Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Volume IV

36

Las Cases, tom. i., p. 310.

37

Voice from St. Helena, vol. ii., p. 225.

38

"Austria had become a portion of my family; and yet my marriage ruined me. If I had not thought myself safe, and protected by this alliance, I should have delayed the insurrection of Poland: I should have waited until Spain was subdued and tranquil. I set foot on an abyss, concealed by a bed of flowers!" – Napoleon, Las Cases, tom. ii., p. 105.

39

"It was in vain that Soult strove with all his power to stop the slaughter. The frightful scene of rape, pillage, and murder, closed not for many hours, and what with those who fell in battle, those who were drowned, and those sacrificed to revenge, it is said that 10,000 Portuguese died on that unhappy day! The loss of the French did not exceed 500 men." – Napier, vol. ii., p. 207. See also Southey, vol. iii., p. 249.

40

Southey, vol. iv., p. 10. The reader is requested to compare this account with that given by Lord Burghersh, in his "Memoir on the Early Campaigns of Wellington," p. 77 – where the details are somewhat differently represented – Ed. (1842.)

41

"Victor sent soldiers to every house, with orders to the inhabitants immediately to receive and accommodate the wounded of the two nations, who were lodged together, one English and one Frenchman; and he expressly directed that the Englishman should always be served first." – Southey, vol. iv., p. 49.

42

Southey, vol. iii., p. 168.

43

Southey, vol. iv., p. 159.

44

Napier, vol. ii., p. 349; Southey, vol. iii., p. 511.

45

"Various explanations have been offered of this name. One account says, that upon finding his family murdered by the French, Juan Martin Diaz smeared his face with pitch and made a solemn vow of vengeance. Another, that he was so called because of his swarthy complexion. But in the account of his life it is said, that all the inhabitants of Castrillo de Duero, where he was born, have this nickname indiscriminately given them by their neighbours, in consequence of a black mud, called pecina, deposited by a little stream which runs through the place; and the appellation became peculiar to him from his celebrity." – Southey, vol. iii., p. 511.

46

Southey, vol. iv., p. 405.

47

Southey, vol. iv., p. 415.

48

Southey, vol. iv., p. 482.

49

Southey, vol. iii., p. 405; Fouché, tom. i., p. 339.

50

Fouché, tom. i., p. 329.

51

Fouché, tom. i., p. 329.

52

Mémoires de Fouché, tom. i., p. 331.

53

Fouché, tom. i., p. 32.

54

"It is well known that Josephine never spoke to the Emperor otherwise than in favourable terms of all those who were about his person; she was even of service to M. Fouché, though he had attempted to become the instrument for bringing about her divorce." – Savary, tom. ii., p. 178.

55

"Although Sir Walter Scott does not mention me, I am able to speak pertinently to this affair: the following is the truth. I went to Paris in 1809, against my inclination, to comply with the wish of the principal Dutch, who imagined that I could prevent, or at least adjourn by my presence in Paris, and my immediate efforts, the evident intention of seizing upon Holland. During my stay at Paris, I was persuaded that all the tricks, the attacks, and ill-treatment, of which I was the object, had not for their real end the union of Holland, since it was the interest of France to aggrandise that kingdom, but that it was a political stratagem, to induce the English government to repeal its decrees of council, and to conclude the peace; and I was therefore prevailed upon while at Paris to send M. Labouchère from Amsterdam to London with instructions to make known to the Marquis Wellesley, that if England did not withdraw its decrees of council, the union of Holland with France was inevitable. The reply of the marquis proved at once how favourable my government in Holland had been to France, since the English Government declared, 'that the fate of Holland could not fail to occasion much interest in England; but that, in the present state of that country, the influence of France was so entire there, that the political change spoken of, must have some weight in the determination of the British Cabinet.' This attempt having proved useless, I could only succeed in delaying the union of Holland, the decree for which being prepared beforehand, and always in readiness, was often placed before me – by sacrificing Brabant and Zealand. After my return to Amsterdam, I was requested to allow M. Ouvrard a passage to England. I consented to this the more willingly, as I imagined that it was in consequence of the step I had already taken in sending M. Labouchère to London. A short time after, the Emperor visited Antwerp. Whilst conversing with him there, I assured him that there had been no communication with England except that which had taken place through M. Ouvrard, according to his request. My astonishment was extreme on learning, that not only it was without his request, but that he was ignorant of it, and from that moment he determined on the discharge of M. Fouché, who had allowed so singular a proceeding." – Louis Buonaparte, p. 65.

