. Already a certain amount of discouragement was +influencing their minds as to the success of their perilous enterprise. At +their first interview, by night, on the Boulevard of La Madeleine, Moreau +showed himself cold towards Pichegru. Georges, who had accompanied the +latter, was dissatisfied and gloomy. "This looks bad," said he, at once. +The two generals conferred. Moreau displayed no repugnance towards the +overthrow of the First Consul; he would form no project of conspiracy, but +he believed himself sure of becoming the master of power if Bonaparte +happened to disappear; he was, and he remained, a republican. He +reproached Pichegru with being mixed up with men unworthy of him. The +general had more than once bitterly felt this. "You are with us (_avec +nous_)," the Chouans used to say to him. "No gentlemen," cried Pichegru, +one day; "I am in your company (_chez vous_)." + +"Poor man!" said the conqueror of Holland, on quitting the conqueror of +Hohenlinden, "he also has his ambition, and wishes to have a turn at +governing France: he would not be its master for twenty-four hours." +Georges Cadoudal laughed scornfully; "Usurper for usurper! I love better +the one who is ruling now than this Moreau, who has neither heart nor +head!" The conspirators felt their danger. Their preliminary interviews +had led to no result; the murmurs of discontent had not developed into +serious promises, still less into effective actions. La Rivière lost hope +every day; the First Consul every day became better informed as to what +was going on. + +He had recently suppressed the ministry of police; Fouché continued, +without authority, the profession which he had always practised with +enthusiasm; he informed Napoleon as to the result of his researches. The +latter had ardently cherished a hope of pursuing, and striking down at one +blow, enemies of diverse origin, dangerous on different accounts. Amongst +the Chouans arrested in the month of August, two had remained obstinately +silent, and had been shot; a third was less courageous. "I have secret +information which makes me believe that they only came here to assassinate +me," wrote Bonaparte to Cambacérès. Querelle revealed all he knew of the +plot; he named the place of disembarkation; General Savory was sent there +in disguise, ordered to wait for that arrival of a prince, as had been +promised to the conspirators. Already his doom was determined on in the +mind of the First Consul. + +Fresh arrests had taken place in Paris, for a servant of Georges had given +information. One of his principal officers, Bouvet de Lozier, vainly +attempted to kill himself; rescued from death, he asked to see the chief +judge. Régnier sent in his place Réal, the counsellor of state, more +penetrating and more clever than himself. It is supposed that the latter +was no stranger to the drawing up of the deposition of Bouvet, who +implicated General Moreau in the gravest manner. "Here is a man who comes +back from the gates of the tomb, still surrounded by the shadows of death, +who demands vengeance upon those who by their perfidy have thrown him and +his party into the abyss where they now find themselves. Sent to sustain +the cause of the Bourbons, he finds himself compelled either to fight for +Moreau, or to renounce an enterprise which was the sole object of his +mission. Monsieur was to pass into France, to put himself at the head of +the royalist party. Moreau promised to unite himself to the cause of the +Bourbons; the royalists arrived in France, and Moreau retracts. He +proposes to them to work for him, and to get him named Dictator. Hence the +hesitation, the dissension, and the almost total loss of the royalist +party. I know not what weight you will attach to the assertions of a man +snatched an hour ago from the death to which he had devoted himself, and +who sees before him the fate which an offended government has in reserve +for him. But I cannot withhold the cry of despair, or refrain from +attacking the man who has reduced me to this." + +Réal hastened to the Tuileries. The First Consul was less astonished than +himself; he was acquainted with the interviews of Moreau and Pichegru. He +was well aware that the opinions of Moreau were quite opposed to any +thought of monarchical restoration. The general returned to Paris, after a +visit to Grosbois, on the morning of the 15th of February; he was arrested +on the bridge of Charenton, and taken to the Temple. Lajolais was arrested +at the same time. The trial was directed to take place before the civil +tribunal of the Seine. Cambacérès had proposed a military commission. +"No," said the First Consul; "it would be said that I desire to +disembarrass myself of Moreau, and to get him judicially assassinated by +own creatures." The jury was chosen in the department of the Seine; a +report upon the causes of the arrest of Moreau was sent to the Senate, the +Corps Législatif, and the Tribunate. + +The commotion in Paris was great, and the public instinct was favorable to +General Moreau. The presumed accomplices of his crime had not yet fallen +into the hands of the government. People refused to believe him guilty, a +traitor to the opinions of a lifetime, and mixed up in a royalist +conspiracy. The attitude of the general was firm and calm. For a moment, +the First Consul conceived the idea of seeing him. "I pardon Moreau," said +he; "let him own everything to me, and I will forget the errors of a +foolish jealousy." General Lajolais had recounted the details of the +interviews of Moreau with Pichegru; the accused persisted in denying +everything. "Ah, well," replied Napoleon, "since he will not open with me, +it will be necessary for him to yield to justice." Anger broke forth, in +spite of the efforts of the First Consul to preserve the appearance of a +sorrowful justice. The brother of Moreau, was a member of the Tribunate; +he had loudly pleaded in favor of the accused. "I declare," cried he, "to +the assembly, to the entire nation, that my brother is innocent of the +atrocious crimes that are imputed to him. Let him be given the means of +justifying himself, and he will do so. I demand that he may be judged by +his natural judges," The president of the Tribunate dared to style the +accusation against Moreau a _denunciation_; the First Consul warmly +criticised this expression. "The greatness of the services rendered by +Moreau is not a sufficient motive for screening him from the rigor of the +laws," cried he. "There is no government in existence where a man by +reason of his past services may screen himself from the law, which ought +to have the same grasp on him as on the meanest individual. What! Moreau +is already guilty in the eyes of the highest powers of the State, and you +will not even consider him as accused!" "Paris and France have only one +sentiment, only one opinion," wrote he to Comte Melzi, vice-president of +the Italian Republic. + +The pursuit had become rigorous. It was known that Pichegru and Georges +were hidden in Paris; the gates of the city were closed, egress by the +river watched by armed vessels. The Corps Législatif voted a measure +condemning to death whoever should conceal the conspirators, to the number +of sixty. Whoever should be cognizant of them without denouncing them, was +liable to six years in irons. One night General Pichegru went to ask +asylum of Barbé-Marbois, formerly intendant of St. Domingo, transported, +like himself, to Sinnamari, and now become a minister of the First Consul. +Barbé-Marbois did not hesitate to receive him. When he avowed it +afterwards to Napoleon, the latter warmly congratulated him upon it. + +A few days passed by; General Pichegru, shamefully betrayed by one of his +former officers, was arrested on the 28th of February, bravely resisting +the agents of the police. Georges, seized in the street on the 9th of +March, blew out the brains of the first gendarme who seized the bridle of +his horse. La Rivière and Polignac were also in prison. Moreau had given +up his system of absolute denials; at the prayer of his wife and his +friends he wrote to the First Consul, simply recounting his relations with +Pichegru, without asking pardon, and without denying the past +transactions, seeking to disengage his cause from the Royalist conspiracy +--less haughty, however, than he had till then appeared. Bonaparte had the +letter affixed to the process of the trial. He appeared moved at the +situation of Pichegru. "A fine end!" said he to Réal: "A fine end for the +conqueror of Holland. It will not do for the men of the Revolution to +devour each other. I have long had a dream about Cayenne; it is the finest +country in the world for founding a colony. Pichegru has been proscribed, +as he knows; ask him how many men and how much money he wants to create a +great establishment; I will give them to him, and he will retrieve his +glory by rendering a service to France." The general did not reject the +proposition, but he persisted in his silence. "I will speak before the +tribunal," said he. Before the supreme day when the trial was about to +take place before human justice, Pichegru had appeared before a more +august tribunal; on the morning of the 6th of April he was found dead in +his bed, strangled, it was said, by his own hands. + +The royalist conspirators at first proudly avowed the aim of their +enterprise. "What did you come to do in Paris?" asked the prefect of the +police of Georges Cadoudal. "I came to attack the First Consul." "What +were your means?" "I had as yet little enough; I counted on collecting +them." "Of what nature were your means of attack?" "By means of living +force." "Where did you count on finding this force?" "In all France." "And +what was your project?" "To put a Bourbon in the place of the First +Consul." "Had you many people with you?" "No, because I was not to attack +the First Consul until there was a French prince in Paris, and he has not +yet arrived." + +This was the prince for whom General Savary had been, waiting in vain for +nearly a month on the cliff of Biville. The anger of the First Consul +continued to increase. "The Bourbons think they can get me killed like a +dog," said he. "My blood is worth more than theirs; I shall make no more +of their case than of Moreau or Pichegru; the first Bourbon prince who +falls into my hands, I will have shot remorselessly." The Comte d'Artois +and the Duc de Berry were announced, and did not arrive. Napoleon +stretched forth his arm to seize an innocent prince, whose misfortune it +was to be within his reach. On the 10th of March, 1804, he wrote to +General Berthier: "You will do well, citizen minister, to give orders to +General Ordener, whom I place at your disposal, to repair at night, by +post, to Strasburg. He will travel under another name than his own, and +see the general of division. The aim of his mission is to throw himself +upon Ettenheim, invest the city, and carry away from it the Duc d'Enghien, +Dumouriez, an English colonel, and any other individual who may be in +their suite. The general of division, the marshal of the barracks of +gendarmes, who has been to reconnoitre Ettenheim, as well as the +commissary of police, will give him all necessary information." + +The young Duc d'Enghien, son of the Duc de Bourbon, and grandson of the +Prince of Condé, resided in fact at Ettenheim, in the grand duchy of +Baden. Drawn at times to Strasburg, by his taste for the theatre, he was +held fast in this little city by a passionate attachment for the Princess +Charlotte of Rohan, who lived there. He was young and brave, and was +waiting for the call from England to take part in the war. He was not +implicated in the plot hatched round the Comte d'Artois, and was +absolutely ignorant of it. A few emigrants--very few in numbers, and +without political importance--resided near him; one of them was the +Marquis de Thumery, whose name, mispronounced with a German accent, gave +rise to the error which supposed the presence of Dumouriez at Ettenheim. +This supposition might for a moment deceive the First Consul as to the +complicity of the Duc d'Enghien; it was cleared up when, after having +violated the territory of the Grand Duke of Baden (for which Talleyrand +was careful to apologize), he learnt the arrival of the unfortunate prince +at Strasburg; all the papers seized at Ettenheim were in his hands. + +The first movement of the Duc d'Enghien had been to defend himself. "Are +you compromised?" asked a German officer who was at his house. "No!" +replied the young man with astonishment. Resistance was useless; he +surrendered. There was one single ground of accusation against him: like +all the princes of his house, and thousands of emigrants, he had borne +arms against France. Nearly all the nobility had been permitted again to +tread the soil of their country: he alone was about to expiate the fault +of all. The minister of France at Baden, Massias, felt compelled to bear +witness that "the conduct of the Prince had always been innocent and +guarded." A few days later the _Moniteur_ had to announce the assembling +of emigrants, with a staff of officers and bureaux of officials round a +prince of the House of Bourbon. Massias had beforehand given the lie to +this rumor. The Duc d'Enghien was brought to Paris; detained for a few +hours at the barriers, he was then conducted to the chateau of Vincennes. +On the same morning the First Consul had sent this order to his brother- +in-law, General Murat, whom he had just named governor of Paris: "General, +in accordance with the orders of the First Consul, the Duc d'Enghien is to +be conducted to the castle of Vincennes, where arrangements are made to +receive him. He will probably arrive at his destination to-night. I pray +you to make such arrangements as shall provide for the safety of this +prisoner at Vincennes, as well as on the road from Meaux by which he +comes. The First Consul has ordered that the name of this prisoner, and +everything relative to him, shall be kept a profound secret. In +consequence, the officer entrusted with his guard ought not to be made +acquainted with the name and rank of his prisoner; he travels under the +name of Plessis." + +Bonaparte was at Malmaison, gloomy and agitated; since the day when the +order had been given to arrest the Duc d'Enghien, the intimate companions +of the First Consul had no doubt as to his fatal resolution. Cambacérès +had warmly insisted upon the deplorable consequences of such an act; +Madame Bonaparte had cast herself at his feet, but he raised her up ill- +temperedly. "You have grown very saving over the blood of the Bourbons," +said he bitterly to Cambacérès. "I shall not allow myself to be killed +without being able to defend myself." The fatal moment approached. Madame +de Remusat, playing at chess with Napoleon, heard him repeating in a low +voice the noble words of Augustus pardoning Cinna, and she believed the +prince saved: he had just entered the castle of Vincennes, and already the +judges were awaiting him. + +Murat had loudly declared his repugnance for the functions imposed on him +by his brother-in-law. "He wants to stain my uniform with blood," said he +with anger. He was not called to Vincennes. General Savary, devoted +without reserve to the First Consul, had set out with a corps of +gendarmes. Already the Duc d'Enghien, weighed down by fatigue, was asleep; +he was roused up at midnight. A captain, as judge advocate, was entrusted +with a first examination. He being asked his names, Christian names, age, +and place of birth, in reply said "he was named Louis-Antoine-Henri de +Bourbon, Duc d'Enghien, born at Chantilly, the 2nd of August, 1772." Being +asked at what time he quitted France, in reply he said, "I cannot say +precisely, but I think it was on the 16th July, 1789, that I set out with +the Prince de Condé my grandfather, my father the Comte d'Artois, and the +children of the Comte d'Artois." Being asked where he had resided since +leaving France, in reply he said, "On leaving France I passed with my +parents, whom I always accompanied, by Mons and Brussels; thence we +returned to Turin, to the palace of the king, where we remained nearly +sixteen months. Thence, always with my parents, I went to Worms and the +neighborhood, upon the banks of the Rhine. Lastly the Condé corps was +formed, and I was with it throughout the war. I had before that made the +campaign of 1792, in Brabant, with the Bourbon corps, in the army of Duke +Albert. We terminated the last campaign in the environs of Grätz, and I +asked permission of the Cardinal de Rohan to go into his country, to +Ettenheim, in Brisgau, the former bishopric of Strasburg. For two years +and a half I remained in this country, with the permission of the Elector +of Baden." Being asked if he had ever passed into England, and if that +power had always accorded him a grant of money, in reply he said he had +never been there; that England always accorded him a grant of money, and +that he had only that to live upon. Being asked if he kept up +correspondence with the French princes in London, and if he had seen them +for some time, he said that naturally he kept up a correspondence with his +grandfather, and that equally naturally he corresponded with his father, +whom he had not seen, so far as he could recollect, since 1794 or 1795. +Being asked if he knew General Pichegru, and if he had any relations with +him, he said, "I believe I have never seen him; I have had no relations +with him. I know that he has desired to see me. I am thankful not to have +known him, after the vile means of which it is said he has desired to make +use, if it is true." Being asked if he knew the ex-general Dumouriez, and +if he had had relations with him, he said, "On the contrary, I have never +seen him." Being asked if, since the peace, he had not kept up +correspondence with the interior of the republic, he said, "I have written +to a few friends who are still attached to me, who have been my companions +in war, about their affairs and my own; these correspondences are not, I +think, those to which it is intended to refer." + +Upon the minute of the examination, beneath his signature, the Duc +d'Enghien wrote, "I earnestly entreat to have a private audience with the +First Consul. My name, my rank, my way of thinking, and the horror of my +situation, make me hope that he will not refuse me my request." The +request was foreseen, and the answer, according to instructions given, +that under no pretext would the First Consul be willing to receive the Duc +d'Enghien. At two o'clock in the morning the military commission was +assembled, presided over by General Hullin, formerly life-guard of Louis +XVI., and one of the insurgent leaders before the Bastille. The same +questions were addressed to the prince, more briefly--less explicitly, as +if the time was short, and the enemy threatening. Sometimes the president +interfered with an appearance of rude benevolence. General Savary did not +speak. When the examination was finished he rose up. "Now this is my +concern," said he. The judges deliberated a moment. The sentence, signed +in blank, was already in their hands. The Governor of Vincennes, Harel, +appeared at the gate carrying a light. He had formerly delivered to +Bonaparte the conspirators of the plot of Aréna and Topino-Lebrun; to-day +he preceded in the sombre corridors the prisoner, escorted by a piquet of +troops. The prince did not pale; he reiterated his request for an +audience, which was harshly denied. Already the grave was dug in the ditch +of the chateau; a detachment of gendarmes waited for the condemned. + +The Duke stopped. "Comrades," said he loudly, "there is without doubt +among you a man of honor who will charge himself with receiving and +transmitting my last thoughts." And as a young officer stepped out of the +ranks, "Has any one here a pair of scissors?" asked the Prince. He cut a +lock of his hair, and joining it in the form of a ring, he pronounced in +low tones the name of the person for whom he intended this souvenir; then +pushing back with his hands the bandage with which they wished to cover +his eyes, he made one step towards the soldiers: they fired, and he was +dead. General Savary went to tell his master that he was obeyed. + +Shakespeare has depicted remorse with that terrible truthfulness which +carries home to our minds the horror of crime. Lady Macbeth passes before +us haunted by a vision, and ceaselessly washing her blood-stained hands. +During all his life, even in his exile, Napoleon vainly sought to wash off +the innocent and illustrious blood which he caused to flow in the fosse of +Vincennes on the 20th of March, 1804. The men whom he had employed as the +instruments of his heinous crime struggled like himself under this +terrible responsibility. In vain has Bonaparte reproached Talleyrand with +having perfidiously urged him on in the fatal path; in vain has Réal +affirmed that an order reached his house during the night assuring to the +prisoner a new examination, unfortunately forestalled by his death. All +explanations, and all accusations have failed before the severe justice of +history and the infallible instinct of the public conscience. The odious +burden of a cowardly assassination was constantly weighing upon him who +had ordered it. The blood of his victim created round him an abyss that +all the efforts of supreme power could never succeed in filling up. + +When the news spread in Paris, on March 21st, it was received with stupor; +people wept, even at Malmaison. Caulaincourt, previously entrusted with +the explanatory letter for the Elector of Baden, complained bitterly of +the stain upon his honor. Fourcroy was sent to dissolve the Corps +Législatif; Fontanes, who presided over the assembly, replied to the +counsellor of state without making allusion to the catastrophe, the +intelligence of which the latter had mixed up with matters of business. +His speech was modified in the _Moniteur_. Fontanes had the courage to +protest against the approbation which had been attributed to him. The same +journal contained the judgment of the military commission which had +condemned the Duc d'Enghien; like the speech of Fontanes, the wording had +been altered. + +Alone amongst the public functionaries of every rank or origin, young +Chateaubriand, minister of France to the republic of Valais, felt himself +constrained to give in his resignation. Louis XVIII. sent back the collar +of the Golden Fleece to the King of Spain, who remained the ally of +Napoleon. The courts of Russia and Sweden put on mourning for the Duc +d'Enghien. + +Thus was preparing in Europe, under the impulse of public opinion, the +third coalition, which was to unite all the sovereigns against France. +Alone till then, England had hatched against us the plots in which its +diplomatic agents were found compromised; but the denunciations of the +First Consul against Spencer and Drake vanish, and lose all importance in +presence of the crime committed at Vincennes. Prussia, long and +obstinately faithful to its policy of neutrality, and recently disposed to +draw nearer to us, began to incline towards Russia, with whom she soon +concluded an alliance. Austria evinced neither regret nor anger, but the +action of the German powers was silently influencing her. The First Consul +broke out against the Emperor Alexander, violently hurling a gross insult +at him. "When England meditated the assassination of Paul I., if it had +been known that the authors of the plot could be found at a place on the +frontiers, would not you have been inclined to have them seized?" General +Hédouville, ambassador of France at St. Petersburg, received the order to +set out in forty-eight hours. "Know for your direction," said he to the +chargé d'affaires, "that the First Consul does not wish for war, but he +does not fear it with anybody." + +In presence of this general perturbation of Europe, of the loud +indignation of some and the dull uneasiness of others--in order to respond +to the denunciations of the royalists, who understood the fatal +consequences of the blow that Bonaparte had dealt to his own glory, the +First Consul resolved to take at length the last step which separated him +from supreme greatness. A year before he had been appointed Consul for +life of the French Republic: the murderer of a prince of the house of +Bourbon, he raised again on his own account the overturned throne. Still +without children, he founded in his person an hereditary monarchy, assured +of finding in the nation the assent of admiration as of lassitude and +fear. Eight days had scarcely passed since the execution of the Duc +d'Enghien; the brothers of the First Consul were absent and discontented. +Cambacérès was opposed to the projects which he had divined in the mind of +Napoleon Bonaparte. In his place, Fouché, always eager to serve the man +whose favor he courted, cleverly prepared the minds of the Senate. No +equivocation was possible as to the desires of Napoleon. On March 27th the +first assembly of the state addressed to the supreme chief this humble +request: "You found a new era," said the Senate, "but you ought to make it +eternal. Splendor is nothing without duration. You are harassed by +circumstances, by conspirators, by the ambitious. You are also in another +sense harassed by the uneasiness which agitates all Frenchmen. You can +conquer the times, master circumstances, put a curb on conspirators, +disarm the ambitious, tranquillize all France, by giving it institutions +which shall cement your edifice, and prolong for the children what you +have done for the fathers. In town and country if you could interrogate +all Frenchmen one after another, no one would speak otherwise than we. +Great Man, complete your work by rendering it as immortal as your glory; +you have drawn us forth from the chaos of the past, you make us blessed in +the benefits of the present--make us sure of the future." + +The clever manoeuvre of Fouché gave Napoleon the opportunity of declaring +himself; he wished to be invited to speak. His answer was not, and could +not, be ready; he asked of the Senate time to reflect. Meanwhile he set +himself to sound the courts of Europe. On the morrow of the insult he had +offered to all the sovereigns by the murder of the Duc d'Enghien, their +good-will was doubtful: the earnest adhesion of Prussia and Austria +astonished and satisfied him; he was at war with England, embroiled with +Russia; the rest of Europe seemed to be at his feet. Clever at managing +those of whom he had need, he wished to assure himself of the disposition +of the army still agitated by the arrest of Moreau. He wrote to General +Soult, who commanded the camp of Saint Omer: "Citizen General Soult, I +have received your letter. The Councils-General of the departments, the +Electoral Colleges, and all the great bodies of the State, ask that an end +should be at last put to the hopes of the Bourbons, by placing the +republic in safety from the shocks of elections and the uncertainty of the +life of a single man. But up to this moment I have decided upon nothing; +meanwhile I desire that you should instruct me in great detail as to the +opinion of the army on a measure of this nature. You perceive that I would +not be drawn into it except with the sole object of the nation's interest, +for the French people have made me so great and so powerful that I can +desire nothing more." + +The malcontents in the army were silent; the ambitious, the courtiers, the +faithful and devoted servants of the great general, brought him the +protestation of their devotion; the addresses from the departments +succeeded each other in great numbers. On April 25 the First Consul sent a +message to the Senate: "Your address of the 6th Germinal has not ceased to +be present to my thoughts," said he. "You have judged the hereditary +succession of the chief magistrate to be necessary to shelter the French +people from the plots of our enemies, and the agitation born of rival +ambitions. Many of our institutions have at the same time appeared to you +to require to be improved in order to assure without reversal the triumph +of equality and public liberty, and to offer to the government and the +nation the double guarantee of which they have need. In proportion as I +have fixed my attention on these great objects, I have perceived more and +more that, under circumstances as novel as they are important, the +counsels of your wisdom and of your experience are necessary to me in +order to fix all my ideas. I invite you then to let me become completely +acquainted with all your thoughts. I desire that on the 14th July this +year we shall be able to say to the French people: Fifteen years ago, by a +spontaneous movement, you rushed to arms; you required liberty, equality, +and glory. To-day, this best of all national wealth, assured to you +without fear of reversal, is protected from all tempests. Institutions +conceived and commenced in the midst of the storms of internal and +external war, developed with constancy, have been brought to their climax +amidst the noise of the efforts and plots of our mortal enemies, by the +adoption of all that the experience of ages and of peoples has +demonstrated as fit to guarantee the laws which the nation has judged +necessary for its dignity, its liberty, and its honor." + +On the day following the 14th of July, 1789, the Duc de Rochefoucauld +said, with prophetic sadness, "It is very difficult to enter into true +liberty by such a gate." General Bonaparte was destined to confirm this +solemn truth, so often and so sorrowfully misunderstood by our country. +France, exhausted and disgusted by the enthusiasms of demagogy and the +bloody tyranny of the Terror, had been tossed by shock after shock into +the arms of the conqueror who promised her order and energy in government; +she had forgotten for a time those great and salutary conquests of the +liberty which she unreservedly yielded up at his feet. + +By a tardy return towards the convictions of the past, Carnot alone raised +his voice in the Tribunate to recall the Republic, abandoned by all, in +the name of that liberty which he wrongly attributed to it. "Was liberty +then always to be shown to man without his being able to enjoy it? Was it +ceaselessly offered for his desires, like a fruit to which he could not +stretch forth his hand without being in danger of death? No! I cannot +consent to regard this gift, so universally preferable to all others, +without which the others are nothing, as a simple illusion. My heart tells +me that liberty is possible, that its rule is easy and more stable than +any arbitrary or oligarchic government. You say that Bonaparte has +effected the salvation of his country, that he has restored public +liberty; is it then a recompense to offer up to him this same liberty as a +sacrifice?" + +On the 3rd of May, on the proposal of Curée and the report of Jard- +Panvillier, the Tribunate sent to the Senate a proposal to the effect: +"Firstly, that Napoleon Bonaparte, at present Consul for life, be +appointed Emperor, and in this capacity entrusted with the government of +the French Republic. Secondly, that the title of Emperor and the imperial +power be hereditary in his family, from male to male, in order of +primogeniture. Thirdly and lastly, that in deciding as regards the +organization of the constituted authorities upon the modifications +required by the establishment of hereditary power--equality, liberty, and +the rights of the people, be preserved in their integrity." + +The Senate was resolved not to lose the fruits of its initiative; the +project of the senatus-consultum was ready, and was immediately carried to +the First Consul, accompanied by the views of all the great bodies of the +State. When it returned to the Senate, amended and modified by the will of +the supreme chief, the authority which the senators had sought to arrogate +to themselves had been taken away. "The senators, if they were allowed to +do it, would go on to absorb the Corps Législatif, and, who knows? perhaps +even to restore the Bourbons," said the First Consul to the Council of +State. "They wish at once to legislate, to judge, and to govern. Such a +union of powers would be monstrous; I shall not suffer it!" The Tribunate +ceased to exist as an assembly, and could no longer discuss except in +sections; the Corps Législatif were permitted to debate in secret +committees only. A High Court was to be constituted, to judge the crimes +of personages too important for the jurisdictions of ordinary tribunals. +In order to satisfy the vanity of Joseph and Louis Bonaparte, alone +entitled to the succession of the empire, two officers were borrowed from +the constitution devised by Sieyès, and from mediaeval history; the one +became Grand Elector, and the other Constable. Sagacious and docile +counsellor of the First Consul in their apparent equality, Cambacérès was +appointed arch-chancellor of the empire, and Lebrun became arch-treasurer. +Four honorary marshals [Footnote: Kellermann, Pérignon, Lefèvre, +Sérurier.] and fourteen active marshals [Footnote: Murat, Berthier, +Masséna, Lannes, Soult, Brune, Ney, Augereau, Moncey, Mortier, Davout, +Jourdan, Bernadotte, Bessières.] were grouped around the restored throne. +Alone and beforehand the Senate decided upon the destinies of France, +arrogantly called upon to ratify decisions over which it exercised no +authority; on May 19th, 1804, at the close of the sitting, all the +senators went together to St. Cloud, and by the voice of Cambacérès prayed +his _Imperial Majesty_ that the organic arrangements might come into force +immediately. "For the glory, as for the happiness of the country, we +proclaim at this very moment Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of the French." + +Those present cried, "Long live the Emperor!" Only the sanction of the law +of hereditary succession was submitted to the popular vote. By the force +of his genius as much as by the splendor of his military glory, Napoleon +had conquered France more completely than Italy or Egypt. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +GLORY AND SUCCESS (1804-1805). + + +On the eve of the declaration of the Senate in favor of the empire, +Cambacérès had said to Lebrun, "All is over! the monarchy is re- +established! But I have a presentiment that what they are now constructing +will not be durable. We made war upon Europe to give it republics, which +should be daughters of the French Republic; now we shall make it to give +Europe monarchs, sons or brothers of ours; and France, exhausted, will +finally succumb to such fatal attempts." + +A year before that, when the consulship for life was proclaimed, the wise +and virtuous Tronchet, when a sorrowful witness of the revolutionary +crimes against which he had defended King Louis XVI., had shown the same +inquietude and fatal presentiment. "This young man begins like Caesar," he +said of General Bonaparte; "I am afraid he may end as he did." + +The daggers of the Roman conspirators had arrested Caesar in his course. +Napoleon had found neither a Brutus nor a Cassius: he reigned without +contest, by a triumphal acclamation of 3,572,329 suffrages against 2569 +"Noes." The country was eager to salute its new master, with a curiosity +mixed with confidence in the unexpected resources of his genius. The +courtiers alone around him who had found no place in the prodigal +distribution of honors, muttered their murmurs. They served him +nevertheless; and Talleyrand remained minister of foreign affairs, even +when all the important posts of the empire had escaped his desires. + +With more calmness and pride than the courtiers, Moreau and the royalist +conspirators waited in prison for their verdict. Napoleon was as eager as +they were, being in haste to rid himself of an embarrassment which could +become a danger. In proportion as the trial proceeded, Moreau's case was +more and more kept distinct from that of the other prisoners. The mode of +defence adopted by the royalists tended entirely to prove his innocence. +"We entered France," they said, "deceived by false reports, and with the +hope of securing our restoration: General Moreau refused us his +assistance, and our project failed." The general did not appear disturbed +by the irregular jurisdiction to which his case was to be referred. +"Strive," he wrote to his wife, "to make sure that those who are to judge +me are just men, incapable of betraying their conscience. If I am judged +by persons of honor, I cannot complain, although they have apparently +suppressed the jury." + +The public interest was lively, and openly shown, in spite of the evident +annoyance of the emperor. The friends of the royalist prisoners were +numerous and ardent; and, whether from admiration or indifference, the +public believed General Moreau innocent of all conspiracy, and made excuse +for the dissatisfaction or ambition which he might have manifested. The +sharers of his renown--Dessoles, Gouvion St. Cyr, Macdonald, Lecourbe-- +were faithfully present at every sitting. I borrow from the interesting +recollections of Madame Récamier the picture of the spectacle then seen in +the hall of the Palace of Justice, every approach to which was choked by +the crowd. "The prisoners, of whom there were forty-seven, were for the +most part unknown to each other, and filled the raised seats facing those +where the judges sat. Each prisoner was seated between two gendarmes; +those near Moreau were full of respect. When I raised my veil the general +recognized me, and rose to salute me. I returned his salute with emotion +and respect. I was deeply touched at seeing them treat as a criminal that +great general whose reputation was then so glorious and unstained. It was +no longer a question of republic and republicans. Excepting Moreau, who I +am certain was an entire stranger to the conspiracy, it was the royalist +loyalty that alone was on its defence against the new power. This cause of +the ancient monarchy had as its head a man of the people, Georges +Cadoudal. + +"That fearless Georges! We looked at him with the thought that that head, +so freely and energetically devoted, must fall on the scaffold; or that he +alone, probably, would not escape death, as he did nothing for that +purpose. Disdaining to defend himself, he only defended his friends; and +when they tried to persuade him to ask for pardon, as the other prisoners +had done, he replied, 'Do you promise me a fairer opportunity of dying?' + +"In the ranks of the accused, Polignac and Rivière were still noticeable, +interesting from their youth and devotion. Pichegru, whose name will +remain historically united with Moreau's, was missing at his side--or +rather, one believed his shade was visible there, because it was known +that he also was not in the prison. + +"Another recollection, the death of the Duc d'Enghien, increased the +sorrow and terror of many minds, even among the most devoted partisans of +Bonaparte." + +Taken as a whole, and in spite of the embarrassment caused by the +persistence of two or three of the accusers, the public judicial +examination was favorable to General Moreau. On being accused of having +agreed to a reconciliation with the traitor Pichegru, he replied, "Since +the beginning of the Revolution there have been many traitors. There were +some who were traitors in 1789, without being so in 1793; there were +others who were so in '93 but were not in '95, others who were so in '95 +but have not been so since. Many were republicans who are not so now. +General Pichegru may have had an understanding with Condé in the year IV.; +I believe that he had; but he was included in the proscription of +Fructidor, and must be considered as one of those who were then +proscribed. When I saw other Fructidorians at the head of the authorities +of state--when Condé's army filled the Parisian drawing-rooms and those of +the First Consul, I might very well take a share in restoring to France +the conqueror of Holland. I am credited with the absurd idea of making use +of royalists in the hope of regaining power if they were successful. I +have made war for ten years, and during those ten years I am not aware of +having done absurd things." When they laid emphasis on his interview with +Pichegru and Georges, he said, "A quarter of an hour is but little for the +discussion of a plan of government. It is said that Pichegru was +dissatisfied; probably we were not of the same mind." On the president +regretting that he had not denounced Pichegru and the royalists, saying +that he owed it to a government that loaded him with benefits, Moreau +exclaimed, "The conqueror of Hohenlinden is not a denouncer, M. le +President. Do not put my services and my fortune in the same balance, for +there is no possible comparison between the things. I should have fifty +millions to-day, had I made the same use of victory which many others have +done!" + +Moreau wished to plead himself the cause of his life and renown. "It is +only by my counsel," he said, "that I wish to address justice"--here the +illustrious general looked round upon the attentive multitude--"but I feel +that both on your account and mine I ought to speak myself. Unfortunate +circumstances, produced by chance or caused by hatred, may for an instant +obscure the life of the most honorable man; and a clever criminal may keep +off suspicion and the proof of his crimes. The whole life of a prisoner is +always the most certain testimony against him and for him. I therefore set +my whole life to witness against my accusers and prosecutors; it has been +public enough to be known: I shall only recall a few of its epochs: and +the witnesses whom I shall summon will be the French people, and the +people whom France has conquered. I was devoted to the study of law at the +beginning of that revolution which was to establish the liberty of the +French people; and the object of my life being thus changed, I devoted it +to arms. I became a warrior because I was a citizen: I bore this character +beneath our standards, and have always preserved it. I was promoted +quickly, but always from step to step without passing any; always by +serving my country, never by flattering the committees. On being appointed +commander, when victory obliged us to march through the countries of our +enemies, I was as anxious that our character should be respected as that +our arms should be dreaded. War, under my orders, was a calamity only on +the battlefield. I have the presumption to think that the country has not +forgotten my services then, nor the ready devotion which I showed when +fighting as a subordinate; nor how I was appointed to the command-in-chief +by the reverses of our arms, and, in one sense, named general by our +misfortunes. It is still remembered how I twice recomposed the army from +the fragments of those which had been scattered, and how, after having +twice restored it to a condition of being able to cope with the Russians +and Austrians, I twice laid down the command to take another of greater +responsibility. I was not during that period of my life more republican +than during the others, though I seemed so. It is well known that there +was a proposal to put me at the head of a movement similar to that of the +18th Brumaire. I refused, believing that I was made to command armies, and +having no desire to command a Republic. I did more; on the 18th Brumaire I +was in Paris. That revolution, instigated by others, could not disturb my +peace of mind; but directed by a man surrounded by great renown, I might +have hoped for happy results from it. I took part in it to assist it, +whilst some other parties urged me to lead them in opposing it. I received +in Paris General Bonaparte's orders, and, in seeing them executed, I +assisted in raising him to that high degree of power which circumstances +rendered necessary. When, shortly afterwards, he offered me the command of +the army of the Rhine, I accepted it from him with as much devotion as +from the hands of the Republic itself. Never had my successes been more +rapid, more numerous, or more decisive, than during that period; and their +renown was reflected upon the government which accuses me. What a moment +for conspiring, if such a scheme had ever entered my mind! Would an +ambitious man, or a conspirator, have let slip the opportunity when at the +head of an army of 100,000 men so often victorious? I only thought of +disbanding the army before returning to the repose of civil life. + +"During that rest, which has not been without glory, I enjoyed my honors +(such honors as no human power can deprive me of), the recollections of +what I had done, the testimony of my conscience, the esteem of my country +and of foreigners, and, to be candid, the flattering and pleasant +presentiment of the esteem of posterity. My mind and disposition were so +well known, and I kept myself so far aloof from any ambitious project, +that from the victory of Hohenlinden till my arrest my enemies were never +able to accuse me of any crime except freedom in speaking. Do conspirators +openly find fault with that which they do not approve? So much candor is +scarcely reconcilable with political secrets and plots. If I had wished to +adopt and follow the plans of any conspirators, I should have concealed my +sentiments, and solicited every appointment which might have restored me +to power. As a guide on such a route, in default of the political talent +which I have never had, there were examples known to all the world and +rendered imposing by success. I might have known that Monk retained +command of his armies when he wished to conspire, and that Cassius and +Brutus came nearer Caesar's heart in order to pierce it." + +When the pleading was finished, the emperor and the public anxiously +waited for the sentence. The fact of the royalist plot being proved, the +condemnation of the prisoners was certain, and the inquietude and hopes of +all were concentrated on Moreau. "Towards the close of the trial," said +Madame Récamier, "all business was stopped, the entire population were out +of doors, they talked of nothing but Moreau." The emperor had informed the +judges that he would not demand that the general be condemned to death +unless in the interest of justice, and as a salutary example, his fixed +intention being to grant him pardon. One of the members of the tribunal, +Clavier, a man of great virtue and learning, said, on hearing General +Murat's proposition, "And who will pardon us ourselves, if we pass +judgment and condemnation against our consciences?" At the first +deliberation of the tribunal, seven judges out of twelve voted for +acquittal pure and simple: being afraid of Napoleon's anger, they +sentenced Moreau to two years' imprisonment. "Why, that's a punishment for +a pickpocket!" exclaimed the emperor in a passion. By wise counsel he was +induced to show a prudent clemency. Moreau, nearly ruined by the expense +of the trial, and as annoyed by the sentence as Napoleon was, refused to +ask any favor. "If it was certain that I took part in the conspiracy," he +exclaimed, "I ought to have been condemned to death as a leader. I undergo +the extremity of horror and disgrace. Nobody will believe that I played +the part of a corporal." + +His young and handsome wife, being near confinement, asked for and +obtained permission to sail to America with her husband, and when delayed +at Cadiz by child-birth, was urged to set out on the voyage through +Fouché's influence in the Spanish court. "Four years ago about this time," +wrote the general, "I gained the battle of Hohenlinden. That event, so +glorious for my country, procured for my fellow-countrymen a repose which +they had long wanted. I alone have been unable to obtain it. Will they +refuse it me at the extremity of Europe, 500 leagues from my native land?" + +Moreau carried with him into exile the cruel recollection of the name +"brigand" (ruffian), which had been formerly abusively replied to him, and +that keen desire for vengeance which was one day to prove so fatal to his +renown. + +Of the royalist prisoners, twenty were condemned to death. In spite of +Murat's eager pleading, eleven perished on the scaffold with Georges +Cadoudal, equal to him in the imperturbability of their political and +religious faith. Rivière and Polignac, General Lajolais, and four others +owed their lives to the supplications of their families, judiciously +assisted by the kindness of the Empress Josephine. They were all sent to +prison. + +Napoleon felt with more justice than Moreau himself that the conscience of +the judges had been opposed to his supreme will. In spite of the silence +which he imposed upon the organs of the press, more and more roughly +treated by him, public opinion remained equally stirred up against the +murder of the Duc d'Enghien. A thought which had arisen in his mind from +the day of his elevation to the empire, gained fresh forces from the +feeling of silent disapprobation of all honorable men. He wished to place +a religious stamp upon his greatness, and instructed Cardinal Caprara to +ask the Pope to come to Paris to consecrate him. "It is most unlikely," +said he, "that any power will make objection to it either in right or in +fact. Therefore broach the subject, and when you have transmitted the +reply, I shall make the suitable and necessary arrangements with the +Pope." + +As in the case of the Concordat, the emperor's confidential advisers were +not favorable to the idea of consecration. The discussion in the Council +of State was lively, characterized by all the philosophical and +revolutionary suspicion as to the pretensions of a power being invited to +bestow the crown and thus probably believing it had the power to withdraw +it. Napoleon had formed a better judgment of the profound and permanent +effect of the condescension which he asked from the Pope. "Gentlemen," +said he to his council, "you are deliberating in Paris in the Tuileries; +suppose that you were deliberating in London in the British cabinet, that +in a word, you were ministers of the King of England, and that you were +told that at this moment the Pope was crossing the Alps to consecrate the +Emperor of the French, would you consider that as a triumph for England or +for France?" + +The council had not insisted, and the court of Rome felt their force of +resistance becoming weaker every day. The death of the Duc d'Enghien had +caused the Pope much sorrow:--"My tears now," said Pius VII., "at the +death of the one and the attempt upon the other." The French bishops who +had not resigned had renewed their protestations against the Concordat. +The Sacred College, when consulted as to the journey of the holy father, +were divided in their opinion. Five cardinals declared that by so doing +the Pope would ratify all the usurpations of which the new Emperor of the +French had rendered himself culpable; fifteen showed less severity, but +all insisted upon surrounding the solicited favor with numerous +conditions. "The actual advantage to religion expressly professed in the +invitation which his Holiness is about to accept, but actually injured in +the result, can alone excuse in the eyes of Catholics the temporary +abandonment of the holy seat," wrote Cardinal Consalvi to Cardinal +Caprara: "the dignity and honor of the head of religion both require it." +He also wrote, "The form of oath taken by the emperor raises great +difficulties. We cannot admit the oath _to respect and caused to be +respected the laws of the Concordat_, which is the same thing as saying +that one must respect the organic articles and cause them to be respected. +_To respect the liberty of worship_ supposes an engagement not to tolerate +and allow, but to sustain and protect, and extends not only to persons, +but to the thing, that is to say to all forms of worship. But a Catholic +cannot defend the error of false forms of worship." + +Cardinal Caprara, as papal legate in Paris, and Cardinal Fesch, as French +ambassador in Rome, explained away or avoided the difficulties. The +legate, always timid and easily persuaded, gave grounds for hopes which he +was not always able to realize; the cardinal, haughty and violent, divided +between devotion to his all-powerful nephew and his own restoration to +ecclesiastical practices and sentiments, was at Rome lavish of presents +and threats. He at the same time advised the court of Rome to claim the +Legations, whatever were the scruples of the Pope to confound temporal +questions with spiritual concessions. Skilful in making use of the real +Intentions or wishes which he was aware of, without compromising his +government by any formal engagement, Cardinal Fesch at last triumphed over +the repugnances of the Pope by avoiding most of the conditions of the Holy +College, and on the 30th September, 1804, he presented to Pius VII. +General Caffarelli, the emperor's deputy at Rome, instead of the two +bishops formerly insisted upon. Still less explicit than his ambassador, +Napoleon gave no hopes to the holy father of the important concessions +with which the latter was fondly flattering himself. + +"Very Holy Father," said the emperor, "the happy result evinced in the +morality and character of my people by the re-establishment of the +Christian religion, leads me to pray your Holiness to give me a new proof +of the interest which your Holiness takes in my destiny and that of this +great nation, in one of the most important periods shown in the annals of +the world. I beg your Holiness to come and give a religious character of +the highest degree to the ceremony of the consecration and coronation of +the first Emperor of the French. That ceremony will acquire a new lustre +if done by your Holiness. It will bring upon us and our peoples the +blessing of God, whose decrees govern according to His will the lot of +empires and of families. + +"Your Holiness knows the friendly feeling which I have long had towards +you, and must therefore infer the pleasure which I shall have in giving +you fresh proofs. + +"Thereupon we pray God, most holy father, that He may keep you for many +years in the rule and government of our mother the holy Church. + +"Your devoted son, + +"Napoleon." + +The Pope had determined to set out, being convinced that resistance was +impossible, and harassed by a serious inquietude the importance of which +was afterwards confirmed, and by the vague fears of a sickly old man. He +was offended by the contemptuous terms which the foreign ambassadors +applied to the condescension of him whom they called the "French emperor's +chaplain." His Italian subtilty was disturbed, and his natural kindness +chafed by the dryness of the emperor's message. "This is poison which you +have brought to me," said he to General Caffarelli, after reading +Napoleon's letter. He set out nevertheless, obstinately refusing to take +with him Cardinal Consalvi, in whose hands he had placed his abdication. +"If they keep me here," said he one day in Paris, "they will find that +they only have in their power a wretched monk called Barnabus +Chiaramonti." + +The Pope's departure had been much hastened by the repeated urgency of the +emperor, and his journey was so also. The time for the ceremony was fixed +without consulting him. As Cardinal Consalvi said in his Memoirs, "they +made the holy father gallop from Rome to Paris like an almoner summoned by +his master to say mass." + +On the 25th November, 1804, about mid-day, the emperor was hunting in the +forest of Fontainebleau, and went towards Croix St. Herem at the moment +when the Pope's carriage just reached that spot. The carriage stopped, and +"the holy father stepped out in his white dress; as the road was muddy he +could not soil his silk stockings by stepping on the ground." He got out, +however, whilst the emperor, leaping from his horse, advanced to him and +embraced him. The meeting had been skilfully arranged in order that the +new master of France might be spared the annoyance of a deference which he +considered excessive. Both doors of the emperor's carriage were opened at +once, and Napoleon entering by the right, Pius VII. naturally took the +left. The empress and imperial family were waiting for the Pope at the +great portico of the palace. The emperor seemed triumphant. The Pope was +full of emotion, affected by the kind reception he had met with by the +people during his journey. "I have passed through a population all on +their knees," said he. + +The Emperor Napoleon was not on his knees, and Pius VII. was even sensible +of it. Several questions had remained undecided before the holy father's +departure for France: Napoleon had resolutely disposed of them, and +yielded only on one point. Still bandied about between his own +uncertainty, the love which he still felt for the Empress Josephine, the +intrigues of her family, who were opposed to him, and the passionate +longing to have a son to inherit his crown, he had been on the point of +demanding a divorce a few days previously, but on the empress making the +Pope her confidant their union was confirmed, and on the eve of the +coronation, with the greatest secrecy, the religious marriage of the +emperor with Josephine was celebrated by Cardinal Fesch. Pius VII. +declared that it was impossible for him to proceed with the ceremony of +the double consecration so long as that act of reparation remained +unaccomplished. + +Those who had charge of the arrangements for the great spectacle, the Abbé +Bernier, lately appointed Bishop of Orleans, and the Arch-chancellor +Cambacérès, had frequently discussed the ceremonial of the coronation +properly so-called. In France the peers, in Italy the bishops, formerly +held the crown above the head of the sovereign, who then received it from +the hands of the pontiff. "All the French emperors, all those of Germany +who have been consecrated by the popes were at the same crowned by them. +The holy father, in order to decide as to the journey, must receive from +Paris the assurance that in this case there will be no innovation contrary +to the honor and dignity of the sovereign pontiff." At Rome the replies +bad been vague; at Paris the emperor had calmed the zeal and inquietude of +his servants. "I shall arrange that myself," said he. On the 2nd December, +1804, the ceremony of consecration took place according to the solemn +ceremonial, and the emperor, after being anointed with the holy oil, held +out his hand towards the crown which the Pope had just taken from the +altar. Pius VII., completely taken by surprise, made no resistance, and +Napoleon himself placing on his head the emblem of sovereign power, then +crowned with his own hands the empress, who was in tears kneeling before +him. Mounting his throne whilst his brothers held up his robe, being +compelled to that act of humility by his imperious will, and their sisters +bore the train of the empress, the Pope pronounced the solemn formula, +"Vivat in aeternum Augustus!" And under the very eyes of the holy pontiff, +the Emperor Napoleon took the oath in the form which had been so much +opposed in Rome. His victory was complete: he triumphed over the old +revolutionary prejudices, whilst at the same time confirming in Notre +Dame, in spite of the scruples of the court of Rome, the principles of +liberty acquired by the French Revolution. + +When the Pope, sad and discouraged, at last set out for Rome, 4th April, +1805, he had obtained none of the favors which he thought he had a right +to expect. The emperor was inflexible on the question of the "organic +articles," making no concession as to their application. The statement +presented by the Pope and drawn up by Cardinal Antonelli, the most +enthusiastic of his councillors, was on Napoleon's orders replied to by +Portalis, who was skilful in concealing the refusal under the grave +phraseology of legal and Christian language. Urged to extremity, Pius VII. +applied to the emperor himself to ask the restoration of the Legations. +Talleyrand wrote in reply, "France has very dearly bought the power which +she enjoys. It is not in the emperor's power to take anything from an +empire which is the fruit of ten years' war and bloodshed, continued with +an admirable courage and accompanied with the most unhappy agitation and +an unexampled constancy. It is still less in his power to diminish the +territory of a foreign state which, by entrusting him with the care of +governing, had laid upon him the duty of protecting it." A few sentences +added by the emperor to the diplomatic document left room for vague hopes +of certain consolations. The illusions of Pius VII. began to disappear; +without compensation or recompense, he had worked to consolidate for a +short time the throne of the conqueror; the conquests which he had won +were not of this world; the complete submission of the constitutional +bishops, and the genuine respect with which the French people constantly +surrounded him were due to the personal veneration which he inspired. When +at last he crossed the mountains the Emperor Napoleon had reached Italy +before him, as if to indicate more emphatically the condescension which +the sovereign pontiff had shown to him. It was at Turin that he finally +took leave of Pius VII., letting him return to Rome while he took in the +cathedral of Milan the iron crown of the Lombard kings, and placed it on +his head before an immense crowd of on-lookers, using the traditional +words of the ancient Lombard monarchy, "God has given it me, who dare +touch it?" + +The Cisalpine Republic no longer existed, and the Emperor of the French, +King of Italy, boasted of the moderation he had evinced in keeping the two +crowns apart. At one time he intended raising his brother Joseph to the +new throne, but the latter was afraid of compromising his right to succeed +to the imperial crown. Louis Bonaparte refused to govern in the name of +the child which he had by Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of the Empress +Josephine by her first marriage, whom he had married with regret. +Compelled to unite, on his own head, the two crowns of France and Italy, +Napoleon entrusted the care of the government to his son-in-law, Eugène de +Beauharnais. His protestations of respect for the independence of the +allied peoples did not prevent his annexing to the kingdom of Italy the +territory of Genoa, whilst forming the domains of Lucca and Piombino into +a principality in favor of his eldest sister, Elisa Baciocchi. The storm +was already threatening the feeble government of Naples: the queen, +obsequious in her alarm, had sent to Milan an ambassador to congratulate +the emperor and king. "Tell your queen," exclaimed Napoleon, "that her +intrigues are known to me, and that her children will curse her memory, +for I shall not leave in her kingdom enough of land to build her tomb +upon." + +So much brilliance and severity in the display of his sovereign power +proved of service to the irreconcilable enemies who were stirring up +Europe against the already uncontrollable ambition of the new emperor. +Pitt had already returned to power (19th May, 1804), though with less +support in Parliament, and very infirm in health. He felt himself +sustained by the breath of public opinion, and by the firm confidence of +the mass of the nation. In this great duel, of which he was not to see the +end, it was the consolation, as well as the honor of the illustrious +minister, that he had constantly defended the principles of true liberty, +as well as European independence, against the encroachments and contagion +of the revolutionary powers, and those of anarchy or absolutism. + +It was in the name of the same principles that the young Emperor of Russia +then proposed to Europe a mediation which was soon to end in a coalition. +Generously chimerical in his inexperience, Alexander dreamt of a general +rearrangement of Europe, which was to secure forever the peace of every +nation. Poland itself was to be reconstituted, Italy and Germany to +recover their independence, and a new code of the rights of nations on sea +and land was to regulate the relations of civilized states. Nowosiltzoff +was entrusted to discuss this scheme with Pitt. + +It was by the prudence and skilful tact of the English minister that the +scaffolding of ambitious hopes was overthrown, and the Emperor Alexander +brought to the practical consideration of a durable alliance. England and +Russia engaged to carry out the formation of a great European league and +the legitimate re-establishment of the states. Hanover and Northern +Germany were to be evacuated, the independence of Holland and Switzerland +guaranteed, the King of Piedmont reestablished, the kingdom of Naples +consolidated, Italy delivered. In order to bring Prussia into that +alliance, Pitt proposed to grant him the Rhenish provinces. He refused +formally to evacuate Malta, and pleaded the English prejudices against the +Russian overtures with reference to the Turkish territory. The Emperor +Alexander still hoped to obtain important concessions from Napoleon. +Trusting in his sincere disinterestedness, the young monarch had got +Prussia to ask passports for his envoy; Napoleon was in Italy, and said he +could not receive Nowosiltzoff before July. "I expect nothing from this +mediation," he wrote to the King of Prussia: "Alexander is too fickle and +feeble; Russia is too far, too foreign to colonial and maritime interests; +the Woronzovs too much influenced by English money, for one to have +reasonable hopes of an advantageous general peace. Whenever propositions +are passed at St. Petersburg to reach Paris, there is no wish to come to +an understanding: in London they wish to gain time, dazzle the eyes of all +the peoples, and perhaps form a coalition which should bring disgrace upon +England. My brother, I wish for peace, but I do not wish to agree to my +people being disinherited of the commerce of the world. I have no +ambition: I have twice evacuated the third part of Europe without being +compelled to do so. I owe Russia no more as to Italian affairs than she +owes me with reference to Turkish and Persian affairs. Russia has not the +right to take that tone with anybody, and with me still less than with +anybody whatever." + +The Emperor Napoleon had already given his reply to Europe. The annexation +of the territory of Genoa, and the threat to the Neapolitan government +sufficiently proved his intentions. The treaty provisionally signed on the +11th April between England and the Emperor Alexander was confirmed; and on +the 9th August, Austria, which already had a secret engagement with +Russia, adhered to the Anglo-Russian alliance. Sweden joining soon after, +the third coalition was now complete. Prussia remained as a common object +for the negotiations and advances of all. Napoleon gave her hopes of +obtaining Hanover. + +He had just set out for Boulogne, always the centre of his adventurous +plans. Already in the previous year he believed that he had reached the +accomplishment of the project so carefully matured and prepared with that +mixture of foresight and boldness which so often secured the unexpected +success of his attempts. His enormous preparations were at last completed, +the Dutch squadron alone being waited for; and the emperor deceived the +impatience of his troops and his own agitation by reviews and military +ceremonies. On the 2nd July, he wrote to Admiral Latouche-Tréville, whom +he had put in command of his Toulon squadron: "By the same messenger let +me know on what day you will weigh anchor. Let me know also what the enemy +is doing, and where Nelson is located. Reflect upon the great enterprise +which you are about to execute, and before I sign your definite orders let +me understand the manner in which you think they would be most +advantageously carried into effect. I have appointed you Grand Officer of +the Empire, Inspector of the Coasts of the Mediterranean; but I desire +much that the operation you are about to undertake may enable me to +elevate you to such a degree of consideration and honor, that you may have +nothing more to desire. The squadron of Rochefort (commanded by Admiral +Villeneuve), composed of five vessels, of which one is a three-decker, and +of four frigates, is ready to weigh anchor; it has before it only five of +the enemy's ships. The squadron of Brest (commanded by Admiral Ganteaume) +is of twenty-one ships; these ships have just weighed anchor in order to +harass the enemy and compel him to keep there a large number of vessels. +The enemy have also six ships before the Texel, and there blockade the +Dutch squadron, consisting of eight vessels, four frigates, and a convoy +of thirty ships in which the corps of General Marmont is embarked. Between +Étaples, Boulogne, Wimereux and Ambleteuse (two new ports which I have +constructed) we have 1800 gun-boats of various kinds, and 120,000 men, and +10,000 horses; only let us be masters of the strait for six hours, and we +shall be the masters of the world. + +"The enemy have before Boulogne, before Ostend, and at the Downs, two +ships of seventy-four guns, two of sixty-four guns, and two or three of +fifty guns. Until now Admiral Cornwallis has had only fifteen vessels, but +all the reserves from Plymouth and Portsmouth have come to reinforce him +before Brest. + +"The enemy keep also at Cork, in Ireland, four or five ships of war; I do +not speak of frigates or small vessels, of which they have a large number. +If you deceive Nelson, he will go to Sicily or to Egypt or to Ferrol. It +would then appear to me best to make a considerable roundabout, and arrive +before Rochefort; thus making your squadron one of sixteen ships and +eleven frigates; and then, without dropping anchor or losing a single +instant, arrive before Boulogne. Our squadron at Brest, twenty-three +vessels strong, will have on board an army, and will be constantly under +sail set, so that Cornwallis will be obliged to press close to the shore +of Brittany in order to try and prevent the escape of our fleet. For the +rest, in order to fix my ideas upon this operation, which has its risks, +but of which the success offers results so enormous, I wait for the scheme +you have mentioned to me, and which you will send me by return of the +courier. You must embark as many provisions as possible, so that under any +circumstances you may have nothing to hinder you." + +It is the weakness as well as the honor of human enterprises to depend +upon the life and force of a man. Before Admiral Latouche-Tréville had +been able to profit by the occurrence of the mistral to get out of Toulon +and deceive Nelson, he himself succumbed to the illness that had preyed +upon him since the expedition of San Domingo (20th August, 1804), and the +projected expedition against the coast of England was indefinitely +postponed. "The flotilla has been looked upon as temporary," wrote the +Emperor to Decrès, the Minister of Marine; "it will be necessary +henceforth to look upon it as a fixed establishment, and from this moment +to give the greatest attention to all that is unchangeable, managing it by +other regulations than the squadron." + +It was at the same time the plan of the emperor to try to turn away the +thoughts of the English from his schemes of invasion; in the midst of his +arrangements for the coronation, and of the diplomatic negotiations, and +whilst writing a private letter to the King of England, pompously +proposing peace, he had formed other designs and prepared new plans in +order at last to carry out his great enterprise. + +It was no longer on the coasts of France or of Spain, but far away in the +regions of the Antilles that the French squadrons of Toulon, Brest, and +Rochefort were to effect their junction and concentrate their forces. The +hope of Napoleon was to see the English, deceived by their disappearance, +dash off in pursuit of them and rush to the succor of the Indies. The +emperor had for a moment thought of directing the blows of his united navy +against this distant and new formed empire. Returning to the project of +the descent on England, he had made Admiral Villeneuve set out directly +after the 30th of March. He was to join at Cadiz the Spanish Admiral +Gravina and at Martinique, Admiral Missiessy, who had left Rochefort on +the 11th of January. Admiral Ganteaume, taking advantage of the first +moment when the English should be obliged by contrary winds to withdraw +from Brest, was in his turn to set sail for Martinique. The fleet, which +would then be fifty or sixty strong, assured of triumphing over all the +English forces if they should dare to face it, would return into the +channel to cover the departure of the flotilla. "The English do not know +what calamity awaits them," wrote Napoleon on the 4th of August to the +Admiral Decrès. "If we are masters of the passage for twelve hours, +England's day is done." + +Racine has said by the mouth of Mithridates,-- + + "Mais, pour être approuvés, + De semblables projets veulent être achevés." + +Villeneuve quoted it to the Minister of Marine when the plans formed by +the emperor were confided to him. This mournful forecast haunted, no +doubt, more than once the thoughts of the admiral when he found himself at +sea, discontented and uneasy. "We have bad masts, bad sails, bad rigging, +bad officers, and bad sailors," said he. Arrived, on the 14th of May, at +Martinique, he found Missiessy no longer there, but his orders obliged him +to await the arrival of Ganteaume. A continuous calm prevented the latter +from leaving Brest, where he was blockaded by the English. At the two ends +of the world, discouragement weighed upon the admirals consigned to +inaction by unforeseen obstacles met with in the execution of a plan which +took no account of accidents of wind or sea. In vain wrote Napoleon to +Ganteaume, "You hold in your hands the destinies of the world." The +unfortunate commander of the Brest squadron communicated his despair to +the Minister of Marine: "I believe, my friend, that you share all my +experience. Every day that passes is a day of torment for me; and I +tremble lest at the end I should be obliged to commit some gross folly. +The length of the days and the beauty of the season cause me to despair of +the expedition." In the middle of May, Admiral Magon was despatched to +Martinique to give Villeneuve orders to return with his squadron, to raise +the blockade of Ferrol, to touch at Rochefort, and join Admiral Missiessy, +and then to present themselves before Brest in order to force the blockade +with the aid of Ganteaume. The united fleets were then to set sail towards +the channel. + +Upon land, and until the day when success and presumption disturbed the +clearness of his judgment, and the penetrating light of his genius, +Napoleon was accustomed to judge soberly of the obstacles he calculated on +overcoming, and of his power to do so. Without maritime experience, and +struggling against the recognized superiority of the English navy, he +constantly committed the error of counting on the mistakes of the enemy +and of looking on the chiefs of his squadrons as equal in talent to +Nelson. No sooner had the latter learnt the direction of Villeneuve than +he dashed off in pursuit, caring little as to the number of vessels he +might have to confront. Napoleon had miscalculated the length of the +voyage. "Nelson will have been first to Surinam, thence to Trinidad, and +from that to Barbadoes," wrote he on the 28th of June to Admiral Decrès; +"he will lose two days at Cape Verd; he will lose much time in collecting +his ships, on account of the vessels and frigates to which he will give +chase on his way. When he learns that Villeneuve is not in the Windward +Islands he will go to Jamaica, and during the days lost in provisioning +and waiting, great blows will be struck. This is my calculation. Nelson is +in America and Collingwood in the East Indies. Nelson will not venture +before Martinique; he will stay at Barbadoes in order to plan a junction +with Cochrane." + +Nelson had already quitted Barbadoes and was pursuing his adversary from +anchorage to anchorage. Troubled by this formidable proximity, and pressed +by the formal orders which enjoined him to transfer his efforts to the +seas of Europe, Villeneuve crowded all sail to reach Ferrol. Nelson soon +followed him, directing his course towards the Mediterranean, but careful +to warn the Admirality, who sent Admiral Calder with fifteen vessels to +the neighborhood of Cape Finisterre. It was in these waters that +Villeneuve encountered Nelson on July 22nd, 1805. The weather was foggy, +and the sea rough; the engagement ended without any important result, two +Spanish vessels being captured by the English. Villeneuve set sail +speedily towards Ferrol, without entering the Channel, the order having +arrived to take his course to Brest immediately; but he lingered at +Corunna, persuaded that Nelson had joined Admiral Calder, and that both +would combine with Lord Cornwallis for his destruction. In again taking to +sea, he let it be thought that he was setting out for Brest; General +Lauriston, aide-de-camp to the emperor, and who had accompanied Villeneuve +in his expedition, wrote so immediately to the emperor. But the +discouragement of Villeneuve, more profound than ever, showed itself in a +letter to his friend, Admiral Decrès. "They make me the arbiter of the +highest interests," wrote he; "my despair doubles in proportion as more +confidence is placed in me, because I cannot pretend to any success, +whatever plan I adopt. It is perfectly plain to me that the fleets of +France and Spain cannot be effective in large squadrons. Divisions of +three or four, or five at the most, are all that we are capable of +conducting. Let Ganteaume get out, and he will judge the point. Public +opinion will be settled. I am about to set out, but I know not what I +shall do. Eight vessels are in view of the coast at a few leagues' +distance. They will follow us, but I shall not be able to join them, and +they will go to unite with the other squadrons before Brest or Cadiz, +according as I make my way to one or other of those ports. I am far from +being in a position, in leaving this place with twenty-nine vessels, to be +able to fight against a similar number; I do not fear to tell you that I +should be hard put to it to encounter twenty." + +For three weeks past the emperor had been at Boulogne, consumed with +impatience, exercising the troops every day, repeating the manoeuvres of +embarkation, his attention fixed upon the sea, and ready to deliver his +flotilla and his army to the mercy of the waves as soon as his squadrons +should at last appear in the Channel. The days sped by; in vain ships +after ships were hurried off to Admiral Villeneuve, bearing the most +urgent orders. "If you run up here in three days, if only for twenty-four +hours, your mission would be accomplished. The English are not so numerous +as you think; they are everywhere detained by the wind. Never will a +squadron have run a few risks with so great an end, and never will our +soldiers have had the chance on land or sea to shed their blood for a +grander or nobler result. For the great object of aiding a descent upon +that power which for six centuries has oppressed France, we ought all to +die without regret." + +The Minister of Marine, clever and experienced in naval affairs, endowed +with a cold and prudent spirit, had never approved the projects of +Napoleon, and had constantly sought to turn him from them. The conviction +which was firmly rooted in the mind of Decrès as to the impossibility of +success, in connection with the sorrowful discouragement which impelled +Villeneuve towards Cadiz instead of towards Brest, increased the +uneasiness as well as the anger of the emperor. Located in barracks by the +seashore, whilst Napoleon resided at the Château du Pont de Briques, +Decrès wrote to his terrible master: "I throw myself at the feet of your +Majesty, to beseech of you not to associate the Spanish vessels with the +operations of the squadrons. Far from having gained anything in this +respect, your Majesty hears that this association would add to the vessels +of Cadiz and Carthagena. In this state of things, in which your Majesty +counts as nothing my arguments and experience, I know of no situation that +would be more painful than mine. I desire your Majesty to take seriously +into consideration that I have no other interest than that of your banner +and the honor of your arms; and if your fleet is at Cadiz, I beseech you +to consider this event as an act of destiny which reserves it for other +operations. I implore you not to cause it to come from Cadiz into the +channel, because the attempt at this moment would only be attended by +misfortunes. I reproach myself with not being able to persuade your +Majesty. I doubt if a single man could succeed in doing so. Deign to form +a council upon maritime affairs--an admiralty, of those who may suit your +Majesty, but as for me, I perceive that in place of growing stronger, I +grow weaker every day. And it cannot but be true that a Minister of +Marine, overruled by your Majesty in naval affairs, becomes useless for +the glory of your arms, if, indeed, not positively hurtful." + +A single word from the emperor was the reply to the despairing letter of +his minister:--"Raise yourself to the height of the circumstances and of +the situation in which France and England now find themselves; never again +write me a letter like that which you have written to me; it is not to the +purpose. As for me, I have only need of one thing, and that is to +succeed." + +In the depth of his soul; and in his secret thoughts, Napoleon saw himself +conquered by a concurrence of circumstances which he had not been willing +to foresee. His anger continued violent against the instrument who had +failed him in his imprudent designs; he asked Decrès, however, what should +be his plans in case Admiral Villeneuve were found at Cadiz, which he +still refused to believe. On August 13th he wrote to Talleyrand: "The more +I reflect upon the state of Europe, the more I see how urgent it is to +take a decisive part. I have in reality nothing to expect from the +explanations of Austria. She will answer by fine phrases and gain time, in +order that I may not be able to act this winter. Her treaty of subsidies +and her act of coalition will be signed this winter under the pretext of +an armed neutrality, and in April I shall find 100,000 Russians in Poland, +provided by England with equipment of horses, artillery, etc., 15,000 to +20,000 English at Malta, and 15,000 Russians at Corfu. I shall find myself +then in a critical situation. My decision is taken. My fleet left Ferrol +on the 29th Thermidor with thirty-four vessels. It had no enemy in sight. +If it followed its instructions, joined itself to the squadron at Brest +and entered the Channel, there is yet time, and I am master of England. +If, on the contrary, my admirals hesitate, manoeuvre badly, and do not +accomplish their purpose, I have no other resource than to wait for the +winter to cross with the flotilla. The plan is a hazardous one. It would +be more so if, pressed by circumstances, political events placed me under +the obligation of passing over in the month of April. In this state of +things I rush to the point where I am most needed; I raise my camps, and +replace my war battalions with my third battalion, always an army +sufficiently formidable for Boulogne; and on the 1st Vendémiaire I find +myself with 200,000 men in Germany, and 25,000 men in the kingdom of +Naples. I march upon Vienna, and I do not lay down my arms till I have +taken Naples and Venice, and have so augmented the States of the Elector +of Bavaria that I shall have nothing to fear from Austria. She will in +this manner be certainly pacified for the winter. I return to Paris, but +to be off again immediately." + +It was always one of the sources of power of the Emperor Napoleon, and +perhaps the rarest among them, that the marvellous fecundity of his mind, +and the inexhaustible variety of the projects and conceptions which he was +constantly turning over, reciprocally sustained and complemented each +other. This characteristic of his genius has been ignored; and little +honor has been done to his foresight when he has been depicted as taken in +some degree unawares by the failure of his maritime plans, and constrained +to improvise by a supreme effort the direction of his campaign in Germany. +In the last days of August, whilst he was still uncertain as to the +movements of his squadrons, all the orders were already given for the +concentration of his armies. Bernadotte was to proceed to Göttingen with +the army of Hanover; Prince Eugène was collecting his forces on the Adige; +Gouvion St. Cyr was ready to march upon Naples; and Marmont to advance +from the Texel upon Mayence. General Duroc had set out for Berlin, +commissioned to propose an alliance. "My intention is not to leave Austria +and Russia to combine with England," said Napoleon. "My conduct in that +event would be that of the great Frederic in his first war." He wrote to +Marshal Berthier on August 25th: "The decisive moment has arrived; you +know how important a day is in this affair. Austria restrains herself no +longer; she believes, without doubt, that we are all drowned in the +ocean." + +Doubt was no longer possible; time was flying, and no news arrived of the +squadron. Villeneuve had evidently retired to Cadiz. The violence and +injustice of the emperor's utterances vexed Decrès beyond expression. +"Villeneuve is a wretch, who ought to be ignominiously discharged," cried +he; "he has neither contrivance, nor courage, nor public interest; he +would sacrifice everything provided that he could save his skin." He broke +out thus before Monge, for whom he had retained a true friendship, +notwithstanding the known opinions of the savant, who had remained +republican. Troubled by the anger of Napoleon, Monge went to apprise Daru, +then principal Secretary of War, who presented himself before the emperor. +Badly informed as to the intentions of the master and the causes of his +discontent, he waited silently. The emperor, coming up to him, exclaimed, +"Do you know where Villeneuve is? He is at Cadiz." And, unfolding before +Daru all the projects he had been cherishing for six months, and +attributing their failure to the cowardice and incapacity of the men he +had employed, he launched out into invectives and recriminations. All of a +sudden, and as if he had relieved his soul by the outburst of his passion, +"Sit down there," said he to Daru, "and write!" A powerful effort, and the +natural play of a fruitful imagination, had recalled him to the +combinations which were to make his enemies tremble, and to assure him of +the triumph over Austria of which he had been baulked as regards England. +The plan of his campaign was fixed; all his thoughts turned towards a +dreadful execution of his will. + +The secret had been carefully guarded, and already, on all sides, the +French armies were threatening the enemy, when, on the 1st Vendémiaire, +the emperor opened the session of the Senate. "The wishes of the eternal +enemies of the Continent are fulfilled," said he. "War has broken out in +the centre of Germany; Austria and Russia are leagued with England; and +our generation is dragged once more into all the calamities of war. A few +days ago I still hoped that peace might not be broken; menaces and +outrages found me impassive; but the Austrian army has passed the Inn, +Munich is invaded, the Elector of Bavaria is driven from his capital, all +my hopes have vanished. Senators, when, at your desire, at the call of the +entire French people, I placed upon my head the imperial crown, I received +from you, and from all citizens, the promise to maintain it pure and +without blemish. All the promises I have made to you I have kept; the +French people in their turn have made no engagement with me which they +have not even surpassed. Frenchmen, your emperor will do his duty; my +soldiers will do theirs; you will do yours." + +General Mack had entered Ulm, and the emperor was still at Saint-Cloud. +The movements of our troops were quietly going forward, when Napoleon +conceived the idea of surrounding the enemy in Suabia by cutting off his +communications with Austria. A note in his own handwriting, written on the +22nd of September, indicates beforehand the positions of all the corps of +the army. On the 27th he arrived at Strasburg, prolonging his residence +there in order to deceive the Austrian general, who kept his attention +constantly fixed upon the Black Forest. On the 30th, at Strasburg, the +emperor addressed to his troops a simple and firm proclamation, animated +by that martial spirit which always inspired the army when he addressed +it. "Soldiers, the war of the third coalition has commenced. The Austrian +army has passed the Inn, broken the treaties, attacked our ally, and sent +him from his capital. You yourselves have been compelled to hasten, by +forced marches, to the defence of our frontiers. But already you have +passed the Rhine. We will not stay our progress until we have assured the +independence of the Germanic state, succored our allies, and confounded +the pride of the unjust aggressors. We will have no more peace without a +guarantee. Our generosity shall not again deceive our policy. Soldiers, +your emperor is in the midst of you; you are only the vanguard of the +great people. If it is necessary, they will rise as one man, to confound +and dissolve this new league woven by the hatred and the gold of England. +But, soldiers, we have forced marches to make, fatigues and privations of +every kind to endure. Whatever obstacles maybe opposed to us we shall be +victorious, and we will take no rest till we have planted our eagles upon +the territory of our enemies." + +Napoleon had said, "I reckon on making more use of the legs of my soldiers +than even of their bayonets." The fatal circle was narrowing round General +Mack by the rapid movements of the French troops, without his appearing to +comprehend their aim, or divine the danger which threatened him. On the +8th of October he still wrote, that never had an army been posted in a +manner more fitted to assure its superiority. On the same day, advancing +upon Günzburg, Marshals Lannes and Murat encountered at Wutingen an +Austrian corps, which was tardily marching to the succor of General +Kienmayer, already dislodged from the bridges of the Danube and the Lech. +The engagement was short and brilliant; the fugitives bore at length to +Ulm the conviction of the overwhelming forces which menaced the Austrian +army. The Emperor Napoleon had arrived at Donauwerth. The first bulletin +from the Grand Army was dated October 7th, explaining all the military +operations: "This grand and vast movement has carried us in a few days to +Bavaria; has enabled us to avoid the Black Mountains, the line of parallel +rivers which fall into the Danube, and the inconvenience of a system of +operations which would have always had the defiles of the Tyrol on the +flank; and lastly, has placed us several marches in the rear of the enemy, +who has no time to lose, to avoid his entire destruction." + +Napoleon was particularly watchful with respect to the Tyrol, for he had +settled in his own mind that General Mack would seek an outlet on this +side, to escape from the blockade with which he was menaced. The little +German princes, terrified or won over, had submitted to the yoke of +Napoleon, and accepted his alliance; the French troops had violated +neutral territories with impunity; the Russian armies were at last making +forced marches, and had just entered into Germany. At one moment Mack +appeared to discover the feeble point in the enemy's line; the left bank +of the Danube at Albech, was occupied by the divisions of Dupont and +Baraguey d'Hilliers, insufficient for resisting a violent attack. Murat, +who commanded the three divisions posted near Ulm, ordered Ney to recall +all the troops posted on the left bank. The marshal was indignant and +furious, but obeyed; but General Dupont had not accomplished his movement +when he was assailed by a corps of 25,000 Austrians, commanded by the +Archduke Ferdinand. The heroic resistance of the French troops enabled +them to fall back upon Albech with 1500 prisoners. The enemy contented +themselves with occupying the little town of Elchingen, and burning the +bridge. + +Napoleon had quitted Augsburg, and Marshal Soult had just effected the +capitulation of Meiningen. The emperor ordered Ney to retake the positions +of Elchingen. The piles of the bridge had not been burnt, and under the +fire of the Austrians the platform was replaced, and the troops rushed +forward to the attack on the village. The convent which crowned the height +was taken at the bayonet's point. Always pushing the enemy before him, Ney +seized upon the heights of Michelsberg; the fire of his cannons commanded +the grand square in Ulm. The emperor in person had just arrived at the +camp. + +The Archduke Ferdinand had succeeded in escaping during the night. In +spite of a frightful tempest he gained Biberach, and rejoined Wernek in +Bohemia. Murat pursued him, while Marshal Soult occupied Biberach. + +Henceforth Mack found himself without resources. "The general-in-chief was +in the city," said the sixth bulletin of the grand army. "It is the +destiny of generals opposed to the emperor to be taken in town. It will be +remembered that after the splendid manoeuvres of the Brenta, the old +Field-Marshal Wurmser was made prisoner at Mantua; Melas was taken in +Alexandria; so is Mack in Ulm." + +The emperor caused the Prince of Lichtenstein, major-general of the +Austrian army, to be summoned. "I desire" said he "that the place +capitulate; if I take it by assault, I shall he compelled to do what I did +at Jaffa, where the garrison was put to the sword. It is the sad law of +war. I desire that the necessity for such a frightful act should he spared +to me, as well as to the brave Austrian nation. The place is not tenable." + +Mack consented to surrender if he was not succored before the 25th of +October. The rain fell in torrents. For eight days the emperor had not +taken off his boots. The Austrian prisoners were astonished to see him, +"soaked, covered with mud, as much fatigued as the lowest drummer in his +army, and even more so." An aide-de-camp repeated to Napoleon the remarks +of the enemy's officers. Napoleon replied quickly, "Your master has been +desirous of making me remember that I am a soldier," said he. "I hope he +will be convinced that the throne and the imperial purple have not made me +forget my first business." + +Wernek had laid down his arms at Nordlingen; the archduke was fleeing into +Bohemia before the cavalry of Murat: the corps of Jellachich in the Tyrol, +and that of Kienmayer beyond the Inn, could send no succors to General +Mack. Urged to escape the horror of the situation, he forestalled the day +fixed for the capitulation: on the 20th of October, 1805, the garrison at +Ulm, which still counted 24,000 or 25,000 men, defiled slowly before the +conqueror. The troops were prisoners of war, the cannons and flags had +been abandoned; seven lieutenant-generals, eight generals, and the +general-in-chief, Mack, kept at the emperor's side, were present with +death in their souls at the ceremonial which proved their defeat. "In +fifteen days we have finished a campaign," said the proclamation of +Napoleon to his soldiers. "That which we proposed is completed. We have +driven the troops of the House of Austria from Bavaria, and re-established +our ally in the sovereignty of his States. That army which, with as much +ostentation as imprudence, came forward to place itself on our frontiers, +is annihilated. But what matters it to England? Her purpose is answered; +we are not at Boulogne, and the subsidy which she grants to Austria will +be neither larger nor smaller." + +England resented the defeat of her ally more keenly than Napoleon +acknowledged in the bitterness of his hate. The rumor of the capitulation +of Ulm had reached London. On November 2nd, Lord Malmesbury was seated at +table beside Pitt, and spoke to him of the rumors he had heard. "Don't +believe a word of it; it is simply a lie," said Pitt, roughly, raising his +voice so as to make himself heard by those around him. "But the next day, +Sunday, the 3rd," continues Lord Malmesbury in his journal, "he entered my +house with Lord Mulgrave, about one o'clock, and they brought with them a +Dutch journal which contained at full length the capitulation of Ulm. +Neither of them knew that language, and all the officials were away. I +translated the article as well as I could, and I saw very clearly the +effect that it produced upon Pitt, in spite of the efforts he made to hide +it. This was the last time that I saw him. This visit left upon me a +profound impression, his manners and countenance were so altered; I +conceived from it, in spite of myself, the sad presentiment of the +misfortune which threatened us." + +Pitt was again, for one day only, to taste for an instant of patriotic +joy, bitterly mingled with regret. In spite of the bravery to which +Napoleon did not always render justice, the French sailors, inexperienced +and badly commanded, had alone failed in the great projects confided to +them, and thwarted the hopes of the emperor. Before setting out for +Strasburg he had ordered the fleet at Brest to make several cruises, and +the fleet at Cadiz to take the soldiers it had on board to the support of +the movement of Gouvion St. Cyr in the Bay of Naples. "It might seize an +English vessel and a Russian frigate which are to be found there: it could +remain in the waters near Naples all the time necessary to do the greatest +possible harm to the enemy and intercept the convoy which he is projecting +to send to Malta. After this expedition it will return to Toulon, where it +will effect for me a powerful diversion. I estimate then that it is +necessary to do two things, first to send a special message to Admiral +Villeneuve, ordering him to effect this manoeuvre; second, as his +excessive pusillanimity will hinder him from undertaking it, you will send +Admiral Rosily to replace him. He will be the bearer of letters enjoining +upon Admiral Villeneuve to return to France, to render an account of his +conduct." + +The minister of Marine was a friend of Villeneuve, and in announcing to +him the departure of Admiral Rosily, he did not make him acquainted with +his own disgrace. Leaving the consequences to chance, he had given up the +endeavor to influence the imperious will of Napoleon with regard to the +squadrons, and he dared not give instructions to Villeneuve. Villeneuve +divined what his friend hid from him. "The sailors of Paris and the +departments will be very unworthy and very foolish if they cast a stone at +me," wrote he to Decrès. "They will have themselves prepared the +condemnation which will strike them later on. Let them come on board the +squadrons, and they will see against what elements they are exposed to +fight. For the rest, if the French marine, as is maintained, has only +failed in daring, the emperor will shortly be satisfied, and may count +upon the most brilliant successes." + +In the middle of October, without having united with the Spanish squadron +of Carthagena, nor the vessels which he had formerly imprudently detached +under the orders of Captain Allemand, Villeneuve left Cadiz in company +with Admiral Gravina and some Spanish vessels. The latter were large and +heavy, difficult to manoeuvre, and fitted with very second-rate crews. The +squadron of battle, commanded by Admiral Villeneuve and the Spanish Vice- +Admiral Alava, numbered twenty-one vessels. The squadron of reserve, +composed of twelve vessels, had been placed under the orders of Admiral +Gravina. + +The forces of Nelson numerically equalled those of Villeneuve, but they +were infinitely superior to his in the quality of the vessels and their +crews. The illustrious English admiral was ill; for several weeks he had +sought repose in England. When he offered to resume the command of the +fleet, he was impressed with the idea that he should not again see his +country. He called upon the workman entrusted with making a coffin, which +Captain Hollowell had ordered to be made from a fragment of the keel of +the French vessel L'Orient [Footnote: L'Orient, commanded by Admiral +Brueys, foundered at Aboukir.] "Engrave the history of this coffin on the +plate," said he; "I shall probably have need of it before long." When at +length he appeared on board, the sailors cheered him as the assurance of +victory. The English admiral had carefully concealed the number of his +vessels, fearing Villeneuve might hesitate in view of his forces. On the +21st the Franco-Spanish fleet was entirely at sea, sailing in order of +battle. The English had formed in two lines; Admiral Collingwood, upon the +_Royal Sovereign_, commanded the first; Nelson, on board the _Victory_, +directed the second. He had given orders to bear down upon the French +lines in order to cut them. "The part of the enemy's fleet that you leave +out of the fight," said he, "will come with difficulty to the assistance +of the part attacked, and you will have conquered before it arrives." The +same signal was hoisted all over the fleet, "England expects that every +man will do his duty." Villeneuve had not less nobly announced his +intentions to his officers. "You need not wait for signals from the +admiral," were his orders; "in the confusion of a naval battle it is often +impossible to see what is going forward, or to give orders, or above all +to get them understood. Each one ought to listen only to the voice of +honor, and throw himself into the place of greatest danger. Every captain +is at his post if he is under fire." It was the misfortune of Admiral +Villeneuve in the battle of Trafalgar, that he did not adhere to his +original instructions. Gravina asked for authority to manoeuvre in an +independent manner. Villeneuve objected, and ordered him to place himself +in line. Already at midday Admiral Collingwood, separated from his column +by the superior swiftness of the _Royal Sovereign_, engaged so hotly in +battle with the _Santa Anna_, the flag-ship of the Spaniard Alava, that he +soon found himself in the midst of the enemy. "See how that brave +Collingwood hurls himself into action," said Nelson to his flag-officer; +whilst on his own deck, in the midst of the bullets that rained around +him, Collingwood cried, "Nelson would give all the world to be here." The +greater number of the Spanish captains offered a feeble resistance, and +Collingwood had already cut the line of battle. Gravina, upon the _Prince- +des-Asturies_, was surrounded by English vessels. The _Fougueux_, the +_Pluton_, the _Algésiras_, commanded by Rear-Admiral Magon, heroically +resisted overwhelming attacks. The _Redoutable_, the _Santissima- +Trinidad_, and the French flag-ship the _Bucentaure_, crowded in upon each +other, waited for the assault of the second column, which Nelson brought +against them. Like Collingwood, he had got in advance of his squadron. The +officers had begged of him to leave the vanguard to the _Téméraire_. "I am +quite willing," said Nelson, "that the _Téméraire_ should get in front if +it can;" and spreading all sail on board the _Victory_, he advanced first +against the enemy. + +Already his topmast had been struck, and fifty men placed _hors de +combat_. The English admiral had given orders to separate the _Redoutable_ +from the _Bucentaure_; but Captain Lucas, who commanded the former vessel, +profited by a slight breath of wind, and his bowsprit touched the stern of +the _Bucentaure_. Nelson then engaged the _Redoutable_, dashing against it +with a shock so violent that both vessels were thrown out of the line; the +_Bucentaure_ and the _Santissima-Trinidad_ were also surrounded by the +English. The struggle continued between Nelson and his courageous +adversary; the flames were breaking out every moment upon the French +vessel. "Hardy, this is too hot to last long," said Nelson to his flag- +captain. Presently a ball from the topmast of the Redoutable struck the +illustrious sailor in the loins. He fell, still supporting himself by one +hand. "Hardy, they have done for me now," said he. "No! not yet," cried +the captain, who sought to raise him up. "Yes," replied Nelson, "the spine +is hit;" and drawing his handkerchief from his pocket, he himself covered +his face and his decorations, in order to hide his fall from his crew. +"Take care!" said he, as they carried him down; "the cable of the helm is +cut." Between decks was crowded with the wounded and the dying. "Attend to +those whom you can save," said he to the surgeon; "as for me, there is +nothing to be done." Meanwhile he listened anxiously, noticing the +discharges of artillery, seeking to divine the issue of the combat. The +_Redoutable_ had been attacked by the _Téméraire_ and the Neptune at the +moment when the French sailors were preparing to board the _Victory_. +Captain Lucas was compelled to haul down his flag; of the 660 men of his +crew, 522 were _hors de combat_. The _Bucentaure_, caught by its bowsprit +in the gallery of the _Santissima-Trinidad_, was overwhelmed by the enemy, +and, held in its position by the Spanish vessel, completely dismasted. +Already the flag-officer and two lieutenants had been wounded by the side +of Admiral Villeneuve, who courted death in vain. The _Bucentaure_ was cut +down close like a pontoon. The admiral wished to pass on to another +vessel. Not a single boat was left him. When he at last pulled down his +flag he could not reply with a single cannon-shot to the English vessels +that were bent on his destruction. + +Nelson still breathed. "Where is Hardy?" he repeated; "if he does not come +to me, it is because he is dead." The captain presently came down, too +much moved to utter a word. "How is it now with us?" said the dying man. +"All goes well," said Hardy; "ten vessels have already lowered their flag. +I see that the French are signalling to the vanguard to tack about. If +they come against the _Victory_ we will call for aid, and give them a +beating." "I hope none of our ships have surrendered," said Nelson. "There +is no danger," replied Hardy, who returned to his post. When he +reappeared, Nelson's eyes were closed. The captain stooped over him. "We +have fifteen prizes," said he. "I counted upon twenty," murmured the dying +man. Then rousing himself, "Anchor, Hardy, anchor; give the signal! Kiss +me ... I am satisfied. Thank God, I have done my duty." He expired,--just +forty-seven years of age. + +The French Admiral Magon was still defending the _Algesiras_, attacked by +the _Tonnant_; he wanted to board her, but his deck was swept by the grape +shot of fresh assailants. Himself threatened with being boarded, the +admiral repulsed the English, axe in hand, at the head of his sailors. He +was covered with wounds. Bretonnière, become flag officer by the death of +his seniors, implored Magon to have his wounds dressed; as he yielded to +the request, a cannon-shot penetrating between decks struck him in the +chest, and he was dead. The _Algésiras_ at last hauled down her flag, at +the moment when the _Achille_, for some time already the prey of flames +which the crew had no time to extinguish, blew up with a terrific +explosion. Thus ended the battle. Admiral Gravina rallied round him eleven +vessels; a few had at an early period withdrawn from the combat. Admiral +Dumanoir, who had not succeeded in engaging his vanguard, had already +retired. The English carried off seventeen vessels, for the most part too +shattered to be of service. The unfortunate French admiral was received by +the conquerors with the honor due to his bravery. A few months later, when +released by the enemy, Villeneuve in despair was to die by his own hand in +an inn at Rennes, writing in the last moment these heartrending words: +"What a blessing that I have no child to receive my horrible inheritance, +and live under the weight of my name!" + +The last orders of Nelson in dying, recommended the fleet to be anchored; +Collingwood judged otherwise, and waited till daylight. Already Admiral +Gravina had taken his vessels into the port of Cadiz, when a furious +tempest broke forth, irresistible by the ships so dreadfully damaged in +the conflict. The English had so much to do in looking after their own +safety that they could not attend to their prizes, and the officer having +charge of the _Bucentaure_ resigned it to the French commanders: the +unfortunate vessel perished on the coast, opposite Cape Diamant. + +Indomitable in defeat as in battle, the officers and sailors of the +_Algesiras_ forced their guardians to surrender the vessel. They at last +escaped death, after two nights of anguish and struggle. At their side the +_Indomptable_, all hung with lanterns, its deck crowded with a despairing +crew, was forced from its anchors by the hurricane, and shattered against +the rocks. The English lost all their prizes but four; they were compelled +to sink the _Swiftsure_, captured by Admiral Ganteaume and which they were +intent on recapturing from us. + +Nelson had made the request in dying, "Do not cast my poor body into the +sea." The most extraordinary honors awaited in England the remains of this +great seaman: the broken mast of his flag-ship, and one of the French +bullets whicn struck him, still attract attention in a room at Windsor. +The whole nation put on mourning; the politicians forgot the embarrassment +which he had more than once caused them, and which had drawn from one of +them the expression, "He is an heroic cockney." The splendor of his +military genius, his devotion to his country, the noble simplicity of his +character, inspired all minds with respect. The hero of the struggle +against France, he fell at the height of his glory. He had taken part in +nearly all the maritime victories which had signalized the war: the names +of Aboukir, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar render his memory glorious. + +The emperor bore the blow of his defeat without showing despondency or +anger. "All this makes no change in my cruising projects," wrote he on the +18th November, to Admiral Decrès; "I am even annoyed that all is not +ready. They must set out without delay. Cause all the troops that are on +board the squadron to come to me by land. They will wait my orders at the +first town in France." + +Napoleon was then at Znaïm in Moravia, and the date of his letter told the +story of his astonishing successes. Abandoned by the King of Prussia, with +whom the Austrians and the Russians had turned to account the violation of +his territory, Napoleon prepared to dispute Hanover with new enemies, +without modifying his general plan, and without renouncing his march upon +Vienna. The Russian army of Kutuzof alone barred his way; but already it +was commencing a clever movement of retreat, never fighting without +necessity, firm and resolute, however, when attacked. The Russians passed +the Danube at Krems, destroying the bridges behind them. They committed +great ravages during their march, and had gained the ill-will of the +Austrian corps who went with them, and who fell back upon Vienna. With +great imprudence General Mortier had been detached on the left bank of the +Danube, where he was attacked by the