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diff --git a/79253-h/79253-h.htm b/79253-h/79253-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..266c1a9 --- /dev/null +++ b/79253-h/79253-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,31300 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + Napoleon | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +a { + text-decoration: none; +} + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +h2.nobreak { + page-break-before: avoid; +} + +hr.chap { + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + clear: both; + width: 65%; + margin-left: 17.5%; + margin-right: 17.5%; +} + +img.w100 { + width: 100%; +} + +div.chapter { + page-break-before: always; +} + +ul { + list-style-type: none; +} + +li.indx { + margin-top: .5em; + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +li.ifrst { + margin-top: 2em; + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +li.isub1 { + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +li.isub2 { + padding-left: 4em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +p { + margin-top: 0.5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +table { + margin: 1em auto 1em auto; + max-width: 40em; + border-collapse: collapse; +} + +th { + padding: 0.25em; + font-weight: normal; +} + +td { + padding-left: 2.25em; + padding-right: 0.25em; + vertical-align: top; + text-indent: -2em; + text-align: justify; +} + +.pad-top td { + padding-top: 0.75em; +} + +.sub { + padding-left: 6.25em; + font-size: 90%; +} + +.tdc { + text-align: center; + padding: 0.75em 0.25em 0.5em 0.25em; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.tdpg { + vertical-align: bottom; + text-align: right; + white-space: nowrap; +} + +blockquote { + margin: 1.5em 10%; +} + +figcaption p { + text-align: center; + margin-bottom: 1em; + font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.noindent { + text-indent: 0; +} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + right: 4%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; +} + +.poetry-container { + text-align: center; +} + +.poetry { + display: inline-block; + text-align: left; +} + +.poetry .stanza { + margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; +} + +.poetry .verse { + padding-left: 3em; +} + +.poetry .indent0 { + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.right { + text-align: right; +} + +.smaller { + font-size: 80%; +} + +.smcap { + font-variant: small-caps; + font-style: normal; +} + +.titlepage { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 3em; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.x-ebookmaker img { + max-width: 100%; + width: auto; + height: auto; +} + +.x-ebookmaker .poetry { + display: block; + margin-left: 1.5em; +} + +.x-ebookmaker blockquote { + margin: 1.5em 5%; +} + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp75 {width: 75%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp75 {width: 100%;} +.illowp62 {width: 62%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp62 {width: 100%;} +.illowp50 {width: 50%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp50 {width: 100%;} +.illowp56 {width: 56%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp56 {width: 100%;} +.illowp59 {width: 59%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp59 {width: 100%;} +.illowp48 {width: 48%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp48 {width: 100%;} +.illowp46 {width: 46%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp46 {width: 100%;} + </style> + </head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79253 ***</div> + +<main> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_i">[i]</span></p> + +<h1>NAPOLEON</h1> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ii">[ii]</span></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Napoleon went forth to seek Virtue, but, since she was +not to be found, he got Power.—<span class="smcap">Goethe.</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">[iii]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp46" id="cover" style="max-width: 100.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Image of the book’s cover"> + <figcaption> + <p>NAPOLEON</p> + <p><i>By</i><br> + EMIL LUDWIG</p> + <p><i>Translated by</i><br> + EDEN <i>and</i> CEDAR PAUL</p> + <p>NEW YORK<br> + BONI & LIVERIGHT<br> + 1926</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">[iv]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">Copyright, 1926, by<br> +<span class="smcap">Boni and Liveright, Inc.</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">First Printing, December, 1926<br> +Second Printing, January, 1927<br> +Third Printing, January, 1927<br> +Fourth Printing, March, 1927<br> +Fifth Printing, May, 1927<br> +Sixth Printing, July, 1927<br> +Seventh Printing, September, 1927<br> +Eighth Printing, November, 1927<br> +Ninth Printing, December, 1927<br> +Tenth Printing, December, 1927<br> +Eleventh Printing, January, 1928<br> +Twelfth Printing, January, 1928<br> +Thirteenth Printing, March, 1928</p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. BY<br> +QUINN & BODEN COMPANY, INC.<br> +RAHWAY, N. J.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[v]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage"><i>To</i><br> +ELGA LUDWIG<br> +<i>Moscia. Summer 1924</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[vi]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[vi]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="TABLE_OF_CONTENTS">TABLE OF CONTENTS</h2> + +</div> + +<nav> + +<table> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">List of Illustrations</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">ix</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Chronological Table</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHRONOLOGICAL_TABLE">xi</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">BOOK ONE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Island</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#BOOK_ONE">3</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">BOOK TWO</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Torrent</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#BOOK_TWO">55</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">BOOK THREE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The River</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#BOOK_THREE">165</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">BOOK FOUR</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Sea</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#BOOK_FOUR">357</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">BOOK FIVE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Rock</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#BOOK_FIVE">545</a></td> + </tr> + <tr class="pad-top"> + <td><span class="smcap">Envoy</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#ENVOY">679</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Author’s Acknowledgments</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#AUTHORS_ACKNOWLEDGMENTS">683</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Index</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#INDEX">685</a></td> + </tr> +</table> +</nav> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[viii]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[ix]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +</div> + +<table> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">FACING PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Buonaparte in 1783. The first known portrait, drawn + by his fellow-countryman Pontornini. Musée Nationale, + Versailles</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus01">4</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>General Bonaparte in 1797. After a painting by Jean + Guérin. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus02">36</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="sub">(From the “Corpus Imaginum” of the + Photographic Society, Charlottenburg.)</td> + <td class="tdpg"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>General Bonaparte in 1796. Engraving from the Kircheisen + Collection</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus03">68</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>General Bonaparte. Unfinished portrait by Jacques Louis + David. From the collection of the Duke of Bassano</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus04">100</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="sub">(Photograph by Braun, Paris and Dornach.)</td> + <td class="tdpg"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>General Bonaparte in 1797. Drawing by Wocher in + Basle. Town Library, Basle</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus05">140</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>General Bonaparte in 1798, during the voyage to + Egypt. Sketch by André Dutertre</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus06">156</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Bonaparte as First Consul. Painting by Girodet. Musée + Nationale, Versailles</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus07">196</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="sub">(Photograph in the Kircheisen Collection.)</td> + <td class="tdpg"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Bonaparte as First Consul. Pencil sketch by J. D. A. + Ingres. Germain Bapst Collection</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus08">228</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="sub">(Photograph in the Kircheisen Collection.)</td> + <td class="tdpg"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Bonaparte in 1802, as First Consul. Engraving by + Alexandre Tardieu. After a drawing by Jean Baptiste Isabey</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus09">260</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Bonaparte as First Consul. Painting by J. D. A. Ingres. + Musée de Liége</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus10">292</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="sub">(Photograph by Braun, Paris and Dornach.)</td> + <td class="tdpg"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Coronation. Detail from the picture by Jacques + Louis David. Louvre, Paris</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus11">324</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="sub">(Photograph in the Kircheisen Collection.)</td> + <td class="tdpg"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Napoleon as Emperor. Painting by Vigneux. Count + Primoli Collection</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus12">356</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="sub">(From the “Corpus Imaginum” of the + Photographic Society, Charlottenburg.)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[x]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Napoleon as Emperor. Bust by Houdon, Musée de Dijon</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus13">388</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="sub">(Photograph by J. E. Bulloz, Paris.)</td> + <td class="tdpg"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Emperor’s profile. Sketched during Mass in the + Tuileries. Germain Bapst Collection</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus14">420</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="sub">(Photograph in the Kircheisen Collection.)</td> + <td class="tdpg"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Napoleon as Emperor in 1809. Woodcut from a medal by + J. P. Droz</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus15">452</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Napoleon as Emperor. Engraving by Bourgeois, after a + painting by Jacques Louis David</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus16">484</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="sub">(From the “Corpus Imaginum” of the + Photographic Society, Charlottenburg.)</td> + <td class="tdpg"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Napoleon as Emperor in 1814. Painting by Horace Vernet. + Tate Gallery, London</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus17">516</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="sub">(From the “Corpus Imaginum” of the + Photographic Society, Charlottenburg.)</td> + <td class="tdpg"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Napoleon as Emperor in 1815. Engraving by Robert Lefèvre, + after a painting by Muneret</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus18">548</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Napoleon as Emperor in 1815. Woodcut, after a medal</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus19">580</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Napoleon at St. Helena. Watercolour painting, probably + by a Japanese, with a marginal inscription in Chinese + ideographs concerning the owner. Broadley Collection</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus20">612</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Death mask of Napoleon. By Dr. Antommarchi</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus21">644</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">[xi]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHRONOLOGICAL_TABLE">CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE</h2> + +</div> + +<table> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">BOOK ONE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1769.</td> + <td>August 15th, Napoleon born.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1779.</td> + <td>At School in Brienne.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1784.</td> + <td>At the military academy.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1785.</td> + <td>Sub-lieutenant of artillery.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1789.</td> + <td>To Corsica.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1791.</td> + <td>April, lieutenant in Valence.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>October, to Corsica.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1792.</td> + <td>Putsch in Ajaccio. Banishment.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1793.</td> + <td>Captain. Siege of Toulon.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1794.</td> + <td>February, brigadier general.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>August, arrested.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1795.</td> + <td>June, at the Ministry for War.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>October, suppression of the Paris rising.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>Commander of the Army of the Interior.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1796.</td> + <td>March 2nd, Commander of the Army of Italy.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>March 6th, married to Josephine Beauharnais.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">BOOK TWO</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1796-7.</td> + <td>Battles of Millesimo, Castiglione, Arcola, Rivoli, Mantua.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1797.</td> + <td>At the castle of Montebello.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>Peace of Campo Formio.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1798.</td> + <td>In Paris till May.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>May 19th, embarcation for Egypt.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>Battle of the Pyramids.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1799.</td> + <td>Jaffa, Acre, Aboukir.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>October 7th, landing in France.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>November 9th, coup d’état of the eighteenth Brumaire.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>December 24th, First Consul.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">BOOK THREE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1800.</td> + <td>June 14th, battle of Marengo.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>December 24th, attempted assassination.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1801.</td> + <td>Peace of Lunéville.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>Concordat with Pius VII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1802.</td> + <td>Peace with England.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>Consul for life. Legion of Honour.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">[xii]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1804.</td> + <td>March 21st, duke of Enghien shot.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>May 18th, assumption of imperial title.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>December 2nd, coronation.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1805.</td> + <td>October, Trafalgar.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>November, Vienna taken.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>December 2nd, battle of Austerlitz.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>Peace of Pressburg.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1806.</td> + <td>Confederation of the Rhine. Joseph, King of Naples.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>Louis, King of Holland.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>October 14th, battle of Jena.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>Berlin. Continental System.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1807.</td> + <td>Battles of Preussisch-Eylau and Friedland.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>June 7th, treaty of Tilsit.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>Jerome, King of Westphalia.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1808.</td> + <td>Rome. Madrid. Bayonne. Joseph, King of Spain. Murat, + King of Naples.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1809.</td> + <td>Excommunication. Battles of Aspern-Essling, Wagram, + and Vienna.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1810.</td> + <td>January, divorce.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>April, married to Marie Louise.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1811.</td> + <td>March 20th, birth of his son.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">BOOK FOUR</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1812.</td> + <td>Battles of Smolensk, Borodino, Vittoria, Moscow.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>December, return to Paris.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1813.</td> + <td>April, battles of Lützen and Bautzen.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>July, battle of Dresden.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>October 16th to 18th, battle of Leipzig.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1814.</td> + <td>Battles of Brienne, La Rothière, Champaubert, Montereau, + Bas-sur-Aube, Laon, Arcis-sur-Aube.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>April 6th, abdication in Fontainebleau.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>April 20th, embarcation for Elba.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1815.</td> + <td>February 26th, sails from Elba.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>March 13th, outlawed.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>March 20th, Paris.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>June, battles of Ligny and Waterloo.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>June 23rd, second abdication.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>July 13th, letter to the prince regent.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>July 31st, declared a prisoner.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">BOOK FIVE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1815.</td> + <td>October 17th, arrival in St. Helena.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1821.</td> + <td>May 5th, death.</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="BOOK_ONE">BOOK ONE<br> +THE ISLAND</h2> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>The story of Napoleon produces on me an impression like +that produced by the Revelation of Saint John the Divine. +We all feel there must be something more in it, but we do not +know what.—<span class="smcap">Goethe.</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span></p> + +<h3>I</h3> + +<p>A young woman is sitting in a tent. Wrapped in a shawl, +she is suckling her baby, and listening to a distant rumbling and +roaring. Are they still shooting, though night has fallen? +Maybe it is only the sound of one of those autumn thunderstorms +whose echoes reverberate from the mountains; or perhaps +it is nothing more than the murmur from the surrounding +forest of pines and evergreen oaks, where foxes and wild swine +have their lairs. She looks like a gipsy, sitting there with her +white breast half covered by the shawl, brooding within the +murky tent, uncertain what the fate of the day may have been. +Now she hears the sound of hoof-beats. Is it he? He promised +to come; but it is a long way from the fighting line, and the +mists are rising.</p> + +<p>The flap of the tent is thrown open, letting in a breath of +night air. A man enters. An officer in a coloured tunic and +wearing a plumed head-dress; a slim fellow, nimble of movement; +a young patrician, in the middle twenties. He greets the +woman ardently. Springing to her feet, she gives the nursling +to her maid. Wine is brought. Taking the kerchief from her +head, she stands before him, showing chestnut ringlets astray +on a smooth, white brow. An eager question is on her well-shaped +lips. Add to the picture that she has a long chin, a +sign of energy; that her aquiline nose is thrown into relief by +the firelight; and that on her hip there gleams the dagger which +in this mountain land she never lays aside. We see a lovely +amazon, daughter of an ancient race, sprung from men of +action and resolution. The woman’s forebears, like the man’s, +have for centuries been leaders and warriors; first across the +water in Italy, and then in this craggy island.</p> + +<p>But now, when all have gathered together against the hated +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span>enemy, have joined forces in the attempt to drive out the +French, here, in the wildest part of the mountains, whither the +brave girl of nineteen has followed the husband fighting for +their fatherland; who, now, could recognise in her the brilliant +patrician, the magnet of all eyes? Here, nothing but pride and +courage show that she is of noble birth.</p> + +<p>The man, full of life and vigour, ever in movement, tells her +all his news. The enemy has been beaten, driven back towards +the coast. There is no escape. Envoys have been sent to Paoli.</p> + +<p>“There will be a truce to-morrow. Letizia, we are winning! +Corsica will be free!”</p> + +<p>Every Corsican longs for many children. It is a land where +an affront is instantly avenged by a dagger thrust; where the +vendetta is sacred; where family feuds last from decade to decade +and from century to century. The man before us wants +many children, to ensure that his race shall persist; and the +woman has learned from mother and grandmother that children +are tokens of honour. She had become a mother at fifteen; but +the baby she has just been nursing was her first boy.</p> + +<p>The thought of freedom glows afresh, for the officer is adjutant +to Paoli, the leader of the people.</p> + +<p>“No longer shall our children be the slaves of France!”</p> + +<h3>II</h3> + +<p>With the coming of spring, despondency prevails. The +enemy has landed reinforcements; the children of the island take +up arms once more; again the young wife accompanies her husband +to the war; this time she carries a child beneath her heart, +the child conceived during the storms of the previous autumn.</p> + +<p>“Often, in search of news, I would steal forth from our mountain +nook to the battle-field; I heard the bullets whistling, but +I put my trust in Our Lady”—so she would tell the story in +later years.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp62" id="illus01" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus01.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Buonaparte in 1783. The first known portrait, drawn by his + fellow-countryman Pontornini. Musée Nationale, Versailles.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>In May, the Corsicans were defeated. There was a terrible +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span>retreat through the dense forests and the rugged mountains. +Among the multitude of men and the few women, rode Letizia, +big with child, carrying her one-year-old boy in her arms, seated +on a mule. They reached the coast safely. In June the defeated +Paoli, accompanied by a few hundred of his faithful +followers, had to flee to Italy. In July Paoli’s adjutant, +Letizia’s husband, with other envoys, capitulated to the conqueror. +The insular pride was humbled. But in August +his wife brought the avenger into the world.</p> + +<p>She named him Napolione.</p> + +<p>This woman, who during the campaign had played the heroine +and had shown a man’s courage, must now, in the great house +by the seashore, become a prudent and thrifty housewife. Her +young husband, fanciful by temperament, lived more on plans +than on income. For years his energies were mainly devoted +to the great lawsuit concerning his inheritance. As a student +in Pisa, where among his fellows he was known as Count +Buonaparte, he had lived well but learned little. After the +birth of his second son, he cut his studies short. How was he +to make a living? In troublous times, a man of the world takes +the world as it is; comes to terms with the conqueror; all the +more since the French, in order to secure their footing in the +island, are inclined to show favour to the Corsican nobility.</p> + +<p>Soon he becomes assessor in the new law-courts; superintendent +of a nursery in which the king of France, eager to turn +the new possessions to account, wishes to grow mulberries; +and when the distinguished marshal comes to stay, no expense +must be spared. There are still flocks of sheep in the hills and +vineyards along the coast; his brother, archdeacon at the +cathedral, is well-to-do; and his wife’s half brother, another +priest, a merchant’s son, is skilled in worldly affairs.</p> + +<p>By the time his proud and beautiful wife has reached her +thirties, five boys and three girls have been born to her. This +is well accordant to the notions of the islanders, for whom +rivalries and vendettas are supreme virtues. But the rearing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span>of eight children is a costly matter; so, day by day, the youngsters +hear their parents talking about money. At length, however, +the father finds a way out of his difficulties. Accompanied +by his two eldest sons, now ten and eleven years of age, he sails +to France, and journeys from Toulon to Versailles.</p> + +<p>He brings recommendations from the marshal in Corsica. +The Buonapartes’ Italian title of nobility is confirmed by the +Herald’s College in Paris. To the Corsican official who has +been loyal for a decade, King Louis makes a grant of two +thousand francs. The two sons and one of the daughters are +given scholarships in the Nobles’ Schools. One son is to be a +priest; the other, an officer.</p> + +<h3>III</h3> + +<p>A taciturn boy, small, shy, and lonely, sits reading in a +corner of the garden. It is his own plot in the school garden at +Brienne, and he has made a fence round it. Really, only a +third of the enclosure is his own, for he has fenced in the plots +of neighbours on either side. They may come in too; but woe +to any one else who disturbs his privacy! He rushes furiously +at the intruder. A little while ago, when the boys had had a +fireworks’ display, two of his schoolmates, who had been slightly +burned, had run away to his garden for refuge. He had +driven them out, flourishing a hoe at them.</p> + +<p>No punishment will bring him to reason in this matter. The +masters shake their heads and let him go his own way.</p> + +<p>“The youngster is made of granite,” says one of them, “but +there is a volcano inside.”</p> + +<p>No one may touch this little kingdom of his in the garden, +though part of it is usurped. He has an ardent feeling for +his own independence. Writing to his father, he says: “I would +rather be the first among the workmen in a factory than the last +among the artists in the Academy.” Did he get the idea out of +Plutarch? Certainly he has an enthusiasm for that author, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span>the lives of the great men as sketched by Plutarch, especially +the Roman heroes. Of these, he is always dreaming. No one +tells us that he ever saw this boy laugh.</p> + +<p>To his schoolfellows he seems half a savage, or at best a +queer foreigner. He knows scarcely a word of French, and has +little inclination to learn the language of the foe. What a +tiny little chap he is, and what a ridiculous name! His coat +is too long. No pocket-money, nothing to spend, and yet he +claims to be of noble birth! The scions of the French nobility +laugh. Who cares about Corsican noblemen?</p> + +<p>“If you Corsicans are such brave fellows, why did you let +yourselves be beaten by our unconquerable troops?”</p> + +<p>“We were one to ten,” the lad angrily exclaims. “You just +wait till I’m grown up, and I will pay you Frenchmen out!”</p> + +<p>“Your father is nothing more than a sergeant, after all!”</p> + +<p>An outburst of wrath from the boy, who challenges his tormentor. +The young Napoleon is “kept in.” He writes to his +father: “I am tired of explaining my poverty; of having to endure +the mockery of these foreign boys, whose only superiority +is in respect of money, for in nobility of feeling they are far +beneath me. Must I really humble myself before these purse-proud +fellows?” The answer from the island is: “We have no +money. You must stay where you are.”</p> + +<p>He stays five years; and, just as his revolutionary feeling is +intensified by every slight, so does his self-confidence grow proportionally +with the growth of his contempt for his fellows. +The masters, indeed, monks one and all, have a good opinion of +him, although he does not make much headway except in mathematics, +history, and geography—subjects which appeal to a +precise mind, a seeing eye, and also to the bitterness of spirit +characteristic of one who belongs to a conquered race.</p> + +<p>For always his thoughts turn back to his native island. In +secret, he is angry with his father for having come to terms +with the French. He has made up his own mind. He will get +all he can out of the king at whose cost he now pursues his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>studies, so that in due time he may use the knowledge against +his patron. He has a presentiment that some day he will set +Corsica free. As yet all the lad of fourteen can do is to pore +over books about his homeland, for he who would make history +must first study history. He devours, too, all that Voltaire, +Rousseau, and the great king of Prussia shortly before his +death, have written on behalf of the liberation of Corsica.</p> + +<p>Such a boy as this—solitary, suspicious, questing and rebellious, +brooding rancorously over vast designs—what is he likely +to become? Precociously thoughtful; endowed with a knowledge +of men that is beyond his years. When Joseph, his elder +brother, wishes to abandon the priestly career and to adopt the +profession of arms, the youngster writes of him: “1. He lacks +courage to brave the perils of the battle-field.—He will be a +good garrison officer: well-grown and handsome, quick-witted +and therefore inclined to pay frivolous compliments, with his +talents he will always make a good impression in society. But +in battle? 2. ’Tis too late to make a change. He might have +got a rich benefice, and what an advantage that would have +been to the family! 3. What branch of the service will he enter? +The navy? (a) He knows nothing of mathematics; (b) his +health could never endure life at sea. He is too light-minded +for the sustained work that will be needed if he is to be an +artillery officer.” These are the reflections of a fifteen-year-old +observer, who sees in himself the qualities that his brother +lacks; and it is a perfect description of Joseph, who was, indeed, +his father’s son.</p> + +<p>From this same father, Napoleon had inherited versatility +and a vigorous imagination; from his mother came pride, courage, +and accuracy; from both was derived his strong family +feeling.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span></p> + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<p>“Only the sword-belt belongs to France; the edge is my own,” +thinks the youth, as he first buckles on his sword. At sixteen +he has become a sub-lieutenant—and he will don uniform a good +many more times before he dies. He has qualified for this rank +by a year in the Paris Cadets’ School, where he spent his time +as he had spent it at Brienne, poring over books. A lad of +Spartan tastes, he finds the prodigal expenditure of the sprigs +of the French nobility (by whom he is utterly outshone) extremely +distasteful. Since, however, nature sets him, even more +than most young men, in the centre of his own world, he makes +a virtue of necessity, and pens a memorial to the effect that +luxurious living is unsuitable for budding soldiers. He must +not get into debt, for he knows how poor they are at home. +Now, when his father dies, the family affection of this Italian +becomes intensified. Though little more than a boy, he begins +to save money in order to help his mother.</p> + +<p>After his examination, passed with fair credit, his superiors +wrote of him: “Reserved and diligent, he prefers study to any +kind of conversation, and nourishes his mind upon good +authors.... He is taciturn, with a love for solitude; is moody, +overbearing, and extremely egotistical. Though he speaks little, +his answers are decisive and to the point, and he excels in argument. +Much self-love, and overweening ambition.”</p> + +<p>Clad in his new uniform, the little sub-lieutenant goes to +join his regiment at Valence, compelled by his poverty to walk +a great part of the way. Three impulses stir his youthful +heart: to despise and make use of his fellow-creatures, most +of whom are empty-headed and pretentious; to extricate himself +from the clutches of poverty; to learn much in order that +he may rule others. The means and the goal are one. He is to +be a leader in the struggle on the island, and then to make +himself master of Corsica.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span></p> + +<p>How dull life is in this garrison town! Of course, a young +man should learn to dance, should taste the pleasures of lively +society. He tries this, but soon abandons the attempt, for his +teeming pride makes him want to hide his poverty. However, +any one who holds converse with members of the burgher class, +lawyers and shopkeepers, hears strange talk, gets wind of +things that the young viscounts in Paris never dream of. Is +it really true? Has the spirit of Voltaire’s and Montesquieu’s, +and Raynal’s writings actually climbed down so soon, to stalk +among the provincial petty bourgeois? Is the movement which +these prophets were conjuring up now seriously afoot? Can +it be that the revolution is at hand?</p> + +<p>Books clamour it abroad. Reading is free as breathing; and +when a man has read all the books in the lending library, he +can spare a franc or two now and again to buy a new book. +True, the youth lodges in a café, and the clicking of the billiard +balls in the next room is tiresome. But it would be still more +tiresome to move. In personal habits, he is conservative.</p> + +<p>What about his sentiments? Judge for yourselves. Like +every young man of his generation, he is keenly interested in the +State and society. There he sits in the room next the billiard-room; +pale, lonely, in a hot and stuffy atmosphere. While his +comrades, after their short hours of duty, scatter to seek distraction +in gaming or the pursuit of women, the impoverished +lieutenant bends over his books, reading with sure instinct about +the things (and those only) that will be of use to him in days to +come: artillery, its principles and its history; the art of siege; +Plato’s <i>Republic</i>; the constitution of the Persian, the Athenian, +the Spartan State; the history of England; the campaigns of +Frederick the Great; French finances; the Tartars and the +Turks, their manners and customs, and the topography of their +countries; the history of Egypt and the history of Carthage; +descriptions of India; English accounts of contemporary +France: Mirabeau, Buffon, and Machiavelli; the history and +the constitution of Switzerland; the history and constitution of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span>China, India, the Inca State; the history of the nobility and +the story of patrician misdeeds; astronomy, geology, and +meteorology; the laws of the growth of population; statistics +of mortality.</p> + +<p>He did not simply flutter the pages of his books, but was an +attentive reader. There is extant a whole series of copy-books +containing Napoleon’s notes, penned in an almost illegible handwriting. +The contents of these, reprinted, occupies four hundred +pages. Here we find a map of the Saxon heptarchy with +a list of the kings for three centuries; item, the varieties of +foot-race in ancient Crete; item, lists of the Hellenic fortresses +in Asia Minor; item, the dates of twenty-seven caliphs, with a +note of the strength of their cavalry, and an account of the +misconduct of their wives.</p> + +<p>Especially frequent are memoranda concerning Egypt and +India, including even the measurements of the Great Pyramid +and a catalogue of Brahminical sects. He copies a passage +from Raynal: “In view of the position of Egypt, lying betwixt +two seas, and in fact betwixt the East and the West, Alexander +the Great conceived the design of establishing the capital of +his worldwide empire in that country, and of making Egypt +the centre of world commerce. This most enlightened of the +conquerors had realised that if there was any practicable way +of amalgamating his conquests into one consolidated State, it +was by this use of Egypt, created as a point of union between +Africa, Asia, and Europe.” Thirty years later, he still had +the words by heart. He had read them so often.</p> + +<p>At this date, too, he begins original composition, drafting +more than a dozen essays and projects: the placing of artillery; +suicide; monarchical authority; the inequality of men; and +Corsica, above all, Corsica—each were the topics. Rousseau, +the most popular author of those days, is pulverised by Napoleon’s +realism. The young officer is epitomising Rousseau’s +views on the origin of the human race (in the <i>Discours sur +l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes</i>), +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span>but abruptly he breaks off the epitome with the comment: “I +don’t believe a word of this.” Then come a couple of pages filled +with his own counterstatement. Human beings were not, to begin +with, solitary; nor were they nomadic. They were happy, +and lived apart, because they were not numerous enough to be +forced into close contact. When the population grew more +thick upon the ground, “then imagination came forth from +the cave in which for so long it had been prisoned: self-confidence, +passion, and pride reared their heads; there arose ambitious +men with pale features, who took control of affairs, and +mastered the multicoloured young popinjays, the Lotharios +and lady-killers.”</p> + +<p>Do not we already hear him rattling his chains, in the dark +cavern where he himself is prisoned with his titanic imagination? +Do not we see the fancy portrait of the young author, pale of +visage, full of hatred for the brilliant lady-killers who are his +messmates?</p> + +<p>Away from these fellows, who are Frenchmen! His gaze is +still fixed upon his native isle, and it is to the advantage of +Corsica that he twists the new sociological outlooks. We read +in one of the essays: “How absurd to declare that divine laws +forbid us to shake off a usurper’s yoke! Were that so, then +every regicide who has clambered into the vacant throne would +be under God’s protection, whereas in case of failure he would +have lost his head. With how much better right, then, can a +people drive out a usurping prince! Does not this speak for +Corsicans?... Thus we can shake off the yoke of France, +just as we shook off the yoke of Genoa. Amen.”</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the fledgling genius wished to try its wings, and +this urge led Napoleon to draft a novel on Corsica, and also +some short stories. All were animated by hatred of France, +but none of them were ever finished. Still he was learning his +trade, spurred on by poverty, passion, and sentiment. Imagination +rules the world, but cannons are the instrument whereby +imagination realises its purposes. “I have no refuge but my +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span>work. I only change my linen once a week. Since I was ill, +I have slept very little.... I eat only once a day.”</p> + +<p>He studies ordnance and munitions of war, always thinking in +figures, so that every one says that he is a born mathematician. +Now, side by side with the drafts of works of imagination, he +draws up specifications of all the localities in the island where +he would place batteries, dig trenches, station troops—if he +had but the power! Beneath the network of poetical thoughts +with which he has covered the island, he spreads over his maps +a second network, wherein crosses denote big guns. Maps, +maps! In his room beside the noisy café, he restudies everything +conceivable, copies whole speeches out of the report of +the parliamentary proceedings at Westminster, and sketches +the remotest parts of the earth. At the end of the last of his +copy-books, the final entry runs: “St. Helena, a small island in +the Atlantic Ocean. English colony.”</p> + +<p>At this juncture he received a letter from his mother. Her +powerful patron, the marshal, was dead; the house had lost its +main prop; the mulberry orchard was no longer to be a means +of livelihood; Joseph had no paid occupation; could the second +son give any help? Shortly after this appeal reached him, he +went home on furlough. Are we to consider him an unacknowledged +conqueror, returning to the island of his plans and +dreams? Read what he wrote in his diary:</p> + +<p>“Always alone, though in the midst of men, I go back home +that I may give myself up to my lonely dreams and to the waves +of my melancholy. Whither, now, do my gloomy thoughts +tend? Towards death. Yet I stand on the threshold of life, +and may reasonably expect to draw breath for many, many +years. For the last six or seven years I have been far away +from my country. How great the joy—to see my own people +once more!—What demon, then, is it that tempts me to self-destruction?—Since +misfortune dogs my footsteps, and nothing +gives me pleasure, why should I go on bearing a life in which, +for me, everything goes awry?—What a tragedy in the homeland? +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>My fellow-countrymen, in chains, kiss the hand that +beats them.—Proud, buoyed up by a sense of his own worth, so +lived of yore the happy Corsican, giving his days to the service +of the State, and spending his nights in the arms of his beloved +wife—the nights which nature and affection made divine for +him. With the disappearance of freedom, those happy times +have vanished like a dream. Frenchmen, not only have you +stolen from us our greatest good, but now you are corrupting +our morals! That is how I see my country, and yet I am +powerless to help. Are there not reasons enough for quitting +a world in which I must glorify those whom I hate?—If it were +but the life of one individual which stood between us and our +liberties, I should not be slow to act.—Life has become a burden +to me, I have no enjoyment, nothing but pain,—and because I +cannot live after my own fashion, everything is loathsome to +me.”</p> + +<h3>V</h3> + +<p>After a year spent in Corsica, a year rendered gloomy by +money troubles and family cares, he was still in this mood of +despair when his furlough expired. He returned not to Valence, +but to Auxonne. What did the change matter?</p> + +<p>But, at last, recognition comes. His new general, who sees +that this subaltern of nineteen is well informed, puts into his +hands the task of carrying out some works upon the parade +ground. “Difficult calculations are involved; and so, for the +last ten days, I have been busied from morning till night +at the head of two hundred men. This unusual preferment has +given some of my superiors a spite against me. They are furious +that so important a job should have been taken out of their +hands and given to a lieutenant.”</p> + +<p>The old depression recurs. Promotion will be desperately +slow, and when he becomes a captain he will be retired on half-pay. +He will return home, to be despised because he is a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>pensioner of the French. At long last, he will be buried in his +native soil. Of that privilege, at least, the French cannot rob +him! Were they, then, nothing but froth, the dreams of liberty +revealed in the books he had read? If mighty France herself +was unable to shake off the yoke of the nobility, to rid herself +of venality and nepotism, how was poor little Corsica to shake +off the French tyranny?</p> + +<p>The young author fills his diary with new schemes. He would +have had to pay heavily for it if the book had fallen into the +hands of his superiors. “Draft for a memorial concerning +monarchical authority. Set forth details as to the usurped +power which kings enjoy to-day in the twelve monarchies of +Europe. There are few of them who have not merited dethronement.” +Thus does he vent his spleen in the faithful diary; +whilst in public on every royal birthday, dressed in gala uniform, +he must join in the cry: Long live the king!</p> + +<p>Another year of his youth is spent in the dull routine of +such service, while Napoleon holds his peace and waits, dividing +his energies between imaginative writing and mathematics.</p> + +<p>The year of destiny has opened. Into the most out-of-the-way +regions of the slumbering province comes the presage of +the trumpets that are about to sound. We are in the month of +June 1789. The melancholy lieutenant feels that the day of +vengeance draws near. Is the arrogance of those who have +so long humiliated him, to bring destruction upon their own +heads? May it not be that the call of the myriads is also the +battle-cry of the island? He takes his <i>Letters on Corsica</i>; +sends them to his admired exemplar Paoli, in exile; and writes:</p> + +<p>“General! I came into the world when my country was +perishing. My cradle was surrounded by men with the death-rattle +in their throats, and by those whom despair had driven to +tears.... With them, hope vanished. Slavery was the reward +of our subjugation. To justify themselves, the traitors +have heaped calumnies upon you.... When I read this, my +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span>blood boiled, and I resolved to scatter the mists. Now I shall +blacken with the brush of shame all who have betrayed the common +cause.... If I lived in the capital, I should find other +means.... Owing to my youth, this undertaking may be +fruitless; but I shall be helped by my passion for truth, my +love for my country, and my enthusiasm. If you, General, will +encourage in this work a young man whose coming into the +world you saw, I shall gain confidence.... My mother, +Madame Letizia, has charged me to remind you of the old days +in Corte.”</p> + +<p>We notice a new tone, a symphony of new tones: the soaring +emotion of the epoch; the gesture of the tyrannicide; the whole +equipment of scintillating words, not an uprush of feeling (as +in the pages of his diary), but deliberately chosen with an eye +to their effect. Only one thing is alarmingly original, quite +peculiar to the writer: the decisive “I” at the opening of the +letter, this “I” as a great thesis, fronting the world. Immeasurable +self-confidence is breaking a trail; for now the drum-taps +of a new era are sounding; an era which will give the palm, +not to birth but to action, thus sweeping away the only hindrance +that has hitherto been insuperable. An unprecedented +claim is voiced, a claim which henceforward will never cease to be +heard. But at the close of the letter, with a courteous turn of +phrase, he slips back into the familiar, implying that he looks +to Paoli for protection. What adroitness, what good manners, +we find in all the letters of this adolescent, who in person is +still rough and enigmatical!</p> + +<p>Paoli, the survival from an earlier day, is annoyed by such +arrogance, and answers with civil irony that young people +should not try to write history.</p> + +<p>Four weeks after the sending of the letter, young people +begin to write history, for the first time in the eighteenth century. +They storm the Bastille; the great signal has been given; +and France leaps to arms. Even in the garrison town of our +young lieutenant, the masses riot and loot, until the propertied +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>classes join forces with the troops. Buonaparte is at his post +with his battery in the streets, and helps to shoot down the +people. This is the first time he has fired a gun in real earnest. +He acts under orders from the king’s officers; but there can be +no doubt that he acts whole-heartedly against the mob, which +he despises no less than he despises the nobility.</p> + +<p>In the depths of his soul, he regards this as nothing more +than a dispute among foreigners. What does he care about +Frenchmen who raise their hands against other Frenchmen? +His brain is fired by a single thought: “Corsica’s hour has +come!” Madness or enthusiasm, an ideal or merely a catch-word? +What matter? Let us carry the message to our +island. Apply for leave; and, in the turmoil of the new movement, +be the first to reach home!</p> + +<h3>VI</h3> + +<p>Lieutenant Buonaparte landed on his island like a prophet +carrying a new doctrine to a foreign coast. He was the first +to bring the red cockade; to promise liberty, equality, and +fraternity. Was not this a race of free mountaineers, who of +old had been self-governing, but for twenty years had groaned +under the heel of the oppressor—a conqueror who ruled through +the instrumentality of the nobles and the Church, but did not +understand the people?</p> + +<p>What did it matter to the young Jacobin that until yesterday +he had lived upon his patrician birth, that solely because +of his rank he had been educated at the king’s cost? What was +the king to him? At length the peoples were to be free to rule +themselves. If the new France, just awakened, had proclaimed +the right of self-government, Corsica, which the old France +had loaded with chains, must proclaim its own freedom. Citizens, +the hour has struck! To arms! Let every one wear +the red cockade of the new era; let us form a National Guard, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>as they have done in Paris! Let us wrest the means of power +from the king’s troops. I am an artillerist, and I will be your +leader!</p> + +<p>Twenty years of age, pale of countenance, with cold, blue-grey +eyes, but with a mouth full of glowing phrases, such is +the aspect of young Buonaparte as he hastens through the +streets of Ajaccio. Every one in the little town knows him, and +he is followed by a growing number of persons, some eager for +liberty, and others in search of a change of any kind. To the +crowd in the square, he seems a man bringing passionate hopes; +his figure is that of a tribune of the people. In this half-oriental +atmosphere, and among these quarrelsome families (so +he says later), “a man soon learns to study the human heart.”</p> + +<p>But there is a set-back. No reinforcements come from the +mountains; and, when the regular troops put in an appearance, +they scatter the revolutionists. Within a few hours, all +have been disarmed, though, for prudence, no arrests are made. +This is a further source of disillusionment. He is not even a +martyr, but only a would-be popular leader who has been defeated; +his position borders on the ludicrous. Yet the fever is +still burning in his veins, and at all costs he must do something +to cool himself. A statement of grievances to the National +Assembly in Paris! First of all, in the florid style of the day, +an ode to the new freedom, and then a spate of complaints and +adjurations. To the gallows with the king’s servants! Arm +the citizens of the island!—A committee promptly joins him +in signing the document.</p> + +<p>Weeks of waiting. What answer will come from Paris? +Here is the courier at last. The island is to be a French province, +having the same rights as the other provinces; in accordance +with Mirabeau’s proposal, Paoli and all the champions +of liberty are free to return home. The lieutenant is +taken aback. A province? In spite of the new ideas, and indeed +because of them, the Corsicans are to remain Frenchmen? +A strange form of liberty! But there, already, is the procession, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>headed by the authorities, on its way to the cathedral, +where the decree from Paris is to receive a blessing. Buonaparte +is prompt to seize the rope which all are seizing. He +pens fiery manifestoes to his fellow-citizens, seeks supporters in +the new political club, and engineers his elder brother’s election +to the town council. Meanwhile he continues to work at his +history of Corsica, and reads to his mother choice passages of +what he is writing.</p> + +<p>“Can this be the great Paoli?” That is the question Buonaparte +asks himself, when, after twenty years’ exile, the hero of +his youthful enthusiasms returns amid popular acclamations. +“His talk and his appearance are so humdrum, so politic, so +unsoldierly.” But it was expedient to keep on good terms with +Paoli, for he was to be the commander of the National Guard. +In the mountains, the young artillery officer was for some time +closely associated with the man who had been his father’s chief +just before his own coming into the world.</p> + +<p>When they were sitting together or riding together—the +tried veteran and the darkly aspiring young Corsican,—the +latter would eagerly expound to the former his plans for an +armed rising, and even for the forcible severance of the island +from the new France. On these occasions, Paoli would look at +Buonaparte with mingled pride and alarm. He could not but +feel that the author of the <i>Letters on Corsica</i> really had a claim +upon him. But the young fellow had the devil in his body; +and (which was worse) in his brain, for in the man’s brain was +the image of the world throne in solitary splendour. Shaking +his head, Paoli would exclaim:</p> + +<p>“There is nothing modern about you, Napolione. You come +from the age of Plutarch!”</p> + +<p>For the first time in his life young Napoleon felt that he +was understood. The Roman heroes of Plutarch were alone +adequate to his aspirations. Paoli was the first to recognise +the Roman in Buonaparte.</p> + +<p>At length he has a phrase upon which his self-esteem +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span>can luxuriate. Now, from his country retreat, when at Paoli’s +instigation he writes a manifesto, the superscription penned by +his fevered imagination runs as follows: “23rd day of January +in the 2nd year, from my study at Midilli.” Ridiculous or +sublime? However this may be, as soon as he has issued the +dictatorial pronunciamento the young man has to hasten back +to his military duties in France, for his furlough, though renewed +again and again, has finally expired. Is he to sacrifice +this last firm standing-ground? To what end? Why should +he stay in the island any longer? The first place is occupied!</p> + +<h3>VII</h3> + +<p>“I am in a peasant’s hut writing to you, after a long talk +with the good folk.... It is four in the afternoon; the +weather is fresh but mild; I thoroughly enjoyed walking. No +snow yet, but there is snow in the air—Everywhere I have found +the peasants staunch; ... they are all ready to die for the +constitution—The women are royalists almost without exception. +No wonder for that, seeing that Liberty is fairer than +they, and eclipses them. In Dauphiné, the priests have taken +the oath of fealty to the constitution; they laugh at the bishops.—‘Good +society,’ as it is called (three out of four are aristocrats), +affects admiration for the British constitution. It is +true that Peretti threatened Mirabeau with a dagger. This is +little to our credit. The Patriotic Society must make Mirabeau +a present of our national costume: biretta, vest, knee-breeches +and hose, cartridge pouch, stiletto, pistol, and musket. It will +certainly have a good effect.”</p> + +<p>Everything in this letter to Napoleon’s maternal uncle, the +abbé Joseph Fesch, bears witness to observation and calculation, +the elements upon which the politician’s influence is based: the +weather, the State, travelling on foot, the conciliation of a man +in high position, men’s motives—all have been the objects of +careful consideration. Vanity and avarice, these are the weaknesses +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>to which an appeal can be successfully directed. We see +deep into his soul when, in a bluntly-worded letter dating from +those weeks, he arraigns an opponent thus: “Your study of +human nature has taught you the price of every man’s enthusiasm; +for you, the difference between people’s characters was +summed up in a few gold pieces more or less!”</p> + +<p>Gold pieces! Where were they to be had? Louis, the +brother of thirteen, had come back to France with him. When +Lieutenant Buonaparte (he had the full rank now) and his +brother got back to Valence, they had no more between them +than eighty-five francs, to provide for food, clothing, and the +boy’s education. They had to brush their own clothes.</p> + +<p>Money! Not for enjoyment (he despises trivial pleasures), +but to help him make his way in the world! Lyons Academy +has offered a prize for an essay. Twelve hundred francs; one +could for that sum equip half Corsica with weapons. “What +truths and sentiments is it most important to inculcate upon +men for their happiness?” The lieutenant smiles. The subject +suits him very well. First of all, so to say, he leaves his +card on the academicians who have chosen the theme. They +are disciples of Rousseau. Our essayist opens by extolling the +joys of nature, friendship, ardent idleness—three things which +he neither knew nor prized. Suddenly the argument takes a +political turn, against kings, and on behalf of the universalisation +of the free enjoyment of possessions and rights. Then +comes a sinister tone, as if the writer were contemplating in a +mirror his own image as the pallid student of a few years before: +“The ambitious man, pale of countenance, laughing sardonically, +plays with crime, and intrigue is his chosen instrument.... +If, at length, he gets his hand on the rudder of +power, he soon wearies of the adulation of the crowd.... +Men of great ambition have sought happiness, and have found +fame.”</p> + +<p>Sublime forebodings, worthy of any of the characters in +Plutarch. Soon the author expresses himself more plainly. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span>His ideal is Sparta; courage and strength are the outstanding +virtues. A Spartan moved through life as a man moves in +the plenitude of his powers. “He was happy because he lived +in accordance with his nature. Only the strong man is good; +the weakling is evil.” Another presage glows in the following +utterance: “Men who are truly great are like meteors: they +shine and consume themselves, that they may lighten the darkness +of the earth.”</p> + +<p>This was too much for the Lyons Academy, which declared +the essay “unworthy of commendation.” A fresh disappointment! +The effort had brought neither money nor renown. +With indefatigable assiduity, none the less, he resumes work +on his Corsican novel, and pens a dialogue on love.</p> + +<p>What? Does this word, too, shed its lustre into the youth’s +sombre mind? Are we to have an outpouring in the Rousseauist +vein? Hearken to the words of our lieutenant, now twenty-two +years of age: “I, too, was in love once, and learned enough +of it to despise definitions, which only confuse the issue. I +deny its justification; nay, more, I regard it as injurious to +society and destructive to the happiness of the individual. Men +could bless heaven if they were quit of it.”</p> + +<p>Fanfares interrupt these political and social musings, fanfares +from Paris! Louis XVI, attempting to escape, had been +caught at Varennes and brought back. The people had triumphed, +and the revolutionary movement was intensified. On +the second anniversary of the taking of the Bastille, the Red +lieutenant proposed a toast to the patriots. From the island +came to him sounds of confusion, the heart-beats of anarchy—for +during these wild years the ripples of turbulence spread +from Paris in widening circles, to reach distant shores. In +Corsica, too, civil war is imminent. Back there, for a second +venture!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span></p> + +<h3>VIII</h3> + +<p>Now the lieutenant has to play the part of Coriolanus. +Catch voices, catch men; for, since the people have come into +power, it is necessary to cultivate popularity. Archdeacon +Lucien Buonaparte has chosen this convenient hour for dying, +and the family is in easier circumstances. Mother’s brother +Fesch, another cleric, has been prevailed upon to join the +Jacobin Club. Joseph can influence opinion in the town council. +Is there any other man in the island competent to direct +a battery? Of course the leader of the National Guard would +have the real power in his hands. But suppose one should fail +to secure election?</p> + +<p>This time his furlough lasts only till the new year. Better +be careful! He writes to his commanding officer: “Urgent circumstances +have forced me to outstay my leave. But I have +nothing to reproach myself with: more sacred duties, tenderer +obligations, are my excuse.” He hopes that he will not be +cashiered. No answer! Well, he must take the risk.</p> + +<p>Now comes the election of the commandant of the National +Guard. Kinsmen everywhere, but that does not suffice. His +mother keeps open house for party friends; often sympathisers +from the hills have to be put up for the night; this is the way +to catch votes. “At that time,” writes a comrade, “he would +for a season be taciturn and reflective; then he would be +genial once more, pleasant to all comers, conversationally inclined, +prepared to visit any one who might be of use, and doing +his utmost to win adherents.” When the commissaries come, +he has one of them forcibly detained in his house; and he arranges +that the supporters of a rival shall have a thrashing. +This is a Corsican election! But when the palpitating day +draws to a close, Napoleon has gained his end. He is second +in command, with the rank of lieutenant colonel.</p> + +<p>Shall he seize the opportunity, this Italian, of sending in +his papers in France? Shall he leave the French service? Better +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>be careful, still! From the memoirs of great commanders +he has learned that it is always wise to leave a line of retreat +open. “In this difficult posture of affairs,” he writes to Valence, +“a good Corsican’s post of honour is in his native country. That +is why my own folk keep me from returning to France. Since, +however, I am not one to compromise where duty is concerned, +I had it in mind to resign my commission.” But, far from sending +in his papers, he asks for arrears of pay, and actually +speaks of France as “your nation.” In answer, he is cashiered +by the French military authorities.</p> + +<p>Thus he has become a soldier of fortune more speedily than +he had wished. He is without firm standing-ground; his only +rights are the revolutionary rights of a National Guardsman, +the member of a force which may go to pieces directly a reverse +is sustained. Hic Rhodus! He must take advantage of the +latent civil war between the townsfolk of Ajaccio and the +Guard; must fan the flames, so that, amid the general confusion, +he may assume the role of saviour! Is not the citadel, +now occupied by the king’s regular forces, a standing menace? +Did not Frederick and Cæsar always begin by storming +citadels? Seize the commander of the regulars, drive out this +well-born booby, and thus, at one stroke, free the island! +France, now involved in wars, will be unable to reconquer +Corsica. The liberator will become a popular hero, and old +Paoli will be no more than a legend.</p> + +<p>On Easter Sunday, 1792, an open struggle occurred. Was +the National Guard provocative; were the townsfolk playing +double? Who began the affray? An everlasting problem! +This much is certain, that Buonaparte, at the head of his battalion, +tried to seize the fortress. But the garrison was not +to be intimidated. Guns were trained on his men, and he had +to withdraw. A complaint against the young officer was lodged +in Paris; he was accused of armed rebellion, and a trial for high +treason was impending. His exculpatory phrases deceived no +one. Paoli, who had from the outset been somewhat alarmed at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span>the zeal of his turbulent fellow-islander, hastened to proclaim +his own loyalty to France, and to cashier the son of his old +friend.</p> + +<p>“If you turn against me, Paoli, I will turn against you,” +thought Buonaparte. “You had better be careful what you are +about! To Paris, post-haste. Not for nothing is there a revolution +there!”</p> + +<p>Through the streets of the French capital, these hot summer +days, strolls our adventurer, for whom everything has gone +awry. He has neither money nor position. In France, he is a +lieutenant, but regarded more or less as a deserter; in Corsica, +he is a cashiered lieutenant colonel. The gravest charges are +likely to be brought against him, and to-morrow he may be +actually starving. The Jacobins are his last hope, and he joins +Robespierre’s faction, for nothing can save him but the fall +of the dynasty. To him, the complete break up of the old order +has become essential.</p> + +<p>Life in Paris is costly. He pawns his watch, and, in spite +of this, gets into debt—a thing he has hitherto been sedulous to +avoid. Fifteen francs due to a wine-dealer! He proposes to +his friend Bourrienne that the pair shall become house-agents. +Does he envy those who sit in high places? No, he merely +despises them. “Any one who sees at short range all that is +going on, must admit that the peoples are hardly worth wooing +for their favours. Here, human beings are perhaps even more +base and calumniatory.—Enthusiasm is merely enthusiasm, +and the French nation is outworn. No one seeks anything but +his own advantage, and every one tries to push his way into the +first rank.—Ambition undermines everything. To lead a quiet +life, for oneself and one’s family, that is the only lot worth +having, with a fixed income of four or five thousand francs—if +imagination would but cease to torment one, would quiet down!”</p> + +<p>Woe to him who is thus plagued by a lively imagination! +What colossal possibilities may be cooling in this Parisian cauldron, +may arise out of the chaos of this titanic time! Being an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span>Italian, a foreigner, he can contemplate with equanimity the +destinies of these Frenchmen, and, as a cold-blooded adventurer, +can seek to turn their fortunes to his own account. The +Jacobins are already coming to the front.</p> + +<p>When the sansculottes storm the Tuileries, Buonaparte is +among the onlookers. What are the thoughts of the man under +the harrow? “Thank God, we are free once more.” But +what does the army officer say? “I saw soldiers threatened by +civilians, and was terribly shocked.—Had the king shown himself +on horseback, he would have gained the victory; such was +the mood that morning.” A few days earlier, when the king +had been masquerading in the red cap of liberty, Napoleon had +written: “What a fool! Why didn’t he use grape-shot? If a +few hundred of the mob had been shot down, the others would +have run away!”</p> + +<p>Still, his main feeling was one of liberation. His opponents +had been overthrown. The day after the storming of the Tuileries, +he wrote to his uncle: “You needn’t worry about your +nephews. They will know how to look after themselves.” The +new government does the handsome thing by Napoleon. Not +merely is the deserter taken back into the service, but he is +promptly raised to the rank of captain. He has, however, no +inclination to hasten to his regiment. What does it matter to +him that the king of Prussia is on the Moselle? What does he +care about the wars of France? “I am a Corsican! Back to +the island!”</p> + +<h3>IX</h3> + +<p>Is it possible? Has not the fresh wind from the sea, has not +even the pure breeze from the mountains, been able to dispel +that partisan spirit into which, everywhere, the struggle of +ideas tends to degenerate? Calumny, corruption, anarchy: +these are the forms which the strife has assumed in the island. +Saliceti, the Corsican delegate to the Convention in Paris, is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>Paoli’s mortal enemy, and is therefore friendly to the Buonapartes +now that they have turned against Paoli. The Jacobin +Club in Ajaccio is divided, but revolutionary feeling is in the +ascendant; and Paoli, the only honest man in the island, is +stigmatised as a traitor because he is a moderate.</p> + +<p>Who holds the reins of power? Every one and no one. +Mutual suspicion is ripe, for in Paris the guillotine has been +set up, the king has passed by that red road, and no one knows +who will be the ruler there to-morrow. In Corsica, all go armed, +and not the mountaineers alone; but orders from the coastland +break unavailingly against the crags of the interior. Every +one, here, is his own king; every one, his own avenger. Can +there be a better field for this adventurer, who has nothing more +to lose? He makes a third attempt to become master of the +island.</p> + +<p>Brother Joseph, Brother Lucien, and Uncle Fesch, all have +adherents, but Napoleon is the first to gather the scattered +forces. He has the confidence of the deputy, who needs a skilled +artillerist to help him in the next faction fight. For the same +reason, the Club is inclined to court his favour. Might it not be +a good move to accuse Paoli of treason against France? We +know that he has been influenced by his twenty years’ enjoyment +of British hospitality, and is it not in his mind to sell us to +England? If Lucien were to go to Marseilles, and whisper the +suspicion in the commissary’s ears, Saliceti would soon be shouting +it in the Convention. A little island like Corsica is a hot-bed +of intrigue. Since public life is controlled by two or three +families, family life becomes merged in public life.</p> + +<p>Ere long the Convention sends representatives to Corsica. +Officers are appointed and dismissed without Paoli’s leave or +advice. Buonaparte, now a captain in the French service, regains +in the island his position as commander. Before this, +his abilities and the affection of his soldiers have enabled him +to usurp the command once more, and the official appointment +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>is no more than an endorsement of an accomplished fact. His +chances are improving.</p> + +<p>Then comes a terrible order from Paris. Paoli is to be arrested. +But his opponents have overreached themselves. The +hearts of the islanders warm towards the veteran hero. All +rally to his support, and he defies the order.</p> + +<p>Young Buonaparte is at a loss. Always he has had his ear +at the heart of the people, not in the spirit of a lover, but in +the investigatory mood of a physician. He tries to gain time, +seeks a middle course, publicly proclaims himself on the side of +the maligned Paoli; but also explains that he is a supporter +of the sagacious Convention. Yet the Convention mistrusts +this supporter, and now issues a warrant for his arrest also. +Paoli likewise suspects him of wanting to have a foot in both +camps. In a Paolist manifesto we read: “Since the brothers +Buonaparte have supported the slander, and have sided with +the commission, it would be beneath the dignity of the Corsican +nation to have anything more to do with them. Enough to +abandon them to remorse and public execration.”</p> + +<p>The enemies of the family raided the Buonaparte mansion, +looted the place, and would have made short work of the +inmates had not these already taken refuge with the commission.</p> + +<p>Perhaps Buonaparte had wanted events to take this course. +He had given the authorities in Paris plain proof that he was a +staunch revolutionist. Certainly, they were now ready to show +their trust in him. He, who a year before had led the Corsican +volunteers against the French governmental artillery, was now +made commander of this same artillery against the Corsican +volunteers. Big guns! True, the others occupy the best positions, +but at length he has power, ample power, with orders to +protect the coast. Now then, Paoli, for our last duel!</p> + +<p>But the old man, enjoying the full tide of popular favour, +has also the best of it as a soldier. He holds the citadel. +When Napoleon, acting this time as a Frenchman, makes his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span>second attempt to storm that stronghold, he succeeds no better +than before. A last endeavour is made to take the fortress from +the islands. It is fruitless!</p> + +<p>There is no longer a place for him and his in Corsica. They +are banished by popular decree, and declared outlaws. The +mother, so proud of her descent; her two sons, her two daughters, +and her brother—all have been rendered shelterless by +Napoleon’s unsuccessful attack on Paoli. They must escape +from the island at a few hours’ notice. Through the silent +woods, in whose recesses twenty-four years earlier she had found +safety from the French, Letizia has now to flee towards the +coast under the protection of the French. All her possessions +are in the hands of her enemies. Nothing is left to her beyond +the clothes she wears.</p> + +<p>The artillery officer, twenty-three years of age, stands on +the deck of the sailing ship that is bearing him to Toulon. +Throughout the long June evening, he watches the coast recede; +every cape, every ridge, is familiar to him. Thrice he has tried +to conquer the island, as its liberator. Now he has been driven +out by the Corsicans as a Frenchman. He is full of rage and +of a thirst for revenge. The victories of France will strengthen +him, and in days to come he will, after all, be master of Corsica!</p> + +<p>But as he sails westward, and as the French coast draws +near, our adventurer enjoys the sense of freedom that comes to +him who is everywhere at home. Such is the happy lot of the +man who has no country.</p> + +<h3>X</h3> + +<p>“How shabby their dresses are!” thinks Letizia Buonaparte, +when her two half-grown girls come home from the market with +their poor purchases. The refugees are living on the fourth +floor of a confiscated house in Marseilles (the owner, a nobleman, +has been guillotined). The mother is in the early forties. +The three children with her are earning bread for the family +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span>as best they can; the two youngest are still in Corsica, cared +for by relatives. Since the Buonapartes are “persecuted +patriots,” they receive a part of their rations from the commandant. +Letizia, who is proud as ever, makes no complaints.</p> + +<p>Soon Napoleon, who is travelling, has the chance of putting +some lucrative opportunities in his brother’s way, affairs connected +with the supply of munitions of war. Maternal Uncle +Fesch lays aside the priestly habit and becomes a man of business, +in the silk trade. Then Joseph, who is of fashionable exterior, +resembling his father in appearance, and, as the eldest, +following the father’s example in styling himself Count Buonaparte,—wins +the hand of one of the two heiresses of a Marseilles +silk merchant. Napoleon entertains thoughts of marrying +his sister-in-law Désirée, the late silk merchant’s other +daughter.</p> + +<p>He is on the move throughout this summer; now at Nice, with +his regiment; now on the Rhone; now at Toulon. All the time, +his soldier’s eyes are on the look out; his artillerist’s brain is +noting the actual and the potential fortifications along this +strip of coast. Soon he will make good use of the knowledge +now acquired. Meanwhile he writes political dialogues. One +of them in conversational form, appears as a pamphlet, printed +at the public expense.</p> + +<p>In this conversation, the manufacturer is of a familiar type. +The well-to-do folk of Toulon, like their brethren in Marseilles, +are, in fact, under Robespierre’s rule, afraid of losing their +heads or even their property. Concern for their money-bags +tends to make them ever more solicitous for the welfare of the +sometime royal house, now in exile. At length, in the hope of +saving their capital, they call the enemies of France to their +aid, handing over the remnants of the navy to the English, who +in return promise them protection.</p> + +<p>This is a fearful blow for the young republic. On all fronts, +France is at grips with the forces of reaction. Belgium has +been lost; the Spaniards are advancing over the mountains; in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>Vendée, the Bourbon cause is gaining ground. Then comes the +crowning disaster of Toulon. The republic calls up its last man +for active service, enlists women, transforms the whole of +France into an armed camp. Experts are doubly welcome.</p> + +<p>Before Toulon, preparations are being made to drive out +the English. As to how this is to be done, the Convention +leaves that to the commander of the forces, originally a painter +of pictures, in whom revolutionary enthusiasm is to make up +for the lack of technical knowledge of the art of war.</p> + +<p>Then it came to pass that young Captain Buonaparte, returning +from Avignon whither he had been sent for a consignment +of gunpowder, paid a visit to his fellow-countryman +Saliceti, who introduced the young artillerist to the painter-general. +After dinner, the dilettantes went for a stroll, and +happened upon a 24-pounder, several miles from the sea. They +began to boast of all that the gun would do. The expert assured +them that, in its present position, it would be useless. +He fired four shots to show them that the sea was quite out of +range. Dumbfounded, they kept Buonaparte at Toulon, and +set him to work.</p> + +<p>“At last, one end of the rope is in my hands. Grip and hold +fast!” thinks the lonely man with the strong will. With amazing +activity, our captain has heavy guns brought from all possible +places along the coast. In six weeks, he has more than a +hundred pieces of ordnance at his disposal.</p> + +<p>Now he will give a display of his talents as military commander. +What is his plan? He will mount batteries on the +tongue of land which divides the bay into twin harbours, and +will thus cut off the hostile fleet from access to the sea. The +British commander will not stay to be shot at in a mousehole +with no outlet. He will set light to the arsenal and withdraw +his forces from the town.</p> + +<p>“Fantastical nonsense!” say the amateurs, mockingly. But +Buonaparte, who has friends in the Convention, has a complaint +lodged there against his chief. He also sends to Paris his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>scheme for the bombardment of Toulon, many pages of manuscript, +containing, in addition, counsel of a more general nature: +“Our fire must always be concentrated. If we can breach +the wall, the balance will incline to our side, resistance will be +fruitless, the place will be won. To live, we must divide; to +strike, we must unite. Victory is impossible without unity of +command. Time is everything!” Thus does a captain of +twenty-four write to the central authorities.</p> + +<p>He has a powerful ally in Paris, the younger Robespierre, +who has the reputation of a man of talent, and is not completely +overshadowed by his all-powerful brother. “Should you ever +need a man of iron for street fighting,” said Joseph Robespierre +to Maximilien, “a young man, a new man—then it must be this +Buonaparte.” Indeed, the Corsican adventurer had already +been asked whether he would become military guardian of the +terrorists, but considerations of caution had led him to decline. +Now his plan was approved, and the painter-general was recalled. +Who would replace him?</p> + +<p>Buonaparte gnashes his teeth. Another dilettante! The +new general is a medical man. He spends his time nosing out +conspiracies hatched by the nobility—and meanwhile the enemy +occupies the precious tongue of land. From Paris there had +come State carriages filled with “men of genius,” clad in brilliant +uniforms, and resolved to end the siege of Toulon, to take +the place out of hand. Buonaparte led them to an unprotected +battery. When the enemy opened fire, and they looked round +vainly for cover, their guide said gravely: “We do without +cover, nowadays; we have patriotism instead.” This young +man with blue-grey eyes is more interested in actions than in +intentions. Further complaints, and a new change in command. +This time the chief is a tried warrior, who is prompt to appoint +Napoleon battalion commander, and to adopt the young artillerist’s +plan for driving the enemy from the tongue of land.</p> + +<p>When, finally, Toulon is stormed (still in accordance with +Buonaparte’s designs), his horse is shot under him; and he is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span>wounded in the calf by an English lance—this being his first +and almost his last wound. Moreover, it is his first victory, although +he is not the official commander; and it is a victory over +England. The enemy retreats to the ships, fires the arsenal, +and withdraws, all in one night, just as Napoleon had foretold.</p> + +<p>Conflagration and death, battle and the terrors of a naval +port in which thousands of treasonable burghers are trying to +escape the avengers; amid all the fierce passions of this December +night, through the reek and the cries, across heaps of +corpses, and to the accompaniment of the agonised curses of +drowning civilians and the exultant shouts of looting soldiers, a +new star rises in the firmament—Napoleon’s fame.</p> + +<h3>XI</h3> + +<p>The popular festival held in Paris to celebrate the liberation +of Toulon and fresh victories on the northern and eastern +fronts, spreads Napoleon’s name among the masses. He is +raised to the rank of brigadier general, and his chief, sending +in a report in which the subordinate is given due credit as the +originator of the plan of siege, adds (betwixt fear and admiration) +the amazing sentence: “Even though the Convention +were to slight him, he would still force his way to the front.” +But five other young officers are likewise mentioned in despatches, +and when for the first time Napoleon sees his own +name in the “Moniteur” there can be no doubt that he is vexed +at being merely one among so many. How hard it is to climb!</p> + +<p>Already, however, there are some young fellows who have +noted the rising of the new star. Marmont and Junot, unknown +officers, want to join their fortunes to his. He appoints them +his adjutants; Brother Louis, too, now sixteen years of age. +He has a group!</p> + +<p>Big guns! The Convention commissions him to fortify the +whole stretch of coast from Toulon to Nice. Is not Genoa, +Corsica’s ancient enemy, farther along the coast? He who +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span>takes Genoa, has the island in his hands. Is not Genoa full of +diplomats and agents? This is the place for weather-breeding +among the neutrals; here, any one with sharp eyes and keen +ears can learn a great deal, and keep his information to himself. +He gets himself appointed people’s commissary, which +gives him precedence over the chiefs in Genoa. Ostensibly the +appointment is made that he may help in the settlement of +frontier questions.</p> + +<p>In reality, this is the first step of Buonaparte the diplomatist. +He intrigues with agents of various kinds, while taking note +whether the representatives of France in that part of the world +are genuinely revolutionary or only making a pretence of +revolutionary fervour. At the same time, he keeps his eyes open +to see where the cannons are. He comes back to Nice to write +his report, and, without warning, he is arrested.</p> + +<p>For, meanwhile, Robespierre had fallen, and had perished by +the guillotine. There is a general movement of repudiation. +Every one wishes to make out that only under compulsion did +he hold converse with the tyrant. Those who wish to prove +themselves guiltless, look round for victims. The best victims +will be those who are not in Paris to make a fight for it. Quick, +quick, lest we should be suspected of having belonged to +Robespierre’s faction! General Buonaparte! He has just been +on a secret mission to hostile Genoa. Lay the traitor by the +heels! He was colloguing with Robespierre to bring about the +destruction of our southern army. Hale him to Paris for trial!</p> + +<p>Napoleon is in Fort Carrée near Nice. All his papers have +been seized. It is his birthday. “To-day I am twenty-five,” he +thinks, as he glances seaward through the grating. If he could +lean out of the window, he would catch a glimpse of Corsica. +How many attempts he has made there, only to be defeated! +Was the destiny of a young aspiring soul ever before built upon +such a series of catastrophes? What has Plutarch to say on +this matter? Cashiered, banished, outlawed—as far as Corsica +is concerned. Now, after all his plans, he is a prisoner of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span>France. Next week, perhaps, he will be standing in the barrack +yard, with his back against the wall, awaiting a score of +bullets. What is to be done?</p> + +<p>His faithful followers advise him to flee. He answers in an +impassioned tone such as we rarely encounter in the sixty +thousand of Napoleon’s letters. He thanks them for their +friendly counsel, but says: “Men may treat me unjustly; no +matter, so long as I am innocent. My conscience is the tribunal +before which I judge my own conduct, and my conscience +is untroubled. Do nothing, for you would only compromise +me.” The one genuine phrase in this letter wherein he poses +as a martyr, is the last. To Junot, the enthusiastic admirer, +he speaks of motives which Junot will understand. In reality, +since he knows that there is not a jot of evidence of complicity +with Robespierre, he does not wish to compromise himself. +Flight would be an admission of guilt.</p> + +<p>Writing from prison to an influential diplomat, he says: “I +am somewhat affected by the tragical death of the younger +Robespierre, for I loved the man and believed him genuine. +Nevertheless, had he been my own father I would have stabbed +him had he wished to become a tyrant.” Is not that spoken like +a true Roman? With even more circumspection, he writes to +the Convention: “Although innocent of the charge, I shall never +make any complaint against the committee, whatever it may decide.... +But now hear me! Strike off my chains, and restore +to me the respect of patriots! An hour afterwards, if the +wicked clamour for my corpse, I shall be ready. I hold my life +at little account, for I have risked it in the trenches too often. +Nothing but the thought that I can serve my country enables +me to endure my burdens cheerfully.”</p> + +<p>A week later, he is free. Saliceti, his fellow-countryman in +the Convention, had been his accuser. Now, when the Corsican +deputy has got over his first fright and feels that his own neck +is safe, he pledges his word that Buonaparte is innocent. But +at the close of his statement, he adds a phrase which is an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span>unconscious prediction of the young officer’s triumphs: “Besides, +we need him in the army.”</p> + +<h3>XII</h3> + +<p>How he is shunned! Powerful friends, to whom he sends +letter after letter, long epistles, make no answer. He writes +beseechingly for little things, such as “a good surveying outfit +for the army,” when he wishes to force an influential comrade to +reply. All at once comes a signal from the island. Old Paoli +has summoned the English to his aid. Corsica must be saved +for France! Back to Paris, in order to fan the flames. The +expedition is actually decided on, and he eagerly hopes to secure +the command. In a fortnight the fleet is back at Toulon, having +sustained a reverse. Fresh disappointment! Why did +they not put him in charge? Had he not conquered Toulon, +fortified the coast—all with an eye towards the campaign +against Corsica?</p> + +<p>Reaction is in full swing. Napoleon is suspect. The authorities +offer him high command in Vendée, for this will separate +him from his adherents. At the same time he is transferred to +the infantry, as a “supernumerary.” How mortifying to a +highly skilled artillerist!</p> + +<p>The pale young man grew paler than ever, for he had made +up his mind to refuse. He expostulated with the People’s Commissary +for War, who, in reply, twitted him with his youth. +Napoleon looked the commissary, who knew little of active +service, straight in the eyes, and said: “A man matures quickly +on the battle-field, and it is from the battle-field that I come.” +Refusal to obey orders; expectation of dire consequences; +just as it had been three years before.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp62" id="illus02" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus02.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>General Bonaparte in 1797. After a painting by Jean Guérin. + Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.</p> + <p>(From the “Corpus Imaginum” of the Photographic Society, Charlottenburg.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>What had I better do? Report sick? Apply for leave? +The out-of-work general turns the possibilities over in his mind. +Better stay where I am. Paris is the world’s navel. True, +Marmont and Junot, who have joined him without leave, are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>also penniless. What’s Bourrienne doing? Speculating? Well, +I can try that too, but assignats are falling. How badly +you staged the last affair. Did you think you could make a +coup d’état without cannon? But to Saliceti, who in his turn +has had serious charges brought against him, and is being +sheltered by a fellow-countrywoman, he writes: “You see, I +might have paid you back in your own coin.... Who has +played the better part, you or I? I might have taken vengeance +on you, but have not done so.... Go in peace, to seek a +refuge where you can, and meditate upon your country to better +advantage. My lips will always be sealed about you. Take +counsel with yourself, appreciate my motives ... they are +noble and magnanimous.”</p> + +<p>During these summer weeks, the flood of life is obscurely +murmuring, is heavily pulsing against the shores. He is profoundly +moved by <i>Ossian</i>, the book of melancholy passion; and +he is stirred by the tragical end of plays he witnesses, hastening +from the theatre that his mood may not be jarred by the subsequent +farce. “How preposterous, in this new opera, to give a +happy ending to <i>Paul and Virginie</i> by having the girl rescued!”—“But +what is happiness?” asks the lady to whom he says +this.</p> + +<p>“Happiness?” answers Buonaparte. “The highest possible +development of my talents.”</p> + +<p>Just now they are lying fallow, that is what troubles him. +He is a prey to increasing dejection and dumb rancour. When +a comedy is being played (the wife of one of his friends reports +this), every one else is laughing, but Buonaparte sits there in +frozen silence. Sometimes he vanishes, to reappear with gloomy +aspect at the other side of the stalls. Often enough his lips are +twisted in an unsuccessful attempt to smile. He is an irresistible +raconteur of campaign stories, but his laughter on these +occasions is rough. He is often to be seen wandering through +the streets, short in the leg, thin, sallow, sickly, irritable of +mien, “awkward, hesitant, wearing an old round hat, from +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>beneath which two badly powdered ‘dog’s ears’ project, scurf +upon his collar, his ungloved hands are long and lean and dark, +ill-fitting boots.”</p> + +<p>He now plans a book traffic with foreign lands; but his first +attempt, with a consignment to Basle, miscarries.</p> + +<p>Sometimes he visits drawing-rooms, for, as he writes to his +brother, every one here seeks distraction.... There are +women all over the place, at the theatre, in the Bois, at the +Library. The prettiest of girls are to be found in the studies +of the learned. Indeed, it is right that women should rule here, +for the men are infatuated, living only through and for women.</p> + +<p>When Buonaparte is in the salon of Barras, the tribune (who +outdoes himself in splendour and extravagance, so that all Paris +talks; who can never have enough women round him), when he +stands there among women famous for their beauty like Tallien +and Récamier, he, who is small and gloomy and angular, can +only make an impression by cleverness and caprice. Even then +he seems a freak.</p> + +<p>Always the solitary, he only “lets himself go” in his long +letters to his brothers. He is educating Louis, and writes: +“The lad is a good soldier. What especially pleases me is that +he combines so many excellent qualities: ardour, spirit, health, +talent, trustworthiness, good-nature.... He will certainly be +the best of us four. Of course, none of us have enjoyed his +advantages in the matter of education.” He is thinking of having +Jerome, the youngest, sent to Paris. He is at odds with +Lucien. This talented brother is his rival. Indeed, Lucien vies +with Napoleon in his knowledge of men, was the first to understand +Napoleon, did so already when he was seventeen while +his brother was twenty-three. “In Napoleon,” wrote young +Lucien to Joseph, “I detect an ambition which is not wholly +selfish, but is greater than his love for the public welfare. In +a free State he would certainly be a dangerous man. He seems +to me inclined to become a despot. I think he would become +one, were he king. At any rate, his name would be a terror to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>posterity and to sensitive patriots.” In Lucien’s mouth, such +grandiose vaticination is no mere playing with words. His own +ambition is so intense that in this age and country he regards a +development of the kind as quite possible for his brother, and he +is mortified at the prospect that Napoleon is likely to outshine +him.</p> + +<p>For the nonce, Napoleon is in low spirits. He envies Joseph, +whom money and happiness have made independent. He offers +Joseph support in the way of introductions and papers; advises +him to use the depreciated currency for the economical +purchase of an estate. Yet we find him already writing to his +elder brother, apropos of a letter on political questions: “Your +letter was too dry; you must learn to write better than that.”</p> + +<p>A home! He wants a home of his own, like Joseph. More +eagerly in each successive letter he urges Joseph to make sure +for him of the wealthy sister-in-law, with whom he has been in +affectionate correspondence for more than a year. When she is +slow to make up her mind, he presses for a decision. His +brother and one of his intimate friends have married well; +comrades of his own age occupy prominent positions. Only +he, with his surging thoughts and imaginative schemes, remains +lonely and does nothing.</p> + +<p>“If you are going away for a long time,” he writes to +Joseph, “send me your portrait. We have lived so long in close +companionship that our hearts are intertwined. No one knows +better than you how wholly I am yours. As I write these lines, +I am more moved than almost ever before, feeling that it will be +long before we meet again. I cannot write any more. Farewell, +mon ami.”</p> + +<p>He is in a melting mood, and at times he seems utterly discouraged. +“To clamber upwards from step to step, this is +rather like an adventurer, like a man who is trying to make happiness.” +Finally he says: “Life is a trivial dream, which fades +away....”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span></p> + +<h3>XIII</h3> + +<p>Suddenly everything is in a flux. A new Minister for War +has been appointed, and he is eager to effect changes on the +Italian front. Does any one know of a new man to whom the +command there can be entrusted? The enquiry passes from +one to another, until some one recommends Buonaparte. He +is summoned to the War Office. For years he has been making +himself familiar with the Italian coast and the Italian frontier, +and forthwith he expounds a detailed plan for a campaign in +northern Italy, against Sardinia and Austria. It is substantiated +by a display of intimate knowledge of the Alpine +passes; of the weather and the snows; of seedtime and harvest; +of the administration, the temperament, and the characteristics +of the territories and the populations concerned. After the +conquest of Lombardy, between February and July, the powerful +position of Mantua must be wrested from the Austrians. +Then the Army of Italy must move northward, and in Tyrol +must effect a junction with the sister army, the Army of the +Rhine. The joint forces will threaten Vienna and this will compel +the emperor to accept a peace which will fulfil all that +France has been expecting or imagining for years past.</p> + +<p>Overwhelmed by the cataract that issues from this brain, the +minister can only say: “Your ideas, General, are equally brilliant +and bold. We must examine them closely. Write a report +for the committee. You can take your time.”</p> + +<p>“My plan is ready now. I can write it down in half an hour.”</p> + +<p>“A notable design,” say the members of the Committee of +Public Safety when the report has been read to them; “notable, +even if impracticable.” In any case, such an intelligence as +this must be utilised in the Operations Department. A few days +afterwards he has a seat in this department, where everything +is decided.</p> + +<p>The great moment has come, the turning-point of his youth. +At length he stands on the threshold of his career. The chance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>has come suddenly, for everything is sudden in this eruptive +era. From now, when he is barely twenty-six, he will for twenty +years, with unremitting vigour, move onwards towards his goal, +drawing the chain of thought and action after him. Suddenly, +twenty years hence, the chain will snap.</p> + +<p>Napoleon’s work begins. With burning energy, attending +carefully to little things because his aim is the greatest of +things, he devotes himself to “affairs.” The veil is lifted, for +here he finds the most secret reports concerning all the armies +of the republic. At the same time, his daily association with +the leading civilian figures in France gives him authority. The +suggestive influence of his personality makes itself felt.</p> + +<p>What is the first thing he aspires to gain for himself? +Neither the command in Vendée nor the command of the Army +of the Rhine. These are attainable, tangible magnitudes. +Here, at the centre of all the real fronts, nothing allures him +so much as the thought of a command which as yet lives only in +his imagination; in a battle-ground which does not exist, but +which he wants to create to-day, and which he will again want +to create seventeen years hence. Asia! Directly he gets to +work at the centre of things, he begins to emphasise the importance +of galvanising Turkey into activity, of introducing +artillery and the modern art of war on the Bosphorus, for in +due time they can from that centre be used against the Russians +and the Austrians. In fancy, he already sees himself conversing +with the sultan, beyond reach of the eyes of these everlasting +republicans, in an obscure and closed country into which +the doctrine of liberty has never made its way—a land where +a man can still do whatever he pleases. Twelve days after his +entry into the ministry, he asks to be transferred to Turkey.</p> + +<p>The application is refused. Powerful opponents are already +beginning to be afraid of this man. They want to get him out +of the War Office; to send him to the front. His protest takes +a new tone. As if he were foreseeing all the successes that are +still hidden in his own heart, he begins to dictate. “General +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>Buonaparte, who commands the artillery under the most critical +circumstances and has contributed to the greatest successes, +expects from the justice of the members of the Committee that +they shall reinstate him in his functions, and shall spare him +the distress of seeing his position usurped by men who have +always kept themselves in the background, ... but who now +press forward to snatch the fruits of victories whose dangers +they well knew how to avoid.”</p> + +<p>In the third person, in the iron style of the historian. +Roman.</p> + +<p>It avails nothing. Once more the insubordinate officer’s +name is struck from the lists, and for a second time he has to +yield. But he feels that his hour draws nigh; nothing, now, +can seriously shake his position. A fresh change of government +is at hand. Announcing to his brother the impending transformation, +he says that he himself is in the good graces of all the +party leaders who will have military posts at their disposal. +“The prospect is rosy. Even were it otherwise, a man must live +in the present. He who has courage, despises the future.”</p> + +<p>Because he despises it, it serves him. Henceforward, men +will serve him for the same reason.</p> + +<p>A fortnight after this letter had been written, a conflict +broke out between the government and the moderates, who were +backed by the royalists. Once more, there was fighting on the +boulevards, as there had been three years earlier. The National +Guard is four times as strong as the governmental forces. +Either from caution or from cowardice, the general of the +Convention parleys with the leaders of the Guard. He is +declared a traitor, and placed under arrest. The Convention +meets in a panic. It is defenceless, intimidated by the left-wing +and right-wing revolutionaries, who, for various reasons, +have joined forces.</p> + +<p>In the evening, Buonaparte hastens to the Convention, for a +successor to the arrested general is needed, and he learns that +the name of one of his rivals has been proposed. The heart of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span>the silent onlooker beats furiously. Will his name now be mentioned? +If he is asked to take command, shall he accept a task +which he had refused in the days when Robespierre was supreme? +Does not every one who leads soldiers against the +people make himself hated, precisely because of his success? +“Appoint Buonaparte!” Yes, his name has come up. “I turned +the matter over in my mind for nearly half an hour.” Such a +mission will not bring renown, but it will bring power. He +presents himself before the committee. It is past midnight; +the tumult is expected to begin early next morning; everything +must be ready within a few hours.</p> + +<p>In this situation, he demands that he shall be absolutely free +from civilian supervision. This seems a monstrous request to +make of the revolution, one of whose new principles it is to lay +especial stress upon supervision of the dreaded military arm. +“If you appoint me, I shall be responsible, and must have a free +hand. To-day, it was the fault of the people’s commissaries +that the general found himself in so precarious a position. Do +you expect that the people will give us permission to open fire +upon the people?” The only man he will share the command +with is Barras, who is the most powerful among the leaders, +but is in his hands. The minutes are passing. There is no +choice.—Buonaparte was entrusted with the defence of the government, +a fortnight after his name had been erased from the +list of general officers.</p> + +<p>For seven years the Parisian populace, when roused to +action, has had to encounter nothing more than extemporised +opposition. That is why the revolution has always made headway. +Buonaparte is the first to prepare for the struggle. In +one night, he transforms the Convention into a fortress. Even +the alarmed deputies are supplied with weapons. They are +still more frightened when they hear talk of cannon.</p> + +<p>A young cavalry officer, Murat by name, undertakes to bring +forty big guns from the suburbs. Murat thus opens a great +career on the same day as his chief. Out in the streets he finds +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span>the masses, who are likewise on the prowl for artillery. Buonaparte +cannot protect the Convention without ordnance. There +are hours of tension, during which he must tranquilly devote +himself to the disposition of his slender forces. At length, at +five in the morning, he hears the rattling wheels of his old +friends the big guns. Murat’s men were mounted, and they +have won the prize. Forward! Within two hours, everything +must be ready.</p> + +<p>In well-armed companies, the crowd advances threateningly. +The lawyers in the Convention are shaking in their shoes. +Speech after speech is made from the tribune, urging a parley, +advocating the withdrawal of the troops. In the daylight, the +situation is so menacing that the civilians utterly lose heart. +They weaken; towards noon, some of the troops want to fraternise +with the people. Night is falling. Now or never! Is +the commander to allow the mob to triumph? In like circumstances, +he had laughed at the weakness of King Louis. Shall +he himself play the weakling, when he is in command of the +guns?</p> + +<p>It is probable that Buonaparte ordered the firing of the first +shot, or perhaps extorted the order from Barras, although in +his report, and subsequently, he declared that his opponents +had this “crime against the French people” on their consciences. +Anyhow, the firing begins. The big guns win the day; blood +besprinkles the pavements; the crowd scatters; in two hours the +streets are clear. That night, Napoleon writes to his brother: +“At length it is over; my first wish is to send you news.... +We posted our troops, the enemy attacked us in the Tuileries. +We killed a lot of them, our own casualties being thirty killed +and sixty wounded. We have disarmed the companies of the +National Guard, and everything is quiet. As usual, I have +escaped without a scratch. Brigadier General Buonaparte. +Postscript. Luck is on my side. My compliments to Désirée +and Julie.”</p> + +<p>This is Napoleon’s first bulletin of victory. The enemy are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span>Frenchmen; the battle-field is Paris; the offenders are revolutionists; +most of the fatalities are on the opposing side; the +signature, which in earlier and subsequent letters consists of +nothing but the name, includes, to-day, the writer’s military +title. Everything is calculated for effect. But his feelings +break through, and in the postscript he discloses to his brother +the two things he has most at heart: Luck and Woman.</p> + +<p>At a later date he said: “I have two men within me, the man +of the head and the man of the heart.”</p> + +<h3>XIV</h3> + +<p>On the tribune of the Convention stands Buonaparte with +his officers, hailed by the acclamations of the assembly, to whom +the youthful saviour is being presented. He scarcely notices the +applause, for such triumphs of the moment seem of little value +to him. Coldly surveying the hall, he thinks: “So you are the +leaders of the nation. You trembled with fear when you heard +the thunder of the guns! You shall not forget how to tremble! +I have become your protector. I shall go on protecting you +until you have become my humble servants.”</p> + +<p>As a matter of course, he is appointed to the command of the +Army of the Interior. He now has a great following: cashiered +officers, who hope to climb in the footsteps of the cashiered +general; officials who have dreaded the reaction; all who feel +that they have been rescued. But the crowd must be learning +to hate him; for, in that darkling hour, hundreds of unarmed +citizens, idle spectators, women have perished. What is that +to him? It is not his aim to be loved.</p> + +<p>Now, when he suddenly has money and servants and carriages +at his disposal, he wants nothing for himself, everything +for his kin. His younger brothers are given good positions; +his mother can once more live a life after her own heart, and +gratify her taste for saving; Joseph has the offer of several +posts; there are places for the most distant relatives. But the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span>letters become rarer, and the very first of them sounds a new +note: “I shall do everything I can to help you, shall spare no +effort which can contribute to your happiness.” From brother, +he has become protector, head of the family.</p> + +<p>During these weeks, when he is tasting the joys of fulfilment, +he becomes involved in the only passion of his life.</p> + +<p>Désirée has missed her chance. Only a few weeks before, +writing from the office of the general staff, he had implored +Joseph to intervene on his behalf, to demand a prompt answer. +“I am burning with desire to have a home of my own.” At the +same time, in several of his letters, we find more frequent references +to charming women, allusions which betray a happy prospect +of success. He has come to know la femme de trente ans, +in her power and her beauty. He has made advances to two +such women, in quick succession: one of them a Corsican of +noble birth, a friend of his mother’s; the other, a pretty +cocotte, Chénier’s mistress. Both of them are considerably +older than he, and neither of them favours his suit. But the +atmosphere surrounding these practitioners of the art of love, +the electric atmosphere of the new salon, has exercised its influence +on him: “A kiss for the two ladies: for the first, on the +lips; for the second, on the cheek.” Since he has hitherto +known almost nothing of women, his lonely heart is susceptible.</p> + +<p>Immediately after his appointment, the new generalissimo +issues a decree against bearing arms. A search is made, and +all weapons in civilian hands are confiscated. Now a boy of +twelve, with engaging manners, turns up at the general’s office +with a plea for the return of his dead father’s sword, which has +been taken away from his mother. Napoleon concedes the +point, and shortly afterwards the mother comes to thank him. +What an elegant woman—wayward, gracious, captivating! +Thirty or more; who can say? Not so much beautiful, as +enthralling; slender; distinguished, but with a slightly foreign +air; the dark skin of the Creole, for she was born in Martinique, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span>though brought up in Paris; and during the days of the Terror +she has learned to conquer by her charms.</p> + +<p>When the general pays her a visit at the little house in an +out-of-the-way suburb, his eyes, sharpened by his own experience +of poverty, detect evidence of an endeavour to put a good +face upon poor circumstances. This does not trouble him. An +army officer, who now, at the age of twenty-seven, can for the +first time dispose of means which enable him to live as he pleases, +he prizes money, but he does not prize rich people. Just as in +the life of affairs, men can only move him by their capacity, by +what they can do; so women can only please him by their +capacity—by their personal appearance, their nature, and what +they can make of these.</p> + +<p>Josephine makes a great deal, as she needs to do. From +Martinique, her tropical home, she was able to save nothing +when she lost her husband, Vicomte de Beauharnais. For years +she was separated from him, but was reunited with him after her +return to Paris from a prolonged visit to her native island. +During the Terror, he was executed as a royalist; and she spent +three terrible months in gaol, to be liberated after Robespierre’s +fall on the very day when Buonaparte was imprisoned. Friends +came to her assistance in her difficulties; but her position and +that of her two lovely young children, Hortense and Eugene, +was precarious.</p> + +<p>In this genteel poverty, it is expedient for her to make the +best use of her charms. In any case, she is a born coquette, +and is urged towards amorous adventures by the spur of her +own love of pleasure. At this time, she is Barras’ mistress, her +handsome friend Tallien having taken up with a wealthy banker, +handing over the man of might to Josephine. However, the +two women hold Barras in joint control. The Committee of +Public Safety supplies them with horses and carriages. But +Beauharnais, being of gentle birth, knows how to give attractive +dinner parties, and associates with members of both factions, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span>although the counts and marquises who frequent her +house leave their wives at home. She has become an adventuress +of the revolution.</p> + +<p>Well, what about Buonaparte himself? Any change in the +political situation may cost him his position. What more is +he, as yet, than an adventurer of the revolution? If Murat had +failed to shark up those guns the other night, the general would +have been shot. Life is insecure, both for him and for +Josephine.</p> + +<p>What can be easier than to befool this misanthropic and +misogynistic man in whose dumb soul the schoolmaster at +Brienne had long ago discovered the hidden volcano? For the +first time in his life he is in the toils of a woman, an expert in +love; he is consumed by his passion for the Creole beauty. To +Josephine, it seems a stroke of luck, and in cold blood she +decides on marriage.</p> + +<p>“You have seen General Buonaparte at my house. He is to +become a father to my orphaned children, a husband to my +widowed self.... I admire the general’s courage, and I +wonder how much he knows.... But, I must confess, I am +alarmed at the energy which animates all his doings. In his +questing glance there is something inexplicable, which intimidates +even our Directors. What ought to please me most, the +passionate ardour he displays, is the very thing which makes me +hesitate. Now that I am past my first youth, can I hope that +I shall be able to keep alive in him an affection so stormy that +it borders on madness?”</p> + +<p>This lady of refinement does not fully understand what +threatens her, and yet in the depths of her soul she shudders at +the foreboding that she is to become the play of elemental +forces. For, if this man who covets all or nothing and cannot +rest until he has all, this man who has never given himself up to +any one person or any one thing because it has been his unceasing +wish to gain every one and everything, if Napoleon now +gives himself for the first and only time in his life, he will stake +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span>his whole being, and will fetter it to the personality of the +woman whom he clasps in his arms.</p> + +<p>“I am waiting for you; I am wholly filled with you; your +picture and the intoxicating evening leave my senses no peace. +Sweet, incomparable Josephine, what have you done to my +heart? Are you angry with me? Do you look sad? Are you +ill at ease?... But I find calm when I give myself up to my +passion, that on your lips, at your heart, I may fan the flames +which burn me. How plain it was to me last night that your +picture can never replace the real you. At noon you will start; +in three hours I shall see you; till then, mio dolce amor, a +thousand kisses! But you must not give me kisses, for they +burn my blood!”</p> + +<p>He does not tell her his plans, and yet he tells her something +more. “These Directors fancy that I need their protection. +They will consider themselves happy, some day, to secure mine. +I shall make my way with the sword.”—“What do you +think,” writes Josephine, “of this faith in success? Can such +self-confidence be based on anything else than immeasurable +conceit? A brigadier general is to protect the heads of the +government! I don’t know what to make of it; and yet, often +enough, this ludicrous self-assurance makes me believe that anything +is possible which the strange man wants to achieve.”</p> + +<p>We feel as if we were standing in front of the iron door +which guards a glowing human heart, and looking through the +key-hole into the fiery furnace of a soul.</p> + +<p>But this woman, whom he possesses, why does he take her to +wife? That he may possess her for himself alone? His egotism +is against it, and, besides, he would be deluding himself. To +gain advantages? In respect of money, and in respect of +influence with the powerful, she can offer him nothing that he +does not already enjoy. Of course she might prove useful to +him; he is certainly flattered that she is of noble birth; and +beyond doubt he has taken into consideration the fact that if +she, who had a place in the days of the old regime, becomes his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span>wife, this will put an end to the whispers that he is “only a +Corsican.” Yet it is as a Corsican, with the family feeling of +an Italian (a feeling that has come down to him through the +generations, and masters even him), that he desires marriage +with a woman of birth. Finally, is it not obvious that this man +who is so utterly self-centred must passionately long for a +perpetuation of his own ego?</p> + +<p>The one thing in the world which Napoleon cannot make +without another’s aid is an heir, and this heir must be made +out of good materials. He is no man of the people. He has +come into being amid the struggles of old families, and beneath +a coat-of-arms bearing two stars which he now wishes to fuse +into one. If he has helped to break down the prejudices against +the masses, he has been moved along this course by delight in +the elemental energy of action, and never by humanist feelings. +Why should he wish to mix his blood with that of the people? +When he marries the woman who long ere this has granted +him all, he does so because, in both branches of her ancestry, +she is the offspring of a long line of noble forebears. It is her +birth, in addition to her charms, which makes her a welcome +figure in a drawing-room, despite her reputation and her position. +Since the Thirteenth Vendémiaire, Barras, the most +powerful of the Directors, has regarded Buonaparte as his +main prop—and he wishes to bind the general to his service by +handing over Josephine. In this realm of erotic freedoms, a +man who should wish, of a sudden, to insist on points of honour +would simply make himself ridiculous. There are no knights +and ladies now, but only citizens and citizenesses, who pair and +separate as they please.</p> + +<p>Barras has long since decided that Napoleon shall command +the Army of Italy; and when Josephine, womanlike, is unable to +make up her mind, Barras gives her a definite pledge to this +effect. There are good reasons, too, why he should send the +dangerous man to the most difficult front. Napoleon’s great +plan, the one which has procured him his position on the general +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span>staff, is now sent to Nice, and comes back with annotations +by the commander-in-chief there. The man who has drafted +the plan, says that worthy, must have been a lunatic. He had +better come and try his own hand at the job. That is exactly +what the Directory has been angling for. The writer of the +criticism is recalled, and the “lunatic” is sent to take his place.</p> + +<p>The position is assured; the prudent Josephine hesitates no +longer. A legal friend has to certify that no birth certificate is +now obtainable from the blockaded island in the West Indies, +and that the authorities must therefore take the lady’s word +for the statement that she is twenty-eight. Since this knocks +five years off her age, the bridegroom is gallant enough to add +a year to his own. Thus the marriage begins with a twofold +falsification of dates. A marriage settlement arranging for the +division of property is signed, although the vicomtesse owns +nothing but debts, and the warrior declares that his only possessions +are his clothes, his uniform.</p> + +<p>In the wedding ring, the words “To Destiny!” are engraved.</p> + +<p>Two days later, he leaves Paris. Eleven crazy love letters +are sent to her from eleven halting places. In Nice he joins his +army, and takes over a command which will lead him beyond +the frontiers of Europe.</p> + +<p>It is the season of the equinoctial gales. From a turret he +looks across at the enemy coast, and thinks: “This is the place +I have always coveted as a starting-point. Behind me lies Paris; +and her bedchamber, hung with mirrors. That is happiness. +It is mine. Over there, across the mountains, in that hostile +land, is fame. The goal of my desire.”</p> + +<p>As he turns away, he catches sight of a familiar line of +mountains shimmering in the distant blue. No longer does this +hold his attention.</p> + +<p>It is his lost homeland. The island.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="BOOK_TWO">BOOK TWO<br> +THE TORRENT</h2> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>So divine an illumination is always linked with youth and +productivity; and, in very truth, Napoleon was one of the +most productive men that ever lived.—<span class="smcap">Goethe.</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span></p> + +<h3>I</h3> + +<p>The towering peaks form a white, serrated ridge that thrusts +upward into the blue of morning. Gleaming with perpetual +snows, dangerous as the adventure he has undertaken, the Alps +look down threateningly upon the bay, and mock the teeming +crowds of men. Invincibly does nature, in symbolic fashion, +here call a halt to the commander; here she has interposed a +barrier between the land of his fathers and his new fatherland.</p> + +<p>But he, who never trusts in force alone, who always outbids +force with prudence, has to good purpose been pondering the +old problem. Hannibal crossed the Alps; he, Napoleon, will go +round them. If we come to grips with the enemy at the weakest +point, where the Apennines press close to the Alps and a slight +depression facilitates an entry, we need not wait for the summer. +The earlier in the year, the firmer the snows, and the less +danger from avalanches. Forward, into the land of my fathers!</p> + +<p>Delay will be fatal. Not that the enemy is a danger to him. +His foes are asleep in winter quarters: the Austrians in the +east of Lombardy; the Sardinians in the west of the Lombard +plain; and the numerous petty republics and duchies, the fragments +of Italy, are not expecting an attack until the thaw has +come. But the French soldiers are hungry. Paris, on the +verge of ruin, through depreciation of the currency, can send +them nothing but almost valueless assignats; and all of these +disappear into the greedy maw of the army contractors. +“France would tremble,” said one of the generals in his letters +home just before Bonaparte’s arrival, “could every one know +how many are dying here of famine and disease.” What will +the new commander do if he brings neither money nor bread +with him?</p> + +<p>“Soldiers, you are half starved and half naked. The Government +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>owes you much, but can do nothing for you. Your +patience, your courage, do you honour, but give you no glory, +no advantage. I will lead you into the most fertile plains of +the world. There you will find flourishing cities, teeming +provinces. There you will reap honour, glory, and wealth. +Soldiers of the Army of Italy, will you be wanting in courage +and firmness?”</p> + +<p>A faint cheer from the ranks answered the new commander +when, at the first parade, he addressed his men in the foregoing +words. But when they were all back in camp, one said to +another: “General doesn’t look very weatherproof, with his +yellow hide. Fine talk, that, about the fertile plains. He’d +better let us have some boots first, so that we can march +there!” The people of Israel must have grumbled in much the +same fashion when Moses spoke of the Promised Land. The +new commander encounters nothing but opposition.</p> + +<p>Who knows him among the soldiers of this army, which has +now been encamped for three years on the crests of the hills? +Those of them who remain, that is to say: for a fourth of the +men are in hospital; and an equal number have been killed, or +taken prisoner, or have deserted! The officers? Will not they, +like those captains in Auxonne seven years ago, be inclined to +encounter this wonderful young man’s orders with passive +resistance rather than ready obedience? Look at him as he sits +there writing and calculating; his powdered hair is cut in a +fringe over his forehead, but lengthens towards the back of the +head to hang down over his shoulders; his coat is simple and +scantily embroidered; he walks up and down and issues dictatorial +orders, this foreigner whose French is still faulty. Not an +officer in his staff is well-disposed towards him, except the three +or four faithful followers whom he has brought with him. One +of these latter tells us: “They looked upon him as a mathematician +or a visionary.”</p> + +<p>What if he be both at once, and for this very reason a man +of genius?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span></p> + +<p>At first, he seems to be nothing but a calculator. Consider +one of his early letters to the Directors—for he promptly opens +an epistolary campaign, carried on side by side with a campaign +of cavalry and by guns, waged with the same ardour and +the same success. “You are asking me to perform miracles, +and I cannot do that.... Only with prudence and foresight +can we achieve great ends. It is but a step from victory to +defeat. In affairs of magnitude I have learned that, in the +last resort, everything invariably turns upon a trifle.” But to +Carnot, the great army organiser, to whom he can say much +that is unsuitable for his official dispatches, he writes, gnashing +his teeth: “Would you believe it, that I have not a single +engineer officer here, not one who has ever taken part in a +siege!... You can hardly conceive how furious I am that I +have no artillery!” His actual resources totalled 24 mountain +guns, 4,000 underfed horses, frs. 300,000 in silver, and enough +food to supply his 30,000 men for a month on half rations. +With these vestiges of an equipment, he is to conquer Italy!</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, having undertaken the venture, he makes the +best of the materials at his disposal. Getting to work like a +hurricane upon this crowd of pitiful men who have run to seed, +upon corps some of which have already begun to sing the royal +anthem again, with indefatigable energy he succeeds in transforming +them into a republican army.</p> + +<p>Here are some of his doings on the third day after his +arrival. Sending a hundred and ten workmen to make a road. +Suppression of a mutiny in a brigade. Quartering of two +artillery divisions. Orders to two generals in case of horse +stealing. Answer to the requests of two others concerning their +commands. Order to a general in Toulon to bring his men to +Nice. Order to another general to call up the National Guard +of Antibes. Order to a general to find the most efficient officers +in the mutinous brigade. Address to the general staff. Review +of troops, with orders of the day.—During the first +twenty days, one hundred and twenty-three written orders +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span>relate solely to the provisioning of the troops; among them are +numerous complaints concerning peculation, short weight, and +inferior goods; and these orders are issued on the march, from +twelve different headquarters, in the interludes between six +skirmishes.</p> + +<p>For hardly has he passed through the narrow defiles than, +in accordance with his new principle, he has massed his forces +to attack first one and then the other of the allied foes, and in +two battles he defeats and separates them. In truth, these were +mere advance-guard skirmishes, as becomes the nature of the +French, and the previous training of these troops, which as yet +know nothing of a great movement in open lines. At this stage +of his campaign, speed and boldness are more important than +elaborate strategy.</p> + +<p>When he is on one of these breathless rides, in the deep mountain +valleys, through the passes, amid the thunder of his own +and the enemy cannon, suddenly the glass covering Josephine’s +miniature (which he carries in the inner pocket of his tunic, +and has kissed hundreds of times) shivers into fragments. +Growing paler than ever, he reins in his charger, and says to +Bourrienne: “The glass is broken. My wife is ill or unfaithful. +Forward!”</p> + +<p>Everything depends upon the fulfilment of his first old +pledge. He knows that if, this once, he is able to do what he +has promised, the army will believe him; and if it believes him, +it will soon believe in him. In actual fact, a fortnight after his +prophecy had been uttered, the army, which had won its first +victories on entering the downward grades, found itself on the +last elevation. The soldiers raised a hearty cheer. After the +weary days in the narrow valleys, they at length caught sight +of the plains of Piedmont lying at their feet, stretching out into +the immeasurable distance, blossoming in the spring weather, +offering all that they had gone short of for so long. The Po +and other rivers were flowing towards the horizon, and at length +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>the world of snows lay behind. “As if by a magician’s spell, +they had been enabled to cross the gigantic barrier, which had +seemed to them like the frontier of another world.”</p> + +<p>“All this is yours!” Their commander has forced one of the +two opponents, the king of Sardinia, to make truce, thus compelling +the surrender of everything that grows on Sardinian +territory. This first truce of his campaigns was secured by +Bonaparte through cunning and bluff, for he threatened the +enemy with the use of overwhelming forces, which he did not +possess, and, indeed, could not have used, pressed as he was +on both sides. The soldiers are amazed; their general is a man +of his word! Literally, in a fortnight, he has fulfilled his +promise.</p> + +<p>Henceforward, the men under his command put their trust +in Bonaparte. It is as Bonaparte that he begins to sign +himself from the outset of the campaign. Since Italy is the +enemy, he will have nothing more to do with an Italian name.</p> + +<p>Ere long, he will change his name again.</p> + +<h3>II</h3> + +<p>Why was he victorious? How can we explain that during +the next few weeks he was able to deliver blow after blow? +What is the solution of this riddle?</p> + +<p>First of all, he owes his success to youth and health. A body +that can endure interminable riding without fatigue; the power +to sleep at any moment, and to wake whenever he pleases; a +stomach which can digest anything, and makes no complaint at +being put on short commons; eyes that see and arrange everything.</p> + +<p>But it is to the revolution that he is indebted for the fact +that at the age of twenty-seven, when his splendid powers are +in their first vigour, he has risen to a leading place, and can +wield unrestricted dictatorship. Only, thanks to the new ideas +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>of equality, in a world which prizes a man for what he does and +not for his birth, can any one become a leader in the prime of +youth and after so rough an apprenticeship.</p> + +<p>Look at the men who are in the field against him. Archduke +Charles, with his delicately shaped and decadent Habsburg +nose, how can he, with his education, vie with the Corsican in +indifference to hardships, rival Bonaparte in knowledge of men? +How can Beaulieu, the Austrian commander, cope with the +French general? The former is seventy-two; the latter, twenty-seven. +General Colli suffers from gout, and has to be carried +throughout the campaign. Alvintzy is in the middle sixties. +The king of Sardinia is an old man. What can the excellent +General Wurmser, who is deaf, and a slow, elderly gentleman, +cautious in his movements, do against a commander who thinks +nothing of changing his headquarters every day, who surrounds +himself with young men, and who takes “Time is everything,” +for his motto?</p> + +<p>The oldest man in Napoleon’s circle is the faithful Berthier, +now forty-two, whom the new commander has taken over from +his predecessor because Berthier has a good knowledge of the +country. For two decades he is to be Bonaparte’s slavishly +devoted chief of general staff. Next to be mentioned comes +Masséna, a man of ardent temperament, who had been a cabin +boy and a vagrant, and had served fourteen years under the +Bourbons without rising to the rank of sergeant major; now, +within a few weeks, he was to become a general. Augereau, too, +a deserter from three armies, boaster, adventurer, and great +thief. Such were the men drawn from the dregs of society out +of whom their commander, the youngest of them all, was soon +to make heroes and generalissimos, and subsequently princes +and dukes.</p> + +<p>In every dispatch, he recommends for promotion those, and +only those, who have displayed courage. Thus, after three +battles, a grenadier rises to the rank of colonel, and will climb +yet higher. On the other hand, many of the generals whom he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>has taken over with his command are dismissed with blunt censure: +“Good enough for office work, knows nothing of war.” +His subordinates do not necessarily incur his displeasure because +they are beaten: “The fortune of war, dear Masséna, +changes from day to day. To-morrow, or later, we shall win +back what you have just lost.” But a division which has done +badly is paraded to hear a rating. He says that he will have +a mocking inscription worked upon its colours. Then the +soldiers cry to him from the ranks: “To-morrow we will lead +the van.” Next day, he has a thousand more enthusiasts +among the troops. When they are victorious, in the orders of +the day he calls them comrades and friends. Thus does he +lead the sons of the people.</p> + +<p>For it is a people’s army that he is leading; that is the +second great factor of his success. This, too, he owes to the +revolution. Indeed, the people’s army is an expression of the +revolution. The soldiers on the Austrian side must be used +thriftily, for they cost a great deal, and it is not easy to +replace them. They are drawn from a larger number of +nationalities than the German emperor himself rules. Six +different languages are spoken in the army, and there is no +community of thought to hold it together. But the French +are fighting as a united nation of thirty millions, and their army +will be capable of perpetual regeneration for twenty years to +come.</p> + +<p>What is the French army fighting for? The new freedom of +the republic, and to spread throughout the world the few and +simple ideas which animate it! The French are fighting for the +world revolution, and nothing short of that. But the army is +not in pursuit of purely ideal aims. It has to defend liberty +against the environing forces of legitimate monarchy, against +the legitimists who are more concerned with self-defence than +with the cause of the fallen Bourbons. The French cannot +achieve their end by simply defending their own frontiers. +They are surrounded by kings and emperors who wish to keep +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>their peoples from any attempt to imitate the French revolution, +and are therefore trying to destroy the very focus of the +new ideas. Thus France is forced to assume the offensive as a +means of self-defence. Those who in such a fashion become +conquerors in spite of themselves, are surely entitled to declare +that their conquests are achieved in the name of liberty.</p> + +<p>This brings us to the third factor of Napoleon’s success. +While the commander is engaged in the attempt to conquer +Lombardy, and then Italy, for France, he issues a series of +manifestoes to tell the inhabitants of the territories he is invading +that he comes to free them from the Habsburgs and the +Sardinians, from dukes and patrician senates. Will not all who +have been discontented with the old order be roused to action +by the torrential force of such appeals? Have not the oppressed +masses long had it in mind to rid themselves of their +rulers? Have not the ideas of the revolution crossed the frontiers +years ago, rousing, in many of the towns, students and +burghers to revolt? Here in Italy were young people who +longed for freedom; leaders who had been vainly clamouring for +“Italia unità.” The revolt, though still in chains, was rattling +its chains outside the kings’ palace doors. The malcontents +were ready to welcome the invading army, and to believe in its +mission.</p> + +<p>The commander, a man of Italian blood, bearing an Italian +name, and speaking Italian as his mother tongue, was not for +them a French warrior. He was the herald of liberty and +equality, and the two great words headed all his letters. How +terrible would be the disillusionment, should the invader prove, +after all, a foreign oppressor! The commander is well aware +how much turns upon this. Will he be able to keep his famished +army within bounds? Can he make his soldiers behave as well +as if they were fresh from a well-provisioned garrison town?</p> + +<p>“Looting is on the wane,” he writes home. “The thirst of an +army which lacked everything has been quenched. There is an +excuse for the poor devils. They have spent three years in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>marches of the Alps, and now I have led them into the Promised +Land! A famished soldier perpetrates excesses which make one +ashamed of being a man.... I intend to restore order, for +I will not remain in command of a robber band.... To-morrow +I am going to have several privates and a corporal shot, +for having looted the plate from a church. Discipline will be +re-established within a day or two. Italy has been amazed at +the valour of our soldiers, and shall be amazed at their good +behaviour. There have been terrible moments; things have happened +which have made me shudder. Thank God, the retreating +enemy behaved even worse!”</p> + +<p>He puts his men on their honour. “Swear to me”—thus runs +one of his early manifestoes—“to spare the peoples you are +liberating; otherwise you will be the scourges of the people! +Your victories, your courage, the blood of our fallen brothers, +will be lost; honour and glory, too! I and my generals would +blush at leading an undisciplined army!” Hard to carry out, +despite his adjurations. Throughout the campaign, he is +hampered by this problem of looting. Again and again he +issues orders to his generals telling them they are to shoot +any one who fails to hand over his plunder within twenty-four +hours, even if the stolen goods be horses and mules.</p> + +<p>There are revolts and counter-attacks. Priests and nobles, +agents of the princes, incite a town to resist. He is pitiless in +his shootings, ruthless in his reprisals, whenever, in the conquered +territory, any one raises a hand against the new master. +But this becomes increasingly rare, for in the towns he is +skilful in enlisting the civic sense on the side of a new order +which assumes imposing lineaments. He understands (and this +is an additional factor of success) the Italian temperament; +knows how to appeal to the sense of historic veneration: “Peoples +of Italy, the army of France comes to break your chains. +It is a friend to all the peoples. Have confidence! Your property, +your customs, your religion, shall be respected.” He goes +on to speak to them of Athens, Sparta, classical Rome.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span></p> + +<p>History inspires him. While with rapid strokes he is making +history, history gives his spirit wings. In boyhood, he had +studied Plutarch; as lieutenant, he had read the history of all +times; now, from moment to moment, he turns the knowledge +to account. Knowing who has ruled in every part of these territories, +understanding how the governments he has overthrown +came into being, he has appropriate measures for each area. +Time-honoured figures are ever present to his imagination; he +wants to resemble them, to outdo them. Thus, whatever he +does is conceived in a historic setting; and he compels his army, +the country with which he is dealing, and, soon, Europe as a +whole, to breathe the same atmosphere. These first victories, +which in reality are nothing more than big skirmishes, are by +the magic of his words transformed into battles, and the battles +are magnified into history. In this way, half of what he +achieves is achieved by the power of words. To the lands he is +freeing, to his soldiers, he invariably suggests that they have +done the whole thing themselves. Read his proclamation to the +army in Milan.</p> + +<p>“Soldiers, like a torrent you have rushed down from the +heights of the Apennines.... Milan is yours.... We are +the friends of all the peoples; but, above all, we are the friends +of the offspring of Brutus and Scipio and the other great men +who are our models. To re-establish the Capitol, to set up there +the statues of the heroes, to awaken the Roman people which +for centuries has been paralysed by servitude—that is the fruit +of your victories, that will amaze posterity. It is your title to +immortal fame that you have given a new visage to the most +beautiful land in Europe.... Then you will return to your +homes, and your neighbours will point you out to one another, +saying: ‘He was with the army in Italy!’”</p> + +<p>Did a commander ever before make such alluring appeals to +soldiers and peoples, to friends and foes? Who understood so +well as Napoleon how to influence people through their imaginations +instead of through a sense of obedience? At Arcola he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span>shouts to his men: “Are you cowards, or are you the victors of +Lodi?” In a month or two, he will be urging them onward by +reminding them that they are the victors of Arcola. “We have +crossed the Po, and have opened the second campaign,” he +writes to the Directors. All his reports to Paris are penned +with consummate art. What he writes is the truth, but it is so +skilfully adorned that it develops a life of its own as soon as +the government communicates it to the press, and when from +France it makes its way into foreign lands.</p> + +<p>With the pen, Bonaparte rounds off the victories he has won +with the sword.</p> + +<h3>III</h3> + +<p>“I have received your peace treaty with Sardinia. The army +has approved it.”</p> + +<p>The Directors quake as they read the words. The arrival of +this dispatch cancels the joy they had felt at the coming of so +many captured colours. When, before, had a general in the field +dared to write in such a fashion to his government? “For this +letter, the young hero ought to be stood up before a firing +squad,” cry his opponents. But the fame of his victories, the +glory of his conquest of Lombardy, have already secured him +so strong a position in the hearts of the people that no one +dares attack him. Recently, when the governmental commissary, +his fellow-Corsican Saliceti, came to his camp, Bonaparte +ignored the official’s authority, and himself signed the truce +with Sardinia. These negotiations were the first in which he +proved his mettle as diplomatist. When the other side wanted +to bargain, he took out his watch, named the hour at which he +had decided to attack, and said they had better make up their +minds quickly. “I may lose battles,” he said, “but no one will +ever see me lose minutes either by over-confidence or by sloth.” +With this truce, he for the first time dispossessed a king. Without +asking for instructions, he entered into negotiations with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>the dukes, with Tuscany. Was he not, before long, to do the +same thing with the pope? What was the best way of dealing +with this dangerous conqueror?</p> + +<p>“We will send him a partner,” thought the Directors, with a +smile. “Let him share the supreme command with Kellermann, +while Saliceti decides upon political issues.” Orders to this +effect reached him at Lodi, on the day of battle.</p> + +<p>That was the first real battle he had won. A colossal bluff +and a bold movement enabled him to storm the bridge over the +Adda and to defeat the alarmed Austrians. There were to be +much greater victories in days to come; but, in the history of +the man’s spiritual development, not one of them was to equal +this in importance.</p> + +<p>For now, after a battle which decided the first part of his +campaign, having taken much booty and sustained only trifling +losses, and having made himself master of a territory opened +to him by an hour’s struggle on the bridge,—this evening, +Bonaparte feels for the first time how obscure plans and brilliant +exploits of war, dream and reality, are interconnected. +The consciousness of his own powers makes him realise that +boundless possibilities lie before him. That was the first time +on which a word concerning such aims crossed his lips. To his +friend Marmont he said: “I feel that deeds await me of which +the present generation has no inkling.” Long afterwards, in +retrospect, he declared: “That evening, after the battle of +Lodi, I first became aware that I was an exceptional man; from +then I date the awakening of an ambition to do the great things +which hitherto had existed for me only as the fantasies of a +dream.”</p> + +<p>Such was his mood when the new orders came from Paris. +What? The conquest of two or three continents was looming +before his imagination—and he was to go halves with Kellermann? +He strode up and down the room, pursing his lips, and +then he issued his fiat to the government:</p> + +<p>“If you put hindrances in my path, if you make my actions +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span>dependent upon the commissary’s decision, ... you must not +expect any more good results from me.... Here it is indispensable +that you should have absolute confidence in your commander. +If I do not enjoy that confidence, I shall without +complaint endeavour to win your approval in some other post. +Every one has his own way of making war. General Kellermann +has more experience, and would doubtless do it better; +but, together, we should do it badly. I cannot serve the country +unless I have your complete and undivided trust. Much +courage, I know, is needed to write you this report, for it would +be easy to charge me with ambition and pride! But you are +responsible for my having to express my feelings.... I cannot +serve jointly with a man who regards himself as the best +commander in Europe. For the rest, one bad general is better +than two good generals. With war, as with governance, it is a +question of tact.”</p> + +<p>The general does not seem inclined to yield up his place to +any one. If the authorities in Paris insist on a divided command, +is it not likely that he will march ahead on his own +initiative, gain further victories with his unaided talents, then +turn back to threaten France, and, as a condottiere, overthrow +the government? The Directors think it will be better not to +insist; with a smile, a wry one this time, they give way. After +his first, noiseless victory over the government, Bonaparte feels +he is master. Henceforward he behaves, substantially, as a king +who is his own commander-in-chief, but who can only secure +reinforcements and other requisites by reiterated adjurations. +For months and years, therefore, his dispatches are still written +in the tone of a subordinate; of one who does not threaten, +but advises. Yet in reality he acts all the time as if he were +already in the land of the sultan, towards which his masterful +character draws him.</p> + +<p>The Paris courier has been sent off. Bonaparte’s first “No” +is on its way. Another restless night in camp, and then to +Milan!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span></p> + +<p>In everything, he imitates the Roman general celebrating a +triumph. As of old, the prisoners lead the way, the only difference +being that nowadays they are not in chains. They are +followed by five hundred cavalrymen. The citizens, who are +used to seeing brilliant uniforms, are astonished at the tattered +tunics, the sorry screws, the jaded appearance of the riders; +and they are still more amazed when they see the thin little +man on the inconspicuous white nag, at the head of his weary-looking +suite. How grey the whole procession looks in the +light of this brilliant spring day. At the gate the venerable +archbishop, with a train of counts and dukes, bids him welcome. +He dismounts, but does not draw near to the reception committee; +he merely listens with forced politeness to the words of +greeting. The onlookers are wondering what answer he will +make. For a few seconds he keeps his lips tightly pressed together, +and then contents himself with a single sentence, to the +effect that France wishes the Lombards well. Remounting, he +salutes, and rides on.</p> + +<p>Leaders and crowd are deeply impressed; no enthusiasm, +only astonishment. Not a sign of arrogance about this conqueror; +nothing but resolution, and a force of will before which +all must bend. Was his conduct deliberately planned to produce +such an impression, though never before had he experienced +anything of the kind? Was he “play-acting”? If so, +all the more remarkable his knowledge of men; all the more +plain that he was a master of the ruler’s art!</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, he is absent-minded to-day, for he has not all +that he wants.</p> + +<p>Now, the streets echo to the shouts of the crowd, who cannot +restrain their expressions of astonishment as they watch the +men who follow the commander—marching in a slack and almost +disorderly fashion, clad in scarecrow uniforms patched with +many colours. These Frenchmen seem in almost sorrier case +than the prisoners!</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus03" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus03.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>General Bonaparte in 1796. Engraving from the Kircheisen + Collection.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The commander is taking his ease in the archbishop’s palace. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span>He is having a bath. Hot baths are his one luxury, a luxury +that he will continue to indulge in down to the day of his death, +taking them hotter and hotter, staying in them longer and +longer, as time goes on. Nothing can break him of the habit, +for a hot bath is the only thing which really refreshes him, +soothes his nerves. In the evening there is a reception. “You +will be free, and in a safer position than the French. Milan +will be the capital of this new republic, which has a population +of five million. You shall have five hundred pieces of ordnance, +and the friendship of France. From among you I will choose +fifty men, who shall rule the country in the name of France. +Adopt our laws, modifying them to suit your own customs.... +Be sagacious and united, and all will go well. Such is my will. +If Habsburg should again seize Lombardy, I swear to you that +I will take up your cause, that I will never desert you. If your +land perishes, I shall be no more. Athens and Sparta did not +last for ever!”</p> + +<p>Never since the days of Plutarch’s heroes did a commander +talk like this. It was the conqueror’s first speech from the +throne, and was compounded of all the elements with which, in +his speeches and letters, he was to work upon the mind of +Europe for twenty years to come. Everything is single and +definite; there is so much fixity of purpose that every one +wishes to comply. You are vassals, but free. I am your master, +but I will protect you. Five hundred pieces of ordnance +and the friendship of France. “Such is my will.” Then it is +all over.</p> + +<p>Through the May night, the wealthy town blazed with fireworks +and resounded with music. The young commander-in-chief +has moved on to the Palazzo Serbelloni; the banquet is +over, and he stands at the window. The triumphal entry of +which he dreamed in youth, towards which his virginal fancy +strained, has now been accomplished. Does he look forward or +back? With what is his mind busied?</p> + +<p>“What do you imagine the Parisians are thinking of us?” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span>he asks his adjutant. “Do you expect they are satisfied?” +When Marmont makes the conventional reply, Napoleon goes +on: “But Paris has seen nothing, so far. The future hides +much greater victories. The goddess of fortune has not smiled +on me that I may scorn her. The more she favours me, the +greater shall be my demands. In a few days we shall reach +the Adige; then Italy will be at our feet. Perhaps we shall +cross the river, and press onward. Our age has produced nothing +great. I want to set an example.”</p> + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<p>A royal couch in the Serbelloni Palace; never has he lain +so soft before. But it is far too wide for one! Where is +Josephine? What are triumphal entries and victories worth, +without her? Fireworks and flags! Why has she not come? +Is she really ill? Has she a lover?—He lies awake for hours.</p> + +<p>From the very first this man, who inspired respect even in +the veterans among the generals, imperilled that respect by +his way of showing his wife’s picture to all and sundry, and +when he was in the middle of a conversation about service matters. +“You will come soon, won’t you?” So he wrote in one +of his almost daily letters. “You must come to me. I want +you on my heart, in my arms! Quick! Fly, fly!” He knows +her frivolous disposition; that her senses are easily aroused; +that she is always ready to give herself up to new impressions, +new admirers. But now, now! What can be keeping her? He +had expected her to come to Milan. His ambition had been to +escape thither from the savagery of the campaign, that in one +of the palaces of that city he might give her capricious charms +a splendid setting worthy of her and himself.</p> + +<p>But there is something which our great calculator has left +out of his calculations. By his very feats of arms, he has kept +her away from his side. For years in Paris she has been living +in the half-world. Now, in this city which she loves, she wishes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>to shine forth in an assured position, as wife of the great commander +whose name is in every newspaper, on every one’s lips. +Does the little general really think she married him for love? +When the first captured colours are exhibited, she drives out +among the people, and, while she is loudly cheered, she thinks +to herself how much more gratifying this is than to rough it +in foreign towns surrounded by unmannerly soldiers. She +seldom writes to him. His own words grow ever more urgent. +“Have you a lover, have you taken up with some stripling of +nineteen? If so, you have reason to dread Othello’s fist!” She +laughs, and says to Tallien: “A queer fellow, this Bonaparte!”</p> + +<p>Another day, in the middle of a letter to Carnot dealing with +urgent affairs, he writes: “I am in despair. My wife won’t +come here. I am sure she must have a lover, and that that is +what keeps her in Paris. I loathe women, one and all!” Then +comes a letter in which she grasps at an expedient. Since there +is no other way of avoiding the dangers and the dirt of camp +life, she writes to him that she has hopes....</p> + +<p>Thunder and lightning! Have all the spirits of good fortune +united to shower blessings on him? Among his successes, +that was the only thing he lacked to complete his happiness. +For, if destiny is to carry him to the lofty altitudes he foresees, +to the heights he has resolved to scale, then his greatest +need is to have heirs. But this battle is only planned, not yet +won; new dangers are impending. He shudders. Is it true? +Is it his child?</p> + +<p>“I am sorry!”—the words are penned in his almost illegible +handwriting on the commander-in-chief’s official stationery. “I +have been pestering you with complaints, and you are ill. Love +had robbed me of reason. Forgive me, but I think I shall never +be reasonable again. My life is an unending dream; gloomy +forebodings make it hard for me to breathe; I have lost all +hope. Write me ten pages, for nothing else can console me. +You are ill, you love me, you are with child, and I never see +you. Who takes care of you? Hortense? I love the sweet +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span>girl more than ever when I think of her as taking care of you.... +Soon you are to have in your arms a child as fascinating as +yourself. If I could only spend a whole day with you. You +know, if I saw a lover with you, I should instantly tear the man +to pieces!”</p> + +<p>But who is to help her through her time of trouble? There +is no friendship in the world, only the ties of blood. “I am in +despair,” he writes to Joseph under the same date. “My wife +is ailing; I do not know whether I am standing on my head or +my heels; dreadful forebodings rack my heart. Write to me, +I implore you. Since early childhood, we have been bound +together by kinship and affection. Do for her what I would +so eagerly do for you.... You know how much I love her; +know her ardent nature; know that I have never loved so passionately, +that Josephine is the first woman whom I have +adored. Her condition drives me crazy.... But as soon as +she is well again, well enough to travel, she must come to me. +I must have her in my arms; I love her to distraction, and cannot +live without her. If she no longer loves me, there is nothing +more for me in the world. Oh, mon ami, do not keep the courier +more than six hours in Paris; send him back to me with an +answer which will give me new life. Be happy! For myself, +nature has doomed me to win none but outward victories!”</p> + +<p>On the same day, he dictates, inter alia: Order to Berthier +to occupy Alessandria; dispatch to the Directors concerning +urgently needed reinforcements; ultimatum to the Genoese +Senate anent the murder of soldiers; letter introducing Murat +to the same Senate; plan to sell some cannon which are still +left on the Riviera; order to Masséna to procure ammunition +from the arsenal in Venice; order to Lannes to advance no +farther; order to send all suspects to Tortona; order to send a +division to Toulon; report to Kellermann that money and +troops are on the way.</p> + +<p>His letter has an effect. Joseph asks Josephine to come with +him to Milan. What pretext can she find for refusing? She +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>sighs, packs her trunks, sheds tears at a farewell festival in the +Luxembourg, gets into the carriage. After all, to-morrow is +the thirtieth of June, the season is at an end, and she has good +company for the journey. Of course Joseph, her vis-à-vis, is +a homely fellow, but Junot is a dapper young man; Fortuné, +her lap-dog, is a darling, as ever. Then there is Charles, +another young officer whose acquaintance she has recently +made, and who has danced attendance on her ever since. Is +he on the lookout for a career, or a conquest? What a choice +Christian name, Hippolyte! How fine he looks in his chasseur +uniform. He tells such amusing stories, has an expert knowledge +of the latest shawls and wigs, and his legs are so well +turned!</p> + +<p>Milan. Bonaparte is away? More battles near Verona? +No matter, this is a lovely place! Such a splendid palace; +they all flock to pay their respects. But Hippolyte is hors +concours; no one can rival the grace with which, sword clanking, +he strides up and down the Corso. What a pity one has +to be circumspect in one’s behaviour under so many prying eyes. +But Hippolyte knows his way about, and has found a discreet +staircase....</p> + +<p>Suddenly there is a stir of excitement. The commander-in-chief +is coming from Verona. For two days and two nights, +the lava of this volcano overwhelms her.</p> + +<h3>V</h3> + +<p>Thrice do the soldiers of Emperor Francis try to relieve +Mantua, which Bonaparte is besieging. Mantua is the key +position. Old Wurmser, marching down beside Lake Garda +with fresh troops, drives back the opposing forces. If Bonaparte +is to make front against him, Mantua must be abandoned +for a time. Meanwhile, however, the enemy has blocked the +line of retreat upon Milan. A terrible reverse, and the French +army is in the utmost danger. Bonaparte, hastening from +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span>Milan, rides under the hot July sun across the plain, busily +inspecting one division of the army after the other, gathering +all his strength, for the fate of the whole campaign is at stake. +A period of the utmost activity, and of extreme tension.</p> + +<p>“Since I left you,” he writes on one of these evenings, “I +have been sad. I can only be happy when I am near you. I +spend my whole time thinking of your kisses, your tears, your +bewitching jealousy. The charm of the incomparable Josephine +is perpetually rekindling the flames of my heart and my senses. +When shall I be free, at length, free from cares and duties, +free to devote all my time to you, with nothing in the world +but to love you.... Since I have known you, I have come to +respect you more day by day, which shows how wrong La +Bruyère was when he said that love comes suddenly. Everything +in nature runs its course, and increases by degrees.... +Be less beautiful, less tender, and above all less jealous. Your +tears inflame my blood.... Join me quickly, so that, before +we die, we may be able to say: ‘We have had so many happy +days!’ A million kisses, even for your horrid Fortuné!”</p> + +<p>Neither now nor later could the commander-in-chief rid his +home of this lap-dog. He tells us that on his wedding night +the dog was in bed with Josephine. “I had to choose between +sleeping beside the beast or not sleeping with my wife. A +terrible dilemma, but I had to take it or leave it. I resigned +myself. The dog was less accommodating. I have the marks +on my leg to show what he thought about the matter!”</p> + +<p>Amid the hurly-burly, the general’s lady arrives at Brescia. +Almost immediately she has to be sent back to Milan. She +has a narrow escape of being seized by the enemy, together with +some recruits and cannon. Now she has an excuse, and, in the +future, she will be slower to comply with his invitations.</p> + +<p>During these weeks, Bonaparte for the first time loses courage, +though it is only for a few hours of one night. Instead +of simply issuing orders, he holds a council of war, much to the +astonishment of his generals. In this critical situation, he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>proposes to retreat across the Po, but the mad Augereau +thumps the table, shouting: “For the sake of your own fame, +I insist that we attack.” He flings from the room. The counsels +of the others are divided.</p> + +<p>See him before the decision, brooding over his maps. He is +alone. Moths are fluttering round the candles, and at last +burn themselves to death. The midsummer night is sultry. +As he listens to the drums and the shouting without, he thinks: +“To-morrow will settle whether we can keep Lombardy. Perhaps +it will be the turning point in my fame, my destiny. Shall +I stake all on one card? What if Wurmser’s strength is greater +than the reports say? Josephine is sleeping now, in the great +bed. Or, who knows, she may be laughing softly in the embrace +of some puppy who has bewitched her.”</p> + +<p>He decides to fight. Next day, he is victorious at Castiglione.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards, he writes: “Three days without a letter +from you; I have written daily. This separation is terrible; +the nights are long and savourless, the days monotonous.” At +this time, Josephine writes to Tallien in Paris: “I am bored to +death.” He is busied in battles and victories; she is fêted and +honoured. To both of them life seems wearisome: to him, because +she is too far away; to her, because he is too near. Three +days later: “The enemy has been beaten, my darling. Eighteen +thousand prisoners, the others dead or wounded. Wurmser has +only Mantua left. This is the biggest success yet: Italy, Friuli, +and Tyrol are saved for the republic. In a few days we shall +see one another again, that is the reward for labour and pains. +A thousand glowing kisses!”</p> + +<p>When the commander can draw breath, the statesman must +turn every moment to account. In Modena he assembles +deputies from all the States as far south as Bologna, and at a +formal sitting he gives them a constitution, that they may unite +to form henceforward one State, the new republic. Is he happy, +now that he is at work State-building? His wife in Milan must +be in love with some one, or she would write to him differently!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span></p> + +<p>“Your letters are cold”—this is from Modena on the same +day. “Their tone suggests that we must have been married for +half a century at least. Friendship and winter, it is odious and +spiteful. What more am I to expect of you? That you have +ceased to love me? That is an old story. That you should +hate me? Well and good. That is what I wish. Everything +degrades, save only hatred. But indifference with a heart of +marble, lack-lustre eyes, languid gait?... A thousand kisses, +tender as my heart.”</p> + +<p>Fresh crises call him northward once more. He comes, he +fights, he is driven back. The gloomy November weeks, in +which his fate again trembles in the balance, are not gladdened +by any consolation from her. Far from it, for his most intimate +friends, alive to all that goes on in Milan, venture cautious +hints that my lady Josephine is having a merry time there. +This is the day after the defeat at Caldiero. He sends to Paris +a despairing appeal for reinforcements.</p> + +<p>Complications thicken; courage wanes; every one turns for +help to the chief. He seems to be thinking with thirty heads +these days, when the battle of Arcola is impending. It is in a +crazy mood of despair that he writes to her in the evening, +his pen storming over the paper: “I no longer love you, I hate +you. You are hateful, stupid, inept. You do not write to +me, do not love your husband. What are you doing all day, +Madame? What important business makes it impossible for +you to write to the man who loves you?... Who is the fairy +prince that claims all your time, so that you cannot write to +your husband? Take care, Josephine: some fine night, the door +will burst open, and I shall be there! Quite seriously, I am +uneasy, my pretty one. Do write me four pages full of sweet +words which will warm my heart with joy and happiness. In +a few days I hope to clasp you in my arms, and to cover you +with a million kisses, hot as the equator.”</p> + +<p>How his heart flutters, uncertain whether she is still to be +trusted, miserable if she be unworthy of trust. There is a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>crisis in his own soul as well as out there on the battle-field. +Responsibility, uncertainty, storm in the heart of this man, +who has perhaps already been dishonoured in his private life, +and to-morrow may be dishonoured as a military commander—the +man who still hopes to rule the world. During these days, +when a suicide occurs among the troops, he issues an order: +“The soldier must conquer the pain and the melancholy of the +passions.”</p> + +<p>Two days after the date of the letter last quoted, he is standing +near Arcola on a bridge spanning the Adige. The enemy +is bombarding this bridge. The French troops shrink back; +there seems no way of forcing a passage across the river. At +length, after repeated summonses, the soldiers advance once +more, but there are calls from the ranks to Napoleon: “Do not +go any farther, General. You will be killed, and then we shall +be lost!” Marmont is a little in the van. Turning round to +see if his men are following, he notices that the commander is +in the arms of Muiron, the adjutant, apparently wounded. +Around them a group of motionless figures. Now that the +movement of the vanguard is arrested, the troops seek the shelter +of the embankment. Bonaparte, who has recovered, stumbles +and falls into the ditch at the foot of the dyke. His brother +Louis and Marmont drag him out. A horse! Confusion, +shots; Muiron covers the general with his own body, is hit, +and falls. Bonaparte saves himself on horseback.</p> + +<p>That evening in camp, he is greatly depressed. Second day’s +fighting, and a vain attempt to storm the enemy’s position. +This abominable river. Seems impossible to get across it. For +a long time, the fortunes of the third day are no better than +those of the first two.</p> + +<p>At the eleventh hour, he has recourse to cunning. While the +fight on the river rages uncertainly, he sends all the trumpeters +and drummers he can get together, with part of the guard, in +a wide half-circle to reach a position in the enemy’s rear. +There the charge is sounded. The wearied Austrians are panic-stricken, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span>and one of their divisions draws back. The French, +encouraged by the rout of part of the foe, assume that all the +opposing army is retreating, and act accordingly. Courage +and ruse have snatched victory out of a morass of despair. +The name of another village becomes famous. Arcola medals +are struck in Paris. A picture is painted, showing the commander +on the bridge of Arcola, waving imaginary colours.</p> + +<p>The danger is over for a time. The enemy supports are +withdrawn from Mantua, and soon the town must fall. Bonaparte +makes a fresh disposition of his troops, and hastens to +Milan. At length he will be able to administer the province +from the capital, and have Josephine and hold her fast.</p> + +<p>But Josephine is harder to catch than Wurmser. “I reach +Milan, rush to your house, having thrown aside everything in +order to clasp you in my arms. You are not there! You are +gadding about somewhere, running away when I come to seek +you. You care nothing about your Napoleon. A whim led +you to give me your love, and now fickleness has made you indifferent. +Inured to dangers, I know how to meet reverses of +fortune.... Don’t put yourself about, amuse yourself, happiness +is made for you, all the world is happy to have the chance +of pleasing you, your husband alone is most unhappy.”</p> + +<p>Next morning. “You have no reason to trouble yourself +about the happiness or unhappiness of a man whom you do +not love. But it is my fate to love you.... Take no part in +the unhappiness of your husband, who lives only for you. It +would be unjust if I were to ask you to love me as I love you. +Who can expect delicate lace to weigh as heavy as gold.... +My fault is that nature has denied me the charms which might +bind you to me. What I do deserve is nothing more than this, +that Josephine should show me a little consideration, a little +respect, for I love her to the verge of madness, her and her +alone. Farewell, adorable woman.... If I were certain +that she could no longer love me, I would hide my pain, and +would content myself with being useful to her whenever I +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span>could.... I open the letter once more, to send you a kiss. +Ah, Josephine! Josephine!”</p> + +<p>What a confession! With ardour and ambition he pushes +forward to the goal, but the enemy has escaped, and what is to +be done? Resignation must be the first aim after a failure, not +raging and cursing. A man must retain his self-respect, and +act prudently. A little mockery, embellished with courtesy, +will have its due effect. Next day, he has turned things over +in his mind. I must have her. How shall I lure her back? To +extol my exploits does not move her in the least. What does +influence her? Flattery and service. Such is his calculation. +A miscalculation: for he, who is masterful with kings, fails to +see that the charming Josephine would fear a master, even +though she would not worship him; that nothing makes her +more secure in her own position than his confessed passion.</p> + +<p>Napoleon’s mistake is the outcome of his pride. His pride +will lead him to the limits of what is humanly possible, but will +in the long run mislead him into the greatest of his blunders. +Now, it is pride that prevents his veiling a passion which he +does not master because he does not wish to do so. After all +his carefully planned phrases to the effect that he wishes to be +of use to her, the foolish human heart drives him, with the gesture +of a love-sick youth, to tear open his letter that he may +“send a kiss.”</p> + +<h3>VI</h3> + +<p>What is Paris saying?</p> + +<p>Paris is radiant, for, after long years, it once more has a +hero to worship. Bonaparte’s picture is in all the shops; +rhymed comparisons of him with the heroes of antiquity are +in every one’s mouth; the actors speak of him when instructions +are sent to announce a new victory; the colours he has +taken from the enemy are on show at the Luxembourg; his +reports, cut about by the Directors, appear in the “Moniteur.” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span>Songs, medals, caricatures (a recent importation from across +the Channel), enliven the boulevards.</p> + +<p>He knows all this. He knows, likewise, that the rapid growth +of his popularity is alarming the Directors, who feel that he +has long ceased to be their creature. “The fellow’s perpetual +victories will be the death of us,” they think, and put their +heads together. A people’s army is invincible, but it is dangerous +unless its officers are genuinely devoted to the government. +For the last seven years, it has been the rulers’ way to threaten +with the guillotine any general who has dared to meddle in +politics on his own account. “A commander who does not comply +with our orders, who makes light of the commissaries we +send to his camp, must be dismissed, even if his name be +Napoleon Bonaparte. Saliceti is too much under his thumb, +being a fellow-Corsican, and having an uneasy conscience because +he betrayed Bonaparte not very long ago. Let us send another +commissary, Clarke, who is both prudent and ambitious.”</p> + +<p>Elegant and high-spirited, himself a general, Clarke, while +on the journey to Milan, looks forward to twisting Bonaparte +round his fingers. That gawky little fellow in the threadbare +uniform whom he had often met at Barras’ should be easy +enough to deal with. But in the Palazzo Serbelloni, the envoy +is abashed before the commander. Napoleon has not grown +any taller, certainly; but the manner of his entries and exits, +while all wait for his coming or make way for his going, suggests +the ruler rather than the simple warrior. The commissary +has a courteous reception, but he is far from being able +to penetrate Bonaparte’s secret plans and report them to his +masters. On the contrary, within a couple of days the commander-in-chief +has full knowledge of the Directors’ private +designs, about which Clarke ought to have kept his mouth shut. +The commissary has bowed before the higher authority. “Here +is the man of the future,” says he to himself; and promptly +changes sides. Napoleon’s suspicions are now confirmed. He +knows that the Directors are using his conquests as mere pawns +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span>in the game they are playing to secure peace with the Austrians. +They have no intention of keeping Italy, and still +less do they think of revolutionising it. Now that he is fore-warned, +he will make all his preparations to thwart the government’s +plans.</p> + +<p>But he still has need of the Directors. “Reinforcements! +Reinforcements! Not in name only, not on paper merely, but +armed men in the flesh.... My best soldiers are wounded; +none of my staff officers and generals are fit for active service. +The new levies are raw and unsteady. The army is reduced to +a handful of exhausted warriors. We are forsaken in the +middle of Italy. The few brave fellows left to me, are marked +out for death unless you send ample reinforcements. Soon +may strike the hour of the valiant Augereau, the indomitable +Masséna, Berthier, myself. What will happen then to the lads +in the ranks? This thought makes me cautious. I no longer +dare to defy death, for if I were to fall it would demoralise +those who are the object of all my care.”</p> + +<p>Could anything be more artfully phrased?</p> + +<p>Yes, he has another string to his bow. When he does not +threaten imminent destruction, he cajoles with gifts. Month +after month, to this government whose only resources have for +some time been piles of almost worthless paper currency, he +sends a consignment of hard cash, gold extorted from princes +and republics by the terms of truce. He is the first commander +to send money home, instead of continually demanding money. +And in addition he has little presents to spare for the Directors. +“I am sending a hundred of the finest horses I can lay my hands +on, to replace any you may have that are not really good +enough to draw your carriages.”</p> + +<p>He asks for the troops quartered in the southern provinces +of France, and is told that they are needed for home service. +“It is better,” he rejoins, “that there should be broils in +Lyons, while we keep Italy, than conversely.” When told to +leave all diplomatic negotiations to the commissaries, his answer +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span>runs: “For such matters, you do not merely need a one +and only general; you must see to it that no one and nothing +interfere with him in his work.... My advance is no less +precise than my thought process.... We have to do everything +with a weak army: thrust back the German troops; lay +siege to fortresses; keep our lines of communication open; +threaten Genoa, Venice, Tuscany, Rome, and Naples; show our +strength here, there, and everywhere. For this, absolute unity +of the military, political, and financial command is indispensable.... +Unless the general remains the great centre, you +will be exposed to incessant danger. I hope this language will +not be ascribed to personal ambition. For my own part, I am +unfortunately overburdened with honours, and my health has +been so seriously undermined that I may soon have to ask you +to appoint my successor. I can no longer mount a horse; nothing +is left to me but courage.... I am continuing the negotiations. +Troops! troops!—if you want to keep Italy. Bonaparte.”</p> + +<p>The more popular he becomes, the more often does he tender +his resignation, though his health is in truth excellent, and day +after day he rides until his horse stumbles from fatigue. Woe +to the Parisian lawyers if they run counter to his wishes! +While he strengthens France’s power in Italy, he is consolidating +his own influence in Paris; this is his new idea. Although +he neither champions popular freedom nor believes Italy ripe +for it, he insists upon the formation of the “Cisalpine Republic,” +against the wishes of the Directors—among whom Carnot, +at least, is a convinced democrat, though he wants to use Italy +as a pawn in the French game.</p> + +<p>This is the first occasion on which Bonaparte builds up an +organism out of centrifugal forces. In days to come, he will +repeat the process again and again, on an ever grander scale +of creation, his aim being to establish a United Europe. He +now welds together the half dozen petty States of northern +Italy, prescribes their constitution, appoints and dismisses +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>their officials. Throughout, he is the dictator, and yet all the +time he acts on rational principles and allows for elasticity in +matters of detail. He issues brilliant proclamations, announcing +that these States are to be free whether they like it or not, +and that they are to pay him promptly in hard cash for the +privilege.</p> + +<p>“The French Republic has sworn hatred of the tyrants, +brotherhood with the peoples. This principle of the constitution +is the principle of the army as well. The despot who has +so long kept Lombardy enslaved, has done great injury to +France.... The victorious army of an insolent monarch was +compelled to spread terror among the conquered. But the republican +army, while waging war to the death against its enemies, +the kings, gives a pledge of friendship to the peoples it +has set free. Respect for property, humanity, and religion—this +is our animating principle. But the Lombards owe us, +who are their brothers, a fair return.... Lombardy must +support us with all her resources. We need provisions, for +France is so far away that we cannot supply our requirements +thence. We are entitled to them by the right of conquest; +friendship must hasten to offer them to us. We have to requisition +twenty million francs from the provinces. They are so +rich that this will not be a serious burden.”</p> + +<p>Then he takes whatever he wants out of the taxes, the countryside, +the camps, the arsenals, and the domains. In the +articles of every truce, he demands money, oxen, and pictures. +If he sends pictures and statues to Paris, this will not, of +course, stabilise the currency; but it will tickle the vanity of +the Parisians, and win him popular favour. In a period of intense +financial stringency, Bonaparte, with Italy as his source +of supply, stocks the Louvre with precious works of art, contributing +far more than the most resplendent of kings.</p> + +<p>But all the time, while he is ruthlessly extorting money from +the Italians, he is not less ruthless with Frenchmen who are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span>trying to feather their own nests. In one of his early +despatches, he writes: “The army consumes five times as much +as it should, because the commissariat officers are falsifying +their accounts.... Prodigality, venality, and peculation are +rife. There is only one thing to do: a committee of three +must be appointed, with power, during from three to five days, +to shoot every dishonest administrator.” When the deliveries +of hay are found to be short weight, he declares: “It is of the +utmost importance that not one of these rascals shall escape. +Too long have the army and the country been the victims of +cupidity.” Innumerable are the documents bearing his signature +which are directed against these plunderers. When the +influx of women camp-followers exceeds all bounds, he issues the +following order: “Any woman found among the troops without +a permit twenty-four hours after the posting of this notice, +will be blackwashed and publicly exposed for two hours.”</p> + +<p>On the other hand, this strict disciplinarian was humane in +his desire to put an end to some of the barbarities which still +characterised war in those days: “The infamous practice of +flogging men to make them disclose secrets, must come to an +end. The only result of torturing people in this way is that the +poor wretches say whatever they think will please their captors. +I forbid the use of means that are equally repugnant +to humanity and reason.”</p> + +<h3>VII</h3> + +<p>As a diplomat, he strengthens all the instruments of diplomacy: +flattery and threats; lying and frankness—or sometimes, +even in diplomatic negotiations, he will play the bluff soldier. +He is especially shrewd in his dealings with the Vatican.</p> + +<p>As thorough-going revolutionists, the Directors wish to put +an end to the temporal power of the pope; for the Papal States +are the focus of the religion which revolutionary France has rejected. +The prospect of this moral success, to be gilded by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span>the wealth of the Vatican, charms them more than all Bonaparte’s +activities in the formation of border States. They insist +upon his advancing against Rome. Now he will be able to +see it close at hand, this city with which, from childhood onwards, +his imagination has associated power, greatness, and +fame. Like Cæsar, he will be able to pluck laurels from the +Capitol, for the papal troops cannot stand against him for a +moment.</p> + +<p>But he holds his hand. For him, the pope is the only ruler +who cannot be dethroned by big guns. He sees the idea behind +the papacy, with its millennial influence on France and Europe; +he knows the moral repercussions of martyrdom, and he has +determined not to wage war upon the pope, unless it be a make-believe. +“The influence of Rome is incalculable. It was a serious +error to break with this power, which will profit by our +mistake.”</p> + +<p>He moves southward, and, literally, crosses the Rubicon, but +there he stops. Because he is the stronger, he offers a truce; +henceforward this will be his technique. The aged pope accepts +the offer, for Bonaparte is wise enough to leave all ecclesiastical +questions open. Pius VI promises to pay France several millions; +to hand over one hundred pictures, busts, vases, or +statues as the French commissioners shall determine. There +are only two articles for which the commander-in-chief makes a +specific demand: He wants the busts of Junius Brutus and Marcus +Brutus from the Capitol. He is a Roman from Corsica; +he crosses the Rubicon, spares Rome, and does not enter the +city; but he requisitions the busts of the two heroes of +antiquity.</p> + +<p>When the pope fails to pay up, and makes difficulties, Napoleon +sets out towards Rome a second time, but does not go to +the city. After a trifling skirmish, he is willing to make peace. +He will soon want to use his soldiers in the north. A pope on +the run would carry his treasures with him, and what would +there be left then for the poor Directors in Paris? On his own +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span>initiative, he actually pardons the French priests who have +refused to take the oath of allegiance to the constitution and +have sought refuge in Rome. He makes friends everywhere +among the clergy, compares a “citizen archbishop” to one of +the apostles, and writes as follows in several of his letters to +high ecclesiastics: “The teaching of the Gospels is based on +equality, and is therefore the most suitable for any republic.” +What will they say to that in Paris, where Christ has been +done away with?</p> + +<p>Finally, he sends to the pope, who is on the point of taking +to flight, an assurance that there is nothing to be afraid of. +“Tell the Holy Father that I am not an Attila; and that even if +I were, the Holy Father should not forget that he is a successor +of Leo.” He thus dresses himself in historical trappings when +he is dealing with the oldest of the thrones. But when the +nuncio is slow to sign the new agreement, the polished man +of the world is suddenly metamorphosed into a soldier, who +tears up the draft and throws it into the fire. “We are not +discussing terms of peace, Monsignore; there is merely a suspension +of hostilities.” The other side is alarmed. He doubles +his demands, and this time he gets what he wants. Thereupon +the pope writes his “dear son” a letter, and gives the child of +the revolution his blessing.</p> + +<p>He never wraps up his doings in mystery, as the diplomats +of those days were wont to do. An hour after his first truce +has been arranged, he discussed recent happenings with the +freedom of a historian in the next generation. Talking to the +conquered Piedmontese over the dinner table, he says: “My attack +on the castle of Cossaria was needless; but your movement +of the 17th was a sound tactical manœuvre.”</p> + +<p>At the end of the second campaign, he again shows himself a +master in respect of both self-confidence and moderation. He +has moved forward out of Lombardy in the beginning of March, +and by the end of the month he is already in Styria, a few +days’ march from Vienna. If the Army of the Rhine follows +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span>up his blow by similar victories, they will be able to dictate +peace to Emperor Francis. Yet he chooses to halt, and to offer +peace to the vanquished. True, the Army of the Rhine is still +a good way off, whilst Austria and Hungary are arming themselves +in frenzied haste. To stay where he is as a menace, this +is the conqueror’s logic.</p> + +<p>Bonaparte, however, is a statesman. The Directors want +peace before the elections, and he still has need of the +Directors. How would it be if he, he alone, the soldier, were to +bring France the peace for which she has been waiting five +years? Is he to share the glory of this achievement with his +rivals in the Army of the Rhine? The fortune of war is uncertain, +and none but the foolhardy will tempt it unless they +must. Once more he has broken the troops of the Empire, cut +off as they are from the Rhenish armies. For a year, Europe +has been afraid of the new commander; it will become him now +to make a gesture of peace, so that people may learn to revere +the new statesman. Without courtly periphrases, and as an +equal, he writes to the defeated Austrian leader, Emperor +Francis’ brother:</p> + +<p>“Commander-in-Chief, Sir! Our valiant soldiers are waging +war and want peace. Has not the war lasted six years? Have +we not killed enough people; have we not brought enough suffering +upon mankind? Everywhere there is a reaction towards +humaneness, and almost everywhere the enemies of France have +laid down their arms. Your nation is the only exception. The +omens of this new campaign are sinister. However it may +end, each of us will slay a few thousands of the other’s soldiers; +and yet, in the end, we shall make peace, for everything comes +to an end, even the fiercest hatred.... You, who stand so +near to the throne, uplifted above the petty emotions of statesmen +and governments, are not you disposed to win for yourself +the title of benefactor of mankind, saviour of Germany? I +regard it as quite possible for you to save your country by +force of arms. But, even then, Germany will be laid waste. If +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span>these lines could save the life of but one man, I should pride +myself more upon my civic crown than upon the melancholy +renown of the battle-field.”</p> + +<p>This letter makes a strong appeal to Archduke Charles. A +highly cultured man, declared enemy of all wars, and only +acting as commander-in-chief from a sense of duty, with this +document in his hand he will be able to make headway against +the war party in Vienna and to influence the emperor. For +what would happen should they refuse? Bonaparte would certainly +publish his letter and their reply. He would have another +chance of parading before Europe the humanist ideals of +the republic, and contrasting with them the feudal militarism +of the empire. He would lay the country waste with fire and +sword, while censuring us before the world for our truculence. +He is following up his letter by advancing his troops, and he +has already occupied Leoben.</p> + +<p>The emperor’s envoys arrive. The French commander meets +them at the foot of the stairs, speaks of the emperor and the +archduke with respect. When they beg for a ten days’ truce +(during which Vienna will be able to continue preparations +for war), he answers by inviting them to supper. After the +meal, he agrees to a five days’ suspension of hostilities.</p> + +<p>While comparative calm now reigns in Vienna, the Directors +in Paris are much perturbed. Is this general of ours going +to make the Great Peace all by himself? If he can do that, he +will only have to come to Paris afterwards, and with one hand +he will be able to push us from our seats. Most politely, therefore, +they instruct him to await the coming of the envoy they +are sending. All the more does Bonaparte press the other side +for a decision. He knows what reports concerning him are +current in Paris, and he cracks his whip over the Directors’ +heads: “I should like to have a rest. I have justified your +confidence in me; in all my undertakings I have hazarded my +life; I have covered myself with more glory than the most fortunate +man could wish; now I have advanced upon Vienna, leaving +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span>Italy’s lovely plains behind me, as I advanced once before +in search of bread for the army which the republic could no +longer feed. Calumny vainly attempts to discredit my intentions. +My civic career, like my military career, will be +unique and simple.”</p> + +<p>Ironies, beneath whose mask the writer is moving towards +unnamed goals.</p> + +<p>Endless negotiations. But why should the matter drag on? +Give us Belgium and Lombardy. You can compensate the dispossessed +princes with possessions in the Holy Roman Empire! +Habsburg accepts this principle, for neither the emperor nor +any one of the German princes is concerned any longer about +the Holy Roman Empire. It is very old, in poor health, and +will soon be laid in the tomb. This plan will give France a +finger in the pie across the Rhine. But how Habsburg is to +be compensated for the loss of Lombardy, remains uncertain.</p> + +<p>Opportune is the arrival of letters from Venice reporting +insurrections against the French and the murder of a number +of French soldiers. At length the day of vengeance has come! +Venice, too, is outworn, and ripe for destruction. “Since the +discovery of the Cape route to the Indies and the rise of Triest +and Ancona, Venice has been on the decline,” he writes to the +Directors, to soothe their conscientious scruples—i.e., for use in +a justificatory campaign. “It will hardly survive the blow. +This wretched and cowardly population, unfitted for freedom, +without land or water, must, of course, be handed over to those +to whom the hinterland is allotted. First of all, we shall take +the ships, empty the arsenal, carry off the big guns, and close +the banks; we shall also keep Corfu and Ancona.” Thus weakened, +the Lagoons were to pass to Habsburg.</p> + +<p>Bonaparte dealt in summary fashion with the old lords of the +region, with the few patrician families which, as the successors +of strong men, had ruled Venice for centuries, and had made of +it one of the most reactionary States in the world. “You have +stirred up the peasants against us,” he wrote to the doge while +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span>the negotiations with the Austrians were in progress. “Thanks +to you, every one is shouting: ‘Death to the French!’ Hundreds +of our soldiers have already perished through your machinations. +Do not lie to me! You incited these disturbances. +Do you imagine that because I am in the heart of Germany I +shall be unable to enforce respect for the greatest nation in the +world? I shall take vengeance for the blood of my companions-in-arms. +War or peace! Unless you instantly hand over the +ringleaders, I shall declare war.”</p> + +<p>This is his tone when he wishes to terrify a dozen tottering +old patricians. When the envoys from the Senate come to his +camp, he pretends to fly into a passion: “I shall have no more +constitution and no more Senate. For Venice, I shall be a +second Attila. Make me no more proposals. I will be your +lawgiver.” When the city is being handed over, the doge, a +man of ninety, falls dead—the last doge of Venice. Bonaparte +never forgot this scene.</p> + +<p>Has he done with Italy now? Has not he got all he wants; +has not he reached his end?</p> + +<p>There is no end, for every step forward opens a new vista. +Venice is merely a springboard, whence he can start his swim +into the open sea. The islands first; then the Adriatic; and +now he contemplates a more distant horizon. When he was in +Ancona a while back, forcing his terms of peace upon Rome, he +stood on the shore, looking seaward. There were the Ionian +Islands, and beyond them lay Turkey. He wrote: “From this +point, we could reach Macedonia in twenty-four hours; the +place would be invaluable for our influence upon the destinies of +the Turkish Empire.” As brigadier on the general staff he had +thought of engulfing himself in Turkey. From Ancona he sends +agents to open up relationships with powerful pashas in Janina, +Scutari, and Bosnia.</p> + +<p>Now, when he is in Leoben, he makes sure of the island +possessions of Venice, arranges for the occupation of Corfu and +Zante, “to control simultaneously the Adriatic and the East. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span>No one will be able to save the Turkish Empire. We shall +watch its death agony. The occupation of the Ionian Islands +leaves us the choice between supporting Turkey and making +sure of our own share of the spoils.”</p> + +<p>The political reality underlying this is an attack on England. +France has long looked forward to the acquisition of +strongholds in the Mediterranean, and to thus imposing a +barrier between England and India. In Bonaparte, this general +aim acquires the impulsive energy of a personal ambition. +He does not want the East that he may inflict a mortal wound +on England as his arch enemy; he is in search of means to injure +England that thereby he may win the East. Since his imagination +always runs far ahead of his achievements, Europe, of +which but yesterday he first seized a corner, is already beginning +to seem too small for him. He says to Bourrienne:</p> + +<p>“Only in the East have there been great empires and mighty +changes; in the East, where six hundred million people dwell. +Europe is a mole-hill!”</p> + +<h3>VIII</h3> + +<p>A high-arched room, in the baroque style; the walls are white, +picked out with gold. On a long couch upholstered in green +silk, a sixteen-year-old lieutenant, a spoiled darling, with the +fawning manners of a page, is sitting between two women of +ripe beauty. One of them is the youth’s mother; but when her +smiling glance roves coquettishly over the surrounding group +of smartly dressed officers, we gather that she is thinking far +less of maternal obligations than of hours in which such boys +as hers are engendered. Without words, she seems to add: +“Creole women are adepts in the art of love!” Another connoisseur +in the same art is the handsome general who stands +behind her, craning forward over her shoulder that he may +see far down into her corsage—as fashion and the lady’s pride +in her charms make it easy for him to do. This is Masséna, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span>whose talent as a soldier is to be ever prompt to attack, being +too unrestrained and uncultured to count the cost; but his +flaming impetuosity often saves his troops in moments of danger. +His temperament is so ardent, that he must always have +at least two women in his train; and his appetite for money is +no less keen. Money and women—he steals both, whenever he +has the chance.</p> + +<p>All the qualities that Masséna lacks, you will find in the +little man with the big head who stands in front of the ladies +making conversation. He is ugly, touchingly grotesque in his +movements, and at the moment intoxicated by his success in +winning—no one knows how—the love of a pretty member of +the Visconti family. This is Berthier, chief of general staff, +unresting in his activity; a man who will do administrative work +one day, and take a fortress by storm the next; a great student +of maps, for he is one of the few among these officers who is +well grounded in the theory of his profession.</p> + +<p>There is Murat, theatrically decked out in green satin, twisting +the huge plumed hat he holds in his hands. Of proletarian +birth, like most of the men at this remarkable headquarters, he +is fond of talking in asides. Now he laughs too loudly because +the ribald Augereau, the avaricious and extravagant peasant’s +son, has been telling him an after-dinner story. Murat, though +he fears neither artillery fire nor the frowns of princes, is now +painfully embarrassed because Josephine calls to him across +the room. She wants to hear the joke!</p> + +<p>But Joseph, a man of the world, who dreads what the enfant +terrible may blurt out, nods meaningly to Murat, implying to +him that for God’s sake he must hold his tongue. Elise is sitting +in the embrasure of one of the windows. Not so good-looking +as the other women, and finding her husband a bore, +she is apt to be censorious, and would carry tales to Mother +Letizia, who abhors Josephine’s loose morals.</p> + +<p>Now comes the bright sound of laughter from the garden. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span>That is Pauline’s birdlike voice. She is making the most of +the days of freedom left to her before her marriage to General +Leclerc, the husband chosen for her by Napoleon. She is playing +blind-man’s-bluff with Hippolyte, and her pleasure in the +game is doubled by the knowledge that she is annoying +Josephine.</p> + +<p>Here is the chief, coming slowly along the passage. For two +long hours he has been walking up and down with the Parisian +dramatist Arnault. This companion has been carefully chosen. +The newcomer has asked many questions about the army and +the battles. Bonaparte has answered them with a detailed +report of his own doings, which he knows that Arnault will +spread far and wide. Now he has steered the conversation to +the topic of the governmental crisis, long drawn out. As the +two come into the reception room, he says, ostensibly with indifference, +and yet with emphasis enough to fix the words in +Arnault’s memory: “I can hardly conceive any other way out +of their difficulties than that they should bend before the power +of one strong man. But where is such a man to be found?”</p> + +<p>As Bonaparte enters, the officers rise to their feet, break off +all conversation, and look expectantly at this man of twenty-seven, +though most of them are older than he and all of them +a good deal taller. Only the page continues to loll on the +couch, for Eugene knows that his mother is unchallenged +mistress of the house.</p> + +<p>We are at Montebello, the huge castle near Milan, where +Bonaparte is passing the summer. He is almost wholly the +statesman now, for the war has been ended by the arrangement +entered into at Leoben, and nothing more is needed than a +formal ratification. He might be in Paris, receiving the adulation +of which he dreamed in youth; but he prefers to stay in +Italy. He will not return to Paris until the political consequences +of his victories have assumed a concrete form, until +the new States are consolidated and the Italian business over +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span>and done with. Meanwhile, during the many months he spends +at Montebello, the life there is not so much that of a military +headquarters, as that of a minor court.</p> + +<p>But in no respect does he behave like an upstart. There are +no pretences. In everything he will make his influence felt as +one who is a child of the revolution that established a regime +of equality. He has appointed sons of the people to the leading +positions in his army; but he has no fear of what his noble +guests, the dukes and princes of Italy, may think of it, should +one of his valiant generals commit a solecism. He sees no reason +for hiding his origin like a parvenu, although his adoption +of French nationality might well incline him to conceal his +Corsican birth. In actual fact, he parades it. Before the +close of the previous year, he had summoned the whole family to +Milan. Now, with lavish oriental hospitality, he has invited +them all to Montebello, and those who seek his favour must +show his relatives due honour. Half Italy pays court to him, +for his name is already acquiring the mythical power of that of +a man of destiny. Besides the numerous persons who wish to +harness their fortunes to his chariot, not a few come from afar +to ask the sage’s advice concerning family matters and private +affairs.</p> + +<p>He has found it hard to persuade his mother, proud and a +woman of strict principles, to make friends with Josephine, +whose reputation is an offence to her. Josephine reciprocates +Madame Letizia’s dislike; but Napoleon, though he idolises his +wife and can refuse her nothing, compels her to observe the outward +forms of respect. Now, the friction between the two +women has become even greater than at first. “This Creole +says soft nothings to every man, and kisses every woman, instead +of attending to her business of bearing children.” The +Corsican mother has given birth to thirteen. Josephine’s barrenness +dishonours Napoleon and his family. Letizia fancies +that in the eyes of many of his adversaries she can read satisfaction +and mockery because the great man cannot procreate a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span>child. But it is not his fault. Josephine has led, and still +leads, too loose a life. That is what is amiss.</p> + +<p>When Letizia first met Napoleon again, after his battles and +victories, she embraced him and said:</p> + +<p>“You are thinner than ever! You are wearing yourself out!”</p> + +<p>“Not a bit of it. I am really living, now!”</p> + +<p>“Yes, for posterity....”</p> + +<p>“Well, do you call that dying?”</p> + +<p>When he leaves her, he says to her: “Do take good care of +yourself, Mother. If you die, there will be no one left with any +authority over me.” His Corsican clannishness is almost as +strong as his cosmopolitan self-confidence.