56

Fouché, tom. i., p. 354; Savary, tom. ii., part ii., p. 208.

57

"Ah, Fouché! how well the Emperor knew you, when he said, that your ugly foot was sure to be thrust in every body's shoes." – Las Cases, tom. ii., p. 18.

58

"Napoleon left the council, and gave orders to Savary to arrest M. Ouvrard; at the same time, I was forbidden to have any communication with the prisoner. The next day the portfolio of the police was given to Savary. This time it was a real disgrace." – Fouché, tom. i., p. 358.

59

"The decree constituting Fouché Governor-general of Rome, bears date June 3, 1810. 'This nomination,' says Fouché, 'was nothing but an honourable veil woven by Napoleon's policy, in order to conceal and mitigate, in the eyes of the public, my disgrace, of which his intimates alone had the secret." —Mémoires, tom. ii., p. 7.

60

Saumar, Ham, Landskaone, Pierre-Châtel, and Fennestrelles.

61

Fouché, tom. i., p. 352.

62

Las Cases, tom. ii., p. 283.

63

See ante, vol. ii., p. 211, note. "Louis had been spoiled by reading the works of Rousseau." – Napoleon, Las Cases, tom. ii., p. 306.

64

"As Louis and Hortensia had lived almost always separate since their marriage, except three short periods of a few months, they each demanded of the family council a separation, presently after Louis arrived at Paris in 1809. But after a meeting of the said council was granted, the separation was refused, though it had long existed in point of fact. He was informed of the refusal verbally: no document whatever was transmitted to him on a result, on which however depended the ease, condition, and fame of a man of honour." – Louis Buonaparte, La Hollande, tom. iii., p. 199.

65

Documens Historiques sur la Hollande, tom. iii., p. 238.

66

"This treaty, which was rather a capitulation, was imposed by the Emperor, signed by Verhueil, and ratified conditionally by the King, who added the words, 'as far as possible.'" – Louis Buonaparte, Documens Hist., tom. iii., p. 248.

67

Documens Historiques, tom. iii., p. 310.

68

"This is not correct. I did not, nor could not, receive a pension from any one: my revenue was derived principally from the sale of my decorations and jewels, and the interest of the obligations I had taken upon me, in order to encourage the loan from Holland to Prussia at the time of the greatest misfortunes of the virtuous sovereign of that country, who, in spite of all opposition and every political consideration, was anxious to acquit himself towards me with scrupulous exactitude." – Louis Buonaparte, p. 69.

69

In 1808, Louis gave to the world a sentimental romance, called "Marie, ou les Peines de l'Amour," of which a second edition appeared in 1814, under the title of "Marie, ou les Hollandaises." A distinguished critic describes the royal production as "a farrago of dulness, folly, and bad taste." – (Quart. Rev., vol. xii., p. 391.) His treatise, entitled "Documens Historiques, et Réflexions sur le Gouvernement de la Hollande," is an unpresuming account of his administration in Holland.

70

"The conduct of your father grieves me to the heart: his disorder alone can account for it. When you are grown up you will pay his debt and your own." —Documens Hist., tom. iii., p. 326; and Moniteur, July 23, 1810. "When Napoleon received the news of his brother's abdication, he was struck with astonishment: he remained silent for a few moments, and after a kind of momentary stupor, suddenly appeared to be greatly agitated. His heart was ready to burst, when he exclaimed, 'Was it possible to suspect so mischievous a conduct in the brother most indebted to me.' When I was a mere lieutenant of artillery, I brought him up with the scanty means which my pay afforded me I divided my bread with him; and this is the return he makes for my kindness!' The Emperor was so overpowered by his emotion, that his grief was said to have vented itself in sobs." – Savary, tom. ii., part ii., p. 239.