larger portion of the Russian army at +the very moment when he found himself separated from the division of +Dupont. In spite of the heroic resistance of the French soldiers the +danger was imminent. Mortier was urged to take to a boat, and not deliver +to the enemy a marshal of France. "Who would leave such brave men?" +replies Mortier; "we will be saved or perish together." A road lay open +across the ground occupied by the Russians, to the village of Dernstein; +the soldiers of General Dupont entered it at the same time from another +direction. They hastened by forced marches to the succor of the marshal. +Napoleon's anger fell heavily on Murat, whom he accused, not without +reason, of vainglorious levity. Already the brilliant general of cavalry +had presented himself at the gates of Vienna. The Emperor Francis had not +wished to expose his capital to the horrors of a siege; when he saw the +proposals for an armistice rejected which he had addressed to Napoleon +(November 8th) he prepared to quit Vienna. Less menacing than at Ulm, the +conqueror no longer invited the Emperor of Austria to meditate upon the +fall of empires: he reminded him that the present war was for Russia only +a fancy war; "for your Majesty and myself it is a war that absorbs all our +means, all our sentiments, all our faculties." Fifteen days later Napoleon +entered the palace of Schoenbrunn. Thanks to a ruse, more daring than +fair, Murat had succeeded in carrying the bridges of Vienna at the moment +when the workmen were preparing to blow them up; he was on the march for +Moravia, pursuing the Russians, with the co-operation of Mortier and +Bernadotte. + +By his superior ability Napoleon struck his enemies at once with terror +and astonishment, paralyzing their forces by their anxiety at the +unforeseen blows he dealt them. The Archduke Charles had long remained +immovable on the Adige; when he at last commenced his retreat he marched +to the assistance of the threatened empire, and was pursued by Masséna. +The marshal attacked the archduke in his camp of Caldiero after having +seized Verona by night, and had fought him on the shores of the +Tagliamento; he was now approaching Marmont, who occupied the Styrian +Alps. The Archduke Charles rallying the remains of the army of his +brother, the Archduke John, was engaged with him in Hungary, in order to +rejoin the Russian army in Moravia. Before the two masses of the enemy +could reach Brünn, and in spite of the clever manoeuvre of Kutuzoff, who +succeeded before Hollabrunn in concealing from Murat and Lannes the great +bulk of his army, the French were, on the 19th of November, in possession +of the capital of Moravia. Napoleon entered it next day. + +The Emperor Alexander joined the Emperor of Austria at Olmütz. Proud of +his diplomatic successes at Berlin, and convinced that his visit to the +King of Prussia had alone decided him to attach himself to the coalition, +he nursed a military ambition, assiduously encouraged by his young +favorites. The Emperor Francis sent Stadion and Giulay to Brünn, +commissioned to treat for conditions of peace. Napoleon referred them to +Talleyrand, whom he had sent to Vienna. "They know the state of the +question by what I have said to them in a few words," wrote he; "but you +have to treat it smoothly and at full length. My intention is absolutely +to have the State of Venice, and to reunite it to the kingdom of Italy. I +have good cause to think that the court of Vienna has taken its resolution +on that point." + +Napoleon was wishing for peace--immediate, glorious, and fruitful. He had +vainly sought to separate the Austrians from the Russians; he could not +doubt the hostile intentions of Prussia. The very explanations that +Haugwitz had just given him as to the motives for the entry of a Prussian +army into Hanover foreshadowed plenty of approaching hostilities: a +brilliant victory, forestalling the union of the German and Russian +forces, became necessary. For a few days the soldiers rested, recruiting +their forces after their long and perilous marches. The impatience of the +Emperor Alexander had already carried the general quarters of the allies +to Wischau. It was there that General Savary presented himself, intrusted +with aimless negotiations, which gave him opportunity to examine the +condition of the Austro-Russian army. Prince Dolgorouki, sent from Brünn +with the reply of the Emperor Alexander, was received at the advanced +posts. The young favorite was thoughtless and proud. "What do they want of +me?" said Napoleon. "Why does the Emperor Alexander make war on me? Is he +jealous of the growth of France? Well, let him extend his frontiers at the +expense of his neighbors on the side of Turkey, and all quarrels will be +at an end." Dolgorouki protested the disinterestedness of his master. "The +emperor wishes," said he "for the independence of Europe, the evacuation +of Holland and Switzerland, an indemnity for the King of Sardinia, and +barriers round France for the protection of its neighbors." Napoleon broke +out in a passion: "I will never yield anything in Italy, even if the +Russians should camp upon the heights of Montmartre." He sent back the +negotiator, who had perceived the movements of troops falling back around +Brünn. Ignorant of the great principle which directed the campaigns of +Napoleon--"divide in order to subsist, concentrate in order to fight"--he +thought he divined the preparations for retreat. The ardor of the Russian +army grew more intense. It advanced towards the position long studied by +Napoleon, and which he destined for his field of battle. In accordance +with the plan of the Austrian general, Weirother, who was in great favor +with the Emperor Alexander, the allies had resolved to turn the right of +the French army, in order to cut off the road to Vienna by isolating +numerous corps dispersed in Austria and Styria. Already the two emperors +and their staff-officers occupied the castle and village of Austerlitz. On +December 1st, 1805, the allies established themselves upon the plateau of +Platzen; Napoleon had by design left it free. Divining, with the sure +instinct of superior genius, the manoeuvres of his enemy, he had cleverly +drawn them into the snare. His proclamation to the troops announced all +the plan of the battle. + +"Soldiers," said he, "the Russian army presents itself before you to +avenge the Austrian army of Ulm. These are the same battalions which you +have beaten at Hollabrunn, and that you have constantly pursued to this +place. + +"The positions that we occupy are formidable, and whilst they march to +turn my right they will present me their flank. + +"Soldiers, I will myself direct your battalions. I will keep myself away +from the firing if, with your accustomed bravery, you carry disorder and +confusion into the enemy's ranks. But if the victory were for a moment +uncertain you would see your emperor expose himself to the brunt of the +attack; for this victory will finish the campaign, and we shall be able to +resume our winter quarters, where we shall be joined by new armies which +are forming in France. Then the peace I shall make will be worthy of my +people, of you, and of me." + +It was late, and the emperor had just dismissed Haugwitz, whom he had sent +back to Vienna. "I shall see you again if I am not carried off to-morrow +by a cannon-ball. It will be time then to understand each other." Napoleon +went out to visit the soldiers at the bivouac. A great ardor animated the +troops; it was remembered that the 2nd December was the anniversary of the +coronation of the emperor. The soldiers gathered up the straw upon which +they were stretched, making it into bundles, which they lit at the end of +poles; a sudden illumination lit up the camp. "Be assured," said an old +grenadier, advancing towards the chief who had so many times led his +comrades to victory, "I promise thee that we will bring thee to-morrow the +flags and the cannon of the Russian army to signalize the anniversary of +the 2nd December." + +The fires were extinguished, and the enemies thought they saw in it the +indication of a nocturnal retreat. Gathered around a map, the allied +generals listened to Weirother, who developed his plan of battle "with a +boasting air, which displayed in him a clear persuasion of his own merit +and of our incapacity," says General Langeron, a French emigrant officer +in the Russian army. Old Kutuzof slept. "If Bonaparte had been able to +attack us, he would have done it to-day," was the assurance of Weirother. +"You do not then think him strong?" "If he has 40,000 men, it is all." "He +has extinguished his fires; a good deal of noise comes from his camp." "He +is either retreating or else he is changing his position; if he takes that +of Turas, he will spare us a good deal of trouble, and the dispositions of +the troops will remain the same." The day was scarcely begun (2nd +December, 1805) when the allied army was on the march. The noise of the +preparations in the camps had reassured Napoleon as to the direction the +enemy would take. On the previous evening, whilst listening to the learned +lecture of Weirother, Prince Bagration, formerly the heroic defender of +the positions of Hollabrunn, had uttered under his long moustache, "The +battle is lost!" In seeing his enemies advance towards the right, as he +had himself announced to his soldiers, Napoleon could not withhold the +signs of his joy. He held the victory in his own hands. He waited +patiently until his enemies had deployed their line. The sun had just +risen, shining through the midst of a fog, which it dispersed with its +brilliant rays. The plateau of Pratzen was in part abandoned; the emperor +gave the signal, and the whole French army moved forward, forming an +enormous and compact mass, eager to hurl itself on the enemy. "See how the +French climb the height without staying to respond to our fire!" said +Prince Czartoriski, who watched the battle near the two emperors. He was +still speaking when already the allied columns, thrown out one after +another on the slope, found themselves arrested in their movement and +separated from the two wings of the army. Old Kutuzof, badly wounded, +strove in vain to send aid to the disordered centre. "See, see, a mortal +wound!" he cried, extending his arms towards Pratzen. + +During this time the right, commanded by Marshal Davout, disputed with the +Russians the line of Goldbach, extricating with the division of Friant +General Legrand for a moment outflanked. Murat and Lannes attacked on the +left eighty-two Russian and Austrian squadrons, under the orders of Prince +John of Lichtenstein. The infantry advanced in quick time against the +Uhlans sent against them, soon dispersed by the light cavalry of +Kellermann. The Russian batteries drowned the sound of all the drums of +the first regiment of the division of Cafarelli. General Valhubert had his +thigh fractured, and his soldiers wished to carry him away. "Remain at +your posts," said he calmly. "I know well how to die alone. We must not +for one man lose six." The Russian guard at last turned towards Pratzen. A +French battalion, which had let itself be drawn in pursuit, was in danger. +Napoleon, stationed at the centre with the infantry of the guard, and the +corps of Bernadotte, perceived the disorder. "Take there the Mamelukes and +the chasseurs of the guard," said he to Rapp. When the latter returned to +the emperor he was wounded, but the Russians, were repulsed, and Prince +Repnin prisoner. A Russian division, isolated at Sokolnitz, had just +surrendered; two columns had been thrown back beyond the marshes. The +bridge broke under the weight of the artillery. The cold was intense; and +the soldiers thought to save themselves by springing upon the ice, but +already the French cannon-balls were breaking it under their feet. With +cries of despair they were engulfed in the waters of the lake. Generals +Doctoroff and Keinmayer effected their painful retreat, under the fire of +our batteries, by a narrow embankment, separating the two lakes of Melnitz +and Falnitz. Only the corps of Prince Bagration still kept in order of +battle, Marshal Lannes having restrained his troops which were rushing +forward in pursuit. + +The day had come to a close; the two emperors had abandoned the terrible +battle-field. Behind them resounded the French shouts of victory; around +them, before them, they heard the imprecations of the fugitives, the +groans of the wounded, unable any longer to keep on their way, the +complaints of the peasants ravaged by the furious soldiery. They arrived +thus at the imperial castle of Halitsch, where they found themselves next +day pressed by Marshal Davout. Austerlitz became the headquarters of the +conqueror. + +Before even having reached a place of safety the Emperor Francis, gloomy +and calm, had in his own mind taken his decision. Prince John of +Lichtenstein was sent to ask from Napoleon an armistice and an interview. +The conqueror was still traversing the field of battle, attentive in +procuring for his soldiers the care that their bravery merited. "The +interview, when the emperor will, the day after to-morrow, at our advanced +posts," said he to the Austrian envoy; "until then, no armistice." Whilst +Napoleon was speaking to his army and to Europe, Marshal Lannes and the +cavalry were already pursuing the vanquished enemy. + +"Soldiers, I am satisfied with you," said he in his proclamation of the +3rd December, 1805. "You have upon the day of Austerlitz justified all +that I expected from your intrepidity. An army of 100,000 men, commanded +by the Emperors of Russia and Austria, has been in less than four hours +either cut up or dispersed, and what escaped from your steel is drowned in +the lakes. Forty flags, the standards of the Imperial Guard of Russia, a +hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, twenty generals, and more than thirty +thousand prisoners are the results of this ever-memorable day. In three +months this third coalition has been vanquished and dissolved. Soldiers, +when all that is necessary in order to assure the happiness and prosperity +of France shall be accomplished, I will lead you back into France; there +you will be the object of my most tender solicitude. My people will see +you again with joy, and it will suffice for you to say, 'I was at the +battle of Austerlitz,' to receive the reply, 'There is a hero!'" + +The army rested, intoxicated with pride and joy. The losses, considerable +in themselves, were small in comparison with the disasters inflicted on +the coalition; the arrogance of the Russians had undergone a most painful +check; the youthful illusions of their Czar cruelly dissipated. The +Emperor of Austria informed him of his pacific intentions, and Alexander +hastened to release his allies from their engagements; he was in a hurry +to retire and disengage himself from a war which could procure for him no +other advantage than a vain hope of glory. + +Napoleon repeated his former sentiments to the Emperor Francis when he met +him next day at the mill of Paleny, between Nasiedlowitz and Urschitz. "Do +not confound your cause with that of the Emperor Alexander. Russia can to- +day only make a fancy war (_une guerre de fantaisie_). Conquered, she +retires into her deserts, and you pay all the costs of the war." Then, +gracefully returning to the courtesies of society, the all-powerful +conqueror made excuses for the poor place in which he was compelled to +receive his illustrious host. + +"These are the palaces," said he, "which your Majesty has compelled me to +inhabit for three months past." "Your visit has succeeded sufficiently +well for you to have no right to bear me any grudge," replied the Emperor +Francis. The two monarchs embraced, and the armistice was concluded. The +Russians were to retire by stages, and the seat of negotiations was fixed +at Brünn. A formal order from Napoleon was necessary in order to stop the +march of Marshal Davout in pursuit of the Russian army. General Savary was +entrusted with this order; he brought to the Czar the conditions of the +armistice. "I am satisfied, since my ally is," replied Alexander, and he +allowed to escape from him the expression of an admiration which was long +to exercise over him a profound influence. "Your master has shown himself +very great," said he to Savary. + +Napoleon left Talleyrand at Brünn exchanging arguments with Stadion and +Giulay; he himself repaired to Vienna, where Haugwitz awaited him. +Imperfectly instructed as to the alliance concluded on the 3rd of November +at Potsdam between the King of Prussia and the allies, he knew enough of +it to break forth in violent reproaches against the perfidy of the +Prussian Government. And as Haugwitz made excuses and protests, the +Emperor proposed to him all of a sudden that union with France which had +been so often discussed. Hanover was to be the price of it. Prussia was +uneasy, frightened, divided in her councils, but she accepted; the +Marquisate of Anspach, the Principality of Neufchâtel, and the Duchy of +Clèves were ceded to France, and the treaty was signed at Schönbrunn on +the 15th December, 1805. Prussia recognized all the conquests of Napoleon; +the two sovereigns reciprocally guaranteed each other's possessions. + +Talleyrand had just quitted Brünn, which had become unhealthy through the +overcrowding of the hospitals; the negotiations were being carried on at +Presburg. In spite of the wise and prudent counsels of his minister, +Napoleon was resolved on exacting from Austria still more than he had +declared before Ulm. The defection of Prussia had thoroughly disheartened +the plenipotentiaries of the Emperor Francis. The French armies +concentrated afresh around Vienna. Napoleon was doubly imperious, +threatening to recommence the war; the negotiators at length yielded to +necessity. On the 26th of December, 1805, peace was signed at Presburg +between France and Austria. The Emperor Francis abandoned to the conqueror +Venice, Istria, Frioul, and Dalmatia, which were to become part of the +kingdom of Italy; the Tyrol and Vorarlberg, of which Napoleon made a +present to Bavaria; the outlying territories of Suabia, handed over to +Wurtemberg; the Brisgau, Ortenau, and the city of Constance, which were +added to the territories of the Elector of Baden. Napoleon ceded to the +Emperor the Principality of Wurtzburg for one of the archdukes; the +secularization of the Teutonic Order was agreed upon to the profit of +Austria; the latter power was to pay a war indemnity of forty millions. + +The small German princes, who beheld their possessions increased and their +titles made more glorious by the powerful hand of the conqueror, were in +their turn to pay the price of the terrible alliance which weighed upon +them. The new Kings of Wurtemberg and Bavaria found themselves obliged to +give their daughters to Jerome Bonaparte and to Eugène de Beauharnais; the +marriage that the former had contracted in America, and the betrothal of +the Princess of Bavaria to the son of the Elector of Baden, weighed +nothing in the balance in comparison with the iron will of Napoleon. +Intimidated and restless, the Elector of Baden himself broke off the +marriage of his son, accepting for him the hand of Stéphani de +Beauharnais, niece of the Empress Josephine. Before taking the road to +France, the Emperor was present at the marriage of the vice-King of Italy +with the princess whose portrait he had seen a few days before upon a +porcelain cup. Everything had yielded to his power,--sovereigns, families, +and hearts. Russia and England alone remained openly enemies. "Rest +awhile, my children," said the Archduke Charles in disbanding his army; +"rest awhile, until we begin again." + +I have been desirous of conducting General Bonaparte, now become the +Emperor Napoleon, up to the popular summit of his glory. He had already +tainted it by many acts of violence, and by an exclusive devotion to +personal ends, in defiance of justice and liberty. Henceforward and under +the disastrous inspirations of a mad ambition, victory itself was to +become a fatal seduction which by inevitable degrees draws us on to ruin. +Great and terrible lesson of Divine justice on the morality of nations! +Starting from the violation of the peace of Amiens, and in spite of the +glory of the sun of Austerlitz, the history of the glory of the conqueror +includes in germ the history of his fall, and of the ever-increasing +misfortunes of France. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +GLORY AND CONQUEST (1805-1808). + + +Guizot has said at the commencement of his essay on Washington: "There is +a spectacle as fine as that of a virtuous man struggling with adversity, +and not less salutary to contemplate; it is the spectacle of a virtuous +man at the head of a good cause and assuring his triumph." + +There is a spectacle, sorrowful and sad, also salutary to contemplate in +its austere teachings: it is that of a man of genius bearing along in his +train an enthusiastic nation, and squandering all the living forces of his +genius and his country in the service of a senseless ambition, as fatal to +the sovereign as the people, both foolishly dragged along by a vision of +glory towards injustices and crimes not at first foreseen. Such is the +spectacle offered to us by the history of the Emperor Napoleon, and of +France, after the battle of Austerlitz and the Peace of Presburg. + +For the moment a stupor seemed to oppress the whole of Europe. Prussia, +humiliated and indignant, had, however, just ratified the treaty of +Schönbrunn; Austria was panting and conquered; England had lost her great +minister: William Pitt died 23rd January, 1806, struck to the heart in his +patriotic passion, by the new victory of the conqueror whom he dreaded for +the liberty of the world. "Roll up this map of Europe," said he when the +news was brought to him as he lay dying in his little house at Putney, "in +ten years time there will be no further need for it." Already his rival +had succeeded him in office, and Fox did not yet foresee that he would +presently be inevitably brought to adopt the policy of resistance to the +long increasing power of Napoleon. He was then making cordial advances +towards him. The Emperor Alexander had not disarmed, but the appeals to +him from the Court of Naples found him immovable. Already the Bourbons +were trembling on the thrones they still occupied. + +Napoleon announced it in his thirty-seventh bulletin, dated from Vienna. +"General Saint Cyr marches by long stages towards Naples, to punish the +treason of the queen, and hurl from the throne this criminal woman who has +violated everything that is held sacred among men." Intercession was +attempted for her with the Emperor. He replied, "Ought hostilities to +recommence, and the nation to sustain a war of thirty years, a perfidy so +atrocious cannot he pardoned." + +In this struggle between violence and treason the issue could not remain +long doubtful. In the name of Joseph Bonaparte, Masséna commanded the army +which came to take possession of the kingdom of Naples. For the second +time, King Ferdinand and Queen Charlotte took refuge in Sicily. "It is the +interest of France to make sure of the kingdom of Naples by a useful and +easy conquest," the _Moniteur_ had formerly declared, in publishing the +treaty of neutrality agreed to by the House of Bourbon. The work was +accomplished; on the 30th of March, Joseph Bonaparte was proclaimed King +of the Two Sicilies. The city of Gaëta alone was to prolong its +resistance. + +Two months later, with the appearance of the national consent, Napoleon +elevated his brother Louis to the throne which he had instituted for him +in Holland. The prince had been ordered to protect this country, +threatened by the Anglo-Swedish army. After the battle of Austerlitz he +presented himself before the Emperor. "Why have you quitted Holland?" +demanded the latter brusquely, "we saw you there with pleasure, and you +should have remained there." "Sounds of a monarchical transformation +circulate in Holland," replied Louis Bonaparte, "they are not agreeable to +this free and worthy nation, nor are they any more pleasant to me." + +Napoleon broke out into a passion. "He gave me to understand," says Prince +Louis in his _Mémoires_, "that if I had not been more consulted over this +affair, it was for a subject only to obey." At the same time the Emperor +wrote to Talleyrand, "I have seen this evening Admiral Verhuell. In two +words hear what this question amounts to. Holland is without executive +power. It requires that power, and I will give it Prince Louis. In place +of the Grand Pensionary Schimmelpenninck, there shall be a king. The +argument is that without that I shall not be able to give peace a firm +settlement. Prince Louis must make his entry into Amsterdam within twenty +days." The accession to the throne of the new monarch was celebrated on +the 5th June, 1806. + +Napoleon disposed at his will of crowns and appanages, elevating or +dethroning kings, magnificently dowering the companions of his military +life and the servants of his policy. He had at the same time conceived the +idea of forming beyond his States a barrier which should separate them +from the great German powers, always secretly hostile. The dukes and the +electors whom he had made kings, the princes whose domains he had +aggrandized, were to unite in a confederation for the protection of the +new State of Germany. The seat of government was established at Frankfort. +The town of Ratisbon, formerly honored by the assemblies of the Diet, had +been ceded to Bavaria. The Diet was officially informed that Prussia +received a decisive authorization to form in its turn a confederation of +the North. Most of the German States having been forcibly taken from him, +Francis II voluntarily resigned the vain title he still bore; he ceased to +be Emperor of Germany, and became Emperor of Austria. + +Meanwhile the overtures of Fox towards France had until now remained +without result. England refused to treat without Russia, whom the Emperor +would not admit to a common negotiation. "Regrets are useless," wrote Fox +to Talleyrand on the 10th April, 1806; "but if the great man whom you +serve, could see with the same eye with which I behold it, the true glory +which would accrue to him from a moderate and just peace, what good +fortune would not result from it for France and for all Europe?" + +In the depth of his soul and in his secret thoughts Napoleon now desired +peace. Amongst the English prisoners detained in France after the rupture +of the treaty of Amiens, a few had been exchanged since the advent of Fox +to the ministry; one of them, Lord Yarmouth (afterwards Lord Hertford), +elegant and dissipated, had been commissioned by his government to talk +over familiarly with Talleyrand the chances of peace that existed between +the two nations. Napoleon had conceded Hanover to Prussia as the price of +peace; he was ready to retrocede it to England, free to indemnify Prussia +at the expense of Germany. The negotiation was carried on secretly, the +negotiators meeting as men of the world rather than diplomats. Oubril, an +envoy from the Emperor Alexander, had just arrived in Paris, charged with +reassuring France on the subject of a circumstance which had recently +taken place in Dalmatia. The Russian admiral, Sinavin, animated with +unseasonable zeal, with the aid of the Montenegrins had seized the mouths +of the Cattaro. The Austrian officers, appointed to hand over the +territory to the French, had not opposed any resistance to the Russians. +The two Emperors of Austria and Russia hastened to disavow their agents; +on 20th July Oubril signed with France a separate peace. + +This was failing in loyalty towards England, who had refused to treat +without its ally. The Emperor of Russia perceived it; he had thought the +cabinet of London more inclined to conclude peace at any cost. The health +of Fox was giving way, and his successors were likely to be less favorable +to the demands of Napoleon. Alexander declared that he would not ratify +the treaty negotiated by Oubril. This news arrived at Paris on the 3rd of +September, 1806. On the 13th of the same month Fox expired in London, +amiable and beloved to the last day of his life; ardently devoted to his +friends, to freedom, to all noble and generous causes; a great orator and +a great debater; feeble in his political conduct even in opposition, +incapable of governing and of sustaining the great struggle which for so +long agitated Europe. At his death the party of resistance resumed power +in England. In Germany the secret of the negotiations with regard to +Hanover had transpired; the disregard of sworn faith which Prussia had +more than once practised during the war fell back upon herself with +crushing weight. Napoleon thought nothing of his engagements; he had +detached King Frederick William from his natural allies, and showed +himself disposed to snatch from him the price of his compliance. The +nation and the king had with great difficulty accepted the treaty +negotiated by Haugwitz; indignation broke forth on every side. It had +already betrayed itself for a few weeks past by numerous and violent +pamphlets against the Emperor of the French and against the armies of +occupation. Napoleon responded to them by a despotic and cruel act which +was to bear bitter fruits. On the 5th August he wrote to Marshal +Berthier:-- + +"My cousin,--I imagine that you have had the booksellers of Augsburg and +Nuremberg arrested. My intention is that they should be indicted before a +military tribunal, and shot within twenty-four hours. It is no ordinary +crime to spread libels in places where the French army is stationed, in +order to excite the inhabitants against it. It is a crime of high treason. +The sentence shall set forth that wherever there is an army, the duty of +the commander being to watch over its safety, such and such individuals +convicted of having attempted to stir up the inhabitants of Suabia against +the French army are condemned to death. You will place the criminals in +the midst of a division, and you will appoint seven colonels to try them. +You will have the sentence published throughout Germany." Only one +bookseller of Nuremberg, named Palm, was arrested, and suffered the +terrible sentence. Berthier never forgot the cruel necessity to which he +had been subjected in ordering this odious procedure. "He makes us condemn +under the penalty of being condemned ourselves," said General Hullin, in +reporting the murder of the Duc d'Enghien. + +The growing irritation of Germany only awaited an excuse for bursting +forth. A despatch of the Marquis of Lucchesini, then minister of Prussia +at Paris, gave the protracted irritation of the court of Berlin its +opportunity. According to the information received from this diplomatist, +the French government was putting pressure upon the German Princes of the +North, to prevent them from entering the Confederation projected by +Prussia. A letter from King Frederick William and a diplomatic note +demanded peremptorily the evacuation of Germany by the French troops, and +liberty of action for the German Princes. At the same time the armaments +of Prussia, for a long time prepared in secret, became public. Already the +Emperor Napoleon had quitted Paris, without Laforest, his minister at +Berlin, having been authorized to reply to the demands of the Prussians. +"We have been deceived three times," said Napoleon. "We must have facts; +let Prussia disarm, and France will re-cross the Rhine, and not before." +It was to the Senate and to the soldiers alone that Napoleon now addressed +the explanation of his aggressive movements against Prussia. + +"Soldiers, the order for your re-entry into France was issued; you had +already approached it by several marches. Triumphant fêtes awaited you, +and the preparations to receive you had already commenced in the capital. + +"But whilst we abandon ourselves to this too confident security, new plots +are hatched under the mask of friendship and alliance. War cries have made +themselves heard from Berlin. For two months we have been provoked more +and more every day. + +"The same faction, the same spirit of giddiness which, under favor of our +internal dissensions, conducted the Prussians fourteen years ago into the +midst of the plains of Champagne, rules in their councils; if it is no +longer Paris that they wish to burn and overthrow to its foundations, it +is to-day their flag that they wish to plant in the capitals of our +allies; it is Saxony that they wish to compel by a shameful transaction to +renounce its independence by ranging it in the number of their provinces; +it is, in fine, your laurels that they wish to snatch from your foreheads. +They wish us to evacuate Germany at the sight of their arms. Fools! What? +Shall we then have braved the seasons, the seas, the deserts, conquered +Europe several times allied against us, carried our glory from the east to +the west, in order to return to-day into our country like fugitives who +have abandoned their allies; to hear it said that the French eagle fled in +fear at the mere sight of the Prussian armies?" + +It was, in fact, a fourth continental coalition which was beginning to be +formed against France. Prussia alone was then on the scene: long prudent +and circumspect in its conduct, it had been drawn in this time, in spite +of its weakness, by irresistible anger and indignation. Napoleon did not +dread the war. "I have nearly 150,000 men in Germany," wrote he to King +Joseph; "with them I can subdue Vienna, Berlin, St. Petersburg." The reply +that he at last deigned to address to the King of Prussia from the camp of +Gera breathed the most haughty confidence. A few engagements had already +taken place. "Monsieur my brother," wrote Napoleon to Frederick William, +"I only received on the 7th the letter of your Majesty of the 25th +September. I am vexed that you have been induced to sign this sort of +thing. You appoint a meeting with me on the 8th. Like a good knight, I +keep faith with you, I am in the middle of Saxony; believe me I have such +forces with me that all your forces cannot long prevent my victory. But +why spill so much blood? To what end? Sire, I have been your friend for +six years past. I do not wish to profit by that species of giddiness which +animates your council, and has caused you to commit political errors, at +which Europe is still astonished, and military errors of such an enormity +that Europe will soon ring with them. If in your note you had asked +possible things from me, I would have granted them to you; you have asked +for my dishonor: you ought to have been certain of my reply. War is then +made between us, the alliance broken forever; but why make our subjects +kill each other? Sire, your Majesty will be conquered; you will have +compromised the peace of your days and the existence of your subjects +without the shadow of a pretext. I have nothing to gain against your +Majesty. I want nothing, and I have wanted nothing from you. The present +war is an impolitic war." + +Napoleon had well estimated the forces of the enemy he was preparing to +crush; he had concentrated under his hand a power superior to all the +resources of the Prussians, whose soldiers were courageous and well +disciplined, but for a long time little exercised in war. Napoleon's +precautions were taken at every point of his vast territory; he had called +new troops under his banners; everywhere he held in check his enemies, +either secret or avowed. At one moment he thought of tendering his hand to +Austria; he wrote to his ambassador at Vienna, M. de la Rochefoucauld: "My +position and my forces are such that I have no cause to fear any one; but +at length all these efforts are burdensome to my people. Of the three +powers, Russia, Prussia, and Austria, I must have one for an ally. In any +case one cannot rely on Prussia: there remains only Austria. The navy of +France formerly flourished through the benefit resulting from an alliance +with Austria. This power also feels the need of remaining quiet, a +sentiment that I partake with all my heart. The house of Austria having +often caused hints to be thrown out to me, the present moment, if it knows +how to profit by it, is the most favorable." + +Austria remained immovable, the uneasy spectator of the events that were +preparing. The Russians had not quitted their positions on the Vistula; +already the Prussians had invaded Saxony, compelling that little power to +furnish them with an army of 20,000 men. The old Duke of Brunswick +collected at the same time the contingent of the Elector of Hesse-Cassel, +who had sought in vain to maintain his neutrality. The French army +occupied Franconia; it was across these mountainous defiles that Napoleon +had resolved to march against the enemy divided into two corps, under the +orders of the Duke of Brunswick and the Prince of Hohenlohe. Already +Marshals Davout and Bernadotte were established upon the left bank of the +Saale. The troops of the Prince of Hohenlohe occupied the road from Weimar +to Jena. Marshal Lannes had taken possession of the heights which +commanded this last town. On the morning of the 14th October, the combat +was opened against the corps of the Prince of Hohenlohe; superior in +number to the troops employed by the Emperor Napoleon, but surprised by an +attack of which they had not foreseen the vigor, the Prussian soldiers +were soon thrown into a panic terror. The two wings of the French army, +commanded by Soult and Augereau, already enveloped the enemy when Napoleon +sent forward the guard and the reserves. The centre of the Prussian army +fell back before this enormous mass; the retreat changed into a rout. At +the same moment Marshal Biechel arrived by forced marches to the aid of +the Prince of Hohenlohe; he brought 20,000 men, but in vain did he +struggle to rally and curb the fugitives; he was drawn along and repulsed +by the conquered as well as by the conquerors. French and Germans entered +at the same time into Weimar; already the crowd of prisoners hindered the +march of the victorious army. + +At the same hour on the same day, with forces less considerable, Marshal +Davout struggled alone, near Auerstadt, against the enemy's corps, +commanded by the Duke of Brunswick and by King Frederick William. Marshal +Bernadotte had quitted him, obeying literally the orders of the Emperor, +who had enjoined him to occupy Hamburg, little careful, perhaps, of the +danger to which he exposed his companion-in-arms. Davout cut the road of +the Prussians in the defile of Koesen. The Duke of Brunswick, marching +himself at the head of his troops, rushed upon him, violently attacking +our immovable squares under a murderous fire. The old general fell, +mortally wounded; the effort of Prince William and the king remained +equally fruitless. Profiting by the trouble caused by his resistance, +Davout threw his troops forward, and seized the heights of Eckartsberg; +there, protected by his artillery, he could still defend his positions. +The King of Prussia gave orders to retire on Weimar; he counted on joining +the corps of the Prince of Hohenlohe, in order to renew the attack with +all his forces. He had already travelled over half the distance without +being harassed by Marshal Davout, whose troops were exhausted; but +Bernadotte barred his passage; the confused waves of fugitives from Jena +precipitated themselves into the ranks of their friends and compatriots. +Behind them appeared the French soldiers, ardent in pursuit. The king +turned off hastily, by way of Sommerda; the darkness was increasing, and +the disorder increased with the darkness. In a single day the entire +Prussian army was destroyed. "They can do nothing but gather up the +_débris_," said Napoleon. + +He took care to crush everywhere these sad remains of a generous and +patriotic effort. Whilst his lieutenants were pursuing the wandering +detachments of the Prussian army, the emperor imposed upon the nation he +had just conquered a contribution of a hundred and fifty-nine millions. He +sent the elector of Hesse to Metz, announcing in a letter to Marshal +Mortier his intention that the house of Hesse should cease to reign, and +would be effaced from the number of the powers. The Saxon prisoners, on +the contrary, were sent back free to their sovereign. Everywhere the +English merchandise found in the ports and warehouses was confiscated for +the profit of the army. The Prussian commerce was ruined like the state. + +Napoleon advanced upon Berlin; the King of Prussia sought to reach +Magdeburg, constantly accompanied by the queen, whose warlike and +patriotic ardor excited the rage and the insults of the emperor. "The +Queen of Prussia has been many times in view of our posts," says the 8th +bulletin of the grand army; "she is in continual fear and alarms. Last +night she passed her regiment in review; she continually excited the king +and the generals; she craves for blood. Blood the most precious has +flowed; the most distinguished generals are those upon whom the first +blows have fallen." Gross insinuations aggravated these rude allusions. +"All the Prussians assign the misfortunes of Prussia to the journey of the +Emperor Alexander. The change which has since then taken place in the +spirit of the queen, who, from being a timid and modest woman, occupied +with her home affairs, has become turbulent and warlike, is quite a sudden +revolution. She desired all at once to have a regiment, to go to the +Council, and she has led the monarchy so well that in a few days she has +conducted it to the edge of a precipice." + +A few battles finally opened everywhere the roads to the conqueror; +Magdeburg was besieged, Erfurt had surrendered, Marshal Davout occupied +Wittemberg, and Lannes occupied Dessau; Bernadotte had thrown himself +against Halle, still defended by Prince Eugène of Wurtemberg. The +resistance was severe; when the emperor came to visit the battle-field, he +recognized among the corpses still scattered upon the ground the uniforms +of the 32nd half-brigade. "Still the 32nd!" cried he. "I have had so many +of them killed in Egypt, in Italy, everywhere, that there ought to be no +more of them." It was with the same accent of indifferent and cold +reflection that he was to say much later, in contemplating his sleeping +son, "How long it takes to make a man! I have, however, seen fourteen of +them cut off by a cannon-shot!" + +Napoleon was at Potsdam, in the palace of the great Frederick, the +military genius of this prince had for a long time excited his admiration. +"At Potsdam has been found the sword of the great Frederick, the sash of a +general, which he carried in the Seven Years' War, and his cordon of the +Black Eagle," says the 19th bulletin. + +The emperor seized upon these trophies with eagerness, and said, "I prefer +these to twenty millions." Then, thinking a moment to whom he should +confide this precious trust, "I will send it," said he, "to my old +soldiers of the Hanoverian War; I will make a present of it to the +governor of the Invalides; it shall remain at the Hotel." + +On the 27th, for the first time in his life, Napoleon entered in triumph +into an enemy's capital. For two days Berlin had been occupied by Marshal +Davout. A gloomy sadness rested on all faces, but order was everywhere +respected. The Prussian nation had valiantly defended itself, and there +was no shame mingled with its sorrow. The dying Duke of Brunswick +recommended his subjects to the emperor. The latter, in a passion, +recalled bitterly to the old general the wild manifesto published in his +name at the commencement of the French Revolution. "If I had the city of +Brunswick demolished, and if I did not leave of it one stone on another, +what would your prince say? Does not the law of retaliation permit me to +do to Brunswick what he wanted to do to my capital? It is the Duke of +Brunswick whom France and Prussia can accuse of being the sole cause of +this war. Tell the general that he will be treated with all the respect +due to a Prussian officer, but that in a Prussian general I cannot +recognize a sovereign." + +The same harshness characterized the reception by the emperor of the great +Prussian nobles. "Do not come into my presence," said he to the Prince of +Hatzfeld, who brought before him the civil magistrates of Berlin. "I have +no need of your services; retire to your own estates." A letter from the +prince to the King of Prussia, giving an account of the entry of the +emperor, was intercepted. Napoleon saw treason in this communication, and +a decree was immediately sent to Marshal Davout. "The Prince of Hatzfeld, +who presented himself at the head of the deputation from Berlin, as +entrusted with the civil government of this capital, and who, +notwithstanding this office, and the duties which are attached to it, has +made use of the knowledge which his position afforded him as to the +situation of the French army, to convey intelligence respecting it to the +enemy, will be tried before a military commission, in order to be judged +as a traitor and a spy. + +"Marshal Davout is charged with the execution of this order. + +"The military commission will be composed of seven colonels of the corps +of Marshal Davout, by whom he will be tried." + +In vain all the most faithful servants of the emperor wasted their +entreaties in order to obtain mercy for the Prince of Hatzfeld; only the +wife of the accused, far advanced in pregnancy, and overwhelmed with +terror, succeeded in arresting the anger of the conqueror. "This is most +certainly the writing of your husband," said he to the poor woman, who +could scarcely support herself. And as she dared not deny it: "Throw this +letter into the fire," added Napoleon, "and I shall no longer have any +power to procure his death." It was Marshal Duroc who had taken upon +himself the introduction of the Princess of Hatzfeld to the palace. + +The prince of Hohenlohe, hard pushed by Murat and Marshal Lannes, had +capitulated before Prenzlow, on the 28th of October; General Blucher, who +had seized by force the free city of Lubeck, in the hope of finding there +a place of support, was constrained, on November 7th, to follow his +example. On the 8th, Magdeburg surrendered to Marshal Ney. Lannes occupied +Stettin, and Davout occupied Custrin. "Sire," wrote Lannes to Napoleon, "I +read your proclamation to the soldiers; they all began to cry 'Long live +the Emperor of the West!' I beseech your Majesty to let me know if, for +the future, you wish me to address my despatches to the Emperor of the +West, and I ask it in the name of my _corps d'armée_." + +Napoleon did not reply; this dream of supreme glory, which he had had an +idea of realizing in the footsteps of Charlemagne, doubtless appeared to +him still beyond his reach. More than one sign, however, betrayed the +undying hope, that he was never to realize. It is only by reason and the +general good that genius is effectively sustained in extraordinary +enterprises. From day to day, and from victory to victory, these great +supports of the human mind became less and less visible in the conduct of +the Emperor Napoleon. + +Hanover and the Hanseatic towns were occupied by the French army; Prussia +asked for a suspension of hostilities, in order to treat for peace. But +the emperor had conceived a new project. In the ceaseless activity of his +thoughts he reasonably enough looked on England as the implacable and +invincible enemy who directed and excited against him the animosity of +Europe. It was against England that he henceforth directed his efforts. "I +am about to reconquer the colonies over the globe," he wrote to the King +of Holland. It was in the same spirit that he made his declaration to the +Senate: "We have unalterably determined not to evacuate Berlin or Warsaw, +or the provinces which have fallen into our hands by force of arms, until +a general peace be concluded, the Spanish, Dutch, and French colonies +restored, the foundations of the Ottoman power confirmed, and the absolute +independence of this vast empire, the first interest of our people, +irrevocably secured." + +These brilliant pledges of victory, which Napoleon kept in his hand as +hostages for the purpose of enforcing submission on England, did not, +however, appear to him sufficient; he resolved to strike at the wealth of +his enemy a mortal blow, which should exhaust its resources at the +fountain-head. On the 21st of November, 1806, he sent from Berlin to +Talleyrand a decree, putting England in the Index Expurgatorius of Europe +--at least, of that part of Europe which was in submission to his rule. The +continental blockade was established and regulated in the following +terms:-- + +"The British Isles are declared in a state of blockade. + +"All commerce, and all correspondence, with the British Isles are +forbidden. Consequently, letters or packets addressed to England, or to an +Englishman, or written in the English language, will not pass through the +post, and will be seized. + +"Every individual English subject, whatever may be his state or condition, +who shall be found in the countries occupied by our troops, or in the +countries of our allies, shall be made prisoner of war. + +"Every warehouse, all merchandise, all property of whatsoever nature it +may be, belonging to an English subject, shall be deemed lawful prizes. + +"Commerce in English merchandise is forbidden; any ships coming directly +from England or from the English colonies, or having been there since the +publication of the present decree, shall not be admitted into any port." + +The Emperor Napoleon was right in recognizing, in his declaration to the +Senate, that it was lamentable, after so many years of civilization, to +recur to the principles, the barbarism, of the first ages of nations; and +the pretexts which he adduced for this necessity were as insufficient as +the consequences that flowed from his policy were odious. More than once +the English had replied by violent and rude proceedings to the proceedings +of the same nature in which Napoleon had for a long time been indulging on +all seas. They had claimed to interdict the commerce of neutrals by +imprudent and unjust "Orders in Council;" a still more inexcusable +iniquity fettered at one stroke the commerce of Europe in all its +branches, carrying annoyance into all families, and arbitrarily modifying +the conditions of all existence. From henceforth, in the poorest +household, no one could forget for a single day the power and the +vengeance of the Emperor Napoleon, as well as the death grapple between +him and England. It is a terrible undertaking for the most powerful of men +to change on all sides the habits of life, and lay his hands upon the +daily interests, of every one. The continental blockade was in Napoleon's +hands a redoubtable weapon against his enemy; the firmness of England and +the general distress, were yet cruelly to turn that weapon against his own +bosom. + +He was not yet satisfied, and Napoleon resolved on making an end of all +his adversaries. Russia alone, silent and immovable, remained the ally of +England, and its last support. Its armies occupied Poland, always +quivering under the hands of its oppressors, ready to rise up against them +at the first appeal. It was upon the Vistula that the emperor had resolved +to go and seek the Russians, intoxicating the Poles beforehand with the +hope of the reconstitution of their country, and assured of finding +amongst them inexhaustible stores of provisions, ammunition, and soldiers. +"A Pole is not a man," he was accustomed to say, "he is a sabre." He +counted on all these sabres being ready to leap from their scabbards at +his voice, for the service of Poland. To the disquietude of the court of +Vienna on the subject of the insurrections which might be produced in +Galicia, Napoleon answered in advance by the promise of Silesia. "The +insurrection in Poland is a consequence of my war with Russia and +Prussia," wrote he to General Andréossy, recently sent to Vienna. "I have +never recognized the partition of Poland; but, a faithful observer of +treaties, in favoring an insurrection in Russian and Prussian Poland, I +will not mix myself up with Austrian Poland. Does Austria wish to keep +Galicia? Would she cede a part of it? I am willing to give her all the +facilities she can desire. Does she wish to treat openly or secretly? +After these manifestations I ought to say that I fear no one." + +At the same time that he entered Poland, Napoleon excited the hostile +sentiment of the Porte against Russia. General Sebastiani was charged to +say to Sultan Selim: "Prussia, who was leagued with Russia, has +disappeared; I have destroyed its armies, and I am master of its fortified +towns. My armies are on the Vistula, and Warsaw is in my power. Prussian +and Russian Poland are rising, and forming armies to reconquer their +independence; it is the moment for reconquering yours. I have given orders +to my ambassador to enter into all necessary engagements with you. If you +have been prudent up to this time, a longer forbearance towards Russia +would be weakness, and cause the loss of your empire." + +The King of Prussia had refused to accept the harsh conditions of the +armistice; he had resolved to struggle to the end, and to join the remains +of his forces to the army of the Emperor Alexander. "Your Majesty has had +me informed that you are throwing yourself into the arms of the Russians," +wrote Napoleon to King Frederick William. "The future will make it +apparent whether you have chosen the best and most effective part. You +have taken the dice-box and thrown the dice, and the dice will decide the +question." Already the French armies had entered Poland, but they were not +there alone; two Russian corps, under the orders of General Benningsen and +General Buxhouden, had crossed the Niemen, and advanced towards the +Vistula, and soon afterwards they entered Warsaw. Marshals Davout and +Lannes sent reports, apparently contradictory, but in reality identical, +as to popular feeling in Poland. Davout had found at Posen an extreme +enthusiasm; he could scarcely furnish with arms those who pressed forward +to ask for them; the same sentiment animated the population of Warsaw, +when he made his entry in pursuit of the Russians, who fell back before +him. Meanwhile he wrote to the emperor, on December 1st: "Levies of men +are very easily made, but there is a want of persons who can direct their +instruction and organization. There is also a want of guns. The feeling of +Warsaw is excellent, but the upper class are making use of their influence +to calm the ardor which is prevalent in the middle classes. The +uncertainty of the future terrifies them, and they leave it to be +sufficiently understood that they will only openly declare themselves +when, with the declaration of their independence, they can also receive +tacit guarantees for its maintenance." Lannes regretted the campaign in +Poland; he recommended that they should establish themselves on the Oder, +and pointed out the inconveniences and dangers of the enterprise they were +about to attempt in a sterile and desert country. "They are always the +same--frivolous, divided, anarchical; we shall uselessly waste our blood +for their sakes, without founding anything durable." + +Murat dreamed of seating himself on the throne of a restored Poland, and +he was angry at the mistrust of the great nobles. Napoleon read in his +correspondence a thought that the brilliant chief of the vanguard dared +not express; he had said to Davout, at the beginning of the campaign, +"When I shall see 40,000 Poles in the field I will declare their +independence, not before." In their turn the Poles, long crushed down by +harsh servitude, asked for guarantees from the conqueror, who had only +delivered them in order to subjugate them afresh. "Those who show so much +circumspection, and ask so many guarantees, are selfish persons, who are +not warmed by the love of country," wrote the emperor to Murat, already +Grand Duke of Berg for several months past. "I am experienced in the study +of men. My greatness is not founded on the aid of a few thousand Poles. It +is for them to profit, with enthusiasm, by present circumstances; it is +not for me to take the first step. Let them display a firm resolution to +render themselves independent--let them engage to uphold the king who will +be given to them, and then I shall see what I shall next have to do. Let +it be well understood that I do not come to beg a throne for any of my +relations; I have no lack of thrones to give to my family." + +In that conversation with the world which he kept up by bulletins from the +grand army, Napoleon spoke of the Poles in other language; but he no +longer laid bare the secret of his thoughts. "The army has entered into +Warsaw," wrote he from Posen on December 1st. "It is difficult to paint +the enthusiasm of the Poles. Our entry into this great city was a triumph, +and the feelings that the Poles of all classes display since our arrival +cannot be expressed. The love of country and the national sentiment is not +only preserved in its entirety in the hearts of the people, but it has +even gained new vigor from misfortune. Their first passion, their chief +desire, is to become once more a nation. The richest leave their castles +in order to come and demand, with loud cries, the re-establishment of the +nation, and to offer their children, their fortunes, their influence. This +spectacle is truly touching. Already they have everywhere resumed their +ancient costume and their ancient customs. + +"Shall the throne of Poland be re-established, and shall this great nation +reassert its existence and its independence? From the depths of the tomb +shall it be born again to life? God alone, who holds in His hands the +results of all events, is the arbiter of this grand political problem." + +Under the hand of God, which in the depths of his soul he often +recognized, the Emperor Napoleon believed himself to be the arbiter of the +grand problem of the independence of Poland. He remained personally +indifferent to it, resolved on pursuing his own interest, either in aid +of, or in contempt of, the interests and aspirations of the Poles. + +In spite of the generous cordiality of the population, who lavished their +resources upon those from whom they hoped for deliverance, Napoleon and +his troops perceived that they had entered a desert. "Our soldiers find +that the solitudes of Poland contrast with the smiling fields of their own +country; but they add immediately, 'They are a fine people, these Poles!'" +Before establishing himself for the winter in this savage country, under a +frozen sky, and on a cold and damp soil, it was necessary to push back the +enemy. Napoleon only went to Warsaw, and advanced towards the Russians +entrenched behind the Narew and the Ukra. Already his lieutenants, Davout, +Augereau, Ney, had taken up positions for attack. Furious battles at +Czarnovo, at Pultusk, at Golymin, at Soldau, obliged the Russians to fall +back upon the Pregel, without disaster to their _corps d'armée_, although +they had been constantly beaten. The rigor of the season had prevented +those grand concentrations of forces and those brilliant strokes in which +Napoleon ordinarily delighted; the troops advanced with difficulty through +impenetrable forests, soaked by the rain: the men fell in great numbers +without a battle. In the month of January, 1807, the emperor at last took +up his winter-quarters, carefully fortifying his positions, and laying +siege to the towns which still resisted him in Silesia. Breslau, Glogau, +Brieg successively succumbed. The old Marshal Lefebvre was charged with +the siege of Dantzig. + +Meanwhile the Russians, henceforth concentrated under the orders of +General Benningsen, and less affected than the French by the inclemencies +to which they were accustomed, had not suspended their military +operations. Soon Marshal Ney, in one of those armed reconnoitering +expeditions which he often risked without orders, was able to assure +himself that the enemy was approaching us by a prolonged movement, which +was to bring him to the shore of the Baltic. Already a few battles had +taken place. The weather became cold; ice succeeded to the mud. Napoleon +quitted Warsaw on January 30th, resolved to march against the enemy. +"Since when have the conquered had the right of choosing the finest +country for their winter-quarters?" said the proclamation to the army. +Twice a great battle appeared imminent; twice a movement of the Russians +in retreat enabled them to escape from the overwhelming forces which +Napoleon had been able to collect; a few skirmishes, however, signalized +the first days of February. On the seventh day's march General Benningsen +entered Eylau. + +The French entered in pursuit, and dislodged them. The Russians made their +bivouac outside the city whilst the battle was preparing for the morrow. +The weather was cold; one half of the country upon which the armies were +camped was only a sheet of ice covering some small lakes. The snow lay +thick upon the ground, and continued to fall in great flakes. The two +armies were composed of nearly equal forces; several French corps, +detached or delayed, were about to fail in the great effort which this +rough winter campaign required. The troops were fatigued and hungry. "I +have wherewith to nourish the army for a year," wrote Napoleon to Fouché, +annoyed at the reports current in France as to the sufferings of the +soldiers, "it is absurd to think one can want corn and wine, bread and +meat, in Poland." The provisions remained, nevertheless, insufficient. "I +can assure you," said the Duc de Fezensac in his military souvenirs, "that +with all these orders so freely given in January, our _corps d'armée_ was +dying of hunger in March." + +Long before the dawn of a slowly breaking and cloudy day Napoleon was +already in the streets, establishing his guard in the cemetery of Eylau, +and ordering his line of battle. The formidable artillery of the Russians +covered their two lines; presently the shells fired the town of Eylau and +the village of Rothenen, which protected a division of Marshal Soult's. +The two armies remained immovable in a rain of cannon-balls. The Russians +were the first to move forward, in order to attack the mill of Eylau; +"they were impatient at suffering so much," says the 58th bulletin of the +grand army. Nearly at the same moment the corps of Marshal Davout arrived; +the emperor had him supported by Marshal Augereau. The snow fell in thick +masses, obscuring the view of the soldiers; the troops of Augereau turned +swiftly to the left, decimated by the Russian artillery. The marshal +himself, already ill before the battle, was struck by a ball. The officers +were nearly all wounded. The emperor called Murat: "Wilt thou let us be +annihilated by these people?" The cavalry shot immediately in advance; +only the imperial guard remained massed round Napoleon. + +In a moment Murat had routed the Russian centre, but already the +battalions were reforming. Marshal Soult defended with difficulty the +positions of Eylau; Davout maintained a furious struggle against the left +wing of the Russians: the Prussians, preceding by one hour Marshal Ney, +who had been pursuing them for several days, made their appearance on the +battle-field. The dead and dying formed round the emperor a ghastly +rampart; gloomy and calm he contemplated the attack of the Prussians and +Russians united, in great numbers, and pressing upon Marshal Davout. The +latter glanced along the ranks of his troops: "The cowards will go to die +in Siberia," said he, "the brave will die here like men of honor." The +effort of the enemy died out against the heroic resistance of the French +divisions, who maintained their positions. + +The night was falling; the carnage was horrible. In spite of the serious +advantage of the French troops, General Benningsen was preparing to +attempt a new assault, when he learnt the approach of Marshal Ney, who was +debouching towards Althof. The bad weather and the distance retarded the +effect of the combinations of the emperor. He had caused much blood to be +spilt; victory, however, remained with him; the Russians and Prussians +were decidedly beating a retreat. The French remained masters of this most +sanguinary battlefield, destitute of provisions, without shelter, in the +wet and cold. Marshal Ney, who had taken no part in the action, to which, +however, he assured success, surveyed the plain, covered with corpses and +inundated with blood. "He turned away from the hideous spectacle," says M. +de Fezensac, "crying, 'What a massacre, and without result!'" The Russians +had retired behind the Pregel to cover Königsberg. Napoleon re-entered his +cantonments. He established his headquarters at the little town of +Osterode, directing from this advanced post the works of defence on the +Vistula and Passarge, at the same time as the preparations for the siege +of Dantzig. On arriving there he wrote to King Joseph: "Staff-officers, +colonels, officers, have not undressed for two months, and a few of them +not for four; I have myself been fifteen days without taking off my boots. +We are in the midst of snow and mud, without wine, without brandy, without +bread, eating potatoes and meat, making long marches and countermarches, +without anything to sweeten existence, and fighting at bayonet-point and +under showers of grape-shot, the wounded very often obliged to be removed +on a sledge for fifty leagues in the open air. After having destroyed the +Prussian monarchy, we are making war against the remnants of Prussia, +against the Russians, the Calmucs, the Cossacks, and the peoples of the +north who formerly invaded the Roman Empire; we are making war in all its +energy and all its horror." Such vigorous language was not permitted to +all. "The gloomy pictures that have been drawn of our situation," wrote +Napoleon to Fouché on April 13th, "have for authors a few gossips of +Paris, who are simply blockheads. Never has the position of France been +grander or finer. As to Eylau, I have said and resaid that the bulletin +exaggerated the loss; and, for a great battle, what are 2000 men slain? +There were none of the battles of Louis XIV. or Louis XV. which did not +cost more. When I lead back my army to France and across the Rhine, it +will be seen that there are not many wanting at the roll-call." + +It was against Russia and against the vigor of its resistance that +Napoleon now concentrated all his efforts. Tardy hostilities had at length +commenced between the Porte and Russia. For a moment the Sultan had +appeared to hesitate before the demands of the English, united to those of +the Russians: Admiral Duckworth forced the Dardanelles at the head of a +squadron, and destroyed the Turkish division anchored at Cape Nagara. In +spite of the terror which reigned in Constantinople, the energetic +influence of General Sebastiani carried the day. The overtures of the +English Legation were repulsed; the capital was armed all of a sudden, +under the direction of French officers. When Admiral Duckworth appeared +before the place, he found it in good condition of defence; thus the +English squadron could not leave the Straits of the Dardanelles without +sustaining serious damage. For the British navy the evil was small; the +moral effect could not but have some influence. + +The Emperor Napoleon sought to profit by this circumstance to enter afresh +into negotiations with Austria. On the day after the battle of Eylau he +sent General Bertrand to the King of Prussia, offering to surrender him +his States as far as the Elbe. The messenger was charged with the +significant insinuation: "You will give just a hint that as to Poland, +since the emperor has become acquainted with it, he attaches to it no +value." The sacrifice of a fourth of the Prussian monarchy seemed too +bitter for King Frederick William; he replied to the envoy with evasive +answers. Napoleon became disdainful as regards the Prussians. It was with +Austria that he determined henceforth to treat concerning the affairs of +Prussia. "See now my plan, and what you must say to M. de Vincent," wrote +he on March 9, 1807, to Talleyrand: "To restore to the King of Prussia his +throne and his estates, and to maintain the integrity of the Porte. As to +Poland, that will be found included in the first part of the sentence. If +these bases of peace suit Austria, we shall be able to understand each +other. As for the remark of M. de Vincent, that Prussia is too thoroughly +humiliated to hope for recovery, that is reasonable. The end of all this +will be an arrangement between France and Austria, or between France and +Russia; for there will be no repose for the people, who need it so much, +except by this union." + +Austria responded to these propositions of alliance by offer of mediation; +at the same time, and without ostentation, as a precautionary measure, she +was getting ready for war, and was secretly preparing her armaments. The +small places in the north of Prussia had fallen, one after another; +Dantzig alone was still waiting for the army which was to besiege it. The +Prussians had profited by this delay to put the place into a good state of +defence. On all sides Napoleon collected fresh forces, as if resolved upon +terrifying his secret enemies and crushing his declared ones. The +conscription for 1808 was enforced in France by an anticipation of nearly +two years; the Italian regiments and the auxiliary German corps were +concentrated on the Vistula; the emperor even went so far as to demand +from Spain the contingent which the Prince de la Paix had offered him on +the day after the battle of Jena. Formerly the Spanish minister had nursed +other ideas, and had counted on serving the Prussians; he, however, +hastened to despatch 10,000 men to the all-powerful conqueror. An army of +reserve had just been created on the Elbe; by the middle of March the town +of Dantzig was completely invested. + +I do not care to recount the incidents of a siege which lasted more than +two months, and which was conducted in a masterly manner by Chasseloup and +Lariboisière. Marshal Lefebvre grew weary of the long and able +preparations of his colleagues, and wished to begin the actual assault. +Authorization for this step was asked of the emperor. "You only know how +to grumble, to abuse your allies, and change your opinion at the will of +the first comer," wrote Napoleon to the old warrior. "You treat the allies +without any consideration; they are not accustomed to be under fire, but +that will come. Do you think that we were as brave in '92 as we are to- +day, after fifteen years of warfare? The chests of your grenadiers that +you wish to push everywhere will not overturn walls; you must let your +engineers work, and whilst waiting learn to have patience. The loss of a +few days, which I should not just now know how to employ, does not require +you to get several thousand men killed whose lives it is possible to +economize. You will have the glory of taking Dantzig; when that is +accomplished, you will be satisfied with me." + +Meanwhile, the Russians and Prussians had resolved upon an attempt to +raise the siege of Dantzig: a considerable body came to attack the French +camp before the fort of Weichelsmunde. They were repulsed, after a furious +combat, by the aid of the reinforcements which had arrived to succor +Marshal Lefebvre; and the attempts of the English corvettes to re-victual +the town were equally unsuccessful. A previous attack of the Swedes upon +Stralsund had brought about no definite result, and their general, Essen, +had been constrained to conclude an armistice. Dantzig capitulated at +last, on the 26th of May, without having undergone the assault which the +French soldiers loudly demanded. As early as the 22nd, Napoleon had +written to Marshal Lefebvre: "I authorize Marshal Kalbreuth to go out +under the ordinary regulations, wishing to give this general an especial +proof of esteem; however, the capitulation of Mayence cannot be taken as a +basis, as the siege was less advanced than that of Dantzig now is. I +allowed, at the time, an honorable capitulation for General Wurmser, shut +up in Mantua; I wish to accord one more advantageous to General Kalbreuth, +taking a middle position between that of Mayence and that of Mantua." + +All the French _corps d'armée_ occupied entrenched camps, prudently +defended against the attacks of enemies; they were suffering from the +rigors of the winter, and the large stores of wine found in Dantzig were +an important resource for the soldiers. The attempts at mediation by +Austria had failed; the campaign of 1809 was being prepared; everywhere +the grass was springing up in the fields, affording necessary sustenance +for the horses; the wild swans were reappearing in flocks upon the shores +of the Passarge. The Emperor Napoleon had fixed upon the 10th of June for +the resumption of hostilities. + +The Russians forestalled it: Alexander had sent his guard to General +Benningsen. "Brothers, uphold honor!" said the young emperor to his +soldiers as they began the march. "We will do everything that is +possible," cried the troops: "adieu, master!" Already Benningsen was +advancing against the corps of Ney, who occupied the advanced posts, but +the clever and prudent arrangements of Napoleon had prepared the retreat +of his lieutenants; without disorder and without weakness, always +victoriously fighting, Marshal Ney fell back upon Deppen; two other +attacks upon the bridges of Lanutten and Spanden were likewise repulsed. +The concentration of the French _corps d'armée_ began to be effected near +Saafeldt, when General Benningsen changed all of a sudden his plan of +campaign: passing from the offensive to the defensive, he decided to +repass the Alle, in order to protect the entrenched camp of Heilsberg, and +by the same movement the town of Königsberg, the last refuge of the +resources of Prussia. The retreat of the Russians commenced on the evening +of the 7th of June. + +Napoleon followed them with almost the whole of his army; the detachments +of the vanguard and rearguard had more than once been engaged in partial +combats when, on the evening of the 10th of June, the French army +debouched before the entrenched camp of Heilsberg strongly supported by +the banks of the Alle. Napoleon followed the left bank, seeking to +forestall the enemy at the confluence of the Alle and the Pregel, in the +hope of seizing Königsberg before the place could be succored. Murat and +Davout were already threatening the city. + +It was the supreme feature in the genius of Napoleon, that an indomitable +perseverance in wisely calculated projects did not exclude the +thunderbolts of a marvellous promptitude in resolution and combinations. +Uncertainty and want of foresight reigned, on the contrary, in the +military councils of the Russians. General Benningsen, formerly in the +attitude of attack, now compelled to engage in a defensive march, and +projecting the defence of Königsberg, thought it all of a sudden necessary +to protect himself against an attack in flank. He crossed the Alle under +the eyes of the French, and meeting them on the left bank of the river, he +advanced towards the corps of Marshal Lannes, whom the emperor had sent +against Domnau; a strong Russian detachment drove from Friedland the +regiment of French hussars, who had established themselves there. The +whole Russian army attacked Marshal Lannes, who had just collected a few +reinforcements. It was to judge badly of the able prudence of the Emperor +Napoleon, to hope to encounter a single corps of his grand army: Lannes +held out till mid-day upon the field of battle with heroic skill; he sent +meanwhile express after express to the emperor, who arrived at a gallop, +his face radiant with the anticipation of the joys of victory. "It is the +14th of June," said he, "the anniversary of Marengo; it is a lucky day for +us." + +Napoleon and his staff had preceded the march of the troops; Lannes and +his soldiers recovered their forces in the presence of the invincible +chief who had so many times led them to victory. "Give me only a +reinforcement, sire," cried Oudinot, whose coat was pierced with bullets, +"and although my grenadiers can do no more, we will cast all the Russians +into the water." + +This was the aim of the emperor as well as of his soldiers; and the +positions which General Benningsen had taken, concentred in a bend of the +river, rendered the enterprise practicable. The day was advanced, and a +few of the generals had been wishing to put off the battle till the +morrow. "No!" said Napoleon; "one does not surprise the enemy twice in +such a blunder." Then sweeping with his telescope the masses of the enemy +grouped before him, he quickly seized the arm of Marshal Ney. "You see the +Russians and Friedland," said he; "the bridges are there--there only. +March right on before you; enter into Friedland; take the bridges, +whatever it may cost, and do not disquiet yourself about what shall take +place on your right, or your left, or in your rear. That concerns us--the +army and me." + +When Marshal Ney had set out, marching to danger as to a festival, the +emperor turned towards Marshal Mortier and said, "That man is a lion." + +Upon the field of battle, where he had just arrived in face of the enemy, +who appeared hesitating and troubled, Napoleon dictated his orders, which +he caused to be delivered to all his lieutenants. The troops continued to +arrive; all the corps formed again at the posts which had been assigned to +them. The emperor checked the impatience of his generals. "The action," he +told them, "will commence when the battery posted in the village of +Posthenen shall commence to fire." It was half-past five when the cannon +at last sounded. + +Ney advanced towards Friedland under a terrible fire from the Russians; +extricated by the cavalry of Latour-Marbourg, and protected by the +artillery of General Victor, suddenly thrown in advance, the French +columns had reached a stream defended by the imperial Russian guard. The +resistance of these picked troops for a moment threw disorder into our +lines, who fell back; when General Dupont, arriving with his division, +broke the Russian guard. The French in pursuit of their enemies penetrated +into Friedland. The city was in flames; the fugitives fled towards the +bridges; a very small number had succeeded in reaching them when this only +means of safety was snatched from them; the bridges were cut and set on +fire when Marshal Ney took possession of the burning remains of Friedland. +At the same moment the corps of General Gortschakoff, pressed by Marshals +Lannes and Mortier, fighting valiantly in a position without egress, +sought in vain to reconquer the city, and afterwards redescended the +length of the river in the hope of finding fordable passages. Many +soldiers were drowned, others succeeded in regaining the right shore. +Almost the entire column of General Lambert succeeded in escaping. Night +at length followed the long twilight; it was ten o'clock in the evening +when the combat ceased. The victory was complete; the remains of the +Russian army retired upon the Pregel without Napoleon being able again to +encounter them. They soon afterwards gained the Niemen. Meanwhile Marshal +Soult had occupied Königsberg, evacuated by Generals Lestocq and Kaminsky. +The King of Prussia possessed nothing more than the little town of Memel. + +The Emperor Alexander had rejoined his troops, vanquished and decimated in +spite of their courage; the King Frederick William placed himself close to +his ally, at Tilsit. Peace had become necessary for the Russians; for the +Prussians it had long been so. Napoleon resolved on negotiating for +himself. In response to the request for an armistice, he proposed an +interview, with the Emperor Alexander. It was in the middle of the Niemen, +upon a raft constructed for this purpose, that the two emperors met. + +Alexander was young, amiable, winning, drawn along at times by chivalrous +or mystical sentiments and enthusiasms, at other times under the dominion +of Oriental tastes and passions. No one could be more capable of being +influenced by the charm of a superior genius and an extraordinary destiny, +and the personal ascendancy of a man who knew at once how to please and +how to vex. + +Napoleon wished to captivate his vanquished enemy, whom he desired to make +his ally; he succeeded in doing so with ease. Master of the destinies of +the world--in his own idea more so than he even was in reality--he had +resolved upon offering to Alexander compensations which might satisfy him, +whilst distracting his attention from the conquests and encroachments +which Napoleon reserved for himself. On the eve of Austerlitz, Napoleon +had said to Prince Dolgorouki: "Ah well! let Russia extend herself at the +expense of her neighbors!" It was the same thought that he was about to +present to the young monarch, humiliated and conquered, wishing to display +it before his eyes in order to blind him more completely. + +The Russians and Prussians were equally irritated against England. She had +granted them money, but her military efforts had not corresponded with her +promises; and it was to her obstinate hatred of France that the two +monarchs attributed the origin of their defeats. "If you have a grudge +against England," said Alexander, "we shall easily understand each other, +for I have myself to complain of her as much as you have." It was in this +first interview the sole effort of Napoleon to develop in the mind of +Alexander the sentiments of anger and weariness by which he had been +inspired by the selfishness which he imputed to Great Britain and the +inability and weakness which he recognized in Prussia, and to engage the +Russian emperor to become friendly with the only power which could offer +him a glorious and profitable alliance. In the mind of the emperor, we +have already said, the necessity for a continental alliance had long since +made itself felt. "Austria or Russia," he had said to Talleyrand. Napoleon +offered his hand to the Emperor Alexander. + +The city of Tilsit was neutralized, and the two emperors established their +quarters there. Before quitting the opposite shore of the Niemen, +Alexander presented the King of Prussia to Napoleon in that floating +pavilion on the river which flowed between the two nations. Honest, +moderate, and dignified even in his profound abasement, Frederick William +neither experienced nor exercised in any degree the seductiveness to which +the Emperor Alexander succumbed, and which he was in his turn capable of +displaying. He entreated his ally to make constant and persevering efforts +in his behalf, which Alexander felt himself compelled to do not without a +secret ill feeling. It was with an ostentatious display of graciousness +and condescension that Napoleon ceaselessly reminded the young Czar that +he accorded no favor to the King of Prussia except out of regard for his +entreaties. + +"In the midst of the war in which Russia and France have been engaged," +wrote Napoleon, on the 4th of July, 1807, "both sovereigns, enlightened as +to the situation and the true policy of their empires, have desired the +re-establishment not only of peace, but of a common accord, and by the +force of reason and truth have wished to form an alliance, and to pass in +a single instant from open war to the most intimate relations. The +boundless amity and confidence which the high qualities of the Emperor +Alexander have inspired in the Emperor Napoleon have caused his heart to +seal that which his reason had already approved and ratified. The +protection of the emperor will result in the King of Prussia being allowed +to re-enter into the possession of all the countries which border on the +two Haffs, extending from the sources of the Oder to the sea. Solely with +a desire of pleasing the Emperor Alexander, a large number of fortified +towns will be restored to the King of Prussia. The policy of the Emperor +Napoleon is that his immediate influence should be bounded by the Elbe; +and he has adopted this policy because it is the only one which can be +reconciled with the system of sincere and constant amity which he wishes +to maintain with the great empire of the north." + +Under the veil of this apparent moderation the pretensions or resolutions +of the Emperor Napoleon were thus summed up: King Frederick William +recovered Old Prussia, Pomerania, Brandenburg, Upper and Lower Silesia; he +would abandon all the provinces to the left of the Elbe, which were to +constitute, with the Grand Duchy of Hesse, a kingdom of Westphalia, +destined for Joseph Bonaparte. The Duchies of Posen and Warsaw, snatched +from Russian Poland, were to form a Polish State under the title of the +Grand Duchy of Warsaw, of which the Elector of Saxony, recently elevated +to the royal dignity, received the gift, on condition of maintaining a +military road across Silesia. All the States founded by Napoleon were to +be recognized. Russia was charged with the mediation between France and +England; France became arbitrator between Russia and the Porte. + +It was much, and indeed too much, for Prussia, torn asunder without being +completely destroyed, reduced to the half of its territory, and deprived +of its most important towns--for Dantzig became a free city, and Magdeburg +formed part of the new kingdom of Westphalia. When these hard conditions +were revealed to Frederick William by the Emperor Alexander, the +unfortunate king protested against a ruin so complete. He conceived, for a +moment, the vain hope of obtaining from Napoleon some concessions, by +bringing to bear on him the influence of the genius and beauty of Queen +Louisa. This princess quitted Memel to present herself at Tilsit. "She is +charming," wrote Napoleon to the Empress Josephine; but this cold +appreciation of the accomplishments of the woman exercised no influence +upon the resolutions of the conqueror and the politician. The queen in +vain brought into play all the resources of her intellect and her charming +graces; in vain presenting to the conqueror a rose which she had just +plucked, she ventured to ask for Magdeburg in exchange for her flower. "It +is you who have offered it to me, madame," said Napoleon, roughly. Queen +Louisa quitted Memel, humiliated and sorrowful down to the very depths of +her soul. Her children and her people were never to pardon us for their +wrongs. + +Alexander had loyally defended his friend, and felt assured of having +obtained for him all that it was possible to obtain; in his secret +thoughts he consoled himself for the concessions he had been constrained +to make for others as well as for himself, by the dazzling prospects which +Napoleon knew so well how to open brightly to his view. To the north and +south the young Czar believed himself master of new territories, long +objects of ambition to the Russian Empire. The Sultan Selim had just +fallen at Constantinople before a revolt of the Janissaries; he was a +prisoner in his own palace, and the government which was about to succeed +him would naturally be hostile to French influence. Napoleon then found +himself free to abandon to Russia a large part of that Ottoman Empire +always coveted by her. "Constantinople! never!" Napoleon had said, in +exclamation to himself, heard by one of his secretaries; "the empire of +the world is at Constantinople!" But the _débris_ of the Turkish power +were of a character to satisfy all the claimants; and in case Turkey +should not accept the peace, the secret treaty concluded between France +and Russia assured to the Czar all the European provinces, with the +exception of Constantinople and Roumelia. In case of the cabinet of London +refusing the mediation of Russia, Alexander engaged himself to declare war +against England. Should Portugal and Sweden, equally subject to European +influence, participate in the same refusal, it was agreed that the Emperor +Napoleon should send an army into Portugal, and that the Emperor Alexander +should enter Sweden. Finland lay very convenient for the Russian Empire. +"The King of Sweden is in truth your brother-in-law and your ally," said +Napoleon; "let him follow the changes in your policy, or let him undergo +the consequences of his ill-will. Sweden is the geographical enemy of +Russia. St. Petersburg finds itself too near to Finland. The good Russians +must no longer hear from their palaces at St. Petersburg the cannon of the +Swedes." + +The treaty of Tilsit was concluded on the 7th of July, 1807, and was +signed on the 8th. The King and Queen of Prussia departed immediately, +full of bitter sorrow and discouragement. The two emperors separated on +the 9th, with a cordiality at that time sincere in its ostentatious +display. More than once they had together passed their troops in review; +yet once again they showed themselves to the two armies. Napoleon +decorated, with his own hand, a soldier of the Russian army, who had been +pointed out to him by the Czar. At last he accompanied Alexander to the +shores of the Niemen, waiting upon the bank until his friend and ally had +reached the farther shore. Then entering his carriage, he took the road to +Königsberg, and immediately afterwards that to France, charging Berthier +and Marshal Kalbreuth with the regulation of the details of the evacuation +of Prussia, and the payment of the war contributions with which the +conquered countries were to be crushed down. On the 27th of July, at six +o'clock in the morning, the emperor re-entered Paris, which he had quitted +the preceding year, and which, since then, he had so many times +intoxicated with the report of his victories. The military glory was +brilliant and even dazzling; the political work remained precarious, by +its nature as well as by its immensity. Empires founded upon conquest are +necessarily fragile, even when the war has been undertaken from serious +and legitimate motives. When the war is carried on through the ambition of +a man or a people, in scorn of right or justice--when it injures at once +the interests, the pride, and the repose of all nations--no genius or +brightness of glory can succeed in assuring its duration, or +legitimatizing its success. France perceived this in the midst of the +enthusiasm of victory. England repeated it with malicious confidence, in +the hope of confirming the courage of its people. Once more the latter +power found itself alone, in face of the ever-increasing might of France +and the incomparable genius of its sovereign. + +It is the mournful effect of a weakening of the moral sense in the chief +of a state, to enfeeble that moral sense at the same time, and by an +inevitable contagion, amongst his rivals and adversaries. In presence of +the continental blockade, and of the resolution which the Emperor Napoleon +had announced of imposing it upon the whole of Europe, the English +cabinet, henceforth directed by the inheritors of the policy of Pitt, by +Canning and Lord Castlereagh, resolved upon using violence in its turn. +Fearful of seeing the maritime forces of Denmark pass into the power of +Napoleon, England violated the neutrality of this little kingdom, and +forestalled the secret conditions of the treaty of Tilsit. Lord Cathcart, +at the head of a considerable squadron, was charged with the duty of +summoning the Prince Regent to deliver to him the Danish fleet, as a +pledge of the loyal intentions of his country; he offered at the same time +to defend the Danish territory and all its colonies. The prince responded +with bitter irony, "Your protection? Have we not seen your allies waiting +for succor more than a year, without receiving it?" Copenhagen was +bombarded; Sir Arthur Wellesley, whose name, for the first time, became +known in Europe, effected his disembarkation with a corps of 10,000 men. +The prince saw himself compelled to capitulate, and deliver to the English +his fleet, with all the materiel of his arsenals. Vehemently did Europe +reprobate this act of violence. The English cabinet made public the +article of the Treaty of Tilsit, which had furnished the motive for its +aggression. But any effort at mediation was now ridiculous. The Emperor +Alexander perceived it to be so. On the 11th of November, Lord Leveson +Gower, then Ambassador of England at St. Petersburg, received his +passports, and the Czar haughtily adhered to the French alliance. "I deem +it prudent to close one's eyes against the orders which English mercantile +vessels have received to quit Russian ports," said General Savary, whom +Napoleon had accredited to the Emperor Alexander. The latter treated the +French envoy with distinction, but the court and world of St. Petersburg +had not forgotten the part that Savary had taken in the murder of the Duke +d'Enghien; he remained isolated in his palace, and even in the saloons of +the emperor. The Russian declaration of war was responded to by the +manifesto of England. "Publish the treaty of Tilsit, with the secret +articles," said Canning; "they have not been communicated to England, but +we are acquainted with them, nevertheless; they will explain to Europe our +conduct and our fears, as well as the change of attitude on the part of +Russia." The Emperor Napoleon was already regretting the magnificent +prospect which he had opened before the Czar on the side of Turkey; the +government of the Sublime Porte had adroitly accepted the mediation of +France. Napoleon sought to excite the covetousness of the Russians towards +the north; M, de Caulaincourt, who had replaced Savary at St. Petersburg, +pushed forward with ardor the war against Sweden, and the conquest of +Finland. As a consequence of the English aggression, Denmark had cast +itself into the arms of France; it accordingly became easy to close +against England the passage of the Sound. The Czar and his favorite +counsellor, M. de Romanzoff, returned ceaselessly to the hopes that +Napoleon had led them to conceive. "The ancient Ottoman Empire is played +out," said the Russian minister; "unless the Czar lays his hand on it, the +Emperor Napoleon will be soon obliged to announce in the _Moniteur_ that +the succession of the Sultans is open, and the natural heirs have only to +present themselves." + +In the meantime, and as a constant menace against an ally whom he was not +completely satisfying, Napoleon was prolonging his occupation of the +Prussian territory, under the pretext of the alleged slowness of payment +of the war contributions; he was organizing provisionally the government +of Hanover, which he had reserved as a future bait for the English +government; and he was treating with Spain for the passage of troops +necessary for the invasion of Portugal. This power, constantly faithful to +the English alliance, having refused to give in its adhesion to the +continental blockade, the emperor had sent against it General Junot with +26,000 men. The negotiations with Madrid had not been completed, and the +French soldiers had already entered Spanish territory. A second army was +preparing to follow them. Austria remained disquieted, and ready to take +offence; a convention favorable to her was signed at Fontainebleau, on +October 10th. On the 27th the eventual and provisional partition of +Portugal was accepted by the Spanish envoy, Yzquierdo. A kingdom of +Southern Lusitania was assigned to the Queen of Etruria, who renounced her +Italian possessions; the independent principality of Algarve was to be +constituted for the Prince de la Paix; the emperor reserved for himself +the centre of the country, conquered by anticipation. A Spanish corps was +to join the French troops for the invasion of Portugal. General Junot +marched upon Lisbon. Vast projects, unjustifiable in their nature, were +linked with this invasion of the Peninsula, necessarily entailing blunders +and crimes as dangerous as lamentable. Napoleon had resolved upon driving +the Bourbons from all the thrones of Europe, in order to replace them with +Bonapartes. He set out for Italy with the view of completing one part of +his work before laying his hand on Spain. + +Quitting Paris on November 16th, the Emperor surprised Eugène Beauharnais +(whom he was about solemnly to adopt) by assuring to him the succession of +the crown of Italy. He ran through the north of the Italian peninsula, +reorganizing at Venice the public services, which had fallen into +desuetude; decreeing the creation of a commune on Mont Cenis; and +providing for the needs of travellers by the new route which he had +opened. At Mantua he had an interview with his brother Lucien, whom he +would have wished to place upon the throne of Portugal, but that the +latter remained obstinately rebellious against the authority of his all- +powerful brother, who required of him the rupture of an already old union +with Madame Jouberthon. Having returned to Milan on the 13th of December, +Napoleon published there, on the 17th, a decree destined to aggravate the +rigors of the continental blockade. By reprisals as unjust as awkward, +directed against decree of Berlin, the English Cabinet had promulgated, on +the 11th of November, 1807, an Order in Council which compelled the ships +of all neutral nations to touch at an English port to import or export +merchandise, paying custom-house dues averaging 25 per cent. The ships +which neglected this precaution were to be declared lawful prizes. In +response, the Emperor Napoleon decreed that any vessel touching at an +English port, or submitting to inspection from an English ship, should be +by that very fact deneutralized, and become in its turn a lawful prize. In +this insensate rivalry, which ruined at the same time the commerce of +England and of the world, the Cabinet of London had taken no care to +modify, in favor of the United States, the rigor of its ordinances. This +was for England the occasion of grave difficulties, and of a war at one +time dangerous. Arbitrary interference and violence were the rule on all +the seas. + +Through difficulties and sufferings which threatened to destroy the army +placed under his orders, General Junot arrived at the gates of Lisbon. He +had to struggle with no other enemy than the bad roads and the want of +provisions. Terror had seized upon the royal house of Portugal. The +_Moniteur_ of November 13th already contained an article upon the fall of +the illustrious house of Braganza. "The Prince Regent of Portugal loses +his throne," said the official journal; "he loses it influenced by the +intrigues of the English; he loses it for not having been willing to seize +the English merchandise at Lisbon. What does England do.