</p> + +<p>Three sisters, three brothers, and Uncle Fesch are, in their +various ways, enjoying themselves at Montebello. The fascinating +Pauline, sixteen years of age, cannot forgive Josephine, +who, in deference to Napoleon’s wishes, has interfered with her +plans for a love marriage. She weds Leclerc in the castle chapel, +and at the same time Elise and Bacciochi have to resolemnise +their union in church, for the chief is eager to keep in the good +graces of the Vatican. After the ceremony Letizia, who has +no interest in these intrigues, returns to Corsica.</p> + +<p>“This island, this province,” as Bonaparte now calls it, as if +it were an island or a province like any other, has now been +regained from the English, who had occupied it in response to +Paoli’s call for aid. Bonaparte managed the affair from a distance, +while busied in his campaign on the mainland. One +foggy night, a couple of dozen Frenchmen, taking with them +plenty of money and an abundance of weapons, landed in +Corsica “to encourage the patriots,” circulate pamphlets, and +so on. Napoleon also sent Saliceti, his friend and his opponent +of earlier days. Thus, by proxy and from afar, he was able to +achieve what he had thrice failed to do in person.</p> + +<p>“Can it really be only four years?” thinks Signora Letizia, +when those who had driven her and hers into exile receive her +with acclamations. Is this the very citadel which was for so +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span>long the centre of Napoleon’s thoughts and feelings? Now, +simply because he orders it, Elise’s husband is to be commandant +there. For a long while, already, Lucien has been intendant +of the forces. To Napoleon, in Italy, his native island +now seems an ancient family seat, a romantic and medieval +spot where his kindred can dwell when convenient. With a contemptuous +smile, not long ago, he had read a letter from the +Bourbon pretender, in which Louis offered him the title of duke, +or even hereditary viceroy, of Corsica, if he would espouse the +royalist cause.</p> + +<p>In Montebello, Bonaparte first learns how to separate his +private life from his public life—a lesson which those born in +the purple learn from childhood upwards.</p> + +<p>The guardianship of the castle, strangely enough, is entrusted, +not to French soldiers, but to three hundred Polish +legionaries. In several of his battles, there had been danger +that he would be taken prisoner, so he has formed a bodyguard, +forty strong. They are called guides, are chosen from among +the tallest and best of his soldiers, and have a dare-devil for +their leader.</p> + +<p>The castle is thronged with orderlies and couriers. Envoys +are flocking from all quarters. The lion of St. Mark and the +key of St. Peter gleam on foreign epaulettes; Vienna, Leghorn, +and Genoa are also represented at Montebello. Napoleon lives +in state. Following the custom of the country, he keeps open +house. Interested spectators are admitted to the gallery of +the banqueting hall; and he drops a hint, lest they should +forget to spread the news when they return home, that like +them he drinks the wine of the country.</p> + +<p>The reports of those who come to see him on service matters +or other official business express astonishment that this young +commander-in-chief is never embarrassed. He is dignified and +yet perfectly natural; always the most simply dressed man in +the company. None the less, he knows quite well how to keep +people at a distance. Though nearly every one who comes to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span>see him towers over him in stature, he never tries to appear +taller than he is. Instead, those conversing with him are inclined +to stoop a little, and thus seem to be paying court to +him. Henceforward, throughout life, he is able from his natural +defect to derive an advantage whose ultimate psychical +consequences are incalculable. One of the visitors to Montebello +wrote: “Should this man have the luck to escape death +in battle, within four years he will be in exile or seated on a +throne.” The writer was only three years out in his reckoning.</p> + +<p>A student of his epoch, one who knows how fame is manufactured, +he has in attendance an able journalist, the first +publicity agent in history, whose business it is to blow Napoleon’s +trumpet in Paris and subtly to discredit the Directors. +Being a disciple of Plutarch, Bonaparte knows through whose +agency the story of great men’s deeds is handed down to posterity; +that is why the faces of poets, historians, artists, and +men of science are so often seen at his Italian castle. A year +before, a few days after the triumphal entry into Milan, and +when overwhelmed with urgent business, he had found time to +pen the following remarkable lines to a great astronomer:</p> + +<p>“The sciences which are the glory of the human mind, the +arts which beautify the world and bequeath great deeds to our +offspring, must be cherished with especial care in free States. +All men of genius, all those who are famous in the world of +learning, are Frenchmen, no matter to what country they may +belong.” Hitherto, such men have had to lead a retired life. +Now, freedom of thought prevails; intolerance is a thing of the +past, there are no despots left. The talented can foregather +under his patronage, and fearlessly tell him all their wishes. +Any such person who wants to go to France may be sure of a +cordial reception, “for the French people would rather win a +great mathematician, painter, or other man of note, than win +the wealthiest of provinces. That is why, Citizen, I ask you to +make these sentiments widely known among the great men of +Milan!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span></p> + +<p>He commissions an attaché, who, like most of his tribe, has +little to think about and nothing to do, to make a register of +the art treasures in the possession of the petty States of Italy. +In subsequent treaties, he demands the best of these for Paris.</p> + +<p>For the Paris Conservatoire, he instructs experts to make +copies of the best Italian music. Writing on this topic, he +says: “Of all the arts, music has the strongest influence on the +passions, and for that reason the legislator must make it one +of his chief concerns. An inspired symphony composed by a +master cannot fail to stir our feelings, and has far more influence +than a treatise on morality, which convinces our reason +without affecting our conduct.” When he becomes a member +of the Institute, he flaunts this title at the head of all the letters +he writes as commander-in-chief, and declares: “The true power +of the French Republic must henceforward consist in this, that +no new idea shall arise anywhere which is not the property of +France.” In confidential talk he says: “The soldier must, +above all, regard his commander as wiser and more cultured +than himself; and the soldier will regard this title with respect +for the very reason that its meaning is obscure to him.”</p> + +<p>Such actions disclose, not the statesman alone, but the man +born to rule, the prince who regulates every gesture, every word +that he says or writes, with an eye to the legend as to his personality +which he wishes to inculcate upon his people. But +when the door is closed, and he is among intimates, he opens his +heart.</p> + +<p>Here is a description of Napoleon as he was in those days, +penned by an exceptionally shrewd observer: “The power of the +man impressed every one with whom he came in contact.... +His demeanour was still rather ungainly at times; but there was +something imperious in his nature, his glance, and his speech. +Every one obeyed his orders. In public, he deliberately tried to +heighten this impression. In private life, on the other hand, he +was unconstrained, genial, and even confidential; with a taste +for witticisms, which were never ill-natured, but were merry and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span>discreet. Frequently, he shared in our amusements. He did +not take his work too strenuously, not finding it necessary at +that time to measure out his hours; and in leisure moments he +was always accessible. But when he had withdrawn to his work-room, +his door was closed to every unauthorised intruder, +without distinction of rank.—He needed a great deal of sleep, +like all people of nervous temperament and very active mind. +I have often known him to stay in bed for ten or eleven hours +at a stretch; but if it was necessary to wake him up, he was +unperturbed, and could easily make up for the lost hours afterwards—or +could store up reserves of sleep in expectation of a +strenuous time. He had the precious faculty of being able +to go to sleep wherever and as often as he pleased. Fond of +vigorous exercise, he rode very often, and at a great pace, +though he had an exceedingly bad seat.”</p> + +<p>He has a taste for talking, and chooses politics or general +questions of life as his theme; if the conversation flags, he +suggests the telling of stories; should this be followed by a general +silence, he spins a yarn of his own, pregnant and humorous.</p> + +<p>The loveliest women set their caps at him in vain; he is +wholly devoted to Josephine. Not, indeed, so frenzied in his +adoration as he was a year back, when she betrayed or disillusioned +him; it is she, and she alone, who has trifled away this +passion for self-surrender. Now there is a moving note in his +tone towards her; a fervent courtship, a smile, a petition: “You +are sad,” he wrote to her while still in the field. “You do not +write; are you longing to get back to Paris? Have you ceased +to care for me? The thought makes me wretched. My life has +become unbearable since I have known that you are not happy. +Perhaps I shall soon make peace with the pope; then I shall +join you at once.” Three days later: “The peace with Rome +has just been signed. Bologna, Ferrara, and Romagna are +ceded to us.—But there is not a word from you! Good God, +how have I offended you?—I fear you know only too well how +absolute is your power over me! For life, wholly yours.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span></p> + +<p>Now, at Montebello, he is for the first time tasting the joys +of uninterrupted connubiality, while he is delighted to watch +Josephine’s winning charm in social intercourse. Occasionally +he steals time for a brief love festival. They drive across to +Lake Maggiore; and when, among the rhododendron bushes +beneath the baroque stone edifices on Isola Bella, Grassini, the +heroine of La Scala, uplifts her thrilling voice and sings an +appassionata by Monteverde, Napoleon sits wrapped in +thought, his companion’s hand clasped in his own.</p> + +<p>“In the carriage”—so his adjutant relates—“he would take +marital liberties which were apt to be rather embarrassing to +Berthier and me. But it was all so simple and natural, that +there was no ground for offence.”</p> + +<h3>IX</h3> + +<p>What is Paris saying?</p> + +<p>Since yesterday, there has been a watchman on duty there. +Hitherto, the cabinet ministers had all been nothing more than +lawyers; now, a statesman was at work in that innermost +circle. Sprung from the old nobility of France, a bishop, +then as a republican placed under the ban of the Church by +the pope, Talleyrand had recently spent years of waiting in +the United States. Now he was back in Paris, and had grasped +a share of power. The recently elected Chambers were predominantly +“right,” and had been railing against the Directors; +the commander-in-chief in Italy wanted to revolutionise Europe; +he wished to perpetuate the war; the rape of Venice was +an infamy. Perhaps many of the accusations were only too +true, but when the echoes of what was being said in the place of +words made their way into the place of deeds, they could not +fail to arouse the contempt of the man of might. He sent the +Chambers a memorial, or, rather, a memento: “Speaking in the +name of eighty thousand men, I warn you that the days when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span>cowardly lawyers and pitiful chatterers could allow valiant +soldiers to be butchered are over and done with!”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus04" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus04.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>General Bonaparte. Unfinished portrait by Jacques Louis + David. From the collection of the Duke of Bassano.</p> + <p>(Photograph by Braun, Paris and Dornach.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>At this date, Bonaparte had dispatched Augereau to defend +the Directors, as he himself had defended them a year or two +before; for the growing power of royalists and priests were +becoming an ever greater menace to the new constitution of the +Republic. If either of the Bourbon brothers should venture to +set foot on French soil, all the malcontents would flock to his +standard, and in a hand’s turn he would win his way to the +throne. But the Bourbons stayed in their safe retreats, and the +Directors could risk a little coup d’état. Now, they were five +instead of three, and felt more self-confident.</p> + +<p>Called to office after this coup, an expert was for the first +time in charge of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. From +afar, he measured the strength of his only rival. Though he +had never seen Bonaparte face to face, he knew him for the +coming man. To begin with, at any rate, he was willing to play +second fiddle, and set to work that he might win the confidence +of one greater than himself.</p> + +<p>In all respects, Talleyrand was Napoleon’s counterpart. +Not a born negotiator; passionless, except for his avarice; cold +and crafty, never natural and frank; always adapting himself +to the mood of those he wished to use as his tools. His cynic’s +head, his long, pointed, prying nose, now surmounted the gold-braided +collar of the republic; they would surmount the imperial +and the royal uniform; and then, for a fourth time in the +service of the ruler of the French, he would don the livery of +the bourgeois king. For forty years he served the man who +happened to be in power; but never unreservedly, and therefore +he was never tied to any ruler’s fortunes. Lamed by an accident +in childhood, he was unable to enter the army, and became +a priest, remembering that, in this guise, the great Richelieu had +been master of France. Talleyrand was the only man in the +country able to measure his strength against that of Bonaparte. +Never would the man of destiny be able to shake off +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span>Talleyrand even when he had come to hate the subtle diplomat; +and when the final breach between the two men occurred, it was +at the very time when Talleyrand, with a smile, could limp +across the body of the master he had cast down and enter the +cabinet of the enemy. Talleyrand was the man who overthrew +Napoleon; but, if we think of elemental forces, Napoleon +was felled by his own hand.</p> + +<p>Talleyrand’s breadth of view and utter lack of principle +make their due impression on the distant Bonaparte. These +September days, the commander has gone to Udine, to sign the +peace whose preliminaries had been arranged in the spring. +In this sprig of the old nobility, in this connoisseur of the +rococo, in this cold nihilist, Napoleon sees the tool he will need. +Hitherto, he has wanted none but soldiers. Now, when he +has become a statesman, he wants and finds a statesman. While +he is discussing matters with the Austrians, he sends the new +Minister for Foreign Affairs a long letter (a letter of betrothal, +we might call it), disclosing his whole political programme:</p> + +<p>“The organisation of French power has only just begun—Despite +our good opinion of ourselves,—we Frenchmen are still +tyros in political matters. As yet we do not even understand +the difference between executive, legislature, and judiciary. +In such a State as ours, where all authority issues from the +nation, where the people is sovereign—governmental power, in +the full comprehensiveness I ascribe to it, must be regarded as +the true representative of the nation, who rules in accordance +with the constitution.”</p> + +<p>“Does your heart express itself so openly, Bonaparte?” +thinks the inscrutable recipient, smiling to himself as he reads.</p> + +<p>“It is an immeasurable misfortune that, in the eighteenth +century, a nation of thirty million persons should still be compelled +to take up arms in order to save the country. These +forcible means are a burden upon the legislator, seeing that a +constitution for human beings must take human beings into +account.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span></p> + +<p>“Is your aim so high?” muses the reader, with astonishment. +“He is already sated with martial fame, and aspires, +under the new constitution, to become dictator!” Talleyrand +reads on:</p> + +<p>“Why should we not make sure of Malta?—I had good reason +for confiscating the estates of the Knights of Malta.—With +Malta and Corfu in our hands, we should be masters of the +Mediterranean. If we cannot dislodge England from the Cape, +we must take Egypt. With twenty-five thousand men and from +eight to ten ships of the line, the expedition could be risked. +Egypt does not belong to the sultan. I wish you could find out +what impression an Egyptian expedition would make upon the +Porte.—The break-up of the huge Turkish Empire, day by day +more imminent, must lead us to think of our trade in the East.”</p> + +<p>As he sits in the Foreign Office, reading this, the diplomat +raises his eyebrows yet higher. He feels that the writer is a +man of genius, if not the very devil. A week or two later, comes +another letter.</p> + +<p>“If our doings are guided by a sound policy, which is nothing +else than the calculation of combinations and chances, we shall +for a long time to come be the Great Nation and the arbiter +of Europe. The scales are in our hands, and, should fate be +propitious, within a few years there may be great happenings. +To-day, these may seem the vague anticipations of a visionary +enthusiast; but a cold, pertinacious, and far-sighted man will +be able to make them a reality.”</p> + +<h3>X</h3> + +<p>How slow these German diplomats are to make up their +minds. For weeks we have been at it, discussing matters far on +into the night, and still the titled negotiators hesitate to sign +the document, though any reasonable man would come to a +decision in an hour or two! Throughout, the Austrians are +looking over their shoulders at the emperor in Vienna. In the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>room where the conversations take place, there is an empty +throne on which the shadowy Francis is supposed to be sitting +beneath the canopy. “Better carry that chair away before we +begin,” says the commander. “I have never been able to see a +raised seat without wanting to sit in it.”</p> + +<p>His letters to the enigmatical Minister for Foreign Affairs, +those fervid preludes, had been nothing more than the soliloquies +of a man chafing at idleness, to whom weeks spent in thinking +about peace seem wasted, even though the peace be one for +which Europe has been longing for years. His patience is exhausted, +and he assumes a menacing tone: “I have been too +lenient with you,” he growls to the Austrians. “I might have +made the conditions much harsher! You are frittering away +my time. I stand before you as the equal in rank of any of your +princes. Don’t talk to me about congresses.... With the +means at our disposal, in a couple of years we Frenchmen can +conquer the whole of Europe. Not that we want to do so. +Our wish is to give our citizens peace, and quickly.... You +tell me that this, that, and the other are your instructions. If, +when the sun is shining, your instructions said that night had +fallen, would you insist that it was dark?”</p> + +<p>At last, to give them a salutary fright, he bursts into a +rage, dashes a vase to the ground, and thus forces them to sign +the peace in which every one gets what Napoleon had promised +six months before in Leoben.</p> + +<p>When Europe learns the news, there will be a sigh of relief. +But what is going on in Bonaparte’s mind? The day after he +has signed at Campo Formio the peace which ends a six years’ +war, the peace he has fought for and won, he writes to the Directors, +in the most matter-of-fact way: “It is absolutely indispensable +to our government that we should speedily overthrow +the English monarchy. Unless we succeed in doing this, +we can be sure that the corruption and the intrigues of these +active islanders will ruin us. The moment is favourable. Let +us concentrate our energies upon increasing our navy, so that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span>we may crush England. Then Europe will be at our feet.” He +issues a manifesto to the navy: “Comrades! Now that we have +established peace on land, let us conquer the freedom of the +seas. Without your aid, the glory of the French name could +be carried only through a corner of the Continent. With your +help, we shall cross the ocean, and the fame of our nation will +reach the most distant lands!”</p> + +<p>His mind is full of titanic schemes. As he gallops along the +causeway of his great deeds, fame vanishes behind him in the +dust raised by his charger’s thundering hoofs, but fame ever +looms in front of him, beckoning from the mirage of his fresh +designs. In this spirit he hastens back to Milan, to Montebello, +whence he is to give Italy her final orders; for now, carrying +the peace treaty, he will go to Paris. In the tone of a prince +speaking to his people, Bonaparte issues a proclamation to the +newly formed Cisalpine Republic:</p> + +<p>“Yours is the first nation in history to win freedom without +partisan struggles, without a revolution, and without a blow. +We have given you liberty, and you will know how to keep it!... +Let your minds be full of the sense of your own strength, +and of the self-respect proper to the free man.... Had the +Romans of old used their powers as the French are using their +powers to-day, the Roman eagles would still wave above the +Capitol, and the human race would have escaped being dishonoured +by eighteen centuries of slavery! To consolidate your +liberties, and with the sole end of bringing you happiness, I +have completed a task such as hitherto has only been performed +by ambition and the will-to-power.... In a few days I shall +leave you.... Your happiness and the glory of your republic +will always be matters very dear to my heart.”</p> + +<p>Is this a warrior blowing a trumpet? Is it a poet, into +whose mouth the ecstasy of life puts words that are to arouse +popular enthusiasm? During these very days, in the company +of a diplomat belonging to this very country, he is strolling to +and fro in the park of Montebello. His whole nature is straining +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span>towards Paris; his companion is a good listener, and a man +of ability. Napoleon, in one of those bursts of frankness which +genius sometimes allows itself, delivers himself as follows:</p> + +<p>“Do you fancy that I have won my triumphs in Italy that +I may help the lawyers of the Directory ... to achieve greatness? +Or can you imagine that I want to stabilise the republic? +What a ridiculous notion, a republic with thirty million +inhabitants! With our customs! With our failings! +France will soon forget these whims. The French need glory +and the gratification of their vanity, but they do not understand +the elements of freedom. Look at the army! Our victories +have restored the French soldier to his true self. I am +the idol of the soldiers. If the Directors, for instance, were +to try to withdraw my commission, they would soon see who is +master of the army.</p> + +<p>“The people needs a chief, made resplendent by fame and +victory; it does not want theories and governments, the phrases +and the oratory of the ideologues. Give the masses a toy! +They will play with it, and allow themselves to be led—provided +always that the leader is adroit enough to hide his true aims! +Here in Italy, it is not necessary for me to be so circumspect.... +Still, the time is not yet ripe. For the present, it is +necessary to yield to the fervour of the moment, so here we shall +have two or three republics after the French model.... Peace +is opposed to my interests.... If peace were firmly established, +and if I were no longer at the head of the army, I should +have to renounce the power and position I have gained, and +should have to pay homage to the lawyers in the Luxembourg. +If I leave Italy, it is only that I may play the same part in +France. But that fruit, likewise, is not yet ripe. Paris is +divided. There is a Bourbon party, and I cannot fight on its +side. In due time I shall weaken the republicans, but I shall +not do so to the advantage of the old dynasty!”</p> + +<p>Such are Bonaparte’s real plans. What he says is true: +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span>“Everything has happened as I foresaw; and I believe that I am +the only person in the world who is not surprised. So will it be +in the future; I shall make my way whithersoever I will.”</p> + +<p>A stream of confessions is forcing a way for itself. The +words have come down to us in the memoirs of the man who +heard them; of course the speaker would have denied them, had +the hearer then ventured to repeat them. But it is true that he +is far from being satisfied with what he has hitherto achieved. +Seated beside Bourrienne in the carriage in which he is driving +away from Italy after a stay of nearly two years, he says: +“A few more campaigns like this, and we shall have made a +fairly great name for ourselves, a name that will go down to +posterity.” When his friend interposes that Bonaparte has +already secured a notable reputation, the commander laughs +him to scorn:</p> + +<p>“You flatter me, Bourrienne! If I die to-day, ten centuries +hence my record will not occupy more than half a page in +universal history!”</p> + +<h3>XI</h3> + +<p>The Luxembourg palace has been transformed into an amphitheatre. +Weapons and colours, the latest trophies, are displayed, +side by side with the gold-blazoned slogans of the +revolution, on the venerable walls within which, of old, the +satellite peers used to circle round their central luminary, the +king of France. Paris has assembled, and all are dressed in +gala attire, as if for a May Day festival—though it is chill +December. The front seats are filled with pretty women, +friends of the men in power, for they want to get a close view of +the little commander with the leathery yellow skin, the hero of +the occasion.</p> + +<p>“He has already been a week in Paris, and not a soul has +set eyes on him. Why does he modestly shun the acclamations +of his people?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span></p> + +<p>“There is the signal for the entry! Look, the five Directors +are coming on to the platform!”</p> + +<p>The chorus sings the anthem of liberty, the crowd joining +in the refrain. A pause. The sound of clanking sabres and +clinking spurs is heard upon the perron without. People crane +from the windows, look down from the roofs. He is coming! +He is coming!</p> + +<p>Napoleon wears a field uniform, for this looks less pretentious. +His mien is grave and unassuming, as with firm step he +strides along the gangway to the dais. He carries a roll of +paper, and three adjutants follow in his train. But, as well as +these, hard upon the heels of the plainly uniformed little figure +with the martial gait, comes a man wearing silk stockings, and +resplendent in gold lace; he walks with a limp. At this moment, +a cannon shot is heard, the first shot of a salute; the sometime +lieutenant of artillery is being honoured in appropriate fashion. +Thunders of applause shake the building, and are echoed outside +by the thousands who are waiting to greet Napoleon on his +departure. Quiet once more. Talleyrand is speaking. Brilliantly, +smoothly, with undercurrents of meaning which few can +understand, he praises the classical simplicity of their great +general, the saviour of his country, who scorns pomp, and is a +servant of the things of the spirit. The minister closes with the +words: “All France will be free; save only him, perhaps—that is +his destiny.”</p> + +<p>Applause, as usual; but is there one among these thousands, +even among those in the inner councils, who realises the profound +truth of the closing phrase? Does any one of the auditors +feel the poignancy of the satire?</p> + +<p>Napoleon quietly comes to the front. What is he going to +say?</p> + +<p>“The French nation had to fight with its kings in order to +win freedom.... Religion, feudalism, monarchy, have in turn +ruled Europe for two thousand years. The era of democratic +constitutions has only just begun. It has been your achievement +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span>to extend the domain of the Great Nation to its natural +frontiers. You have done more. The two loveliest countries of +Europe, renowned for science, art, and genius, see the spirit +of freedom, buoyed up by hope, rising out of the tombs of their +ancestors. These are the pedestals on which two mighty nations +are uplifted. I have the honour to present you the treaty +of Campo Formio, ratified by Emperor Francis.... As soon +as the fortunes of the French nation are established upon the +best organic laws, Europe, too, will be free.”</p> + +<p>The soldierly voice is silent. For a moment, not a sound is +to be heard. Then come salvos of applause. Are they applauding +the speech? It lacks the charm of the popular orations +and the speeches from the tribune with which the walls of +Paris are often placarded. The hearers are astonished; many +of them are positively amazed. Alarm and veneration are the +prevailing sentiments. The applause is not for the speech, +but for the man. He has spoken on many fronts, has harangued +a crowd in Corsica, but has never before addressed society +folk, or politicians.</p> + +<p>His speech was that of a statesman. At first perhaps not a +soul but Talleyrand understood it. All that he had said of +their own epoch, seemed false. England and America had been +democracies for many, many years. France had been fighting +nearly a decade for her recognition as a democracy. Now, at +last, recognition had come, in this peace with Germany. There +was the tangible proof of it in the parchment which betokened +peace on the Continent.</p> + +<p>But the story was not finished—such was the implied +menace that sounded, with a metallic ring, from the concluding +words of the statesman hidden in the soldier. The Directors +understood his meaning, knew that the threat was for them. +But Barras pulled himself together, delivered a fulsome speech, +and then, for the first and last time embraced the little general, +whose wife he would infinitely rather have held in his arms.</p> + +<p>Josephine, where was Josephine? Why was she absent on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span>the great occasion? No one knows with certainty how or where +she spent these weeks. She did not reach Paris until a month +after Napoleon. When she came, she was serene, charming, +rather tired. In Paris, she promptly resumed her old life, and +took up the threads of some of her old amours.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, another woman had entered Napoleon’s orbit. +She was handsome, but was too intelligent to please him. This +was Necker’s daughter, Madame de Staël. An influential +woman, as well as an interesting; it was at her suggestion +that Talleyrand had been appointed Minister for Foreign +Affairs. She besieged Bonaparte with letters; she would fain +have harnessed him to her chariot wheels, but he jibbed at the +prospect. Now, when she had met him in the flesh, he parried +her advances with a few civilities; but he could not prevent this +talented woman from seeing further into his mind than most +men had succeeded in doing. Here is her pen picture of the +commander, an early impression:</p> + +<p>“His face is thin and pale, but not unpleasing. Being short +of stature, he looks better on horseback than on foot. In social +life, he has rather awkward manners, though he is by no means +shy. When he is on the alert, he is a little contemptuous in his +bearing; whereas his natural demeanour is a trifle common. +The contemptuous pose suits him better.... When he is +speaking, I am enthralled by an impression of his pre-eminence, +though he has none of the qualities of the men of the study and +of society. If he recounts his personal experiences, he often +discloses the lively imagination of an Italian.... But I always +become aware of a profound irony, which nothing escapes, +neither the sublime, nor the beautiful, nor even his own fame.... +I have known not a few men of note, some of them savage +by disposition, but the dread with which this man fills me is a +thing apart. He is neither good nor bad, neither gentle nor +cruel. He is unique; he can neither inspire nor feel affection; +he is more and less than a man. Character, mind, speech—all +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span>have a strange stamp. This very strangeness helps him to win +over the French.</p> + +<p>“He neither hates nor loves; for him, no one exists but himself; +all other people are merely ‘number so-and-so.’ A great +chessplayer, for whom humanity-at-large is the adversary he +hopes to checkmate. His success is quite as much due to the +qualities he lacks as to the qualities he possesses.... Where +his own interest is involved, he pursues it as the just man seeks +virtue; if his aim were good, his perseverance would be exemplary.... +He despises the nation whose applause he seeks; +there is not a spark of fervour intermingled with his craving +to astound mankind.... I have never been able to breathe +freely in his presence.”</p> + +<p>If we discount in these sentences all that may reasonably +be regarded as due to the mortified vanity of a notable and +much admired woman, enough will still remain to be worthy of +careful study. Each moment she tries to pierce his armour, +only in the next breath to acknowledge herself his prisoner. She +moves in a Rousseauist world of abstract virtue and goodness, +with which a dictator can have nothing to do, and she therefore +cannot regard Bonaparte with enthusiasm; but nevertheless she +foresees his aim, which was not publicly disclosed till near the +end of his career, and hers is the credit of having been the +first to recognise his genius.</p> + +<p>“Picture to yourself a little man,” writes a German at this +date in one of his letters home. “No taller than Frederick the +Great; very regularly and slenderly built; lean, but sturdy; a +large head; high forehead; dark-grey eyes; thick, dark-brown +hair; Grecian nose, so long that it almost hangs down over the +mouth; his mouth is full of humaneness and grace; the firm +chin is rather prominent. His movements are brisk, but he +has a fine and dignified bearing. You may see him run down a +long staircase in five or six strides, and yet, as he finishes the +last stride, he stands before you as graceful as ever. Unless he +is fixing his gaze upon some object he particularly wishes to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span>examine, he is generally looking upwards. It was always a delight +to me to contemplate his beautiful, deep, sensitive eyes, +at once severe and kindly, like those of our own Frederick.”</p> + +<h3>XII</h3> + +<p>On the way to Paris, Napoleon had had to spend a few days +in Rastatt, to discuss with the imperial envoys certain details +connected with the carrying out of the peace treaty and the +evacuation of Mainz. Here, expected with mingled curiosity +and scepticism, he had assumed royal airs. He had alternately +scolded and made much of the envoys, as best suited his plans +at the moment, giving one of these Austrian counts a watch and +the other a jewelled hat-buckle. “The two poor envoys were +amazed that I had so much money to spend, for they were as +poor as church mice.”</p> + +<p>This oriental lavishness in present-giving, the outcome of +kindliness quite as much as of arrogance, will be a persistent +characteristic. He will become known as a caliph who loves +to shower gifts, displaying a mingled disdain and generosity +which throw a searching light upon his own spiritual make-up. +But if he has to acknowledge some genuine service, then this +same man (who from underlings exposed to danger demands +scrupulous exactitude in the fulfilment of duty) will express his +thanks in the most courtly fashion, as if he were one of Arthur’s +knights, and the world a jousting-place. The warrior who has +captured so many of the enemy colours is given one of the flags +from Arcola, as a keepsake. He passes it on to General Lannes, +writing:</p> + +<p>“At Arcola, there was a moment when the fortune of the day +was so uncertain that nothing but the utmost bravery on the +part of the leaders could have saved the situation. Thereupon, +bleeding from three terrible wounds, you left the field hospital, +resolved to conquer or die. Again and again I saw you in the +foremost ranks of the brave. You were the first ... to cross +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span>the Adda. Yours must be the honour of owning and guarding +this glorious flag.”</p> + +<p>He knows exactly how his words will affect the people of +Paris. If he makes a public display of such expressions of approval, +he is just as sedulous to draw near to the footlights +when he has to censure or to condemn. That is one of the tricks +of his trade.</p> + +<p>Now, he is careful to behave in such a way that all Paris, +every one of his opponents, the whole press, shall exclaim: +“The modesty of true greatness!” Twice more, during these +days, he makes ceremonial appearances, one of them being at a +festival held in his honour by Talleyrand. He had hastened to +pay his respects to the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the day +after his return to Paris. Neither of them had as yet disclosed +his ultimate plans, but Bonaparte, in his dealings with +this scion of the old nobility, had not forgotten to speak of +his own exalted antecedents. “You are the nephew of the archbishop +of Rheims,” he had said in the first half hour. “One +of my uncles, who helped in my education, is an archdeacon—in +Corsica, you know, that means much the same as being a +bishop in France.” In this way Napoleon implied that he was +no parvenu whom a man of ancient lineage was, in his heart, +entitled to despise. From the first, he looked upon Talleyrand +as a possible antagonist.</p> + +<p>He has bought the little house in which Josephine used to +live. Here he leads a retired life, with his wife, who has at +length arrived in Paris. His circle is small, consisting of his +brothers and a few friends who come and go. He often wears +mufti, drives out alone, avoids parties, is easy of access. When +he is cheered at the theatre, he draws back into the recesses of +his box. This is the man who, a little while ago at Montebello, +was keeping up a princely state. “If I am seen three or four +times at the theatre, people will cease to notice me,” he says to +an intimate. “You expect me to be pleased by such public +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span>demonstrations? There would be quite as big a crowd to see me +guillotined!”</p> + +<p>He invites men of learning to his house; attends most of the +sittings of the Institute, and is willing to read a paper there +now and again; discusses mathematics after dinner with Laplace, +and shows the astronomer new Italian methods of calculating +orbits; argues with Chénier about poetry, and even metaphysics +(if he can’t help himself!).</p> + +<p>But he silently follows, all this time, every move made by the +Directors, whose power is continually on the wane. Knowing +them to be his secret enemies, he keeps out of their path, and +has them watched by his brothers. He gathers information as +to the relative strength of the various parties, and ponders his +own course. “Paris has no memory. A new reputation drives +out an old one; and if I linger here inactive, I shall be lost. +I must not stay here.” Often he walks to and fro in the garden, +arms locked behind, thinking.</p> + +<p>“Too soon. Better wait until they have made a complete +mess of things. Become their colleague, a member of the Directory, +just when the pillars are crackling? A good thing +that I am not yet forty, as the law demands. Meanwhile, I +must capture the fancy of the crowd! How? There is peace +throughout the Continent. Hardly a rival left to dread. +Hoche, the most dangerous of them, is dead, thanks be! One +of Josephine’s lovers; a handsome fellow, certainly. His passing +troubled her little; she is inconstant by nature. Carnot +thrust aside, Moreau defeated. Augereau, in command of the +Army of the Rhine, is jealous of me; I must put a spoke in his +wheel. The Corsican stalwarts have little influence now; but +that woman who came to warn me against the risk of poisoning +was stabbed next day; there are conspiracies. Too soon. I +must leave Paris once more.</p> + +<p>“Get to work against England? That would be the best +plan, if only these idiots had not allowed the navy to get into +so wretched a condition! I’ve been worrying them about the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span>matter ever since the siege of Toulon. During the naval war of +the last five years, we’ve lost half a dozen sea-fights. What +about invasion? If only that were possible! Any one who +could defeat England would be master of the world. Sail along +the coast, study the possibilities, and then, if there seems no +chance of a successful landing on the other side of the Channel, +back to the Mediterranean! Only there, in the East, can I +throw off all restraint, and keep France a-quiver with curiosity +and excitement. Egypt’s the place, in the footsteps of Alexander; +and there we can strike England a shrewd blow!”</p> + +<p>After long preparations, the general visits Dunkirk and the +Flemish coast. He asks questions wherever he goes, not forgetting +to cross-examine fishermen and smugglers. Returning +unexpectedly, he gives Josephine a fright, but it escapes his +notice that she hastens to pen a few lines to the secretary of +an old flame. In his campaigns, hundreds of spies have brought +him secret missives; what would he say if he could read this +one? “Bonaparte has come back this evening. Please tell +Barras how sorry I am that I cannot come to supper after all. +Say that he is not to forget me. You know better than any one +what my position is.—La Pagerie Bonaparte.”</p> + +<p>Thus undermined is the marriage in which he still puts +his trust. Thus equivocal is the position of Barras, the impotent +Director, who hates and mistrusts the mighty commander +of the forces. Thus nonchalant is Josephine, as with carefree +heart she makes her way through society, passing her time in +women’s boudoirs and men’s bedrooms—and, among the men, +she has to put up with Bonaparte, although when she signs her +married name she prefixes to it her maiden name, as though +she were still mistress of her own destinies and free to choose +her lover.</p> + +<p>No doubt Barras is cursing Bonaparte this evening, but next +day the general writes to him and the other Directors a long +report, which begins as follows: “Even with our best efforts, it +will take us several years to get the upper hand at sea. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>invasion of England would be a desperate venture; it will only +be possible if we take the islanders by surprise.... We shall +need long nights, so it must be in winter. Consequently we cannot +make the attempt till next year. Before then, it is likely +enough that hindrances will have arisen on the Continent. Perhaps +the great moment has been lost for ever.”</p> + +<p>After this amazingly perspicacious renunciation of his scheme +for the invasion of England, he goes on to formulate a yet +more amazing plan for achieving the same end by other means. +Substantially, he proposes eight naval campaigns, ranging from +Spain to Holland, all the political conditions and consequences +being carefully considered. If, however, ships and money are +not forthcoming, the next best expedient will be to attack English +commerce, beginning in Egypt, whence Bonaparte could +get back to direct further operations against England.</p> + +<p>Enough for the Directors to hear the word Egypt, and they +are ready to agree to this last plan. He shall have the command +there, and all the help they can give. So dangerous a +man as this—the farther away he is, the better! Best of all +would be, to make an end of him!</p> + +<p>The Egyptian plan is not new; it has been mooted at intervals +for years. Talleyrand had brought it forward in connection +with Bonaparte’s letter, though his comment had been: +“The leader of this campaign would not need to be a man of +exceptional military talent.” Was this remark prompted by a +wish to keep Bonaparte in France, or was it nothing more than +a spiteful innuendo? However that may be, the talented commander, +when he read the words at a much later date, wrote in +the margin: “Crazy!” But we anticipate. He drafted the +terms of his own nomination as chief of the Army in the East: +plenipotentiary powers; a commission to take Malta and Egypt, +to drive the English from the Red Sea, to cut a canal through +the Isthmus of Suez in order that France may be secure in +the possession of the Red Sea.</p> + +<p>With feverish energy he now devotes himself to preparations +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span>for the new undertaking. He has long been familiar with all +the essentials of the problem. The Mediterranean is his home. +In childhood, he was wont to contemplate the Moor’s head on +the scutcheon of Corsica; sailing ships from Africa often visited +the island; not long ago, he had deprived Genoa and Venice of +their fleets; he was already in touch with Tunisians and Greeks, +with Albanians and Bosnians. Over all these machinations +brooded the spirit of Alexander, who had chosen Egypt as the +centre of his world empire.</p> + +<p>For the first time, during these weeks of waiting, do the +elements of Bonaparte’s nature become formally compacted +within him. What has been no more than a scheme of the unbridled +imagination, the plan of one who aspires to resemble +the most splendid exemplars of the ancient world, is now dissected, +pondered, weighed in the calculating brain; it is refashioned, +reconsidered; by degrees it is adapted to the actual +possibilities of the situation. When preparing his Egyptian +campaign, Bonaparte attempts, in the grand style, to unite +the calculator with the dreamer, while it escapes his notice that +there is an incalculable residue. His imagination, nourished +upon dreams of the heroic age, blinds him to the fact that we +are no longer living in the days of classical antiquity, that +caliph and conqueror can no longer command millions of unthinking +slaves, that even in distant Africa the peoples are +awakening. Bonaparte is making ready for a titanic and insoluble +conflict; and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, +the more defiantly will he continue his vain attempts to solve it.</p> + +<p>This man of genius, born two thousand years too late, is +already spinning the threads of his own doom. With the hand +of a demigod, he is sketching the outlines of his own fate.</p> + +<h3>XIII</h3> + +<p>“I am going to the East,” he writes to his brother, “with all +the means to ensure success. Should France need me, ... +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span>should war break out and take an unfavourable turn, I shall +come home, and public opinion will be more solidly on my side +than it is now. But if the fortune of war should favour the republic, +if another commander like myself should appear upon +the scene, I shall, perhaps, be staying in the East, do the +world more service than he can.” When Bourrienne asks how +long they are to be away, Bonaparte answers: “Six months or +six years.”</p> + +<p>At the last moment, fate wants to give him another warning. +In Rastatt, Austria refuses to cede the left bank of the Rhine; +in Vienna, Bernadotte, who is French envoy there, is so provocative +that a new war already seems imminent. Would it not +be better to stay in Europe? But the Directors speed the departure, +saying that matters have now gone too far to withdraw. +In May, exactly two years after Napoleon’s entry into +Milan, four hundred ships set sail from Toulon. Josephine +waves farewell to her husband, and (doubtless with more concern) +to Eugene. Not until the whole mighty apparatus has +been set in motion at the master’s nod, does he disclose to his +subordinates the goal of the voyage. All are on deck, watching +the gradual disappearance of the European coast; but Napoleon, +on the “Orient,” standing beside the mainmast among +the eight-pounders, is not, like the others, looking back at +Europe. His gaze is directed towards the south-east.</p> + +<p>At the same hour, Nelson and three other British admirals, +standing on the decks of their ships, are searching the seas with +telescopes for a sign of the hated enemy, who is, it is supposed, +about to sail for Sicily. Where is he to be found? Yesterday, +Nelson’s fleet was scattered by a storm. Days pass before the +ships can get together again, and the very storm which had +detained Bonaparte for twenty-four hours in Toulon, saves the +French. They reach Malta before the English fleet, and seize +the important island by a coup de main. By the time the cat +arrives, the mouse is gone. Under all sail, Nelson presses on to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span>Egypt, but finds no one there, for he has outstripped the enemy. +He tries the Syrian coast. Nothing! Back to Sicily. No one! +“The Devil has the devil’s own luck,” says Nelson, cursing himself +and the foe.</p> + +<p>The French fleet is four weeks on the voyage, and Napoleon, +who is a bad sailor, spends most of the time in bed. Is not this +symbolic? Will the seasick general ever win to the command +of the sea? He is restless lying down, and, to pass the weary +hours, he makes Bourrienne read aloud to him.</p> + +<p>For on board this fleet there are not only two thousand guns. +A whole university is sailing to the East. Astronomers, geometricians, +mineralogists, chemists, antiquarians, bridge-builders, +road engineers, orientalists, political economists, painters, poets—one +hundred and seventy-five learned civilians, with hundreds +of boxes full of apparatus and books. Everything in this land +of ancient story is to be meticulously studied. For France, +Bonaparte is to win a colony, and for himself an African reputation. +The soldiers have bluntly nicknamed these learned passengers, +collectively, “the donkeys.” But Bonaparte prizes +them, and his wrath breaks loose on any of his officers who +grumble at the presence of so many “idlers.” He has chosen +his experts with the utmost care, and has thought out every +detail of what they are to do. He has brought a font of +Arabic type, extracted with great difficulty from the State +printing house. He has taken especial pains in the choice of +books for the library with which the flagship is freighted for +the voyage to Egypt. Novels are good for officers; and when +he finds them reading novels, he laughs good humouredly. For +himself, he has only <i>Werther</i> and <i>Ossian</i>, works of passion, his +inseparable companions. On this journey, however, he seldom +reads them.</p> + +<p>What does Bourrienne read aloud to the chief? Travels in +Egypt, which have been collected from various quarters, from +Rome and elsewhere; Plutarch; Homer; Arrian’s account of +Alexander’s campaigns; the Koran, which, logically enough, is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>housed among the political works, beside the Bible and Montesquieu.</p> + +<p>After dinner, he is fond of holding sessions of “the Institute.” +He uses the name jestingly, and yet in the discussions he takes +it seriously enough. He propounds a subject for debate, and +nominates the champions. Mathematics and religion are his +favourite topics on these occasions, for he has always been both +calculator and dreamer. There sits the famous Monge, a man +with a crooked nose, a receding forehead, and a massive chin; +Napoleon has admired him for years, and thinks more of him +than of any of the others. Beside Monge is Desaix, whom +Bonaparte has just summoned from the Army of the Rhine; +he has a thick nose and thick lips, a somewhat negroid but +kindly face, and the strategist rivals the mathematician in the +shrewdness of his eyes. Look at Kléber, a man of fearless +countenance, full of courage and resolution; beside him, Laplace, +who peers earnestly at the company from beneath his +eye-shade; next is Berthollet, with a head like a ram. Kléber +runs atilt at geometry; but when one of the professors wishes +to take up the cudgels on behalf of the things of the spirit, +Bonaparte signs to him not to waste breath, and points with a +smile to Berthier, who has fallen asleep in the corner over the +<i>Sorrows of Werther</i>.</p> + +<p>The weather is getting much warmer. Napoleon, wishing to +breathe the night air, lies on deck till a late hour. His intimates +are sitting round him in a circle, and discussion turns on the +planets, on the question whether they are inhabited. Pros and +cons are voiced by the disputants. This leads to the problem of +the creation. The sons of the revolution, disciples of Voltaire, +be they generals or be they professors, are agreed upon one +point, that the universe and its origin are rationally explicable +in terms of natural science, without reference to the idea of +God. Napoleon lies there, listening in silence. Then, pointing +to the stars, he interjects:</p> + +<p>“You may say what you like, but who made all those?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span></p> + +<h3>XIV</h3> + +<p>Bonaparte rides slowly across the desert sands to look upon +the face of the Sphinx. The eyes of stone and the eyes of steel +meet. Like the Sphinx, he knows how to be silent, but we can +guess his thoughts.</p> + +<p>“Alexander stood here. Cæsar stood here. They lived two +thousand years after this image was sculptured, as I live two +thousand years after them. Immeasurable empires, consecrated +to the sun, extended around the Nile. Millions obeyed the will +of one. What the ruler dreamed, was fashioned by his slaves +with their myriad hands. Everything was possible to him. +The king was the son of the gods. All obeyed him as the descendant +of the original conqueror. Because that first conqueror +named himself king, and son of the gods, all believed +him. Here, in the East, it is possible to say to human beings, +‘I am your god,’ and all believe. Europe is a mole-hill.”</p> + +<p>Soon, not many miles away, Napoleon makes ready for battle. +Eight thousand Mamelukes, the best cavalry in the world, are +ready to crush the invader. He rides up and down in front +of his troops, points to the pyramids in the distance, and exclaims: +“Soldiers, forty centuries are looking down on you.” +The Mamelukes charge the French, but are driven back by +artillery fire; their camp is soon in Bonaparte’s hands; they +flee to the Nile, crossing the river in boats and by swimming; +since it is notorious that they always have gold with them, the +fight continues for hours on the bank and in the water until the +victors have secured some of the treasure.</p> + +<p>In Cairo, he knows how to win the support of the pashas and +the sheiks. He gives out that he loves and venerates the Turks +and the sultan. He is only attacking the Mamelukes, who are +their enemies likewise. Periphrases, bowings and scrapings, +elaborate metaphors—these come natural to him, the man of +the Mediterranean who is half an oriental. They are devices +for lying even more circumstantially than do the diplomats of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span>Europe with their speedier and directer methods. Here he is +following the oriental custom. While still on board the +“Orient,” he had dictated to his interpreter a letter to the +pasha of Egypt. It began as follows:</p> + +<p>“Thou who shouldst be supreme over all the beys, but hast, +as I know, neither power nor prestige in Cairo, thou wilt welcome +my coming. Assuredly thou knowest that I have it not in +mind to do anything against the Koran or against the sultan. +Come, therefore, to my help, and join with me in cursing the +godless race of beys!”</p> + +<p>To approximate his own creed to the faith of Allah, he begins, +like a conjuror, to juggle with the Trinity. First of all he +explains that he has conquered the pope and the Maltese, and +that for him the Koran is the word of God just as much as the +Bible. But, at a later date, when the forces sent to dislodge +his own are being disembarked, he argues as follows: “Allah is +Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet. To the divan of Cairo, +chosen from among the ablest, most learned, and most enlightened +of men! The blessing of the Prophet be upon you!” He +goes on to say that he has allowed these men to be landed in +order that he may kill them all at one blow, “which will be a +glorious sight for Cairo.” There were Russians on board the +invader’s ships. “The Russians hate all who, like you and +myself, believe in one God, for, in their own legends, they speak +of three gods. They will learn, soon enough, that there is but +one God, the father of victory, who graciously fights on the +side of the good.”</p> + +<p>Out of this potpourri of the religious, which ends on a more +pagan note than he seems to be aware, he subsequently extracts +unchristian France as a political instrument, saying that the +religion of France is especially akin to Mohammedanism. He +is continually appealing to the Koran as the basis of his +thought. The holy book which he has included in the political +section of his travelling library, shall be made to do him good +service. When he dismisses a dangerous cadi in Cairo, he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span>finds a justification for his action in the Koran: “All that is +good comes from God; he gives us victory.... Whatever I +undertake must succeed. All those whom I call my friends, +thrive. But any one who helps my enemies, perishes.”</p> + +<p>If he had but had the luck to have been born here in Egypt +four thousand years ago, he would have gained the victory by +the power of suggestion alone. But nowadays even these brown +fellows are sceptical! He despises them, while showering them +with superlatives; but, at the same time, he threatens to punish +with the utmost rigour any of his soldiers who injure a native. +The first order of the day to the Army in the East runs: “The +peoples with whom we are now in contact do not treat their +women as we treat ours. Nevertheless, any one who harms a +woman is looked upon as a monster here as in Europe. Looting +enriches very few, dishonours all, destroys the sources of aid, +and makes us hated by those with whom it is to our interest +that we should be friends.” No one is to enter a mosque, and +groups must not even assemble round the doors. By cajolery +and threats, by tolerance and intrigue, by Allah and the sword, +by all the methods of the oriental, Bonaparte secures an +authoritative position within a few weeks.</p> + +<p>At length he can regard himself as master in the East. Is he +any the happier for that?</p> + +<p>Junot has received a letter about Josephine. If only this +letter, like hundreds more, had been intercepted by the English! +Then, at least, Napoleon could still have enjoyed the bliss of +ignorance! For Junot feels it his duty to tell his commander +and old friend all about the matter. It concerns Hippolyte +Charles, as well as Josephine. Napoleon had cashiered the +young man. Josephine had found him a job with an army contractor, +and had lost sight of him for a time. But she has met +him again, has come across him at a fashionable dancing school. +Her old passion has revived. He has such graceful hips! He +makes such elegant sallies! Now he has the added charm of +wealth. Meanwhile, Josephine has bought a fine estate near +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span>Paris (though it is not yet paid for); the young dandy is living +with her at Malmaison as master of the house....</p> + +<p>Bonaparte walks up and down as he talks things over with +Junot. He grows paler and paler; his face twitches; twice or +thrice he strikes his forehead despairingly with his fist. Suddenly, +turning upon Bourrienne, who is sitting in front of the +tent, he says: “You are not a true friend! These women! +Josephine! You ought to have told me. Junot, he is really my +friend. Josephine—and I am more than two thousand miles +away! How can she betray me like this? Damn these puppies +and coxcombs! I’ll make short work of the lot of them. I +will divorce her. Yes, a public, sensational divorce! I will +write instantly. I know everything. If she is guilty, farewell! +I will not be a mock for the flâneurs on the boulevards.”</p> + +<p>Bourrienne tries to pacify him; tells him that fame is more +important than family happiness. “Fame! What is that +worth? I would give everything in the world, so much do I love +her, if only Junot’s news were false.”</p> + +<p>But the English may intercept and publish anything he +writes, so in his letter to his brother Joseph he can do no more +than hint at this private calamity. The missive has a peculiar +charm, which is perhaps given to it by the writer’s enforced +restraint, by the need for using veiled expressions. Tædium +vitæ of genius at its climax. This private letter is penned the +day after a victorious and virile despatch:</p> + +<p>“No other country in the world is so rich as Egypt in maize, +rice, vegetables, and meat. Barbarism reaches its highest level +here. There is no money, not even for paying the troops. In +two months I can be back in France. Look after my interests, +I beseech you; I have a great deal of trouble at home; the veil +has been torn off once for all—I have no one left in the world +but you. Your affection is precious to me. Only one thing +could increase my bitterness—if I were to lose you, if you also +were to play the traitor. How terrible that all my affections +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span>should be concentrated upon one personality. You understand +me? Make arrangements that as soon as I return home I +shall have at my disposal a country house near Paris or in +Burgundy, a place where I can spend the winter in absolute +seclusion. Mankind has become loathsome to me. I need rest +and solitude. Greatness bores me to death. The fount of +feeling is dried up. At twenty-nine years of age, I find that +fame is vanity. I’ve got to the end of everything. Only one +resource is left to me, to become an absolute egoist. I shall +keep my house in Paris, and not hand it over to any one! I +have nothing more than what I brought into the world with +me. I have never been unjust to you, that you must admit, +though I have often wanted to be. You will understand. Kiss +your wife for me, and Jerome. Bonaparte.”</p> + +<p>This cynicism and misanthropy, the desire for vengeance and +the demand for satisfaction, have at length, and for the first +time, become merged in a symphony of melancholy. The melancholy +note had been sounded twelve years before in his diary, +but since then it has been silent. A heart that desired to give +itself wholly, in which trust had been ever renewed despite many +disillusionments, now seems to have been pierced through and +through. Victory, glory, to be a second Alexander—all dust +and ashes. If a man is deceived where he least deserves it, and +where he has trusted with all the ardency of youth, what is +greatness to him? He begins his letter with rice and vegetables, +and ends with solitude and utter disheartenment. What is left +for him in the world besides his brother? “I have got to the end +of everything.”</p> + +<h3>XV</h3> + +<p>A blow quickened him back to life.</p> + +<p>Returning from a ride in the desert, he entered Marmont’s +tent to find that all his associates were greatly perturbed. +What had happened? The French fleet had been destroyed. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span>The day before, there had been a sea-fight in Aboukir Bay, and +only four ships had escaped. All the rest had been sunk or +captured by Nelson.</p> + +<p>The officers stood in gloomy silence. The grenadier on sentry +duty in front of the tent understood, every one understood, the +meaning of this reverse. Napoleon’s face paled, but he recovered +his composure instantly, realising that it was his business +to restore the morale of the others. After a brief pause, he +was ready with encouraging words: “So we are cut off in Egypt. +Good. We must keep our heads above the stormy waters; the +sea will soon be smooth once more.—Perhaps we are predestined +to change the face of the East. Here we must remain, or +achieve a grandeur like that of the ancients!”</p> + +<p>A terrible reverse! What will Paris say? He is not admiral +of the fleet, and was not present at the battle of the Nile, but +the disaster will certainly affect his prestige. How are we to +get home again? On Turkish ships? But will the sultan remain +neutral any longer? He has been wavering between +Russia and France, and will be likely, now, to turn against the +French. England, too. The fleet annihilated; thirteen battleships +gone. How many years will it be before we can again +face England on the high seas? A decade, perhaps. Allah is +Allah, but behind what cloud was my star hidden?</p> + +<p>No, not my star! For, when he reports the defeat, he conceals +nothing, but is careful to explain in his official despatches +that fortune had delayed Nelson’s return until the French had +been able to secure their footing in Egypt.</p> + +<p>Weeks of uncertainty. This is a new phase in Bonaparte’s +life. He must remain inactive, while he waits for news that will +throw light upon the state of affairs in Europe. If England +keeps good watch, perhaps no letter will be able to cross the +seas. For the first time in his career, he begins to wonder how +he can kill time. The administration of a whole army, the +suppression of disturbances, the rehabilitation of crumbling +fortresses—these are no more than variants of idleness. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span>hours hang heavily, and he becomes more nervous, more fanciful +than of yore. Bourrienne tries to tranquillise the commander’s +mind, saying: “Let us wait till we hear what the Directory +proposes to do!”</p> + +<p>“The Directory? A dung-heap! The Directors hate me, +and will leave me here to rot!”</p> + +<p>If he could only ride! But it is too hot, at any rate to ride +in uniform, and an attempt to wear Arab clothing has been +abandoned. Sometimes he goes for a ride, in spite of the heat. +When, on his return, he finds that no despatches have come, he +grows meditative:</p> + +<p>“Do you know what I have been thinking, Bourrienne?—If +I ever see France again, my greatest ambition will be to conduct +a campaign on the Bavarian lowland. There I could win a great +battle, and take vengeance for Blenheim. Then I should retire +to my country seat, and lead a quiet life, perfectly contented.” +The fire still glows; the kettle goes on simmering! In the plain +of the Po, his restless spirit was yearning for the East; having +made his way to Egypt, he craves for Bavaria; and always he +thinks in terms of battles.</p> + +<p>Now, when his future is so uncertain, when he is perhaps cut +off from all chance of returning home, and when there is no +longer a strong tie of personal affection to bind him to distant +Europe, he opens negotiations with the shah of Persia and +Tippoo Sahib, England’s enemies: asking the former for a right +of way to India; and offering the latter an alliance, and deliverance +from “The iron yoke of England.” The prospect of +following in Alexander’s footsteps looms nearer. But when he +comes to practical calculations he begins to doubt the possibility: +“Only if fifteen thousand men can be left here, and I +have another thirty thousand at my disposal, shall I be able to +venture a march on India.”</p> + +<p>Although all remains in the realm of fancy, such imaginative +excursions fill Bonaparte’s happiest hours; he luxuriates in +these vast plans. Four years later, he declares: “In Egypt +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span>alone did I feel free from the trammels of civilisation; and +there I seemed to have the means of realising all my dreams. +I pictured myself on the road to Asia, the founder of a new +religion, mounted on an elephant, wearing a turban, and holding +a new Koran which contained my own message. My plan +was to weld the experiences of two worlds, to force history into +my service, to attack the English power in India, and, through +my conquests there, to reopen communications with Europe.”</p> + +<p>Are these the visions of a poet? Or is it that the conqueror +and the poet are close kin? In Egypt, he has a romantic +name for himself, “Sultan El Kebir”—he is, in truth, always +the sultan, more or less. El Kebir is his third name, as visionary +as the whole campaign.</p> + +<p>His lively imagination, his spleen on account of his wife’s +infidelity—these combine with the influences of climate and lack +of occupation to drive him into an amourette. A pretty young +woman, the wife of a lieutenant, had sailed with the army from +Toulon, in male attire. She was the illegitimate daughter of a +cook, had herself been a dressmaker before marriage, was +piquant, blonde, violet-eyed. He takes her to himself, and sends +her husband back to France on official service. She soon learns +to play Cleopatra’s part boldly and charmingly; graces the +head of his table; drives out with him. But Eugene, her rival’s +son, is adjutant, and his duty is to follow the carriage on horseback. +This conjuncture is disagreeable to all parties, and so +the young man is given furlough.</p> + +<p>Eugene knows more than he cares to know about the scandal +attaching to his mother’s name; Bonaparte has himself +enlightened the youth. What a painful situation! His mother, +not far on in the thirties, is a coquette, and makes his step-father +(the hero of the nation!) ridiculous in all men’s eyes by +her open and shameless intrigue with a young coxcomb who is +but little older than her son. Eugene himself has to look on +while Napoleon, commander-in-chief of the army and pasha of +the new French colony, flaunts his mistress before the public +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span>gaze. The little dressmaker, who would probably find the handsome +adjutant more to her taste than his step-father, laughs +gaily, showing her white teeth. Anyhow, she has cut out the +Creole countess, and she glories in the new spirit of equality. +Napoleon Bonaparte is the central figure of the composition. +All he asks of the young woman is that she shall give him a +child.</p> + +<p>An heir, that is what he has been wanting for years! If she +will but provide one, he will marry her, for divorces can be +arranged. One of his ruling passions is the desire to found a +family. The mother would be of working-class origin? So are +most of his generals! What matter, so long as the child is +legitimate, and of the blood of Bonaparte? He believes in the +equality of all who play an active part in the world; but he +believes no less strongly in legitimacy. The hereditary succession +of kingship is over and done with. The hereditary succession +of efficiency is the new doctrine. Such is the fallacy by +which his mind is enslaved.</p> + +<p>After a while, he says savagely to one of his confidants: +“The silly fool of a woman does not even know how to make +children!” The gibe is retailed to her, and she exclaims mockingly: +“It’s not my fault, you know!” Bonaparte hears of the +rejoinder, and his face is shadowed. He has no proof to the +contrary, nothing but the inner consciousness of a productivity +such as no mortal has ever had before.</p> + +<p>His spirit embraces the whole world in its grasp. But if +nature has denied him the capacity for reproduction, the +foundation of all activity has been shattered. His self-confidence +would collapse.</p> + +<h3>XVI</h3> + +<p>In the Institute, the commander-in-chief sits as an equal +among equals. He never tries, in argument there, to gain a +victory by rank instead of reason. Yet many of the questions +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span>that are discussed relate to army matters of immediate practical +importance, such as the filtering of Nile water, the erection +of windmills, the search for ingredients needed to make +gunpowder. On one occasion, Napoleon grew heated. Berthollet +said quietly: “You are wrong, my friend, for you have +lost your temper.” A naval surgeon supported Berthollet. +“You men of science are as thick as thieves,” exclaimed Bonaparte. +“Chemistry plays the cook for medicine, and plays the +assassin for science!” The surgeon’s answer came pat: “But +how, Citizen-General, would you define the conqueror’s art?” +Within the republic of learning, this equality pleased the dictator, +whom elsewhere hardly any one now ventured to contradict.</p> + +<p>For weeks in succession, the orders of the day ended with the +words: “No news from France.” Everything was at a standstill; +widespread uncertainty prevailed. Amid the general +inertia, the travelling university was an exception; the savants +were hard at work, studying, advising, ever ready to help in +the second line. As far as they were concerned, this time of +waiting was a great opportunity for research. A thorough +investigation of the country and its resources was in progress: +the fishes of the Nile and the minerals of the Red Sea, the flora +of the Delta and the constituents of the desert sand—all were +now for the first time being elaborately scrutinised. The exploitation +of the natron lakes and the Nile mud was under consideration. +The physicians of the expedition were enquiring +into the causes of oriental plague; and of trachoma, the terrible +form of ophthalmia which is so frequent a cause of blindness +in Egypt. A dictionary and a grammar were printed; +some of the buried temples of Upper Egypt were disinterred; +the Wells of Moses were discovered. One day, an engineer officer +came back from Rosetta bringing with him a granite slab +on which there was a polyglot inscription, chiselled in Greek +and in two variants of the ancient Egyptian picture-writing. +The riddle of the hieroglyphs had been unriddled.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span></p> + +<p>What especially interested the commander, however, was the +possibility of cutting a canal through the Isthmus of Suez. He +made long journeys in the desert, always exposed to the danger +of Bedouin raids; traced the line of the ancient canal; planned +the course of a new channel. All his speculations were confirmed +half a century later by Lesseps. Not like an adventurer +whose schemes have miscarried, but in the spirit of a conqueror, +he designed to separate the continents and link the seas.</p> + +<p>Now at length! Some merchants on small vessels have managed +to slip through the English lines. From them, Napoleon +learns that the destruction of the French fleet off Aboukir has +brought about a general transformation. The sultan has +entered into an alliance with Russia, and the two powers have +declared war on France. Achmed, the Turkish commander, is +marching on Egypt through Syria. The malcontents in Cairo, +encouraged by these tidings, rise in revolt. The insurrection +is quelled by artillery fire, and the heads of the rebels are exposed +on pikes as a warning. “This will have a salutary effect. +Clemency is no good here.”</p> + +<p>On the whole, the commander is more relieved than alarmed. +If the Turks are marching southwards, so much the better; at +length he will have a chance of beating them in open fight.</p> + +<p>From most of his close associates he conceals his deeper cause +for anxiety. When he left France to occupy Egypt, his aim +was to secure a position that would help him in his scheme for +the conquest of India. “With ships, we can cross the seas; +with camels we can cross the desert.” He had allowed fifteen +months for the conquest of Egypt and the consolidation of his +power there, and for the preparation and equipment of his +forces for the Indian campaign. That would need forty thousand +men, as many camels, and one hundred and twenty field-guns. +He had asked for extensive reinforcements; ships, guns, +and men. These were to support his land army by sea.</p> + +<p>The battle of the Nile had frustrated his fine schemes. The +English were blockading the coast; the sultan had become his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>enemy; Egyptian sentiment was now hostile. But it was +Napoleon’s way to adapt his plans to changing circumstances, +and it seemed to him that he could derive advantage from the +turn of events. The Turks and the English are going to make +a joint landing? That threatens our very existence here? +Well, then, let us attack to escape destruction! Seize all the +magazines and ports from the Turks, arm the Syrian Christians, +stir up the Druses! If we were to take the fortress of +Acre, opinion in Cairo would veer round to our side. By June, +we shall be in Damascus; shall thrust outposts forward into the +Taurus; march eastward with 26,000 Frenchmen, 6,000 Mamelukes, +and 18,000 Druses. Desaix will come direct from Egypt. +The sultan will find it expedient to keep quiet. The shah of +Persia has already agreed to our marching by way of Bassora +and Shiraz. By March, if Allah favours us, we shall reach the +Indus.</p> + +<p>Once more, Bonaparte fashions a splendid dream out of +pressing embarrassments. He sets out for Syria.</p> + +<p>There are practically no roads. Sometimes he rides as many +as forty-five miles in fifteen hours, invariably by night, without +water, and almost always with the vanguard. When Jaffa +falls, three thousand Turkish soldiers surrender. What on +earth is he to do with them? Keep them prisoner? His own +men are on short commons; and, besides, he would then have to +spare thousands of Frenchmen to guard the Turks. Send them +home? He has no ships. Exchange them? The Turks have no +prisoners. Set them free? Then they will reinforce Acre, the +next stronghold. What on earth is he to do? Council of war!</p> + +<p>All are in favour of killing the prisoners. Only a few days +before, the Turks killed one of our envoys! Our own troops +would be infuriated if they were to go hungrier still because of +these fellows. Bonaparte wavers, thinks matters over for +three days, and finally agrees. The prisoners are marched +down to the sea and slaughtered. Subsequent military critics, +especially the Germans, have agreed that there was no choice.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span></p> + +<p>Acre lies before us. There we shall find stores of new +weapons. Then onwards towards the north! The great dream +renews itself during these weeks. Now that Turkey has declared +war, he is completely isolated, and forced into a life-and-death +struggle. Everything is possible, for needs must +when the devil drives. But he is not quite easy in his mind +about the Indian scheme, for he mentions an alternative plan +to one of his officers: “After I have seized Acre, I shall march +upon Damascus and Aleppo, augmenting my army as I go, for +I shall announce to the people the overthrow of the tyrannous +pashas. Then, with overwhelming forces, I shall take Constantinople, +make an end of Turkey, and found a new and great +empire. This will bring me immortal fame. Perhaps I shall +then make my way home through Adrianople or Vienna, after +annihilating the house of Habsburg.”</p> + +<p>Always the same visions, magnified now, when the situation +grows desperate.</p> + +<p>He reaches Acre. Not a big fortress, but well supplied with +modern weapons, and defended by English officers and artillerists. +Three successive attempts to storm the place are fruitless. +English battleships arrive to support the besieged, and threaten +the besiegers.</p> + +<p>At last, after eight months, he has direct news from Paris! +It is little to his taste. Talleyrand has not gone to Constantinople +to treat with the sultan. Is the rogue hedging? The +French Republic is at war with Naples and Sardinia. Moreau +and Augereau, Bonaparte’s rivals, have high command. Why, +in God’s name, do we squat here on the burning sands, inactive? +Storm the place! Are our schemes to be wrecked against these +miserable walls?</p> + +<p>Who is in charge of the defence! Phélippeaux is there, a +skilled engineer, one of Napoleon’s old comrades at the Cadets’ +School in Paris, afterwards an émigré who had entered the +English service!</p> + +<p>Why can they not take the place by storm? Bonaparte has +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span>no patience for a slow siege, for starving his enemy into surrender. +The whole idea is foreign to his impetuous temperament. +A fortress, like a woman, must be taken by storm, or +not at all. He cannot beg, serve, or woo; and he cannot wait. +Now time presses, and to wait is out of the question. Storm!</p> + +<p>The soldiers begin to murmur. Even among the officers there +are mutterings which are the heralds of mutiny. “Let us have +Kléber for our leader; he is humane and gentle.”</p> + +<p>Bonaparte sits in his tent, thinking matters over. A terrible +hour! Is England to be ever invincible, even on land, even here +in the East? Is the siege to drag on for months? Impossible! +Europe is full of the clash of arms. Turn back, without having +won a victory? An unprecedented experience, an entirely new +feeling; but there is no choice. The enterprise must be abandoned. +Back to Egypt! It is only half the truth to say that +Acre barred his march upon India. Who can tell whether, if +the fortress had been taken, he would have pressed on towards +the Indus notwithstanding the ominous news from Paris. We +should have to reckon with incalculable feelings here. Every +coincidence is symbolical. Before Acre and on the Po, France +is at war with the same monarchical coalition. None but the +son of the revolution can save the situation. Contrary to his +usual custom, he does not ride in the van, but for hours after +the columns have started southward, till nightfall indeed, he +stays behind on an elevation to contemplate the stubborn fortress, +his mind filled with a sort of ferocious melancholy.</p> + +<p>A ghastly retreat. No roads, no water, the plague as rearguard. +Is Bonaparte’s career to be ruined by the desert and +the black death? Calm of aspect, he visits the sick in hospital, +and encourages them wherever possible. The doctor points to +fifty cases as hopeless. They must be put out of their misery, +thinks Bonaparte; their path to death must be smoothed. With +a royal assumption of responsibility, he orders a lethal dose of +opium. The doctor demurs. It remains uncertain whether +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span>some one else carried out the order. “In such circumstances,” +he says later, “I would have had my own son poisoned.”</p> + +<p>Two thousand sick men and six thousand who are still in +health make their way slowly through the desert. Every four +of the healthy has to carry a comrade who is too ill to walk, +for there are not enough horses to bear the sick and the maimed. +The staff officers are all marching with the rest. This is by +Napoleon’s command. An equerry asks him which horse he will +ride. “Did you not hear the order?” retorts the commander, +striking the man with his whip. “Every one on foot!”</p> + +<p>At length the retreating army reaches Cairo. By entering +with a triumphal display of captured colours, and by proclamations +and marches, he makes a vain attempt to delude the people +of Egypt.</p> + +<p>What is Paris saying? What shall he tell Paris? We did +not occupy Acre, because the plague was raging there! That +was why we withdrew from the siege! In the Institute, a committee +is appointed to substantiate this tale. A doctor stands +up, and, in the presence of a hundred savants, refuses to attach +his name to this fiction. The commander yields with a wry +face, but bears no grudge against the stalwart, whom he promotes +more than once in years to come.</p> + +<p>The Turks now arrive by sea, intending to make an end of +the French. Once more, the whole existence of the expeditionary +force is at stake. The enemy is to land in Aboukir Bay, +just a year after the battle of the Nile. He lets them land, +and then inflicts a crushing defeat on them, though their army +outnumbers his by two to one. After the battle, Murat meets +him, and embracing him, says: “General, you are as great as +the world, but the world is too small for you!” Bonaparte +writes to Cairo: “You will have heard of the battle on the +shores of Aboukir Bay, one of the finest I have ever seen! Of +the army the enemy had landed, not a man escaped.”</p> + +<p>At this time he notices among the Mamelukes who have +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span>entered his service a tall, handsome fellow with blue eyes, a +Georgian named Rustam, who has five times been sold as a slave. +Fidelity is written on his countenance. Napoleon gives him a +sword with an enchased hilt and scabbard, and makes him his +body-servant. For fifteen years, Rustam sleeps outside his +master’s door.</p> + +<p>After the victory at Aboukir, Napoleon enters into a parley +with the admiral of the blockading fleet. Ostensibly he wishes +to discuss an exchange of prisoners with the English. Really +he is hungering for news; newspapers are worth more than +king’s crowns. Some one manages to get hold of what he +covets, and an adjutant brings them into his tent. The commander +is asleep. “Here are newspapers, General. Bad news.” +He sits up. “What’s happened?”</p> + +<p>“Scherer has been beaten. We have lost nearly the whole +of Italy.” Napoleon jumps out of bed, seizes the papers, and +goes on reading them all through the night, with an occasional +pause for an outburst of wrath. At dawn, he sends for +his admiral-in-chief, is closeted with the seaman for a couple +of hours, and then sets out for Cairo.</p> + +<p>“I have made up my mind to return to France,” he says behind +shut doors to the faithful Marmont. “You will come +with me. Our armies in Europe have been defeated. God +knows where the enemy will have got to by now. Italy is lost. +What are they about, these incompetent idiots at the head of +affairs? Stupidity and corruption! I have borne the whole +burden single-handed, and by my victories have propped up a +government which could never have maintained itself but for +me. As soon as I leave, everything collapses. If I start at +once, I shall get to Paris almost as soon as the news of my +latest victory. My presence will restore confidence to the +troops, and will reanimate the citizens with hopes for a happier +future.”</p> + +<p>“My future,” he thinks, as soon as Marmont has gone. +“People will say I have abandoned the army in Egypt. It will +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span>get along all right under Kléber. I came here to found a +colony. It is founded, and the Turks have been beaten. Help +can only come from France, and no one but myself can send it. +I have nothing more to gain here, but everything to win on the +battle-fields of Europe. Thirty years! How many days before +I can get away? The admiral says it is a bad wind for Toulon, +and that English warships swarm in the Mediterranean. I’m +afraid I can’t get to Paris in an air-balloon! But Paris is the +heart of the world. I must risk the sea passage.”</p> + +<h3>XVII</h3> + +<p>They show no lights, the two small frigates which had once +flown Venetian colours. The vessel freighted with the commander +is the “Muiron,” thus rechristened in memory of the +lieutenant who had died to save him at Arcola. Fifteen years +later he is to do still more honour to this name. Here, off Cape +Bon, is the most dangerous point. Literally, they sail through +the English fleet, for they know the ships by their lights. An +August night, but cold, for the mistral is blowing. They sit on +deck in the starlight, feeling dull and rather depressed. Let’s +liven things up with a game of cards; there’s just light enough +to play! Bonaparte cheats, and is delighted that no one +notices. Next morning, with mischievous glee, he owns up, and +restores his ill-gotten gains.</p> + +<p>What a different voyage from that of fifteen months ago! +Only two ships now, and then there were four hundred. Half +of the army is dead bones. True, France still holds the land +of ancient story—but for how long? The hopes of striking an +effective blow against England have been dashed. What has +become of the plan for a landing at Dover? Gone to join the +scheme for the invasion of India! He has had to steal away +furtively from Egypt, for there might have been a mutiny had +his impending departure become generally known among the +soldiers of the army of occupation. Kléber was not appointed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>commander-in-chief until Napoleon had gone. The last order +of the day had been dry and brief. The civilians had been sent +to Upper Egypt, for Monge and Berthollet, who were in the +know, and were now on board, might have blabbed the news to +their colleagues. But poets were a nuisance! One of the fellows, +keen-witted, had guessed what was in the wind, and had +stolen aboard the frigate, whose destination was still undisclosed. +Oh, well, let the beggar come along. He and his tribe +are the brokers of fame, so we can’t do without them. After +the last victory, Paris will be on our side.</p> + +<p>For weeks, the two frigates are in continual danger. “What +would you do, if the English fleet were to heave in sight? +Fight? Impossible! Surrender? You would none of you like +that any better than I should. The only other alternative is to +blow up the ship.” A general silence. Monge, who is sitting +beside the commander, grows pale. “That shall be your +charge,” adds Napoleon, turning to him with a mischievous +smile. A few days later, a ship is sighted, and is wrongly supposed +to be an English man-of-war. The mathematician vanishes, +and is found afterwards at the door of the powder magazine.</p> + +<p>This incident gives us the measure of Bonaparte’s authority.</p> + +<p>After a six weeks’ cruise in the Mediterranean, an island is +sighted on a fine October morning, a familiar ridge of mountains +is seen or the horizon. The captain of the frigate consults +his chart. “That is Corsica,” says Bonaparte unhesitatingly. +Does he order the seamen to clap on all sail and +make for the island? No, they must find out, first, whether the +place is still French. But a strong wind is blowing shoreward, +and, even under light canvas, progress is rapid. His thoughts +run swiftly, too.</p> + +<p>“‘Still French?’ My question used to be, ‘French yet?’ +Only six years ago. I was twenty-four then, and to be master +of this island seemed to me the greatest thing in the world. +Since then, I have had Italy at my feet; Egypt has been conquered; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span>Paris smiles. All has happened as if by natural +sequence. The wind is freshening. What will be the answer +from the shore?” The signals show that the harbour is open to +a French ship. The native island of the man without a country +is home to him once more.</p> + +<p>They land, and all Ajaccio crowds to the harbour; thousands +who once cursed the name of Bonaparte are now eager to +welcome him. He regards the throng cynically. Many address +him with the familiar “thou”; and hundreds wish to shake +hands with him. He accepts these demonstrations unmoved. +But suddenly he hears a voice: “Figlio! Caro figlio!” Camilla +is speaking, his old nurse, a vigorous peasantwoman, hardly +fifty years of age. The sight of her is the only thing that stirs +his emotions.</p> + +<p>Napoleon makes for his ancestral home, which his mother +has had set in order once more, though she is away just now. +He summons those best fitted to give him the news he craves. +There, beside the family hearth, he learns what has, during the +last three months, happened to his creations. Mantua and +Milan have gone, and with them most of Italy, won by his feats +of arms three short years ago. Genoa is still French, though +hard to keep. Masséna has been forced back through Switzerland! +The English have landed in Holland! What is the first +thing to do? Make for Nice! Instantly take the lead! Win +back all in a storm of victories. “What’s that you say?” Two +of the Directors forcibly removed! Only by such tricks can +the shaky government still keep in power? General Moulin is +one of the Directors? Moulin, who the devil is he? The other +substitute? Sieyès, you say? Another coup must be impending—perhaps +a forcible change of government. We must make +all speed for Paris. On board! On board! Take a big rowing +boat in tow!</p> + +<p>Two days’ sail towards Toulon. Twilight when the coast is +sighted. The lookout man reports English ships. “Put +about!” orders the admiral. “Forward!” thunders Bonaparte. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span>In case of need, we can make the shore in the big rowing boat! +Once more his star blinds the enemy; once more he escapes +capture by the English. Night falls. Impossible to land at +Toulon? Let us make for Fréjus, then. Uncharted rocks +there? Rocks everywhere! In sight of the French coast after +a seven weeks’ voyage, we must run all risks to land!</p> + +<p>Does this Italian love the country on which he now sets his +foot? To him it is nothing more than the fiddle on which he +can play a better tune than on any other instrument.</p> + +<p>Next day, in the little town of Fréjus, Bonaparte’s name is +on every one’s lips. Why is the harbour full of rowing boats, +laden with sightseers? Why this popular rejoicing? What +has the man done in Africa, that the inhabitants of the provincial +town should greet him as if he were a Roman imperator +celebrating a triumph? An official says something about +quarantine. “We prefer the plague to the Austrians, and the +Austrians are almost at our gates!” shouts the crowd, escorting +him through the streets as a deliverer.</p> + +<p>“France seems to be in a bad way,” thinks the man in the +carriage, as he acknowledges the vociferations. “It looks as if +every one had been waiting for me. A while back would have +been too soon. To-morrow would have been too late. I have +come at the right moment.”</p> + +<p>He drives westward from Fréjus, and stays for a time in +Aix, questioning every one he meets. At Aix, a copy of a letter +comes into his hands, an old letter that had miscarried: “The +Directory is waiting for you, General; for you and your brave +companions!” This was written in the panic of rulers who +are at their wits’ end for a saviour! What had he better do? +Stay where he is for a time, and write before going to Paris. +“Egypt is wholly ours, and safe from invasion.—I was cut +off from newspapers till the end of July, but when I heard of +your troubles I instantly set out for home. I had to take all +risks, for my place was the spot where I could be of most use. +Had there been no frigate, I should have wrapped myself in my +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span>cloak and should have sailed in the first cockle-shell I could find. +With Kléber in command, Egypt is in good hands. When I +left, the whole country was under water—the best Nile for fifty +years.”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="illus05" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus05.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>General Bonaparte in 1797. Drawing by Wocher in Basle. + Town Library, Basle.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>This carefully worded epistle goes as a herald to Paris. The +people there must be told who is on the way. His northward +journey is a via triumphalis; salutes are fired everywhere. +Passing through Valence, he recognises among the onlookers +the good woman who keeps the café where he used to lodge, the +place with the billiard room; he gives her a keepsake from the +East. In Lyons, he waits two or three hours to see the performance +of a hastily extemporised drama, “The Hero’s Return.” +Everything shows the powerful spell already exercised +by his name. Perhaps the most signal instance is the sensational +end of Baudin, one of the best of the deputies, who utters +a shout of joy on hearing the news of Napoleon’s return, and +drops dead from surcharge of emotion. The light that radiates +from the commander is so strong that it kills.</p> + +<p>Paris draws near. He is still gathering news. But about +private affairs, about Josephine, he can ask no questions. Is +he already a divorcé? Where are his brothers? The news of +his coming has been noised abroad; why has no one come to +meet him? She, where is she? Will she, after all, be waiting +for him in the mirrored room, ready to welcome him with a +smile? In the grey dawn he passes the octroi, drives along the +outer boulevards, turns into his own little street. There is the +house. A woman stands alone at the door. Who is it?</p> + +<p>His mother.</p> + +<h3>XVIII</h3> + +<p>“Bonaparte’s landing is one of those events which at first +we hesitate to believe. The news spread over night at theatres +and in social gatherings. In the most obscure pot-houses, +people were drinking to celebrate his return....” “Every +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span>one hails him with delight, for he brings us new hope....” +“Glory, peace, and happiness follow in his train.”</p> + +<p>These and similar items catch Bonaparte’s eye as he flutters +the newspapers. Day by day he can read an abundance of details, +mingled truth and falsehood, concerning his aspect, demeanour, +and dress. Even the opposition press pins its hopes +on him: “His Egyptian campaign has miscarried; but what +matter? He is satisfied with having undertaken it, and it is +difficult to say whither his rashness may lead. All the same, +his bold ventures restore our courage.”—He is received with +acclamation, and his plans are consolidated.</p> + +<p>But his wife is away. When the news that he had landed +reached Paris, she was dining with Gohier, the first of the five +Directors. She and her host were equally alarmed. Both had +uneasy consciences, and now the volcano was rumbling beneath +them. Some time ago, Barras (who during this period seems +still to have been an occasional recipient of her favours) had +advised her to procure a divorce from the absent and almost +vanished adventurer, and to marry handsome Hippolyte. She +had received no letters from Napoleon. If he had written any, +they must have miscarried. But her brother-in-law’s hostile +attitude showed her what was in the wind. Barras was right. +She would do well to act first.—Then Paris was electrified by +the news of Napoleon’s great victory over the Turks. Perhaps +it would be wiser, after all, to stay in her present safe harbourage. +Unstable and frivolous, she had of late been coquetting +with the thought of reconciliation. A glance at her own image +in the mirror, a knowledge of the way she could turn men’s +heads, sufficed to convince her of the possibility.</p> + +<p>Now, at Gohier’s table, she pulls herself together, and her +host tries to outdo her in self-command. They drink to the +general’s return. She hurries home, packs up all that can set +off her beauty to the best advantage, and in a trice is driving +southward. As her carriage rattles past the barrier, she +thinks: “Act promptly, and take the enemy by surprise—is not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>that the secret of his military success? On the return journey, +I shall be with him day and night, and shall win him over +before the tale-bearers can get at him!”</p> + +<p>But she misses him, learns that he has passed her, and +hastens back to Paris. She has lost three precious days, during +which his relatives have told him all the scandal. True, some +of his intimates warn him against applying for a divorce. In +Paris, a cuckold is always a figure of fun. He is resolute, however: +“I have done with her. What do I care about the chatter? +It will only last for a day or two.” He has her trunks packed, +and carried down to the porter’s lodge, so that she shall not +enter the house. Could he give plainer proof that he dreads +his own weakness?</p> + +<p>She comes, breaks through the first line of defence, enters the +fortress. He has locked himself in. She calls to him and pleads +with him through the door. During her journey, the more she +has come to realise that his name is in every one’s mouth, the +more fervent have been her hopes for a reconciliation, and the +more has her pride been humbled. But the citadel holds out. +At length she decides to call up reinforcements for a final +assault. Hortense and Eugene must come to her aid. They +clamour, beseech, shed tears. Thus a night passes.</p> + +<p>No dispassionate observer can fail to understand Josephine’s +motives in making this ridiculous scene. What of Bonaparte +himself, the man with so profound a knowledge of the human +soul? Was he duped by a woman?</p> + +<p>There he lies, returned after a long absence, with his head +full of schemes for the conquest of a nation. Let us try to +follow his thoughts. “They have deceived me one and all. The +government, the political parties, my own companions-in-arms, +were all endeavouring, during my absence, to exclude me from +power, for they regarded me as a danger to themselves. As +long as I was out of range, no one wanted me back; my brothers +no more than the rest. This capricious woman, whose pretty +whims I have never tried to restrain—would it be reasonable for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span>me to expect that she should have spent a year and more thinking +of no one but her absent husband, whose return seemed ever +more unlikely as the days went by? When I am there, she is +fascinating. If I make truce with her now, when the game is +in my hands, she will agree to all my conditions, and I can +exact guarantees for the future. What a lovely voice she has. +There cannot have been any falling off in her charms, or she +would not have so many admirers. What a fool, compared +with her, was that little woman in Egypt, and even she could +not give me an heir. Where shall I find a woman who will make +a more perfect lover and a better wife than Josephine? Besides, +she has had two children, and may yet have more.”</p> + +<p>He opens the door and, heroic in his silence, suppresses, once +and for all, the accusations with which his heart is filled. In +this matter, as in others, he holds fast to his resolves. Next +day she confesses that she is in debt to the tune of two million +francs. He pays without a word.</p> + +<p>It is hard for his brothers, and still harder for his sisters, to +accept the situation; but they do not venture a remonstrance.</p> + +<p>Nor is there time for the further discussion of family matters. +Events are on the wing. His brothers have not been +idle while he has been away. Joseph, after being envoy in +Rome, is now on guard as one of the Parisian deputies. Lucien +is leader of the opposition, although, being only twenty-four, +he is under the legal age. A brilliant orator, dreaded in debate, +a Hotspur with a taste for theatrical displays, burning with +ambition, too headstrong for constructive work. He and Sieyès +have been working at plans for a coup d’état on their own, but +they lack the support of a great soldier whom the troops would +follow. Now the soldier has come, and Lucien will keep his +private wishes to himself. He, too, is a Bonaparte.</p> + +<p>Dangerous, inscrutable, and cunning is Joseph’s new brother-in-law, +Bernadotte. He is slow in coming to greet Bonaparte. +When he does come, and Bonaparte speaks of the desperate +situation of the republic, Bernadotte rejoins: “It will be able +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span>to make headway against its enemies both abroad and at home!” +He looked searchingly at his interlocutor, and for a moment +the masterful eyes of the two men clash. But Bonaparte, controlling +his emotions as usual, attempts a diversion to political +issues, speaks again of the dangers, and then passes severe +strictures on the Jacobin Club. Thereupon Bernadotte breaks +in: “Your brothers founded it!”</p> + +<p>Bonaparte is still loathe to take offence, and replies: “Well, +well, General, I would rather live in the woods than in a State +where there is no security!”</p> + +<p>Bernadotte, mockingly: “Good God! What security is lacking +to you?”</p> + +<p>Now, Bonaparte is about to make an angry rejoinder, but +Josephine intervenes to keep the peace. And yet the hidden +fact is that Josephine is, in a sense, the cause of the dissension. +For Bernadotte has married Désirée Clary, to whom Napoleon +had once paid court, with whom he had not found favour when +he was still obscure, and to whom he had preferred Josephine +when his fortunes were on the mend. Now he can forgive +neither himself nor Bernadotte. Throughout his career, Bonaparte +will try, by showering benefits on her, to atone to +Désirée for what she has lost by not marrying him, though it +was mainly her doing that they did not become man and wife. +For her sake, he continually advances Bernadotte, who no less +persistently betrays him.</p> + +<p>All that his brothers and other intimates have told him about +affairs in Paris during his absence, their picture of anarchical +corruption and violent impotence, fills him with forebodings and +urges him to speedy action. The number of the holders of +power must be reduced, and their term of office must be +lengthened. The government is a plateau; it must become a +towering peak. A ten years’ triumvirate—that will be the best +plan.</p> + +<p>At the Luxembourg they are all uneasy, now that he is back. +Every one of the Directors mistrusts him, and each of them is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span>suspicious of his four co-Directors likewise. Which of them is +intriguing with Bonaparte? Sieyès is on friendly terms with +Lucien, Barras with Josephine, Gohier with both. What about +Ducos? Is General Moulin to be relied on?—Immediately after +reaching Paris Bonaparte had sent Moulin a Damascus blade +with a diamond-studded hilt, and Moulin could not in decency +refuse the gift.</p> + +<p>Such are the secret thoughts of the Directors. Look at +Bonaparte’s get-up when he first came to pay us his respects! +Did any one ever see a general in such a rig? Much more like +an adventurer! Mufti; green coat; round hat; Mameluke +sword. The man wants to dazzle Paris into believing him a +pasha. Did you notice that he has had his hair cut short? +Wants to win people by an affectation of simplicity! Yet to-day +he comes to call in great style. General on horseback, with +all his aides. Brilliant uniforms. Paris agog. Very sinister, +this change of aspect. Look at the way he sits and questions +the five of us, as if he were a monarch holding audience.</p> + +<p>“Why do you let the man impose on you?” say his enemies +angrily to the Directors. “He made a frightful mess of the +Egyptian campaign. Your proper course is plain enough. +Have him arrested for deserting the army under his command! +He’s got something up his sleeve, you may be sure!”</p> + +<p>Bonaparte, meanwhile, receives visits from Jacobin leaders +and Bourbon agents; gives advice to all and sundry, but tells +no one what he really thinks; behaves like a man of family who +has just returned from a long journey, and, with an air of +good-natured boredom, allows his relatives to tell him all about +their squabbles while he has been away. He has been home for +two weeks now. The tension is increasing. Affairs of State +are at a standstill, or nearly so; for the Five, who should be +carrying on the work of government, are busied in intrigue. +Amid the general confusion, the Councils have utterly lost +prestige. The new constitution is rocking in the blast, but no +one seems to know from which quarter the wind is blowing. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span>Who is the real holder of power in the State? Who controls +the army? General Moulin? General Bonaparte?</p> + +<p>While no one can tell from day to day how the relationships +between Napoleon and the government are likely to shape +themselves, he goes to the Institute to deliver a lecture on the +vestiges of the ancient Suez canal, and describes the Rosetta +stone. On November 1st, there is a State banquet in honour of +a victory won by Masséna. Where is Bonaparte? No doubt +it is not to his taste to celebrate the triumphs of a brother-in-arms!</p> + +<p>That evening he is closeted with Lucien and Abbé Sieyès. +Talleyrand has at length brought him in touch with the ablest +of the Directors. Sieyès and Bonaparte, the man who has +rediscovered the constitution and the man who has rediscovered +the secret of power, sit face to face; they vie with one another +in ambition and in intellectual ability. “I have made the Great +Nation,” says the general. “You could not have done so, had +we not first made the Nation,” counters the abbé.</p> + +<p>They discuss the details of the proposed coup d’état. On the +critical day, they will spread the report that a Jacobin conspiracy +is afoot. The Councils, in alarm, will transfer their +sessions from Central Paris to Saint-Cloud. “As a measure of +precaution,” Bonaparte will be entrusted with the command of +the Paris garrison. Sieyès has come to an understanding with +Ducos. Persuasion, threats, or money, will induce the other +three Directors to resign. Barras will take money. But what +about Gohier? “Make short work of it,” says Lucien. “Dissolve +the Councils by force.” But at night Napoleon, when he +is alone, turns matters over in his mind:</p> + +<p>“Force! How silly it was to use force four years ago! We +see where it has led! The supreme art is to maintain the appearance +of legality. Without cannon or bloodshed, without +arrests and parties, that is the secret of the ideal coup d’état. +Otherwise you set up something that may last a year before +it wears out. After ten years of revolution, the republic is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span>heartily sick of it all. She is an amazon who has borne arms till +she is tired, and now asks nothing better than to be led by a +strong man. She is ready for me.</p> + +<p>“Can I depend upon Sieyès? Behind that receding forehead +of his, he thinks too much. For ten years he has been building +constitutions, but he is nothing more than the ideologue whom +a vigorous general can use before casting aside. Had I not +arrived in the nick of time, he would have joined forces with +Moreau. I shall turn the pair of them to account. I know I +can trust Berthier, Bourrienne, Murat, Marmont, and Leclerc. +Is Lucien faithful? For the time being. Bernadotte? His +spiteful look betrayed his true feelings. Still, he will not come +into the field against me. What about Talleyrand? A dangerous +man, and for that very reason I must have him on my side. +Moulin? No time to waste; there are too many generals in +Paris. Watch out!”</p> + +<p>Next evening he went to Talleyrand’s, for a private talk +with that intriguer. They sat late, discussing plans. Suddenly +there was a noise in the street. Trotting horses, which stop in +front of the door. The patrol? “Bonaparte turned pale, and +I fancy I must have done the same,” wrote Talleyrand in his +Memoirs. Both men believe that they are about to be arrested. +Lights out, and on tiptoe to the balcony. False alarm! An +ordinary street scene, nocturnal revellers and police, nothing +more. The conspirators breathe again. But why do not the +Directors have them arrested on suspicion? The answer is +simple. Bonaparte is already too commanding a figure to be +touched!</p> + +<p>On the 6th, there is a banquet at the Luxembourg. Bonaparte +and Moreau are the guests, but the latter has the place +of honour, and the hosts eye Bonaparte askance. He reciprocates +his entertainers’ suspicions, and eats nothing but bread +and eggs, handed him by a trusty servant. After half an hour, +he makes his excuses, and goes back to his confederates, to talk +over the plan for bringing about the downfall of the men with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span>whom he has just been dining. Next evening, Talleyrand, +Roederer, and Sieyès, dine with Bonaparte; Jourdan and +Bernadotte, who are to be won over, have also been invited. +After dinner, he asks Jourdan what is to happen. This simple +question is evidence enough of the prevailing crisis. Two generals +who have never before exchanged a word except about +commonplaces, meet, and look one another in the face. “What +is going to happen?” enquires one. The other significantly +grips his sword-hilt. The plotters agree to take action in +forty-eight hours. The parts to be played by members of the +inner ring are assigned. Murat, Lannes, and Marmont are to +inform the officers of the three branches of the service; Berthier +will acquaint the general staff.</p> + +<p>Lucien undertakes to manage affairs in the Council of Five +Hundred. He is president for the month, having been elected +in honour of his brother’s return. The president of the Council +of Ancients is also a party to the conspiracy. The bedells will +be told to overlook certain names when notices of the sitting are +sent out. As soon as Bonaparte has been appointed commander +of the Paris garrison, he will hand over the Tuileries to +Lannes and the Palais Bourbon to Murat. Gohier and his +wife will be invited to breakfast by Josephine—eight o’clock. +Bonaparte will offer himself to Barras for luncheon, in order +to put Barras off his guard. Joseph will persuade his brother-in-law +Bernadotte to keep quiet, if Bernadotte will not actively +participate. Roederer writes the proclamation. His son +knows a friendly printer who will set it up and machine it—on +the quiet.</p> + +<p>“Was Brutus’ mood so paltry?” thinks Bonaparte. “But, in +truth, we too wish to slay some one—Anarchy! A new era, a +new century, to be ushered in by such petty and distasteful +means! Camp life is cleaner!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span></p> + +<h3>XIX</h3> + +<p>November 9th, a foggy autumn morning; the Eighteenth +Brumaire is dawning. A bustle in the street opposite Bonaparte’s +house; officers arriving on horseback and in carriages. +Is the blow to be struck at last? Most of those present were +with him in Italy. The house is too small for such a concourse. +They stroll up and down in the garden, discussing their +chances; lively and cheerful as if they were on the Rhine. Appearances +must be kept up. No one must be able to say that +uniformed officers were about so early. All goes well. Messengers +come to confirm the carrying out of the programme; +both Councils were summoned at seven o’clock, but undesirable +members have not received notice. The initiates were the first +comers, and, as soon as there was a quorum, Lucien in the +Council of Five Hundred and his colleague in the Council of +Ancients had proposed Bonaparte’s appointment to the command +of the Paris garrison.</p> + +<p>Here is the messenger with the commission, duly sealed! The +formalities are being strictly observed. The general joins his +faithful followers. Everything goes on as if they were in camp. +With a great suite, he rides through the town, to the amazement +of a huge crowd, which does not, however, show any +political interest. A dragoon regiment which had been through +the Italian campaign with Napoleon turns up on the Boulevard +Madeleine without awaiting the orders of its colonel. Other +officers follow with Ducos and Marmont. The latter summoned +them at an early hour. When they said they could not come +for lack of horses, he borrowed some from a riding-school.</p> + +<p>The Tuileries garden is crowded. Many remain on horseback; +but Bonaparte dismounts and enters the Council of +Ancients. Is he going to make a speech to people whom he +despises, in this dark and unfamiliar hall? Why does he not +take the oath to the constitution, the constitution he is about +to destroy? The law directs that a general appointed to a new +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span>command should take this oath. Evading the formality, he +speaks from the rostrum:</p> + +<p>“The republic is in danger.... Recognising this, you have +passed a law that will save it. Do not search history for examples +that may give reason for restraining your activities. +No epoch in history is like the end of the eighteenth century, +and in that end there is nothing like this moment.... We +want a republic based on liberty and equality. We shall have +it. With the aid of all the friends of liberty, I shall save the +republic. In my own name and in that of my companions-in-arms, +I swear it to you!”</p> + +<p>“We swear it!” comes like an echo through the open doors +of the hall. The Ancients move uneasily in their seats. “Companions-in-arms?” +But Bonaparte has left the hall, drawing +a breath of relief. These lawyers’-eyes; bespectacled eyes! +Effete pygmies! Has he noticed that he spoke to them as if +he were on the parade ground, and that they did not like his +tone?</p> + +<p>His words and his voice have a very different ring outside, +when, having remounted his charger, he summons his troops to +save the republic. Then comes a report from Lucien, who +has meanwhile adjourned to the following day the sitting of the +Council of Five Hundred. What is that you say? The Directors’ +guard is on the way hither? Do they come as friends or +foes? “Is Sieyès sending them?” Their colonel says no. The +two men laugh.</p> + +<p>In fact, Sieyès, pale of countenance, is still at the gate of the +Luxembourg. For the last fortnight, our clever abbé has been +taking riding lessons. It had been his design to ride at the +head of his guard to join his new comrades. Before all the +world, he would show his equality with these comrades by leaning +from his saddle and embracing them. But the guard has +started without his orders; their colonel has brought them to +the Tuileries, riding hell-for-leather, too hot a pace for the +abbé. Almost unnoticed, and much crestfallen, Sieyès drives +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span>after them in a carriage, with Ducos, who is pliable, by his side. +Every one in the know is aware by this time what will happen +to the other three Directors.</p> + +<p>Moulin looks at the matter from a soldier’s standpoint. He +estimates the opposing force at the Tuileries to be eight thousand +strong, and his adjutants report to him that all the important +points of the town are in Bonaparte’s hands. He +writes, therefore, saying: “At your service.”</p> + +<p>Honest Gohier is at home, blustering ineffectually. He had +not thought it advisable to accept the strange invitation to an +eight o’clock breakfast, and had been content to send his wife. +Now, a sort of hostage, she is drinking tea with Josephine, while +Bonaparte is betraying her husband—not, indeed, stealing his +mistress, but stealing France. When the first news comes, +Gohier sends to his colleagues, summoning them to a meeting +of the Directory. No one turns up. Moulin has joined Sieyès +and Ducos. Barras says he is in his bath.</p> + +<p>When Talleyrand, the messenger of fate, visits Barras, the +Director is shaving; he seems to be devoting the day to the arts +of the toilet! But, at a glance or two from the other augur, he +throws up the game, being content to ask for a safe-conduct. +When his secretary brings this demand to Bonaparte, the general +harangues the man publicly in the Tuileries garden: +“What have you done with France, that I should let you off so +easily? I gave you peace, and I find war.... What have +you done with the hundred thousand Frenchmen who were the +companions of my glory? They are dead! We can go no +farther along that road, for in three years it leads to despotism! +We want a republic based on equality and liberty, toleration +and morality!”</p> + +<p>Thus berated, the little secretary shakes in his shoes. In +reality, Bonaparte is perfectly calm, but it suits him to simulate +wrath in the presence of so many witnesses. In a couple of +hours, all Paris will hear of it.</p> + +<p>Here comes Gohier. He does not lack courage, anyhow. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span>Bearding the man of power surrounded by his troops, Gohier +reminds him of his duty to the Directory.</p> + +<p>“The Directory no longer exists!” storms Bonaparte. “The +republic is in danger, and I intend to save it. Sieyès, Ducos, +and Barras have resigned.” As he speaks, a letter from Moulin +is brought to him. “Are not you in league with Moulin? No? +Well, here is his resignation too. You are the last. Do you +intend to hold out all by yourself?”</p> + +<p>Gohier is a stickler for the law, and refuses to give way. He +goes back to the Luxembourg, and there he and his friends +are kept under guard by five hundred men until all is over. +Barras is waiting at home, uneasy till he has the answer to his +message. What if Bonaparte were now to take vengeance? +Who can depend on Josephine’s moods? Here is Talleyrand +back again, with the safe-conduct and a bag of gold. As to +this last, no one knows whether Barras had the fingering of the +money, or whether Talleyrand kept it as messenger’s fee.</p> + +<p>Thus the five heads of the republic were rendered powerless +by General Bonaparte. But this was only the first day. To-morrow, +at Saint-Cloud, greater difficulties may have to be +faced. Lucien, who has been all over the place, and is fully +informed, exclaims with well-grounded anger: “The whole job +ought to have been finished in one day! You have left them +too much time! The Five Hundred are already crying out that +they have been tricked! To-morrow all will be in the melting-pot +once more! The only thing to do is to send soldiers to +clear out the Chambers, and to put the most dangerous members +of the Councils under arrest.”</p> + +<p>Certainly there may be complications to-morrow. Bernadotte +had wanted the Jacobin Club to appoint him general of the opposing +forces. “But the fellows were in too great a funk!” +The generals unsympathetic to the coup d’état must be put +under lock and key. Bonaparte’s associates urge this again +and again, but in vain. He is resolute to maintain the +semblance of legality.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span></p> + +<p>“People would say I was afraid of the generals. No one +shall have a right to accuse us of illegality. No parties; no +force! The whole people must be associated with the decision +through the votes of its deputies! No civil war! What begins +with the shedding of civilian blood, will come to a shameful +end!”</p> + +<p>But at night, prepared for all eventualities, he has loaded +pistols handy to his bedside.</p> + +<h3>XX</h3> + +<p>Next morning, an endless string of carriages and carts, an +endless succession of riders and pedestrians, makes its way to +Saint-Cloud, as if to see a great military review. Bonaparte, +too, drives instead of going on horseback attended by a bevy +of mounted officers. That might be provocative. He has made +up his mind to observe constitutional formalities to the very +last moment. Could any one say that there had been a breach +of law the day before? Are not the Councils entitled to remove +their sittings to a spot beyond the precincts of the town, if +they think that this would be safer? Is it not within their competence +to appoint a new commander for the Paris garrison? +Had not the Directors the right to resign? Will any one pretend +that the Jacobin peril, which is the occasion for these +happenings, is imaginary? To-day, at public sittings, the +Councils will alter the constitution. Three rulers will be provisionally +appointed. Borrowing a title from ancient Rome, +they can be called Triumvirs, or, perhaps better, Consuls. +Then the Councils will be prorogued, everything being done in +due form of law.</p> + +<p>But the deputies hold other views. Like cloud-drifts hanging +low, they flit through the valleys of this forsaken palace, +discussing the situation, and giving vent to their protests. +Since the hall that is being furbished up for the sitting will +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span>not be ready before one o’clock, they have plenty of time to +foment their wrath.</p> + +<p>In a small room fronting on the park, sit the three men who +will be Consuls to-morrow. At least Sieyès and Ducos remain +seated most of the time, but the third walks up and down impatiently, +as his adherents come and go to report. He thinks: +“How infernally slow civilians are! They have needed a +whole morning to arrange a few benches. Then they must +take an oath one by one, a thing which our recruits do in +chorus, and get through it all in a couple of minutes! Why +should I have to wait in a back room while these lawyers are +deliberating in the council chamber?”</p> + +<p>The Ancients meet upstairs in the Salle Apollo; the Five +Hundred, downstairs in the Orangerie. Spectators, safe people, +throng the hall of the Five Hundred. When, after the +swearing-in, the discussions at length begin (Lucien is in the +chair), the protests of the opposition gain weight from the +circumstances. Speakers point to the threatening force of +soldiery outside. When some of the orators exclaim: “No +dictatorship! This Cromwell wants to bind us in chains!” +almost all the delegates applaud. The reports that come to +the back room are more and more unfavourable. The officers +grow restive: “Chase the beggars out! What else have we got +our men here for?”</p> + +<p>Bonaparte’s only answer is a cold glance. Buckling on his +sword, he silently mounts the stairs to the hall of the Ancients. +Two or three of the stalwarts follow him, shaking their heads. +Is he going to talk once more, as he did yesterday, instead of +shooting? Amazed but curious, the president allows him to +speak. Will he put up a better case than yesterday, speaking +to the point, and not simply haranguing them about himself?</p> + +<p>“Yesterday, I was sitting quietly at home when you summoned +me.... To-day, I am overwhelmed with calumnies.... +Since my return, all parties have been busied with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span>my name.... The Council of Ancients must decide quickly. +I am no intriguer. You know me. Have I not given proof +and to spare of my devotion to the country?... Am I, a +man whom even the great coalition could not conquer, to +tremble before a few rioters? If I am a crafty schemer, you +may well be all Brutuses!”</p> + +<p>Uneasy stirrings; smiles. Why does he speak, instead of +acting? He is not sure of his ground, for he goes on to say: +“All France shall know what we have lived through.—Every +one of the parties wishes to turn this crisis to its own account, +and every one of them would like me to side with it. But I +have come to the Councils. If you hesitate, and if liberty is +overthrown, you will be answerable to the world and to posterity!” +His periods grow ever more confused. The Ancients +surround the rostrum, interrupting him, demanding names. +Suddenly he turns, and waves his hand towards the doors, as if +pointing to the soldiers, who are out of sight. He seems to be +looking for an exit. He apostrophises the invisible soldiers:</p> + +<p>“You, comrades, whom I see united in this circle, raise your +bayonets with which we fought our way to victory together, +raise them against my breast! But if an orator in foreign +pay dares to call your general an outlaw, smite the wretch +with the thunderbolts of battle! The god of battles and the +goddess of good fortune are on my side....”</p> + +<p>Will not a burst of laughter sweep the speaker away, and +his coup d’état along with him? At length Bourrienne comes +up to him from behind, takes him by the arm, and whispers in +his ear: “Do stop, General. You really don’t know what you’re +saying!” He turns, and follows Bourrienne from the hall. A +deputy devoted to his interest takes the floor promptly, and +does his best to put a good face upon the matter.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus06" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus06.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>General Bonaparte in 1798, during the voyage to Egypt. + Sketch by André Dutertre.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Outside, he draws a breath of relief. What could have been +the matter with him? Why had his brain been clouded? Amid +all the turmoil of battle, he is calm, fully master of himself; his +decisions are well-rounded, brilliant, and cool, like polished +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span>marble spheres. Why is he unequal to the occasion on this +day of days, when his whole future is at stake?</p> + +<p>Because he is a man who knows how to command, but does +not know how to beg. He can cajole, threaten, feign hesitation, +lie; outdoing in these arts all the diplomatists with whom +he negotiates treaties. He meets them as equals, but is always +sustained by the feeling that, if he does not get his way by +diplomacy, he can enforce his wishes by artillery fire. He can +endure everything, except having to ask favours, and except +having to submit to a law which is not of his own making. He +wants order and legality, but not such as existed before he +established them!</p> + +<p>With titanic energy, as he already foresees, he will lead this +country towards order, will found an orderly State after a +decade of chaos. No one will be the worse for humble birth or +for poverty, since all will have equal opportunities. But in +these halls to-day sit lawyers, ridden by the spirit of faction, +corrupt, outworn, besoiled by the grime of party politics. He +is to implore them to be good enough to give him (and others) +a power which has long been his, and which stands outside +there, impatient to get to work!</p> + +<p>He, who in the Institute could sit quietly among the savants, +learning and questioning, is so little able to understand the +mood of these legislative assemblies that he actually fancies +the day already won. He sends a message to Josephine to tell +her that all is going well; says a few encouraging words to his +followers, and goes quickly downstairs to play a similar part +before the Council of Five Hundred. It is just as well that his +friends take the precaution to send into the hall with him four +stalwart grenadiers, whose strength and loyalty can be thoroughly +depended on.</p> + +<p>No matter that this escort is quite out of keeping with his +determination to be strict in the observance of parliamentary +forms! Followed by his grenadiers, carrying hat and riding +whip in his hand, he enters the hall of the Five Hundred. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span>“Bonaparte!” All turn towards the door. The Jacobins +shout: “Down with the tyrant! Down with the dictator! Outlaw +him!” A few of the more hefty among the Five Hundred +hurl themselves upon him; the grenadiers rally to his protection, +encircling him, and sheltering him with their big bodies +from the angry Jacobins’ blows. The combat sways to and +fro for a while, a knot of struggling and shouting people. +Then, step by step, the five force their way backwards towards +the door. Outside, surrounded by his own supporters, he is +for a moment too much discomposed to speak; but, rallying +quickly, he makes for the back room.</p> + +<p>During the Italian campaign, Bonaparte was under fire in +the front ranks on several occasions. At Lodi, and again at +Arcola, he had been in imminent peril. But here, he was for +the first time involved in a rough-and-tumble affray where fire-arms +and cold steel are against the rules. Towards the close +of his career, he was to have a similar experience. In such a +chance medley, he could not draw his sword. He must assume +his antagonists to be unarmed, though some of them were in +truth armed. To use his sword seemed to be in hopeless conflict +with the fundamental principles of the coup d’état—as he +envisaged it.</p> + +<p>But at length he has to abandon these principles of his. In +person, he has been rescued from the blows of his adversaries, +but their fists have shattered his doctrine. Force has been used +against him. He strides furiously up and down the room; +his pride is touched to the quick; in his anger, he scratches his +cheek till his finger-nails are bloody. Blood? In an instant +he has recovered his composure. This blood will be most useful! +Attempted assassination in the council chamber! He will show +his soldiers how these villains have manhandled the commander +of Paris! The pretence that the other side had been the first +to break the law, frees him from the tyranny of his principles.</p> + +<p>In the assembly hall, meanwhile, Lucien is fighting for him. +“Hors la loi! Outlaw him!” cry most of the deputies. Lucien +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span>tries to still the clamour with voice and bell. The attempt is +vain. A formal demand is made for a vote on Bonaparte’s outlawry, +and every one knows what that means in revolutionary +Paris. Since there is no other way out of the difficulty, +Lucien, whose pose to-day is that of the defender of law and +order, with an imposing gesture throws off his toga and storms +out of the hall. None too soon!</p> + +<p>He finds his brother with the troops. Napoleon had turned +pale when the news had been brought of the vote of outlawry. +Then, running to the window, he called to the troops: “To +arms!” Going out, he mounted, and was quick to notice that +the soldiers were not sufficiently moved, were not yet ripe for +action. Night was falling, and all were waiting on events. +Lucien came out, leapt into the saddle, and the two brothers +rode up and down the front. Outside the railings were Sieyès +and Ducos in a carriage, ready for flight to-day, or to become +rulers to-morrow, as events might decide. The movement +seemed to be without a head.</p> + +<p>Then Lucien grasped the opportunity. He could make a +better job of speaking to the soldiers than Napoleon had made +of speaking to the deputies:</p> + +<p>“Soldiers, as president of the Five Hundred I tell you that +in the hall there the majority is being terrorised by a handful +of armed Jacobins. These rascals are in English pay. They +have dared to outlaw your general, who was appointed by the +Councils. They actually tried to assassinate him. Look at +the wounds! Use your bayonets to guard him against their +daggers, so that the deliberations concerning the welfare of +the country can be conducted in peace! Recognise as deputies +none but those who come with me into the midst of your ranks. +Drive out the rest, all who would stay in the hall!”</p> + +<p>Napoleon listens with pinched lips. When Lucien has finished, +he speaks in his turn, shouting: “Kill any one who resists. +Follow me! I am the god of battles!” Lucien, who is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span>afraid of another speech, hisses: “For God’s sake, hold your +tongue!”</p> + +<p>“Long live Bonaparte!” shout the soldiers, who regard +the brothers as military and civil authority conjoined. But +not a man moves. All is lost, if they will not march now. +Lucien grasps at the last expedient. With a theatrical flourish, +he snatches an officer’s sword and points it at Napoleon’s +breast: “I swear that I will run my brother through, should he +ever dare to threaten the liberties of France!”</p> + +<p>The phrase has the desired effect. Murat orders the sounding +of a general advance, summons a troop of soldiers to follow +him, and shouts: “Lads, chuck the whole rabble of them out of +the hall!” At length he has raised a laugh. With bayonets +at the charge, but good-humouredly and without hurting any +one, they thrust from the hall any of the deputies that are +valiant enough to offer resistance. In the failing light, there +is a confused scene in which red togas, birettas, and the caps +of the guardsmen are intermingled. The last of the fleeing +deputies escape through the windows.</p> + +<p>The priceless Lucien now hastened upstairs to the Council +of Ancients. Grossly exaggerating the injuries sustained by +his brother at the hands of the Jacobin deputies, he induced the +Ancients, in a panic, to appoint the three Consuls, and to adjourn +their sitting until a late hour that night. Then the +leaders foregathered in a small café for a meal, being all much +in need of food.</p> + +<p>That night, the most trustworthy among the deputies reassembled +in the deserted hall at Saint-Cloud. By the light of a +pair of candles, the thirty who were left to represent the people +of France voted whatever they were told. While a hundred or +so people of fashion, pretty women and their gallants, mockingly +watched the midnight ceremony—while all went smoothly, +society-at-large being quite undisturbed and the proletariat unruffled—the +indefatigable Lucien insisted that the political +mass should be worthily celebrated. At two in the morning, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span>to the sound of drums, the three Consuls took the oath. “Long +live the republic!” called a few weary voices.</p> + +<p>At three o’clock, Consul Bonaparte drives back to Paris with +Bourrienne. He looks straight in front of them, saying never +a word. Not until he is at home, and Josephine is present, +does he open his mouth:</p> + +<p>“I say, Bourrienne, did I talk a frightful lot of nonsense +to-day?”</p> + +<p>“A fair amount, General.”</p> + +<p>“Those idiots drove me crazy. I’m no good at speaking in +public assemblies.”</p> + +<p>Then, instead of going on to talk about the coup d’état, or +to congratulate himself upon its amazing success (for from to-morrow +onwards he will rule France) he alludes to personal +enmities. Bernadotte’s conduct is what rankles!</p> + +<p>“That fellow Bernadotte! He wanted to betray me! His +wife—his wife has a great deal of influence over him. I should +have thought I had done enough to placate him! You were +there, and you know. I regret having gone so far to please him. +He will have to clear out of Paris. There is no other way in +which I can pay my score.... Good-night, Bourrienne. To-morrow +night we shall sleep in the Luxembourg.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="BOOK_THREE">BOOK THREE<br> +THE RIVER</h2> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">One who thoughtfully ponders the centuries,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Surveys the whole in the clear light of the spirit;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">All that is petty has vanished from sight;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Oceans and continents alone are of account.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right">—<span class="smcap">Goethe.</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span></p> + +<h3>I</h3> + +<p>About twenty men are seated round a large oval table. +Some are quite young, some middle-aged, some elderly. They +are plainly dressed, in accordance with the fashion of 1800, +when wigs were no longer worn, and lace was out of date; those +of them that are in uniform are not resplendent with gold braid, +and they wear no orders. Some have the bold, self-confident +look of the man of action; others, the thoughtful mien of the +savant. From town and from countryside, from office and +from laboratory, they come, but are unified by a common +experience and a common aim. For ten years, they have been +living through a revolutionary epoch; they meet to bring that +epoch to a close. Around them is the chill splendour of the +Tuileries, the palace of the last Bourbon kings. The golds +and the reds of the rich carpets and the silken hangings are +out of keeping with their bourgeois circumstantiality; the +silvery sheen of the candles, reflected in rainbow tints from the +myriad facets of the candelabras, recalls an era that scintillated +with light and glowed with colour.</p> + +<p>The Directors before them had been wont to entertain their +lady friends in royal halls, but that was in the Luxembourg, +the former meeting-place of the peers of France. The Tuileries +seemed full of Ghosts. Did not a curse lie upon the place? +The dictator had broken the spell. Two months after the coup +d’état, he had come with his fellow Consuls to take possession +of the palace, which exerted a magical lure upon his imagination. +Yet when, seven years after the arrest of the last scion +of the royal line, the first of the bourgeois rulers made his +formal entry, the affair had a strong flavour of burlesque. The +Parisians could not but laugh to see the numbers of the hackney +carriages peeping out from beneath the slips of paper which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span>had been carelessly pasted over them. This seemed to symbolise +the ludicrous aspect of time’s revenges.</p> + +<p>The Consul’s own mood was no less haphazard as he looked +round with childlike curiosity. “Well, here we are in the +Tuileries,” he said to one of his friends; “let’s see to it that +we stay here!”</p> + +<p>Several of those now seated at the oval table, had waited +here of old—wearing powdered wigs, lace jabots, and pumps—tremulous +with eagerness to learn whether His Majesty would +receive them, and when. Some of them had sat at a similar +table in the Luxembourg. There had been no stability about +those deliberations. Laws had come and gone, urgency orders +and exceptional provisions; transitional decrees had pushed +foregoing decrees out of the way; three constitutions had risen +and set, had shot up into the air swiftly and brilliantly like +rockets, to vanish like these and to fall like rocket-sticks. The +whole decade during which the new ideas had been trying to +realise themselves in the concrete, had passed swiftly over Paris +like a single night, amid a confusion of flashing lights and +rumbling drums. The city had been like an armed camp with +no fighting fronts and no battles, but perturbed by the to-and-fro +march of armed political parties, deafened by the noisy +wrangling between the old order and the new wishes, dazzled by +the glare of venturesome ideas, confused by the clamour of disappointed +hopes and the clash of warring ambitions—a titanic +bacchanal of liberty, equality, and cozenage. Surveying the +medley, looking down from the skies, were the shades of the +two men whose books had set the whole in motion: Rousseau, +with eyes of disgust; Voltaire, with a mocking smile.</p> + +<p>But suddenly the tumult had been stilled. That little man at +the head of the table had stilled it, the little general in the +well-worn green uniform. Not that he, presiding over the +Council of State, is in fact presiding over the State; the parties +have withdrawn into their caves, satisfied or rancorous, but +at any rate silenced. France, weakened by clubs and corruption, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span>by the Terror and the demagogues, is turning back (like +an adventuress weary of errant amours) to the arms of a +strong man who can master her.</p> + +<p>Enough, now, for Bonaparte that he should aspire to fulfil +this masterful lover’s role. No longer did he need to fight +for the position. The man for whom France was longing, +must be a man of order; must be one who had never before +held power, who belonged to no party, and who none the less +enjoyed popular favour. He must, therefore, be a soldier and +a conqueror. Moreau lacked the self-confidence and adroitness +needed to make him a successful rival; the other great generals +were dead or overshadowed; there were no civilian competitors. +After Bonaparte’s outstanding military successes, it was easy +for him to win supreme power in the State. He would have +won it without a struggle had he not been so stubborn in his +desire to observe constitutional formalities.</p> + +<p>The attempt to be strictly constitutional had been a ludicrous +failure, and had imposed artificial obstacles in his path. +Yet this very fact was a token and a guarantee of his political +talents. He was a man with a firm grip on the sword-hilt, but +he was also a man who clearly understood the limits of the +power of the sword. “Do you know,” he said in those days, +“what amazes me more than all else? The impotence of force +to organise anything. There are only two powers in the world: +the spirit and the sword. In the long run, the sword will always +be conquered by the spirit.” Napoleon was the greatest military +commander of his day, but neither now nor later was it +his habit to strike the table with mailed fist, neither in Paris +at this juncture nor elsewhere when negotiating a truce or a +peace or an alliance. He was a political genius, who prized +the sword, indeed, but prized it only as one of the two powers. +His ear was never deafened by the clash of arms. As now, so +for fifteen years to come, he is ever on the watch for indications +of public opinion; always listening to the voice of the people, a +voice which defies calculation; a voice which Napoleon, a man +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span>of figures, vainly tries to calculate. Precisely because of his +failure to do this, the attempt to reckon with public opinion +is always alluring to the imaginative side of his nature.</p> + +<p>Because Bonaparte believes in the power of the spirit more +than in the power of the sword, he strives for order and peace +more resolutely than for war and conquest. The history of +the next ten years will prove it.</p> + +<p>For him, order denotes equality, but not liberty. He adopts +into his dictatorship the former of these two gods of the revolution. +Except for a few vacillations, he will cherish equality +to the end, despite appearances to the contrary. But liberty? +What is liberty? “Both the savage and the civilised man need +a lord and master, a magician, who will hold the imagination in +check, impose strict discipline, bind man in chains, so that he +may not bite out of season; one who will thrash him, and lead +him to the chase. Obedience is man’s destiny; he deserves nothing +better, and he has no rights!” These threatening words of +the misanthropist disclose no more than half of his secret +thoughts. Through all the phases of his rule, he is ever in +search of the efficient man, and to such a man he grants power +over thousands; just as he himself, through energy and diligence, +through natural and acquired superiority, has won to +power over millions. In spite of all, he is the son of the revolution; +and in this sense he will remain the son of the revolution, +whatever forms his power may assume.</p> + +<p>In part, that is the explanation of the mysterious influence +he wields. The wider his domain extends, the more plainly do +all realise that they are living in a system which promises to +every efficient man the gratification of his wishes, and guarantees +to every efficient man place and power and wealth; which +does these things because the Master has himself risen out of +the crowd. He shows this, now, in his very first step. Sieyès +has drafted a constitution. There is to be a grand elector, a +president who can only represent and sign his name. With +soldierly curtness, Bonaparte puts his pen through the item. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span>“Away with this fat hog!” Instead, there is to be a First +Consul, with plenary powers, and plenty of work. He is to be +war lord and also director of foreign policy; he is to appoint +all ministers and envoys, councillors of State and prefects, +officers and judges. Thirty nominated senators are to elect +their colleagues; but neither the Senate nor the Legislative +Assembly nor the Tribunate is to have any power to initiate +legislation. These bodies are merely brought into existence to +give politicians a platform for their orations, and to provide +senators with high salaries and opportunities for a resplendent +life.</p> + +<p>Although everything was dependent upon the will of one man, +that one man insisted that those dependent on him should themselves +be men, and not mere names. Neither birth nor pretentiousness +nor prominence in a political party could lead to +the front in the army or in civil life. Nothing but energy and +capacity could ensure promotion. Such was the principle upon +which Napoleon chose the members of the Council of State.</p> + +<p>This last was a round table of experts, selected by the dictator +on his own initiative. Among them was Laplace, whom, +to honour the Institute, Napoleon had also appointed Minister +for Home Affairs—an appointment the great mathematician +held for a time, until he turned back from the mechanics of +the State to the mechanics of the heavens. There, too, was +Roederer, official and journalist, the most independent man to +be encountered by Napoleon during twenty years, and the most +valuable recorder of conversations. Tronchet, also, one of the +finest jurists of the age, was there. In the council chamber, +all alike were citizens, and addressed one another by that plain +title. Royalists and Jacobins sat there side by side, under a +regime of equality, since reason was enthroned.</p> + +<p>When the minutes of the sittings are shown to the citizen-consul, +he says: “It is essential to give a full and accurate +report of the opinions expressed by legal luminaries, for their +words are weighty; but what we soldiers and moneyed men +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span>think is of little account. In the heat of the moment I have +often said things which an instant afterwards I saw to have +been unjust. I do not wish to seem better than I am.” When +he noticed that the councillors were simply echoing whatever he +said, he was quick to call them to order: “You are not here, +gentlemen, to agree with me, but to express your own views. +If you do that, I can compare them with mine, and decide which +is better.”</p> + +<p>The sittings, often enough, do not begin before nine in the +evening, for up till then the Consul has been dealing with the +urgent affairs of the day. They may last till five o’clock in +the morning. The councillors get very tired during the small +hours. Perhaps the Minister for War goes to sleep. Napoleon +shakes them up, exclaiming: “Do let’s keep awake, citizens. +It’s only two o’clock. We must earn our salaries.” He, who +presides, is indeed one of the youngest of the company, being +now thirty. But in three campaigns he has learned how to +watch over the interests of hundreds of thousands. Was not +the management of an army which set out from the Alps, +crossed the sea, and marched far into the desert—was not this +the best school for the study of State administration? There, +too, he had to think of money and bread, of rights and laws, +of rewards and punishments, of rest and obedience and order.</p> + +<p>During the very first night after the coup d’état, he had +appointed two committees to draft a legal code; this was the +first act of his dictatorship! The prevailing chaos had been +the outcome of a lack of law. Down to the outbreak of the +revolution, there had been no unified legal system in France. +The revolution brought the promise of such a system; but even +now, after eleven years, the promise was unfulfilled. That +first summer, three great lawyers were set to work; four months +later a draft of the Civil Code, subsequently rechristened the +Code Napoléon, was ready; then the draft was discussed in +the Council of State. In eighteen months the laws were voted. +They passed into effect in 1804.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span></p> + +<p>After more than a century, this Code is still the law of +France; it was adopted in many of the lands conquered by +Napoleon, having great influence on the legislation of Central +and Southern Germany, Prussia, Switzerland, and Spain; and +its influence spread still farther afield, to Central America +and South America. All that is new and morally decisive in +the Code Napoléon is revolutionary law. The law-book which +the Dictator discussed in all its details for many months, the +law-book, many of whose most contentious points were the +direct outcome of his decisions, borrowed the fixed principles of +reason that had been sketched in the first days of the revolution. +Experienced and dispassionate minds, under Napoleon’s +guidance, worked them up, purified them, and made them into +a new system of the rights of man. In this system, there was +no longer a hereditary nobility; all children had an equal share +in inheritance; all parents became legally responsible for the +maintenance of their children; Jews became equal with +Christians before the law; civil marriage was open to all, and +was dissoluble.</p> + +<p>Concerning this matter, as concerning all matters of family +law, his Corsican family feeling persistently influenced his +judgments: “We know that adultery is not a rare occurrence, +but an ordinary one; that it can happen on any convenient +sofa.... Some sort of restraint must be imposed upon these +women who commit adultery for trinkets or verses, for Apollo +and the nine Muses.”</p> + +<p>His sense of order leads him to be a thorough-going supporter +of marriage. He even sees to it that women shall follow +their husbands into transportation, “for how can we forbid a +woman to do so when she is convinced of her husband’s innocence? +Or is this conviction of hers to deprive her of her rights +as married woman; is she to lose the title of wife, and to become +the man’s concubine? Many men have only become criminals +owing to their wives. Are we to forbid those who have been +the cause of the misfortune from sharing that misfortune?” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span>He also thinks highly of the custom of old Roman days, when, +at marriage, the woman was formally described as passing from +her father’s guardianship into that of her husband. “That +would be excellent in Paris, where women do as they please. It +would influence some of them, though not all.”</p> + +<p>Therefore, though he favours divorce, it must not be too +easy: “What would happen to the most intimate of natural ties +if people were suddenly to become estranged? Unless we make +divorce difficult, a young woman will be ready to marry a quite +unsuitable man, for fashion, convenience, simply to get a roof +over her head. The law must warn her against this.... In +truth, there are only three valid grounds for divorce: attempted +murder, adultery, and impotence.”</p> + +<p>Such are the plastic thoughts of this expert in human nature, +whose mathematical talents still leave him free to subsume facts +under ideas; one who has an intelligence well fitted for the +consideration of laws, seeing that it is equally swayed by theory +and practice, by energetic activity and sceptical suspense. +The conflict of trends within the legislator’s mind is obvious, +and it was intensified by his thoughts concerning Josephine’s +former infidelity and present faithfulness. (We know that she +manifested a lively interest in the drafting of those sections of +the Code that related to divorce! Napoleon at this time was +already wondering whether, if his wife remained childless, he +would not have to divorce her for reasons of State. Her own +dread of this possibility led her to use her influence in favour +of strengthening the marriage tie, whereas he was driven by +self-interest to insist that marriage must not be indissoluble.)</p> + +<p>It is a personal feeling, too, which drives him to avoid +scandal, to save the honour of marriage. He opposes the interference +of the law-courts in conjugal questions; prefers that +such matters should be settled by mutual understanding, so +that the veil shall not be stripped off. “The desire of both +parties for divorce is an indication that divorce is necessary. +It is not the business of the court to establish the fact that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span>this mutual desire exists; the court has simply to pronounce +the divorce when the desire exists.” His strong family feeling +leads him to add that maltreatment, perversion, and adultery +should be concealed beneath the formula of mutual desire; the +need for divorce is to be settled at a family council, and the +judge has merely to confirm this decision.</p> + +<p>For the same reason, he introduces a semi-divorce, a judicial +separation from bed and board. This is always to be arranged +after a mutual private understanding, for it will be a barrier +to the possibility of reconciliation if the grounds for the separation +have been made public. His aim in all these matters +is to maintain family life; he is a champion of order, an anti-revolutionist. +His social sense is so strong that he maintains +it would be necessary to punish an adulterous woman by criminal +procedure unless she were punished by being divorced. +Similar considerations regarding the sanctity of marriage lead +him to raise the age at which marriage becomes permissible. +At the revolution it had been lowered to thirteen for women +and fifteen for men; he insists upon fifteen and twenty-one +respectively.</p> + +<p>For children, the Code promises all the things which the +ensuing century is slowly to build up. Under the fatherhood +of the man to whom they are born in lawful marriage, they have +a secure position even before they enter the world. True, +“the father cannot recognise the child as his own if he +has been absent for fifteen months”—the figure is specified by +Napoleon—“and has fought at Marengo.” But, a man of +position as well as a man of the world, he concludes by saying: +“I will sacrifice honour to truth, but why should I sacrifice the +wife’s honour when no one will gain thereby? If the husband +is not sure of his dates, he had better hold his tongue; the +child’s interest is paramount.”</p> + +<p>When some one proposes to restrict the elder children’s +right to maintenance, he rejoins: “Is a father to have the right +to drive his fifteen-year-old daughter out of the house? Let +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span>us suppose him to have an income of sixty thousand francs, +can we allow him to say to his son: ‘You are old enough to +tend for yourself; be off with you to work!’ If we limit this +duty, we shall tend to make children entertain thoughts of +putting their father out of the way.” The suggestion is made +that adoption shall be feasible by simple declaration before a +notary, with revolutionary speed. He opposes the plan:</p> + +<p>“We are not concerned here with a trivial formality. Human +beings are controlled through their imaginations; that is what +distinguishes them from animals. The main defect of the newer +legislation is that it makes no appeal to men’s imaginations. +A soldier does not face death in order to earn a few pence a +day, or to win some paltry order of merit. None but the man +who touches his heart, can stir his enthusiasm! A notary +cannot touch our hearts merely because we pay him a fee of +twelve francs; that is why we need a legislative act. What is +adoption? An imitation of nature, a sort of sacrament. By +the will of society, the offspring of one human being’s flesh and +blood is supposed to become the offspring of another’s flesh and +blood. Could any action be more sublime? Thanks to it, two +creatures between whom there is no tie of blood, become inspired +by a natural mutual affection. Whence must this action +come? Like the lightning, from on high!”</p> + +<p>“In these sittings,” says Roederer, “the First Consul manifested +those remarkable powers of attention and precise +analysis which enabled him for ten hours at a stretch to devote +himself to one object, or to several, without ever allowing himself +to be distracted by memory or by errant thoughts.”</p> + +<p>Bonaparte is filled with respect for the logicality and mental +energy of the octogenarian Tronchet; and the old lawyer responds +with admiration for the analytical faculty and the +sense of justice of the young Consul, who, in the case of every +ordinance, asks: “Is it just?” and “Is it useful?” He is never +tired of enquiring how predecessors have solved the problems +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span>under consideration, paying special attention to Roman law +and to the legal institutions of Frederick the Great.</p> + +<p>Not only are thirty-seven laws discussed at this table; +furthermore, the Consul propounds question after question +concerning other matters. How is bread made? How shall +we make new money? How shall we establish security? He +makes all his ministers send detailed reports, and this +is a great tax upon their energies. But he affects not to +notice that they are overworked, and when they get home +they often find letters from him requiring an immediate +answer. One of his collaborators writes: “Ruling, administering, +negotiating—with that orderly intelligence of his, he gets +through eighteen hours’ work every day. In three years he +has ruled more than the kings ruled in a century.” He spoke +to every expert in the phraseology of the craft, so that none +of them could ever plead in excuse that his questions had not +been understood. Even the most hidebound royalists were +amazed at the technical accuracy of his enquiries.</p> + +<p>His unfailing memory was the artillery wherewith he defended +the fortress of his brain. Ségur, returning from an +official inspection of the fortifications on the north coast, sends +in a report. “I have read your report,” says the First Consul. +“It is accurate, but you have forgotten two of the four guns +in Ostend. They are on the high road behind the town.” +Ségur is astonished to find that Napoleon is right. His report +deals with thousands of guns, scattered all over the place, but +the chief pounces on the omission of two.</p> + +<p>By slow degrees, the huge machine (which for ten years has +been standing still or moving backwards) is set in regular +motion once more. Throughout the last decade, all the reports +from the provinces have been full of complaints regarding the +lack of public safety, sanitation, and order; the louis-d’or used +to exchange for twenty-four francs, but now the ratio is one +to eight thousand; the Directory’s attempt to stabilise the +franc has been an utter failure; the newly enriched have bought +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span>up the State domains, the Church lands, and the seignorial +estates. No one is paying taxes. What is the new dictator +going to do about it all?</p> + +<p>Within a fortnight after the coup d’état, he had arranged +for the establishment of tax-collecting offices in all the departments, +for, as he put it: “Security and property are only to +be found in a country which is not subject to yearly changes in +the rate of taxation.” Two months later, the Bank of France +came into being; next year, there were new boards to supervise +taxation, the registration of landed property, and forestry. +Whereas his predecessors had simply squandered the State domains, +he used what was left of them to defray repayment of +national debt. The funds rose from 7 to 17; he continued the +process of debt cancellation, renovated the Chambers of Commerce, +regulated the Stock Exchange, put an end to speculation +in the depreciated currency, stopped the frauds of the army +contractors and other war profiteers, and by these and similar +measures restored manufacturing industry whose productivity +had sunk to a quarter or half of its former level.</p> + +<p>What was his magical spell?</p> + +<p>At the head of affairs was himself, a man of indomitable +energy, and incorruptible. Men of the same stamp, energetic, +diligent, and bold, were put in charge of the ministries, the departments, +and the prefectures. Favouritism was done away +with; sinecures were abolished. Preferment was obtainable +only by the efficient, and to them it came regardless of birth or +party. All officials, down to the mayors, were appointed from +above, and paid from above—“a hierarchy, all First Consuls in +miniature,” to quote his own words.</p> + +<p>There was no political opposition. “No reaction is possible,” +he prophesied. “I have not relied upon the credit or +upon the strength of a party, and am therefore indebted to no +one.—The men of intelligence who, a little while ago, were +perpetrating crimes, are now being used by me to upbuild a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span>new social edifice. There are excellent workmen among them +but the trouble is that they would all like to be master builders. +Typically French, that trait; every one thinks himself competent +to rule the country!” Being careful to satisfy all +parties, he gives the two most coveted portfolios to two rogues, +mutually hostile, but both men of remarkable ability. Having +done this, he is able to say: “What revolutionist can fail to +have confidence in the social system when Fouché, the Jacobin, +is Minister of Police. What nobleman would be unwilling to +live under Talleyrand as Minister for Foreign Affairs? I have +one of them on my right, and the other on my left. I open a +wide road, in which all can find room.”</p> + +<p>To all the prefects and all the generals the order went forth: +“No more clubs; no more parties. Tell the National Guardsmen +and the citizens whenever you can, if a few ambitious +fellows still feel the need to hate, that the rudder of State is +now in strong hands, accustomed to overcome obstacles.” A +few weeks after the coup d’état, he issued a great proclamation, +commending the new constitution to the people. It closed +with the simple and lofty words: “Citizens, the revolution has +returned to the principles with which it began. It is at an +end.”</p> + +<h3>II</h3> + +<p>It is not war.</p> + +<p>“Returning to Europe after eighteen months’ absence, I find +that war has broken out once more between the French Republic +and Your Majesty. The French people summons me to the first +position in the State.” In these terms, shortly after the coup +d’état, he addresses the German emperor, just before marching +against him. Napoleon writes as proudly as any monarch, as +if before the journey he had already been the first man in the +State; and he writes with the natural dignity to which, in large +measure, he owes his success. That is his way. In this manner +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span>he puts his adversary in the wrong. But the emperor is unmoved. +Well, Bonaparte’s plans were made long since; he has +only to carry them out.</p> + +<p>First of all he surrounds himself with a guard, every member +of which must have been through four campaigns—as many as +the commander, but no more. Then, while he sends Moreau +to fight on the Rhine, he makes his own preparations for an +adventure in Italy. If he were to come along the coast, as he +did four years ago, they would be ready for him. He must +find a new plan! At Dijon, in full view of the Austrian spies, +he collects from the rawest levies a pitiful reserve corps, and +smiles as he reads the mocking comments in the Viennese papers. +Meanwhile, he prepares a force of 32,000 men, no more, but +the finest soldiers under his command. They are for a bold +venture of which no one dreams, any more than they dreamed +of his Egyptian campaign. Did not Hannibal cross the Alps, +bidding the mountains make way for him? But nowadays a +general must get cannon through the passes! Cut down trees, +then, and make huge sleighs on which to drag the ordnance +over the snows!</p> + +<p>Thus in the spring after the coup d’état an army climbs the +Great St. Bernard, for the first time in two thousand years. +The old monks in the hospice can hardly believe their eyes. +The herdsman who guides the commander’s mule, prattling the +while about his wishes and his troubles, will soon afterwards +learn that he has been talking to a fairy godmother, will be +enriched by the gift of a house and a farm. Even the common +soldiers seem to realise the epic character of this campaign, +and vie with one another in their zeal to drag the guns. They +are following their tried and trusted leader; they are returning +to that Lombardy whither, four years ago, he had led them as +to the Promised Land; these reflections, and the urgency of the +occasion, increase the mysterious suggestiveness of the expedition. +So little do the Austrians realise what is impending, that +their chief, writing to a lady friend in Pavia, tells her she is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span>quite safe there; no need to leave. Twelve hours later, Bonaparte +enters the town.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the great blow seems to him a questionable +success. When, in the middle of June, he attacks the Austrians +in the plain, the enemy, whose forces greatly outnumber his, +drives him back. Where is Desaix with the promised reserves? +The affair begins to have the look of a general rout. The +commander, by the roadside, flicks the dust nervously with his +riding-whip, as he watches the beaten army pass by. “Stand +firm! Wait a little! Reinforcements are coming! Only an +hour!” But the flight continues. Has fortune, too, been +routed? At length Desaix arrives, and hurls himself on the +dismayed Austrians; the dragoons charge; the enemy’s lines +are broken. The battle of Marengo, which Bonaparte had lost +at five o’clock, was won by Desaix at seven—but Desaix fell in +the hour of triumph.</p> + +<p>Sad at heart, Napoleon remained on the field of battle. The +best of his generals was dead; but an even more painful thought +was that Desaix, not himself, had won the victory. He himself +had been defeated. Maybe he was consoled by the knowledge +that he alone had designed the whole campaign, and that +he alone was responsible for the plan of battle in accordance +with which Desaix had arrived in time to snatch success out of +the jaws of failure. Perhaps he realised that this great battle, +which opened and closed the campaign, had been won by him +no otherwise than the Eighteenth Brumaire. Then, also, he +had lost the day, and the crown of victory had been gained +for him by another!</p> + +<p>Yet in neither case can this judgment be maintained when +all the circumstances are reviewed. Only three or four miles +from the spot where this evening he dictates to Bourrienne the +report of the battle, is the point on the map into which, four +months earlier, he had thrust a pin, saying (to this same Bourrienne): +“Crossing the Alps at the Great St. Bernard, I shall +fall upon Melas, cut off his communications with Austria, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span>meet him here in the plains of the River Scrivia at San +Giuliano.”</p> + +<p>This was no time for reminiscences! Statesman as well as +commander, he was already parleying with Vienna, acting on +the principle: “We must fight and negotiate at the same time.” +Now, on the battle-field, he writes again to Emperor Francis:</p> + +<p>“The cunning of the English has neutralised the effect which +my simple and frank advances must otherwise have had on +Your Majesty’s heart. War has become actual. Thousands +of Frenchmen and Austrians are no more.—The prospect +of the continuance of such horrors is so great a distress to +me, that I have decided to make another personal appeal to +you.—On the battle-field of Marengo, amid grief and pain, +surrounded by fifteen thousand corpses, I implore Your +Majesty, it behooves me to give you an urgent warning. You +are far from the scene, and your heart cannot be so deeply +moved as mine is on the spot. You rule over many States.—Let +us give our generation peace and tranquillity. If the men +of later days are such fools as to come to blows, they will learn +wisdom after a few years’ fighting, and will then live at peace +one with another.”</p> + +<p>This long letter, of which only a few of the most weighty +sentences have been quoted here, is as brilliant as had been his +plan for the battle of Marengo, and it was as fruitful as his +victory. For the first time it gave plain expression to his longing +for peace. In days to come, he will write half a dozen such +letters after as many decisive victories. Is Bonaparte, the +great military commander, a pacifist after all?</p> + +<p>By no means, but he is not a swashbuckler either. His +nerves always remain sensitive to the impressions of the battle-field; +and he has an unfailing reserve of scepticism as regards +successes won merely by the sword. He is fond of camp life, +and he has a chessplayer’s love for the great game of war; but, +before all, he is a statesman. It was in this very plain of Lombardy +that the sense of statecraft first awakened in him. It +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span>was there that, with kings and countries as pieces, he began to +play that other great game of chess, the diplomatic game. Delight +in the use of spiritual force has taken possession of his +soul. He will never renounce the sword, will never allow its +edge to become blunted. It is as the wielder of the sword that +he is acclaimed as the hero of Europe. But he also has the +Golden Goblet, and does not wish to risk it anew every year.</p> + +<p>He knows, too, that, while France is always eager for glory, +an even greater need at the moment is tranquillity. Above all, +the country has need of him, personally; but he has enemies +in his rear. Before, it mattered little that he should be away +for a year or two at a time; but now, when he is dictator, so +long an absence would be fatal. These multiple considerations +explain his letter to Emperor Francis—surely an unparalleled +despatch from a conqueror on the battle-field. As soon as he +has written it, he hastens to Milan.</p> + +<p>What is Paris saying?</p> + +<p>Is the capital satisfied at length? Is it not like Josephine, +before whom one can pour out all the treasures of the world—to +find only that she takes them as a matter of course, and +holds out her hand for more? Paris is by no means enthusiastic +about the new master. “For eleven years,” writes Roederer +in his diary, “the Parisian’s first thought on waking in the +morning had been: ‘When shall we be able to rid ourselves of +tyrants?’ Now, the Parisians were saying: ‘Everything seems +to be going on well. But these enterprises that are being +started, this capital that is being invested, these houses that +they are building, these trees that they are planting—what will +happen to the lot of them, if the Man should perish?’—His +supreme calling was not the general’s, but the statesman’s. His +victories, indeed, had made him the cynosure of all eyes; but it +was his talent for statecraft that had raised men’s hopes.” +Thus the Parisians are uneasy, but wellwishing. One among +them, however, foresees the future, and writes to Napoleon at +the theatre of war:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span></p> + +<p>“General, I have just returned from the Tuileries, and shall +not attempt to describe either the enthusiasm of the French or +the amazement of foreigners.... Will posterity believe the +miracle of this campaign? Favourable, indeed, are the auspices +that preside over your homecoming! Never has there been an +empire that was not founded upon miracle. In this instance, +miracle has become reality.”</p> + +<p>Napoleon smiles, thinking: “In truth, Talleyrand is more +than a flatterer; he is a soothsayer! But why does he give a +name to my secret thoughts? Would he play the part of the +Roman of old, who tempted Cæsar with a crown?”</p> + +<p>Here is another missive from Paris. A police report from +Fouché, who tells how Talleyrand had recently summoned a +few intimates to discuss what had better be done should the +Consul have a misadventure, or perchance be defeated. The +news of Marengo had come while they were at supper! “So he +was alarmed!” thinks Bonaparte. “There were stirrings of +what remained of a conscience. Good friends! Fine confidants! +Their alleged concern for my safety, is but the mask +for their secret longing to rid themselves of their master!”</p> + +<p>Is it a mocking smile or is it an expression of pensive anxiety +that purses Napoleon’s lips? Certainly, he must be back in +Paris as soon as possible! But this evening he goes to the +Scala, where the heroine is the lovely Grassini—whose advances +he had scorned a year or two back. Now she sings for his +ear, has eyes for him alone; and though she may be piqued that +his beckoning nod comes so late, the handsome Italian prima +donna gives herself to the conqueror of Italy for the asking. +She shall go to the Paris opera. As star, or as his mistress? +Time will show!</p> + +<p>Since in Germany, too, the enemy has been defeated, the +subsequent peace of Lunéville is extremely favourable to France, +the Rhine frontier being conceded, and the re-establishment of +the Cisalpine Republic agreed to. Could more have possibly +been achieved by a few weeks’ campaign? His colleagues and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span>other false friends make ready to receive him as hero of the +hour; they write to him about plans for a triumph. “I shall +make an unlooked-for entry into Paris,” he rejoins, with malicious +double meaning; “and I have no desire for triumphal +arches or any kind of ceremonial. I have a sufficiently good +conceit of myself to scorn such plummery. The only genuine +triumph is public content.”</p> + +<p>A little later, he writes in a vein that is equally modest, or +equally proud: “I accept the offer to erect a monument in my +honour and should like a site to be chosen. But I would rather +leave the actual building of the monument to future centuries, +should these confirm your good opinion of me.” It is as if +he could sense the coming storm of iconoclasm, could foresee +that in less than twenty years his idolaters of to-day will be +rolling his eagles in the dust!</p> + +<p>After his return, the dictator devotes all his energies to the +consolidation of peace. He outsoars himself: for whereas +formerly, by forced marches and crashing blows, he has imposed +his will on one country after another, now, by shrewd negotiation, +he cements peace with his sometime foes. Within two +years of his seizure of power, France is at peace with Austria, +Prussia, Bavaria, Russia, Naples, Spain, Portugal and even +with England.</p> + +<p>Nine legitimate and therefore ardently legitimist rulers now +recognise the republic which they had been fighting for a +decade. France, which two years before had been threatened +by disruption from within and by dangerous impacts from +without, had become the leading power on the Continent.</p> + +<p>It is as First Consul, not as general and not as emperor, +that Bonaparte leads the revolution to victory. In a Europe +all the rest of which (except for Switzerland) is ruled by kings +and princes, he not only establishes peace between the new ideas +and the old forces, but also, unchallenged, compels his border +States, Holland and northern Italy, to adopt the consular constitution. +Neither Austria nor England attempts to interfere +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span>when, with a turn of the hand, he extends his grip over Piedmont, +Genoa, Lucca and Elba. At the same time, when the +compensation of the princes on the left bank of the Rhine is in +question, the members of the oldest reigning houses of Germany +throng around the great huckster, the man who has +robbed them of their lands—thus teaching him to despise birth +and heritage, nobles and crowns.</p> + +<p>Only one chasm gapes in the structure he is building, but he +will be able to close it.</p> + +<p>At the opening of the revolution, Reason took the place of +Christ. Indeed, this anti-Christian notion became extremely +popular. Bonaparte stood almost alone in his rejection of it. +Four years earlier, in Italy, he had granted the pope all kinds +of things which Paris wished to refuse; and, for reasons of his +own, he had always been chivalrous in his attitude towards the +clergy. Now he wished to heal the breach that had existed for +ten years between France and the Church. He did not do this +because he was a believer. “Among the Turks, I was a Mohammedan; +now I shall become a Catholic.” He knew that this +oldest of the powers could not be conquered either by the sword +or by the spirit. He must come to terms with it in order to +make use of it. “Catholicism kept the pope in being for me,” +he said later: “and, in view of my grip upon Italy, I continued +to hope that sooner or later I should be able to bend him to my +will. What immense influence I should then wield! What a +means to have at my disposal in my dealings with Europe!”</p> + +<p>It will be difficult to make Paris accept the rehabilitation +of the Church! As a preliminary step, he is actually willing to +present himself before the bishops in the guise of a philosopher: +“I am aware that in no State can a man be truly virtuous +and upright unless he knows whence he comes and whither he +is going. Unaided reason cannot tell us these things. Without +religion, we grope in the dark. But the Catholic faith +throws a clear light upon the origin and the destiny of human +beings.” Rome is dumbfounded for a time, when this and similar +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span>speeches are reported; but the shrewdest of worldly sages +can find his master in the Vatican. When Cardinal Consalvi +comes to Paris in order to discuss matters with Napoleon, and, +at the first official audience, the consul wishes to browbeat him, +the prince of the Church smilingly stands his ground. What +a spectacle for Talleyrand, who looks on in silence! Still, +agreement is reached on various important points, such as the +celibacy of priests, the choice of bishops by Rome, and the +re-establishment of the old canon law. But though these concessions +are made to the Church, the payment of stipends by +the State, which gives the latter decisive influence, is to remain.</p> + +<p>A great ceremony in Notre Dame seals the agreement. The +Consul, with the other State dignitaries, had wanted only to +come for the Te Deum; but he found it expedient, after all, +to attend Mass, stipulating that he was not to be expected to +take the sacrament, “or to participate in all the rest of the +hocus-pocus that makes a man ridiculous.” To his brother, he +said on this occasion: “We’re going to Mass to-day. What will +Paris say about it?”</p> + +<p>“The audience will look on at the play, and will hiss if it +does not please.”</p> + +<p>“Then I shall have the church cleared by the guards!”</p> + +<p>“But what if the grenadiers join in the hissing?”</p> + +<p>“They won’t. My old war-dogs will be just as respectful in +Notre Dame as they were in the Cairo mosques. They will +keep their eyes on me, and when they see that their general is +serious and well behaved, they will follow his example, saying +to themselves, ‘Those are the orders of the day!’”</p> + +<h3>III</h3> + +<p>The ground is still unsteady beneath his feet. His consulship +is for ten years only, and there are but eight years more +to run. Then a rival may take his place. He is dependent on +popular favour, which he must court, and which he despises. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span>What sort of a position is that for the head of a State in his +dealings with foreign potentates? They will not take him seriously, +any more than if he were an American president. Turning +these thoughts over in his mind, he makes a sign to the +Senate.</p> + +<p>Always compliant (being dependent on his good graces), the +Senate now proposes to ensure that the First Consul shall hold +office for an additional term of ten years after the expiry +of the present term. Put out of humour by this suggestion, he +jogs the senators’ thoughts and induces them to propose a lifelong +tenure of the consulship. But, prudent as Cæsar, he says +that the matter must be referred to the “people,” the source +of all power. A plebiscite is taken, and there are nearly four +million ayes against a handful of courageous noes. His powers +are enlarged. He now has sole authority to sign treaties with +foreign States; he alone appoints the senators, who are themselves +entitled to dissolve the Chambers; and he is granted the +right to appoint his successor. When he compares his position +with that of other European rulers, and notices that they all +wear crowns, he consoles himself with the naïve sophism: +“Henceforward, I am as good as the other sovereigns, for they, +likewise, rule for life only!”</p> + +<p>By no means all among the millions who have voted for him +are his whole-hearted adherents. Even in Paris, when he makes +a triumphal entry into the Luxembourg, there is so little public +applause that he says afterwards to his Minister of Police: +“Why did you not work up opinion beforehand?”</p> + +<p>Said Fouché: “We are still the children of the ancient Gauls, +of whom it was said that they could neither endure liberty nor +tolerate oppression.”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?”</p> + +<p>“I mean, Citizen Consul, that, in your last steps, the +Parisians fancy they see the loss of liberty, and a tendency +towards absolutism.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span></p> + +<p>“I should not care to rule for six weeks, if I had but the +shadow of power, and could not be master!”</p> + +<p>“You have only to be humane, strong, and just, at one and +the same time,” rejoins the fox (who never showed any of these +qualities himself), “and soon you will win all hearts once +again.”</p> + +<p>“Public opinion is capricious. I shall know how to mend it,” +said Bonaparte, turning his back on his interlocutor.</p> + +<p>A two-minutes’ talk like this, and Napoleon has made up his +mind. He dismisses Fouché, but not because he is afraid of the +ex-cleric (whom he despises, rather). He abolishes the Ministry +of Police, and transfers its functions to the Ministry of +Justice, “for I wish to show Europe that my policy is peaceful, +and that the French love me sincerely.” We must get used +to such phrase-mongering, in which he cloaks his policy. To +keep Fouché quiet, he makes the ex-minister a senator. When, +on leaving office, Fouché discloses to the Consul a reserve fund +of two and a half million francs, Bonaparte is amazed, and tells +him to keep half the sum “as a token of personal regard.” In +the anteroom, the departing Fouché grins over his mental arithmetic, +adding the undisclosed residue of the reserve to the +amount of the First Consul’s gift.</p> + +<p>Such are Bonaparte’s methods with a dangerous man who +knows too much. As for public opinion, he can take his measures +to get that on his side. It is because he is determined +not to be indebted to any party or any individual, that he +demands a popular ratification of his appointment as Consul +for life, just as he had asked for popular approval after the +coup d’état. The result gives him assurance that the revolution +is over. “This consultation of the people has a twofold +advantage. Besides confirming the prolongation of the consular +term, it throws light on the sources of my power, which +otherwise might have seemed ambiguous.” The phrasing shows +that he is aware of his dangerous position betwixt revolution +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span>and legitimacy. To the very last, he will be worried by this +problem.</p> + +<p>Like a Roman imperator, Bonaparte wishes to concentrate +all the powers of State in his own hands; but whereas the +Roman’s title to power was the commandership of the armies, +Napoleon is supreme because of his supreme efficiency. That +is why he bases his power, not upon the army, which loves him, +but upon the people, to which he is hostile. He wants to be +“tyrant,” in the classical sense of the term; but he wishes to be +tyrant on a democratic footing, as the outcome of a free popular +decision. The people, the source of power, is to transfer +power to Napoleon. None knows better than he the weakness +of any such fiction, but it is imposed on him by the spirit of +the age. After all, Bonaparte can fearlessly quote in his own +favour the revolutionary principle that power must go to talent +instead of to birth, for where can a more talented man than +himself be found? But instead of contenting himself with talent +as the source of his power (the talent that has brought him victory +in war and in peace, the talent that has enabled him to +grasp the reins), he muddies this splendid source by a popular +vote, feels morally compelled to do so, and even fancies that he +is clarifying the waters by his action. If Bonaparte saves the +revolution, he certainly kills the republic.</p> + +<p>These ideas are not the outcome of calculating policy, but of +the mood which seeks its stimulus in classical life. It is the +same mood as that which draws him towards the East; the same +mood as that which, on the day of the coup d’état, led him to +make a fool of himself before the Councils. “Your place is +among the men of Plutarch,” said the first who really understood +Bonaparte in early youth. The Consul was not a democrat +in the sense that he believed in popular sovereignty. What +he lacked was such days as those of classical antiquity, when +genius did not need to entrench itself behind representative +assemblies, but held sway on its own initiative; or Asia, where, +even in modern times, there are monarchs in the literal sense. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span>In his work-room at Saint-Cloud there are two busts, Scipio’s +and that of Hannibal’s. No other position than that of Roman +emperor or that of caliph was suited to his temperament.</p> + +<p>Immediately after the coup d’état, the Bourbons, with a +childlike frankness, had made advances to him. The brother +of the executed king, now Count of Provence, and in future days +to reign as Louis XVIII, asked the son of the revolution to help +him to the throne. The demand was thrice repeated, and a +handsome reward was offered. The Consul made no answer to +the first two applications. To the third he replied as follows:</p> + +<p>“Sir, I have received your letter, and thank you for what +you are so kind as to say about myself. You cannot seriously +wish to come back, for your return would cost a hundred +thousand lives. You must sacrifice your personal interests +to the peace and happiness of France, and history will thank +you for the sacrifice. I am not insensitive to the misfortunes +of your family.... I shall be happy to do all in my power to +contribute to the welfare and tranquillity of your retirement. +Bonaparte.”</p> + +<p>Very different is Napoleon’s reception of the Vendée royalists, +for he hopes to win them over to his side. At first they +fail to understand him when, after a long time of waiting, the +man of destiny, wearing his old green coat, and with untidy +hair, makes advances to them.</p> + +<p>“Come over to my side. Mine will be the government of +youth and enthusiasm!... You struck shrewd blows for your +princes.... But your princes have by no means covered +themselves with glory. Why were they not in Vendée to lead +the fight? Was not that their place?”</p> + +<p>“They were kept in London by political considerations,” +answered the nobles.</p> + +<p>“They should have crossed the Channel in the first fishing +smack they could get hold of,” he answered passionately, and, +so the report runs, “in a voice that seemed to come from the +depths of his stomach.” Yes, my fine noblemen, from the depths +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span>of his stomach! The phrase carries with it the implications of +an incident in universal history which was still recent, still vivid +in Napoleon’s memory. That was the tone proper to the bold +adventurer who, in a tiny frigate, had made his way across +the storm-tost Mediterranean, through the enemy fleet, to reach +the coast where power was his for the seizing. Hear how he +mingles flattery and threats, the young wizard who has turned +the whole continent upside down!</p> + +<p>“What would you like to be? General or prefect? You +and yours can have whatever you please, if you will come over +to my side. Nothing? Would you think it a disgrace to wear +the coat that Bonaparte wears?... Unless you will make +peace, I will march against you with a hundred thousand men, +and burn your towns to ashes!”</p> + +<p>“If you do,” answers the count firmly, “we shall annihilate +your columns.”</p> + +<p>“You dare to threaten me?” he exclaims—this time “with a +terrible voice.” But upon receiving a matter-of-fact answer, +he is calm once more. The noble emissaries retire in disgust, +having achieved nothing, having been perplexed by his foreign +accent, and by the impetuous imagination, which leads him to +complicate the issues to such an extent that it is often hard to +follow his meaning.</p> + +<p>None the less, the Consul induces a great many of the émigrés +to return, disarming their hostility by making suitable provision +for them. Forty thousand families promptly come back. +At the same time, he negotiates with the Jacobins, although +these, “with their metaphysics, are enough to ruin twenty governments.” +He feels sure of the support of those who follow +the middle courses of democracy, for the democratic masses +feel safe under his rule, now that Paris is no longer a sort of +civilian camp, and now that (a benevolent despot) he is doing +all in his power to bring better times.</p> + +<p>Consider these instructions issued to various authorities:</p> + +<p>“If the cold should be sharp, as it was in 1789, you must +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span>have fires kept alight in the churches and market-places, so +that as many people as possible can warm themselves.”—“The +winter is very severe, meat is dear, we must provide work in +Paris. Get on with the cutting of the Ourcq canal, with the +construction of the Quai Desaix, with the paving of the back +streets.”—“The law directs that all beggars shall be laid by +the heels. Were we to do nothing more than this, our conduct +would be barbarous and absurd. Arrest them, certainly, that +you may give them work and food. We must have several +homes of refuge in every department.”—“There are a great +many out-of-work shoemakers, hatters, tailors, and saddlers. +See to it that five hundred pairs of shoes are made every day.” +He writes to the Minister for War saying that special orders +for supplies for the artillery are to be issued. To the Minister +for Home Affairs: “We must provide work, especially this +month before the holidays. Issue an order that in May and +June two thousand of the Saint Antoine workmen are to supply +chairs, chests of drawers, armchairs, etc.... Send me your +proposals to-morrow, so that a beginning may be made +promptly.”</p> + +<p>He reads a by-law that no one wearing a workman’s blouse +is to walk through the Tuileries garden. Instantly he has the +regulation cancelled, and gives express permission for such +people to go through. He learns of a proposal to close the +public reading-rooms: “I won’t allow anything of the kind. I +have not forgotten my own experience, how useful it was to +know of a well-warmed room where I could read the newspapers +and recent pamphlets. I will not allow others who are as poor +as I was then to be robbed of these comforts.” In the Théâtre +Français, the stalls are to be very cheap on Sundays, “so that +the people may enjoy the performance.” There are to be no +gambling hells in France: “They bring families to ruin, and I +should set a bad example were I to tolerate them.”</p> + +<p>By his new education law, he establishes public elementary +schools, middle schools, lycées, and technical colleges, throughout +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span>the country. There are to be six thousand free scholarships, +and a third of these are to be reserved for the sons of +specially deserving persons. Within three years, there are +4,500 elementary schools, 750 middle schools, and 45 lycées. +He honours the Institute by choosing a third of his first senators +from among its members. The Ministry for Home Affairs is +instructed to draw up lists “of the ten best painters, sculptors, +composers, musicians, architects, and other artists whose +talents make them worthy of support.” He orders great +frescoes to be painted, which shall depict striking incidents in +his battles. He gives his reasons for this State regulation of +art, saying: “People complain that we have no literature. +That is the fault of the Minister for Home Affairs!”</p> + +<p>But if he tranquillises persons of all occupations by bringing +them prosperity, what opening will be left, in this nation of +the ambitious, for the pursuit of fame? If there is to be no war +and no court life, where will the French find an outlet for their +vanity? He answers this question by founding the Legion of +Honour.</p> + +<p>The Legion will form a group of stalwart supporters, for +those who have taken a solemn oath to resist any attempt at +the restoration of the feudalist regime will not be so likely to +side against Bonaparte. Besides, it is not to be merely an +officers’ club, inasmuch as the aim is to provide distinctions for +all who do good service. He therefore appoints a natural +philosopher to the office of arch-chancellor; and when, in the +Council of State, a warning reference is made to the kinship +between these orders of distinction and the abuses which have +been swept away, he answers with perfect seriousness:</p> + +<p>“I doubt if there has ever been a republic without such distinctions. +You declare that they are toys for children. Well, +grown men are led by toys. I would not say that from a +rostrum, but in a council of sages and statesmen I can speak +my mind. I do not think that the French love liberty and +equality; they have not been changed by ten years of revolution; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span>they are what the Gauls were, fierce and fickle. They are +accessible to only one sentiment, the love of honour. That is +why we must have distinctions.... Soldiers must be allured +by fame and pay.... Here is a new kind of money assessed +at a different valuation from current coin. Its source is inexhaustible. +With no other kind of money, is it possible to +reward actions which are so sublime that they cannot be valued +in current coin.” In these notable words, we hear the rippling +of the three fountains of his soul: contempt for mankind, +understanding of the masses, and the critical aloofness of the +foreigner who has chosen a new fatherland.</p> + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<p>On Christmas Eve, 1800, the Consul was driving to the opera. +Josephine and her daughter were following in another carriage. +In a narrow street an empty cart partially blocked the way, +and caused a halt. The cart was pushed aside, and the coachman +whipped up his horses. The instant after the carriage had +passed, an infernal machine hidden in the cart exploded. About +twenty persons were killed, but no one in either Napoleon’s or +Josephine’s carriage was hurt. On reaching the opera, +Napoleon went straight to his box. When his wife arrived, +he said calmly: “Josephine, those rascals wanted to blow me +up; send for a copy of the music.” Outwardly unmoved, he +listened to the performance of Haydn’s recent work, <i>Creation</i>.</p> + +<p>Ordinarily, good music made him forget all his schemes; but +this evening his brain was busily at work, pondering the causes +and foreseeing the consequences of the attempt on his life. It +mattered little who “the rascals” were, revolutionaries of the +left or revolutionaries of the right. He knew well enough that +he had plenty of enemies on both sides. The question was, +whether it would suit him best to assume that his would-be +assassins belonged to the right or to the left. His mind was +soon made up on this point. Had the attempt been successful, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span>the consequences for France would have been immeasurably +great. Well, the consequences of the unsuccessful attempt +should be no less momentous. It was a lucky chance, and he +would make it solve the problem of personal power.</p> + +<p>Next morning, when people came to offer congratulations +on his escape, and when all were agreed in the opinion that the +outrage must have been planned by the royalists, with assumed +heat Napoleon declared they were absolutely mistaken. “This +was the work of Septembrists, intellectuals, the non-commissioned +officers of the revolution—persons with a bolder imagination +and more culture than the masses, but in close touch +with them, and always ready to spur on the workers!” When, +in the Council of State, a proposal was made to institute special +proceedings, Bonaparte objected on the ground that the +method would be too slow. His speech was impassioned:</p> + +<p>“Either we must do nothing at all, and, like Augustus, forgive +the sinners; or else we must act promptly, take far-reaching +steps which will guarantee social order once for all.... No +ordinary criminal procedure will suffice; this is a matter for +statesmanship.... Blood must flow. As many of the guilty +must be shot as there perished innocent persons in the streets. +Two hundred of these raging wolves must be seized and transported. +They are always watching and waiting for their prey. +All our troubles are due to these metaphysicians!”</p> + +<p>Old Tronchet shakes his head. The attempt had been the +work of émigrés and Englishmen.</p> + +<p>“Are you proposing that I should transport noblemen or +priests?” asked Napoleon angrily. “Vendée is quiet, and I +do not want to banish the servants of the most widely spread +religion in the world. I shall have to dismiss all the members +of the Council of State, for, with two or three exceptions, every +one of you believes in this fable of a royalist plot.... Do you +think me a child? Am I to say that the country is in danger? +Has France ever been in better case since the revolution, the +army more victorious, the country more peaceful? A pretty +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span>thing that men who have never been among the true friends of +liberty, should now display so much concern for liberty! Do +not think to excuse yourselves by saying: ‘I defended the +patriots in the Council of State.’ That might go down in a +drawing-room, but it will not go down here, among the most +enlightened men in France!” He abruptly closes the sitting. +Do the councillors understand his drift?</p> + +<p>These alarums and excursions are not the outcome of any +sense of personal danger, for if that were his motive, if his +own alarmed will-to-live were at work, he would seek out the +real offenders as object for vengeance. The whole scene was +statecraft. Whom can we frighten here at home? Whom can +we pacify across the frontier? That is what the Consul is +asking himself. Those are the considerations that guide his +actions. Of course, there is a personal motive as well. He +thinks that his own safety can best be guarded by draconian +measures. “I did not sleep well o’ nights,” he said at a later +date, “until I had had these leaders of the great towns sent +across the seas. I was not afraid of the sort of conspirator +who gets up at nine o’clock in the morning and puts on a +clean shirt!”</p> + +<p>At the same time, he is infuriated by an anonymous pamphlet, +“Cæsar, Cromwell, and Bonaparte,” in which the writer advocates +the establishment of a hereditary monarchy. Who is +daring to disclose his own secret thoughts, even though the +indiscreet pamphleteer is a sympathiser? When one of his +confidants says that the only thing wrong with the pamphlet +is that the disclosure is premature, Bonaparte lets the observation +pass. But these two attempts, the attack on his body and +the attack on his mind, have terrible consequences as far as +freedom is concerned. The Tribunate and the Chambers are +purged of a fifth of their numbers, Constant, Chénier, and +other noted democrats being excluded; sixty-one out of seventy-three +newspapers are suppressed; pamphlets and plays +are subjected to a censorship. When the Council of State +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span>reminds him of the freedom of the press, he answers: “Do you +think that, in such a situation, we can allow public meetings?... +And is not every journalist an orator? Do not +the subscribers to his newspaper really form a club? Calumny +is like an oil spot, which always leaves traces.... In England +it is different; there the Government is old-established; here it +is new. People would write worse things about me day by day; +saying, for instance, that I am so afraid of being poisoned that +I dare not eat!... The only way of keeping the political +parties in check is to deprive them of their battle-ground.”</p> + +<p>Sound reasoning, appropriate measures. But the spirit of +free thought stands weeping at the door; her fascinated gaze +is fixed upon power enthroned.</p> + +<h3>V</h3> + +<p>The man who was certainly in part responsible for the before-mentioned +pamphlet, perhaps its author, the man who had +thus inflicted a grave injury upon the First Consul, was the +very man who had been his main buttress on the Eighteenth +Brumaire, and who had saved the situation that day—Brother +Lucien. The most gifted of Napoleon’s four brothers, six +years younger than the Consul, scaling the heights of ambition +at an even earlier age than his great brother, though helped +in his upward progress by that brother’s prestige, Lucien +coveted the highest for himself. To stand in the shadow of +Napoleon’s great name, to be under his protection, and even +to be the object of his love—these were more galling to Lucien +than Napoleon’s disfavour in later days. He never forgot the +incidents of the coup d’état. He had been the king-maker. +How, then, could he obey the man whom he had raised to the +throne?</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus07" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus07.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Bonaparte as First Consul. Painting by Girodet. Musée + Nationale, Versailles.</p> + <p>(Photograph in the Kircheisen Collection.