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 THE LIBRARY 
 
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 Ofneiiil of iLe Army »i Italy.
 
 THE HISTORY 
 
 NAPOLEON 
 
 EDITED BY rI H? HORNE. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH M A X Y HUNDUED EXGRAVIXGS ON MOO!), 
 FROM DESIGNS BY 
 
 RAFFET AND HORACE VERNKT. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 ROBERT TYAS, S PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 M D C C C X L r V.
 
 VCW3 
 
 Vi/«rnLi BnoTiiKK* & Co., rniNxtiis and En&b 
 rETKnnoRoroii Cottbt, !36 Fi.fpt SrnrEr, 
 
 I^ONDO:f.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In historical compositions, the chief characters and events of which 
 have produced a powerful influence on men and things, the difliculties 
 attending the task are not so much occasioned by the complexities 
 of the facts, as by the conflict of feelings among various classes 
 of readers. Whenever a truth is discovered, nothing can be easier 
 than to state it; but to state it in the way best adapted to gain 
 due credence among the majority of all parties, yet without compro- 
 mising its integrity, requires the most entire equanimity of thought 
 and feeling. The attainment of this rare condition of mind can 
 seldom be accomplished by any means so efiicient as a full per- 
 ception of the fact that, in most cases, " men's judgments are a 
 parcel of their fortunes ; " for circumstances, rather than the will* 
 determine opinion. 
 
 These difliculties, however, are enhanced to the extreme, when, 
 as in the history of Napoleon, the chief agents and sufferers are 
 of recent date, and when the events were of a nature to call into 
 play the strongest passions, interests, and opinions — political, social, 
 commercial, philosophical, and religious ; the consequences of which 
 are still fresh in the memory of the world, and still felt strongly 
 by extensive populations. It will be sufficient to instance the great 
 alterations in the system of war ; the final extinction of faith in 
 the old principle of " divine right ; " the establishment of great public 
 works in the countries over which Napoleon's power extended; the
 
 vi PKEFACF.. 
 
 enormous increase of our owni taxation, originating in twenty years 
 of war ; the great amelioration in the jurisprudence of France, — 
 its system of national education, communal regulations, and civil and 
 criminal laws; and the conflict and progression of public opinion 
 throughout Europe. 
 
 Under such circumstances, to satisfy everybody, is, of course, 
 impossible. To attempt doing this would be short-sighted weakness. 
 Those individuals, however highly-educated, and well-intentioned, who 
 tiike up a work of history, biography, or science, with a desire to 
 find nothing but harmonius replications of what they knew or 
 imagined before, and to derive fresh confirmation of old beliefs; 
 those who are anxious to receive only the information that 
 amalgamates with, and enhances those opinions which they think it 
 most advantageous and correct to adopt; all such individuals ne- 
 cessarily constitute the minority of readers to whom a work like 
 the present is chiefly addressed. Constructed on any pre-determined 
 views, suited to particular parties and classes of opinions, a work 
 of history would be rendered angular, distorted, and temporary, — 
 instead of circular, symmetrical, and permanent. The former method 
 addresses itself expressly to a class; the latter, to the majority of 
 classes in its day ; and, in the present instance, with a deep and 
 hopeful consciousness of the progress of the human intellect, and 
 a corres|)ondingly reverential submission to its final judgment, — to 
 all future classes. 
 
 The history, tlie first volume of which is now offered to the public, 
 is built up and composed from the same original authorities as those 
 consulted by previous historians and biographers ; with the assistance 
 also of the substantive works of the latter, and of all important works 
 since published, or now in course of publication. From careful ab- 
 htracts and references; from a dispassionate balancing of the single 
 and collective facts, st^itements, opinions, and conjectural probabili- 
 ties—occasionally found in direct opposition among authorities of equal 
 influence and validity — I have sought to attain a fixed equilibrium of 
 general truth. In particular instances, wliicli have been the subject 
 of much contest among opponent partizans, the most authentic ac- 
 counts are given on both sides, with their most obvious conclusions, 
 the writer Ubually stepping in as a moderator, though sometimes leav-
 
 PREFACE. vn 
 
 ing the reader to judge for liimself; but never shrinking, on impor- 
 tant occasions, from plainly displaying (not insisting upon) his own 
 convictions, and placing things in the broadest light of equal-eyed 
 justice. That this attempt has been honestly made, I know; that 
 it has been, hitherto, admitted to be successfully made, by most of 
 the first authorities in periodical literature, the present opportunity is 
 taken for returning all due acknowledgments. 
 
 The character and actions of Napoleon have never found in this 
 country, as in France — a circumstance by no means extraordinary — 
 what is understood by a mere partisan. Nearly every one of his 
 English historians and biographers have been direct and manfully 
 avowed enemies and denouncers. The constant fear of being " daz- 
 zled by the false glory" (a salutary fear with reference to the glory 
 of all deeds of war) of this particular hero, has led to an opposite 
 extreme, and injured the sight as to various qualities, actions, and 
 facts, which at least claimed always a just, as they often deserved 
 a generous, estimation. The chief exception to the general feeling 
 of unqualified hostility is to be found in Hazlitt, whose earnest, 
 powerful, though somewhat rambling work, written in the full vein 
 of admiration, contains, nevertheless, some of the heaviest animad- 
 versions. These passages have, for the most part, been quoted, as 
 an act of justice towards all parties. Emanating from such an ad- 
 mirer, they must indeed have been deserved ; in other instances, 
 however, I have almost always abstained from using strong language 
 of any kind, my plan being rather to let events take their course, 
 and narrate them as they occurred, without identifying myself, or any 
 one else, in the scene, more than absolutely necessary or inevitable 
 to our common conditions of humanity. 
 
 It has not been attempted to give a history of France in the stormy 
 time of the Revolution, or in the successive periods of the Directory, 
 the Consulate, or the Empire. The object has been to furnish a 
 clear, just, and succinct view of the integral nature and corresponding- 
 actions of Napoleon ; avoiding, as much as possible, all speculations 
 on motives, and leaving them to be developed by, and deduced 
 from, the entire course of such nature and actions. The violent 
 feelings of the English public having now passed away, a period 
 has already commenced for the exercise of a temperate judgment.
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 1 have also endeavoured not to forestall time, broach theories, or 
 dispense censure or praise; the very few exceptions that occur being 
 unavoidable, either for the sake of clearness of narration, or from 
 the extraordinary nature of the events themselves. The histories of 
 other men, who lived in the time of Napoleon, have been entered 
 upon so far only as they bore a reference to his; and, in like 
 manner, the events of the world's changeful history have been given 
 only so far as they stood in relation to him, influencing his actions, 
 or receiving: from him their form and colour. Whether he fulfilled 
 his destiny in a manner worthy of being designated as true to him- 
 self; or, having the power, he fell short of the good he saw, and 
 acted contrary to liis best convictions ; — this is the great problem 
 which his historians and biographers are bound to furnish the best 
 means of solving. The deep-searching and far-spreading investiga- 
 tions, into which an attempt to form an opinion concerning the con- 
 sequences and results of his actions, would lead us, could not be 
 undertaken without a comprehensive study and voluminous exposition 
 of the moral and political world and its various mutations: they, con- 
 sequently, form no part of the present design. 
 
 R. H. HORNE.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter 1 1 
 
 Birth of Napoleon — His Family — Brienne — Anecdotes — His early Character 
 — Snow-balls — Paris — Gets his Commission — His First Love — Authorship. 
 
 Chapter II 9 
 
 / 
 
 Corsica — Paoli — His Revolt — Napoleon's Politics — Poverty in Paris — The 
 
 King and the Mob — Events in Corsica — Promotion — Toulon — Little Gibraltar. 
 
 Chapter III 21 
 
 Alps — Napoleon's Arrest — Robespierre — Boissy d'Anglas — Napoleon's Po- 
 verty — Victories of the French — The Sections — Josephine — Napoleon's Promotion, 
 and Marriage. 
 
 Chapter IV 35 
 
 Napoleon as Commander-in-Chief — State of the Army — Proclamations — 
 Colonel Rampon — Napoleon's First Victory — Causse — King of Sardinia. 
 
 Chapter V 47 
 
 Josephine — La Harpe — Works of Art — Bridge of Lodi — Napoleon's entry 
 into Milan — Insurrection of Pavia — Kellermann — The Directory. 
 
 Chapter VI 35 
 
 Mantua — Venice — Insurrections — Naples — Leghorn — Citadel of Milan — 
 Wurmser — Battles of Salo, Lonato, Castiglione — Junot — Napoleon's Danger — 
 Flight of Wurmser — Third Blockade of Mantua.
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 ClIM-TEK \II ^^'' 
 
 Campaign on the Rhine — Moreau — Jomdan — Archduke Cliarles — Fourth 
 Army of Austria— Alvinzi— Losses of the French— Battle of Areola— Austrians 
 Uetreat— Fifth Army of Austria— Battle of Rivoli— Provera— La Favorita— Flight 
 of the Austrians — Surrender of Mantua. 
 
 Chapter VIII ^1 
 
 Wurmser's Departure — His Gratitude — Tlie Pope hreaks the Treaty — His 
 Army — Napoleon enters Romagna — Battle of the Senio — Napoleon's Clemency — 
 Ancona — Loretto — Tolentino — The Pope submits — Iiujuisition — Treaty of Rome. 
 
 ClIAPTEK IX 91 
 
 Army of the Archduke Charles — Bernadotte — Napoleon at Bassano — Massena 
 crosses the Piave — Passage of the Tagliamento — Pesaro — Chiusa — Retreat of the 
 Archduke — Austria solicits an Armistice, 
 
 Chapter X 101 
 
 Preliminaries of Leohen — Insurrection of Venice — Massacre at Verona — 
 Napoleon's return to Italy — Dissolution of the Venetian Oligarchy. 
 
 CilAl-TER XI 109 
 
 Napoleon goes to Milan — Montebello — Josephine — Love-Letters — Genoa — 
 Anecdotes — Protracted Negociations — Liberation of La Fa)'ette — Unsettled State 
 of Paris — Augereau and Lavalette — Cisalpine Republic — The Valteline. 
 
 Chapter XII .117 
 
 Pichegru — Baboeuf — Eighteenth Fructidor — Moreau — Coimt Cobentzel — 
 Treaty of Campo-Formio — Death of General Hoche — Napoleon at Mantua — 
 Takes leave of the Army at Milan — Departure — Enthusiastic Receptions on his 
 Journej" — Rastadt — Arrives at Paris — Grand Fetes. 
 
 Chapter XIII 129 
 
 Projected Expeditions — Politics in Paris — Madame de Stael — Affair.s of Rome 
 and Switzerland — Napoleon relinquishes the Invasion of England — Egypt — 
 Embarkation at Toulon — Surrender of Malta — Nelson — French Army lands at 
 Alexandria — The Desert. 
 
 ('HAfTLK XI\ 151 
 
 Battle of the Pyramids— Enlranee into Cairo— Battle of the Nile— Change in 
 the ProspeclH of the E.xpcdilion— Napoleon's Arrangements— Revolt at Cairo— 
 Na|)oleon viatU> Suez.
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 ClIAPTKR XV 1G9 
 
 Project of tlie Turks — Napoleon's Expedition into Syria — Berthier — March 
 across the Desert — Napoleon's Jealousy — Pauline — El Arisch, Gaza, Ranieh, and 
 Jaffa, taken — Turkish Garrison ])ut to Death — Siege of St. Jean d'Acre — Sir 
 Sydney Smith — Napoleon's Retreat — Story of Poisoning the Sick — Arrival at 
 Cairo — The Turks heaten at Aboukir — Napoleon departs from Egypt. 
 
 Chapter XVI 195 
 
 Enthusiasm in France at Napoleon's return — He arrives in Paris — Josephine 
 — The Directory — State of Parties — Sieyes — Bernadotte — Moreau — Revolution of 
 the 18th and 19th Brumaire — Napoleon First Consul, 
 
 Chapter XVII .213 
 
 First Sitting of the Consular Government at the Luxembourg — Just and 
 Popular Measures — Formation of the Ministry — Debates on the New Form of 
 Government — Sieyes and Ducos retire — Declaration of the Constitution of the 
 Year Eight — Napoleon, Cambaceres, and Lebrun, Consuls — Letter to the King of 
 England — Napoleon resides in the Tuileries — Funeral Honours to Washington. 
 
 Chapter XVIII 231 
 
 New Coalition — Russia deserts the Coalition — The Emperor Paul — Napoleon 
 prepares for War — Anecdotes — Massena in Genoa — Napoleon in Italy — Passage 
 of the Alps — He enters Milan — Passes the Adda — Takes Bergamo and Cremona 
 — Genoa capitulates to Austria — Battle of Montebello— Desaix joins the Army 
 — Affairs of Egypt — Battle of Marengo — Death of Desaix — Armistice — Restora- 
 tion of the Cisalpine Republic — Victories of Moreau — Massena commands in 
 Italy — Napoleon returns to Paris. 
 
 Chapter XIX 253 
 
 Plots against the Life of the First Consul — Death of Kleber — England grants 
 to Austria a Loan of Two Millions — Austria refuses the Treaty with France — 
 Malta surrenders to England — Second Letter of Louis XVI II. to the First 
 Consul — His Reply — Hostilities renewed — Battle of Hohenlinden — Austria sues 
 for a further Armistice — Infernal Machine — Arbitrary measures of the First 
 Consul — Confederation of the North — Treaty of Luneville. 
 
 Chapter XX 265 
 
 Continuation of War with England — Battle of Copenhagen — Death of Paul 
 — Preparations to invade England — Invasion of Portugal — Fulton and the 
 Steam Boat — Battle of Alexandria, and Death of Sir Ralph Abercromby — Capi- 
 tulation of Menou — The Concordat— Return of the Emigrants — Mr. Pitt suc- 
 ceeded by Mr. Addington— Preliminaries of Peace with England — Vigorous and 
 beneficent internal Government of France — Legion of Honour — Peace of Amiens 
 — Napoleon Consul for Life.
 
 Xii CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter XXI 287 
 
 Expedition to St. Domingo— History of the Island— Toussaint L'Ouverture — 
 Conquest of the Negroes by the French— The YeHow Fever attacks the French 
 Army— Suspicious Movements among the Negroes— Toussaint seized and sent to 
 France— Uevolt— Death of General Leclerc— Barbarities of Rochambeau— Death 
 of Toussaint— The French Fleet and Army of St. Domingo suiTender to England. 
 
 ClIAI'TER XXII 299 
 
 Hostile Attitude of France and England — England retains Malta — Affairs of 
 Italy, Germany, and Switzerland — Splendour of Paris, and increasing State 
 assumed by the First Consul — The Wars of the Newspapers — Message to the 
 English Parliament — Napoleon and Lord Whitworth — England begins Hostilities 
 — Napoleon imprisons all the English Residents in France — Seizes Hanover — 
 Occupies Naples — Fortifies Tuscany and Elba — Army of England — Great Prepa- 
 rations in England against Invasion. 
 
 Chapter XXIII 313 
 
 Conspiracy of Georges Cadoudal — Pichegru and Moreau implicated — Con- 
 spirators arrested — The Duke d'Enghien seized and executed — Death of Pichegru 
 — Captain Wright — His Death — Trial of Georges and Moreau — Execution of 
 Georges — Moreau banished — Protests of Foreign Courts — Summary in relation 
 to ilic Duke d'Enghien. 
 
 Chapter XXIV 333 
 
 Napoleon created Emperor — The Imperial Constitution — Protest ofLouis XVI II. 
 — The Emperor visits the Camp at Boulogne — The New Title recognised by the 
 European Powers ; England, Russia, and Sweden excepted — Arrival of Pope 
 Pius VII. at Paris — The Coronation. 
 
 Chapter XXV 347 
 
 Russia assumes a Hostile Attitude towards France — Letter of Napoleon to 
 George III. — Completion of the Civil Code — Napoleon crowned, at Milan, as 
 King of Italy — Third Coalition against France — French Army advances on 
 Austria — Capitulation of Ulm — Napoleon enters Vienna — Battle of Austerlitz — 
 Itetreat of the Emperor Alexander— Napoleon grants an Armistice to Austria.
 
 F AC-SIMILES 
 
 NAPOLEON'S VARIOUS SIGNATURES, 
 
 WITH EXPLANATIONS OF THEM, COPIED BY PERMISSION FROM THE 
 EXTRAORDINARY COLLECTION IN THE POSSESSION OF 
 
 M? SAINSBURY.
 
 A GENEALOGICAL SKETCH OF THE 
 BONAPARTE FAMILY. 
 
 Napoleon was born on the 15th of August, 17G9, at Ajaccio, in Corsica. 
 On tlie *23rd of Ajiril, 1779, he was admitted into the Royal Military School 
 at IJrienne, from whicli he went to tliat at Paris. Before his admission, proofs 
 were required to be delivered at the Herald's office of the nobility of his 
 family; which being done, M. d' Hozier de Servigny, of that department, 
 informed Ciiaki.es de BuoNAPAUTr, Napoleon's father, by letter, dated Paris, 
 March 8th, 1779, that his name was in all the records without having the article 
 de prefixed to it ; and that although a decree of the nobility, in the year 1771, 
 gave to his family the name of Bonaparte, he signed De Buonaparte. He also 
 inquired how the Christian name of his son, Napoleone, could be translated 
 into Prencli. At that time Napoleon's father was the representative of Corsica 
 at the court of France. He sent a reply on the same day from Versailles, 
 stating the Republic of Genoa had, two hundred years previously, given to 
 one of his ancestors, Jerome, the title of Egregium Hieronium de Buonaparte, 
 and that the article de had been omitted, because it was of very little use in 
 Italy. That Napoleone was Italian, and that his family name was Buonaparte, 
 or Bonaparte. The Bonapartes are of Tuscan origin. In the middle ages they 
 were eminent as senators of the Republics of Florence, San Miniato, Bologna, 
 Sarzana, and Treviso ; and as prelates attached to the court of Rome. They 
 were allied to the Medici, the Orsini, and Lomellini families. Several of them 
 held important public posts in their native states, and others employed them- 
 selves in literary pursuits at the period of the revival of letters in Italy. A 
 manuscript written by one of the family was lirst printed at Cologne in 1756; 
 and the volume, now in the Royal Library at Paris, contains a genealogy of 
 the Bonapartes, which is carried back to a very remote period, and describes 
 them as one of the most illustrious houses of Tuscany. Napoleon's fother 
 was born in 1745; he married in 1767, and died in 1785, at the age of forty; 
 leaving five sons and three daughters, viz., Joseph, born 1708; Napoleon, 
 born 1769, died 1821 ; Licien, born 1775, died 1840; Louis, born 1778; 
 Jkkumi:, born 178 1 ; Eliza, born 1777, died 1820; Pauline, born 1780, died 
 lh2.'>; and Caroline, born 1782, died 1839. Napoleon's mother was born 
 in 1750, married at the age of seventeen years, and died in 1836, in her 
 eighty-sixth year, in the same month of the year as her husband. Napoleon 
 was born in the same month of the year as his mother. He married Josephine 
 on the Htli March, 1796 ; and Maria Louisa (Berthier being his proxy 
 at Vienna), 11th March, 1810. At this period (May, 1841), his brothers 
 Joseph, I^ou IS, and Jerome, are the only survivors. Napoleon gave the fol- 
 lowing titles to all his brothers and sisters, except Lucien, viz., Joseph, King 
 of Naples and Sicily, and afterwards seated him on the throne of Spain ; 
 Lccien'« title of Prince of Canino was conferred on him by Pope Pius VII.; 
 Ix)i;i», King of Holland; Jerome, King of Westphalia; Eliza, Princess of 
 Lucca and Piombino ; Pauline, Princess Borghese ; Caroline, Queen of 
 Naples; and by the treaty of Paris in 1814, it was stipulated— having been 
 proposed by the Emperor Alexander of Russia— that the whole of the 
 Bonaparte family should retain the titles of prince and princess.
 
 In the year 1785, Napoleon left the Military School of Paris, and was 
 admitted as second lieutenant into the regiment De la Fere ; at that time 
 he thus concluded a letter to his father : — 
 
 CcL^k^j^jjjii 
 
 a -ve cj i^-Aoya/^ 99U^ 
 
 [Votre tres humble Buonaparte fils cadete gentilhoinine a'l' Ecole Royale 
 Militaire de Paris.] 
 
 Napoleon obtained a company in the year 1789, and in 1792 was promoted 
 to the head of a battalion of infantry of the national volunteers, which were 
 called out for the expedition against Sardinia. On his return from that expe- 
 dition, he commanded the artillery at the siege before Toulon. He signed 
 at that time — 
 
 After having taken General O'Hara prisoner at the siege of Toulon, on the 
 3rd of December, 1793, Nafoleon was promoted to the rank of general; and 
 in 1794, he commanded the artillery of the army of Italy. In the early part 
 of the year 1795, he was nominated to serve with the generals of infantry in 
 Vendee. He refused the appointment, and was soon afterwards attached to 
 the military department at Paris. On the 5th of October in the same year, 
 he commanded, under Barras, the army of the Convention against the sections 
 of Paris, and was by them promoted to the rank of a general of division. The 
 Convention shortly afterwards named him to the chief command of the army 
 of the interior; Napoleon had not, up to this period, omitted the letter u in
 
 spelling his name. The official letters are headed " Buonaparte, General-in- 
 Chief de r Armce d' Interior ;" and his dispatches are signed — 
 
 [Citizen Buonaparte,] 
 
 The last siprnature is at the end of the " Note sur 1' Arraee d' Italic" of three 
 pages, which Napoleon dated thus: — 
 
 ^^1/ttm 
 
 "29 Nivose 
 
 On the 29th Nivose, in the fourth year of the Republic (19th of January, 
 1796), Napolkon signed like the preceeding his plan for the invasion of Italy, 
 to the Minister of War. He was soon afterwards charged with the execution 
 of his project, and the success of the memorable campaign of 179G was the 
 result of it, proving the correctness of his judgment and penetration. From 
 that period his mihtary superiority was established. 
 
 In the Memorial of St. Helena (vol. i., p. 132, French edition, 1823), Na- 
 poleon is represented to state that during his youth he signed Buonaparte, 
 after his father, and did not alter his signature until after he was promoted to 
 the command of the army of Italy, to which he was appointed general-in- 
 chief, February 23rd, 1796, and continued to sign Buonaparte up to the 29th 
 of the same month. His principal object for omitting the u was to shorten 
 his signature. 
 
 Mr. Sainsbury has among the manuscripts in his Napoleon Museum two of 
 Napoleon's letters both hearhifj the same date, viz., "Head-quarters, Paris, 11 
 Ventose, An. iv. (1st March, 1796). One of them has 11 p.m. added to the 
 date ; both are addressed to the Commissary of War, demanding certain books 
 and maps, which are specified, for his journey. They are signed '* Bonaparte" 
 and " Buonaparte ;" consequently it is not unreasonable to presume that one 
 of these letters bears liis first signature as " Bonaparte," and the other his last 
 a» *' Buonaparte." 
 
 Napoleon set out from Paris to join the army of Italy on March 11, 
 1796; and in the first letter he sent to the Executive Directory from his 
 head-quarters, which is directed from Nice, on the 28th, he informs them of 
 having taken the command of the army on the preceeding day, and signs thus : — 
 
 /^^^^y^^^^" 
 
 [Bonaparte.]
 
 The alteration was from that time generally adopted, and his official letters 
 were headed "Bonaparte, General-in-Chief of the Army of Italy;" and from 
 his head-quarters at Carcare, Napoleon reports the battle of Montenotte, which 
 opened the campaign of Italy, to the Directory at Paris ; this letter is dated 
 April 14th, 1796, and signed: — 
 
 In his celebrated proclamation at Milan, on the 20th of May, 179(3, 
 Napoleon thus addressed his army, — " Soldiers, you have precipitated yourselves 
 like a torrent from the top of the Appenines. Milan is yours !" and signs : — 
 
 
 As general-in-chief of the French army in Egypt, Napoleon also signs : — 
 
 From Cairo, on the 30th of July, 1798, also as first Consul and Consul 
 for Life of the RepubHc of France, Napoleon signed thus : — 
 
 From his accession to the imperial dignity, the emperor signed thus : —
 
 After the battle of Austerlitz, which ended the campaign of ISOr), Napo- 
 leon's proclamation, dated from the imperial camp at Austerlitz, on the 3rd of 
 December, 1805, was signed : 
 
 From the campaign of 1S06, he signs only the first letters of his name, 
 thu5 : — 
 
 n 
 
 On the 2Gih of October, ISOG, from Potsdam, (he Emperor signed thus : — 
 
 And on the -JDih of October, 1800, from Berlin, thus 
 
 On the 27th of January, 1807, from Warsaw, thus
 
 From the Imperial Camp at Tilsit, on the 22nd of June, 1807, tlie 
 Emperor signed only the initials of his name, as under, and very seldom 
 afterwards in full : — 
 
 On the 7th of December, 1808, from Jladrid, thus 
 
 At the commencement of the campaign of 1809, on tlie 18th of April, 
 the Emperor wrote to Marshal JNIassena, from Donawerth, as follows : — 
 
 [Activity, activity, celerity. I recoininend myself to you. — Napoleon.] 
 
 From the Imperial Camp at Ratisbon, on the 24th of April, 1809, the 
 Emperor addressed a proclamation to the army, ending thus : — ^" Before a 
 month has elapsed I shall be at Vienna ;" and signed it thus : —
 
 8 
 
 And in less tlian three weeks afterwards tlie French army was at Vienna, 
 and the Fniperor signed his decrees from the Palace of Schoenbrunn, on the 
 13th of May, thus : — 
 
 ■^i- 
 
 The same variety of signatures is again found among the Emperor's 
 ordeis issued from Moscow, which city he entered as a conqueror, on the 
 12th of September, 1812: thus— 
 
 On the 21st of September, 1812, at three o'clock in the morning, the 
 Emperor signed thus : 
 
 On the Gtli of October, 1812, from Moscow, similar to the above. 
 
 During the campaign of 1813, the Emperor sent an order from Dresden, 
 to thf Major-Gencral IJerthier ; it is dated October 1st, at twelve o'clock. Ge- 
 neral I'elet states, he hesitated for some time before sending it ; the signature 
 ha» been cancelled with the pen twice, and written a third time.
 
 9 
 
 One of the most extraordinary of the Emperor's signatures is the fol- 
 lowing, which he gave at Erfurt, on the 23rd day of October, 1813, at 
 twelve o'clock. 
 
 On the 4th of April, 1814, from Fontainebleau, thus: — 
 
 On the 9th of September, 1814, from Longone, Isle of Elba, thus 
 
 From the Isle of Aix, on the 14th of July, 1815, the Emperor's letter 
 to the Prince Regent of England, is signed thus :— 
 
 tf"^.
 
 10 
 
 From Lo^g^vood, Isle of St. Helena, on the 11th of December, 1810, the 
 I^mperor wrote to the Count de Las Casas, who was the companion of his 
 captivity, a consolatory letter, on his being ordered to leave the island. This 
 circumstance gave Napoleon great pain, as it did also the Count. This was 
 liis first si^ature at St. Helena : — 
 
 The following is the concluding part of Napoleon's Will, which is pi'e- 
 served in the Prerogative Office, Doctors' Commons, London. 
 
 
 
 [Coci est mon testament ecrit tout entire dc ma propre main. — Napoleon.
 
 *^^^^rr ^ 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIRTH OF NAPOLEON HIS FAMILY BRIENNE ANECDOTES — HIS EARLY CHARACTER- 
 SNOW-BALLS PARIS GETS HIS COMMISSION HIS FIRST LOVE AUTHORSHIP. 
 
 \ihini.,u^'.,ii Napoleon Bonaparte was bom on 
 
 the ]5th of August, 1769, at Ajaccio, 
 in the Island of Corsica. There is rea- 
 son to believe that his ancestors, on the 
 mother's side, were Neapolitans ; and 
 that on his father's, they were members 
 of certain noble houses of San Miniato, 
 in Tuscany. The majority of his his- 
 torians and biographers endeavour to 
 shew that his descent was illustrious, if 
 not slightly tinged with royalty. The 
 nam.e of Bonaparte stands high among 
 the senators in the " Golden Book" of 
 Bologna ; but there is no proof that 
 Napoleon was lineally descended from that family. The fact is not 
 important ; for inasmuch as Time can easily trace many men back to 
 something of nobility, so the retrospection has only to be extended in 
 order to prove the origin of all men very humble. Whatever qualities 
 were displayed by Napoleon, he did not derive his power from his 
 family, but from his own nature, his own actions, and the circumstances 
 of which he was the creature and the creator.
 
 O THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Charles Bonaparte, the latlier of Napoleon, was a man of good 
 intellect and education ; possessing much eloquence, a dignified address, 
 and unaffected ^'ivacity. He was an advocate in the Royal Court of 
 Assize. He manifested his patriotism and energy in the struggle of 
 the Corsicans under Paoli, against the barter of their country, effected 
 by the Genoese, with the French, through the diplomatic manoeuvre of 
 the Duke de Choiscul. Various circumstances shew that Charles 
 Bonaparte was held in respect by his countrymen, and possessed their 
 confidence. To the scene of warfare in which he had taken so prominent 
 a part, he was accompanied by his wife, Letitia Ramolini, a lady of 
 superior mind, nujch beauty and courage, and who often shared the 
 fatigues and dangers he encountered. 
 
 The French won the battle of Ponte Nuovo, wliich decided the fate 
 of tlie Corsicans ; and Letitia Ramolini, then enceinte, was compelled to 
 take refuge among the mountains of Ronda, whence she regained 
 Ajaccio in safety. Here, being anxious to attend mass at the celebra- 
 tion of the Assumption, she went forth at an imprudent period ; felt 
 herself overtaken with sudden pains, returned home in haste, but was 
 unable to reach her chamber in time. The mother and her offspring 
 were found lying upon a carpet in an adjacent room, Letitia Ramolini 
 having there given birth to a son. The child was called Napoleon. 
 
 It is not unreasonable to suppose, "that the harassed life and high- 
 wrouglit feelings of his mother, previously to his birth, might have had 
 an influence on the temper and future fortunes of the son." He was 
 called Napoleon after one of the Italian Bonaparte family. A Saint 
 Napoleone once existed in the Romish calendar, but had fallen out by 
 some accident or neglect. In alter times, the Pope restored the Saint 
 to liis former rank, in compliment to his more fortunate namesake. 
 
 Many prognostics are reported to have been made concerning 
 Napoleon, some of wiiicii, as is usual, would certainly never have come 
 to light, had he not accompHshed the assumed predictions; while others 
 were evidently founded on close observation of his early character, or on 
 certain precocious indications not easily mistaken. Among the former, 
 we may class the predictions said to have been founded on the peculiar 
 circumstances attending his birth. ]\T. de Las Casas, for instance, having 
 discovered that the carpet on wliich the future conqueror first saw the 
 light, was covered with antitjue figures, illustrative of certain fables or 
 allegories, suggests that tiicy were, perluqxs, some of the heroes of Homer's 
 Iliad. Subsiquent biographers, overlooking the "perhaps," have adopted 
 this fancy. The medical attendant of Letitia Ramohni would, doubtless, 
 have accounted for the unadorned fact by a far more simple process of 
 n-a.son. Among the admissible class of these pre-visions, we must parti- 
 cularly notice the opinion delivered by his great uncle, the Archdeacon
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 3 
 
 Lucieii, when on liis death-bed. The arclideacon, who had been the 
 preceptor and adviser of his relations, was always accustomed to consider 
 Napoleon (the second son of Charles Bonaparte) as the head of the family; 
 and so convinced was the dying man of the true grounds of his impression, 
 that he exhorted the elder brother, Joseph, never to forget that fact. 
 
 Alluding to his childhood, Napoleon said, '• I was an obstinate and 
 inquisitive child. I was extremely headstrong; nothing overawed me, 
 nothing disconcerted me. I made myself formidable to the whole family. 
 My brother Joseph v»as the one with whom I was oftenest embroiled; 
 he was bitten, beaten, abused : I went to complain before he had time to 
 recover from his confusion." To these characteristic traits, we must add 
 that he displayed a vivid intelligence ; rapid comprehension ; a keen, 
 and often a splenetic sensibility ; wilfulness under restraint ; unbounded 
 energy ; and a violent temper. Whether the aggressor or the aggrieved, 
 he generally gained his point. Nobody had any command over him 
 except his mother, who found means, by a mixture of tenderness, severity, 
 and strict justice, to make liim love, respect, and obey her. From her 
 he learnt the virtue of obedience. 
 
 In 1779, Napoleon obtained his admission to the Military School at 
 Brienne, where he soon attract(id notice by his reserved manners, and 
 the assiduity with which he prosecuted his studies. He devoted himself 
 principally to history, mathematics, and geography. 
 
 
 'SMt^f
 
 4 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 He spoke oiilv Liic Corsicaii dialect on first entering the college, but 
 speedily made great progress in the French language. He hated Latin. 
 Bourrienne says of liim, " During play-hours, he used to withdraw to the 
 library, where he read with deep interest works of history, particularly 
 Polybius and Plutarch. I often went off to play with my comrades, and 
 left him by himself in the library." 
 
 His poverty has been said to have subjected him to mortifications 
 among his comrades; they also ridiculed him on account of his country, 
 and twitted him with the obsolete Saint, whose name he bore. They 
 sometimes made insulting allusions to his mother, and this exasperated 
 iiim beyond all bounds. 
 
 Amidst the contradictory accounts given by biographers of the early 
 character and conduct of Napoleon, a middle course will, probably, 
 bring us nearest to the truth. He appears, at this time, to have been 
 a studious, reflecting, solitary boy, whose premature development of 
 mind, without a corresponding clearness of purposes, and objects to be 
 attained, gave him a contempt for the companionship of his fellows, 
 without inducing satisfaction in himself. Hence he was grave, moody, 
 brusque ; and sometimes morose, from disgust with his masters, his mates, 
 himself, his position, and perhaps with everything else. He felt a power 
 within him, but could not see his way. In spite of his devotion to the 
 exact sciences, the hot imagination of youth got the better of the labours 
 of the understanding, and there was probably a struggle going on within 
 himself, which — considered apart from the good or evil of its future 
 results — might ask some allowance, perhaps some sympathy. 
 
 The saturnine boy was evidently not suffered to remain unmolested 
 in his solitary moods, as sundry bickerings attest; but in general he 
 withdrew himself from all companionship in silent scorn. If he re- 
 venged himself, he did it openly, and not by any indirect means. He 
 had occasionally to superintend certain tasks or duties. However he 
 disliked his comi-ades, he never reported their misdemeanours ; con- 
 temptuously preferring to go to prison himself. He and Bourrienne 
 were once placed as superintendents of some dutj^ which being neg- 
 lected. Napoleon persuaded the latter to accompany him to prison, rather 
 than report the offenders. They remained ten days in confinement. 
 
 The first impression he received at Brienne, was of an irritating 
 nature, though originating in circumstances not commonly felt by boys 
 of ten years of age. He obsen'ed a portrait of the Duke de Choiseul 
 hanging in the hall. " The sight of this odious character, who had sold 
 my country," he afterwards said, " extorted from me an expression of 
 bitterness." For this he had to endure much persecution. " I let male- 
 volence take its course," proceeded he, " and only applied more closely 
 than ever to study. I perceived by this what human nature was."
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. O 
 
 At the same time that Bourrienne was Napoleon's fellow-student, 
 Pichegru was his tutor. It is certain, however, that he made few 
 friends among his masters or his school-mates : it is equally certain that 
 some of the former entertained a high opinion of his intellect, and that 
 he possessed great influence with the latter, notwithstanding their 
 mutual animosities. On one occasion, the cadets had been ordered to 
 confine themselves strictly within their own precincts, at the time of the 
 annual fair held near Brienne ; but, luider the direction of Napoleon, 
 they laid a plot to secure their visual day's diversion. They undermined 
 the wall of their exercising ground, with so much skill and secresy, that, 
 on the morning of the fair, a part of it accidentally fell, and through the 
 breach they instantly sallied to the prohibited amusement.* 
 
 Many stories have been invented in order to shew the atrocities of 
 Napoleon's early youth. One of these, which was generally believed in 
 England, asserted that he fortified his garden against his comrades ; and, 
 watching an opportunity, fired a train of gunpowder, whereby many of 
 them were seriously injured. 
 
 Bourrienne says, " The fabrication probably originated in the juvenile 
 affair of the snow-forts and snow-balls. In the winter of 1783-81-, there 
 were immense falls of snow. Napoleon, being prevented from taking his 
 solitary walks, proposed to his comrades that they should sweep and 
 shovel up the snow in the great court-yard, and make horn-works, raise 
 parapets, dig trenches, &c. ' This being done,' said he, ' we may divide 
 ourselves into platoons, form a siege, and I ^\^ll undertake to direct the 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, vol. iii. chap. 1.
 
 b THE HISTORY OF 
 
 attacks.' The proposal, which was received with enthusiasm, was iinme- 
 diatel}' put into execution. This little sham war was carried on for the 
 space of a fortnight." 
 
 Napoleon, being one dciy on a visit at the house of Madame de 
 Brienne, heard a lady blaming Turenne for burning the Palatinate, when 
 he immediately replied, " And what of that, madam, if it answered 
 the end he had in view ? " Bourrienne denies the authenticity of this 
 anecdote ; but the reason he adduces against it rather tends to prove the 
 fact. Napoleon was quite likely to have said such a thing. 
 
 Whatever might have been the assiduity of Napoleon in his private 
 studies and reflections, he made no very marvellous })rogress in the usual 
 routine. Some of his French biographers, with Scott and Hazlitt, sub- 
 sequently, aver that the School was proud of him. It does not appear 
 that there were any scholastic reasons for this, though the Scliool no 
 doubt became proud of the recollection. He, however, attained sufficient 
 height in mathematics to pass his examination for admission to the 
 Military School of Paris. 
 
 On arriving there, he found the whole establishment on so brilliant 
 and expensive a footing, that he immediately addressed a memorial on 
 the subject to the Vice-Principal of Brienne. He shewed that the plan 
 of education was really pernicious, and far from being calculated to fulfil 
 the object which every wise government must have in view. The result 
 of the system, he said, was to inspire the pupils, who were all the sons 
 of poor gentlemen, with a love of ostentation, or rather with sentiments 
 of vanity and self-sufficiency ; so that instead of returning happy to the 
 bosom of their families, they were likely to be ashamed of their relations, 
 and to despise their humble homes. Instead of the numerous attendants 
 by whom they were surrounded, their dinners of two courses, and their 
 horses and grooms, he suggested that they should perform little necessary 
 services for themselves, such as brushing their clothes, and cleaning their 
 boots and shoes; that they should eat the coarse bread made for soldiers, 
 &:c. Temperance and activity, he added, would render them robust, 
 enable them to bear the severity of different seasons and climates, to 
 brave the fatigues of war, and to inspire the respect and obedience of 
 tiie soldiers under their command. Tiuus reasoned Napoleon, at the age 
 of sixteen, and time shewed that he never deviated irom these principles. 
 Of this, the establishment of the Military School at Fontainebleau is a 
 decided proof.* 
 
 M. de r Eguille, his instructor in history, is said to have made the 
 following note in his reports of the scholars: — "Napoleon: Corsican in 
 character, as well as by birth ; he will go fir, if circumstances assist him." 
 
 * BoiinieniK', vol. i. cha)). 2.
 
 BONAPARTR, LIEUTENANT OF AKTII.LERY.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 7 
 
 He was as much distinguished for grave and studious habits at Paris, 
 as at Brienne ; but he shewed a disposition to detect and expose abuses 
 in the establishment, and this might perhaps have shortened the period 
 of his residence at the college. He remained not quite a year. He had 
 now begun to mingle a little in society, and attended the literary con- 
 versaziones of the Abbe Raynal, under whom he read a course on legis- 
 lation and political science. 
 
 In August, 1785, he was examined by the celebrated mathematician 
 La Place, and obtained the brevet of a second lieutenant of artillery in 
 the regiment of La Fere ; being then little more than sixteen years of 
 age. In the beginning of this year, his father died. 
 
 The regiment of La Fere was stationed at Valence, in Dauphiny, 
 where Napoleon was in garrison. He was well received at the house of 
 a lady in the neighbourhood, named Madame de Colombier. He con- 
 ceived an affection for her daughter ; and the young lady appears to have
 
 8 
 
 THF. HISTORY OF 
 
 found pleasure in liis society, and to have favoured him with sundry 
 promenades in tlie gardens; "where the happiness of two lovers," as 
 Na])oleon used to relate, " was limited to their eating cherries together." 
 
 Some disturbances at Lyons caused his removal to that city, with his 
 regiment. While here, he narrowly escaped being drowned in the Saone. 
 The cramp seized him while swimming, and after repeated ineffectual 
 struggles, he sank; but the current drifted him against a sand-bank, on 
 which he was found in a state of insensibility by his companions. 
 
 His regiment afterwards passed to Douay, in Flanders, and to Aux- 
 onne, in Burgundy. AVhile in garrison at this place, he composed a 
 brief history of Corsica, and actually treated with M. Joly, a bookseller 
 at Dole, for its publication. This bookseller went over to Auxonne to 
 transact the business, and found Napoleon lodging in a chamber with 
 bare walls, the only furniture in w^hich was an indifierent bed without 
 curtains, two chairs, and a table standing in the recess of a window, 
 covered ^\ith books and papers ; his brother, Louis, slept on a coarse 
 mattrass in an adjoining room. They agreed about the expense of the 
 impression ; but Napoleon was expecting every moment an order to 
 leave Auxonne, and nothing was finally settled. The order arrived a 
 lew days after, and the work was never printed. This was not his first 
 literary effort. While at Lyons, he had gained a gold medal, from the 
 college, on the theme: "What are the sentiments most proper to be 
 cultivated, in order to render men happy ?" Both compositions are lost, 
 but are known to have abounded in sentiments of liberty, in accordance 
 with the spirit of the day. The Revolution had now broken out, and 
 men's minds were everywhere in a state of ferment. Napoleon has left a 
 vivid record of his impressions, as to the fearfully excited feelings of 
 parties at this period. He had himself adopted the extreme of Repub- 
 lican oj)inions.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 CORSICA PAOLI HIS REVOLT — NAPOLEON's POLITICS POVERTY IN PARIS THE KING 
 
 AND THE MOB — EVENTS IN CORSICA — PROMOTION TOULON — LITTLE GIBRALTAR. 
 
 Within a year after the commence- 
 \jjiii ■' ment of the Revolution, the 
 
 venerable Pascal Paoli returned 
 to his native island. He had 
 devoted himself from his youth 
 to the liberties of Corsica, and 
 had lived in England since the 
 period of their total overthrow, 
 in the struggle of 1769, when 
 the whole country was annexed 
 as a province to France. Upon 
 I the passing of the decree, pro- 
 
 '/»// ' posed by Mirabeau in the Na- 
 
 tional Assembly, recalling the 
 exiled Corsican patriots, Paoli 
 returned from his long banishment of twenty years, which had been 
 shared by four or five hundred of his countrymen. He was hailed with 
 shouts of enthusiasm on his arrival in Corsica, where he was appointed 
 lieutenant-general in the French service. 
 
 In 1792, Napoleon obtained leave of absence from his regiment, and 
 passed six months in Corsica. He immediately sought Paoli, who 
 received him as the son of his old friend, and tried, by every means in 
 
 c
 
 10 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 his power, to induce hiiu to remain at a distance from the scenes of 
 turbulence which then threatened France. 
 
 The Revolution had now assumed a fierce and desperate character. 
 In its beginning, it had maintained a lofty aspect, pulling down arbitrary 
 power, abolishing notorious abuses, with little bloodshed (and that little 
 unauthorised), and building up a liberal and tolerably pure system of 
 government, under the form of a constitutional monarchy. But the 
 coalition of foreign powers against the innovation of this new state of 
 thino-s, had made France one vast camp, and the French people were 
 roused to a state of frenzy. Beset on all sides, they prepared for the 
 contest. The frontiers were ordered to be ])ut in a state of defence, 
 a hundred thousand national troops were levied, and the momentous 
 struggle began. 
 
 Paoli was among the number of those friends of liberty who were 
 shocked at the excesses into which France was carried by the convulsive 
 effort to maintain her new principles. He again conceived the idea of 
 asserting the independence of Corsica, and urged Napoleon to join him 
 in the enterprise. Paoli was at this time nearly eighty years of age. 
 He had a high opinion of Napoleon, and used to say, as he patted him 
 on the shoulder, " This young man is cut from the antique : he is one 
 of Plutarch's men." But Napoleon was not to be won. On the con- 
 trary, he tried to persuade Paoli that the Island ought not to be severed 
 from its natural connexion, on account of the temporary inconvenience 
 it had to suffer from the present alarming state of France, which he 
 affirmed would not be lasting. Napoleon had, in fact, taken his part 
 decisively. " He saw that Corsica was no longer the scene on which 
 the love of freedom and of militaiy prowess could take its stand. The 
 great drama which Paoli had rehearsed in his younger days, in an 
 obscure corner, had now got a ' kingdom for a stage, and nations to 
 behold the swelling act.' " 
 
 Napoleon's first militai-y enterprise was on the part of the French 
 govennnent, when he sailed against Sardinia, and was repvdsed. It seems 
 tliat the expedition failed through the bad management of his superiors; 
 he, however, ])rought his men back in safety. He is also said to have 
 tiiken a small fortress, called Torre di Capitello, but was so hotly be- 
 sieged, tliat alter a gallant (iefence, and holding out till the garrison was 
 (•oin])elle(l to eat horse-flesh, he was ol>liged to evacuate the fortress, and 
 retreat towards the sea. 
 
 While in Corsica, he was called to Paris to answer some charge made 
 against him by an old enemy of his family. The accusation fell to the 
 ground. He associated fre(|nently with Bourrienne at this time, who 
 narrates several {iirioiis and amusing anecdotes of him; such as his 
 dilliculty in finding daily funds to pay for his diimer ; his pawning his
 
 % t ^'' 
 
 '^^^^^^ |a 111 # 
 
 'JIIF. MOB AT THE TUILERIES.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 11 
 
 watch; and his proposals to Bourrienne that they should take several 
 houses, then building, in the Rue Montholon, merely for the purpose of 
 sub-letting them. " Every day," says Bourrienne, " we conceived some 
 new project or other; everything failed. At the same time, he was 
 soliciting employment at the War Office." 
 
 It was during this visit to Paris that Napoleon followed an infuriate 
 crowd, in order to watch their proceedings. He saw the mass surround 
 the Tuileries, — bring the King forth, and place a red cap upon his head. 
 Upon which, Napoleon exclaimed, " How could they suffer this gross 
 mob to enter ! They should sweep down four or five hundred Vidth the 
 cannon, and then the rest would run away!" We cannot regard this 
 by any means as a burst of loyalty : it was indignation and disgust at the 
 triumph of anarchy, and exasperation at the King's imbecihty. But the 
 scene was not lost upon his clear-visioned mind ; and he shortly afterwards 
 WTote to his uncle Paravicini, — " Do not make yourself at all uneasy 
 about your nephews ; they '11 help themselves to seats." 
 
 The massacre of the Swiss guards, in the courts of the Tuileries, on 
 the 10th of August, was also witnessed by Napoleon. The royal family, 
 finding the National Guard had suddenly sided with the revolutionists, 
 took refuge in the National Assembly, to escape the fate that awaited 
 them from the half-frantic people. This scene might partially be attri- 
 buted to the Assembly, to whose principles Napoleon was attached ; but 
 the sight of the court-yards and gardens strewed with the dead bodies, 
 shocked him to a degree that could hardly have been expected from one 
 of his stern nature, always accustomed to regard the end, and never to 
 shrink from the means he thought necessary to its accomphshment. 
 Hazlitt has a fine passage on this circmnstance : — "Bonaparte was 
 struck with the number of these dead bodies, neither from the smallness 
 of the space, nor from the novelty of the sight, but his imagination was 
 overloaded and oppressed from there being no other interest to carry off 
 and absorb the natural horror of the scene. The dead bodies were many, 
 because they were there tvithout his knowledge or connivance : had they 
 served to swell his triumphs, or to furnish new proofs of his power and 
 skill, they would have seemed too fcw\" Admitting the profound truth 
 of this elucidation, it must, nevertheless, be questioned whether the last 
 remark appKed to Napoleon at this period, and was not rather anticipa- 
 tory of an advanced stage of his character and fortunes. He stood at 
 this time a thoughtful spectator only of the terrible events that rolled 
 and burst around him, waiting till they had expended all their fury, and 
 then walking over the fragments and ashes of their accomphshed coiu'se, 
 to the attainment of his own ambitious projects. 
 
 Paoh now openly revolted against the French government. He was 
 assisted by the English, and affairs daily grew worse for the French party.
 
 12 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Meantime, Napoleon had returned to Corsica. He had a conference 
 'with Paoli in the Convent of Rostino. The arguments of the veteran 
 made no sort of impression upon him, and to avoid the coming storm, 
 he left the Island precipitately, taking with him his whole family. Their 
 property was instantly confiscated by the enraged old man; and their 
 house at Ajaccio, after being pillaged, was used as a barrack by the 
 English troops. The Bonaparte family took refuge at Marseilles. 
 
 
 Banished their country, and stripped of their property, the family of 
 Napoleon had to contend with considerable difficulties ; but the Con- 
 vention granted a certain aid to all the patriots who had suffered in its 
 cause. Napoleon soon began to rise in the army, where his genius only 
 wanted an opportunity to display itself. Most of his biographers have 
 left this important part of his career in considerable obscurity. He 
 ap])ears, according to them, to rise from a captain to a lieutenant- 
 colonel, and then to commandant of artillery, without any assignable 
 cause. Sir Walter Scott gets over the difficulty by stating that the 
 high testimonials given by liis masters, at Brienne, obtained his promo- 
 tion ; but the fact is explained at once in the Memoirs of his brother 
 Lucien. " The southern part of France," he says, " and particularly 
 Marseilles, whicli had endeavoured to resist the revolutionary torrent,
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 13 
 
 had just been subdued by the pro-consuls of the Convention, among 
 whom was Sahcetti, a native of Corsica, who took a strong interest in 
 the welfare of the Bonaparte family. He mentioned Napoleon to 
 Barras ; became a pledge for his ardent zeal in the cause of the Repub- 
 lic, and obtained his promotion in the artillery. This was the origin of 
 the fortune of Napoleon, and of his family." His rapid ascent of the 
 grades of authority gives additional proof of his competency in filling 
 them ; for, in those days, if a man could not suitably fill his post, he 
 quickly lost it, and occasionally his head at the same time. 
 
 Napoleon had not yet joined his regiment, at A\ignon, when he was 
 summoned to the army of Italy, by General Dujear, who commanded 
 the artillery. He was employed with success in several deHcate com- 
 missions, particularly in preventing the interception of convoys of ammu- 
 nition by the insurgents of Marseilles. It was about this period that 
 he pubHshed a short pamphlet, under the title of " The Supper of 
 Beaucaire." Its subject, wliich was suggested by a conversation at an 
 inn during one of Iris journeys, was the state of parties in the south, 
 and aimed at shewing the perversity of the disaffected. At this time 
 also, or soon after, he contemplated a marriage with Mademoiselle Desiree 
 Clary, the daughter of a merchant at Marseilles : but his poverty occa- 
 sioned delay, and the marriage never took place. 
 
 Marseilles was shortly afterwards conquered by General Cartaux, 
 but Toulon received the disaffected of that city ■within her walls, and, in 
 concert with them, gave up the place to the English and Spanish squad- 
 rons, which blockaded the harbour. The French government lost no 
 time in commencing vigorous efforts to retake tliis important place, 
 which contained immense naval stores, several fine estabhshments, and 
 was besides, at this time, a station for above twenty sliips of the line. 
 Generals La Poj-pe and Cartaux, with an army of nearly twelve thou- 
 sand men, accompanied by Freron and Barras, as Representatives of the 
 People, advanced upon it from different quarters to form the siege ; and 
 Napoleon was appointed, by the Committee of Public Safety, to the 
 rank of commandant of the artillery. He joined the besieging army on 
 the 12th of September, 1793. 
 
 The commander-in-chief was Cartaux. He had been a painter, but 
 wag unfit for a general ; and Napoleon urged objections to his impractical 
 measures and erroneous operations. The wife of Cartaux once said, 
 " Do let tliis young man have his way ; he really knows more about it 
 than you : you will get the credit." Napoleon found a better association 
 and assistance, for his miKtary designs, in the persons of Gasparin and 
 Diu'oc, with whom he first became intimate at this siege. Here, also, 
 he first discovered the gallant Junot. During the construction of a 
 battery, he suddenly called for some one who could write : a serjeant
 
 14 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 stepped forward : while Napoleon was dictating, a shell struck the em- 
 bankment, so close as to cover them both with dust. " Well," said the 
 Serjeant, proceeding with his wTiting, " we shall not want for sand." The 
 Serjeant was Junot, and the commandant of artillery did not lose sight 
 of his merits. 
 
 Napoleon, on arri^ang at Toulon, found the army occupied in pre- 
 parations to burn the allied squadrons, and " take Toulon in three days," 
 according to orders from Paris. General Cartaux issued his directions 
 to the commandant of the artillery, to open the fire accordingly; but 
 great was Napoleon's surprise, when, on visiting the batteries, he found 
 the guns planted a quarter of a league from the important jiasses of 
 Ollioules ; at three gun-shots from the English vessels, and two from the 
 shore ; while the soldiers were occupied in heating the balls at all the 
 country houses around, forgetting they would cool on their way to the 
 guns. He did not hesitate to expose these absurdities, and the rapid 
 grasp of mind he displayed was not lost upon Gasparin, one of the com- 
 missioners of the Convention, who was present. 
 
 The ])l;iii oi' attack was now the important point. From the moment 
 he had arrived at Toulon, and examined the ground. Napoleon had 
 made up his mind on this subject; and, while councils of war debated 
 whether to open tlu- lire on the right or the left of the town, and studied 
 the directions for connnenciiig a regular siege, which had been drawn up 
 in Paris by General D'Aryon of the Engineers, he maintained his 
 original opinion. Toulon, he allinned, was not the point of attack at all.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 15 
 
 The promontory of Balagnier and L'Eguillette, which commanded both 
 harbours, was the point. " Toulon," he repeated, " hes there" That 
 gained, a fire might be kept up on the combined squadron, which woukl 
 force it to abandon the town, and thus the garrison w^uld be reduced to 
 a state of blockade. In two days after that position was gained, Toulon 
 would belong to the Republic. After a warm discussion, this plan was 
 at length unanimously adopted. Had it been put in practice when he 
 first suggested it, there would have been little difficulty in its accom- 
 plishment ; but the English, meantime, had perceived the importance of 
 the place, had landed four thousand men there, and thrown up strong 
 entrenchments, calling it " The Little Gibraltar." A serious attack was 
 necessary to take it, and for this the army prepared. 
 
 Cartaux continually throwing impediments in liis way, Napoleon 
 entreated of him to write down his own views and plan, that the artillery 
 might clearly understand his orders. The general complied. Napoleon 
 made marginal comments, and instantly sent the papers off to Paris by a 
 com'ier. The answer was an order for the removal of Cartaux from the 
 command. His place was svipplied by Doppet, who had formerly been a 
 physician, and was no better adapted for the post than his predecessor. 
 This Doppet, who was so thoroughly unqualified to devise any efficient 
 plan for conducting the siege, was equally unable to avail himself of the 
 most fortunate accident. It happened that a quarrel ensued between 
 some of Napoleon's artillery-men, or others who were in his trenches, 
 and a party of the Spanish soldiers in Little Gibraltar. The nature 
 of the insult is not recorded ; but it mvist have been very gross and 
 pointed, as the French were so exasperated that they rushed sponta- 
 neously to the attack. Other Spaniards joined their comrades; other 
 Frenchmen theirs; and this contest, originating in a private quarrel, 
 became furious. Napoleon, hurrying forth, perceived that an advantage 
 had been gained, and urged Doppet to follow it up, assuring liim that a 
 general attack would now be less dangerous than a retreat. Doppet 
 consented : the columns rushed forward ; the promontory of Cairo was 
 already reached by the chasseurs, and the grenadiers were making their 
 way through the gorge of the fort, when one of the aides-de-camp of 
 Doppet receiving a shot by his side, the general thought he himself was 
 hit, or else in danger of it, and ordered a retreat to be sounded. Napo- 
 leon was slightly wounded on the head. Doppet was shortly deposed, 
 and succeeded by Dugommier, a veteran soldier. 
 
 The business of the siege commenced in earnest. Batteries were 
 raised against Little Gibraltar, and another battery of grms and mortars 
 against Fort Malbosquet, nearer the town. This latter had been con- 
 structed with great secrecy, and Napoleon had laboured incessantly to 
 have it completed in the most efficient manner, never leaving the works
 
 16 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 even at night, but sleeping in Ins cloak beside the guns. This battery- 
 was to be kept perfectly quiet and unseen until the great attack was 
 made upon Little Gibraltar, when its sudden opening would distract the 
 attention of the enemy. But the Representatives of the People went to 
 inspect it, and, learning that it had been finished eight whole days with- 
 out being once used, ridiculously ordered the cannoniers to open a fire that 
 instant. They obeyed with alacrity, to the exasperation of Napoleon, 
 and the extreme surprise of the English, who salKed out and spiked the 
 guns before the commandant of artillery could reach the spot. 
 
 A sharp conflict ensued, in which the English were at first successful, 
 but eventually defeated, and obliged to retire into the town by the fol- 
 lowing manoeuvre : — Napoleon, perceiving a long and rather deep ditch 
 at the back of the mount, overhung with bushes and willow trees, 
 ordered one of the infantry regiments to creep hastily along the bottom 
 of the ditch, and not to discover themselves until close under the enemy. 
 They accomplished this successfully, and were ascending the bank, when 
 a single figure appeared on the top. He was instantly made prisoner, 
 and proved to be the English commander, General O'Hara. The 
 Enghsh were disheartened by tliis strange and sudden loss, and retreated. 
 Some desperate fighting had nevertheless occurred, dui'ing which Napo- 
 leon received a thrvist from a bayonet in his thigh, and was caught in the 
 anns of the gallant Captain Muiron, who carried hun out of the fray. 
 
 So skilfully was General O'Hara seized and carried off, that the people 
 of Toulon suspected it must have been caused by some treachery on the 
 part of Admiral Hood, in order to make terms with the Repubhcan 
 anny. They, therefore, placed their reliance upon the Neapolitans and 
 Spaniards. Meantime, their garrison had frequent reinforcements, and 
 shewed every likelihood of holding out. The public became impatient, 
 and could not understand the delay. The army was cursed and lam- 
 pooned for inefficiency. Popular societies rang with denunciations. 
 
 Na])oleon now considered it absolutely necessary to take Little 
 Gibraltar. Under cover of a plantation of olives, he raised a battery, 
 parallel with the English battery, and at the distance of not much more 
 than one liundi-ed fathoms. The moment the works were unmasked, 
 the English sent a volley that destroyed all before it. The French 
 soldiers refused to man the battery again. Certain destruction seemed 
 to await the atteini)t. At this critical point, Napole(m called for Junot, 
 and commanded him to write on a placard in large letters, " Battcrie 
 (les Ilonnnes sans l^cur!" and erect it above the dreadful spot. All the 
 artinery-men rallied as if inspired. It was terrific on both sides, and 
 lasted from the 1 1th of December till the night of the 17th, but the 
 English fort still remained unsubdued. Something more was requisite, 
 and Napoleon exhorted Dugommier not to lose a moment.
 
 ■ISATTKRli: VLS llOMMhS SAXS I'KL K."
 
 NAPOLF.ON BONAPARTE. 
 
 17 
 
 A plan of attack was accordingly arranged, and the tremendous scene 
 of the " Batterie des Hommes sans Peur" was immediately followed by a 
 general assault of the whole French army upon Little Gibraltar. The 
 time chosen was the 18th of December, at midnight. NajDoleon ordered 
 several thousand shells to be thrown into the fort, in order to confuse 
 and pre-occupy the attention of the enemy. The weather was dreadful ; 
 the rain falling in torrents. At the moment when all was ready, the 
 Representatives of the People, appalled by the scene, by the sense of 
 coming horrors, and despairing of success, called a council to deliberate 
 whether the attack should take place. Napoleon and Dugommier ridi- 
 culed these fears ; they had deliberated, and were prepared to act. The 
 army was immediately put in motion, the leading column headed by 
 Dugommier. 
 
 All the promptitude and secrecy of their approach could not, how- 
 ever, defeat the vigilance of the English skirmishers, who had dra\Mi 
 tliemselves up in the front of the fort, and opposed the French with the 
 most determined energy. Dugommier was obliged to give ground 
 instead of advancing, and as he was beaten back he exclaimed, " I am 
 a lost man ! " The expression was not meant in a figurative sense : 
 his failure in the enterprise might have led to the scaffold.
 
 18 THE HISTOHV OF 
 
 At this critical juncture, Napoleon, perceiving the point most open 
 to attack, singled out the officer who, of all others, was best able to make 
 good the attempt. He immediately dispatched his aide-de-camp, Captain 
 Muiron, whose courage and presence of mind he well knew, at the head 
 of a battalion of light infantry, which was strongly supported. They 
 were ordered to ascend by the winding-paths leading to the summit, and 
 surprise the fort. The perilous ascent, favoured by the darkness, and 
 by his thorough knowledge of the ground, was accomplished by the 
 gallant Muiron without the loss of a man. He reached the summit, and 
 rushing through an embi'asure, was received by the pike of an English 
 soldier, and fell dangerously wounded ; but his men had poured in close 
 at his heels, and Little Gibraltar was taken. The English and Spanish 
 gunners were all killed at their posts. 
 
 The Representatives of the People, with drawn swords in their hands, 
 repaired to the scene of carnage when all was over to load the troops 
 with eulogiums. Nor were they without a right to assume their place 
 among the victors: if not brave in themselves, they were the cause of 
 bravery in other men, as belonging to a government which made all its 
 agents and executives thoroughly aware that no defalcations on the score 
 of success were to be tolerated, or excused by explanations. But the 
 Representatives were not now like the high-minded men originally 
 chosen by the people. In the trying changes and debasing influences 
 which gradually surrounded them, as the noble principles of pure re- 
 publican freedom were degraded into the gross corruptions of despotic 
 anarchy, the Representatives sank with the sinking principles and the 
 sinking people. 
 
 The French took possession of the different batteries by break of day, 
 intending to turn their fire upon the combined fleets, but a short delay 
 occurred, in consequence of Napoleon's perception of some errors in the 
 construction of the platforms, which endangered the gunners. He there- 
 fore ordered the guns to be planted on the heights behind the batteries. 
 But the moment Lord Hood perceived that the French had taken posses- 
 sion of these heights, he made signal to weigh anchor and get out of 
 the roads without dulay. He then repaired to Toulon, to make it known 
 that the fleet could no longer hold its position, but must put out to 
 sea. It is said that he recommended to the council of war, which met on 
 the instiuit, to make a desperate cflbrt to retake Little Gibraltar: it was 
 determined, liowever, that Toulon must surrender as a place no longer 
 tenable, and the garrison received orders to embark immediately. The 
 plan of Napoleon was thus crowned with complete success, and his 
 promises to the Convention fulfilled in every point. 
 
 We must not here omit to notice with praise the discernment and 
 decision displayed by Lord Hood. Early in the contest he had perceived
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 19 
 
 the importance of Little Gibraltar as a position, and he did not lose 
 a moment in avoiding the disastrous consequences of its loss. The 
 fleet also performed a service to humanity, in offering a refuge to such of 
 the unfortunate inhabitants as wished to fly from the vengeance of 
 the Convention. Many thousand families embarked, struck with con- 
 sternation at this sudden termination of a siege which had lasted four 
 months. The catastrophe resulting from the capture of a distant fort, 
 the importance of which they did not perceive, seemed to them as 
 unaccountable as it was dreadful. The batteries had begun to play upon 
 the fleet before it quite cleared the roads, and several English ships were 
 much damaged. 
 
 The horrors and confusion of the night which succeeded were lighted 
 by the conflagration of all the property which it was possible for the 
 enemies of the Republic to destroy. Nine French seventy-four gun 
 ships, and four frigates, were burnt, the masts and yards shewing for 
 hours distinctly amidst the flames. This operation was conducted under 
 the orders of Sir Sydney Smith. The fire and smoke from the arsenal 
 resembled a volcano, and two powder vessels blew up with tremendous 
 explosions. The Republican troops were seen entering at all points, 
 while the last parties of the fugitives had scarcely reached the ships. 
 So many had escaped, that the tribunals, however exasperated at the 
 burning of the vessels, and wanton destruction of property, had little 
 work to do ; but between one and two hundred persons were shot 
 according to law, which could not forbear adding its horrible mite to 
 the thousands destroyed by war. 
 
 In this, as in every other instance of civil strife, the rage of opposing 
 parties also burst forth in the excitement and fury of the moment. 
 A family of emigrants, named Chabrillant, who happened to be driven 
 on the coast by stress of weather at this perilous period, never forgot 
 their obligations to Napoleon in the circumstances of imminent danger in 
 which they were placed. He rescued them with some difficulty from the 
 hands of the mob, and got them out of France in a covered boat. Many 
 years after, they took an opportunity of letting him know that they had 
 carefully preserved the written order by means of which he had enabled 
 them to save their lives. 
 
 It has been observed that the Parisians had been excessively im- 
 patient at the delay in taking Toulon, and Las Casas relates several 
 interesting particulars as to the manner in which the excitement was 
 manifested. While the siege was in progress. Napoleon received nearly 
 six hundred different plans from debating societies, shewing "exactly" 
 how the thing was to be done. Nothing could more strongly prove the 
 interest taken by the people ; and the assistance they thus proffered, 
 however unavailable, redounds to their honour. A demonstration of
 
 i^ THE HISTORY OF 
 
 a more practical nature also transpired, which was excessively ludicrous, 
 though no doubt well intended. Fifteen handsome coaches arrived one 
 day at the camp, filled with young men from Paris. They demanded an 
 audience of the commander-in-chief, and the orator of the party thus ad- 
 dressed him, with all the style of an ambassador : — " Citizen general ! we 
 come from Paris: the patriots are indignant at your inactivity and delay. 
 The soil of the Republic has long been violated ; she is enraged to think 
 that the insult still remains unavenged : she asks, ' Why is Toulon not 
 yet retaken ? Why is the English fleet not yet destroyed ?' In her indig- 
 nation she has appealed to her brave sons ; we have obeyed her summons, 
 and burn with imi)atience to fulfil her expectation. We are volunteer 
 gunners, from Paris : furnish us with arms, to-morrow we will march 
 upon the enemv." The commander-in-chief stood confounded ; but 
 Napoleon whispered him to receive them with courtesy, and he would 
 manage them very shortly. Next day he politely directed them to man 
 a park of artillery on the beach. They expressed surprise at finding no 
 shelter of batteries or epaulments, but there was no alternative. Mean- 
 time, an English frigate seeing a great bustle among the guns ashore, 
 saluted them with an interrogative broadside ; whereupon, some fled 
 at once, and the rest mingled with the regular troops. The whole camp 
 w'as convulsed with laughter. 
 
 The reputation of Napoleon was established from the day of the 
 surrender of Toulon. He was made brigadier-general of artillery, at the 
 recommendation of Dugommier (some say, of Barras), who expressed his 
 opinion and advice in these words : — " Promote this young officer, or he 
 will promote himself." With his new rank. Napoleon was now appointed 
 to the army of Italy, being ordered to inspect the fortification of the 
 coast previous to his departure. This service he carefully performed. 
 
 1
 
 ;\ckir/-i^¥Mv#f^=^' 
 
 I
 
 NAPOLEON EONAPARTE. 
 
 2i 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ALPS — napoleon's ARREST ROBESPIERRE BOISSY d'ANGLAS NAPOLEON's POVERTY 
 
 VICTORIES OF THE FRENCH — THE SECTIONS— JOSEPHINE — NAPOLEON'S PROMOTION, 
 AND MARRIAGE. 
 
 The army of Italy formed that, por- 
 tion of the French force which 
 was commissioned to defend the 
 southern frontier, and repel the 
 King of Sardinia and the Em- 
 peror of Austria, both members 
 of the coalition against France 
 and her new principles. The 
 emperor possessed all Lom- 
 bardy ; while the King of Sar- 
 dinia, as sovereign of Savoy 
 and Piedmont, held nearly all the fortresses which guard the passes 
 of the mighty chain of mountains that forms the natural boundary of 
 Italy. He was, therefore, said to wear the keys of the Alps at his 
 girdle. The Republic had now assumed the offensive, and its army, 
 under the command of General Dumerbion, was preparing to push 
 forward. Napoleon joined him at Nice; and very shortly originated 
 some plans of proceeding in the campaign, which, being proposed to the 
 Convention, were adopted, and the French, in consequence, succeeded in 
 dislodging the Sardinians from the Col di Tende ; thus becoming masters 
 of the range of the higher Alps. The commander-in-chief vsT:ote to the 
 Committee of War: "I am indebted to the comprehensive talents 
 of General Bonaparte, for the plans which have ensured our victory."
 
 22 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 While these events transpired in Italy, the English, being driven 
 from Toulon, had made themselves masters of Corsica, with the coin- 
 cidence of Paoli, Avlio formally oflered the crown of Corsica to liis 
 Britannic Majesty. It was graciously accepted ; the distinction costing 
 the British nation annually two millions and a half sterling. After the 
 second year, his Majesty was fortunately obliged to surrender his prize 
 by a successful insurrection of the people of Corsica, apparently at the 
 instigation of Napoleon. 
 
 Shortly after this, Napoleon was entrusted by the Representatives of 
 the People with a secret mission to Genoa, on matters of diplomatic 
 importance. On his return, he was arrested, suspended from his 
 command, and arraigned before the Committee of Public Safety. The 
 cause assigned was the very journey to Genoa which he had performed 
 by order of the members of the government. He was, nevertheless, con- 
 sidered as one of the " suspected." 
 
 While in this perilous predicament, Junot, who had now become 
 an officer, and Captain Sebastiani, formed the project of cutting down 
 the gendarmes wiio guarded Napoleon, and setting him free, if they 
 found that he was ordered up to the fatal capital. Napoleon made 
 a written defence while in confinement, which is given at length by 
 Bourrienne ; and is remarkable for clearness, undaunted energy, and sim- 
 plicity. This defence, together with a further inquiry into the case, and 
 a sense of the great value of his services, procured his release. He was a 
 fortnight under arrest. Had he been accused three weeks earlier, during 
 the summary proceedings of the Reign of Terror, his career might have 
 ended on the scaffold at the age of five-and-twenty. Even then he 
 would not have died without leaving an influence on the spirit of the 
 time, but with a force and extent how inferior ! 
 
 A fierce consummation had just startled even the times in which terror 
 had become habitual, and astonished horror had lost its edge, stupified 
 by the incessant shocks of the sound of the scaffold axe. Robespierre 
 was guillotined. Whether he had been a pure patriot in his inten- 
 tions, however revolting in his means ; a mere blood-thirsty monster, a 
 high-minded martyr, or a monomaniac ; or a fearful complexity of all 
 these attributes, called up by the dark and yearning sj)irit of humanity, 
 lasned into demonism by the conflict of wrongs and rights, and the wild 
 assumptions both of ignorance and knowledge ; Lt is not our present 
 purpose to discuss. Whatever he had been, he was now nothing. The 
 chief members of his party had been imprisoned, or condemned to 
 banishment. It is probable that the confusion attendant upon a change 
 of men and measures, was partly the cause of the strange arrest of 
 Napoleon ; but there is reason for suspicion that it was mainly brought 
 about by intrigues, either of men jealous of his rising reputation, or of
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. gg 
 
 secret partisans of the Royalists. It is certain that the Royalist party 
 took advantage of the unsettled state of the government, and of a dreadful 
 scarcity of bread which then afflicted the country, to sow disaffection, 
 and confuse the Republic by means of the starving people. 
 
 Several insurrections took place in Paris, one of which assumed a 
 formidable and sanguinary character. The populace of the Fauxbourgs, 
 armed with pikes and muskets, burst into the Hall of the Convention 
 during its sitting, and demanded " Bread ! — The constitution of the 
 year '93 — and the release of the imprisoned deputies!" Boissy 
 d'Anglas, who was at this moment in the chair, was obnoxious to 
 the people because he was at the head of the Committee of Supply, 
 which dealt out bread to them much too tardily to satisfy their wants : 
 hence he had acquired the nicknaine of Boissy Famine. The rioters 
 levelled their pieces at him as they entered ; and Ferand, a deputy, 
 rushing forward to protect him, was violently seized, and dragged into 
 the lobbies, wliei-e his head was hacked off. The murderers then 
 returned into the hall, carrying the severed head upon a pike, and held 
 it before the president to enforce their demands. But he remained firm 
 and inflexible ; and rising, he bowed, as in respect and gratitude, to the 
 ghastly head of Ferand. 
 
 Boissy d'Anglas is said to have been a secret Royalist, and only acting 
 a treacherous part in his union with the Republicans. But supposing 
 this to have been the case, neither the mixed motives of faith and 
 treachery in his position, nor the actions which resulted from them, 
 should prevent our perceiving the high feeling and heroism which 
 made him render that acknowledgment to the preserver of his life, at a 
 moment when such acknowledgment might have cost him twenty lives, 
 if he had possessed them. 
 
 This insurrection, and others of the same kind, were quelled without 
 further consequences ; and the close of the year 1794 witnessed no 
 essential change in the French government. 
 
 About this period, or soon after. Napoleon was in Paris, having been 
 removed from the army of Italy, and appointed to that of La Vendee, 
 with the rank of brigader-general of infantry ; but, disliking the service, 
 and considering the change into the infantry from the artillery to be 
 a degradation, he refused to accept the post. Aubry, an old artillery 
 officer, and president of the Military Committee, placed himself in strong 
 opposition to these "pretensions," as he considered them; and, in the 
 heat of discussion, he interrupted an angry remonstrance from Napoleon 
 against the proposed change, by reminding him of his youth ; to which 
 Napoleon replied, that " a man soon grows old on the field of battle."
 
 24 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Napoleon was thus obliged to remain unemployed. In this state of 
 inactivity, which was little accordant with his inclinations, he remained in 
 Paris throughout the conclusion of the year 1794, and till the autumn of 
 1795, waiting in hopes that some other field of action might open to him. 
 It was evident that sinister influences, of the same kind as those which 
 occasioned his arrest, were at work against him ; otherwise, in the 
 situation in which France then stood, the genius he had already shewn 
 would have ensured him employment. He was both indignant and 
 disgusted at the treatment he had received, and conceived the intention 
 of quitting the country altogether. He thought the East a fine field for 
 glory, and meditated entering the service of the Grand Seignior ; and 
 was so much in earnest in this plan, that he transmitted to the War 
 Office a paper which he had drawn up, in order to enforce upon the 
 government the policy of increasing the military power of Turkey as 
 a check upon Russia, offering his services to organise their artillery. No 
 notice was taken of this proposal. Bourx'ienne remarks very truly, 
 t!iat had a clerk in the War Office but written upon the memorial, 
 " granted," that little word would probably have changed the fate of 
 Kurope. He had, however, been quite in earnest, and worked and 
 planned out the idea with enthusiasm for several weeks. Wherever he 
 might find a field for action, he always anticipated attaining the summit 
 of power. He is reported to have said to a friend, with reference to 
 liis eastern project, " Would it not be strange if a Corsican soldier became 
 Kinj; of Jerusalem ?"
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 25 
 
 Occasionally, it appears, as if tired with fruitless expectations, he 
 turned his thoughts to private life, and quiet pursuits. Hearing that his 
 brother Joseph had married Mademoiselle Clary, the daughter of a rich 
 merchant at Marseilles, and sister to the lady he had himself so nearly mar- 
 ried, he exclaimed, " That Joseph is a lucky rogue ! " At another time, 
 he thought of taking a house in the Rue de Marais, and settling there with 
 his uncle Fesch and an old schoolfellow. " With that house over there," 
 he said, " my friends in it, and a cabriolet, I shall be the happiest fellow 
 in the world." But these quiet fancies did not last long. Madame de 
 Bourrienne, who records this, and with whom he appears at this time to 
 have been by no means a favourite, relates two or three anecdotes of 
 him, which shew that he was frequently brooding over the unemployed 
 world of power within him. She speaks of him as silent, reserved, and 
 absent ; mentioning these things as signs of " eccentricity," and with 
 the tone of a lady whose offended vanity considers it was not treated 
 with proper politeness, and " all the forms." " He often slipped away 
 from us," she says, in describing their visits to the theatre together; 
 " and when we had supposed he had left the house, we would discover 
 him in the second or third tier, sitting alone in a box, and looking rather 
 sulky." At another time, during the performance of a farce which 
 convulsed the whole house with laughter, she says: — "Bonaparte alone 
 (and it struck me as being ver?/ extraordinary) was silent, and coldly 
 insensible to the humour which was so irresistibly diverting to every one 
 else ! " He passed most of his time in his own lodgings, where he studied 
 
 I 

 
 26 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 hard ; and, being distressed for money, was glad to avail himself of an 
 engagement to draw maps and topographical plans, procured for him (as 
 we learn from Norvins) by Doulcet de Pontecoulant, one of the Repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
 The French armies were, at this period, successful everywhere ; and 
 the different powers of Europe were beginning to discover that they had 
 placed themselves in hostile array against a people who were likely, in 
 various ways, to make them sorely suffer for, if not secretly repent, the 
 aggression. The coalition of crowned heads had intended to put down 
 this new state of things with a high sceptre, and to sweep into the very 
 dust of death all those republican innovators ; but when they found how 
 fierce and successful a resistance was offered, they considered tliemselves 
 grossly insulted and aggrieved. Several of those powers, however, were 
 soon induced to take quite a different view of the matter. The Grand 
 Duke of Tuscany was the first to acknowledge the French Republic as a 
 legal government ; Prussia was forced to enter into a treaty of peace 
 early in the year 1 795 ; and Spain followed the example. Pichegru 
 had conquered the whole of Holland, driven out tlie stadtholder, and 
 deprived the King of England of his continental dominions ; while the 
 civil war, which had so long raged in La Vendee, had been nearly stifled 
 by the vigorous and well-conceived measures of General La Hoche. The 
 leaders of the Revolution are accused, and with justice, of being too 
 prone to imitate the heroes of antiquity, even in some of their least re- 
 spectable acts; but on this occasion, La Hoche pursued, with good reason 
 and laudable success, the same kind of warfare which is attributed to 
 Ajax in his madness. He drove away the cattle instead of destroying 
 the people ; and, wiser than the Grecian hero, who killed the captured 
 herds in his rage, he restored them to their former owners, in exchange 
 for their arms. 
 
 The few bands of Royalists which still held together, retired into 
 Brittany, where they united themselves with the disaffected of that 
 province, and wherci their leaders solicited, and obtained, powerful 
 assistance from England. This great maritime ally landed on the coast, 
 at the peninsula of Quiberon, an army of fifteen thousand French, 
 emigrants ; six thousand Republican prisoners, who had enlisted for 
 the purpose of getting back to France ; sixty thousand muskets, and 
 an equipment for an army of forty thousand men. This formidable 
 invasion was seconded by the Royalists already in arms. The invaders 
 were attacked immediately by La Hoche; the Republicans enrolled in 
 their ranks, deserted ; and though the emigrants, who were mostly 
 officers of the ancient French marine, fought with the most determined 
 bravery, the whole army was utterly routed and destroyed. According 
 to the deadly system pursued between the Republic and the emigrants.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 27 
 
 no quarter was given to the vanquished ; and that party never reco- 
 vered the severe loss it sustained on this occasion. 
 
 The coalition against France now numbered, among the lesser 
 European powers, Naples, Bavaria, the petty princes of Germany and 
 Italy, and the King of Sardinia ; which latter included in his dominions, 
 Piedmont and Savoy. The naval force of England, and the immense 
 military strength of Austria, remained formidable opponents, with whom 
 the French Republic had yet to maintain a strenuous and doubtful 
 contest. Their hostile advances soon compelled France to call into 
 action the genius of the only man who could have paralysed the one, 
 and so long held the other at bay. Events of a serious nature in Paris 
 first brought him out of his retirement. 
 
 The National Convention having prepared a new form of govern- 
 ment, to be vested in five directors and two elective assemblies, were 
 about to dissolve themselves in the autumn of this year ; but, in order 
 to avoid the risk of anarchy and a counter-revolution, and taught by the 
 experience of the Constituent Assembly (which had, fatally for the 
 country, declared its members incapable of being again chosen as Repre- 
 sentatives of the People), the Convention decreed the re-election of 
 two-thirds of its members, and limited the nomination of members by 
 the electors, on this occasion, to one-third. Another law submitted 
 these clauses to the acceptance of primary assemblies of the people. 
 
 A restriction upon the freedom of election naturally created a 
 ferment among the Parisians. The Royalist party seized this moment 
 of popular discontent to promote their own plans ; and, under the 
 mask of a zeal for liberty, they succeeded in making the people their 
 instruments. 
 
 Disregarding the opposition of Paris, the Convention pronounced 
 the new constitution, in all its parts, ratified by the majority of the 
 primary assemblies throughout France. This was the signal of open 
 revolt. Out of the forty-eight sections into which the National Guard 
 was divided, five only sided with the Convention ; forty-three formed 
 themselves into armed deliberative assemblies ; rejected the decrees 
 which restricted the freedom of election ; declared their sittings per- 
 manent ; proceeded to nominate electors for choosing the new members, 
 and began to present a very formidable appearance to the government. 
 The section Lepelletier took the lead. 
 
 It now became imperative upon the Convention to adopt vigorous 
 measures, and enforce its authority. It accordingly called in the troops 
 from the camp at Sablons, and delegated its powers to a committee of 
 five, who were charged with the care of the public safety. Their first 
 measure proved an utter failure. On the evening of the 12th of Vende- 
 maire, answering, in the new nomenclature adopted by the French, to
 
 28 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the 3rd of October, General Menou was despatched, together with three 
 Representatives of tlie People, and a numerous escort, to dissolve the 
 assembly of the section Lepelletier. Its committee, however, refused 
 to obey ; and after about an hour's indecisive conference. General 
 Menou withdrew, leaving the sectionaries triumphant. 
 
 Napoleon was at the Theatre Feydeau, close to the spot, when this 
 scene was transpiring; and hurrying forth, he mingled with the crowd 
 to watch the result. When the troops retired, he instantly went to the 
 gallery of the Convention, to observe what eifect would be produced by 
 
 X N rf-N 'I il • ! ■!' I'V'l T ■•".3' 
 
 ■If/ / 'ir*; III ' *' V 
 
 ^^%4 i ! 
 
 the ill success of its deputation. The Representatives who had accom- 
 panied :\Icnou, eager to justify themselves, threw all the blame upon 
 liim, and he was arrested on a charge of treachery. Each member then 
 began to name some general on whom they could depend, as the fittest 
 to succeed Menou. Those who liad been on duty at Toulon, and the 
 members of the Committee of Public Safety, recommended Napoleon; 
 who, haviiig heard all that passed, had already considered and formed
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 29 
 
 his resolution. His feelings on the occasion may be described in his 
 own words: — " A deputation was sent to offer the command to me. I 
 balanced, however, for some time before I would accept of it. It was a 
 service that I did not like ; but when I considered that if the Convention 
 was overturned, V etr anger would triumph; that the destruction of that 
 body would seal the slavery of the country, and bring back an incapable 
 and insolent race ; those reflections, and destiny, decided that I should 
 accept of it." * 
 
 Napoleon having agreed to serve the Committee of Public Safety, 
 made them immediately understand that his authority must be unim- 
 peded. He boldly declared that the contradictory counsels of the three 
 Representatives of the People had been the chief cause of Menou's 
 failure, which he had personally witnessed. The members could not 
 avoid perceiving the force of what he said ; and, as the only means they 
 could adopt in order to dispense with the regular form, they appointed 
 Barras, one) of their own body, general-in-chief, and Napoleon second in 
 command, but with the entire management of this affair. 
 
 The regular troops amounted to five thousand ; and, with a body 
 of fifteen hundred men, called the Patriots of 1789, made the whole 
 force at the command of the Convention. The sections of the National 
 Guard, on the other side, numbered forty thousand men. The park 
 of artillery, consisting of forty pieces of cannon, was five miles from 
 Paris, and slightly guarded. It was one o'clock in the morning when 
 the conference with the committee concluded, and Napoleon received 
 authority to act. The instant he left the committee, he dispatched a 
 major of the Chasseurs with three hundred horse, to bring the artil- 
 lery to the Tuileries ; which he succeeded in accomplishing by five 
 o'clock : this major was Murat. The difference of a few minutes would 
 have made him too late, for he met a party of the section Lepelletier 
 on the same mission immediately after he had taken possession. Upon 
 all the bridges ; at all the crossings of the streets ; in short, com- 
 manding all the avenues leading to the Tuileries, the artillery was 
 placed by Napoleon ; who also sent about eight hundred muskets to arm 
 the members of the Convention and their clerks, as a corps de reserve. 
 He then calmly awaited the attack. 
 
 Meantime the National Guards had taken up their positions, and 
 it was greatly feared that the troops would be seduced by them from 
 their allegiance. Some members of the Convention thought it would 
 be best to offer terms ; other, to retreat to St. Cloud ; while some pro- 
 posed laying down their arms, and receiving the people as the Roman 
 senators received the Gauls. Napoleon paid no attention to them : 
 
 * " A Voice from St. Helena," by Barry E. O'Meara, vol. ii., p. 360.
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 /t£^4Be^r sc 
 
 notliing further was decided. At length, about four in the afternoon, 
 the expected attack was commenced by the National Guard. The 
 engagement lasted a very short time. The artillery swept the streets, 
 and the victory was won by the troops of the Convention, at an expense 
 of life wonderfully small considering the circumstances. Napoleon him- 
 self said to O'Meara, that, of the people, not more than seventy or 
 eighty were killed, and between three and four hundred wounded ; 
 he having made the troops load with powder only after the two first 
 discharges. With a force of less than seven thousand men opposed to 
 forty thousand, nothing could more strikingly demonstrate the courage 
 of forbearance and the coolness of self-confidence. 
 
 The important service which Napoleon had rendered to the Conven- 
 tion was fully acknowledged, and immediately followed by his receiving 
 the rank of Commander-in-chief of the army of the Interior. Menou 
 was delivered over for trial to a council of war ; but Napoleon insisted 
 that if he were punished, justice required that the Representatives of 
 the People should be punished also, and this saved him. Only one 
 man, named La Fond, was executed for the insurrection. He was an 
 emigrant, one of the old garde du corps of Louis XVL, and had taken 
 a very prominent part in the attack. 
 
 The command of Paris devolved upon Napoleon in his quality of 
 General of the Interior, and he had to perform a nice and difficult 
 operation in consequence. The Convention ordered the disaffected 
 sections to be disarmed ; and this was done under his management 
 without violence or opposition, though it necessarily attacked all the 
 habits and the rights of the citizens. The scarcity of bread, which was 
 still severely felt, added also to the difficulties of his position. It appears 
 that he exerted himself with great addi'ess among the people ; mixing 
 continually iji their assemblies, and frequently haranguing them when
 
 >^>-!'lNi|''f(! 

 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 31 
 
 tliey threatened to become tumultuous. An anecdote is told upon one 
 of these occasions, illustrative of his tact in availing himself of their sense 
 of the ludicrous. He v^^as interrupted and confronted by a most portly 
 figure of a woman among the crowd, who shouted forth, " Do not listen 
 to these smart officers! — they doii't care who else is starved if they them- 
 selves can get fat." Napoleon, who was at that time very thin, answered, 
 " Look at me, good woman, and see which of us two is fattest !" This 
 turned the laugh against her, and the mob dispersed. 
 
 It was at one of his levees, shortly after these events, that Napoleon 
 made an acquaintance, destined to be one of no small importance to him. 
 The circumstances may be related in his own words : — " A boy of twelve 
 or thirteen years old presented himself to me, and entreated that his 
 
 
 father's sword should be returned. His father had been a general of the 
 Republic, and executed a few days before the death of Robespierre. I 
 was so touched by this affectionate request, that I ordered it to be given 
 to him. This boy was Eugene Beauharnois. On seeing the sword, he 
 burst into tears : 1 felt so much affected by his conduct, that I noticed 
 and praised him much. A few days afterwards, his mother came to 
 return me a visit of thanks : I was much struck with her appearance, and 
 still more with her esprit"
 
 32 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The impression made by Madame de Beauharnois at the first inter- 
 view rapidly increased into a stronger feeling. Almost every evening 
 was now spent in her company ; either at her own house, where all the 
 most brilliant society of Paris were accustomed to meet, or at the 
 apartments occupied by Barras, as one of the Directory in the Luxem- 
 bourg Palace, in which luxury and splendour were fast taking place of 
 republican simplicity. Of these assemblies, the grace and fascination of 
 manner possessed by Madame de Beauharnois made her one of the 
 greatest attractions ; while the commanding station occupied by Na- 
 poleon, and his striking talents and power of conversation, no less than 
 his intimacy with her, caused his constant invitation. 
 
 The National Guard was now re-modelled, and the new oflicers were 
 nominated by Napoleon. In the course of the work, he became extremely 
 popular with the whole body of men, who henceforward regarded him 
 with a kind of enthusiasm ; a circumstance of no small importance to 
 him in the course of his history ; and yet not a little extraordinary, as 
 there were doubtless many among them who had good reason to recollect 
 the quelling of the sectious. His power of acquiring an influence over 
 men's minds, was here strongly manifested. 
 
 In March, 1790, he married Madame de Beauharnois. His union 
 with this lady, so well known by the name of Josephine, was the result 
 of affection on both sides, and was productive of mutual happiness 
 throughout its duration. She was a few years his senior, but possessed 
 a peculiar charm of manner and attractive gracefulness, added to con- 
 siderable beauty of person, which never failed to inspire admiration in 
 all who saw her. It is amusing to find that she had to endure many 
 reproaches, and listen to much expostulation from her friends, who con- 
 sidered that she had made a very poor marriage in accepting a mere
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 33 
 
 soldier of fortune. That they could not foresee the .splendour of her 
 destiny is certainly no wonder ; but could a prediction have induced their 
 faith, a most palpable and unequivocal one w^as extant at the time. 
 A negress, who had the reputation of possessing the gift of sorcgry and 
 prophecy, had told Josephine when a girl, that she should one day be 
 more than a queen, and yet outlive her dignity. It is a curious and no 
 less interesting example of the attractive power of individual sympathies 
 and tendencies, to find that this romantic circumstance was actually 
 knowai to Sir Walter Scott long before its fulfilment. He was told of 
 it by a lady who was acquainted with Josephine, from whom she herself 
 had heard the story very soon after her marriage with Napoleon. Among 
 the vast multitude of predictions which are made from time to time, it 
 would be very wonderful if some of them did not chance to fall true ; 
 but that our great novelist believed in the prediction before it was proved, 
 we may be permitted to regard as unlikely, though not altogether 
 impossible. 
 
 
 ,,^^1%. 
 
 ^^" \" 11117/ ^-"f;^ -^wXi ' ^ 
 
 With the successful termination to the revolt of the sections of Paris, 
 the new government of France was established. The executive consisted 
 of a Directory of five persons : Barras, Reubel, Latourneur de la Manche, 
 Reveilliere Lepaux, and Carnot. Tallicn and the Abbe Sieves, though 
 not members, were very influential in all the politics of the period. The 
 
 F
 
 34 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 legislature was divided between two assemblies : the Council of Ancients, 
 and the Council of Five Hundi'ed. Both were elective, and the qualifi- 
 cations for a member were the same in every respect in both, except that 
 a member of the former was required to be forty years of age, and eitlier 
 a married man or a Avidower ; while to be qualified for a member of the 
 latter, it was sufficient to have attained twenty-five years. AU measm-es 
 were to be first proposed in the Council of Five Hundred, and sent up 
 to the Ancients for their ratification before passing into laws. 
 
 One of the first acts of the Directory, was to confer the cliief com- 
 mand of the army of Italy ujion Napoleon. He left Paris thi-ee days 
 after liis marriage, to join the troops. Scherer, whom he superseded, had 
 not sufficiently improved his advantages, and was, besides, continually 
 \\Titing to the government for supplies of money and horses, neither of 
 which they were able to provide : they therefore sent him his dismissal, 
 and trusted to their new general to supply all deficiencies. The extreme 
 poverty of the treasury may be understood from the fact, that the sum 
 of two thousand louis was all that could be collected to furnish him with 
 means for so important a command. 
 
 ^.^^^D^T^^ ' ' 'I'll 
 
 ii>i'iiiii»«gr-j-'l>^ I 
 
 \,-^,'-^
 
 
 S^../^''' 
 
 U(J\.\l'Al{Tr., rOMMANDKR IN-ClIIEl' OF Till'. AUMV OF ITALY.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 35 
 
 iH<l4fi.iH'%{ 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 NAPOLEON AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF — STATE OF THE ARMY PROCL AM ATIONS — COLONEL 
 
 RAMPON napoleon's FIRST VICTORY CAUSSE KING OF SARDINIA. 
 
 On liis way to join the army, Napoleon 
 turned aside from his direct course 
 to visit his mother and family at 
 Marseilles. His letters to Jose- 
 phine were full of passionate ex- 
 pressions of tenderness and regret 
 at their separation. But after 
 paying this tribute to the affec- 
 tions, his heart was sjieedily filled 
 with exultation and triumph. For 
 the first time, he was chief in 
 command ; and for the first time, 
 the power within him was to 
 direct his actions, free from out- 
 ward control. These facts are 
 deduced from observation of his character at this period. From this 
 moment, a total change in his manner, conduct, and language, is to be 
 dated ; felt by his intimate friends no less than all who came into contact 
 with him. " Decres (afterwards minister of marine) has often told me," 
 says Las Casas, " that he was at Toulon when he first heard of Napoleon's 
 appointment to the command of the army of Italy. He had known him 
 well in Paris, and thought himself on terms of perfect famiharity with
 
 S6 TlfK HISTORY OF 
 
 him. ' Thus,' said he, ' when we learned that the new general was about 
 to pass through the city, I innnediately proposed to all my comrades to 
 introduce them to liim, priding myself on my intimacy with him. I 
 hastened to him, full of eagerness and joy ; the door of the apartment 
 was thro\\ii open, and I was on tlie point of rushing towards him with 
 my wonted familiarity ; but his attitude, his look, the tone of his voice, 
 suddenly deterred me. There was nothing offensive either in his 
 appearance or manner ; but the impression he produced was sufficient 
 to prevent me from ever again attempting to encroach upon the distance 
 that separated us.' " Bovu-rienne describes haWng experienced similar 
 sensations : the same influence was exerted upon his officers. " As 
 commander-in-chief of the army of Italy," says General Foy, " he kept, 
 from the first, his lieutenants at the same respectful distance, as he 
 afterwards did the great men of the earth." This conduct was the result 
 of no supercilious hauteur or arrogance, but a necessary policy. He 
 had under his command men already distinguished in war by success 
 and bravery : Augereau, Massena, Serrurier, Joubert, Lannes, Murat, 
 La Hai-pe, Stengel, and Kihnaine, all serv'ed in the Italian campaign 
 under the general of six-and-twenty. Nevertheless, he had already a 
 well-earned reputation, and personal character sufficed for all the rest. 
 