--this ally so +powerful? She regards with indifference all that is passing in Portugal. +What will she do when Portugal shall be taken? Will she go to seize +Brazil? No; if the English make this attempt the Catholics will drive them +out. The fall of the House of Braganza will remain another proof that the +fall of whatever attaches itself to the English is inevitable." + +The Prince Regent of Portugal had thought it possible to arrest the march +of General Junot by sending to him emissaries charged to make all the +submissions required by Napoleon. The envoys had not been able to meet the +French army, scattered and decimated by the ills it had undergone; it +advanced, however, and the news of its approach drove the Court of +Portugal on board the ships which were still to be found at the mouth of +the Tagus. On November 27th the mad queen, her son the prince regent, her +daughters, and nearly all the families of distinction in Lisbon, +accompanied by their servants, crowded on board the Portuguese fleet, +resolved to take their flight to Brazil. From seven to eight thousand +persons, with all their portable property, thus obstructed the mouth of +the Tagus, protected by the English fleet; on the 28th a favorable wind +permitted them to sail. When General Junot entered Lisbon, on the 30th of +November, at eight o'clock in the morning, the treasures which he was +charged to seize were beyond his reach. He established himself without +resistance in the capital, soon overwhelmed with confiscations and war +contributions. "Everything is more easy in the first moment than +afterwards," wrote the Emperor to Junot on the 13th of December, 1807. "Do +not seek for popularity at Lisbon, nor for the means of pleasing the +nation; that would be failing in your aim, emboldening the people, and +preparing misfortunes for yourself. The hope that you conceive of commerce +and prosperity, is a chimera with which one is lulled asleep." + +Jerome Bonaparte had been declared King of Westphalia on the 8th of +December. On the 10th the act announced by the treaty of Fontainebleau was +consummated. The Queen Regent of Etruria, Maria Louisa of Bourbon, +declared to her subjects, in the name of her son, that she was called upon +to reign over a new kingdom. Tuscany then fell directly into the hands of +the Emperor Napoleon, who confided its government to his sister, Eliza +Baciocchi, to whom he had already given the principality of Lucca and +Piombino. + +Submission or flight! such was the only alternative that seemed to remain +to continental sovereigns in presence of the exactions and the imperious +will of Napoleon. The Pope alone, as already for two years past, was still +resisting his demands, and was evincing an independence with regard to him +which was every day irritating more and more the all-powerful master of +Europe. Sadly disabused of the illusions and the hopes which had drawn him +to Paris for the coronation of Napoleon, Pius VII. had preserved in his +personal communications with the emperor a paternal and tender +graciousness. He had much to obtain and much to fear on the part of the +conqueror. Returning to Italy in the month of June, 1805, he said, in his +allocution to the cardinals: "We have clasped in our arms at Fontainebleau +this prince, so powerful and so full of love for us. Many things have +already been done, and are only the earnest of that which is yet to be +accomplished." + +Meanwhile, the Code Napoleon had been applied to Italy, authorizing +divorce, and taking the place of the Italian Concordat, which declared the +Catholic religion to be the religion of the State. The Pope had complained +of it, not without warmth, and had received on the part of the emperor +assurances which were as vain as they were futile. But already the +conflict was becoming personal and more pressing; the refusal of the Holy +Father to dissolve the marriage of Jerome Bonaparte with Miss Paterson +(June, 1805), at once produced antagonism between the conscience of the +Pope and the views of Napoleon as to the elevation of his family to the +new or ancient thrones which he destined for them in Europe. Pius VII. had +long studied canonical interdictions; he consulted neither his ministers +nor his doctors; it was a personal reply he addressed to the emperor. "It +is out of our power." said he, "to pronounce the judgment of nullity; if +we were to usurp such an authority that we have not, we should render +ourselves culpable of an abominable abuse before the tribunal of God; and +your Majesty yourself, in your justice, would blame us for pronouncing a +sentence contrary to the testimony of our conscience and to the invariable +principles of our Church." + +Napoleon's anger remained warm, but he had surmounted the difficulty by +dissolving by an imperial decree the marriage of his brother, and by +causing him soon after to marry a princess of Wurtemberg. The disagreement +with the Court of Rome, which was soon to break forth, depended on his +all-powerful will, and caused him no care. In the movement of the troops, +necessitated in October, 1805, by his campaign against Austria, the +emperor had charged General Gouvion St. Cyr to traverse the States of the +Church in order to take up a position in Lombardy. Upon the route lay the +town of Ancona. The French troops received an order to seize the place and +establish a garrison there, an order which was immediately executed. + +In spite of the difficulties which had recently arisen between the emperor +and himself, the Pope thought that Napoleon and the French Revolution were +much indebted to him personally. Europe took this view, and frequent +reproaches had been addressed to the Court of Rome by the powers who were +enemies or rivals of France. It was, then, with astonishment, mingled with +indignation, that Pius VII. learnt the news of the occupation of Ancona; +he wrote, on the 13th November, 1805, a personal and secret letter to the +emperor:--"We avow frankly to your Majesty the keen chagrin that we +experience in seeing ourselves treated in a way that we do not think we +have in any degree merited. Our neutrality has been recognized by your +Majesty, as by all other powers. The latter have fully respected it, and +we had especial motives for thinking that the sentiments of amity which +your Majesty professed with regard to us would have preserved us from such +a cruel affront. We will tell you frankly, since our return from Paris we +have experienced only bitterness and trouble, and we do not find in your +Majesty a return of those sentiments which we think ourselves warranted in +justly expecting from you. That which we owe to ourselves is to ask from +your Majesty the evacuation of Ancona, and, if met with a refusal, we +should not see how to reconcile therewith a continuation of a good +understanding with the French minister." + +It was from Munich, on the morrow of the battle of Austerlitz and of the +peace of Presburg, that Napoleon at length responded, on the 7th of +January, 1806, to the letter of the Pope, in the midst of the concert of +adulations and transports which were lavished on him by the vanquished as +well as by his courtiers. The protest of Pius VII. recalled to him the +disagreeable remembrance of an independent authority, and one which he had +not been always able to submit to his will; the anger of the despot broke +forth with violence at once spontaneous and measured: "Your Holiness +complains that since your return from Paris you have had nothing but +causes of sorrow. The reason is, that since then all those who were +fearing my power and testifying their friendship have changed their +sentiments, thinking themselves authorized to do so by the power of the +coalition; and that since the return of your Holiness to Rome I have +experienced nothing but refusals to all my designs, even those that were +of the utmost importance to religion; as, for example, when it was a +question of hindering Protestantism from raising its head in France. I +look upon myself as the protector of the Holy See, and by this title I +have occupied Ancona. I look upon myself, like my predecessors of the +second and third dynasty, as the eldest son of the Church, as alone +bearing the sword to protect it and to shelter it from being defiled by +Greeks and Mussulmans. I should ever be the friend of your Holiness, if +you would only consult your heart and the true friends of religion. If +your Holiness wishes to send away my minister, you are free to do so. You +are free to receive in preference the English and the Caliph of +Constantinople. God is the judge who has done most for the religion of all +the princes who reign." + +Napoleon had excluded his brother Jerome from the succession to the +Empire, but he affected to dread for France the possibility of a +Protestant sovereign. It was with an increase of coarse violence that he +wrote on the same day to his uncle, Cardinal Fesch: "Since these imbeciles +think there will be no inconvenience in a Protestant occupying the throne +of France, I will send them a Protestant ambassador. I am religious, but I +am not a bigot. Constantine separated the civil from the military, and I +also may appoint a senator to command in my name at Rome. Tell Consalvi-- +tell even the Pope himself--that since he wishes to drive my minister from +Rome, I should be well able to re-establish him there. For the Pope, I am +Charlemagne, because, like Charlemagne, I unite the crown of France with +that of the Lombards, and my empire borders on that of the East. I expect +then that his conduct towards me shall be regulated from this point of +view. Otherwise I shall reduce the Pope to the position of Bishop of +Rome." + +The French troops did not evacuate Ancona, and the French minister +remained at Rome. But soon new subjects of disagreement arose between +Napoleon and the Pope, always a scrupulous observer of the neutrality +which he thought due from him to all the powers. The emperor had already +required that all the ports of his allies should be closed against English +commerce; in proportion as his enemies became more numerous and his +arbitrary power more oppressive, he extended his pretensions even over the +countries neutral by situation and by state obligations. Joseph Bonaparte +had just been proclaimed King of Naples; the house of Bourbon occupied in +Italy only the ridiculous throne of Etruria, already on the point of being +taken from them. Napoleon wished to exact from the Pope an interdiction of +his ports and his territory to the exiles or the refugees who had from +time immemorial been accustomed to seek an asylum in Rome. "Your Holiness +would be able to avoid all these embarrassments by going forward in a +straight road," wrote Napoleon to Pius VII., on February 22, 1806. "All +Italy will be subject to my laws. I will not touch in any way the +independence of the Holy See; I will even repay it for the injuries which +the movements of my armies may occasion to it; but it must be on the +condition that your Holiness will show the same regard for me in temporal +affairs as I show for you in spiritual ones, and that you will cease your +useless consideration for the heretical enemies of the Church, and for the +powers who can do nothing for you. Your Holiness is sovereign of Rome, but +I am its emperor. All my enemies ought to be yours. It is not proper then +that any agent of the King of Sardinia, any Englishman, Russian, or Swede, +should reside at Rome or in your states, neither that any ship belonging +to these powers should enter your ports. Those who speak any other +language to your Holiness deceive you, and will end by drawing down upon +you misfortunes that will be disastrous." He added in his letter to +Cardinal Fesch: "Say plainly that I have my eyes open, that I am not +deceived any more than I choose to be; that I am Charlemagne, the sword of +the Church, the emperor; and that they ought not to know that there is an +empire of Russia. I make the Pope acquainted with my intentions in a few +words. If he does not agree, I shall reduce him to the same position which +he occupied before Charlemagne." + +It was against Cardinal Consalvi, formerly the clever and firm negotiator +of the Concordat, that the emperor, assisted by Cardinal Fesch, nursed his +suspicions and his anger; he regarded him as systematically hostile to +France; but the attachment of the Pope for his minister remained +unshakable; it was from Consalvi alone that a voluntary submission might +be hoped for. "If he loves his religion and his country, tell Consalvi, +plainly," wrote the emperor to his uncle, "that there are only two courses +to select from--either to do always what I wish, or to quit the ministry." + +The moderation and prudent resolutions of the Roman ministry showed itself +in the response of the Pope to the requirements of Napoleon. Already an +obscure Englishman--Mr. Jackson, for a long time accredited to the King of +Sardinia--had excited the mistrust of Napoleon, who insulted him in +official documents. "An English minister, the disgrace of his country, +found in Rome an asylum. There he organized conspiracies, subsidized +brigands, hatched perfidies, bribed assassins; and Rome protected the +traitor and his agents--becoming a theatre of scandal, a manufactory of +libels, and an asylum of brigandage." The only crime of Jackson had been +to keep his court _au courant_ with the state of affairs in Rome. Quietly, +and with all the respect his character merited, Cardinal Consalvi +prevailed on Mr. Jackson to quit Rome. The cardinals were assembled in +secret Consistory. Cardinal Fesch was not summoned; he was informed that +they were aware of his opinions, and that his station as ambassador +disqualified him for the Council of the holy father. + +The Consistory did not deceive itself for a single instant as to the +consequences that the concessions demanded by Napoleon would forcibly draw +in their train. "We all saw," says Cardinal Consalvi in his memoirs, "that +far from admitting the neutrality of the Holy See, Bonaparte expected it +in the capacity of feudatory and vassal to take up the quarrels of France +in no matter what war the latter might subsequently be engaged. The Holy +See might then see itself, any morning or evening, attacked by Austria or +Spain, or by all the Catholic or non-Catholic powers. What! the sole +ambition or greed of France was to have the right of despoiling the holy +father of his title of the common father of the faithful, and of +compelling the representative of a God of Peace and the head of the +religious world, to sow everywhere desolation and ruin, by keeping in a +perpetual state of war the nations owing fealty to the tiara." + +So many reasons, human and divine, as evident to common sense as to +conscience, decided the response of the Pope. He was moderate, tender, +prudent; but he replied categorically to the requirements of the emperor. +Pius VII wished to remain neuter, and not to drive from his states the +English or the Russians; he did not admit the claim of the emperor to +exercise over Rome a supreme protectorate. "The Pope does not recognize, +and never has recognized, any power superior to himself. Your Majesty is +infinitely great; you have been elected, crowned, consecrated, recognized +emperor of the French, but not emperor of Rome. There exists no emperor of +Rome." + +There was a good deal of boldness in repelling so haughtily the imperial +pretensions; the Pope and Cardinal Consalvi were soon involved in a still +more dangerous course. The accession of the new King of Naples had been +announced to the court of Rome, by Cardinal Fesch, in arrogant terms: "The +throne of Naples being vacant by a penalty incurred by the most scandalous +perfidy of which the annals of nations have ever made mention, and his +Majesty having found himself under the necessity of shielding this +country, and the whole of Italy, from the madness of an insensate court, +has judged it suitable to his dignity to confide the destinies of this +country, which he loves, to a prince of his own house. The undersigned +doubts not but that the Pontifical Government will see in this happy event +a new guarantee of the system of order, justice, and consistency, which he +has always had at heart to establish in all the places which have +submitted to his influence." + +To this circuitous demand for the recognition of Joseph Bonaparte, the +Pope replied by urging his ancient feudal rights over the kingdom of +Naples--"agreements," said Cardinal Consalvi, "which have always been +observed, especially in the case of conquests; not only at the +establishment of a new dynasty, but also at the commencement of each new +reign." + +It was going very far back into history to reclaim doubtful rights. +Napoleon keenly criticised the pretension: "His Majesty needs to make no +researches to become aware of the fact that in times of ignorance the +court of Rome usurped the right of giving away crowns and temporal rights +to the princes of the earth; but if we found that in other ages the court +at Rome dethroned sovereigns, preached crusades, and laid entire kingdoms +under interdict, we should also discover that the Popes have always +considered their temporal power as springing from the French emperors; and +the court of Rome, without doubt, does not claim that Charlemagne received +from it the investiture of his kingdom. If this is to go on," added +Napoleon, brusquely abandoning his historic researches, "I shall cause +Consalvi to quit Rome, and make him responsible for what he is trying to +do, because he is evidently bought by the English. He will see whether or +not I have the power to maintain my imperial crown. Lay stress on that +word _imperial_, and not royal, and upon the fact that the relations of +the Pope with me must be those of his predecessors with the emperors of +the west." [Footnote: Draft of a note sent to Talleyrand by the emperor.] + +At the same time, and as the thunder follows the lightning, the court of +Rome learnt that the threat had been followed by performance. Upon the +express order of the Emperor Napoleon, Civita Vecchia had been occupied by +two regiments of the Neapolitan army. The districts of Benevento and +Ponte-Corvo, surrounded by the kingdom of Naples, and belonging to the +Holy See, were erected into principalities in favor of Talleyrand and +Marshal Bernadotte. Cardinal Fesch was recalled. He quitted Rome after a +warm altercation with the Pope. A few days later, and in the vain hope of +ameliorating political relations becoming more and more difficult, +Cardinal Consalvi gave in his resignation. He wrote to Cardinal Caprara, +perpetual papal legate at Paris and completely subject to the imperial +authority: "If any one had told me when I was negotiating the Concordat +that in a short time I should appear to the French Government in the light +of an enemy, I should have thought I was dreaming. But I am too much +attached to the Holy See, to my sovereign, to my benefactor, and to my +country, not to consider myself as compelled to dispel by my retirement +the evils which might result from my presence. His Holiness consents to my +resignation. His object has been to satisfy the emperor, and give him a +proof of his desire to preserve harmony with his government by removing +everything that might compromise it." + +The sacrifice of Cardinal Consalvi was useless, and passed unnoticed. +Napoleon required from the Holy See not only submission to his will, but +the acceptance of his principles. The caution of the court of Rome +irritated him more and more. He frightened Cardinal Caprara with a violent +scene: "Write that I demand from his Holiness a declaration without +ambiguity, stating that during the present war, and any other future war, +all the ports of the pontifical states shall be closed to all English +vessels, either of war or commerce. Without this I shall cause all the +rest of the pontifical states to be occupied, I will have the eagles fixed +up over the gates of all its cities and domains, and, as I have done for +Benevento and Ponte Corvo, I shall divide the provinces possessed by the +Pope into so many duchies and principalities, which I shall confer upon +whomsoever I please. If the Pope persists in his refusal, I will establish +a senate at Rome; and when once Rome and the pontifical states shall be in +my hands, they will never be out of them again." Already the revenues of +Civita Vecchia had been seized by Generals Lemarrois and Duhesme. "By what +right do you do this?" demanded an employé of the pontifical treasury. +"You serve a little prince and I serve a great sovereign," replied the +officer; "in that you can see all my right." Such was throughout Europe +the foundation of the right of the Emperor Napoleon. The governor of +Civita Vecchia, Mgr. Negreta, had been seized by force in his residence, +and sent back to Rome without an escort. Personal communication no longer +existed between the Pope and the emperor. The letter of Pius VII., sent by +the hands of Cardinal Caprara, remained unanswered. Alquier alone, who had +succeeded Cardinal Fesch at Rome, still informed Napoleon as to the state +of feeling there. An old Conventional, intelligent and moderate, the +Minister of France, reported to Talleyrand, then Minister of Foreign +Affairs, "People are strangely mistaken as to the character of the +sovereign pontiff, if they have thought his apparent flexibility was +yielding to all that they were striving to impress upon him. In all that +pertains to the authority of the head of the Church, he takes counsel with +himself alone. The Pope has a mild character, but very irritable, and +susceptible of displaying a firmness proof against any trial; already they +are openly saying, 'If the emperor overturns us, his successor will re- +establish us.'" + +On the morrow of the battle of Jena, when the ruin of the Prussian +monarchy had added new lustre to the splendor of Napoleon's victories, the +emperor wished to make one last effort in order to establish an absolute +dominion over that little corner of Italy which still preserved an +independent sovereignty. For more than a year he had not accepted any +direct communication with the court of Rome: he commanded the attendance +of Mgr. Arezzo, Bishop _in partibus_ of Seleucia, formerly papal nuncio in +Russia, and who then happened to be at Dresden. The prelate was admitted +to the emperor at Berlin, in the cabinet of the great Frederick: he has +preserved a textual account of his conversation with Napoleon. "What did +you have to do with Russia?" "Your Majesty is aware that there are in +Russia 4,000,000 of Catholics. It is for that reason that the Pope +maintains a representative there." "The Pope ought not to have a minister +at St. Petersburg; the Greeks have always been the enemies of Rome, and I +do not know by what spirit of madness Rome can be possessed to desire the +good of its enemies rather than of its friends. You are about to quit +Dresden, and repair to Rome. You are my enemy. In the first place, you are +not a Sicilian for nothing. I do not mean by that that you have spoken +abusively of me, but you have desired that I should come to nothing, that +my armies should be beaten, and that my enemies should triumph. You are +not the only one to wish me evil; at Rome people think no better than +elsewhere. The Pope is a holy man, whom they make believe whatever they +please. They represent my demands to him under a false aspect, as Cardinal +Consalvi has done, and then the good Pope is roused up to say that he will +be killed rather than yield. Who thinks of killing him, _bon Dieu_? If he +will not take the course I wish, I will certainly deprive him of his +temporal power at Rome, but I shall always respect him as the head of the +Church. There is no necessity that the Pope should be sovereign of Rome. +The most holy Popes were not so. I shall secure him a good appanage of +three millions, upon which he can properly keep up his position; and I +shall place at Rome a king or a senator, and I shall divide his states +into so many duchies. In reality, the main point of the matter is, that I +wish the Pope to accede to the confederation; I expect him to be the +friend of my friends, and the enemy of my enemies. In fifteen days you +will be at Rome, and will peremptorily signify this to him." "Your Majesty +will permit me to repeat to him that which has been already said to him so +many times: that the Pope, being the common father of the faithful, cannot +separate himself from some to attach himself to others; and his ministry +being a ministry of peace, he cannot make war against anybody, nor declare +himself the enemy of any one whatever without failing in his duties and +compromising his sacred character." "But I do not claim at all that he +should make war against anybody. I wish him to shut his ports against the +English, and that he should not receive them into his states, and that not +being able to defend his ports and fortresses he should permit me to +defend them. Rest assured that at Rome they have lost their heads. They +have no longer there the great men of the time of Leo X. Ganganelli would +not have conducted himself in this style. I wish to be in safety in my own +house. The whole of Italy belongs to me by right of conquest. Let the Pope +do what I wish, and he will be recompensed for the past and for the +future. I only forewarn you that all must be completed before the 1st of +January: if the Pope will consent, he will lose nothing; if he will +refuse, then I shall take away his states. Excommunications are no longer +in fashion, and my soldiers will not refuse to march wherever I send them. +Call to mind Charles V., who kept the Pope prisoner, and who made him +recite prayers for him at Madrid. I shall take the same course if I am +brought to bay." + +Mgr. Arezzo having asked for some prolongation of the delay: "Ah well! I +give you till February," replied the emperor; "but let everything be +finished before February." "And where will it be necessary to send the +ambassador of the Pope? to Berlin, to Warsaw, to St. Petersburg? Your +Majesty moves so quickly!" Napoleon began to laugh. "No, to Paris," said +he. + +It was in fact at Paris, in the month of October, 1807, when the victory +of Friedland had delivered Russia, like Prussia, to the influence of +Napoleon, that the envoy of the Pope succeeded in obtaining an audience-- +not of the emperor, but of Champagny, his new Minister of Foreign Affairs. +New difficulties had aggravated the bitterness of the relations between +France and Rome. Pius VII., however, had perceived that the requirements +of the emperor, so absolute in their harshness, would not yield to his +moderate and passive resistance. He had authorized his French +representative, the Cardinal de Bayanne, to make an important concession. +"The last demands of his Imperial Majesty," wrote Cardinal Casoni, +Minister of State, on the 14th of October, "are limited as regards the +English to the closure of the ports. The holy father has every reason to +think that his adherence ought to be limited to this closure; but if +anything else is required of him he will consent to it, provided that it +does not compel him to engage in actual war, and that it does not injure +the independence of the pontifical sovereignty. It will he desirable then +that your Eminence and the cardinal legate, to whom this despatch is +common, should be on your guard, to concert the explanation and import of +these words in order to satisfy his Imperial Majesty as the holy father +desires, but at the same time not to impose upon his Holiness an +obligation opposed to his duties and his honor." + +This was a good deal to grant, and it curtailed considerably the formal +declarations of neutrality so often repeated by the court of Rome. +Napoleon required still more, and his secret thoughts were not in accord +with his public declarations. The obstacles to the free choice of an +ambassador; the requirements with regard to the full powers which were to +be conferred on Cardinal de Bayanne; the forcible hindrance to the journey +of the latter, arbitrarily detained at Milan; the systematic neglect of +his requests for an audience--clearly proved the decision taken to obtain +all or nothing--to subjugate or break the pontifical power. The last +offers of the Pope fully satisfied the demands of the emperor, as +expressed by Cardinal Fesch, Talleyrand, and Napoleon himself again and +again. Champagny declared that these concessions were no longer +sufficient. The Pope was to engage himself to make common cause with the +Emperor Napoleon, and to unite his land and sea forces with those of +France in all wars against England. The ports closed against the English; +the care of the ports of Ostia, Ancona, and Civita Vecchia confided to +France; 2000 men of the French troops maintained at Ancona at the cost of +the Holy See; and concessions without reserve on the subject of the number +of French cardinals, as of the consecration of Italian bishops--such were +the conditions of the convention presented to the Cardinal de Bayanne by +Champagny. A few other articles, treating of the spiritual power, and +which had been abandoned at the request of Cardinal Fesch, remained as a +menace suspended over the head of the negotiator, in case his submission +should not be sufficiently prompt and complete. General Lemarrois had +already taken possession of the duchy of Urbino, of the province of +Macerata, of Fermo, and Spoleto. The Cardinal de Bayanne was still +negotiating, but the order for his recall had been sent from Rome (9th of +November, 1807). "God and the world will do us justice against the +proceedings of the emperor, let them be what they may," wrote Pius VII. + +The exactions of Champagny had heaped up a measure which was already +overflowing. In full Consistory, and without any hesitation on the part of +either Pope or cardinals, the proposals were unanimously rejected. "This +is the fruit of our journey to Paris, of our patience, of the forbearance +which has led us to make so many sacrifices, to suffer so many +humiliations. If such pretensions are persisted in, you must immediately +demand your passport, and come away." Such were the instructions sent on +the 2nd of December to the Cardinal de Bayanne by the holy father. The +orders sent by the emperor to his agents did not wait long for a response. +Already for some time past very considerable forces had been grouped to +the north and south of the pontifical states, under the orders of General +Miollis. Six thousand Frenchmen were destined for this expedition. A +Neapolitan column of 3000 men was to occupy Terracina. All the movements +of the troops had been carefully calculated and foreseen; the care of +watching over their execution was confided to Prince Eugène and the King +of Naples. The emperor wrote to Champagny on the 22nd of January, 1808: + +"On the 25th of January the French army will be at Perugia; on the 3rd of +February it will be at Rome. The express, setting out on the 25th, will +arrive at Rome on the 1st of February, and will thus carry your orders to +Signer Alquier two days before the troops arrive. You ought to make known +to Signer Alquier that General Miollis, who commands my troops, and who +appears to be directing his course towards Naples, will stay at Rome and +take possession of the castle of St. Angelo. When Signer Alquier shall +become aware that the troops are at the gate of Rome, he shall present to +the Cardinal Secretary of State the subjoined note: 'The arrival of +General Miollis has for its aim the protection of the rearguard of the +army of Naples. On his way, he presents himself at Rome to give force to +the measures which the emperor has resolved on taking to purge this city +of the scoundrels to whom it has given asylum, and consequently to all the +enemies of France.' You will put in cipher in your despatch the following +paragraph: 'The intention of the emperor is to accustom by this note, and +by these proceedings, the people of Rome and the French troops to live +together, in order that if the court of Rome should continue to show +itself as insensate as it now is, it might insensibly cease to exist as a +temporal power without any notice being taken of it.' Nevertheless, whilst +desiring to avoid disturbance, and to leave things _in statu quo_, I am +prepared to take strong measures the first time the Pope indulges in any +bull or manifesto; for a decree shall be immediately published, revoking +the gift of Charlemagne, and reuniting the states of the Church to the +kingdom of Italy, furnishing proofs of the evils that religion has +suffered through the sovereignty of Rome, and making apparent the contrast +between Jesus Christ dying on the cross and His successor making himself a +king!" + +It was not without a certain uneasiness that the emperor was preparing +thus to use violence against an unarmed sovereign, and historical decrees +were not the only arms on which he expected to rely. "The slightest +insurrection that may break out," wrote he to Prince Eugène (February 7th, +1808), "must be repressed with grape-shot, if necessary, and severe +examples must be made." + +No insurrection broke out; the Pope and his followers had resolved upon +giving to the world a startling demonstration of the material +powerlessness of the Holy See in presence of brute force. Whilst General +Miollis was entering Rome, on February 2nd, 1808, at eight o'clock in the +morning, disarming the pontifical troops in order to seize upon the Castle +of St. Angelo, the Pope was officiating in the chapel of the Quirinal, +surrounded by the Sacred College. The palace was invested by the troops, +and cannon were pointed at the walls; the cardinals went forth without +tumult or protest. The French officers were not a little surprised to see +them get into their carriages and retire without letting any trace of +annoyance be visible on their countenances. [Footnote: Memoirs of Cardinal +Pacca.] + +Only a protest by the holy father, conceived in the most moderate terms, +was affixed to the walls of Rome: "Not having been able to comply with all +the demands which have been made to him on the part of the French +Government, because the voice of his conscience and his sacred duties +forbade it, his Holiness Pius VII. has believed it his duty to submit to +the disastrous consequences with which he has been threatened as the +result of his refusal, and even the military occupation of his capital. +Resigned in the humility of his heart to the unsearchable judgments of +heaven, he commits his cause into the hands of God; but at the same time, +unwilling to fail in his essential obligations to guarantee the rights of +his sovereignty, he has given orders to protest, as he protests daily, +against every usurpation of his dominions, his will being that the rights +of the Holy See should be and remain always intact." + +The times of supreme violence had not yet come, and the emperor himself +had not perhaps foreseen to what extremities he would be led, by the +aggression he had just committed, and the underhand struggle he had been +maintaining for three years against the conscientious will of an unarmed +old man. However, the habitual roughness of his arbitrary proceedings did +not fail to manifest themselves from the beginning. Champagny had been +ordered to declare to the Cardinal de Bayanne that the French soldiers +established at Rome would remain there until the Pope should have entered +into the Italian Confederation, and should have consented to make common +cause with the powers composing it, in every case and against all enemies. +"This condition is the _sine qua non_ of his Majesty's proposal. If the +Pope does not accept it, his Majesty will not know how to recognize his +temporal sovereignty. He has decided to transfer the power of Rome into +secular hands." + +At the same time, and as a necessary commentary on these imperious +injunctions, the foreign cardinals in the pontifical states received +orders from Napoleon to quit Rome. The Neapolitan cardinals, to the number +of seven, had up to that time refused to take an oath to King Joseph. At +the first news of the measure which threatened them, the Pope ordered them +to remain near himself, "for the service of the Holy See;" they were +seized in their houses, and conducted to the frontiers of the kingdom of +Naples by gendarmes. On March 10th the same order was addressed by the +emperor to the vice-King of Italy for fourteen new members of the Sacred +College. "Let Litta return to Milan; let the Genoese return to Genoa, the +Italians to the kingdom of Italy, the Piedmontese to Piedmont, the +Neapolitans to Naples. This measure is to be executed by fair means or +foul. Since it is the cardinals who have lost the states of the Church by +their evil counsels, let them return every one to his own place." Cardinal +Casoni, till recently Secretary of State to the Pope, and Cardinal Doria +Pamphili, now officiating--the one born at Sarzana, the other a Genoese-- +were prevented by this interdiction from living in the Roman States. +Alquier, the minister of France, was quietly recalled to Paris; a simple +secretary of legation remained at Rome to represent the diplomatic +service. General Miollis well seconded the intentions of the emperor with +regard to the Holy See. Against the advice of his counsellors, the Pope +sent to Cardinal Caprara an order to quit Paris. "Violence has been +resorted to," wrote Pius VII. to his easygoing legate, "even to laying +hands on four of our cardinals and conducting them to Naples in the midst +of an armed force; an excess which only requires the violation of our own +personal freedom for the scandal to be complete. We cannot, by the +residence of our representative with the French Government, give occasion +for thinking any longer that we are not deeply wounded by the persecution +we have been made to suffer, and the oppression manifested towards the +Holy See. Our intention is, then, if our capital is not without delay +evacuated by the French troops, that you should demand your passports, and +that you should set out with the Cardinal de Bayanne, our legate +extraordinary, in order to come and share with us and your brothers the +lot which is reserved for us." + +I wished to tell in some detail the relations of Napoleon with the court +of Rome, because they clearly point out the first steps decidedly taken +along a path that grew more and more daring. Conquest had for a long time +borne its bitter fruits. Conquered sovereigns had submitted to the yoke +and to the haughty requirements of the conqueror; such was the absolute +right of victory, and those who suffered from it recognized a power which +in all time had belonged to the conqueror. The emperor henceforth went +much further than this; he did not confine himself to fighting, +conquering, and dispossessing those he had vanquished, and dividing their +spoils. He began at Rome to impose his arbitrary caprices upon a prince +who had never taken up arms against him. At the same time, and by a +manoeuvre concocted in the most masterly manner, and yet most inexcusable, +he was about to dethrone a king, his ally, humbly submissive to his power +and his exactions. The throne of Spain was the only one still occupied by +a prince of the house of Bourbon. Napoleon had resolved upon seating a +Bonaparte upon it. Already the troops destined for this enterprise were +quitting Paris, marching, without knowing it, towards long disasters. +Yielding to the irresistible impulses of absolute power without limits and +without a curb, Napoleon was led into having recourse to every description +of violence, and making use of every kind of perfidy. He wished to be +everywhere and always obeyed. For six years past no one had resisted his +will without being crushed; he was at last about to meet with a check--at +Rome, in the conscience of the Pope; in Spain, in the passions of an +aroused people. + +The situation of Spain had for a long time been sad and wretched. Governed +by a favorite, whose crimes he ignored, King Charles IV. had abandoned +power into the hands of the Prince de la Paix. At his side, and in a +condition of suspicion which resembled captivity, the heir to the throne, +Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias, had become the idol of the people, as a +consequence of the scorn and aversion inspired by the favorite. The young +prince, weak and cunning, submissive in his turn to his old tutor, the +Canon Escoiquiz, was carrying on underhand intrigues with a few great +lords who were devoted to him. He had attached to himself Beauharnais, the +ambassador of France, an upright and sincere man, with no great political +penetration. The little council of the prince had thought themselves +capable of concluding an alliance between Ferdinand and the all-powerful +sovereign of France. On the 11th of October, 1807, the Prince of Asturias +sent by Beauharnais a letter addressed to the "hero who threw into the +shade all those who had preceded him;" Ferdinand solicited the hand of a +princess of the imperial house. + +It was the moment of the negotiation of the treaty of Fontainebleau and +the anticipated partition of Portugal. On the same day on which the +signatures were exchanged (October 27th, 1807) the Prince of Asturias, for +a long time suspected of criminal intrigues, was arrested at Madrid, as +well as his accomplices. On the 29th, King Charles IV. wrote to the +emperor, in order to make him acquainted with the sad discovery which had +just wounded all his paternal sentiments. "I pray your Majesty," added the +unfortunate monarch, "to aid me with your knowledge and advice." + +The troops that were to enter Spain were ready, and the first movement of +Napoleon was to march them forward immediately. The trouble existing in +the royal house afforded a ready excuse for an intervention entreated at +once by both father and son. The King of Spain himself invoked assistance. +The army of the Gironde was immediately reinforced and provisioned. A +second corps was already preparing, but the Prince de la Paix discovered +in the correspondence of Ferdinand the proof of his relations with +Beauharnais. He did not wish to compromise his principality of Algarve by +exciting the anger of Napoleon: the Prince of Asturias was exempted from +the law, and his pardon solemnly proclaimed in an official decree by +Charles IV. Only his accomplices were prosecuted, but the tribunals +acquitted them. Meanwhile the army of the Gironde, under General Dupont, +had entered Spain. The corps for watching the sea coasts, commanded by +Marshal Moncey, followed in the same direction. Other detachments seized +upon the fortresses of the frontiers. "On arriving at Pampeluna, General +Duhesme will take possession of the town," wrote the emperor to General +Clarke, Minister of War (January 28th, 1808), "and without making any show +he will occupy the citadel and the fortifications, treating the +commandants and the inhabitants with the greatest courtesy, making no +movement, and saying that he is expecting further orders." + +The orders were not long in arriving; 100,000 men of the grand army were +effecting a backward movement, approaching France, and consequently Spain. +At the same time, Joachim Murat, the living hero of hazardous and doubtful +enterprises, had just been appointed general-in-chief of the armies in +Spain. His instructions were all military. "Do not disturb in any manner +the division of Duhesme," wrote the emperor to his lieutenant, on the 16th +of March, 1808; "leave that where it is. It guards Barcelona and holds +that province, and fulfils its purpose sufficiently. When the 3000 men of +the reinforcement who are about to rejoin this division, and who will be +at Barcelona towards the 5th or 6th of April, shall have arrived, it will +be another thing. Then he will have an army capable of carrying him +anywhere. At the moment when you receive this letter, the head of General +Verdier's corps will touch the borders of Spain, and General Merle ought +to find himself at Burgos. Continue to speak smooth words. Reassure the +king, the Prince de la Paix, the Prince of Asturias, and the queen. The +great thing is to arrive at Madrid, and there let your troops rest, and +replenish their stores of provisions. Say that I am soon coming in order +to reconcile and arrange matters; above all, do not commit any +hostilities, if it can possibly be helped. I hope that everything may be +arranged, and it would be dangerous to scare these folks too much." + +Murat had conceived intoxicating hopes which did not tend to the +tranquillity of the Spanish court. He had asked for political +instructions, which were refused to him. "What I do not tell you is what +you ought not to know," wrote Napoleon to his lieutenant. Uneasiness and +fear reigned in the household of the king, under the outside show of +welcome lavished on the French soldiers. Already the Prince de la Paix was +preparing for the flight of the royal family. That which the house of +Braganza had done by setting out for Brazil, the house of Bourbon could do +by taking refuge in Peru. The departure of the court for Seville was +announced; it was the first step in a longer journey, of which the project +had not yet been revealed to Charles IV. The royal family were besides +profoundly divided. The Prince of Asturias swore that he would not quit +Aranjuez; his uncle Don Antonio supported him in resistance. A few of the +ministers were seemingly throwing off the yoke of the Prince de la Paix. +The Marquis of Caballero, the Minister of Justice, refused to sign the +orders necessary for the departure. "I command it," said the Prince de la +Paix imperiously. "I only receive orders from the king," said the Spanish +nobleman in a tone to which the favorite was not accustomed. + +Meanwhile the population of Madrid, and the peasants in the environs of +Aranjuez, were stirred up by the reports of the departure which circulated +in the country; the preparations carried on by the confidants of the +Prince de la Paix, excited much anger and uneasiness. An agitated and +inquisitive crowd ceaselessly surrounded the palace, carefully watching +all the movements of the inmates: a proclamation of the King, promising +not to withdraw, did not suffice to allay suspicion. On the night of March +17th, a veiled lady came forth from the house of the Prince de la Paix to +a carriage which was waiting for her. The multitude thought they had +discovered a prelude to the departure; all hands were extended to stay the +fugitive. In the struggle a shot was fired; the crowd immediately rushed +forward, forcing the gates, and overturning the guards who protected the +palace of the favorite. In an instant his dwelling was pillaged, his art +treasures destroyed, his tapestries torn up and scattered to the winds. We +have been witnesses of the sorrowful results of popular fury. The Princess +de la Paix alone, trembling for her life in the palace where her just +pride had so often suffered, was spared by the vengeance of the multitude; +they brought her in triumph to the house of the king. "Behold innocence!" +cried the people. The Prince de la Paix had disappeared. + +They were seeking for him thirty-six hours, and the anxiety of the king +and queen was becoming insupportable; both loudly demanded their favorite. +With a view of turning away the anger of the people from his head, Charles +IV. issued an edict depriving Emanuel Godoy, Prince de la Paix, of all his +offices and dignities, and authorizing him to choose for himself the place +of his retreat. The favorite had more correctly estimated the hatred +excited against himself; he had sought no other retreat than a loft in his +palace. There, rolled up in a mat, with a few pieces of gold in his hands, +he waited for the moment to take his flight. On March 19th, at ten o'clock +in the morning; as he attempted to escape secretly, he was perceived by a +soldier of that guard to which he had formerly belonged; immediately +arrested, he was dragged to a guard-house. When he at length reached this +sad refuge he was bruised and bleeding, from the blows showered upon him +by all those who could reach him through the crowding ranks of the +multitude and the barriers formed by the soldiers. At the barracks where +the Prince de la Paix lay on the straw, the Prince of Asturias came to +seek him out in the name of his parents, and to promise him his life. "Art +thou already king, that thou canst thus dispense pardon?" asked Godoy, +with a bitter perception of the change which had been effected in the +position of the prince as in his own. "No," replied Ferdinand, "but I soon +shall be." + +The royal uneasiness did not permit them long to leave the favorite in a +guard-house, a prey to the insults and ill-usage of the populace; the king +and queen remained obstinately faithful to their friend. A coach was got +ready to take him away to a place of safety; as soon as it appeared, the +people threw themselves upon the carriage and broke it up. When the noise +reached the palace the old king burst into tears: "My people no longer +love me!" cried he; "I will no longer reign over them. I shall abdicate in +favor of my son." The queen's mind was occupied with no other thought than +the safety of Godoy; she thought it assured by this renunciation of the +throne, and willingly set her hands to it. The act of abdication was +immediately made public, and saluted, at Madrid as at Aranjuez, by the +transports of the multitude. Henceforth King Ferdinand VII. was alone +surrounded by the courtiers; his aged father remained abandoned in the +palace of Aranjuez. Murat was already approaching Madrid, and all eyes +were turned towards him as towards the forerunner of the supreme arbiter. +Ferdinand VII. hastened to send emissaries to him. The Queen of Etruria, +who had only just reached her parents, wrote to him conjuring him to come +to Aranjuez, to judge for himself of the situation. On March 25th, 1808, +the French army made its entry into the capital. + +The popular insurrection which had overthrown the Prince de la Paix and +provoked the abdication of Charles IV., had thwarted the plans of Napoleon +so far as his lieutenant was able to divine them. The flight of the royal +family would have left the throne of Spain vacant, and Murat had cherished +the hope of posing as a liberator of the Spanish nation, delivered from +the yoke so long imposed on it by a miserable favorite. In the presence of +a new and popular royalty, born of a patriotic sentiment, Murat +comprehended for the first time the necessity of reserve and prudence. The +distrust of the new monarch as regards fallen royalty, the anger and ill- +will of the parents as regards the son who had dethroned them, were to +bring both parties before the powerful protector who had been wise enough +beforehand to effect a military occupation of their country. It was +important to remain free, and to prepare for war with King Ferdinand VII. +The popular passion naturally offered a point of support against Charles +IV., his wife, and his favorite. Montyon, aide-de-camp to Murat, repaired +to Aranjuez, counselling the old king to draw up a protest against the +violence of which he had been the victim. Until then, the queen in the +letters which she had addressed to Napoleon and to Murat, had only asked +for a place in which to lay her head: "Let the grand duke prevail upon the +emperor to give to the king my husband, to myself, and to the Prince de la +Paix, sufficient for all three to subsist upon in a place good for our +health, free from oppression or intrigues." At the instigation of Murat, +and not without some hesitation, Charles IV. declared that he had only +abdicated in order to avoid greater evils, and to prevent the effusion of +the blood of his subjects, "which rendered the act null and of no effect." +Murat at the same time made use of the friendship and confidence which had +long existed between Beauharnais and Ferdinand VII., to suggest to this +prince the idea of presenting himself before the emperor and asking +sanction for his royal authority. The Spanish troops received orders to +effect a retrograde movement, and the new monarch solemnly entered into +Madrid on the 24th of March, amidst impassioned cries of joy from the +populace. + +The lieutenant had well divined the idea of the imperious master from whom +he was separated by a distance that perilously retarded his orders. The +emperor had heard the news of the royal departure for Seville and for +America. He had written, on March 23rd, the same day upon which Murat had +watered Madrid in the footprints of the revolutions: "I suppose I am about +to receive the news of all that will have taken place at Madrid on the +17th and 18th of March." Unforeseen events having occurred, he wrote to +Murat on the 27th: "You are to prevent any harm from being done, either to +the king or queen or to the Prince de la Paix. If the latter is brought to +trial, I imagine that I shall be consulted. You are to tell M. de +Beauharnais that I desire him to intervene, and that this affair should be +hushed up. Until the new king is recognized by me you are to act as if the +old king was still reigning; on that point you are to await my orders. As +I have already commanded you, maintain good order at Madrid; prevent any +extraordinary warlike preparations. Employ M. de Beauharnais in all this +until my arrival, which you are to declare to be imminent. You are always +saying that you have no instructions; I give you them every time; I tell +you to keep your troops well rested, to replenish your commissariat, and +not to prejudice the question in any way. It seems to me that you have no +need to know anything more." + +The political instructions were to reach Murat through the agency of +General Savary, often charged by the emperor with delicate missions +requiring absolute and unscrupulous devotion. On seizing by stratagem the +fortress of Pampeluna, General Darmagnac had frankly said, "This is dirty +work." General Savary obeyed without reserve, always absorbed in the +enterprise confided to him, and never letting himself be turned aside by +any obstacle. The emperor wrote on the 30th of March to the Grand Duke of +Berg:-- + +"I received your letters with those of the King of Spain. Snatch the +Prince de la Paix from the hands of these people. My intention is that no +harm shall be done to him, since he is two leagues from Madrid and almost +in your reach; I shall be much vexed to hear that any evil has happened to +him. + +"The king says that he will repair to your camp; I wait to know that he is +in safety, in order to make known to you my intentions. You have done +well in not recognizing the Prince of Asturias. + +"You are to place King Charles IV. at the Escurial, to treat him with the +greatest respect, to declare that he continues always to rule in Spain, +until I shall have recognized the revolution. + +"I strongly approve your conduct in these unforeseen circumstances. I +suppose you will not have allowed the Prince de la Paix to perish, and +that you will not have permitted King Charles to go Badajoz. If he is +still in your hands, you must dissemble with Beauharnais, and say that you +cannot recognize the Prince of Asturias, whom I have not recognized; that +it is necessary to let King Charles come to the Escurial; that the first +thing I shall require on my arrival will be to see him. Take all measures +not to have his life in jeopardy. I hope the position in which you find +yourself will have led you to adopt a sound policy." + +On the 27th of March, three days before ordering Murat to hold the balance +suspended between father and son, Napoleon had written to the King of +Holland, Louis Bonaparte: "My brother, the King of Spain has just +abdicated; the Prince de la Paix has been thrown into prison. The +commencement of an insurrection has broken forth at Madrid. On that +occasion my troops were forty leagues away from Madrid. The Grand Duke of +Berg was to enter on the 23rd with 40,000 men. Up to this time the people +loudly call for me. Certain that I should have no solid peace with England +except by effecting a great change on the continent, I have resolved to +place a French prince upon the throne of Spain. The climate of Holland +does not suit you. Besides, Holland would never know how to emerge from +its ruins. In this whirlwind of the world, whether we have peace or not, +there are no means by which Holland can sustain herself. In this state of +things, I think of you for the throne of Spain. You will be the sovereign +of a generous nation, of 11,000,000 of men, and of important colonies. +With economy and activity, Spain could have 60,000 men under arms and +fifty vessels in her ports. You perceive that this is still only a +project, and that, although I have 100,000 men in Spain, it is possible, +according to the circumstances that may arise, either that I may march +directly, and that all may be accomplished in a fortnight, or that I may +march more slowly, and that this may be a secret during several months of +operations. Answer me categorically. If I appoint you King of Spain, do +you agree? Can I count upon you? Answer me only these two words: 'I have +received your letter of such date; I answer Yes;' and then I shall +conclude that you will do what I wish; or, otherwise, 'No,' which will +give me to understand that you do not agree to my proposition. Do not take +anyone into your confidence, and do not speak to anyone whatever as to the +purport of this letter, for a thing must be done before we confess to +having thought of it." + +Full of these resolves, which he had not yet completely revealed to his +most intimate confidants, the emperor quitted Paris on the 2nd of April. +He was expected in Spain, and he had announced his arrival over and over +again, but his purpose was not to push forward his journey so far. +Already, at the instigation of General Savary, who knowingly seconded the +advice innocently given by Beauharnais, the new king had resolved upon +presenting himself before Napoleon. The latter was equally expecting the +arrival of the Prince de la Paix, the bearer of messages from the king, +Charles IV., and the queen. The emperor had written on his behalf to +Marshal Bessières, recommending him to protect the progress of the +formerly all-powerful favorite. "I have not to complain of him in any +way," said he; "he is only sent into France for his safety; reassure him +by all means." The counsellors of Ferdinand VII. refused to allow the +Prince de la Paix to set out; he was regarded as a hostage. The young king +had vainly solicited from his father a letter of introduction to Napoleon. +"In this letter," said he, "you will felicitate the emperor on his +arrival, and you bear witness that I have the same sentiments with regard +to him that you have always shown." Anger and distrust remained very +powerful in the little court of Aranjuez. Ferdinand VII. set out on the +10th of April, accompanied by General Savary, who lavished upon him the +royal titles rigorously refused by Murat. The emperor had given similar +instructions to Bessières. "Without entering into the political question, +on those occasions on which you will be compelled to speak of the Prince +of Asturias do not call him Ferdinand VII.; evade the difficulty by +calling those who rule at Madrid the government." A junta, or Council of +State, had been formed at Madrid, under the presidency of the Infanta Don +Antonio, in order to direct affairs in the absence of the new monarch. The +latter had already arrived at Burgos. + +Napoleon had not yet passed Bordeaux, where he remained a few days, +designedly vying in delay with the Spanish court. He wrote on the 10th of +April to Murat: "If the Prince of Asturias presents himself at Burgos and +at Bayonne, he will have kept his word. When the end that I propose to +myself, and with which Savary will have made you acquainted, is +accomplished, you will be able to declare verbally and in all +conversations that my intention is not only to preserve the integrity of +the provinces and the independence of the country, but also the privileges +of all classes, and that I will pledge myself to do that; that I am +desirous of seeing Spain happy, and in such circumstances that I may never +see it an object of dread to France. Those who wish for a liberal +government and the regeneration of Spain will find them in my plan; those +who fear the return of the queen and the Prince de la Paix may be +reassured, since those individuals will have no influence and no credit. +The nobles who wish for consideration and honors which they did not have +in the past administration, will find them. Good Spaniards who wish for +tranquillity and a wise administration, will find these advantages in a +system which will maintain the integrity and independence of the Spanish +monarchy." + +Perhaps some provision of the _system_ that the Emperor Napoleon was +projecting had crossed the mind of Ferdinand VII. and of his counsellors; +perhaps the Spanish pride was wounded by the little eagerness to set foot +in Spain shown by the all-powerful sovereign of the French. Certain it is +that General Savary, who had had much difficulty in persuading Ferdinand +VII. to decide on pursuing his journey beyond Burgos, failed in his +efforts to induce him to quit Vittoria. The behavior of the general became +rude and haughty. "I set out for Bayonne," said he; "you will have +occasion to regret your decision." Napoleon arrived, in fact, at Bayonne a +few hours after his envoy. + +Two days later General Savary retook the road to Vittoria, $he bearer of a +letter from the emperor for the _Prince of Asturias_. + +"My brother, I have received the letter of your Royal Highness. You ought +to have found proof, by the papers which you have had from the king your +father, of the interest I have always taken in him. You will permit me, +under the circumstances, to speak to you freely and faithfully. On +arriving at Madrid I was hoping to induce my illustrious friend to accept +a few reforms necessary in his states, and to give some satisfaction to +public opinion. The dismissal of the Prince de la Paix appeared to me +necessary for his happiness and that of his subjects. The affairs of the +north have retarded my journey. The events of Aranjuez have taken place. I +am not the judge of what has passed, and of the conduct of the Prince de +la Paix; but I know well that it is dangerous for kings to accustom their +people to shed blood and do justice for themselves. I pray God that your +Royal Highness may not one day have to make the experiment. How could you +bring the Prince de la Paix to trial without including with him the queen, +and your father the king? He has no longer any friends. Your Royal +Highness will have none if ever you are unfortunate. The people willingly +avenge themselves for the honor they render to us. I have often manifested +a desire that the Prince de la Paix should be withdrawn from affairs; the +friendship of King Charles has as often induced me to hold my tongue and +turn away my eyes from the weakness of his attachment. Miserable men that +we are! feebleness and error are our mottoes. But all this can be set +right. Let the Prince de la Paix be exiled from Spain, and I will offer +him a refuge in France. As to the abdication of Charles IV., it took place +at a moment when my armies covered Spain, and in the eyes of Europe and of +posterity I should appear to have despatched so many troops only to +precipitate from the throne my ally and friend. As a neighboring sovereign +it is permitted me to wish to become fully acquainted with this abdication +before recognizing it. I say to your Royal Highness, to the Spaniards, to +the entire world, If the abdication of King Charles is a spontaneous +movement, if it has not been forced upon him by the insurrection and the +mob of Aranjuez, I make no difficulty about admitting it, and I recognize +your Royal Highness as King of Spain. I desire then to talk with you on +this point. When King Charles informed me of the occurrence of October +last I was sorrowfully affected by it. + +"Your Royal Highness has been much in the wrong: I did not require as a +proof of it the letter you wrote to me, and which I have always wished to +ignore. Should you be a king in your turn you would know how sacred are +the rights of the throne; any application to a foreign sovereign on the +part of an hereditary prince is criminal. As regards the marriage of a +French princess with your Royal Highness, I hold it would be conformable +to the interests of my people, and above all a circumstance which would +attach me by new bonds to a family that has won nothing but praises from +me since I ascended the throne. Your Royal Highness ought to mistrust the +outbreaks of popular emotions; they may be able to commit a few murders on +my isolated soldiers, but the ruin of Spain would be the result of it. +Your Highness understands my thoughts fully; you see that I am floating +between diverse ideas, that require to be fixed. You may be certain that +in any case I shall comport myself towards you as towards the king your +father." + +On receiving this letter, by turns menacing and caressing, and on +listening to the commentaries with which General Savary accompanied it, +the prince and his followers still hesitated to advance beyond the +frontiers. The repugnance manifested by the population became every day +more intense. Urquijo, one of the oldest and wisest counsellors of King +Charles IV., insisted upon the advantages that Napoleon would realize by +counterbalancing the claims of the son by those of the father, and by thus +placing the peninsula under the laws of the general system of the French +Empire. He asserted that the intention was already apparent under the +words used, official and private, and that Ferdinand would lose himself, +and lose Spain, in repairing to Bayonne. "What!" cried the Duc de +l'Infantado, for a long time an accomplice in all the intrigues of the +Prince of Asturias, "what! would a hero surrounded with so much glory +descend to the basest of perfidies?" "You do not understand heroes," +replied Urquijo, bitterly. "You have not read Plutarch. The greatest +amongst them have raised their greatness upon heaps of corpses. What did +our own Charles V. do in Germany and Italy, and in Spain itself? I do not +go back to the most wicked of our princes. Posterity takes no account of +means." + +This counsel was too prudent and wise to prevail with minds at once +headstrong and feeble. Ferdinand resolved to trust to the hopes that +Napoleon caused to gleam before his eyes; he knew not that his retreat was +cut off. "If the prince comes to Bayonne," the emperor had written to +Marshal Bessières, "it is very well; if he retires to Burgos, you will +have him arrested, and conducted to Bayonne. You will inform the Grand +Duke of Berg of this occurrence; and you will make it known at Burgos that +King Charles has protested, and that the Prince of Asturias is not king. +If he refuses the interview that I propose, it is a sign of his belonging +to the English party, and then there will be nothing more to arrange." On +the 20th of April the prince and his suite crossed the little river of the +Bidassoa. As he was leaving Vittoria, the crowd assembled in the streets +became violent, and cut the traces of the horses. In order to avoid a +popular riot, the squadrons of the imperial guard had to surround the +carriage of the prince; he set out from his states as if already a +prisoner. + +It was as a suppliant that he arrived at Bayonne, and the sorrowful +impression he had experienced on passing the frontier increased as he drew +nigh to the end of his journey. There was no one on his road to meet him +or compliment him, save the three Spanish noblemen whom he had himself +sent to Napoleon, and who returned to their prince troubled with the +gloomiest presentiments. Marshals Duroc and Berthier received him, +however, with courtesy when he arrived at Bayonne, and the emperor soon +had him brought to the chateau of Marac, in which he himself was +installed. Carrying out his previous declaration, Napoleon would give to +his visitor no other title than that of Prince of Asturias. At the end of +the day, General Savary escorted Ferdinand to his apartment; the emperor +kept beside himself Canon Escoiquiz. + +The hour for revelations had arrived. Napoleon took the trouble to develop +to the canon preceptor his reasons for depriving the house of Bourbon of +the throne, and for placing upon it a prince of the Bonaparte family. "I +will give Etruria to Prince Ferdinand in exchange," said he; "it is a fine +country; he will be happy and tranquil. The populace will perhaps rebel on +a few points, but I have on my side religion and the monks. I have had +experience of it, and the countries where there are plenty of monks are +easy to subjugate." + +Napoleon paced to and fro in his room, sometimes stopping in front of the +canon, whom he terrified by his flashing glances and by the extreme +animation of his language, sometimes according to him one of those +familiar and waggish gestures which were the signs of his favor. The +unfortunate Escoiquiz sought in vain to defend the cause of his prince, +making the most of his merits and his personal attachment to the emperor, +and pledging his submission if he became sovereign of Spain and an ally of +the imperial family. "You are telling me stories, canon," replied +Napoleon. "You are too well informed to be ignorant of the fact that a +woman is too feeble a bond to determine the political conduct of a prince: +and who will guarantee that you will be near him in six months' time. All +this is only bad politics. Your Bourbons have never served me except +against their will. They have always been ready to betray me. A brother +will be worth more to me, whatever you say about it. The regeneration of +Spain is impossible in their hands; they will be always, in spite of +themselves, the support of ancient abuses. My part is decided on; the +revolution must be accomplished. Spain will not lose a village, and I have +taken my precautions as to the colonies. Let your prince decide before the +arrival of King Charles relative to the exchange of his rights against +Tuscany. If he accepts, the treaty will be concluded; if he refuses, it is +of little consequence, for I shall obtain from his father the cession that +I require, Tuscany will remain in possession of France, and his royal +highness will receive no indemnity." + +The canon covered his face with his hands. "Alas!" cried he, "what will be +said of us who counselled our prince to come hither?" The emperor again +reassured him. "Do not annoy yourself, canon," said he; "neither you nor +the others have any cause to afflict yourselves. You could not divine my +intentions, for nobody was acquainted with them. Go and find your prince." + +General Savary displayed less eloquence and power of persuasion in +announcing to the unfortunate Ferdinand the intentions of the emperor, +whom he had on his part so adroitly served. The prince was utterly +astounded when his old preceptor entered his room. The intimate +counsellors were convoked; they persisted in seeing in the declaration of +Napoleon a daring manoeuvre intended to terrify the house of Spain into +some important cession of territory. The prince formally refused to accept +the kingdom of Etruria; he maintained that the rights of the crown of +Spain were unalienable; he possessed them by consent of his father Charles +IV., who alone could dispute the throne with him. Two negotiators were +successively commissioned to carry this reply to Champagny, the Minister +for Foreign Affairs. + +The latter had just drawn up a report for the emperor, deciding upon +taking possession of Spain. "We must recommence the work of Louis XIV.," +it said. "That which policy counsels, justice authorizes. The present +circumstances do not permit your Majesty to refrain from intervention in +the affairs of this kingdom. The King of Spain has been precipitated from +his throne. Your Majesty is called upon to judge between the father and +son: which part will you take? Would you sacrifice the cause of sovereigns +and of all fathers, and permit an outrage to be done to the majesty of the +throne? Would you leave upon the throne of Spain a prince who will not be +able to preserve himself from the yoke of the English, so that your +Majesty will have constantly to maintain a large army in Spain? If, on the +contrary, your Majesty is determined to replace Charles IV. on the throne, +you know that it could not be done without having to overcome great +resistance, nor without causing French blood to flow. Lastly, could your +Majesty, taking no interest in these great differences, abandon the +Spanish nation to its doom, when already a violent fermentation is +agitating it, and England is sowing there the seeds of trouble and +anarchy? Ought your Majesty then to leave this new prey to be devoured by +the English? Certainly not. Thus your Majesty, compelled to undertake the +regeneration of Spain, in a manner useful for her and useful for France, +ought neither to re-establish at the price of much blood a dethroned king, +nor to sanction the revolt of his son, nor to abandon Spain to itself; for +in these two last cases it would be to deliver it to the English, who by +their gold and their intrigues have succeeded in tearing and rending this +country, and thus you would assure their triumph. + +"I have set forth to your Majesty the circumstances which compel you to +come to a great determination. Policy counsels it, justice authorizes it, +the troubles of Spain impose it as a necessity. Your Majesty has to +provide for the safety of your empire, and save Spain from the influence +of the English." + +Even the most resolute and scrupulous men love to be bolstered up with +words, and to surround themselves with vain pretexts. The Emperor +Napoleon, resolved on robbing the house of Bourbon of a throne which had +become suspected by him, had asked from Champagny an explanatory memoir, +and took care to pose as an arbitrator between King Charles IV. and his +son, in order to cover his perfidy with a mantle of distributive justice. +He had already apprised Murat of his desire to see the old sovereign of +Spain before him; the request of Charles IV. and his queen forestalled +this proposal. The lieutenant-general had at last snatched away the Prince +de la Paix from the hands which detained him. The favorite had taken +refuge under the wing of Murat, in the most pitiable condition. "The +Prince de la Paix arrives this evening," wrote Napoleon to Talleyrand on +the 25th of April; "he has been for a month between life and death, always +menaced with the latter. Would you believe it that, in this interval, he +has never changed his shirt, and has a beard seven inches long? The most +absurd calumnies have been laid to his charge. Cause articles to be +written, not justifying the Prince de la Paix, but depicting in characters +of fire the evils of popular insurrections, and drawing forth pity for +this unfortunate man. It will be as well for him not to delay his arrival +in Paris." On the 1st of May, after the arrival of the entire royal +family: "The Prince de la Paix is here. King Charles is a brave man. I +know not whether it is his position or circumstances, but he has the air +of a frank and good patriarch. The queen has her heart and history on her +countenance; that is enough to say to you; it surpasses everything that it +is permitted to imagine. The Prince de la Paix has the air of a bull. He +is beginning to feel himself again; he has been treated with unexampled +barbarity. It will be well for him to be discharged from all false +imputations, but it will be necessary to leave him covered by a slight +touch of contempt. + +"The Prince of Asturias is very stupid, very evilly disposed, very much +the enemy of the French. You readily perceive that with my practice in +managing men his experience of twenty-four years has not been able to +impose upon me; and this is so evident to me, that it would take a long +war to bring me to recognize him as King of Spain. Moreover, I have had it +notified to him that I ought not to hold communications with him, King +Charles being upon my frontiers. I have consequently had his couriers +arrested. One of them was the bearer of a letter to Don Antonio: 'I +forewarn you that the emperor has in his hands a letter from Maria Louisa +(the Queen of Etruria, his sister), which states that the abdication of my +father was forced. Act as if you did not know this, but conduct yourself +accordingly, and strive to prevent these accursed Frenchmen from gaining +any advantage by their wickedness.'" All the correspondence of the Prince +of Asturias passed under the eyes of Napoleon. + +On their arrival at Bayonne on the 30th of April, King Charles IV. and his +queen were received with all royal honors. The emperor had himself +regulated the ceremonial. "All who are here, even the Infantado and +Escoiquiz, came to kiss the hand of the king and queen, kneeling," wrote +Napoleon to Murat on May 1st. "This scene roused the indignation of the +king and queen, who all the time regarded them with contempt. They +proceeded to their apartments ushered by Marshal Duroc, when the two +princes wished to follow them; but the king turning towards them, thus +addressed them: 'Princes, you have covered my gray hairs with shame and +sorrow; you come to add derision also. Depart, that I may never see you +again.' Since this occurrence the princes appear considerably stunned and +astonished. I know not yet upon what they have resolved." + +On arriving at the gate of the chateau of Marac the old king, Charles IV., +fell weeping into the arms of Napoleon. "Lean upon me," said the emperor; +"I have strength enough for both." "I know it well!" replied Charles: it +was the genuine expression of his thoughts. The Prince de la Paix was not +long in coming to the conclusion that all hope of his master's restoration +was lost. Repose, with an ample competency, was promised to him; Napoleon +also enabled him to get a taste of the pleasure of vengeance. Charles IV. +had given command to his son, requiring from him a pure and simple +renunciation of the crown which he had usurped: the prince peremptorily +refused. The old king rose up with difficulty, brandishing his cane above +his head: "I will have you treated like the rebel emigrants," cried he, +"as an unnatural son who wished to snatch away my life and my crown." They +had to restrict themselves to written communications. A letter from +Charles IV. reclaimed the crown, and presented to his son's notice a +mournful picture of his proceedings. "I have had recourse to the Emperor +of the French," said he, "no longer as a king, at the head of his army and +surrounded with the splendor of a throne, but as an unfortunate and +forsaken monarch. I have found protection and refuge in the midst of his +camp. I owe him my life and that of my queen and of my First Minister. All +now depends on the mediation and protection of this great prince. I have +reigned for the happiness of my subjects; I do not wish to bequeath them +civil war, rebellions, and the popular assemblies of revolution. +Everything ought to be done for the people, and nothing for one's self. +All my life I have sacrificed myself for my people; and it is not at the +age at which I have now arrived that I should do anything contrary to +their religion, their tranquillity, and their happiness. When I shall be +assured that the religion of Spain, the integrity of my provinces, their +independence and their privileges, will be maintained, I shall descend +into the tomb pardoning you the bitterness of my last years." + +The king had already invested Murat with supreme power in the capacity of +Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom. Ferdinand continually resisted-- +proposing, indeed, to make an act of renunciation, but only at Madrid, in +presence of the Cortes, and under the condition that the king, Charles +IV., should himself resume possession of the throne. The preliminary +negotiations became each day more bitter. Napoleon pursued his aim without +disturbing himself at the refusals of the prince, who, however, provoked +in him some ill-humor. He had by a single stroke destroyed the illusions +and hopes of Murat by writing to him on the 2nd of May, "I intend the King +of Naples to reign at Madrid. I wish to give you the kingdom of Naples, or +that of Portugal. Answer me immediately what you think of it, for it is +necessary for this to be done in a day." The very day on which Napoleon +thus inflicted on his brother-in-law a stroke for which Murat never +consoled himself, the insurrection which broke out at Madrid rendered +impossible the elevation to the throne of Spain of the man whose duty it +was so roughly to repress it. For a fortnight the excitement in the +capital had been intense, carefully kept up by the reports which Ferdinand +and his friends found the means of freely spreading amongst the +population. An order had been sent to Murat to make all those princes of +the royal house who were still at Madrid set out for Bayonne; when the +Junta had been induced with great difficulty to give its consent to this +measure, the populace opposed the departure. A certain number of soldiers +were massacred, an aide-de-camp of Murat escaping by a miracle from the +popular anger. The troops had for a long time been posted as a precaution +against an insurrection, and all the streets were soon swept by charges of +cavalry; cannon resounded in all directions. The Spanish troops, consigned +to their quarters, only took part in the struggle at one point; a company +of artillery gave up its pieces to the people. When the insurrection was +suppressed a hundred insurgents were shot without any form of trial. + +This was, in the capital, the last and feeble effort of a resistance which +had not yet had time to become a patriotic passion. Henceforth Murat felt +himself master of Madrid; he became President of the Junta. Don Antonio +had accompanied to Bayonne his nephew, François de Paule, and his niece, +the Queen of Etruria. + +"Your Majesty has nothing more to do than to designate the king whom you +destine for Spain," mournfully wrote the lieutenant-general on the morning +of the 3rd; "this king will reign without obstacle." But lately he had +repeated this proposal, heard on several occasions amongst the inhabitants +of Madrid: "Let us run to the house of the Grand Duc de Berg, and proclaim +him king." + +The news of the insurrection of Madrid precipitated at Bayonne the +_denoûment_ of the tragi-comedy in which for several days the illustrious +actors had been playing their parts. The emperor feigned great anger, and +the terror of the old Spanish sovereigns was real. + +"It is thou who art the cause of all this!" cried the king, Charles IV., +violently apostrophizing his son. "Thou hast caused the blood of our +subjects and of our allies to flow, in order to hasten by a few days the +moment of bearing a crown too heavy for thee. Restore it to him who can +sustain it." The prince remained taciturn and sombre, limiting himself to +protesting his innocence. His mother threw herself upon him. "Thou hast +always been a bad son," she cried with violence; "thou hast wished to +dethrone thy father, to cause thy mother's death; and thou art standing +there before us insensible, without replying either to us or to our friend +the great Napoleon: speak, justify thyself, if thou canst." The emperor, +who was present at this sorrowful scene, intervened: "If between this and +midnight you have not recognized your father as the lawful king, and have +not sent word to Madrid to that effect, you shall be treated as a rebel." + +This was too much for the courage of Ferdinand; he was in the hands of an +irritated master, who had drawn him and his into a snare which was at this +time impossible to be broken through. Weakness and cowardice in the +present did not forbid far-off hopes; the prince yielded, counting on the +future. "For any one who can see it, his character is depicted by a single +word," Napoleon had said; "he is a sneak." + +The treaty was concluded the same evening, through the mediation of the +Prince de la Paix. King Charles IV., recognizing that he and his family +were incapable of assuring the repose of Spain, of which he was the sole +lawful sovereign, surrendered the crown to the Emperor of the French, for +him to dispose of it at his will. Spain and her colonies were to form an +independent state. The Catholic religion was to remain dominant, to the +exclusion of all others. King Charles IV. was to enjoy during life the +castle and forest of Compiègne; the castle of Chambord was to belong to +him in perpetuity; a civil list of 7,500,000 francs was assured to him +from the French Treasury. A particular convention accorded the absolute +property of the castle of Navarre to Prince Ferdinand, with a revenue of +1,000,000 francs, and 400,000 livres income for each of the Infantas. When +the emperor notified to Count Mollien, then Minister of the Treasury, the +tenor of the treaty, he added: "That will make 10,000,000. All these sums +will be reimbursed by Spain." The Spanish nation was to pay for the fall +of its dynasty and the pacific conquest upon which Napoleon counted. She +reserved for him another price for his perfidious manoeuvres. + +Already the Spanish princes were on the way to their retreats. Compiègne +and Navarre not being ready for their reception, the old king was to +inhabit Fontainebleau provisionally. The emperor ordered Talleyrand to +receive the Infantas at Valençay, thus confiding to his vice-grand-elector +the honorable functions of a jailer. "I desire," he wrote to him on the +9th of May, "that the princes may be received with no external ceremony, +but with respect and care, and that you do everything possible to amuse +them. Be on Monday evening at Valençay. If you have a theatre there, and +could get a few comedians to come, it would not be a bad idea; you might +bring Madame de Talleyrand there, with four or five ladies. I have the +greatest interest in the Prince of Asturias being prevented from taking +any false steps. I desire, then, that he may be amused and occupied. Harsh +policy would lead one to put him in the Bicêtre, or in some strong castle; +but as he has thrown himself into my arms, and has promised me to do +nothing without my orders, and as all goes on in Spain as I desire, I have +decided to send him into a country place, surrounding him at the same time +with pleasures and keeping him under strict surveillance. Let this last +during the month of May and part of June; the affairs of Spain will have +taken a turn, and I shall then see what part I shall take. + +"As to you, your mission is honorable enough; to receive at your house +these three illustrious personages, in order to amuse them, is altogether +worthy of the nation and of your rank." + +The captivity of the Spanish princes was to be much longer and less +cheerful than the Emperor Napoleon was depicting it beforehand. He had +already provided for the government of Spain. Sorrowfully and with great +difficulty, Murat had prevailed upon the Grand Council of Castile and the +Indies to indicate a preference for the King of Naples. The Junta had +absolutely refused to take part in any manifestations of this nature. On +the 10th of May, Napoleon wrote to King Joseph, "King Charles, by the +treaty I have made with him, cedes to me all the rights of the crown of +Spain. The nation, through the medium of the Supreme Council of Castile, +asks from me a king. It is for you that I destine this crown. Spain is not +like the kingdom of Naples: it has 11,000,000 of inhabitants, more than a +hundred and fifty millions of revenue, without counting the immense +revenues and possessions of all the Americas. It is, besides, a crown +which places you at Madrid, within three days of France, which entirely +covers one of its frontiers. At Madrid you are in France; Naples is at the +end of the world. I desire, then, that immediately you have received this +letter you should confide the regency to whoever you will, and the command +of the troops to Marshal Jourdan, and that you should set out for Bayonne +by way of Turin, Mont Cenis, and Lyons. You will receive this letter on +the 19th, you will set out on the 20th, and you will be here on the 1st of +June. Withal, keep the matter secret; people will perhaps suspect +something, but you can say that you have to go to Upper Italy in order to +confer with me on important affairs." + +Napoleon had said, the moment when he concluded the treaty which deprived +the house of Bourbon of its last throne, "What I am doing is not well in a +certain point of view, I know. But policy demands that I should not leave +in my rear, so near Paris, a dynasty inimical to my own." + +Justice and right possess lights of which the cleverest framers of human +politics are at times ignorant. The Emperor Napoleon descended several +steps towards his fall when he abused his power as regards Pope Pius VII., +and used odious means to dethrone the feeble and ignorant princes who were +ruling over Spain. Very slippery are the roads of universal power; in the +steps of its master, France was rushing to disaster. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE HOME GOVERNMENT (1804-1808). + + +For more than twenty years the history of France was the history of +Europe; for more than fifteen years the history of Napoleon was the +history of France, but a history cruelly bloody and agitated, often +adorned with so much glory and splendor, that the country might, and in +fact did, indulge itself in long and fatal illusions which drew down +bitter sufferings. All this life of our country, however, was not +dissipated afar off in the train of its victorious armies, or its arrogant +ambassadors; if old France was sometimes astonished to find herself so +much increased that she ran the risk of becoming one of the provinces of +the Empire, she always remained the centre, and her haughty master did not +forget her. Carried beyond her territory by the wild instinct of ambition, +he did not renounce the home government of his first and most famous +conquest. Seconded by several capable and modest men to whom he +transmitted peremptory orders, often modified by them in the execution, +Napoleon founded again the French administration, formerly powerful in the +hands of the great minister of Louis XIV., but destroyed and overthrown by +the shocks of the Revolution. He established institutions, he raised +monuments which have remained while all the dazzling trophies of his arms +have disappeared, while all his conquests have been torn from us, after +worn out France, bruised and bleeding, found herself smaller than at the +end of the evil days of the French Revolution. + +"Scarcely invested with a sovereignty, new both to France and to himself," +said Count Mollien in his memoirs, "Napoleon imposed upon himself the task +of ascertaining all the revenues and expenses of the state. He had +acquired patience for the details from the fact that, in his campaigns, he +depended entirely upon himself for the care of securing food, clothing and +pay of his armies." On the eve of Austerlitz, after immense efforts made +by the government as well as the public, to re-establish order and +activity in a country so long agitated and weakened by incessant shocks, +the measure of new enterprises had been exceeded; embarrassments extended +from public to private fortunes, all the symptoms of a serious and +impending crisis were already shown. Napoleon did not hide this from +himself, but he saw and sought for no other remedy than victory. Passing +before Mollien, when going to theatre, he said to him, "The finances are +in a bad way, the Bank is embarrassed. I cannot put these matters right." +For a long time the fortune as well as the repose of France was to depend +upon the ever doubtful chances of victory; long she submitted to it with a +constancy without example. The day came when victory was not sufficient +for our country, she had not strength enough to support the price of her +glory. The Emperor Napoleon was deceived in seeking the sources of public +prosperity in conquest; the blood which flows in the veins of a nation is +not restored as soon as another nation, humiliated and vanquished, shall +in its turn give up drop by drop its blood, its children, and its +treasures. Society is exhausted unless war contributions and exactions +definitively fill the coffers of the victor. The long hostilities of +Europe, and our alternate successes and reverses, have sufficiently taught +us this hard lesson. Victor or vanquished, France has never completely +crushed her enemies, she has never been crushed by them. All have +suffered, all still suffer from this outrage on the welfare of society, +which is called a war of conquest. In the beginning of his supreme power, +Napoleon thought to find in victory an inexhaustible source of riches. "It +was the ideas of the ancients which Napoleon applied to the right of +conquest," said Mollien. + +He learnt even on the morrow of the battle of Austerlitz that victory is +not sufficient for the repose and prosperity of a state; the expenses +necessitated by the preparations for war, the enormous sums which the +treasury had had to pay, the general crisis in the commercial world had +induced the minister of the treasury, Barbé Marbois, to have recourse to +hazardous enterprises entrusted to unsafe hands. "You are a very honest +man," the emperor wrote [Footnote: The "Négociants réunis."] to his +minister, "but I cannot help believing that you are surrounded by rogues." +Six weeks after the battle of Austerlitz, on the 26th January, 1806, +Napoleon arrived at Paris in the night and summoned a council of finance +for the following morning. The emperor scarcely permitted a few words to +be addressed to him on a campaign so promptly and gloriously terminated. +"We have," he said, "questions to deal with which are more serious; it +appears that the greatest dangers of the state are not in Austria; listen +to the report of the minister of the treasury." + +"Barbé Marbois commenced the report with the calm of a conscience which +has nothing to reproach itself," adds M. Mollien. He soon showed how the +receipts, constantly inferior to the indispensable expenses, had obliged +the treasury to borrow, first from the receivers-general, then from a new +company of speculators at the head of whom was M. Ouvrard, a man of +ability, but of doubtful reputation; the brokers as they were called, had +in their turn engaged the state in perilous affairs with Spain, and the +commissions upon the receivers-general, which had been conceded to them, +enormously surpassed their advances. "The State is the sole creditor of +the company," Marbois said at last. The emperor got in a passion. His +prompt and penetrating mind, always ready to distrust, discovered by +instinct, and without penetrating into details, the fraud to which his +minister was blind. He called before him the brokers, the principal clerks +at the treasury, and confounding them all by the bursts of his anger, he +forgot at the same time the respect he owed to the age and character of +Marbois, who was suddenly dismissed, and immediately replaced by Mollien. + +"I had no need to listen to the entire report to guess that the brokers +had converted to their own use more than sixty millions," said Napoleon to +his new minister; "the money must be recovered." + +The debts of the brokers to the public treasury were still more +considerable: Mollien had to find the proof and ward off in a great +measure the dangers resulting to the treasury from this fatal association +with a company of speculators. + +Two years later the emperor placed Barbé Marbois at the head of the Court +of Accounts which he had just founded. He did not admit the want of repose +or a wish for retirement. For a moment Mollien had hesitated to accept the +post imposed upon him by his master. He was director of the _caisse +d'amortissement_ (bank for redemption of rents), and was satisfied with +his place. "You cannot refuse a ministry," said the emperor, suddenly, +"this evening you will take the oath." Count Mollien introduced important +improvements into the management of the finances. The foundation of the +bank of service, in current account with the receivers-general, book- +keeping by double entry, formerly brought into France by Law, but which +had not been established at the treasury, the publication of annual +balance sheets, such were the improvements accomplished at that time by +the minister of the treasury. + +The public works had not been neglected in this whirlwind of affairs which +circled round Napoleon. He had ordered vast contracts in road and canal- +making; in the intervals of leisure which he devoted to France and the +home government, he conceived the idea of monuments destined to +immortalize his glory and to fix in the spirit of the people the +remembrance of the past, on which the new master of France, set much +value. He repaired the basilica of St. Denis, built sepulchral chapels, +and instituted a chapter composed of former bishops. He finished the +Pantheon, restored to public worship under the old name of Sainte- +Geneviève, ordered the construction of the arcs de triomphe (triumphal +arches) of the Carrousel and l'Etoile, and the erection of the column in +the Place Vendôme. He also decreed two new bridges over the Seine, those +of Austerlitz and Jena. The termination of the Louvre, the construction of +the Bourse, the erection of a temple consecrated to the memory of the +exploits of the great army and which became the church of the Madeleine, +were also decreed. In the great range of his thoughts, which constantly +advanced before his epoch and the resources at his disposal, Napoleon +prepared an enormous task for the governments succeeding him. All have +laboriously contributed to the completion of the works which he had +conceived. + +At the same time that he constructed monuments and reorganized the public +administration, Napoleon desired to found new social conditions. He had +created kings and princes; he had raised around him his family and the +companions of his glory, to unheard-of fortune; he wished to consolidate +this aristocracy, which owed all its splendor to him, by extending it. He +had magnificently endowed the great functionaries of the Empire; he wished +to re-establish below and around them a hierarchy of subalterns, honored +by public offices and henceforth, for this reason, to have themselves and +families distinguished by hereditary titles. In the speech from the +throne, by which he opened the session of the legislative body in 1807, +Napoleon showed his intentions on this subject. "The nation," said he, +"has experienced the most happy results from the establishment of the +Legion of Honor. I have created several imperial titles, to give new +splendor to my principal subjects, to honor striking services by striking +recompenses, and also to prevent the return of any feudal titles +incompatible with our Constitution." + +Thus it was that, by a child of the Revolution, still possessed by most of +its doctrines, a nobility was to be created in France. The country was not +deceived. The emperor could make dukes, marquises, counts, barons; he +could not constitute an aristocracy, that slow product of ages in the +history of nations. The new nobles remained functionaries when they were +not soldiers, illustrious by themselves as well as by the incomparable +lustre of the glory of their chief. + +The emperor gained battles, concluded treaties, raised or overthrew +thrones; he founded a new nobility, and decreed the erection of +magnificent monuments by the simple effort of his all-powerful will; he +imagined that his imperial action had no limit, and thought himself able +to command the master-pieces of genius as well as the movements of his +armies. He was not, and had never been, indifferent to the great beauties +of intellect, and his taste was shocked when he was extolled at the opera +in bad verses. + +In his opinion, mind had its place in the social state, and should be +everywhere regulated as a class of that institute which he had +reconstituted and completed. He had already laid the foundations of a +great university corporation, which he was soon to establish, and which +has since, in spite of some defects, rendered such important services to +the national education and instruction. In the session of 1806, a project +of law, drawn up by M. Fourcroy, Director of Public Instruction, had made +the fundamental principles known. By the side of the clerical body, to +whom Napoleon would not confide the public education, he had imagined the +idea of a lay corporation, which should not be subject to permanent vows, +while at the same time imbued with that _esprit de corps_ which he had +come to look on as one of the great moral forces of society. Under the +name of the Imperial University, a new body of teachers was to be +entrusted with the public education throughout the empire; the members of +this body of teachers were to undertake civil, special, and temporary +obligations. The professional education of the men destined to this +career, their examinations, their incorporation in the university, the +government of this body, confided to a superior council, composed of men +illustrious by their talents; all this vast and fertile scheme, due in a +great measure to the aid of Fontanes, was afterwards to be developed in +the midst of the storms which already commenced to gather around France. +Napoleon had long conceived the project, but deferred the details to +another time, waiting until he had created the nursery which should +furnish France with learned men, whose duty was to educate the rising +generation. The all-powerful conqueror, in the midst of his Polish +campaign, and in his winter-quarters of Finkestein, prepared a minute on +the establishment of Écouen, which had been recently founded for the +education of poor girls belonging to members of the Legion of Honor. I +wish to quote this document, which, though blunt and insolent, shows much +good sense, in order to show how this infinitely active and powerful mind +pursued at once different enterprises and thoughts, stamping on all his +works the seal of his character and his personal will. + +"This establishment must be handsome in all that relates to building, and +simple in all that relates to education. Beware of following the example +of the old establishment of St. Cyr, where they spent considerable sums +and brought up the young ladies badly. The employment and distribution of +time are objects which principally demand your attention. What shall be +taught to the young ladies who are to be educated at Écouen? We must begin +by religion in all its strictness. Do not admit on this point any +modification. Religion is an important matter in a public institution for +young ladies. It is, whatever may be said to the contrary, the surest +guarantee for mothers and for husbands. Let us bring up believers, and not +reasoners. The weakness of woman's brain, the uncertainty of their ideas, +their destiny in society, the necessity of constant and perpetual +resignation, and a sort of indulgent and easy charity; all this cannot be +obtained, except by religion, by a religion charitable and mild. I +attached but small importance to the religious institutions of the +military school of Fontainebleau, and I have ordained only what is +absolutely necessary for the lyceums. It is quite the reverse for the +institution of Écouen. Nearly all the science taught there ought to be +that of the Gospel. I desire that there may proceed from it not very +charming women, but virtuous women; that their accomplishments may be +those of manners and heart, not of wit and amusement. + +"There must, therefore, be at Écouen a director, an intelligent man, of +middle age and good morals. The pupils must each day say regular prayers, +hear mass, and receive lessons on the catechism. This part of their +education must be most carefully attended to. + +"The pupils must then also be taught arithmetic, writing, and the +principles of their mother tongue, so that they know orthography. They +must be taught a little geography and history, but be careful not to teach +them Latin or any foreign tongue. To the eldest may be taught a little +botany, or a slight course of physics or natural history, and even that +may have a bad effect. They must be limited in physics to what is +necessary to prevent gross ignorance or stupid superstition, and must keep +to facts, without reasonings which tend directly or indirectly to first +causes. + +"It will afterwards be considered if it would be useful to give to those +who attain to a certain class a sum for their clothing. They might by that +get accustomed to economy, to calculate the value of things, and to keep +their own accounts. But, in general, they must all be occupied during +three fourths of the day in manual work; they ought to know how to make +stockings, chemises, embroidery--in fact, all kinds of women's work. These +young girls ought to be considered as if they belonged to families who +have in the provinces from fifteen to eighteen thousand francs a year, and +be treated accordingly. You will therefore understand that hand-work in +the household should not be indifferent to them. + +"I do not know if it is possible to teach them some little of medicine and +pharmacy, at least of that kind of medicine which is within the reach of a +nurse. It would be well also if they knew a little part of the kitchen +occupied by medicinal herbs. I wish that a young girl, quitting Écouen to +take her place at the head of a small household, should know how to cut +out her dresses, mend her husband's clothes, make her baby-linen, and +procure little comforts for her family by the means usually employed in a +provincial household; nurse her husband and children when ill, and know on +these points, because it has been early inculcated on her, all that nurses +have learnt by habit. All this is so simple and trivial as scarcely to +require reflection. As to dress, it ought to be uniform and of common +material, but well made. I think that on that head the present female +costume leaves nothing to be desired. The arms, however, must of course be +covered, and other modifications adopted which modesty and the conditions +of health require. + +"As to the food, it cannot be too simple; soup, boiled beef, and a little +_entrée_; there is no need for more. + +"I do not dare, as at Fontainebleau, order the pupils to do their own +cooking; I should have too many people against me; but they may be allowed +to prepare their dessert, and what is given to them either for lunch or +for holidays. I will dispense with their cooking, but not with their +making their own bread. The advantage of all this is, that they will be +exercised in all they may be called on to do, and find the natural +employment of their time in practical and useful things. + +"If I am told that the establishment will not be very fashionable, I reply +that this is what I desire, because it is my opinion that of all +educations the best is that of mothers; because my intention is +principally to assist those young girls who have lost their mothers, and +whose relations are poor. To sum up all, if the members of the Legion of +Honor who are rich disdain to put their daughters at Écouen, if those who +are poor desire that they shall be received, and if these young persona; +returning to their provinces, enjoy there the reputation of good women, I +shall have completely attained my end, and I am certain that the +establishment will acquire a high and genuine reputation. + +"In this matter we must go to the verge of ridicule. I do not bring up +either dressmakers, or waiting-women, or housekeepers, but women for +modest and poor households. The mother, in a poor household, is the +housekeeper of the family." + +The spirit of the age and the fascinations of luxury in an agitated epoch +were too strong for the determined and reasoned will of the legislator. +The houses of the Legion of Honor were not destined to become the best +schools for the mothers of families "in modest and poor households." +Napoleon had well judged the superior influence of daily example when he +said, "My opinion is, that the best education is that of mothers." The +wisest and most far-seeing rules know not how to replace it. Religion +cannot be taught by order, like sewing or cooking. The great lesson of +daily virtue and devotion will ever remain the lot of mothers. + +The delicate question of female education carried the mark of the Emperor +Napoleon's genius for organization. He had also sought to reduce to rules +the encouragement that power owed to genius. Since the year 1805, he had +instituted prizes every ten years, intended to recompense the authors of +the best works on the physical sciences, mathematics, history, the author +of the best theatrical piece, the best opera, the best poem, the best +painters and sculptors; "so that," according to the preamble of the +decree, "France may not only preserve the superiority she has acquired in +science, literature, and the arts, but that the age which commences may +surpass those which have preceded it." + +It would be an arrogant pretension for the nineteenth century to assert +its superiority over its illustrious predecessors, the sixteenth, +seventeenth, and eighteenth century, in all that concerns literature or +art. However, we have had the good fortune and the honor to be witnesses +of a wonderful display of creative genius in France in all branches of +literature and art; we have seen orators, poets, artists who could take +rank with the most illustrious chiefs of the ancient schools; all this +splendor, all this national and peaceful glory, has only taken root in +regular liberty and constitutional order. The troubles of the French +Revolution, the violent and continual emotions of the war, above all the +rule of an arbitrary will, which opened or shut at pleasure both lips and +printing-presses, had not been propitious to the expansion of human +thought under the reign of the Emperor Napoleon. Those who possessed a +spark of the admirable gift of genius, preserved at the same time in their +hearts that passion for liberty which necessarily ranked them among the +enemies or suspected persons. At the height of his supreme power, Napoleon +could never suffer independence either of thought or speech. He long +persecuted Benjamin Constant after he had taken his place among the +members of the Tribunate; and he manifested a persecuting aversion towards +Madame de Staël, which betrayed that littleness of character often lying +hid under a greatness of mind and views. When I turn over the table of +contents of that immense correspondence of Napoleon which reveals the +entire man in spite of the prudence of the editors, I find continually the +name of Madame de Staël, joined to rigorous measures of spiteful epithets. +"I write to the Minister of Police to finish with that mad Madame de +Staël," he wrote on the 20th April, 1807, to the Count Regnault St. Jean +d'Angely, who had apologized for his correspondence with the illustrious +outlaw. "She is not to be suffered to leave Geneva, unless she wishes to +go to a foreign country to write libels. Every day I obtain new proofs +that no one can be worse than that women, enemy of the government and of +France, without which she cannot live;" and several days previously he +wrote to Fouché, "When I occupy myself with Madame de Staël, it is because +I have the facts before me. That woman is a true bird of bad omen; she +believes the tempest already arrived, and delights in intrigues and +follies. Let her go to her Lake Leman. Have not the Genevans done us harm +enough?" + +Inspired from other sources than Madame de Staël was, but as ardent in his +opposition to the sovereign master of the destinies of France, +Chateaubriand supported, like her, the flag of an independent spirit and +of genius against the arbitrary will of one man. He manifested this in a +brilliant manner. Already famous by the publication of his _Genius of +Christianity_, he was then writing in the _Mercure_. "Eighteen months +before the publication of the _Martyrs_," says M. Guizot, in his memoirs, +"in August, 1807, I stopped several days in Switzerland, when going to +visit my mother at Nîmes, and in the eager confidence of youth, as curious +to see celebrated persons as I was unknown myself, I wrote to Madame de +Staël to ask for the honor of an interview. She invited me to dinner at +Ouchy, near Lausanne, where she then resided. I was seated by her side, +and having come from Paris she questioned me on all passing there, what +people were saying, what occupied the public and the salons. I spoke of an +article by Chateaubriand in the _Mercure_, which attracted attention at +the moment of my leaving. One sentence had particularly struck me, and I +quoted it word for word, for it was fixed in my memory: 'When in the +abject silence the only sound heard is the chain of the slave, and the +voice of the informer, when all tremble before the tyrant, and it is as +dangerous to incur his favor as to merit his displeasure, it seems to be +the historian's duty to avenge the people. The prosperity of Nero is in +vain, Tacitus is already born in the empire, he grows up unknown by the +ashes of Germanicus, and already a just providence has delivered to an +obscure child the glory of the master of the world.' My accent was +doubtless impressive and full of emotion, for I was impressed and moved +myself. Madame de Staël seized me quickly by the arm, saying, 'I am sure +that you would act tragedy admirably; stop with us and take a part in +_Andromaque_.' That was her hobby and amusement of the moment. + +"I resisted her kindly suggestion, and the conversation came back to +Chateaubriand and his article, which was much admired, and caused some +anxiety. There was reason to admire it, for the passage was truly +eloquent; and also cause for anxiety, for the _Mercure_ was suppressed +precisely because of that passage. Thus the Emperor Napoleon, conqueror of +Europe, and absolute master of France, thought that he could not suffer it +to be said that his future historian would perhaps be born under his +reign, and felt himself obliged to take the honor of Nero under his +protection. It was scarcely worth while to be such a great man to have +such fears to show, or such clients to protect." + +If the emperor pursued with anger the spirit of opposition in the salons, +which he endeavored ceaselessly to rally around him, and if, above all, he +feared their glorious representatives, Madame de Staël and Chateaubriand, +he watched still more harshly the newspapers and the journalists. His +revolutionary origin, and the early habits of his mind had rendered him +hostile to that liberty of the press which flourished under the +Constituent Assembly, withered away under the Legislative Assembly, and +expired during the Terror in a sea of blood. When Daunou wished to insert +the liberty of the press in the constitution of the year VIII., he +encountered great opposition on the part of former Jacobins. They and +their friends had secured the right of saying always what they chose, and +knew the means of preserving what they had acquired at the price of many +massacres; the liberty their adversaries demanded appeared to them +dangerous and unjust. Such has always been in the main the revolutionary +idea, and the Emperor Napoleon had not forgotten this theory and this +arbitrary practice. However, he also knew what might be the influence of +the periodical press, and he endeavored to submit to the discipline of his +will the small number of newspapers which existed under his reign. "Stir +yourself up a little more to sustain public opinion," he wrote to Fouché, +on the 28th April, 1805. "Print several articles, cleverly written, to +deny the march of the Russians, the interview of the Emperor of Russia +with the Emperor of Austria, and those ridiculous reports, phantoms born +of the English fog and spleen. Say to the editors, that if they continue +in their present tone I will pay them off; tell them that I do not judge +them hardly for the bad things they have said, but for the little good +they have said. When they represent France vacillating on the point of +being attacked, I judge that they are neither Frenchmen nor worthy to +write under my reign. It is all very well to say that they only give their +bulletins; they have been told what these bulletins are; and since they +must give false news, why not give them in favor of the public credit and +tranquillity?" + +The _Journal des Débats_, in the first rank of the periodical press, under +the intelligent direction of the Bertins, had already been favored with a +special inspector, whose duty was to superintend its editing, and to whom +the proprietors of the paper were forced to pay 12,000 francs a year. +Fouché had menaced the other papers with this measure of discipline, by +ordering them to "put into quarantine all news disagreeable or +disadvantageous to France." This patriotic prudence did not long suffice +for the master. "Let Fiévée know that I am very dissatisfied with the +manner in which he edits his paper," he wrote, on the 6th March, 1808. "It +is ridiculous that, contrary to the rules of good sense, he still +continues to believe all that the German papers say to frighten us about +the Russians. It is ridiculous to say that they put 500,000 men in the +field, when, for the coalition itself, Russia only furnished 100,000 men, +while Austria furnished 300,000. It is my intention that he should only +speak of the Russians to humiliate them, to enfeeble their forces, to +prove how their trashy reputation in military matters, and the praises of +their armies, are without foundation." And the same day to Talleyrand: "It +is my intention that the political articles in the _Moniteur_ should be +guided by the foreign relations. And after seeing how they are done for a +month, I shall prohibit the other papers talking politics, otherwise than +by copying the articles of the _Moniteur_." + +We have known the dangers and the formidable effects of an unlimited +liberty of the press. Never was it more licentious than when just +recovered from a system arbitrarily oppressive. The fire which appears to +be extinct smoulders under the ashes, to shortly break out with new fury. +The thirty-three years of constitutional régime which France had enjoyed, +powerfully contributed to the moderation of men's acts, and even their +words, at the time of the revolution of 1848. The outburst of invectives +and anger which saluted the fall of the Emperor Napoleon, had been slowly +accumulated during the long silence imposed under his reign. + +Arbitrary and despotic will succeeds in creating silence, but not in +breaking it at a given time, and in a specified direction. In vain did +Napoleon institute prizes every ten years; in vain did he demand from the +several classes of the Institute reports on the progress of human thought +since 1789. Literary genius remained deaf to his voice, and the real +talent of several poets of a secondary order, Delille, Esmenard, +Millevoye, Chênédollé, was not sufficient to triumph over the intellectual +apathy which seemed to envelope the people he governed. "When I entered +the world, in 1807," said Guizot, "chaos had reigned for a long time; the +excitement of 1789 had entirely disappeared; and society, being completely +occupied in settling itself, thought no more of the character of its +amusements; the spectacles of force had replaced for it the aspirations +towards liberty. In the midst of the general reaction, the faithful heirs +of the literary salons of the eighteenth century remained the only +strangers in them. The mistakes and disasters of the Revolution had not +made the survivors of that brilliant generation abjure their ideas and +desires; they remained sincerely liberal, but without pressing demands, +and with the reserve of those who have succeeded little and suffered much +in their endeavors after reform and government. They held fast to the +liberty of speech, but did not aspire to power; they detested, and sharply +criticised, despotism, but without doing anything to repress or overturn +it. It was an opposition made by enlightened and independent spectators, +who had no chance and no desire to interfere as actors." + +Thus it was that the lassitude of the superior classes, decimated and +ruined by the French revolution and the Terror, inspired by the splendid +and triumphant military despotism, contributed together to keep the public +mind in a weak and supine state, which the sound of the cannon alone +interrupted. I am wrong; the great men, naturalists or mathematicians, who +had sprung up, either young or already ripe, in the era of the French +revolution--Laplace, La Grange, Cuvier--upheld, in the order of their +studies, that scientific superiority of France which has not always kept +pace with literary genius, but which has never ceased to adorn our +country. The personal tastes of the emperor served and encouraged the +learned men, even when their opinions had remained more independent than +suited him. He sometimes reproached Monge, his companion during the +campaign of Egypt, that he had remained in his heart attached to the +Republic. "Well, but!" said the great geometrician, gayly, "your Majesty +turned so short!" + +Napoleon had certainly _turned short_, and he expected France to follow +him in the rapid evolution of his thought. Jealous of his right to march +in the van and show the way to all, he indicated to dramatic authors the +draft of their theatrical pieces, and to painters the subject of their +paintings. "Why," he wrote to Fouché, "should you not engage M. Raynouard +to make a tragedy on the transition from the first to the second race? +Instead of being a tyrant, his successor would be the saviour of the +nation. It is in pieces of that kind that the theatre is new, for under +the old régime they would not have been permitted." On the other hand, and +by an unconscious return to that fear of the house of Bourbon which he +always instinctively felt, Napoleon opposed the representation of a +tragedy of Henry IV. "That period is not so remote but that it may awake +the passions. The scene should be more ancient." + +The passions sometimes awake easily, at points where no threatening or +danger appeared. Immediately after the consecration and the Concordat, +what could be more natural or simple than a wish to draw up a catechism +for the use of all the schools? The organic articles had declared that +there would be only one liturgy and one catechism for all the churches of +France. At first the court of Rome made no difficulty. The Abbé Emery, +Superior of St. Sulpice, gave an excellent piece of advice to Portalis, +the Minister of Religion. "If I were in the emperor's place," said he, "I +should take purely and simply the catechism of Bossuet, and thus avoid an +immense responsibility." Napoleon had a liking for Bossuet's genius and +doctrine, and the idea pleased him. The new catechism intended to form the +minds and hearts of coming generations was placed under the patronage of +Bossuet, "that celebrated prelate, whose science, talents, and genius have +served the Church and honored the nation," said Portalis in his report. +"The justice which all the bishops of Christendom had rendered to the +memory of this great man, is to us a sufficient guarantee of his accuracy +and authority. The work of the compilers of the new catechism is in +reality but a second copy of Bossuet's work." + +The great bishop would certainly have felt some difficulty in recognizing +certain pages of the work so prudently presented under his aegis. Strictly +faithful to the spirit