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Needs must, however. Shortly after Brumaire, he becomes +Minister for Home Affairs, a mere instrument of the master +brain. Is it not natural that he should critically examine all +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span>that comes to him from the chief, wondering whether he can +make a better job? Hostile to Josephine, he is hostile to her +confidants. This brings him into conflict with Fouché, who is +always ready to blame the Minister for Home Affairs for anything +untoward, like the publication of the pamphlet.</p> + +<p>By temperament, Lucien was as unscrupulous and amoral +as his brother. Though very like his brother, he lacked the +boldly calculating brain, and may even be said to have had +semi-criminal traits beneath his smiling exterior. A Napoleon, +like the other, but one degree more adventurer and several degrees +less statesman. At twenty-five years of age, Lucien was +powerful and yet embittered, his audacious spirit urging him +to more and yet more hazardous adventures. His first wife was +an innkeeper’s daughter; he sold monopolies; speculated in +grain; lived beyond his means, instead of setting to work; +bought the finest house in Paris, furnished it sumptuously, rebuilt +it, and refurnished it; gave splendid banquets, indulged +in amateur theatricals, wrote verses. All these extravagances +were undertaken in the half-conscious desire to eclipse his +brother.</p> + +<p>Between two such men, in such a relationship, how can a +breach be avoided! Lucien taunts the Consul, saying that he, +Lucien, had won the victory on the Nineteenth Brumaire. In +the first flush of his wrath, Napoleon has it in mind to banish +Lucien; but, in the end, he is content to deprive the young man +of ministerial office. This will put a term to the monetary +scandals attaching to Lucien’s abuse of his position. Lucien +goes to Madrid as envoy. His ability in this new post enables +him to work successfully against England, and also to divert +the flow of a good many millions into his own pockets. Being +now a widower, he soon returns, and marries his lady love, a +beauty whose reputation is of the same sort as Josephine’s in +earlier days. The First Consul is furious, for he has been +working to promote a marriage that would have brought political +advantages.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span></p> + +<p>Joseph, too, man of the world and good fellow, is inclining +to join the ranks of the sceptics, now that, with his brother’s +aid, he has risen to wealth and power; he frequents Madame +de Staël’s circle, and speaks critically of the Consul. He is no +longer content with the position of envoy in Rome, refuses the +presidency of the Italian Republic and the chancellorship of +the Senate; cannot forget that he is the eldest; looks upon +himself as head of the family.</p> + +<p>Louis still vacillates, the poet in his temperament taking +charge from time to time. For years he is in love with one of +Josephine’s relatives, and has no affection for Hortense, whom +he is forced to marry. Years afterwards he will sing the love +of his heart.</p> + +<p>Jerome, the youngest, good-natured and frivolous, is brought +up by his brother with paternal strictness. “I send you Citizen +Jerome Bonaparte, who is to serve as a midshipman. As you +know, he must be kept under strict discipline. See to it that +he fulfils all his duties.”</p> + +<p>His sisters, again; he has loaded them with money and +honours, but they give him little thanks, and are incessant in +their demands for more. There is Elise! She and Lucien, her +favourite brother, vie with one another in escapades that are +the talk of Paris. At amateur theatricals, they disport themselves +in pink tights, and the Consul thunders: “Disgraceful +behaviour! While I am wearing myself out trying to make +people moral and respectable once more, my brother and my +sister appear before the footlights almost naked!” But as +soon as his back is turned, they laugh merrily, and follow their +own bent.</p> + +<p>Caroline, who has married General Murat, is already involving +her husband and Bernadotte in intrigues against the Consul. +The public learns nothing of these matters, but they come to +Napoleon’s ears, and he says angrily that Murat deserves to be +shot.</p> + +<p>Pauline loses her husband in a colonial campaign. She does +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span>not regret the loss. By her second marriage, she becomes +Princess Borghese in Rome. Her innocence is no more than a +cynical pose, but her brother remains fonder of her than of +any of the others. Even when the looseness of her life imperils +his reputation, and he thinks it necessary to remonstrate, +he words his remonstrances cautiously.</p> + +<p>Uncle Fesch, at first a priest, and then an army contractor, +now enters political life and resumes the clerical habit. Napoleon +secures his appointment as archbishop and then as +cardinal. All the Bonapartes exploit the man of power, that +they may win money and position, lead a splendid life, and +enjoy themselves, whereas in his life of superhuman toil there is +little scope for pleasure.</p> + +<p>Only his mother continues to hold aloof. Although she is not +better pleased with Josephine now than formerly, although she +is still the woman of Corsica and continues to talk an island +dialect, he invites her, immediately after the coup d’état, to +come and live with him in the Tuileries. She refuses, prefers to +stay with Joseph. At the first great parade he holds in the +courtyard of the palace, when she appears on the balcony +among the highest State officials, she is very simply dressed, all +in black, and yet looks prouder than Josephine, hard by, decked +out in peacock array. Letizia mistrusts all this splendour, +being now inured to the vicissitudes of life. When any one +tries to flatter her by speaking of her son’s greatness and +power, she sagely answers, in her Italian French: “Pourvou +que cela doure.”</p> + +<p>What is the source of these family dramas, some of which will +end in farce, others in tragedy?</p> + +<p>In Napoleon’s heart, had he been nothing more than a +parvenu of the familiar type, he would, when pressed by his +nearest and dearest for a share in his good fortune, graciously +or ungraciously, but infallibly, have kept this dozen or so of +men and women far from his circle of influence, for he would +have been fain to conceal an origin which conflicted with his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span>affectation of French nationalism. He is dictator of France, and +yet every time his mother opens her mouth she reminds all the +nationalists of his foreign birth. Here is the sister of a man +who ranks with kings, and she plays the maddest pranks before +the eyes of the monarchs of Europe, who naturally delight in +pointing the finger of scorn at the ill-breeding of the upstart’s +relatives. His brothers wallow in the practice of corrupt +methods which it was a primary aim of the revolution to abolish. +All this occurs in Paris, where irony has ever been the fundamental +tone of criticism!</p> + +<p>Yet he does not merely tolerate these embarrassing kinsfolk; +he is continually showering honours on them, promoting them +to high office, making them his representatives abroad.</p> + +<p>Herein we see the working of his Italian blood, and, above +all, of his island upbringing. Every Corsican family, +patriarchal by tradition, is clannish to the core, while filled with +sentiments of hatred and vengefulness towards the rival +houses of the puny isle. Such traditions are older than those +of many of the royal families, and as a result of them the urge +towards the gratification of pride and towards the vindication +of honour is more powerful than the desire for wealth. With this +inborn clannishness is associated and intertwined the intense +longing of a conqueror to preserve for the heirs of his body +all that he has snatched for himself by the strength of his +genius and through the favour of fortune. Nevertheless, destiny +(tragical in its working, being conditioned by his innermost +sentiments, and therefore inexorable) has made this man +childless. The wife, into whose arms he has been driven by all +the passion of love, the wife who has borne two healthy children +in previous marriage, remains barren in her second union; and +the infirmity of barrenness, but for which the history of Europe +would have taken a different turn, is obviously a consequence of +her devotion to the art of love, of the facile amorousness with +which she won Bonaparte’s affection and held him for a time +in thrall. For, when she first met him, she was little over +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span>thirty; and, as for him, in subsequent relationships with other +women, he was able to procreate three sons. He urgently +needs a legitimate heir. Even an heiress would serve his turn. +There can be no doubt that Josephine’s failure to satisfy him in +this crucial instance had a decisive effect on his plans.</p> + +<p>In view of the plenitude of his powers, how could it be otherwise? +During the first years of his rise, Roederer propounds +the great theme: “The royalists are saying: ‘Who will be Bonaparte’s +successor!’ If you die to-morrow, what will happen to +us? You must nominate your successor.”</p> + +<p>“What you suggest would not be a strong policy.”</p> + +<p>“France would be more at ease if she knew who was to succeed +you.”</p> + +<p>“I have no children.”</p> + +<p>“You could adopt one.”</p> + +<p>“That would not meet the difficulties of the moment. I can +see no other way out than that the Senate should appoint my +successor. Only three of the senators and myself should know +his name. But who is it to be?”</p> + +<p>“They had better choose a lad of twelve.”</p> + +<p>“Why do you want him to be a child?”</p> + +<p>“A boy who can grow up in your school; one whom you can +train and love.”</p> + +<p>At length the Consul, driven into a corner, exclaims: “My +natural heir is the French people.”</p> + +<p>The man who speaks is not old. He is little more than thirty. +Though he is appointed dictator for ten years only, he plainly +foresees that he will be monarch. But he is already alarmed +by the dangers of the position. When he looks round in search +of an heir, his only hope is in his brothers. The best return +they can make for the gifts he showers on them is that they +should raise up heirs to his name, heirs who will at least have +the advantage of Bonapartist blood. That is why Napoleon is +so furious with Lucien, not because he has taken a wife with a +bad name, but because he has taken a wife with no name. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span>Lucien must get a divorce, and thus win freedom to marry +a woman of royal blood.</p> + +<p>Lucien refuses, quite as much owing to spite for his all-powerful +brother as owing to affection for his wife. He is, +indeed, fond of her; but he is so ambitious that he would +sacrifice anything in the world for the sake of supreme power. +After a stormy scene between the pair, Bonaparte comes into +Josephine’s room, and his voice is shaken with emotion as he +says: “It is all over! I have given Lucien his dismissal.”</p> + +<p>Similar considerations explain the long-lasting quarrel with +Louis, to whom Josephine looks for the salvation of her own +line. He cannot endure Josephine’s daughter Hortense, who +reciprocates the dislike and loves another man. Josephine, however, +forces her to marry Louis, and the son of this ill-assorted +union becomes Napoleon’s darling, and is looked upon as likely +to be the heir. Thereupon, his sisters begin to intrigue, spreading +abroad the report that Napoleon is really the father. +Through these disputes, the unity of the family is shattered, +at the very time when Europe envies it for its good fortune. +Letizia sides with the young people who have been forced into +a marriage; and also espouses the cause of the ostracised +Lucien, whom she follows to Rome. There she can live happily, +far from the glowing star that has sprung from her womb. +There she can live as an Italian, a wealthy and respected associate +of Rome’s leading families, and treated by the pope +with all the honours due to a woman of royal blood.</p> + +<p>What if Bonaparte were to divorce Josephine? His sisters, +who hate “the old woman,” do what they can, and trot attractive +beauties up and down in full view. As Josephine grows +older, Napoleon’s relations with her become more tranquil, but +he needs her friendship. He has ceased to be fastidious and +has transient love affairs with one pretty actress after another, +or makes this or that companion of his sisters the +mistress of a few evenings or a night or two.</p> + +<p>Georges, who, like all the rest, is afraid of him, describes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span>him as “an amiable and considerate man,” who plays +hide and seek with her, helps her to undress, and bends to her +“childish caprices.” Since her Christian name is Josephine, he +refuses to call her by it, and invents for her an Italian name. +She is Giorgina. He asks her to tell him her own story, listens +attentively, and nods approvingly—for he has taken care to +learn all about her, and is pleased that she tells him the truth.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the Consul’s servants catch sight of him in the +evening, as, in his stockinged feet, he steals up a secret winding +staircase to visit the lovely Duchatel. She is gentle, slender, +and blonde—the type he prefers. Duchatel is one of Josephine’s +ladies-in-waiting. He likes to play cards with her sometimes, +talking to her in an undertone about matters of love, while the +uneasy Josephine, at another card table, strains her ears to +catch what he is saying. The lady-in-waiting retires. Napoleon +follows, to find her in the place of assignation. His +wife, beside herself, pursues them, rattles the door-handle. Napoleon +comes to the door in a rage. Next day he threatens her +with divorce, but he is softened by her tears.</p> + +<p>These amours are but occasional. He is always up to the +eyes in work. Besides, he has made up his mind to avoid what +has proved disastrous to so many kings. He will not squander +his resources on inamoratas, and he will not allow them to interfere +in matters of State. As regards affairs of love, he is prematurely +old. It is with a sense of shock that we find this +man of thirty writing in a letter to a friend: “My old heart, +which now knows human beings for what they are....”</p> + +<p>Josephine is racked with anxiety about his conduct, just as +formerly he was racked with anxiety about hers. She relies on +dresses, hats, the arts of the toilet; spends more than the late +queen of France; and has still so little reticence that, though +she is the first lady in the land, she cannot refrain from telling +her maid when the Consul has spent the night with her. He +forgives her much. Sometimes she sits at the weary man’s +bedside, reading to him in her lovely alto voice. He thanks +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span>her with his eyes. He is conservatively inclined, this man of the +revolution. Rarely does he part with a general, dismiss an +official. How, then, shall he divorce this woman whom he +loves, despite her faults?</p> + +<p>In the pleasant gardens at Malmaison, where during his +year’s absence in Egypt she lived with her light-of-love, Hippolyte, +he runs races with Bourrienne, Rapp, and a few men of +letters, while Eugene and Hortense look on. When he trips +and falls, he joins merrily in the others’ laughter. Then he +gets into his carriage for the drive to Paris, saying:</p> + +<p>“Now I can put my head in the collar once more.”</p> + +<h3>VI</h3> + +<p>“Bonaparte very seldom writes with his own hand. He dictates +everything, while walking up and down his study; dictates +to a young man of twenty named Méneval, the only one who +has the entry to this study and the three other rooms of the +private suite. No use approaching Méneval; nothing to hope +in that quarter; indeed, no one would dare to try. But the +First Consul himself jots down the memoranda that relate to +his most important plans. This ... very special map, he +locks up with his own hand, and always carries the key about +with him. If he leaves his study, Méneval has to put the map +away in a cupboard screwed to the floor. Of course the map +might be stolen, but it would instantly be missed. Suspicion +would at once fall upon Méneval and the underling, who cleans +the study and lights the fire, so the underling would have +to make a bolt for it.... All the secret memoranda concerning +his military operations must be in it, and since the only way +of overthrowing his power would be to destroy his plans, the +theft of this map would bring everything to naught.”</p> + +<p>Who writes the foregoing? A Bourbon spy? Or is it a +traitor among the Consul’s intimates?</p> + +<p>Neither the one nor the other. The young man of twenty +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span>named Méneval writes it; and it is dictated to him by his chief, +the First Consul, who is walking up and down the study. Acting +on Bonaparte’s orders, the Minister for Justice is sending a +provocative agent to Munich, where the man is to get in touch +with English agents of the Bourbons. The letter is to be part +of the outfit. Many other details are given. We are told more +about the royalist menial who cleans the study and lights +the fire; what this fellow will get if he brings off the coup successfully; +where he will spend the night during his escape. The +commander is drafting the plan of a little campaign directed +against himself.</p> + +<p>He has good reason to be on his guard. Uneasy winter weeks +are these, during which he collates the data sent in by a hundred +spies in London, Vendée, and Paris itself. “Has the time +come to strike?” his agents are continually asking. “Wait,” +he replies, and quietly goes on gathering information. At +length he has all the proofs in his hands. His deadly enemies +of the extreme right and the extreme left, the royalists and the +Jacobins, have joined forces for the destruction of their great +enemy. Pichegru, the friend of the Bourbons, and Moreau, +the champion of the republicans who are opposed to the dictatorship, +are working together. Both the generals are his +rivals. Now is the time to strike.</p> + +<p>When the plot became public property, alarm spread across +Europe. The legitimate rulers were amazed at Napoleon’s perspicacity, +but put their trust in his enemies, whose number must +be greater than the “Moniteur” was willing to admit. The +English ambassador compromised! The great Moreau in jail!—Bonaparte +hesitates a long time before arresting Moreau, +having high esteem for the man who had shared his laurels. On +the day of the arrest, the Consul sends repeatedly for news. Is +his memory at work? Less than four years ago, he himself had +a scare that night in Talleyrand’s house when he believed his +own arrest to be imminent! The trial is distressing; Moreau’s +complicity is clearly proved; but Napoleon thinks it better to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span>pardon the victor of Hohenlinden on condition of withdrawal +to the United States. Pichegru is found strangled in prison. +Thirteen of the conspirators are executed. A man named +Querelle, personally involved in the conspiracy, reveals that one +of the Bourbon princes has been privy to the plot.</p> + +<p>The Consul lends an eager ear. A Bourbon prince! Talleyrand +draws attention to the fact that for a long time the duke +of Enghien has been living close to the Rhine frontier—presumably +in order to watch through a telescope what is going +on in France. Would a man spend his time thus inertly in +Baden, simply in order to make love to a cardinal’s niece? The +duke of Enghien is a scion of the house of Condé; he is a +Bourbon, and is in English pay. Most likely he is the Bourbon +prince incriminated in the affair. At any rate, he is in touch +with the agents who swarm in South Germany. An example +must be made of this suspect of the blood royal. That will put +an end to the reiterated attempts on the part of the exiled +Bourbons to disturb the peace of France and to trouble the +sleep of its master!</p> + +<p>In a lengthy despatch, the Consul orders an attack on the +little Badenese town of Ettenheim, just across the Rhine. The +number of boats and the soldiers’ rations are prescribed with +as much care as if the expedition were the siege of Mantua. +Three hundred dragoons make a raid into Baden and carry +off the duke. Four days later, he is brought in secret to the +fortress of Vincennes.</p> + +<p>Two of Napoleon’s confidants warn the dictator that no +compromising documents have been found among the duke of +Enghien’s belongings. But Talleyrand, who has ever an eye +to his own future, advises court martial and the severest measures, +knowing that the moral reprobation thus aroused will, in +the end, prove disastrous to Napoleon. Brother Joseph is +alarmed at the same thought. He reminds Napoleon of the +veneration they had shared for the great Condé during their +cadet days; of the verses they had recited about the hero of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span>the seventeenth century. Was the only remaining descendant +of that famous man to be slaughtered?</p> + +<p>“I have made up my mind to pardon him,” answers the Consul. +“But that is not sufficient. I feel that I am strong enough +to have him fighting on my side.”</p> + +<p>Joseph returns home, able to reassure Madame de Staël and +his other quests.</p> + +<p>The duke, who was two years younger than Napoleon, and +who would probably have won renown but for the peculiar political +circumstances which had brought Napoleon fame and power, +was tried by court martial the same evening. With a brave and +knightly bearing, he faced the twelve staff officers who formed +the court, while a member of the Council of State, acting as +prosecutor, asked the questions that had been drafted by +Napoleon.</p> + +<p>“Did you never have any dealings with English agents?”—“No.”—“Was +it not your intention, if Pichegru’s conspiracy +had been successful, to cross the Rhine and invade Alsace?”—“No.”—“Have +you been in receipt of an English pension?”—“Yes.”—“Did +you wish to enter the English service?”—“Yes, +in order to free my country.”—“This means that you placed +yourself at England’s disposal in order to take up arms against +France?”—“How can a Condé return to his homeland except +under arms?”</p> + +<p>A death sentence follows, and next day at dawn the duke of +Enghien is shot.</p> + +<p>In one respect the treatment of the duke of Enghien was +definitely illegal. The French had no right to kidnap him in +foreign territory and to bring him across the frontier. Once +he was on French soil, there was legal warrant for condemning +him to death as a person who (according to his own admission) +desired by force of arms to overthrow the extant form of +State. With the primary reservation regarding the French +raid into Baden, of course absolutely indefensible, the condemnation +was technically just.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span></p> + +<p>Nevertheless, as Talleyrand subsequently said of the affair, +it was worse than a crime—it was a blunder. In time of revolution, +hundreds are put to death who are more innocent than +was this prince. Even though he may not have been privy to +the plot, he would have hailed with delight the assassination of +the usurper, and would, sword in hand (to quote his own +words), have joined in the march on Paris to take vengeance on +any of the regicides who remained alive. There would have +been very little said about the court martialling and shooting +of this young officer, had he not been a Bourbon, had he not +been a symbol of that prince-ridden Europe whose system had +been ended on French soil by the revolution. The shooting of +the duke of Enghien was a challenge to a dozen thrones, and to +the many millions of Europeans who believed in rule by divine +right. It gave the signal for a rallying of forces against the +dictator who had had neither part nor lot in the reign of terror, +and who during his seven years as military commander and as +statesman had never committed an outrage.</p> + +<p>The day after the execution, a few tongue-tied and crestfallen +guests were seated at his board. Josephine was doing her +best to hide her fears, and Napoleon had been taciturn despite +his tumultuous thoughts. Then, suddenly, he broke out: “At +any rate, they will know now what we can do. Henceforward, +I hope, they will leave us in peace.” After dinner, he walked +up and down the room, explaining to the silent listeners his +reasons and what he thought of it all. Continuing to pace the +room, he went on to speak movingly of genius, of statesmanship, +and above all of Frederick the Great, for whom he had so profound +an admiration:</p> + +<p>“Ought a statesman to indulge in feelings? Is he not an +isolated individual, always alone though always in company? +Policy is his telescope, which must neither reduce things in size +nor magnify them. Even while he is attentively watching the +course of events, he must be pulling the strings which move +them. Often enough, ill-matched horses are harnessed to his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span>chariot. Do you think he can allow himself to heed some of +those feelings which may in other respects be of great importance +to the welfare of society?... How often he will have to +do things which seem quite out of keeping with the whole!... +Try to get outside the limitations of your own epoch, enlarge +your imagination instead of being content merely to blame, and +you will see that those great personalities you had regarded +as violent and cruel, are nothing but statesmen! They know +themselves better than others know them; they are the best +judges of their own conduct; if they have true ability, they +will even know how to control their passions, for they will be +competent to calculate the precise effect of these.”</p> + +<p>Suddenly breaking off this monologue, which discloses some +of the deepest recesses of his soul, he sends for the documents +bearing on the conspiracy and has them read over to him.</p> + +<p>“You see,” he says, “we have incontrovertible proof that the +conspirators wanted to spread disorder in France, and hoped, +through killing me, to slay the revolution! It was my business +to defend the revolution, to avenge it! The duke was a conspirator +just like another, and had to be treated in the same +way as the others.... The madmen seek to kill me, though +they would gain nothing by it, for a gang of fanatical Jacobins +would take my place.... These Bourbons! If they ever do +regain power, I will wager that their first concern will be with +etiquette. If they were prepared to share in the rough and +tumble of the battle-field, with its blood and its grime!... +But how can they expect to win back a kingdom with a letter +dated from London and signed Louis? All the same, letters like +that will incriminate incautious recipients.... I have shed +blood; I had to. Perhaps I shall shed more in the future. But +always without passion, quite simply, because blood-letting is +indicated. I am a statesman: I am the French revolution, and +shall know how to protect it!” Abruptly he dismisses his +guests.</p> + +<p>Such is his mood; such are his motives, his views, the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span>undercurrents of his feelings. But his notable inferences are +not yet disclosed.</p> + +<h3>VII</h3> + +<p>A week after the court-martialling of the duke of Enghien +a committee of the Senate comes to see the Consul, with a very +remarkable twofold request: for the establishment of a State +tribunal and the foundation of a monarchy. This is a cautious +improvisation, to test the current of popular opinion. Can +anything be more logical, or simpler? To scare the terrorists, +to safeguard the head of the State, two things are requisite, a +State tribunal and an heir!</p> + +<p>As with all the decisions of his life, so also this premature +resolve to become an emperor is an outgrowth of circumstances. +In none of the decisive moments of his career, do we find evidence +that he had a definite scheme of life, which he systematically +endeavoured to realise. When he first invaded Italy, it +was not in search of the crown of Milan, and still less in search +of the crown of France. But, as he winged his soaring flight, +the natural sequence was that wider and ever wider vistas of +land and sea should unfold themselves before his eyes. What +happened, was a fulfilment of his own guiding principle: +“He will not go far who knows from the first whither he is +going.” Improvisation, which, in amazing fashion, characterises +so much of his activity, merely deprives him of the nebular +glory of the mystical hero. As far as details are concerned, it +leaves him free to make exact preparations, while restoring to +him, as a whole, a liberty and a guilelessness which strengthen +his genius.</p> + +<p>Was the desire to become emperor a mistake? What urged +him towards the adoption of such a role?</p> + +<p>First of all, the imaginative side of his nature, which for +the second time is blinding the cold reason of the calculator. +Thus was it in Egypt, and thus was it to be for a third time in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span>Russia. His ideal drives him to take this step. He had grown +to manhood amid dreams of the antique world; classical imagery +had filled his mind; his dictatorial nature necessarily craved for +the forms of Roman imperialism. A poetical temperament +which makes him look upon the successive occurrences in his +life as phases in the unrolling of a saga, and makes him feel, +on the very evening after a battle has been won, that the battle +has already passed into the realm of history; this engine, driven +by the power of fantasy; this eye that looks upward and beyond +to see how posterity will crown his deeds with fame—they need +a symbol which no one has to-day, but which shone over Europe +two thousand years ago.</p> + +<p>Yet the mathematician in him also needs this symbol; the +statesman needs it, that he may safeguard his country without +perpetual wars. Lastly, and perhaps most passionately of +all, the man with strong family attachments needs it; the man +who feels he has won nothing, if what he has won be no more +than an adventurer’s prize that will perish with the winner.</p> + +<p>“The name of king is outworn. It carries with it a trail of +obsolete ideas, and would make me nothing more than the heir +of dead men’s glories. I do not wish to be dependent upon any +predecessor. The title of emperor is greater than that of +king. Its significance is not wholly explicable, and therefore it +stimulates the imagination.” Here, in two or three sentences, +are compendiously disclosed the impetuous and the hot, the +cunning and the cold, motives of his soul.</p> + +<p>Does he see the dangers, or does he overlook them? What +are his antitoxins? “What is a throne? A piece of wood covered +with satin!” When he has become emperor he will ask +the question and answer it thus, more than once. But with +this satin-covered piece of wood, as he knows, he can influence +grown men, just as he could influence them with the toys of the +Legion of Honour. Indeed, the glamour of the throne is +stronger, and therefore he will take the establishment of his +throne more seriously than he took the foundation of the Legion +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span>of Honour. It is an instrument of policy, a means for the management +of men. In the real world, where no one can call +familiar spirits to his aid, the private person, the poet or the +philosopher, can raise his head heavenward without bearing +the burden of a crown; but the statesman needs the insignia of +power, for the dull populace cannot believe in the reality of +power unless he who wields power wears the insignia.</p> + +<p>Are we to suppose that he, who can calculate all eventualities, +does not see the danger that lurks in the symbol of the crown? +Does he not know that for thousands of years people have +regarded the monarch as akin to God? If he is aware of this, +how without disaster will he be able to harmonise the illusion +with his political cynicism? If the crown is the gift of his +genius, how can he bequeath it without bequeathing the genius?</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, all his endeavours, like those of the emperors of +ancient Rome, are now concentrated upon the bequest of power. +He, whose own genius has taught him that genius is always +aboriginal and primary; he who with his own eyes has seen +hereditary power perish amid blood and grime, and whose inmost +heart said aye to the act of regicide; he, who to-day reproaches +the Bourbons, not with their origin, but with the +cowardice that keeps them trembling in their mouseholes; he, +Napoleon Bonaparte, who feels himself to be the one man of a +millennium; he, a principle of whose rule it is to grant honour +and wealth only to merit and courage and talent; he, who is the +symbol of revolt incorporated in human flesh—believes that in +the place he has fought and won for himself through the storms +of eight years, he will be able to perpetuate his blood for the +sole reason that it is his own!</p> + +<p>He knows Plutarch and the story of the Cæsars. He has +studied the history of the great kings of France and England +and Prussia, and has learned to look with contempt upon their +decadence. And yet he is ready and eager to restore the +hereditary principle for the succession to this, the highest +office in the State! Here, and here only, he wishes to combine +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span>the newest of the new with the old, so that, as he says later in a +phrase both profound and tragical: “I might achieve that +harmony which I regarded as essential for the tranquillity of +the world, a solitary man, driven forward by the impetus of +my own personality. That is why I dropped sheet-anchors +everywhere.”</p> + +<p>But side by side with these heroic words, which sufficed to +class him with the heroes of Plutarch, were housed the simplest +feelings of domestic life. For, when his confidant Roederer +urged him to seek a new wife, who would bear him a son, Napoleon +answered in great excitement:</p> + +<p>“Hitherto I have always ruled justly. It might be to my +interest to seek a divorce. But what right have I to put away a +good wife merely because I have become a greater man than +I was when we married? She would have followed me into exile +or imprisonment. Now I am to divorce her? I am not strong +enough to do that. A human heart beats in my bosom; my +mother was not a tigress.” After Josephine’s death, he would +be free to choose a new partner. But, as things are, what +will be the best way of solving this problem of the succession? +“My brothers, like myself, were born in petty circumstances, +but they did not force themselves upwards unaided as I did. +The man who is to rule France must either be born to greatness, +or he must be one of those whose inborn strength enables +them to distinguish themselves from the herd.”</p> + +<p>In this last idea is implicit the disastrous error which in +due time is to lead him to inevitable destruction.</p> + +<p>For the nonce, however, all is done quietly and soberly, just +as on two previous occasions. Wishing to be independent of +the parties and to stand above them, he again demands a popular +vote; and the very Frenchmen who twelve years earlier had +destroyed, not only the king, but kingship, now re-establish +both, doing this with even more enthusiasm than when, two +years before, they had made Napoleon Consul for life. In a few +days, everything is settled. First of all there are votes in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span>Chambers. In the Senate, only three adverse votes, those of +personal enemies. In the Tribunate, Carnot is alone in recording +his dissent, Carnot who admires Napoleon, but is a far-sighted +devotee of the principle of freedom. The result of a +plebiscite is overwhelmingly in favour of the adoption of the +imperial title with hereditary succession. In May 1804, the +new constitution is promulgated. It is short and businesslike, +as if it were a mere paragraph modifying an old constitution.</p> + +<p>He never affects to believe that his power has a mystical +origin, or even that it really springs from the people. See him, +a few days after he has been proclaimed Emperor, seated in a +bow window one evening after dinner. He is astraddle on a +chair, with his chin resting on the back. For a long time he is +silent while Josephine and Madame de Rémusat are talking +(the latter records the incident). Then he stands up, turns to +Madame de Rémusat, and, after posing for a while as an easy-going +and cheerful man of the world, of a sudden, with that +free gesture which always amazed his associates and still amazes +posterity, he tore off the veil, disclosed his motives, expounded +his thoughts as if he had been writing a predecessor’s history:</p> + +<p>“You were all very angry with me about the execution of the +duke of Enghien. You seem still to be fond of traditional +memories. My own memory goes back only to the time when +I began to be something. What is a duke of Enghien to me? +An émigré, more important than the others, and therefore one +whom it is all the better to destroy.... Two years ago, power +dropped into my hands in the most natural way in the world.... +It is true that the duke compelled me to cut the crisis +short. I had expected to carry on the Consulate for another +two years, although its forms conflicted with the reality of +things. France and I could have walked along arm-in-arm +for a while longer, for France had confidence in me, and wanted +everything that I wanted. But after this conspiracy, which +was to set the Continent in motion, it was necessary to show +Europe the error of her ways....</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span></p> + +<p>“The political parties I wished to conciliate, the royalists +and the Jacobins, will not lose heart as long as they have somebody +to dread. I realised, therefore, that no pact between +them could be concluded, but that it would be possible to conclude +one with them to my own advantage.... Now, they +have been reduced to silence. Still opposed to me are the republicans, +the cranks who believe that Europe will look on +quietly while a republic is being established upon the ruins of a +monarchy.... That is why I preferred the imperial dignity +to a dictatorship, for in an empire people no longer feel that +they are travelling in unmapped country....</p> + +<p>“You will soon see what a lure court etiquette will exercise +on the émigrés. The old familiar forms of address will win +over the nobility.... You French love monarchy. It is the +only form of government which really suits you. I will wager, +Monsieur de Rémusat, that you feel a hundred times more at +ease now that you call me ‘Sire’ and I address you as ‘Monsieur’.... +Your vanity was always being bridled; the strictness +of the republic would have bored you to death.... Liberty +is no more than a pretext; equality is your hobby horse; +the people are content to be ruled by a prince who comes from +the army.... To-day, soldiers and people are on my side. A +man who could not rule under such conditions would be an +idiot.”</p> + +<p>He broke off, resumed a formal demeanour, and gave Monsieur +de Rémusat an order of no importance whatever in the +dry tone of the absolute master.</p> + +<p>These moments of confession; these quarters of an hour in +which we stand opposite him, silently listening and watching, +while he lounges on his chair, this newly made emperor of +thirty-four in his well-worn green coat, looking askance up and +down the room, rising to walk restlessly to and fro, pouring out +his most intimate thoughts and then with a brusque transition +cutting off all the springs of familiarity; when we see him in +such movingly close proximity, in scenes full of nature and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span>purpose, full of surrender to destiny and animus against the +present—we can see and hear for ourselves even more than he +frankly discloses in simulated self-forgetfulness. We become +aware of his easy contempt for persons of noble birth, which is +none the less conjoined with a secret wish to make a good impression +on them; we discern programmes which he is always +willing to adapt to changing circumstances; we observe the +robust cynicism aroused in him by the folly of mankind, and +see that it exists side by side with the foreign character traits +of this Corsican, the very traits which enable him to rule the +lovely Marianne with such gallant rigour.</p> + +<p>Of course he discloses no more than half his motives, for he is +here confining himself to political issues. Still, at the outset +of the imperial epoch these political issues exert a predominant +influence. It seems as if, to begin with, he regards the +change of title with the utmost sobriety: “My brother will not +hear a word of his new title,” writes Napoleon to Madame de +Staël. “He says he is just the same man he was before, and at +the same time he puts on great airs. The truly great man is +the one who fully realises that such empty names, which only +the system of society compels us to assume, make no difference +to friendship, to family life, or to social relationships. I am +certain that since I have been ‘Your Majesty,’ not one of those +who live with me will have been able to detect any difference in +me.”</p> + +<p>Yet it is an event that now for the third time he takes +leave of his name. It may be nothing that the leading persons +in the country who appear at the first court reception address +him and Josephine as “Sire” and “Madame,” and that the +members of the noblesse, who on this same polished floor fifteen +or twenty years earlier had said “Sire” and “Madame,” should +feel their hearts revive as they bandy courtiers’ compliments. +That may be nothing. Certainly, as regards essential nature, +clothing, and deportment, the Emperor of to-day is no different +from the Consul of yesterday.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span></p> + +<p>But the proclamation, the thousand and one letters, memoranda, +and decrees, will henceforward be signed with a new +name. For eight years they have been signed with the rudiments +of a “Bonaparte.” Now he signs with a name which he +himself has never written since he was a child, and which his +nervous hand will speedily compress into an initial N. and a +flourish. Josephine has always addressed him as “General.” +His brothers and his sisters have for a long time past spoken to +him with the ceremonial “you” instead of the familiar “thou” +(the change was initiated, not by the Consul himself, but by +Joseph). Only his mother in rare moments of expansion has +occasionally used her son’s Christian name; and she utters it in +her own dialect as “Napolione.”</p> + +<p>There is a profound significance in the newness of this +name when, adding to it a brand-new title, he writes for the +first time in his life:</p> + +<p>Napoleon I., Emperor of the French.</p> + +<h3>VIII</h3> + +<p>With the first steps, the dilemma begins. The new coins he +issues bear the legend: “Emperor according to the Constitution +of the Republic”—this paradox will dog him for another four +years. When the anniversary of the taking of the Bastille and +the outbreak of the revolution comes round once more, he celebrates +it with imperial pomp. The gesture may look sublime, +but it is nothing more than a measure of political expediency. +Even on this very first occasion, the anniversary of the day of +liberation is postponed to a Sunday. A year or two later, the +commemoration is completely ignored. With it vanishes the +revolutionary calendar, for the old one is restored by degrees.</p> + +<p>All flock to his standard. Ere long, one hundred and thirty +of those who twelve years earlier had voted for the king’s +execution, hold office under the Emperor. This is the revolutionary +picture caricatured in France, while Europe looks on, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span>watching how first the forms, and then by slow stages the +content, for whose sake so much blood has been shed, are laid +aside in the museum of history. What can Europe do but +smile?</p> + +<p>Still more broadly smiles the old noblesse. In the Faubourg +Saint-Germain, which the emperor watches as closely as he +watched the working-class quarter of Saint Antoine, anecdotes +are rife concerning the new master in the old Tuileries. Now +that he is called “Sire,” just like the last of the Bourbons, all +the lorgnettes are turned on him, and he has become the focus +of criticism. As far as his own personality is concerned, so +great is his native dignity that he is practically above criticism; +in Milan, already, when no more than a general of the French +Republic, he ruled simply because he was there. But his relatives, +with their childish curiosity and jealousy, and with their +gossip about everything that goes on in the palace, soon become +the targets of mockery. Magnified by rumour, and carried +across the frontiers, this ridicule besmirches the master.</p> + +<p>Henceforward England keeps in Paris, in addition to ordinary +spies, a horde of quilldrivers, whose tales find credence +whenever they are enlivened with wit. Caricatures pass from +hand to hand, showing the little lieutenant being taught by the +great Talma how to walk like an emperor—Napoleon, who has +often taught Talma the best way of playing the royal roles in +Corneille! How otherwise could old Europe defend herself +against this saga which had become reality? The only resource +was to degrade to farce what was being staged with all +the crude seriousness of tragi-comedy.</p> + +<p>For the Emperor needs a court! It is his way to do everything +with due attention to detail; but the details of court life +are beyond the range of his studies, and he has to call in the +experts of the old regime. The sometime chamberlain at the +court of the late king must lay aside his pen (literature had +been the resource of his retirement), to resume his staff of +office. Josephine, who at first is attended by no more than a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span>few of the ladies of the former court, is at a loss as to the management +of an empress’ train. What has become of Marie +Antoinette’s lady-in-waiting? She is still alive, and keeps a +school in Paris. Bring her forth from her obscurity! She +comes, and in the same rooms, before the same mirrors, arranges +the folds of the train round these Creole feet which know very +different dances from those of the poor dead queen.</p> + +<p>The Emperor organises his court with the same seriousness +and the same precision as if he were organising the general staff +of a new army. No one knows better than Napoleon the vanity +of these things: “I am well aware that plenty of people are +writing unfavourably about them. Even you, Monsieur Roederer, +are not complaisant enough to suppose that I have a little +common sense! You ought to understand without my telling +you why I have given my new marshals, plain republicans +though they be, the title of ‘Monseigneur’; it is only to safeguard +my own imperial title of ‘Majesty’? The marshals, having +grand titles of their own, cannot make fun of mine.” His +very first undertakings as Emperor involve him in the toils of +such contradictions.</p> + +<p>The two ex-consuls (these are the only offices suppressed by +the Emperor) become respectively arch-chancellor and arch-treasurer +of the Empire. Talleyrand, as grand chamberlain, +brings back the old arts and graces into the old house. How +easy it would be for the Emperor to appoint none but gentlemen +and ladies of the old regime to the leading offices at court! +Instead, he chooses the scions of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, +the men who have risen with him: Berthier, Murat, +Lannes, Ney, and Davoust. Fourteen generals, who in youth +had been bakehouse lads, stable boys, waiters, cabin boys, or +vagrants, must now exchange their campaigners’ uniforms for +the gold-braided coats of the marshals of France, must double +their military duties with offices at court, must wear lace ruffs +and buckled shoes; their wives must learn how to curtsey in +the grand manner, how to stand and sit properly, how to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span>scratch at the door instead of knocking—all that Europe may +see how the Emperor, who was himself a lieutenant, promotes +his lieutenants according to merit. Marmont is there, still +wearing his arm in a sling; he is decked out in silk and satin and +gold; but the slit sleeve, with its reminiscence of martial glory, +seems to mock the splendour of his breeches. The Emperor +tactfully drops out of the ceremonial two details that were +degrading to the dignity of the courtiers: the presentation of +the shirt at the king’s levee, and the kissing of the ruler’s hand.</p> + +<p>But how is the charm of the rococo court to be revived, +now that a soldier sits upon the throne? True, that, after +hours of deliberation, it is possible to decide what colours the +empress and the highnesses (Napoleon’s relatives) must wear +when they go out hunting. When, however, the time has come +to bring down the stag, and the Emperor’s thoughts are wandering +in other fields, no one else ventures to shoot, with the +result that the stag escapes because the chief sportsman has so +much else on his mind. The ceremonial “was conducted as if +to the sound of drums; everything seemed to happen at the +storming pace; and the dread which he inspired in all, drove +away grace and ease.... Court life was cold and dull, was +gloomy rather than dignified. Since we were following a prescribed +ritual, our inner feeling was that we were only machines +which some one had placed upon the new gilded couches.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor is bored by ladies’ society. With blunt circumstantiality, +he asks how many children they have had, and +whether they suckle their own babies. He tries to make himself +agreeable, but often fails, when his thoughts range to other +matters. At Saint-Cloud, in a room full of ladies, he can find +nothing to say but, again and again: “How hot it is here!”</p> + +<p>All the same, every one attached to the court grows rich. +He gives princely salaries to the court officials, and only shows +thrift in his payments to some of the members of the old +noblesse, maliciously implying that such work is nothing more +than their duty. In general, he pays munificently, for “ambition +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span>is the mainspring of action. People work so long as they +are aspiring upwards.... I have made senators and princes +in order to promote ambition, and to make them dependent on +me.” He thus uses both honours and money to attach people +to his cause, making, not friends, but dependents.</p> + +<p>He knows the value of money; and though at all the critical +moments of his career he surprises us by improvisation, we are, +in general, just as much astonished by the way in which he +continually displays a bourgeois rationality and foresight. His +own demands are moderate. The Emperor’s personal salary is +fixed at twenty-five millions, the amount paid to the late king; +but where as Louis had spent forty-five millions, Napoleon +saves twelve. The whole court, resplendent though it is, does +not cost a fourth as much as the Bourbon court. France, which +has to foot the bill, owes this economy to the care and knowledge +of the master, who once had to live on ninety francs a month, +and even now declares that he could get along well enough with +twelve hundred francs a year and a horse.</p> + +<p>There was no change in his routine of life. The Emperor +was called at seven, and held his first reception at nine. Most +of the day, his secretaries were engaged in taking down from +dictation. This dictation was at the speed of ordinary conversation, +and must be transcribed with perfect accuracy. At +night, when he had some difficulty in sleeping, Méneval must +come to record his master’s night thoughts. His dinner took +twenty minutes, and he hardly noticed what he was eating. He +was much more plainly clad than his gaily bedecked courtiers; +and when, on State occasions, he had to dress ceremoniously, he +was always in a bad temper while being arrayed, and greatly +relieved when he could doff his finery. When he entered Saint-Cloud +after the place had been done up, he regarded it with +disfavour, saying: “Rooms like this are suitable for a kept +woman; they lack seriousness.”</p> + +<p>He does not allow himself to be enslaved by anything, and +never insists that his bed or his meals or the lighting shall be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span>just so and no otherwise. Even the snuff-box that he always +carries is no more than a toy. The only things which the Emperor +finds indispensable are open fires, hot baths, eau-de-cologne, +Chambertin, and clean linen twice a day.</p> + +<p>Josephine is extravagant. Her seven hundred dresses and +two hundred and fifty hats, her jewels, her shawls, and her hair-dressing, +cost millions; and although the Emperor wants her +to shine in all the splendours which he scorns for himself, he +often grumbles at the preposterous totals of the bills.</p> + +<p>His brothers and sisters squander money too. He gives them +everything, and they are never satisfied. There is an absurd +rivalry between the five couples (Lucien is still banished) and +Josephine, whom all the others detest. Of the six grand dignitaries +who draw fabulous salaries, four are his near relatives, +by blood or by marriage. Joseph is grand elector; Louis, constable; +Eugene, arch-chancellor of State; and Murat, high admiral. +Since the brothers are to be styled Imperial Highnesses, +the sisters have their noses put out of joint, and make a +collective demand, complaining that Hortense, as the wife of +Louis, has become Imperial Highness, while they are “nothing.” +He eyes them for a moment, and replies with a witticism which +deserves a place in universal history: “When I listen to you, I +can almost believe that His Majesty our father of blessed memory +must have bequeathed us crown and realm!”</p> + +<p>Indeed, one could almost believe it. For when he complies +with their demand, with a good nature he is not apt to show +towards others, and when for ten years to come he showers +honours and wealth, crowns and territories, upon these brothers +and sisters who show no gratitude, who never obey him, and +never cease to trouble him—we cannot but ask ourselves once +more what can be the prejudice which blinds his eyes where they +are concerned. His pride is great; he is lonely in his self-confidence; +his path is that of a pioneer; in this instance as in +others, his motives must be mixed; in part obscurely felt, in +part coldly calculated.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span></p> + +<p>He is half an oriental, and it tickles his fancy to bestow +diadems as he used to bestow swords and snuff-boxes; but all +the same, he warily contrives that power shall be given to +those only on whom he can rely. Well, what is thicker than +blood? Even his companions-in-arms seem to him less trustworthy +than his relatives; but for his trust in them, his relatives +will repay him with ingratitude, and in the end his sister +will betray him. Because in this one respect he infringes his +own principle of equality and departs from his determination to +choose only the efficient, because he appoints brothers and +nephews to high office and looks upon them as his heirs, he +cannot give them the free hand which it is his way to give all +his generals within the limits of their commissions. By treating +his relatives as an all-powerful minister treats princes who +are still under tutelage, he enrages them, and lays up a store +of bitterness for himself.</p> + +<p>Joseph is already animated by a mocking spirit. He tells his +daughter to address His Majesty as “Consul”; holds disputations +in democratic circles; refuses to become a minister of +State; but accepts an allowance of two millions as an imperial +prince, and lives at the Luxembourg, which his brother hands +over to him. At length Napoleon loses patience. The ostensible +cause of his anger is a trifle, but all the rage of his heart is now +vented in this complaint:</p> + +<p>“What on earth is Joseph thinking about? Does he imagine +that he has been made prince in order to hobnob with my +enemies and walk up and down the streets of Paris in brown +surtout and round hat? I have sacrificed my own personal +pleasures in order to become what I am. I am as well fitted +as another to shine in society!... But things of that sort do +not help a man to rule. Does he dream of disputing with me +for the supreme power? My strength is builded on a rock!...</p> + +<p>“Do you know what he ventured to say to me recently in the +presence of two others? I ought not to have my wife crowned; +the step would be opposed to his interest; it would give Louis’ +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span>children a better position than his, because they would be the +grandsons of an empress! He had the impudence to talk to me +about his rights and his interests! He wanted to touch me on +the raw! He might almost as well have boasted he had slept +with my mistress, or hoped to do so soon. My mistress! Power +is my mistress! The conquest of that mistress has cost me so +much that I will allow no one to rob me of her, or to share her +with me!”</p> + +<p>Thus does the volcano suddenly spout forth great rocks, in +the midst of a conversation about trifles. But the rest of the +conversation does not turn wholly on trifles. He speaks bitterly +of his brothers and sisters, comparing them with Eugene +and Hortense. “My stepchildren always side with me. If their +mother is put out because I take a fancy for a pretty girl, they +say to her: ‘Oh, well, he’s still quite young, you know. You +mustn’t make a fuss. No doubt he has faults, but you must +not forget how much he has done for us all.’”</p> + +<p>But nothing will keep him from pushing his brothers’ advancement. +When Joseph refuses all other occupations, Napoleon +forces him into the army. “He must have military rank, +get a nice wound, and win a good reputation for himself. I +shall only give him easy jobs. Then he can win a battle, and I +shall be able to promote him to a higher rank than all the other +commanders.” It sounds like the education of a degenerate +son by a great father.</p> + +<p>Louis has an enthusiasm for poetry; he becomes chief of the +imperial guard, so that he may have a dignified position; but +he can stay at home when the guns begin to shoot.</p> + +<p>Murat and Caroline are frightfully extravagant; their table +service is of gold. “As for Caroline, my own sister, if I have +to discuss anything with her, I must make longer speeches than +at the Council of State....</p> + +<p>“The whole lot of them are always thinking about my death. +It’s rather nasty of them to be continually bringing that into +my mind.... Were it not that I find some happiness in my +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span>home life, I should be miserable! Why are they always so suspicious +of my wife? What has she more than they? Diamonds +and debts!... She’s a good wife to me, and does them no +harm! She’s rather fond of playing the empress, with her +jewels, her dresses, and the whimsies natural to her age. I +have never been blinded by love. But I am just. She shall be +crowned, even if it costs me two hundred thousand men!”</p> + +<p>Thus he is continually bickering with a family which he could +reduce to nonentity in a moment, but from which he is unable to +cut adrift.</p> + +<p>Only one of them is incorruptible, asks for nothing, and holds +aloof. Lucien writes from Rome:</p> + +<p>“Mother thinks that the First Consul is wrong to take the +Bourbons’ crown. She has uneasy presentiments which she will +not confide to me. Her dread is that a gang of fanatics will +assassinate the Emperor.”—While this dignified mother of the +family, still a beautiful woman though well over fifty, is led by +her knowledge of the world and her gloomy forebodings to keep +herself to herself, while she holds her tongue and only mentions +her anxieties to a few intimates, in the Tuileries her children +are quarrelling about titles and precedence, disputing who is to +sit at the Emperor’s right, debating whether they are entitled +to walk out of the room in front of a sovereign prince!</p> + +<p>Then Napoleon summons Madame Mère to Paris. But here +is one who will not obey him. At first she makes excuses. When +more urgent commands are sent, she sets out on the journey, +but takes her time, and does not reach Paris for the most +splendid festival that a mortal mother can ever have witnessed. +She hears and reads all that a gaping world says and writes +about the affair. Her only comment is: “Pourvou que cela +doure!”</p> + +<h3>IX</h3> + +<p>Meanwhile, Letizia’s protector the pope has become more +compliant, and is already on the way to Paris. What else could +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span>the Holy Father do? The man of might had summoned him, +and the Emperor must be kept in a good humour. Besides, he +who is to be crowned is an Italian. As one of the cardinals had +put it, in the decisive conclave: “After all, we have this satisfaction, +that we are taking vengeance on the Gauls by setting +an Italian family to rule over these barbarians.” Napoleon is +still regarded as a foreigner in France! But why does he not +go to Rome for his coronation? Why is he not content to +be anointed in Rome, as Charlemagne had been, and all the +emperors of the west since Charlemagne’s day? What does he +want a pope for at all?</p> + +<p>In this matter, once more, he is trying to harmonise the new +with the old. At first he is silent about details, and merely asks +the pope “to give the highest religious consecration to the +anointing and crowning of the first Emperor of the French.” +For weeks, letters have been exchanged between Rome and +Paris, but the exact nature of the ceremony still remains obscure. +Pius VII. is in an uneasy frame of mind as he draws near +to Paris, and his spirit is by no means one of benediction. +Never before has a pope been summoned in this way, much as a +great physician is summoned. When the Emperor meets the +pope at the gate of the city, the Holy Father does not fail to +note that Napoleon neither kneels to receive a blessing nor kisses +hands in token of fealty. Paris is a town where people’s faith +is unstable and where popes are held in little honour. The +visitor is chilled.</p> + +<p>But Josephine is different. All devotion, she confides to him +that she and her husband were not married in church, and that +therefore from the pope’s point of view they are not married +at all. She is eager to grasp the opportunity of consolidating +her union, which seems to her frail in view of her barrenness. +Taking the hint, Pius insists upon a religious celebration of +the marriage before he will crown her as empress. In the palace +chapel, two days before the festival, Uncle Fesch, clad in purple, +solemnises the union of the pair who eight years before had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span>needed the intervention neither of priests nor civilian officials +before coming together. There are no witnesses, not one who +could laugh over this comedy in which cheating is still the order +of the day—for even the Corsican uncle is not aware what is +about to happen.</p> + +<p>On December 2, 1804, in Notre Dame, an abundance of +precious stones reflects the light of a myriad candles, so that +the place looks more like a banqueting hall than a church. +Everything has been prepared for weeks beforehand. A skilful +museum director has even produced a colourable imitation of +Charlemagne’s sceptre. Ancient parchments from the days of +the Roi Soleil had been consulted, to ensure that the crowning +of this revolutionist should vie in every respect with that of the +legitimate monarchs of France. Ségur had studied the etiquette +of the occasion with the utmost care; Isabey had rehearsed +the whole affair with an array of dolls; the old palace, +Paris, France, were in a fever.</p> + +<p>The Emperor is in a pleasant humour. Early in the morning +he makes sure that Josephine’s crown is a good fit. The +great procession drives to the cathedral. Napoleon, robed in +an antique imperial mantle, strides to the high altar leading the +empress by the hand. Josephine’s charm helps to divest the +great moment of a certain sense of embarrassment. Surrounded +by attendant cardinals, the pope is seated, waiting. The organ +peals forth.</p> + +<p>Then, when the appointed instant has come, and all are expecting +this man who has never bowed the knee to any one, to +kneel before the Holy Father, Napoleon, to the amazement of +the congregation, seizes the crown, turns his back on the pope +and the altar, and, standing upright as always, crowns himself +in the sight of France. Then he crowns his kneeling wife.</p> + +<p>None but the pope had known his intentions. Informed at +the eleventh hour, Pius had lacked courage to threaten +immediate departure. Now, all he could do was to anoint and +bless the two sinners. Moreover, the crown on the Emperor’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span>head is not a Christian crown at all, but a small pagan circlet +of golden laurel leaves. All who describe the occasion agree +in saying that the Emperor was pale but handsome. He resembled +Emperor Augustus; and from now onwards, as if by +some mystical power, his features grew more and more like those +of the first emperor of Rome.</p> + +<p>Thus, in this symbolical hour, Napoleon reduces to mockery +the legitimate formalities he is affecting to copy. Furthermore, +he makes a laughing-stock of the pope, who will not forget the +slight. In an instant the cloud of Bourbon reminiscence has +been scattered; the flavour of imitation and parody has vanished; +and on the steps of a temple there stands a soldier, +a Roman imperator, whom a dozen years before this day no one +had ever heard of, who since then has performed no miracles +but only done deeds, and has now crowned himself with the +golden laurels of these deeds. But his mantle is broidered with +golden bees, the emblem of activity.</p> + +<p>Several incidents show that he has not, throughout this day +of his coronation, wholly surrendered to the mood of a man +who has made his own destiny.</p> + +<p>When he was seated on the throne, crown on head, with the +pope in front of him, he said in a low aside to his brother: +“Joseph, if only Father could see this!” The remark, poignant +at such an hour in the mouth of a man who was never wont to +speak of his father, is fundamentally natural. The perfect simplicity, +the unsophisticated innocence, of his course of action, +lead his mind back to his origin. Memories of family feuds on +the island, of the pride and ambition of the Corsican clans, +direct his thoughts towards the stock from which he has sprung.</p> + +<p>Semblance never holds his attention, which always reaches +out to the core of reality. Thus he is not bewildered even in +this amazing hour. When he wants to whisper something to +his uncle, who stands just in front of him during Mass, he gives +the cardinal a gentle dig in the back with his sceptre. As soon +as all is over, and, alone with Josephine, he goes in to dinner, he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span>says with a sigh of relief: “Thank God we’re through with it! +A day on the battle-field would have pleased me better!” At +their little dinner he tells her to keep on her crown, as if he +and she were poet and actress, for, he says, she is charming, his +little Creole woman as empress. Thus, in the most natural way +in the world, he unmasks the whole masquerade, and we are at +ease once more as we see the son of the revolution laughing his +own empire to scorn.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp62" id="illus08" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus08.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Bonaparte as First Consul. Pencil sketch by J. D. A. Ingres. + Germain Bapst Collection.</p> + <p>(Photograph in the Kircheisen Collection.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The freedom of spirit shown by the foregoing petty details +is splendidly illuminated by an admission he made the same +evening, when, to a confidant, he summed up the whole matter +with sceptical emotion: “No, Decrès, I have come into the world +too late. There is nothing great left for me to do. I do not +deny that I have had a fine career, but what a difference between +me and the heroes of antiquity. Look at Alexander, for +instance. After he has conquered Asia, he declares himself to +be the son of Jupiter, and the whole East believes him, save only +his mother and Aristotle and a handful of Athenian pedants. +But if I, nowadays, were to declare myself the son of the Father +Eternal, every fishwife would laugh in my face. There is nothing +great left for me to do.”</p> + +<p>This was said a few hours after he had crowned himself +emperor; said quite simply and quite truthfully. Is it not plain +why the East has always allured him, and will continue to allure +him? By nature he is endowed with immense powers, and is +overburdened by their incredible weight. Nothing can be +adequate to his aspirations, now that he has learned how readily +people obey the man who can command obedience by his skill +and by his deeds. He is strong in his own strength; what does +Voltaire’s enlightenment, what does Rousseau, matter to him? +How can he wish to establish democracy, to install popular +government, when he knows the weakness of the popular instincts, +and all the corruptness of the leaders of the people? +To expand his sway, to spread his name widely and ever more +widely, to leave more record of himself in the book of universal +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span>history than that half page of which he spoke a few years +ago, to sacrifice life itself to the little golden circlet on his +head, to do these things without enjoyment and without leisure +and without pause—this is all that life now offers.</p> + +<p>When, during these days, the sketch for an imperial seal is +laid before him, and he sees a lion couchant, he draws his pen +across the picture, and writes in the margin: “An eagle volant.”</p> + +<h3>X</h3> + +<p>But with a sinister energy the dangerous fluid of divine right +radiates from the golden circlet, and slowly spreads its waves +through the brain of the wearer, the chosen man. Vainly he +endeavours to master and transform the millennial force that +has been stored up in this crown, or to make light of it; it masters +him, and from time to time forces him to quit the realm of +his self-control. When, a year after his coronation as emperor, +he crowns himself in Milan with the iron crown of the Lombards +(for the border States, like France itself, are to become monarchies), +his voice reverberates through the cathedral as he +thunders the traditional formula of the Carlovingian kings: +“God gave it to me, woe to him who touches it!” Of course, it +is only the statesman who speaks, for sound political reasons +saying something he does not believe. But, though he is well +aware of the contradiction, he will not always be able to solve +it with the same vigour as in Notre Dame.</p> + +<p>In the first place, the new position makes it necessary to +impose new fetters on the mind. The Ministry of Police is revived; +and France is parcelled out into four great sectors, in +which the most trusty members of the Council of State, each +with an army of spies, keep watch upon the mood of the country, +for he wants to collect “moral statistics.” Fouché is reappointed +Minister of Police, and, since Napoleon’s ties with +Talleyrand become increasingly close, the Emperor is by degrees +enmeshed in the nets of the two great intriguers—though +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span>he is aware that they are playing a double game between himself +and the Bourbons, and, by a second relay of spies, fruitlessly +endeavours to keep watch and ward over his watchers.</p> + +<p>Sinister figures, these two ex-clerics, whom he hates, who +hate him, but whom he will never be able to shake off.</p> + +<p>Fouché is a man of humble origin, pale, with a cold manner, +taciturn, parchmenty. Though orders flash on his breast and a +lace ruffle waves there, were it not for his piercing eyes he would +look like a mummy in court dress.</p> + +<p>Talleyrand is in all respects the man of noble birth. Lame +though he be, the prettiest women pay court to him. His +charm is that of a rolling sphere, whose living summit is everywhere +and nowhere. The assertion that he betrayed his master +only for the sake of France, is belied by his immeasurable +avarice and venality. For the nonce, he continues to serve the +Emperor; but, from the first, the two men have mistrusted +one another. Once, indeed, Talleyrand made a sacrifice for +Napoleon. Late in the evening, when the two were on a journey +together, the Emperor summoned the minister to his bedside for +a talk about public affairs. Suddenly Napoleon fell asleep, +and Talleyrand sat on guard till morning, not stirring, lest he +should wake his master. That is his version of the affair. But +the man’s whole nature is so remote from any idea of sacrifice or +sympathy, that we may suppose rather that his motive was the +hope that Napoleon might reveal some important secret by +talking in his sleep.</p> + +<p>A dozen times every year, the name of Madame de Staël +crops up. Afraid of her and her works, he keeps her away from +Paris with an obstinacy which arouses wonder. Yet she says +of him: “His look grows infinitely tender when he speaks to +women.” Throughout Europe, the champions of the freedom +of the spirit fall away from him; Byron, who had greatly admired +him; Beethoven, who cancels the original dedication of the +<i>Eroica</i> to Napoleon. With painfully mixed feelings the Emperor +must have read the tribute of the mad tsar Paul, who had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span>already acclaimed the First Consul as the suppressor of the +revolution.</p> + +<p>Since Marengo, he has been doing his utmost to maintain +peace on the Continent, and for four years he has been successful. +His hope is that the re-establishment of monarchy will +appease the united princes, will assuage the anger they still cherish +against France. The death of two men comes to thwart +his plans. Tsar Paul is murdered, and this enemy of England +is succeeded by a youthful son, an idealist, trained by French +apostles of the enlightenment, a man with democratic leanings, +gentle, muddle-headed, animated by the wish to be a better +sovereign. Alexander, therefore, quickly comes to an understanding +with England, where, after Fox’s brief predominance +and death, a transient attempt at peace with France has been +followed by a revival of the old jealous enmity. England fails +to evacuate Malta as had been arranged, imposes new conditions, +and is the first to break the peace. Once more there arises +the menace of a European coalition under English leadership, a +coalition that will aim at a Bourbon restoration, for talent +enthroned in France sets so dangerous an example to all other +countries.</p> + +<p>Thus, a year after the coronation, the war with England is +resumed, and will not end until Napoleon’s star sets. There is +no campaigning, at first; simply a state of war, in which this +great military commander cannot force a decision, and which, +therefore, he cannot bring to a close. England has two notable +advantages over her continental rivals, and over France in +particular. It is an island realm; and it spreads athwart the +world. Napoleon’s historical sense, growing ever more alert, +shows England to him as a new empire of Alexander, extending +like Alexander’s from homeland isles and peninsulas to Asia +and to Africa, invincible so long as it remains a united whole. +The dream of our new oriental splits upon this rock.</p> + +<p>On this rock, too, are wrecked the mathematician’s calculations. +The day after Aboukir, he had said that a decade would +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span>be needed for the rebuilding of France’s fleet. Half that time +has elapsed, and England’s naval predominance has steadily +grown. During the brief peace, the soldiers of the unsuccessful +Egyptian campaign are brought back to France in English +bottoms; England is confirmed in the possession of the Cape +and other overseas colonies; and France has more urgent claims +on her energies than the building of the new fleet.</p> + +<p>Fundamentally, what was a ship to the Emperor? He was +competent to design a big gun, to cast it, to place every screw; +and to repair every wheel and every shaft of an ammunition +wagon. He knew when every horse in a cavalry squadron +would have to be re-shod, and how much it would cost; and he +knew exactly how many loaves a field bakery could turn out a +day. This far-reaching knowledge was one of the secrets of his +predominance; made his subordinates zealous in their terror of +his incessant control, whether in peace time or in war time; +aroused respect for the all-embracing intelligence of the chief; +and ensured the exact carrying-out of his military ideas.</p> + +<p>But one who would know a ship, must grow up in a ship, +just as one who would know ordnance must have passed his +youth among big guns. Even though his admirals were +astonished to find how quickly he made himself at home in naval +matters, how shrewd were his questions, and how sensible were +his orders, still their commendation of Napoleon was no more +than the praise of a kindly expert who, tacitly, is criticising a +talented amateur. Napoleon knew this well enough. Since he +lacked a great admiral quite as much as a great fleet, and had +never been willing to entrust the conduct of a campaign to any +subordinate, he invented a new kind of war which was to enable +him, after all, to get the better of England. The European +ports from Hamburg to Taranto were to be closed to English +ships, and thus the nation of traders was to be vanquished in a +trade war. At the same time, he revived his plans of invasion; +for, could he but set foot on the island, he would be the military +commander, and in his own element.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span></p> + +<p>Just as he had done before the Egyptian campaign, so now +in Boulogne, he studies the possibilities of embarkation and disembarkation. +On land, his fantasy has found satisfaction and +his mathematical powers have gained conquests in ardent +imaginings; and yet, all the time, his battles have been realities, +have realised these imaginings. But here, at sea, he is +an amateur, not an expert; is, for the first time, the onlooker +instead of the man of action. In none other of his private letters +do we find sentences akin to those which he writes from the +coast to Josephine after a stormy night in which a gunboat has +broken away from her moorings: “A wonderful sight! The +minute-guns were firing; watch-fires were lighted along the +coast. A raging, foaming sea; uncertainty and anxiety +throughout the night. But a kindly spirit brooded over the +ocean and the night. No lives were lost, and I lay down to +sleep with the feeling that I had been witnessing a romantic and +epic vision—so that I could almost believe that I had been +looking on quite alone.”</p> + +<p>A wonderful sight; but, alas, only a sight! The Ossianic +note is sounded again, for the first time after fifteen years. +Napoleon waxes romantic. How moving and how significant +are the closing words of this artist, who suddenly feels that he +has been robbed of the human material with which he works, +and who is even a little alarmed (we cannot help but read this +through the lines) at the unwonted sensation of being quite +alone.</p> + +<p>The unfamiliar element leads him astray. When a storm is +threatening, he orders a naval review. Admiral Bruix does not +carry out the order. The Emperor finds that no preparations +are being made, and sends for the admiral. A terrible scene.</p> + +<p>“Why did you not obey my orders?”</p> + +<p>“Your Majesty can see that for yourself. You would not +needlessly risk brave men’s lives in such weather!”</p> + +<p>The Emperor, surrounded by his rigid officers, turns pale +with wrath, and says: “Sir, I have given you an order. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span>consequences are no concern of yours. Do what you are told!”</p> + +<p>“Sire, I cannot obey.”</p> + +<p>An ominous pause. Napoleon strides towards Bruix, riding-switch +in hand, threateningly, though the switch is not raised. +The admiral draws back a step, and lays his hand on his sword-hilt. +A petrified group.</p> + +<p>“You will leave Boulogne within twenty-four hours, and +betake yourself to Holland. Rear-Admiral Magon, carry out +my orders.”</p> + +<p>A naval review is held in a raging storm. A number of +chaloupes are capsized, and their crews struggle in the water. +The Emperor, to save himself, jumps into the first boat; all +who can, follow his example. Two hundred bodies are washed +ashore next day.</p> + +<p>This incident, unique in Napoleon’s career, a blunder, an act +of cruelty, a direct disobedience on the part of a subordinate, +is a warning symptom. But there is a third indication.</p> + +<p>A year before, an American inventor had come to Paris, and +had offered the French admiralty two new inventions: one of +them a ship to be propelled by steam power instead of by the +wind; the other, a submarine boat which was to sink ships by +the discharge of a kind of torpedo. “The man is a charlatan,” +was Napoleon’s comment on Fulton, after an experiment in +which the inventor’s “plunging boat” had secured a partial +success; and he brushed the whole matter aside. If the American +had brought him models of a machine gun and a field telegraph, +he would have opened his purse.</p> + +<p>Napoleon failed to conquer England because this was the one +matter in which he was not confident of victory. Failure was +inevitable because here, and here only, his self-confidence was +at fault; because his belief in his own powers was weakened by +his want of expert knowledge and by the inaccessibility of the +foe. By land! Yes, if he could only get at this island by land! +The thought brings back to his mind the scheme of five years +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span>ago, when he had planned an attack on India by way of Herat. +But for such a scheme, quiet and time are needed.</p> + +<p>His first aim is to keep the peace, to bring about which he +has worked with his best powers for years. Immediately after +the coronation, he writes in this sense to six monarchs, addressing +each in a style appropriate to his correspondent’s character, +thinking out the effect of every detail, and considering +even the exact working of his signature. Note, for instance, +how he writes to the shah:</p> + +<p>“My reputation reaches so far, that you cannot fail to +know who I am and what I have done; how I have made France +supreme among the nations of the West; and how great an +interest I take in the rulers of the East.... Orientals +are full of courage and spirit, but their ignorance of certain +arts and their neglect of military discipline put them at a disadvantage +in war when they are faced by soldiers from the +North.... Write me your wishes, and we will renew friendly +and commercial relationships.... Written in my Imperial +Palace of the Tuileries ... in the first year of my reign. +Napoleon.” But, in the heading, the document sets forth a title +which never existed, a title which Napoleon obviously uses to +show the ruler of Persia that the writer is the general who made +himself famous in the Egyptian campaign. The document purports +to come from “Bonaparte, Emperor of the French.”</p> + +<p>On his table, as he signs the letter to the shah, lies a letter +to George III., though England and France are at war. It is +penned with wonderful art, and is both moving and politic: +“Does not all the blood that is being shed without apparent +advantage to any one, touch the consciences of the governments? +I am not ashamed to take the first step. It seems to +me I have shown the world that I have no dread of war and +its caprices. My heart, indeed, longs for peace; but war has +never dimmed my fame. I implore Your Majesty not to deprive +yourself of the good fortune of restoring peace to the +world! Do not leave this precious task to your children. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span>Never was there a more favourable opportunity of stilling +angry passions. If this chance be missed, what will be the outcome +of the war? During the last ten years, Your Majesty +has won more territory and more treasure than all Europe +possesses. What further could you expect from the war?”</p> + +<p>How could the writer fail to smile at the realisation that the +last argument could with equal force be turned against himself? +The appeal is fruitless, for neither England nor the rulers on +the mainland will tolerate the new power of France or its upstart +emperor. A fourth coalition of the princes against the +republic is imminent.</p> + +<p>During the years of peace, he has been tolerably well content. +His intimates at Malmaison have often described him as cheerful. +Now he must take up arms once more, and resign himself +to the knowledge that “it lies in the nature of things to continue +this struggle between the past and the future, for the +enduring coalition of our enemies makes it essential to attack +them if we are to escape annihilation.” There is the simple +truth, spoken without exaggeration and without bitterness. If +he did not create this nature of things, at any rate he stabilised +it. Even though the first wars of France in the revolutionary +epoch were purely defensive, the subsequent campaigns became +offensive, and were transformed into wars of conquest by the +impetus of the people’s army and the outstanding genius of its +commander.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, when he is thus challenged by opponents whom +he has twice defeated, can we wonder that concrete plans which +have hitherto followed his soaring imagination at a respectful +distance, should now, likewise, begin to outsoar the boundaries +of reason? In the opening years of the nineteenth century and +here in the West, the Emperor might have kept the peace for +another decade, that in the end he might measure his strength +against England’s in Asia. But when Europe’s persistent +desire for revenge upon revolutionary France spurs him into +action, he conceives the great plan of a unified European realm. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span>Now for the second time (and for the last time down to our +own days) a great and saving work will be attempted, and the +attempt will fail.</p> + +<p>Thus it is that Napoleon’s crowning political thought issues +out of a personal defensive. Now, when a new coalition is +being formed, and formed against him, his ideal takes a fresh +shape. For years his inward gaze has been concentrated on +Alexander; now, instead, he sees the figure of Charlemagne. +He goes to Aix-la-Chapelle, for a ceremonial visit to the tomb +of the great Frankish emperor. “There will be no peace in +Europe,” he says at this time to his trusted companions, “until +the whole continent is under one suzerain, an emperor whose +chief officers are kings, whose generals have become monarchs.... +Would you tell me that this plan is but an imitation of the +old imperial constitution? Well, there is nothing new under +the sun!”</p> + +<p>This gradual transformation of his ideal, and the sustenance +of the new ideal by the historical imagination, has immeasurable +consequences. Precisely because the adoption of the +Carlovingian scheme involves for him a renunciation, he storms +forward in pursuit of it as if he were fighting for a province. +The haste with which he tries to reconstruct the empire of +Charlemagne is new, is symptomatic of a fever which will drive +him towards new goals before he has reached the old ones.</p> + +<h3>XI</h3> + +<p>Since the spring, his army has been assembled in Boulogne +in readiness for the repeatedly postponed landing in England. +But in the autumn, when the menace of a fresh Austrian attack +becomes a certainty, with a change of plans which is decided on +in a couple of days and is carried out in a fortnight, he directs +all his forces eastward, and is across the Rhine in advance of +the news of his first movement. Just before leaving the coast, +he dictates to Daru the whole scheme of the attack on Austria, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span>“the order and length of the marches, the meeting places of +the columns, the attacks by storm, the movements and the +blunders of the enemy—all this two months before the events, +and at a distance of six or seven hundred miles from the scene +of action.”</p> + +<p>Austria had good reason for taking up arms once more. On +the knob of the new king of Italy’s sceptre, the lion of Venice +was graven. This, and the seizure of Genoa, were urgent warnings +to the Habsburg ruler not to venture across the Alps a +third time. Francis must be content to fight the matter out +on German soil. England was liberal with proffers of money; +and the inexhaustible forces of Russia were again available +for the coalition, as they had been when it was victorious during +Bonaparte’s absence in Egypt. The new tsar was determined +to overcome Europe’s old prejudice against Russia, and, with +an exchange of roles, to draw his sword against the tyrant of +the West. The secret of Napoleon’s fighting technique had +been learned, and this time the engineer should be hoist with +his own petard.</p> + +<p>But the soldier of genius can evolve new methods of victory. +By forced marches he encircles the Austrians before they realise +what is afoot, encloses them in an iron ring at Ulm, and compels +the capitulation of an army which has not even a chance to +fire a shot. “I have attained my end, and have annihilated the +Austrian army by simple marches. Now I shall turn against +the Russians. They are lost.”</p> + +<p>The habit of success is making him thrifty of his words. “I +had a rough time of it, rougher than necessary,” he writes to +Josephine; “wet through day after day for a week, and my feet +very cold.” Among the gold-bedizened marshals, who are for +the first time parading their splendours on foreign soil, stands +Napoleon to receive the capitulation of Ulm. He wears the +uniform of a private soldier, a mantle weather-worn at elbows +and skirt, a hat without a cockade. His arms are locked behind. +Of the imperial purple there is no sign.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span></p> + +<p>Once more, as on the evening after Marengo, he offers peace, +sends an admonitory letter to the defeated Austrian emperor, +writing as usual with the frankness which is so annoying to the +diplomats of Europe: “You will understand that it is only right +and proper if I take advantage of my good luck to impose, as +condition of peace, that you should give me guarantees against +a fourth coalition with England.... Nothing would make +me happier than to combine the tranquillity of my people with +your friendship, upon which I venture to make a claim, despite +the number and strength of my enemies in your entourage.” At +the same time, he marches on Vienna.</p> + +<p>Then, while he is advancing at topmost speed, comes a blow. +He learns that two days after his victory on land had come +the sea-fight of Trafalgar, when England had almost annihilated +the French fleet. Eighteen ships have been lost; Nelson +is dead; the French admiral is a prisoner. Is this another disastrous +hour, like the one when the news of Aboukir reached +him in the desert? Courage! Then the situation was a hundredfold +more difficult. We are not now cut off from Paris by +the sea; we need no ships. With redoubled speed he marches +on Vienna, which the enemy surrenders without a blow.</p> + +<p>But the tidings of Trafalgar have renewed Francis’ fixity +of purpose, and have made Alexander firmer than ever. Both +try to win over Prussia, which hesitates, and protracts negotiations. +Napoleon vainly tempts the tsar with the promise of +Turkey. In Brünn there is a great game of hide-and-seek, in +which each power tries to keep the others in suspense and is +disavowed by its own plenipotentiaries. The Emperor is the +only ruler who improvises a political idea. Two days before +the decisive battle, for which preparations are already being +made, he writes to Talleyrand, who is negotiating in Brünn:</p> + +<p>“I should have no serious objection to handing over Venice +to the elector of Salzburg, and Salzburg to the house of Austria. +I shall take Verona ... for the kingdom of Italy.... +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span>The elector can call himself king of Venice if he has a fancy +that way.</p> + +<p>“The electorate of Bavaria would become a monarchy.... +I will give back the artillery, the magazines, and the fortresses, +and they must pay me five millions.... To-morrow, I think, +we shall have a pretty big battle with the Russians. I have +done my utmost to avoid it, for it is only useless bloodshed. I +have exchanged a few letters with the tsar, and learn from what +he writes that he is a good fellow, with bad counsellors.... +Write to Paris, but don’t say anything about the battle, for +that would make my wife anxious. You don’t need to worry. I +am in a very strong position here, and my only regret is for the +almost needless bloodshed which the battle will cost.... You +write home for me; I have been in camp among my grenadiers +for the last four days, and have to write on my knees, so I +can’t manage many letters.”</p> + +<p>Such is the Emperor’s mood just before the most famous +of his victories. While he is studying his maps, noting the +name of every Moravian village, the width of every stream, and +the condition of every road, and while he does his best to keep +himself warm by the camp-fire, he is thinking of the ministers +in Paris who are awaiting his commands, and of his wife who +may be anxious. In the same half hour, he drafts a new programme +for the partition of four or five States, talks of new +crowns, of war indemnities, and of handing over fortresses. +Twice his laments for the useless bloodshed light up the written +page like the rising sun of one of these December days. Need +we be surprised that such a man conquers the legitimate +princes, who at this moment are dining in their palaces?</p> + +<p>In the evening, when he learned the enemy’s movements, he +clapped his hands, and, “trembling with joy” (the words are +his adjutant’s), said: “They are walking into the trap! They +are delivering themselves into my hands! By to-morrow evening, +their army will be annihilated!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span></p> + +<p>Then he sits down with his staff to supper in a peasant’s +hut, and, an unusual thing with him, remains at table for some +time after his meal, emotioned and musing. He goes on to +speak at considerable length concerning the nature of tragedy. +From this, he passes to Egypt: “If I had taken Acre, I should +have donned a turban, have clad my soldiers in wide Turkish +trousers. But only in the utmost need should I have exposed +my Frenchmen to serious danger; I should have made of them +a corps of immortals, the Holy Battalion. I should have +fought the war with the Turks to a finish by the use of Arab, +Greek, and Armenian levies. I should have won a great battle +at Issus, instead of in Moravia, should have become Emperor +of the East, and should have made my way back to Paris +through Constantinople.” The concluding words, so one who +heard the soliloquy tells us, were accompanied with a smile, +as if to show his awareness that he was being carried away by +a rapturous dream.</p> + +<p>But is not the scene we are describing a dream? Must we +really and truly believe that, little more than a century ago, a +mortal man, the understudy of a demigod, stormed across +modern Europe and remoulded it in accordance with his will? +Did it not all happen in the Homeric age, when two princes in +single combat would settle the fate of generations? Or, perhaps, +he is a character in a fairy-tale, this man in the middle +thirties, a little fellow, seated in a wattle-and-dab hut, on an +unknown plain. He wears a greasy coat, a clammy shirt; +stuffs potatoes and onions into his hungry mouth. Next day, +by this one battle, he will renew the glories of Charlemagne, +dead a thousand years since. Now, over night, his unbridled +imagination wanders across Asiatic deserts, where a stone-heap +successfully resisted him; dwells on that old frustrated plan; +while his errant thoughts follow the wraith of the Macedonian +to the Ganges.</p> + +<p>Day dawns. A year ago, on the altar steps in Notre Dame, +he had crowned himself with the circlet of golden laurels. In +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span>a fervent proclamation, he reminds his soldiers of that day, and +concludes with the promise that for this once he will keep out +of the firing line.</p> + +<p>Never before has history recorded such words uttered by +a commander. They have always been eager to declare their +determination to defy death in the forefront of the battle. +Napoleon, whose grenadiers have seen him in twenty fights and +regard him as a heavenborn leader, can venture to tell his men +that he will reward their valour by being careful of his own +safety.</p> + +<p>Then the Emperor defeats both his enemies, and makes +famous for a thousand years an out-of-the-way spot of which +no one had ever heard before—the plain of Austerlitz.</p> + +<p>“Soldiers,” he says next day to the victors, “I am pleased +with you.... Name your children after me, and if one of +them should prove worthy of us, I will make him my own son +and appoint him my successor!” That is the emotional note +he keeps for the army. To his wife, he writes as simply as +possible: “I have beaten the Russian and Austrian armies. +Rather tired, after a week in the open, when the nights have +been chilly. To-night I shall sleep in a bed, in Prince Kaunitz’ +fine castle. I’m wearing a clean shirt, the first time for a week.... +I hope to get two or three hours’ sleep.”</p> + +<p>Quite a simple matter, these momentous happenings! It is +but a new song in the rhapsody when, a day later, Emperor +Francis comes to Count Kaunitz’ castle, to beg for an interview +with the little Corsican lieutenant. But the bird has +flown. When the two men meet at length, it is in a windmill. +Napoleon greets his brother emperor courteously, saying: “I +regret, Sire, that I must receive you here, in the only palace I +have entered for two months.” What self-confidence in the +soldier interviewing the man born in the purple; what subtle +mockery in the mouth of one who knows that in his distant +capital, at news of his splendid victory, flags will soon wave +and songs resound.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span></p> + +<p>But the distinguished guest, a man of sound sense and good +breeding, knows how to parry the thrust: “Your present +quarters are so profitable to you, Sire, that I think they cannot +fail to please you.” Both smile; and unobtrusively they eye +one another up and down, for, though they have fought for a +decade, they have never met. Of the same age, they had both +reached power at twenty-six or thereabouts, though in such different +ways; and neither of them can foresee how close Napoleon’s +will-to-peace is one day to bring them, or how widely +Francis’ will-to-revenge will ultimately sever them.</p> + +<p>“Yesterday I had the German emperor in camp with me +and we had two hours’ talk.... He threw himself on my +generosity. But I took good care of myself, as I am used to +doing.... We have agreed to make peace promptly.... +The battle of Austerlitz is the finest of all I have fought. We +have taken forty-five regimental colours, more than one hundred +and fifty guns, the flag of the Russian guard, twenty generals, +and thirty thousand prisoners in all. More than twenty +thousand killed—a ghastly sight!” Did the jubilant outburst +of a conqueror ever come to a stranger close? He luxuriates +in the figures of his gains, and then, suddenly, the corpses of +the dead rise before his eyes! Henceforward, such references +become frequent; he writes in simple and heartfelt words about +bloodshed.</p> + +<p>In the peace negotiations, the minister has a contest with his +master. The day after Austerlitz, Talleyrand writes to the +Emperor: “How easy would it be, now, to destroy the Habsburgs +once for all. But it would suit our book better to +strengthen them, to give them a fixed place in France’s system!” +Napoleon, however, enforces the peace of Pressburg, in +which the old German empire is shattered into fragments, while +Austria vanishes from Germany and Italy. What is in the +conqueror’s mind?</p> + +<p>Europe! A league of States under French hegemony. Russia +is Asia; England is detached, an island. The Continent +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span>must be unified, must consist of middle-sized and small powers +overshadowed by the eagles of France, and democratically +ranged side by side. Now, after Austerlitz, the new thought +takes shape. The victory has put it within his power to realise +the greatest aim of a European, the unification of Europe.</p> + +<p>He did not set out towards this goal. It was a gradual +growth, the fruit of circumstances. He did not deliberately +provoke the wars that were fought when the new idea was in its +inception. Since Marengo, his chief wish has been for peace. +At that time, Austria had been loath to make peace. The +Austrian renewal of the attack was a logical outcome of +legitimist theory, for Habsburg and the revolution could not +jointly rule Europe. Austerlitz had settled the dispute once +more. Now it had become possible to reunite Charlemagne’s +resurrected Europe. But neither the kings and emperors +(who were only beaten, not convinced), nor he himself (who +had gained all by the sword and not by persuasion), could +march along the way of the spirit towards the unification of +Europe. The determinisms of his own past left Napoleon no +option but to create his United States of Europe by force. +Not till ten years later did he come to see that he had been +seeking to achieve a great end by false means.</p> + +<p>When he came to understand this, it was too late; he was +impotent, in the great epilogue of his exile.</p> + +<h3>XII</h3> + +<p>“Tell the pope that I am keeping my eyes open; tell him +that I am Charlemagne, the Sword of the Church, his Emperor, +and as such I expect to be treated.”</p> + +<p>Thus threateningly he writes to Rome. If he must bow +before this mole-hill, at least he will enforce obedience. His +demeanour is infused with a new tone since Austerlitz and +Pressburg. From conquered Austria, he writes in a dictatorial +style which neither he nor Europe has hitherto known. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span>The queen of Naples, despite his yearlong warnings, has permitted +English ships to anchor in the bay. An army order is +issued: “The Bourbon dynasty has ceased to reign in Naples.” +Simultaneously, he writes to Brother Joseph: “I think I have +already told you that I intend the kingdom of Naples to accrue +to my family, so that, like Switzerland, Holland, Italy, and +the three German kingdoms, it may belong to my federated +States or, rather, to the French Empire.”</p> + +<p>Henceforward he endeavours to make the plan a reality, the +plan whereby Europe shall be governed by one emperor with +kings as vassals. Paris, which now acclaims the conqueror, +shall be the capital city of the Continent. The Emperor has, +in the best sense of the term, “come home again.” He exclaims: +“This campaign has made me fat! I believe that if all the +princes of Europe were to ally themselves against me, I should +develop an absurdly wide paunch!” In such a mood does he +hurl himself from recent events into new adventures and allow +them to run their course.</p> + +<p>During the next few months he organises, from Paris, the +following realms: Joseph becomes king of Naples; the princes +of Bavaria and Württemberg are turned into kings; Baden is +changed into a grand duchy; Eugene weds a daughter of the +House of Wittelsbach; a Badenese hereditary prince marries +a niece of Josephine’s; a Württemberg princess is reserved for +his youngest brother; sixteen States of southern and western +Germany are joined together to form the Confederation of the +Rhine, vassals of the Emperor, liable for the payment of tribute +and the provision of troops, and the sixteen German princes +hasten to Paris to vow allegiance, hoping to get a share for +themselves in the great mart; a dozen small principalities are +wiped out; imperial fiefs are established for Talleyrand, +Berthier, and Bernadotte.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Napoleon announces, curtly and conclusively: +“Holland has no executive. She must have one. I will give her +Prince Louis. We will frame a treaty.... For me the whole +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span>matter is settled: either thus, or annexation to France.... +Not a minute must be lost.” Why “not a minute”? Holland +has been dependent for years; she only needs a crowned vassal; +her dependence is to be made clearer by the phrasing, “Napoleon +bestows his brother on Holland.” The Dutch object? Then +they shall be gobbled up; the choice is quickly made. Louis +does not care for the honour; climate bad; health weak? “It +is better to die sitting on a throne, than to live a mere prince +in France.” Hortense must become a queen, Josephine is aglow +for the consummation; the Dutch must present a solemn petition, +and must be graciously received by the Emperor in the +Tuileries. But Napoleon is so overcome by the irony of the situation, +he is so contemptuous, that after the audience he cannot +resist telling his little nephew (son of the new king of Holland), +in front of the ladies of the court, the fable of the frogs who +wanted a king.</p> + +<p>What next? His sisters are complaining and intriguing. +Are there no more kingdoms available? The pity of it. Oh +well, a few grand duchies must be vacated! Through Murat’s +promotion, Caroline becomes grand duchess of Cleves; Elise is +made grand duchess of Tuscany; and the lovely Pauline +Borghese weeps because she is nothing more than princess of +Guastalla. “Why, it’s no more than a village! And I’m to be +princess of that?” Still, she soon finds consolation in an ocean +of diamonds and lovers.</p> + +<p>None of the clan are equal to the occasion. King Joseph, in +his first proclamation, compares the love of his subjects (who +have never clapped eyes on him till yesterday) towards himself +with the love of the French towards their emperor. He covers +himself with ridicule, and makes the Emperor furious. King +Louis utters piteous sighs because the war with England +forces him to interfere with “his country’s” trade; and he sends, +instead of troops, long letters to the Emperor filled with complaints. +“Really, you are throwing unnecessary burdens upon +me,” replies Napoleon, in a hectoring tone. “It is all due to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span>your narrow-mindedness and your lack of interest.... I +wish you were not always whining!... Leave wailing and +complaining to women; a man must be determined.... You +are governing far too gently. You allow me to bear the full +brunt of the war expenses.... See to it that you raise an +army of thirty thousand men. You only think of yourself; +that is neither good nor magnanimous.... More energy!”</p> + +<p>Elise, who dominates her husband, gives a constitution to +Tuscany, holds reviews of the troops, changes her favourites +every quarter, and amuses Napoleon by an assumption of the +imperial style: “My people is content; the opposition is +crushed; your commands, Sire, have been carried out. I am +much pleased with the Senate; it is showing deference to my +authority.”</p> + +<p>Murat, for excess of zeal, draws upon himself a reprimand +phrased with Napoleon’s customary bluntness: “I have seen +decrees issued by yourself which are quite senseless. You seem +to have lost your reason!... All you appear to have in mind +is to reign and nothing more!”</p> + +<p>Pauline, however, is immortalised by Canova, in a work which +outlasts all the realms Napoleon has set up.</p> + +<p>Young Jerome, who has gone to America in his capacity of +midshipman, has meanwhile married a lady of the middle class +without consulting his family. The Emperor, who has more +crowns to dispose of than siblings to give them to, and cannot +spare any of his brothers, is outraged by this marriage. He +pursuades his mother to utter a prohibition. When the young +man’s ship puts in to Lisbon, the vessel is surrounded; Jerome +alone is permitted to land. Bidding the lady farewell, the +youthful husband swears everlasting troth; he travels alone to +Paris; is received by the Emperor with threats and lures; at +length he gives up his spouse for the sake of princely honours +and a post as admiral; maybe, even, he will become a king. +The wife fruitlessly endeavours to land on the Continent; she +journeys to England, where she brings a child into the world. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span>There she meets Lucien, her companion in misfortune. He has +been well received by the English, and settles in the island +realm with his wife and children. He writes poetry. An epic. +What is it called?</p> + +<p><i>Charlemagne.</i></p> + +<p>The only member of the family who is active, loyal, and, for +the most part, judicious in his undertakings is Napoleon’s step-son +Eugene. The Emperor loves him, publicly praises his work +whenever possible, and now, when Eugene becomes viceroy of +Italy and spouse of the Bavarian Princess, Napoleon writes: +“You are working too hard, dear son. That is all very well +for yourself, but you have a young wife who has hopes.... +Why do you not go once a week to the theatre and occupy the +royal box?... One can accomplish much business in a short +time. I am leading the same kind of life as yourself, but my +wife is getting on in years—also I have more business to deal +with!” To his step-daughter-in-law, from whom he categorically +demands a male heir (seeing that Hortense’s son has but +one life, and the dynasty needs additional safeguards!), +he writes: “Do not give us a daughter, please! Here is a +recipe for you: drink some undiluted wine, daily—only you’ll +never believe me!” When, in his despite, she gives birth to a +daughter, he says: “If one begins with a daughter, one is +destined to have a dozen children!”</p> + +<p>How marvellously Napoleon, the great stylist, can accommodate +his tone to every circumstance—to inspire dread or to flatter, +to praise, to spur on, to punish, or to persuade. He pours +this out upon a family which is ever acting in opposition to him, +and expends himself thus in the interludes of all his other +business.</p> + +<p>The Emperor’s mother lives in Paris, as retired a life as her +son will allow. She is watchful and conciliatory. He has installed +her in the Trianon; gives her one million a year. No +one understands why she is so thrifty. Some use the word +“miserly.” But she maintains that “we Corsicans have experienced +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span>many revolutions; all this may come to an end; what will +then happen to my children? It is better that they should +come to their mother, than go to strangers who might leave them +in the lurch.” From time to time she holds a reception, where +she carries herself with natural dignity, and far more regally +than many of her children who wear the royal crown. If any +one haggles as to the price of the beads with which she works, +she smiles and says: “No, you can’t impose upon me. I do not +play the princess as my daughters do.” Though she is the +mother of the Emperor, and of kings and princes, she laments +that not a single trustworthy person is in her immediate entourage. +She only unbends over a game of reversi with old +friends of hers; or when she chats of an evening with her faithful +servant, discussing “the happy days gone by.... They +all say that I am the happiest of mothers. In truth I am +always full of worry. Every news item makes me tremble lest +the Emperor lie dead upon the battle-field.”</p> + +<p>On Sundays, following the tradition of her patrician ancestors, +she dines with her children at the Tuileries. She does not +invariably obey the Emperor; and when he constrains her, she +is resentful. No doubt he is aware that she is too proud to +accept the relationship which circumstances have established +between them; and whenever he looks in the mirror, he cannot +fail to see his increasing personal resemblance to his mother, +in forehead, mouth, eyes, and hands. Sometimes he teases her:</p> + +<p>“Do you find life at court tedious? Look at your daughters! +Why do you hoard your money? You ought to spend freely!”</p> + +<p>“You’d better allow me two millions instead of one, if that +is what you want. But it’s my nature to be thrifty.”</p> + +<p>She has as keen an eye for the detection of flatterers as +Napoleon himself, and gently warns him against them from +time to time. Though she never asks anything for herself, +she will often enough beg him to help the numerous Corsicans +who come to visit her, and thus does her best for whilom family +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span>friends. Once, indeed, and late in the day, she puts in a plea +for something she has much at heart. She would like Ajaccio +to become the capital of Corsica, instead of Corte. A stirring +of family pride! The Emperor issues a decree to this effect, +understanding perfectly well what moves her, and says: “My +mother was born to reign over a kingdom.”</p> + +<p>But she cannot get him to do anything for Lucien. “I love +him more than all the others,” she says, “because he’s not been +so lucky.” The Emperor is adamant: “No feelings of affection +can weigh against reasons of State. I will only accept as relatives, +those who serve me. He who does not soar with me, ceases +to belong to my family.”</p> + +<h3>XIII</h3> + +<p>At Paris, in his study, Napoleon has a silent witness of his +activities; a bronze bust of Frederick the Great.</p> + +<p>He had grown up in the days when the renown of the last +of the famous commanders was still fresh; and, indeed, he had +become lieutenant before the king died. Like all the generals +of the day, in the art of war he was a disciple of Frederick. +He had not yet come into personal contact with the Prussian +army, but he still had considerable respect for it, although +Frederick’s immediate successor had won no laurels against +the soldiers of France. He knew Frederick William III. to be +foolish and weak; and if, none the less, he tried to induce the +Prussian ruler to enter into an alliance, and hoped to turn +Prussia’s antagonism towards Austria and Russia to his own +uses, it was because he continued to entertain an unavowed +respect for the only foreign army in Europe which had covered +itself with glory during the eighteenth century. But when +Prussia showed him, not her strongest side, the military, but +her weakest, the political, his respect waned.</p> + +<p>In the previous year, before Austerlitz, he had offered +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span>Frederick William an alliance. After Trafalgar, when Francis +and Alexander were courting Prussia, and after Austerlitz, +when the indications were in favour of France, the weakling +monarch continued to vacillate, always hoping to better his position +by neutrality. Then, when the Emperor was stronger +than ever before, the Prussian ruler seized the first pretext for +making warlike preparations against France. Had not Napoleon +violated Prussian neutrality last year by marching +through Ansbach?</p> + +<p>What has really decided the king’s attitude is the mood of +the democrats, in conjunction with his dread of mortified national +pride, and, in especial, with his uncertainty as to the +loyalty of some of his bellicose generals. In Nuremberg, a +bookseller had been tried by court martial and shot for publishing +a lampoon against the French army and circulating it +in places which, in accordance with the terms of the treaty, +were legitimately occupied by French troops. The decision of +the court was formally just; but the indignation it aroused, +being moral, was juster. The Emperor realised this, and +wanted to avoid war. He proposed a mutual withdrawal of +troops. Through the mouth of his envoy, he explained that +Frederick William had only to say whether the presence of +French soldiers in Westphalia annoyed him. Then he wrote +personally to the king: “I hold unalterably to our alliance.... +But if your answer shows me that on your side you repudiate +this alliance, and put your trust solely in the power of arms, +then indeed I shall be compelled to make war. Nevertheless, +battles and victories notwithstanding, my feelings will remain +unchanged. Since I regard this war as a wicked one, I shall, +even then, propose peace.”</p> + +<p>In private, however, with mingled feelings of anger and contempt, +he says hard things about Prussia. He cannot believe +that country to be so mad as it seems. “Its cabinet is +despicable; its sovereign a weakling; its court ruled by young +officers who will risk anything.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span></p> + +<p>A fortnight before the outbreak of war, he still finds it impossible +to believe in its coming.</p> + +<p>He is mistaken. The men of noble birth who officer the +Prussian army, the men who, under Frederick the Great, defeated +France, and were subsequently defeated by France, +want to rehabilitate themselves. The middle classes are inspired +with ardent nationalist sentiments. The Prussians are +ready to “risk anything”; their eyes are fixed on a protectress +in whom they trust. The queen of Prussia is a passionate +advocate of war, for the tsar is now allied with Prussia, and +during his stay in Berlin she has recognised in him the manliness +that is lacking in her husband. After Austerlitz, Alexander +had promptly withdrawn into his own realm, to await a +more favourable opportunity. Now the opportunity had come.</p> + +<p>We learn from Talleyrand that Napoleon was full of secret +disquietude at having to draw the sword once more. He had +been dazzled by the feats of the great Frederick’s soldiers. +Never before had he fought against an army famous in story. +“I fancy we shall find them tougher metal than the Austrians.” +All the more reason for getting quickly across the Rhine! A +week after the beginning of the advance, he gains his first +victory. At Saalfeld, the best of the Prussians fell, Prince +Louis Ferdinand, the first and finest blossom shattered in the +first storm.</p> + +<p>Confusion prevails among the Prussians, and the king contributes +to its spread. General Scharnhorst had advised him +to attack two weeks earlier, but the irresolute ruler had waited +for the French offensive. The duke of Brunswick is commander-in-chief; +but instead of leaving the management of the +campaign to this officer, at the last moment the king comes to +the fighting front. “We don’t know whether the headquarters +should be called royal or ducal.” The duke obeys the king +when he ought to command. Questions of precedence necessitate +the division of the forces into three army corps, for Prince +Hohenlohe, who is a reigning prince, cannot possibly fight +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span>under a duke. Once more the enemy holds out the hand of +friendship. Two days before the main battle, and while confident +of victory, Napoleon writes:</p> + +<p>“I do not wish to derive any advantage from the folly of +your advisers, whose blunders in statesmanship amaze Europe.... +Well, we are at war.... But why should we lead our +subjects to slaughter one another? I care nothing for a victory +that is bought with the lives of many of my children. If +I were at the beginning of my career, and had reason to dread +misadventure in battle, I should have no right to use such language. +But, Sire, you will be defeated. You will sacrifice the +quiet of your days and the lives of your subjects without the +smallest justification.... I have nothing to gain from Your +Majesty; I do not want and never have wanted anything from +you. This war is unwise! I know that my letter may wound +your royal sensibilities, but the circumstances make bluntness +essential. I am telling you what I really think.... Restore +peace to yourself and your territories. Even if I could never +be your ally, you will always find in me a man, ... whose +greatest wish it is never to shed blood by making war with +princes who are not the adversaries of his industry, his commerce, +and his policy.”</p> + +<p>Louise, who has followed her husband to the front, is a +woman with more peaceful instincts than is pleasing to the +ambition of the generals on the headquarters staff. When the +letter is read, however, she agrees with their scornful view that +Napoleon writes as he does because he is afraid of a catastrophe +to himself. Is she, then, unable to realise that destiny +has placed her among these men to-day, that she may influence +her weak-willed husband in the direction of a humane settlement +of the dispute? She cannot see it! Napoleon is nothing +but “an infernal monster risen out of the mire,” and to-morrow +he must fall!</p> + +<p>“My affairs march very well,” writes this monster, meanwhile, +to his wife. “Everything is going just as I should like. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span>The king and the queen are in Erfurt. If they want to see a +battle, they will have this gruesome delight. I feel splendid. +Although I am travelling from eighty to a hundred miles a +day, I have put on weight. I go to bed at eight in the evening, +get up at midnight, and remember when I do so that you have +not yet retired to rest.” The last night before the battle he +refuses to go to bed. At three in the morning, one of his officers +urges him to take a nap, but he exclaims: “Impossible! I +have my plans here” (he touches his forehead), “but nothing +yet in my maps!” Then he quickly explains the whole plan. +“Do you understand?... To horse with you and find me a +place from which I can get a commanding view of the battle-field. +I shall be there at six.” Then he throws himself on the +camp-bed, and instantly falls asleep.</p> + +<p>In the course of that night, the Prussian headquarters staff +is informed by its scouts that remarkable movements are going +on among the French troops. Oh, well, to-morrow will be time +enough to discuss the matter! But before the day dawns, the +Emperor has ridden along the front, has fired his guard with +enthusiasm, has recalled the day of Austerlitz.</p> + +<p>He defeats the Prussians near Jena, while simultaneously +Davoust is routing a superior force of the enemy at Auerstädt.</p> + +<p>When the valiant duke of Brunswick is fatally wounded, no +one ventures to take over the command. They all lose their +heads, and what is left of the army of the great Frederick flees +in disorder through Saxony eastward.</p> + +<p>“Chère amie, I did some fine manœuvring against the Prussians, +and won a great victory yesterday. Twenty thousand +prisoners, and we took about a hundred cannon and colours.... +Have been camping here for a couple of days. I’m feeling +splendid. Farewell. Take good care of yourself, and +love me.”</p> + +<p>In Weimar, he meets the reigning duchess. Charles Augustus, +the duke, has been in a warlike frame of mind for the last +twenty years. He is Prussophil, and, in defiance of advice, has +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span>joined issue with the Emperor. Now, as Prussian general, he is +in full flight after the disaster at Jena. No one knows his +whereabouts. The court has also fled from Weimar. Only the +duchess and her minister, Goethe, remain behind. When the +Emperor sees the lady for the first time, he says: “I am sorry +for you! How could the duke ...!” But to his amazement +(for he is always against women’s rule—in especial, when the +woman happens to be a German) the duchess answers him with +so much clarity, simplicity, and dignity, explains the duke’s +friendship with Prussia in so steadfast a manner, that he is +shaken, behaves courteously, returns in the evening in order to +have a long talk with her, and, after having vowed the annihilation +of her dynasty, promises her that nothing shall be done to +injure the duchy. Why?</p> + +<p>Because this woman has never interfered in politics, has +not now affected a knowledge she does not possess, but in simple +camaraderie has spoken on behalf of her absent husband, and +with princely demeanour has pleaded for her country. She has +made use neither of cajolery nor anger, but has kept the golden +mean between pride and deference becoming to a conquered +monarch. Years afterwards, the Emperor remembered this +woman who by her noble bearing had saved her country and her +dynasty.</p> + +<p>In Berlin, he meets another woman. Count Hatzfeld, who +has been negotiating with the conqueror on behalf of Berlin, +writes indiscreetly to one of the discredited generals, and gives +him details concerning the strength of the French troops. His +letter is intercepted. The Emperor, in a rage, declares he is +to be shot as a spy. Berthier is depressed by the command; +Rapp endeavours to soften Napoleon. Countess Hatzfeld is +brought to see him; she falls at his feet. He invites her to +Potsdam: “When I showed her the count’s letter she answered +me guilelessly, with a sob, and with deep emotion: ‘Yes, that is +certainly his handwriting.’ As she read the document the tone +of her voice moved me to my innermost being. I pitied her. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span>You see,” he concludes his report to Josephine, “I love good, +simple, and gentle women.”</p> + +<p>Love? There stands the man of might; the countess is +naught to him as far as her womanhood goes; hardly has he +noticed her figure or her dress. But these natural passions, +womanly pleadings, tears, and silences, move him deeply. He +throws the letter into the fire: “The proof I had has been +burned. Your husband is safe.”</p> + +<p>Thus does Napoleon the Conqueror deal with two German +women whose husbands have fought against him. He deals +leniently with them because their conduct appeals to his heart.</p> + +<p>He dislikes Queen Louise. A politician, that woman, who +has driven her country and her consort into a disastrous enterprise, +who has egged this quiet-loving man into war when he +could have had peace with honour. Napoleon execrates such +a woman. Since she seizes every opportunity to spit fire at +him, he determines to strip her of all her womanly dignity. He +jeers at her in official bulletins: “She is a woman with beautiful +features but little brain.... She must be terribly tortured +by pangs of conscience for all the suffering she has brought +upon her country. Her husband is a man of honour who desired +happiness and peace for his people.”</p> + +<p>He has made a triumphal entry into Berlin. His suite is +brilliantly dressed, but he is as simply clad as ever, and his +hat is adorned with a cockade worth about a penny. Nothing +interests him so keenly as Sans Souci. He holds the sword of +the great Frederick in his hands, and takes it away as a trophy +more priceless than any other he could ever find in his whole +life. He would not exchange it for the throne of Prussia. But +he heartily despises Frederick’s descendants, and publicly attacks +the queen:</p> + +<p>“In the queen’s rooms was found the tsar’s picture, which +he himself had given her. Also there was her correspondence +with the king.... These documents go to prove how unhappy +those princes can be who permit their wives to interfere +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span>in affairs of State. Notes and State papers reeked of musk, +and lay beneath ribbons and laces and other fal-lals of the +toilet.”</p> + +<p>An unworthy tone! He seems to have forgotten the patriotic +impulse of the queen. If, however, we compare these taunts +with what the best and greatest of contemporary Prussian +statesmen, the non-Prussian Baron vom Stein, wrote about +Queen Louise, we can understand the Emperor’s humour, +though hardly excuse it.</p> + +<p>Serious considerations restrain him from destroying the +house of Hohenzollern, though he had already drafted a decree +to dethrone the king. Napoleon has to bear the tsar in mind. +In Berlin he thinks in terms of Europe as a whole: “On the +Elbe and on the Oder we have won our India, our Spanish colonies, +and our Cape of Good Hope.” The grandiose words +as yet only announce the start of the voyage; but with mighty +strokes of the oar he is now to round the cape of his hopes. In +the castle at Charlottenburg he dictates the greatest, most un-bloody, +and most dangerous of all his declarations of war: +Charlemagne closes all the harbours of Europe against English +ships. If the island cannot be reached by his sword? Well, +henceforward, Europe shall be placed out of her reach! All +merchandise, parcels, postal communications, etc., from and to +England and her colonies are to be held up; every Englishman +at large on the Continent is now a prisoner of war.</p> + +<p>How is the carrying-out of the scheme to be supervised? +Hitherto, action has always followed close upon the heels of +thought. Now, he has to make treaties with various States, +and, first of all, with Russia and Austria. Austria has fragments +of the sometime realm of Poland within her frontiers; +but Russia wants them for herself; Poland, tossed between the +two, pays allegiance to neither. As to a god, the Poles turn +to the Emperor. He, the champion of the freedom of the peoples, +must come to their aid and free them. What is to be +done? How does Napoleon solve the Polish problem?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span></p> + +<p>“Shall I set up the throne of Poland anew, and thus restore +a great nation to life? God alone, who has the fashioning of +all things in his hands, can solve this riddle.” Words of +Delphic cunning, which he sends forth throughout Poland. God +alone sees the smile with which he signs the proclamation! In +addition he takes three measures. He demands that the Poles +shall provide troops, for “not until you have an army of forty +thousand men will you be worthy of the name of Nation.” +Next he proposes to the Austrians an exchange of Galicia for +Prussian Silesia. But the real key to the Polish problem he +fishes out of the Bosphorus, for he tells the sultan to drive the +Russians out of Moldavia, and to meet him, the Emperor, on +the Dniester; thereby he hopes to bind, not only Russia, but +also the trembling Austria, to the lower Danube.</p> + +<p>There he sits in Sans Souci, the ancient candelabra in Frederick’s +study scintillate over his head, Voltaire’s picture smiles +sideways, through the wraith, at his great fellow-countryman. +He sits alone at his game of chess, calculates the moves of his +unseen opponent, his glance takes in wider and wider circles; +suddenly the traits of his new ancestor suffer a change, the big +blond beard vanishes, the nose is flatter, the eyes lose some of +their confident glance, then become bolder again: instead of the +great Charles, he is facing the great Alexander. Yes, now, indeed, +he will conquer England in India! World dominion hovers +before his eyes.</p> + +<p>A new opponent leaps on to the board. Couriers bring the +news of a revolt in Spain. He pales. The whole game is imperilled. +Once more Napoleon sees clearly that he who would +vanquish England must gain Russia’s friendship. But in order +to conquer Russia or to win her over to his side, he needs a +fulcrum. He has one ready to hand: Poland in revolt. +Napoleon journeys to Warsaw.</p> + +<p>While in imagination he had, during these weeks, been weighing +the fate of continents, his heart had felt lonely. Yet he did +not trouble himself about women. Only to his wife did he write +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span>gallant things: “I love you, and long for you.... These +Polish women [in Posen] are all Frenchwomen in their hearts. +But for me there is only one woman. Do you know who she is? +I would tell you what she is like, only I should have to flatter +her too much, so that you could recognise yourself in the description. +Seriously, my heart can say naught but good of +her. Oh, these long nights, all alone!”</p> + +<p>Josephine, with the keenness of a foxhound, senses a rival +under these cajoleries. But she has no reason, as yet, to be +jealous, or to make so long a journey. He answers her that +“the agitation of your letter tells me that you beautiful women +know of no limits to your powers. What you wish must come +to pass. I, on the other hand, recognise that I am the most +enslaved of men. My master has no mercy on me, for my master +is the nature of things.”</p> + +<p>Hardly has he finished touching upon these airy trifles in +weighty words, when a courier brings him tidings of the great +consequences of a trifling affair: the beauty to whom Caroline +had introduced him in the previous winter, and who was expecting +a child before he went away, has been confined. At +last! It is then proved that he does not lack the power which +Dame Nature grants to other men! A great gift from above. +A boy. He turns to his intimate and exclaims with the ingenuous +delight of a youth: “Duroc! I’ve got a son!”</p> + +<h3>XIV</h3> + +<p>The brilliantly lighted ball-room forms a background where +Poland displays her greatest beauty and her most precious +jewels. This is the evening of evenings. In the old palace of +Poland’s kings at Warsaw, the Emperor of the French is to be +shown the calibre of the nation that has been suffering so long. +Will he admire the national dance, its music and its figures? +Will the eyes of the ladies ravish him, those eyes which are +pools of Slavic melancholy? Will the flattery of the speeches +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span>or the idolising comparisons appearing in the newspapers make +his heart as wax? Such, according to the sanguine, are the +questions upon which hang the fate of the nation. The procession +has passed by; he has spoken to many in cheerful vein; +now he is standing in a recess, dividing his attention between +his interlocutor and the dancers. He is thinking of Paris, +where, for seven years, he has never failed to be in January.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus09" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus09.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Bonaparte in 1802, as First Consul. Engraving by Alexandre + Tardieu. After a drawing by Jean Baptiste Isabey.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Suddenly his gaze is focused on a special point, and he forgets +to carry on the conversation. A hundred watchful eyes +follow the glance of the huntsman. Who is the quarry? A +little later he approaches a group, asks for the names of those +composing it, and smilingly, with a courtliness of manner rarely +shown by him on public occasions, he draws the lady of his +choice out of the circle of her companions. She is a gentle, +fair-haired beauty, dainty and small, has blue eyes, appears to +be of a yielding disposition, and is eighteen years of age. She +is simpler in her dress than any of the others, and her behaviour +is correspondingly quiet and without display or the lures of +coquetry. The Emperor chooses her as partner in a contra-dance, +delights in her grace and her lovely voice, finds her +broken French bewitching. While she smiles and is covered +with confusion, her name is whispered from room to room +throughout the palace: Countess Walewska.</p> + +<p>“Who is she?” asks Napoleon later of his friend Duroc. She +is the daughter of an ancient line, the family so impoverished +that the lady has been married off to a wealthy old count whose +youngest grandchild is ten years older than the new wife.</p> + +<p>“I had eyes only for you,” he writes to the countess next +day. “I admired only you, and longed to be with you alone. +Send me an answer quickly, in order that the fire which is consuming +me may be appeased. N.” But the messenger, Duroc, +returns with neither answer nor tidings of any sort. The Emperor +is nonplussed. Something quite new. Twelve years ago +the brigadier general had had such a rebuff. But Napoleon, +never. Have not all women, whether princesses or actresses, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span>have not all the beauties, invariably come to him at his slightest +nod of invitation? The more enchanting, therefore, is this lady +who shrinks back so virginally from the unveiled desire of a +man.</p> + +<p>“Have I displeased you? I hoped the opposite. Or has +your first feeling vanished? My passion grows. You rob me +of my rest. Vouchsafe a little joy, a little happiness, to the +poor heart that would fain worship you! Is it so hard to give +me an answer? You now owe me two.” This second letter is +unsigned. Suppose an amateur of such matters to come across +it in a collection of love letters, would he dream of ascribing +its authorship to Napoleon? Neither heavy nor dictatorial, +neither emotional nor stilted, but romantic rather is the tone. +Nevertheless, since worldly convention demands that she should +pay no heed to his suit, again his missive remains unanswered. +Terrible the position of the adjutant who for the second time +has failed in the carrying out a movement ordered by his chief. +The Emperor, controlling his passion, thinks:</p> + +<p>“If neither my pleading nor my rank has any effect on this +tender creature, I must try to gain my end by a half-promise, +which I need not regard as binding.” He writes: “There are +moments in life when high position is a heavy burden. That is +borne in on me at this moment.... If only you would! +None but you can overcome the obstacles which separate us. +My friend Duroc will do what he can to make it easy for you. +Oh, come, come! All your wishes shall be fulfilled! Your country +will be even dearer to me, if you have compassion on my +heart. N.”</p> + +<p>Now we should recognise his wonted style, even without the +capital N. Nevertheless, how amazingly the loneliness of the +man of might breathes from these lines. The third love-letter +is intelligently composed, and therefore achieves its purpose—but +it discloses to us the tragical mask of destiny, the destiny +of one who wishes to walk along the course he has planned for +himself, and who is sacrificing his human happiness to this +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span>heroical monomania. He roams through the splendid palace, +arms locked behind. For weeks his mood has been one of +yearning, but always he has been alone. For months he has +hardly been near a woman. Now, having fallen passionately +in love, storm-tost, he dismisses his secretaries, will not discuss +matters with his generals, refuses to admit deputations, will +not go out riding. The whole mechanism he has constructed is +stationary. The palace, the army, Paris, Europe—let them +wait. He, more a slave than any other, refuses to-day to obey +the nature of things; a man of thirty-seven whose wife, well +past forty, no longer stirs his passion. Profoundly moved +by a girl, twice rebuffed, he must devise lures from his other +realms, must tempt her with the freedom of her country, +in order that, after nearly a decade of quiescent feeling, he may +spread upon the shoulders of a young woman the mantle of his +yearning for tranquillity.</p> + +<p>She, alarmed at the assault of this virile will, sits the same +afternoon among her friends and relatives who are urging the +sacrifice upon her, for Poland’s sake. In this mood, she at +length goes to see him. The three evening hours she spends +with him are spent in tears. By gentle arts he restores her to +calm, and to her astonishment she finds that this dreaded man +of iron is a tender wooer.</p> + +<p>“Marie, sweet Marie, my first thought is yours!” she reads +next morning. “I shall see you at dinner. I pledge you my +word. Please wear the nosegay that I send; it will be a secret +messenger of our feelings amid the crowd; thus we shall understand +one another. If I lay my hand on my heart, you will +know that it is wholly yours; for answer, press your flowers to +your bosom. Love me, my charming Marie; do not take your +hand away from the flowers.”</p> + +<p>Not until three days later does she become his. Then she +comes to see him every evening. But, as well as this, she must +be present at every reception, for otherwise he stays away. +What is she to him? The second creature in the world who +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span>asks nothing from him; his mother was the first. Never has he +known another woman who did not expect his magician’s hand +to shower on her the treasures of the universe: jewels, palaces, +crowns, money. This woman wants nothing from him, and +gives him everything. Countess Walewska is the quiet and loving +companion whom Napoleon’s stormy soul has sought. It +will be long before he will be willing to part from her. “She is +an angel. It may justly be said that her spirit is as lovely as +her features.”</p> + +<p>Josephine wants to come? Now? He smiles. Since the +Cairo days, Bonaparte has never had a mistress while campaigning, +whereas his generals have had plenty of love-affairs. +There can be no doubt that the story of this intrigue, distorted +of course, will quickly be carried to Paris, and in a veiled form +will find a way to Josephine’s ears. She is waiting there, waiting +to be summoned to his side. Now, in the most graceful way +in the world, he deceived the wife who had deceived him for +years. The weather, the roads, the public insecurity, made it +impossible. “How gladly should I be spending the long winter +nights at your side.... If you are always weeping, then you +lack courage and character. I cannot endure cowardly people. +An empress must have courage!”</p> + +<p>Now he betrays her. “I laughed when you wrote to me that +you had taken a husband in order to be with him. In my +simplicity, I had believed that woman was made for man; man +for country, family, fame. Forgive my ignorance. One can +always learn something from lovely women.... Besides, I +could not think of any lady with whom I was exchanging letters. +If there really were one, I can assure you she would have +to be as beautiful as a newly opened rose. Does that apply to +the lady of whom you speak?”</p> + +<p>See how this ambiguous trifling amuses him. His heart is so +light sometimes. He can play the gallant as if there had never +been a revolution in the world. When, after a few weeks, he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span>resumes a campaigner’s life, his farewell to his Polish inamorata +is an au revoir.</p> + +<p>Now Russia is open to him for the first time, a land like the +desert. Endless steppes, covered with snow or mud; no bread, +and hardly any roads. After a few skirmishes, the tsar slowly +retreats. Can we follow him? Whither is he enticing us? Who +will feed the army? There is nothing in this land to be seized, +nothing such as there is in prosperous Germany, no storehouses. +Had not a few hundred Polish Jews, shrewd speculators, +seen the chance of striking good bargains, the regiments +would have perished, at this early date, in the year 1807. When +the Emperor, whose carriage has perforce been left behind, is +riding towards Pultusk, he hears murmurs from the ranks. +This is a sound he has almost forgotten; he heard it for the +first and last time eight years ago at Acre. His generals report +suicides among the men. Thousands of starving soldiers +desert, to become marauders. The Emperor is dumbfounded +at the news, but what can he do? “I know my Frenchmen,” +he says. “It is difficult to march them on distant expeditions. +France is too beautiful.”</p> + +<p>It is not surprising, therefore, that when he compels the Russians +to fight, for the first time he should fail to conquer in the +open field. He is not actually beaten at Eylau, but both the +contending armies sustain terrible losses, and the issue is indecisive. +A first warning not to campaign against Russia! +Report after the battle: the soldiers are rifling the potato +clamps for food, and the horses are tearing straw from the +roofs. The whole countryside is filled with invalided soldiers, +and none of the colonels know how many men are left in their +commands. The Emperor speaks:</p> + +<p>“We shall stay here a couple of days more, and then withdraw +a few miles. Post guards on all the bridges over the +Vistula; no one must be allowed to cross, except the amputated. +Don’t bother about stragglers; no punishments.” But these +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span>signs of the disintegration of his army trouble him more than +in former days. A cramp of the stomach, from which he has +already suffered at times, becomes more frequent, and he says: +“I bear within me the germs of an early death, and shall die of +the same trouble as my father.” Cancer is the family heritage: +his grandfather, his father, his uncle, Lucien, and Caroline, all +perished of this disease.</p> + +<p>He writes to his brother: “We are living here amid snow +and mud, without wine, bread, or brandy.” But this is a +private missive. From Osterode, where he is housed in a barn +among the soldiers, and eats whatever they can shark up for +him (a comrade among his men, as he had been years before in +Italy), his bulletins to Paris speak of a great victory, and of a +Russian rout. The casualties are stated at a third of the true +figures. The French army is in fine case, and can stay where +it is for a year if thought best.</p> + +<p>For the second time he must learn that his nerves are not +made for waiting. Here, as in Egypt, this commander finds +that there is something uncanny about standing still. Only +once more in the whole course of his fifteen years as a conqueror +will there be another such pause of two or three months +in a place far from Paris. Both these epochs of tedious consideration, +cautious negotiation, are filled out in the interludes +of work by giving free rein to his pent-up emotions. They are +filled out with idylls.</p> + +<p>Finckenstein, a fortified Prussian castle, is now the scene +of his activities, while he is awaiting the thaw on the roads and +in the hearts of his adversaries. There are huge fireplaces, +which are a delight to him, “for I love to look into the fire at +night when I can’t sleep.” The place is roomy enough to house +the envoys and couriers. For ten weeks, the world is ruled +from here. In the great bedroom upstairs, he has had his iron +camp-bed set up beside the huge four-poster.</p> + +<p>No one knows that the Polish countess occupies the next +room—or hardly any one except Constant, his valet, and Rustam, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span>the Mameluke. She rarely goes out, and then only after +dark. The time is passed in embroidery, reading, and waiting, +until the door opens, and he enters, to devote himself to her for +a time. He has his meals with her alone. In these two rooms +are the commander’s headquarters, and here the Emperor has +enshrined his idyll. There are no dynastic wishes to trouble +him as in Paris, no jealousies, and no bargainings for jewels; +there is no wish to shine; nothing but the desire to remain +hidden from the world, a wordless wish in the eyes of this sweet +girl of eighteen who has learned to love him.</p> + +<p>“I know,” he says to her, “you would rather live without me. +Yes, yes, don’t protest; I know it! But you are good and +gentle; your heart is pure. You don’t want to rob me of the +few hours of happiness which you can give me every day? To +think that people regard me as the happiest of men!”</p> + +<p>A dispatch comes to tell him that his nephew and heir, the +son of King Louis, is dead. How the news affects him is shown +by his moving words to Josephine; but he cannot tell his wife +all the thoughts that now enter his mind at Finckenstein. That +little cocotte in Cairo, what he had really hoped from her was +a son. How if this beautiful woman, this noblewoman whom he +loves, were to give him an heir? Would he then make her his +empress? Why not? He looks at Walewska, but keeps his +own counsel.</p> + +<p>What is Paris saying?</p> + +<p>With ear attent, he listens to the rumours that reach him +across the Polish steppe. The funds are falling. Malicious +jests are current on the boulevards. “Where are our brave +lads?” ask the Parisians. Caution is needed! What begins +as a gentle shower, may turn into a raging storm; and the man +who knows how to control the thunder is far away. He offers +the beaten Prussians a separate peace, and even proposes a conference, +but Queen Louise holds firmly to the alliance with the +tsar. Austria, too, is deaf to his voice.</p> + +<p>Despite all, here and now, with enemies to right and to left +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span>of him, and without any firm standing-ground, he begins to +dream once more of the conquests of Alexander. Messengers +bearing heavily sealed letters ride forth from the courtyard +of Finckenstein; strangers bringing dispatches arrive from remote +lands and make their way to him across distant mountains. +To this northern headquarters comes a Persian envoy, and the +messenger of the King of Kings reverently bows his head to +greet the sublime Emperor of the West. Next day, Napoleon +and the Persian emissary come to an understanding. The +Emperor will force the tsar to give back Georgia to the shah. +In return, the shah will spur on the Afghans and the tribes of +Kandahar to attack the English in India; he will equip an army +for the invasion of Hindustan. If the Emperor wishes to send +an army against India, his men shall have free passage across +Persia.</p> + +<p>Hardly has the Persian departed, when a gorgeously attired +Turk rides in past the astonished sentries, bringing golden +gifts and a dispatch. A bespectacled oriental expert translates +it. Standing in front of the fire, the Emperor, having reduced +the eastern bombast to sober proportions, dictates a letter to +the sultan: “I regret very much that you ask for no more than +five hundred men instead of several thousand.... State your +demands clearly, and whatever you want shall be instantly +done. Get into communication with the shah of Persia, for +he, too, is an enemy of the Russians.... I offered your envoy +the artillerymen and other soldiers you need, but he would not +accept them, being afraid of hurting Mohammedan susceptibilities. +I am so powerful, and I am so desirous for your victory +(I wish this because of my friendship for you, and not on political +grounds alone), that I can deny you nothing.”</p> + +<p>The same day, he writes to Brother Louis, who has been +sending urgent appeals from his new kingdom, a letter which +may be regarded as a sort of general instruction for kings, +and which occupies five pages of print. He also sends orders to +Joseph, as to the latter’s conduct in Naples. To Jerome, who +in Breslau is commanding a corps of pretty actresses instead +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span>of his soldiers, Napoleon writes to ask why his brother never +sends complete reports, and why he has left six hundred men +in Schweidnitz, four hundred in Brieg. “Let me know your +exact plans, down to the smallest details, so that I can form an +accurate picture of your situation.” He likewise sends a missive +to all the bishops in France. They are to institute a public +thanksgiving for the Emperor’s victories; but he aims, also, at +exercising personal influence on each of his episcopal correspondents, +for he has learned that the dispute between himself +and the pope is making the ecclesiastics more and more +uneasy in their consciences. Meanwhile he sends a dozen orders +to Fouché: concerning Madame de Staël, and the extent of her +influence; concerning the salons of the aristocratic quarter; +and so on. He enquires about the two leading Parisian theatres; +their condition, their finances, and their repertoire. +“What has become of my librarian?” he asks in another letter. +“Is he dead, or enjoying himself in the country? That would +be a fine way of fulfilling his duties! I ordered him to send me +all newly published books, and to let me have the publishers’ +announcement lists, but I have not had a word from him.” +Draft for a new historical university, where young people may +learn about modern happenings as well as the story of ancient +days. To the Minister for Home Affairs: “Literature needs +encouragement. Let me hear your proposals for livening up +the various forms of belles lettres.” Enquiries as to the building +of a new Stock Exchange and of the Madeleine. How can +six millions be best applied for the encouragement of manufactures, +and what will be the best way of raising the money? +Two millions are to be spent in renovating his palaces. Arrangements +must be made for the Paris newspapers to publish +articles ostensibly based on information from Bucharest and +Tiflis, and describing Russia’s desperate situation.</p> + +<p>He smiles, glancing at his demure little friend. “You marvel +at my manifold activities? I have to keep watch on all my +posts. Before, I was only an acorn. Now I am an oak, the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span>ruler of nations. All eyes are fixed on me because I am in so +outstanding a position. A man must play his part, and cannot +always be natural. But, for you, I will become the acorn +once more.” Simple words, tranquilly uttered. One more evening +with her, and then he must take the field again, for May has +come, and the idyll ends with the leaving of winter quarters and +the extinction of the fires at Finckenstein. He will see her +again. They are both sure of this. But were he to forget +her, he could read the posy in the ring she gives him:</p> + +<p>“If you cease to love me, forget not that I love you.”</p> + +<h3>XV</h3> + +<p>On the Memel, where it flows past Tilsit, a huge raft is +anchored in mid-stream. The tree trunks and the planks are +covered with carpets, and in the centre a tent gleams in the +June sunlight, with the colours of France and of Russia flying +above it. On the western and the eastern banks are ranged the +guards of the two emperors. Boats set out from either shore. +Napoleon and the tsar enter the peace-tent simultaneously. +The soldiers, who were shooting one another only ten days +back, cheer lustily, and those in front, who can see, pass the +word to the thousands in the rear. The foes of yesterday have +embraced, their masters have made friends.</p> + +<p>Immediately after the great victory of Friedland, Napoleon, +as was his way, had offered his hand to the vanquished. At the +opening parleys, since the appropriate response had not been +made by the sultan, he had given a hint that the tsar might +well hope, some day, to establish the cross once more on the +dome of St. Sophia. The words were carefully chosen, for he +knew that the man to whom they would be reported next day, +a romanticist and a mystic, would be amenable to their influence. +Alexander had been prompt to take the proffered hand +of friendship. Now the enemies of Austerlitz and Friedland +stood face to face in amicable converse. Napoleon coldly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span>scrutinised his only serious rival on the Continent, a young man +with feminine lineaments, compact, delicately moulded, rosy; +hearing and eyesight rather weak. In an instant he felt assured +that the tsar was a man whom he could win over.</p> + +<p>By the end of a fortnight, the sometime adversaries have not +merely entered into an alliance, but have made friends. How +has this come about?</p> + +<p>“He is an amiable and pleasant fellow, a hero of romance,” +says Napoleon of him at this time. Inasmuch as the Emperor +is bored by novels, and has no use for heroes of romance in the +practical world of his calculations, there is an undercurrent of +criticism in these pretty phrases. But he adds: “A handsome +young man, more intelligent than is usually supposed.” At a +later date, Napoleon utters profound truths regarding Alexander: +“The tsar is an attractive figure, well formed to exercise +a victorious charm on those with whom he comes in contact. +Had I been inclined to surrender to superficial impressions, I +should have become devoted to him instantly. But there is +something peculiar about him, which I can best express by saying +that in all he is and does there seems to be something lacking. +The strangest point about the matter is that it is +impossible to foresee precisely what will be lacking in any given +instance, for the defect is infinitely variable.” Thus, the man +whose friendship is all-important to him seems to him utterly +feminine. His final judgment takes the form of an overwhelming +compliment: “Were Alexander a woman, I think I should +fall passionately in love with him.”</p> + +<p>It is not surprising that such a man should in a trice be +mastered by the seductions of the man of power; nor is it +remarkable that subsequently the tsar should forsake the Emperor, +for the surrender and the abandonment are both feminine. +No one has ever given a better description of Alexander than +Metternich: “A mingling of masculine merits with feminine defects; +favourite ideas, imperfectly thought out, initiate sudden +impulses. As a result, sudden embarrassments. He gives his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span>word too quickly, and then finds it very difficult to keep; not +strong enough for ambition in the grand style, and not weak +enough for mere vanity; the man of the world rather than +ruler. There is a sort of periodicity in his enthusiasms and disenchantments, +a periodicity of five-year terms during which an +idea waxes and wanes. At the close of each cycle, a new one +opens. To begin with, he is a liberal. Then he is filled with +hatred for the Frenchman; then he passes under the Frenchman’s +influence.”</p> + +<p>Five years hence, the new period will come to an end, and the +friends of to-day will be at war again.</p> + +<p>Maybe Napoleon already foresees this in the splendid tent, +where for two hours the emperors discuss the affairs of the +world; certainly he foresees it during the long dinners and during +the rides and drives together. Napoleon’s handling of +Alexander is masterly. At first, the Emperor assumes the role +of the cavalier, who cannot sufficiently extol the heroism of the +Russians; then he conveys the implication that ere long he must +surround himself with a bodyguard of his ministers, lest he +should be carried away by the tsar’s charm. At table, in order +to dazzle Alexander, he talks of his good luck—a thing to which +the man of destiny rarely alludes. He tells an anecdote, for +which this is the only warrant, of an incident that had happened +in Egypt. He had fallen asleep beneath an ancient wall, which +had suddenly crumbled to pieces without injuring him. Awaking, +he found in his hand something which at first he believed to +be a stone, but which, on examination, he saw to be a wonderfully +beautiful cameo of Augustus. Could any playwright invent +a more marvellous scene than this one invented by the +Emperor, in an after-dinner hour, to stir the imagination of the +mystical idealist, his companion?</p> + +<p>Enthralled, the tsar listens to the man of wonders. If he +could only know all that Napoleon knows! “I feel that I am +not really emperor as you are, for I am dependent on my generals.” +He asks a hundred questions about the art of war. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span>Naïvely, when the two men are out walking together, the tsar +asks: “What sort of position is this? How would you defend +it, and how would you attack it?”—“I explained matters to +him; and I told him that, if I were ever again at war with +Austria, he should lead an army corps of thirty thousand men +under my orders, so that he could learn the art of war.”</p> + +<p>Was ever woman in such humour wooed? Soon an offensive +and defensive alliance is concluded.</p> + +<p>“The lands between the Elbe and the Memel” (this is a +secret note to the treaty), “are to form the barrier between +the two great empires, a barrier to render harmless all the pin-pricks +which, in disputes between nations, are apt to precede +the firing of the guns.” In this treaty, each party to the alliance +gives only in order to take; and in a couple of words the +tsar sacrifices Prussia, the Emperor Poland, although each of +the two rulers has pledged a woman to maintain the integrity +of her country. Almost grotesque is the calm with which, +seated in a small room in an out-of-the-way and little known +town hard by the shores of the Baltic, the two men pore over +the map and cut pieces out of countries like Hotspur and Owen +Glendower in the play. The Emperor gives Coburg, Mecklenburg, +and Oldenburg, whose rulers have ties with the tsar, receiving +the Ionian islands and Cattaro in return. Only when +the tsar asks for the Bosphorus, does the Emperor demur. +“Constantinople? That carries world dominion with it!” In +the thorny thicket of these negotiations, we have stumbled upon +the decisive word that slumbers beneath the treaties and notes. +It is plain that when two men are dividing the world between +them, they will in the long run come to blows.</p> + +<p>The king of Prussia joins their company; and, since he lacks +dignity and intelligence, he is ignored by both the emperors. +Napoleon privately considers him a dullard, possessing neither +talent nor character, and adversely criticises everything connected +with him; even his dress, which is the uniform of a hussar, +headgear and all complete. Since the king is anxious about +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span>the very existence of Prussia, he leaves no stone unturned to secure +the safety of his State, and summons the queen to Tilsit. +The Emperor, curious to see his beautiful foe, intimates that he +would be pleased to receive the lady there. He uses the neutral +zone as a pretext for not setting out to meet her; but he has a +charming residence prepared for her reception. Then, with a +brilliant suite, though himself dressed in the simplest attire, he +rides forth to visit her, and is received by the queen, who stands +at the head of the flight of steps to welcome him.</p> + +<p>She is clad in white silk, adorned with ancient jewels, beautiful +and bitter. With seemingly innocent words, Louise breaks +down the unbearable constraint:</p> + +<p>“Sire, I hope you will excuse these narrow steps.”</p> + +<p>“What would one not excuse to reach such a goal,” he answers. +But when he continues to speak in this complimentary +tone, she says with dignity:</p> + +<p>“Sire, have we come here to speak of trifles?”</p> + +<p>Then she pleads as spouse and mother, and appeals to his +“magnanimous heart.”</p> + +<p>“You will be glad to be back in Berlin?”</p> + +<p>“Not in all circumstances. It depends upon you whether +we return home without sorrow in our hearts.”</p> + +<p>“Madame, I should be only too pleased....”</p> + +<p>When she moved to speak, he interjected:</p> + +<p>“Madame, how came Prussia to venture upon this war?”</p> + +<p>“The fame of Frederick the Great deceived us as to our +strength.”</p> + +<p>“How many times have I offered peace? Austria showed +more wisdom after Austerlitz.”</p> + +<p>“To-day, I beg you to establish a claim upon our gratitude.”</p> + +<p>“Have you not, yourself, destroyed my friendship for Prussia?”</p> + +<p>“Your heart is noble; it unites with other fine qualities, the +possession of a great character.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span></p> + +<p>“Unfortunately, general considerations often stand in the +way of special wishes.”</p> + +<p>“I do not understand questions of high politics; yet I do not +feel that I am foregoing any of my dignity as a woman if I +assure you....”</p> + +<p>He listens to her with growing interest. She notices “a +kindly smile trembling at the corners of his mouth, which seemed +to guarantee success,—when, at that moment, the king entered +the room.”</p> + +<p>The conversation has no political consequences, but the human +appeal has been very great. “It was just as well that the +king put in an appearance when he did,” the Emperor says to +the tsar with a spice of coquetry. “I might have made her +promises.... An exquisite woman. Instead of depriving her +of a crown, one is tempted to lay one at her feet.” After +another talk with Queen Louise, Napoleon writes to Josephine: +“She is a bewitching woman, and is most amiable in her behaviour +towards me. But you have no cause for jealousy.... +I should have to pay dearly for it were I to play the gallant +here.... She has been punished for her love of domination; +but she has displayed much character in the midst of her misfortunes.... +One has to concede that she said many sensible +things.”</p> + +<p>Even more amazing is his effect upon her, who had once +called him an infernal monster. She writes: “His head is +shapely, his lineaments are those of a thinker, his whole appearance +reminds one of a Roman emperor. When he smiles, +his mouth assumes a kindly expression....”</p> + +<p>This is Napoleon’s greatest victory. What other woman has, +after a few weeks’ acquaintance, been able to portray him more +charmingly? And yet she has reasons enough to detest him, +for, in spite of the humility of her attitude, he is as unyielding +as iron. Soon, however, she arouses his irritability. When, +at last, everything has been signed, and the Emperor, “in consideration +of his friendship for the tsar,” has secured the kingdom +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span>of Prussia against dissolution (though monstrous cantles +have been sliced off!), she cannot refrain from making renewed +attempts to soften him. Finally, he sees her into her carriage, +and she seizes this opportunity to ask him, for the last time, +why so mighty a man should have foregone the chance of earning +her eternal gratitude. He throws courtesy to the winds, +and answers with ironical bitterness:</p> + +<p>“What will you, Madame? I am to be pitied, for this is +obviously the work of my evil star!”</p> + +<h3>XVI</h3> + +<p>What is Paris saying?</p> + +<p>“Even were I ten thousand miles away from my homeland, I +could not leave the field free for bad citizens to stir up my +capital to strife!” He has now been ten months absent—longer +away than ever before or afterwards.</p> + +<p>He tightens up the home government all the more rigorously +since he fears that his censorious Parisians are slipping out of +his hands. This city, renowned for its biting wit, is not only +venting its feelings in songs and jokes that are the delight of +the boulevards; it is now assuming a sceptical tone, and is more +amused than impressed by his expeditions. Yes, he is right, +these Parisians need to be ruled by “an iron hand in a velvet +glove.” Now they are to experience both again, only the velvet +seems to have worn rather thin. Indeed, the whole tone of the +capital has become lax and disorderly. Do they want to return +to Directory days, when every one said and printed exactly +what he pleased?</p> + +<p>A new and more rigid censorship of newspapers and plays is +introduced. Historical drama must deal only with matters of +the remote past; and even Corneille, his ideal, is pruned of certain +passages. Before every opera he must be consulted, not +merely as to the general question of acceptance after it is written, +but earlier, as to the choice of topic; religious subjects +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span>are forbidden, and mythology is recommended. With lavish +means, on the imperial scale, a university is founded, modelled +after the Jesuit schools he detests; the professors are exempt +from military service, but to some extent celibacy is insisted on. +Chateaubriand is attacked, and his “Mercure de France” is +suppressed, because in opposition salons he has criticised the +Emperor, and has quoted Tacitus the historian as having taken +vengeance on Nero the tyrant.</p> + +<p>Madame de Staël’s new requests for permission to return to +Paris are rejected, “for she is able to make people think, people +who had never learned or had forgotten how to think.” To the +arch-chancellor he writes: “Summon Count R., and let him +know that his wife’s boudoir is the talk of Paris.” To Fouché: +“You are not policing Paris properly. Malicious gossip is +ripe. Keep watch on the speeches that are being made at +Citerni’s restaurant and in the Café Foy.” That young people +may learn who pleases God, every child in France patters the +following catechism: “We owe our Emperor Napoleon I. love, +respect, obedience, loyalty, military service, ... ardent prayers +for his welfare, ... because God has showered gifts on +him in peace and war, and has made him God’s image on earth.”</p> + +<p>He has moved a long way. When the heir of countless generations +believes such things of himself, others (or some of +them) can believe them of him. But it is only three years +since the Emperor, on the day of his coronation, had said that +every fishwife would laugh in his face were he to declare himself +the son of God....</p> + +<p>Is he no longer the same man? As of old, in personal matters +he renounces display. He will not have money lavished +on his study. Here, apart from the great writing table, there +are only a small settee (on which he lounges when he is dictating, +unless he wanders about the room), two tall bookcases, a +couple of chandeliers, and the bust of Frederick the Great; in +another simply furnished study, he has a bust of Cæsar. Looking +through some bills, he says: “I was charged much less when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span>I was lieutenant. Why should I pay more than any one else?” +When the private theatre of the palace is to be done up, he remarks: +“There must still be a lot of upholstered benches and +candelabras that were supplied at great expense for my coronation. +No doubt they are stored away somewhere.”</p> + +<p>When Rémusat exceeds the Emperor’s wardrobe allowance +of twenty thousand francs, he is dismissed, and his successor is +handed a long inventory of requirements, a list personally +drafted by the Emperor: “I think we can make a few more +savings even than this. See to it that the tailor does his work +properly. Lay the new clothes out for my inspection and approval +on the day of delivery, and then put them away at once +in my drawers.” In the case of uniform coats which are to be +delivered every quarter, he remarks: “This coat must last three +years.... In addition, forty-eight pairs of white breeches +and waistcoats, at eighty francs a suit = frs. 3840. One pair of +breeches and one waistcoat must be delivered every week, and +they must last three years.... Also twenty-four pairs of +shoes, to be delivered a pair every fortnight, must last two +years = frs. 312.” Shirts are the only things he orders in large +quantities, to be delivered a dozen every week, must last six +years.</p> + +<p>Here, in his intimate life, he is the same man as before; just +as, when he is campaigning, he is the old Bonaparte—a man of +few enjoyments. But upon the formalities of majesty, upon +court ceremonial, upon all the outworn display of the world +whose power he has broken, he will squander, not money alone, +but, more precious, time, and, more precious still, human +dignity and his own freedom.</p> + +<p>He no longer laughs sarcastically when those who dwell in +the aristocratic quarter frequent his court; he is genuinely +pleased. His mood is difficult to understand. The men of birth +who had mortified him in his cadet days by making fun of his +poverty, now throng the court of this same Corsican, and their +shadows on the shining parquet floor seem to mock the humility +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span>of their gestures. They are all back in the Tuileries now, the +Montmorencys, the Montesquieus, the Radziwills, the Noailles, +the Narbonnes, the Turennes, who for years had sworn the +death of the upstart. The princes of the Confederation of the +Rhine clank through the halls in their German uniforms; the +Mecklenburger pays his court to the empress; the heirs apparent +of Baden and Bavaria are privileged to hear the discussions +at the Council of State. To the old nobility this was a +pastime; to the Emperor it was policy, for he wished to make +sure of the allegiance of their class.</p> + +<p>But now there happens something which should never have +happened. Napoleon, the man who counts his coats as he +counts his soldiers; the man who in the army gives promotion +only for good service, and will never make an inefficient soldier a +lieutenant merely because he is some one’s son or nephew; the +man who sits contentedly in a barn among his officers, or by the +camp-fire among his grenadiers; the man who has expunged the +privileges of birth from his legal code; the man who has contraposed +the new idea of individual ability to the old idea of +hereditary dignity, and has thus turned a whole continent upside +down—this same Bonaparte, in the autumn of the year +1807, founds a new nobility, “because it is a part of human +nature that a man should wish to hand down to his children, +not property alone, but also tokens of esteem.” Counts and +princes, dukes and majorats, were created, not, as before, in +order to bestow a supreme dignity upon the bravest marshals, +the ablest senators and ministers, but that the sons and grandsons +of these new nobles, ne’er-do-wells, wealthy Parisian idlers, +and degenerates, might enjoy the privileges which the men of a +whole decade had fought and bled to abolish!</p> + +<p>Even the Legion of Honour was now desecrated by its own +creator, for these appointed knights, every one of whom had +done good service to his country, were to be entitled to bequeath +the semblance of this service as well as their property; and the +great dignitaries were to bequeath their princely rank and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span>appellation. Certainly, the bequest did not carry with it any +special civic privileges, but none the less the new institution +conflicted with the spirit of the Code Napoléon. “Liberty,” he +wrote with too much truth in a private letter at the time of +the issue of this decree, “liberty is only the need of the few whom +nature has endowed with exceptional talent; and there is no +danger in restricting it. The crowd loves equality. I do not +injure the many when I distribute titles without raising the old +question of birth; they are bourgeois crowns, which any one +can win. Clever men impart their own movement to those +whom they rule. My movement is an upward one, and therefore +the nation must move upwards.... I know that these +dukes whom I am endowing so richly that I make them independent +of me, will endeavour to elude me, and that they are +relying on what they call the caste spirit. But I can run +quicker than they, and shall soon overtake them.”</p> + +<p>Rarely has a great error had so grand a foundation. Not +many months before, in his letters, he had positively cudgelled +his brother for having founded a nobility in Holland; and, +speaking of his own intention to do the same thing, had excused +himself by saying that the Dutch were a trading people, and +that in the militarist French Empire matters were on an altogether +different footing. But in the very fact that he himself +had transformed France into a militarist State, lay the first +danger; and the second danger was the imperial crown, which, +with inexorable logic, was now diffusing its ancient symbolical +power athwart his realm.</p> + +<p>Before, when he had been Consul, he could with impunity +bestow civic crowns, gather honour and glory into a Legion, +and transmit the stupendous momentum of his flywheel to the +strongest of the lesser wheels in his country. But when he +granted estates to the best among his followers, he had to supply +titles to go with their estates, titles which were necessarily +inheritable; and when to the second and third best he now gave +titles without lands, the recipients naturally begged that the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span>titles, too, should be hereditary. Thus in a generation, several +thousand, and in three generations, as many as twenty thousand, +would bear these new titles, not for services rendered, not +for deeds splendidly performed, but with the semblance of superiority, +and, if not with the political privileges attaching of +old to birth and title, still with the social privileges which in +former days had aroused revolt in the masses.</p> + +<p>The treason and ingratitude which he is here laying up in +store will in due time open his eyes to his mistake. In truth, +the death sentence he passes on equality will prove to have +been a more grievous blunder than the execution of the duke of +Enghien. Then he was destroying a scion of the past; now he +is creating forebears who will resuscitate that past.</p> + +<p>The resolve issues from a moody mind; for this is a dark +year in Napoleon’s soul, although nothing seems to be going +awry. “You do not understand the nature of human motives,” +he said at this period to an honest democrat. “You +democrats are unable to draw distinctions between one another, +whereas personal interest plays its part in what every one does. +Look at Masséna. He has won an abundance of fame; but what +he wants now is to become a prince, like Murat and Bernadotte. +Soon he will get himself killed in the forefront of the battle, +thanks to his eagerness to win this distinction. Ambition is +what spurs the French!”</p> + +<p>He grows colder in his manner, forbids his brothers to speak +to him uninvited, is less regular in the arrangement of his work, +needlessly extends sittings far into the night. Even at Fontainebleau, +in the interludes between hunting and festivities, he +will have nothing but tragedies staged; rises from his bed at +midnight, and dictates to his secretaries till morning; can only +soothe the increasing irritability of his nerves by spending +hours in a hot bath. The cramps in his stomach trouble him +more frequently and grow more severe.</p> + +<p>He has periods of gloom like those from which he suffered in +youth, speaks of the roaring of the sea and the moaning of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[282]</span>wind, has the candles shaded when he is listening to the mournful +songs of Italian singers. None of his associates understand +these moods; they can only wonder, and they guess at +political motives. They do not realise that now, when the +dream of his fancy is being fulfilled, he cannot but be disillusioned +by the fulfilment, which comes otherwise than he had +dreamed, and far too slowly. “You are just like all the rest +of them,” he says roughly to one of his ministers who congratulates +him on the treaty of Tilsit. “I shall not be master +until I have signed the peace of Constantinople!”</p> + +<p>Worldwide power! Asia! These are the thoughts that continue +to pulse in his brain. If he, who is always studying the +tragical figures of the heroes of antiquity in search of his own +image, could find the true reflexion of his own soul, it would +be in the verses at this time being written by a German poet to +describe the inner aspect of the Faustian unrest which he, the +Emperor, with ever more violent blows, is now producing in the +countries of Europe.</p> + +<p>But these dark hours are followed by others in which his mind +recovers the wonted clarity of its calculations. Thus, to the +tsar, the other ruler of vast territories, he writes this imaginative +programme:</p> + +<p>“An army of fifty thousand Frenchmen and Russians, with +perhaps a few Austrians, could march to Constantinople, and +thence hurl itself upon Asia. Once it had reached the Euphrates, +England would lie at the feet of the Continent.... Within a +month of our coming to an understanding, our armies can be at +the Bosphorus: the influence will make itself felt as far as India.... +Of course the arrangements could only be concluded +in a personal interview with Your Majesty. Everything can be +signed and sealed before the middle of March. By May 1st, our +troops will be in Asia, yours in Stockholm. England will collapse +beneath the weight of the events with which the atmosphere +will be charged. It is true that Your Majesty and I +have proposed to enjoy peace within our far-flung empires.... +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[283]</span>But it is always wise and politic to do what destiny commands.... +That will make this crowd of pygmies bow their +heads, the pygmies who cannot see that the prototype of the +present age must be sought in the remote periods of history, +and not in the newspaper articles of the century that has just +closed.... In these few lines I am pouring out all my soul +before Your Majesty.”</p> + +<p>All his soul? Part of it, since the jewels are cut for the +delectation of a muddle-headed idealist whose own dreams will +be reflected with rainbow tints from their sparkling facets. But +the undertaking has its elements of well-considered realism. At +about this time he has an interview with a general who has been +in India. This expert declares the scheme practicable, and the +Emperor’s hesitations superfluous. Thereupon, the latter repeatedly +strokes his visitor’s face with both hands, and “bubbles +over with an almost childlike joy.”</p> + +<p>Thus imaginative was Napoleon.</p> + +<p>The present leads him once more to the shade of Charlemagne. +The previous year he had thought of visiting Rome to +have himself crowned Emperor of the West. The pope was to +lose all temporal authority, and to content himself with a few +millions as revenue; but the cardinals had vetoed the scheme. +Thereupon he had rancorously exclaimed: “The whole of Italy +will be subject to my laws. I will not disturb the independence +of the Holy See, if Your Holiness will pay me the like consideration +in temporal matters. No doubt Your Holiness is +sovereign in Rome, but I am Emperor of Rome!” This threatening +demeanour, this Carlovingian defiance, is in sharp conflict +with the constitutional law on which his power is assumedly +based. In Rome, as in India, he aims at the forcible realisation +of things which only the vision of his great forerunners created.</p> + +<p>More and more frequent become the signs which show that +Napoleon’s historical fantasies are tending to outsoar the limits +which, were he still an accurate calculator, he would regard as +attainable—and terrible will be the ultimate result.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span></p> + +<p>In Rome, for the time being, he is still the stronger; but so +much has the habit of command grown upon him, so overweening +has his belief in his unconquerable sword become, that he +has lost sight of the moral canons which, ten years earlier, he +(then a mere military commander with no experience in political +matters) had with clear insight defended against the hectoring +Directors, and had subsequently, though at considerable +risk to his popularity, incorporated in the Concordat. Now he +writes to Eugene that one of the cardinals has died leaving a +history of the popes. “If it represents an attempt to set forth +all the harm the popes have done to the Church and to Christendom, +let it be published forthwith.”</p> + +<p>Because the pope refused to exclude English ships from his +ports, the Emperor occupied Ancona, relying “upon the protection +of God, who crowns all my enterprises with his glory—If +Your Holiness would like to give my envoy his papers, you +are at liberty to do so. I should even prefer that you should +receive the English, or the caliph of Constantinople.—In conclusion +I pray to God that he may keep you for many years +more at the head of our Holy Mother the Church. Your pious +son, the Emperor of the French and the king of Italy, Napoleon.”</p> + +<p>The year before, simultaneously with these burlesque menaces, +he had sent warnings through Uncle Fesch that his own role +resembled that of Constantine, and had touched upon the old +struggle of the Middle Ages about investiture: “For the pope, +I am Charlemagne, seeing that I have joined the crowns of +France and Lombardy, and that my dominions border on the +East.... On condition of good behaviour, I shall make no +change in the outward semblance of things, but if the pope +thwarts me I shall degrade him to the status of a Roman bishop, +... and shall introduce the Concordat into Italy: for whatever +can make people happy in France, can make them happy in +Italy as well; and what does not contribute to the happiness of +life in one land, cannot do so in the other.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span></p> + +<p>This is truly Lutheran terminology! The man who lets his +imagination riot when his temporal affairs are merged in historical +mysticism, becomes circumstantially clear when religious +mysticism is a cloak for worldly concerns. Napoleon’s +reasoning inclined him towards Protestantism throughout life, +and it was only on grounds of policy that he resisted the inclination +to impose Lutheranism on France. Having determined +to make short work of it with the Head Shepherd (since +the pope hesitated to give England the go-by), he proposes to +sweep away the hindrance that severs the North Italian and the +South Italian kingdoms, that he may at length have all Italy +for his own—the Italy of which he wrongfully calls himself +king.</p> + +<p>Now he writes to Eugene, the viceroy, in the style of his military +decrees: “The present pope has too much power. Priests +are not made to rule. Why will he not render unto Cæsar the +things that are Cæsar’s, and refrain from troubling my States? +Perhaps the time is not far distant when I ... shall summon +the Churches of France, Germany, Italy, and Poland to a council, +and settle matters without the pope.” He wants to secure a +majority among the cardinals by the appointment of French +cardinals, but the pope will not allow their number to be increased, +and proposes to make up for this refusal by agreeing +to crown Napoleon Emperor of the West. Now, however, what +he had vainly asked for a year earlier has ceased to charm his +imagination. Since it has become possible, he regards it as +already achieved; and when the pope shows himself pliable in +money matters, Napoleon makes this an occasion for further +exactions. He threatens “to reunite this group of my crown +lands with the Empire at once, and to revoke the gift of +Charlemagne.”</p> + +<p>In a word, having a large appetite, he will make one mouthful +of all the Papal States. Thereupon the enraged pope breaks +off the negotiations, the Emperor has Rome occupied, and in +April the Papal States become a province.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[286]</span></p> + +<p>Napoleon, who has ranged from Cairo to Vienna, and will +range from Madrid to Moscow, Napoleon, who has often been +in Italy, hesitates to set foot in Rome; caution or circumstance +always keeps him away. He never confirms by actual +inspection the image he has carried in his mind from boyhood +upwards. Now for the second time his generals take possession +of what he had been wont to regard as the Eternal City. No +member of his entourage protests against the occupation. But +his mother feels it to be a mistake, and her distress affects her +health. Whereas formerly she had been content to say sceptically +of her son’s great fortune: “if only it lasts!” now, with a +presage of destruction, she confides her misgivings to her +intimates:</p> + +<p>“I foresee that he will bring disaster on himself and all his +family. He should be content with what he has. He tries to +grasp too much, and will lose all!”</p> + +<h3>XVII</h3> + +<p>“What the German peoples ardently desire is that persons +who are not of noble birth but are talented shall have equal +rights to your consideration and to office, so that there may +be an end, once and for all, to any kind of subordination, and +to all intermediaries between the ruler and the lowest classes of +the population. The advantages brought by the Code Napoléon, +publicity of legal procedure, and trial by jury, will be +characteristics of your monarchy. To lay my whole thought +before you: for the consolidation of this monarchy, I look more +to the effects just named than to the results of the greatest victories. +Your people must have a liberty, an equality, and a +prosperity hitherto unknown in Germany. This way of ruling +will be a stronger barrier between you and Prussia than the +Elbe, than fortresses, than the protection of France. What +nation would ever wish to go back to Prussian rule when it had +once experienced the advantages of a liberal government?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[287]</span></p> + +<p>In these sentences (which are written as a private lesson, and +are not penned with an eye to public effect), the Emperor expounds +to his youngest brother the great mission that is being +entrusted to the latter when he takes charge of the new kingdom +of Westphalia. Jerome’s task was to plant the fundamental +ideas of the revolution on German soil, a pioneer work, +this introduction of the first glimmer of self-government in a +part of western Europe where hitherto the inhabitants had +known only how to obey. In Holland and Italy, ideas of self-government +were by no means new. But as far as concerned +the princes of the Confederation of the Rhine, although, acting +under orders, they could introduce the new legal codes, they +lacked the traditions and the talents that might have made it +possible to initiate such changes from within. We can now +understand the historic mission of the youngest of the Bonapartes. +He was to make a great experiment in democracy; he +was to transform four million Germans from subjects into citizens. +Had this impetus been successful, the whole nation might +have been spared resubjugation to princely arrogance after the +War of Liberation.</p> + +<p>But the young man of twenty-three who, coming at the end +of this long family, had been reared as a prince, regarded his +kingship as a gallant adventure, in which money and vital energy +could be squandered. Youth was like champagne, which +bubbles when the cork is drawn. He forsook the arms of his +Württemberg consort for those of innumerable mistresses; ran +into debt, became involved in manifold scandals, and procreated +children all over the place; amused himself more than his subjects; +and, by this traditional deportment of one born in the +purple, succeeded for decades to come in discrediting the fine +notion of the choice of the fittest. There was something to be +said for the German view that, if they must have a prince to +ride across fields and men, they would like him to be one who had +inherited the position. Jerome, however, laughed at the world’s +mockery, and even laughed at his great brother’s exhortations.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[288]</span></p> + +<p>Napoleon had a predilection for his youngest brother, the +sort of weakness that fathers are apt to have for the latest +born of their sons. The brio of the young man’s life was in +keeping with his own tempo. Besides, Jerome was always +amiable, took nothing amiss. For instance, on one occasion +he asked Napoleon to make him commander-in-chief, and showed +no offence at a refusal couched in the following terms: “Are +you serious? After you have been through six campaigns, and +after you have had a half a dozen horses shot under you, you +can ask me again!”</p> + +<p>When Jerome went to war, he took his whole court with him—not +the queen, indeed, but all the prettiest of her ladies. He +issued proclamations in the style of the Roi Soleil. But he was +not mortified to receive the following imperial admonition:</p> + +<p>“I have read an order of the day issued by you, in which +you make yourself ridiculous. You are king, and the Emperor’s +brother! Fine qualities in war! In war, a man must be +a soldier before everything. When I am in camp, I need neither +ministers nor luxury. You must camp with the advance guard, +be in the saddle day and night, march with the advance guard, +so that you may get all the news without delay. If you don’t +like that, you had better stay at home in your palace! You +make war like a satrap! God in heaven, you never learned +that from me! I ride in front of the skirmishers, and do +not allow even my minister for foreign affairs to follow me.... +You make vast claims; you have a certain amount of +talent and a few good qualities, but these are put quite in the +shade by your follies. Furthermore, you are insufferably conceited, +and know absolutely nothing of public affairs.”</p> + +<p>The king sticks the letter into his jabot with a laugh. But +the Emperor? Cannot he realise, while he talks to his brother +like a father, that every one to whom he gives unmerited power +endangers the very essence of power? That these golden crowns +and the extemporised coats-of-arms he provides for them +create very unstable kings and princes? That homunculus +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[289]</span>escapes from the phial and makes fun of his master? This +perennial weakness where his relatives are concerned leads him, +at times, to assume what is a very unusual role for him, that +of the good-natured man; for, though he begins by issuing orders +to his brothers, he very often gives way to them in the end. +“My brother, inclosed you will find the constitution of your +kingdom”—thus he begins a missive of instruction in matters of +high politics, with a sentence that might have been taken out +of a comic opera. When he is in a friendly humour, he will end +a letter full of reproaches with a paternal smile: “Mon ami, I +love you, but you are so frightfully young!”</p> + +<p>Napoleon is no longer young. Inevitably, as his plans grow, +there must be an increase in that harshness which, in him, is +mainly the outcome of overwork. When, twelve years earlier, +he had come down from the Alps as a conqueror and his fame +had spread before him across the plain of Lombardy, his youth +had endowed the novelty of this campaign with a sort of romantic +innocence which carried his contemporaries off their +feet. Now, when the mountain torrent has long since widened +into a river, bearing on its broad bosom ships freighted with +the treasures of the world, and when the river is drawing near +to the ocean in which its waters will soon mingle with all the +waters of the earth; now, the gravity of this labour of Atlas +has stamped its imprint upon his features, has written its +message in his heart. Rare have become the hours of tranquillity, +few the moments of merriment and sportive humour; +and the heroical cynicism of his mission moulds him before the +eyes of the world into a statue of bronze.</p> + +<p>True, he had sent for his Polish countess. She was installed +in the very street where Josephine had first charmed him, and +where, again and again, a quaint superstition led him to house +his lady friends. Walewska is munificently provided for, and +Napoleon’s physician visits her every day. But, though there +is no secret about the matter, she leads a retired life, does not +use the box at the opera he has reserved for her, and seldom +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span>sees him now that she has come to Paris. This is an interlude +between one idyll and the next. He has made up his mind that +the child she is to bear him will be a son; and the event may +have still greater consequences to-day than it would have had +yesterday.</p> + +<p>For the first of his illegitimate children, the one of whose +birth he had received tidings in Berlin (when he had been reassured +to learn that there was no justification for the common +belief that he was sterile), has been put out of court by the +mother’s unwise importunity. Shortly after his return to +Paris, she had called. He would not see her, sending a message +to say that he received no one whom he had not summoned. He +provided her with a house and an income, and would have nothing +more to do with her. But he had the boy brought to him, +and playfully teased the little chap. For a moment, he even +thought of adopting him. All had to be done secretly. The +invisible master, whom he called the “nature of things” and on +rare occasions “fate,” forbade him the unconcealed enjoyment +of this most natural of scenes in our human life, one in which +Napoleon could not play his part until he was nearly forty. +At length he had a son of his body, who might become his heir. +Yet he, Emperor of the West, could not step forward and say: +“This is my son!” Wishing to give the boy at least half his +own name, he called him Léon.</p> + +<p>But the mother had become completely estranged from him, +and Napoleon soon ceased to have any serious thought of making +the child his successor. Perhaps he thought that the boy +came of a bad stock; maybe he had a foreboding that this half +Napoleon would become a half criminal and an outright ne’er-do-well.</p> + +<p>All the more vigorously does his advance in years urge him +towards a new marriage. There are long conversations between +Napoleon and Josephine, between reason and sorrow; and +after them it is not Josephine alone in whom the servants note +the traces of tears. “How terrible to die childless!” he says on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span>one occasion. Nevertheless his fondness for his helpmate increases. +We know how difficult he found it to break with any +of his collaborators; and his temperamental conservatism makes +him cling to this first companion of his rise. “If I were to +divorce her,” he says to Talleyrand who advises him to take +this step, “the witchery of my home would be gone. I should +have to go to school again in order to understand the ways +and fancies of a young wife. The empress adapts herself to +me perfectly, and understands me so well. Besides, it would +be very ungrateful to divorce a woman who has done so much +for me.” Such are the motives, tender and reasonable, respectable +and convenient—in a word, thoroughly middle class—which +make the man cleave to his wife.</p> + +<p>But the difficulties grow in number, and the need for a decisive +step becomes more urgent. While he ponders the moral +impression which his divorcing Josephine will make in France +(where she inspires far more personal affection than he does), +he, as his manner is, lays his plans deliberately, that, at last, he +may make an advance which no one anticipates, and will enable +him to fulfil two wishes at once. He arranges for an interview +with a man whom he has long needed, and whom he may now +need more than ever. His mother is always interceding with +him on Lucien’s behalf; now, Napoleon, who is travelling in +Italy, sends for Lucien.</p> + +<p>The conversation between the brothers is the most interesting +of all Napoleon’s recorded conversations, and has been reported +by Lucien with fidelity and picturesqueness. Napoleon is +there portrayed to the life.</p> + +<h3>XVIII</h3> + +<p>Lucien was now just thirty-two. It was on a December +evening when he had reached the castle of Mantua, after a +journey during which the dread of imprisonment, aroused by +his brother’s summons, had been continually present to his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span>mind. On entering a room extravagantly lighted by numerous +candelabra, he was blinded for a moment by the glare. Then +he heard Rustam’s voice announcing him: “Sire, your brother +Lucien!”</p> + +<p>The man to whom the announcement is made does not stir. +He is seated at a large round table, which is covered by a huge +map of Europe, the biggest Lucien has ever seen. Supporting +his head on his left hand, with the other hand he is thrusting +coloured pins into the map, pins which presumably represent +army corps or whole armies. It is so many years since Lucien +has seen his brother, and Napoleon has changed so much, that +the visitor is not quite sure whether he is looking at the Emperor, +and he remains motionless for several minutes. At length +the man sits up, yawns, rubs his back against the chair, takes +up a small bell from the table, and rings it with one strong +movement. The visitor advances a step or two:</p> + +<p>“Sire, I am Lucien.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor jumps up from his chair, dismisses the servant, +and takes his brother by the hand affectionately, though with +a certain amount of reserve. Lucien feels called upon to embrace +Napoleon, who does not repel the advance, but accepts it +with a passive coldness, as if no longer used to such intimacies. +Then, taking the visitor by the hand once more, he pushes +Lucien gently away to scrutinise him the better:</p> + +<p>“So it’s you, is it? How are you? How is your family? +When did you leave Rome? Have you had a pleasant journey? +What about the pope? How is he? Does he like you?”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus10" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus10.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Bonaparte as First Consul. Painting by J. D. A. Ingres. + Musée de Liége.</p> + <p>(Photograph by Braun, Paris and Dornach.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Lucien notes the nervousness masked by this flood of questions, +turns them off lightly, and says he is glad to find his +brother in good health.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I’m very well.” He pats his waistcoat, and adds: +“I’m getting fat, and I’m afraid I shall get fatter still.” He +looks keenly at Lucien, takes a pinch of snuff, and says: “As +for you! Do you know that you are looking uncommonly well? +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span>You used to be rather too thin. Now, you are almost handsome.”</p> + +<p>“Your Majesty is good enough to make fun of me.”</p> + +<p>“No, no, it’s quite true. But let’s sit down and have a talk.” +They seat themselves opposite the huge map, the Emperor +fidgets with the pins, and Lucien waits for him to begin. But, +since Napoleon does not open the ball, the younger man says, +hesitatingly: “Sire....” At this moment, the Emperor +sweeps all the pins flat, and says abruptly: “Well, what have +you to say to me?”</p> + +<p>Lucien replies that he hopes his brother has forgiven him.</p> + +<p>“You can have my pardon soon enough. It depends entirely +on yourself.”</p> + +<p>Lucien expresses his willingness to do anything compatible +with his honour.</p> + +<p>“Well and good, but what sort of things will square with +your honour?”</p> + +<p>Lucien speaks of nature and religion.</p> + +<p>“But politics, Sire; do politics mean nothing to you?”</p> + +<p>Lucien demurs, saying that he has retired into private life.</p> + +<p>“It rested entirely with yourself. You could have been a +king just as well as your brothers.”</p> + +<p>“Sire, my wife’s honour, my children’s position....”</p> + +<p>“You keep on speaking of your wife, when you know perfectly +well that she has never been your wife. Is not, and +never will be, for I shall never recognise her.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, Sire!”</p> + +<p>“No, never, though the heavens should fall! Since you are +my brother, I can forgive the wrong you have done me. But +upon her my curse will rest!” There is a long tirade, until at +length Lucien intervenes, laughing nervously, and saying:</p> + +<p>“Moderate your words, Sire. There is a proverb: ‘La processione +torna, dove esce,’” and Lucien thinks it expedient to +add a French translation. When Napoleon continues to talk +of his brother’s wife as a woman of bad reputation, and Lucien +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[294]</span>shows signs of taking offence, the Emperor tries to mollify him +by admitting that these reports may be calumnious, but adds +that nothing will induce him to recognise her. Besides, it is now +a fundamental law, as firmly fixed as the Salic law, that no +marriage in the Emperor’s family is valid without the Emperor’s +consent. Lucien reminds him of the date of the marriage, +and Napoleon answers: “Yes, but the law was passed +because of what you had done!” This Napoleonic logic makes +Lucien smile.</p> + +<p>“What are you laughing at? I don’t see anything laughable +in it! I know what you and your wife and my enemies say about +the matter. You choose your friends from among my enemies. +But no good Frenchman approves of what you have done. The +only way in which you can regain popular esteem is by espousing +my cause, like Jerome.”</p> + +<p>Lucien, who is in the Emperor’s hands, has absolutely determined +to let nothing affront him. But he is spurred into +opposition, springs to his feet, and does not sit down again:</p> + +<p>“Your Majesty is mistaken! When your courtiers approve +your attitude towards me as thanks for the services I was so +happy to render you, they are only acting after their kind. +On my side, too, my servants tell me that I am right!”—At +these words, Napoleon’s brow is furrowed, his eyes flash, and his +nostrils work, “an unmistakable sign of rage in members of +our family.” But Lucien has taken the bit between his teeth, +and goes on: “What ought the nation to do for me? What +gratitude does it owe me? It ought to look upon me as the +saviour of the man who has saved it.... I am proud to think +that it will rather be inclined to compare me with you than +with Jerome. No, Sire, public opinion, which is mightier by +far than all the kings in the world, assigns every one to his true +place, whatever courtiers may say.”