 A ludicrous anecdote is related with reference to this stately and 
 repelling coldness of manner which he found it requisite to assume. A 
 rough sailor accosted him as he was walking on the outskirts of the 
 town, and offi^red him some smuggled goods at a cheap rate. Napoleon 
 turned upon him with a cutting look, surprised and indignant at the 
 fellow's audacity and want of awe at his presence. " Oh ! " said the 
 sailor, " I have often seen you in Corsica ; and you would have been 
 very glad to have bought some of these things for your sisters." 
 
 He reached Nice, the head-quarters of the army, on the 27th of 
 March, 1796. The troops were in a miserable condition : they were 
 wretchedly clothed, ill-fed, the cavalry half-starved, pay in arrears, and 
 they had no means of transporting artillery. In numbers they amounted 
 to thirty-one thousand ; Sir Walter Scott reckons between fifty and 
 sixty thousand; and the writer in "The Family Library" follows him. 
 They might have been with equal plausibility computed at one hundred 
 thousand, for that was the full complement of the army of Italy ; but, 
 after deducting killed, wovnided, and prisoners, the sick in hospitals, and 
 the garrisons in diifcrent fortresses, thirty-one thousand only remained 
 under arms. Such is the simple account of a fact which has been 
 subject to nuich, perhaps involuntary, misre])resentation. To this force, 
 two armies were opposed (one Austrian ; the other, Sardinian), amount- 
 ing together to eighty thousand nun, in fine condition, and in their own 
 or a fricndlN coiuitrv.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 The address of Napoleon to the army, on first reviewing it, will 
 thoroughly explain all its wants, and shew how well he understood 
 the sources of its inherent strength. " Soldiers ! " he said, " you are 
 naked and ill-fed : the Republic owes you much, and can give you 
 nothing ! The patience and courage you have shewn in the midst of 
 these rocks, are admirable. But this gains you no renown : no glory 
 results from your endurance. I am come to lead you into the most 
 fertile plains in the world ! Rich provinces and great cities Avill be in 
 your power ; there you will find honour, glory, and wealth. Soldiers of 
 Italy ! will you be wanting in courage or perseverance ? " This speech 
 was received with enthusiastic acclamations. 
 
 In a subsequent proclamation, he said to the army: — "You have 
 gained battles without cannon ; passed rivers without bridges ; performed 
 forced marches without shoes."
 
 38 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 To understand the effect produced by these proclamations, it is ne- 
 cessary to enter into the nature of the Republican troops. The old 
 army had been scattered by the Revolution. The battalions of the 
 National Guards, who, " in the first three years of the war of liberty," 
 says Foy, " started from the earth to the number of eight hundred 
 thousand, at the cry of the country in danger," formed the nucleus of 
 the new army, wliich was constantly recruited from among the finest 
 youths of France. No line of demarcation existed between the privates 
 and the officers. Originally, the men elected the officers from among 
 their own body ; afterwards, three modes of nomination to commissions 
 
 were adopted : seniority, election by the soldiers, and appointment hy 
 the government. The young men of the military schools came under 
 the last mode. An anny thus composed formed one entire body. If a 
 man behaved with courage, and escaped death, he was sure of promotion. 
 Such soldiers were not mere locomotive machines, working vnth stolid 
 insensibility to the cause ; ignorant of the cause ; indifferent to all 
 knowledge of the cause : they did not stand like painted posts, waiting 
 for orders: they had thoughts and feelings of their own, anticipating 
 connnands, and thus giving the best direction to eilbrt by "foregone 
 conclusions." Shamefid and degrading punishments were unknown 
 amongst them. Thrv rnduvcd liardships, and i ncounteved danger and
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 39 
 
 death, because they were burning for success. " How often," says 
 General Foy, " have we seen ovir foot soldiers, nearly swallowed up in 
 bogs and morasses, encouraging one another to get out of them by telling 
 each other the motives of the forced march ; motives which their leader 
 was interested in keeping secret, and which their sagacity had divined ! 
 Guns were heard ; the enemy appeared ; and all at once fatigue was 
 forgotten. They hiu'ried forward ; — they ran ! " 
 
 This was the kind of army which Napoleon now prepared to put 
 into instant action. His system of tactics will be seen, as we j^roceed, 
 to have been grounded on the principle that " the commander will be 
 victorious who can assemble the greatest number of forces upon the 
 same point at the same moment, notwithstanding an inferiority of num- 
 bers to the enemy when the general force is computed on both sides." 
 He eminently possessed the power of calculation and combination neces- 
 sary to execute these decisive manoeuvres. Precision of plan, rapidity 
 of movement, and thorough knowledge of the men he was leading, were 
 the means by which he expected to overcome superior numbers and 
 formidable obstacles. 
 
 His plan of invasion was to jienetrate into Italy, at the point of 
 junction between the Alps and Appenines, where the country is most 
 level, keeping as close as possible to the shores of the Mediterranean ; 
 and, turning round the southei*n extremity of the Alps, to traverse the 
 Genoese territory, which remained neutral, by the narrow pass called 
 the Boccheta.
 
 40 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Beaulic'U, the Austrian general, innnediately hastened to oppose his 
 approach towards Genoa. He divided his anny into three bodies : Colli, 
 who commanded the Sardinians, was stationed at Ceva, on the extreme 
 right ; D' Argenteau was ordered to march the Austrian centre upon a 
 mountain called Monte Notte, with two villages of the same name, near 
 which was a strong position called Montelegino, then occupied by the 
 French ; and Beaulieu himself, with the left division, moved tow^ards 
 Voltri, a small town ten miles from Genoa. This disposition, otherwise 
 skilful, was faulty because, from the mountainous nature of the country, 
 it precluded any connexion between the separate diAasions of liis army. 
 
 The van of the French army reached Voltri on the 10th of April, 
 1796, and was forced back upon the main body by the attack of 
 Beaulieu ; D'Argenteau advancing on the same day, by the way of 
 Monte Notte, to commence a general engagement. But Colonel 
 Rampon, the French officer who commanded the redoubts at Monte- 
 
 ^ ^% 

 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 41 
 
 legino, stopped his progress with the most determined resistance. With 
 only fifteen hundred men, he continued to defend the redoubts against 
 the very centre of the Austrian army during the whole of the 11th. In 
 a state of hi'jh-wrouccht excitement he made his men swear either to 
 defend their post, or die there. He continued to hold out till evening 
 came on ; and D'Argenteau, being thus baffled, was obliged to withdraw 
 his forces, intending to renew the attack in the morning. 
 
 But morning brought him different work to do : he found himself 
 surrounded with enemies. The van of the French army, which had 
 retreated before Beaulieu, having joined La Harpe's division, was now 
 established behind the redoubts : Augereau and Massena, advancing by 
 different passes, were on the flank and rear of his army. He was 
 obliged to extricate himself by a disastrous retreat, leaving his colours 
 and cannon, a thousand slain, and two thousand prisoners. 
 
 This was the battle of Monte Notte, the first of Napoleon's victories ; 
 in which, as on so many other occasions, he displayed consummate skill, 
 and mathematical certainty of combination. By suddenly accumulating 
 his force on the Austrian centre, he had destroyed it ; while Colli on the 
 right, and Beaulieu on the left, never knew of the action till it was lost. 
 This victory enabled the French to advance to Cairo, and placed them 
 on that side of the Alps which slopes towards Lombardy. 
 
 BeauHeu and CoUi now attempted to unite their forces : the former 
 retreated to Dego, in the valley of the river Bormida ; the latter occupied 
 Millesimo, a small town about nine miles from Dego ; having between 
 them a strong position, occupied by a brigade, on the heights of Biastro. 
 Here Beaulieu hoped to maintain his ground till the arrival of supplies 
 from Lombardy; but his antagonist had no intention of allowing him 
 any such respite. 
 
 On the 13th, the day following the battle of Monte Notte, a desperate 
 attack was made upon Colh, at Millesimo, by a division of the French, 
 under Augereau. The outposts were forced, and a gorge, by which they 
 were defended, was taken. Thus, two thousand men, under the Austrian 
 general Provera, who occupied a detached eminence, were separated 
 from the rest of the army. Provera took refuge in a ruined castle, which 
 he defended with great bravery, hoping to receive assistance from Colh ; 
 but the next day Colli was entirely defeated by Napoleon, and obliged to 
 retreat towards Ceva. Provera imitated the gallant example of Colonel 
 Rampon in his defence, but not with the same success. He was com- 
 pelled to surrender at discretion. 
 
 At the same time that Napoleon gave battle to Colli, the generals 
 Massena and La Harpe advanced upon Dego, where Beaulieu was 
 entrenched. Massena seized the heights of Biastro while La Harpe, 
 crossing the Bormida, where the stream came up to the soldiers' middle, 
 
 G
 
 4:2 TiiR iirsTORY of 
 
 attacked the village of Dego in fVont and flank. Aftci- an obstinate 
 resistance, Beaulieu was forced to retreat towards Acqui. The next 
 morning Dego was wrested from the conquerors by a fresh party of 
 Austrians, who, coming up to join Beaulieu, found to their surprise the 
 French in possession; and by a sudden attack, drove them out. Napo- 
 leon hastily marched to the place. The Austrians stood two attacks ; 
 but at the third, Lanusse rushed forwards, holding his plumed hat on 
 the point of his sword, and the place was retaken. For this piece of 
 gallantry, which was performed in sight of the general-in-chief, he 
 immediately received the rank of brigadier-general. Here also, Lannes 
 first attracted the notice of Napoleon, and was promoted from lieu- 
 tenant-colonel to colonel. The triumph, however, was purchased with 
 tiie life of the brave General Causse. He was carried out of the melee, 
 mortally wounded. Napoleon passed near him as he lay. " Is Dego 
 retaken ?" ejaculated the dying officer. " It is ours," replied Napoleon. 
 " Then long live the Republic !" cried Causse : " I die contented." 
 
 These victories of Millesimo and Dego produced the most important 
 results. They opened to the French the two great roads into Piedmont 
 and Lombardy ; cost the enemy five or six thousand men, thirty pieces 
 of cannon, and a great quantity of baggage ; and entirely divided the 
 Austrians and Sardinians, not only in position but in motive ; the former 
 now directing their efforts to prevent the French from entering the 
 Milanese territory ; while the latter strove to protect Turin, the capital 
 of Sardinia. This division of action Napoleon had foreseen. Leaving a 
 sufficient force to keep the Austrians in check, he advanced towards 
 ColU, who abandoned Ceva, and retreated behind the Tanaro. 
 
 The victorious army now arriving at the heights of Monte-Zemolo, 
 beheld the fertile plains of Piedmont, watered by the Po, the Tanaro, 
 and a multitude of other rivers ; while in the distant horison, the gigantic 
 barriers of rock and mountain, crowned with glittering ice and snow, 
 bounded, as if to protect from possible approach, the rich prize they had 
 reached. 
 
 The army of Colli was overtaken at Mondovi on the 22nd, and put to 
 flight after a severe action, in wdiich, among others, the French general 
 Stengel, a brave and excellent soldier, was killed; and the cavalry would 
 have been overpowered but for the desperate valour of Murat. The 
 Sardinians lost the best of their men, their cannon, baggage, ten stand of 
 colours, and fifteen hundred prisoners, among whom were three generals. 
 Napoleon following up his advantage, proceeded to Cherasco, within ten 
 leagues of Turin, which could no longer be defended, and towards which 
 the shattered remnants of the Sardinian army were flying for shelter. 
 
 The King of Sardinia had no other means of preserving his capital, 
 or indeed his existence on the continent, but through submission to the
 
 
 lim 
 
 ■^iik
 
 MAPOLEON BONAPAHTK. 4-3 
 
 victor. He requested an armistice, which was granted on condition 
 of his giving up Coni and Tortona, his two strongest fortresses, into the 
 hands of the French, and thus acknowledging that he surrendei'ed at 
 discretion. Murat was sent to Paris, bearing the news of this capituhi- 
 tion, and twenty-one stand of colours. His arrival caused great joy in 
 the capital. The legislature had decreed five times in the course of a 
 month, that the army of Italy deserved well of its country. Commis- 
 sioners were sent to the Directory, to arrange the terms of peace. 
 
 The treaty required that five more of the fortresses should be sur- 
 rendered ; that the road from France to Italy should be at all times open 
 to the French armies ; that the king should break off all connection and 
 alliance with the combined powers at war with France ; and become 
 bound not to entertain at his court, nor in his service, any French 
 emigrants. The last condition was peculiarly humiliating, as he was 
 father-in-law to Monsieur and the Comte D'Artois (both since kings of 
 France under the titles of Louis XVI II. and Charles X.), and no excep- 
 tion was made in their favour. To these conditions he was forced to 
 agree. Thus, was entirely removed from the coalition, the sovereign at 
 whose court it was planned ; and who, though a second-rate power in 
 Europe, derived importance from the position of his dominions, and from 
 being the descendant of a long line of kings, now humbled before the 
 genius of a republican general. He did not long survive these events ; 
 the writers of the loyalist party remarking that " this unfortunate prince 
 died of a broken heart," as an indirect reproach to his cruel conqueror ; 
 the writers of the republican party treating the question as a mere 
 matter of war and state affairs. 
 
 These advantages were secured to France in the short period of one 
 fortnight. To effect the rapid movements required for such results, 
 everything was sacrificed that came in the way, not only on this 
 occasion, but every other. Baggage, stragglers, the wounded, the 
 artillery, all were left behind, rather than the column should fail to 
 reach the destined place at the destined time. Napoleon made no allow- 
 ance for accidents or impediments. Things till now reckoned essential 
 to an army, were dispensed with ; and, for the first time, troops were 
 seen to take the field without tents, camp equipage, magazines of pro- 
 visions, and military hospitals. Such a system aggravated dreadfully 
 the horrors of war. The soldiers were, necessarily, marauders, and 
 committed terrible excesses at this first stage of the campaign ; but 
 every effort was made, and with much success, to prevent this evil after 
 conquest had put the means of regular supply within the power of the 
 commander-in-chief. The hardships suffered by the army itself were, 
 however, inseparable from this kind of warfare. " The constant move- 
 ments of tlie armies," says General Foy, "and the uncertainty of the
 
 44 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 lines of operation, did not 'always admit of the establishment of regular 
 hospitals, and incessantly compromised reliefs of nature. The wounded 
 were frequently left behind for want of the means of conveyance. 
 Whether victors or vanquished, we lost four times as many men by the 
 disorders inseparable from our system of war, as by the fire or the sword 
 of the enemy." To this admission, which, like all these horrible events 
 of war, causes humanity to shudder at every step, and nature to revolt 
 at every cry of victory, General Foy adds the further truth which is the 
 peculiarity of the case : — " The army, nevertheless, adored its fortunate 
 general ; and it still doated on him, even when undeceived respecting his 
 providence for it. To be able to solve this enigma, it was requisite to 
 have known Napoleon, the life of camps and of glory ; and, above all, 
 one must have a French head and heart." 
 
 The commanding influence of his mind, his personal character, and 
 constant presence, wrought upon the spirits of his men. He was always 
 just to merit ; every one of his dispatches to the Directory relates their 
 deeds, and urges the promotion of his brethren-in-arms. With the 
 sufferings of the army, he never failed to shew an active sympathy, when 
 It did not tend to the compromise of his plans. Everything was sacri- 
 ficed to the design he intended to accomplish ; but when this was not 
 endangered, he has been known to spend hours on the field after a 
 battle, in order to see that the wounded received due attention. He 
 visited the hospitals in person, and made his officers, after his example, 
 take the utmost interest in this duty. His hand was applied to the 
 wounds; his voice cheered the sick. All who recovered could relate 
 individual acts of kindness experienced from him by themselves or their 
 comrades ; and the dead are silent. 
 
 It was at this period that a medal of Napoleon was struck at Paris, 
 as the conqueror of Monte Notte. The face is extremely thin, with long 
 and straight hair. On the reverse, a figure of Victory is represented 
 flying over the Alps, bearing a palm branch, a wreath of laurel, and a 
 drawn sword. This was the first of the splendid series designed by 
 Denon, to record the victories and honours of Napoleon. 
 
 After accomplishing so much, a general of less enterprise might have 
 thought it right to rest awhile, and wait for reinforcements before 
 attempting further conquest; but Napoleon determined to advance 
 without delay, giving Tuscany, Venice, and the other Italian states, no 
 time to take up a hostile attitude, and seizing on the Milanese before 
 the Austrians had time to send another army to repair the disasters of 
 Beaulieu. The next movement would be upon Rome, to chastise the 
 Pope, with whom the French government had a quarrel, for having 
 quietly permitted the assassination of their envoy Basscville, three years 
 before, in a popular tumult.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 45 
 
 The French army, to which recruits were now flocking from every 
 hospital and depot within reach, was ordered to prepare for instant 
 motion ; and a proclamation was accordingly issued from Cherasco : — 
 " Soldiers ! you have in fifteen days gained six victories ; taken twenty- 
 one stand of colours, fifty-five pieces of cannon, and several fortresses; 
 and overrun the richest part of Piedmont. You have made fifteen 
 thousand prisoners, and killed or wounded upwards of ten thousand 
 men. Hitherto you have been fighting for ban-en rocks, made memor- 
 able by your valour, though useless to your country ; but your exploits 
 now equal those of the armies of Holland and the Rhine. You were 
 utterly destitute, and you have supplied all your wants. You have 
 passed rivers without bridges, performed forced marches without shoes, 
 and bivouacked without strong liquors, and often without bread. None 
 but republican phalanxes, the soldiers of liberty, could have endured 
 what you have. Thanks to you, soldiers ! for your perseverance. Your 
 grateful country owes its safety to you. But, soldiers! you have yet 
 done nothing, for there still remains much to do. Neither Turin nor 
 Milan is yours : the ashes of the conquerors of Tarquin are still trodden 
 under foot by the assassins of Basseville." 
 
 Sir Walter Scott humorously observes upon the classical allusions in 
 Napoleon's proclamations, that the French soldiers were probably pleased 
 "with being supposed to understand them;" considering them "as 
 soldier-like words, and words of exceeding good command." This we 
 think very likely ; but the writer's adverse politics makes him totally 
 misunderstand the spirit of the French army, when he undervalues, and 
 rather amuses himself at, the idea of the effect of these energetic pro- 
 clamations, to which the soldiers listened with eager ^enthusiasm, and 
 every word of which was engraven upon their memories. Without 
 intending, Sir Walter certainly pays the minds of the soldiers of his 
 own country a very bad compliment in the comparison which he suggests, 
 and the preference he appears to give to mere bodily obedience. 
 
 The character of the young general who had thus, within the space 
 of a single month, thrown open the gates of Italy before the advance of 
 the republican army, apparently changing the very form and spirit of 
 the destiny of both, was at this time regarded by all Europe with 
 as much admiration as his brilliant talents. The concluding portion of 
 the foregoing proclamation will best explain the state of Napoleon's 
 mind and principles at this period. 
 
 " Friends ! I promise you the conquest of all Italy. But there is 
 one condition which you must swear to fulfil : it is, that you respect the 
 people whom you come to set free ; that you forbear those frightful 
 pillages to which some depraved men are excited by our enemies. With- 
 out this forbearance ;you will not be considered the liberators of an
 
 46 
 
 THE IIISTOIIY OF 
 
 enslaved people ; you will be their scourge ; you will not be an honour 
 to the French nation ; — they will disown you. Your victories, your 
 courage, your success, the blood of your brothers slain in the field — all 
 will be lost, — even honour and glory. As to myself and the other 
 generals who possess your esteem, we sliould blush to command an army 
 without discipline, without curb, who know no law but force. But, 
 invested with the national authorities, strong in justice and in law, I 
 can make that small portion of heartless and cowardly men respect the 
 laws of humanity and honour, which they thus trample under foot. I 
 will not suffer brigands to soil your laurels : the robbers shall be shot 
 without mercy: some have been shot already. It has given me satis- 
 faction to see the manner in which the true soldiers of the Republic 
 have executed such orders. People of Italy ! the French are the friends 
 of all nations. Range yourselves with confidence beneath our colours. 
 Your property, your religion, and your customs, shall be sacredly 
 respected." 
 
 To this noble and elevated exhortation it is only just" to add, that 
 Napoleon did not find out tlie extent to which this frightful system of 
 pillage was carried, until his army was in a condition to do witliout it. 
 To put a sto^) to it with a strong hand the moment he considered it not 
 necessary, and to instil high and humane principles in place of depravity, 
 was something, nevertheless. 
 

 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 CHAPTER V, 
 
 JOSEPHINE — LA HARPE — WORKS OF ART BRIDGE OF LODI NAPOLEON'S ENTRY INTC 
 
 MILAN INSURRECTION OF PAVIA — KELLERMANN THE DIRECTORY, 
 
 While the army of Italy followed with 
 enthusiasm its youthful and victo- 
 rious leader, their countrymen at 
 home celebrated their successes with 
 joyful acclamations and constant 
 fetes. Upon these occasions, Jo- 
 sephine, her daughter Mademoi- 
 selle Beauharnois (or, Beauharnais, 
 as the name is frequently spelled), 
 and Madame Tallien, shone con- 
 spicuous among the beauties of 
 tlie time ; their high position and 
 influential relationships contributing 
 to render them objects of general 
 attraction and courtly interest. 
 The appearance of the above ladies at a splendid ball given in 
 the Hotel Thelusson, has been minutely described by one who was 
 present. Nothing could exceed the elegant splendour of Madame 
 Tallien, or the refined grace of Madame Bonaparte. By the side of the 
 latter stood her daughter, whose deep blue eyes looked out from a 
 profusion of silky tresses ; yet appearing the younger sister, rather than 
 the chikl, of Josephine. The sweetness, the intellectual beauty, the
 
 48 THE nrsTORY of 
 
 grace and fascination of manner possessed by Madame Bonaparte, have 
 already been mentioned. Her dress upon the present occasion has been 
 described, not in detail, but by wliat one may suppose to be a compre- 
 hensive Parisian climax; viz., that "her elegant attire was the object 
 of the attention and envy of every woman in the room.'"* In all the 
 most brilliant societies, Madame Bonaparte and Madame Tallien were 
 the same objects of admiration. Our reason for mentioning these ap- 
 parently immaterial circumstances, will be seen hereafter. We now 
 return to the army of Italy. 
 
 Piedmont being lost, the sole object of Beaulieu was now to protect 
 Lombardy by covering Milan, and preventing the French, if possible, 
 from effecting the passage of the great and rapid river Po. By a series 
 of successful feints, Napoleon so effectually deceived the old general as 
 to the point at which he intended to make this difficult and dangerous 
 attempt, that while the Austrians lay in wait for him at Valenza, he had 
 marched fifty miles with amazing celerity, and carried the whole of his 
 troops across at Placenza, in the common ferry boats, without the loss of 
 a man. Beaulieu, on hearing the unexpected intelligence, advanced 
 rapidly in hopes of forcing him to a battle under the disadvantage of 
 having a broad river in his rear ; but Napoleon, who was equally aware 
 of the danger of such a position, met him half-way, at Fombio ; where, 
 after a resolute discharge of musquetry from the steeples and houses, 
 the Austrians were defeated with a heavy loss, and compelled to re- 
 treat across the Adda, leaving all their cannon behind. 
 
 A detached body of the imperial troops coming up after the battle, 
 were also repulsed, but not before having been the occasion of the 
 tragical end of General La Harpe. He had ridden out to recon- 
 noitre on the alarm of a fresh attack, and returning with his attendants, 
 was mistaken by his own men for an officer of the enemy, and shot 
 dead on the spot. 
 
 It was after the successful movements just related that Napoleon 
 had some talk at a bivouac with an old Plungarian officer among the 
 prisoners, who did not know him, and who expressed his utter disappro- 
 bation of the " irregularity " of the proceedings of the French com- 
 mander. " The French," said he, " have got a young general who 
 knows nothing of the regular rules of war. He is sometimes on our 
 front, sometimes on the flank, sometimes on the rear. There is no 
 supporting such a gross violation of rules." 
 
 On entering the gates of Parma, envoys were sent to Napoleon by 
 the duke, suing for peace and protection. This was granted on con- 
 dition that the duke paid two millions of livrcs, and furnished the army 
 
 • Memoires do l.i Duchesso d' Aliraiites,
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 49 
 
 with sixteen hundred horses, and a quantity of hay and wheat. A novel 
 kind of contribution was also exacted : twenty works of art, to he chosen 
 by French commissioners, and sent to the Museum at Paris, were 
 demanded. The duke was forced to submit to these terms. The sole 
 resistance he offered was on the subject of the famous St. Jerome of 
 Correggio, which was among the pictures chosen by the commissioners. 
 He offered eighty thousand pounds to be allowed to keep it ; and the 
 army-agents were earnest with Napoleon to accept the money. To their 
 astonishment, he refused; remarking, that the money would soon be 
 spent, but the possession of the masterpiece would remain a proud 
 distinction to Paris, and an inspiration to art in France. 
 
 The Duke of Modena shortly afterwards obtained the clemency of 
 the conqueror on similar terms. He gave money, horses, and provisions, 
 and a contribution of works of art. Napoleon's reason for thus seizing 
 these fine productions, which were the pure growth of the genius of the 
 soil, in order to transport them to his own country, and there form a 
 central school of art, was an enlarged and patriotic design ; but, on the 
 other hand (even if justified in the seizure by their being the private 
 property of the hostile petty tyrants), it surely was a one-sided policy, 
 because the people of Italy were certain to be provoked and grieved at 
 the loss, and thus rendered inimical to the Republic, and the principles 
 it was so anxious to disseminate. 
 
 To oppose the passage of the Adda now became 'the endeavour of 
 Beaulieu. For this purpose, he stationed the main division of his army 
 at Lodi ; through the ancient buildings, and between the old Gothic 
 walls of which town, the river flows. It is crossed by a narrow wooden 
 bridge, five hundred feet in length. Napoleon coming up on the 10th of 
 May, easily drove the rear-guard of the Austrian army before him into 
 the town, but found his further progress threatened by the tremendous 
 fire of thirty pieces of cannon, stationed at the opposite end of the bridge, 
 so as to sweep it most completely. The whole body of the enemy's 
 infantry, di-awn up in a dense line, supported this appalling disposition 
 of the artillery. 
 
 An answering battery was instantly constructed on the' French side. 
 Napoleon exposing himself in the thickest of the fire to point two of the 
 guns with his own hands. This he effected in such a manner as to 
 prevent the possibility of any approach on the part of the enemy to 
 undermine or blow up the bridge. Observing, meanwhile, that Beau- 
 lieu had removed his infantry to a considerable distance backwards, 
 to keep them out of the range of the French battery, he instantly 
 detached his cavalry, with orders to gallop out of sight, and then ford 
 the river, and coming suddenly upon the enemy, attack them in fiank. 
 
 H
 
 50 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 He now drew up a body of three thousand grenadiers in close column, 
 under the shelter of the houses, and bade tliem prepare for the desperate 
 attempt of forcing a passage across the narrow bridge, in the face of 
 the enemy's thickly-planted artillery. 
 
 The cavah-y of Napoleon had a difficult task to perform in passing 
 the river, and he waited with anxiety for their appearance on the opposite 
 bank. But a sudden movement in the ranks of the enemy shewed him 
 that his cavalry had arrived and charged, and he instantly gave the word. 
 The head of the column of grenadiers wheeled to the left, and was at 
 once upon the bridge. The whole body rushed forward with impe- 
 tuosity, shouting, " Vive la Republique ! " A hundred bodies rolled 
 dead, and the advancing column faltered under the redoubled roar of 
 the guns, and the tempest of the grape shot. At this critical moment, 
 Lannes, Napoleon, Berthier, and L'Alleniand, hurried to the front, and 
 dashing onwards, were followed by the whole column in the very moutli 
 of the artillery. They gained the opposite side : Lannes reached the 
 guns first, and Napoleon second. The artillerymen were killed ; their 
 guns seized ; and the Austrian infantry, which had been removed too far 
 back, not having time to come up to support the artillery, the whole 
 army was put to flight. 
 
 The exposure of his person under extraordinary circumstances, and 
 when others who had seen many a fearful action were for the moment 
 paralysed, was of two-fold importance ; inasmuch as it almost always 
 ensured the success of the object immediately in view, while it also gave 
 ' a strong incentive to valour in the feelings of his soldiers for future enter- 
 prises of similar hazard. We should likewise remember that Napoleon 
 entertained a theory of fatalism, or an opinion that ' every bullet is marked;' 
 and this, when originated by suitable nerves, enables such men to perform 
 deeds which lead a few of them to conquest, — the vast majority to death. 
 The foregoing victory at Lodi had, however, a great influence on Napo- 
 leon's mind, who subsequently declared that neither his success in quelling 
 the sections, nor his victory at Monte Notte, made him regard himself as 
 anything superior ; but that after Lodi, for the first time, the idea dawned 
 upon him that he should one day be " a decisive actor" (the expression 
 is peculiarly characteristic) on the stage of the political world. It is not 
 to be inferred that he attached any undue imj)ortance to the mere act 
 of leading his men in this perilous attempt, but that the consequences 
 of the victory, and the influence he found he possessed over the minds of 
 his soldiers, led him to the idea of more extensive conquests in future, 
 and more comprehensive power. Napoleon, with all his promptitude 
 in emergencies, was not a man who trusted to " expedients :" he always 
 endeavoured to avoid compulsory positions, and ratlier preferred to take 
 action, even desperately, in advance.
 
 1
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 51 
 
 This " terrible passage" of the bridge of Lodi, as Napoleon has 
 himself styled it, was eflfected with such extreme rapidity, that notwith- 
 standing the heavy fire of the enemy, it cost the French only two hundred 
 men. It is justly styled one of the most daring achievements on record. 
 Upon this occasion, the soldiers conferred upon him the honorary nick- 
 name of " the corporal:" so flattered, encouraged and delighted were 
 they at his thus fighting in the ranks, and placing himself foremost upon 
 so perilous an occasion. 
 
 The consequences of the victory were most important to the French. 
 Beaulieu, indeed, escaped, and took refuge under the walls of Mantua, 
 after a long pursuit and heavy loss ; but Cremona was taken ; Pizzig- 
 hitome, with a garrison of five hundred men, surrendered; and, above 
 all, Milan, the ancient and opulent capital of Lombardy, lay open and 
 defenceless before them. 
 
 During the progress of these battles, the archduke Ferdinand, who 
 governed Milan under the emperor, had betaken himself to the aids his 
 religion offered in this extremity. He had unweariedly invoked all 
 the saints, made endless processions, exposed the holiest relics, performed 
 the most ^imposing rites, and undergone the most select penances; but 
 he was shocked to find it all in vain. The passage of the Bridge of 
 Lodi, and the retreat of Beaulieu to Mantua, admitted of only one 
 answering action on his part. He accordingly fled with his duchess 
 from Milan, leaving a moderate force in the citadel, and accompanied 
 only by a small retinue. Their carriages passed slowly through the 
 streets, impeded by a vast crowd which thronged to see their departure. 
 The ducal pair were seen to shed tears, but the people observed a 
 profound silence. 
 
 The departing train had scarcely disappeared, before all Milan 
 gladly prepared for the reception of the victors. The friends of Re- 
 publicanism first, and then every citizen, assumed the tri-coloured 
 cockade. The imperial arms were removed from the palace ; the nobles 
 laid aside their armorial bearings, their servants' liveries, and all other 
 badges of aristocracy. A deputation of the principal inhabitants repaired 
 to Lodi, with offers of full submission, and entreaties for clemency. 
 
 On the 14th of May, Napoleon made his public entry into Milan 
 under a triumphal arch, amidst an immense concourse of the population, 
 and between ranks of the National Guard of the city clothed in the 
 three colours, green, red, and white. He took up his residence in the 
 palace ; and the same evening gave a splendid entertainment, while the 
 tree of liberty was erected with great pomp in the principal square. 
 
 Notwithstanding these demonstrations of joy and good-will on both 
 sides, Milan was put under a heavy contribution for the support of the 
 army. In this instance, as in some others, Napoleon could not avoid
 
 52 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 oppression, and well knew the disadvantageous position in which he was 
 thereby placed. His power of remodelling the Italian states was mate- 
 rially thwarted by the necessity of maintaining his troops at their 
 expense. " You cannot," as he himself subsequently remarked, " at 
 the same moment strip a people of their substance, and persuade them 
 while doing so that you are their friend and benefactor." 
 
 A formidable proof of the feeling of the Italians was immediately 
 afforded. While Napoleon, who only rested six days at Milan, was 
 preparing to march forward upon Beaulieu, the city of Pavia, containing 
 a population of thirty thousand, and all the provinces around, rose in 
 open insurrection. The populace, lashed into fury by the priests, who 
 incited them from every pulpit to take vengeance upon the Republican 
 soldiers, flew to arms. The citadel, possessed by three hundred French
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 53 
 
 soldiers, was surprised, — taken, — and the walls of the city were manned 
 by peasants. The tocsin sounded in every village, and the most immi- 
 nent danger threatened the French army. 
 
 Napoleon hastened to quell the insurgents before their spirit had 
 time to spread ; having first sent the Archbishop of Milan to appease 
 them, but without effect. Selecting, therefore, fifteen hundred men 
 and six field-pieces, Napoleon marched rapidly upon Pavia, spreading 
 terror and desolation as he went. The village of Binasco was taken, 
 pillaged, and burnt, and the inhabitants massacred without mercy. 
 The gates of Pavia were blown to pieces by his cannon ; the pea- 
 sants were conquered, pursued, and slaughtered ; the city pillaged ; 
 the leaders of the revolt all shot. By these dreadful measures the 
 country was quieted. As a further precaution, however, several of the 
 inhabitants were seized, and sent as hostages into France. The French 
 garrison, now liberated, were severely reprimanded. " Cowards ! " said 
 Napoleon to them, " I entrusted you with a post essential to the safety 
 of the whole army, and you have abandoned it to a mob of wretched 
 peasants without offering the least resistance." Their captain was deli- 
 vered over to a council of war, and shot. 
 
 During these events, a slight degree of uncertainty hung over the 
 future progress of the campaign, in consequence of the timid policy of 
 the Directory of Paris. Taking a sudden alarm at the rapid success and 
 rising popularity of their young general, they sent him orders to share 
 his command with Kellermann ; who was to proceed to Italy forthwith, 
 and press the siege of Mantua, while Napoleon with his division should 
 march onwards to Rome and Naples. His answer to an order which, by 
 dividing the army, as well as the spirit of its movements, would cause 
 ruin, was an immediate resignation of his command. Upon this, the 
 Directory became sensible of their error ; reinstated him with full and 
 undivided authority, and never afterwards attempted to interfere with 
 his proceedings. 
 
 Without further delay, the army now advanced upon Beaulieu's 
 position. The Mincio was passed at the bridge of Borghetto, though 
 the Austrians had succeeded in demolishing one of the arches. The 
 breech was temporarily repaired by the French soldiers under a heavy 
 fire from the enemy : and Beaulieu was forced to retreat behind the line 
 of the Adige. 
 
 Napoleon now established his head quarters at Valeggio, the position 
 occupied by Beaulieu before the action, and a strange reverse of fortune 
 had nearly happened in consequence. Massena's division, destined to 
 protect the town, had not yet passed the bridge, but remained behind, 
 employed in cooking their dinner : the rest of the army were in pursuit 
 of the Austrians. A small retinue only remained in Valeggio with the
 
 54 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 commander-in-chief. Dui'ing this state of fancied security, a division 
 of the Austrian army, which had not been engaged at Borghetto, and 
 was ignorant of the defeat, suddenly marched into the place. Napoleon 
 would inevitably have been made prisoner, had not some of his escort 
 hastily barricadoed the gates of the house in which he had taken up his 
 quarters, and defended it with the most obstinate courage, while he 
 escaped by the garden, and, mounting his horse, gallopped towards 
 Massena's division, which he reached in safety. The party whom he 
 left in such pei'il were quickly rescued by the advance of their comrades, 
 and the Austrians were put to flight. 
 
 This narrow escape was the cause of the formation of the body of 
 men called " Guides ;" whose duty it was to remain always near the 
 person of the commander-in-chief, and who were only brought into 
 action when important movements or desperate emergencies required the 
 utmost efforts. They were placed under the command of Bessieres, 
 
 -'--^y 
 
 x 

 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MANTUA VENICE INSURRECTIONS — NAPLES LEGHORN CITADEL OF MILAN — WURMSER 
 
 BATTLES OF SALO, LONATO, CASTIGLIONE — JUNOT — NAPOLEON'S DANGER — FLIGHT OF 
 WURMSER — THIRD BLOCKADE OF MANTUA. 
 
 Austria had now lost all her Italian 
 possessions except the citadel of 
 Milan, and the strong fortress of 
 Mantua. The natural position of 
 Mantua renders it nearly impreg- 
 ^>i^l^\^'' jJ^T^^ilSfBIBM^ 'f^ nable; it is scarcely to be re- 
 
 T ?K j^Knal^^^^BSm%^:' fC^^ duced except by famine. The 
 
 city and fortress are situated on 
 an island called the Seraglio, in 
 the midst of three lakes formed 
 by the River Mincio, and com- 
 municate with the mainland only 
 by five causeways. The garrison 
 amounted to between twelve and 
 fourteen thousand men. It was 
 a matter of high importance that Napoleon should reduce this place of 
 strength quickly, for a large army under Field-Marshal Wurmser, one of 
 the most able and experienced of the Austrian generals, was about to 
 enter Italy. But to carry such a position by a coup de main, was imprac- 
 ticable. Napoleon accordingly disposed his forces to form a regular siege. 
 The occupation of Verona was a necessary step, and by this the 
 neutrality of Venice was violated : it was done, however, without scrujile.
 
 56 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 •' You are too weak," Napoleon said to the Venetian envoy Fescarelli, 
 *' to pretend to enforce neutrality with a few hundred Sclavonians, on 
 two such nations as France and Austria. The Austrians have not 
 respected your territory where it suited their purpose ; and I must, in 
 requital, occupy such part as falls within the line of the Adige." 
 
 It was hy no means the intention of Napoleon to quarrel with the 
 Venetians yet : he had work enough upon his hands already. But it 
 was very convenient to maintain his army at their expense, and it was 
 necessar}"^ for him to occupy Verona. He therefore assumed just so 
 much of the tone of haughty displeasure as made them anxious to pro- 
 pitiate him, and ready to accede to all his demands ; while he carefully 
 avoided driving them to hostilities. The two senators who carried on 
 the negotiations with him wrote to their government, " This man will 
 one day have great influence in his country." These subtle Italians and 
 " old" diplomatists, who well knew that they deserved no real trust, 
 perfectly understood, and much admired, his tact and management. 
 
 These preliminaries being accomplished, the chief attention of Na- 
 poleon was fixed upon the siege of Mantua. His troops rapidly seized 
 four out of the five causeways by which the communication of the 
 Seraglio is kept up with the mainland ; the fifth was defended by a 
 strong citadel called La Favorita. The possession of the other four 
 enabled the French commander, with only eight thousand men, to keep 
 the Austrian garrison, amounting to fourteen thousand, in check. 
 
 Notwithstanding this success and all its previous triumphs, the 
 situation of the French army was at this time very critical. The whole 
 train of artillery at its command was employed in the attack upon the 
 citadel of Milan, which still held out ; and though there was urgent 
 necessity for despatch, the siege of Mantua was by compulsion reduced 
 to a blockade. 
 
 Meantime the intrigues of Genoa, Venice, and Rome (all of which 
 regarded the French Republic with smothered enmity), incited tlie late 
 imperial fiefs to continual revolts. Detached bodies of the French were 
 attacked at every opportunity ; a hundred and fifty soldiers were sud- 
 denly massacred in Arquata, where they were quietly garrisoned. The 
 Pope only waited the arrival of six thousand English, whom he expected 
 to land at Leghorn, to declare himself openly. Above all, Wurmser, 
 with his army, was approaching by the Tyrol, to form a junction with 
 the remains of Beaulieu's forces, which had taken refuge there, under 
 command of Melas, Beaulieu having been superseded in disgrace. As 
 soon as he should arrive, the Austrian force would amount to seventy 
 tliousand men, including the garrison of Mantua. The French army 
 now numbered forty-thousand men, ardent from recent conquests, it is 
 true, and feeling unbounded reliance in their commander ; yet suddenly
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 57 
 
 placed, by all the foregoing circumstances, in a position of great danger, 
 and apparently insurmountable difficulty. 
 
 At this very moment, the King of Naples, alarmed for the safety of 
 his states, deserted the coalition, and solicited an armistice, with the 
 view to a definitive peace. It was granted ; and this proved an im- 
 portant event, as it secured the inaction of his army, and also of his 
 fleet, which had hitherto co-operated with the English. The Neapolitan 
 auxiliaries immediately left the army of Beaulieu, and returned to their 
 own country. 
 
 The imperial fiefs were quieted by a detachment of twelve hundred 
 men under Lannes ; who was everywhere successful, and took the most 
 dreadful vengeance upon the insurgents that military execution can 
 inflict. Tranquillity was enforced by terror. Murat was dispatched to 
 Genoa with a letter of menace, which he read himself with a loud voice 
 in the senate, and which produced immediate concessions and hollow 
 promises. 
 
 Augereau had passed the Po at Borgo-Forte, and occupied Bologna 
 and Ferrara, the territories of which belonged to the H0I3' See. Bologna 
 gladly tlu-ew off the Papal yoke, established a national guard, and de- 
 clared itself a free city under the protection of France. Reggio and 
 Modena imitated its example. The Pope, now in extreme alarm, sent 
 to beg an armistice : to this Napoleon acceded, on the condition of 
 receiving, on the part of the French government, a million sterling, and 
 a hundred works of art. 
 
 At the entry of the French into Bologna, four hundred of the Papal 
 troops were made prisoners, with a cardinal who acted as their officer. 
 This latter was dismissed on his parole ; but when smnmoned after- 
 wards to the French camp, he declined to obey the mandate, on the plea 
 that the Pope had absolved liim from his word of honour. This excited 
 no small merriment among the officers. 
 
 Napoleon now seized Leghorn, confiscated the EngKsh goods, and 
 destroyed the English factory. As this port belonged to Tuscany, he 
 thereby violated the neutrality of the Grand Duke ; but he made no 
 casuistic apologies. " The French flag," he said, " has been insulted in 
 Leghorn ; you are not strong enough to enforce respect to it : the 
 Directory has commanded me to occupy the place." 
 
 The opportunity had now arrived for depriving the English of 
 Corsica, which is situated only twenty leagues from the coast of Tus- 
 cany. Napoleon collected all the Corsican refugees, united them in 
 Leghorn, and sent over a party with arms and ammunition. The 
 Corsicans, utterly discontented with their foreign masters, and ripe for 
 revolt, flew to arms; and in three months, Corsica became a division 
 of France. 
 
 I
 
 58 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The siege of the citadel of Milan, rigorously pressed, was at length 
 successful. The garrison capitulated on tlie 29th of June. By the 
 18th of July, one huncU'ed and forty pieces of Ccumon were before 
 Mantua. After seeing the trenches opened. Napoleon retui'ned to 
 Milan, and completed the ratification of treaties and the organisation of 
 Lonibardy. All Italy was now subdued, or in alliance with the Repub- 
 lic, excepting Mantua. 
 
 The Austrian army, in three divisions, under the command of the 
 generals Davido\vich, Quasdanowitch, and Wurmser himself, descended 
 from the Tyi'ol, during the last days of July. Wurmser, confident in 
 his niunbers, and calculating upon the absorption of the energies of the 
 French army by its endeavours to subdue Mantua, disposed his forces in 
 the most admirable manner to improve a victory ; never reflecting that 
 he might happen to be defeated. Untaught by all the previous disasters 
 of Beaulieu, he committed the error of dividing his army, in order to 
 cover an extent of country. His right wing was detached, with orders 
 to occupy Brescia, and cut off the retreat of the French in the direction 
 of Milan : his left wing was sent to descend the Adige, and manoeuvre 
 on Verona ; while the centre, under his ovm. command, advanced to 
 raise the siege of Mantua. During the two first days of his approach, 
 the French generals, after resisting to the utmost, yielded up succes- 
 sively, Rivoli, Brescia, and Salo ; but these two days were sufficient to 
 make Na])oleon master of the ])lHn on which Wurmser proposed to carry 
 on the campaign, and he instantly disconcerted the whole of it, by a move- 
 ment so unlike that of any ordinary general, as to defy all calculation. 
 
 In one night, he raised the siege of Mantua ; sacrificing the whole of 
 his artillery. The men were employed to destroy as much as the time 
 would allow. They spiked the guns, burnt the carriages, threw the
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 59 
 
 powder into the lake, and buried the halls, Augereau and Massena 
 were stationed to defend the line of the Mincio as long as possible. 
 Before morning the whole French army had disappeared from Mantua, 
 and Napoleon was hurrying forward to attack the right wing of the 
 Austrian army, before it could effect a junction with the central body of 
 Wurmser. 
 
 The Austrian right wing was advancing in three di\asions. Napoleon 
 defeated one division at Salo, and another at Lonato. At the same time, 
 Augereau and Massena, leaving a sufficient number of men at their 
 posts to maintain a defence, or at least to impede the enemy, marched 
 upon the third di^'ision at Brescia ; but it had already fled in disorder 
 towards the Tyrol. The French generals instantly countermarched to 
 the support of their rear-guards, which had been forced by the Austrians. 
 
 Wurmser meanwhile had reached Mantua, where, to his utter asto- 
 nishment, he found the trenches abandoned, and no enemy to oppose. 
 Seriously alarmed for the fate of his right wing, he dispatched two 
 divisions to force a junction with it immediately. These divisions, obtain- 
 ing possession of Lonato and Castiglione, were speedily attacked one after 
 the other (as Napoleon always contrived), and defeated and put to flight 
 by Massena and Augereau. 
 
 Junot distinguished himself by extraordinary efforts of courage in 
 these actions. He was thus mentioned in the dispatch sent by Napoleon 
 to the Directory after the victory : — " I ordered my aide-de-camp,
 
 (50 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 (Icneral of Bri^ack' .Tuuot, to put himself at the head of my company 
 of Guides to pursue the enemy, and overtake them by great speed at 
 Dezenzano. He encountered Colonel Bender with a party of his regi- 
 ment of Hussars, whom he charged ; but Junot not wishing to waste 
 his time by charging the rear, made a detour on the right, — took the 
 regiment in front, — wounded the colonel, whom he attempted to take 
 prisoner, — when he was himself surroiuided, and after ha\ang killed six of 
 the enemy with his ovn\ hand, was cut downi, and thrown into a ditch." 
 
 Detached parties of Avistrian soldiers were now wandering about 
 without method, and striving to rejoin Wurmser, or any part of the 
 army which was still in the field. A body of four or five thousand of 
 these stragglers, receiving information from the peasantry that the French 
 had only left a garrison of twelve hundred men in Lonato, determined 
 to take possession of the place ; and their commander sent an officer to 
 summon the garrison to surrender. The information of the smallness 
 of the French force was perfectly correct, and a prize little anticipated 
 by the Austrians was also within their grasp. Napoleon had just before 
 entered Lonato, attended only by his staff. Into his presence the 
 Austrian officer was accordingly brought blindfolded, according to custom 
 on such occasions. "With admirable presence of mind, Napoleon averted 
 this imminent danger. Collecting all the officers of his staff around him, 
 and assuming the state of a commander-in-chief at the head of his army, 
 he ordered the officer's eyes to be unbandaged, and addressed him in a 
 tone of astonishment at his audacity : — -" Go, and tell your general," he 
 said, " that I give him eight minutes to lay down his arms : he is in the 
 midst of the French army ! That time passed, he has nothing to hope." 
 The officer, appalled at discovering in whose presence he stood, returned 
 to his comrades with tliis message. The shortness of time allowed, 
 prevented the truth from being discovered, and they immediately surren- 
 dered to a force about one-fourth of their own. They had begun to 
 believe that their enemy possessed ubiquity. 
 
 Wurmser, whose fine army was thus being destroyed in detail, had 
 been employed in re-\ictualling Mantua. It was on the night of the 
 31st of July, that Napoleon had suddenly deserted the works at that 
 place ; the victories we have described have only brought us to the night 
 of the 4th of August : that night the army was collected at Castiglione. 
 Before the morning of the 5th, General Fiorella, despatched by Napoleon 
 with a body of men, suddenly appeared on the left wing and flank of the 
 Austrian army, which was now under Wurmser himself ap})roaching the 
 French position at Castiglione. The assault took him (|uite by surprise. 
 Napoleon led the attack in front. The Austrian forces were entirely 
 routed ; AVurmser was nearly taken ))risoner, and pursued into Trent 
 and Roveredo, the positions from wliicli he so lately issued confident of
 
 J
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 61 
 
 victory. He had lost half his army, and all his artillery and stores. 
 The French soldiers have called tliis succession of victories, " the cam- 
 paign of five days." 
 
 Napoleon has reckoned the losses of liis anny in these desperate 
 actions, at seven thousand men. The rapid marches and incessant 
 fighting had exhausted the troops, who now absolutely required rest. 
 Napoleon himself had not taken off his clothes, nor enjoyed regular 
 repose, for seven days and nights. A rigorous blockade of Mantua was, 
 nevertheless, instituted without a moment's delay. 
 
 The apparentl}'^ perilous position of the army at the approach of 
 Wurmscr's overwhelming force, had clearly brought out the various 
 feelings of the Italian states with regard to the Republic. The Pope, 
 Naples, Venice, and Genoa, manifested e\'ident marks of treachery. 
 Lombardy, particularly Milan, Bologna, and Parma, with other states, 
 remained firm in their alliance. At Ferrara, the populace were incited 
 to revolt by Cardinal Mattel : when afterwards called before Napoleon 
 to answer for his conduct, the churcliman replied by the single word, 
 *' PeccavV^ Napoleon only imposed on him a confinement of three 
 months in a religious seminary ; there to practise certain fasts and 
 penances. 
 
 The quiescence of the French army was not of long continuance. 
 Wurmser, reinforced with twenty thousand fresh troops, giving him 
 again the command of fifty thousand men, descended once more from 
 the Tyrol in the beginning of September. Lea\'ing twenty thousand 
 men under Da\-idowich to cover the Tyrol, he advanced by the valley 
 of the Brenta to raise the blockade of Mantua. Napoleon had been 
 reinforced by only six thousand men ; but he had penetrated the designs 
 of the Austrian general ; who, as if incapable of learning from expe- 
 rience, was again commiting the error of di^iding his forces beyond the 
 power of combination. Napoleon suffered liim to advance till the dis- 
 tance between his two divisions was sufficient for his purpose, and then 
 lea\dng Kilmaine, with three thousand men, to cover the blockade of 
 Mantua, rapidly marched to the attack of Da\ddowich, and defeated 
 him at Roveredo on the 4th of September. The Austrian camp was 
 strongly intrenched in front of the town ; while CalKano and its castle 
 upon the steep rock which overhangs the Adige, remained as a place 
 of secure retreat in case of a defeat. This defeat, however, ensued. 
 The intrenchments were carried by the Hussars, headed by General 
 Dubois, who, though mortally wounded, cheered them on to the 
 last, and fell, waving his sabre above his head and ejaculating his 
 satisfaction in dying for the Republic. The rout of the Austrians 
 was complete ; they fled in disorder, pursued by the victorious French 
 during the whole night, through defiles and strong positions liitherto
 
 m 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 considered impregnable, into Trent and beyond, far into the Tyrol. 
 The French took possession of Trent and Lavisa, made seven thousand 
 prisoners, and took tAventy-one pieces of cannon, and seven stand of 
 colours. Wurmser was now cut off from the Tyrol. 
 
 
 The foregoing victory was scarcely gained, before the French army 
 was put in motion to return to the attack of the Austrian commander- 
 in-chief. First issuing a proclamation to the Tyrolese, exhorting them 
 to lay down their arms, and assuring them of friendly intentions, Na- 
 poleon executed in one day a forced march of forty miles, and the next 
 of twenty more, which brought him in front of Wurmser's vanguard at 
 Primolano. The effect of the surprise, and the impetuosity of the 
 attack, more than counterbalanced all the advantages of position. The 
 Austrians were routed, and fled in confusion, while four thousand laid 
 downi their arms. 
 
 The same night the French advanced another league, and halted, 
 exhausted with fatigue, at Cismone, within four leagues of Bassano, 
 where Wurmser, with the main body of his army was stationed. Na- 
 poleon endured the same privations as his men. Baggage and staff 
 appointments were unable to keep up \nth such rapid movements. He 
 shared the ration of bread of one of the privates, — who lived to remind 
 him of this night, when the Republican general had lost himself in the 
 Emperor. 
 
 The consternation of AN'^urmser may be imagined when he learned 
 that the enemy, whom he had supposed deeply engaged among the 
 passes of the Tyrol, was rapidly approaching him. He had weakened 
 his army still further by despatching a strong division against Verona.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 63 
 
 There is something quite ludicrous in these continual separations of the 
 Austrian force, as though fated to be beaten each time by the very same 
 circumstances. Wurmser now hastily summoned Jus force to return, 
 but it was too late : Verona was distant fifteen leagues, and Napoleon 
 was within four. 
 
 There was little time for preparation. Before three o'clock on the 
 8th of September, the French army descended upon Bassano ; forced 
 every position ; bore down all resistance ; drove the Austrians before 
 them in every direction; seized the cannon by which the bridge was 
 defended ; and, for the second time, narrowly missed capturing the field- 
 marshal and his staff, now in absolute flight. He escaped, but his 
 troops were destroyed ; six thousand laid down their arms ; his artillery, 
 baggage, and colours, were taken. He fled towards Vicenza, where he 
 met the division of his ai*my returning from Verona ; and now, at the 
 head of sixteen thousand men out of fifty thousand, with whom a week 
 before he had left the Tyrol, he desperately fought his way towards 
 Mantua. 
 
 In one of the fierce skirmishes attending the retreat of the gallant 
 old Wurmser, it chanced that Napoleon being separated from his staff in 
 the heat and confusion of the moment, and dashing forwards to the 
 support of a part of his advanced guard which seemed likely to be cut to 
 pieces, became completely surrounded by the enemy. He only escaped 
 by reining aside his charger, and spurring away at a furious rate. So 
 rapid was the whole occurrence that old Wurmser, who was aware of 
 the situation of Napoleon, instantly rode up and ordered the soldiers to 
 be sm-e to bring liim in alive ! 
 
 Wurmser would have been taken in attempting to cross the Adige, 
 but for the neghgence of the governor of Legnago, who suffered him to 
 pass without opposition ; and even then he would have been stopped, had 
 not the orders of Napoleon, to destroy the bridges of the Molinella, been 
 neglected. As it was, the brave, though discomfited, veteran reached 
 Mantua in safety, and finding that, including the garrison, he could 
 muster twenty-five thousand men, he once more attempted to make 
 a stand. His force exceeded by a thousand men that which the French 
 could bring up in time to oppose him ; he was, however, unable to 
 maintam his gromid. This engagement, which was fought close to the 
 citadel of Mantua, is called the battle of St. George. It was severely 
 contested, and ended in the flight of Wurmser within the walls of the 
 city, three thousand of his men being made prisoners. Still he was 
 master of the Seraglio and the causeways, and succeeded in re-victualling 
 the place. On the 25th, he made a sally, hoping to attain the command 
 of the Adige, but failed, with a severe loss. On the 1st of October, 
 General Kilmaine regained the command of the communications to the
 
 Gl 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Seraglio, and Wurmser was strictly blockaded within the citadel of 
 Mantua. 
 
 Thus concluded the campaign of Wurmser : sixteen thousand men 
 shut up with him, and ten thousand dispersed in the Tyrol, were all that 
 remained of his army. He had also lost seventy-five pieces of cannon, 
 thirty generals, and twenty-two stand of colom's. Marmont, one of 
 Napoleon's aides-de camp, was sent with these latter trophies to the 
 Directory at Paris. 
 
 Napoleon returned to Milan. His army, at last being in absolute 
 necessity of repose, went into cantonments ; maintaining, nevertheless, 
 the blockade of Mantua, and protecting their various conquests. 
 
 Tlic mind of Napoleon was actively employed in this interval of 
 comparative repose. He was earnest in the formation of plans for the 
 creation of independent Republics in all those states which had been 
 freed by his arms from the yoke of Austria. Sir Walter Scott has 
 noticed the crooked policy of the French government in its dealings with 
 the Italians ; but has forgotten to do justice to the sincerity of Napo- 
 leon, to which all his letters to the Directory at this period, bear witness. 
 Wherever the above writer has given false colouring to a fact, Mr. Lock- 
 hart has carefully adopted it in " The Family Library," with additional 
 inversions and distortions. It is of no avail, in the end, for a biographer
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 G5 
 
 or historian to gloss over the evil, or blot out the good deeds of his 
 hero : both should be told in equal terms. Napoleon proposed that a 
 congress should be assembled at Modena and Bologna, composed of 
 deputies from all the neighbouring states ; that the objects of the 
 assembly should be : — " First, the organisation of the Italian Legion ; 
 secondly, the proper arrangements for the defence of the communes ; 
 thirdly, the mission to Paris of deputies to demand the liberty and 
 
 independence of Italy." To these enthusiastic views, which stretched 
 forwards to the conquest or revolution of every Italian state, till of that 
 whole beautiful country, one free nation — the ally of Republican France 
 — should be made' the Directory replied by cold diplomatic directions, In 
 order to delay any final measures. It might be necessary, they said, to 
 make the Milanese the barter for a durable peace with Austria, and to 
 restore those states to their old rulers in exchange for Belgium and 
 Luxembourg. So it has fared for long centuries with Italy ; which, at
 
 f)6 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the present day, groaning; under the heaAy despotism of Austria, and 
 the ignorant yoke of tlie court of Rome and other Itahan potentates ; 
 forced to repress every free thought and word, at the risk of the dungeon 
 or the scaffold ; still depends on its own energies for its regeneration. 
 
 Napoleon, however, was not to be stopped in any favourite plan that 
 was practicable. He encouraged the patriots in every direction ; super- 
 intended the organisation of their internal governments ; improved and 
 remodelled their fortifications. An Italian Legion joined liis army, and 
 the National Guard of Reggio served at the siege of Mantua. 
 
 Every branch of the service of the army came under the revision of 
 the commander-in-chief. He enquired into and regulated the minutest 
 details ; his habits of business and regularity in all kinds of transactions 
 being as remarkable as his miKtary genius. He had repressed every 
 sort of extortion and extravagance in the officers, civil and military, 
 under liis command ; and however oppressive were his exactions for 
 the support of his army, and the aggrandisement of France, his own 
 name is pure from the charge of peculation or selfish grasping. He is 
 known to have refused four millions of francs in gold from the Duke of 
 Modena, and seven millions from the government of Venice ; both smns 
 being offered to gain his protection. It ought to be, and we believe it 
 generally is, admitted on all sides, that, at this period, whatever may 
 afterwards have been his \dews, he seemed actuated by no ambition 
 but that of increasing the glory of the Republic.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 67 
 
 ?sx 
 
 CHAPTER VII, 
 
 CAMPAIGN ON THE RHINE MOREAU JOURDAN ARCHDUKE CHARLES FOURTH ARMY OF 
 
 AUSTRIA ALVINZI LOSSES OF THE FRENCH — BATTLE OF ARCOLA AUSTRIANS RE- 
 TREAT FIFTH ARMY OF AUSTRIA BATTLE OF RIVOLI PROVERA — LA FAVORITA 
 
 FLIGHT OF THE AUSTRIANS — SURRENDER OF MANTUA. 
 
 The struggle of Republican France 
 against the empire of Austria, 
 was maintained, it must be re- 
 membered, at two points : in 
 Italy, and on the Rhine. The 
 plan of the campaign of 1796 
 adopted by the Directory, had 
 been designed by Carnot, and 
 re\dsed by Naj)oleon and Moreau. 
 According to its grand and daring 
 provisions, the two armies of the 
 Rhine under Generals Jovn-dan 
 and Moreau, were to push for- 
 ward ; form a junction with Na- 
 poleon by the Tyrol ; and, when united, to penetrate into the heart of 
 Germany, and dictate a peace under the walls of Vienna. Napoleon 
 only had been able to perform his part of the plan. The victories of the 
 army of the Rhine had filled Austria with consternation ; and Moreau 
 was fast advancing towards the desired result, when the genius of the 
 Archduke Charles changed the fortune of the war, and compelled Jourdan 
 to a hasty flight, and Moreau to a retreat through the Black Forest,
 
 68 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 celebrated for the great skill with which it was conducted. Austria, 
 relieved from apprehension of danger in the direction of the Rhine, now 
 turned, with undivided attention, towards Italy. 
 
 AUanzi, an officer of high reputation, was placed at the head of 
 another new army of forty thousand men, to which he joined eighteen 
 thousand under Davidowich in the Tyrol. His object was to raise the 
 blockade of Mantua ; release Wurmser ; and, with a force which would, 
 by the accession of the garrison of the latter, amount to eighty thousand 
 men, he confidently expected to re-conquer Lombardy. Three large 
 armies, advancing with similar prospects, had already been destroyed by 
 Napoleon : a fourth now prepared to pour down upon him, under still 
 more terrible circumstances. He had been reinforced wiih twelve 
 battalions from France, amounting to about seven thousand men ; but 
 his army was still little more than half the numbers of the enemy. 
 AVurmser maintained a resolute defence, and it was obvious would hold 
 out to the last extremity ; so that Mantua remained a point of danger. 
 But Lombardy, in general, was well aflTected to the French ; the spirit 
 of the soldiers was high ; their confidence in their general unbounded ; 
 and a growing belief in the predestined success of Napoleon kept those 
 states quiescent which bore him no good will. With these advantages 
 and disadvantages, he prepared to receive his new antagonist. 
 
 The battle of St. George, and the strict blockade of Wurmser in 
 Mantua, took place in the middle of September. Alvinzi's army com- 
 menced its march in the beginning of October. 
 
 Napoleon instantly ordered Vaubois and Massena to advance to the 
 attack of Da\idowich (whose forces were collected in the Tyrol), before 
 he could form a junction with Ahdnzi. Both failed : Vaubois, after 
 two days' fighting, was conquered ; lost Trent and Galliano ; and was 
 forced to retreat to the positions of Corona and Rivoli : Massena, in 
 consequence, had to effect a retreat without attempting an engagement ; 
 and Alvinzi approaching fast, gained possession of all the country 
 between the Brenta and the Adige, and the command of the Tyrol. 
 The two Austrian generals might now have eflTected a junction, but they 
 neglected their opportunity. Napoleon retreated to Verona. 
 
 The positions of Corona and Rivoli, occupied by the division of 
 Vaubois after their retreat, were immediately visited by the commander- 
 in-chief. The troops came before him with dejected looks. " Soldiers!" 
 he said, " I am not satisfied with you. You have shevm neither disci- 
 pline, constancy, nor courage. You have allowed yourselves to be driven 
 from positions where a handful of brave men might have arrested the 
 progress of an army. Let it be written on the colours, ' They are not 
 of the army of Italy.' " Tears and groans answered his words. Several 
 of the veteran grenadiers, who had deserved and obtained badges of
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 69 
 
 distinction, called from the ranks, " General ! we have been misrepre- 
 sented : place us in the van of the army, and you shall then judge 
 whether we do not belong to the army of Italy." These regiments 
 thoroughly redeemed their character in a few days. 
 
 Hitherto, the course of events since the approach of Alvinzi, had been 
 very unfavourable to the French army. Unused to retrograde move- 
 ments, failures, and losses, the soldiers began to feel discouraged, and 
 even to murmur. Napoleon perceiving their state, encouraged them by 
 his presence ; talked with them ; was frequently among them ; and his 
 power over them was such that their spirits quickly revived. He lost 
 not a moment in taking them into action. 
 
 Ahinzi had occupied the heights of Caldiero, and threatened Verona. 
 Massena attacked the heights, but they were found impregnable. The 
 French were repulsed with great loss. A dreadful storm of wind and 
 rain prevailed during the attack ; of which circumstance Napoleon took 
 all the advantage he could, and as he had been unable to make it prevent 
 the Austrians from beating back the French, he said in his dispatches 
 that it had prevented the French from gaining the \dctory. 
 
 The heights of Caldiero remaining misubdued, Napoleon found it 
 necessary to attempt them by other means, in order to prevent the 
 junction of the army of Davidowich with AMnzi. Pretending, there- 
 fore, to retreat on Mantua after his discomfiture, he returned in the 
 night, and placed himself in the rear of Alvinzi's army. When his 
 columns advanced on Areola, the enemy thought at first it wa? only a 
 skirmish, and that the main army of the French were in Verona. 
 
 Napoleon's intention was not likely to be suspected ; for the position 
 of Areola rendered any attack upon it so extremely hazardous, that 
 scarcely any one would have conceived the idea of making the attempt. 
 The \dllage is surrounded by marshes, intersected with a small stream ; by 
 ditches; and by three causeways, or bridges, across which alone the 
 marshes are passable. Areola, and the bridge leading to it, were de- 
 fended with two battalions of Alvinzi's army, and two pieces of cannon 
 which commanded the bridge. The other two causeways were un- 
 protected. 
 
 Leaving fifteen hundred men, under Kihnaine, to defend Verona, 
 Napoleon marched with extreme caution and celerity, under cover of the 
 night, and passing the Adige at Ronco, reached the causeways ^^^thout 
 opposition. He had only thirteen thousand men under his command ; 
 but on such narrow ground as that about to be disputed, the conduct of 
 the leading files must determine the result : numbers were comparatively 
 unimportant. 
 
 A French column advanced (November 15) on each of the three cause- 
 ways. The division of Augereau occupied the bridge of Areola, which
 
 70 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 was swept by the enemy's cannon, and assailed in flank by their battahons. 
 Even the chosen grenadiers led by Augereau, faltered and fell back 
 under the destructive lire. Napoleon, who knew the moment was decisive, 
 rushed to the head of the column, — seized the colours, — and hurrying 
 onwards, planted them with his own hands on the bridge, amidst the hail 
 of balls from the enemy's artillery and musketry. His soldiers rallied at 
 the sight, and again advanced ; but even the enthusiasm of the moment 
 could not bear up against the devastating effects of the fire. Alvinzi, 
 who had perceived the attack, was now sending succours to his battalions. 
 The Austrians fought wdth fury, and the French were unable to maintain 
 their ground. Napoleon being in the very front and hazard of the 
 fight, was soon surrounded by his faithful Guides, who bore him in 
 their arms through the dead and dying, as they were driven backwards 
 inch by inch with horrible carnage. While thus endeavouring to rescue 
 their general, the group was borne against one side of the bridge, and 
 immediately carried over into the morass beneath. Napoleon sank up 
 to his middle, and being quite unable to extricate himself, thus remained 
 a mark for the Austrian muskets. The enemy were now between him 
 and the French troops, so that he was completely cut off from succour, 
 and at the mercy of the first man who happened to recognise him through 
 the smoke. During this frightful crisis of fate, Lannes pressed forward 
 through the marsh, and reached him ; as also did the gallant Muiron. 
 Almost at the same moment, a shot was fired at Napoleon. It was 
 received by Muiron, who had interposed himself, and he died covering 
 Napoleon's body with his own. This was the same Muiron who had 
 previously saved the life of Napoleon at the siege of Toulon. But still 
 the person of the French general remained in the utmost peril ; and now 
 it was that the love his soldiers bore him, gave them power to effect 
 what all efforts of example, or feats of heroism, had failed to accomplish. 
 They bore madly onwards through all opposition ; one cry only was 
 heard, — " Save the general ! " Nothing could resist them : Napoleon 
 was quickly extricated ; again he was at their head ; a party of the 
 French contrived to get across at another place, and attack the Austrians 
 in the rear ; and Areola was taken. 
 
 The obstinate defence had enabled Alvinzi to evacuate his position 
 by a steady and orderly retreat. Verona was, however, safe ; and 
 Napoleon retreating again to Ronco, remained stationary all night. 
 Next morning, finding (to his surprise, no doubt) that Davidowich 
 made no movement, either to attack Vaubois, or relieve Mantua, and 
 that Wiinnser (juietly lay witliin the walls, not venturing any sally, he 
 again advanced to attack Alvinzi. It would appear that the Austrian 
 generals had no connnunication, and could not divine each other's wishes 
 or intentions.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 71 
 
 During the whole day, the battle raged with fierce and fluctuating 
 success, amidst the dikes of Areola. Next morning, the fearful scene 
 was renewed, and to the discomfiture of the Austrians. So many 
 perished in the marshes, that Napoleon was able to encounter the rest, 
 
 with numbers tolerably equal, on the firm ground. The day was decided 
 at length by a stratagem. Napoleon "perceived," as he afterwards said 
 in a conversation at St. Helena, "the critical moment of lassitude in 
 either army, when the oldest and bravest woidd have been glad to be 
 in their tents." The left of the Austrians was protected by a marsh : 
 he, therefore, sent thirty of his Guides with four trumpets, who suc- 
 ceeded in doing that which would have been impossible for the whole 
 of his cavalry. They forced their plunging horses through a distant part 
 of the swamp, and reaching the other side, all the trumpets were sud- 
 denly soiuided, while the Guides made a furious charge. The Austrians, 
 fully believing that they were turned by the whole French cavalry, 
 retreated. They were, however, well protected, and gained the TjtoI. 
 Great numbers were killed on each side during these three battles 
 of Areola : the Austrians lost twelve thousand men killed, six thousand 
 prisoners, eighteen pieces of cannoUj and four stand of colours. 
 
 It was now that, when too late, Da^•ido^nch made an advance upon 
 Verona. He quickly retreated, however, on learning the disasters of 
 Areola, and followed Alvinzi. Wurmser, too, made a desperate sally, 
 when the army that could have supported him was dispersed ; and he was 
 therefore repulsed. He still, however, held out. The horses of the 
 garrison had long since been killed and salted for use. The men were 
 now reduced to half rations, and the pestilential air of the lakes was 
 destroying numbers by disease. Still the veteran did not think of surren- 
 dering. The Austrians kept their possession of Trent, and the command
 
 '2 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 of the TjTol. This fourth attempt of Austria to conquer Napoleon ended, 
 therefore, in a manner less disastrous to the empire than the former ; but 
 it left him in possession of Lombardy, and once more conqueror. He 
 returned to Milan, and the army enjoyed four months of repose. 
 
 The interval was partly employed by Napoleon in conciliating and 
 rendering himself popular \vith all classes in Italy. Their language 
 being his native tongue, added to his knowledge of their literature, and 
 his real or pretended sympathy with their genius for the arts, greatly 
 contributed to accompKsh his object. Even the priesthood, who had 
 hitherto denounced him from the top to the bottom of the calendar, 
 began to feel mollified by liis consummate address. One among them 
 was a rich old canon of the name of Bonaparte ; and he cordially 
 received and feasted the conqueror as a relative, declaring him to be a 
 scion of the Tuscan family of that name. When the old canon died, he 
 bequeathed all his wealth to Napoleon. 
 
 In the year 1796, Catherine TI., Empress of Russia, died. Her death 
 was important to the Republic, as her successor, Paul I., completely 
 altered the policy of the north, and broke all the engagements of Russia 
 vnth the coalition. 
 
 Again, and for the fifth time, Austria prepared to renew the contest. 
 The spirit of the people was roused to restore the national honour. A 
 volunteer corps took the field. Vienna furnished four battalions, ai:d to 
 them the Empress of Austria presented a banner wrought with her own
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 73 
 
 hands. The Tyrolese also flocked to the standard of their hereditary sove- 
 reign. They were contented under a government w^hich had respected their 
 privileges, and they wanted no change. The Pope, invited by the Austrian 
 ambassador, broke the treaty of Bologna ; and raising an army of seven 
 thousand men, waited in readiness to act in concert with Wurmser, when 
 he should be released from Mantua. A messenger despatched to Wurmser, 
 from the imperial court, was, however, taken by the French. He swal- 
 lowed his dispatches, concealed in a little ball of wax. But he was seen 
 to do this, and means being taken to recover them, Napoleon thus learned 
 the present designs of the Austrian government. The wax enclosed a 
 letter to Wurmser, signed by the emperor's own hand. It was to the 
 followdng effect : — Alvinzi was once more placed at the head of sixty 
 thousand men, and was again to march into Lombardy, and to raise the 
 siege of Mantua. Wurmser was directed to hold out to the last extremity. 
 If the army of Alvinzi could be united vnth his garrison, the destruction 
 of the French seemed undoubted ; if not, and if, in the course of hos- 
 tilities, he found it best to abandon Mantua, he was directed to cut his 
 way into Romagna, and take the command of the papal troops. 
 
 The interval between the discovery of the purpose and its execution 
 was of no great duration. Early in January, 1797, the Austrian army 
 advanced by Bassano. Experience seemed of no sort of avail to their 
 councils, for yet again their force was divided. Alvinzi, who led the 
 principal army, directed his march upon Roveredo. Provera, already 
 distinguished for his courage at the battle of Millesimo, with the other 
 di\dsion, advanced to act upon the lower Adige. His vanguard forced a 
 party of French to cross to the other bank of the river at Bevi 1' Acqua. 
 
 Napoleon had concentrated Ms army at Verona, uncertain, as yet, 
 which attack he was to consider as the principal one. On the night of 
 the 13th of January, he received information that Joubert, whom he had 
 left in defence of Corona (a small town strongly fortified), had been 
 attacked by an immense body, and having with difficulty maintained his 
 post throughout the day, was now on the point of retreating to seciu'e the 
 heights of Rivoli, a position of great importance. 
 
 Deciding at once from this account, that Ahanzi led the principal 
 attack. Napoleon, having left Augereau to keep Provera in check, in- 
 stantly made a forced march towards Rivoh, and reached the heights by 
 two o'clock on the morning of the 14th. Joubert, who was in the act of 
 evacuating Rivoli, perceiving that a retreat was inevitable, was now 
 ordered to countermarch, and resume his post. 
 
 It is generally found in private life, that the more indi-viduals 
 manoeuvre, the more difficulties do they create : the blunt, straight- 
 forward man is apt to blunder upon good fortune; while the subtle 
 tactician, who has worked an admirable calculation, just loses the whole
 
 74 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 because he has " made a mistake in a figure," or not allowed quite 
 enough " for the \vind." In the movements of large masses, all de- 
 pendent upon the fiat of one man's mind, the importance of the result 
 becomes so fearful, that it is wonderful the minds of men thus circum- 
 stanced should not be oftener paralysed than they are, and reduced to a 
 condition of reasoning immobility. Rapid decision, on these occasions, 
 seems to give the best chances of success, because it approaches nearer to 
 the operations of instinct ; and thus are great physical advantages gained, 
 while the deliberations of mere theoretic intellect only suspend the balance, 
 which is snatched away by the first resolute gust of the coming storm. 
 
 From the eminence on wliich he stood. Napoleon calmly surveyed the 
 bivouac of this new army, destined to destroy him, — or to be destroyed 
 by him, like the four which had preceded it. The night was clear, and 
 favoured his observations. The moon shone down on the plain below, 
 and there he saw the dark masses of the Austrians, — the army being 
 di\dded into five distinct bodies. From this he inferred that their attack 
 would be made in five columns. He judged rightly, also, from the distance 
 at which they had stationed their bivouacs fi'om the position of Joubert, 
 that their artillery and cavalry had not yet arrived, and that they meant 
 to wait for them, and not begin the battle early in the morning. To 
 hurry it on before these important auxiliaries arrived, was the immediate 
 object of Napoleon. He ordered the attack at daybreak. The en- 
 gagement began by the French driving the Austrians from the Chapel 
 of St. Mark. The nearest column advanced to retake it, but was re- 
 pulsed ; the next came up, and the French were beaten back. The 
 affair became perilously doubtful : Napoleon himself galloped off to 
 bring up reinforcements : Massena's division was the nearest ; the men 
 had lain do^vn to sleep, tired with the march, but started up at his voice, 
 and the Austrian column was speedily repulsed. The third advanced, 
 and was in turn conquered. Quasdanowitch, who commanded the fourth, 
 observing, at the same moment, the important chapel on the height of 
 St. Mark, abandoned by the French in the pursuit, sent three battalions 
 to ascend the hill and retake it. His design was observed: as the 
 Austrians ascended the hill on one side, the French cautiously ascended 
 on the other, and their superior activity bringing them first to the top, 
 they drove the Austrians headlong down, in disastrous confusion. The 
 French batteries now made havoc of the broken columns; the cavalry 
 made repeated charges ; four out of the five divisions were thus broken 
 and utterly routed. The fifth now made its appearance in the rear of 
 the Frcncli, after bringing up the artillery and baggage, according to the 
 orders of the Austrian general before the action. Had this movement 
 been made a little sooner, it miglit have turned tlie fortune of the day: 
 as it was, the sudden appearance, after so desperate an action, might have
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 75 
 
 struck a panic in soldiers less confident in their general ; but the French 
 soldiers only exclaimed, " Here come further supplies to our market !" — 
 and very soon the Austrians, exposed to a heavy fire from the artillery, 
 were forced to lay down their arms. 
 
 Napoleon had remained in the hottest of the fight throughout the 
 action, which lasted during twelve hours ; he had three horses killed 
 under him, and was exposed to imminent danger. Massena, in particular, 
 among his generals, distinguished himself. The factory, won by con- 
 summate skill, was decisive of the fate of Ahdnzi's army ; his shattered 
 forces fled in confusion, closely pursued by the French, and never rallied 
 again. 
 
 The fierce contest was no sooner ended, than Napoleon hastened to 
 attack Provera, lea^ing Massena, Joubert, and Murat, to pursue the 
 vanquished. 
 
 Provera, with his di^dsion, had effected the passage of the Adige on 
 the very day of the battle of Rivoli, and advanced to Mantua. His 
 first attempt to relieve the garrison was by stratagem. The suburb of 
 St. George, manned by fifteen hundred French under Miollis, was de- 
 fended only by a circumvallation. A regiment of Austrian cavalrj' 
 presented themselves at the barricades, disguised in white cloaks in order 
 to resemble the French hussars, and would have been admitted but for
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 <, ij II ]yihii?^ic'l3m 
 
 
 the promptitude of an old sergeant. He observed that the cloaks were 
 too fresh and white to belong to the hussars, who had worn theirs in 
 many a rough day, and he instantly closed the barriers, and warned a 
 drummer who was near him of the danger. These two gave the alarm, 
 and the guns of the blockading force were instantly turned upon their 
 ]n-etcnded friends, who were forced to retire. This attempt, however, 
 shewed the necessity for constant \'igilance ; and Napoleon, unable to 
 rest, not\vithstanding his recent exertions and fatigue, passed the night 
 in visiting the different outposts. At one of these he discovered the 
 sentinel lying at the foot of a tree, where he had fallen fast asleep from 
 exhaustion. Napoleon took tlie soldier's musket without waking him, 
 and walked Ijackwards and forwards on sentry during half an hour. 
 Suddenly the soldier started from his slumber, terrified at what he had 
 done ; but how much more so when he perceived who was performing
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 77 
 
 his duty ! He fell on his knees. " My friend," said the general mildly, 
 " here is your musket. You have fought hard, and marched long, and 
 your exhaustion is excusable ; but a moment's inattention might en- 
 danger the whole army. I happened to be awake, and have held your 
 post for you : you will not again neglect your duty." 
 
 By noon on the 16th of January, the day after the battle of Rivoli, 
 Provera appeared in full force before St. George ; but MiolHs and his 
 little garrison defended the suburb throughout the day. Before its 
 close. Napoleon, by forced marches of wonderful celerity, had reached 
 Roverbella, and was now within twelve miles of Mantua with his victo- 
 rious army. 
 
 Provera had contrived to communicate with Wurraser across the 
 lake. A junction effected with his garrison of twenty thousand, might 
 yet retrieve all the disasters of the Austrians. The perversity or 
 stupidity which characterised their proceedings in never combining 
 their forces, even when they foimd themselves always vanquished by 
 their adversary's adoption of that very plan, certainly reached to so 
 wonderful a height during these campaigns, that we can only suppose it 
 to have resulted either from a fatality, or from some dogmatical perse- 
 verance in certain bad rules of their military education. But to find 
 them, after losing so many opportunities of uniting their forces, and 
 driving Napoleon's army to death and ruin before them, at last "flying 
 kites" across the water, with exliortations to unite, now that it was 
 quite too late to do any good, is enough to excite laughter even amidst 
 these horrid scenes ; especially when we see that their wary enemy gave 
 them credit for this final effort of useless good sense, and superseded it 
 accordingly. 
 
 Early on the 17th, Wurmser, according to the plan concerted be- 
 tween them, sallied forth vnth his whole garrison, and attacked St. 
 Antoine, while Provera assaulted the citadel of La Favorita. But in 
 the night. Napoleon had stationed General Victor, with the brigades 
 Rivoli, between the two positions, to prevent the junction. Some 
 desperate fighting ensued : Serrurier, with the blockading army, en- 
 gaged Wurmser; while the fifty-seventh demi-brigade, under Victor, 
 on this day performed certain feats of desperate courage wliich gained 
 for them their name of " The Terrible." In the course of these 
 actions, there occurred a single combat, of no sort of importance in 
 itself, but affording our friends, the French historians, an opportunity of 
 di'awing comparisons with striking events which have been celebrated in 
 epic poems and ancient times. Of this opportunity, Laurent amusingly 
 avails himself. The affair was simply this : — A commandant of Austrian 
 hussars rode out from the ranks on meeting with one of the French 
 squadrons, and challenged their leader, Duvivier. It was accepted :
 
 78 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the Austrian was cut down, and the French charging his men, made 
 them prisoners. 
 
 Wurmser was beaten hack after a deadly struggle (which was not 
 decided till Napoleon led a renewed attack in person), and again forced 
 to retreat into Mantua. Serrurier and Victor then surrounded Provera, 
 and the battle raged in the suburb of St. George. The tvimult and 
 slaughter were dreadful ; cavalry, infantry, and artillery, were mingled 
 in one horrible mass of confusion. Provera and his whole force were 
 compelled to lay down their arms. Not more than two thousand men, 
 who had been left beyond the Adige, out of the whole of his division, 
 escaped. 
 
 The fugitive army of Ahinzi experienced a similar fate. They fled, 
 abandoning one position after another. Lavisio, Treviso, Bassano, and 
 Trent, once more fell into the hands of the French, who had now re- 
 gained the command of the Italian Tyrol. Large bodies of the Austrians 
 surrendered. One anecdote is sufficient to shew their dispii'ited con- 
 dition, and the contrast of the elated audacity of the French : — Rene, a 
 young French officer keeping guard of a position with about one hundred 
 and fifty men, suddenly encountered, and took prisoners, a small party 
 of Austrians ; when, on advancing to reconnoitre, he found himself in 
 front of a body of eighteen hundred more, whom a turning in the road 
 had concealed from sight. " Lay down your arms ! " said the Austrian 
 commandant. Rene answered, with ready boldness, " Do you lay down 
 your arms ! I have destroyed your advanced guard ; — ground your arms, 
 or no quarter!" The French soldiers joined in the cry, and the whole
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 79 
 
 body of the astonished Austrians absolutely laid down their arms to a 
 party which, they found to their exasperation when too late, was in 
 numbers one-twelfth of their own. 
 
 In this fifth and last attempt to drive the French out of Lombardy, 
 Austria lost thirty thousand men, of whom nineteen thousand were 
 prisoners ; more than sixty pieces of cannon, and twenty-four stand of 
 colours. 
 
 Mantua was now left without hope of relief. The hospitals were 
 crowded ; the pro\'isions just exhausted. But old Wurmser still held 
 out. Napoleon sent him instructions of the rout and dispersion of the 
 Austrian army, and summoned him to surrender. The old soldier 
 proudly replied, that " he had pro^dsions for a year ; " but a few days 
 afterwards, he sent his aide-de-camp, Klenau, to the head-quarters of 
 Serrurier, to treat of a surrender. 
 
 At the conference, a French officer was present, who sat apart from 
 the two others, wrapped in his cloak, but within hearing of what passed. 
 After the discussion was finished, tliis officer came forward, and wTote 
 marginal answers to the conditions proposed by Wurmser; granting 
 terms far more favourable than those wliich might have been exacted in 
 the extremity to which the veteran was reduced. " These," said the 
 unknown officer, giving back the paper, *' are the terms that I grant, if 
 he opens his gates to-morrow ; and if he delays a fortnight, a month.
 
 80 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 two months, he shall have the same terms. He may hold out to his last 
 morsel of bread: to-morrow I pass the Po, and march upon Rome." 
 Klenau, perceiving that he stood in the presence of Napoleon, and 
 struck with his generosity and the honourable conditions he had granted, 
 owned that only three days' provisions remained in Mantua. 
 
 On the 2nd of February, 1797, Wurmser gave up the city of Mantua, 
 and his garrison of thirteen thousand men ; seven thousand were lying in 
 the hospitals. Napoleon completed the generosity which so honourably 
 distinguished his conduct on this occasion, by leaving the place before the 
 surrender, and sparing the conquered veteran the mortification of giving 
 up liis sword to so youthful a commander. 
 
 Upwards of five hundred brass cannons, together with an immense 
 quantity of mihtary stores, fell into the hands of the French by these 
 victories ; and Augereau was despatched to Paris vdth sixty stand of 
 colours, as a triumphant present to the Directory. 
 
 After the most careful estimate of numbers, taken from writers on all 
 sides of politics, and making all ascertainable additions of supplies, and 
 all deductions for killed, wounded, and prisoners, we ascertain that 
 Napoleon, with a total force of, at the utmost, sixty-five thousand men, 
 conquered, in their own country, and under the eye and succouring hand 
 of their own government, five successive armies ; amounting, in all, to 
 upwards of three hundred thousand well-appointed, well-provisioned 
 soldiers, under old and experienced commanders, of approved courage. 
 Such are the facts of the conquest of Lombardy. 
 
 ^- w: .
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 81 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 WURMSER'S departure HIS GRATITUDE THE POPE BREAKS THE TREATY HIS ARMY 
 
 NAPOLEON ENTERS ROMAGNA BATTLE OF THE SENIO NAPOLEON'S CLEMENCY 
 
 ANCONA LORETTO — TOLENTINO THE POPE SUBMITS INQUISITION TREATY OF ROME. 
 
 General Serrurier received the sur- 
 render of Mantua, and saw the 
 brave old Austrian field-marshal 
 file off" with liis staff". Napoleon 
 was by this time in Romagna : 
 Wurmser sent Mm a letter, hand- 
 somely acknowledging the generosity 
 and deKcacy of liis conduct, and 
 at the same time apprising him by 
 his aide-de-camp of a conspiracy to 
 poison him in the dominions of the 
 Pope, with whom he was about to 
 wage a war, very different in cha- 
 racter from the fierce and deadly 
 contest which he had just brought 
 to a conclusion. 
 In relating the history of a campaign, it is useless to mourn over the 
 ignorance and woes of humanity. The monody would be repeated at 
 the close of every victory. To condemn the soldiers or their generals is 
 puerile, when the source of the evil hes in the cabinets of princes. 
 Above all others, it does not become an English biographer to accuse 
 
 M
 
 82 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Napoleon of tlie horrors of war, when we recollect how prominent a part 
 onr govennncnt took in the proceedings which called him into action. 
 Napoleon is not to be regarded as a philosopher, a philanthropist, a 
 moralist, nor as the champion of liberty : he is to be regarded as the 
 agent and consequence of political animosities and national struggles 
 with foreign powers : his profession was the sword, and he used it with 
 every possible advantage he could obtain. He had no more scruples 
 about the sacrifice of hmnan life than are common to all military and 
 naval men. It is not that those who follow the business of war are less 
 humane than other men, but that in the prospect of an " action, " the 
 question of human life is merged, and lost sight of, in the anxiety for the 
 result. Moreover, although the end may swallow up the means, there 
 is always a chance of escape for individual energies ; and when a com- 
 mander exposes his own person in the thick of the danger, he cannot 
 reasonably be expected to feel any scruple about placing others in the 
 same situation. The following anecdote will come home to the breast of 
 many a veteran who has directed the onset, and witnessed the slaughter 
 which ensued : — Las Casas relates in the words of Napoleon a reminis- 
 cence of one of those visits, in company with only two or three persons, 
 to the field of battle, while still strewn with the dead and dying, which, 
 it has been mentioned, were habitual with him : the occasion, alluded to, 
 happened in Italy, after one of the great actions there. *' In the deep 
 silence of a beautiful moonlight night, a dog leaping suddenly from 
 beneath the clothes of his dead master, rushed upon us, and then imme- 
 diately returned to his hiding-place, howling piteously; he alternately 
 licked his master's face, and again flew at us ; thus at once soliciting 
 aid and seeking revenge. Whether owing to my own particular turn of 
 mind at the moment," continued Napoleon, " the time, the place, or 
 the action itself, I know not ; but, certainly, no incident on any field of 
 battle ever produced so deep an impression on me. This man, thought 
 I, perhaps has friends in the camp or in his company, and here he lies, 
 forsaken by all except his dog. Wliat a lesson Nature here presents 
 through the medium of an animal ! What a strange being is man ; and 
 how mysterious are his impressions! I had, without emotion, ordered 
 battles which were to decide the fate of the army; I had beheld, with 
 tearless eyes, the execution of those operations, by which numbers of 
 my countr\Tnen were sacrificed; and here my feelings were roused by 
 the mournful howhng of a dog !" 
 
 The following letter from Napoleon to General Clarke, written 
 immediately after one of his brilliant victories, is also interesting, as 
 evidence of that sinking and weariness of the spirit which, when action 
 is at variance ^\^th nature, will at times weigh it down in its bewildered 
 struggle with the truth of things : — " Your nephew has been slain on
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 83 
 
 the field of battle, at Areola; the young man had been familiar with 
 arms ; had led on columns, and would have been one day an excellent 
 officer. He has died with glory, in the face of the enemy ; he did not 
 suffer for an instant. Wliat man would not em^y such a death ? Who 
 is there among us who has not a hundred times regretted that he has 
 not been thus withdrawn from the powerful effects of calumny, of em^y, 
 and of all the odious passions which seem the almost exclusive directors 
 of the conduct of mankind!" These expressions, in a moment of 
 triumph, are remarkable. 
 
 The determination of Napoleon to pass the Po and advance upon 
 Rome was caused by the hostile position now assmned by the Pope. 
 Upon occasion of the temporary success of Austria at one period of the 
 campaign, his holiness, who had contrived to evade the fulfilment of 
 some important points of the engagements in the treaty of Bologna, 
 suddenly discovered that " all negociation with the French was incom- 
 patible with the Catholic religion, and his duty as a sovereign ! " he 
 therefore formed a league with the emperor. A messenger from 
 Cardinal Busca, secretary of state at the papal court, was intercepted 
 by the French: they learned from his dispatches that the emperor had 
 empowered General Colli to take command of the troops which the 
 Pope' was levying in Romagna, and that every means afforded by the 
 power of superstition had been put in practice, to incite the population 
 to take arms against the French. It must be added in justification of 
 the Pope, that it was the evident purpose of the Directory to strip 
 him of his secular power. Before the end of January, the papal army 
 w^as in the field, Cardinal Busca liimself at its head : it consisted of 
 seven thousand soldiers, and a multitude of peasants and monks. 
 
 The French minister was instantly recalled from Rome, and an 
 army of eight thousand six hundred men, partly French and partly 
 Italian, was assembled at Bologna, mider General Victor. Napoleon 
 joined them, and put forth a manifesto, in which he accused the Pope 
 of having violated liis treaty, and published the intercepted letters in 
 corroboration. On the 2nd of February his head quarters were fixed 
 at the bishop's palace, at Imola, belonging to Chiaramonte, afterwards 
 Pius VII. On the 3rd, the French troops reached Castel Bolognese, 
 on the river Senio, behind which, Cardinal Busca, with liis army, was 
 encamped, intending to dispute the passage of the bridge, with eight 
 pieces of cannon. 
 
 The French had performed a fatiguing day's march, and as they 
 were stationing their guard, an officer, with a flag of truce, from the 
 Cardinal, came up, and fiercely announced to them that, "If they 
 continued to advance, he would fire upon them." There was much 
 laughter among the soldiers at this threat, and the reply was, " that
 
 84 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 they did not ^vish to expose themselves to the Cardinal's thunders, and 
 were about to take up their quarters for the night." However light 
 the French soldiers made of their antagonists, they would have found 
 them formidable if their disciphne had equalled their fanatical fury. 
 Cardinal Ikisca had boasted that he would make a Vendee of Romagna, 
 and he had succeeded ; the tocsin had been sounding for three days in 
 every village ; the populace were in a state of frenzy ; pretended miracles 
 were \vi-ought by the priests ; and a kind of holy war had begun. 
 
 
 In the night, Lannes crossed the river with the advanced guard, at 
 a league and a-half above the French position, and drew up in line in 
 the rear of the enemy. The papal troops were, by this movement, cut 
 off from their retreat on Faenza, and panic-struck to find themselves 
 in the morning between two fires: the French forced the passage of 
 the bridge in close colunm, and their opponents were completely routed, 
 after a short resistance; baggage, artillery, — all were taken. This 
 "Roman" army fled in disorder; some hundreds were killed, amongst 
 whom were a few monks; but the Cardinal himself escaped. Cru-
 
 IV, ■'. -VT. 
 
 •1 '> i\
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 85 
 
 cifixes, mixed with poniards, and arms of all sorts, strewed the field 
 of battle. The loss of the French was very small ; they marched 
 forward to Faenza the same day ; the gates were closed, the ramparts 
 manned, and lined with a few pieces of cannon, and the populace 
 answered the summons for admittance with violent abuse : it became 
 necessary to force the gates; Napoleon would not, however, permit 
 the pillage of the place. "These" he said to the soldiers, "are only 
 misled people, who must be subdued by clemency." In pursuance of 
 this policy, as wise as it was humane, his first care was to tranquillise 
 the vanquished: all the prisoners taken in the previous battle were 
 collected in the garden of one of the monasteries. When Napoleon 
 approached them, they threw themselves on their knees in terror, 
 imploring mercy; he spoke to them in Italian, in these words: — "I 
 am the friend of aU the nations of Italy, and particularly of the people 
 of Rome. You are free : return to your families, and tell them that 
 the French are the friends of religion, of order, and of the poor." 
 Transports of joy and gratitude succeeded to the terror and hatred of 
 the excitable temperaments he addressed. He next went among the 
 officers who had been made prisoners ; talked long with them, spoke 
 of the liberty of Italy, the abuses of the papal power, the foUy of 
 resistance to the Repubhc ; and then gave them their liberty, only 
 asking them, in return for his lenity, to tell their countrymen of the
 
 86 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 sentiments he had expressed. As these prisoners amounted to several 
 himdi-cds, some of them belonging to the first families of Rome, the 
 impression he made upon them by this generous and most politic 
 treatment was of the greatest importance. They went home loudly 
 proclaiming his praises, and the spirit of the entire population was 
 altered materially towards the French, from that moment. 
 