71

Napoleon acknowledged at St. Helena, that the "annexation of Louis' kingdom to his own was a measure which contributed to ruin his credit in Europe." – Las Cases, tom. ii., p. 307.

72

Annual Register, vol. li., p. 475.

73

"A conspiracy of no common kind tore him from the throne, and transported him out of his states. The unanimity evinced against him is, no doubt, a proof of the wrongs he had committed. I am ready to admit, that he was inexcusable and even mad; but it is, notwithstanding, extraordinary and unexampled, that, in that crisis a single sword was not drawn in his defence, whether from affection, from gratitude, from virtuous feeling, or even from mere simplicity, if it must be so; and truly, it is a circumstance which does little honour to the atmosphere of kings." – Napoleon, Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 169.

74

Fouché, tom. i., p. 337.

75

"The real king," he said, "according to my political system and the true interests of France, was the king of Denmark; because I should then have governed Sweden by the influence of my simple contact with the Danish provinces."

76

"I, the elected monarch of the people, had to answer, that I could not set myself against the elections of other people. It was what I told Bernadotte, whose whole attitude betrayed the anxiety excited by the expectation of my answer. I added, that he had only to take advantage of the good-will of which he had been the object; that I wished to be considered as having had no weight in his election, but that it had my approbation and my best wishes. I felt, however, shall I say it, a secret instinct, which made the thing disagreeable and painful. Bernadotte was, in fact, the serpent which I nourished in my bosom." – Napoleon, Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 171.

77

See Reflections on the Conduct of Napoleon towards the Crown Prince of Sweden, in the Appendix to this Volume, No. I.

78

Annual Register, vol. lii., p. 518.

79

Jests, as well as serious observations, were made on this occasion. "Have you any commands for France?" said a Frenchman at Naples to an English friend; "I shall be there in two days." – "In France?" answered his friend, "I thought you were setting off for Rome." – "True; but Rome, by a decree of the Emperor, is now indissolubly united to France." – "I have no news to burden you with," said his friend; "but can I do any thing for you in England? I shall be there in half an hour." – "In England?" said the Frenchman, "and in half an hour!" – "Yes," said his friend, "within that time I shall be at sea, and the sea has been indissolubly united to the British empire." – S.

80

See Mémoires de Savary, tom. iii., part i., p. 37.

81

Lucien landed at Portsmouth in December, 1810, and was conveyed to Ludlow, which he soon after quitted for an estate called Thorngrove, fifteen miles from that town. Restored to personal liberty by the peace of Paris in 1814, he reached Rome in May; and was received by the sovereign pontiff on the very night of his arrival. The holy father immediately conferred on him the dignity of a Roman prince; and on the next day all the nobles came to salute him, by the title of Prince of Canino.

82

Lucien's poem of "Charlemagne, ou l'Eglise Delivrée," an epic in twenty-four books, commenced at Tusculum, continued at Malta, and completed in England, appeared in 1814. It was translated into English by Dr. Butler and Mr. Hodgson. From the eighteenth canto, which was written at Malta, and which opens with a digression personal to the poet, we shall make a short extract: —

"Bella gerant alii, tu, felix Austria, nube," &c. – S."Je n'oublirai jamais ta bonté paternelleFavori du très-haut, Clermont, Pontife-roi!Au nouvel hémisphère entrainé loin de toi,Je t'y conserverai le cœur le plus fidèle:Confiant à la mer et ma femme et mes filsSur des bords ennemis,J'espérai vainement un asile éphémère,Par un triste refus rejetté sur les flots,Après avoir long temps erré loin de la terre,Mélite dans son port enferma nos vaisseaux."De la captivité je sens ici le poids!Rien ne plait en ces lieux à mon ame abbattue;Rien ne parle à mon cœur; rien ne s'offre à ma vueAccourez, mes enfants: viens, épouse chérie.Doux charme de ma vie,D'un seul de tes regards viens me rendre la paix.Il n'est plus de désert, ou brille ton sourire,Fuyez, sombres chagrins, souvenirs inquiets,Sur ce roc Africain, je resaissis ma lyre.""Prince Pontiff! loved of heaven – O, Clermont, say,What filial duties shall thy cares repay?E'en on the shores that skirt the western main,Still shall this heart its loyal faith maintain.My precious freight confiding to the deep,Children and wife, I left Frescati's steep,And ask'd a short retreat – I sought no more —But vainly sought it on a hostile shore.Thence by refusal stern and harsh repell'd,O'er the wide wat'ry waste my course I held,In sufferings oft, and oft in perils cast,Till Malta's port received our ships at last."Here sad captivity's dull weight I find;Nought pleases here, nought soothes my listless mind:Nought here can bid my sickening heart rejoice,Speak to my soul, or animate my voice.Run to my knees, my children! cherish'd wife,Come, softest charm and solace of my life,One look from thee shall all my peace restore:Where beams thy smile, the desert is no more.Hence, restless memory – hence, repinings vain! —On Afric's rock I seize my lyre again."