of the Gospel as to the supreme equality of all men +in the presence of God, whatever might occasionally have been his +consideration for the wishes of Louis XIV., Bossuet, when expounding the +fourth commandment, the respect and submission due by children to their +parents, was satisfied with adding,--"What else is commanded to us by the +fourth commandment? To respect all superiors, pastors, kings, magistrates, +and others." + +The submission of the subjects of Louis XIV. was known to him, and +therefore that exposition was enough in his time. Portalis was of opinion +that immediately after the French Revolution the principles of respect and +obedience ought to be more exactly defined. "The point is," he wrote to +Napoleon, on the 13th February, 1806, "to attach the conscience of the +people to your Majesty's august person, by whose government and victories +the safety and happiness of France are secured. To recommend subjects +generally to submit to their sovereign would not, in the present +hypothesis, direct that submission towards its proper end. I therefore +thought it necessary to make a clear explanation, and apply the precept in +a precise manner to your Majesty. That will prevent any ambiguity, by +fixing men's hearts and minds upon him who alone can and really ought to +fix their minds and hearts." + +Napoleon readily coincided with the pious officiousness of his Minister of +Religion, and undertook to draw up himself the question and answer in the +new catechism. "Is submission to the government of France a dogma of the +Church? Yes; Scripture teaches us that he who resists the powers resists +the order of God; yes, the Church imposes upon us more special duties +towards the government of France, the protector of religion and the +Church; she commands us to love it, cherish it, and he ready for all +sacrifices in its service." The theologians, whom Portalis said he always +distrusted, pointed out that, the Church being universal, her dogmas could +not inculcate respect for a particular government. It was therefore drawn +up afresh, and was so extended that the commentary on the fourth +commandment became longer than the exposition of the principle itself. I +wish to give here the actual text as a curious document of the spirit of +the time. + +LESSON VII--_Continuation of the Fourth Commandment_. + +_Question._ What are the duties of Christians with reference to the +princes by whom they are governed; and what are our special duties towards +Napoleon I., our emperor? + +_Answer._ Christians owe to the princes by whom they are governed, and we +owe specially to Napoleon I., our emperor, love, respect, obedience, +fidelity, military service, the tribute ordered for the preservation and +defence of the empire and his throne; we also owe him fervent prayers for +his health and for the temporal prosperity of the State. + +_Q._ Why are we bound to perform all those duties towards our emperor? + +_A._ First, because God, who creates empires, and distributes them +according to His will, by loading our emperor with gifts, both in peace +and in war, has established him as our sovereign. Secondly, because our +Lord Jesus Christ, as well by His teaching as His example, has taught us +Himself what we owe to our sovereign: at His birth His parents were +obeying an edict of Caesar Augustus; He paid the prescribed tribute-money; +and just as He has ordered us to render to God the things that are God's, +He has also ordered us to render unto Caesar the things that are +Caesar's. + +_Q._ Are there no special motives which strengthen our attachment to +Napoleon I., our emperor? + +_A._ Yes; for it is he whom God has stirred up, during difficult +circumstances, to restore the public worship and holy religion of our +fathers and be its protector. He has brought back and preserved public +order by his profound and active wisdom; he defends the State by his +powerful arm; he became the Lord's anointed by the consecration which he +has received from the sovereign pontiff, head of the Church universal. + +_Q._ What ought we to think of those who fail in their duty towards our +emperor? + +_A._ According to the apostle Paul they resist the order established by +God Himself, and render themselves worthy of eternal damnation. + +_Q._ Are those duties which we owe towards our emperor equally binding +upon us with regard to his legitimate successors in the order established +by the constitution of the Empire? + +_A._ Yes, certainly: for we read in the Holy Scripture that God, Lord of +heaven and earth, by a disposition of His supreme will, and by His +providence, gives empires not only to one person individually, but also to +his family. + +_Q._ What are our obligations towards our magistrates? + +_A._ We ought to honor them, respect them, and obey them, because they are +the depositaries of our emperor's authority. + +The catechism was revised and corrected by a theological commission, by +Portalis, by the emperor, and by the cardinal legate himself, in spite of +a formal prohibition which he had received from Rome. "It does not belong +to the secular power to choose or prescribe to the bishops the catechism +which it may prefer," wrote Cardinal Consalvi on the 18th August, 1805. +"His Imperial Majesty has surely no intention of arrogating a faculty +which God trusts exclusively to the Church and Vicar of Jesus Christ." + +Caprara had kept the Secretary of State's despatch sealed, and when at +last the text of the catechism appeared, in 1806, it had received his +approbation. By an article in the _Journal de l'Empire_ of the 5th May, +1806, the court of Rome learnt that a catechism was soon to be published, +uniform and obligatory for all the dioceses of France, with the official +approbation of the cardinal legate. A despatch of Cardinal Consalvi, +expressing to Caprara the astonishment and displeasure of the sovereign +pontiff, remained secret and without effect. The influence of the court of +Rome upon their envoy failed before the seductive power, mixed with fear, +which Napoleon had exercised upon Cardinal Caprara since his arrival. The +French bishops were not less troubled than the Pope. "Has the emperor the +right to meddle in those matters?" wrote Aviau, Bishop of Bordeaux, to one +of his friends; "who has given him the mission? To him the things of +earth, to us the things of heaven. Soon, if we let him, he will lay hands +on the censer, and perhaps afterwards wish to ascend the altar." + +One modification only was granted, on the demands of the bishops supported +by Cardinal Fesch. In contempt of Bossuet and his teaching, the standing +doctrine of Catholicism, "Out of the Church there is no safety," had been +omitted in the new catechism. That phrase being restored, the catechism, +invested with the approbation of the legate, was published in the +beginning of August, 1808. Placed in the alternative of contradicting or +recalling Caprara, the court of Rome prudently remained silent. +Differences of opinion were now accumulating between the Pope and the +emperor--between the spiritual authority, which still preserved some +pretensions to independence, and the arbitrary will of the conqueror, +resolved to govern the world, Rome included. We at last reach the moment +when the excess of arrogance was about to provoke the effect of contrary +wills. We shall now see the Pope captive, the Spanish people in +insurrection, the climate and deserts of Russia leagued together against +the tyrannical master of Europe. England had never accepted the yoke; and +she had everywhere seconded resistance. For the future, it was not alone +by sea, nor by the assistance of subsidies, that she entered the lists; +Sir Arthur Wellesley was now in his turn to join in the struggle. + +A last act of the absolute will of the Emperor Napoleon signalized that +period of the interior government of France which preceded the war in +Spain and the campaigns in Germany and Russia. It was the suppression pure +and simple, by a "senatus-consulte," of the "Tribunate" formerly +instituted with so much pomp, and which had gradually fallen into +insignificance, owing to the successive changes it had undergone, and to +the secrecy imposed on its deliberations. The absolute power could support +neither contradiction nor even the appearance of discussion, however +moderate it might be. The lively remembrance, however, of an eloquent and +daring opposition was still associated with the name of the Tribunate. +Some honored names had survived the great silence. "The abolition of the +Tribunate will be less a change than an improvement in our institutions," +said M. Boulay de la Meurthe in his report, "because, since the +constitution of the empire the Tribunate only appears useless, out of +place, not in harmony with the times." The Legislative Body formed a place +of refuge to the members of the Tribunate who were in exercise: they took +their places as a right among its ranks, where they were no more heard of, +annihilated by the servitude that reigned around them. Their admission +into the Legislative Body had, however, been graced by an appearance of +liberality: the right of discussion was restored to that assembly. + +M. de Fontanes took care beforehand to indicate what spirit was to preside +at their discussions. "These precincts, which have wondered at their +silence, and whose silence is now at an end, will not hear the noisy +tempests of popular harangues. May the tribune be without storms, and may +the only applause be at the triumphs of reason. Above all, may truth +appear there with courage, but with wisdom, and may she shine there with +all her light! A great prince must love her brightness. She alone is +worthy of him, why should he be afraid of her? The more he is looked at, +the more he rises; the more he is judged, the more is he admired." By the +mouth of Carrion-Nisas, the Tribunate thanked the emperor for having +discharged it from its functions. "We believe," said they, "that we have +not so much arrived at the end of our career, as attained the object of +all our efforts, and the recompense of our devotion." Being now certain of +the docility of the great bodies of State, and no longer uneasy about that +of the magistracy, all the obnoxious members having been weeded out by his +orders, the Emperor Napoleon could turn his thoughts abroad. The question +was how to place King Joseph on the throne of Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +GLORY AND ILLUSIONS. SPAIN AND AUSTRIA. + + +Napoleon did not keep his promise to the Bourbons of Spain. He had not +come to Madrid in order to heal their divisions, and strengthen the +tottering power. One after another, he had drawn all the members of the +royal family to Bayonne, and there, on French soil, had easily consummated +their ruin. It was also on French soil that he made preparations to raise +his brother to the throne. King Joseph was late in arriving, entering +Bayonne only on the 8th June; and already the imperious will and clever +management of the emperor had brought into that town a certain number of +great lords, favorable to the new power from interest or fear. Already +Joseph was proclaimed King of Spain and the Indies; and scarcely had he +had time to put foot to the ground when he was surrounded by Spanish +deputations, which had been carefully prepared by Napoleon's orders. The +king regretted much having to leave Naples. Without foreseeing the +difficulties that awaited him, he loved the gentle, easy life of Italy, +and had not yet forgot the annoyance of taking possession, or the +obstacles to be met by a new regime. The emperor took care to dazzle him +at the outset. The Junta formed at Bayonne prepared a constitution. +Napoleon had collected much information as to the lamentable state of the +administration in Spain. "These papers are necessary to me for the +measures which I have to order," he had written to Murat, who was still in +Madrid, ill and sad; "they are also necessary to me to show some day to +posterity in what state I have found the Spanish monarchy." Useless +precaution of a great mind, who thought to dispose of the future and of +the judgment of posterity, as, till then, he had dazzled or overthrown all +the witnesses of his marvellous career! + +Eight days after the arrival of King Joseph at Bayonne, the new +constitution was adopted by the improvised Junta. "It is all that we can +offer you, sire," said imprudently the Duke de l'Infantado, formerly the +most eager accomplice of the Prince of Asturias in his intrigues against +his father; "we are waiting till the nation speaks, and authorizes us to +give freer course to our sentiments." They stopped the duke from saying +any more; the Spanish nation had not been consulted. + +The Spanish constitution was prepared generally on the model of the French +constitution. The first article paid homage to the strong religious +feeling of Spain: "The religion of the State is the Catholic religion; no +other is permitted." Several of the ministers chosen by the King Joseph +had been members of the government of Charles IV. After taking the oath to +their new monarch, the Junta first of all went to the Emperor Napoleon at +Marac, to offer their thanks and congratulations. + +At the same moment, and whilst summoning to Bayonne the reinforcement of +troops which he intended to accompany and support King Joseph on his entry +into his new kingdom, Napoleon wrote to the Emperor Alexander:-- + +"My brother, I send your Majesty the constitution which the Spanish Junta +have just decided upon. The disorders of that country had reached such a +degree as can scarcely be conceived. Obliged to take part in its affairs, +I have by the irresistible tendency of events been brought to a system +which, while securing the happiness of Spain, secures the tranquillity of +my states. I have cause to be satisfied with all the persons of rank, +fortune, and education. The monks alone, who occupy half the territory, +anticipating in the new order of things the destruction of abuses, and the +numerous agents of the Inquisition, who now see the end of their +existence, are now agitating the country. I am very sensible that this +event opens a very large field for discussion. People are not likely to +appreciate the circumstance and events, but will maintain that all had +been provoked and premeditated. Nevertheless, if I had only considered the +interest of France, I should have adopted a simpler means, viz., extending +my frontiers on this side, and diminishing Spain. A province like +Catalonia or Navarre, would have affected her power more than the change +which has just taken place, which is really of use only to Spain." + +Whilst the Emperor Napoleon thus announced in Europe the interpretation +which it suited him to put upon the events of Spain, and whilst the new +king, leaving Bayonne on the 9th July, was planting his foot upon his new +territory, the whole of Spain, from north to south, from east to west, was +in a blaze. + +After the departure of the Bourbon princes for Bayonne, the popular +agitation and uneasiness in Madrid became extreme, and gradually extended +to the more remote provinces, and into the depths of the old Spanish race, +honorable and proud, still preserving in their fields their ancestral +qualities. "Trust neither your honor nor your person to a Spanish Don," +was said to M. Guizot by a man who learned to form severe judgment upon +them during several revolutions; "trust all that is dearest to you to a +Spanish peasant." In spite of the emperor's assertions, all the great +lords were not favorable to the King Joseph. In the country, the peasants +had risen in a body, and the burgesses did the same in the towns. + +Carthagena was the first town to give the example of revolt. On the 22nd +May, at the news of the abdication of the two kings, published in the +journals of Madrid on the 20th, the people shouted in the streets, "Long +live Ferdinand VII.!" and Admiral Salcedo, who was preparing to convey the +Spanish fleet to Toulon, was arrested. The arms shut up in the arsenals +were distributed among the populace. A Junta was immediately formed. +Murcia and Valencia followed the example of Carthagena. The people, roused +by the preaching of a monk, Canon Calvo, killed the Baron Albulat, a "lord +of the province," who was in vain defended by another monk, called Rico. +The French who lived in Valencia had taken refuge in the citadel, but +being persuaded to come out, they were quickly massacred to the last man. +This first ebullition of popular fury was followed by the horror of all +respectable people. In spite of himself, Count Cerbellon was put at the +head of the insurrection. Everybody took arms, and waited for the arrival +and vengeance of the French soldiers. + +All the provinces rose in insurrection one after another. The most +apathetic waited for St. Ferdinand's Day; and on the 30th May, at +daybreak, before the saint's flag was displayed in the streets, in +Estremadura, at Granada, and Malaga, the shouts of the populace proclaimed +King Ferdinand VII. Blood was shed everywhere, with an atrocious display +of cruelty. The magistrates, or gentlemen, who attempted to stop a +dangerous rising were massacred. The Asturias had shuddered at the first +report of the abdication; the Junta of Oviedo proclaimed a renewal of +peace with England, and sent delegates to London. The clergy succeeded in +protecting the lives of two Spanish colonels who had opposed the +insurrection of their troops. In Galicia the honorable efforts of Captain- +General Filangieri cost him his life; after accepting, with regret, the +presidency of the Junta, when he attempted to maintain order amongst the +insurgents he was killed in the street. Valladolid obliged the Captain- +General, Don Gregorio de la Cuesta, to take a part in the rising of the +populace. At the first sign of resistance shown by the old soldier, they +erected a gibbet under his windows. Burgos, occupied by Marshal Bessières, +remained quiet, but Barcelona attempted an insurrection. The Catalans were +armed to the teeth, and, on General Duhesme threatening to set fire to the +town, the more violent of them escaped to places which were less +threatened. Saragossa had placed at the head of its heroic population Don +Joseph Palafox de Melzi, an amiable young man, well known in his own +country. He summoned the Cortes of the province, and ordered a general +rising of the population of Aragon. On the confines of Navarre, almost +under the eyes of the French army, Santander and Logrono formed an +insurrection. The Castilles, with their vast open plains, and their +proximity to the French Government, showed only a silent agitation, +without yet attempting an insurrection. Murat was ill--frequently +delirious; but General Savary watched over Madrid: the capital awaited its +new master. + +Nowhere was the insurrection more spontaneous or more general than in +Andalusia. Seville had conceived the hope of becoming the centre of the +national movement, and grouping round it the patriotic efforts of the +whole of Spain. The provisional government assumed a pompous name-- +"Supreme Junta of Spain and the Indies"--and sent messengers to stir up +the towns of Badajoz, Cordova, and Jaen. At Cadiz they surrounded the +hotel of the Captain-General Solano, Marquis of Socorro. All the troops +throughout the south of Spain were under his orders. With difficulty he +was persuaded to give a forced assent to the disorderly wishes of the +populace, but persisted in opposing the bombardment of the French fleet, +commanded by Admiral Rosily, which had been in the harbor for three +months. He in vain pleaded the danger to the Spanish vessels mixed with +the French. The crowd became mad, dragged the Marquis on to the ramparts, +and massacred him. + +Without any preliminary understanding, in a country everywhere intersected +by rivers and mountains, and even under the fire of the French cannon, +Spain thus rose spontaneously against an arrogant usurpation, preceded by +base perfidy. In this first burst of her patriotic anger, she bore the +courage, ardor, and passion which were to make certain her triumph; she at +the same time displayed a savage cruelty and violence, of which our +unhappy soldiers were too often the victims. The emperor was still at +Bayonne, occupied in arranging the affairs of Spain from without Spain: he +was informed slowly and imperfectly of the insurrection convulsing the +whole country. Accustomed to give orders to his lieutenants from a +distance and arbitrarily, he ordered all the movements of his troops from +Bayonne, affecting to attach but small importance to the revolt, sending +to Paris and Valençay false news of the success of his arms, and doing his +best to conceal from King Joseph the extent and importance of the +resistance which was being prepared against him. In many places the +couriers were arrested or killed. The emperor ordered General Savary to +set out again for Madrid. + +Nevertheless, all the forces of the French army were on their march to +crush the insurrection. General Verdier and General Frère quickly took +satisfaction for the insurrection of Logrono and Segovia. General Lasalle, +before Valladolid, defeated Don Gregorio de la Cuesta, who had been forced +to leave the town, afraid of having his throat cut there. "You have only +had what you deserve," said the old Spanish general, as he retreated upon +Leon; "we are only a handful of undisciplined peasants, yet you imagine +you can conquer those who have conquered all Europe." General Lefebvre- +Desnouettes met more resistance at Tudela, where the insurgents had broken +down the bridge over the Ebro. On the 15th June he was before Saragossa, +where Don Joseph Palafox had shut himself up; the whole population covered +the roofs of the houses, where there was a constant hail-storm of musket +balls. The French general at once concluded it was a question of regular +siege, and sent to Barcelona for reinforcements and artillery. Marshal +Moncey had not succeeded in taking Valencia. General Duhesme was shut up +in Barcelona by the insurrection, which daily gained ground in Catalonia. +Yet he was compelled to send away General Chabran, that he might join +Marshal Moncey; and the insurgents took advantage of this division of our +forces to throw themselves on General Schwartz's column, which had been +ordered to search the convent of Montserrat. The tocsin was heard +everywhere in the mountain villages; the bridges over the streams were +broken down, and every little town had to be carried with the bayonet. By +a sudden sally, General Duhesme dislodged the enemy from their post on the +River Llobregat, took possession of their cannons, and brought them back +to Barcelona. "Let the whole town of Barcelona be disarmed," wrote the +emperor on 10th June to Marshal Berthier, "so that not a single musket is +left, and let the castle of Montjouy be supplied with provisions taken +from the inhabitants. They must be treated in thorough military fashion. +War justifies anything. On the slightest occasion, you should take +hostages and send them into the fortress." + +General Dupont had been entrusted with the most difficult as well as most +important undertaking. With from 12,000 to 13,000 men under his orders, he +advanced into Andalusia, with the object of reducing that great province +to submission, and protecting the French fleet in Cadiz. The emperor had +ordered General Junot to support Dupont's advance by sending him +Kellermann's division, but Portugal was imitating the example of Spain, +and had all risen in insurrection. On his first entrance into Andalusia, +Dupont recognized the importance of the movement, and immediately asked +for a reinforcement. "I shall then have nothing to do but a military +promenade," he wrote to General Savary. + +On the 7th June, after a pretty keen fight, the French troops took the +bridge of Alcolea, on the Guadalquivir, and arrived the same evening +before Cordova. After the gates were burst open with cannon-shot, the +barricades and houses had to be carried with the bayonet; and the +soldiers, losing their temper, cruelly abused the victory they gained. The +hatred against the invaders increased; and in the van of our army, on this +side of the Sierra Morena, on the road from Cordova to Andujar, the men +who had not kept up in marching, the sick and wounded who were obliged to +stay in the villages, were put to death with refinements of barbarity. +General Dupont still waited for the divisions of Vedel and Frère, which he +had sent to Madrid for; and at Cadiz, in the French fleet, they were +counting the days, and soon the hours. + +The leader in the insurrection, Thomas de Morla, at first seemed faithful +to the alliance of the Spanish and French navy, recalling the memories of +the battle of Trafalgar, the glorious ruins of which composed the French +squadron in the Cadiz roads. Gradually, however, he took care to separate +the two fleets, persuading Admiral Rosily to take his position within the +roads, and placing the Spanish vessels at the entrance, in order, he said, +to defend Cadiz against the English, who had been trying in vain to land +5,000 men. The admiral soon found himself cantoned in the midst of the +lagoons which form and protect the Cadiz roads; while a contrary wind +prevented the attack which, from desperation, he wished to make upon the +Spanish, their gun-boats and sloops were already gathering round him, and +on the 9th June the firing began, but it was weak and unavailing on the +part of our ships, in spite of the heroic resolution of the crews. The +fighting lasted two days, and on the Junta of Seville demanding a +surrender pure and simple, Admiral Rosily, who knew that General Dupont +had entered Cordova, asked for a delay, hoping to receive help. On the +14th June, after four days had elapsed, the French fleet, being deprived +of every resource, and with certain ruin before them, surrendered at +discretion. The officers were distributed in the fortresses, and the +vessels disarmed. The mob, crowding round the harbor, shouted fiercely and +cheered as the French prisoners passed before them and the English, who +had just succeeded in effecting their landing. + +General Dupont had not been reinforced. He did not know whether his +couriers had arrived, many having been already intercepted by the robbers +of the Sierra Morena; he knew of the rising of the St. Roque troops, and +of the treachery of the Swiss regiments recently engaged in the +insurrection; and finding himself threatened on the right by the insurgent +army of Andalusia, and on the left by the army of Granada, he resolved to +fall back upon the Guadalquivir, and on the 18th June took up his position +in the small town of Andujar, to wait for the divisions which he had sent +for. That of Vedel was already on its march. + +Marshal Moncey had failed before Valencia, and could not commence the +investment for want of siege guns; he had brought back his division in +good condition, and effected his junction with General Frère at San +Clemente. Marshal Bessières advanced at the same time against Don Gregorio +de la Cuesta, and against General Blake, a descendant of English Catholic +refugees. Their forces were considerable, and composed of old soldiers; +they had, however, asked for time to prepare their troops and had been +forced by the Junta of the Corogne to march to battle. On the evening of +the 13th July, the Spaniards, badly informed as to the march of the +French, were formed in two lines on the plateau of Medino de Rio-Seco, not +far from Valladolid. Attacked one after the other by Marshal Bessières, +the two lines were completely beaten and put to flight, not without some +resistance at certain points. The slaughter was terrible. General Mouton, +at the head of two regiments with fixed bayonets, entered the town of +Medina, which was sacked. Marshal Bessières again took the road towards +Leon, sweeping before him the disbanded remains of the Spanish army. King +Joseph had just entered Madrid. + +He took possession of his capital in the midst of the melancholy silence +of the inhabitants, more irritated than cowed by the news of the victory +of Rio-Seco, which reached them a few hours before the entry of their new +monarch. Since his entrance into Spain the eyes of Joseph had been opened. +"Up to this time no one has told the whole truth," he wrote to the Emperor +Napoleon on the 12th July. "The fact is that not a single Spaniard is on +my side, except the small number who were present at the Junta, and travel +with me. The others, on arriving here, hid themselves, terrified by the +unanimous opinion of their countrymen." And some days later: "Fear does +not make me see double; since I have been in Spain I say to myself every +day that my life is of small account, and that I give it up to you. I am +not alarmed at my position, but it is unique in history; I have not a +single partisan here." Every day he repeated the same demand; "I still +want 50,000 men of old troops, and 50,000,000 of money; in a month I must +have a 100,000 men, and a 100,000,000." The French army in Spain numbered +already 110,000 men, young, it is true, and for the most part without +experience, but Europe almost entirely was occupied by our troops; +Napoleon was irritated at the sensible remarks of Savary, still more +gloomy than those of King Joseph. "The emperor finds that you are wrong to +say that nothing has been done for six weeks," wrote Marshal Berthier. +"All sensible men in Spain have changed their opinion, and are very sorry +to see the insurrection. Affairs are in the most prosperous position since +the battle of Rio-Seco." On the 19th July, when making his preparations to +quit Bayonne to visit the towns of the south, Napoleon wrote to King +Joseph: + +"My brother, I received your letter of the 18th, at three o'clock in the +morning. I see, with sorrow, that you trouble yourself. It is the only +misfortune I fear. Troops are entering on all sides, and constantly. You +have a great many partisans in Spain, but they are intimidated; they are +all the respectable people. However, I acknowledge none the less that your +task is great and glorious. + +"The victory of Marshal Bessières, who has wholly beaten Cuesta and the +army of Galicia, has greatly improved the position of affairs. It is worth +more than a reinforcement of 30,000 men. The divisions of Gobert and Vedel +having joined General Dupont, offensive measures must be vigorously pushed +on that side. It is the only point menaced, and there must soon be a +success there; with 25,000 men, comprising infantry, cavalry, and +artillery, there are more than necessary to obtain a great result. At the +worst, with 21,000 men present on the field of battle, he can boldly take +the offensive; he will not be beaten, and will have more than four-and- +twenty chances in his favor. + +"You ought not to find it so extraordinary to conquer your kingdom. Philip +V. and Henry IV. were obliged to conquer theirs. Keep your spirits up, and +never doubt for an instant that everything will finish better and more +quickly than you now imagine. + +"Everything goes on very well at Saragossa." + +The attack upon Saragossa, on the 1st July, was unsuccessful. General +Verdier, who commanded the siege, had seized the convent of St. Joseph, +without being able to penetrate into the town, all the streets being well +fortified. He had asked for troops and a train of artillery. General +Dupont was threatened, in a badly chosen position, by the insurgents of +Grenada, commanded by General Reding, formerly colonel of one of the Swiss +regiments; General Castaños brought up the troops of Andalusia. The orders +of the emperor were precise; General Dupont was not to repass the Sierra +Morena, he was not to retreat on Andalusia. + +In the hitherto restricted sphere of his operations, General Dupont had +shown himself constantly bold and successful under chiefs more skilful and +more experienced than himself; but left to his own resources, he knew not +how to profit by his advantages, nor choose his quarters advantageously. +The food of the troops was bad and insufficient, and the sick were +numerous; isolated in the midst of a country passionately hostile, without +means of information as to the enemy's movements, without news of Madrid +or the government, the French remained stationary, sad and depressed. +General Vedel occupied Baylen, General Gobert La Carolina; thus they +commanded the defiles of the mountain. + +On the 14th July, General Castaños appeared before Andujar, while the +corps of Reding threatened Baylen; the imprudent movement of our troops +had uncovered this last position. General Dupont was informed of this. + +He resolved to march himself upon Baylen, but he was encumbered with an +immense train of baggage, and by numerous sick, whom he would not abandon +to the cruelties of the enemy; the movement was deferred till the next +day, the 18th July. At the approach of night the army began its march. The +heat was still suffocating. A great number of soldiers, suffering from +dysentery, had been unable to find a place in the wagons, and dragged +themselves behind the train, scarcely able to bear the weight of their +arms. The anxiety of General Dupont was entirely for his rearguard; he +feared that General Castaños, informed of his movements by the hundreds of +voluntary spies who served the Spanish cause, would throw himself on his +rear. The vanguard was feeble, composed of young and undisciplined +soldiers; when it deployed at three in the morning, on the rocky banks of +the Rumblar, the Spanish posts occupied the passage. Before the combat, +the soldiers rushed towards the bed of the torrent. It was dried up. "The +Spaniards have taken away the river!" cried the French, even then disposed +to treat painful thoughts with gayety. The Spanish battalions barred the +route of Baylen, which General Reding had occupied the previous day. + +Worn out by the heat, by thirst, by the march, our soldiers charged the +enemy, and drove them back as far as the plain of Baylen. There lay +extended before us the Spanish army, in front of the little town, in an +amphitheatre of hills, covered with olive-trees. The Spanish artillery was +formidable: the field-pieces brought up by the French were soon +dismounted. The centre of the Spanish army remained solid, and even the +charges of cavalry could not break it. When at last the front ranks opened +under the shock of the horses, or the steel of the bayonets, the lines +reformed at the end of the plain, always pitilessly barring the road. The +cannonade did not slacken for a single instant. + +The soldiers began to show signs of discouragement, and the officers +proposed to the general to abandon the sick and the baggage, and to form +into a compact mass, in order to open a passage by force in the direction +of La Carolina, occupied by General Vedel. Dupont expected his lieutenant +every moment. He refused to abandon his train, and vainly renewed the +attack on all the length of the Spanish lines. Up to this time the Swiss +regiments in the service of France, mixed with our soldiers, and marching +in our ranks, had remained faithful; the bad fortune of our arms, the view +of their comrades fighting among the Spaniards under a chief of their +race, triumphed at last over their good resolutions--they deserted in a +body. At the same moment the sound of cannon was heard in the distance, +but it was not in the direction of La Carolina, it was at the bridge of +Rumblar: General Castaños arrived to crush us. + +This was too much, and the unfortunate General Dupont was to show on this +day that he was not one of those whose courage defies fortune. "Find +General Reding," said he to one of his officers, "and ask from him a +suspension of arms." The battle was already ceasing of its own accord, on +account of the extreme fatigue of the troops. The Spanish general gave the +order to cease firing, but said, however, to the officer who had been +sent, "The truce must be ratified by General Castaños." General de la +Peña, who commanded the vanguard, accepted the same conditions. "The +French army must surrender at discretion," he said haughtily, "for the +present let us rest ourselves." The aide-de-camp of General Dupont went +forward to General Castaños, in order to obtain his assent to the truce. A +melancholy sadness weighed upon both officers and men; the general-in- +chief, formerly brilliant, bold, even emphatically eloquent, hid his +despair inside his tent; scarcely would he listen to the voice of those +who surrounded him. Broken down by his misfortune, he had lost all energy +and all presence of mind. + +The same fault of irresolution and despair seems to have taken hold on +General Vedel. He had resolved to return to Baylen, of which he too late +understood the importance. But the troops were worn out, he was forced to +allow them a day of rest. Since three o'clock in the morning of the 19th, +the continual echo of the cannon announced to the least vigilant the +coming engagement. The division began its march at five o'clock, at eleven +it had only advanced half-way; the men left their ranks at every moment to +seek a drop of water in the rocks. The cannon was heard more faintly; at +noon it was heard no more. It was five o'clock when, in the midst of +silence, the corps which had been so impatiently expected debouched above +Baylen. The Spaniards guarded all the passages; an officer appeared +announcing the truce. General Vedel refused to believe it. He sent off an +aide-de-camp to ascertain the truth from General Reding. "If you do not +return in half-an-hour," said he, "I shall commence firing." At the given +moment, having no news from their emissary, the French sounded the charge, +and already a battalion of Spanish infantry had been surrounded, while the +cuirassiers advanced at full gallop; at the same instant the officers of +the enemy, accompanied by an aide-de-camp of General Dupont, came up to +Vedel. The orders of the general-in-chief were precise, they must cease +firing. The negotiations had commenced. General Castaños marched on +Baylen. + +The enthusiasm and triumph of the Spaniards did not give him time to +arrive there. The general of engineers, Marescot, had been charged with +the sad duty of treating with the Spaniards. General de la Peña, still +posted at the bridge of Rumblar, threatened to crush the unfortunate army +caught between his corps and that of General Reding. "I must have an +answer in two hours," said he, repeating at the same time his only +condition, "the French army must surrender at discretion." + +General Dupont appealed to his lieutenants, general officers, and +colonels; all declared that the soldiers would not fight. The general-in- +chief surveyed the ranks some moments; his courage failed him entirely. +"Our honor is saved," repeated the members of the council of war, "we have +done yesterday all that men could do." One resource remained to them, to +die to the last man in endeavoring to rejoin General Vedel. They had the +misfortune not to try this last and glorious chance. The capitulation was +resolved on. Don Castaños entertained the French officers while hatred +shone in the eyes of all his staff. Polite, and full of attention to the +vanquished, the Spanish general remained wholly inflexible. All the +divisions of the army of Andalusia, engaged or not in the battle of +Baylen, were to be comprised in the capitulation. + +The conditions were about to be signed, the French troops were authorized +to retreat on Madrid; the Barbou division alone commanded by General +Dupont, was to be disarmed. At the same instant a letter from General +Savary to General Dupont was brought by the mountaineers, into whose hands +it had fallen. The aide-de-camp of the emperor announced a general +concentration of the troops of the south at Madrid, and General Dupont was +ordered to take the road to La Mancha. The Spaniards could not allow their +victory to serve the designs of the emperor. General Castaños immediately +declared to the French negotiators that the conditions were changed, and +communicated to them the letter of General Savary. Overwhelmed by this new +blow, General Marescot and his companions saw themselves forced to give up +the Barbou division prisoners of war; the two other corps were to be +transported to France under the Spanish flag; the officers retained their +baggage, but the knapsacks of the soldiers were to be submitted to +examination. "All Spaniards believe the sacred vessels of Cordova are in +the bags of your soldiers," said General Castaños. + +While the wretched negotiators accepted a capitulation which delivered +them to their enemies, Vedel had proposed to General Dupont to attempt a +new attack; he sent at the same time one of his aides-de-camp to plead the +cause of his division. At one time Dupont authorized Vedel to save, at any +price, his troops, and those of General Dufour's, by taking in forced +marches the road to Madrid. Already Vedel had obeyed, and hastened across +the defiles of the Sierra Morena, but the news of his departure was not +long in coming to the camp of the Spaniards. They accused the French of +breaking the truce, and threatened to immediately massacre the Barbou +division, which found itself at that time completely surrounded. The +Spanish negotiators broke out into fury, overwhelming with insults the +unhappy officers charged to treat with them. Heroism had disappeared from +their souls. They hastened to the tent of the general-in-chief, still +plunged in melancholy dejection. He gave way at last, and to his eternal +dishonor, and that of the men who tore from him this cowardly concession, +he sent to General Vedel the order to retrace his steps, and to submit +with his soldiers to the lot the capitulation reserved for him. + +Like General Dupont, Vedel consulted his lieutenants. At first all refused +a submission which would lead to their destruction. A new messenger came, +throwing on them all the responsibility of the inevitable massacre of +their comrades. They gave way, and with despair in their souls they slowly +retraced their steps; as the sole solace to their sufferings they still +retained their arms, while they saw their unhappy comrades defile before +the Spanish army laying down their muskets at the feet of the victors. +During three days the troops had not received any food; the Spaniards had +counted on hunger as well as defeat to lead the French to capitulate. At +last they got some food, and soon the columns began their march. The ports +of embarkation had been fixed upon. + +They advanced slowly, for from all the towns, villages, and scattered +houses, flocked multitudes in fury, who insulted the frightful misfortune +of our soldiers. General Castaños, moderate in his triumph, had said to +the French negotiators, "De la Cuesta, Blake, and myself, were not of the +same opinion as the insurgents. We yielded to the national movement; but +this movement is becoming so unanimous that it has a chance of success. +Let Napoleon not insist upon an impossible conquest, let him not force us +to throw ourselves into the arms of the English. Let him give us back our +king, and the two nations will be forever reconciled." + +It was in fact the same thought, clothed in offensive language that Thomas +de Morla, the chief of the insurrection at Cadiz, flung at General Dumont +when he complained of the bad treatment undergone by his soldiers. "Your +excellency forces me to express truths which must be bitter to you. What +right have you to insist on the execution of a treaty concluded in favor +of an army which entered Spain under the mask of alliance and friendship, +which has imprisoned our king and his family, sacked his palaces, +assassinated and robbed his subjects, ravaged his country, usurped his +crown? How it would rouse the populace to know that a single one of your +soldiers was the possessor of 2180 livres!" + +The pillage of Cordova had been exaggerated by the public imagination, and +served the chiefs of the insurrection to justify their want of faith. The +entire army of Andalusia was detained under various pretexts. The Junta of +Seville refused to ratify the capitulation. The divisions of Dufour and +Vedel saw their army taken away, and 20,000 men of those French troops, +who up to the present time had been accustomed to victory, remained during +long years prisoners of war, subjected to the worst treatment, slowly +decimated by sickness and sorrow. Spain first gave to the world the +spectacle of a successful resistance to the oppression the Emperor +Napoleon had made to weigh upon all nations. + +We understand by sad experience the astonishment and anger which seized +upon our armies everywhere when they heard of the capitulation of Baylen. +This name has remained fixed as an indelible stain on the memory of the +men who concluded it in a moment of despair, after numerous faults, of +which the most unpardonable cannot be imputed to them. Perhaps in his +secret thought, Napoleon began to foresee the difficulties of the +enterprise he had undertaken against Spain; perhaps he comprehended his +error, but his indignation was excessive, and broke out in his words as +well as letters. There was also a shade of discouragement when he wrote to +King Joseph, on the 3rd August, "My brother, the knowledge I have that you +are struggling, my friend, with events foreign to your habits as well as +to your natural character, pains me. Dupont has dishonored our flag. What +stupidity! What baseness! Those men will be taken by the English. Events +of such a nature require my presence at Paris. Germany, Poland, Italy, all +join together. My sorrow is really great when I think that I cannot be at +this moment with you, and in the midst of my soldiers. I have given orders +to Ney to go there. He is a man of honor, zeal, and thorough courage. If +you get accustomed to Ney, he might command the army. You will have +100,000 men, and Spain will be conquered in the autumn. A suspension of +arms, made by Savary, might perhaps lead to commanding and directing the +insurgents; we shall hear what they say. I think that, so far as your +personal likings go, you care little for reigning over the Spaniards." + +At the moment when Napoleon was writing these lines, King Joseph retreated +before the enemy, and abandoned his capital. Deprived of the succor that +General Dupont was to have brought, the defenders of Madrid did not +consider the concentration of troops sufficiently considerable to protect +the Castiles against the ever-rising flood of the national insurrection. +"The emperor could hold his own here," said Savary, "but what is possible +to him is not so to the others." It was resolved to make a stand on the +line of the Ebro; King Joseph quitted Madrid, abandoned by the intimate +servants of his household, as well as by a certain number of his +ministers. 2000 domestics of the palace had fled for fear of being forced +to follow the royal retreat. Burgos not appearing to be a retreat +sufficiently sure, the monarch and his little court soon established +themselves at Vittoria. After a second assault, as sanguinary and without +result as the first, General Verdier, recalled to the Ebro, found himself +obliged to abandon the siege of Saragossa. Already the position of the +French in Spain became defensive, and the fears of King Joseph increased. +"I can only repeat, once for all, that nearly all the grand army is +marching, and that between this and autumn Spain will be inundated with +troops," wrote the emperor, on the 9th of August. "You must try to +preserve the line of the Douro to maintain a communication with Portugal. +The English are not much, they never have more than a quarter of the +troops they announce. Lord Wellesley has not 4000 men. Besides, they are +intended, I believe, for Portugal." + +It was in truth on Portugal that the efforts of England were directed at +this moment, as she discerned clearly that there lay the true road to +Spain. In Galicia, as well as Andalusia, the Spanish insurgents had +refused the active intervention of the English. Sir Arthur Wellesley, who +at first appeared before Corunna, contented himself by furnishing the +suspicious Spaniards with ammunition and money, and on the 1st August he +appeared at the mouth of the Mondego, in Portugal. His fleet carried +10,000 English troops. A reinforcement of 4000 men was shortly expected. + +For two months General Junot had been isolated in Portugal, separated from +Spain by the insurrection of the frontier provinces, menaced by a similar +rising of the Portuguese nation, already chafing under the foreign yoke, +and sure of soon seeing England hasten to the succor of her faithful ally. +He understood his danger, and, assembling around him his troops, recalled +General Kellermann from Elvas and General Loison from Almeida. The +insurrection already commenced around them, when Sir Arthur Wellesley set +foot on the Portuguese soil. The French did not hold more than four or +five towns. The entire people was in insurrection. But General Junot still +occupied Lisbon; his forces were unfortunately diminished by the garrisons +left in the forts, and by a corps of observation that had been detached +under the orders of General Delaborde. After a courageous resistance, this +vanguard of the French army had been already beaten when the English +advanced on Vimeiro. Junot marched against them with an army of twelve or +thirteen thousand men. The English numbered about 18,000. The arrival of +Sir John Moore with his brigade was announced. + +An unfortunate respect for the rights of seniority had placed Sir Arthur +Wellesley under the orders of Sir Henry Burrard, and the latter under the +command of Sir Hew Dalrymple, who had already left Gibraltar to place +himself at the head of the army. The instructions of Wellesley obliged him +to wait at Vimeiro for the arrival of Sir John Moore. General Junot wished +to anticipate the reinforcements, and attacked the English on the 31st +August, in the morning. + +Sir Arthur Wellesley occupied the heights of Vimeiro; behind him were +precipices, and all retreat was impossible. The access to the rocks was +difficult; a strong artillery protected all the positions. When the French +advanced to the assault of this natural fortress, they could not at first +reach the English lines. General Kellermann alone succeeded in scaling the +steep slopes which led to the enemy, and was received by a deadly fire, +which forced him to retire. Our cavalry superior to that of the English, +was useless in this difficult attack; its only duty was constantly to +protect the corps of infantry, repulsed one after another. The English +army had not moved. At noon, General Junot ordered the retreat. Sir Arthur +Wellesley, always on watch on the heights, was already on the move to +follow and crush those who had been unable to make him lose an inch of +ground; but Sir Henry Burrard had arrived, and the command passed into his +hands. He was opposed to all thought of pursuit. Junot took the road to +Torres Vedras. Sir Arthur Wellesley listened with mingled respect and +impatience to the arguments of his chief, and, turning towards his staff, +"After this, gentlemen," said he, "we have only to go and shoot the red +partridges." + +General Junot had comprehended better than his adversary the danger which +threatened him; he felt the impossibility of maintaining himself in a +country suddenly become hostile, in face of an English army already +superior to his own, and soon to be reinforced by excellent troops. +General Kellermann was charged to treat, at first for an armistice, then +for the convention bearing the name of Cintra, which provided honorably +for the evacuation of Portugal by the French generals. The conditions +accorded were so favorable that public opinion in England accused the +negotiators of it as a crime, of which the obloquy weighed some time on +Sir Arthur Wellesley. He had not, however, been too favorable to it. "Ten +days after the battle of the 21st," he wrote to Lord Castlereagh, "we are +less advanced than we might and ought to have been on the evening of the +battle." The Emperor Napoleon had, for his part, manifested some +discontent at the convention, which brought back to France all his troops +free from engagement, and possessing their arms. "I was going to send +Junot before a council of war," said he; "but, happily, the English have +been before me in sending their generals, and have thus spared me the +mortification of punishing an old friend." The confidence of Napoleon +remained, however, shaken with respect to his officer. "Everything which +was not a triumph he looked upon as a defeat," said the Duchess of +Abrantes in her memoirs. + +It often happened to Napoleon to judge unjustly of men and things, because +he appreciated them exclusively from a personal and selfish point of view. +Thus, he accused of treason the Marquis de la Romana and his brave +companions. After the battle of Friedland, the Spanish battalions wrung in +1807 from the shameful terror of the Prince de la Paix, were sent by +Napoleon to regions which would appear the most fatal to the temperament +and habits of southern people. They had been confided to the King of +Denmark, and charged to protect from the English his little kingdom, +hitherto so cruelly oppressed by them. The health of the troops was, +however, excellent when the news came to them of the general rising which +had taken place in Spain, and the unforeseen success of the national +resistance. They immediately conceived the thought of returning to their +country, to join their efforts to those of their countrymen. An English +squadron, under the orders of Admiral Keith, appeared suddenly on the +coasts of Jutland, at the entrance to Niborg, in the island of Funen. +Immediately the Marquis de la Romana, with difficulty warned by secret +advices, seized the fishing-boats, which were numerous on the coast; then, +making himself master of the citadel and port of Niborg, and crossing two +arms of the sea, he assembled around him all those of his companions-in- +arms who were within reach. He arrived at the English fleet, and sailed +towards Gothenburg, from which place he put to sea for Spain. Several +regiments far in the interior of the land could not be warned in time, and +remained prisoners of war. One of them, having by chance heard of the +enterprise of their comrades, succeeded in rejoining them at the exact +moment of their embarkation, after a march long even for Spaniards. In the +middle of September, they at last landed in Galicia amidst the joyous +acclamations of the people. + +At Vittoria the unhappy King of Spain continually received one after +another news which damped his courage and convinced his reason of the +futility of all attempts to support his throne. On the 9th of August he +wrote to the Emperor Napoleon: "I do not think it possible to treat with +the insurgent chiefs; all their heads are turned; no one has sufficient +direction of affairs or influence enough upon the masses to lead them in a +determinate manner. On the supposition that France will gratuitously spend +her blood and treasure to place and maintain me on the throne of Spain, I +cannot hide from your Majesty that I cannot endure the thought of any +other than your Majesty commanding the French armies in Spain. If I become +the conqueror of this country by the horrors of a war in which every +individual Spaniard takes part, I shall be long an object of terror and +execration. I am too old to have time for repairing so many evils, and I +shall have sown too much hatred during the war to be able to gather in my +last years the fruit of the good that I may be able to do during peace. +Your Majesty sees, then, that even by this hypothesis--that of the +conquest and establishment of the monarchy--that I should not desire to +reign in Spain.... This nation is more concentrated in its sentiments than +any other people of Europe; it has something of the character of the +peoples of Africa, which is peculiar to itself. Your Majesty cannot form +an idea, because certainly no one has ever told you, in what degree the +name of your Majesty is execrated. This, then, is what I desire: to keep +the command of the army sufficiently long to beat the enemy, return to +Madrid with the army, because it left with me, and from this capital put +forth a decree to the effect that I renounce reigning over a people I +should be obliged to reduce by force of arms; and I return to Naples with +wishes for the happiness of Spain, and the desire to effect the welfare of +the Two Sicilies. In resigning to your Majesty the rights I hold from you, +you will make of them whatever use your wisdom will indicate. I beg, then, +your Majesty to suspend all operations relative to the kingdom of Naples. +The means will not be wanting to your Majesty for compensating the prince +you wished to place on the throne of Naples; for the rest, exact justice +and affection plead in my favor in your Majesty's heart." And two days +later he wrote: "It would take 200,000 Frenchmen to conquer Spain, and a +hundred thousand scaffolds to maintain the prince who should be condemned +to reign over them. No, sire, you do not know this people; each house will +be a fortress, and every man of the same mind as the majority. I repeat +but one thing, which will suffice as an example; not a Spaniard will be on +my side if we are conquerors; we cannot find a guide or a spy. Four hours +before the battle of Rio-Seco, Marshal Bessières did not know where the +enemy was. Every one who speaks or writes differently either lies or is +blind." + +On the 15th of July the kingdom of Naples had been solemnly conferred on +"Prince Joachim Murat, Grand Duke of Cleves and Berg." The haughty +obstinacy of Napoleon, his habit of conquering, and the growing want of +the prestige of victory, did not permit him to admit for a single instant +the modest pretensions of King Joseph. He was already preparing to pass +into Spain, counting upon success as soon as his presence should inspire +his generals with foresight and boldness. Other cares had till this time +detained him from this expedition, which became more necessary every day. +Already, for a long time, Napoleon had nourished suspicions of the loyalty +of Austria. On several occasions he had, not without reason, accused her +of making armaments and hostile preparations. The occupation of Rome and +the events of Spain had, on the other side, increased the distrust and +irritation of Vienna. The Archduke Charles, usually favorably inclined +towards France, exclaimed, "Well, if we must, we will die with arms in our +hands; but they shall not dispose of the crown of Austria as easily as +they have disposed of the crown of Spain!" + +Napoleon had scarcely arrived at Paris, returning from a long journey in +France, when a great fête had assembled around him all the diplomatic body +(15th August, 1808). His anger broke out against Austria, as it had +previously broken out against England in his celebrated interview with +Lord Whitworth. The frequent menaces of Champagny had not intimidated +Metternich, at that time Austrian ambassador in Paris. The emperor +advanced suddenly towards him: "Austria wishes, then, to make war against +us? She wishes to frighten me?..." And without listening to the pacific +protestations of the prince, "Why, then, these immense preparations? They +are defensive, you say. But who attacks you, to make you think so much of +defence? Is not all peaceful around you? Since the peace of Presburg, has +there been the slightest disagreement between you and me? Have not all our +relations together been extremely amicable? And yet you have suddenly +raised a cry of alarm; you have put in motion all your population; your +princes have overrun your provinces; your proclamations have summoned the +people to the defence of the country; your proclamations and measures are +those which you used when I was at Leoben. + +"You are well aware that I ask nothing from you, and make no claim upon +you, and that I even regard the preservation of your power in the present +state of affairs as useful to the European system, and to the interests of +France. I have encamped my troops to keep them fit for marching. They do +not camp in France, because that costs too much; they camp abroad, where +it is less expensive. My camps have been distributed; none of them +threatens you. In the excess of my security I dismantled all the places of +Silesia. I am ready to remove my camps, if that is necessary to your +security. + +"In the meantime what will happen? You have raised 400,000 men; I am about +to raise 200,000. Germany, who was beginning to breathe after so many +ruinous wars, is about to see again all her wounds reopened. I shall +reconstruct the places of Silesia, instead of evacuating that province and +the Prussian States, as I wished to do. Europe will be all up in arms. +Soon the very women must become soldiers. + +"Those are the evils you have produced, and, as I believe, without +intending it. In such a state of things, when the strain everywhere is so +great, war will soon become desirable, in order to hasten the end. A sharp +pain, if short, is better than prolonged suffering. + +"But if you are as disposed for peace as you allege, it is necessary that +you speak out, that you countermand the measures which have excited so +dangerous a fermentation, and that all Europe be convinced that you wish +for peace. It is necessary that all should proclaim your good intentions, +justified by your acts as well as your language." + +Definitively, and as a proof of Austria's submission, Napoleon asked for a +recognition of King Joseph. On this special demand--which no doubt was +made less harsh in form by the report of Champagny, which has been +preserved--Austria did not give way, nor did she refuse: she delayed, +still constantly and unobtrusively engaged in warlike preparations, which +were actively pushed forward by the Archduke Charles and Stadion, the +prime minister. + +Napoleon wished to intimidate Austria, his bold foresight assuring him of +her hostility. He required several months for his Spanish expedition. +Finding it necessary to send new troops into the Peninsula, he was obliged +to quit the countries which were occupied, and at last put an end to the +long suspense imposed upon Prussia, and aggravated by intolerable war- +contributions. Prince William, appointed by his brother to the painful +mission, had in vain tried to obtain favorable conditions. Napoleon +feeling the necessity of recalling his forces, fixed at 140,000,000 the +sum still left of what had been demanded from Prussia; but before signing +the treaty the conqueror exacted more than one sacrifice. The French +continued to occupy Stettin, Custrin, Glogau on the Oder, and Magdeburg on +the Elbe: a secret article forbade Prussia to raise an army for ten years +of more than 42,000 men. No militia was allowed; and in case war should +break out in Germany, King Frederick William undertook to supply the +Emperor Napoleon with an auxiliary force of 16,000 men. + +To those painful conditions Napoleon added another, which was entirely +personal and political. "I have asked for Stein's dismissal from the +cabinet," wrote the emperor to Marshal Soult on the 10th September; +"without that the King of Prussia will not recover his states. I have +sequestrated his property in Westphalia." + +Baron Stein resigned, but continued working ardently in reviving and +fostering the national spirit in Germany against the Emperor Napoleon, as +he had been preparing for more than a year. He began an able and prudent +scheme of reform, which was continued by his colleagues after his fall. +The convention of the 8th September, 1808, being signed between France and +Prussia, King Frederick William took possession of his diminished states, +and the Emperor Alexander was freed from the importunities of the +unfortunate sufferers, who blamed him for their lot. Napoleon feeling the +need of drawing closer the alliance with Russia, an interview was agreed +upon between the two emperors, and Erfurt was chosen for the scene of the +illustrious interview. + +The Emperor Alexander had looked with secret satisfaction upon the events +in Spain. Constantly influenced by the hopes by which Napoleon had dazzled +him at Tilsit, and haunted by that passion for obtaining Constantinople +which had so long been common to all the Russian sovereigns, he had +accepted without any difficulty the spoliation of the Spanish Bourbons, in +order to justify beforehand the spoliations in which he was interested. +The national rising of the Spanish people served his design: the all- +powerful conqueror had met with a serious resistance, undergone checks, +and had need of the moral support of his allies; their material assistance +might be needed. Alexander reckoned upon gaining at Erfurt the cession of +that 'cat's tongue which was the key of the Bosphorus,' and which he +coveted so eagerly. He set out from St. Petersburg on the 7th of +September, somewhat against the will of his mother and the "Russian +party," and with but few attendants. + +The Emperor Napoleon, on the contrary, had assembled at Erfurt all the +resources of French elegance, joined to the brilliance which is +inseparable from a powerful and victorious court. All the small princes of +Germany were present, and the great sovereigns sent their most able +representatives. The celebrated actors of the Théâtre Français, with Talma +at their head, were appointed to amuse the two emperors in the intervals +of business. The representation of _Cinna_ was the first of a series of +master-pieces of the French stage. The emperor forbade comedies, saying +that the Germans did not understand Molière. + +A fortnight was thus spent in the midst of the most magnificent fêtes +combined with serious negotiations. Napoleon decided to at once abandon +the Danubian provinces to his ally, though resolved never to grant +Constantinople. After long conferences between Champagny and Romanzoff, as +to the suitable form to give to this division of other people's property +which was to render the Franco-Russian alliance indissoluble, the +convention was signed on the 12th October. Both emperors agreed to address +to England a formal demand for immediate peace, the base of the +negotiations to be the _uti possidetis_, that is to say, the +acknowledgment of conquests and occupations which were already +accomplished. France was only to agree to a peace which should secure +Finland, Wallachia, and Moldavia to Russia; and Russia only to one which +should secure to France all her possessions, including the crown of Spain +for King Joseph. + +Supposing the negotiations or acts of the two powers for the execution of +the treaty should bring on war with Austria, France and Russia made +promises of mutual support: their hostilities were to be in common. At the +urgent request of Alexander, the Emperor Napoleon granted a reduction of +20,000,000 on the war-contribution of Prussia. At the same time, and by +the clever mediation of Talleyrand, he threw out a hint to the young Czar +that he wished to be united to him by family alliance. "The emperor had +resolved to have recourse to a divorce," said the prince, "and his +thoughts turned naturally towards the sisters of his ally and his dearest +friend." Alexander blushed, being by no means all-powerful in the bosom of +his family, and the empress-mother having a strong dislike to Napoleon. +Complimentary and friendly attentions, therefore, could not remove reserve +on this delicate point. The two emperors separated on the 14th October, +after hunting together on the plain of Jena, and supping and chatting +familiarly with Goethe and Wieland, at Weimar. Germany showed every +attention to her conqueror, while silently preparing to take revenge. + +The Emperor Napoleon on returning to Paris finished his preparations for +the Spanish campaign. He had told King Joseph, when in Erfurt, that he +should march as soon as the Corps Législatif was opened. On the 1st +October he had put in the mouth of Champagny suitable arguments to prepare +the way for a new levy of soldiers. In his report to the emperor, the +Foreign Minister thus publicly denounced the ingratitude of the Spanish +people:-- + +"Your Majesty hoped to prevent the return of the troubles in Spain, by +means of persuasion and by measures of a wise and humane policy. +Intervening as a mediator in the midst of the divided Spanish, your +Majesty indicated to them the safety of a wise and prudent constittution, +suitable for providing every want, and in which liberal ideas are +reconciled with those ancient institutions which Spain wished to preserve. + +"Your Majesty's expectation was deceived. Private interests, the intrigues +of the foreigner, and his corrupting gold, have prevailed over the +influence which you had a right to exercise. The Spanish people having +shaken off the yoke of authority, aspired to govern. The intrigues of the +agents of the Inquisition, the influence of the monks, who are so numerous +in Spain, and who dreaded reform, have at this critical moment occasioned +the insurrection of several Spanish provinces, in which the voice of wise +men has been disavowed or smothered, and several of them made the victims +of their courageous opposition to the disorderly populace. We have seen a +frightful anarchy spreading over the greater part of Spain. Will your +Majesty allow England to be able to say that Spain is one of her +provinces, and that her flag, driven from the Baltic, the northern seas, +the Levant, and even the Persian coasts, rules over the gates of France? +Never, sire. + +"To avoid so great disgrace and misfortune, there are two millions of +brave men ready, if need be, to cross the Pyrenees; and the English will +be driven out of the Peninsula." + +In expectation of the supreme effort thus boldly proclaimed, the Senate +ordered a levy of 160,000 men, anticipating by sixteen months the regular +call. The recruits were intended to replace in Germany the trained +soldiers of the Grande Armée, who had already started to go to Spain, and +were everywhere fêted in the towns they passed through. Skilled in all the +plans by which great success is procured, the emperor, on the 3rd of +September, had written to Cretet, Minister of the Interior: "Give order, +so that the town of Metz may fête the troops as they pass through; and as +the town is not rich enough, I shall give three francs a man, but all must +be done in the name of the town. The municipal body will make a speech to +them, treat them, give the officers dinners, get triumphal arches raised +at the gates through which they pass, and put inscriptions on them. Give +the same order for the town of Nancy, which is the place where the central +column will pass. As for the column of the right, it will be fêted at +Rheims. I wish you to see that the prefects of departments on their route +pay special attention to the troops, and in every way keep up the +enthusiasm which animates them and their love of glory. Speeches, verses, +shows gratis, dinners,--that is what I expect from the citizens for the +soldiers returning victorious." On the 17th, with the list of towns which +had responded to his call as well as those from which he expected the same +display: "Get songs written in Paris, and send them to the different +towns. These songs will tell of the glory gained by the army and that it +is still to gain, of the liberty of the seas which will result from its +victories. These songs will be sung at the dinners which will be given. +Get three kinds of songs made, so that the soldier may not hear the same +sung twice." + +It was not without secret emotion and an inquietude which showed itself by +numerous heroical declamations, that the Emperor Napoleon himself passed +into Spain with his old troops, which had gained for him the sovereign +rule in Europe. For the first time in his military career, he felt himself +face to face with the spontaneous resistance of a people. "Soldiers," said +he to the regiments which were to march before him on the Spanish soil, +"after triumphing on the banks of the Danube and Vistula, you have crossed +Germany by forced marches; and now I make you cross France without +allowing you a moment's rest. Soldiers, I have need of you. The hateful +presence of the leopard contaminates the continents of Spain and Portugal; +let him fly in terror at the sight of us. Let us carry our eagles in +triumph as far as the columns of Hercules; there also we have outrages to +avenge. Soldiers, you have surpassed the renown of modern armies, but have +you equalled the glories of the armies of Rome, which in one campaign +triumphed on the Rhine and the Euphrates, in Illyria and on the Tagus? A +long peace and lasting prosperity will be the fruit of your labors. A true +Frenchman neither can nor ought to rest till the seas are open and freed. +Soldiers, all that you have done, all that you will yet do for the +happiness of the French people, for my glory, will remain eternally in my +heart." + +According to the custom of constitutional monarchies, the English cabinet +replied to the personal letter addressed to King George III. by the two +emperors. Without formally rejecting the overtures of peace, Canning urged +that all the allies of England ought to have been admitted to the +negotiation; and he included in the list of allies the Kings of Naples, +Portugal, Sweden, and even the Spanish insurgents, although no formal +treaty had yet been concluded with them. Soon after, to put an end to the +pretence of negotiation, an official declaration of the British Government +announced to the world that England could not treat with two courts, one +of which dethroned legitimate kings and kept them prisoners, while the +other assisted from interested motives. Resolved "to attack by every means +a usurpation to which there was nothing comparable in the history of the +world, Great Britain will never abandon the generous Spanish nation, nor +any of the people who, though at present hesitating, may soon shake off +the yoke which oppresses them." For the future all pretences disappeared, +and the struggle began afresh between the Emperor Napoleon and England. +The latter had long been looking for a ground of attack against the +conqueror; now at last it was supplied by the Spanish soil and people. + +It is extremely painful to have to prove the injustice of a course which +is naturally dear to us. That is bitterly felt at every step during the +long years of the war of Spain, in presence of the generous efforts of a +people who, with arms in their hands, vindicated their national liberty +and independence. The first outbursts of the Spanish insurrection showed +this with a brilliancy that soon partially disappeared. The efforts of the +English their courage and feats of arms, were soon to eclipse to some +extent the obstinate animosity of the Spanish. The long series of checks +which began on Napoleon's arrival was sufficient to prove with what a +decisive weight the alliance which they were soon to conclude with Great +Britain weighed in the balance of their destinies. + +Setting out from Paris on the 29th October, the emperor, on arriving at +Bayonne, showed great anger at the delay in the preparations, the bad +state of the roads and the shortness of supplies. "You will see how +disgracefully I am served," he wrote to General Dejean, in charge of the +war administration. "I have only 7000 cloaks instead of 50,000; 15,000 +pairs of shoes instead of 129,000. I am in want of everything; my army is +naked, and yet we are entering on a campaign. Yet I have spent a great +deal of money, which is so much thrown into the sea." + +Napoleon's displeasure was not diminished when he reached Vittoria. He had +beforehand forbidden the attempt upon Madrid which King Joseph proposed to +him, mistrusting his brother's military skill. "The military art is an art +the principles of which must never be violated," he wrote, in some +observations of great sense and force. "To change one's line of operation +is an operation of genius; to lose it, is an operation so serious that it +constitutes a crime in the general who is guilty of it. If, before taking +Madrid, organizing the army there, with military stores for eight or ten +days, and providing sufficient supplies, one had just been defeated, what +would become of that army? where could they rally? where transport their +wounded? whence draw their war supplies, having nothing but provisions for +a short time? We need say no more; those who have the courage to advise +such a measure would be the first to lose their head so soon as the result +proved the madness of their procedure. With an army entirely composed of +men like those of the guard and commanded by the most able general-- +Alexander or Caesar, if they could act with such folly--one could answer +for nothing; much more therefore in the circumstances in which the army of +Spain is placed. In war everything depends on opinion--opinion as to the +enemy, opinion as to one's own soldiers. When a battle is lost, the +difference between the conquered and the conqueror is but trifling; yet +opinion makes it immeasurable, because two or three squadrons are then +sufficient to produce a great effect. Nothing has been done to give +confidence to the French; there is not a soldier but sees that timidity +pervades everything, and therefore forms from that his opinion of the +enemy. He has no other data for knowing what is opposed to him except what +is told him, and the bearing which he is expected to assume." + +By a chance which prudent minds might have anticipated, but which +astonished and confounded the inexperience of the insurgent leaders, the +national rising, which lately was universal, irresistible, and triumphant, +lost all its power and energy immediately after the victory of Baylen. The +hesitation and inaction of King Joseph, his government, and his army, had +met with an unexpected counterpart in their adversaries. + +It is often a difficult undertaking, even when desired and concerted +beforehand, to stir up an entire nation and animate them for war; and when +their rising is spontaneous, brought on by the same patriotic and +revolutionary idea, it is a still more difficult undertaking to organize +their efforts and direct aright their impassioned impulses. After the +first shock, which had agitated Spain from one extremity to the other, +after the formation of provincial or municipal Juntas, after the success +of some of the insurgent generals, the trial of government suddenly +presented itself to the leaders of the national movement. It was necessary +to command all those proud and independent men, intoxicated with a new +liberty and an ancient self-respect; it was necessary at any cost to get +from them obedience, for Napoleon was at hand--he, the master of so many +armies waiting for his bidding, and who at his will had made princes and +kings bend down. The Spanish alone had resisted him successfully; how were +they to keep up and continue the resistance? + +With considerable difficulty, a central Junta was formed at Aranjuez, +composed of delegates from the local Juntas, too numerous to be a council +of government, and too restricted to possess, or even claim, the rights of +a representative assembly. The new Junta wished to exercise absolute +authority. The Council of Castile had proposed that the Cortes be +assembled, but most of the generals were opposed to a measure which +necessarily tended to diminish their power. The Cortes were not assembled, +and the Junta called all the Spaniards to arms. + +Though the patriotic ardor in Spain was undoubtedly great, and the +patriotic uneasiness profound, the results of the general rising were +insufficient, and came greatly short of the hopes of the insurrectional +government. About 100,000 men were mustered when the military organization +was decided upon by the Junta. Three main armies--that of the left, under +the orders of General Blake; that of the centre, under General Castanos; +that of the right, under Palafox--were to combine their operations in +order to surround the French army. A fourth army, called the reserve, was +to be afterwards formed; and the troops scattered over Catalonia were +ordered to defend that province against General Duhesme. In spite of the +repugnance inspired by foreign assistance to Spanish pride, the Junta had +accepted the assistance of an English army, which had already collected at +Lisbon, under the orders of Sir John Moore. He had marched across +Portugal, and his lieutenant, Sir David Baird, was bringing him +reinforcements from England, which afterwards joined him at Corunna. These +forces and resources were sufficient to harass the French army, and make +an easy occupation of Spain impossible; but not sufficient to keep up a +regular war against the first troops in the world. The Spanish, as well as +the English, soon found the truth of this. + +Before Napoleon arrived at Vittoria, several battles had already taken +place, generally favorable to the French army, though it was badly led, +and had its forces scattered, instead of concentrated, as the emperor +wished them to be, for his ready use. He bitterly blamed Marshals Lefebvre +and Victor, and already the presence of the general who had been +everywhere victorious was being promptly felt in the management of the +army and the vigor of the operations. Marshal Soult had been sent to +attack Burgos, then protected by 12,000 men of the Estremadura army; and +on the 10th November, on the charge of Mouton's division alone, the +Spanish wavered and took to flight, delivering up Burgos and its castle to +the French army. The cavalry eagerly pursued the retreating enemy, who +quickly formed again, and were as quickly scattered: many of the prisoners +were killed. Napoleon at once set out for Burgos. "I start at one in the +morning," he wrote to Joseph, "in order to reach Burgos incognito before +daybreak, and shall make my arrangements for the day, because to win is +nothing if no advantage is taken of the success. I think you ought to go +to-morrow to Briviesca. The less ceremony I wish made on my own account, +the more I wish made on yours. As for me, it does not suit well with the +business of war; besides, I have no wish for it. On arriving, I shall give +the necessary orders for disarming, and for burning the standard used for +Ferdinand's proclamation. Use every endeavor that it may be felt to be no +idle form." + +Burgos already felt all the weight of the conqueror's anger. The town was +pitilessly sacked. "A sad sight," say the memoirs of Count Miot de Melito, +who accompanied King Joseph as he entered the town; "the houses nearly all +deserted and pillaged; the furniture, smashed in pieces, scattered in the +mud of the streets; one quarter, on the other side of the Arlanzen, on +fire; the soldiers madly forcing in doors and windows, breaking everything +that came in their way, using little and destroying much; the churches +stripped; the streets crowded with the dead and dying--in a word, all the +horrors of an assault, although the town had offered no defence!" The +emperor ordered all the wool to be seized which was found in the town: it +belonged to the great Spanish nobles, and he had resolved to confiscate +their property everywhere. "The Duke of Infantado and Spanish great +lords," he wrote a few days afterwards to Cretet, the Minister of the +Interior (on the 19th November), "are sole proprietors of half the kingdom +of Naples, and in this kingdom they are worth not less than 200,000,000. +They have, besides, possessions in Belgium, Piedmont, and Italy, which I +intend to sequestrate. That is only the first rough draft of my plans". A +decree of proscription had already been published, and a capital +condemnation pronounced (12th November) against ten of the principal +Spanish nobles. At that price, pardon was promised to all who made haste +to make submission. + +Marshal Soult, the conqueror of Burgos, had already been despatched by the +emperor in the direction of Reinosa, in order to complete the destruction +of General Blake's army, already partially defeated, on the 11th and 12th +by General Victor, near the small town of Espinosa, at the spot where the +road from the Biscayan mountains crosses the road of the plain. Soult was +late in arriving; but, after a vigorous resistance, the overthrow of +Blake's army was so complete that there was no fear that the army of the +left could soon rally. Napoleon ordered Lannes and Ney to crush the armies +of the right and the centre, commanded by Palafox and Castanos. Ney +failing to keep his appointment at Tudela on the 23rd November, owing to a +mistake on the march, Lannes made the attack alone, taking by surprise the +Spanish generals, who were undecided as to their course of action, +disagreeing as to the place for meeting the enemy, and yet urged on to the +engagement by the popular cries, already accusing them of treason. The +battle was a serious one; and for a short time Lannes, reduced to his own +troops, found himself in a difficult position. He was, moreover, ill from +a fall from his horse, but succeeded in winning the battle, and drove +before him, one after another, all the divisions of the enemy's army. With +the cruel and heedless fickleness of revolutionary governments, the Junta +of Aranjuez hurriedly cashiered Generals Blake and Castanos. The Marquis +of Romana's soldiers having distinguished themselves at Espinosa, he was +appointed general of the united armies. Already, in spite of the +consternation which reigned in the national party in Spain, small bodies +of troops collected in various parts. Napoleon soon understood that the +masterly-strokes of his usual tactics were not sufficient to conquer men +who were as prompt in again taking up arms as in throwing them down on the +roads in order to run away. He hurried in pursuit everywhere, and +multiplied his modes of attack. Junot, scarcely returned to France, +received orders to go into Spain. Napoleon resolved to march upon Madrid. + +The resources left at the disposition of the Junta for the defence of the +capital were obviously insufficient. A body of 10,000 to 12,000 men, under +the command of Benito San Juan, occupied the height Somo-Sierra, and on +the 30th November Napoleon in person appeared before the small Spanish +army. The passage being quickly forced by a charge of General Montbrun, +the French cavalry rode to the gates of Madrid, causing indignation and +alarm. The Junta had already left Aranjuez to meet in Badajoz, and the +capital, entrusted to a small detachment of troops of the line under the +Marquis of Castellar, at one time supported, at another hindered by the +populace, corregidor of Madrid, the Marquis of Perales, was massacred by a +handful of madmen, on the charge of having mixed sand with the powder of +their cartridges. Thomas de Morla, the tribune of Cadiz, commanded the +defence. Barricades were raised at every point, and ramparts improvised, +Madrid never having been surrounded with fortifications. + +On the morning of the 2nd December the emperor arrived at the gates of the +capital, and at once had a summons sent to those in command of the place. +His messenger had great difficulty in obtaining admission to the town; and +the Spanish general appointed to convey the refusal of surrender was +accompanied and watched by a band of insurgents, who dictated to him his +reply. A second summons producing no result, the firing at the walls and +the town began; and in a few hours the palace Buen Retiro and all the +northern and eastern gates were in the power of the French. At several +points the resistance was most obstinate. The emperor again summoning the +Junta of Defence to spare the capital the horrors of a general assault, +Thomas de Morla soon presented himself before him, in the name of the +insurrectional government. + +The emperor's features clearly expressed his anger at the sight of the +governor of Andalusia, who had recently retained the troops taken +prisoners, in defiance of the capitulation of Baylen. Napoleon had more +than once violated treaties: he attached always an extreme importance to +military conventions. On this occasion, his natural sense of wrong and +offended vanity alone had the mastery in his soul. Thomas de Morla, +generally arrogant and bold, seemed troubled and confused. "The people," +said he, "are ungovernable in their patriotic passion; the Junta ask for +one day to bring them back to reason." + +"It is in vain for you to use the name of the people," exclaimed Napoleon. +"If you cannot succeed in calming them, it is because you yourselves have +excited them, and have led them astray by your falsehoods. Bring together +the curés, the heads of convents, the principal proprietors, and let the +town surrender between this and six o'clock in the morning, or else it +will have ceased to exist. I have no desire to withdraw my troops, nor +ought I. You massacred the unhappy French prisoners who fell into your +hands. A short time ago you allowed to be dragged in the streets and put +to death two servants of the Russian ambassador because they were +Frenchmen. The want of skill and the cowardice of a general placed in your +hands some troops which had capitulated on the battle-field, and the +capitulation was violated. What kind of letter, M. Morla, did you write to +that general? It became you well to speak of pillaging, you who entered +Roussillon and carried off all the women, to divide them among your +soldiers like booty. What right had you, on other grounds, to use such +language? You were prevented by the capitulation. Consider the conduct of +the English, who certainly do not boast of being rigid observers of the +rights of nations. They have complained of the convention of Portugal, but +they executed it. To violate military treaties is to renounce all +civilization; it is to place one's self on a level with the Bedouins of +the desert. How dare you ask a capitulation, you who violated that of +Baylen? I had a fleet at Cadiz, the ally of Spain, and you turned against +it the mortars of the town under your command. Go back to Madrid. I give +you till six o'clock in the morning. Return then, if you have nothing to +say of the people except that they have submitted: otherwise, you and your +troops will all be put to the sword." + +The situation left to the insurgents no alternative but that of +submission. During the night, the Marquis of Castellar went out with his +troops by the gates which the French had not yet seized. At six in the +morning, on the 4th December, Madrid surrendered. All the citizens were +disarmed. Napoleon took possession of a small country-house at Chamartin, +and King Joseph held his court at the Pardo, some distance from Madrid; +the rebel town being thus held unworthy to be honored by the presence of +its masters. Several great lords were arrested: the Marquis of St. Simon +was even condemned to death, as a French emigrant in the Spanish service; +but the sentence was badly received by the soldiers, and left unexecuted. +A series of decrees abolished the feudal rights, the Inquisition, and the +custom duties in passing from one province to another. The number of +convents was reduced by a third. The conquests of liberty and civilization +thus imposed on the Spanish by their oppressors naturally became hateful +to them. Thus one of the results of Napoleon's Spanish campaign was to +prepare a reaction in favor of the Inquisition. + +While the emperor took possession of Madrid, and endeavored to reduce the +undisciplined spirit of the capital, General Gouvion St. Cyr had been +appointed to bring Catalonia to submission. A man of skill and prudence, +though obstinately attached to his own opinions, St. Cyr was never a +favorite with Napoleon, though he knew his merit. He had entrusted him +with the duty of reducing an isolated province, where his command ran no +risk of being interfered with by contradictory wishes or orders. The +general delayed some time at the siege of Rosas, which he was anxious not +to leave in his rear, and when he at last advanced towards Barcelona, +General Duhesme and his garrison were short of provisions. On his approach +the blockade was raised, and, on the 15th December, General Vives offered +battle to St. Cyr at Cardeden, before Barcelona. The French having left +their artillery behind, so as to advance more quickly, the order was given +to open a road through the enemy's ranks with the bayonet. The soldiers +obeyed, keeping their heads down as they advanced under the fire of the +Spanish; the latter were unable to resist the impetuosity of such an +attack, and the columns of our troops passed through the enemy's lines, +which were soon broken and scattered. The Spanish artillery fell entirely +into our hands, and next day the French entered Barcelona. On the 21st the +entrenched camp on the Llobregat was taken, and complete dispersion of the +Spanish troops in Catalonia soon followed, only a few places still holding +out, which General Gouvion St. Cyr prepared to besiege. + +The English, however, henceforward united to the cause of the Spanish +insurrection by a solemn declaration, published on the 15th December, and +everywhere the objects of Napoleon's most persistent hatred, had not yet +undergone the shock of his arms. Having only imperfect information as to +Sir John Moore's operations, the emperor had reckoned with certainty upon +the retreat which that general began at the moment of the attack upon +Madrid, when he found that it was absolutely impossible to concentrate his +forces in time for resistance. Moore was not hopeful as to the results of +the campaign, and had little satisfaction in his Spanish auxiliaries, who +always distrusted foreigners, even when allies; when urged by the Junta, +however, and after receiving instructions from England, he advanced +towards Valladolid, relinquishing his line of retreat upon Portugal, and +directing his march to Corunna. From some intercepted despatches he +believed he might surprise Marshal Soult in the kingdom of Leon, with +inferior forces to his own; and, at the same time, ask Sir David Baird to +join him with his troops, and sent to ask the Marquis Romana for +reinforcements. On the 21st December, the English army, more than 25,000 +men strong, had reached Sahagun, near to Marshal Soult's position. + +The emperor was not deceived by the first report, that the English had +changed their line of march. He at once penetrated Sir John Moore's +object, and resolved to at once fall upon his rear, and crush him by a +superiority of forces. In a letter to Paris he says, "The English have at +last showed signs of life. They seem now to have abandoned Portugal, and +taken another line of operations. They are marching upon Valladolid, and +for three days our troops have made operations to manoeuvre them, and +advance on their rear. If the English don't make for the sea, and beat us +in speed, they will find it hard to escape us, and will pay dear for their +daring attempt upon the continent." + +On the 22nd, the emperor, uniting the divisions of his army with that +rapidity which all his lieutenants had learned from him, set out himself +on march with 40,000 men, in the hope of intercepting the advance of the +English to the coast. The weather had become wet and cold, and when the +French army reached the foot of Guadarrama the snow was falling in thick +masses. The chasseurs of the guard, dismounting, led their horses by hand, +and opened a road to their comrades through the snow. Napoleon himself was +on foot. The snow-storm being followed by rain, their progress was slow. +On receiving a message from Soult that he was at Carrion, and that he +believed the English were one day's journey distant, Napoleon said, "If +they stay one day longer in that position they are lost, for I shall +presently be on their flank." + +Sir John Moore was a prudent and skilful soldier, and on receiving +information sufficient to indicate the emperor's intention, he at once +began his retreat towards Corunna. When Marshal Ney, entering Medina from +Rio-Seco, was preparing to march upon Benaventa, the English had already +reached that post, and, after crossing the Ezla, blew up the bridges. When +the French advance-guard, commanded by General Lefebvre-Desnouettes, +arrived before the town the last wagons of the English army were +disappearing in the distance. The cavalry officer too eagerly made his +squadrons ford the river, and Lord Paget, who protected the retreat, +repulsed the attack of the French, and took their general prisoner. The +first detachments of Napoleon's army entered Astorga a short time after +the English had evacuated the place, the Marquis de la Romana, withdrawing +as well as his allies, having followed by the same way. The roads were +much cut up by the wheels and footsteps, besides being encumbered by the +dead bodies of many horses, which the English had killed when too tired to +go on. There were also traces left everywhere by the English army of a +troublesome want of discipline; soldiers left drunk because they could not +keep up in the rapid march which their leader had ordered, houses +pillaged, and the Spanish peasants, oppressed both by their defenders and +their enemies, became every day more distrustful and gloomy. Sir John +Moore complained that he could obtain neither food nor information from +the frightened and discontented population. + +On the 2nd January, the Emperor Napoleon changed his plans. Feeling that +the danger of a war with Austria became daily more imminent, and finding +that the English would reach the sea in spite of any efforts of his to +intercept them, and that the brilliant stroke which he intended was daily +becoming more impossible of execution, he entrusted the pursuit of the +enemy to Marshal Soult, who was then nearer him than Ney, and marched with +the imperial guard towards Valladolid. Before arriving there he wrote from +Benaventa to King Joseph, on the 6th January, 1809,-- + +"My brother, I thank you for what you say regarding the New Year. I have +no hope of Europe being at peace in 1809. On the contrary, I yesterday +signed a decree for a levy of 100,000 men. The hatred of England, the +events at Constantinople, everything forewarns that the hour of rest and +tranquillity has not yet sounded. As to you, your kingdom appears to me to +be almost at peace. The kingdoms of Leon, the Asturias, and New Castile, +only want rest. I hope Galicia will soon be pacified, and that the English +will leave the country. Saragossa must soon fall; and General St. Cyr, +with 30,000 men, will soon attain his object in Catalonia." + +The English were in fact preparing to leave Spain; and though the +determination was quite recent, it was with a sense of depression, which, +in the case of the general, was increased by the sad plight of his array +and its want of discipline. Their disorder was at its worst when at last +they reached the small town of Lugo (6th January, 1809), exhausted by the +bad weather, want of food, and excess of brandy and other strong liquors. + +Sir John Moore had resolved to offer battle to the French, and the hope of +fighting had restored courage and obedience to the soldiers. He waited +three days for Marshal Soult, but the French general's forces were +diminished by the rapidity of the pursuit, and he did not accept the offer +of fighting. Moore resumed his march towards Corunna, reckoning to find, +on his arrival at the coast, the transport vessels which were necessary +for his army. When at last, on the 11th January, he came in sight of the +sea, not a single sail appeared over its vast extent. The contest becoming +inevitable, Sir John ordered the bridges over the Mero to be blown up, and +took up his position on the heights which command Corunna. + +Marshal Soult had been delayed, by the necessity of repairing the bridges +and rallying a division of his army which had fallen behind; and when at +last, on the morning of the 16th, he attacked the English positions, the +long-expected transports were crowding into the harbor, and a way of +escape was open to the English army. A keenly-contested struggle took +place, however, around the small village, Elvina, occupied by the troops +of Sir David Baird, who was severely wounded. Sir John went to the +assistance of his lieutenant, and when leading his men within range to the +front, had his arm and collarbone shattered by a ball. He was carried back +to the town by his soldiers, in a dying condition. The English still +retaining their positions at nightfall, their embarkment was now certain, +and General Hope, who had taken the command, pushed forward the +preparations for departure. + +Sir John Moore had just expired. "You know well," said he to his friend +Colonel Anderson, "that this is how I always wished to die." After a short +pause, he added, "I hope the English people will be satisfied; I hope that +my country will do me justice." Without losing time in procuring a coffin, +his soldiers dug a grave with their swords, and committed to earth the +body of their general, still wrapped in his military cloak. The English +army, which he had saved by his prudence and resolution, then hurriedly +embarked, "and left him alone in his glory," as the poet has finely put +it. Several weeks afterwards, when Marshal Ney took possession of Corunna, +he had a stone placed on the tomb of his heroic enemy. + +From Valladolid, where he was still staying, the Emperor Napoleon directed +the movements of his armies; fortifying the defences of Italy, and +commanding the movements of the troops intended for Germany, he at the +same time wrote to all the princes of the Rheinish Confederation, +reminding them peremptorily of their engagements, and referring to the +lengthened war preparations of Austria as equivalent to a declaration of +war. "Russia, as well as myself, is indignant at the extravagant conduct +of Austria," he wrote to the King of Wurtemberg, on the 15th January; "we +cannot conceive what madness has taken possession of the court of Vienna. +When your Majesty reads this letter I shall be in Paris. One part of my +army of Spain is now returning, to form an army of reserve; but, +independently of that, without touching a single man of my army of Spain, +I can send into Germany 150,000 men, and be there myself to advance with +them upon the Inn at the end of February, without counting the troops of +the Confederation. I suppose that your Majesty's troops are ready to march +on the slightest movement; you are sensible of the great importance, if +war is absolutely necessary, of carrying it on in our enemy's territory, +rather than leaving it to settle on that of the Confederation. I beg of +your Majesty to let me know in Paris your opinion on all those points. Can +the waters of the Danube have acquired the property of the river Lethe?" + +At the same time, to instruct King Joseph in the government of Spain, at +the moment when that prince was about to visit his capital again, he thus +wrote to him, at Prado:--"General Belliard's movement is excellent; a +score of worthless fellows ought to be hanged. To-morrow I am to have +seven hanged here, known to have had a share in all the excesses, and a +nuisance to the respectable people, who have secretly denounced them, and +who now regain courage on finding themselves rid of them. You must do the +same at Madrid. Five-sixths of the town are good, but honest folks should +be encouraged, and they cannot be so except by keeping in check the riff- +raff. Unless a hundred or so of rioters and ruffians are got rid of, +nothing is done. Of that hundred, get twelve or fourteen shot or hanged, +and send the rest into France to the galleys. I think it necessary, +especially at the first start, that your government should show a little +vigor against the riff-raff. They only like and respect those whom they +fear, and their fear alone may procure you the love and esteem of the rest +of the nation. + +"The state of Europe compels me to go to spend three weeks in Paris, and +if nothing prevent I shall return here about the end of February. I +believe I wrote you to make your entry into Madrid on the 14th. Denon +wishes to take some paintings. I should prefer you to take all that are in +the confiscated houses and suppressed convents, and make me a present of +about fifty of its master-pieces, for the Paris museum. At the proper time +and place I shall give you others. Send for Denon, and give him a hint of +this. You understand that they must be really good; and it is said you are +immensely rich in that kind." + +King Joseph retook possession of his capital with a great display of +magnificence, the brilliant success of the French arms having rallied +round him the timid, and the discontented keeping silence. Before setting +out for Paris, where he arrived on the 24th, the emperor said, "The attack +upon Valentia must not be thought of until Saragossa is taken, which must +be during the month of February:" and Marshal Lannes, who had charge of +the siege operations for a month, justified the hopes of his master. On +the 21st February, 1809, Saragossa at last surrendered, having been the +object of several French attacks since June, 1808. + +After the battle of Tudela the whole of the army in Aragon had fallen back +upon Saragossa. Joseph Palafox had shut himself up in it with his two +brothers, and the country population having followed in great numbers, +100,000 human beings were crowded together behind the ramparts of the +town, in its old convents, within the dull walls of its embattled houses-- +almost everywhere without outside windows, and already threatening the +enemy with their gloomy aspect. Throughout the province, at the call of +the defenders of Saragossa the insurgent peasants intercepted the convoys +of provisions intended for the French army, and the besiegers no less than +the besieged suffered from want of food. + +Napoleon had undervalued the resistance of the inhabitants of Saragossa. +Always ordering the movements of his troops himself, and from a distance, +he had sent Marshal Moncey with insufficient forces; and soon after, Junot +was entrusted with the attack. The sallies of the Spanish were easily +repulsed, but each assault cost a large number of men. The Aragonian +riflemen, posted on the ramparts or the roofs of the houses, brought down, +without exposing themselves, the bravest of our grenadiers. Everywhere the +women brought the artillery-men food and ammunition; and one of them, +finding a piece abandoned, applied the match to it herself, and continued +firing it for several days. The whole of the population fought on the +walls until they should have to fight in the streets and houses. + +From redoubt to redoubt, from convent to convent, General Junot had slowly +advanced, till the middle of January, 1809. When at last Marshal Lannes +appeared before Saragossa, he had called to his assistance large +reinforcements; and the troops posted in the suburbs, and who had not yet +shared in the action, dispersed the hostile crowd there. The attack +commenced with a vigor which quite equalled the energy of the resistance; +and on the 27th January, after a general assault, which was deadly and +long-continued, the entire circuit of the walls was carried by the French +troops. It is a maxim of war that every town deprived of the protection of +its walls capitulates, or surrenders at discretion; but in Saragossa the +real struggle--the struggle of the populace--was only beginning. On the +28th, Lannes wrote to the emperor: "Never, sire, have I seen such keen +determination as in putting our enemies here on their defence. I have seen +women come to be killed at a breach. Every house has to be taken by storm; +and without great precaution we should lose many soldiers, there being in +the town 30,000 or 40,000 men, besides the inhabitants. We now hold Santa- +Engracia as far as the Capucine convent, and have captured fifteen guns. +In spite of all the orders I have given to prevent soldiers from rushing +forward, their ardor getting the better of them has given us 200 wounded +more than we ought to have." + +And a few days afterwards: "The siege of Saragossa resembles in nothing +any war we have hitherto had. It is a business requiring great prudence +and great energy. We are obliged to take every house by mining or assault. +These wretches defend themselves with a keen determination which is +inconceivable. In a word, sire, it is a horrible war. At this moment three +or four parts of the town are on fire, and it is crushed with shells, yet +our enemies are not intimidated. We are laboring might and main to get to +the faubourg; and once we are masters of it, I hope the town will not long +hold out." + +During the first siege of Saragossa, Marshal Lefebvre, on getting +possession of one of the principal convents, sent to Joseph Palafox the +short despatch: "Head-quarters, Santa-Engracia. Capitulation." And the +defender of the place replied: "Head-quarters, Saragossa. War to the +knife." It was war to the knife, to the musket, to the mine, which was +pursued from house to house, from story to story. To go along the streets, +the French soldiers were obliged to slip past close to the walls, the +enemy being so keen and eager that a shako or coat held up on the point of +a sword to deceive them was instantly riddled with balls. More than one +detachment after taking a building were suddenly blown up, by being +secretly undermined. Our soldiers in their turn replied by some important +underground works, which were ably organized by Lacoste, colonel of the +engineers. From the 29th January to the 18th February the same struggle +was pursued, with the same keen determination. A day was chosen for the +assault of the faubourg, which General Gazan had long invested. The troops +were impatient to make this last effort, being both irritated and +depressed. They both suffered and saw others suffer. The misery in the +town, however, was greater than the besiegers could suspect. A terrible +epidemic was decimating those who were left of the defenders of Saragossa. +Joseph Palafox himself was dying. + +After the breach was opened in the ramparts of the faubourg, a frightful +explosion announced the destruction of the immense University buildings, +laying open to our soldiers the Coso, or Holy Street, which passed through +the whole town. The ground was everywhere mined, and the very heart of +Saragossa was at its last extremity, when the Junta of Defence at last +yielded to the necessity which was bearing them down, and a messenger +presented himself before Marshal Lannes in the name of Don Joseph Palafox. +We have seen the painful illusions created by the isolation of a besieged +town: the defenders of Saragossa believed that the Spanish had been +victorious everywhere, and it was only on the word of honor of Marshal +Lannes that they accepted the sad truth. The 12,000 men of the garrison +who had resisted all the horrors of the siege, surrendered as prisoners of +war. Of 100,000 inhabitants who had crowded Saragossa, 54,000 had +perished. There were heaps of dead bodies round the old church, Our Lady +del Pilar, object of the passionate devotion of the whole population. In +their real heart, and at the first moment of victory, the French soldiers +felt for the defenders of Saragossa an admiration mixed with anger and +alarm. Rage