 Xv^ 
 
 General Colli, with three thousand men — all he had been able to 
 collect — had taken up a good position on the heights before Ancona. 
 Victor advanced upon this body of troops, and summoned them to sur- 
 render, his soldiers having surrounded them. Colli, with his officers, 
 had retired into Loretto on the approach of the French, and his men 
 could do no other than lay down their arms. Not a single shot was 
 fired. These prisoners were sent home in the same manner as the 
 former had been. Ancona, the only sea-port of the papal states, was 
 next entered, Muth very slight opposition. The arsenal was found to be 
 well provided, containing one hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, 
 besides five hundred muskets sent lately by the emperor. A capture of 
 a very difierent kind was also made. This was a very extraordinary 
 image of the Virgin ; the corporeal construction of which had been made 
 on principles of such extreme sympathy with mundane affairs, that while 
 the .soldiers helped themselves to whatever ornaments and relics ])leased 
 their fancy, she was actually shedding a constant current of tears. 
 Crowds of Italians prostrated tliemselves before this miracle. The French 
 being, however, more hard-hearted or less reverential] v credulous, took
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 87 
 
 down the weeping Virgin, and carried her to head-quarters. On exa- 
 mining the sources of her sensibility, no fountain of tears was discovered ; 
 but a fine circlet of glass beads, which, passing from her eyes, and 
 escaping in the folds of her robe, was made to revolve with a flowing 
 eflfect, by means of clock-work. Similar pieces of machinery are now 
 exhibited in many of the watchmakers and fancy shops of London, in 
 the form of fountains issuing from lions' mouths. 
 
 On the 10th of February, the French army entered Loretto, famous 
 for containing the Santa Casa, long visited by devout pilgrims of all 
 nations ; having been the residence of the Virgin Mary, and trans- 
 ported to that place by angels. It is a little cabin ten or twelve yards 
 square. The immense wealth in gold and jewels once amassed in this 
 shrine from the gifts of the visitors, had been all or chiefly removed, — 
 it is said, under the siiperintendence of General Colli, but more hkely, 
 as Sir Walter Scott suggests, they had been long since appropriated by 
 the court of Rome. The wooden image of Our Lady of Loretto was 
 
 <?^8^.J'''''''Mi 
 
 iliii,!.!!^ ,,ii 
 
 'iiiliill
 
 88 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 sent to Paris, and remained in the National Library till 1802, when 
 Napoleon restored it to the Pope. It is roughly carved, but was said 
 to be of celestial workmanship. A bed-gown of dark-coloured camlet, 
 (warranted to have belonged to the Blessed Virgin), and the sacred 
 porringer, were also captured. Meantime the soldiers took up their 
 quarters wherever they could make themselves most comfortable, 
 without any nice considerations of sanctity. Some of the confessionals 
 were converted into sentry-boxes, and caricatures of the Pope or St. 
 Peter were frequently perpetrated on the walls and doors. 
 
 The army now resumed its march towards Rome. An amusing 
 instance of the intriguing nature of the Italian courts occurred about 
 this time. The Prince of Belmonte-Pignatelli, who attended at head- 
 quarters in quality of Neapolitan ambassador, came to Napoleon to 
 shew him, in strict confidence, a letter of the Queen of Naples, pro- 
 posing to send an army of thirty thousand men to protect Rome. 
 Napoleon, who instantly penetrated the spirit of this communication, 
 answered by calling for his portfolio, and reading from a copy of one of 
 his own dispatches to the Directory, written some time pre\iously, the 
 following extract : — " I postpone the movement upon Rome till after 
 the surrender of Mantua ; in wliich case, if the King of Naples should 
 interfere, I shall be able to spare twenty-five thousand men to march 
 upon his capital, and drive him over into Sicily." Prince Pignatelli 
 said no more about Neapolitan armed interference. 
 
 The greatest dismay now pervaded the Patrimony of St. Peter's. 
 The Pope in vain exhorted the inhabitants to rise against this second 
 Alaric, who was approaching the Holy City. One plan adopted by the 
 monasteries to conciliate Napoleon, was that of turning out the exiled 
 French priests, who, to the number of several thousands, had taken 
 refuge in Rome ; but tliis he would not permit. Instead of the expected 
 persecution, he published a proclamation commanding the army to look 
 upon them as friends and countrymen, and ordering the monasteries 
 to supply them with food, lodging, and everything needful, and fifteen 
 li\Tes (twelve shillings and sixpence) per month each ; for which the 
 priest should say as many masses as were usually considered tantamount 
 to the sum. Nobody regarded this as a joke, but as a very serious 
 matter. 
 
 Tlie army was at Tolentino, within three days' march of Rome, on 
 the 13th of February. The Pope, now reduced to despair, was on the 
 point of taking flight, and seeking refuge in Naples. The horses were 
 already put to the state carriages, when his hoHness was induced to 
 tlirow himself uj)()n the mercy of the French. Napoleon had commu- 
 nicated with liini through the superior of the monastic order of Camal- 
 duli, and tln-ough Cardinal Mattel (who had completed his penances).
 
 NArOLEON BONAPARTE. 89 
 
 and assured him that no personal harm was intended to liim ; and that 
 he had only to change his ministers, and send plenipotentiaries to To- 
 lentino to arrange a peace with the Republic. These assurances pre- 
 vailed. Four ministers were sent to the head-quarters of Napoleon, ol" 
 whom Mattel was one, and the treaty was soon concluded. 
 
 The Pope renounced every alliance, offensive and defensive, against 
 France; ceded Ferrara, Bologna, and Romagna to the Republic; 
 allowed Ancona to be occupied by the French till a general peace ; 
 disavowed the murder of Basseville, and re-established the French 
 school of art at Rome; agreed to make good all the articles of the 
 treaty of Bologna, and to give an additional supply of money (upwards 
 of a million sterling), horses, and works of art. These conditions, hard 
 as they were, were more lenient than the Directory wished to have 
 granted; Napoleon thought, however, that by proceeding to the ex- 
 tremity of entirely depriving the Pope of his temporalities, popular re- 
 sentments might be roused, which would increase his spiritual influence ; 
 a fear certainly founded upon a just view of human nature. He also 
 expected such a step would provoke Naples to aggressions that would 
 occupy his army, instead of allomng liim to march upon Vienna, his 
 favourite object ; he therefore took his own way, and concluded the 
 peace. He wished to have forced the abolition of the Inquisition ; but 
 the point was given up as a particular favour to the Pope. It was de- 
 clared that it was now only a tribunal of police, and that the auto-da-fe 
 no longer took place. "But," as Hazlitt truly remarks, "if it was at 
 present reduced to a nonentity, why attach so much importance to it ? 
 If it was only a shadow, it was a terrible one, from which the mind 
 shrunk with hatred and fear. The very name of the Inquisition is an 
 insult to common sense and humanity. But by keeping up the outward 
 form, the imagination is familiarised with it; is taught to look upon it 
 as harmless ; the tendency, the pretensions of bigotry and fanaticism, 
 are still %drtually acknowledged and kept in view by their adherents ; 
 and by always ha\'ing the name ready, opportunity may not be wanting 
 to restore the tiling! Hence the tenaciousness with which its ad^•o- 
 cates uniformly adhere to every relic of arbitrary power ; and hence 
 the determination with which all such claims, grounded on their ap- 
 parent insignificance, should be resisted." 
 
 Junot, who had recovered from his wounds, was sent with a re- 
 spectful letter from Napoleon to the Pope, and Victor was left to see 
 the treaty fulfilled. Napoleon himself proceeded to Mantua, which was 
 full of Austrian invalids : he superintended the repair of the fortifi- 
 cation, and then went to Milan. On his way, he had sent a deputy to 
 the little state of San Marino, which, only acknowledging the Pope 
 as a protector, had maintained its independence for many years. It 
 
 N
 
 9<) 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 consisted of a single mountain and towTi, with seven thousand inha- 
 bitants, governed by their o\m laws. Monge, the chief of the Com- 
 mittee of Artists attending the anny, who was sent to them, carried 
 offers of an accession of territory, and close alliance with France. 
 The latter was gladly accepted; the former wisely declined, lest it 
 should embroil them with other states. 
 
 Bologna and Ferrara, nov/ free, coalesced with Reggio and Modena, 
 which had thrown off the yoke of their duke, and formed one inde- 
 pendent state, with the title of the Cispadane Republic. A congress 
 of a hmidred delegates from the four districts met to effect the 
 formation of their govermnent, and an address w^as sent by them to 
 Napoleon, to announce their proceedings. The pro\dsional council of 
 Milan had completed the revolutionising of Lombardy, which now took 
 the name of the Transpadane Republic. The form of government 
 adopted in France was the prototype of these rising states: they 
 abolished all feudal distinctions, appointed National Guards, and 
 National Representation ; and the formation of their institutions was 
 superintended and protected by Napoleon. At the same time, every 
 possible encouragement was given by him to Kterature and art, and 
 he took pains to collect about him all the men distinguished for genius 
 or learning. A spirit of liberty had arisen, and was rapidly spreading 
 in Italy. 
 
 The army of Italy was at length reinforced effectively, vnih some 
 thirty thousand men, out of wliich nineteen thousand might be con- 
 sidered in good fighting condition and discipline. Napoleon reviewed 
 these troops upon his return from Tolentino.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPAllTE. 
 
 9] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AltMY OF TIIF. AUCIIDUKE CHARLES BERNADOTTE NAPOLEON AT BASSANO MASSENA 
 
 (ROSSES THE PI AVE— PASSAGE OF THE TAGLIAMENTO—PESAUO—CHIUSA— RETREAT OF 
 THE ARCHDUKE AUSTRIA SOLICITS AN ARMISTICE. 
 
 Uncon QUEUED by the conqiiest of 
 their armies ; unsubdued by 
 the slaughter of their best 
 men ; their energies not de- 
 stroyed by faihu'cs five-fold ; 
 with strong invasion on the 
 very front and tlu-cshold of 
 their power ; the Austrian 
 government again raised an 
 army which prepared to ad- 
 J vance towards the Italian 
 frontier. Napoleon being now 
 at the head of a force pro- 
 ~ ' bably amounting to nearly 
 
 sixty thousand men, determined to meet, instead of awaiting, the attack. 
 Before putting his army in motion, Napoleon found it necessary to 
 come to an understanding with Venice, which at present remained in 
 what its government termed " a state of impartial neutrality : " in other 
 words, while keeping quiet by compulsion, they watched the first oppor- 
 tunity to rise against France, whose free institutions the Venetian 
 oligarchy hated and feared. Mr. Lockhart very neatly characterises it 
 as " the flinhsij neutrality" of Venice.
 
 92 TIJE HISTORY OF 
 
 Tlie Doge had made new levies, formed military magazines, and 
 could command fifty thousand men. But the Venetian territories were 
 divided against themselves. The inhabitants of the Terra Firma, or 
 mainland, were jealous of the superior privileges of the insular nobility 
 of Venice, and threatened, after the example of the new-created Re- 
 publics, to throw off" their allegiance. Brescia and Bergamo in parti- 
 cular, were earnest for independence. Napoleon urged the government 
 to form an alliance ofiTensive and defensive with France, but in vain ; 
 they kept to their temporising and treacherous policy, notwithstanding 
 Pesaro, who then managed the concerns of their Republic, had under- 
 taken to employ his good offices in the afifair. Napoleon, therefore, 
 taking care to let them know that he left a sufficient force in Italy to 
 watch their proceedings, without further negociations, put his army in 
 motion towards Germany. On the 9th of March, his head-quarters 
 were fixed at Bassano. 
 
 In order to render it clearly understood in what state for the defence 
 of his previous conquests Napoleon left Italy, when his main army ad- 
 vanced upon Germany, we shall quote his own statement, taken from 
 Bourrienne's Memoirs: — "General Kilmaine possessed, for the pre- 
 servation of Italy, numerous garrisons in all the fortified places and 
 castles ; two Polish legions, tw^o Lombard legions, and the whole of 
 General Victor's division which came from Rome. All the castles of 
 Verona, Porto-Legnago, Peschiera, and Palma-Nuova, were in the 
 power of the armies of Italy, and in a state of defence." 
 
 The Archduke Charles, who had rendered himself famous as a 
 general by his victories on the Rhine, where he had defeated the 
 courage and skill of Jourdan and Moreau, was now to be ojjposed to 
 Napoleon, tie led the Austrian army, which amounted to fifty thou- 
 sand men, and was intended to form a junction wdth forty thousand 
 more, who were advancing to meet liim, from the army of the Rhine. 
 He assembled his force at Friuli. He was fettered by the directions of 
 the Aulic Council (which, according to the strict etiquette of the empire, 
 he was forced to o])ey), or his position would have been more naturally 
 fixed in the Tyrol, where his reinforcements from the Rhine could have 
 joined him ten days sooner than was possible at Friuli ; and Napoleon, 
 instantly perceiving the means of again reducing them to a condition of 
 divided forces, hastened forward before the junction could be effected. 
 
 Upon entering the Austrian dominions. Napoleon confidently reck- 
 oned on tlie co-operation of the armies of the Sambre and Meuse, and 
 the Rhine, under lloche and Moreau. The three united would have 
 amounted to nearly two hundred thousand men, and might have dictated 
 a peace to the empire on any terms. But the Directory, apparently 
 from jealons fear of the ambition and success of their young general,
 
 GENERAL MASSKNA
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 9;J 
 
 sacrificed the undoubted interests of France. Tliey persisted in keepin"- 
 the armies separate. From the Sambre and Meuse, eight regmients 
 only, amomiting, as previously stated, to nineteen thousand efficient 
 men, under the command of Bernadotte, had been sent to join Napo- 
 leon ; but these were full of spirit, and elated at the idea of forming a 
 part of so ^^ctorious an army. Bernadotte felt this on arriving within 
 sight of the squadrons, and could not forbear exclaiming, with a tolerably 
 equal mixture of envy, pride, and national vanity, " Soldiers of the 
 army of the Sambre and Meuse, the army of Italy is before us ! " 
 
 Without attempting a remonstrance with the Directory against their 
 preventing the union of the three entire French armies. Napoleon pro- 
 ceeded vigorously on his career. He issued one of his stirring pro- 
 clamations at Bassano, and then advanced to attack the archduke, who 
 was stationed upon the plains bordering on the banks of the Tagha- 
 mento. At the same time, he despatched Massena with a di\ision of 
 cavalry, to effect the passage of the Piave, a river thirty miles to the 
 westward of the Tagliamento, where the Austrians had an army of 
 observation under Lusignan, and to occupy the mountains on the right 
 of the Archduke's army. Tlus service Massena performed with the 
 greatest skill; he crossed the Piave on the 11th of March, made 
 Lusignan and five hundred of his men prisoners, and drove tlie rest
 
 94 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 beyond tlie Tagliamento, taking Feltre, Cadore, and Bellune. Guieux's 
 di\-ision passed the Piave at Treviso, where the river is deep, but the 
 soldiers surmounted every difficulty : a di-ummer was the only person 
 in danger of being dro\\aied, and he was saved by a woman, who swam 
 after him. 
 
 On the 16th of March, the two armies, headed by Napoleon and 
 the Archduke Charles, in person, were drawn up on opposite sides of 
 the Tagliamento, face to face. The Austrians were posted in the most 
 admirable manner ; their artillery, sharp-shooters, and their fine cavalry, 
 so disposed as to make the attempt to force the passage of the river 
 extremely hazardous. After some cannonading, the French, who had 
 marched all the previous night, retired to the rear, and took up their 
 bivouac. The archduke, knowing they had performed this long march, 
 naturally concluded that they declined to make the desperate attempt of 
 crossing the river in the face of his army, and accordingly withdrew to 
 his encampment. They had scarcely done this, when the French army, 
 which had lain down in orderly ranks to rest a couple of hours, sud- 
 denly sprang up, and was formed in two lines; Napoleon marched them 
 rapidly to the river, threw the first line into colmnns, which being 
 supported on each flank by the cavalry, plunged into the stream, and 
 reached the opposite side before the astonished Austrians could assume 
 a battle array, or good position of defence. They, however, charged 
 the French re])eatedly with the greatest courage, but could not drive 
 them back ; and the second line now coming up, completed the ad-
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 95 
 
 vantage. The archduke was compelled to retreat, leaving eight pieces 
 of cannon and some prisoners behind. 
 
 The Venetian minister, Pesaro, visited the head-quarters of the 
 French general after tliis victory. Napoleon made a last effort to 
 change the crooked policy of that state, but could receive nothing but 
 the old answers. *' Venice," said Pesaro, " rejoices in your triumphs ; 
 she knows that she camiot exist but by means of France ; but, continuing 
 faithful to her ancient and wise policy, she wishes to remain neutral." 
 Napoleon took leave of him with a threat that could not easily be mis- 
 understood. " I am marching on Vienna," he said. " Tilings that I 
 might have forgiven when I was in Italy, would be unpardonable crimes 
 when I am in Germany. Should my soldiers be assassinated, my 
 convoys harassed, and my communications intercepted, in the Venetian 
 territories, your Republic will have ceased to exist." 
 
 't^^^^^i^ 
 
 4 
 
 During the action of the Tagliamento, Massena had pushed forward, 
 crossed the river nearer its som'ce, destroyed the troops he found before 
 him, and occupied the passes of the JuHan Alps, wliich placed liim 
 between the imperial right wing and Vienna. The archdidsie, with a 
 view to remove this danger, if possible, joined to his force a fine cohunn 
 of grenadiers, just arrived from the Rhine, and placing himself at their 
 head, hui'ried forward and encountered Massena at Tarwis. The arch- 
 duke made the attack with fury ; repeatedly exposing his own person
 
 96 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 to imminent danger, and was more than once on the very point of being 
 taken prisoner ; but he could not overcome the French soldiers. He 
 fought till his very last battalion had been engaged, and then fled 
 beyond the Drave, where his broken forces rallied. Massena now com- 
 manded the pass of the Tarwis, by which three Austrian divisions, 
 coming up through the valley of the Isonzo, were cut off from their 
 main army. 
 
 The archduke continued to retreat; the Isonzo, a deep and furious 
 torrent, closed round by mountains, seemed, after he had passed it, to 
 afford an insurmountable barrier to his pursuers ; but the frost had 
 made it fordable in many places. Napoleon coming up with Serrurier's 
 division, effected the passage. Colonel Andreossy being the first to 
 throw himself into the river. The division of Bernadotte had attempted 
 to pass by Gradisca, a town strongly fortified, and four hundred men 
 had been lost in the assault. The eagerness of his division to prove 
 their valour, and take the place before the old troops of the army of 
 Italy could come up, was the cause of this imprudence. When Ser- 
 rurier's division appeared on the heights above the town, the governor 
 surrendered with his garrison of nearly three thousand men. Head- 
 quarters were advanced to Goritz next day. 
 
 The French now took possession of Trieste and Fiume, the only 
 sea-ports belonging to Austria ; seized the English merchandise, and 
 made a prize of quicksilver to the amount of several millions of francs, 
 from the mines of Idria. 
 
 StiU pressing onwards, the French army passed the Drave at Vil- 
 lach, and advanced to Klagenfurth. It had now emerged from the passes 
 of the Carnic and Julian Alps, and had penetrated into the valley of 
 the Drave in Germany. The language, manners, and customs, of the 
 people were different from those of Italy. Napoleon took the utmost 
 pains to conciKate them. He distributed a proclamation, in which he 
 assured them of good will and protection ; and entreated them to take 
 no part in a war in wliich they had no concern, the blame of which he 
 laid en English gold and Austrian treachery. " Let us be friends," he 
 said, " in spite of England and the court of Vienna. The French 
 RepubHc possesses the rights of conquest over you : let these rights be 
 cancelled by a contract wliich shall be binding upon each of us. Do 
 not interfere in the wars of others." The good people of the valley 
 must have been somewhat puzzled to comprehend the nice distinction 
 whereby they were to consider themselves as having no concern in a war 
 carried on in their own country. He also inrited them to supply his 
 army, instead of paying their taxes to the emperor. This address had, 
 nevertheless, considerable effect in calming their minds ; and there is 
 little doubt that the " su})plics" were brought in with all the haste of
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 97 
 
 fear. Napoleon also repaired and garrisoned the fortifications of Klao-en- 
 furth, and establishing hospitals and magazines in the place, took up his 
 head-quarters there. He was now only sixty leagues from Vienna. 
 
 The Austrian divisions, under Bayalitsch, retreating before General 
 Guieux, now gained the strong position of Chiusa, where they thought 
 themselves safe. But Massena came up in front, while Guieux attacked 
 
 the rear. The fourth demi-brigade of the line, called " The Impetuous,'' 
 climbed the mountain that commands the left, and Bayalitsch was 
 obliged to lay down his arms. His baggage, guns, and colours, were 
 taken, and five thousand men sm-rendered prisoners of war. The rest 
 of his anny, composed of natives of Croatia and Carniola, disbanded
 
 98 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 themselves, and endeavoured, by the passes of the mountains, to reach 
 their respective villages. 
 
 Napoleon, who had hitherto advanced his army in three divisions, 
 now saw that the moment had arrived to concentrate the whole on one 
 point. There had hitherto existed no danger of being anywhere too 
 weak, for the archduke's forces were disposed in a similar manner ; and 
 it was necessary that the French army should be so divided in order to 
 ensure a retreat, and to protect the magazines and depots. But now, 
 the Austrians having lost twenty-four thousand prisoners and sixty 
 pieces of cannon ; having abandoned their magazines, and sustained 
 defeats in every quarter, had fled behind the mountains to rally. The 
 preservation of means of retreat, or the guarding of different depots, 
 was no longer of importance to the French army ; but to protect the 
 different divisions from sudden attacks and defeats in detail by the 
 archduke's scattered forces, was necessary. 
 
 General Joubert, who had been left in the Tyrol, received orders to 
 join the main army. He was opposed by the Austrian generals Landon 
 and Kerpen, and had to fight his way ; he nevertheless conducted the 
 enterprise with ability and success. He conquered Landon, and by 
 the 28th of March had compelled Kerpen to evacuate Sterzing and 
 retreat behind the Brenner. The way was now clear before him, and 
 calling in all his posts from the Tyrol, except twelve hundred men, he 
 began his march towards Klagenfurth. 
 
 Bernadotte was also ordered to bring up his division, leaving only 
 fifteen hundred men under General Friand, to keep Carniola in awe. 
 
 The archduke, on the other hand, who had already lost one-fourth 
 of his army, weakened it still further by misconceiving the designs of 
 the French commander-in-chief. General Kerpen had been stationed 
 at Inspruck, expecting an attack from Joubert ; but no sooner was it 
 found that Joubert, abandoning Inspruck and the Tyrol, was proceeding 
 to Carinthia by the valley of the Drave, than the Austrian general 
 returned into the Tyrol. Quasdanowitch, who had hastened to the 
 defence of Hungary, also finding no advance made in that quarter, 
 marched rapidly into Carniola, which Napoleon now considered of little 
 importance. Such was the state of affairs twenty days after the opening 
 of this new campaign. 
 
 Vienna was now filled with dismay and confusion. The archduke 
 was without the power to protect the city, which possessed no available 
 means of self-defence ; and Napoleon was only sixty leagues distant, 
 established at Klagenfurth, with his victorious army. The Danube was 
 covered with boats, conveying every thing that was most valuable into 
 Hungar)\ The children of the royal family were sent there for safety. 
 Among tliem was the future empress of France, — the Archduchess Maria
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 99 
 
 Louisa, then five years and a-hall* old. The people of Vienna murmured 
 that the ministry did not make peace, though they were unable to stop 
 the progress of the invaders. There was, however, less cause for alarm 
 than the Austrians supposed. Napoleon had learned definitively, on 
 the 31st of March, that he was not to expect the co-operation of the 
 great armies of the Sambre and Meuse, and of the Rhine, upon which 
 he had always reckoned, according to the original plan of the campaign. 
 Within twelve hours after the receipt of this extraordinary com- 
 munication, which disappointed all his well-founded expectations of 
 compelling the empire to a firm and lasting peace. Napoleon determined 
 to make the best use of his present advantageous position, by concluding 
 such a peace as his present forces enabled him to dictate. Laying aside 
 all technical formalities, he wrote to the archduke in the following 
 terms : — " Wliile brave soldiers carry on war, they wish for peace. Has 
 not the war already lasted six years ? Have we not killed men enough, 
 and inflicted sufficient sufferings on the human race ? Europe has 
 laid down the arms she took up against the French Republic. Your 
 nation alone perseveres ; yet blood is to flow more copiously than ever. 
 Wliatever be the issue, we shall kill some thousands of men on both 
 sides ; and after all we must come to an understanding, since all things 
 have an end, not excepting vindictive passions. The Executive Directory 
 of the French Republic communicated to his majesty the emperor its 
 wish to put an end to the war which afflicts both nations. The inter- 
 vention of the British Court defeated this measure. Is there no hope 
 of arrangement ? And must we, on account of the passions and interests 
 of a people who are strangers to the horrors of the war, continue to 
 slaughter each other ? You, general, whose birth places you so near 
 the throne, and above those petty passions which often actuate ministers 
 and governments, are you disposed to merit the title of a benefactor to 
 the human race? Do not imagine, sir, that I mean to deny that it 
 may be possible to save Germany by force of arms; but even sup- 
 posing the chances of war should become favourable to you, the country 
 would nevertheless be ravaged. For my part, general, if the overture I 
 have the honour to make to you should only save the hfe of a single 
 man, I should feel more proud of the civic crown I should think I 
 thereby merited, than of all the melancholy glory that the most dis- 
 tinguished military successes can afford." 
 
 The archduke replied, on the 2nd of April, with great courtesy and 
 manly feeling as to the wish for peace ; but declared himself not em- 
 powered to conduct the diplomatic business of the empire. " But 
 whatever," he added, " may be the future chances of war, or whatever 
 hopes of peace may exist, I beg you to rest convinced, general, of my 
 esteem and particular consideration."
 
 100 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Napoleon had not waited for this answer. His proposal of peace 
 was seconded hy a rapid advance towards Vienna. On the 1st of April, 
 Massena entered Freisach, after an encounter with the Austrian rear- 
 guard, whom he drove before him, and pursued almost to Neumarck, 
 where the archduke was stationed. Napoleon came up to the attack, 
 and an engagement ensued, in which the Austrians were defeated with 
 great loss. At night the French troops entered Neimiarck. 
 
 The archduke now proposed a suspension of arms for twenty-four 
 hours, hoping that auxiliaries would arrive in that time. But Napoleon 
 allowed him no such advantage. He continued to advance through 
 dangerous and difficult passes, while the archduke retreated on Vienna. 
 On the 3rd, the van had a furious and final engagement in the defiles 
 of Unzmarkt with the Austrians, who lost many men, and made no 
 fui'ther resistance. On the 4th and 5th, Napoleon was at Scheiffling ; 
 on the 7th he reached Leoben. 
 
 Generals Bellegarde and Merfeld, v^dth a flag of truce, now presented 
 themselves at head-quarters, bringing a proposal from the emperor for 
 a suspension of arms, to the fui'therance of a permanent peace. The 
 armistice was granted by Napoleon, for the term of five days ; all the 
 country, as far as the Simering, together with the strong town and 
 citadel of Gratz, being surrendered to liim, and immediately occupied 
 by his army, which was now concentrated by the junction of Joubert 
 and Bernadotte, who brought up their divisions about the 8th of April. 
 
 
 
 11 " ' 
 
 . '-^^K 

 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 101 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PRELIMINARIES OF LEOBEN INSURRECTION OF VENICE MASSACRE AT VERONA — NAPOLEON's 
 
 RETURN TO ITALY DISSOLUTION OF THE VENETIAN OLIGARCHY. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 13th, 
 i4)j;^u when the armistice would have 
 expired, the Marquis de Gallo, 
 ambassador from Naples to 
 Vienna, accompanied by one of 
 the emperor's general officers, 
 arrived at Leoben with full 
 powers to negociate and sign 
 preliminaries of ^peace. The 
 armistice was, therefore, ex- 
 tended to the 20th. General 
 Clarke had been furnished by 
 the Directory with full power 
 to complete the treaty ; but he 
 was still at Turin, and Napo- 
 leon, without waiting for him, took the responsibility upon liimself, and 
 signed it on the part of France on the 19th of April. It is easy to 
 imagine how unpalatable this kind of independence must have been 
 to the Directory. The Austrian plenipotentiaries had set down as a 
 primary concession, that " The emperor acknowledged the French 
 Republic." " Strike that out," said Napoleon: "the Republic is like
 
 102 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the sun, that shines by its own light : none but tlie blind can fail to see 
 it." This enthusiasm for the Republic was probably quite sincere at 
 the time he spoke ; but afterwards, when circumstances had changed 
 with him, he thought proper to assign mere politic reasons for these 
 strong expressions, alleging that " he had thought in case France should 
 ever again establish a monarchy, the Emperor of Austria might then 
 affirm that he had only acknowledged a Republic." This was, indeed, 
 an ominous forethought, and looks as though one of the weird sisters in 
 "Macbeth" had suddenly hovered round his head, and hoarsely whis- 
 pered of a delusive crown. 
 
 The prehminaries agreed upon at Leoben were as follows : — The 
 boundary of the Rhine was assigned to France, and the dominions of 
 Venice were destined in some way or other to compensate to Austria 
 for the loss of Belgium and Luxembourg. One Republic in Italy was 
 to be acknowledged by Austria, the boundaries of which were not very 
 strictly defined ; and Mantua was to be restored to the empire in return 
 for the strong fortress of Mentz on the Rhine. 
 
 The Directory were dissatisfied with the treaty, and blamed their 
 general for not continuing to advance on Vienna ; forgetting that he had 
 earnestly wished to make that movement, which they alone had rendered 
 impracticable with any safety. 
 
 On the morning when the preliminaries were signed. Napoleon was 
 joined at Leoben by his old school-fellow, Bourrienne. They had not 
 met since the days when the present conqueror of Italy had projected 
 a scheme for sub-letting houses, and keeping a cabriolet. Bourrienne 
 was immediately appointed his private secretary. 
 
 Reports were now fast arriving of the disturbed state of Venice. 
 It will be recollected that Napoleon had declared to the equivocating 
 Pesaro, that if any treachery were practised in his absence, the govern- 
 ment of Venice should cease to exist. This treachery had indeed been 
 manifested in the blackest shape. The peasantry, to the number of 
 thirty thousand, had been secretly armed ; and being excited by the 
 government and the priesthood, made a general massacre of all the 
 French in the Venetian territories. 
 
 A few words will explain the origin of these atrocities. Wlien 
 Joubert left the Tyrol to join the army at Klagenfurth, General Landon 
 increased his force ; beat the French division of fifteen hundred men, 
 and forced them to retreat on Montebaldo. Having become master of 
 Trent and the Tyrol, Landon raised false reports of victories achieved 
 by the archduke, and disasters sustained by the French. Every little 
 reverse was magnified into a great defeat. Among others, the small 
 body of men left under General Friand in Carniola, having been forced 
 to fall back by a party of Croats, was exaggerated into a great affair.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 103 
 
 The Venetian oligarchy, thus misled, instantly unmasked their real 
 feelings, and openly declared hostility to France. The French minister 
 endeavoured to convince them of their delusion and impending ruin if 
 they persisted. Pesaro and the leading men were so desirous of the 
 destruction of the army of Italy, that they would not listen to any 
 doubts of the reports which favoured their wishes. Bourrienne, who 
 passed through Verona on the eve of these events, says, that the priests 
 chose Easter Sunday as the day to incite the people to a general rising. 
 On Tuesday in Easter week, the 17th of April, the tocsin sounded in 
 Verona after vespers, and the French were murdered in the streets, and 
 everywhere else that they could be found. Even the sick in the hospitals 
 were all butchered. It is said by all the best authorities, that the 
 number of these assassinations amounted to upwards of four hundred. 
 The French garrison at Verona, though attacked, held out manfully, 
 and. bombarded the city in return. The garrison at Chiusa, however, 
 was overpowered by an Austrian division, and slaughtered to a man by 
 the infuriate priest-ridden peasants. This blood-thirsty spirit spread 
 to Padua, Vicenza, and other places. An insurrectionary cockade was 
 mounted at Venice : it w^as worn by the English minister, who also 
 exhibited the Lion of St. Mark on his gondola ; thus giving his sanction 
 to the insurrection, though he, no doubt, beheld tliis mode of its com- 
 mencement with horror and disgust. 
 
 This was the news which demanded the attention of Napoleon. He 
 set off for Italy immediately. In crossing the Tagliamento on his way, 
 he was obliged to stop on an island until a torrent caused by a violent 
 storm subsided. A courier presently appeared on the bank of the 
 

 
 104 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 river, and with some difficulty reached the island. His dispatches in- 
 formed Napoleon that the armies of the Rhine, and of the Sambre and 
 Meuse, were in motion, and had commenced hostilities on the very day 
 of his signature of the preliminaries. " It is impossible," says Bour- 
 rienne, " to describe the general's excitement on reading these dis- 
 patches. He had signed the preliminaries oyily because the French 
 government had represented the co-operation of the armies of the 
 Rhine as impracticable at that moment ; and shortly afterwards he was 
 informed that the co-operation was about to take place. The agitation 
 of his mind was so great, that he for a moment conceived the idea of 
 passing to the left bank of the Tagliamento, and breaking all engage- 
 ments under some pretext or other. He persisted for a time in this 
 resolution, which, however, Berthier and several other generals at length 
 persuaded him to forego. He could not, however, forbear exclaiming, 
 " Wliat a difference would there have been in the preliminaries, — if, 
 indeed, I had granted any terms at all." 
 
 The bitter disappointment was increased by his hearing of successful 
 actions and rapid advances made by Hoche and Moreau. These generals, 
 of course, suspended their operations on learning that a treaty of peace 
 was contemplated. 
 
 It becomes necessary in this place to correct certain errors and 
 misleading transpositions in Sir Walter Scott (with reference to the 
 campaign of the Archduke Charles), which we would fain beheve to have 
 been occasioned by carelessness rather than intention. 
 
 First : — Sir Walter represents the movement of General Joubert from 
 the Tyrol to Clagenfurth as a retreat, rendered necessary by the state of 
 the country round him. It was, on the contrary, a march, made in obe- 
 dience to the orders of Napoleon. 
 
 Secondly : — He represents the occupation of the Tyrol, and of Trieste 
 and Fiume, by the Austrians, as being fraught with great danger to the 
 French, and endangering the rear of their army. Napoleon had pro- 
 vided against any danger of this kind by keeping possession of the great 
 road to Italy by Carinthia. 
 
 Thirdly : — He details the Venetian insurrection before stating that 
 the emperor requested an armistice ; and as he gives no dates of the 
 insurrection, this leaves an erroneous impression. It took place nearly 
 simultaneously with the signing of the preliminaries, and was of so little 
 real importance as to be quelled before Napoleon's return. 
 
 Fourthly : — When, after stating these equivocal circumstances, he 
 sums up by informing us that, the " archduke enumerated all these 
 advantages to the cabinet of Vienna, and exhorted them to stand the 
 last cast of the bloody die!" he says what cannot be true. Some of the 
 "advantages" never happened at all; some were of no importance; and
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 105 
 
 the insurrection at Venice did not happen till after this alleged repre- 
 sentation by the archduke. The emperor sohcited the armistice on the 
 7th of April ; the insurrection of Venice did not break out until the 
 15th or 1 6th. 
 
 Fifthly: — He endeavours to shew (and Mr. Lockhart, in " The Family 
 Library," enlarges upon the error with his usual eloquence and decision) 
 that the Archduke Charles was a great military genius ; whereas he fell 
 into every trap Napoleon set for him, or made exactly those movements 
 which his enemy induced or anticipated. 
 
 Sixthly : — Sir Walter Scott states the number of French massacred 
 in Verona at more than one hundred ; and says nothing of other murders. 
 All other accounts state the numbers at four hundred. 
 
 To proceed : as Napoleon approached Italy, his ears were continually 
 assailed with reports of Venetian treachery. The crew of a French 
 privateer, having taken refuge from an Austrian frigate under the bat- 
 teries of the Lido, where they expected protection, were suffered to be 
 murdered without any interposition ; and when the French minister 
 complained of the outrage, the senate not only laughed at his threats, 
 but rewarded those who had participated in the action. 
 
 Junot had been sent forward to Venice, immediately the news of the 
 insurrection arrived, with a letter from Napoleon to the Doge, de- 
 manding his instant choice between war and peace ; and giving him only 
 twenty-four hours to decide. When Junot arrived, the disturbances were 
 entirely at an end. General Kilmaine had hurried to the support of 
 the garrison of Verona, and arrived on the 21st: he was seconded by 
 the Lombard division. On the 23rd, the astounding news of the pre- 
 liminaries of peace reached Venice, and visions of the return of Na- 
 poleon with his avenging army absolutely paralysed the senate. They 
 were lost in stupor, and could form no decision whether to resist or 
 submit. The insurgents at Verona and elsewhere, accepted on their 
 knees the conditions offered by the French generals; their panic was 
 increased by the news that General Victor was approaching from 
 Rome : the peasantry were disarmed and sent to their homes to await 
 the result. 
 
 Junot, on his arrival, was immediately admitted into the hitherto 
 august and dreadful presence of the senate. He made the lofty walls 
 resound with his threats of speedy vengeance and retribution, till the 
 members shook on their ancient seats of power. They, who held supreme 
 dominion as ministers of a despotic government, which had maintained 
 its remorseless authority over mens' bodies and souls during nearly six 
 hundred years; a government of awful visitations in secret places, from 
 whose demoniacal eye no privacies of domestic life were secure, from 
 whose deadly suspicions no secrets were hidden ; a government rendered 
 
 p
 
 100 
 
 THE PISTORY OF 
 
 immortal in chronicles, and histories, and dramas, and romances, — ^fictions 
 which never yet embodied a fraction of its horrors, its racking realities, 
 its dark dungeon-deaths by poniard, starving, or the slow degrees of 
 poison and the mind's prolonged despair; — this assemblage, exercising a 
 power and influence resembling those of fiends, seeing (for the first time) 
 a stronger power above them, and seeing it by the flashing light of an 
 impending sword, became, in a moment, and without a single struggle, 
 more abject than the serpent, which is not humbled till its head is 
 bruised ; and, like worms, these tyrants crawled along the ground, and 
 sued for mercy, and permission to lick the dust from the sword-bearer's 
 feet. 
 
 The envoys bearing the humble apologies of the senate to Napoleon, 
 met him at Gratz. He received them with deadly composure, his look 
 and bearing being indicative of a fixed purpose. They shuddered as 
 they ventured to touch upon the subject of a pecuniary atonement, 
 amounting to eight million francs, offered by the senate. " If you
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTK. 
 
 107 
 
 could proffer me the mines of Peru," said Napoleon; "if you could 
 strew the whole district with gold, it could never atone for the French 
 blood which has been so inhumanly and treacherously spilt." 
 
 On the 3rd of May, war was declared on the part of France against 
 Venice. Napoleon issued the following order of the day, dated at 
 Palma Nuova : — " The commander-in-chief requires the French minister 
 to leave Venice ; orders the different agents of the Republic of Venice 
 to leave Lombardy, and the Venetian Terra Firma, within four-and- 
 twenty hours ! He orders the different generals of divisions to treat the 
 Venetian troops as enemies, and to destroy the Lion of St. Mark in all 
 the tovms of the Terra Firma." 
 
 The mere appearance of this manifesto was sufficient. The Venetian 
 government did not wait to be destroyed, bvit hastened with most abject 
 zeal to render up their power, and dissolve the very form of their once 
 proud fabric of tyranny. The Doge put off his crown ; the senate 
 dissolved itself; the blood-stained inquisitors, and the dreadful Council 
 of Three, all laid down their absolute offices with disgusting humiUty. 
 Being done with, the world seemed disposed to forget simultaneously 
 that such a government had ever existed. The enormity fell without a 
 sound, and went like a shadow into oblivion. 
 
 A French division was called in to preserve the city from anarchy. 
 On the 11th of May, a tri-coloured flag was hoisted in the Place of 
 St. Mark ; a popvdar constitution declared, and a provisional government 
 established. The whole of the Terra Firma had already declared itself 
 free, and adopted the principles of the French Revolution. The Vene- 
 tian fleet was manned, and sent to Toulon. General Gentili proceeded 
 to Corfu, and took possession. Pesaro fled to Vienna.
 
 108 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Witli reo-ard to the peasantry wlio liad committed the liorrihk' 
 massacres wliich have been related, Napoleon did not %isit them with 
 any vengeance ; considering them only as the instruments which an 
 iniquitous government had rendered half frantic to suit its designs. The 
 rulers, and not the people, suffered for the crimes w^hich had been 
 committed. Several disorderly acts were, however, perpetrated by the 
 French soldiers during the foregoing transactions, notwithstanding Na- 
 poleon's efforts to prevent them. The bank at Verona was plundered, 
 among other violences of the same nature. Colonel Andrieux, and 
 Bouquet, a commissary, were accused of being accessory to the robbery, 
 and compelled to refund all that was found in their possession. 
 
 Bernadotte was despatched to Paris, where he presented all the 
 trophies taken from the Venetians. Venice was now a free state, though 
 entirely in the power of the French.
 
 NArOLEON BONAPARTE 
 
 109 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 NAPOLEON GOES TO MILAN MONTEBELLO — JOSEPHINE — LOVE-LETTERS — GENOA — ANEC- 
 DOTES PROTRACTED NEGOCIATIONS LIBERATION OF LA FAYETTE — UNSETTLED STATE 
 
 OF PARIS AUGEREAU AND LAVALETTE CISALPINE REPUBLIC — THE VALTELINE. 
 
 joined 
 the De 
 
 Napoleon had repaired to Milan 
 after settling the affairs of 
 Venice, and took up his ahode 
 in the beautiful castello, or 
 palace, of Montebello. It was 
 situated five leagues from 
 Milan, upon a sloping hill 
 which commands an extensive 
 view of the rich plain of 
 Lomhardy. The Marquis de 
 Gallo, as Austrian plenipo- 
 tentiary, lived at the distance 
 of half a league, the nego- 
 ciation concerning the peace 
 being still under discussion. 
 Napoleon was very shortly 
 by Josephine. It appears that she had visited him at Genoa in 
 cember of 1 796, travelling from France under the guardianship
 
 110 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 of Junot; but they now enjoyed an Italian summer together, and this 
 was, perhaps, the happiest of their Kves. The ladies of the highest 
 rank, and all those celebrated for beauty or accomplishments, vied with 
 each other in paying homage to Josephine, who received them with an 
 easy dignity and grace not unbecoming that regal courtesy which she 
 was subsequently called upon to exercise. 
 
 Some of the letters of Napoleon to Josephine, during his early cam- 
 paigns in Italy, are interesting, inasmuch as they assist in giving an 
 insight to his character, through a medium in which there was nothing 
 concealed. Certainly, these love-letters were never intended to be seen 
 by any third person ; and, certainly, they ought not to have been read 
 by illiberal eyes, and their passionate expressions coldly gauged for 
 political purposes, and cried out upon as " indelicate ! " Sir Walter 
 Scott, echoed, as usual, by Mr. Lockhart, making no allowances for an 
 excitable temperament, living in a constant state of exciting action ; cut 
 off from all the domestic affections, and not seeking a substitute in any 
 kind of Licentiousness ; has thought fit to instil an unhealthy tone of 
 prudery into the minds of English readers, by affecting to be shocked at 
 the ardent expressions in an Itahan love-letter, written by a man who 
 had been compelled to leave his wife the third day after their marriage ! * 
 
 * The reader will be interested in the following, for the reasons we have previously 
 given, and also as it comprises a fair general specimen of the style and tone of feeling 
 displayed in these letters : — 
 
 " By what art is it that you have been able to captivate all my faculties, and to con- 
 centrate in yourself my moral existence? It is a magic, my sweet love, which will finish 
 only with my life. To live for Josephine : there is the history of my life. I am trying to 
 reach you — I am dying to be near you. Fool that I am, I do not perceive that I increase 
 the distance between us. What lands, what countries separate us ! What a time before 
 you read these weak expressions of a troubled soul, in which you reign ! Ah, my adorable 
 wife, I know not what fate awaits me, but if it keep me mucli longer from you, it will be 
 insupportable — my courage will not go so far. There was a time when I was proud of 
 my courage ; and sometimes, when contemplating the ills that man could do me — the fate 
 which destiny could reserve for me, I fixed my eyes stedfastly on the most unheard-of 
 misfortunes without a frown — without alarm ; but now the idea that my Josephine may 
 be ill at ease, the idea that she may be ill, and, above all, the cruel, fatal tliought that 
 she may love me less, withers my soul, stops my blood, renders me sad, cast down, and 
 leaves me 7iot even the courage of ftny and despair. Formerly, I used often to say to 
 myself, men could not hurt him who could die without regret; but now, to die without 
 being loved by thee, to die without that certainty, is the torment of hell ; it is the lively 
 and striking image of absolute annihilation — I feel as if I were stifled. My incomparable 
 companion! tliou, whom fate has destined to make along with me the painful journey of 
 life, the day on which I shall cease to possess thy heart, will be the day on which parched 
 Nature will be to me without warmth or vegetation. 
 
 " I stop, my sweet love: my soul is sad, my body is fatigued, my head is giddy, men 
 disgust me, I ought to hate them — they separate me from my beloved. 
 
 "I am at Port Maurice, near Oneille; to-morrow I shall be at Albenga; the two
 
 .--.-' vifei 
 
 
 VENETIAN INSUllKECTION.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. Ill 
 
 We quote the following well-painted description from the animated 
 pen of Sir Walter Scott. The theme suits his genius, for certainly the 
 facts are more like romance than history. 
 
 " Negociations proceeded amid gaiety and pleasure. The various 
 ministers and envoys of Austria, of the Pope, of the Kings of Sardinia 
 and Naples, of the Duke of Parma, of the Swiss cantons, of several of 
 the princes of Germany ; the throng of generals, of persons in authority, 
 of deputies of towns ; with the daily arrival and despatch of numerous 
 courtiers, the bustle of important business, mingled with fetes and 
 entertainments, \\dth balls and ^^^th hunting parties, gave the picture of 
 a splendid court, and the assemblage was called accordingly by the 
 Italians, the Court of Montebello. 
 
 " The sovereigns of this diplomatic and military court made excursions 
 to the Lago Maggiore, to Lago di Como, to the Borromean Islands, and 
 occupied at pleasure the villas which surround those delicious regions. 
 Every town, — every village desired to distinguish itself by some peculiar 
 mark of homage and respect to him, whom they named the Liberator of 
 Italy." 
 
 The affairs of Genoa demanded the attention of Napoleon early in 
 the summer. A spirit of liberty had arisen in that state, and the Doge 
 had granted a committee to propose alterations in the constitution. The 
 three state inquisitors, or censors, as they were called, alarmed at inno- 
 vation, incited the poorer class of the people, by the usual application of 
 stimulants to their superstition, till they became furious against the new 
 doctrines. On the 22nd of May, the two parties came to open liostiHties ; 
 and in the disorder which ensued, the French minister, who had pur- 
 posely abstained from interference, narrowly escaped being murdered. 
 Several French families were placed in great danger ; many individuals 
 of the French nation were massacred, and many detained prisoners. 
 Napoleon immediately sent his aide-de-camp, Lavalette, to Genoa ; 
 insisting on the liberation of the French, and the disarming of the 
 infuriate mob, among which were a great number of porters and colliers. 
 The aristocratic party ha\dng now come into collision with a power they 
 could not resist, yielded to necessity. A deputation was sent to Monte- 
 bello to settle the constitution, and it was established on a democratic 
 basis on the 6th of June. Napoleon strenuously m-ged moderation, and 
 
 armies are in motion. We are endeavouring to deceive each other: victory to the most 
 skilful ! I am pretty well satisfied with Beaidieu : if he alarm me much, he is a better 
 man than his predecessor. I shall beat him, I liope, in good style. Do not be uneasy ; 
 love me as your eyes, — but that is not enough, — as yourself, more than yourself, than 
 yom- thought, your mind, your sight, your all. Sweet love, forgive me, I am sinking. 
 Nature is weak for him who feels strongly — for him whom you love!" — Published in a 
 " Totir through the Netherlands," SjC, hy Charles Tennant, Esq.
 
 11; 
 
 Tin: IIISTOIIY OF 
 
 
 was highly displeased when the people, in their joy at the news of their 
 revolution being established, committed several excesses, such as burning 
 the Golden Book, and furiously demolishing the statue of Andrea 
 Doria, the founder of their government, whom he justly venerated as a 
 truly great man. He required that the provisional magistrates should 
 repair the statue. He also resisted the persecution of their discomfited 
 priests, and the exclusion of the nobles from public offices ; pointedly 
 remarking, that this was practising the very same injustice towards the 
 nobles that they had hitherto shewn to the people. The government 
 was at length settled according to his suggestions. We can believe it 
 very possible that Napoleon found quite as much interest in working 
 these and similar measures, as in the complex movements of a campaign. 
 He seems to luive prided himself still more upon his genius as a diplo- 
 matist and legislator, than as a military commander ; and in both these 
 characters we are to consider him henceforward.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 113 
 
 Bourrienne relates, that while Napoleon was occupied with the 
 organisation of Venice, Genoa, and Milan, he used to complain of the 
 want of men. " Good God ! " said he, " how rare men are ! There are 
 eighteen millions in Italy, and I have with difficulty found two real 
 ones,— Dandolo and Melzi." These two actual " men " were immediately 
 employed in important services, and justified his estimation. 
 
 Bourrienne also relates an amusing story of a plan which Napoleon 
 fell upon to get through his almost interminable correspondence at this 
 period. " To satisfy himself that people wrote too much, and lost 
 valuable time in trifling and useless answers, he told me to open only 
 the letters which came by extraordinary couriers, and to leave all the 
 rest for three weeks in the basket. I declare that at the end of that 
 time it was unnecessary to reply to foui'-fifths of these communications." 
 Some were themselves answers; others contained requests for favours 
 which had been granted since they were written ; others, complaints of 
 grievances redressed before they were written ; provisions, pay, clothing, 
 reinforcements, money, promotion, were the subjects of numbers, and had 
 all been settled before the three-weeks' budget was opened. Napoleon 
 laughed heartily at the success of this experiment with miscellaneous 
 correspondents. 
 
 Eugene Beauharnois came to Montebello about this period. He 
 was now seventeen years of age, and was appointed one of the aides-de- 
 camp to the commander-in-chief. Napoleon was always much attached 
 to him. 
 
 Meantime, the negociations with the Austrian government were 
 tediously protracted. The emperor, no doubt, found the whole pro- 
 ceeding extremely unpalatable, especially as he was aware that the 
 firmness of Napoleon was not to be shaken by any means he could 
 adopt. It ought not to be omitted, that while Napoleon was at Gratz, 
 he received from the Marquis de Gallo a copy of the preliminaries ratified 
 by the emperor. It is said that he at the same time received from one 
 of the plenipotentiaries, authorised by the emperor, an offer of a sove- 
 reignty of two hundred and fifty thousand souls (souls !), in Germany, 
 for himself and family, at the conclusion of the peace ; which principaHty, 
 it was hinted, " would place him beyond the reach of Repubhcan ingra- 
 titude." Napoleon smiled ; sent his thanks to the emperor, but said he 
 wished for no greatness or wealth, unless conferred on him by the 
 French people, adding, " and with that support, believe me, sir, my 
 ambition will be satisfied." 
 
 As the negociations progressed, it became no longer a secret that 
 the states of Venice were to be made the sacrifice, in order to adjust all 
 differences between the two contending parties. The Directory insisted 
 on one article which Napoleon zealously enforced : it was the Hbera- 
 
 <i
 
 11 4- THE HISTORY OF 
 
 tion of La Fayette, Latour-Maubourg, and Bureau tie Puzy, who had 
 been detained since 1792 in an Austrian state prison. This article, it is 
 said, cost the French general and diplomatist more trouble than all the 
 rest ; but he finally succeeded in obtaining their release. They were 
 liberated in Avigust, up to which month the treaty of peace was still 
 under deliberation. Napoleon became heartily tired of these long delays. 
 He had given his ultimatum to the Marquis de Gallo, by whom it was 
 ratified, on the 24th of May ; but the emperor, on the 19th of June, 
 disavowed the concessions made by the latter, and insisted on referring 
 matters to a congress at Berne. Napoleon overruled this ; but still 
 nothing could be decided. He was also excessively dissatisfied with the 
 Directory, and exasperated at several attacks made on his character and 
 proceedings. He more than once tendered his resignation. 
 
 The excitement of his feelings by these attacks will be evident in 
 the following extract from one of his letters to the Directory at this 
 period : — 
 
 " If only base men, who are dead to the feeling of patriotism and 
 national glory, had spoken of me thus, I would not have complained. 
 But I have a right to complain of the degradation to wliich the first 
 magistrates of the Republic reduce those who have aggrandised, and 
 carried the French name to so high a pitch of glory. Citizen Directors ! 
 I reiterate the demand I made for my dismissal. I wish to live in tran- 
 quilKty, if the poniards of Clichy" (a Royalist club at Paris) "will 
 allow me to live. You have employed me in negociations : I am not 
 very fit to conduct them." 
 
 A letter from the emperor to his brother, the Grand Duke of Tus- 
 cany, was intercepted by the French at this period. It will afford a 
 curious illustration of the simplicity of thought and feeling to which 
 strong emotions and stress of circumstances can reduce those whose whole 
 lives have been surrounded and impregnated with the most artificial and 
 
 delusive principles. 
 
 Hetzendorf, July 20, 1797. 
 
 " My dear Brother, — I punctually received your kind letter, 
 containing a description of your unhappy and delicate situation. You 
 may be assured that I perceive it as clearly as you do yourself; and I 
 pity you the more because, in truth, 1 do not know what advice to give 
 you. You are, like me, the victim of the former inactivity of the princes 
 of Italy ; who ought at once to have acted with all their united forces 
 while I still possessed Mantua. If Bonaparte's project be, as I learn, 
 to establish Republics in Italy, this is likely to end in spreading 
 Re])ublicanism over the whole covuitry. I have already commenced 
 negociations for peace, and the preliminaries are ratified. If the French 
 obsen'e them as strictly as I do, and will do, then your situation will
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 115 
 
 be improved ; but ah'eady the French are beginning to disregard them. 
 The principal problem which remains to be solved, is, whether the 
 French Directory approve of Bonaparte's proceedings, and whether the 
 latter, as appears by some papers distributed through his army, is not 
 disposed to revolt against his country ; which also seems to be probable, 
 from his severe conduct towards Switzerland, notwithstanding the 
 assurance of the Directory that he had been ordered to leave that 
 country untouched. If this should be the case, new and innumerable 
 difficulties may arise. Under these circumstances, I can at present 
 ad\dse nothing ; for as to myself, it is only time and the circumstances 
 of the moment which can point out how I am to act. 
 
 *' There is nothing new here. We are all well; but the heat is 
 extraordinary. Always retain your friendship and love for me. Make 
 my compliments to your wife ; and believe me ever your best friend and 
 brother, " Francis." 
 
 From the above letter Napoleon, of course, perceived the emperor's 
 desire for peace, his wavering purposes, and incertitude as to the fate of 
 the Italian princes. 
 
 It appeared e^^dent, as the summer advanced towards its close, that 
 the emperor was pui'posely postponing a settlement with France. The 
 tone of the Austrian demands altered, and became more confident and 
 arrogant. Napoleon was at no loss about the true cause of these mani- 
 festations. He had already discovered the clue to a Royalist plot 
 against the Republic ; and had in his possession proofs of the treachery 
 of one of the most successful of the French generals. He observed the 
 acts and circumstances of the French government with a \igilant eye, 
 notrnthstandingr the distance to which he was removed, and had sent 
 Augereau and Lavalette to Paris in July for the express purpose of 
 procuring for him accurate reports of all that passed there. At the same 
 time, he held himself in readiness to march to Paris at the head of 
 twenty-five thousand men, should the occasidn render such a step neces- 
 sary. On the 14th of July, the anniversary of the taking of the Bas- 
 tille, he had prepared the army to expect an approaching crisis. " Let 
 us swear," he said, " by the manes of those heroes who have died for 
 hberty ; — let us swear, too, on om* standards ; — war to the enemies of 
 the Republic, and of the Constitution of the year Three!" On the 
 same day he celebrated the federation of the new democracy, which was 
 now, under his auspices, consolidated in Italy. The Transpadane and 
 Cispadane Republics were umted, and, together with the legations of 
 Bologna and Ferrara formed one state, with the name of the Cisalpine 
 Republic. He destined Mantua to be its bulwark. The keys of Milan 
 and the fortresses were delivered to the Cisalpine officers. From this
 
 116 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 moment, a striking change in Italian manners may be dated. Public- 
 spirit, and aspirations for Kberty, rose with the creation of this inde- 
 pendent state. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, Napoleon authorised the people of the ValteHne 
 to incorporate themselves with the Cisalpine Republic. Their beautiful 
 country naturally belongs to Italy, but had been subject for nearly three 
 centuries to the Grisons ; and the inhabitants, oppressed by their de- 
 pendence on foreign masters, whose language, customs, manners, and 
 religion, were unlike their own, made Napoleon their mediator. After 
 some hesitation about interference in this affair, because it concerned the 
 internal economy of Switzerland, he proposed to the Grisons to give the 
 ValteHne equal rights with themselves; but this was indignantly re- 
 jected. The differences were finally concluded as we have stated, to the 
 great joy of the ValteHne. Tliis was the severe conduct towards 
 Switzerland to which the intercepted letter of the emperor alluded.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 II 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 I'lCHEGRU BABCEUF EIGHTEENTH FRUCTIDOR — MOREAU — COUNT COBENTZEL — TREATY OF 
 
 CAMPO-FORMIO DEATH OF GENERAL HOCHE NAPOLEON AT MANTUA TAKES LEAVE 
 
 OF THE ARMY AT MILAN DEPARTURE ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTIONS ON HIS JOURNEY 
 
 RASTADT ARRIVES AT PARIS — GRAND FETES. 
 
 The French officer whose treason had 
 been discovered by Napoleon, was 
 his ancient tutor at Brienne, Ge- 
 neral Pichegru, the conqueror of 
 Holland. Proofs clear and unde- 
 niable had fallen into Napoleon's 
 hands, of a correspondence between 
 this general and the Boui'bon 
 princes, which had been carried on 
 since the year 1795. Great offers 
 of money and rank had been made 
 by the princes, in return for the 
 general's promised betrayal of his 
 army to them, and his march upon Paris to proclaim Louis XVI 11. 
 These proofs were discovered among the papers of Count de Launay 
 d' Entraigues, arrested at Venice as a well-known suspicious character.
 
 118 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Circumstances had prevented the execution of these schemes. The 
 vacillation and imbecility of the Prince of Conde had, fortvmately for 
 the Republic, prevented a movement at the dangerous moment ; but, on 
 one occasion, it was now certain that Pichegru had purposely deranged 
 and disappointed the plans of the campaign, and sacrificed a portion of 
 his troops to the enemy. He was superseded in his command ; and 
 Napoleon learned with surprise that Moreau, who now commanded the 
 army of the Rhine, had known these acts of treachery previously to his 
 own discovery of them, but had never communicated the facts to the 
 Directory. This he learned from General Desaix, then attached to the 
 anny of the Rhine, who visited him in July from an ardent desire to 
 become acquainted with the commander-in-cliief of the army of Italy, 
 with whom he now commenced that friendship which lasted till death. 
 When Napoleon told him of Pichegru's treachery, Desaix informed him 
 that Moreau had for months possessed the knowledge of it through the 
 captm'e of a waggon at KingHn, but had kept it strictly secret from a 
 dishke to betray his former friend. 
 
 The delay had enabled Pichegru to place himself in a position as 
 formidable in the political, as that which he had previously occupied 
 in the military world. He was now president of the Council of Five 
 Hundred. An undoubted Royalist, Barbe Marbois, was at the same 
 time president of the Council of Ancients ; and the elections in May, 
 1797, had altogether given a formidable proportion to the numbers of 
 the Royalist party in the legislative chambers. 
 
 The advantage obtained by that party did not rest here. Barthelemy, 
 newly elected one of the Directory, was a Royalist ; and Carnot, though 
 a Repubhcan at heart, yet, from some mistaken principle, or from 
 dissatisfaction with the measures of government, joined vdth him in 
 opposition to the three other Directors. The executive was therefore di- 
 vided, while the legislature was strongly Royalist. A party of Royalists, 
 called, from the name of the street in which their meetings were held, 
 " The CKchy Club," composed of violent partisans of the Bourbons, 
 watched over the times, and regulated the movement they soon expected. 
 It was evident that the Republic was again in danger, and once more 
 required the aid of force for its preservation. This was the crisis for 
 which Napoleon held himself ready. 
 
 That a government, established not two years before, professedly by 
 and for the people, should have so Kttle hold upon popular confidence 
 and affection, as to need this questionable support a second time, would 
 be unaccountable, if we did not see clearly that the people, the viiUions, 
 though greatly ameliorated in condition, though raised from a state of 
 vassalage and slavery to one in which hope and j)rogression were before 
 them, had yet no equably of good, no acknowledgment of their right to
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 119 
 
 share the gifts of bounteous nature with the hundreds. Still there was a 
 necessity for toil, — not only healthful, needful labour, but hard toil ; 
 still there was starvation by the side of luxury, penury contrasted with 
 opulence ; still God's earth was monopolised, and men had to labour to 
 produce the fruits they were forbidden to taste. While these tloino-s 
 last, a govermnent must never trust for its support to the enthusiasm of 
 the millions. They have hitherto been roused only when cheated into a 
 hope that the time is come for these things to end. A formidable 
 conspiracy headed by Baboeuf in the previous year, had been their last 
 effort. It was betrayed by one of its conductors, and punished with 
 deadly severity ; the sufferers dying like martyrs. During the struggle 
 now about to ensue between the Royalists and the established Repub- 
 Hcan government, the people remained entirely passive. 
 
 There was scarcely any class with whom the Directory were popular. 
 They were accused of petty and meddling enactments, ostentation, weak 
 and indecisive measures. The army, however, continued firm in its 
 allegiance. The Directory, in their anxiety, sent for General Hoche, 

 
 120 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 with a detachment of twelve thousand men, from the army of the 
 Sambre and Meuse. Hoche was a young officer of great abiHty and 
 enterprise, ardent for renown, and beloved by all his soldiers, who 
 followed him with devoted enthusiasm. He was looked upon as a man 
 of the highest promise, and worthy of all confidence. 
 
 Napoleon, who foresaw another opportunity of gaining influence in 
 the state by the management of rising events, was indisposed to allow 
 one of so much ability as Hoche the opportunity of wielding them. He 
 therefore availed himself of the application of the Directory for his 
 aid, and superseded Hoche by sending Augereau, whom he well knew 
 to be a brave and skilful soldier, a true Republican, but in other re- 
 spects a sufficiently stupid man. Meantime, he maintained a constant 
 correspondence wdth the Directors. 
 
 On the 17th of Fructidor, answering to the 3rd of September, the 
 Royalists in the councils, who had increased their guard to eight hun- 
 dred men, proposed measures which shewed they had brought their 
 plans to maturity. They went so far as to decree the arrest of the three 
 Directors, Barras, Rewbell, and La Reveillere, on the following day, if 
 the regular troops were not removed from the neighbourhood of Paris. 
 The Directors gave them no time to effect their purposes. During the 
 night, the troops under the command of Augereau were marched into 
 the city, and posted at every avenue of the Tuileries. Before morning 
 they had taken possession of the halls of the councils, and had arrested 
 at their houses Pichegru, and all the principals of the Royalist party, 
 with the exception of Carnot, who escaped. The remainder of the 
 members, on assembling in the morning, found the military in possession 
 of the Tuileries, and were told that the detection of a formidable con- 
 spiracy had obliged the government to alter their place of meeting ; they 
 were accordingly invited to repair to the Odeon, and the School of 
 Medicine. They complained loudly of military violence, but were 
 obhged to submit. The proofs of Pichegru's treason, and explanations 
 of the meaning of these extraordinary proceedings, were laid before 
 them immediately. Two new Directors were elected, the vacancies in 
 the legislative bodies supplied, and a law of public safety passed, which 
 condemned the persons arrested, to the number of two hundi'ed, to 
 banishment. The Directorial government was once more saved, and 
 the Royalists defeated. 
 
 When all was over, Moreau tardily produced those papers concerning 
 Pichegru's treachery, which he had so long possessed. His conduct, in 
 so long concealing them, exposed him to severe animadversions ; parti- 
 cularly as, in now disclosing them, he seemed to serve no good purpose, 
 and only to cast additional obloquy upon a man already overwhelmed 
 with disgrace.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 1^1 
 
 Bourrienne says, that Napoleon was intoxicated witli joy at the 
 overthrow of the Royalist plans on the 18th of Fructidor ; but adds, that 
 he would have favoured the Bourbons had they offered him power and 
 influence. This is one of those short-sighted, narrow-minded, and 
 superficial remarks so often found in Bourrienne. Napoleon associated 
 the return of the Bourbons with the degradation of France. He rightly 
 conceived of such an event as one that would throw back France into 
 the inferior condition, to emerge from which she had done such deeds, 
 and endured such sufferings. Now, the passion of Napoleon's hfe was 
 the glory of France : with the glory of France his owai personal ambition 
 was interwoven. His history, taking it only up to the point to which 
 we have brought it, clearly shews this truth. He always felt that France 
 and he were mutually to raise the glory of each other. In using the term 
 glory, we do not mean to panegyrise and exalt. The glory, and the 
 true and lasting ivelfare, of a country, are ahnost always opposed. One 
 nation considers its glory has been achieved in obtaining an immense 
 extent of territories ; but does all this earth make the people happy ? 
 Another nation reaps glory by its wars and successful battles by land 
 and by sea : does all this loss of blood make people happy ? Another 
 nation glories in its commerce and its wealth ; but does all this coin 
 and currency, even when combined with those vast territories and those 
 glorious wars, ensure a sufficiency of food and clothing for the people ; — 
 render them intelligent, and enable them to be happy ? 
 
 The effects of the events of the 18th of Fructidor were quickly visible 
 in the negociations in Italy. Count Cobentzel was sent from Austria 
 to Napoleon before the end of September, furnished with ample powers, 
 and bearing a letter from the emperor, in wliich he expressed to the 
 French general his desire to conclude a peace. Napoleon was at present 
 in Passeriano, and there the business at last progressed in earnest. 
 
 The Directory now heightened their tone. They wanted to revolu- 
 tionise all Italy. They insisted that neither Mantua nor Venice should 
 be given up to Austria, yet that France should retain Belgium and the 
 boundary of the Rhine. At one period, the negociations were nearly 
 broken off, and a declaration of war on the point of being the end of 
 them altogether ; at another. Napoleon had again tendered his resigna- 
 tion, finding himself thwarted and suiTOunded by spies of the govern- 
 ment ; but he was earnestly requested to continue in their service. The 
 month of October had arrived, and the appearance of an early winter 
 decided the business. On the LSth of October, the mountains were seen 
 covered with snow. A winter campaign was not to be risked. " It is 
 settled," he said to Bourrienne : " I will make peace. Venice shall be 
 exchanged for the boundary of the Rhine, and thus be made to pay for 
 the war : let the Directory and the lawyers say what they like."
 
 122 
 
 THE HISTORY Oi 
 
 The principal articles of the peace upon which he insisted, were as 
 follows : — The boundary of the Rhine, with Mentz, to be ceded to France ; 
 Mantua to be ceded to the Cisalpine Republic ; Austria to acknowledge 
 the Cisalpine Republic as an independent state ; part of the Venetian 
 territories and the Ionian Islands to belong to France ; Venice and the 
 rest of her territories to Austria. 
 
 The final conference between the contracting parties took place on 
 the 16th of October. Count Cobentzel went over all the old ground 
 again ; insisted on retaining Mantua and the line of the Adige ; and, 
 finally, threatened to bring down the Russians if the war was renewed, 
 all the blame of which he laid on the French general. 
 
 Napoleon upon this, rose from his seat with outward calmness but 
 restrained indignation, and taking from the mantel-piece a porcelain 
 vase which Count Cobentzel prized as a present from the Empress 
 Catherine, said, " Well, the truce is at an end, and war is declared ; 
 but remember, before the end of autumn I will shatter your monarchy 
 as I shatter this brittle affair ! " Saying this, he dashed it furiously 
 down, and the carpet was covered with the fragments. He then bowed, 
 and retired. M. de Cobentzel sat still as if petrified with the visible 
 semblance of a scattered dominion ; but M. de Gallo, his colleague, as 
 Napoleon related when he afterwards told the story, was much more 
 conciliating, and followed the French general to his carriage, trying to 
 persuade him to return ; " bowing and ducking his head," added Napo- 
 leon, " and in so pitiful an attitude, that, in spite of my anger, I could 
 not help laughing excessively at it as I drove away."
 
 f NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 1 23 
 
 Count Cobentzel, serioiasly alarmed, sent after him, granting all his 
 conditions. The treaty of peace was signed at Campo-Formio on the 
 following day. In taking the oath of allegiance to Austria, the ex-Doge 
 of Venice sank insensible on the ground, and died a few days afterwards. 
 
 The peace was unsatisfactory to the Directory. The partition of 
 Venice is branded as an infamous transaction by Scott. The Directory 
 had thwarted the designs of Napoleon so entirely, that when they after- 
 wards complained, it is no wonder he was irritated, and no wonder if 
 the idea of independent action entered his mind. The partition of 
 Venice, which desired, and had assmned, a free position, was in itself, 
 of course, iniquitous. But there seems to have been no alternative 
 between giving Venice to Austria, and beginning the war again in the 
 end of autumn. When Napoleon is blamed, his own words in the island 
 of the Tagliamento should be remembered : — " What a difference there 
 would have been in the preliminaries, — if, indeed, I had granted any." 
 To unite the whole of Italy, and make of it one great Republic (a plan 
 which continued throughout his life a darling scheme of Napoleon's), 
 had already entered his mind, and made him less earnest concerning 
 temporary measures. 
 
 The English government had sent over Lord Malmesbury to Lisle to 
 treat of peace, at the period of the negociations with Austria. There 
 seemed no longer any object of contention, and the terms were nearly 
 agreed upon ; when the Directory, intoxicated by their victory on the 
 18th of Fructidor, raised their demands, and the conferences were, in 
 consequence, broken off. It is very probable that the peace would not 
 have been suffered to be of long continuance ; but this time it was the 
 fault of France that war was continued. Having been wantonly attacked 
 by coalesced powers, and having beaten off their assailants, the rulers of 
 France became insolent in their triumph, and would not listen to the 
 proposal to desist, which their antagonists, heartily tired of the blows 
 they had brought upon themselves, began to make. We often see 
 such conduct on the part of school-boys. It is all very natural, and 
 would be quite proper, if rulers would fight their own battles, instead of 
 leaving all the blows to fall on their subjects. 
 
 The treaty required that Mentz should be given up at a congress 
 at Rastadt, since the German confederation must become parties with 
 the emperor in this important cession. Napoleon, therefore, made prepa- 
 rations to attend the congress. He returned first to Milan by way of 
 Mantua. At Mantua he was erecting a monument to the memory of 
 Virgil : and there also he celebrated a melancholy solemnity ; a military 
 funeral in honour of General Hoche, who had just died suddenly at 
 Mentz, in the flower of his age and reputation ; not without suspicions 
 of having been poisoned by the enemies of France.
 
 124 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 
 A person (and he must have been one of very fine insight) who saw 
 Napoleon for the first time on the foregoing occasion, described his 
 impressions of him in the following letter, which appeared in one of the 
 Paris journals, in December, 1797 : — " With lively interest and extreme 
 attention I have observed this extraordinary man, who has performed 
 such great deeds, and about whom there is something which seems to 
 indicate that his career is not yet closed. I found him very like his 
 portraits — little, thin, pale, with an air of fatigue, but not of ill health, 
 as has been reported of him. He appears to me to listen with more 
 abstraction than interest, and that he was more occupied with what he 
 was thinking of, than with what was said to him. There is great intel- 
 ligence in his countenance, along with which may be marked an air of 
 habitual meditation, which reveals nothing of what is passing within. 
 In that thinking head, in that bold mind, it is impossible not to believe 
 that some daring designs are engendering which will have their influence 
 on the destinies of Europe.'' 
 
 Napoleon took leave of the Italians in an energetic address, dated 
 from Milan. There also he took leave of the army. The following 
 order of the day w^as issued on the eve of his departure : — " Soldiers, I 
 set out to-morrow for Germany. Separated from the army, I shall sigh 
 for the moment of rejoining it, and braving fresh dangers. Wliatever 
 post government may assign to the soldiers of the army of Italy, they
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 hi.-y 
 
 will always be the worthy supporters of liberty, and of the glory of the 
 French name. Soldiers, when you talk of the princes you have con- 
 quered, of the nations you have set free, and the battles you have fought 
 in two campaigns, say, — ' In the next two we shall do still more ! ' " 
 
 Napoleon was greeted with enthusiasm during his journey to Rastadt. 
 On entering the Valteline, he was met by three parties of young girls, 
 dressed in the three colovu's of the national flag, who presented him with 
 a cro\\ni, on which was inscribed the sentence which had proclaimed the 
 liberty of their country, — " One nation cannot be subject to another." 
 At Geneva he was received with honours. He passed through several 
 Swiss towns, Berne among others, and his presence seemed to calm any 
 fears that might have been entertained. 
 
 
 He remained a very short time at the Congress of Rastadt, where 
 disputes and discussions arose from the dissatisfaction of the German 
 princes, who loudly complained of the surrender of Mentz. He left the 
 congress as soon as the French troops had been put in possession of that 
 fortress, and repaired to Paris, travelling through France incognito, and 
 alighted at his small house in the Chaussee d'Antin, Rue Chantereine. 
 The name of the Rue de la Victoire was given to the Rue Chan- 
 tereine. " It is needless to add," says a biographer, " that it no longer 
 bears that name ; but victory and defeat, and a thousand other recol- 
 lections, will remain for ever engraved upon it, in all the bright and 
 solemn obscurity of a dream." 
 
 The arrival of Napoleon created a great sensation in the capital. 
 The streets through which he was expected to pass were thronged with 
 people, and wherever he was seen the air was filled with shouts of 
 " Long live the general of the army of Italy ! " The Directory honoured
 
 126 THE HISTORY 01' 
 
 their general, " who had fiUed all Europe with the renown of his arms, 
 and given the first stunning blow to the coalition," with a public reception 
 in the great court of the Luxembourg Palace, which was splendidly- 
 decorated for the occasion. The members and officers of the government 
 were ranged in a large amphitheatre at the further end ; the windows 
 were crowded with ladies ; the court was thronged with people. Oppo- 
 site to the principal entrance stood the altar of the country, surrounded 
 by the statues of Liberty, Equality, and Peace ; the whole of the great 
 court being roofed and canopied with the standards taken in the Italian 
 wars. When, introduced by Talleyrand, the minister for foreign affairs, 
 Napoleon entered, the whole assemblage rose, and every head was un- 
 covered. The oration made by Talleyrand was heard with impatience, 
 so anxious was every one to hear the conqueror of Italy. He rose at 
 the conclusion of the speech, and presented the treaty of peace. His 
 air and manner were quiet and retiring ; he spoke, in few words, and 
 with a firm voice, as follows : — " Citizen Directors ! the French people 
 to gain their freedom had to contend with kings. To obtain a consti- 
 tution founded on reason, the prejudices of eighteen centuries were to be 
 overcome. The constitution of the year Three, vdth your aid, has 
 triumphed over all those obstacles. Religion, feudalism, and royalism, 
 have successively governed Europe for twenty ages ; but from the peace 
 which you have just concluded, dates the era of representative govern- 
 ments. You have effected the organisation of the great nation, the 
 teri'itory of which is only circumscribed because nature herself has fixed 
 its limits. You have done more. The two most lovely portions of 
 Europe, heretofore so celebrated for the sciences, the arts, and the great 
 men cradled in them, behold with glad expectation the Genius of Liberty 
 rising from the tombs of their ancestors. Such are the pedestals on 
 which destiny is about to place two powerful nations. 
 
 " I have the honour to lay before you the treaty signed at Campo- 
 Formio, and ratific jy his majesty the emperor. When the happiness 
 of the French people shau be established on the best organic laws, the 
 whole of Europe will then become free." 
 
 Barras followed with a long discourse of extravagant laudation, at 
 the conclusion of which he threw himself into the arms of the general, 
 who, as Bourrienne says, " was not much pleased with such affected 
 displays," but had to receive the same fraternal embrace from the rest 
 of the Directors. The jealousy with which he well knew he was re- 
 garded by them, and which he by this time felt was very well founded, 
 must have made the hollow show of amity excessively disgusting. 
 
 The two councils a few days afterwards gave a splendid banquet to 
 Napoleon in the gallery of the Louvre : the walls were covered with the 
 masterpieces of art which he had sent from Italy.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 127 
 
 111 the niiclst of this adulation, increased, doubtless, by his modest 
 demeanour and his youth, which added to the wonder he excited, 
 Napoleon lived in the most retired manner, and in the society only of 
 his intimate friends. He avoided the public eye as much as possible ; he 
 went frequently to the theatre, but always sat concealed from sight, and 
 though the audience called for him, which they were sure to do, if they 
 discovered he was in the house, he never came forward. He sent to the 
 manager of the opera on one occasion, requesting the representation of 
 two of the best pieces of the time, in which several popular performers 
 played, " on the same night, if possible." The courtly manager 
 promptly replied that, " nothing that the conqueror of Italy wished 
 for was impossible, as he had, long ago, erased that word from the dic- 
 tionary." This flattering ansv/er afforded Napoleon a hearty laugh. 
 He went to the performance, maintaining his usual privacy, but he 
 was discovered and loudly called upon to come forward.
 
 128 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The honour which he esteemed the most, was his nomination as a 
 member of the Institute. He frequently attended the meetings, sitting 
 beside liis friend Monge. He was also fond of appearing in the costume 
 worn by the members. 
 
 Of his appearance, general conduct, and the impression he conveyed, 
 Madame de Stael gives the following subtle, and, perhaps, very trvie 
 account : — " He was one for whom the admiration which could not be 
 refused to him, was always mingled with a portion of fear. He was 
 diiferent in his manner from other men, and neither pleased nor angry, 
 kind nor severe, after the common fashion of hmuanit3^ He appeared 
 to live for the execution of his own plans, and to consider others only in 
 so far as they were connected with, and could advance or oppose them. 
 He estimated his fellow-mortals no otherwise than as they could be 
 useful to liis views ; and, with a precision of intelligence which seemed 
 intuitive from its rapidity, he penetrated the sentiments of those whom 
 it w'as worth his while to study. Napoleon did not then possess the 
 tone of light conversation in society ; probably liis mind was too much 
 burthened, or too proud to stoop to adopt that mode of pleasing, and 
 there was a stiffness and reserve of manner, which was, perhaps, adopted 
 for the purpose of keeping people at a distance. His look had the same 
 character. When he thought himself closely observed, he had the power 
 of discharging from his countenance all expression save that of a vague 
 and indefinite smile, and presenting to the curious investigator the fixed 
 eyes and rigid features of a bust of marble. 
 
 " When he talked with the purpose of pleasing, Napoleon often told 
 anecdotes of his life in a very pleasing manner ; when silent, he had 
 something disdainful in the expression of his face ; when disposed to be 
 quite at ease, he was rather vulgar. His natural tone of feeling seemed 
 to be a sense of internal superiority, and of secret contempt for the 
 world in which he lived, the men with whom he acted, and even the 
 very object which he pursued." 
 
 -s.^^*--. 
 

 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 129 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PROJECTED EXPEDITIONS — POLITICS IN PARIS — MADAME DE STAEL — AFFAIRS OF ROME AND 
 SWITZERLAND NAPOLEON RELINQUISHES THE INVASION OF ENGLAND EGYPT EM- 
 BARKATION AT TOULON SURRENDER OF MALTA NELSON FRENCH ARMY LANDS AT 
 
 ALEXANDRIA THE DESERT. 
 
 Napoleon began to 
 long for action 
 again, and to feel 
 lais situation awk- 
 ward and preca- 
 rious. He failed 
 in an endeavour 
 to be nominated 
 one of the Di- 
 rectory. His age 
 was much below 
 the legal term 
 fixed; but he had 
 hoped to overcome 
 this difficulty. His 
 popularity did not 
 gratify him in the 
 
 smallest degree. In answer to a remark upon the pleasure he must feci 
 at liis fellow-citizens so eagerly crowding to see him, he replied, " The 
 people would crowd just as fast to see me if I were going to the scafibld ! " 
 It was under the influence of these circumstances that his thoughts 
 
 s
 
 130 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 again turned to the East, and that he began to persuade himself, and the 
 members of the government, that the true point at which to attack 
 England was in Egypt. He argued, that by the conquest of Egypt, 
 and its conversion into a French colony, the commerce of India would 
 be diverted from the circuitous route by the Cape of Good Hojoe ; and 
 that France, instead of England, would command the great market for 
 the su])plv of all Europe with the commodities of the east. " The Me- 
 diterranean," he said, " will then become a French lake." Beyond these 
 immediate advantages, vague and extensive plans, stretching onwards 
 to the formation of an empire eastward from Egypt, and the conquest 
 of India, floated before the imagination of Napoleon. What share he 
 might personally take in its government, he left to circumstance and fate. 
 The Directory, on the other hand, were restless, from the necessity 
 of finding employment for the high-soaring and dangerous spirits called 
 into actiAity by the constant wars into which the Republic had been 
 forced ; and among all these, they of course chiefly dreaded Napoleon. 
 Their first scheme was to make a descent upon England, and to place 
 him at the head of the invading army ; and their counsels fluctuated 
 between this project, and the Egj^tian expedition. Meanwhile they 
 gave him no adequate reward for his important ser\dces.* 
 
 We have repeatedly noticed the refusal on the part of Napoleon to 
 accept presents, in any form, from the sovereigns he conquered. His 
 exactions, however unjustifiable, were all for Finance, never for himself. 
 He had not when he returned to Paris on this occasion, three hundred 
 thousand francs in his possession, though he had transmitted fifty millions 
 to the state. " I might easily," he said to Las Casas, " have brought 
 back ten or twelve millions. I never made out any accounts, nor was I 
 ever asked for any." It was naturally supposed that some great pubHc 
 
 * Napoleon presented a fl;ig to the Directory, on which were inscribed in the simple 
 fonn of a catalogue, the deeds of the campaign of Italy. The flag was placed in the 
 liall of the public sittings of the Directory. The inscription ran as follows : — 
 
 " One hundred and fifty thousand prisoners; one hiuidrcd and seventy standards; 
 five hundred and fifty pieces of l)atteriiig cannon ; six hundred pieces of field artillery ; 
 five bridge equipages ; nine sixty-four-gun ships ; twelve thirty-two-gun frigates ; twelve 
 corvettes ; ciglitecn galleys ; armistice with the King of Sajxlinia ; convention with 
 Genoa ; armistice with the Duke of Parma ; armistice with the King of Naples ; armis- 
 tice with the Pope ; preliminaries of Leoben ; Convention of Montebello with the Republic 
 of Genoa ; treaty of peace with tlie Emperor at Campo-Formio. 
 
 " Liberty given to the people of Bologna, Ferrara, Modena, Massa-CaiTara, La 
 Romagna, Lombardy, Brescia, Bergami, Mantua, Crema, part of the Veronese, Cliiavena, 
 Bormio, the Valtelinc, the Genoese, tlie Imperial Fiefs, the people of the departments of 
 Corcyra, of the yEgean Sea, and of Ithaca. 
 
 " Sent to Paris all the master-pieces of Michael Angelo, of Guercino, of Titian, of 
 Paul Veronese, of Correggio, of Albano, of Carracci, of Raphael, and of Leonardo da 
 Vinci."
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 131 
 
 reward would be given to him ; and a proposal was actually made to give 
 him the magnificent domain of Chambord, but it was evaded by the 
 Directory. They were, in fact, filled with jealous fears of him, whicii 
 were increased by the public admiration continually manifested, and by 
 the reports they received of the common talk among the soldiers. The 
 troops as they came home praised him to the skies, and began to say it 
 was high time to pull down the lawyers, and make their general king. 
 The Directory told him of these sayings, as if to shew their confidence 
 in him ; but were not the less uncomfortable. 
 
 The society of Paris was distasteful to Napoleon, whose habits and 
 views were too reserved and intense to harmonise with its tone. His 
 well-known disagreement mth Madame de Stael originated about this 
 time. She has affirmed, " that far from feeling her fear of Bonaparte 
 removed by repeated meetings, it seemed to increase, and his best exertions 
 to please could not overcome her invincible aversion for what she found 
 in his character," — while he, in speaking of her, and in his subsequent 
 behaviour towards her, shewed sometliing approaching to personal dislike. 
 It is very probable, as Sir Walter Scott suggests, that he was rather 
 disposed to repel than encourage the advances of one whose views were 
 so slu'ewd, and observ^ation so keen, while her sex permitted her to push 
 enquiries further than a man would have dared to do. She, on one 
 occasion, put his ready wit to the proof by abruptly asking him, in the 
 middle of a brilliant party, at Talleyrand's, " Wliom he esteemed the 
 greatest woman in the world, alive or dead ? " " Her, madam, that has 
 borne the most children," answered Napoleon, -with much appearance 
 of simplicity. Rather disconcerted, Madame de Stael drily observed^ 
 that he was reported not to be a great admirer of women. " I am very 
 fond of my wife, madam," he answered, in that brief kind of manner with 
 which he adjourned a debate as promptly as one of his manoeuvres 
 decided a battle. From this time, there was an enmity between Napoleon 
 and Madame de Stael ; but it ceased, on her part, after his misfortunes, 
 and was replaced by generous and admiring sympathy. 
 
 Josephine was fond of society ; formed to shine in its giddy round, 
 and to become one of its favourites. Napoleon experienced at this pe- 
 riod feelings of indignant disgust, from the common opinion expressed 
 by " all the world" (as the little circle of fashion calls itself), that he 
 owed his wife a debt of gratitude for his influence with the Directory ; 
 but liis affection for her does not appear to have been touched by 
 these scandalous impertinences. He only warned her " never to talk poli- 
 tics." He once remarked to her, " What you say is looked upon as coming 
 from me. Be silent, that my enemies (and you are surrounded by them) 
 may not draw evil conclusions from your words. A woman can do her 
 husband no good by talking politics : she may do him much harm."
 
 W2 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The Directory, before coming to a decision as to further action, had 
 marched an army on Rome. General Duphot was killed in a popular 
 tumult in that city, in front of the palace of Joseph Bonaparte, the 
 French ambassador. This outrage, which called forth the indignation of 
 the Directory, gave them an opportunity of depriving the Pope of his 
 temporal power, and re-modelhng the Romish government according to 
 the standard of French repubhcanism. About the same period, they 
 interfered very unjustifiably in the affairs of Switzerland, where their 
 rage for reducing all governments to their own idea of perfection, pro- 
 duced resistance and bloodshed. The old democratic cantons were not 
 ready to submit to innovations ; and the spirit roused by these unwarrant- 
 able measures broke forth again, the moment the pressure of external 
 force was removed. Napoleon saw the impolicy of these proceedings, 
 and endeavoured in vain to prevent them. 
 
 New disgusts between him and the government contributed to render 
 his situation unpleasant. The celebration of the anniversary of the 
 death of Louis XVI. was at hand, and the Directors wished that he 
 should attend, lest his absence might render the fete unpopular. He 
 was too penetrating not to perceive that their invitations were only given 
 from motives of policy, and that they secretly feared liis presence would 
 divert all the enthusiasm of the people from themselves. He chose, 
 therefore, to object to sanctioning the solemnity by his presence at all ; 
 saying that " national fetes were held in celebration of victories, but 
 that the \ictims left on the field of battle were lamented, and that it 
 was impolitic to commemorate an event wliich, however necessary, was 
 in itself a tragedy, and a national calamity ; and, whether useful or 
 injurious, was still a melancholy event." The government combated liis 
 arguments, by reminding him of the conduct of the Athenians and 
 Romans on similar occasions. He agreed, at length, to be present, but 
 only privately, as a member of the Institute, with the rest of that body. 
 He was recognised, however, and loudly cheered by the people, who 
 forgot the business of the day in their enthusiasm for the general of the 
 army of Italy. 
 
 The nomination of Bemadotte, as ambassador to Vienna, was a fresh 
 cause of contention between the Directory and Napoleon. He knew 
 that the violence of Bernadotte's temper made liim unfit for tliis 
 business ; and the result proved the correctness of his judgment, a rup- 
 ture between Austria and France very nearly occurring in consequence 
 of his rashness. Two of Napoleon's brothers were now members of the 
 legislative bodies, and he again had an intention of trying to over- 
 come the difficulty of age, and becoming a candidate for the Director- 
 ship ; but he never saw sufficient prospect of success to propose himself 
 openly.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 133 
 
 At length he resolved to bring the question of the invasion of 
 England to a decision, by a personal survey of the coast, and a calcu- 
 lation of the chances of success with which the attempt might be made. 
 He took with him Lannes, Sulkowsky, and Bourrienne, and visited the 
 different ports on the northern coast, collecting all the necessary informa- 
 tion with his accustomed tact, and closely questioning the sailors, smug- 
 glers, and fishermen, to whose answers he attentively hstened. He was 
 absent only one week, but the time had been sufficient to enable him to 
 form a decided opinion. To Bourrienne's question, on their return, he 
 repKed, " It is too great a chance : I will not hazard it. I would not 
 thus sport with the fate of dear France." " On hearing this," says 
 Bourrienne, " I already fancied myself at Cairo." 
 
 Napoleon returned to Paris entirely occupied with the idea of Egypt. 
 He compared Europe to a " mole-hill," — adding, " there have never been 
 great empires or revolutions, except in the East." Egypt was now the 
 inexhaustible subject of his conversation with his friends, amongst 
 whom Monge was his daily visitor, and encouraged his enthusiasm. The 
 rich stores of art, and objects of interest for naturalists and men of 
 science, in that ancient country, were as tempting in prospect to Monge 
 as the conquest of an empire in the East was to Napoleon. The 
 Directory (rejoicing at the prospect of getting rid of him), acceded to 
 all the plans laid down for them by Napoleon, and gave up to him the 
 direction of all the preparations for the projected expedition, which was 
 definitively settled. He selected and equipped the army, raised money, 
 collected sliips : he was employed night and day in the organisation of 
 the armament. The Directory converted his wishes into decrees, as the 
 law required. If he wanted an order signed, he frequently ran to the 
 Luxembourg with it liimself. At the same time, a body of men, dis- 
 tinguished in art, science, and literature, to the number of one hundred, 
 were selected, under the direction of Monge, to accompany the expedition. 
 
 " Shortly before our departure," says Bourrienne, " I asked Bona- 
 parte how long he intended to remain in Egypt. He replied, * A few 
 months or six years : all depends on circumstances. I will colonise the 
 country: I will bring them artists and artisans of every description, 
 women, actors, &c. We are but nine-and-twenty now ; and we shall 
 then be five-and-thirty : that is no old age. Those six years will enable 
 me, if all goes well, to get to India. Give out that you are going to 
 Brest ; say so even to your family.' I obeyed, to prove my discretion 
 and real attachment to him." 
 
 The embarkation was to take place partly at Civita Vecchia, but 
 the main body was assembled at Toulon. When aU was in readiness. 
 Napoleon himself joined them : he harangued the troops in sight of the 
 ships which were to convey them from the shores of France. He tokl
 
 13* 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 
 ""■ ''^v/tf^re^ 
 
 them that he was about to lead them into a country where they would 
 find new fields of glory, new dangers, and new triumphs ; promising 
 that every soldier should be rewarded with seven acres of ground. He 
 was answered by loud cheers, and cries of " Long live the Republic ! " 
 
 Up to this point, the objects and destination of the armament were 
 kept profoundly secret, and every attempt was made to maintain the 
 popular belief that England was the point to be attacked. The English 
 government vigilantly observed the preparations that were going on, and 
 kept a fleet in the Mediterranean under the command of Nelson. It was 
 liighly important that the French squadron should sail without delay, in 
 order to avoid the risk of being discovered by the English cruisers ; but 
 contrary winds detained it for ten days. This interval was employed by 
 Napoleon in attention to the minutest details connected with the finely 
 appointed forces under his command.* The army consisted of twenty- 
 
 * IIow minute this attention was, will be seen by the following list of books, which he 
 gave in his own handwriting to Bourrienne, and ordered him to purchase, for the pur- 
 pose of forming a camp li])rary of duodecimos : — First, Arts and Science ; secondly, Geo- 
 gra])hy and Travels ; thirdly, History ; fourthly, Poetry ; fifthly, Romance ; sixthly, 
 Politics and Morals. 
 
 Arts and Science. — Fontenellc's Worlds, 1 vol.; Letters to a German Princess,
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 135 
 
 five thousand men, chiefly veteran soldiers selected from the army of 
 Italy, and commanded by several of the first generals of France. Kleber, 
 Desaix, Berthier, Regnier, Murat, Lannes, Andreossi, Junot, Menou, 
 Belliard, all served in this campaign. Four hundred transports were 
 ready to convey the troops. Thirteen ships of the hue, and four frigates, 
 under Admiral Brueyes, formed the naval force of the expedition. 
 
 At length the wind became favom-able, and the EngHsh squadron 
 had been driven ofi" the coast by stress of weather. The troops were 
 instantly ordered on board, and all things made ready for departure. 
 Josephine had accompanied Napoleon to Toulon, and remained with 
 him till the last moment, when he embarked on board the admiral's 
 ship, L' Orient. Early on the morning of the 19th of May, 1798, the 
 armament set sail, the ships and convoys forming a semicircle of six 
 leagues in extent ; and as it began to move, the sun rose in splendour 
 over the sea : it was such a sunrise as those which were afterwards called 
 the " suns of Napoleon." 
 
 On leading Toulon, Josepliine went to the waters of Plombieres. 
 We find, in the " Memoirs of Constant," that, " She had been there 
 but a short time when, one morning, as she was sitting in her drawing- 
 room, engaged at needlework, and. conversing wdth some ladies, Madame 
 de Cambis, who was in the balcony, called her to look at a beautiful 
 little dog that was passing through the street. All the French ladies 
 who were in the room immediately rose, and, following Madame Bona- 
 parte, rushed to the balcony, which instantly gave way with a tremendous 
 
 2 vols. ; Com-ses of the Normal School, 6 vols. ; The Artillery Assistant, 1 vol. ; Treatise 
 on Fortification, 3 vols. ; Treatise on Fire Works, 1 vol. 
 
 Geography and Travels. — Barclay's Geography, 12 vols.; Cook's Voyages, 3 vols. ; 
 La Harpe's Travels, 24 vols. 
 
 History. — Plutarch, 12 vols.; Turenne, 2 vols.; Conde, 4 vols.; Villars, 4 vols.; 
 Luxembourg, 2 vols. ; Duguesclin, 2 vols. ; Saxe, 3 vols. ; Memoirs of the Marshals of 
 France, 20 vols. ; President Hainaidt, 4 vols. ; Chronology, 2 vols. ; Marlborough, 4 vols. ; 
 Prince Eugene, 6 vols.; Philosophical History of India, 12 vols.; Germany, 2 vols.; 
 Charles XIL, 1 vol.; Essay on the Manners of Nations, 6 vols.; Peter the Great, 1 vol.; 
 Polybius, 6 vols. ; Justin, 2 vols. ; An-ian, 3 vols. ; Tacitus, 2 vols. ; Titus Livius ; Thu- 
 cidides, 2 vols. ; Vertot, 4 vols. ; Donina, 8 vols. ; Fredeiick IL, 8 vols. 
 