83

"He was discovered by his always drinking a bottle of the best wine, which so ill corresponded with his dress and apparent poverty, that it excited a suspicion amongst some of the spies, and he was arrested, searched, and his papers taken from him." – Napoleon, Voice, &c., vol. ii., p. 119.

84

See "Report concerning Kolli's Plan for liberating Ferdinand, King of Spain," Annual Register, vol. lii., p. 497.

85

Savary, tom. iii., part i., p. 53.

86

"The Emperor recalled Massena, who was quite exhausted by fatigue, and unable to bestow that attention to his troops which was necessary for restoring them to their former state of efficiency; and he selected for his successor in the command Marshal Marmont, the Governor of Illyria." – Savary, tom. iii., part i., p. 54.

87

Fouché, tom. ii., p. 71.

88

Fouché, tom. ii., p. 71.

89

Fouché, tom. ii., p. 80.

90

Mémoires de Fouché, tom. ii., p. 90.

91

Fouché afterwards remembered, that an individual in his neighbourhood, mayor of a municipality, and whom he himself had employed in matters of police, had one morning intruded rather hastily on him in his study, under pretext of pleading the cause of a distressed tenant; and concluded, that while he was searching for the papers concerning his visitor's ostensible business, Mr. Mayor had an opportunity to glance at the sheets on his scrutoire, where the repetition of V. M. I. and R. M. (intimating your Imperial and Royal Majesty,) betrayed that he was drawing up a memorial to Napoleon, and a word or two of the context explained its purport.

92

It is not unworthy of notice, that the Emperor's mother (Madame Mère, as she was termed) always expressed a presentiment, that the fortunes of her family, splendid as they were, would be altered before her death; and when ridiculed by her children for her frugal disposition, she used to allege she was saving money for them in their distress; and in fact she lived to apply her boards to that purpose. – S.

93

Meredith's Memorials of Charles John, King of Sweden and Norway, p. 25.

94

See Appendix to this Volume, No. I.

95

See Meredith's Memorials, p. 38.

96

In the Moniteur, a scandalous intrigue was repeatedly alluded to as existing between this princess and the Emperor Alexander, and both to M. Las Cases, and to others; Buonaparte affirmed the same personally; telling, at the same time, as a good jest, that he himself had kept the King of Prussia out of the way, to provide the lovers a stolen meeting [vol. ii., p. 213.] These averments are so inconsistent with the character universally assigned to this high-spirited and unhappy princess, that we have no hesitation to assign them directly to calumny; a weapon which Napoleon never disdained to wield, whether in private or national controversy. – S.

97

Histoire de l'Ambassade dans le Grand Duché de Varsovie en 1812.

98

The fact is now pretty generally admitted to have been as stated in the text. But in the public treaty, it appeared that France negotiated an armistice, called that of Slobodsea, by which it was stipulated, that the two disputed provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia were to be restored to the Turks. But the armistice, as had previously been settled between Napoleon and Alexander, broke up without any such restoration; and a congress, which was held at Jassy for the arrangement of the quarrel between the Porte and Court of St. Petersburgh, having been also dissolved without coming to an agreement, the war between the Turks and Russians recommenced upon the Danube. – S.

99

Jomini, tom. iii., p. 541.

100

Histoire Militaire de la Campagne de Russie en 1812.