</p> + +<p>Napoleon grows calmer. Instead of flying into a passion, +as Lucien dreaded for a moment, he controls himself, and says +quietly:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[295]</span></p> + +<p>“Talleyrand is right. You speak of the affair with an ardour +worthy of a political club. Such eloquence, Citoyen, is, believe +me, long since out of fashion. I am well aware that you did +me good service on the Nineteenth Brumaire; but as for having +been my ‘saviour,’ of that proof is lacking. This much I remember +clearly, that you disputed with me the unity of power +which I needed for the saving of France, and that I and Joseph +spent half a night before we could get you to pledge yourself +to silence when these questions should be touched upon.... +Finally, after the victory, you were inclined to oppose my personal +elevation, and this conduct on your part releases me from +all obligation to show gratitude.</p> + +<p>“But you, do you owe me no gratitude? When you ‘saved’ +me at Saint-Cloud, were not you yourself in mortal peril? I +sent my grenadiers to save you from the hands of assassins. +And if you, a bad brother, an unnatural brother, had really +allowed that vote of my outlawry to be taken, do you imagine +that I should have been such a fool as to accept the decree +unresistingly? Had I not adherents enough, with God’s aid, +to defend this head that was destined to wear so many crowns?” +He goes on to speak for a whole hour of those days, and of +Corsican compatriots who had helped him; suddenly gives the +conversation an intimate turn; speaks of his generals and the +extent of their devotion; refers to political conflicts in which +the brothers had held divergent views, and shows how his view +had been right. Then he changes the subject, saying abruptly:</p> + +<p>“Enough. That is all ancient history, like your great day +of the Nineteenth Brumaire. I did not summon you that we +might deliver lectures to one another.” A long pause.</p> + +<p>“Listen to me, Lucien, and weigh my words carefully, for, +above all, let us avoid getting heated.... I am too powerful +to have any desire to lose my temper. You have come to me +trustfully. Corsican hospitality shall never be violated by the +Emperor of the French. This virtue of our forefathers and +fellow-countrymen is a guarantee for your absolute safety.” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[296]</span>The Emperor strides up and down the hall for a long time, +pulling himself together, and then turns to Lucien, whose hand +he takes and presses:</p> + +<p>“We are alone here. You see? We are alone. No one can +overhear us. I am wrong about your marriage.... Knowing +your wilfulness as I did, knowing your self-love—for everything, +you know, depends on self-love, which regards itself as a +virtue, just as we princes dignify by the name of policy everything +which turns on our passions—I ought not to have interfered +with your union. People slandered your wife to me, +though some ventured to speak well of her, especially Mamma, +who loves her, saying she makes you happy and is a good +mother.... Lebrun, indeed, has sung her praises so often +that Josephine once told the good fellow he must be in love with +her himself. I was very much amused at my wife, who has more +of a temper than people fancy. Still, I must say that Josephine +never shows her claws to me! Well, I have no disrespect for +your wife, but I detest her because this passion of yours for +her has robbed me of the most capable of my brothers. However, +her beauty will pass; you will be disillusioned; then, returning +to political life, you will oppose my policy, and I shall +have to take measures against you whether I like it or not; for—let +me say this to you—unless you are on my side, Europe is +too small for the pair of us!”</p> + +<p>“You are making fun of me.”</p> + +<p>“No, I’m in earnest; friend or foe! It is easier for you to-day +than ever before. You need not be surprised: there has +been a change in my family policy. You will see soon enough. +Your children, which hitherto I have wanted to exclude, can +now be of great use to me, but they must be dynastically recognised. +The offspring of a marriage I do not recognise can have +no right to the throne. Tell me, then, what would you do in +my place?”</p> + +<p>Lucien advises him to make the Senate pass a simple resolution +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[297]</span>to the effect that the children come within the right of +succession.</p> + +<p>“Of course I know that I can do that, but I must not. As +you said just now, public opinion has to be conciliated. What +would the family, the court, France, which all watch my slightest +movements, say about such a step? A recantation of that +kind would do me more harm than the loss of a battle.”</p> + +<p>Lucien points out that he cannot possibly ask pardon for a +marriage which had been entered into long before Napoleon’s +accession to the throne. “Grant my request, Sire. You will +have no more faithful servant than I. All the rest of my life +will be an expression of my gratitude.”</p> + +<p>The younger man goes on talking for a long time, and +throughout his speech Napoleon is incessantly taking snuff, but +spilling most of the tobacco, so nervous is he, growing more and +more anxious; in his perplexity exclaiming at length: “Good +God, you press me hard, and I am weak. But I shall not be so +weak as to move the Senate to pass the resolution you ask for. +I cannot recognise your wife!”</p> + +<p>Thereupon Lucien, who is now almost beside himself, says: +“Well, then, Sire, what do you really want of me?”</p> + +<p>“What do I want? Simply that you should divorce your +wife.”</p> + +<p>“But you have always maintained that we are not married, +so how can we get a divorce?”</p> + +<p>“I expected you to say that. What do you think I can +mean by asking you to procure a divorce? Obviously, thereby +I recognise your marriage, but not your wife. The divorce will +be the best thing for your children, just like all that you have +hitherto refused to do, all that I have so much wanted you to +do: to annul the marriage and divorce her.”</p> + +<p>“That would be a dishonour for me and my children, and I +will never do it!”</p> + +<p>“Why is it, that with all your mother wit, you cannot see +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span>the difference between my earlier proposals and my present +ones. In the former case, if your marriage had been declared +null, your children would have become bastards!”</p> + +<p>Lucien points out the difference between his children’s +dynastic rights and their civic rights. “You can bestow your +thrones upon whom you will, Sire, for you won them at the +point of the sword. But no one shall cheat my children out of +their share in the modest heritage of Carlo Bonaparte, for +they are as legitimate as any one else’s both by canon law and +by State law. The pope has even given one of my daughters +the name of his mother!”</p> + +<p>“Calm yourself!... Of course the divorce I ask for implies +the recognition of your marriage. Nor do I wish to force an +actual separation from your wife. She shall be honoured in +accordance with her merits if she will make this sacrifice to my +policy and to the future interests of France. I would even pay +her a visit. But if she refuses, you and she will both be blamed +for having sacrificed the true greatness of your children to your +own egoism, and your children will curse your memory!”</p> + +<p>Lucien answers mournfully.</p> + +<p>“You are really incorrigible,” rejoins Napoleon. “You take +everything so tragically. I am not asking for any tragedies! +Think it over.”</p> + +<p>After Lucien has again and again insisted upon his point of +honour, and has several times wished to take leave, the Emperor +once more brings up the distribution of the thrones. Eugene’s +position in Italy is merely provisional, and he would much rather +see Lucien installed there. Napoleon complains about Hortense, +too. None of them are satisfied. “Pauline is naturally +the most reasonable in the matter of ambition, for she is the +queen of fashion. Besides, she grows more lovely day by +day. Josephine is ageing, and is greatly distressed about a +divorce.”</p> + +<p>Lucien pricks up his ears. Napoleon goes on as if he were +talking at random:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span></p> + +<p>“Can you believe it? She always bursts into tears when her +digestion is a little upset, for she fancies she is being poisoned +by those who would like me to marry some one else. That is +despicable. Still, in the end, I shall have to get a divorce. I +ought to have taken the step long ago, and I should have had +quite big children by now; for, I may as well tell you”—he +speaks earnestly—“people are wrong in thinking it is my fault +we have no children. I have several. Two I know of for certain.” +He mentions, without naming her, Léon’s mother; and +then, wonder of wonders, the Polish countess. “She is an exquisite +woman, an angel.... You laugh to see that I am in +love. Yes, I really am; but I never forget considerations of +policy. She wants me to marry a princess. Of course, as far +as feelings go, I would much rather raise my beloved to the +throne. You, in your dealings with your wife, ought in like +manner to be guided by considerations of policy!”</p> + +<p>“Sire, I should act as you are doing if my wife were only my +mistress.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor grows more and more animated; speaks of a +fixed intention to get a divorce; deplores having given the +Bavarian princess to Eugene, who does not care for her and +did not choose her for himself; remarks that he might long +since have had Lucien’s daughter betrothed to the prince of +Asturia “or some other great prince, perhaps even a great +emperor.... Your divorce would have to precede mine, or be +simultaneous. Then there would be less chatter about my +divorce; for yours, in view of your obstinate refusal for so long +previously, will certainly arouse more interest. Will you do me +this service? I think you really ought to.”</p> + +<p>Lucien looks at him so quizzically that the Emperor is +amazed, eyes his brother up and down, and says: “Why not?”</p> + +<p>Lucien smiles at the unreasonableness of the demand. Napoleon +is embarrassed, but returns to the charge. Suddenly +he addresses his brother as “my dear President” (Lucien having +long ago been president of the Council of Five Hundred), +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span>and adds with emphasis: “Service for service, of course—and +this time you will not find me ungrateful!”</p> + +<p>Lucien sank “into a sort of reverie, which was by no means +unpleasant,” so that for a few moments he hardly noticed what +Napoleon was talking about. Before long he realised that the +Emperor was saying, confidentially, that his only reason for +wanting Lucien’s divorce was that this would probably minimise +the effect of his own on public opinion. Lucien, as tactfully as +he could, alluded to his own advantages, pointing out that his +wife was a young woman and was not barren. Napoleon took +no offence. “Your wife, oh, yes, your wife, didn’t I tell you? +She will become the duchess of Parma, your eldest boy will be +her heir, without having any claim of succession to your rights +as a French prince. For this is only the first stage to which I +shall raise you, until something better can be found: an independent +crown.”</p> + +<p>At the word “independent,” Lucien cannot restrain a smile, +for he is thinking of the part his brothers have to play. Napoleon +notices the expression on his face.</p> + +<p>“Yes, independent. You will know how to reign.... You +need only take your choice!” His eyes flash fire, and he bangs +the enormous map with the flat of his hand. “I’m not talking +at random. All this belongs to me or soon will. Even to-day, I +can do what I please. Would you like to have Naples? I will +take it away from Joseph.... Italy, the loveliest jewel in my +imperial crown? Eugene is no more than viceroy. He hopes +to become king, expects to outlive me, but he will be disappointed +in this matter. I shall live to be ninety, for I cannot +do with less than that for the complete consolidation of my empire. +Besides, Eugene will not suit me in Italy, after I have +divorced his mother. Would you care for Spain? Do you not +see that it is ripe to fall into my hands, thanks to the blunders +of the Bourbons you are so fond of? Would you not like to be +king in the country to which you went as envoy? What would +you prefer to have? It is for you to say. Anything and everything +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[301]</span>is at your disposal, if only you will divorce your wife before +I divorce mine!”</p> + +<p>Lucien is spell-bound for a time by the feverish haste with +which Napoleon speaks. At last he says: “Not even your lovely +France, Sire, would bribe me to this divorce; and besides....” +He hesitates; but the Emperor guesses his thoughts, and says +dryly, with an imperious air such as Lucien has never before +seen him assume:</p> + +<p>“Do you think that you, as a private individual, are in a +more secure position than I upon my throne?... Do you +believe that your friend the pope is strong enough to protect +you against me if I should seriously propose to take measures +against you?” After reiterating arguments and enticements, +he says in a formal tone: “You may be quite sure of this: everything +for the divorced Lucien; nothing for the undivorced!”</p> + +<p>Lucien glances at the door, as a hint to the Emperor that +he would be glad to be given his dismissal; but Napoleon takes +him by the hand, and says “in a vague tone, and with a demeanour +which might mean anything”:</p> + +<p>“If I get a divorce, you will not be the only other one. +Joseph is merely waiting for my divorce to arrange for his own. +Madame Julie has been good for nothing but to bring girls +into the world, whereas I urgently need boys. The only use +of girls is to marry them off in advantageous alliances. Besides, +your eldest girl is nearly fourteen, so you tell me; just +the right age. Won’t you send her to Mamma? If you do what +I want, I will get Mamma to arrange something good for her.... +You are not afraid that we shall do any harm to your +spoiled darling? Tell her we shall be good friends, and that I +will not pull her ears as if she were a child.... I need more +nephews and nieces! The divorced Josephine, the grandmother +of Hortense’s children, will always be the enemy of my legitimate +and my adopted sons.” Then, murmuring as if to himself, +“It must be done. I have no other way of undermining the +power of Louis’ and Hortense’s children.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[302]</span></p> + +<p>He comes back to the subject of his own illegitimate children, +says he intends to adopt them, enters into details, and suddenly +exclaims: “You cannot suppose that I have not the power to +legitimise my natural children, just as Louis XIV. declared his +bastards, the fruit of a twofold adultery, to be within the right +of succession to the throne.” Again he speaks of Joseph’s intention +to procure a divorce, and, when Lucien is sceptical, he +rubs his hands delightedly, saying:</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes! Joseph and you will both divorce your wives! +We will all three get divorces, and then marry again, all of us, +on the very same day!” He adds a number of quips in the like +merry vein. Then, suddenly: “But why have you become so +serious? One might think you a sage of classical antiquity! +You must stay with me for three days. I’ll have a bed made +ready for you in the next room to mine!”</p> + +<p>He presses this invitation. Lucien, who dreads his brother’s +blandishments, has to invent an excuse, and says that one of +his children is ill.</p> + +<p>His wife, he goes on to say, has suffered because of the +Emperor’s dislike; so much so, that he had been afraid at one +time her anxiety and distress about the matter would be too +much for her.</p> + +<p>“Is that really so? I’m sorry. You must take care of her! +Whatever happens, she must not die before you get your divorce, +for if she did I should not be able to legitimise her children!”</p> + +<p>Lucien pretends that he will think the matter over.</p> + +<p>“That’s all right. Well, well, go if you must! But be sure +to keep your word!” Napoleon takes Lucien by the hand, and +at the same time presents his cheek for a kiss, which is not as +brotherly as it might be. Lucien departs, and when he is in +the anteroom he hears the Emperor calling: “Méneval!”</p> + +<p>Lucien quickens his steps, for again the dread of imprisonment +has seized him.</p> + +<p>No one, no historian and no imaginative writer, has ever +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[303]</span>given a more brilliant description of Napoleon than the foregoing, +penned by his brother with obvious fidelity. This evening, +the Emperor is in a quandary. He wants the help of a +man whom he cannot coerce, and one who in certain respects is +his equal. In the light thrown by Lucien, Napoleon’s character +becomes positively transparent. He develops himself under our +very eyes, showing us all the interplay of his motives.</p> + +<p>He lavishes temptations in the endeavour to overpersuade +his adversary. Every move is carefully thought out, that it +may exercise its appropriate influence upon the ambition of his +interlocutor, whom he tries to win by the studied gradations of +the dialogue. The visitor finds him brooding over the map of +Europe, and is greeted in a way which is to alarm and to +inspire confidence by turns. The wife, the bone of contention, +is first vilified and then extolled. Napoleon goes back to the +phraseology of the Jacobin Club, calls his brother “citizen,” +pulls out one emotional stop after another. He reminds Lucien +that they are both Corsicans; says with a challenging irony +that Europe is too small for the pair of them; talks of Mamma +and Pauline, of Joseph and Louis, using names that carry with +them reminiscences of the nursery in which the Bonaparte children +had played together. Thus he spins his web round Lucien.</p> + +<p>And yet—this is the marvel—we are shown the bubbling up +of his nature, the beating of his heart, the quivering of his +brain. Again and ever again, imagination and passion seem +to carry him beyond the limits of self-restraint. Though his +brother is a declared opponent, he makes all kinds of confessions: +about Josephine and the countess; about his stepchildren +and his generals; about his own blunders and his new, +far-reaching plans. There is a flood of confidential admissions. +Why?</p> + +<p>Because this Lucien, though an adversary, though no less +gifted than Talleyrand, is a brother, and therefore, to the clannish +Napoleon, is, in spite of everything, worthy of confidence. +It moves us to see the way in which Napoleon detains him in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[304]</span>private talk for hours, till midnight is long past; how he presses +Lucien to stay for a few days, that they may thrash matters +out; and how Lucien insists on going, not because he really +needs to, but because he does not wish to bow before the force +of his brother’s genius. For there is a secret contest between +the pair, not about love or divorce, not about honour or crowns. +To-day, just as seven years before, when the younger man could +not bring himself to obey the elder, the contest is between the +innermost self-esteem of one rival and of the other. After all +these years, in the privacy of his own thoughts Lucien is still +convinced that he could have managed everything much better +than Napoleon.</p> + +<p>And yet, all the time, he loves him after his own fashion. +Every word of his report betrays the obscure enmity between +the brothers, the enmity that lives side by side with love. That +is why he concedes nothing. The memory of the Nineteenth +Brumaire has to be revived, and once more each of them is +confident he was right. While these expert realists are talking, +with the old phrases on their lips, the old verbiage about the +greatness and the safety of France, they are really moved by +nothing but their own passions. We seem to see them posturing +before the crowd (a doubt seizes them—“We are alone here. +You see. We are alone. No one can overhear us”); but in +truth they are alone, in a strange and foreign castle, beneath +huge candelabra, on which the candles are burning low.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, despite Napoleon’s wealth and all his crowns, +despite his stupendous powers of intellect and imagination, how +poor a man he is, entangled in the threads of destiny, the +threads which he has spun, but which are now spinning themselves +in defiance of his wishes! For all his omnipotence, he is +the slave of an incalculable, much-courted power, public opinion, +which will not allow him to effect a reconciliation with his +brother, to recognise his own children, or to marry the woman +he loves. The impotence of the man of might is displayed in his +own exclamations. He asseverates his power to do anything +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[305]</span>and everything—and yet he dare not do what he wants. How +pleased he is with his brother, whose affairs he could manage so +beautifully now that they have met after many years of separation. +If Lucien would only stay with him, were it but for three +days, they would certainly be able to come to an understanding. +“Good God, you press me hard, and I am weak.”</p> + +<p>During this night when an emperor was offering his brother +a choice among the thrones of Europe, was there not talk of +the heritage of Carlo Bonaparte, a poor nobleman, on a small, +out-of-the-way island? Did the Emperor of the French, who +will never hear a word of his being a foreigner in France, conjure +up the shade of the Corsican; was it he who evoked the +penates of his birthplace for the protection of Brother Lucien, +a negotiator in a hostile camp? Surely what we are recounting +is a saga, told at midnight beside the fireplace in Mantua? +Yes, it is the saga which the little Corsican lieutenant has woven +out of the threads of his life: first a narrow band; but as he +trails it after him, twists it and loops it, mixes colours and +patterns, by degrees a carpet is formed; greater and more +varied become the pictures produced out of the one thread, +pictures of lands and thrones, of seas and men.</p> + +<p>The whole has been woven in the most natural way in the +world. Not by a miracle, but only through the working of his +talents, has the man become master of men. To-night he wants +to add yet another to the long list of his subjects. He has not +enough time, even though he hopes to live till he is ninety. He +cannot allow his brothers to have girl children, or to live with +the women of their choice. But if these undesired nieces throng +his stage, he must set up new nephews against them. If a wife +is in danger of dying of grief, she must at least be good enough +to wait until she is divorced. When the men of the family have +at length forsaken the wives who are barren or can only bear +daughters, then, on the same day, they will take new wives unto +themselves—and all will go happily ever after. Look at him, +when the conversation is drawing to a close, rubbing his hands +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[306]</span>in his satisfaction, the little magician who stands in front of +his immense map. By the time he has impaled all the countries +with his coloured pins, impaled them like butterflies to put away +in his collection—well, by that time the candles have burned +out and a large slice of to-morrow has already been devoured.</p> + +<h3>XIX</h3> + +<p>The Spanish dynasty seemed about to fall. Immediately +after the conversation recorded above, war was declared. Had +not the Emperor already predicted it? A king who had degenerated +into being his wife’s souteneur; a queen who only +lacked courage to be a Messalina; a faithless minister; hatred +between father and son; rascality, bribery, and corruption—to +such a pass had sunk the house of Bourbon! He who wished +to dethrone those who represented it, must use the same means +as were used by the Spanish royal house itself. Never before +had Napoleon’s actions been more fiercely unscrupulous; never +before had the degeneracy of his opponent been a more useful +weapon to his hand. He had always adapted his methods to his +adversary; and, in the case of this decayed dynasty, he had +recourse to the wiles and trickery similar to those which the +Spanish house availed itself of in a last effort to preserve its +integrity. Absorbed in his schemes, he forgot the Spanish +people, which was in no way responsible for such princes, and +which in no way resembled the royal rulers: in days to come the +Emperor was bitterly to rue his forgetfulness.</p> + +<p>He who is for England, is against me! In support of this +principle, Napoleon had already chased the Portuguese royal +family from the throne. Now, since Spain, too, is on the side +of England, in a prolonged intrigue he turns to his own advantage +the struggle between the king and the crown prince; brings +the latter to the front; then orders him to withdraw in favour +of the father; and, finally, at a meeting of all parties in +Bayonne, is able, by threats and cunning, to ensure that the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[307]</span>Spanish crown shall be his own. The Mediterranean must belong +to him; the coasts at any rate, from Gibraltar to Cattaro. +This is an essential part of the war on England.</p> + +<p>At first his generals have an easy task in their work of conquest. +“Do you know why I am invading Spain?” says +Napoleon to Metternich. “I must feel safe at my back.” Alas +for him when he is no longer safe in that quarter!</p> + +<p>On the critical day when he has settled matters with the +Spanish princes, and has arranged that they shall be kept in a +mild imprisonment, he is in a condition of moderate intoxication. +The new crown gives him fresh impetus. He no longer +sees Spain; his eyes are turned to contemplate the worldwide +empire of Spain in the days of her vanished glory. On this +occasion, a witness tells us, “the Emperor spoke, or rather +dictated, at great length, in the Ossianic vein, ... like one +whose heart was uplifted.... In his picturesque, metaphorical +style, he referred to the powerful kingdoms of Mexico and +Peru, describing the might of their rule and their influence. +Never have I heard him display such a wealth of imagery as +on this day. He was sublime.”</p> + +<p>The one thing he lacks is an occupant for the vacant throne, +since Lucien has not accepted the bribe. The only way out of +the difficulty will be a general post, like that which occurs when +a vacancy is filled in the upper ranks of the officialdom and +every one is promoted a step. Let us do away with the kingdom +of Holland, make it into a province, and discrown Louis. +The victim protests: “It does not suit me to be governor of +a province. A king must rule by divine right.... How could +I demand loyalty from my people if I myself were false to the +oath I swore when I ascended the throne?” Napoleon is +troubled once more by the consequences of having founded a +dynasty. This modern Roman should have put his provinces +in charge of generals and regents, whom he could recall whenever +he pleased. But the ermine in which he dresses his +puppets, all the apparatus of coronation and Mass and anointing, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[308]</span>awaken ideas which were being laid to rest, and fully +justify little King Louis in his refusal. Joseph is more accommodating. +Till yesterday, he was king in Naples: why should +he not be king in Madrid to-morrow? Shortly after the +Bayonne intrigue, King Joseph I. enters his new capital, acclaimed, +not indeed by the hearts of the people, but by the +proper number of salute guns and all the ceremonial suitable +to the occasion. Murat, whose wife has long been pestering +her brother for a crown, Murat the son of the proletariat, becomes +king of Naples, and thus the imposing couple gain a +statelier field for their intrigues, and in due time for their +treason.</p> + +<p>But this Spanish affair is a great adventure, and has serious +consequences. There is muttering “at the Emperor’s back,” +for the Spaniards are proud, and will not endure the +conquest without a struggle. In front, across the Rhine, all +the Prussians and all the Austrians who hate the Emperor have +now reason to dread that Prussia and Austria may share the +fate of Spain, and have good grounds for yet another renewal +of their offensive. In Berlin, Napoleon had declared that on +the Elbe he had conquered the Ganges. Now he fails to see +that in his dealings on the Tagus he is raising up new enemies +on the Danube. But he knows that he cannot do as he pleases +in Spain unless the tsar holds Austria in check for him. The +tsar is a man of unstable character. The only way to win over +Alexander is by suggestion, as two years before, in Tilsit, and +for this a personal interview will be necessary. The Emperor +thereupon proposes to meet the tsar in central Germany, half +way between their respective empires, thus initiating a form of +policy new to him, a conference. Always before, when he has +left France, it has been sword in hand, and he has invariably +paved the way for negotiations by fighting. Now, to avoid a +fight, a conference table is established in Erfurt.</p> + +<p>Napoleon prepares for this new sort of campaign with as +much care as if he had been preparing for a military expedition. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[309]</span>Day after day he summons court officials and other +dignitaries. “My journey must be extremely imposing. I +want great names for the headquarters, ... and I wish to +amaze Germany by the splendour of the occasion.” For others +are coming besides the tsar. The great double stars are attracting +all the lesser stars. How can he best influence this +assembly? The play’s the thing wherein he’ll catch the conscience +of the kings! He stage-manages his theatre elaborately, +devotes much thought to the cast, amends passages, and gives +Talma (for whom he feels something akin to friendship) hints +as to what requires to be emphasised—all with an eye to the +royal audience. “You are going to play your parts in a +theatre where the stalls will be filled with kings.”</p> + +<p>In actual fact, the evenings at the theatre form the climax +of the Erfurt weeks. Among the audience are four kings and +thirty-four princes, rivalling one another in the splendour of +their retinues. The Emperor of the West and the Emperor +of the East occupy the royal box. Almost every evening, this +distinguished audience sees and hears what the kings of saga +or the kings of history proclaim, what they struggle for, what +they suffer. Talma, as Orestes, thunders forth:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The gods are the rulers of our times,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And yet fame is created by our own deeds.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Why should the heart allow the heavens to threaten?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Resolve to become immortal</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And you will be as gods upon the earth!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The next evening they see Voltaire’s <i>Mahomet</i>, of which the +Emperor is especially fond, were it only because the hero so +seldom quits the stage. The prophet’s disciple exclaims:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">All men are equal; it is not birth,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But virtue alone which makes them different.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There are certain mortals favoured by the gods,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who achieve everything by their own merits,</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[310]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Who owe nothing to their forefathers.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Such a one is he whom I have chosen as master;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He alone, in all the world, has deserved his position.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">Is there any one among the audience whose heart does not +beat faster as he glances at the man up there in the royal box—though +the passion may be a passionate antagonism? The +princes by right of birth may dread to look at the Emperor, +but at least their eyes will seek one another as if to secure a +common understanding. They do not dare to smile. They +tremble before the man who sits there in a plain green coat, +the man who is revolt incorporated in human form. He knows +what the German princes in the stalls do not yet know, that a +new and stronger utterance will soon be made by Mahomet:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">See, the Roman Empire falling into ruins,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That great torn body, whose scattered limbs</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lie spread about the earth dishonoured and lifeless:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On these fragments of a world we shall upbuild the far-flung East,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A new god reveals himself to the blind world!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">Finally, the Emperor’s policy of to-day and to-morrow is +voiced in the words:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Who was it made the master a king?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Victory alone has crowned him! But now</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To the name of Conqueror he will add</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The name of Peacemaker.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">At this instant, when all glance at him questioningly, Napoleon +makes a slight movement as a sign that such is actually his +intention, and for a political instant the illusion of the theatre +is dispelled. But when, next evening, Œdipus proclaims: “A +strong man’s friendship is a gift of the gods!” the two emperors +rise and clasp hands.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[311]</span></p> + +<p>Napoleon knows well enough that Alexander is not a strong +man, that his friendship is not a gift of the gods. He tries, +therefore, by suggestion, to win over this vacillating personality. +If the tsar is to be influenced to move along the lines +laid down in the letter previously quoted, if he is to agree to +divide with Napoleon the empire of the world, he will require +a course of psychomagnetism, renewed from day to day. +Napoleon rarely leaves the tsar to his own thoughts, but treats +him like a woman who is to be wooed and won. The only person +who is allowed to help the Emperor in this matter is Talleyrand.</p> + +<p>The diplomat still limps after Napoleon as the Emperor +strides forward, though recently the differences between the +two men had found vent.</p> + +<p>Talleyrand’s shrewdness had led him—sooner than Napoleon, +sooner than any one—to detect the first cracks in his master’s +system. A year before, after the drawn game of Eylau, he +had foreseen the possibility of his master’s failure in Russia. +This had come to him as the vision of a great statesman, and +he had promptly deduced therefrom the mission of a great and +statesmanlike traitor. Matters had been privately arranged +between Napoleon and Alexander; the Emperor was relying on +the tsar (to the exclusion of Talleyrand); Napoleon was cherishing +a Carlovingian dream, interpenetrated with thoughts of +Cæsarism: the fantastical elements in Napoleon’s schemes for +world conquest had estranged Talleyrand from his master’s +policy. But instead of cutting adrift from Napoleon, he had +been content, on specious pretexts, to resign his ministerial +post, receiving instead a lucrative position among the dignitaries +of the empire. Both men hoped to gain by the change; +Napoleon thinking that he would be able to keep better watch +on Talleyrand, and Talleyrand fancying that he would be able +to keep better watch on the Emperor’s secret thoughts. He +was still grand chamberlain; and Champagny, his successor as +minister, was a butt for Napoleon’s shafts of ridicule. Thus, +even after the divorce from his master, Talleyrand remained +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[312]</span>the sultan’s favourite, and his power was redoubled by his shifts +as a trickster no longer hampered by official responsibility.</p> + +<p>His doubts as to the stability of Napoleon’s position were +confirmed by the progress of events in Spain. Directly he saw +that the Emperor’s mind was set on this act of plunder, he +realised that its upshot would be disastrous, and for that very +reason encouraged his master to the venture. Since the days +of Louis XIV., said Talleyrand, the Spanish crown had always +been an apanage of the rulers of France. Napoleon, when his +mind had been rendered effervescent by this and similar pseudo-arguments, +decided upon the occupation of Catalonia “for the +duration of the war with England.” Now the intriguer +promptly returned to a critical attitude, and laughed to himself +when the Emperor gave him the ignominious task of entertaining +the infantes of Spain in their durance at his mansion +near Valençay.</p> + +<p>He wants privacy, that he may keep watch on the kidnapped +princes, and, through their instrumentality, not only spy upon +England, but also keep England informed. Thence it is but +a step to open betrayal, and that step Talleyrand now takes. +This is in keeping with his whole career as a statesman. Henceforward +he sends Tolstoy and Metternich (the envoys of Tsar +Alexander and Emperor Francis in Paris) private information. +How can he make his duplicity square with his duties to the +master, to whose service he is pledged as imperial official, court +official, and confidential adviser?</p> + +<p>There is a scene about the matter.</p> + +<p>“Well, you see,” says the Emperor on his return from Spain, +“they all walked into the net I spread for them!”</p> + +<p>“I think, Sire, you have lost more than you have won by +what has happened at Bayonne.”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?”</p> + +<p>“Something quite simple. Let me explain my meaning by an +example. If a man of standing commits follies, keeps mistresses, +treats his wife and his friends badly, he will be blamed; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[313]</span>but his wealth and his power will enable him to regain the good +opinion of society. But if the same man cheats at cards, he is +expelled from good society, which will never forgive him.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor turns pale—so Talleyrand reports and will +not speak to him for the rest of the day. Why does he not +drive the plain speaker out of his circle? Why does he not +banish Talleyrand to the West Indies? Napoleon receives a +moral castigation from a scion of the old nobility, and still +keeps the man in his entourage! Or was Talleyrand lying? +We may have all the more confidence in the diplomat’s memoirs, +seeing that they were written twenty years later, after the +Restoration; were written to show how he had always played +double, and (of course, owing to his respect for the claims of +the legitimate rulers!) had served his imperial master only by +halves. We can assume that the words were actually spoken, +and to a man to whom hardly any one now spoke the truth, to a +man whom even fewer now ventured to affront. Why does +Napoleon keep Talleyrand in his service?</p> + +<p>“He is the only one who understands me,” said the Emperor +of Talleyrand again and again. That accounts for much. +Talleyrand’s unscrupulous way of thinking, his freedom from +all qualms of conscience, furnished a tilting-ground on which +the Emperor could joust freely when running a political course. +The others had principles or considerations which must first be +leapt over. Because Talleyrand was exempt from all prejudices +of class and time, and also lacked the ordering ideas with which +Napoleon fashioned his realm out of the chaos of chances, the +wily opportunist, whose only passion was for money, was the +best adviser of the other realist, who could only assuage his +stormy imagination in a perpetual succession of new plans.</p> + +<p>That is why they understood one another, though only in the +superficial regions of their respective characters. Napoleon +never plumbed the depths of the treason that Talleyrand was +preparing.</p> + +<p>Here, in Erfurt, the great day for the double-dealer has at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[314]</span>last dawned. When the German princes gather round him and +listen as he talks of the Emperor, he gives little heed to these +pygmies, for there is some one else who will pay a far higher +price for information, will pay both in political advantages and +in ready cash.</p> + +<p>Alexander is prompt to seize the opportunity! The Russian +has been well informed by his representative in Paris, and +is almost as inquisitive concerning this Frenchman as he is +concerning the Emperor. Talleyrand soon meets the tsar in +the reception room of the Princess of Thurn and Taxis, who +keeps open house every evening after the play. Talleyrand’s +report of the encounter, written several decades later, reads like +the utterance of a Mephistopheles: “The arts which I had prepared +for the capture of the tsar were quite unneeded. At my +first word he understood me, just as I had wished him to understand.”</p> + +<p>The play of their eyes conveyed a meaning which was not +manifest in the words, for on the first day Talleyrand had said +to the tsar: “Sire, what are you thinking of doing here? It +lies with you to save Europe. But you will not succeed in +your task unless you become a match for the Emperor. The +French people is civilised: their ruler is not. The ruler of +Russia is civilised: his people is not. Thus, the ruler of Russia +should be the ally of the French people.... Your Majesty +should not allow yourself to be inveigled into any disciplinary +measures against Austria, but should consent to undertake the +same duties towards that country as those my master has +undertaken.”</p> + +<p>During the long evenings, over a glass of punch or a dish of +tea, Talleyrand (who, like Napoleon, knows the manifold arts +of the seducer) instils into the tsar’s brain all the truths and +the hopes he wishes to bring to life within this suggestible +spirit. The tsar shows his appreciation of the diplomat’s indiscretions +at France’s expense by bestowing his favour upon +the Emperor’s confidential adviser. He promises the hand of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[315]</span>a Russian princess to one of Talleyrand’s nephews; she is the +richest heiress in the eastern realm.</p> + +<p>Alexander, who in any case had come to Erfurt in a cautious +frame of mind (for his relatives had succeeded in arousing +suspicions before he started), is now for the first time able to +resist Napoleon. In their private interviews, each is always +trying to humbug the other; the honeymoon atmosphere of +Tilsit has vanished, and the tsar’s enthusiasm for the Emperor +is a thing of the past.</p> + +<p>Napoleon is taken aback. He makes Talleyrand draft the +new treaty of alliance. Then, with great labour, he transcribes +it, inserting his own emendations, and takes it to Alexander, +who has to promise that no one shall hear a word of what is +written in this secret document. The tsar gives the required +pledge; but the very same evening he hands Talleyrand the +amended treaty, so that the author of the draft learns what +alterations his master has made. In the end, this treaty is not +signed.</p> + +<p>At night, the Emperor summons Talleyrand, who plays the +part of Iago admirably. The Emperor says: “I can make no +headway with him; he takes such short views.”</p> + +<p>“But he is completely under your spell, Sire.”</p> + +<p>“He makes you think so, and you are taken in by him. If he +is really fond of me, why won’t he sign?”</p> + +<p>“He is a man of knightly faith,” answers Talleyrand. “His +simple word and his inclinations will bind him more strongly +than a treaty.”</p> + +<p>“I shall not talk to him about this matter any more; for if +I do, he will think I have it very much at heart. Our private +interviews will be enough to make Austria believe that there is +a secret treaty.... I cannot understand your fondness for +Austria, a country whose whole policy recalls that of our old +regime!”</p> + +<p>When fundamental principles are under discussion, Talleyrand +is apt to become more communicative: “It seems to me +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[316]</span>that Austrian policy is also that of the new regime, and I venture +to say it ought to be your own policy. People count on +you, Sire, to safeguard civilisation.”</p> + +<p>“Civilisation!...” Napoleon halts in front of the fireplace, +and, with a sudden change of tone, says softly: “Do you +know why no one will negotiate with me plainly and straightforwardly? +Because I have no children.... That is the +secret. People are afraid of me, and every one wants to +snatch what advantages he can. This is an unfortunate state +of affairs for the world, and it must be altered.”</p> + +<p>A few days pass. Intercourse between the two rulers seems +more cordial; etiquette has been forgotten; they come and go +freely, like ordinary friends in private life. Napoleon spreads +his nets cunningly. He says to the tsar: “Yes, I need rest; I +need a home. How can one get these when one has no children? +My wife is ten years older than I,” he goes on, falsely adding +four years to Josephine’s tale. “Please excuse me. What I +have just said may sound rather absurd, but I do not wish, +where you are concerned, to hide the stirrings of my heart.” +A pause. “Hullo, I see it’s almost dinner time, and Baron +Vincent is still waiting my leave to depart.”</p> + +<p>The kings of the drawing-room are fond of describing +Napoleon as a man of camps; but how prettily he can introduce +a delicate topic just before dinner, so that he can slip +away without having it discussed at this state. Late that +evening he summons Talleyrand to his bedside; orates, questions, +suggests combinations, and issues orders by turns. At +length he speaks of divorce. “Fate constrains me to it, and +it is essential to the tranquillity of France. I have no successor. +Joseph is a man of no account, and his children are +all girls. I must found a dynasty, and my consort must be the +daughter of a great line. Alexander has sisters, and one of +them is of suitable age. Have a talk with Romanzoff. When +the Spanish affair is settled, I shall discuss the partition of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[317]</span>Turkey. Tell him this, and use other arguments as well. I +know you have long been in favour of the divorce.”</p> + +<p>Next day, Talleyrand broaches the topic with the tsar, who +has been influenced by the suggestion the Emperor has instilled +with his assumption of melancholy overnight. “No one fully +understands the man’s character,” says Alexander, much +moved. “All the commotion he spreads abroad is an inevitable +outcome of his position. No one realises how good he is. You +know him so well. What is your opinion?”</p> + +<p>Talleyrand has no intention of saying what he really thinks, +but deems it expedient, at this juncture, to let Alexander know +what Napoleon had let fall about the Russian princess. “I +should have no objection,” rejoins the tsar promptly, “but I +cannot dispose of my sister’s hand without my mother’s consent.”</p> + +<p>Thereafter, a long conversation between the emperors, and a +renewal of intimacy; Alexander spends some more evenings +with Talleyrand, talking over the teacups—but no conclusion is +reached. The expanded treaty of alliance between the emperors +is not signed at Erfurt, nor is the marriage to Alexander’s +sister arranged. Although Napoleon receives more adulation +than ever before, he is disappointed at having to leave +without his treaty and without his Russian bride. The only +one who brings home substantial advantages is Talleyrand, for +he has secured the new niece’s millions.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the thirty-eight princes have been cajoled or +threatened, rewarded or ignored, by the Emperor and his train. +“In Erfurt,” writes Talleyrand, “not a man among them was +bold enough to face the lion.... On the last day he was surrounded +by princes whose armies he had seized or destroyed, +whose States and existence he had curtailed, but not one of +them ventured even to proffer a request. The only wish of +them all was to be seen; and to be seen last if possible, in order +to remain in his memory.”</p> + +<p>In any case, Napoleon thinks Vienna will believe that to have +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[318]</span>been settled which unfortunately has not been settled. Fear +will achieve what he has failed to secure through a treaty. He +does not know that Talleyrand has betrayed him to Metternich, +saying: “It rests with you to restore your relationships with +Russia to the intimate footing that existed before Austerlitz. +Nothing but an alliance between Austria and Russia can save +the vestiges of Europe’s independence.” The Austrian +diplomat writes exultantly in his report: “At length we have +entered a new epoch, in which allies offer themselves to us from +within the French Empire.”</p> + +<p>Farewells are taken. The Emperor, watched by the princes, +exchanges a brotherly kiss with Alexander. All the onlookers +are profoundly impressed by this token of friendship in the +pair who rule the world. But Talleyrand, hat in hand, smiles +inwardly, for over the teacups at the German princess’ he has +been able to undermine the foundations of this friendship.</p> + +<p>In four years his labours will bear fruit, and the fruit will +poison Napoleon.</p> + +<h3>XX</h3> + +<p>Brightly, against this dull background of German princelets, +shines the torch of the German spirit. “I have gained only +one thing here to take back with me to Paris: that you will +have a pleasant memory of me.” To the Weimar circle, the +Emperor says these words on the evening of his departure, for +here and in Erfurt he has spent several evenings among those +who are the true princes of Germany—princes who have no +ancestors, but only genius. Himself a genius without ancestors, +it is solely among them that he feels at home; though, during +this fortnight, he experiences so much that increases his misanthropic +contempt for his fellow-men, a contempt which has +its counterpart in the respect he feels for the German spirit. +The works of the masters of German literature are, indeed, +unknown to him; but he knows their reputation, he knows the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[319]</span>position they occupy in the invisible German and the imperial +French Republic. That is why he seeks them out.</p> + +<p>Two years before, in Potsdam, he had summoned Johannes +von Müller to his presence, and nothing throws a stronger light +upon the significance of their conversation than the reserve with +which the Prussianised Swiss historian treats the incident. +With all the precision of a mind that knew so well how to +classify its materials, the Emperor was able, without periphrases, +to come direct to the topics which must interest every +historian, and were especially interesting to this one. Within +three minutes, the pair were deep in the profoundest problems +of history.</p> + +<p>The Emperor spoke of Tacitus. Then he sketched the main +epochs of intellectual life, and waxed enthusiastic concerning +the wonderful manner in which Greek culture was renovated +by Christianity when Roman culture was decaying. How +adroit had been the Greek tactic, when Greece, conquered by +the Roman sword, had found a way to reassert her dominance +over the things of the spirit. These words, addressed by +Napoleon so soon after the battle of Jena to a man of learning +in Prussian service, convey both recognition and a challenge. +The Emperor showed himself even more affable by going on to +advise Müller to write a history of the Napoleonic exploits—advice +he had never given to any Frenchman. Then he spoke +of the basis of all religions, and of the need for religion. “The +conversation was a long one,” writes Müller. “It embraced +nearly all lands and nations in its scope.... The more interesting +he became, the more did he drop his voice, so that at +length I had to come very close to him, and no one else in the +room can have heard what he was saying. Much of it, indeed, +I shall never disclose.”</p> + +<p>From this remarkable conclusion to a bald report, we may +infer, not only the discretion of the grave historian, but also +the splendid frankness which the Emperor could show when +holding forth in monologue to a man of mark.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[320]</span></p> + +<p>Now, in Weimar, he pays especial attention to old Wieland, +compares him to Voltaire, but asks him rather critically when +he mixes up romance and history. “A man of outstanding intelligence, +like you, should know how to keep them apart. Running +them together is apt to lead to confusion.”</p> + +<p>Something more serious than literary criticism is involved, +for when Wieland ably defends his misuse of history, and goes +on to speak of virtue as an example, the Emperor pulls him up +with customary bluntness, saying: “But don’t you know what +happens to people who are always expounding virtue in the +realm of fable and nowhere else? In the end they come to +believe that virtue itself is nothing more than a fable.”</p> + +<p>Napoleon turns back to Tacitus, for he always keeps a sharp +eye on this Roman historian, as if the man, like Madame de +Staël to-day, might still work mischief in Parisian drawing-rooms. +As a development of this criticism, speaking in a +modern ball-room, Napoleon utters great things concerning +the activities of men: “Tacitus has not sufficiently studied the +causes and the inner motives of events. His enquiries into the +mystery of actions and states of mind have not been sufficiently +profound to enable him to hand down an unprejudiced judgment +to posterity. A historian should take men and nations +as they are, should appraise them as their time and their circumstances +have made them.... I have heard him extolled +because he would fain make tyrants dread the people, but that +would be very unfortunate for the people! Perhaps I am +boring you? We did not come here to talk about Tacitus. +Look how beautifully Emperor Alexander dances!”</p> + +<p>Wieland has been waiting for this moment. In a carefully +prepared speech, he defends the old Roman against the new, +so that, at the end, the Weimarian dignitaries and any others +who are listening cannot restrain their jubilation.</p> + +<p>The Emperor has listened attentively. All now look at him, +wondering what he will say. Will he politely withdraw from +the discussion? Napoleon, as if on the battle-field, has been +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[321]</span>wondering upon what private information his adversary’s unexpected +attack can have been based, and how the onslaught can +best be parried. Unquestionably, the speech was not improvised. +But how on earth had it entered Wieland’s mind to get +up that particular topic? Suddenly the Emperor, who in the +interim has talked to hundreds upon hundreds of persons, recalls +his conversation with Johannes von Müller two years back.</p> + +<p>“I certainly have a strong opponent,” he says, when the old +gentleman has finished the harangue. “You make full use of +your advantages. Do you happen to be in correspondence +with Herr Müller, whom I met in Potsdam?”</p> + +<p>Every one in the audience smiles, including Wieland, who is +fonder of wit than of himself, and frankly rejoins:</p> + +<p>“Yes, Sire, it was he who told me that you do not like +Tacitus.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I do not admit defeat,” says the Emperor. He returns +to his Greek and Christian ideas, develops them further +and more boldly, for he sees that the clever old Wieland is a +sceptic: “Furthermore,” he says in low tones, shading his +mouth with his hand, and coming close to his interlocutor, “it +remains an open question whether Christ ever lived.”</p> + +<p>Conqueror and poet. One of them is still in his prime, a +ruler who has re-established the Christian faith upon the ruins +of the revolutionary cult of reason, but is now more or less at +odds with the Church. The other is a venerable poet, a pagan +whom Napoleon has just coupled with Voltaire, a man who +has maintained the cause of reason against the cause of Christ, +a member of a conquered nation, and physically so frail that +again and again he has to lean on the back of a chair. The +former whispers to the latter that it is probable Christ never +lived. But the old man has for half a century been justly regarded +as the wittiest among the Germans. He will show the +Emperor that, in the intellectual world at any rate, a German +can courteously exchange thrusts with a Frenchman, and he +hastens to reply: “I know that there are foolish people who +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[322]</span>doubt that Christ lived. But it would be just as absurd to +doubt that Julius Cæsar lived; or that you, Sire, are alive +to-day!”</p> + +<p>Thus with a sally in the French manner Wieland upholds +both German courtesy and wit, and the historicity of Christ. +The Emperor, without committing himself, is content to drop +the subject, and to clap the poet on the shoulder, saying: “Excellent, +excellent, Herr Wieland!” Then raising his voice, he +talks to his ball-room audience about the value of Christianity +as one of the buttresses of the State. But although he was +obviously eager to continue his talk with Wieland, the latter +showed plainly that he was too tired to stand any longer, and +thus the old man’s fatigue put a premature end to a scene +which the aid of a couple of chairs might have made even more +valuable.</p> + +<p>One of the silent witnesses of this conversation was Goethe.</p> + +<p>A few days earlier, in Erfurt, the Emperor had had an hour’s +talk with Goethe. They were together in a room where, as was +Napoleon’s custom when on a journey, he breakfasted, received, +commanded, philosophised, and signed documents. Their conversation +was a union of two minds, the balancing of counter-poised +electrical forces. It was a process of mutual accommodation +in which the two greatest men of their day contemplated +the world together; a duologue in which most of their +thoughts were never uttered, and in which the best elements +were an expression of the homage the two paid one another. +Goethe, who learned everything from nature, though in the +reality of the world of men he could only find the confirmation +of his previous imaginings, felt that this conversation was +one of the greatest events in his life, and he described it as +such. To the Emperor it was less significant.</p> + +<p>For Goethe had followed the Emperor’s course for a decade, +marvelling all the while; and in his old age he said such profound +things about Napoleon that a century after their utterance +they have not been excelled. Napoleon, on the other hand, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[323]</span>knew almost nothing about Goethe; in especial, he never surmised +the poet’s personal admiration for himself, since the German +had hitherto confided his feelings only to his intimates, and +even now kept his own counsel. Though the Emperor had read +<i>Werther</i> several times, the mood that work had aroused was as +completely a thing of the past as those youthful feelings which +are merely compensatory derivatives for an unoccupied imagination. +What this grey-headed poet now signified, was at that +time not realised by more than a hundred Germans, and hardly +one Frenchman; and, since his name in his own country was +little known (and, where known, was unpopular and evoked +no enthusiasm), it was natural that the Emperor should know +nothing of him save that he had written some wonderful things +which were unknown to any except the poet’s immediate circle, +and that Goethe, at the time of the battle of Jena, was minister +to that Saxon prince who had incurred the Emperor’s displeasure. +When Napoleon summoned Goethe to an audience, he +had less to expect from the poet than he had expected from +Müller and from Wieland.</p> + +<p>But such as Napoleon and Goethe need but look in a man’s +eyes to know all about him. Napoleon sits breakfasting at a +large, round table; on his right is Talleyrand; on his left, +Daru. Now he looks up, and, seeing the poet framed in the +doorway, invites Goethe to approach. The Emperor is silent, +amazed. There stands the sexagenarian, the most beautiful, the +halest of old men, Goethe in the calm of his age, at the pinnacle +of a strenuously wrought harmony of spirit, a harmony he had +never possessed before and was so soon to lose. Napoleon +is too full of admiration to speak. Then, more to himself +than to his companions, he says:</p> + +<p>“Voilà un homme!”</p> + +<p>That is the golden shaft which pierces the heart and illuminates +the scene: the word of a seer, deeply felt, an impression +rather than a judgment—and it is meet that such it should be. +For, precisely because the world ruler does not know that a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[324]</span>world ruler is now before him, this utterance, the like of which +he had never made to or of any one in the past and which +he is never to make in the future, shows the godlike kinship of +a genius with his brother genius. It is as if two elemental +forces hovering on high had recognised each other through a +rift in the clouds, and had, despite themselves, stretched out +arms to one another until the tips of their forefingers had met; +then the mists of time once more rose between them. A fleeting +moment in the course of a thousand years; there has been nothing +to compare with it since the meeting between Diogenes and +Alexander.</p> + +<p>Goethe’s discretion prevented him from recording the conversation +for many a year, and even then the record was incomplete. +Other memoirs provide us with fragments only.</p> + +<p>Napoleon praises <i>Werther</i>, and adds: “I do not like the end +of your romance.”</p> + +<p>“I can well believe that, Sire. You would rather that a romance +had no end.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor calmly accepts this wellnigh threatening epigram. +He then continues to criticise the story, saying that +Werther’s love was not the only factor of the catastrophe, for +ambition was likewise at work. The poet laughs (in two letters +Goethe mentions this—a freedom rarely indulged in when the +Emperor was present), and admits that the criticism is sound; +but he adds that surely an artist may be forgiven for using +an artifice which few readers will detect.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus11" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus11.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>The Coronation. Detail from the picture by Jacques Louis + David. Louvre, Paris.</p> + <p>(Photograph in the Kircheisen Collection.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The Emperor is well content with his little victory in the +other man’s domain. Turning now to drama, he makes “very +remarkable observations, like one who had studied tragedy with +the closest attention, in the spirit of a judge presiding over a +criminal trial, and of one who keenly regretted the departure +of the French theatre from nature and truth.” He spoke unfavourably +of the drama of destiny, saying that it was a relic +of less enlightened days:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[325]</span></p> + +<p>“What have we to do with destiny now! Politics are +destiny!”</p> + +<p>As he utters these words, he gives an object lesson in his +own fashion, turning to Daru to discuss requisitions, and then +speaking to Soult who has just entered. Turning back to +Goethe, he manœuvres to get the poet to himself, and asks +personal questions. Then he assumes the offensive:</p> + +<p>“Does it please you here, Herr Goethe?”</p> + +<p>But Goethe, too, knows how to seize political opportunities, +and rejoins: “Very much; and I hope these days will also prove +advantageous to our little country.”</p> + +<p>“Is your people happy?” asks the Emperor, not noticing that +he has phrased the question as if he were talking to a sovereign +prince—for he must often have used such words in conversation +with rulers. Really, he has no interest now in Saxony, and is +thinking: “How can this man of genius be useful to me? What +a pity he does not write history. But as a novelist he might +describe this congress, or he might write a play.—He would +certainly do either much better than our folk; and, besides, +this would have redoubled value coming from a foreigner.” +He therefore says:</p> + +<p>“You would do well to stay here for the whole period of the +conference, that you may write your impressions of this great +drama. What does Herr Goethe think of the suggestion?”</p> + +<p>Napoleon ends with this question (so unconsonant with his +customary dictatorial manner) almost all his advances to +the poet who is so hard to lure out of his reticence. Goethe +says cautiously:</p> + +<p>“I have not the pen of a classical author.”</p> + +<p>“That’s in the political vein,” thinks the Emperor. But +what he says is:</p> + +<p>“Your duke has invited me to Weimar. For a time he was +sulky, but now he is in a better humour.”</p> + +<p>“If he was sulky, Sire, the punishment was certainly rather +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[326]</span>sharp; but perhaps I ought not to express an opinion on these +matters. At any rate, we all owe him reverence.”</p> + +<p>“Splendid!” thinks Napoleon. “He stands in front of his +master, but lets me see he knows that the duke is a donkey. +I must get this man to write my ‘Cæsar’ for me! The effect in +France would be bigger than that of winning a battle!” His +spoken words are:</p> + +<p>“Tragedy should be the school of kings and peoples; there +is no other field in which the poet can win such laurels. Why +do you not write ‘Cæsar’s Death,’ more worthily, more splendidly +than in Voltaire’s attempt? This might be the greatest +work of your life. The aim of the tragedy would be to show +how much happiness Cæsar would have conferred on the human +race had he been given time to carry out his far-reaching plans. +Come to Paris! I urge you to do so! Thence you will get a +wider prospect of the world, and there you will find the most +abundant materials for new imaginative creations.”</p> + +<p>The poet expresses his thanks for the proposal, and says he +would deem himself happy were it possible to accept.</p> + +<p>“That is as far as I had better go,” thinks the Emperor, as +he had thought recently in his dealings with the tsar; “if I am +too insistent, he will fancy I have a strong interest in the matter. +It is very strange! He wants nothing from me, not +even to shine in my presence. What can charm him out of +himself, this incorruptible man? He must come and see the +plays we are presenting here; that will stimulate his ambition +to write better ones.”</p> + +<p>Out loud: “I hope you will come to the theatre this evening. +You will find a lot of princes there. Do you know the prince-primate? +You’ll see him in his box, fast asleep, with his head +pillowed on the king of Württemberg’s shoulder. Do you +know the tsar? You ought to dedicate something to him in +honour of Erfurt!”</p> + +<p>Thus the Emperor gives a third hint. Will Goethe take it? +But the poet only smiles civilly, and candidly declares:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[327]</span></p> + +<p>“I have never done anything of that sort, Sire, and therefore +I have never had occasion to repent it.”</p> + +<p>A touch! A touch! The Emperor of the French cannot but +feel it! Marvellous to relate, the son of the revolution tries to +strengthen his position by referring to the Roi Soleil:</p> + +<p>“In the reign of Louis XIV., our great authors held other +views!”</p> + +<p>“No doubt they did, Sire; but we do not know whether they +may not have repented.”</p> + +<p>“How true!” is the Emperor’s thought when he hears this +sceptical answer, which is really a skirmisher’s attack on the +part of the German. Consequently, he makes no attempt to detain +the poet when the latter, with a deprecatory gesture, himself +closes the interview and bids the Emperor farewell—another +breach of court traditions, with which Goethe is perfectly +familiar.</p> + +<p>Thus the amazing upshot of this uncanny conversation between +the two men of genius is that the Emperor, to whom the +duologue was merely interesting, had vainly solicited a favour +of the poet to whom it was the greatest encounter in his life. +The explanation is simple: The Emperor wanted to make use +of the poet, whereas the poet did not need the Emperor. Napoleon +wanted Goethe to write for him. But to Goethe, Napoleon’s +actions were merely the precious material which enabled +him to penetrate to the heart of the other’s genius; and +he could do this without a journey to Paris.</p> + +<p>Although the poet did not respond to the Emperor’s invitation +by so much as a poetically worded compliment, years +afterwards, in a tragical moment, Napoleon remembered the +man whom, by three great words, he had set apart from all +contemporaries.</p> + +<h3>XXI</h3> + +<p>Two months after this conversation, Napoleon is in Madrid, +standing in front of the picture of Philip II. He has been over +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[328]</span>the palace, and has made a quick transit through the galleries; +but here, in front of this conqueror’s image, he stands so long +that the members of his suite watch in dumb amazement while +the Emperor seems to be holding converse with the king. The +man contemplating the picture is unable to say: “Upon my +realm the sun never sets.” Perhaps this worldwide empire cannot +be achieved without the aid of the Inquisition—which Napoleon +has just suppressed, when invading Spain. Has he +always been too lenient? Too democratic? Still, he has, in a +dozen countries, put liberty in harness, that she may be broken +in to dragging the dictator’s chariot. Perhaps the trouble is +that he talks and writes too much? Philip, with the unfathomable +eyes, was always silent. He does not look happy. But +who is happy?</p> + +<p>A gloomy and joyless war had led the Emperor to this +southern capital, for the intrigues with which the Spanish +affair had been begun had wrought their own revenges. The +kings and princes with whom he had dealt so high-handedly in +the previous spring, had deserved no better fate; but the Emperor +had failed to understand the temper of the Spanish +people. When these had taken up arms in defence of their +injured pride, the Emperor had regarded the insurgents as mere +windbags. “They were worthy countrymen of Don Quixote. +Ignorance, arrogance, cruelty, cowardice—these made up the +spectacle before our eyes. Monks and inquisitors had stolen +away Spanish brains.... Their soldiers were like the Arabs, +and would only fight from behind the protection of walls; their +peasants were no better than fellaheen; their monks were +ignorant and dissolute; their grandees were degenerate, and +had neither energy nor influence.”</p> + +<p>Entangled in this error, he failed to realise that, though he +might conquer them to-day, his conquest would be for the day +only. To-morrow the Spaniards, supported by England (which +here finds its greatest rallying point), will begin to shoot once +more from the houses, and who shall hinder them? The Emperor +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[329]</span>was already willing to admit it to his confidants. To +Vincent, who had been a comrade in his earliest campaigns, he +said:</p> + +<p>“This is the stupidest thing I have ever done in my life! +Can you think of any possible way in which I can free myself +from the embarrassment?”</p> + +<p>“You have simply to withdraw, Sire, and leave the country +to itself.”</p> + +<p>“Fine words! Remember my position. I am a usurper. To +gain this position, I needed to have the best head and the best +sword in Europe. If I am to keep what I have won, all must +be convinced of this. There must be no falling off in the prestige +of my head and my sword. In face of a watchful universe, +it is impossible for me to say that I have made a serious mistake, +and to withdraw with a defeated army. You must see +for yourself that the thing can’t be done. I am still asking +for your advice!”</p> + +<p>Conviction that he has made a blunder, and that it is impossible +for him to retrieve it; crude admissions made to an old +companion-in-arms, whose advice he asks; is this young Bonaparte, +or Napoleon growing old? In a week, he had beaten +Frederick’s famous army. But in Spain, he effects very little +in eight months. When he has to deal with armies in a country +which can feed his soldiers, a country with roads and +towns, he is always victorious; but when he must campaign in +trackless regions, such as the desert, the plains of Poland, or the +mountains of Andalusia, the tempo is too tedious for his impetuous +nature, and the circumstances are too incalculable for +his mathematics.</p> + +<p>His royal brother, instead of supporting him in this perplexing +situation, makes difficulties. King Joseph wants to be +a Spaniard, and to win his subjects by kindness. There are +scenes between the brothers. With good reason the new king +feels that he has made himself ridiculous by having to run away, +and because he can only return under shield of the advancing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[330]</span>Emperor. But with even better reason does the man of iron +complain to Roederer about the king:</p> + +<p>“Joseph wants to be loved by the Spaniards, and to make +them believe in his affection. Kings cannot inspire affection +through tenderness. They must make themselves feared.... +He writes that he wants to retire to Morfontaine; at this busiest +of moments, he proposes to leave me in the lurch.... He says +that he would rather pass the time at his country-seat than +in a land bought with blood unjustly shed.... The blood is +that of the foes of France! If he is king of Spain to-day, +it is because he wanted to be; he could have stayed in Naples +had he wished. Support me? I need no family.... My +brothers are not Frenchmen, as I am.... The king of Holland, +too, talks about going into private life. It seems to me +that I, if any one of us three, have the best right to retire to +Morfontaine!”</p> + +<p>Why does he not break with Joseph? Here is Marshal Soult, +commander in Spain, and perhaps the most highly prized among +all his generals. Why does he not give Soult a crown, just as +he has given one to Murat? “Joseph writes to say that if I +value any one more highly than himself, that is the man I had +better make king. I certainly did not make Joseph a king +because I thought such a lot of him! If I distributed thrones +according to merit, I should have made a very different choice! +I need my family to stabilise my dynasty, for that is the system +on which I am working.”</p> + +<p>Now, in Madrid, he issues decrees to establish the new order +of things; which is welcomed by few, loved by no one, threatened +by England, and detested by the Spanish people. Nothing +can restrain him. Only last October he had written to his +wife from Weimar, saying that the tsar had been dancing, +but he himself would not dance, for “forty years are forty +years.” Moreover, he often makes fun of the way in which he +is putting on fat. Yet on Christmas Eve, afoot, he crosses the +Sierra de Guadarrama in a snowstorm, as if he had still been +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[331]</span>the general at Lodi. He defeats the English; but on these miry +roads, deep in snow, he is no more able to follow them in retreat +than he could follow the Russians after Friedland; and he +gnashes his teeth when the enemy escapes to the ships. Shall +he follow up the other portion of the English forces, away +there in the mountains? That would be to withdraw the nucleus +of his power still farther from France. Here he is, waiting in +the centre of Castille; but what is Paris saying?</p> + +<p>He is in camp at Astorga when the courier arrives. Now he +will learn what is going on at home. As he is reading one of +the letters, he begins to tremble with a dumb wrath. Silently +he paces up and down for an hour, without saying a word even +to those who are deepest in his confidence. Then he suddenly +issues order that the headquarters staff is to return. For +his own part, leaving army and generals, he hastens to Valladolid, +and thence to the frontier.</p> + +<p>“King Philip was right with his unfathomable gaze!” thinks +the Emperor as he drives northward in his travelling carriage. +“Instead of abolishing the Inquisition in Spain, I should have +set it up in France. A conspiracy in Paris, and not one organised +by the enemy! Fouché and Talleyrand, whom I could +only use because they hated one another, and because each +watched the other and told tales, have become reconciled and +have entered into an alliance. Murat in it, too!”</p> + +<p>The warning letters, which had decided him to return, were +from Eugene and from his mother. Letizia is active in spite +of her years; active in playing her part when danger threatens, +though she withdraws when festivals are the order of the day. +She is the Corsican mother, and safeguards her children. The +scope of Talleyrand’s treason, and how long he has been playing +a double game, can at present only be guessed. That he +has advised the Austrian envoy to take the offensive against +France immediately, now when the Emperor is busy elsewhere, +is not known, for there are no incriminatory documents. Even +if such documents were in the Emperor’s possession, how could +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[332]</span>so great a master have such great servitors arrested? Slowly +and invisibly has the power proceeding from himself grown in +their hands, ultimately to be turned against him whom they +hate. During the fortnight’s journey to Paris the waters of +his wrath are rising against these creatures of his making.</p> + +<p>Arrived in the capital, the Emperor calls a Council of State +composed of many senators and all his ministers, that they +may be witnesses to his vengeance. The two delinquents are +present. Napoleon loses no time before he begins his attack on +Talleyrand: “You are a thief and a scoundrel, for whom nothing +is sacred. You would sell your own father! I have showered +benefactions upon you, and yet there is nothing that you +would refuse to do against me. You it was who advised me to +undertake the mad venture in Spain, and now you criticise it to +all and sundry. It was you who informed me of the duke of +Enghien’s whereabouts and incited me to take ruthless measures +against him.... You have intrigued with the dethroned Spaniards +who were placed in your charge. To-day, because you +consider the Spanish affair a mistake, you have the effrontery +to declare that you had always warned me against it.... You +shall restore to me the keys of your office as grand chamberlain.... +I could break you like glass if I chose; I have the +power! But I despise you too much to give myself the +trouble!...”</p> + +<p>For half an hour, Napoleon holds forth in this fashion. His +hearers sit petrified. Silently, Talleyrand bows, and withdraws: +“What a pity,” he says smilingly to a friend he meets +outside, “that so great a man should be so ill-mannered!” +Within the council chamber, the Emperor now proceeds to his +attack on Fouché, whom he charges with having failed to work +up public opinion, with having supported the enemies of the +Emperor....</p> + +<p>His hearers sit petrified. Silently, Fouché bows—and remains! +The Emperor commands that the higher officials shall +renounce all right of criticism; they are to become mere tools of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[333]</span>his thoughts. He declares menacingly that doubt is the first +step on the road to betrayal, which, in its turn, becomes actual +as soon as it takes the form of opposition.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, all Paris is convinced that both the unfaithful +servants are to be banished or placed in confinement. But +neither is dismissed! Fouché remains, for who could replace +the man with a hundred eyes? Talleyrand, smiling as ever, continues +to come to court; he has retained his official position; +at the Sunday receptions, he always places himself so that his +master cannot fail to see him; answers in the stead of his +neighbour when the Emperor has put a question to the latter; +and, in general, demonstrates the truth of Lannes’ soldierly +judgment: when Talleyrand is kicked from behind and one is +conversing with him at the moment, not a sign of his feelings +can be detected in his face! Ere long he is to be seen once more, +limping away from the chill festivities in the brightly lit Tuileries, +following in his master’s wake to resume his labours in the +Emperor’s study, for “he is the only man with whom I can +really talk!”</p> + +<p>Weighty matters have to be talked over. Germany has +awakened; slowly she is beginning to stir; all eyes are fixed on +Austria. The Prussian king hesitates as usual; and an order, +dated from Madrid, has banished Baron vom Stein from Prussia. +Tyrol is seething with mutiny, like Spain; Austria, now +allied not only with England but also with Turkey, is arming +for the fifth time. What matters it, then, that Saragossa, +after a heroic struggle, should have fallen? Troops cannot be +withdrawn from Spain so long as insurrection is rife. How can +a war be undertaken, seeing that a vast army of a quarter million +men is tied up in Spain? It is precisely on account of this +situation that Austria has found courage to take up arms +against the Emperor.</p> + +<p>The Russian menace is Napoleon’s last hope. When the +Russian envoy, Romanzoff, is leaving for St. Petersburg, the +Emperor overwhelms him with gifts and with promises. Thinking +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[334]</span>to make himself agreeable to the tsar, he pledges himself to +the evacuation of Prussia; and urges Alexander, for his part, +to proclaim the alliance of the two emperors to a trembling +central Europe.</p> + +<p>But Alexander vacillates; he allows himself to be reassured +by Vienna, Berlin, and London; timid and hesitant as he is, he +yields to the threats of his grand dukes (who to a man detest +Napoleon), and yet cannot make up his mind to go whole-heartedly +over to their side; Vienna’s hopes of securing one of +the tsar’s sisters as bride for an Austrian archduke are frustrated: +the tsar elects to remain neutral!</p> + +<p>The Emperor is cut to the quick by his friend’s breach of +faith; indeed, it is the unkindest cut of all. He has given too +much personal confidence, his pride is wounded, his labour lost. +Literally, there remains nothing for him to do but to raise an +army out of the very earth: the levies for the following year are +now being called up, a year in advance; money must be procured +by every possible and impossible means; the funds have +fallen to 78, in consequence of the Spanish affair. Still, Austria +is ready far earlier than he had expected. When, in April, +the semaphore announces that the enemy is on the march, and +Napoleon is informed of the news in his bed at ten o’clock that +night, he orders the mobilisation of his troops for midnight, +and is furious when the unwieldy machine is not ready until +four hours later.</p> + +<p>When he arrives in Bavaria, he sees the mistakes committed +by the Austrians in their advance. He can hardly believe his +good luck; it was as if “he grew; his eyes gleamed, and with a +delight which his glance, his mood, and his movements all betrayed, +he exclaimed: ‘I’ve got them! Their army is lost! A +month hence, and I’ll be in Vienna!’” He underestimates the +time: he will be there in three weeks! He incites his soldiers to +marches of over sixty-five miles in forty hours, and beats his foe +in a series of five battles. Later he was to call these five days +his finest achievement from the point of view of manœuvring. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[335]</span>The last day he is wounded on the foot; and, since fate wills +that the legend of his invulnerability (in which the army +whole-heartedly believes and to which even he is inclined to lend +an ear) shall be exploded, the bullet hits his Achilles’ tendon.</p> + +<p>But he speeds away again, and crosses Germany. Napoleon’s +carriage is outwardly plain, but within it is comfortably +built. The Emperor can sleep in it; by day he can govern +from it, just as well as from the Tuileries or from a tent. He +is the first to overcome the friction which brings movement to a +standstill; and, though he does not travel as fast as we do nowadays, +he travels faster than any man ever travelled before. +Five days take him from Dresden to Paris. In a number of +lock-up drawers within the carriage, he collects reports, dispatches, +memoranda; a lantern hanging from the roof lights up +the interior; in front of him hangs a list of the different places +he must pass through, including where relays of horses are +awaiting him. Should a courier reach him, Berthier, or another +official who happens to be at hand, must take down the more +pressing orders, while the carriage goes jolting on its way. +Before long, orderlies are to be seen flying off in every direction.</p> + +<p>On the box seat, the Mameluke is enthroned in solitary +grandeur. Two postilions whip up the six horses. The carriage +is surrounded by a crowd of equerries, pages, and light +cavalrymen; when the procession sets forward, the road is all +too narrow to accommodate it, eddies of dust and heat envelop +it, night and fog encompass it. The peasants stand aside +to let the tornado pass; they are agape with wonderment and +firmly believe that the devil is hiding inside the great Napoleon. +He leaves behind him a trail like that of a paper-chase: for +he throws out of the windows of the carriage, not only all the +envelopes and other useless paper, but all the reports he does +not wish to file (torn into tiny fragments); all the newspapers +he has read; and, finally, books, which he glances at when he +has a moment to spare, and then consigns to their fate in the +mud of the highway.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[336]</span></p> + +<p>Wherever he gets out of his carriage, a hot bath is ready +for him. Then, at two in the morning, he will dictate till four, +snatch three hours’ sleep, and start off again at seven. At his +halts, four light cavalrymen surround him in a square, and +follow him in all his movements, if, for instance, in the daytime +he studies the country through his small telescope. Should he +need the large telescope, he uses the shoulder of the page in +waiting as a rest. Whether his halt be short or long, in +wartime the map is always ready to his hand, in carriage or +tent, in camp and by the watch-fire. Any member of his escort +who fails to show him in the map the precise point where the +halt has been made, the area he now wishes to study, receives a +volley of abuse—be it Berthier himself, Prince of Neuchâtel. +Through all countries, for the whole duration of his life, the +map follows him, pierced with coloured pins, illuminated at +night by twenty or thirty candles, and with a pair of compasses +lying on it. This is his altar, before which he offers up his +prayers. It is the real home of the man who has no home.</p> + +<p>Now, without a blow, he takes Vienna for the second time, +and occupies the same room as of old in the palace of Schönbrunn; +but the war is not over.</p> + +<p>For what has meanwhile been happening in his wide realms +is unfavourable to him, and encourages the enemy. There is +bad news from Spain; in northern Italy, Eugene has been fighting +unsuccessfully; and since, at this instant, Murat has to +advance from Naples, the Roman Emperor makes as short work +of it with Rome as the Hohenstaufen had done many centuries +before. Four years ago, at the same writing table, he had +penned a decree annihilating the royal house of Naples. Now +he repeats the manœuvre with the pope. Since Napoleon, at +this juncture, has to strike with his sword in all directions, +he no longer troubles himself about moral and political consequences, +and ventures this dangerous edict for little better +reason than that a junction must be effected between his armies +in Italy.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[337]</span></p> + +<p>But anger is a contributory cause. When he had been in +Spain at the beginning of the year, he had let fall expressions +showing how out of humour he was with Rome: “Last year, the +pope was impudent enough to neglect sending us the consecrated +candles he sent the heads of other States. Write to Rome saying +that we don’t want any, not even for the three kings of our +house. Say that at Candlemas I always get consecrated candles +from my own clerics, and that the value of these things does not +depend upon purple or the other insignia of power. In the +realm of the shades, there will be priests just as good as the +popes! Thus a candle blest by one of my own clergy will be +just as holy as one sent by the pope. I won’t have his candles, +and none of the princes of my house may accept them.”</p> + +<p>In this way he trumped the pope’s trick, like a Protestant, +like a revolutionary. Such was Napoleon’s mood, in the slough +of the Spanish roads and battles. Now, in Schönbrunn, he +bluntly deprives the Holy Father of power as sovereign prince. +The pope is relegated to the Vatican, and assigned a revenue +of two millions.</p> + +<p>Many members of the Emperor’s retinue are shocked, for +some of them are good Catholics, and it is only five days from +the feast of Pentecost. Is he not challenging God? Those in +whom faith becomes intensified into superstition are likely +enough, ere long, to find confirmation of their presentiments. +In five days, at Pentecost, Napoleon will be defeated for the +first time in his life.</p> + +<p>Some regard the battle of Aspern-Essling as indecisive; at +any rate, no one can consider it a success for Napoleon. When +the bridge across the Danube was swept away, this was just as +much and just as little due to chance as were all the great +happenings whereby at Lodi, Rivoli, Marengo, and on many +other occasions, he had, by precisely such improvisations, +wrested victory from God. A friend of his youth, Marshal +Lannes, is mortally wounded. Napoleon hastens to the dying +man’s side, and, so the story runs, his old comrade shows hostility +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[338]</span>both in word and glance. That evening Napoleon sits +long before his untasted supper, silent, and refusing to see any +one.</p> + +<p>“Conquered? Conquerable?” he muses, staring forth gloomily +into the future. “Has Achilles’ heel indeed been hit? That +marksman aimed better than Talleyrand. No, it was my own +fault. Too hazardous to cross the river in full view of the +enemy! Lannes was right; he was already half way over. +What is Paris saying? What will be the best way of reporting +this in Paris?” In uneasy mood, he goes back to Schönbrunn, +a huge, lonely palace in the midst of a hostile land. His Polish +mistress! If only he had had the lovely Walewska with him. +She is sitting now in a Polish castle, far away, but her thoughts +fly towards him. His hopes of a child by her last year had been +dashed.</p> + +<p>He sends for her.</p> + +<p>Strange news from Rome! To Napoleon’s edict of deposition, +the pope has promptly replied by a bull of excommunication. +Does this alarm the Emperor? He laughs. He laughs +at Catholic mediævalism, and the soldier, the self-made man, +thinks:</p> + +<p>“Is this vengeance for my having, in Notre Dame, snatched +from him the crown which the holy man wanted to place on my +head with his own hands? And what is holy? It is doubtful if +Christ ever lived; the only certain thing is that we can make +use of him. But in these enlightened days, none but children +and nursemaids are afraid of curses. I have been outlawed +twice ere this, on the Nineteenth Brumaire, and in Corsica. +Such farces bring good luck!” Much refreshed by these +thoughts, he prepares for the counterstroke on the Marchfeld, +and at Wagram is again victorious, as in thirty battles, his +excommunicated weapons being too much for the pious archduke +Charles. Towards the end of his two days’ battle, when +all was going well, and the commander was overpowered by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[339]</span>fatigue, he made Rustam spread a bearskin for him on the battle-field, +told the Mameluke to call him in twenty minutes, lay +down, and fell fast asleep for the prescribed period, to awaken +fully reinvigorated. The war was finished, and a truce was +agreed on. Next day, reporting the new victory to his wife, he +adds: “I’ve been burned as brown as a berry.” He has been +thoroughly toned up, and his mood is rejuvenated.</p> + +<p>Returning to Schönbrunn, he finds Walewska awaiting him. +How many lovely women have glided through the secret portals +and discreet chambers of this vast palace, to revivify the Habsburgs? +Now the adventurer from the Mediterranean sends +evening after evening to fetch the countess, who is housed near +by; and again and again he warns the groom of the chambers +to be careful lest the carriage should be overturned on the +rough road. For the second time, the pair live three months +together. He had looked forward to this in Finckenstein, and +had promised her that it should happen; but the where and +the when depended on the course of universal history, and not +wholly on himself.</p> + +<p>In a few weeks, she knows that she is with child. Will she +this time give him the gift that he has been asking from women +for twelve years, and has only once received? Thus, the idyll +gains a new content; and when, at midnight on August 15th, +lying in her arms, waiting for his fortieth birthday to dawn, +and thinking how early next morning salutes and bell peals will +hail the coming of this day, throughout France, and indeed in +all the countries over which he rules,—the day to which the +pope had complacently transferred the feast of St. Napoleon—may +it not seem strange to him that the first to congratulate +him should be this beauty of twenty summers, who can speak +but haltingly the two languages in which he is at home, and +whose glances convey more meaning than her words? His +thoughts may well fly back to that time ten years ago when he +sailed homeward from Egypt, hazarding all to the luck of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[340]</span>seas, out of which the great English net could so readily have +fished him. Now he is a different man, but not a happier one, +for he is the slave of “the nature of things.”</p> + +<p>He is different, also, from the man he was two years ago in +Finckenstein. Then he was the builder of a world empire, the +potentate to whom the kings of the East and the kings of the +West paid homage; now, that empire is on the defensive, and +even a great victory like that he has just won, can only be +turned cautiously to account.</p> + +<p>On the day of Wagram, his people in Rome had committed a +blunder of which he has only just heard:</p> + +<p>“I am very much annoyed at the arrest of the pope. That +was an idiotic thing to do! You should have arrested Cardinal +——, while leaving the pope at his ease in Rome.” He had +laughed at the symbolic power of the bull of excommunication. +“Excommunication” is an empty word, an airy nothing, which +the French bishops can blow away; but as statesman he realises +instantly that the imprisonment and deportation of the Holy +Father are very serious matters. This rash action has put him +in the wrong, for a banished pope is morally stronger than a +pope fulminating bulls.</p> + +<p>Other letters are coming to hand, from Spain this time, +telling how England has made good her losses there; and how, +in the forest wilds, the visible-invisible Spanish people, allied +with England, is standing more stoutly to arms. The news from +Paris is that Fouché has overstepped his orders, and has called +up the National Guard everywhere; his obvious intention has +been to intensify the dread of England throughout the country, +and to fan the flames of discontent among the newly levied conscripts.</p> + +<p>A difficult and dangerous situation, and one whose difficulties +and dangers thicken as the radius widens. The despatches from +Rome and Paris are a week old, and those from Spain date +from more than a fortnight back. By the time fresh orders +from Schönbrunn can reach Valladolid, the whole position will +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[341]</span>have changed. If only he had the power to issue his commands +with the velocity of light, then he would be able to rule +the world from this office on the Danube. As things are, he must +cut short the negotiations, which Austria, encouraged by England +and Hungary, has been protracting for weeks. When, +recently, the victor demanded a third of the monarchy, with +nine million souls, he was met with a refusal. Now he pursues +a different plan. With the splendid frankness which is so +baffling to diplomats of the old school, in one of his endless +conversations (this particular talk with Count Bubna lasted +seven hours), he explains his own difficulties to his opponent:</p> + +<p>“I was to blame for Aspern-Essling, and suffered for my +mistake: but the confidence of my soldiers remain unshaken.” +In broad outline, he sketches his own tactics on the battle-field. +“But I will tell you the mistake you are always making.... +You draw up your plans the day before the battle, when you do +not yet know your adversary’s movements, or what positions +you will have to occupy. But for my part, I never issue orders +long in advance, and am especially cautious overnight. At +peep of day, I send out my scouts, survey the field for myself, +and keep my troops in mass formation as long as I am still in +doubt.... Then I hurl myself on the enemy, attacking him +wherever the ground makes attack most favourable.... You +are right when you remind me that my free use of artillery +fire causes much bloodshed. But what am I to do? My troops +are weary; my men want peace. That is why I have to be sparing +with the bayonet, and to use cannon more than formerly.”</p> + +<p>Later he comes to the condition of the alliances: “To-day +I am sure of the tsar, but what guarantee have I that he will +stand by me? As regards Prussia, I have known for a long +time that that country is oscillating between you and me.” +Suddenly he demands only half of what he had asked before, +disavows his minister, and offers an alliance. Needs must, for +he has to get back to Paris. A new basis for negotiation! +Austria is to lose a fragment to the Confederation of the Rhine, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[342]</span>and another to Russia; a pathway to the Balkans has to be left +open for Napoleon. Several more weeks pass in negotiation. +His impatience is soothed by the bright glances of Walewska.</p> + +<p>In October, Napoleon is holding a great review in Schönbrunn. +A young man forces his way into the palace. He is +arrested. When searched, he is found to be carrying a long +knife and the picture of a girl. Examined in the guard room, +he refuses to give any information, and says he will only explain +himself to the Emperor in person. Soon the lad of eighteen, +a fair-haired youth, serious of aspect, frank and courageous +but courteous, is confronted with Napoleon. His name is +Friedrich Staps, and he is the son of a Tyrolese pastor. Napoleon +questions him in French, Rapp acting as interpreter.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I intended to kill you.”</p> + +<p>“You must be mad, young man, or ill.”</p> + +<p>“I am neither mad nor ill, but in the full possession of my +faculties.”</p> + +<p>“Then why do you want to kill me?”</p> + +<p>“Because you are ruining my country.”</p> + +<p>“Your country?”</p> + +<p>“It is mine, as it is that of all good Germans.”</p> + +<p>“Who was the instigator?”</p> + +<p>“No one. My heart told me that by killing you, I should +do good service to Germany and to Europe.”</p> + +<p>“Have you ever seen me before?”</p> + +<p>“In Erfurt. Then I believed you would make no more wars, +and I was your greatest admirer.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor sends for his physician, in the hope that the +young fellow will be declared a lunatic; but the doctor, having +made his examination, says that Staps is of sound mind.</p> + +<p>“I told you so,” says Friedrich.</p> + +<p>The Emperor is uneasy. He is loath to make an end of so +frank and bold a youth. He has not to do here with a partisan, +with a conspiracy, with one who is out to destroy a principle; +he has not to do with an ideologue, but with an idealist. Germany +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[343]</span>has sent forth against him a Brutus with a long knife.</p> + +<p>“You are distraught. You are bringing affliction on your +family. Ask my forgiveness, and say you are sorry. Then I +will grant you your life!”</p> + +<p>Never before has Napoleon spoken thus, at any rate to an +assassin. The young man remains steadfast. Has Napoleon +lost the power of suggestion? “Well?”</p> + +<p>“I do not want your forgiveness, and I am not sorry. My +only regret is that I have failed.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor grows angry.</p> + +<p>“The devil! A crime means nothing to you, then?”</p> + +<p>“To kill you would not be a crime, but a public service,” +says Staps, still perfectly respectful, indeed, thoroughly well +bred.</p> + +<p>“Hm. Whose portrait is this?”</p> + +<p>“The girl I love.”</p> + +<p>“Will she approve this attempt of yours?”</p> + +<p>“She will be sorry it has miscarried, for she hates you as +much as I do.”</p> + +<p>“What a pretty girl,” thinks the Emperor looking at the +miniature in his hand. “Am I really to be baffled by this +young fellow? No, I will save him, will pardon him. What +does it matter to me if he hates me?” Still holding the +miniature, he looks Staps squarely in the face: “If I pardon +you, I suppose it will gladden the heart of this girl?”</p> + +<p>Friedrich’s blue eyes flashed, and he says firmly:</p> + +<p>“Then I shall be able to kill you after all!”</p> + +<p>The Emperor turns away, and leaves the prisoner to his +doom. To Champagny, who is present, he talks for a long time +about the Illuminates. Then, with a sudden transition he says:</p> + +<p>“We must make peace. Drive back into the town. Summon +the Austrians. We are practically agreed on the main points, +and the only trouble relates to the war indemnity. The difference +amounts to fifty millions. Reduce the demand by half. +Get the matter settled. I was satisfied with the last draft. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[344]</span>Add whatever clauses you think necessary. I leave everything +in your hands. Make peace.”</p> + +<p>So great is the impression wrought by the youth. We cannot +call it alarm. Caution is too mild a word. The trouble is that +a shadow has fallen across his soul. After negotiating for three +months, the Emperor, simply that he may save one day, leaves +the conclusion of the peace to his minister. He has Staps +examined once more, but the enthusiast prefers death to recantation. +Next morning at six, the minister brings the treaty +which has been arranged during the night. The Emperor, +well content, praises his minister:</p> + +<p>The same morning, the assassin is shot, and the Emperor returns +to the topic: “The thing is unprecedented! So young a +man, a German, a Protestant, well brought up; and such a +crime! How did he meet his end?” The answer is that Staps, +in face of the firing squad, had cried in loud tones: “Liberty for +ever! Death to the tyrant!” The Emperor holds his peace.</p> + +<p>Napoleon commands that the long German knife shall be +brought back with him to Paris.</p> + +<h3>XXII</h3> + +<p>The Empress Josephine is lying in a swoon on the floor. +Napoleon summons the palace prefect, and orders him to bear +her to her chamber. The Emperor goes in front, carrying a +lighted candle. Since the staircase is narrow, he passes the +candlestick to a servant, and helps Bausset to carry Josephine. +He carefully lays her on her bed, and, in a state of great excitement, +leaves the room. Hardly is he out of sight, when the +empress opens her eyes: cries and fainting fit were all a pretence! +Bausset betrayed her secret later, stating that, as he +carried her up the stairs, she had whispered that he was holding +her too tightly, and was hurting her.</p> + +<p>All the same, fear and sorrow are in very truth her portion; +for she has been informed that she must leave the Tuileries, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[345]</span>where, for more than a decade, she has ruled as queen. The +Emperor himself has broken the news to her. Matters cannot +continue as in the past: every one is counting on his death: +across the frontier are the Germans with their long knives; +here at home is Fouché, colloguing with the English. Napoleon +needs a son; and his son must be the child of a princess of royal +blood. The scene with Josephine took place shortly after his +return from Schönbrunn. Probably he was feeling sore because +he could not place his Polish love, who bore his child in +her womb, straightway upon the throne. For a certainty, he +did not as yet know the name of his future bride.</p> + +<p>Mother, sisters, brothers, are sitting in silence, with stony +faces, round the table, in family conclave: Josephine is likewise +present. She can detect the smothered joy in the minds of these +witnesses who at last have gained their end. The “old woman” +must go! With uncontrolled emotion in his voice, the Emperor +declares that all hope of an heir from the empress is quenched, +and that it is solely on this account that he must part from her. +“God alone knows how hard a step this is for me to take.... +But no sacrifice is too great for the sake of France.... For +fifteen years, the empress has made my life beautiful by her +presence. She was crowned by my own hands.... I have +determined that she shall preserve the rank and the title of +empress; and, above all, that she shall look upon me as her lifelong +friend.” Josephine exercises admirable self-control, but +asks the arch-chancellor to read her words of acquiescence.</p> + +<p>The memorandum concerning the divorce is then signed by +all. Napoleon’s signature is more legible than usual. It is +vigorous, and a long, firm flourish underlines his full name: he +thus brings a very serious matter to a close, in manly fashion. +Nervously, Josephine adds her signature to the right of his, +quite near, as though pleading for his support. Madame Mère +writes her M. as her son has written his N., and follows him, +likewise, in the concluding flourish.</p> + +<p>That night, Josephine makes an amazing entry into his room, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[346]</span>and approaches his bed, tears streaming down her face, and her +hair falling round her shoulders. Next day, supported by Napoleon, +a veritable Niobe, she quits the palace and drives to +Malmaison. Before leaving, however, she has (foolishly perhaps) +besought Méneval to speak of her as often as possible to +the Emperor.</p> + +<p>Napoleon went alone to Trianon, which was at this time unoccupied. +There he held a death watch such as no lover had +ever held before over the love from whom he was to be eternally +severed: he remained there for three days, absolutely inactive—this +being as great an achievement as if a Buddhist holy man +had for three days done Napoleon’s work! He received no one, +he dictated never a word, read nothing, noted down nothing; +for three days the mighty wheel stood still, the wheel which for +fifteen years had rotated by the strength of its own impetus. +Soon afterwards he visited his divorced lady at her house in +Malmaison. Then he wrote to her:</p> + +<p>“I found you to-day in a worse condition of mind than I +had hoped, mon amie.... You should not give yourself up to +so profound a melancholy. Take good care of your health, +which is so dear to me. If you love me, then show me how +strong and happy you can be. You cannot doubt my fondness, +or all the tenderness I feel for you. You cannot believe +that I shall ever be happy if you are unhappy.... I was very +sad when I got back to the Tuileries; the great palace seemed +so empty; I felt so lonely.... Farewell, chère amie; sleep +soundly, and remember that I wish it thus....” After fifteen +years of intimate association, the man of forty writes in so +natural and so grateful a fashion—though at the same time we +may detect a gentle hint of a determined will that commands.</p> + +<p>Then come endless calculations: he will allow her three +millions per annum; the set of rubies he will pay extra for: +“this will cost me quite four hundred thousand francs and I will +have it valued, for I do not wish to be cheated by the jeweller.... +In the wardrobe at Malmaison you should find five to six +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[347]</span>hundred thousand francs. You can take this money in order to +increase your silver plate and your underclothing. I have ordered +a beautiful china service for you, but I have told the +makers to await your commands, for I wish it to be really +lovely.... The page who saw you this morning, tells me you +were weeping.... I shall take my meals all by myself.... +Have you really lost courage since going to Malmaison? And +yet that house has been the witness of our happiness, and our +feelings for one another. These feelings must never change; +nor can they, at least as far as I am concerned.... I should +so much like to pay you a visit; but first I must know if you +are a valiant woman or a weakling. I am rather weak myself, +and am suffering greatly. Farewell, Josephine. Good-night.”</p> + +<p>A melting mood has once more taken possession of him. The +tone resembles that of the passionate letters sent from Milan by +the young general to his faithless wife in Paris. It is set in a +minor key; and the same melody that surged up and soared +above the whole orchestra of his senses in those days, is now +played by the ’cello as a solo echoing through the desolate halls +of the Tuileries.</p> + +<p>Shortly after this, a masked ball was given by the arch-chancellor. +Among the guests was Princess Metternich, whose +husband had formerly been envoy at the court of Paris. A +man clad in a green domino took her by the arm and led her +aside. Every one knew who he was, for although no one fully +knew Napoleon unmasked, the masked Napoleon was impossible +to mistake: the tragi-comedy of genius in this world. After a +few quips, he asked her whether she thought that an archduchess +would accept the offer of his hand.</p> + +<p>“I do not know, Sire.”</p> + +<p>“Were you in the archduchess’ place, would you accept the +offer?”</p> + +<p>“I should certainly refuse it,” says the Viennese lady with a +smile.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[348]</span></p> + +<p>“How unkind! Will you write to your husband, to ask his +views on the matter?”</p> + +<p>“I think you had better say that to Prince Schwarzenberg, +Sire; he is the envoy now.”</p> + +<p>Thus with one of his improvisations does Napoleon begin his +new wooing after the divorce. It is a splendid return to the +straightforwardness of the revolution. The same evening, he +instructs Eugene, who next morning approaches the Austrian +ambassador. None of the Habsburg clan understand promptness +and simplicity in such campaigns; but to the Emperor +these qualities come naturally. The tsar makes no sign. Vienna, +beaten in four wars, must at length be pacified. What could +be more obvious than this solution? Why get a divorce if you +do not forthwith do your utmost to attain the unattainable?</p> + +<p>The Corsican family feeling is at work once more. He, who +so rarely holds a council of war, summons a family council +before the divorce and before the marriage. There they sit, +just as six weeks earlier, round the oval table; all the great +dignitaries are there; according to the report of one of those +present, general embarrassment prevails. The Emperor announces +his desire for an heir, and then speaks with an assumption +of dubiety:</p> + +<p>“Were it possible for me to be guided by personal feelings +alone, I should choose my bride out of the circle of the Legion +of Honour, from among the daughters of the heroes of France, +and should make the worthiest of Frenchwomen empress of the +French. But a man must adapt his actions to the customs of +his own century, to the usage of other States, to political considerations. +Many sovereigns have sought my alliance, and I +do not think there is any reigning house to which I cannot propose +this personal tie. Three of them have now to be considered: +the Austrian, the Russian, and the Saxon. I should +like to hear your views.”</p> + +<p>Thus does the curse of legitimacy break once more into the +mighty dictator’s private preserve. Legitimacy is the rock +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[349]</span>on which he will be shipwrecked. Why should he not choose +Countess Walewska whom he loves? Or, if the empress is to be +a Frenchwoman, why not a daughter of one of those heroes to +whom he has given kingdoms? He has shaken the old world to +its foundations; has with his own hands placed two crowns on +his head; has kept kings of ancient lineage waiting in his ante-rooms; +has dethroned one such, and placed an innkeeper’s son +upon the vacant throne. Has he done all these things that to-day, +debarred from the choice of the woman of his heart, on +the prowl for an heir, he must “adapt his actions to the customs +of his own century”—customs which hitherto he has +defied like a demigod?</p> + +<p>But no such unconventional possibilities are discussed in these +cold, imperial halls, for one and all are against a Frenchwoman. +Eugene and Talleyrand are for Austria. Murat demurs, saying +that Marie Antoinette had brought bad luck to France. +Some voice the advantages of a Russian alliance. Others +favour Saxony. The Emperor listens to their views, closes the +sitting, and does what he has already made up his mind to do. +That same evening he sends a message to Vienna. The only one +present at the council who saw clearly was the minister who had +strongly urged the claims of Russia, but who did not venture to +utter his real reasons except in private; “Within two years, we +shall certainly be at war with both the monarchies with whose +ruling house the Emperor does not ally himself by marriage—and +Austria is the only one of the three a war with which would +not be dangerous!”</p> + +<p>By the Emperor’s instructions, the court of St. Petersburg +is informed that he has been kept waiting too long. Furthermore, +it would be inconvenient to have a priest of the Russian +Orthodox Church in the Tuileries. Finally, he has been informed +“that Grand Duchess Anna, who is fifteen years old, is +not yet ripened to womanhood. Inasmuch as, in young girls, +two years elapse between the appearance of the first signs of +womanhood and complete maturity, this will not suit the aims +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[350]</span>of the Emperor, who does not wish to be married for three years +before he can have a child.” This gynecological excursus is the +last we hear of the Russian wooing which had begun so inauspiciously +in Erfurt.</p> + +<p>But the Habsburgs are a prolific family, so that he may +regard an Austrian princess as practically guaranteed against +barrenness. When he learns that the mother of his chosen +bride has given birth to thirteen children, that one of her ancestresses +has had seventeen, and another actually twenty-six, +the Emperor exclaims: “That’s the kind of womb I want to +marry!” There could be no doubt about the answer to his +proposal; Francis would accept it, and his eighteen-year-old +daughter would comply.... Acceptance is taken for granted +in the first letter of his courtship, which the Emperor writes +with his own hand, legibly in places, for it is penned with +Méneval’s aid, and with more pains than might be gathered +from an inspection of the schoolboy script:</p> + +<p>“Chère Cousine, The brilliant qualities which distinguish your +person have aroused in us the desire to serve you and to honour +you. Inasmuch as we are approaching the emperor, your +father, with the request that he will entrust us with Your Imperial +Highness’ happiness, may we venture to hope that you +will graciously accept the sentiments which move us to this +step. Dare we flatter ourselves that you are not deciding on +this step solely from a sense of duty and filial obedience?... +If Your Imperial Highness has no more than a trace of inclination +towards us, we shall carefully cherish this sentiment, +and make it our supreme task to be agreeable to you always +and in all things, so that we may look forward to the happiness +of winning your whole heart....”</p> + +<p>Did ever a great genius write a more preposterous letter? +He knows perfectly well that her acceptance will be dictated by +filial obedience and nothing more; that she cannot possibly +have a trace of liking for the devil who, during the years of +her childhood, has been despoiling her father of one province +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[351]</span>after another, so that she has learned to cross herself at the +sound of his name. He knows that he has better things to do, +that he has other supreme tasks, than to make himself agreeable +to a little goose, who is not distinguished by any other +quality than by the luck of being born a Habsburg; who is +neither beautiful nor wise, neither brave nor passionate. Yet +the equivocal nature of his position constrains Napoleon, who +has never asked a favour, to write such a letter as the foregoing!</p> + +<p>With the gesture of a sultan, he gives to his friend Berthier +(who is to woo for him by proxy in Vienna) tokens of affection +for his bride: his miniature set in diamonds, and jewellery +worth one-and-a-half-millions. But at the proxy wedding in +the Hofburg, Napoleon is represented by the bride’s uncle, +Archduke Charles, whom he has worsted in a dozen battles.</p> + +<p>The Emperor, meanwhile, gives more attention to clothing +and furniture than to affairs of State; orders for Marie Louise +a trousseau to the tune of five millions, for what she is bringing +with her has cost only half a million; studies all the details of +Marie Antoinette’s journey, lest the Habsburgs should be able +to plume themselves on breaches of etiquette; orders fashionable +coats from his tailor, and buckled shoes from his shoemaker; +goes out hunting, rides vigorously, in the hope of sweating off +his fat; even finds that his dancing days are not yet over.</p> + +<p>While on her way to Paris, Marie Louise receives a love letter, +quite illegible, for all she can make out is the capital N. +of the signature; flowers greet her wherever she halts for the +night; in Compiègne she is expecting to be received by the +terrible man whom she is to wed; he is waiting there for her +with all his family.</p> + +<p>But suddenly, with a surge of vigorous youth, the firm will +and the fierce impatience of the revolutionist break through this +hedge of antiquated formalities. Laying aside his new embroidered +coat, and donning his old uniform, he jumps into a +calash undecorated with armorial bearings, and drives to meet +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[352]</span>the bridal procession. There it is; the horses are being changed +in a downpour of rain. He wants to take Marie Louise by +surprise, but her master-of-the-horse, recognising him, exclaims, +“His Majesty”; so the little coup fails to come off. In +a moment he is in the carriage beside her, dismisses the lady-in-waiting, +kisses his bride, laughing the while, for he is wet +through. In her embarrassment, she finds a pretty phrase: +“Your portrait does not flatter you, Sire!”</p> + +<p>“She is by no means beautiful,” he meditates, as he takes +stock of her. “Marked with smallpox, though not badly, thick +lips; watery blue eyes; full-bosomed for her years; but fresh +and young.”</p> + +<p>With disgust, that evening, the masters of the ceremonies +see their whole programme, which has been rehearsed for weeks +in advance, torn to tatters. The meeting with the imperial +family has been effected with scant formality; all come and go +as they please; the girls who present bouquets must cut their +compliments short, for every one is wet and cold; supper is improvised, +with Caroline as third at table. At one in the morning +the whole company retires to rest. But the Emperor has +taken his uncle the cardinal aside, and has asked Fesch, as an +authority upon these matters, whether Marie Louise is not +already his wife, thanks to the proxy marriage in Vienna. +“Yes, Sire, according to civil law,” answers the priest, foreseeing +what is about to happen.</p> + +<p>Next morning the Emperor has breakfast for two brought to +the empress’ bedside. Within an hour all Compiègne knows.</p> + +<p>By this night attack, made on the spur of the moment, +Napoleon conquers the world of legitimacy after the same fashion +as he has conquered it in the field, taking the Habsburg +fortress by storm, as beseems his reputation.</p> + +<p>With a mischievous double meaning, he writes next day to +his unsuspecting father-in-law: “She fulfils all my hopes, and +we do not cease to give one another proofs of the tender +feelings that unite us. We suit one another exceedingly well.... +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[353]</span>Allow me, therefore, to thank you for this lovely gift.” +Uncle Fesch does not give their union the blessing of the Church +until after they have made their imposing entry into Paris. In +Josephine’s case, he was eight years too late; this time the +sanctification has been delayed no more than a fortnight.</p> + +<p>The Emperor finds his bride charming. “You should all +marry Germans,” he tells his intimates; “they are gentle, good, +unspoiled, and as fresh as roses.” He is delighted that she +gets on well with his family. Domestic peace is new to him. +He graces the intimacies of the toilet with his presence; pinches +her cheeks caressingly; calls her his “bonne petite animale.”</p> + +<p>Two or three weeks later, there is news from Poland. The +child conceived during the weeks at Schönbrunn has been born—a +boy. There is a strange medley of feelings in Napoleon’s +soul. From that same Austrian palace, where he has stayed +only in the absence of its rightful owner, has come the new wife, +who as yet gives no signs of capacity for doing her duty. He +vacillates; sends for the Polish countess. But, soon after +this, Marie Louise finds that she is with child. “The Emperor’s +jubilation almost passes description,” writes Metternich to +Vienna. At this early stage, the empress’ condition is solemnly +announced to the Senate and the nation; prayers for the successor +to the throne are to be said; there is to be a festival of +rejoicing as sumptuous as those of pagan times.</p> + +<p>When the lovely Walewska arrives, he gives her everything +she can ask for; sees the baby and fondles it; makes it a count +of the Empire, with the chancellor for guardian. But nothing +beyond this unites the sometime lovers. Napoleon has become +a respectable married man.</p> + +<p>In all respects, now, this man’s career seems to be transcending +familiar limitations, outstepping traditional horizons. +Thus among the women who have crossed his path new relationships +begin. The Polish countess, whose eyes Josephine would +at one time have been glad to scratch out, is invited to Malmaison. +Walewska brings Josephine Napoleon’s son, that son +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[354]</span>whose absence from her own womb decided Josephine’s fate. +See the group on the terrace. One of them is a grey-headed +woman, who was born in the West Indies, had a taste of prison, +and then became empress of the French. The other, young and +blooming, was brought up in an impoverished Polish noble +family, was married off to a wealthy old man, and was then +switched into a new career through Napoleon’s chance glimpse +of her at a ball. Between them is the child of the man who +had loved both and forsaken both, that he might compel a +stupid little Habsburg girl to immortalise a name which had +long ere this immortalised itself.</p> + +<p>When the empress’ hour comes, he has to make a choice great +as destiny itself. Paris knows, France knows, that the young +wife is in labour. All are waiting for the heir; enemies are +dreading him before he is born; the common people, who at such +moments are always dynastically inclined, are praying for +mother and child. Throughout the night Napoleon has been +watching by his wife’s bedside, but has withdrawn for a time. +The accoucheur brings him dread tidings: “The child is in a +bad position; there is danger to the life of both mother and +infant!”</p> + +<p>The whole structure of his dynastic schemes is tottering. +What will he say, this man of iron, when the doctor asks +whether the first thought is to be for the mother or for the +child? Will he not answer that, before all, it is necessary to +save the child, for whose first cry millions besides Napoleon are +waiting? What does Marie Louise matter? When she has +borne him a healthy boy, she will have fulfilled her earthly +mission. Surely the Emperor can have no choice?</p> + +<p>“Do exactly what you would do if an ordinary citizen’s wife +were in labour. The mother’s life comes first!”</p> + +<p>Two hours later, however, the baby has been born, and the +mother is in good case. With rapt attention, Paris counts the +cannon shots. Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one—so far, it may +only be a girl. But when the twenty-second gun booms out, the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[355]</span>whole city is in a frenzy of delight. The crowd surrounding the +old Bourbon palace cheers madly. The salute is still thundering. +The little lieutenant of artillery stands by the window, +mechanically noting the calibre of the guns from the pitch +of the gun-fire, glancing down upon the mutable many without—while +his thoughts reach far back into the past, and roam +yet farther forward into the future.</p> + +<p>The groom-of-the-chambers sees that there are tears in the +cold, grey-blue eyes.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[356]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus12" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus12.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Napoleon as Emperor. Painting by Vigneux. Count Primoli + Collection.</p> + <p>(From the “Corpus Imaginum” of the Photographic + Society, Charlottenburg.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[357]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="BOOK_FOUR">BOOK FOUR<br> +THE SEA</h2> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[358]</span></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>It is essential that this man shall be ruined!... But +since, here below everything takes place by natural causes, +the daimons trip him: thus, in the end, even Napoleon is +overthrown.—<span class="smcap">Goethe.</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[359]</span></p> + +<h3>I</h3> + +<p>The old struggle in Napoleon’s mind between mathematics +and fantasy had ripened. The issue of the struggle was now +to decide the history of his world dominion.</p> + +<p>For now, at the climax of his career; fortified by his ties +with the Habsburgs, ties for whose sake he had broken the +familiar associations of years of married life; fortified by having +a legitimate heir, whose birth gave firm anchorage to his +adventurer’s dynasty; having gained the mastery over conspiracies, +and having learned to dominate all the political parties—he +was once more free as he had been eleven years earlier, +when the victory of Marengo had safeguarded the tranquillity +he needed for the internal development of France. True, England +was unconquered; but Russia seemed still friendly. True, +Spain was uncoerced; but Europe from Reggio to Hammerfest +was allied to France, this being a euphemism for dependence +on France. For the last time in his life, he was free to +make a great decision.</p> + +<p>Had he been nothing more than a mathematician, he would +have been content with his calculations within the resuscitated +realm of Charlemagne, and dreams of world dominion would +have yielded place before the reality of the United States of +Europe under France’s leadership. Had he been nothing but a +visionary, he would have aimed, like a new Alexander, to march +towards the Ganges; and England would have been merely a +pretext for his onslaught on India. But he was both mathematician +and visionary, and was therefore in danger of disavowing +himself. For, as calculator, he failed to grasp an +eminently real factor which could not be expressed in figures. +The moods of un-uniformed men in Spain and in Germany +could play no part in the cipherings of a military commander +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[360]</span>who thought in terms of army corps and big guns. Nevertheless +such moods should have come within the scope of his visions +as a seer!</p> + +<p>Thus during these decisive years, after the birth of his heir, +and before his next warlike designs have become active, his mind +is alternately dominated by his two fundamental impulses, and +the whole future depends upon which of the two will be supreme +when the moment for action comes. Will his awakened fantasy +warn him that it is dangerous to brave the anger of exasperated +peoples, or will his calculating faculty disclose to him the danger +that will await him on the distant road to the East? +What will happen should he err in both respects? Then, indeed, +his whole world will go up in flames.</p> + +<p>He feels that his powers are ripening. In addition to the +two energies we have been considering, a third is growing to +maturity, the sense of destiny. Words unheard before, or +rarely expressed, now find voice: “I feel that I am being driven +towards an unknown goal. But as soon as I have reached it, +as soon as I no longer have an inexorable mission, an atom +will suffice to overthrow me. Till then, no human powers can +effect anything against me. The days are numbered.”</p> + +<p>Truly they are numbered; and through these prophetic +words there already breathes the foreboding of an exit, although +he does not know the way thither. Now, on the path +towards the tragical catastrophe, the clarity of his inner vision +is dimmed. Yet he himself speaks of the campaign against +Russia as the “fifth act,” though the full significance of the +term is not apparent to him. Tones like those of his youthful +days resound in the new harmony. “I have got to the +end of everything,” he had said when he was thirty, on the Nile. +Now, at forty-three, he declares in the Council of State: “All +this will last as long as I do, and no longer. Perhaps when +I am dead, my son will think himself well off if he can be sure of +an income of forty thousand francs a year.”</p> + +<p>But at the same time his ardour increases. Since those days +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[361]</span>when it seemed to him that (thanks to the acceleration of +genius) he had got to the end of everything, since the days of +the Egyptian campaign, he had been guided by a religious faith +that it was his destiny to become a second Alexander. Now, +when for the first time he is equipped with means for the carrying +out of his design, is he to annihilate his dream by figures, +which are not more potent in the world than dreams? When +the arch-chancellor wishes him a happy new year, he answers, +as if suddenly rejuvenated: “I must grow wise if you are to +be able to repeat this greeting thirty years hence.”</p> + +<p>Napoleon never grew wise, but he was always clever. When +he finds that his commercial warfare is reacting to the detriment +of his own country, he disregards his own prohibitions, +and grants licenses for the import of certain raw materials and +dyes from England, in part because they are urgently needed +for French industry, and in part because the articles in question +are among the requirements of Parisian luxury. Soon, +in all continental countries, huge sums are made by smugglers +who import the very colonial produce which the Emperor wishes +to prevent his chief enemy from marketing. These goods are +then retailed at a great profit. Is the smartest dealer in +Europe to be robbed of his gains by smugglers? He would +rather have the business under his own control, so he imposes +a fifty per cent. duty on all the colonial produce his agents can +find on the Continent, and pouches these receipts for France. +Since at the same time he has all English woollen textiles that +he can lay hands on burned, he opens opportunities for illicit +gains which are so large that for their sake people will ignore +the risks of draconian punishments. He has to carry on a +guerilla warfare, just as in Spain, though this time he is +fighting the nation of shopkeepers with trade weapons.</p> + +<p>It is likewise a war of decrees. Since Paris has prohibited +all trading in English wares, London reciprocates by demanding +from all neutral countries enhanced dues for permission to +call at the blockaded ports. Paris counters this move by declaring +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[362]</span>that the vessels of neutrals which shall call at the ports +of London or of Malta, run the risk of capture as prizes. +London responds by sending her ships out under false colours, +and Paris thereupon has all merchantmen trading in Mediterranean +waters overhauled and searched. The American government +forbids its citizens to have business dealings with +Europe, or even to have any private intercourse with the Continent; +but the Emperor promises all kinds of privileges to the +Americans if they will cease to call at English ports. So paradoxical +is the situation resulting from the endeavour to strangle +overseas trade, by which Napoleon had hoped to extort the +freedom of the seas!</p> + +<p>The Emperor’s hopes are rising. The English pound sterling +is still quoted at seventeen francs, the English banks are failing, +and in parliament the opposition is against the continuance of +the war. In spite of this, his peace proposals are rejected. +The disturbances in Spain are at once the cause and the consequence +of England’s defiant attitude.</p> + +<p>There is still an army numbering a quarter million men +stationed in Spain; and, despite all endeavours, Wellington’s +thirty thousand are not driven out, for the bands of native +insurrectionaries led by officers and monks carry on unceasing +guerilla warfare against the French invaders. The Emperor’s +quarrel with the pope stiffens the antagonism of the monks. +While French children on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees +are being taught that Napoleon is God’s vicegerent, Spanish +children on the southern slopes are learning that the Emperor +is the devil incarnate and that the murder of a Frenchman +is a deed pleasing to the Almighty.</p> + +<p>In so fanatical a land, where hardly any regular troops +are left for the French to fight against, Napoleon’s generals +feel out of their element. Disunion prevails. Masséna is sent +against Portugal. At the same time, Napoleon deprives +Joseph of four provinces. When the king journeys to Paris to +demand the cancelling of the decree, the Emperor declares that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[363]</span>his brother has ceded these lands. Napoleon places a general +to administer each province, and appoints a marshal in +supreme command. He carries out this Roman system of ruling +through military governors thus ruthlessly and persistently +because of his intense disappointment in the rule of the members +of his family to whom he has allotted crowns, and, above +all, in the behaviour of his brothers. Terrible battles, made +more ghastly by famine and disease, are meanwhile forcing +Masséna to retreat. The Emperor, in a fury, recalls him.</p> + +<p>Will Napoleon at length realise that his presence is essential? +Marshals, officers, and, above all, the rank and file of the army, +eagerly await his coming. Full well does he know this; and yet +he does not go. Does he fear assassination at the hands of +some fanatical Spaniard? Or is it treachery at home that +deters him; such conspiracies as those which called him back to +Paris so suddenly when he was encamped near Astorga? Is +he to get enmeshed in this southern corner of his empire at the +moment when the whole is at stake? What is Spain to him? +He chooses the oldest of his companions-in-arms: Marmont is +sent to clear up the mess and bring the campaign to an end.</p> + +<p>The second kingly brother had, with good reason, thrown +up his job. Napoleon had deprived him of all the Dutch territory +on the left bank of the Rhine; had insisted upon the removal +of the rest of the protective duties against France; and +(this was the worst of all) had angered the Dutch, who are +traders and seamen, by the measures he had compelled them to +take against England. The Emperor had expected both his +brothers to run counter to the currents of national feeling in +their respective kingdoms, underestimating alike the strength +of popular sentiment and the sense of honour of the two men he +had forced to become monarchs. It would have been easier for +military governors to cope with the rising tide of nationalism +and to dispense with a feeling obligation towards the people +they ruled, than it was for kings burdened with historic crowns.</p> + +<p>When Louis found it impossible to put up any longer with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[364]</span>the Emperor’s tutelage, he abdicated in favour of his younger +son, and fled by night from his kingdom for an unrevealed +destination. Napoleon’s catchpolls sought him far and wide +in Europe, to discover him at length in Austria. The Emperor +was greatly enraged, yet he could not but see that he was +himself more to blame than Louis. He therefore made no attempt +to punish, but sent his own body physician to care for +the fugitive, who had excused the flight on the ground of illness. +To his mother, the Emperor wrote saying that there were tidings +of Louis’ whereabouts. “You need not be anxious; but +his conduct has been of a kind which can only be explained by +his illness. Your very affectionate son, Napoleon.”</p> + +<p>The wording of this subscription stands out among the +numberless letters in which the dictator of Europe was accustomed +to express his will to those who usually received these +missives with trembling. The fugitive king, meanwhile, drawing +a breath of relief, settled down to a literary life in Graz, +writing in three volumes under the title <i>Marie, ou les peines +d’amour</i> (1808), the story of the love affair which the Emperor +had so ruthlessly frustrated. But when Joseph wished to follow +Louis’ example, feeling that he would rather retire into private +life than continue to play the part of king in a pack of +cards, he was restrained from abdication by the iron hand of +the Emperor. Napoleon considered that his democratically +inclined brother would do more mischief as an intriguer in +Paris than in his position as nominal chief and military commander; +so Joseph had once more to put his hand to the task +of war, for which, to the Emperor’s great annoyance, he was +utterly unfitted.</p> + +<p>The most frivolous members of the family, Jerome and +Pauline, were amusing themselves with love affairs. Murat +and Caroline were immersed over head and ears in old and new +intrigues. As for Elise, she had so much printed in the Tuscan +newspapers anent her reviews and hunting parties that the Emperor +was even more annoyed by her craze for notoriety than +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[365]</span>by the things she actually did, and wrote to her, saying: +“Europe pays very little heed to what the grand duchess of +Tuscany is doing.”</p> + +<p>The most dangerous man in his family circle has not yet +become an object of his menaces. Since the old king of Sweden +was on friendly terms with England, the Emperor had made +him abdicate in favour of an uncle; and the new ruler, who is +devoted to the cause of Napoleon, has declared war against +England. Being old and childless, he thinks he cannot please +the Emperor better than by appointing as successor one who is +closely connected with Napoleon by marriage. Thus it is that +Bernadotte, Joseph’s brother-in-law, who during the wars has +made friends in Swedish Pomerania, is unexpectedly nominated +crown prince of Sweden—as a result of a complicated intrigue, +in which Fouché has played a considerable part. The Emperor +would have found it difficult, in any case, to object to this +selection of a French general as heir to a foreign throne; and +it was practically impossible for him to interfere with the promotion +of his sometime rival, the man who had nearly prevented +the coup d’état of the Eighteenth Brumaire, and had subsequently +become the husband of the woman whom Napoleon had +once thought of marrying. “A good soldier,” growled the Emperor; +“but with no talent for ruling; one of the old Jacobins, +with a bee in his bonnet like the rest of them, and therefore he +will never be able to keep his position on a throne.... Still, I +could not interfere, were it only because it would be impossible +to do anything more effective against the English than to set a +French marshal upon the throne of Gustavus Adolphus.... +I am glad to be quit of him.”</p> + +<p>Is he really so carefree? Hitherto these folk whom he cannot +trust have always been kept under his own eyes in Paris.</p> + +<p>Bernadotte triumphans! Soon, at last, he too will wear +a crown, and will not even have to thank this detested Bonaparte +for the gift. To Napoleon, therefore, who till yesterday +was Bernadotte’s supreme war lord, the crown prince of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[366]</span>Sweden now writes a bitter-sweet letter, offering soldiers and +iron, but asking for money. The Emperor smiles. He knows +what is written between the lines, and makes no direct answer. +He has Bernadotte informed that he does not correspond with +royal princes. His old opponent will not forget the gibe. In +less than two years, Bernadotte will take vengeance for it, and +for all that has gone before!</p> + +<p>Ruefully, the Emperor watches the flames that are springing +up everywhere, the flames his family mania has lighted. +He does not conceal from his intimates that he is disappointed +with his kin and his nobles. Writing to one of them at this +time, Napoleon says: “I ought never to have had Murat +and my brothers crowned. Live and learn!... It was a mistake, +too, to give back the confiscated estates to the émigrés. I +should have kept the lands as State domains, and have been +content to allow the former owners a modest income. I can’t +stomach them, these people of the old regime; their light and +airy graces are out of keeping with my serious temperament. +I myself did not succeed to a heritage, but was content to take +what belonged to no one. I ought to have been satisfied with +the appointment of governors and viceroys. Some of my marshals, +even, are beginning to dream of greatness and independence.”</p> + +<p>At length he has realised that it is dangerous to play the +emperor! His troubles are the fruit of his wish to safeguard +a dynasty (this meaning that the spirits of revolt and of +genius, from whose union Napoleon has sprung, are to be +taught to walk in the paths of legitimate mediocrity). They +are the outcome of the weak moments of a man who in his hours +of strength believed in the immortality of deed and of fame, +of a man who in these hours of strength felt no need of the +perpetuation that is achieved by means of a family line. The +brothers, and brothers-in-law, and marshals, who all shine by +reflected light, will take vengeance ere long. When his star +pales, and the skies of Europe are overcast, they will still +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[367]</span>try to shine across the Continent in the afterglow of his +splendour!</p> + +<p>Deeply ingrained in him was the illusion that his good fortune +would be transmitted to his son. When, after the boy’s +birth, a great reception was held, and all the notables came to +offer congratulations, the Schwarzenbergs were among the +guests. Schwarzenberg, as Austrian envoy in Paris, had done +much to promote the marriage. The Emperor, full of gratitude, +went up to Princess Schwarzenberg and, taking from his +coat a scarab pin, presented it to her, saying:</p> + +<p>“I found this scarab in the tomb of an Egyptian king, and +have worn it ever since as a talisman. Please accept it; I no +longer need such a mascot.”</p> + +<p>He feels that the birth of his son has placed him above all +possibility of danger, and that everything will go well with him +in future. He can have no further need for an amulet!</p> + +<p>These kings, these brothers, have been but a substitute for +the sons that were lacking. Now, when he can feast his eyes +on a son of his body, he recognises his mistake, and the disastrous +consequences of Josephine’s barrenness are plainer than +ever. Too many battles have been fought, too many years +have passed, there has been too much self-restraint and self-denial, +for it to be possible now to give this heir a great place +in his system. The boy has been born too late. The tempo of +Napoleon’s life has been so rapid. The man who at two-and-twenty +was still a lieutenant, had become an emperor at thirty-four. +Such a man should have had his first-born son long +before the age of forty-one. He has recklessly expended his +vital energies, and cannot look forward confidently to many +years of power. How can he reasonably expect to establish +the child securely as his successor?</p> + +<p>It is, indeed, a poignant sight. Watch this man who is now +growing old with fearful speed, as he dandles the long-desired +infant on his knees, tries his own hat on the baby’s head, +watches the child crawling on the floor while he sits at breakfast, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[368]</span>and even (when the youngster grows a little older) allows +him to run about the study. Napoleon is playing the war +game, with little wooden rods representing soldiers dispersed +over the floor, and is planning how to make an end of Wellington +in Spain. The boy is brought to the door. According to +the rule of the house, the governess may not cross this threshold, +so Napoleon himself goes to the door for the child, sets +him down among the mimic armies, and, with the tolerance of +a grandfather, lets the child play riot with the battle. Laughing, +he pulls faces at his infant son in front of the looking-glass; +buckles round the body of the two-year-old the sword +with which he has conquered Europe; and, with his actor’s +instincts, feels that the boundaries between jest and earnest +are being broken down. Imaginings are ripening into reality, +while all that has seemed to him real is not more than an +image and a parable.</p> + +<p>He says that the child is “spirited and sensitive. Just what +I want him to be.... My son is sturdy, and in splendid +health. He has my lungs, my mouth, and my eyes.... I do +hope he will turn out well.” In such simple fashion he writes to +Josephine, and to her only. He insists upon her keeping up +the old tone of comradeship, and scolds her when, after the divorce, +she writes to him as “Your Majesty.” “You have written +me an unkind letter. I am always the same; my feelings +do not change.... I shall say no more until you have compared +this letter with yours. Then you can judge for yourself +which of us two is more friendly, you or I.” To no one else +can he speak so simply, unless it be to Berthier, whom he often +calls his “wife.” The only thing that annoys him with +Josephine is that she is always running into debt. He thinks +that she ought to be able to save half of her allowance of three +millions. “Then in ten years you would have put by fifteen +millions for your grandsons.... Let me know that you are +quite well again. I am told that you are getting as stout as one +of our good Norman peasant women.” But when Josephine +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[369]</span>continues to be spendthrift, he tells the steward of her property +not to make her any further payments till evidence is +forthcoming that she is no longer squandering money.</p> + +<p>He sees very little more of her, however; and he will have +nothing to do with the lady friends of earlier years. His attitude +towards marriage is that of a respectable citizen, and +that of an Italian. Besides, as a sovereign prince he wishes to +set a good example to his subjects. Since Marie Louise makes +no nationalist pretensions (for, being of a dull, easy-going, and +fickle temperament, she has promptly come to regard herself as +a Frenchwoman), the two get on very well together. He has +always time to spare for her. When she is learning to ride, he +walks patiently at her bridle. He, who has never waited before, +will even wait when she is late for dinner. She is not afraid of +him, and is saucy enough to tell the Austrian envoy that she +thinks her husband is a little afraid of her. It is important +to the Emperor that he should make a good impression upon +the Hofburg. Regarding it as politically expedient that a +report of his wife’s happiness shall be sent to Vienna, he brings +Metternich to see the empress, and tells the envoy to stay until +some one fetches him. Napoleon goes away, locking the door +of the room after him. He does not release the prisoners for +an hour, and then, with a sly laugh, asks Metternich whether +he is satisfied, now, that the empress is happy.</p> + +<p>These are nothing more than jests, but that he can find it +possible to make them in a period of grave decisions indicates +that there is a certain release of tension in his heavily laden +heart. In truth, Marie Louise’s only service to him was that, +during the years with which we are now dealing, her freshness +did actually bring him such a solace.</p> + +<p>But the marriage did not effect the desired release of political +tension. Felix Austria, accustomed to gain advantages by +these royal marriages, had hoped for a couple of provinces as +dower, but had received nothing. All the more, therefore, must +Emperor Francis feel rancorous on account of the humiliation +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">[370]</span>inflicted upon him by the little Corsican; for, as soon as the +gates of the Hofburg had closed behind Marie Louise, he could +not but regard the marriage as detrimental to his dignity. To +appease his legitimist misgivings, the Habsburg ruler had a +search for Buonaparte ancestors made in musty old Tuscan +documents, and when next he met his son-in-law was able to assure +the latter that the Buonaparte lineage had been traced as +far back as the eleventh century. At that time, said Francis, +there had been members of the family in Treviso. Thereupon +the first and last of the Buonaparti made the delicious answer:</p> + +<p>“Thank you, Sire. I prefer to be the Rudolf of my race!”</p> + +<p>Witty, but unwise, for such words from an upstart sovereign +could not but rankle in the mind of this descendant of an ancient +line! When, as would soon come to pass, the question +whether the emperor of Austria was to take sides for or against +his son-in-law was to be decided by Francis’ mood, the memory +of this and similar slights may have played a considerable part. +Napoleon recognised this when it was too late. “Had I but +made myself agreeable to that simpleton, who knows but that +in the plains of Leipzig there might have been a hundred thousand +fewer men in the opposing army!”</p> + +<p>All the same, the revolutionist admired many of the ways of +the legitimate ruler. One day he caught sight of a letter his +wife had addressed to her father as follows: “His Sacred Majesty, +the Apostolical Emperor.” Napoleon considered this an +excellent idea; and in private, no doubt, his thoughts turned +to Alexander of Macedon who had declared himself to be the +son of Jupiter.</p> + +<p>The apostolical emperor was especially out of humour with +his son-in-law on the pope’s account. Napoleon was continually +tightening the bonds round the Holy Father. Pius VII. +was kept at Savona. A man by no means learned in canon law, +he was cut off from his advisers, and subsequently deprived of +his papers, in order to make him pliable. A schism was threatening. +Thirteen of the cardinals had failed to put in an appearance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">[371]</span>at the Emperor’s wedding, for the pope would not +recognise the divorce which Fesch had pronounced. Now Napoleon +has cases filled with the Vatican State papers brought to +Paris, thus arousing the belief that he really intends to make +this city the capital of Christendom; he summons a council at +which the prelates of his European realm appear; he extorts a +decree depriving the pope of the investiture in case of dissent, +and ultimately compels Pius to agree to this—at any rate for +France.</p> + +<p>Europe is troubled by these matters, and split into factions. +On the whole, the Russians and the Poles are glad that things +are going ill with the Roman pontiff; the Prussians and the +English are, of course, delighted; but what arouses general surprise +is that the inhabitants of the Papal States are also on +the side of the Emperor. This little country, now doubly +robbed of its master, is glad to accept the Code Napoléon, +modern education, a rational system of administration, vigorous +road construction, and the draining of the Pontine marshes. +Whereas the son of the revolution has long since brought back +the old spirit of Rome to Paris, he now transplants young +revolutionary practice from Paris to Rome. Thus does Napoleon +build bridges.</p> + +<p>The excommunicated Emperor cunningly tries to turn the +curse against the pope. When, in newly annexed Holland, he +receives the clergy in the presence of the Protestants, he rebukes +the bishops as follows: “Are you of the religion of Gregory +VII.? I am not. My religion is that of Jesus Christ, who +said: ‘Render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s.’ In +accordance with the same text, I render unto God the things +which are God’s. I have received my sceptre from God. But +I wear a worldly sword, and know how to use it! God erects +thrones. I did not raise myself to my throne: God set me upon +it! You poor mortals wish to resist? You will not pray for +your monarch, because the priest of Rome has excommunicated +him? Do you think I am the sort of man to kiss the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">[372]</span>pope’s toe?... Prove to me, imbeciles, that Jesus has appointed +the pope his vicegerent, and that the pope has power to +excommunicate a monarch!... Be good citizens, and sign the +Concordat. You, Mr. Prefect, must take such measures as +will prevent my hearing any more of these matters.”</p> + +<p>To so preposterous a travesty of his own innermost +thoughts has Napoleon come. He does not believe a word of +what he is here thundering out; and in private mocks at this +official doctrine, as he has always done. Nonetheless, to the +circlet of golden laurels with which he had crowned himself +before the eyes of the priest of Rome, there now attaches a +vestige of divine right which makes the crown a heavy one to +wear.</p> + +<h3>II</h3> + +<p>“Kindly inform me why the price of salt in the neighbourhood +of Strasburg has risen one sou.”</p> + +<p>Closely following upon the heels of this enquiry to the Ministry +for War, comes a command to the Admiralty: two entire +fleets are to be constructed in the course of the next three +years, one Atlantic fleet and one Mediterranean fleet; the latter +against Sicily and Egypt, the former against Ireland. As +soon as the Spanish affair is in better case, preparations are to +be made for an expedition to the Cape in 1812. An army of +from sixty to eighty thousand men is to be got ready for an +attack on Surinam and Martinique. “Having eluded the enemy +cruisers,” the expeditionary forces are to share out the two +hemispheres.</p> + +<p>We see how closely at this date, when imaginative fantasies +threaten to develop into adventures, the exact observations of +the father of his country are allied to the rhapsodical plans of +the world conqueror. For that is what Napoleon now attempts: +he is actually trying to realise his old dream of world conquest.</p> + +<p>“You want to know whither we are going? We shall have +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">[373]</span>done with Europe; then, as robbers of robbers less bold than +ourselves, we shall march to the attack, seize India, over which +they have made themselves masters.... I must take India ... +in the rear, if I am to strike successfully at England.... +Just imagine Moscow occupied, the tsar conciliated or killed +by his people, perhaps a new, dependent throne,—and tell me +whether an army of Frenchmen, reinforced by auxiliary troops +from Tiflis, cannot press forward to the Ganges, and thence, +at a touch, destroy the whole structure of English commerce!... +At one blow, France would have established the independence +of the West and the freedom of the seas!” A witness +reports that while he was voicing these ideas “his eyes shone +with a wonderful light, and he went on to point out the reasons +for the adventure, all the difficulties it entailed, the means of +achievement, and the prospects of success.”</p> + +<p>Shall the tsar be conciliated or killed? That is the question +which troubles the Emperor the whole year round. Calculations +and presentiments make him desire to have Alexander as +his friend rather than his enemy. Napoleon has nothing to +gain by a defeat of Russia. On the contrary! He dreads +being forced into this war, and endeavours, as on former occasions, +to avoid it; though only if the tsar, as previously +agreed, shall participate in the great final struggle as an ally. +Napoleon keeps the tsar under observation, and perceives that +suggestions are having less and less effect upon Alexander. +He therefore writes to a prince of the Confederation of the +Rhine in these amazing terms: “This war will break out in +spite of the tsar, in spite of me, and in spite of the interests of +the two empires.”</p> + +<p>Never before had the Emperor or the Consul declared, in such +words, that war was unavoidable. Precisely because all rational +need for the campaign was lacking this time, he found it necessary +to proclaim the war with the tsar to be the work of fate. +At the very first hand-clasp, in the peace tent on the Memel, +the seed of this war was sown. During the days of intimacy +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">[374]</span>which followed, when the encounter blossomed into friendship, +that seed invisibly took root and grew. In later days, Talleyrand’s +treacherous diplomacy cherished its growth; and when, +at Erfurt, the emperors embraced, they could already feel between +them the coils of the snake. That they did not become +related by marriage was neither an accident nor the outcome +of a conscious desire: it was consequent upon the mistrust which +had invaded the tsar’s mind, a mistrust of which he could not +rid himself and which was to prove well founded. Two men +wishing to divide Europe between them, could not see with complacency +the half in a rival’s hands. Their intentions were +honourable at the outset; but they were impossible of fulfilment. +The day of contest must inevitably come at last. “He alone +is still weighing upon the pinnacle of my edifice. My rival is +young; daily his strength is waxing; daily mine is waning.” +This gloomy recognition spurs him ever onward.</p> + +<p>It is useless to try to interpret such decrees of destiny as the +outcome of political causes.</p> + +<p>Somewhat earlier, the Emperor has asked the tsar to lay an +embargo on all neutral ships, as he himself has done, and thus +give England the death-blow. The tsar cannot agree to this, +for it would fatally injure his own sea-borne trade; he will +only continue, as before, to confiscate all the prohibited goods +he discovers, but he needs colonial wares from the neutrals. +Being unable to stop this leak in the East, the Emperor has +to exercise redoubled care on the German coast, and he therefore +annexes the mouths of the Weser and the Elbe with the +Hansa towns and part of Hanover. “Circumstances demand +these new guarantees against England.” Oldenburg is swallowed +up with the rest, though the heir to this duchy has married +Alexander’s sister.</p> + +<p>The Emperor’s high-handed proceedings were a logical outcome +of his policy, but they were necessarily an offence to the +tsar. Alexander regarded them as a breach of the treaty of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">[375]</span>Tilsit, in which the integrity of Oldenburg had been guaranteed. +He issued a circular to the powers protesting against this +insult to his house, a remonstrance almost equivalent to a +declaration of war. In this document he enquired what could +be the use of alliances unless the treaties in which they were +incorporated were strictly observed, so that the cabinets of +Europe could not but smile at the concluding words of the +circular, in which he described the alliance between Russia and +France as permanent. His next step was a ukase in which he +threw Russia open to colonial goods, while imposing prohibitive +import duties on wine and silk, the products of French industry.</p> + +<p>The maps lie spread on the tables in St. Petersburg and +Paris. Where can either power best harass the other? The +tsar proposes to make peace with Turkey. The Emperor incites +Austria to seize Serbia, to advance towards Moldavia and +Wallachia, promising not to interfere; this will keep Alexander +busy. Metternich nods assent, but does not move. “What +about Poland?” thinks Alexander. “Has not Napoleon already +enlarged the duchy of Warsaw by the addition of Galicia? Is +there any guarantee that he will not re-establish the kingdom +of Poland?” Caulaincourt, French ambassador in Russia, who +admires the tsar and wants peace, gives the desired guarantees. +But the Emperor would only agree to a secret ratification. If +the differences between France and Russia should culminate in +war, he will need Poland for his operations against the tsar; +Polish hopes must, therefore, be fostered. Penetrating this +design, Alexander demands an open treaty, which shall put an +end to Polish expectations.</p> + +<p>When Masséna is defeated in Spain, the Emperor entertains +fresh doubts. Caulaincourt, who is back in Paris, does his +utmost to intensify these misgivings, dilates on the tsar’s will-to-peace, +and ventures far in his defence of Alexander. The +Emperor leads him on; hears all he has to say; asks a thousand +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">[376]</span>questions concerning the tsar and the court, Alexander’s piety, +the nobles, and the peasants; takes Caulaincourt by the ear, a +sign of affability.</p> + +<p>“You must be in love with him!”</p> + +<p>“I am in love with peace.”</p> + +<p>“So am I. But I will not allow any one to dictate to me. +Evacuate Danzig, forsooth! Next I shall have to ask Alexander’s +permission before I can hold a review in Mainz. You are +a fool. I am an old fox, and know the people with whom I am +dealing.... We must deprive this Russian colossus and his +hordes of the power to inundate the south once more.... I +shall advance northwards, and re-establish there the old boundaries +of Europe.”</p> + +<p>Quite unsubstantial reasons, masks, mere pretexts. Warningly +Caulaincourt quotes Alexander’s words: “I shall learn +from his own teachings, which are those of a master. Our climate +will make war for us. The French are not inured to it +as we are. Miracles only happen when the Emperor is present, +and he cannot be everywhere.” Napoleon is greatly moved by +these words; he tramps restlessly up and down the room; the +conversation lasts for hours. Since he cannot refute Caulaincourt’s +arguments, he makes vague answers behind which his +titanic wishes loom.</p> + +<p>“A well-fought battle will put an end to the fine resolves of +your friend Alexander.... He is false, ambitious, and weak; +he has the character of a Greek. Believe me, it is he, not I, who +wants this war, for he cherishes a hidden design.... He is out +of humour because I did not take his sister.” When Caulaincourt +gives proofs to the contrary, Napoleon says: “I have +forgotten the details.”—Forgotten! This is a new word in the +Emperor’s mouth. He knows his position to be weak; himself +a man of facts, he now brushes away those which he finds inconvenient.</p> + +<p>He sends a more resolute envoy to the tsar. When a proposal +comes from St. Petersburg that Warsaw shall be exchanged +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">[377]</span>for Oldenburg, the Emperor says threateningly to the +Russian ambassador, raising his voice so that every one in the +room may hear: “Not one Polish village!”</p> + +<p>But these political incidents and discussions are merely the +forms of destiny. Schemes flash like lightning through his +brain; his soul is devoured by wishes: and he will rather reveal +these things to a dangerous enemy like Fouché than to a shrewd +adherent like Caulaincourt. He cannot rid himself of the +ex-Jacobin and ex-cleric. Last year, he had cashiered the Minister +of Police, for Fouché was obviously intriguing with England. +But Napoleon was as lenient as he had been at the time +of the conspiracy which had brought him back hot foot from +Astorga. Instead of banishing the man, the Emperor had appointed +him senator—at the same time writing to him +words which give a glimpse into the inferno of these struggles +between the monarch and the spy: “Although I do not doubt +your devotion, I find it necessary to have you watched all the +time. This is a fatiguing necessity, and I should not be called +upon to do anything of the kind.”</p> + +<p>But though he dismisses Fouché from his ministerial post, +and has the watcher watched, Napoleon cannot get on without +him, and talks to him about the most private matters.</p> + +<p>“Since my marriage, people fancy that the lion is asleep. +They will soon learn whether I am asleep. I need eight hundred +thousand men, and have them; I shall tow all Europe in +my wake. Europe is nothing more than an old woman, and +with my eight hundred thousand men I can make her do whatever +I please.... Did not you yourself say to me: ‘You let +your genius have its way, because it does not know the word +impossible.’ How can I help it if a great power drives me on to +become dictator of the world? You and the others, who criticise +me to-day and would like me to become a good-natured +ruler—have not you all been accessories? I have not yet fulfilled +my mission, and I mean to end what I have begun. <i>We +need a European legal code, a European court of appeal, a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">[378]</span>unified coinage, a common system of weights and measures. +The same law must run throughout Europe. I shall fuse all +the nations into one.</i>... This, my lord duke, is the only +solution that pleases me....” Having said this, he suddenly +sends Fouché from the room.</p> + +<p>Here we have it plainly disclosed, Napoleon’s vision of the +United States of Europe. The plan is recorded by one who, +in his memoirs, would fain have discredited the Emperor—this +plan with its extremely rational deductions and its daimonic +inspiration. Europe is no longer a “mole-hill” as it was in the +days of Milan and Rivoli, when he was nothing more than General +Bonaparte, and when to the young man of genius all possible +adversaries seemed too petty. Fifteen years later, Europe +has become a plastic material; and Bonaparte is the emperor, +the legislator, the great orderer, the enemy of the anarchy out +of which he sprang, the modeller who would mould the clay into +a splendid whole. Throughout the intervening years he has +been marching along a predestined path; now he displays +before us, in this statement of his aims, the productive consequences +towards which he has been moving along that road of +force through ever new hecatombs of slaughter. Behind him +lie Charlemagne’s visions of a united Europe; in front of him +glide new forms; and Cæsar, half way towards the realisation of +his dream, is well aware that the spirit will ultimately overpower +the sword. He has himself said this; and what he is now +striving to establish by force with the aid of eight hundred +thousand men, will some day come into existence as a voluntary +amalgamation based upon reason and necessity. All the +nations will fuse into one.</p> + +<p>This, my lord duke, is the only solution that pleases me.</p> + +<h3>III</h3> + +<p>While Napoleon is pouring his thoughts into Fouché’s ears, +Alexander is pouring gold into Talleyrand’s pockets, and no +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">[379]</span>doubt Talleyrand is going shares with Fouché. The bank could +have informed Napoleon to whom Count Nesselrode, the new +secretary to the Russian embassy, was paying out such large +sums of money. From month to month Talleyrand lets Russia +know how the French preparations for war are advancing, and +when they will be completed. The limping Mephistopheles must +have smiled to himself, sometimes, when Russia paid him for +his information with licenses for the import of English goods +into Russian harbours—documents which he could sell for hard +cash in Paris!</p> + +<p>Is the tsar richer than the Emperor? Russia is still allied +to France, but the Russian market has been closed to French +goods, and the famous 1811 vintage has one purchaser the +less. Since England and Spain have long ceased to be customers, +French industry is in a bad way. But when the Minister +for Finance urges peace because tranquillity is essential +to the restoration of French finances, the Emperor cuts him +short by saying: “Not at all! It is true that our finances are +disordered, but that is why we need war!”</p> + +<p>This argument was valid in the past, when the general had +sent from Italy the money which the indebted Directory needed, +and when, as Consul and Emperor he had made money by his +wars. The French State, suffering more than any other from +the effects of the blockade it had itself established, showed a +deficit for the first time, though the deficit amounted to hardly +more than fifty millions. Yet, even now, the Emperor refused +to sanction any kind of State loan; “that would be immoral, +for it would lay a burden upon later generations.” Nevertheless, +he introduced indirect taxes and monopolies; nor did he act +unwisely in doing so, since he expected to acquire fresh markets, +and thereby more stable finances, from the Russian war. +But victory was essential!</p> + +<p>He enthusiastically lays his plans before the Chambers of +Commerce. “England has harmed herself far more by her +blockade than she has harmed any other country; she has +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">[380]</span>taught us how to dispense with her products. In a couple of +years’ time, Europe will have adapted herself to the new ways +of feeding her populations. Soon, we shall have more than +enough beet sugar and shall be able to do without cane sugar.... +Every year I draw only nine hundred millions revenue +from my own country; three hundred millions I put away, and +store in the cellars of the Tuileries. The Bank of France is +full of silver; the Bank of England has none. Since the peace +of Tilsit, I have received more than a milliard francs in indemnities. +Austria is bankrupt. England and Russia will soon +follow suit. I alone have money!”</p> + +<p>All the same, no one has much faith in his fine words. The +more the Emperor’s plans for world conquest force the pace +of recruiting, the more keenly does he keep watch upon the +internal tranquillity of France. As the ruthlessness of his dictatorship +increases, the mood of the citizens of France becomes +gloomier and gloomier. Any criticism, even in the remotest +corner of the realm, is immediately pounced upon and prosecuted. +There are more than three thousand persons locked +up in gaol without trial, because this one “hates the Emperor,” +or this other has certain “religious outlooks,” or another has +written, “in private letters, unfriendly expressions in regard +to the government.” A new press bureau, with the absurd +name of “Bureau of Public Opinion,” is established to manufacture +political trends. When a Dutch newspaper publishes +the statement that it is within the competence of the pope to excommunicate +kings, not only is the journal suppressed, but the +author of the offending article is arrested. In a certain book, +an appreciation of the English constitution has to be deleted; +another work has to be rechristened “Campaigns of Napoleon +the Great,” whereas the author’s original title had been “History +of Bonaparte.”</p> + +<p>While oppression of thought is rampant, it is not inconsonant +with the imperialistic spirit to find that such men as Monge +and Laplace, Guérin and Gérard, are willing to accept baronial +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">[381]</span>honours. And when the French version of <i>The Robbers</i> is prohibited +in Hamburg, the last of the republicans recall with +ironical bitterness the day twenty years earlier when the revolution +had conferred the right of French citizenship upon its +German author.</p> + +<p>What cares the Emperor for the mood of these ideologues? +Under the spell of the evolution of his own powers, his eyes +fixed upon the goal of his life’s aspiration, he misjudges now, +as earlier in his struggle with the pope, the moral impression he +is making upon his contemporaries. Yet in the past he had +never failed to take this into account; at each step, he had questioned +public opinion. Now, he allows the newfangled Bureau +to manipulate public opinion: “What do I care for the opinion +of the drawing-rooms and the babblers! I recognise only one +opinion, that of the peasants!” Certain it is that the peasants +are his most faithful supporters, mainly because he rescued +their lands from the dangers threatened by the revolution. +Now that the Spanish war has swallowed up larger and larger +armies, the peasants have to pay eight thousand francs for a +substitute, simply to save the few remaining sons to carry on +the work of agriculture on the lands of their fathers. Many +thousands of these young men are trying to evade service; and +those who in the early days of the war would have joyfully +rallied to the colours, have now to be rounded up by mobile +columns or forced into the ranks by threats against their families +and the communes to which they belong.</p> + +<p>Why should the Emperor be surprised at such a change +of mood? Had not General Bonaparte set out to carry the +ideas of the revolution to the peoples groaning under the yoke +of emperors and kings? Did not the First Consul go forth +to repel in his one campaign, did not the Emperor likewise go +forth to repel in his three wars, the ever-renewed onslaughts +of the allied monarchs? That by wars thus forced upon him +he won more than freedom for the land of his adoption, that +by the battles of Austerlitz, Jena, and Wagram he obtained +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">[382]</span>new provinces from the enemy, was the outcome of his genius, +and encouraged the people’s army to fresh deeds of valour. +Even the rivalry with England was comprehensible to the +French people; had it not been ever thus in the days of their +fathers and grandfathers before them? But what could the +peasant of Provence make of these purely political struggles in +Spain and in Russia? The Emperor could not explain to him +the plan for setting up a United States of Europe. Men had +disappeared in the rivers of Andalusia, the names of which fell +haltingly from a Frenchman’s lips. The peasant needed the +support of his son’s young arm, now that the years were +creeping onward. So it was that he purchased his son’s freedom +from military service, and growled as he paid.</p> + +<p>What had the German peasants to say when, addressed as +“contingents,” they answered the call of their kings and accompanied +the foreign Emperor into distant lands? Thousands +of peasants from the valley of the Main were dispatched to +Spain; Jerome sent thirty thousand Westphalians to the +Oder; Saxons guarded the Vistula; Württembergers and Bavarians +flowed in a steady stream eastward, for “if the princes of +the Confederation of the Rhine” (thus writes the Emperor to +one of these same princes) “give me the least cause to doubt +their willingness to undertake a joint defence, then, I tell them +frankly, they are lost. I prefer open enemies to untrustworthy +friends.” Such is the crack of the master’s whip. He deals +more politely with the Habsburg. All being well, Austria may +even be rewarded for her aid by receiving Silesia.</p> + +<p>Germany, composed as she is of many small and disintegrated +fragments, serves Napoleon admirably in his jig-saw +game with the nations. The three southern States have had +their inhabitants and their lands bartered and exchanged at +will; and, since Eugene has lost his throne to the Emperor’s +son (the baby was made “King of Rome”) he is immediately installed +as ruler in the hastily concocted “grand duchy of Frankfort.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">[383]</span></p> + +<p>What of Prussia? Why should Prussia continue to exist? +Had he not, in Tilsit days, merely preserved this kingdom to +please the tsar? But he is about to destroy the tsar! By +notices and decrees, the Emperor announces that now, just +before the war with Russia begins, Prussia is to be parcelled +up. Does he not know that for the last year Prussia has been +the ally of Russia, and that in a secret treaty the tsar has +promised Frederick William his assistance? The Emperor +hears much of defiant songs, of volunteer corps, of discontent +in the universities, of the Tugendbund. Beware! Remember +Spain! Do not trust to the proverbial “tolerance and coldness +of these north Germans”! Surely it would be wiser to utilise +the Prussian army before destroying it....</p> + +<p>The great-hearted Scharnhorst assures Frederick William +that now is the time to strike. But Metternich, in Vienna, +tricks the Prussian general when he proposes an alliance, and +advises him to seek alliance with Russia rather than with the +Habsburg emperor. For only if the man with whom he exchanges +these words of false friendship, becomes an opponent, +only if Prussia enters the war as Austria’s enemy, can Austria +hope to enclose Silesia once more within her borders. At the +same time Hardenberg bends before the Vienna wind, to-day as +always. The king, who will take no risks, and who considers +Napoleon absolutely unconquerable, at last makes up his mind +to enter into alliance with the Emperor; his resolution comes +too late to secure favourable terms. Silesia and Poland are +already alive with troops, and Prussia is surrounded. In such +circumstances it is natural that she should be treated as a +vassal, should have to tolerate the passage of armies, should +have to put up with requisitionings, should have to look on +patiently while her eastern fortresses are manned by French +soldiers and her auxiliary corps commanded by foreign marshals. +Metternich writes to his master in gleeful mood: “Prussia +need no longer be reckoned among the powers.”</p> + +<p>And yet! And yet! Although Europe, from Capua to Tilsit, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">[384]</span>at the outset of 1812, is rallying to Napoleon’s standard, +although his arm reaches from Finisterre to Bukovina, he feels +how uncertain is the outcome of his campaign, and, as Count +Ségur tells us, starts up from the conning of his interminable +lists and calculations to exclaim in terror: “I am not ready to +undertake a war in such far-off lands! I need three years +more!”</p> + +<p>But the machine rolls on; no master hand can stay it. +An inner impulse urges him forward; the whole history of his +rise to power impels him; all the shades of vanished years drive +him on. He, who has built so many harbours wherein to seek +refuge in times of storm and stress, is in the end tossed out +upon the open sea, more roughly, more speedily than he had +wished, and, with the wild determination of the adventurer, he +now recklessly seizes the steering-wheel which for so long he +has manipulated with statesmanlike care. “Do you not see,” +he exclaims to his brother, “that I can only keep my seat upon +this throne by means of the fame which brought me to it? +That a private individual such as I, who has merely risen to +become a ruler, dare not call a halt? That such a one is constrained +to mount higher and ever higher, and is doomed +to perish the moment he stops climbing?”</p> + +<p>His soul is a-flicker with excitement, so that at one moment +he is eager for the final struggle, and at the next dreads it. +His letter to the tsar, with which, as heretofore, he begins the +campaign, still preserves a friendly tone. At the same time he +says to a Russian colonel who is on spy duty in Paris: “Since +the tsar is young and I have yet many years to live, I had +thought to preserve the peace of Europe by means of our +good feelings towards one another. My feelings have not +changed. Tell him this; and say, in addition, that if the fates +decree that the two greatest powers of the world are to come to +blows over girlish peccadilloes, I shall enter the lists as a gallant +knight, without hatred and without enmity. I suggest to +him the possibility of our meeting for breakfast together between +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">[385]</span>our respective outposts.... I still hope that we shall +not spill the blood of hundreds of thousands of brave men, +simply because we cannot agree as to the colour of a ribbon!”</p> + +<p>How his own unrest vibrates through these brilliant subterfuges, +which he specially adapts to cajole Alexander’s feminine +disposition! A grey gauntlet of steel is hurled from one +world power to the other; the great fight between birth and +genius is now to take place in all its grandeur. And he who, +after two decades of dreaming, sees his dream descending out +of the clouds earthwards, talks as if nothing more were at +stake than a girl’s quarrel or the colour of a piece of ribbon—when +in reality the fate of the world hangs in the balance!</p> + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<p>What is passing in Alexander’s mind? Estranged from the +Russian nobility, railed at by his mother, cheated out of his +hopes of setting up the cross once more on St. Sophia, deeply +concerned about Poland (which his adversary threatens to liberate)—there +are reasons enough, both in political and court +life, why he should no longer regard Napoleon as his friend. +After Tilsit, Metternich had said that it would take five years +for the tsar’s feelings to swing to the opposite pole. That +period had now elapsed, and although the tsar’s was one of +those nervous temperaments in which moods decide actions, on +his side, too, the struggle could assume allegorical greatness. +But he lacked a grand aim and a lofty thought. He was not +even fighting to win warlike renown against the master craftsman +in the art of war. The impulses that drove him to the +fight were merely the outcome of a confused mysticism, in +whose waters he had drowned his old veneration for the magician +of Tilsit.</p> + +<p>Politically, he makes two successful moves in the game, one +of these being intimately adapted to the peculiarities of human +character, and therefore weighty with consequence. To cope +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">[386]</span>with Napoleon, he needs tranquillity on his southern and his +northern borders. He finds means to keep the sultan neutral; +but in the case of Sweden he manages even better, for he is +able to secure an alliance. He and Bernadotte meet on the +frontier; and here, for the second time, the tsar of all the +Russias succumbs to the charm of a French revolutionary. +Sweden is in danger of English vengeance. Norway belongs to +the Francophil Danes. The community of interests between +Sweden and Russia secures expression when Russia, in return +for a promise of help in the coming war, guarantees that +Sweden shall have Norway.</p> + +<p>But this prospect of territorial enlargement is not the +thing that spurs Bernadotte to action. He, who is king in +Napoleon’s despite, cares no more about his new subjects than +those who had become kings by Napoleon’s favour cared about +theirs. But the tsar, too, has an imagination. Looking forward +to the winning of this game, he sees in broad outline what +lies beyond. He sees, not only the Emperor’s defeat, but the +Emperor’s destruction; and while Napoleon, at the head of the +greatest army known to history, is slowly advancing to swallow +up the tsar, Alexander is promising Bernadotte, the friend of +Bonaparte’s youth, no less a prize than the throne of France.</p> + +<p>To such heights, this summer, do the opposing eagles soar.</p> + +<p>In Dresden, the Emperor treats all the princes to the spectacle +of a review, just as he had done four years earlier in +Erfurt. The only sovereign from among that company who is +absent, is the one he is now to fight. But Alexander’s place +has been taken by the Habsburg ruler. Only once before have +Napoleon and Francis met, on the day after Austerlitz. Twice, +since then, has the victorious Emperor of the French occupied +the Austrian’s abandoned capital. When peace had been made +between them, and the victor had wedded the daughter of the +vanquished, the girl had been sent alone from Vienna to distant +Paris.</p> + +<p>Now Marie Louise sits between husband and father at the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">[387]</span>sparkling board, and to outward seeming all is well. The +father-in-law is pledged in alliance, and the Emperor has appointed +his wife regent of France. But vainly has he forbidden +her to be so foolish as to attempt the outshining of her step-mother +on these festal occasions. The empress from Paris +sheds tears at the prohibition, while the empress from Vienna +weeps because her pearls are smaller than those worn by Marie +Louise. The old jealousies between the principalities and +powers now find vent in family quarrels which the courtiers try +to gloss over. When a health is drunk to the boy who should +be a tie between all four of them, both the men and both the +women drown their thoughts in their champagne, though each +knows perfectly well what the others are thinking.</p> + +<p>The December meeting in the windmill near Austerlitz, and +the May meeting in the palace of the Saxon kings! Son-in-law +and father-in-law will never set eyes on one another again.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, half a million men are being ranged between +Königsberg and Lemberg. The master of these legions journeys +to Posen, and announces the “Second Polish War,” for his +ostensible aim is merely to wrest Poland from the tsar—most +of the old kingdom, at any rate, as far as Smolensk. “There +or in Minsk,” he tells a confidant, “the campaign will end. I +shall winter in Vilna, organise Lithuania, and live at Russia’s +expense. If, then, peace cannot be secured, I shall, next year, +advance into the centre of the enemy’s land, and stay there +until the tsar becomes pliable.” The whole disposition of +Napoleon’s troops is made in accordance with this scheme. At +Russia’s expense? What supplies can he get from Russia? +Has he accurate information regarding the resources of this +foreign land?</p> + +<p>In Gumbinnen, he sends for a Prussian president. Speaking +of the stores of grain he has collected in the German ports, +and proposes to have sent to Kovno, he says:</p> + +<p>“I presume there are plenty of mills in Kovno?”</p> + +<p>“No, Sire; very few mills are to be found there.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">[388]</span></p> + +<p>The Emperor looks at Berthier “dubiously.” This glance +of the supreme war lord at his chief of general staff is a fore-shadowing +of the disillusionments he is to experience in the unknown +land beyond the Memel. It is not the mere lack of mills +which disturbs him, but the fact that he is taken by surprise. +For a whole year, the Emperor has been preparing the great +campaign. Troops, parks of ammunition, reserve corps, fourteen +hundred pieces of ordnance, siege trains, bridge-building +materials, pontoons, have been assembled from seven realms, +counting the Confederation of the Rhine as one. Eight Baltic +fortresses are used as storehouses, to which hundreds of ships +and thousands of wagons bring wheat and rice. Some of the +wagons are drawn by oxen which are destined for the slaughter +house at the end of their journey—a symbol of compulsory military +service, in which a man serves only that he may die. Now +Napoleon learns that he is about to enter a country without +mills. He can build them, no doubt; but at what cost in time +and men! Are other surprises awaiting him across the Russian +border? It will be impossible to carry fodder for one hundred +and fifty thousand horses. That is why he has waited till June, +when the grass will be green. But what if the steppe should +disappoint him here?</p> + +<p>And what if his men’s spirit should disappoint him?</p> + +<p>On the frontier, warning voices make themselves heard. He +is told that these young recruits are hardly able to endure the +long marches, and that the heat will be too much for them. In +Dresden, Murat had vainly asked for furlough. Now, in Danzig, +he and Berthier and Rapp are dining with the Emperor +in gloomy silence. Napoleon, emerging from his thoughts of +world conquest, suddenly asks Rapp: “How far is it from +Danzig to Cadiz?” Rapp is bold enough to answer: “Too far, +Sire!” Thereupon the master rejoins:</p> + +<p>“I can see, gentlemen, that you no longer have any taste +for fighting. The king of Naples would rather be back in his +pretty kingdom; Berthier would like to be playing the sportsman +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">[389]</span>in Grosbois; Rapp would fain be enjoying the sweets of +Parisian life!”</p> + +<p>The marshals answer never a word, for they will not deny +that it is so. But that it should be so, is a new experience for +Emperor Napoleon.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus13" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus13.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Napoleon as Emperor. Bust by Houdon, Musée de Dijon.</p> + <p>(Photograph by J. E. Bulloz, Paris.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>When he reaches the Memel, the symbolic significance of the +Russian frontier captivates his imagination to such an extent +that he is the first to cross the river, and he gallops several +miles eastward before returning slowly to the bridge. Well, he +is over now, and this time, in very truth, he has crossed the +Rubicon. At his nod, three armies advance into the interior of +Poland. The main army is under his immediate command, the +second being commanded by Eugene, and the third by Jerome. +Why does he venture to entrust a whole army to the leadership +of this amateur (who made such a fool of himself in the last +war), even with the safeguard of veteran generals as advisers? +Napoleon thinks he can risk it. The enemy has at most three +hundred thousand men.</p> + +<p>Where is the enemy? In two armies, led by Barclay de +Tolly and Bagration. They are somewhere in Lithuania, far +away, and the total force is only one hundred and seventy +thousand. Napoleon’s overestimate of the strength of his +opponents was a disastrous error, for if he had himself had +fewer mouths to feed, he would have had a much better chance +of getting adequate supplies for his soldiers. Why is he so +keen on superiority of numbers? General Bonaparte was used, +with forty thousand men, to defeat an enemy that greatly outnumbered +him, his method being to crush one wing of the foe +after another. The cumbrous multitude he has collected for +the present campaign is symptomatic of his own increasing age, +and of the lust for power which makes him pile up weight, instead +of equipping the spirit with wings. Is he no longer the +commander of the days of Rivoli?</p> + +<p>In a sense, he is still that commander, for, even with this +gigantic array of troops, he will be a victorious invader. His +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">[390]</span>first army will march from Tilsit upon Vilna, to take up a +position between the Russian detachments, so that his second +and third armies can separately defeat the enemy. But the +Russian distances weaken his influence. Upon a front of such +vast extent, he cannot show himself everywhere. Those who +command under him are too independent of one another +(Davoust and Murat nearly fight a duel), and yet they are +too dependent upon him. Never did he suffer more than in +this campaign from the lack of speedy means of communication. +His was the central brain in all his undertakings, so that +a telegraph would have been far more useful to him than to +his opponents.</p> + +<p>The Russians are aware of their own weakness. Neither of +the two commanders ventures to stand firm. Both of them +withdraw before the invaders, at first without any mutual +understanding, to get into touch later, far in the rear. These +are not the tactics of inspired leaders. Though the Russians do +the right thing, it is merely because they are afraid of the +forces that outnumber theirs, and because they dread the great +name of Napoleon. They are but instruments in the hands of +fate.</p> + +<p>For a time, the Emperor pauses in his advance. In Vilna, he +says: “If Monsieur Barclay imagines that I am going to run +after him to the Volga, he is making a great mistake. We will +follow him to Smolensk and the Dvina, where a good battle will +provide us with quarters.... It would certainly be destruction +were we to cross the Dvina this year. I shall go back to +Vilna, spend the winter there, send for a troupe from the Théâtre +Français, and another to play opera. We shall finish off +the affair next May, unless peace is made during the winter.”</p> + +<p>News from the outer world is satisfactory. At length the +United States has declared war on England, and has gained +some victories at sea. In England the opposition, which wants +peace, is gathering strength. Even in Spain things are not +going so badly. Forward! A good battle!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">[391]</span></p> + +<p>But where is the enemy? The Emperor goes scouting, +accompanied by only one officer; there is no trace of the Russians. +Uneasiness grows. Since the invaders are marching +light, and therefore too quickly, part of the army, on bad roads +and amid heat and rainstorms, gets separated from its commissariat, +upon which everything depends. In Vilna he fails to +find the tsar, though Alexander has been there just before. At +this moment, news is brought that the supplies are delayed, for +the commissariat wagons have stuck fast in a morass, and the +vessels that are bringing other supplies have run aground in +the river; moreover, ten thousand horses have perished, through +gorging themselves upon rank grass. The shortage cannot be +hidden from the troops, who scatter through the town, and +plunder so recklessly that there will be no supplies left for the +next comers.</p> + +<p>The Emperor can get nothing from the inhabitants of this +land either by threats or cajoleries; and yet he detests rapine, +which leads to chaos. The Lithuanians note that even now he +has not granted the Poles the promised kingdom. They do not +hail him as a liberator, as the people of Lombardy had done +long years before. They give no help; they give nothing; they +are hardly willing to accept in payment the forged rouble notes, +millions of which he has had printed in Paris. They pray.</p> + +<p>What is to be done? Now is the time to win over the tsar. +He writes: “All that has taken place is out of keeping with +Your Majesty’s character, and with the personal consideration +you have sometimes shown me in the past.... When I crossed +the Memel, I had it in mind to send you an adjutant, as I have +always done in previous campaigns.” But, since the tsar had +refused to receive his last envoy, “I realised that the invisible +providence whose power and dominion I recognise would decide +this matter, as he had decided so many others.... Nothing, +therefore, is left but to conclude with the request that you will +remain convinced of the steadfastness of my kindly feelings +towards you.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">[392]</span></p> + +<p>Before writing this long and unctuous letter, in which nothing +is genuine except the perplexity and the faith in destiny, +he has had a conversation with a captured general who is to +convey the missive. The way in which the Emperor hectors the +prisoner, smacks of comic opera: “What does the tsar expect +from this war? I have seized one of his best provinces without +firing a shot, and neither of us knows what we are quarrelling +about!” Then, as his way was, he spent an hour or more +pointing out the Russians’ mistakes, asking why they had not +defended Vilna, and talking to this captive just as if he had +been berating one of his own generals in Spain. “Are you not +ashamed of yourselves?” is the burden of his song. He waxes +enthusiastic about the Poles, whom as a rule he frankly +despises; but now it suits him to make much of their contempt +for death. He says that he has thrice as many soldiers as the +tsar, and much more money, so that he will be able to carry +on the war for three years. These falsehoods are uttered in +simulated anger, which he allows to flash out by fits and starts. +The Russian meets bluff with bluff, saying that in Muscovy they +have made preparations for a five years’ campaign. But now +the turn has come for one of the Emperor’s bursts of frankness, +in words suited to the ears of this officer blown him by a +chance wind, but of course designed to impress the tsar, to +whom they will be reported.</p> + +<p>“I am the man of calculations. When I was in Erfurt, my +reckonings convinced me that it would suit my book better to +walk hand in hand with you Russians, instead of quarrelling +with you. We might still have been good friends.... Then +the tsar made peace with me, when his country wanted war; +now he makes war on me, when his country wants peace. It +puzzles me that so distinguished a man can have anything to +do with such persons as some of his present advisers.... How +can any one make war through a council of war? If at two +in the morning a good idea enters my mind, in a quarter of an +hour I have issued my orders, and half an hour later my outposts +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">[393]</span>are executing it. But what happens among you?” Napoleon +shows the prisoner a letter from the Russian general +staff which his men have intercepted. “You can take it with +you, for it will while away the tedium of your journey.... +Tell the tsar I pledge him my word that five hundred and fifty +thousand men have already crossed the Vistula. But I am a +man of calculations, not a man of passion. I am still willing to +enter into negotiations. What a glorious reign he might have +had, if he had not broken with me!”</p> + +<p>The general is alarmed by this flood of confessions. But in +the evening, when he dines with the Emperor and three of the +marshals, he is placed on an entirely different footing, for the +Emperor proceeds to cross-question him like an explorer eager +for information.</p> + +<p>“Have you any Kirghiz regiments?”</p> + +<p>“No, but we are making experiments with Bashkirs and Tartars, +who are very like the Kirghiz.”</p> + +<p>“Is it true that when the tsar was in Vilna, he went to tea +every day with a pretty lady there? Let me see, what was her +name?”</p> + +<p>“The tsar is courtly to every lady.”</p> + +<p>“Is it true that Baron vom Stein dined with the tsar?”</p> + +<p>“All persons of note were invited to dinner.”</p> + +<p>“How can the tsar tolerate such a man as Stein at his table! +Does he think the fellow can be fond of him? Angels and devils +cannot be good companions.... What is the population of +Moscow? How many houses? How many churches?... +Why are there such a lot of churches?”</p> + +<p>“Because our people are very pious.”</p> + +<p>“Nobody is pious nowadays. Which is the shortest way to +Moscow?”</p> + +<p>“All roads lead to Rome, Sire. You can choose your own +route to Moscow. Charles XII. marched by way of Pultava.”</p> + +<p>At this mischievous answer, the Emperor thought fit to turn +the conversation. As for the general, he had wit enough to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">[394]</span>report in St. Petersburg that Napoleon was extremely nervous.</p> + +<p>This nervousness increases mile after mile. The Emperor +tries to join battle, but the Russians evade the issue. Barclay, +who is waiting for a junction with Bagration, retreats aimlessly; +Bagration does not come, for he believes that he is +facing, not Jerome, but the main body of the invaders. Still, +Bagration retreats. Jerome, who ought to follow him up, is +too slow in his movements, so that Davoust, who is waiting for +a junction with Jerome, has to let the enemy slip. The Emperor, +in a rage, cashiers Jerome (who retires in dudgeon to +Cassel), and gives the command to Davoust. Too late! His +fondness for Jerome, the braggart, has cost him the chance of +a decisive battle. As difficulties increase, the Emperor redoubles +the pace of his advance; but as the tempo is quickened, +the difficulties are redoubled. There is no means, now, of providing +for the army. The retreating Russians burn their storehouses. +No bread, no vegetables, nothing but meat. Dysentery +breaks out. The horses eat the thatch from the roofs, and +collapse in great numbers, so that their corpses line the road. +During this advance in which there are no battles, the Bavarian +leader estimates the losses of his corps at nine hundred men a +day.</p> + +<p>What is Paris saying?</p> + +<p>Very little news comes to hand; hardly a word even from +the empress. It seems as if the couriers were already being +cut off. But here is a report from the Tuileries, written by the +governess, to let him know how the child is getting on. He +rejoins: “I hope to hear from you soon that the last four teeth +have been cut. I have seen to it that the nurse shall get everything +she needs. You can assure her of this.”</p> + +<p>See the Emperor in the sun-parched steppe; before him rises +the smoke of the burning villages he has yet to reach, behind +him the stench of decomposing bodies. The strange food and +the unaccustomed heat lead to a recurrence of his attacks of +gastric spasm; he can no longer bear to ride, and, since +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_395">[395]</span>wheeled traffic is constantly coming to grief, he covers great +distances on foot, accompanied by the whole of his staff, pursued +by the thought: Where is the fight to take place? Couriers +arrive less frequently, and, when they do come, bring no news +calculated to interest him in his present state of nervous tension. +Yet here he is, pacing up and down within his tent; and +the pen of his secretary, instead of, as usual, ordering masses of +men to move from one place to another, hastens over the paper +to record the master’s concern about the four teeth which are +still lacking to an infant in a forlorn palace twelve hundred +miles away. Soon the Emperor will be in Vitebsk. How far is +it thence to Paris?</p> + +<p>“Too far, Sire,” is re-echoed from unseen lips.</p> + +<p>At last! We’ve got him! There stands Barclay, held in +check for the moment by Murat! He thinks to escape to +Smolensk on the morrow; such are the tidings! The hour has +struck. But the Emperor is ill, irresolute. With unwonted consideration, +he does not wish his exhausted army to go straight +from the heat of the march into the heat of battle; with unwonted +caution, he wishes to collect more troops than he really +needs before beginning the attack, in order that the battle may +be “another Austerlitz.” He waits till morning.</p> + +<p>The Russian laughs. Under cover of the morning mists, he +makes good his retreat; and when the air clears not a trace +of the foe is to be seen, nor can a guess be made as to the direction +he has taken. At midday the Emperor returns from the +search, flings his sword on the table, and exclaims:</p> + +<p>“Here I remain. Let us rally our forces. The campaign of +the year ’12 is at an end.” When Murat urges him to continue +the forward march, Napoleon answers: “In ’13 I shall +be at Moscow; in ’14 at St. Petersburg. This war will last +three years!”</p> + +<p>It is time that the scattered army should be reorganised. +Nearly a third of the forces has been struck off the lists, +although no battle has taken place; the country has devoured +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_396">[396]</span>them. Where are the auxiliaries—the Prussians under Macdonald, +the Austrians under Schwarzenberg? Trustworthy +news is lacking. Too far! What a country! How is one to +pass the weary hours when there is no fighting? Wait? In +Cairo there were a hundred men of science in his train, and the +country was full of unsolved riddles.—The following letter +bears witness to a sense of boredom the Emperor has not known +since the days of his lieutenancy:</p> + +<p>“Send us some entertaining books,” the secretary writes to +the librarian in Paris. “If there are some good novels, new +or old, which the Emperor has not read, or memoirs +pleasantly written, we should be most grateful; for time hangs +so heavily on our hands in this place.”