 Poetry. — Ossian, 1 vol. ; Tasso, 6 vols. ; Ariosto, 6 vols. ; Homer, 6 vols. ; Virgil, 
 4 vols. ; The Henriade, 1 vol. ; Telemachus, 2 vols. ; Les Jardins, 1 vol. ; The Chefs- 
 d'CEuvres of the French Theatre, 20 vols. ; Select Poetry, 20 vols. ; La Fontaine's Poems. 
 
 Romance. — Voltaire, 4 vols. ; Heloise, 4 vols. ; Werter, 1 vol. ; Marmontel, 4 vols. ; 
 English Novels, 40 vols.; Le Sage, 10 vols.; Prevost, 10 vols. 
 
 Politics.— The Bible ; The New Testament; The Koran ; The Vedan ; Mythology; 
 Montesquieu, L' Esprit des Lois. 
 
 It \n\l be seen by the last item that Napoleon classed the books which contain the 
 principles and histories of different forms of religion under the head of " Politics ; " a 
 word he always understood in the most comprehensive sense.
 
 136 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 crash, and the whole party fell into the street. It fortunately happened 
 that nohody was killed ; but Madame Bonaparte was dreadfully hurt, 
 though she escaped without broken bones. M. Charvet, who was in an 
 adjoining room, being alarmed by the noise, ran out ; and on learning 
 what had happened, he ordered a sheep to be instantaneously killed, and 
 the skin of the animal being immediately taken off, Madame Bonaparte 
 was wrapped in it. She suffered from the effects of this accident for 
 a considerable time." 
 
 On the 8th of June, the convoys from Italy joined the squadron out 
 at sea ; on the 10th, the whole fleet was assembled before Malta. The 
 first object of Napoleon was to take possession of that island. He had 
 already secured a secret party among the knights ; and a very slight de- 
 monstration of hostilities spread consternation in La Valette, and brought 
 the whole " order " to terms. They were no longer the warrior priests. 
 
 the defenders of Christendom ; but a set of idle voluptuaries, chiefly 
 known by the balls and fetes which they gave in the sea-ports of Italy 
 with the revenues intended for the destruction of the Turks. They 
 opened their gates to the French without delay. The grand-master 
 received six hundred thousand francs from Napoleon, and retired to 
 Germany : nearly all the knights entered the ranks of the French army. 
 As the French troops passed through the almost impregnable fortifica- 
 tions, Caffarelli drily remarked to Napoleon that it was fortunate there 
 was some one within such walls to open the gates for them ; had there 
 been no garrison at all, it would have been terrible hard work.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 137 
 
 Leaving a sufficient garrison in Malta, the French squadron was 
 again under sail on the 16th. Bourrienne remarks of Napoleon, that no 
 man ever understood the value of time better than he ; and it might be 
 said of him, that his " leisure was labour." " Of this I often had 
 proof," he adds, " during our voyage. If the activity of his mind did 
 not find sufficient employment in definite objects, he supplied the want 
 either by giving free scope to his imagination, or in listening to the con- 
 versation of the learned men attached to the expedition ; for Bonaparte 
 knew how to listen ; and he was, perhaps, the only man who never for a 
 single moment yielded to lassitude." 
 
 Monge and Berthollet were his favourite companions. He liked also 
 to converse with General Caffarelli, who possessed a fund of wit and 
 information. Monge, whose ardent imagination predisposed him to 
 religious impressions, found more sympathy from Napoleon than Ber- 
 thollet, with his rigid analysis and materialism. 
 
 A great part of his time was passed in his cabin, lying on a swing- 
 bed, to avoid sea-sickness ; and at these periods Bourrienne read to him. 
 *' One of his greatest pleasures" (we quote again from Bourrienne) " was, 
 after dinner, to fix upon three or foui' persons to support a proposition, 
 
 
 and as many to oppose it. He had an object in view by this. Tliese 
 discussions afforded him an opportunity of studying the minds of those 
 whom he had an interest in knowing well, so that he might afterwards 
 confide to each the functions for which he possessed the greatest apti- 
 tude. It will not appear singular to those who have been intimate with 
 Bonaparte, that in such intellectual contests he gave the preference to 
 
 T
 
 138 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 those who had supported an absurd proposition with ability, over those 
 who had maintained the obvious course of reason ; and it was not supe- 
 riority of mind which determined his judgment, for he really preferred 
 the man who argued well in favour of an absurdity, to the man who 
 argued equally well in support of a reasonable proposition. He always 
 gave out the subjects which were to be discussed, and they most fre- 
 quently turned upon questions of religion, the different kinds of govern- 
 ment, and the art of war. One day he asked, whether the planets were 
 inhabited ; on another, what was the age of the world ; then he proposed 
 to consider the probability of the destruction of our globe, either by water 
 or fire ; at another time, the truth or fallacy of presentiments, and the 
 interpretation of dreams. I remember the circumstance which gave rise 
 to the last proposition was an allusion to Joseph (of the Bible), of whom 
 he happened to speak, as he did of almost everything connected with 
 the country to which we were bound, and which that able minister had 
 governed." 
 
 The great object of excitement and solicitude was to elude the 
 English fleet. The French vessels were encumbered with civil and 
 military baggage, provisions, stores, &c., and densely crowded with 
 troops. What might have been the issue of an encounter with Nelson, 
 while the French army and their general were on board, it is impossible 
 to determine. It is certain that the meeting was dreaded by Napoleon, 
 not only as one full of danger, but as tending to the frustration of his 
 plans ; and that Admiral Brueyes contemplated the possibility of it, 
 with feelings of fear which seem, on looking at the subsequent events, 
 like forebodings. " God grant," he would say, with a sigh, " that we 
 may pass the English without meeting them." Of course, the ships 
 were not in fighting trim with all that lumber on board, to which the 
 admiral, no doubt, accounted so many troops a considerable addition. 
 The matter was frequently discussed between him and Napoleon, who 
 carefully enquired into all the manoeuvres of the ships, and all the plans 
 to be pursued in case of being forced into an action. The best place for 
 stowing the hammocks (as beds to catch bullets) was one of his enquiries ; 
 but as to all the vast mass of baggage and stores which he had provided 
 with such elaborate care, he decided that the whole of it should be 
 thrown overboard if the English squadron hove in sight. There can be 
 no doubt that he would have made the sacrifice, great as it was, without 
 a moment's hesitation; and then, as the French admiral was entirely 
 under Napoleon's command, the sea fight would, in fact, have been 
 between Nelson and Napoleon. This suggests an interesting specu- 
 lation. The English could never have boarded the French vessels 
 with twenty-five thousand finely-appointed troops to oppose them ; the 
 conflict must have been decided entirely by tactics. We have previously
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 139 
 
 remarked, however, that Napoleon was most anxious for many reasons 
 to avoid the encounter ; and this he contrived to effect in a very skilful 
 manner. 
 
 Nelson was now in full pursuit- When he returned to Toulon, and 
 found the French fleet was gone, he followed to the southward. At 
 Naples he heard of their landing in Malta, and their destination for 
 Egypt. He arrived at Malta just after they had left the island, and 
 missed overtaking them by the accident of their having run upon the 
 coast of Candia to take in water and fresh provisions. 
 
 During a hazy night, on which they lay off Candia, the French were 
 alarmed by the report of guns on their starboard, and it afterwards 
 proved that those were signals between the ships of Nelson's fleet ; so 
 close were the tw'o hostile squadrons to each other without being aware 
 of it. Napoleon received positive information of this proximity on the 
 morning, and, in consequence, ordered Brueyes to steer — not for Alex- 
 andria, but for Cape Aza, twenty-five leagues distant from that city. 
 This precaution foiled Nelson, who crowded sail for Alexandria ; but 
 not finding the enemy there, our lion of the seas went "roaring forth" 
 again in quest of him towards Rhodes and Syracuse. 
 
 A continuance of thick misty- weather at once prevented the French 
 fleet from being seen by Nelson, and obliged their convoys to keep very 
 close together ; which diminished the chance of their discovery, especially 
 as the English admiral had no frigates. Denon says that Nelson's fleet 
 was actually seen by the French on the 26th, standing to the westward, 
 although the haze concealed the latter from the English. Napoleon did 
 not fail to maintain the most active enquiries as to the motions of his 
 able antagonist; and the numerous light vessels in his fleet gave him 
 abundance of opportunity. 
 
 During the voyage several men, on different occasions, accidentally 
 fell overboard. It has already been shewn how little the value of 
 human life was estimated by Napoleon when the success of his designs 
 required the sacrifice ; and he w^as now proceeding on an expedition in 
 which thousands of lives were certain to be lost: yet in the mere 
 prospect of losing a single man by these accidents, he manifested the 
 greatest excitement, never relaxing in the most vigorous personal exer- 
 tions. No trouble was too great ; and he always rewarded those who 
 had run any risks in assisting. One dark night the alarm was given 
 that a man had fallen overboard. Napoleon instantly ordered the ship 
 to be laid to — all hands called up — the boats to be lowered. AVhen they 
 picked up the "unfortunate object," it turned out to be a quarter of a 
 bullock, whose loud splashing fall had occasioned the mistake. Napoleon 
 rewarded the same as usual all who had been foremost : he said, "It 
 might have been a sailor."
 
 110 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 
 
 At length, on the morning of the 1st of July, the tops of the mina- 
 rets of Alexandria announced to Napoleon that his point was gained ; 
 when, at the very moment that the danger seemed over, a signal was 
 made that a strange sail was in sight. Apprehension instantly converted 
 it into an English frigate, the precursor of Nelson's dreadful fleet. 
 " Fortune ! " cried Napoleon, " wilt thou abandon me ? I ask but six 
 hours." It was only a French frigate, which rejoined them. The en- 
 counter between the conquerors by land and by sea was not destined to 
 take place. 
 
 Napoleon ordered the immediate disembarkation of the troops, not- 
 withstanding the request of Brueyes for a little delay, as the wind blew 
 almost a hurricane — he did not know the coast — the sea was rollins- 
 high, and night coming on. Napoleon was so well aware that Nel- 
 son's promptitude and daring resembled his own, and had such an 
 apprehension of his coming down upon them while in the disordered 
 state of their preparations to land, that he would not wait an instant. 
 A few soldiers missed their footing or were pushed overboard in the 
 crowd, and drowned. At one o'clock in the morning of the 2nd of July, 
 Napoleon himself landed on the soil of Egypt, at Marabout, three
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 141 
 
 leagues westward of Alexandria, and by three in the morning, he com- 
 menced his march upon Alexandria with three divisions of his army. 
 
 To understand the operations of the campaign in Egypt, it is requisite 
 that we should first be aware of the condition of the country at the 
 period. The admirable "Notes on Egypt," made by Napoleon, and 
 given at length by Bourrienne, contain a wonderful variety and extent 
 of information on this point. He had made himself acquainted with the 
 nature of the soil and productions, the coast and harbours, the customs of 
 the people, their government, their religion and laws, the amount of the 
 population, and of the revenue. He was impressed with the vast ceipabi- 
 lities of the country, and their wretched misapplication and destruction. 
 Every detail is accompanied by his own projects of improvement, all 
 evincing the soundest and most enlightened views. He describes Egypt, 
 which, properly speaking, is only the valley of the Nile, as inconceivably 
 fel^tile and luxuriant. Cultivation only extends so far as the annual inun- 
 dation of the Nile, conducted by canals, can reach, depositing there the 
 rich sKme brought down from the Abyssinian mountains. The greatest 
 width of the valley of the Nile, from its entrance into Egypt to Cairo, 
 is four leagues ; the smallest, about one league. Northward of Cairo, 
 the river di\ides into two branches, forming the Delta. All beyond is 
 sandy desert, relieved only by a few bushes on which camels can subsist, 
 but uninhabitable by man, except where at intervals appear small spots 
 of verdure, (caused by the presence of springs of water,) bearing tall palm 
 trees, and affording delicious shade and rest to the parched and weary 
 traveller. The desert closely resembles the sea, while the rich valley of 
 the Nile is like the boundary of coast. Wandering Arabs from Asia or 
 other parts of Africa traverse the desert, and occasionally, mounted on 
 their fleet and beautiful horses, make incursions into the cultivated 
 country. Villages of domiciliated Arabs were stationed along the 
 frontiers, who were well armed, and held their lands on the tenure of 
 protecting the country from the ravages of the wandering tribes ; but it 
 would often happen that they made common cause with the spoilers. 
 
 When the French invasion took place, Egypt was nominally a pro- 
 vince of the Porte, and governed by a Turkish pacha ; but he was utterly 
 powerless, and the Turkish army consisted of only about a thousand old 
 and infirm men, without leaders, who soon joined the ranks of the French 
 army. The real rulers of Egypt were the twenty-four beys, or chiefs 
 of the body of military slaves, called Mamelukes, once the servants of the 
 Porte, but now masters of its province. Every one of these beys main- 
 tained a separate military establishment. These men were all, as their 
 beys once had been, Georgian or Circassian slaves, bought in childhood, 
 and trained from the earliest age to war. There were about eight thou- 
 sand in all, splendidly mounted, exercised, and armed, and of sui-passing
 
 142 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 courage. The villages of Egypt were all fiefs belonging to the beys, 
 who were frequently at war amongst themselves, and oppressed the in- 
 habitants by every species of tyranny and extortion. The people had, 
 besides, to pay a small tribute to the Porte. The population was two 
 million five hundred thousand ; the bulk of which was composed, as now, 
 of the descendants of the Arab conquerors of Egypt, the followers of 
 Mahommed ; with the addition of the Copts, the descendants of the 
 ancient Egyptians, mostly Christians ; Jews, Turks, and Christians from 
 other countries. The mass of the population was sunk in the extreme 
 of ignorance and poverty. " I ascertained," says Napoleon, " from a 
 calculation made in Eg}^t with the greatest care, that this country, 
 wliicli at present has only about one thousand leagues square of culti- 
 vated land, had formerly more than two thousand. The population, 
 wliich now is not much above two millions, in ancient times exceeded 
 eight millions. The sand has advanced upon the fertile soil. The 
 action of the sand may not inaptly be compared to a cancer : it eats up 
 all before it. The neglect of the irrigating canals has augmented the 
 evil. As to the population, it must have fallen off with the diminution 
 of cultivation ; but the extreme wretchedness which prevails is a still 
 more powerful cause of depopulation. The government has more in- 
 fluence upon public prosperity than in any other country ; for anarchy 
 and tyranny have elsewhere no influence upon the course of the seasons 
 and the rain. All land in Egypt might be equally fertile ; but a dyke 
 uncut, a canal not cleared, may render a whole province a desert, for 
 seed-time and all the productions of the earth are governed in Egypt by 
 the period and the quantity of the inundations." 
 
 Napoleon's first efforts towards improvement would accordingly have 
 been to extend to the utmost degree possible the boundary of the over- 
 flow of the Nile. He would have obstructed the outlets of the river 
 towards the sea; cleared the old canals, and cut new ones. By these 
 means he contemplated increasing the extent of Eg3'pt by eight or nine 
 hundred square leagues. His continual meditations on these subjects 
 were not unnoticed by his officers. " At each step of his advance," says 
 Savary, in his Memoirs, " General Bonaparte quickly foresaw everything 
 that was to be done to render available the resources of the most fertile 
 comitry in the world, and give them a suitable application." Egypt has, 
 since that period, entirely changed masters. The Porte has now as 
 little power over the country as it had then ; but the despotism of its 
 pacha, Mohammed Ali, who has nearly attained the rank of an inde- 
 pendent prince, has succeeded to the tyranny of the warlike Mamelukes. 
 He has introduced the European system of warfare, encourages some 
 branches of knowledge, and is gradually making innovations upon 
 ancient superstitions and habits; but the condition of the people, their
 
 GENERAL DKS.VIX,
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 14,j 
 
 barbarous customs, their ignorance, poverty, and wretchedness, are very 
 little ameliorated.* 
 
 With these preliminary hints, v^^e proceed to the campaign. The 
 Turks attempted an ill-conducted resistance from the ruinous walls of 
 Alexandria, and the French army lost nearly two hundred men in 
 making the assault ; after which they discovered, to their astonishment, 
 that the great gate leading to Damanhour was open and unguarded, and 
 they quickly made their entrance. General Kleber was wounded on 
 this occasion. The city yielded instantly. It is asserted by Sir Walter 
 Scott, that it was abandoned to pillage for three hours ; and this assertion 
 is repeated by Mr. Lockhart, as on the authority of " almost all" writers 
 of the period, merely admitting that Bourrienne and Berthier rebut the 
 aspersion. It is not only positively denied by Berthier, and by Bourri- 
 enne (an author whose self-conceit and envy make him never slow to point 
 out the faults of Napoleon), but it is not even hinted at by Savary, Las 
 Casas, and other original authorities ; and is besides incredible, because 
 directly in opposition to the concihating policy pursued by Napoleon on 
 every occasion in Egypt. Such a proceeding would indeed have ren- 
 dered his address to the soldiers on landing a hideous absurdity. After 
 proclaiming that they were to make war only on the Mamelukes, and 
 to respect the people, their customs, and religion, he ended with these 
 words : — " The people, amongst whom we are to mix, differ from us in 
 the treatment of women; but, in all countries, he who violates is a 
 monster. Pillage enriches only a small number of men; it dishonours 
 us ; it destroys our resources ; it converts into enemies the people whom 
 it is our interest to have for friends." As an additional refutation of 
 this calumny, it may be mentioned that the army left Alexandria the 
 same night : they had marched the whole of the previous night ; and 
 repose, not ferocious appetite and pillage, must in all probability have 
 occupied the intervening hours. Napoleon himself remained behind 
 some days in Alexandria, employed in establishing order in the city and 
 province, and in directing the arrangements for the immediate advance 
 of the army towards Cairo. General Desaix was sent forward with fom- 
 thousand five hundred men to Beda. All the vessels of the convoy were 
 brought into port, and the stores and baggage landed. A flotilla of Hght 
 vessels was organised, and the ammunition and provisions necessary for 
 the troops were put on board. They sailed for the mouth of the Nile, 
 with orders that they should ascend the river, keeping abreast of the 
 army. The squadron (viz., the men-of-war) was directed to come into 
 harbour instantly, or, should there be any difficulty, to proceed to Corfu. 
 Admiral Brueyes, unfortunately for the expedition, delayed obeying this 
 
 * See "An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians," by Edward 
 Lane. 2 vols. 1836.
 
 144 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 order, and came to anchor at the pohit of Aboukir, conceiving that in 
 that situation lie shouhl be able to assist the army in case of a disaster. 
 The commission of learned men remained at Alexandria until Napo- 
 leon should reach Cairo, with the exception of Monge and Berthollet, 
 who accompanied him. The command of Alexandria was intrusted to 
 Kleber. 
 
 On the 7th of July, Napoleon set forward with the rest of the army, 
 and entered upon the painful march across the desert, towards Daman- 
 hour. The sufferings endured in this march were excessive. The 
 
 Ti^, 
 
 burning rays of a vertical sun, undimmed by a single cloud ; the absence 
 of any shade or shelter in the sandy waste ; the myriads of tormenting 
 insects; the scarcity of water, only to be found in the wells which 
 occurred at distant intervals, and these were often brackish, dirty, or 
 purposely choked with sand by the Arabs ; the piercing cold of the nights ; 
 and the frequent harassing attacks of the wandering tribes of the desert ; 
 altogether produced an accumulation of ills which called for a fortitude 
 far beyond that possessed by the army so lately accustomed to the beau- 
 tifvil climate and other luxuries of Italy. The illusion called the mirage, 
 which presents to the eye the appearance of a vast sheet of water, and
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 145 
 
 when approaclied, vanishes, leaving nothing real but the eternal scorching 
 sand, seemed to mock the torments of the soldiers, and rcnider their 
 condition still harder to endure. They were half delirious with disgust 
 and despair. On this, their first march, they frequently and openly 
 murmured in a mutinous strain : some of the generals, even, lost ail 
 command of themselves. Lannes and Murat were seen, in a fit of 
 broiling rage, to dash their laced hats on the sands, and trample upon 
 them in the presence of the soldiers. Napoleon, on one occasion, losing 
 temper in his turn, threw himself into the midst of a group of discon- 
 tented general officers, and singling out the most prominent among 
 them, exclaimed, with vehemence, " You have used mutinous language ! 
 Take care that I do not fulfil my duty. It is not your being six feet 
 high that should save you from being shot in a couple of hours!" 
 Nothing but the extraordinary influence he possessed over the army 
 could have held it together. His iron constitution, and also, no doubt, 
 his energy of purpose, enabled him to go through hardships, apparently 
 without being conscious of them, under which others were sinking. He 
 encountered every danger and evil with the men, by day and by night, wore 
 his uniform beneath the beating rays of this terrible sun, just the same 
 as when in Paris, and finally succeeded in effecting a rapid march across 
 the desert. The soldiers, with their native lightness of heart, now began 
 to vent their spleen in sarcastic jokes. Looking round at the boundless 
 ocean of sand, they remarked to one another upon the moderation of 
 their general, in promising them only "seven acres." "The rogue," 
 said they, " might, with safety, have promised us as much as we pleased ; 
 we should not abuse his good nature ! " They, however, bore a grudge 
 against Cafftu'elli, who they thought had advised the expedition, and 
 used to say, as he hobbled past with his wooden leg, " He does not care 
 what happens ; he is sure to have one foot in France ! " The Savans, as 
 the French called the learned commission who accompanied the expe- 
 dition, came in for their share of jibes, and the men used to call the 
 asses (which are very numerous in Egypt, and of which the Savans all 
 possessed one or two) the " demi-savans.'" Savary tells a tragical adven- 
 ture, which occurred during this m.arcli. As the soldiers were emj^loyed 
 in clearing the sand from a well, which had deluded their hopes, they 
 were attracted by moans proceeding from an adjacent spot, and found a 
 woman lying there, who was on the point of dying from thirst. Her 
 eyes had been recently put out, and an infant was trying in vain to get 
 its accustomed nourishment from her breast. They gave her wine, and 
 she revived. They could not understand her language, but she felt their 
 helmets and dress, and made signs of extreme gratitude. An interi)reter 
 coming up with another division, learned that her husband had reduced her 
 to this wretched state of blindness, and then left her to a liorriblc death.
 
 H-e THE HISTORY OF 
 
 owing to a fit of jealousy. She expressed her belief that her benefactors 
 were angels sent to relieve her, and implored them either to take her with 
 them or kill her instantly. They could not grant her entreaty, but 
 attached to her dress a paper, desiring the French soldiers who were 
 following to take care of her. The next regiment which came to the 
 spot found her stabbed to the heart. They could only suppose the deed 
 had been done by the husband, who, having been concealed near at 
 hand, became infuriated by observing the aid she received. 
 
 On the 10th of July, the army reached the Nile at Rahmanie. "We 
 no sooner saw the river," says Savary, " than soldiers, officers, and all 
 rushed into it ; each, regardless whether it was sufficiently shallow to 
 affiard security from danger, only sought to quench his burning thirst, 
 and stooped to drink from the stream, the whole army presenting the 
 appearance of a flock of sheep." This truly graphic account affords 
 an amusing antithesis to the flock of sheep which conveyed to the 
 imagination of Don Quixote the appearance of an army. Not a single 
 soldier had stopped to throw off" his knapsack, or even lay down his 
 musket. The whole mass of men had hurried on, insensible to all 
 around them, in the one absorbing desire for water; but now, having 
 time to look about them, they found themselves in the midst of fields 
 full of melons, and all kinds of fruit — delicious shade and verdure — and 
 saw the flotilla, which had left Alexandria, at anchor in the flowing river. 
 
 There was now abundance of food within every one's reach. The 
 men complained, notwithstanding. Neither wine nor bread were to 
 be had ; severe privations to French soldiers.* " We encamped," says 
 Napoleon, " on immense quantities of wheat, but there was neither mill 
 nor oven in the country." The men bruised the grain between stones, 
 and baked it in the ashes, or parched and boiled it : still it was not 
 bread. The utmost order was observed, and no pillage whatever was 
 permitted. There was no difficulty in making bargains. The harvest 
 of every village was piled up in one heap for general use outside the 
 village ; corn-lofts and granaries were unknown ; and the men found out 
 that the simple and ignorant people were more pleased ^o receive their 
 buttons in exchange than money. 
 
 When the army reached Damanhour, the head-quarters of Napoleon 
 were established at the house of a sheik. The old man was rich, but 
 liis furniture and all his domestic utensils were shabby and scanty in the 
 extreme. When Napoleon had gained his confidence, the reason of this 
 seeming discrepancy was soon explained. " Some years ago," said the 
 sheik, " I repaired and furnished my house. When this became known 
 
 * General Foy says that a French soldier on a inarch consumes two j)ounils of bread 
 per day.
 
 MAPOLKON BONAPARTE. 
 
 147 
 
 at Cairo, a demand was made upon me for money, because it was said 
 my expenses proved me to be rich. I refused to pay the money; and 
 in consequence, I was bastinadoed, and, at length, forced to pay it. 
 From that time, I have allowed myself only the bare necessaries of life ; 
 and I shall buy no furniture for my house." He was lame from the 
 barbarous treatment he had received. Altogether, his story seems to be 
 a counterpart of many of the adventures in " The Arabian Nights," and 
 one among the numerous proofs which exist, of their correctness in 
 describing the laws (oppressions ?), manners, and customs, of the peojile.
 
 148 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Napoleon now obtained information that a large body of Mamelukes 
 was assembled at Chebreissa, to dispute his further progress. General 
 Desaix's division, which formed the advanced guard, had encovmtered 
 a party during the march, but Napoleon had not yet fallen in wdth 
 them. The army was ordered to advance in squares, as the best means 
 of defence against tlie attacks of the Arabs. The men were unable to 
 leave the ranks for an instant, without certain death from the spears or 
 scimitars of these matchless horsemen ; and therefore, although so near 
 the Nile, several fell dead from thirst. But the ferment of their minds 
 was their worst evil. They began to say there was no great city of 
 Cairo ; that they expected it would prove only a collection of wretched 
 huts. Two dragoons, mad with intolerable heat, thirst, and despair, 
 rushed out of the ranks, and drowned themselves in the Nile. 
 
 In this state they came up, on the 13th, with the Mamelukes, who 
 were drawn out in battle array at Chebreissa, under Mourad Bey, one 
 
 .^^ 
 
 ■>§s. 
 
 ee^fJ^
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 149 
 
 of their most powerful chiefs. They were a magnificent hody of cavahy, 
 glittering with gold and silver, and mounted on the most splendid horses. 
 
 The battle commenced without a moment's hesitation on either side. 
 The French flotilla was at the same time vigorously attacked by Turkish 
 vessels. Each Mameluke, feeling in himself the valour of a host, rushed 
 in the singleness of his purpose, as if alone against the opposing mass ; 
 and with repeated charges, endeavoured, by every means of unbridled 
 fury or consummate skill, to break the soHd squares of the French army. 
 Even when stabbed or shot down, the wounded Mamelukes dragged 
 their dying bodies with bloody trail along the ground, and swept their 
 scymetars across the knees of the foremost ranks. They were at length 
 beaten back, with the loss of about three hundred, and the Turkish 
 flotilla retreated. Monge, Berthollet, and Bourrienne, were all on board 
 the French vessels during the action, and high accounts were given in 
 the dispatches of the gallant conduct of the secretary and the two 
 Savans. 
 
 After the action of Chebreissa, the French army continued to advance 
 during eight days without the opposition of any enemy, except the 
 hovering Arabs who lay in wait for every straggler from the main column. 
 Meantime, they had to endure innumerable hardships in the scorching 
 desert. " The general-in-chief," says Las Casas, " shared the fatigues 
 of the soldiers. The privations endured by every individual in the army 
 were sometimes so great, that they were compelled to dispute with each 
 other for the smallest enjoyments, without the least distinction of rank. 
 To such extremities were they reduced, that in the desert the soldiers 
 would hardly relinquish their places to allow the general to dip his 
 hands in a muddy stream. On one occasion, when they were almost 
 suflbcated by the heat, near the ruins of an ancient city, some one 
 resigned to him a fragment of a door, beneath which he contrived to 
 shade his head for a few minutes. ' And this,' said Napoleon, ' was no 
 trifling concession.' " 
 
 The same writer relates an anecdote of General Berthier at this 
 period, which is too extraordinary an illustration of character to be 
 altogether omitted. Berthier v/as passionately in love with an Italian 
 lady of rank, and had with the greatest difficulty torn himself from her 
 to join the expedition into Egypt. He had continually endeavoured to 
 evade it, yet, whenever he went to Napoleon with that view, he was 
 always won over. But now that he was actually engaged in the under- 
 taking, and under such trying endurances, his very soul was still pursuing 
 its former object. On every march he always had, adjoining his own tent, 
 another prepared, which was furnished with all the elegance of a lady's 
 boudoir, and consecrated to the portrait of his mistress. He was known 
 even to burn incense before it. Napoleon regarded tliis absorbing passion
 
 150 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 as a proof of weakness of mind, and could not understand his own in- 
 capacity to detach Berthier from its influence. 
 
 The order of march towards Cairo was systematically arranged. 
 Each division of the army moved forward in squares six men deep on 
 each side ; the artillery was at the angles ; and in the centre the am- 
 munition, the baggage, and the small body of cavalry, still remaining. 
 Great losses had been sustained among the horses. Napoleon himself, 
 when he rode, almost always made use of a dromedary, though he at 
 first suffered a sensation resembling sea-sickness, from its peculiar motion. 
 A considerable portion of the baggage was also carried by dromedaries 
 and camels.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 15.1 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BATTLE OF THE PYRAMIDS ENTRANCE INTO CAIRO BATTLE OF THE NILE — CHANGE IN 
 
 THE PROSPECTS OF THE EXPEDITION NAPOLEON'S ARRANGEMENTS REVOLT AT CAIRO 
 
 NAPOLEON VISITS SUEZ. 
 
 It was on the 19th of July that the army 
 first saw the summits of the pyramids 
 on the distant horizon. It was a sublime 
 sight ; and the apparent eternity of the 
 objects, — united, as they seemed to be, 
 with the vast calmness and equal tone 
 ^. of the expanding atmosphere, the first 
 gleam of sunrise, and the physical ele- 
 :t ments, — formed a solemn contrast with 
 the pigmy host of invading mortals who 
 came to sweep or be swept away by 
 creatures as transient as themselves, 
 yet tacitly acknowledging the influence 
 of these enduring monimients of the 
 death of ages, and all their men and kings. 
 
 Still advancing towards Cairo, the distant pyramids swelling upon 
 the eye at every step, the army reached Embabe on the 21st, and there
 
 1. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 found tlie Mamelukes in battle array to dispute their further progress. 
 Emhabe is a village close to the Nile, and situated opposite to Boulac, 
 one of the suburbs of Cairo. Mourad-Bey had stationed his forces with 
 skill. His cavalry, consisting of eight thousand men, was supported 
 on the right by the Nile, on the banks of which he had constructed 
 a large intrenched camp, defended by forty pieces of cannon and a 
 body of infantry hastily levied from the janissaries, spahis, and militia 
 of Cairo, twenty thousand in number, but ill-armed and undisciplined. 
 The left of the Mamelukes stretched across the road to Gizeh, two 
 or three thousand Arabs occupying the space between their extreme 
 left and the pyramids. The French army advanced in five grand 
 squares. Their left kept close to the Nile ; their right, fronted the 
 Mameluke left. Napoleon headed the centre square. Before the battle 
 commenced, he raised his hand with an air of inspiration far higher than 
 the motives wJiich inspired : — " Soldiers ! from the sunnnit of those
 
 /A,/^^/ 
 
 ^^''''^'"'''''^'■'0^1
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 153 
 
 pyramids, forty centuries look down upon you/' The thought and tlie 
 expression were subHme, and most unlike the race of common con- 
 querors,— the serious, literal, business-like men of death ; and yet how 
 short-sighted, how one-sided the idea ! The awful centuries did indeed 
 look down upon the moving dust — and smile. 
 
 The first manoeuvre of the French army disconcerted the plans of 
 the Mamelukes. Napoleon had discovered, by the aid of a telescope, 
 that their cannon were not mounted on carriages, but were immoveable, 
 being, in fact, iron pieces taken from the Turkish flotilla wdiich had 
 retreated at Chebreissa. He therefore ordered a movement of his 
 whole army to the right ; thus passing out of the range of the enemy's 
 guns, and rendering their infantry, which would not venture beyond the 
 camp unsupported by artillery, nearly useless to them. Mourad-Bey, 
 who foresaw, with the quick instinct of an experienced leader, the fatal 
 consequences to himself of this movement, instantly led an impetuous 
 attack upon the French, with the view to prevent its completion. The 
 Mamelukes rushed at full speed upon the immoveable squares, and 
 perished in heaps around them as though under the walls of so many 
 fortresses. The places of the dead and dying were instantly supplied 
 by new warriors, who fell in their turn. Still, the Mamelukes con- 
 tinued to charge. They daringly penetrated even between the spaces 
 occupied by the squares commanded by Regnier and Desaix (which, 
 owing to the rapidity of the attack, had not been able to complete their 
 manoeu\Tes, and "masked" one another tt) the extent of several yards), 
 so that the desperate horsemen were exposed to the incessant fire of 
 both faces of the di\dsions at the distance of fifty paces. Rendered 
 furious at being unable to break the ranks on either side, they hurled 
 their pistols and carbines into the soldiers' faces. Many of the French 
 fell from each other's fire in the resistance to this act of desperation. 
 Savary, who fought in Desaix's division, wliich had to stand the first 
 attack of the Mamelukes, has given a striking description of the im- 
 pression produced by their furious onset. " Although," he says, " the 
 troops that were in Egypt had been long inured to danger, every one 
 present at the battle of the Pyramids must acknowledge, if he be sincere, 
 that the charge of the Mamelukes was most awful, and that there was 
 reason, at one moment, to apprehend their breaking through our for- 
 midable squares, rushing upon them, as they did, with a confidence 
 which enforced a profound silence in our ranks, interrupted only by the 
 word of command. It seemed as if we must inevitably be trampled in 
 an instant under the feet of tliis cavalry of Mamelukes, who were all 
 mounted tipon splendid chargers, richly caparisoned with gold and silver 
 trappings, covered "s^dth draperies of all colours and waving scarfs, and 
 who were bearing down upon us at full gallo]), rending the air with 
 
 w
 
 151- THE HISTORY OF 
 
 their cries. The whole character of this imposing sight filled the breasts 
 of our soldiers with sensations to which they had hitherto been strangers, 
 and made them vividly attentive to the word of command. The order 
 to fire was executed with a quickness and precision far exceeding what 
 is exhibited in an exercise or upon parade." 
 
 The enemy, who were able to impress the veterans of Italy with so 
 grave a feeling, only became more desperate from failure. They turned 
 to the right-about, and reining back their horses, actually flung them- 
 selves backwards with them upon the bayonets, to force a passage ; 
 throwing away their lives with utter indifference ; while the survivors, 
 becoming frantic by their ineffectual efforts, began to yell out that the 
 French soldiers were tied together. Napoleon now charged the main 
 body, and divided one part from the other. Mourad-Bey, forced to 
 abandon the field, retreated in the direction of Gizeh, followed by about 
 two thousand of his Mamelukes. These were all that escaped with life, 
 out of the matchless body of men who in such superb array had bid 
 scornfvd defiance to the European invaders only a few hours before. 
 
 The remainder fled to the camp. It was immediately stormed and 
 taken by the French, with great slaughter. The Mamelukes attempted 
 to rejoin their chief on the Gizeh road, and he made many efforts to 
 open a passage for them, but in vain. Their floating bodies carried the 
 news of their disaster to Rosetta, Damietta, and all the places on the 
 banks of the Nile. Very few escaped. Thus was almost entirely de- 
 stroyed, a body of men who would have been the finest of all imaginable 
 cavalry, had their disciphne equalled their individual prowess. *' Could 
 I have united the Mameluke horse to the French infantry," Napoleon 
 used to say, " I should have reckoned myself master of the world." The 
 promiscuous rabble of infantry fled in disorder, and many of them 
 reached Cairo, where they spread accounts of the dreadful and invincible 
 power of Napoleon and his army. 
 
 In this battle the French took a thousand prisoners; the whole of 
 the enemy's artillery, pontoons, and baggage ; many hundred camels and 
 horses, and all the rich spoils of the camp, heaped full of the wealth and 
 luxuries of the late proud ojipressors of Egypt, of whose forces, including 
 their retainers and followers, ten thousand had perished on the field. 
 This action, known as the battle of the Pyramids, decided the conquest 
 of the country. Ibraliim, the rival of Mourad-Bey, fled from Cairo during 
 the following night, having set fire to sixty vessels on the Nile, in which 
 all the remaining riches of the Mamelukes had been deposited. The 
 conflagration lighted up the country for leagues around, during the 
 whole of the night. The French army, which had assembled at Gizeh, 
 after the pursuit of Mourad-Bey from the bloody scene of the conflict, 
 distinctly saw, by its glare, the minarets of Cairo, and of the great place
 
 156 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 achieved the victory, gained liim, among these eastern imaginations, the 
 appellation of Sultan Kebir, or King of Fire. 
 
 Napoleon lost not an instant in commencing the civil and military 
 organisation of the country. The strictest discipline w^as enforced. The 
 mosques, the civil and religious institutions, and the harems, were scru- 
 pulously respected. The wives of the Mamelukes had all remained in 
 Cairo while their husbands were engaged in the war, and were now treated 
 with the utmost consideration. Napoleon sent Eugene Beauharnais, to 
 assure the wife of Mourad-Bey of his protection, and granted several 
 requests she made to him through his envoy, scrupulously preserving 
 her villages for her. She entertained Eugene with all possible honours, 
 and presented him with a valuable ring at his departure. In a few days 
 the French soldiers were to be seen sociably smoking their pipes in the 
 shops of Cairo, or playing with the children. A note which Napoleon 
 despatched, the day after his arrival, to his brother Joseph, announced an 
 intention of visiting France in two months, and remaining there during 
 the winter. It was followed by another a few days afterwards, enmne- 
 rating the troops and warlike stores he wished to have sent to him in 
 Egypt. The import of both these notes has caused some speculation, as 
 they seem to shew that he considered his conquest would, in about 
 two months, be consolidated, and that he wished to preserve Egypt as 
 a French colony ; whilst he himself should, at least for a period, remain 
 at the scat of government, to watch the progress of the time, and act 
 as events should give him opportunity. According to Bourrienne, he 
 planned a sudden and vigorously-conducted descent upon England. His 
 second note ends with the following list of suggested " importations " for 
 his new conquest : — 
 
 " First, a company of actors ; secondly, a company of dancers ; 
 thirdly, some dealers in toys, at least three or four ; fourthly, a hundred 
 women ; fifthly, the wives of all the men employed in the corps ; sixthly, 
 twenty surgeons, thirty apothecaries, and ten physicians ; seventhly, some 
 founders ; eighthly, some distillers, and dealers in liquor ; ninthly, fifty 
 gardeners, with their families, and the seeds of every kind of vegetable ; 
 tenthly, each party to bring with them two hundred thousand quarts 
 of brandy ; eleventhly, thirty thousand ells of blue and scarlet cloth ; 
 twelfthly, a supply of soap and oil." 
 
 The French flotilla had come up in safety, and was moored before 
 Gizeh. A fortnight had been sufficient to complete the arrangements 
 necessary for the trancjuillity of the country. Kleber remained at Alex- 
 andria; the different divisions of the anny were so disposed, as to 
 protect the whole of Lower Egypt, which was now entirely in possession 
 of the French. Napoleon then, leaving Desaix at Cairo until his return, 
 marched in pursuit of Ibrahim-Bey, with the intention of driving him
 
 GENERAL KLEBEH.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 157 
 
 into Syria, and defending the entrance into Eo^ypt in that direction. He 
 overtook the Mameluke chief at Salahie, and after a sharp action, (which, 
 in consequence of the scantiness of the French cavah-y, had nearly proved 
 disastrous), compelled him to retreat, and thus accomplished the ohject 
 of the pursuit. Ihrahim ceased to molest the French from this time. 
 
 It was on his return from Salahie to Cairo that Napoleon was met 
 by a messenger, with information of the destruction of the French fleet 
 hy Nelson, in that memorable engagement in the roads of Aboukir ; best 
 known in England as the battle of the Nile. The news fell upon Na- 
 poleon like a thunderbolt. He had been so anxious about the fleet, as 
 to write twice to Admiral Brueys to repeat the order that he should 
 enter the harbour of Alexandria, or sail for Corfu ; he had also, previ- 
 ously to leaving Cairo, despatched Julien, his aide-de-camp, to enforce the 
 order ; but this unfortunate officer was surrounded and killed, with his 
 escort, at a village on the Nile, where he had landed to obtain provisions. 
 Admiral Brueys was still at his moorings, near the point of Aboukir, 
 when, on the 1st of August, the British fleet appeared in sight. Nelson 
 reconnoitred the position of the French fleet, and immediately resolved 
 upon his plan of action. The squadrons were nearly equal in numbers. 
 Thei'e were thirteen ships of the line on both sides ; but the French had 
 four frigates ; the English only one fifty gun ship, and no frigates. Three 
 of the French ships carried eighty guns, and the admiral's ship L'Orient, 
 was a splendid vessel, of one hundred and twenty guns ; while the Enghsh 
 ships were all seventy-fours. The French had therefore the advantage 
 in force. Their ships were arranged in a seird-circular compact line of 
 battle, and so close to the shore, that Brueys had supposed it was 
 impossible to get between them and the land ; but his daring enemy, 
 who well knew all the soundings, soon con^dnced him of his mistake. 
 The van of the English fleet, six in number, successfully rounded the 
 French line, and dropping anchor between it and the shore, opened 
 their fire, while Nelson, with his other ships ranged along it on the 
 outer side, and so placed the ships between two tremendous fires. The 
 battle raged furiously, and lasted beyond sunset and even after the 
 darkness of night had fallen upon the scene. Admiral Brueys was 
 wounded early in the action, but continued to command with the utmost 
 energy. Towards eight o'clock in the evening he fell, mortally wounded, 
 but would not suffer himself to be carried below. " A French admiral 
 ought to die on his quarter-deck," he repHcd to the entreaties of his 
 friend Gantheaume, who succeeded him in command. All this while 
 five of the French ships, under Admiral Villeneuve, remained totally 
 inactive ; being placed beyond the range of the battle by the plan of 
 attack adopted by Nelson ; at all events, they never gave any assistance. 
 A dreadful conflagration soon supplied the place of the light of day.
 
 158 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 L'Orient was discovered to be on fire about nine o'clock ; and the ilanies 
 soon enveloped the iinmense fabric, and ascended to the very sunnnit of 
 the masts. It burned like a volcano in the midst of the combat ; and at 
 length blew up with an explosion so tremendous that it silenced the 
 hostile fire on both sides, producing for a short period an awful pause in 
 the raging tumult. It was a shock that suddenly brought men to the 
 consciousness of their humanity, which they had quite forgotten ; and 
 which they soon again forgot. 
 
 The battle was quickly resumed : the French fought desperately; but 
 one after another of their vessels was taken or destroyed. Amongst 
 other instances of determined courage, the death of Du Petit Thouars, 
 captain of the Tonnant, is recorded. Both his thighs were carried away 
 by a cannon ball, yet he still remained at his post. Another ball took 
 off one of his arms. In this state of frightful mutilaticm, he exclaimed, 
 " Crew of the Tonnant ! never strike ; nail the colours to the mast ! " 
 and while his orders were obeyed he died, only desiring that he should 
 
 MSjtg 
 
 ^^^="|>vaff«*
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 159 
 
 be thrown overboard should the ship be taken. When the English 
 boarded the Tonnant, the body of its brave commander was nowhere to 
 be seen. 
 
 It was not until two o'clock of the 2nd of August, that the great 
 victory achieved by the British was complete. Two only of the French 
 ships and two frigates escaped, under the command of Villeneuve, who 
 put to sea, and was not pursued. The want of frigates or small craft 
 prevented Nelson from pushing his advantage much further, by the 
 destruction of the French store ships and transports in harbour ; they 
 therefore remained unharmed. The effects, nevertheless, of the battle of 
 the Nile were sufficiently disastrous to the French, not only in Eg}^t, 
 but in preventing fui'ther schemes of conquest. The army was cut off 
 from communication with France ; their hope of receiving supplies was 
 rendered doubtful and precarious ; their battering train was destroyed : 
 and, what was more important than all, the impression they had created 
 by their continual success, — their moral ascendancy over the imagination, 
 — was at once anniliilated. The porte very soon afterwards declared 
 war against France. 
 
 The disaster was understood in its full extent and consequences by 
 Napoleon. He bore it, however, with the greatest fortitude, and without 
 a murmur, — merely observing, that " to the army of France was decreed 
 the victories of the land ; to England, the sovereignty of the seas." It 
 is to the credit of his humanity, no less than of his strength of mind, 
 that at such a moment, — when all his plans and projects, and, to a great 
 extent, the resvdts of what the expedition had already effected and en- 
 dured, were swej^t away at one blow, — he could dismiss his ov\aa affairs 
 from his thoughts, and write the following letter to the widow of Admiral 
 Brueys : — 
 
 "Cairo, August 19th, 1798. 
 
 " Your husband has been kiUed by a camion shot, wliile fighting on 
 his deck. He died without pain, and by the best death, and that wliich 
 is thought by soldiers most enviable. 
 
 " I am keenly sensible to your grief. The moment which severs us 
 from the object we love, is terrible : it insulates us from all the earth ; 
 it inflicts on the body the agonies of death ; the faculties of the soul are 
 annihilated ; and its relation with the universe subsists only through the 
 medimn of a horrible dream which distorts everything. Mankind appear 
 colder and more selfish than they really are. In this situation, we feel 
 that if nothing obliged us to live, it would be much best to die ; but 
 when, after tliis first thought, we press our children to our hearts, tears 
 and tender emotions revive the sentiments of our nature, and we live for 
 our children. Yes, madam! see in this very moment how they open 
 your heart to melancholy : you will weep with them ; you will bring
 
 160 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 them up from infancy ; you will talk to them of their father, of your 
 
 sorrow, of the loss which you and the Republic have sustained. After 
 
 ha\ing once more attached yo\ir mind to the world by the ties of filial 
 
 and maternal love, set some value on the friendship and lively regard I 
 
 shall always feel for the wife of my friend. Believe that there are those 
 
 who deserve to be the hope of the afflicted, because they understand the 
 
 poignancy of mental sufferings. ,, ..^ ti » 
 
 ^ ° -^ ° " JNapoleon Bonaparte. 
 
 To suffer a reverse of fortune, and to apply himself to the best means 
 of averting its e^dl consequences, were nearly simultaneous wdth Napo- 
 leon. *' He soon recovered," says Bourrienne, " the fortitude and pre- 
 sence of mind which had been for a moment shaken by the overwhelming 
 news from Aboukir. He, however, sometimes repeated, in a tone which 
 it would be difficult to describe, ' Unfortunate Brueys, wdiat have you 
 done ! ' " The loss of the fleet had, in some measure, the effect of 
 calming the irritation which had prevailed among the troops, more or 
 less, ever since their first march through the desert. Their situation had 
 become serious, and they were proportionately anxious, for their own 
 sakes, to avoid any counteraction to the plans of their general, in whom 
 their confidence remained unshaken. General Desaix was despatched 
 with his di\dsion to drive Mourad-Bey from Upper Egj-pt. Tliis expe- 
 dition was completely successful. In all quarters the highest discipline 
 was preserved; and Napoleon exerted all the energy of his nature to 
 increase the resources which remained to him, and to preserve and 
 organise ILgypt as a proxdnce. 
 
 Wliile pa\dng the way towards obtaining an influence over the minds 
 of the inhabitants of Egypt, the French general had put all sorts of 
 works into active progress for the comfort and improvement of his army. 
 The commission of scientific men had now been removed to Cairo, and 
 each of its members was named chief of some estabHshment, and in- 
 trusted with its formation and management. 
 
 After the battle of the Nile, Nelson had landed at Alexandi'ia all 
 the crews and soldiers of the captured French vessels, to the number of 
 seven or eight thousand men ; probably believing that he thereby only 
 added embarrassments to their commander-in-chief, who was erroneously 
 beheved to be without any resources. The artificers of all kinds amongst 
 them, formed a valuable addition of hands to the works that were going 
 on ; some of the men were added to the different corps. The old sailors 
 were constructing and manning a flotilla on the Nile. Mills and ovens, 
 were now plentiful. Foundries and powder mills were erected. Ar- 
 mourers, locksmiths, cai'penters, rope-makers, and workers in various 
 trades, not only to supply articles of necessity, but even many luxuries, 
 were in full employment. A French and Arabic printing-press was set
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 161 
 
 to work. The army was newly clothed, in a style suited to the climate ; 
 and this, altering the temperature of their bodies, brought calm and com- 
 fort to their minds. They now wore thin blue cotton clothes, and black 
 morocco caps, each man having a cloak of the substantial flannel of the 
 country for night covering. Napoleon alone appeared in his European 
 uniform, actually buttoned up as he wore it in France ; and even under 
 such disadvantages, while every one else was nearly fainting from the 
 heat, and suffering from excessive perspirations, he always looked as cool 
 and fresh as when he was at Paris. His mind was strung to a pitch of 
 energy, which well seconded the marvellous constitution of his body. 
 " We will remain here," he had said, after the disappointment of his 
 first projects, " or we will leave the country great, like the ancients." So 
 quickly had his mind recovered its tone, that, on the 21st of August, 
 (only a week after he learned of the destruction of the fleet), he founded 
 an Institute in Cairo, exactly on the model of that learned society in 
 Paris. Monge was the president ; Napoleon himself, \dce-president. 
 
 The Institute w^as established in one of the palaces of the beys. The 
 grand hall of the harem was the place of meeting ; the rest of the 
 building served as a place of habitation for the members. The scientific 
 instruments of all kinds brought from France, were deposited in the 
 different rooms, which also became a musemn of all the curiosities of 
 the country. The garden was coiTverted into a botanical garden. Ber- 
 thollet had a laboratory, and his chemical experiments were largely 
 attended by the officers, and constantly by Napoleon. 
 
 Two newspapers, one devoted to literature, and the other to politics, 
 were printed at Cairo. News from France was earnestly desired, but 
 the numerous English and Tvu'kish cruisers rendered all communication 
 impracticable. Impatience at this privation, added to the disappoint- 
 ment of his extensive schemes, made continual occupation essential to 
 Napoleon : the government of his new conquest, extensive and difficult 
 as it was, did not supply sufficient food for his inexhaustible acti\ity. 
 He would sometimes spend horu's, in the course of the day, lying flat on 
 the floor, upon large maps of Asia, over which he traced liis projected 
 route eastward ; though compelled to own to himself that his resources 
 were unequal to the luidertaking. When the heat was not too great, 
 he rode on horseback ; when confined to the house, he read and made 
 notes; and occasionally fell into long reveries, from which he would 
 rouse himself, and break into conversations, which Bourrienne cha- 
 racterises as being "strange" in their natiu'e, though always replete with 
 interest. On one of these occasions, after long silence, he suddenly said 
 to Bourrienne, " Do you know what I am thinking of?" " Upon my 
 word," answered the secretary, " that would be very difficult you think 
 of such extraordinary things." " I do n't know," continued Napoleon, 
 
 X
 
 IG2 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 " that I sliall ever see France again ; but if I do, my only ambition is to 
 make a glorious campaign in Germany, in the plains of Bavaria ; there 
 to gain a great battle, and to avenge France for the defeat of Hochstadt. 
 After that. I would retire into the country, and live quietly." He was 
 accustomed to go to bed early. " I used to read to him every night," 
 says the secretary : " when I read poetry, he would fall asleep ; but 
 when he asked for the ' Life of Cromwell,' I counted on sitting up 
 pretty late." 
 
 It was an essential point of his policy to conciliate the inhabitants ; 
 and he lost no opportunity of encouraging their friendly feelings towards 
 the French. Immediately after his return from the pursuit of Ibrahim- 
 Bey, he attended the ceremony of opening the dyke of the canal of 
 Cairo, which receives the waters of the Nile, when the invmdation has 
 reached a certain height. The ceremony was of a superstitious character, 
 and he thought the inhabitants would be pleased at his reverence of their 
 notions in these respects. 
 
 A few days afterwards, Napoleon was present, by invitation of a 
 principal sheik, at the anniversary festival of the birth of the prophet. 
 These circumstances, and the respect he shewed to all the rites of the 
 established religion of the country, have led some authors to assert that
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 1G,3 
 
 he actually became a Mussulman. This is entirely fabulous. The truth 
 is, that he regarded all forms of religion as the ordinances of men, and 
 considered them simply as political engines, to be encouraged, or not, 
 according to expediency. Consistently with this view of established 
 forms, he held many conferences with the Imaums, or priests, of Cairo, 
 well knowing the importance of making them believe he might possibly 
 become a convert ; and it is an amusing fact, that they offered up prayers 
 for him in the mosques, in consequence. As to his Turkish dress, on 
 which so much has been " embroidered," he only wore it once, among liis 
 officers, as a joke. He made his appearance one morning among them 
 at breakfast, in full oriental costume, with an imperturbable air of somni- 
 ferous gravity, and was received with a burst of laughter ; but he never 
 resumed it. Some of the falsities which have been told and believed 
 about Napoleon are very serious ; some very ridiculous. General Menou, 
 however, really turned Mussulman. 
 
 As the 22nd of September, 1798, approached, great preparations 
 were made by Napoleon for celebrating the anniversary of the foundation 
 of the French Republic. The festival was kept at every point occupied 
 by the French, in Egypt; but with more magnificence at Cairo than 
 elsewhere. The commander-in-chief gave a splendid banquet to nearly 
 two hundred guests, inhabitants of Cairo, as well as Frenchmen, in a 
 circular building, erected for the purpose, and adorned with columns 
 and standards. The French and Turkish flags waved side by side. An 
 obelisk in the centre was covered with appropriate inscriptions ; and 
 seven altars bore the names of those who had died in battle. A grand 
 review of the troops completed the festivities of the day ; and the French 
 general did not fail to rouse the enthusiasm of his soldiers by one of his 
 usual addresses. 
 
 " Soldiers," he said, " we are celebrating the first day of the seventh 
 year of the Republic. Five years ago, the independence of the French 
 people was threatened : but you took Toulon, which was the presage of 
 the ruin of our enemies. A year afterwards, you beat the Austrians at 
 Dego ; the next year, you were on the summit of the Alps ; you be- 
 sieged Mantua, two years ago, and gained the celebrated victory of Saint 
 George. Last year, you were at the sources of the Drave, and the 
 Isonzo, returning from Germany. Who would then have thought that 
 you would now be on the banks of the Nile, in the centre of the ancient 
 continent? From the Briton, celebrated in arts and commerce, to the 
 ferocious Bedouin, you fix the attention of all mankind. 
 
 " Soldiers, your destiny is noble ; for you are worthy of your deeds, and 
 of the reputation you have acquired. You will die with glory, like the 
 heroes whose names are inscribed on these altars ; or you will return to 
 your country covered with laurels, and with the admiration of all nations."
 
 164 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 In the midst of this apparent security, a storm was preparing wliich 
 soon burst forth. Ibrahim, and Mourad-Bey, were continually inciting 
 the people to revolt. The former frequently addressed the fierce assem- 
 blage of Arabs, in tones and gestures of wild eloquence and energy, the 
 effect of which was speedily reflected from a crowd of dark up-turned 
 faces, while yelling plaudits followed his speech. 
 
 It was not the Mameluke chiefs only who impelled the people to 
 insurrection : priests made use of their religious fonnulas for the same 
 ))urpose. An order had been issued by Napoleon, on his first arrival at 
 Cairo, to watch the criers of the mosques, who, at certain hours of the
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 165 
 
 night, offer up prayers from the tops of the minarets. He foresaw, that 
 the opportunity they thus might have, would be prodigious as a means 
 of excitement ; his directions, however, were gradually neglected as the 
 appearance of danger vanished. The priests, perceiving this, substituted 
 inflammatory hymns, and cries of revolt, for their usual prayers ; and by 
 these means, and by secret emissaries, roused the people from one end 
 of Egypt to the other. Early on the morning of the 21st of October, 
 Napoleon was startled from sleep by the news that Cairo was in a state 
 of open rebellion. General Dupuy, who held the post of commandant 
 of the city, had fallen among the first victims to the fury of the popu- 
 lace ; and a general massacre of the French had commenced. Napoleon 
 
 
 fiii», 
 
 flit 
 
 i':si'i!>;i„H"io,'r,i'ii 
 
 
 was on horseback in an instant; and, accompanied by thirty Guides, 
 repaired successively to every threatened point, and restored confidence 
 among the soldiers. The armed inhabitants of Cairo, repulsed in all 
 directions, took refuge in the great mosque, which was speedily sur- 
 rounded by the French cannon, and taken. 
 
 A scene of carnage ensued, which struck terror into the breasts of
 
 166 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 all the malcontents in Egypt, and made tenfold atonement for the 
 French blood already spilt. The Arabs attempted a hostile entrance 
 into Cairo, on the same morning, but were driven back, not however, 
 without some difficulty and loss. Sulkowsky, the aide-de-camp of 
 Napoleon, and much beloved by him, fell on this occasion. Tran- 
 quillity was completely restored in three days ; but during that interval, 
 deadly severities were practised by Napoleon, which it seems he con- 
 sidered necessary, as the only means of competing with the dangerous 
 crisis. Numerous prisoners were conducted to the citadel, of whom, 
 twelve were singled out for execution nightly. Many women were 
 included among these victims ; for what especial reason is nowhere 
 related. The twelve principal chiefs of Cairo, who expected an inevi- 
 table death, and awaited it with apparent indifference, were only de- 
 tained as hostages by Napoleon. Mortars were ranged on all the heights 
 commanding Cairo. The city was placed under military government, 
 and a heavy contribution was levied on the inhabitants. The Arabs 
 were terrified into quietude, by the miserable fate of one of their tribes, 
 on whom military execution was perpetrated, and the French became 
 once more masters of Egypt. The insurrection had effectually un- 
 masked the designs of the Grand Seignior, who had openly encouraged 
 it by his proclamations. 
 
 The French general was not long idle. The hostility of the porte, 
 which would of course be encouraged and assisted by England, implied 
 impending danger on two points, — the approach of a Turkish army by 
 Syria ; and the landing of another on the coast of the Mediterranean, 
 under the protection of British ships. The necessity of forestalling 
 their designs by an expedition into Syria, was becoming apparent to 
 Napoleon. In the month of December he visited Suez ; partly with a 
 view to the necessary preparations for such an undertaking, partly from 
 curiosity to explore the remains of the canal, which is said to have 
 united the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. He was accompanied by his 
 aides-de-camp, and by Caffarreli, Monge, and Berthollet. A squadron 
 of Guides formed his only guards. The party rapidly crossed the desert, 
 a distance of five-and-twenty leagues. They passed over the Red Sea at 
 the same point at which Moses conducted the Hebrews out of the "land 
 of bondage," carefully choosing like their predecessor, the time when the 
 ebb-tide left it almost dry. Leaving his guards on the Asiatic shore of 
 the sea. Napoleon and his companions rested by the springs called the 
 ' Wells of Moses,' and visited the Cenobites of Mount Sinai, who 
 obtained from the French general a safeguard or exemption from duties 
 for their caravans in trading with Egypt. The party returned to the 
 shore the same evening, and undertook the passage of the sea towards 
 Suez. Night was coming on, and the tide about to rise, so that there
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 1G7 
 
 was not a moment to lose, but at this perilous juncture they lost their 
 way ; and in the increasing darkness they were uncertain whether they 
 were advancing towards Asia, Africa, or the open sea. Their very 
 speed might now only conduct them more rapidly to destruction. The 
 waves were rising, and very soon the foremost riders cried out that 
 their horses were swimming. Napoleon averted this imminent danger 
 by one of those promptly conceived expedients for which he was re- 
 markable. He made himself the centre of a circle, ranging the rest of 
 the party around him in several straight rows, or radii, each man at 
 the distance of ten paces from the man behind him, until the circle was 
 complete. He then ordered them all to move forward, each man moving 
 in a straight line from the point at which he himself remained fixed. 
 When the leading horseman of any of these lines lost footing, and his 
 horse began to swim, Napoleon made him and his whole line of followers 
 return back towards the centre, and move on in the direction of another 
 column, the leader of which was still on firm ground. The radii thus 
 sent out in directions where they lost footing, had been successively 
 withdrawn, and placed behind others which were still safe, till, at length,
 
 168 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 that line only remained wliich was advancing in the direction where the 
 water became shallower, or had not yet reached ; and this was naturally 
 the right way to the shore. They gained Suez at two in the morning, 
 the water being already at the poitrels of their horses ; for the tide rises 
 twenty-two feet on this part of the coast. In talking of this narrow 
 escape from sharing the fate of Pharaoh, Napoleon remarked to Las 
 Casas, " This would have furnished all the preachers in Christendom 
 with a splendid text against me." 
 
 Meantime, we should observe, that Napoleon carefully avoided 
 making any claim to the sovereignty of Egypt, but continually declared 
 that he had only rescued it from the Mameluke usurpers. " He light- 
 ened the impost," says Mr. Lockhart, *' by introducing as far as he 
 could, the fairness and exactness of a civilised power, in the method of 
 levying it. He laboured to make the laws respected, and this so 
 earnestly and rigidly, that no small wonder was excited among all 
 classes of a population so long accustomed to the license of a barbarian 
 horde of spoilers. On one occasion, one of the Ul(^nahs could not help 
 smiling at the zeal which he manifested for tracing home the murder of 
 an obscure peasant to the perpetrator. One Mussulman asked if the 
 dead man was anywise related to the blood of the Sultan Kebir ? " No," 
 answered Napoleon sternly ; " but he was more than that : he was one 
 of a people whose government it has pleased Providence to place in my 
 hands." Besides the enforcement of justice in the laws, every means 
 was taken for the acquirement of knowledge, and the advancement of 
 science. *' The virtuosi and artists of his train," continues Mr, Lock- 
 hart, *' pursued with indefatigable energy their scientific researches ; 
 they ransacked the monuments of Egypt, and laid the foundation, at 
 least, of all the wonderful discoveries which have since been made, con- 
 cerning the knowledge, arts, polity, and even the language, of the ancient 
 nation." 
 
 ^ ;^^^^'-^
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 l(jf) 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PROJECT OF THE TURKS NAPOLEON'S EXPEDITION INTO SYRIA BERTHIER MARCH ACROSS 
 
 THE DESERT— napoleon's JEALOUSY PAULINE EL ARISCH, GAZA, RAMEH, AND JAFFA, 
 
 TAKEN TURKISH GARRISON PUT TO DEATH SIEGE OF ST. JEAN D'ACRE — SIR SYDNEY 
 
 SMITH napoleon's RETREAT STORY OF POISONING THE SICK ARRIVAL AT CAIRO 
 
 THE TURKS BEATEN AT ABOUKIR NAPOLEON DEPARTS FROM EGYPT. 
 
 Napoleon passed the rest of the year 
 1 798, at Cairo. Positive reports reached 
 him before its close that Turkey was 
 making active preparations to com- 
 mence hostilities against him. In 
 January, 1799, two Turkish armies 
 were assembled; one at Rhodes, tlie 
 other in Syria: the former was in- 
 tended to make a descent upon the 
 coast of Eg}^3t at Aboukir, as soon as 
 the season permitted; the latter had 
 already pushed forward its advanced 
 guard to El-Arisch, a fort within the Egyptian territory; had established 
 large magazines at Gaza, and landed at Jaffa a train of artillery of forty 
 guns, served by twelve huncbed cannoniers, in the European manner. 
 The Pasha of Syria, surnamed Djezzar, ov " The Butcher," from his 
 
 Y
 
 170 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 horrible cruelties, was at the head of this army. Napoleon did not wait 
 to be attacked on both points at the same time ; but, according to his 
 usual custom, determined to set forward and encounter one division of 
 his enemies at a time. He resolved on an immediate expedition into 
 S}Tia. Circumstances forced him into this new campaign, but even 
 before he began it, extensive schemes were forming in his imagination, 
 connected with its probable results. He addressed two letters to Djezzar, 
 offering him friendship and alliance ; but the pasha observed a con- 
 temptuous silence as to the first communication, and replied to the 
 second in his favourite fashion ; that is to say, he seized the messenger, 
 and chopped off his head. There was, consequently, nothing to be done 
 with Djezzar but to fight with him. Napoleon well knew, also, that 
 the inhabitants of Syi'ia were groaning under the yoke of their tyrant, 
 and counted upon their flocking in crowds to his standard, if he should 
 succeed in conquering this pasha. To menace Constantinople with an 
 army swelled to hundreds of thousands of men ; estabhsh a peace with 
 the porte ; march upon the Indus, and conquer India ; these were the 
 visions which now filled his hours of silent abstraction. He wrote a 
 letter to Tippoo Saib, which bears the date of the 25th of January, 1799. 
 It was as follows :■ — " You are of course already informed of my amval 
 on the banks of the Red Sea, with a numerous and invincible army. 
 Eager to deliver you from the iron yoke of England, I hasten to request 
 that you will send me, by the way of Marcate or Mokha, an account of 
 the political situation in which you are. I also wish that you would 
 send to Suez, or Grand Cairo, some able man in your confidence, with 
 whom I may confer." The fall of the Mysore, in less than three 
 months after this letter was written, probably prevented its being ever 
 received. All remote schemes of conquest, however, gave way in a 
 moment with Napoleon, before even the most distant fear of any danger 
 tlu"eatening the country he had adopted as his o\\ai, or perilling his indi- 
 vidual hope of assuming such a position there, as should exalt that idol 
 of his soul, — •" the glory of France." He had received no official news 
 from home since the end of June, 1798, but just about the time of the 
 Syrian expedition, some vague reports of a gloomy nature had reached 
 him, and he lingered several days after all was ready, in hopes of hearing 
 sometliing definite. He declared, at this period, that if he positively 
 knew France to be at war with the powers of Europe, he would imme- 
 diately return. Subsequent events will shew that it is important to 
 mark this unchanging determination. 
 
 The army was put in motion early in February, immediately after 
 the celebration of the " Feast of the Ramadan," at Cairo, in wliicli 
 Napoleon joined, with great pomp. He left strong garrisons in all the 
 fortified towns of Egypt ; a moveable corps of fifteen hundi'cd men round
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 171 
 
 Cairo, and General Desaix's division in Upper Egypt. The army he led 
 into Syria consisted of about twelve thousand men: it presented one 
 grotesque novelty, — a regiment mounted on dromedaries. Kleber, Bes- 
 sieres, CafFarelli, Murat, Lannes, Junot, and Bertliier, accompanied him. 
 Berthier had, just before this new expedition, obtained permission to 
 return to France. Napoleon granted it from being no longer able to 
 endure the sight of his sufferings : he was ill, and appeared dying from 
 the effects of the climate, and his passionate love. A fi'igate was pre- 
 pared for him at Alexandria, and it was believed he was already on his 
 way there, when he suddenly presented himself before Napoleon, who 
 had been sincerely hurt at the separation. He came to tell his general 
 that he would not leave him ; that he voluntarily renounced all idea of 
 returning to France, not being able to forsake him at a moment when he 
 was about to encounter new dangers. Napoleon, delighted ^^^th his 
 determination, embraced him, and their friendship became stricter than 
 before. The sacred tent traversed the deserts of Syria with the devoted 
 Berthier; and the homage to the picture (which, Bourrienne tells us, 
 "excited the merriment, rather than the sensibility of the officers,") 
 was never omitted. The name of the lady is known ; but the object 
 who could inspire such a feehn^, and throughout such circumstances, 
 must at least be deserving of all delicate forbearance. 

 
 172 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The great desert which divides Egypt from Syria, is seventy-five 
 leagues across. El-Arisch, the first point of attack, is six leagues within 
 the Egyptian frontier. The march was made rapidly and in good order; 
 the men encountering their fatigues and privations with fortitude. It 
 was during this march that Bourrienne witnessed a scene, which we 
 quote in his own Avords : " Vf hilst near the wells of Messoodiah, on our 
 way to El-Arisch, I one day saw Bonaparte walking alone wdth Junot, as 
 he was often in the hahit of doing. I stood at a little distance, and my 
 eyes, I know not why, were fixed on him during their conversation. 
 The general's countenance, which was always pale, had, without my 
 heing ahle to divine the cause, become paler than usual. There was 
 something convulsive in liis features — a wildness in his look, and he 
 several times struck his head with his hand. After conversing with 
 Junot for about a quarter of an hour, he quitted him and came towards 
 me. I never saw him exhibit such signs of intense and smothered pas- 
 sion. I advanced towards him, and as soon as we met, he exclaimed in 
 an abrupt and angry voice, ' So, I find I cannot depend upon you ! — 
 These women ! — If you had loved me you would, before now, have told 
 me all I have heard from Junot. He is a real friend. Josephine ! — and 
 I six hundred leagues from her. You ought to have told me. That she 
 should have thus deceived me ! Woe to them ! I will exterminate the 
 whole race of fops and puppies ! As to her — divorce ! yes, divorce ! a 
 public and open divorce ! I must write ! I know all !' " Our remarks 
 concerning the attractive position of Josephine in Parisian society (see 
 Chapters V. and XIII.) will be recollected, and may help to account for 
 the effect of injurious reports upon the feelings of Napoleon. Bourrienne, 
 who perceived by the foregoing exclamations that Junot had been re- 
 lating some stories to the disadvantage of Josephine, now endeavoured to 
 point out to Napoleon how frequently such reports are mere calumnies — 
 how certain they are to be exaggerated ; adding, that he knew nothing 
 of such reports himself, and if he had, he should have avoided such a 
 moment as this to detail them, when Josephine was absent and could not 
 defend herself, and Napoleon was engaged in the commencement of a 
 hazardous enterprise. " I spoke," adds the secretary, " of his glory.' 
 " My glory!" cried he; " I know not what I would not give if that 
 which Junot has told me should be untrue ; so much do I love Josephine ! 
 If she be really guilty, a divorce must separate us for ever. I will not 
 submit to be a laughing-stock for all the imbeciles of Paris. I will 
 Vv-rite to Joseph, He will get the divorce declared." Bourrienne relates 
 that he continued to combat this resolution, and to oppose rash haste in 
 such a matter, and succeeded at length in calming him. " He became 
 tran(]ui], listened to me as if he had suddenly felt the justice of my 
 observations, dropped the subject and never retvn-ned to it, except that
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 173 
 
 about a fortnight after he expressed himself greatly dissatisfied with 
 Junot, and complained of the injury he had done him by his indiscreet 
 disclosures, which he began to regard as the inventions of malignity. 
 I perceived afterwards that he never pardoned Junot for this indiscretion ; 
 and I can state almost with certainty that this was one of the reasons 
 why Junot was not created a marshal of France, like many of his com- 
 rades whom Bonaparte loved less." It may startle the reader to learn, 
 after all this elaboration, that any doubt should be cast over the whole 
 account, the authenticity of which is utterly denied in the " Memoirs of 
 the Duchess d'Abrantes." But her Memoii-s have certainly no pretensions 
 as an historical authority. 
 
 When we connect the above account with another fact concerning 
 Napoleon, which is equally certain, there would be some dijfhculty in 
 accounting for his intense and evident suffering from jealousy, did not 
 the words " / will not submit to he a laughing-stock for all the imbeciles 
 of Paris," sufficiently mark the chief source of pain. Love has continu- 
 ally to bear imputations which in truth should be laid to the account of 
 pride. His love for Josephine was at that period laid asleep. He had, 
 since the month of September, formed a connexion with Madame 
 Foures, better knowni by her name of " Pauline," the wife of one of his 
 lieutenants, a lady of very great beauty and sweetness, with whom he 
 fell violently in love from seeing her once in the neighbourhood of Cairo. 
 Her husband, who was much older than herself, and with whom she had 
 only made one of those marriages "de convenance," so common in France 
 and elsewhere, had been quietly put aside by sending him to France with 
 dispatches. He chanced, however, to be taken by the Enghsh, wdio 
 found out the cause of his mission ; and mth a himiorous sense of mis- 
 chief they immediately liberated him, and sent him back to Egypt. The 
 joke was apparent, and produced both rage and laughter. It does not 
 appear, however, that the lieutenant raised any obstacles in the w^ay of 
 his wife's promotion to be " Queen of the East," as she was styled by 
 the army. Napoleon placed great confidence in her, and continued to 
 live with her during the whole period of his stay in Egypt ; but it seems 
 he thought and saw no more of her after his return. Absorbed in im- 
 portant state affairs, he forgot her, and she had great difficulty in getting 
 a letter presented to hira during the consulate, by means of Dui'oc, 
 and thus awakened at least sufficient memory in Napoleon to obtain a 
 comfortable subsistence. It was far diflferent with her, if we can rely 
 upon the following romantic and beautiful account by the Duchess 
 d'Abrantes. " During many years Pauhne ceased to be spokeYi of; but, 
 on learning the captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena, she rose above fear 
 and prejudice, and determined to attempt the deliverance of him, who 
 was still dear to her, and sacred as the representative of the glory of her
 
 174 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 country. To accomplish her purpose, she reahsed part of her fortune, 
 and went to several sea-ports, to watch an opportunity of getting to St. 
 Helena. She was long organising her plans ; and when all was ready 
 the news reached her that Napoleon was dead. Pauline was then in 
 the Brazils." 
 
 To return to the desert : the French army reached El-Arisch on the 
 17th of February, and quickly driving the Turks out of the village, 
 forced them all to take refuge in the fort, before which the trenches 
 were immediately opened. Meantime General Regnier attacked the 
 pasha's cavalry, which had taken up a position about a league off; sur- 
 rounded and seized their camps and baggage, and made many prisoners. 
 El-Arisch surrendered the following day. Three hundred horses and 
 a quantity of provisions were found in the place ; a body of five 
 hundred Maugrabins, taken prisoners, entered the French service as an 
 auxiHary corps ; the rest of the garrison, amounting to about seven 
 hundred men, were, according to most authorities, dismissed, on giving 
 their promise to repair to Bagdad, and abstain from serving against 
 the French for a year. 
 
 The vanguard lost its way in the desert on leaving El-Arisch, and 
 suffered severely from want of provisions and water. On the S^th, they 
 passed the pillars placed to mark the boundaries of Africa and Asia. 
 The following day they advanced upon Gaza, and encountered a body 
 of three or four thousand of Djezzar's horse, drawn up to oppose them. 
 Mm-at, with the cavalry, and the divisions of Lannes and Kleber, 
 quickly put them to flight. They did not, indeed, stand the charge ; 
 but fled, leaving a few killed on the field. Gaza yielded immediately. 
 It contained valuable stores, which became the prize of the victors. On 
 the 28th, the green and fertile plains of Syria were first seen by the 
 soldiers, as they continued their advance. They slept that night at 
 Eswod, the ancient Azotli, and the next at Rameh, the ancient Arima- 
 thea, which had been evacuated by the enemy. Here they again found 
 valuable stores of provisions. They were now within six leagues of 
 Jerusalem, but they passed it unvisited. Jaffa (the Joppa of Scripture) 
 was invested on the 4th of March, and taken by storm on the 6th. 
 The town was given up to pillage for four-and-twenty hours, and all the 
 horrors of war in that, their most revolting, shape took place. Still, the 
 garrison was not intimidated ; refused to yield ; beheaded the messenger 
 who was sent to them, and elevated his head on a pole, in sight of the 
 French army. When they were finally compelled to surrender, either 
 all, or the greater part of them, were shot by order of Napoleon. Their 
 numbers are variously stated, from one thousand or twelve hundred men, 
 to four thousand. This transaction has been long dwelt upon and re- 
 corded as a perfidious and atrocious piece of cruelty on the part of Na-
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 175 
 
 poleon. Most horrible, indeed, it was ! but horrible, also, it was to give 
 up the town to pillage, to carry fire and sword into Syria, to destroy the 
 Mamelukes in all their splendour and pride of valour, and leave their 
 rifled, half-naked, and mangled bodies to moulder away on the banks 
 of the Nile. 
 
 Where should we stop if we endeavoured to recount all that was 
 horrible in the career of any great conqueror ! There is nothing which 
 marks the shallowness of the current morality of this age more than the 
 proneness to reprobate as infamous some of the details of a given course 
 of action which, regarded as a w^hole, is approved, and even lauded ; these 
 very details being meantime the necessary consequences of that course 
 which is approved and lauded. So long as the words " glory," " mili- 
 tary fame," " pride, pomp, and circmnstance " of honour and carnage 
 are held in high estimation by men, so long ought men to abstain from 
 being " shocked " at the necessary consequences attending the service 
 of these evils powers, which are at present permitted to hold their 
 tyrannous sway over the human race. We have never yet had to record 
 one instance of mere wanton cruelty on the part of Napoleon ; and the 
 reader is left to judge whether, or not, this affair is to be regarded as 
 any exception. Napoleon has made his own defence, in a conversation 
 with O'Meara ; but although liis explanation has satisfied some of liis 
 biographers, we confess that we do not believe he stated the facts cor- 
 rectly. He appears to us to have been desirous to clear himself of an im- 
 putation of "mere wanton cruelty," for an action which he was conscious 
 was forced upon him by an imperious necessity, and which cost him ex- 
 cessive pain at the time ; and, without attending to the exact truth, as to 
 the action, he seems to have aimed only at creating the true impression as 
 to the motives. He stated the number of the victims to have been a 
 thousand or tw^elve hundred, and that the reason he ordered them to be 
 shot, was that amongst them were a number of the Turkish troops taken 
 at El-Arisch, who had given their word not to serve against liim for a 
 year. " Now," he said " if I had spared them again and sent them 
 away on their parole, they would directly have gone to St. Jean d'Acre, 
 where they would have played me over again the same trick that they 
 had done at Jafia. In justice to the lives of my soldiers, since eveiy 
 general ought to consider liimself as their father, and them as his 
 children, I could not allow this. To leave as a guard a portion of my 
 army, already small and reduced in number, in consequence of the 
 breach of faith of those wretches, was impossible. I therefore, availing 
 myself of the rights of war, which authorise putting to death prisoners 
 taken under such circumstances, independent of the right given nie by 
 having taken the city by assault, and that of retaliation on the Turks, 
 for having slaughtered my messenger, ordered that the prisoners taken at
 
 176 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 El-Arisch, who in defiance of their capitulation had been found bearing 
 arms against me, should be singled out and shot. The rest amounting 
 to a considerable number were spared. I would do the same thing 
 again to-morrow, and so would any general commanding an army under 
 such circumstances." This statement is unsatisfactory in one or two 
 points. It does not explain how the garrison came to be prisoners at 
 all, instead of being included in the general massacre which took place 
 in the city after it was taken by storm ; and it does not acquaint us with 
 what expedient was fallen upon to dispose of those prisoners who were 
 " spared." The very same reasons which justified (in a military sense) 
 the putting to death of the prisoners of El-Arisch, applied to all the 
 others. They could not be guarded, nor trusted any more than the 
 Avretched men who by Napoleon's account suffered death. A Mussul- 
 man would never think of keeping faith with a " Christian dog," and 
 this was well known to the French general. 
 
 Bourrienne's account, which bears dreadful evidence of truth, and 
 partly contradicts that of Napoleon, is as follows : — When the pillage of 
 the town began, the massacre was horrible. Napoleon sent his aides-de- 
 camp, Beauharnais and Croisier, to appease the fury of the troops as 
 much as possible. They found a great part of the garrison shut up 
 in some large caravanseras. These men cried from the windows that 
 they would surrender upon an assurance that they should be exempted 
 from the massacre to which the town was doomed. The two officers 
 thought they ought to grant these conditions, and brought the men 
 prisoners to the camp, in two divisions, — one of about two thousand 
 five hundred, the other of about fifteen hundred. " I was walking with 
 General Bonaparte," proceeds the secretary, " in front of his tent, when 
 he saw this multitude of men approaching ; and before he even saw his 
 aides-de-camp, he said, in a tone of profound sorrow, ' What do they 
 wish me to do with these men ? Have I food for them ? — ships to 
 convey them to Egypt or France ? Why, in the devil's name, have they 
 served me thus ? ' The aides-de-camp defended themselves by referring 
 to their mission to restrain the carnage. ' Yes,' replied Napoleon, ' as 
 to women, children, and old men ; but not with respect to armed sol- 
 diers. It was your duty to die rather than bring these unfortunate 
 creatures to me. What do you want me to do with them ? ' " 
 
 The same authority proceeds to speak of the wretched prisoners 
 sitting in front of the tents ; their hands tied behind them, sombre rage 
 depicted in their faces; of their scanty rations of biscuits, grudgingly 
 dealt out to them by the soldiers, already themselves on short allowance ; 
 of the murmurs, growing louder and louder, at these useless encum- 
 brances ; of the councils daily held, while, for three days, some measure 
 was anxiously sought for, to save their lives ; of the searching, anxious
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 177 
 
 gaze over the ocean, to which the telescopes of the French officers were 
 in vain chrected, to discover some friendly vessel, which would carry these 
 miserable prisoners away ; of the order, at length most reluctantly given, 
 and vmhesitatingly executed. They were led out to the sands, fired 
 upon, and all perished. The horrible and remorseless manner in whicli 
 the soldiers "did their duty" (such are the modes of perverted thought 
 whereby men accommodate the most monstrous actions to their con- 
 sciences) is thus related by an eye-witness : — 
 
 " Many of the unfortunate creatures composing the smaller divi- 
 sion, which was fired on close to the sea-coast, at some distance from 
 the other column, succeeded in swimming to some reefs of rocks out of 
 the reach of musket shot. The soldiers rested their muskets on the 
 sand, and, to induce the prisoners to return, employed the Egyptian 
 signs of reconciliation in use in the country. They came back ; but as 
 they advanced, they were killed, and disappeared among the waves. 
 This atrocious scene, when I think of it, still makes me shudder as it 
 did on the day I beheld it ; and I would wish it were possible for me to 
 forget it rather than be compelled to describe it. All the horrors 
 imagination can conceive, relative to that day of blood, would fall short 
 of the reality. I have related the truth — the whole truth," continues 
 Bourrienne : "I was present at all the conferences ; all the delibera- 
 tions. I had not a deliberative voice ; but I am bound to declare, 
 that the situation of the army, the scarcity of food, our small nume- 
 rical strength, in the midst of a country where every individual was 
 an enemy, would have induced me to vote in the affirmative of the 
 proposition whicli was carried into effect, if I had had a vote to give. 
 It was requisite to be on the spot in order to understand the horrible 
 necessity which existed. For my own part, I have a perfect conviction 
 that Bonaparte could not do otherwise than yield to the dire necessity of 
 the case. It was the advice of the council, whose opinion was unani- 
 mous in favour of the execution, that governed him. Indeed, I ought in 
 truth to say, that he yielded only in the last extremity, and was one of 
 those, perhaps, who beheld the massacre with the deepest pain." Such 
 are the even-handed facts of this dreadful event. 
 
 The French army advanced from Jaffa to form the siege of St. Jean 
 d'Acre, a far more arduous undertaking than any they had yet encoun- 
 tered in Syria. Sir Sydney Smith, wdth two ships of war, was cruising 
 before the port, and the garrison was assisted by European science. 
 Phelippeaux, an old schoolfellow of Napoleon at Brienne, directed their 
 artillery. To add to the difficulties which threatened Napoleon, his 
 battering train, sent forward by sea, was taken by the English, and now 
 turned against him from the walls. The siege commenced on the 
 
 z
 
 178 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 18tli of March. Almost immediately afterwards, Napoleon was obliged 
 to hasten with General Bon's di\asion, to extricate Kleber from a diffi- 
 cult position at Mount Tabor, where he had been sent to dispute the 
 passage of a Turkish army coming from Damascus. Napoleon, from the 
 heio-hts which command the plain, discovered his division of two thousand 
 men established among some ruins, and maintaining their ground against 
 twentv thousand of the enemy, who surrounded them. He instantly 
 
 despatched Murat to gain the Jordan with the cavalry ; Vial and Rampon 
 to march upon Naplous, while he placed himself between the enemy 
 and their magazines ; by these movements he had enclosed the Turks 
 W'ithin the centre of a triancjle. He advanced in silence vnitil within 
 a certain distance, and then ordering a gun to be fired, shewed himself 
 on the field. " Tt is Bonaparte !" exclaimed the soldiers. Kleber, who 
 had fought against these fearful odds, from six in the morning till one, 
 now assumed the ofi'ensive. The Turks were completely routed, with 
 the loss of five thousand men, their tents, provisions, and camels.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 179 
 
 Napoleon returned to Acre with all possible despatch. Accustomed 
 to the easy \dctories which he had obtained on every encounter with tlie 
 Turkish forces in Syria, he was not prepared to expect the deterniined 
 resistance by which his progress was now arrested. Acre is surrounded 
 by a wall flanked with towers, and was further defended by a broad 
 and deep ditch wdth strong works. Napoleon had lost his battering 
 train as already stated, and for a whole month conducted his operations 
 with field artillery ; but all tliis would not have baffled him, had not 
 European skill and courage assisted the Turks. The inexhaustible 
 activity and energy of Sir Sydney Smith, and the talents of Phelippeaux, 
 so directed the defence as to defeat every effort he could make, and 
 foil every stratagem by some other equally destructive. Ammunition was 
 also scarce in the French arm;y. They contrived, however, by a ludi- 
 crous ruse de guerre, to make Sir Sydney Smith supply them with balls. 
 A few horsemen or wagons were ordered from time to time to make 
 some demonstration of activity on the beach ; upon which, the English 
 commodore, who was always on the alert, immediately approached and 
 fired a terrible broadside. The French soldiers, who took care to keep 
 out of danger, then ran forward on the beach amidst shouts of laughter, 
 and picked up the balls, for which they received five sous each. 
 
 In the middle of April, Admiral Perree succeeded in avoiding the 
 English, and in landing unobserved two mortars and six eighteen 
 pounders at Jaifa, which enabled Napoleon to carry on the siege with 
 greater vigour ; but, at the same time, a reinforcement of three thousand 
 men was thrown into the place under the protection of the British ships. 
 A succession of furious sorties by the garrison, occasionally headed by 
 British marines, and equally furious assaults by the French, now alter- 
 nated. The slaughter was horrible. The combatants in the trenches, 
 sui-rounded by putrefying corpses and poisonous stench, sometimes went 
 mad as they fought, being suddenly smitten by the plague under the 
 burning sun. They fell dead while doing desperate deeds. Breaches 
 were more than once made in the walls: a tower was gained by the 
 French; but each advantage ended with itself, and no progress was 
 made towards subduing the place. 
 
 General Caffarelli was mortally wounded early in April, but lingered 
 for eighteen days. A sincere regard had existed between liim and 
 Napoleon; and it is a singular and affecting fact, that every time 
 Napoleon visited him during the delirium which preceded his death, 
 his mind recovered its tone, his spirits revived, and he talked collectedly ; 
 then relapsed into his weakness and wandering immediately he lost sight 
 of his friend. 
 
 Another instance of the enthusiastic attachment which Napoleon was 
 capable of inspiring (for the attraction of sympathy by no means ensures
 
 180 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 its return), occurred at the siege of Acre. One day, when he was in the 
 trenches, a shell fell at his feet. Two grenadiers immediately rushed 
 towards him, — placed him between them, and raised their arms above 
 his head so as completely to cover every part of his body. The shell 
 burst without injuring one of the group. Both these grenadiers were 
 made officers immediately : one of them, subsequently, was the General 
 Dumesnil, so much talked of in 1814 for his resolute defence of Vin- 
 cennes against the Russians. He had lost a leg in the campaign of 
 Moscow ; and to the summons to surrender he replied, " Give me back 
 my leg, and I will give up my fortress." The fate of his heroic com- 
 panion is not recorded. 
 
 Sir Sydney Smith, in addition to the active hostilities which he 
 directed against Napoleon, dispersed proclamations among the French 
 troops with a view to shake their faith in him. Napoleon, upon this, 
 published an order, from which it might be inferred, that, owing to the 
 heat of the climate, and the excitement of war, the British commodore 
 had gone mad; and all communication with him was, therefore, pro- 
 hibited! Some days afterwards, a lieutenant or midshipman, with a 
 flag of truce, brought a challenge from Sir Sydney Smith to Napoleon, 
 appointing a place of meeting to fight a duel. " I laughed at this," 
 says Napoleon to O'Meara; "and sent him back an intimation that 
 when he brought Marlborough to fight me, I would meet him. Not- 
 vvdthstanding, I like the character of the man." 
 
 Still the siege continued. Napoleon, who at this time knew nothing 
 about reverses and failures, would not brook the idea of abandoning it. 
 He made a desperate assault on the 8th of May. Among the officers 
 and men who fell on this day, was Croisier, the aide-de-camp, who had 
 never recovered the fatal affair of Jaffa. Napoleon had once before 
 been violently irritated against him for some seeming neglect at Cairo, 
 and the word "coward" had escaped him. The feelings of Croisier, 
 then deeply affected, had become insupportable since the events at 
 Jaffa, and he sought death at every opportunity. On the 8th of May, 
 Napoleon observed the tall figure of his unfortunate aide-de-camp 
 mounted on a battery, exposed to the thickest of the enemy's fire, and 
 called loudly and imperatively, " Croisier, come down ! — you have no 
 business there." Croisier neither replied nor moved ; and the next 
 instant received his death wound. 
 
 While this obstinate contest was raging in Syria, occasional insur- 
 rections had taken place in Egypt; but they were not of any conse- 
 quence, and were easily quelled. General Desaix was still in Upper 
 Egypt, engaged in perpetual conflicts with Mourad-Bey, who with 
 undaunted courage, rallied his followers after every defeat. He made a 
 desperate stand at Sediman ; and it was only by the determined bravery
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 181 
 
 /^ 
 
 of Desaix, who himself led on his soldiers with the cry of " Victory or 
 death ! " that he was driven back on this occasion. One more defeat 
 forced him to evacuate Upper Egypt entirely. 
 
 Together ^^dth the dispatches wliich apprised Napoleon of this victory, 
 he received intelligence of the loss of a very fine and large dejerme 
 (boat of the Nile), named L'ltalie, which was carrjang French troops and 
 provisions. It had run aground, and been attacked by the Arabs, who 
 killed all the prisoners they made with the most horrible tortures. The 
 soldiers were tied to trees, and the military band which accompanied 
 them, were compelled to play while their comrades died under the 
 tortures ; after which, the band was mutilated in the same Avay. The 
 commander of the vessel blew it up, and perished with it. This took 
 an unusual hold upon the French general's mind ; and one of those 
 strange feelings he called his "presentiments" came over him. "France 
 has lost Italy," he said to Bourrienne. " It is all over : my forebodings 
 never deceive me." It was of no avail that his secretary represented the 
 want of connexion between the boat on the Nile, and tlie beautiful 
 country he had conquered. Nothing could remove his impression, 
 which was singularly verified, as we shall presently see.
 
 182 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The situation of the French army now became critical. Its losses 
 in killed, wounded, and sick, had been heavy ; provisions began to fail, 
 and the plague was in the hospitals. The inhabitants of the country 
 were constantly repairing to the camp, and frequently on their knees 
 offered up prayers for the success of the French, and their own release 
 from their cruel pasha. The people of Damascus offered their keys to 
 Napoleon. It was, however, impossible to overcome the garrison. Fully 
 appreciating the importance of that which he relinquished, Napoleon at 
 length raised the siege. The sick and wounded had already been 
 removed, and sent in the direction of Jaffa ; towards which place the 
 whole army commenced a retreat on the night of the 20th of May. 
 " The fate of the east lay in that small town," said Napoleon, in relating 
 these events at St. Helena. " Had St. Jean d'Acre fallen, I should have 
 changed the face of the world." Whether such extensive results would 
 have followed or not, it is certain that all further conquest eastward was 
 at once prevented by the check he here received, and that he had no 
 alternative but to return to Egypt with all possible despatch. His 
 career in the east was effectually stopped, and this is mainly to be 
 attributed to the great skill of Phelippeaux, and the indefatigable energies 
 of Sir Sydney Smith. 
 
 The French army left a long wilderness of conflagration in its track. 
 The brilliancy of an oriental sun was absolutely obscured by the smoke 
 of burning towns and villages, with all their rich crops ; destroyed to re- 
 tard pursuit. A stifling and smouldering atmosphere added more in- 
 tolerably to the fierce heat. The scorching soil was strewed at intervals 
 with the dead or dying, from the detachment sent on before. Those 
 who still retained any life implored for assistance. " I am not infested, 
 I am only wounded," they would cry, and then shew their wounds, or 
 tear them open afresh, in their desperation. Misery had made every one 
 remorselessly selfish. The whole army passed on, wdth only here and 
 there a withering remark, such as " It is all over with him !" Oppressed 
 with the sight of so much suffering. Napoleon issued an order at the first 
 halting place, that every horse, mule, and camel in the army, should be 
 given to the sick, wounded, and infected, whom they had now overtaken. 
 In the excited state of his feelings, he violently struck his equerry, who 
 came with a tone of remonstrance to ask " What horse was to be re- 
 served for the General-in-Chief?" " Every one must go on foot, you 
 rascal 1" he exclaimed, in a fearful tone of mingled rage and anguish, " I 
 the first." 
 
 On the march between Cesarea and Jaffa, Napoleon very narrowly 
 escaped death. Many of the officers had by this time regained their 
 horses, owing to the continual death of the wretched objects who had 
 been mounted upon them. Napoleon, as he rode, was so exhausted that
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 188 
 
 he had fallen asleep. A little before daybreak, a Naplousian, concealed 
 among the bushes close to the road side, took aim at his head, and lired. 
 The ball missed : the man was pursued, caught, and ordered to be in- 
 stantly shot. Four Guides drew their triggers, but all their carbines 
 hung fire, owing to the extreme humidity of the night. The Syrian 
 leaped into the sea, which was close to the road ; swam to a ridge of rocks, 
 which he mounted; and there stood, undaunted and untouched by the 
 shots of the whole troop, who fired at him as they passed. Napoleon 
 left Bourrienne behind to wait for Kleber, who formed the rear-guard, 
 and to order him " not to forget the Naplousian." This was revolting 
 and little-minded. After going through such an ordeal in return for his 
 ambuscade, the Syrian was fairly entitled to his life. It is not certain 
 that he was shot at last, and we may, therefore, hope he escaped the 
 intended vengeance. 
 
 Jaffa was now destined to be the scene of another of those dreadful 
 expediencies of war, which, like the last-mentioned, has been made a 
 subject for dark accusation against Napoleon. The French army reached 
 Jaffa on the 24th of May, and remained there until the 28th, when it 
 became imperatively necessary to continue the retreat. During the 
 siege of Acre, the military hospitals had been established at Jaffa. It 
 was now requisite to remove all the patients. It appears that Napoleon 
 exerted liimself by his presence, and by words of encouragement, to nerve 
 up the unfortunate sufferers to endure this agonising necessity. Some 
 accounts say that he touched the plague patients, to lessen the dread 
 which all felt of contagion. 
 