alone animated the heart of their most illustrious leader. +Napoleon had sometimes honored the resistance of his enemies, as at +Mantua; now, on his attaining the height of power and glory, he no longer +admitted that the Spanish should defend their independence against a +usurpation stained with perfidy. "My Brother," he wrote to King Joseph on +the 11th March, "I have read an article in the _Madrid Gazette_, giving an +account of the taking of Saragossa, in which they eulogize those who +defended that town--no doubt to encourage those of Valencia and Seville. +That is certainly a strange policy. I am sure there is not a Frenchman who +has not the greatest scorn for those who defended Saragossa. Those who +allow such vagaries are more dangerous for us than the insurgents. In a +proclamation, mention is already made of Saguntum: that, in my opinion, is +most imprudent." + +Many things at this juncture chafed the mind of the imperious master of +the world. He had left Spain immediately after a series of successes, +without deceiving himself as to their importance and decisive value with +reference to the permanent establishment of the French monarchy in Madrid. +He foresaw the difficulties and perpetually recurring embarrassments of a +command being divided, when the nominal authority of King Joseph was +unable to govern lieutenants who were powerful, distinguished, and +jealous. To obviate this inconvenience, and maintain that unity of action +which he considered an indispensable element of success, he had kept to +himself the supreme direction of the military operations, and attempted to +govern the war in Spain from a distance, at the moment when he was +organizing and recruiting his armies to support in Germany a determined +struggle against all the forces of the Austrian empire. Italy, Holland, +the Rhenish Confederation, all the states which he had founded or subdued, +claimed his support or vigilance. Russia remained quiet because she was +powerless and disarmed, but a serious check would have speedily thrown her +with ardor on the side of his enemies. Russia, compelled by recent +treaties and pressing interests, concealed under friendly phrases a secret +indifference, and the beginning of her enmity: being, moreover, occupied +by her own conquests, by the uncompleted subjugation of Finland, and a +renewal of her struggle with Turkey. England, irritated and humiliated by +the check undergone by her attempts at intervention in Spain, was +energetically preparing new and more successful efforts. In presence of so +many enemies, concealed or declared--compelled to regulate so many +affairs, the government, oppression, and conquest of so many races-- +Napoleon, on returning to Paris after his Spanish campaign, had found +men's dispositions changed, and precursory signs of an open discontent +which he was not accustomed to meet or to suffer. + +Even in Spain the rumor of this modification of the national thought had +already reached Napoleon's ears: he had read it in the letters of his most +intimate correspondents, and imagined it even in the eyes of his soldiers. +The rage of the despot burst forth one day in Valladolid: when passing +along the ranks of the troops he was leaving behind, on hearing some of +them muttering he is said to have snatched from the hand of a grenadier a +musket, which seemed awkwardly held, exclaiming, "You wretch! you deserve +to be shot, and I have a good mind to have it done! You are all longing to +go back to Paris, to resume your habits and pleasures:--well, I shall keep +you under arms till you are eighty." + +On reaching France, and especially Paris, Napoleon thought the atmosphere +felt charged with resistance and disobedience. There was more freedom of +speech, and men's thoughts were more daring than their words. Those whom +he distrusted now came nearer, and others had taken the liberty to +criticise his intentions and his acts. Even in the Legislative Body, the +arrangements of the code of criminal justice, recently submitted to the +vote, had undergone a rather lively discussion. Fouché had the courage to +raise the question of the succession to the throne, when speaking to the +Empress Josephine herself about the necessity of a divorce. The most +daring had ventured to anticipate the possibility of a fatal accident in +the chances of war, some affirming that Murat aimed at the crown. The +Arch-chancellor Cambacérès, who always showed prudence and ability in his +relations with his former colleague, now his master, attempted in vain to +calm the increasing irritation of his mind. His anger burst forth against +Talleyrand during a sitting of the Ministerial Council. For several months +previously a coldness and distrust had reigned between the emperor and +this confidant of several of the gravest acts of his life--who was always +self-possessed even when he seemed devoted, too clever ever to give +himself up entirely, and invariably impassible in manner and feature. +Napoleon poured forth his displeasure in a long speech, reminding +Talleyrand of advice he had formerly given him, being carried away both by +his passion and the desire to compromise and humiliate a man whose +intrigues he was afraid of. At the conclusion of this noisy scene, still +more humiliating for the emperor than for the minister, Talleyrand quietly +withdrew, limping through the galleries, among the officers and courtiers, +astonished at the noise which had reached even them, and looking at him +with curiosity or spite. It was the starting-point of that secret +animosity to which Talleyrand was afterwards to give cold and biting +expression, when, in 1813, after a similar scene, he said, "You have a +great man there, but badly brought up!" Napoleon's anger did not last +long, although his distrust remained fixed. Talleyrand's pride underwent +numerous eclipses. Commencing, however, from that day, the separation +between them became irreparable; and when the emperor's decadence began, +Talleyrand was already gained over to other hopes, and ready to serve +another cause. + +It was during the first moments of a growing discontent, already +unmistakable in Paris and the large towns, that Napoleon found himself +compelled to ask from France new efforts and cruel sacrifices. To make the +old contingents equal to the new, he has already, they said, raised 80,000 +men by the past conscriptions; the same expedient if soon applied to more +remote years will bring to his standards grown-up men able to undergo long +fatigue. The contingent of 1810 was at the same time raised to 110,000 +men. In order to furnish officers to this enormous mass of conscripts, the +emperor wrote on the 8th March, to General Clarke, minister of war: "I +have formed sixteen cohorts of 10,000 conscripts of my guard. Present to +me sixteen lists of four pupils in the St. Cyr Military College, to be +appointed as sub-lieutenants in those cohorts; that will supply employment +to sixty-four scholars. These youths will be under the orders of the +officers of my guard, and will assist them in forming the conscripts, and +fulfilling the duties of adjutant. They can also be of use in marching +with detachments to the regiments where they will have their definitive +appointment. Thus, with the 104 scholars necessary for the fifth +battalions, the school must supply 168 pupils this year. Present to me 168 +young people to replace those at St. Cyr. + +"Let me know what can be supplied by La Flèche School, and the lycées. I +have forty lycées; if each of them can furnish ten pupils of eighteen +years old, that makes 400 quartermasters. I shall have to send 200 to the +different regiments, and 200 to the army of the Rhine. Find also whether +the Polytechnic School cannot supply fifty officers; and whether the +Compiègne School cannot supply fifty youths of over seventeen, to be +incorporated with the companies of artillery workmen." + +As if to supply the troublesome gaps thus made in the schools by the +unexpected removal of so many boys, Napoleon had written beforehand to +Fouché from Benaventa (31st December, 1809): + +"I am informed that some families of the emigrants are removing their +children to avoid conscription, and keeping them in troublesome and +culpable idleness. It is clear that the old and rich families who are not +for our system are against it. I wish you to get a list drawn up of ten of +those principal families in each department, and fifty for Paris, showing +the age, fortune, and quality of each member. My intention is to pass a +decree to send to the Military School of St. Cyr the young men belonging +to those families whose ages are between sixteen and eighteen. If any +objection is made, the only answer to make is, that it is my good +pleasure. The future generation should not suffer from the hatred and +petty spite of the present generation. If you have to ask the prefects for +information, do so in similar terms." + +With her will or against it, by the impulse of enthusiasm still left or +under the law of good pleasure, France followed her insatiable master upon +the ever open battle-fields. Napoleon was not deceived as to his arbitrary +measures. "I wish to call out 30,000 men by the conscription of 1810," he +wrote on the 21st March to General Lacuée, director-general of the reviews +and conscription; "I am obliged to delay the publication of the 'Senatus- +consulte,' which can only be done when all the documents are published. +Let the good departments be preferred in choosing. The levy for France +generally will only be one fourth of this year's conscription. The +prefects might manage it without letting the public know, since there is +no occasion for their assembling or drawing lots." + +Financial difficulties also began to be felt. For a long time, by war +contributions and exactions of every kind imposed upon the conquered +countries, Napoleon had formed a military treasury, which he alone +managed, and without any check. This resource allowed him to do without +increasing taxes or imposing additional burdens. The funds, however, +became exhausted, and war alone could renew them. "Reply to Sieur Otto," +he wrote on the 1st April, 1809, to Champagny, "that I will have nothing +said about subsidies. It is not at all the principle of France. It was +well enough under the ancient government, because they had few troops, but +at the present day the power of France, and the energy impressed upon my +peoples, will produce as many soldiers as I wish, and my money is employed +in equipping them and putting them on the field." + +Negotiations were still being carried on. The fifth coalition was secretly +formed, and diplomatic plots were everywhere joining their threads. +Napoleon strove to engage Russia in a common declaration against Austria; +England enrolled against France the new government just established at +Constantinople by revolution. On both sides the preparations for war +became more patent and hurried. Metternich complained at Paris of the +hostile attitude of France, and announced the reciprocity imposed upon his +master. On the 1st April, Napoleon wrote, "Get articles put in all the +journals upon all that is provoking or offensive for the French nation in +everything done at Vienna. You can go as far back as the first arming. +There must be an article of this tendency every day in the _Journal de +l'Empire_, or the _Publiciste_, or the _Gazette de France_. The aim of +these articles is to prove that they wish us to make war." + +In France the decided, if not expressed, wish of the Emperor Napoleon, and +in Austria the patriotic indignation and warlike excitement of the court +and army, must necessarily have brought on a rupture; and the most +trifling pretext was enough to cause the explosion. The arrest of a French +courier by the Austrians at Braunau, the violation of the imperial +territory by the troops of Marshal Davout then posted at Wurzburg, +provoked hostilities several days sooner than Napoleon expected; and +Metternich had already asked for his passports when, on the 10th April, +the Archduke Charles crossed the Inn with his army. The Tyrol at the same +time rose in insurrection under the orders of a mountain innkeeper, Andrew +Hofer; and the Bavarian garrisons were everywhere attacked by hunters and +peasants. Like the Spanish, the Tyrolese claimed the independence of their +country. + +The troops of the Emperor Napoleon already covered Germany; Davout being +at Ratisbon, Lannes at Augsburg, and Masséna at Ulm. Marshal Lefebvre +commanded the Bavarians, Augereau was appointed to lead the Wurtembergers, +the men of Baden and Hesse; the Saxons were placed under the orders of +Bernadotte. On the evening of the 9th April, the Archduke Charles wrote to +the King of Bavaria that his orders were to advance, and treat as enemies +all the forces which opposed him; that he fondly trusted that no German +would resist the liberating army on its march to deliver Germany. The +Emperor Napoleon had already offered to the Kings of Saxony and Bavaria +one of his palaces in France as an asylum, should they find themselves +compelled to temporarily abandon their capitals. The King of Bavaria set +out for Augsburg. + +The unexpected movement of his enemies modified Napoleon's plan of attack. +A delay in the arrival of the despatches sent to Major-General Berthier +caused some difficulty in the first operations of the French army. When +the emperor arrived at Donauwerth, on the morning of the 17th, his army +was spread over an extent of twenty-five leagues, and was in danger of +being cut in two by the Archduke Charles. It was Napoleon's care and study +on beginning the campaign to avoid this danger, which soon afterwards he +subjected his adversary to. The Austrians, after passing the Isar at two +places, and driving back the Bavarians who had been appointed to defend +the passage, advanced towards the Danube. + +Already, before touching Donauwerth, Napoleon's orders had begun the +concentration of his forces. Masséna was at Augsburg, and received the +order to march upon Neustadt, and similarly Davout left Ratisbon to +advance to the same place. The Archduke Charles was also striving to reach +it, hoping to gain upon the French by speed, and pass between the +divisions posted at Ratisbon and Augsburg. This manoeuvre was baffled by +Napoleon's prompt decision. "Never was there need for more rapidity and +activity of movement than now," he wrote on the 18th to Masséna. +"Activity, activity, speed! Let me have your assistance." + +The emperor's lieutenants did not fail him in this brilliant and +scientific movement, everywhere executed with an ability and precision +worthy of the great general who had conceived it. The Archduke Charles was +a consummate tactician, but often his prudence degenerated into +hesitation--a dangerous fault in presence of the most overpowering +military genius whom the world had yet beheld. Napoleon himself said of +Marshal Turenne that he was the only general whom experience had made more +daring. A long military experience had not exercised that happy effect on +the archduke; he still felt his way, and neglecting to take advantage of +the concentration of his forces, dispersed the different parts of his +army. The chastisement was not slow in following the fault. On the 19th, +Marshal Davout, ascending the Danube from Ratisbon to Abensberg, met and +defeated the Austrian troops at Fangen, thus being able to effect his +junction with the Bavarians. On the 20th, the emperor attacked the enemy's +lines at several points, and forced his way through them towards Rohr +after several active engagements, thus securing the point of Abensberg, +and separating the Archduke Charles from General Hiller and the Archduke +Louis. On the 21st, this last part of the enemy's army precipitated itself +in a body upon the important position of Landshut, where all the Austrian +war material was collected, with a large number of wounded; but at the +same moment the emperor himself came up, eagerly followed by Lannes and +Bessières, commanding their regiments. Masséna also made haste to join +them. The bridges on the Isar were all attacked at once, and bravely +defended by the Austrians: when carried they were already in flames. The +Archduke Charles, however, attacking Ratisbon, which Davout was obliged to +leave protected only by one regiment, easily took possession of that +important place, commanding both banks of the Danube. He was thus, on the +22nd, before Eckmühl opposite Davout. Informed of this movement, which he +had partly guessed from the noise of the cannon on the 21st, the emperor +directed the main body of his army towards Eckmühl. His troops had already +been fighting for three days, and Napoleon asked a fresh effort from them. +"It is four o'clock," he wrote to Davout, "I have resolved to march, and +shall be upon Eckmühl about midday, and ready to attack the enemy +vigorously at three o'clock. I shall have with me 40,000 men. I shall be +at Ergoltsbach before midday. If the cannon are heard I shall know I am to +attack. If I don't hear it, and you are ready for the attack, fire a salvo +of ten guns at twelve, another at one, and another at two. I am determined +to exterminate the army of the Archduke Charles to-day, or at the latest +to-morrow." + +The day was not finished, and the cuirassiers were still fighting by +moonlight to carry and defend the Ratisbon highway, yet the victory was +decisive. The Archduke Charles was beaten, and falling back upon Ratisbon, +he, during the night, took the wise step of evacuating the town and +withdrawing into Bohemia, where General Bellegarde and his troops awaited +him. Henceforth the Austrian army formed two distinct bodies. On the 23rd, +Napoleon marched upon Ratisbon, which bravely defended itself. Slightly +wounded in the foot by a ball, the emperor remained the whole day on +horseback, Marshal Lannes directing the assault. At one moment the +soldiers hesitating because the Austrians shot down one after another of +those who carried the ladders, Lannes seized one, and shouted, "I shall +show you that your marshal has not ceased to be a grenadier." His aides- +de-camp went before him, and they themselves led the troops to the +escalade. At last the gates were opened, and Napoleon entered Ratisbon. + +He spent three days there, preparing his movement of attack against +Vienna, which was slightly and badly defended, fortifying his positions, +and taking precautions against an unexpected return of the Archduke +Charles. At the same time, by his proclamations to the army, as well as by +his letters to the princes of the Rhenish Confederation, he spread +throughout all Europe his inebriation with success, and the declaration of +his projects. + +"Soldiers! + +"You have justified my expectations; you have made up for numbers by +bravery. You have gloriously proved the difference which exists between +the soldiers of Cæsar and the armed hordes of Xerxes. + +"In a few days we have triumphed in the three pitched battles of Thann, +Abensberg, and Eckmühl, and in the engagements of Peising, Landshut, and +Ratisbon. A hundred cannon, forty flags, 50,000 prisoners, three sets of +bridge-apparatus, all the enemy's artillery, with 600 harnessed wagons, +3000 harnessed carriages with baggage, all the regimental chests,--that is +the result of your rapid marches and your courage. + +"The enemy, intoxicated by a perjured cabinet, seemed to have retained no +recollection of you; his awakening has been speedy, you have appeared to +him more terrible than ever. Recently he crossed the Inn, and invaded the +territory of our allies. Recently he was in full hopes of carrying the war +into the bosom of our country; to-day defeated, terrified, he flies in +disorder. My advance-guard has already passed the Inn. Within a month we +shall be at Vienna." + +It was at Ratisbon that the emperor at last received the news of the army +of Italy which he was impatiently demanding. When attacked, on the 10th +April, by the Archduke John, as the generals separated by Napoleon had +been in Germany by the Archduke Charles, Prince Eugène, who was in command +for the first time, had not been able, as Napoleon was, to retrieve, by a +sudden stroke and powerful effort, an engagement badly begun. Being unable +to hold head against the Austrian forces, he resolved to retire, in order +to rejoin the main body of his army. This retrograde movement he performed +with regret; hesitating, and feeling annoyed by the grumbling of the +soldiers, because they wished to march to the enemy, and by the hesitation +of the generals who dared not offer him advice, he halted on the 15th +before the town of Sacile, and on the 16th made an unexpected attack on +the Archduke John, who on the previous evening had surprised and beaten +the French rearguard at Pordenone, though, as it now appeared, not any +better guarded himself. Confused at the first moment by an unlooked-for +attack, the Austrians defended themselves with great bravery. Their +superior forces threatened to cut off our communications, and the prince, +afraid of being isolated, ordered retreat when the issue of the battle was +still uncertain. He had just left the battle-field--which the soldiers +would scarcely leave, furious at not having gained the day--when the +Viceroy of Italy, modest and brave, but evidently not equal to the task +which the emperor had imposed upon him, wrote thus to the latter:--"My +father, I have need of your indulgence. Fearing your blame if I withdrew, +I accepted battle, and I have lost it." He accompanied this sad news with +no message nor any details, and the want of information annoyed Napoleon +still more than the check undergone by his troops. "Whatever evil may have +taken place," he wrote, "if I had full knowledge of the state of things I +should decide what to do; but I think it an absurd and frightful thing +that a battle taking place on the 16th, it is now the 26th, without my +knowing anything about it. That upsets my plans for the campaign, and I +cannot understand what can have suggested to you that singular procedure. +I hope to be soon at Salzburg, and make short work in the Tyrol; but for +God's sake! let me know what is going on, and what is the situation of my +affairs in Italy." And on the 30th April: "War is a serious game, in which +one can compromise his reputation and his country. A man of sense must +soon feel and know if he is made for that profession or not. I know that +in Italy you affect some contempt for Masséna; if I had sent him, that +which has happened would not have taken place. Masséna has military +qualities before which one must humble himself. His faults must be forgot, +for all men have their faults. In giving you the command of the army I +made a mistake, and ought to have sent you Masséna, and given you the +command of the cavalry under his orders. The Prince Royal of Bavaria +commands a division under the Duke of Dantzic. Kings of France, emperors, +even when reigning, have often commanded a regiment or division under the +orders of an old marshal. I think that if matters become pressing you +ought to write to the King of Naples to come to the army: he will leave +the government to the queen. You will hand over the command to him, and +serve under his orders. The case simply is, that you have less experience +of war than a man who has served since he was sixteen. I am not displeased +at the mistakes you have made, but because you don't write to me, and put +me in a position to give you advice, and even direct operations from this +place." + +Fortunately for Prince Eugène, as well as the army of Italy, General +Macdonald had just arrived at head-quarters, then moved beyond the Pena. +Able, honorable, and brave as he had shown himself in the wars of the +revolution, Macdonald underwent the weight of imperial disgrace on account +of his intimacy with General Moreau. The young officers of the empire used +to turn to ridicule his grave disposition and simple habits; but the +soldiers loved him, and had confidence in him, and Prince Eugène had the +good sense to let himself be guided by his advice. The retreat being +continued to the Adige, the army rested there, waiting for the enemy, who +were slow in coming in. When at last the Archduke John appeared, he durst +not attack the line of the river, and waited for news from Germany. Prince +Eugène was still ignorant of the emperor's success. On the 1st of May, +Macdonald, who was taking observations, believed he saw a retreating +movement of the enemy towards the Frioul. "Victory in Germany!" he +shouted, running towards the viceroy; "now is the moment to march +forward!" True enough, the Archduke John, being informed of Napoleon's +movement upon Vienna, made haste to return to Germany, in the hope of +joining his brother, the Archduke Charles. Prince Eugène immediately +started in pursuit, passed the Piave hurriedly, and driving the archduke +through the Carnatic and Julian Alps, marched himself, with a part of his +army, towards the victorious emperor. On the 14th May, after dividing his +forces, he sent General Macdonald with one part to meet General Marmont, +who was advancing towards Trieste. The army of Italy was soon after +reunited at Wagram. + +The first reverses of Prince Eugène were not the only thing to disturb the +emperor's joy at Ratisbon. In Tyrol a rising of the peasants, prepared and +encouraged by Austrian agents, had suddenly engaged the whole population, +men, women, and children, in a determined struggle against the French +conquest and the Bavarian domination. A proclamation of the Emperor +Francis was spread through the mountains, and General Chasteler was sent +from Vienna to put himself at the head of the insurrection. The Bavarian +garrisons were few, and the French detachments which came to their +assistance being composed of recruits, the patriotic passion of the +mountaineers easily triumphed over an enemy of inferior numbers. From Linz +to Brunecken all the posts were carried by the Tyrolese; Halle, Innspruck, +and Trente quickly fell into the power of the insurgents. A French column +arriving beneath Innspruck when General Chasteler and Hofer had just taken +possession of the place, was surrounded, and compelled to capitulate. +General Baraguey d'Hilliers, who occupied Trente, had to fall back upon +Roveredo, and then upon Rivoli. The Italian as well as the German Tyrolese +had reconquered their independence; from one end of the mountains to the +other re-echoed the name of the Emperor Francis and that of the Archduke +John, whom the peasants were impatiently awaiting since the news of his +first successes in Italy. The insurrection had been entirely patriotic, +religious, and popular: the first leader, Andrew Hofer, was a grave and +pious man, who rejoiced and triumphed with simplicity, asking God's pardon +in the churches for the crime and violence which he had been unable to +prevent, and which were only acts of reprisal for the Bavarian oppression. +The modest glory of the honest innkeeper reached the Emperor Napoleon with +the news of the loss of the Tyrol. + +The whole of Germany seemed moved by the same breath of independence in +the subject or conquered countries. In Swabia, Saxony, Hesse, a silent +emotion thrilled all hearts; at certain points bands of insurgents +collected together. In Prussia, the instinct of patriotic vengeance was +still more powerful; the commandant of Berlin gave to the garrison as +watchword "Charles and Ratisbon;" one of the officers at the head of the +cavalry here, Major Schill, formerly known as leader of the partisans in +1806 and 1807, had just resumed his old task, drawing with him the body +which he commanded; and several companies of infantry deserted to join +him. The protestations of the Prussian ministers were not enough to +convince Napoleon of the ignorance of government with regard to these +hostile manifestations. The Archduke Ferdinand at the head of an army of +35,000 men, had just entered Poland, taking by surprise Prince Poniatowski +and the Polish army, still badly organized. After a keenly-contested +battle in the environs of Raszyn, near Warsaw, Prince Poniatowski was +obliged to surrender his capital, and fall back upon the right bank of the +Vistula. + +Napoleon alone had conquered, and his lieutenants acting for him in more +distant parts, by being surprised or incapable, had only caused him +embarrassment. This was a natural and inevitable consequence of a too +extensive power, and a territory too vast to be at all points usefully +occupied and skilfully defended. All these events confirmed the emperor in +the resolution which he had already taken to march upon Vienna. Neglecting +the Archduke Charles's army, the Marshals Lannes and Bessières crossed +Bavaria, Napoleon himself setting out for Landshut in order to take the +management of his forces. Thus the whole army advanced towards the Inn. +Masséna took possession of Passau, and by the 1st May all the troops had +crossed the river. Masséna was ordered to make himself master of Linz, and +secure the bridge over the Danube at Monthausen. There the archdukes and +General Hiller might effect their junction, and there, therefore, must the +road to Vienna be opened or closed. + +Masséna never hesitated before a difficulty, and never drew back before +the most fatal necessities. The Austrians were superior to him in number, +and occupied excellent positions. Linz was carried and passed through in a +few hours. When Napoleon arrived before the small town of Ebersberg which +defended the bridge, the place, the castle and even the bridge were in our +power, at the cost of a horrible carnage which caused some emotion to the +emperor himself. He refused to occupy Ebersberg, everywhere swimming in +blood and strewed with dead bodies. There was still a rallying-point left +to the archdukes at the bridge of Krems, but they did not think they could +defend it. The Archduke Louis and General Hiller passed to the right bank +of the Danube, and the road to Vienna lay open. + +Generally slow in his operations, the Archduke Charles was too far from +the capital to assist it. The place had made no preparations for defence, +but the population was animated by great patriotic zeal, and the sight of +the French troops before the gates at once caused a rising. The new town, +which was open and without ramparts, was quickly in our power. +Preparations were made to defend the walls of the old town, behind which +the Archduke Maximilian was entrenched, with from 15,000 to 18,000 regular +troops. + +Napoleon took up his abode at Schönbrunn, in the palace abandoned by the +Emperor Francis; and after appointing as governor of Vienna, General +Andréossy, recently his ambassador in Austria, waited calmly for the +result of the bombardment. The archduke had imprudently exposed the town +to an irresistible attack: on the morning of the 12th May he left Vienna +with the greater part of his troops, leaving to General O'Reilly the sad +duty of concluding the capitulation. The French took possession of the +place on the 13th. The population were still excited when Napoleon issued +a proclamation denouncing the princes of the house of Lorraine for having +deserted, "not as soldiers of honor yielding to the circumstances and +reverses of war, but as perjurers pursued by their remorse. On running +away from Vienna their farewells to its inhabitants were fire and +bloodshed; like Medea, they have cut the throats of their children with +their own hands. Soldiers! the people of Vienna, to use the expression of +the deputation from its faubourgs, are forsaken, abandoned, and widowed; +they will be the object of your regards. I take the good citizens under my +special protection. As to turbulent and bad men, I shall make examples of +them in the ends of justice. Soldiers! Let us treat kindly the poor +peasants, and this good population who have so many claims upon our +esteem. Let us not be made haughty by our success; but let us see in it a +proof of that divine justice which punishes the ungrateful and the +perjured." + +That boundless vanity which always pervaded Napoleon's soul, in spite of +his protestations of thankfulness towards divine justice, did not prevent +him from clearly seeing beforehand the difficulties which surrounded him, +and the obstacles still to be overcome, even after reaching Vienna, and +gaining the victory in every battle. Success had again attended on all his +combinations, and the extreme extension of his forces. Prince Eugène after +recovering the advantage over Archduke John, was now coming nearer the +emperor as he pursued the enemy. Marshal Lefebvre at the head of the +Bavarians and French divisions, had commenced offensive operations against +General Chasteler and Jellachich, come to the assistance of Tyrol, and +after beating their forces and those of the mountaineers combined at +Worgel, on the 13th May, advanced to Innspruck and took possession of it. +The peasants had retired to the mountains, and the Austrian forces fell +back upon Hungary. Prince Poniatowski defended victoriously the right bank +of the Vistula, and threatened Cracow, while Galicia was rising in favor +of Polish independence. The Archduke Charles's army, however, still +existed--large, powerful and eager to avenge its defeats. The Archduke +Louis had brought him the remainder of the troops, and the Archduke John +was advancing to the assistance of his brothers. In order to prevent this +junction, and conquer his enemy before he had been reinforced by the army +of Italy, Napoleon decided upon crossing the Danube in the very suburbs of +the capital, by making use of the numerous islets there. At the island of +Lobau, which was the point chosen for the passage, the bed of the Danube +was broad and deep; and the island not being in the middle of the stream, +the branch separating it from the bank was comparatively narrow. The +emperor gave orders to construct bridges. + +The attempt was a bold one at any time; it was rash, at the moment when +the waters of the Danube, swollen by the melting of the snow, threatened +to sweep away the bridges, prepared with difficulty, on which depended the +success of the operation. On the 20th May, Marshal Masséna's troops +crossed the river entirely, and took up position in the villages of +Aspern, and Essling; a ditch full of water joined the two villages, and +its banks were immediately covered with troops. The archduke's advance- +guard had alone appeared, till at three o'clock in the afternoon of the +21st May, the Austrian army, 70,000 to 80,000 men strong, at last poured +on the plain of Marchfeld. The large bridge thrown from the right bank to +the island of Lobau had been broken for the second time during the night, +and therefore only 35,000 or 40,000 Frenchmen were there to meet the +enemy. The emperor, however, was there, the bridge was about to be +repaired, and the generals were opposed to every thought of retreat. +Marshal Lannes had gone forward to occupy Essling, while General Molitor +had fortified himself in Aspern. The struggle began with the passionate +ardor of men playing the great game in which their glory or their +country's liberty is at stake. The position at Aspern, covering the bridge +to the island of Lobau, was several times taken and retaken, till at last +Molitor barricaded the houses of the village, and drove back the Austrian +attack with the bayonet. No assault, however fierce, was able to dislodge +Masséna from the burying-ground, nor Lannes from the village of Essling. +At one time the Prince of Hohenzollern's division was very nearly cutting +off our communication between the two villages, at sight of which Lannes, +turning towards Marshal Bessières, ordered him, in a voice of thunder, and +without regard for his rank or age, to put himself at the head of the +cuirassiers for a "thorough" charge. Deeply hurt by this order, and the +tone in which it was given, Bessières deferred demanding an explanation, +and made a dash upon the Austrian lines. He had to meet in succession the +artillery, the infantry, and the cavalry; General Espagne, who was in +charge of the heavy horse, was killed by his side; then General Lasalle +made a charge in his turn, bringing to the marshal assistance of which he +stood in great need, and Prince Hohenzollern's division was stopped. In +the evening, when bivouacking, the emperor was obliged to interpose to +prevent Lannes and Bessières from using against each other the swords +which they had so gallantly used during the fighting against the enemy. + +The archduke having ordered retreat after nightfall, both armies camped in +their positions. Large forces had already crossed the Danube, including +the whole corps of General Lannes. The guard also arrived, which had not +yet shared in any engagement during the campaign. Seventy or seventy-five +thousand men having reached the left bank, they only waited for Marshal +Davout's corps, which had received orders to hasten its march, when the +large bridge broke for the third time. Part of the artillery and most of +the ammunition-wagons were still on the right bank. When communication was +again affected, the fighting was everywhere carried on with fresh fury. + +Another attack was made on the villages of Aspern and Essling, which had +already been reduced to ruins. One after another, Masséna recovered the +positions which Molitor was forced on the previous evening to abandon; he +also carried the church occupied by the Austrian general, Vacquant. Lannes +had received orders, while protecting Essling, to march into the plain, +and by a circular movement pierce the enemy's line and cut them in two. +This operation was about to be accomplished, and the marshal sent an aide- +de-camp to the emperor to ask him to have his rear protected by the guard +on his leaving Essling unprotected, when frightful news was brought to +Napoleon. The trunks of trees, stones, and rubbish of every kind, brought +down by the rapid current of the river, had again broken the cables which +held together the boats composing the great bridge, and both parts were +carried down the stream, taking with them a squadron of cuirassiers, who +were then defiling over. The passage of the troops being stopped, and the +ammunition running short, Napoleon ordered Lannes to fall back on the line +of the villages and abandon the pursuit of the Austrians, who were just +before that hardly pressed everywhere. Whilst the marshal, bitterly +disappointed, was effecting this backward movement, the archduke ordered +all his artillery to be directed upon him: General St. Hilaire was killed +at the head of his division, and whole files of General Oudinot's +regiments were shot down--unfortunate lads, so recently enrolled that +their officers durst not deploy them before the enemy. It was now midday; +Major-General Berthier had just written to Marshal Davout, retained on the +opposite bank of the Danube: "The interruption of the bridge has prevented +provision-supplies: at ten o'clock we were short of ammunition, and the +enemy, perceiving it, marched back upon us. Two hundred guns, to which we +cannot reply, have done us much harm. In these circumstances, it is +extremely important to repair the bridges and send ammunition and food. +Write to the Prince of Ponte Corvo (Bernadotte) not to open a campaign in +Bohemia, and to General Lauriston to be ready to join us. See that Daru +sends us ambulance-stores and provisions of every kind. As soon as the +bridge is ready, or during the night, come and have a consultation with +the emperor." + +At the same moment the Austrians began a movement similar to that which +Lannes so recently was on the point of effecting. The Archduke Charles +combined his best troops, to overpower our centre and finally break our +lines. Marshal Lannes was immediately on the spot, bringing up in close +succession the already decimated divisions--the cuirassiers, the old +guard; and these were soon supported by the charges of the light cavalry. +The conflict was now frightful. The French artillery, placed on the bank +of the ditch connecting Aspern and Essling, fired slowly, with the +precaution and prudence due to their shortness of ammunition, while the +Austrian cannons thundered unceasingly. Lannes galloped in front of his +regiments, which were immovable before the enemy, whose advance had been +stopped; and when encouraging his soldiers by gesture and voice, one of +his aides-de-camp conjured him to dismount. When in the act of obeying, a +cannon-ball struck him, shattering both his knees. Marshal Bessières +assisted his terrified officers in wrapping round him a cuirassier's cloak +and getting him carried to an ambulance; but, recollecting his irritation +of the evening before, he turned away his head as he grasped the hand of +his dying friend, lest the sight of him should cause any sorrow or +vexation. + +Ominous news were now coming from all parts to Napoleon, who had not +quitted the angle formed by the line between Aspern and Essling. Marshal +Masséna still kept in the midst of the smoking ruins which marked the spot +where stood so recently the pretty village of Aspern. The Austrians were +advancing in dense masses against the village of Essling. Marshal +Bessières defended that post, indispensable to the safety of the army. The +emperor sent for the fusileers of the guard and placed them under General +Mouton's orders. "I give them to you," said he; "make another effort to +save the army; but let us put an end to this! After these, I have only the +grenadiers and chasseurs of the old guard; they must be reserved for a +disaster." General Mouton advanced, and his first effort was rewarded by +freeing General Baudet, who was hemmed in in a barn, which he defended +like a fortress. Five times did the enemy return to the charge, and now +they prepared for a new attack, when General Rapp, shouting, "The emperor +says we must put an end to this!" combined his forces with Mouton's, and +both rushed forward, followed by their soldiers, with their bayonets in +front and their heads held low. The Austrians at last recoiled, and +Essling remained in our hands. The battery which had been raised on the +island of Lobau had fired with effect upon the masses of the enemy when, +for a short time, they were near the river. The bridge was free, the only +way left us to effect our retreat, when night at last permitted us to +withdraw without disgrace or danger. The long summer's day was at its +close. + +Having for a long time understood the necessity of this backward movement, +the emperor longed only for its execution, and wished to inspect himself +the resources of defence afforded by the island of Lobau. He would not +hear of leaving the battlefield without being certain of the position of +Aspern, and sent to ask Masséna if he could undertake to hold the village, +as he had constantly done for the two previous days. The old soldier was +sitting on a heap of ruins, in the midst of the smoking remains of the +place, and, rising at the first words of the aide-de-camp, he stretched +out his arm towards the Danube, as if to hasten the messenger's return: +"Go and tell the emperor that I shall keep here two hours, six, twenty- +four, if need be--so long as the safety of the army requires it." + +The Archduke Charles, however, was himself tired of a struggle that led to +no decision--cruel and bloody beyond all that he had seen in his long +military career. He had brought together all his forces, and placed all +his artillery in a line, in order to crush once more with his cannon-shot +the invincible battalions which separated him from the river and still +forbade his passage. General Mouton brought to this threatened point the +fusileers of the guard who had just freed Essling; our dismounted guns +replied at rare intervals to the continued fire of the enemy; the bodies +of infantry, slightly protected by the inequalities of the ground, were +massed behind useless cannon, and supported by the cavalry, which covered +at one part the road from Essling to Aspern, and at another the +unprotected space between Essling and the Danube. Parallel to them were +arranged the guard in order. All these glorious remnants of a two days' +unexampled struggle, motionless under the cannon-balls, looked in silence +upon their officers moving about in front of the lines between the cannon +of the enemy and the men whom they commanded. "Only one word escaped our +lips," said General Mouton, afterwards Count Lobau, when telling the story +of that day; "we had only one thing to say, 'close up the ranks!' whenever +the soldiers fell under the fire of the archduke's 200 guns." + +On crossing to the entrance of the bridge on the river's bank, where there +were confused heaps of wounded men, transport carts, empty artillery- +wagons, and dismounted guns, Napoleon went to see Marshal Lannes, who had +just undergone amputation, and showed more emotion than he usually showed +at the tragical end of his lieutenants. The dying farewell of the +illustrious officer to his chief, still unsated with glory and conquest, +has been told in various ways. The emperor himself reported the words as +he wished them to be known, full of kindness and sadness on the part of +Lannes. Some of those who stood by reported that the instinct of the dying +soldier awoke with the bluntness frequently characterizing it, and that +Lannes cursed the cruel ambition which strewed Napoleon's brilliant route +with the corpses of his friends. He only survived that scene two days, and +was praised as he deserved by Napoleon. On again mounting his horse, the +emperor inspected the island of Lobau in detail, and satisfied himself +that the position could be easily defended by a large body of troops well +equipped and well commanded. He resolved to leave Masséna there--the +natural leader in all cases of supreme resistance--while he made +preparations at Vienna and on the right bank of the Danube for +definitively crossing the river and bringing the campaign to a close. His +project thus conceived, and combinations decided on in his mind, the +emperor repassed the small arm of the river, and, stopping at the head of +the bridge, called his generals around him. It was nightfall; the battle +had finished; on both sides they were still occupied in removing the +wounded; the dead everywhere strewed the plain, the border of the ditch, +and the ruins of the villages. Napoleon held a council of war on the +field, on that bank of the Danube defended during two days with so much +obstinacy. + +The emperor was not accustomed to consult his generals, his thought was +spontaneous as his will was imperious. On the evening of the 22nd of May, +he listened patiently to the ideas, the objections, even the complaints of +the generals who surrounded him. Nearly all were discouraged, and +conceived the necessity of a complete and long retreat; they weighed, +however, all the inconveniences of this, and felt beforehand all the +humiliation; their perplexity was extreme. Napoleon at last spoke; his +plan was decided. By abandoning the island of Lobau, and repassing the +great arm of the Danube with the entire army, it would be necessary to +leave behind 10,000 wounded, the whole of the artillery, to be covered +with disgrace, and consequently to bring about at once a rising in +Germany, which was ready to fall eagerly upon an enemy she believed +vanquished. It was not the retreat on Vienna, which would be thus +prepared; it was the retreat upon Strasburg. What they must do was to +occupy the island of Lobau with 40,000 men, under the orders of Masséna; +to appoint Davout to protect Vienna and the right bank of the Danube +against the attacks of the Archduke Charles, and prevent him from +effecting his junction with the Archduke John; while all the personal +efforts of Napoleon would be directed to repairing the great bridge, +preparing provisions and transports, concentrating his troops until the +day when, rejoined by Prince Eugène, and sure of traversing the Danube +victoriously, he would again unite the entire army to crush his enemies by +a decisive blow, thus terminating the campaign gloriously on a field of +battle already chosen in the conqueror's mind. + +As he spoke, developing his plan with that powerful and spontaneous +eloquence which he drew from the abundance and clearness of his thoughts, +his generals listened, and felt their trouble disappear, and the heroic +ardor of the combat take possession of their hearts. Masséna rose, carried +away by his admiration, forgetful of his habitual ill-humor and the +discontent he so constantly manifested. He took several steps towards the +emperor. "Sire, you are a great man," cried he, "and worthy to command men +like myself. Leave me here, and I promise you to fling into the Danube all +the Austrian forces who may try to dislodge me." Marshal Davout undertook, +in the same way, to defend Vienna. Tranquillity had reappeared on every +face. Within the limits of that plain covered with dead, by the side of +the wagons ceaselessly defiling with wounded and dying, a great work +remained to be done, a great enterprise to be achieved, whatever obstacles +might present themselves. Hope had reappeared, together with the end to be +pursued. Napoleon crossed the island and embarked with Berthier and Savary +in a small boat, which brought him back safely to the right bank of the +river. Masséna returned to Aspern, momentarily invested with the chief +command. The retreat commenced. + +The cannonade was still heard in the plain, but faint, and separated by +long intervals; the artillerymen, worn out, stood to their guns with great +difficulty. The Austrians were overcome with fatigue; already several +corps had passed into the island under cover of the darkness, when the +Archduke Charles at length perceived that we were escaping from him. He at +once began to follow, but slowly, without spirit or eagerness. The troops +defiled in order over the little bridge which Marshal Masséna protected in +person. He remained almost alone upon the bank, his entire army having +effected its retreat; and after collecting the arms and horses abandoned +by the soldiers, he at last resolved to follow his men and destroy the +bridge behind him, intrepid to the last moment in his retrograde movement, +as the captain of a shipwrecked vessel is the last to quit the remains of +his ship. Day was now dawning; the balls from the enemy's batteries +recommenced to rain around him, when the marshal at length gained the +centre of the island, beyond their range. + +More than 40,000 French or Austrians, dead or wounded, had fallen in the +struggle of these two terrible days. In spite of the emphatic bulletins of +the Emperor Napoleon, Europe looked upon the battle of Essling as a +striking check to our arms. The warlike excitement of Germany increased; +the Tyroleans were again rising, and General Deroy found himself forced to +evacuate Innspruck; a corps of German refuges, under the orders of the +Duke of Brunswick-Oels, took the road to Dresden, the court immediately +taking refuge in Leipzic; a second detachment threatened King Jerome in +Westphalia. He was afraid for his crown, and the emperor wrote to him on +the 9th June: "The English are not to be feared; all their forces are in +Spain and Portugal. They will do nothing--they can do nothing, in Germany; +besides, time enough when they do. As to Schill, he is of little moment, +and has already put himself out of the question by retreating towards +Stralsund. General Gratien and the Danes will probably give an account of +him. The Duke of Brunswick has not 8000 men; the former Elector of Cassel +has not 600. Before making a movement it is well to see clearly. +Experience will show you the difference there is between the reports +spread by the enemy and the reality. Never, during sixteen years that I +have commanded, have I countermanded a regiment, because I always wait for +an affair to be ripe, and have thorough knowledge before commencing +operations. There is no need for anxiety; you have nothing to fear, all +this is nothing but rumor." + +At Paris, where the most confident had become anxious, Napoleon severely +reprimanded the timid. He wrote, on the 19th May, to General Clarke, the +minister of war: "Sir, you have alarmed Paris too much about the affairs +of Prussia, even if it were true that she had attacked us. Prussia is of +very small importance, and I shall never want for means to enforce her +submission--all the more so when these reports are contradicted. You have +not used sufficient prudence on this occasion; it produces a bad effect +for any power to imagine that I am without resource. The minister of +police has taken his text from this to make a lot of foolish talk, which +is very much out of place." + +Austria had in fact sent to Prussia an ambassador with instructions to +engage King Frederick William to break his chains, and take at last his +part in the resistance; but that monarch had refused. "Not yet," said he; +"it is too soon I am not ready; when I come, I will not come alone. Only +strike one other blow." The efforts of Major Schill had not been +supported, and that courageous partisan had failed under the walls of +Stralsund. The secret diplomacy of Austria appeared to have met with more +favor at St. Petersburg; the declaration of war by Russia against Austria +remained absolutely without result; the Russian troops which were in +Poland seemed more disposed to suppress the insurrection of Galicia than +to second the efforts of Prince Poniatowski. + +It was one of the great characteristics of the genius of the Emperor +Napoleon to place no importance upon reports or appearances, although he +was not ignorant of their action on the public. In his public +proclamations he made an effort to disguise the check he had received at +Essling; but in practice, in his military operations he comprehended all +the gravity of it, without allowing himself to be troubled an instant by +bad fortune; he even derived original and powerful combinations from the +embarrassments of his situation. Prince Eugène had already joined him near +Vienna (26th May, 1809), driving back the Archduke John upon Hungary, and +overthrowing the corps of the Jellachich Ban, which had in vain tried to +stop his progress at Mount Saint-Michel, near Leoben. The army of Italy +was not to rest long, the emperor having immediately sent his adopted son +to follow the traces of the archduke. "To do the utmost harm to the +archduke; to drive him back to the Danube; to intercept his communications +with Chastelar and Giulay, who apparently intend to join him; to reduce +the fortress of Graetz by isolating it, and to maintain your +communications on the left with the duke of Auerstaedt, to construct the +bridges on the Raab--these should be your aims," wrote the emperor to +Prince Eugène, on the 13th June, and on the 15th: "It is probable that +Raab has not sufficient fortifications for the enemy to dare to place a +considerable garrison there of his best troops. If he only puts in bad +ones the town will surrender on being invested, which will give us the +advantage of taking his men, and of having a good post. If the archduke +flies before you, you will pursue him, so that he may not be able to pass +the Danube at Komorn, where there is, I think, no bridge, but he may be +obliged to take refuge at Bude: do not go farther from me. The line behind +the Raab is, I think, suitable for you, because my bridges over the Danube +will be completed, and I can recall you in four days, taking at least two +from the enemy, which will permit you to be present at the battle, while +the enemy will be unable to be there. Your aim, then, is to hinder him +from passing to Komorn, and then to oblige him to throw himself upon Bude, +which will take him away from Vienna." + +On the 14th June, even before Napoleon had written these last lines, +Prince Eugène, after an obstinate combat, had taken from the Archduke +John, and his brother the Archduke Palatine, the important line of the +Raab. Generals Broussier and Marmont had effected their junction in the +environs of Graetz, repulsing the attacks of the Giulay Ban; General +Macdonald, whom the Viceroy of Italy had left behind at Papa, for the +purpose of facilitating this concentration of forces, arrived on the field +of battle when the day was gained; the archdukes were driven behind the +Danube, and the troops furnished by the Hungarian nobility, were +dispersed. "I compliment you on the battle of Raab," wrote the emperor to +Prince Eugène; "it is the grand-daughter of Marengo and Friedland." +General Lauriston immediately laid siege to the place, which capitulated +on the 23rd June. Marshal Davout had bombarded Presburg without effect for +several days, in the hope of succeeding in destroying the bridge; the +garrison defended itself heroically. Every means had been adopted to +rapidly concentrate the whole of the French forces upon Vienna, and to +frustrate everywhere the progress of the enemy. Large reinforcements had +arrived from France. The emperor himself directed the preparations on the +Danube, displaying in this work all the resources of his most inventive +genius, and that faculty of usefully employing the talent of others which +constitutes one of the most necessary elements of government. At the +commencement of July all was at length ready--men, provisions, ammunition, +and bridges. "With God's help," wrote Napoleon to King Jerome, on the 4th +July, "in spite of his redoubts and his entrenched camps, I hope to crush +the army of the Archduke Charles." + +During the forty days which had elapsed since the battle of Essling, the +Archduke Charles had limited his efforts to fortifying his positions on +the left bank of the Danube, without attempting any offensive operations +against Napoleon, and had in vain waited for the reinforcements that his +brothers, and the generals dispersed over the Austrian territory, were to +bring him. The skilful generals of Napoleon had everywhere intercepted +their communications. However, 130,000 or 140,000 of the enemy prepared to +dispute with us the passage of the Danube. One hundred and fifty thousand +French were assembled around Vienna; Massena had not quitted the island of +Lobau; Napoleon established himself there with his staff on the 1st July. + +Skilful and learned in the theory of war, the Archduke Charles felt his +inferiority in face of the unexpected genius of the Emperor Napoleon. He +had carefully fortified Aspern, Essling, Ensdorf, but he had not foreseen +that the place of disembarkation, and the point of attack, would be +changed. The heights which ranged from Neusiedel to Wagram, well occupied +by excellent troops, were not furnished with redoubts; it was, however, +these same heights the conqueror was about to attack. + +The bridges which united the right bank to the island of Lobau were at +present out of danger from all inundations and accidents. New and +ingenious inventions had utilized all the resources drawn from the +magazines of Vienna and the vast forests of Austria. A stockade protected +the roadway, and flying bridges of an extraordinary size and solidity +could be thrown in several hours over the small arm of the stream which +separated the island of Lobau from the left bank. Two days previously the +archduke had quitted the heights to approach the banks of the Danube, +waiting uselessly for the attack of the enemy; on the 3rd July he drew +back his forces towards the hills. The columns of the French continued to +defile over the great bridge, and massed themselves little by little on +the island. The cannon-balls of the enemy began to rain on the shores of +Lobau, but the space was too vast to permit the Austrian batteries to +sweep the interior. During the night of the 4th the first bridges were +thrown over the small arm of the Danube between the island and the +mainland; flat-bottomed boats brought over soldiers without interruption, +and these moored the boats and fixed the plankings. The enemy's fire had +become incessant and deadly. The engineers continued their work without +appearing to perceive the danger which threatened them, any more than the +thunder which rolled over their heads, the lightning which flashed through +the darkness, or the rain, which did not cease to fall in torrents. The +batteries of the island of Lobau were at length unmasked, everywhere +furnished with guns of the largest calibre, and the fire was directed +towards the little town of Enzensdorf; after that the Archduke Charles +could not deceive himself as to the menaced point. The troops of the +Austrian General Nordmann, which had occupied the plain, had fallen back +under the fire of the guns. The day rose brilliant and pure, the last +clouds massed by the storm were dispersed by the rays of the sun. The long +files of our troops advanced without precipitation and without disorder; +at the first break of day, the emperor himself had crossed the river. + +The Archduke Charles contemplated this scene from the heights of Wagram. +His advanced posts had already been forced to give up to their enemies the +ground they had occupied the day before. The Austrian general had not yet +counted on the irresistible impetuosity of the torrent of men, horses, and +artillery, which the island of Lobau continued to vomit on the shores of +the Danube. "It is true that they have conquered the river." said the +Archduke Charles to his brother the Emperor Francis, standing by his side. +"I allow them to pass, that I may drive them presently into its waves." +"All right," said the emperor, dryly; "but do not let too many pass." +Seventy thousand French already deployed in the plain. As they defiled +past, the soldiers cried, "Long live the emperor !" + +The town of Enzensdorf was merely a mass of ruins when Marshal Masséna +commanded the attack upon it, and the little corps of Austrians defending +it were soon put to the sword; while on the right, General Oudinot had +taken possession of the chateau of Sachsengang. The entire army advanced, +without obstacle, against the heights of Wagram; Essling and Aspern were +occupied by our troops. The dispositions of the troops of the Archduke +Charles were not made; he was obliged to order detached bodies to retreat, +abandoning positions which were badly defended; the great battle was +deferred till the morrow. A rash attack against the plateau of Wagram was +repulsed, and for a moment several corps were in disorder; the retreat +sounded, and the troops bivouacked at their posts. The last instructions +had been given. Marshal Davout alone still remained with the emperor. The +Archduke Charles did not sleep--the supreme effort of the Austrian +monarchy was to be tried at the break of day. + +The extent of the field of battle, and the distance between the positions, +presented serious difficulties for both armies. The genius of organization +possessed by the Emperor Napoleon had in some measure obviated this by the +care he had taken of his centre; the Archduke Charles felt it from the +commencement of the combat. Obliged to send his orders great distances, he +saw them badly obeyed; the left wing of his army attacked us first, +whereas the right wing had been intended to take the offensive. Contrary +to his custom, the Emperor Napoleon had ordered his troops to wait for the +enemy. + +It was four o'clock in the morning when the fire commenced. Marshal +Bernadotte, who had remained in advance on the field of battle after his +attack of the previous night against the plateau of Wagram, found himself +menaced by the Austrians, and fell back on Marshal Masséna, still ill from +a fall from his horse, and commanding his corps from an open carriage. The +two marshals had brought back their troops against the little village of +Aderklaa; but the archduke occupied it; the French were repulsed, and +pushed by the enemy beyond Essling, which had again fallen into the hands +of the Austrians. + +Meantime, Marshal Davout, on the extreme right, had vigorously resisted +the first attack of the columns of Rosenberg, and obliged the Austrians to +repass the rivulet of Russbach, and fall back upon Neusiedel. The marshal +threw all his forces immediately against them. It was to him that was +confided the honor of taking the plateau of Wagram. + +The emperor had joined Marshal Masséna, talking a few minutes with him +under a storm of balls which fell round the carriage: Napoleon walked his +horse across the plain, impatiently waiting the great movement that he had +ordered on the centre. At the head advanced a division of the army of +Italy, commanded by Macdonald, little known to the young soldiers because +of his long disgrace; he marched proudly, attired in his old uniform of +the armies of the republic. Napoleon saw him unmoved under the fire, +attentive to the least incidents of the battle: "Ah, the fine fellow! the +fine fellow!" he repeated in a low voice. + +The artillery of the guard arrived at a gallop, supporting by its hundred +guns the impetuous attack of the centre: the Austrians recoiled from this +enormous mass, the irresistible impulse of which nothing could stay. +Macdonald had already reached Sussenbrunn, where the archduke and his +generals had concentrated their last effort; and the French columns were +stopped by their desperate resistance. For a moment they seemed destined +to retreat in their turn; but Davout had succeeded in his attack against +the heights of Neusiedel. The plateau of Wagram was in our hands; General +Oudinot had effected his junction, after taking the position of +Baumersdorf; and the Prince of Hohenzollern retreated before them. In vain +the Archduke Charles had hoped to see his brother, the Archduke John, +arrive in time to restore their chance; the struggle lasted for more than +ten hours--all the positions had fallen into our power; the retreat of the +Austrian army commenced, regular and well ordered, without precipitation +or rout. Disorder, on the contrary, showed itself in the ranks of the +conquerors, when, at the last moments of the struggle, some soldiers of +the vanguard of the Archduke John appeared in the environs of +Leopoldsdorf. The young troops, already disbanded in the joy of the +victory--the servants of the army, the sutlers, the carriers of the +wounded, were seized with a panic terror, and fell back with loud cries on +the main body of the army, announcing that the enemy were returning to +crush us. It was too late; the Archduke John had slowly executed the +orders tardily received. His arrival could not change the issue of the +battle; he fell back upon Hungary. The Archduke Charles had taken the road +to Bohemia before the Emperor Napoleon was well informed of his march. The +pursuit was, therefore, divided between Bohemia and Moravia. The forces of +the enemy were dispersed during their retreat. The archduke had with him +about 60,000 men, when General Marmont, with a corps of only 10,000, +rejoined him at Znaïm, on the road to Prague. + +It was there that Napoleon arrived on the 11th; Masséna was in advance, +and a battle took place on the banks of the Taya, and after a sharp combat +the bridge was forced. But already Prince John of Lichtenstein had come to +ask a suspension of hostilities, announcing openly the intention of the +Austrian government to begin negotiations for peace. The deliberations +were carried on at the head-quarters, while the army ranged itself in the +plain of Znaïm. The emperor recapitulated rapidly in his mind the dangers +and chances of a prolonged war. The opinion of several of his generals was +to follow up Austria, and crush the coalition finally. Napoleon felt the +enormous burden weighing on his shoulders: he saw a difficult and +lingering war in Spain, Prussia agitated, Russia cold and secretly ill- +disposed, the difficulties of Rome, England for the future taking her part +in the continental struggle: he cried, "Enough blood has been shed; let us +make peace!" It was necessary to repeat his words several times to the +hostile parties at Znaïm, to induce them to cease fighting. The officers +whose duty it was to carry the intelligence to the field of battle were +wounded before they were able to stop the combat. + +The armistice was signed in the night of the 11th July, and Napoleon +immediately returned to Schoenbrunn. Negotiations had commenced, but their +success was by no means sure. The Austrian armies had been brilliantly +vanquished, but they were neither dispersed nor destroyed, and the efforts +their resistance had cost sufficiently proved the military qualities of +the chief and his soldiers. The Emperor Napoleon, encamped in the centre +of the Austrian monarchy--of which he occupied the capital; he could not, +and durst not in any way, relax his warlike watchfulness. New bodies of +men were summoned from France. The Tyrol not being comprised in the +armistice, the Bavarians and Prince Eugène were ordered to reduce its two +portions, German and Italian. The posts were everywhere fortified, and +works of defence pursued with vigor. The greater part of the army occupied +vast barracks in the suburbs of Vienna. Napoleon distributed rewards to +the officers and soldiers; he even showed his displeasure to Marshal +Bernadotte, who had presumed to address a personal order of the day to the +corps of the army under his direction at Wagram. + +"His Majesty commands his army in person," he sent word to the Prince of +Pontecorvo by Major-General Berthier; "it belongs to him alone to +distribute the degree of glory with each merits." Napoleon added, in a +letter to the minister of war, "I am glad also that you are aware that the +Prince of Pontecorvo has not always conducted himself well in this +campaign. The truth is, that this column of bronze has been constantly in +disorder." By thus wounding his vanity, unexpected political difficulties +afterwards arose, by leaving in the heart of Bernadotte implacable +resentment against the emperor. + +I wished to pursue without interruption the history of the campaign of +Germany during these three months, so fertile in obstinate combats, in +works as vast as they were novel, in pitched battles, more sanguinary and +important from the number of troops engaged than any which had preceded +them. Germany was not, however, the only theatre of the struggle; and the +attention of Europe, always attracted to the places where Napoleon +commanded in person and carried out his own plans, was occasionally +diverted towards the Spanish and Portuguese peninsula. There several of +the most skilful generals of the emperor fought against populations +eagerly struggling for their independence; there gradually rose to +greatness the name of Sir Arthur Wellesley, and that reputation for +stability and heroic perseverance which at a later date constituted his +power and splendor. + +Fighting was carried on in Spain, not without glory or success; the +insurgents having more than once had the honor of annoying the all- +powerful conqueror in the midst of his triumphs. There was no fighting at +Rome, and oppression reigned there without material resistance; yet for +more than a year a struggle continued between the Emperor Napoleon and the +Pope, Pius VII., without all the advantages remaining on the side of +force, or the conqueror feeling certain that he held the prey he had +confided to the care of General Miollis. On the 6th July, 1809, the same +day as the battle of Wagram, the Pope was suddenly taken away from Rome, +and conducted as a prisoner out of that palace and that town which he had +never previously quitted, except to visit Paris for the purpose of +consecrating the very man who was to-day stripping him of his throne. +Since the month of February, 1808, the thoughts and hearts of many had +still found time to seek the aged pontiff at the Quirinal, and they now +followed him with sympathy into exile and captivity. + +After the occupation of Rome by General Miollis, when the foreign +cardinals had received orders to return to their respective countries, and +the Pope had recalled his legate from Paris, the Emperor Napoleon, on +stepping into his carriage to visit Bayonne, had ordered Champagny to +transmit to Cardinal Caprara the following note:--- + +"The _sine quâ non_ of the emperor is, that all Italy, Rome, Naples, and +Milan make a league offensive and defensive, so as to remove disorder and +war from the peninsula. If the holy father consents to this proposition, +all is terminated; if he refuses, by that he declares war against the +emperor. The first result of war is conquest, and the first result of +conquest is change of government. This will not occasion any loss to the +spiritual rights of the Pope; he will be Bishop of Rome, as have been all +his predecessors in the eight first centuries, and under Charlemagne. It +will, however, be a subject of regret, which the emperor will be the first +to feel, to see foolish vanity, obstinacy and ignorance destroy the work +of genius, policy and enlightenment. + +"The recall of your Eminence is notified contrary to custom, against the +formalities in usage, and on the eve of the Passion week--three +circumstances which sufficiently explain the charitable and entirely +evangelical spirit of the holy father. No matter, his Majesty recognizes +your Eminence no more as legate. From this moment the Gallican Church +resumes all the integrity of its doctrine. More learned, more truly +religious, than the Church of Rome, she has no want of the latter. I send +to your eminence the passports you have demanded. We are thus at war, and +his Majesty has given orders in consequence. His Holiness will be +satisfied--he will have the happiness of declaring war in the holy week. +The thunders of the Vatican will be all the more formidable. His Majesty +fears them less than those of the castle of St. Angelo. He who curses +kings, is cursed by God." + +At the same time, and by order of Napoleon, a decree was prepared +enumerating all the grievances of which he accused the court of Rome, and +enacting that "the provinces of Urbino, Ancona, Macerata, and Camerino, +should be irrevocably and forever united to the kingdom of Italy, to form +three new departments." The Code Napoleon was to be proclaimed there. + +The violent and arbitrary measures employed by the emperor towards the +Pope naturally bore their fruits. In removing from Pius VII. the cardinals +who were not natives of the Roman states, he had deprived the pontiff of +the most enlightened and moderate counsels which could reach his ears, and +had delivered him, in his weakness and just indignation, to all the +influences against which Cardinal Consalvi had constantly struggled. From +this time every despotic act of Napoleon, every rude word of the soldiers +charged to execute his orders, increased the irritation of the Pope, and +urged him to advance on a course of blind resistance. A prohibition to +swear allegiance to the new government was addressed to the bishops and +all the priests of the territories taken away from the pontifical states; +this prohibition was founded upon principles of dogma and religion. +Henceforth the personal will of the Pope, his dignity as a sovereign, and +his conscience as a priest, were all engaged in the struggle against the +Emperor Napoleon. "Those who have succeeded in alarming the conscience of +the holy father are still the strongest," Lefebvre, the chargé-d'affaires +of France, who had not yet quitted Rome, wrote to Champagny. "The tenor of +the reply to the ultimatum that I have been instructed to remit to him has +been changed twice this morning--so much did they still hesitate upon the +decision to take. The theologians themselves were divided even in the +Sacred College, and I doubt not that the refusal of his Holiness to agree +with the emperor will throw into consternation a number of his warmest +partisans." + +The rupture was from this time official, and the relations of the Pope +with the French authorities who occupied the pontifical city became every +day more bitter. Pius VII. had chosen for his secretary of state, Cardinal +Pacca, witty, amiable, devoted to the holy father, but strongly attached +to the most narrow ideas as to the government of the Roman Church in the +world; in other respects, prudent in his conduct towards General Miollis, +and often excited to action by the Pope, who complained of his timidity. +"They pretend in Rome that we are asleep," said Pius VII. to his minister; +"we must prove that we are awake, and address a vigorous note to the +French general." The protest was posted everywhere in Rome, on the morning +of the 24th August, 1808; eight days later, and under the pretext that the +secretary of state interfered with the recruiting for the civic guard, +Cardinal Pacca received the order to quit Rome in twenty-four hours. "Your +Eminence will find at the gate of St. John an escort of dragoons, whose +duty is to accompany you to Benevento, your native town." In the meantime +a French officer was appointed to watch over the cardinal. The latter was +still talking with his jailer, when Pius VII. suddenly entered the cabinet +of his minister. + +"I was then witness of a phenomenon which I had often heard spoken of," +relates Cardinal Pacca in his memoirs. "In an access of violent anger, the +hair of the holy father bristled up, and his sight was confused. Although +I was dressed as a cardinal, he did not know me. 'Who is there?' he +demanded, in a loud voice. 'I am the cardinal,' I replied, kissing his +hand. 'Where is the officer?' demanded the holy father; and I pointed him +out near me, in a respectful attitude. Then the Pope, turning towards him, +'Go and tell your general that I am weary of suffering so many insults and +outrages from a man who dares still to call himself a Catholic. I command +my minister not to obey the injunctions of an illegitimate authority. Let +your general know, that if force is employed to tear him from me it shall +only be after having broken all the doors; and I declare him beforehand +responsible for the consequences of such an enormous crime.' And making a +sign to the cardinal to follow him, 'Let us go,' said the Pope. The +officer had gone out to carry to the general the message of the holy +father. The secretary of state was installed in an apartment which opened +into the Pope's bedroom. The gates of the Quirinal remained closed to all +the French officers, and General Miollis did not claim his prisoner." + +Months had meanwhile passed away. The emperor had quitted Spain to make +preparations for the campaign of Germany. Without ever ceasing to load the +Pope with unfriendly words and treatment, Napoleon had been engaged in +affairs more important than his troubles with the pontifical court. Public +order was maintained in Rome, thanks to the Italian prudence of the +secretary of state, and the strict discipline which General Miollis knew +how to maintain among his troops, and even among the auxiliaries he had +recruited from the revolutionary middle-class. The time arrived, however, +when this situation, more violent in fact than in form, was suddenly to +assume its real character. Napoleon was at Schoenbrunn, already victor in +the five days' battle which had rendered him master of Vienna, and more +certain than he was immediately after Essling of the promptitude and +extent of his success. It was then that he drew up, and sent by Champagny, +two decrees relating to the taking possession, pure and simple, of the +States of the Pope. He explained the reasons of this to his minister in a +long letter, which was to serve as a basis for Champagny's report, and +which, by its singular mixture of thoughts and principles, showed the +historical heredity connecting the power of Napoleon with that of +Charlemagne, united to the sovereign power which disposed in the name of +conquest of territories and states, were confused in the imagination of +the emperor, and made him look upon the independent attitude of the Pope +as an act of criminal opposition. + +"When Charlemagne made the popes temporal sovereigns, he wished them to +remain vassals of the empire; now, far from thinking themselves vassals of +the empire, they are not even willing to form a part of it. The aim of +Charlemagne in his generosity towards the popes was the welfare of +Christianity; and now they claim to ally themselves with Protestants and +the enemies of Christianity. The least impropriety that results from these +arrangements is to see the head of the Catholic religion negotiating with +Protestants; whilst according to the laws of the Church he ought to shun +them, and excommunicate them. (There is a prayer to this effect recited at +Rome.) + +"The interest of religion, and the interest of the peoples of France, +Germany and Italy, require that an end should be made of this ridiculous +temporal power--the feeble remnant of the exaggerated pretensions of the +Gregories, who claimed to reign over kings, to give away crowns, and to +have the direction of the affairs of earth as well as of heaven. In the +absence of councils, let the popes have the direction of the affairs of +the Church so far as they do not infringe on the liberties of the Gallican +Church--that is all right; but they ought not to mix themselves up with +armies or state policy. If they are the successors of Jesus Christ, they +ought not to exercise any other dominion than that which He Himself +exercised, and His 'kingdom is not of this world.' + +"If your Majesty does not do that which you alone can do, you will leave +in Europe the seeds of dissension and discord. Posterity, whilst praising +you for having re-established religion and re-erected her altars, will +blame you for having left the empire (which is in fact the major portion +of Christendom) exposed to the influence of this fantastic medley, +inimical to religion and the tranquillity of the empire. This obstacle can +only be surmounted by separating the temporal from the spiritual +authority, and by declaring that the states of the Pope form a portion of +the French Empire." + +It is too often an error of men, even of the first rank, to believe in the +universal power and duration of their wishes and decisions. The Emperor +Napoleon though he had solved forever this question of the temporal power +of the popes-a question which we have so many times heard discussed by the +most eloquent voices; we have seen armies upholding on fields of battle +contradictory principles on this subject, and diplomacy painfully +accomplishing imperfect settlements. + +He displayed towards Pope Pius VII. the most arrogant contempt of the +rights and independence of others, and a passionate self-will as regards +all resistance. Under shelter of ancient authority, of which he +retrospectively took possession, he boldly invoked the highest reasons and +the most venerated names, in order to justify an arbitrary resolution, and +the grasping selfishness which swayed his mind. It was the practice of the +French Revolution to prop up its violent and despotic proceedings by the +loftiest principles; the Emperor Napoleon had not forgotten this +tradition. + +In all the manifestly criminal acts of his powerful career--in the fatal +resolves of his mistaken and culpable caprices, whether it was a question +of the assassination of the Due d'Enghien or the brutal removal of the +Pope from Rome--Napoleon always chose his part in the complete isolation +of his soul, and by the spontaneous act of a personal decision; he made +sure of the execution of his will with minute precautions: he did not the +less subsequently seek to throw back the responsibility of the acts +themselves upon the instruments too ready to obey him. When Europe +suddenly learnt that the Pope had been removed from the states henceforth +united to the French Empire, Napoleon wrote to Fouché, "I am vexed that +the Pope has been arrested; it is a great folly. It was necessary to +arrest Cardinal Pacca, and leave the Pope in tranquillity at Rome;" and to +Cambacérès, the 28th July: "It is without my orders, and against my will, +that the Pope has been made to leave Rome." + +Measures had, however, been taken with that provident exactitude which +characterized the personal orders of the Emperor Napoleon. Immediately he +had resolved upon the confiscation of the Roman States he had divined the +consequence and importance of this act; the new government was organized, +Murat had been charged with the command of the troops, and to hold himself +ready for any event. "Since your Majesty has made me aware of your +intentions as to Rome, I shall not withdraw from Naples," wrote Murat to +the emperor. "Word has been sent me that the Pope wished to send forth an +excommunication, but that the majority of the Consistory were opposed to +it. All your orders will be fulfilled, and I hope without trouble." + +This was hoping for much from the patience of the holy father, and +maintaining great illusions as to the decision long since taken by the +Court of Rome. The project of the spoliation of the pontifical states had +not been kept so secret that the Pope and his minister had not been +apprised of it; and several times Pius VII. had let it be understood that +he was prepared for resistance. "We see plainly that the French wish to +force us to speak Latin," he had said quite recently; "ah, well! we will +do it." + +General Miollis, supported and directed by the King of Naples, did not +take much account of the Latin of the court of Rome when it was a question +of obeying the orders of the Emperor Napoleon. The military preparations +completed (the 10th June, 1809), the tricolor flag was mounted upon the +castle of St. Angelo in place of the pontifical arms, and the imperial +decrees were everywhere read before the population of Rome and the +assembled troops. The report of these things soon reached the Quirinal. "I +rushed suddenly into the apartment of the holy father," writes Cardinal +Pacca, "and on meeting we both pronounced the words of the Redeemer, +_Consummatum est!_ I was in a condition difficult to describe, but the +sight of the holy father, who maintained an unalterable tranquillity, much +edified me, and reanimated my courage. A few minutes afterwards my nephew +brought me a copy of the imperial decree. Observing the Pope attentively +at the first words, I saw emotion on his countenance, and the signs of +indignation only too natural. Little by little he recovered himself, and +he heard the reading with much tranquillity and resignation." Cardinal +Pacca was even obliged to urge the pope to promulgate the bull of +excommunication, which had been prepared already since 1806. Pius VII. +still hesitated. "Raise your eyes towards heaven, Thrice Holy Father," +said the secretary of state, "and then give me your order, and be sure +that that which proceeds from your mouth will be the will of God." "Ah, +well! let the bull go forth," cried the Pope; "but let those who shall +execute your orders take great care, for if they are discovered they will +be shot, and for that I should be inconsolable." + +The bull of excommunication against the Emperor Napoleon was everywhere +placarded in Rome, without the agents of Cardinal Pacca undergoing the +vengeance dreaded by the Pope. Anger and fear were wrestling in a higher +sphere. The instructions of the emperor had been precise: "I have confided +to you the care of maintaining tranquillity in my Roman states," he wrote +to General Miollis. "You are to have arrested, even in the house of the +Pope himself, those who plot against public tranquillity, and against the +safety of my soldiers. A priest abuses his character, and merits less +indulgence than another man, when he preaches war and disobedience to +temporal power, and when he sacrifices spiritual things for the interest +of this world, which the Scripture declares not to be his." And to the +King of Naples, in two different letters, of the 17th and 19th of June: +"If the Pope wishes to form a reunion of caballers like Cardinal Pacca, it +will be necessary to permit nothing of the kind, and to act at Rome as I +should act towards the cardinal archbishop of Paris.... I have given you +to understand that my intention was that the affairs of Rome should be +quickly settled, and that no species of opposition should take place. No +asylum ought to be respected, if my decrees are not submitted to; and +under no pretext whatever ought any resistance to be allowed. If the Pope, +in opposition to the spirit of his office and of the Gospel, preaches +revolt, and wishes to make use of the immunity of his house for the +printing of circulars, he ought to be arrested. The time for this sort of +thing is past. Philippe le Bel caused Boniface to be arrested; and Charles +V. kept Clement VII. in prison for a long time, for far less cause. The +priest who to the temporal powers preaches discord and war, instead of +peace, abuses his character." + +The orders were precise, and admitted of no hesitation. The confiscation +of the papal states had been responded to by the papal bull; open war had +broken out between Pius VII., and the Emperor Napoleon. The latter was +desirous of insuring the execution of his will by sending to Rome General +Radet, less honorably scrupulous than General Miollis; an instrument +docile and daring, as regards the details of the general scheme. Radet has +himself given an account of the removal of the Pope in a report to the +minister of war, dated July 13th, 1809. In 1814, he had forgotten the +existence of this letter, and vainly sought to minimize the importance of +the part which he played on the 6th of July. History must preserve for +General Radet his place in her annals. The man to carry out the projects +of Napoleon had been well chosen. + +Already for several months the Pope had been carefully guarding himself in +the Quirinal; the precautions had been redoubled since the decrees, and +the publication of the bull. Pius VII. and his counsellors foresaw the +removal. General Radet took all possible measures to turn aside suspicion. +"On the 5th, at the break of day," he himself wrote, "I made the necessary +arrangements, which I succeeded in screening from the eyes of the Romans +by double patrols and measures of police. I kept the troops in the +barracks all day, in order to lull the public and the inhabitants of the +Quirinal into a feeling of security. From that spot the Pope governed with +his finger more than we did with our bayonets. At nine o'clock, I caused +the military chiefs to come to me, one after another, and gave them my +orders. At ten o'clock, we were collected in the place of the Holy +Apostles, and at the barracks of La Pilota, which was the centre of my +operations. At eleven o'clock I myself placed my patrols, my guards, my +posts, and my detachments for carrying out the operations, whilst the +governor-general caused the bridges of the Tiber and the castle of St. +Angelo to be occupied by a Neapolitan battalion." + +General Radet had received a written order from General Miollis, for the +arrest of Cardinal Pacca. The order to arrest the Pope was not written +down. Nobody had dared to put his signature to it; verbal instructions +only were given. + +Three detachments of soldiers, furnished with scaling-ladders, ropes and +grappling-irons, surrounded the Quirinal. At half-past ten, the sentinel +who kept guard on the tower of the Quirinal disappeared. The signal was +immediately given. With varying success the small battalions introduced +themselves into the palace. The Swiss guard was disarmed; it had for a +long time previously received orders to make no resistance. The chief +anxiety of the Pope had always been that he might be up and about when +they should come to arrest him. He had gone to bed late, and was roused up +by the noise in the middle of his first sleep. Cardinal Pacca, however, +found him completely dressed, when the former rushed precipitately into +his chamber. The gate was already yielding to the efforts of the +assailants. Pius VII. seated himself under a canopy; making a sign to the +secretary of state, and to Cardinal Desping, to place themselves near him. +"Open the gate," said he. + +General Radet had never seen the Pope; he recognized him by the attitude +of his guides; and immediately sending back the soldiers, he caused the +officers to enter with drawn swords; a few gendarmes, with muskets in +their hands, also glided into the chamber. The priest was waiting in +silence; the soldier was hesitating. At length the latter, hat in hand, +spoke: "I have a sorrowful mission to accomplish," said General Radet; "I +am compelled by my oaths to fulfil it." Pius VII. stood up. "Who are you," +said he, "and what is it you require of me, that you come at such an hour +to trouble my repose and invade my dwelling-place?" "Most Holy Father," +replied the General, "I come in the name of my government to reiterate to +your Holiness the proposal to officially renounce your temporal power. If +your holiness consents to it, I do not doubt but that affairs may be +arranged, and that the emperor will treat your holiness with the greatest +respect." The Pope was resting one hand upon the table placed before him. +"If you have believed yourself bound to execute such orders of the emperor +by reason of your oath of fidelity and obedience, think to what an extent +we feel compelled to sustain the rights of the holy see, to which we are +bound by so many oaths? We can neither yield nor abandon that which +belongs to it. The temporal power belongs to the Church, and we are only +the administrator. The emperor may tear us in pieces, but he will not +obtain from us what he demands. After all that we have done for him, ought +we to expect such treatment?" + +"I know that the emperor is under many obligations to your holiness!" +replied Radet, more and more troubled. "Yes, more than you are aware of; +but, finally, what are your orders?"--"Most Holy Father, I regret the +commission with which I am charged, but I must inform you that I am +ordered to take you away with me." The pontiff bent slightly towards the +speaker, and said in tones of sweet compassion, "Ah! my son, your mission +is one that will not draw down upon you the divine blessing." Then, +turning again towards the cardinals, and appearing to speak to himself, +"This, then, is the recognition which is accorded to me of all that which +I have done for the emperor! This, then, is the reward for my great +condescension towards him and towards the Church of France! But perhaps in +this respect I have been culpable towards God. He wishes to punish me; I +submit with humility." + +General Radet had sent for the final orders of General Miollis. The +brigadier of gendarmerie charged with this commission re-entered the +chamber of the Pope. "The order of his excellency," said he, "is, that it +is necessary for the holy father and Cardinal Pacca to set out at once +with General Radet: the other persons in his suite will follow after." The +Pope rose up; he walked with difficulty. Moved in spite of himself, Radet +offered his arm to support him, proposing to retire, in order to leave the +holy father free to give his orders and dispose of any valuable objects +that he might have a fancy for. "When one has no hold upon life, one has +no hold upon the things of this world," replied Pius VII., taking from a +table at the side of his bed his breviary and his crucifix. "I am ready," +said he. + +The carriage was already at the palace gate, the postillions ready to +start. The Pope stood still, giving his benediction to the city of Rome, +and to the French troops ranged in order of battle on the place. It was +four o'clock in the morning; the streets were deserted. The Pope got into +the carriage beside Cardinal Pacca; the doors were locked by a gendarme. +General Radet and a marshal of the household got on to the box-seat; the +horses set off at a quick trot along the road to Florence. + +General Radet offered a purse of Gold to the Pope, which the latter +refused. "Have you any money?" asked the holy father of his companion. "I +have not been permitted to enter my apartment," said the cardinal; "and I +did not think of bringing my purse." The Pope had a papetto, value twenty +sous. "This is all that remains tome of my principality," said he, +smiling. "We are travelling in apostolic fashion," responded Pacca. "We +have done well in publishing the bull of the 10th of June," replied Pius +VII.; "now it would be too late." + +For nineteen hours the coach rattled along; the stores were getting low. +Everywhere, and in spite of a few accidents, the passage of the Pope +forestalled the news of his capture. The suite of the holy father joined +him on the morrow; the Pope was suffering, he was in a fever. The populace +began to be stirred up with the rumors which were circulating: they +crowded round the carriages. "I disembarrassed myself of them," writes +Radet, "by calling out to them to place themselves on their knees on the +right and left of the road, in order that the holy father might give him +his benediction; then all of a sudden I ordered the postillions to dash +forward. By this means the people were still on their kness whilst we were +already far away, at a gallop. This plan succeeded everywhere." + +Arrived on the 8th of July at the chartreuse of Florence, Pius VII. +expected to rest there a few days: but the Princess Baciocchi had not +received instructions from the emperor: she hurried the departure. "I see +well that they want to cause my death by their bad treatment," said the +exhausted old man; "and if there is but a little more of it I feel that +the end will not be far off." Cardinal Pacca was no longer with him. At +Genoa the Prince Borghese, who was commanding there, was seized with the +same panic as the Princess Baciocchi. After a few moments of repose at +Alexandria, Pius VII. was carried, by way of Mondovi and Rivoli, towards +Grenoble. In the last stages, in the little Italian villages, the bells +pealed forth, and the crowd who besought the benediction of the prisoner +everywhere retarded the advance. It was the same in all the districts of +Savoy and Dauphiny. When the Pope made his entry into Grenoble, on the +21st of July, the ardor of the population had not diminished, but the +bells rang no longer; the clergy had been forbidden to present themselves +before the pontiff. The prefect was absent, Fouché having been designedly +detained at Paris. The orders of the emperor had at length arrived from +Schoenbrunn. "I received at the same time the two letters of General +Miollis and that of the Grand Duchess," he wrote, on the 18th of July, to +Fouché. "I am vexed that the Pope has been arrested; it is a great folly. +It was needful to arrest Cardinal Pacca, and to leave the Pope quietly at +Rome. But there is no remedy for it now; what is done is done. I know not +what the Prince Borghese will have done, but my intention is that the Pope +should not enter France. If he is still in the Rivière of Genoa, the best +place at which he could be placed would be Savona. There is a house there +large enough, where he would be suitably lodged until we know what course +he decides upon. If his madness terminates, I have no objection to his +being taken back to Rome. If he has entered France, have him taken back +towards Savona and San Remo. Cause his correspondence to be examined. As +to Cardinal Pacca, have him shut up at Fenestrella; and let him understand +that if a single Frenchman is assassinated through his instigation, he +will be the first to pay for it with his head." + +Fifteen days later (August 6th, 1809), in the midst of his prudent and +foreseeing preparations for the possible resumption of hostilities, +enlightened by reflection, or by the report of the popular emotion in the +provinces traversed by Pius VII., Napoleon modified his orders as to the +residence of the Pope. "Monsieur Fouché, I should have preferred that only +Cardinal Pacca had been arrested at Rome, and that the Pope had been left +there. I should have preferred, since the Pope has not been left at Genoa, +that he had been taken to Savona; but since he is at Grenoble, I should be +vexed that you should make him set out to be re-conducted to Savona; it +would be better to guard him at Grenoble, since he is there; the former +course would have the appearance of making sport of the old man. I have +not authorized Cardinal Fesch to send any one to his holiness; I have only +had the minister of religion informed that I should desire Cardinal Maury +and the other prelates to write to the Pope, to know what he wishes, and +to make him understand that if he renounces the Concordat I shall regard +it on my side as null and void. As to Cardinal Pacca, I suppose that you +have sent him to Fenestrella, and that you have forbidden his +communication with any one. I make a great difference between the Pope and +him, principally on account of his rank and his moral virtues. The Pope is +a good man, but ignorant and fanatical. Cardinal Pacca is a man of +education and a scoundrel, an enemy of France, and deserving of no regard. +Immediately I know where the Pope is located I shall see about taking +definitive measures; of course if you have already caused him to set out +for Savona, it is not necessary to bring him back." + +The Pope was at Savona, where he was long to remain. Already the +difficulties of religious administration were commencing, and the +emperor's mind was engrossed with the institution of bishops to the vacant +sees. He had ordered all the prelates to chant a public _Te Deum_ with +reference to the victory of Wagram. The bishops of Dalmatia alone had +frankly and spiritedly replied to the statement of reasons which preceded +the circular. In France the silence was still profound. The emperor had +beforehand forbidden the journals to give any news from Rome. "It is a bad +plan to let articles be written," he wrote to Fouché; "there is to be no +speaking, either for or against, and it is not to be a matter for +discussion in the journals. Well-informed men know perfectly that I have +not attacked Rome. The mistaken bigots you cannot alter. Act on this +principle." The _Moniteur_ held its tongue. All the journals followed its +example. No one talked of the bull of excommunication. The circuits of the +missionary priests were forbidden, as well as the ecclesiastical +conferences of St. Sulpice. "The missionaries are for whoever pays them," +declared the emperor, "for the English, if they are willing to employ +them. I do not wish to have any missions whatever; get me ready a draft of +a decree on that subject; I wish to complete it. I only know bishops, +priests, and curates. I am satisfied with keeping up religion in my own +country; I do not care about propagating it abroad." All the cardinals +still remaining at Rome were expelled. In the depths of his soul, and in +spite of the chimerical impulses of his irritated thoughts, Napoleon was +already feeling the embarrassments which he had himself sown along his +path. The Pope a prisoner at Savona, indomitable in his conscientious +resistance, might become more dangerous than the Pope at Rome, powerless +and unarmed. The struggle was not terminated; a breath of revolt had +passed over Europe. Henceforth Napoleon was at war with that Catholic +religion, the splendor of whose altars he had deemed it a point of honor +to restore; he struggled at the same time violently against that national +independence of the peoples which he had everywhere in his words invoked +in opposition to the arbitrary jealousy of the monarchs. The Spanish +sovereigns had succumbed to his yoke; the Spanish people, henceforth +sustained by the might of England, courageously defended its liberties. At +the moment when the supreme effort of the victory of Wagram was about to +snatch humiliating concessions from the Emperor Francis, the captive Pope +and the Spanish insurgents were presenting to Europe a salutary and +striking contrast, the teachings of which she was beginning to comprehend. + +Not the least significant of the lessons on the frailty of the human +colossi raised by conquerors is the impossibility of tracing their history +on the same canvas. For a long time Napoleon alone had filled the scene, +and his brilliant track was easily kept in view. In proportion as he +accumulated on his shoulders a burden too heavy, and as he extended his +empire without consolidating it, the insufficiency of human will and human +power made itself more painfully felt. Napoleon was no longer everywhere +present, acting and controlling, in order to repair the faults he had +committed, or to dazzle the spectators with new successes. In vain the +prodigious activity of his spirit sought to make up for the radical defect +of his universal dominion. The Emperor Napoleon was conquered by the very +nature of things, before the fruits of his unmeasured ambition had had +time to ripen, and before all Europe, indignant and wearied out, was at +length roused up against him. + +There was already, in 1809, a confused but profound instinctive feeling +throughout the world that the moment for resistance and for supreme +efforts had arrived. The Archduke Charles had proved it in Austria by the +fury of his courage; the English cabinet were bearing witness to it by the +great preparations they were displaying on their coast and in their +arsenals, as well as by the ready aid lent by them to the insurgents of +the Peninsula. The Emperor Napoleon on quitting Spain, in the month of +January, had left behind him the certain germs of growing disorder. +Obliged of necessity to commit the chief command to King Joseph, he had +been desirous of remedying the weakness and military incapacity of the +monarch whom he had himself put on the throne by conferring upon the +marshals charged with continuing the war an almost absolute authority over +their _corps d'armée_. Each of them was to correspond directly with the +minister of war, supremely directed by Napoleon himself. Deprived thus of +all serious control over the direction of the war, King Joseph saw himself +equally thwarted in civil and financial affairs. Spanish interests were +naturally found to conflict with French interests. King Joseph defended +the former; an army of imperial functionaries were charged with the +protection of the second. In this mission they proceeded at times even to +insult. King Joseph threatened to place in a carriage M. de Fréville, +administrator for the treasury of confiscated goods, and to send him +directly to France. The complaints of the unfortunate monarch to his +brother were frequent and well founded. "Your Majesty has not entire +confidence in me," he wrote on the 17th of February to Napoleon, "and +meanwhile, without that, the position is not tenable. I shall not again +repeat what I have already written ten times as to the situation of the +finances; I give all my faculties to business from eight o'clock in the +morning to eleven o'clock in the evening; I go out once a week; I have not +a sou to give to any one; I am in the fourth year of my reign, and I still +see my guard with the first frock-coat which I gave it, three years ago; I +am the goal of all complaints; I have all pretensions to overcome; my +power does not extend beyond Madrid, and at Madrid itself I am daily +thwarted. Your Majesty has ordered the sequestration of the goods of ten +families, it has been extended to more than double. All the habitable +houses are sealed up; 6000 domestics of the sequestrated families are in +the streets. All demand charity; the boldest of them take to robbery and +assassination. My officers--all those who sacrificed with me the kingdom +of Naples--are still lodged by billets. Without capital, without income, +without money, what can I do? All this picture, bad as it is, is not +exaggerated, and, bad as it is, it will not exhaust my courage; I shall +arrive at the end of all that. Heaven has given me everything needful to +overcome the hindrances from circumstances or from my enemies; but that +which Heaven has denied me is an organization capable of supporting the +insults and contradictions of those who ought to serve me, and, above all, +of contending with the dissatisfaction of a man whom I have loved too well +to be ever willing to dislike him. Thus, sire, if my whole life has not +given you the fullest confidence in me; if you judge it necessary to +surround me with petty souls, who cause me myself to redden with shame; if +I am to be insulted even in my capital; if I have not the right to appoint +the governors and commandants who are always under my eyes,--I have not +two choices to make. I am only King of Spain by the force of your arms. I +might become so by the love of the Spaniards; but for that it would be +necessary to govern in my own manner. I have often heard you say, 'Every +animal has its instinct, and each one ought to follow it.' I will be such +a king as the brother and friend of your Majesty ought to be, or I will +return to Mortefontaine, where I shall ask for nothing but the happiness +of living without humiliation, and of dying with a tranquil conscience." + +Joseph Bonaparte had presumed too much on his forces and the remains of +his independence. Constantly hard and severe with regard to his brothers, +the emperor replied with scorn to King Joseph: "It is not ill-temper and +small passions that you need, but views cool and conformable to your +position. You talk to me of the constitution. Let me know if the +constitution forbids the King of Spain to be at the head of 300,000 +Frenchmen? if the constitution prohibits the garrison from being French, +and the governor of Madrid a Frenchman? if the constitution says that in +Saragossa the houses are to be blown up one after another? You will not +succeed in Spain, except by vigor and energy. This parade of goodness and +clemency ends in nothing. You will be applauded so long as my armies are +victorious; you will be abandoned if they are vanquished. You ought to +have become acquainted with the Spanish nation in the time you have been +in Spain, and after the events that you have seen. Accustom yourself to +think your royal authority as a very small matter." + +The emperor had correctly judged the precarious condition of the French +power in Spain; he had reckoned, and he still reckoned, on the success of +his arms. The military counsellor whom he had left near his brother +possessed neither his esteem nor his confidence. Marshal Jourdan was a +cold and prudent spirit, always imbued with the military habits of the +French Revolution, and had never courted the favor of Napoleon; King +Joseph was attached to him, and had brought him with him to Naples. The +lieutenants of the emperor showed him no deference; it was, however, by +his agency that the orders of the minister of war passed to the staff- +officers at Madrid. Already, and by the express instructions of the +emperor, Marshal Soult was on march for Portugal. His rapid triumphs did +not appear doubtful; and the operations of Marshal Victor in the south of +Spain were to be dependent on the succors that were to reach him when +Lisbon was conquered. The difficulties everywhere opposed to Marshal Soult +by the passionate insurrection of the Portuguese population, however, +retarded his march. He only arrived on the banks of the Minho on the 15th +of February; the peasants had taken away the boats. An attempted passage +near the mouth of the river having failed, the _corps d'armée_ was +compelled to reascend its course, after a series of partial combats +against the forces of the Marquis of