</p> + +<p>Can we not see him standing in front of his tent in his old +green coat? He takes one pinch of snuff after another, and +from time to time looks through his telescope across the plain. +Then a grenadier approaches with a paper in his hand; the +Emperor reads it, puts it away; the two secretaries gaze dumbly +from the gloom of the tent, like two tamed animals awaiting the +nod of their tamer. Rustam sits apart Turk fashion; for him +alone is the weather never too hot. All movement is paralysed, +activity is stopped, one can go neither forward nor backward. +Napoleon calls towards the tent: “Méneval! Order some +novels!”</p> + +<p>News comes at last: England has secured a treaty with the +tsar and with the Spanish regent. This arouses the Emperor: +he sees in it the birth of a fresh coalition; perhaps, even, encirclement. +Must he really lie up here till Europe rises against +him or goes to sleep? Over there is Smolensk. The two Russian +armies have doubtless by now met in the town. That is +where the real Russia begins: surely they will not evacuate and +burn the old town of the Blessed Virgin, as they have been +doing in the Polish and Lithuanian wilderness! Should victory +be achieved at Smolensk, then the march on Moscow or St. +Petersburg can be undertaken at will.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_397">[397]</span></p> + +<p>He questions his generals. Many of them utter words of +warning. But the Emperor replies: “Russia cannot continue +this sacrifice of her towns. Alexander can only begin negotiations +after there has been a big battle. No blood has yet been +spilled. Even if I have to march as far as the holy city of +Moscow, I am determined to force a fight and win!”</p> + +<p>At last the two Russian armies have effected a junction; they +plan a systematic retreat, preceded by a stubborn resistance; +wave after wave of the weary French army breaks against the +walls of Smolensk. The veterans think of Acre, thirteen years +gone by.... In the end, the town falls, but it falls amid the +flames; a heap of ruins is all that is left in the victor’s hands. +Is the Emperor beginning to understand the moral strength of +this people? Can he not see that day by day its mood becomes +more fanatical, that it would rather burn its ancient holy +things than leave them to the enemy? There remains nothing +for a starving army to plunder.</p> + +<p>The Emperor, indeed, is in sorry plight. King Lear upon +the heath. Power crumbles in fragments from his body; every +gesture melts in the air; from afar the laughter of the rational +world comes echoing, to be lost in the void. An end must be +made. A second message is sent to the tsar. No use writing, +for that last letter from Vilna has remained unanswered. Once +more a captured general is ushered into his presence, and once +more the Emperor’s secret meditations are unveiled. In conclusion +he says:</p> + +<p>“Can you write to the tsar? No? Still, you can write to +your brother at headquarters and tell him what I am saying to +you. You will greatly oblige me if you tell him that you have +seen me and that I have charged you to write to him. He +would do me a real service if he himself would let the tsar know, +or get the grand duke to do it for him, that my greatest wish +is to conclude peace.... What are we fighting for? Of +course, if you were the English, that would be a different matter! +But the Russians have done nothing to me. You want +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">[398]</span>to buy coffee and sugar cheaply? Very well. That can be +arranged. But do you fancy it will be easy to beat me? Then +get your council of war to consider the situation; if it thinks +the Russians can achieve a victory, choose your battle-ground.... +Otherwise I shall be compelled to take Moscow, and, in +spite of every precaution, I shall perhaps not be able to save +it from destruction. A capital which has been in the possession +of the enemy, is like a woman who has lost her honour.... +What do you think? If the tsar wishes to conclude peace, +surely none will oppose him?”</p> + +<p>As a young lieutenant, as a young general, he had never +asked a favour; he could not; he knew only how to command. +Even to kings he wrote in the tone of a commander, and the +word “please” had only twice passed his lips during the course +of this last decade: the first time, when he asked the pope to +anoint him emperor; the second time, when he besought Francis +of Habsburg for his daughter’s hand. Yet to-day, what a +tone! What thoughts must be passing through the captive’s +mind at the moment when his sword is given back to him!—Can +this be the master of the world? Has he not begged me, a poor +man, begged me and my brother, to do him a service? How +came these things to be? Has he no other messenger? Coffee +and sugar are to blame, it seems, for the fact that an army +of hundreds of thousands of men is perishing in my land! And, +as though the whole thing were some brilliant game of chess, +the master player sends his challenge, while Little Mother Russia +is suffering and weeping, and sees one of her cities after +the other go up in flames, and the images of her saints reduced +to ashes!</p> + +<p>The letter to the captive general’s brother is duly written, +passes Berthier’s censorship, is delivered—but is never answered. +The Emperor is beside himself with rage: he passes +through a period in which he makes impulsive and vacillating +decisions. When Rapp asks whether the army is to go forward +or to retreat, Napoleon answers: “The wine is poured out; it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_399">[399]</span>must be drunk to the last drop. I am for Moscow.... Too +long have I played the emperor; it is time I became the general +once more.” The eyes of the officer light up as he recognises +the old ring in the voice!—We are at the beginning of +September.</p> + +<p>On the sacred soil of the heath near Borodino, Kutusoff, +Barclay’s successor, must at length put up a fight. The armies +now are of equal strength: this is the game the Emperor proposed. +No one sleeps, for to-morrow, to-morrow at last, the +battle will be joined! Then will golden Moscow lie at our feet, +and all our troubles will be at an end. In the middle of the +night, a courier arrives from Paris. The Emperor, bending +over his maps, asks if there is anything urgent to attend to. +Silently his secretary hands him a dispatch from Spain: Wellington +has gained a decisive victory over Marmont in the fight +near Salamanca. The Emperor reads the report, makes no +comment, and resumes his interrupted work. At the eastern +extremity of Europe, at the point where it loses itself in the +Asiatic wastes, in a few hours he is to vanquish the Russians. +This is no time to trouble his mind as to the significance of the +victory of the detested Briton at the southern extremity of +Europe. Day has dawned. To-day, as every day, the guards +call the salute: “Vive l’Empereur!”</p> + +<p>He shows them his son’s picture, which the courier that night +had brought him from Paris. There they stand, the old war-dogs, +never dreaming that France has been beaten in Spain, but +admiring the portrait of the beautiful boy who is their leader’s +very own son. When the picture is brought back to the tent, +the Emperor says, speaking like a poet: “Hide it away. He is +too young to look upon a battle-field.”</p> + +<p>In fierce fighting, on this day of Borodino, salient points are +taken, lost, and retaken. The guards shout. They want to +decide the issue, here, on the Moskva, as they have so often +done before. His generals beseech him to order the advance, +and his intimates urge him to action, but he will not give the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_400">[400]</span>word. For the first time, when the fight is on, he will not +stir from his place. He is feverish, panting for breath, racked +with a cough, and his legs are swelled. He sits motionless on +his horse, and cannot make up his mind to order the advance of +the guards, although the fate of the day seems to hang on it. +“Suppose there should be another battle to-morrow? What +men shall I have left to fight it with?” At night the Russians +withdraw. Next day, when the fallen are counted on the +field, they number seventy thousand dead or half-dead—more +than in any of his previous battles. The Emperor exclaims:</p> + +<p>“Fortune is a strumpet. I have often said so. Now the +truth is coming home to me.”</p> + +<p>But the way to Moscow is open. Half a million men had +been chosen for the invasion. One hundred thousand of them +are still following him, when, from an elevation, with his back +towards the setting sun, he first sees the city of a thousand +cupolas, and upon the hill in its centre that fragment of the +East, the Kremlin. Napoleon, as he gazes at the sight, is filled +with weariness rather than with exultation, and he says in a +low tone:</p> + +<p>“Moscow! It is time!”</p> + +<h3>V</h3> + +<p>“Where are the keys of the city? Why are not the mayor +and corporation here to hand them over?”</p> + +<p>For the greater part of the afternoon he waits while the +army marches past him, waits for the keys of the town. At +Vienna and Milan, at Madrid and Berlin, he had ridden +through the gates as a conqueror. Are these Tartars ignorant +of the fine old Roman custom? From afar can be heard the +noise made by Kutusoff’s soldiers, as the half-beaten army +evacuates the Eastern side of the town, while Napoleon’s men +are streaming in from the west. The advance guard of the +French and the rear guard of the Russians are almost in touch. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_401">[401]</span>It is a silent entry, for the town is like a city of the dead; the +houses are empty. “Still, there are plenty of houses,” think +the weary campaigners; “we shall find food, and be able to sleep +at our ease.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor and his staff ride slowly through the streets +whose silence is so ominous. The Kremlin is their destination. +Here is the ancient fortress. The newcomers look with astonishment +at its walls. All the gates are open, but there is no one +there to act as guide. The golden and red halls are forsaken, +as in the vision of a dream. The invaders make their +way into a huge room where the windows are boarded up. The +grenadiers knock the boards away with the butt ends of their +muskets, and the Emperor recognises by the canopy that he is +in the coronation room of the tsars of Muscovy; but the throne +is veiled.</p> + +<p>Peace is the only thing lacking to him in this moment of +fulfilment. Where is the peace? He has nothing but a victory. +Who has cheated him of its fruits? Only the vast, strange +land; the steppe has cheated him to-day, as the desert cheated +him thirteen years ago. Why did he not free the serfs in +Lithuania, and thus win guides and new soldiers, as he had +planned to do aforetime with the liberated Arabs? What if he +were to adopt this policy now? The town is deserted, but there +are peasants in the surrounding countryside. Why not summon +them, make terms with them? We are masters here; this +enigmatic realm can still offer much of what we desire!</p> + +<p>Night comes, but sleep is coy. “Let us do some work, then, +to distract our minds,” he says to Caulaincourt. He opens the +map of Poland; satisfies himself that it was impossible to stay +there; in six weeks he can be in St. Petersburg. The muster +rolls (they are his Bible, which he always takes with him on a +journey, and perpetually cons even in peace time) show +him what forces are still at his disposal. His spirits rise as he +looks at the columns of figures. “In a few weeks I could get +together a quarter of a million men here. There are plenty of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_402">[402]</span>roofs to cover them, but what about food? The city seems to +be in the middle of a desert!”</p> + +<p>A red glare shows through the windows. Fire! Oh, well, +we’re used to that. There were several fires here and there +yesterday evening. But orderlies rush in, and generals arrive. +A hundred messengers have reported the outbreak of fires all +over the city. Not accidental fires, but prearranged, for the +fire-engines have been broken or removed. Do these lunatics +mean that Holy Moscow should go up in flames? What will +the Emperor do? Ségur, who was with him in these dark hours, +tells us what happened:</p> + +<p>“It seems as if the encircling flames have spread to the Emperor’s +mind. By turns, he leaps to his feet, sits down again, +or tramps hastily through the rooms of the palace. His abrupt +movements betray his terrible agitation. He abandons an +urgent task, resumes it, abandons it once more, that he may +fling the window wide. He exclaims:</p> + +<p>“‘What a dreadful sight! Their own work! So many +palaces! How stupendous a decision! Who could have expected +anything of the kind? What men they are! They are +Scythians!’</p> + +<p>“Suddenly we are informed that the Kremlin has been mined. +Some of the servants are panic-stricken; the guard quietly +awaits orders. The Emperor smiles incredulously, but he continues +to pace convulsively to and fro, halting at every window +to watch the raging element as it seizes the bridges and the +gates, simultaneously imprisoning him and besieging him. The +air is full of smoke and flying sparks; the equinoctial gale increases +the fury of the conflagration.</p> + +<p>“Murat and Eugene arrive hotfoot, force their way to the +Emperor, and urge him to flee. In vain! Napoleon, master +in the palace of the tsars, is steadfast. He will not yield even +to devouring flame. But suddenly comes the cry: ‘Fire in the +Kremlin!’ The Emperor is to see the danger close at hand.</p> + +<p>“A Russian military policeman has been seized in a turret +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_403">[403]</span>of the arsenal. Brought before the Emperor, the man admits +that he has fired the Kremlin, acting under orders. The Emperor +makes a sign of rage and contempt. The prisoner is led +out into the courtyard and is cut down by the grenadiers. +This incident decides the Emperor’s action.</p> + +<p>“We hasten down the northern staircase, and the Emperor +orders us to guide him out of the town. But all the gates of +the citadel are blocked by the flames. At length an alley-way +leading to the Moskva is discovered between two rocks. +Through this narrow passage we are able to escape from the +Kremlin. But what has been gained? How can we cross the +river? The soldiers, blinded by the sparks and deafened by the +storm, do not know where they are, and the streets are hidden +amid the smoke. The only way out of the inferno is through +a winding street where the houses are on fire.</p> + +<p>“Heedlessly the Emperor strides along this dreadful exit, +undismayed by the crackle of the flaming beams and by the +crash of the falling roofs.... We can hardly breathe, so intense +is the heat. Our guide loses his way, and we should all +have ended our lives in the flames had not some marauders belonging +to the first army corps recognised the Emperor and +found a way for him and the rest of us out of the smoking +ruins.</p> + +<p>“We meet Davoust. He has been injured on the Moskva, but +has had himself carried back among the blazing houses, hoping +to find the Emperor or perish with him. The general embraces +Napoleon in a fever of delight. The Emperor responds in +friendly fashion, but with that calm which never leaves him in +the hour of danger.”</p> + +<p>He awaits the end of the conflagration in the Petroffsky +palace, a suburban retreat. On the fourth day, he returns to +the Kremlin, where very little damage has been done. On the +fifth day, his patience gives out. For the third time, he writes +to the tsar. Even now, when he is in possession of the capital, +he feels he is grasping at the air. He is so cut off from the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_404">[404]</span>enemy that once more he has to make use of a Russian prisoner +(this time only a captain), in order to find a contact with the +tsar. Napoleon receives the man in the throne room. Does he +sense the heroic grotesqueness of the scene? An officer of no +account, powerless, unknown, is the representative of Holy +Russia; before him, in the storied hall of the tsars, stands the +mighty Emperor of the French, the conqueror at whose +slightest nod all Europe trembles. The Emperor speaks, +chaffers, poses conditions with this man, as though the occasion +were another Tilsit and the captain the tsar.</p> + +<p>“I am conducting a purely political war,” Napoleon reiterates. +“All I need is the fulfilment of our treaties. Had I +taken London, I would not have offered to leave it so speedily. +From here, however, I intend very soon to withdraw. If the +tsar wants peace, he must let me know of his desire.... I am +setting you free, but on condition that you make your way to +St. Petersburg. The tsar will be glad to see an eyewitness of +recent happenings in Moscow. You must tell him everything.”</p> + +<p>“I shall not be permitted to enter his presence, Sire.”</p> + +<p>“Appeal to Court Chamberlain Tolstoy. He is an upright +man. If he fails you, get the tsar’s body servant to introduce +you to his presence, or you must approach His Majesty during +one of his daily walks....” The captain gets cold all over; +it seems to him that he is being urged to commit a crime, an +attempt on the tsar’s life. He can promise nothing; stammers.</p> + +<p>The Emperor says: “Very well. I shall write a letter to +your emperor and you must see that he gets it.” This last +missive, which finds its way from one emperor’s hands into those +of the other, is the strangest of the trio.</p> + +<p>“My Lord Brother.... Beautiful, magical Moscow exists +no more.... This deed is loathsome, and to no purpose. Did +you wish to rob me of my means of support? They were in the +cellars, to which the flames never penetrated. How could you +consign to destruction the loveliest city in the world, a city it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_405">[405]</span>has taken hundreds of years to build; how could you lay it +waste for so little gain!... Out of kindness, and in the interests +of Your Majesty, I have now taken charge of the town +which the Russian army had sacrificed. At least the municipal +authorities and the militia should have been left in the city, as +was the case in Vienna, on two occasions, and in Berlin and +Madrid; Milan, likewise, acted thus when Suvaroff entered at +the head of his army.... It is surely impossible that you, +with your high principles and your good heart, can have consented +to such abominations, for they are unworthy of a great +ruler and a great nation. Your people were so busy getting +the fire-engines away, that they abandoned one hundred and +fifty pieces of ordnance.... I have warred against Your +Majesty without bitterness. A sign from you, before or after +the last battle, would have stayed my forward march; nay, for +Your Majesty’s sake, I should have wished to forego my entry +into Moscow.... If you have preserved any of your former +friendship towards me, you will receive this letter favourably. +In any case, you will be grateful to me for informing you of +the recent occurrences.”</p> + +<p>The letter of a tutor to his pupil, angry and threatening, +written from the depths of his isolation, with intent to rouse the +recipient. Thus might an impeccable moralist write to a ne’er-do-well! +The whole epistle turns upon the two words “receive +favourably”; this is the aim; on these words are built up the +writer’s hopes. Will the letter fulfil its mission?</p> + +<p>The advance of the invader, the threatening proximity of the +foe, the burning of Moscow, have filled all hearts in St. Petersburg +with despair. The court is for peace. Can a more +favourable opportunity present itself? The enemy is becoming +more embarrassed day by day. Emperor Napoleon is eager +for negotiations. The madcap grand duke Constantine is in +favour of a parley; the tsarina-mother, she who hates the upstart, +who refused her daughter to him as bride, who railed at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_406">[406]</span>Alexander for weeks after the Tilsit meeting, even she advises +the tsar to clasp hands once more in friendship with the Emperor. +Now is the time!</p> + +<p>But Alexander held firm. Two men were responsible for his +unwonted steadfastness. One was a Frenchman, Bernadotte. +He and the tsar had recently met in Finland, and Bernadotte +had strengthened Alexander in his determination to persevere, +had even handed back the Russian auxiliary corps which the +tsar had lent for the conquest of Norway. Bernadotte’s hatred +was so fierce, he had so inflexibly made up his mind to destroy +Napoleon, and he so greedily coveted the crown of France +which the tsar had promised him, that he would stick at nothing.</p> + +<p>The other was a German, the best the nation had nurtured +in its downfall and in its fight for freedom. Four years had +passed since Napoleon pronounced a verdict of outlawry on +Baron vom Stein. The baron spent them far from his homeland; +and had become the tsar’s trusted adviser. In every +respect he was Napoleon’s exact contrary. He was now to +fight the Emperor to a decisive issue.</p> + +<p>This time Stein would conquer.</p> + +<h3>VI</h3> + +<p>In many lands, among the many wise and energetic men, who +for seventeen years had pitted themselves against the General, +the Consul, and the Emperor, none proved equal to the task +except Talleyrand and Stein: The former did so, because he +succeeded in paralysing Napoleon’s productive will by the +genius of his malicious cunning; the latter, because, to Napoleon’s +amoral energy, he contraposed a moral energy which +was wedded to fervour. Just as Stein embodied the virtues of +the Germans, so Napoleon gathered into himself the talents of +the Italian character; and yet, since neither Teutonic virtues +nor Italian talents are mutually exclusive, but, rather, cut +athwart one another, each man could understand the opponent +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_407">[407]</span>so far, that Stein, had he been a Frenchman (Carnot’s blood +brother), might have proved the mainstay of the Emperor. +Pride and practical good sense would have brought the two +men together.</p> + +<p>But this mutual respect could never have bridged the abyss +of alienation which must have continued, in spite of everything +to hold them asunder. For, just as Napoleon lived entirely +without feeling for a fatherland; just as he would gladly have +made his career anywhere, and merely placed the French before +other peoples because he chanced to be their emperor, so, on the +other hand, Stein lived and wrought entirely for the sake of +his fatherland; and his Teutonic solidity (firmly rooted in the +native soil), the whole weight of his rich soul, remained +estranged from the agility, the swiftness, which was so essential +a part of Napoleon’s make-up, and which the Emperor utilised +so adroitly. Here was a statesman whose one thought was +Germany and the Germans, who wanted unity among the stocks +speaking the same speech, even if such unity had to be achieved +against the wishes of the weakling princes. Over the way stood +the man who could only think in terms of Europe and Europeans, +people whom he wished to weld together for a fight +against the self-same princes.</p> + +<p>A baron of the empire, and therefore an independent though +petty prince, Stein was a worthy son of ancestors who for +seven centuries had tilled and ruled the same fragment of +German soil. Having left the home of his fathers for one reason +only, that he might serve the nation, he regarded with mistrust, +and soon with growing contempt, the other German +princes, who were so eager to barter lands and liberties—their +own and their subjects—for the favour of the world conqueror. +Napoleon, sprung from an impoverished noble stock, a man +who had in early youth been driven forth from the ancestral +vineyard, despised these lickspittle princes as heartily as did +Stein, and in secret he honoured none but the few irreconcilables.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_408">[408]</span></p> + +<p>But whereas the contempt with which he regarded the decadence +of the European princes was mingled with amusement, +Stein’s attitude towards them was purely one of rancour. +Their innate impotence, which encouraged the self-confidence of +the brilliant upstart, was a challenge to the self-respect of +Stein, the man who would fain believe in the knightly order to +which he belonged; and just as the Corsican used his own career +as an argument to strengthen his conviction that a new and +splendid epoch was in the making, the German could not fail +to consider the behaviour of his fellow-princes as melancholy +evidence of the collapse of the old order, and must perforce +regard the king of Prussia with a contempt no less hearty than +the hatred he cherished for the Emperor of the French.</p> + +<p>Thus Napoleon’s pronouncement of outlawry against Stein +was symbolic of the differences between the two men in respect +of nationality, class, and epoch. Had the imperial baron been +a king, he would, far more worthily than any Habsburg, or +Hohenzollern, or other among the defeated monarchs, have +embodied, in opposition to the son of the revolution, that idea +of legitimacy for which the German nation was willing to battle +with no less ardour than it would display in the fight against +the foreigner. Apart from the duke of Brunswick and one or +two of the younger princes, Stein stood alone in those days as +saviour of the pride and dignity of the German rulers.</p> + +<p>Now his great moment has come. From Madrid, the Emperor +had sent forth his decree of banishment against the Prussian +minister. Twice, for this, time was to exact vengeance. +Now was the first occasion. Nothing but the sentence of outlawry +had brought Stein into contact with the tsar, for whose +soul he was wrestling with his old enemy. In all Alexander’s +vacillations, no influence did more to strengthen him than the +indomitable spirit of the German exile. When the Emperor, +not long before, holding forth to the Russian general, had +spoken with so much acerbity about Stein, it was because, from +afar, he had sensed this influence, and because he was afraid +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_409">[409]</span>of the imperial baron. He knew Stein to be a vigorous idealist, +an undismayed monarchist; and he knew that in the decisive +hour such a man was likely to exercise a potent suggestive +influence upon the tsar, also an idealist, though irresolute and +timid. Stein, knowing human character as he did, and knowing +that the tsar, in a hazy fashion, was eager to live in accordance +with the moral law, would dilate upon Napoleon’s contempt +for morality and itch for dictatorship. Stein would not +tempt Alexander with countries to be annexed, but with principles +to be obeyed; and would rouse to action a modern +monarch who would know better than the German princes how +to defend rule by right divine.</p> + +<p>This German was the only person at the tsarist court who +had no axe to grind. Driven from his own home by the homeless +Napoleon, he was ready betwixt night and morning to +change his present hospitable asylum for any other. The tsar +knew that Stein was not a place-hunter, but an independent +foreigner whose counsel was not tainted by any thought of personal +advantage; for this reason, he had more trust in the +German baron than in his own Francophil minister. Perhaps +he had heard of the splendid words uttered by the German +when the news of the burning of Moscow had arrived. Stein, +sitting at table, had raised his glass, and had exclaimed: “Three +or four times, ere this, I have lost my baggage. We must get +used to throwing away such things. Since we must die, let us +be valiant.”</p> + +<p>His enemy in Moscow will soon make up his mind to the same +thing. He throws away the baggage of the past, and marches +on; he makes up his mind to retreat. Not a word has come +from St. Petersburg. Five weeks have been wasted, and the +winter draws near! He has been waiting on events, waiting and +listening; this is ill suited to his temperament, out of keeping +with his energetic nature. The novels he has ordered from +Paris have not yet come to hand, so he hunts up whatever can +be found in the Kremlin. But he reads very little. After meals, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_410">[410]</span>which, contrary to his usual custom he protracts to the uttermost, +he sometimes lies for hours, book in hand, but meditating +with fixed gaze.</p> + +<p>What is there to do in a burned city where nothing is left to +organise! On one or two evenings, the Emperor has some +French plays performed by a troupe of actors which had remained +behind at the time of the evacuation. This reminds the +holiday-making ruler of the charter of the Comédie Française, +and he sends instructions for its amendment. Half the day is +whiled away in issuing army orders which by no means appear +to emanate from a wearied brain, and are far from being commonplace; +on the contrary, they are as crystal clear as in +earlier days. But since nothing remains to be hoped for, since +provisions are dwindling and the cold season is imminent, he +calls a council of war in mid-October, although he knows that +only one way lies open to him.</p> + +<p>Daru counsels: make the winter quarters here; await reinforcements +from liberated Lithuania; in the spring, march +upon St. Petersburg. The Emperor remains for long in a +brown study. Then he says:</p> + +<p>“That is the advice of a lion. But what will Paris say? +Who can calculate the effect of six months’ separation? France +may grow accustomed to my absence; Germany and Austria +might turn it to account.” The only possible order is for the +whole army to turn back. What trophies shall we bring back +with us to Paris? The giant cross of gold from the church of +St. John within the Kremlin walls is taken down from the +cupola that it may be set up on the dome of the Invalides. But +can we not devise some better revenge against the false friend? +The Emperor orders the Kremlin to be blown up.</p> + +<p>Eight miles away from Moscow he reins in, and waits for +news of the explosion. The unending stream of the grand army +flows steadily by the Emperor; it is flanked by the sick and the +wounded; it is laden with booty, rested but undisciplined. At +last come tidings: the explosion has missed fire. He is silent. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_411">[411]</span>But when Rapp expresses anxiety about the approach of winter, +Napoleon rebukes him, saying: “Can’t you see how lovely the +weather is, even to-day, on October 19th? Do you not recognise +my star?”</p> + +<p>Such words hardly ever fall from his lips, and this day he is +full of cares. He realises that the baggage train is going to +cause delay, and yet he has not the heart to order his men to +leave their booty behind; they must have something to take +home. Russian troops have encircled the French army, and +recently they pressed so hard on Murat’s squadrons as to drive +these back upon the town. On the eastward march, the Emperor +had longed for nothing so much as a good action to take +place; but now, on the westward march, there is nothing he +dreads more than to have to put up a fight. Get to Smolensk +as quickly as possible; we will find winter quarters there!</p> + +<p>Is the beginning of his career falling into step with the end? +Again, as in Egypt, the army marches with the baggage in the +middle; again the troops have to defend themselves from the +swarming enemy. Once the Emperor is saved from being made +prisoner only by the presence of mind of one of his men. +“Cossacks! Turn about!” cries Rapp, pointing to a thicket. +The Emperor will not follow this advice. The adjutant, thereupon, +seizes the bridle-rein and turns Napoleon’s horse round. +“You must!” Never, in his whole life has he heard such an +order addressed to him. What is he to do? Reason tells him +to flee.</p> + +<p>But the Emperor remains where he is, and draws his sword. +Rapp, Berthier, Caulaincourt, do the same. They place themselves +to the left of the road and await the riders, who are +barely forty paces away. Then the officers of the suite cover +Napoleon until the guard cavalry comes to the rescue and puts +the Cossacks to flight.</p> + +<p>New thoughts flit through his brain after this adventure. +Shall Alexander harness him to a triumphal car? He procures +a dose of poison from his physician, and wears it always +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_412">[412]</span>in a black silk bag around his neck, in case he should be made a +prisoner. Since the day when he was so nearly captured, the +ambition of every Russian flying column is to procure the head +of the “wicked infidel.” Russian headquarters issues a warrant +against the Emperor; it is embellished with his picture, +and orders the corps leaders to have “every man of small +stature” among the prisoners brought before them for examination: +any one of them may be Emperor Napoleon!</p> + +<p>As in Egypt the heat of the march had killed hundreds of +men, so now does the Russian cold devour them by thousands. +Snow and ice bring down the horses, guns get stuck, munition +wagons are blown up, cavalry soldiers must pad the hoof, +frozen men line the roads.</p> + +<p>Not more than fifty thousand reach Smolensk, one-tenth of +all the invading host. They have no more supplies, and cannot +winter here. The freezing army pushes forward. Thousands +have thrown their weapons away; now, even the guard weakens. +The Emperor comes among his grenadiers:</p> + +<p>“You see the disorder of my army. These poor deluded men +are throwing their muskets away. Are you going to follow +this shameful example? If so, then there is no hope left to us! +On you the whole future of the army depends!” He marches +among them. A silent procession (thus described by one who +met it): first come the generals, few of whom are mounted. +Ghosts in rags, in scorched cloaks, lean, grey, with matted +beards, bent and silent: prisoners of fate. These are followed +by the Holy Legion, a legion composed of officers, most of them +leaning upon sticks, their feet swathed in remnants of sheepskin. +Then come the survivors of the cavalry guard.</p> + +<p>Last of all three men on foot: to the right, the king of +Naples, no longer concerned about his peacock splendours; to +the left, the viceroy of Italy. In the middle walks a little man, +wearing a Polish fur coat and a cap of red fox, and helping +himself along with a birchen staff. Thus in silence he wends +his way through Russia.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_413">[413]</span></p> + +<h3>VII</h3> + +<p>What is Paris saying?</p> + +<p>He does not know. For the first time since he was in Egypt, +his calculations concerning Paris have no solid foundation in +fact. Not to know what is going on in his capital: a dreadful +position this, like that of a traveller who fancies that during +his absence his wife may be betraying him! Writing to Maret +in Vilna, he says: “For more than a fortnight I have had no +courier, so that I am in the dark as to all that is going on ... +in France and Spain.... The army is terribly disorganised. +It would take at least a fortnight to set things straight, but we +cannot possibly spare the time. Shall we be able to maintain +our position in Vilna? Only if we are not attacked during the +first week. Food! Food!... Make sure that there shall be +no foreign envoys in Vilna, for the army is not in a fit condition +to be seen. Send them all away.”</p> + +<p>Here is the courier at last. Why does the Emperor turn +pale? What terrible news can have come from Paris? Can +anything have happened there worse than what he has just +been living through? The fact is that, through English newspapers, +through letters, and through rumour, France has long +since learned the whole truth, which had been glossed over in +the Emperor’s bulletins. Many of the Parisians are fickle, and +many of them are easily reduced to despair. A good part of +Paris has already given up the Emperor for lost. Alarmist +reports and spiteful quips are rife on the boulevards. But +what is this item?</p> + +<p>A coup d’état had been planned, and had been frustrated. +But what a background of discontent is revealed! Malet, who +had been a general in the days of the republic, had years before +been concerned in a conspiracy, imprisoned, and then committed +to a lunatic asylum. Having received distorted news +about the Emperor’s disasters and the burning of Moscow, he +had escaped. With a number of accomplices, he had published +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_414">[414]</span>a forged dispatch announcing Napoleon’s death. The conspirators +had seized the Minister of Police; had declared a +provisional government; had bamboozled the National Guard, +the militia, the prefects, and even veteran generals. At length, +however, two undismayed officers had seen through the cheat, +had seized the conspirators, and from the balcony of the +governor’s residence had shouted, “Vive l’Empereur.” Therewith +the spectre had been laid.</p> + +<p>In his tent, on which the snow is falling, the Emperor contemplates +this document with dismay. More serious news even +than that which recently arrived from Salamanca! The +offenders had been shot; the whole affair had fizzled out. But +for a time the conspirators had been masters of the Paris +police, and one who controls the Paris police is master of +France! No carriages would venture into the streets! When +an elderly nobleman had asked what was afoot, a workman had +laughed, saying: “Citizen, the Emperor is dead. At noon the +republic will be proclaimed!” Greatly shaken by the tidings, +the Emperor drops the newspaper containing these details, and +says to his intimates:</p> + +<p>“What about the dynasty? Did no one think of my wife, +my son, all the institutions of the Empire? I must get back to +Paris instantly!”</p> + +<p>The dangerous possibilities revealed by this interlude, flash +like lightning through his mind. “The workman who laughs—he +is the people! I toil day and night for years at my great +building; I break with the woman I love, and take an emperor’s +daughter to wife, that our heir, the pledge of earthly immortality, +may grow up in our palace. Then some foolhardy +officer, a man no one has ever heard of, has merely to call out +that the Emperor is dead, and instantly a clamour about +‘citizens’ and ‘republic’ rises once more from the people! The +regent, the heir, the Council of State—all these count for +nothing? The bottomless cask of the Danaids! But I will +make a bottom for it. Like the Capets, I will have my son +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_415">[415]</span>crowned in my own lifetime, and muster my faithful supporters +in Paris!”</p> + +<p>Fortified by the approach of danger, the Emperor grips the +reins firmly once more. “He is pale, but his face is calm; nothing +in his features gives any sign of trouble.” His health is +better, too. Now the army nears the Beresina. Having received +false intelligence to the effect that the auxiliary armies +are close at hand, he draws his own forces more compactly +together, and has the rest of the baggage train burned, that +the horses may be freed to draw the remaining guns. If only +the bridge is still standing! He writes: “Should the enemy +have seized the bridge-head and burned the bridge in order to +prevent our crossing, it would be very serious.”</p> + +<p>Next day they come to the river. No bridge, no boats; two +armies outnumbering the French are waiting on the other +shore; between runs the broad river with marshy banks. Is +there any way out of the difficulty?</p> + +<p>He makes a shrewd plan, like those of his early days as general. +He will decoy the Russians away. Out of eighteen hundred +horseless cavalrymen of the guard, of whom only eleven +hundred still have their weapons, he forms two battalions. +Then he has all the regimental eagles burned, for even in this +dread hour Napoleon thinks of honour and glory, and he will +not risk the loss of colours to the enemy. After midnight, he +at length lies down in his tent, where he overhears Duroc and +Daru, who believed him to be asleep, discussing in an undertone +the possibility of a catastrophe. The phrase “State prisoner” +has caught his ear. He fingers the black bag he is wearing +round his neck, and sits up in bed:</p> + +<p>“You think they would dare?”</p> + +<p>“I would not trust the enemy’s magnanimity,” says Daru, +composedly.</p> + +<p>“But France! What would France do?”</p> + +<p>Daru’s answer is evasive; but when pressed, he says: “I +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_416">[416]</span>think, Sire, the sooner you are in Paris, the better. When you +are there, you will have a better chance of saving us all.”</p> + +<p>“Then you feel I am a burden on you here?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, Sire.”</p> + +<p>“And you don’t want to be State prisoners?”</p> + +<p>There is a long silence. Then the Emperor resumes:</p> + +<p>“Have my ministers’ reports been destroyed?”</p> + +<p>“Hitherto you have always refrained from giving us the +order.”</p> + +<p>“It must be done. Destroy the lot of them. We are in a +very difficult position.”</p> + +<p>This is the only admission of the kind made by the Emperor +during all the weeks of the Russian campaign. It is the voice +of a man who regards himself as a moriturus. But nature is +more sensible than fate, and in a few moments he is fast asleep.</p> + +<p>Next morning, while the enemy has been lured down stream +and is being kept at a distance by artillery fire, the sappers, +neck-deep in the freezing water and amid the drifting ice, +hastily build two bridges. The crossing of the river takes two +days more. With the cavalry, which swims the stream, the +army still numbers about twenty-five thousand men. The Emperor, +though the risk of his being taken prisoner is imminent, +remains until all have crossed; and then, on the third day, surrounded +by the old guard, he too makes his way over the river. +But there are still stragglers to come, and these perish during +the next few days betwixt ice and fire.</p> + +<p>In the ensuing week the Emperor’s life is twice in danger. +The first peril is from a Cossack attack. On the next occasion +the trouble is an assassination plot in which one of his +own Frenchmen is engaged. It is early on the morning of +December 5th when Major Lapie meets the officers of the +Prussian guard of honour in front of the Emperor’s tent. +“Now then, gentlemen, the hour has come!” The senior captain +is to cut down the Mameluke, and then to make an end +of Napoleon. Presumably the conspirators have seen Schiller’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_417">[417]</span><i>Wallenstein</i> on the German stage! The Prussian wants the +Frenchman to do the deed, but Lapie says he is not sure of his +men. Then Caulaincourt, to whom the conspirators’ behaviour +seems suspicious, comes forward, claps his hands, and says: +“Now, gentlemen, it is time to start!”</p> + +<p>That evening the Emperor, who has not heard a word of the +affair, summons his marshals. “I shall be stronger when I can +speak from my throne in the Tuileries than I am at the head +of an army which has been destroyed by the cold.... Had I +been a Bourbon, born to rule, it would have been easy for me +to avoid making mistakes.” He takes the marshals aside by +turns, asking each for his advice; he flatters, praises, and encourages; +he smiles and charms. Obviously his design is to +counteract the possibility of revolt.</p> + +<p>Next, he tells Eugene to read them his latest bulletin, the +first in which he admits disaster. “Men who had not been +sufficiently steeled by nature to rise superior to all vicissitudes +of fate and fortune, lost courage and equanimity, and could +dream of nothing but misfortune and defeat. But those who +were equal to the occasion were able to keep up their spirits, +and regarded every fresh difficulty as a fresh opportunity for +glory.”</p> + +<p>The only reason why the army had wasted away was the +rigour of the climate. “His Majesty has never been in better +health.”</p> + +<p>The unfeeling, metallic tone! Again we are listening to +General Bonaparte who, having recovered confidence in his +destiny, and having regained health, is able to use the old language. +The incisive sentence at the close is, of course, added +for the special benefit of Paris, which for several weeks has had +no news as to his state of health. But, on the whole, the mood +in which he ends the Russian campaign, exactly six months +after it had begun, is one of heroic cynicism. The command of +the army is handed over to Murat, who is to lead the survivors +home. There are still nine thousand men under arms.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_418">[418]</span></p> + +<p>Now there is something new. The Emperor embraces every +one of the generals present. Is this the last coup of a trickster +who wants to strengthen their waning loyalty? Is he really +overcome by his feelings? Every one of these soldiers, that +evening, could feel the beating of the Emperor’s heart.</p> + +<p>He gets into the sleigh with Daru and Caulaincourt, and +the three drive away. To be on the safe side, he travels under +an assumed name, that of his secretary, Rayneval. This is his +fifth name. The fourth had been Napoleon.</p> + +<p>When they are driving through the snows across the Polish +plain, he suddenly has the sleigh stopped at a cross road. This +must be near Countess Walewska’s mansion; he wants to go +there. Napoleon is on the flight from Russia, his head full of +world-shaking plans; he is forsaking his army because Paris +needs him and he needs Paris—and now comes this lyrical +thought, the painful recollection of a frustrated idyl. But the +urgent warnings of his companions, who remind him that they +are alone in a couple of sledges and that Cossacks are scouring +the countryside, induce him to abandon his plan. He wraps +his furs around him once more and goes to sleep.</p> + +<p>Five days afterwards he leaves the sleighs waiting on the +bridge near Warsaw, and at noon goes on foot with Caulaincourt +into the town. Should any one recognise him, they will +face it out, and declare that the interlocutor is seeing ghosts, +or must be mad. Napoleon sends Caulaincourt to the embassy; +but, in order to keep his own identity secret, he himself goes +to an inn, which, of all names in the world, still calls itself the +Hôtel de l’Angleterre. The low-ceilinged white-washed room +is cold; there is only green wood, and the maidservant cannot +get the stove to light; he must keep on his furs, his cap, and +his big boots, while he tramps up and down the room, thrashing +his arms like a coachman to keep himself warm. It is thus he +is found by two Polish noblemen for whom he has sent through +the embassy. They can hardly believe their eyes, but the +ghost laughs at their astonishment.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_419">[419]</span></p> + +<p>“How long have I been in Warsaw? A week? No, only a +couple of hours. It is but one step from the sublime to the +ridiculous. How are you, Monsieur Stanislas?... Dangers? +Not a bit of it. I thrive on excitement. The more I am tossed +to and fro, the better I feel. The shadow kings grow fat in +their palaces, but I put on flesh when riding my nag in the field.... +So you’ve been anxious here? The army is in splendid +condition. I have still one hundred and twenty thousand men! +Gave the Russians a good hiding everywhere. They never ventured +to stand up against me. The army will winter in Vilna. +I am returning to Paris, and there I shall raise three hundred +thousand soldiers! In six months I shall be back on the Memel.</p> + +<p>“I have been through other fights! At Marengo I was beaten +until six in the evening, but next day I was lord of Italy. At +Aspern-Essling I made myself master of Austria, though the +archduke believed he had held me in check there. It was not +my fault that the Danube rose sixteen feet in one night. But +for that, I should have finished off with the Habsburgs once for +all. However, it was written in the stars that I was to marry +an archduchess....</p> + +<p>“The same thing in Russia. I can’t prevent its freezing +there. Morning after morning, the report was that ten thousand +horses had perished during the night. Bon voyage! Our +Normandy horses cannot endure the cold like the Russians; +the same with our soldiers.... Perhaps people will say that +I stayed too long in Moscow; but the weather was beautiful, +and I was waiting for peace. A great political drama! Nothing +venture, nothing have. One step from the sublime to the +ridiculous!... Who could have foreseen the burning of Moscow?... +I never felt better in my life!”...</p> + +<p>Such is the spate of words that for two hours flows from the +mouth of a man who, after unspeakable losses, wishes to give +the impression of desperate courage.</p> + +<p>Napoleon becomes an adventurer. To impress these Poles, +who will pass on what he says, he invents an army which has +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_420">[420]</span>vanished long since; cold which really did nothing more than +complete the destruction that other forces had begun; battles +he never fought. He intersperses these figments with historical +parallels of worldwide significance; treats what has just been +happening as if it were ancient history; appeals to providence; +and repeats no less than four times the cynically imposing +aphorism about the sublime and the ridiculous, which blunts +the edge of criticism. Great realist though he is, the world and +what he is doing with it are becoming drama to him; and thus +Napoleon, when his own fortunes are declining, is slowly mounting +the ascent towards supreme irony.</p> + +<p>The two Poles see nothing of all this. Their thoughts are +concentrated upon their country’s debts, and they would fain +get money from this man who is still numbered among the great +ones of the earth. They seize their opportunity when at length +there is a pause in the torrent of speech. He gives them an +order on the treasury for six millions, which he thinks will buy +support for him in Poland. Then his visitors wish him a happy +journey, and, with secret scorn, watch the incognito drive away +hastily in his sleigh.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp59" id="illus14" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus14.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>The Emperor’s profile. Sketched during Mass in the Tuileries. + Germain Bapst Collection.</p> + <p>(Photograph in the Kircheisen Collection.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Day and night, night and day, they glide swiftly westward; +for Germany, too, is under snow. Day and night, night and +day, questions, commands, and plans are churning in his brain. +“Is England really invincible? Now, the English can trade +freely in the Baltic; English goods can enter Cadiz, and can +make their way into the Levant.” He must put off his scheme +for the conquest of India, but will abate no jot of his other +designs! Will the Confederation of the Rhine still answer to +his nod? How will it be possible to explain this crash in Russia? +The disaster cannot be hushed up indefinitely. Is there +any chance of raising another hundred and twenty thousand +men in France? Next year’s levies must be called up in advance. +Make peace with the pope at once, and with Spain likewise, +for he must feel safe at his back. A National Guard, that +was the best thought of the revolution; in that way he will be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_421">[421]</span>able to raise a million armed citizens within three months.</p> + +<p>Night. Change of horses. He thrusts out his head. +“Where are we?”</p> + +<p>“In Weimar, Sire.”</p> + +<p>“Weimar? How is the duchess? And how is Herr Goethe?”</p> + +<h3>VIII</h3> + +<p>Forty bowed backs receive the beaten war lord on his return +home. The sight of the court dresses which he has embroidered +with his contempt revives his belief in the folly and the weakness +of these men whose only wish is to be ruled. But his glance +strays to the bars of the golden cage in which the son of liberty +has locked himself up. He does not realise that the people of +his capital are weary and disaffected; and instead of following +the example of his own youth, instead of with disarming frankness +acknowledging the faults he hopes to better, he postures +as Cæsar before his servile officials, and rails at the weather +god, though but yesterday he had boasted his power to make +what weather he pleased throughout Europe.</p> + +<p>During the nine days’ drive from Warsaw to Paris, the uncertain +mood of the adventurer had given place once more to +the steadily aspiring flame of the imperator. Although the +Russian winter had set in later than usual, he carries off the +reverse by saying: “The army sustained heavy losses, but that +was because the winter began so early.... The king of Naples +is not fitted for high command, and he lost his head after my +departure.... All the same, I have three hundred battalions +left, without bringing a single man back from Spain.”</p> + +<p>Has his contempt for his fellows risen to such a pitch that +he can serve up these fables to experienced men who have known +the truth for months? But their consciences are uneasy. They +feel responsible for the October putsch, or at any rate guilty +for not having made an end of the whole business within the +first quarter of an hour. On the other hand the Emperor, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_422">[422]</span>whose own heart accuses him, is glad to play the accuser, for +it galls him that in the decisive hour they should have forgotten +the empress and the heir to the throne. In memorable words, +at the first reception in the Tuileries, he tries to hammer his +point into the heads of his councillors.</p> + +<p>“The apostles of the rights of man are really to blame for +all that has happened. They declared rebellion to be a duty. +They flattered the people, imputing to it a sovereignty it is incapable +of exercising. They destroyed respect for law by +establishing the supremacy of an assembly which knew nothing +of administration and law, instead of holding fast to the nature +of things! Any one who wishes to build up a State once more, +must be guided by the very opposite principles. History +depicts the human heart, and we must study history if we would +learn the merits and defects of legislation.... When I undertook +the reconstruction of France, my prayer was that I might +be spared for a considerable number of years, seeing that what +has been destroyed in a moment will take a long time to +refashion. The State needs courageous officials. ‘The king is +dead; long live the king!’ That was the watchword of our +fathers. The phrase makes us realise the advantages of monarchy.”</p> + +<p>Were it not for the prettily turned expression about history +and the human heart, Emperor Francis might have subscribed +to this speech, and it might have been an ornament to the pages +of any of the familiar expositions of monarchical doctrine. +Why should people go on quarrelling about such matters? +The ancient dispute between tradition and revolution has been +settled, now that the son of the revolution has acknowledged +the supremacy of tradition. No matter whether an heir be +named Bourbon or Bonaparte! When we compare the two +fathers we see that they are very much alike! His marriage +with the daughter of one who rules by right divine has complicated +the problem, and has sophisticated his own genius.</p> + +<p>Or does he believe no more than half of what he is saying? +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_423">[423]</span>Before setting out on the Russian campaign, he had frankly +explained his plans to Metternich: “The legislature belongs +to me; all I need is to put the key of the deliberative chamber +in my pocket. France is less suited for democracy than a +good many countries.... When I get back, therefore, I shall +transform the Senate and the Council of State into an Upper +House and a Lower House, most of whose members I shall myself +nominate. These will constitute a real popular representation, +consisting only of experienced business men, without an +ideologue among them. Then France will be satisfactorily +ruled, even under a prince who is a mere figure head (and such +will come), for whom the ordinary education of hereditary +princes will suffice.”</p> + +<p>These Cæsarist ideas betray the monarchist, but also the +sceptic. Although, when he shows people his son’s portrait, +they tell him that the little boy is the loveliest child in France, +the flattered father knows perfectly well that dynasties last a +long time whereas genius is fleeting. Foreseeing the decadence +of his own blood, having studied that decadence in the annals +of all princely houses, he wants to rid himself of waverers that +he may fortify the position of his heir. For the very reason +that he understands the contradiction inherent in monarchy, he +wishes to build his own monarchy on a rock.</p> + +<p>For the time being, his business is to buttress it anew with +the power of the sword. What has been the fruit of the war +games in which he moved his myriads over Europe? Those +leather-bound muster rolls of his contained the death sentences +of numberless youths, even though there were marshals’ batons +to be won by a few among the best of them! Of the old guard, +four hundred men, and of the cavalry guard, eight hundred +men, made their way back to Königsberg; a few thousand +officers and sergeants, broken men most of them, have survived +the storms of war. Except for the auxiliaries, who are +not under France’s orders, that is all that remains of the Emperor’s +hosts. Marshal Ney, on his flight from Russia, seems +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_424">[424]</span>like a hero out of a Greek tragedy when he reaches Prussia, +and makes his way into the first Prussian government office on +his route. When old acquaintances look at him incredulously, +as if questioning who this man can be, he rejoins with a superb +gesture: “I am the rear guard of the Grand Army.”</p> + +<p>A new army must be made, and it must be made in a few +weeks. The year 1813 will supply one hundred and forty +thousand recruits, but where are the rest to come from? The +Emperor has a magic wand, and can conjure up men whenever +he needs them. The passing of a new law is all that is requisite +for the levying of the National Guard and for the drafting of +eighty thousand soldiers from the dependencies of France. +Add one hundred thousand belonging to the oldest conscript +levies; and call up the youngsters who should not, properly +speaking, be enrolled until 1814. Soon he will have half a +million under arms once more. “The French people,” he says +to the Prussian envoy, “will follow me whatever I do, and, if +needs must, I shall arm the women!”</p> + +<p>With unbroken will, he charms into existence the innumerable +machines without which he cannot ply his trade. But how +shall he explain these unexpected measures to the people? The +enemy is far from the frontier.</p> + +<p>A stroke of luck! At the close of the year, Yorck, a Prussian +general, acting on his own initiative, enters into an agreement +with his Russian neighbours, declares the force under his +command neutral, and thus opens the door to a change in the +military situation for which the German nation has long been +eager. The Emperor can use the incident in order to whip up +the enthusiasm of the French. For the moment, the treason +of his ally costs him no more than twenty thousand men; but +it serves as the text for a manifesto in Paris, and for hectoring +letters to the princes of the Confederation of the Rhine. +He would not, says Napoleon, need their help at all, had not +Yorck’s secession compelled his army to withdraw.</p> + +<p>The summons of France is actually obeyed. The German +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_425">[425]</span>princes, including the Habsburg ruler, once more collect money +and levy troops. One of them is servile enough to send an assurance +that he is “delighted to be able to give the Emperor +opportunity for winning fresh laurels.” The king of Prussia +cashiers Yorck, and assures the Emperor of his fidelity to the +alliance. But Frederick William conveys a hint to the tsar, +goes to Breslau, wobbles between the parties, what time a wave +of enthusiasm is spreading far beyond Prussia’s borders, and +threatening to sweep away the debile monarch. Youths, politicians, +and poets are voicing the call of national sentiment. +Stein is the man to treat with the tsar on behalf of his country, +and in Königsberg the baron takes matters into his own hands.</p> + +<p>The Emperor is ever on the watch. In a circular, he warns +the princes against the intrigues of those “who by rebellion and +revolution are trying to give Germany a new form. Should +they succeed in infecting the Confederation of the Rhine with +their doctrines, intolerable sufferings may await these territories.”</p> + +<p>He feels the stirring of the new spirit. Now, for the first +time, does the Emperor seem to become aware of the growth +of a national sentiment among the Germans, as among the +Spaniards. Shortly before the Russian campaign, he had said +that hardly so much as a night watchman was needed to keep +the Germans quiet. “Since Germany has no America, nor yet +a sea, nor yet a great number of strongholds, nor even Englishmen +as there are in Spain, there is nothing to be afraid of, +and would not be though the Germans were as lazy, dirty, +superstitious, and monk-ridden as the Spaniards. How could +there be anything to fear from such honest, reasonable, cool-headed, +and patient people, who have so little inclination to +violence that throughout the war not one of our soldiers has +been murdered in Germany?”</p> + +<p>A wonderfully true picture of the Germans, and yet there is a +slight miscalculation. He has overlooked the romanticism by +which these people can be stirred, and without a knowledge of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_426">[426]</span>which they cannot be understood. Of course the Italian, with +his fiery imagination, cannot grasp the nature of an imagination +that works slowly and lacks ardour. Napoleon, who +knows how monarchical the Germans are in their sentiments, +believes that when he holds the princes in his hands he must be +master of the German people.</p> + +<p>Besides, were the Germans a people? Was this realm, which +ten years earlier had been formally liquidated by the abdication +of the last of its emperors, really anything more than a “metaphysical +concept”? Only for a moment, only for two years, +will the German peoples be united. Then, as soon as the enemy’s +power has been broken, they will fall asunder once more. Not +for half a century, and not until another Napoleon threatens +them, will they at length become a nation—though even then, +only a fragment. So atrophied was Napoleon’s own sense of +nationality, that the quarrels and jealousies of the German +princes made him believe that the Germans were disintegrated +for all time; whereas, had he been able to understand the forces +that were at work, he would have realised that the jealousies +of the rival sovereign houses were the only obstacle to the reunion +of these kindred stocks.</p> + +<p>But the sublime breathing of history sometimes determines +the rhythm of an epoch even in despite of the will of the genius +that animates it. In sweeping curves, during these years, the +spirit of liberty returns to her primal home in the hearts of +the people. For, just as Bonaparte, in the name of liberty, had +defeated the princes and stirred the peoples to revolt; so now, +in the name of liberty, the peoples arose to defeat him, the +prince of princes. Doubtless this great movement of destiny +was complicated by numerous petty wishes, and blurred by +minor circles. It is not the force of legitimism which now, after +twenty years, is at last gathering strength to slay the spirit of +revolt. Pallid, disunited, decadent, and with never a great +figure among them, are the princes in the league they form +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_427">[427]</span>against the one man who rules in virtue of his self-made +power.</p> + +<p>But the fact that the peoples of Spain and Germany are +eager to force their princes into the fight, gives to the tragical +collapse of the usurper a semblance of poetical justice, and +that is why we who look on find it easier to bear the sight of +the slaying of the lion by the spears cast by such a legion of +hunters.</p> + +<h3>IX</h3> + +<p>Letizia looks anxiously at her son. His face is clouded, +though he keeps his thoughts to himself. What can she do to +help him? Intimates? Many of them, she sees plainly enough, +are betraying him. He needs his brothers, that he may have +the support of steadfast hearts, even though he thinks them +lacking in intelligence. She therefore puts her trust in her +other sons, writes to London and to Graz, smooths the path +for reconciliation. One day, after a decade of estrangement, +comes a letter from the ambitious Lucien, who says he is +always at Napoleon’s service.</p> + +<p>But the Emperor cannot believe that he, the mightiest of +his family, needs any assistance from the others. Though he +has always regarded Lucien as the most capable of his brothers, +he proposes merely a formal promotion. In imperial fashion, +he answers through his mother: “Please write to let him know +in my name that his letter has awakened an echo in my heart. +I think of raising him to the throne of Tuscany. He loves the +fine arts. It will suit him to reign in Florence, and to revive +the glories of the Medicis.” There is no place for Lucien at +the centre of things! As for Louis, who also offers to devote +his powers to the cause of France (in so far as he can honourably +do this), and who sends a copy of his last volume of verse—the +ex-king of Holland is met with a rebuff: “The idea you +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_428">[428]</span>seem to have formed about my position is quite erroneous. I +have more than a million men under arms, and two hundred +million francs in my war chest. Holland remains French.... +Still, I am ready to greet you in the spirit of one who brought +you up as if he had been your father.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor reads this answer to his mother before sending +it. She tries to mitigate its harshness in a long covering letter; +tells Louis how pretty his children have grown; urges him to +come to Paris in any case. “The Emperor has forgotten to +give me your poems. I will ask him for them, and will let you +know what I think of them when next I write.”</p> + +<p>Next day, the old lady finds a savage article in the “Moniteur,” +in which she learns that the king of Naples will have to +recall his envoys from Vienna. When she asks what this signifies, +her friends reluctantly explain that Murat has been persuaded +by Caroline to intrigue with the Habsburgs, so that the +pair are now playing double. Letizia writes to upbraid her +daughter. Joseph is out of humour, for he thinks that Napoleon +is not supporting him properly in the Spanish war. +She does her best to appease him through the instrumentality +of his wife. Furthermore, she tries to mollify Jerome, whom +the Emperor had sent home in disgrace. Finally, she gets to +work on Hortense, who is doing all she can to hinder Louis’ +coming to Paris.</p> + +<p>Now a woman well over sixty, she does her utmost to keep +the peace between her sons, daughters, sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law. +But it seems to her that the greatness for which +the world envies her family has brought in its train nothing +but discord, jealousy, arrogance, ostracism, and betrayal. Her +thoughts fly back to her native island, where her kindred always +formed a united front against other clans. Moreover, her eyes, +though old, are clear-sighted; and she sees that the star of the +Buonaparti is paling.</p> + +<p>The Emperor has little personal feeling about these matters. +In his present situation, he regards them from a purely political +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_429">[429]</span>outlook. No doubt he says to himself that Murat and Caroline +are traitors; but his main concern is, how he can make sure of +the support of Murat’s soldiers. He therefore writes in a conciliatory +strain to Caroline; keeps her husband informed about +the impending campaign; and asks for troops, which Murat +ultimately agrees to send, for both he and Caroline think that +Napoleon may prove victorious after all, and are afraid of +being dethroned unless they keep in his good graces. At the +same time, they wish to have a secure footing in the other camp, +and therefore conclude secret treaties with England and with +the ex-king of Sicily (whose dominions they themselves have +filched).</p> + +<p>Napoleon even seeks to conciliate Bernadotte, though he cannot +but regard the crown prince of Sweden as a treacherous +kinsman and an enemy of his house. He offers Pomerania as +the reward of alliance and the prize of victory. But for +Bernadotte, the bid is not high enough; this Frenchman prefers +to join the coalition against France. His ambition is to reign +there; France is worth more than Pomerania. Bernadotte enters +into especially close relationships with Prussia. In Berlin +he meets Madame de Staël, and these fellow-countrymen of the +Emperor, united in their detestation of him, foregather among +the oppressed Prussians.</p> + +<p>A third enemy, whom the Emperor approaches with blandishments +during these feverish weeks, is the captive pope. +Pius VII. has been brought to Fontainebleau, and Napoleon +gets to work on him through the instrumentality of prelates +devoted to the imperial cause, adding personal suggestion until +the old man gives way. How great will be the power of the +Church (this is the Emperor’s theme) when Catholicism has +been re-established throughout Germany! By trifling concessions +upon matters of form, and by cunning devices, Napoleon +is able to secure a new Concordat. Thanks to this reconciliation +with the Church, he is able to recruit new Catholic soldiers +in all the lands under his sway. When the pope, a week after +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_430">[430]</span>signing the Concordat, wants to revoke it, the Emperor says +with a smile: “Your Holiness, being infallible, cannot have +made a mistake in entering into this arrangement!”</p> + +<p>During these weeks, a desire for peace suddenly spreads +throughout Europe. The pope wants peace on the Vistula, and +Metternich wants it in London. Count Bubna, with whom Napoleon +had negotiated years before in Schönbrunn, comes to +Paris to advise peace, for Vienna can neither send nor refuse +the troops which the Emperor has demanded. In February, +peace can be had for the asking. Why does the man who needs +peace most of all, make impossible stipulations?</p> + +<p>For ten years, one war after another has been practically +forced upon the Emperor as a consequence of his first victories. +Now, when he is in grievous peril, and when his isolation is +increasing, the will-to-war grows in him as in the early days +of his career. When unconquered, he would gladly have laid +aside the sword; now, after his defeat, he craves for new victories. +But though his shield has been tarnished in Russia, +though he would fain win fresh glories for himself and for +France, these are but the pretexts of destiny. In very truth, +he is stiff-necked, and will prove himself to be so at three +congresses during this year 1813. The reason is that all the +elements of his character are now rolling inexorably forwards; +the reason is that, “in accordance with the nature of things,” +he is advancing along a road on which he must march to the +bitter end.</p> + +<p>Forward! Since the war must be, the allies are arming +everywhere. England makes treaties with Sweden and Prussia; +to conciliate the latter, the tsar renounces his claims to +East Prussia; Prussia calls Germany to arms; Austria makes +a truce with Russia, tries to enter into an agreement with Saxony +and Bavaria and even King Jerome. Emperor Francis +withdraws his troops to Cracow, ostensibly to save them for the +coming campaign.</p> + +<p>“The first step towards desertion!” exclaims Napoleon, when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_431">[431]</span>this news comes to hand. He must now withdraw his own forces +from the Vistula to the Oder. In Vienna, he once more offers +Silesia. The offer is declined with thanks, for the Austrian +role is to be one of armed mediation. While the whole world is +thus preparing for the struggle, and when in the middle of +March the first signal is given in Paris by the Prussian declaration +of war, Talleyrand, in his open ambush, says with a smile: +“The hour has struck; the Emperor Napoleon must become +king of France.”</p> + +<p>A remarkable flash of insight, on the part of one who cannot +but hope that no step so sensible as this shall be taken—and +who must, none the less, at bottom, wish for it. Nevertheless +matters have gone too far; not the levying of troops alone, but +the preparations in the minds of men. Every one knows that +the last great combat is imminent, that nothing can avert it. +The only one who could have called a halt, and will not do so, +is driven onward in his own despite, and he is weary. There are +new signs of this growing weariness.</p> + +<p>First of all, there is the simplicity upon which he insists +in his environment. “I want my journeys to be very differently +arranged. I shall not take so many people with me; fewer +cooks and less table furniture; no meal to consist of more than +three courses.... I shall not take any pages with me; they +are of no use whatever; only two bedmakers instead of four; +two tents instead of four; and so on.” At the same time, he +orders plans for a small palace, “a comfortable place rather +than an imposing one (the two things are incompatible); ... +my room must open on the garden; ... or, preferably, I must +have a north room and a south room, according to the season; +all arranged as in a well-to-do country gentleman’s mansion.... +It is to be a holiday seat, or a dwelling for a man in his +declining years.”</p> + +<p>In 1805, when he was in the plenitude of his powers, he had +said: “The war need not take long. I am still good for six +years, but then it will be time to call a halt.” Now, when he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_432">[432]</span>takes the field once more, four months after his return from +Russia, his mien is quiet and careworn as he steps into his +travelling carriage in the courtyard at Saint-Cloud. He leans +back among the cushions, with his hand pressed to his forehead. +To Caulaincourt, his travelling companion, he acknowledges +his distress “at having so soon to leave my good Louise and +my lovely boy. I envy the poorest peasant in my dominions. +By the time he grows old, he has already paid his debt to his +country, and can stay at home with his wife and children. +I am the only person whom an inexplicable fate leads back ever +and again into the field.”</p> + +<p>No more pages, he is in his declining years, wants to stay +at home with wife and child—and this is only seven years after +the programme just quoted! Are these fourth-act moods, these +shadows that fall across his soul, merely the consequences of +the Russian catastrophe? Are they not, rather, the essential +causes of new defeats? The moods of a man growing prematurely +old, one whose work is often interfered with by illness, +one who is being increasingly mastered by the natural inclinations +of a family man well on in the forties. He wants to spend +at the domestic fireside the evening of a life which is not +equipped for seven or eight decades like that of his mother or his +brothers.</p> + +<p>He is himself in the frame of mind with which he had reproached +his marshals at Danzig less than a year ago, when +he had declared they would rather have an easy life of it in +their country seats than go campaigning with him. Is not such +a longing natural in a man who has been working himself to +death for twenty years, and who has chosen the bee for his +escutcheon?</p> + +<p>But those on whom the Parcæ bestow the ecstasies of youth, +must pay for it by the oncoming of age. He has had such +wonderful successes that he must not expect to garner also the +joys of content in achievement. He has conjured up the gods; +now they have come!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_433">[433]</span></p> + +<h3>X</h3> + +<p>At the first review in Mainz, there are only one hundred and +eighty thousand men instead of the three hundred thousand +he had hoped to assemble there. The army is very short of +cavalry; the equipment is inadequate, for it has been far too +hastily got together; the best guns have been lost in Russia, +or are tied up in Spain; the general staff has been decimated; +the ambulance service is defective. He sees all that is amiss, +but even this imperfect army reminds him of old times and old +happiness. He recalls the April days in Cannes and Nice, +seventeen years before, when he had taken over the command of +half-starved and ragged soldiers, that he might lead them +through the mountains to victory. With these memories surging +up in his mind, he gathers his energies, and utters the +darkly challenging words: “I shall conduct this war as General +Bonaparte.”</p> + +<p>Such is the signal, a mingling of impetus and self-restraint, +with which he launches himself into the first battle. At Lützen, +he exposes himself more than he has done for years. During +the first day’s fighting, he does not sleep at all; on the second +day, when everything is going well, he has his bearskin spread +on the ground in the middle of Marmont’s corps; and when, +an hour later, they wake him to let him know that all is going +on well, he leaps to his feet with the ironical remark: +“You see, the best things come to one while one is asleep.”</p> + +<p>But hardly has the general won this victory than the +emperor-politician resumes the ascendant. He sends letters in +all directions; forces the vacillating king of Saxony to a decision, +talks to the princes of the Confederation of the Rhine +about providence and the fortune of war, that he may keep +them up to the scratch; sends his ministers to the Russian +outposts; abruptly and informally offers the tsar Poland in +exchange for Prussia, and suggests other territorial rearrangements, +until Alexander weakens; and he writes to Emperor +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_434">[434]</span>Francis in terms of unusual self-commendation: “Although I +personally led all the movements of my army, and was several +times within range of grape-shot, I have not had even a graze.” +The words and the actions are those of one who feels weak, +and would fain appear strong. Henceforth the warnings of +fate thicken.</p> + +<p>True, he gains another victory at Bautzen, but does not take +any prisoners. On the second day of the battle, he is riding +under fire, accompanied by Caulaincourt and his friend Duroc—the +latter having for a decade been his inseparable companion +in the field. Men are being shot down in his immediate +neighbourhood. He gallops to an adjoining elevation; adjutants +follow him. Dust and smoke; a tree close at hand is +smashed to splinters. He thunders past. On the hillock, a +young officer comes up to him and stammers: “Marshal Duroc +has been killed.”</p> + +<p>“Impossible! He was at my side a moment ago!”</p> + +<p>“The cannon ball which struck the tree, brought down the +marshal as well.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor slowly rides back into camp. He says:</p> + +<p>“When will fate have a little discrimination? What will be +the end of it all? Caulaincourt, my eagles are again victorious, +but my star is setting.”</p> + +<p>Duroc has not been killed outright, but he is dying. Terrible +is the aspect of this shattered comrade. Greeting and farewell, +both men in tears. Duroc murmurs: “I told thee at Dresden +what would happen; the inner voice.... Give me some +opium.”</p> + +<p>This tone, the sudden use of “thee,” the last request of a +man who has no fear of death. The Emperor walks unsteadily +as he leaves the cottage.</p> + +<p>From a farmyard, he contemplates for a while the spot +where his friend had fallen, and then makes his way to the +place where the guard is encamped, with his own tent in the +middle. That evening, wearing his grey field-coat, he sits +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_435">[435]</span>gloomily on a campstool, apart from his suite; he listens to +the sounds of the camp, where the guardsmen are cooking supper +and calling to one another; in the distance, the men of +a yager corps are singing a song. Bivouac fires are glowing in +the half-darkness of the May night; two burning villages flame +like torches in the sky. An officer draws near, and hesitates to +give his report. Before the words are spoken, the Emperor +understands that Duroc is dead.</p> + +<p>Next day, he orders the purchase of land where a memorial +is to be erected, and he pens the inscription: “Here died, gloriously, +in the arms of his friend the Emperor, struck down on +the field of battle by a cannon ball, General Duroc, Grand +Marshal of the Emperor Napoleon.”</p> + +<p>General Bonaparte used to have no time for such feelings. +He concealed his heart-ache, and stormed onward, even when he +lost his wife’s love. Now it behoved him to push forward into +Silesia, to follow up the Russians into Poland, to take advantage +of the misgivings of the allies; and, by delivering blows +in rapid succession, to fetter the vacillating Austrian to his +side. In later years, he said frankly that his failure to do these +things had been the greatest mistake in his life. Once more, +the deliberations of the emperor are impeding the activities of +the general. His private letters from France are full of reports +concerning the clamour for peace. “What especially determined +my course of action was Austria’s preparation for war, +and the desire to gain time. This led me to interrupt the course +of my victories.” In Silesia, at the beginning of June, he +agrees to a six weeks’ truce, thus giving his adversaries time to +attain complete unity at the congresses of Reichenbach and +Prague.</p> + +<p>Is he deceived as to the frame of mind of the wavering +German princes? He knows them all. “The Saxons are just +as German as the others, and would gladly follow Prussia’s +example. The king is faithful to me, but I do not trust his +troops.... Austria’s impudence is indescribable. While +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_436">[436]</span>uttering honeyed words, she tries to snatch from me Dalmatia +and Istria.... There never was anything so false as the +court of Vienna. If, to-day, I were to grant Austria’s demands, +she would ask to-morrow for Italy and Germany.” +Now, when he sees that the Habsburg ruler is about to go over +to the enemy, he realises too late that his marriage has been a +mistake, for he has gained nothing by it, and has lost much. +His own patrician family feeling had made him believe that +there must be an imperial family feeling. The old tone of contempt +for hereditary monarchs is at length heard once more. +To his intimates, he again and again says frankly what he +thinks of the kings who are kings by birth:</p> + +<p>“Among those who are born to sit on the throne, the ties +of nature count for nothing. The interests of his daughter and +his grandson will not move Emperor Francis an inch from the +calculations of his cabinet. These men have no blood in their +veins, nothing but frozen politics! What pygmies they are, +the kings by the grace of God—and the grace of Napoleon! +My leniency has been my blunder. In Tilsit I could have +crushed them, but I was too generous. History should have +taught me that houses so degenerate deserve neither loyalty nor +faith! Now, England is filling their coffers with gold. But I +shall prove myself a better statesman than these born kings +who never leave their golden cages!”</p> + +<p>In this atmosphere of intrigue, when he has to rub shoulders +with princes who dare not fight either for him or against him, +traitors are his best confidants.</p> + +<p>The Emperor therefore summons Fouché, to whom he says: +“Your friends Bernadotte and Metternich are my worst +enemies. Your Bernadotte can do us an immense amount of +harm, for he is able to give my enemies the key to our policy, +and he can explain to them the tactics of our armies.... His +head has been turned because legitimate princes flatter him!” +There we have it once more, the word whose mystical power +explains half of Napoleon’s perpetual unrest. He can never +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_437">[437]</span>refrain from a tremor when he speaks of the legitimate rulers, +whom he regards with mingled contempt and envy. Whether +he is mimicking them, or whether he is railing at them, he, who +is an upstart, is always pondering this problem of birth.</p> + +<p>Instead of listening to the call of the nations, which soon +rises clear above the babble of the princes, he can only look +on with malicious delight at the manœuvres of the chessplayers +in the cabinets. He watches how England doles out subsidies to +Prussia; how Alexander and Francis hold converse about the +weakness of their ally, the king of Prussia; how Frederick William, +in his dread of revolution, disbands the enthusiastic +Landsturm, refuses to give high office to Scharnhorst the boldest +and to Stein the ablest of his advisers, dismisses and banishes +Schleiermacher for a speech voicing the popular sentiment. +The Emperor sends Fouché on a secret mission (in plain +words, as a spy) to the congress of Prague.</p> + +<p>In Spain, meanwhile, though Napoleon in the north has been +strengthening his position by two victories, Joseph has been +utterly crushed by Wellington at Vittoria. The king of Spain +has run away. When the princes learn in Prague that the +south of France now lies open to an English invasion, their +inclination to defiance is promptly strengthened. The Emperor, +who had left the best of his generals to fight for Joseph +in Spain, is beside himself with wrath. “He alone is to blame!” +writes Napoleon to Paris. “The English reports show how +utterly stupid was his command. Never was anything so absurd! +Of course he is no soldier, but he is responsible.... +Make the king understand that he is not to see any one till +I come back.... Otherwise his house in Paris will become a +centre of intrigue, and I shall have to put him under arrest, for +my patience is at an end. I will no longer have my affairs +imperilled out of consideration for idiots who are neither soldiers +nor statesmen!”</p> + +<p>His eldest brother is his closest intimate in the family,—and +now the Emperor thinks that Joseph in a private house in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_438">[438]</span>Paris is more to be dreaded even than as king in Madrid! Will +Napoleon at length learn his lesson, and, after this outburst, +leave Joseph at peace? Hardly! For even little Jerome has +an army once more, and is again making a mess of things; he +gives one of the generals new marching orders, with the remark +that he is acting on instructions from the Emperor. The +latter hears of it too late. “I will not tell you in plain terms +what I think of your conduct; enough that I will not tolerate it +any longer! If you again make false representations of the +kind, I shall publish an order of the day to the effect that in +future no attention is to be paid to anything you say.... By +such behaviour you may disturb the march of my whole army. +It is sheer cheating!”</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards Junot, one of the oldest of his comrades, +becomes affected with megalomania; he loses a battle in Illyria, +and then, in a fit of frenzy, throws himself out of a window. +Bourrienne, who had for a time been cashiered on account of +peculation, and had then been appointed chargé d’affaires in +Hamburg, had, after all, to be dismissed once more for the old +offence. “If he dares to interfere in public business, I will have +him arrested, and make him disgorge his ill-gotten gains!” +Bernadotte, the most faithless, has actually landed in Pomerania +with his Swedes, has advised the allies to stand firm, and +will deceive them as he has deceived others. To crown all, a +sworn enemy of the Emperor is now to join the opposing combination. +General Moreau, who had been exiled to America for +his share in Cadoudal’s conspiracy, is on his way to join the +foes of France, and will share with Bernadotte the distinction +of fighting against his native land.</p> + +<p>In this situation, on the horns of a dilemma, too cautious to +turn his victories to account, and too powerful to accept the +terms on which alone he would be able to make peace, the Emperor +has recourse to his whilom methods. He invites Metternich +to Dresden, and tries to win over the Austrian diplomat by +suggestion. The interview is typically Napoleonic, lasting nine +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_439">[439]</span>hours without a break. The Emperor gains nothing by it, but +posterity gains a great deal.</p> + +<p>Standing in the middle of the room, his sword buckled on +and his hat under his arm, the Emperor receives the minister. +After making formal enquiries about his father-in-law’s health, +he forthwith assumes the offensive: “So you, too, want war. +Well, you shall have it. I have crushed the Prussians at Lützen, +and have beaten the Russians at Bautzen. You are waiting +for your turn? Be it so, we shall meet again in Vienna. +Men are incorrigible! Three times I have replaced Emperor +Francis on his throne; I have promised always to live at peace +with him; I have married his daughter. Even at that time I +thought: ‘You are making a fool of yourself.’ Still, I did it; +and now I regret it!”</p> + +<p>We see that he is not disposed to be civil; that to his father-in-law’s +envoy, on whom he wishes to make a good impression, +he is blunter than he had been to Francis on the day after +Austerlitz. Metternich speaks of world peace, which will only +be possible if the Emperor is willing to accept a reasonable +curtailment of his dominions. It will be necessary to give back +Warsaw to the tsar and Illyria to the emperor of Austria, to +set the Hansa towns free, to enlarge Prussia.</p> + +<p>“What you are asking is that I shall dishonour myself. I +will die rather than cede a hand’s breadth of soil. Your born +kings can accept defeat twenty times over, and still go back to +their palaces. I am the child of fortune, and I cannot do +this! My power will not outlast the day on which I cease to +be strong, on which I cease to be feared.... Through the +cold of Russia I lost everything except honour.... Now I +have a new army; you shall see it; I will hold a review for your +benefit!” Here we have once more the pride of the born soldier +facing those who are born kings; here we have General +Bonaparte. When the minister ventures to declare that this +army of which Napoleon speaks would be glad if peace were +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_440">[440]</span>made, the Emperor cuts Metternich short with one of his +amazing outbursts of frankness:</p> + +<p>“It is not the army that wants peace! My generals want +it! Really, I have no generals left. The cold of Moscow has +demoralised them all. There, the bravest among them cried +like children. A fortnight ago, I could still make peace; now, +after two victories, I can no longer do so.”</p> + +<p>“Europe and you, Sire, will never come to terms. When +you have made peace, it has been nothing more than a truce. +To you, success and failure are equally strong motives for +war. This time the whole of Europe will fight against you.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor laughs savagely:</p> + +<p>“Do you think to destroy me by a coalition? How many of +you are there, then, Messieurs les Alliés? Four, five, six, +twenty? The more, the merrier!” He goes on to warn Metternich +against counting on Germany, whose peoples he is holding +together by the presence of his soldiers and whose princes are +held together by their dread of Austria. He advises armed +neutrality, so long as the negotiations are going on in Prague, +whereas Metternich talks of armed mediation. These finesses +of the old diplomacy are to mask the gulf between them. Then, +for a whole hour, they dispute about the relative strength of +the opposing armies, each claiming the possession of exact information +about the other side.</p> + +<p>“I have detailed and accurate lists of your forces,” says the +Emperor. “I have had so many spies at work, that I know to a +unit even how many drummers you have. But no one knows +better than myself how much or how little value to attach to +these secret service reports. My calculations are based on +more exact data, upon mathematical inferences. In the last +resort, no one has more than he can have.” The Emperor shows +the Austrian envoy the muster rolls of the Austrian army, +which till yesterday had been part of the French alliance. +Metternich can see for himself whether the figures are accurate. +The Emperor then spends hours upon a description of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_441">[441]</span>Russian campaign. When the minister remarks that the imperial +troops are composed of striplings, and asks what Napoleon +will do when these children, like those who have gone before +them, have been swallowed up by the war, the Emperor is +overcome with wrath. He turns pale, his features are distorted, +and he shouts at Metternich:</p> + +<p>“You are not a soldier. You do not know what passes in a +soldier’s mind. I grew to manhood on the battle-field. Such +a man as I does not care a snap of the fingers for the lives of a +million men!” He flings his hat into a corner of the room. +Now, there is nothing assumed about his anger, and what he has +just said is the revelation of an innermost truth. The man who +turns pale at the sight of a dying horse, who cannot bear to see +a human being pass away, remains and must remain impassive +when, in his army lists, he adds up the figures, shifts the hundreds +of thousands from column to column, and erases the +myriads of slain. Is not war made with human lives, and does +it not end with corpses? What is the use of reproaching a +craftsman for using the tools of his trade? But as far as +morals are concerned, the minister has the best of the argument, +and he would have been glad if all France could have +heard Napoleon’s words.</p> + +<p>“France has no reason to complain,” says the Emperor more +calmly. “To spare France, I have sacrificed Germans and +Poles. In Russia I lost three hundred thousand men, but only +a tenth of them were Frenchmen!” Meanwhile, he has picked +up his hat for himself, a thing he has certainly not done for +the last ten years; he has acted sensibly, as if he had still been +General Bonaparte. Then he plants himself in front of the +Austrian and says:</p> + +<p>“It was exceedingly stupid of me to marry an archduchess. +I was trying to weld the new with the old, to make Gothic prejudices +square with the institutions of my own century. Now +I can see the whole extent of my error! The blunder may cost +me my throne, but I will bury the world beneath its ruins!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_442">[442]</span></p> + +<p>This tragical admission is the climax of the interview, and +the turning-point of the problem of war or peace. The rancour +engendered in him by his own mistake spurs him on, regardless +of prudential considerations, into the fight with a coalition +whose forces outnumber his by three to one. Like a great +gambler who realises that he has made an irretrievable blunder, +he is impelled by the stubbornness characteristic of such natures +as his to stake all upon a single throw. He will show that, +blunder notwithstanding, he can still win.</p> + +<p>By the time he dismisses Metternich, he has fully recovered +composure. His hand on the door-handle, he says: “We shall +see one another again before you leave?”</p> + +<p>“I am at Your Majesty’s service. But I have no longer any +hope of succeeding in my mission.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor looks at him quizzically, and taps him gently +on the shoulder: “Do you know what will happen? You will +not make war on me!”</p> + +<p>After three days’ negotiation, Metternich wishes to depart, +but the Emperor is afraid of the final rupture. Napoleon summons +the Austrian envoy several times, and then invites him to +an early interview in the garden. The two men walk up and +down.</p> + +<p>“Now then, you must not assume this injured air!” In ten +minutes they arrange for a prolongation of the truce, and talk +about further conversations in Prague. Everything is left +hanging in the wind; and in the memorandum he signs with +Metternich, the Emperor recognises his father-in-law’s position +of armed neutrality, which can only be a stage on the way +to war. Then he drives off to Mainz, that he may see once more +the wife who is daughter of that same Austrian ruler. He has +appointed her regent in Paris again, but has expressly forbidden +his ministers to submit certain kinds of documents for +her consideration. “There are details with which a young +woman’s mind must not be besmirched.”</p> + +<p>Had the Habsburg archduchess been a staunch wife and an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_443">[443]</span>affectionate daughter, she would have journeyed on to Vienna, +and would have brought about a reconciliation which there was +really nothing to prevent except the two men’s wounded pride. +She had a passably good understanding. Only a few weeks +before, the Emperor, writing to Francis, had said: “She fills the +post of prime minister to my great satisfaction.” We cannot +for a moment suppose that now, at the height of the crisis, he +can have failed to let her know all the hazards of the hour, +were it only to ensure that in the event of a breach her feelings +would be on his side. But the little goose made no move. Her +only concern was to send costly gifts which would make an impression +on her relatives.</p> + +<p>In Prague, each party keeps the other in suspense; Fouché +does his master harm by gossiping with all and sundry; Bernadotte +cements his alliance with his new friends. When, at +the last moment, it seems possible that the Emperor may give +way, Alexander and Frederick William are so much alarmed at +the prospect that they compel Metternich to make the terms +more exacting, for they realise that so favourable an opportunity +is not likely to recur. The Emperor now angrily draws +back, and on the day after the expiry of the truce he receives +his father-in-law’s declaration of war. No doubt, in the interval, +he has secured reinforcements; but he can no longer +trust the Confederation of the Rhine, and has to keep watch +upon his German auxiliaries. He stands to arms in Saxony and +Silesia, faced by Schwarzenberg in command of three armies, +two of them, respectively led by Blücher and Bernadotte, holding +Silesia and the north. With Schwarzenberg is Moreau, who +has just arrived, and who, on his last visit to Germany, had +been the conqueror of that country.</p> + +<p>Thus paradoxical is the marshalling forces in the game of +chess. Under the Emperor of the French, are fighting three +German kings against a German general, who a little while +back had been the Emperor’s subordinate in the war against +Russia. Against Napoleon, are fighting two French generals. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_444">[444]</span>One of them is leading Prussian troops against the man who +had for years pushed him to the front; nor is this general really +a royalist, for he, too, is a son of the revolution. Blücher is +the only true-hearted foe, for Blücher, whom Napoleon defeated +seven years earlier, has never fought on the Emperor’s side, +and has never espoused his cause. The one element in Napoleon’s +favour is that three monarchs have their fingers in +Schwarzenberg’s pie, three commanders who know as little about +the trade of war as Brother Joseph did in Spain.</p> + +<p>At the end of August, the Emperor opens the second Saxon +campaign with a great victory near Dresden. But on the third +day, when he might have followed up the allies and scattered +them, he is seized by a violent attack of gastric spasm. For a +whole hour he fancies he has been poisoned; his will is paralysed, +and he withdraws instead of pursuing. Thereby he loses +an army corps, and thus (according to the report of Daru, +his daily companion) “causes the disaster of 1813.” In this +first battle against the hated Bonaparte, Moreau falls. Is it an +omen? When the Emperor hears the news, the rivalry of his +youth flames up anew, and from his very soul he cries: “Moreau +is dead! My star!”</p> + +<p>His other army has been defeated by Blücher on the Katzbach. +Once more, considerations of statesmanship outweigh +those of generalship. How can I divide my adversaries? It +will be better to spare Bohemia for the sake of Austria, for the +defeat has aroused alarm there. He will make a surprise march +on Berlin, and will thus lure the Prussians out of Silesia.</p> + +<p>But what the tsar had said years ago is still true.... +Miracles only happen when the Emperor is present, and he +cannot be everywhere. He is thus hampered in his great enterprise. +Lack of fighting spirit, difficulties of food-supply, and +the frequency of desertion, are continually making it necessary +for him to visit his flanking armies: so that in popular parlance, +in consequence of his rushings to and fro, he is nicknamed the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_445">[445]</span>“Bautzen Messenger.” His armies suffer more and more from +lack of food. They are so thickly set upon the ground that +they have long since eaten the country bare.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, he has not nearly enough soldiers. Since the +1814 levies are already with the colours, he orders the Senate to +call up also those of 1815, and even the men whose liability to +service has nearly expired on account of advancing years—the +very peasants whom, when setting forth on this campaign in a +mood of self-pity, he had envied for their fortunate position. +But when will the reinforcements arrive? Who will train them, +and how long will it take? Vainly now, at the end of September, +he sends an envoy to his father-in-law, to talk of peace; he is +prepared to make great sacrifices, “if only you will listen.” +But Francis remains firm, and is at length able to detach an +important member of the Confederation of the Rhine: the king +of Bavaria falls away. Thereupon the anxious chessplayer, +round whom the clouds are gathering, says to his old comrade +something which he has never before been willing to admit:</p> + +<p>“Marmont, my game is going awry.”</p> + +<p>With this admission, the Emperor’s genius spreads its wings +and flies away.</p> + +<h3>XI</h3> + +<p>On Düben Heath is a Saxon fortress, Düben Castle. There, +one morning, the Emperor is at work, planning the march on +Berlin, the defeat of Bernadotte and Blücher, smashing blows +which will finish off the enemy.</p> + +<p>Then a number of generals are announced. He comes out +of his study to meet them, knowing what they want, for his +intimates have kept him informed of the growing discontent +among the leaders, who wish to winter quietly on the Rhine. +Marshal Ney has recently reported: “I am no longer master +of my army.” One of the visitors begins to speak hesitatingly; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_446">[446]</span>a second puts forward dubious reasons; then, nodding to encourage +one another, they all obsequiously beg him not to march +on Berlin. Leipzig will be a better point of attack.</p> + +<p>The Emperor listens to them in silence as he wonders: “Is +my power vanishing?” At length he replies: “The secession of +Bavaria is imminent. A movement on Leipzig, a backward +movement, will arouse despair among the soldiers. But I will +think over what you have said.” He spends the rest of the day +alone, refusing himself to all visitors, brooding over his maps. +Caulaincourt, on duty outside, listens for sounds from within, +but can only hear the windows rattling in the October gale +which is howling round the castle. At length he is allowed to +enter. The Emperor walks up and down, and, speaking rather +to himself than to Caulaincourt, he says: “The French cannot +endure reverses.” Then he sinks into a reverie.</p> + +<p>Next day he announces that they will go to Leipzig. It is +October 15th: general animation; orders are issued; every one +is delighted. Discussing with Marmont the latest steps of the +Habsburg ruler, Napoleon says in conclusion: “I prefer a man +of honour who simply keeps his word, to a conscientious man +who does what he thinks right.... Emperor Francis has done +what he believes to be the best for his subjects; he is conscientious, +but he is not a man of honour.”</p> + +<p>Next day begins the great “Battle of the Nations.” The +Emperor has only one hundred and eighty thousand men against +three hundred thousand of the allies; by the evening he has +won only part of the battle-field. On the second morning +Bernadotte arrives with reinforcements. The Emperor sees +that things are going badly, and would like to withdraw, but +he cannot make up his mind to a step that would give the +impression of defeat. Once more he tries negotiation. General +Merveldt has been taken prisoner; his sword is restored on +parole; he is to go to Emperor Francis with proposals for an +armistice.</p> + +<p>“I will retire behind the Saale, while the Russians and the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_447">[447]</span>Prussians withdraw beyond the Elbe, and you Austrians go +back into Bohemia; Saxony must remain neutral.” Then, livening +up, he develops to this enemy general nothing less than a +new plan for Europe. Hanover is to be returned to England; +the Baltic coast is to be freed; any of the princes of the Confederation +of the Rhine who wish to do so can leave the Confederation; +Poland, Spain, and Holland are to be independent; +the only reservation is as regards Italy, which must not become +Austrian. “Be off with you! You have a splendid peace mission. +Should fortune favour it, you will earn the love of a +great nation. But if your side refuse peace, we shall know +how to defend ourselves.”</p> + +<p>General Merveldt departs in amazement, and his report seems +incredible to his master. What! The Emperor Napoleon, in +the course of war, between battles, is willing to renounce half +Europe and chooses a prisoner to bring this offer? We did +not know he was so weak.</p> + +<p>The Emperor is anxiously awaiting his emissary’s return. +Till far on into the night, therefore, he refrains from issuing +orders for the morrow; he speaks of the ties of kinship, and +of his wife and child. Suddenly he is attacked by his gastric +trouble, and staggers against the wall of the tent, his face pale. +They wish to send for his physician. “No! my tent is transparent. +If I am up and about, every one is at his post.”</p> + +<p>“At least lie down, Sire!”</p> + +<p>“No, I will die standing.”</p> + +<p>“Do let me fetch the doctor, Sire.”</p> + +<p>“No, I tell you! I can send a sick soldier to hospital. But +who can send me?” Terrible moments pass. “I’m getting +better now. See to it that no one comes into the tent!”</p> + +<p>Half an hour later, he issues orders, but not for a retreat. +Instead, the army moves a little nearer to Leipzig. The enemy +now outnumbers him by two to one.</p> + +<p>When day comes, he takes up his headquarters in a windmill. +The attack upon the French starts from three sides. It +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_448">[448]</span>appears that, at the last moment, Bernadotte has persuaded +the Saxons to turn their guns against France. “Infamous!” exclaims +the Emperor, and all around echo the word. Saxon +officers who remain faithful to him, break their swords. A +dragoon belonging to the escort wheels his horse, and shouts: +“We’ll do for them yet, the scoundrels! We Frenchmen, too, +are here! Vive l’Empereur!” The whole escort follows him +at the charge. Soon a young officer, who has seized one of the +Saxon eagles, gallops back with it to the Emperor, and collapses +from his wounds as he arrives. “These sons of France!” +says Napoleon softly.</p> + +<p>On the second day of battle, he loses sixty thousand men. +He is beaten, but even the German critics say of the affair: +“The allies did not secure an overwhelming victory, such as +might have been expected from the enormous preponderance of +their forces.”</p> + +<p>During the hasty retreat of the defeated army through the +town of Leipzig, the Emperor dictates orders for the withdrawal. +“They had brought him a wooden stool,” writes an +eyewitness. “On this, he now fell into a slumber of exhaustion, +his hands loosely folded in his lap. In gloomy silence the generals +were standing round the fire, while the soldiers were +marching past a little way off.”</p> + +<p>Next morning the pursuing enemy spread disorder in the +streets; a bridge was blown up prematurely, so that the rear +guard was forced to surrender; one of the marshals escaped by +swimming across the river, another was drowned, several were +wounded and taken prisoner. When, subsequently Macdonald +came across Augereau, for whose corps he had been waiting, +Augereau laughed him to scorn: “Do you think me such a +fool as to let myself be slaughtered in a Leipzig suburb? I +won’t do that for a madman’s sake!”</p> + +<p>Here we have it for the first time, a sign that one of Napoleon’s +oldest companions-in-arms has become completely indifferent +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_449">[449]</span>to the Emperor’s fame; is animated by the mere will-to-live, +reasonable enough in a private soldier, but unworthy +of a marshal of France. On the very same day, another friend +of Bonaparte’s youth writes to the Emperor, complaining that +in the report of the previous day’s fighting his services have +been overlooked, although for ten hours he had held a part of +the plain for whose defence another man is now given the credit. +“Never in my life have I served you more faithfully than I did +on this occasion.... Sire, I could not suffer anything worse +than to be forgotten at such a time.” The letter is signed, +“Marmont.”</p> + +<p>These two utterances on the day after Leipzig are the +shadows of coming events. Marmont and Augereau will both +desert the Emperor in the decisive hour.</p> + +<p>Fifty miles away, Goethe is sitting in his room at Weimar. +Napoleon’s picture has fallen from its nail. The poet has +heard the sound of the Leipzig guns. The first news of the +French defeat has arrived. Though none of the allied generals +can say, yet, whether the Emperor may not be able to collect +his forces once more, and to resume his career of victory, +Goethe, who only a few months earlier had declared Napoleon +to be invincible, already realises the full extent of the disaster. +On the day of the retreat, as if everything had happened a +hundred years before, and the whole matter had become legendary, +he writes the following verses:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">He who feels courage in his royal breast</div> + <div class="verse indent0">knows no shudderings, treads gladly</div> + <div class="verse indent0">the undermined road leading to the steps of the throne,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">knows the danger and nevertheless mounts confidently.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The golden circlet’s tremendous burden,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">he does not try its weight; resolute and calm,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">he presses it gladly on his bold brow,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">and bears it lightly, as if it were a laurel crown.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thus didst thou. What seemed so far away,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">thou hast tranquilly learned to make thine own;</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_450">[450]</span> <div class="verse indent0">and whatever fierce obstacles might block the path,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">thou sawest them, contemplated them, and understood them.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A joyful day dawned, it summoned thee,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">thou wast summoned, and thus it came to pass....</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And thou still standest despite all that has happened to thee,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">despite the foe, who, with war and death</div> + <div class="verse indent0">threatens thee from without and from within....</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The peoples are agape, they chatter, they are full of vain imaginings—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">What do they care for, but games?...</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The false world, it wooes us for our treasure,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">for our favour, for our position,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">and, even if one makes one’s lover one’s equal,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">love does not suffice him, he wants the whole kingdom.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">So was it with this man!—And now, declare it abroad,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">even if it cost you your life:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To every man, be he whom he may,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">there comes a last happiness and a last day.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>At the same date, Schelling writes: “I do not believe that +Napoleon’s end is yet very near. If I am right, he will still be +spared; and, even if all his helpers fall away from him, he will +still live to drink the cup of humiliation to the dregs.” When, +almost immediately afterwards, the Bavarians definitively +changed sides, Hegel wrote: “In Nuremberg, the mob has welcomed +the incoming Austrians with the most hateful jubilation.... +Nothing more contemptible can be imagined than +the mood and the conduct of the burghers.”</p> + +<p>Three outstanding Germans, immediately after Leipzig!</p> + +<p>Certainly, it is far from being a final defeat. Fighting, and +fighting victoriously, the Emperor withdraws. In Erfurt, +Murat presents himself, wishing to go back to his kingdom. +The master allows him to do so, saying: “By next May, I shall +have an army of a quarter of a million on the Rhine!” Thus +does his intelligence work; such is the quality of his imagination; +he can still think only in hundreds of thousands. In +Mainz, his troops are attacked by typhus, and he hastens to +move what is left of them across the Rhine. During the retreat, +he works from three in the morning till eleven at night.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the advancing allied headquarters are thronged +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_451">[451]</span>by the princes who are deserting the cause of Napoleon. All is +promptly forgotten and forgiven. But there is one honest man +left who finds strong words to describe what is happening: +“What do you think of these wretches’ behaviour?... They +have had better treatment than they deserve.... All these +princelets are weaklings, to whom a far more honourable existence +has been conceded than their pitiful conduct would seem +to justify.... The retention of their sovereignty, which consists +in pretentiousness, pleasure seeking, and the lust for dominion, +has cost them nothing more than the blood of their +subjects.”</p> + +<p>Such is Baron vom Stein’s judgment concerning his peers, +the German princes.</p> + +<h3>XII</h3> + +<p>Letizia is sitting by the fire. In her hand is a letter from +Mainz, in which her son answers her intercession for Louis by +imposing certain conditions. But this is not what troubles her; +she is thinking of the Emperor’s parenthetical allusion to the +turn in his fortunes. He writes: “In this situation, when all +Europe is rising against me, and my heart is so full of +care....” She has never warned him of the impending dangers; +they are both of them too proud for that. But she has +often uttered her foreboding to intimates, with her phrase +“Pourvou que cela doure!” She has never been disturbed by +the thought of any disaster to herself. She thinks only of her +dear ones. Who will help them when everything falls to pieces? +To whom, she is now asking herself, can the Emperor look for +support?</p> + +<p>When he returns, she has to endure the recognition that the +treachery begins among her own children. Murat, who is always +led by a keener intelligence than his own (that of Caroline), +signs a truce with England and enters into an alliance +with Austria. Elise has an adviser, Fouché, who keeps away +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_452">[452]</span>from Paris until the Emperor’s fall. “The only thing that +could save us all would be the Emperor’s death.” Such are the +ex-minister’s words to the Emperor’s sister. But Elise writes +to her mother asking what dances are to be given that winter +in Paris. Louis defies orders, and, being unable to stay in +Austria any longer, comes to Paris without leave. Napoleon +proposes to banish him to a distance of two hundred miles from +Paris. The mother intercedes between the pair; there is a further +interview, as a result of which Napoleon and Louis are +once more estranged. Jerome has left his subjects in the lurch, +and has fled incognito from Cassel. Joseph, despite the Emperor’s +reiterated requests, persists in his refusal to undertake +the defence of Paris. Lucien keeps his distance, still in a bad +humour.</p> + +<p>Such is the gallery of brothers and sisters, the relatives upon +whom for a decade the Emperor has been trying to build up his +dynasty. What can be the feelings of a mother who has always +cherished the most tender affection for that one of her children +who happened to be suffering most keenly?</p> + +<p>But in Morfontaine a cheerful mood prevails. The company +there consists of Joseph, the Spanish king without a country; +Jerome’s wife, a queen in like situation, whose father has gone +over to the allies; the sometime grand inquisitor of Spain says +Mass in the chapel; there are two colonial bishops; German, +Spanish, and Italian courtiers without a court—a brilliant +company, like the audience at private theatricals, watching +actors who will soon come down from the stage to take their +place on the floor of the drawing-room. Only one of them hopes +to draw a big fish out of the troubled waters, Bernadotte’s wife, +Joseph’s sister-in-law, the woman to whom twenty years before +the Emperor had given the go-by. She knows that her husband, +commander of one of the allied armies, is already on the Rhine; +she hopes that ere long, in Notre Dame, he will place Josephine’s +crown on her pretty brown head.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="illus15" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus15.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Napoleon as Emperor in 1809. Woodcut from a medal by + J. P. Droz.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_453">[453]</span></p> + +<p>At this country-seat, more intrigues are carried on against +Napoleon than Joseph is aware of; for Joseph is not himself +an intriguer; he is merely easy-going and vain. The Emperor +recognises this, now that it is too late, and says to Roederer:</p> + +<p>“That has been one of my mistakes. I fancied I needed my +brothers for the dynasty, but it is safe without them. It has +been brought into being in the heart of the storm by the nature +of things. The empress suffices.... Everything has been +quiet for a year past. There is only disquiet when Joseph lives +in Paris.... He cannot forget that he is the first-born. Was +there ever anything more absurd? If he were talking of our +father’s vineyard, that would be another story!... His interests +are in women, houses, furniture. He likes to go out +rabbit shooting, and to play blind man’s buff with the girls. +I am tied to nothing; care not a jot for houses or for women; +though I do feel a little concern about my son.”</p> + +<p>Thus does his monomania make headway in these weeks of +increasing peril. We see that all the rest, court included, has +been nothing more than a game. He cares not a jot for anything +outside the one passion of his soul—except that he is a +little concerned about his son.</p> + +<p>He now quickly makes up his mind to restore the Spanish +crown to King Ferdinand, who is set at liberty; but the Cortes +must approve the treaty. This is Talleyrand’s advice, for +Talleyrand has now been recalled to the Tuileries. Insistence +on ratification by the Cortes will delay matters. The traitor’s +aim is to keep a French army in the south, so that France may +be weakened for the benefit of the allies, for whose cause Talleyrand +is now working. Joseph protests.</p> + +<p>“My present situation makes it impossible for me to think of +any sort of foreign dominion,” writes the Emperor to his +brother. “I shall deem myself lucky if the peace treaty will +allow me to keep the old boundaries of France. Everything is +crashing round me. My armies have been destroyed, and it +will hardly be possible to make the losses good. Holland is +gone, and Italy is uncertain.... Belgium and the Rhine +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_454">[454]</span>province are discontented; the Spanish frontier is held by the +enemy.... How is it possible, at this crisis, to think of a +foreign throne?” When the prefect of police advises him to +leave a larger body of National Guards in Paris, during the +campaign that is now imminent, he rejoins: “Who can guarantee +that they will be faithful to me? Am I to leave so large a +force in my rear?”</p> + +<p>He is in despair. Surely there is no other word for the description +of these thoughts? His family, his allies, his own +capital, all seem untrustworthy to him. Thus completely has +his mood changed since the battle of Leipzig. Count Lavalette, +Postmaster General, one of the most honest men in Paris, who +often came to see him at this time, found him one evening in a +condition of great depression. Napoleon received Lavalette in +his bedroom, standing in front of the fire, his hands stretched +out towards the blaze. The visitor, though a stout-hearted +fellow, advises peace, saying that the French are mutable. But +when he ventures to mention the name of the Bourbons, on whom +perhaps the Emperor’s mantle may fall, Napoleon turns away +from the fire and silently throws himself on the bed. When, a +few minutes later, the count draws near, he finds that Napoleon +is sleeping.</p> + +<p>These healthy reactions are a sign of returning courage. +Napoleon’s overthrow is close at hand; he foresees the catastrophe; +but when people talk to him about the Bourbons, to +whose throne he has mounted and who may dispossess him in +turn, he cannot be bothered with the topic. It bores him, and +he goes to sleep.</p> + +<p>Awakening reinvigorated, he recognises that the Bourbon +sympathies of the northern provinces are a danger; he notes +that the funds have fallen to fifty, and that the shares of the +Bank of France have declined to half their former value; and +he finds that the new National Guard, which after all he is +obliged to call up, fails to materialise. He therefore gladly accedes +to a proposal that issues from the allies in Frankfort. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_455">[455]</span>They are as disunited as he can possibly wish. Metternich, being +a statesman, thinks it will be better not to occupy Paris. +The tsar, being a romanticist, wants to take vengeance for +Moscow by blowing up the Tuileries. In the end, Austria gets +her way. The offer to France is that the country is to retain +her natural frontiers; the Rhine, the Alps, the Pyrenees. The +Emperor feels that he is saved. Without a moment’s delay he +will accept the Frankfort proposal. Maret has actually +drafted the dispatch.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he changes his mind. Why? Perhaps he has been +put out of temper by the opposition voiced in the Chambers. +There, at length, the members are showing themselves refractory. +“We will not vote further armaments unless the government +agrees that they are to be used only for defence. The +Emperor must pledge himself to carry out all the laws that +protect liberty.” Thunders of applause greet these words. +For the first time in fifteen years, an assembly has ventured to +criticise Napoleon. In his hatred for all Chambers, the Emperor +flies into a passion, forbids the printing of the speech, +closes the House, receives a few of the deputies, scolds them:</p> + +<p>“The throne is nothing more than a piece of wood covered +with satin. I, and I alone, represent the people. I am the +State. If France wants a different constitution, let her find +another monarch for herself. Do you think my words proud? +I utter them because I have the courage, and because France +owes her greatness to me.” After this language in the vein of +the Roi Soleil, on New Year’s Day he openly threatens the +deputies, and says he will have them closely watched.</p> + +<p>That very day, Blücher crosses the Rhine.</p> + +<p>Thus, after twenty years of effort, and after six great wars, +the more or less united powers of Europe and the old monarchical +idea, incorporated in a Prussian field marshal, have +made their way back across the boundary river of the revolution—and +in the same hour, the heir of these modern ideas +scatters their representatives and threatens imprisonment. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_456">[456]</span>With a similar logic, the manifestoes of the conflicting worlds +have changed places. In Notre Dame, where for twenty years +nothing has been heard but thanksgiving services, prayers are +now offered up on behalf of the success of French arms. From +the allies, on the other hand, who have so long heard talk of +success of the French arms as heralding the liberation of conquered +peoples, come assurances to conquered France that the +invaders are “liberators.”</p> + +<p>The legitimists have at length learned from their great foe +the technique of his battles and his proclamations. But if they +are able to turn the lesson to good account, it is only because +of their preponderance of power, and because of the weariness +of a nation, which, after twenty years of glory, now seeks +nothing but repose.</p> + +<p>To begin with, they weaken their position by asking too +much; for when they offer nothing better than the old frontiers +of 1792, the Emperor breaks off negotiations, and makes ready +to repel their onslaught. In spite of all difficulties, he is able +to strengthen his fighting front. His spirits are now steadily +rising. When a pious count advises him to send the empress +and her ladies to kiss the relics of Ste. Geneviève, Napoleon +bursts out laughing, and says: “You’re a pretty bigot! I am +going to fight it out!”</p> + +<p>But to whom, in this stern moment, does he entrust the +capital? Who merits all his confidence?</p> + +<p>Joseph! Joseph, who understands nothing about war and +has been keeping open house for the Emperor’s enemies, becomes +lieutenant general of France and governor of Paris! +This domestic peace treaty throws a glaring light upon the +Emperor’s isolation, upon his lack of confidence in his supporters, +and upon his family feeling. Shortly before leaving +for the front, Napoleon has coldly ordered his brother to choose +between openly declaring himself to be the friend of the empress-regent +or continuing to be banished from Paris. “You +can live in retirement at your country-seat, so long as I am +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_457">[457]</span>alive. If I die, you will be killed or imprisoned. At Morfontaine, +you will certainly be of no use either to your own +people or to France, but at any rate you will not do me any +harm. Make your choice. Feelings, whether friendly or hostile, +are useless and out of place.”</p> + +<p>The tone is that of a man fighting to save his crown. He +reckons with the likelihood of death; burns a great many State +papers; and provides for his natural sons. Little Léon is to +receive a fixed income, Walewska’s boy is to have a big majorat. +As for his legitimate heir, who is now nearly three years old, +Napoleon has the child in his arms when he takes leave of the +officers of the National Guard. “I entrust to you the dearest +of my possessions. You are answerable!” Once more he urges +tenacity on his brother; once more he leaves his wife regent of +their son’s realm. Next morning he quits Paris.</p> + +<p>He will not re-enter the city for more than a year, after +devious wanderings.</p> + +<h3>XIII</h3> + +<p>In a few weeks he is beaten.</p> + +<p>His first strokes are successful. Near Brienne, where he +forces Blücher to retreat, and where he himself takes so active +a part in the fight that he is obliged to draw his sword in self-defence, +he recognises the tree under which “as a twelve-year-old +youngster I used to sit and read Tasso.” A romantic encounter +which links his later life with those early days when his +dreams were first dreamed! His historical feeling concerning +himself grows in such circumstances to legendary proportions.</p> + +<p>Immediately thereafter, Blücher gains a victory over him +near La Rothière. Paris is threatened. The Emperor’s +strength seems broken. Caulaincourt, in a letter, begs him to +yield; Maret does the same by word of mouth. Napoleon pays +little heed to what Maret is saying; absently, he flutters the +pages of a book by Montesquieu. Then, pointing to a passage, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_458">[458]</span>he bids Maret read aloud. “I know of nothing nobler than the +determination of a monarch of our day to prefer to bury himself +beneath the ruins of a throne rather than accept proposals +to which no king should ever hearken.”</p> + +<p>“I know of something nobler still!” exclaims Maret. “That +you should sacrifice your glory and thereby fill the abyss +wherein, otherwise, France will find her grave!”</p> + +<p>“Very well,” answers the Emperor. “Make peace. Caulaincourt +can conclude it, and sign the documents. I shall bear +the shame. But do not claim from me that I myself should +dictate my own abasement!” Maret writes to Caulaincourt in +Châtillon, where he is negotiating anew with the enemy. +Caulaincourt demands confirmation. Meanwhile the Emperor +has veered about. He writes to Joseph: “Hold the gates bravely. +Have two guns mounted and see that the National Guard takes +up its position there.... Place fifty men at each gate armed +with service muskets, one hundred with fowling pieces, and one +hundred with pikes. Thus, each gate will be guarded by two +hundred and fifty men.”</p> + +<p>Crœsus has become a beggar! Only six months ago, nay, +even three months back, Napoleon would have added three +noughts to the figures! But now, encircled by the conglomerated +forces of so many princes, two cannon and a hundred +fowling pieces must suffice to save Paris! He sees the absurdity, +for the same evening Maret finds him depressed. The +minister, however, tries to persuade the Emperor to dictate the +conditions of peace: Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine are +to be free, Italy must be yielded up, everything which Bonaparte +and Napoleon conquered must be given back in order +that he may keep Paris and the piece of wood covered with +satin. He will sign to-morrow, he says. Those who love him, +tremble at thought of the moment when with one stroke of +the pen he will lose all that his warlike deeds have won.</p> + +<p>But fate guards him from this. News comes during the +night. The enemy’s position is worse than it seemed the previous +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_459">[459]</span>day. Once more the war lord’s imagination gets to work. +When, next morning, Maret arrives with the papers for the +Emperor’s signature, he finds his master brooding over the +map. Napoleon hardly notices his entrance. All the minister +can catch is a few hurried words:</p> + +<p>“Other matters are to the fore! I am determined to smash +Blücher!” When, at the self-same hour, Joseph’s letter arrives +wherein he states that Paris is in peril, Napoleon, in the interludes +of issuing army orders, dictates, from the depths of his +heart, this rock-like answer:</p> + +<p>“Should Paris be taken, I shall no longer continue to live.... +I have commanded you to do all that is needful to safeguard +the empress, the king of Rome, and our family.... I +have the right to claim the assistance of my kin, for I have +helped them so often in the past....</p> + +<p>“If Talleyrand considers that the empress should in any case +remain in Paris, this advice is secret treachery. Do not trust +him! For sixteen years I have associated with him, and have +often given him favours. But nothing is more certain than +that he is the greatest enemy of our house, now that luck has +forsaken us. Take my advice to heart. I understand events +better than the young folk. If I lose the fight and die, you +will be the first to hear of it.... I fancy that Madame Mère +could find asylum with the queen of Westphalia. For God’s +sake, do not allow the empress and the king to fall into the hands +of the enemy! Austria would then lose interest in the war, and +would take the empress to Vienna. England and Russia would +make the French see things from their outlook, and our cause +would be lost....</p> + +<p>“Perhaps I shall conclude peace in a day or two.... Never +since the world began has a sovereign allowed himself to be +taken alive in an open city.... So long as I live, I must be +obeyed. If I die, my reigning son and the regent his mother +must not allow themselves to be taken, were it only for France’s +honour. On the contrary, they must withdraw with the last of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_460">[460]</span>their soldiers and entrench themselves in the remotest village. +Otherwise it might be said that I had sacrificed my son’s +throne....</p> + +<p>“I would rather know that my son had been killed than that +he was being brought up in Vienna as an Austrian prince. I +have never seen <i>Andromache</i> played without lamenting the fate +of Astyanax, and I have always regarded it as a stroke of +good fortune that his father did not live to see it. You do not +know the French people. The consequences of these vast events +are incalculable!”</p> + +<p>This hunted man is panting for breath. For the first time +since his youth, death or collapse seems close at hand; perhaps +both. When he writes commanding Joseph to prepare for +either eventuality, the two main elements of his soul are +mingling, and both are scattering sparks. His calculating +temperament is reckoning up the disastrous consequences that +would ensue, should Austria’s ambition cease to be operative; +but at the same time his idea of the destiny of his nearest and +dearest takes a soaring flight. Were he to fall next day, this +letter would remain to show that honour and glory had been +the last flames of his heroic imagination. But to-day, as always, +everything discloses a meditation upon the historical +parallels which have throughout life been his spur to greatness.</p> + +<p>Thus the letter is the burning-cold document of a statesman +and poet, and only in this frame of mind is it becoming for a +Napoleon to perish.</p> + +<p>At the same time, he is a great military commander to the +last. When he divides the remnants of his army into two halves, +and begins by defeating Blücher with one of them in a brilliant +advance, the six battles he fights in nine days, from Champaubert +to Montereau, are still in the avalanche tempo of General +Bonaparte. But that the names of these battle-fields are +French, tells us the whole story; hitherto his victories have always +borne foreign names. At Montereau he is an artillerist +once more, training the guns with his own hand as at Toulon. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_461">[461]</span>He cries: “Forward, comrades! The cannon ball that will hit +me has not been cast!”</p> + +<p>He has settled accounts with Blücher. Now to deal with +Schwarzenberg! But the Austrian is afraid of having his +renown as commander dimmed, and is sedulous to avoid a decisive +conflict; he actually writes direct to Berthier, suggesting +that a truce be arranged in Châtillon. Enough for the Emperor +to read this, and his lust for battle is redoubled. Another +letter to Joseph, written with his own hand this time, breathing +defiance, shrewd, bold:</p> + +<p>“You have been talking to my wife about the Bourbons, but +you should avoid such topics. I have no wish to take shelter +behind my wife.... That would only sow dissension between +us.... I have never tried to win the applause of the Parisians, +for I am no stage puppet.... Besides, the real Paris is something +very different from the passions of the three thousand +persons who are raising all the clamour. Of course it would +be easier to explain that one cannot levy any soldiers, than it +is to make the attempt.... Je vous embrasse!”</p> + +<p>It is many, many years since he has penned these words at +the close of a letter. Not since the Marengo days has he written +thus to any of his brothers or to any of his commanders—and +Joseph is both. His heart is beating more vigorously. +Next day, writing to Savary, who has informed him about a +petition to the monarchs, and about the regency and fears and +intrigues, his phrasing is more incisive, and bears witness to the +excitement of a campaign:</p> + +<p>“They shall learn that I am still the man of Wagram and +Austerlitz! I will have no intrigues in the State.... Let me +tell you that if a petition against the public authority is being +circulated, I will arrest King Joseph and all the others who +sign it!... I want no tribunes of the people! I myself am +the great tribune!”</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the allies are quarrelling. The tsar wants Paris +to be placed under a Russian governor until the nation chooses +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_462">[462]</span>Bernadotte or another; Austria will hear of nothing but a +Bourbon restoration; Schwarzenberg wants peace to be made +at once, and instead of joining battle is content to assume “a +military attitude.” But Blücher, who has remarshalled his +forces, simply cries “Forward!” and is on the march. When +the allies once more send a proposal for the re-establishment +of the old frontiers of France, the Emperor is enraged, saying: +“I am so angry, that I feel dishonoured by the mere suggestion.” +Being reminded that the enemy outnumbers him by three +to one, he answers heroically: “I have fifty thousand men. Add +myself, and you get a hundred and fifty thousand!”</p> + +<p>Now, at the beginning of March, when he is to attack Blücher +once more, for the command of his other army he puts his trust +in Marmont, his earliest companion-in-arms.</p> + +<p>But the spirit of revolt is rising. It had shown itself to +Napoleon at Düben Castle in the previous autumn; during the +winter it had been fomented in his brother’s circle; now it was +to eventuate in treason under fire. Marmont, the first among +men still above ground who had served under Napoleon, is +also the first to betray him. Oudinot and Macdonald have lost +the battle of Bar-sur-Aube. Now, at Laon, Marmont makes no +more than a pretence of fighting, leaves his artillery in the town +square, thus snatches victory from his master, and even allows +himself to be surprised in his camp. “The Emperor would +have been justified in cutting him down,” says Berthier, “but is +so fond of him that, after making a scene, he has left him in +command of his corps.”</p> + +<p>What is more natural than that, during these days, his +heart should go out to the friends of his youth? But Marmont +is not the only traitor to whom he is lenient! Augereau, who +had fought beside him at Rivoli, begins to make signals to the +Austrians, fails to be at his post. The reprimand he receives is +an affectionate one. Napoleon writes to him almost as if they +were still brothers in the field, as of old.</p> + +<p>“Six hours’ rest were not enough for you?... What pitiful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_463">[463]</span>excuses you are making, Augereau! No money! No horses! +I command you to take the field within twelve hours of receiving +this. If you are still the old Augereau of Castiglione, you can +keep your command. But if you find the burden of your sixty +years so heavy, hand over the command to the oldest of your +generals. The country is in danger!... You should be the +first in the firing line. We must all put on our seven-leagued +boots, and must find the reckless courage of ’93. If the French +soldiers see your plumes at the outposts, you will be able to +lead your men whithersoever you please.”</p> + +<p>Here we have General Bonaparte once more. The red of +sunset reminds us of the glories of sunrise.</p> + +<p>Owing to Marmont’s retreat, the Emperor is left unsupported +at Arcis-sur-Aube, and has no more than a few thousand +men with which to face a great army. Defeat is inevitable. +During the height of the battle, a dust eddy sweeps across the +field. A thousand dragoons are panic-stricken, and take to +flight, shouting: “The Cossacks!” The Emperor gallops forward +into the press. “Dragoons! Turn and fight! You are +running away, but I stand firm!” He draws his sword and +charges the enemy, followed only by his staff and the bodyguard. +Six thousand Cossacks take to flight. It is years upon +years since he has led a cavalry attack. His horse is shot under +him, and he mounts another. Berthier reports that the Emperor +was obviously hoping to find death on the field.</p> + +<p>But death does not come for the asking. No more than +Cæsar, Cromwell, or Frederick, is Napoleon destined for this +swift, heroic end. Such men are something more than military +commanders, and must live out their lives as leaders of nations,—even +though they have to fight against their own nation. +Henceforward the blows thicken, and each blow is symbolical.</p> + +<p>But who can wonder if, at last, men forsake the despiser of +men? He has made princes of his soldiers; should it surprise +us that they prefer their princedoms to a soldier’s death? +Need we wonder that a wife sprung from an ancient ruling +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_464">[464]</span>house, married off to an upstart, should be quick to repudiate +him and to become a Habsburg once more? That his brothers, +in whom he has shown too much trust, should, when disaster +comes, think of themselves rather than of the man to whom +they owe everything?</p> + +<p>When, in his last letters to Marie Louise, he asks her to +write to her father, she complies with a bad grace, and, instead +of following the example of Maria Theresa, she pens cold letters +which can serve as hints to her father and his ministers. +News reaches the allied headquarters that the English have +landed in Bordeaux, and that the Bourbon flag has been hoisted +there; a letter from the Emperor to his wife is intercepted, a +letter in which he announces his intention to withdraw behind +the Marne. It is enough; at length all are agreed for the march +on Paris.</p> + +<p>In this utmost danger, Napoleon has still a last bold shift. +He will arm the peasants as a national reserve; they will be +ready to his hand, for they hate the invading foreigners. But +now tidings come that Marmont has allowed himself to be +beaten once more, and is withdrawing to Paris with Mortier. +Like one who hears that his house is on fire, the Emperor storms +back towards Paris, entrusts the command of his troops to +Berthier, and rides citywards with his bodyguard. Then, leaving +everything behind, he jumps with Caulaincourt into a post-chaise, +hoping it will not be too late to seize the reins of power. +After how many victories has he not driven in such a carriage +through the gates of his capital? Always his thoughts have +circled round the problem, “What is Paris saying? How shall +I find things there?” But now there is only one idea pulsing +in his brain: Will three persons stand firm till I come; three to +whom I can entrust the safety of the realm? The empress as +regent, Joseph as governor of Paris, Marmont as leader of the +strongest corps!</p> + +<p>Night. Change of horses. A squad of soldiers led by an +officer. The officer reports: “I am under Marshal Mortier’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_465">[465]</span>orders, and am seeking quarters for the troops that are being +withdrawn.”</p> + +<p>“Troops being withdrawn? Where is the empress? Where +is King Joseph?”</p> + +<p>“Her Majesty, with the king of Rome, fled yesterday to +Blois. King Joseph left Paris to-day.”</p> + +<p>“Where is Marmont?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know, Sire.”</p> + +<p>Beads of sweat form on the Emperor’s forehead; his lips +twitch nervously; he is horrified at the news. He breaks out: +“Forward! To-morrow the guards will be here. The National +Guard is on my side. Once within the walls of Paris, +I shall only leave the town as a conqueror or as a dead man!”</p> + +<p>With difficulty, Caulaincourt persuades him to renounce this +foolhardy design. The Emperor orders that Marmont’s corps +is to take up its position behind the Essonne. Then he says +to his minister: “Hasten to Paris! Go on negotiating for a +treaty. I have been betrayed and sold. You have full powers. +I will wait for you here. It is not far. Forward!”</p> + +<p>He drives a hundred paces nearer, and can see the waters of +the Seine. But what is mirrored therein? The enemy’s watch-fires! +At the outposts, the invaders are cooking supper and +singing songs; while the Emperor, on the left bank with two +post-chaises and a few servants, watches them under cover of +the darkness.</p> + +<p>Then he has the carriage turned, and drives to Fontainebleau.</p> + +<h3>XIV</h3> + +<p>Next morning, Talleyrand is sitting in his bedchamber, submitting +to the ministrations of his valet. This statesman of +the revolution still has his wig dressed in the rococo style. The +door is thrown open, and almost before the servant has time to +announce him, Count Nesselrode hurries in to greet the friend +of many years’ standing. He gets covered with powder from +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_466">[466]</span>head to foot, Talleyrand informs us. Two hours later, the +tsar himself comes to stay with his intimate friend as guest; +he will not put up at the Elysée for fear of bombs. The moment +for which Napoleon’s minister has worked indefatigably +for six years has come at last, and the smiling victors shake +hands with a sense of moral righteousness: virtue has triumphed! +After knocking at the gates of Paris for two and +twenty years, the legitimist monarchs have at length been admitted. +This is their great moment. They have ridden into +the city. A small party of Bourbon supporters has hailed +them as liberators; the Faubourg Saint-Germain has rallied. +Elsewhere in Paris, silence reigns. Every one is calmly waiting +to see whether, on the morrow, Napoleon or Louis is to be +called master.</p> + +<p>The Emperor’s fate is sealed, for Joseph, in his cowardly +flight and in spite of Napoleon’s warnings, has not taken Talleyrand +along with him, but has left that cleverest and most +dangerous of enemies in Paris. It is not fixity of purpose on +the part of the nation that brings the Emperor to his doom; +nor are the four allied foes unanimous as to his fate. He is +ruined by the co-operation of faithless servants and treacherous +friends, under the guidance of a man who is both—for Talleyrand, +with the good graces of the tsar, takes upon himself the +spiritual leadership of the next ten days. Now the intriguer is +in his true element.</p> + +<p>Yesterday he received another guest. Talleyrand by no +means hates the Emperor, but has from the first sign of Napoleon’s +decline, forsaken his master in order that he himself +may climb. He has no wish to wreak vengeance on a prisoner, +and, indeed, has no reason for revenge. Still, it would be convenient +were the disturber of the peace quietly to disappear; +and therefore he promises a goodly reward to a certain +Maubreuil (a monarchist officer with an adventurous past) if +this man “will carry out an important commission on the road +to Fontainebleau.” But the adventurer’s heart fails him at the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_467">[467]</span>last moment, and he is content to attack Jerome’s brave young +wife and carry off her jewels, instead of making an attempt on +Napoleon’s life. Blücher, too, on his own initiative, has sent a +detachment with definite orders to make an end of the Emperor.</p> + +<p>“Well, what does France want?” asks the tsar of the abbé, +as a man of wide experience. Talleyrand has long had in mind +the restoration of the former king, but he thinks it best to ask +whom Alexander would recommend. Somewhat diffidently, the +tsar mentions the name of Bernadotte. Talleyrand smiles: +“France does not want any more soldiers. If we wanted one +we should keep the one we have already, the finest soldier in the +world. No other, in his place, would find a hundred men to +follow him.” Talleyrand says this to the conqueror, says it in +plain words to the tsar; the defeated Emperor at Fontainebleau +could have wished no greater tribute of admiration than such +words from such lips in such a situation.</p> + +<p>A day later, Talleyrand summons the Senate, and the legislature +confirms the decision that the Emperor must abdicate. +There is a general swing of opinion in this direction. Caulaincourt +is the only one who puts up a fight for Napoleon, and +tries to win over the tsar. For a moment, Alexander’s impressionable +heart is touched; the image of his whilom friend rises +before his mind; he wavers, and says that he will do his best +with his allies to save the crown for the king of Rome.</p> + +<p>But while the impotent Caulaincourt is trying to persuade +the vacillating tsar, and is doing what he can to save the house +of Bonaparte, at this same hour on the third of April, Talleyrand +has summoned Marshal Marmont who, with his twelve +thousand men across the Seine, is still a power, since the main +body of the allies has not yet reached Paris.</p> + +<p>See them sitting there, Napoleon’s companion-in-arms and +senior officer, hobnobbing with the doyen of the Emperor’s +ministers. The diplomat reasons coldly with the soldier, who +hardly needs to listen to the arguments. He is hopelessly disillusioned, +tired out. His faith had been shaken three years +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_468">[468]</span>ago in Spain. His thoughts run this wise: “What is the use +of trying to march with a dead man? The king is dead; long +live the king! At the military academy, we were all monarchists. +His defeat is a proof that the Bourbons have the right +of it. The only choice is between being stood up in front of an +old wall or taking one’s stand behind an old throne. The oath +of allegiance? That has been abrogated. The ties of friendship? +Only the other day, he was scolding me after the Laon +affair.” Acting on the suggestion of his old acquaintance, +Marmont writes to Schwarzenberg, the allies’ commander-in-chief:</p> + +<p>“By the decree of the Senate, the army and the people have +been released from their obligation of fealty to Napoleon. I +am ready to promote an understanding between people and +army, in order to avoid civil war.” Upon this pretext, which +he subsequently endeavoured to fortify with the excuse of +patriotism (the paltry argument of every turncoat), the Emperor’s +senior marshal destroys the Emperor. Augereau, in a +shameful proclamation, is quick to follow Marmont’s lead.</p> + +<p>At the time when Talleyrand is winning over the marshals, +the Emperor in Fontainebleau is reviewing his guards. To +them he exclaims: “Never shall we allow any one to wear in +Paris the white cockade of the émigrés.... In a few days +we will attack the enemy in Paris!” The officers brandish their +swords enthusiastically, shouting: “À Paris! Vive l’Empereur!” +He waves his hand to them, and, smiling joyfully, +he briskly mounts the steps, surrounded by his last ministers +in their embroidered coats.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards, a carriage draws up in the courtyard. +Caulaincourt steps out; he is pale, having passed the night +in a vigil. He approaches the Emperor. Berthier enquires: +“Well, my lad, how goes it?” The minister hesitates to answer, +for he does not like Berthier’s tone. Are the very nearest +going to fall away too? He finds the Emperor at work.</p> + +<p>“What do they want of me?” asks Napoleon eagerly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_469">[469]</span></p> + +<p>“Great sacrifices, that you may retain the crown for your +son.”</p> + +<p>“You mean that they refuse to treat with me! They want +to make a helot of me, to hold me up as a warning to all those +whose genius enables them to rule men and to make the born +kings tremble on their ancient thrones!”</p> + +<p>Bonaparte’s metallic tone! Such is the mood produced in +the Emperor by the sight of his guards, by the perusal of his +latest muster rolls, by the study of his maps. Now the minister +mentions the most moderate of the tsar’s demands. Napoleon +is to abdicate in favour of the king of Rome, and then the +terms of a regency will be discussed. But there is talk of a +Bourbon restoration. The Emperor leaps to his feet:</p> + +<p>“They are mad! The Bourbons in France; they would not +be able to hold their position for a year! Nine-tenths of the +nation cannot endure them; my soldiers will never serve under +them. They have lived for twenty years upon the alms of a +foreigner, at war all the time with the fundamental principles +of their homeland! The Senate consists entirely of regicides, +or the sons of regicides. I was a newcomer, with nothing to +take vengeance for; a man whose only business it was to upbuild.... +No doubt they can draw profit out of the crash, +can exile me and my family; but the Bourbons—never!”</p> + +<p>Thus does his work roll before his mind as in a rhapsody, +lighted up by his contempt for those whom he succeeded and +who are now to succeed him. He becomes the soldier once more. +“They demand my abdication. Will the crown then be secure +for my son? I have still fifty thousand men. They will march +with me to Paris. After the victory, the people shall decide. +If, then, the French want to chase me away, I will go.” See +the conflict in his soul. As statesman, he is willing to abdicate, +that his son may reign; as soldier, he is still eager to fight, +that he may retain all.</p> + +<p>But while enthusiasm grows in the rank and file of his army, +while the common soldiers are willing to give their lives for the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_470">[470]</span>Emperor, the marshals are malcontent. Although they have +not yet heard of Marmont’s defection, they cherish like wishes, +and would gladly shake off their allegiance to Napoleon if they +could do so decently. This marked difference between the mood +of the men and that of their leaders is once more a vengeance +for the system of titles and monetary rewards with whose aid +the military commander, when he had become an emperor, had +transformed generals into marshals. Next day, the seniors +among them are of one mind. Ney, Macdonald, Oudinot, and +Lefèvre, in the most subservient way possible, speak to him of +the advantages of abdication.</p> + +<p>The Emperor shows them his maps, which are again beset +with coloured pins; he points out to them that the enemy is in +an unfavourable position, and enumerates his own resources. +All is vain! The frame of mind they had shown in Düben +Castle, intensified a hundredfold, blocks his way. Silently he +dismisses them, for he wants to think over a plan. Mentally, he +has mustered his forces, and the total of his additions does not +seem to him a bad one. A conditional renunciation, therefore, +will not betoken anything more than an armistice, a postponement.</p> + +<p>A few hours after the audience of the marshals, he sends for +Caulaincourt, and points to a holograph document on the table:</p> + +<p>“There is my abdication. You can take it to Paris.”</p> + +<p>The minister reads:</p> + +<p>“Since the allied powers have declared that Emperor Napoleon +is the only obstacle to the peace of Europe, Emperor +Napoleon, faithful to his oath, declares himself ready, for the +welfare of his country, which is inseparable from the rights of +his son, from those of the regency of the empress, and from the +maintenance of the laws of the Empire, to descend from the +throne, to give up France and even life itself.”</p> + +<p>What a style! A diplomatic document, involved in its +phraseology, cautiously worded, ambiguous, penned for the +inspection of diplomats of the old school. Nothing of Napoleon +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_471">[471]</span>in it. The minister begs for the companionship of two +of the marshals for so important a mission.</p> + +<p>“Take Marmont and Ney,” says the Emperor, adding, +“Marmont is my oldest comrade.”</p> + +<p>“Marmont is not here.”</p> + +<p>“Macdonald, then.”</p> + +<p>Late that evening, three hours after the interview with +Napoleon, the plenipotentiaries are at the Elysée confronting +the allied princes and ministers. Most of the negotiations are +carried on between the tsar and Caulaincourt. The latter’s +contention that the French are heartily against the Bourbons +has its effect; the parleys continue far into the night. Suddenly +an announcement is made in Russian; the Frenchmen do +not understand. Thereupon the tsar speaks: “You are relying, +gentlemen, upon the unshakable loyalty of the troops +towards the imperial regime. Well, I have just been informed +that the advance guard, the sixth army corps, has deserted +the Emperor. It has come over to our lines.”</p> + +<p>The allies’ task has become easier; they now demand instant +and unconditional abdication. Meanwhile the Emperor sends +one courier after another from Fontainebleau to his minister. +He writes:</p> + +<p>“If they refuse to negotiate with me, what kind of a treaty +will it be?... Bring back my act of abdication, I command +you.... I will sign no treaty!”</p> + +<p>Next day at six o’clock in the morning the Emperor is at +work with Berthier. A captain is introduced, an adjutant of +Mortier’s.</p> + +<p>“Well, what news?”</p> + +<p>“The sixth army corps has gone over to the enemy. It is +marching to Paris.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor seizes him by the arm and shakes it.</p> + +<p>“Marmont? Are you sure? Did the troops know where +they were being led?”</p> + +<p>“During the night they were led into the Austrian camp. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_472">[472]</span>They were told that they were marching against the enemy.”</p> + +<p>“My men have to be duped before they can be torn away +from me! Did you see Marmont at the time he set out?”</p> + +<p>“No, Sire.”</p> + +<p>“The cavalry, too?”</p> + +<p>“In close columns.”</p> + +<p>“Where is Mortier?”</p> + +<p>“He sent me to tell you that his corps will be loyal to you +in life and in death. He awaits Your Majesty’s orders. The +young guard is ready to die for you. All young France is +ready!”</p> + +<p>The emperor steps close up to the young officer, looks him +straight in the eyes, and with a friendly gesture allows his +hand to slip under the fringe of the epaulette so that it may +rest on the captain’s shoulder. Thus does the ageing Napoleon +find support once more in the young men of France.</p> + +<p>When Caulaincourt brings the demands, he is accompanied +only by Macdonald.</p> + +<p>“Where is Ney?”</p> + +<p>Silence. A pause. Then he is told the conditions. They +probe him to the quick. To disavow the dynasty! For a decade +the dynasty has been his goal.</p> + +<p>“My personal withdrawal did not suffice? Must I, with my +signature, disinherit my wife and my son? I cannot do this! +I won their throne for them by my deeds!” The paradox has +taken such deep root in his thoughts that he has ceased to be +aware of his existence. Then he counts his troops again.</p> + +<p>“I have twenty-five thousand men here; I can speedily bring +up another eighteen thousand from Italy; Souchet has eighteen +thousand, Soult forty. I shall fight!...”</p> + +<p>The remaining troops are loyal, but the leaders are weary +of the struggle. Why does he not place himself at the head +of his guards? Because he can only think in terms of marshals, +because the feudalist atmosphere is cutting him off from his +stalwarts.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_473">[473]</span></p> + +<p>Here they all come again! They warn him, even Berthier +joins with the others now, that Fontainebleau can easily be surrounded. +He listens to them with dignified composure. Then +he abruptly asks them whether they are prepared to march +with him to the Loire; or to Italy, where they can join +Eugene’s forces. Behind the proposal, we sense new plans of +our adventurer. But the men who stand before him are marshals +and Frenchmen; they breathe the words “civil war”; they +advise him to abdicate. The island of Elba has been chosen +for his dwelling place; he had better take what he can get! +He dismisses them.</p> + +<p>“None of them has either heart or reins! I am not so much +beaten by fortune, as by the ingratitude of my brothers-in-arms. +It is infamous. All is over!”</p> + +<p>Without, in the drawing-room, groups of courtiers and dignitaries +have assembled. Voices are hushed as though a king +lay dead. All are awaiting the signature. The Emperor is +well aware of this, he allows no one to enter his room, he will +keep them waiting till morning. After a feverish, sleepless +night, his negotiators find him sitting in his dressing-gown before +the fire, a broken man and pitiable.</p> + +<p>They bring him the deed which they have signed in Paris +that night. He is to receive Elba, and two million francs as +annual subsidy; he is to retain the title of Emperor; he is to +have a guard of four hundred men. Talleyrand had warned +the allies that this proximity of the lion to France was a +menace; he suggested Corfu, and even mentioned St. Helena. +Fouché endeavours to shield the Emperor from a slow descent +from the heights; in elegantly phrased letters he suggests that +Napoleon should go straight to America, where, as a free citizen, +life could be started anew.—The farther away from the +coasts of Europe, the better!</p> + +<p>All this leaves the Emperor cold. He is visioning something +different. He sees how Macdonald is standing the test; in his +secret heart he is comparing this marshal with those others +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_474">[474]</span>who have shown so much ingratitude; he feels now that he has +not honoured the man enough. In this hour when he has to +sign his abdication, Napoleon says:</p> + +<p>“I have not sufficiently rewarded you. Now I can do no +more. Take the sword which Sultan Selim gave me and keep it +in remembrance.” While all are waiting for the signature, the +Emperor sends for the gilded scimitar, and embraces the general +as he presents it. Then Napoleon signs the act of abdication.</p> + +<p>“The allied powers having declared that Emperor Napoleon +is the sole obstacle to the re-establishment of peace in Europe, +the Emperor, faithful to his oath, declares that he renounces, +for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy, and +that there is no sacrifice, not even that of life, which he is not +ready to make for the interests of France.”</p> + +<p>The deed is done! All breathe freely again. The generals +and the courtiers leave Fontainebleau; Maret alone remains. +They hasten to Paris; even Berthier throws himself into the +arms of the provisional government. Talleyrand and Fouché +are at the head of things.</p> + +<p>But the Emperor remains another nine days in his palace, +and he is not alone. Around him, unshaken, his guards are encamped; +they still muster twenty-five thousand men. Who else +is with him? His brothers have taken to their heels. What is +Josephine doing, at Malmaison? After she has wept, and +sworn that she will follow the forsaken Emperor, she receives +Napoleon’s conqueror with sparkling eyes and adorned with all +the pitiful appeal of a Niobe. The tsar wishes to play the part +of a knightly cavalier, and succumbs to the renowned charms +of the first empress. But Hortense, her daughter, receives the +tsar’s visit coldly and off-handedly. As soon as he is gone, she +hastens to Fontainebleau and remains with the Emperor till +his departure.</p> + +<p>At first, his mother is with him. But, wishing to see her in +safety, he persuades her to go away with Jerome. They will +meet again later. When the empress says good-bye to Letizia, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_475">[475]</span>she utters polite commonplaces and wishes her mother-in-law +well. The old lady, who sees through Marie Louise, and knows +that all she cares for is security and enjoyment, answers this +daughter of the Habsburgs: “That will depend upon you, and +upon your future conduct.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor has no word from wife or son in reply to his +numerous letters and messengers. While for himself he asks +neither land nor money, for her he demands that, in addition +to Parma, she should have Tuscany, or at least a strip of it +which would bring her lands nearer to Elba and thus set up a +link between man and wife. He writes to her advising as to the +best halting-places on the route; Corvisart is to decide which +waters will do her health most good; she is to take her personal +treasure with her. Then he writes to the palace prefect that +all the diamonds which are not her or his personal property +must be given back to the treasury, for they belong to France.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the government has sent a confidential agent to +the Tuileries with orders to seize the imperial treasure. All +the gold and securities, valued at one hundred and fifty millions, +were taken away; in plain words, stolen. These sums had been +saved by Napoleon from his civil list during the fourteen years +of his rule. His silver plate, all personal articles of value, his +golden snuff-boxes, and even his handkerchiefs embroidered +with the initial N., were taken at the same time. The order for +this bears, among others, Talleyrand’s signature. The Emperor, +who until yesterday was the wealthiest man in Europe, +journeys to Elba with three million francs as his fortune!</p> + +<p>He is profoundly disheartened. Can anything disillusion +him further? Lucien writes to the pope the day after the +abdication, and becomes a Roman prince. Murat, acting on +the advice of Fouché (who holds the net of intrigues during +these last weeks), has entered Rome, has advanced his troops +towards Tuscany, invading Elise’s realm—always spurred on +by Caroline, and always in alliance with England, which has +occupied Tuscany. Elise, who at the last moment has staked on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_476">[476]</span>the wrong hazard, and has through a false calculation remained +faithful to her brother, flees before her sister’s troops, brings +a child into the world while lying up at a mountain tavern, and +in Bologna is taken prisoner by the Austrians. The only two +of the pack who have behaved decently are Jerome and his +wife.</p> + +<p>The last days pass in sinister silence. “If a carriage drives +into the palace yard, all prick up their ears. Is any one coming +to bid Napoleon farewell? No one comes while affairs are +being wound up. But a day or two before the departure, a +veiled lady arrives, late in the evening. No one knows her, +and she is not admitted. Countess Walewska waits a whole +night, and when she goes away in the morning she leaves a +letter for him. He sends after her, but she has gone. He +writes:</p> + +<p>“Marie!... The feelings which animate you touch me +profoundly. They are worthy of your lovely soul and the +goodness of your heart.... Think affectionately of me! +Never doubt me! N.”</p> + +<p>As soon as he has recovered his old tranquillity of mind, the +Emperor is promptly animated with new energy. Has he not +an island as base of operations? Who knows what may come +of it? Corsica, too, is an island in the Mediterranean! He +orders a monograph and studies the geography and statistics +of Elba. “The air is wholesome, the inhabitants are honest +folk, and I hope that my good Louise will like the place well +enough.” He chooses his four hundred men; but the whole +guard wants to go with him, though this will involve leaving +wife and children. Among them are men whose hearts he had +won two-and-twenty years earlier when he had been captain in +Toulon, men who had followed his fortunes from Cairo to Moscow, +through sixty battles.</p> + +<p>He cheers up. Discussing predetermination with the palace +prefect, and how death has passed him by during the last +battles, he adds:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_477">[477]</span></p> + +<p>“A violent death is cowardice. I can see no greatness in +shirking responsibility in that manner, like one who has +gambled away his fortune.... Suicide is incompatible with +my principles and with the position I have occupied in the +world.” They walk up and down the terrace in silence for a +time, and then he says with a smile: “Between ourselves, a +living drummer is better than a dead emperor!”</p> + +<p>All the formalities have been accomplished; the allied commissioners +who are to accompany him to Elba, four in number, +have arrived; the start is fixed for noon. He writes in simple +terms to tell his wife, and concludes: “Farewell, my good +Louise. You can rest assured of the courage, the tranquillity, +and the affection of your husband. N.” He adds as a postscript: +“A kiss for the little king!”</p> + +<p>The start will be an easy matter, for no one has come to take +leave.</p> + +<p>But there are to be leave-takings after all. The old guard +is waiting for him in the palace yard, drawn up in a square. +As he comes down the steps, thousands of eyes are fixed on +him. He must say something. What can he say? For twenty +years he has only spoken to these men just before a battle and +just after a victory, to inspire them or to thank them. Well, +he will thank them now, though there has been no victory; he +will thank them for the hundred victories of the past. He steps +forward. “Vive l’Empereur!” He enters the square, and says:</p> + +<p>“Soldiers of my old guard, I take leave of you. For twenty +years I have seen you always upon the path of honour and +glory. During the last few weeks, you have been models of +bravery and fidelity, just as in the years of good fortune.... +But there would have been civil war. That is why I sacrificed +all other interests to those of the country. I am going away.... +You, friends, continue to serve France. Her happiness +has been my only thought. My good wishes go with you. Do +not mourn my fate. If I have determined to go on living, it is +that I may increase your fame. I shall write the story of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_478">[478]</span>great deeds we wrought together. Farewell, my children. I +would gladly press you all to my heart. At least let me kiss +your colours!”</p> + +<p>The general holds out the colours. Napoleon embraces him, +and kisses the flag. “Good-bye, comrades!” He gets into the +carriage. “Vive l’Empereur!” He drives away.</p> + +<p>The war-hardened veterans stand there, blubbering like +children. Their father has gone away. Never had he spoken +to them more movingly. The dignified pathos of ancient Rome, +the ardent imagery of his manifestoes, the similes and the exaltations, +have vanished with the fever of battle. This Emperor +spoke like a commander, this commander spoke like a +company leader. His words were manly, blunt, and restrained. +When he kissed the colours, it was an unparalleled gesture; +never before had he done anything of the kind. They will tell +their grandchildren what the great Emperor, their “petit +caporal,” has said to them this day. The grandchildren will +tell their grandchildren in turn, and so the story will go down +the generations.</p> + +<p>But hardly has he left this soldierly atmosphere, in which he +grew to manhood and then to greatness, when he has to face +the mob. After the sobs of his old soldiers, come clamour, +cries, and curses! As the train of carriages drives swiftly +through Provence, the threatening shouts of the people deafen +him: “Down with the tyrant! Kill the wretch!” In the villages +where the horses are changed, women rage round his carriage, +screaming at him, flinging stones, trying to force the +coachman to shout “Vive le Roi!” At one of these villages, the +crowd has prepared an effigy, a uniform coat stuffed with straw +and smeared with mire and blood. Here they hail him with the +cry: “Kill the murderer!” The carriages press on at top speed +and the journey becomes a flight. Napoleon’s first flight.</p> + +<p>With rigid face, the Emperor looks at the mob and listens to +the cries of execration. Are these the same people who ran +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_479">[479]</span>beside his carriage, eager to catch a glance from his eyes? +They are indeed the same! What he is now experiencing, he +had foreseen, with the seer’s vision of the misanthrope, at his +first entry into Paris when the crowd had jubilantly welcomed +him as conqueror. He sits huddled in a corner of the carriage, +pale and silent; at each halt, the foreign commissioners jump +out to guard the windows of his coach. Will he bear all this +without making a sign? Will he draw his sword? He does not +wear one now. In mufti, he can get away from his country, +but not in his green uniform. Only once before has he had +such an experience. It was on the Nineteenth Brumaire, when +the radicals were shaking their fists at him. Then he did not +draw his sword. Then, as now, he was powerless against the +mob, for it was not his trade to beat the mutable many, nor +was it his talent to persuade them. He is not a tribune; he is +an emperor. One who can command as well as he, can do nothing +but command. If he fights, it must be in a battle.</p> + +<p>Movement! Air! In a lonely road, he has the carriage +stopped, and one of the post-horses taken out of the traces. +He fixes a white cockade on his plain round hat, and rides in +front of the carriages, outstripping them, his servant following. +Thus he makes his way to Aix, but halts short of the +town, enters a wayside inn, and gives his name there as Campbell, +a British colonel. This is his sixth name.</p> + +<p>The little Provençal maid who waits at table prattles: +“They’ll finish him off before he reaches the sea!” “Colonel +Campbell” nods, saying “Of course, of course!” to all her +utterances. Then, when he is left alone with his servant, his +head droops on the man’s shoulder, he has a nap to make up +for two sleepless nights. Kindly nature, this is your gift to +the greatest of your warriors! When he wakes, the recent +sounds and sights recur to his mind. With a shudder, he says +in low tones:</p> + +<p>“Never again! I shall be happier in Elba than ever before. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_480">[480]</span>The sciences now, nothing more. I do not want to wear another +European crown. You have seen what the people really is. +Was I not right to despise man?”</p> + +<p>When the carriages reach the inn, he thinks it wise, warned +by his previous experiences, to change his clothes once more. +Since time presses, he puts on the uniform of an Austrian general +which belongs to Commissioner Koller; surmounts it with +the cap of Truchsess, the Prussian colonel; and has a Russian +cloak hung round his shoulders by Shuvaloff. Thus bedecked +in a carnival costume, pieced together from garments belonging +to the three allied powers, a fool on the heath, does Emperor +Napoleon escape from his country.</p> + +<p>Fréjus at last! This is the port where he landed on his +return from Egypt, a beaten commander, who had lost all the +battleships of France, and ought to have been tried by court-martial! +But how enthusiastic, then, had been his reception +by this leaderless people, for the memory of his successful +Italian campaign was still fresh. Then, he had driven through +triumphal arches on the journey to Paris; the journey he had +now been making in the reverse direction, in danger of being +stoned, and escaping murder only by a mummer’s disguise! +Fifteen years lie between, the rebirth of a State, the glory of a +nation. Europe lies between, the clash of arms, dead soldiers +rotting in their graves, the returning hero received with +frenzied acclamations, a marshal rising from pothouse to +palace, men of genius taking sides for and against the conquering +nation—and a circlet of little golden leaves which the +foreigner from the Mediterranean island had, with the simplicity +of the self-made man, placed on his own brow.</p> + +<h3>XV</h3> + +<p>How big Corsica is! How high her mountains! Bastia is an +admirable harbour; its fortifications can be seen through a +spyglass. If taken from the eastern side....</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_481">[481]</span></p> + +<p>When the ruler of Elba rides among the hills of his new +home, the silhouette of his old home lies spread before him; +everything looms larger across the water. Forty times bigger, +ten times as many inhabitants; he has all the figures, to a unit, +in his head. Elba is nothing more than a mole-hill.</p> + +<p>On the clear May morning when he landed, he was welcomed +by a deputation of peasants and petty burghers in Porto +Ferrajo. Timidly they had paid their compliments to the +man who was to reign over them. But their astonishment was +great when, instead of inviting them to a banquet, he leapt +into the saddle and rode off to inspect the fortifications. On +the morrow, orders began to fly about the sleepy little isle: +Pianosa was to have two more batteries; the mole must be +lengthened; the roads improved. When first the four hundred +grenadiers appeared in the land, the natives looked at them +askance as men of a foreign race. Soon, however, the forces +were increased by the creation of a foreign battalion, and a +National Guard. Napoleon once more has an army of over a +thousand men; soon he has a small flotilla likewise. What for? +Just for him to see after and take care of. He has a Council +of State; Bertrand and Drouot (the generals who have accompanied +him into exile) and a dozen inhabitants of the island, +are members; and, together with Napoleon who presides over +the assembly, they discuss improvements in the iron mines and +the salt pits. Have you no mulberry culture here? The silkworms +bring in good money over there, in Lyons; and if the +French government imposes a tariff upon our produce, we can +easily sell to Italy.</p> + +<p>Save! We are so poor, and France makes no move to pay +the promised allowance. The white house is smaller than the +one in Ajaccio, and very much simpler; but there is no money +for building additional accommodation; and when the “grand +marshal” Bertrand draws up a list of mattresses and other +bedgear, his master underlines the mistakes,—for he has every +detail of his establishment by heart.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_482">[482]</span></p> + +<p>Is this indefatigable man never to realise what a parody is +his administration over the tiny island, the diminutive army, +the small household? Never! Here in Elba, where in the best +of spirits and health he throws himself whole-heartedly into his +undertakings, he comes to realise that it was not the masses +that had allured him. To order, to build, to press his finger +into the wax of humanity, these things he must do, urged onward +by the impulse of his artist’s soul. But, since humanity +is not as wax, and since his constructions can never be finished +and are always vibrant with life; since the opposition of material +forces also takes a hand in the game, even when matter +seems to have been conquered—he can only fulfil his mission by +coercing and conquering the human spirit, by issuing orders +and bringing suggestions to bear, by constant vigilance and +constant upbuilding; in a word, by ruling. He has never been +a dilettante or a parvenu; and, this being so, he drives the little +wheel to-day with just as much precision and earnestness as he +had driven the earth’s sphere in former days.</p> + +<p>But soon, when most of his enterprises are in good going +order, he feels he is becoming lazy, even when he is studying +mathematics. This causes him to reconsider his position.</p> + +<p>“It is by no means difficult to accustom oneself to a life of +meditation,” he writes, “if one possesses within oneself the +necessary reserves. I work hard in my study; when I emerge I +have the delightful spectacle of my old grenadiers in front of +me.... Born kings must suffer terribly when they are dethroned, +for pomp and etiquette are the very marrow of their +lives. For my part, I have always been a soldier, and became +a king only by chance, so that these things have been nothing +but a burden to me, whereas wars and camps come naturally. +Out of my great past, I regret naught but my soldiers. After +all my treasures and my crowns, my most cherished possessions +are the couple of French uniforms they have allowed me to +keep.”</p> + +<p>These are the words of an unpretentious king. Do people +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_483">[483]</span>not believe him? And does Europe laugh when, in his kingdom +of Lilliput, he preserves the forms of kingship? Does Europe +begin to suspect a secret in the island? The innate dignity, +whereby long ago the young general had wrung respect from +the bearers of inherited rank, to-day is still able to hold +satirical visitors in check. Every one admires the natural +simplicity of the lonely man who, despite the exiguity of his +dwelling, still holds to the title of “Majesty.” He lives in his +island sans palace or fittings, sans court or ministers, only surrounded +with the aureole of his deeds.</p> + +<p>This return home brings solace to his heart—for Elba is +Italy. The peasant speaks to him in the language Napolione +had learned at Letizia’s knee. The Mediterranean amid whose +waters he was born and reared, the islands with their quiet +shores, do they not all of them bring back memories of youthful +days? Stone-pines, fig trees, and crags; the white houses +among the vineyards; the sails, and the fishermen’s nets; pride +of clan, and the headkerchief worn at church; all these things +seem to take him gently by the hand and lead him back to the +dreams of childhood. Now the storm-racked nerves relax, and +at length know a spell of repose. In these wholesome months, +the Emperor comes to look upon his career as a visionary flight +into the land of childish imagination; and it is only when he +contemplates the men of his old guard that he realises something +did happen during the years that separate Corsica from +Elba.</p> + +<p>“The Emperor lives very contentedly on his island,” writes +one who accompanied him there. “He seems to have forgotten +the past. The management of his small household gives him +occupation; he is now looking out for a suitable site to build +his country-seat; we ride, and drive, and sail round the coasts +as much as we please.”</p> + +<p>Since he has plenty of time on his hands, and since thrift is +essential, he examines everything, to the minutest details. Just +as, in the Tuileries, he himself drew up the list of his clothing, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_484">[484]</span>so now, in Elba, he says to Bertrand: “My underlinen is in a +lamentable state. Part of it has never been unpacked, and it +has not been marked. Give orders that everything must be laid +out in drawers and presses, and that no one is to be given +anything belonging to our court without furnishing a receipt.... +There are not enough ordinary chairs. Have a sample +sent from Pisa; they must not cost more than five francs +apiece.”</p> + +<p>Europe laughs when it hears of this. Posterity stands bewildered +before such energetic renunciation.</p> + +<p>Once only do we hear a gentle sigh. He has climbed to the +top of a hill whence he can look over the whole of his realm. +Surveying the prospect, he says: “One must acknowledge that +the island is very small.” Like distant thunder, the fate of a +man seems to rumble in these words; for an all too great +imagination, confined within the narrow limits of Europe and +cribbed within the circle of the folk intelligence of the nineteenth +century, is doomed at the outset to be crushed.</p> + +<p>With the summer, comes his mother. She, alone, is happy. +Her son is no longer threatened with assassination or with +battles. Here, all is peaceful and warm; Elba is almost as +lovely as Corsica. Daily intercourse with him renews for her +the good old times. It is as well that she has come; for, from +the millions which she alone has put by, she now brings her son +what he needs; and when he receives her banknotes, may we not +picture mother and son smiling at one another? On his name-day, +she invites him to a little rustic feast.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp59" id="illus16" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus16.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Napoleon as Emperor. Engraving by Bourgeois, after a + painting by Jacques Louis David.</p> + <p>(From the “Corpus Imaginum” of the Photographic + Society, Charlottenburg.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>A dozen and more St. Napoleon days she has spent in Paris: +the guns would fire the salute from the Invalides, Masses would +be said; Senate and ministers, the court and foreign diplomats, +would throng the halls of the Tuileries. When, in the evening, +the rooms were filled with guests, and, amid the strains of +music, there came and went all that France possessed of great +names, of beauty, and of precious jewels; when the fireworks +filled the August night-sky with brightness, and thousands of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_485">[485]</span>tiny lamps formed the initial N.—Letizia, surrounded by the +kings who were the fruit of her womb, would stand silent and +proud, thinking the old words so full of ominous warning. But +to-day she is blithe; to-day she compares this jocund festivity +with the little town of Ajaccio; to-day, for the first time, she +thinks: “All the same, we achieved something fine!”</p> + +<p>Letizia had been able, while in Rome, to heal many wounds +dealt in the heat of the fray. The pope, on his return, had +pardoned the mother of his sometime foe. She was not surprised +when the whole court, when even her secretary (a Corsican), +speedily went over to the Bourbon king. Has she not +always foretold it? Caroline, alone, is not permitted to appear +before her.</p> + +<p>Pauline, Princess Borghese, merry and brilliant, does not +hang long in the wind. She has always been the most affectionate, +and has been clever enough to prefer real diamonds +and nights of love to uncertain thrones and crowns. She comes +to the island, so that, with her mother, she may bring cheer to +the Emperor. She shakes out a basketful of gossip and news +for his delectation.</p> + +<p>Hardly a word from his brothers. One letter comes from +Lucien. What propositions can he be laying before his banished +brother? Will he, who lives in princely fashion in Rome, +with magnanimous generosity offer Napoleon money or bring +his influence to bear in his imperial brother’s behalf? What +does the “Prince of Canino” by the pope’s grace write in his +letter? He owns smelting furnaces, and Elba has iron ore +wherewith to feed them: he asks his brother to provide him +with the minerals. Crowns and gold, he has refused; but iron, +which his brother still possesses, he can make good use of. +Maybe he, who is a poet, is enjoying the farce of these blast-furnaces! +Is it not a kindness that one still thinks of the +exile? Who else writes?</p> + +<p>Josephine is dead. A few weeks after Napoleon’s departure, +she died at Malmaison. No one knows if she ever wrote to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_486">[486]</span>him; what is certain is that she left debts amounting to three +millions, which he had to pay. Hortense has been separated +from her husband. She has become a duchess, and has made +her most graceful curtsey before the Bourbon king, in the very +room where she and her mother had held sway for so long. +Little Léon, whom Letizia had for a time with her in Rome, +resembles his father; he is reported to be courageous and full +of pranks. These are all the members of Napoleon’s family +about whom he has news.</p> + +<p>An English vessel brings the unknown lady who visited +Fontainebleau to the island. In a marquee, beneath the chestnut +trees, the Emperor receives Countess Walewska. For two +days and two nights they are inseparable. The Emperor only +issues forth to give the necessary orders, and the four-year-old +boy, dressed in the Polish national costume, plays in the +meadow with the tall grenadiers. The Emperor would like to +keep Walewska by his side, but he does not wish to provide the +empress with an excuse for not coming to live with him. Thus, +for the second time, he sacrifices on the altar of the Habsburg +princess the phantom of his happiness. Walewska sails away. +Her ship encounters bad weather, and the Emperor is filled with +restless anxiety until he receives tidings that she has arrived +safely at Leghorn.</p> + +<p>How marvellously are the threads weaving themselves into +the tissue of a legend! With wizard spells this man of forty-five +links up epochs and customs. Here he is, a petty prince on +a Mediterranean isle: he receives his beloved, the lady with +whom he had lived in the imperial palace at Schönbrunn when +he himself was an enemy and unknown to the proprietor; +to-day he is once again this man’s foe, and another woman +whom he had invited to his arms from the self-same palace has +long since forsaken him; yet his natural son, born in a lonely +castle in Poland, is playing beneath the trees of the southern +land and wears the dress of a foreign folk which the Emperor +had once promised to free. Who could believe that all this had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_487">[487]</span>come to pass within five years? A hundred years seemed likelier +for the accomplishment of so many events. With such nets, +what other fish could one expect to catch but the golden ones +of the fairy tale? A thousand years ago a great emperor was +banished and left forsaken on an island; but from a distant +realm a beautiful, tragical woman found the way to him across +the sea, and brought him his son.</p> + +<p>In truth Napoleon is forsaken by wife and child. This loss +cuts him no less, maybe even more cruelly, than the loss of +power, for his conception of marriage is conservative and +bourgeois. Constantly, even during the via dolorosa of his last +journey through France, he has written to Marie Louise; he +has planned a new house for her. But his letters remain unanswered. +Believing that his correspondence has been intercepted, +he at last writes to the grand duke of Tuscany, her uncle, +begging for news; for “I trust that Your Royal Highness has +preserved a little friendliness towards me, in spite of the events +which have changed the sentiments of so many men.... If so, +I beg that you will look favourably upon the tiny commune +which feels the same towards you as does Tuscany....” Ay, +thus writes the prince of this diminutive isle, a prince with no +more than twenty thousand subjects, to the mighty grand +duke! But the grand duke keeps silence.</p> + +<p>When Napoleon realises the sluggishness of the human heart, +his old defiance regains the ascendant. It is with a sense of +relief that we hear his well-known voice ring out again, after +the anguish of this grovelling letter—a letter that would never +have been written but for his wife’s sake. He exclaims: “These +sovereigns, who were wont to send me, in all solemnity, their +delegations of ambassadors, who gave a daughter of their blood +to share my bed, and who called me ‘Brother,’ are now cursing +me as a usurper, and spit upon my picture since they cannot +spit upon the original. They have bespattered the majesty +of kings with mud! What is the title of emperor? Had I no +other name to bequeath, posterity would laugh.... In classical +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_488">[488]</span>days, the vanquished were robbed of their children, that +these might be paraded before the people when the conqueror +was celebrating his triumph....”</p> + +<p>What must be the tenor of Napoleon’s thoughts when he +learns how, on that shameful day of cowardice and confusion, +the lad of four had refused to leave the palace of his father; +of how, when the little king of Rome had met his grandfather +for the first time, he had uttered the innocent words: “I have +seen the emperor of Austria. He is not handsome.” This was +precisely what Napoleon had wished to avoid. The fate of +Astyanax has been prepared for the boy; and even though he +is made much of, the child is well aware that he must no longer +mention his father’s name. Though he has received the symbolical +names of Napoleon Francis and thus embodies the unhappy +union of two antagonistic worlds, the name of Napoleon +is soon destined to be heard no more. For, when the young +cuckoo is introduced into the Habsburg nest, he is called +Francis, and nothing else. Later, when the empress’ secretary +is leaving Vienna and presents himself to take farewell, the boy +draws him into a window recess and says in a hurried whisper: +“Tell my father I love him tremendously!”</p> + +<p>What must be the tenor of Napoleon’s thoughts when he +hears gossip about a certain Neipperg, an Austrian officer, a +man of no account, and one whose only way into history is +through the bedroom of a Habsburg princess—who would herself +never have been heard of had it not been for her marriage +to Napoleon. Thus terrible are the blows of fate, and his intimates +think it natural enough when they see their master +weeping over his boy’s portrait.</p> + +<p>But now Pauline arrives, fascinating as ever, in the best of +spirits. To amuse him, she mimics the grimaces that are made +by the worthies of the island and their wives when, at the +weekly receptions, the Emperor asks them how many children +they have, and whether they think he ought to build a hospital. +As the year draws on, Italians from the mainland come +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_489">[489]</span>in increasing numbers. Persons with satisfactory recommendations—historians, +poets, men of birth, and even Englishmen—secure +a good reception; and he will talk to them for hours, +though only of the past, with never a word about the future. +He is delighted to hear such visitors rail at the Austrian regime +which has now been set up once more, but he will pay no heed +to conspirators who wish him to come to Italy as leader of a +revolt. His thoughts range towards the other coast, and by +slow degrees mature into plans.</p> + +<p>What is Paris saying?</p> + +<p>To him this is still the question of questions. The news +brought to him in the journals twice a week, and the information +he gleans from his visitors, lead him to turn new possibilities +over in his mind. But it must not be supposed that Napoleon +began the new epoch with a definite plan. When he +landed in Elba, it was an open question in his mind whether he +would ever quit the island. Still, the thought of future possibilities +was intensified in him by the usual forebodings of an +adventurer—the adventurer he had become since the failure at +Moscow. “A living drummer is better than a dead emperor.” +Slowly, as the conditions change, he makes plans and rejects +them, renews and modifies his designs. They turn upon what +is happening in Paris and in Vienna.</p> + +<p>What is Paris saying about the Bourbons? Hardly is Napoleon +away, when they make their “entry” after the usual +manner of exiled kings who return; and though the newspapers, +under duress of the censorship the Emperor had established, lie +like troopers, in his remote island he can learn the ridiculous +truth. Four persons are sitting in a small carriage. The +Parisians, whose risibilities are easily touched, certainly have +something to laugh at. The king is there, in an amazing rig-out, +in plain clothes, but decked with gigantic epaulettes; a +man so fat that he has three chins; and he smiles at the gaping +crowd. Beside him is the duchess of Angoulème, her face tearful +with reminiscence. On the opposite seat are the prince of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_490">[490]</span>Condé, a very old man, and the duke of Bourbon; they wear +the uniforms of the good old days, which none of the younger +onlookers have ever seen before. This carriage, freighted with +the resurrected ghosts of those who had been laid to rest +twenty-two years ago, was attended by Emperor Napoleon’s +sulky-looking guard, men whose uniforms, shot and slashed, +bore witness to the titanic struggles that had been waged in +the interim.</p> + +<p>The Emperor makes eager enquiries concerning the habits +of his successor on the throne, and is gratified to learn that +Louis has taken over his room without making any changes. +The king’s demeanour is said to be far from regal. According +to a German description of this date, Louis was “extremely +obese, so fat that he can hardly walk. Wearing black satin +boots, he is supported on each side, and would stumble over a +straw. He is clad in a sort of blue soutane with a turn-over +red collar and hanging golden epaulettes of an antique pattern.” +This sort of thing keeps the Emperor amused for a +whole hour. For a dozen years, England has been publishing +caricatures depicting Napoleon’s camp manners in the palace +of the Bourbons, and now this legitimate ruler, set up by England, +is a veritable caricature of a monarch. What is Louis +doing to show his good will towards the people?</p> + +<p>He has granted a constitution? But soon comes news that +this gracious gift exists only on paper. The old inequalities, +the privileges of caste, which had cost the present king’s +brother his head, are quietly stealing in through the back door. +The nobles are not liable to military service, and men of +humble birth have no chance of rising to high office. The new +nobility is made a mock of. King Louis, a good old man, +reasonable enough, is led by his brother, the gloomy count of +Artois. Around the latter are concentrated the vengeful +émigrés, who are demanding the return of their property; but +the law guarantees the rights of the actual holders. The king, +therefore, gives peerages and large pensions to the émigrés.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_491">[491]</span></p> + +<p>What is this? So the clergy is rising to power once more! +The priests are on the side of the old nobility, and by threats +of hell-fire induce the dying to execute wills in favour of the +sometime owners of confiscated property. On Sundays, though +the new constitution guarantees religious freedom, all business +is suspended under threat of punishment. Religious processions +again make their way through the streets. But there is a +reaction against ecclesiasticism. When Christian burial is +refused to an actress who has lived a gay life and is the darling +of the Parisians, there is a riot, the first under the restored +regime.</p> + +<p>People are beginning to see how much they owed to their +foreign liberator. With intense delight, the exile contemplates +a caricature showing Louis riding pillion behind a Cossack, +making his way into France over French corpses. When Wellington, +the conqueror of Spain, comes to Paris as British ambassador, +he meets angry glances when he walks the streets. +What is the new regime doing for the thousands who may no +longer remain soldiers? The officers are put on half-pay, and +those who are not practising Catholics are cashiered. A new +royal guard, consisting of gentlemen of noble birth, is richly +endowed; the nobles’ military academy is reopened; but the +schools for the orphans of members of the Legion of Honour +are done away with. Disillusionment spreads through France +more quickly than the Emperor had expected.</p> + +<p>But the tone in Elba is not Jacobin. Napoleon does not +abandon his system, although he recognises his mistakes: +“France needs an aristocracy. For its foundation, however, +time and memories are requisite. I made princes and dukes, +and gave them land and wealth; but they were men of low birth, +so it was impossible to make noblemen of them. I tried, therefore, +to unite them by marriage with old families. Had I been +granted the twenty years I wanted for the establishment of +France’s greatness, I could have done much. Fate willed +otherwise.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_492">[492]</span></p> + +<p>On the whole, like a chessplayer when the game is finished, +he frankly acknowledges the wrong moves that have led to his +defeat. Nor is he cautious in the choice of persons to whom +he pours out such confessions. He tells English visitors that +he ought to have made peace after Dresden. But when they +ask why he did not make peace in Châtillon, he answers +proudly:</p> + +<p>“I could not make a peace dishonourable to France. Belgium +was part of France when I rose to power. Could I cede +the lands I had conquered, and go back to the Bourbon frontiers? +Never!... I am a born soldier. Suddenly, I found +myself in the midst of the revolution. The throne was vacant. +I took it, and kept it as long as I could. Now I am once more +what I was to begin with, a soldier....”</p> + +<p>Those who know the man will recognise from such thoughts +that he is still unbroken. But what amazes us is the freedom +with which he speaks of the past. Never, in Elba, does he show +any desire to falsify his history. And yet, during the first +months, he believes his career finished, and has no thought of +trying a new coup de main. He even fancies that he would like +to become a justice of the peace in England. “What would +happen to me if I went to England? Would people throw +stones at me? The London mob is a dangerous factor.” The +Englishmen to whom he thus talks assure him that their country +is hospitable. He makes a mental note of this assurance.</p> + +<p>The Vienna congress is the first thing to set him in motion. +Four monarchs, allied against one republic, were at length +able, after a decade, to annihilate it; five monarchs, now all +united, had assembled to reorganise Europe, and there was no +longer an enemy worth considering to hold them in check; but +four and a half conquerors (if the Bourbon ruler can be accounted +as half) were soon to be disunited, thanks to the inborn +jealousy with which each one of them regarded his fellows. +Does the tsar want to take the whole of Poland as his share of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_493">[493]</span>the spoil; and does Prussia want Saxony? What will happen, +then, to Galicia; and what about the worthy king of Saxony, +Bourbon’s ally? A split is inevitable. By New Year, three +months after the opening of the congress, the coalition has +been broken up. Ministers and potentates who had so recently +been celebrating their victory in a series of festivities, have +begun to cheat one another. The Habsburg ruler is now +allied with England and France against the Russians and the +Prussians, by whose side the Austrians had a few months earlier +been fighting against Napoleon.</p> + +<p>Metternich’s levity, laziness, vanity, intriguing disposition +(this is Stein’s description), dominated the situation: “he twists +our excellent and victorious monarchs round his fingers.” A +Saxon nobleman writes from Vienna: “The king of Prussia is +the embodiment of wrath.... The king of Denmark is ... +well-meaning and sometimes intelligent. The king of Bavaria +looks like an uncouth and morose wagoner. The grand duke of +Baden is huge, gloomy, vain, and robust.... The old duke +of Weimar lives as jovially as ever he did.” The hopes of the +man of Elba rise as he reads and hears all this. “My time will +come,” he thinks, “when the congress goes up in the air!” +Henceforward, he is in receipt of secret information concerning +the currents of opinion in Vienna. The faithful Maret is able +to arrange an intelligence service. But while the congress, a +brightly lit pleasure ship, rolling for lack of ballast, is intriguing +and enjoying itself, in the crow’s nest sits Napoleon’s old +enemy, keeping anxious watch. He has his spies in Leghorn, +who report every ship that sails to Elba, and tell him the names +of the passengers.</p> + +<p>Thus do the old adversaries eye one another across mountains +and seas and across the documents of the diplomats, until +it seems as if all these people of importance had come together +in Vienna to furnish a lively setting for the game of chess the +two experts are playing. Does either of them recall that night +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_494">[494]</span>just before the Eighteenth Brumaire, when they had been +scared by the clatter of hoofs from the mounted patrol, and had +turned pale in their dread of arrest?