 We will not attempt to describe the horrors of emptying a hospital 
 of its patients, under such circumstances. The painful task was at 
 length accomplished, and all the sick sent forward, with the exception 
 of a few men (the number varies in different accounts from seven to 
 twenty), in the last stage of the plague, and whose death was inevitable. 
 Wliat to do with these wretched men was a dreadful difficulty. To 
 carry them away could only expose them to the misery of removal 
 for no object, and would expose the whole army to infection. To 
 leave them behind would be to leave them to the probable chance 
 of dying in torments inflicted by the Turks, who were only a few- 
 hours in the rear. The expedient of accelerating their death by 
 opium was gravely deliberated. With whom the idea originated is un- 
 certain. It is generally ascribed to Napoleon, but he himself stated that 
 it was Larrey, one of the medical staff, who proposed it. From the most 
 careful examination of all the authorties, it appears certain tliat it was 
 not executed, whether from the disapproval of Desgenettcs, the chief of 
 the medical staff, or from the want of a sufficient quantity of opium ; — 
 occasioned by the nefarious conduct of the apothecary entrusted with the
 
 184 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 charge of providing the medicines, who had loaded the camel appro- 
 priated for their conveyance, wdth provisions and different articles by 
 which he expected to make a j)roiit. Thus the opium, among other 
 drugs, was extremely scarce, at the moment. One or both of these 
 causes prevented the execution of this measure, which has been exag- 
 gerated into the statement that Napoleon "poisoned" great numbers of 
 his sick soldiers ; some writers have said sixty, some five hundred. Sir 
 Sydney Smith found seven alive in the hospitals when he came up. Na- 
 poleon says that a rear-guard remained to protect them ; if so, they had 
 gallopped off before the English entered the place. Bourrienne, who 
 gravely enters upon the examination of this question, leaves it just as he 
 found it. All the facts he affirms, such as the deliberations on the mea- 
 sure ; the current report in the army that it was carried into effect, &c., 
 are admitted on all hands. That it was really done, he only "believes." 
 Savary, General Andreossy, M. d'Aure, and Desgenettes, the physician, 
 afiirm the contrary. Las Casas, who took pains to investigate the 
 matter, says the same. The statement of Hazlitt, who is most un- 
 justly accused of extreme and unvarying partiality in his biography of 
 Napoleon, (while no one, who has attempted it, has weighed his faults 
 with a more unsparing hand), is on this point, equally with his account 
 of the massacre at Jaffa, of no strict value as an authority, because, 
 whenever Napoleon expressly states a case himself, Hazlitt implicitly 
 believes in its entire accuracy. In the present instance, however, 
 Napoleon's account coincides with all other authorities. He distinctly 
 avows the intention and the wish, and gives this justification, which we 
 find in O'Meara : " ' Not that I think it would have been a crime, had 
 opium been administered ; on the contrary, I think it would have been a 
 virtue. You have been among the Turks and know what they are ; I 
 ask you now to place yourself in the situation of one of those sick men, 
 and that you were asked which you should prefer, to be left to suffer 
 the tortures of those miscreants, or to have opium administered to you ? " 
 I replied I should prefer the latter. ' Certainly, so would any man,' 
 answered Napoleon ; * if my own son (and I believe I love my son as well 
 as any father does his child) were in a similar situation with those men, I 
 would advise it to be done ; and if so situated myself, I would insist upon 
 it, if I had sense enough and strength enough left to demand it.' " Sir 
 Walter Scott, after arguing the matter elaborately, with great earnest- 
 ness and judgment, honestly acquits Napoleon of the charge, which he 
 considers a very grave one, and which it may be anticipated, is now 
 finally set at rest. 
 
 The French army re-entered Cairo on the 14th of June, and enjoyed 
 for a short period the full luxury of repose. The administration of 
 affairs had been so ably conducted, that the whole country was found in a
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 185 
 
 State of perfect tranquillity, even under the trying circumstances of the 
 unsuccessful campaign, the news of which had preceded the army. Only 
 three weeks elapsed before the calm was broken by an irruption of 
 Mourad-Bey, with his remaining Mamelukes; but he retreated with 
 rapidity before Murat, who was sent against him. The French soldiers 
 called this the encounter ofjhe two " Murats." Immediately after this 
 occurrence, Napoleon visited the pyramids, and made preparations for 
 advancing to Thebes; but he was not destined ever to accomplish this 
 journey which he earnestly desired to have made. He was overtaken 
 by urgent dispatches from General Marmont, who held the command of 
 Alexandria, informing him that a fleet of Turkish transports and vessels 
 of war, carrying troops, had appeared off Aboukir, under the protection 
 of the two British ships commanded by Sir Sydney Smith. This news 
 did not take Napoleon by surprise ; he had expected it confidently, 
 and had maintained his troops in readiness for it ; but it required 
 instant action. He retired to his tent, and employed the remainder 
 of the day and the whole of the night in making arrangements and 
 sending off couriers. By four the following morning, he was on horse- 
 back, and with his whole army in full march towards Aboukir. He arrived 
 at midnight, on the 23rd of July, and was occupied till morning in 
 making preparations for battle. Meantime the Turkish troops, to the 
 number of eighteen thousand men, had effected a landing ; taken posses- 
 sion of the fort of Aboukir, and of a redoubt situated behind the \allage ; 
 and slaughtered almost to a man, the small French garrisons which 
 occupied these posts ; both of which ought to have been more strongly 
 defended, but General Marmont had been obliged to concentrate his 
 power to defend the important city of Alexandria from any unexpected 
 attack. 
 
 The battle began early on the morning of the 24th. At the first 
 charge of the French cavalry, headed by Murat, the whole line of the 
 Turkish army, which had been drawn up in battle array on the field, 
 struck vnth a sudden panic, rushed headlong into the sea. They strove 
 wdth vain efforts, encumbered as they were in their wide and heavy gar- 
 ments and trappings, to reach the ships. Nearly the whole of them, 
 amounting probably to fifteen thousand men, were di'owned. The sea 
 at first appeared literally covered with turbans. Savary asserts that the 
 English sailors took aim and fired at these floating marks; but we reckon 
 the assertion a sheer calumny, as odious as ridiculous. Such conduct 
 is utterly unlike the character of English sailors ; besides, there appears 
 no possible motive for such a proceeding. 
 
 The villaa-e of Aboukir, vnth the redoubt in its rear, were next 
 attacked by the French. The Turks scarcely made any stand, but fled 
 
 A A
 
 KSG 
 
 THE HISTORY UF 
 
 iiHilSi 
 
 "1',;', ' ;f _. V 
 
 
 
 in confusion during the first charge, and the village was carried with 
 dreadful slaughter. Three thousand of the Turks shut up in the fort, 
 who surrendered two days afterwards, were all who escaped with life. 
 
 The Turkish fleet instantly set sail for Constantinople, and no enemy 
 remained to dispute possession of Egypt with Napoleon. He now sent 
 a flag of truce to Sir Sydney Smith, and an interchange of civilities 
 commenced between the English and the French. This circumstance, 
 trifling in itself, led to important consequences. Among other things, a 
 copy of a French journal, dated the 10th of June, 1799, was sent ashore
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. IS? 
 
 by Sir Sydney Smith. No news from France had reached Egypt for ten 
 months. Napoleon seized the journal with eagerness, and its contents 
 verified his worst fear. " My God ! " he exclaimed, " my presentiment 
 is realised ; the imbeciles have lost Italy. All the fruits of our victories 
 are gone ! I must leave Egypt !" He spent the whole night in his tent, 
 reading a file of English newspapers, which were now furnished to liim.' 
 Here he found the accounts of Suwarrow's victories over the Frencli in 
 Italy, and of the disastrous internal state of France. In the morning 
 Admiral Gantheaume received orders to prepare the two frigates Muiron 
 and Carrere, and two corvettes, for sea, with the utmost secrecy and 
 despatch, furnishing them with two months' supply of provisions for five 
 hundi-ed men. 
 
 Having made these arrangements, which he confided to no one but 
 his secretary, and Berthier, whose joy at the prospect of accompanying 
 him, insured his throwing no obstacle in the way of the undertaking, 
 Napoleon returned to Cairo on the 10th of August. Here he made 
 every preparation for departure, giving out that his purpose was to visit 
 the Delta, to observe and reform the condition of the people. He 
 selected Berthier, Murat, Lannes, Marmont, and Andreossy, with five 
 hundred picked men, to accompany him ; Monge also, and Denon ; and 
 they were all ordered to proceed to "Alexandria without delay. 
 
 On the 18th, a courier from Gantheaume brought information to 
 Cairo that Sir Sydney Smith had left the coast, to take in water at 
 Cyprus. This was the signal for Napoleon's instant departm-e. He 
 reached Alexandria on the 22nd, and Gantheaume immediately left the 
 harbour, and stationed his small squadron in front of the creek of 
 Marabout, where, on the 2nd of July of the preceding year. Napoleon 
 had first landed in Egypt ; and where he now fixed a day and hour for 
 the ships' boats to meet him, and take him and his suite on board. He 
 had appointed Kleber and Menou to meet him, but the latter only, was 
 able to arrive in time to receive his instructions. To Menou, therefore, 
 he confided his orders and dispatches ; holding with tliis general a long- 
 conference. He appointed Kleber to the chief command, and trans- 
 mitted a long letter to him, containing a clear statement of their condition 
 and prospects in Egypt, and minute details of the plans he wislied to have 
 pursued. His proclamation to the army was as follows : — " The news 
 from Europe has determined me to proceed to France. I entrust the 
 command of the army to General Kleber. The army shall hear from 
 me forthwith. At present, I can say no more. It costs me nuicli pain 
 to quit troops to whom I am so strongly attached. But my absence will 
 be but temporary, and the general I leave in command has the confidence 
 of the government, as well as mine." A letter to General Desaix, now 
 in Upper Egypt, where his wise administration had j)rocured him tlie
 
 188 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 title of " The Just Sultan," informed him that Napoleon hoped to meet 
 him in Italy or France in a month. 
 
 All things being now in readiness, every one who was intended to sail 
 with Napoleon, was informed of his destination for France. This news 
 spread joy and satisfaction through the whole party. 
 
 How far Napoleon was justified in leaving his army at this juncture, 
 has been a matter of frequent discussion. The answer must be found 
 in the state and prospects of the country he was leaving, and of that to 
 which he was returning ; and, in his own views, with regard to both. 
 Though he had completely failed in his ulterior hopes of extensive con- 
 quest in the East, the immediate object of the Egyptian expedition had
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 189 
 
 been accomplished. Egypt was subdued from one end to the otlier, and 
 was now an undisputed possession of France. The loss of the ileet had, 
 however, rendered the conquest a very unprofitable one ; utterly useless 
 in a commercial point of view, and quite untenable unless supplies of men 
 and arms could be furnished to it by the " mother" country. 
 
 " For thus doth Conquest, with a steel-cased cheek, 
 Parental guidance claim, and from the land 
 Which war has whitened with its people's hones, 
 Exact a child's obedience, and pure love." 
 
 The decisive victory of Aboukir, the subsequent tranquilHty of the 
 whole countr)^, and the good order and regularity preserved in the 
 administration of all its affairs, both civil and military, made Napoleon's 
 presence comparatively unimportant ; while his influence in France (under 
 the supposition that he exerted himself on the subject) might procure 
 for it such aid as was imperatively requisite. The following extract from 
 his letter to Kleber will shew his o^vn views and intentions at the time : 
 — " The arrival of our Brest squadi'on at Toulon, and of the Spanish 
 squadron at Carthagena, removes every doubt as to the possibility of 
 conveying to Egypt the muskets, swords, pistols, and cast-iron you may 
 stand in need of, and of which -I have a very exact statement ; together 
 Avith a sufficient number of recruits to repair the losses of both campaigns. 
 The government itself will then acquaint you with its intentions ; and I 
 shall, both in my public and private character, take every means to 
 enable you to receive frequent intelligence from home. Should un- 
 foreseen events render all attempts fruitless, and you remain up to the 
 month of May without recei\dng either news or assistance from France ; 
 and should the plague, notwithstanding every precaution, extend its 
 ravages over Egypt tliis year, and carry off upwards of fifteen hundred 
 soldiers, I think that, in such a case, you ought not to attempt to take 
 the field ; and that you would be justified in concluding a peace with 
 the Ottoman porte, even if the evacuation of Egypt should be its prin- 
 cipal condition. You would then have only to put off carrying sucli a 
 condition into effect until a general peace." A treaty of peace between 
 Turkey and France was already on foot. Meantime, the position of 
 Kleber in his new command, was most arduous and precarious, because, 
 in addition to the want of various supphes, the anny was in fact 
 blockaded by the Enghsh fleet in the Mediterranean. France, on the 
 other hand, was unsettled in all affairs, both of external and internal 
 pohcy. The peace which had existed before the departiu-e of Napoleon, 
 had been quickly broken, and a new coalition, aided by the formidable 
 power of Russia, had been raised against the Republic. The newly 
 formed governments in Italy had been overturned, and a series of 
 victories gained over the French in that country by the genius of
 
 190 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Suwarrow. The Archduke Charles had compelled Jourdan to recross 
 the Rhine, and the French frontier was now threatened by the expected 
 junction of the Russians and Austrians in Switzerland. Two divisions 
 of the Dutch fleet had delivered up their vessels to the English. Internal 
 division added danger to all these foreign reverses. The Chouans of 
 Bretagne were again in the field, to the threatening number of forty 
 thousand, according to some computations ; and worse than all, the 
 Directory, the executive government, was disliked and despised by nearly 
 every party in the country, and full of dissension within itself. To 
 meet the exigencies of the times, they had levied a forced loan on the 
 wealthy, which gave alarm to property ; and a conscription of two hun- 
 dred thousand men, which pressed heavily on the country at large. To 
 avert the danger arising from Royalist insurrections, they had passed the 
 " law of hostages," by which the unoffending relatives of emigrants or 
 royalists supposed to be in arms, were thrown into prison. This unjust 
 law, of course filled the prisons with women, children, and old men, and 
 the country with panic and discontent. It was evident that the French 
 government could no longer exist in its present form, and that the glory, 
 so dear to the heart of every Frenchman, if not the very existence of the 
 Republic, was threatened. It is impossible to have followed the history of 
 Napoleon to this point, without perceiving, that to resist throwing him- 
 self into the tide of affairs at such a moment, was out of his power. He 
 felt within himself the energy to redeem the losses which the country had 
 sustained, and there is no doubt, that schemes of personal ambition, 
 associated themselves vnth this sense of power, and began to assume that 
 form which they afterwards decidedly presented, and to deceive him into 
 the belief, that his single will, uncontrolled by any other, would best 
 guide France to the pinnacle of glory and prosperity which he coveted 
 for her and for himself. What might have been the fate of France, had 
 he remained at a distance during this period, it is impossible to know. 
 Probably the Bourbons would have regained their throne some years 
 sooner than they eventually did. That Napoleon should fly to avert 
 such a fate, is consistent with his whole life, and that he should believe 
 he only could do this, is consistent with his character. 
 
 We here find an instance of the means by which great events roll 
 onward through the world. The allied powers, with their coahtion — 
 Suwarrow, with his victories — the Directory, with its weaknesses and 
 inward dissensions — all combine to generate a condition of things, which, 
 being suddenly presented to a man in whose soul they find a responsive 
 chord, whereon they violently strike, produce a tone that fills the world, 
 for a time. Its retreating echoes are yet vibrating, when they are 
 drowned by another and another voice of power ; all rising in turn 
 to swell and die, and melt together at the last, into one great harmony, 
 when there will be peace on earth and good will among all mankind.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 191 
 
 The conference with General Menou occupied the last minutes that 
 Napoleon remained in Egypt. All Avas in readiness for departure ; the 
 boats waiting at the beach ; he was soon on board, and on his way to 
 the frigate which was to convey him to France. 
 
 He embarked on the 23rd of August, late in the evening. The dis- 
 covery of his departure in Alexandria, where the most perfect ignorance 
 as to the recent events still prevailed, is thus described by Savary : — 
 " The horses of the escort had been left to run loose on the beach, and all 
 was perfect stillness in Alexandria, when the advanced posts of the town 
 were alarmed by the wild galloping of horses, which, from a natural 
 instinct, were returning to Alexandria through the desert. The picket 
 ran to arms on seeing horses ready saddled and bridled, which were soon 
 discovered to belong to the regiment of Guides. They at first thought 
 that some misfortune had happened to a detachment, in its pursuit of the 
 Arabs. With these horses came also those of the generals who had 
 embarked with General Bonaparte ; so that Alexandria for a time was 
 in considerable alarm. The cavalry was ordered to proceed in all haste 
 in the direction whence the horses came ; and every one was giving him- 
 self up to the most gloomy conjectures, when the cavalry returned to tlie 
 city with the Turkish groom, who was bringing back General Bonaparte's
 
 192 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 horse to Alexandria." The truth, which now became noised abroad, 
 and the confirmation of it by the proclamatioii to the army, and the 
 dispatches confided to General Menou, produced at first a kind of stupor, 
 and then much discontent ; but a week had not elapsed before mens' 
 minds settled into quiet acquiescence with that which was inevitable, and 
 Kleber assumed his command without opposition. He, however, com- 
 plained bitterly of the hasty manner in which so important and respon- 
 sible a situation was thrust upon him ; and, in a letter to the Directory, 
 did not scruple to insinuate that Napoleon purposely avoided an inter\dew 
 with him before leaving Egypt ; as if to avoid his remonstrances. The 
 fate of this letter was singular, as %vill be shewn in the proper place. 
 
 It was dark when Napoleon and his suite embarked on board the 
 Muiron, but by the light of the stars they were able to discover a sight 
 of evil augury, — a corvette, which appeared to be observing them. They 
 got under weigh, however, before morning, unmolested. Napoleon left 
 no responsibility upon the admiral, to whom the various manoeuvres of 
 the voyage have been ascribed: " As if," says Bourrienne, "any one 
 could command when Bonaparte was present." By the express directions 
 of Napoleon, the squadron, instead of taking the ordinary course, kept 
 close to the African coast, in the direction of the southern point of 
 Sardinia ; his intention being to take a northerly course along the coast 
 of that island. He had irrevocably determined, that should the English 
 fleet appear, he would run ashore ; make his way, with the little army 
 under his command, to Oran, Tunis, or some other port ; and thence 
 find another opportunity of getting to France. For twenty-one days, 
 adverse winds, blowing from west or north-west, continually drove the 
 squadron on the Syrian coast, or back towards Alexandria. It was 
 once proposed that they should again put into that port, but Napoleon 
 would not hear of it, declaring he would rather brave any danger. This 
 tedious interval left only too much leisure for anxious thoughts, which 
 chiefly turned upon fears of falling in with the English. Napoleon 
 remained chiefly on deck, superintending his orders. To pass away the 
 time he often played at cards with the officers : vingt-et-un was his fa- 
 vourite game, being rapid, and one which gave him opportunities of 
 cheating, which he took great pleasure in doing. He never appropriated 
 to himself the fruits of his winnings ; they were equally divided ; but he 
 expected fortune would favour him on all occasions, small as well as 
 great, and if disappointed, he wished no one to know it. At length the 
 wind changed, and the vessels made a prosperous voyage along the west 
 coast of Sardinia ; but after passing the island, it again blew violently 
 from the west, and obliged them to enter the port of Ajaccio. Here 
 they were forced to remain from the 1st to the 7th of October; a delay 
 which increased the impatience of Napoleon to the higliest pitch.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. l<);j 
 
 "What will become of me," lie said, "if the English, who are 
 cruising hereabout, should learn that I have landed in Corsica ? 1 shall 
 be forced to stay here. That I could never endure. I have a torrent of 
 relations pouring upon me." This exclamation was made after visits, con- 
 gratulations, and endless requests, with which he was assailed. " His 
 brilliant reputation," says Bourrienne, " had prodigiously augmented his 
 family connexions, and from the great number of his pretended god- 
 children, it might have been thought he had held one-fourth of the children 
 of Ajaccio at the baptismal font." He took much pleasure in walking in 
 the neighbourhood of the town, and in pointing out the Httle domains of 
 his ancestors. It was during his stay in Corsica, that Napoleon first 
 learned the loss of the battle of Novi by the French army, and the death 
 of Joubert. " But for that confounded quarantine," exclaimed he, 
 *' I would hasten ashore, and place myself at the head of the army of 
 Italy. All is not over ; and I am sure that there is not a general who 
 would refuse me the command. The news of a victory gained by me, 
 would reach Paris as soon as the battle of Aboukir : that, indeed, would 
 be excellent ! " He passed much of this anxious period in close studies ; 
 reading the Bible, Homer, and the Koran ; conversing with the Savans 
 on oriental antiquities, and working problems in geometry ; just as he 
 had done during his recent perilous passage from Egypt. Anxious and 
 tormenting fears for the future would, however, seize at times upon 
 his mind ; and they were aggravated by the prospect of long detention in 
 quarantine, even should he succeed in reaching Toulon. 
 
 After leaving Ajaccio, the voyage was made without delay or 
 obstruction. On the second day, however, an English squadron of 
 fourteen sail, hove in sight. The French frigates were evidently 
 observed, yet suffered to pass on, and night favoured their escape. 
 Savary affirms that some officers of the British navy subsequently told 
 him that the French vessels were actually seen, but supposed to belong 
 to the English squadron, as they steered their course towards it, and as 
 it was confidently believed that the French had only one frigate in the 
 Mediterranean, and one in Toulon harbour. The signals in the English 
 fleet were heard throughout the night. The anxiety on board the 
 Muiron was, of course, excessive ; Gantheaume lost all presence of 
 mind, and was in a most painful state of agitation : he wished to return 
 to Corsica. " No, no ! " replied Napoleon, imperiously. " No ! spread 
 all sail. Every man at his post. To the north-west ! To the north- 
 west ! " He continued throughout the night giving orders, and directing 
 the course. He kept a long-boat in readiness, which he had purchased 
 at Ajaccio, and was resolutely determined to escape in this if possible, 
 should the English give chase. He had fixed on the persons whom he 
 destined to share his fate, and packed up the papers which were most 
 
 B B
 
 194 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 important to be saved. The tirst rays of the sun, however, discovered 
 the English fleet steering to the north-east, and the Muiron and its 
 companions, now relieved from all apprehension, immediately shaped 
 their course for the wished-for coast of France. This escape of the 
 renowned French general, just when it appeared certain that he must 
 be taken, produced great excitement in England, where the popular anger 
 vented and, as usual, exhausted itself in a ludicrous caricature of Nelson 
 in the act of assisting the toilette of Lady Hamilton, while the Muiron 
 and Carrere were passing in full sail between his legs. 
 
 On the 8th of October, they entered the roads of Frejus. They did 
 not know how to answer the signals, the code of which had been altered, 
 and were fired upon by the batteries ; but their bold entry, the crowd 
 on their decks, and their signs of joy, soon banished this distrust, and no 
 sooner was it known that Napoleon was on board, than the sea was 
 covered with boats. Sounds of enthusiastic welcome filled the air ; the 
 quarantine regulations were forgotten or disregarded ; and Napoleon 
 once more landed on the shores of France, crowds pressing towards him 
 from all quarters, with shouts of " We prefer the plague to the 
 Austrians." 
 
 
 I \ <^%
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 li); 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 ENTHUSIASM IN FUANCE AT NAPOLEON S RETURN HE ARRIVES IN PARIS — JO.sr.l'IIlNF. 
 
 THE DIRECTORY STATE OF PARTIES — SIEYES— BERNADOTTE — MOREAU — REVOl.I'IION 
 
 OF THE 18th AND IOtH RRUMAIRE — NAPOLEON FIRST CONSUL. 
 
 The shout of welcome with whicli 
 Napoleon was hailed at his 
 first landing, was echoed by 
 the whole population of" France. 
 A telegraphic dispatcli gave 
 notice in Paris of his arrival a I 
 Frejus, and the news spread 
 with rapidity through the c;i])i- 
 tal, where it created a .sensation 
 similar to that produced by n 
 great victory gained. It was 
 announced at the Council of 
 
 Five Hundred, and at the 
 
 ~^— -f-^S^^^- -V^ theatres ; and soon formed the 
 
 subject of universal conversa- 
 tion, and nearly as universal congratulation. 13audin, the de])uly from 
 the Ardennes, who had grieved over the late disasters of the country, 
 died of joy when he heard that Napoleon had returned. All this ilearly
 
 196 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 proves the want of confidence in the government, which then pervaded 
 the public mind in France ; but is far from affording any suggestion that 
 Republican forms had ceased to be popular. Napoleon was regarded 
 as the champion of liberty, as well as the successful military leader ; and 
 none of his actions nor expressed opinions had as yet contradicted such 
 an estimation of his principles. In the course of the rapid journey 
 which he made from Frejus to Paris, he was greeted with raptures of joy 
 wherever he was recognised. The bells were rung in the villages, flags 
 hoisted from the steeples, and the towns were illuminated at night. 
 This enthusiastic spirit was manifested very strongly at Lyons, where 
 Napoleon had always been extremely popular. The accounts of his 
 victory at Aboukir had immediately preceded him ; and this brilliant 
 success dazzled the imagination, and quite obliterated all memory of 
 his utter discomfiture at Acre. He entered Paris without being known, 
 and alighted quietly at his own house in the Rue de la Victoire on the 
 16th of October. Josephine had hurried off* to meet him the moment 
 that the telegraphic dispatch announced his landing ; had missed him 
 on the road, in consequence of his suddenly changing his route, and had 
 not yet returned. On her arrival, he received her with studied coldness. 
 He continued for three days to treat her with outward indifference, 
 while ideas of divorce, and renewed irritation from the jealousy pre- 
 viously excited by Junot, were working in his mind. It would probably 
 be more correct to say, that his " Queen of the East" had not yet been 
 finally hurled from her throne in his memory. The interval, exquisitely 
 painful as it must have been for Josephine, was not of long duration, 
 and terminated in an entire reconciliation. She resumed her former 
 place in his affections, and their union was never disturbed again by a 
 similar cause. 
 
 Napoleon visited the directors at the Luxembourg on the day after 
 his arrival. The interview was cold, and chiefly occupied in explanations 
 on the part of Napoleon as to the condition and prospects of the army in 
 Egypt, and his own reasons for returning to France. These he stated to 
 be, that having suddenly learned the losses and disasters which had 
 befallen the country, he had hastened to its defence. The directors 
 were able to assume a more advantageous position in the conference, 
 than they would have been at an earlier period. On the very eve of 
 Napoleon's return, the succession of misfortunes which had attended the 
 French armies in Holland and on the Rhine, had been suddenly checked. 
 General Brune had compelled the Anglo-Russian army to evacuate 
 Holland ; and Massena had gained an important victory over the 
 Russians under Korsakow, on the Limmat; Suwarrow having been 
 forced in consequence, to retreat before General Lecourbe. The 
 directors finished the conference by offering Napoleon the choice of any
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 1<)7 
 
 army he would command. He did not refuse, but pleaded the necessity 
 of a short interval of leisure for the recovery of his health, and speedily 
 withdrew, in order to avoid any more such embarrassing offers. He had 
 by this time, a very clear perception of the course before him, and had 
 made up his mind to place himself in circumstances to confer high offices 
 and commands, instead of accepting them. While maturing his plans, 
 he lived in the same retired manner which had marked liis residence in 
 Paris after the Italian campaign. He avoided the public gaze ; accepted 
 few invitations; went to the theatres with all possible precautions against 
 observation, and surrounded himself with a circle of acquaintances in his 
 own house. A grand public dinner was given in honour of him, by the 
 Council of Five Hundred, which he attended, but retired very early. He 
 gave one toast in the course of the evening, which was sufficiently 
 ominous, though not noticed at the time : — " The union of all parties," 
 
 Considerable changes had taken place in the state of parties durin"- 
 the year that Napoleon was absent. The Directory, which then consisted 
 of Barras, Reubel, Treilhard, Merlin, and Reveilliere Lepaux, now 
 retained only one of these names. Barras alone continued in office. 
 Reubel had retired in order of rotation, and had been succeeded by the 
 Abbe Sieyes : Treilhard had been displaced on account of some infor- 
 mality in his election : the two others, menaced with impeachments for 
 peculation and misgovernment, had resigned their offices. Their places 
 were supplied by Roger Ducos, Gohier, and Moulins. The Directory, 
 as it now existed, was weak in the extreme, from the divisions among 
 its members, and from the character of each, individually. Barras was 
 profligate and extravagant, and so fearful of being called to a severe ac- 
 cotmt for his peculations and extortions that he could not act with 
 vigour. Ducos was half a Royalist, but always followed Sieyes. Gohier 
 and Moulins were Republicans, and devoted adherents of the constitution 
 of the year Three, but were men of very moderate abilities. Sieyes, 
 the most talented of them all, had accepted a place in the Directory, chiefly 
 with a \dew to obtaining an increase of power, in order to overturn the di- 
 rectorial constitution altogether, and establish on its ruins liis own favourite 
 theory of government. Sieyes had been well known in France at the 
 time of the Revolution. He was then a violent Republican, and wrote a 
 pamphlet explaining the nature of " The Third Estate," which created 
 a great sensation. It was he who had the merit of introducing the 
 measure for dividing France into departments, by which the mischievous 
 distinctions and unequal privileges of provinces were abohshed. He was 
 not at all prominent during the reign of terror, and came in with the 
 moderate party after the death of Robespierre. Ha\dng by tliis time 
 established a character for metaphysical subtlety and political skill, he 
 was appointed one of the Committee of Eleven to whom was confided
 
 108 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the charge of fraiiiin<]f tlie new constitution. Sieyes fulfilled his part of 
 the task by the composition of a complete system of govermnent, which 
 he proposed for adoption. The members of this system were to have 
 been, a Grand Elector, as the chief executive officer ; two Consuls, one 
 for peace, the other for war ; a Legislative body ; a Council of State, to 
 discuss and propose measures on the part of the government ; and a 
 Tribunate, to perform the same functions on the part of the people. 
 The power of each of these offices was so nicely adjusted, so carefully 
 divided, weighed and balanced against the power of the others, that it 
 appears most likely the whole would have presented the appearance of a 
 body incapable of moving in any one direction. To ensure the continuance 
 of this constitution, a Conservative Senate was to be appointed. Its mem- 
 bers had no power of action or legislation, but were to be invested with 
 power to call in to their owni body any individual who appeared likely 
 to endanger the constitution ; thus rendering him powerless for good or 
 evil. The plan was rejected, and the directorial government, or constitu- 
 tion of the year Three, was established. Sieyes accepted the situation of 
 ambassador to Prussia, upon the rejection of his scheme, but had returned 
 to Paris in 1799, and obtained a place in the Directory, full of hope that 
 the time was nearly ripe for the establishment of his favourite system. 
 The two republican directors were supported by a majority in the 
 Council of Five Hundred, and by all the democratic party, Vvliich was 
 now called the " Manege," from their club of that name. Jourdan, Au- 
 gereau, and Bemadotte were the leaders of this party. Sieyes was at 
 the head of the " Moderes," who formed the majority of the Council of 
 Ancients, and Ducos followed his movements. Barras had no party or 
 adherents ; but wavered, and was even suspected of tampering with the 
 Royalists. 
 
 This was the state of parties, into the midst of which Napoleon 
 suddenly threw himself. His first idea was, as it had been on a former 
 occasion, to get himself chosen a director ; but the law, requiring the 
 attainment of the age of forty, was again an insuperable obstacle. Per- 
 ceiving the endeavour to be hopeless, he quickly resolved to overturn the 
 directorial government, and establish another, wherein he should place 
 himself in that position of power towards which he aimed. His intentions 
 were no sooner suspected than he was surrounded by all those who were 
 discontented with the established government, and who found in Jiini 
 such a leader as they had long looked for in vain. He had to choose 
 with whom to unite himself; to observe which, among the leading men 
 of the time, were likely to bend to his will and amalgamate with his 
 party, and which among them he must reckon as likely to oppose him. 
 He balanced between Sieyes and Barras for a short time, being deter- 
 mined to win over one or other of them. Sieyes and himself entertained
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. JJM) 
 
 a mutual dislike, and this had grown on his part IVoin liis haired of all 
 "men of systems." He made no secret of his antipathy; so that Sieyes, 
 on one occasion of marked disrespect shewn towards him hy Na])o- 
 leon, exclaimed to some one near him, " See how that little insolent 
 fellow behaves to the member of a government which would do well to 
 order him to be shot." These private piques, however, gave way before 
 the evident expediency of a junction between him and Sieyes, 
 Barras had no power or influence to compare in extent with that pos- 
 sessed by Sieyes; and besides, he imprudently betrayed to Napoleon 
 that he had personally ambitious views of his own. Sieyes had none ; 
 he simply longed to estabKsh his " system." This is a kind of ambition 
 much more easily regulated than the desire for power, and Napoleon 
 did not fear that he should find the means of keeping it in abeyance, 
 particularly as the Abbe was fond of money, and might be quieted by a 
 handsome provision. He commanded a majority in the Council of 
 Ancients ; was at the head of that large party known by the name of 
 " Moderes ; " and led Duces, who was sure to follow in his track. 
 These considerations determined Napoleon. He opened a negociation 
 with Sieyes ; and had no sooner convinced him that the project of over- 
 turning the directorial government was his object, than he was regarded 
 as the instrument destined to gi\'^e to France that "systematic" consti- 
 tution so long deliberated and desired. His overtures were cordially met, 
 and Sieyes gave all the weight of his influence to the impending revolution. 
 Two men whose names have since been known all over Europe, were 
 also added to the number of his adherents : Talleyrand, who had been 
 recently deposed from a place in the ministry ; and Fouche, minister ol" 
 police. The talents of both were actively employed in his service, and 
 materially promoted liis success. He had no faith in Fouche, and used 
 him without giving him his confidence. Lucien Bonaparte held the 
 important post of President of the Council of Five Hmidred ; a circum- 
 stance highly advantageous to his brother at this juncture. It was there 
 that the greatest opposition would be made to any attempt which was 
 hostile to the constitution of the year Three. A large portion of the 
 army was certain to side with Naj)oleon. His house was now the resort 
 of all the generals and men of note who had served under him in his 
 campaigns of Italy and Egypt, Bernadotte alone standing aloof. His 
 staunch republicanism was startled by the evident growth of i)ower and 
 ambition which he saw in his former general-iu-ehief, and he mixed little 
 in his society, and continually opposed his sentiments and ophuoiis when 
 they met. Josephine had occasion more than once to exert that grace 
 and address for which she was so celebrated, to i)rcvcnt open (|uarrels. 
 Bernadotte had been minister of war (having laUly nsigiud that office 
 to Dubois de Crancc, a man of less force of character), and had iu still
 
 200 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 held that situation, lie would have been a formidable antagonist. Moreau, 
 having influence over one part of the army, might prove dangerous ; but 
 Napoleon rightly judged that his ambition was not political, but military, 
 and might therefore be satisfied, without danger to the object now in 
 view. 
 
 A meeting took place between Napoleon and Sieyes on the 6th of 
 November, in which it was finally determined that the revolution should 
 be attempted on the 9th. This day, called, in the history of the period, 
 the 18th Brumaire, was exactly one month from the day of Napoleon's 
 landing at Frejus. The measures resolved upon were as follows : — The 
 Council of Ancients, taking advantage of an article in the constitution, 
 which authorised the measure, were to decree the removal of the legis- 
 lative bodies to St. Cloud. They were next to appoint Napoleon 
 commander-in-chief of their own guard, of the troops of the military 
 division of Paris, and of the national guard. These decrees were to be 
 passed at seven in the morning ; at eight, Napoleon was to go to the 
 Tuileries, where the troops should be assembled, and there assume the 
 command of the capital. 
 
 Every arrangement was made in accordance with these resolutions. 
 It should be mentioned, that when Napoleon first arrived in Paris, some 
 regiments of dragoons had begged the honour of being reviewed by him. 
 The request was granted, but the day not fixed. Thirty or forty 
 adjutants of the National Guard, together with the officers of the gar- 
 rison, and many others, had made similar requests, and severally received 
 a courteous acqviiescence, without specifying the day. The day, however, 
 was at hand, and the same day was named for all. 
 
 On the 17th, Napoleon sent to all the officers of the forces, about to 
 be placed under his command, in\dting them to a meeting at his house 
 in the Rvie de la Victoire, at six o'clock the following morning, and 
 appointed a grand review, of the troops in the Champs Elysees at seven ; 
 averting any suspicion which might be excited by these extremely early 
 hours by feigning that he was about to set off on a journey. 
 
 All occurred as it had been predetermined. Early on the morning 
 of the 18th Brumaire, the house of Napoleon, was crowded with a large 
 assemblage of officers. It was too small to hold them all ; many were in 
 the court-yard and entrances. Numbers of these were devoted to him ; 
 a few were in the secret ; and all began to suspect that something 
 extraordinary was going forward. Every one was in uniform except 
 Bernadotte, who appeared in plain clothes. Displeased at this mark of 
 separation from the rest. Napoleon said hastily, " How is this ? you are 
 not in uniform !" "I never am on a morning when I am not on duty;" 
 replied Bernadotte. " You \vill be on duty presently ; " rejoined 
 Napoleon. " I have not heard a word of it: I should have received my
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 201 
 
 orders sooner," answered the impracticable Republican. Napoleon now 
 di-ew him aside ; frankly disclosed his views ; told him the directorial 
 government was detested, and could no longer exist ; in\ited him to take 
 part with the new movement, and to follow to the Tuileries with the 
 rest. Bernadotte only answered that "he would not take part in a 
 rebellion ; " and with some difficulty, made a half promise of neutrality. 
 Napoleon now only waited for the arrival of the decrees of the Council 
 of Ancients : they had passed, and the moment they were brought to 
 him, he came forward to the steps in front of his house ; read the 
 documents which announced the removal of the legislative bodies, in order 
 to deliberate with greater security on the important measures required 
 by the state of the country, and his own nomination to the command of 
 the troops. He then invited them all to follow him to the Tuileries. 
 His address was well received. General Lefevre, the commandant of 
 Paris, shewed signs of disapprobation ; but Napoleon suddenly turned 
 towards him, demanding whether he would follow him, or return to the 
 '* lawyers ;" and the appeal was instantly successful. The whole assem- 
 blage held themselves in readiness to follow, with the exception of Ber- 
 nadotte, who, as the others passed him in succession, quietly took his 
 leave. Napoleon now despatched the officers of the National Guard to 
 beat the generate, and proclaim the new decrees in all the quarters of 
 Paris; and then, mounting his horse, proceeded, in company with Gene- 
 rals Bournonville, Moreau, Macdonald, and all the other generals and 
 officers, to the Tuileries, where ten thousand men under arms awaited 
 his arrival. On his way, he attended at the bar of the Council of 
 Ancients, according to their summons ; and there, surrounded by his 
 numerous staff, promised to enforce the decrees which had just been 
 announced to him. 
 
 After a brilliant review, Napoleon delivered the following address to 
 the troops : — " Soldiers, the extraordinary decree of the Council of 
 Ancients, which is conformable to articles Nos. 102 and 103 of the Con- 
 stitution, has appointed me to the command of the city and army. I 
 accept that appointment wdth the view of seconding the measm'cs which 
 the Council is about to adopt, and which are entirely favourable to the 
 people. The Republic has been badly governed for two years past. You 
 hoped that my return would put an end to the evil. You have celebrated 
 that return in a way which imposes on me duties which I am ready to 
 perform. You will also perform your duty, and second your general 
 with the energy, firmness, and confidence you have always manifested. 
 Liberty, victory, and peace, will restore the French Republic to tlie rank 
 it has occupied in Europe, and which it could have lost only by folly aiul 
 treason." This harangue was received with acclamations. General pro- 
 clamations, much to the same effect, and addressed to the citizens, were 
 
 c c
 
 202 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 posted in various quarters of Paris, where they produced excessive ex- 
 citement and much discussion. The friends of liberty now began to fear 
 that their favourite general was about to play the part of Ca?sar or 
 Cromwell. Napoleon had been prepared for this ; and with the foregoing 
 proclamations, a dialogue on the affairs of the day, was also placarded at 
 the doors of the Councils, and distributed in different reading rooms. In 
 tliis dialogue, the parts played by those illustrious usurpers of former 
 times, Avere designated as "bad parts; parts worn out; unworthy of a 
 man of sense, even if they were not so of a man of honour." " It would 
 be nothing less," continued this specious discourse, *' than a sacrilegious 
 ambition to make any attempt against a representative government in the 
 present age of knowledge and liberty. He would be a mere fool who 
 would wantonly stake the Republic against European royalty, after having 
 contended for it with so much glory and peril." 
 
 The message of the Council of Ancients, intimating the removal of 
 the legislative bodies to St. Clovid, was received with considerable surprise 
 in the Council of Five Hundred. They had no choice, however, but to 
 comply with the laws, and adjourned till next day amidst shouts of 
 " Long live the Republic and the Constitution." The galleries echoed 
 the cry ; and the zealous adherents of democracy, who were accustomed 
 to attend the debates, determined to transfer themselves also to St. 
 Cloud. It was evident that the revolution would meet with a determined 
 opposition in this council. 
 
 Sieyes and Ducos were already at the Tuileries, ready to take part in 
 the movement. Barras waited at the Luxembourg to receive Napoleon, 
 who had made an appointment with him ; and his anxiety and fears 
 increased as it began to grow evident that his expected guest did not 
 intend to appear. He had laughed at the awkward appearance of Sieyes 
 as he passed on horseback to the Tuileries, little suspecting his errand ; 
 but now, seriovisly alarmed, he despatched Bottot, his secretary, to 
 Napoleon, to expostulate with him. The messenger found Napoleon 
 at the Tuileries, surrounded by a large group of officers and soldiers, 
 before whom Barras, or rather the Directory in his person, was haughtily 
 upbraided by the successful general, who now began to assume a tone of 
 high command. " What have you done," said Napoleon, " for that 
 France which I left you so flourishing ? I left you peace ; I have found 
 war. I left you victories ; I have found defeats. I left you the wealth 
 of Italy; I have found spoliation and penury. What have you done 
 with a hundred thousand Frenchmen whom I knew, all my companions 
 in glory ? They are dead ! This state of things cannot last. Before 
 the end of three years it would lead us to despotism. According to 
 some, we shall all be shortly enemies to tlie Republic ; we, who have 
 preserved it by our efforts and our courage ! We have no occasion for
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. f20.'j 
 
 better patriots than the brave men who have shed their blood in its 
 defence." Barras instantly resigned his office ; the reports of his 
 secretary, aided by the advice of Talleyrand, having assured him he had 
 no other course. His submission was couched in terms somewhat abject. 
 " The weal of the RepubKc, and his zeal for liberty, alone," he said, 
 " could have ever induced him to undertake the burden of a public 
 office ; but seeing the destinies of the Republic were now in the custody 
 of her youthful and invincible general, he gladly resigned his authority." 
 He was immediately sent to his country seat vnth a military guard. 
 Gohier and Moulins waited at their posts in the Luxembourg, where 
 their very zeal and respect for the constitution disabled them from 
 moving in its defence. By one of its fundamental laws, less than three 
 directors were forbidden to deliberate ; they, therefore, continued 
 inactive until they found themselves prisoners in their own apartments, 
 under a guard commanded by Moreau, whom Napoleon had appointed 
 his aide-de-camp, in this manner dexterously averting any rivalry on the 
 part of that able general who was a slave to mihtary discipline, and 
 implicitly obeyed the orders of his general-in-chief, whom in his diplo- 
 macies he might have refused to follow. The two directors made, 
 however, one faint effort by writing to the Council of Ancients : — 
 "Citizens, representatives! A -great aggression has been committed, 
 wliich, doubtless is only the prelude to stiU greater offences. The 
 directorial palace has been taken possession of by an armed force. It is 
 now necessary to proclaim the public in danger ! Whatever may be the 
 fate reserved for us, we swear fidelity to the constitution of the year 
 Three. May our oaths not prove to be the last cries of expiring liberty." 
 Signed, " The two directors, Moulins and Gohier, prisoners in their 
 palace." This letter fell into the hands of Napoleon; and the two 
 directors, finding their cause hopeless, sent in their resignations, which 
 Sieyes and Ducos had already done. The Directory was thus finally 
 dissolved. All the events of the 18th Brumaire, so far as they had 
 proceeded, were thus favourable to the ultimate designs of Napoleon. 
 
 A more arduous undertaking awaited him on the 19th, when it was 
 necessary he should prepare for the result of the meeting of the two 
 councils. Whatever obstacles might yet oppose themselves to his hopes, 
 could only exist in those bodies. Sieyes had recommended that forty 
 of the leaders of the opposition should be arrested ; but Napoleon would 
 not consent, beheving himself strong enough to carry his point without 
 resorting to so obnoxious a measure. He had, however, sent a large 
 armed force to St. Cloud, under the command of Murat ; and about one 
 o'clock on the 19th he repaired thither himself, attended by Bcrtliier, 
 Lefevre, Lannes, and all the generals most in his confidence. Upon liis 
 arrival, he learned that a hot debate had conuncnccd in the Council of
 
 204 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Ancients, on the subject of the resignation of the directors, and the 
 immediate election of others. Judging it expedient at this crisis to 
 present himself in the assembly without delay. Napoleon hastily and 
 somewhat angrily entered the hall, accompanied only by Berthier and by 
 Bourrienne, who attended as his secretary. He walked rapidly up the 
 narrow passage which led to the centre of the hall, and fronted Lemercier, 
 the president. Napoleon had now to endure a series of rapid interro- 
 gations from the president, relating to the proceedings of the previous 
 day, and the present position of affairs, which betrayed suspicions of the 
 use he was about to make of the important military command with which 
 the assembly had invested him. His answers were irritable, ambiguous, 
 and confused, and little or nothing to the point. The words collected 
 together, without the interruption of the president's questions, were 
 much to the following effect : — " You are placed upon a volcano : let me 
 tell you the truth vidth the frankness of a soldier. Citizens, I was living 
 tranquil with my family, when the commands of the Council of Ancients 
 called me to arms. I collected my brave military companions : we are 
 rewarded with calumny : they compare me to Cromwell — to Caesar. I 
 have had opportunities of usurping the supreme authority before now, 
 had I desired it. I swear to you, the country has not a more disinte- 
 rested patriot. We are surrounded by dangers and by civil war. Let 
 us not hazard the loss of those advantages for which we have made such 
 sacrifices — liberty and equality." A member named Linglet interrupted 
 him at these words, by exclaiming, " You forget the constitution ! " 
 This elicited from Napoleon a more connected and more sincere avowal 
 of his intentions than any which he had yet given. " The constitution ! " 
 he answered ; " it was violated on the 18th Fructidor — on the 22nd 
 Floreal — on the 30th Prairial. All parties have invoked it — all have 
 disregarded it in turn. It can be no longer a means of safety to any 
 one, since it obtains the respect of no one." Raising his voice, he then 
 hinted at a conspiracy against liberty, in which he had been invited to 
 join. A great tumult arose in the hall at these words, and he was called 
 upon to "name the conspirators" — to "conceal nothing." When his 
 voice could be again heard, he was making, not the desired explanations, 
 but fresh accusations. " The Council of Five Hundred," he said, "wished 
 for scaffolds, revolutionary committees, and a complete overthi'ow of 
 everything." In the midst of the violent excitement which he thus 
 produced, and the fierce disapprobation and contests which were now 
 growing louder in the hall, he abruptly walked away. Rallying at the 
 uproar which pursued him, he turned round at the door, and called upon 
 the Council to assist him in saving the country ; and with the words, " Let 
 those who love me follow me!" passed quickly out, reached the court- 
 yard, where he shewed the soldiers the order from the Council of
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 205 
 
 Ancients, and then leaped upon his horse, shouts of " Vive Bonaparte !" 
 resounding on all sides. 
 
 That he had made a most wretched figure before the chief legislative 
 assembly of Ms country, is sufficiently evident, though the accounts vary 
 among writers ; some of whom put a very excellent and connected speech 
 into his mouth, while others would have it appear that he uttered nothing 
 but a broken jargon of fierce and bewildered follies. But it is plain, 
 judging from tliis and other occasions, that the commanding power 
 of oratory which Napoleon really possessed, was absolutely Kmited to 
 his position of command. In exhortation, denunciation, accusation, and 
 attack, he was hardly to be surpassed or withstood ; but when denounced 
 himself, and closely interrogated, his faculties were confused, and his 
 eloquence quite deserted him. The reason of this is to be sought, not 
 in any want of courage or fortitude, but in his habits of authority ren- 
 dering his temper ungoverned, and in the deep-designing character of his 
 mind, to wliich the suddenness of close interrogations seemed an outrage, 
 because the answers would naturally involve the disclosui-e of the very 
 things which, of all others, he most wished to keep secret. It may seem 
 a ridiculous fact, yet we may fairly infer that he went to this Council 
 quite unprepared to answer any of their questions, and was consequently
 
 206 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 astonislied, confounded, and enraged, when he found himself in such a 
 position. The novelty also of being in the midst of a furious contest in 
 which no mortal blows were dealt, seemed to produce upon him the 
 paralysing effect of a nightmare. Nevertheless, during the greater part 
 of this eventful day, he was so self-possessed that Bourrienne says, 
 most characteristically, *' He was as calm as at the opening of ' a great 
 battle.' " 
 
 The sittings of the Council of Five Hundred, under the presidency 
 of Lucien Bonaparte, had commenced with demonstrations of hostility to 
 Napoleon, which made inmiediate measures on his part imperatively 
 necessary. The members had been kept waiting for some time, while 
 the Orangery of the palace, the place destined for their hall of debate, 
 was prepared for them by the workmen. The circumstance had reminded 
 them of a famous passage in the history of the French Revolution, when 
 the National Assembly, expelled from Versailles, took refuge in a tennis- 
 court. The recollection inflamed the resolution of all the Republicans 
 present, and they entered, at length, in a humour which boded no good to 
 the innovators. The business of the day was opened by a speech from 
 Gaudin (one of the members of the moderate party, in the interest of 
 Sieyes and Napoleon), who moved that a committee of seven should be 
 appointed to report upon the state of the Republic, and that measures 
 should be taken to open a communication with the Council of Ancients. 
 Exclamations and clamours now arose on every side. "The constitution! 
 — The constitution or death! — Down with the dictatorship!" — these 
 were the sounds which seemed to proceed from every mouth. Gaudin was 
 dragged from the tribune, Lucien in vain endeavouring to preserve order. 
 A member now started forward to propose that all present should take 
 an oath to preserve the Constitution of the year Three ! Amidst 
 acclamations which silenced all resistance, every member present was 
 forced to take the oath. The moderates, even Lucien himself, who was 
 leagued with its destroyers, were all hurried on without the power of 
 refusal. In the midst of the excitement which followed the ceremony, 
 a letter was received from Barras, resigning his office. Lucien read the 
 document aloud to the assembly. The resignation was received vsdth 
 contempt, as the act of a soldier deserting his post at the moment of 
 danger ; and one passage in the letter renewed the violence which had 
 in some degree abated. It was this : — " The glory which accompanies 
 the return of the illustrious warrior to whom I had the honour of opening 
 the path of glory ; the striking marks of confidence given him by the 
 legislative body, and the decree of the Council of Ancients, convince me 
 that, to whatever post he may be called, the dangers of liberty will be 
 averted, and the interests of the army ensured." The tumult occasioned 
 by these words was hushed by a very different sound : the clash of arms
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 207 
 
 was heard at the entrance ; bayonets, drawn swords, plumed hats and the 
 caps of grenadiers were seen withovit, and Napoleon entered, attended 
 by four grenadiers of the constitutional guard of the councils. The soldiers 
 remained near the door, while he walked uncovered and with measured 
 steps up the hall. He had not advanced above one-third of its length, 
 when all the deputies suddenly rose. Stunning cries resounded from all 
 sides: — "Down with the tyrant! — down with the Dictator! — the 
 sanctuary of the laws is violated ! " A large body of the members rushed 
 towards Napoleon. He attempted to speak, but his voice was drowned 
 by cries of " The Republic for ever ! The Constitution for ever ! Out- 
 law the Dictator ! " Several seized him by the collar. It is said, that 
 Arena, a native of Corsica, aimed a dagger at his breast ; but whether 
 this be true or false, it is certain that he was seized by two or three 
 members, and overwhelmed with violent reproaches. The grenadiers at 
 this sight hurried forward, exclaiming, " Let us save our general ! " and 
 bore him from the assembly almost insensible, whether from the personal 
 violence he had sustained, excessive rage, or dismay, or all combined. In 
 the scuffle, one of them, named Thome, is said to have been slightly 
 wounded by a dagger. Napoleon was quickly in the midst of his soldiers, 
 and found ready ears and enthusiastic spirits to listen to his excited words.
 
 208 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 It was at this moment that Augereau, whose faith in his former gene- 
 ral's fortune began to waver, is said to have addressed him with the 
 words, " A fine situation you have brought yourself into! " UjDon which 
 Napoleon answered, " Augereau, things were worse at Areola. Take 
 my advice, remain quiet ; in a short time all this will change." Mean- 
 time the commotion in the Council rose to the highest pitch, and Lucien 
 was called upon to put the outlawry of his brother to the vote. Unable 
 to obtain a hearing, he threw on his desk his president's hat and scarf, 
 and amidst a storm of contention renounced his seat. At this moment, 
 a party of six grenadiers, sent by Napoleon, entered the hall, surrounded 
 Lucien, and carried him off into the midst of the soldiers. With instant 
 presence of mind, he mounted on horseback, and raising his powerful 
 voice, addressed the troops, as president of the Council of Five Hundred, 
 in a speech, far more remarkable for its dexterity than its adherence to 
 the truth : — " Citizens, General Bonaparte, and Soldiers ! " he said, " the 
 president of the Council of Five Hundred, declares to you, that the 
 majority of that Council is held in terror by a few representatives of the 
 people, who are armed with stilettoes, and who surround the tribune, 
 threatening their colleagues with death, and maintaining most atrocious 
 discussions ! I declare to you, that these brigands, who are doubtless in 
 the pay of England, have risen in rebellion against the Council of 
 Ancients, and have dared to talk of outlawing the general who is charged 
 with the execution of its decree, as if the word " outlaw" was still to be 
 regarded as the death-warrant of persons most beloved by their country. 
 I declare to you, that these madmen have outlawed themselves, by their 
 attempts upon the liberty of the Council. In the name of that people, 
 which for so many years has been the sport of terrorism, I consign to 
 you the task of rescuing the majority of their representatives; so that, 
 delivered from stilettoes by bayonets, they may deliberate on the fate of 
 the republic. General! and you, soldiers! and you, citizens ! you will 
 not acknowledge as legislators of France any but those who rally round 
 me. As for those who remain in the Orangery, let force expel them ; 
 they are not the representatives of the people, but the rejDresentatives of 
 the poniard I " The soldiers received this harangue with shouts of 
 " Vive Bonaparte!" Still there was an appearance of hesitation, and 
 it did not seem certain that they were ready to act against the repre- 
 sentatives of the people, till Lucien drew his sword, and vehemently 
 exclaimed, *' I swear that I will stab my own brother to the heart, if he 
 ever attempt any thing against the liberty of Frenchmen ! " This ener- 
 getic piece of well-timed dramatic effect was sufficient to rouse the 
 enthusiasm of the excitable people before whom it was acted. They 
 were now ready to obey any order from Napoleon. At a signal from 
 him, Murat, at the head of a body of grenadiers, entered the Orangery.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 200 
 
 The deputies were debating in a state of wild indecision and anxiety, 
 when the military slowly entered. Murat, as they moved forward, 
 notified to the Council the order that it should disperse. A few of the 
 members instantly retired, but the majority remained firm ; and one or 
 two, amongst whom was General Jourdan, reminded the troops of the 
 enormity of their present proceeding. There was a slight appearance of 
 wavering among them, when a reinforcement entered in close column, 
 headed by General Leclerc ; who said loudly, " In the name of General 
 Bonaparte, the legislative corps is dissolved ; let all good citizens retire. 
 Grenadiers, forward ! " The furious and indignant cries of the members 
 were drowned by the sound of drums. The grenadiers advanced, levelling 
 their muskets, with fixed bayonets, and occupying the whole width of 
 the Orangery. They thus drove the legislative body before them : the 
 members fled on all sides, most of them jumping from the windows, and 
 leaving behind them their official caps, scarfs, and gowns. In a few 
 minutes, not one remained. The singular resemblance of this act of 
 violence to the scene which terminated the sitting of the Long Parhament 
 by Cromwell, has been universally noticed. 
 
 The Council of Ancients was still sitting, and the extraordinary 
 proceeding which had just taken place naturally caused great uneasiness 
 there ; but Lucien, in his character of president of the Five Hundred, 
 repaired to them instantly, and made such explanations and plausible 
 statements of the recent scenes of contest and, violence, as were deemed 
 satisfactory. Tliey adjourned till eleven at night. The interval was 
 passed by Napoleon in earnest consultation with Talleyrand and Sieyes, 
 who were at St. Cloud ; and by Lucien in endeavouring to collect a few 
 members of the Council of Five Hundred, in order to legalise the decrees 
 which it was intended should be passed. About thirty members were all 
 that could be got together. This shadow of the younger legislative 
 assembly, together with the Council of Ancients, commenced their 
 nocturnal sitting at the appointed hour. Thanks were voted to Napoleon 
 and the troops ; so docile had the assemblies become. A decree was 
 passed to the effect that the Directory existed no longer, and that sixty- 
 one individuals, whose names were read, were no longer members of the 
 national representation, on account of the excesses and illegal acts of 
 which they had been guilty, and more particularly the greatest part of 
 them, in their sitting of the morning ; and, finally, a Pronsional Consular 
 Commission, consisting of Sieyes, Ducos, and Napoleon, was charged 
 with the executive power ; while two committees, consisting of fivc-and- 
 twenty members each, were .chosen from the two legislative bothes, to 
 prepare the new constitution in concert with the consuls. While these 
 measures were passing. Napoleon was dictating to his secretary a long 
 and elaborate proclamation to the citizens of Paris. He adopted in it 
 
 ]) D
 
 '-10 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the tone of Lucien's speech, enlarging on attempted assassination and 
 illegal violence ; and, without any regard to truth, asserted that which it 
 was most expedient for him to assert, in order to produce his desired 
 impression on the public mind. " Twenty assassins," he declares in this 
 proclamation, " rushed upon me, and aimed at my breast. The grena- 
 diers of the legislative body, whom I had left at the door of the hall, ran 
 forward, and placed themselves between me and the assassins. One of 
 these brave grenadiers (Thome) had his clothes pierced by a stiletto." 
 No evidence of the truth of this statement was ever attempted to be pro- 
 duced, except that one dagger was found on the floor, and that the coat 
 of Thome, the grenadier, was slightly torn. He was, however, declared 
 by the legislature to have " deserved well of his country," and was 
 honoured with notice and presents by Napoleon and Josephine. The 
 whole was an outrageous exaggeration of the truth. At two o'clock in 
 the morning of the 20th Brumaire, the provisional consul, appeared 
 before the two councils to take the oath of " fidelity to the sovereignty 
 of the people, to the French republic ojie and indivisible ; to liberty, 
 equality, and the representative system." The assemblies then separated, 
 having adjourned for three months. The most profound tranquillity 
 prevailed at St. Cloud, so lately the scene of such violence and conten- 
 tion ; and Fouche was charged to exercise the utmost vigilance in pre- 
 venting the entrance of any of the late members of the council into 
 Paris. 
 
 It was three o'clock in the morning when Napoleon, accompanied 
 by Bourrienne, entered his carriage to return to Paris. " He was com- 
 pletely absorbed in thought," says the secretary, " and did not utter a 
 single word during the journey. But when he arrived at his house in 
 the Rue de la Victoire, he had no sooner entered liis chamber, and seen 
 and re-assured Josephine, who was in bed, and in a state of the greatest 
 anxiety on account of his long absence (though he had sent to her more 
 than once during the day), than he said, " Bourrienne, I said many 
 ridiculous things." " Not so very bad. General." " I like better to 
 speak to soldiers than to lawyers. Those fellows confused mc. I have 
 not been used to public assemblies : but that will come in time." They 
 then began a long chat, in the course of which he told Josephine all the 
 events of the day, speculating on things and people. Josephine spoke 
 of the interest she felt in Gohier, the ex-director, and his family. " What 
 would you have, my dear?" said Napoleon: I cannot avert his mis- 
 fortunes ; he is a respectable simpleton : I ought, perhaps, to have 
 him banished." Bernadotte, Moreau, and others came under discussion, 
 the first consul amusing himself with his dexterous management of 
 Moreau; and at last ending abruptly with, " Good-niglit, Bourrienne. 
 F^y the way, wc will sleep in the Luxembourg to-morrow."
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 A meeting of the three consuls took place in the morning. Sieyes, 
 who had up to this moment conceived himself to he the head, and the 
 others but the arms of the new constitution, asked, as a form of polite- 
 ness, "Which of us is to preside?" "Do you not see," answered 
 Ducos, " that the general presides ?" 
 
 Napoleon did indeed most fully preside, net only over the councils of 
 his colleagues, hut over France. He had thoroughly overturned the 
 constitutional forms of liberty, for which the enthusiastic and devoted 
 struggles of so many years had contended. The fairest judgment of his 
 conduct will be found in the careful consideration, first, of the state of 
 France at the moment ; and, secondly, of the use he made of his power. 
 With regard to the former, we shall quote a passage from Hazlitt, in 
 which the best, and indeed the only grounds of defence, are eloquently 
 stated. " If the revolution had been firmly and securely established 
 without him, and he had erased or undermined the stately fabric, to raise 
 his own power upon the ruins, then he would have been entitled to the 
 execration of the friends of freedom, and would have received the thanks 
 of its hereditary enemies : but the building had already been endangered, 
 and nodded to its fall ; had been defaced and broken to pieces by internal 
 discord and by foreign war ; and the arch of power and ambition that he 
 reared, stood on ground forfeited over and over again to humanity." 
 
 The foregoing arguments are not to be regarded as proceeding 
 from an enthusiastic admirer of Napoleon, but as proceeding from a man 
 who was himself one of the most powerful, disinterested, and uncomi)ro- 
 mising advocates of freedom that ever Hved. It is for this latter reason 
 that we feel bound to give a careful consideration of tlie grounds of his
 
 3 12 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 opinions on the present equally momentous and complicated question. 
 Admitting all that he says of the condition of France and its govern- 
 ment at the time, and that " the arch of power and ambition which 
 Napoleon reared, stood on ground forfeited over and over again to hu- 
 manity," by a long series of tyrannies, abuses, errors, and imbecilities, 
 we are still compelled to ask, why did not Napoleon establish and main- 
 tain constitutional liberty, instead of rearing that arch of personal power 
 and ambition ? The shortest answer to this is perhaps the best : what- 
 ever had been the principles with which he had commenced his career, 
 he was no longer to be regarded as the champion of liberty ; and he did 
 not wish France to continue a Republic. The other side of the question 
 is fraught with difficulties, in which we have to consider whether he could 
 have maintained such a popular form of government, and yet have been 
 able to exercise his utmost means, though controlled by popular forms, 
 to defend France from the new coalition which was established soon 
 after the rejection by England of his proposals for peace. As to Na- 
 poleon's private thoughts and principles on the matter, they may be thus 
 estimated : he was a soldier, not a philosopher ; a plotting statesman, not 
 a pure patriot. Accustomed, by the force of his character, and by long 
 habit, to command men, he eventually came to despise them, and believed 
 the people unfit for self government, and France most especially so at 
 that time, when she had but recently broken her bonds of slavery, and 
 been obliged to wage war ever since. Touching the criminality of his 
 usurpation — if it be correct to use that indefinite expression — we must 
 look to the crowned heads of Europe, whose coalition against the re- 
 publican principles and struggles of the French nation, were the cause 
 of its government being thrown into a condition which inevitably ren- 
 dered it an easy prey for any description of military despotism. 
 
 Napoleon at this time had two colleagues, nominally equal in autho- 
 rity with himself. Their power faded away before they had time even to 
 commence its exercise. Sieyes had expected that Napoleon would con- 
 tent himself with the supreme command of all the armies, and had no 
 idea that he was conversant with, or wished to interfere in profound and 
 extensive political affairs and projects. He was, however, so astonished 
 at the knowledge displayed by Napoleon in questions of administration, 
 even to the minutest details, and in every department, that when their 
 first conference was concluded, he hurried to Talleyrand, Cabanis, and 
 other counsellors, assembled at St. Cloud, exclaiming, " Gentlemen, you 
 have now a master. He knows everything, arranges every thing, and 
 can accomplish everything."
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTK. 
 
 ;>l.s 
 
 .^r^JS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 FIRST SITTING OF THE CONSULAR GOVERNMENT AT THE LUXEMBOURG JUST AND POPULAR 
 
 MEASURES FORMATION OF THE MINISTRY — DEBATES ON THE NEW FORM OF GOVERN- 
 MENT — SIEYES AND DUCOS RETIRE DECLARATION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR 
 
 EIGHT NAPOLEON, CAMBACERES, AND LEBRUN, CONSULS LETTER TO THE KING OF 
 
 ENGLAND NAPOLEON RESIDES IN THE TUILERIES FUNERAL HONOURS TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 The provisional consuls held their 
 second sitting at the Luxem- 
 bourg on the day which followed 
 their installation. The two di- 
 rectors, Gohier and Moulins, 
 having received a notification 
 that they were at liberty, had 
 left the seat of government 
 ready to receive the new rulers. 
 The revolution was now com- 
 pletely effected without the 
 effusion of blood, and the utmost clemency was observed in its establisli- 
 ment. Sixty individuals were indeed at first sentenced to deportation ; 
 but this severe measure, which originated in the timid policy of Sieves, 
 was never executed. The decree was altered into a command that tliey 
 should repair to certain communes of France, which were named, and 
 remain there until further orders.
 
 214 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The new government found tlie affairs of the country in a wretched 
 condition ; every department required to be reformed, or re-modelled. 
 The treasury was nearly empty : on the second day of the consulate 
 there were not twelve hundred francs disposable to give to a courier, 
 whom it was requisite to despatch on matters of state. The minister at 
 war was unable to produce any returns of the pay, clothing, or victualling 
 of the army, which was, in general, in a condition of great privation and 
 insubordination, the divisions which were abroad being dependant for all 
 their supplies on forced requisitions on foreign countries, and those at 
 home on encroachments upon the treasury. The most important changes 
 in the administration of justice; in the internal regulations, and external 
 relations of the country, were imperatively requisite. 
 
 M. Collot, who had served under Napoleon in Italy, came forward 
 nobly to the assistance of the government in its embarrassing financial 
 position. He instantly supplied the treasury with 500,000 francs in gold. 
 For this important service, Bourrienne asserts that he was badly rewarded 
 by Napoleon : the money was not repaid for a very long time, and then 
 without interest. This piece of ingratitude, it is extremely likely, is a 
 true charge. Napoleon was accustomed to regard all financiers as cheats 
 and swindlers on a large scale ; and to consider anything of which he 
 could defraud them, as so much saved from theft ; and he may very 
 reprehensibly have made no exception even of such a case as this. 
 
 The first business of the consuls was to re-model the ministry. Nearly 
 all the appointments bore witness to that extraordinary power of judging 
 of the capabilities of men, for which Napoleon was so remarkable. He 
 sought earnestly for talent, completely disregarding party prejudices, and 
 employing men of all shades of political opinion. The office of minister 
 of finance was entrusted to Gaudin, afterwards Duke of Gaeta, who had 
 long been employed in that department. He began his difficult task with 
 conscientious integrity and zeal, neither resting night nor day until he 
 had devised a plan to reform the glaring abuses which he discovered. 
 The compulsory loan, which had produced the most pernicious effects 
 on property, and created the utmost discontent, he instantly suppressed. 
 The wise measures which he adopted, and by which he shortly placed 
 the finances in a flourishing condition, were perfected during fifteen 
 years of an able administration. Berthier was made minister at war, 
 an arduous post, considering the situation of the army, but it was 
 soon brought into the finest possible condition. Cambaceres retained 
 the post of minister of justice. He was an able lawyer, and had been 
 one of the men of the revolution, though of a noble family of Languedoc. 
 Reinhard, the minister for foreign affairs, did not immediately lose his 
 place, but was soon afterwards succeeded by Talleyrand. Forfait, who 
 had a great reputation as a naval architect, was put at the head of the
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 21.5 
 
 admiralty. He did not realise the expectations entertained of him ; l)ut 
 causes beyond the power of any single man, kept doAvn the Frcncli navy. 
 La Place was made minister of the interior ; but this great astronomer 
 and mathematician proved quite incompetent to the details of his office. 
 He soon returned to his high place in the scientific world, and left his 
 share in the regulation of sublunary poUtics to Lucien Bonaparte. 
 Monge was entrusted with the chief direction of the Polytechnic school, 
 an institution then in its infancy ; and it became, under his charge, one 
 of the most celebrated schools in the world, and of important service to 
 the country. All these official appointments had been unanimously 
 agreed upon by the three consuls ; or rather, Sieyes and Ducos had fol- 
 lowed the opinion of Napoleon without any opposition : but a serious 
 difference occurred on the subject of the minister of police. Napoleon 
 determined to continue Fouche in that office. He admitted that Fouche 
 was venal, sanguinary, and insincere ; yet, he contended, that his abilities 
 made him too valuable to be dispensed with at this difficult period of 
 affairs. Sieyes considered the government inseciure so long as such a 
 man was at the head of the police ; but the will of Napoleon prevailed, 
 and Fouche continued in office. 
 
 Several most popular measures were passed without delay by the pro- 
 visional consuls. The first of these was the repeal of the law of hostages ; 
 by which all the relations of suspected emigrants, who had been thrown 
 into prison according to that law, were at once released, and a joyful 
 gratitude was spread all over France. The next measure resulted 
 from a principle agreed upon by the government, that " Conscience was 
 not amenable to the law ; and that the right of the sovereign power ex- 
 tended no farther than to the exaction of obedience and fidelity." In 
 compliance with this principle, it was decreed that every priest who had 
 been banished or imprisoned, and would take an oath of fidehty to the 
 established government, should immediately be set at liberty, whatever 
 were his religious persuasions. More than twenty thousand individuals 
 were thus restored to their famihes soon after the passing of this law, 
 some of whom had been in foreign countries, either in banishment ni the 
 isle of Rhe or Guiana, others in prison. Very few, by refusing to take 
 the oaths, remained in exile for conscience sake. In conformity with the 
 spirit of this decree, the churches were again opened for public worship, 
 and Christians of every shade of opinion and peculiarity of forms, were 
 permitted to keep the Sunday accordingly. The universal enforcement 
 of the law of decades, which divided time by ten days instead of seven, 
 was therefore repealed. In the same spirit of respect to the outward 
 forms of all classes of the Christian world, the customary honours were 
 ordered to be paid to the remains of Pope Pius VI. This unfortunate 
 pontiff, who had been stripped of nearly all his domains by Najiolcon in
 
 210 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 liis lifetime, now owed to his former conqueror the empty acknowledg- 
 ment of his dignity by ceremonies performed over his senseless ashes. 
 He died at Valence, where he had retired at the period when, as pre- 
 viously related, the directory had ordered the overturn of the Papal 
 power, and established a shadow of the old Roijian constitution, destined 
 only to endure for a very short time. A measure of political toleration 
 was adopted in conjunction with these theological concessions. All the 
 names of those members of the constituent assembly who had formally 
 acknowdedged the sovereignty of the people, but who had been forced to 
 leave France in the stormy times of the revolution, were struck off the 
 list of emigrants. La Fayette, and his companions in captivity, were 
 restored to France by this decree. Their property had never been 
 alienated. Nine emigrants, some of them belonging to the oldest families 
 of France, wdio had been wrecked on the coast several years before this 
 period, and had since been detained in prison, were released and per- 
 mitted to leave the country, by a special act, which originated with 
 Napoleon. 
 
 The results of the popular satisfaction from these various measures 
 began to shew themselves in the departments of France, where the ci^dl 
 war was raging. The chiefs of the Chouans, perceiving a vigorous hand 
 at the helm of the state, already meditated laying down their arms ; and 
 it was not long before overtures were made by them to the government. 
 
 While these public measures were in course of progress, the arduous 
 task of forming the new constitution approached to its completion. The 
 three consuls and the two committees sat nightly from nine o'clock, and 
 generally until three in the morning, in the apartments of Napoleon, at 
 the Luxembourg, earnestly engaged in this business. The constitutional 
 theory of the Abbe Sieyes was taken as the basis of their plans ; and it 
 was his occupation at every sitting to expound and elucidate the pro- 
 found complexity of its several parts. Napoleon sat nightly, and said 
 little whilst the learned Abbe built up his elaborate details, until he 
 arrived at the summit of the transcendental fabric, viz. the grand 
 elector : at this point. Napoleon rose, and expressed his opinion in very 
 decided terms. " The grand elector," he said, " if he confine himself 
 strictly to the functions you assign him, will be the shadow, but the mere 
 fleshless shadow, of a Hoi faineant. And how do you think it possible 
 that any man, either of the smallest talent or honour, would submit to 
 the situation of a fatted hog in a sty, with some millions a year at his 
 disposal ? If he should choose to abuse his prerogative, you give him 
 absolute power. If, for example, I became grand elector ; when I ap- 
 pointed the consuls for war and peace, I would say to them, ' If you 
 nominate a single minister, if you sign a single act, without my previous 
 approbation, I will remove you.' But you reply, ' the Senate in its
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 217 
 
 turn will merge the grand elector.' This is worst of all ; nobody, at this 
 rate, has any guarantee. In another point of view, what will be the 
 situation of these two prime ministers ? One will have the ministers of 
 justice, of the interior, of police, of finance, under his control ; the 
 other, those of the marine, of war, of external relations. The first ^vill 
 be surrounded only by judges, administrators, financiers, men of the long 
 robe ; the other, only by epaulettes and military men. The one will be 
 wanting money and recruits for his armies, — the other will not furnish 
 any. Such a government would be a monstrous chimera, composed of 
 heterogeneous parts, and presenting nothing rational. It is a great mis- 
 take to suppose that the shadow of a thing can be of the same use as the 
 thing itself." 
 
 Sieyes said very little in defence of his theory of government. He 
 probably perceived at once that the death-warrant of his long-cherished 
 system was signed. It was in vain to oppose an opinion so confidently 
 expressed by the man who had all the power in his own hands. Whether 
 it had been the intention of the Abbe to appropriate to himself the 
 place of grand elector, making Napoleon his consul for war ; or to endea- 
 vour to " absorb " the dangerous ambition of Napoleon in the powerless 
 dignity of that ^' Roi faineant" while his own abilities were employed in 
 fulfilling the duties of consul for peace, is not certain. It became very 
 clear to him now, however, that he had no chance of power under any 
 form. After the first sitting of the consuls at the Luxembourg, he had 
 remarked in a tone of great simplicity, while alluding to Napoleon in 
 discoursing with a friend, " Really, I believe this man is working for 
 himself! " This belief being soon converted into certainty, he determined 
 to retire from public life altogether, and refused to accept of any situation 
 whatever in the government. Napoleon endowed him with most of the 
 private treasure amassed by the ex-directors. This sum, which is said 
 to have amounted to twenty-four thousand pounds, was designated by 
 Sieyes as a trifle for a temporary emergency (" Une poire pour la soif"). 
 The addition, however, of the beautiful estate of Crosne quite satisfied 
 him. In order to save his delicacy, a decree was passed, forcing him to 
 accept this mark of the pubHc gratitude. The office of a senator, and a 
 salary of twenty-five thousand francs annexed to it, were furthermore 
 added after the new constitution was formed. " In short," says Scott, 
 *' this celebrated metaphysician disappeared as a poHtical person, and 
 became, to use his own expression, absorbed in the pursuit of epicurean 
 indulgences, which he covered with a veil of mystery." His external 
 portrait, and the movements of his mind, are thus described by the subtle 
 and graphic hand of Carlyle : " Behold him, the light thin man ; cold, 
 but elastic, wiry; instinct with the pride of logic ; passionless, or witli 
 but one passion, that of self-conceit. If, indeed, that can be called a 
 
 E E
 
 218 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 passion wliicli, in its independent concentrated greatness, seems to have 
 soared into transcendentalism ; and to sit there with a kind of godlike 
 indifference, and look down on passion ! lie is the man, and wisdom 
 shall die with him. This is the Sieyes who shall be system-builder, 
 constitution-builder general : and build constitutions (as many as wanted) 
 sky-high, which shall all unfortunately fall before he get the scaffolding 
 away. ' La Politique,'' said he to Dumont, ' Polity is a science I think I 
 have completed (achevee). What things, O Sieyes, with thy clear assi- 
 duous eyes art thou to see ! But w^ere it not curious to know how 
 Sieyes now in these days (for he is said to be still (1834) alive) looks out 
 on all that constitution masonry, through the rheumy soberness of extreme 
 age ? Might we hope still with the old irrefragable transcendentalism ? 
 The victorious cause pleased the gods, the vanquished one pleased 
 Sieyes." His colleague, Roger Ducos, followed his example, though his 
 retirement was not attended with the same munificent rewards, and 
 certainly not with the same sublimation of intellectual self-complacency. 
 Thus was Napoleon left in sole power, without any nominal office 
 whatever. 
 
 The new constitution, as at length decided upon, continued the 
 executive power in the hands of three consuls, who were to be elected 
 for the space of ten years, and were then eligible to re-election. The 
 First Consul held powers very far superior to his colleagues. He alone 
 had the right of nominating to all offices, civil and military, and of 
 appointing nearly all functionaries whatsoever. He was to propose all 
 new laws, and originate all measures for the internal and external defence 
 of the country and its government. He was commander of all the forces, 
 superintended all national relations, at home and abroad, and coined the 
 public money. The two supplementary consuls were to be the indis- 
 pensable councillors of the First Consvd, but he was recognised to be 
 independent of them. 
 
 " The Constitution of the year Eight, in destroying the system of two 
 Chambers, substituted four political bodies in its place, viz. : The Council 
 of State, the Tribunate, the Legislative Body, and the Senate ; and never 
 was the maxim of divide et impera better exemplified. 
 
 " The duty of the Council of State was to communicate any proposed 
 law to the Legislative body, and there to justify the proposal in the name 
 of the government. The Tribunate was to support the popular interests. 
 The business of the Legislative body was to hear and to decide. Finally, 
 the Senate was required to interpose when the Tribunate declared that 
 the constitution was violated."* 
 
 * "Napoleon in Council," translated from the French of Baron Pelet de la Lozere, 
 by Captain Basil Hall, R. N.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 219 
 
 According to the plan of the Abbe Sieyes, the people were to be 
 divided into three classes, which should each of them declare a certain 
 number of persons eligible to certain gradations of the state. Out of the 
 three lists of names thus chosen, the various functionaries were to be ap- 
 pointed ; the members of the Senate by the First Consul ; the members of 
 the Legislative body and of the Tribunate, by the Senate. The number 
 of the senators was not to exceed eighty : their office was for life, with a 
 high salary : they became incapable for ever of any other public duty : 
 their sittings were not public ; and after their first appointment the people 
 were to interfere no further in their election. They w^ere to supply 
 vacancies in their own assembly by choosing the future senator from a 
 list of three persons furnished by the First Consul, the Legislative body, 
 and Tribunate. The number of the Legislative body was to be three 
 hundred; and of the Tribunate one hundred. The Council of State was 
 nominated by the First Consul, and its members could be dismissed at his 
 pleasure. 
 
 This form of government, known as the Constitution of the year 
 Eight, was published and submitted to the people on the 13th of December, 
 1799, and received the sanction of three millions, eleven thousand and 
 seven votes ; a number more than doubling those obtained by the 
 constitution of 1 792, and of the year Three. 
 
 Napoleon assumed the place of First Consul without question or 
 debate. For coadjutors, he named Cambaceres, the late minister of 
 justice, and Lebrun, a man long used to state affairs, and who, tliougli 
 sincerely attached to the Revolution, had influence with the royalist 
 party, having been formerly connected with the business of the state 
 under Chancellor Maupeou, Without waiting for the fomiation of the 
 lists by popular choice. Napoleon appointed sixty senators with the 
 assistance of his two councillors alone ; these sixty nominated the three 
 hundred members of the Legislative body, and the one hundred members 
 of the Tribunate. The Council of State and the ministry w^ere also 
 expressly chosen by Napoleon himself. Every department of the 
 government, therefore, emanated from the executive power, the peo})le 
 having had no voice whatever in the matter. 
 
 Notwithstanding this violation of both the spirit and letter of the 
 new constitution, to an extent, the grossness of which was only to be 
 surpassed by the calm audacity wherewith it was perpetrated; the 
 new government was popular far beyond any of those which had 
 been established in succession since the period of the Revolution. 
 The people were at once dazzled and satisfied with the glory of 
 Napoleon's name and talents, and contented under his just and vigorous 
 administration. All parties found their condition improved and their 
 grievances redressed ; while their conviction tluit victory would soon
 
 220 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 return to the national banners, now their successful general was at the 
 head of affairs, was sufficient to reconcile France to the thorough demoli- 
 tion of its republican principles of government, and to the proportionate 
 loss of the people's liberties. 
 
 Of all the classes best satisfied, it will be readily anticipated that the 
 army was the strongest in its exultation at the position of the renowned 
 leader who was identified with their greatest victories. The First Consul 
 held frequent and splendid reviews of the troops. He traversed the ranks, 
 now on horseback, now on foot ; entering into the minutest details con- 
 cerning the wants of the men and the service, and dispensing, in the name 
 of the nation, distinctions and rewards. A hundred soldiers, who had 
 signalised themselves in action, received from his hand the present of a 
 liandsome sabre each, on one of these occasions. 
 
 The first measure of Napoleon, after the establishment of his power, 
 was to direct Talleyrand, who was now minister for foreign affairs, to 
 open negociations with the court of London in order to treat for peace. 
 In expressing his earnest wish to obtain peace. Napoleon said to his 
 secretary : " You see I have two great enemies to cope with ; I will 
 conclude peace with tlie one I find most easy to deal with : that will 
 enable me immediately to assail the other. I frankly confess that I
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 2'^l 
 
 should like best to be at peace with England. Nothing would then be 
 more easy than to crush Austria. She has no money except what she 
 gets through England." 
 
 It was in accordance with the spirit of these expressions that Napoleon 
 wrote the following letter to George the Third : — 
 
 " Bonaparte, First Consul of the Republic, to his Majesty the King 
 of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 " Called by the wishes of the French nation to occupy the first 
 magistracy of the Republic, I have thought proper, in commencing the 
 discharge of the duties of this office, to communicate the event directly 
 to your Majesty. 
 
 " Must the war which for eight years has ravaged the four quarters of 
 the world be eternal ? Is there no room for accommodation ? 
 
 " How can the two most enlightened nations in Europe, stronger and 
 more powerful than is necessary for their safety and independence, 
 sacrifice commercial advantages, internal prosperity, and domestic happi- 
 ness, to vain ideas of grandem* ? Wlience is it that they do not feel peace 
 to be the first of wants as well as the first of glories ? 
 
 " These sentiments cannot be new to the heart of your Majesty, who 
 rule over a free nation with no other view than to render it happy. 
 
 " Your Majesty will see in this overture only my sincere desire to 
 contribute effectually, for the second time, to a general pacification, by a 
 prompt step taken in confidence, and freed from those forms which, 
 however necessary to disguise the apprehensions of feeble states, only 
 serve to discover in those that are powerful a mutual wish to deceive. 
 
 " France and England may, by the abuse of their strength, long defer 
 the period of its utter exhaustion, unhappily for all nations. But, I will 
 venture to say, that the fate of all civilised nations is concerned in the 
 termination of a war, the flames of which are raging throughout the \\hole 
 world. " I have the honour to be, &c., " Bonaparte." 
 
 There are good grounds for believing that in this negociation Napoleon 
 was perfectly sincere, although some of his biographers insinuate that he 
 really longed for war, and only offered peace to make a show of modera- 
 tion. But it should be remembered that the government of wliich he was 
 the head, required time to consolidate itself; that France was at war with 
 all Europe, had lost Italy, and that the whole organisation of the country, 
 in matters both ci\al and military, needed regulation and reform. Shortly 
 afterwards the Consular cabinet offered peace to Austria. 
 
 It was while these negociations were pending that the letter of Kleber, 
 full of complaints against Napoleon, reached Paris. It was dated from 
 Cairo, and addressed to the Directorial Government. When it arrived 
 Napoleon was " the government," and received it in due course of business.
 
 222 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 He immediately returned a letter of commendation and encouragement 
 to the soldiers of the East, adding with humorous gravity and effrontery, 
 by way of reply to the accusations, " Place in Kleber the boundless con- 
 fidence which you reposed in me : he deserves it." 
 
 Chiefly to keep up in the public mind the notion that Egypt was a 
 prosperous French colony, the First Consul busied himself about a 
 company of actors, whom he announced an intention of sending there : 
 his " intention" was, however, never carried into effect. His policy with 
 regard to Egypt was, of course, dependent on the reception by England 
 of his offers of peace. 
 
 The vigorous measures of the Consulate began with an act ominous 
 of the future principles of Napoleon's government, A decree published 
 on the 2Tth Nivose, restricted the liberty of the press in the following 
 terms : — " The consuls of the Republic, considering that some of the 
 journals printed at Paris are instruments in the hands of the enemies of 
 the Republic, over the safety of which the Government is specially 
 intrusted by the people of France to watch, decree that the minister of 
 pohce shall, during the continuance of the war, allow only the following 
 journals to be printed and published." Twelve journals are then named, 
 together with " La Decade Philosophique, and those papers which are 
 exclusively devoted to science, art, literature, commerce and advertise- 
 ments." The decree went on to state that, if any of the licensed journals 
 should insert articles " against the sovereignty of the people" they should 
 be suppressed; but great indulgence was extended to them on that point, 
 as will be easily credited. 
 
 At this early period of his administration. Napoleon also organised a 
 secret police. Duroc and De Moncey were at first the directors of this 
 system of espionage, which was intended to counter-mine that of Fouche. 
 The deep craft of the latter, however, was not to be superseded or eluded, 
 and he soon found out the whole institution, knew the names of all the 
 subaltern agents, and all the ramifications of their proceedings. This 
 secret police embittered Napoleon's hfe, and often exasperated him 
 unjustly with his wife, his relations, and friends. The discovery of some 
 false reports communicated to him by its agents, made him subsequently 
 attach far less importance to its utility. 
 
 The reply of the British Cabinet to the overtvu-es of peace made by 
 Napoleon, arrived early in January. It was couched in the usual diplo- 
 matic form, being addressed by Lord Grenville, the Secretary of State for 
 Foreign Affairs, to the Minister of Foreign Relations at Paris, and 
 contained a refusal on the part of his Britannic Majesty to treat with the 
 consular government of France. The language of this official dispatch 
 was evasive. Tlic refusal was to be expected, being perfectly in accord- 
 ance with tlie principles which guided the rulers of England at that
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. go,'} 
 
 period. They had jomed the other governments of Europe in commencin*'- 
 the war against France, in order to restore its legitimate sovereign, con^ 
 trary to the will of the French people, and equally contrary to the very 
 principles which had placed the princes of the House of Brunswick on tlie 
 throne of England, to the exclusion of the Stuarts; and they intended to 
 continue it for the accomplishment of the same purpose. E\idences of this 
 intention break forth very clearly in some passages of Lord Grenville's 
 letter, notwithstanding that it begins in a different tone : — " The Kino-," 
 writes his lordship, "has given frequent proofs of his sincere desire for the 
 re-establishment of secure and permanent tranquilHty in Europe. He 
 neither is, nor has been, engaged in any contest for a vain and false glory. 
 He has had no other view than that of maintaining, against all aggression, 
 the rights and happiness of his subjects." The following passage speaks 
 plainer : — " No real advantage can arise from such negociations to the 
 great and desirable object of general peace, until it shall appear that those 
 causes have ceased to operate which originally produced the war." The 
 following is, however, still more distinct : — " The best and most natural 
 pledge of the reality and permanence of better principles in France, would 
 be the restoration of that line of princes which for so many centuries 
 maintained the French nation in prosperity at home, and in consideration 
 and respect abroad." This sentence, which unavoidably recals to mind 
 the revolution of 1688 in England, and the strenuous efforts made by 
 Louis XIV. in support of the exiled family of Stuart, calls forth the 
 following remark from Hazlitt : — " And which line of princes, be it 
 remembered, carried on war for a great part of the last century to dethrone 
 his Britannic Majesty's family, on the very same principle that he wishes 
 to restore theirs." A letter, pretending to come from the last descendant 
 of the Stuart family, shortly afterwards appeared in the " Moniteur," 
 congratulating the King of Great Britain on his accession to the doctrine 
 of legitimacy, and summoning him to make good his principles by abdi- 
 cating his crown in favour of the lineal heir. Finally, however. Lord 
 Grenville, with diplomatic circumambience, declared that there existed 
 " no sufficient evidence of the principles by which the new government 
 of France would be directed ; no reasonable ground by which to judge of 
 its stability;" therefore, although his Majesty disclaimed any wish to 
 meddle with the internal polity of France, it could " for the present only 
 remain for his Majesty to pursue, in conjunction with other powers, those 
 exertions of just and defensive war, which his regard to the happiness of 
 his subjects will never permit him either to continue beyond the necessity 
 in which they originate, or to terminate on any other grounds than sucli 
 as may best contribute to the secure enjoyment of their tranquillity, tlieir 
 constitution, and their independence." England was thus forced onward 
 in a course as inconsistent as it was ruinous. The voice of tlic few friends
 
 221 TIIK IIISTOin' OF 
 
 of liberty who tried to stem tlie tide was drowned by large majorities in 
 both Houses of Parliament, and the misleading war-whoop was echoed 
 with unfortunate enthusiasm by large masses of the people.* The gra- 
 tification of national prejudices was present ; the bitter consequences were 
 far off, and therefore unheeded. They have learned a different lesson 
 
 • To take a glance at tlio opinions maintained by English statesmen at the above 
 period, will be a cm-ious and no less interesting retrospect. The majority for war in the 
 House of Lords was 79 ; minority, 6 : the majority in the House of Commons was 260 ; 
 minority, G4. Noble speeches in favour of peace were made by the Duke of Bedford, in 
 the Lords ; and by Fox, Wliitbread, and Erskine, in the Commons. We can only find 
 space for an eloquent extract from the forcible speech of Fox. " Is this the way," said 
 he, " that vou are to shew yourselves the advocates of order? You take up a system 
 calcidated to uncivilise the world, to destroy order, to trample on religion, to stifle in the 
 heart, not merely the generosity of noble sentiment, but the affections of social nature ; 
 and in the prosecution of this system you spread teiTor and devastation all around you ; 
 and all this without any intelligible motive — all this, because you may gain a better peace 
 a year or two hence ! So that we are called upon to go on, merely as a speculation — we 
 must keep Bonaparte longer at war, as a state of probation ? Gracious God ! sir, is war 
 a state of probation ? Is it dangerous for nations to live in amity with each other? Can- 
 not this state of probation be as well undergone without adding to the catalogue of human 
 sufferings ? ' But we must pause ! ' What ! must the bowels of Great Britain be torn 
 out — her heart's blood spilt — her treasures wasted — that you may make an experiment ? 
 Put yourselves — oh ! that you would put yourselves — in the field of battle, and learn to 
 judge of the host of horrors that you excite." ***** " Sir, I have 
 told you my opinion. I think you ought to have given a civil, clear, and explicit answer 
 to the overture, which was fairly and handsomely made you. If you Avere desirous that 
 the negociation sho\ild have included all your allies, you should have told Bonaparte so ; 
 but I believe you were afraid of his agreeing to the proposal. You took that method 
 before. 'Aye,' but you say, 'the people were anxious for peace in 1797.' I sa}'^ they 
 are friends to peace now ; and I am confident that you will one day own it. Believe me, 
 they are friends to peace ; although by the laws which you have made, restraining the 
 expression of the sense of the people, public opinion caimot now be heard as loudly and 
 unequivocally as heretofore. But I will not go into the internal state of this coimtry : it 
 is too afflicting to the heart to see the strides which have been made, by means of and 
 imder tiie miserable pretext of this war, against liberty of every kind, both of speech and 
 of writings ; and to observe in another kingdom the rapid approaches to that militarj' 
 despotism, which we affect to make an argument against peace. I know, sir, that public 
 opinion, if it could be collected, would be for peace ; and I know that it is only by public 
 opinion — not by a sense of their duty — not by the inclination of their minds — that minis- 
 ters will be brought, if ever, to give us peace. I ask for no gentleman's support to-night 
 who would have voted against ministers if they had come down and proposed to enter 
 into a negociation with the French : but I have a right to ask — I know that in honour, 
 in consistency, in conscience, I have a right to expect the vote of every gentleman who 
 would have voted with ministers in an address to his Majesty, diametricafly opposite to 
 the motion of this night." Mr. Wliitbread maintained the position that, "had it not 
 been for the interference, the folly, and the ambition of the other powers of Europe, the 
 French revolution would at tliis time have borne a very differetit complexion ; none of 
 that pernicious rage for glory and conquest, so much deprecated in the French nation, 
 would have existed."
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 225 
 
 MOW, taught by the severe experience ol' heavy taxation and ])V()cligal 
 waste of wealtli and human life. 
 
 Napoleon instantly prepared for war. It is said that on receiving 
 the reply from England, he exclaimed to Talleyrand, " It could not have 
 been more favourable." This is very possible, inconsistent as it appears 
 with his convictions that peace was the best for France. He played the 
 desperate game of war too well not to be fond of it, and all h^urope con- 
 spired to give him opportunities for the frightful j)astime. He had been 
 meditating the plan of the fresli campaign in the interval, and was (juite 
 ready to strike the decisive blow in Italy, when the moment for it should 
 arrive. On the 7th of .lanuary, IcSOO, only three tlays after the date of 
 Lord Grenville's dispatch, a consular decree ordered the formation of an 
 army of reserve, tol)e com))osed ol'all the veteran soldiers then unem])l()yed, 
 and a levy of thirty thousand recruits, or conscripts, as they were termed ; 
 and the most active ])re])arati()ns were ra])idly made. 
 
 Before the First Consul put his army in motion, he received an over- 
 ture from the House of Bourbon, wliich it is natural to suppose was not 
 unconnected with the im])lied intentions of England as to the war. The 
 following letter from Louis XVIH., then in exile, was put into his hands 
 in the month of February : — 
 
 " Sir — Whatever may be tlieir apparent conduct, men like you never 
 ins])ire alarm. You have accepted an eminent station, and I thank you 
 for having done so. Yoii know better than any one how much strength 
 and ])()vver are requisite to secure the happiness of a great nation. Save 
 l^'rance from her own violence, and you will fulfil the first wish of my 
 heart. Restore her king to her, cUid future generations will bless your 
 memory. You will always be too necessary to the state for me ever to 
 be able to discharge by important ap])oiutments, the debt of my family, 
 and myself. " Louis." 
 