Romana, who had given his support to +the Portuguese insurrection. When he had at length succeeded in crossing +the Minho at Orense, Soult seized successively the towns of Chaves and +Braga, which were scarcely defended. The chiefs of the insurgents had been +constrained by their soldiers to this useless show of resistance, General +Frère having been massacred by the militia whom he ordered to evacuate +Braga. At Oporto the disorder was extreme; the population fought under the +orders of the bishop. The attack had been cleverly arranged. At the moment +when the bewildered crowd was pressing tumultuously over the bridge of +boats across the Douro, the cables broke; men, women, and children were +engulfed in the waves. In spite of the efforts of the general, the city +was sacked. The long wars, the rude life of the camps, the daily habit of +subsisting by pillage, had little by little relaxed the bonds of +discipline. Marshal Soult established himself at Oporto, incapable of +advancing even to Lisbon with his forces reduced by garrisoning towns, in +presence of the English troops, who had not ceased to occupy the capital. +He could not, or he would not make known at Madrid the position in which +he found himself. Behind him the insurrection had closed every passage. He +found himself isolated in Portugal, and conceived the thought of +submitting the environs of Oporto to a regular and pacific government, re- +establishing order all round, and constantly attentive to gain the favor +of important persons. Perhaps the marshal raised his hopes even to the +foundation of an independent and personal power, more durable than +imperial conquests. It was with his consent that the draft of a popular +pronunciamento was circulated in the provinces of Minho and Oporto, +praying "his Excellency the Duke of Dalmatia to take the reins of +government, to represent the sovereign, and to invest himself with all the +attributes of supreme authority, until the emperor might designate a +prince of his house or of his choice to reign over Portugal." + +The sentiments of the army were divided, and an opposition was preparing +to the schemes of the marshal, when the latter learned that an enemy more +redoubtable than the Portuguese insurrection was threatening him in this +province, where he had dreamed of founding a kingdom. Sir Arthur Wellesley +had arrived at Lisbon on the 22nd of April, with reinforcements which +swelled the English _corps d'armée_ to 25,000 men; fifteen or twenty +thousand Portuguese soldiers marched under his orders; a crowd of +insurgents impeded rather than aided his operations. He advanced +immediately against Marshal Soult, now for five weeks immovable at Oporto. +On the 2nd of May he was at Coimbra. Well informed of the plots which were +preparing at Oporto, to which a French officer named Argentan had been +engaged to lend a hand, he resolved upon attacking as speedily as possible +the positions of the marshal. When the latter was informed of the projects +of the English general, retreat was already cut off in the valley of the +Tamega by a strong assemblage of the insurgents, and in the valley of the +Douro by the English general Beresford. Only one route remained still open +to Marshal Soult--by Braga and the provinces of the north. Retreat was +resolved upon, the powder saturated, the field artillery horsed; the +departure was ordered for twelve at noon, and a part of the army was +already defiling on the road to Amarante. + +In the night between the 11th and 12th two English battalions had crossed +the Douro at Avinto, three leagues above Oporto, collecting all the +vessels which were to be found on the river, and descending the course of +the stream under cover of the darkness. The army of Sir Arthur Wellesley +had meanwhile occupied the suburbs of the left bank, concealing his +movements behind the heights of La Sarca. Marshal Soult was ignorant of +that operation. At daybreak a small body of picked men, boldly crossing +the river within sight of our soldiers, took possession of an enclosure +called the Seminary. Entrenching themselves there, and constantly +receiving new reinforcements, the English made a desperate defence against +the attempts of General Delaborde. The main body of the enemy's army +beginning to fill all the streets of Oporto, the marshal at once sounded +retreat, and the wounded and sick were left to the care of the English. +When, on the evening of the 12th, the army reached the town of Baltar, +Soult learned that the roads by Braga had been intercepted, as well as by +the valley of the Douro. General Loison, unable to force the passage of +the Tamega, had evacuated Amarante. The roads from the north would bring +the army back to the suburbs of Oporto. The marshal, not wishing to risk a +fresh encounter with the enemy, at once made up his mind to sacrifice +without hesitation his baggage, ammunition, artillery, and even the +greater part of the treasure of the army, to enter the mountain passes, +and join at Guimaraens the divisions which had preceded him. When at last +the army reached Orense, after seven days' marching, varied by small +skirmishes, the soldiers were exhausted and depressed. Portugal was for +the second time lost to us. Marshal Soult immediately marched towards +Galicia, which had for two months been the theatre of Ney's operations, +and freed Lugo, while that marshal was making a brilliant expedition in +the Asturias along with General Kellermann. The two chiefs made an +arrangement as to the measures to be taken against the insurgents who had +assembled at St. Jago under the orders of the Marquis Romana; after which +Soult was to march upon Old Castile as far as Zamora, to be near the +English, who were said to be threatening the south of Portugal. Ney +proposed to attack Vigo, where General Noriena had fortified himself, +supported by the crews of several English vessels. From the very first, +since the junction of the two armies, both officers and soldiers had +exchanged keen and bitter recrimination. A better feeling, however, had +reappeared, and the mutual good-will of the chiefs for each other silenced +the ill-disposed. After their separation, Ney freed St. Jago; but after +advancing to the suburbs of Vigo, and seeing its strong position, he +waited for the result of Soult's movement against Romana. + +Several days having elapsed, he learned that, after driving Romana back to +Orense without fighting, and staying several days at Montforte, the +marshal had taken the road to Zamora, without replying to the letters of +his companion-in-arms. From information received from Lugo, Ney was +persuaded that Soult's project had long been premeditated, and that he had +of deliberate purpose broken the bargain stipulated between them. His +anger burst forth with a violence proportioned to the frankness he had +shown when treating with Soult, and this anger was shared by the officers +and soldiers of his army. He at once determined to evacuate Galicia, which +was threatened both by the English and the Spanish insurgents. Leaving a +strong garrison at Ferrol, Ney slowly advanced towards Lugo, where he +collected the sick and wounded left by Soult, and then returned to +Astorga, in the beginning of July. He wrote to King Joseph: "If I had +wished to resolve to leave Galicia without artillery, I could have +remained there longer, at the risk of being hemmed in; but, avoiding such +a mode of departure, I have retreated, bringing with me my sick and +wounded, as well as those of Marshal Soult, left in my charge. I inform +your Majesty that I have decided not to serve again in company with +Marshal Soult." + +King Joseph now had a most troublesome complication, and a position that +daily became more serious. At one time, in April, he was in hopes of +seeing his affairs right themselves again, in spite of the absence of all +news of Soult's operations in Portugal. Marshal Victor, urged by the King +of Spain and by his staff to obey the emperor's instructions and invade +Andalusia, had crossed the Tagus in three columns, and, reforming again on +the Guadiana, had, after passing that river, joined near Medellin Don +Gregorio de la Cuesta, who retreated for several days before him. A severe +battle having dispersed those large forces of the Spanish insurgents, on +the 28th March, the marshal took up his position on the banks of the +Guadiana, at the very time when General Sebastiani, at the head of two +divisions, was defeating the army of Estremadura at Ciudad Real, and +driving it back to the entrance of the Sierra Morena. There they awaited +the movement ordered in the instructions given to Soult, the pivot of the +whole campaign, projected by Napoleon before his departure for Paris. It +was in Germany, just after the battle of Essling, that the emperor learned +of the check caused to all his combinations by Soult's immobility at +Oporto. Obstinate in directing himself the operations of armies at a +distance, without the power of taking into account the state of public +opinion, and without any knowledge of all that had occurred between the +departure of the couriers and the arrival of peremptory orders no longer +suitable to the situation, the emperor conceived the idea of concentrating +three armies under one man. Making all personal considerations bend to the +order of seniority, he entrusted the command to Marshal Soult, thus +investing him with supreme authority over Marshals Mortier and Ney. The +order reached Madrid at the moment when the leaders of the armies were +most keenly antagonistic. "You will send a staff-officer to Spain," +Napoleon had written to the minister of war, "with the orders that the +forces of the Duke of Elchingen, the Duke of Trevisa, and the Duke of +Dalmatia will form only one army, under the command of the Duke of +Dalmatia. These forces must only move together, to march against the +English, pursue them incessantly, defeat them, and throw them into the +sea. Putting all considerations aside, I give the command to the Duke of +Dalmatia, as being senior in rank. These forces ought to form from 50,000 +to 60,000 men, and if the junction is promptly effected, the English will +be destroyed, and the affairs of Spain arranged finally. But they must +keep together, and not march in small parties. That principle applies to +every country, but especially to a country where there can be no +communication. I cannot appoint a place for the armies to meet, because I +do not know what events have taken place. Forward this order to the king, +to the Duke of Dalmatia, and to the two other marshals, by four different +roads." + +Whilst thus writing, constantly and justly apprehensive of the danger +caused by the English army, Napoleon was still ignorant of the evacuation +of Portugal. "Let your instructions to them be, to attack the enemy +wherever they meet him," he said three days previously to General Clarke, +"to renew their communications with the Duke of Dalmatia, and support him +on the Minho. The English alone are to be feared; alone, if the army is +not directed differently, they will in a few months lead it to a +catastrophe." + +The order sent by the emperor necessarily assisted in bringing about the +catastrophe of which he was afraid. Marshal Soult, being deceived as to +the plan of the English, and meditating an attack upon Portugal by Ciudad +Rodrigo, wished to concentrate large forces for this purpose. He sent for +Marshal Mortier, who was posted at Villacastín, where he covered Madrid, +and demanded reinforcements from Aragon and Catalonia. The latter troops +were refused him, and Generals Suchet and St. Cyr had great difficulty in +keeping those two provinces in respect. Marshal Jourdan had foreseen the +attack of the English on the Tagus, and was anxious about the position of +Marshal Victor, isolated in Andalusia. Like the other leaders, the marshal +acted independently, without attending to the orders from Madrid: he found +himself compelled to fall back upon Talavera. + +He was not to hold that post long. In spite of the extreme difficulty +experienced by Sir Arthur Wellesley in maintaining a good understanding +with his Spanish allies, he had marched to attack Marshal Victor, to whom +King Joseph was sending reinforcements as quickly as he could. About +22,000 English soldiers were now on the field, reduced to such scarcity of +provisions and money as to cause pillage and disorder, in spite of their +commander's anger. Don Cuesta, with about 40,000 men under his orders, had +been appointed, much against his will, to occupy the mountain passes. A +Spanish army of 30,000 men, collected by General Venegas, was expected to +join the two principal armies. On leaving Madrid, with the forces at his +disposal, King Joseph had impressed upon Soult the necessity of attacking +the enemy's rear, so that the Anglo-Spanish army might be crushed between +superior forces. The marshal announced his departure. + +Victor had had time to fall back upon Vargas, behind the Guadarama. Sir +Arthur Wellesley crossed the Alberche, a tributary of the Tagus, and as +soon as he found himself in presence of the enemy, wished to offer battle, +urging Cuesta to join him in attacking Victor before the arrival of the +enemy's reinforcements. The Spanish general declared that his honor was at +stake in holding his positions, and absolutely refused to fight. The +English alone, had not men enough at their disposal to contend with the +French troops. Scarcely had the latter commenced their retreat when the +Spanish, suddenly seized with the ardor of battle, rushed in pursuit, +complaining that the "rascals withdrew so fast," wrote Cuesta to +Wellesley, "that one cannot follow them in their flight." "If you run like +that, you will get beaten," replied the English general, scornfully, +annoyed at seeing himself perpetually thwarted in his able plans. + +In fact when the Spaniards, a few days afterwards, at last engaged with +the French, Marshal Victor's advance-guard were sufficient to drive Cuesta +back as far as the English battalions, which had been prudently told off +to support him. The fighting was gallant on the part of our troops, and +helped to excite their ardor. King Joseph was urged to join battle: he +feared an attack on Madrid, which he had been compelled to leave +undefended, and reckoned upon the rapid movements of Soult, who had +received orders to advance with all haste from Salamanca to Placentia. He +had no experience of war, and neglected to take into account the chances +of delay and the loss of troops during the march. Marshal Victor was +daring, full of contempt for the Spanish troops, and ignorant of the +qualities of the English army, which had not for a long time been seen on +the continent. The French army advanced upon Talavera, which was strongly +held by Sir Arthur. Hampered by the obstinacy and want of discipline of +his Spanish allies, the English general had relinquished all attempts at +daring, entrenching himself on the defensive. Marshal Soult had not +arrived, being unable, he wrote, to effect his operation on the enemy's +rear before the beginning of August. On the 27th of July, however, on +occupying the ground before the English positions at Talavera, Victor gave +orders to attack a height which was badly defended, and was driven back +with heavy loss. Marshal Jourdan insisted on a delay of a few days, to +allow Soult time to arrive; but the anxiety of King Joseph, and Victor's +impatience, gained the day, and on the 28th, at daybreak, they attacked +the mamelon, already threatened on the 27th. + +Our troops gained the top under the English fire, but Sir Arthur had +doubled the ranks of those in defence, and a terrible charge under General +Hill compelled the French again to abandon the position. + +The check was serious, and the soldiers began to be discouraged. By common +consent, and without orders given by the leaders, the fight ceased. The +English and French crowded on the two banks of a small brook which +separated the two armies, and all quenched their thirst, without suspicion +of treason or perfidy, and without a single shot being fired on either +side. The French generals again discussed the question of resuming +hostilities. "If this mamelon is not taken," exclaimed Victor, +impetuously, "we should not take any part in a campaign." King Joseph, +deficient in authority both of position and character, gave way. Sir +Arthur Wellesley, seated on the grass at the top of a hill, surveyed the +enemy's lines, and the defences, which he had just strengthened by a +division, and a battery of artillery obtained with great difficulty from +Cuesta. Till then the English had borne the brunt of the fighting; on +General Donkin coming to tell Sir Arthur that the Spanish were betraying +him, the general-in-chief quietly said, "Go back to your division." The +attack was again begun, and this time directed against the whole line of +the English positions, while Village's brigade turned the mamelon to +assail them in flank. + +At this moment a charge of the enemy's cavalry poured upon our columns. A +German regiment followed Seymour's dragoons, but were stopped by a +watercourse, and pulled up: the English horsemen alone, boldly crossing +the obstacle, made a furious attack on the French ranks, which opened to +let them pass. In their daring impetuosity the dragoons went as far as our +rear-guard, where they were stopped by new forces, and finally brought +back with great loss to the foot of the mamelon. They stopped the flank +movement however; and the centre of the English army, shaken for a moment, +formed again round Colonel Donellan after a brilliant charge, and our +soldiers were again driven back towards their position. The losses were +great on both sides. The English did not attempt to pursue their +advantages, and when the fight had ceased were satisfied with encamping on +the heights of Talavera. Next day the French army withdrew beyond the +Alberche without being disturbed by the enemy, and waited finally for +Marshal Soult's arrival. + +He appeared on the 2nd of August at Placentia, too late for his glory as +well as for the success of the French arms, though in time to modify +Wellesley's plans. The latter had commenced to advance towards him, +thinking he should meet forces inferior to his own; but Mortier had +already followed Soult, Ney's troops were advancing by Salamanca, and King +Joseph was preparing to put under him all his regiments, except those +accompanying General Sebastiani in his march towards Madrid. Sir Arthur +Wellesley understood the dangers of his position: his troops were tired, +and badly fed; and not wishing to risk again the lot of arms, he hurriedly +re-crossed the Tagus, taking care to blow the bridges up, and fell back +upon Truxillo, by the rugged mountain passes. The want of a proper +understanding, and the mutual distrust which during the whole campaign had +reigned between the English and Spanish, had borne their fruits. +Wellesley's soldiers, deprived of the resources to which they had been +accustomed, and which they had a right to expect from their allies, died +in great numbers in their encampments on the bank of the Guadiana: their +wounded had been abandoned at Talavera, when Cuesta evacuated that +position. Sir Arthur gave vent to his bitter complaints in writing to +Frère, the English _chargé d'affaires_ at the insurgents' head-quarters: +"I wish the members of the Junta, before blaming me for not doing more, +and charging me beforehand with the probable results of the faults and +imprudence of others, would be good enough to come here, or send somebody +to supply the wants of our army dying of hunger, and actually after +fighting two days, and defeating in the service of Spain an enemy of twice +their number, without bread to eat. It is a positive fact that for the +last seven days the English army has not received a third of its +provisions, that at this moment there are 4000 wounded soldiers dying for +want of the care and necessaries which any other country in the world +would have supplied, even to its enemies, and that I can derive assistance +of no kind from the country. I cannot even get leave to bury the dead +bodies in the neighborhood. We are told that the Spanish troops sometimes +behave well: I confess that I have never seen them behave otherwise than +badly." + +The emperor's anger was extreme on learning the check our troops had +received at Talavera. He wrote to Marshal Jourdan, indignantly +recapitulating all the blunders made during the campaign, without at all +considering the difficulties everywhere caused by orders sent from a +distance, in ignorance of the actual facts of the situation. "When at last +they decided to give battle," Napoleon summed up, "it was done without +energy, since my arms were disgraced. Battle should not be given, unless +seventy chances in one's favor can be counted upon beforehand: even then, +one should not offer battle unless there are no more chances to be hoped +for, since the lot of battle is from its nature always doubtful: but once +the resolution is taken, one must conquer or perish, and the French eagles +must not withdraw till all have equally put forth every effort. There must +have been a combination of all these faults before an army like my army of +Spain could have been beaten by 30,000 English: but so long as they will +attack good troops, like the English ones, in good positions, without +reconnoitring these positions, without being certain of carrying them, +they will lead my men to death, and for nothing at all." + +The Spanish armies were, after the battle scattered everywhere, according +to their custom, to appear again in a short time like swarms of wasps to +harass our soldiers. Sir Arthur Wellesley entrenched himself at Badajoz, +ready to fall back upon Portugal. No definitive result had crowned the +bloody campaign just completed, but it had an influence upon the +negotiations then being carried on in Spain. An attempt, long prepared by +the English, and to which they attached a great importance, now occupied +the Emperor Napoleon's mind still more than the affairs of Spain. + +For several weeks it was believed that the great maritime expedition +organized on the coasts of England was for the purpose of carrying +overwhelming reinforcements to Spain. A first attempt, of less importance, +was directed against our fleets collected at the island of Aix, near +Rochefort. Admiral Willaumez, in charge of an expedition to the Antilles, +had to rally the squadrons of Lorient and Rochefort, and being unavoidably +delayed at the latter place, it was there that Admiral Gambier came to +attack our vessels. Vice-Admiral Allemand carefully fortified the isle of +Aix against an attack, the nature of which he had foreseen, though not the +extent. During the night of the 11th and 12th April, conducted by several +divisions, composed of frigates and brigs, thirty large fire-ships were +suddenly launched against our vessels, exploding in all directions, +breaking the wooden bars by the weight of their burning masses, adhering +to the sides of the ships and compelling even those which they did not set +on fire to go aside to avoid dangers which were more to be dreaded. Thanks +to the skill and bravery of our sailors, none of the vessels perished by +fire; but four of them ran aground at the mouth of the Charente, and were +attacked by the English. The _Calcutta_ surrendered after several hours' +fighting--her commander, Captain Lafon, having to pay with his life for +the weak resistance he is said to have made. The English blew up the +_Aquilon_ and _Varsovie_, and Captain Roncière himself set fire to the +_Tonnerre_, after landing all his crew. Napoleon's continued efforts to +form a rival navy in France constituted a standing menace to England. +After the cruel expedition of the isle of Aix, the principal effort was to +be directed against Antwerp, always an object of English jealousy and +dissatisfaction, as a commercial port, or as a place of war. The works +which the emperor had been carrying on there increased their anxiety, and +on the 29th July forty vessels of the line and thirty frigates appeared in +sight of the island of Walcheren. From 700 to 800 transport-ships brought +an army to be landed, under the orders of Lord Chatham, Pitt's elder +brother, and containing about 40,000 men, with much artillery. The emperor +was at once informed, and M. Decrès, minister of the marine, proposed to +station at Flushing the fleet of Admiral Missiessy. The latter refused, +saying that he would not let himself be taken, and did not wish to see his +crews decimated by the Walcheren fever. That was the auxiliary upon which +Napoleon reckoned against the English expedition; and rightly, too. + +Walcheren was slightly and badly fortified; the emperor considering +Flushing to be quite impregnable. "You say that the bombardment of +Flushing makes you apprehensive of its surrender," he wrote on the 22nd +August. "You are wrong to have any such fear. Flushing is impregnable so +long as there is bread in it, and they have enough for six months. +Flushing is impregnable, because there is a moat full of water, which must +be crossed; and finally, because by cutting the dykes they can inundate +the whole island. Write and tell everywhere that Flushing cannot be taken, +unless by the cowardice of the commandants; and also that I am certain of +it, and that the English will go off without having it. The bombs are +nothing--absolutely nothing; they will destroy a few houses, but that has +no effect upon the surrender of a place." + +General Monnet, who commanded at Flushing, was an old officer of the +revolution wars, brave and daring and he did his best in opposing the +landing of the English, with a part of his forces, and in gallantly +defending the place; but the inundation did not succeed, on account of the +elevation of the ground and the wind being contrary. Therefore when +Napoleon wrote to Fouché, Flushing had already capitulated, under the +efforts of the most formidable siege artillery. The Dutch commandant +surrendered the forts Denhaak and Terwecre at the same time as Middelburg. +The feeling of the Dutch nation, formerly favorable to republican France, +had been modified since the imperial decrees ruined all the transit trade, +the source of Holland's wealth. King Louis alone hastened to the +assistance of the French army, advancing with his little army between +Santvliet and Antwerp. Four Dutch regiments were fighting in Germany, and +a small corps had been sent into Spain. Thus, while extending his +enterprises in remote parts, the unbounded ambition of Napoleon left +unprotected the very centre of his empire. + +General Rousseau, however, succeeded in protecting the island of Cadsand, +and Admiral Strachan and Lord Chatham recalled to the eastern Scheldt the +forces which had been intended for the attack on that island. The English +forces began to land upon the islands of North and South Beveland, in +order to attack Fort Batz at the junction of the two Scheldts, and thus +outflank the French fleet lying in the western Scheldt. Fortunately, +Admiral Missiessy had the advantage over the English commanders in speed, +and sailing up into the higher Scheldt, formed by the two branches of the +river, he arranged his vessels under forts Lillo and Liefkenshoek which by +their cross-fires protected the river from bank to bank. Antwerp was thus +safe from attack by sea; at Paris there was great anxiety as to attacks by +land. + +A few provisional demi-brigades, the gendarmes, and picked national +guards, about 30,000 men altogether--such were the forces at the disposal +of the war minister. He durst not--nobody durst, change the destination of +the troops already marching to Germany. The minister of marine and Fouché +at once proposed a general levy of the national guard, under the orders of +Bernadotte--one being daring and dissatisfied, the other fostering +discontent of every kind openly or secretly, and still remembering the +revolutionary procedure. The Council, presided over by the Arch-chancellor +Cambacérès, refused to authorize the calling out of the national guards +without the emperor's express order; but Fouché, without waiting for +orders, wrote on his own authority to all the prefects, and stirred up +everywhere a patriotic zeal. At first Napoleon approved of the ardor of +his minister of police, and severely rated the arch-chancellor and +minister of war for their prudence. "I cannot conceive what you are about +in Paris," he wrote to General Clarke on the 10th August; "you must be +waiting for the English to come and take you in your beds. When 25,000 +English are attacking our dockyards and threatening our provinces, is the +ministry doing nothing? What trouble is there in raising 60,000 of the +national guard? What trouble is there in sending the Prince of Pontecorvo +to take the command there, where there is nobody? What trouble is there in +putting my strongholds, Antwerp, Ostend, and Lille, in a state of siege? +It is inconceivable. There is none but Fouché who appears to me to have +done what he could, and to have felt the inconvenience of remaining in a +dangerous and dishonorable position:--dangerous, because the English, +seeing that France is not in movement, and that no impulse is given to +public opinion, will have nothing to fear, and will not hurry to leave our +territory; dishonorable, because it shows fear of opinion, and allows +25,000 English to burn our dockyards without defending them. The slur thus +cast upon France is a perpetual disgrace. Circumstances vary from moment +to moment. It is impossible for me to give orders to arrive within a +fortnight. The ministers have the same power as I, since they can hold a +council and pass decisions. Make use of the Prince of Pontecorvo--make use +of General Moncey. I send you besides Marshal Bessières, to remain in +Paris in reserve. I have ordered a levy of 30,000 men of the national +guard. If the English make progress, make a second levy of 30,000 in the +same or other departments. It is evident that the enemy, feeling the +difficulty of taking Flushing, intend marching straight to Antwerp, to +make a sudden attempt upon the squadron." + +Flushing had succumbed, but the operations of the English were delayed by +their indecisive generalship. Hope's division easily took possession of +Fort Batz, but the main body of the army remained behind. The +fortifications of Antwerp were daily increased and strengthened. The +engineers, under Decaux, who checked the warlike ardor of King Louis, +rendered the forts impregnable to sudden assault, inundated the country +all round, and erected the old dams on the Scheldt; and troops also began +to arrive, rapidly concentrating upon the threatened spot. According to +the emperor's order the Prince of Pontecorvo had set out for Antwerp, and +took the command there. While the army was being formed round the town, +the English with great difficulty got their fleet into the Scheldt as far +as Fort Batz. Their forces being already considerably reduced by the +fever, and the preparations made at Antwerp to receive them causing Lord +Chatham some uneasiness, he held a council of war on the 26th, and sent +their decision to London, where it was approved by the ministry. It was +too late now to attack Antwerp, the opportunity having been lost; and the +huge army, collected with so much display, fell back upon the island of +Walcheren, and a large number of the vessels sailed for the Downs. Every +day 800 casks of fresh water were brought from the Downs to the garrison +still occupying Flushing, Middelburg, and the forts. The English were +completely checked; and there were already signs that they might evacuate +the island of Walcheren altogether. + +The emperor triumphed at Schönbrunn. Advising his generals not to attack +the English, but to leave them to be killed by ague, he congratulated +himself on the unexpected reinforcement thus gained by his army. "It is a +continuation of the good fortune attending our present circumstances," he +wrote, "that this expedition, which has reduced to nothing England's +greatest effort, gives us an army of 24,000 men, which otherwise we should +have been unable to get." He at once made use of it to organize the new +army of the north, suddenly called out by the country's danger. At the +same time, by a strong instinct of government, he severely blamed the +revolutionary movement which Fouché had excited in the departments. On the +26th September he wrote to him: "I have your letter informing me that the +'cadres' of the regiment for the national guard are formed everywhere. I +know it, but am not pleased at it. Such a measure cannot be taken without +my order. There has been too great haste; all that has been done will not +hasten by a single hour the arming of the national guard, if they are +needed. That causes fermentation, whereas it would have been sufficient to +put in movement the national guards of the military divisions which I have +indicated. Then you call out the national guards of Flanders to assist on +the frontiers by which the enemy intend invading Flanders; the reason is +obvious. But when there is a levy in Languedoc, Piedmont, Burgundy, people +think there is an agitation, though there is none. My intentions are not +fulfilled, and I am put to unnecessary expense." + +The command, accordingly, was withdrawing from the Prince of Pontecorvo, +who, though always called to serve at the moment of danger, was considered +fickle and suspicious by the emperor. "You will let him know," wrote +Napoleon to his minister of war, "that I am displeased with his 'order of +the day;' that it is not true that he had only 15,000 men, when, with the +soldiers of the Duke of Conegliano and Istria, I have on the Scheldt more +than 60,000 men; but that even if he only had 15,000, his duty was to give +the enemy no hint of it. It is the first time that a general, from excess +of vanity, has been seen to betray the secret of his position. He at the +same time eulogized the national guards, who know very well themselves +that they have had no opportunity of doing anything. You will also express +to him my dissatisfaction with his Paris correspondence, and insist upon +his ceasing to receive mischievous letters from the wretches whom he +encourages by such conduct. The third point as to which you will indicate +to him my intentions is, that he should go to the army or to the waters." + +The useless attempt of the English at Walcheren, and their prudent retreat +from Antwerp, was made use of by the French diplomatists who were still +discussing the terms of peace at Altenburg. The Emperor Napoleon, however, +was tired of the delays of their negotiations. Being now certain that +Austria could have no more support, he received Bubna and Prince John of +Lichtenstein, who had been sent to him directly by the Emperor Francis. +Napoleon haughtily dwelt upon the value of the concessions which he had +already granted. "What!" said he to the envoys, "I had not yet +relinquished the principle of the _uti possidetis_, and now I relinquish +it at your emperor's request! I claimed 400,000 souls of the population of +Bohemia, now I cease to demand them! I wished 800,000 souls in Upper +Austria, and I am satisfied with 400,000! I asked for 1,400,000 souls in +Carinthia and Carniola, and I give up Klagenfurth, which is a further +sacrifice of 200,000 souls. I therefore restore to your master a +population of a million of subjects, and he says I have made no +concession! I have only kept what is necessary to keep the enemy away from +Passau and the Inn--what is necessary to connect the territories of Italy +and Dalmatia; yet they persuade him that I have not modified any of my +demands! It is thus that they have led on the Emperor Francis to war; it +is thus that they will finally bring him to ruin!" He refrained, however, +from replying to the Emperor Francis's letter. "It were undignified for me +to say to a prince, 'You don't know what you say;' but that is what I find +myself compelled to say, since his letter is founded upon an error." +"Leave vain repetitions and silliness to the Austrians," he wrote to +Champagny. At the same time he reviewed his troops, and hurried the +movements of the reinforcements which were arriving. The Emperor Alexander +had received Austria's promise to make a speedy settlement, refusing to +take part in the negotiations, and trusting that Napoleon would look after +his interests. The only point which he reserved was the Polish question: +he was afraid of the increase of the grand duchy of Warsaw. "Your Majesty +can give me a certain pledge of your friendship towards me," he wrote to +Napoleon on the 31st August, "by recalling what I frequently said at +Tilsit and Erfurt, as to the interests of Russia with reference to the +affairs of Poland (lately so-called), and what I have since instructed +your ambassador to repeat to you." + +It was precisely upon Galicia that the ambitious views of Napoleon were at +that moment directed. Being repeatedly pressed by the Austrian envoys to +explain his definitive intentions, he at last declared that he wished +Carniola, the circle of Wilbach, and the right bank of the Save as far as +Bosnia; ceding Linz, and keeping Salzburg. He thus became master of +1,500,000 souls in Austria. In Galicia he claimed all the territory which +Austria had obtained at the second partition of Poland, as well as the +circles of Solkiew and Zeloczow, which he intended to cede to Russia, in +order to restrain her displeasure. The population of these territories +amounted to 2,000,000 souls. To these conditions Napoleon added a war +contribution of 100,000,000, and the obligation of Austria reducing her +army to 150,000 men. The Austrian diplomatists succeeded in getting off +15,000,000 from the military contribution. That was the only favor +granted. "I have given Austria the most advantageous peace she could +expect," wrote Napoleon to the Emperor Alexander, on the 10th October, +1809. "She only cedes Salzburg and a small district on the Inn; she cedes +nothing in Bohemia; and on the Italian side she only cedes what is +indispensable to me for communication with Dalmatia. The monarchy +therefore remains entire. It is a second experiment which I wished to +make, and I have shown towards her a moderation which she had no right to +expect. In doing so I trust to have pleased your Majesty. You will see +that, in accordance with your desires, the greater part of Galicia does +not change masters, and that I have been as careful of your interests as +you could have been yourself, by reconciling everything with what honor +demands from me. For the prosperity and well-being of the duchy of Warsaw, +it is necessary that it should be in your Majesty's good graces; and the +subjects of your Majesty may be assured that in no case, on no +contingency, ought they to expect any protection from me." + +So many protestations and flattering assurances could not destroy the +effect of the development of the grand duchy of Warsaw, and the constant +menace created for Russia by that partial resuscitation of a Poland +submitted to French influence. The Emperor Alexander made Caulaincourt +sensible of this by a few sharp words. The secret discord was now +increasing between the two allies, in proportion as the divergence of +their interests made itself felt. The unreasonable passions of Napoleon +were soon to open between them the gulf into which he was to drag France. + +The Tyrol was not included in the negotiations of peace, any more than in +the armistice. When at last the treaty was signed at Vienna, on the 20th +October, a few days after the discovery of a plot to assassinate Napoleon, +the fighting was still continued in the mountains with the keen +determination of despair. In vain did Prince Eugène offer the insurgents a +general pardon, confirming the subservience of their country; the peasants +proudly rejected the conditions offered them. Crushed by the combined +French and Bavarian forces, the Tyrolese succumbed with glory: their +popular leader, Andrew Hofer, was taken in a remote mountain retreat where +he had taken refuge, brought to Mantua on the 19th January, 1810, and +there shot on the 25th February, by Napoleon's express order. "I gave you +instructions to have Hofer brought to Paris," wrote Napoleon to the +Viceroy of Italy; "but since he is at Mantua, send an order to have him +tried at once by court-martial, and shot on the spot. Let it be an affair +of twenty-four hours." Hofer underwent his fate with an heroic and pious +simplicity. It was only in 1824 that Austria paid to this humble patriot +the honors due to his memory, his body being then transported to +Innsbruck, and buried there with pomp in the cathedral. A statue was +placed on his tomb. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE DIVORCE (1809-1810). + + +On his return to France, after the peace of Vienna, the Emperor Napoleon, +though triumphant and all-powerful to those who looked only on the +surface, felt secretly conscious that his supreme prestige had been +shaken. He experienced the necessity of strengthening and consolidating +his conquests by some startling act, and of finally founding upon +immovable bases that empire which he had raised by his victorious hands +without ever believing it really permanent. The advances made at Erfurt +towards a family alliance with the Emperor of Russia remained without any +result, in spite of the friendly protestations of the Emperor Alexander; +and since Napoleon's return to Paris those admitted to his closest +intimacy detected a perceptible change in his manner. "He seemed to be +walking in the midst of his glory," wrote the Arch-chancellor Cambacérès. +It was to him that Napoleon first broached the project of divorce, which +was soon to become a settled determination. The loving tone in which he +wrote to her as his wife might well deceive the Empress Josephine; for +Napoleon still retained some love for her, though it was powerless in +hindering his ambitious resolutions. The rumor of the great event was +already spreading in Paris and Europe, though Josephine was still unaware +of it. She was uneasy, however, and numerous indications daily increased +her anxiety: her children shared her apprehension. The whole of the +imperial family were assembled about their renowned head, divided as they +were in their inclinations and interests; and Napoleon had himself +summoned Prince Eugène to Paris. + +Under the emperor's order, Champagny had already written to Caulaincourt: +"You will wait upon the Emperor Alexander, and speak to him in these +terms: 'Sire, I have reason to believe that the emperor, at the request of +the whole of France, is making arrangements for a divorce. May I write to +say that they can reckon on your sister? Let your Majesty take two days to +consider it, and give me frankly your reply, not as French ambassador, but +as a man warmly devoted to both families. It is not a formal request that +I now make; it is a confidential expression of your intentions that I beg +from you. I am too much accustomed to tell your Majesty all my thoughts to +be afraid of ever being compromised by you.'" + +Caulaincourt was greatly perplexed. The peace of Vienna had been badly +received at St. Petersburg, and had caused so many complaints and +recriminations that the French ambassador found himself compelled to +appease the irritation which threatened to break the alliance, by +translating Napoleon's promises into official engagements. The terms of +the convention were agreed upon by the diplomatists, and it was about to +be signed. Napoleon engaged never to re-establish the kingdom of Poland; +the names Poland and Polish were to disappear in all the acts; the grand +duchy could not for the future be increased by annexing any part of the +old Polish monarchy: the conditions of the convention were binding upon +the King of Saxony, Grand Duke of Warsaw. At the same time that he was +begged to accept this unsuitable engagement, Napoleon had harshly reminded +his ally of the inaction of his forces during the war. "I wish," said he, +"that in the discussions which take place, the Duke of Vicentia should +make the following remarks to Romanzoff: 'You are sensible that there is +nothing of the past that the emperor has laid hold of: in the affairs of +Austria you made no sign. How has the emperor acted? He has given you a +province which more than repays all the expense you have incurred for the +war; and openly declares that you have joined to your empire Finland, +Moldavia, and Wallachia.'" + +However delicate the circumstances and question were which Caulaincourt +had to propose, he obeyed. The Emperor Alexander was not disinclined to +listen to the proposals, but would have preferred first to make sure of +the signature to the convention relative to Poland as the price of his +acceptance. The empress mother, dissatisfied and spiteful, suggested +religious objections. The kind considerations of Napoleon seemed +boundless. The Emperor Alexander and his advisers asked time to consider. + +Meantime the projected divorce had become known in Paris, even in the +bosom of the imperial family. Napoleon could not longer keep his secret. +In presence of the vague uneasiness of the empress his mind was burdened +with some feeling of remorse for the act which he was secretly meditating, +and he at last gave her some hint of his intention, as well as of the +reasons for his decision, and the pain it had caused him. The unhappy +Josephine screamed, and fell fainting. When she recovered consciousness, +she was supported by her daughter the Queen of Holland, who was also in +tears, and proudly offended at the harshness which Napoleon had shown her +in the first moment of his anger at the sight of Josephine's sufferings. +Soon moved by the return of better and truer sentiments which still +exercised a certain influence upon him, the emperor shared the sorrows of +the mother and daughter, without for a moment relaxing by word or thought +the determination which he had formed. Prince Eugène, as well as Queen +Hortense, had declared their intentions of following their mother in her +retirement; Napoleon opposed it, and overwhelmed with presents and favors +the wife whom he was forsaking for reasons of state. Two days after +solemnly breaking the tie by which they were united, he wrote to her at +Malmaison, with much genuine affection in spite of his strange and +imperious style:--"My dear, you seem to me to-day weaker than you ought to +be. You showed courage, and you will do so again in order to support +yourself. You must not let yourself sink into a fatal melancholy. You must +be happy, and, before everything, take care of your health, which is so +precious to me. If you are fond of me and love me, you ought to show some +energy, and make yourself happy. You understand my sentiments towards you +very imperfectly, if you imagine that I can be happy when you are not so, +and satisfied when you are still anxious. Good-bye, darling; pleasant +dreams! Be assured that I am sincere." + +The Empress Josephine had often shown a fickle character and frivolous +mind; but being kind, obliging, and gifted with a grace that had gained +her many friends before her greatness had surrounded her with courtiers +and flatterers, she was popular; and the public, who were not in favor of +the divorce, sympathized with her sorrow. On the 15th December, 1809, in a +formally summoned meeting of the imperial family, with the arch-chancellor +and Count Regnault d'Angely also present, Napoleon himself openly +announced the resolution which he had taken. "The policy of my monarchy, +the interest and wants of my peoples which have invariably guided all my +actions, require," said he, "that I should leave this throne on which +Providence has placed me, to children inheriting my love for my peoples. +For several years, however, I have lost hopes of having children by my +marriage with my well-beloved spouse the Empress Josephine, which urges me +to sacrifice the dearest affections of my heart, to consider only the +well-being of the State, and to will the dissolution of our marriage. God +knows how much such a resolution has cost my heart; but there is no +sacrifice which is beyond my courage, if proved to be useful to the well- +being of France." + +The Empress Josephine wished to speak, but her voice was choked by her +tears; she handed to Count Regnault the paper evidencing her assent to the +emperor's wishes. A few words spoken by Prince Eugène, as he took his +place in the Senate, confirmed the sacrifice; and by a "senatus-consulte" +the civil marriage was formally dissolved. The religious marriage gave +rise to greater difficulty. The absence of the proper cure and of the +witnesses required by the rules of the Church served as a pretext, in +spite of the protestations of Cardinal Fesch, who had celebrated the +marriage, and declared that the Pope had granted him full dispensation. +There was no intention of consulting the pontiff on this occasion. The +emperor sent an address to the magistracy of Paris, like the meanest of +his subjects, declaring that his consent had not been complete; he had +only agreed to a useless formality with the object of tranquillising the +conscience of the empress and that of the holy father, feeling certain +since then that he must have recourse to a divorce. The scruples of the +ecclesiastics were overcome; and the religious marriage declared null by +the diocesan and metropolitan authorities. The news was inserted in the +Moniteur, together with the decree settling upon the repudiated empress a +magnificent dowry. + +The reply from St. Petersburg, however, was still forthcoming, and the +emperor began to feel very angry. The King of Saxony had already made +overtures, offering the hand of his daughter to his illustrious ally; and +soon still more flattering hopes were aroused. The peace party ruled in +Vienna, Metternich having replaced Stadion in power; and some words of +Swartzenburg, the new ambassador at Paris, seemed to imply matrimonial +advances. The Archduchess Marie-Louise was eighteen years of age, amiable +and gentle in disposition: the alliance was a brilliant one, and would +permanently establish a good understanding between Austria and France. +Many intrigues were now started: those of the politicians or courtiers who +held to the old regime by tradition or taste were in favor of the Austrian +marriage; they were supported by Prince Eugène, Queen Hortense, and even +by the Empress Josephine herself, though not avowedly. The imperial family +and councillors, sprung from the French Revolution, had a repugnance to +alliance with the house of Austria, as a return towards the past, which +was still present to the minds of all: they dwelt upon the dangers of a +rupture with Russia, who would be indignant at seeing herself scorned +after being sought for. There were fewer objections on the side of +Austria, already beaten and humiliated. The emperor hesitated, and twice +consulted his most intimate council. At the second sitting his mind was +made up. The delay of Russia had stirred up his anger, and, according to +his custom, he listened only to his haughty and implacable will. Orders +were given to Caulaincourt to overthrow the negotiations respecting the +Grand Duchess Catherine. Marriage with the Archduchess Marie-Louise was +resolved upon. + +The Emperor Francis showed none of the repugnance or hesitation which +irritated Napoleon against the Russians. No gloomy forecast seems to have +passed through the minds of that august family, which had formerly seen +Marie-Antoinette leave Vienna to sit at Paris upon a fatal throne. Yet all +the efforts of both the emperors tended to suggest constant analogies. +Napoleon's contract was copied from the act which united the destinies of +Louis XVI. and Marie-Antoinette. The marriage ceremonial was throughout +the same, with the redoubled splendor of an unprecedented magnificence. +The new empress had willingly accepted the throne which was offered her. +The Archduke Charles agreed to represent the Emperor Napoleon at the +celebration of the official marriage. Marshal Berthier, major-general of +the Imperial army, was appointed to go and fetch the princess. Her first +lady of honor was the Duchess of Montebello, widow of Marshal Lannes, who +was killed at Wagram. The tragical remembrances of by-gone alliances +between France and the reigning house of Austria, the bitter and +bloodstained recollections of recent struggles, seemed to serve only to +enhance the brilliancy of the new ties uniting the two countries. The +Emperor Napoleon took possession of the imperial family, as he had +recently conquered their capital and occupied their palaces. The people of +Paris thought they saw in this alliance a final and permanent triumph: and +the magnificence of the fetes given in honor of the young empress's +arrival increased their intoxication. "She brings news to the world of +peaceful days," was the inscription on all the triumphal arches. + +In fact the world was hopeful but men of foresight and wisdom were not +deceived. There were germs of discord everywhere, in spite of the +appearance of peace. Fighting was still going on in Spain, and the +obstinacy of the Spanish insurgents equalled the perseverance of Sir +Arthur Wellesley. The Emperor Alexander had courteously congratulated +Caulaincourt upon the assurance of peace between Austria and France, +resulting from the projected union; at the same time not failing to point +out the contradictory negotiations simultaneously carried on by Napoleon +at St. Petersburg and Vienna. The substitution, which the emperor had just +proposed, of a new convention for the articles decided upon in the Polish +question, deeply excited the Czar's displeasure. "It is not I who shall +disturb the peace of Europe or attack any one," said he, with a keen and +determined irony; "but if they come to look for me, I shall defend +myself." + +Another protestation, startling in its silence, annoyed the imperious +ruler of Europe. Most of the cardinals had been brought to Paris, not +without some threats of physical compulsion, several of them weakly hoping +to obtain important concessions. Cardinal Consalvi energetically supported +the courage of a large number, who were determined to take no part in the +emperor's religious marriage, as being illegal. They told Cardinal Fesch +of their intention, adding, that they would afterwards wait upon the +empress to be presented, but that they were bound to defend the rights of +the holy seat, injured on that occasion by the appeal pure and simple to +the magistracy of Paris. "That," said Cardinal Consalvi, "was wounding the +emperor in the apple of the eye." "They will never dare!" answered +Napoleon, angrily, when his uncle told him of the resolution of the +cardinals. + +Thirteen of them dared, notwithstanding. When, on the 2nd April, 1810, the +Emperor Napoleon entered the great saloon of the Louvre, changed for that +day into a chapel, after casting his eyes over the crowd who thronged the +benches and galleries, he turned towards his chaplain, Abbé Pradt, and +said, "Where are the cardinals? I don't see any." There were, however, +fourteen there, though not enough to conceal the number of absentees. +"There are many here," replied the abbé, "and several are old and infirm." +"Ah! the idiots! the idiots!" exclaimed the emperor. He again repeated +those words when the ceremony began. + +Napoleon's anger was especially directed against Cardinal Consalvi. "The +rest have their theological prejudices," said he, "but he has offended me +on political grounds; he is my enemy; he has dared to lay a trap for me by +holding out against my dynasty a pretext of illegitimacy. They will not +fail to make use of it after my death, when I am no longer there to keep +them in awe!" On the day after the marriage the whole court were to defile +before the new empress, and the cardinals were in attendance with the +utmost punctuality, as they had announced. After the distinguished +assemblage had waited three hours, an aide-de-camp came to announce the +order that the prelates who had not been present on the previous evening +in the chapel of the Louvre were to withdraw, because the emperor would +not receive them. On the same day, Napoleon wrote to M. Bigot de +Préameneu: "Several cardinals did not come yesterday, although invited, to +the ceremony of my marriage. They have, therefore, failed in an essential +duty towards me. I wish to know the names of those cardinals, and which of +them are bishops in France, in my kingdom of Italy, or in the kingdom of +Naples. My intention is to discharge them from their office, and suspend +the payment of their salaries by no longer regarding them as cardinals." + +In the first impulse of his anger, Napoleon thought of summoning the rebel +prelates before a special court. "Since there is no ecclesiastical +jurisdiction in France," said he to the minister of public worship, +"nothing prevents them from being condemned." He was contented, however, +with making use only of his own supreme authority. Despoiled of the +insignia of their ecclesiastical dignity--which procured them the nickname +of the "black cardinals"--and deprived of their private fortunes as well +as of the revenues of their dioceses, which had been sequestered by the +treasury, Consalvi and his colleagues were interned, two and two, in towns +assigned to them for the purpose, put under police supervision, and +reduced to the most precarious means of living. "Without the Pope they are +nothing," said Napoleon. The Pope was still kept at Savona, meekly +inflexible, like the cardinals. + +A few men thus resolutely opposed their wills to the formidable power of +the Emperor Napoleon. Just after the peace of Vienna, his hands filled +with new conquests, he modified the frontiers of several of the states +which he had recently formed or increased; some territories he yielded up, +others he took back; to some he was prodigal of his favors, to others he +denied them. He showed at this time special severity towards King Louis, a +prince who was naturally of a serious, honorable, and upright character, +and had tried sincerely to fulfil his duties as king towards the Dutch. He +thought it his duty to protect against Napoleon himself the subjects which +the latter had given him, and whom he saw ruined by the arbitrary acts of +the imperial power. When, at the end of 1809, the emperor's family all met +in Paris, King Louis had great difficulty in persuading himself to obey +the order by which he was summoned. Napoleon had already threatened +Holland in his speech at the opening of the Legislative Body. "Placed +between England and France, the principal arteries of my empire meet +there," said the emperor. "Changes will be necessary; the safety of my +frontiers, and naturally the interests of both countries, imperiously +demand it." Zealand and Brabant had not been evacuated by our troops, who +advanced there when the English took possession of the island of +Walcheren. + +It was the union of Holland and France which Napoleon then intended, and +he did not conceal it from his brother. Recriminations and reproaches were +only followed by an obstinate determination. "Holland is really only a +part of France," said the minister of the interior, officially, "and it is +time she held her natural position." This determination was announced to +Louis on his arrival in Paris. "That is the most deadly blow I can inflict +upon England," said Napoleon. + +The King of Holland had long and frequently cursed the imperious will +which had called him to the throne. He had extolled the charms of private +life; when abdication was, as it were, forced upon him, he drew back and +defended himself. Napoleon insisted upon having a disguised national +bankruptcy, an increase of their navy for French service alone, the strict +application of the "continental blockade," which till then had been +frequently evaded by the Dutch merchants, the rejection of the honorary +titles accepted or created by his brother for the benefit of his subjects. +King Louis struggled against such hateful conditions, implying the ruin of +his adopted country as well as of his personal authority in Holland. The +intimate relationship of the imperial family was disturbed by the +discussions carried on between the two brothers; Champagny naturally had +some share in them, and Fouché also. Napoleon seemed to become more +reasonable. Nevertheless, he wished to take advantage of the alarm he had +caused, and make its influence extend even to England. A trustworthy agent +was appointed to inform the English ministry of the impending union +between France and Holland, and the consequent danger for England; vast +armaments were said to be prepared in our harbors. Peace was the only +means of avoiding so many dangers; Holland would do herself honor by +assisting to guarantee Europe of a rest now become possible by Napoleon's +union with Marie-Louise. + +Labouchère, descended from a family of French refugees, was appointed by +the emperor, in the name of King Louis, to carry these overtures to the +English cabinet. On account of the unfortunate campaign in Walcheren, +which caused universal indignation in England, Canning and Castlereagh had +been replaced in power by Perceval and the Marquis Wellesley, elder +brother of Sir Arthur, formerly governor-general of India and the intimate +friend of Pitt. He courteously received Labouchère, who was introduced by +his brother-in-law, Mr. Baring, one of the principal bankers in London. It +was not the first time that overtures of peace had reached the ministry. +On his own account, and from the incessant passion for intrigue which +seemed to haunt him everywhere, Fouché had instructed one of his agents to +make to Lord Wellesley advances which had no real aim or earnestness. To +these, as well as those, the English cabinet replied that they were firmly +resolved never to abandon Spain or the kingdom of Naples to Bonaparte. +Holland in King Louis' hands was unreservedly under French influence, and +its union to the empire conveyed no threat of danger to England, which +was, besides, well accustomed to the evils of the war, and determined to +suffer the consequences to the last. Some new overtures with reference to +modifying the continental blockade had been entrusted to Labouchère, but +they were hampered and complicated by Fouché's intrigues. The minister of +police had recently authorized Ouvrard to leave Vincennes, and employed +him in those mysterious negotiations which was soon afterwards to cost him +the confidence and favor of his master. At this time, however, it was +against the King of Holland that the anger of the latter was let loose. + +The emperor had agreed to delay his projected union, thus a second time +granting his brother the honor of obedience. In accordance with his strict +demands, he resolved to rectify the frontier separating Holland from +Belgium, and by taking the Waal as the future limit to form two new French +departments on this side the river, called Bouches-du-Rhin and Bouches-de- +l'Escaut. Zealand and its islands, North Brabant, part of Guelder, and the +towns Bergen-op-Zoom, Breda, Bois-le-Duc, and Nimeguen were thus taken +away from Holland, with a population of 400,000 souls. Heavy conditions +were imposed on the commerce; and the guard of all the river mouths was +entrusted to Franco-Dutch troops under the orders of a French general. + +Against this the conscience and reason of the King of Holland revolted +equally. He gave secret instructions to his ministers to fortify +Amsterdam, and forbid our troops to enter any stronghold. General Maison +found the gates of Bergen-op-Zoom shut before him. + +The action was as imprudent as the resolution was honorable. At the news +of it Napoleon's violence exceeded all bounds. In accordance with the +custom which he had followed for several weeks in his communications with +his brother, with whom he was not on visiting terms, he wrote to Fouché, +at the same time sending him a letter from Rochefoucault, the French +minister in Holland:-- + +"I beg of you to read this letter, and call upon the King of Holland and +let him know of it. Is that prince become quite mad? You will tell him +that he has done his best to lose his kingdom, and that I shall never make +arrangements which may make such people think they have imposed upon me. +You will ask him if it is by his order that his ministers have acted, or +if it is of their own authority: and let him know that if it is by their +authority I shall have them arrested and their heads cut off, every one of +them. If they have acted by the king's order, what must I think of that +prince? And how, after that, can he think of commanding my troops, since +he has perjured his oaths?" + +Any personal resistance was impossible to the unhappy king of Holland, +melancholy and obstinate, but without energy. He became afraid, and +yielded every point; his ministers were dismissed, and the strongholds +opened to the French generals. "Hitherto there has been no western +empire," wrote Louis to his terrible brother; "there is soon to be one, +apparently. Then, sire, your Majesty will be certain that I can no longer +be deceived or cause you trouble. Kindly consider that I was without +experience, in a difficult country, living from day to day. Allow me to +conjure you to forget everything. I promise you to follow faithfully all +the engagements which you may impose upon me." + +King Louis set out again for Holland, after signing the conventions which +were to disgrace him in the eyes of his subjects. Only one bitter item was +spared him; he was not compelled to plead bankruptcy. Henceforth the +valuation of things taken was to take place in Paris, and the French +troops were already seizing in the annexed provinces the prohibited goods +which were stored in the warehouses; and Marshal Oudinot fixed his head- +quarters at Utrecht. On the 13th March, 1810, the emperor wrote to his +brother: "All political reasons are in favor of my joining Holland to +France. The misconduct of the men belonging to the administration made it +a law to me; but I see that it is so painful to you, that for the first +time I make my policy bend to the desire of pleasing you. At the same +time, be well assured that the principles of your administration must be +altered, and that, on the first occasion which you offer for complaint I +shall do what I am not doing now. These complaints are of two kinds, and +have as their object either the continuation of the relations of Holland +with England, or reactionary speeches and edicts which are contrary to +what I ought to expect from you. For the future your whole conduct must +tend to inculcate in the minds of the Dutch friendship for France. I +should not have taken Brabant, and I should even have increased Holland by +several millions of inhabitants, if you had acted as I had a right to +expect from my brother and a French prince. There is no remedy, however, +for the past. Let what has happened serve you for the future." + +Scarcely had the King of Holland returned to his kingdom, bringing back to +his subjects the solitary consolation that their national independence was +precariously preserved, when the emperor, who was then travelling through +Belgium, came in great pomp to visit the new departments which he had just +taken from his weak neighbor. The Empress Marie-Louise, who accompanied +him, was everywhere surprised at the unprecedented display of forces and +the activity of the empire. Napoleon inspected Flushing, which had been +recently evacuated by the English; and at Breda received deputations from +all the constituted authorities, the presence of a vicar-apostolic +supplying an occasion for a violent attack upon the papacy. "Who nominated +you?" asked he. "The Pope? He has no such right in my empire. I appoint +the bishops charged with administering the Church. Render to Cæsar the +things that are Cæsar's; it is not the Pope who is Cæsar, it is I. It is +not to the Pope that God has committed the sceptre and the sword, it is to +me. I have in hand proofs that you will not obey the civil authority, that +you will not pray for me. Why? Is it because a Roman priest has +excommunicated me? But who has given him the right to do so? Who can, here +below, relieve subjects from their oath of obedience to the sovereign +instituted by the laws? Nobody. You ought to know it, if you understand +your religion. Are you ignorant of the fact that it is your culpable +pretensions which drove Luther and Calvin to separate from Rome half the +Catholic world? I also might have freed France from the Roman authority, +and forty millions of men would have followed me. I did not wish to do so, +because I believed the true principles of the Catholic religion +reconcilable with the principles of civil authority. But renounce the idea +of putting me in a convent or of shaving my head, like Louis le +Débonnaire, and submit yourselves, for I am Cæsar; if not, I will banish +you from my empire, and I will disperse you, like the Jews, over the face +of the earth." + +These irregular outbursts of arbitrary will loudly proclaiming its +omnipotence were excited by the very appearance of resistance. The King of +Holland had sought to defend the interests of his subjects; the captive +chief of the Catholic Church sometimes allowed the remains of his broken +authority to appear; the most intimate counsellors of the emperor could +not always hide their disapprobation and uneasiness. Fouché had gone +further still. The emperor had in his hands proof of the intrigues in +which he had been engaged in Holland and England. When Napoleon returned +to Paris, Fouché did not present himself at the Council. "What would you +think," said the emperor, "of a minister who, abusing his position, +should, without the knowledge of his sovereign, have opened communications +with the foreigner on bases of his own invention, and thus have +compromised the policy of the State? What punishment can be inflicted on +him?" Fouché had few friends; no one, however, dared to pronounce his +doom. "M. Fouché has committed a great fault," said Talleyrand. "I should +give him a successor, but one only--M. Fouché himself." Napoleon, +dissatisfied, shrugged his shoulders, and sent away his ministers. His +decision was taken. "Your remarkable views with regard to the duties of +the minister of police do not agree with the welfare of the State," he +wrote to Fouché. "Although I do not mistrust your attachment and your +fidelity, I am, however, compelled to maintain a perpetual surveillance, +which fatigues me, and to which I ought not to be condemned. You have +never been able to understand that one may do a great deal of harm whilst +intending to do a great deal of good." + +Fouché was despoiled of his dignities, and relegated to the senatorship of +Aix. General Savary, now become Duke of Rovigo, was chosen as minister of +police. Napoleon was sure of his boundless and unscrupulous devotion, as +well as of his executive ability. The decision of the emperor was ill +received by the public. "I inspired every one with terror," says the Duke +of Rovigo, in his "Memoirs;" "every one was packing up; nothing was +talked about but banishments and imprisonments, and still worse; in fact, +I believe that the news of a pestilence at some point on the coast would +not have produced more fright than my appointment to the ministry of +police." Savary succeeded to the ministry without any other resources than +his personal sagacity and the activity of the police. Fouché had destroyed +all traces of his administration. "I had not a great deal to burn, but all +that I had I have burnt," said the disgraced minister, when the emperor +sent to demand his papers. Many people breathed more freely when they +heard this news. The Duke of Otranto became popular. + +Nearly at the same moment the public interest was fastened on another +rebelling personage, more worthy than Fouché of general esteem, and who +had just dealt the emperor a more perceptible stroke. New difficulties had +arisen between Napoleon and Louis Bonaparte, the vexations of the +surveillance everywhere instituted in his States, the sufferings and the +hindrances which resulted from it as regards the affairs of his subjects; +the humiliation which he himself experienced from it every moment, +exasperated the heart of King Louis. He wrote affectionately to the +ministers whom he had been forced to dismiss. To this powerless +manifestation of a natural feeling, strongly encouraged by the state of +public opinion in Holland, was added the resolution to interdict the +complete occupation of the territory by the French troops. The gates of +Haarlem were closed to the imperial eagles. The populace of the Hague ill- +treated in the street a servant of the minister of France. The emperor was +only waiting for a pretext for a long time foreseen. Marshal Oudinot +received orders to enter Haarlem and Amsterdam, with flags displayed. At +the same time, the division of General Molitor entered Holland by the +north and the south; everywhere the Netherlands found themselves occupied. +The minister of Holland at Paris, Admiral Verhuell, received his +passports. + +Resistance was impossible; the councillors of King Louis felt it as +bitterly as he did himself. The king was resolved upon not accepting the +personal yoke that his brother wished to impose upon him; he signed an act +of abdication in favor of his eldest son, until then favorably treated by +the Emperor Napoleon. He committed to his ministers a touching farewell +message for the Corps Législatif, and secretly entering a carriage, on the +night of the 1st of July, 1810, he quitted Haarlem, in order to take +refuge at the baths of Töplitz. The fugitive carefully concealed his +journey and his presence; he was weary of the power which he sorrowfully +exercised; he remained esteemed and regretted in the country which he +sadly abandoned without having ever been able to defend it. + +This flight from the throne, and this mute protest against the tyranny +which rendered it insupportable, caused some ill-humor in Napoleon, and +constrained him to act openly, and without the soothing forms with which +he had reckoned upon enveloping his taking possession of Holland. An +imperial decree of the 9th of July, 1810, announced to the world that +Holland was reunited to France. The abdication of King Louis in favor of +his son was treated as null and void. Rome had been declared the second +city of the empire after the confiscation of the Papal States. Amsterdam +was promoted to the third rank. Seven new departments were formed from the +territory of the Netherlands. Holland was to send six members to the +Senate of the Empire, six deputies to the Council of State, twenty-five to +the Corps Législatif, two Councillors to the Court of Cassation. The +emperor often vaunted the rare capacity of the Dutch whom he had thus +drawn into his service. The first use which he now made of his supreme +authority was to reduce the public debt from 80,000,000 to 20,000,000. +This act of bankruptcy introduced into the charges of the budget an +economy which it was thought ought to satisfy all those who had not +personally to suffer the consequences. "The Corps Législatif will be +another object of economy," wrote Napoleon, on the 23rd of July, to +Lebrun, his arch-treasurer, whom he had charged to represent him in +Holland; "the external relations will be an object of economy; the Council +of State will be an object of economy; the civil list will be still +another object of economy." The emperor had not reckoned on two +sentiments, more powerful than all others in this little country, which +had conquered its liberty at the price of so many sufferings. Its union to +France cost Holland its national independence; the bankruptcy tainted its +honor and its credit; whilst submitting to an imperious necessity, the +Dutch nation never forgot it. + +The condition of Europe thus underwent, under the hand of the Emperor +Napoleon, fundamental modifications, of which he scarcely took the trouble +to inform his allies. The Emperor Alexander alone received some +explanations on the subject of the union of Holland and France. "The +Netherlands have not in reality had a change of master," Caulaincourt was +instructed to say; "it is a country of lagoons, ports, and dockyards. They +are not much known on the continent, and have no importance except for +England; the naval forces of France will be augmented by it, and the +general peace will become more easy and more certain." A few months only +were to pass away before Napoleon would complete his maritime lines of +defence, by taking possession of the coasts as far as the Weser and the +Elbe. In the month of December, 1810, a simple decree formed three French +departments [Footnote: L'Ems Supérieur, les Bouches-du-Weser, and les +Bouches-de-l'Elbe.] from the territory of the Hanseatic towns, the States +of the Prince of Oldenburg and a small portion of Hanover. In his quality +of uncle to the Emperor Alexander, the Prince of Oldenburg received the +town of Erfurt by way of indemnity. At the same time the territory of the +Valais became French, under the name of the department of the Simplon. The +former masters of the annexed countries received purely and simply a +notification of the sovereign will. Irritation was everywhere increasing; +no one resented these things more keenly than the Emperor Alexander, still +a nominal ally of France. Meanwhile he silently waited. + +Quite close to Russia, in a country recently dismembered by the Emperor +Alexander with the consent of Napoleon, there was preparing at this time +an event which was soon to assure to the fifth European coalition one of +its most useful supports. The King of Sweden, Gustavus IV., unstable, +violent, and eccentric enough to warrant doubts as to the soundness of his +reason, had been deposed on the 10th of May, 1809, by the assembled +States, as the result of a military conspiracy. His uncle, the Duke of +Sudermania, elevated to the throne under the title of Charles XIII., had +no children; the Diet designated as his successor the Duke of +Augustenburg. This prince expired suddenly, in the midst of a review. The +claimants were numerous, and the King of Sweden desired to know the wish +of Napoleon. The latter secretly favored the King of Denmark, but the +States were not well disposed in his favor: the emperor refused to give a +decision. "A word from his Majesty would suffice to decide everything," +said Désaugiers, the chargé-d'affaires at Stockholm. Some proposed to +choose a stranger, and Marshal Bernadotte was thought of. During our +occupation of Pomerania he had known how to render himself agreeable to +the population over whom he ruled, and to persons of consideration who had +known how to appreciate the vivacity and capacity of his mind. He was a +kinsman of the Bonapartes, and conspicuous amongst the lieutenants of +Napoleon. An obscure member of the Diet repaired to Paris, and knitted the +first threads of an intrigue, destined to succeed by the very fact of the +ignorance and illusions of its authors. By placing Bernadotte upon the +steps of the throne, the States of Sweden thought to assure themselves of +the good-will of the Emperor Napoleon; his name was popular amongst the +lower classes. He was proclaimed Prince Royal of Sweden 17th August, 1810. + +Napoleon had delayed too long to express his mind. A messenger arrived at +Stockholm bearing despatches which emphatically disavowed the declarations +of the partisans of Bernadotte. "I cannot think," said Napoleon, "that +these individuals could have had the impudence to assert themselves to be +charged with any mission whatever." The official announcement of the +elevation of the Prince of Pontecorvo was already on its way to Paris. "I +was little prepared for this news," replied Napoleon to the letter of King +Charles XIII. He wished to wrest from Bernadotte a pledge never to bear +arms against France. The marshal formally refused. For a long time in +secret hostility to the emperor, he severely judged the errors of his +ambition, and the consequences that would result for the peace of Europe. +"Go then," said Napoleon, "and let destiny be accomplished!" On the +evening of the 18th Brumaire, Bernadotte wrote to General Bonaparte: "My +idea of liberty differs from yours, and your plan kills it. Three weeks +ago I retired; but if I receive orders from those who have still the right +to give me them, I shall resist all illegal attempts against the +established powers." + +The struggle was not to be long in breaking forth between the new heir to +the throne of Sweden and the exacting master who claimed to subject all +European powers to his laws. Everywhere the questions that grew out of the +continental blockade in right as well as in practice, brought about +difficulties, and gave rise to sufferings by which all the governments +were injured. In annexing Holland to France, Napoleon had authorized, +under a duty of 50 per cent., the sale of goods of English production +which the contraband had kept stored up in their warehouses. He conceived +the idea of applying the same duty to all sales of colonial products which +until then had only been able to enter France by virtue of a special +license. All the merchandise of this kind found in store, either in the +countries dependent on the French Empire, or in foreign territories within +four hours' journey of the frontier, were suddenly affected by this tax, +and placed under the obligation of a certificate of origin (5th August, +1810). In default of this justification, the goods were seized as of +English production, and in consequence contraband. The colonial produce +was to be sold; the manufactured articles were to be everywhere burnt. In +Spain, in the Canton of Tessin, at Frankfort, in the Hanseatic towns, at +Stettin, at Custrin, at Dantzig, the troops were ordered to carry out the +searches and seizures. A few dependent or vanquished sovereigns--Saxony or +Prussia, for example--themselves consented to make the required +requisitions. The sums produced by sales made in Prussia were generously +credited by the Emperor Napoleon as deductions from the Prussian debt to +France. A director of the French Customs superintended the Swiss troops in +their inquisitions. At all points of the immense territory subjugated by +Napoleon, the merchants crowded to the markets opened for confiscated +goods, whilst every article proved to be of English manufacture was +delivered to the flames in public. "For confiscation, for expulsion from +the country, they came to substitute the punishment of burning," writes +Mollien in his Memoirs; "and the reading of the correspondence of commerce +might have convinced Napoleon what complaint the bankers and maritime +speculators were making against a policy which, in the most industrious +century, was destroying by fire the creations of industry. Until then, +however, French manufacturers had flattered themselves with being able to +supply the consumers whom English commerce was to lose by so severe a +system of prohibition; but this illusion vanished when Napoleon, seduced +by the hope of assuring to France a part in the enterprises of the +commercial monopoly of England, was seen to be putting in some sort up to +auction the right of introducing into Europe the productions of America +and India, loading several raw materials--such as cotton and wool--with +enormous duties, and, by an inexplicable contradiction, rendering to the +productions of English industry, by these very taxes, more advantages than +prohibition caused them to lose. Then this fictitious system, which was to +free the continent from the domination of English commerce, became patent +to all eyes as nothing else but the most disastrous and false of fiscal +inventions; for it was creating two monopolies in place of one-- +aggravating at once the condition of the French manufacturers and that of +the speculators of all countries, and giving up the privilege of +commercial speculation to a few interested adventurers." + +Hitherto the United States of America alone had protested equally against +the Emperor Napoleon's system of continental blockade and the English +ordinances. Already, for several months past, an embargo had been placed +in their ports on French and English vessels, unless driven to take refuge +in consequence of a tempest. Mistress, the one of the seas, the other of +the land, it was on the United States that both England and France +lavished their caresses, eager to enrol them in the service of their +hostile passions. For a long time the Emperor Napoleon had required the +seizure of American vessels sailing under a neutral flag, in spite of the +interdiction of their government, and this rigor had been one of the +causes of the dissensions between him and the King of Holland. In the +month of July, 1810, he made known to Congress, that on and after the 1st +of November the Americans should not be subject to the decrees of Berlin +and Milan, and that they might enter into the ports of France, provided +that they could obtain from England a revocation of the ordinances of the +Council. "In continuing to submit to them," Napoleon had formerly said, +"the peoples who are menaced by the pretensions of England would do better +to recognize her sovereignty, and America ought to press forward to return +under the yoke from which she has so gloriously delivered herself." + +On its part, the English cabinet revoked the ordinances of the Council +with regard to the Americans, and relieved them of the toll by way of +harbor dues imposed on all other vessels; but it persisted in forbidding +to neutral vessels the entry into French ports, thus confirming its system +of a paper blockade. The measure was insufficient for the satisfaction of +the United States; it did little harm to that commerce and industry of +Great Britain which Napoleon strove so madly to injure by land as well as +by sea. + +A sign of the discontent of the Emperor Alexander was his clearly +manifested resolution not to impose upon his subjects new and exorbitant +pecuniary sacrifices. Nearly all the European powers had accepted or +submitted to the decree of the 1st of August. "There are no true +neutrals," maintained Napoleon; "they are all English, masked under divers +flags, and bearers of false papers. They must be confiscated, and England +is lost." Russia constantly refused to yield to these entreaties. Faithful +to the law of the blockade as regards the capture of English vessels, the +Emperor Alexander authorized navigation under a neutral flag. No seizure +was effected in his States. + +Sweden protested in vain. Denmark had been authorized to effect the sale +of prohibited merchandise by means of the fifty per cent. tariff; the new +Prince of Sweden begged a similar indulgence in favor of his adopted +country. The emperor, dissatisfied, was angered. "Choose," said he, +"between the cannon-balls for the English or war with France." Bernadotte +consented to commence hostilities against the English; he was without +resources, and without defences. "We offer you our arms and our iron," +wrote he to the emperor; "give us in return the means that nature has +refused to us." Other allies were soon to accept the offers of the +illustrious marshal of the empire. + +Meanwhile the months rolled past, and Napoleon did not quit Paris. He had +just contracted new ties; he was occupied with the cares necessitated by +the internal administration of the empire--with the legal creation of the +extraordinary Domain, the fruit of conquests and confiscations, and which +had already served to supply without control the divers needs of the +emperor. The very appearance of authority was thus little by little +escaping from the Corps Législatif, the retiring deputies of which had +their commissions arbitrarily prolonged. The representatives of the new +departments had been directly chosen by the Senate. The censorship had +been re-established, and its favorable decrees did not always suffice to +save works and their authors. The "Germany" of Madame de Staël had +received the authorization of the censors, when the edition was seized and +placed in the pillory. Madame de Staël was compelled to quit France in +twenty-four hours. The rigors of Savary with regard to the press surpassed +the traditions left by Fouché; the greater number of the journals were +subjected to permanent fines, under the form of pensions to literary men. +The erection of eight state prisons seemed to presage times still more +harsh; however, the emperor demanded from the Council of State, in order +to explain the motive for these erections, a couple of pages of clauses +"containing liberal ideas." He had for a long time exercised towards +France the power of words; he knew their influence and weight. More than +once, in deeds of warfare his acts had gone beyond his promises; the day +had come when he was about to promise more than he could perform. Liberal +phrases no longer concealed from the nation the yoke which crushed it. The +pompous declarations against the English leopard, hurled forth at the +opening of the session of the Corps Législatif, in December, 1809, did not +hasten the end of the war in Spain. The emperor did not set out as he had +solemnly announced. He called Marshal Masséna, scarcely recovered from his +fatigue and his wounds during the war in Germany, and confided to him the +task of vanquishing the English in Portugal. Sir Arthur Wellesley +continued to occupy his positions between Badajoz and Alcantara. Since the +battle of Talavera and the combats which then accompanied his last +movements of troops, the English general had not actively taken part in +hostilities. + +The war had not, however, ceased in Spain, and the insurgents had not +diminished their efforts. General Kellermann had depicted in its true +light the particular character of the struggle, when he wrote to Marshal +Berthier: "The war in Spain is not at all an ordinary affair. Doubtless +one has not to fear reverses and disastrous checks; but this stubborn +nation wears away the army with its detailed resistance. Independently of +the regular corps, which must be faced, it is also necessary to guard +against the numerous swarms of brigands and strong organized bands, which +infest the country, and which by their mobility, and above all by the +favor of the inhabitants, escape from all pursuit, and come up behind you +a quarter of an hour after your return. It is in vain that we beat down on +one side the heads of the hydra; they reappear on the other, and without a +revolution in the minds of men you will not succeed for a long time in +subduing this vast peninsula. It will absorb the population and the +treasures of France. They wish to gain time, and to weary us by +persistency. We shall only obtain their submission by their exhaustion, +and the annihilation of half the population. Such is the spirit which +animates this nation, that one cannot even create in it a few partisans. +It is in vain to treat it with mode ration and justice; in a difficult +moment, no governor or leader whatever would find ten men who would dare +to arm for his defence. We must, then, have more men. The emperor perhaps +grows weary of sending them, but it is necessary to make an end of the +business, or to be contented with establishing ourselves in one half of +Spain in order afterwards to conquer the other. Meanwhile, resources +diminish, the means perish, money is exhausted or disappears; one knows +not where to direct one's energies to provide for the pay, for the +maintenance of the troops, for the needs of the hospitals, for the +infinite details necessary for an army in need of everything. Misery and +privations increase sickness, and enfeeble the army continually; whilst, +on the other side, the bands that swarm on all sides seize every day upon +small parties or isolated men, who venture into the open country with +extreme imprudence, notwithstanding the most positive, reiterated +prohibitions." + +It was the effort of all the generals commanding in Spain to destroy the +bands of guerillas, who harassed their soldiers and slowly decimated their +armies. General Suchet had, more than any other, succeeded in Aragon; +General Gouvion St. Cyr had been absorbed by the siege of Girone, which +had at length just submitted to him when Marshal Augereau was sent into +Catalonia, in order to take from him at once his command and the glory of +his conquest. The end of the campaign of 1809 had been signalized by a +victory, gained on the 19th of November, at Ocaña, by Marshal Mortier and +General Sebastiani over the insurgent army of the centre. The central +Junta had confided its powers to a commission, at the head of which was +the Marquis de la Romana, always more active than effective. The +insurrectional government retired into the Ile de Leon, boldly convoking +the Cortes at Madrid for the 1st of March, 1810. + +Marshal Soult had become major-general of the army of Spain, since Marshal +Jourdan had been recalled after the battle of Talavera; he was meditating +a great campaign against Andalusia. Napoleon hesitated to consent to it; +the English alone appeared to him to be formidable, and he had been +wishing to concentrate all his forces against them: Marshal Massena was +not, however, ready to enter on the campaign. King Joseph received the +authorization to advance upon Andalusia; he ordered, at the same time, +Marshals Ney and Suchet to lay siege to Ciudad Rodrigo and Valencia. Both +attempted operations with insufficient forces, and were to fail in an +enterprise which drew upon them the bitter reproaches of the emperor. The +army of the King of Spain advanced towards Seville; the defiles of the +Sierra Morena had been occupied without resistance by Marshal Victor. The +intestine dissensions which divided the capital of Andalusia had deprived +it of its means of defence; a great part of the population took to flight. +A few cannon, pointed from the ramparts, did not arrest for a moment the +march of the French. Marshal Soult summoned the place to surrender, and +the Junta of the province consented to capitulate. All the military chiefs +recently assembled in Seville had succeeded in escaping. King Joseph made +his entry on the 1st of February, 1810. Malaga and Granada were not long +in surrendering. + +All the leaders of the insurrection were found henceforth at Cadiz; the +central Junta and its executive commission had abdicated in favor of a +royal regency. The preparations for resistance in this place, fortified on +the side of the land by man, as on the side of the sea by nature, +disquieted King Joseph, who had long been desirous of detaching a _corps +d'armée_ against Cadiz. "Assure me of Seville, and I will assure you of +Cadiz," said Marshal Soult. Now it was found necessary to guard Seville, +Granada, and Malaga; a corps of observation was being maintained before +Badajoz; the forces which were laying siege to Cadiz were necessarily +restrained; everywhere the Spanish armies were forming again. + +Napoleon had been for a long time weary of the war in Spain, which he had +at first regarded as an easy enterprise; he had conceived ill-feeling +towards his brother, whom he rightly judged incapable of accomplishing the +work which he himself had been wrong in committing to his charge. The +continual demands for men and money which came to him from the peninsula +hindered his operations and his schemes; he resolved upon modifying the +organization of the government in Spain. On the 28th of January, 1810, he +wrote to the Duke of Cadore (Champagny): "Write by the express, and +several times, to the Sieur Laforest, at Madrid, in order that he may +present notes as to the impossibility of my continuing to sustain the +enormous expenses of Spain; that I have already sent there more than +300,000,000; that such considerable exportations of money exhaust France; +that it is, then, indispensable that the engineers, the artillery, the +administrations, and the soldiers' pay should be henceforth supplied from +the Spanish treasury; that all which I can do is to give a supplemental +grant of two millions per month for the soldiers' pay; that if this +proposition is not agreed to, it will only remain for me to administer the +provinces of Spain on my own account--in that case they will abundantly +supply the maintenance and pay of the army. To see the resources of this +country lost by false measures and a feeble administration, and to send +thither my best blood, is impossible. The provinces have plenty of money, +when the soldier is not paid he will pillage, and I know not what to do +with him." + +It was in the midst of his joy and his easy triumph in Andalusia that the +severe protests of Napoleon arrived to surprise King Joseph. A few +liberalities he had permitted himself with regard to his servants had +succeeded in exasperating the emperor. He decreed the state of siege in +all the provinces [Footnote: Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre, and Biscay.] to +the left of the Ebro, confiding the military command to four generals-- +Augereau, Suchet, Reille, and Thouvenot. All the administrative powers +were at the same time, committed to these generals, who were to correspond +directly with the emperor. The idea of Napoleon, with which he acquainted +his lieutenants, was to unite to France the territories which he thus +isolated from the rest of the empire, as an indemnity for the sacrifices +which the war had imposed upon him. General Suchet was charged with +completing the conquest of the towns in Catalonia and Aragon which were +still held by the insurgents. He achieved brilliantly the siege of Lerida. + +At the same time, and in order to take away from King Joseph an authority +which he knew not how to use, the armies in the country were divided into +three corps. The army of the south was confided to Marshal Soult; the army +of Portugal was waiting for the arrival of Marshal Masséna; the army of +the centre--the least important of all--was alone left under the personal +direction of King Joseph, who was appointed its general-in-chief. The +embassies of King Joseph, the complaint of his wife, who was still in +Paris, remained without result. In place of a central, powerless, and +insufficient power, Napoleon was desirous of establishing delegates of his +supreme authority. He had sanctioned anarchy; the rights of the hierarchy +had disappeared before the lieutenants of a chief arbitrary, but until now +constantly attended by victory. Far from the presence of Napoleon, in a +country given over for two years to the disorder of civil war, obedience +had given place to mistrust, and regularity to disorder. Scarcely had +Marshal Masséna joined the army of Portugal, of which he had accepted the +command with regret, than he had immediately a perception of the +difficulties which awaited it. The emperor had given orders to commence by +the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo and of Almeida. Marshal Ney and General Junot, +whose corps were placed under the command of Masséna, made such clamorous +protests that the old marshal was obliged to display all his authority. +"They say that Masséna has grown old," cried he with just anger; "they +will see that my will has lost nothing of its force." Already Sir Arthur +Wellesley, become Lord Wellington, was preparing not far from Lisbon, +between the Tagus and the sea, that invulnerable position which history +has designated "the lines of Torres Vedras." It was thither that he +counted on drawing the French army, slowly exhausting its forces before an +enemy patiently unassailable. The orders of Napoleon, and the deference of +Masséna to these instructions, had spared us the danger of being attacked +in the rear; when the French army advanced to encounter Lord Wellington, +it had taken possession of Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, but the two sieges +had been long and painful, having cost the lives of many soldiers; +important garrisons occupied the places. In accordance with a mental habit +which grew upon him through default of contradiction, the Emperor Napoleon +did not admit the enfeeblement of his forces, whilst depreciating +beforehand those of his enemy. "My cousin," wrote he on the 10th of +September, 1810, to Marshal Berthier, "let a French officer set out +immediately as bearer of a letter for the Prince of Essling, in which you +will make him understand that my intention is that he should attack and +rout the English; that Lord Wellington has no more than 18,000 men, of +which only 15,000 are infantry, and the remainder cavalry and artillery; +that General Hill has no more than 6000 men, infantry and cavalry; that it +would be ridiculous for 25,000 English to hold in suspense 60,000 +Frenchmen; that, by not groping about, but by attacking them openly, after +having reconnoitred them, they will be made to experience severe repulses. +The Prince of Essling has four times as many cavalry as he needs for +defeating the enemy's army. I am too far off, and the position of the +enemy changes too often, for me to be able to counsel you as to the manner +of leading the attack, but it is certain that the enemy is not in a state +to resist." + +Marshal Masséna was wrong in accepting a mission of which he foresaw the +immense dangers, and in refraining from personally impressing the emperor, +by the weight of his old experience, as regards the illusions that were +prevalent in Paris on the subject of the respective situations of the two +armies. Counting upon victory on the day when he should succeed in meeting +the enemy, he became involved, with 50,000 men in the impracticable roads +of Portugal in the vicinity of Lord Wellington, already his equal in +forces, and seconded by the whole Portuguese nation in insurrection +against the French. The lieutenants of Masséna, as bold and more youthful, +estimated as he did the disastrous chances of the campaign. "Do not stand +haggling with the English," replied Napoleon. He was obeyed. + +Lord Wellington remained in his retreat upon the heights of Busaco, above +the valley of Mondego, in front of Coimbra; he barred the passage to +Marshal Masséna, who resolved to give battle. After a furious and +sanguinary combat (27th of September, 1810), the attack of the French was +decisively repulsed. For the first time the Portuguese, mixed with the +English troops, had courageously sustained their allies. "They have shown +themselves worthy of fighting beside English soldiers," says Lord +Wellington in his report. The road remained closed, and the English, +masters of their position, saw already Marshal Masséna constrained to +retreat. He had recovered on the field of battle all his indomitable +ardor. "We ought to be able to turn the hills," said he to his +lieutenants, and he detached immediately General Montbrun upon the right, +to traverse an unknown country, hostile, and already enveloped in the +darkness of night. The perspicacity and perseverance of the marshal had +not been deceived; his scouts discovered a passage which the English had +not occupied. On the 29th, at sunset, Lord Wellington learnt all of a +sudden that the French army had defiled by the little village of Bazalva +upon the back of the mountain; it was already debouching upon the plain of +Coimbra, when the English saw themselves compelled to evacuate the town in +all haste: the French passed through behind them, only leaving their sick +and wounded. The Portuguese militia immediately resumed possession of the +town. Masséna advanced upon Lisbon by forced marches; on the 11th of +October he arrived before the lines of Torres Vedras, by this time +completely finished, and furnished with 600 pieces of ordnance. Behind +three successive series of formidable entrenchments, supplied with +resources of every kind, and supported on one side by the Tagus and on the +other by the ocean, Lord Wellington had resolved to shut up his army, +until then victorious, and to wait until hunger, sickness, and exhaustion +should at length deliver him from his enemies, whatever might be the +difficulties of the undertaking, and the clamors that might be raised +against him. + +"I am convinced," wrote the English general to his government, "that the +honor and the interest of the country require us to remain here to the +latest possible moment, and, with the aid of Heaven, I will hold on here +as long as I can. I shall not seek to relieve myself of the burden of +responsibility by causing the burden of a defeat to rest upon the +shoulders of ministers; I will not ask from them resources which they +cannot spare, and which will not contribute perhaps in an effective manner +to the success of our enterprise; I will not again give to the weakness of +the ministry an excuse for withdrawing the army from a situation which the +honor and interest of the country compel us to guard. If the Portuguese do +their duty, I can maintain myself here; if they do not do their duty, no +effort in the power of Great Britain to make will suffice to save +Portugal; and if I am obliged to retire, I shall be in a situation to +bring away the English army with me." + +It was with this firm and modest confidence in a situation that he had +prudently chosen, and of which all the resources had been multiplied by +his foresight, that Lord Wellington awaited the attack of Masséna, and the +seasoned troops who were deploying before his lines. The soldiers were +exasperated at this unforeseen obstacle raised by the hand of man, and of +which no one had penetrated the secret. "We shall succeed, as we should +have succeeded at Busaco, if we had been allowed to," said the troops. +Masséna judged otherwise. + +On the 10th of October the marshal with his staff-officers examined with +care the enemy's lines; one discharge of a cannon, one only, resounded in +their ears, and the wall upon which the telescope rested was overthrown. +Masséna looked at his lieutenants. "The only thing to do is to occupy both +shores of the Tagus, and keep them and Lisbon blockaded," said he: "we +will wait for reinforcements, and when the army of Andalusia shall have +arrived we will see if, behind those cannons there, there are other +cannons and other walls, as the peasants say." + +In their rigid simplicity, the conceptions of Lord Wellington had taken +little account of the sufferings of the Portuguese nation. Resolved upon +defending Portugal to the last extremity, he had left Lisbon exposed to +cannon-balls, and the country a prey to the systematic depredations of the +French. Masséna decided upon constituting a military establishment in face +of the enemy's lines. Everywhere the resources of the surrounding country +were stored in the magazines; an hospital was prepared; General Eblé, old +and fatigued, but always inexhaustible in resources, was preparing boats +in order to form a bridge. Effecting a movement in rear, Masséna and his +lieutenants occupied all the positions from Santarem to Thomar, eager to +instal themselves upon the two shores of the Tagus, to seize upon +Abrantes, and to invest the English each day more closely in their lines. +Already discontent was great in Lisbon, where provisions arrived with +difficulty. Wellington urged upon the regency of Portugal the devastation +of the country districts, and especially that of Alemtejo, the natural +resource of the French army; the Portuguese authorities resisted. "Deliver +Portugal, instead of famishing it," said they. + +This was repeated in England, where the Prince of Wales had just assumed +the regency, in consequence of a decided relapse into madness of King +George III. The opposition thought itself returning to power; it had long +sustained against the ministers of his father the policy of the heir to +the throne; it now pleaded the cause of peace. The dangers to which the +army of Portugal was exposed, the evils it might have to undergo, formed +the subject of the debates in Parliament. The Prince Regent did not hasten +to change his cabinet, but the violence of the recriminations in the ranks +of the opposition affected the Marquis of Wellesley; he pressed his +brother to make an effort to relieve England from the enormous weight that +was crushing her. "I know it will cost me the little reputation I have +been able to obtain, and the good will of the population that surrounds +me," said Wellington; "but I shall not accomplish my duty towards England +and this country, if I do not persevere in the prudence which can alone +assure us success." Marshal Masséna had sent the eloquent and adroit +General Foy to Paris, charged with representing to the Emperor the +difficulties of the situation of the army, and the absolute need of a +supreme effort in its favor. + +The general arrived at Paris at the moment when new complications were +preparing. The harshness of the proceedings of Napoleon, the violence +which he had displayed towards the small independent princes whose +territories he had confiscated, the yoke of iron under which he claimed to +place all the commercial interests of Europe, had, little by little, +effaced the remains of the youthful admiration and confidence with which +his brilliant genius had inspired the Emperor Alexander. Personally +wounded by the sudden abandonment of the matrimonial negotiations, the +Czar experienced serious uneasiness at the insatiable ambition which +threatened to invade the most distant regions. He had made some +preparations for defence, of little importance in themselves, and simply +manifesting his fears. Napoleon took umbrage at it; the mad passion for +conquests was again roused in his mind; he already meditated a new +enterprise, bolder and less justifiable than all those which he had +hitherto accomplished, necessitating efforts which became every day more +difficult. No resource would be neglected; no reinforcement could be +detached for Portugal and Spain from the armies which were being prepared +in France and Germany. The intelligent ardor of General Foy, his loyal +pleadings on behalf of Marshal Masséna, did not completely succeed in +enlightening Napoleon as to the situation of affairs in the peninsula; he +understood enough of it, however, to order new dispositions of his troops. +The corps of General Drouet, in Old Castile, and the fifth corps of the +army of Andalusia, commanded by Marshal Mortier, were to proceed to the +aid of Marshal Masséna. The emperor recommended the latter to occupy +without delay the two shores of the Tagus--to throw a couple of bridges +across, as formerly over the Danube at Essling, in order to assure his +communications whilst waiting for the reinforcements, which would permit +him to attack the English lines with 80,000 men, perhaps to seize them, +and in any case to inflict such sufferings upon the Portuguese population +and upon the English that the latter should be obliged to retire. "The +policy of the English Government inclines to change," added Napoleon; "my +grand and final efforts will at last bring us the general peace." He +commenced at the same moment his preparations for the Russian campaign. + +"Everything depends of the Tagus!" Such was the watchword sent back to +Spain by General Foy, and the tenor of the correspondence between Major- +General Berthier and the leaders of the armies in the Peninsula. General +Drouet began the