</p> + +<p>This much is certain, that at Vienna Talleyrand remains a +shrewd judge of men. Regarding Murat as a dangerous personality, +he would like to have the king of Naples shipped off +to the Azores, nearly a thousand miles from the nearest continent. +But his ruling passion, avarice, comes in the way. At +the congress, Murat, driven into a corner in the defence of his +kingdom, promises Talleyrand a large sum of money in return +for the minister’s princedom of Benevento. Talleyrand therefore +drops the plan against Murat, and concocts a new scheme. +The Emperor is to be kidnapped. But the spies in Leghorn +report that this will only be possible if one of the four captains +who command his ships can be suborned.</p> + +<p>When Napoleon gets wind of these intrigues, the adventurer’s +blood of his Corsican home runs swiftly through his veins. +He has the defences of Elba strengthened, and his artillerymen +are trained in the use of hand-grenades. “I am a soldier, and +am ready to face a firing squad. But I will not be deported! +Before they can do that they will have to take my citadel by +storm.” No attempt is made. In Vienna there is now a better +understanding, and the likelihood of the rupture of negotiations +diminishes. In France, however, disaffection to the Bourbons +is growing. The general upshot is to stimulate the Emperor’s +determination. His thoughts run as follows:</p> + +<p>“If the congress closes with a peace festival after all the +documents have been signed, the phalanx will have been reconstituted. +But now, when it is still imperfectly consolidated, a +touch will break it to pieces. France is murmuring against the +Bourbons; Paris makes fun of them; every one detests the allies. +There are a hundred signs to show that the old army is devoted +to me—the Emperor. The Bourbons are fainthearts, and will +run away. As soon as I regain my position, my son and heir +will be sent back to me.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_495">[495]</span></p> + +<p>Calculations, only calculations; and never has he reckoned +more soberly. None the less, though he considers his figures +with the utmost care, in the last resort he relies upon psychological +reactions. “I count upon taking them by surprise. A +bold deed upsets people’s equanimity, and they are dumbfounded +by a great novelty.” He adds: “I am the cause of +France’s unhappiness. I must effect a cure.” In the end of +February, he sends for his treasurer. “Have you plenty of +money? How much does a million in gold weigh? What is +the weight of a hundred francs? How much does a box filled +with books weigh?... Take a couple of packing cases, put +all the gold coin you have at the bottom, and fill up the case +with my books; my valet will give them to you. Discharge the +present staff of servants; pack their trunks and pay them off. +Everything must be kept strictly secret.”</p> + +<p>In alarm, the man hastens to General Drouot. They exchange +glances, but keep their own counsel. Next day, Napoleon +orders that no ships are to leave the harbour. Everything +has been quietly prepared; an expedition like that to +Egypt, but on a small scale.</p> + +<p>On the eve of his departure, he plays a game of écarté with +the ladies; but he soon leaves the table and goes into the garden, +whence he does not return. His mother, according to her own +story, finds him sitting under a fig tree. After brief hesitation, +he lays his hand on her forehead, and says, much moved:</p> + +<p>“I will tell you all about it. No one else must know, not +even Pauline.”</p> + +<p>Then he goes back to his old tone, as if he were talking to +Berthier:</p> + +<p>“I must tell you that I am leaving next evening.”</p> + +<p>“Where are you going?”</p> + +<p>“To Paris.” A pause. “I should like your advice.”</p> + +<p>The mother’s heart stops beating for a moment. How she +has enjoyed the last six months; the period of quiet intercourse +with her son. An end to the tranquillity and the security! +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_496">[496]</span>But Letizia is a proud woman and a clever one. She knows +that nobody can hold him back when he has made up his mind, +and that the only effect of anxious dissuasion will be to disturb +his composure. She says:</p> + +<p>“Follow your destiny. It cannot be God’s will that you are +to die from poison, or after an inactive old age; though it may +well be his will that you are to die sword in hand. Let us put +our trust in Mother Mary.”</p> + +<p>On the last evening, the authorities are summoned by their +sovereign. He announces his imminent departure. “I have +been extraordinarily well pleased here. As a sign of confidence, +I am leaving my mother and my sister. To your care, too, I +entrust this country, to which I attach great importance.” +The governor and the mayor express their lively regret. The +tone befits the departure of a distinguished guest, who has been +spending a few months in a lovely island for the benefit of his +health, and is sorry that the time has come for his return home.</p> + +<p>He goes on board, and at dawn seven little frigates, carrying +a thousand men and a few guns, set sail for the French +coast. He stands on the deck. The outlines of Elba, where he +has lived so peacefully, and of Corsica, where many years before +he had made stormy attempts to force his way upwards, +fade into the distance. Slowly the coast of the French Riviera +begins to show clearly through the mists of the first day of +March. Let us look into the Emperor’s mind:</p> + +<p>“What is the minimum? Defeat and death. What is the +maximum? Europe? No use thinking any more about Europe! +The dream of the United States of Europe is finished. I cannot +get another million Frenchmen, and the foreign nations are +not ready for my scheme. I must give France a constitution, +and must accommodate myself to governing through Chambers. +The time for dictatorships is over. Besides, we are not in Paris +yet. What will the army do?”</p> + +<p>His thoughts are coloured with the spirit of the time. He is +a man of forty-five, with more past than future; no longer +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_497">[497]</span>young enough to take the world by storm, but not too old for +a desperate venture. Thus does Napoleon again draw near to +French shores, in a mood betwixt courage and renunciation.</p> + +<h3>XVI</h3> + +<p>The mountains are calling, the valleys are echoing, as the +procession of a thousand men who landed at Cannes wends its +way through one Alpine village after another. An enthusiastic +crowd encircles the old guard which has pursued its way along +the road of history without jubilation and without sorrow, imperturbable +as a rock. The peasants, these sons of the hills, in +the self-same hamlets, had once before seen him, a lean, small, +unknown general; in those days he had relieved them from the +burden of maintaining an undisciplined soldiery, and had led +the troops over the Alps to victory. These mountain folk were +the first to see the miracle he wrought; they plumed themselves +on the thought that from their villages the Emperor had +gone forth. And now, of a sudden, he is among them again! +Surely the procession of the thousand will work a spell, and +seem to be the march of prophets and saviours?</p> + +<p>They come from their mountain fastnesses; women and children +bring up the rear; songs against the king are composed +and sung; in the lesser towns, the bolder spirits force the city +fathers to go forth to meet the new comer; for more than a +hundred miles he encounters none but peasants.</p> + +<p>Napoleon had reckoned upon this. He would not face a +march through Aix and Avignon, through the monarchical +provinces. He preferred to leave his few cannon behind in the +snow-covered mountain paths, in order the quicker to reach +Dauphiné. Here the peasants had received the most generous +distribution of the nobles’ lands. They are full of anger now +against king, priest, and émigré, who, after the lapse of twenty-five +years, are contesting the peasants’ right to hold these +lands. Was not the great revolution made to protect the poor? +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_498">[498]</span>Was it not made by peasants in the country and workmen in +the town? The Consul had not taken back anything from +them; even the Emperor had only called up their sons; they +have never ceased to look upon him as one of themselves, for +their minds moved slowly and their hearts were constant. +Now, the king had come back again, and forthwith the nobles +had begun to squabble over the fields the peasant had tilled.</p> + +<p>The souls of the countryfolk were heavy at the change of +fortune. Fifteen years ago the mood had been similar when +Napoleon, returning from Egypt in his little ship, had landed, +and the whole of southern France had hailed him as saviour. +What can have happened in the last ten months, to make these +people receive with every token of joy the man whom they had +so recently execrated? True, he had passed through another +part of the country at that time; and the national misfortune +had needed a scapegoat. His disfavour among the folk had +been as brief as his defeat. But belief in him lasted as long as +the years of his glory.</p> + +<p>What will the first troops we meet do? He himself, when +he took leave, had urged them to serve the fatherland. And +the fatherland was the king! They wear the Bourbon’s white +cockade, they eat the king’s bread, from the lips of patrician +officers they have received a new and ugly picture of the erstwhile +leader. Everything will depend on his power of suggestion. +Uncertain feelings govern his heart as he strides inland +from Cannes. To his left, lies the fort of Antibes. Does he +recognise the tower wherein he was thrown when Robespierre +fell? In just such a tower, the Bourbon will fling him, against +just such a wall Europe will stand him, if he should fail on the +morrow to accomplish what his glance and his word have so +often succeeded in doing before.</p> + +<p>Outside Grenoble, near La Mure, he has his first encounter +with the royal troops. They have orders to exterminate him +and his “band of brigands”; the officers have taken the oath to +the king just as in former days they had taken the oath to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_499">[499]</span>Emperor. The order to attack is given. Is the blood of +brethren to be shed? That is what Napoleon has spent a lifetime +in avoiding. Is this highway to be turned into a battle-field? +He alights from his horse, takes ten strides towards +them, and shouts:</p> + +<p>“Soldiers of the fifth army corps! Don’t you know me? +If there is one among you who wishes to kill his Emperor, let +him come forward and do so. Here I am!” Saying which, he +throws open his grey cloak.</p> + +<p>A terrible pause. What will happen?</p> + +<p>Those are our brethren! This is our general! We have seen +him in so many battles, standing on a hillock, or sitting over +the bivouac fire, or facing the musket shots and cannon balls! +Must not nature and remembrance overpower the influence of +recent vows? The soldiers cry: “Vive l’Empereur!” A general +running to and fro ensues, guards and soldiers mingling; caps +are stuck upon bayonet points—what does one more hole in the +blue cloth matter? An hour later, two thousand instead of +one thousand fall in behind their leader.</p> + +<p>This encounter on the high road to Grenoble, this moment +of time, his call, his aspect, were decisive. The man of action +had won back to leadership through his own deed; the middle-aged +warrior had regained life, power, and realm, by a look and +a word. Thus he reaches Grenoble. By a manifesto he communicates +his thoughts to the people:</p> + +<p>“Frenchmen!... After the fall of Paris my heart was torn, +but my spirit remained unshaken.... My life belongs to you, +and must once more be made useful to you. In my exile, I heard +your plaints and your cries.... You accused me of too long +a slumber, saying I was sacrificing the interests of the country +to my own repose. Encompassed by dangers, I have sailed over +the sea. Now I am in your midst, to demand my rights, which +are also your rights.</p> + +<p>“Soldiers! We are not conquered!... Marmont’s treachery +delivered the capital into the hands of the enemy, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_500">[500]</span>disorganised our army.... Now I have come! Your general, +who was elected to the throne by the suffrage of the +people, and raised aloft on your shields, has returned to you. +Rally to him!... Wear the tricolour cockade again, the +cockade of our days of victory! Let the eagles which you bore +at Ulm and Austerlitz, at Jena, Eylau, and Friedland, at +Eckmühl and Wagram, at Smolensk and on the Moskva, at +Lützen and Montmirail, once more wave on high!... Possessions, +rank, and glory, for yourselves and for your children, +have no worse foes than those princes who have been forced +upon you by foreign powers.... Victory will guide us forward +through the storms, and the eagles shall fly from one +church steeple to the other until at last they alight on Notre +Dame!”</p> + +<p>Vive l’Empereur! The troops in Grenoble, together with the +imperial nobles, come over. Seven thousand men follow him +to Lyons. Lyons comes over. Masséna, who had been serving +the king, journeys from Marseilles and pays homage to the +Emperor.</p> + +<p>“Where is Ney?” Embarrassed silence. “With the king?”</p> + +<p>They tell him about the council of war in Paris. Since the +terrible news was brought, the fat king and his lean court have +sat there trembling. The “Moniteur,” which had lied in Napoleon’s +favour for fifteen years, now lies on behalf of the king: +the Emperor, it announces, is dead. Just as they are deliberating +what to do, old Count Condé enters the room and asks his +royal cousin whether on Maundy Thursday the king himself +should not officiate at the washing of feet. The king is writing +a manifesto to the army. But who is sitting by him, his mainstay, +the true leader of the Bourbon army? What is the man’s +name?</p> + +<p>It is Marshal Ney. When, on the retreat from Moscow he +had been cut off from the main body and appeared to be lost, +his master had cried: “Ney is lost! I would give the two hundred +millions from my cellars in the Tuileries, if I had him +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_501">[501]</span>again!” Now he rises from among the royal plenipotentiaries +gathered round the conference table; he swears to annihilate +his sometime master. But when the breeze of general +enthusiasm sweeps by him, he veers; his corps dons the tricolour +cockade, and in Besançon he sends word to the Emperor that +he would like to write a vindication of his conduct. But the +Emperor waves the proposal aside, saying: “Tell him I love +him the same as ever, and that to-morrow I shall embrace him.”</p> + +<p>What a master-stroke! True, he forgives; but he leaves Ney +on tenterhooks till the morrow. Next day, the marshal stammers: +“I love you, Sire; but as a son of the fatherland ... I +was forced to kneel down before that fat hog to receive the +cross of St. Louis! Had you not come, we should have chased +him away ourselves.”</p> + +<p>“Marvellous! How vacillating he is, how pale!” These +thoughts flit through the Emperor’s mind as he asks his questions.</p> + +<p>The count of Artois has fled. The very morning of the +flight, the guards had sworn to die with him; by midday, they +had rallied to the Emperor. Such behaviour does not please +Napoleon, and he keeps this portion of the guard at arm’s +length. But there is one man who had remained loyal to Louis +until the Bourbon was in safety; not till then does he change +sides. This recruit, Napoleon welcomes, and with his own +hand decorates him with the emblem of the Legion of Honour!</p> + +<p>But what a change! The more this avalanche of soldiers +grows as he marches forward towards Paris, the more peaceful +do his speeches become. In one town after another, he addresses +the municipal councillors and the citizens in the following +words: “War is at an end. Peace and liberty! The +principles of the revolution must be protected from the onslaughts +of the émigrés. The treaties with Europe must be +adhered to. France will win back her glory without war. We +must be content to be the most esteemed nation, without trying +to dominate other countries.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_502">[502]</span></p> + +<p>Does the people grasp the significance of the new tone? If +the nation understands, is there belief in its genuineness? Must +one be content? Glory without war? To a high official, an +old acquaintance whom he meets on the march and in whom at +length he finds an intelligent listener after addressing dull-witted +citizens and partisan officers, he gives this political explanation:</p> + +<p>“The spirit of the people is changed. In earlier days, the +nation thought only of glory; now it thinks only of liberty. +In the past, I brought the nation glory; I will not withhold +liberty now. Freedom can be enjoyed in full, when power rests +upon a good constitution.... Only—no anarchy! That +would bring us back to the days of the despotic republicans, +when every one had a finger in the pie. I shall retain only so +much power as is essential for governing properly.”</p> + +<p>In the naïve closing sentence lies the new problem. He has +broached the question; he is determined to stabilise the basic +ideas of democracy. One thing is the same as on the Eighteenth +Brumaire: no party politics! “I don’t want to write to them,” +he says, when advised to forgive the turncoats. “They would +believe that I was pledged to them. How are things in the +Tuileries?”</p> + +<p>“Nothing has been changed; not even the eagles have been +removed.” He is gay, bubbling over with good humour. He +laughs.</p> + +<p>“I suppose King Louis found the eagles decorative! What +are they playing at the theatre? How is Talma? Were you +at court? I’ve been told that the Bourbons looked like parvenus, +did not know what to talk about, nor how to behave.”</p> + +<p>How inquisitive he is! How full of malicious joy! How +he yearns for the air of Paris! He seeks his revenge in mockery, +he whom the others had so long held up to ridicule. He is +told of the parsimony of the court. He is shown the king’s +effigy on a twenty-franc piece.</p> + +<p>“Do you see? They’ve got it again: ‘God protect the king’! +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_503">[503]</span>My device is: ‘God protect France’! They’ve left out those +words. They were always like that: everything for themselves; +nothing for France!” In the course of three minutes +he enquires after twenty persons. When he is told that Hortense +has been made a duchess, he answers simply:</p> + +<p>“She should have called herself Madame Bonaparte. That +name is worth more than all the rest.”</p> + +<p>His words are symbolic of the new epoch. If he calls himself +Bonaparte once more, grants a constitution, allows liberty, +and does not grasp at more power than he actually needs, he +can make himself king of France. Then, after the failure of +his attempt at the unification of Europe, he will still be able to +become the happy exemplar of a modern prince by God’s grace. +He has always ruled as circumstances might dictate. Now, +called to power for the second time, and after his imaginative +flight towards far horizons, he will still prove himself a master. +The road lies open.</p> + +<p>The road to Paris is likewise open. The Bourbon king has +run away, and the majority of the inhabitants are on the Emperor’s +side. Any one who might still have dreaded a fight with +the last royal troops, must have overestimated them. When +the Emperor is yet a hundred miles from the capital, the +remnants of the royal guard flee from the city. The Emperor’s +army overtakes the king, but allows him to escape to a seaport, +being content to take the silver he is carrying off with him in +sixty carts, and to seize his cannon. France has a hearty +laugh at this fat old gentleman, who had been escorted from +England to Paris by enemy soldiers, and now makes all speed +back to England with the soldiers of France chasing him.</p> + +<p>Paris is calm. The town has long since forgotten how to +take the initiative. During the twenty days between the Emperor’s +landing in the south and his arrival at the capital, the +thermometer of the press registers the following degrees: “The +monster has escaped from his place of exile.”—“The Corsican +werewolf has landed at Cannes.”—“The tiger appeared at Gap, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_504">[504]</span>troops were sent against him, the wretched adventurer ended +his career in the mountains.”—“The fiend has actually, thanks +to treachery, been able to get as far as Grenoble.”—“The +tyrant has reached Lyons, where horror paralysed all attempts +at resistance.”—“The usurper has dared to advance within a +hundred and fifty miles of the capital.”—“Bonaparte moves +northward with rapid strides, but he will never reach Paris.”—“To-morrow +Napoleon will be at our gates.”—“His Majesty +is at Fontainebleau.”</p> + +<p>When, at length, without having had to fire a shot, the Emperor +mounts the steps of the palace he had been compelled to +leave thirteen months before, Paris is overawed by his soldiers, +and the émigrés have fled with the king. All is quiet. He notes +the fact, listens attentively, and says: “They have let me come, +just as they let the others go.”</p> + +<p>Now he has his first disappointment! The march on Paris +had been glorious, and in after days he spoke of it as the most +splendid experience in his life. But here, in the city which will +ultimately decide his fate, the city whose favour he has wooed +more assiduously than he ever fought for any realm, the city he +has never wholly conquered, he encounters moral resistance. +Those whose favour he courts are no longer in the arms of their +new friend; but they are listless, as if, after excess of passion, +their vital energy had run down. Still, here he is, and he must +bestir himself.</p> + +<p>He looks to Vienna for a sign.</p> + +<p>A week after Napoleon’s landing in France, Metternich goes +to bed at three o’clock, and is awakened at six by a messenger +who hands him a despatch. He reads the inscription on the +envelope, “General Consulate, Genoa,” angrily turns over and +goes to sleep again. He does not open the missive till several +hours later, to read: “Campbell, the English commissioner, has +just called to enquire whether Napoleon has been seen in Genoa. +He has vanished from the island of Elba.”</p> + +<p>The bomb! Those who were yesterday still intriguing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_505">[505]</span>against one another, now become thick as thieves once more. +The vows which have so often been broken are renewed. The +first to think of declaring the man an outlaw is Baron vom +Stein, whom Napoleon had outlawed five years earlier. The +possibility is discussed, but father-in-law Francis of Habsburg +cannot make up his mind to the step; he would like to ask +Marie Louise first. Four years ago she was devoted to her +husband. She has never breathed a word of complaint to her +father or to any of her women friends. Why should she? +Napoleon had done whatever she wanted; she had been courted +and wealthy; he had been the most equable of husbands; the +parents had shared in the games of the little boy. Will she +now become the Emperor’s advocate?</p> + +<p>The wife of Napoleon and the mistress of the Austrian officer +prefers to take up her pen and write a formal declaration +to the congress. She will have nothing to do with the Emperor, +and she will put herself under the protection of the allies. Such +is her answer to that hour when Napoleon had had to choose +between the mother’s life and the child’s, and had decided in +favour of the mother. Not until his wife has cast her vote +against him, is the Emperor made an outlaw: “The powers +declare that Napoleon Bonaparte has placed himself outside the +bounds of civil and social relationships, and that as an enemy +and disturber of the peace of the world he is consigned to +public prosecution.”</p> + +<p>The tidings leave him unmoved. He is used to being outlawed. +When he left Corsica, he and all his relatives were under +sentence of outlawry. The word “outlaw” had been shouted +at him in the Orangerie at Saint-Cloud. The pope had pronounced +the major excommunication against him. All three +anathemas had glanced harmless from his coat of mail, so that +he deemed himself impregnable. But this fourth ban will lay +him low.</p> + +<p>He still continues to hope in the Habsburg. Announcing his +intention to summon the Electoral Colleges of the Empire to a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_506">[506]</span>great assembly, he speaks of the gathering, in Carlovingian +terminology, as a Champ de Mai, for he intends to have the +empress and his son crowned there. He thinks that this will +ensure Austrian support, and writes to his wife:</p> + +<p>“I am master of France. The people and the army are wild +with enthusiasm! No one but the so-called king has run away +to England.... I expect you here in April with my son.” +The thought of his dynasty is ineradicable.</p> + +<p>But even this most natural of feelings assumes a distorted +form, for his feelings are in pawn to the old world. Writing +to the man who has just outlawed him, he says: “At the +moment when providence has recalled me to the capital of my +States, it is my chief desire, the object of my tenderest inclination, +to see my wife and son once more.” He goes on to +speak of his wife, who must certainly reciprocate his longing. +Then: “All my endeavours are directed towards the firm establishment +of this throne which the love of my people guarantees +and restores to me; and towards handing it down to my son in +due time, based upon an imperishable foundation.... Since a +lasting peace is essential to the attainment of this important +and sacred aim, there is nothing nearer to my heart than to +remain at peace with all the powers.”</p> + +<p>Is this sublime, or is it ridiculous? Napoleon renounces war, +and abandons his designs on Europe. He speaks truth when +he says that he needs nothing more than France. The monarchs +who had conquered him last year have formed a new +alliance against him, and have declared him an outlaw. The +sentence of outlawry has been signed by Emperor Francis, in +the Austrian capital, with Marie Louise’s express authorisation. +She had left him after the last defeat; had thrown up the +regency which she had sworn to carry on faithfully; had taken +the boy with her; had thrown herself into another man’s arms, +and is still living with him: the Emperor knows these things. +But now, instead of beginning the new era with a clear-cut +severance from all that has overthrown and disappointed him, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_507">[507]</span>he begins by suing for the friendship of this old throne which +had triumphed over his new one.</p> + +<p>This is the ban, this is the outlawry, which will for the second +time bring him to his doom.</p> + +<h3>XVII</h3> + +<p>The adventurer now becomes a rat-catcher, like the Pied +Piper of Hamelin. Bourbon had been clever enough to invite +the best talents to serve him; and as a result of this, when once +the royalist national anthem had been sung, all went smoothly +for him. Some of these men know not whether to go or +to stay: they wait upon events. But Napoleon, who has always +commanded, who has never canvassed for any one’s services, +places the flute of the tempter to his lips: he knows that +now is the time for suggestion and smiles. The loyal few, he +restores to their posts, with a shake of the hand. Maret, +Davoust, and Caulaincourt, form part of his ministry.</p> + +<p>He knows all that those who have proved ungrateful have +been doing, and he judges them by their record. Officials, officers, +and court dignitaries, again flock to his levees. A count +of the old aristocracy comes likewise. Napoleon had called this +man back from exile and had made him senator; but at the +Bourbon restoration the count had gone over to the king. Now, +as the Emperor draws near, the count casts his eyes heavenward +and seems to imply that his actions were dictated by +God’s inscrutable will. The Emperor smiles. Not a word is +exchanged. But the count comes no more to court. When, on +the other hand, one of Marmont’s generals, a man who had delivered +a decisive speech in the war council before the marshal’s +defection, approaches Napoleon and begins to stammer out an +explanation, the Emperor does not smile. He says, in an overbearing +tone: “What do you want of me? Can you not see +that I do not know you?”</p> + +<p>Here is Oudinot: for twenty years he was Bonaparte’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_508">[508]</span>companion-in-arms; now he comes back to the Emperor. “You +see, Oudinot? You were worshipped as a god by the Lorrainers; +two hundred thousand peasants were ready, even last +year, to go through fire and water for your sake. To-day I +have to protect you against these same peasants!”</p> + +<p>Here is Rapp. He has wavered longer than the rest, and +even now comes hesitatingly to his master. “You’ve kept us +waiting a long time! Did you really want to take up arms +against me?”</p> + +<p>Rapp is an Alsatian, half a German, and as such he is more a +man of duty than a man of feeling: “My duty, Sire, constrained +me.”</p> + +<p>“Diable! The soldiers would not have obeyed you; your +Alsatians would have stoned you!”</p> + +<p>But Rapp is nothing if not thorough: “You must admit, +Sire, the position was a difficult one. You abdicate, you leave +France, you advise us to serve the king, you come again....”</p> + +<p>“Were you often here? How did they treat you? At first, +I suppose, they flattered you. Soon they’d have chucked you +out of doors. That is what your fate would have been.... +Have you read Chateaubriand’s pamphlet? Is it true that I am +a coward on the battle-field? They are always accusing me of +ambition because they have nothing better to say. Does one +get as fat as I, if one is constantly being spurred on by ambition?... +Once again, General, we must serve France. Then +we can be gathered to our fathers.”</p> + +<p>In such a debonair and lively manner does he play with this +doughty and decorous old comrade. But Rapp holds his own: +“You must admit, Sire, that you made a mistake in not concluding +peace after Dresden. You treated as nonsensical my +reports concerning German sentiment....” The Emperor is +quick with his repartee:</p> + +<p>“You do not understand what such a peace would have +meant!” Suddenly his tone changes into one more suitable to +the camp than to this palace and to this hour; it is intimate +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_509">[509]</span>and familiar, and goes home to Rapp’s heart: “Or were you +perhaps afraid of beginning a fresh war, you who for fifteen +long years had acted as my adjutant? When you returned +from Egypt you were nothing more than a soldier. I have +made a man of you. To-day you can have whatever you like +to ask for.... I shall never forget your conduct before +Moscow. At Danzig you achieved the greatest that any man +could achieve. Ney and you, you belong to the tiny legion of +those who have strength of character!” The Emperor embraces +him, kisses him again and again. Then, pulling Rapp’s +moustache, he says:</p> + +<p>“Eh? One of the braves of Egypt and Austerlitz—and you +wanted to forsake me! You shall take command of the army +on the Rhine, while I am dealing with the Prussians and the +Russians. In two months, I hope you will be receiving my wife +and my son in Strasburg. From to-day, you are my adjutant!”</p> + +<p>“At your orders, Sire!”</p> + +<p>Had the Emperor ever seen <i>Wallenstein’s Death</i> performed +on the German stage, as had, perhaps, that would-be murderer +in Poland? He must have this fellow, Rapp, about him. The +man is fundamentally honest, and is as brave as he is honourable; +of all the Grand Army, he is the officer who was most +frequently wounded. He only went over to the king from a +sense of duty; he is not to be bought by the lure of promises. +And yet, in a quarter of an hour, he is not only the Emperor’s +man once more, but has accepted the posts of army commander +and adjutant, as of old. Fidelity, Napoleon realised it well, +is what the Emperor most urgently needs.</p> + +<p>Ney’s case is a more difficult one. Remorse keeps Ney sleepless. +With distraught countenance and extravagant words he +addresses his master: “Perhaps you have heard, Sire, before I +marched to Besançon, I said at the council of war—here, in the +Tuileries, I promised the king—”</p> + +<p>“Well, what did you promise?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_510">[510]</span></p> + +<p>“To bring you in an iron cage, and place you before his +throne—”</p> + +<p>The Emperor stiffens. Then: “Foolishness! Such thoughts +are unworthy of a soldier!”</p> + +<p>“You are mistaken, Sire,” exclaims the Marshal yet more +excitedly; “allow me to finish. I said it, yes—but—I wanted +to hide my real feelings—”</p> + +<p>The Emperor is incensed. Ney quickly withdraws, and only +after the lapse of two months takes command in the campaign. +Thus near to madness had these iron warriors been brought +through their struggle between duty and inclination, when the +one great will which mastered them had been withdrawn. +Berthier, who also rallied to Napoleon, had gone through the +same experience.</p> + +<p>“The donkey,” exclaims the Emperor leniently, when talking +of his old favourite. “He’s a good fellow. I ask nothing of +him than that he should present himself before me in the uniform +of the royal guard!” But Berthier, since the Emperor’s +return, rushes all night through the rooms of his mansion, +and at last throws himself headlong from a balcony, like Junot, +to perish on the cobbles instead of dying in the battle-field.</p> + +<p>Forwards! We have no time for loitering! Who else is +there? Ah, Madame de Staël pops up again. This old opponent +writes to him, admires his conduct, and promises that +if he will restore the two million francs which France still owes +her father, she will in future devote her literary gifts to the +cause of France. The pity of it! Through making this stipulation, +so splendid a woman must come down to history as +beaten in the game! The Emperor mischievously replies that, +to his great regret, he is not wealthy enough to fulfil her +condition.</p> + +<p>Who else is there? Marmont? Augereau? They are declared +outlaws by the Emperor, because they sold the fatherland +to the foreigner. And then, at long last, Talleyrand +likewise! The lightning flashes that travel from Vienna to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_511">[511]</span>Paris and from Paris to Vienna strike a deadly blow at this +hostile friendship which has lasted for eighteen years. Each +man thinks in his secret heart: “A pity that so fine a brain +should be working for the other side!”</p> + +<p>What about the second of the Dioscuri? Fouché is back +again! He takes up his service as Minister of Police in the +twofold capacity of working for and against his master. He +says of the Emperor: “Well, he’s here. We none of us exactly +wished him back again; now we shall have to keep close watch +on him.... The man has returned even madder than when +he left. I give him three months!” Meanwhile, he corresponds +with Metternich; but spies soon tell the Emperor, who +angrily apostrophises him: “You are a traitor!” Lavalette, +who is in waiting, hears the words through the half-open door. +“Why do you consent to be my minister if you mean to betray +me? I know that you are exchanging letters with Metternich +through the intermediation of a bank official in Basle. I +could have you hanged, and all the world would applaud my +action.” Fouché’s answer has not been recorded!</p> + +<p>The minister owed his present position to his radical outlook, +for he had been a revolutionary in theory ever since +Robespierre’s time. The Emperor needed him in the cabinet as +a decoy for the democrats. But Fouché not only betrayed his +master to Metternich, he likewise betrayed Metternich to the +radicals; he wanted to set up a republic—with Fouché at the +head. Carnot, who was a more violent antagonist of the king +than even the Emperor himself had been, now, for the first time +since the days of the Directory, entered the ministry.</p> + +<p>But, as spiritual leader, the Emperor wins over his whilom +enemy, Benjamin Constant, a friend of Madame de Staël. This +old-time democrat, who had recently been thundering in the press +against the brigand of Elba and comparing him to Attila and +to Genghis Khan, is needed now that the Emperor proposes to +govern through Chambers. Napoleon, therefore, invites Constant +to an audience. The Emperor has not seen him for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_512">[512]</span>fifteen years. The interview, recorded by Constant, occupies +four pages of print. We are shown, without periphrases, the +last transformation of Napoleon, the statesman who was ever +ready to adapt his course to the demands of practical politics.</p> + +<p>“The nation again wishes for tribunes and assemblies. It +has always wanted them, for it threw itself at my feet when I +climbed to power.... I assumed less power than was actually +conceded me. To-day, all is otherwise. The preference for +constitutions, for elections, for speeches, is again to the fore. +This is, however, the desire of a minority. The majority desires +myself, alone.... I am not only the soldiers’ Emperor; +I am also the Emperor of the workers and peasants.... +Thus, in spite of all, the people comes back to me. I treat +the people severely, I never flatter the people; and yet the +people cries: ‘Long live the Emperor!’ This is because there +are common bonds between us....</p> + +<p>“It is otherwise with nobility. The nobles thronged my ante-rooms +begging and receiving the posts they coveted.... But +no common bond has ever existed between us. The horse submitted +to the rider, it had been well trained; all the same, I +felt it tremble beneath me.... Yes, I endeavoured to set up +a world monarchy, and for this I needed unfettered power. +Who, in my place, would not have wished to do likewise? Did +not the world itself encourage me? Princes and subjects hastened +to come beneath my sceptre’s sway.... But if France is +to be the whole of my dominions, then a constitution is better....</p> + +<p>“Tell me your ideas. Freedom of speech, free elections, responsible +ministers, freedom of the press?... I am agreeable +to all this. Especially the freedom of the press. To try and +crush this any longer would be absurd.... I am the man of +the people. If the people really wants freedom, I must give +it.... I am no longer a conqueror; I can no longer be a conqueror. +I know what is possible and what is impossible. My +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_513">[513]</span>sole mission now is to set France on her feet once more and +to give her a constitution adapted to the temperament of her +people....</p> + +<p>“I do not hate freedom, although I gave it a wide berth +when I met it on my way. I understand liberty; I was nourished +on this idea. The labours of fifteen years have been +destroyed; if I wished to begin all over again, I should need +twenty years and should have to sacrifice two million men.... +I want peace; I can get it only through victory. I will not +fill you with false hopes; I foresee a terrible war. In order +to win through, I must have the support of the people. The +people will ask for freedom in exchange for its support. Very +well, the people shall have freedom.... My situation is a new +one for me. I am getting older. At forty-five one is no longer +the man one was at thirty. The repose of a constitutional king +would suit me excellently. And I am sure that this state of +things would meet with the approval of my son.”</p> + +<p>Such were the basic ideas of Emperor Napoleon on his return +from Elba; he was to become king of France. That his +ideas are genuine and his intentions pure, is proved by the +realism of his motives. We have not to do with a man who +pretends to a change of heart; this is no hero who, in commune +with his maker upon an island, has become a saint. Here we +have the man himself, wishful to rule as circumstances permit; +a man who has ever been mindful of public opinion. He recognises +that he has to do with a new epoch. If he himself did not +inaugurate such an epoch, at least, through his fall, he made +its realisation possible. Napoleon feels that a land which has +experienced the dictatorship of genius, can no longer revert to +the dictatorship of inheritance. If the spirit of the revolution +has become petrified into a single huge figure, a new structure +must arise from its ruins, and the stone blocks that are used in +the building must be so placed as to secure wider levels and a +less tapering pinnacle. In very truth, the son of the revolution, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_514">[514]</span>even when he becomes a tyrant, cannot be succeeded by a king +who reigns by God’s grace. He can only be succeeded by +democracy.</p> + +<p>For this reason, the Emperor deals more severely with the +émigrés than he was wont; he confiscates estates; he disbands +the royal guard; and does at the end of his career what he +should have done at the start, namely, he abolishes feudal titles, +thus ridding himself of the old nobility whose false compliments +had cost him so dear. By these decrees he recreates the revolutionary +spirit, and makes it stronger than it has been since his +coronation, eleven years earlier. He issues the following declaration +to the civil authorities:</p> + +<p>“I have returned to-day for the same reason which brought +me back from Egypt: because things are not going well with +the fatherland.... I do not want to carry on any more wars. +We have to forget that we were masters of the world.... In +those days, I pursued the aim of creating a great United States +of Europe, and I was compelled to neglect many points of +home policy which would have secured the freedom of the +citizens of France. Now I shall work for no other object than +for France’s consolidation and tranquillity, for the protection +of property, for the free interchange of ideas: the prince must +be the first servitor of the State.” Among the hearers are many +who, but a year ago, amid the thunder crashes of the catastrophe, +had listened to other words uttered by these self-same +lips: “I am the State.” Nevertheless they pin their faith to +his new constitution, whose elaboration is entrusted to Constant.</p> + +<p>When the constitution is placed before them, they are +alarmed. “Additional Act?” Are we once more to be cheated? +The democrats pour forth a hail of criticism. Simultaneously, +news comes from Vienna: the powers declare war on Napoleon; +no harm shall come to France. A signal! For twenty years, +so the saying runs through the land, we have desired peace. +At last we have got it. Is it once more to come to an end? +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_515">[515]</span>“I cannot hide the fact from you any longer,” says a councillor +of State to the Emperor; “the women are your declared enemies, +and these opponents are always dangerous in France.” No one +wants any more levies to be made. Instead of two hundred +and fifty thousand men, only sixty thousand answer his call.</p> + +<p>This decision of the powers is an expression of the mood of +the princes, and not of the peoples they govern, for these, just +like the French people, are eager for repose. The sentence of +outlawry is not so much a political move as an insistence on a +point of honour, and the expression of Emperor Francis’ desire +to exact moral vengeance. But it gnaws at the foundation of +Napoleon’s power. When he had first come back, France had +been in his favour. Since, however, all the other States of +Europe are against him, France will make no more sacrifices on +his behalf. The funds, which had risen when he reached Paris, +fall.</p> + +<p>The Emperor is alarmed. An intimate, from whom he has +asked news of the recruiting campaign, says to him: “Your +Majesty will not be left unsupported.” To which the Emperor +replies in low tones: “I was almost afraid I should be!”</p> + +<p>His friends find him less active than of yore; he is fatter, his +features are lax, he needs many hot baths, and lies in them +a long time; he takes a great deal of sleep. “He seemed full +of cares,” writes one of his circle. “The self-confidence of his +speeches, his authoritative tone, had vanished.”</p> + +<p>Only four weeks ago, at his first advent, he appeared rejuvenated +and lively. Why this relapse?</p> + +<p>First and foremost, his wife’s behaviour has shaken him. A +semi-anonymous letter from Vienna, addressed to Lavalette, +has fallen into his hands. Herein are described Marie Louise’s +scorn for the Emperor, her love for Neipperg; and a number of +shameful details are added. The Emperor is surprised holding +this letter, in his dimly lighted study, crouched over the +fire, silent.</p> + +<p>When Méneval, who was to have accompanied Marie Louise +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_516">[516]</span>on her return journey to Paris, comes back from Vienna, he +finds the Emperor, in the very midst of these eventful weeks, +lying on a sofa, sunk deep in reverie. For many hours that +day, and for half the next, the secretary has to give his master +a precise account of everything that is happening over there, +of all he has observed. The Emperor spoke as though “overwhelmed +by a calm sorrowfulness, and seemed so resigned that +I was deeply moved. He was no longer confident of victory, +and I felt that his belief in his good luck, which had sustained +him during the march to Paris, had forsaken him.” Méneval +has to describe every trait and gesture of the little son. The +Emperor, an ageing man, paces to and fro in the garden on +this day in May, alone; he has to rely on a stranger’s word to +know what his boy is like, whether the child is growing up to +resemble his father or his grandfather.</p> + +<p>These things weigh him down. Tragically, the conflicts within +him are renewed. Now that he wishes to be a democrat in response +to the spirit of the time, now that his will-to-peace is +great, the menace from without frustrates his attempts to +establish democracy or maintain peace. If no one in Europe +were to lift a finger in order to replace Louis on the throne, +Napoleon might content himself with ruling within the boundaries +of France, might introduce the freedoms he had promised. +But the powers, which have no more lands to reclaim (since they +have received back all that was ever taken from them, and now +possess what they had had before the revolution), come forward +as they had in ’92, because the wind blowing from this stormy +corner of Europe threatens their inherited calm, and because +none of the monarchs can sleep sound o’ nights so long as their +Bourbon cousin is standing on the English shore of the Channel +looking plaintively across the waters towards France, the land +of his fathers.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp62" id="illus17" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus17.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Napoleon as Emperor in 1814. Painting by Horace Vernet. + Tate Gallery, London.</p> + <p>(From the “Corpus Imaginum” of the Photographic + Society, Charlottenburg.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Never had Napoleon taken up arms more reluctantly than he +did when this war was forced upon him by the Vienna decree. +Never had the rapidity and clear-sightedness of a dictator or +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_517">[517]</span>the sympathy of public opinion been more necessary to him +than in this terrible crisis. Just now, when every one wants +peace, he is obliged to arm for war; just now, when he is to +bestow liberties on the people, his actions are hampered at +every turn. The struggle of the legitimists with this interloper +(the upshot of which had been his own legitimisation), the +struggle which had placed him on the throne, is resumed when, +too late, he is cured of his longing to pose as legitimate monarch. +Though he is reaching out towards liberty once more, +he is now to sustain his final defeat.</p> + +<p>Thus the great renewal gets no further than the Additional +Act to the Constitutions of the Empire, which, as earlier with +his great decrees, he leaves to the approval of the “sovereign +people.”</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the sixty-seven articles evolved out of Constant’s +head contain all the newer democratic elements; they are +a great advance upon English constitutional law, and remain +as a model for the whole of the subsequent century. No one +henceforward can be imprisoned or banished without due form +of law; religious belief and the press are to be free. The legislative +body is changed into a Lower House, the Senate becomes +an Upper House without the former privileges, all deliberations +are open to the public, both Houses may initiate legislation and +reject the budget, the ministers are to be responsible to parliament, +the interpretation of the law devolves upon the Chambers.</p> + +<p>A number of new laws, each a dagger in the dictator’s heart! +Yet he yields in everything save two points which he carries, +after a lively debate against Constant: the hereditariness of the +peerage, into which “after one or two successful battles,” the +nobility would again pour; and his right to confiscation, for +“without this right I should be defenceless against the party +factions. I am not an angel, but a man who cannot allow himself +to be attacked without meting out punishment.”</p> + +<p>These two concessions to him create as bad an impression as +the words “Additional Act” had done. Since he will allow no +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_518">[518]</span>discussion on the matter, but only consents to the empty form +of a plebiscite, as he had done in the days when he wished to +become consul for life and subsequently emperor, the democrats +begin to grumble, and no one is aware how greatly the +nation is to be congratulated on this latest work of its leader. +Instead of the four million votes he had received of yore, his +constitution receives only just over one and a half million +votes, for most of the citizens abstain.</p> + +<p>A few venture to protest. Honest Carnot says: “Your Additional +Act has not pleased the people; it will not meet with +acceptance. Promise me that you will amend it. I must tell +you the truth, for your and our salvation hangs upon your +tolerance.” His tone is upright, but wholly unprecedented. +Since the days when Bonaparte was a lieutenant no one had +ever spoken thus to him. He makes a gesture of annoyance, +and Carnot continues: “This word alarms you, Sire? Yes, you +must show tolerance in the face of the national will.”</p> + +<p>“The foe is at our gates,” answers the veteran soldier. +“First of all, help to chase him away. Then I shall have +time to occupy myself with your liberal panaceas.” Even +though he profoundly recognises the demands of the new age, +he finds it impossible to deliberate with representatives of the +people.</p> + +<p>Napoleon knows only how to command!</p> + +<h3>XVIII</h3> + +<p>On a bright spring morning, the plain is lively as on days of +high festival. The Parisians are flocking in crowds to the +Champ de Mai. The whole town has come forth to this revival +of the Carlovingian folk assembly. The old troops are there, +and the new. The platforms are gaily decorated with tricolours. +Six hundred deputies and several hundred peers are +waiting for the Emperor, who is to take the oath to the new +constitution before starting on his campaign. It is the first +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_519">[519]</span>time for two or three years that the people of the gay city have +had a chance of glutting their lust for merrymaking. Under +the king, all had been sober and staid.</p> + +<p>Now the procession is coming forth from the town; from afar +can be heard the fanfare of the trumpets, and every one is expecting +the hero of the occasion, the warrior Napoleon, to be +dressed as beseems the posture of affairs, seeing that within a +few days he will be fighting for throne and country at the head +of his troops. Rumour has run through Paris saying that he +still wears his old green coat, in which people love best to see +him.</p> + +<p>But what is the pageant which unfolds itself?</p> + +<p>First comes the guard of honour, followed by the eagles and +the colours; then heralds and pages, clad in many-coloured costumes, +as if in an allegorical picture; then the Emperor’s coronation +coach, drawn by eight horses. In it is seated a man +picturesquely attired in white silk, almost overshadowed by a +hat decked with huge ostrich plumes, and burdened by his vast +coronation mantle; a solitary man, glittering with gold. Is +this the Emperor?</p> + +<p>The masses are dumbfounded, for they wanted to fraternise +with their ruler returned from exile; they are stupefied by +the spectacle of a Cæsar whose chill splendours seem to repel +the cordiality they would fain exhibit. Painful indeed is the +forlorn aspect of this middle-aged man, whose wife has not +returned to him and whose son is far away, as he drives among +the gaping crowds in his stately chariot.</p> + +<p>When, after High Mass, the spokesman of the new Chambers +confronts the Emperor, this citizen speaks in tones which ring +athwart the plain: “Trusting your pledges, the deputies will +sagaciously revise our laws, and harmonise them with the constitution”—the +implication being that the representatives of +the people are not yet satisfied, but want more than this Additional +Act. Then the spokesman of the Chambers and the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_520">[520]</span>citizens expresses his hopes of victory, and wishes success to +the eagles.</p> + +<p>The Emperor has to hide his vexation. He announces the +new constitution, and swears to observe it faithfully. Then the +soldiers must acclaim the oath. But they can hardly recognise +their master in this pompously attired ruler. They want the +old green coat; their hero should be wearing the tricolour cockade, +not gold and plumes. Their cheers lack enthusiasm. An +eyewitness writes: “These were not the cheers of Austerlitz and +Wagram. The Emperor could not fail to notice it.”</p> + +<p>A week later, when he opened both Houses with a speech +from the throne, he was careful to avoid everything which had +put people out of humour at the Champ de Mai. The Lower +House promises to devote its energies to the defence of the nation; +but goes on to say: “Even the will of the victorious ruler +would not induce the nation to transcend the bounds of defence.” +The peers in the Upper House utter a like warning +in their address, saying: “The French government will never +be led away by the seductions of victory.” Napoleon stands +there constrained to silence, but trembling with wrath. He +would like to sweep them all away, but dares not even give +them the lie.</p> + +<p>Among the new peers is Lucien. He has come to join his +brother after all. A glance and a hand-clasp have reconciled +the brothers. For the first time in his life he is styled prince +and imperial highness. He is the Emperor’s companion, delivers +speeches, even gives lectures in the Institute, and receives +large sums of money. Louis is ill, and does not come. Jerome +is ready and willing. Hortense must replace the missing lady +of the house, and her sons have once more become important to +the man without a son. Napoleon appears on the balcony with +his nephews, to show the crowd, to show France, that the Emperor +still has heirs. Unseen, the spirit of irony contemplates +this tragical conclusion to the history of his dynastic delusion.</p> + +<p>Once he drives with Hortense to Malmaison, but goes alone +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_521">[521]</span>into the room where Josephine died, to come forth from it in +silence.</p> + +<p>Next day he sets out for the war, hoping it will be his last +war. It is.</p> + +<p>Carnot, to whom at this late hour he divulges his plan, +strongly advises him to wait until the army has been reinforced. +Neither the Russians nor the Austrians can arrive before the +end of July. The English and the Prussians will not venture +to attack until their allies have joined them. During these six +weeks, Napoleon could double his forces, transform France into +an armed camp, fortify Paris on the side whence the onslaught +will come. The Emperor shakes his head:</p> + +<p>“I know all that. But it is essential that I should win a +brilliant victory without waiting so long!”</p> + +<p>He knows what is at stake. It is his way to assume the +offensive. But the master of figures would have done well to +wait awhile, and collect his forces. “I must win a brilliant victory +soon!” Is not that the thought of a beaten champion? +Perhaps it is; but the gloomy vaticinations of the ruined Cæsar +are fortified by the memories of General Bonaparte. Not since +his youth has he ventured to do what he now proposes, to +advance with a small army, without reserves, mobile, swift. +Such, then, is his plan. He will not give his four opponents +time to get together. The two that appear to be ready must +be separately attacked and defeated. That is the picture which +hovers before his mind. What Napoleon, the Emperor, now +begins at Charleroi, when his prospective opponents are the +Prussians and the English, Bonaparte, the unknown general, +had begun at Millesimo, when his prospective opponents were +the Austrians and the Piedmontese. His last battle is the +parallel of his first.</p> + +<p>But during these twenty years, all the commanders of Europe +have learned the tactics of the new master of the art of war; +and he, during these twenty years, has worn out his machinery. +Moreover, swift though his movements are in the days before +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_522">[522]</span>Waterloo, he no longer possesses the old tempo. As in his +recent campaigns, so now, anxious considerations hamper the +boldness of his attack. Having taken Charleroi, he fails next +day to make a mass onslaught on Blücher, sends Ney with half +the army along the Brussels road against the English, only to +learn with alarm in the afternoon that he is faced by the whole +of the Prussian army. He sends to recall the marshal, writing: +“The fate of France is in your hands.” Ney, instead of +continuing his advance, must envelop the Prussian enemy. Too +late! Ney has become involved in the fight with Wellington +at Quatre Bras, can spare only one army corps, and sends it to +a place where it can be of no use. This makes it impossible +for him to gain a victory over the English, and he is driven +back.</p> + +<p>Napoleon, this same day, fighting with only half his army at +Ligny, secures a victory.</p> + +<p>The last victory! Blücher falls from his wounded horse, and +is reported killed. Gneisenau retains composure, prevents the +retreat from degenerating into a rout, and sends to let his ally +know that they can form a junction at Wavre the next day. +With an inertia which we should wonder at did we not know +that Napoleon is ailing and prematurely old, the Emperor +makes no move on the day after his victory. Too late he sends +Grouchy with thirty thousand men to follow up the Prussians, +not believing that they can reorganise their forces speedily, +or that after the heavy losses they have sustained they will be +able to effect a junction with the English. Yesterday, he had +dealt with the Prussians singly; to-morrow he will be able to +defeat the English, now cut off from their allies. His seventy +thousand men will suffice. He fails to allow for Gneisenau’s +imperturbability and for Blücher’s impetuosity.</p> + +<p>For the first time, he underrates an opponent. At Friedland, +Aspern-Essling, and Laon, he was not beaten. Nor was +he beaten in Russia. At Leipzig, and at Arcis-sur-Aube, he +was defeated; but it was because he had only a small army with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_523">[523]</span>which to meet the onslaughts of vastly superior forces; those +of three great powers in one case, and those of four in the +other. Never, yet, had any isolated commander been able to +say: “I have defeated Napoleon.”</p> + +<p>Now he thinks too much of his victory, and too little of his +opponent. For the first time he fails to focus his lens accurately, +with the result that one point escapes his reckoning. +But it is not that he makes a wanton and ill-considered onslaught. +Nor is the trouble on this occasion that family feeling +makes him entrust leadership to inefficient hands. If he had +kept Grouchy’s force with him, his enemy would have scarcely +outnumbered him. But the course of the decisive battle shows +that this error in calculation was not the main cause of the +French defeat.</p> + +<p>The final cause, as any one can recognise who studies all +the elements in Napoleon’s fate, was the man’s advancing years.</p> + +<p>His activity was undermined by his ailments, and that is +why, on the morning of the battle of Waterloo, he failed to +attack promptly. In the middle of June, the sun is above the +horizon by four. If the Prussians were able to march upon +the roads that had been softened by the recent heavy rains, the +French veterans could have done the same—for the Emperor’s +soldiers on this occasion were almost all of them tried men. +But he waits till noon, that he may place his guns better when +the ground becomes less sodden! At Jena, in October, in a +Scotch mist, he had headed his troops, shouted to encourage +them, attacking so early in the morning as to arouse many of +his foes from their slumbers. To-day he waits till noon.</p> + +<p>The loss of this half-day is to destroy him. He rides to an +elevation bearing the fatal name of La Belle Alliance; he arranges +his troops in three lines, rides along the front, shouts to +his men in metallic phrases; he is going to break through the +enemy and enter Brussels; he already has the proclamation to +the Belgians in his pocket. He has only wasted half a day!</p> + +<p>In the afternoon, when battle is already joined, news comes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_524">[524]</span>that Bülow’s corps is advancing. The Emperor turns pale, +and sends Grouchy orders to come back. Will the orders reach +him? If they do, will he be able to disengage himself from the +enemy? Everything turns upon the fortune of the next hour. +The English must be beaten before the Prussians can come to +their aid. Napoleon delivers a great cavalry attack on the +centre, but the English stand firm. Shall he use the old guard? +Not yet! Not yet! Bülow is already beginning to fire. At all +costs he must keep the line of retreat open, for otherwise there +may be a catastrophe. But, in fact, the English forces are +already half defeated. It is five o’clock, and the guard might +have finished their defeat, for at this hour Wellington sent a +message to his Prussian ally: “Unless your corps keeps marching, +and attacks without respite, the battle will be lost.” This +would have been the moment for an attack by the old guard, +but once more caution makes the Emperor hold his hand at +the critical moment. He sees that a second Prussian corps is +about to attack.</p> + +<p>A dread decision! A brilliant gamester staking his last +coins, but to-day he must not be beaten. At length, towards +seven, he sends the last five thousand guardsmen, the veterans, +to the attack. Now, it is only a forlorn hope. “Vive l’Empereur!”</p> + +<p>This cry has shaken half Europe. Is it not a century old? +In a decade it has gained a legendary force throughout the +Continent. But what is imperishable? Even the eagles of +Marengo are not imperishable. Is the mythical energy of this +cry, Vive l’Empereur, to subside with the setting of to-day’s +sun? Yes, to-morrow it will be heard no more!</p> + +<p>The second Prussian corps pours a deadly fire on the guard, +which yields ground. The opposing force continues to grow; +at eight, the third army corps appears on the scene, and a +hundred and twenty thousand of the allies are now attacking +half that number of Frenchmen. The battered French army +takes to flight, and Bonaparte, in his last hour as a commander, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_525">[525]</span>is for the first time in his life commander of a routed army. +After an hour on horseback in the open, exposed to the British +fire, the Emperor rides into the centre of one of the two remaining +French squares. When these, likewise, break up, he gallops +across country protected only by mounted grenadiers. Though +in bodily pain, he has to stay in the saddle until five in the +morning, when he is able at length to secure a few hours rest +in an old cart.</p> + +<p>Is he discouraged?</p> + +<p>By no means! What is Paris saying? This is the thought +which continually drives him onward. He does not venture, as +he had done last year, to assemble the guards in Laon or Soissons, +or to betake himself to one of the fortresses. He thinks +only of Paris, as the place from which more soldiers can be +gathered. Calculations, as of old: “I can still mobilise a hundred +and fifty thousand men; with the National Guard, there +will be three hundred thousand in all. That will be enough to +stop the advance of the enemy.” The last orders he sends to +Paris end with the words: “Courage! Firmness!”</p> + +<p>Two days later, he is once more in the Elysée, which he had +left so recently. Has the whole campaign been a dream? In +nine days he has lost the empire which he had fought nine years +to win.</p> + +<h3>XIX</h3> + +<p>Not lost yet!</p> + +<p>In the cabinet and in the Chambers, opinions are divided. He +sits in council with his brothers and his ministers; he is worn +out, but there is no sign of collapse. What does he propose? +To work hand in hand with the Chambers? Far from it; he +proposes dictatorship. In this national crisis, he needs, for a +short time, full freedom of movement. Some of the ministers +point out to him that the Chambers no longer trust him. Then +Lucien takes the floor, and with all the fire of a youth urges +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_526">[526]</span>the Emperor to dissolve the Chambers, declare Paris in a state +of siege, take all power into his hands, get together the remaining +troops—thus alone, now, can France be saved!</p> + +<p>He listens. Sixteen years have passed since that November +day at Saint-Cloud when this very Lucien had made the same +proposal, and, with a single speech, had snatched his brother +from the abyss. Then Lucien had raised Napoleon higher than +he had wished. The Emperor approves the plan, but does not +instantly act on it. Instead, he listens while Davoust, the Minister +for War, refuses to place the remnants of the armed forces +at his disposal. While they are disputing, news comes from the +Chamber of Deputies. It has declared itself in permanent session, +will regard any attempt to dissolve it as high treason, +and will impeach any one who may dare to try. “I can see +only one man between us and peace,” said old Lafayette from +the rostrum. “If we rid ourselves of him, peace will be ours +for the asking!”</p> + +<p>Is this the cry of the people? Paris is perfectly calm, so it +is nothing more than the cry of a liberated democracy. But +it is also the cry of a society which loves change and bears +adversity badly, for the House of Peers now passes a vote +identical with that of the Chamber of Deputies. The Chambers +demand that the Emperor shall appear before them. Why +does he not go? Who would venture to oppose him openly? +“I ought to have gone,” he said subsequently, “but I was tired +out. I could have dissolved them, but I lacked courage; I am +only a man, after all. My memories of the Nineteenth Brumaire +terrified me.”</p> + +<p>Now the Chambers send for the ministers. The Emperor +replies that he has forbidden them to go. The Chambers +rejoin that they will depose him unless the ministers come. +He gives way. He sends Lucien and the ministers to the +Chamber of Deputies, and they report that he has formed a +commission to negotiate with the enemy. “The powers will +not treat with him!” cry the Chambers. “They have outlawed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_527">[527]</span>him. He must abdicate. If he refuses, we shall depose him!”</p> + +<p>While this is going on in the Chambers, the Emperor, much +agitated, is walking to and fro in the garden with Constant. +At length he is roused, and flames out:</p> + +<p>“Not my own future, but that of France is at stake! Have +they considered the consequences of my abdication? The army +is grouped round me. Do they think they can fight the general +dissolution with ideology? I could have understood it if I had +been repelled when I landed three months ago. But to-day, +when the foe is only a hundred miles from Paris, they cannot +overthrow a government without suffering for it. A fortnight +back, to repudiate me would have been a bold action. Now, I +am part of what the enemy is attacking, a part of France which +it is their business to defend. France will sacrifice itself if it +sacrifices me! It is not liberty which would fain depose me, +it is Waterloo—fear!... All I want now is to be the commander; +but even if part of the troops were to fall away, I +should promptly replace them by workmen, who can readily be +moved to revolt.”</p> + +<p>At this moment, the two men in the garden hear shouts from +the avenue, “Vive l’Empereur!” Whose are these last voices +raised for Napoleon? The workers from Saint-Antoine; men +whose troubles he had remembered in days of need, men who +cared little about the suppression of liberty, for equality had +made them free. There they were, peering through the railings +which separated the son of the revolution from them just as it +had separated the kings, but shouting through the bars of the +cage into which he had shut himself: “Dictatorship! National +Guard! Vive l’Empereur!”</p> + +<p>“You see?” said Napoleon to Constant. “I never loaded +those fellows with honours. What have they got to thank me +for? I left them poor men, just as I had found them. Nothing +but instinct leads them to me. If I liked, these rebellious +Chambers would be dissolved within the hour.... I need +merely say the word, and all the deputies who oppose me would +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_528">[528]</span>be butchered! But for one man, the price is too high. Blood +must not flow in Paris!”</p> + +<p>This mood of renunciation, which is akin to justice, this refusal +to employ brute force in his extremity, just as he had +refused (to begin with) sixteen years earlier, resembles the +mood of Brumaire. But what was then the prudence of a +statesman who did not wish to tarnish the origins of his long +career of power, is now a prudence which does not beseem the +adventurer he is to-day. Nevertheless, his unwillingness to use +the bayonets with which, to-day, he could again have cleared +the Chambers, is one more sign of his recognition of the new +epoch, which wants more freedom and less force.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the Chamber of Deputies is in secret session. +Lucien has presented the imperial message. The deputies are +willing to discuss matters. Some of them speak, in civil terms, +of the abdication as a sacrifice necessary for France. Honest +Carnot mounts the rostrum, and, in this moment of disaster, is +almost alone in espousing the cause of the Emperor whom almost +alone he had openly attacked in the days when all others +had been subservient to the man of the hour. But now +Sieyès, too, speaks in favour of the Emperor, speaks like a +Roman of old: “Napoleon has lost a battle.... Let us help +him to drive the barbarians from our country, for no one else +is equal to the task. If, when he has done it, he wants to play +the despot, we can hang him. But to-day we must march with +him shoulder to shoulder!”</p> + +<p>Lafayette springs to the rostrum once more: “Have you +forgotten where the bones of our sons and our brothers whiten? +In Africa, on the Tagus, on the Vistula, amid the snows of +Russia. Two million have been the victims of this one man +who wanted to fight all Europe! Enough!” In the small hours, +the Chamber demands Napoleon’s abdication.</p> + +<p>The Emperor hesitates. In the morning there is another +cabinet council. Much agitated, he paces the room, uttering +gibes about these Jacobins, foreseeing a new Directory. Then +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_529">[529]</span>the commandant of the Palais Bourbon arrives with a message +from the Chambers. He stammers when he attempts to discharge +his commission, but at length manages to get the words +out. If the Emperor does not abdicate, the Chambers will +outlaw him. Savary and Caulaincourt come in. All present +urge him to the step, for even Lucien has given up the game. +The Emperor says:</p> + +<p>“I have accustomed them to great victories, and now they do +not know how to endure a single day of adversity. What will +happen to France?” He adds in low tones: “I have done what +I could.”</p> + +<p>After this epilogue of six words, which tells the whole story, +at noon he dictates his declaration to the people. He is making +the sacrifice, his political life is at an end, he proclaims his +son emperor as Napoleon II., the Chambers must establish a +regency. To whom does he dictate these words? Who among +his intimates can hold the pen firmly enough to write them +down?</p> + +<p>Lucien! The brother who for years from the enemy coast +had gazed enviously at this city and this throne; who, if he had +been a little less of a poet, might long since have collected the +malcontents around him; and who might even now come to the +front, not indeed as a second Napoleon, but at least as a second +Bonaparte—and that would be something. Lucien sits there, a +man of forty now. He had been no less ambitious than the +Emperor, but had had to content himself with the modest career +of a virtuoso and a Mæcenas. For four whole weeks, now, he +has been an imperial prince! Smiling inwardly, he pens his +great brother’s abdication; writes from dictation, still a mere +hodman, but this time animated with a humorous sympathy +which atones for the old discords.</p> + +<p>For, in truth, it is the eternal recurrence of the similar. As +before, come cries from the Chambers, “Outlaw him!” As +before, five Directors, like those Bonaparte had once deposed, +are appointed. They call themselves a provisional government. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_530">[530]</span>But when they proceed to elect from among their own number +one to function as president of the Directory, who is chosen +to take over the authority from Napoleon’s hands? Who, by +his own vote, has decided his own choice as president?</p> + +<p>Fouché.</p> + +<p>But the Chamber has become less turbulent. Those who, +yesterday, were thirsting for Napoleon’s blood, to-day send a +deputation to thank him for his abdication. To these polite +gentlemen the Emperor says: “I fear things will turn out badly, +now that there is no head. I trust France will never forget +that my sole object in abdicating was to promote the welfare +of the nation, and that I have abdicated in favour of my son. +Only under my dynasty, will France remain free and happy.”</p> + +<p>At the very time when he is saying this, Fouché and the +others are considering the possibility of having one of the +Orleanist Bourbons, a member of the Brunswick family, or even +the king of Saxony, as Napoleon’s successor. Moreover, the +five Directors are appointed to form a government, not a +regency; and, in his decrees, Fouché often speaks of the nation, +but never of Napoleon II. The Emperor notes all this, but +holds his peace. Slowly his dream of a dynasty vanishes, the +dream for whose realisation he has fought half a lifetime. It +has become for ever unattainable. When Lavalette comes to +see him in the evening, he is in a hot bath, has been there for +several hours.</p> + +<p>“Where am I going? Why not to America?”</p> + +<p>“Because Moreau went there.”</p> + +<p>To the Emperor this answer seems surcharged with emotion, +for he has serious thoughts of seeking an asylum in the United +States, and he asks the government for a frigate. But the only +answer is a request that he should leave Paris, for crowds are +flocking round the Elysée, clamouring for a dictatorship. He +burns a number of documents, and then betakes himself to +Malmaison.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_531">[531]</span></p> + +<p>In the garden there, the garden that is full of memories of +Josephine, he passes two whole days in a state of reverie. The +few who remain faithful to him are there: his mother, Hortense, +Caulaincourt, Lavalette, Lucien, even Joseph. But when the +Emperor asks who will go with him, the answers are evasive. +Letizia, indeed, will go gladly, but he thinks that at her +age it would be dangerous. Lavalette has a daughter growing +up, and his wife is expecting another child; perhaps he will +follow later. Drouot, who shared the Elba exile, is wanted in +France. The secretary had promised the day before to accompany +Napoleon into exile, but now his mother, who is blind, +has implored him not to leave her. “You are right; you must +stay with your mother,” says the Emperor, turning away.</p> + +<p>Pauline, before the last campaign, had pressed her jewels +on him; now Hortense offers him a diamond necklace; a quixotic +return of imperial gifts, a gesture suitable to the strange turn +in his fortunes. He tells Hortense she will have a million, but +no one knows if it will ever be paid. Lucien and Eugene get +money, and he gives little Léon something for his mother—still +dealing in hundreds of thousands.</p> + +<p>But he does all these things like a man in a dream. He does +not say a word about the last few weeks, but talks only of old +times, and chiefly of Josephine. “I have promised the minister +to go away. I shall start to-night. I am weary of myself, +of France, and of Paris. Make your preparations.”</p> + +<p>Whither away? Conjectures, deliberations. Spectral is the +tone of the manifesto he now addresses to the army:</p> + +<p>“Soldiers!... I am with you even though I am away. I +know every corps. If any one wins a victory, I shall approve +his courage.... Show, in days to come, that, before all, you +serve your country, show it by obeying me; and show that I +have earned your affection (if indeed I have earned it) by my +ardent love for our common mother. One more storm, and the +coalition will be shattered! Napoleon will know you by the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_532">[532]</span>blows that you deal out. Save the honour and the liberty of +the French. Be what you have been for twenty years, and you +will be unconquerable!”</p> + +<p>The government suppresses the document, but could have +published it without risk. No one could be more aloof, no living +man could have become more completely a part of history, than +this man who speaks of himself as if he were speaking of a +stranger. He seems to be no longer present in the flesh.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he is startled! The old sounds assail his ears. +The noise of cannon shots reaches him from the plain of Saint-Denis; +the foe is at the gates. Officers and soldiers, scarred +and tattered, but hastily patched up, bring him the news, vague +and dispersed like the sound of the firing. Instantly he returns +to life. “In two detachments? You must attack and +defeat them separately; first one and then the other.” At night +he elaborates a plan for the defence of Paris. Next morning it +seems as if the familiar sounds had rejuvenated him, and he +writes to the five Directors as General Bonaparte had written +of old:</p> + +<p>“I offer to place myself at the head of the army. At sight +of me, the soldiers will recover their courage, hurl themselves +on the foe, and punish him. I pledge you my word as general, +soldier, and citizen that I will not retain the command an hour +after the victory has been won. I vow to conquer, not for +myself but for France.”</p> + +<p>It is impossible that after such words he should fail to +conquer, unless he is slain in the first onslaught. In this mood +of impending death, he writes his magnificent letter. Napoleon, +in the garden, surrounded by his remaining officers, +restlessly awaits the answer.</p> + +<p>Fouché’s great moment has come. To this ex-master of his, +to the man whom he so cordially detests, he does not even vouchsafe +a written answer. The Emperor, who is trembling with +eagerness to take up arms, and who has never since he grew to +full manhood had to wait for another man’s permission, tears +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_533">[533]</span>the response out of the returning messenger. It is curt: The +Emperor is mistaken if he thinks the members of the government +are such fools as to entertain his proposal; all they ask +is that he should go away as soon as possible. Napoleon says +bitterly: “I ought to have hanged him long ago. Now I must +leave the job to the Bourbons.”</p> + +<p>Mufti; a rapid gathering together of necessaries; Hortense +sews her necklace for him into a black silk belt. For a few +minutes he entertains the thought of Corsica, with Lucien as +governor of the island. His mother’s eyes sparkle. But he +knows that the scheme is impracticable. America is his last +resource. The only thing lacking is the frigate for which he +has been asking. All are aware that every hour increases the +risk to his liberty. It is said that Wellington has demanded +his surrender, and the number of the deputies in favour of his +being handed over is steadily increasing. Lavalette urges him +to start, but the Emperor is stubborn.</p> + +<p>“I cannot leave without an order from the government to the +captain.”</p> + +<p>“Why not, Sire? Have the anchor weighed, promise the +crew money, send the captain ashore if he won’t set sail. You +may be sure that Fouché has already promised to hand you +over to the allies.”</p> + +<p>“Drive to the Minister for the Navy!”</p> + +<p>The councillor drives to Decrès’, and finds him in bed. +Decrès refers the messenger to Fouché, saying: “I can do +nothing.”</p> + +<p>Fouché cannot be found. The councillor gets back to +Malmaison at one in the morning. The Emperor is awakened, +gets up, still thinks the United States will be best, but hesitates. +“Over there, they will grant me land, or I will buy an estate +and till it. I shall end where mankind began. I shall live upon +the produce of my fields and my herds.”</p> + +<p>“But what if they propose to hand you over?” enquires the +secretary.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_534">[534]</span></p> + +<p>“Then I shall go to Mexico. There I shall find patriots at +whose head I can place myself.”</p> + +<p>“The leaders there might turn against you.”</p> + +<p>“All right; I shall leave them and go to Caracas. If I don’t +like it, I shall go on to Buenos Ayres or to California. I shall +sail across the seas until I find a city of refuge where I can +be safe from the persecutions of my fellows.”</p> + +<p>“But what if the English catch you, Sire?”</p> + +<p>“I must risk that. A bad government, but a great nation, +noble and generous. England will treat me properly. Besides, +there is no choice. Am I to allow myself, like a ninny, to be +taken prisoner here by Wellington, to be led in triumph through +the streets of London like King John the Good of old? Since +they have no use for my services here, I must go elsewhere. +Ability will do the rest.”</p> + +<p>“Your Majesty was not made for flight.”</p> + +<p>“Flight! What are you talking about?” He looks at the +secretary “questioningly and proudly.”</p> + +<p>“The English must certainly be on the watch for you already. +Your end ought to be the worthiest possible.”</p> + +<p>“Suicide, like Hannibal? Leave that to weaklings and persons +of disordered mind! Whatever fate may hold in store for +me, I would never deliberately shorten my life by a single +day.”</p> + +<p>“I did not mean that, Sire. But what if you were to hand +over liberty and life to the enemies of France in order to save +France? That is how Napoleon the Great should act.”</p> + +<p>“All very fine, but to whom am I to hand myself over? To +Blücher? To Wellington? They have no plenipotentiary +powers. They would simply take me prisoner, and do what +they pleased with France and with me.”</p> + +<p>“The tsar, perhaps?”</p> + +<p>“You do not know the Russians! Still, I will think the +matter over. To sacrifice my own person would be easy +enough. The question is, whether it would help France?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_535">[535]</span></p> + +<p>Almost every element that goes to make the statesman seems +to have been eliminated from this all-too-human dialogue. +Here is an adventurer hankering after fresh voyages in every +corner of the world. Here is the man without a country, the +ocean traveller without any earth under his feet, always on +board, always driven hither and thither, a bold pirate fearless +of death. Ay, fearless of death! The dry manner in which, +once again, he waves aside the idea of suicide, the sober realism +of his outlook, this grasp at the flying moment, the old-time +dauntlessness of the islesman—what unconquerable vital +energy!</p> + +<p>Now he is to start. The last person with whom the Emperor +has a quiet talk is his mother. But a soldier rushes in; he will +not let any hold him back: the soldier is Talma. The call of +his heart and his love of the tragical have urged him to come +for a great farewell; he feels he must be there. Later he is to +represent this leave-taking between mother and son, in all its +dignified simplicity, in a pathetic scene on the stage. Then +the Emperor invites young General Gourgaud, the scatter-brained +idealist, into his dilapidated carriage. Bertrand and +his wife, who had lived with him in Elba, and two others, accompany +him. They drive to Rochefort, to the port where they +hope to find a frigate. The pace is too slow for a fugitive. +He still looks over his shoulder, listening for the call which shall +summon him back at the eleventh hour. They meet two regiments +marching northward. The men raise a cheer, and the +Emperor discusses with the generals the possibility of overthrowing +the government if he places himself at their head and +marches on Paris.... Away again, at length the long drive +is over, and he stands gazing at the Atlantic Ocean. Joseph is +there, and urges Napoleon to charter a brig which is taking a +cargo of spirits to America. The Emperor assumes the name +of Muiron, his seventh name. This name calls up the vision of +another coast, the Mediterranean with its many isles, and +Corsica, and then Italy; and again he sees the young, small, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_536">[536]</span>lean general, with long hair falling on his shoulders and cold +grey-blue eyes, and the bridge of Arcola where the fate of a +man and a country hung in the balance; and he sees Lieutenant +Muiron fling himself before the young general in the mêlée, he +sees Muiron fall, and he knows that by this love-death the lieutenant’s +name will be immortalised. It would seem that once +again a new epoch is opening before the genius of energy, and +that across the seas, in new zones, on uninhabited prairies, the +adventurer will swing himself into the saddle, will watch the +increase of his herds; maybe, even, will travel to Mexico and +become the leader of a band of rebels!</p> + +<p>But God is wiser.</p> + +<p>He sees to it that this great life shall have an epilogue such +as no man has ever lived through before, an epilogue which +shall fitly round off its tragical poesy. Once more the Almighty +stifles the adventurous impulse in the soul of Napoleon; +once more there are days of questioning, negotiation, vacillation—ten +days before the final decision.</p> + +<p>The Emperor crosses to a small island. They think of +chartering two fishing smacks which the English will never +dream of searching for Napoleon; but in the end he rejects +the plan. There are two American ships available. Negotiations +are entered into with a Danish sloop. Enthusiastic youths +from the naval training school propose to carry him off in an +advice-boat. Sixteen midshipmen will spirit him out of the +harbour at dead of night. They sit packed together in the +little room, feverishly discussing the plan with Las Cases, the +Emperor’s new confidant. The man to whom this madcap venture +is proposed, talks over the situation coolly with his companions, +asking each in turn for an opinion as to the best +course. Most of them advise a return to the army, for there +are still good prospects that the soldiers in the south will support +him. He emphatically refuses:</p> + +<p>“Nothing will induce me to light up a civil war. I will have +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_537">[537]</span>no more to do with politics; I need repose; I shall go to +America!”</p> + +<p>But his self-respect makes him shrink from the thought of +escaping in disguise.</p> + +<p>News comes that the Bourbon has re-entered the land of his +fathers, once more under the protection of allied troops. The +path of escape seaward is now blocked by an English cruiser +which bears the ominous name of “Bellerophon.” The Emperor +has missed his chance. Here are his thoughts: “A return +to Paris is impossible. The port is blockaded. Shall I allow +myself to be seized like a pirate, and taken in chains to London? +England has been my foe for twenty years. Next to +the French, the English nation is the greatest and the most +distinguished in the world. Have I not been an Emperor? +Has not, from of old, chivalry toward a fallen enemy aroused +universal admiration? In Corsica, they knife any one who +violates the rights of hospitality.”</p> + +<p>Making up his mind, he dictates the following letter to the +prince regent:</p> + +<p>“Your Royal Highness, Exposed to the factions which distract +my country and to the enmity of the greatest powers of +Europe, I have closed my political career, and I come, like +Themistocles, to throw myself upon the hospitality of the +British people. I put myself under the protection of their +laws, and beg Your Royal Highness, as the most powerful, the +most persistent, and the most generous of my enemies, to grant +me this protection. Napoleon.”</p> + +<p>Eight lines, three words of respect, neither arrogance nor +humility, almost courtly. There is, however, one word which +embodies the pathos of the step he is taking, and assumes that +his adversary will give moral guarantees; that in this century, +after such a life, Napoleon will be as welcome a guest in the +enemy land, as of old in Persia had been—Themistocles. It is +overwhelming self-confidence, based upon historical parallels, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_538">[538]</span>which determines the last great step of his career, as, in youth, +it had determined his first advances to Paoli. Now, this self-confidence +will be his ruin.</p> + +<p>Next day, Las Cases hands the letter to the captain of the +“Bellerophon,” and negotiates with Maitland for Napoleon’s +reception on board. Admiral Hotham, Maitland’s immediate +superior, was not a party to the negotiations, but had long +since received orders to seize the fugitive if possible. In accordance +with international law, this was quite in order, for +England, with the other powers in Vienna, had decreed Napoleon’s +outlawry. But it is an undisputed fact that Captain +Maitland, supreme on his own ship, guaranteed his guest’s +liberty, saying: “Napoleon will receive all proper attention in +England. Our people are generous and democratic.”</p> + +<p>No record was taken at the time of the terms of the understanding +in accordance with which the man who had been the +master of Europe went on board one of his enemy’s ships. +Nevertheless, it was not an affair of hours, but, rather, of days; +not the outcome of haste and desperation, but the logical conclusion +of a long chain of reasoning. Napoleon’s own experience +of the last twenty years had shown him that verbal agreements +are untrustworthy, whereas written agreements are comparatively +reliable. Yet he takes this last step, one of profound +historical significance, without any written document +having been signed, sealed, and delivered. In truth, he cannot +await an answer from London. He trusts, however, not in the +mere word of a captain in the navy, but in the moral effect of +what he is doing. That is why, just before going on board +the “Bellerophon,” he writes the above-quoted heroic lines, addressed +to the ruler of the land in which he seeks hospitality, +and the supreme commander of all its navies.</p> + +<p>Then, in uniform, Napoleon boards the British vessel.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_539">[539]</span></p> + +<h3>XX</h3> + +<p>Maitland stands on the quarter-deck. Napoleon raises his +hat, a thing he has not always done to greet princes, and addresses +the captain as follows: “I come to place myself under +the protection of your king and your laws.” The British naval +officers are introduced to him, and he asks about the sea-fights +in which they have been engaged. Then, with the detachment +of a man discussing ancient history, he talks about the English +navy and the French, says that the English sailors are +cleaner and more efficient, and argues with his host about certain +punishments customary in the navy after a fight. Then +he passes to generalities:</p> + +<p>“I really cannot understand why your ships have defeated +our French vessels so easily. The best of them were ours to +begin with. A French ship is stronger in every respect than +an English vessel of the same type. It has more and heavier +guns, a larger complement.”</p> + +<p>“I have already explained that to you, Sir. Our seamen +have had more experience than yours.”</p> + +<p>Napoleon does not move an eyelash. The conversation remains +strictly academic; they talk of the nautical science of +their respective countries.</p> + +<p>“If you had tried to escape in a French frigate,” says Maitland, +“you would have seen for yourself how well we can shoot.”</p> + +<p>No repining! Here stands a gamester who has lost the +game. All that the Emperor troubles to dispute is Maitland’s +contention that two frigates with a few twenty-four pounders +could not possibly have got the better of the “Bellerophon,” +which carried seventy-four heavy guns. The captain proves +that it would have been impossible. Napoleon examines the +ship’s guns, praises what he sees, but has some criticisms to +make here and there. Maitland declares afterwards, when +alone with his own people, that he has been amazed by the +extent of the Emperor’s technical knowledge.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_540">[540]</span></p> + +<p>The ship puts out to sea.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the legitimate ministers and kings are discussing +their course. Not a single member of this circle proves great +enough to advise a great gesture, before Europe and before +history. Ten days after leaving the roads of Rochefort, the +“Bellerophon” anchors in Plymouth harbour. It is a fine morning +in the end of July, and the water is thronged with rowing +boats full of people anxious to catch a glimpse of the caged +lion. Since no decision has yet arrived from London, civilian +visitors are not allowed on board. But it is a great time for +the crew. They can see Napoleon every day, and he converses +with any of them that are able to speak French. The gaping +crowds in the boats are the thousands who for twenty years +past have heard nothing but abuse and mockery of “Boney”; +have seen numberless caricatures of him, depicted as a hideous +monster. Now, they are all animated with the same curiosity; +they all want to feast their eyes upon this dread spectre.</p> + +<p>For the most part, Napoleon stays in his cabin. He does +not want to become a raree-show. A few days’ patience, and +he will be able to go ashore, and live where he pleases. At +length, however, feeling the need for fresh air, he comes up the +gangway and mounts the poop. There he stands, the great +defeated foe, in his old world-famous green coat; defenceless. +Thousands of eyes instantly converge on him, so that it seems +as if he must be consumed in their fire.</p> + +<p>But the man with the simple, impenetrable countenance, who +is thus pilloried, must radiate an aura of dignity and suffering, +for an extraordinary thing happens. Thousands of heads are +bared. As far as Napoleon’s gaze can reach, on the boats, the +ships, throughout the harbour, not a man remains covered. +The greeting is universal, but for one exception. Only one man +among all those onlookers keeps his three-cornered hat on his +head. It seems as if the whole nation were willing to pay the +Emperor the homage which a pettifogging captain withheld.</p> + +<p>Such was the judgment of the British nation, which in this +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_541">[541]</span>tense moment cleared itself from all the contumely so soon to +be heaped upon its name. The waiting lasted three days. On +the fourth, British officers entered the Emperor’s cabin, and +laid before him a paper containing the government’s decision. +No direct answer had come from the prince regent.</p> + +<p>The document was to the effect that it would not be consistent +with the government’s duties towards England and her +allies to allow General Bonaparte any further opportunity of +disturbing the peace of Europe, and it would therefore be +necessary to restrain his liberty to “whatever extent may be +necessary for securing that first and paramount object.” St. +Helena would be his place of residence, as it was healthy, and +would admit of a smaller degree of restraint than might be +necessary elsewhere. He could take with him three officers, a +physician, and twelve servants.</p> + +<p>Such was the reply of the modern Xerxes.</p> + +<p>Napoleon, we are told, “laid the paper on the table, and, +after a pause, began to protest in vigorous terms.” He said:</p> + +<p>“I am not a prisoner of war!... I came on board the +‘Bellerophon’ of my own free will, after previous negotiation +with the commander. I threw myself on your protection, and +claimed the rights of hospitality. The tricolour was still waving +over Rochefort and Bordeaux. I might have gone back to +the army; or might for years have lived secretly among the +people, who were devoted to me.</p> + +<p>“Instead, I came to this country as a private person. I +asked the commander of one of your warships whether he was +disposed to take me and my train to England. He told me he +had orders to this effect from his government. If I have fallen +into a trap, your government has acted dishonourably and has +dishonoured your flag.... St. Helena will kill me in three +months. I am used to riding twenty leagues a day. What can +I do on a little rock at the world’s end? I will not go!... If +your government wishes to kill me, that can be done here.... +I gave the prince regent an opportunity of performing the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_542">[542]</span>finest action of his life. I have been the greatest of his country’s +foes, and I paid you the highest compliment in the world +by voluntarily entrusting myself to your protection.... +What you are proposing will be an everlasting disgrace to the +whole British nation!”</p> + +<p>The most characteristic point in this protest, which he renews +in writing, is the moral indignation with which it thrills. +International law is but lightly touched upon, for what he +claims is a hero’s right. Such were the words spoken in the +heat of the moment, in that small cabin, to the officers who had +brought him notice of his doom, and who subsequently recorded +them for posterity. Though spoken in haste, they have a historical +ring and some of the sentences are modelled for imperishability. +A soul has been wounded, a soul that is mourning, +not so much on account of its own loss of freedom, as +because the world fails to recognise greatness.</p> + +<p>Thus, in the first moment of his doom, he recognises that +which, a century later, cannot be more profoundly expressed +by the great grandchildren of the men of those days, who have +been brought up on contemplation of the legend of Napoleon’s +career. Themistocles feels that he has been betrayed. Once +again, one of these legitimate princes has failed to seize the +opportunity of performing the finest action of his life. A man +void of imagination, a weakling in possession of brute force, he +crushed the great and splendid thing which has fallen into his +hands.</p> + +<p>But from under the brutal pressure of this fist, the spirit of +what he is crushing rises in a tenuous column. He upon whom +the doom is enforced has acquired a power over himself, a +power which sustains him in his powerlessness—stoicism. After +the first outbreak, he bears the injustice with indomitable firmness, +enduring for ten days the indignity of his position at Plymouth, +and unruffled while England seizes his baggage and his +money.</p> + +<p>In due course, the Emperor and his companions were transferred +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_543">[543]</span>to the “Northumberland,” which set sail for St. Helena. +It was on an August morning that, for the last time, Napoleon +set eyes on the coast of France, looming through the mist. But +what did he care about the coast? The centre of his interest +lay many miles to the eastward—Paris, which he had wooed +more hotly than all the rest of the world, Paris, which had rejected +his suit.</p> + +<p>By evening, he loses sight of Europe, which he has ruled. +Darkling is the sea, which he has never been able to rule. He +stands in the bows, not looking backwards, nor forwards either. +As on the voyage to Egypt, he looks upwards towards the +stars. He is seeking his own star.</p> + +<p>A great saga is drawing to its close.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_544">[544]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_545">[545]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="BOOK_FIVE">BOOK FIVE<br> +THE ROCK</h2> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_546">[546]</span></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">On Judgment Day, before God’s throne,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There stood at last, Napoleon.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The Devil had his list begun</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of crimes the Bonapartes had done,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When God the Father, or God the Son,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Cut Satan short before God’s throne:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“Don’t bore us all to death with reading</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A German professorial pleading!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">If you’re bold enough to face him,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In your kingdom you may place him.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right">—<span class="smcap">Goethe.</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_547">[547]</span></p> + +<h3>I</h3> + +<p>The sea spreads out into the vast distance. It is like a +mirror of steel. The man on the rock, hands clasped behind, +stares across the watery plain. He is lonely, so lonely.</p> + +<p>One looking at him from a distance would see a fat +man with short legs, a man of uncertain age. He is wearing +a green coat, decorated with the star of the Legion of Honour; +silk stockings; three-cornered hat in his hands. The head is +large; the brownish hair makes a bush at the back; there is no +sign of whitening. The short neck springs from powerful +shoulders. The features are as if hewn out of stone, with a +yellowish tint, like the marble of an ancient statue that has +been darkened in the course of the ages; no wrinkles, but the +classical profile is somewhat marred by the heaviness of the +chin. The only beautiful features are the nose and the teeth. +These last are perfect, and he has never lost a tooth. His +hands, too, are beautiful. All through his campaigns he was +scrupulous in his care for them; and, when correcting the letters +and despatches he dictated, he generally used a pencil in +order that he might avoid staining his fingers with ink.</p> + +<p>The doctors have told us a good deal about his physical +condition. “Pulse never more frequent than 62; bosom well +padded, almost like a woman’s, and with very little hair; partes +viriles exiguitates insignis sicut pueri.” He himself knows +much about his body, he has studied his battle-field of his life +in order that here, likewise, he may utilise his forces to the +best advantage.</p> + +<p>“I have never yet heard my own heart beating; it is almost +as if I had none,” he says, half seriously. Moderation, he +assures us, is the secret of his amazing faculty for work. “Nature +has bestowed on me two valuable gifts: the capacity for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_548">[548]</span>sleeping whenever I want to; and the incapacity for committing +excesses in drinking and eating.... However little a man may +eat, he always eats too much. One can get ill from over-eating, +but never from under-eating.” The alternation between +campaigning and sedentary life enables him again and again to +escape from the air of the study, and to fortify his constitution +by long rides and drives. “Water, air, and cleanliness are my +favourite medicines.”</p> + +<p>With a body thus steeled, he can drive without stopping from +Tilsit to Dresden, nearly five hundred miles, and be quite fresh +at the journey’s end: can ride fifty miles from Vienna to +Semmering, breakfast there, and be back at work in Schönbrunn +the same evening; can gallop in five hours from Valladolid to +Burgos, a distance of about eighty miles. After long rides and +marches through Poland, he reaches Warsaw at midnight and +receives the new authorities at seven next morning. These are +the excesses he practises to restore the balance of his natural +forces. After a long spell of sedentary life, he will start off on +a ride of seven days, or will go out shooting for the whole day; +after great exertions, he will keep his room for twenty-four +hours. He believes that his energy has saved his life. He says +to Metternich: “Sometimes death only comes from lack of +energy. Yesterday, when I was thrown out of my carriage, I +thought I was done for. But I had just time to say to myself +that I would not die. Any one else in my place would have +been killed.”</p> + +<p>His muscles are powerful, but his nerves are sensitive. Accustomed +to command, he cannot endure anything in the nature +of compulsion. If his coat is at all tight, he tears it off; the +same with shoes that pinch him in the slightest. On these +occasions, he will box his servants’ ears. If he has to wear +court dress, they watch out while they help him on with his +coat. When his mind is busy (when is it not?) he will push +away his breakfast, jump up from his chair, and stride about, +talking, issuing orders. His handwriting is nothing more than +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_549">[549]</span>a series of violent contractions of the hand which cannot keep +up with the furious pace of his thoughts; a sort of involuntary +shorthand, which in places has not been deciphered after a +hundred years of study. He cannot endure the smell of paint +or size; he always masks unpleasant odours by using eau-de-Cologne. +If his nerves are utterly exhausted, he soothes them +in a hot bath. When the war with England broke out, he +worked continuously, with four secretaries, for three days and +three nights, and then spent six hours in his bath dictating +dispatches. This nervous irritability is the antithesis of his +slow circulation. He thinks that, the constitution of his nerves +being what it is, he would be in danger of going mad, “if it +were not that my blood works so slowly.”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp59" id="illus18" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus18.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Napoleon as Emperor in 1815. Engraving by Robert Lefèvre, + after a painting by Muneret.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>But there is no evidence at all that his nervousness ever rose +to the pitch of convulsions, that he suffered from epilepsy. +This illness usually begins in childhood, and none of his schoolmates +have reported that he had fits. Never was any one’s +life more closely watched than Napoleon’s; and the documents +upon which the assertion that he was an epileptic is based are +scanty, confused, and untrustworthy.</p> + +<p>As long as his body remained healthy, he was able to endure +all the tensions and shocks to which he was exposed. It was +when he was approaching forty that he began to show the first +symptoms of a stomach trouble which was in those days summarily +diagnosed as cancerous. Beyond questions, the tendency +to it was inherited. During the last three years of warfare, he +was put out of action in decisive hours by paroxysms of gastric +spasm. His courage and resolution were practically unimpaired; +had it not been for these attacks, the history of his +decline would have been different.</p> + +<h3>II</h3> + +<p>The soul which governed this body was driven forward by +three fundamental powers:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_550">[550]</span></p> + +<p>Self-confidence, energy, imagination.</p> + +<p>“I am not as other men; the laws of morality and convention +cannot be applied to me.” In these cold words, he emphasises +the “I” with which he began his first political writing in the +days of his youth. They are a plain acknowledgment of a +fact, by a man of thirty to whom nothing is more alien than +vanity. “I alone, because of my position, know what government +is,” he said when he was Consul. “I am persuaded that +no one save myself could govern France at this moment. Were +I to die, it would be a great misfortune for the nation.” He +utters such words seldom, and only when he is with an intimate; +but these sayings show with what scientific aloofness he could +contemplate the phenomenon, Napoleon. When, during the +Russian disaster, he was asked who in spite of all would defend +him in France, he replied: “My name.”</p> + +<p>His contemporaries and posterity have held this fundamental +feeling to be ambition. That view is mistaken. Common ambition +distinguishes itself from Napoleon’s self-confidence as a +restless, climbing animal does from a bird of prey whose free +flight, by a law of nature, assumes wider and wider circles as it +swings heavenwards. Napoleon’s aspiration is neither restless +nor envious: it is nothing but his natural disposition which, as +Consul, he once charmingly explained to his friend Roederer:</p> + +<p>“I have no ambition whatever; or if I have, then it is so inborn, +so intimately knit up with my very life, that it is as the +blood in my veins. It does not incite me to outstrip my associates.... +I have never had to fight for or against it; it +does not urge me to greater speed than is natural to me, it +comes out only when circumstances and my ideas demand.”</p> + +<p>Already in the days when he was a general, ideas and circumstances +forced upon him the conviction that he was the +man predestined to rebuild France. It is nothing other than +the conviction of his mission which makes him say to Roederer: +“Circumstances have changed. I am now one of those who +found States, not one of those who ruin States.” Another time, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_551">[551]</span>he speaks of Corneille, but he means himself when he says: +“Whence did this man acquire his antique greatness? From +himself, from his soul? Very well. Do you know what that is +called, My Lord Cardinal? It is called genius. Genius is a +flame, which comes from heaven, but seldom finds a head ready +to receive it. Corneille is a man whom the world has recognised.” +When his interlocutor observed that the poet had not +seen the flame, so how could he recognise it, the Emperor answered +scornfully: “Precisely for that reason I consider he is a +great man!”</p> + +<p>He thus, indirectly by anticipation, announces his own genius +to the world, just as Goethe had announced his own.</p> + +<p>The will-to-power, not as an endeavour or even as a question, +but, rather, as simplicity, dwells within him close at hand. He +calls interest the key to ordinary deeds; the will to govern the +intellect, he describes as the strongest of all the passions: and +the artistic urge of genius, he depicts in the following words: +“I love power, yes, I love it, but after the manner of an artist: +as a fiddler loves his fiddle in order to conjure from it tone, +chords, harmonies.”</p> + +<p>That is why it is his nature to command. “Wherever I may +be, I command, or else I keep silence.” He might have added: +“I negotiate,” for he had spent a quarter of his time in negotiating. +Even as a young general of twenty-seven, he aroused +the respect of all who came in contact with him. He never +learned to obey; but to command came to him naturally at the +very outset, just as a calf stands and walks in the first hour +of its life. Because this power of commanding comes so naturally, +he never acquires the art of asking; because he can command +as no other, he is denied the gift of being able to ask +favours.</p> + +<p>His self-confidence confers on him a natural dignity that +amazes and angers the legitimist world, which believes dignity +to be consonant only with heredity and culture. The friends +of his youth stand embarrassed when they recognise him as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_552">[552]</span>their commander in the field and yet realise the solitude which +his position as leader entails. All his companions-in-arms speak +of him with spontaneous homage. One of his intimates writes: +“When he speaks, every one listens, for he speaks as an expert; +if he is silent, his silence is respected; and no one would venture +to say that he was silent because of ill humour. We all felt +that between him and us there lived a great thought which was +wholly occupying his mind and forbade familiar accost.” This +statement is all the more surprising since it was made during a +campaign, when tent life usually breaks down barriers. With +absolute ingenuousness he once said, while playing and chatting +with friends at Malmaison: “I have no sense of the ridiculous. +Power is never ridiculous.”</p> + +<p>An adept at analysis, the greatest psychologist of his epoch, +he knows all about his own qualities, and is therefore able, by +degrees, to elaborate these instincts into principles. “The +goodness of a king,” he informs his brother Louis, King of +Holland, “must always bear a regal stamp and must never be +monkish.... The love which a king inspires should invariably +be a manly love, wedded to reverence, fear, and esteem. If +people speak of him as ‘a good man,’ his rule is a failure.” +This love and fear which he himself inspires has the greatest +practical results.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the dignity which holds people at a distance is +not assumed, for a leading element in it is a bewildering naturalness, +which grows with the years and with his successes. His +unsophisticated and frank realism, the sterling simplicity of +his character, shows itself in a hundred gestures and words, +and in the freshness with which he repeatedly makes fun of his +own ardency. He expresses this in a profound saying: “A +truly great man will rise superior to the events which he himself +has brought about.” The greatest successes, whose fateful +origin and consequences he fully grasps, he sums up to his +intimates in a schoolboy’s laugh. Many have reported this, +for between the boisterous gaiety of a soldier and the most +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_553">[553]</span>delicate curl of the lip are many shades of good humour; he +possesses all.</p> + +<p>On the eve of his coronation he exclaims: “Is the result not +truly delightful, to be named brother by the kings?” Or he +sends his ambassador to St. Petersburg with the words: “Our +brother in Russia is fond of luxury and festivity. Very well, +then, give him his fill of them!” Sometimes his simplicity of +manner infringes etiquette, and the legitimists blanch: “When +I was an insignificant lieutenant,” he begins once at table with +the kings in Dresden. General consternation! Every one +gazes into his plate. Napoleon clears his throat: “When I had +the honour of serving as lieutenant in the second artillery regiment +at Valence....” Or he is sitting with the tsar in +Tilsit, and, since he is ever eager to learn, he asks off-handedly +across the table: “How much does your tax on sugar bring in +yearly?” We are told that this question places all present in +a state of grave embarrassment. Why? Because, as a big +man of business, he calls money by its name; whereas the kings +never mention it by name, though they are glad enough to reap +the harvest!</p> + +<p>Since he was not vain, he knew when he had made mistakes. +His whole life long he was in the habit of saying that next day +he might lose a battle; he frequently consulted his friends and his +experts, and was inspired with the feeling of God-given necessity. +How well Napoleon could bear to be told the truth, we +can learn from Marmont—who, when he praises, is one of the +most trustworthy of witnesses, for he wrote his memoirs long +after the Emperor had publicly stigmatised him as a traitor. +“Napoleon had a strong sense of justice, and would readily forgive +an improper word or other sign of anger in one who had +good grounds for complaint, provided of course he was alone +with the offender.... He made kindly allowance for others’ +weaknesses and could never resist the appeal of well-grounded +sorrow. One who chose time and place, could say anything to +him. He was always willing to listen to the truth. Though it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_554">[554]</span>did not invariably influence him, there was no danger in uttering +it.”</p> + +<p>He saw through the wiles of flatterers, and they gained +nothing from him. Byzantine bombast, devoid of political +value, infuriated him. “How could you depict the French eagle +tearing the English leopard to pieces, at a time when I cannot +safely send even a fishing-smack out to sea? Break up your +moulds instantly, and never show me anything of the kind +again!”</p> + +<p>On the other hand, those who fearlessly speak the truth to +him, impress him. He praises Chateaubriand, who has attacked +him. In the days when he was Consul he was wont, after a +sitting of the Council of State, to invite to dinner the man +who had most vigorously opposed his wishes. In the Russian +campaign, a captive general tells him some home truths about +the burning of Moscow. Napoleon dismisses the prisoner in a +rage; but presently has him recalled, and shakes the Russian’s +hand, saying: “You are a brave man!” Méhul plays a trick +on the Emperor, producing his new opera as the work of +an Italian composer, and thus earning approbation. Paisiello +also plays a trick by introducing into one of his own compositions +an aria by Cimarosa, a composer whose work Bonaparte +cannot endure. The Consul applauds; and when afterwards +told of the deception, he only laughs.</p> + +<p>Madame de Staël has been a worry to him for fifteen years, +voicing Europe’s call for freedom. He suppresses her books, +banishes her from Paris, continues to take measures against +her even when he is in Russia, speaks of her as the dangerous +driving-wheel which sets the salons in motion; but he pays this +enemy the high compliment of dreading her, and acknowledges +as much in many of his private letters.</p> + +<p>In the Bavarian muster rolls, he comes across the name of a +former regimental comrade, a declared royalist. He makes this +man his military attaché. They have not met for fourteen +years. Now, during the campaign, they meet, and the old companion +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_555">[555]</span>introduces himself. The Emperor rides with him out of +the press, dismounts, and sits down on a convenient stone; the +other wishes to hold his horse. “Let be,” says Napoleon; +“that’s not your business,” and beckons a chasseur to take the +bridle-rein. The Emperor promptly becomes reminiscent: “Do +you remember how, at the lieutenants’ mess in Besançon, you +flung your table napkin down and shouted: ‘I will not sit beside +an officer who belongs to the Jacobin Club!’ That is ancient +history, and is of no consequence now.” He beckons his +attendant staff and points to his interlocutor, saying: “Look +at this fellow. Ability of the old school. He and I worked at +equations together.” Then, coming down to practical matters: +“Have you plenty of ammunition? What is your artillery like? +How soon will you be ready?”</p> + +<p>Unique, perhaps, in Napoleon’s life, is the scene at Erfurt in +the year of 1813, when von Müller, the Weimar chancellor, +braves his anger. Two privy councillors have written letters +in cipher. These have been seized at the outposts. The writers +have been arrested. Müller has been sent for. The Emperor +has stormed at him, threatening to burn Jena, to shoot the +culprits. Müller breaks in impetuously: “No, Sire, you will +not commit this abomination! You will not tarnish your record +for all time by shedding innocent blood!” In his excitement, +the German presses so close that the Emperor anticipates a +personal attack, and lays his hand on his sword-hilt. Müller +is dragged back by a companion. A pause. “You are a bold +man, but I see that you are a good friend. Berthier shall look +into the matter once more.” The privy councillors are +pardoned.</p> + +<p>This scene, creditable to both participants, is another proof +of Napoleon’s invulnerable dignity. It is invulnerable, unless +the arrow is poisoned. A sense of honour is the vulnerable +point of self-confidence. “If the French people expects certain +advantages from me,” said Bonaparte when First Consul, “it +must put up with my weaknesses, and the chief of these is that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_556">[556]</span>I cannot endure an affront.” It was he who said: “I am a man +whom people may kill, but will not affront.” Bourrienne tells +us that from Bonaparte’s earliest days he had no faith in law +or morality, but always believed in honour. This compensated +for his fundamental amoralism. The power exercised over him +by his conception of honour distinguishes him absolutely from +the condottieri of the Renaissance, with whom he ought never +to have been compared. When he is Consul, betwixt night and +morning he breaks off his intimacy with this very Bourrienne, +who has been his private secretary for so long, because +Bourrienne is involved in an unsavoury financial scandal. Years +afterwards, he refuses to admit Bourrienne to the Legion of +Honour, saying: “One who worships the golden calf may have +money, but not honour.” When a bill signed by King Jerome +goes to protest, Napoleon writes: “Sell your diamonds, your +silver plate, your furniture, your horses—anything to pay +your debts. Honour comes first!”</p> + +<p>He was so sensitive on this point that after his coronation +he summoned to his presence a notary who had long before +advised Josephine against marrying a person of doubtful character; +Napoleon wished to rehabilitate himself in this man’s +mind. In exile at St. Helena, he remembered how his German +teacher in Brienne had always treated him with contempt: “I +should very much like to know whether Herr Bauer ever learned +how I made good!”</p> + +<p>He is a stickler for morality, just as he is for honour. +“Nothing can be worse in a ruler than immorality. He makes +it fashionable, and it poisons society.” Napoleon does not say +this merely because he has been warned by the example of the +Bourbons and the Directors. He has an inborn sense of +decency, which is part of his dignity. No one has ever recorded +having heard Napoleon, the soldier, tell an obscene story. Nor +did he ever listen to one complacently. When he becomes First +Consul, he forbids Josephine to have anything more to do with +friends of hers who are leading gay lives. Years afterwards, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_557">[557]</span>when the empress allows Tallien to visit her, Napoleon writes +to reprimand his wife, saying: “I can see no excuses for Tallien. +I know that some poor devil has married her with her eight +bastards, and I despise her even more than I did before. She +was an amiable cocotte; now she is nothing more than a common +woman.”</p> + +<p>Talleyrand, who has had a liaison for many years, is told +that he must marry his inamorata or quit Napoleon’s service +within twenty-four hours. Berthier is made a prince, but the +same condition is imposed on him, Napoleon saying: “This passion +of yours has lasted too long, and is becoming ridiculous. +You are a man of fifty, but may live to be eighty, and these +thirty years are left you for marriage.” The revolution had +encouraged nudity in mythological representations, but Napoleon +wants nakedness to be draped. When, in one of the +squares there is set up a fountain where there is a group of +naiads with water spouting from their breasts, he has “these +wet-nurses” removed as improper, and decrees that “the naiads +were virgins.” His own women friends must not make themselves +conspicuous. He lavishes money on them; but if they are +actresses, he does not allow his liaison to be used as a reason for +promotion. On the other hand, like any bourgeois he boasts of +sharing his wife’s bedroom, saying: “It has a remarkable influence +upon conjugal life, strengthens the man’s influence, +guarantees his faithfulness, promotes intimacy and good +morals; a couple will never become estranged if they spend the +whole night together. As long as Josephine and I kept this +custom, she was familiar with all my thoughts.”</p> + +<p>One of the most sublime forms of his egotism is gratitude. +This is not ordinary kindness, but the pride of a man who feels +he is unique, and overwhelms with benefits any one who has ventured +to be useful to him, lest he should possibly remain in the +other’s debt. That was the consideration which really underlay +his frequently declared policy, that he would never make +use of any party, lest he should incur obligations. We must +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_558">[558]</span>not look upon these things in a romantic light. But it is an +actual fact that he was not content to promote only the friends +of his youth, his fellow-students at the military academy. As +soon as he rose to power, he found for the priest who had been +headmaster at Brienne a sinecure at Malmaison as librarian—without +any books! The sometime school porter became lodge +keeper at his country house. A young lady of noble birth to +whom, in his lieutenant days, he had once paid court for a +whole evening, and who sixteen years later applied for help to +the Emperor, received what she wanted, together with a post +for her brother, and a friendly letter. He remembered many of +his former associates in his will. Years after his brief intimacy +with “Giorgina,” when he hears that she is in difficulties +(though she has made no application to him), he provides her +with a competency.</p> + +<p>Hitherto we have been talking about money, or money’s +worth. But the nature of his gratitude is different when he +loves, as in the case of Josephine. When we consider his relationships +with her, we realise the truth of Marmont’s tribute, +which is all the more remarkable as coming from an enemy: “He +had a grateful, kind, indeed affectionate, heart.” At the time +of the coronation, he says to Roederer: “What right have I to +put away a good wife merely because I have become a greater +man than I was when we married?... Before all, I am a just +man.” A little later, he writes to Josephine: “As far as I am +concerned, I deem ingratitude the greatest weakness any one +can have.”</p> + +<h3>III</h3> + +<p>Napoleon’s self-confidence, his self-esteem, his egotism, lies +at the root of his wavering between revolution and legitimacy. +Relying entirely upon himself, scorning all whose pride rests +upon the accident of birth, he has nevertheless to take the +egotism of others into account in so far as this egotism becomes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_559">[559]</span>embodied in achievement. And yet he is constitutionally incapable +of suffering others to be on an equal footing with himself. +For his own sake he has to choose the most capable to +fill administrative and other positions, and yet he has to please +the masses: he must stand for equality of all, and at the same +time bear the individual in mind. These contradictions give +rise to a tragical conflict.</p> + +<p>Both the weapons he has chosen for his battle of life, namely, +the spirit and the sword, he conceives of in a revolutionary +sense. “Why is the French army the most dreaded in the +world? Because the officers became émigrés; non-commissioned +officers replaced them, and became generals. One can lead a +people’s army with non-commissioned officers, for they have +risen from the people.” For years, Napoleon refused to confer +the grand cross of the Legion of Honour upon Metternich and +Schwarzenberg. It was only after their gallant behaviour during +the fire at Schwarzenberg’s mansion, that the Emperor relented, +and conferred the decoration. The orders which his +brother, the king of Holland, distributed with so lavish a hand, +Napoleon would not allow to be worn in Paris. He sends his +brother the following memorandum for kings:</p> + +<p>“How can one give this indelible mark of appreciation to a +man one does not know, to a person who may before long prove +to be a rogue? Learn to know those who gather round your +throne! The wish to distribute decorations should not be +gratified suddenly, as one can gratify a desire to go out for a +day’s shooting. Noteworthy achievements must come first.... +You have as yet done nothing to deserve the honour of +decorating others with your effigy....”</p> + +<p>His egotism makes him emphasise the advantage of the lack +of any ancestry to an original or unusual person. When +flatterers suggest that one of his Italian forebears should be +canonised, he calls the suggestion an idiocy. Metternich lays +before Napoleon an ancestral tree manufactured in Vienna +from records of the Buonaparte family in Tuscany. The Emperor +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_560">[560]</span>says: “Take these papers away!” In the official gazette, +Napoleon has the following notice inserted: “To all questions +as to when the house of Bonaparte began, the answer is simple: +on the Eighteenth Brumaire. How can one show so little tact +and good breeding for all one owes the Emperor as to stress +the question of his ancestry?” Once he is so angry because +some one has contradicted him in this matter of his genealogy +that he exclaims: “I shall not suffer any one to insult me by +treating me as if I were a king!”</p> + +<p>Then come transitions in which the cleavage begins to show +itself. “I shall be the Brutus of the kings and the Cæsar of +the republic:” which saying is certainly ambiguous. “I know +of no aristocracy but the rabble which I have allowed to escape; +and of no rabble but the aristocracy which I have created:” +here there is hardly any ambiguity. “Tacitus is praised because +he made the tyrants fear the people—and that was a +very bad thing for the people:” which is open to but one +interpretation.</p> + +<p>No one, in the presence of such a man, can be satisfied with +the facile assertion that Napoleon only pretended to believe in +the principles of freedom until he attained to power, and then +promptly betrayed them. On the contrary, we have here to do +with a spiritual struggle. This is the one problem with which +the self-confident man had to wrestle; a problem he never solved.</p> + +<p>“I am the man of the people: its pulse beats in unison with +my own.... The aristocracy remains always aloof, and never +forgives.” Such utterances show us the original trend of his +character. Inasmuch as he overcomes this trend, never becomes +an ideologue, but gets the better of his inborn sympathies, +he is a statesman of genius. Of course it is ridiculous when he, +who only rewards merit, decorates his baby son’s cradle with +the grand cordon of the Legion of Honour; or again, when he +has the deposed king of Spain, who addressed him as “cousin,” +informed through the intermediation of Talleyrand that the +Emperor must be addressed as “Sire.” These weaknesses are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_561">[561]</span>grotesque, and yet they are superficial; he himself recognises +them and spurns them if the mood is upon him. When he is +hesitating whether he shall send Eugene, or perhaps better +still Talleyrand (a man sprung from the old noblesse), to +prepare the ground for the “imperial diet” at Erfurt, he suddenly, +in virile fashion, ceases to bother about the question: +“After all, what does it matter to me whether I am criticised? +I will show them that I do not care.”</p> + +<p>A more serious problem, both for him and for us, is when the +origin and the laws of the right of succession to the throne +come up for discussion. “It is false to call me a usurper; I +have simply taken the unoccupied place which Louis could not +keep for himself. Had I been Louis I should have hindered +the revolution in spite of the amazing progress which has accrued +to thought because of the change.... My strength is +in my good luck; I am as new as the Empire.” Yet, in spite +of this somewhat confused reasoning, he ventures a step farther, +and writes to Brother Louis: “I hold myself responsible for +everything that has happened since Clovis’ days down to the +days of the Committee of Public Safety; and I shall consider +everything that is deliberately said against the governments +as an attack on myself.”</p> + +<p>Thus we see that his egotism reaches so paradoxical an intensity +in the championship of legitimacy, and that he sails so +near the serious acceptance of rule by divine right (which is +otherwise only used by him as a political formula), that he +makes himself responsible for the actions of those very kings +whose dethronement has opened the way to his rise!</p> + +<p>All his life he restlessly hovered round this question of status. +At Kaunitz Castle, during the night after Austerlitz, while at +every minute Austrian and Russian colours, captive generals, +and dispatches from the beaten commanders, are being brought +to him, he thrusts everything aside because the courier from +Paris has entered the room. Then he does the same with all the +tidings from the capital, in order to read a letter full of gossip +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_562">[562]</span>from a lady, who tells how the Fronde of the Faubourg has +sworn never to put in an appearance at court. He is furious: +“Ah! so these people fancy that they are stronger than I? Very +well, gentlemen of the old aristocracy, we shall see! We shall +see!” This is on the evening after the battle of Austerlitz!</p> + +<p>Here we see such hatred as that which a man gradually comes +to feel for a woman who stubbornly resists his wooing. He +must win over the spirit of tradition, cost what it may. One +evening, not very long before the scene just described, he takes +Roederer from the drawing-room into the billiard-room, begins +knocking the balls about, and then says, apropos of nothing in +particular:</p> + +<p>“Your Senate has no feelings for the aristocratic, no esprit +de corps in favour of the imperial system.”</p> + +<p>“Sire, it is devoted to your person.”</p> + +<p>“That is not what I want. It must be devoted to my mantle, +no matter who wears it. The mantle ought to be enough to +guarantee the safety of the wearer. This is the aristocratic +spirit, which is lacking to you ideologues!”</p> + +<p>The whole problem of hereditary succession is implicit +in these considerations; it logically develops therefrom, leading +to the second marriage, and thus to the tragical issue. There +are only two things which Napoleon cannot create unaided: +children and ancestors. He therefore asks the world of +legitimate rulers to enter into an alliance with him, which will +settle his difficulty as far as offspring is concerned, and will also +provide his children with an ancestry. He is not really a man +of the people, but a nobleman; and who can complain because +he regards himself as such?</p> + +<p>“I am in a peculiar position. The genealogists want to trace +my pedigree back to the deluge, while there are some who describe +me as sprung from the lower middle class. Truth lies +between. The Bonapartes are a good Corsican family, not +celebrated, but certainly better than these coxcombs who believe +themselves entitled to humiliate us.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_563">[563]</span></p> + +<p>This is the tone of the sixteen-year-old lad, scion of the lesser +territorial nobility, whom a handful of counts made fun of at +the military academy and slighted at the boarding school in +Paris. They are the very words which the young man had +used in his letters and literary sketches when the noblesse of +monarchical France had mortified him. Nothing can expunge +the memory of his early mortifications. It may well be that, +but for these never-to-be-forgotten affronts suffered at the +hands of a few silly young marquises, his whole outlook upon +the question of legitimacy would have been different; his court +life, his marriage, his destiny, would have been different; and +therewith the course of European history would have been +other than it was.</p> + +<p>His egotism finds expression in the struggle with France, +just as it does in the struggle with the noblesse. He does not +wholly belong to the high nobility, and therefore throughout +life he remains critical of the pretensions of birth. In the +same way, though formally he was a Frenchman, he was not +French by blood, and he was therefore irritably critical of the +French, just as he was irritably critical of the noblesse. He +conquered both, but never felt perfectly secure in either of his +conquests.</p> + +<p>But he had more success with France than with the +legitimists. Because he is not really a Frenchman, France +never becomes his legitimate spouse; she remains his beloved +mistress. He knows this; he wooes, gives himself, renounces; +and from the perpetual uncertainty of his relationship to +France, he derives the keenest joys of his life. “I have only one +passion, only one mistress: France. I lie by her side. She has +never been untrue to me; she pours out her blood for me, and +lavishes her treasures upon me. If I need half a million men, +she gives them!” When he chides his mistress, he does it as a +jealous lover; he rules her “with an iron hand in a velvet +glove”; he gratifies all her caprices; and he knows better than +any one else how to allure her by the glamour of fame and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_564">[564]</span>fantasy. That is why she beams on him when he comes home +victorious; that is why she gives him her children.</p> + +<p>Yet lover and mistress remain critical of one another. +Mutual jealousy persists. Neither of them ever forgets the +wish to master the other. Hear his exclamation in the tone of +a despotic lover: “I swear that I do everything for the sake +of France alone! If I do not give her more liberty, it is because +she does not need more!” He is standing in the middle of his +drawing-room, scrutinising his guests sharply as he speaks to +them with raised voice. Among intimates, he will often use +harsher words: “Always the same old Gauls! The same +frivolity, the same vanity! When, if ever, will these be replaced +by a proper pride?”</p> + +<p>The French, likewise, remain sceptical. Must they not, in +confidential talks, say of this Italian the very thing that he +once wrote to his brother Louis? “Since you ascended the +throne, you have forgotten that you are a Frenchman, and +have strained every nerve to persuade yourself that you are a +Dutchman. The foreign environment tickles your fancy, but +it is still foreign.” Roederer writes of Napoleon: “He is making +a mistake. They are by no means so enthusiastic about +him as they were about Lafayette (who did nothing practical +for them). At bottom, they merely admire and respect him +because he is useful to them.”</p> + +<p>Such a liaison cannot fail to end tragically. The mistress +discards her lover when he is no longer useful to her.</p> + +<p>Tragical, too, is the ending of another embodiment of his +egotism, its noblest incorporation. “I wish I could be my own +posterity, and read what such a poet as Corneille would make +me feel, do, and say.” From boyhood’s days down to the time +of his exile, in the island where he was born and in the island +where he died, his self-esteem is nourished on historical parallels. +History, he said, was the only true philosophy. Had he not +had his peculiar feeling for history, Napoleon’s career would +have been very different; nay, it would have been impossible. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_565">[565]</span>His political calculations are fed from two sources, history and +imagination; the first of these streams being intellectual, and +the second passionate. It is history alone which gives him +alighting places on his flight. In his own age he is unique; he +travels alone; nowhere but in history can he find prototypes +by whose example he can guide his impetuous progress. With +Cæsar, the lieutenant begins to soar. At Rochefort, the Emperor +ends the active phase of his existence by trusting too +implicitly in the heroic example of Themistocles.</p> + +<p>Between the opening and the close, we find numberless indications +of the way in which his imagination remains at work, +mirroring the great incidents of classical and modern history. +Why is he opposed to Tacitus and Chateaubriand? Because +they warn the people against tyrants. Why does he blame +the assassins of Cæsar? Because he wishes to defend his own +sentence upon the duke of Enghien. When he is First Consul, +he actually thinks of writing a few chapters of Roman history, +to prove “that Cæsar never wanted to become king, and that +he was murdered because he wished to re-establish order by +uniting all parties.” He goes on to add that Cæsar had been +killed in the Senate House, and that in the Senate were forty +Pompeians, personal enemies of the dictator. Napoleon’s unexpressed +inference is that he must clean up the Senate, and +he does so.</p> + +<p>In the Roman style, he sketches the ideas for eight splendid +bas-reliefs which, on triumphal arches, are to illustrate the doings +of his reign; they are to be representations of fact, devoid +of self-commendation, and only in a formal sense illustrations +of historical egotism. He summons historiographers and +imaginative writers from all civilised lands, and converses with +them for hours, in order that, through their intermediation, +he may win the approval of posterity. When his portrait +seems to him too crudely lifelike, he says that Alexander never +sat to Apelles; David must paint him “in a tranquil attitude, +mounted upon a fiery steed.” It pleases him to write army +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_566">[566]</span>orders when he is sitting in Frederick the Great’s study; at +Sans Souci, to invite the biographer of the former master of +the house to dine with him; in Lombardy, to visit the arch of +Augustus, in Egypt, the pillar of Pompey, and on these monuments +to inscribe the names of those who have recently fallen; +in Madrid and Moscow, to study the environment and the +habits of Philip and of Catherine. But his pleasure in these +things is not purely æsthetic. The hours he devotes to them are +heroical; they are Napoleon’s true recompense; they are +realisations of his earliest dreams.</p> + +<p>With his own hand, he is continually writing his own history. +The young general records his first victories in orders of the +day; with each new campaign, and after every battle, he adds +to the long series; and the work is done with the hand of an +artist, is wrought with an eye to immortal fame. When he is +offered the crown of Italy, he surveys his own deeds of little +more than five years ago as if they had come down in legend: +“When, a few years later, we learned on the banks of the Nile +that our aims had come to naught, we were bitterly distressed +at this evil turn of fortune; but, thanks to the courage of our +armies, we were able to appear in Milan at a time when Italy +believed us to be still on the shores of the Red Sea.” Actually, +in the interim, he had, before the eyes of all the world, trampled +on the constitution of France, and even the meanest herd in +the Apennines knew of his return from Egypt.</p> + +<p>When he is carrying on a struggle with the pope he pens a +long letter, and sends it to Eugene for the latter to copy, since +ostensibly it is to be a letter from Eugene to the pope; therein +Eugene is made to say that Napoleon can only be compared to +Cyrus and Charlemagne.</p> + +<p>At the height of his career, he says to his Austrian ambassador: +“Don’t you make any mistake, I am a Roman +emperor, in the best line of the Cæsars. Chateaubriand has +compared me with Tiberius, who could only travel from Rome +to Capri. A pretty idea! Trajan. Aurelian—that would be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_567">[567]</span>another story. They were self-made men, who shook the world +out of old ruts. Do you not see the resemblances between my +regime and that of Diocletian? The net so widely spread; the +Emperor’s eyes everywhere; the civil authority omnipotent +throughout an empire that is fundamentally warlike.... A +man is born to be a Cæsar.”</p> + +<p>This is not a proclamation, not a political letter, not an +attempt to seduce any one. The words are spoken lightly, in a +drawing-room, without emotion and without ulterior aim, with +all the simplicity of a man aware of his own strength.</p> + +<p>After victories and successes, this historical feeling for his +own personality becomes as objective as the attitude of the +chessplayer towards the pieces on his board. We seem to be +contemplating a man whose fondness for the game is the only +thing which makes him want to win; and who, as soon as he has +won, can converse dispassionately with his defeated opponent +about the mistakes they have made and the artifices to which +they have had recourse. When he is talking to enemy generals +whom he has taken prisoner or with whom he is negotiating, +he will say: “You ought to have done this, that, or the other. +There, you were in an advantageous position. That would +have been an excellent move.”</p> + +<p>Immediately after his victory at Wagram, he says to Count +Bubna: “I am certain that you are damnably strong, for you +can deliver shrewd blows. At what figure do you estimate my +forces?... You appear to be uncommonly well informed! +Would you care to have a look at my army?... No? Well, +at least you had better study my position on this map. It was +my own fault when I failed to win a victory at Aspern-Essling. +I got the punishment I deserved.”</p> + +<p>Only with regard to one matter does this detachment fail +him—Waterloo. In St. Helena, an English surgeon ventured +to say that people in England would be glad to hear his opinion +of Wellington. The remark was followed by an embarrassing +silence.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_568">[568]</span></p> + +<p>Fame is the supreme goal of his egotism; substantially, it is +the only goal. All his energies are directed towards this end: +his consciousness of his uniqueness; his historic sense; his sense +of honour; his dignity; the boy’s dreams, the youth’s plans, +the man’s deeds, the prisoner’s unrest. Posterity is the great +confused picture which fills his imagination; and the desire of +his heart would seem to be rather the Latin “gloria” which +thinks of future generations, than the French “gloire” which +suns itself in the smile of contemporaries. He is animated by +a daimonic being’s eager wish for immortality, although he +knows that he must share the fate of all mortal men. “Better +never to have lived; than to exist, and pass without leaving a +trace.”</p> + +<p>He modifies the coronation oath by swearing, not only to +protect the realm and the happiness of France, but also to rule +for the glory of his people. On one of the battle-fields of +Henry IV in Normandy he has a column erected with the inscription: +“Great men love the fame of those who resemble +themselves.” Frederick’s sword is “more precious than all the +treasures of the king of Prussia”; but it is not only when he +is campaigning that his thoughts turn towards the future. +When he is having houses built for the unemployed, his order +to the minister to whom the task is entrusted ends with the +phrase: “We must not pass out of the world without leaving +traces that will commend us to the thoughts of posterity.” At +the close of his career as Emperor, he refuses to make peace +on terms that will involve the renunciation of territories upon +whose conquest part of his fame depends; and towards the end +of his life he utters a melancholy parable, darkly significant, +lonely as his own destiny:</p> + +<p>“The love for glory is like the bridge which Satan tried to +build across chaos in order to make his way into paradise. +Glory is a connecting link between past and future, from which +an abyss separates him. I leave to my son nothing but my +name.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_569">[569]</span></p> + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<p>Energy is the second element in Napoleon’s make-up. How +does this quality show itself?</p> + +<p>First of all in calculation. Never a trace of the flash of +genius; but, rather, continuous weighing, over-elaborating, discarding:</p> + +<p>“I have known myself to argue with myself over the thoughts +concerning a battle, and have contradicted myself.... When +I have drawn-up a plan of battle I am the most pusillanimous +of men. I magnify the dangers and the incidents, am in a +terrible state of excitement even when I seem cheerful; I am +then like a girl who is going to have a baby.” This is the mood +of an artist during the conception of his work. He once described +these feelings to Roederer in even franker terms:</p> + +<p>“I am always at work; I think a great deal. If I appeared +to be ever ready and equal to any occasion, it is because I have +thought over matters for long before I undertake to do the +slightest thing; I have foreseen all eventualities. There exists +no guardian angel who suddenly and mysteriously whispers in +my ear what I have to do or to say. Everything is turned over +in my mind, again and again, always, whether I am at table or +at the theatre. At night, I wake up in order to work.”</p> + +<p>This constant deliberation builds up something within him +which he names “the spirit of things:” the precision, which +penetrates he touches; the thinking in numbers, to which he +ascribes part of his success and for which he has to thank his +mathematical training. There is nothing too small for this +brain; for the sum total of millions of details is a plan whose +scope is world embracing. If one of his officers writes to say +that the Emperor’s instructions have been carried out, Napoleon +waives this general statement aside and demands details. +Nothing is so small but he wants to know all about it and judge +its importance for himself. He writes to Eugene, who is in +Italy:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_570">[570]</span></p> + +<p>“How is it possible that you are distributing three million +seven hundred and forty-seven thousand rations of meat?... +I can calculate a similar gross total for dried vegetables, wine, +salt, and spirits. But I want calculations according to corps. +I am robbed of fifty per cent., even as much as seventy per +cent.... How can you allow them to calculate for one million +three hundred and seventy-one thousand rations of hay? +I should have to provide twelve thousand horses to eat it, not +counting the Istrians and Dalmatians! You know I have only +seven thousand.... The office charges are insane! Frs. +118,000 for four months! That equals frs. 400,000 a year! +Such a sum should suffice for the whole of Italy!”</p> + +<p>This is but one example among many. Thousands of such +letters, hailing from every corner of the military and civil +administration, personally dictated, are to be found in the +volumes of correspondence, and must sadly disappoint those +who expect to find only ideas and temperament in the letters. +He is the man who, in the midst of his wars in Italy, writes +home that they must concoct a letter, nominally written by a +German patriot and dealing with Austrian politics, and have it +circulated throughout Germany; again, in the throes of a campaign, +he has to write to Murat, King of Naples, detailing how +the latter is to behave at balls or when he visits the theatre, +whom he is to invite and whom to exclude from his invitations. +While the preparations are being made for the Erfurt gathering, +he suddenly remembers that some one must be there to +introduce the actresses to the gallant grand dukes. He never +demonstrates more forcibly the way he formulates destinies in +figures than by the following incursion into social life: “Each +household should have six children, seeing that, on the average, +three are sure to die. Of the three who survive, two should +replace the father and mother; the third will serve for an unforeseen +emergency.”</p> + +<p>His precision of thought goes to such grotesque lengths!</p> + +<p>A third means for expressing this energetic faculty is his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_571">[571]</span>tempo. “Activity! Speed!” he writes with his own hand at +the foot of an order. The king of Prussia has depicted this +peculiarity with especial felicity: “We need but see him ride: +he always gives his horse rein, and never troubles about what +may be happening in his rear!” But Napoleon negotiated better +than he rode, for he never negotiated until after long reflection. +“Not a moment must be lost,” is the slogan even when +nothing presses for decision. The instinctive impetus of an +overburdened but short life drives him forward; it seems as if +he could not arrive quickly enough at the end of his career. +He writes to Bernadotte, in the course of a campaign: “I have +lost a whole day through you, and the fate of the world hangs +upon one single day.”</p> + +<p>The drive he imposes upon himself has its reaction upon +those who serve him. He drives them, not only in the field, but +also in circumstances which ordinary governments would take +months to decide. He demands a treaty with Russia from +Talleyrand, saying it is to be drawn up and ready in a couple +of hours. To explain the reasons for his second marriage, he +wants a circular letter sent to all his ambassadors and consuls; +this is to be drafted “in the course of the day.” One night +he is immersed in thoughts concerning the embellishment of +Paris. Next morning he says to his Minister for Home +Affairs: “I require that Paris shall have two million inhabitants +by the end of ten years. I want to do something useful +and great for the city. What do you suggest?”</p> + +<p>“Provide the town with a good water-supply, Sire,” and the +minister expounds a plan whereby the Ourcq water can be conveyed +to Paris.</p> + +<p>“Your proposal is good. Summon G.; he must send five +hundred men to La Vilette to-morrow, in order to start work +on the canal.”</p> + +<p>Another of his weapons is memory. “I always know my +position. I cannot remember a single Alexandrine, but I never +forget a figure relating to my military situation.” This is the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_572">[572]</span>productive memory. Although he pronounces them abominably, +he retains the names of all the important places—important +from his point of view—in all the countries where he has fought. +The Postmaster General reports that the Emperor is able to +mention, offhand, distances which he himself has to hunt up in +works of reference. On his way back to Paris from the camp +at Boulogne, Napoleon encounters a troop of soldiers who have +lost their way, asks the number of their regiment, whence they +set out, and when. He tells them their line of march! “Your +battalion will be at H. this evening.” At this time, two hundred +thousand men were on the march close at hand!</p> + +<p>His technique is to arrange things in his head “as in a wardrobe.” +He says: “When I wish to put any matter out of my +mind, I close its drawer and open the drawer belonging to +another. The contents of the drawers never get mixed, and +they never worry me or weary me. Do I want to sleep? I +close all the drawers, and then I am asleep.”</p> + +<p>Among the numerous heraldic emblems which might have +tickled the fancy of an upstart—stars, tutelary deities, saints, +beasts of prey—he finds none to please him. He chooses the +bee, thus emphasising once more his opinion that a man of +talent who aspires and works unceasingly, can achieve everything +that can otherwise be achieved through what is vaguely +spoken of as genius. He declares that genius is industry; +meaning, of course, that genius is industry among other +things. He says that work is his element, that for which he +has been created. Had he left nothing behind him, had all his +works perished, still his industry and his glory would have been +an emblematic stimulus to the youth of countless generations +after he had passed away.</p> + +<p>Many witnesses testify to his amazing powers of continued +work. Roederer, who was his close companion during the +Consulate, writes as follows: “That which especially characterises +him is the power and persistence of his attention. He +can work for eighteen hours at a stretch, it may be at one piece +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_573">[573]</span>of work, it may be at several in turn. I have never seen his +mind flag. I have never seen his mind without a spring in it, +not when he was physically tired, not when he was taking +violent exercise, not even when he was angry. I have never +seen him distracted from one affair by another, neglecting the +matter in hand for one which he is about to work. Good or bad +news from Egypt never interfered with his attention to the civil +code, and the civil code never interfered with the steps it was +necessary to take for the safety of Egypt. No one was ever +more wholly immersed in what he was doing, nor did any one +ever make a better distribution of his time among all the things +he had to do. Never was any one more stubborn in rejecting +the occupation or the thought which was not appropriate to +the hour or the day; nor was any one ever more adroit in seizing +an occupation or a thought when the right moment had +come.”</p> + +<p>He robbed hundreds of his fellow workers of health and +youth, because he demanded too much of them when he demanded +from them what he exacted from himself. His private +secretary would be sent for at a late hour, and would get to +bed at four in the morning; at seven, the poor man would find +new tasks ready for him, and would be told that they must be +finished within two hours. When Napoleon and his secretary +were together all day, one dictating and the other writing from +dictation, at meal times the chief would order food for two, +and would share with his subordinate at a corner of the work-table, +just as he would have shared with his adjutant on a +boundary stone. During the Consulate he would sometimes begin +a sitting with his ministers at six in the evening and keep it +up till five next morning. In the three months at Schönbrunn, +his official correspondence comprised four hundred and thirty-five +letters occupying four hundred folio pages of print. This +was only his political and administrative correspondence; in +addition he wrote a great many private letters, and delivered +innumerable orders by word of mouth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_574">[574]</span></p> + +<p>These are the main forms of his energy. It is with their aid +that he enters upon his duel with the world, availing himself +of their interplay, and speaking of his genius as a talent for +combination. In his plans and orders, he is fond of the phrase +“at the given moment.” He is not hampered by any principle; +is always willing to modify his scheme to suit the weather of +destiny, to adapt his combinations to the slightest modifications +of the situation. This man of iron will had a most supple +intelligence. While forcing all those with whom he came in +contact to bend before his resolves, he himself showed a wonderful +elasticity in compliance with the will of circumstances.</p> + +<p>“The weakness of a captain who, instead of forcing his way +into port, preferred to let himself be chased on the open sea—this, +and some of the trifling defects of our frigates, were the +reasons why I failed to change the face of the world. Had +Acre fallen, we should have made our way to Aleppo by forced +marches, have enlisted Christians, Druses, and Armenians; have +speedily reached the Euphrates: thence I should have gone to +India, and should have stablished new institutions everywhere.”</p> + +<p>Whether these vaticinations were historically tenable, may +remain an open question; but his belief that he could have done +what he describes, bears witness to his realism. In this world +of figures and magnitudes, for Napoleon everything depends +upon the individual behaviour of the individual man at his post. +Since the failure of any one individual may give the totality +of circumstances a new trend, he is always ready to adapt the +trend of his own intelligence to changing circumstances. But +he does not himself attribute his successes to this, saying that +they were due to his having been born at the right moment, +and that under Louis XIV. he would only have become a marshal +like Turenne.</p> + +<p>Napoleon’s energy is very little disturbed by the passions. +His self-confidence and his sense of dignity made self-command +easy to him, and, being habituated to surprise, he was +always fully master of himself. “Since I am used to great +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_575">[575]</span>events, they make no impression on me at the moment when +they are reported; I feel the pain an hour later.” This sometimes +makes him appear more stoical than he might wish people +to believe him. When Hortense’s boy dies, he tells her to +be composed, saying: “To live means to suffer; but the brave +man is continually striving for self-mastery, and achieves it in +the end.”</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, he sometimes loses his temper. The fierceness +of his passion is then proportional to his pride, the irritability +of his nerves, and the impatience of his creative will—the will +of one who needed a thousand hands to complete his work. +The stories about his threatening an ambassador with his fist, +and similar outbursts of violence, are fabulous; but there is +trustworthy evidence as to the terrible moment when Berthier +had infuriated the First Consul by his tactlessness. Led on by +Talleyrand as Mephistopheles, Berthier, in the Tuileries, had +urged upon the Consul the need of assuming the title of king. +Bonaparte’s anger flashed from his eyes, his lips twitched, he +seized the offender by the throat, and pushed him back against +the wall, shouting: “Who put you up to raising my bile in this +way? You will pay for it, if you dare to do anything of the +kind again!”</p> + +<p>Even amid his anger, his faculty for combination is at work, +and he realises that the notion cannot have originated in the +good Berthier’s mind. In its psychical significance the scene +is unique.</p> + +<p>Often he is a rough, irritable soldier, who furiously lifts a +badly closing window off its hinges and hurls it into the street; +lashes a groom with his whip; when dictating a letter, utters +curses against the addressee, which his secretary suppresses; +even before the vicars-general speaks in an unseemly way, +asking, “Which of you leads this blockhead of a bishop by the +nose?”</p> + +<p>One of these vicars-general, who has been absent from duty +for a long time, returns, and comes to report.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_576">[576]</span></p> + +<p>“Where have you been, misérable?”</p> + +<p>“At home, with my people.”</p> + +<p>“How dare you stay away so long when you know that your +bishop is such a damned fool?”</p> + +<p>More important are the occasions when he simulates anger +to gain some political end. Occasionally he gives the show +away afterwards. “You think I was in a rage?” he says in +Warsaw. “You are making a mistake. While I have been +here, my wrath has never exceeded bounds.” One day he is +playing with his little nephew and gossiping with the court +ladies, in the best of humours. The English ambassador is +announced. Instantly his face changes like an actor’s, his +features are convulsed, he turns pale, strides towards the Englishman +and storms at him for a whole hour in the presence of +numerous witnesses. He is genuinely angry with England and +he is genuinely annoyed at being disturbed by this visit; but +the wrathful mask, the scene he makes, the angry expressions +he uses, are political expedients.</p> + +<p>The frequency of such incidents made many people believe +that Napoleon was a passionate man. Talleyrand has more +insight: “He’s a perfect devil. He humbugs us all, even about +his passions, for he knows how to act them, though they are +really there!”</p> + +<p>Self-command and coldness are so dominant in him that he +never takes the vengeance that might seem appropriate to his +irritable sense of honour and to the extent of his power. He +never punished rivals or traitors unjustly. He only banished +those whom he had good reason for wishing out of the way; +and it was a point of chivalry with him to leave beaten enemies, +great or small, unmolested.</p> + +<p>Here is a scene with the Badenese envoy. The envoy asks +compensation for the duke of Brunswick. The Emperor +angrily refuses: not because the duke is supposed to have incited +Prussia to make war against France; but because, long +before this, during the first campaign against France in 1792, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_577">[577]</span>he had issued the famous manifesto of Coblenz, in which he had +said that in Paris he would not leave one stone standing on +another. “What harm had this city done to him?” fiercely enquires +the Emperor two decades later, the man who in those +days had been Lieutenant Bonaparte. “This affront must be +avenged!”</p> + +<h3>V</h3> + +<p>Napoleon’s energy is most conspicuous in his role of conqueror. +But in this case it finds a more spiritual expression +than one would be led to anticipate from a soldier. “I have +seldom drawn my sword; I won my battles with my eyes, not +with my weapons.” To gain a knowledge of his soul, it is not +important to understand the new forms of his art of war; of +importance is to understand the way in which his whole being +vibrated before, during, and after a fight. In this, too, he is +wholly original.</p> + +<p>Even courage, that fundamental virtue of the soldier, assumes +in Napoleon a form peculiar to himself. During his +youthful days, and again during the last campaigns he displayed +so much personal courage that he can venture to say, +“no soldier is proof against cowardice”; but such moments +of panic fear must be utilised against the foe. What he believes +himself almost alone to possess is “two-o’clock-in-the-morning +courage”: courage in face of the unforeseen, the sudden; +courage which demands presence of mind and power of +determination. But he despises the “chivalrous” courage of the +duel, which he crushingly describes as “cannibal courage.”—“Since +you have both fought at Marengo and Austerlitz you do +not need to give any further proofs of your courage. Women +are fickle, and so is good luck. Go back to your regiments and +become comrades again.”</p> + +<p>The commander of armies clearly recognises the line of +demarcation between humaneness and coldness. The same man +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_578">[578]</span>who, in his study, could exclaim to Metternich: “Such a man as +I does not care a snap of the fingers for the lives of a million +men”; will say on the field of battle: “If the kings of the world +could contemplate such a sight as this, they would hanker less +after wars and conquests.” Another time he writes to +Josephine: “The earth is strewn with dead and bleeding men; +this is the obverse of war; the heart is tortured at the sight of +so many victims.” Calculation and feeling are at cross purposes +in this case, and he excuses himself for the duties imposed +by his own craft: “He who cannot look upon a battle-ground +dry-eyed, allows many men to be killed purposelessly.” This is +what he wants above all to avoid. For the great aim, Europe +entrusts him with a million men: his lesser aim, the taking of +this trench or that bridge, must be thriftily achieved, for “he +who heedlessly allows ten men to be killed where at most two +need have died, is answerable for the lives of eight men.”</p> + +<p>Since most of his wars are fought from political necessity, +and are always conducted without hate, as soon as the fight is +finished the foe ceases to exist. He writes from Schönbrunn: +“I am appalled to learn that the eighteen thousand prisoners on +the island of Lobau are suffering from hunger; this is inhuman +and unpardonable. Have twenty thousand rations of bread +sent there immediately; a similar amount of flour for the bake-houses.” +But when, after the truce, soldiers are still being +killed by the embittered Tyrolese, he is furious, and orders that +“at least six of the larger villages are to be plundered and +burned, so that the mountain folk may not soon forget the +vengeance that has been exacted.”</p> + +<p>War is for him an art, “the most noteworthy art, one which +contains within itself all the other arts.” Like a true artist, he +declares that, in the long run, this art cannot be taught: “You +fancy that because you have read Jomini you are fitted to be a +leader in war?... I have fought in sixty fights, and I can +assure you that I have learned nothing from any of them. +Cæsar used the same tactics in his last battle as he had used in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_579">[579]</span>his first.” In typical artist fashion, he contradicts himself in +the definitions of those things in which he is a master. After +the Spanish campaigns, he delivers the following lecture to one +of his generals: “War is decided far more by the power of +strategical calculation than by material forces.” At another +time he will maintain that it is the superior numbers or the +moral courage of the troops which constitutes the deciding +factor. Sometimes he even goes so far as to say that inspiration +decides an issue: “The result of a battle hangs on a thread +and is mostly the outcome of a sudden thought. One approaches +the enemy according to a prearranged plan, one +comes to blows, one fights for a while, the critical moment +draws near, a spark of inspiration flames up—and a small reserve +division does the rest!”</p> + +<p>More logically, but not less as the artist, he speaks of the +decisive moment which, after a couple of engagements, one can +find out for oneself without any difficulty. “Such moments are +not more than quarter hours.... In every battle a moment +comes when the bravest of soldiers would like to turn tail: it +needs but a trifle, but a plea, to put heart into him again.” +This power of suggestion has won him many a victory, for +soldiers constitute the only mass to which he can speak with +effect. The soldier understands him, because Napoleon is +simple. The Emperor even describes war as “a simple art like +everything that is beautiful.” By this contention he seems to +uphold the idea that war is the highest of all arts. “The military +profession is a freemasonry ... and I am the grand +master of its lodge.”</p> + +<p>He draws this personal influence from the history of his own +rise, which is known to every soldier. As a young general, he +had learned to put up with his dependence on the civil +authority; and as emperor he still commiserates his royal adversaries +because their generals’ activities are frustrated by +civilian control. On the other hand, he knows the dangers of +amateurishness, and writes to Joseph: “When the king himself +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_580">[580]</span>commands, the soldier does not feel commanded. The army +applauds him as when a queen is riding by. If one is not oneself +a general, one must give the generals full power of command.”</p> + +<p>Because he is the only ruler in Europe who has risen from +the ranks, from youth upwards he remains familiar with details, +and always understands how things look to an officer on the +fighting front. “There is nothing connected with the art of +war which I cannot do with my own hand: power, siege engines, +artillery.” But he does not concern himself with these details +unless it is necessary, and laughs at the romantic anecdote in +a book where he is said, one night, to have taken over the +duties of a sentry who had gone to sleep at his post: “That is +a civilian’s idea, the sort of thing a lawyer would think of, +and was certainly not written by a soldier.”</p> + +<p>But he is a stickler for equality in the army, and in this +matter remains true to the revolution until the very end of his +career. No one is promoted unless his record in the service +justifies the advancement. If Napoleon makes an exception in +the case of his brothers, we must remember that after he has +made them kings he continues to scold them as if they were +subalterns. He writes to Jerome, commenting on a report from +Silesia: “Besides, your letter is too clever for my taste.... +What a man needs in war is precision, firmness, simplicity.” +When Joseph plays the prince in Boulogne, and vies with +Marshal Soult in the splendour of his receptions, Napoleon +scolds him. “In the army, no one must put the commander +in the shade. On review days, it is the general and not the +prince who must give a dinner. At a review, a royal colonel is +a colonel and nothing more. Discipline can tolerate no exceptions. +The army is a whole. Its commander is everything. +Keep to your own regiment.”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="illus19" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus19.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Napoleon as Emperor in 1815. Woodcut, after a medal.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Nevertheless, a wounded commander-in-chief has become a +private soldier. At Eylau, where there have been heavy losses, +the Emperor forbids a famous surgeon to go out of his way in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_581">[581]</span>order to care for a wounded general: “Your business is to +attend to all the wounded, and not to any one in particular.” +A German officer reports that after a fight Napoleon would +often stand by the wounded and see that they were carefully +lifted into the stretchers: “If this good fellow pulls through, +there will be one victim the less.”</p> + +<p>In all the memoirs, we read how in camp the Emperor would +foregather with his men at the bivouac fire, ask whether their +food was being properly cooked, and laugh at their replies. +When they confided all their troubles to him, and often said +“thou” to him, this was not the assumed good fellowship of a +condescending monarch, but a genuinely paternal relationship. +If he calls them “my children,” to them he is their “little corporal,” +meaning the comrade who takes the responsibility. “I +have received your letter, dear comrade,” he writes to a veteran +grenadier who wishes to re-enter the service. “You need not +speak to me of your deeds, for I know you to be the bravest +grenadier in the army. It will be a pleasure to see you once +more. The Minister for War will send you your orders.”</p> + +<p>He never confides his plans to any one; but when it is a +question of rewarding merit, he calls in Everyman as adviser. +After a fight, he often forms a circle, speaks to the officers, the +non-commissioned officers, and the rankers individually, asking +who were the most valiant, rewarding then and there, allotting +eagles with his own hand. “The officers pointed out, the +soldiers confirmed, the Emperor approved,” relates Ségur as +eyewitness.</p> + +<p>It is true that Napoleon loves war, but as a fine art, just as +he loves power. It is true that he laughs incredulously at a +traveller who tells him a tale of a Chinese island where there are +no weapons.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean? But they must have weapons!”</p> + +<p>“No, Sire.”</p> + +<p>“Pikes, anyhow; or bows and arrows?”</p> + +<p>“Neither the one nor the other.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_582">[582]</span></p> + +<p>“Daggers!”</p> + +<p>“Not even daggers.”</p> + +<p>“But how the devil do they fight there?”</p> + +<p>“There has never been a war on the island.”</p> + +<p>“What, no war?”</p> + +<p>It sounds to the traveller as if the very existence of such +people under the sun outrages the Emperor. The thought stirs +a soldier’s bile!</p> + +<p>All the same, he looked forward to the coming of peaceful +days, not with an ardent desire for them perhaps, but with the +seer’s vision. He showed his superiority to all the modern commanders +against whom he fought, in that he, the greatest +soldier of the new times, declared the primacy of the spirit over +the sword. When Canova made a statue of him in which he +was shown with a threatening mien, he said contemptuously: +“Does the man think I achieved my conquests with blows of +my fist?” But, more than this, he himself defined a commander +as something above and beyond a soldier. When First +Consul, he said in the Council of State:</p> + +<p>“In what does the commander’s superiority consist? ‘In his +mental qualities: insight, calculation, decision, eloquence, +knowledge of men.’ But all these qualities are what make a +man shine in civil life.... If bodily vigour and courage +sufficed the commander, any brave private could be a leader of +armies. Everywhere, crude force now yields ground to moral +qualities. The man with the bayonet bows before the man who +possesses exceptional knowledge and understanding.... I +knew perfectly well what I was about when, as the head of the +army, I bore the title of Member of the Institute; and the +youngest drummer understood what I meant.”</p> + +<p>At a later date, he spoke more decisively.</p> + +<p>“<i>War is an anachronism. Some day, victories will be won +without cannon and without bayonets.... Whoever troubles +the peace of Europe, wants civil war.</i>”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_583">[583]</span></p> + +<p>Remember that these are the words of Napoleon, the military +commander.</p> + +<h3>VI</h3> + +<p>His energy is concentrated on human beings. Very rarely +does he come into conflict with natural forces; and whenever +he does so, he is beaten. But, in general, all he has to do is to +compel men to conquer, for him, the mountains and the miles. +Human beings are the material in working with which the +energy and the imagination of this artist are destined to become +weary; them he must overcome if he is to do his work +at all. No mortal ever conquered more men than did Napoleon. +He subjugated, not only armies and peoples, but something +more: individuals, and the best of these.</p> + +<p>To achieve his goal, he followed the road of contempt; and +used as his means, glory and money. Self-confidence and experience +had convinced him that every one acts only from self-interest; +that some are driven to grasp at money through love +of pleasure, or avarice, or clannishness; that others seek public +recognition in order to gratify their vanity, their jealousy, +or their ambition. Denying the force of ideal motives, Napoleon +relied exclusively upon material means; and if the spur +of ambition occasionally assumed the aspect of a desire for +eternal glory, this occurred against his will, but the magic of +his personality sometimes exercised a more puissant lure than +the well-calculated material attractions offered by others. To +quote Goethe: “Napoleon, who lived wholly for ideas, was +nevertheless unable to grasp the nature of ideal motives; he +repudiated the ideal, denied that there was any such thing, at +the very time when he himself was eagerly trying to realise the +ideal.”</p> + +<p>Yet to Napoleon the Mephistophelian conception of men was +as alien as it was to Goethe. He said: “Most people bear within +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_584">[584]</span>themselves the seeds of good and of evil, of courage and of +cowardice. Thus is human nature created: upbringing and circumstance +do the rest.” Since, for twenty years, he needed +this human nature, daily and in quantities of a hundred at a +time, the subtlest knowledge of it was a primary condition of his +success. Among all the materials which Napoleon bent to his +uses, the human heart was the most familiar.</p> + +<p>“I am a great friend of analysis.... ‘Why’ and ‘How,’ are +such useful questions, that they cannot be uttered too often.” +Coldly and clearly as a nerve specialist, he controls all psychical +symptoms, utilises every method for the attainment of +such control, and trusts especially to physiognomy—for he +knows his Lavater. He is fond of reproving people. “According +as they react, I discover the pitch of their souls. If I strike +brass with a glove, it gives back no tone: but if I strike with a +hammer, it rings out.” A person meeting Napoleon for the first +time, is gripped by the magnetism of his glance.</p> + +<p>By talking and questioning, he makes himself acquainted +with the atlas of human types, an atlas he is ever enlarging. +He questions so long that a stranger grows embarrassed, confused, +and alarmed; he questions until his questions become +ridiculous; but he must at all costs get the information he +needs, even if he is not negotiating. In what way can the +twenty minutes that a doctor sits at Napoleon’s table in St. +Helena be put to the best use by the ex-Emperor?</p> + +<p>“How many patients suffering from ailments affecting the +liver had you on board? How many cases of dysentery? +What is the fee for a consultation in England? What is the +pension awarded to an army surgeon?... What is death, or +how would you define it? When does the soul quit the body? +When does a body first receive a soul?”</p> + +<p>Another means is monologue. One of his intimates declares +that the right of the Emperor to hold forth in monologue was +the only real pleasure his high estate awarded him! We have +testimonies concerning other men of action: but who ever +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_585">[585]</span>talked so much as Napoleon! Since he always faces the world +alone, he must continually hold forth that he may convey his +suggestions to the world. His conversations often lasted from +five to eight hours, some of them ten or eleven hours; and +during the greater part of them Napoleon took the floor. We +must admit that this was more in accordance with the Italian +manner than the Roman; Italian, too, were the rapidity of his +utterance, and his foreign accent: but he gesticulated little; +and only when much moved did he unclasp his hands—generally +they were clasped behind his back, as if he wished to +throw out his chest against the world.</p> + +<p>Upon all who serve him, he lavishes money with oriental +profusion. But as far as his personal expenditure is concerned, +he is thrifty. During the Consulate he says: “A man +who has been through so many wars will have acquired a little +property whether he will or no. I have a private income of +from frs. 80,000 to frs. 100,000, with a house in town and a +country mansion. What more do I need? If I should get out +of humour with France, or France with me, I should retire +from public life without a qualm.... But every one round +me is stealing; the ministers are weak. Some people must be +laying by vast sums.... What is to be done about it? +France is corrupt through and through. It has always been +like that; as soon as a man becomes a minister, he builds himself +a palace.... Do you know what they are trying to make +me pay for my installation in the Tuileries? Two millions!... +It must be cut down to eight hundred thousand. I am +surrounded by a pack of scoundrels.”</p> + +<p>“Your great operations,” answers Roederer, “must cost you +much more than these domestic defalcations.”</p> + +<p>“All the more reason why I should watch over my personal +expenditure.”</p> + +<p>This conversation tells us how the head of the State, a man +of thirty, regards money. He needs nothing for himself, and +complains of the venality and profusion of those by whom he is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_586">[586]</span>surrounded; acknowledges that he has himself made money out +of the wars; rails at the tradesmen who want to charge two +millions for the equipment of a palace, when, as far as his own +taste is concerned, he sees no reason for spending anything at +all. Amid the frightful corruption which is a heritage of the +revolution, he fights with the army contractors and war +profiteers; but as soon as, by drastic punishments, he has succeeded +in putting an end to this scandal, he assigns preposterous +incomes to his marshals, some of whom receive more than a +million francs a year. As Consul, he rids the State of the +thieves who are making away with the national property; and +then, as Emperor, he burdens this same State with extortionate +salaries.</p> + +<p>Still, there are a few persons who make money thanks to +their relationship with him, though without his aid. “When I +have nothing left,” he says to Talleyrand, “I shall turn to you. +Tell me honestly, how much have you made out of me?”</p> + +<p>“I am not a rich man, Sire, but all that I have is at your +service.”</p> + +<p>Napoleon’s way of dealing with men is modified by a hundred +and one considerations. If we wish to study the variations +of his technique, we must class his instruments in groups.</p> + +<p>Generals and marshals are the easiest to keep dependent, for +they have unceasing opportunities of winning military renown; +and, since he pays them so liberally for their services, they +grow more and more wealthy. By loading them with money, +he gains two ends, spreading effulgence around himself, and +keeping his most powerful officers in a state of dependence. It +delights him to see these soldiers unused to money spending +extravagantly, running into debt, and then turning to him for +help in their difficulties. He leads them from profusion to +want, and then back to profusion again. At the same time, he +gives them little scope for originality, reserving important decisions +for himself, so that even the commanders of armies +rarely have a chance of proving themselves men of genius. He +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_587">[587]</span>shrewdly regulates his public mention of them in his bulletins, +both in respect of time and form, so that, through their vanity +and jealousy, he can get his way with his generals.</p> + +<p>The result is that their sentiments towards him are a mingling +of hatred and love, whereby they are chained to his service +more firmly than if the feeling had been one of pure +affection. Perhaps only two of them are wholly devoted to +him, Berthier and Duroc, whose love for him he compares with +that of a child and a dog. Ney speaks of himself as a loaded +musket which is fired when and where the Emperor orders. +Napoleon, for his part, has a personal affection for those only +who have risen with him, and in his memoirs he pays his tribute +to them. He extols Desaix’s mental balance. Moreau has +“more instinct than genius”; whereas Lannes has “more courage +than sense,” though as time goes on he makes good in the +latter respect. Kléber seeks glory only as a means of enjoyment. +Masséna is not really courageous until he is under fire. +Murat “has not a spark of intelligence, but what dash! He is +a duffer and a hero.” Napoleon cannot break away from these +witnesses of his rise, although almost all of them have learned +the weight of his anger. In his tent, after Wagram, Napoleon +thunders at Marmont for having made a mess of things, and a +quarter of an hour later appoints him marshal.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the Emperor’s misanthropy got the better of him. +“In those moods, I begin to distrust even my companions-in-arms; +that causes me intense suffering, and I do everything I +can to rid myself of such horrible suspicions.” Yet he really +knew. Lannes’ death touched him to the quick, but he never +really uttered the moving farewell words which he publishes. +Indeed, he confided to Metternich: “Lannes hated me. When +I heard that, on being wounded, he had called out my name, +I knew it was all up with him. He called on me as a dying +atheist calls on God.”</p> + +<p>The remembrance of friendships formed in youth does not +prevent him from scolding the most exalted of his marshals +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_588">[588]</span>like schoolboys when he considers they have behaved foolishly +or have been wanting in courage. He says to Junot: “Your +conduct was unprecedented, extraordinarily indiscreet.... +You have a strange notion of your military duties. I don’t +recognise you!” To a general in Lombardy: “Under your command, +there has been very little honesty and a great deal of +avarice; but I never knew until to-day that you were a coward. +Leave the army, and never let me see your face again!” In +Spain, one of his generals capitulated in the open field. Six +months later, this man ventured to appear before Napoleon at +a review. The Emperor stormed at him in full hearing of the +troops; would not be appeased. The witnesses say that the +scene lasted a whole hour. “A man may have to surrender a +fortress. The fortune of war is uncertain, and defeat is always +possible. Any one can be taken prisoner. The thing may +happen to me to-morrow. But honour, before all! On the +battle-field, a commander’s business is to fight: and if he capitulates +instead, he deserves to be shot.... A soldier must know +how to die. Have we not all to face death?... As a subject, +you committed a crime in capitulating; as a general, a stupid +blunder; as a soldier, your action was cowardly; but as a +Frenchman, your surrender was dishonourable!”</p> + +<p>He alarmed the diplomats of his day by a frankness which +none of them trusted. “Tact, and putting all the cards on the +table, will do better service in diplomacy than cunning. The +tricks of the diplomats of the old school are out of date; all +their rogueries have been exposed long since.... Nothing betrays +weakness more than the attempt to deceive.”</p> + +<p>Just before the renewal of the war with England, he tells +the British envoy how many years it will take before France +can face England at sea, but he explains how quickly he can +increase his army to four hundred thousand. In Schönbrunn, +he says to the Austrian negotiator: “That is my last word. If +you defeat me, I shall propose more favourable terms; but if I +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_589">[589]</span>gain the victory, I shall make them harder. What I want is +peace.”</p> + +<p>He studies every shade of expression when he wishes to influence +the envoys of foreign powers. We see this especially when +he is adapting his demeanour towards the Austrians with an +eye to the Habsburg traditions. He waits for the formal reception +on his birthday, and then, faced by the semicircle of +the diplomats, he stops in front of Metternich to say: “Well, +Monsieur l’Ambassadeur, what does your emperor want? +Would he like me to come to Vienna?” This is calculated to +intimidate the Austrian envoy, and at the same time to advertise +Napoleon’s threatening attitude throughout Europe. But +two days later, when Metternich comes to a private interview, +the Emperor says: “To-day, we won’t play at being Emperor +of the French and Austrian envoy. There is no audience now, +so we need not make any fine speeches.”</p> + +<p>Shortly before the conclusion of the first peace with Austria, +he wishes to avoid meeting the defeated archduke in Schönbrunn, +lest he should commit himself prematurely to peace +terms. He therefore arranges that the meeting shall take place +in a hunting lodge. “I shall spend only two hours there: one +of them will be occupied in having dinner, and the other will +be devoted to talk about the war and to mutual protestations +of respect.” When the First Consul receives Count Cobenzl, +he has personally arranged the stage in the Tuileries; writing-table +in the corner; no chairs, so that they will have to sit on +the sofa; only one lamp, no lights in the chandelier, although +it is late in the evening. When Talleyrand ushers in the Austrian, +the room seems almost dark, and the Consul, on the +farther side of it, is scarcely visible; the stranger is perplexed, +and has to sit exactly where his host chooses.</p> + +<p>He is even more subtle in his dealings with the princes. During +the years of his supreme power, he ceases to pay them +visits. In Tilsit, he becomes the host within two days; in Dresden, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_590">[590]</span>though he is the king of Saxony’s guest, he plays the +master. He avoids having anything to do with queens. When +Queen Louise pathetically implores justice, he begs her to sit +down. “Nothing interrupts a tragical scene more effectually +than this. When people sit down, tragedy becomes comedy.”</p> + +<p>In his dealings with the peoples he was less happy, and his +only tolerable successes were secured with the French and the +Italians. During the Consulate, he said in the Council of +State: “My policy is to rule in accordance with the will of the +majority. This, I think, implies the recognition of the +sovereignty of the people. I became a good Catholic when I +wanted to finish the war in Vendée; in Egypt, I was a Turk; +when I wished to win over the Italians, I was an ultramontane. +If I reigned over the Jews, I should rebuild Solomon’s temple. +That is why I propose to talk about freedom in that part of +San Domingo where the slaves have been liberated, while maintaining +slavery in the other part of the island.”</p> + +<p>His policy was not very successful in the negro republic; +he did better in Poland, which he tried to win over by festivities +and phrases; and better still with the Jews. These had been +granted equal rights by the revolution, and on the Rhine many +of them were doing harm by the practice of usury. Napoleon, +who knew their value as traders, did not have recourse to crude +prohibitions. He bethought himself of Jewish laws and customs; +summoned to Paris their highest council, the Sanhedrin, +which had not met for centuries; left the decision to this body, +and was able to arrange that the supreme Jewish authority +should forbid usury as sinful. But in Spain he made a complete +mess of things, overlooking the risks he was running, and +advising Joseph to make himself agreeable to the whole nation +“by instilling fear into the rabble.”</p> + +<p>The Germans puzzled Napoleon most of all. They had +everything he lacked, and none of the things he had. He therefore, +even in the midst of his successes, regarded them with a +mixture of fear and admiration; they seemed to him uncanny. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_591">[591]</span>When he went to Erfurt and wished to influence the German +princes by the drama, he told the managing director not to +stage any comedies. “No one understands comedies on this +bank of the Rhine. Corneille’s <i>Cinna</i> might be played, for +therein great interests are portrayed; then a scene depicting +royal clemency, which would certainly have a good effect.” He +went on to misquote <i>Cinna</i>. Rémusat, having put him right, +said: “In this sacred office, to which God’s grace has appointed +the king, the past is justified, and the future is free. He who +is advanced to this office, cannot be held culpable; whatever he +does, he remains invulnerable.”</p> + +<p>“Splendid!” exclaims the Emperor, “especially for the +Germans, who always cling to the same ideas, and are still +talking about the death of the duke of Enghien! We must +broaden their moral outlook. That will be good for people +with melancholy ideas, the sort of persons with whom Germany +is filled.” It is as if he were talking about German music, of +which he knows practically nothing; but really he is thinking +of German philosophy. The one is as uncongenial to him as +the other, for he is fond of Italian arias and the wisdom of Voltaire, +but says that “Kant is an obscure writer.” This misconception +of his prevents him from foreseeing the possibility +that so slow-moving a people may one day become inspired with +a passionate enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the reason for the misinterpretation lies in the +impracticability of understanding the masses of a foreign +nation. In northern Italy, he did indeed make headway, for he +was a young man, his ideas were naïve, the yearning of the +oppressed was still fresh in him; and he was the herald of the +revolution. But the dictator could no longer bring a torch +to foreign peoples. Nevertheless, he continued to watch the +sentiments of the masses. “A ruler should reign for the masses, +without asking whether he is pleasing Mr. So-and-So.... +Men of mark look from above, and have no party ties; one +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_592">[592]</span>who belongs to a party, is a slave.” Such were his principles, +but his actions told another story.</p> + +<p>The masses, even in France, saw a man who made himself +dreaded. They feared him for a decade, but became sceptical +at his first failure. “A ruler should be dignified in his demeanour +towards the people,” says Napoleon. “But he must +not flatter the crowd, which will then think itself cheated if he +does not give it everything. You ask me why I make threatening +speeches? I make them in order to avoid having to do the +things I threaten!”</p> + +<p>But this severity is, in the long run, out of keeping both +with his own simplicity of nature and with the instincts of the +crowd. He could not seduce the masses by the offer of fame +and money, so he showed them symbols: crowns and coronation +ceremonies; courts and splendour and princes: but the +people felt the growing distance between them and their ruler, +and were not deceived.</p> + +<p>When the people of Paris learned that the Emperor, in his +theatre, would no longer allow King Henry to say, “I tremble,” +but only, “I shudder,” because, though a king (being only a +man) may tremble, he may not admit it—the crowd must either +feel angry or become derisive. But the crowd did not hear the +words in which the Emperor instructed Talma how to play +Cæsar:</p> + +<p>“When Cæsar utters his long tirade against kingship, saying, +‘for me, in whom the throne inspires nothing but contempt,’ +he does not mean a word of what he says. He only talks like +that because he knows that his Romans are standing behind +him, and wishes to persuade them that the throne is an +abomination to him. In reality, it is already the goal of his +desire. Consequently those words ought not to be spoken with +conviction.”</p> + +<p>He wants to use religion, just as he uses the drama, that he +may lull the masses to sleep. Here is what the newmade Consul +says to the Council of State: “What I see in religion is, not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_593">[593]</span>the mystery of the incarnation, but social order. It associates +with heaven an idea of equality, which prevents the poor from +massacring the rich. Religion has the same sort of value as +vaccination. It gratifies our taste for the miraculous, and protects +us from quacks; for the priests are worth more than the +Cagliostros, the Kants, and all the German dreamers.... +Society cannot exist without inequality of property; but this +latter cannot exist without religion. One who is dying of +hunger when the man next him is feasting on dainties, can only +be sustained by a belief in a higher power, and by the conviction +that in another world there will be a different distribution +of goods.”</p> + +<p>Though he knows all this, and though he takes kindly measures +for the relief of the poor, he can never free his mind from +thoughts of the rabble and the mob. When he turns from contemplating +the princes to contemplating the masses, his contempt +for his fellows diminishes, but not enough. The masses, +like the princes, are to be used for his own ends. He says: +“The men of intelligence who have changed the world, have +never done so by influencing the leaders, but have always set +the masses in motion. He who influences princes is only an intriguer, +and his results are second rate; but he who moves the +masses, changes the face of the earth.” Democracy came between +him and the people; and what he has to say about parliamentarism +is not creative but critical:</p> + +<p>“The republic is the political form which elevates the soul +and contains the germ of great things: but, precisely because +of its greatness, it will sooner or later perish; for it needs a +unified authority to maintain its power, and this must lead +either to despotism or to a patriciate. The latter is the worst +of despotisms; Rome, Venice, England, and even France are +instances. If the republic wishes to attain greatness, the central +authority must be established upon a permanent parliamentary +majority; ... but this can be secured only by +corruption, which is the cancer of the peoples, and a terrible +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_594">[594]</span>weapon in the hands of the central authority. The liberals +have discovered the expedient of constitutional monarchy. +That is a mezzo termine, which has its advantages, but only +when the popular assembly, whose business it is to bridle the +monarchical authority, is elected by universal suffrage.”</p> + +<p>Napoleon recognised the existence of all the problems that +confronted the nineteenth century; but he never understood the +social problem, with which his own story began.</p> + +<h3>VII</h3> + +<p>Imagination, the third element of his personality, is the real +driving force of his self-confidence and his energy. Continually +at war with the calculating part of his nature, fantasy, in the +end, brings this harbourer of opposites to destruction. The +imaginative power, which links the poet to the statesman (enabling +both unceasingly to dwell in the affective world of +strangers as well as in their own), is also the source of his +knowledge of men and his guide to the management of men. +But always his energy interacts with other qualities. One who, +for analytical purposes, would force the living whole of his +character into the framework of a system, cannot avoid, from +time to time, breaking threads that he may bind other threads +together.</p> + +<p>“I know not what I do, for everything depends on events. +I have not a will of my own, but expect everything from their +outcome.... The greater one is, the less can one have a will. +One is always dependent upon events and circumstances.” +Such words, casually introduced into a letter from husband to +wife, express the distantly visible forms of his fantasy; for +only the imaginative man, not tied to systems and principles, +trusts himself to the movements of the moments, allows his +spirit to roam freely, and discovers his course as he goes. In +this sense, his whole career is improvisation, though in the converse +way from that in which most people improvise. He calculated +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_595">[595]</span>little things in advance with great precision; whereas +his worldwide designs were originated, transformed, improvised, +in accordance with circumstances and developments. “One +who has become familiar with affairs, despises all theories, and +makes use of them only like the geometricians, not in order to +move forward in a straight line, but merely to keep heading in +the same direction.”</p> + +<p>This direction, this fundamental idea of the statesman, was, +moreover, only possible in a man whose mind was simultaneously +imaginative and mathematical. It is his most ardent +vision and his coolest calculation; it is his political aim, his +hope, his ambition: Europe. If this vision could be realised +only by force of arms, that was because of the fierceness with +which the first republic of Europe was again and again attacked +by the European princes. We have seen how earnestly +he strove for peace. No doubt he chose his means badly, his +error being due to the time, the circumstances, and his own +domineering character. But his mistakes as to method still +leave undiminished the genius of the seer who looked forward +towards an aim which was again to become an object of statesmanship +a hundred years after his fall.