 This letter, in the hand-writing of the Bourbon prince, was dated the 
 20th of February, 1800. It produced some agitation in the mind of 
 Napoleon, though it appears certain he never Ibr a moment entertained 
 the idea of acting the part of General Monck, and restoring the legitimate 
 sovereign. He hesitated, liowever, whether to reply, and the j)ressure of 
 business prolonged his delays. Meanwhile Josephine and her daughter 
 Hortense urged him to " hold out hope to the king, without ])ledging 
 himself." They were so pressing in their entreaties that he one day 
 exclaimed to his secretary: — " These devils of women are mad ! The 
 Faubourg St. Germain has turned their heads! But 1 care not; I will 
 have nothing to do with them. The partisans of the Bourbons are 
 deceived if they suppose 1 am the man to play Monck's part." It seems 
 plain that Josephine was really anxious that her husband should treat 
 
 F F
 
 226 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 with Louis XVIII., which, she hoped, might banish from his mind the 
 thought of making liimself king, a prospect that always alarmed her 
 imagination. Napoleon never returned any answer to the king's letter ; 
 but, after several months he received another, to which he finally replied. 
 He had abolished the oath of " hatred to royalty," together with the cele- 
 bration of the 21st of January, the anniversary of the death of Louis XVI. 
 It is not im])robable that this circumstance had raised the hopes of the 
 Bourbons. 
 
 The following acute observations are made by Mr. Lockhart: — " The 
 Bourlions are right in considering these as monarchial symptoms ; but 
 shrewd observers perceived clearly in whose favour such changes were 
 designed to operate. It appears that some of Napoleon's colleagues made 
 a last effort to circumscribe his power, by urging on him the necessity 
 of his immediately placing himself at the head of the armies in the field; 
 expecting, no doubt, great advantages, could they remove him from the 
 seat of government, at the time when the new machinery was getting 
 into a regular course of motion. He sternly resisted all such suggestions. 
 * I am chief consul,' said he, ' I will remain in Paris.' And it was, indeed, 
 most necessary for his success, that he should remain there at this critical 
 epoch ; for, in the arrangement of every branch of the new government, 
 he had systematically sought for his own security in balancing against 
 each other the lovers of opposite sets of principles — men, who, by cor- 
 dially coalescing together, might still have undone him ; or by carrying 
 their animosities to extremity, overturned the whole fabric of his manu- 
 facture. It was thus that he had chosen one consul from the republican 
 party, and another from the royalist ; either of whom might, in his 
 absence, have been tempted to undermine his sway ; whereas both Cam- 
 baceres and Lebrun, overawed by his presence, proved eminently ser- 
 viceable in drawing over to the interests of the chief consul innumerable 
 persons, of their own ways of thinking originally, but no longer such 
 zealous theorists as to resist the arguments of self-interest — those stronj? 
 springs of hope and fear, of both of which Napoleon, while at the 
 Tuileries, held the master-key. It was thus also, that, in forming his 
 ministry, he grouped together men, each of whom detested or despised 
 the others ; but each unquestionably fitted, in the highest degree, for the 
 particular ofiice assigned to him ; and each, therefore, likely to labour in 
 his own department, communicating little with his colleagues, and look- 
 ing continually to the one hand tliat had invested him with his share of 
 power." 
 
 The marriage of Murat to the beautiful Caroline Bonaparte, was 
 celebrated at the Luxembourg about this period. It appears that 
 Napoleon was at first very much averse to this alliance, thinking that his 
 sister might command a higher position, and made a vulgar-minded allu-
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 227 
 
 sion to Murat's parentage, but eventually yielded to the solicitations of 
 Josephine, who favoured the match. He was the more ready to comply 
 with his wife's washes, as he had been, according to Bourrienne, exces- 
 sively jealous of Murat (among others), whose handsome person and almost 
 reckless courage had obtained him the title of " Le beau sahreur.'" 
 
 This marriage was the occasion of an incident illustrative of Josephine's 
 taste for show and luxury, and the consequent extravagance and mean 
 subterfuges into which she suffered herself to fall. Napoleon being 
 scarce of money at that time, only gave his sister a dowry of twelve 
 hundred pounds ; and, as a marriage present, bestowed on her a diamond 
 necklace which belonged to Josephine, who, however, was not at all 
 pleased by this transfer. The loss of one necklace made her desire 
 another, and being aware that a jeweller in Paris had in his hands a 
 splendid collection of pearls which had belonged to the late unfortunate 
 Queen of France, she longed to become possessed of them. The price 
 demanded for these jewels was upwards of £10,000. To raise this 
 exorbitant sum, she applied to Berthier, who, after some demur, handed 
 over to her a portion of the money which he obtained from the different 
 contractors for military hospitals, whose nefarious claims he allowed for 
 the sake of a bribe, and who consequently overflowed with gratitude. 
 Berthier was covetous of money, and it is very Hkely that the discovery 
 or suspicion of such dealings as these, was one cause of his being shortly 
 superseded, as Minister of War, by Carnot. A greater difficulty, how- 
 ever, remained for Josephine to overcome. She had got the pearls, but 
 how w'as she first to wear them mthout being questioned by Napoleon, 
 who either knew, or thought he knew, all her jewels. She was obliged to 
 endure the delay of a whole fortnight before she took them from the 
 casket ; at length, she could refrain no longer, and appeared in them at a 
 large party, having engaged Bourrienne, of whom she had made a confi- 
 dant, to keep near her to help her thi'ough the difiiculty. "Every 
 thing happened," says Bourrienne, " as Josephine feared and hoped. 
 Bonaparte, on seeing the pearls, did not fail to say to Madame, ' What 
 is it you have got there ? How fine you are to-day ! Where did you 
 get these pearls ? I think I never saw them before.' ' Oh, mo}i Bleu .'' 
 was the reply, ' you have seen them a dozen times I It is the necklace 
 which the Cisalpine Republic gave me, and wliich I now wear in my hair.' 
 'But I think' — Napoleon began: 'Stay,' exclaimed the lady, 'ask 
 Bourrienne, he will tell you.'" The secretary, thus unpleasantly called 
 upon, boldly said, " Yes, general, I recollect very well seeing it before," 
 and Napoleon thereupon walked away satisfied. Bourrienne quiets his 
 conscience as to his own answer, by observing : " It was not untrue, as 
 Madame Bonaparte had previously shewn me the pearls ;" but observes 
 on "the readiness with which well-bred ladies can tell falsehoods ^vi thou t
 
 228 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 seeming to do so." As to the answers of both, there is little clifFerence in 
 the degree of falsehood, but Josephine's conduct in the whole transaction 
 is painfully vexatious in so amiable a woman ; while the unscrupulous 
 manner in which she could send to another man, without her husband's 
 knowledge, for such a sum of money as £10,000 (granting the truth of 
 the statement) can only be regarded with disgust, even by those who 
 most appreciate her many estimable qualities. She had, moreover, con- 
 tracted large debts while Napoleon was in Egypt. During that period, 
 she had bought the estate of Malmaison ; had beautified it exceedingly, 
 and lived in great elegance and splendour. Her creditors w^ere now 
 beginning to murmur ; but, dreading Napoleon's violence of temper, 
 which she knew would be excited to the last degree by the disgraceful 
 circumstance, she did not dare to tell him of her embarrassment ; espe- 
 cially as he had returned from Egypt poorer than he went. Talleyrand 
 at length broke the subject to him, and Bourrienne was commissioned to 
 ascertain from Josephine the extent of her debts. This, he found very 
 difficult ; but she at last confessed that she believed she owed £50,000, 
 adding, however, that she would not suffer more than half the sum to be 
 mentioned to Napoleon. It was in vain that Bourrienne urged her to 
 tell the truth to the First Consul, reminding her that, as he had not the 
 least idea her debts amounted to any thing like even half the sum, she 
 would have to undergo the same reproaches for it as for the whole ; and 
 only once, instead of the same scene occurring a second time when he 
 was informed of the remainder. She ended the discussion, how- 
 ever, by rejecting the secretary's advice, but protesting that she would 
 contract no more debts, and pay the rest out of her savings, con- 
 cluding with " I can never tell him Bourrienne ; I know him ; I can- 
 not support his violence." The end of this matter is curious enough. 
 Napoleon supplied the £25,000, and with this sum Bovu-rienne con- 
 trived to liquidate the whole debt ; most of the tradespeople readily 
 taking off half, or more than half, of their claims, so exorbitant had been 
 their overcharges. One instance of this is too piquante to be omitted. 
 The milliner's bill contained a charge for thirty-eight new hats of great 
 price, in one month. Josephine unable, nevertheless, to profit by expe- 
 rience, soon fell again into the very same extravagance, and embarrassments 
 of a similar description ; and this continued to embitter the happiness 
 which would otherwise have existed between her and Napoleon. The 
 annual salary of Napoleon as First Consul was about £20,000 : we cannot, 
 therefore, be much surprised by his irritation at the profusion of his 
 consort. 
 
 The Luxembourg did not long satisfy the ambition of Napoleon. He 
 soon began to make preparations for taking up his residence in the 
 1'uileries, the ancient palace of the kings of France, to which, however,
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 229 
 
 he affixed the title of the " Palace of the Government." He also caused 
 a certain portion of it to be allotted to Lebrun, the third consul. On the 
 19th of February, 1800, Napoleon took possession of this royal residence. 
 Great crowds had collected to greet him on his way. He went in pro- 
 cession, but with no great splendour. The fine regiment of the Guides 
 led the way. The ministers alone, with the exception of the consuls, 
 appeared in private carriages ; for in those republican days no others were 
 seen in Paris. The remaining vehicles in the procession were all hackney 
 coaches, the numbers being covered over with paper. Napoleon, accom- 
 panied by his two colleagues, was in a carriage drawn by the six white 
 horses presented to him by the Emperor of Austria. Enthusiastic 
 acclamations and cries of " Long live the First Consul !" were uttered as 
 he entered the gates of the palace. Directly he arrived, he sprang upon 
 his horse, and held a grand review of the troops. 
 
 When the 96th, 43rd, and 50th demi-brigades defiled before him, he 
 was observed to take off" his hat and incline his head, in token of respect 
 at the sight of their colours torn to shreds with balls, and blackened with 
 smoke. 
 
 He afterwards, in company with the other consuls, received the mem- 
 bers of the diplomatic body. On this occasion, something like the cere- 
 monies of a court were for the first time introduced ; and, in imitation of 
 the ancient custom of waiting on the queen after presentation to the king, 
 the official persons were afterwards presented to Josephine. Amongst the
 
 230 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 foreig^n ambassadors, the plenipotentiaries of tlie United States of 
 America formed a distinguished feature. The consular government 
 had just placed the relations between America and France on a new 
 footing of mutual amity, and commercial interchange. 
 
 On the eve of the First Consul taking possession of the Tuileries, 
 he had assisted at a ceremony of a very different character. News of the 
 death of George Washington had just reached France. He died on the 
 1 Ith of December, a private citizen of the great republic, the liberties of 
 which he had secured by his abilities as a general, and had assisted in 
 maintaining by his talents as a legislator and a magistrate. Napoleon 
 paid a public homage to the virtue, which neither his character, his wishes, 
 nor his circumstances, enabled him to emulate. He celebrated a grand 
 funeral serdce to the memory of Washington, in the council-hall of the 
 Invalids. The last standards taken in Egypt were presented on the same 
 occasion. All the ministers, the councillors of state, and generals, were 
 present. The pillars and roof were hung with the trophies of the campaign 
 of Italy. The bust of Washington was placed under the trophy composed 
 of the flags of Aboukir. A general order was issued that crape should be 
 suspended for ten days from all the flags and standards of the republic ; 
 and thus, in the imaginary funeral of a pure patriot, did ambition bury its 
 conscience, and the memory of that higher glory which outlasts the blaze 
 of the diadem, and the trophies of victorious fields.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 331 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 NEW COALITION — RUSSIA DESERTS THE COALITION THE EMPEROR PAUL NAPOLEON PRE- 
 PARES FOR WAR — ^ANECDOTES MASSENA IN GENOA NAPOLEON IN ITALY PASSAGE OF 
 
 THE ALPS HE ENTERS MILAN PASSES THE ADDA — TAKES BERGAMO AND CREMONA 
 
 GENOA CAPITULATES TO AUSTRIA BATTLE OF MONTEBELLO — DESAIX JOINS THE ARMY 
 
 AFFAIRS OF EGYPT BATTLE OF MARENGO DEATH OF DESAIX ARMISTICE RESTORATION 
 
 OF THE CISALPINE REPUBLIC VICTORIES OF MOREAU MASSENA COMMANDS IN ITALY 
 
 NAPOLEON RETURNS TO PARIS. 
 
 A NEW coalition against France was 
 established in the befjinning of 
 the year 1800. The three great 
 powers of England, Austria and 
 Russia, — tgether with Bavaria, 
 Sweden, Denmark, and Turkey, 
 made a formidable array of ene- 
 mies with whom Napoleon had 
 to contend. England had block- 
 aded Malta, and had assembled a 
 numerous army at Minorca, under 
 General Abercromby, ready to act with the Austrians in Italy. Melas, 
 a veteran officer of high reputation, commanded the Austrian army of 
 one hundred and forty thousand men. With this force, supported by the 
 English fleet under Lord Keith, it was proposed to reduce Genoa, which was 
 still unsubdued, and to penetrate across the Var into the territory of France, 
 by Provence, where a large body of royalists were ready to take up arms and 
 act in concert with the English and Austrians. General Willot, an emigrant 
 officer, and Pichegru, who had escaped from Guiana, were expected to 
 head this insurrection. The armies only waited for the approach of spring
 
 232 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 to commence operations. The Frencli army in Italy occupied the country 
 between Genoa and the Var. It was in so disorganised a condition that 
 its numbers cannot be estimated; accounts vary from five-and-twenty 
 thousand to forty thousand men. It was suffering great privations, being 
 quartered in a poor country, the coast of which was strictly blockaded by 
 the English fleet. General Kray and the Archduke Ferdinand com- 
 manded the Austrian army on the Rhine. This army was not so strong 
 in point of numbers as the force in Italy, for it was in the latter country 
 that Austria meditated the decisive blow against France. 
 
 Napoleon materially broke the strength of his enemies before the 
 conunencement of hostilities. Discovering that a coolness existed between 
 Austria and Russia (in consequence of some events in the last campaign), 
 and that a misunderstanding had at the same time sprung up between 
 England and Russia, he adroitly seized the opportunity to detach the 
 great northern power from the coalition. Russia was governed by the 
 Emperor Paul the First, a man of an eccentric and somewhat chivalrous 
 turn of mind. He had taken offence at the refusal of England to include 
 seven thousand Russians in a cartel for the exchange of prisoners with 
 France. These men, who had been taken in Holland, where they were 
 acting in concert w'ith the English army, were all suddenly set at liberty 
 by Napoleon, and sent back to their own country ; the officers having their 
 swords returned, and the men receiving new uniforms. Paul was delighted 
 with this piece of politically exuberant generosity. Shortly afterwards 
 Napoleon made him a present of the sword which Pope Leo the Tenth 
 had given to L' He- Adam for having defended Rhodes against the infidels. 
 Letters now passed between the Emperor and the First Consul. Paul's 
 first letter is very characteristic : — " Citizen First Consul, I do not waite 
 to you to discuss the rights of men or citizens ; every country governs 
 itself as it pleases. Wlierever I see at the head of a nation a man who 
 knows how to rule and how to fight, my heart is attracted towards him. 
 I write to acquaint you with my dissatisfaction with England, who violates 
 every article of the law of nations, and has no guide but her egotism and 
 her interest. I wish to unite with you, to put an end to the unjust pro- 
 ceedings of that government." These were not empty words of the 
 Emperor Paul. His enthusiastic admiration of the First Consul increased, 
 and their mutual correspondence was carried on almost daily. They 
 consulted together on the most important affairs, and concerted their 
 measures in confidence. Paul dismissed Lord Whitworth, the English 
 ambassador in Russia, seized the English ships in all his ports, and 
 prevailed on Prussia to menace Hanover with an army. His hatred soon 
 grew to so extravagant and ridiculous a pitch that he defied to single 
 combat every King who would not declare war against England. This 
 challenge was actually inserted, by authority, in the "St. Petersbui-gh
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 233 
 
 Court Gazette." He at first intended to have had it printed on vellum, 
 and to have sent it to every king in Europe. The challenge, however, 
 was sufiiciently original in those days to find its own way with speed to 
 the royal parties in question, w^ho all said, of course, that the eccentric 
 Emperor was offensively mad. 
 
 A successful negociation was at the same time opened between France 
 and Russia ; in consequence of which, the latter power influenced the 
 courts of Sweden and Denmark, and brought them under engagements to 
 observe a strict neutrality. The state of the French army in Italy was 
 considerably amended by a single proclamation of the First Consul, calling 
 on the soldiers to remember the confidence he had once placed in them. 
 *' The scattered troops," as Scott finely says, " returned to their duty, 
 as war-horses, when dispersed, are said to rally and form ranks, at the 
 mere sound of the trumpet." Massena was despatched to take the com- 
 mand in Italy. 
 
 Some important measures were originated in the interval between the 
 declaration of war and the opening of the campaigns. The first report 
 of the council of state on the civil code, was presented to the legislature 
 at this early period of the consulate. The Bank of France was also 
 founded, and the regulations for its management framed and adopted. 
 With a view to the final pacification of La Vendee, the chiefs of the 
 royalist party had been summoned to Paris during the present cessation 
 of the civil war. Georges Cadoudal, the famous Chouan leader, was 
 admitted to a private interview with the First Consul ; but the conference 
 ended unsuccessfully. Nothing could shake the attachment of Cadoudal 
 to the cause which he adopted ; he was, however, honourably dismissed 
 with a safe conduct to his own country. All the other chiefs tendered 
 their submission, and there remained only a plundering species of warfare 
 in La Vendee, which was speedily put down altogether. These provinces, 
 which had reqtdred the presence of an army of eighty thousand veteran 
 soldiers, now came peaceably under the laws and fiscal regulations of the 
 rest of France. 
 
 Napoleon, who was deeply immersed in business throughout the 
 week, habitually left the Tuileries for Malmaison, every Saturday even- 
 ing, and enjoyed complete relaxation during his Sundays. " I cannot 
 better describe the joy he then appeared to experience," says his secretary, 
 " than by comparing it to the delight of a schoolboy on getting a holiday." 
 A select set of the friends he valued most, formed his society on these 
 days, the charm of which has never left the memory of those who were 
 admitted to enjoy them. A graceful ease, combining entire freedom from 
 ceremony, with the utmost refinement, characterised these meetings ; 
 heightened by the extreme beauty of the place, and the elegance of all 
 the arrangements under the exquisite taste of Josephine. Napoleon had
 
 234 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 quite ceased to be remarkable for taciturnity and reserve. He began 
 now to be distinguished, as he always continued to be, for the very 
 opposite qualities. He shone in conversation, and had become frank and 
 communicative. However he might " play a part " in pubHc, in private 
 he was simple and unaffected ; and his discourse, which was generally 
 serious and earnest, possessed the charm of originality and sincerity. He 
 is said to have sometimes joined in the country dances at the little balls 
 given on these Sundays at Malmaison ; but though he always called for 
 the easiest figures possible, he still continually put every body out. He 
 took great pleasure in walking about the grounds, and superintending the 
 improvements which were going on. Some fragments of his conversations 
 in these walks, and some little anecdotes characteristic of his feelings at 
 that period, are given by Bourrienne. The peculiar dehght he expe- 
 rienced at the sound of the ringing of bells, first struck his secretary on 
 these occasions. When the bells of the little church at Ruel could be 
 heard, Napoleon would cease liis most serious conversation, and listen 
 with attention, stopping his walk lest the noise of his footsteps should 
 drown the soimd. " They remind me," said he, with emotion, " of the 
 first years I spent at Brienne ; I was then happy ! " Another great 
 pleasure which he experienced, was the sight of a tall, slender woman 
 dressed in white, walking beneath an alley of shady trees. He could not 
 endure coloured dresses, especially dark ones, and frequently criticised 
 the tastes of the ladies of the party, often giving Josephine directions 
 about her toilet. He liked exceedingly to have Monge, BerthoUet, 
 Lacepede, La Place, or Chaptal, for his companions ; conversations on 
 science being the most complete contrast to the eternal round of politics 
 in which he was engaged at Paris. He had no ear for the rhythm of 
 poetry, but he could appreciate great poetic ideas. He almost worshipped 
 Corncille ; and used to declare that if that poet had been then alive, he 
 would have made him his prime minister: adding, " It is not his poetry 
 that I most admire ; it is his powerful understanding ; his vast knowledge 
 of the human heart, and liis profound policy." When at Paris, he took 
 pleasure in walking out late in the evenings, going into the shops of the 
 Rue St. Honore, buying trifling things, and engaging the people in talk 
 upon the affairs of the day while they served lum, in complete ignorance 
 of the rank of their customer. " Well, madame," he would say, pulling 
 up the corners of his collar, and affecting dandy airs, " is there anything 
 new to-day ? What do people say of that buffoon, Bonaparte ?" He was 
 obliged once to get out of a shop as fast as possible, to avoid the violent 
 attack brought upon himself by the irreverent tone in which he spoke of 
 the First Consul. These relaxations were not, however, frequent; he 
 was generally engaged in business both early and late. His secretary 
 was charged witli tlie task of awaking him every morning at seven.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 235 
 
 Sometimes, if very sleepy, he would turn round, and say, " Ah, Bour- 
 rienne, let me sleep a little longer." But he generally rose at that hour, 
 sleeping about seven hours out of the twenty-four, besides a short nap in 
 the afternoon. Another charge given to his secretary was, to awake him 
 in the night whenever it was necessary. " If you have good news to com- 
 municate," he said, " with that there is no hurry ; but when you bring 
 bad news, rouse me instantly, for then there is not a moment to be lost." 
 
 From these domesticities, we must now turn again to the ungenial 
 theme of war. Preparations for the new campaign in spring were 
 completed. Moreau was made commander-in-chief of the army of the 
 Rhine, one hundred and fifty thousand strong. This appointment, as 
 Mr. Lockhart remarks, " exhibited a noble superiority to all feelings of 
 personal jealousy. That general's reputation approached most nearly 
 his own ; but his talents justified this reputation, and the First Consul 
 thought of nothing but the best means of accomplishing the joint 
 campaign." 
 
 The plan of the ensuing campaign was concerted between the First 
 Consul and Carnot, who had now superseded Berthier, as minister at war. 
 The operations were conducted with the utmost secrecy. Napoleon had 
 determined to strike the decisive blow against Austria in Italy, and to 
 command there in person. An 'article in the constitution forbade the 
 First Consul to take the command of an army. To this interdiction, 
 which it was supposed would enrage him, he cheerfully assented ; but he 
 found a ready way to evade it, as soon as the occasion was ripe. He 
 gave the nominal command of the army of Italy to Berthier, as a pre- 
 liminary measure, well knowing that he had only to appear in the camp 
 himself at his own time, and it mattered little who was called general-in- 
 chief. He at the same time began to collect troops at Dijon, which he 
 publicly gave out were intended to advance upon Italy. They consisted 
 chiefly of conscripts and invalids, with a numerous staff", and were called 
 " the army of reserve." Meantime, while a sufficient amount of derision 
 was excited in Austria by this army, and caricatures of some ancient men 
 with wooden legs, and little boys of twelve years old, entitled " Bonaparte's 
 Army of Reserve," were amusing the public, the real army of Italy was 
 already formed in the heart of France, and was marching by various roads 
 towards Switzerland. The troops now withdrawn from La Vendee, in 
 consequence of its pacification, the regiments lately quartered in Paris, 
 and the consular guard, formed the nucleus of this army. The rest were 
 conscripts, but they were commanded by officers of the first ability and 
 courage. Most of the names already known in Napoleon's campaigns 
 will be found again in this expedition. The artillery was sent piecemeal 
 from different arsenals ; the provisions, necessary to an army about to 
 cross barren mountains, were forwarded to Geneva, embarked on the
 
 236 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 lake, and landed at Villeneuve, near the entrance of the valley of the 
 Simplon. The situation of the French army in Italy had now become 
 critical. Massena had thrown himself into Genoa with twelve thousand 
 men, and was enduring all the rigours of a siege, pressed by forty thou- 
 sand Austrians, imder General Ott, seconded by the British fleet. 
 Suchet, with the remainder of the French amiy, about eight thousand 
 strong, completely cut off from communication with Massena, was main- 
 taining an unequal contest with Melas, the Austrian commander-in-chief. 
 Suchet, with liis small army, was strenuously defending the French 
 frontier, which Melas violated on the 11 th of May by the invasion of 
 Nice, but was compelled to retrace his steps to attack Suchet, who had 
 concentrated his forces on the Var. The daring plan of Napoleon was to 
 transport his army across the Alps ; surmounting the highest chain of 
 mountains in Europe, by paths which are dangerous and difficult to the 
 unencumbered traveller ; to plant himself in the rear of the Austrians, 
 interrupt their communications, place them between his own army and 
 that of Massena, cut of their retreat, and then give them battle under 
 circumstances which must necessarily render one defeat decisive. 
 
 While all Europe supposed that the multifarious concerns of the 
 government held him at Paris, the First Consul was travelling at a rapid 
 rate towards Geneva, accompanied only by his secretary. He left Paris 
 on the 6tli of May, at two in the morning ; leaving Cambaceres to 
 preside until his return, and ordering Fouche to announce that he was 
 about to review the army at Dijon, and might possibly go as far as 
 Geneva, but would return in a fortnight. " Should anything happen," 
 he significantly added, " I shall be back like a thunderbolt." It was 
 during this journey, when his fate hung on a chance most precarious, 
 that he was first heard to talk of France as his own. " With what 
 pleasure, shall I return to my dear France ! Ma belle France ! " He 
 also entered into various long and interesting discussions, one of which was 
 concerning the campaigns of Caesar and Alexander. 
 
 On the 8th, the First Consul arrived at Geneva, where he had an in- 
 teniew with the celebrated Necker. ISIadame de Stael says that, on 
 tliis occasion, tiie First Consul made a very favourable impression on her 
 fatiier, by the confidence with which he spoke of his future projects. If 
 so, the impression was not nmtual ; for Napoleon afterwards declared, 
 that this interview confirmed him in the opinion that the talents of 
 Necker by no means accorded with the celebrity he had acquired. 
 
 On tiie l.'3th, the First Consul reviewed the vanguard of his army, com- 
 manded by General Lannes, at Lausanne. The whole army consisted 
 of nearly sixty thousand men. Two columns, each of about five thou- 
 s<uid men, were put in motion ; one under Tureau, the other under 
 Chabran : to take the routes of Mount Cenis and the little St. Bernard,
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 237 
 
 A division, consisting of fifteen thousand men, under Moncey, detached 
 from the army of the Rhine, was to march by St. Gothard. Moreau 
 now kept the Austrian army of the Rhine, under General Kray, on the 
 defensive before Uhn, according to the scheme of the campaign, which 
 had been laid down by Napoleon and Carnot, and held himself in readi- 
 ness to protect the operations of the First Consul in Italy. The main 
 body of the French army, in numbers about thirty thousand, nominally 
 commanded by Berthier, but in fact by the Frst Consul himself, marched, 
 on the 15th, from Lausanne to the village of St. Pierre, at the foot of 
 the Great St. Bernard, at which point all traces of a practicable road 
 entirely ceased. General Marescot, the engineer, had been sent forward 
 from Geneva to reconnoitre, and had reported the paths to be " barely 
 passable." " Set forward immediately!" wrote Napoleon. Field forges 
 were established at St. Pierre to dismount the guns. The carriages and 
 wheels were slung on poles, and the ammumtion-boxes wei-e to be carried 
 by mules. To convey the pieces themselves, a number of trees were 
 felled, hollowed out, or grooved, and the guns being jammed within 
 these rough cases, a hundred soldiers were attached to each, whose dutv
 
 238 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 it was to drag them up the steeps. All was now in readiness to com- 
 mence the march, of which Scott gives the following beautiful and 
 graphic description. " An immense, and apparently inaccessible, moun- 
 tain, reared its head among general desolation and eternal frost ; while 
 precipices, glaciers, ravines, and a boundless extent of pathless snows, 
 which the slightest concussion of the air converts into avalanches capable 
 of burying armies in their descent, appeared to forbid access to all living 
 things but the chamois and his scarce less wild pursuer. Yet foot by 
 foot, and man by man, did the French soldiers proceed to ascend this 
 formidable barrier, which nature had erected in vain to limit human 
 ambition. The view of the valley, emphatically called ' of Desolation,' 
 where nothing is to be seen but snow and sky, had no terrors for the 
 First Consul and his army. They advanced up paths hitherto only 
 practised by hunters, or, here and there, a hardy pedestrian ; the infantry 
 loaded with their arms, and in full military equipment, the cavalry 
 leading their horses. The musical bands played, from time to time, at 
 the head of the regiments, and in places of unusual difficulty, the drums 
 beat a charge, as if to encourage the soldiers to encounter the opposition 
 of Nature herself. The troops making it a point of honour to bring forward 
 their guns, accomplished this severe duty, not only with cheerfulness, but 
 with enthusiasm. While one-half of the soldiers were thus engaged, the 
 others were obliged to carry the muskets, cartridge-boxes, knapsacks, and 
 provisions of their comrades, as well as their own. Each man, thus loaded, 
 was computed to carry from sixty to seventy pounds weight, up icy preci- 
 pices where a man totally without encumbrance could ascend but slowly. 
 Probably no troops, save the French, could have endured the fatigue of 
 such a march; and no other general than Bonaparte would have ven- 
 tured to require it at their hands." The most arduous task of course 
 fell upon those who brought up the rear. " The men in front," says 
 Mr. Lockhart, " durst not halt to breathe, because the least stoppage 
 there might have thrown the column behind into confusion, on the brink 
 of deadly precipices ; and those in the rear had to flounder, knee deep, 
 through snow and ice trampled into sludge by the previous divisions." 
 The whole army had passed the summit by the 20th of May. Napoleon 
 remained behind until the whole had set forward ; he then began the 
 ascent, accompanied only by Bourrienne and his guide. He maintained 
 during the whole time, that air of calm self-possession for which he was 
 remarkal)le under all circumstances of difficulty which required strenuous 
 exertion. He either walked, or rode a mule, wearing his grey great 
 coat and three-cornered hat, and carrying his riding-whip in his hand. 
 He was occasionally stopped by some temporary halt of the artillery or 
 baggage. He gave his commands peremptorily on these occasions, and was 
 instantly obeyed : his look seeming suflicicnt to remove every objection.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 ^39 
 
 On the highest point of the Great St. Bernard, amidst the " ever- 
 lasting snows," stands a convent, or hospital, of monks, whose heroic and 
 benevolent vocation is that of affording succour to travellers in those 
 pathless wastes. Napoleon had taken the precaution to send forward 
 large supplies to them, and to warn them of the approach of his army. 
 The soldiers on their arrival found tables ready spread in front of the 
 convent, and each man received, as he passed, a glass of wine and some 
 bread and cheese, the good fathers serving the provisions with the greatest 
 assiduity. Scott compliments the worthy monks upon the promptitude 
 of their supply to so large a number, being evidently not aware of how 
 the supply came there. The troops had tasted no refreshment, except 
 biscuit dipped in the snow, since they began the march, and found this 
 aid most acceptable. Napoleon rested and took a frugal repast at the 
 convent, after which he visited the chapel, and the three little libraries, lin- 
 gering a short time to read a few pages of some old book. He performed 
 the descent on a sledge, down a glacier (and it may be conjectured how 
 
 -^^^^- 
 
 
 —^ = 
 
 T/ 
 
 .^^-^^. 
 
 r 
 
 
 / 4' 
 
 i'W
 
 240 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 critical a task it was to get do^\^l all the horses, mules, guns, &c,) of 
 nearly a hundred yards, almost perpendicular. His guide was a robust 
 voung man, of two-and-twenty, with whom he conversed freely, and 
 who confided to him, in answer to his questions, all his troubles, 
 anxieties, and wishes. On parting. Napoleon gave him a note to carry 
 to the superiors of the convent, and the next day, the man was surprised 
 to find himself the possessor of a house, a piece of ground, and every 
 thing for which he had wished. He was liberal to his first guide also, 
 but the only specimen of his conversation remembered by this attendant 
 was, when shaking the rain-water from his hat he exclaimed, " There ! 
 see what I have done in your mountains — spoiled my new hat! Well, 
 I will find another on the other side.* 
 
 The whole army effected the passage of the Great St. Bernard in 
 the space of three days. A small party of Austrians were encountered 
 and beaten back, at Chatillon, by Lannes, who continued to lead the 
 advance. So utterly unexpected was this sudden apparition of the First 
 Consul and his army, that no precautions whatever had been taken, and 
 no enemy appeared capable of disputing his march towards the valley 
 of Aosta. A serious difficulty, however, awaited him at this point. 
 The entrance to the valley is extremely narrow, two lofty mountains 
 rising on either side at the distance of fifty yards from each other; 
 while in the midst of this narrow opening stands a conical rock, crowned 
 by a fortress, at that time garrisoned by Austrian troops. The small, 
 walled town of Bard, lying at the foot of the rock, occupied the whole 
 of the pass. While waiting for the reduction of this fort, the First 
 Consul remained three days in the convent of Martigni, to whose gloomy 
 walls, situated in a deep valley, the sun scarcely ever penetrates. The 
 local strength of the place enabled the townri to hold out against the 
 assaults, and a sort of panic spreading among the soldiers at finding their 
 course impeded in such a desolate place, Lannes stopped the progress of 
 the artillery. The First Consul was quickly on the spot — surveyed the 
 localities — scaled the height of the Albaredo, which overlooked the fort 
 — and determined that the army should speedily follow. He caused a 
 gun to be hoisted up and planted upon the summit, and the moment his 
 troops began the ascent under the enemy's fire, he played it upon the 
 fort with such fatal precision, that he effectually silenced the main 
 battery. The troops then moved in single file along the edge of the 
 heights, passing the First Consul in their way, who was so fatigued 
 with his efforts that he had fallen fast asleep upon the top of the rock. 
 The town was carried, but the strength of the position had rendered 
 abortive every effort to take the fort, and the progress of the army was 
 
 • Sec Mr. Tenncnt's Tour through the Netherlands, (Jermany, Switzerland, &c.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 241 
 
 Still effectually stopped. At length, the patience of Napoleon was utterly 
 exhausted, and being resolved not to endure any further delay in the 
 advance of the troops, he left a party of conscripts, under General 
 Chabran, to maintain the siege of this small place, the strength of which 
 had been so completely under-rated in the accounts he had received. He 
 had made the whole of the cavalry and infantry pass by the steep goat- 
 tracks of the Albaredo, in the manner we have just described; but for 
 the artillery, it was impracticable. The commandant of Bard sent off 
 couriers to Melas, announcing the unlooked-for transit of a large army 
 by the goat-tracks, but asserting that no artillery could possibly pass. 
 He was mistaken. The following night, all the wheels of the gun- 
 carriages and wagons were twisted round with straw ; the road-way 
 covered with litter ; the pieces, hid under branches of trees, dragged 
 along by soldiers in the most profound silence ; and by these means the 
 whole artillery was safely conveyed through the town under the guns 
 of the fort. An occasional discharge from the ramparts — marking some 
 passing suspicion, or the notice of a strange sound — wounded many and 
 killed some of the gunners, but the object was effected with complete 
 success. 
 
 The French army now advanced unopposed down the valley to Ivrea, 
 which was without a garrison ; while Lannes entered Romano, merely 
 falhng in with a few Austrian outposts. The roads to Turin and Milan, 
 the latter city being his object, were now open to Napoleon. He halted 
 at Ivrea four days to recruit the strength of his troops. Meanwhile 
 Tureau, advancing by Mount Cenis, had taken the forts of Susa and La 
 Brunetta. Astonished and confounded by this sudden irruption of the 
 French, and quite incredulous of the report which now began to spread 
 abroad, that they were commanded by the First Consul in person, 
 Melas was irresolute what course to adopt. His artillery, equipage, 
 and provisions, were all at the mercy of this unexpected invader, 
 whoever he might prove to be, and who must have brought sufficient 
 forces to destroy the troops left to guard the frontier. Melas, however, 
 knew these to be both weak and divided ; and, persisting in his belief 
 that the advancing army was only about twenty thousand strong, and 
 that the obj ect of its leader was the relief of Genoa, he made no attempt 
 to concentrate his forces, but left Ott before Genoa. Conceiving, after- 
 wards, from the advance of Tureau, by Susa and La Brunetta, that 
 Turin would be the point of attack, he removed his head-quarters to that 
 city. Napoleon immediately took the road to Milan. The Sesia was 
 crossed without opposition ; the passage of the Tesino was effected after 
 a sharp conflict with a body of Austrian cavalry, who were put to flight; 
 and, on the 2nd of June, the First Consul entered Milan, amidst the 
 
 H H
 
 24-2 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 
 enthusiastic acclamations of the people, who had all believed that he had 
 died in Egypt. He was conducted in triumph to the Ducal Palace, 
 where he took up his residence. His first act was to proclaim the re- 
 estahlishment of the Cisalpine Republic. 
 
 On the day that Napoleon entered Milan, he received news of the cap- 
 ture of the Fort of Bard. Without a moment's delay, he blockaded the fort 
 of Milan, occupied Placenza, and, crossing the Adda, took Bergamo and 
 Cremona. He remained six days at Milan, impatiently expecting the 
 arrival of Moncey with his division, and occupied in receiving deputa- 
 tions from the various public bodies, and re-organising the affairs of the 
 republic. The Austrian line of operations was intercepted by the con- 
 quests already made, and no time was lost in arresting every communi- 
 cation by post or courier. The most important information was now 
 gained by the First Consul. All the dispatches between the Court of 
 Vienna and Melas falling into his hands, he learned the extent of the 
 Austrian reinforcements now on their way to Italy ; the position and 
 state of all the Austrian depots, field-equipages, and parks of artillery ; 
 and the amount and distribution of the whole Austrian force. He 
 learned also that Massena still held out in Genoa, though reduced to the 
 greatest extremities. Finally, he clearly perceived that Melas still con- 
 tinued in complete ignorance of the strength and destination of the 
 French army. His dispatches spoke with contempt of what he called 
 " the pretended army of reserve," and treated the assertion of Napoleon's 
 presence in Italy as a " mere fabrication." Possessed of all this valuable 
 information, Napoleon knew how to take his measures with clearness and 
 precision, and Moncey having brought up his division, he made instant 
 preparations to relieve the siege of Genoa. He was too late, however, 
 to accomplish this object. After an heroic and protracted defence.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 24;J 
 
 Massena was obliged to jdeld to the cry of the numerous population of 
 Genoa, who were in the last extremity of suffering, and called for a sur- 
 render. The scarcity in the city had obliged the inhabitants to feed on 
 dogs, and various kinds of absolute garbage ; the soldiers of the garrison 
 had little food, and the Austrian prisoners, amounting to eight thousand, 
 still less. Mr^ Lockhart says that even shoes and knapsacks were eaten ; 
 and this is quite a possible case, especially if the leather were first 
 boiled to a glutinous substance. Massena had held out in the hope that 
 the tidings of the First Consul's arrival would at length reach him ; but 
 waiting in vain, he had made a desperate attack on the besieging force, 
 which failed. On the 5th of July, he signed a convention with the Aus- 
 trians, receiving terms so honourable, that it seems surprising he did not 
 suspect the truth. He and his whole garrison were permitted to march 
 out of Genoa without laying down their arms. The fact was, that if he 
 could have delayed the surrender a few hours, he would have been saved 
 the vexation of any such event. A staff-officer from Melas had actually 
 arrived with urgent orders to General Ott to raise the siege, and fall 
 back towards Milan, to withstand the French Consul, who was approach- 
 ing that city in unexpected strength. The eyes of Melas were at length 
 opened, and he was preparing to meet the emergency with all the energy 
 that the orders from Vienna (by which the Austrian generals were con- 
 tinually embarrassed), and his great age, of eighty years, permitted ; but 
 his delay had been sufficient to render his situation critical. His com- 
 munications with the north bank of the Po were cut off, and the French 
 occupied the finest portion of the north of Italy, by a line stretching 
 from Fort Bard to Placenza, while he was confined to Piedmont. His 
 army was, moreover, divided into two portions ; one, under Ott, near 
 Genoa, (which was observed on its right by Suchet, now likely to be 
 reinforced by Massena and his garrison) ; the other, under his own com- 
 mand at Turin. The greatest risk existed that the First Consul would, 
 according to his old plan, attack and destroy one division before the 
 other could form a junction with it. To prevent such a disaster, Ott 
 received orders to march forward on the Tesino, while Melas, moving 
 towards Alessandria, prepared to resume his communications with that 
 division of his army. 
 
 The First Consul, on his part, was prevented from marching on Genoa, 
 by the dispatches of an intercepted courier from General Ott, announcing 
 the surrender of Massena. " It was past three in the morning," says 
 Bourrienne, " when the courier arrived. I was obliged to shake the 
 First Consul by the arm, in order to awake him. He had desired me 
 never to respect his repose on the arrival of bad news. I read the dis- 
 patch to him ; and so confounded was he by the unexpected event, that 
 liis first exclamation was, ' Bah ! you do not understand German.' " By
 
 244 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 eight o'clock, orders were on the road to countermand the march of the 
 troops on the Scrivia; and the same day, Napoleon advanced to Stradella, 
 where head-quarters were fixed. 
 
 The pontoon-train belonging to the Austrians was seized at Pavia, 
 and the French army passed the Po at that place. General Ott had now 
 advanced, and strongly occupied the villages of Casteggio and Montebello. 
 On the 9th of June, Lannes, who continued to lead the van-guard of the 
 French army, was attacked by this Austrian division in superior numbers. 
 The battle, though severely contested, ended in the complete defeat of 
 the Austrians, who lost three thousand killed, and five thousand prisoners. 
 General Ott retreated to Tortona, where he ralHed the broken remains of 
 his army. In this fierce engagement, there was but little opportunity for 
 skill C1-, manoeuvre ; the fields being covered with full-grown crops of 
 rye, the hostile parties were seldom aware of each others presence till 
 almost within a few paces. The battle of Montebello was therefore won 
 by sheer hard fighting, hand to hand. It was attended with great 
 slaughter on both sides. The shower of balls from the Austrian mus- 
 quetry, was at one time so intense, that Lannes, speaking of it afterwards, 
 described the efiect with a horrible graphic homeliness : " Bones were 
 cracking in my division like a shower of hail upon a skylight." Lannes 
 was subsequently created Duke of Montebello. 
 
 The First Consul remained stationary for three days at Stradella, in 
 hopes that Melas would be compelled to give him battle in this position : 
 he was unwilling to descend into the great plain of Marengo, where the 
 Austrian cavalry, which was greatly the superior in numbers, would have 
 a fearful advantage. Meanwhile he despatched an order to Suchet, to 
 march on the river Scrivia, and place himself in the rear of the enemy. 
 
 General Desaix joined the French army at Stradella. He had re-
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 245 
 
 turned from Egypt, and landed in France almost on the very day that the 
 First Consul left Paris, and had immediately received a summons from 
 him to repair to the head-quarters of the army of Italy, wherever they 
 might be situated. Napoleon and Desaix were warmly attached to each 
 other, and their meeting was a great and mutual pleasure. They were 
 immediately closeted together for three hours ; and Desaix related to his 
 former general-in-chief all the details of the affairs of Egypt since the 
 command had been entrusted to Kleber. That general, who, as we have 
 seen, was much irritated at the sudden departure of Napoleon, and at the 
 weighty charge so unceremoniously thrust upon himself, had made no 
 secret of his sentiments. He had, besides, no faith in the possibility of 
 maintaining Egypt as a province, and his first object was to convey the 
 army safely back to France. This spirit in the commander-in-cliief was 
 rapidly caught by the greater part of his troops. Discontent prevailed, 
 and plans for getting home again were the uppermost thoughts in nearly 
 every mind. When news arrived that the Grand Vizier was approaching 
 the frontier with another army, Kleber opened a negociation with him, 
 the avowed basis of which was the evacuation of Egypt by the French ; 
 Sir Sydney Smith, who was still off the coast with his two ships, the 
 Tyger and Theseus, acting as mediator. A treaty was signed at El Arisch, 
 after some little delay, by which it was agreed that the French should 
 evacuate Egypt; and that Kleber and his army should be suffered, on 
 these conditions, to return to France unmolested by the English fleet. 
 Generals Desaix and Davoust, much discontented with the conduct of 
 Kleber, immediately asked permission to return to France at once, which 
 was granted. Affairs in Egypt, however, took a completely different 
 turn after their departure. The English government refused to ratify 
 the treaty of El Arisch, and would make no other terms with th^ French 
 army, except that they should become prisoners of war; Lord Keith 
 being at the same time ordered to prevent their return to France. Sir 
 Sydney Smith on this occasion acted with the highest honour, by inform- 
 ing Kleber without delay of the refusal. Had he concealed it, the 
 French would have given up all their fortified places, and placed them- 
 selves in the power of their enemies. Kleber was roused at once by this 
 harsh measure on the part of England. The news also of the events of 
 the 18th Brumaire reached Egypt at this crisis, and the army became 
 conscious that they should have to account for their conduct, not to the 
 directory, but to Napoleon. Kleber now placed himself in a posture of 
 defence ; and upon the invasion of Egypt by the Grand Vizier, defeated 
 him in a sanguinary battle, near the ruins of the ancient Heliopolis, in 
 the vicinity of Cairo. He then began a vigorous administration of affairs, 
 and directed all his efforts to repair the evils created by his former mis- 
 takes. Such was the state of Egypt at the period of the arrival of Desaix
 
 246 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 ill Italy. As Napoleon was highly interested in all that concerned that 
 country, it will easily be supposed that he eagerly enquired into every 
 detail. Desaix was appointed to the command of a division, the death of 
 General Boudet having left one vacant. 
 
 Melas, after taking possession of Genoa, had brought his army under 
 the ramparts of Alessandria, where he learned the destruction of Ott's 
 cUvision. He remained inactive at Alessandria during the 1 1 th, 12th, and 
 loth of June; during which period the First Consul, uneasy lest his 
 enemy should escape him, was employed in arrangements for every pos- 
 sible movement which might have been made. Desaix was sent to 
 reconnoitre the high road to Novi ; Lapoype to fall back on the Tesino, 
 to frustrate any attempt in that direction ; Napoleon himself crossed the 
 Scrivia on the morning of the loth, and marched to St. Juhano, in the 
 midst of the great plain of Marengo. By dividing his army in this 
 manner, he placed himself in circumstances of great danger in the sub- 
 sequent action. He, moreover, either neglected or misunderstood a 
 report made to him by one of his aides-de-camp, whom he sent with 
 pressing orders to destroy the lower bridge of the Bormida, possessed by 
 the Austrians. The attempt failed, after a whole day's hard fighting ; 
 but Napoleon acted as though his repeated orders had been not only 
 obeyed, but exactly fulfilled, and thus left his army in a position which 
 made that bridge a point of extreme danger to his whole force. 
 
 Melas passed the night of the 12th in council. His situation was very 
 critical. The army of the First Consul was before him ; Suchet in his 
 rear ; Massena likely to be in action soon ; and General Ott's division 
 destroyed. On the other hand, the Austrians now possessed all the for- 
 tified places in the north of Italy, and the English army was expected at 
 Genoa. It was determined at length to give battle to the French. The 
 resolution was fraught with hazard, as it was impossible to secure a 
 retreat in any direction ; but the chances of victory were greatly in 
 favour of the Austrians. Their infantry was superior in force ; their 
 cavah-y, in particular, was three times more numerous than that of the 
 French. The Austrians were upwards of forty thousand strong ; while, 
 in the absence of Desaix and the reserve, the French had scarcely twenty 
 thousand. The Austrian army was formed in position behind the Bormida 
 on the night of the 13th. 
 
 The advanced body of the French, commanded by Gardanne, occupied 
 the hamlet of Padre Bona, which fronted Marengo, at a short distance. 
 General Victor was stationed at Marengo, with the main body of the first 
 hne, the right of which extended to Castel Ceriola, nearly parallel with 
 Marengo. A body of cavalry, under Kellermann, was stationed for the 
 support of Victor, at a little distance behind. The second Hne, com- 
 manded by Lanncs, and supported by the cavalry of Champeaux, was
 
 ill 
 
 m'\ 
 
 I III 
 
 Mm 
 
 to I I 111
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 247 
 
 stationed at some distance, in the rear of Victor and Kellermann. A third 
 line, comprising the consular guard and the division of St. Cyr, was 
 stationed at a similar distance behind Lannes and Champeaux, com- 
 manded by Napoleon. The Austrians advanced to the attack in two 
 lines of heavy infantry : the first was led by General Haddick ; the 
 second, at some distance behind, by Melas and Zach. Meantime the 
 body of cavalry, under General Elsnitz, were sent to make a detour 
 round Castel Ceriola. 
 
 On the 14th of June, at break of day, the battle commenced. The 
 advance, under Gardanne, was obliged to fall back upon Victor. Victor 
 held his position during two hours against the enormous force opposed to 
 him. He was obliged to vacate Marengo, but retook it ; and this occurred 
 twice or thrice. Napoleon now ordered Lannes to advance to the sup- 
 port of Victor ; but, after a long and obstinate contest, the cavalry of 
 Elsnitz suddenly appeared upon the right of Lannes, and both lines were 
 compelled to retreat. The Austrians had fought the battle admirably. 
 The infantry had opened an attack on every point of the French line, 
 while the cavalry debouched across the bridge which the French had 
 failed to destroy, and assailed the right of their army with such fury and 
 rapidity, that it was thrown into complete disorder. The attack was 
 successful everywhere : the centre of the French was penetrated, the 
 left routed, and another desperate charge of the cavalry would have 
 terminated the battle. The order for this, however, was not given ; 
 but the retreating French were still in the utmost peril. Napoleon 
 had been collecting reserves between Garafolo and Marengo, and now 
 sent orders for his army to retreat towards these reserves, and rally 
 round his guard, which he stationed in the rear of the village of 
 Marengo, and placed himself at their head. The soldiers could all 
 see the First Consul with his staff, surrounded by the two hundred 
 grenadiers of the guard, in the midst of the immense plain. The sight 
 revived their hopes. The right wing, under Lannes, quickly rallied ; the 
 centre, reinforced by the scattered troops of the left, recovered its strength: 
 the left wing no longer existed; its scattered remains fled in disorder, 
 pursued by the Austrians. The battle continued to rage, and was obsti- 
 nately disputed ; but the main body of the French army, which still 
 remained in order of battle, was continually, though very slowly, retreat- 
 ing. The First Consul had now despatched his aide-de-camp, Bruyere, 
 to Desaix, with an urgent message to hasten to the field of battle. 
 Desaix, on his part, had been arrested in his march upon Novi, by the re- 
 peated discharges of distant artillery: he had in consequence made a halt, 
 and despatched Savary, then his aide-de-camp, with a body of fifty horse, 
 to gallop with all possible haste to Novi, and ascertain the state of affairs 
 thei'e, according to the orders of the First Consul, while he kept his
 
 248 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 division fresh and ready for action. Savary found all quiet at Novi ; and 
 returning to Desaix, after the lapse of about two hours, with this intel- 
 ligence, was next sent to the First Consul. He spurred his horse across 
 the country, in tlie direction of the fire and smoke, and fortunately met 
 Bruyere, who was taking the same short cut to find Desaix. Giving 
 him the necessary directions, Savary hastened to the First Consul. He 
 found him in the midst of his guard, who stood their ground, on the field 
 
 
 of battle ; forming a solid body in the face of the enemy's fire, the dis- 
 mounted grenadiers stationed in front, and the place of each man who 
 fell being instantly supplied from the ranks behind. Maps were spread 
 open before Napoleon : he was planning the movement which decided 
 the action. Savary made his report, and told him of Desaix's posi- 
 tion. *' At what hour did you leave him?" said the First Consul, 
 pulhng out his watch. Having been informed, he continued, " Well, 
 he cannot be far off; go, and tell him to form in that direction (pointing 
 with his hand to a particular spot) : let him quit the main road, and make 
 way for all those wounded men, who would only embarrass him, and 
 perhaps draw his own soldiers after them." It was now three o'clock in 
 the afternoon. The aged Melas, overcome ^vith fatigue, and supposing 
 the victory to be won, had retired from the field, and left General Zach
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 2!9 
 
 to follow up the pursuit. Desaix was quickly on the field, and his 
 division now formed the left of the centre. He rode up to the First 
 Consul, who explained to him the manoeuvre he was about to effect, and 
 gave the orders instantly. The whole army wheeled its front upon the 
 left wing of its centre, moving its right wing forward at the same time. 
 By this movement, Napoleon effected the double object of turning all the 
 enemy's troops, who had continued the pursvut of the broken left wing, 
 and of removing his right to a distance from the bridge, which had been 
 so fatal to him in the morning. The artillery of the guard was reinforced 
 by that which belonged to Desaix's division, and formed an overwhelming 
 battery in the centre. The Austrians made no effort to prevent this 
 decisive movement ; they supposed the First Consul was only occupied 
 in securing his retreat. Their infantry in deep close columns was 
 advancing rapidly, when at the distance of a hundred paces they sud- 
 denly halted, on perceiving Desaix's division exactly in front of them. 
 The unexpected appearance of six thousand fresh troops, and the new 
 position assumed by the French, arrested the battle : very few shots were 
 heard ; the two armies were preparing for a last effort. 
 
 Desaix now sent an urgent request to the First Consul not to delay 
 the charge, and to support it with cavalry. Napoleon rode up in person 
 to give him the order to attack, ■^hile he despatched Savary with com- 
 mands to Kellermann, who was at the head of about six hundred heavy 
 cavalry, to charge the Austrian colunni in flank, at the same time that 
 Desaix charged it in front. Both generals effected the movement rapidly 
 and successfully. The Austrian columns were utterly broken, dispersed, 
 and closely pursued to the Bormida. The life of Desaix was the sacri- 
 fice. He fell mortally wounded as he gave the word to his men, and 
 died instantly. The large masses of Austrian cavalry, who were in pur- 
 suit of the fugitives of the French left wing, no sooner witnessed this 
 defeat than they fled in disorder towards the bridge opposite to Ales- 
 sandria. The divisions of Lannes and Victor instantly resumed their 
 positions in advance, and St. Cyr's division was nearer the bridge than 
 the Austrians. The slaughter, therefore, was dreadful. Their army 
 was thus thrown into the most terrible confusion in a moment ; and the 
 victory, which had seemed quite secure to them at three o'clock, was 
 completely won by the French at six. The pursuit continued far into 
 the night, the mixed deaths and mangling upon the dark bridges being 
 one confused and crowded horror ; while the whole of the Austrians who 
 remained on the left bank were taken prisoners, or driven with headlong 
 devastation into the Bormida. The waters ran a deep red with the blood 
 of horses and of men, and presented in some parts a clotted surface of 
 their mangled remains. Several entire battalions surrendered at dis- 
 cretion, and General Zach and all his staff' were made prisoners. 
 
 I I
 
 250 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The triumpli of this decisive victory was poisoned to Napoleon by 
 the death of Desaix. It seems that he never loved, nor regretted, any 
 man so much, and he never spoke of him without deep feeling. Desaix 
 met his death at the early age of thirty-three, and France lost in 
 him a great general, and a man of great promise. Savary, who was 
 much attached to him, sought for his body amongst the dead, and found 
 him completely stripped of his clothes, lying among many others in the 
 same condition. He wrapped him in a cloak, and with the assistance of 
 a hussar, laid him across a horse which was led to Garafolo. Napoleon 
 ordered the body to be carried to Milan, for the purpose of being em- 
 balmed. He further shewed his respect for the memory of Desaix, by 
 retaining his aides-de-camp, Savary and Rapp, near his person. 
 
 IVIelas sent a flag of truce to the First Consul on the following morn- 
 ing, while he was preparing to pass the Bormida. A negociation was 
 commenced, whicli was ratified the same evening, a convention being 
 signed at Alessandria, by which Genoa, and all the fortified places in 
 Piedmont, Lombardy, and the Legations, were given up to the J'rench ; 
 and tlie Austrian army obtained leave to retire behind Mantua, without 
 ])eing made ])risoners of war. France thus regained by one battle, every- 
 thing that had been lost since the last peace, with the single exception 
 of Mantua. It has been said of the battle of Marengo, that it was the
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 251 
 
 most decisive, and the worst fought of all Napoleon's victories ; and it has 
 been common to award to Desaix the whole merit of the action. The 
 account of the battle here given, has been chiefly taken from the memoirs 
 of Savary, carefully compared with all other authorities. The reader can- 
 not fail to see how far Napoleon's mistakes and omissions endangered a 
 defeat, and how far his skilful combinations, and application of his ad- 
 vantages, finally ensured the victory. Admitting all the ability and 
 promptitude, which he never failed to display in emergencies, it is 
 nevertheless fair to assume, that if Savary and Bruyere, had not hap- 
 pened to meet in their sort of steeple-chase across the country, the 
 reserve of Desaix would not have been on the field till some time 
 later, when Napoleon would most probably have lost the battle. The 
 account given by Napoleon himself of the battle of Marengo is not 
 wholly correct. 
 
 The First Consul returned to Milan on the night of the 17th. He 
 found the city illuminated, and ringing with the most enthusiastic 
 rejoicings. The roads and streets were lined with people, who greeted 
 him with shouts of welcome. Draperies were hung from the windows, 
 which were crowded by women of the first rank, who threw flowers into 
 his carriage as he passed. He set off" for Paris on the 24th of June ; 
 leaving Massena commander-in-dhief of the army of Italy. 
 
 In an able treatise on the military system of Napoleon, by Colonel 
 Thompson, it is remarked, that " From the moment hostile forces were 
 put in movement against Napoleon, the next news to be looked for was, 
 that he had chosen his point, and was to be heard of in the middle of 
 them." This applies with peculiar force to his sudden descent from the 
 Alps upon his enemies, when not only they, but the people of his own 
 country, fully believed he was in France. The Parisians had scarcely 
 been able to credit the victory of Marengo. Rumours of a defeat had 
 first arrived, and the contrast produced a kind of delirium. They re- 
 garded the First Consul, with sensations approaching to worship. Paris 
 was illuminated, and the people waited his return with the utmost im- 
 patience. He travelled by Mount Cenis. As he approached Lyons, the 
 roads were literally lined with the inhabitants of all the surrounding 
 districts. His carriage passed for miles between rows of enthusiastic 
 people. The inhabitants of Lyons crowded to the hotel, where he 
 alighted to breakfast ; forced the gates, and compelled him to shew 
 himself on the balcony. At Dijon, where he next went, there were 
 the same immense crowds to welcome him ; and when he reached his 
 apartments, he found them lined with all the youngest and hand- 
 somest women of the place. He held a re\iew of the troops here, 
 and this self-appointed guard of young girls accompanied him, loaded 
 with flowers, and myrtle, and laurel branches, which they strewed at
 
 252 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 his horse's feet. They crowded so closely round him, that he would 
 not return into the town, being fearful of some accident, but had his 
 carriage brought to the ground, and went on from thence. He never 
 forgot this enthusiastic reception. Such are the emotions excited in the 
 imagination and the heart by the presence of great conquerors, fresh 
 from their fields of deadly harvest ; such the mental influence of the 
 wielder, or even passive bearer, of vast physical powers ; while philo- 
 sophers, poets, and indefatigable philanthropists, go down towards their 
 lonely graves clad in weeds, unheeded by the world they sought to 
 benefit. It is, nevertheless, a most cheering reflection that such strength 
 of enthusiasm and passionate sense of excellence exists in human nature ; 
 and that a higher application of that indestructible and saving principle 
 may some day be anticipated. 
 
 The First Consul travelled so fast, that he found the preparations to 
 welcome him at Sens only half completed. He entered under a tri- 
 umphal arch, on which the painter was employed in tracing the words, 
 " Veni, Vidi, Vici." The post-master of Montereau, in his zeal, insisted 
 upon driving the First Consul's carriage himself, but not being equally 
 expert as zealous, he overturned it. No one, however, was hurt. He 
 entered Paris on the 6th of July. The population had been waiting 
 for him all day in the Fauxbourg St. Antoine, and assembled there 
 again early in the morning, till learning that he had arrived in the night, 
 the crowds repaired to the gardens of the Tuileries, which were thronged 
 the whole day. All the inhabitants of Paris left their occupations. 
 Shouts of welcome sounded from the gardens, the courts, and the 
 quays; and an universal illumination testified the joy of the whole city. 

 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 253 
 
 ' BiJjSM 
 
 i|\'i-iH, 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 PLOTS AGAINST THE LIFE OF THE FIBSt CONSUL DEATH OF KLEBER ENGLAND GRANTS 
 
 TO AUSTRIA A LOAN OF TWO MILLIONS AUSTRIA REFUSES THE TREATY WITH FRANCE 
 
 MALTA SURRENDERS TO ENGLAND SECOND LETTER OF LOUIS XVIII. TO THE FIR"ST 
 
 CONSUL HIS REPLY HOSTILITIES RENEWED — BATTLE OF HOHENLINDEN — AUSTRIA SUES 
 
 FOR A FURTHER ARMISTICE INFERNAL MACHINE — ARBITRARY MEASURES OF THE FIRST 
 
 CONSUL CONFEDERATION OF THE NORTH TREATY OF LUNEVILLE. 
 
 were m 
 remains 
 approve 
 see the 
 
 The rumours of defeat whicli liad 
 preceded the news of the vic- 
 tory of Marengo, had excited 
 hopes in the secret enemies of 
 the First Consul, which were 
 not easily forgotten, and con- 
 tinued to exert their influence 
 even after the subsequent tri- 
 umph. Two parties in France 
 equally hated his power, and 
 longed for his downfal. These 
 were the Jacobins and the roy- 
 alists; who, opjjosite as they 
 political principles, met on this common ground of enmity. The 
 
 of the old republican party, who submitted to, rather than 
 d of, the consular government, would scarcely have regretted to 
 
 defeat of the French arms, if it had come accompanied with
 
 254 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the ruin of the man whose despotism they dreaded. Among these, 
 Camot, though minister of war, is said to have circulated, with ill-con- 
 cealed satisfaction, tlie first erroneous rumours of the disaster of Ma- 
 rengo ; a circumstance which Napoleon discovered, and never forgot. 
 The unprincipled members of the two hostile parties, did not confine 
 themselves to mere wishes and opinions, they began to form schemes to 
 get rid, by assassination, of a man whose power seemed too firmly estab- 
 lished to be shaken by other means. 
 
 The first attempt was made by some discontented Italian patriots, one 
 of whom was Arena, the brother of that deputy who was said to have 
 aimed a dagger at Napoleon in the Council of Five Hundred. A sculptor 
 among them, who had once been a passionate admirer of Napoleon, and 
 had made a statue of him, asked permission again to model him, with 
 the intention to stab him in the course of his work, but his heart failed 
 him when the time came, and he never began it. They next plotted to 
 assassinate him at the opera, but were discovered by the police, and 
 two of them were seized behind the scenes, armed with concealed daggers. 
 Chevalier and Veycer, men who had formerly belonged to the Terrorist 
 faction, next contrived a machine, consisting of a barrel of gunpowder 
 stuck round with grape-shot, and pieces of old iron, and so constructed as 
 to explode by means of a slow match at the moment the First Consul 
 was passing through the streets. But they were so very " scientific" in 
 their scheme, as to make a preliminary experiment in the outskirts of 
 Paris, and the explosion led to suspicions, and the arrest of the parties, 
 so that their plan came to nothing ; but it gave a hint to others, as wall 
 be subsequently perceived. Napoleon made light of all these plots, and 
 the suspected authors of them were merely detained in prison, without 
 any further proceedings against them. 
 
 The 14th of July was celebrated this year in the Champ de Mars, with 
 unusual magnificence, and attended by an immense concourse of people. 
 The First Consul appeared on the ground on horseback, and the enthu- 
 siasm with which he was received by the people, was roused to the highest 
 pitch by the arrival of the consular guard from Mai'engo, which hap- 
 pened immediately afterwards. They joined the multitude, assembled to 
 celebrate their great national festival, after a march of nine and twenty 
 days ; dusty and fatigued, and with equipments shattered by the terrible 
 conflict they had sustained. They had left the field of Marengo the day 
 after the action. 
 
 The unexpected intelligence of the death of Kleber reached Paris at 
 this period. He had been stabbed to the heart by a Syrian fellah, or 
 peasant, who approached him while walking on the terrace of his garden, 
 under pretence of ])resenting a petition. The wretched assassin was 
 seized, and put to dcatli wiili liorrildc tortures — disgraceful to the French;
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. ^55 
 
 and which he bore with the same cool resolution which he had shewn 
 in committing the crime. He was only eighteen or twenty years of age ; 
 and declared that he had quitted his native city of Damascus at the com- 
 mand of the Grand Vizier, for the express purpose of killing the Grand 
 Sultan of the French. He had performed the whole journey on foot, 
 and immediately upon arriving in Cairo had performed his devotions in 
 the mosque, and then executed his project. The act was base and revolt- 
 ing ; the spirit of its accomplishment, under different circumstances, 
 would have exalted him into a high-minded martyr. 
 
 The First Consul was deeply shocked, and much affected, at this 
 tragical event ; not that any affection existed between him and Kleber, 
 but that he knew the importance of the loss to Egypt. General Menou 
 succeeded to the command there, in order of seniority, and his in- 
 capacity amply justified the worst fears of Napoleon. Kleber was 
 assassinated on the very day that Desaix received liis death-wound at 
 Marengo. 
 
 The Emperor Paul saved the royal family of Naples from the sum- 
 mary punishment which was impending over them from Napoleon, for 
 their alliance with England, during the war which broke out in his 
 absence, for the overthrow of the republic he had established in Naples, 
 and for their resumption of the. sovereign authority under the auspices 
 of Lord Nelson. When the defeat of the Austrians left all Italy 
 defenceless, Napoleon ordered Murat to advance upon Naples with ten 
 thousand men ; but the Queen had fled to St. Petersburg!! at the first 
 apprehension of the danger to implore the mediation of the emperor, 
 which she obtained, and the First Consul immediately accepted ; exciting 
 afresh, by his politic magnanimity, the romantic admiration of the Czar. 
 The Neapolitan troops were nevertheless forced to evacuate the terri- 
 tories of the Church, which they had occupied, having driven out the 
 French authorities established by the Directory ; and, to the astonish- 
 ment of all Europe, Pope Pius VII. was formally restored to his 
 dominions by Napoleon, and the papal government re-established in all 
 its forms. This measure gave the first indication of a Kne of policy 
 which was developed at no distant period. 
 
 The armistice was fast drawing to a close, and Austria still delayed to 
 ratify the treaty despatched from the field of Marengo, The First 
 Consul actively prepared for war ; while the wants of France, which 
 became daily more apparent, made him earnestly long for peace. Trade 
 and commerce were languishing mider the protracted blockade of all the 
 chief harbours of the country by the English fleet ; provisions were dear, 
 and the people beginning to mui'mur under the oppressive burdens of 
 the seemingly endless war. The moment was, however, most inaus- 
 picious for expecting a peace with England. Malta was on the very
 
 256 THE HISTORY of 
 
 point of surrendering to her fleet, and Egypt in consequence more than 
 ever incapable of receiving supplies from France, or resisting a hostile 
 invasion. It was not to be expected that at such a crisis Mr. Pitt would 
 listen to proposals of peace: but the. case was very different with the 
 Emperor of Austria, whose situation was most critical, menaced as he 
 was by three powerful armies — Moreau, on the Rhine ; Brune, who had 
 superseded Massena, in Italy ; and Macdonald in the Tyrol. Mr. Pitt 
 had exclaimed, after Marengo, " Shut up the map of Europe ; it will be 
 useless to look into it for twenty years." Yet at this moment he would 
 not relincjuish the continental struggle. A loan of two millions from 
 England encouraged the emperor to make j)reparations for a new 
 attem})t against his formidable enemy, and he protracted the negocia- 
 tions accordingly. Meanwhile, on the 5th of September, 1800, Malta 
 surrendered to England, after a blockade of two years. 
 
 At this very period, the Bourbon princes renewed their efforts to 
 bring Napoleon to treat with them. A second letter from Louis XVIII. 
 was put into his hands, in the month of September. It was as follows : 
 
 " You must have long since been convinced. General, that you pos- 
 sess my esteem. If you doubt my gratitude, fix your reward, and mark 
 out the fortunes of your friends. As to my principles, I am a French- 
 man, merciful in character and also by the dictates of reason. No ; the 
 conqueror of Lodi, Castiglione, and Areola ; the conqueror of Egypt and 
 Italy, cannot prefer vain celebrity to real glory. But you are losing 
 precious time. We may ensure the glory of France. I say we, because 
 I require the aid of Bonaparte and he can do nothing without me. 
 General, Europe observes you ; glory awaits you ; and I am impatient 
 to restore peace to my people. ^^ y „ 
 
 Several weeks elapsed before Napoleon finally replied, in the follow- 
 ing terms : — 
 
 *' Sir — I have received your letter, and I thank you for the compli- 
 ments you address to me. You must not seek to return to France. 
 To do so, you must trample over a hundred thousand dead bodies. 
 Sacrifice your interest to the repose and happiness of France, and 
 history will do you justice. I am not insensible to the misfortunes of 
 your family, and I shall learn witli pleasure that you are surrounded with 
 all that can contribute to the tranquillity of your retirement. 
 
 " Napoleon." 
 
 The Comte d'Artois (the future Charles X.) resorted to a more 
 artful UKthod of iiegociating. He employed the beautiful Duchesse de 
 Guiche as a mediator. She obtained permission to visit the capital on
 
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 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 257 
 
 pretence of urgent private affairs, and was introduced at the Tuileries, 
 where she captivated Josephine by the grace of her manners. The First 
 Consul did not escape the influence of her fascination ; but the moment 
 she touched upon politics he penetrated her object, and she received an 
 order to quit Paris. 
 
 Preliminaries of peace had been signed at Paris, between the Aus- 
 trian general, Saint Julian, and the French government. Duroc was 
 despatched to the emperor, to obtain his ratification of the articles, but 
 having reached the head-quarters of the army of the Rhine, he was 
 refused a pass to proceed on his journey. Napoleon immediately 
 ordered Moreau to recommence hostilities, unless the emperor delivered 
 up the three fortresses of Ulm, Ingolstadt, and Phillipsburg, as pledges 
 of his sincerity. Austria accordingly purchased a further protraction of 
 the armistice at this heavy price ; at the same time offering to treat for 
 peace on new grounds. News of the occupation of the three fortresses 
 by the French troops, was announced in Paris on the 23rd of September, 
 where the fresh hopes of peace caused universal satisfaction. These 
 hopes, however, proved delusive. Austria delayed and equivocated, 
 until it became evident that the emperor would make no peace sepa- 
 rate from England, and that the latter power was prepared to support 
 her ally. The First Consul, to whom the armistice was injurious, 
 unless followed by peace, ordered his armies to advance on all points, 
 on the 15th of November; and Moreau accordingly crossed the Iser; 
 Brune crossed the Mincio ; Augereau, at the head of the Gallo-Batavian 
 army, pressed forward into Bohemia. The Archduke John was now 
 placed at the head of the Austrian army, which amounted to seventy 
 thousand men. The French army, if skilfully combined, might have 
 numbered double that force; but, on the 1st of December, when the 
 hostile forces encountered at Haag, Moreau was considerably inferior 
 in numbers to his opponent, and experienced a check, in a shght 
 action which ensued. But the Austrians not following up their first 
 movement, which had been executed with great bravery and skill, the 
 French general was enabled to bring up a sufficient force to make his 
 army equal in numbers to that of the archduke, during the night of 
 the 2nd, between the Inn and the Iser, at the outskirts of the forest 
 of Hohenlinden. The snow, as yet " all bloodless and untrodden," lay 
 on the ground so deep, as completely to hide all traces of the roads, 
 and still fell thickly : the Iser, " dark as winter," rolled its rapid flood. 
 At break of day, the archduke advanced to the attack, and after a 
 desperate and most sanguinary battle, sustained a complete defeat from 
 Moreau ; and was forced to retreat, leaving ten thousand men dead on 
 the field, and seven thousand prisoners, among whom were two generals; 
 and abandoning his whole park of artillery, amounting to one hundred 
 
 K K
 
 258 TflE HISTORY OF 
 
 pieces of cannon. The loss of the French was very great, being nearly 
 ten thousand in killed, wounded, and prisoners, since the 1st of Decem- 
 ber ; but the \-ictory of Hohenlinden decided the fate of the campaign, 
 and ensured the peace. The Emperor of Austria immediately sued for 
 a cessation of arms, and sent Count Cobentzel to Paris with the 
 preliminaries of a treaty, from which England was to be excluded. 
 Joseph Bonaparte was immediately despatched to Luneville, where the 
 negociations were at last carried on in good faith. The conditions 
 required by the First Consul were, in the main, the same as those of 
 the treaty of Campo-Formio : — The cession of Belgium, and the boun- 
 dary of the Rhine to France ; the boundary of the Adige to Austria in 
 Italy ; and the recognition of the Italian, Batavian, and Helvetic repub- 
 Hcs. The dispersed members of the Cisalpine government had returned 
 to their posts, and the machinery of the republic was already in full 
 operation. Genoa had recovered its republican forms; and a provisional 
 government had been established at Turin, of which General Jourdan 
 was appointed the head. These arrangements, instituted after the 
 battle of Marengo, were now modified, and affairs were put in train 
 towards settling the Italian governments on secure bases. To the 
 conditions of the treaty were added a new article, demanding the cession 
 of Tuscany, now governed by the brother of the Austrian emperor; 
 and a requisition, that the emperor should ratify the peace without the 
 delay of consulting the Germanic Diet, of whom, according to the con- 
 stitution of the empire, he ought to have demanded permission to yield 
 certain provinces on the left bank of the Rhine, which did not belong 
 to his hereditary states. Some delay was caused by the latter clause ; 
 but the articles, on the whole, evinced great moderation on the part of 
 the First Consul, and were finally agreed to in all their parts by Austria, 
 and definitively signed two months afterwards. 
 
 The news of the \'ictory, and the prospect of peace, spread transports 
 of joy throughout Paris. But the very circumstances which seemed to 
 rivet the power of Napoleon, caused another attempt upon his life. 
 His concealed enemies, despairing of any other mode of getting rid of him, 
 determined to make a yet more desperate attempt at his assassination. 
 In this instance, the conspirators belonged to the royalist party. A 
 few men, the principals of whom had been Chouans, of the band of 
 Georges Cadoudal, constructed an engine, which has acquired the ap- 
 propriate name of *' the infernal machine." It was on a very similar 
 plan to the one previously described. The powder, grape-shot, and 
 iron, being all inclosed in a barrel, were placed in a water-carrier's 
 cart. On the evening of the 24th of December, when it was expected 
 that Napoleon would attend the performance of Haydn's oratorio of 
 " The Creation," at the opera, two of the intended assassins, named
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 259 
 
 Carbon and St. Regent, drove this cart to the corner of the Rue Nicaise, 
 which the First Consul must pass on his way, and there waited his 
 arrival. It happened this evening that Napoleon, being overcome with 
 fatigue, had fallen asleep on a couch, and when Josephine awoke him 
 at the hour for going, he was excessively unwilling to move. A whole 
 party, however, who were waiting to go with him, consisting of Madame 
 Murat, Hortense, Bessieres, Rapp, and one or two aides-de-camp, so 
 pressed him not to disappoint them — one running for his hat, another 
 for his sword, — that he roused himself, and got into his carriage, ac- 
 companied by Bessieres and the aide-de-camp on duty, but fell asleep 
 again the moment he was seated. Suddenly, he dreamed of passing the 
 Tagliamento, by torch-light, in a great flood, which lifted up his car- 
 riage by its force. The same moment he awoke, amidst noise and flame, 
 and exclaimed, " We are blown up ! " He had escaped by a wonderful 
 chance : the engine of death had exploded two seconds too late, in 
 consequence of the furious driving of his coachman, who was drunk, 
 and who continued to drive on vigorously, simply imagining, in his 
 glorious state of brain, that an honorary salute of artillery had been 
 fired as they passed. The officers in the carriage made an effort to 
 stop him ; but Napoleon, with greater presence of mind, ordered him to 
 drive on at the same rate to the opera. Josephine's carriage was just 
 far enough behind to escape likewise, the machine exploding exactly 
 between them. Rapp afterwards remembered that a little delay, occa- 
 sioned by his remarking, as they set off, that Josephine's shawl was not 
 put on with her usual grace, which made her playfully desire him to 
 adjust it for her, like the Turkish ladies, caused this interval between 
 the carriages, all the windows of both being shattered by the tremendous 
 sound. The horse of the last soldier of Napoleon's escort was wounded, 
 a circumstance sufficient alone to shew how very narrow his escape had 
 been, from an attempt as desperate as it was reckless of all contingent 
 consequences. Nearly twenty people were killed in the streets, or by the 
 falling of the adjacent houses, and upwards of fifty were wounded ; 
 amongst whom was the incendiary St. Regent. The audience in the 
 opera-house, who were impatiently waiting the arrival of the First 
 Consul, were not aware of what had just occurred. He entered, and 
 took his place with the most perfect composure. He turned his head 
 qu^ickly, as Rapp entered the box-door, and said, " Josephine," — but, on 
 her appearance just behind, he dropped the intended interrogation, and 
 only said, " The rascals wanted to blow me up : get me a book of the 
 opera!" All this time, the audience were greeting him with the usual 
 enthusiasm which his presence excited. Suddenly, some groups began 
 to collect in the lobbies ; a murmur ran through the house — an appalled 
 silence followed. The rumour of the imminent peril he had escaped
 
 '260 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 1 I 
 
 was spreading through the assembled multitude. The silence was suc- 
 ceeded by an overwhelming burst of emotion. Every one rose — every 
 eye was directed upon him ; and by the expressions of congratulation 
 and affection which surrounded him on every side, he could not fail 
 to perceive, that, whatever might be the hostile intentions of a few 
 individuals, he was firmly established in the hearts of the people at 
 large. He remained but a little while, and then drove back to the 
 Tuilerics. 
 
 The first sus})icion of this reckless attempt at assassination fell upon 
 the Jacobins; and Napoleon, who dreaded them the more, because he was 
 conscious of being liimself regarded as a deserter from their principles, 
 seized the ()])p()rtunity to weaken them by an arbitrary exercise of power. 
 He procured a decree of the Senate for banishing beycmd seas one 
 hundred and thirty of the most noted members of the obnoxious party, 
 without trial, or the sliglitest ])roof of guilt. The decree was, however, 
 never enforced in its full extent, the individuals on whom it fell, being 
 suffered to veinaiu in France, but strictly watched by the police, and not 
 allowed to apjn-oach Paris. This was bad enough with regard to men 
 not convicted of any crime. We cainiot omit noticing the culpable want 
 of candour displayed by Bourricnnc, in his account of this transaction.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 261 
 
 He circumstantially details and exaggerates Napoleon's exasperation 
 against tlie Jacobins; gives the history of the decree ; but never informs 
 his readers that it v*fas not enforced. He does not in precise terms say 
 that it loas, though he clearly implies it, more than once ; but this is a 
 sufficient salve to his conscience, and an illustration of the caution w^ith 
 which his assertions should be received. His extreme accuracy on many 
 points, and the stores of interesting matter contained in his memoirs, 
 make him too valuable a v^^riter to be neglected, but render it the more 
 necessary that his mis-statements should be corrected. 
 
 Fouche had maintained from the first, that the royalists were the 
 .criminals on this occasion; and, by the agency of the police, the actual 
 conspirators were shortly discovered. Carbon and St. Regent were con- 
 demned and executed ; some other men, arrested on suspicion, were 
 acquitted. The chief actors in the former attempts against the life of 
 the First Consul, were also tried and executed, to the number of seven. 
 
 But the First Consul did not stop with the punishment of the im- 
 mediate actors in these crimes. He made them the occasion of the 
 establishment of a new court of justice, highly despotic in its constitution. 
 It consisted of eight judges ; three of whom belonged to the ordinary 
 criminal court; three were officers in the army, bearing at least the rank 
 of captain; two were citizens ehosen by the government. Five out of 
 the eight were therefore nominated by the government. They were to 
 decide without jury, appeal, or revision of any kind ; but a bare majority 
 was not sufficient for condemnation. The prisoner was acquitted unless 
 six out of eight, or four out of six, found him guilty. Less than six did 
 not constitute a court. Before this tribunal, all armed insurgents, con- 
 spirators, and, in especial, the bands of robbers called chauffeurs, who then 
 infested the roads, stopped the public carriages, and interrupted com- 
 merce and trade, were to be tried. The existence of these armed bands 
 made, indeed, an ostensible reason for the erection of the new court. 
 When, however, the plan was laid before the legislative body, and by 
 that body, referred to the consideration of the Tribunate, it received the 
 most determined opposition. Benjamin Constant, Daunon, Chenier, and 
 others, made an honourable defence against this invasion of the constitu- 
 tion, and it was only carried in the Tribunate by a small majority of 
 forty-nine over forty-one. A large minority also oj^posed it in the 
 legislative body. Another, and still more arbitrary law, was also passed 
 at this time, in spite of all opposition, by which the executive govern- 
 ment was permitted to banish from Paris, or from France, any person 
 suspected of entertaining opinions inimical to the present state of affairs. 
 No despot ever wielded a more terrible instrument of oppression than 
 this, though we are bound to admit that Napoleon used it with great 
 leniency. The perfect organisation of the police completed the whole
 
 262 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 fabric. Under Fouche's able guidance, an universal system of espial 
 now pervaded the whole of France, of which his cabinet formed the 
 centre. The experience of the minister of police, who had once been a 
 furious Jacobin, and next a tool of Barras, was extensive enough, and the 
 individuals in his pay were countless in number. Many persons were 
 also em])loyed as informers, by his wily management, who were utterly 
 unconscious of what they were about. Among these, we believe, were 
 several persons of distinction about the First Consul's person ; perhaps 
 even related to him ; but, in the absence of all proof, it is better to 
 suppress their names than leave them open to supposititious odium. 
 
 AVTiile Fouche thus watched even the head of the government himself. 
 Napoleon, as we have seen, held checks over him. At the period of the 
 consulate, no less than four reports of police were presented to him every 
 morning. The press was under the strictest surveillance, and the opinions 
 of private individuals were watched. Madame de Stael was, at this period, 
 ordered to quit Paris; her intimacy with Benjamin Constant, then one of 
 the heads of the opposition in the Tribunate, of course being the cause. 
 The consolidation of a despotism was, by all these measures, fast ap- 
 proaching to its climax. For what purpose it was established, — whether 
 as the necessary step in the mind of Napoleon to secure the undisturbed 
 opportunity of establishing in its place a just and enlightened system of 
 government, and of raising France to a high pitch of glory and prospe- 
 rity ; or, as some of his historians, and a very large class of readers, 
 have affirmed, to gratify his own ambition, and advance his own selfish 
 interest, — the use he made of this power must comprise, after all, the 
 best answer. The wisdom of his course, or its probability of success, 
 assuming the first position to be correct, is quite another question ; but 
 in deciding upon this point (now that the faults of the man, and the re- 
 sult of his plans in signal failure, are all before us, to assist to the reply), 
 it should never be forgotten that an unintermitted course of hostility 
 continually thwarted his designs, and tended to exasperate his mind, 
 turning his feelings into bitterness, when they might naturally have been 
 pacific and beneficial. 
 
 In the month of December of the same year (1800), the First Consul 
 succeeded in establishing the compact, entitled the " Confederation of the 
 North," between Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Denmark. The purpose 
 of this confederation was to resist the practice, entitled " the right of 
 search," or the habitual boarding of neutral vessels, and seizing all 
 goods which belonged to hostile powers. This right was now, and had 
 been, from the earliest times, exercised by England, as mistress of the 
 seas, more generally than by any other power, and led to continual 
 heart-burnings and much wrong and oppression. The association of the 
 Northern States, in 1780, known as the " Armed Neutrality," had this
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. ^3 
 
 same object in view; and its principle, that "free bottoms made free 
 goods," was again adopted by the maritime powers of the north. All the 
 ports of Russia, Prussia, Holland, Sweden, and Denmark, were now 
 shut against England. Hanover formed part of Prussia; that country 
 having taken possession of these continental dominions of the King of 
 England ; and Hamburg had been seized by Denmark. The two great 
 powers of Russia and France now ruled, or directed, all the north of 
 Europe. 
 
 While the First Consul was thus employed in ruling men and nations, 
 the grand ambition of the Second Consul was to give the best dinners in 
 Paris. Cambaceres did not believe that a good government could exist 
 without good dinners, and his glory was to know that his table was the 
 subject of eulogy throughout Paris; and, indeed, all over Europe. A 
 dinner, of which every one talked with gusto, was to him an Areola, or a 
 Marengo. Napoleon discovered during the conferences at Luneville, 
 that the couriers frequently brought with them certain delicacies of the 
 table to favoured individuals, and forbad the practice. On the very 
 evening that the order was issued, and while he was laughing at the idea 
 of the mortification this regulation would cause to his colleague, Cam- 
 baceres entered. " Well, Cambaceres," said the First Consul, " what 
 brings you here at this time of night ?" "I come," answered the Second 
 Consul, with the greatest gravity and earnestness, *' to solicit an excep- 
 tion to the order which you have just given to the postmasters. How 
 do you think a man can make friends unless he keeps a good table ? 
 You know very well how much good dinners assist the business of 
 government." The First Consul upon this laughed heartily; and pat- 
 ting him on the shoulder, said, " Do not distress yourself, my dear 
 Cambaceres, you shall be an exception. The couriers shall continue to 
 bring you your ditides aux truffles, your Strasburg pates, your Mentz 
 hams, and your bartavelles." 
 
 In the midst of all his triumphs, the First Consul never forgot 
 Desaix. His loss continued to cast a gloom over the most brilliant 
 scenes of festivity and rejoicing. Upon being congratulated on the 
 evening of the victory of Marengo, and rather importunately pressed for 
 an acknowledgment that he was " satisfied" with his success. Napoleon 
 was heard to say, " But Desaix ! Ah, what a triumph would this have 
 been, if I could have embraced him to-night on the field of battle ! " 
 The regret was not overcharged. It was the misfortune of Napoleon's 
 life, that he was an habitual despiser of men, and the loss of one true 
 friend, in whom he acknowledged nobility of soul, was, to him, incalcu- 
 lable. The people of Paris got up a subscription about this time to erect 
 a mommient to Desaix, but scarcely eight hundred pounds were collected, 
 with which a monument was subsequently erected on the Place Dauphine.
 
 264 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The First Consul, much dissatisfied at the result of the subscription, 
 gave the name of Dcsaix to a new quay, the first stone of which was laid 
 on the 14th of July with much solemnity. 
 
 " The talent of Desaix," said Napoleon at St. Helena, " was always 
 in full activity ; he lived only for noble ambition and g\ovy ; his character 
 was formed on the true ancient model. His death was the greatest loss 
 I could possibly have sustained. The conformity of our education and 
 principles would always have preserved a good understanding between 
 us. Desaix would have been satisfied with secondary rank, and would 
 have remained ever devoted and faithful. Had he not been killed at the 
 battle of Marengo, I would have given him the command of the army of 
 Germany, instead of continuing it to Moreau." 
 
 The treaty of Luneville, between Austria and France, was finally 
 signed and ratified in February, 1801. The news reached Paris on the 
 14th, at a time when the people were all assembled at the carnival. The 
 popular amusements were forgotten in the joy excited by the auspicious 
 event ; splendid fetes were given by eminent individuals in Paris, 
 amongst whom Talleyrand particularly distinguished himself; while the 
 people crowded the gardens of the Tuileries, with shouts of " Long live 
 Bonaparte," and gave way to their national gaiety in dances under his 
 windows, the band of the consular guard acting as orchestra.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 2G5 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF WAR WITH ENGLAND — BATTLE OF COPENHAGEN DEATH OF TAUL 
 
 PREPARATIONS TO INVADE ENGLAND INVASION OF PORTUGAL — FULTON AND THE STEAM 
 
 BOAT BATTLE OF ALEXANDRIA, AND DEATH OF SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY CAPITULATION 
 
 OF MENOU THE CONCORDAT RETURN OF THE EMIGRANTS — MR. PITT SUCCEEDED BY 
 
 MR. ADDINGTON — PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE WITH ENGLAND — VIGOROUS AND BENEFICENT 
 
 INTERNAL GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE — LEGION OF HONOUR PEACE OF AMIENS NAPOLEON 
 
 CONSUL FOR LIFE. 
 
 \ By the peace of Liineville, Napoleon for the 
 second time effected the pacification of 
 the continent. Of all the powerful coa- 
 lition which threatened France in 1800, 
 England alone continued hostile in 1801 ; 
 if we except Turkey, with which no ar- 
 rangement could be made until the af- 
 fairs of Egypt were settled. The English 
 ships scoured their subject seas, frown- 
 ing defiance on the nation which their 
 government would not recognise; enforc- 
 ing that obnoxious right of search which 
 they claimed as their own ; always ready 
 to attack every weak point or distant 
 settlement of their great enemy ; and 
 maintaining with indomitable power the sovereignty of the ocean. All 
 the northern coast of Europe bristled with batteries ; troops were 
 marched to different stations to observe these formidable antagonists; 
 
 L L 
 
 A.//1.
 
 266 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 and every height which coinniauded the ocean was put in a state of 
 defence. 
 
 The repose whicli was thus granted to the suffering worhl, affords an 
 opportunity whicli sliould not be neglected, to take a brief retrospect of 
 the career of the extraordinary man who held, for the time, the fate of 
 nations in his hand. The short period of eight years had not quite 
 elapsed since his name was first heard in Europe, as the skilful com- 
 mandant of artillery, at the siege of Toulon. In that year, 1793, 
 RepubUcan France was assailed on every frontier by haughty enemies, 
 who scorned to recognise her as a nation. In the course of 1797, the 
 commandant of artillery, now the conqueror of Italy, dictated the treaty 
 of Campo-Formio to the proud and imperial house of Austria ; and left 
 the republic, greatly increased in territory and power, and at peace with 
 all Europe, with the exception only of her steady and inflexible foe, 
 England, when he sailed for Egypt in the following year. Again, when 
 all Europe, breaking the peace, had risen up against France, in the 
 formidable coalition of 1800, Napoleon, now First Consul, had, in eight 
 months, effected a second peace on conditions still more advantageous to 
 his country, but so moderate in its terms, that even his greatest accusers 
 allow it evinced a strong and decided wish to put an end to the war. 
 These circumstances are too apt to be forgotten by those who remember 
 Napoleon only as a great military commander, and decide, without ex- 
 amination, that he was insatiably fond of war, and pursued it with blind 
 and senseless ambition on all occasions. Justice therefore required that 
 at this period we should mark the presumptive proofs to the contrary, 
 afforded by the two treaties of Campo-Formio and Liuieville. 
 
 Russia possessed eighty-seven ships of the line, and forty frigates ; 
 France, besides her own navy, consisting of upwards of fifty ships of 
 the line and forty frigates, held the Dutch, Spanish, and Neapohtan 
 fleets at her disposal. Immense preparations were made by the other 
 allied powers to reinforce their marine. England was menaced, there- 
 fore, by a formidable array of enemies. The promptitude of the 
 English administration, however, ably seconded by the skill and courage 
 of their unrivalled admiral, began the attack, without waiting till their 
 enemies had time to assemble. Nelson passed the Sound on the morn- 
 ing of the 30th of March, and anchored before Copenhagen in the 
 evening, with twenty ships. The Swedish fleet was expected the next 
 day; but the Danish government was totally without succour at the 
 moment, and had to depend alone on their own fleet, and the batteries 
 of the city, all of which prepared for a strenuous defence. Terms were 
 oflTered by Nelson, but they were too humiliating to be accepted. A 
 desperate Inittle ensued, which lasted for four hours, and ended in the 
 destruction of the Danish licet, and the loss of two thousand lives. The
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 267 
 
 English lost nearly a thousand men; and the resistance was so obstinate, 
 that at one period the victory was doubtful ; but it was sufficiently 
 decisive in its termination to force Denmark to solicit an armistice of a 
 hundred days. One of the northern powers was thus removed from the 
 list of the enemies of England. 
 
 A far more important event had, however, already occurred, though 
 its dark details were not yet spread abroad in Europe, which, by its 
 consequences, broke the coalition of the north altogether, and saved 
 Great Britain from whatever peril threatened her at that period. On 
 the night of the 23rd of March, the Emperor Paul was assassinated in 
 his own palace. The politics of the north of Europe were entirely 
 changed by this tragical circumstance. The Emperor Alexander, who 
 succeeded to the throne, concluded a treaty of peace with England 
 shortly after his accession ; and Denmark and Sweden were compelled 
 to follow in his track. 
 
 The private feelings of the First Consul, as well as his plans with 
 regard to the foreign relations of France, received a severe shock from 
 the death of Paul. It is certain that he had planned, in conjunction 
 with Russia, an expedition against the English possessions in India. 
 A passionate exclamation of " My God ! " most miusual with him, 
 escaped his lips at the announcement of the news. A paragraph ap- 
 peared in " The Moniteur," to the following effect: — " Paul I. died on the 
 night of the 23rd of March. The English fleet passed the Somid on 
 the 30th. History will unveil the connexion which may have existed 
 between these events." No warrant for so black an insinuation is, how- 
 ever, afforded by history. The unfortunate emperor died by the hands 
 of conspirators, whom his own caprices and despotic acts had provoked. 
 The plot was some time in coming to maturity ; and Paul himself was 
 tormented with suspicions of his impending fate, and received frequent 
 warnings to be on his guard. It is, therefore, extremely unlikely that 
 the English ambassador, then in Russia, should not have discovered some 
 traces of the design ; but that he was concerned in it, no proof whatever 
 can be adduced. Fouche settled the question with great indifference. 
 " After all," said he, "why say so much about it? It is a mode of getting 
 rid of a sovereign, quite appropriate to that country." " C est une 
 mode de destitution propre a ce pays la." 
 
 The political aspect of Europe being thus materially changed, and the 
 First Consul thwarted in his system of combination against the naval 
 supremacy of England, he now contemplated a more direct and open 
 mode of aggression. Active preparations, the assembhng together of vast 
 numbers of flat-bottomed boats at Boulogne, the marching of troops to 
 the coast, all shewed that the invasion of England was his object. The 
 threatened attack was met by a corresponding determination of vigorous
 
 268 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 resistance, and the most vigilant observations of the motions of their 
 enemy, were maintained by the English fleet. 
 