march with his army reduced to 15,000 men, which Napoleon +reckoned as 30,000. In consequence of the delay of the operations, only +one division of 7000 men was effectively at the disposal of the general +when he took the road from Santarem. General Gardanne, sent forward in +advance, had become alarmed through the report of a movement of the +English, and had promptly fallen back upon Almeida, leaving to the +soldiers of Massena, and to the general-in-chief himself, the wretchedness +of a hope deceived. The instructions sent to General Drouet still gave +evidence of the obstinate illusions of the Emperor Napoleon as regards the +respective situation of the two armies in Portugal. "Repeat to General +Drouet the order to go to Almeida," wrote Napoleon to Marshal Berthier, +"and to collect considerable forces, in order to be of use to the Prince +of Essling, and to aid in keeping open his communications. It will be +necessary that he should give to General Gardanne, or any other general, a +force of 6000 men, with six pieces of cannon, in order to reopen the +communication, and that a corps of the same force should be placed at +Almeida, to correspond with him. In short, it is important that the +communications of the army of Portugal should be re-established, in order +that during all the time that the English remain in the country the rear +of the Prince of Essling may be securely guarded. Immediately the English +have re-embarked he will make his headquarters at Ciudad Rodrigo, my +intention being that only the ninth corps should be engaged in Portugal, +unless the English still hold it; and even the ninth corps ought never to +let itself be separated from Almeida; but it ought to manoeuvre between +Almeida and Coimbra." + +When General Drouet, collecting all his forces, arrived at length with +8000 or 9000 men at Thomar (January, 1811), Marshal Massena had been +struggling for five months in complete isolation against a situation which +became every day more critical. He had successively seized Punhete and +Leyria, constantly occupied in preparing for that passage of the Tagus +which Napoleon was recommending to him without fathoming the enormous +difficulties of the task. The soldiers had been organized into companies +of foragers, from day to day obliged to go out further from the +encampments in order to be sure of some resources, exposing themselves in +consequence to attacks from a population everywhere hostile. Marauders +often detached themselves from their regiments, living for several weeks +by veritable pillage before returning under their flags. The officers +suffered still more than the soldiers, for they did not pillage. Money and +rations failed them; their clothes were worn to rags; courage alone +remained inexhaustible; discipline grew feeble in every rank of the +military hierarchy. The lieutenants of Marshal Masséna did not experience +the same confidence in him which sustained the soldiers. The bridges at +length reached completion, thanks to prodigies of perseverance and +cleverness; bitter discussions arose every day as to the most favorable +point for the passage, when the approach of General Drouet infused joy and +hope into the entire army. General Gardanne, who commanded the vanguard, +announced the arrival of all the straggling divisions of the ninth corps, +and the orders sent to Marshal Soult for the movement of Marshal Mortier. +Money as well as reinforcements was about to rain upon the army. The +instructions of the emperor were precise. The English were to be speedily +dislodged from their famous lines; and, if it was necessary still to +blockade them for some time, the Tagus once crossed, the troops would no +longer want for resources. The plain of Alemtejo would be open to them; +the fine season was approaching; all efforts would become easy. Confidence +and cheerfulness spread through all the encampments. + +Marshal Masséna alone remained sad and uneasy. He had read the despatches +which General Drouet brought him; he had smiled bitterly at the hopes and +counsels of the Emperor Napoleon; he comprehended that the reinforcements +were insufficient, and that the attempt at resistance was in advance +condemned to failure. General Drouet had the order to maintain +communications between Santarem and Almeida; already the insurrection had +closed up all the roads behind him, and new skirmishes were necessary to +open a passage. Only the corps of General Gardanne was destined to remain +in the encampments, and that corps did not amount to 1500 men. Masséna +resolved upon keeping General Drouet near himself; not without pain did he +arrive at this conclusion. Discouragement was already penetrating the +army, with a true knowledge of the situation and of the notorious +insufficiency of the succors. General Foy had just arrived, accompanied by +a small corps of recruits or convalescents, which he had formed at Ciudad +Rodrigo. Before quitting that post, he had written to Marshal Soult, +continually occupied in Andalusia: "I beseech you, Monsieur le Maréchal, +in the name of a sentiment sacred to all French hearts--of the sentiment +which inflames us all for the interests and glory of our august master--to +present at the soonest possible moment a corps of troops upon the left +bank of the Tagus, opposite to the mouth of the Zezere. It is scarcely +four days' journey from Badajoz to Breto, a village situated opposite +Punhete. The English are not numerous on the left bank of the Tagus; they +cannot dare anything in this part without compromising the safety of their +formidable entrenchments before Lisbon, which are only eight leagues from +the bridge of Rio Mazac. According to the decision that your Excellency +may arrive at, the army of the Prince of Essling will pass the Tagus, hold +in check the English on both banks of the river, will fatigue them, will +prey upon them, will keep them in painful and ruinous inaction, will form +between them and your sieges a barrier likely to accelerate the surrender +of the towns; or, on the other hand, this army, failing to effect the +passage that has become necessary, will be forced to withdraw from the +Tagus and from the English in order to find sufficient to eat, and by the +same movement will give the day to our eternal enemies, in a struggle in +which till now the chances have been in our favor. The country between the +Mondego and the Tagus being eaten up and entirely devastated, there can be +no question as to the army of Portugal having to make a retrograde step of +about five or six leagues. Hunger will follow it even into the provinces +of the north. The consequences of such a retreat are incalculable. It +appertains to you, Monsieur le Maréchal, to be at once the saviour of a +great army and the powerful instrument in carrying out the ideas of our +glorious sovereign. On the day when the troops under your orders shall +have appeared on the banks of the Tagus, and facilitated the passage of +this great river, you will be the true conqueror of Portugal." + +When Marshal Soult received this eloquent and truthful summing up from +General Foy, already forestalled by the formal orders of the emperor, he +was personally in a grave embarrassment. Like Masséna in Portugal, he was +disposing in Andalusia of forces less considerable than Napoleon estimated +them in France. General Suchet, after having brilliantly accomplished his +enterprise against Tortosa, which was reduced on the 2nd of January, had +immediately commenced the difficult siege of Tarragona, which occupied +almost all his forces. General Sebastiani with difficulty sufficed for +guarding Granada; Marshal Victor was detained before Cadiz, where the +Cortes had solemnly assembled on the 4th of September. The resistance was +to be long, the place being manned by good troops, and constantly +revictualled by the English vessels. Generals Blake and Castaños had +collected their forces, and ceaselessly harassed the corps occupied by the +sieges, as well as the armies which kept the country. Marshal Soult had +just asked for important reinforcements from Paris, when he received the +order to attempt the difficult enterprise of an expedition into Portugal. +He thought he had the right to comment on the instructions sent to him, +and whilst urging the obstacles which were opposed to his prompt +obedience, he announced his intention of proceeding to the aid of Marshal +Masséna, by reducing the hostile towns found upon the road to Portugal. +The sieges accomplished, nothing more would hinder the march upon +Santarem. He advanced then, with Marshal Mortier and the fifth corps, to +the attack of Olivença, which did not oppose a long resistance. On the +27th of January he invested Badajoz. + +The place was strong, protected by the Guadiana and by solid ramparts; it +communicated by a stone bridge with Fort St. Cristoval, built upon the +right bank, and defending the entrenched camp of Santa Engracia. At the +moment when Marshal Soult approached Badajoz, the corps of the Marquis de +la Romana, formerly occupied in Portugal in the service of the English, +and recently recalled by the Spanish insurrection, took possession of +these entrenchments; its indefatigable chief had just died at Lisbon. It +was in presence of these hostile forces that the fifth corps commenced the +work of a siege destined to detain them for several weeks. A successful +attack on a little detached fort permitted the marshals to attempt the +passage of the Guadiana, then much swollen by the rains, and to give +battle to the Spanish army. On the 19th of February, in the morning, upon +the banks of the Gevara, the corps of the insurgents were completely +defeated, without having been able to succeed in establishing themselves +in the entrenched camp of Santa Engracia. Marshal Soult was now in a +situation to hasten the taking of Badajoz, and to push forward into +Portugal before the Spanish army could be re-formed. He does not appear to +have conceived this idea, and resumed with perseverance the work of the +trenches. "I hope that Badajoz will have been taken in the course of +January, and that the junction with the Prince of Essling will have taken +place before the 20th of January," wrote the emperor, meanwhile. "If it is +necessary, the Duke of Dalmatia can withdraw troops from the fourth corps. +I repeat to you, everything depends upon the Tagus." + +The cannon of Badajoz were heard at Santarem and at Torres Vedras, and the +hearts of the two armies beat with uneasiness and hope. Upon the arrival +of General Foy, in presence of the insufficiency of the disposable forces, +the question lay between a retreat upon Mondego and an attempt at the +passage of the Tagus. The wish of the emperor strongly expressed to Foy +himself, the patriotic honor which animated all the generals, even the +most dissatisfied, had made the balance incline in favor of a prolonged +occupation. It was necessary, then, to attempt to cross the river; the +distress which reigned in certain divisions, absolutely reduced by famine, +did not permit of hesitation; the shores of the stream were reconnoitred +with care. For a moment the idea was entertained of making use, as a +guiding mark, of the isle of Alviela, situated in the midst of the river, +as the isle of Lobau was found placed in the midst of the Danube. The +materials of the bridge were collected at Punhete, but horses were +wanting. General Eblé opposed an attempt, the advantages of which were to +be too tardily recognized. The passage from Santarem to Abrantes offered +the inconvenience of an immediate attack from the enemy in possession of +that town, recently fortified by General Hill. It was resolved to wait for +the arrival of Marshal Soult, or for the reinforcements which he had been +ordered to send into Portugal. Masséna had never believed, and did not +believe, in the promises which had been made him on this side; he +consented, however, upon the advice of all, to retard for a few days a +retrograde movement which became necessary, the impossibility of +attempting alone the passage of the Tagus being recognized. The enemy had +occupied the isle of Alviela; all the local resources were exhausted; the +reserve of biscuit assured still fifteen days' provisions to the army. The +weeks passed without news: the wind no longer brought the sound of the +cannonade; the soldiers felt themselves abandoned at the end of the world; +the anger of the generals no longer permitted them to reanimate the +failing courage of an army famished and without hope. Masséna commenced +the skilful preparations for his retreat upon Mondego. Under pretext of +effecting a concentration of the corps necessary for the passage of the +Tagus, he detached Marshal Ney towards Leyria, with a view of cutting off +from the enemy the roads to the sea, in order to form afterwards a rear- +guard. The wounded and the sick had been taken on before. On the 5th of +March, at the end of the day, the whole French army was on the march, sad +and gloomy in spite of their joy at quitting the places where they had +suffered without compensation and without glory. The materials of the +bridges, prepared with so much care by General Eblé, were burnt. General +Junot pressed forward, in order to occupy Coimbra and the Mondego--a +rallying-point indicated beforehand to all the corps. + +Lord Wellington issued forth from his entrenchments on learning the +movements which announced to him our retreat. His accustomed prudence kept +him from precipitating the pursuit by an effort that might become +dangerous; the well-known character of Marshal Ney protected the rear- +guard no less than the valor of his troops. He ranged his forces in order +of battle before Pombal, which obliged Wellington to recall the troops +which he had detached for the succor of Badajoz. But the hurry of the +retreat had resumed possession of the mind of General Drouet, ever haunted +by compunctions for his disobedience to the formal orders of Napoleon. Ney +was not in a position seriously to defend his positions against the +English; after a brilliant skirmish, he fell back upon Redinha. His +division of infantry had constantly fought under his orders in all the +campaigns of the six previous years; it disputed the land, foot to foot, +with the 25,000 English, who followed the French army, without letting +itself, for a single moment, be troubled or pressed by the superiority of +the enemy. The least offensive movement of the English columns was +responded to by a charge from our troops, which soon re-established the +distance between the two armies. Masséna, who was present at the +manoeuvres of Marshal Ney, admired them without reserve, beseeching his +clever and courageous lieutenant not to abandon the heights, in order to +give the other corps the time and space necessary for the continuance of +their march. A last engagement, which took place upon the banks of the +Soure, in front of the position of Redinha, permitted Ney at last to cross +the river, and gain the town of Condeixa. + +The position was strong, and Masséna counted on the energetic resistance +of his rear-guard, in order to hinder the English, and leave time for the +different corps to reassemble at Coimbra. Marshal Ney on this occasion +failed to realize the just hopes of his chief; after a slight skirmish, he +abandoned Condeixa, and overtaking in his haste the corps that his +movement had exposed, he fell back upon the main body of the army. A +position at Coimbra became impossible, as Lord Wellington was following +closely on our divided forces. Masséna gained the Alva by a series of +clever manoeuvres, constantly thwarted by the want of discipline in his +lieutenants. Marshal Ney had let himself be surprised at Foz d'Arunce by +the English; General Régnier extended his camp to a distance, without care +for the safety of other corps; the position of the Alva was no longer +tenable. Masséna, exasperated and grieved, continued his march towards the +frontier of Spain; re-entered it without glory, after having displayed, +during six months, all the resources of his courage, and the energy of his +will in a situation which had been imprudently imposed upon him by +peremptory orders. He led back an army inured to fatigue and privations, +but disorganized by an existence at once idle and irregular, directed by +chiefs soured and discontented. The consequences of this state of things +were not long in bursting forth; scarcely had the troops taken a few days' +rest in Spain, when Marshal Masséna conceived the idea of assuming the +offensive by descending upon the Tagus by Alcantara, in order to re-enter +Portugal and recommence the campaign. Marshal Ney frankly refused to +follow him without the communication of the formal orders of the emperor. +In consideration of this act of revolt, twice repeated, Masséna took from +Ney the command of the sixth corps, which was confided to General Loyson. +Ney obeyed, not without some regret for his conduct; the ill-humor of all +the chiefs of the corps rendered the resumption of the campaign in +Portugal utterly impossible: the army was cantoned between Almeida, Ciudad +Rodrigo, and Salamanca. The emperor had just confided the general command +of all the provinces of the north to Marshal Bessières; the latter had +promised much to Marshal Massena, who still nursed the hope of a great +battle. Lord Wellington, following the French, had entered Spain. + +The situation of affairs became critical, in spite of the _éclat_ of the +taking of Badajoz, which had been at length reduced to capitulate, on the +11th of March, on the eve of a general assault. Marshal Soult now found +himself pressed to fly to the assistance of Cadiz. Marshal Victor was +threatened in his positions of siege by the Spanish general Blake, and by +an English corps recently embarked at Gibraltar. But already the energetic +defence of Victor had triumphed over the enemy in the battle of Barossa. +The assailants had retired, but remained in a threatening attitude. The +army of Wellington, formerly kept immovable by Massena at Torres Vedras, +became every day a danger for those who had not been able, or who had not +been willing, to go to the aid of the expedition in Portugal. Our forces, +everywhere dispersed, were everywhere insufficient. Marshal Soult, justly +uneasy, demanded reinforcements from all sides. General Foy had returned +to Paris, in order to explain to the emperor the retreat of Masséna. + +Great was the wrath of Napoleon. He had not yet opened his eyes to the +profound causes of so many repeated checks. He did not comprehend the +lessons which events were pointing out to his conquering ambition. He +imputed to his lieutenants faults sometimes inevitable, or easily to be +foreseen, in the circumstances in which they were placed. The +inexhaustible resources of his military genius were not, however, at a +loss on the occasion of this first outburst of embarrassments, destined +daily to increase. He recalled Marshal Ney, incapable of serving under any +other than himself, and replaced him by Marshal Marmont, more docile, more +skilled in questions of military organization, and very earnest in the +service of Marshal Masséna. The latter was charged with watching Lord +Wellington, and with closely following the English army. Marshal Soult +received the reinforcements which had become necessary to him in order to +defend the frontiers of Estramadura. The garrison of Badajoz was +insufficient; that of Almeida had been furnishing provisions for several +weeks to the troops of Masséna cantoned in the environs of the place; +resources began to be exhausted. Wellington was triumphing in Portugal, in +Spain, and even in England. His detractors had been constrained to admire +the wisdom of his contrivances, and to admit their success; the opposition +loudly proclaimed it in Parliament; the war party prevailed in the +councils, and nobody any longer haggled over the succors to the victorious +general. Past clamor did not trouble Lord Wellington; the flatteries of +public favor did not intoxicate him. He decided on laying siege to the +places recently conquered by the French. He himself proceeded to the +environs of Badajoz, in order to settle his plan for the campaign. The +bulk of his army were menacing Almeida. + +Masséna was informed of the departure of Wellington; he conceived the hope +of profiting by his absence to inflict upon the English a startling +defeat. Hastily collecting a convoy of provisions destined to revictual +Almeida, he pressed Marshal Bessières to join with him in order to attack +the army of the enemy. Bessières lingered; the lieutenants of Masséna did +not give evidence of the ardor which still inflamed the heroic defender of +Genoa. Using on this occasion all his rights as general-in-chief, Masséna +ordered at length the concentration of the forces. He was getting ready to +set out, "without bread, without cannons, without horses," wrote he to +Marshal Bessières, resolved upon no longer deferring his attack. The Duke +of Istria (Bessières) arrived at last, on the 1st of May, with a +reinforcement of 1500 horses and a convoy of grain. When the troops +quitted Ciudad Rodrigo, on the 2nd of May, they had appeased their hunger. +About 36,000 men were under arms. Wellington had had time to rejoin his +army. + +The English occupied the village of Fuentes d'Onoro, between the two +streams of the Dos Casas and the Furones; they covered thus their +principal communications with Portugal by the bridge of Castelbon over the +Coa, and defended against us the road of Almeida. The combat began (3rd +May, 1811) upon the two shores of the Dos Casas. Extremely furious on both +sides, it left the English in possession of the village. Our columns of +attack found themselves insufficient, and dispersed over too wide an +extent of country. They occupied, however, both shores of the stream, +when, night falling, caused the combat to cease. On the morrow Marshal +Masséna, changing the point of his principal effort, marched with the main +body of his forces upon Pozo-Velho. He attacked on May 5th, at daybreak. +Some brilliant charges of cavalry threw the English into disorder, but the +guard refused to act without the orders of Marshal Bessières, who was not +found in time on the field of battle. The division of General Loyson went +astray in the woods, while General Reynier limited himself to keeping back +the English brigade which was directly opposed to him. The ammunition +failed; Marshal Bessières, alleging the fatigue of the teams, refused to +despatch immediately the wagons to Ciudad Rodrigo, where there was a store +of cartridges. Discussion and want of discipline had borne their fruits. +The first glorious outburst at the beginning of the day remained without +result. Masséna slept upon the field of battle, within range of the guns +of the English; but the latter had not recoiled, and everywhere maintained +their position. When the marshal, provided with ammunition, wished to +recommence hostilities, the most devoted amongst his lieutenants dissuaded +him from the enterprise. Discouragement spread among the soldiers, as ill- +humor among the officers. With despair in his heart, Masséna remained in +face of the English whilst he gave orders to blow up the ramparts of +Almeida. The movement of retreat had scarcely commenced, on the 10th of +May, when the explosion was heard which announced the execution of the +orders given. The town of Almeida existed no longer. The garrison had +succeeded in escaping the watchfulness of the English, rejoining the corps +of General Heudelet, who had been sent to meet it. "That act is as good as +a victory!" cried Lord Wellington in anger. Masséna, however, did not +allow himself to be deceived. + +A few days later (16th May, 1811), Marshal Soult failed in his turn to +overcome the resistance of the English posted before Badajoz, on the +shores of the Albuera. A corps of the Anglo-Spanish army had laid siege to +the place. The efforts of the French general to seize the village of +Albuera were not successful. The marshal was constrained to place his +cantonments at some distance, without, however, withdrawing from Badajoz. +Masséna had just been recalled to France, and replaced in his command by +Marshal Marmont. He had the misfortune to be constantly sacrificed to an +ambition bolder and cleverer than his own, and to bear more than once the +punishment for faults which he had not committed. His soul remained +indomitable, even in his bitter sorrow; but his military career was +terminated. Henceforth he was to fight no more: none of the last efforts +of Napoleon were confided to the warlike genius of an ancient rival, who +had become a loyal and useful lieutenant, without ever sinking to the +_rôle_ of the courtier or the servant. + +For three years past, the stubborn antipathy of the Spaniards to the +foreign yoke had been struggling foot to foot against the power of +Napoleon. For two years the most brilliant efforts of our courage had been +vainly employed against the boldly-planned resistance of the English. The +enormous sacrifices necessitated by the conquest of Spain were not +compensated for, either by repose or glory. The armies were exhausted, and +the generals grew weary of struggling with enemies impossible to destroy, +whilst they fled only to form again immediately, like the Spaniards; or +whilst they defended intrepidly positions cleverly chosen, like the +English. The power and the reputation of Wellington went on increasing in +proportion to our defeats. King Joseph, feeble and honorable, unjustly +imposed by a perfidious contrivance on a people who repelled him, carried +to France the recital of his griefs and sorrows. + +Such was the situation in Spain in the month of May, 1811, after the hopes +and long illusions of the campaigns of Andalusia and Portugal. The emperor +had just experienced a great joy; he possessed at last a son. The King of +Rome was born at Paris on the 20th of March. But day by day the situation +was becoming more grave. The rupture with Russia was imminent. We had lost +one after the other our most important colonies. In 1809 the English had +seized upon our factories in the Senegal, and had succeeded in destroying +our power in St. Domingo; in the months of July and December, 1810, the +Isle of Bourbon and the Isle of France were in their turn snatched away. +Our courageous efforts on the seas were powerless to defend the ancient +possessions of France, as our brilliant valor failed in Spain to assure us +an unjust conquest. In the interim, the industrial and commercial crisis +was developing, though the superabundance of production in face of a +European market more and more restricted. At the same time the Emperor +Napoleon found himself battling with the heedlessly contracted +difficulties of the spiritual government of the Catholic Church. The new +prelates were still waiting for their bulls of institution, and the Pope +still continued a prisoner. + +Napoleon took his decision. He gave orders to the appointed bishops of +Orleans, St. Flour, Asti, and Liège to repair to their sees without any +other ecclesiastical formalities. He had elevated his uncle, Cardinal +Fesch, to the archbishopric of Paris, after the death of Cardinal de +Belloy. Fesch provisionally accepted, whilst continuing to hold his +archbishopric of Lyons, the titles of which were canonically regular. The +emperor flew into a passion. He had been to pay a visit to Notre Dame +without being received by Cardinal Fesch. "I expect," said he, "to find +the Archbishop of Paris at the door of his cathedral." He ordered the +newly-elected prelate to take possession of his see. "No," said the +cardinal; "I shall wait for the institution of the holy father." "But the +chapter has given you powers." "It is true, but I should not know how to +use them in this case." "Ah!" cried the emperor, "you condemn those who +have obeyed me. I shall certainly know how to force you to it." "_Potius +mori_," replied the cardinal. "Ah! _mori, mori_," repeated the emperor. +"You choose Maury; you shall have him!" + +Cardinal Maury, formerly the fiery defender of the rights and liberties of +the Catholic Church before the Constituent Assembly, was appointed +Archbishop of Paris on the 14th of October, 1810. On the 22nd, Osmond, the +Bishop of Nancy, was called to the vacant archbishopric of Florence. +Command was given to the two prelates to take possession of their sees. +From Savona, Pius VII. had often succeeded in causing some canonical +dispensations and some indications of his spiritual authority to reach the +French and Italian clergy. Several associations were formed in order to +supply him with the means for doing so. The Pope profited by them to send +to Cardinal Maury, as Archbishop of Florence, a prohibition against +ascending episcopal chairs without his institution. The brief addressed to +Florence was promptly circulated in the city. A canon and two priests were +on this account thrown into prison. At Paris the brief was secretly +committed to the Abbé d'Astros, grand capitular vicar, cousin of Portalis, +the councillor of state, and the son of the former minister of religion. +The canon was moderate in his opinions as in his conduct; he conformed, +however, to the instructions of the holy father. When Cardinal Maury +wished to have the episcopal cross borne before him, the chapter abandoned +him _en masse_, in order to retire to the sacristy. A second brief from +the Pope fell into the hands of the police, "removing from the appointed +archbishop all power and all jurisdiction, declaring null and without +effect all that might be done to the contrary, knowingly or through +ignorance." The emperor flew into a rage, attributing the resistance to +the Abbé d'Astros, whom he violently apostrophized in public in a +reception at the Tuileries. "I avow that I had kept myself a little on one +side," Astros himself says; "but I did not wish to have myself sought for, +and I always presented myself when the emperor asked for me." "Before all, +monsieur, it is necessary to be a Frenchman," cried Napoleon; "it is the +way to be, at the same time, a good Christian. The doctrine of Bossuet is +the sole guide one ought to follow. With him one is sure of not losing +one's way. I expect every one to acknowledge the liberties of the Gallican +Church. The religion of Bossuet is as far from that of Gregory VII. as +heaven is from hell. I know, monsieur, that you are in opposition to the +measures that my policy prescribes. I have the sword on my side; take care +of yourself!" The Abbé d'Astros was put in prison at Vincennes, and was to +remain there until the fall of the empire. It was not long before the +Cardinals de Pietro and Gabrielli were brought there also. Portalis had +secretly learnt of the papal interdiction from his relative. He limited +himself to informing Pasquier, recently charged with the direction of the +police. He was expelled in full sitting of the Council of State by the +emperor, with the most harsh reproaches on his perfidy. "Go, monsieur," +said he to him, "and let me never again see you before my eyes!" At the +same time, and in accordance with formal orders received from Paris, Pius +VII was surrounded with the most paltry vexations; henceforth he was +deprived in his captivity of all his old servants. The papers and +portfolios of the Pope were all seized. "Never mind my purse," said the +holy father; "but what will they do with my breviary and the office of the +Virgin?" He did not consent to deliver to Prince Borghese the ring of the +Fisherman, which he wore habitually on his finger, until he had himself +broken it. About the same time, on several occasions, Italian priests who +had refused to swear allegiance to the new state of things were +transported to Corsica. Napoleon had himself given his instructions to the +minister of religion. The boundaries of the dioceses and parishes in the +Pontifical States underwent a complete alteration. Their number was much +restricted. All the archives of the court of Rome were transported to +Paris. + +The emperor had not lost the remembrance of the concessions he had +formerly obtained from Pius VII, when strong and free: he had reckoned +upon a complete submission from the aged prisoner. Already the refusal of +the holy father to the insinuations of the Cardinals Spina and Caselli had +disquieted Napoleon: he had formerly flattered himself that he could make +the Pope accept the suppression of his temporal power and the confiscation +of his states by offering him palaces at Paris and Avignon, a rich income, +and the noble grandeur of his spiritual authority over the whole Catholic +Church. The extent of this authority, such as the emperor conceived it, +was beginning to reveal itself. Napoleon wished to be the master in the +Church as in the State. The authority of the Czar over the Russian Church, +or of the Sultan over the Mussulmans, could alone satisfy his ideas. +"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's," limiting within the +narrowest boundaries that portion which he still ostentatiously reserved +for God. He thought for a moment of regulating by a law the question of +episcopal institution. Diverted from this project by the wise counsels of +Cambacérès and of Bigot de Préameneu, he resolved upon consulting a +commission of ecclesiastics upon the convocation of a national Council. +Already a first Council had been gathered, at the time of the debates on +the investiture of the bishops. The illustrious Superior of St. Sulpice, +the Abbé Emery, had sat in it, strongly against his will. "The emperor has +appointed a commission of bishops and cardinals to examine certain +questions," wrote the Abbé Emery, to his disciple, the Abbé Nageot, +Superior of the Seminary of Baltimore. "He has desired that I should be +added to it. All that I can say to you is, that I have come forth from it +without having anything to reproach myself with; that I think God has +given me the spirit of counsel in this affair. I am sure that He has given +me the spirit of power through His holy mercy." + +The Emperor Napoleon judged soundly of that spirit of power and counsel +for which the Abbé Emery piously ascribed to God all the praise. "M. Emery +is the only man who makes me afraid," said he; "he makes me do all that he +wishes, and perhaps more than I ought. For the first time, I meet a man +gifted with a veritable power over men, and from whom I ask no account of +the use to which he will put it. On the contrary, I wish to be able to +confide to him all our youth; I should die more reassured as to the +future." + +Notwithstanding the ascendancy which his holy character and the firm +moderation of his spirit exercised over the emperor, the Abbé Emery was +not deceived as to his personal action in the ecclesiastical commission. +"Permit me," he wrote to the minister of religion, "out of respect for the +bishops, to abstain from taking any deliberative part, and only to have a +consulting voice; that is to say, that I may simply furnish upon the +matters which may be discussed the lights and documents which my studies +and experience may enable me to give." The Superior of St. Sulpice was +once more to give his opinion freely before the impatient and haughty +master, who claimed to subdue all wills and all consciences to his empire, +"I do not call in question the spiritual power of the Pope," said Napoleon +one day, when he had called the Ecclesiastical Commission to the +Tuileries: "he has received it from Jesus Christ; but Jesus Christ has not +given him the temporal power. It was Charlemagne who gave it to him, and +I, as the successor of Charlemagne, wish to take it away from him, because +he does not know how to use it, and because it hinders him from exercising +his spiritual functions. What inconvenience will there be in the Pope +being subject to me, now that Europe knows no other master?" "Sire," +replied Emery, "your Majesty is better acquainted than I am with the +history of revolutions. The present state of things may not always exist. +It is not, then, necessary to change the order wisely established. The +holy father will not agree to the concessions which your Majesty demands +from him, because he cannot do it." Napoleon did not answer. The Abbé +Emery had refused to sign the propositions accepted by the Ecclesiastical +Commission; he dreaded the Council. "How is it that our bishops do not +see," wrote he, "that the means of conciliation which the emperor demands +from them are only a trick on his part to impose upon the simple, and a +mask to cover his tyranny? Let him leave the Church tranquil; let him +restore their functions to the Pope, the cardinals, and the bishops; let +him renounce extravagant pretensions, and all will soon be arranged." The +emperor, meanwhile, let it be known amongst the delegates that he intended +to send to Savona to have an understanding with the Pope. "This is a good +time to die," said Emery. God granted him this favor. He had suffered +long, and on the 28th of April, 1811, he breathed his last. + +It was at this very moment that the Archbishop of Tours and the Bishops of +Nantes and Treves set out for Savona, charged to obtain from the Pope the +concessions necessary for the re-establishment of ecclesiastical order. +Already the Council had been ostentatiously convoked without the circular +letters making mention of the name of Pius VII. "One of the contracting +parties has disowned the Concordat," said the summons to attend; "the +conduct that has been persevered in, in Germany for ten years past, has +almost destroyed the episcopate in that part of Christendom; the Chapters +have been disturbed in their rights, dark manoeuvres have been contrived, +tending to excite discord and sedition among our subjects." It was in +order to prevent a state of things contrary to the welfare of religion, to +the principles of the Gallican Church, and to the interests of the state, +that the emperor had resolved upon collecting, on the 9th of July +following, in the church of Notre Dame at Paris, all the bishops of France +and Italy in national council. + +The prelates delegated to Savona had for their mission to announce to Pius +VII the convocation of the Council and the repeal of the Concordat. "We +intend," said their instructions, "that the bishops should be instituted +according to the Concordat of Francis I., which we have renewed, and in +such a manner as shall be established by the Council, and shall have +received our approbation. However, it would be possible to revert to the +Concordat on the following conditions: 1st. That the Pope should institute +all the bishops that we have appointed; 2nd. That in future our +appointment shall be communicated to the Pope in the ordinary form; that +if three months after the court of Rome has not instituted, the +institution shall be performed by the Metropolitan." A letter, almost +threatening, written by nineteen bishops assembled at the house of +Cardinal Fesch, accompanied the officious propositions of the emperor. The +anger of Napoleon had weighed heavily on the Council. On the 9th of May +the three prelates arrived secretly at Savona. + +Chabrol, the Prefect of Montenotte, announced their visit to the Pope. +"They can come in when they wish," replied Pius VII. For four months the +old man had been living alone, without external communication, deprived of +his friends and his servants, without pen and ink, gently accepting his +sufferings, but visibly enfeebled in mind and body. Disturbed at first, he +soon recovered himself, talked familiarly with the bishops, and limited +himself to asking that he might be granted the support of a few of his +counsellors on this grave occasion. The request was denied in the most +respectful manner; the prelates delegated by the Emperor Napoleon offered +their assistance to the holy Father. The letter of the nineteen bishops +dwelt upon the hope that the Pope would engage himself to do nothing +contrary to the declarations of the Gallican Church in 1682; Pius VII +protested that he had never had any intention of doing so, but that it was +impossible for him to enter into any written engagement on the subject, +the declaration having been condemned by Pope Alexander VIII. He +discussed, without bitterness, the question of canonical institution, +whilst altogether repelling the propositions put forth by the bishops. +"All alone by himself, a poor man could not take upon himself such a great +change in the Church," said he, smiling. + +The discussion was prolonged, not only on the part of the prelates, but +also on the part of the Prefect of Montenotte, who had frequent interviews +with the Pope, using by turns menaces and caresses, seeking to act on the +mind of Pius VII by the interposition of his physician, Dr. Porta, +completely devoted to the imperial service. The Pope was complaining of +his health; his intellect appeared at times affected by his long anguish. +"The chief of the Church is in prison, and alone," said he, "nothing can +be decided by him." + +The virtues of Pius VII, like his natural weaknesses, contributed to the +trouble of his conscience and his mind. Gentle and good, easily tormented +by scruples, he was tossed about between the conviction of the duties +which he owed to the holy see, and the fear of prolonging in the Church a +grave disorder, which might bring about grievous consequences. In his +interviews with the bishops he yielded everything, whilst thinking he was +resisting, and finished by accepting a note, drawn up under his own eyes, +containing in principle all the required concessions. He had not signed +it, but the negotiators were contented with what they had obtained. "This +morning we have drawn up the whole clearly and in French," wrote the +Archbishop of Tours. "We have presented it to the Pope, he has desired a +few changes in expression, some addition of phrases, some trifling +erasures, and there has resulted from it an _ensemble_ quite as good, and +indeed much better than we flattered ourselves on obtaining a few days +ago." Next day, May 20th, in the morning, the negotiators took the road to +Paris. + +They had scarcely got a few leagues from Savona, and already the Pope was +seized with remorse. Ill for several days past, deprived of sleep by the +agitations of his mind and conscience, he reproached himself for all the +articles of the note he had agreed to, and fell into a state of suffering +which gravely disquieted his jailers. "I cannot conceive how I could +accept these articles," repeated Pius VII; "some of them are tainted with +heresy; it is an act of folly on my part, I have been half mad." "Absorbed +in a complete silence, he closed his eyes in the attitude of a man who +pondered deeply," wrote Chabrol, on May 23rd; "he only roused himself to +cry out, 'Happily, I have signed nothing.' I told him to put full +confidence in that which he had adopted in his conscience, which had no +need of signatures, nor of conventions made by civil laws. He answered me +that from that moment he had lost all peace of mind, and he has again +fallen into the same absorbed reverie." + +Thus the courage, and even the reason, of the unfortunate pontiff +momentarily gave way under the pressure of a moral suffering beyond his +forces. In order to calm him, Chabrol was obliged to despatch a courier in +pursuit of the bishops, withdrawing the concessions implied in the first +article of the note; then, at last, the scruples of the Pope were +concentrated. + +"This suppression is absolutely necessary," said he, "without which I +shall raise a disturbance in order to make my intentions known." In +advance, and by the very fact of the violent pressure exercised over a +captive, old, sick, and alone, the emperor found himself in reality +disarmed in face of the Council which he had just convoked; the concession +which he had snatched from Pius VII became null, for the pope was +protesting from the depth of his prison. + +Napoleon judged thus; he did not avail himself of the articles immediately +denied in the note drawn up by his negotiators, and painfully accepted by +the Pope. In fact, the undertaking at Savona had failed; it began again at +Paris, where the Council at length assembled on June 17th. The emperor had +beforehand sought to intimidate a few of the priests called to take part +in it. During his recent journey in Normandy he had Bois Chollet, the +Bishop of Séez, called before him, accused of rigor towards the priests +who had lately accepted the constitution. "You wish for civil war; you +have already engaged in it," cried Napoleon, "you have embrued your hands +in French blood. I have pardoned you, and you will not pardon others, +miserable wretch; you are a bad subject, give me your resignation +immediately." One of the canons of Séez, the Abbé Le Gallois, learned and +virtuous, and who was looked upon as exercising a great influence over his +bishop, was conducted to Paris, and put in prison in La Force. "The canon +is too clever," said the emperor, "let him be brought to Vincennes." Le +Gallois was to pass nine months there, and only the fall of the Empire was +to put an end to his detention. + +"Your conscience is a fool!" said Napoleon to De Broglie, Bishop of Ghent, +whom he had made a chevalier of the legion of honor, when the latter +protested against a clause in the oath. He had said as much to other +prelates whom he had just convoked to the Council. It is a serious case +for absolute power when it enters into a struggle with the most noble +sentiments of human nature. The Emperor Napoleon had come to that point +when he regarded as his enemies freedom of thought and freedom of +conscience amongst his subjects still suspected of independence, +_littérateurs_ or bishops. + +Ninety-five prelates assembled, on the 17th of June, in the morning, in +the church of Notre Dame. They were joined by nine bishops appointed by +Napoleon, although they had not yet received canonical institution. At the +second séance, when the affairs of the Council began to be seriously +considered, the Ministers of Religion of France and Italy took their +places in the assembly. In opening, on the 16th, the session of the Corps +Législatif, the emperor had haughtily proclaimed his supremacy. "The +affairs of religion," he said, "have been too often mixed up with, and +sacrificed to, the interests of a state of the third order. I have put an +end to this scandal forever. I have united Rome to the Empire. I have +accorded palaces to the popes at Rome and in Paris. If they have at heart +the interests of religion, they will often desire to sojourn at the centre +of the affairs of Christendom. It was thus that St. Peter preferred Rome +to a sojourn in the Holy Land." + +On taking his seat at the Council, Bigot de Préameneu, then Minister of +Religion, pronounced in his turn a discourse which history ought to assign +to its true origin. The emperor enumerated, by the mouth of his minister, +his numerous grievances with regard to the court of Rome, dioceses without +bishops, the prelates deprived of canonical institution. "By this means +the Pope has tried to create troubles in the Church and in the state. The +sinister projects of the Pope have been rendered null by the firmness of +the chapters in maintaining their rights, and by the good feeling of the +people, accustomed to respect only the legitimate authorities. His Majesty +declares that he will never suffer in France as in Germany, that the court +of Rome should exercise on vacancies in the sees any influence by vicars +apostolic, because the Christian religion being necessary to the faithful, +and to the state, its existence would be compromised in countries where +vicars, whom the government might not recognize should be charged with the +direction of the faithful. His Majesty wishes to protect the religion of +his fathers; he wishes to preserve it; and yet it would be no longer the +same religion if it ceased to have bishops, and if one claimed to +concentrate in himself the power of all. His Majesty expects, as emperor +and king, as protector of the Church, as the father of his people, that +the bishops should be instituted according to the forms anterior to the +Concordat, and without a see ever remaining vacant over three months, a +time more than sufficient for its being filled up." + +The declaration fell like a thunderbolt in the midst of the Council. With +the exception of a very small number of prelates acquainted with the +negotiations of Savona, or in the confidence of the emperor, the mass of +the bishops, come from a distance, ignorant or deceived, thought to find +peace accomplished, or on the way of being accomplished, in the Church +between the civil power and the holy see. On the previous evening all had +applauded the words of Boulogne, Bishop of Troyes, then the most +celebrated amongst the religious orators, when he cried, "Whatever +vicissitudes the see of Peter may experience, whatever may be the state +and condition of his august successor, we shall always be linked to him by +the bonds of respect and filial reverence. This see may be removed, it can +never be destroyed. They may deprive it of its splendor, they can never +deprive it of its force. Wheresoever the see may be, there all others will +meet. Wheresoever this see may be transported, all Catholics will follow +it, because wheresoever it may be settled there will be the stem of the +succession, the centre of government, and the sacred depository of the +apostolic traditions." When the prelates were successively called upon to +give their consent to the opening of the Council, Mgr. d'Aviau, Archbishop +of Bordeaux, replied, "Yes, I wish it; excepting, nevertheless, the +obedience due to the sovereign pontiff, an obedience to which I pledge +myself on oath." All the members of the Council, its president, Cardinal +Fesch, at the head of it, took the oath of allegiance to the Catholic +Church, apostolic and Roman, and at the same time a "faithful obedience to +the Roman pontiff, successor of St. Peter, the prince of the apostles, and +successor of Jesus Christ." + +Such was not the end which the emperor had proposed to himself in +convoking the Council, and his wrath towards Cardinal Fesch was violent, +as well as towards Boulogne. "I have ever in my heart the oath taken to +the Pope, which seemed to me very ill-timed," wrote he to Bigot de +Préameneu; "make researches to discover what is meant by this oath, and +how the parliaments regarded it. Let the sittings of the Council be +secret, and let it not have, either in session or in committee, any motion +of order. The report that you make to the Council ought not to be +printed." The commissions were to be appointed by ballot; the first +elected was charged with drawing up the address to the emperor. The task +was confided to the Bishop of Nantes, Mgr. Duvoisin, clever and wise, well +advanced in the good graces of Napoleon, and who had been one of the +delegates to Savona. To the first objections that his colleagues presented +to him, the prelate responded that his draft of the address had received +the approval of the emperor. + +It was much to presume on the docility of an assembly, incomplete in +truth, for a very small part of the Italian and German bishops had been +convoked, independent, however, by character and station. Whilst Mgr. +Duvoisin submitted his draft with regret to a revision which allowed +nothing to remain of the complaisance but lately evinced for the imperial +policy, an obscure prelate demanded that the entire Council should entreat +from the emperor the liberty of the Pope. "It is our right; it is also our +duty," cried Dessolles, Bishop of Chambery; "we owe it not only to +ourselves, but we owe it also to the faithful of our dioceses--what do I +say, to ail the Catholics of Europe, and of the whole world? Let us not +hesitate; let us go, we must, let us go to throw ourselves in a body at +the feet of the emperor, in order to obtain this indispensable +deliverance." And as timid objections began to manifest themselves in the +assembly, "What, messieurs?" resumed the bishop, "the Chapter of Paris has +been able to ask for mercy to M. d'Astros, one of its members, and we will +not have the courage to ask for the freedom of the Pope. And why should +the emperor be provoked at it? Messeigneurs, the Divinity himself consents +to be solicited, persecuted, importuned with our prayers; sovereigns are +the image of God upon earth; by what right ought they to complain if we +act towards them as towards the Master of Heaven?" + +Emotion overcame all the members of the Council; the moderates and the +waverers were drawn along by the ardor of the prelates personally attached +to the Pope, or nobly resolved upon sustaining their convictions even to +the end. The old Archbishop of Bordeaux, the Bishops of Ghent and of +Troyes, claimed at once the liberty of the pontiff, and his canonical +right to use the ecclesiastical thunderbolts. "Judge the Pope, if you +dare, and condemn the Church if you can," cried Mgr. d'Aviau. The prelates +pledged to the imperial power wished to adjourn the discussion; when they +came to the vote on the draft of the address, now without color or life, +Cardinal Maury proposed that it should only be signed by the president and +the secretaries. This overture suited all the timid characters; the +address was voted by sitting and standing. The emperor did not show +himself satisfied. "The bishops are much, mistaken if they think to have +the last word with me," said he. The Bishop of Chambery alone found favor +in his eyes. "One is never to be blamed for asking for the freedom of his +chief," said Napoleon. He had an order sent to the Council to answer his +message on the subject of canonical institution within eight days, without +losing time in useless discussions. A few of the more moderate bishops +happened to be going out of the Tuileries from the imperial mass; the +emperor approached them. "I have desired to act by you as princes of the +Church," said he; "It is for you to say if you will henceforth be only +beadles, The Pope refuses to execute the Concordat; ah, well! I no longer +wish for the Concordat." "Sire," said Osmond, "your Majesty will not tear +with your own hands the finest page in your history." "The bishops have +acted like cowards!" cried Napoleon, with violence. "No, sire," again +replied the prelate, who had so lately accepted the Archbishopric of +Florence without waiting for canonical institution, "they are not cowards, +for they have taken the side of the most feeble." The emperor turned his +back on him. + +"The only and exclusive object of the council of 1811," the Abbé de Pradt +has said in his "Histoire des quatre Concordats," "was to regulate the +order of Canonical Institution, and to provide that it should not +henceforth be hindered by any other cause than the objections urged +against the appointments by the Pope. In this lay the whole dispute +between the holy see and the princes. It was not only his own affairs that +Napoleon was attending to in this settlement, it was also those of other +sovereigns, whom he spared by his example the embarrassments which awaited +them." The Council felt the extreme importance of the question. After a +lively discussion, and in spite of the persistency of the prelates +favorable to the court, the commission appointed for this purpose would +not pronounce upon the message of his Majesty before sending a deputation +to the holy Father, who might set forth to him the deplorable state of the +churches in the empire of France and in the kingdom of Italy, and who +might confer with him on the means of remedying these evils. "The emperor +requires a decree of the Council before consenting to the sending of the +deputation," repeated Cardinal Fesch and his friends. "That would be a +sure method to make everything fail," cried the Bishop of Tournay, "for it +would be exactly like saying to the Pope: Your purse or your life; give us +the bulls and we shall be satisfied with you." Cardinal Fesch was +constrained to carry to Napoleon the vote of the commission. + +The emperor did not think highly either of the skill or the character of +his uncle, and was not particular how he treated him. "He will not reject +you," said the cardinal to a lady with a petition, "I have been turned out +of doors, yes I, twice in a single day." He essayed vainly to explain to +Napoleon the canonical reasons which had determined the commission. + +"Still more theology," replied the emperor; "hold your tongue; you are an +ignoramus. In six months I should get to know more than you. Ah! the +commission votes thus! I shall not get the worst of it. I shall dissolve +the Council and all will be finished. It is of small consequence what the +Council wishes or doesn't wish, I shall declare myself competent, +following the advice of the philosophers and lawyers. The prefects will +appoint the curés, the chapters, and the bishops. If the metropolitan does +not choose to institute them, I will shut up the seminaries, and religion +will have no more ministers." The violence of the insult and the grandeur +of the situation elevated the soul of Cardinal Fesch. "If you wish to make +martyrs, commence in your own family, sire," said he. "I am ready to give +my life to seal my faith. Be perfectly assured that unless the Pope shall +have approved this measure, I, the metropolitan, will never institute any +of my suffragans. I go even further: if one of them should bethink +himself, in my default, of instituting a bishop in my province, I would +excommunicate him immediately." + +It was then that Napoleon recognized the advantages of the abortive +attempt at Savona. "You are all noodles," said he to his ecclesiastical +counsellors, "you do not understand your position. It will then be for me +to extricate you from the affair; I am about to arrange everything." He +dictated upon the spot the draft of a decree based upon the concessions at +first accepted by the Pope. "The deputation of bishops to the holy Father +has removed all difficulties," said he; "the Pope has condescended to +enter into the difficulties of the Church; the sole difference is to be +found in the length of the delay; the emperor wished for three months, the +Pope asked for six. This difference not being of a nature to break up the +arrangement already concluded, it became henceforth the duty of the +Council to enact it. The deputation to the holy Father should convey to +him the thanks of the prelates and the faithful." + +At first the commission of the Council almost entirely fell into the trap. +Could it be doubted that the authorization given by the Pope appeared to +cut the question whilst reserving the rights of the holy see. The +Archbishop of Bordeaux alone protested in the first place; he soon rallied +to his side Broglie, Boulogne, and the Bishop of Tournay. In spite of the +most ardent efforts of the bishops favorable to the court the majority of +the commission ended by rejecting the decree. "You will answer for all the +future evils of the Church," said the Archbishop of Tours to the Bishop of +Ghent, "and I cite you before the tribunal of God." "I await you there +yourself," replied Broglie. + +The emperor appeared to acquiesce without anger in the decision of the +commission. "What is it in the decree that most displeases the bishops?" +he asked of Cardinal Fesch. "It is the demand for it to be converted into +a law of the state," replied the Archbishop of Lyons. "If that hinders +them, they have only to take it out," replied Napoleon; "I can just as +well make it a law of the state when I please." Cardinal Fesch gave a +report of his mission; he promptly broke up the sitting (July 10th). On +the following morning the Council was dissolved. In the night the bishop +of Ghent, Troyes, and Tournay were arrested in their beds, taken to +Vincennes, and kept in secrecy. The Duc de Rovigo was opposed to the +arrest of the Archbishop of Bordeaux. "We must not touch M. d'Aviau," said +he; "he is a saint, and we shall have everybody against us." + +The Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr had but recently given a peremptory reason +against select companies. "There are not many brave men in the world," +said he; "when you collect them all in the same corps, there is not enough +leaven elsewhere to make the dough rise." Deprived of the most resolute of +its members, the Council found itself in the hands of Napoleon like dough, +soft and unresisting. The grand reasons, the elevated and powerful +arguments which the captive prelates had made so important, lost all +influence over the mass of their colleagues. "One is afraid of Vincennes +and one has no desire to loose one's revenues," replied Cardinal Fesch to +the entreaties of the persons who solicited the fathers of the Council to +use their efforts in favor of the prisoners. By fear or persuasion the +bishops, when personally urged and worked upon, bent one after another +under the imperial will. The news from Savona were that the Pope's health +was improved and that he was inclined to go back to the original +concessions. The Council, dissolved on the 11th of July, quietly assembled +again on the 5th August. The signature of about eighty bishops was +considered certain. The public discussion was not renewed; the Archbishop +of Bordeaux alone protested against sanctioning all the imperial claims by +a decree, thirteen or fourteen prelates joining their mute protest to +Aviau's declaration; and the votes were decided by sitting and rising. +Subject to a power which they durst not discuss, the Fathers of the +Council disliked to proclaim openly their personal subservience. The +decree drawn up by the Emperor Napoleon came back to his hands confirmed +by the approbation of the Council "Our wine was not considered good in the +wood," said Cardinal Maury cynically, "you will find it better in +bottles." A deputation of bishops set out for Savona. + +A few months afterwards, under the pressure of the same arbitrary and +sovereign will, Pius VII., now alone at Fontainebleau as he had been in +his prison at Savona, had in his turn to yield in a certain measure to +Napoleon's demands. As it had recently been at Savona, he was destined to +see his concessions deformed and exaggerated in order to serve as a basis +for a convention which he never ratified. On the day after the Council he +showed no displeasure to the bishops who had come as delegates, but +promised the investiture of the twenty-seven prelates who were nominated, +and even gave to the deliberations of the Council a sort of sanction in a +brief which he reserved to himself the right of drawing up. The form of it +did not please the emperor, who sent it back to the Council of State for +examination. The bishops who still remained in Paris waiting for the +decisions of the holy Father were sent to their dioceses. "I don't wish to +have a meeting of saints always here," said the emperor to Rovigo. In +summoning the Council he had made the blunder of reckoning upon the easy +docility of an assembly. "To ask men questions is to acknowledge their +right to be deceived," said the Parisians on the day after the refractory +bishops were arrested; "why does he summon a Council to imprison +afterwards those who are not of his opinion?" The triumph obtained by +Napoleon over the terrified prelates did not add to his glory, though it +assisted in lessening for the moment his ecclesiastical difficulties. All +the dioceses were now provided with bishops, and order was restored to the +chapters. That was all the emperor then wished, his outrages upon the +independence of consciences and on personal liberty weighing nothing in +his balance. He was accustomed to set little value on rights which +prevented the accomplishment of his designs. He had brought the bishops to +submission, imposed upon the captive Pope a partial acceptance of his +will, loftily vindicated the heritage of Charlemagne, and proclaimed his +moral and religious supremacy: and now, leaving Pius VII. still at Savona +and the refractory prelates at Vincennes, there was nothing more to keep +him in Paris. The Russian campaign was already preparing. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +GLORY AND MADNESS--THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN (1811-1812). + + +It is painful to love one's country and see it advancing to defeat; it is +sad to see a great mind, whose good sense recently equalled his power, +dragged to ruin by his own faults and dragging after him a wearied nation. +In 1812, France began to judge the Emperor Napoleon: and long previously +Europe had denounced him as an insatiable conqueror who laid her waste +incessantly. She was about to learn once more that neither distance, nor +the rigors of climate, nor threatening armies, afforded sufficient +protection against the emperor's schemes. Whilst his armies were +struggling hard in Spain and Portugal against the insurgent population +assisted by England, and whilst still holding in Germany the pledges of +his conquests, Napoleon made preparations to attack the Emperor Alexander, +who was still officially honored with the name of "ally," and to whom he +thus wrote on the 6th April, 1811, when his armaments were already +everywhere being prepared: "Has your Majesty ever had reason to repent of +the confidence which you have shown me?" + +Several reasons urged Napoleon to begin hostilities against the Emperor +Alexander--reasons which, though bad and insufficient, weighed in his +eyes, and, under the influence of his personal passions, with a decisive +weight in the balance. He wished to pursue, everywhere and by every means, +his struggle against England and her influence in Europe. Alexander had +refused to increase the rigors of the continental blockade. To this +infraction of the spirit of the treaties uniting the emperors, Alexander +had added, during the Austrian war, an attitude of indifference and +reserve which inspired confidence in the Emperor Francis and his advisers. +He had shown no eagerness for the family alliance which Napoleon twice +offered, while, at the same time, the latter was not deceived as to the +annoyance caused at St. Petersburg by the negotiations for the hand of the +grand-duchess being suddenly broken off. In short, Napoleon was convinced +that the Emperor Alexander was preparing for war, eager to recover his +liberty, and be freed from the conditions of the treaty of Tilsit. He, at +the same time, believed that the renewal of hostilities would be +signalized by important advantages for whichever of the two belligerents +could first enter on the campaign. His main efforts, therefore, in 1811, +were to hasten his warlike preparations, while using diplomatic artifices +to make his adversary sleep, and, at the same time, proving to Europe that +the rupture of the treaties was on the part of Alexander, and that the +Russians were the first to arm. On sending him Count Lauriston, who was +appointed to replace Caulaincourt, Napoleon wrote the Czar: "The man I +send you has no consummate skill in business, but he is true and upright, +as are the sentiments I bear towards you. Nevertheless I daily receive +from Russia news which are not pacific. Yesterday I learned from Stockholm +that the Russian divisions in Finland had left to go towards the frontiers +of the Grand Duchy. A few days ago I had instructions from Bucharest that +five divisions had left the Moldavian and Wallachian provinces for Poland, +and that only four divisions of your Majesty's troops remain on the +Danube. What is now taking place is a new proof that repetition is a +powerful figure of rhetoric. Your Majesty has so often been told that I +have a grudge against you, that your confidence has been shaken. The +Russians quit a frontier where they are necessary, to go to a point where +your Majesty has only friends. Nevertheless I had to think also of my +affairs, and consider my own position. The recoil of my preparations will +lead your Majesty to increase yours; and what you do, re-echoing here, +will make me raise new levies, and all that for mere phantoms! It is a +repetition of what I did in 1807 in Prussia, and in 1809 in Austria. As +for me, I shall remain your Majesty's friend even when that fatality which +rules Europe will one day compel our two nations to take sword in hand. I +shall regulate my conduct by your Majesty's; I shall never make the +attack: my troops will advance only when your Majesty has torn up the +treaty of Tilsit. I shall be the first to disarm, and restore everything +to the condition in which things were a year ago, if your Majesty will go +back to the same confidence." + +The emperor spoke the truth, and his treatment of Russia was nothing new. +It had long been a clumsy artifice of his insatiable greed for war and +conquest to charge his enemies with taking the sword in hand on account of +their fears or expectations, the fear and expectations being usually +caused by his attitude and the projects with which he was credited. +Military reasons assisted at this time in encouraging him to dissimulate +and talk of peace. He had conceived the idea of occupying successively the +vast territories by which he was separated from Russia, and gaining first +the Oder and then the Vistula before the Russians were in motion to cross +the Niemen. The first links of this combination were already begun to be +forged; crowds of runaway conscripts were everywhere being dragged from +the woods and rocks where they hid themselves; and, by sending columns of +militia to scour the provinces, garrison the villages, and freely pillage +the houses of the young deserters, there were 50,000 or 60,000 men thus +compelled to give themselves up, whose hiding-places had not been +discovered. The emperor sent them in troops to the islands of Elba, +Corsica, Ré, Belle-Isle, and Walcheren, appointing the sea to keep his +deserters. Scarcely had they acquired the most rudimentary notions of +military discipline, when they were despatched in a body to Marshal +Davout, who was still stationed on the Elbe, with instructions to drill +and form them. They often arrived still clad in their peasant's dress, +their bodies ill, and their minds revolting against the existence thus +forced upon them far from their home and country. About one sixth of these +wretches escaped during the march, braving all the dangers and suffering +of flight across an unknown country rather than be soldiers. Recruits from +all the conquered nations filled up the gaps in the regiments of the ever- +increasing army. War supplies as well as soldiers were also constantly +accumulating in Germany. Napoleon resolved to collect at Dantzig the +resources necessary to support an army of 400,000 men for a year. The +marvellous fertility of his mind was entirely occupied in facilitating and +rendering certain the movements of that enormous mass of men and horses +during a long campaign and across vast spaces. The transport arrangements +were in charge of skilled lieutenants, who had been with him in all his +battles; and General Eblé was at the head of the engineer division for +bridge-construction. "With the means at our disposal, we shall eat up all +obstacles," said Napoleon, confidently. + +Alliances would have been difficult and few in Napoleon's case, if he had +insisted on having genuine sympathy and hearty assistance; but he did not +ask so much from Prussia, nor even from the Emperor Francis, whose +daughter he had just married. Fear was enough for the accomplishment of +his wishes, and in that he reckoned rightly. King Frederick William asked +for Napoleon's alliance, because he dreaded seeing himself suddenly hemmed +in by the attack against Russia. After leaving him for a long time +unanswered, and at last bringing his preparations as far forward as he had +beforehand determined, the emperor accepted the offers of the King of +Prussia and his minister Hardenberg. In their anxiety to close the +bargain, the Prussian diplomatist had gone so far as to say that their +sovereign could place 100,000 men at the service of France. By skilful +system of rotation in their military service, the King of Prussia had been +able to exercise all his subjects who were of age to bear arms without +appearing to exceed the narrow limits allowed to his army by Napoleon. +Thus, under the weight of unjust restriction, were sown the seeds of that +military organization which afterwards proved several times so fatal to +us. In 1812, Napoleon let the King of Prussia know that he had observed +the state of his military resources. By the treaty of alliance, concluded +in February, 1812, the Prussian contingent in the war then preparing +amounted only to 20,000 soldiers. Large supplies of provisions were to be +received in part payment of the war contributions which Prussia still owed +France; and on this condition the emperor guaranteed the security of the +territory of his new ally--recently his mangled victim. Some hopes were +also allowed him of several ulterior advantages; but Napoleon refused to +restore Glogau, in spite of the entreaties of King Frederick William. + +Austria would have wished to avoid the necessity of joining in the war and +allying herself to Napoleon; but the situation of the daughter of the +Emperor Francis upon the throne of France, and the eagerness which the +Austrian court had shown for the union, prevented any refusal. In his +negotiations Metternich insisted that the treaty should be kept secret: +"There are only two of us in Austria who wish for a French alliance," said +he; "the emperor is the first, and I am the second; but Russia must not +know of our feeling towards you." Some regiments were being secretly +prepared in Galicia. + +In a famous conversation which Napoleon had, on 15th August, 1811, with +Prince Kourakin, the Russian ambassador at Paris, he said, "Is it on +Austria that you reckon? You made war upon her in 1809, and deprived her +of a province during peace. Is it Sweden, from whom you took Finland? Is +it Prussia, whose spoils you accepted at Tilsit after being her ally?" The +same reproaches could with more justice have been applied to France--or +rather, to her ruler. He was soon to understand that truth, and weigh the +value of the alliances which he had imposed. On the eve of the Russian +campaign he was, and seemed, more formidable than the Czar; and fear made +the weak cling to his side, while they still concealed their secret hatred +and long-cherished rancor. + +Russia, nevertheless, was also negotiating, relying upon her rival's +natural and declared enemies. The treaties were not new when they were +published, on the 20th July, 1812, between the Czar and the Spanish +insurgents, the 1st August with England, and on the 5th April with Sweden. + +The powers hostile to France were astonished to hear of the advances made +by the new Prince Royal of Sweden. From recollection of the republican +enthusiasm of his youth, as well as personal antipathy, Bernadotte had +never liked General Bonaparte when they were comrades and rivals for +military fame. The fortune of Napoleon had dug a gulf between them. Raised +to the throne by a curious freak of destiny, Bernadotte had brought to his +new country no attachment for Napoleon, nor the enthusiastic recollections +of France with which he was generally credited. He had asked the emperor +to grant him Norway; but Napoleon did not wish to rob Denmark, and a +contemptuous silence was the reply to the court of Sweden. Bernadotte +pursued in another direction the same views of ambition and +aggrandizement; and in allying himself to Russia he asked for Norway, +urging the importance of the personal and national assistance which he +could contribute to the coalition. England was not a stranger to this +arrangement. Two months afterwards, disregarding his engagements with +Russia, and alarmed at the huge display of Napoleon's power, the Prince +Royal of Sweden proceeded to make fresh overtures to France. Norway was to +remain as the price of his alliance, together with a subsidy of +20,000,000. Napoleon was extremely angry. Bernadotte had never possessed +his good graces; and he, not unnaturally, felt indignant at the manoeuvres +of a Frenchman who had so soon forgot his country. "The wretch!" exclaimed +he; "he is true neither to his reputation, to Sweden, or his native land, +but is preparing bitter remorse for himself. When Russia wants the Sound, +her soldiers have only to cross the ice from Aland to Stockholm. The +present opportunity of humbling Russia is unique, and he will never have +such another. Never again will a man like me be seen marching against the +North with 600,000 men! He is not worth thinking about; let nobody mention +him again to me; I forbid sending any communication to him, formal or +informal." Thus repulsed, Bernadotte remained faithful to his engagements +with Russia, and was soon after to make others, which were still more +disastrous to his native country. + +Soon after the official publication of the treaty uniting Sweden to the +enemies of France, the Emperor Alexander concluded a war which had long +occupied the greater part of his forces. The hostilities so long waged +between Russia and Turkey had not contributed to the glory of Alexander's +generals. "Your soldiers are very brave," said Napoleon once to the Czar's +ambassador, "but your generals are not worthy of them. It is impossible +not to see that they have managed their movements very badly, and acted +against all the rules." The fear inspired by the Emperor Napoleon had been +of still greater use to the Turks than the bad generalship of the +Russians, Alexander being eager to conclude the peace, in order to +concentrate his forces against an enemy more formidable than the Sultan. +Admiral Tchitchakoff, at the head of the army of the Danube, was empowered +to finish the war or negotiate peace. The Czar renounced part of his +former claims, contenting himself with Bessarabia, and proposing the Pruth +as the boundary for both empires, on condition that Turkey became an +active ally. The influence of the English diplomatists turned the balance, +and Mahmoud, yielding to the desire for peace, the Treaty of Bucharest was +signed on the 28th May, 1812. + +Napoleon was afraid of this peace, and had tried to prevent it. +Perpetually trying to gain time, he succeeded in throwing off the scent +Nesselrode, who had been sent with instructions to put the question of +peace or war simply. Lauriston was directed to dwell constantly upon the +emperor's friendly feeling towards the Czar. Napoleon was at the trouble +of conversing for a long time with a Russian of position who was visiting +Paris. Czernicheff was sent to gather information as to the importance of +our armament, and had learned much, when the emperor sent for him to come +to the Elysée, to unfold his intentions with regard to Poland. He had +formerly said to Prince Kourakin, "I shall give you nothing in Poland-- +nothing! nothing!" Now he declared his resolution never to restore to +Poland its national independence. "I had no wish to engage in the +convention which was proposed to me," said he, "because that engagement +was not compatible with my dignity; but I am well resolved on that point. +I have no other reason for arming except the notoriously unkind +disposition of the Russian court towards me. She is deceived as to my +intentions; she serves England, whose commerce extends to all parts of her +territory. I only ask her to come closer; by ourselves we two shall crush +all our enemies." Napoleon gave Czernicheff a letter for the Emperor +Alexander, which made him a sort of accredited agent at the Russian court. +"My brother, after the arrival of the courier sent by Count Lauriston on +the 6th instant, I laid down my views of the troublesome events of the +last fifteen months in a conversation with Colonel Czernicheff. It only +depends on your Majesty to finish it all." + +At the same time a despatch of the Duke of Bassano (Maret), who had +succeeded the Duke of Cadore (Champagny) as minister of foreign affairs, +informed Lauriston of the importance of the mission. "The emperor is +anxious," said he, "that the troops should gradually advance upon the +Vistula, rest there, settle there, strengthen their position, fortify +their bridges; in short, make use of every advantage, and be certain of +taking the initiative in military movements. The emperor has shown great +kindness to Colonel Czernicheff, but I must tell you that officer has used +his time in Paris intriguing and disseminating corruption. The emperor +knew it without interfering. The preparations of his Majesty are really +enormous, and the more they are known it will only be the better for him. +The Emperor Alexander will, no doubt, show you the letter sent him by his +Majesty; it is very simple.... The emperor has no wish for an interview, +or even a negotiation which should take place out of Paris. He has no +confidence in a negotiation of any sort, unless the 450,000 men whom his +Majesty has put in movement, and their enormous mass of war apparatus, +should have caused the cabinet of St. Petersburg to reflect seriously, +and, by loyally restoring the system established at Tilsit, place Russia +again in the state of inferiority in which she then was. Your single aim +must be to gain time. The head of the army of Italy is already at Munich, +and the general movement is being everywhere declared. Maintain on all +occasions that, should war take place, it is Russia who wished for it." + +It was no longer from Paris that the emperor dictated his diplomatic +orders and directed the movements of his armies. Since March he had lived +at St. Cloud, to avoid an opposition Which vexed him to the bottom of his +heart, and which he had in vain attempted to disarm. The Parisians, long +enthusiastic in favor of his glory, were showing discontent, aversion, and +complaint. After the long drought of the summer of 1811, bread was dear; +and the financial measures which had been tried to reduce the prices in +the capital were extremely onerous for the Treasury without acting +successfully upon trade. Corn was scarce, and the threat of an arbitrary +tariff kept back the supply of provisions. The strain upon all the +commercial relations caused by the continental blockade reacted +unfavorably on the necessary resources during a dearth. The Food Council +appointed by the emperor tried in vain to supply by artificial means the +beneficent action of commercial freedom and confidence. + +Other causes contributed to the agitation and ill-temper of the Parisians; +and the discontent, as well as the suffering caused by the dearness of +corn, was not confined to the capital. Too clear-sighted, in spite of the +mad impulses of his ambition, not to feel what risks he was running, and +making France run, Napoleon wished to provide some protection. Though long +inexhaustible in men and devotion, the country was becoming tired, and +about to be deprived of its means of defence at the very moment when a new +European conflagration was bursting forth. The emperor had therefore +ordered the formation of a certain number of cohorts of the national +guard, under the name of "First Ban" (Body of Defence). Thus 120,000 men, +borrowed from the "sedentary contingents" of 1809 to 1812, had been formed +into regiments, on the assurance that they should not have to leave their +departments. Their families, however, were deprived of them, and the +present hardships combining with their fear of the future, there was great +dissatisfaction in the country. The number of deserters having increased, +the columns of militia recommenced their hateful work: and in the +conquered countries, Holland and the territory of the Hanse towns, the +conscription was violently resisted. Insurrections took place, followed by +executions. Several of the regiments raised in the ancient free towns had +mutinied, and kept themselves for several days in the isle of Heligoland. +These troops were incorporated with Marshal Davout's army, and put under +the most rigid guard. In Italy itself, and even in the army of Prince +Eugène, the discontent and fatigue were unmistakable. The hard service of +Napoleon had become a slavery. His severity towards the Pope also assisted +in alienating the Italians, and throughout the Roman States he was hated +by the population. + +His pacific protestations, however, deceived nobody. The Czar had no wish +for war; he dreaded it, and his people had also long dreaded it; but now +he felt it to be inevitable, and the patriotic passion of defending their +soil took possession of the Russian nation. Lauriston was besieged with +attentions, but he lived alone, having no intercourse with the Russian +upper classes, who were now urging the emperor forward. "Everything will +be against us in this war," said Napoleon boldly to some of those about +him who knew Russia well, especially Caulaincourt and Ségur. "On their +side, love of country and independence; all private and public interests, +even to the secret wishes of our allies! On our side, against so many +obstacles, glory alone, even without the hope of plunder, since the +frightful poverty of those regions renders it impossible." + +The events proved, in a startling manner, the justice of what the military +diplomatists anticipated. From the history of the secret negotiations we +learn that advices and promises were largely bestowed by Austria and +Prussia upon the Emperor Alexander. The leaders of our armies, which had +for several months occupied Germany and Poland, could not pretend not to +see the increasing hatred which was silently brooding under the disguises +of popular submission and princely attentions. General Rapp, who commanded +at Dantzig, felt it his duty to inform Marshal Davout of the precarious +state in which our rule in Europe then stood. "If the French army has a +single check," wrote the general, "there will quickly be from the Rhine to +the Niemen only one single insurrection." Davout, in transmitting this +information to Napoleon, made only one remark: "I recollect, sire, true +enough, that in 1809, without the miracles wrought by you at Ratisbon our +situation in Germany would have been very difficult." + +It was upon those miracles of his genius, and upon a destiny which he +justly considered superhuman, that the Emperor Napoleon always reckoned. +The information brought vexed him without persuading him, and made him +somewhat distrust those who ventured to give it him. The brilliant renown +of Marshal Davout, the justice and consistency of his administration in +Poland, and the admirable order which reigned in his army, had made +Napoleon somewhat displeased and gloomy. The rivals and enemies of Davout +skilfully utilized the occasion. "One would think that the Prince of +Eckmühl commanded the army," they said constantly in the emperor's +presence. Some even accused him of aiming at the throne of Poland. +Napoleon had dispensed with Masséna's services; and now he showed a +coolness towards Davout, as if he were jealous of his glory and power, and +at the moment of engaging in the supreme struggle wished to be surrounded +with servants only! + +Marshal Davout, nevertheless, went on his way, executing the emperor's +instructions with consummate skill and prudence. There were now 450,000 +men marching against Russia; an army of reserve of 150,000 men was about +to be formed in Germany from the recruits sent from all parts of France; +120,000 men of the national guard were to protect the French soil, in +combination with 150,000 soldiers, sick or new, who were still in the +military depots. According to the "cadres," which were often deceptive, +there were 300,000 men engaged in Spain. On leaving Italy to march to +Germany, Prince Eugène had left about 50,000 soldiers in the strongholds. +Thus for one man's quarrel, and in his name, there were under arms more +than 1,200,000 soldiers. The Russian army did not exceed 300,000 men: on +their side they had the weather, extent of country, and climate. "Don't +come into collision with the Emperor Napoleon," said Knesebek, the +Prussian envoy to the Czar; "draw the French into the interior of Russia. +Let fatigue and hunger do the rest." The Emperor Alexander had just learnt +that Davout had appeared at Elbing: having crossed the Vistula, he was on +his way to the Niemen. The feeling of the people as well as the ardor of +the court called the Czar to head-quarters, but he still hesitated, having +a repugnance to give the sign of general conflagration; and at last, on +the 21st, set out for Wilna after telling Lauriston that there was still +time for negotiations. The population of St. Petersburg were all present +at his departure, earnest and full of interest, and the churches were +crowded with people praying at the altars. "I go with you. God will be +against the aggressor." Such was the Czar's proclamation on reaching his +head-quarters. + +Europe was no more deceived than Russia and France herself; in spite of +Napoleon's precautions, nobody was ignorant as to the real aggressor. The +emperor remained at St. Cloud till 9th May, 1812, waiting till an act of +the Czar's should give him the liberty of his movements. Before leaving +France, and as a last indication of his pacific intentions, he despatched +Narbonne to Wilna, with instructions to propose to the Czar an interview +and armed negotiation, on the Niemen. "My aide-de-camp, Count Narbonne, +who is the bearer of this letter to your Majesty, has at the same time +important communications for Count Romanzoff," wrote Napoleon on the 25th +April; "they will prove to your Majesty my desire to avoid war, and my +constancy to the sentiments of Tilsit and Erfurt. In any case your Majesty +will allow me to assure you, that if fate renders this war inevitable +between us, it will make no change in the sentiments with which your +Majesty has inspired me, and which are safe from all vicissitude or +alteration." + +It was at Dresden, whither he had gone on leaving France, that Napoleon +received the refusal to negotiate, brought by Narbonne from the Czar. +England had replied by a similar refusal to the pacific manifesto which +the emperor, as usual, had addressed to her before recommencing new +hostilities in Europe. The orders for the positions of the troops were +already given. Davout was to concentrate between Marienwerder, Marienburg, +and Elbing; the Prussians had been appointed to the advance-guard, and +still remained on their right, advancing to the banks of the Niemen. +Marshal Oudinot occupied the suburbs of Dantzig, forming Davout's right; +while Ney's body, at Thorn, supported his left. Prince Eugène, with the +Bavarians, advanced to Plock, on the Vistula; the Poles, Saxons, and +Westphalians were united at Warsaw, under the orders of King Jerome; and +the guard, who held Posen, were commanded by Mortier and Lefebvre. General +St. Cyr was appointed to lead the Bavarians in the field, and General +Régnier was responsible for the Saxons. The Austrians were to invade +Volhynia. Already wherever the troops passed there was raised a chorus of +complaints from the pillaged and ill-treated populations, and from the +King of Prussia, who had seen Spandau and Pillau occupied by the French +troops, on pretext of depositing the war-material there. King Frederick +William had set out for Dresden, to present his claims personally to the +conqueror. + +In the sight of the crowned crowd which at Dresden thronged around +Napoleon, there was something at once brilliant and sad. Amongst the +sovereigns who claimed the honor of presenting their homages, there were +very few who did not cherish against him some secret grievance or bitter +rancor. All dreaded some new misfortunes, and were endeavoring to charm +them away by servile flatteries. The Empress Marie Louise accompanied her +husband, showing her delight and want of tact in displaying her splendor +so near her native country, before the eyes of her father and mother-in- +law, who had just met her in Dresden. All purely military display had been +forbidden at the magnificent court around Napoleon. Murat and King Jerome +themselves had been ordered to their head-quarters, yet the couriers +followed each other night and day, frequently disturbing the brilliant +_fêtes_ by the fear of the first cannon-shot ready to go off. At Paris, +Prince Kourakin, discontented and uneasy, had asked for his passports, +thus anticipating the official rupture. At St. Petersburg, Lauriston +received the order to join the Emperor Alexander at Wilna, and again lay +before him the proposals of peace. It was necessary to let the grass grow +--to let the sun dry the roads--to give Napoleon's emissaries the +opportunity of acting on the minds of the Poles, and stirring up amongst +them a national movement in favor of France, a mission to which Abbé +Pradt, afterwards Bishop of Malines, had been appointed. Talleyrand, of +whom the emperor at first thought, did not then enjoy his good graces. +"Set out, my lord," said Napoleon to the bishop, "set out at once; spare +no expense; rouse their enthusiasm; set Poland a-going without embroiling +me with Austria, and you will have well understood and fulfilled your +mission." The prelate's vanity was fired, surrounded as he was by the +apparatus of his new grandeur. He set out to stir up Poland in the name of +France! + +The work was more difficult then than it had been in 1807, when Napoleon +had personally remarked the distrust of the great lords and the apathetic +indifference of the peasantry. The formation of the grand-duchy of Warsaw +did not please the Poles, who had already seen their hopes vanish. They +were poor, and a large number of their best soldiers were serving under +Napoleon. The continental blockade had ruined the trade of the Jews, who +had always been numerous and influential in Poland. The Abbé Pradt had to +use his efforts in the midst of an excited people, who wished for the +future something different from promises. His mission was to produce but +trifling results, because the penetration of the Poles guessed Napoleon's +thoughts, and his resolution to wage no decisive battle in their favor. He +set no great value on the political spirit of the race, their patriotic +passions meeting with scarcely any response in him. He wished to drag the +living force of Poland in his train, in order to support him in his +struggle; but it was in vain that he gave to the new aggression which he +was about to attempt the name of a second Polish war--the public voice was +no more deceived than history. The campaign of Russia was about to begin. + +On leaving Dresden, Napoleon at last urged forward the advance of his +armies. In spite of the precautions he had taken, the transports moved +slowly and with difficulty, the staff officers dragging after them much +useless baggage, and on reaching Thorn he ordered some important +reductions. When pushing on towards Marienburg and Dantzig he was attended +by Davout and Murat. Cold in his manner to Davout, who was perpetually +quarrelling with Marshal Berthier, he was uncivil to Murat, who was tired +and ill. "Are you not satisfied with being king?" he asked, dryly. "I +scarcely am king, sire," retorted Murat. "I did not make you kings, you +and your brothers, to reign as you liked, but as I liked," returned the +emperor; "to follow my policy, and remain French on foreign thrones." +Napoleon had given orders for the last supply of provisions for the +strongholds, and completed the organization of inland navigation by +streams and rivers. On the 17th June he arrived at Intersburg, having +resolved to cross the Niemen at Kowno, in order to direct his march upon +the Dwina and Dnieper by the road leading to Moscow, passing first by +Wilna, the capital of Lithuania. It was, in fact, upon those two rivers, +the real frontiers of the Russian empire, that the Emperor Alexander had +concentrated his forces. The army of the Dwina was commanded by General +Barclay de Tolly; the army of the Dnieper marched under the orders of +Prince Bagration. The emperor went straight towards the enemy, hoping to +open the campaign by one of those brilliant strokes by which he had been +accustomed to terrify Europe. He reckoned upon passing the Niemen on the +22nd or 23rd, and on the 16th wrote from Koenigsberg, authorizing +Lauriston to ask his passports. The despatch was dated the 12th, from +Thorn, the ambassador having been told of the artifice. Napoleon soon +learned that Lauriston had not been allowed to leave Wilna. It mattered +little now; having reached the banks of the Niemen, his proclamation was +everywhere read to the troops:-- + +"Soldiers! The second Polish war is begun. The first finished at Friedland +and Tilsit! At Tilsit Russia swore an eternal alliance with France, and +war with England. To-day she is violating her oaths. She will give no +explanation of her strange conduct unless the French eagles recross the +Rhine, thus leaving our allies to her discretion. Russia is drawn on by +fate; her destiny must be accomplished. Why does she think we are +degenerated? Are we no longer the soldiers of Austerlitz? She places us +between dishonor and war. Our choice cannot be doubtful! Let us march +forward; let us pass the Niemen; let us carry war into her territory. The +second Polish war will be glorious to French arms; but the peace which we +shall conclude will bring with it its guarantee; it will bring to a close +the fatal influence which for fifty years Russia has exercised upon the +affairs of Europe." + +The river was there, rolling at Napoleon's feet, like a natural and +majestic barrier, fulfilling its function of holding him back from ruin; +the enormous mass of his army surrounded him; on the opposite bank reigned +silence and solitude. Several sappers who had crossed in a small boat, +having landed, a Cossack came up to them, in charge of a patrol, who +followed him at a short distance. "Who are you? and what do you want +here?" he asked. "We are Frenchmen, and we are come to make war upon you," +replied one of the sappers. The Cossack turned his horse round, and +disappeared in the forest, unhurt by the bullets which they fired after +him. They were there to throw a bridge across. + +On the morning of the 25th, Napoleon himself crossed the river on +horseback, galloping as if he wished to find the enemy, still absent and +invisible. The light cavalry had already taken possession of Kowno. The +emperor wishing bridges to be thrown over the Vilia, ordered a squadron of +Polish lancers to cross the river, in order to sound the depth, and a +large number of the unfortunate men perished in the attempt. When they +felt themselves carried away by the current, they turned round to shout +"Long live the emperor!" Meanwhile the army was still defiling across the +Niemen, and it was only on the 30th June that it had entirely reached the +left bank. + +After a violent discussion among the Czar's advisers, Alexander decided to +evacuate Wilna, the minister of police being appointed for the last time +to carry a conciliatory message to Napoleon. A detachment of cavalry +disputed for a moment with the French the gates of the capital of +Lithuania, the passage being forced by Murat. On the 28th June, about mid- +day, Napoleon made his entry into Wilna, annoyed at not meeting the enemy, +whom he would have liked to fight, overcome, and crush on the first day. +The Lithuanians received him eagerly, as in expectation of freedom. The +same day the Diet assembled at Warsaw proclaimed the re-establishment of +the kingdom of Poland, and several members of the Senate hastened to +Wilna, to announce officially to Napoleon the resurrection of their +country. "The Poles have never been subjected by either peace or war," +said they, "but by treason! They are therefore free _de jure_ before God +as well as before men, and to-day they can be so _de facto;_ and their +right becomes a duty. We demand the independence of our Lithuanian +brothers, and their union to the centre of all the Polish family. It is +from Napoleon the Great that we ask this word, 'The Kingdom of Poland +exists!' It will then exist if all the Poles devote themselves ardently to +the orders of the chief of the fourth French race, before whom the ages +are but a moment, and space an infinitesimal point." + +Napoleon did not believe in the restoration of Poland, and was resolved +not to create beforehand an insurmountable obstacle to peace by forming +engagements with the Poles. He received the deputies of the Diet coldly, +and did not yield to their desire of seeing Lithuania at once joined to +Poland. A special government had just been organized, which seemed to be +entrusted to the great Lithuanian lords, but was practically administered +by young "auditors" of the Council of State. Distrust had already secretly +begun, and mutual recriminations; the Lithuanians dreaded the vengeance of +Russia, not being certain of having permanently got rid of her government; +robbery was scandalously common; the weather was bad, and many soldiers +were ill. Everywhere throughout the province, corn, cattle, and forage +were requisitioned for the army, and a dearth threatened Lithuania as soon +as the French entered upon their soil. Half of the carriages, a third of +the horse, and a fourth of those in charge of the transports, had already +perished on the roads from the Elbe to Wilna. Napoleon had ordered a levy +of four regiments of infantry in Lithuania, and five regiments of cavalry; +but the money and military outfits were both wanting. It was necessary to +organize some columns of militia, to pursue those who pillaged, and +protect the peaceful inhabitants. Our soldiers were ordered to look after +the burial of the dead. From the reports of chiefs of divisions the +emperor was fully informed of some of the wretched consequences. The Duke +of Trevisa wrote:--"From the Niemen to the Vilia I saw nothing but houses +in ruins, wagons and carriages abandoned; we found them scattered on the +roads and in the fields; some upset, others open, with their contents +strewed here and there, and pillaged, as if they had been taken by the +enemy. I thought I was following a routed army. Ten thousand horses were +killed by the cold stormy rains and the green rye, which is their only +food, and new to them. They lie on the roads and encumber them; their +bodies exhale a poisonous smell--a new plague, which some compare to +famine, though the latter is much more terrible. Several soldiers of the +young guard have already died of hunger." + +The necessity for a speedy victory was being already felt. The Russian +army had been cut in two by the rapid march of the French, Prince +Bagration being isolated on the Dnieper, where Marshal Davout was already +hemming him in, and soon after gained an important victory, at Mohilew, +23rd July, 1812. The Czar, with General Barclay de Tolly, had fixed +himself in the intrenched camp at Drissa before the Dwina; and it was upon +this principal division that Napoleon directed his march when he left +Wilna, on the evening of the 16th July. Murat commanded the advanced +guard, followed first by Ney, and then by Oudinot; Prince Eugène, who +advanced towards the right, was to join Marshal Davout. The forces of King +Jerome and Prince Poniatowski remained in the rear. Desertion and fatigue +were already decimating the soldiers. The King of Westphalia, placed under +Marshal Davout's orders, had with difficulty accepted that secondary +position. Difficulties having arisen, the prince returned towards Germany, +and thus lessened the marshal's success at Mohilew. + +Before leaving Wilna the emperor had dismissed, without satisfying him, +Balachoff, the bearer of the Czar's last offers. Napoleon repeated his +former complaints, going back bitterly to the happy future which was +unrolled before Russia when her emperor walked in harmony with France. +"What an admirable reign he might have had, if he had liked!" repeated +Napoleon; "all that was necessary was to keep on good terms with me. I +gave him Finland, and promised him Moldavia and Wallachia, which he was +about to obtain, when all at once he allowed himself to be surrounded by +my enemies, and turned against me the arms he ought to have reserved for +the Turks; and now his gain will be having neither Wallachia nor Moldavia. +And now, what is your object in coming here? What are the Emperor +Alexander's intentions? He is only general on parade: whom will he put +against me? Kutusof, whom he does not like, because he is too Russian? +Benningsen, who is old and only recalls to him frightful memories? +Barclay, who can manoeuvre, who is brave, who knows war, but who is a +superannuated general? Bagration is the best soldier; he has no +imagination; but he has experience, quickness of vision, and decision; he +cannot prevent my throwing you beyond the Dnieper and Dwina. These are the +results of your rupture with me. When I think of the reign which your +master might have had!" Napoleon summed up by a demand to occupy +Lithuania, Russia to undertake to resume permanently her alliance against +England. Balachoff set out again, assuring Napoleon that if the sentiment +of religious patriotism had disappeared throughout Europe, it still +remained in Spain and Russia. The bitterness of the discussion envenomed +several wounds already deep enough. When Balachoff rejoined the Czar in +order to give account of his mission, Alexander was no longer at Drissa. +Waiting in an entrenched camp tired and humiliated the Russians. The plan +of campaign was the work of Pfuhl, a German general, high in the emperor's +favor; but the feeling of the whole army was expressed so emphatically +against the tactics at first adopted, that the Czar agreed to quit head- +quarters, and fall back with his staff upon Moscow. There, they assured +him, the mere fact of his presence was enough to animate the national +enthusiasm of the old Russians, and stir up the whole country against the +invader. General Barclay, henceforward free in his movements, began on the +10th July to march up the Dwina as far as Vitebsk, hoping to be joined by +Bagration opposite Smolensk. Our road to Moscow was thus intercepted; and +Count Wittgenstein, with 25,000 or 30,000 men, was to cover St. Petersburg +between Polotsk and Riga. Marshal Macdonald, at the head of the left wing +of the French army, threatened the coasts of the Baltic. + +Napoleon guessed this movement of the Russian general, and determined to +push forward, prevent the junction of the two armies of the enemy, attack +them by suddenly crossing the Dwina, and thus render impossible the +continuous retreat of the Russians, who were now drawing him in their +pursuit into the interior of the empire, without giving him an opportunity +of striking the blow which was to be their destruction. He therefore left +Gloubokoé on the 23rd July, advancing upon Vitebsk; and two brilliant +engagements of the advance-guard, by Murat and Ney, on the 25th and 26th, +redoubled the ardor of our troops. On reaching Vitebsk after another +engagement, the Russian army was seen, drawn up in order of battle, beyond +a small tributary of the Dwina. Napoleon urged forward the march of all +his forces. The Russian forces seemed to count about 90,000 or 100,000 +men. The French army was reduced by illness, by the desertion of some +Poles and Germans, and by the death of young recruits who could not endure +the heat, fatigue, and bad food. The body accompanying the emperor, +however, still amounted to 125,000 men, excellent troops. Napoleon felt +certain of success. + +Barclay de Tolly was of the same opinion. At first he had resolved to give +battle, in order to keep the roads open for Prince Bagration, with whom he +had made an appointment to meet at Babinowiczi; but the news of the check +received by the Russian army at Mohilew convinced him that their junction +must now be delayed, and that his colleague felt himself compelled to look +forward to a long movement before succeeding in passing the Dnieper. A +battle was no longer necessary, and, on the night of the 27th, Barclay +raised his camp, to advance upon Poreczie, behind the Kasplia. Thus the +St. Petersburg and Moscow roads were covered by the Russian army, and the +two main divisions might look forward to a junction in the neighborhood of +Smolensk. + +Napoleon was excessively annoyed on learning of the enemy's retreat, and +in spite of the overpowering heat ordered immediate pursuit. Count Pahlen, +however, at the head of the Russian cavalry, protected their main body, +while at the same time retiring before us. After a day's work as fatiguing +for the troops as a long engagement, Napoleon returned to Vitebsk, where +he encamped several days, in order to rest his soldiers, and rebuild the +store-houses, everywhere overthrown by the Russians, who also destroyed +the crops and every kind of forage. Up to this point, in spite of his able +combinations, the plan of campaign decided upon by Napoleon at Wilna was a +complete failure; and by the persistent retreat of the Russians, the +circle of his operations had to be constantly increased. The immense space +spread out before us, solitary and vacant; and for the future it was +impossible to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces. On our side +Marshal Davout had just joined the great army; and the emperor took +advantage of this combination of the greater part of our forces to inspect +his troops. In every regiment, except the old guard, the leaders were +struck with consternation at the results ascertained by the roll-call. + +It is a good thing to know the cost of enterprises begun in folly and +pursued through excessive difficulties, whatever may have been the +superior genius, the consummate foresight and experience, of the general. +Ney counted 36,000 men as they crossed the Niemen, but only 22,000 were in +line at Vitebsk. The King of Naples had lost 7000 men out of 28,000. The +young guard had seen 10,000 men disappear out of 28,000. Prince Eugène +reckoned 45,000 on the banks of the Dwina, and entered Kowno with 40,000. +Even Davout, the most skilful in drilling and managing his soldiers, saw +his 72,000 men diminished by 20,000. In King Jerome's division, 22,000 +were wanting, the number formerly being nearly 100,000 men. The emperor +still had at his disposition 255,000 soldiers; but Macdonald on the +Baltic, and Oudinot at Polotsk, ought still to have 60,000, and General +Reynier remained on the Dnieper with a body of 20,000 soldiers. Napoleon +already spoke of calling Marshal Victor, with his 30,000 men of reserve, +cantoned between the Niemen and the Rhine. Thirty thousand Austrians +advanced towards Minsk under the orders of Prince Schwartzenberg. The +emperor sent orders to Paris to despatch all his guard still left in the +depots. He rejected the idea of an establishment on the Dnieper and Dwina +being a sufficient result of the campaign. Better than all his lieutenants +he at last foresaw the dangers and difficulties of the work which he had +undertaken, which he still wished, but which he was anxious to finish in a +brilliant manner. Europe was waiting for the news of a victory. Napoleon +had reached the centre of the Russian empire, but without a battle. The +prestige of his glory and his power demanded a decisive blow; and the +emperor prepared for it at Vitebsk. + +Marshal Macdonald, however, had taken possession of Courland, after one +battle before Mittau. The Russians everywhere retreated before him, +evacuating even the stronghold of Dunaburg. The marshal