</p> + +<p>“There are in Europe more than thirty million Frenchmen, +fifteen million Italians, thirty million Germans.... Out of +each of these peoples, I wanted to make a united national whole.... +That would have supplied the best chance of establishing +a general unity of laws; a unity of principles and thoughts +and feelings, of outlooks and interests.... Then it would +have been possible to think of founding the United States of +Europe after the model of the United States of America or of +the Greek Amphictyonic League.... What perspectives of +strength, greatness, and prosperity this opens up!... For +France, unity has been wrought; in Spain, it has proved unattainable; +to establish the Italian nation, I should have needed +twenty years; to make the Germans a nation, would have required +still more patience, and all I could do was to simplify +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_596">[596]</span>their monstrous constitution. At the same time, I wanted to +pave the way for the unification of the great interests of Europe, +just as I had unified the parties in France.... The +transient mutterings of the peoples troubled me little; they +would have been reconciled to me by the result.... <i>Europe +would soon have become one nation, and any who travelled in +it would always have been in a common fatherland.... Sooner +or later, this union will be brought about by the force of events. +The first impetus has been given; and, after the fall and the +disappearance of my system, it seems to me that the only way +in which an equilibrium can be achieved in Europe is through a +league of nations.</i>”</p> + +<p>Here there is no talk of a dictatorial welding together of +different stocks, or of an enthusiastic fraternisation. He +speaks only of interests, and of a preliminary unification of +these on a national and racial basis. The work of the nineteenth +century was to inaugurate the preliminaries by the +establishment of the nations. The twentieth century opens with +the realisation of the Napoleonic idea.</p> + +<h3>VIII</h3> + +<p>The effects underlying his energy and his imagination are +dominated by the clarity of his thought. Napoleon hated less, +and loved more, than he would have been willing to admit. In +this domain, we find the converse of what happens in the matter +of his sympathies in war time, when a million men are coldly +sacrificed, while one man wounded and bleeding touches him +to the heart. Since his fantasy needs enormous masses, he is +enraged when Joseph says: “I am the only person who cares +for you.” Napoleon rejoins: “Nothing of the sort. I need +five hundred million men to love me.” In these icy words glows +the volcano which one of his school masters heard rumbling +long ago.</p> + +<p>Emotionally convinced of his mission to order the affairs of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_597">[597]</span>the nations, he deliberately rejects anything that may distract +him from this aim, and nothing sustains him but his monomania. +Even in the drama, he objects to the interweaving of love +stories, saying: “Love is a passion which should only be the +main theme of a tragedy, and never a subsidiary motif.... +In the days of Racine, it was the whole content of a human life. +That happens in a society where no great deeds are being +done.”</p> + +<p>If love becomes intrusive, he annuls it. “I have no time to +be bothered with feelings and to repent them like other men.... +There are two motives to action: self-interest and fear. Believe +me, love is a foolish blindness!... I love no one, not +even my brothers—Joseph a little, from force of habit, and +because he is the elder. I am fond of Duroc, too; he is serious +and resolute; I believe the man has never shed tears in his +life!... Let us leave sensibilities to women. Men should be +firm of heart and strong of will, or else they should have +nothing to do with war or governance.” Another time: “The +only friend I have is Daru; he is unfeeling and cold; that suits +me.” Last of all, in St. Helena: “A man of fifty has done with +love.... I have an iron heart. I never really loved; perhaps +Josephine, a little; but then I was only seven-and-twenty. +I incline to the view of Gassion, who once said to me that he did +not love life well enough to give it to another being.”</p> + +<p>Always half ashamed of his feelings; ever ready to make +excuses for them; “perhaps,” “a little.” Yet this is the same +man who said: “I am the slave of my way of feeling and acting, +for I value the heart much more than the head.” This very +feeling is his fantasy.</p> + +<p>One in whom egotism is supreme, will be more inclined to +jealousy than to love. His first letters to Josephine show him +devoured by jealousy. Years later, as Consul, when he is inspecting +his new bridge in course of construction across the +Seine, he has to step aside with his companions for a moment +to let a carriage pass. In the carriage sits Hippolyte, his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_598">[598]</span>sometime rival. That was long ago; everything has been condoned; +the man’s name is never mentioned in his presence. But +now, at a chance encounter in the street, Bonaparte grows pale +and confused, and takes a little while to recover composure.</p> + +<p>From time to time, he shows an involuntary kindliness. On +one of the Italian battle-fields, he sees a dog howling over the +dead body of its master. “The poor beast seemed to be asking +for an avenger, or begging help. I was profoundly moved by +the dog’s suffering, and at that moment I should have been +very much in the mood to grant quarter to an enemy. I understood +why Achilles surrendered Hector’s body to the weeping +Priam. Such is man; so little can he count upon his moods. +Impassively I had sent my soldiers into the battle; dry-eyed I +had watched them marching past in an advance where thousands +of them would meet their fate; then I was shaken to the +depths by the howling of a dog.”</p> + +<p>Affectionate tones are to be heard in many of his letters. +To Cambacérès: “I am so sorry to hear that you are not well. +I hope it is only a passing trouble. If you did not take so +much medicine, you would be better already.... But anyhow, +you must do your utmost to get well, if only because of +my friendship for you.” To Corvisart: “Dear Doctor, I wish +you would see to the arch-chancellor and to Lacépède: the +former has been ailing for a week, and I am afraid he is in the +hands of a quack; Lacépède’s wife has been ill for some time. +Give them the benefit of your advice, and cure them as soon as +you can. You will save the life of a man of note, and one who +is very dear to me.”</p> + +<p>Chénier, who has written against him for years, is assisted +by him in poverty and given a secure position. Carnot, for +ten years an enemy of the Emperor, is heavily in debt; Napoleon +learns this, settles the debts, and refuses to hear of being +given a note of hand; reckons up the pay which Carnot would +have received as general in active service, makes this calculation +the basis of a large pension; and when Carnot says he would +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_599">[599]</span>like to do some work for his money, Napoleon commissions him +to write a military treatise, lest his pensioner should have to +undertake duties that might go against the grain.</p> + +<p>During the Hundred Days, learning that some of the Bourbon +princes are greatly distressed for lack of money, he sends +them large sums anonymously. On one occasion his secretary +is asleep, and he himself has nothing particular to do; he +looks through a pile of begging letters, and writes in the margin +of each the amount of an allowance which is to be given +to the sender. Hundreds of officers whom, in fits of anger, he +has sworn to have shot, remain at their posts—to forsake him +in the end. When he orders Jerome to get a divorce, he is +alarmed at his own harshness. After he has written to enforce +his command with threats he sends a letter to his mother saying +that she had better write to Jerome at once and get his sisters +to write as well, “for if I have passed judgment on him, nothing +can alter it, and his life will be spoiled.”</p> + +<p>From his few friends, he demands blind devotion. Never is +the self-centred nature of Napoleon more plainly shown than in +the words the exile speaks to Montholon, from whom he has +been temporarily estranged: “I love you like a son, for I believe +that you love me only; otherwise you could not love me +at all. According to my way of feeling, it is not in our nature +to love several persons at once. People deceive themselves in +these matters; they cannot even love all their children with +the same intensity. For my part, at any rate, I want to be the +supreme object of affection in the case of those whom I love +and honour with my confidence. I cannot bear partings. They +stab me to the heart, for my disposition is too sensitive; spiritual +poison affects the body more powerfully than arsenic.”</p> + +<p>Logically enough, he dislikes western views concerning the +enlightenment of women. He always hankers after the East, +and in this matter he is an oriental. “Nature intended women +to be our slaves; and it is only because of our distorted outlooks +that they venture to describe themselves as our rulers.... +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_600">[600]</span>For one who can influence us in a good direction, there +are a hundred who will only lead us into follies.... What a +mad idea to demand equality for women! They are our property, +we are not theirs; for they give us children, but we do +not give them any. They belong to us, just as a tree which +bears fruit belongs to the gardener.... In this difference, +there is nothing degrading; every one has his privileges, and +every one his duties. You, ladies, have beauty, attractiveness; +but also dependence.”</p> + +<h3>IX</h3> + +<p>Throughout life, the imagination of this creator was troubled +by the thought of the Creator. This ruler of men was greatly +disturbed that there should be no one who ruled all men. It +was not that he ever regarded himself as divine; he laughed at +all mystical interpretations of his own power: but there was +one great power which remained uncoercible—no matter +whether it were called God, destiny, or death. How do self-confidence +and fantasy escape from this snare?</p> + +<p>First of all by the rejection of dogma. “My firm conviction +is that Jesus ... was put to death like any other fanatic who +professed to be a prophet or a Messiah; there have been such +persons at all times. For my part, I turn from the New Testament +to the Old, and there I find one man of mark, Moses.... +Besides, how could I accept a religion which would damn +Socrates and Plato?... I cannot believe that there is a god +who punishes and rewards, for I see honest folk unlucky, and +rogues lucky. Look at Talleyrand; he is sure to die in his +bed!... How could I have remained independent if I had +been subject to the influence of a confessor to threaten me with +the pains of hell? Think what powers a confessor who is a +rascal can exercise!...”</p> + +<p>In this matter he is consistent; from childhood, when he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_601">[601]</span>would not go to Mass, until the end of his life, he rejected (for +himself) all the religions. The man who, in his own life, would +not recognise the existence of miracle, and ascribed everything +that he was able to achieve to the working of the healthy human +understanding, boldness, power of combination, knowledge of +men, and imagination, could not possibly believe in the miracles +recorded in the Bible. He was perfectly logical when he told +one of his subordinates it was impossible that two million men +could have quenched their thirst at the Wells of Moses.</p> + +<p>Even more uncongenial to him is any dread of a great assize. +He does not talk about morality; or at most, he does so with +some political end in view. Only towards the last, on the island, +he says once in an evening conversation with his intimates: +“How happy should we be here if I could confide my troubles to +God, and could expect from him happiness and salvation! +Have I not a just claim to it? I, who have had so unusual a +career, have never committed a crime, and need not fear to step +before God’s judgment seat and await his sentence. Never has +the thought of committing a murder entered my mind.”</p> + +<p>For these reasons, he does not falter in the days of misfortune. +Five years before the end, he expresses the hope that +he will die without a confessor, but adds that no one can be +certain what he will do in his last hours. In fact, this heart +of steel was steadfast to the end.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, his ideas as to the nature of the creation +developed, and just as the revolutionist became a legitimist, so +the materialist became a theist. But these developments were +not transformations; there was simply a broadening of the +basis of his thought. Throughout life, he had a sense that +things had come into existence by a natural process: “When +out hunting, I had the deer cut open, and saw how like the +beast’s internal organs were to those of a human being. Man +is merely a more perfect creature than a dog or a tree. The +plan is the first link in a chain whose last link is mankind.” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_602">[602]</span>It should be remembered that the Emperor had not read +Goethe’s <i>Zur Morphologie</i>, or Lamarck’s <i>Philosophie zoologique</i>. +He had actually refused to receive Lamarck.</p> + +<p>Still more remarkable are his deductions concerning psycho-physical +processes. In a Christmas discourse at St. Helena, +he expresses his doubts as follows: “How can any one understand +that God should sanction the caprices of a ruler who +sends thousands of men into battle that they may die for him?... +Where is the soul of a child; or that of a madman?... +What are electricity, galvanism, magnetism? In these lies the +great secret of nature. I am inclined to believe that man is a +product of these fluids and of the atmosphere; the brain sucks +them in and imparts life, and the soul is composed of them. +After death, they return into the atmosphere, whence they are +sucked up again by other brains.” After giving utterance to +these Goethean motifs, he is alarmed at his own temerity. +Breaking off suddenly, he says, as a soldier among soldiers: +“Oh, well, my dear Gourgaud, when we are dead, we are simply +dead.”</p> + +<p>Side by side with this scepticism, there exists and expands a +theism. To Laplace, who denies the existence of God, he says: +“You should be more ready than any one else to admit that God +exists, for you, more than most, have seen the wonders of creation. +If we cannot actually see God with our own eyes, this +is because he did not wish our understanding to reach so far.” +On another occasion: “We believe in God because everything +around us testifies to his existence.” In St. Helena: “I have +never doubted the existence of God, for, even if my reason were +incompetent to grasp him, still my inner feelings would convince +me of his reality. My temperament has always been in +harmony with this feeling.”</p> + +<p>How shall such a spirit come to terms with destiny? Since +his self-esteem makes it impossible for him to believe that any +man can have beaten him, he is forced to ascribe his defeat +to fate. But this sense of the workings of destiny is present +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_603">[603]</span>in his mind before the final overthrow; it accompanies him +throughout life, and appears to be an equivalent for the reverence, +devotion, and faith by which other men live. With the +aid of his belief in destiny, Napoleon wages a heroic struggle. +In his strongest moments, he feels that he wears armour of +proof: “I have a soul of marble. The lightnings were unable to +destroy it, but broke on it in vain.” Once he expresses his +defiance even more poetically: “Should the heavens fall down +on us, we shall hold them off with the points of our lances!”</p> + +<p>But these defiant moods are rare. In general, he is resigned +to fate. There are hundreds of his sayings to bear witness +to this. Here are three: “All that happens, is written; our +hour is fixed, and no one can postpone it.... No one can +escape his fate.” To the duchess of Weimar: “Believe me, there +is a providence which guides all. I am merely its instrument.” +To Johannes von Müller: “Fundamentally, all things are linked +together, and are subject to the unsearchable guidance of an +unseen hand. I have only become great through the influence +of my star.” In such tropes we see awareness of God and a +sense of dependence welded into pride in his own mission. At +these times, a prophetical effulgence seems to radiate from him, +but is obscured again and again by the self-confidence of his +iron energy.</p> + +<p>Yet Napoleon was far from believing in his star as another +man may believe in a god or a talisman. He could not bear to +have the greatness of his deeds minimised by insistence on his +good fortune. He was, therefore, far less superstitious than +other men of his type. Louis brings him a valuable knife, but +hesitates to give it to him; Napoleon snatches it from his +brother’s hand, saying: “Don’t bother, it won’t cut anything +but bread!” He scolds Josephine because she consults fortune-tellers; +but then, being curious, asks her to tell him all about +the hocus-pocus. He wants to have the signing of the peace +of Pressburg postponed for a few days, that it may take place +after the reintroduction of the prerevolutionary calendar; but +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_604">[604]</span>he does not order this, being content to use the unwonted +phrase, “that would please me very much.” Schwarzenberg’s +death, in 1820, is a great relief to him; for when a fire broke +out in the Schwarzenberg mansion at the ball given in honour +of Napoleon’s second marriage, the Emperor had interpreted +this as a bad omen for himself; now Schwarzenberg’s death is a +derivative for his own uneasy forebodings!</p> + +<p>Apart from these trifles, in a life so packed with important +happenings, we do not hear of a single day during twenty years +on which he forms, postpones, or modifies a resolution on superstitious +grounds. But he makes an adroit use of his “star” +and his “destiny” for political or rhetorical purposes. Since +he wishes to pose before Europe as the Man of Destiny, he +tries to work upon suggestible minds like Alexander’s by such +turns of phrase as the following: “It is wise and politic to do +what fate commands, and to march on the road along which +we are led by the irresistible course of events.” His mind is +fond of playing with the kindred notions of destiny, circumstance, +and chance; and while he regards destiny as involved +in more or less obscurity, he believes himself able to calculate +the chances of a coming battle with almost mathematical certainty. +“In these matters one must be careful not to make a +slip, for an overlooked fraction can modify the whole result.... +To people of mediocre intelligence, chance will always remain +a mystery; but to the clear-sighted, it becomes a reality.”</p> + +<p>Sometimes he lumps them all together—talents, destiny, and +power,—and shows himself an energetic fatalist when he says: +“Against attempts on my life, I trust in my luck, my good +genius, and my guards.”</p> + +<p>In this virile spirit, he strides resolutely along betwixt life and +death.</p> + +<p>A modern tragedy depicts a man who wishes to die. Napoleon +says that the portrait is well limned, but unnatural: +“A man must wish to live, and must know how to die.” That is +why, from youth upwards, he opposes suicide; first, in an essay; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_605">[605]</span>then, in an order of the day; then, with the reiterated argument +that suicide is cowardice, especially in hours of misfortune. A +careful study of the documents shows that the story of his +having attempted suicide just before the first abdication is +apocryphal. The leading memoirs make no reference to the +matter, and such accounts as we have are at second hand and +untrustworthy. There is no doubt that during his last battles +Napoleon deliberately sought a soldier’s death; but he never +tried to poison himself.</p> + +<p>Yet it was not only in those last days at Fontainebleau, and +after Waterloo, that he suffered from tedium vitæ. The weariness +recorded in the diary of the lad of sixteen, and in the letter +which the man of thirty wrote from Cairo to his brother, were +little in evidence during the most energetic years of febrile +activity. Those who trouble to ask whether persons of genius +are happy, will have to agree that this man of genius, who was +not fitted by nature for happiness, enjoyed during the climax +of his career, hours of content, and even sublime moments. But +there were periods of doubt:</p> + +<p>“For the tranquillity of France,” says Bonaparte at Rousseau’s +tomb, “it would have been better if this man had never +lived.”</p> + +<p>“Why, Citizen Consul?”</p> + +<p>“He paved the way for the revolution.”</p> + +<p>“Surely you are not the man to deplore the revolution?”</p> + +<p>“Time will show whether it would not have been better for the +peace of the world if neither Rousseau nor I had lived.”</p> + +<p>Gradually these doubts fade. But what he never loses is +the sense of daimonic loneliness, which increases as his soaring +flight leads him to chillier altitudes. “There are times when +life is hard to bear.” Since the sea has always been unfriendly +to him, there is only one place where he really feels at home—the +desert, which to him is the image of the infinite. The desert +is the sublime vacancy which expands before him when the +myriad-faceted pictures of ordinary life sink from sight.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_606">[606]</span></p> + +<p>But never was Napoleon more perfectly freed from the +tyranny of his thoughts, never was he happier, than when +seated alone in his box at the theatre, watching a tragedy being +enacted.</p> + +<p>Nothing else could restore his inner peace of mind; for, since +he loved less than most, he was doomed to a tragical loneliness, +the price he had to pay for his egotism. “There is neither +happiness nor unhappiness,” he said. “The life of a happy +man is a picture showing black stars on a silver background. +The life of an unhappy man is a picture showing silver stars +on a black background.” But it is not these heroic images +which best characterise the loneliness of a soul. Even more +poignant voices reach us from the familiar arena of the daily +struggle:</p> + +<p>“Don’t you understand, Caulaincourt, what is going on +here? The folk I have got together want to enjoy themselves; +the poor devils don’t realise that a man has to fight before he +can get the repose he longs for. What about myself? Have +not I a palace, a wife, a child? Do I not weary myself to the +utmost with every possible kind of tension? Do I not day by +day give my life to my country?”</p> + +<p>He gives his life to his work, for that is what he means +when he talks of his country. A human note, gently plaintive, +and fraught with the lofty irony of the finale, sounds when he +says on the island:</p> + +<p>“The whole time I was bearing the world on my shoulders. +’Tis rather a tiring job!”</p> + +<h3>X</h3> + +<p>A volcano made the island, which was flung up from beneath +the waters thousands upon thousands of years ago. +Forth from the midst of the sea, projects the gloomy mass of +rock. Steep, black, and deeply furrowed are the walls of lava +that run down from the heights into the waves. The chasm +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_607">[607]</span>above the harbour looks like the gate of hell to one who first +sees it from a ship; and the traveller fancies that these dark +ramparts must have been built by the hands of demons. Nothing +betrays the work of man but the cannon placed among the +rocks. When the voyager lands, the ground crunches softly +beneath his feet, for the soil is made of disintegrated lava. He +is treading the road of death.</p> + +<p>An extinct volcano in the Atlantic Ocean, two thousand miles +from Europe and nearly a thousand from Africa, guarded by +British guns—such is the rock of St. Helena, on which this +limitless life might have ended like a tragedy of Æschylus. +But, owing to the mendacity of a moralising century, the malice +of English oligarchs, and the dry spitefulness of a colonial governor, +the island becomes the stage for a tragi-comedy.</p> + +<p>The diligence of a few farmers and the energy of the East +India Company had made the place pleasant enough. Hundreds +of frigates had, by degrees, brought garden mould, +building stone, and timber. But since no one would stay long +on the rock unless under compulsion, there were twelve hundred +negro slaves and Chinese to serve the five hundred whites +who dwelt there for a few years at a time.</p> + +<p>No one can stay there. On this island, no one reaches the +age of sixty, and very few live to be fifty; the climate is deadly. +We are in sunless tropics, where the fierce heat of the equator +is variegated with cloud bursts, and where within an hour a +damp sultriness may give place to a cold downpour. The skin +of those who, just before, were dripping with sweat, is suddenly +chilled by the storming south-east trade wind, whose vapours +are arrested by the rock. One who, after a burning day, ventures +abroad in the evening, will pant for breath as he walks. +Those who stay for a year, suffer from dysentery, giddiness +and fever, vomiting and palpitation. Above all, they suffer +from liver disease. Whenever England tried to station a +squadron at St. Helena, the sailors died by hundreds; the +ships had to put out to sea, and to keep under sail. The officials +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_608">[608]</span>and the planters fall sick. Unless they have the luck +to live in one of the four or five sites protected from the wind, +they and their families are soon compelled to seek some healthier +place of residence.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants will tell you that one of the most unwholesome +regions is a chilly tableland seventeen hundred feet above +sea level; a lonely place, on the windy side of the island, made +specially insalubrious by the persistence of fogs. There grow +sparse gum trees, blighted by the trade wind, gnarled and +twisted, leaning away from the prevailing blast. The St. +Helenians call the region Deadwood. Here is Longwood. That +is the place selected by England as the one in which the sick +foe can most certainly be killed. It was not a temporary +asylum, chosen hastily and in an emergency; it was not originally +intended for the Emperor; it was made ready for him +while he was living elsewhere on the island, in poor case, but +still in fairly good health.</p> + +<p>Till yesterday, Longwood had been a stable, built fifty years +before, and only at the last moment transformed into a dwelling-house. +Negroes, and the carpenters of the “Northumberland,” +fixed a wooden floor over the mud of the interior, neglecting +to clear away the cattle dung. Soon after the Emperor’s +entry, the planks rotted and broke, the stinking damp soaked +through the flooring, and he had to move into another room. +For himself and his followers, a home has been made out of a +cow-shed, a wash-house, and a stable. In his bedroom, a dark +and narrow corner, the brown nankeen which covers the walls +is stained with saltpetre; smells from the kitchen invade it. +In this last point it resembles the lodging he had in a café +thirty years ago when he was lieutenant in Valence. But in +that earlier abode his books kept dry; here they are attacked +by mould. The dining-room is lighted through a glass door; +the drawing-room is furnished with a worm-eaten mahogany +suite; the servants’ quarters are flooded by the rain, for the +roof here is made of roofing-felt.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_609">[609]</span></p> + +<p>The Emperor lives in two small rooms, each about fourteen +feet by twelve, and ten feet high. The bedroom boasts a +threadbare carpet, muslin curtains, a fireplace, painted wooden +chairs, two small tables, a wash-hand-stand, and a sofa. The +work-room has a bare table, under which two chairs are tucked; +rough shelves closely packed with books, and an extra bed +where he would rest sometimes in the daytime or which he +would use on the nights when he was restless and sleepless. The +bedroom contains some trophies rescued from his ruin; the +little camp-bed he had used at Austerlitz, hung with green silk +curtains; a silver lamp; and, on the wash-hand-stand, magnificent +silver ewers and basins.</p> + +<p>These rooms, and indeed the whole premises, swarm with +rats, which kill the fowls, gnaw the leg of a sick horse, bite +General Bertrand in the hand, and spring out of Napoleon’s +three-cornered hat as he takes it from the sideboard.</p> + +<p>Who lives in the house besides the rats? Three counts and +one baron with their families (all of them officers, and accustomed +to court life), two valets, and the rest of the Emperor’s +staff with their dependents; nearly forty persons in all, when +they first land. After six years, at the end of Napoleon’s life, +the number has been reduced by half.</p> + +<p>Las Cases and his young son hold out for a year. Marquis +and émigré, older than the Emperor, a sprig of the Faubourg, +count of the empire, it was not until the Hundred Days that +Las Cases became one of Napoleon’s close associates. He was +a man of the world, author of some works on geography; later +he was to write his <i>Memorial of St. Helena</i>, which is said to +have brought him thousands of pounds. He was shorter than +the Emperor, and as lean as General Bonaparte had been. He +was cultured, pleasant of temper, always ready to serve: certainly +the most agreeable companion and secretary the prisoner +had. He entertained the Emperor with witticisms the Parisians +had made at Napoleon’s expense, thereby unfolding the comic +obverse of a tragic career. Las Cases taught the Emperor +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_610">[610]</span>English, thus widening the scope of the exile’s reading. When +the two men exchanged notes in English, the count would underscore +the Emperor’s mistakes. Las Cases, under various +pretexts, finally abandoned the island, and left a vacant place +which during the last years of the Emperor’s life was never to +be filled.</p> + +<p>For Bertrand, sometime governor of Illyria, and devoted to +the Emperor, is touchy, and is too proud to write from dictation; +in other respects, he observes a faultless passivity, except +when he shows fear of offending his wife. This lady, a +beautiful creole, half-English with the head of a young lord, +had been loath to share Napoleon’s exile. At Plymouth, she +had tried to throw herself overboard; she is miserable, thinks of +Paris, and weeps over her youth; consorts much with the enemy. +One day her place is empty at the Emperor’s board. Napoleon +says that his house is not an inn; Bertrand is aggrieved +at the reproach, and does not put in an appearance next day. +Then the Emperor is so unhappy that he cannot eat, and +pushes his plate away, saying softly and with deep melancholy: +“If, in Longwood, they are going to fail in their respect for +me, my lot is bitterer than if it had happened in Paris.”</p> + +<p>Gourgaud is unbearable. The young general had been +through the last campaigns as Napoleon’s adjutant. His affection +for his chief has made him accompany the Emperor to +St. Helena; but he is quite unable to overcome his feelings of +wonder at his self-sacrifice. After a few weeks’ sojourn on +the island he meets a charming lady, and writes in his diary: +“O liberty, why am I a prisoner?” He is useful to the Emperor +because of his erstwhile position on the general staff; he is +conversant with the science of strategy, understands maps and +mathematics. Not a day goes by, however, but Gourgaud is +offended. Innate vanity and jealousy are increased a thousandfold +by the narrowness of the circle; he becomes the incarnation +of the grotesque, which, from the first day on the +island, begins to encompass the Emperor about. Gourgaud +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_611">[611]</span>has the temperament of a snarling dog; he cannot allow Las +Cases to take precedence; Napoleon vainly tries to smooth the +young man’s ruffled plumes, and only by resorting to command +is he able to prevent a duel. “You followed me here in order to +comfort my life, so you are brothers. Am I no longer here +to care for you? And are you not aware that the eyes of +strangers are upon you?”</p> + +<p>The Emperor learns patience upon the rock. He also learns +considerateness, especially where Gourgaud is concerned. A +dozen times and more, he speaks to the young man in fatherly +fashion; tries to persuade him to bear with his companions; +cajoles him with the promise of a wealthy and beautiful Corsican +bride. Another time he sends the general to a little +festivity in the town: “You will meet the Baroness Stürmer +there, and see Lady Lowe. At your age, it is always agreeable +to consort with pretty women. You will go to sleep filled +with pleasant thoughts, and by to-morrow morning you’ll feel +fit for work once more. We’ll talk over the Russian campaign....” +A voice from Tartarus! But next day Gourgaud +again takes offence because in a picture of the group +which has been painted by one of the valets, he appears in +civilian dress. A few days later he reminds his master of an +episode near Brienne: Gourgaud saved Napoleon’s life by cutting +down a Cossack who was about to attack the Emperor. +The Emperor pretends to have forgotten; Gourgaud is outraged, +saying that all Paris was buzzing with talk of the incident. +Napoleon smiles: “You are a brave man, but amazingly +childish.”</p> + +<p>Las Cases’ servant steals a diamond cross belonging to +Gourgaud; in order to secure peace, the Emperor has to put +the cross in his own pocket, and, later, present it to Gourgaud +with the assurance that he had taken it himself. Again, Gourgaud +complains that he is short of money and has not enough +to keep his mother in comfort. The Emperor writes: “General! +We are here on a battle-field. He who runs away because +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_612">[612]</span>he does not receive enough money, is a coward!... I do not +owe you any thanks. If you had remained in France you +would have been executed, for you had a command in the ’15 +campaign!” In rare moments only, does the rage in his heart +find such vent. Napoleon does, indeed, tell Gourgaud that he +is free to leave any day he pleases. But immediately afterwards +the Emperor turns the conversation on to cannons, gun-carriages, +and cartridges. Next day he says:</p> + +<p>“My dear Gourgaud, how glum you look! Have a cold rub +down; that’ll do you good. One must curb one’s imagination, +otherwise one is liable to go mad; it is like the Danube: at the +source of the river one can cross it in a bound.... When I +die, I shall leave no family behind me but you. I am no longer +wealthy, but I have a few million still. In addition you will +inherit my writings. I know what I owe you. But, while we +are here, I want my friends to cheer me, and not to make me +sadder by pulling long faces.... Do you fancy that I have +no terrible moments? At night I wake up and think of what I +was and to what I have come.”</p> + +<p>When such poignant words are uttered at the table of this +tiny court, all sit silent and tremble. Each one feels that +from this room, this house, this island, an echo like a belated +rock-fall from the volcano must surely find its way to Europe’s +shore. For a few days thereafter, intrigues are discontinued +and enmities subside. But next week, over a trifle, the quarrels +break out anew. Gourgaud can stand life on the island no +more. He leaves at the end of two years. He makes friends +with the English, and, when he bids farewell to Emperor and +island, he sails away with letters of introduction from the governor +who is the deadly foe of his master.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp59" id="illus20" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus20.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Napoleon at St. Helena. Watercolour painting, probably by + a Japanese, with a marginal inscription in Chinese ideographs + concerning the owner. Broadley collection.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Count Montholon is the most loyal of the exile’s companions. +As a youngster of ten he had been instructed by Captain +Buonaparte in mathematics. Later, he had served in two score +battles under his master, and was much at the Emperor’s court. +Many decades after Napoleon’s death, he proved his fidelity to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_613">[613]</span>the House of Bonaparte; for, just as now he offers up six years +of his life to live with his exiled master on this rocky site, so, +too, he devotes six further years to Napoleon’s nephew, sharing +the third Napoleon’s captivity in a fortress. The only drawback +in St. Helena is that the count’s wife does not get on with +Madame Bertrand. One day the countess declares in the hearing +of all that the Bertrands’ latest born is puny because the +mother’s milk is good for nothing.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Madame Bertrand is reckoning that her eldest is +sure to be made grand marshal as soon as Napoleon II ascends +the throne. How much jealousy rages in these breasts because, +meanwhile, under Napoleon I, Bertrand remains “grand marshal,” +while Montholon superintends culinary affairs and Gourgaud +attends to the Emperor’s stable. Besides, none of them +have enough to do. Their duties cannot occupy more than two +hours of the endless day. At last things come to such a pass +in this ramshackle palace that the members of the little court +can only communicate with one another in writing. Even +Countess Montholon and her children have in the end to forsake +the Emperor and the island.</p> + +<p>Who is really loyal, loyal in his heart of hearts?</p> + +<p>Three servants. Marchand, the valet, who has attended the +Emperor for the last four years; and two Corsicans who, in the +hurry of departure, Napoleon had pressed into his service, +thereby linking up the island of his birth with the island of his +latter days. These servants never have any dealings with the +English foe, who would gladly draw their secrets from them. +Cipriani has a special reason for his reticence: as sergeant he +had seized Capri from the governor of Capri who to-day is +governor of St. Helena. Santini occasionally asks for a day +off in order to go shooting. But his sport is soon stopped when +the fact gets known that he intends to shoot “that monster, the +governor,” and then to put a bullet through his own head.</p> + +<p>The Emperor sternly forbids his man to contemplate any +such deed, for who in Europe would not immediately cast suspicion +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_614">[614]</span>on himself? But when the servant has withdrawn, the +master thinks indulgently: “We Corsicans are all like that!”</p> + +<h3>XI</h3> + +<p>A lean, middle-aged man with restless movements, red-haired, +freckled, with a large brown patch on the cheek; his throat +is stringy; he has pale golden eyebrows shading eyes which can +look no one in the face; he is clad in a British uniform—such is +the governor of the prison.</p> + +<p>He lives in a fine country house, in the most sheltered part +of the island, with a garden which is the oldest and most +luxuriant in St. Helena. When he pays his first visit to Longwood, +the Emperor says: “Execrable! A real hang-dog face, +like that of a Venetian sbirro. He glared at me with the eye +of a hyena caught in a trap. Perhaps he is my executioner.”</p> + +<p>It was not Sir Hudson Lowe’s position which made him seem +so obnoxious to the prisoner, who was on excellent terms with +two or three army officers and with the admiral. But Lowe +had been an English Fouché on the small scale, had been chief +of the spy service in Italy, and had taken over his present +delicate task in Fouché’s spirit. It was true that the peace of +Europe depended on his watchfulness; and since, in Europe, +people loved sleep more than greatness, one section of the +public was hounding Lowe on to be brutal.</p> + +<p>The English press was describing the prisoner in atrocious +terms. One of the most noted of English journals pilloried +him as the murderer of the Jaffa prisoners, described his sisters +as whores, and spoke of Murat as a waiter; a special law was +passed to make any attempt at freeing him a capital offence, +with the proviso that the offender would be denied spiritual +consolation on the way to execution; the prince regent was said +to have “besmirched his name” by presenting some fowling-pieces +to Napoleon. The honour of England is saved only by +the Whigs; and by the formal protest of two members of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_615">[615]</span>House of Peers, the duke of Sussex and Lord Holland. Lady +Holland ventures to send the Emperor books and fruit; another +noblewoman, who in earlier days had wanted to raise a corps of +amazons against him, now boldly espouses his cause in London; +a great English lawyer writes twenty-one theses to prove that +Napoleon’s detention after peace has been signed is illegal; +Thomas Moore and Lord Byron save England’s credit before +the tribunal of history. Germany’s good fame is rescued by +the fierce attacks upon Lowe in the German press, attacks +that go on for years.</p> + +<p>The governor is attacked because he has turned the whole +island into a prison. He has issued regulations arranged in +twenty-four paragraphs, informing the captains and crews of +vessels that touch at St. Helena about all the things that are +forbidden, under penalty; posters in the streets of Jamestown +prohibit contact with the French; no one may approach Longwood +without a written permit. Every movement of the +prisoners is watched through a telescope; for six long years +British officers keep their eyes riveted on the place of detention, +but can rarely see anything more noteworthy than the lizards +on the roof. Semaphores keep the governor informed as to all +that is going on. They report: “General Bonaparte is out of +bounds.”—“He is accompanied.”—“He is alone.”—One flag was +kept in reserve for a terrible emergency, to announce the news +that General Bonaparte had vanished. This blue signal was +never hoisted.</p> + +<p>The “bounds” are a twelve-mile ring round Longwood, subsequently +restricted to an eight-mile ring; at 9 p.m. (or, +when the restrictions are increased, at sunset), a cordon of sentries +at fifty paces’ interval is posted. If Bertrand, who lives at +Hutt’s Gate (a small villa about a mile away), is summoned +by the Emperor after nightfall, he is escorted to Longwood by +two soldiers with fixed bayonets—these bayonets, so runs the +order, “must point at the Frenchman’s heart.”</p> + +<p>The Emperor, who has for thirty years been accustomed to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_616">[616]</span>horseback exercise, may not go out of bounds unless accompanied +by a British officer. He protests, “Not because I object to +the red uniform more than another; after their baptism of fire, +all soldiers are alike. But I refuse to do anything which involves +the acknowledgement that I am a prisoner.” When in +high spirits, as he was sometimes in the early days of his captivity, +he would defy the regulations. Once he gave the English +officer the slip, rode across country with Gourgaud, burst +into a private plantation, saying to the owner: “Don’t let any +one know that we have been here!” But during the latter part +of his stay at St. Helena he kept within bounds, and, indeed, +rarely left the grounds of Longwood. Sometimes he would order +his horse for a ride; and then, when all was ready for the +start, overwhelmed with bitterness at sight of the officer who +was to accompany him, he would countermand the order and +re-enter the house.</p> + +<p>The result of this lack of outdoor exercise is that his health +suffers more and more. The climate alone would have brought +premature death, but confinement to the house quickens the +pace of his maladies. For lack of movement, his legs swell. +Furthermore, while Sir Hudson Lowe is giving dinner parties, +for weeks at a time Napoleon cannot get even fresh water or +milk. His stomach trouble grows much worse. The sick man +would like a wider bed, but there is no room for one; he must +content himself with rigging up a sofa beside his camp bed.</p> + +<p>He and his companions have been deprived of their money. +The letters he writes to France asking for funds are intercepted. +Being positively in want, he has some of his silver +plate put up to auction. When this is reported to the governor +by semaphore, the inhabitants are forbidden to buy; Lowe +himself purchases the articles at knock-down prices through an +agent. Six months later, when the governor reads in the newspapers +what Europe thinks of his conduct, he is greatly incensed, +makes the regulations stricter than ever, supplies Longwood +with uneatable meat and sour wine.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_617">[617]</span></p> + +<p>Like the villain in the folk-tale, Lowe is continually on the +lookout for new ways of mortifying his prisoner. On the anniversary +of Waterloo, he holds a great review close to Longwood. +He invites “General Bonaparte” to Plantation House on +the prince regent’s birthday. Another invitation is “to meet +the countess” (Lady Loudoun, wife of the governor general of +India). When the mail brings him a new lampoon against +Napoleon, the governor sends it to one of the Emperor’s companions; +but when a bust of the king of Rome, modelled by an +admirer, arrives, he proposes to impound it, for documents may +be hidden in its interior. He intercepts a letter from Napoleon +to the prince regent, in which the prisoner begs for news of his +wife and child; refuses to allow a Viennese traveller who has +seen the little boy to visit Longwood; and when, through the +kindly thought of a nurse and the loyalty of a valet, a lock +of the boy’s hair at length reaches the Emperor by devious +channels, Lowe sends home a detailed report concerning the +obvious dangers of a conspiracy to liberate the caged eagle.</p> + +<p>To begin with, the gaoler sees the prisoner a few times. +“Throw away that cup of coffee,” says the Emperor after one +of these interviews; “the man was near it.” From the first, +Lowe does his utmost to shorten Napoleon’s life. When the +Emperor’s vital energies begin to flag, the governor deprives +him of the services of the English surgeon in whom Napoleon +has confidence because this man, O’Meara, has refused any +information beyond medical bulletins. O’Meara is one of those +on whom Lowe has to keep a wary eye. It is not enough to +surround Longwood with spies; the whole island is beset with +them; they watch all the officers; and when they have nothing +better to do, they watch one another. Soon a network of +intrigue envelops the little house, whose interior is hung with +yet another network—that of the jealousies which of old had +been so rife in the Tuileries.</p> + +<p>In the third year of the captivity, O’Meara reports to London +that the Emperor’s liver trouble has been greatly aggravated +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_618">[618]</span>by the climate, the dampness of his dwelling, the lack of +exercise, and the vexations to which the prisoner is subjected. +It is amazing that the illness does not advance with more rapid +strides. This would happen, were it not for the energy with +which the patient bears up, and were it not that his body has +not been weakened by any excesses.—Since this report is shown +to the British Minister for Foreign Affairs, and presumably to +the prince regent as well, and since in spite of it the Emperor is +kept for three years more at St. Helena instead of being +sent to the Azores or some other suitable place, the bad faith +of Napoleon’s custodians may be taken as proved—and Lowe +was a worthy interpreter of his instructions.</p> + +<p>The man’s animus, and the craftiness of his designs, are well +shown by a passage in one of his reports. Lowe says he will +arrange matters so that Napoleon will be able to resume horse +exercise. Otherwise the prisoner might die of apoplexy, and +that would be extremely inconvenient. Death from some lingering +disorder would be better, for then the British doctors would +have no difficulty in certifying that death was due to natural +causes.</p> + +<p>In the early days at St. Helena, the Emperor compiles a long +official protest (it occupies twelve pages of print); it contains +all his grounds of objection, and he has a private copy made +upon silk, hoping that he will be able to smuggle it away to +Europe. In this document he reiterates his refusal to allow +himself to be addressed as “General Bonaparte,” for that implies +a disavowal of his position as popularly elected Consul +and Emperor. He remarks that he had proposed, as a reasonable +compromise, to name himself Duroc or Muiron, after one +of his two dead adjutants; but that England had refused to +concede to him this “privilege accorded to persons of sovereign +rank.” The governor had even attempted to address him as +General “Buonaparte.”</p> + +<p>In this tragi-comical fashion, after bearing seven names, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_619">[619]</span>he returns with the eighth, to the first name by which he had +been known.</p> + +<p>Soon there are actual hostilities. The lust of battle glows +once more in the prisoner. He displays a vigour of hatred +which in former days he had hardly ever shown in words, for +then he had simply annihilated the objects of his wrath. Longwood, +too, inaugurates a system of signals, though a less conspicuous +one than that of the British, who use flags and semaphores. +When the governor approaches, the Emperor, warned +by his vedettes, hastens indoors, and tells his servants to say +he is “not at home.” Once, however, he is taken by surprise in +the garden; Lowe bluntly tells him that his establishment is +too costly, and asks him to cut down expenses. The soldier +flames in the Emperor.</p> + +<p>“How dare you talk to me of such matters? You are nothing +but a gaoler. You have only commanded brigands and deserters. +I know the name of every English general who has +won distinction. All I have ever heard of you is that you were +one of Blücher’s quilldrivers, and a robber captain who never +had the honour of commanding real soldiers.—Don’t send me +any more food! I will take meals with those brave fellows of +your 35th, over there; not one of them will refuse to share his +rations with an old fellow-soldier. You can dispose of my life +as you please, but not of my heart. That is still as proud on +this rock as it was when all Europe was awaiting my orders.—You +would stick at nothing. You would poison me if you had +the courage, or were sent orders to do so!”</p> + +<p>Without a word, the governor turns on his heel, mounts +his horse, and gallops away. The Emperor compares past and +present. “In the Tuileries, I should have blushed at such a +scene.”</p> + +<p>For ever, the governor remains on the watch, negotiates +about details with the Emperor’s companions, but does not see +the living Napoleon again. One day, however, Lowe makes another +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_620">[620]</span>attempt, persists in spite of a refusal to admit him, +wants to see with his own eyes that “General Bonaparte” is +still there. The servant announces this importunacy. Then +the governor hears the Emperor shout through the door:</p> + +<p>“Tell him he can bring his executioner’s axe if he likes. +But if he wants to enter my room, he must do so over my dead +body. Give me my pistols!”</p> + +<p>Lowe was able to satisfy himself as to the general’s presence +when Napoleon lay dead.</p> + +<h3>XII</h3> + +<p>The Emperor rises as late as possible, so that the day may +seem shorter. He rings; Marchand enters; Napoleon asks +about the weather, slips on his white morning gown, and retains +his headgear—a red chequered Madras kerchief he has been +wearing all night. The red kerchief seems to be a whimsical +parody of the turban he once dreamed of donning! Cold douche +and rub—but of eau-de-Cologne, alas, there is none! Then Dr. +O’Meara pays a visit. He speaks Italian with the Emperor, +and gossips over the ludicrous happenings on the island. +Sometimes there is no sugar to sweeten the coffee. Has the +mailship come to port with fresh newspapers? Nothing as +yet. Gourgaud arrives and writes from dictation. Where were +we? The pyramids? The Emperor paces to and fro in the +narrow room; a map of Egypt lies spread on the table.</p> + +<p>He breakfasts with Gourgaud since the young man chances +to be there. The talk is of artillery fire, and means of defence +against it. In the afternoon, lounging on the sofa in the bedroom, +he reads. The old home on the other island was certainly +more comfortable. A couple of bound volumes of the “Moniteur” +pass the hours. If he wearies of reading, his book will +sink on to his knees, and his gaze will wander to Isabey’s portrait +of wife and child. Nearby, on the white lacquered shelf, +are two eagles, candlesticks, from Saint-Cloud. Between them +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_621">[621]</span>is the marble bust of his son; and, hanging to the faded gilt +frame of the mirror, four miniatures of the boy. There is also +a picture of Josephine; and the gold watch of Rivoli, suspended +by a chain made from the fair plaited hair of Marie Louise, +hangs to the wall. There hangs also the silver alarum clock of +Frederick the Great. Jetsam from the past, adorning his last, +tiny bedroom!</p> + +<p>He dressed for dinner in the old green coat; sported the +decoration of the Legion of Honour; wore white silk stockings, +and shoes with golden buckles. He was waited on at table +by his Parisian servants in their rich liveries of green and gold. +The table in his fusty dining-room was set with a dinner +service of Sèvres depicting Napoleon’s battles, branched candlesticks, +glass globes crowned with eagles. Cipriani carved for +His Majesty and served his master with great ceremony. Conversation +was usually carried on in monosyllables; it concerned +the cost of various things in Paris; the price of the throne and +the sceptre. After dinner, the company would pass into the +drawing-room for a reading of Corneille; the same plays over +and over again; the Emperor read with too much feeling to +read well. Sometimes his hearers would nod: “Madame, you +are asleep!” or, “Gourgaud, wake up!”</p> + +<p>“At your orders, Sire.”</p> + +<p>Occasionally he plays chess with Bertrand or reversi with +Montholon. Then it is time to withdraw.</p> + +<p>“What o’clock is it?”</p> + +<p>“Eleven, Sire.”</p> + +<p>“Another victory over time. One day the less!”</p> + +<p>Thus passed more than two thousand days and nights. His +campaigns in Italy and Egypt and his coup d’état had taken +half the time!</p> + +<p>The best way of getting through the weary hours is by reading +and dictating. For five-and-twenty years he had had no +time for reading; in earlier days he had devoured and annotated +a whole library of books. What is he reading to-day?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_622">[622]</span></p> + +<p>The things which the young man had not had an opportunity +of reading. In those days, standing outside the closed portals +of the world, he gathered materials from all sides, went to first-hand +sources: a practically minded student. Now, standing on +the further side of the portals of the world, which have now +closed behind him, he surveys the material: a sceptical philosopher. +In those days, he searched history; now, he searches +the poets, and especially relishes those passages from the poets +which apply to his own case. An epic lies behind him; in the +epics of others, he tries to find his prototype.</p> + +<p>First of all, the <i>Iliad</i>. He sometimes browses over this till +midnight. “Now, at length, I understand Homer. He is, like +Moses, a child of his epoch: poet, orator, historian, lawgiver, +geographer, theologian.... I am specially struck by the +rough manners of the heroes as compared with their lofty +thoughts.” Napoleon finds ease of heart in Homer. He cares +less for the <i>Odyssey</i>. This seems to him no more than the story +of an adventurer: he himself is more than that. Next in order +of preference come Sophocles’ <i>Œdipus</i>, a tragedy of banishment; +Æschylus’ <i>Agamemnon</i>; Milton’s <i>Paradise Lost</i>; the +Bible. Corneille and Racine depict, in the French style, the +heroes of antiquity, who for thirty years have been his models: +unending are his readings of <i>Cinna</i> and <i>Philoctète</i>. Ossian rises +out of the roar of the Atlantic: this he reads in an Italian +translation. In addition, the satirists of the social life of +Europe: Molière, whom in the ardent years of conquest and success +the Emperor had scorned; and Beaumarchais’ <i>Figaro</i> and +the <i>Barbier de Séville</i>. Finally, all the latest publications, +whether memoirs or pamphlets, and, preferably, anything +against himself.</p> + +<p>The golden day for him was when the ship arrived with +cases of books. In the course of his stay, he collected three +thousand volumes; they were ranged on the bare damp shelves. +Unfortunately, he reads so fast that a book hardly lasts him an +hour, and the servant is kept busy carrying away armfuls of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_623">[623]</span>finished books which only a day before had been brought from +the shelves. As soon as a book is read (or rejected) the Emperor +flings it on to the floor.</p> + +<p>In the early days on St. Helena, Napoleon’s actions were +performed at his erstwhile speed, a speed which was many +times faster than that of any of his associates. He forgot that +now it was expedient to go slower. The consequence was that +the few duties the prisoner imposed upon himself came to an +end too quickly.</p> + +<p>When, on taking leave of the imperial guard, he had promised +that, during his reign in Elba, he would record their deeds, this +had only been thought of as a way out of the threatened idleness. +In the days of his first exile, he had begun no such record. +Now, during the first year of his second exile, he dictates the +whole of his memoirs. This work too, like all else in his life, is +begun on the inspiration of the moment. Some pamphlets have +arrived. In one of them, his landing at Cannes in the year ’15 +is falsely described. He tells his doctor the true sequence of +affairs; paces up and down, declaiming; motions to Montholon +while continuing his tirade, and dictates, without a pause, the +whole chapter dealing with his return from Elba. Separated +from his archives by five thousand miles and more, lacking +documents, from his unerring memory, and with an inspiration +unsurpassed in the days of his greatest activity, he dictates the +story of the Hundred Days. Then, suddenly, he breaks off. +What’s the use of it all?</p> + +<p>Another day, the report of an incident in the Lower House +excites him: he thereupon dictates for fourteen hours without +a rest. Those who take down his words, collapse, and replace +one another at the task. Napoleon laughs them to scorn, and +continues his dictation. Or, again, he sends for Montholon in +the middle of the night to pen his recollections of more recent +times.</p> + +<p>Since he loves above all to dwell on his early victories, his +friends at first advise him: “Perhaps Your Majesty might set +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_624">[624]</span>about describing the Italian and Egyptian campaigns, and the +days of the Consulate?” Set about describing! No one seems +to notice, and least of all the Emperor, that these events are +being spoken of as one might speak of the Thirty Years’ War. +And just as, in those days, the man in whose heart and brain +these things first took birth had projected his thoughts to the +ends of the earth and had commanded his legions, so now, to the +last instruments in his service, he communicates the details of +his early campaigns, and in a few weeks describes how he conducted +the wars from 1796 to 1799. Up and down, up and +down, the Emperor paces, noticing nothing, wholly absorbed. +Without, doors bang, people talk; the amanuensis is disturbed +by these noises; not so Napoleon.</p> + +<p>Las Cases, after taking down the description of the battle +of Arcola, exclaims: “That’s finer than the <i>Iliad</i>!” The Emperor +makes a wry face, and laughingly rejoins: “Bah! You +still fancy yourself at court! I shall rewrite that chapter +twenty times ere I shall be satisfied.” This expostulation is +only a defence against flattery, for he has no intention of +writing the chapter again; all he does is to make certain +emendations when it is read over to him.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, he dictates the events of Waterloo over +and over again. Since, in spite of his historical objectivity, he +cannot understand the result of this battle which undid him, he +is always searching for new formulations. When, through the +good offices of some sympathetic Englishmen, an opportunity +occurs for smuggling documents to Europe, he works laboriously +at the battle of Waterloo in order to dim England’s +glory in the eyes of the European continent. But, he avers: +“this task always makes me sad.”</p> + +<p>In these memoirs, there are errors here and there. They +are not due to lapses of memory, but to the author’s desire to +emphasise his own place in history. Such errors are not more +serious than those to be found in Cæsar’s works, are not serious +errors at all. When he erroneously records that in his lieutenant +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_625">[625]</span>days he received the gold medal from the academy of Lyons +for his solution of a problem, and states that the money prize +was of great use to his mother; when telling the story of his +battles he ascribes to himself certain deeds which, in reality, +had been performed by his generals (at Marengo, for instance); +when he invents a treaty in which the tsar, before the Russian +campaign, is made to propose the division of Europe we have +inaccurate statements regarding the individuals concerned, +but the broad facts are correct. It is true that, in accordance +with his conception of the hero, he formally idealises the hero’s +deeds; but he seems to us to lose more than he gains thereby. +Since he is describing the period of his rise to power, he cannot +materially falsify the facts: the immeasurable consequences of +his first victory were bound to give rise, on the one hand, to a +certain boastfulness, and, on the other, to detraction. But +these volumes, which deal for the most part with the exploits +of the commander, furnish but little real knowledge of Napoleon. +Where we have to seek for the true Napoleon is in the +memoirs of those who had the privilege of recording his conversations +in exile.</p> + +<p>Soon, indeed, his pleasure in dictation evaporates. Though +he had intended to dictate in a few weeks the campaign of 1800 +which had lasted but that amount of time, he postpones this +labour, and tells Gourgaud to collect material bearing upon the +Russian campaign. Then the young general, who had himself +participated in the campaign of 1812, sets to work to read—not +a Russian work dealing with the campaign, but an English +work dealing with the life of the Emperor who is there, three +rooms away, and could probably furnish full particulars!</p> + +<p>Napoleon, the movement of whose mind was from events to +ideas, and very rarely from thought to deed, is still true to +type. When he reads news from Paris, he dictates rejoinders +which demonstrate his expertise, and he compiles financial +schemes. From his rock, from his little room, he answers the +sounds coming from the outer world, although the sounds are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_626">[626]</span>no summons and his answer dies away into the void. He +often proposes to write a treatise on the art of war, but he +gives the notion up, “for the generals who in days to come get +beaten will blame me, and say they were following my principles.... +I could instruct them, for I am a good teacher; +but I cannot have my principles of warfare set down in print.” +He mistrusts every systematisation, for he is essentially a man +who has learned by experience, by the unexpected. But if an +isolated problem crops up in the course of a book he is dictating, +then he deals with it in the precisest of terms. Thus, he +makes Gourgaud calculate how much water a fire hose can deliver, +for he wants to introduce the fire hose to combat the +consequences of artillery fire.</p> + +<p>Congenial society occasionally shortens the day. Or visitors +come to see the Emperor. English travellers, men of learning, +colonial magnates, are admitted to audience. On their return +to Europe, they bear witness to his mental alertness. Napoleon +himself desires such reports to be spread abroad, for they can +do nothing but good to his cause now that Las Cases’ diary has +aroused fresh sympathy for his plight.</p> + +<p>“Scatter your complaints throughout Europe! I myself do +not complain.” And he adds the orphic saying:</p> + +<p>“I command, or else I hold my peace.”</p> + +<p>His visitors tell him interesting things. An English admiral, +whose vessel had been lying off the coast during the battle of +Waterloo, assures the Emperor that Wellington had already +given orders to ship the English army because Blücher did +not arrive. When his companions inform him of the enthusiasm +with which the enemy officers were filled after their interview +with the Emperor, he says, assuming the role of the revolutionary: +“Of course, these people belong to us. They all come +from England’s third estate, and are the natural foes of their +haughty aristocracy.”</p> + +<p>All the men in the services are on his side. English sailors, +on shore leave for a day or two, will prowl round the place all +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_627">[627]</span>night. At the first opportunity, they pounce upon him, stuttering +incoherent words, presenting him with flowers. The Emperor +claps them pleasantly on the shoulder. When the garrison +is changed, he receives the members of the officers’ corps, +exactly as though they had been Frenchmen and he their army +chief. They form a semicircle; he asks, “How many years’ service; +how many wounds? I was greatly pleased with the 53rd +regiment. I shall always be delighted to hear of good strokes +of luck coming in its way. You are sad, Admiral Bingham, +that these brave soldiers are leaving you. To comfort your +heart, My Lady must bear you a little Bingham!” The army +men laugh. The admiral blushes. When, next day, the transport +hoists sail, the men give the prisoner three hearty cheers. +A few months later, all Europe is agog with the anecdote.</p> + +<p>On another occasion, he sees a medal displayed on the chest +of a captain, half raises it, and reads: Victory at Vittoria. +The Emperor allows the decoration to slip from his fingers, and +passes without a word to the next visitor.</p> + +<p>Each of England’s allies sends a commissioner to the island. +They are there merely to gratify the curiosity of their sovereigns. +The prisoner refuses them access to his presence, and, +though they are here on this desolate rock with the sole purpose +of seeing that he is in safe custody, during all the years of their +sojourn they never clap eyes on him once. Here is a fresh focus +of intrigue and boredom. The only one of the commissioners +whom the Emperor allows his suite to make friends with is +Monsieur le Marquis. This is the representative chosen by +His Very Christian Majesty King Louis XVIII to keep watch +on his formidable predecessor. The marquis sees that Napoleon +gets all the most recent periodicals; the Emperor reciprocates +by the loan of books. When tidings are brought announcing +the assassination in France of a Bourbon duke, General +Bonaparte sends his condolences to the marquis of the +old nobility by the intermediation of Count Bertrand, who is +also a sprig of the noblesse. A scene out of comic opera!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_628">[628]</span></p> + +<p>When the prisoner is in happy vein he seeks other pastimes. +One evening he spends fluttering the pages of the official year-books +of his reign, and says, like the bewitched tinker in the old +folk-tale: “It was a fine empire. I ruled eighty-three million +human beings; more than half the population of Europe!” He +spends the whole of another evening with Las Cases chatting +over old times. They laugh, the Emperor’s spirits rise, he orders +champagne to be brought, and before they realise it the +hands of the clock point to eleven. Napoleon says delightedly: +“How quickly the time has gone! What agreeable hours! My +dear fellow, you are sending a happy man to bed.”</p> + +<p>Words which grip one perhaps more poignantly than any +complaint could do.</p> + +<p>He takes Montholon’s seven-year-old child on his knee and +recites La Fontaine’s fable of the wolf and the lamb. The child +has not fully understood, and makes a delicious muddle of +lamb, wolf, and His Majesty. Another happy half hour in +the Emperor’s life! Again, he strolls up and down the room +in the evening after dinner, humming an Italian aria, and +laughing gleefully, for he has just read that King Louis always +speaks of him as “Monsieur de Buonaparte.” If he has a sleepless +night, he makes Las Cases tell him anecdotes from the Faubourg; +or he says to Gourgaud: “Let us exchange stories about +love affairs. I never had enough time to spare for women. +Otherwise they would have ruled my life for me.” If he gets +bored in his bath, he takes the opportunity of demonstrating +to Gourgaud why the pressure of the water upon a floating +body is equal to the weight of the body. On one occasion, in +the drawing-room, he has his own height and that of his companions +measured against the door.</p> + +<p>Sometimes he will not dress or go out in the morning, putting +off both until the afternoon. On one of these occasions, after +an exceptionally torrid evening, he does not re-enter the house +till midnight, and says that he has won a real victory by staying +out so long. Another day he goes up the stair-ladder into +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_629">[629]</span>his valet’s garret, having been told that it is so nicely furnished. +He is shown his own wardrobe, which is stowed away there, and +is amazed to find what a lot of clothing he still possesses. He +fingers the uniform he had worn as Consul (a gift from the +city of Lyons), the spurs he had worn at Wagram, the cloak of +the Marengo days. He makes no comment; goes down the +stair-ladder in silence.</p> + +<p>Amid these desperate attempts to kill time, does the prisoner +come across no one whose situation moves him?</p> + +<p>Yes, there is one. Of all the dwellers on this rock, the one +whose lot touches the Emperor’s heart most profoundly is a +slave, a Malay who passes by the name Tobias, has been kidnapped, +sold into slavery, and cast up on this remote island. +Napoleon comes across him working in the garden, or meets +him in the road, is never weary of studying him, and gives him +a gold coin whenever he sees him. The Malay thanks him in +broken English: “Good gentleman.”</p> + +<p>“Poor devil!” says the Emperor to his companion, obviously +picturing himself in the position of this dusky piece of flotsam. +“Snatched from his family, torn from his home, robbed of himself, +sold into slavery! Was there ever a greater piece of +wickedness? If a captain did it, he was a villain; but if the +crew combined to seize poor Tobias, they were hardly +responsible. Wickedness is always individual, never collective. +Joseph’s brethren could not make up their minds to kill him, +but Judas betrayed his master.”</p> + +<p>After the next encounter with the Malay: “What a pitiful +machine man is, after all! Not one bodily wrapping like +another; not one soul that does differ from all the rest. Those +who fail to recognise this, make a great many mistakes. Had +Tobias been a Brutus, he would have hurled himself on death; +an Æsop, and he would have been governor by now; a good +Christian, and he would have blessed his chains. But he is +only poor Tobias, so he is none of these things, merely bows +his head in his simplicity and goes on with his daily task.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_630">[630]</span></p> + +<p>The two continue their walk: “Certainly it is a long way +from poor Tobias to King Richard. But the deed which brought +the fellow here is no less shameful, for this man had his family, +his friends, his own life. What a crime to have condemned him +to slave on this island until the day of his death!” Suddenly, +Napoleon stops short, and eyes Las Cases quizzically:</p> + +<p>“I read from your face that you are thinking he is not the +only sufferer of the kind on this island.” Las Cases nods +assent, and the Emperor bursts out with a youth’s ardour: +“There is no warrant for such a comparison! True, the violence +done to us is more refined in its cruelty, but, in compensation, +we are more distinguished victims.... The world has its +eyes fixed on us. We are the martyrs of an immortal cause! +Millions weep for us, the fatherland sighs, the spirit of glory +mourns.... Adversity, too, has its heroism and its fame. +Had I died on the throne, surrounded by all the emblems of +power, I should have remained a riddle to many. To-day the +wrappings have been stripped from me; thanks to my misfortunes, +every one can judge me in my nakedness.”</p> + +<p>Subsequently, the Emperor buys the slave, wishing to send +him back to his own land and his own folk, but the governor +forbids the repatriation: “It is plain to me that General Bonaparte +is trying to win the hearts of the coloured population, in +the hope of setting up a second negro empire, as in San +Domingo.”</p> + +<p>Tobias, therefore, remains a captive; a slave in a far country, +like the Emperor.</p> + +<h3>XIII</h3> + +<p>“I am very old to make a journey of two thousand leagues. +Perhaps I should die on the way; but, never mind, I should +die nearer you.”</p> + +<p>Thus writes his mother. The Emperor reads the letter again +and again, when it is delivered to him a year after it was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_631">[631]</span>penned. The powers forbade the journey: who could tell, the +old lady might concoct a plan for his escape! Letizia had been +banished from France when the other members of her family +were expelled. For the second time in her life, she is unable +to go to her island home: the first time had been long ago +when Corsica was in revolt; now, Europe stands in the way. +She, therefore, goes to Rome, where the moral power of the +pope upholds her; always making fresh attempts to secure her +son’s removal to a more healthy abiding place. Although the +tsar is favourable to such a transfer, Habsburg and England +are determined Napoleon shall die; so there is nothing more +to be done. Neither mother nor any of the brothers and sisters +is allowed to send money to the exile.</p> + +<p>When the monarchs assemble in Aix-la-Chapelle for the congress, +Letizia writes to the princes: “A mother, more bowed +with grief than words can tell, has long been hoping that the +meeting of your imperial and royal highnesses would give her +back her life. It is impossible that the captivity of Emperor +Napoleon should not come up for discussion. Your magnanimity, +your power, and your memory of earlier events, will surely +incline Your Imperial and Royal Majesties to work for the +liberation of a prince for whom you once professed friendship. +I pray to God and to you, for you are God’s representatives +on earth. Interests of State have their limits. Posterity, +which confers immortality, admires a generous conqueror.”</p> + +<p>No answer.</p> + +<p>Later the captive learns that his mother has been accused +of fostering a conspiracy in Corsica. She is said to have provided +money amounting to millions. The pope is ordered to +send his secretary of State to see the old lady and to make enquiries. +Letizia gives the emissary the following message: “Tell +the pope, and may the monarchs mark my words: If I were so +fortunate as to possess all these millions they have credited +me with, I should certainly not spend them in buying champions +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_632">[632]</span>for my son’s cause. He has enough of them already. I would, +rather, equip a fleet capable of rescuing him from the island +where he is unjustly detained.”</p> + +<p>What a feeling of pride and elation fills the son’s heart as he +reads his mother’s words! But he never hears of Letizia’s +bitter remark to an Austrian noble: “Why is my daughter-in-law +amusing herself in Italy instead of joining her husband in +St. Helena?”</p> + +<p>Round what sun are the other planets turning? What an +anticlimax!</p> + +<p>Lucien and Joseph have gone to America, and are later +joined by Jerome. They assume exotic titles. The Spanish +revolutionaries have offered their ex-king the crown of Mexico. +This piece of news excites the prisoner:</p> + +<p>“Joseph will refuse. He is too fond of the pleasures of life +to bother himself again with the burden of a crown—and yet, it +would be a stroke of luck for England that the whole problem +of Spanish America should be solved in this way. For if +Joseph were to become king of Mexico a breach with France +and Spain would be inevitable. For myself, his acquiescence +would be weighty with consequences. He loves me and would +use his position as a weapon to coerce England into treating +me differently. Unfortunately, he is sure to refuse.” Thus +quickly and hopefully does Napoleon, in the first year of his +captivity, toy with every fresh opportunity.</p> + +<p>The other brothers and sisters retire into obscurity. Jerome +alone lives to be an old man, and, in the days of the third +Napoleon, appears once more at court. The Emperor receives +few letters from his brothers and sisters. Caroline begs her +mother to send some money. Letizia refuses: “All I have belongs +to the Emperor, from whom I have received all I possess.” +To Lucien she writes: “When one is no longer king, one makes +oneself a laughing-stock if one tries to live ostentatiously. +Rings may adorn the fingers; but, if they fall off, the fingers +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_633">[633]</span>still remain.” Hortense and Pauline once more play comedy +as they had done at Malmaison.</p> + +<p>Other tidings give Napoleon food for thought. Bernadotte +becomes king. And Désirée? At last Napoleon’s early love +wears a crown; she also lives to see the Second Empire. +Countess Walewska, now a widow, marries a French nobleman. +He approves the step, passes her situation in review, considers +all he has done for her son, and then says complacently: “She +is rich, and must have saved.” The tactless Gourgaud makes +answer: “Your Majesty paid Madame Walewska ten thousand +francs a month.” The Emperor blushes, and asks with embarrassment: +“How do you know that?”</p> + +<p>King Murat and Marshal Ney are both shot after court +martial. Their master accepts their fate with soldierly fortitude. +His only annoyance is that Murat should have been +such a fool as to land in Calabria. He bears his brother-in-law +no grudge. Even Marmont, who lives happily under the Bourbons, +comes in for no more reproach than: “I am sorry for +Marmont; I was really fond of him. He’s not a bad fellow. +They appealed to him through his feelings. He fancied he was +to be saviour of his country, and behaved like a madman. He +would have done better to shoot himself.... Human nature +is weak.”</p> + +<p>And yet it is precisely Marmont who stifles every movement +which might be of advantage to the exile. Murmurings against +the Bourbon ruler spread throughout the land. But when, +once more, the émigrés and the members of the new nobility are +placed in great positions, notwithstanding their lack of qualifications +for such posts, and a Richelieu is given high office in +spite of his long absence from France and his ignorance of +French affairs; when Lafayette, the veteran fighter for liberty, +becomes leader of the proletariat and makes ready for a new +revolution, gathering his forces in the clubs and even in the +schools, and preparing among the troops “the men of the coming +day,” to clear out the Bourbons, who can only maintain +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_634">[634]</span>their position by the aid of foreign armies; when the radical +provinces, eager to flaunt the tricolour cockade, rally in support +of Napoleon II—it is Marmont, Bonaparte’s eldest comrade, +who crushes the movement, and thereafter becomes +minister.</p> + +<p>The Emperor composedly reads that Louis XVIII. has dissolved +the Chambers because many of the members favour Orleans +or Napoleon. Executions for treason are the order of +the day. But who is the most trusted associate of the Bourbon? +A little nobody of a Corsican, whom Letizia once upon a time +had made her private secretary—a sinecure job created to provide +the man with a livelihood. Since all these events take +place during the first year, the Emperor is filled with hope, +and meditates upon the chances of a fresh revolution.</p> + +<p>“What a cruel decree of fate that just at this moment I +should be held prisoner! Who is there to set himself at the +head of things? Who will be there to save thousands of the +bravest from the scaffold?” He stays alone in his room until +the morrow, when he speaks absently of Elba. Soon stranger +ships heave in sight, the prisoner counts the shots. What is +happening? The Emperor sends his friends to gather tidings; +they hear nothing; but hope is strong. “What children we are, +to be sure,” he exclaims next day. “And I, instead of giving a +good example, am no better than the rest of you. Were I in +America, I should think of nothing but my garden.”</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, he would not have gone to America. He owns +as much when he says: “If I were in America with Joseph, instead +of suffering here, nobody would ever think of me, and +my cause would be lost. I may have another fifteen years of +life, but I am doomed to die here—unless France should summon +me.”</p> + +<p>These hopes are not unfounded. England considers it wise +to increase the garrison from two hundred men to three thousand, +in order to keep guard on one individual, although the +cost of the troops in St. Helena is £320,000 a year. Still, +there are possibilities, for the soldiers are whole-heartedly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_635">[635]</span>on his side. On one occasion six officers were arrested. They +had come from Rio de Janeiro, and had planned to get the +Emperor away in a kind of submarine. Again, two captains, +travellers to India on a ship which has touched at the island, +make him proposals for an escape: Napoleon listens attentively, +but decides not to accept. On a third occasion, Montholon +breaks in on the Emperor while he is at work with Gourgaud to +remind his master that the passport of a certain individual +expires in an hour’s time and a decision must be made. Montholon +writes: “It had been proposed to take the Emperor to +America for the sum of one million francs payable on landing. +The Emperor’s word would suffice. Unfortunately I may not +divulge any more of the scheme, lest I expose the originator, +for whose loyalty to the Emperor we must be eternally grateful. +The Emperor listened to me, and considered all I had to +say: he paced to and fro several times in silence, asked Gourgaud +and myself for our opinions. He took no part in the +discussion. In the end, he said: ‘You must decline the offer.’”</p> + +<p>There he stands, he has not been captive a year as yet, +passably well in health, athirst for action, goaded by the pin-pricks +of a mighty government and a puny governor. Before +him opens out the possibility of escape, escape with the aid of +English officers. The fact that risk is attached does not alarm +one who is used to bold enterprises. There he is, dictating the +story of his youth, when suddenly, at the end of his career, a +friend makes proposals that are certainly not cobwebs of the +brain. Napoleon is silent, he questions, he is silent again. +Then: “You must decline the offer.” Why?</p> + +<p>Because France is once more in a state of unrest, and so he +decides to stay where he is. He is so sure of a change of feeling +among the people that, later, when a ship is sighted and +signals to the station, the Emperor says: “Perhaps the vessel +brings news of my recall. If the prince regent dies, the young +queen will summon me to England. She was always against +my being sent to St. Helena.” When, on the outbreak of fresh +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_636">[636]</span>revolts in Paris, his companions mention the possibility of +France demanding his return, he concedes the point, adding:</p> + +<p>“But what can they hope from my return? That I should +again conduct wars? I am too old. That I should seek for +fresh glories? I am sated with them.... It will be much +better for my son that I should stay here. If Christ had not +died upon the cross, he would not have become the Son of God. +My martyrdom will give the crown back to my son, if he lives.”</p> + +<p>Napoleon’s feeling for the dynasty is as deep as ever. His +preoccupation with the thought of founding a line overpowers, +in his maturer years, his impulse to action, to adventure, and +even to win fame.</p> + +<p>Though he is inspired with these lofty moods of hope and +heroical renunciation, nevertheless despondency overwhelms +him at times; then he becomes greatly depressed, and the most +trifling upset in the household will seem an intolerable burden. +When Bertrand stays away from dinner in a pet, the Emperor +is out of sorts for days: “I know that I have fallen from +my high estate, but that one of my nearest companions should +rub it in is dreadful....” He groans. Las Cases offers to +intervene. “No, I forbid it. I had to say that much. But +now all is forgotten and I shall behave as though I had noticed +nothing.” If travellers should wish to see him on such days, +he refuses, saying: “Tell them, dead men do not receive visitors.” +Occasionally Napoleon broods alone for the whole evening, +sends at last for one of his companions, says a word or +two, and dismisses him.</p> + +<p>A quarrel arises between Montholon and Gourgaud as to +whose room shall be furnished first, the Emperor has to mediate, +the countess weeps, the Emperor proposes a game of chess. +Dinner. A reading from the Book of Esther. Sometimes these +scenes verge on the grotesque: a cow has escaped, the Emperor +shows his vexation, Gourgaud sits glum throughout dinner because +he is responsible for the cow, and is feeling aggrieved by +his master’s anger. After dinner, the Emperor speaks of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_637">[637]</span>Islam and his preferences for the Mohammedan faith, then +passes to a discussion of the trinity; finally he withdraws, making +painful attempts to conceal his angry mood and muttering +between his teeth: “Moscow! Five hundred thousand men!”</p> + +<p>Gourgaud, who has left him overnight in an agreeable state +of excitement, finds him next day in a gloomy temper: “What +sort of an education will they give my son? Will they teach +him to loathe his father? Hateful thought!” When Las +Cases, who has copied out the chapter on Waterloo, deplores +that victory should have been snatched from the Emperor’s +grasp, Napoleon makes no reply, but says to Las Cases’ son +in a voice which seems to come from a great distance: “My lad, +go and fetch <i>Iphigenia in Aulis</i>; that will do us good.” Or he +has Racine’s <i>Andromache</i> read to him.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I am come to the place where my son</div> + <div class="verse indent0">lies captive: for one moment only,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">allow my tears to flow with his!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">This is all that is left to me</div> + <div class="verse indent0">of Hector and of Troy. Permit me, Lord,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">to visit him once on every day....</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">But the Emperor breaks in on the reading with the cry:</p> + +<p>“Enough! Leave me; I would be alone!”</p> + +<h3>XIV</h3> + +<p>With the growing inactivity and boredom, the moods of this +tortured heart become more and more agonising; this many-toned +instrument can no longer be controlled; discords arise.</p> + +<p>He has been an emperor! How can he cease to play the part +to which the society of a handful of courtiers and the degrading +mockery of the enemy constrain him? In order to protest +against the use of the title of general and against the illegality +of his captivity, he drives out, at first, in full imperial grandeur, +his carriage drawn by six horses, and an equerry in uniform +riding at each door. His companions appear before him in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_638">[638]</span>general’s uniform or in court dress; no one opens conversation +uninvited; when he takes his walks in the garden his suite does +not approach till he gives a sign; visits are announced by an +adjutant general, booted, and wearing a sword. When Gourgaud +rises as Countess Montholon enters the room, he is reproved +for this breach of etiquette.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile he makes fun of the whole thing, mockingly calls +Gourgaud “my grand master of the horse,” or announces at +table: “I have been anointed by the pope; thereby I have become +a bishop, and have the power to consecrate you as +priests.” When he teases his friends about their all being in +the “Dictionary of Weathercocks,” whose pages he is at the +moment fluttering, Gourgaud ventures to say that the Emperor +himself deserves a place in it. “Oh; and pray why?”</p> + +<p>“Because you first of all recognised the republic, Sire, and +yet, later, you were the crown.”</p> + +<p>“You are right. Oh, well, the Empire was certainly the best +of the republics!”</p> + +<p>At the feast of Epiphany, he has a cake made for the children. +Then he crowns little Napoléon Bertrand as king. +When he is informed that there has been a complaint from the +governor about the expenses of his household, and that, now +that the price of meat has risen to forty sous, they must be +more moderate in their consumption, he turns the matter off +with a laugh, saying: “Parbleu! You might have answered +that it costs us more than a crown.”</p> + +<p>Never before has so much self-control been forced on him. +Impassively he reads Lowe’s answer to a statement of grievances +from Bertrand, who had said something about “the Emperor.” +The governor writes that he is not aware of the +presence of any emperor on the island.—The prisoner asks +Gourgaud to order his horse to be saddled. Gourgaud replies +that he has not seen the animal for three days, since the blacksmith +insists on being paid three napoleons before he will send +it back. The Emperor masters his anger, and says nothing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_639">[639]</span>more at the time; but next day he bursts out at Gourgaud: +“Why did you insult me by talking to me about the blacksmith’s +bill?” The day before, by a superhuman effort, he had +managed to restrain his wrath, but by the torturing thoughts +of the intervening hours his pride had been broken. The adjutant’s +sullen reply had disturbed the Emperor’s equanimity +quite as much as Austria’s desertion had done in earlier years.</p> + +<p>A soldier and a southron, he is choked sometimes by the passion +for vengeance. On one occasion, when uneatable meat is +served at dinner, he contents himself with the remark: “I +should trouble little about myself, if I could only feel sure that +some day our humiliations would be proclaimed to the world, +so that those who are responsible for them would be covered +with shame!”</p> + +<p>With a sublimity of spirit which grows in him now, he tries +to moderate the natural rebelliousness of his disposition: “I +am living here under a weight, so to speak; a weight which +compresses the spring, but does not break it. Resignation—that +is the dominion of reason, the real triumph of the soul.” +This masterful man does his utmost to regulate his own conduct +in accordance with the foregoing axiom. Subsequently +he says: “Misfortune has its good side; it teaches us truths.... +For the first time, I am able to contemplate history as a +philosopher.”</p> + +<p>For the first time, too, he is able to contemplate the present +with a tranquil mind. During the early weeks of his stay on +the island, when he was out walking with a pretty young Englishwoman, +he conversed with her agreeably about various +topics: how the climate was bad for the complexion; Ossian; +the plantations. At this moment some negro slaves carrying +heavy boxes crossed the path, and the lady called to them imperiously: +“Get out of the way!”</p> + +<p>The Emperor interposed: “But, Madame, please remember +that the men are carrying burdens!”</p> + +<p>Collapse of lady! Yet Napoleon Bonaparte himself would +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_640">[640]</span>not have been so considerate in the days before he came to St. +Helena.</p> + +<p>In all matters now, except when he is playing the shadow +emperor in pursuance of his feud with Lowe, Napoleon adopts +a simplicity of life which outdoes that even of his poorest days +as a lieutenant. When for some time there has been very little +to eat, and the cook has had to eke things out with French +beans, he eats them enthusiastically, praises the dish and the +cooking.</p> + +<p>“In Paris, I could get along with twelve francs a day. Dinner +frs. 1.50; reading room; theatre in the evening, pit; I should +hire a room for frs. 20 a month. I should only want one +servant; and I should associate exclusively with people of like +fortune. One can be happy in any station in life. When my +mother sang lullabies over my cradle, there was not a word +about what I was destined to become. I believe ‘Monsieur +Bonaparte’ would have been quite as happy as ‘Emperor Napoleon.’ +Everything in life is relative.”</p> + +<p>His doctor has a fainting fit. Coming to himself, he finds +that he is being attended to, not by a servant, but by the +Emperor in person. Napoleon has lifted him on to the bed, +has unfastened the collar of his shirt, and is kneeling beside +him, administering vinegar.—When Cipriani, the Corsican +servant, is dying, the Emperor asks the doctor whether a visit +from the master would stimulate the man’s flagging forces.</p> + +<p>“The excitement would kill him.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, well, I suppose I had better not go.”</p> + +<p>When playing reversi, he establishes a bank. For whose +benefit? The money is to be used to buy the freedom of the +most beautiful female slave on the island. One evening, his +companions find him at work beside the lamp, slowly and carefully +stitching the pages of a manuscript.</p> + +<p>Sometimes, however, his dreams reawaken, and flutter against +the bars of the cage. “I wish they would transfer me to a +desert island, where I could have two thousand people of my +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_641">[641]</span>own choice, with muskets and cannon. I should found a glorious +colony, and should end my days happily in that model land. +There I should not find it necessary to be at grips all the time +with antiquated ideas.” Having said this apropos of nothing +in particular, he passes on to the details of the scheme, dictating +specifications—how much money and stores would be needed +for the founding of his colony.</p> + +<p>A chained sculptor, his plastic impulses must be content with +such outlets in the world of imagination; but, side by side with +these capriccios, he displays a heroic simplicity. One day, during +the early weeks at St. Helena, he is out riding with Las +Cases. “We came to a field that was being ploughed. The +Emperor dismounted, and took the handles of the plough. +With incredible speed, he drove a long and perfectly straight +furrow. All this without saying a word until he had finished, +when he told me to give the ploughman a napoleon. We remounted, +and rode on our way.”</p> + +<h3>XV</h3> + +<p>“No one but myself can be blamed for my fall. I have been +my own greatest enemy, the cause of my own disastrous fate.”</p> + +<p>This admission, the profoundest of all those made by the +exile shows that Napoleon has completely outgrown the cloudy +Cæsarist fancies of his middle period. Had he been a believing +Christian, the confession would have rounded off his atonement +upon the rock. His sense of responsibility, however, is not +directed towards God but only towards himself, and therefore +the utterance represents a great man’s final settlement of accounts +with destiny. But, at the same time, it is a last outburst +of defiance, for his self-overweening esteem made it +impossible for him to admit that there were any greater forces +in the world than his own. Napoleon alone could overthrow +Napoleon.</p> + +<p>The remark was not the outcome of transient depression. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_642">[642]</span>During the closing years of his power, he had again and again +spoken to his intimates about his faults and errors; now, upon +the island, such admissions are frequent. Some of them are +ardent, and some of them are cold; for even in these self-examinations +there is an alternation between fantasy and +realism. From time to time, we have the heartfelt cry of a +penitent: “When I close my eyes, all my mistakes parade themselves +before me, like figures in a nightmare.” Or, again: “I +wanted too much.... I strung the bow too tightly, and +trusted too much in my good fortune.”</p> + +<p>But he will coldly reckon up the cases in which he has failed +to understand men, coming at this late hour to views which the +ablest observers had held while he was still on the throne. The +reader who knows his story will require no comment on the +remarks that follow.</p> + +<p>“I considered Emperor Francis a good man; but he was only +a blockhead, and in Metternich’s hands he became an instrument +for my destruction.”—“I ought to have left Talleyrand at +his post. What concern was it of mine that he was plundering +the foreign chancelleries. I should have been content with having +him closely watched. He served me well, as long as he +could hope to make anything out of me. If I had kept him +in office, I should still have been on the throne.”—“If only that +man Fulton, with his steamboat, had been right, I should have +been master of the world. But those idiots of savants made +fun of his invention, just as they make fun of electricity. All +the same, gigantic powers are hidden in steam and electricity!”</p> + +<p>He regrets that at Tilsit he had decided to maintain the +Hohenzollern dynasty. He regrets having crossed the Memel +too early; having crossed it in 1812, before he had settled +matters in Spain. He regrets that, in defiance of Carnot’s +advice, he began the last campaign too early, and he regrets +that at Waterloo he did not send the guard forward soon +enough. Most of all, he regrets having, when his power was +finally broken, entrusted himself to England, instead of to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_643">[643]</span>tsar, or, better still, to the United States. Always, when he +hears of crises in France, he regrets that he did not go to +America.</p> + +<p>“From that vantage ground I should have been able to +guard France against humiliation from abroad, reaction from +within; the dread of my return would have sufficed. In America +I should have established the centre of a new French fatherland. +Within a year, I should have had sixty thousand men +grouped round me.... It would have been the most natural +place of refuge—a land of vast expanses where a man can live +in freedom. If I had had a fit of the blues, I should have +mounted a horse, ridden hundreds of miles, enjoyed travel with +the ease of a private individual, lost amid the crowd. In +Europe I was too popular; bound up, in one way or another, +with every nation.... As a fugitive, and disguised, I could +certainly have escaped to the United States; but both expedients +would have been undignified. I put my trust in the approach +of danger, thinking that the nation would be forced +to turn to me as its saviour; that is why I stayed as long as +possible at Malmaison and in Rochefort. The destiny that +brought me to St. Helena was the outcome of those feelings.”</p> + +<p>This is the most productive of his meditations. The other +mistakes of his career had entailed such complicated consequences +that it was impossible for him to trace what might +have been had he acted otherwise. But the final resolve at +Rochefort had, as its inevitable upshot, brought him to this +rock. In that respect, therefore, his mind was continually +busied with alternative possibilities. Although, when in fancy +he roams across the American prairies, he sometimes pictures +himself as founding new States there, and sometimes as galloping +through the wilds, we may ascribe it to the infinite variety +of human passions that he should at the same time justify his +final blunder on patriotic grounds.</p> + +<p>His critical faculty is most keenly at work when he is pondering +his dynastic aspirations. In the last days of the Empire, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_644">[644]</span>he had confided his doubts to a few choice spirits; now, when +it is too late, he freely acknowledges his error. “I was a +softy where my family was concerned; by sticking to their +point they could get anything out of me. What terrible mistakes +I made there! If my brothers had communicated a +common impulse to the masses I placed under their rule, we +should have been able to make our way to the ends of the earth!... +I was not so lucky as Genghis Khan, whose four sons +vied with one another in their father’s service. If I made any +one king, he instantly regarded himself as king by divine right; +the mere word was as infective as the plague. The new king +was no longer my representative, but became a fresh enemy; +instead of serving me, he wanted to make himself independent. +I was the only stumbling block in his path. In the twinkling +of an eye, they all became kings warranted genuine; under my +protection, they all tasted the sweets of dominion. I alone +bore the burden. Poor devils! Once I had been defeated, the +enemy did not even bother to declare their formal deposition.”</p> + +<p>That was as far as his penitence reached. However self-critical +he might be, Napoleon never uttered a word of regret +for having assumed a crown, or for having wished to found a +dynasty. On the contrary, again and again he returned to his +basic social idea: “I was the natural mediator in this struggle +between the revolution and the past; my empire was in the +interests of the rulers as well as in that of the peoples. My +aim was the social rebirth of Europe; fate interfered before I +had completed my task.” In line with his general conception of +kingship, he deplores that the kings should have made an end +of Murat. They would have done better to show the peoples +that kings are above the law. Though the guillotining of King +Louis had opened the road along which he himself had advanced +to a throne, he condemned the act of regicide; not because he +regarded the Bourbons as competent rulers, but because continuity +seemed to him essential.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus21" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus21.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Death mask of Napoleon. By Dr. Antommarchi.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>For he will never misunderstand Europe’s historical conditions; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_645">[645]</span>he will never try to establish offhand in Europe that +which he dreams of establishing in the promised land of +America or in the utopian island of his fancy. He always +sees what is, as an outgrowth of what has been; always transforms +the extant, instead of destroying it; he never wants to +build entirely anew. Consequently, he does not discard the +old forms, but uses them as a foundation for his new buildings. +With a passion for ordering and arranging, and with a hatred +for destruction, he feels how much can be done when the basis +is secure. “When I rose to power, people thought I was going +to be a Washington. Words cost nothing! In America, the +role would have suited me well enough; there would have been +no merit in adopting it on the western side of the Atlantic. In +France, I could only become a Washington as a king among +kings.”</p> + +<p>That is the truth as he sees it. Since, at bottom, he despises +the purple he has hung round his own shoulders, he would have +been careful to avoid taking it to America, just as Washington +had resisted the solicitations of his officers. By birth, he had +been neither proletarian nor prince, but a member of a petty +noble family which had fallen on evil days. Thus his position +was an intermediate one, sandwiched between the classes. In +his conversations with Englishmen about England, he displayed +the naïveté of his class feeling, and his faith in the right of +succession, for he closed an attack upon the British nobility +in the following remarkable way:</p> + +<p>“It is not a handful of nobles or rich men that makes a +nation, but the mass of the people. True, as soon as the mob +gains the upper hand it adopts an alias, and speaks of itself +as the People; whereas, if it is conquered, a few poor wretches +are hanged, and spoken of as robbers and rebels. ’Tis the way +of the world: mob, robbers, rebels—or heroes. As the fortune +of war may decide!”</p> + +<p>After a reading of Voltaire’s <i>La mort de César</i>, he remarks +that in youth he had himself wanted to write a “Cæsar.” One +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_646">[646]</span>of his auditors, with a courtly double meaning, says that the +Emperor has done so. Napoleon laughs the flatterer to scorn. +“I? You poor babe! Yes, if I had been completely successful! +But, in fact, Cæsar had no better luck than I have had—for +he was assassinated!”</p> + +<p>Closely associated with his self-criticism is his own estimate +of his deeds. His historical sense, which is an integral part of +his composition, leads him to an objective clarity in his contemplation +of himself; perhaps an attitude of mind we may +vainly seek for elsewhere in history before his day. Las Cases +tells us that Napoleon talks of his career as if three hundred +years lay behind him; and Countess Montholon movingly observes: +“It seemed to me as if we found ourselves in another +world, and I was listening to a Dialogue of the Dead.”</p> + +<p>He stubbornly defends his alleged crimes, the poisoning of +the plague-stricken in Jaffa, the execution of the duke of +Enghien. One day he is seized with the impulse to confide to +an English physician the whole story of the Enghien episode; +since, as Consul, he ran the risk of being murdered, a counterstroke +was necessary. Another time he deliberately sets himself +to the task of finding out what O’Meara really thinks +of him. The Emperor knows the doctor to be whole-heartedly +devoted to his person, but of independent character. They +are sitting over a jug of porter, drinking together. Napoleon +suddenly puts his question:</p> + +<p>“What sort of a man did you think I was before you came +to know me? Speak your mind frankly!”</p> + +<p>O’Meara gives the description of an amoral chimera, a man +capable of any crime to achieve his end.</p> + +<p>“I expected as much!” exclaims the Emperor. “Probably +many Frenchmen think the same. They’ll be saying: Yes, he +climbed to the top of the ladder of fame, by his own efforts; +but in his climb he had to commit many atrocities.’” Thereupon +he launches forth into vehement self-defence.</p> + +<p>One night he summons Montholon in order to dictate the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_647">[647]</span>thoughts which throng his sleepless brain. He sets down how +he was ever inclined to peace, how before a battle and after a +victory he always entered negotiations. Or he compares the +two revolutions, adding: “Cromwell achieved his aim when he +was in the full maturity of his age, and attained to the highest +rung of the ladder through cunning and hypocrisy. But +Napoleon came to the fore as a stripling, and his first steps +are illuminated with deeds of glory.... Whose blood have I +shed? Who can boast that in my place he would have acted +differently? What epoch confronted with similar difficulties +has ever come through with such blameless results?... I believe +it to be without parallel in history that a plain man should +have attained to such amazing power without committing a +single crime. In face of death itself, I could make no other +declaration.”</p> + +<p>Something now occurs which takes us wholly by surprise. +Instead of, in the midst of this harangue, laying the blame for +ill success on others, instead of allowing his inborn misanthropy +to storm the heavens in resentment, he shows us that his days +of exile have fostered his sense of justice. He who, for a lifetime, +had declared that cupidity lay at the root of all men’s +endeavours, and had dealt with his fellows on that presupposition, +now becomes a cautious analyst; the man of power becomes +a philosopher; Napoleon becomes tolerant.</p> + +<p>Now, he declares that mankind is prone to gratitude rather +than to ingratitude; the only trouble is, people always expect +more thanks than the deed is worth. Las Cases informs us +that his greatest censure nowadays is expressed by silence. He +defends even those who were faithless: Augereau, Berthier, were +not equal to the magnitude of their positions; he excuses his +brothers. From the altitude of these judgments, he surveys the +wide perspective with a tolerant eye. We seem to be listening +to the imprisoned Socrates when we read:</p> + +<p>“It is difficult to give people their due.... Do they even +know themselves? Those who forsook me would never have believed, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_648">[648]</span>in the days of their good fortune, that a time would +come when they would deny me.... Our last trials were more +than human nature could endure. As a matter of fact, I was +left in the lurch rather than actually betrayed, just as Peter +denied his master.... Perhaps they have already shed tears +of repentance. Who ever had more friends and more adherents +than I? Who has ever been more beloved?... My fate might +have been far worse!”</p> + +<h3>XVI</h3> + +<p>The Emperor’s companions keep diaries. He is well aware +of this; he even has a look into one of them, but he reserves +his thoughts. As a realist he calculates the monetary worth +of these records, and he foretells what the writers will earn +when they publish their books after his death; his only mistake +is that he underestimates the amount. He bequeaths to each +of his secretaries those portions of his writings which he has +dictated to them severally. But he is correct in his estimate +of the incalculable value the diaries will have for posterity in +the study of himself.</p> + +<p>Accustomed as he is to dictate, he shapes his sentences carefully +even when conversing, so that his hearers may record his +sayings with advantage. The value to future generations is +thus enhanced, and these summaries of his thoughts raise him +above his present wearisome existence. His passionate feeling +for historical events drives him to this self-expression, no less +than regard for those who shall come after.</p> + +<p>Five days pass, sometimes, without his seeing anybody; he +reads and he writes nothing. The future gives him no more +food for thought. But during these periods of seclusion he +surveys his life as a whole. Then his soul is shaken, and his +lightning glance searches through and through his personality +for a hundred hours at a stretch. Never has any man before +him had to submit to such a scrutiny. The tension of his being +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_649">[649]</span>is at these moments greater than at Austerlitz, more elemental +than in the Council of State: he is a bound Prometheus, one +who wishes to promote human happiness; and, shackled to the +rock, he groans. Yet he is but a little man in an old green +coat! The visions, the dreams, which for twenty years he was +able and willing to conjure into reality, he now dissects into +ideas. Thus, in the end, he becomes the severest commentator +upon his own life story.</p> + +<p>A book arrives. It is a collection of his manifestoes and +decrees. He reads. Then he throws the volume aside, strides +to and fro, and says to Las Cases:</p> + +<p>“Every future historian will have to allow me my share.... +Facts speak for themselves. I closed up the chasm of anarchy, +and put an end to chaos. I cleansed the revolution from the +filth it had accumulated, I ennobled the peoples, I stabilised +the thrones. I encouraged all those who had talents, rewarded +every merit, and widened the boundaries of fame and glory.... +Could not historians protect me against many grave +charges?... If I am accused of despotism, they can claim +that dictatorship was necessary in the circumstances. Is it +freedom I attacked? They can answer that anarchy was still +threatening on our very threshold. Love of war? I was never +the aggressor. Striving for world dominion? This arose accidentally, +because of the conditions of the time. Too ambitious? +Yes, true indeed. But my ambition was of the sublimest: to +found the kingdom of reason, with full development and unrestricted +enjoyment of all the human faculties. The historian +may deplore that such ambition could not wholly attain its +goal.” After a momentary silence, he concludes: “There, my +dear fellow, in a few words, you have my entire story.”</p> + +<p>Here he is on the defensive. But neither in such moods nor +in any other do we ever hear him rave enthusiastically over his +battles. In all the six years of his captivity, he does not seem, +even once, to have sung the praises of General Bonaparte. If +he is summing up what he achieved, he says:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_650">[650]</span></p> + +<p>“My fame does not rest upon my forty victorious battles, +nor does it lie in the fact that I bent the monarchs to my will. +Waterloo will wipe out the memory of so many victories; the +last act makes one forget the first. What will never pass away, +is my book of laws, the minutes of my Council of State, my +correspondence with my ministers.... Through its simplicity +my code of laws has had more effect than any civil codes before +it; the schools I have set up, my methods of instruction, are +creating a new generation; crime has decreased during my +rule, whereas in England crime has become more prevalent.... +<i>I wanted to found a European system, a European code +of laws, a European court of appeal; there would have been +but one people throughout Europe.</i>”</p> + +<p>He reads in an English newspaper that Napoleon has hidden +away vast treasures. He leaps to his feet, and dictates, to the +man who happens to be his companion at the moment, these +splendid sentences:</p> + +<p>“Would you like to know about Napoleon’s treasures? Yes, +they are vast, but they are not hidden away. The harbours of +Antwerp and Flushing, where there is room for the largest +fleets in the world, harbours which are open all through the +winter; the waterworks at Dunkirk, Havre, and Nice; the huge +docks at Cherbourg; the port of Venice; the high roads from +Antwerp to Amsterdam, from Mainz to Metz, and from +Bordeaux to Bayonne; the passes over the Simplon, Mont +Cenis, La Corniche, and Mont Genèvre, which open up the Alps +in four directions, and excel all the constructions of the +Romans. Then there are the roads from the Pyrenees to the +Alps, from Parma to Spezia, and from Savona into Piedmont; +the bridges across the Seine, and the bridges of Tours and +of Lyons; ... the Rhine-Rhone canal and the draining of +the Pontine marshes; ... the re-establishment of the Church +destroyed by the revolution; the setting up of new industries; +the new Louvre; warehouses, streets, the water supply of Paris, +the quays along the Seine; ... the revival of the weaving +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_651">[651]</span>mills in Lyons; more than four hundred sugar factories; the +repair and embellishment of the royal palaces at a cost of frs. +50,000,000, and the refurnishing of them out of Napoleon’s +private fortune at a cost of frs. 60,000,000; the redemption of +the only remaining crown diamond, the Regent, which had been +pawned to Jews in Berlin for frs. 3,000,000; the Napoleon +Museum, where all the works of art had been obtained by purchase +or by the peace treaties; many millions for the support +of agriculture and horse breeding.... These are the treasures +of Napoleon, which represent an expenditure of milliards, +and will outlast the centuries! These are the monuments which +defy calumny.... Moreover, history will record that they +were all erected while long wars were being waged, and without +loans being raised to pay for them!”</p> + +<p>There he is in his little room, in the narrow house, on the +rock in the midst of the sea, defending his work, and, with a +regal gesture, shaking things together pell-mell—main roads, +sugar factories, crown diamonds, and the Catholic Church! +Foreseeing the criticisms of history, he is fully aware of the +truth about himself; though a century will elapse before +posterity will begin to see in him something more than the +military commander whose fame (as he says) was dimmed by +the failure at Waterloo.</p> + +<p>One evening, after dinner, the question assumes a personal +aspect. An inquisitive member of his circle has asked when he +was happiest, and all present give their ideas. Napoleon tells +them that he was made content by his marriage and when his +son was born, “I cannot say happy, but content.”</p> + +<p>“When you were First Consul?”</p> + +<p>“I was not yet sure enough of myself.”</p> + +<p>“At the coronation?”</p> + +<p>“In Tilsit, I think. By that time I had learned the vicissitudes +of fortune; Preussisch-Eylau had been a warning to me, +and nevertheless I had won a victory there; I had dictated the +terms of peace; the tsar and the king of Prussia were paying +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_652">[652]</span>court to me. But no, I am wrong, that was not the best. The +happiest days I ever knew were after my first victories in Italy, +when the masses surrounded me, shouting: ‘Evviva il liberatore!’ +I was only twenty-six, but I foresaw what I might +become. It was as if I were being lifted up into the air, and +the world were disappearing beneath my feet!”</p> + +<p>With a sudden transition, he hums an Italian song, and then +stands up, saying: “Ten o’clock. Time for bed.”</p> + +<p>How pale do these comparisons of happy moments seem in +contrast with the fiery rhapsody of his deeds! It was in the +work he did that was concentrated the life happiness of the +man who enjoyed nothing but the completed action. He surveys +his past; doubts this suggestion and that, saying that he +was no more than “content,” and finally hears again the first +chorus of evvivas. In imagination he is again the youth soaring +upwards; and in the evening of his life, spent in this +tropical exile, the vision of fame floats once more before his +eyes. That was what the disciple of the classical heroes had +set out to win—fame!</p> + +<p>Fame, whose lure he had felt for the first time on the island +of his birth, still allures him on the island to which he had been +banished. Moreover, he knows that it is the glamour of warlike +fame which has made him most widely known among men. +He asks whether there can be any one in Paris who has never +heard of Napoleon; he does not really mean Paris, but the +world. When Las Cases tells him how, in the remotest valleys +of Wales, shepherds had asked for news of the First Consul, +or how yellow men in China had spoken of him in the same +breath with Tamerlane, then the Emperor Napoleon forgets +the shame and the weariness of his life on the rock, and knows +his happiest moments. If he is in such a mood, some trifling +item in the newspaper may arouse a flight of fancy:</p> + +<p>“Yes, the reaction is doomed! Nothing can destroy great +principles; they will endure for ever in the light of the wonderful +deeds we have done! The first stains have been washed out +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_653">[653]</span>in the waters of glory, and now the principles are immortal.... +Adorned with our laurels, acclaimed by the peoples, sanctified +by treaties with the powers, they are breathed from all +lips and hearkened to by all ears.... They will rule the +world; will become the faith and the morality of all the peoples; +and, say what you will, this new epoch is associated with my +name. I lighted the torch; friends and foes alike will acclaim +me the leading champion, the greatest representative of the +new principles. After my death, for the nations I shall still be +the sun of their rights; my name will be the war cry of their +struggle, the slogan of their hopes!”</p> + +<p>Still, these heroics about himself lack the right conclusion. +Politically he overestimates the value of his martyrdom; it has +not been able to save the dynasty: but he does not foresee the +effect which this last act of the drama will have upon the hearts +of men. A soldier’s death looms before his eyes; he had sought +it under fire on the last battle-fields; again and again he turns +his own story over in his mind, in search of the romantic moment +which would have been the most appropriate close; he +often recurs to the subject in conversation. Like a playwright +he looks for the fitting climax: “I ought to have died in Moscow. +Till then my fame was undiminished.... If only +heaven had sent me a bullet in the Kremlin! My dynasty would +have been established; history would have compared me with +Alexander and Cæsar. Whereas, as things have turned out, I +am practically nothing.” On another occasion he thinks that +death shortly before attaining the goal, would have had even +more effect on posterity: “Had I fallen at Borodino, my death +would have been like Alexander’s. A death at Waterloo would +have been a good one. But perhaps Dresden would have been +better. No, no, at Waterloo would have been best. The love +of the people, their mourning!”</p> + +<p>Once he summarises the whole as follows:</p> + +<p>“Taking it all in all, what a ballad my life has been!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_654">[654]</span></p> + +<h3>XVII</h3> + +<p>Sunrise. A man stands at the door of a house where all the +inmates are still asleep. He wears a white coat, red slippers, +a broad-brimmed straw hat; he holds a spade in one hand, and +rings a huge bell with the other, rousing the sleepers to work. +A wall is to be raised, a ditch lengthened; land is to be reclaimed +from the inroads of the sea; this is the scheme. Doors +open, tent-flaps are flung back, and from all directions men +flock to the master’s side. They are armed with shovels, rakes, +axes; and are eager to carry out the Emperor’s commands.</p> + +<p>He resembles the centenarian Faust.</p> + +<p>The last year of his life has opened. He has made up his +mind, come what may, to stay on this rock; and, since no one +offers to make a verdant bower for him, he has decided, after +yearlong feuds and resistance to his plans, to make a garden +for himself. A half-circle of wall is to protect the growths +from too much sun, from the trade wind, and from the watchful +eye of the sentry. Cisterns are to store rain water; within the +ramparts, earth is distributed for the flowers and the bushes; +four-and-twenty large trees are planted; peaches, oranges, and, +in front of his window, an oak. The trees have been imported +from the Cape, and are brought to Longwood with the aid of +the English artillery regiment—an old acquaintance of the +Peninsular War. Chinese gardeners, Indian coolies, French +servants, English stablemen, all help in the work; the doctor +must take a hand too, with Montholon and Bertrand; and when +the English officer on duty draws near, he sees the Emperor +take a turf from his grand marshal’s hands, fit it into its place +on the bank, and pat it down carefully. But since Napoleon +knows that transplanted soldiers must be especially well treated +in foreign parts, he waters the square of grass assiduously.</p> + +<p>The work goes on for seven months; and, when it is finished, +the garden, so swiftly brought into being on the rock, is regarded +as a wonder. The governor’s daughter comes secretly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_655">[655]</span>to look at it. This is the last miracle wrought by Napoleon.</p> + +<p>It is because he has become aware of the decline in his +energies, that he has decided to beautify the place in which he +is to pass the remainder of his days. He is overheard murmuring +to himself Voltaire’s line: “See Paris once more? I +cannot hope for that.” When his birthday comes round, he +says it will be the last, gives the children presents; “at dinner, +where we were all assembled, he beamed on us like a father in +the family circle.”</p> + +<p>That autumn, he takes his last ride, a long one, going out +of bounds for the first time after four years.</p> + +<p>He seldom dictates now, but has a fancy to do so sometimes +at night when sleep will not come; dictates comments on the +battles of Turenne, Frederick, and Cæsar; literary criticism +upon Voltaire’s <i>Mahomet</i> and Virgil’s <i>Æneid</i>; remarks on suicide, +which he had condemned long ago when he had been a +lieutenant. His best secretaries, Gourgaud and Las Cases, +have left the island long since. For a quarter of an hour at a +time, he will stand drumming with his fingers on the door of +the veranda, watching the gulls, or gazing at the clouds; he no +longer scrutinises the ships through the telescope; he is only +waiting for death.</p> + +<p>The news of a fresh conspiracy against the Bourbons, originating +in the army and widely supported by civilians, no longer +excites him. During the last six months of his life, he rejects +two schemes of rescue. “It is written in the stars that I am +to die here. In America I should be assassinated, or forgotten. +Nothing but my martyrdom can save my dynasty. That is +why I prefer to stay in St. Helena.”</p> + +<p>His mortal illness gains on him. The climate of the island is +dangerous to persons whose livers are healthy when they first +come; Napoleon, at thirty-five, had foretold that he would die +of liver trouble like his father, and his liver complaint is greatly +aggravated. He says that his stomach burns like fire; in some +of the paroxysms, he rolls on the floor in agony. He complains +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_656">[656]</span>of a pain in the gastric region, “like the stab of a penknife.” +He shivers with cold, though he is burning within; when hot +compresses are applied, they can never be hot enough for him.</p> + +<p>He watches his symptoms, and studies their meaning; will +not take any medicine until its action has been explained to him. +He says ruefully: “I have got so fond of my bed that I would +not exchange it now for a throne. What a pitiful creature I +have become! I, who hardly ever needed sleep, pass my days in +lethargy. It seems a desperate resolve merely to open my +eyes. Often enough, I used to dictate on different topics to +four secretaries at once. In those days, I was Napoleon.” +His mood vacillates between heroic pathos and irony. When +his valet reports that a comet is visible, the Emperor rejoins: +“That was the sign before the death of Cæsar.” But when his +doctor declares that there is no comet to be seen, the sick man +says: “Well, people die without comets!”</p> + +<p>His medical attendant is a Corsican named Antommarchi. +Owing to the quarrel with the governor, the prisoner had no +doctor for a year after O’Meara’s departure. At length +Madame Letizia, after much effort, was able to arrange for the +sending of this compatriot as his physician, together with two +priests, a body servant, and a cook. Thus it is that, after years +of silence, the Emperor hears trustworthy details about his +mother. Once, during these last days, he says in simple words +what she means to him: “All that I am and was, I owe to my +mother; she taught me her own principles, and encouraged in +me the habit of work.”</p> + +<p>Now there are five Corsicans round the lonely man. Only +two of them are any good: the body servant and the cook. Of +the two priests, one is a deaf old man, partially paralysed, and +unable to articulate clearly; the other, fresh from the seminary, +is ignorant and uncouth. Antommarchi, too, is a young man, +inexperienced but pretentious. Still, the sight of these +islanders, men of his own race, revives memories of his Corsican +home. Hence, towards the close, feelings reawaken which in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_657">[657]</span>early life he had stifled because of his determination to be a +Frenchman. Napoleon dies as he was born, an Italian.</p> + +<p>He often talks Italian, now, or intersperses his French with +strange locutions literally translated from his mother tongue. +When he reads an attack made on him by a senator who declares +that in the day of the Empire France had chosen her +master from among a people whom the Romans did not consider +good enough, to use as slaves, Napoleon’s comment is that it is +a great compliment to the Corsicans, “for the Romans knew +that this people could not be forced to serve.... Besides, +Corsica, lying between France and Italy, was an appropriate +birthplace for a man who was to rule both.”</p> + +<p>Then, suddenly, it is again his fatherland. “Ah, Doctor, +where are the lovely skies of Corsica? If only I could have +fled thither, the people would have received me with open arms, +and would have become my family. Do you think that the +allies could have mastered me in Corsica? You know our mountaineers, +their courage and their pride! I am familiar with +every ravine in the island, every stream!” He declares that he +would fain have made much of this island (about which he never +troubled after leaving it), would have signalised his love for it +before all France. Only his misfortunes had prevented his +carrying out these plans. He speaks of the spiritual greatness +of the islanders, of their veneration for honour, of the blood +feuds they hand down from generation to generation; he speaks +of Paoli. “Everything is better there, the very smell of the +ground. If my eyes were shut, I should recognise it; I have +never come across it anywhere else.... No longer to own the +house where one was born, to be homeless—this is to be without +a fatherland!” Thus late, thus painfully, and thus indirectly, +does this man without a fatherland make his great +discovery; or thus late does he acknowledge his true feelings.</p> + +<p>The Corsican doctor has no great sympathy with the Emperor; +he does not credit Napoleon’s sufferings; he believes +them to be simulated for political ends, in the hope of a removal +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_658">[658]</span>to Europe; and is absent during the worst paroxysms. +Thus the political use the Emperor has made of his ailments +works out its own revenge; for now, when he is really dying, +his own compatriot regards his sufferings as spurious. There is +ample record of these differences between doctor and patient. +Napoleon wishes to get rid of Antommarchi, and asks Lowe +to have him sent back to Europe. This is a new triumph for +the governor, to whom the quarrel between the great Corsican +and the little is useful ammunition. Only four weeks before +the Emperor’s death, his gaoler once more tries to force a way +into his presence, and the consequent excitement is very bad +for Napoleon.</p> + +<p>The number of the faithful diminishes, as if to justify the +misanthropist at the close of his life. Now, in the very last +weeks, four of the servants and the old priest set sail for +Europe; two others fall sick, and the last remaining members +of his suite are meditating flight: Montholon is corresponding +with the countess about the possibility of a substitute; Bertrand +is about to yield to the continued solicitations of his family, +and return to France. Montholon, to induce him to remain, +has to assure him that when the Emperor talks of being seriously +ill, this is not done merely to play upon Bertrand’s sympathies. +When Bertrand finally decides to remain, the invalid +is greatly encouraged. The only one who never thought of +leaving, was Marchand, the valet. The Emperor says to him: +“If this goes on much longer, no one will be left here but you +and me. But you will look after me till the end, and will then +close my eyes for me.”</p> + +<p>What really cuts him to the heart is that the man who has +been his close companion for so many years should now let +long-hidden truths peep out. He has had an argument with +Bertrand, who says: “It would have been the happiest day in +my life if, after the deposition of the king, the Convention had +raised the duke of Orleans to the throne.” The Emperor +makes no immediate rejoinder, but afterwards says bitterly: +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_659">[659]</span>“Bertrand, who owes everything to me, whom I made one of the +grand officers of my empire!”</p> + +<p>As his strength wanes, he looks round for something to lean +on, and, for the first time in his life, he appeals to his relatives +for help. Pauline is the dearest of them. Dictating a letter +to her in the third person, he gives a bulletin of his condition, +and ends as follows: “The Emperor earnestly hopes that Your +Highness will acquaint influential Englishmen with his situation. +He is dying on this dreadful rock, forsaken by all. His +death struggle is terrible.”</p> + +<p>In the middle of April, three weeks before the end, behind +locked doors, he dictates his will to Montholon. Then the +amanuensis has to redictate the document to the Emperor, for +it must be in his own handwriting, that it may be above suspicion. +The Emperor sits writing for five hours, in a cold +sweat. The testament is characterised alike by statesmanlike +greatness and by human feelings; it represents, as it were, a +survey of his whole life.</p> + +<h3>XVIII</h3> + +<p>He begins his testament by declaring that he dies in the +apostolical and Roman religion, in the bosom of which he was +born,—the faith which he re-established in France, which he +always protected, although, in his innermost soul, he never +accepted its teachings. Then his thoughts turn to the glory of +a hero’s grave, and, with a turn of phrase which shows that he +regards himself as a Frenchman by choice rather than by birth, +he writes: “It is my wish that my ashes shall be laid to rest +on the bank of the Seine, in the midst of the French people, +which I have loved so well.”</p> + +<p>Next come thoughts of his son, upon whom are lavished all +the hopes a man can entertain concerning what will happen +after his own death, and for whom he wishes to concentrate +such rights as he may possess, such treasures as he may own, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_660">[660]</span>and such teachings as he may utter. He tells his “beloved +wife” that he retains for her the most tender sentiments, and +beseeches her to watch over their son, since the lad is being +brought up as an Austrian prince. She is never to forget that +the young Napoleon was born a Frenchman. She must never +allow the boy to become a tool in the hands of the triumvirs +who oppress the peoples of Europe—among whom the greatest +oppressor is the child’s own grandfather.</p> + +<p>Then comes a last thrust at the enemy: “I am dying before +my time, murdered by the English oligarchy and its hired assassins.” +But, in the challenging tone of a tribune, he adds: +“The English people will not be slow to avenge me.” He closes +this part of his will by declaring that he had been defeated +“through the treachery of Marmont, Augereau, Talleyrand, +and Lafayette.” Though he adds, “I forgive them,” behind +this mask of Christian charity the warrior’s steel glitters in the +words: “May the France that is yet unborn forgive them as I +do.”</p> + +<p>Now, quite in the patrician style, he thanks his beloved +mother and his brothers and sisters for the interest they have +continued to feel in him. “I pardon Louis for the libel he published +in 1820: it is full of false assertions and falsified documents.” +Then come the actual bequests.</p> + +<p>The main substance of what he has to leave consists of his +savings out of the civil list during fourteen years, together +with all the furniture, plate, etc., he had himself bought for +his palaces; and also his Italian property. He estimates it as +amounting to more than frs. 200,000,000, and points out that, +as far as he is aware, no law has deprived him of it. Half of +it is bequeathed to the surviving officers and men who had +fought in the glorious campaigns from 1792 to 1815, in sums +proportional to their rates of pay on active service; the other +half is to go to the provincial towns and communes that had +suffered in the two invasions. His aim, in these provisions, is +to put the Bourbon government in the wrong for laying an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_661">[661]</span>embargo, at the time of his abdication, upon all his money and +securities. These clauses in his will are to promote a Napoleonic +sentiment among soldiers and civilians alike; his secret +hope being that his testament will exercise an influence in favour +of his dynasty, like Cæsar’s will when disclosed to the Roman +populace by Mark Antony.</p> + +<p>Now comes legacies to ninety-seven specified individuals. +The list was drawn up in the course of ten days. “His mind is +continually at work discovering new objects for his liberality; +day after day he recalls the names of additional old servants +whom he wants to remember in his will.” The bequests are to +come from a special property of frs. 20,000,000, of whose ownership +he feels more secure than of the great imperial treasure. +Frs. 6,000,000 had been deposited in hard cash on leaving +Paris in 1815.</p> + +<p>Who are the legatees?</p> + +<p>Montholon is to have frs. 2,000,000; Bertrand and the valet +Marchand, about half a million each. The valet is the only one +whom Napoleon honours with the name of friend, and he adds: +“It is my wish that he should marry the widow, sister, or daughter +of an officer of my old guard.” Marchand, Bertrand, and +Montholon are to be the executors, and all three of them have +to affix their seals to each page of the will. Thus the last document +penned by Napoleon’s hand bears four seals: the Emperor’s +eagle volant, the arms of the two counts of the old +noblesse, and the plain monogram of the man of the people in +whom the Emperor showed supreme confidence by appointing +him one of his executors. “The services he has rendered me +are those of a friend.”</p> + +<p>Every one of the servants on St. Helena receives a competence; +so do the three surgeons Larrey, Percy, and Emmery. +Of Larrey, Napoleon adds: “He is the most virtuous man I +have ever known.” Similar large sums, frs. 100,000 in most +instances, are left to various generals who had been closely +associated with him, to his secretaries, to two authors, the Elba +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_662">[662]</span>guards, and the children of generals killed in battle. The +stablemen, the valets, the orderly officers, the huntsmen, a +house-porter, a librarian, the children or grandchildren of old +family friends in Corsica; the children or grandchildren of +his nurse (if in need, despite previous benefactions); the children +or grandchildren of his sometime tutor in Auxonne; those +of the general in command at Toulon under whom he had had +his first experience of active service; those of the deputy who +had helped him to get his plans put in force against Toulon; +those of Muiron, “our aide-de-camp, killed at our side at +Arcola, covering us with his body”—all are remembered. The +next item to the Muiron bequest is a legacy “to the subaltern +officer Cantillon,” who had been acquitted of the charge of attempting +to assassinate Wellington. “Cantillon had as much +right to assassinate that oligarch, as the latter had to send me +to perish upon the rock of St. Helena. Wellington, who proposed +this outrage, attempted to justify himself by pleading +the interest of Great Britain. Cantillon, if he had really assassinated +that lord, would have excused himself, and have been +justified, by the same motives, the interest of France.”</p> + +<p>This revolutionary outcry about Cantillon concludes the list +of legatees. In the instructions to the executors, the following +items are enumerated: the malachite furniture from Russia; the +golden table service (which was presented to him by the town of +Paris); a small farm on the island of Elba which had been purchased +with Pauline’s money; a store of quicksilver at Venice, +reckoned to be worth frs. 5,000,000; gold and jewels in a hiding-place +at Malmaison; and so on, the fantastic inventory of +a monarch and an adventurer.</p> + +<p>To his mother, he leaves his silver night-lamp which has +lighted many a sleepless night during his sojourn on St. +Helena; each brother and sister receives a special bequest; +Joseph and Lucien, as if no cloud had ever shadowed his relations +with them, are mentioned calmly one after the other, each +receiving “an embroidered mantle, vest, and small-clothes,” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_663">[663]</span>though the living Napoleon had given a crown to one and +offered a crown to the other.</p> + +<p>But the principal legatee of Napoleon is his son. First of +all, the boy is to have all his “arms, field-beds, saddles, spurs, +snuff-boxes, orders, books, body linen, which I have been accustomed +to wear and use.... It is my wish that this slight +bequest may be dear to him, as recalling to him the memory of +a father of whom the universe will discourse to him.” Amid +the inventories, which mention such items as two pairs of night-drawers +and two pillow-cases, there flash out such entries as the +following: “My sword, the one I wore at Austerlitz; ... my +gold travelling box, the one I made use of on the morning of +Ulm, of Austerlitz, of Jena, of Eylau, of Friedland, of the +island of Lobau, of Borodino, and of Montmirail; ... four +boxes found on the table of Louis XVIII. in the Tuileries on +March 20, 1815; ... my alarm-clock, it is the alarm-clock of +Frederick II. which I took at Potsdam (in box No. III); ... +a blue cloak (that which I had at Marengo); ... a consular +sword; ... a grand collar of the Legion of Honour.” Each +list of items finishes with a charge to one or other of his confidants +to take care of the articles named, “and to convey +them to my son when he shall attain the age of sixteen years.”</p> + +<p>Here is another entry: “Marchand shall preserve my hair, +and cause a bracelet to be made of it, with a gold clasp, to be +sent to the empress Marie Louise, to my mother, and to each of +my brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, the cardinal, and one of +larger size to my son.”</p> + +<p>Various persons and places are named in which his son is +likely to be interested. “I wish my executors to make a collection +of engravings, pictures, books, and medals which may +give my son sound ideas, and destroy the erroneous ideas which +the policy of a foreign land may have tried to impress on him. +I want him to be able to see things as they really were.... +My memory will be the glory of his life.... I do not expect +my son to benefit by my mother’s will, for he is likely to be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_664">[664]</span>wealthier than her other children, but I hope that she will leave +him some such precious legacy as her own portrait and my +father’s, or some trinkets which he will know have come down +to him from his grandparents.”</p> + +<p>It may seem as if his life were ending with very simple +thoughts, since he makes this touching reference to his parents; +but in the next clause the abyss yawns. Those who are about +his son, Bertrand’s children perhaps, or Montholon’s, are “to +see to it that he resumes the name of Napoleon as soon as he +comes of age, and is able to do so without inconvenience.”</p> + +<p>After this sedulous care for the legitimate heir, there follows, +at the very last, a clause of a few lines, §37, in which Napoleon +writes: “I should not complain if little Léon were to +enter the civil service, should he be so disposed. I should like +Alexandre Walewski to serve France in the army.” The writer +could not foresee that, some decades after the death of his +legitimate son, Léon was to end his ne’er-do-well life in America +as the husband of a cook; but that Count Walewski was to attain +high distinction, as a diplomat under Louis Philippe, and +as minister of State and senator during the second empire. By +his talent and good looks, Marie’s son was to show that he had, +in very truth, been a love child.</p> + +<p>But there is a second testament for the legitimate heir. Two +weeks before his death, towards three in the morning, the Emperor +sends for Montholon, who has been tending him faithfully +for the last few weeks: “When I entered the room, I +found him sitting up, and the fire glancing in his eyes made me +fear a fresh attack of fever. He perceived my uneasiness, and +said kindly: ‘I am not worse, but my mind has been roused by +discussing with Bertrand what my executors ought to say to +my son when they see him ... it is better, therefore, that I +should, in a few words, give you a summary of the counsels +which I bequeath to my son. Write:’”</p> + +<p>There follow twelve printed pages, containing the Emperor’s +political testament. Not a word about war, but a great many +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_665">[665]</span>words about peace; and, as regards Europe, we find almost all +the leading thoughts of the century which opened with his rise +to power. We are given a glimpse of a fancied second reign. +He tells us how he would govern, loftily criticising his own +previous work. He looks forward to new political forms, and, +with a seer’s vision, contemplates the twentieth century. From +the rock, he issues an appeal for the union of Europe, a manifesto +on behalf of an understanding among the peoples to promote +liberty, equality, civilisation, talent, and commerce. All +these thoughts form themselves in the mind of the dying Napoleon +during one of the last restless nights of his illness:</p> + +<p>“My son should not think of avenging my death; he should +profit by it.... The aim of all his efforts should be, to reign +by peace: if he should recommence my wars out of pure love of +imitation and without any absolute necessity, he would be a +mere ape. To do my work over again would be to suppose +that I had done nothing; ... the same thing is not done twice +in a century. <i>I was obliged to daunt Europe by arms; in the +present day, the way is to convince her reason.</i>... I have +implanted new ideas in France and in Europe; they cannot +retrograde: let my son bring into blossom all that I have +sown....</p> + +<p>“It is possible that the English, in order to efface the remembrance +of their persecutions, will favour my son’s return to +France; but in order to live in a good understanding with England +it is necessary, at any cost, to favour her commercial +interests: this necessity leads to one of these two consequences—war +with England, or a sharing of the commerce of the world +with her. This second condition is the only one possible in the +present day; questions of foreign policy will, in France, for a +long time, take precedence of questions of home policy. I bequeath +to my son sufficient strength and sympathy to enable +him to continue my work with the sole aid of a lofty and conciliatory +diplomacy....</p> + +<p>“Let not my son ever mount the throne by the aid of foreign +influence; his aim should not be to fulfil a desire to reign, but +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_666">[666]</span>to deserve the approbation of posterity. Let him cherish an +intimacy with my family, whenever it shall be in his power. +My mother resembles the great women of classical antiquity.... +The French nation, when it is not taken the wrong way, +is more easily governed than any other; its prompt and easy +comprehension is unequalled; it immediately discerns who labours +for, and who against it; but then it is necessary always +to speak to its senses, otherwise its uneasy spite gnaws, it +ferments and explodes....</p> + +<p>“Let him despise all parties; let him only see the mass. Excepting +those who have betrayed their country, he should +forget the previous conduct of all men, and reward talent, +merit, and services, wherever he finds them....</p> + +<p>“France is the country where the chiefs of parties have the +least influence: to rest for support on them, is to build on sand. +Great things can only be done in France by having the support +of the masses....</p> + +<p>“I relied on the whole mass of the people without exception; +I set the example of a government which favoured the interests +of all.... To divide the interests of a nation is ... to engender +civil war. A thing indivisible by nature cannot be +divided; it can only be mutilated. I attach no importance to +the constitution; but its fundamental principle should be universal +suffrage.</p> + +<p>“The nobility I created will not be a buttress to my son....</p> + +<p>“My dictatorship was indispensable, and the proof of this is +that I was always offered more power than I wanted.... It +will not be the same with my son: his power will be disputed; +he must anticipate every desire for liberty.... The aim of a +sovereign is not only to reign, but to diffuse instruction, +morality, and wellbeing. Anything false is an untrustworthy +prop....</p> + +<p>“The French people is animated by two equally powerful +passions, which seem opposed, but which, nevertheless, are derived +from one and the same feeling, namely, love of liberty +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_667">[667]</span>and love of distinction. A government can only satisfy these +two wants by the most exact justice.... In order to govern, +it is not necessary to pursue a more or less perfect theory, but +to build with the materials which are under one’s hand; to +submit to necessities, and profit by them....</p> + +<p>“The liberty of the press ought to become, in the hands of +the government, a powerful auxiliary in diffusing, through all +the most distant corners of the Empire, sound doctrines and +good principles. To leave it to itself would be to fall asleep +beside a danger.... Under pain of death, nowadays, one +must either direct or hinder everything.</p> + +<p>“My son ought to be a man of new ideas, and of the cause +which I have made triumphant everywhere: ... to reunite +Europe in the bonds of an indissoluble federation....</p> + +<p>“Europe is moving towards an inevitable transformation: +to endeavour to retard this progress, would be to waste strength +in a useless struggle; to favour it, is to strengthen the hopes +and wishes of all....</p> + +<p>“My son’s position will not be free from immense difficulties. +<i>Let him do by general consent what circumstances forced me to +work for by force of arms.</i> If I had remained victorious over +Russia in 1812, the problem of peace would have been solved +for a hundred years to come. I cut the Gordian knot of nations; +at the present day it must be untied.... It is no longer +in the north that great questions will be decided, but in the +Mediterranean; on the shores of the Mediterranean, there is +enough to content all the ambitions of the different powers, and +the happiness of civilised nations may be purchased with fragments +of barbarous lands. <i>Let the kings listen to reason; +Europe will no longer provide matter for maintaining international +hatreds.</i> Prejudices are dispersing; interests are widening +and becoming fused; trading routes are being multiplied. +No longer can any one nation monopolise commerce....</p> + +<p>“All that you say to my son, or all that he learns, will be +of little use to him, unless he has in the depths of his heart +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_668">[668]</span>that sacred fire and love of good which alone can achieve great +things.</p> + +<p>“I hope, however, that he will be worthy of his destiny.</p> + +<p>“If they refuse you permission to go to Vienna....”</p> + +<p>The document suddenly breaks off; Napoleon’s powers have +flagged; like the utterance of an oracle, the soothsaying ends +in the middle of a sentence. But what this man on his deathbed +designed for the instruction of his poor little son, can serve +to instruct Europe a century after it was written. The political +problems of our own day, however we may attempt to solve +them, are in truth solved here by the sovereignty of genius.</p> + +<h3>XIX</h3> + +<p>After this brilliant outpouring, the productive spring dries +up. Agreeable visions float before his mind. It seems as if +fate intends him to enjoy the euthanasia. The day after writing +his political testament, he lies free from pain and care, +surrounded by the mist-wreaths of hope:</p> + +<p>“When I am dead, each of you will have the sweet consolation +of returning to Europe. You will see again, the one his +relatives, the other his friends; but for my part, I shall meet +my brave warriors in the Elysian Fields. Yes,” he continued, +raising his voice, “Kléber, Desaix, Bessières, Duroc, Ney, +Murat, Masséna, Berthier; all will come to meet me: they will +talk to me of the deeds we did together. I shall recount to +them the later events of my life. When they see me, they will +be inspired with their old enthusiasm, their old passion for +glory. We shall talk of our battles to the Scipios, to Hannibal, +Cæsar, and Frederick. What a delight that will be. If +only people here on earth are not terrified at seeing so many +soldiers put their heads together!”</p> + +<p>Such is the dying man’s flight of fancy. In all the thousands +of his recorded utterances, there is none that shows the naïveté +of his mind more plainly than this reverie. He looks into a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_669">[669]</span>world peopled by the shades of the heroes, sees his generals +there in familiar converse with those of ancient Rome, enters an +idyllic paradise in which they talk of big guns. While Napoleon +is speaking, the English doctor (whose ministrations the +Emperor has at length consented to accept) enters the room.</p> + +<p>At this moment, the music of flutes, to which he has, in fancy, +been listening, breaks off; once more he hears the rattle of the +drums. The statesman recurs to the present. Without transition, +he passes into a new register, after his manner, and makes +a formal oration which embodies what he wishes to be the official +view of his death:</p> + +<p>“Come nearer, Bertrand, and translate what I say word for +word to this gentleman. My death is the results of injuries +worthy of the hands that have inflicted them. I surrendered to +the British people, that I might settle down at a British fireside. +In defiance of international law, I was loaded with chains.... +England overpersuaded the princes, and the world saw +an unprecedented sight. Four great powers hurled themselves +upon one solitary man. How shamefully you have treated me +on this rock! There is no possible mortification to which you +have not subjected me!... With cold calculation, you have +slowly done me to death! The vile governor has been the +executioner appointed by your ministers! I end like the proud +republic of Venice! I bequeath the shame of my death to the +royal family of England!”</p> + +<p>After this outburst, he sinks back upon his pillows. The +doctor stands there dumbfounded, and Napoleon’s companions +are in little better case. What was it? An epilogue; a protest; +a commination? Pure politics! In the evening, he has an +account of Hannibal’s campaigns read aloud to him.</p> + +<p>Next day, April 21st, a fortnight before the end, he sends +for the Corsican abbate. Since this man’s coming, Napoleon +has had Mass read every Sunday, but otherwise has had nothing +to do with the priest. Now he says:</p> + +<p>“Do you know what a ‘chapelle ardente’ is? Have you ever +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_670">[670]</span>officiated at one before? Never? Well, now you will officiate +at mine.” Details follow. “After my death, you will set up +your altar at my bedside, and will say Mass with the usual +ceremonies until I am under ground.”</p> + +<p>In the evening, the priest spends nearly an hour with him. +Since, we are told, Vignali was not dressed for the occasion, +he can only have conversed with Napoleon, and cannot have +confessed him. Napoleon has not communicated for forty +years, and does not do so now.</p> + +<p>The sick man is much wasted; for several weeks he has not +been shaved; his face is sunken and dusky. Now he has his bed +carried into the drawing-room, for he finds the bedroom too +confined. He is racked by terrible attacks of gastric spasm. +In the intervals of calm, he continues to speak of persons to +whom he wishes to leave legacies. Sometimes he dozes and +dreams. In these dreams, women appear to him; Marie Louise +is not one of them: “I saw my good Josephine, but she would +not put her arms round me.... She was unchanged, loving +as always. She said we should soon meet to part no more. +She assured me—— Did you see her too?” Just like the dream +about his generals; from the paradise of children, from the +land of faëry.</p> + +<p>When he feels better, he has the latest newspapers read +aloud. An attack on him in one of them excites him, and he +has his will brought to him. Breaking the seals he has laboriously +affixed, without saying a word he writes with tremulous +hand:</p> + +<p>“I had the duke of Enghien arrested and brought to trial +because this trial was necessary for the safety, the interest, and +the honour of the French people, at a time when the count of +Artois, according to his own admission, was maintaining sixty +assassins in Paris.”</p> + +<p>Like two ghosts, they face one another; the dead Bourbon +and the dying Bonaparte.</p> + +<p>On the 27th., he asks for the will once more, and laboriously +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_671">[671]</span>reseals it. He has inventories made of the contents of his boxes +and cupboards; valuable documents are put into envelopes, on +which he writes the inscriptions. All this is done in the intervals +between attacks of vomiting. His companions have to affix +their seals, and every one of them must verify a written record +of the packets. So great is his mistrust of England.</p> + +<p>Is there anything still to do? Various articles which have +not yet been dealt with are lying on the counterpane. “I am +very weak; there is not much time left; we must finish things +off.” What is that? Hortense’s diamond necklace, which used +to gleam from her neck on festal occasions in the Tuileries, and +was sewn into his waistband the day he left Malmaison. This +he gives to Marchand. There is a plain golden snuff-box. +Toilsomely, with the point of a penknife, he scratches his +initial N on the lid, and gives the box to the doctor, saying:</p> + +<p>“I expressly demand that a post-mortem shall be made, and, +in especial, that the stomach shall be examined. I believe that +I am dying of the same illness as my father. Ask Louis to +send you the report about that, and compare it with what you +find at the autopsy. Then you may at least be able to spare +my son this horrible illness. Tell him how he can guard +against it, and how he can be saved from the dread of it which +has so afflicted me.”</p> + +<p>For six years he has been blaming the climate of the rock +for his liver trouble; only a few days ago he had charged +England with killing him in the unwholesome prison-house. By +ordering a post-mortem examination, he is risking the collapse +of this theory; indeed, that is what he expects. All is done for +his son’s safety. He hopes that the lad can be saved from the +family disorder.</p> + +<p>Is everything ready? Can we start? Wait a moment! +There is still lacking an official address to the authorities. He +dictates the following letter:</p> + +<p>“Monsieur le Gouverneur! Emperor Napoleon died on the +——, after a long and painful illness. I have the honour to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_672">[672]</span>inform you of the fact.... Please let me know what arrangements +your government has made for the conveyance of his +body to Europe, and also in respect of the members of his +suite.”</p> + +<p>“Count Montholon, you will sign that.”</p> + +<p>Napoleon had dictated sixty thousand political letters. Perhaps +this one, the formal report of his own death with the date +left open, is the most remarkable of them all; for who would +have expected that destiny would leave so much time and so +much tranquillity of mind in face of approaching death to a +man who had faced sudden death on sixty battle-fields? The +lines above quoted seem rather a grotesque close to his +domineering career, and we feel a hope that this gruesome +epistle will not be his last.</p> + +<p>It is not the last. On the 29th., after a feverish night, he +dictates the drafts of two communications. One deals with the +utilisation of Versailles; the other with a reorganisation of the +National Guard. But these are not addressed, as they would +have been before his abdication, to the Minister for Public +Works and to the Minister for War. He dictates the superscriptions: +“First Dream”; and “Second Dream.” Then he +says: “I feel so wonderfully well now; I could go for a thirty-mile +ride.” Next day, he becomes icy cold and sinks into a +delirium, which lasts five days till the end.</p> + +<p>But Napoleon Bonaparte’s vital energies do not subside so +easily. During these five days, there is a lucid interval, and he +seizes the opportunity for issuing orders and making declarations:</p> + +<p>“When I lose consciousness, you must on no account admit +an English doctor.... You will remain true to my memory, +and will not do anything that might harm it. All my laws and +all my actions were based upon the strictest principles. Unfortunately, +the circumstances were so grave that I could not +be lenient, and had to postpone many good things. Then came +the disasters. I could not string the bow more tightly; ... +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_673">[673]</span>that was why France never secured the liberal institutions I +had intended to introduce. But the country credits me with +my good intentions; it loves my name and my victories. You +will do the same! Be true to our principles and to our fame!”</p> + +<p>His thoughts are still circling round his work. With the +mournful glance of a dying sculptor, he sees before him nothing +but a fragment; and with his last breath he tells those +around him what he had designed to fashion.</p> + +<p>Next day, his mind is wandering once more amid memories +of youth and of Corsica. But still, from time to time, there +revives the wish to be useful to his son. His fantasy creates +possessions on the island, and the faithful Marchand takes +down from dictation these mind-wanderings that are so precise +in their details:</p> + +<p>“I leave to my son my house in Ajaccio with its outbuildings; +two houses adjacent to the saltpits with their gardens; +and all my estates in the Ajaccio district. These will bring +him an income of frs. 50,000. I bequeath....”</p> + +<p>This is Napoleon’s last command. He has won and lost half +the world; but in his dying visions he sees the Corsican home +of his ancestors, together with the son to whom he had intended +to leave half the world as heirloom. The strains mingle; +to keep his son from want, he bequeaths the lad a house which +he does not own. Then his mind turns back from his kin. He +is once more the soldier, on his first campaign, in Italy. +Around him flit the wraiths of his earliest comrades. He +shouts:</p> + +<p>“Desaix! Masséna! Victory is ours! Quick! Forward! +We have them....”</p> + +<p>Next day the abbate goes to him unsummoned. Beneath a +layman’s dress, the priest carries something he seeks to hide. +He demands to be left alone with the dying man. After a +while he comes out, saying: “I have given him extreme unction. +Owing to the condition of the stomach, no other sacrament was +possible.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_674">[674]</span></p> + +<p>A terrible last night. Towards morning, when he is murmuring +in delirium, Montholon hears the words:</p> + +<p>“France!... Armée!... Tête d’armée.... Josephine!”</p> + +<p>This is Napoleon’s last utterance.</p> + +<p>Next moment, with amazing energy, he springs out of bed, +overpowering Montholon, who is alone with him. The two fall +to the floor, and he grips Montholon so fiercely that the count +cannot even cry for help. Archambaud, who is in the next +room, hears the noise, comes in, and releases Montholon. No +one knows what enemy the Emperor was trying to strangle in +this last fight.</p> + +<p>The rest of the day he lies breathing quietly. By signs he +seems to ask for water, but since he can no longer swallow they +must be content with holding a sponge moistened with vinegar +to his lips. Mist and rain drive fiercely round the house. A +count of the old noblesse and a man of the people watch by the +camp-bed of Austerlitz.</p> + +<p>At five o’clock, the rage of the south-east trade wind is redoubled, +and two trees of the latest planting are uprooted.</p> + +<p>At this moment, the man on the bed is in the throes of a +prolonged rigor. There is no sign of pain; his eyes are +widely opened, staring into vacancy; the death-rattle is in his +throat. As the tropical sun sinks into the sea the Emperor’s +heart stops beating.</p> + +<h3>XX</h3> + +<p>On the study table, in the garish light of noon, lies the naked +corpse of Napoleon. Five English surgeons, three English +army officers, and the three Frenchmen, surround the extemporized +post-mortem table, where Antommarchi is performing +the autopsy. The Corsican doctor has removed the liver and +incised it. He holds up the organ for the others’ inspection, +and demonstrates, as if to a class of students. “You see, +gentlemen, how this ulcerated part of the stomach has become +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_675">[675]</span>adherent to the liver. What are we to infer? That the climate +of St. Helena has intensified the gastric disorder, and has +thus brought about the Emperor’s premature death.”</p> + +<p>A vote is taken: England against France. The majority declare +the viscera to be healthy, while the Corsican is ostentatiously +thrusting his finger through the perforated wall of the +stomach. Medical report.</p> + +<p>The Emperor’s body was embalmed, and at the lying-in-state +was covered with the gold-embroidered cloak of Marengo. +The whole garrison, by its own wish, marched past. All who +saw the body testify to the calm and serenity of the features. +In mysterious fashion, his face, which, since the days of the +coronation, had tended to assume the robust maturity of the +Roman emperors, had now returned to the delicacy of youth.</p> + +<p>The British authorities refused to allow the shipment to +Europe. The grave was dug in a secluded valley, beside a +spring shaded by two weeping willows. He was accorded the +honours of a British general; salvos of artillery and musketry +were fired over the grave, what time there fluttered in the breeze +the colours on which were emblazoned the names of the English +victories in Spain. The governor was present, and declared +that he had forgiven the Emperor.</p> + +<p>Six stone slabs from gun emplacements cover the tomb. A +seventh was needed for the artillery officer’s grave; but, since +it was not available at the moment, three glazed tiles were taken +from the cooking-stove of a new house. The governor would +not allow the inscription “Napoleon” to be placed on the tomb, +but insisted upon “Napoleon Bonaparte.” There was, therefore, +no inscription. The furniture of Longwood was sold by +auction; the house was bought by a farmer, who turned the +place into a mill; the two rooms in which the Emperor had +lived for six years were restored to their former uses, becoming +a byre and a pig-sty.</p> + +<p>One thing only did England do in honour of the dead: a +sentry was posted at the grave. For nineteen years, the guard +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_676">[676]</span>was relieved at the proper intervals; then the dead Emperor +was brought home to Paris.</p> + +<p>Without waiting for this, all the others return to Europe. +The governor was publicly horsewhipped in London by Las +Cases’ son; he died in obscurity. Bathurst, who, as Minister +for War and Plantations, had been responsible for the treatment +of Napoleon, ultimately killed himself in an access of +melancholia. All England was writing and talking about the +barbarous treatment of the great exile.</p> + +<p>The Corsican doctor goes to Italy. Lucien refuses to see +him. In Parma, Marie Louise also shuts her door against him, +but he sees her in her box at the theatre. In Rome, Antommarchi +visits Letizia Bonaparte, and for three days she makes +him tell her all his news. He leaves the silver lamp with her, +and sails back to Corsica. Letizia sits by the fireside, weeping +over the fate of her second son, Napolione.</p> + +<p>She has still fifteen years to live. She outlives Elise; outlives +Pauline, who dies with a mirror in her hands; outlives +several of her grandchildren, and three popes. She is half +paralysed, and has become blind. But she sits there facing +her son’s bust, her spirit unbroken, mourning her dead.</p> + +<p>Like a princess, she welcomes to her palace all those who +have remained faithful to the Emperor. Her servants are the +last persons in Europe to wear his colours; her carriage is the +last to bear his escutcheon. She has news at times from Vienna +and her grandson, but the young man is not allowed to visit +her. When he is one-and-twenty, he dies. Now, Marie Louise +writes to her. She does not answer the letter. At last she is +told that she may return home, but she refuses to go, since +the same right is not accorded to her children.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus22" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus22.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Letter to Countess Walewska</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Nine years after the Emperor’s death, the Bourbon dynasty +is overthrown, and the Orleans monarchy is established. The +new king knows how strong the Bonapartists are, and he orders +that the statue of Napoleon, which fifteen years before had +been removed, shall be replaced on the Vendôme column. When +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_677">[677]</span>Jerome brings his bed-ridden mother these tidings, she has a +renewal of health and is able to leave her bed. For the first +time after a long interval she makes her way into the drawing-room, +and her blind eyes turn towards the bust. She says in a +toneless voice:</p> + +<p>“Once again the Emperor is in Paris.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_678">[678]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_679">[679]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ENVOY">ENVOY</h2> + +</div> + +<p>To write the history of a man, or the history of an epoch, these +are two distinct undertakings, differing both in name and technique. +Vain has been the attempt to combine them. Plutarch renounced +the one, and Carlyle renounced the other; that is why both these +masters were able to achieve their respective tasks. It would be +fair to say that Plutarch’s example has found no imitators; no one, +after Plutarch, has made it his specific task to write the history +of great minds upon a strictly historical foundation.</p> + +<p>Such a work does not come within the domain of the historian, +seeing that the search for truth demands other talents than +those requisite for the art of portrayal. Artists have sometimes +dramatised historical figures with a free hand; sometimes they +have produced one of those horrible mishmashes which pass by the +name of “historical novel”—of which Goethe, like Napoleon, said +that they confuse everything.</p> + +<p>The attempt is especially difficult when, not works, but deeds, +are the milestones along the road of life. Cæsar, Frederick, and +Napoleon, only became great powers through their victories in the +battle-field; and yet their battles tend, more and more, to become +unmeaning for posterity. Nowadays, it is only in military academies +that Pharsalia, Rossbach, and Austerlitz, have a historical significance. +Not one of the three great generals I have named would +mean any more to us than Crassus, Seydlitz, or Masséna, had they, +too, been nothing more than military commanders; it is the political +genius of Cæsar, Frederick, and Napoleon, that makes these men +supreme. In his highest embodiment, the statesman shapes all our +destinies. Where genius and character intersect, is the focus for +the searcher of the soul.</p> + +<p>In this book, I have tried to write the inner history of Napoleon. +Since his personality finds expression in every step of his political +career, his ideas as founder of States and as legislator, his attitudes +towards revolution and legitimacy, towards the social order and the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_680">[680]</span>problem of Europe—are valuable means of portrayal. Irrelevant +was the course of the battles; irrelevant the contemporary position +of the European States, in so far as this was manifested only in +coalitions or antagonisms as mutable as the weather.</p> + +<p>Every difference of opinion with his brothers or his wife, every +hour of gloom or elation, his outbursts of wrath and his accesses +of pallor, tricks or acts of kindness towards friend or foe, every +word to his generals or to women (as reported in letters or authentic +conversations), seemed more important than the order of battle at +Marengo, the items of the peace of Lunéville, or the details of the +Continental System. What we have all learned about him at school +and the university has here been restricted to a minimum; but there +has been a broad demonstration of the things that are lacking amid +such everyday knowledge. Yet we have not been concerned only +with that Napoleon intime who is so favourite a topic with French +writers; but, rather, with the Napoleonic figure as a whole, in +public career and in private life, as representative of all mankind. +Affairs of State and love affairs that happened on the same day, +have been referred to on the same page: they derive from the same +source; they determine one another; and a study of the imbroglio +of the human heart will often give us more information concerning +great plans than all the calculations of the tactician.</p> + +<p>Napoleon’s personality, which has no more to do with the nation +for which or against which he was fighting than it has to do with +morality, has not been treated here as miraculous, nor yet as split +up into abstract concepts. In the episodes of his life I have tried +to grasp the innermost moods (of which his rise was a natural and +logical outcome), and to trace his movement towards the climax of +St. Helena. To examine this man’s inner life; to explain his resolves +and his refrainings, his deeds and his sufferings, his fancies +and his calculations, as issuing from the moods of his heart—the +disclosure of this <i>great chain of affects</i>, was at once the means and +the end of the portrayal.</p> + +<p>That is why there was no place in my record for portraits of the +generals. Nothing could be admitted to this one volume which did +not throw light upon the history of the one interior.</p> + +<p>If we wish to give a picture of a life so full as this man’s, we must +perforce follow his tempo; the writer, therefore, is bound to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_681">[681]</span>words of the person being described, and can never let that person +speak too much. For, in truth, a man always explains himself +better than any one else can do it for him; even when he is mistaken, +or when he is lying, he reveals himself to those who come +afterwards, to those who know the truth. But the author must +forget that he, too, knows the end. Only if, from moment to moment, +he describes the feelings as they must have been experienced +by one without foresight into the completed destiny, will he be able +to generate that tension which, in actual life, made the sequence of +events vibrant with passion.</p> + +<p>Thus with his own sympathy, he forces the heart of the man to +reveal its sympathy. In the present work, the spirit of dispassionate +analysis is shown once only, towards the end. We cannot study +the motor engine till it stops running.</p> + +<p>Such a portrayal, which brings us into close proximity with its +object, may give the impression of being a work of pure fancy. +If, by its method of treatment, it is to be sharply differentiated from +an imaginative creation, it must throughout cling to the framework +of historical truth. One who believes that there is a logical succession +of happenings in which there is no room for chance, will +guard against retouching any detail; he will never bend a date or +an incident to fit a preconceived purpose, even though, for stylistic +purposes, he may think fit at times to leave one or the other unmentioned.</p> + +<p>In this book, all the data are recorded facts, except the soliloquies. +To it there might well be applied Goethe’s judgment upon Bourrienne’s +<i>Memoirs</i>: “All the nimbus, all the illusion, with which +journalists and historians and poets have surrounded Napoleon, +vanishes before the awe-inspiring realism of this book: but the hero +is by no means diminished thereby; he grows. We learn from this +what a splendid thing truth is, when any one has the courage to +speak it.” Napoleon’s life is a great epic, written by the hand of +fate; its full meaning will not reveal itself to one who gives rein to +imagination, but only to him who gives himself up to the amor fati.</p> + +<p>Thus, likewise, for the reader of these pages should be reconstructed +the tragedy which once only in a millennium a mortal man +has created out of his life. What a man can attain through self-confidence +and courage, through passion and imagination, through +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_682">[682]</span>industry and will, he attained. To-day, in the age of the revolutions +which once again are opening every path to the man of +supreme ability, the ardent youth of Europe can find as an example +and a warning no greater man than the one who, of all men of +the West, made and suffered the most violent commotions.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_683">[683]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="AUTHORS_ACKNOWLEDGMENTS">AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS</h2> + +</div> + +<p>The author wishes to thank Monsieur Edouard Driault, editor +of the “Revue des Etudes Napoléoniennes,” Versailles, and Herr +F. M. Kircheisen, for kindly help in supplying material for the +illustrations; and to make due acknowledgments to Professor Pariset +of Strasburg and Herr Kurt Wildhagen of Heidelberg, for advice +during the preparation of the book.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_684">[684]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_685">[685]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX">INDEX</h2> + +</div> + +<nav> +<ul> + +<li class="ifrst">Abdication. <i>See</i> <a href="#Demand">Demand</a>, <a href="#He_drafts">He drafts</a> and <a href="#He_signs">He signs</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aboukir, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Bay, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Academy, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + <li class="isub1">on Board, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Achilles, <a href="#Page_598">598</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Achmed</span>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Acknowledgement of Democracy, <a href="#Page_513">513</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Acre, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, + <a href="#Page_397">397</a>, <a href="#Page_574">574</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Adaptation to Circumstances, <a href="#Page_574">574</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Adda, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Additional Act, <a href="#Page_514">514</a>, <a href="#Page_517">517</a>, <a href="#Page_518">518</a>, <a href="#Page_519">519</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Adige, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Admiral. <i>See</i> <a href="#Emperor_and_Admiral">Emperor and Admiral</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Admiralty, <a href="#Page_372">372</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Adolphus.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#Gustavus_Adolphus"><span class="smcap">Gustavus Adolphus</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Adrianople, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Adriatic, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Advancement_of_Relatives">Advancement of Relatives, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Adventurer once more, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Æneid</span>, <a href="#Page_655">655</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Æschylus</span>, <a href="#Page_607">607</a>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Æsop</span>, <a href="#Page_629">629</a></li> + +<li class="indx">A-flicker with Excitement, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Africa, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_528">528</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Again">Again attacked, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Against the Grain, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Again Unity of Command, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Agamemnon</i>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aix, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_479">479</a>, <a href="#Page_497">497</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aix-la-Chapelle, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_631">631</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aim. <i>See</i> <a href="#True">True</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ajaccio, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_481">481</a>, + <a href="#Page_485">485</a>, <a href="#Page_673">673</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Alarm. <i>See</i> <a href="#Emperors_Alarm">Emperor’s</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aleppo, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_574">574</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Alessandria, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Alexander the Great</span> (of Macedon), <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>, + <a href="#Page_653">653</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Alexander"><span class="smcap">Alexander I</span>, Tsar of Russia, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, + <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, + <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, + <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, + <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, + <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, <a href="#Page_604">604</a>.</li> + <li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Tsar_Alexander"><span class="smcap">Tsar Alexander</span></a>, + <i>also</i> <a href="#What_is_Alexander_Thinking">What is <span class="smcap">Alexander</span> Thinking?</a></li> + <li class="isub1">as Prototype, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Alexandrine</span>, <a href="#Page_571">571</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Allah is Allah, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Alliance, La Belle, <a href="#Page_523">523</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="All_young">All young France is ready, <a href="#Page_472">472</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Alps, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, + <a href="#Page_497">497</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Alsace, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Alvintzy</span>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li class="indx">America, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>, <a href="#Page_533">533</a>, <a href="#Page_537">537</a>, + <a href="#Page_632">632</a>, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>, <a href="#Page_635">635</a>, <a href="#Page_643">643</a>, <a href="#Page_645">645</a>, <a href="#Page_655">655</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See</i> <a href="#He_should">He should</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#United_States">United States</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ambitions. <i>See</i> <a href="#Bernadottes_Great_Ambitions"><span class="smcap">Bernadotte’s</span> Great</a></li> + +<li class="indx">America, Spanish, <a href="#Page_632">632</a></li> + +<li class="indx">American Marriage. <i>See</i> <a href="#Jeromes_Marriage"><span class="smcap">Jerome’s</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Amours, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Amphictyonic League, <a href="#Page_595">595</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Amsterdam, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Anachronism. <i>See</i> <a href="#War">War</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ancients. <i>See</i> <a href="#Council_of_Ancients">Council of Ancients</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ancona, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Andalusia, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Andromache</i>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_637">637</a></li> + <li class="isub1">and Astyanax, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li> + +<li class="indx">An everlasting Disgrace, <a href="#Page_542">542</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Anger. <i>See</i> <a href="#Genuine">Genuine</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Angleterre, Hôtel de l’, in Warsaw, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Angoulème</span>, Duchess of, <a href="#Page_489">489</a></li> + +<li class="indx">An Idyll renewed, <a href="#Page_486">486</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Anna</span>, Grand Duchess, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Annexations, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Another_Family_Council">Another Family Council, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ansbach, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Antibes, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_498">498</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Antiquity. <i>See</i> <a href="#Heroes_of">Heroes of</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Antoinette, Marie</span>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Antommarchi</span>, <a href="#Page_656">656</a>, <a href="#Page_658">658</a>, <a href="#Page_674">674</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Antony.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#Mark_Antony"><span class="smcap">Mark Antony</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Antwerp, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Anxieties. <i>See</i> <a href="#Josephines_Anxieties"><span class="smcap">Josephine’s</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Any_Crown">Any Crown You like, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Apelles</span>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_686">[686]</span>Apennines, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Apollo, Salle, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Apostolical">Apostolical Emperor, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Archambaud</span>, <a href="#Page_674">674</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Archduke Charles.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#Charles"><span class="smcap">Charles</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Arcis-sur-Aube, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_522">522</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Arcola, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, + <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_536">536</a>, <a href="#Page_624">624</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Aristotle</span>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Arm_the_Peasants">Arm the Peasants, <a href="#Page_464">464</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Army">Army. <i>See</i> <a href="#Tatterdemalion">Tatterdemalion</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Grand. <i>See</i> <a href="#Grand_Army">Grand Army</a></li> + <li class="isub1">in the East, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of Italy, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of Liberators, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of the Interior, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of the Rhine, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, + <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Arnault</span>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Arrian</span>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Artillery Fire, <a href="#Page_532">532</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Artois</span>, Count of (afterwards Charles X), <a href="#Page_490">490</a>, <a href="#Page_501">501</a>, <a href="#Page_670">670</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="As_General_Bonaparte">“As General Bonaparte,” <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Asia, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, + <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Asia Minor, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Asiatic Conquests. <i>See</i> <a href="#Dreams">Dreams of</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aside. <i>See</i> <a href="#Naive">Naïve</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Aspern-Essling">Aspern-Essling, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>, <a href="#Page_567">567</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="A_Son">A Son!, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Assassination. <i>See</i> <a href="#Attempted_Assassination">Attempted</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Astorga, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Asturia, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Astyanax, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_488">488</a></li> + +<li class="indx">At Headquarters, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Athens, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Atlantic Fleet, <a href="#Page_372">372</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Attacked. <i>See</i> <a href="#Again">Again</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Attempted_Assassination">Attempted Assassination, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Attempted_Rising">Attempted Rising, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Attempt on His Life, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#I_intended">I intended</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="At_the_masked_Ball">At the masked Ball, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Attila</span>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_511">511</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Audience_of_Kings">Audience of Kings, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Auerstädt, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Augereau</span>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, + <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, + <a href="#Page_510">510</a>, <a href="#Page_647">647</a>, <a href="#Page_660">660</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Augustus</span>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Aurelian</span>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Austerlitz, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, + <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, + <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, + <a href="#Page_509">509</a>, <a href="#Page_520">520</a>, <a href="#Page_561">561</a>, <a href="#Page_562">562</a>, <a href="#Page_577">577</a>, <a href="#Page_609">609</a>, + <a href="#Page_649">649</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a>, <a href="#Page_674">674</a>, <a href="#Page_679">679</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Eve_of_Austerlitz">Eve of Austerlitz</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Austria, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, + <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, + <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, + <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, + <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, + <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_639">639</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Felix, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Auxonne, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Avignon, <a href="#Page_497">497</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Awaiting">Awaiting the Signature, <a href="#Page_473">473</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Azores, <a href="#Page_494">494</a>, <a href="#Page_618">618</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Aztecs">Aztecs and Incas, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst" id="Back_Room">Back Room at Saint-Cloud, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Back_to_Europe">Back to Europe, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Back_to_Paris">Back to Paris, <a href="#Page_525">525</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Baden, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Bad_News">Bad News from Spain, <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bag of Gold, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bagration</span>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ball. <i>See</i> <a href="#At_the_masked_Ball">At the Ball</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ballad. <i>See</i> <a href="#What_a_Ballad">What a Ballad</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Baltic, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Banishment, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bank of England, <a href="#Page_380">380</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bank of France, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Barbier de Séville, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Barclay_de_Tolly"><span class="smcap">Barclay de Tolly</span>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, + <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Baron Vom Stein</span>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Barras</span>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, + <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bar-sur-Aube, <a href="#Page_462">462</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Basle, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_511">511</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bassora, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bastia, <a href="#Page_480">480</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bastille, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bathurst</span>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Battalion, Holy, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Battle, Death in. <i>See</i> <a href="#He_seeks">He seeks</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Battle_of_Jena">of Jena, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of the Nations, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Baudin</span>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bauer</span>, <a href="#Page_556">556</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bausset</span>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bautzen, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li> + <li class="isub1">“Messenger,” <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bavaria, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, + <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bayonne, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Beauharnais.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#Eugene"><span class="smcap">Eugene</span></a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Hortense"><span class="smcap">Hortense</span></a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Josephine"><span class="smcap">Josephine</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1">Vicomte de, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Beaulieu</span>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Beaumarchais</span>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Beethoven</span>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Belated">Belated Blessing, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Belgium, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Belle Alliance, <a href="#Page_523">523</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_687">[687]</span>“Bellerophon,” <a href="#Page_537">537</a>, <a href="#Page_538">538</a>, <a href="#Page_539">539</a>, <a href="#Page_540">540</a>, + <a href="#Page_541">541</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Benevento, <a href="#Page_494">494</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Benjamin Constant</span>, <a href="#Page_512">512</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Constant"><span class="smcap">Constant</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Beresina, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Berlin, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, + <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_651">651</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bernadotte</span> (afterwards <span class="smcap">Crown Prince</span>, then King, of Sweden), <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, + <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, + <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>, + <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, + <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, <a href="#Page_571">571</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Désirée. <i>See</i> <a href="#Desiree"><span class="smcap">Désirée</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1">triumphans, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Bernadottes_Great_Ambitions">Bernadotte’s Ambitions, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bernard. <i>See</i> <a href="#Great_St_Bernard">Great St. Bernard</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Berthier</span> (afterwards Prince of Neuchâtel), <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, + <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, + <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, + <a href="#Page_471">471</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>, <a href="#Page_474">474</a>, <a href="#Page_495">495</a>, <a href="#Page_510">510</a>, <a href="#Page_555">555</a>, + <a href="#Page_557">557</a>, <a href="#Page_575">575</a>, <a href="#Page_587">587</a>, <a href="#Page_647">647</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Berthollet</span>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bertrand</span>, <a href="#Page_481">481</a>, <a href="#Page_484">484</a>, <a href="#Page_535">535</a>, <a href="#Page_609">609</a>, <a href="#Page_610">610</a>, + <a href="#Page_613">613</a>, <a href="#Page_615">615</a>, <a href="#Page_621">621</a>, <a href="#Page_636">636</a>, <a href="#Page_638">638</a>, <a href="#Page_654">654</a>, + <a href="#Page_658">658</a>, <a href="#Page_659">659</a>, <a href="#Page_661">661</a>, <a href="#Page_664">664</a>, <a href="#Page_669">669</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Madame, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_613">613</a>, <a href="#Page_627">627</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Napoléon, <a href="#Page_638">638</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Besançon, <a href="#Page_501">501</a>, <a href="#Page_509">509</a>, <a href="#Page_555">555</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bessières</span>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Betray. <i>See</i> <a href="#Old">Old Friends</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bible, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_601">601</a>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Big_Guns">Big Guns, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bingham</span>, <a href="#Page_627">627</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Birchen Staff. <i>See</i> <a href="#Leaning">Leaning</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Blenheim, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Blessing. <i>See</i> <a href="#Belated">Belated</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Blindness. <i>See</i> <a href="#Brotherly_Blindness">Brotherly Blindness</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Blindness_to">Blindness to its Dangers, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bloodhound, A, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Blücher</span>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>, + <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>, + <a href="#Page_534">534</a>, <a href="#Page_619">619</a>, <a href="#Page_626">626</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Blunder. <i>See</i> <a href="#Consequences_of_a_Blunder">Consequences of a</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Body of Steel, <a href="#Page_548">548</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bohemia, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Bois">Bois (de Boulogne), <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bologna, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Bonaparte"><span class="smcap">Bonaparte.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#As_General_Bonaparte">As General Monsieur</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Bonaparte_and_Europe">and Europe, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + <li class="isub1">and the Sphinx, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Caroline. <i>See</i> <a href="#Caroline"><span class="smcap">Caroline</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1"><span class="smcap">Carlo</span>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Elise. <i>See</i> <a href="#Elise"><span class="smcap">Elise</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1">Jerome. <i>See</i> <a href="#Jerome"><span class="smcap">Jerome</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1">Joseph. <i>See</i> <a href="#Joseph"><span class="smcap">Joseph</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1">La Pagerie. <i>See</i> <a href="#Josephine"><span class="smcap">Josephine</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1">Letizia. <i>See</i> <a href="#Letizia"><span class="smcap">Letizia</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1">Louis. <i>See</i> <a href="#Louis"><span class="smcap">Louis</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1">Lucien. <i>See</i> <a href="#Lucien"><span class="smcap">Lucien</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1">Napoleon Francis. <i>See</i> <a href="#Napoleon_Francis"><span class="smcap">Napoleon Francis</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1">Pauline. <i>See</i> <a href="#Pauline"><span class="smcap">Pauline</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bon, Cape, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Boney,” <a href="#Page_540">540</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bordeaux, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>, <a href="#Page_541">541</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Borghese</span>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Pauline"><span class="smcap">Pauline</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Born to rule. <i>See</i> <a href="#Man_born_to_rule">Man born to rule</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Borodino, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_653">653</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bosnia, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bosphorus, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Boulogne, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_572">572</a>, <a href="#Page_580">580</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Boulogne, Bois de. <i>See</i> <a href="#Bois">Bois</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bourbon</span>, Duke of, <a href="#Page_490">490</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Palais, <a href="#Page_529">529</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bourbons—never!, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bourbons’ Return, <a href="#Page_489">489</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bourrienne</span>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, + <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, + <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, <a href="#Page_556">556</a>, <a href="#Page_681">681</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Breach_between">Breach between the Brothers, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Brescia, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Breslau, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Brienne, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>, <a href="#Page_556">556</a>, <a href="#Page_558">558</a>, + <a href="#Page_611">611</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Brieg, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Broil_with_Prussia">Broil with Prussia, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Broils. <i>See</i> <a href="#Family">Family</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Brooding Lad, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Brother Lucien. <i>See</i> <a href="#Sire">Sire</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Brotherly_Blindness">Brotherly Blindness, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Brotherly_Hate">Brotherly Hate, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Brothers. <i>See</i> <a href="#Dangerous">Dangerous</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Brothers_and_Sisters">Brothers and Sisters, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Brothers, The. <i>See</i> <a href="#Breach_between">Breach between</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bruix</span>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Brumaire">Brumaire, <a href="#Page_528">528</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Eighteenth">Eighteenth</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Nineteenth">Nineteenth</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Brunswick</span>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_576">576</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Brussels, <a href="#Page_523">523</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Brutus</span>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_560">560</a>, + <a href="#Page_629">629</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bruyère.