 At this period, when the great objects of Napoleon's policy were 
 controlled and obstructed by one enemy alone, who inveterately and 
 resolutely resisted him at every point, while secure in an insular posi- 
 tion, and an unconquerable navy, that enemy could defy every effort of 
 his skill and power, it is curious to observe that he had within his grasp, 
 the means of neutralising all those advantages, and of eluding every pre- 
 caution taken against him. At this very moment it was, that Fulton, the 
 inventor of steam-boats, communicated his discovery to the First Consul. 
 Napoleon thus had the first chance placed in his hands of possessing 
 exclusively, for a time, the greatest and most diversified means of phy- 
 sical power ever known in the world. How much he could effect in 
 a very brief time, has already been shewn. The steam-engine would, 
 indeed, have far more than supplied, in many ways, the loss of the 
 expected junction of the immense navy of Russia, and the invasion of 
 England would have speedily followed. A vast, and not easily defin- 
 able field of operation, both at home and abroad, under such a director, 
 and before any other nation could find means of obtaining any similar 
 power to compete with these terrible engines, — thus springing up like 
 irresistible demons, docile to their master's hand, — is thus opened to 
 the imagination. Let the conduct, on this momentous occasion, of the 
 greatest practical man that ever lived, induce some toleration for those 
 of less genius, who daily commit, in principle, the same species of 
 short-sighted superciliousness. But let it, nevertheless, be a salutary 
 warning to all. Scarcely deigning to bestow a thought upon the sub- 
 ject, the First Consul treated the inventor as a " visionary." 
 
 Simultaneously with the extensive preparations for invasion on the 
 northern coast of France, a French army crossed the Pyrennees, to 
 co-operate with Spain, in an attack on Portugal, the ancient ally of 
 England. Lucien Bonaparte had been previously despatched to Lisbon 
 with propositions of peace, on condition that Portugal would abandon the 
 alliance of England; but the offer had been rejected. The situation of 
 the peninsula at this period, was briefly as follows. Spain was governed, 
 nominally, by Charles IV., a lineal descendant of the branch of the house 
 of I^ourbon, established there by the power of Louis XIV. The real 
 ruler of Spain, however, was Godoy, known generally by his title of 
 L'rince of Peace, a title expressly invented to do him honour, when all the 
 hitherto acknowledged honours and distinctions of the kingdom had been 
 successively heaped uj)on him. Godoy was the queen's lover, and the 
 king's favourite, and he maintained these seemingly incompatible relations 
 with unabated hold, to the end of their reign ; and whether he held any 
 direct ofhce in the ministry or not, it was he who ruled all its counsels.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 269 
 
 The wonder was increased by his well known and undisguised profligacy, 
 which might have been naturally expected to offend his royal mistress ; 
 and, to add to the entanglement, he was married to the king's niece. 
 Godoy, who had been raised to this pitch of power from the rank of a 
 mere life-guardsman, with a handsome person, a fine voice, and a talent 
 for playing on the flute, was not troubled with any prejudices about the 
 honour of nations, or the divine right of kings. He simply desired to 
 maintain his own power, that he might enjoy his riches and his pleasures. 
 He therefore carefully studied to court the alliance of that nation, which 
 his sagacity taught him was in the ascendant. Notwithstanding the 
 horror with which the Spaniards, a highly superstitious and loyal people, 
 regarded the execution of Louis XVI., and the enthusiasm with which 
 they flew to arms, to avenge what they considered the sacrilegious murder 
 of the head of their own royal house, a peace was concluded with the 
 Directory of France, after a very brief struggle, in the year 1795, under 
 the auspices of Grodoy. This peace, whence he derived his title, he care- 
 fully maintained ; and after the 18th Brumaire, the amicable relations of 
 France and Spain became firmer than ever. He himself was generahssimo 
 of the army, which, in 1801, prepared to invade Portugal, in conjunction 
 with the French troops under General Leclerc. 
 
 Portugal had been governed for some years by Don John, Prince of 
 Brazil, as regent, in place of his mother. Queen Mary, who was insane. 
 The regent was remarkable, even in the most superstitious country of 
 Europe, for his passion for religious ceremonies. He had no other pas- 
 sion or thought. Pie was never known to have either mistress or favourite, 
 but he frequently changed his confessor, and his counsels varied according 
 to their influence. When the peace of 1795, between France and Spain, 
 was announced, and Portugal was left alone to sustain the enmity of the 
 new republic, apprehensions at the prospect induced a disposition to desert 
 the long-established alliance with England. This alliance was cemented by 
 reciprocal commercial interests, and important to Portugal, on account of 
 the incapacity of that country to maintain possession of the Brazils, 
 without the friendship of the great naval power. In 1797, a treaty of 
 peace was, notwithstanding, arranged between Portugal and France ; but 
 before it was ratified, an army of eight thousand emigrants in British 
 pay was landed in Portugal, a subsidy of two hundred thousand pounds 
 was voted by the English parliament to its assistance, and the treaty with 
 France was broken off. This decisive pohcy called for vigorous prepara- 
 tions for war ; and, accordingly, miusual efforts were made to put the 
 country in a state of defence, and to recruit the army. The former was 
 easily effected ; for the mountainous nature of the country, and the spirit 
 of its inhabitants, only required energy on the part of the government to 
 turn these natural capabilities to good account. When, however, the
 
 270 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 declaration of war by France and Spain was followed by the invasion of 
 1801, the resistance of Portugal was speedily overcome. No assistance 
 was given by England ; the remains of the emigrant regiments, before 
 mentioned, being all the foreign force in the country. The Spanish army 
 amounted to forty thousand men, the French to fifteen thousand, but the 
 latter remained on the frontier. The Duke de Lafoes, the prime minister 
 of Portugal, and commander-in-chief of the army, was a gay veteran of 
 eiglity-two, who saw very clearly the uselessness of the contest, and 
 having travelled a great deal, had got rid of most of his national exaltation. 
 He waited very philosophically at his head quarters for the approach of 
 the Spanish army, which on its part advanced with nearly eqvial aversion 
 to hostile measures, and probably would have avoided fighting altogether, 
 had not Godoy hajopened to feel a sudden inclination to distinguish him- 
 self by some feat of arms. The Regent of Portugal was married to the 
 daughter of the King of Spain, who had no sort of inclination to see his 
 son-in-law stripped of his dominions. There was a Httle fighting, however, 
 but it was much in the spirit recommended by the old Duke de Lafoes, 
 to one of the principal Spanish oflScers, in a conference they held 
 together. " Why should we fight," said he ; " Portugal and Spain are 
 sumpter mules. England urges us on ; France spurs you. Let us frisk 
 about ; let us jingle our bells, if needful ; but for God's sake, let us not 
 harm one another. They would only laugh at our expense." After 
 some military operations, conducted in the most polite manner, a peace 
 was concluded in June, 1801, between Spain and Portugal, under the 
 auspices of Lucien Bonaparte, by which Portugal renounced the English 
 alliance, and shut her ports against English ships, besides sacrificing part 
 of her territory to Spain. Lucien and Godoy are accused of having 
 shared a large bribe between them on this occasion. The First Consul 
 was dissatisfied with the treaty, refused to ratify it, and announced that 
 a second French army of thirty thousand men, under St. Cyr, was about 
 to cross the Pyrennees. The court of Lisbon, in alarm, immediately des- 
 j)atched a plenipotentiary to France, to treat on new bases, and deprived 
 tlie Duke de Lafoes of his post, and all his dignities. A jocular procla- 
 mation was thereupon posted about the streets of Lisbon to this effect : — 
 " Lost, between Pontalcgre and Abrantes, a boy about eighty-two years 
 of age, with black velvet boots" (the duke wore velvet gaiters on account 
 of the gout) ; " Whoever may find him, is requested to bring him to the 
 oflice for advertisements." The Portuguese plenipotentiary was not 
 allowed to land in France, but ncgociations were carried on at Madrid, 
 under the mediation of the king of Spain, and a peace between France 
 and Portugal, was signed in September, 1801. Tlie Portuguese govern- 
 ment, by a secret article, now agreed to })ay a million sterling to France ; 
 to shut their ports against England ; to cede a portion of their American
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 271 
 
 territories to France ; and to admit French woollen cloths into their 
 country. The King of Spain was rewarded for his good offices, by the 
 nomination of his son-in-law, Louis de Bourbon Duke of Parma, to a 
 throne, erected by Napoleon, for this express purpose. Tuscany was 
 made a kingdom, and the Duke of Parma was appointed its sovereign, 
 with the title of King of Etruria. He visited Paris with the princess of 
 Spain, his consort, and lived at the Tuileries and Malmaison, through 
 great part of the summer of 1801. He was a very weak prince, and the 
 Tuscans had no cause to thank the First Consul for his gift. He recon- 
 ciled the matter to his conscience by saying, " PoKcy requires it ; 
 besides, the young man is not worse than the common run of kings." 
 The ' young man,' however, was so very deficient in intellect, that 
 the aides-de-camp who continually had his society imposed upon them, 
 whilst Napoleon was engaged from morning till night in business, at last 
 gave hun children's playtliings, and engaged him in hide-and-seek and 
 leap-frog, being unable to amuse him by other means. Cambaceres once 
 observ'ed to the First Consul, " It is alleged that you wished to disgust 
 the French people with royalty, by shewing them this fine specimen of a 
 king." — " Not at all, not at all," replied he; " I have no wish to excite 
 a distaste for royalty ; but the presence of His Majesty the King of 
 Etruria will vex a good many worthy folks, who are striving hard to 
 revive a taste for the Bom-bons." The vanity of the Parisians, was much 
 flattered by the affair. They loudly cheered the First Consul at the 
 theatre, wiien at the representation of " Oedipus," the following expres- 
 sion occurred : — 
 
 " I have made kings, but I would not be one." 
 
 Lucien Bonaparte still continued at the court of Spain, in quahty of 
 ambassador, but returned to France shortly afterwards. His stay there 
 is said to have been the source of the large fortune which he amassed, 
 though it was, in truth, a sort of splendid disgrace. The frequent re- 
 currence of violent disputes between him and the First Consul, was the 
 real cause of his mission. Talleyrand and Fouche undertook the task of 
 effecting his resignation of the home department, for the sake of deco- 
 rum, and the avoidance of public scandal. It is said that these quarrels 
 originated in the pubhcation of a tract, called " Parallel between Caesar, 
 Cromwell, Monck, and Bonaparte ;" in which the principles of monarchy 
 were openly advocated. This tract made a great noise at the time, and 
 all the confidential friends of Napoleon assured him it would do him 
 serious injury. Upon this. Napoleon sent for Fouche, and reproached 
 him for sufiering it to appear. Tlie minister of police replied, that he 
 had not thought proper to interfere, because he had traced the manu- 
 script to the office of Lucien. " And wliy not denounce Lucien ?" cried
 
 272 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Napoleon ; " the autlior of tliis tract ought to have been arrested, and 
 sent to the Temple." The First Consul quitted the room as he spoke. 
 Fouche smiled, and whispered to Bourrienne, " Confine the author in the 
 Temple ! — that would not be so easy. Lucien shewed me the manuscript, 
 and it was full of corrections in the hand-writing of the First Consul ! " 
 Lucien, in consequence, complained bitterly, that he had been made a 
 puppet of, and abandoned. " The fault is your own," replied Napoleon; 
 " it was youi* business not to be detected." The whole story, however, 
 rests on questionable authority ; but the quarrels were no less certain. 
 Dm'ing one of them, Lucien \iolently flung his portfolio, as minister, 
 on liis brother's desk, exclaiming, " that he the more readily resigned 
 his public character, as he had suffered nothing but torment from sub- 
 jection to such a despot;" and was, in consequence, ordered to leave the 
 apartment under the charge of the aides-de-camp on duty. On another 
 occasion, he flvmg his watch on the floor, in presence of the First Consul, 
 exclaiming, " You will one day be smashed to pieces like that ! " 
 
 England was pursuing the war with the same determination as ever, 
 though no demonstration was made by the English arms in favour of 
 Portugal. Continual encounters took place between the English cruisers 
 and the French sloops and boats, as they successively approached the 
 rendezvous at Boulogne. 

 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 27,'J 
 
 England had, however, carried a much more important point against 
 France than could be attained by any such encounters as these. On 
 the 8th of March, 1801, a British army of seventeen thousand men 
 landed in Egypt, under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby. The 
 French were very ill prepared for such an attack, the incapacity of 
 Menou having shewn itself in dispersing liis troops over the country, 
 while his indecision, when the danger occurred, in no way repaired this 
 evil. The Enghsh army overcame the resistance of the forces which 
 opposed their landing through the heavy sui*f formed on the beach, and 
 advanced upon their enemy. No general action came on until the 21st, 
 when the English obtained a decisive victory, and drove Menou, with 
 great loss, within the walls of Alexandria. Sir Ralph Abercromby fell, 
 mortally wounded, in the course of the battle. General Hutchinson, 
 on whom the command devolved, conducted the campaign to a most 
 successful termination. Menou was blockaded in Alexandria, and a 
 small body of English troops sufficed to keep him there ; for their 
 engineers had discovered the means of nearly surrounding the city with 
 water, by cutting a sluice from the Lake of Aboukir into the bed of 
 the ancient Lake Mareotis. General Hutchinson then marched upon 
 Cairo, where General Belliard had been left with a small body of 
 French troops. Cut off from all' communication with Menou, and with- 
 out the means of defence, Belliard cai^itulated, on condition of being 
 taken back to France, with all his troops, and their arms and baggage. 
 The English army marched back to the coast in consequence, escorting 
 the French, and arrived just in time to receive the submission of Menou, 
 to whom they granted exactly the same terms. An army of seven 
 thousand men, detached from the English army in India, two thousand 
 of whom were sepoys or native troops, were landed at Cosseir, on the 
 Red Sea, simultaneously with the capitulation of Menou. They came 
 to support the objects of the expedition, wliich had, however, been 
 concluded without them. Thus ended the conquest of Egypt by Na- 
 poleon. Nothing remains of all his efforts of genius in that country : 
 his victories, his vast projects, have left no traces behind, except a great 
 work of science, compiled by the learned men who accompanied him, 
 and the mouldering bones of the Mamelukes, bleaching on the sands of 
 the desert. 
 
 The French admiral, Gantheaume, had long been making fruitless 
 efforts to land reinforcements in Egypt, but had been unable to elude 
 the British ships. He was now ordered to return to Toulon, where 
 preparations were made to receive the French army on their disem- 
 barkation from the British ships. After perceiving his inability to land 
 supplies and reinforcements in Egypt, Napoleon must have been pre- 
 pared in some measure for this event ; and he is said to have borne it 
 
 M M
 
 274 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 with much cahiiness. " However great," says Savary, " was the dis- 
 pleasure of the First Consul at what had taken place, and in particular 
 at the conduct of several general officers of the army of Egypt after his 
 departure, not an expression of ill-humour escaped him against any one ; 
 nor did he make enquiry into the conduct of a single individual. He 
 shewed at all times a marked preference for those who formed a part 
 of that army, whether in the distribution of favours, or in the nomina- 
 tion ^o lucrative employments ; with the exception, however, of a few 
 officers who had belonged to the army of Italy, but who had made 
 themselves conspicuous by their bad spirit and ingratitude : and the 
 only revenge he took on these was to forget them altogether." 
 
 Two measures of great importance, when viewed in their subsequent 
 results, as well as their immediate effects, were originated in the spring 
 of 1801, and carried through before the autumn. The first was the 
 treatv wdth the Pope, known by the title of the Concordat, by which 
 the Roman Catholic faith was recognised as the established religion of 
 France. This measure must be carefully distinguished from the law 
 which, at the very commencement of the Consulate, permitted the 
 return of all the emigrant priests who would take the national oath, 
 and decreed the re-opening of places of worship of every sect, in con- 
 formity mth the principle, that " Conscience is not amenable t6 the 
 law ; and that the right of the sovereign power extends no further than 
 to the exaction of obedience and fidelity." The present measure was 
 a departure from that principle, because it did interfere with the rights 
 of conscience, by conferring certain privileges on one sect, to the exclu- 
 sion of others. The Concordat, howeverj resulted from the immediate 
 practical working of the former consular decree, while departing from 
 its principle. It was found that the priests who had returned to France 
 were more lastingly imbued with the sense of the injuries than of the 
 benefits which they had received. The one act, which had permitted 
 their return to their country and friends, was passed, and might be 
 forgotten : regrets for former riches and power were always present. 
 The priests accordingly proved, in general, so many insidious enemies. 
 They became emissaries in the hands of the emigrant bishops, who were 
 likely to spread disaffection among the mass of the people, over whose 
 associations they maintained a powerful influence. The First Consul 
 had two paths to choose : either to abide by his principle, trusting to 
 an enlightened system of national education and good institutions, to 
 emancipate the i)eople from the influence of the priests, in so far as 
 that influence was debasing and miscliievous ; or to make use of the 
 old associations which bound the people to tlie priests, to recognise 
 them as constituting a power, and to take the direction of that power 
 into liis own liaiids. He chose the latter.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 275 
 
 A. portion of a conversation held by Napoleon on this subject with 
 one of the councillors of state, as they walked together after dinner in 
 the park at Malmaison, exactly explains his motives, and shews the 
 nature of the treaty. After combating different systems of philosophers 
 on modes of worship, natural religion, &c., all of which he designated 
 as ideology, the First Consul expressed his own views thus : — " I was 
 here last Sunday, walking out in this solitude, in the silence of Nature. 
 The sound of the bells of the church at Ruel suddenly struck my ear. 
 I was affected ; so great is the power of early habit and of education ! 
 I said to myself ' Then, what an impression must it not make on simple 
 and credulous minds ! ' It will be said I am a papist : I am nothing. I 
 was a Mahometan in Egypt; I will be a Catholic here, for the good of 
 the people. I do not belong to any religion ; but the idea of a God ! " 
 lifting his hands towards the heavens, which were covered with stars ; 
 " who is it who has made all that ? Let your philosophers, your meta- 
 physicians, reply as they may : a religion is necessary for the people. It 
 is also necessary that this religion should be in the hands of the govern- 
 ment. Fifty emigrant bishops, in the interest of the Bourbons, at present 
 govern the French clergy as they please. It is necessary to destroy this 
 influence ; the authority of the Pope is required for the purpose. He dis- 
 places them, or makes them give "in their resignation. It is declared that 
 the Catholic religion being that of the majority of Frenchmen, it is proper 
 to regulate the exercise of it. The First Consul nominates fifty bishops, 
 the Pope inducts them. They name the curates, the state pays their 
 salaries. They take the oath ; those who do not are banished. Such 
 of them as preach against the government are denounced to their 
 superiors to be punished. The Pope confirms the sale of the goods 
 of the clergy : he consecrates the republic. They will then chaunt 
 * Salvam fac rem GaUicam.'' " 
 
 To a remark made in answer, to the effect that " he was about to 
 raise up a power which might prove artful and dangerous, and that the 
 opportunity he possessed for resisting deception and superstition was un- 
 exampled," the First Consul replied, that " the mass of the people were 
 Catholic ; that the enlightened part of the community were too indif- 
 ferent to raise a schism against popery; and that he wished to avoid 
 all internal dissension. That the Pope would forward his projects 
 abroad :" adding, " my friend, there is no longer either good faith or 
 belief; there is no longer any fear of the clergy; it is merely a political 
 arrangement." 
 
 These words sufficiently explain the object and nature of the Con- 
 cordat. It was simply a political arrangement, with a view to make 
 use of the papal See as an engine of power, and to restore internal 
 quietude. Some latent reverence for the ceremonies of the church
 
 27G THE HISTORY OF 
 
 of Rome, derived from early recollections, we have no doubt swayed 
 Napoleon (thougli unconsciously) in his determination to piursue such a 
 policy. This dormant feeling- was unequivocally evinced at the close of 
 his life. The whole proceeding, however, had nothing to do, either with 
 " the necessity for religion," or the earnest appeal to Divine power, with 
 which Napoleon enhanced his argument. 
 
 The treaty was managed by Joseph Bonaparte, together with three 
 colleagues, who held conferences with the plenipotentiaries of Pope 
 Pius VII., and the articles were ratified on both sides on the 18th of 
 September, 1801. The conditions were as follow: — The Catholic re- 
 ligion was to be established in France as the national religion, subject 
 only to such regulations of police as the French government thought 
 necessary. The Pope, in concert with the French government, was 
 to make a new division of dioceses. The sees were to be filled up by 
 the Pope, on nominations proceeding from the French government. 
 The new bishops were to take an oath of fidelity to the government, 
 and to ordain a form of prayer for the consuls. The church livings 
 were to undergo a new division, and the bishops were to nominate to 
 them, but only such persons as were approved by the government. The 
 government was to make a suitable provision for the national clergy ; 
 while the Pope renounced all right, for himself and his successors, to 
 challenge or dispute the sales of church property which had been made 
 since the revolution. 
 
 " The Concordat," says Mr. Lockhart, " gave no satisfaction to the 
 high Catholic party ; who considered it as comprehending arrangements 
 wholly unworthy of the dignity of the Pope, and destructive of the 
 authority of the church. The Pope, in acceding to these terms, sub- 
 mitted to ' the exigence of the time ; which,' said his Holiness in the 
 deed itself, ' lays its violence even upon us.' The name of the First 
 Consul was now introduced into the church service at least as often 
 as that of the king had used to be." This was, indeed, an ominous 
 introduction. 
 
 While the Catholic religion was established as the religion of the 
 state, every other form of worship was allowed full liberty of exercise, 
 and their ministers were paid. Civil rights were accorded to the Jews; 
 and all barriers between them and other citizens were removed. 
 
 It will be seen, by the articles enumerated, how entirely the church 
 of Rome yielded up its supremacy in spiritual matters before the power 
 of the French republic. The First Consul brought the negociation to 
 so satisfactory a conclusion, according to his views, that he afterwards 
 declared, that if there had not been a Pope, he would have made one 
 for the occasion. A grand religious ceremony took place at Notre 
 Dame, to celebrate the proclamation of the Concordat, at which the
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 277 
 
 First Consul presided in great pomp, attended by all the ministers and 
 principal general officers then in Paris. An immense crowd filled the 
 cathedral ; but the wliispering and murmurs evinced little respect on 
 the part of many who were there. The Archbishop of Aix was ap- 
 pointed to preach the sermon, being the very prelate who had presided 
 at the coronation of Louis XVI. It required considerable manage- 
 ment to obtain the attendance of some of the republican generals, who 
 were little used to pay any reverence to such pageants. They were 
 invited to breakfast with Berthier ; and after attending the First Con- 
 sul's levee, accompanied him, without understanding where they were 
 going ; but, on making the discovery, Lannes and Augereau wished to 
 get out of the carriage, and were only prevented by an especial order. 
 Augereau is said to have remarked that the ceremony was all very fine ; 
 and that nothing was wanting " except the million of men who had 
 perished in pulling down what was now being set up." 
 
 The second measure mentioned as having passed at this period, was 
 the decree permitting the return of the emigrants, provided they 
 returned and took the oath to the government within a certain period. 
 There were five classes of exceptions to this amnesty. 1. Those who
 
 278 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 had been cliiels of bodies of armed royalists. 2. Those who ]iad held 
 rank in the allied armies against France. 3. Those who had belonged 
 to the household of the princes of the blood. 4. Those who had been 
 ao-ents or encouragers of foreign or domestic war. 5. The generals, 
 admirals, and representatives of the people who had been guilty of 
 treason against the republic ; together with the prelates who refused 
 the terms of the Concordat. It was declared at the same time that 
 not more than five hundred, in all, should be excluded from the amnesty. 
 It is estimated that a hundred thousand emigrants returned to their 
 country in consequence of the decrees of Napoleon. To those whose 
 property had not been sold it was returned ; but the First Consul made 
 no attempt to compromise the revolution, by alienating any of the lands 
 which had become national property. The consequences of all these 
 arrangements will be seen in the sequel. The case of the emigrants 
 was very difficult for legislation. On the one hand, if forced to remain 
 abroad, they formed a large body of enemies in foreign countries, and 
 their exile produced pain and discontent amongst all those related to 
 them in France. On the other hand, they composed, by their return, 
 a numerous party in the country, attached by principle and feeling to 
 the ancient order of things, and most of them irritated against the 
 revolution by the memory of past sufferings and the continually pre- 
 sent sense of loss of property and privileges. The same cause of dislike 
 operated with them as with the priests ; and discontent too often super- 
 ceded gratitude. 
 
 AVhile these conciliatory measures evinced a strong desire for peace, 
 the preparations for invading England continued unabated. England 
 replied to them by placing Nelson in command of the sea from Orfordness 
 to Beachy Head. Nelson was not satisfied with defensive operations; 
 but, appearing before Boulogne, he bombarded the French fleet, and 
 after destroying some small craft and gun-boats, proceeded to attack the 
 flotilla \v\ih the boats of his squadron. The French, however, made a 
 desperate defence ; their vessels were moored close to the shore, chained 
 together, and filled with soldiers, and Nelson was obliged to make sail 
 without efiecting anything. Meantime a change in the English ministry 
 afforded a prospect of pacific intentions. Mr. Pitt went out of office in 
 the course of the summer, and was succeeded by Mr. Addington, after- 
 wards Lord Sidmouth. No change of political principles was indicated 
 by this measure, but Mr. Pitt had so identified himself with the war, 
 that his very name seemed a bar to its conclusion, and it was not 
 esteemed as possible that a peace could be concluded under his auspices. 
 The '* gold of Pitt," and war, were almost synonymous ideas in France. 
 The two nations had now arrived at a relative position, which seemed 
 very like a drawn game ; France being as supreme on the continent as
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 279 
 
 England was unconquerable on the ocean. During the whole period 
 which had intervened since the treaty of Luneville, M. Otto had been 
 kept in England by the French government, ostensibly as agent in be- 
 half of the prisoners of war ; but, in conformity with his instructions, he 
 had watched for opportunities of opening a pacific negociation with the 
 English ministry. The battle of Copenhagen, and the death of Paul, 
 seemed to overthrow all the chances of peace, by suddenly elevating the 
 position of English affairs. The conquest of Portugal by France re- 
 stored the equilibrium. The news of the battle of Alexandria lowered 
 the demands of France. Malta now became the grand point of dispute ; 
 England insisting upon retaining it, to which France would not consent. 
 At length, the First Consul resolved to fix the negociations on a new 
 basis, and empowered M. Otto to offer the following conditions, which, 
 after some alterations, were accepted as the foundation of a treaty. 
 England relinquished all her colonial conquests, with the exception of 
 the important islands of Ceylon and Trinidad ; thus yielding up, at the 
 conclusion of the war, most of those possessions, upon the acquisition of 
 which, says Sir Walter Scott, " the national force had been frittered away." 
 Malta was also relinquished by England ; but it was stipulated that its in- 
 dependence should be secured, and that it should not fall into the hands of 
 France. A neutral power was to garrison the island, and take it under pro- 
 tection. France agreed to restore Egypt to the Porte ; but, as it is believed 
 that the First Consul had already received the news of the capitulation of 
 Menou, there was little sacrifice made here. France also recognised the 
 republic of the Ionian islands, and gave up all the ports of Naples and 
 Rome, now occupied by French troops, to their respective governments. 
 Portugal, it was agreed, should be maintained in all its integrity. The 
 people, both of France and England, watched the proceedings with the 
 greatest anxiety. The messengers who carried the despatches were adorned 
 with ribands, and fetes and illuminations marked their course. The pre- 
 liminaries were ratified between the two countries on the 10th of October, 
 1801. The intelligence was communicated to Paris by the firing of can- 
 non, and caused a general rejoicing. General Lauriston carried the ratified 
 treaty from Paris to London, where the pojoulace received him with trans- 
 ports of joy. The horses were taken from his carriage, and he was drawn 
 to his house by the people. The sentiments of the higher classes were 
 much divided. A small party, led by Mr. Wyndham, following the lead 
 of Burke, considered the fact of treating with a regicide government as 
 an indelible act of meanness, and a dereliction from the principles of 
 legitimacy, on which the social compact ought to rest. More moderate 
 Tories conceived that Britain was not bound to sacrifice herself entirely 
 for these principles, while they much regretted they had not triumphed. 
 Mr. Pitt belonged to this party. The members of the opposition, who
 
 280 THE HLSTORY OF 
 
 had all along predicted the bad success of the war, now rejoiced that 
 peace was obtained on any terms. Sheridan very truly characterised the 
 general feeling on the subject, by saying, " it was a peace which all men 
 were glad of, and no man could be proud of." Amiens was appointed 
 as the place of meeting for the commissioners to settle the definitive 
 treaty, which was not finally arranged till five months afterwards. 
 Joseph Bonaparte was appointed to represent his brother. 
 
 Mr. Fox visited Paris soon after the treaty of peace. He was re- 
 ceived with the greatest enthusiasm wherever he was recognised. He 
 spent much of his time at the Tuileries, on terms of the greatest con- 
 fidence and intimacy, and inspired Napoleon with feelings of sincere 
 friendship, and the impression was mutual. The following recollections 
 of this great man, in the words of Napoleon, are taken from the " Me- 
 moire de St. Helene." " Fame had informed me of his talents, and I 
 soon found that he possessed a noble character, a good heart, liberal, 
 generous, and enlightened views. I considered him an ornament to man- 
 kind, and was very much attached to him. We often conversed together, 
 upon various topics, without the least prejudice : when I wished to en- 
 gage in a little controversy, I turned the conversation upon the infernal 
 machine, and told him that his ministers had attempted to murder me. 
 He would then oppose my opinion with warmth, and invariably ended 
 the conversation by saying, in his bad French, ' First Consul, pray take 
 that out of your head.' " 
 
 We have now, and henceforward, to consider Napoleon more parti- 
 cularly in his character as a statesman and legislator. 
 
 The favourable moment afforded by the cessation of war was devoted 
 by the First Consul, with all the energy of his character, to the organi- 
 sation of the government of France in every department. " The true 
 glory of Napoleon," says a writer by no means inclined to panegyrise 
 him on all occasions (Baron Pelet de la Lozere), " consists in having 
 rallied round him all the parties in the state ; in having organised such 
 a powerful administration, that France, during fifteen years, submitted 
 to the guidance of his powerful hand, as if the whole nation had been 
 but one man ; in giving his country a code of civil laws, more perfect 
 than any it had possessed before ; and in being laborious, indefatigable, 
 and unceasingly occupied with the affairs of government. 
 
 " One of the most laborious periods of the council of state," continues 
 the same author, " was during the consulate. Then were framed the 
 codes, the laws, the decrees, and the regulations which constituted the 
 new administration of the country, and under which we still live (1837). 
 The council of state was divided into various sections or committees : 
 one for the navy, another for the army, for the finances, for public 
 justice, for home aflairs, and so on. Each section was composed of
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 281 
 
 those members who were supposed to be the best versed in the matters 
 to which the drafts of the proposed decrees submitted to their con- 
 sideration related. The subject? were first discussed before these com- 
 mittees respectively, and afterwards reconsidered by all the committees 
 assembled together. Napoleon, when First Consul, presided sometimes 
 at the meetings of the sections from ten o'clock in the evening till five 
 in the morning ; he then took a bath, after which he was soon ready 
 to recommence work. In speaking of this practice, he said, ' One 
 hour in the bath is worth four hours of sleep to me.' 
 
 " This restless acti\dty which he exhibited in his own person, he 
 exacted from all those whom he called to his aid. As he complained 
 not*unfrequently that the council did not advance rapidly enough with 
 business, it was incumbent upon every one to shew that he was not 
 behindhand with his task. When a report was to be drawn up, it was 
 ordered for next day ; or if one of his council was charged with the 
 duty of proposing a law to the legislative body, he had often not a 
 couple of hours to prepare the whole matter, besides getting his speech 
 ready. Such scrimp time was, however, quite enough for Napoleon 
 himself; for he dictated with such rapidity, that there generally re- 
 mained several pages of matter to be written after he had done speak- 
 ing ; and yet, on the revision, it was rare to discover anything requiring 
 to be altered. Both before and after these meetings of the council of 
 state. Napoleon frequently presided at other councils, where, in concert 
 with other professional men, he regulated the details of each department 
 of the administration ; such as that of the public works, the war-ofiice, 
 and so on ; his mind passing with wonderful facility from one topic to 
 another. 
 
 " The discussions wdiich took place respecting the various decrees 
 proposed for the consideration of the council of state, were invariably 
 preceded by a report explanatory of its objects ; and Napoleon always 
 required the decree to be read before the report, asserting that such 
 was the mathematical order of things, which required the enunciation 
 of a proposition before the demonstration. Whoever wished to speak 
 had only to say so ; and Napoleon often urged those persons to speak 
 w^hose opinions he desired to learn. The style of address was simple 
 and without flourish ; for the eloquence of the tribunate would have 
 been considered quite ridiculous in the council. A new member, who 
 had gained a certain degree of reputation as a public speaker, wished 
 to set out with the oratorical manner he had found succeed in public 
 assemblies ; but he soon discovered that he was only laughed at in the 
 council, and speedily lowered his tone. There was no method in that 
 place of concealing the want of ideas under the profusion of words : 
 what was required was substantial matter, and a mind stored witli facts. 
 
 N N
 
 282 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Not only was every description of knowledge represented in the council 
 of state, but every different epoch. Napoleon's principle, indeed, in its 
 formation, was not merely to draw into it men possessed of all kinds 
 of information, but persons of all different shades of politics. In this 
 spirit, he called to his assistance not only those men of the revolution 
 who had most distinguished themselves in the preceding assemblies, 
 but he recalled those who, though not hostile to the revolution, had 
 been expatriated by its early political storms, such as Malouet, Mounier, 
 Scgur, and others. In this way, the council exhibited all the different 
 parties of the state, fused, as it were, into one mass." 
 
 It is necessary, towards forming a just estimate of Napoleon's actions, 
 and especially those which have relation to the destruction of the 
 political liberty of France, to understand the nature and constitution 
 of the council of state. If the First Consul repressed the expression 
 of popular opinion, it will hence be perceived, on the other hand, that 
 he did not trust to his own judgment in legislating for the people ; but 
 that he had organised a body of legislators, composed of men, each the 
 best qualified that could be found, for every department of the business 
 of government. 
 
 Among other important measures originated during the short period 
 of the peace of Amiens, may be enumerated the admirable system of 
 communal regulations, extending over the whole of France ; the ad- 
 justment of the financial department, called the council of liquida- 
 tion, which continued its labours until 1810, when it had completed 
 its task by clearing off the debts of the revolution ; the rural code, 
 for the improvement of agriculture ; the institution of chambers of 
 commerce in all the principal cities of the republic, in communication 
 with a central chamber in Paris ; and the regulation of national education, 
 beginning at the point at which the national convention had stopped. 
 This all-important department was put under the charge of the cele- 
 brated Fourcroy. The schools were divided into three classes: — pri- 
 mary or municipal schools, twenty-three thousand of which were formed ; 
 secondary schools, or communal colleges ; lyceums, and special schools, 
 supported at the expense of the treasury. The Institute formed the 
 summit of the whole edifice. Three commissions of learned men were 
 sent, in different directions, to travel through France, in order to 
 organise the lyceums. La Place, Monge, and Lacroix, were employed 
 by the government to prepare elementary works on mathematics for 
 the schools; Dumenil, Brogniard, Adet, Biot, and Haiiy, to compose 
 the works on natural history, mineralogy, chemistry, astronomy, and 
 physics. The college of St. Cyr, a free-school, for the sons of soldiers 
 killed on the field of battle, underwent a new organisation; and the 
 school of Fonlainebleau was created at this period. To all these may
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 283 
 
 be added two naval schools ; the one at Toulon, the other at Brest. A 
 further and more complete system of education was put in operation, 
 at a subsequent period, by Napoleon, who was duly impressed with the 
 extreme importance of this part of the duty of a government. " There 
 never can be," he said, " a fixed political state, until there exists a 
 body of men teaching on fixed principles." The establishment of nor- 
 mal schools belongs to the subsequent period, and will be noticed in its 
 place. In addition to these legislative enactments, many great public 
 works were begun at this time. Bridges were constructed, roads and 
 canals made, harbours secured, forests planted, new productions in cul- 
 tivation imported, the breed of cattle improved. The great roads over 
 Mount Cenis and the Simplon, which now, in their finished state, excite 
 the wonder and admiration of the world, were projected and commenced; 
 and public monuments and buildings began to rise in every part of 
 France. 
 
 The institution of the Legion of Honour followed shortly after the 
 Concordat. It was powerfully combated in the council of state, and in 
 the tribunate ; a very large minority voting against its adoption in that 
 assembly, as well as in the legislative body. Its purpose was to confer an 
 honorary distinction, accompanied by a pension, upon individuals of dis- 
 tinguished merit, whether civil or military. It consisted of a council of 
 administration, composed of the three consuls, and a member of each of 
 the assemblies. It was divided into fifteen cohorts, every cohort consist- 
 ing of seven grand officers, twenty commanders, thirty subaltern officers, 
 and three hundred and fifty legionaries. The First Consul was, in right 
 of his office, captain general of the legion and president of the council 
 of administration. The nomination of all the members was for life. 
 The grand officers were endowed with a yearly pension of upwards of 
 two hundred pounds. Pensions, decreasing in amount, were affixed 
 to the subordinate degrees of rank in the order. All the members 
 were required to swear upon their honour to defend the government 
 of France and maintain the inviolability of her empire ; to combat, by 
 every lawful means, against the re-establishment of feudal institutions ; 
 and to concur in maintaining the principles of liberty and equality. 
 Notwithstanding the wording of this oath, the friends of liberty naturally 
 dreaded, in the establishment of distinctions among the citizens of 
 France, a return to the ancient system of castes. They conceived of 
 the Legion of Honour as containing vdthin itself all the elements on 
 which hereditary nobility has been founded in all ages ; as being 
 likely to revive prejudices, received in all the other nations of Europe, 
 and only half- extinguished in France; and as being contrary to the 
 spirit of the republic and the letter of the constitution. The First 
 Consul defended it, on the ground that it was a project designed to
 
 ^84 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 give consistency to the system of rewards already in operation in the 
 army, and to extend that system to civil services. " I know, well 
 enough," he said, " that if we place ourselves in the skull-cap that en- 
 closes the ten years of the revolution, we shall, in that circumscribed 
 point of view, find that the plan is good for nothing : but if we place 
 ourselves after the revolution, and admit the actual necessity we are 
 under of organising the nation, we shall think differently. All has been 
 overturned ; we want at present to build up again. There is a govern- 
 ment with certain powers ; as to all the rest of the nation, what is it biU 
 loose grains of sand ? We have, in the midst of us, the remains of the 
 old privileged classes, connected by principles and interests, and know- 
 ing well what it is they want. I can count our enemies : but, as to 
 ourselves, we are scattered — without system, without union, without 
 contact. As long as I remain, I can answer for the republic ; but we 
 must provide for the future. Do you suppose we can reckon upon the 
 people ? The French character has not been changed by ten years of 
 revolutions ; they are still what their ancestors, the Gauls, were — vain 
 and light. They are susceptible but of one sentiment, honour; it is 
 right, then, to afford nourishment to this sentiment, and to allow of 
 distinctions. Earthier talks of the Romans having no system of honorary 
 rewards : the Romans had patricians, knights, and slaves ; for each class, 
 different dresses and different manners ; honorary recompenses for every 
 species of merit — mural crowns, civic crowns, ovations, triumphs, titles. 
 When the patricians lost their influence, Rome fell to pieces. The 
 people were rabble. It was then that you saw the fury of Marius, the 
 proscriptions of Scylla, and afterwards of the emperors. In like manner 
 Brutus is talked of as the enemy of tyrants : he was an aristocrat, who 
 stabbed Caesar, because Caesar wished to lower the authority of the noble 
 senate. You call these ribbons and crosses children s rattles : be it so ! 
 It is with children's rattles that men are led. I would not say that to 
 a tribune ; but, in a council of wise men and statesmen, one ought 
 to speak out. Observe how the people bow before the decorations of 
 foreigners. Voltaire calls the private soldiers ' Alexanders, at five sous 
 a day' He was right: it is just so. Do you imagine that you can 
 make men fight by reasoning ? Never. You must bribe them with 
 glory, distinctions, rewards. To come to the point: during ten years 
 there has been a talk of institutions. Where are they? All has 
 been overturned: our business is to build up. Do you suppose 
 that the republic is definitively established? It would be a gross 
 mistake. We have it in our power to achieve this object; but we 
 have not yet done it, nor shall we ever succeed in it, if we do not, 
 as a foundation, cast some blocks of granite on the restless soil of 
 France. In fine, it is agreed that we have need of some kind of insti-
 
 NAPOLEON bonapartp:. 285 
 
 tutions : if this is not approved of, let some other he proposed. I do 
 not pretend that it alone will save the state, but it will do its part." 
 These arguments, selected from the First Consul's speeches in the 
 council of state, are illustrative, in a remarkable degree, of his system 
 of policy on all occasions. The expediency may have been profound, 
 but the metaphor of the " blocks of gi'anite," is fallacious. 
 
 The order of the Legion of Honour was given without any distinc- 
 tion of ranks, and Napoleon wished to have placed the institution on a 
 much broader and more liberal scale than he was permitted to do by the 
 spirit of the time. He has left the following expression of his feelings 
 on the subject, in the " Memoire de St. Helene :" — " Had it been ap- 
 proved by public opinion. Napoleon would have given the cross of the 
 Legion of Honour to Talma, Elleviou, and other celebrated actors and 
 public performers ; he refrained from doing so out of consideration 
 for the weakness and prejudices of the age, and he was wrong. The 
 Legion of Honour was the reversion of every one who was an honour to 
 his country, stood at the head of his profession, and contributed to the 
 national prosjoerity and glory. If ever it cease to be the recompense of 
 the lowest class of the military, and a medal be instituted, through aris- 
 tocratical feelings, to reward the mere soldier ; or, if ever the civil order 
 be deprived of it, it will cease to be the Legion of Honour." 
 
 The negociations at Amiens at length came to a close ; and the treaty 
 of peace between England and France was signed on the 25th of March, 
 1802. The island of Malta was, by the conditions of the treaty, to be 
 garrisoned by Neapolitan troops, and all the great powers of Europe 
 guaranteed its neutrality ; the knights of St. John being once more no- 
 minated as its sovereigns. The English government refused to recog- 
 nise the Italian republics, and the new kingdom of Etruria ; but the 
 French plenipotentiaries did not insist upon this condition, and it was 
 omitted in the articles. France was now at peace with all Europe, 
 and the position and prospects of the country were brilliant beyond 
 those of any period since the revolution. By the peace of Amiens, 
 Napoleon had achieved the important, and once seemingly impracticable, 
 measure, of bringing England to acknowledge the French republic as a 
 nation. The English crowded to Paris after the peace, full of curiosity, 
 after so many years of exclusion, to see a capital which had been the 
 scene of unnumbered events in the interval; and to catch a glimpse of 
 the extraordinary man who had raised himself to a height from which 
 he could arbitrate and control the affairs of all Europe. 
 
 The enthusiasm of the French people for their successful chief was 
 excited in a degree corresponding to the glory Avith which he had sur- 
 rounded them. During the summer of 1802, the question of extending 
 the term of his consulate was agitated. The senate, in conformity with
 
 286 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the popular wish, and doubtless ^vitl^ the concurrence of Napoleon, de- 
 creed an extension of ten years to his continuance in oiRce. The First 
 Consul accepted the offered prolongation from the senate, on condition 
 that the opinion of the people should he consulted on the subject. The 
 question put to the people was more complete. Cambaceres and Lebrun 
 framed the matter for decision in the following words : — " Napoleon 
 Bonaparte— shall he be Consul for life ?" Registers were opened in all 
 the municipalities ; and the answer of the people qualified to vote was 
 decisive. Upwards of three million, five hundred thousand, voted for the 
 proposal ; eight thousand, three hundred, against it. The name of 
 Carnot was among the dissentients ; and La Fayette made his vote 
 dependent on a declaration from the First Consul, that political liberty, 
 and the liberty of the press should be granted to the nation. As Napo- 
 leon did not answer to this reqvxisition. La Fayette was also in the list 
 of opponents. In the month of August, 1802, Napoleon was declared 
 Consul for life. A decree of the senate immediately afterwards consoli- 
 dated his power, by permitting him to appoint his successor. 
 
 ^iAm;,t.,
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 287 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 EXPEDITION TO ST. DOMINGO HISTORY OF THE ISLAND TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE — CON- 
 QUEST OF THE NEGROES BY THE FRENCH THE YELLOW FEVER ATTACKS THE FRENCH ARMY 
 
 SUSPICIOUS MOVEMENTS AMONG THE NEGROES TOUSSAINT SEIZED AND SENT TO FRANCE 
 
 REVOLT DEATH OF GENERAL LECLERC BARBARITIES OF ROCHAMBEAU DEATH OF 
 
 TOUSSAINT THE FRENCH FLEET AND ARMY OF ST. DOMINGO SURRENDER TO ENGLAND. 
 
 War had ceased, for a period, to torture 
 humanity in the ancient world ; 
 but a ferocious and sanguinary 
 conflict now raged in another he- 
 misphere. Napoleon was the sole 
 aggressor in this fresh struggle ; 
 :j; which, begun in proud contempt 
 
 of justice, carried on with cruelty 
 and treachery, and ending in signal 
 defeat, has left one of the darkest 
 stains upon his memory. No 
 sooner did the suspension of hos- 
 tilities clear the ocean of the 
 English ships, than a French and 
 Spanish squadron bearing a power- 
 ful French army, left the harbour of Brest, bound for St. Domingo, with 
 orders to reduce that island once more to the condition of a colony of 
 France. 
 
 According to the terms of the treaty of Luneville, the French nation 
 was about to resume possession of the greater part of its colonies which 
 had been seized by England. But St. Domingo did not belong to
 
 288 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 England ; the negroes, once the slaves, were now the masters in that 
 beautiful island. * ^Vhy, whilst proud England was renouncing the 
 other islands, should a set of miserable blacks be suffered to retain 
 possession of the richest among them all ? Why, whilst the land- 
 holders of other colonies were on the point of quietly resuming their 
 property, and once more enjoying their rich revenues, must the planters 
 of St. Domingo alone put up with their losses ? A multitude of 
 families had been utterly ruined by those losses. Why should their 
 rich island, alone free, in the midst of slavery, be left exposed to the 
 possible alliance of England ; or (which was more likely) to invasion by 
 England, which might naturally fear that the contagion of liberty w'ould 
 spread from the free shores of St. Domingo to others in those regions, 
 and so seize upon and enslave the dangerous community ? France 
 would thus not only lose its chief colony, but actually see it fall into 
 the power of England.' These were the reasonings by which Napoleon 
 suffered his t5etter feelings to be smothered ; but he hesitated for some 
 time. " He was upwards of a month, " says Savary, " engaged in 
 collecting information respecting that island, from all those who had 
 resided in the Antilles. The profession of the party was of little con- 
 sequence to him ; he desired that all those who could throw some light 
 on the subject, should be sent to him at Malmaison. I have known 
 him to be closeted for hours with inferior clerks in the marine depart- 
 ment, who had been pointed out to him as possessed of positive informa- 
 tion respecting St. Domingo." It was jealousy of England which at 
 length turned the scale. " Alas !" says Hazlitt, " the way to outstrip 
 us, would have been in the race of generosity and magnanimity, and not 
 by trying to be foremost in that of selfish policy or unfeeling cruelty!" 
 
 In order to understand the peculiarity and difficulty of the case, it is 
 necessary to take a review of the past history of the island which had then 
 become a subject of hostility. St. Domingo, or Hispaniola, originally 
 called Ilayti (which name it has now resvuued) when first discovered 
 by Colum})us, was chiefly peopled by a gentle and timid race of red 
 Indians. These original inhabitants were nearly exterminated by the 
 Spanish adventurers who swarmed to those newly found regions in search 
 of gold. The poor Indians, unused to toil in their rich and lovely island, 
 which almost spontaneously supplied all their wants, perished from the face 
 of the earth under the ruthless hands of their civilised tormentors. The 
 African negroes, a hardier race, were next imported, as slaves, to do the 
 work of the European lords of the soil. 
 
 At tlie period of the French Revolution, St. Domingo belonged by 
 right of conquest partly to Spain and partly to France. It was peopled 
 by whites, who possessed all the power; by mulattoes, who were free, 
 but considered as an i)ilc>rior race; and by negro slaves. The numbers
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 289 
 
 of whites and mulattoes were about equal; but both races put together 
 were outnumbered as eight to one by the negroes. When news of the 
 revolution in the mother country reached the French portion of the island, 
 the mulattoes demanded social equality. This being refused by the 
 whites, a dreadful ci\il war commenced, in which the mulattoes were put 
 down ; but before the conquerors had time for self-gratulation, they were 
 astounded by a general insurrection of their slaves. The proprietors of 
 the Spanish part of the island, being royalists and supported by English 
 troops, fomented the revolt against the French proprietors, who, it must 
 be remembered, now belonged to a revolutionary government. 
 
 At this period, there was numbered among the slaves of an estate 
 called Breda, one named Toussaint, about forty years of age. He had 
 originally tended cattle, but had been raised from this employment to be 
 coachman to tlie bailiff. He had by some means learned to read and 
 write, and was chiefly remarkable for extreme thoughtfulness and a reli- 
 gious tendency. He quickly joined the black general, Jean Fran9ois, 
 and soon rose to be aide-de-camp and colonel. In this war of the long- 
 oppressed against their oppressors, horrors were abundantly perpetrated, 
 the whole island becoming a scene of conflagration and slaughter. 
 Toussaint, however, obtained the influence which he soon began to 
 exercise, rather by the natural vigour of his mind than by violence. On 
 the 4th of February, 1794, the National Convention of France decreed 
 the liberty of all slaves, and declared St. Domingo an integral part of 
 France. Toussaint instantly decided on his mode of action. He marched 
 from his Spanish quarters to join the French republican commander, who 
 made him general of brigade. The Spanish posts fell one after another 
 under the victorious attacks of Toussaint. The French commissioners 
 said, " This man makes an opening {Vouverture) everywhere." From 
 this saying, he acquired his name of Toussaint L'Ouverture. The war 
 soon ended. The Spanish planters laid down their arms, and the 
 blacks were free. Toussaint saved the French general from an insurrec- 
 tion of the mulattoes, and was appointed Lieutenant of St. Domingo. The 
 English and mulattoes were still his enemies ; but the former abandoned 
 the island in 1798, tired of a war in which the diseases of the climate 
 had destroyed vast numbers of their troops. The English commander, 
 accompanied only by three attendants, previously held a conference witli 
 Toussaint in the midst of his armed blacks, so great was the confidence 
 he had deservedly inspired; and a treaty was concluded between them. 
 Toussaint next conquered the mulattoes; and then admitted them to a 
 treaty of peace and equal rights. He was now absolute ruler of the 
 island, to the internal improvement of which he began to devote himself. 
 He sent his two sons to be educated in France, writing to the Directory 
 in these terms: — " I guarantee, under my personal responsibility, the 
 
 o o
 
 290 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 submission of my black brethren to order, and their fidelity to France." 
 His administration was vig-orous, and as watchful as might be expected 
 from a man who had been a slave, and was raised to rule over a nation 
 lately slaves. He is said to have never permitted the same secretary to 
 commence and conclude a dispatch; after dictating a certain portion, he 
 always sent away the person he had employed, to wait his orders at 
 some sixty or a hundred miles distance. The secretaries were also 
 unifoiTnly foi'bidden, under pain of death, to divulge what he had 
 dictated; while numerous spies enabled him to detect disobedience. 
 
 -mm 
 
 -.-'■•' -W^' ■^'^^s-J.vUl 
 
 :^^tfi'^i:'*Ctf^j^#s-%i 
 
 Being now undisputed master, Toussaint adopted the wise policy of 
 encouraging both the whites and mulattoes to remain in the island, by 
 carefully protecting them in person and property. The blacks, now free 
 labourers, continued to cultivate the plantations; but tlie produce was 
 divided, in certain ])roportions, between the proprietor and the cultivators. 
 Order and industry (juickly took the place of anarchy and licentious- 
 ness. The waste lands were soon in full cultivation, and abundance and 
 confidence were restored. Toussaint maintained the laws, which he had 
 established, with the most uiuelenting rigour. Sir Walter Scott rehites
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 291 
 
 a terrible proof of this, on the authority of an eye-witness. " On one 
 occasion, a white female, the owner of a plantation, had been murdered 
 by the negroes by whom it was laboured, and who had formerly been 
 her slaves. Toussaint marched to the spot, at the head of a j)arty of his 
 horse guards, collected the negroes belonging to the plantation, and 
 surrounded them with his black cavalry, who, after a very brief enquiry, 
 received orders to charge and cut them to pieces ; of which order our 
 informant witnessed the execution." 
 
 When Napoleon became First Consul, in 1799, he confirmed Toussaint 
 in his dictatorship. At the same period Spain ceded her portion of St. 
 Domingo to France, by the treaty of Bale. This cession was enforced 
 by Toussaint, whose power by this time extended over the whole island. 
 The negro dictator now gave a constitution to his subjects, on the 
 model of the consular government of France ; causing himself to be pro- 
 claimed governor for life, with power to name his successor. He imme- 
 diately sent Colonel Vincent, an engineer officer, to France, to obtain 
 the approbation of the First Consul for this new measure ; but he did 
 not wait for a reply before he put all the macliinery of his government 
 in operation. It worked admirably well ; commerce and trade revived, 
 and the treasury filled. Toussaint kept a splendid court, and preserved 
 the greatest order and decorum. . He was also indefatigable in business, 
 and is said to have been able to ride a hundred and fifty miles without 
 rest, and resume active exertions after only two hours' sleep. 
 
 Colonel Vincent, who had been the friend and adviser of Toussaint, 
 actively exerted himself at Paris in his behalf; but, as we have seen, 
 other counsels unfortunately prevailed. Napoleon resolved, after consi- 
 derable deliberation, to reduce the island to a condition resembhng that 
 of the other West India colonies ; Colonel Vincent continuing to the last 
 strongly to reprobate the attempt, and to point out its difiiculties. 
 
 There is on record a portion of one of Napoleon's speeches in the 
 council of state, on the subject of negro slavery, which throws the 
 clearest light on this and other of his actions, by disclosing their secret 
 springs in his peculiar order of mind and character: — "I am for the 
 whites, because I am white ; I have no other reason, yet that is reason 
 good enough. How was it possible to grant liberty to the Africans, to 
 men without any kind of civilisation, who did not even know what a 
 colony meant, or that there was such a place as France ? It is quite 
 evident that those who proposed the emancipation of the blacks must 
 wish for the slavery of the whites. But, after aU, do you suppose 
 that, if the majority of the Convention had seen what they were 
 doing, and been acquainted with the colonies, they would have per- 
 sisted in granting freedom to the negroes ? Doubtless not. But few 
 persons were in a situation to foresee the consequences at the time, and
 
 292 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 a sentiment of liumanity always appeals powerfully to the imagination. 
 But, at present, for any one to persist in these principles, is to shew a want 
 of good faith ; it is mere pride and hypocrisy. Without going so far, 
 would you have consented, would we have suffered, that the French 
 should have been brought in subjection to the Italians, — to the Piedmon- 
 tese ? We might have been well treated ; they might have made of us 
 what the free blacks have made of the whites. We have been obliged, on 
 the contrary, to take strong measures of precaution, and to keep them in 
 a state of dependence ; and even had it been necessary to let all Italy 
 perish, or sacrifice two soldiers in my army, I would have let all Italy 
 perish ; because, before all tilings, I am of my army and for my army. 
 To this day, even, it is necessary to have an eye on that country ; never- 
 theless, they are whites like us, a civilised people, and our neighbours." 
 
 " Perhaps," says Hazlitt, in commenting on the above, in language, 
 the manly eloquence and vigour of which is only surpassed by its pro- 
 found insight, that pierces and lays bare the heart of things ; " Perhaps, 
 there is not anywhere on record, and particularly coming out of the per- 
 son's own mouth, a passage which paints so powerfully, with such naked- 
 ness and force, not merely the character, but the inmost soul and extre- 
 mity of purpose in an individual, as the one just given. It would be as 
 much in vain to reason with a man whose mind is devoured and burnt 
 up with this unquenchable zeal of partisanship, as to insist that a person 
 is not to writhe with pain who has a living coal of fire applied to his 
 breast. We see a soul of fire without water or clay, that nothing could 
 tame, could soften, or deter. It is not a question of degree, but a total 
 separation in principle, and an antipathy in nature to the ordinary and 
 cherished weaknesses of human nature ; so that no extreme case or dis- 
 proportion in the objects could make any difference on a mind that had 
 a capacity but for one class and modification of feeling. In this one 
 passage, he has given a clue (radiant with hght) to all his actions, to all his 
 greatness and his littleness, his elevation and his faU, without resorting 
 to studied policy, to accident, or the advice of friends. Bonaparte need 
 not talk of Arabs or uucivilised nations ; he is himself one of them. No 
 wild Indian could brood over in his hut, or make a triumphant boast at 
 the stake, of a more utter abnegation of all the mawkishness of general 
 benevolence ; nor sna]) with less ceremony or firmer nerves all the ties but 
 those wliicii bind him to his tribe, and hnk him in a chain of sordid in- 
 terest with others with whom he is knit in a common cause, and who are 
 ready to stand by him in like manner. No son of the desert, whose feel- 
 ings have been burnt into him by a scorching sun, who is hardened 
 against com])unction by the extremity of want, who recognises only in 
 the stranger, or in his fellow-man, a deadly foe whose existence is at war 
 with his own, and lluit of all belonging to him, could express a more
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 293 
 
 determined disbelief in, and contempt for, all the decencies, charities, and 
 professed courtesies of general philanthropy, as mere names and shadows. 
 The tendency of civilisation and intellectual intercourse has been to ex- 
 tend the circle of sympathy with the circle of knowledge, to burst the 
 barriers of tribe, nation, and colour, and to extort the confession that 
 wherever there was a kindred feeling, there was a claim to x^ity, to justice, 
 and humanity." 
 
 Such are the powerful remarks of Hazlitt, on the sympathies of 
 Napoleon. Heavily indeed must they weigh, coming as they do from 
 that writer. Hazlitt always avowed and openly defended his passionate 
 admiration of Napoleon ; but he had too deep a feeling for mankind, to 
 mistake a part for the whole ; or to suffer any blaze of glory to make him 
 blind to its crimes against liberty and the human race. 
 
 It is not to be expected that Napoleon should ever see his conduct on 
 this occasion in its true light. The *' soul of fire, without water or clay, " 
 remained to the last. He did however perceive, by the event, that he 
 had made a mistake, and confessed it, when at St. Helena, with some 
 marks of regret. " I have to reproach myself," he said to Las Casas, 
 " with the attempt made upon St. Domingo during the Consulate. The 
 design of reducing it by force was a great error. I ought to have been 
 satisfied with governing it through the medium of Toussaint." This was 
 all very well as an admission of the understanding ; but he does not 
 appear to have felt the least remorse, or even to have been aware that 
 anybody could have thought the circumstance claimed such a feeling. 
 
 The troops destined for the expedition were cliiefly taken from the 
 army of the Rhine, and were therefore classed among the finest soldiers 
 of France. They amounted to about twenty thousand men. General 
 Leclerc, the husband of Pauline Bonaparte, was appointed to the com- 
 mand, and named Captain-General of St. Domingo. Pauline was un- 
 willingly forced to accompany him by the command of the First Consul, 
 who took tliis mode of trying to overcome the general prejudice against 
 the dangers of the climate. The fleet which conveyed the armament set 
 sail on the 14th of December, 1801, and reached Cape Fran9ais, in St. 
 Domingo, on the 29th of January, 1 802 ; their jji'ogi'ess having been 
 jealously watched the whole way by an English squadi'on of observation. 
 
 Toussaint, who had been warned of this hostile approach, had already 
 ordered every post, which it was possible to maintain, to be defended to 
 the last, and all others to be burnt. The French signals for surrender 
 were unanswered ; and a cutter, carrying a letter for Toussaint, from the 
 First Consul, appointing him lieutenant to the captain-general, was fired 
 upon with red-hot shot. Leclerc next attempted to seduce from his 
 allegiance Christophe, commander at Cape Fran9ais (since King of 
 Hayti), but met with a positive refusal to all his offers. In default of a
 
 294 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 pilot to guide tlieiii through the daugerous rocks aud shoals which sur- 
 round St. Domingo, the French seized a mulatto officer, tlie captain 
 connnanding the port, and tried by every means to make him direct the 
 course, hut in vain. They ofiered him upwards of two thousand pounds; 
 they drew a cord round his neck ; still he resolutely refused. This cir- 
 cumstance affords a proof of the extraordinary ascendancy of Toussaint 
 over liis people. The French army succeeded in effecting a landing to 
 the westward of Cape Fran9ais. Christophe instantly fired the town and 
 fort, which were consumed, together with all the magazines and stores. 
 The whole island now became a scene of carnage and conflagration. The 
 First Consul had sent back with the expedition the two sons of Toussaint, 
 with the principal of the college in which they had been educated. They 
 were now despatched by Leclerc with the letter before mentioned to 
 their father. He embraced his children, and sent them back with a 
 request for four days' delay ; but when they went again for his answer, 
 they returned no more to the French. The war therefore continued ; 
 but the troops of Toussaint were unable to resist the high discipline and 
 courage of the French. Dessalines, one of Toussaint's generals, became 
 notorious for his cruelty in this ferocious struggle. He was at last shut 
 up in the fort of Crete a Pierrot, which was taken by the French after a 
 long siege ; but Dessalines and many of his men desperately cut their 
 way through the French ranks, and escaped. One post after another 
 was taken, and one chief after another submitted, till at length Toussaint 
 himself could hold out no longer. He repaired to head-quarters with 
 his staff, and company of Guides, a fine body of black troops, who remained 
 faithful to liim to the last, and tendered his submission. He replied by 
 denials or by silence to all the reproaches of Leclerc on his " revolt," and 
 proudly refused the rank of general in the French army, which was offered 
 him ; but requested to be j)ermitted to retire to one of his estates in the 
 ijiterior, which was granted under certain restrictions. 
 
 The island was now subdued, and every part of it wore the appearance 
 of calm ; little more than a fortnight having been occupied in the contest. 
 Leclerc was afraid to attempt the re-establishment of slavery, and conti- 
 nued the same regulations, as to labour, which had been arranged by 
 Toussaint. He at the same time suffered himself to believe in the 
 apparent acquiescence of the black chiefs to his govermnent, and in 
 consequence neglected to follow the secret instructions of Napoleon, by 
 which he was desired to send them all over to France as soon as possible, 
 and to cultivate the friendship of the mulattoes. He did exactly the 
 reverse. The result was soon apparent. 
 
 As the hot season approached, bringing with it that fatal scourge of 
 iMU'opcans, the ycHow fever, a change was observed in the manners of 
 ihc bhicks. T(jussaint had been heard to say, " I trust to Providence :^'
 
 y \
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 2!« 
 
 \«^#\?^mo. 
 
 ^^V^^^M 
 
 the great hospital of Cape Fran9ais bore this title. Parties of negroes, 
 who acquired the name of Maroons, began to collect in bands on the 
 heights, whence they watched the movements of the French. 
 
 As the season advanced, and the fever began rapidly to thin the ranks 
 of the French army, these alarming symptoms increased. Desertions 
 from the black regiments, many of which had been formed by General 
 Leclerc, became of daily occurrence. The mountains had become depots 
 of arms and provisions, and multitudes of negroes lay there concealed. 
 Toussaint was of course an object of suspicion to the French at this crisis. 
 He was ordered by Leclerc to go in person and allay the fennent among 
 his countrymen ; but, instead of complying, he armed the negro cultivators 
 of his own estate, in order, as he said, to provide for his safety. Napo- 
 leon has affirmed that positive proofs of his correspondence with the 
 insurgents were found. Be that as it may, he was seized, by order of 
 Leclerc, carried on board a French sliip, and sent from his native island 
 for ever. The excitement among the negroes, so far from being quieted, 
 was increased tenfold by the sudden disappearance of their famous chief. 
 The standard of revolt was now openly raised, and Christophe, Dessa- 
 lines, and all the principal leaders of the blacks, placed themselves at 
 their head. The negro population was computed at four hundred
 
 296 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 thousand ; the Frencli army was reduced by war and disease to eight 
 thousand. As tlie season advanced, the ravages of the pestilence seemed 
 to increase. New detachments sent out from France were mown down, 
 and reduced to mere skeletons. As a last misfortune, General Leclerc 
 himself was smitten by the infection, and died on the 1st of November. 
 
 i;;i•e'r!':l^!"!!''!t::!:!!!ll:I!!!;!fl.;;!;:lr^^';^]^^'!i!iiIl!I!S^ 
 
 ^>^l^^ 
 
 .TT^+W-^^ '-4^ 7^*°^ - _^r--^"^.— .^-\S^^ 
 
 ^WW^^-^ ^.v^ 
 
 ■^^-^^'^^^^» 
 
 .;.. -=r-3w^>m^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 General Rochamhean, who succeeded to the command, adopted from 
 the first a line of policy infinitely more harsh and severe than that of his 
 predecessor. But he soon committed acts of the deepest atrocity. He 
 was surrounded by a crowd of proprietors of different estates, who were 
 exasperated at the destruction of their wealth, and who, it is affirmed, 
 had conceived the monstrous idea of extermhiating the whole black popu- 
 lation. Led away by such fiend-like counsels, Rochambeau carried on a 
 wholesale system of murder. Hordes of unfortunate negroes were seized, 
 carried off to sea, and drowned in the darkness of night. Blood-hounds 
 were used to hunt those who fled into the woods; and the poor wretches, 
 driven from their shelter, were shot down without pity. But here the 
 French soldiers cliecked the barbarity of their commanders. They mu- 
 tinied, and declared they would not accept packs of liounds for auxiliaries;
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 291 
 
 and tliat if such savage scenes were renewed, they would inflict summary 
 vengeance on the actors of them. The negroes, in their turn, tortured 
 and murdered all the whites who were so unfortunate as to fall into their 
 hands. In this manner, the whole winter passed in that devoted island. 
 Private letters, giving accounts of these horrors, began to startle the 
 inhabitants of Paris. Napoleon refused to give credit to them ; but he 
 ought to have known that no excesses were too great to be believed of 
 an army placed in such circumstances. " He wondered," says Savary, 
 " at not receiving reports from those whose duty it was to make them ; 
 and often repeated, in the deepest distress of mind, that if those atrocious 
 executions were true, he discarded the colony for ever ; that he never 
 would have directed its occupation could he have foreseen the guilty ex- 
 cesses which had arisen out of the expedition." Napoleon was, however, 
 at that very moment, perpetrating an act as atrocious, in its way, as any of 
 those he condemned. About the period that he was triumphantly invested 
 with the title <5f consul for life, the noble-minded Toussaint L'Ouverture 
 was brought a prisoner into France. He was committed first to the 
 Temple, and then to the fortress of Joux, near Besan^on, in Normandy. 
 In a damp dungeon of this northern climate did Napoleon suffer a man, 
 of whose fellowship he might have been proud, to linger out the whole 
 
 ^ ^^
 
 ^98 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 winter of 1802 and 'o. Toussaint died about ten months after the date 
 of his imprisonment. Dark rumours of treachery and poison were afloat 
 concernino- the means of "his death ; but of such aids there was no need. 
 Cold, dampness, inaction, and mental suffering, were quite sufficient to 
 extino-uish the life of a man, the native of a tropical climate, whose bodily 
 and mental energies had been for long years indefatigably employed, 
 and who had seen the work of his life apparently dashed into ruins. 
 
 The oppressor and the oppressed now sleep in the grave. In their fate 
 there was a wonderful similarity ; and, looking at the results of the actions 
 of each, we may say with truth, that " his works survive him : " more 
 directly, however, in the case of Toussaint than of Napoleon, since the 
 liberty which the former achieved for his people has never been inter- 
 rupted, and his native island remains among the nations an integral state, 
 entire as he had organised and established it. Between the fates of these 
 two men of high and commanding energies, there is one point of marked 
 difference among so many of wonderful similarity. With the ardent 
 lovers of liberty, it has been customary to reckon Napoleon a despot, and 
 to erect Toussaint into a martyr to freedom ; the only difference between 
 their policy ha\ing been, that while Toussaint closely followed, imitated, 
 and resembled Napoleon in his mode of government, he was necessarily 
 more absolute and more fiercely rigorous than his model, in conformity 
 with liis own character and that of the people over whom he ruled. 
 
 We must forestal the order of time, to detail the termination of the 
 French possession of St. Domingo. When, in the spring of 1803, the 
 short-lived peace of Amiens came to an end, a British squadron imme- 
 diately appeared before Cape Fran9ais, and besieged the remains of the 
 French army contained within the walls of the town. Rochambeau 
 surrendered at discretion; and the English carried off the French fleet, 
 the miserable remnant of their fine army, and all the white inha- 
 bitants of the island, which was now entirely left to the negroes. 
 General Noailles, however, commandant of the Mole St. Nicholas, 
 contrived to elude the English ships, and with his whole garrison and 
 seven vessels escaped into a port in the Island of Cuba. Attempting 
 after this to reach Havanna on board an armed brig, he encountered an 
 l^nglish corvette, which he took, after a desperate fight, and carried under 
 French colours into Havanna; where, however, he only arrived in time to 
 die of his wounds. " The national glory," says Norvins, " hastened to 
 gather up the last exploit, which escaped from the great shipwreck of 
 one of the bravest armies that the republic ever assembled under her 
 Hag." It would be well for the national glory, if all memory of that 
 unfortunate army could be l)uried in the grave with those wiio composed 
 it, and him who sent it on its ill-fated errand.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXIL 
 
 HOSTILE ATTITUDE OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND — ENGLAND RETAINS MALTA AFFAIRS OF ITALY, 
 
 GERMANY, AND SWITZERLAND — SPLENDOUR OF PARIS, AND INCREASING STATE ASSUMED 
 BY THE FIRST CONSUL — THE WARS OF THE NEWSPAPERS — MESSAGE TO THE ENGLISH PAR- 
 LIAMENT — NAPOLEON AND LORD WHITWORTH ENGLAND BEGINS HOSTILITIES NAPOLEON 
 
 IMPRISONS ALL THE ENGLISH RESIDENTS IN FRANCE SEIZES HANOVER OCCUPIES 
 
 NAPLES — FORTIFIES TUSCANY AND ELHA— ARMY OF ENGLAND GREAT PREPARATIONS IN 
 
 ENGLAND AGAINST INVASION. 
 
 Towards the close of the year 
 1802, it became evident that 
 the Peace of Amiens was 
 based on hollow foundations, 
 and was destined, at no dis- 
 tant period to be overthrown. 
 The j oy Avith which the people 
 of England and France had 
 welcomed the news that the 
 war had ceased, was now fast 
 changing into mutual dis- 
 trust; and open recrimina- 
 tion soon followed. England had tardily given up possession of the 
 Cape, and the other Batavian settlements, and continued to retain 
 Malta, in direct violation of the treaty. The French government expos- 
 tulated in vain; and the excuses and procrastination of the English
 
 300 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 administration were finally superseded by an avowed determination not 
 to relinquish that island. 
 
 The English government justified this breach of faith on the grounds, 
 that although the First Consul had kept his part of the treaty to the 
 letter, he was pursuing a system of ambition and aggrandisement which 
 violated it in the spirit, and threatened altogether to overturn the 
 balance of Europe ; that England had, therefore, a higher duty to perform 
 than simply to keep its engagements ; for that, as guardian of the liberty 
 of Europe from military despotism, it was incumbent upon England to 
 retain possession of so important a strong-hold as Malta, until the head of 
 the French government should manifest a greater degree of moderation. 
 
 The alarms of the English ministry on the subject of French 
 aggrandisement, were not without foundation. The First Consul, aided, 
 doubtless, by the talents of Talleyrand, had turned the conclusion of the 
 war to the best advantage, by a series of successful negociations. The 
 first of these related to Italy. Very shortly after the peace, the Italian 
 rejiublics had adopted a consular form of government, after the French 
 model, in accordance with the expressed wish of the First Consul, who 
 would have gone to Italy in person, to preside over the formation of the 
 new constitution, had he not been prevented by the urgency of affairs in 
 France. He, however, met, at Lyons, a large assembly of dejjuties from 
 the Italian cities and departments, and attended their deliberations. He 
 was offered, by unanimous consent, the presidency of their republic, 
 and he accepted the dignity, at the same time appointing Melzi \ace- 
 president. The choice gave great satisfaction. The name of Melzi will 
 be remembered as one of the two Italians, to whom alone Napoleon 
 accorded the name of " men," after his first Itahan campaign. The 
 direct influence thus acquired in Italy, by the First Consul, and the 
 alteration of the name Cisalpine, into Italian republic (which suggested 
 a latent intention to comprehend the whole peninsula, at some future 
 period, in one state), gave great cause of jealousy to the English govern- 
 ment. The refusal of England to acknowledge the new Italian states 
 afforded him a ready pretext to establish his influence over them under the 
 character of protector. By a secret treaty with Portugal, he acquired the 
 ])r()vince of Guiana; and by another with Spain, all the Spanish part of 
 Louisiana; and in Europe, the reversion of the duchy of Parma, and the 
 Island of Elba. The treaty of Luneville had secured, it will be remem- 
 bered, the recognition of the Rhine as the boundary of the French 
 territory, on the side of Germany. In the Diet for settling the indem- 
 nities to be granted to the various princes of the German empire, who 
 had sustained loss in consequence, the influence of France predominated 
 to such an extent, as almost to threaten the entire destruction of the 
 German confederation. Prussia, as well as those among the smaller princes
 
 NArOLEON BONAPARTE. 301 
 
 of the empire who had observed a neutrality during the war, received 
 ample compensation ; while the pertinacious opposition of Austria, 
 caused a very limited consideration of any claims she could bring for- 
 ward. To these advahtages gained for France, as the results of success- 
 ful diplomacy, was added an armed interference with the affairs of 
 Switzerland, which gave the First Consul a complete ascendancy over 
 the aifairs of that country, and did him more injury in the opinions of 
 the liberal party all over Europe, than any other act of his political life. 
 The treaty of Luneville had guaranteed the independence of the Hel- 
 vetic republic, as Switzerland was then called, and its right to settle its 
 own constitution. The form of its government was, at that period, 
 analogous to the directorial government of France; and a French army 
 occupied the country. A constitution resembling the consular model 
 was soon established, and Napoleon withdrew the French troops, leaving 
 the Swiss entirely to themselves. It quickly appeared that the majority 
 of the people regretted their ancient federal constitution. The inha- 
 bitants of the formerly aristocratic cantons were indeed well satisfied 
 with the change they had made, having very much improved their con- 
 dition by accepting the French form of government; but it was alto- 
 gether different vsdth the democratic mountain cantons. Their ancient 
 laws had been suited to the characters and habits of their people, who 
 now rose in arms to restore them, headed by Aloys Reding, a man 
 renowned among his countrymen for courage and wisdom. A civil war 
 burst forth, but it was checked at the very outset by the entrance at all 
 points of a French army under Ney, and a manifesto from the First 
 Consul, to the effect that he had taken upon himself the mediation of 
 their differences. Aloys Reding was imprisoned, having first disbanded 
 his troops, who were utterly unable to contend Avith the overwhelming 
 French force, now in the country. 
 
 Switzerland w^as immediately settled into a republic, on the French 
 consular model, and the title of Grand Mediator of the Helvetic Re- 
 public, was assumed by Napoleon. No resistance was attempted, and no 
 bloodshed perpetrated. The cantons agreed to refuse all passage through 
 the country to the enemies of France, and to maintain an army of a few 
 thousand men, as a guarantee of the agreement. They also furnished 
 an army of sixteen thousand men to France, to be maintained at the 
 expense of the French government. It was clear that Switzerland had 
 now become, no less than the whole of Lombardy and Piedmont, a 
 dependency of France. 
 
 The increasing dominion of Napoleon in the continent of Europe, 
 was accompanied by a corresponding assumption of dignity and state, on 
 his part, in the conduct of the government, which did not fail to attract 
 the observation of the English, who thronged Paris during the winter of
 
 302 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 1802. The First Consul now occupied St. Cloud, in addition to tlie 
 Tuileries; Malmaison remaining as his peaceful retreat from the cares of 
 government, but being too small for his increasing habits of splendour. 
 Something like the manners of a court, the external forms, habits, and 
 etiquette of sovereignty, were now perceptible in his household. His 
 acute mind soon perceived the influence of these worthless externals 
 over the mass of mankind; and, according to his constant plan, he made 
 use of the means he despised, instead of aiming at the creation of higher 
 public feeling and character. " Men," said he, " well deserve the con- 
 tempt with which they inspire me. I have only to put some gold lace 
 on the coats of my virtuous republicans, and they immediately become 
 just what I wish them." The Parisians flocked to the brilliant reviews 
 at the Carousel; and saw, with admiration, the rich liveries and embla- 
 zoned carriages of the English and Russians. Luxury was rapidly 
 advancing among all the wealthy inhabitants ; the theatres were 
 crowded; splendid fetes were frequent; the republican appellations of 
 Citoyen and Citoyenne, were giving place to Monsieur and Madame. 
 The gallery of the Louvre, enriched with the choicest works of art in 
 the whole world, was open to every one without reserve. An air of 
 prosperity was everywhere visible; the public funds, which had been 
 doubled in value at the 18th Brumaire, were now worth more than 
 triple what they had been, even at that period. Napoleon delighted in 
 observing the prosperity, of which it was his glory to consider himself 
 the author, and the sole author. He did not shrink from responsibility, 
 or in the least degree shield himself under the name of any of his minis- 
 ters. All the acts of the government were simply signed by M. Maret, 
 secretary of state ; the First Consul of France was, in fact, an absolute 
 sovereign, and may be thus considered from this period of his history. 
 The public tranquillity was so completly assured, that the ministry of 
 police was now discontinued ; and Fouche received the dignity of a 
 senator. The change was, however, bitterly deprecated by the ex- 
 minister himself, and he did not fail to foretel extensive evils as likely 
 to arise from it, and to take every opportunity of instilhng suspicions 
 into the mind of his master. 
 
 While the steady increase of Napoleon's power and influence inspired 
 his enemies with jealousy and distrust, there was one person whom his 
 rapid approaches to sovereignty had always filled with the most bitter 
 dread. Josephine rightly associated his assumption of the crown, with 
 his probable wish for lineal descendants, and nervously listened to every 
 report of his intentions, expecting a divorce from him as the consequence 
 of the realisation of her fears. Bourricnne relates many conversations 
 with her on this subject, and some scenes to which he was a witness, 
 which shew how continually it was in her mind. " One day," says he,
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 303 
 
 " I remember that Josephine entered our cabinet without bein'y an- 
 nounced, approached Napoleon softly, seated herself on his knee, passed 
 her hand gently through his hair and over his face ; and, thinkin"- the 
 moment favourable, said to him, with a burst of tenderness, ' I entreat 
 of you, Bonaparte, do not make yourself a king ! It is that Lucien 
 who urges you to it. Do not listen to him.' Napoleon replied without 
 anger, and even smiling, as he pronounced the last words : ' You are 
 mad, my poor Josephine ; it is your old dowagers of the Faubouro- 
 Saint-Germain, your Rochefoucaidds, who tell you all these fables ! 
 Come, now, you interrupt me— leave me alone.' " It was probably to 
 endeavour to gain a friend among the brothers of Napoleon, that 
 Josephine forced her daughter Hortense into an unwilling marriage with 
 Louis Bonaparte. It took place in January, 1803. " The bride and 
 bridegroom," says Constant, " were exceedingly dull, and Mademoiselle 
 Hortense wept during the whole of the ceremony. Josephine, knowing 
 that this union, which commenced so inauspiciously, was her own work, 
 anxiously endeavoured to establish a more cordial feeling between her 
 daughter and son-in-law. But all her efforts were vain, and the mar- 
 riage proved a very unhappy one," Hortense was much attached to 
 Duroc, and Napoleon wished her to marry him. Odious calumnies were 
 at one time current, respecting Napoleon and Hortense, but they have 
 been so frequently and so completely refuted, that we are spared the 
 necessity of entering on the subject. 
 
 We find from Bourrienne, that Napoleon expressed a singular 
 presentiment at this period, which was completely realised subse- 
 quently. " He frequently used to say, at this time, ' I fear that 
 when I am forty, I shall become a great eater : I have a foreboding 
 that I shall grow very corpulent.' This fear of obesity," continues 
 Bourrienne, " though it annoyed him very much, did not appear to have 
 the least foundation, judging from his habitual temperance, and spare 
 habit of body." It was now, too, that he felt the first approaches of the 
 disease which ultimately destroyed his life. He was frequently attacked 
 with severe pains in his right side. He consulted Corvisart, who was 
 afterwards appointed his first physician, and aj)peared to derive great 
 benefit from his prescriptions. 
 
 The mutual grievances of which the English and French complained, 
 increased as the year 1802 drew towards a close. It appears to have 
 been the wish of the First Consul to negociate a commercial treaty with 
 the English government; and being unsuccessful, he suffered various 
 petty and vexatious regulations to be enforced against British merchant 
 vessels, perhaps with a view to forward a treaty, but the actual operation 
 of which irritated the English public. He was virulently attacked 
 by the English press; and a paper called " L' Ambigu," edited by
 
 304 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Peltier, a French emigrant, was published in London, the express 
 purpose of which was to ridicule the First Consul and his government. 
 It was the constant habit of Napoleon to read all the English news- 
 papers, and lie was exasperated at their attacks. Counter-accusations — 
 occasionally, it is said, from his own pen — continually appeared in " The 
 Moniteur;" and this paper war greatly increased the bad feeling which 
 had already spread among the people of both countries. At length, 
 the First Consul made a formal complaint to the English government, 
 demanding their interference to put a stop to the abuse published by 
 the press ; reqviiring that the princes of the House of Bourbon, and the 
 whole class of emigrants, exempted by him from the general amnesty, 
 and now resident in England, should be ordered to leave that country, 
 on the ground that he had cause to suspect them of hatching plots 
 against his life and government ; and that Georges Cadoudal should be 
 transported to Canada. A reply in the negative was returned to these 
 requisitions, by Lord Hawkesbury, minister for foreign affairs ; the First 
 Consul being reminded that the English ministry could not exercise a 
 control over the press; (while, on the other hand, " The Moniteur" was the 
 organ of his government) ; but that, if what was published was libellous, 
 or actionable, the printers and publishers were open to punishment. 
 With regard to the emigrants. Lord Hawkesbury disclaimed all know- 
 ledge of, or belief in, any evil designs entertained by them against the 
 head of the French government. As a measure of conciliation, Peltier 
 was brought to trial for a libel against the First Consul, at the instance 
 of the attorney-general. He was defended with great eloquence by 
 Mr. Mackintosh (afterwards Sir James), but was found guilty. The 
 arguments of the counsel, however, and the public feeling in his favour, 
 gave him the appearance of a triumph ; and he was never brought up to 
 receive sentence, the quarrel with France soon coming to an open 
 rupture. The " damages," and the " costs," however, have been severely 
 felt by both parties. 
 
 Li February, 1803, Napoleon, irritated beyond further endurance, 
 by the protracted negociations which only left things as they were 
 before, formed the resolution of entering personally into conference with 
 the British ambassador. Lord Whitworth. In the course of their inter- 
 view, the First Consul, without attending to diplomatic forms, or 
 attempting to disguise hostile intentions under established etiquette, 
 openly stated his various causes of complaint; and ended by perempto- 
 rily demanding the execution of the treaty of Amiens, peace or war 
 being the alternative. The result was a message from the King of 
 England to the House of Commons, stating that he had occasion for 
 additional aid, to enable him to defend his dominions, in case of an 
 encroachment on the part of France; of which the great naval prepara-
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 305 
 
 tions in the ports of France, gave reason to entertain an apprehension. 
 The cause of apprehension, assigned in his Majesty's message, injured 
 his ministers in puhhc opinion, as it was unfounded in fact, no such pre- 
 parations being in progress, and the assertion in question being triumph- 
 antly refuted in a note by Talleyrand. 
 
 Mr. Fox eloquently espoused the cause of the First Consul in the 
 House of Commons, and raised his warning voice in the debate on the 
 King's message. " His Majesty's ministers," said he, " would do well 
 to consider the tendency of their measures. If through their negligence, 
 rashness, or ill-concerted plans, they involve the country in war at this 
 important period, I shall pronounce the present administration to be 
 the most fatal and destructive which ever directed the affairs of Great 
 Britain. * * * x still approve of the treaty of Amiens, and 
 principally because it freed us from those detestable and abominable 
 principles upon which the late war was conducted. I hope that we 
 shall never hear again of wars begun for the pretence of the pro- 
 tection of rehgion and social order. I trust that such hypocrisy is 
 for ever destroyed; and that no ministers A\dll again attempt to impose 
 upon a generous people by such false pretexts." The ministry was, 
 however, supported by large majorities, and events manifestly tended 
 towards the renewal of hostilities'. 
 
 It was the policy of Napoleon to prevent the procrastination of these 
 fruitless accusations and rejoinders. If war was inevitable, it was for his 
 interest to commence it at once. His language, in the interview he had 
 already held with the English ambassador, was sufficiently plain. " No 
 consideration on earth," he then said, " shall make me consent to your 
 retention of Malta; I would as soon agree to put you in possession 
 of the Faubourg St. Antoine. Every wind that blows from England 
 brings nothing but hatred and hostility towards me. An invasion is 
 the only measure of offence that I can take against her, and I am de- 
 termined to put myself at the head of the expedition. There are a 
 hundred chances to one against my success; but I am not the less 
 determined to attempt the descent, if war must be the consequence of 
 the present discussion." He now quickly brought matters to a crisis. 
 He attacked Lord Whitworth in vehement and excited language, at a 
 diplomatic meeting at the Tuileries, on the loth of March, 1803. " You 
 are then determined on war ?" said the First Consul, who was visibly in 
 considerable agitation. The English ambassador, in the courteous forms 
 of guarded diplomacy, disclaimed the accusation; but the First Consul 
 w^ould not hear the reply : " We have been at war for fifteen years," 
 said he, interrupting the words of the ambassador ; " you are deter- 
 mined on hostility for fifteen years more ; and you force me to it." He 
 then turned to the Russian ambassador, and continued: "The English 
 
 Q Q
 
 306 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 iL/..iici.'OTCj=^ 
 
 wish for war; but if they draw the sword first, I will be the last to 
 return it to the scabbard. They do not respect treaties; which, hence- 
 forth, we must cover with black crape." He then again addressed Lord 
 Whitworth: "To what purpose are these armaments? Against whom 
 do you take these measures of precaution ? I have not a single ship of 
 the line in any port in France. But if you arm, I, too, will take up 
 arms ; if you fight, I will fight; you may destroy France, but you cannot 
 intimidate her." Lord Whitworth, preserving his calmness, replied, 
 " We desire neither the one nor the other; we desire to live with her on 
 terms of good intelligence." " You must respect treaties then," said 
 Napoleon sternly; "woe to those by whom they are not respected! 
 They will be accountable for the consequences to all Europe." Repeat- 
 ing the last words twice over, he rose, and abruptly retired from the 
 levee, leaving all present in a state of considerable consternation. 
 
 In England, resentment against the First Consul was raised to a high 
 pitch, by this insult ollered to the nation in the person of its ambassador; 
 and the ministerial press did not fail to fun the flame, by bringing 
 forward other causes of grievance, real or pretended. The mission of 
 General Sebastiani to the court of Constantinople and the ports of the 
 Adriatic, gave grounds to fear further designs on Egypt ; tlie obstinate
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 307 
 
 resistance to the English retention of Malta looked like a prospective in- 
 tention of making that island a stepping-stone to India. Whether there 
 existed real ground of apprehension as to these measures or not, there 
 can be no doubt that the way in which they were brought forward by 
 the press at such a moment, contributed to hurry on the war. Some faint 
 efforts at negociation, however, were still made. The English ministry 
 offered to lower their claim upon Malta, to an acknowledgment of their 
 right to hold possession of the island for ten years, instead of holding it in 
 perpetuity. The First Consul resolutely continued to demand the fulfil- 
 ment of the treaty; proposing, however, that since a Neapolitan garrison 
 was considered objectionable, a Russian or Austrian one should be sub- 
 stituted ; but to this the British ministry would not listen. Lord Whit- 
 worth left Paris, and Great Britain declared war against France on the 
 18th of May, 1803. " Period ever fatal and memorable," says Hazlitt ; 
 " the commencement of another Iliad of woes, not to be forgotten while 
 the world shall last." Before the formal declaration of hostilities, the 
 English seized on all the French shipping in their ports, and took two 
 French ships of war. This proceeding however, is, stated by Scott and 
 other writers, to be of " universal custom" in such cases, and accordingly 
 not to be reprehended. The First Consul nevertheless, irritated by it to 
 such a degree that he retaliated in a manner neither justified by honour, 
 humanity, nor " universal custom." He seized on all the English who 
 were resident or travelling in France on the faith of the peace, and treated 
 them as prisoners of war. The amount of misery he thus created and 
 maintained, while for the weary length of twelve years these unfortunate 
 *' detemis" as they were called, lingered in hopeless exile, bereft from all 
 the relations and ties of affection, with blasted prospects, and " occupation 
 gone," is fearful to reflect upon, and adds a strange and melancholy item 
 to the established horrors of war. Napoleon, however, never expressed 
 any remorse on the subject, but appears rather to have felt concern at 
 not having rendered their captivity more rigorous, in revenge for England 
 having degraded the French prisoners of war, by placing them on board 
 the hulks. He once offered to compromise the matter, by including 
 the detenus in an exchange of prisoners ; but the English ministers heart- 
 lessly stood out on some political 2)unctilio, and would not come to any 
 terms about them, and they were left to their fate until the end of the 
 war. 
 
 France was totally unprepared for the sudden declaration of war ; a 
 proof sufficient to shew that the First Consul had not desii'ed the termi- 
 nation of the peace. The army was completely on a peace establishment. 
 Great numbers of the troops were disbanded ; the parks of artillery 
 were broken up. New plans for re-casting the artillery had been pro- 
 posed, and they had already begun to break up the cannon to throw them
 
 308 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 into the funuices. The navy was in a still less serviceable condition. 
 The utmost energy was requisite to meet the emergency. Napoleon 
 was never found wanting on such occasions ; and he now shewed no 
 embarrassment, but turned his mind to the requisite points with his ac- 
 customed promptitude and clearness. The several communications which 
 had passed between tlie two hostile governments previous to the rupture, 
 were laid before the legislative body ; and the senate received a consular 
 message, which declared that the government had only refused further 
 concessions at tliat line which its principles and duties dictated. " The 
 negociations are interrupted, and we are attacked," continued the address. 
 " Let us at least fight to maintain the faith of treaties, and the honour of 
 the French name." The nation responded with enthusiasm to the call. 
 Sums of money were voted by the large towns for building ships. The 
 army was rapidly recruited. The law of the conscription passed by the 
 Directory in 1798, supplied France with a mine, of at least the rough 
 ore, of soldiers. By that law, every young man between the age of 
 twenty and twenty-five years was required to be attached to some mihtary 
 corps. This does not imply that they were sent into camps and barracks, 
 but that they were taught the art of war, and became liable to be sum- 
 moned to active service, according to the necessities of the country, under 
 the condition of being kept no longer than four years from their homes, 
 (unless in extraordinary circumstances, of which the national representa- 
 tion was to be the sole judge), and with the power of finding substitutes. 
 It must be evident that, under a despotic government, such an institution 
 was liable to abuse ; and, before the termination of the long and dreadful 
 struggle which now began, France groaned under the infliction. At the 
 commencement, however, the ranks were filled with alacrity. 
 
 The first hostile movement of Napoleon was upon the continental 
 dominions of George III. General Mortier invaded the Electorate of 
 Hanover, with fifteen thousand men. He was opposed by a considerable 
 force under the Duke of Cambridge, and General Walmoden, which with- 
 drew at the approach of the French, and successively occupied difterent 
 positions. The invasion of the Electorate was a violation of the Ger- 
 manic constitution ; but the continental powers were too much overawed to 
 interfere ; and Hanover, left to its own resources, was utterly unable to 
 resist France. The Duke of Cambridge threw up his command and re- 
 turned home ; the Hanoverian army laid down their arms and were dis- 
 banded, and the Electorate was occupied by the French. The strong- 
 holds, depots of arms and ammunition, and revenues of the state, all fell 
 into their hands ; and its fine breed of horses supplied their cavalry. 
 General Mortier noticed, with considerable feeling, the evident emotion 
 of tlie regiment of Hanoverian Guards, at delivering over their horses to 
 Ills iiniiy. The strong attachment of these dragoons to their horses
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 309 
 
 is well known. Heavy contributions were also levied by the French on 
 Hamburg, Bremen, and others of the Hanse towns. The Prince Royal 
 of Denmark was the only continental sovereign who attempted to resist 
 the informality of the First Consul's proceedings. He raised an army of 
 thirty thousand men to oppose them ; but, finding himself unsupported, 
 he soon resumed a pacific attitude. 
 
 The second movement of the First Consul was the occupation of 
 Naples. The following proclamation preceded the invasion of the 
 kingdom by the French army, " The King of England has refused to 
 execute the treaty of Amiens. The French army is obliged to occupy 
 the positions which it quitted in virtue of that treaty ; positions which 
 we will maintain so long as England shall persist in retaining Malta." 
 No resistance was attempted, and Tarentum was strongly fortified and 
 garrisoned by French troops ; as were, at the same time, the island of 
 Elba and the coast of Tuscany. These measures, besides enabling the 
 First Consul to maintain his army by levies on the foreign states he 
 occupied, crippled the commerce of England by shutting up all com- 
 munication with many of the best markets on the continent. 
 
 The First Consul himself, accompanied by Josephine, visited the 
 principal towns, proceeding through the Netherlands to the northern 
 coast, where he made observations and gave orders respecting the fortifi- 
 cations. He visited Montreuil, Etaples, Boulogne, Ambleteuse, Vime-
 
 310 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 reux, Calais, and Dunkirk, and thence proceeded to Antwerp, where, 
 after thorouglily examining- into its condition, he ordered the commence- 
 ment of those extensive works by wliich he converted tliat mercantile 
 port into a strong military position. The English were now excluded 
 ia-om every port within the wide range of French influence ; and 
 every port in tliat wide range was blockaded by English ships. None 
 shall come in — none shall come out ; no imports — no exjiorts ; no 
 fresh provisions — no news ! Such was the position in which two 
 governments — in what we arc taught to consider a mature period of 
 civilisation and wisdom — placed two great nations ; a position which 
 would be identical with the children's game of " my flag and your flag !" 
 but for the dull folly and wide devastation of the consequences. 
 
 These measures were all preparatory, on the part of Napoleon, to his 
 determined plan, to attempt the invasion of England. Various reports 
 on the best means to be employed for the purpose had been made ready. 
 After comparing them, he decided that he had no means of grappling 
 with the power of England at sea, and that his fleet of men-of-war, ready 
 or even in progress, afforded no chance of success. He, therefore, issued 
 orders for constructing some thousands of gun-boats, flat-bottomed boats, 
 and other small craft, similar to those which had been prepared during 
 the former war. His orders were rapidly accomplished. The larger 
 towns had voted money for building men-of-war, the less wealthy now 
 voted it for these smaller vessels. They were built on the banks of the 
 navigable rivers; floated down to the sea between Harfleur and Flushing; 
 and then, collected in little squadrons, they crept close along shore, 
 protected from the English ships by the batteries, to the great place of 
 rendezvous at Boulogne. IMeanwhile, an immense army was assembling 
 in six divisions, in camps wdiich extended from Utrecht to the mouth 
 of the Somme. Marmont, Mortier, Soult, Davoust, Ney, and Junot, 
 were the principal commanders of this armament, which numbered one 
 hundred and sixty thousand men, and took the name of the Army of 
 England. Augereau was placed at the head of another army, stationed 
 at Bayonne, and destined to advance upon Portugal, if that country did 
 not renounce the English influence. General Lannes was sent to Lisbon 
 to negociate ; and the Court, terrified to offend either of the hostile powers, 
 purchased its neutrality by a large annual tribute to France. Spain, as 
 we have seen, had preserved peace on similar tenns. By another nego- 
 ciation, tlie First Consul had secured his recent acquisition on the 
 American continent from British seizure, having sold Louisiana to the 
 United States, his faithful allies, for a sum nearly amounting to three 
 nn'llions sterling. 
 