laid siege to +Riga, but his forces were insufficient to guard this vast territory, and +he in vain asked for reinforcements. Everywhere the men succumbed under +the extent of the task imposed upon them. Marshal Oudinot, who formerly +supported Macdonald at Polotsk, had crossed the Dwina, and was advancing, +by the emperor's orders, against Count Wittgenstein. After a brilliant +engagement at Jakoubowo on the 20th July, he found it prudent to retreat +upon the Drissa. On the 1st August there was another successful battle, +but the troops were tired, and had lost many men; the enemy were +threatening. Oudinot returned to Polotsk, requiring rest and more +soldiers, like Macdonald. The marshal did not succeed in demolishing the +entrenched camp at Drissa, as he had been instructed to do. + +On the south-east, in the upper part of the course of the Bug, General +Reynier found himself at last obliged to retreat, in order to protect the +grand duchy of Warsaw, and invade Volhynia. This expedition was at first +intended for the Austrians, but the will of the Emperor Francis, as well +as that of Napoleon, called them to head-quarters; and Reynier's forces +were to replace them in the posts which they held. + +Nevertheless, the Russian General Tormazoff threatened the grand duchy, +after taking possession of Kobrin, which was badly defended by the Saxons. +The Diet of Warsaw took alarm. A large number of wealthy Poles collected +their most valuable property, and crossed to the left bank of the Vistula. +They asked assistance from the Abbé Pradt, who was as disturbed as the +Poles. He wrote to Wilna, where Bassano was installed as the emperor's +representative, and at the same time addressed himself to General Reynier. +The latter having called Prince Swartzenberg to his assistance, they both +advanced upon the Bug, thus protecting the grand duchy, without being able +to rejoin the grand army or support the general movement. Admiral +Tchitchakoff had just signed the peace with the Turks, and was expected to +come to Tormazoff's assistance. + +Following Marshal Davout's advice, after mature consideration the emperor +resolved at Vitebsk to advance with his main body from the banks of the +Dwina upon those of the Dnieper, cross the latter at Rassasna, and ascend +quickly to Smolensk. He reckoned upon finding the town without defence, +and then by a sudden movement taking the Russian in flank, and so at last +inflicting upon his enemies a great military disaster. The movements of +the French army were to be concealed from the enemy behind the forests +abounding everywhere. It was important to conceal our march from the +Russians, who were about to form their junction at Smolensk. + +The Emperor Napoleon was not alone in his enthusiastic ardor for battle. +Prince Bagration was, like him, fervently wishing for the moment of +conflict. The soldiers of high rank who were of Russian birth and manners, +were greatly vexed and prejudiced against Barclay de Tolly, and his +prudent tactics, every day accusing him of cowardice, and suspecting his +patriotism. Born of a Scottish family which had long been settled in +Russia, Barclay was ardently devoted to his adopted country, and could +scarcely endure their unjust reproaches. The passion of the Russian +generals at last gained the day, and the council of war resolved to take +the offensive against the French cantonments. The projected march of our +armies was unknown to the enemy when, on the 9th August, their vanguard +made an attack upon General Sebastiani, who was badly defended. He at once +called General Montbrun, and they both charged the Russian squadrons forty +times in the course of the day, and then fell back upon Marshal Ney's +forces. The Russians observed the solidity of our lines, saw the large +force under Prince Eugène, and believed there were indications of a march +towards St. Petersburg. Barclay took advantage of the uneasiness which he +saw around him, and fell back upon Smolensk. The Emperor Napoleon now +commenced the march. + +On the morning of the 14th August, the whole army had crossed the Dnieper. +With 175,000 men under the flags, an immense artillery, wagons and +innumerable troops, the vast solitude of the ancient Borysthenes was +suddenly transformed into a camp. The march continued towards Smolensk: +before Krasnoe, after a rather keen fight, General Névéroffskoi was driven +back to the town of Korytnia. Nearly all the corps had rejoined the +emperor when, on the 16th August, the advance guard debouched before +Smolensk. At a single glance of the eye, the generals were convinced that +the town was in a state of defence. A useless attempt was made to take the +citadel by storm; Ney, who had imprudently advanced, fell into an ambush, +and was only with difficulty rescued by his light cavalry. The Russians +were already seen occupying the heights on the right bank of the Dnieper, +in the suburbs, and above the new town. Barclay had taken up his position +there, and a large force occupied the old town on the left bank, both +parts of the town being connected by a bridge. Prince Bagration had +advanced beyond Smolensk, to protect the banks of the Dnieper, and prevent +Napoleon, on crossing the river, from attacking the town and its defenders +from behind. + +Though the taking of Smolensk formed no part of his original plan, +Napoleon was obliged to make the attack. The possession of that ancient +and venerable town had great importance in the eyes of Russians. +Nevertheless the emperor had the river sounded some distance off, hoping +to find a ford which would allow of a surprise. It was impossible to throw +over bridges, on account of the nearness of Prince Bagration, whose troops +lay on the banks of the Kolodnia, a tributary of the Dnieper; and, so far +as these observations were taken, the river was not fordable. Napoleon +waited for a day, hoping that Barclay would leave the heights of the new +town to offer him battle; and, on the Russian making no movement, the +assault was ordered. + +The fighting was continued a whole day on the 17th. The suburbs of the old +town were in our hands, but the old enclosure, with its irregular brick +towers, still resisted our attack. The Russians no longer made sallies, +but defended themselves heroically behind the walls. Most of the emperor's +lieutenants had been opposed to the siege, and Murat, it is said, wished +to be killed. He went to a part which was incessantly battered by the guns +from the ramparts, and said to his aides-de-camp, "Leave me alone here." +Napoleon gave orders to cease the assault. Marshal Davout sent a party to +reconnoitre, General Haxo braving a storm of fire to discover the weak +point of the enclosure: and the attack was to begin again next morning at +daybreak. "I must have Smolensk," said the emperor. + +The Russians had already seen Napoleon's obstinacy, and felt that they +could no longer repulse the efforts of our arms. The bombshells had +already set fire to several parts, and during the night the whole of the +town was in flames, kindled by the Russians. Their battalions were +withdrawn, and the old town gradually evacuated. Barclay de Tolly prepared +to follow their example. At sunrise Davout entered without difficulty into +Smolensk in flames. The women and children, collected in the ancient +Byzantine cathedral, seemed the mere remnant of a wretched population. +Many men had fled; and the bridge, which joined both banks, being cut, the +Russian army had started before us on the road to Moscow, without any +possibility of our at once pursuing them. Napoleon passed on horseback +through the smoking and blood-stained streets. Surgeon Larrey, faithful to +the sentiments of humanity which always distinguished him, had the Russian +wounded collected as well as the French. + +The emperor looked gloomy and discontented. Though victorious, the army +was depressed: the first town taken by assault, burnt before them by the +determined hatred of its defenders, seemed to the soldiers a sinister +omen. They were all tired of a war which imposed upon them unheard-of +efforts without any glory coming to console them with its accustomed +intoxication. "The war is not a national one," said Count Daru recently at +Vitebsk; "the importation of a few English goods into Russia, or even the +rising of the Polish nation, is not a sufficient reason for so remote an +enterprise. Neither your troops nor your generals understand the necessity +of it. Let us stop while at least there is still time." + +The same advice was repeated at Smolensk, on that bank of the river gained +by such bravery, and difficult to leave without danger, in order to plunge +into an unknown and hostile country, far from the reinforcements which +were still being prepared in Germany. Before attacking Smolensk, Napoleon +said to Prince Eugène, "We are going to give battle, and then we shall see +Moscow." "Always Moscow! Moscow will be our ruin," muttered the Viceroy of +Italy as he left the emperor. Nearly all the military leaders felt the +same fears. + +Marshal Ney rushed with his troops in pursuit of Barclay, and overtook two +Russian columns on the plain of Valoutina behind a small muddy stream, +over which they had to throw a bridge. Here a keenly contested fight cost +us the life of General Gudin, when obstinately carrying the passage at the +point of the bayonet. Our columns were embarrassed in their attack by the +marshy ground. The Russians kept their positions till night; and when at +last obliged to quit the plateau more than 13,000 to 14,000 of both sides +lay dead on the field of battle. The enemy's columns resumed their +retreat, and continued to intercept our route to Moscow. + +Thus, without a single check to diminish the prestige of our arms--after +constantly defeating the Russians in the partial engagements which had +taken place--after occupying, without fighting or taking by assault, every +place in our way, we found ourselves, after two months' campaigning, with +an army less by a half, in the very heart of Russia, unable to reach the +enemy, who were retreating without running away--further than when at +Wilna from that peace, desired by all, which Napoleon wished to impose +under glorious circumstances immediately after a victory. The pacific +messages of the Emperor Alexander had long accompanied our invasion of his +states. Now they ceased, and the sudden summer of the north was soon about +to disappear. "That would make a fine station for a cantonment," said +Count Lobau, the heroic General Mouton, as he looked at the position and +old walls of Smolensk. The emperor made no reply. + +He was hesitating or reflecting, because he waited. On our right, General +Reynier and Prince Schwartzenberg, with the Saxons and Austrians, had +dislodged the Russians from the important position of Gorodeczna at +several leagues from Kobrin; thus opening, with considerable difficulty, +the intercepted road to the grand duchy. On the left, Marshal Oudinot, +hurt at the emperor severely blaming him because when victorious he took +the position of the conquered, had advanced against Count Wittgenstein, +although the Russians would not accept battle. The marshal again fell back +on the Drissa and Polota; a strong detachment, however, covered the latter +river, and on the Russians presenting themselves for the attack they were +repulsed. Oudinot was wounded, and the command devolved upon General +Gouvion St. Cyr, who was also slightly wounded. On the 18th August, having +resolved to give battle, he directed his troops from a small Polish +carriage, which was overturned in the thick of the conflict, and the +general was trodden under foot. In spite of the exhaustion of the +soldiers, and their leader's pain and ill-health, the feigned retreat +which had deceived the Russians, as well as the battle itself, were +crowned with brilliant success. After the battle of Polotsk, Wittgenstein +was compelled to withdraw, and Gouvion St. Cyr received at last his +marshal's baton. His instructions were to guard the Dwina, while Macdonald +was kept before Riga, unable to take it or raise the siege. The two corps +were now deprived of communication, as soon as the main body was still +further removed from its wings, now isolated on the right and left. The +emperor was resolved to leave Smolensk, and at every cost pursue the +battle which was running from him. Davout and Murat, always at the head of +the army, and perpetually at strife in their military operations, agreed, +however, in affirming that the Russians certainly showed a real intention +of fighting. Napoleon went himself towards Dorogobouje. + +A last effort was attempted by those about him to make him stop at +Smolensk. General Rapp, just arrived from Germany, could not conceal his +emotion and astonishment. "The army has only marched a hundred leagues +since the Niemen," said he. "I saw it before crossing, and already +everything is changed. The officers, arriving by posting from the interior +of France, are frightened at the sight which meets their eyes. They had no +conception that a victorious march without battles could leave behind it +more ruins than a defeat." "You have left Europe, as it were, have you +not?" said Murat and Berthier. "Should Europe rise against your Majesty, +you will only have your soldiers for subjects, and your camp for empire; +nay, the third of that even being foreign, will become hostile." Napoleon +granted the truth of the facts. "I am well aware that the state of the +army is frightful. From Wilna half of them could not keep up, or were left +behind; and today there are two thirds. There is therefore no more time to +lose. Peace must be had at any cost, and it is in Moscow. Besides, this +army cannot now halt; its composition and disorganization are now such +that it is kept up by movement alone. One can advance at its head, but +cannot stop or retreat. It is an army of attack, not of defence; an army +of operation, not of position. I shall strike a great blow, and all will +rally." + +When leaving Smolensk, on the 24th August, with his guard, the emperor had +not yet come to a final decision as to his advance, but all his measures +were taken with that result in view, and his skilful lieutenants were not +deceived. Marshal Victor was already on his way to Wilna, and Napoleon +sent him orders to march at once towards Smolensk. Two divisions of the +army of reserve, left in Germany under the orders of Marshal Augereau, +were summoned to Lithuania. When the emperor learned, on arriving at +Dorogobouje, that the enemy was again escaping from him, he concluded that +General Barclay was ready to fight him, and was seeking for a favorable +position. "We are told that he awaits us at Wiazma," wrote Napoleon to the +Duke of Bassano on 26th August; "we shall be there in a few days. We shall +then be half-way between Smolensk and Moscow, and forty leagues, I +believe, from Moscow. If the enemy is beaten there, nothing can protect +that great capital, and I shall be there on the 5th September." + +The day was in fact come, and the battle which Napoleon had so long +desired was at last to be offered, given, and gained--with no other result +except more deeply involving us in a desperate enterprise and consummating +our ruin. The Russians having evacuated Wiazma, it was only at Ghjat that +the emperor at last felt certain of encountering the enemy. The command of +the Muscovite armies had changed hands: the cry raised since the beginning +of the campaign against Barclay's prudent tactics, at last overbore the +Czar's confidence in that able general, and old Kutusof had been placed at +the head of the troops. Keenly patriotic, and long engaged in the struggle +against the man who had conquered him at Austerlitz, the new general-in- +chief appealed to all the national and religious passions by which his +soldiers were animated. "It is in the faith," said he, "that I wish to +fight and conquer; it is in the faith that I wish to conquer or die, and +that my eyes shall see victory. Soldiers, think of your wives and children +who claim your protection; think of your emperor who is looking upon you; +and before to-morrow's sun has disappeared, you shall have written your +piety and fidelity upon the fields of your country with the blood of the +aggressor and his legions." The priests, clothed in their most sumptuous +robes, were already carrying the holy images at the head of the regiments, +while the soldiers knelt down to receive absolution. The French army was +near. + +The emperor having been ill for several days, his assistants found him +depressed and undecided at the very moment when he was at last attaining +the object of his desires. There was still a constant quarrel between +Murat and Davout. The marshal blamed the King of Naples for imposing too +much work upon the cavalry, and forbade the infantry of the advanced guard +to manoeuvre without his express orders. The complaints of his lieutenants +reached Napoleon, but he made no more efforts to reconcile them. Having a +fixed ill-will against Davout, he compelled him to place under Murat's +orders one of his divisions which had been refused to the King of Naples. +The emperor had shown more ill-temper than usual; and on one occasion he +said to Berthier himself, the most devoted of his old friends "And you, +too, are you one of those who wish to stop? As you are only an old woman, +you may go back to Paris. I can do very well without you." For several +days the Prince of Neuchâtel refused to appear at the emperor's table. + +The imperial staff had now left Wiazma. When occupying that small town, +Napoleon had himself run after and horsewhipped some soldiers who were +pillaging and destroying a shop. He pursued his journey under the blue sky +and an exhausting heat, listening to the simple talk of a young Cossack, +who had been taken prisoner that very morning amongst the Russian soldiers +who had lagged behind. Lelorgne d'Ideville, the excellent interpreter who +attended the emperor, put questions to the soldier. "Nobody wishes to keep +Barclay," said the young Cossack; "they say that there is another general. +They would all have been beaten long ago but for the Cossacks. No matter, +there is going to be a great battle. If it takes place within three days, +the French will gain it; but, if it is delayed longer, God only knows what +will happen. It seems the French have a general called Bonaparte, who has +always conquered all his enemies. Perhaps he will not be so fortunate this +time; they are waiting for large reinforcements in order to make a stand." +The emperor having made a sign, Lelorgne leant over towards the young +Cossack's saddle and said, "That is General Bonaparte beside you--the +Emperor Napoleon." The soldier opened his eyes and looked at the face of +the great conqueror whose name had, like some tale of wonder, reached even +his savage tribe: he said nothing, when Napoleon gave orders that he +should be restored to liberty. + +The weather becoming bad, the rain fell in torrents, and rendering the +march of the army difficult, many soldiers left the ranks to pillage, +their provisions being short; and the emperor bitterly reproached his +lieutenants with a state of things which they could not prevent. "The army +is in that way threatened with destruction," wrote Napoleon, "even from +Ghjat. The number of prisoners made by the enemy amounts every day to +several hundred. Let the Duke of Elchingen know that he is daily losing +more men than if we were fighting, and that it is therefore necessary that +the foraging expeditions should be better managed, and the men should not +go so far away." + +Order was not restored in the army when, on the 5th September, it +debouched upon the plain of Borodino. Following the table-lands extending +between the Baltic and Black Sea, we descended the slopes by which the +Moskwa on the left, and the Protwa on the right, flow towards the Oka, a +tributary of the Volga. The rain ceasing, Napoleon was encouraged by the +appearance of the sky to hope for fine weather. At one time he thought of +returning towards Smolensk; but when the sun reappeared he cried, "The lot +is cast; let us set out." He at last found himself face to face with the +Russians. + +General Kutusof had taken advantage of the natural position. Entrenched on +the left behind the river Kolocza, he had raised a series of earthen +redoubts, furnished with a formidable artillery, to defend the small +heights at the foot of which were extended the Russian battalions. The +course of the river changing its direction at the point where the village +of Borodino was placed, the heights were there protected only by hollows. +It was this position which Napoleon first gave orders to attack, in order +to carry a detached redoubt placed on a mamelon. Our troops had scarcely +arrived, and night was approaching, but after a very severe engagement the +advanced work of Schwardino remained in our power. The whole of the 6th of +September was spent in reconnoitring. Several of the corps had not yet +joined the main body. Marshal Davout proposed to cross the thick curtain +of forest extending on the left of the Russian army, and by taking the old +Moscow road, turn the enemy's positions and seize their troops between two +fires. Napoleon refused, thinking this movement too dangerous. He himself +seemed disturbed and ill at ease; with his head in hand, and deeply +plunged in thought, he all at once tore himself from his meditations to +make sure of the execution of some orders. "Are you confident of victory?" +he asked General Rapp, abruptly. "Certainly," replied he, "but with much +bloodshed." "Ah! that is true," said the emperor. "But I have 80,000 men; +if I lose 20,000, I shall enter Moscow with 60,000; the soldiers who have +fallen behind will join us, and then the marching battalion. We shall be +stronger than before the battle." In enumerating his forces, Napoleon did +not reckon his cavalry or the guard. He was still ill, being under an +attack of fever, but it was with a voice of the greatest firmness that he +again harangued his troops. "Soldiers!" said he, "this is the battle which +you have so much wished for. The victory now depends upon yourselves. It +is necessary for you; it will give us abundance, good quarters in winter, +and a ready return to our own country. Behave as you did at Austerlitz, +Friedland, Vitebsk, and Smolensk, and so that the most remote posterity +may quote your conduct this day. Let them say of you, 'He was at that +great battle under the walls of Moscow!'" + +On the 7th, before daybreak, Napoleon was already on the battlefield, near +the redoubt which had been gained on the evening of the 5th. The troops +had received orders to look their very best. Stretching his hand towards +the sky the emperor exclaimed, "See! it is an Austerlitz scene!" The +bright rays, however, were in the soldiers' faces, and the Russians had +more advantage from their brilliancy than we. At seven o'clock the combat +broke out on the left: Prince Eugène carried the village of Borodino, but +his troops, being too eager, crossed the bridge instead of breaking it +down, and were crushed under the fire of the enemy's artillery, placed on +the heights of Gorki. The attack became general--so passionate and +violent, that on both sides they scarcely took time to manoeuvre. For the +first time in his long career as head of an army, the emperor remained in +the rear, looking on the struggle without taking part in it, yet opposing +the eager demands of his generals for reinforcements. "If there is a +second battle to-morrow, what troops shall I give it with?" he replied to +Berthier, who entreated him to send assistance to Murat and Ney, on their +carrying the enemy's redoubts. Generals fell on every side, dead or +severely wounded. They hurriedly bound up the wounds of Marshal Davout, +who was seriously hurt; and Rapp, wounded for the twenty-second time in +his life, was carried before the emperor. "Always Rapp!" said Napoleon; +"and what is going on over there?" "Sire, they want the guard, in order to +put an end to it," replied the general's aide-de-camp. "No," retorted the +emperor, "I won't have them destroyed. It is not when 800 leagues from +home that one risks his last resource." + +During this long day this was Napoleon's constant reply to all the leaders +of divisions who believed they held in their hands the foretaste of +victory, or who saw officers and soldiers slaughtered around them. +Napoleon was waiting for a propitious moment, to decide himself the +success of the day. "It is too soon," he repeated several times; "the hour +for me to join in the fight personally is not yet come; I must see the +whole chess-board more clearly." The reserve artillery, however, had been +authorized to advance, and crowned the heights which had just been taken +from the Russians. The enemy's cavalry came to dash against that +unsurmountable obstacle; their infantry fell in dense files, without +withdrawing or breaking. For two hours the Russian regiments remained +exposed to this terrible fire. Marshal Ney at last turned what were left +of this heroic corps, commanded by Prince Bagration. The struggle +gradually ceased in the plain; the heights remained partially in the hands +of the Russians; Prince Eugène used his utmost endeavors to take the great +redoubt; and Prince Poniatowski was unable to force the old Moscow road. +In vain did Murat and Ney demand loudly for the advance of the guard, +still remaining motionless. For a moment the arguments of General Belliard +seemed to take effect, and the order to march was given to the young +guard. Count Lobau was already putting them in motion under the pretext of +rectifying their lines, but Kutuzoff, till then motionless and inactive, +had anticipated Napoleon in his final determination, and throwing forward +his cavalry of reserve, the forces again formed in the plain, and a charge +of the enemy, came pouring upon the divisions which held it. The emperor +stopped the guard, forbidding an operation which, though recently likely +to be successful, was now dangerous from the delay. The gap made in the +centre of the Russian army by the untiring efforts of Murat and Ney was +now closed up; the Russians again occupied their outer works; their ardor +and courage never slackened under the fire of our artillery. The great +redoubt, however, having been carried, and the Moscow road being +abandoned, the generals who still miraculously survived after having a +hundred times exposed their lives, asked to try a supreme effort to throw +back the enemy and drive him into the Moskwa. Napoleon left his post, and +came to inspect himself the point of attack. Marshal Bessières was not +disposed to risk the guard; and Napoleon once more resisted all urgent +demands. He instructed Marshal Mortier to occupy the field of battle with +the young guard; and night being come, the battle at last ceased. "I do +not ask you to advance, or commence any engagement," repeated Napoleon +twice; and calling back the Marshal as he was going off, "You thoroughly +understand? Keep the battle-field, without advancing or retreating, +whatever may happen." The Russians had not yet evacuated all their +positions, and the conquered and conquerors, both equally heroic, were +extended in confusion on the plain. Several Russian detachments threw up a +rampart of dead bodies. When on the morrow General Kutuzoff effected his +brave retreat, he left no soldiers lagging behind, and the wounded who +died on the march were religiously buried. The Emperor Alexander's army +left 60,000 dead or dying on the plain of Borodino--or the battle-field of +the Moskwa, as Napoleon himself named that terrible day. Prince Bagration +was killed. + +The battle of the Moskwa caused in our ranks 30,000 dead and wounded. Ten +generals had succumbed, including Montbrun and Caulaincourt, brother of +the Duke of Vicenza. Thirty-nine general officers were wounded: and ten +colonels killed, and twenty-seven wounded. Three days were scarcely +sufficient to attend to the dead and wounded. The abbey of Kolotskoi and +the neighboring villages were converted into provisional hospitals, under +the direction of General Junot, commandant of the Westphalians. The +emperor had advanced towards Mojaisk, and Murat followed with his +decimated regiments. Napoleon refused Davout the command of the advanced +guard. The town was attacked on the 9th: some attempts had been made to +set it on fire, but the walls and houses were still standing when the +emperor fixed his abode there for several days. It was there that he +reviewed the state of his losses on the 7th. He had gone over the +battlefield, showing more emotion and compunction than usual at the sight +of the frightful carnage which had signalized the battle. Only 800 +prisoners remained in our hands. The soldiers well knew that the number of +captives was an indisputable sign of the importance of a victory. They +beheld with terror the heaps of their enemies' corpses. "They all prefer +death to being taken!" said they. "Eight days of Moscow," exclaimed the +emperor, "and the enemy will not be seen again." He still remained ill and +moody, however; and on the previous evening wrote to Marshal Victor, "The +enemy when attacked in the heart no longer attends to his extremities; +tell the Duke of Belluna to direct everything, battalions, squadrons, +artillery, and isolated men, upon Smolensk, so that he may come from there +to Moscow." + +It was indeed upon Holy Moscow, the traditional capital of old Russia, +that the hopes of Napoleon were now concentrated, hoping there to conclude +a peace, and finish a war which he himself felt to be above human +strength. Several weeks previously the Czar had left Moscow and returned +to St. Petersburg, whence he watched at a distance, and without military +skill, the defence of his empire. He upheld the courage of his subjects, +however, and had personally obtained from them great sacrifices. The lords +assembled round him, in the cradle and tomb of nobility, as they called +Moscow, had voted the levy of every tenth serf, armed, equipped, and +supplied with three months' provisions. The merchants offered the emperor +half their wealth. On the approach of the French, and while waiting for +the defence of the old capital, the orders of Rostopchin, the governor, +forbade the evacuation of the town. Women, children, old men, on carts and +carriages, loaded with goods, money, and furniture, slowly removed from +the town, where their husbands, sons and brothers still remained. "The +less fear the less danger," said the governor. Kutuzoff's proclamations at +first represented the battle of Borodino as a disputed combat, which left +the Russian army standing, and capable of defending Moscow; but when their +battalions appeared before the gates of the capital the sad truth struck +the eyes of all. Whatever it might cost the invader, the national army was +beaten, and Moscow could not repulse an attack. There was an immediate and +constantly-increasing rush to leave the place. Popular rumor described the +French as fierce monsters, worthy of that emperor whom Alexander himself +had portrayed as a "Moloch, with treason in his heart and loyalty on his +lips, come to efface Russia from the surface of the world." + +In his real heart Kutuzoff had decided what to do. Skilful and cunning, +without presence of mind or great courage on the field of battle, he could +direct the operations of a campaign, and choose the proper mode of leading +his country's enemies to their downfall. Nevertheless, he held a council +of war, being determined to make the other generals share the weight of a +terrible responsibility. Must they defend Moscow by a second battle in +open field, wait for the enemy behind the walls, and dispute with him, +foot by foot, the possession of the town? Must they abandon the capital, +and, as it was recommended by Barclay de Tolly, always bravely true to his +original purpose, retreat to Vladimir, and thus cover the road to St. +Petersburg? All these proposals were proposed, and keenly discussed. +Several spoke in favor of immediate and unflinching resistance, who would +have bitterly regretted the adoption of their advice. At last the old +general rose: he had listened to all their speeches without speaking, and +only shook his head, to signify, as it were, his strong conviction that +whether his head were good or bad, it had to make the final decision of +the question. + +He gave his orders, which showed great skill and prudence. The army was to +pass through Moscow without halting, without assisting in any preparation +for resistance, or joining in any skirmish even when on the rearguard; +then falling back upon Riazan, it was, after several days, to occupy the +road to Kalouga, and thus intercept the way to the French, while +preserving communication with the provinces in the south of the empire, +which are the richest and most fertile. The troops at once began to +defile. Behind them long convoys hurried to escape the French. Five sixths +of the population had quitted the town when the columns of those wounded +in the battle of Borodino appeared at their doors, and they were obliged +to crowd their hospitals and churches with 15,000. By abandoning their +capital the Russians entrusted these wretches to the pity of their +enemies. + +The governor of Moscow, Count Rostopchin, had not yet left the town. On +the previous evening he trusted to the assurances of Kutuzoff, that the +capital would be keenly defended. "There will be fighting in the streets," +said he, in his proclamations. "The courts are already closed, but that +does not matter; there is no need of courts to do justice to ruffians. I +shall soon give you the signal; take care to provide yourselves with +hatchets, and especially three-pronged forks, for a Frenchman does not +weigh more than a sheaf of corn. I shall have mass said for the wounded, +and holy water to hasten their cure. I shall then join General Kutuzoff, +and we shall soon set about sending those guests to the devil, forcing +them to give up the ghost, and reducing them to powder." + +Kutuzoff, nevertheless, withdrew, not less resolute, but more skilful than +Count Rostopchin. It was then that the latter conceived an idea, the +responsibility of which, as well as the honor, rests entirely upon him. +Nobody was consulted; and it is not known whether the Emperor Alexander, +with some anticipation of gloomy fate crossing his mind, may not have +beforehand granted the dread authority to the governor of his capital. For +several days inflammable substances had been collected in the garden of +his palace. At the moment of leaving the town, Rostopchin ordered the +prisons to be opened, and the hideous crowd of condemned prisoners jostled +and mixed with the half-frantic citizens who were fleeing before the +French. The governor retained two prisoners--one a Frenchman, lately come +to Moscow to earn a living; the other, a Russian, and both accused of +having acted as agents of the enemy. "Go," said Rostopchin to the +Frenchman, "you have been ungrateful but you have the right to prefer your +country; you are now again free, go back to your own people. As for you," +he added, turning to the Russian, "let even your own father be your +judge." An old merchant came near, tottering under the weight of his +grief. "You may speak to him and bless him," said the governor. "Me bless +a traitor!" exclaimed the old man; and, raising his hands to heaven, he +cursed his son, who was immediately beheaded. The mob showed their keen +vindictiveness in their treatment of his body. + +Count Rostopchin at last left Moscow, letting all precede him, like the +captain who hesitates to abandon the sinking ship. He had given all his +instructions. All the baggage all the wealth, he took with him, were the +fire engines of that great city, which was nearly entirely built of wood. +"Of what use are those in the country?" asked Colonel Wolzogen, with +astonishment. "I have my reasons," replied the governor; then, leaving the +last friends who still accompanied him, he turned round, and pointing with +his finger to Moscow, and then touching the sleeve of his coat, he said, +"I take away nothing except what is on my back." He went towards his +country house at Voronovo. + +Meantime, however, the French advanced guard were approaching Moscow. +Several slight skirmishes had taken place during the march, and Kutuzoff +succeeded in protecting his retreat. When Murat appeared at the head of +the first columns, General Miloradovitch, who commanded the Russian +rearguard, made a verbal agreement with the King of Naples to suspend +hostilities for several hours, for the protection of the troops, and the +safety of the citizens. Murat agreed to it, limiting himself to the +pursuit of the Russians when they should have completed their evacuation +of Moscow. + +The soldiers, as well as the generals and Napoleon himself, were delighted +at the distant sight of that town, illuminated by the rays of the setting +sun, which brought into full relief the Oriental brilliance of its palaces +and churches. "Moscow! Moscow!" they repeated from one end of the ranks to +the other. The emperor added to the enthusiastic expression of his troops +another thought: "Not a moment too soon!" he muttered. + +The great conqueror was deceived, and divine justice punished more +completely than he anticipated his guilty ambition and insatiable pride. +The dense ranks of the French soldiers presented themselves before the +gates of the capital, without any one coming to open them. Several ragged +wretches, with gloomy looks appeared on the turrets of the Kremlin and +fired a few shots; but while passing along the streets of Moscow, among +palaces mixed with cottages--before golden-domed churches, adorned with +paintings of a thousand colors--our soldiers wondered, and felt uneasy at +the solitude which reigned around them. "What is become of them?" they +asked. It was not thus that the French army had entered Berlin or Vienna. +"Let the head men of the town be brought to me!" ordered the emperor. The +population of Moscow had no longer any head men. Those who hid themselves +in terror in the houses, or wept in the churches, felt themselves at the +mercy of the ruffians whom the governor, by quitting Moscow, had let loose +upon them. The door of the Kremlin had to be burst open with cannon-balls +before the old palace of the Czars could be rid of the wretches who had +shut themselves up in it. Napoleon took possession of it, without at first +fixing his abode there, curious to admire its barbarous magnificence, not +yet subjected to the influence of French elegance like the houses of the +rich merchants already occupied by his generals. The whole army gazed with +delight upon this strange and long-anticipated sight. On the 15th +September, 1812, the Emperor Napoleon and his soldiers passed through the +streets of Moscow, deserted, but still standing. They examined the +concentric quarters, like a series of ramparts round the Kremlin; the old +or Chinese town, the centre of Oriental commerce; the white town, with its +broad streets and gilt palaces, the quarter of the great nobles and rich +merchants; and all round the privileged districts: the "land town," +composed of villages and gardens, interspersed with magnificent houses. + +All the military posts were chosen, On the north-west, south-west, and +south-east, between the roads to Riazan and Vladimir, the forces of Prince +Eugène, Davout, Poniatowski, and Ney had taken their quarters. The guard +occupied the Kremlin. Soldiers and generals enjoyed the luxury which had +been preceded by the cruel privation of the months immediately preceding. +"We have provisions for six months," said the soldiers. + +On the morning of the 16th fire broke out in a spirit-warehouse, and some +hours afterwards in a magnificent bazaar which was filled with valuable +goods. The officers blamed for it the stupidity of a drunken soldier. They +at once battled with the fire, but the wind was contrary, and the wealth +heaped up in the warehouses became a prey to the flames and pillage, which +it was impossible to prevent. The fire soon spread even to the +neighborhood of the Kremlin, and the sparks, carried by the equinoctial +breeze, fell from all parts on the gilded roofs. The courts of the palace +being crowded with artillery wagons, and the cellars heaped up with +ammunition which the Russians had neglected to take with them, a horrible +catastrophe seemed imminent. The generals had great difficulty in +persuading Napoleon to leave the Kremlin. The imperial guard, acting as +firemen, inundated incessantly the roofs and walls. The fire-engines of +the city were searched for in vain. Soon there was a rumor spread that +incendiaries had been arrested in several quarters. + +The emperor ordered these wretches to be brought before him. They were +proud of the terrible mission with which they had been entrusted, taking a +delight in the fatal disorder produced under their hands, pillaging and +murdering in the houses which they delivered up to the flames. They all +made a bold declaration of the orders they had received, and underwent +unflinchingly the extremest punishment. The poor population, who had +remained concealed in the lowest haunts of the capital, now fled in +terror, the women carrying with them their children, the men dragging +behind them the most valuable of their household goods, or the shameful +results of pillaging the shops. The flames extended from street to street, +house to house, church to church: thrice the wind seemed to fall, and +thrice it changed its direction, driving the fire into quarters previously +untouched. The Kremlin remained always surrounded by fire. The imperial +guard had not quitted the palace. The army carried their cantonments +outside the town. When scarcely fallen into the hands of the conquerors, +Moscow succumbed before a more powerful enemy, enrolled for the defence of +the country. Palaces and huts were both become uninhabitable, and the +hospitals, filled with wounded Russians, had perished in the flames. The +emperor quitted Moscow, and took up his quarters at Petrowskoi. For three +days the conflagration remained alone in possession of the capital. + +The wind falling, was succeeded by rain. The fire everywhere brooded under +the dead ashes, ready to burst out afresh at the contact of air; but the +spectacle had lost its avenging beauty. The roofs left standing were +relieved against the columns of smoke. The Kremlin still rose majestic, +and almost untouched, as if protecting the city against its various +enemies. The soldiers soon began to steal from their cantonments into the +streets; and in the cellars of the houses, under heaps of rubbish, +protected by walls blackened with the flames, they found provisions +collected by households for the winter; valuable clothes; plate which had +been carefully concealed in hiding-places which no longer existed; objects +of art, of which the finders did not know the value; strong drink, which +they madly used to intoxicate themselves. After the fire, in spite of the +efforts of the officers, Moscow was delivered up to pillage. + +So much disorder and mad prodigality shocked all the Emperor Napoleon's +instincts of order and government. Returning hastily to Moscow, he +repressed by his mere presence the outrages of the soldiers. Regular +search was everywhere organized for the collection of provisions buried +under the ruins, and bringing them into stores. The resources collected in +a few days were sufficient to supply the troops for a long time. Forage +alone was wanting, and companies were formed for the purpose of scouring +the country round Moscow. The prices offered to the peasantry for their +stock was expected to encourage them to supply the markets of the capital. +Napoleon even considered the interests of the wretches who wandered, +defenceless and houseless, in the streets of Moscow, or timidly glided +into the town at the opening of the gates to look for those they had been +compelled to abandon, and the remainder of their property concealed under +ruined walls. Huts were erected to shelter them. + +The desire for peace daily took stronger possession of Napoleon's mind, +and he had already authorized several indirect overtures. On the 20th +September he thus wrote the Czar: + +"My brother, having learned that the brother of your Imperial Majesty's +minister was at Moscow, I sent for him, and had some conversation with +him. I requested him to wait upon your Majesty, and acquaint you with my +sentiments. The handsome and superb city of Moscow no longer exists. +Rostopchin has had it burnt. Four hundred incendiaries were taken in the +act; and having all declared that they had lighted the fire by order of +that governor and the director of police, they were shot. The fire at last +seems to have ceased. Three fourths of the houses are burnt, and one +fourth remain. Such conduct is atrocious, and serves no purpose. Was the +intention to deprive us of some resources? But those resources were in the +cellars, which the fire could not reach. Besides, why destroy one of the +finest towns of the world, and the work of ages, to accomplish so paltry +an object? It is the procedure followed since Smolensk, and it has reduced +600,000 families to beggary. The fire-engines of Moscow were broken or +carried off, and some arms from the arsenal given to ruffians, who could +not be driven from the Kremlin without using cannon. Humanity, the +interests of your Majesty and this great city, demanded that it should +have been entrusted to my keeping, since it was deserted by the Russian +army. They ought to have left administrations, magistrates, and civil +guards. That is what was done at Vienna twice, at Berlin, and Madrid; and +what we have ourselves done at Milan, when Souwarof entered. Incendiarism +causes pillage, the soldier abandoning himself to it to rescue what is +left from the flames. If I thought such things were done by your Majesty's +orders, I should not write you this letter; but I consider it impossible +that, with your principles, heart, and sense of justice, you have +authorized such excesses, unworthy of a great sovereign and a great +nation. While carrying away the fire-engines from Moscow, they left 150 +field cannon, 60,000 new muskets, 1,600,000 infantry cartridges, more than +200 tons of powder, 150 tons of saltpetre, and also of sulphur, etc. + +"I made war upon your Majesty without animosity. A letter from you before +or after the last battle would have stopped my march, and I should have +been ready to forego the advantage of entering Moscow. If your Majesty +still retains aught of your former sentiments, you will take this letter +in good part. In any case, you must feel indebted to me for giving an +account of what is taking place in Moscow." + +When thus writing to the Emperor Alexander, Napoleon well knew that the +material disasters of the burning of Moscow were exceeded by the moral +results, and that the ruins of the capital were a proclamation to the +French army, to Russia, and to the whole of Europe, of the implacable +resolution of the old Muscovites. Rostopchin himself had written on the +iron door of his splendid country-house at Voronovo: "For eight years I +have been improving this estate, and have lived here happy in the bosom of +my family. The inhabitants of this estate, to the number of 1720, leave it +at your approach, and I set fire to my house that it may not be polluted +by your presence. Frenchmen, I have left you my two houses in Moscow, with +contents worth half a million of roubles. Here you will find nothing but +ashes." + +The hatred which he had excited against the invader was afterwards to fall +back upon himself. Count Rostopchin driven from Russia by the execration +of all those whom he had ruined, was compelled to take refuge in France, +where he died in peace, honored by his former enemies. He had nevertheless +rendered to Russia one of those terrible services excused by a state still +half barbarous, and that violent patriotism by which the soul is possessed +in presence of foreign invasion. He revived in the Russian people the +unconquerable ardor of resistance. Moscow on fire was an appeal to the +eyes and hearts of all. + +Napoleon understood this well. Besides, other difficulties were becoming +extreme. Time was passing; no reply arrived from St. Petersburg, and the +emperor's overtures made to Kutuzoff by Lauriston remained without result. +The attempt to continue hostilities was unsuccessful, General Sebastiani +having been deceived as to the direction taken by Kutuzoff, and, after +following him in vain for two or three days, compelled to return to +Moscow. Murat being again put in command of the advanced guard, met the +enemy on the Pakra, after being joined by Marshal Bessières. In spite of +the cries of his army, who were furious at the burning of Moscow, and +wished to march to battle, Kutuzoff slowly retreated before the French +generals, and finally pitched his camp at Taroutino on the road to Kaluga. +Two cavalry engagements terminated successfully for our arms. Napoleon's +lieutenants waited for his orders. A sort of armistice reigned between the +two armies. Murat had several times seen Kutuzoff; and the Russian +officers overwhelmed him with attentions. He showed himself in favor of +peace, concluded by him and through his exertions. The Cossack chiefs +celebrated his exploits, one of them surnaming him the "hetmann." Kutuzoff +had sent Prince Wolkonsky to St. Petersburg, with instructions to +communicate to the Czar the pacific advances which had been made. +Alexander replied on the 21st October: "All the opinions which you have +received from me, all the determinations expressed in the orders addressed +to you by me--everything ought to convince you that my resolution is +immovable, and that at the present moment no proposal of the enemy can +make me think of terminating the war, and so failing in the sacred duty of +avenging our outraged country." + +Before the Emperor Alexander thus expressed his resolution of listening to +no offers of peace, his enemy had already evacuated Moscow--beginning, +whatever pain it cost him and whatever care he took to conceal it, a +retrograde movement, which was soon to be the consummation of his ruin. +Napoleon long hesitated as to what route he should take. By advancing upon +Kaluga in pursuit of Kutuzoff he should plunge further into Russia, +towards regions where he should be without winter-quarters and +communication with the rear. By resuming the road to Poland, as all his +lieutenants wished, he should tacitly admit his defeat. He conceived the +idea of making the Duke of Belluna march upon St. Petersburg, reckoning +that, on his arrival and while threatening the capital and court, he could +effect an oblique movement northwards by Woskresensk, Wolokolamsk, and +Bieloi, and then concentrate all his forces at Smolensk. Winter being +past, Napoleon would then be in a position to attack St. Petersburg in +earnest. To satisfy his own mind, the emperor wrote out this plan before +speaking of it to the generals, who were waiting, full of serious thought, +to know his determination. + +They all opposed Napoleon's new plans; all repeating that he did not take +into account the hardships of the army, that he over-reckoned the strength +of the corps, that the soldiers were incapable of any fresh effort. He +went over, with Count Lobau, the statistics of the different regiments and +the detachments in charge of generals at a distance. "There, six +thousand." "Four thousand, sire," said the general. "Ten thousand here." +"Five at the most." "You are perhaps right," the emperor admitted. But on +coming to sum up the total of his resources, he always went back to his +first inaccurate reckoning, the truthful and blunt obstinacy of Lobau +being unable to overcome his master's voluntary illusions. Nevertheless, +Napoleon understood that he could now no longer, by the mere superiority +of his genius, take his lieutenants along with him without discussion or +hesitation. He did not insist upon marching northwards. Count Daru's +proposal was to spend the winter in Moscow. From his administrative +experience, he concluded that their supplies were sufficient for the army, +while the troops should thus be spared all the hardships and difficulties +of travelling. In spring, all the army corps would be again brought +together, there would be a rising in Lithuania, and the emperor could +complete his conquest. Napoleon turned toward his faithful servant, and +looked upon his energetic features, his robust figure, and the resolution +which shone in his looks. "My dear Daru," said he, "that advice is lion- +like, but I should require lions to put it in execution. You are right, +Moscow is not a military position, it is a political position. Yet what +would be said in Paris? what would become of France during that long +absence, without possible communication? No, it is impossible. Austria and +Prussia would take advantage of it to betray me." + +The emperor came back to the idea of marching upon Kaluga, and driving +Kutuzoff from the camp of Taroutino, summoning the Duke of Belluna to join +him in order to keep up communications with Smolensk, at the same time +leaving Marshal Mortier in the Kremlin with 10,000 men to occupy and +preserve Moscow. Preparations were being made for this purpose, when, on +the 18th of October, cannon were heard on the road which Napoleon was +making ready to follow, and speedily one of Murat's aides-de-camp +appeared. The King of Naples, who had long complained of the isolation in +which he was left, was careless in his guard, and had been attacked by +Kutuzoff at Winkowo. The Russian army taking advantage of all the delays +which gradually diminished our forces, had increased theirs; and their +general had 100,000 men at his disposal, when he yielded to the urgent +request of his lieutenants, and all at once made an attack with two corps +upon our positions. Murat's personal courage and skill in the field partly +compensated for the faults of his imprudence. He repulsed the enemy's +attack, and fell back upon Voronovo, continuing to cover the road to +Moscow. Kutuzoff, however, held our positions, and the King of Naples lost +the greater part of his cavalry. Napoleon immediately resolved to march to +the enemy. According to the plan already decided upon, Mortier fixed his +quarters at the Kremlin, over the mines laid ready to blow up the citadel +and palace of the Czars. All the rest of the army defiled through the open +gates of the city, recently so eagerly longed for, and now only occupied +for thirty-seven days, which had been full of agitation and terror. The +long trains of carriages, the soldiers' booty heaped upon the wagons or +their shoulders, the furs fastened to their haversacks or arms, were all +proof enough that the troops were no more deceived than the generals as to +the possibility of a return to Moscow. The Duke of Trevisa's friends and +comrades looked upon him as a man condemned beforehand to death, and +sorrowfully bade him adieu without shaking his courage. The French +families formerly settled in Moscow fled from the anger of the Russians, +and joined the march of their fellow-countrymen. The long train on its +march seemed more like a convoy defiling, than the progress of an army +advancing against the enemy. Napoleon, however, had not yet said anything +to imply that the evacuation was final; he was marching against Kutuzoff, +whom he wished to chastise, and, if possible, crush. Before leaving +Moscow, his last instructions were devoted to the defence of the Kremlin. + +It was on the morning of the 20th October that the emperor left the city, +in fine autumnal weather which prevented any one from yet anticipating the +rigors of winter. On reaching the castle of Troitskoi, he was struck with +a new idea; Kutuzoff held the old Kaluga road, and a battle was necessary +to dislodge him; and the French, even if victorious, would lose men and be +encumbered with a crowd of wounded. The new road to Kaluga was protected +by Broussier's division, and had not been cut up by the passage of troops; +if it were possible to deceive Kutuzoff by a sudden detour to the right, +and to gain the new road, Kaluga would be reached without a battle, and +the positions for winter secured. The occupation of Moscow must now no +longer be insisted upon, and Mortier immediately instructed to leave +Moscow and join them. Having made up his mind, the emperor in the evening +sent his orders to the Duke of Trevisa: "My cousin," said Napoleon to the +Marshal Berthier, "give orders to the Duke of Trevisa to put on march, to- +morrow, at daybreak, all the tired and lame soldiers of the corps of +Prince Eckmühl and the viceroy, of the foot-cavalry, and the young guard, +and to direct the whole upon Mojaisk. On the 22nd or 23rd, at two o'clock +in the morning, he will set fire to the brandy storehouse, the barracks, +and the public buildings, except the Foundling Hospital. [Footnote: This +establishment, founded by the dowager empress, had been patronized by +Napoleon. The governor General Toutelmine, had been one of the agents of +his communications with St. Petersburg.] He will have the palace of the +Kremlin set on fire. He will take care that all the guns are broken into +pieces, that powder is placed under the towers of the Kremlin, that all +the gun-carriages are broken, as well as the wagon wheels. + +"When these orders are attended to, and the Kremlin is on fire in several +places, the duke will leave the Kremlin, and advance on the Mojaisk road. +At four o'clock, the officer of artillery appointed to that duty will blow +up the Kremlin, according to instructions. + +"On the march he will burn all carriages left behind, use every endeavor +to bury all the dead, and burn all the muskets he can find. On reaching +the Gallitzin palace, he will take the Spanish and Bavarians stationed +there, and put fire to the ammunition wagons, and everything which cannot +be removed. He will collect all the commanders of posts, and order the +garrisons to fall back. + +"He will reach Mojaisk on the 25th or 26th, and there receive further +orders to put himself in communication with the army. He will naturally +leave a strong advanced guard of cavalry on the Mojaisk road. + +"He will be particular in remaining in Moscow till he has himself seen the +Kremlin blown up; and also in setting fire to the governor's two houses +and that of Rasomowsky." + +Thus Napoleon himself put hands to that burning of Moscow with which he +had recently blamed the Russians, and the originator of which he did not +forget to punish even then! The march upon Kaluga was already begun, and +one of Prince Eugène's divisions, being in advance, had already occupied +Malo-Jaroslawetz, on the Lougea. General Delzons, who was in command, was +engaged in repairing the bridges, when Kutuzoff was informed of the +direction which the French seemed to take. General Doctoroff at once +advanced with a large body, and Kutuzoff raised his cantonments to follow +him. + +The small town of Malo-Jaroslawetz was built on a chain of heights, of +which the Russians at once took possession, cannonading the French, who in +their turn dislodged them. Six times was the town taken and retaken, the +fire of the burning houses combining with the cannon-balls to repulse the +combatants on both sides. Seven French generals fell on the field towards +evening; yet, in spite of the keen determination of the Russian recruits, +who had scarcely arms or clothes, the ruins of the town remained in our +hands. When the emperor arrived on the banks of the Lougea with the main +army, he beheld a sight as painful in proportion to its extent as had been +the plain of Borodino. Many of the corpses were scorched by the fire. Ten +thousand men fell on both sides. The emperor saw that all future movements +implied new and terrible battles. The generals appointed to reconnoitre, +considered the enemy's positions impregnable; and on Napoleon himself +going to take observations he narrowly escaped being taken by a body of +Cossacks, who surprised him when crossing the Lougea. General Rapp had +only time to get him out of the way of those troublesome enemies, bands of +whom incessantly harassed the army. A council was held in a ruined hut on +the banks of the small river. + +The emperor was still inclined to attempt a march towards Kaluga, for the +sake of the battle, victory, and consequent rest in a rich district not +yet exhausted. The generals were as confident as their chief in the +success of our arms, but they thought that the loss of 20,000 men and a +charge of 10,000 wounded would themselves constitute a check in presence +of the Russian army, constantly recruited by new forces. A retreat to +Mojaisk, and thence to Smolensk, was decided upon. The attempt on Kaluga +had cost ten days, and exhausted the greater part of the provisions +brought from Moscow, and it was now necessary to submit to a retreat pure +and simple. Marshal Davout proposed to effect this by a new road, which +should still supply some resources for the troops; but his advice was not +listened to. A passionate desire for return, and terror of the frightful +evils which threatened the army, had seized all those men who were +recently so daring, and ready to try any danger. Napoleon still hesitated. +"What do you think about it, Mouton?" he asked Count Lobau, standing +beside him. "That as quickly as possible, and by the shortest road, we +must get out of a country where we have stayed too long," was the +immediate reply of the hero of so many battles. The emperor hung down his +head. In his inmost soul he felt himself beaten. + +The whole army also felt itself beaten, and every heart was filled with +dejection. Already, during the march from Moscow to Malo-Jaroslawetz, many +carriages and badly harnessed wagons were left behind; but the train was +still enormous, accompanied by defenceless women and children. The wounded +of the last battle had been distributed amongst the different wagons and +carts. The dying were abandoned to their wretched fate on the battle- +field, under the cold rain which began to fall, or in the huts to which +they had been carried. The army left Malo-Jaroslawetz on the 27th October, +marching to Vereja, where Marshal Mortier rejoined them after +accomplishing his terrible mission. The ground was still quaking under his +feet when he left Moscow, bringing with him all the wounded. Such was the +emperor's express order, though the army convoys were already insufficient +for that necessary duty. + +Mortier brought to Napoleon a prisoner, Count Wintzingerod, who had fallen +into his hands during the second burning of Moscow. That general was in +command of a body of partisans, and believed the French had evacuated the +capital. The emperor's anger burst forth against this German on finding +him in the Russian ranks. "You belong to no country!" he exclaimed +excitedly. "I have always found you among my enemies--with the Austrians +when I fought with Austria, with the Russians when Austria became my ally. +Yet by birth you belong to the Rhenish Confederation; you are a traitor--I +have the right to judge you. You will be tried by court-martial." Then +pointing to Count Narischkin, Wintzingerod's aide-de-camp, "This young man +does you too much honor by serving with you." + +The general made no reply, even by the slightest movement or gesture. The +emperor's staff looked on in silence, and the French officers tried by +their attentions to make the prisoner forget the treatment. Every one knew +the cause of so much bitterness rising from Napoleon's heart to his lips. +For the first time in his life the conqueror was retreating. + +He was retreating, and every day of their march made them feel more and +more the terrible difficulty, while proving its necessity. Napoleon +marched at the head of his army with his staff, without joining the main +body of the troops, or troubling himself about the fatigue and difficulty +experienced at every step by Marshal Davout, who had been appointed to +command the rear-guard and protect the retreat. General Grouchy's cavalry +were already exhausted, and could not assist him in this painful duty. The +marshal's old foot-soldiers alone remained--those who had so long fought +under his orders, having been formed under his strict and severe +discipline, and loving him while they feared him. At every stage Davout +found some carriage or cart had disappeared, left behind by the exhausted +horses and drivers, and he heard the cries of the wretched wounded men, +henceforward delivered up to the lances of the Cossacks or the severities +of the approaching winter. He saw unrolling and lengthening out before him +that train behind the army, despised by the soldiers remaining under arms, +and reinforced every day by laggards from all the corps. He was the last +to arrive at the hindmost posts after the troops defiling past had eaten +up all the resources of the villages and farms, burnt the shelters, and +sacked what they were unable to carry off. The complaints and demands of +the distinguished chief of his rear-guard made no impression on Napoleon. +"March quicker!" he kept repeating, without admitting the marshal to see +him, without ever going himself towards the rear of his army--apparently +indifferent to the sufferings he had produced, absorbed in gloomy silence, +surrounded by his lieutenants equally dejected. When passing Borodino, +where the battle-field was still covered with the corpses, of which savage +beasts were in undisputed possession, the rear-guard were still further +encumbered by the transport of the wounded, who had formerly been left at +Kolotskoi. Those whose wounds did not allow them to be removed were +entrusted by Dr. Larrey to the cares of the Russians, whom he had cured. +The army left Ghjat on the 1st November. + +In spite of what was constantly being left behind from the baggage train, +the difficulty of the march daily increased on account of fatigue, the +want of horses, and the rigor of the climate. Marshal Davout often found +himself compelled to blow up artillery wagons which he could not take +further with him; and the cannon which were still dragged on became for +the most part useless. Immediately before him marched Prince Eugène's +forces. The viceroy, young and courageous, had not yet gained consummate +experience of war: the marshal urged him to make haste first in crossing +the Czarewo-Zaimitché and afterwards in the suburbs of Wiazma. Kutuzoff, +at first deceived as to our movements, had advanced southwards after the +battle of Malo-Jaroslawetz, but soon changed his direction and marched +upon Wiazma. A preliminary engagement near the bridge of Czarewo had +opened a passage for us. Then the march was again interrupted before +Wiazma. The Russian army occupied the ground on the left of the road. +Prince Eugène's forces, embarrassed by the convoy, had an engagement with +the enemy on the morning of the 2nd November, and the cannon were making +havoc in his ranks when Davout came to his assistance, and General Gerard +making a dash at the enemy's artillery, quickly cleared the road again. At +the noise of the cannon Marshal Ney halted in his march, and advanced +behind a small tributary of the Wiazma. The battle began so vigorously on +the part of our old soldiers that General Miloradowitch, who commanded the +Russians, did not dare longer to intercept their retreat. The regiments +defiled into Wiazma, but still continued firing. General Morand, who was +in command of the last battalions, was not rid of the pursuing enemy till +he reached the very camp, his soldiers presenting their bayonets. The +troops, who had thus gained another victory, encamped in the woods, with +no resource except the dying horses, which they slaughtered as they +required them, roasting the joints at the bivouac fires. The exhausted +soldiers slept. + +Marshal Ney, in his turn, had charge of the rear-guard. The emperor felt +himself condemned by the stern and impassible judgment of Davout, whom he +had left alone to bear the heaviest burden; and he blamed the slowness of +his movements for the unfortunate battle of Wiazma, and the responsibility +of all the hardships undergone by the rear-guard. Like Massena in +Portugal, Davout found himself in disgrace because he was blamed with +faults which he had not committed, and which he was unable to rectify. + +Meantime they had approached Smolensk. Alarming news awaited Napoleon at +Dorogobouje. He had long reckoned on the assistance of the 9th corps, +which Marshal Victor was bringing him from Germany. Scarcely had the new +troops arrived at Smolensk, according to the emperor's order, than they +found themselves obliged to go to the assistance of our left wing, which +was threatened by Count Wittgenstein. A large reinforcement had joined the +Russian army at this point. After a conference at Abo, in Finland (28th +August, 1812), between the Prince Royal of Sweden and the Emperor +Alexander, the Russian forces promised to Bernadotte for the conquest of +Norway had advanced from Finland into Livonia. Marshal Macdonald was +compelled to abandon the siege of Riga in order to support the Prussians +on the lower Dwina. Marshal St. Cyr, in his turn, found himself threatened +on the 18th October by forces superior to his own, and had fought a second +battle before Polotsk, and successfully defended the town; but when +attacked by Wittgenstein and the forces arrived from Finland, on both +banks of the Dwina, he was compelled to withdraw behind the Oula +(connected with the Berezina by the Lepel canal). Being severely wounded +in the last engagement, he had given up the command to Marshal Oudinot, +who was anxiously waiting for Marshal Victor's arrival. The approach of +Admiral Tchitchakoff was already announced; returned from Turkey with a +large army, the negotiator of the treaty of Bucharest had, with +Tormazoff's assistance, driven General Reynier and Prince Schwartzenberg +behind the marshes of Pinsk; and, after leaving General Sacken with 25,000 +men to keep the allies in check, was now advancing towards the upper +Berezina, to support Count Wittgenstein. Thus, on reaching Smolensk, +Napoleon was about to find the place almost destitute of troops, while the +left wing was in very great danger, attacked at the same time by +Wittgenstein, the Finland troops, and Tchitchakoff. The supplies even were +smaller than was expected, on account of the difficulty of conveyance. The +soldiers were delighted as they came near Smolensk. The emperor knew that +the halt must be short; nevertheless, he ordered Victor to join Oudinot +immediately in order to make a joint attack upon Wittgenstein; and wrote +General Reynier and the Austrians to pursue Admiral Tchitchakoff. He also +asked for one of the divisions of Marshal Augereau to be sent from +Germany; and separating the troops which still remained, in order to +facilitate the food-supply during their journey, he continued his march +upon Smolensk, whilst Prince Eugène took the road for Doukhowtchina, with +instructions to protect Vitebsk if necessary. + +The main army resumed its march on the 6th November. On the 7th and 8th +the cold became so keen, and the ice on the roads so dangerous, that the +horses could not advance, and it was necessary to leave behind some +cannon. On the 9th the viceroy reached the banks of the Vop, a small +stream which in winter becomes a rapid torrent, its channel being already +choked with ice. Before the engineers had completed a bridge, the crowd of +the soldiers and runaways rushed headlong upon it and broke it down. The +cavalry forded the stream, the troops following them with the water up to +their shoulders. The field-pieces, the baggage, and ammunition-wagons, one +after another crushed down the banks and ploughed through the channel, +frequently plunging into the mire, and being left there. It became +impossible to cross; and the wretches who were following the army found +themselves left behind, and delivered up to the vengeance of the Russians +or the cruelties of the Cossacks, who ran up in eager hordes. In despair +and terror, they struggled to cross the river, leaving behind them the +wagons which still afforded them some supplies, and many perished. Even +the soldiers who had fallen behind the army pillaged the baggage which had +been abandoned on the bank. Blood flowed also in the midst of this +horrible confusion, for the Cossacks, eager for booty, joined with the +disbanded soldiers. Some brave men several times braved the dangers of +crossing the stream to save the lives of the defenceless women and +children. + +On reaching Doukhowtchina, Prince Eugène learned that Vitebsk had fallen +into the hands of Wittgenstein. Thus the cruel day's march just made by +the army of Italy proved useless. The viceroy set fire to the small town +where he found temporary shelter and a few supplies, and then advanced +towards Smolensk, where Napoleon had arrived on the evening of the 9th. + +There also there was nothing but discontent, dejection, and, for a short +time, disorder. The emperor had only allowed the guard to enter the town, +and both lodgings and provisions were reserved for this favorite corps, +the only remnant saved from shipwreck, who had only undergone the +hardships of the campaign without any share in the battles. The mob of +camp-followers, deaf to discipline, forced open the gates, and general +pillage had commenced when the emperor's order was modified. The troops +lay down in the streets and squares, overpowered by fatigue, and fell down +exhausted beside the fires which had been lighted. Then arrived Prince +Eugène's troops, more decimated than all the others by the frightful +disaster on the banks of the Vop. Marshal Ney had been fighting since they +left Dorogobouje, sustaining all his soldiers by his indomitable courage +and the steadiness of his physical and mental energy, playing in turns the +part of general, captain, and soldier, seizing the musket as it fell from +the hands of a dying grenadier to fire, himself, upon the enemy, and +purposely slackening the march of the rear-guard in order to give time to +all to reach Smolensk. The news brought there from all quarters, like +bulletins of some deadly agony, no longer allowed even the soldiers the +vain hope of several days of rest. General Hilliers, who had advanced +according to orders on the Jelnia road, was surprised by the Russians, and +having lost 2000 men, returned to Smolensk, to find himself degraded in +the eyes of all the army, and was sent back to France, to be tried there +by court-martial. Prince Schwartzenberg was doubtful, he said, about +leaving Warsaw unprotected; and Admiral Tchitchakoff advanced unchecked, +and was already threatening Minsk, where the great bulk of our supplies +was collected together. Victor and Oudinot had not dared to risk a +decisive engagement; and the two Russian armies were about to combine in +order to bar our passage over the Berezina, the only way of safety to +return to Poland. There was not a moment more to be lost in effecting that +fatal junction. The emperor resolved to march immediately towards Vilna, +still intending to make an attack upon Admiral Tchitchakoff, and +entrusting the leaders of his left wing with the duty of at last defeating +Wittgenstein. But by one of those blunders which seemed to indicate some +failure in his genius and foresight, he ordered the marshals to follow him +one after another; and taking no account of Kutuzoff's army, he left +Smolensk on the 14th November. Prince Eugène, Davout, and Ney were to +evacuate their cantonments on the 15th, 16th, and 17th respectively, and +the gallant leader of the rear-guard was to bury the cannon, destroy the +ammunition, and blow up the walls surrounding the town. The great army by +this time scarcely amounted to 36,000 fighting men; and the cavalry, +entirely under the orders of General Latour-Maubourg, only counted 1800 +horse. Napoleon followed on the left bank the road from Smolensk to +Orscha, without taking the precaution to place between him and General +Kutuzoff the rapid current of the Dnieper. He was soon to pay dearly for +this fault. Scarcely had he reached Krasnoe than he found General +Sebastiani, who had preceded him, blockaded in a church by a body of the +enemy. Kutuzoff was approaching with 50,000 soldiers, and making ready, +with the assistance of several bands of Cossacks, to cut our long columns. +On his march Napoleon found at every step ambulance-wagons, and those of +runaways, half buried in the snow, and still containing frozen corpses. +The emperor halted to wait for those corps which were to rejoin him, and +were seriously exposed by their isolation. Prince Eugène had already +forced a passage before Krasnoe upon the Lossmina, being therefore +compelled to sacrifice Broussier's division, which remained in battle +order, threatening the Russian army with a renewal of the attack upon the +heights which had been vainly attempted on the evening before. All the +rest of the main army succeeded in escaping, with the assistance of the +darkness, and the snow, which deadened the noise of the footsteps. The +troops left in the rear could only be saved by the approach of Davout and +Ney. + +On this occasion, once more, Napoleon recovered that unconquerable +resolution which had carried him to the summit of power. Determined not to +leave his army and lieutenants, he marched before them on the Smolensk +road with his guards, who were henceforward subjected to all the hazards +of battle. The village Koutkowo, occupied by the Russians, was retaken, +the emperor himself being on foot, because the icy ground made riding +impossible. The Russian batteries ploughed up the ground held by the +French, and the noise of the battle was heard. Davout was at hand, after +rallying the poor remainder of the Broussier division, and the artillery +with Generals Lariboisière and Eblé; and dashing in dense columns with his +four divisions upon General Miloradowitch, who defended the valley of the +Lossmina, he soon opened a bloody passage, and rejoined the guard grouped +round Napoleon. Krasnoe was thus surrounded by a semicircle of our troops, +disputing the enemy's positions step by step; but Admiral Tormazoff was +now on our rear, in order to hold the Orscha road. The emperor saw that he +should be speedily hemmed in, and resolved to resume his march, without +waiting for Ney's regiments. He thus devoted him to certain loss; but in +the stern necessity which compelled him, Napoleon had not the courage to +accept the responsibility of the act which he was about to accomplish. +Ordering Mortier to start with the guards, he imposed on Davout the double +duty of waiting for Ney and not separating himself from Mortier. In +presence of these contradictory instructions, and with an overwhelming +sense of their responsibility, Davout made an effort to hold his ground, +his divisions having replaced on the plateau of Krasnoe the regiments of +the young guard, which had now begun defiling towards Orscha. Napoleon +marched in front with the old guard, undergoing as they went a deadly fire +from the Russians. Tormazoff's columns seemed to wait for the final orders +to cut the passage of what were left of the great army. Kutuzoff resisted +the urgent advice of Tormazoff as well as the arguments and excitement of +General Wilson, who had been sent to him by the English Government. "You +think the old man is a fool," he said repeatedly, "that he is timid, and +without energy: you are young, and don't understand. If Napoleon turned +back, none of us dare meet him; he is still terrible. If I bring him back +to the Berezina, ruined and without an army, I shall have accomplished my +task." Thus protected by the terrible renown of his name, the emperor +advanced to Liady. + +Davout resisted to the last moment; but Marshal Mortier, who was hurrying +to leave Krasnoe, urged him to start. The roads were about to be barred; +the bullets were falling in showers on the little town; the marshal's +three divisions only amounted to 5000 men, and all the rest of the army +were being withdrawn. As he left the plateau of Krasnoe, Mortier ordered +the guard to keep step. "You hear, soldiers?" cried General Laborde; "the +general orders the ordinary step. Slow time, soldiers. March!" It was in +the same way that Davout's troops defiled, constantly turning round to +fire at the squadrons of the enemy's cavalry, closely pursuing them. When +the exhausted corps were again brought together at Liady, the faces of all +were still more gloomy than on the previous evening. Besides their +physical sufferings, there was now added the burden of a bitter regret. +Their desertion of Marshal Ney weighed on the consciences of all. + +Ney had been warned neither of the danger which threatened him nor of the +isolation in which he was to be left, because a courier sent by Davout was +taken by the enemy. When he came face to face with Kutuzoff's army, before +Krasnoe, he still felt sure of passing there, where his comrades had gone +before him. A determined attack under a rain of shot having been +unsuccessful, the marshal saw the uselessness of the attempt, and without +for an instant losing his presence of mind or his courage, he resolved to +effect a movement during the night towards the Dnieper, cross the river, +and escape by the right bank, in order to regain the main army. "But if +the Dnieper is not frozen, what shall we do?" said some of the officers. +"It will be frozen!" retorted the general, curtly; "besides, frozen or +not, we shall do as we can--but we shall cross." + +They did cross, to the profound astonishment of the Russians, who believed +the general and his soldiers were at last caught, and to the unspeakable +delight of the forces collected at Orscha. Prince Eugène and Marshal +Mortier took up their positions in front of their companions-in-arms, +saved by a determination and courage really marvellous. Only 1200 men +rejoined the army, out of 7000 forming the third corps when they left +Smolensk. On the plateau of Krasnoe, in the skirmishes against the +Cossacks of Platow, and by the sides of the ice-covered roads, Ney had +everywhere left dead bodies, wounded and dying men, besides men +overpowered by the hardships and incapable of any effort. + +Even at Orscha the disorder was so great that it threatened to infect the +regiments of the old guard. The emperor harangued them energetically. +"Grenadiers," said he, "we are retiring without being conquered by the +enemy; let us not be so by ourselves; let us give the example to the army! +Several from amongst you have already deserted their eagles, and even +their arms. It is to you alone that I address myself to have this disorder +stopped. Act justly towards each other. It is to yourselves that I entrust +your discipline!" An appearance of order was restored; but the regular +distributions were impossible. Famishing wretches, soldiers, and those of +the camp-followers who still remained, all rushed upon the provision- +stores. Panics also continually increased the tumult. "The Cossacks! There +are the Cossacks!" was frequently shouted. + +At Orscha, moreover, as well as at Smolensk and Dorogoubouge, ominous news +reached the emperor. Tchitchakoff, who had not been pursued by +Schwartzenberg, had carried Minsk, one of the most important rallying- +points on the Vilna road, and the centre of our principal supplies. The +Polish general Bronikowski being unable with 3000 men to defend the place, +had joined Dombrowski, who was covering the Dnieper, and both guarded the +bridge of Borisow on the Berezina with insufficient forces. Should the +bridge fall into the hands of Admiral Tchitchakoff, the army would be +blockaded behind the Berezina, or compelled to ascend to its source at the +risk of being attacked by Count Wittgenstein. Marshals Victor and Oudinot, +with their weak and decimated regiments, could not succeed in dislodging +the enemies from their position near Smoliantzy on the Oula. Thus marching +a second time over the roads which he had recently trod full of hope, +Napoleon found himself threatened on his left by Tchitchakoff holding +Minsk, on his right by Wittgenstein and Steinghel; behind him Kutuzoff was +advancing; before him it was now doubtful if the Berezina could be +crossed. The conception of a last and powerful combination arose in that +inexhaustibly fertile mind. He sent to Oudinot the order to march towards +the Berezina to support the Poles at Borisow. Victor was to check +Wittgenstein, so as to give the great army time to cross the river. +Napoleon could then rally the two marshals, whose forces still amounted to +25,000 men; he should attack and recover Minsk, send for Schwartzenberg, +and when thus master of all the scattered remnants of his army, make a +crushing attack upon the Russian troops, and gain a victory before +returning to Poland. With this hope, Orscha was evacuated on the 20th +November, under a cold rain, which penetrated the soldiers' clothes, and +then froze on their bodies. The emperor ordered the greater part of the +convoys to be sacrificed. The leaders of divisions alone kept carriages. +The wounded and several fugitive families still followed with great +difficulty on carts and wagons. + +On the 22nd, at Tolocsin, the emperor learned that, after a keenly-fought +battle, the Russians had taken Borisow and the bridge over the Berezina. +He dismounted, and showing more uneasiness than he had yet done, called to +his side General Dode de la Brunerie, an officer of the engineers, whom he +had already distinguished. "They are there!" said he, without further +explanation. The general easily divined the emperor's meaning. They both +entered a hut, and Napoleon, spreading out his maps on a rickety table, +discussed with Dode the resources still at his command. The general's plan +was to ascend the course of the Berezina, declaring that he knew several +fords, and that they could then advance quickly upon Wilna by Gloubokoi. +They might indeed be met by Wittgenstein, but Tchitchakoff covered +Borisow, and would be certain to burn the bridge over the Berezina if he +saw it threatened. + +The emperor listened as he kept looking at his maps. At last something +arrested his attention, the sight of a name of ill-omen: "Poltava! +Poltava!" he repeated. Then, as if more conscious than ever of the +superiority of his glory and destiny over the heroic adventures of King +Charles XII., he went up to General Jomini, who had just entered, and +said, "When one has never met with defeats, he ought to have them great in +proportion to his success." At the same time, while considering vaster +plans, now chimerical by reason of the exhaustion and dejection of his +troops, he resolved to push on to the Berezina, retake the bridge of +Borisow, and throw another over the river in spite of the Russians, and +thus, at any cost, recover Wilna by the shortest road. Scarcely was his +mind made up, when the means of effecting it were presented. General +Corbineau, formerly despatched by General St. Cyr to assist the Bavarians, +found himself at liberty on account of their inactivity; and conceiving +the idea of rejoining the great army, he crossed the Berezina by a ford +which he had long known, and brought Napoleon 700 horse, a valuable +reinforcement at such a moment of extreme distress. He learned at the same +time, that Marshal Oudinot had driven the Russians from Borisow without +being able to prevent them from burning the bridge. He could there check +Tchitchakoff, and leave Napoleon time to throw over the ford at Studianka +a simple bridge of tressels, which was the only apparatus General Eblé had +been able to preserve during their rout. The engineers were secretly and +expeditiously ordered to go to this place. + +The attempt was one of difficulty and danger, but it was still possible, +and offered several chances of success. General Eblé, still indomitable in +spite of his age and the fatigues of the campaign, collected his workmen, +and made them understand that the fate of the army depended upon their +exertions. Exhausted by marching and want of food, the soldiers bravely +went into the icy water, and worked incessantly during the 25th and night +of the 26th, in the midst of frozen blocks perpetually dashing against +them, without time to eat, without rest, without even a dram of spirits. +The houses of Studianka having been demolished, their beams were utilized +as buttresses and tressels for the bridge; and on the 26th, at daybreak, +preparations were made for crossing. The Russians, deceived by a pretended +attempt near Borisow, had not moved far from that quarter; General +Corbineau had already crossed the ford with his cavalry, to protect the +right bank. The hopes and looks of all were concentrated upon the +exertions of the bridge-makers, who worked incessantly, and seemed to be +unconscious of fatigue. On the right, one of the bridges was at last +opened for infantry and cavalry, and they began to defile across; the +passage was to occupy two days. When the second bridge was completed, Eblé +said to the engineers, "Let half of you lie down on the heaps of straw; +the others will watch the passage, and sleep in their turn"--he himself +not having had a moment's rest by day or night. The imperfect construction +of the bridges caused serious danger; the tressels shaking under the +weight of the wagons and cannon; and during the night the bridge intended +for the artillery suddenly gave way. The soldiers again went into the +water, several times assisted by the general himself, who bravely exposed +himself to every hardship and danger. The cold had now become extreme, and +the bridge-engineers worked in the midst of large masses of ice; yet the +work went on, and the passage was again begun. The emperor was one of the +last to reach the right bank; a disorderly crowd of camp-followers and +fugitives were huddled together on the left bank, encamped on the frozen +marshes, and no authority was sufficient to hasten their movements. Every +day the number of soldiers faithful to their colors became smaller and +smaller, on account of the general discouragement and relaxation of +discipline. Davout himself had not more than 4000 men in his divisions. On +Marshal Victor rejoining the remains of the great army between Studianka +and Borisow, his troops, though themselves weak and fatigued, were amazed +at the pitiful state of their comrades, whom they had not seen for so many +months. "Your turn will come," said those who were coming back from +Moscow, marching in any order, officers and soldiers mixed together, all +equally dejected, even though suffering did not bring all minds to one +level. Human nature, often a miserable sight under disaster, then also +displays its greatness. Along with a selfishness sometimes brutal, the +more noble characteristics of courage and devotion raised their dejected +minds. Some of the women saved their children through a thousand +hardships; others remained close beside their husbands; soldiers continued +loyal to their chiefs; and one officer for a long time carried on his +shoulders his _half-frozen_ servant, who in his turn did him the same +friendly turn. + +The battle which was preparing promised to be a terrible one as Napoleon +knew; yet he insisted on leaving at Borisow the Partouneaux division, +which belonged to Marshal Victor, hoping at this expense to continue the +mistake of Tchitchakoff. The enemy's circle was now closing round that +handful of brave men, condemned beforehand. Wittgenstein and Miloradowitch +had intercepted the Studianka road. On the evening of the 27th, the +Partouneaux division was attacked on both sides, and defended its +positions heroically, but without being able to break through. On the +morning of the 28th, after being twice summoned by the Russians, the +general, in despair, gave himself up a prisoner. Almost at the same moment +the second corps, under Oudinot, was attacked by part of Tchitchakoff's +army, which had collected at Pahlen, on the left bank of the Berezina. +Being soon wounded, as usual, the marshal was replaced in command by Ney, +who made a vigorous charge upon the enemy, and drove them back to half-way +between Brill and Borisow, and placed over a pass a battery of artillery, +which kept the Russians at a distance. Marshal Victor had since morning +kept up on the left bank a vigorous fight against Wittgenstein, to cover +the passage over the bridges; on the other bank the guards used their +cannon against the enemy, who were perpetually driven back by the charges +of our cavalry, and perpetually returning to the charge. At nightfall they +were still fighting. The Russians, however, withdrew, beaten, but carrying +off their wounded, and certain of returning next day, as numerous and +daring, against an expiring army, which was sustained only by despair and +the tradition of an heroic past. + +The soldiers fought and died with courage. The confused mob crowding on +the bank of the river also died, but in all the agonies of terror and +helplessness. After having for a long time refused to take advantage of +the bridges, which lay open, the multitude, terrified by the noise of the +cannon and the approach of the enemy, rushed in a body towards the river, +heedless of discipline, or the necessity for reserving one road for those +on foot and the other for carriages. The throng was so dense that they +could not advance; cries were succeeded by cries, and exertions by +exertions. Occasionally the hissing of a bullet was heard, as it came to +open a horrible gap in the compact mass, who shrank in terror. The weak, +drawn into the confused crowd, succumbed, and were trodden under foot, +without those that crushed them even observing their fall Night and +darkness brought back a moment of calm. Many of the wretches perished in +the river when endeavoring to escape. The reaction of unreasonable panic +kept from the bridges those who, shortly before, entreated General Eblé +with tears to let them pass; nobody would venture in the darkness--the +engineers, assisted by their officers, urging those who stayed behind; but +they had again lighted their fires on the bank. During that long night of +winter the bridges remained deserted and useless, and General Eblé, who +had orders to blow them up at daybreak, delayed till eight o'clock, +grieved to his very soul by the despair of the crowd, which had again +begun to throng the entrances. When at last the fire appeared, with its +ominous gleam, both bridges were crowded with carriages, horses, men, +women, and children. The wretches plunged into the waters, and struggled +vainly against the current. Their cries were mingled with those of the +crowd who remained on the bank, now without defence. The Cossacks soon +arriving, galloped round this human herd, and pushed them forward with +their lances. When they withdrew, loaded with booty, the remains of the +army took the road for Smorgoni. At every step Ney and General Maison +protected the retreat, and again met the Russians at Molodeczno, after +burning the bridges of Zembin. From league to league the march of the army +was indicated by a long series of corpses--soldiers who had fallen in the +snow without rising again, runaways who had at last succumbed under the +weight of their hardships. The emperor was still surrounded by officers, +some without soldiers, and generals without officers. The forces who +recently rejoined him had in their turn undergone the terrible +disorganization by which the whole army was infected. Napoleon saw that +every chance was lost, and felt in danger of being hemmed in by the enemy, +and falling alive into their hands. He was now in haste to escape finally +from the overwhelming realities which urged him on every side. For several +days he secretly matured a plan to set out for France alone with several +faithfull companions, resolving to leave to his lieutenants the glory and +pain of bringing back to Germany, on a hostile though allied land, the +shapeless remnant of the great army. In spite of the objections of Daru +and the Duke of Bassano, to whom he had spoken and written about it, he +held a council at Smorgoni of his marshals--who arrived one after another, +wounded, ill, exhausted by fighting, sleepless nights, and constant +vigilance, followed only by a few thousands of men. He announced his +departure, saying that he handed over the command to the King of Naples, +and whom he trusted they would obey the same as himself. Then, shaking +hands with some, embracing others, and talking kindly to all, even those +whom he had often badly used, he stepped into a sledge during the night of +the 5th December, with Caulaincourt, Duroc, Mouton, and Lefebvre- +Desnouettes. His lieutenants still looked, as if to see the last trace of +him in the darkness: he had disappeared, taking with him the last remnants +of hope, and leaving in each of those brave hearts a deep and bitter sense +of being cruelly deserted. + +The Emperor Napoleon had fled--selfishly fled. He had escaped from the +frightful sight of, and contact with, unlimited pain, incessantly renewed, +without respite or issue, the responsibility of which rested entirely upon +himself. Secondary faults had been committed by his generals, but he was +really, blamable for them all; for he had asked from men more than they +could accomplish, without any earnest intention or proper pretext. For the +first time in his life he took care, as he left Smorgoni, to address +Europe in explanation of his retreat and route. The twenty-ninth bulletin +of the great army no longer resounded with the report of brilliant +victory. One could read in it the secret humiliation of a pride which +admitted of no conqueror but winter, and did not yet confess its +lamentable errors. It appeared that the Russians had in no way assisted +towards this defeat, which had to be recognized, and that the French army +were everywhere victorious. "The army was in good condition on the 6th +November," wrote Napoleon, "and till then the weather had been perfect. +The cold began on the 7th, and from that time we lost every night several +hundred horses, which died during bivouac. Soon 30,000 had succumbed, and +our cavalry were all on foot. On the 14th we were almost without cavalry, +artillery, and transports. Without cavalry we could gain no information +beyond a quarter of a league. Without artillery we could not fight battle, +or keep positions steadily. It was necessary to march, to avoid a battle, +which the want of supplies made undesirable. It was necessary to occupy a +certain space, to avoid being taken in flank, and that without cavalry to +gain information and unite the columns. This difficulty, together with the +excessive and sudden cold, rendered our position difficult. Some men, whom +nature had tempered strongly enough to be above all vicissitudes of fate +and fortune, seemed staggered, lost their cheerfulness and good humor, and +thought of nothing but disaster and destruction; those whom she has +created superior to everything, preserved their cheerfulness and usual +disposition, and saw a new glory in the various difficulties to be +surmounted. + +"The enemy, seeing on the roads traces of the frightful calamity which +struck the French army, tried to take advantage of it. Our columns were +all surrounded by Cossacks, who, like Arabs in the desert, carried off the +trains and carriages which had separated from the army. That despicable +cavalry, which comes silently, and could not repulse a company of light- +horse soldiers, became formidable under those circumstances. The enemy, +however, had reason to repent of every attempt of importance which he +made, and after the French army crossed the Borysthenes, at Orscha, the +Russian army, being fatigued, and having lost many men, ceased from their +attempts. Nevertheless, the enemy held all the passages over the Beresina, +a river eighty yards wide, and carrying much ice, with its banks covered +with marshes 600 yards long, all rendering it very difficult to cross. The +enemy's general placed his four divisions at different points, where he +concluded the French army would pass. On the 25th, at daybreak, the +emperor, after deceiving the enemy by several feint movements made on the +25th, advanced to the village of Studianka, and, in spite of the presence +of one of the enemy's divisions, had two bridges thrown over the river. +The Duke of Reggio crossing, attacked the enemy in a battle lasting for +two hours; the Russians withdrew to the head of the Borisow bridge. During +the whole of the 26th and 27th the army crossed. To say that the army has +need of being redisciplined and reformed, and of being re-equipped in +cavalry, artillery, and supplies, is to be inferred from the statement +just made. Rest is its principal want. Supplies and horses are arriving. +General Bourcier has already more than 20,000 new horses in the different +depots. The artillery has already repaired its losses. The generals, +officers, and soldiers have greatly suffered from fatigue and scarcity. +Many have lost their baggage on account of their horses being lost, and +several by the Cossacks in ambush. The Cossacks took a number of isolated +men--engineers who were surveying, and wounded officers who marched +imprudently, preferring to run risks rather than march regularly in the +convoys. + +"Throughout all those operations, the emperor has always marched in the +midst of his guard; the cavalry under the Duke of Istria, and the infantry +under the Duke of Dantzig. Our cavalry was deprived of horses to such an +extent that the officers who were still mounted had to be collected, to +form four companies of 150 men each. Their generals acted as captains; the +colonels as under-officers. This sacred squadron, commanded by General +Grouchy, and under the orders of the King of Naples, did not lose sight of +the emperor in all his movements. The health of his Majesty has never been +better." + +It was always a part of Napoleon's cunning to mix truth with falsehood, +and conceal his lies with an appearance of honor. The "twenty-ninth +bulletin of the great army" contained facts which were partly true. He +admitted the hardships, and palliated the faults; but he neither gave, nor +wished to give, a true idea of the disasters, or a candid statement of the +frightful miseries which had ravaged the French battalions, and reduced +our army as snow is melted under the sun of summer. There were still too +many who had seen those catastrophes, and undertaken to establish the +truth of the facts. In Napoleon's mind the evils he had seen, and that he +himself had caused, were to leave less permanent impressions. He regretted +the destruction of his armies, without wishing to state all their losses. +"We left 300,000 men in Russia," said Marshal St. Cyr, in Germany. "No, +no!" replied Napoleon; "not so many as that." Then, after a moment's +reflection, "Ah! 30,000 at the Moskwa; 7000 here, 10,000 there; and all +those who strayed on the marches and have not returned. Possibly you are +not far wrong. But then there were so many Germans!" The Germans did not +forget it! + +The solitary consolation left to the army was that which the emperor had +himself presented to Europe--the presence of Napoleon; his physical and +mental energy and vigor. His flight from Smorgoni deprived the soldiers of +this last resource of their confidence; from that day, as soon as the +report spread, despair seized upon the strongest hearts. Nothing is more +enduring than the instinctive courage which resists pain and death, +because it becomes a man to strive to the last. All the ties of +discipline, military fraternity, and ordinary humanity were broken +together. I borrow from the recollections of the Duke Fezensac, then +colonel of the 4th of the line, the following picture of the horrors which +he saw, and of which he has given the story with a touching and manly +simplicity:--"It is useless at the present day to tell the details of +every day's march; it would merely be a repetition of the same +misfortunes. The cold, which seemed to have become milder only to make the +passage of the Dnieper and the Berezina more difficult, again set in more +keenly than ever. The thermometer sank, first, to from 15 to 18 degrees, +then from 20 to 25 degrees (Réaumur), and the severity of the season +completed the exhaustion of men who were already half dead with hunger and +fatigue. I shall not undertake to depict the spectacle which we looked +upon. You must imagine plains as far as the horizon covered with snow, +long forests of pines, villages half-burnt and deserted; and through those +pitiful districts an endless column of wretches, nearly all without arms, +marching in disorder, and falling at every step on the ice, near the +carcasses of horses and the bodies of their companions. Their faces bore +the impress of utter exhaustion or despair, their eyes were lifeless, +their features convulsed, and quite black with dirt and smoke. Sheepskins +and pieces of cloth served them for shoes; their heads were wrapped with +rags; their shoulders covered with horse-cloths, women's petticoats, and +half-burnt skins. Also, when one fell from fatigue, his comrades stripped +him before he was dead, in order to clothe themselves with his rags. Each +bivouac seemed next day like a battle-field, and men found dead at their +side those beside whom they had gone to sleep the night before. An officer +of the Russian advance-guard, who was a witness of those scenes of horror +--which the rapidity of our flight prevented us from carefully observing-- +has given a description of them to which nothing need be added: 'The road +which we followed,' says he, 'was covered with prisoners who required no +watching, and who underwent hardships till then unheard of. Several still +dragged themselves mechanically along the road, with their feet naked and +half frozen; some had lost the power of speech, others had fallen into a +kind of savage stupidity, and wished, in spite of us, to roast dead bodies +in order to eat them. Those who were too weak to go to fetch wood stopped +near the first fire which they found, and sitting upon one another they +crowded closely round the fire, the feeble heat of which still sustained +them, the little life left in them going out at the same time as it did. +The houses and farms which the wretches had set on fire were surrounded +with dead bodies, for those who went near had not the power to escape the +flames which reached them; and soon others were seen, with a convulsive +laugh rushing voluntarily into the midst of the burning, so that they were +consumed also.'" + +I hasten to avoid the spectacle of so many sufferings. Yet it is right and +proper that children should know what was endured by their fathers. In +proportion as the last survivors of the generations who saw and suffered +so many evils disappear; we who have in our turn undergone other disasters +owe it to them to recount both their glory and their misery. The time will +soon come when our descendants in their turn will include in the annals of +history the great epochs through which we have lived, struggled, and +suffered. + +Napoleon crossed Germany like an unknown fugitive, and his generals also +made haste to escape. They had at last reached Wilna, alarming Lithuania +by their rout, and themselves terror-struck during the halt on +ascertaining the actual numbers of their losses, and the state of the +disorderly battalions which were being again formed in the streets of the +hospitable town. For a long time the crowd of disbanded soldiers, +deserters, and those who had fallen behind, were collected together at the +gates of Wilna in so dense a throng that they could not enter. Scarcely +had the hungry wretches begun to take some food and taste a moment's rest, +when the Russian cannon was heard, and Platow's Cossacks appeared at the +gates. The King of Naples, heroic on the battle-field, but incapable of +efficient command in a rout, took refuge in a suburb, in order to set out +from it at break of day. Marshal Ney, the old Marshal Lefebvre, and +General Loyson, with the remains of the division which he recently brought +back from Poland, kept back the Cossacks for some time, and left the army +time to resume its deplorable flight. A large number of exhausted men fell +into the hands of the enemy; the fragments of our ruined regiments +disappeared piecemeal. At Ponare, where the road between Wilna and Kowno +rises, the baggage which they had with great difficulty dragged so far, +the flags taken from the enemy, the army-chest, the trophies carried off +from Moscow, all remained scattered at the foot of the icy hill, neither +horses nor men being able to take them further. The pillagers quarrelled +over the gold and silver in the broken coffers, on the snow, in the +ditches. Then the Cossacks coming upon them, some of the French fired in +defence of treasures which they were no longer able to carry. + +When the ruins of the main army at last reached Kowno, where they found +supplies of food and ammunition, they were no longer able to make use of +it, or to resist the pursuit of the Russians, still keenly determined to +drive us from their territory. The generals held a council. In their +weariness and despair some gave vent to complaints against Napoleon, and +Murat's words were susceptible of a more sinister meaning. Marshal Davout, +honorable and unconquerable though still strongly prejudiced against the +King of Naples, boldly expressed his indignation against the falling off +of the lieutenants whom the emperor had made kings. All with one accord +handed over to Ney the command of the rear-guard, and that defence of +Kowno which was for a few minutes longer to protect the retreat. General +Gerard alone remained faithful to this last despairing effort. When at +last he crossed the Niemen with General Ney, on the 114th December, 1812, +they were abandoned by all: their soldiers had fled, either scattering +before the enemy or stealing away during the night from a useless +resistance. When, in Koenigsberg, he overtook the remnant of the staff, +Marshal Ney, with haggard looks and clad in rags, entered alone into their +room. "Here comes the rear-guard of the great army!" said he bitterly. + +The Prussian General York had abandoned Marshal Macdonald, making a +capitulation with his forces in presence of the Russians, whose friendly +intentions he had been long conscious of. Being disarmed by this +neutrality of York's, Macdonald in his turn fell back upon Koenigsberg, +pursued by the Russians. The hospitals were ravaged by disease: men who +had resisted all fatigues and hardships, such as Generals Lariboisière and +Eblé, at last succumbing. Murat withdrew to Elbing, to start soon after +for Naples, leaving Prince Eugène in command of the remains of the army. +From Paris, where he was already preparing for other battles, the Emperor +Napoleon sought for his army in vain. The old guard itself only amounted +at Koenigsberg to 1500 men, of whom not more than 500 could carry a +musket. When the scattered fragments of the regiments left this last place +of refuge, 10,000 sick men were still left in the hospitals. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Worlds Best Histories - France Vol 7 +by M. 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