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#La_Bruyere">La Bruyère</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bubna</span>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_567">567</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bucharest, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Buenos Ayres, <a href="#Page_534">534</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Buffon</span>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bulletin from Russia. <i>See</i> <a href="#Last">Last</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bülow</span>, <a href="#Page_524">524</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bukovina, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bureau of Public Opinion, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Burgos, <a href="#Page_548">548</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Burgundy, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_688">[688]</span><span class="smcap">Buonaparte.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#Bonaparte"><span class="smcap">Bonaparte</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Burning">Burning Street, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li> + +<li class="indx">But Talleyrand is indispensable, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Byron</span>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_615">615</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Cadets School, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cadiz, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cadoudal</span>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cæsar</span>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, + <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, + <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_519">519</a>, <a href="#Page_521">521</a>, + <a href="#Page_560">560</a>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>, <a href="#Page_567">567</a>, <a href="#Page_578">578</a>, <a href="#Page_592">592</a>, + <a href="#Page_624">624</a>, <a href="#Page_645">645</a>, <a href="#Page_646">646</a>, <a href="#Page_653">653</a>, <a href="#Page_655">655</a>, <a href="#Page_656">656</a>, + <a href="#Page_661">661</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a>, <a href="#Page_679">679</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Christ">Christ</a></li> + <li class="isub1"><i>Cromwell, and Bonaparte</i>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Caesars_Chariot">Cæsar’s Chariot, <a href="#Page_519">519</a></li> + <li class="isub1"><i>Death</i>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cæsars, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cagliostro</span>, <a href="#Page_593">593</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cairo, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, + <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>, + <a href="#Page_605">605</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cajoleries, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Calabria, <a href="#Page_633">633</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Calculation">Calculation, <a href="#Page_569">569</a></li> + <li class="isub1">and Imagination, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Calculations. <i>See</i> <a href="#I_am_the_Man">I am the Man</a> and <a href="#Yearnings">Yearnings</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Caldiero, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li class="indx">California, <a href="#Page_534">534</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cambacérès</span>, <a href="#Page_598">598</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Camilla</span>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Campaign. <i>See</i> <a href="#Excitement_of">Excitement of</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Campaigns of Napoleon the Great</i>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Campbell</span>, <a href="#Page_479">479</a>, <a href="#Page_504">504</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Campo Formio, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Candour_to_Opponents">Candour to Opponents, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Canino, <a href="#Page_485">485</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cannes, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_497">497</a>, <a href="#Page_498">498</a>, <a href="#Page_503">503</a>, <a href="#Page_623">623</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Canova</span>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_582">582</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cantillon</span>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cape Bon, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cape (of Good Hope), <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_654">654</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Capets, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Capitol, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Capri, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>, <a href="#Page_613">613</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Capua, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Caracas, <a href="#Page_534">534</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Care">Care for the Children, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Carlo Bonaparte</span>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Carlyle</span>, <a href="#Page_679">679</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Carnot</span>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, + <a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_511">511</a>, <a href="#Page_518">518</a>, <a href="#Page_521">521</a>, <a href="#Page_528">528</a>, <a href="#Page_598">598</a>, + <a href="#Page_642">642</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Carnot’s</span> Advice, <a href="#Page_521">521</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Caroline"><span class="smcap">Caroline Bonaparte</span> (afterwards wife of <span class="smcap">Murat</span>), <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, + <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, + <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>, <a href="#Page_632">632</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Carpet, The, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Carrée, Fort, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Carthage, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cases.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#Las_Cases"><span class="smcap">Las Cases</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cassel, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Castiglione, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Castille, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Catalonia, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Catherine the Great</span>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cattaro, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Coulaincourt</span>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, + <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>, + <a href="#Page_458">458</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, <a href="#Page_471">471</a>, + <a href="#Page_472">472</a>, <a href="#Page_507">507</a>, <a href="#Page_529">529</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>, <a href="#Page_606">606</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cause. <i>See</i> <a href="#Espouse_my_Cause">Espouse my</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cave. <i>See</i> <a href="#Imagination">Imagination</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chains. <i>See</i> <a href="#In_Chains">In Chains</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Strike">Strike</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Chamber_of_Deputies">Chamber of Deputies, <a href="#Page_526">526</a>, <a href="#Page_528">528</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Lower_House">Lower House</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chambers, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_496">496</a>, <a href="#Page_511">511</a>, + <a href="#Page_517">517</a>, <a href="#Page_519">519</a>, <a href="#Page_525">525</a>, <a href="#Page_526">526</a>, <a href="#Page_527">527</a>, <a href="#Page_528">528</a>, + <a href="#Page_529">529</a>, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#General">General</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chambers of Commerce, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chambers take the Initiative, <a href="#Page_526">526</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Champaubert, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Champagny</span>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Champ">Champ de Mai, <a href="#Page_506">506</a>, <a href="#Page_518">518</a>, <a href="#Page_520">520</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Champion">Champion of the Family, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chance. <i>See</i> <a href="#Circumstances">Circumstances</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chance missed, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Channel, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_516">516</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chapelle ardente, <a href="#Page_669">669</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Characterisation. <i>See</i> <a href="#German">German</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chariot. <i>See</i> <a href="#Caesars_Chariot">Cæsar’s</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Charlemagne</span>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, + <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, + <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Charlemagne</i>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Charleroi, <a href="#Page_521">521</a>, <a href="#Page_522">522</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Charles XII, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Charles Augustus</span>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Charles"><span class="smcap">Charles</span>, Austrian Archduke, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Charles</span>, Hippolyte, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Hippolyte"><span class="smcap">Hippolyte</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Charlottenburg, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Chateaubriand</span>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_508">508</a>, <a href="#Page_554">554</a>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>, + <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Châtillon, <a href="#Page_458">458</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_492">492</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Chénier</span>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_598">598</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cherbourg, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chess. <i>See</i> <a href="#Game">Game</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chessplayer, <a href="#Page_567">567</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Childlessness. <i>See</i> <a href="#Tragedy_of">Tragedy of</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Children. <i>See</i> <a href="#Care">Care</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Name_your_children">Name your</a></li> + +<li class="indx">China, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_652">652</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chinese Island where there are no Weapons, <a href="#Page_581">581</a>, <a href="#Page_582">582</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Christ"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_689">[689]</span>Christ, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, + <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_636">636</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Jesus">Jesus</a></li> + <li class="isub1">and Cæsar, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Christianity, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cimarosa</span>, <a href="#Page_554">554</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Cinna</i>, <a href="#Page_591">591</a>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cipriani</span>, <a href="#Page_613">613</a>, <a href="#Page_621">621</a>, <a href="#Page_640">640</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Circumstances">Circumstances and Chance, <a href="#Page_604">604</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cisalpine Republic, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Citerni</span>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> + +<li class="indx">City. <i>See</i> <a href="#Rome">Rome</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#The_Eternal">The Eternal</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Civil Code, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Clarke</span>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Clary.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#Desiree"><span class="smcap">Désirée</span></a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Julie"><span class="smcap">Julie</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cleaning up the Mess, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Clear the Hall, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cleopatra</span>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cleves, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Climax">Climax of the Scene, <a href="#Page_302">302</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Clovis</span>, <a href="#Page_561">561</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Coblenz, <a href="#Page_577">577</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Coburg, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cockade. <i>See</i> <a href="#Red">Red</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Code, Civil, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Code Napoléon, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, + <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Coffee">Coffee and Sugar, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Colli</span>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Colours. <i>See</i> <a href="#Kissing">Kissing</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Command. <i>See</i> <a href="#Again">Again</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Last">Last</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Unity">Unity</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Commander. <i>See</i> <a href="#Statesman">Statesman</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Commander">Commander of the Forces, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Comédie Française, <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Commercial">Commercial Warfare, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Committee of Public Safety, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_561">561</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Companions, <a href="#Page_610">610</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Fate_of">Fate</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Company at Morfontaine, <a href="#Page_452">452</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Comparison">Comparison with Napoleon, <a href="#Page_407">407</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Compiègne, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Concerning">Concerning the Germans, <a href="#Page_591">591</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Concordat, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Condé</span>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_490">490</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Confederation">Confederation of the Rhine, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, + <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, + <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Confessions, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Confidants conspire, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Congress. <i>See</i> <a href="#Tidings">Tidings</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Conquests. <i>See</i> <a href="#Dreams">Dreams</a> and <a href="#Plans">Plans</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Consalvi</span>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Consequences. <i>See</i> <a href="#Political">Political</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Consequences_of_a_Blunder">Consequences of a Blunder, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Consequences of Marmont’s Desertion, <a href="#Page_471">471</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Conservatoire, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Considerations, <a href="#Page_639">639</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Conspiracy, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Constant"><span class="smcap">Constant</span>, Benjamin, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_511">511</a>, <a href="#Page_512">512</a>, <a href="#Page_514">514</a>, + <a href="#Page_517">517</a>, <a href="#Page_527">527</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Constant (Napoleon’s Valet), <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Constantine</span> (Roman Emperor), <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li> + <li class="isub1">(Russian Grand Duke), <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Constantinople, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Consul">Consul, First, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, + <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, + <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, + <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_498">498</a>, <a href="#Page_550">550</a>, + <a href="#Page_554">554</a>, <a href="#Page_555">555</a>, <a href="#Page_556">556</a>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>, <a href="#Page_575">575</a>, <a href="#Page_582">582</a>, + <a href="#Page_586">586</a>, <a href="#Page_597">597</a>, <a href="#Page_605">605</a>, <a href="#Page_629">629</a>, <a href="#Page_646">646</a>, <a href="#Page_651">651</a>, + <a href="#Page_652">652</a></li> + <li class="isub1">for Life, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Consuls, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Contempt for his Fellows, <a href="#Page_583">583</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Content. <i>See</i> <a href="#Form_without_Content">Form without</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Continent, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, + <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, + <a href="#Page_524">524</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Continental_European">Continental System, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_680">680</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Contradictions">Contradictions of Monarchy, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Convention, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, + <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_658">658</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Conversation. <i>See</i> <a href="#Memorable">Memorable</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Conversation">Conversation with Rapp, <a href="#Page_508">508</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Conversation with Wieland, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Corfu, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Coriolanus</span>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Corneille</span>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_551">551</a>, <a href="#Page_564">564</a>, <a href="#Page_591">591</a>, + <a href="#Page_621">621</a>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Corniche, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Corsica">Corsica, <a href="#Page_1">1-49</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, + <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>, <a href="#Page_480">480</a>, + <a href="#Page_483">483</a>, <a href="#Page_484">484</a>, <a href="#Page_496">496</a>, <a href="#Page_505">505</a>, <a href="#Page_533">533</a>, <a href="#Page_535">535</a>, + <a href="#Page_537">537</a>, <a href="#Page_631">631</a>, <a href="#Page_657">657</a>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a>, <a href="#Page_673">673</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + <li class="isub1">again, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Corsica_comes">Corsica comes to St. Helena, <a href="#Page_656">656</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Corsica’s Struggle, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Corsican Election, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Corsicans, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Corso, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Corte, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cortes, <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Corvisart</span>, <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_598">598</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cossaria, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Council. <i>See</i> <a href="#Another_Family_Council">Another Family</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Council_of_Ancients">Council of Ancients, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Council_of_Five_Hundred">of Five Hundred, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, + <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of State, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, + <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, + <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_554">554</a>, <a href="#Page_582">582</a>, <a href="#Page_590">590</a>, <a href="#Page_592">592</a>, + <a href="#Page_649">649</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Councils, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, + <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_690">[690]</span>Counterplot. <i>See</i> <a href="#Plot">Plot</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Counterstroke. <i>See</i> <a href="#Stroke">Stroke</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Countess. <i>See</i> <a href="#Polish">Polish</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Walewska">Walewska</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cracow, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Crassus</span>, <a href="#Page_679">679</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Creation</i>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crete, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Crœsus</span>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cromwell</span>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_647">647</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Coup d’État. <i>See</i> <a href="#Plans">Plans</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Courage, <a href="#Page_577">577</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Returning_Courage">Returning</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Court. <i>See</i> <a href="#Little_Court">Little Court</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Plebeians_at_Court">Plebeians at Court</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Court Dress. <i>See</i> <a href="#Mummy">Mummy in</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Courtship">Courtship, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crises, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Criticism_of_French">Criticism of the French, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crowd. <i>See</i> <a href="#Tuckets">Tuckets</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Crown. <i>See</i> <a href="#Any_Crown">Any</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Curse">Curse of Legitimacy, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cyrus</span>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst" id="Dagger">Dagger in the Dictator’s Heart, <a href="#Page_517">517</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Daily Life, <a href="#Page_621">621</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Daimonic_Loneliness">Daimonic Loneliness, <a href="#Page_605">605</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dalmatia, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Damascus, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Danaids, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Danger and Discouragement, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Dangerous">Dangerous Brothers, <a href="#Page_438">438</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dangers. <i>See</i> <a href="#Blindness_to">Blindness to</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Dangers_of_Distance">Dangers of Distance, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Danube, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, + <a href="#Page_612">612</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Danzig, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_509">509</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Daru</span>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, + <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, <a href="#Page_597">597</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dauphiné, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_497">497</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">David</span>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Davoust</span>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, + <a href="#Page_507">507</a>, <a href="#Page_526">526</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Days, Hundred, <a href="#Page_599">599</a>, <a href="#Page_609">609</a>, <a href="#Page_623">623</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Deadly Climate, <a href="#Page_608">608</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Deadwood, <a href="#Page_608">608</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Death, <a href="#Page_674">674</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Waiting">Waiting</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Deathbed. <i>See</i> <a href="#Justifies">Justifies</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Death in Battle. <i>See</i> <a href="#He_seeks">He seeks</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Decrès</span>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_533">533</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Defeat">Defeat, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#First_Defeat">First at Waterloo</a>, <a href="#Page_524">524</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Defence. <i>See</i> <a href="#Napoleons_Defence">Napoleon’s</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Defenceless, <a href="#Page_540">540</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Delta, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Demand">Demand for Abdication, <a href="#Page_527">527</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Democracy. <i>See</i> <a href="#Fiction_of_Democracy">Acknowledgment Fiction of</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Denmark, <a href="#Page_493">493</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Deputies">Deputies in secret Session, <a href="#Page_528">528</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Desaix</span>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_587">587</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a>, + <a href="#Page_673">673</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Quai">Quai</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Deserter, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Desiree"><span class="smcap">Désirée Clary</span> (afterwards Wife of Bernadotte), <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, + <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Destiny, <a href="#Page_603">603</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Follow">Follow</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Sense">Sense</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#To_Destiny">To Destiny</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Man of, <a href="#Page_604">604</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Destruction">Destruction of the Fleet, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Devotion">Devotion to Josephine, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dialogue of the Dead, <a href="#Page_646">646</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Diarists, <a href="#Page_648">648</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dictator. <i>See</i> <a href="#Dagger">Dagger</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dictatorship, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dictionary of Weathercocks, <a href="#Page_638">638</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Die Standing. <i>See</i> <a href="#I_will_die_standing">I will</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Diet, Imperial” at Erfurt, <a href="#Page_561">561</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dignity, <a href="#Page_552">552</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Imperial_Dignity">Imperial</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dijon, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Diogenes</span>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dilemma. <i>See</i> <a href="#Tragical">Tragical</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Diocletian</span>, <a href="#Page_567">567</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dioscuri, <a href="#Page_511">511</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Diplomat, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Diplomats. <i>See</i> <a href="#Hectoring">Hectoring</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Directors, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, + <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, + <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, + <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, + <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, + <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_529">529</a>, <a href="#Page_532">532</a>, + <a href="#Page_556">556</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Directory, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, + <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_511">511</a>, <a href="#Page_528">528</a>, <a href="#Page_530">530</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Disastrous_Inertia">Disastrous Inertia, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes</i>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Discoveries. <i>See</i> <a href="#Explorations">Explorations</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Disgruntled">Disgruntled Kings, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Disillusionment. <i>See</i> <a href="#Victory">Victory</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Disquiet. <i>See</i> <a href="#Growing">Growing</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Distance. <i>See</i> <a href="#Dangers_of_Distance">Dangers of</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Divine Right. <i>See</i> <a href="#Rulers">Rulers</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Divorce, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Marriage_and">Marriage and</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dniester, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Domingo, <a href="#Page_590">590</a>, <a href="#Page_630">630</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Don Quixote. <i>See</i> <a href="#Quixote">Quixote</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Don’t you know me?, <a href="#Page_499">499</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dover, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dramas, Family. <i>See</i> <a href="#Opening">Opening</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dream, first, <a href="#Page_672">672</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dream, second, <a href="#Page_672">672</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dream, trivial. <i>See</i> <a href="#Life">Life</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Dreams">Dreams and Mathematics, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of Asiatic Conquests, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dresden, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, + <a href="#Page_492">492</a>, <a href="#Page_508">508</a>, <a href="#Page_548">548</a>, <a href="#Page_553">553</a>, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>, <a href="#Page_590">590</a>, + <a href="#Page_653">653</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_691">[691]</span><span class="smcap">Driault</span>, <a href="#Page_683">683</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Driven out, <a href="#Page_533">533</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Drouot</span>, <a href="#Page_481">481</a>, <a href="#Page_495">495</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Drums">Drums of the Revolution, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Drum-Taps, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Düben Castle, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_470">470</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Düben Heath, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Duchatel, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Ducos</span>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, + <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dunkirk, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Duroc</span>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, + <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_587">587</a>, <a href="#Page_597">597</a>, <a href="#Page_618">618</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dvina, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Dynastic">Dynastic Snare, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dynasty. <i>See</i> <a href="#Spanish_Dynasty">Spanish</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst" id="Eagle">Eagle Volant, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + +<li class="indx">East, the, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Army">Army in the East</a>, <i>also</i> +<a href="#Lure_of_the_East">Lure of the East</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Messengers_from_the_East">Messengers from the East</a></li> + +<li class="indx">East India Company, <a href="#Page_607">607</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Eckmühl, <a href="#Page_500">500</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Egypt, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, + <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, + <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_495">495</a>, <a href="#Page_498">498</a>, + <a href="#Page_514">514</a>, <a href="#Page_543">543</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>, <a href="#Page_573">573</a>, <a href="#Page_620">620</a>, <a href="#Page_621">621</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Egyptian">Egyptian Plan, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Eighteen-hour Day, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Eighteenth">Eighteenth Brumaire, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, + <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_494">494</a>, <a href="#Page_502">502</a>, <a href="#Page_560">560</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Nineteenth">Nineteenth Brumaire</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Brumaire">Brumaire</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Eighty-five Francs, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Elba, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>, <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>, <a href="#Page_477">477</a>, <a href="#Page_479">479</a>, + <a href="#Page_481">481</a>, <a href="#Page_482">482</a>, <a href="#Page_483">483</a>, <a href="#Page_484">484</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>, <a href="#Page_489">489</a>, + <a href="#Page_491">491</a>, <a href="#Page_492">492</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a>, <a href="#Page_494">494</a>, <a href="#Page_496">496</a>, <a href="#Page_504">504</a>, + <a href="#Page_511">511</a>, <a href="#Page_513">513</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>, <a href="#Page_535">535</a>, <a href="#Page_623">623</a>, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>, + <a href="#Page_661">661</a>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Elbe, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, + <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Electoral Colleges of the Empire, <a href="#Page_505">505</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Elise"><span class="smcap">Elise</span>, Bonaparte (afterwards Grand Duchess of Tuscany), <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, + <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, + <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">El Kebir</span>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Elysée, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_471">471</a>, <a href="#Page_525">525</a>, <a href="#Page_530">530</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Elysian Fields, <a href="#Page_668">668</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Emmery</span>, <a href="#Page_661">661</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Emperor. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Apostolical">Apostolical</a>, <a href="#I_am_the_State">I am</a>, <a href="#Return">Return</a>, <a href="#Self-crowned">Self-crowned</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Emperor_and_Admiral">and Admiral, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Emperor_and_his_Mother">and his Mother, <a href="#Page_495">495</a></li> + <li class="isub1">and the Slave, <a href="#Page_630">630</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Emperor_drives">drives a Plough, <a href="#Page_641">641</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of the East, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of Rome, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of the West, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Emperors. <i>See</i> <a href="#Two_Emperors">Two Emperors</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Emperors_Alarm">Emperor’s Alarm, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Emperor_scores">Emperor scores over the Poet, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Emperors_Onslaught">Emperor’s Onslaught, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Empire. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Holy_Roman_Empire">Holy Roman Empire</a>, <a href="#Turkish_Empire">Turkish Empire</a></li> + +<li class="indx">End of Everything, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Energy in narrow Bounds, <a href="#Page_481">481</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Enghien</span>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, + <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>, <a href="#Page_591">591</a>, <a href="#Page_646">646</a>, <a href="#Page_670">670</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Kidnapping">Kidnapping</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="England">England, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, + <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, + <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, + <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, + <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, + <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_490">490</a>, + <a href="#Page_492">492</a>, <a href="#Page_503">503</a>, <a href="#Page_538">538</a>, <a href="#Page_541">541</a>, <a href="#Page_542">542</a>, <a href="#Page_584">584</a>, + <a href="#Page_588">588</a>, <a href="#Page_593">593</a>, <a href="#Page_607">607</a>, <a href="#Page_614">614</a>, <a href="#Page_624">624</a>, <a href="#Page_626">626</a>, + <a href="#Page_631">631</a>, <a href="#Page_632">632</a>, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>, <a href="#Page_635">635</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a>, <a href="#Page_669">669</a>, + <a href="#Page_671">671</a>, <a href="#Page_675">675</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Englands_Enmity">England’s Enmity, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Enmities. <i>See</i> <a href="#Intrigues">Intrigues</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Enmity. <i>See</i> <a href="#Englands_Enmity">England’s</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Epilogue, <a href="#Page_675">675</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Equality at the Front, <a href="#Page_581">581</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Equality">Equality, not Liberty, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Erfurt, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, + <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, + <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_555">555</a>, <a href="#Page_561">561</a>, <a href="#Page_591">591</a></li> + <li class="isub1">“Imperial Diet,” <a href="#Page_561">561</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Eroica</i>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Espouse_my_Cause">“Espouse my Cause,” <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Essling. <i>See</i> <a href="#Aspern-Essling">Aspern-Essling</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Essonne, <a href="#Page_465">465</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Eternal City. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Rome">Rome</a>, <a href="#The_Eternal">The Eternal</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ettenheim, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Etiquette">Etiquette and Parody, <a href="#Page_638">638</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Eugene"><span class="smcap">Eugene de Beauharnais</span> (afterwards Viceroy of Italy), <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, + <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, + <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, + <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>, <a href="#Page_561">561</a>, + <a href="#Page_566">566</a>, <a href="#Page_569">569</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Euphrates, <a href="#Page_574">574</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Europe">Europe, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, + <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, + <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, + <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, + <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, + <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, + <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, + <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, + <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>, <a href="#Page_480">480</a>, <a href="#Page_483">483</a>, <a href="#Page_484">484</a>, <a href="#Page_492">492</a>, + <a href="#Page_496">496</a>, <a href="#Page_498">498</a>, <a href="#Page_521">521</a>, <a href="#Page_524">524</a>, <a href="#Page_528">528</a>, <a href="#Page_538">538</a>, + <a href="#Page_543">543</a>, <a href="#Page_554">554</a>, <a href="#Page_580">580</a>, <a href="#Page_582">582</a>, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>, <a href="#Page_595">595</a>, + <a href="#Page_596">596</a>, <a href="#Page_612">612</a>, <a href="#Page_624">624</a>, <a href="#Page_625">625</a>, <a href="#Page_626">626</a>, <a href="#Page_631">631</a>, + <a href="#Page_643">643</a>, <a href="#Page_644">644</a>, <a href="#Page_645">645</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a>, <a href="#Page_658">658</a>, <a href="#Page_665">665</a>, + <a href="#Page_667">667</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a>, <a href="#Page_680">680</a>, <a href="#Page_682">682</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Back_to_Europe">Back to</a>, <a href="#Bonaparte_and_Europe">Bonaparte and</a>, <a href="#Farewell">Farewell</a>, +<a href="#Partition">Partition</a>, <a href="#United_Europe">United</a>, and <a href="#United_States_of_Europe">United States of</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_692">[692]</span>Europe is a Mole-hill, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Europe too small, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> + +<li class="indx">European System, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Eve_of_Austerlitz">Eve of Austerlitz, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Everyman, <a href="#Page_581">581</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Everything is crashing round me, <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Evil. <i>See</i> <a href="#Prophet_of_Evil">Prophet of</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Examination">Examination of a Prisoner, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Excommunication">Excommunication and Victory, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Execrated">Execrated by the Mob, <a href="#Page_479">479</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Execration. <i>See</i> <a href="#Public">Public</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Excitement_of">Excitement of the Campaign, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Explorations">Explorations and Discoveries, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Extinct">Extinct Volcano, <a href="#Page_607">607</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Eylau">Eylau, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, <a href="#Page_580">580</a>, <a href="#Page_651">651</a>, + <a href="#Page_663">663</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Faithful grow weary, <a href="#Page_658">658</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Faithful">Faithful Servants, <a href="#Page_613">613</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="False_to">False to his own Principles, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Falsifications, <a href="#Page_625">625</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fame, <a href="#Page_568">568</a></li> + <li class="isub1">still lures him, <a href="#Page_652">652</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Family">Family. <i>See</i> <a href="#Champion">Champion</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Bequests, <a href="#Page_662">662</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Broils, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Council. <i>See</i> <a href="#Another_Family_Council">Another</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Dramas. <i>See</i> <a href="#Opening">Opening</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Man. <i>See</i> <a href="#Genius">Genius and</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Troubles. <i>See</i> <a href="#More_Family_Troubles">More</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Fantastic_Schemes">Fantastic Schemes, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Fantasy">Fantasy and Number again, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Farewell Europe, <a href="#Page_543">543</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Farewell">Farewell to the Guard, <a href="#Page_477">477</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Fatal">Fatal War, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Fate_of">Fate of old Companions, <a href="#Page_633">633</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Father. <i>See</i> <a href="#Our_Father">Our</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fatherland. <i>See</i> <a href="#Without_a_Fatherland">Without</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Faubourg. <i>See</i> <a href="#Saint-Germain">Faubourg Saint-Germain</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Saint-Antoine, <a href="#Page_527">527</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Saint-Germain">Saint-Germain, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_562">562</a>, <a href="#Page_609">609</a>, <a href="#Page_628">628</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Faust, <a href="#Page_654">654</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Felix Austria, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Ferdinand</span>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ferrajo, <a href="#Page_481">481</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ferrara, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fertility. <i>See</i> <a href="#Habsburg_Fertility">Habsburg Fertility</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Fesch</span>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, + <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Fiction_of_Democracy">Fiction of Democracy, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Figaro</i>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fighting. <i>See</i> <a href="#Street">Street</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Finckenstein, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Finisterre, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fire!, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="First">First Consul. <i>See</i> <a href="#Consul">Consul, First</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="First_Defeat">Defeat, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Dream, <a href="#Page_672">672</a></li> + <li class="isub1">“I,” <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="First_Overtures">Overtures for Peace, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="First_Place">Place is occupied, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Sword, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> + <li class="isub1">triumphal Entry, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="First_Victory">Victory, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Five Hundred. <i>See</i> <a href="#Council_of_Five_Hundred">Council</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fleet. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Destruction">Destruction Through</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fleet sets sail, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Flight homewards, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Florence, <a href="#Page_427">427</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Flushing, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Foe. <i>See</i> <a href="#Overestimating">Overestimating</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Follow">“Follow your Destiny,” <a href="#Page_496">496</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Fontaine, La</span>, <a href="#Page_628">628</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fontainebleau, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, + <a href="#Page_471">471</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>, <a href="#Page_474">474</a>, <a href="#Page_486">486</a>, <a href="#Page_504">504</a>, <a href="#Page_605">605</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Foolish Speech, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Fop">Fop and the Husband, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Forces. <i>See</i> <a href="#Commander">Commander</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Forebodings. <i>See</i> <a href="#Gloomy">Gloomy</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Foreign_Office">Foreign Office, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Ministry_for_Foreign_Affairs">Ministry for Foreign Affairs</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Forgotten!, <a href="#Page_376">376</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Former Fellow-student, <a href="#Page_555">555</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Form_without_Content">Form without Content, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fort Carrée, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fortress. <i>See</i> <a href="#Invincible">Invincible</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fortuné, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Fortune">“Fortune is a Strumpet,” <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Fortune_of_War">Fortune of War, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fortune’s Wheel. <i>See</i> <a href="#Turn_of">Turn of</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Fouché</span>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, + <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, + <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, + <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>, + <a href="#Page_474">474</a>, <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_511">511</a>, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>, <a href="#Page_532">532</a>, <a href="#Page_533">533</a>, + <a href="#Page_614">614</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Fouché’s</span> Rise, <a href="#Page_530">530</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Fouché</span>, <span class="smcap">Talleyrand</span> and, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Four_Teeth">Four Teeth, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Fourth-act">Fourth-act Moods, <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fourth Name, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fowler, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Fox</span>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Foy</span>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> + +<li class="indx">France, passim. <i>See also</i> <a href="#All_young">All young</a>, <a href="#History">History</a>, <a href="#In_southern_France">In southern</a>, and <a href="#King_of_France">King of</a></li> + <li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_693">[693]</span>greets him, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + <li class="isub1">is his Mistress, <a href="#Page_563">563</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Francis</span>, Emperor of Holy Roman Empire and of Austria, etc., <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, + <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, + <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, + <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, + <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_505">505</a>, <a href="#Page_506">506</a>, + <a href="#Page_515">515</a>, <a href="#Page_642">642</a></li> + <li class="isub1">King of Rome, <a href="#Page_488">488</a>.</li> + <li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Napoleon_Francis"><span class="smcap">Napoleon Francis</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Frankfort, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Frederick the Great</span>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, + <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>, + <a href="#Page_568">568</a>, <a href="#Page_621">621</a>, <a href="#Page_655">655</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a>, <a href="#Page_679">679</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Frederick’s Sword, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Frederick William III</span>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, + <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fréjus, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_480">480</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Landing">Landing</a></li> + +<li class="indx">French. <i>See</i> <a href="#Criticism_of_French">Criticism of</a></li> + <li class="isub1">are easy to rule, <a href="#Page_666">666</a></li> + <li class="isub1">remain sceptical, <a href="#Page_564">564</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Frenzied Energy, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Friedland, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Friends betray him. <i>See</i> <a href="#Old">Old</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Friendship. <i>See</i> <a href="#Last">Last</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Fridericus">Fridericus Rex, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Friuli, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fronde, <a href="#Page_562">562</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Fruitless">Fruitless Wooing, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fulfilment. <i>See</i> <a href="#Tragedy_of">Tragedy of</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Fulton</span>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_642">642</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Further_Proposals">Further Peace Proposals, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Galicia, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gambler. <i>See</i> <a href="#Great_Gambler">Great</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Game">Game of Chess, <a href="#Page_443">443</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ganges, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gaoler, <a href="#Page_617">617</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Lowe">Lowe</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Garda, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Garden. <i>See</i> <a href="#Kingdom">Kingdom</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gardener, <a href="#Page_654">654</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gassion, <a href="#Page_597">597</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="General">General against People, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> + <li class="isub1">and King, <a href="#Page_580">580</a></li> + <li class="isub1">and the Chambers, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Bonaparte. <i>See</i> <a href="#As_General_Bonaparte">As General Bonaparte</a></li> + <li class="isub1">grows dangerous, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Generals. <i>See</i> <a href="#Sons_of_the_People">Sons of the People</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Genghis Khan</span>, <a href="#Page_511">511</a>, <a href="#Page_644">644</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Genius">Genius and Family Man, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + <li class="isub1">German. <i>See</i> <a href="#Homage">Homage</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Genoa, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, + <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_504">504</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Genoese">Genoese Senate, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Genuine">Genuine Anger, <a href="#Page_575">575</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">George III</span>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> + +<li class="indx">George, Mademoiselle (Giorgina), <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_558">558</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="German">German. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Homage">Homage</a>, <a href="#Two_German_Women">Two Germans</a>, and <a href="#Unconquerable">Unconquerable</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Characterisation, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Genius. <i>See</i> <a href="#Homage">Homage</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Opinions. <i>See</i> <a href="#Other_Opinions">Other</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Germans. <i>See</i> <a href="#Concerning">Concerning</a></li> + +<li class="indx">German Spirit, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li> + +<li class="indx">German Women. <i>See</i> <a href="#Two_German_Women">Two German Women</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Germany, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, + <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, + <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, + <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, + <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_570">570</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gibraltar, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Giorgina, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Giuliano, San, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Glendower</span>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gloom, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Hours">Hours</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Gloomy">Gloomy Forebodings, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Gneisenau</span>, <a href="#Page_522">522</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Goblet, golden, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx">God protect France, <a href="#Page_503">503</a></li> + <li class="isub1">protect the King, <a href="#Page_502">502</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“God’s Image on Earth,” <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Goethe</span>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, + <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, + <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_545">545</a>, <a href="#Page_551">551</a>, <a href="#Page_583">583</a>, <a href="#Page_602">602</a>, + <a href="#Page_679">679</a>, <a href="#Page_681">681</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#How_is_Herr_Goethe">How is</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Goethean Motifs, <a href="#Page_602">602</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Goethe_is_Imperturbable">Goethe is imperturbable, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Goethe’s Epilogue, <a href="#Page_449">449</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Gohier</span>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Golden Goblet, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Good-night, Bourrienne, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gospel and Republic, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gospels, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Gourgaud</span>, <a href="#Page_535">535</a>, <a href="#Page_602">602</a>, <a href="#Page_610">610</a>, <a href="#Page_611">611</a>, <a href="#Page_612">612</a>, + <a href="#Page_613">613</a>, <a href="#Page_616">616</a>, <a href="#Page_620">620</a>, <a href="#Page_621">621</a>, <a href="#Page_625">625</a>, <a href="#Page_626">626</a>, + <a href="#Page_628">628</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a>, <a href="#Page_635">635</a>, <a href="#Page_636">636</a>, <a href="#Page_637">637</a>, <a href="#Page_638">638</a>, + <a href="#Page_639">639</a>, <a href="#Page_655">655</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gourgaud’s Petulance, <a href="#Page_611">611</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Government. <i>See</i> <a href="#Tottering">Tottering</a></li> + <li class="isub1">grows uneasy, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Grand_Army">Grand Army, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Grape-shot. <i>See</i> <a href="#Why_not_use_Grape-shot">Why not use</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gratitude, <a href="#Page_558">558</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Grassini</span>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Graz, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Great Ambitions, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Great Britain, <a href="#Page_662">662</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#England">England</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Great_Gambler">Great Gambler, <a href="#Page_442">442</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Great_Nation">Great Nation, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Great Pyramid, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Great_St_Bernard">Great St. Bernard, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_694">[694]</span>Greece, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Gregory_VII"><span class="smcap">Gregory VII</span>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Grenoble, <a href="#Page_498">498</a>, <a href="#Page_499">499</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, <a href="#Page_504">504</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Grosbois, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Grouchy, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>, <a href="#Page_523">523</a>, <a href="#Page_524">524</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Growing">Growing Disquiet, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Grumble. <i>See</i> <a href="#Peasants">Peasants</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Guadarrama, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Guard, National. <i>See</i> <a href="#National_Guard">National Guard</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Guard. <i>See</i> <a href="#Farewell">Farewell</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gumbinnen, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Guns. <i>See</i> <a href="#Big_Guns">Big</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Gustavus_Adolphus"><span class="smcap">Gustavus Adolphus</span>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst" id="Habsburg_Fertility">Habsburg Fertility (missing index entry added by transcriber), <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hamburg, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hamelin, <a href="#Page_507">507</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hammerfest, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hampered Energies, <a href="#Page_523">523</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Hannibal</span>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_534">534</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a>, + <a href="#Page_669">669</a></li> + <li class="isub1">modern, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hanover, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hansa Towns, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Harassing Restrictions, <a href="#Page_616">616</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Hardenberg</span>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hat, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hate. <i>See</i> <a href="#Brotherly_Hate">Brotherly</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Hatzfeld</span>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Havre, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Haydn</span>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Headquarters, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Head Shepherd, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Heart. <i>See</i> <a href="#Sluggishness">Sluggishness</a></li> + +<li class="indx">He cheers up, <a href="#Page_476">476</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hector, <a href="#Page_598">598</a>, <a href="#Page_637">637</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Hectoring">Hectoring the Diplomats, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="He_drafts">He drafts an Abdication, <a href="#Page_470">470</a></li> + +<li class="indx">He dreams of India, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Hegel</span>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Heir. <i>See</i> <a href="#Hunt_for">Hunt for</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Search_for">Search for at last</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Helena. <i>See</i> <a href="#St_Helena">St. Helena</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Henry IV</span>, <a href="#Page_568">568</a>, <a href="#Page_592">592</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Herald’s College, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Herat, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Hereditary">Hereditary Titles, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Heroes_of">Heroes. <i>See</i> <a href="#Rebels">Rebels of Antiquity</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Hero’s Return</i>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Herr Goethe. <i>See</i> <a href="#How_is_Herr_Goethe">How</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="He_seeks">He seeks Death in Battle, <a href="#Page_463">463</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="He_should">should have gone to America, <a href="#Page_643">643</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="He_signs">signs the Abdication, <a href="#Page_474">474</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="He_threatens_Paris">threatens Paris, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="He_threatens_Rome">threatens Rome, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hesitations, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hindustan, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#India">India</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Hippolyte"><span class="smcap">Hippolyte</span>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, + <a href="#Page_597">597</a></li> + +<li class="indx">His Dealings with the Masses, <a href="#Page_592">592</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Feeling for History, <a href="#Page_565">565</a></li> + <li class="isub1">first Sword, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Generals love and hate him, <a href="#Page_587">587</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="His_little_Son">little Son, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></li> + <li class="isub1">social Philosophy, <a href="#Page_593">593</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Son’s Heritage, <a href="#Page_663">663</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="His_Sons_Portrait">Son’s Portrait, <a href="#Page_488">488</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="His_Successors">Successors steal his Property, <a href="#Page_475">475</a></li> + <li class="isub1">unfailing Memory, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="History">History and France, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>History of Bonaparte</i>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Hoche</span>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hofburg, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hohenlinden, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Hohenlohe</span>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hohenstaufen, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hohenzollern, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_642">642</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Holland, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, + <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, + <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_552">552</a>, <a href="#Page_559">559</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Holland</span>, <a href="#Page_615">615</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Holy">Holy Battalion, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Father, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Legion, <a href="#Page_412">412</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Moscow, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Holy_Roman_Empire">Roman Empire, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Russia, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Homage">Homage to German Genius, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Homely">Homely Monarch, <a href="#Page_483">483</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Homer</span>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Honour, <a href="#Page_556">556</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Legion_of_Honour">Legion of</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Policy_and_Honour">Policy and</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hope. <i>See</i> <a href="#Stirrings">Stirrings</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hopeless, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Hortense"><span class="smcap">Hortense de Beauharnais</span> (afterwards Wife of Louis Bonaparte), <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, + <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, + <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_474">474</a>, <a href="#Page_486">486</a>, + <a href="#Page_503">503</a>, <a href="#Page_520">520</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>, <a href="#Page_533">533</a>, <a href="#Page_575">575</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a>, + <a href="#Page_671">671</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hostilities, <a href="#Page_619">619</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hôtel de l’Angleterre in Warsaw, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Hotham</span>, <a href="#Page_538">538</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Hotspur</span>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Hours">Hours of Gloom, <a href="#Page_637">637</a></li> + +<li class="indx">House of Peers, <a href="#Page_526">526</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Upper_House">Upper House</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="How_is_Herr_Goethe">“How is Herr Goethe?”, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li> + +<li class="indx">How many of you are there?, <a href="#Page_440">440</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Human Heart. <i>See</i> <a href="#Sluggishness">Sluggishness</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Humaneness, <a href="#Page_578">578</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hundred Days, <a href="#Page_599">599</a>, <a href="#Page_609">609</a>, <a href="#Page_623">623</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hungary, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Hunt_for">Hunt for an Heir, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Husband. <i>See</i> <a href="#Fop">Fop</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hutt’s Gate, <a href="#Page_615">615</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_695">[695]</span>“I.” <i>See</i> <a href="#First">First</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Iago, <a href="#Page_315">315</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="I_alone">“I alone have Money,” <a href="#Page_380">380</a></li> + +<li class="indx">I am a Roman Emperor, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="I_am_the_Man">“I am the Man of Calculations,” <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="I_am_the_State">“I am the State,” <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Ideals">Ideals and Looting, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Idyll. <i>See</i> <a href="#Secret_Idyll">An Idyll Secret</a></li> + +<li class="indx">I have lost all Hope, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="I_intended">“I intended to kill you,” <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Iliad</i>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a>, <a href="#Page_624">624</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Illuminates, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Illyria, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_610">610</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Imagination, <a href="#Page_594">594</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Calculation">Calculation</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Imagination">Imagination in its Cave, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Imperial Diet” at Erfurt, <a href="#Page_561">561</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Imperial_Dignity">Imperial Dignity, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Imperialists. <i>See</i> <a href="#Rival">Rival</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Imperturbable. <i>See</i> <a href="#Goethe_is_Imperturbable">Goethe is</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Improvisation, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li class="indx">I must not stay here, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Inca State, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Incas. <i>See</i> <a href="#Aztecs">Aztecs</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Indies, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="In_Chains">In Chains, <a href="#Page_615">615</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Incorruptible. <i>See</i> <a href="#Letizia">Letizia is</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Increasing Tension, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="India">India, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, + <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, + <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_617">617</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Indus, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="In_Favour_of">In Favour of the Working Classes, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Inertia. <i>See</i> <a href="#Disastrous_Inertia">Disastrous Inertia</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Influence. <i>See</i> <a href="#Steins_Influence">Stein’s</a></li> + +<li class="indx">In Motley, <a href="#Page_480">480</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Inner">Inner Man, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Inquisition, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> + +<li class="indx">In Pawn to the Old World, <a href="#Page_506">506</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="In_southern_France">In southern France, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Institute, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, + <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_520">520</a>, <a href="#Page_582">582</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Interior. <i>See</i> <a href="#Army">Army</a></li> + +<li class="indx">In the Elysian Fields, <a href="#Page_668">668</a></li> + +<li class="indx">In the travelling Carriage, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Intrigues">Intrigues. <i>See</i> <a href="#Island">Island of</a></li> + <li class="isub1">and Enmities, <a href="#Page_612">612</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Invalides, <a href="#Page_484">484</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Invincible">Invincible Fortress, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Invitation_to_Paris">Invitation to Paris, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Inward">Inward Reserves, <a href="#Page_482">482</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ionian Islands, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Iphigenia in Aulis</i>, <a href="#Page_637">637</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ireland, <a href="#Page_372">372</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Iron Age, <a href="#Page_510">510</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Isabey</span>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_620">620</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Islam, <a href="#Page_637">637</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Island">Island, The. <i>See</i> <a href="#Corsica">Corsica</a></li> + <li class="isub1">This. <i>See</i> <a href="#This_Island">This Island</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of Intrigues, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Isola Bella, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Israel, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Issus, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Isthmus of Suez, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Istria, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Italia unità, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Italian Temperament. <i>See</i> <a href="#Understands">Understands</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Italy, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, + <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, + <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, + <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, + <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, + <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, + <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a>, <a href="#Page_472">472</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>, <a href="#Page_481">481</a>, + <a href="#Page_489">489</a>, <a href="#Page_535">535</a>, <a href="#Page_569">569</a>, <a href="#Page_591">591</a>, <a href="#Page_621">621</a>, <a href="#Page_632">632</a>, + <a href="#Page_652">652</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a>.</li> + <li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Army">Army</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Eugene">Eugene</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Viceroy of. <i>See</i> <a href="#Eugene">Eugene</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="I_will_die_standing">I will die standing, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Jacobin Club, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, + <a href="#Page_555">555</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Jacobins, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Jaffa, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_614">614</a>, <a href="#Page_646">646</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Prisoners, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Jamestown, <a href="#Page_615">615</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Janina, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Jealousy, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Jena, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, + <a href="#Page_523">523</a>, <a href="#Page_555">555</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Battle_of_Jena">Battle of</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Jerome"><span class="smcap">Jerome Bonaparte</span> (afterwards King of Westphalia), <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, + <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, + <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, <a href="#Page_474">474</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>, <a href="#Page_520">520</a>, <a href="#Page_556">556</a>, + <a href="#Page_580">580</a>, <a href="#Page_599">599</a>, <a href="#Page_632">632</a>, <a href="#Page_677">677</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Jerome_makes">Jerome makes himself ridiculous, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Jeromes_Marriage">Jerome’s American Marriage, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Jesus">Jesus Christ, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_600">600</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Christ">Christ</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Johannes von Müller</span>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_603">603</a></li> + +<li class="indx">John (author of Revelation). <i>See</i> <a href="#St_John">St. John</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">John the Good</span>, <a href="#Page_534">534</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Jomini</span>, <a href="#Page_578">578</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Joseph I</span>, King of Spain, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Joseph">Joseph Bonaparte</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Joseph</span> (son of Jacob), <a href="#Page_629">629</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Joseph"><span class="smcap">Joseph Bonaparte</span> (afterwards King of Naples, then King of Spain), <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, + <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, + <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, + <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, + <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, + <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, + <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, + <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, + <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>, <a href="#Page_535">535</a>, + <a href="#Page_579">579</a>, <a href="#Page_580">580</a>, <a href="#Page_590">590</a>, <a href="#Page_596">596</a>, <a href="#Page_597">597</a>, <a href="#Page_632">632</a>, + <a href="#Page_634">634</a>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_696">[696]</span>Joseph makes Difficulties, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Josephine"><span class="smcap">Josephine de Beauharnais</span> (afterwards Empress), <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, + <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, + <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, + <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, + <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, + <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, + <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, + <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, + <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, + <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, + <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, + <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_474">474</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>, <a href="#Page_521">521</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>, + <a href="#Page_556">556</a>, <a href="#Page_557">557</a>, <a href="#Page_558">558</a>, <a href="#Page_578">578</a>, <a href="#Page_597">597</a>, <a href="#Page_603">603</a>, + <a href="#Page_621">621</a>, <a href="#Page_670">670</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Devotion">Devotion</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Josephine cometh not, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Josephines_Anxieties">Josephine’s Anxieties, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Infidelity, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Plan of Campaign, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Swoon, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Josephine</span> (Giorgina), <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_558">558</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Jourdan</span>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Joyful_Days">Joyful Days for Letizia, <a href="#Page_484">484</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Judas</span>, <a href="#Page_629">629</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Julie"><span class="smcap">Julie Clary</span> (afterwards Wife of Joseph Bonaparte), <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Junot</span>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, + <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, <a href="#Page_588">588</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Jupiter, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Justifies">Justifies himself on his Deathbed, <a href="#Page_670">670</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Kandahar, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Kant</span>, <a href="#Page_591">591</a>, <a href="#Page_593">593</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Katzbach, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Kaunitz</span>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_561">561</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Kaunitz Castle, <a href="#Page_561">561</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Kebir, El</span>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Kellermann</span>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Key of St. Peter, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Kidnapping">Kidnapping of Enghien, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Kill you. <i>See</i> <a href="#I_intended">I Intended</a></li> + +<li class="indx">King of Rome, <a href="#Page_382">382</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Kingdom">Kingdom in a Garden, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Kingdom_of_Westphalia">of Westphalia, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Kingdoms. <i>See</i> <a href="#New_Kingdoms">New</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="King_Lear">King Lear upon the Heath, <a href="#Page_397">397</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="King_Log">King Log and King Stork, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="King_of_France">King of France, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Kings. <i>See</i> <a href="#Audience_of_Kings">Audience of</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Disgruntled">Disgruntled</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Kircheisen</span>, <a href="#Page_683">683</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Kissing">Kissing the Colours, <a href="#Page_478">478</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Kléber, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_587">587</a>, + <a href="#Page_668">668</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Königsberg, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Koller</span>, <a href="#Page_480">480</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Koran, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Kovno, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Knights of Malta, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Kremlin, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, + <a href="#Page_653">653</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Kutusoff</span>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">La Belle Alliance, <a href="#Page_523">523</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="La_Bruyere"><span class="smcap">La Bruyère</span>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lacépède, <a href="#Page_598">598</a></li> + +<li class="indx">La Corniche, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lady hesitates, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lagoons, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Lafayette</span>, <a href="#Page_526">526</a>, <a href="#Page_528">528</a>, <a href="#Page_564">564</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a>, + <a href="#Page_660">660</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">La Fontaine</span>, <a href="#Page_628">628</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Lamarck</span>, <a href="#Page_602">602</a></li> + +<li class="indx">La Mure, <a href="#Page_498">498</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Landing">Landing at Fréjus, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Lannes</span>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, + <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_587">587</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Laon, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>, <a href="#Page_525">525</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">La Pagerie</span>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Josephine"><span class="smcap">Josephine</span></a>.</li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Lapie</span>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Laplace</span>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_602">602</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="La_Rothiere">La Rothière, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Larrey</span>, <a href="#Page_661">661</a></li> + +<li class="indx">La Scala, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Las_Cases"><span class="smcap">Las Cases</span>, <a href="#Page_536">536</a>, <a href="#Page_538">538</a>, <a href="#Page_609">609</a>, <a href="#Page_610">610</a>, <a href="#Page_611">611</a>, + <a href="#Page_624">624</a>, <a href="#Page_626">626</a>, <a href="#Page_628">628</a>, <a href="#Page_630">630</a>, <a href="#Page_636">636</a>, <a href="#Page_637">637</a>, + <a href="#Page_641">641</a>, <a href="#Page_646">646</a>, <a href="#Page_647">647</a>, <a href="#Page_652">652</a>, <a href="#Page_655">655</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Last">Last Bulletin from Russia, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Command, <a href="#Page_673">673</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Gifts, <a href="#Page_671">671</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Letter, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Offers of Friendship, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Touches, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Will and Testament, <a href="#Page_659">659</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Lavalette</span>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a>, <a href="#Page_511">511</a>, <a href="#Page_515">515</a>, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>, + <a href="#Page_533">533</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Lavater</span>, <a href="#Page_584">584</a></li> + +<li class="indx">La Vendée. <i>See</i> <a href="#Vendee">Vendée</a></li> + +<li class="indx">La Vilette, <a href="#Page_571">571</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lavishness. <i>See</i> <a href="#Oriental_Lavishness">Oriental</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Leads">Leads a retired Life, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Leaning">Leaning on a birchen Staff, <a href="#Page_412">412</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lear. <i>See</i> <a href="#King_Lear">King Lear</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Lebrun</span>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Leclerc</span>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Lefèvre</span>, <a href="#Page_470">470</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Legality. <i>See</i> <a href="#Semblances">Semblances</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Legatees. <i>See</i> <a href="#Ninety-seven">Ninety-seven</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Leghorn, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_486">486</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a>, <a href="#Page_494">494</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Legion_of_Honour"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_697">[697]</span>Legion of Honour, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, + <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_491">491</a>, <a href="#Page_501">501</a>, <a href="#Page_547">547</a>, <a href="#Page_556">556</a>, <a href="#Page_559">559</a>, + <a href="#Page_560">560</a>, <a href="#Page_621">621</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Legions. <i>See</i> <a href="#Many">Many</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Legitimacy. <i>See</i> <a href="#Curse">Curse</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Legitimist Weaknesses, <a href="#Page_561">561</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Leipzig, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a>, + <a href="#Page_522">522</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lemberg, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Leo"><span class="smcap">Leo</span>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Leoben, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Léon</span>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>, <a href="#Page_486">486</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>, + <a href="#Page_664">664</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Lesseps</span>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Letizia"><span class="smcap">Letizia Bonaparte</span> (“Madame Mère”), <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, + <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, + <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, + <a href="#Page_474">474</a>, <a href="#Page_483">483</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>, <a href="#Page_486">486</a>, <a href="#Page_496">496</a>, <a href="#Page_631">631</a>, + <a href="#Page_632">632</a>, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>, <a href="#Page_656">656</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Joyful_Days">Joyful Days</a></li> + <li class="isub1">at the Fireside, <a href="#Page_451">451</a></li> + <li class="isub1">implores, <a href="#Page_631">631</a></li> + <li class="isub1">is full of Trouble, <a href="#Page_427">427</a></li> + <li class="isub1">is incorruptible, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Letter_to_Louis">Letter to Louis of Bourbon, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + <li class="isub1">with an open Date, <a href="#Page_672">672</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Letters on Corsica</i>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Levant, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Liberation. <i>See</i> <a href="#Price_of_Liberation">Price of</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#War_of_Liberation">War of</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Liberators. <i>See</i> <a href="#Army">Army</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Liberty. <i>See</i> <a href="#Equality">Equality</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lieutenant Reads, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Life_at_Montebello">Life at Montebello, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Life">“Life is a trivial Dream,” <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Life, retired. <i>See</i> <a href="#Leads">Leads</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ligny, <a href="#Page_522">522</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lilliput, <a href="#Page_483">483</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Limping Mephistopheles, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Talleyrand"><span class="smcap">Talleyrand</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lion, Advice of. <i>See</i> <a href="#That_is">That is</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lion of St. Mark, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lisbon, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lithuania, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Little_Court">Little Court, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Little Mother Russia, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lobau, <a href="#Page_578">578</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lodi, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Log. <i>See</i> <a href="#King_Log">King Log</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Loire, <a href="#Page_473">473</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lombardy, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, + <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, + <a href="#Page_566">566</a>, <a href="#Page_588">588</a></li> + +<li class="indx">London, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_492">492</a>, <a href="#Page_538">538</a>, + <a href="#Page_615">615</a>, <a href="#Page_617">617</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Loneliness, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Daimonic_Loneliness">Daimonic</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Lonely">Lonely Man, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Longwood, <a href="#Page_608">608</a>, <a href="#Page_610">610</a>, <a href="#Page_614">614</a>, <a href="#Page_615">615</a>, <a href="#Page_616">616</a>, <a href="#Page_617">617</a>, + <a href="#Page_619">619</a>, <a href="#Page_675">675</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Looting. <i>See</i> <a href="#Ideals">Ideals</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Loudoun, <a href="#Page_617">617</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Louis_XIV"><span class="smcap">Louis XIV</span>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_574">574</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Roi_Soleil">Roi Soleil</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Louis XVI</span>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_644">644</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Louis_XVIII"><span class="smcap">Louis XVIII.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#Louis_of_Bourbon">Louis of Bourbon</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Louis_of_Bourbon">Louis of Bourbon, Count of Provence (afterwards Louis XVIII), <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, + <a href="#Page_490">490</a>, <a href="#Page_491">491</a>, <a href="#Page_501">501</a>, <a href="#Page_502">502</a>, <a href="#Page_516">516</a>, <a href="#Page_561">561</a>, + <a href="#Page_627">627</a>, <a href="#Page_628">628</a>, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>, <a href="#Page_660">660</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Letter_to_Louis">Letter to</a>, and <a href="#Louis_XVIII">Louis XVIII</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Louis"><span class="smcap">Louis Bonaparte</span> (afterwards King of Holland), <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, + <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, + <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, + <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, + <a href="#Page_520">520</a>, <a href="#Page_552">552</a>, <a href="#Page_561">561</a>, <a href="#Page_564">564</a>, <a href="#Page_603">603</a>, <a href="#Page_671">671</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Louis Ferdinand</span>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Louis_Philippe"><span class="smcap">Louis Philippe</span>, <a href="#Page_664">664</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Louise, Marie</span>. <i>See</i> <a href="#Marie_Louise"><span class="smcap">Marie Louise</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Louise">Louise, Queen of Prussia, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, + <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_590">590</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Louvre, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Love Letter from the Battle-field, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Love of Frankness, <a href="#Page_554">554</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Lowe"><span class="smcap">Lowe, Sir Hudson</span>, <a href="#Page_614">614</a>, <a href="#Page_615">615</a>, <a href="#Page_616">616</a>, <a href="#Page_617">617</a>, + <a href="#Page_618">618</a>, <a href="#Page_619">619</a>, <a href="#Page_620">620</a>, <a href="#Page_638">638</a>, <a href="#Page_640">640</a>, <a href="#Page_658">658</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Lady, <a href="#Page_611">611</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lowe’s Animus, <a href="#Page_618">618</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Lower_House">Lower House, <a href="#Page_517">517</a>, <a href="#Page_520">520</a>, <a href="#Page_623">623</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Chamber_of_Deputies">Chamber of Deputies</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lucca, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Lucien Bonaparte</span> (Archdeacon), <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Lucien"><span class="smcap">Lucien Bonaparte</span> (Napoleon’s Brother, afterwards Prince of Canino), <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, + <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, + <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, + <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291-306</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, + <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>, <a href="#Page_520">520</a>, <a href="#Page_525">525</a>, <a href="#Page_526">526</a>, <a href="#Page_529">529</a>, + <a href="#Page_531">531</a>, <a href="#Page_533">533</a>, <a href="#Page_632">632</a>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Lucien_as_Rival">Lucien as Rival, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Luciens_Portrait">Lucien’s Portrait of Napoleon, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Luck. <i>See</i> <a href="#Stroke_of_Luck">Stroke of</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lunéville, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_680">680</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Lure_of_the_East">Lure of the East, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lutheranism, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Lutheran_Terminology">Lutheran Terminology, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lützen, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lyons, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_481">481</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, + <a href="#Page_504">504</a>, <a href="#Page_625">625</a>, <a href="#Page_629">629</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a>, <a href="#Page_651">651</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Academy, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Macdonald</span>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_470">470</a>, <a href="#Page_471">471</a>, + <a href="#Page_472">472</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_698">[698]</span>Macedonia, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Machiavelli, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Madame Mère, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Letizia">Letizia</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Madeleine, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Madras, <a href="#Page_620">620</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Madrid, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, + <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Mæcenas</span>, <a href="#Page_529">529</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Maggiore, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Magon, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Mahomet"><span class="smcap">Mahomet</span>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Mohammed"><span class="smcap">Mohammed</span>.</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Mahomet</i>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_655">655</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mai. <i>See</i> <a href="#Champ">Champ</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Main, <a href="#Page_382">382</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Maitland</span>, <a href="#Page_538">538</a>, <a href="#Page_539">539</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mainz, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, + <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Malay. <i>See</i> <a href="#Tobias">Tobias</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Malet, <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Malmaison, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, + <a href="#Page_474">474</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>, <a href="#Page_520">520</a>, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>, <a href="#Page_533">533</a>, + <a href="#Page_552">552</a>, <a href="#Page_558">558</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a>, <a href="#Page_643">643</a>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a>, <a href="#Page_671">671</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Reveries">Reveries</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Malta, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Maltese, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mamelukes, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Mameluke">Mameluke, The, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Rustam"><span class="smcap">Rustam</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Man. <i>See</i> <a href="#Inner">Inner</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Lonely">Lonely</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Only_the_strong">Only the strong</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Man_born_to_rule">born to rule, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of Destiny, <a href="#Page_604">604</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of Figures, <a href="#Page_570">570</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Manœuvres. <i>See</i> <a href="#Poets_Manoeuvres">Poet’s</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mantua, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, + <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Many">Many Legions, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Marchand</span>, <a href="#Page_613">613</a>, <a href="#Page_620">620</a>, <a href="#Page_658">658</a>, <a href="#Page_661">661</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a>, + <a href="#Page_671">671</a>, <a href="#Page_673">673</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marchfeld, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Marching_to_Victory">Marching to Victory, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="March">March of the Thousand, <a href="#Page_498">498</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marengo, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, + <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_524">524</a>, + <a href="#Page_577">577</a>, <a href="#Page_625">625</a>, <a href="#Page_629">629</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a>, <a href="#Page_675">675</a>, <a href="#Page_680">680</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Maret, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, <a href="#Page_474">474</a>, + <a href="#Page_493">493</a>, <a href="#Page_507">507</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marianne (the French Republic), <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Maria Theresa</span>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Marie</span>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>, <a href="#Page_664">664</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Walewska"><span class="smcap">Walewska</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Marie Antoinette</span>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Marie_Louise"><span class="smcap">Marie Louise</span>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, + <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>, <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>, + <a href="#Page_477">477</a>, <a href="#Page_487">487</a>, <a href="#Page_505">505</a>, <a href="#Page_506">506</a>, <a href="#Page_515">515</a>, <a href="#Page_621">621</a>, + <a href="#Page_663">663</a>, <a href="#Page_670">670</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Marie_Louises_Treason">Marie Louise’s Treason, <a href="#Page_505">505</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Marie, ou les peines d’amour</i>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Maries_Posy_Ring">Marie’s Posy Ring, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Mark.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#St_Mark"><span class="smcap">St. Mark</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Mark_Antony"><span class="smcap">Mark Antony</span>, <a href="#Page_661">661</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Marmont</span>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, + <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, + <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, + <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, + <a href="#Page_470">470</a>, <a href="#Page_471">471</a>, <a href="#Page_472">472</a>, <a href="#Page_499">499</a>, <a href="#Page_507">507</a>, <a href="#Page_510">510</a>, + <a href="#Page_553">553</a>, <a href="#Page_558">558</a>, <a href="#Page_587">587</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a>, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>, <a href="#Page_660">660</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marmont’s Desertion, Consequences of, <a href="#Page_471">471</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Marmonts_Treason">Treason, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marne, <a href="#Page_464">464</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marriage. <i>See</i> <a href="#Jeromes_Marriage">Jerome’s</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Reasons_for">Reasons for</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Undermined">Undermined</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Marriage_and">and Divorce, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marseilles, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Martinique, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Martyrdom. <i>See</i> <a href="#Price_of_Liberation">Price</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Masked Ball. <i>See</i> <a href="#At_the_masked_Ball">At the</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Masséna, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, + <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, + <a href="#Page_587">587</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a>, <a href="#Page_673">673</a>, <a href="#Page_679">679</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Mathematician">Mathematician and Seer, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mathematics. <i>See</i> <a href="#Dreams">Dreams and</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Maubreuil</span>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Maundy Thursday, <a href="#Page_500">500</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mecklenburg, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mediterranean, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, + <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>, <a href="#Page_480">480</a>, <a href="#Page_483">483</a>, + <a href="#Page_486">486</a>, <a href="#Page_535">535</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Fleet, <a href="#Page_372">372</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Medicis, <a href="#Page_427">427</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Méhul</span>, <a href="#Page_554">554</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Melas, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Member of the Institute, <a href="#Page_582">582</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Memel">Memel, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, + <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_642">642</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Memoirs, <a href="#Page_623">623</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Memoirs</i> (Bourrienne’s), <a href="#Page_681">681</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Memorable">Memorable Conversation, <a href="#Page_439">439</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Memorial of St. Helena</i>, <a href="#Page_609">609</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Memory, <a href="#Page_572">572</a></li> + <li class="isub1">unfailing, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Méneval, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, + <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_515">515</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mephistopheles, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_575">575</a></li> + <li class="isub1">the limping, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Talleyrand"><span class="smcap">Talleyrand</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Mercure de France,” <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Merveldt</span>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Messalina</span>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mess, Cleaning up the, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Messenger. <i>See</i> <a href="#Third">Third</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Messengers_from_the_East">Messengers from the East, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Messiah, <a href="#Page_600">600</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_699">[699]</span>Metternich, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, + <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, + <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, + <a href="#Page_441">441</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a>, <a href="#Page_504">504</a>, + <a href="#Page_511">511</a>, <a href="#Page_548">548</a>, <a href="#Page_559">559</a>, <a href="#Page_578">578</a>, <a href="#Page_587">587</a>, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>, + <a href="#Page_642">642</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#News_for_Metternich">News for</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Metz, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mexico, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_534">534</a>, <a href="#Page_536">536</a>, <a href="#Page_632">632</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Midilli, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Milan, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, + <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, + <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, + <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Millesimo, <a href="#Page_521">521</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Milton</span>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Ministry_for_Foreign_Affairs">Ministry for Foreign Affairs, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li> + <li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Foreign_Office">Foreign Office</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Ministry_for_War">for War, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>.</li> + <li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#War_Office">War Office</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Minsk, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mio dolce Amor, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Mirabeau</span>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Miscalculation, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mob. <i>See</i> <a href="#Execrated">Execrated</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Modena, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Modern Hannibal, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Mohammed">Mohammed, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Mahomet">Mahomet</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mohammedanism, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moldavia, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mole-hill. <i>See</i> <a href="#Europe">Europe</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Molière</span>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Monarch. <i>See</i> <a href="#Homely">Homely</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Monarchy. <i>See</i> <a href="#Contradictions">Contradictions</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Money, <a href="#Page_586">586</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#I_alone">I alone</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Monge</span>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Moniteur,” <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, + <a href="#Page_620">620</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mont Cenis, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Monsieur Bonaparte, <a href="#Page_640">640</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Montebello, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, + <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Life_at_Montebello">Life at</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Montereau, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Montesquieu</span>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Monteverde, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mont Genèvre, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Montholon</span>, <a href="#Page_599">599</a>, <a href="#Page_612">612</a>, <a href="#Page_613">613</a>, <a href="#Page_621">621</a>, <a href="#Page_623">623</a>, + <a href="#Page_628">628</a>, <a href="#Page_635">635</a>, <a href="#Page_636">636</a>, <a href="#Page_646">646</a>, <a href="#Page_654">654</a>, <a href="#Page_658">658</a>, + <a href="#Page_659">659</a>, <a href="#Page_661">661</a>, <a href="#Page_664">664</a>, <a href="#Page_672">672</a>, <a href="#Page_674">674</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Madame, <a href="#Page_638">638</a>, <a href="#Page_646">646</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Montmirail, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Montmorency</span>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moodiness, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moods. <i>See</i> <a href="#Fourth-act">Fourth-act</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Moore</span>, <a href="#Page_615">615</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moravia, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Moreau</span>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, + <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>, <a href="#Page_587">587</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="More_Family_Troubles">More Family Troubles, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="More_Proposals">More Peace Proposals, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Morfontaine, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Mort de César</i>, <a href="#Page_645">645</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Mortier</span>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>, <a href="#Page_471">471</a>, <a href="#Page_472">472</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moscow, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>, + <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>, + <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, + <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>, <a href="#Page_489">489</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, <a href="#Page_509">509</a>, <a href="#Page_554">554</a>, + <a href="#Page_566">566</a>, <a href="#Page_637">637</a>, <a href="#Page_653">653</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moskva, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Moselle, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Moses</span>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_600">600</a>, <a href="#Page_601">601</a>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Wells of, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_601">601</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mother. <i>See</i> <a href="#Emperor_and_his_Mother">Emperor and his</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mother Letizia, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mother Russia, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mother’s Life comes first, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Motley, <a href="#Page_480">480</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Moulin</span>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Muiron</span>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_535">535</a>, <a href="#Page_536">536</a>, <a href="#Page_618">618</a>, + <a href="#Page_662">662</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Muiron,” <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Müller, Johannes</span>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_603">603</a></li> + <li class="isub1">(Chancellor, Weimar), <a href="#Page_555">555</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Mummy">Mummy in Court Dress, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Munich, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Murat"><span class="smcap">Murat</span> (afterwards King of Naples), <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, + <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, + <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, + <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, + <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, + <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_494">494</a>, <a href="#Page_570">570</a>, <a href="#Page_587">587</a>, <a href="#Page_614">614</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a>, + <a href="#Page_644">644</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a></li> + <li class="isub1">and Bernadotte, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Murder. <i>See</i> <a href="#Slow">Slow</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mure, <a href="#Page_498">498</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Muscovy">Muscovy, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Russia">Russia</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mutable Many, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li> + +<li class="indx">My Cause. <i>See</i> <a href="#Espouse_my_Cause">Espouse</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“My Game is going awry,” <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="My_Sceptre">“My Sceptre is from God,” <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“My Star is setting,” <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mystifications, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li class="indx">My Strength is builded on a Rock, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst" id="Naive">Naïve Aside, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Name_your_children">Name your Children after me, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Naples, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, + <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_494">494</a>, <a href="#Page_570">570</a></li> + <li class="isub1">King of. <i>See</i> <a href="#Joseph">Joseph</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Murat">Murat</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Napoleon I</span>, passim. <i>See also</i>, <a href="#Comparison">Comparison</a>, +<a href="#Luciens_Portrait">Lucien’s Portrait</a>, <a href="#Resume_the_Name">Resume the Name</a>, <a href="#St_Napoleon">St. Napoleon</a></li> + <li class="isub1">II, <a href="#Page_529">529</a>, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>, <a href="#Page_613">613</a>, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>.</li> + <li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Napoleon_Francis"><span class="smcap">Napoleon Francis</span></a></li> + <li class="isub1">III, <a href="#Page_613">613</a></li> + <li class="isub1">and Maitland, <a href="#Page_538">538</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Napoleon_and_Royalists"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_700">[700]</span>and the Royalists, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Napoleon_Francis"><span class="smcap">Francis</span>, King of Rome (“Napoleon II”), <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_488">488</a>, <a href="#Page_660">660</a>.</li> + <li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Napoleon_II">Napoleon II</a>, <a href="#Rome">Rome, King of</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Napoleonic Idea, <a href="#Page_596">596</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Napoleon Museum, <a href="#Page_651">651</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Napoleons_Defence">Napoleon’s Defence, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Napoleon the Conqueror, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Napoleon’s Treasure, <a href="#Page_651">651</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Napoleon_II">Napoleon II, <a href="#Page_529">529</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Napolione</span>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Narbonnes</span>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Nation, Great. <i>See</i> <a href="#Great_Nation">Great Nation</a></li> + +<li class="indx">National Assembly, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="National_Guard">Guard, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, + <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>, + <a href="#Page_458">458</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_481">481</a>, <a href="#Page_525">525</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Natural Philosophy, <a href="#Page_601">601</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Necker</span>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Neipperg</span>, <a href="#Page_488">488</a>, <a href="#Page_515">515</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Nelson</span>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Nero</span>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Nesselrode</span>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Ney</span>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_470">470</a>, <a href="#Page_471">471</a>, + <a href="#Page_472">472</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, <a href="#Page_501">501</a>, <a href="#Page_509">509</a>, <a href="#Page_510">510</a>, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>, + <a href="#Page_587">587</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ney’s Remorse, <a href="#Page_509">509</a></li> + +<li class="indx">New Testament, <a href="#Page_600">600</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="New_Kingdoms">New Kingdoms, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="New_Programme">Programme, <a href="#Page_502">502</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="News_for_Metternich">News for Metternich, <a href="#Page_504">504</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Nice, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, + <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Niemer. <i>See</i> <a href="#Memel">Memel</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Nile, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, + <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Nineteenth">Nineteenth Brumaire, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_479">479</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Eighteenth">Eighteenth Brumaire</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Brumaire">Brumaire</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Ninety-seven">Ninety-seven Legatees, <a href="#Page_661">661</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Niobe, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_474">474</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Noailles</span>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Nobles’ School, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Normandy, <a href="#Page_568">568</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Northumberland,” <a href="#Page_543">543</a>, <a href="#Page_608">608</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="No_Sea_Legs">No Sea Legs, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Not_one_Polish_Village">“Not one Polish Village,” <a href="#Page_377">377</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Notre Dame, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, + <a href="#Page_456">456</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Not so lucky as Genghis Khan, <a href="#Page_644">644</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="No_Tragedies">No Tragedies!, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Norway, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Novels, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Number again. <i>See</i> <a href="#Fantasy">Fantasy</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Nuremberg, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Oder, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Odyssey</i>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Œdipus, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Œdipus</i>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Offers of Friendship. <i>See</i> <a href="#Last">Last</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Old">Old Companions. <i>See</i> <a href="#Fate_of">Fate of</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Friends betray him, <a href="#Page_462">462</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Home, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Regime, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Tempo and the New, <a href="#Page_522">522</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Testament, <a href="#Page_600">600</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Oldenburg, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">O’Meara</span>, <a href="#Page_617">617</a>, <a href="#Page_620">620</a>, <a href="#Page_646">646</a>, <a href="#Page_656">656</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Omens. <i>See</i> <a href="#Russian_Omens">Russian</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="On_Foot">On Foot into Warsaw, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Only_the_strong">“Only the strong Man is good,” <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Onslaught. <i>See</i> <a href="#Emperors_Onslaught">Emperor’s</a></li> + +<li class="indx">On the Alert, <a href="#Page_494">494</a></li> + <li class="isub1">the Banks of the Seine, <a href="#Page_465">465</a></li> + <li class="isub1">the “Bellerophon,” <a href="#Page_539">539</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Opening">Opening of the Family Dramas, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Operations Department, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Opinion, Bureau of Public, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Opinions. <i>See</i> <a href="#Other_Opinions">Other</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Two_Opinions">Two</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Opponents. <i>See</i> <a href="#Candour_to_Opponents">Candour to</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Orangerie, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Orbits">Orbits of the Satellites, <a href="#Page_632">632</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Orestes, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Orient,” <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Oriental Devices, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Oriental_Lavishness">Oriental Lavishness, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Orleans</span>, <a href="#Page_634">634</a>, <a href="#Page_658">658</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Ossian</i>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a>, <a href="#Page_639">639</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ostend, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Osterode, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Othello, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Other_Opinions">Other German Opinions, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Oudinot</span>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_470">470</a>, <a href="#Page_507">507</a>, <a href="#Page_508">508</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Our_Father">Our Father of Blessed Memory, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ourcq, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_571">571</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Outbreak">Outbreak of War, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Outlaw him, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Overestimating">Overestimating the Foe, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Over my dead Body, <a href="#Page_620">620</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Overtures. <i>See</i> <a href="#First">First</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Owen Glendower</span>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Pagerie</span>. <i>See</i> <a href="#Josephine"><span class="smcap">Josephine</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Paisiello</span>, <a href="#Page_554">554</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Palais Bourbon, <a href="#Page_529">529</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Palazzo Serbelloni, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Paoli</span>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, + <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, + <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_538">538</a>, <a href="#Page_657">657</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Papal States, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Paradise Lost</i>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Parcæ, <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Paris, passim. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Back_to_Paris">Back to</a>, <a href="#He_threatens_Paris">He +threatens</a>, <a href="#Invitation_to_Paris">Invitation to</a>, <a href="#Putsch_in_Paris">Putsch in</a>, +<a href="#Rising_in_Paris">Rising in</a>, <a href="#Road_to_Paris">Road to</a>, <a href="#Tsar_in_Paris">Tsar +in</a>, <a href="#What_is_Paris_Saying">What is</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_701">[701]</span><span class="smcap">Pariset</span>, <a href="#Page_683">683</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Parma, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Parody. <i>See</i> <a href="#Etiquette">Etiquette</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Partition">Partition of Europe, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Patriotic Society, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Paul et Virginie</i>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Tsar of Russia, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Pauline"><span class="smcap">Pauline Bonaparte</span> (afterwards Princess Borghese), <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, + <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>, + <a href="#Page_488">488</a>, <a href="#Page_495">495</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a>, <a href="#Page_659">659</a>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a>, + <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pause in the Advance, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pavia, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Peace. <i>See</i> <a href="#First_Overtures">First Overtures</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Policy, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Proposals. <i>See</i> <a href="#Further_Proposals">Further</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#More_Proposals">More</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Peace_with_Rome">with Rome, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Peasants">Peasants. <i>See</i> <a href="#Arm_the_Peasants">Arm</a></li> + <li class="isub1">begin to grumble, <a href="#Page_382">382</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Peninsular_War">Peninsular War, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_654">654</a></li> + +<li class="indx">People. <i>See</i> <a href="#General">General</a></li> + <li class="isub1">needs a Chief, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> + +<li class="indx">People’s Commissary for War, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Percy</span>, <a href="#Page_661">661</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Peretti</span>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Persia, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Peter</span>. <i>See</i> <a href="#St_Peter"><span class="smcap">St. Peter</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx">Petersburg. <i>See</i> <a href="#St_Petersburg">St. Petersburg</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Petroffsky Palace, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pharsalia, <a href="#Page_679">679</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Phélippeaux</span>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Philip II, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Philippe</span>. <i>See</i> <a href="#Louis_Philippe"><span class="smcap">Louis Philippe</span></a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Philoctète</i>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Philosophie Zoologique</i>, <a href="#Page_602">602</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pianosa, <a href="#Page_481">481</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Pichegru</span>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Picture of Philip II, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Piedmont, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pied Piper, <a href="#Page_507">507</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pin. <i>See</i> <a href="#Scarab">Scarab</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pisa, <a href="#Page_484">484</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Pius_VI"><span class="smcap">Pius VI</span>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Pius_VII">VII, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Place occupied. <i>See</i> <a href="#First_Place">First Place</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Plan. <i>See</i> <a href="#Egyptian">Egyptian</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Plans">Plans for a Coup d’État, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + <li class="isub1">for a Rescue, <a href="#Page_635">635</a></li> + <li class="isub1">for World Conquest, <a href="#Page_372">372</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Plantation House, <a href="#Page_617">617</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Plato</span>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Plebeians_at_Court">Plebeians at Court, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Plot">Plot and Counterplot, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Plough. <i>See</i> <a href="#Emperor_drives">Emperor drives</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Plutarch</span>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, + <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, + <a href="#Page_679">679</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Plymouth, <a href="#Page_540">540</a>, <a href="#Page_542">542</a>, <a href="#Page_610">610</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Po, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Poet. <i>See</i> <a href="#Emperor_scores">Emperor scores</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Poets_Manoeuvres">Poet’s Manœuvres, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Poland, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, + <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, + <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_486">486</a>, <a href="#Page_492">492</a>, <a href="#Page_548">548</a>, <a href="#Page_590">590</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Polish War, Second, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Poisoning the Plague-stricken, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Policy_and_Honour">Policy and Honour, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> + <li class="isub1">towards the Peoples, <a href="#Page_590">590</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Polish">Polish Countess, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Village. <i>See</i> <a href="#Not_one_Polish_Village">Not one</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Political">Political Consequences, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Political_Programme">Programme, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Testament, <a href="#Page_665">665</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Politics_on_the_Stage">Politics on the Stage, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pomerania, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Pompey</span>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pontine Marshes, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pope. <i>See</i> <a href="#Gregory_VII">Gregory VII</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Leo">Leo</a>, +<a href="#Pius_VI">Pius VI</a>, <a href="#Pius_VII">Pius VII</a>, <a href="#Short_Way">Short Way with</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Porte, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Porto Ferrajo, <a href="#Page_481">481</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Portrait. <i>See</i> <a href="#His_Sons_Portrait">His Son’s</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of Napoleon. <i>See</i> <a href="#Luciens_Portrait">Lucien’s</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Portugal, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Posen, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Posy Ring. <i>See</i> <a href="#Maries_Posy_Ring">Marie’s</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Potsdam, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Pourvou que cela doure,” <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Poverty, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Prague, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Preamble, <a href="#Page_660">660</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pressburg, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_603">603</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Preussisch-Eylau. <i>See</i> <a href="#Eylau">Eylau</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Priam, <a href="#Page_598">598</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Price_of_Liberation">Price of Liberation, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of Martyrdom, <a href="#Page_636">636</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Princes. <i>See</i> <a href="#Servile">Servile</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Princess. <i>See</i> <a href="#Which_Princess">Which</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Principles. <i>See</i> <a href="#False_to">False to</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Prison, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Socrates">Socrates</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Prisoner. <i>See</i> <a href="#Examination">Examination</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Programme. <i>See</i> <a href="#New_Programme">New</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Political_Programme">Political</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Prometheus, <a href="#Page_649">649</a></li> + <li class="isub1">bound, <a href="#Page_649">649</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Promised Land, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Property. <i>See</i> <a href="#His_Successors">His Successors</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Prophet, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Prophet_of_Evil">of Evil, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Protestantism, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Provence, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_478">478</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Count of, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.</li> + <li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Louis_of_Bourbon">Louis of Bourbon</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Province. <i>See</i> <a href="#This_Island">This Island</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_702">[702]</span>Prussia, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, + <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, + <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, + <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, + <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a>, <a href="#Page_568">568</a>, <a href="#Page_571">571</a>, + <a href="#Page_576">576</a>, <a href="#Page_651">651</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Broil_with_Prussia">Broil with</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Louise">Louise, Queen of Prussia</a></li> + <li class="isub1">vacillates, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Psychologist, <a href="#Page_584">584</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Public">Public Execration, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Opinion, Bureau of, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pultava, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pultusk, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Putsch_in_Paris">Putsch in Paris, <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pygmies, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pyramid, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst" id="Quai">Quai Desaix, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Quatre Bras, <a href="#Page_522">522</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Queen of Prussia. <i>See</i> <a href="#Louise">Louise</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Querelle</span>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Quixote"><span class="smcap">Quixote</span>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Racine, <a href="#Page_597">597</a>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a>, <a href="#Page_637">637</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Radziwill</span>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Rapp</span>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, + <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_508">508</a>, <a href="#Page_509">509</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Conversation">Conversation</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rastatt, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Raynal</span>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Rayneval</span>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Reading, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Reasons_for">Reasons for the Marriage, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Rebels">Rebels or Heroes, <a href="#Page_645">645</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rebuffs. <i>See</i> <a href="#Two_Rebuffs">Two Rebuffs</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Récamier</span>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Red">Red Cockade, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Sea, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Regent Diamond, <a href="#Page_651">651</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Reggio, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Regime. <i>See</i> <a href="#Old">Old</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Reichenbach, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Relatives. <i>See</i> <a href="#Advancement_of_Relatives">Advancement of</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Untrustworthy">Untrustworthy</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Rémusat</span>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_591">591</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Republic</i>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rescue. <i>See</i> <a href="#Plans">Plans</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Reserves. <i>See</i> <a href="#Inward">Inward</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Restoration, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Resume_the_Name">Resume the Name of Napoleon, <a href="#Page_664">664</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Resurrexit, <a href="#Page_677">677</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Retired Life. <i>See</i> <a href="#Leads">Leads</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Retrospect, <a href="#Page_646">646</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Return">Return of the Emperor, <a href="#Page_497">497</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Returning_Courage">Returning Courage, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Revanche!, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Revelation of St. John the Divine, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Revenges. <i>See</i> <a href="#Times_Revenges">Time’s</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Reveries">Reveries at Malmaison, <a href="#Page_531">531</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Reverse, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Revolution. <i>See</i> <a href="#Drums">Drums</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Revolutionary Traits, <a href="#Page_559">559</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Revolution is at an End, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Revue des Etudes Napoléoniennes,” <a href="#Page_683">683</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rex. <i>See</i> <a href="#Fridericus">Fridericus</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rheims, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rhine, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, + <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, + <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, + <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a>, + <a href="#Page_591">591</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Army">Army of</a>, <a href="#Confederation">Confederation</a></li> + <li class="isub1">-Rhone Canal, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rhodes, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rhone, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rhythm of the Epoch, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Richard</span>, <a href="#Page_630">630</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Richelieu</span>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ridiculous. <i>See</i> <a href="#Jerome_makes">Jerome makes</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ring, Posy. <i>See</i> <a href="#Maries_Posy_Ring">Marie’s</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rio de Janeiro, <a href="#Page_635">635</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rising. <i>See</i> <a href="#Attempted_Rising">Attempted</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Rising_in_Paris">in Paris, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Rival">Rival. <i>See</i> <a href="#Lucien_as_Rival">Lucien as</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Imperialists, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Riviera, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_496">496</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rivoli, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_621">621</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Road_to_Paris">Road to Paris, <a href="#Page_503">503</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Robbers</i>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Robespierre</span>, Joseph, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Maximilien, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_498">498</a>, + <a href="#Page_511">511</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rochefort, <a href="#Page_535">535</a>, <a href="#Page_540">540</a>, <a href="#Page_541">541</a>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>, <a href="#Page_643">643</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rock, The. <i>See</i> <a href="#St_Helena">St. Helena</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Roederer</span>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, + <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_550">550</a>, <a href="#Page_558">558</a>, <a href="#Page_562">562</a>, + <a href="#Page_564">564</a>, <a href="#Page_569">569</a>, <a href="#Page_572">572</a>, <a href="#Page_585">585</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Roi_Soleil">Roi Soleil, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Louis_XIV">Louis XIV</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Romagna, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Roman, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Holy">Holy</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Romanzoff</span>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Rome">Rome, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, + <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, + <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, + <a href="#Page_469">469</a>, <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_478">478</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>, <a href="#Page_486">486</a>, <a href="#Page_488">488</a>, + <a href="#Page_566">566</a>, <a href="#Page_593">593</a>, <a href="#Page_631">631</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#He_threatens_Rome">He threatens</a>, <a href="#Peace_with_Rome">Peace with</a>, <a href="#The_Eternal">The Eternal</a>, <a href="#Understanding">Understanding</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rome, King of, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a>, + <a href="#Page_488">488</a>, <a href="#Page_617">617</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Napoleon_II">Napoleon II</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Napoleon_Francis">Napoleon Francis</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rossbach, <a href="#Page_679">679</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rosetta, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_703">[703]</span>Rothière. <i>See</i> <a href="#La_Rothiere">La Rothière</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Rousseau</span>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, + <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_605">605</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Royalists. <i>See</i> <a href="#Napoleon_and_Royalists">Napoleon and</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rubicon, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Rudolf</span> (of Habsburg), <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Rulers">Rulers by divine Right, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ruling from afar, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Russia">Russia, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, + <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, + <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, + <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, + <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, + <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>, + <a href="#Page_528">528</a>, <a href="#Page_553">553</a>, <a href="#Page_554">554</a>, <a href="#Page_571">571</a>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a>, <a href="#Page_667">667</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Muscovy">Muscovy</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Last">Last Bulletin</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Russian_Omens">Russian Omens, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Rustam"><span class="smcap">Rustam</span>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, + <a href="#Page_396">396</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Mameluke">Mameluke</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Saale, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Saalfeld, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Saint-Antoine, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_527">527</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. Bernard, Great, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Saint-Cloud, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, + <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_526">526</a>, <a href="#Page_620">620</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Back_Room">Back Room</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Saint-Denis, <a href="#Page_532">532</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Ste. Geneviève</span>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Saint-Germain, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="St_Helena">St. Helena, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>, <a href="#Page_541">541</a>, <a href="#Page_543">543</a>, <a href="#Page_545">545-677</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Corsica_comes">Corsica comes</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. John, Church of, in Moscow, <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="St_John"><span class="smcap">St. John the Divine</span>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">St. Louis</span>, <a href="#Page_501">501</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="St_Mark"><span class="smcap">St. Mark</span>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="St_Napoleon"><span class="smcap">St. Napoleon</span>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_484">484</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="St_Peter"><span class="smcap">St. Peter</span>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_648">648</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="St_Petersburg">St. Petersburg, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, + <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, + <a href="#Page_553">553</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. Sophia, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Salamanca, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Saliceti</span>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, + <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Salle Apollo, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Salzburg, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> + +<li class="indx">San Domingo, <a href="#Page_590">590</a>, <a href="#Page_630">630</a></li> + +<li class="indx">San Giuliano, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sanhedrin, <a href="#Page_590">590</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sans Souci, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Visions_in">Visions in</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Santini</span>, <a href="#Page_613">613</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Saragossa, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sardinia, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> + <li class="isub1">King of, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Satan, <a href="#Page_568">568</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Satellites. <i>See</i> <a href="#Orbits">Orbits</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Savants. <i>See</i> <a href="#To_the_Savants">To the</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Savary</span>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_529">529</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Savona, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Saxony, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Scala, La, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Scarab">Scarab Pin, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Scene with Lucien. <i>See</i> <a href="#Climax">Climax</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Scepticism, <a href="#Page_600">600</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sceptre. <i>See</i> <a href="#My_Sceptre">My Sceptre</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Scharnhorst</span>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Schelling</span>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Schemes. <i>See</i> <a href="#Fantastic_Schemes">Fantastic Schemes</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#Worldwide_Schemes">Worldwide Schemes</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Scherer</span>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Schiller</span>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Schleiermacher</span>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Schönbrunn, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, + <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_486">486</a>, <a href="#Page_548">548</a>, <a href="#Page_573">573</a>, + <a href="#Page_578">578</a>, <a href="#Page_588">588</a>, <a href="#Page_589">589</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Schwarzenberg</span>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_559">559</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Schweidnitz, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Schwarzenberg</span>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, + <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, <a href="#Page_604">604</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Scipio</span>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Scion of the lesser Nobility, <a href="#Page_562">562</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Scrivia, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Scutari, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sea Legs. <i>See</i> <a href="#No_Sea_Legs">No</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Search_for">Search for an Heir, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Second Dream, <a href="#Page_672">672</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Polish War, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Wife, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Secret_Idyll">Secret Idyll, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Session. <i>See</i> <a href="#Deputies">Deputies</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Seeks Death. <i>See</i> <a href="#He_seeks">He seeks Death</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Seer. <i>See</i> <a href="#Mathematician">Mathematician</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Ségur</span>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Seine, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a>, <a href="#Page_659">659</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Self-confidence, <a href="#Page_551">551</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Criticism, <a href="#Page_642">642</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Self-crowned">Crowned Emperor, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Selim</span>, <a href="#Page_474">474</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Semblances">Semblances of Legality, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Semmering, <a href="#Page_548">548</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Senate, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, + <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, + <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a>, <a href="#Page_484">484</a>, <a href="#Page_518">518</a>, <a href="#Page_562">562</a>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Genoese">Genoese</a></li> + <li class="isub1">House (Roman), <a href="#Page_565">565</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Sense">Sense of Destiny, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sensitive Nerves, <a href="#Page_549">549</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Serbelloni, Palace, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Serbia, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Servants. <i>See</i> <a href="#Faithful">Faithful</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Servile">Servile Princes, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sèvres, <a href="#Page_621">621</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Seydlitz, <a href="#Page_679">679</a></li> + +<li class="indx">She lays Siege, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_704">[704]</span>Shepherd, Head, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Shiraz, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Short_Way">Short Way with the Pope, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Shot at Dawn, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Shuvaloff</span>, <a href="#Page_480">480</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sicily, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Siege_of_Toulon">Siege of Toulon, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sierra de Guadarrama, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Sieyès</span>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, + <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_528">528</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Signature. <i>See</i> <a href="#Awaiting">Awaiting</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Silesia, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, + <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Simple">Simple Tastes, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Simplicity, <a href="#Page_553">553</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Simplon, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Simply Dead,” <a href="#Page_602">602</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Simulated">Simulated Wrath, <a href="#Page_576">576</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Sire">“Sire, your Brother Lucien,” <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sisters. <i>See</i> <a href="#Brothers_and_Sisters">Brothers and</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Slow">Slow Murder, <a href="#Page_669">669</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Sluggishness">Sluggishness of the human Heart, <a href="#Page_487">487</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Smelting Works, <a href="#Page_485">485</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Smolensk, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, + <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Snare. <i>See</i> <a href="#Dynastic">Dynastic</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Socrates"><span class="smcap">Socrates</span>, <a href="#Page_647">647</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Soissons, <a href="#Page_525">525</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Sombre">Sombre Thoughts, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Son! <i>See</i> <a href="#A_Son">A Son!</a>, <i>also</i> <a href="#His_little_Son">His little</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Sons_of_the_People">Sons of the People as Generals, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Son’s Portrait. <i>See</i> <a href="#His_Sons_Portrait">His</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Sophocles</span>, <a href="#Page_622">622</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Sorrows"><i>Sorrows of Werther</i>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Werther"><i>Werther</i></a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Souchet</span>, <a href="#Page_472">472</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Soult</span>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_472">472</a>, <a href="#Page_580">580</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Southern France. <i>See</i> <a href="#In_southern_France">In southern</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Spain, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, + <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, + <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, + <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, + <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, + <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, <a href="#Page_560">560</a>, <a href="#Page_590">590</a>, <a href="#Page_595">595</a>, <a href="#Page_642">642</a>, + <a href="#Page_675">675</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Bad_News">Bad News</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Spanish America, <a href="#Page_632">632</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Spanish_Dynasty">Spanish Dynasty, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sparta, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Spezia, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sphinx, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Bonaparte">Bonaparte</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="First_Fredericks_Spirit">Spirit and Sword, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Staël</span>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_510">510</a>, <a href="#Page_511">511</a>, <a href="#Page_554">554</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stage. <i>See</i> <a href="#Politics_on_the_Stage">Politics on the</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Management, <a href="#Page_589">589</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Stanislas</span>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Staps</span>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li> + +<li class="indx">State. <i>See</i> <a href="#I_am_the_State">I am</a></li> + +<li class="indx">State, Prisoner, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Statesman">Statesman and Commander, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stein, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, + <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a>, <a href="#Page_505">505</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Steins_Influence">Stein’s decisive Influence, <a href="#Page_604">604</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stickler for Morality, <a href="#Page_557">557</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Stirrings">Stirrings of Hope, <a href="#Page_634">634</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stock Exchange, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stockholm, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stork. <i>See</i> <a href="#King_Log">King Log</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Storming Pace, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Storming the Habsburg Fortress, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Story">Story of Waterloo, <a href="#Page_624">624</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Strasburg, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_509">509</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Street">Street. <i>See</i> <a href="#Burning">Burning</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Fighting, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Strike">“Strike off my Chains!”, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Stroke">Stroke and Counterstroke, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Stroke_of_Luck">Stroke of Luck, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Strong Man. <i>See</i> <a href="#Only_the_strong">Only the</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Struggle against Venality, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Struggle">Struggles in Vienna, <a href="#Page_492">492</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Strumpet. <i>See</i> <a href="#Fortune">Fortune</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Stupidest Thing in my Life!,” <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Stürmer, <a href="#Page_611">611</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Styria, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Subordinates. <i>See</i> <a href="#Treatment">Treatment</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Successors steal his Property, <a href="#Page_475">475</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Such is my Will, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Suez, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sugar. <i>See</i> <a href="#Coffee">Coffee</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Surinam, <a href="#Page_372">372</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Sussex</span>, <a href="#Page_615">615</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Suvaroff</span>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sweden, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Swiftly">Swiftly westward, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Switzerland, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sword. <i>See</i> <a href="#First_Fredericks_Spirit">First Frederick’s Spirit</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sympathetic, <a href="#Page_598">598</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Syria, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> + +<li class="indx">System. <i>See</i> <a href="#Continental_European">Continental European</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Tacitus</span>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_560">560</a>, + <a href="#Page_565">565</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tagus, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_528">528</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Tamerlane</span>, <a href="#Page_652">652</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Talk. <i>See</i> <a href="#Tea">Tea</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Talking and Questioning, <a href="#Page_585">585</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Talleyrand"><span class="smcap">Talleyrand</span> (afterwards Prince of Benevento), <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, + <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, + <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, + <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, + <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, + <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, + <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, + <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, + <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, + <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>, <a href="#Page_474">474</a>, + <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_494">494</a>, <a href="#Page_510">510</a>, <a href="#Page_557">557</a>, <a href="#Page_560">560</a>, <a href="#Page_561">561</a>, + <a href="#Page_571">571</a>, <a href="#Page_575">575</a>, <a href="#Page_576">576</a>, <a href="#Page_586">586</a>, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>, <a href="#Page_600">600</a>, + <a href="#Page_642">642</a>, <a href="#Page_660">660</a></li> + <li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_705">[705]</span>and Fouché, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + <li class="isub1">as Internationalist, <a href="#Page_315">315</a></li> + <li class="isub1">indispensable, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> + <li class="isub1">is a Traitor, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> + <li class="isub1">rules, <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li> + <li class="isub1">smiles, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Tallien</span>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_557">557</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Talma</span>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_502">502</a>, <a href="#Page_535">535</a>, + <a href="#Page_592">592</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Taranto, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Tasso</span>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tastes. <i>See</i> <a href="#Simple">Simple</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Tatterdemalion">Tatterdemalion Army, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Taxis. <i>See</i> <a href="#Thurn">Thurn</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Tea">Tea and Talk, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Teeth. <i>See</i> <a href="#Four_Teeth">Four</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tempo, <a href="#Page_571">571</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Old">Old</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Terminology. <i>See</i> <a href="#Lutheran_Terminology">Lutheran</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Terror, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Testament, Napoleon’s, New, <a href="#Page_600">600</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Old, <a href="#Page_600">600</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="That_is">“That is the Advice of a Lion,” <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Théâtre Français, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="The_Eternal">The Eternal City, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Rome">Rome</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“The Mother’s Life comes first!”, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li> + +<li class="indx">The People need a Chief, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Themistocles, <a href="#Page_537">537</a>, <a href="#Page_542">542</a>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Thinking. <i>See</i> <a href="#What_is_Alexander_Thinking">What is Alexander</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Thinking Things over, <a href="#Page_491">491</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Third">Third Messenger, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Thirteenth Vendémiaire, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Thirty Years’ War, <a href="#Page_624">624</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="This_Island">This Island, this Province, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="This_War">“This War will last three Years,” <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Thoughts. <i>See</i> <a href="#Sombre">Sombre</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Thousand. <i>See</i> <a href="#March">March</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Three Years. <i>See</i> <a href="#This_War">This War</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Thrift, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Through the Enemy’s Fleet, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Thurn">Thurn and Taxis, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Tiberius</span>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Tidings">Tidings from the Congress, <a href="#Page_493">493</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tiflis, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tilsit, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, + <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>, + <a href="#Page_406">406</a>, <a href="#Page_548">548</a>, <a href="#Page_553">553</a>, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>, <a href="#Page_642">642</a>, <a href="#Page_651">651</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Threatens Rome. <i>See</i> <a href="#He_threatens_Rome">He threatens</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Three Cheers, <a href="#Page_627">627</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Fundamental Powers, <a href="#Page_550">550</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Time is Everything,” <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Times_Revenges">Time’s Revenges, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tippoo Sahib, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tiring Job, <a href="#Page_606">606</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tirol. <i>See</i> <a href="#Tyrol">Tyrol</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Titles. <i>See</i> <a href="#Hereditary">Hereditary</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Tobias">Tobias, the Malay, <a href="#Page_629">629</a>, <a href="#Page_630">630</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="To_Destiny">“To Destiny!”, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Tolly.</span> <i>See</i> <a href="#Barclay_de_Tolly">Barclay de Tolly</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Tolstoy</span>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Too far, Sire,” <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Too small. <i>See</i> <a href="#Europe">Europe</a></li> + +<li class="indx">To Rochefort, <a href="#Page_535">535</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tortona, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="To_the_Savants">To the Savants, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Tottering">Tottering Government, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Toulon, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, + <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Siege_of_Toulon">Siege of</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tours, <a href="#Page_650">650</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Trafalgar, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tragedies. <i>See</i> <a href="#No_Tragedies">No Tragedies</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Tragedy_of">Tragedy of Childlessness, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + <li class="isub1">of Fulfilment, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Tragical">Tragical Dilemma, <a href="#Page_516">516</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Trajan</span>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Transitional Characteristics, <a href="#Page_560">560</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Travelling Carriage, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Treason. <i>See</i> <a href="#Marie_Louises_Treason">Marie Louise’s Treason</a>, +<i>also</i> <a href="#Marmonts_Treason">Marmont’s Treason</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Treatment">Treatment of Subordinates, <a href="#Page_588">588</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Treviso, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Trianon, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tribunate, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Triest, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Trinity, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Triumphal Entry. <i>See</i> <a href="#First">First</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Triumvirs, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Tronchet</span>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Troubles thicken, <a href="#Page_515">515</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Troy, <a href="#Page_637">637</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Truchsess</span>, <a href="#Page_480">480</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="True">True Aim, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Tsar_Alexander">Tsar Alexander, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Alexander">Alexander</a></li> + <li class="isub1">breaks away, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Tsar_in_Paris">in Paris, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Tuckets">Tuckets for the Crowd, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tugendbund, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Turks. <i>See</i> <a href="#Victory">Victory</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Turenne</span>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_574">574</a>, <a href="#Page_655">655</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Turn_of">Turn of Fortune’s Wheel, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Turkey, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Turkish_Empire">Turkish Empire, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tuscany, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_487">487</a>, + <a href="#Page_559">559</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Two_Emperors">Two Emperors, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Two_German_Women">German Women, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> + <li class="isub1">Hundred and Fifty Men, <a href="#Page_458">458</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Two_Opinions">Opinions, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="Two_Rebuffs">Rebuffs, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Tyrol">Tyrol, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_706">[706]</span>Udine, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ulm, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, <a href="#Page_663">663</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Unconquerable">Unconquerable German, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Undermined">Undermined Marriage, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Understanding">Understanding with Rome, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Understands">Understands the Italian Temperament, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Under the Stars, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Unfailing Memory, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Unfeeling, <a href="#Page_597">597</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Unflagging Industry, <a href="#Page_573">573</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="United_Europe">United Europe, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_667">667</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="United_States">United States of America, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>, <a href="#Page_533">533</a>, <a href="#Page_595">595</a>, + <a href="#Page_643">643</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="United_States_of_Europe">of Europe, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_496">496</a>, <a href="#Page_514">514</a>, <a href="#Page_595">595</a>, + <a href="#Page_596">596</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Unity">Unity of Command, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Untrustworthy">Untrustworthy Relatives, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Upper_House">Upper House, <a href="#Page_517">517</a>, <a href="#Page_520">520</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Vacillations, <a href="#Page_536">536</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Valençay, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Valence, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_553">553</a>, + <a href="#Page_608">608</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Valladolid, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_548">548</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Varennes, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vatican, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> + <li class="isub1">State Papers, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Venality. <i>See</i> <a href="#Struggle">Struggle</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Vendee">Vendée, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_590">590</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vendémiaire, Thirteenth, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vendôme Column, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Venice, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, + <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_593">593</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a>, + <a href="#Page_669">669</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Venetian Sbirro, <a href="#Page_614">614</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Verona, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Versailles, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_672">672</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Viceroy of Italy. <i>See</i> <a href="#Eugene">Eugene</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Victory">Victory. <i>See</i> <a href="#Excommunication">Excommunication and</a>, <a href="#First_Victory">First Victory</a>, <a href="#Marching_to_Victory">Marching to</a></li> + <li class="isub1">and Disillusionment, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + <li class="isub1">over the Turks, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vienna, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, + <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, + <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, + <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, + <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_488">488</a>, <a href="#Page_489">489</a>, <a href="#Page_492">492</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a>, <a href="#Page_494">494</a>, + <a href="#Page_504">504</a>, <a href="#Page_511">511</a>, <a href="#Page_514">514</a>, <a href="#Page_515">515</a>, <a href="#Page_516">516</a>, <a href="#Page_538">538</a>, + <a href="#Page_548">548</a>, <a href="#Page_559">559</a>, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>, <a href="#Page_668">668</a>, <a href="#Page_676">676</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vilette, <a href="#Page_571">571</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vilna, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>, + <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Vignali</span>, <a href="#Page_670">670</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vincennes, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Vincent</span>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Virgil</span>, <a href="#Page_655">655</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Visconti</span>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Visions_in">Visions in Sans Souci, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Visitors, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vistula, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_528">528</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vitebsk, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vittoria, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_627">627</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vive l’Empereur, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, <a href="#Page_477">477</a>, + <a href="#Page_478">478</a>, <a href="#Page_499">499</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, <a href="#Page_524">524</a>, <a href="#Page_527">527</a></li> + <li class="isub1">le Roi, <a href="#Page_478">478</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Voilà un homme!”, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Volant. <i>See</i> <a href="#Eagle">Eagle</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Volga, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Voltaire</span>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_591">591</a>, <a href="#Page_645">645</a>, + <a href="#Page_655">655</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Volcano. <i>See</i> <a href="#Extinct">Extinct</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Wagram, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>, <a href="#Page_520">520</a>, + <a href="#Page_567">567</a>, <a href="#Page_587">587</a>, <a href="#Page_629">629</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Waiting">Waiting for Death, <a href="#Page_655">655</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Walewska">Walewska, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, + <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>, + <a href="#Page_486">486</a>, <a href="#Page_633">633</a></li> + <li class="isub1">again, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Walewski</span>, <a href="#Page_664">664</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wallachia, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Wallenstein</i>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Wallenstein’s Death</i>, <a href="#Page_509">509</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="War">War. <i>See</i> <a href="#Fatal">Fatal</a>, <a href="#Fortune_of_War">Fortune of</a>, <a href="#Outbreak">Outbreak</a>, <a href="#Peninsular_War">Peninsular</a>, <a href="#This_War">This</a></li> + <li class="isub1">as an Art, <a href="#Page_579">579</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="War_Office">Office, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li> + <li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Ministry_for_War">Ministry for War</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="War_of_Liberation">of Liberation, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Warfare. <i>See</i> <a href="#Commercial">Commercial</a></li> + +<li class="indx">War is an Anachronism, <a href="#Page_582">582</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Warnings, <a href="#Page_520">520</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Warsaw, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, + <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_548">548</a>, <a href="#Page_576">576</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#On_Foot">On Foot</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Washington</span>, <a href="#Page_645">645</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Waterloo, <a href="#Page_523">523</a>, <a href="#Page_524">524</a>, <a href="#Page_527">527</a>, <a href="#Page_567">567</a>, <a href="#Page_605">605</a>, <a href="#Page_617">617</a>, + <a href="#Page_624">624</a>, <a href="#Page_626">626</a>, <a href="#Page_637">637</a>, <a href="#Page_642">642</a>, <a href="#Page_650">650</a>, <a href="#Page_651">651</a>, + <a href="#Page_653">653</a></li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Defeat">Defeat</a>, <a href="#Story">Story</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wavre, <a href="#Page_522">522</a></li> + +<li class="indx">We have to forget, <a href="#Page_514">514</a></li> + +<li class="indx">We must be content, <a href="#Page_501">501</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“We need him in the Army,” <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Weathercocks, Dictionary of, <a href="#Page_638">638</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Weimar, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, + <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a>, <a href="#Page_603">603</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wellington, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_491">491</a>, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>, + <a href="#Page_524">524</a>, <a href="#Page_533">533</a>, <a href="#Page_534">534</a>, <a href="#Page_567">567</a>, <a href="#Page_626">626</a>, <a href="#Page_662">662</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wells of Moses, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_601">601</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Werther"><i>Werther</i>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Sorrows">Sorrows</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Weser, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li> + +<li class="indx">West Indies, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Westminster, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Westphalia, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Kingdom_of_Westphalia">Kingdom of</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Westward. <i>See</i> <a href="#Swiftly">Swiftly</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="What_a_Ballad"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_707">[707]</span>What a Ballad my Life has been, <a href="#Page_653">653</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="What_is_Alexander_Thinking">is Alexander thinking?, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li> + <li class="isub1" id="What_is_Paris_Saying">is Paris saying?, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Where is Ney?, <a href="#Page_500">500</a></li> + <li class="isub1">is the Enemy?, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Which_Princess">Which Princess?, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Whither to go, <a href="#Page_534">534</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Why_not_use_Grape-shot">Why not use Grape-shot?, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Wieland</span>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wife. <i>See</i> <a href="#Josephine">Josephine</a>, <a href="#Marie_Louise">His second, Marie Louise</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Wildhagen</span>, <a href="#Page_683">683</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Will. <i>See</i> <a href="#Last">Last</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Without_a_Fatherland">Without a Fatherland, <a href="#Page_657">657</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Women. <i>See</i> <a href="#Two_German_Women">Two German</a></li> + <li class="isub1">are Slaves, <a href="#Page_599">599</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wooing. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Courtship">Courtship</a>, <a href="#Fruitless">Fruitless</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Words overheard, <a href="#Page_415">415</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Working Classes. <i>See</i> <a href="#In_Favour_of">In Favour of</a></li> + +<li class="indx">World Conquest. <i>See</i> <a href="#Plans">Plans</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Worldwide_Schemes">Worldwide Schemes, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wrath. <i>See</i> <a href="#Simulated">Simulated</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Wurmser</span>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Württemberg, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Xerxes, <a href="#Page_541">541</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Xerxes’ Answer, <a href="#Page_541">541</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst" id="Yearnings">Yearnings and Calculations, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Yorck</span>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“You are frightfully young!”, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“You must!”, <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Young France is ready, <a href="#Page_472">472</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Your Brother Lucien. <i>See</i> <a href="#Sire">Sire</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Your holiness being infallible,” <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Zante, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Zeus thunders, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Zur Morphologie</i>, <a href="#Page_602">602</a></li> +</ul> +</nav> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="monogram" style="max-width: 12.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/monogram.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +</main> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79253 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/79253-h/images/cover.jpg b/79253-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d9cddd --- /dev/null +++ b/79253-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/79253-h/images/illus01.jpg b/79253-h/images/illus01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4f47fc9 --- /dev/null +++ b/79253-h/images/illus01.jpg diff --git a/79253-h/images/illus02.jpg b/79253-h/images/illus02.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0381612 --- /dev/null +++ b/79253-h/images/illus02.jpg diff --git a/79253-h/images/illus03.jpg b/79253-h/images/illus03.jpg Binary files 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