101

"When Napoleon had determined that all the springs of his diplomacy should be put in motion towards the north, he changed his minister of foreign affairs, the complication of so many intrigues and manœuvres becoming too much, not indeed for the zeal, but for the energy of Champagny-Cadore. Napoleon did not think himself secure in confiding the weight of affairs so important to any other person than Maret, the chief of his secrétariat– that is to say, all foreign affairs were, from that moment, concentrated in his cabinet, and received no other impulse than from him. Under this point of view, Maret, who was a true official machine, was the very man whom the Emperor wanted. He really admired his master, with whose thoughts, secrets, and inclinations he was acquainted. It was also he who kept the secret-book, in which the Emperor made his notes of such individuals of all countries and parties who might be useful to him, as well as of men who were pointed out to his notice, and whose intentions he suspected." – Fouché.

102

"Here the matter dropped. Ashamed of its overtures, our cabinet, whose only object was to have drawn Russia into some act of weakness, perceived too late that it had impressed upon our diplomacy a character of fickleness, bad faith, and ignorance." – Fouché.

103

For copies of the Correspondence with the French Government relative to Peace, see Parliamentary Debates, vol. xxiii., p. 10, 56.

104

"Napoleon had expressed a wish that the Emperor of Austria, several kings, and a crowd of princes, should meet him at Dresden: his desire was fulfilled; all thronged to meet him; some induced by hope, others prompted by fear; for himself, his motives were to feel his power, to exhibit it, and enjoy it." – Count Philip de Ségur, Hist. de Napoleon, et de la Grande Armée, en 1812, tom. i., p. 89.

105

"Whole nations had quitted their homes to throng his path; rich and poor, nobles and plebeians, friends and enemies, all hurried to the scene. Their curious and anxious groups were seen collecting in the streets, the roads, and the public places. It was not his crown, his rank, the luxury of his court, but him – himself – on whom they desired to feast their eyes; a memento of his features which they were anxious to obtain: they wished to be able to say to their less fortunate countrymen and posterity that they had seen Napoleon." – Ségur, tom. i., p. 90.

106

Las Cases, tom. i., p. 299.

107

"The Empress of Austria made herself remarked, by her aversion, which she vainly endeavoured to disguise; it escaped from her by an involuntary impulse, which Napoleon instantly detected, and subdued by a smile: but she employed her spirit and attraction in gently winning hearts to her opinion, in order to sow them afterwards with the seeds of hate." – Ségur, tom. i., p. 92.

108

De Pradt, Histoire de l'Ambassade en Pologne, p. 55.

109

De Pradt, Histoire de l'Ambassade en Pologne, p. 58.

110

Ségur, tom. i., p. 97.

111

Second Bulletin of the Grand Army, dated Wilkowiski, June 22, 1812.

112

Dated Wilna, June 25. "The difference between the two nations, the two sovereigns, and their reciprocal position, were remarked in these proclamations. In fact, the one which was defensive was unadorned and moderate; the other, offensive, was replete with audacity and the confidence of victory. The first sought support in religion, the other in fatality; the one in love of country, the other in love of glory." – Ségur, tom. i., p. 117.

113

The base of military operations is, in strategie, understood to mean that space of country which every army, marching through a hostile territory, must keep open and free in the rear, otherwise his main body must necessarily be deprived of its communications, and probably cut off. The base, therefore, contains the supplies and depôts of the army. – S.

114

Ségur, tom. i., p. 117; Jomini, tom. iv., p. 50.

115

Ségur, tom. i., p. 122.

116

Ségur, tom. i., p. 128.

117

"Napoleon, at Wilna, had a new empire to organise; the politics of Europe, the war of Spain, and the government of France to direct. His political, military, and administrative correspondence, which he had suffered to accumulate for some days, imperiously demanded his attention. Such, indeed, was his custom, on the eve of a great event, as that would necessarily decide the character of many of his replies, and impart a colouring to all. He therefore established himself at his quarters, and in the first instance, threw himself on a bed, less for the sake of sleep than of quiet meditation; whence, abruptly starting up directly after, he rapidly dictated the orders which he had conceived." – Ségur, tom. i., p. 131.