 The energy of tlu' First Consul seemed to increase with the occasion ; 
 and his clearness of mind was the more forcibly evinced in proportion to
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 311 
 
 the complication of his engagements. He took a house near Boulogne, 
 called the Pont de Brique, and frequently went there to superintend the 
 operations in person. He usually arrived when least expected, mounted 
 his horse immediately, rode through the camps, reviewed the troops, or 
 visited the harhour, — inspecting the works, and generally taking home the 
 principal officers and engineers to a late dinner; thus acquiring, before 
 night, a far more accurate knowledge of all that was done tlian if 
 he had read page after page of reports : after which, while he seemed 
 still among the troops, he was hack again at St. Cloud. Great works, 
 important not only in war, but in peace, were accomplished by this 
 Army of England while encamped. The soldiers were employed, after 
 the manner of the ancient Romans, in executing the projects conceived 
 by the engineers; being alternately exercised and employed as paid 
 labourers. By these means, the harbour of Boulogne was scooped out, 
 and a basin, capable of containing two thousand vessels of the flotilla, was 
 formed ; a bridge and pier were then constructed. A fine harbour was 
 also constructed at Vimereux. At Ambleteuse, the pestilent marshes 
 were drained by means of a great sluice, which, reducing the waters to 
 the proper channel of the river, gave several thousand acres of valuable 
 land to agriculture, and made the country healthy. Great magazines of 
 arms and provisions were formed, cannon founded, sails and cordage 
 made ; all these operations were carried on by the soldiers. Various 
 manoeuvres were practised by night, to avoid the observation of the 
 English ships ; it was then the soldiers were exercised in embarking and 
 disembarking with celerity. 
 
 These hostile preparations were productive of corresponding zeal on 
 the part of England. A sj^irit of unbounded energy instantly ran 
 through the very veins of the whole country, and every individual, how- 
 ever quiet, pacificatory, or stolid his previous character and habits, 
 now rose with a determined vigour, as though the safety of his father- 
 land depended on his single exertions. We take the following graphic 
 description from Hazlitt: — 
 
 " All our fleets were put into requisition from the Baltic to the Tagus, 
 from the Tagus to the coasts of Sicily. Not a fishing-boat but seemed 
 to have new life put into it, and to prepare for the conflict. Upwards of 
 five hundred ships of war, of various descriptions and sizes, scoured the 
 ocean in different directions. English squadrons blockaded every port in 
 the channel or Mediterranean, and our cruizers were either seen scuddinar 
 over the waters, like sea-gulls dallying with their native element and 
 hovering near their prey, or stood in and insulted the enemy on his own 
 shores, cutting out his vessels, or dismantling his forts. By land, the 
 hubbub and consternation was not less. Britain armed from one end to 
 the other to repel the threatened invasion. An army of volunteers
 
 312 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 sprung up like grasshoppers. Every hill had its horseman, every bush or 
 brake its sharp-shooter. The preparations were not the least active at 
 the greatest distance from the scene of danger. Petitions were put into 
 our liturgy, to deliver us from an insolent and merciless foe, who ' was 
 about to swallow us up quick;' nor was there a church-door in the 
 remotest corner of Great Britain, on which was not posted a call on 
 high and low, rich and poor, to bestir themselves in the common defence, 
 which, proceeding from Mr. Cobbett's powerful pen, roused the hopes 
 and fears of the meanest rustic into a flame of martial enthusiasm." 
 
 Camps were formed on the English shore opposite to France, which 
 were frequently visited by the king in person. The regular army 
 amounted to one hundred tliousand, the militia to eighty thousand ; and 
 three hundred and fifty thousand volunteers were under arms. The 
 courage and resolution of these newly-formed soldiers was put to the proof 
 on several occasions by the energy with which they marched to the sup- 
 posed point of attack, when the beacons on different hills were lighted 
 under a false alarm. Had Napoleon ever effected a landing, he would 
 have met \\4th an opposition far exceeding anything he anticipated. 
 
 Mr. Pitt returned to office in March, 1 804, which circumstance was 
 regarded with truth by the nation as an earnest that the war was to be 
 carried on with unscrupulous and determined vigour. Meanwhile, the 
 acti\ity in France continued unabated ; and scarcely a day passed with- 
 out some trifling engagement, brought on by the rigorous pursuit of the 
 squadrons of the French flotilla, as they advanced to Boulogne. At one 
 of these, the First Consul is said to have assisted in person.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 313 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES CADOUDAL PICHEGRU AND MOREAU IMPLICATED — CONSPIRATORS 
 
 ARRESTED THE DUKE D' ENGHIEN SEIZED, TRIED, AND EXECUTED — DEATH OF PICHEGRU 
 
 CAPTAIN WRIGHT HIS DEATH TpiAL OF GEORGES AND MOREAU EXECUTION OF 
 
 GEORGES — MOREAU BANISHED — PROTESTS OF FOREIGN COl^RTS— SUMMARY IN RELATION 
 TO THE DUKE D' ENGHIEN. 
 
 The hurry of preparation with which 
 the year 1803 closed, was changed, 
 in the beginning of 1804, for a 
 period of dark intrigues against the 
 life and government of the First 
 Consul, in unravelling which he 
 was forced to employ his time and 
 energies more after the manner of 
 an inquisitor than the head of a 
 great country ; leaving his name 
 sullied with some black suspicions, 
 and one positive accusation of 
 treachery and cruelty. The tragic 
 death of the Duke d'Enghien was 
 one act of this gloomy drama : it 
 has generally been treated as an isolated fact, and to this cause may be 
 ascribed much of the mystery in which it is shrouded, and the confusing 
 manner in which it is generally related. It shall be our object to give 
 the whole series of circumstances in their order ; carefully detailing all 
 
 R R
 
 ,^314 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the established facts, without mixing them with conjecture, theory, or 
 comment, until the whole has been laid before the reader. 
 
 It will be remembered that the ministry of police had been suppressed 
 after the Peace of Amiens. M. Real, a counsellor of state, had the 
 superintendence of everything connected with the general system of 
 surveillance, in concert with the grand judge. Fouche, however, had not 
 laid aside his occupation, though it was officially taken from him ; and 
 there remains no doubt that he was aware of the intrigues of 1804, 
 before the police had suspected them, if indeed he did not foment them, in 
 order to make his own services appear necessary to the state ; and that he 
 was among the first to fill the mind of the First Consul with suspicions, 
 some of which were well-founded; others, at all events, exaggerated. 
 These being corroborated by intercepted letters, which hinted at a speedy 
 change in the government, and reports of apparent disafiection in La 
 Vendee, occasioned the mission to that province of Savary, who held 
 the post of colonel of the legion, called gendarmes delite, or chosen 
 bodv of military police. Savary pvit himself in communication with a 
 former Vendean chief, and elicited by personal observation that the 
 country people were in an excited state, ready for a fresh revolt, and 
 fully expecting the return of Georges Cadoudal, to place himself at 
 their head; some of them asserting that he was already in France. 
 With this information, which only added conjecture to conjecture, Savary 
 returned to Paris. Meanwhile, Napoleon, who is always described as 
 possessing a ready tact for discovering when he was upon a volcano, and 
 where to place his finger on the dangerous spot, had examined the lists, 
 kept by the police, of suspected persons ; had caused several arrests, and 
 brought some to trial, who had been detained in prison for months. 
 Two of these were executed, but would confess nothing, defying autho- 
 rity, and boasting that it would not be of long duration. A clue was 
 next obtained to the existence of danger in a different direction. A 
 party of emigrants had lately settled in the territory of Baden. It was 
 ascertained that Mr. Drake and Mr. Spencer Smith, the British residents 
 at the Courts of Munich and Stuttgard, maintained a correspondence 
 with these persons. The French government employed an emissary to 
 sound their intentions. This spy, named Mehee de la Touche, returned 
 with certain sums of money given to him by the credulous Englishmen, 
 to forward the royalist cause; and with the information that they kept up 
 a correspondence with the emigrants of Baden, as well as those of the 
 interior, in the hope of fomenting a royalist insurrection, having for an 
 auxiliary the Baroness Von Reich, long known as an active promoter of 
 anti-revolutionary plots. It is certain, however, as Scott afiirms, that 
 no plans of assassination were entertained by these gentlemen. Napo- 
 leon again exanu'ned tlic lists of susj)ected persons, and selected for trial
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 315 
 
 one named Querel, described as formerly a surgeon in the rebel army, 
 and arrested two months before. This man was condemned, but on 
 being led to execution, declared he had confessions to make which con- 
 cerned the life of the First Consul. Being promised a pardon, he de- 
 clared that he had been in Paris six months; that he had come from 
 England with Georges Cadoudal, and six other persons whom he named; 
 that they were landed at the cliff of Beville, near Dieppe, by a cutter of 
 the British royal navy; that they had been since joined by foui'teen more, 
 all landed in the same way; and finally, that another landing was shortly 
 to take place at the same spot. He described the man who received them 
 on landing, the farm houses at which they were lodged, and declared 
 that all his companions in the adventure were now in Paris. Four 
 of the men he named had been accomplices in the affair of the infernal 
 machine. The whole of the party were under the direction and ready 
 to obey the orders of Georges Cadoudal. Paris was immediately sui'- 
 rounded by a cordon of troops ; and the barriers were shut night and day. 
 Savary was ordered to hold himself in readiness to proceed to the coast, 
 to watch for the expected English cutter, with the fresh party of con- 
 spirators. 
 
 These important disclosui'es called for immediate measures. The 
 lists of suspected persons in the vicinity of Dieppe were consulted. The 
 son of a watchmaker, named Troche, was fixed upon, arrested, brought 
 to Paris, and confronted with Querel. The suspicion was found to be 
 just. Querel recognised him immediately as an agent in the disem- 
 barkations, and he was easily induced to turn traitor, and act the part of 
 a guide to the police. Savary, accompanied by Troche, was despatched 
 to Dieppe with a party of gendarmes, all disguised. Enquiring, upon 
 his arrival, for the signals of the coast, he was informed that an English 
 cutter continued to hover off Treport. Guided by Troche, he informed 
 himself of the different cottages at which the conspirators had been re- 
 ceived, and where he found provisions made ready for the expected land- 
 ing. Abovit dusk, the cutter stood in towards shore, so as to be able, 
 wdth a single tack, to reach sufficiently near to send a boat to the foot of 
 the cliff. Troche declared it to be the same cutter which had already 
 landed three parties. At nightfall, Savary posted himself with his gen- 
 darmes at the outlet of a deep ravine, near the foot of the cliff of 
 Beville, wdiich rises abruptly from the sea to the height of two hundred 
 and fifty feet. The weather was stormy, and the ground covered with 
 snow. At the extremity of the cliff was an apparatus for smuggling, 
 into all the secrets of which Savary was now initiated by his perfidious 
 guide. It consisted of a rope about the thickness of a merchantman's 
 cable, fixed perpendicularly against the cliff, and fastened to stout stakes 
 driven in for the pvirpose. The man who ascended last always coiled it
 
 316 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 up, and deposited it in its appropriate place. It seemed to be a very 
 ancient establishment. The country people religiously kept the secret of 
 its existence. It had its regular superintendents, and the smugglers 
 punctually paid the charge imposed upon them for its use. By this 
 rope, Georges, and all those concerned in his undertaking, had entered 
 France. The landing, however, could not this time be effected. Savary 
 watched six or seven nights, during all which time the sea continued too 
 rou'^h to allow of the attempt ; and, at the end of that time, the cutter 
 sailed off, probably warned of the impending danger. It appeared that 
 the covnitry people had no idea that those who had landed were other 
 than smugglers; but they evinced far more concern at the loss of their 
 rope than at learning that they had introduced Georges into the country. 
 Meanwhile, fresh discoveries had been made in Paris. An emigrant, 
 named Bouvet de Lozier, having been arrested, attempted suicide in 
 prison; and in the struggles of returning consciousness, uttered excla- 
 mations in the hearing of his gaolers, which implicated Pichegru (who 
 was supposed to be in England) in the conspiracy, and raised suspicions 
 against Moreau. The latter general had held himself aloof from the 
 First Consul since the 1 8th Brumaire. His former position of general 
 of the army of the Rhine, had placed him in a kind of rivalry with 
 regard to the general of the army of Italy; and this feeling, which 
 Moreau appears to have encouraged, had never been forgotten, and had 
 spread widely among all the soldiers he had commanded, with whom he 
 was very popular. He had taken no part in public affairs, but was 
 regarded as a republican. The soundness of his principles, however, had 
 naturally been doubted since the period of Pichegru's defection, in 
 1797, when, it will be remembered, he concealed his knowledge, for 
 several months, of the treachery that general had meditated. He had, 
 besides, married a royalist lady, of an intriguing disposition. For all 
 these reasons, he was the more readily suspected, and was arrested on 
 his way from his country house to Paris. Pichegru was betrayed, for a 
 large sum of money, by the pretended friend at whose house he lay con- 
 cealed, and was seized in the night while in bed, but not without a des- 
 perate resistance. All the rest of the persons implicated, to the number 
 of forty, were taken very soon afterwards. Amongst them were the 
 Marquess dc Polignac, and M. Jules de Polignac (the confidant of the 
 Count d'Artois), Charles de Riviere, and other royalists of distinction. 
 Georges Cadoudal was among the last arrests. He was stopped in a 
 cabriolet, on the 9th of March, by two agents of the police, one of whom 
 he shot dead, and wounded the otlier, but was overpowered by the 
 crowd, before he could escape. He had been traversing Paris in this 
 manner for several days, fearful to enter any house. A large sum of 
 money was found in his possession when he was taken. Finding resist-
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 
 
 31* 
 
 ance vain, he openly avowed and boasted of the purpose for which he 
 had come to Paris. "He had -come," he said, "to attack the First 
 Consul with open force; and with means of the same nature as those 
 employed by his escort and guard to defend him." By the confessions of 
 Georges' attendants, it appears that this desperate Chouan had actually 
 made more than one attempt to assassinate Napoleon. According to 
 Scott,- he is believed, on one occasion, to have penetrated into the 
 Tuileries, disguised as a domestic, but had not been able to get near 
 enough to accomplish his purpose. 
 
 This plot against the life of the First Consul, excited a profound 
 impression of indignation throughout France. Addresses poured in from 
 every department, and almost every town, throughout the republic, 
 congratulating him and themselves on his escape, and invoking the ven- 
 geance of the law on the conspirators. The spirit of the army was 
 roused to the highest pitt*h of enthusiasm for their chief, at the bare 
 idea of the base attempts that had been made and meditated. Had 
 Moreau been brought before a council of war at this moment, all his 
 former reputation would not have saved his life. Napoleon was deeply 
 affected at the demonstrations of affection he received, but his mind was 
 still disturbed ; he felt he had not unravelled this scheme. For whom 
 was Georges acting ? Who was it that, supposing the attempt at assas- 
 sination had succeeded, was intended to come forward, and stej) into the 
 vacant seat of power ? An expectation that one of the Bourbon princes 
 was yet to be landed at Beville, was hinted at by some of the prisoners.
 
 318 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Others described a person of distinction, who appeared every ten or 
 twelve days at the lodgings of Georges, to whom all present, including 
 the Polignacs and De Riviere, shewed extraordinary respect. A review 
 was taken of all the Bourbon princes. The only one of them known to 
 be in the neighbourhood of France, was the Duke d' Enghien, who then 
 resided at Ettenheim, in the territory of Baden, on the right bank of 
 the Rhine. He was the son of the Duke of Bourbon, and grandson of 
 the Prince of Conde; was known to be brave and resolute, having led 
 the van of the emigrant army, and fought with the greatest valour on 
 every occasion. The intrigues of the English residents at Munich and 
 Stuttgard, were not forgotten, and added their weight to the present 
 suspicions. It was determined to despatch an emissary to observe the 
 motions of the Duke d' Enghien, 
 
 The wliole of the foregoing account has been collected from the 
 various French authorities, and is strictly confined to the discoveries 
 made by the French government, the measures taken in consequence, 
 and the public feeling in France. The corresponding history of tlie 
 proceedings in England, and the actual plans of the emigrants, throw- 
 additional light on the whole. We extract it entire from Sir Walter 
 Scott. 
 
 " The Peace of Amiens being broken, the British government, with 
 natural policy, resolved once more to avail themselves of the state of 
 public feeling in France, and engage the partisans of royalty in a fresh 
 attack upon the consular government. They were, probably, in some 
 degree deceived concerning the strength of that party, which had been 
 much reduced under Bonaparte's management, and had listened too 
 implicitly to the promises and projects of agents, who, themselves san- 
 guine beyond what was warranted, exaggerated even their ovni hopes in 
 communicating them to the British ministers. It seems to have been 
 acknowledged that little success was to be hoped for, unless Moreau 
 could be brought to join the conspiracy. This, however, was esteemed 
 possible; and notwithstanding the disagreement, personal as well as 
 political, which had subsisted betwixt him and Pichegru, the latter 
 seems to have undertaken to become the medium of communication be- 
 twixt Moreau and the royalists. Escaped from the deserts of Cayenne, 
 to which he had been exiled, Pichegru had, for some time, found refuge 
 and support in London, and there openly professed his principles as a 
 royalist, on which he had for a long time acted in secret. 
 
 " A scheme was in agitation for raising the royalists in the west, and 
 the Duke de Berri was to make a descent on the coast of Picardy, to 
 favour the iiisurrection. The Duke d' Enghien, grandson of the Prince 
 of Conde, fixed his residence under the protection of the Margrave of 
 Baden, at the chateau of Ettenheim, with the purpose, doubtless, of
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 319 
 
 Leing ready to put himself at the head of the royalists in the east of 
 France, or, if occasion should offer, in Paris itself. Whilst the French 
 princes expected on the frontier the effect of commotions in the interior 
 of France, Pichegru, Georges Cadoudal, and about thirty other royalists 
 of the most determined cliaracter, were secretly landed in France ; made 
 their way to the metropolis, and contrived to find lurking-places invisible 
 to the all-seeing police." Scott does not specify in this place the means 
 by which this band of conspirators were " secretly landed in France ; " 
 but five pages further on he supplies the omission in relating the 
 capture of Wright. " Captain Wright, the commander of a British 
 brig of war, had been engaged in putting ashore, on the coast of 
 Morbihan, Pichegru and some of his companions." " There can be no 
 reason to doubt," continues Scott, " that a part of those agents, and 
 Georges in particular, saw the greatest obstacle of their enterprise in the 
 existence of Bonaparte, and were resolved to commence by his assas- 
 sination. Pichegru, who was constantly in company with Georges, 
 cannot well be supposed ignorant of this purpose, although better 
 befitting the fierce chief of a band of Chouans, than the conqueror of 
 Holland." 
 
 The foregoing accovmt marks the singular accuracy of the discoveries 
 of the French pohce, and the truth of Napoleon's suspicions. He had
 
 320 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 retired for a few days to Malmaison, from the anxious cares of the 
 capital, when he received the report returned by the emissary who had 
 been despatched to Ettenheim. The report stated, that the Duke 
 d'Enghien was frequently visited by the emigrants of Baden; one of 
 whom was believed to be General Dumouriez ; and that he was known 
 to give them money. This was all quite natural. It stated further, that 
 he went almost every week to the theatre at Strasburg (on the French 
 side of the Rhine) ; that he was frequently absent eight, ten, or twelve 
 days, without any one knowing where he was. He was known to have 
 a passion for hunting, and these long absences might be spent in the 
 Black Forest to follow this favourite pastime; but it was also a plausible 
 supposition that they were occasioned by secret visits to Paris, and that 
 the person described as visiting Georges from time to time, who was 
 treated with extraordinary marks of respect, was no other than this 
 prince. It had been asserted that he ventured to Paris in the time of 
 the Directory, when the affairs of the republic seemed desperate, and 
 that Bernadotte, then minister at war, warned him to make his escape. 
 The whole train of circumstances excited and determined the will of 
 Napoleon to a course of action, which, having once begun, he pursued 
 to its consequences. "This," he said, "is beyond a jest! To come 
 from Ettenheim to Paris to plot an assassination, and to fancy one- 
 self safe, because one is behind the Rhine ! I should be a fool to suffer 
 it." He called a council, consisting of the two consuls, the grand 
 judge, Talleyrand, and Fouche, in which the subject of discussion was 
 the seizure of the Duke d'Enghien by force. Cambaceres alone 
 opposed this measure, but was overruled by Talleyrand. The First 
 Consul having collected the voices which supported the proposition, 
 immediately w-ent to his cabinet to dictate the order for the apprehension 
 of the Duke d'Enghien, It was dated the 10th of March, 1804. It 
 directed General Ordener to go secretly to Strasburg, and to make the 
 proper provisions to transport three hundred dragoons, and three or 
 four brigades of gendarmerie across the Rhine at Rheinau; to proceed 
 thence expeditiously to the residence of the Duke d'Enghien; to take 
 him prisoner, and bring him to Paris. The order also directed the 
 seizure of all the papers belonging to the duke, and the arrest of the 
 supposed General Dumouriez. 
 
 The commands of Napoleon were strictly and expeditiously obeyed. 
 The duke was seized in his bed on the morning of the 15th of March, 
 and, together with seven of his friends and three domestics, was carried 
 to Strasburg, where he remained for three days. It was here ascertained 
 that the supposed Dumouriez was in fact General Thumery. The duke 
 was now removed from all his companions with the exception of his aide- 
 de-camp, the Baron St. .Taques. Early in the morning of the 18th, he
 
 * 

 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 321 
 
 was ordered to prepare for a journey. The linen he was permitted 
 to take amounted to two shirts only — an ominous circumstance. He 
 was conveyed with secresy and speed to Paris, where he arrived on the 
 20th, and was committed for a few hours to the Temple, but before 
 nightfall he was transferred to the castle of Vincennes, an ancient 
 Gothic fortress, about a mile beyond the walls of the city. A con- 
 sular decree, dated the same day, ordered that "the heretofore Duke 
 d'Enghien, accused of having borne arms against the republic, and of 
 having been, and still being, in the pay of England, for taking part in 
 the plots contrived by that power against the internal and external 
 safety of the republic, is to be brought before a court-martial, composed 
 of seven members appointed by the governor of Paris, which court 
 will assemble at Vincennes." The grand-judge, Regnier, Talleyrand, as 
 minister at war, and Murat, then governor of Paris, were charged with 
 the execution of this decree. 
 
 The military commission, composed of seven colonels of the army, 
 reached Vincennes about five in the evening. General Hullin, gover- 
 nor of Vincennes, was appointed to act as president. Shortly after- 
 wards, Savary, with a brigade of infantry, marched into the castle, 
 which had been already strongly garrismied by the gendarmerie (Telite 
 and a detachment of cavalry. 
 
 The Duke d' Enghien, being overcome with fatigue, retired to bed 
 on his arrival at Vincennes, and was awoke at midnight, out of a 
 deep sleep, to reply to the interrogatories of a military commission.* 
 In answer to their questions, the duke avowed his name and rank, the 
 period at which he had quitted France (1789), and the various countries 
 in which he had since resided; avowed also that he had served against 
 France in the emigrant army of his grandfather, the Prince of Conde, 
 from its formation under tlae pay of England, until it was disljanded; 
 admitted that he received a pension from England, which was all he had 
 to live on; said that he had resided at Ettenheim for two years and 
 a-half, having official permission from the Elector of Baden; that he 
 remained there only because the emperor allowed him the privilege of 
 hunting, a diversion of which he was very fond ; but he requested to add, 
 that as the reasons which induced him to remain at Ettenheim no longer 
 existed, he had proposed to remove to Fribourg, in Bresgau, a much 
 more agreeable town; admitted that he had, as was natural, corre- 
 sponded with his grandfather and his father; also, with certain friends in 
 the interior of the republic, who had formerly served with him, but onl}'^ 
 
 * The whole account of the interrogatory and trial of the Duke d' Engiiien is here 
 extracted from the official archives of the period, as published by the Duke de Dalberg, 
 in his " Documents and Correspondence," subsequent to the appeai'ance of SavTwry'fi 
 pamphlet, in 182;3. 
 
 S S
 
 322 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 on private business; denied having ever to his knowledge seen General 
 Pichegru; knew that Pichegrvi had wished to see him, but was glad he 
 never had, if the reports of his accession to the odious measures in con- 
 templation by the conspirators in Paris were true; denied having ever 
 seen Dumouriez. Above the signature of his name to the minutes of 
 the foregoing interrogatory, are the following words, in the hand-writing 
 of the duke: — " Before I sign the present minute, I earnestly request to 
 have a private audience with the First Consul. My name, my rank, my 
 manner of thinking, and the horror of my situation, induce me to hope 
 that he will not refuse my request." 
 
 At two o'clock in the morning, the duke was summoned to appear 
 before the court-martial then assembled. The questions addressed to 
 him, and his answers, were precisely the same in import as those at the 
 previous interrogatory; the only difference being, that a degree of 
 haughty defiance is observable in the answers of the duke on this occa- 
 sion; arising, probably, from the neglect of the request he had made, 
 and a perception that his fate was sealed. To his declaration that he 
 had served against France before, he now added, " that he was ready to 
 take the field, and wished to serve in the new war of England against 
 France." To his avowal that he received a pension from England, he 
 added the amount, "One hundred and fifty guineas a-month;" and 
 omitted the explanation that he depended on this allowance to defray 
 private expenses. Being asked if he had anything to add to his 
 grounds of defence, he replied, " that he had nothing more to say," and 
 therein persisted. 
 
 The president now desired the prisoner to be removed, and the court 
 proceeded to deliberate with closed doors. The following is a copy, 
 both of the words and blank spaces, of the judgment recorded in their 
 minutes : — 
 
 " The court, by an unanimity of voices, declared the prisoner guilty, 
 
 and applied to him article of the law of the , to this 
 
 effect ; and, in consequence, condemned him to suffer the pain 
 
 of death. Orders, that the present judgment shall be executed forth- 
 with, by the care of the captain-reporter, after causing it to be read to 
 the prisoner in the presence of the different detachments of the corps of 
 the garrison. 
 
 " Done, closed, and determined, without adjourning, at Vincennes 
 the day, month, and year as above, and signed by us." 
 
 Here follow the names of all the members of the court-martial, that 
 of the secretary, Molin, being alone omitted, apparently by inadver- 
 tency. The document bears date, 30th of Ventose, Year 12 (21st of 
 March, 1804).
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. o2o 
 
 The official report of the sentence, which appeared the following 
 day in " The Moniteur," was different to this, although it purported 
 to be a copy. It was much longer ; the blanks were filled up by 
 references to different laws, which were made to bear on the case 
 as well as might be, and the name of the secretary was inserted. It 
 is not recorded how long the court continued in deliberation ; but 
 only two hours had elapsed after the conclusion of the trial, when 
 the Duke d' Enghien was summoned to follow the commandant of Vin- 
 cennes, M. Harel; and conducted by him down the mnding stairs which 
 led to the subterraneous part of the castle. As the cold and damp 
 air met him in his descent, the unfortunate duke, pressing the arm 
 of Harel, said, "Am I to be immured in a dungeon?" Harel was 
 much affected by the appeal, but answered nothing. The descent ter- 
 minated at a postern, which opened into the \\dde and spacious ditch 
 of the fortress, which had been fixed on for the scene of death. The 
 troops were drawn up under arms, and a party of gendarmes d' elite, 
 under the command of Savary, were stationed as the executioners. It 
 was now six o'clock in the morning, and the sun liad, therefore, risen ; 
 but as a heaAy mist lay on the ground, the yellow light of torches was 
 mingled with the grey and gloomy atmosphere. It is said the grave 
 was already dug; but this point, though very probable, remains doubt- 
 ful. The sentence was now read to the victim. Some of the witnesses 
 say he demanded a priest, and was refused; upon which he knelt for a 
 few minutes, seemingly absorbed in prayer, and then, rising quickly, 
 prepared to take his station. He would not permit his eyes to be ban- 
 daged; the word was given, the soldiers fired, and he fell. The body, in 
 its clothes, was hastily buried ; the earth was closed over it ; the crowd of 
 living men, who had been there assembled to compass the death of one, 
 bent their accustomed way into the world again, and silence once more 
 settled over the ancient fortress and its new-made grave. 
 
 The gloom which already pervaded the capital was increased by this 
 sudden, and seemingly mysterious, transaction. The name of the Duke 
 d' Enghien had not been heard among the long list of suspected persons, 
 when the news of his violent death spread abroad. Many reports were 
 circulated injiu'ious to the First Consul ; but, whatever were his private 
 feelings, he observed a profound silence, making no attempt to justify 
 the deed ; and after the official report, which appeared in " The Mo- 
 niteur " on the day following the execution, the government never 
 recurred to the subject. The court of St. Petersburgh went into mourn- 
 ing for the Bourbon prince, and entered a protest against the violation 
 of the territory of Baden ; as did the Swedish government ; whicli only 
 ehcited laconic replies from Talleyrand, denying their right to interfere. 
 None of the other continental pcwcrs ventured to make any remon-
 
 324 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 strance. It is known that Josephine was deeply afflicted at the event, 
 which, it is said, she used her influence to avert. Besides that, all 
 harsh and cruel measures were revolting to her nature, her sympa- 
 thies were aristocratic, and she had many friends in the emigrant party, 
 amongst whom the transaction was, of course, regarded with horror. 
 The duke had confided to her care, by the hands of Savary, his portrait 
 and a lock of his hair, " to transmit to a lady who was dear to him," 
 with whom he had lived at Ettenheim. 
 
 The government was still occupied in collecting evidence for the 
 trial of Georges and his accomplices ; and the enquiries had rendered it 
 clear that the stranger, w^hom the servants of Georges had described 
 as visiting their master at intervals, and whom the First Consul had 
 suspected to be the Duke d' Enghien, was General Pichegru. There 
 is no likelihood that the discovery of this fact at an earlier stage of the 
 proceedings, would have made any difference as to the catastrophe at 
 Vincennes, for it was only considered as one circumstance among many. 
 Still, the First Consul could not fail to experience a certain shock when 
 he found out this fact. The certainty of interviews between Pichegru 
 and Moreau was also proved ; but it appeared that Moreau would not 
 listen to plans of assassination, and would not conform to royalist prin- 
 ciples ; having, on the contrary, views of attaining to the consular 
 dignity himself, and preserving the republic. Georges, therefore, was 
 forced to delay his blow, from the fear that he might nly despatch 
 the First Consul for the benefit of General Moreau, whose half mea- 
 sures and uncertainties, while he negociated with royalists, and still 
 strove to continue a republican, may be said to have caused the failure 
 of the plot by putting ofl" its execution. Hazlitt says of him, that 
 "he had not courage to be an usurper; honesty, to be a patriot; nor 
 even sufficient loyalty to be a traitor." 
 
 At this stage of the proceedings, General Pichegru was found dead 
 in his prison, on the morning of the 7th of April. His black silk cravat 
 was tightly twisted round his throat ; and to increase the tightness, a 
 small piece of wood, about the length of a finger, w-hich had been 
 broken from a fagot still in his fire-place, had been slipped between 
 his neck and cravat, and twisted round, to act as a mechanical power, 
 until reason forsook him. His head falling back, had compressed the 
 stick, and prevented the cravat from untwisting. The enemies of the 
 First Consul did not fail to accuse him of having caused the assas- 
 sination of Pichegru; and political partisans, like Scott arid Lockhart, 
 of course, repeat the accusation ; but there is no evidence whatever in 
 support of it, and much against it. A sentinel was placed outside the 
 window of the roon in which Pichegru w^as confined, and another at 
 hi^ door ; not a likely thing to be permitted, if secret assassins were
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 325 
 
 intended to enter. The strongest circumstance however is, that the 
 murder would have been without motive, for the conviction of Picheffru 
 was certain; and, moreover, his death, at that moment, prevented the 
 proofs of Moreau's guilt from being completely established. His suicide, 
 on the other hand, was easily accounted for : he had become low and 
 desponding, as the evidence against him became more clear ; and was 
 known to have declared that he would never "die by the hand of an ex- 
 ecutioner. " What motives," said Napoleon to O'Meara, " could I have 
 in assassinating Pichegru ? — a man who was evidently guilty ; against 
 whom every proof was ready. No evidence was wanting against him. 
 Perhaps I should have pardoned him. If, indeed, Moreau had been 
 found dead, then people might have said that I had caused his assas- 
 sination, and with great apparent justice, for he was the only man I 
 had much reason to fear ; and until then he was judged innocent." 
 
 Another death, which happened in the following year, but as con- 
 nected with this period of horror, may here be mentioned, has in like 
 manner been ascribed to Napoleon. Captain Wright, the commander of 
 the English cutter who had put the conspirators ashore, was, by a strange 
 fatality, wrecked soon after on the coast of France, and made prisoner. 
 He was examined with the other prisoners, but refused to answer any 
 questions which might implicate his government. He remained in the 
 Temple as a prisoner of war ; and towards the end of 1805, he was found 
 dead in his cell, his throat cut from ear to ear. Napoleon was then 
 in Austria, engaged in the campaign of Austerlitz ; and it is a strange 
 supposition that the idea of this distant, imprisoned, and unimportant 
 individual, should suddenly start up in his mind amidst his scene of 
 victories, and that he should send orders to murder him for no con- 
 ceivable motive, and at a period when the very memory of his offences 
 against the French government was almost worn out. Even Mr. 
 Lockhart, differing on this occasion from Scott, acquits Napoleon of 
 such a charge : " Under all the circumstances of the case," he says, 
 " there seems to be no reason for supposing that he could have had any 
 concern in that tragedy." The unfortunate Captain Wright probably 
 committed suicide ; a proceeding not wonderful or unaccountable in 
 his situation (as we may see by our common police reports); and it 
 has been supposed, that the news of the successes of the French arms 
 hurried him on to the fatal deed ; perhaps, because he became hopeless 
 of any end to his captivity. 
 
 The trial of Georges Cadoudal, General Moreau, and the other 
 prisoners, to the number of forty-nine, commenced on the 28th of May. 
 The consular title had been exchanged for the imperial ten days before. 
 We anticipate, however, the order of events, that we may bring our 
 narrative of the conspirators to a conclusion. The trial was attended by
 
 326 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 all the foreign ambassadors, and created a great ferment in Paris. It 
 lasted for twelve days, and, during the whole of that time, the court 
 was thronged with crowds of all ranks among the people. Georges 
 appeared with a miniature of Louis XVI. hung round his neck ; openly 
 avowed that he had come to Paris to assassinate Napoleon ; and seemed 
 only to regret his captivity, because it had prevented his purpose. He 
 amused himself with punning on the name of one of his judges, who 
 had been an old Jacobin. His name being Thuriot, Georges called 
 him Tue-roi (Kill-king), and would sometimes call for brandy to wash 
 his mouth after pronouncing the name or answering any questions. 
 Appearing on one of the days without the picture of the king, Georges 
 •was asked by tlie judge what he had done with it ; on which he replied, 
 " And you, what have you done with the original ?" He was of course 
 found guilty, and was condemned to death, together with nineteen of his 
 associates, amongst whom were the Marquess de Polignac, and M. de 
 Riviere. Moreau was found guilty, but not to the extent of a capital 
 crime. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment ; and this was 
 changed by Napoleon on the same night, for permission to retire to 
 America. Napoleon also provided him with money, by purchasing his 
 estate at Gros-bois and his house in the Rue d' Anjcu, at the price 
 wiiich he named himself. Great interest was exerted by the families 
 of the Polignacs and Rivieres, to save the lives of their relations: at 
 length, Josephine introduced Madame de Polignac at St. Cloud, who, 
 throwing herself at the feet of Napoleon, obtained his pardon for 
 both. He did not confine his clemency to these great families. A 
 poor girl, who contrived to reach his presence, gained for her brother 
 the same grace which had been extended to the beautiful marchioness 
 for her husband. Six more of the conspirators obtained a commu- 
 tation of their sentence for exile, or different terms of imprisonment. 
 Georges and all the rest were executed on the 25th of June, and died 
 with the utmost courage, and without the slightest signs of contrition. 
 The royalist party was silenced and humbled by the issue of this con- 
 spiracy, which, threatening and formidable in its commencement, served 
 by its discovery and defeat to assist in safely establishing the power 
 of Napoleon. 
 
 Having followed the train of these events from their commence- 
 ment to their close, it only remains to take a survey of that portion of 
 them which relates to the Duke d' Enghien ; a task which is imperative 
 on the biographers of Napoleon, because the death of that prince has 
 been called the blackest stain upon his memory, and branded with the 
 epithet of a murder. 
 
 The seizure of the Duke d' Enghien was an arbitrary and violent 
 exercise of power on the part of Napoleon, provoked by the unlawful
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 327 
 
 and treacherous attempts of his enemies. All Europe had been con- 
 vulsed with war, for the cause of the Bourbon princes; yet they had 
 failed, notwithstanding, to regain their power. Napoleon had over- 
 matched them in open war. TJieir followers now, for the third time, 
 attacked him by secret treachery; and, to add to the provocation, the 
 English government, which was at open enmity with Napoleon, did 
 not scruple so far to compromise itself on this occasion as to assist in 
 landing these treacherous foes; a line of conduct which exposed its 
 members to the humiliating necessity of protesting against a charge of 
 countenancing assassination. It was in vain that the Bourbon princes 
 made high-sounding protestations to the same effect, while their con- 
 fidential friends, members of the ancient nobility of their kingdom, 
 were in daily communication with Georges Cadoudal. Napoleon found 
 himself, by the sepractices, placed out of the pale of the world's laws, and 
 ordinary means of protection ; treated as an usurper; one, against whom 
 any atrocity was justifiable ; and he resorted to the law of retaliation in 
 his own defence. If, by so doing, he reduced himself to the level of the 
 Count d' Artois, and the other princes who were thus plotting against 
 life, at least he should not be judged more harshly than they. 
 
 He was afterwards heard to say, " If I had acted right, I should 
 have followed the example of Cromwell, who, on the discovery of the 
 first attempt made to assassinate him, the plot of which had been 
 hatched in France, caused it to be signified to the French king, that 
 if the like occurred again, he, by way of reprisal, would order assassins 
 to be hired to murder him, and a Stuart, Now, I ought to have publicly 
 signified, that on the next attempt at assassination, I would cause the 
 same to be made upon the Bourbon princes; to accomplish which last, 
 indeed, I had only to say, that I would not punish the projectors." 
 (This was not mere assertion ; it is well known that he had more than 
 one offer of the kind.) 
 
 If, when Napoleon did at last perpetrate that act of reprisal, the 
 revolting details of which are before the reader, he sacrificed one of 
 the best and bravest of the House of Bourbon, this was evil chance, 
 and arose from the circumstance of that one alone being within his 
 reach. He had no especial grounds of resentment against tliat parti- 
 cular member of the family ; having scarcely, indeed, heard his name, 
 or been aware of his existence, before the report from ILttenheim. 
 The Duke d' Enghien died because he was a Bourbon prince, and the 
 horror which his death has so generally excited, is chiefly owing to the 
 same cause. There are few military executions for political offences, 
 the details of which, if followed from beginning to end with the same 
 minuteness, would not excite the same sentiments of pity and horror; 
 but it is seldom that less illustrious victims find chroniclers of tlicir
 
 328 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 wrongs. The dungeons of the continental governments which protest 
 a«J-ainst the tragedy of Vincennes, could tell many a tale as dark and 
 full of woe; and the Bourbon princes, when they regained their seat 
 of power, gave it many a companion. France has not forgotten the 
 death of the young and generous Labeddyere, and still contains the 
 orave of the slaughtered marshal, who had deserved his name of " The 
 bravest of the brave." 
 
 
 hr^ 
 
 '^^^^tf 
 
 
 Had Napoleon waited to weigh his measures very scrupulously, he 
 would, to a certainty, have perished on this occasion, and with him, 
 the revolution; for no man in France, except himself, was capable, at 
 that moment, of maintaining his position against all Europe. The plan 
 of assassination would doubtless have been followed by the return of 
 the Bourbons. This circumstance made his situation doubly perilous. 
 As Fouche said, " The air was full of poniards." Sir Walter Scott 
 remarks that, " Napoleon's nerves were peculiarly susceptible to the 
 dread of assassination : " was there ever a man whose nerves were 
 not so ? 
 
 The report of the trial of the Duke d' Enghicn, as now extant, 
 contains no proof of his implication in the conspiracy, but Savary 
 afHrms, that one answer of the prisoner, at least, has either never 
 been recorded, or has been abstracted from the archives, in the same 
 manner as the papers relating to the trial of the Queen of France 
 have been removed, so that the records of her trial are reduced to a 
 few scraps of paper. It must strike every reader, that the questions 
 reported are singularly few, and very little to the purpose. Savary 
 affirms that tlie president noticed to the prisoner, the inconsistency of 
 his denial of any knowledge of the plots then gohig on, because they
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 32J) 
 
 were the common talk of all France, and all the neighbourinn- countries ; 
 and it was impossible he could be indifferent to events likely to prove 
 of such importance to his family: adding, "There is too much im- 
 probability in this, for me to pass it over without observation ; I beo- 
 you to reflect upon it, that you may have recourse to other means of 
 defence." " The Duke d' Enghien," continues Savary, " after a mo- 
 ment's silence, replied in a grave tone : ' Sir, I perfectly comprehend 
 you; it was not my intention to remain indifferent to them. I had 
 applied to England for an appointment in her armies; and she returned 
 for answer, that she had none to give me, but that I was to remain 
 upon the Rliine, where I should soon have a part to act ; and for that 
 I was waitinga I have nothing more to tell you, sir.' " Whether this 
 admission was made by the duke, or not, there can remain no doubt that 
 it was the truth. 
 
 Napoleon freely discussed the subject at St. Helena, "If," said 
 he to Las Casas, " I had not had in my favour the laws of my country 
 to punish the culprit, I should still have had the right of the law of 
 nature — of legitimate self-defence. The duke and his party had con- 
 stantly but one object in view — that of taking away my life. I was 
 assailed on all sides, and at every instant : air-guns, infernal machines, 
 plots, ambuscades of every kind, were resorted to for that purpose. 
 At last, I grew weary, and took an opportunity of striking them with 
 terror in their turn in London. I succeeded; and from that moment 
 there was an end to all conspiracies. Who can blame me for having 
 acted so ? What ! blows, threatening my existence, are aimed at me 
 day after day, from a distance of one hundred and fifty leagues ; no 
 power on earth, no tribunal, can afford me any redress ; and I am 
 not to be allowed to use the right of nature, and return war for war ! 
 What man, unbiassed by party feeHng, possessing the smallest share 
 of judgment or justice, can take upon him to condemn me ? On 
 what side will he not throw blame, odium, and criminal accusations ? 
 Blood for blood : such is the natural, the inevitable law of retalia- 
 tion ; woe to him who provokes it ! Those who foment civil dissen- 
 sions, or excite political commotions, expose themselves to become the 
 victims of them. It would be a proof of imbecility or madness to 
 imagine and pretend that a whole family should have the strange pri- 
 vilege to threaten my existence, day after day, without giving me the 
 right of retaliation ; they could not reasonably pretend to be above 
 the law, in order to destroy others, and claim the benefit of it for their 
 own preservation ; the chances must be equal. I had never personally 
 offended any of them. A great nation had chosen me to govern them ; 
 almost all Europe had sanctioned their choice. My blood, after all, 
 was not ditch-water ; it was time to place it on a par with tlieirs. And 
 
 T T
 
 330 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 what if I had carried retahation further ? I might have done it : the 
 disposal of their destiny was more than once offered me ; but I rejected 
 the proposition with indignation. Not that I thought it would be unjust 
 for me to consent to it in the situation to which they had reduced me; 
 but I felt so powerful, I thought myself so secure, that I should have 
 considered it a base and gratuitous act of cowardice. My great maxim 
 has always been, that, in war as well as in politics, every evil action, 
 even if legal, can only be excused in case of absolute necessity ; what- 
 ever goes beyond that, is criminal." It is impossible to misunderstand 
 an exposition so clear as this. Napoleon does not scruple to recognise 
 the law of retaliation as a legitimate rule of action, and makes no pre- 
 tence to a higher principle than that of expediency ; and on that prin- 
 ciple he justifies his actions. We find, in his will, the following final 
 record of his feelings on the subject : — " I caused the Duke d' Enghien 
 to be arrested and tried, because that step was essential to the safety, 
 interest, and honour of the French people, when the Count d' Artois 
 was maintaining, by his own confession, sixty assassins at Paris. Under 
 similar circumstances, I would again act in the same way." 
 
 This deliberate avowal must be received as a conclusive answer to 
 all those who accuse Napoleon of having endeavoured to transfer the 
 responsibility of the execution of the Duke d' Enghien from himself to 
 others. In familiar conversation with his intimate friends, he entered 
 into the discussion of the circumstances which had determined him to 
 that action ; and it was then he noticed the influence of Talleyrand. 
 It was then also he stated that he did not receive, till two days after 
 the execution, a letter which the unfortvmate duke had addressed to 
 him from Strasburg, Talleyrand having kept it from him. " As for the 
 assertions that were advanced at the time," said he to Las Casas, " that 
 I had been strenuously oj)posed in this affair, and that numerous soli- 
 citations had been made to me, they are utterly false ; and were only in 
 vented to make me appear in a more odious light. The same thing may be 
 said of the various motives that have been ascribed to me: these motives 
 may have existed in the bosoms of those who acted an inferior part on 
 that occasion, and may have guided them in their private views ; but my 
 conduct was influenced only by the nature of the fact itself, and the 
 energy of my disposition. Undoubtedly, if I had been informed in 
 time of certain circumstances respecting the opinions of the prince, and 
 his disposition ; if, above all, I had seen the letter which he wrote to 
 me, and which, God knows for what reason, was only delivered to me 
 after his death, I should certainly have forgiven him." " I asked," 
 says Mr. O ' Mcara, " if it were true that Talleyrand had retained a 
 letter, written by the Duke d' Enghien to him, until two days after 
 the execution ? Napoleon's reply was, ' It is true. The duke had
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 331 
 
 written a letter, offering his services, and asking a command in the army 
 from me, which Talleyrand did not make known until two days after 
 his execution.' " Scott, Bourrienne, and others, treat the story of this 
 letter as a fabrication ; and possibly it may be one : but there are no 
 proofs that it was not written : those alleged (such as the duke havino- 
 left no mention of it in his diary, and his aide-de-camp knowing nothin<T 
 of it) being futile. Talleyrand was very likely to have pursued the 
 course here supposed. He had too much penetration not to perceive 
 that his present master was in peril of his life, and was too good a 
 tactician not to try to avert any generous impulse which should deter 
 him from pursuing the severe measures most likely to ensure his safety. 
 The unprincipled remark attributed sometimes to Talleyrand, and some- 
 times to Fouche, that "the execution of the Duke d' Enghien was worse 
 than a crime, it was a blunder," was made, if at all, when circumstances 
 had changed. It is surprising that a writer, of Mr. Lockhart's pene- 
 tration, should assert, that " every motive, that has weight with man- 
 kind in general, must have swayed the other way with Talleyrand ; a 
 member," he continues, " of one of the noblest families in France ; a 
 man unstained by participation in any of the butcheries of the revolu- 
 tion ; and, above all, a man whose consummate skill has, through life, 
 steadily pursued one object, namely, his own personal interest." No 
 one will dispute the truth of the last clause of this sentence ; but the 
 argument which precedes it is singularly incorrect. Talleyrand, though 
 unstained by the " butcheries of the revolution," had taken much too 
 prominent a part in it, to feel easy at the possible return of the exiled 
 family. Not to mention other important measures, it was Talleyrand 
 who brought forward, in the National Assembly, the project for the con- 
 fiscation and sale of the property of the French clergy; and it was he 
 who officiated as Bishop of Autun at the ceremony of the federation, on 
 the anniversary of the fall of the Bastile', and who there administered 
 the national oath. Self-interest, therefore, must have led him to dread 
 the return of the Bourbons, to whom he could not at that time have 
 reckoned on being able to render himself so acceptable as to retain his 
 power and station under their government. The arguments of Scott 
 on this point are very shallow, and his narrative of the whole transac- 
 tion full of inaccuracies. He makes it appear, for instance, that the 
 Duke d' Enghien was not tried till the second night of his imprisonment 
 at Vincennes ; and he represents the request made by the prisoner, for 
 an audience of the First Consul, as made on his trial, and cut short 
 by Savary, who, " standing behind the president's chair, controlled their 
 (the commissioners') sentiments of compassion," and said, the request 
 was " inexpedient." This whole story is at once falsified by the simple 
 fact, that the appeal in question was made in writing, at the interroga-
 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 tory before the trial. It is, nevertheless, repeated by Mr. Lockhart, 
 who also inaccurately designates Savary " minister of police ; " whereas 
 he held no civil office whatever at that time, but was colonel of the 
 gendarmes; and acted in an executive, not a legislative capacity. A 
 most unjust prejudice has been excited against him by these and similar 
 inventions and errors. The narrative of General Hullin, which also 
 inculpates Savary, giving a different version of the same story, was 
 written in blindness and old age, and manifestly under the influence of 
 fear; and, being contradicted in other points by known facts, should not 
 be regarded as evidence on this. 
 
 The yellow haze of that morning twilight — undispelled by the fitful 
 and difficult blaze of the torches, Vv^hen the victim of self - preserving 
 vengeance was shot down and huddled into his clotted grave — now 
 again hung its entire vapours over the fresh-broken mound which covered 
 the yet-quivering form beneath ; vapours that were never, perhaps, 
 thoroughly dispersed, from the time that fortress first reared its head 
 to the period of its hollowness and ruin. But if a steam from the 
 damp base of the rank castle-moat, mingling with steam from the human 
 blood (a few minutes ago flowing strong in vital energies, but now 
 bubbling and sinking under the loose mould), rose up even as the sun 
 rose, and was absorbed ; so may we behold the unsubstantial tenure 
 of worldly power, which, at its rise and summit, contains within itself 
 little more of the elements of duration than the effluence of mortality 
 already commencing its decay. 
 
 ,ji»p!l|l|!ll|li|iii| W\WMk^\'\ 
 
 I
 
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 NAror,i:ox, kmpkroh
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 3S3 
 
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 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 NAPOLEON CREATED EMPEROR — THE IMPERIAL CONSTITUTION — PROTEST OF LOUIS XVIII. — 
 
 THE EMPEROR VISITS THE CAMP AT BOULOGNE THE NEW TITLE RECOGNISED BY THE 
 
 EUROPEAN POV/ERS; ENGLAND, RUSSIA, AND SWEDEN, EXCEPTED — ARRIVAL OF POPE 
 PIUS VII. AT PARIS — THE CORONATION. 
 
 The title of First Consul, by which 
 Napoleon had been distinguished 
 for more than four years, was ex- 
 changed, in May, 1804, for that 
 of Emperor. The change of name 
 _, made no alteration in the actual 
 power he possessed, nor did it in 
 any way aifect either his habits, 
 manners, or modes of thinkmg. 
 The observance of some addi- 
 tional forms and ceremonies ex- 
 cepted, the Emperor Napoleon 
 differed in no respect from the 
 First Consul. The creation of the empire was, however, an event of 
 serious importance to France. The imperial dignity was declared here-
 
 334 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 ditary in the Bonaparte family, the members of which were to hold 
 rank by right of birth; certain high functionaries were declared ne- 
 cessary appendages to the throne ; and, under different titles of distinc- 
 tion, were to be nominated by the sovereign. By the creation of the 
 empire, therefore, a civil order, in possession of pecuHar privileges, 
 was once more introduced in France ; and the hereditary principle, 
 which had been discarded by the nation, was again adopted. The 
 principle was, however, declared to be established for the sake of, and 
 by the will of the people. That the idea originated wdth Napoleon 
 himself, and that the number of votes in favour of it, however great, 
 represented only a small part of the nation, are, comparatively, unim- 
 portant facts. The recognition of the right, possessed by the people, 
 of altering their form of government, was maintained; and Napoleon 
 uniformly made it his boast, that he derived his power from the people. 
 The principle of the revolution was, therefore, maintained against that 
 of legitimate monarchy. Whether the establishment of the empire 
 was a splendid error on the part of Napoleon, or an act of wise 
 policy, it bears no marks of having been dictated by mere selfish ambi- 
 tion. There was much in it of proud defiance to the scornful enemies 
 who held him and his rights at nought, and more of deliberate convic- 
 tion (whether well-founded, or not, is another question) that it was 
 essential to the safety and glory of France, The part of this new 
 order of things, which related to the pomps and forms of sovereignty, 
 was in accordance with the policy which dictated the concordat, and 
 was another manifestation of a tendency to work upon the existing 
 tone of public feeling, instead of labouring to raise public feeling to a 
 higher standard. The re-establishment of the hereditary principle can- 
 not be judged impartially, without a careful reference to the peculiar 
 circumstances of France at the moment. Fouche (a good judge of 
 matters of policy) afterwards, when all seemed to work well, congra- 
 tulated himself, in confidential discourse, on having advised the mea- 
 sure. " We all perceived," said he, " that the republic could not 
 exist in France: the question, therefore, was to ensure the perpetual 
 removal of the Bourbons ; and I believe the only means for so doing 
 was to transfer the hereditary succession of their throne to another 
 family. Had I remained in office, it is probable I might have pre- 
 vented the conspiracy of Georges and Pichegru; but Bonaparte would 
 still have had to fear the rivalry of Moreau; he would not have been 
 Emperor, and we should still have had to dread the return of the 
 Bourbons, of which, thank God, there is now no fear." Another 
 long and dangerous war was beginning ; and, to add to its dangers, the 
 enemies of Napoleon had shewn themselves unobservant, in his case, 
 of that constituted code of honour which is usually observed towards
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. S35 
 
 an avowed enemy. He had just seen the revolution at the mercy of 
 an assassin's dagger ; his single life opposed against the return of the 
 exiled family ; and the idea then occurred, to stretch his life be5^ond the 
 term of mortal existence, by the fiction of the perpetual existence of the 
 head of the state, which is implied in the hereditary principle. It was 
 as though, to confound his enemies and the seekers of his life, he had, 
 like the spirit of Banquo, held up a glass wherein the shadows of his 
 line might " stretch out to the crack of doom." 
 
 The idea of the empire was first publicly broached in the senate. 
 On the occasion of framing the address of congratulation to the First 
 Consul, on his escape from the late conspiracy, Fouche rose and said, 
 " that, in order to destroy the hopes of the conspirators, and to secure 
 the permanent existence of the government after the death of the 
 reigning chief, other institutions were indispensable." The motion was 
 seconded, and was inserted in the address. Napoleon answered the 
 deputation by saying, " that the subject they had suggested required 
 the greatest consideration ; that for himself he wanted nothing ; but 
 that it was his duty to consider the lot of France, and what the future 
 was likely to produce ; and, finally, that he would accept no new title 
 without submitting it to the sanction of the j)eople." A great sensation 
 was produced throughout France by these proceedings. Numerous 
 addresses were presented from all parts of the country, and from the 
 army, eclioing the suggestion of the senate. 
 
 Napoleon now proposed the three followdng questions to the council 
 of state for discussion, without liis presence : — " Is the hereditary form 
 of government preferable to the elective form ? Is it expedient to 
 establish the hereditary form at this particular juncture ? In what 
 manner ought the hereditary form of government to be established ? " 
 A very long and sharp discussion, evincing great diversity of opinion, 
 ensued upon these questions. A report was at length drawn up, from 
 which the following are extracts : — " That the councillors of state are of 
 opinion that the revolution which commenced in 1 789 was not directed 
 against the hereditary principle of the chief magistracy ; and if, at a 
 subsequent period, its force was directed against the reigning family, 
 it was solely because that family took up arms against the revolution 
 and its principles. That the nation will further confirm its disiriclina- 
 tion to that family, by calling in, and placing at its head, a new family. 
 That the principle of an hereditary chief magistrate is consonant with 
 the manners of the nation, suitable to the population, and consistent 
 with the extent of its dominions. That the proper moment for framing 
 such an institution is when great dangers threaten the country, menacing 
 the person of the First Consul by assassins armed against his life ; and 
 when various other evils, springing out of the dangers of war, expose
 
 336 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 the head of the state to imminent risk. That the nation accordingly 
 are ready to declare for the hereditary system, and, at the same time, 
 to enter into a guarantee for the security of all those institutions and 
 rio-hts for wliich their armies have fought." So many amendments to 
 the report were, however, proposed, that at length the council with- 
 drew it, and each member presented his own separate answer direct 
 to the First ConsuL 
 
 The senate and the tribunate were now called upon by Napoleon 
 to give their opinions on the proposed questions. The legislative body 
 was not then in session. Whilst the debates were thus protracted in 
 the political bodies of the state, so great was the impatience of the 
 militai-y, that the garrison of Paris had resolved to proclaim their chief, 
 as Emperor, at the first review ; and Murat, governor of the city, was 
 obliged to assemble the officers at his house, and bind them by a promise 
 to restrain the troops. The spirit of the army at Boulogne was soon 
 afterwards manifested, by their voting the erection of a colossal statue 
 of Napoleon, in bronze, to be placed in the midst of the camp. Every 
 soldier subscribed a portion of his pay for the purpose; but there was 
 a want of bronze. Soult, who presided over the completion of the 
 undertaking, went, at the head of a deputation, to Napoleon, and said, 
 " Sire, lend me the bronze, and I will repay it in enemy's cannon, at 
 the first battle ;" and he kept his word.
 
 MARSHAL SOULT.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 337 
 
 The motion " that the First Consul should be invested with the he- 
 reditary power, under the title of Emperor," was brought forward in 
 the tribunate by M. Curee. It was combated by five or six members • 
 Carnot, in particular, making an eloquent speech against it, which he 
 concluded by declaring that, " though he opposed, on grounds of con- 
 science, the alteration of government which had been proposed, he would, 
 nevertheless, give it his unlimited obedience, should it be adopted by 
 the nation." The measure met with very little opposition in the senate. 
 Volney, Gregoire, Sieyes, and Lajuinais, voted against it; Cabanis and 
 Praslin, with a few others, declined voting. An address was accord- 
 ingly drawn up, beseeching the First Consul to yield to the wishes of 
 the nation. Meanwhile, registers for the reception of votes were opened 
 in every parish of France, and a return of upwards of three million, 
 five hundred thousand for the measure, and about two thousand ao-ainst 
 it, shewed that public opinion was in its favour. On the 18th of Mav, 
 1804-, the members of the senate went in a body from Paris to St. 
 Cloud, to present their address. Cambaceres, as president of the 
 senate, read the speech, and declared the number of votes registered 
 by the people. Having concluded, he proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte 
 Emperor of the French, the assembled senators immediately responding 
 with a simultaneous shout of " Five V Empereur." Napoleon, who was 
 visibly affected, replied in a few words, that " he accepted the empire, 
 in order that he might labour for the happiness of the French." The 
 senate then proceeded to the apartments of Josephine, to congratulate 
 her on her new dignity. She was surrounded by the sisters of Napoleon, 
 whose looks were expressive of satisfaction, mixed with some embar- 
 rassment at their sudden elevation to royal rank. The natural grace 
 and dignity of Josephine never failed her on any occasion of her life ; 
 and, on this, effectually concealed the sad forebodings of an aching heart. 
 The sound of cannon immediately announced the news to the city of 
 Paris. It created little sensation : there were some illuminations, some 
 cavils, some caricatures and lampoons ; but nothing that was present 
 seemed materially altered by what had happened, and the Parisians 
 were tired of discussing abstract principles. 
 
 The constitution of the empire was as follows : — The imperial power 
 was declared hereditary in the person of Napoleon, and the male line 
 of his direct descendants. Failing these, Napoleon might adopt the 
 sons or grandsons of his brothers, in such order as he chose. In default 
 of these, Joseph and Louis Bonaparte were declared lawful heirs of the 
 empire ; Lucien and Jerome being excluded, because they had married 
 contrary to the wish of Napoleon. The members of the Bonaparte 
 family were declared princes of the blood. The imperial was the sole 
 hereditary power in France. All other offices in the state were elective, 
 
 u u
 
 SSS . THE HISTORY OF 
 
 or accorded to merit.* There were two chambers, the senate and the 
 leo-islative body. The tribunate was suppressed. The constitution of the 
 council of state remained the same as under the consulate ; and the ex- 
 cellence of that constitution supplied, as far as such a void can be sup- 
 plied, the want of a popular assembly. " In the absence of an effective 
 tribune," says Thibandeau, " which a constitutional government would 
 have given to France, never did the head of an empire possess a council 
 so enlio-htened, or where all questions relating to administrative and civil 
 order were discussed with more frankness and independence. In the 
 absence of that tribune, which would have expressed public opinion, 
 never was the head of an empire better able to guess what was the 
 truth concerning public opinion, nor better able to read its characters, 
 and to profit sometimes by its correctness, sometimes even by its errors." 
 The council of state was, as before, nominated by the Emperor. The 
 system of election had been remodelled during the consulate, and was 
 continued in the empire. Assemblies of cantons had been instituted, com- 
 posed of all the domiciliated citizens in each canton. These assemblies 
 nominated the members of the electoral colleges, from amongst whom 
 the members of the legislative body and the senate were to be chosen. 
 
 To be eligible as a member of the electoral college of either degree, 
 the possession of property, or the fact of being a member of the legion 
 of honour, was requisite. At every vacancy, the colleges chose two 
 candidates for the vacant office, whether legislator or senator. One of 
 these two candidates was finally chosen by the head of the state. The 
 grand council was an appointment of the empire. It consisted of 
 Joseph Bonaparte, who was named grand elector ; Louis Bonaparte, 
 high constable; Cambaceres, arch-chancellor; and Lebrun, arch-trea- 
 surer. Eighteen generals were raised to the rank of marshals of the 
 empire : they were, Berthier, Murat, Moncey, .Tourdan, Massena, Au- 
 gereau, Bernadotte, Soult, Brune, Lannes, Movtier, Ney, Davoust, 
 Bessieres, Kellermann, Lefe\Te, Perignon, and Serrurier. Duroc was 
 named grand marshal of the palace ; Caulaincourt, master of the horse; 
 Berthier, grand huntsman ; and the Count Segur, a nobleman of the 
 old court, master of the ceremonies. M. Maret was continued in his 
 office of secretary. Bourrienne had been dismissed before Napoleon be- 
 came consul for life. The cause of his disgrace seems to have been some 
 money transaction, which excited in Napoleon's mind the suspicion that 
 his secretary took advantage of his situation to produce variations in 
 ihe funds. Napoleon, however, sent for him shortly after the establish- 
 ment of the empire, and had a long and friendly interview with liim. 
 
 • The senate presented a memorial to Napoleon, requesting that the office of senator 
 might be rendered hereditary ; but he nullified the proposal.
 
 NAPOLF.ON DISTUinUTINn CROSSKS OF THE LEGION OF HONOUR AT THE 
 CAMV OF BOULOGNE.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 339 
 
 On the 27th of May, Napoleon received the oath of the senate the 
 constituted bodies, the learned corporations, and the troops of the ear- 
 rison of Paris. 
 
 Louis XVIII. immediately addressed a protest to all the sovereigns 
 of Europe against the usurpation of Napoleon. Fouche, who was the 
 first that heard of this document, immediately communicated the intel- 
 ligence to the Emperor, with a view to prepare him for giving timely 
 orders to watch over those who might attempt its circulation ; but great 
 was his surprise on receiving directions to have the whole inserted in 
 "The Moniteur" the following morning, where it actually appeared. 
 This was all the notice taken of the matter by Napoleon. 
 
 The 14th of July was celebrated this year by a splendid ceremony. 
 The members of the legion of honour took the oath prescribed by the 
 new constitution ; and the first distribution of the crosses of the order 
 was made on that day, in the Hotel of the Invalids, the Emperor and 
 Empress appearing in public, for the first time, in regal pomp. 
 
 Bourrienne, who was present, and who declares that the enthusiasm 
 of the immense assemblage defies description, details his own feelings 
 very naturally. " What a singular train of ideas," he says, " was called 
 up into my mind, when I beheld my former comrade at the school of 
 Brienne, seated upon an elevated throne, surrounded by his brilliant 
 staff, the great dignitaries of his empire — his ministers and marshals !" 
 Two days afterwards the Emperor left Paris for Boulogne, to preside 
 over the same ceremony in the army. The Emperor's tent was pitched 
 on a rising ground, in the midst of a large plain, where a hundred 
 thousand men were drawn up. The standards taken at Lodi, Areola, 
 Rivoli, the Pyramids, Aboukir, and Marengo, formed the back ground 
 of the tent : an immense crown of laurels surmounted it. When Napo- 
 leon appeared, two thousand drums beat the charge. He pronounced 
 the words of the oath in a loud voice, and was answered by a simul- 
 taneous and deafening burst of acclamations from the assembled multi- 
 tude. The distribution of the crosses then took place. Fortune seemed 
 obedient to him in all things at this time. A sudden storm having arisen, 
 it was reported that part of £he flotilla was in danger. He hurried 
 from the hill where he had been stationed; but he had scarcely arrived 
 at the harbour before the weather brightened, as if by enchantment ; 
 and he returned to the camp, where the festivities continued. All man- 
 ner of favourable omens were also found, or fancied, by the soldiers. 
 The remains of a Roman encampment were discovered on the very spot 
 whence the Emperor had addressed them. Some medals of William the 
 Conqueror were also dug up, presaging a certain conquest of England. 
 
 It was at this period that an adventure of two English sailors had 
 become the universal talk of the camp. The poor fellows had made
 
 340 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 their escape from the depot for English prisoners of war at Verdun, 
 and had contrived to subsist at Boulogne till they had constructed a little 
 hoat, or rather raft, of small pieces of wood, put together as well as 
 they could manage, with no tools but their knives. It was about four 
 feet wide, and very little longer, and covered with sail-cloth. Seeing 
 an English frigate off the coast, they had perched themselves on their 
 frail float, and put to sea, though nearly certain of being shot if they 
 were taken, or of being drowned if they got off". They had hardly gone 
 a hundred furlongs, when they were perceived by the custom-house 
 
 officers, who brought them back. The Emperor, hearing of this extraor- 
 dinary attempt, ordered the men and their boat-raft to be brought before 
 him. Courage and energy were always irresistible attractions to him. 
 " Is it possible," said he, looking at the sort of nut-shell to which they 
 had trusted their lives, " that you meant to cross the sea in that ?" " If 
 your Majesty doesn't believe it," said one of them, " only give us leave, 
 and you shall soon see us afloat." " I will," said the Emperor ; " you 
 are bold, enterprising men. I admire courage wherever I meet with 
 it. But you shall not risk your lives. You are at liberty ; and I will 
 have you conveyed on board an English ship. When you return to 
 London, say how I esteem brave men, even when they are my enemies." 
 This ostentation, accompanying the generous act, is rather a drawback 
 to admiration; nevertheless, Napoleon not only kept his word, but sent 
 them off" wdth several pieces of gold in their pockets. Rapp, and the 
 aide-de-camps standing round, were not a little astonished at the interest 
 excited by two poor sailors, who would otherwise have been shot as spies.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 341 
 
 It was universally believed at Paris, that the ostensible object of the 
 Emperor's visit to Boulogne v^^as only a pretext, and that the invasion 
 of England was to be immediately attempted. The same idea had 
 spread through the army ; but, on the contrary, the scheme was farther 
 than ever from its accomplishment. The difLrent squadrons of the 
 flotilla had indeed increased to an immense force, and the army was 
 in the finest condition ; but the difficulty of bringing round the ships of 
 war to cover the landing, was more and more apparent, as the uncon- 
 querable power of the English navy became more unequivocally ex- 
 pressed, and as the keen foresight of Napoleon perceived signs of an 
 approaching continental war. He had, however, attained two objects 
 by the accumulation of power now effected on the coast. He had kept 
 England in perpetual alarm, and thus occupied a portion of the energies 
 that would otherwise have been employed mischievously against him 
 and he had concentrated, without exciting suspicion, an immense army, 
 ready to act wherever he might choose, in the event of hostilities beino- 
 renewed. 
 
 Besides attention to the multifarious concerns of the army, several 
 important measures were originated by Napoleon while he remained 
 at Boulogne. He arranged a new form of discipline for the Poly- 
 technic School, which he now placed entirely under military regula- 
 tions — a very doubtful improvement ; the school, however, maintains 
 its reputation to the present day. He also, at this time, instituted the 
 decennial prizes. These were nine in number, of the value of four 
 hundred pounds each, to be given every ten years, dating from the 18th 
 Brumaire, of the year 1799. All works of science, literature, and the 
 arts, all useful inventions, all establishments devoted to the progress of 
 agriculture or manufactures, published, known, or formed in the interval 
 between each term, might contend for these prizes. 
 
 It had been arranged that Josephine should meet the Emperor in 
 Belgium, and proceed with him on a tour to the principal cities of that 
 part of the empire. She joined him at the castle of Lacken, which had 
 been repaired, and newly furnished with great magnificence. They pro- 
 ceeded together to Aix-la-Chapelle. Here they received the congratu- 
 lations of the ambassadors of Austria, Portugal, and Naples, on behalf 
 of their respective sovereigns. Spain had already sent an embassy. 
 The various princes of the German empire paid their court in person. 
 England, Russia, and Sweden stood aloof. 
 
 It was during this journey that Napoleon read Madame de Stael's 
 " Delphine," which was just pubhshed. The work gave him fresh 
 offence, and was the cause of her continued exile from Paris, probably 
 on account of its attacks, open or implied, on the Catholic religion. 
 The remarks which Napoleon made, in nls '" humour, are very charac-
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 teristic. " 1 do not like women who make men of themselves," said he, 
 "any more than I like effeminate men. There is a proper part for every 
 one to play in the world. What does all this vagrancy of imagination 
 mean? What is the result of it? Nothing. It is all sentimental 
 metaphysics, and disorder of the mind." 
 
 Not satisfied with placing himself on a par with the legitimate 
 sovereigns of Europe, in titles and dignities, Napoleon had resolved to 
 outstrip them all in the solemnity of his coronation, which should be 
 distinguished by a circumstance of honour, such as had been beyond 
 the reach of any of them to secure. He determined that no less a 
 dignitary than the Pope himself should crown him ; and instead of pre- 
 paring to set off for Rome for the purpose, as Charlemagne, in his day, 
 had done, he invited Pius VII. to visit Paris. It was from Mentz that 
 the embassy was despatched to negociate this affair. It was successful. 
 The Pope, indeed, had no choice but to comply ; and being a most 
 finished gentleman, he complied with the best grace. The Emperor 
 returned to Paris in October, after an absence of three months. 
 
 ■i-P ,. ... 
 
 //i/aaiTZHaJv 
 
 The Pope left Rome in the beginning of November. He was received 
 everywhere on his journey with the greatest veneration. The precipices 
 of the Alps had been secured by parapets, at the express orders of the 
 Emperor, wherever they could expose the venerable pontiff to danger, 
 or even apprehension. On the 25th of November he reached Fontaine-
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. SUi 
 
 bleau. Here he was met by the Emperor, who, to avoid the ceremony 
 of a formal reception of his hoHness, had contrived a hunting party in the 
 forest, and accidentally came upon the road on horseback, with his reti- 
 nue, at the moment the Pope's carriage was arriving. The Emperor dis- 
 mounted, and, uncovering his head, received his hoHness, who immediately 
 alighted with every mark of respect. They then proceeded to the palace 
 of Fontainebleau in the Emperor's carriage. The manoeuvre by which 
 Napoleon got over the difficult point of precedence is sufficiently amus- 
 ing. It is thus given by Savary : — " The Pope had got out at the left 
 door, in his white costume. The ground was dirty : he did not like to step 
 upon it with his white silk shoes, but was obliged to do so at last. The 
 Emperor's carriage, which had been purposely driven up, was advanced 
 a few paces, as if from the carelessness of the driver ; but men were 
 posted to hold the two doors open. After the meeting had taken place, 
 the Emperor took the right door, and an officer of the court handed 
 the Pope to the left ; so that they entered the carriage by the two doors 
 at the same time. The Emperor naturally seated himself on the right; 
 and this first step decided, without negociation, the etiquette to be 
 observed during the whole time that the Pope was to remain at Paris." 
 
 Apartments were appropriate4 to his holiness in the Tuileries; and 
 the bed-chamber prepared for him was fitted up precisely in the same 
 manner as his own, in the palace of Monte-Cavallo, at Rome. This 
 attention, and other refined marks of respect, on the part of Napoleon, 
 for a potentate on whom he had imposed a great public concession, are 
 creditable to his chacrater. The Parisians, after his example, treated 
 their unaccustomed guest with every possible consideration ; and his 
 countenance, figure, and manner, were calculated to increase their good 
 feeling towards him. 
 
 On the 1 st of December, the lists of votes in favour of the estabhsh- 
 ment of the hereditary succession of the empire in his family, were 
 publicly presented by the senate to Napoleon. On the following day, 
 2nd December, 1804, his coronation took place in the cathedral of Notre 
 Dame. The capital was thronged with crowds of visitors from every 
 part of France. The people were represented at the ceremony by 
 deputations of the presidents of the cantons, the presidents of the elec- 
 toral colleges, and the whole corps of the legislative body, which had 
 been convoked in the month of October; the army, by deputations 
 from every regiment. By all these, increased to a vast multitude of 
 spectators of the highest station in the country, the walls of the splendid 
 old cathedral were clothed with what a spectator has described as " living 
 tapestry," galleries having been erected almost to the roof. The Pope 
 first left the Tuileries ; and went in procession to the cathedral, pre- 
 ceded, according to established custom, by his chamberlain on a mule,
 
 344 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 whicli novel sight Kad nearly proved destructive to all solemnity, by 
 exciting tlie risibility of the Parisians ; but the functionary thus humbly 
 mounted preserved his gravity of countenance so admirably, that he 
 repressed the fatal sound which had impended. The Emperor and 
 Empress, in the saine open carriage, traversed Paris, through a great 
 crowd of spectators, who, it is said, looked on the procession rather coldly. 
 They first seated themselves with their backs to the horses, by mistake ; 
 and though the error was instantly rectified, it was obsers^ed, and said to 
 be " an evil omen." They, and their whole retinue, arrayed themselves 
 in splendid robes in the archbishop's palace, and with the long and gor- 
 geous line of courtiers, marshals, and dignitaries, in gold and rich colours 
 and waving plumes, gained the cathedral by a long gallery, erected for 
 the purpose. At the moment the Emperor appeared in the cathedral, 
 there was one simultaneous shout, which made but one explosion, 
 of "Vive r E77i2)ereur." All was performed in order; mass was said, 
 and the crown was blessed by the Pope ; but at that point the Emperor 
 ceased to be submissive. Not even the supreme pontiff himself wae 
 permitted to place the crown upon the head of Napoleon. It was placed 
 there by his own hand ; immediately removed ; and again, by his own 
 hand, placed on the head of Josephine ; then laid on the cushion, where 
 it had rested before. " This scene," says Norvins, " is a scene of yes- 
 terday ; yet it belongs not to our age. We can scarcely believe our 
 selves the contemporaries of events so strange and so unlike our time." 
 
 The action which superseded the ceremonial of the high religious 
 functionary and " vicegerent of heaven," however extraordinary, is suf- 
 ficiently intelligible, and may be regarded as the very apex of character 
 in the doer. He had accomplished everything by his own inherent 
 powers ; and now that this, " the topmost round" of all his worldly splen- 
 dours, should be, even apparently, and in a mere form, conferred upon 
 him l)y the trembling hand of an individual — an aged Ceremony ; one 
 wlio had not in the slightest degree assisted his rise, or could destroy his 
 positicm, and whom lie had caused to journey from the lofty sanctuary 
 and throne of spiritual dominion to "swell the scene" of his entire 
 ascendancy — seemed idle, absurd, and intolerable to his intensely prac- 
 tical imagination. His action was a direct abnegation of "divine right" 
 and " legitimacy." He felt that he did not receive the crown from any 
 " vicegerent," as the gift from the pontifical hand might be supposed to 
 infer, but that it was the consequence of his own mortal energies and 
 deeds on earth. The act, however, is not likely to have been one of 
 momentary impulse, or impatience, as some writers aver ; we should 
 rather conjecture that — as in the case of his first interview with the 
 Pope — the movements of the whole scene had been pre-arranged by 
 I^apoleon.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 345 
 
 The Emperor took his coronation oath with his hand on the Scrip- 
 tures. Te Deum was sung. The heralds proclaimed that " the thrice 
 glorious and thrice august Napoleon, Emperor of the French, was 
 crowned and installed;" and so ended the pageant. "Those who re- 
 member having beheld it," says Scott, " must now doubt whether they 
 were waking, or whether fancy had framed a vision so dazzling in its 
 appearance, so extraordinary in its origin and progress, and so ephe- 
 meral in its endurance." On the same day Louis XVIII., then hving 
 at Calmar, drew up a declaration to the French people, in which he 
 swore " never to break the sacred bond which united his destiny to 
 theirs; never to renounce the inheritance of his ancestors, or to relin- 
 quish his rights." 
 
 A singular incident, no less characteristic of the chief actor in these 
 events than all that has been recorded, occurred just before the coro- 
 nation. In detailing it, we must go back to some of those earlier scenes 
 of his life, which the anecdote we are about to relate proves were then 
 rushing into his memory, excited probably by the sight of Josephine, the 
 object of the ardent passion of his youth, now beside him in the robes 
 of an Empress. It will be remembered, that when Josephine accepted 
 him as her husband, he was very poor ; neither of them, indeed, were 
 rich enough to keep a carriage, arid they frequently walked out together. 
 They had gone one day to the house of M. Raguideau, a lawyer, in 
 whom Josephine placed great confidence, the express purpose of her 
 visit being to acquaint liim of her intention to mai-ry the young general 
 of artillery. Napoleon waited for her in an outer room, while she held 
 this conversation. The lawyer strongly dissuaded Madame de Beau- 
 harnais from her imprudent marriage. " You are going to take a very 
 wrong step," said he, " and you will be sorry for it. Can you be so 
 mad as to marry a young man who has nothing but his cloak and his 
 sword ? " The door of the ante-room was imperfectly closed, and the 
 words reached the young man in question, who had an uncommonly 
 " fine ear." Napoleon never told Josephine that he had heard this piece 
 of advice given to her, which proved as fruitless as advice generally 
 does in such circumstances ; nor did she ever mention it to him. Her 
 astonishment was therefore great, when, after putting on the imperial 
 robes, and when they were just on the point of leaving the arch- 
 bishop's palace to proceed in state to the cathedral, to assume the 
 crown. Napoleon desired that M. Raguideau should be sent for. Still 
 more was she surprised when the low-bowing lawyer appeared, and the 
 Emperor, addressing him abruptly, but with humorous gravity, said, 
 "Well, Raguideau, have I nothing but my cloak and my sword now?" 
 This story, which looks like a fabrication, is, nevertheless, perfectly 
 authentic.
 
 346 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The grand military ceremony of distributing to the army the imperial 
 eagles in lieu of the national colours, took place on the day following 
 the coronation. The deputations of every regiment were then assembled 
 on the Champ de Mars, where Napoleon was seated on a throne, erected 
 in front of the military school, the scene of his boyhood. At a given 
 signal the columns closed, and approached him. He then rose, gave 
 orders for the distribution of the eagles, and then addressed the troops 
 in these words : — " Soldiers, behold your colours ! these eagles will 
 always be your rallying-point. They will always be where your Em- 
 peror may think them necessary for the defence of his throne and his 
 people. Swear to sacrifice your lives to defend them ; and by your 
 courage to keep them constantly in the path of victory, — swear !" Those 
 who were witnesses of the enthusiasm with which this address was an- 
 swered, have declared their utter inability to convey any impression of 
 it by description. The enthusiasm was not called forth without a cause. 
 On that day Mr. Pitt signed the treaty of Stockholm, and paid a subsidy 
 to Sweden, to enable that country to commence hostilities against 
 France. This was the first step of the new continental war. The 
 ministry of police was re-established at this period, Fouche again re- 
 ceiving the appointment. The Emperor, naturally foreseeing the neces- 
 sity of his own absence from Paris, in the impending war, thought this 
 subtle statesman might be once more necessary to preserve the public 
 tranquillity, and detect any cabals in favour of the Bourbons. 
 
 The year 1804 terminated with the opening of the legislative body; 
 on which occasion the Emperor presided, and delivered a speech. He 
 was warmly applauded when he energetically pronomiced the following 
 words: " My object is not to extend the territory of France, but to 
 maintain that territory inviolate." 
 
 \/\ ^'. u o 
 
 ^/ViStUiiVWfi 
 
 
 ::^:iy:^^^|rOifr?W;^p^^
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 347 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 RUSSIA ASSUMES A HOSTILE ATTITUDE TOWARDS FRANCE — LETTER OF NAPOLEON TO 
 
 GEORGE III. COMPLETION OF THE CIVIL CODE NAPOLEON CROWNED, AT MILAN, AS KINO 
 
 OF ITALY THIRD COALITION AGAINST FRANCE FRENCH ARMY ADVANCES ON AUSTRIA — 
 
 CAPITULATION OF ULM — NAPOLEON ENTERS VIENNA — BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ — RETREAT 
 OF THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER NAPOLEON GRANTS AN ARMISTICE TO AUSTRIA. 
 
 Russia, 
 obliared 
 
 The year 1805 had scarcely bej^un, 
 when the Emperor Alexan- 
 der plainly shewed that his 
 refusal to recognise the new 
 title of Napoleon, was to be 
 followed up by active hostili- 
 ties against France. Russian 
 fleets menaced Italy, landed 
 troops on the Ionian islands, 
 and appeared to be prepar- 
 ing to act in concert with the 
 English ; others passed the 
 Sound and the Dardanelles. 
 Sweden had already mani- 
 fested ill-will towards Napo- 
 leon ; Turkey, influenced by 
 now refused to acknowledge him. The French ambassadors were 
 to leave the courts of Constantinople and St. Peter.sburg.
 
 348 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 While enemies thus sprung up around France, Great Britain had 
 irritated Spain to tlie utmost, by committing aggressions against its 
 commerce and shipping. The Spanish government, in consequence, 
 declared war against Eiighmd, and became the active ally of Napoleon ; 
 engaging to aid him with thirty ships of war, and five thousand men. 
 
 At this moment, when the coming storm darkened over Europe, 
 Napoleon made an effort to avert its fury, similar to that which he had 
 made six years before. He addressed the. King of England by letter, 
 proposing a peace. The time he chose was so far favourable to the 
 chance of success, that, in consequence of the Spanish alliance, his navy 
 was greatly increased, and with it, the greater probability of attempting 
 the long-meditated invasion of England; a peace, therefore, which would 
 have relieved England from the necessity of standing perpetually on its 
 guard, might, under ordinary circumstances, have appeared desirable. 
 But it is scarcely possible to believe that, after all the events of the last 
 war, and of the short peace. Napoleon could expect any amicable result 
 from such an overture. He must have learned before this period, that 
 the sovereigns of Europe warred against him for a principle, which they 
 would never relinquish while the power to contend for its re-establish- 
 ment remained. Probably the chief object of this letter was to display 
 before the world the true cause of the renewal of war ; it is, therefore, 
 not so interesting as his former one, which was written in the sincerity 
 of a belief, which time and experience must have driven from his mind 
 before he wrote the second. He commenced with the words, " Sir, my 
 brother;" sufficient of themselves to irritate a king who had refused to 
 acknowledge his title. The expressions which follow are all forcible 
 and emphatic. " France and England," he says, " abuse their prospe- 
 rity. They may struggle for ages. But will their governments thus 
 fulfil the most sacred of their duties ? And, so much blood uselessly 
 spilt, will it not rise up in accusation against them ? I attach no dis- 
 honour to taking the first stej) in this matter. I have sufficiently, I 
 think, proved to the world that I fear none of the chances of war." He 
 concluded with, " May your majesty believe in the sincerity of the 
 sentiments I have expressed, and my desire to give proofs of this sin- 
 cerity." He was answered by an official dispatch from Lord Mulgrave, 
 secretary of state for foreign affairs, to Talleyrand, acknowledging the 
 receipt, by his majesty, of a letter addressed to him by the " Head of 
 the French Government," and declaring, that Great Britain could not 
 make a precise reply to the j)roposal of peace intimated in Napoleon's 
 letter, without a previous communication with her allies on the con- 
 tinent, and in particular the Emperor of Russia. War was, therefore, 
 evidently at luuid.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 349 
 
 Lord Mulgrave's letter was dated the 14tli of January. Five days 
 afterwards, the treaty between England and Russia was completed ; in 
 which they bound themselves to co-operate in forming a league on the 
 continent, to reduce France to the limits of 1792, by forcing its govern- 
 ment to relinquish all the conquests and acquisitions made since that 
 period. A secret assurance was given by Russia that Austria would 
 join this league, and both powers well knew that the neutrality of 
 Prussia depended on the events of the war, and would be turned into 
 hostility against France, should evil fortune attend its arms. Count 
 Cobentzel, minister for Austria, meanwhile remained at Paris, and no 
 outward demonstration of animosity took place ; but the proceedings of 
 the French Emperor, and more particularly his increasing ascendancy 
 in Italy, were jealously watched. 
 
 When the English ministry brought forward the motion in parlia- 
 ment, that " a sum, not exceeding three miUion five hundred thousand 
 pounds, be granted to his majesty, to enable him to enter into such en- 
 gagements, and take such measures, as the exigencies of affairs demand ;" 
 the members of the opposition began to question the grounds on which 
 a continuance of hostilities, and of such consequent heavy expenditure, 
 were justified. Mr. Fox decidedly expressed the opinion, that, " instead 
 of declining to treat, we should have offered to France reasonable terms 
 of peace ;" while Mr. Grey (afterwards Lord Grey) reminded the House, 
 that thirty millions had already been added to the capital of our debt 
 since the commencement of the war. Loud complaints were also made 
 against the ministry for their sudden attack upon Spain, by which they had 
 given England an open enemy, and presented France with a useful ally. 
 The ministers urged in their defence, that Spain, while pretending neu- 
 trality, did in fact furnish arms and money to Napoleon ; but they were 
 unable to deny that they had tacitly consented to the treaty by which Spain 
 was bound to these conditions by Napoleon, as the price of its neutrality ; 
 and that they had permitted the fulfilment of them for a year; alleging, 
 however, various examples of the like summary proceedings as precedents. 
 
 Simultaneously with these events, a well-deserved public honour was 
 rendered to Napoleon, in commemoration of the completion of his great 
 work, the Civil Code. His statue, executed by Chaudet, was placed in 
 the hall of the legislative body, on the 14th of January, with circum- 
 stances of great magnificence and solemnity, at which he was himself 
 present, together with the Empress, the imperial family, and all the 
 dignitaries of the state. M. de Vaublanc, as president, afterwards 
 addressed the assembly : — " You have celebrated the completion of the 
 civil code of the French nation," he said, " by an act of admiration and 
 of gratitude. You have decreed a statue to the illustrious prince, by 
 whose firm and constant will this great labour has been carried tln-ough
 
 350 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 to its termination, while his own great mind has spread the clearest light 
 over this noble part of human institutions. First Consul then, Emperor 
 of the French now ; he appears in the temple of the laws, his head 
 encircled with that triumphal crown which victory has so frequently 
 placed there, presaging to him a kingly diadem." 
 
 tWe are apt to think, and with sufficient reason, that the usual tone 
 of French eulogistic oratory is turgid and extravagant ; but no one can 
 refuse a due sympathy with the occasion in question. This code, 
 which now bears his name, was only a portion, however, of the object 
 which the Emperor had in view. "The good produced by the intro- 
 duction of the ' Code Napoleon' is well known," says Prince Napoleon
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 351 
 
 Louis Bonaparte, in his late entliusiastic and highly interesting work 
 (" Des Idees Napoleoniennes") ; " it had placed many parts of the legis- 
 lation in harmony with the principles of the revolution, and considerably 
 diminished the number of law-suits, by simplifying causes. But this 
 code did not satisfy the desire of the Emperor; he projected an uni- 
 versal one, which should include all the laws of the country within 
 itself, and which should enable him to proclaim, once for all, as null 
 and void, every law which was not inscribed in that single code. ' For,' 
 added he, when talking on this subject, ' by means of some old edicts of 
 Chilperic or Pharamond, disinterred for the occasion, there is no one 
 who is able to say, that he is perfectly secure against being duly and 
 lawfully hanged.' " This further work he had not time to accomplish. 
 While regretting that France has been deprived of so great an advan- 
 tage, we cannot forbear quoting another passage from the recent pub- 
 lication of his nephew. " If," says he, " the soul of Napoleon can 
 still take note of the agitations and judgments wliich circulate here 
 below, may he not answer, to those who accuse him of any falling short, 
 * All that I did for the interior prosperity of France, I did in the short 
 intervals of battles ; but you, who blame me, what have you done during 
 twenty-four years of profound peace ? ' " 
 
 A superb banquet and ball, given in honour of the Empress, at which 
 the Emperor was also present, followed the ceremony which had taken 
 place in the hall of the legislative body. 
 
 i\*'^M\tefV *"**"'''\'"7'' "" 

 
 352 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The private habits of Napoleon continued to be remarkable for sim- 
 plicity and arduous attention to business. Some details descriptive of 
 them will be found interesting. They are chiefly taken from the accounts 
 given by M. de Bausset, then prefect of the palace. Every morning at 
 nine o'clock, regularly, the Emperor came out of the interior of his apart- 
 ments, dressed for the day. The officers of the household were the first 
 admitted, and received from him his different orders. Immediately 
 afterwards the grand entries were introduced, consisting of persons of 
 the highest rank, who were entitled to this privilege either by their 
 functions or by special favour. Napoleon addressed each person in turn, 
 and listened good natiu'edly to all that was said to him : the round being 
 made, he bowed, and every one withdrew. Sometimes those who had 
 any particular request to make, remained alone with him a few minutes 
 after the others. At half an hour after nine the breakfast was served. 
 The prefect of tl .e palace went before him into the saloon where he was 
 to breakfast, and there waited on him, assisted by the first maitre d'hotel. 
 Napoleon breakfasted on a small mahogany stand, covered with a napkin. 
 Temperate as ever man was, the breakfast of the Emperor often lasted 
 not more than eight or ten minutes ; but when he felt an inclination to 
 " close the doors," as he sometimes said, laughing, the breakfast lasted long 
 enough, and then nothing could surpass the easy gaiety and grace of his 
 conversation. His expressions were rapid, pointed, and picturesque. He 
 often received, during breakfast time, a few individuals, in whose society 
 he had the greatest pleasure ; among whom might be mentioned particu- 
 larly, Monge, BerthoUet, Costay, Denon, his physician Corvisart, and 
 the celebrated David, Gerard, Isabey, Talma, and others. 
 
 Having returned to his cabinet. Napoleon applied himself to business, 
 and received the ministers and directors-general, who attended with their 
 portfolios. These different occupations lasted till six in the evening, and 
 were never broken in upon, except on the days of the councils of the 
 ministers, and the councils of state, which latter frequently lasted from 
 nine in the morning till five in the evening. " Napoleon sometimes gave 
 notice of his intention to be at the meeting ;" says M. Pelet de la Lozere, 
 " at other times he entered unexpectedly, the sound of the drum on the 
 Tuileries stairs giving the first intimation of his approach. His cham- 
 berlain went before, while his aide-de-camp on duty followed, and both 
 took their station behind him. His seat was raised one step above the 
 floor at the end of the room, and remained always in its place, even when 
 he was absent with the army; and on those occasions the arch-chancellor, 
 seated on the right of the vacant chair, presided. Business proceeded 
 but slowly when Napoleon presided; for he sometimes sunk into a 
 ])rofound reverie, during which the discussion of course languished ; and 
 at other times he wandered far from the subject. These political
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 353 
 
 digressions, however, were full of interest, as they often betrayed the 
 internal state of his mind, or let out the secret of his intended projects." 
 
 The dinner was regularly served up at six o'clock. At the Tuileries 
 or at St. Cloud, their majesties dined alone, except on Wednesdays, 
 when the ministers dined with them ; and on Sundays, when they were 
 joined by the whole of the imperial family. The dinner consisted but 
 of one course, prolonged by the dessert ; the simplest dishes were pre- 
 ferred by Napoleon : the only wine he drank was Chambertin, and he 
 seldom drank it pure, and never tasted spirits or liqueurs. The dinner 
 lasted ordinarily from a quarter of an hour to twenty minutes ; and 
 immediately it was over he retired, with the Empress, to the drawino-- 
 room, whence, having taken one cup of coffee, he soon returned into his 
 cabinet to pursue his labours ; the Empress at the same time descending 
 to her own apartments, where she found the ladies of honour in attend- 
 ance, and received the visits of her guests. Napoleon often joined this 
 evening circle, sometimes mixing in the conversation with ease and 
 gaiety ; sometimes, absorbed in thought, he remained apart in a silence 
 which no one dared to interrupt. Bourrienne tells us that Napoleon 
 possessed the talent of his country for extempore recitation, and was fond 
 of acting as an improvisatore. He would occasionally, on these evenings, 
 give the reins to his vivid imagination and his love of the marvellous, and 
 invent brief romances, which were always of a fearful description. He 
 liked, on these occasions, to have the room dimly lighted. Led away by 
 his subject, he would pace the saloon with hasty strides, the intonations 
 of his voice varying according to the characters he brought on the scene ; 
 his action, look, and gesture appropriately accompanying every change in 
 his impassioned and rapidly deKvered tale. His auditors had no need to 
 feign terror ; he inspired it unavoidably. On one occasion which is de- 
 scribed, he produced so violent an excitement as to make some of the 
 ladies shriek with horror ; but, like a consummate actor, he continuecf 
 his recital without appearing to notice the interruption. It was noi 
 often, however, that the Emperor remained long among the guests of the 
 drawing-room. He usually left them abruptly, to return to his cabinet, 
 where the officers on duty attended his evening levee, and received 
 his orders for next day. 
 
 The uniformity of this life was broken only occasionally, by the 
 theatre, a concert, or the chase. At Fontainebleau, Rambouillet, or 
 Compiegne, where he went to hunt, a tent was always set up in the 
 forest, to which all the party was invited ; the ladies coming out in their 
 carriages, and eight or ten persons were usually asked to dine. The 
 whole economy of the household was regulated with the most exact care 
 by the grand-marshal Duroc, superintended by the Emperor. The court; 
 was always brilliant and in the best taste; but there was no wasteful 
 expenditure. w w
 
 354 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 " It sometimes happened," says Hazlitt, " that Napoleon, pre- 
 occupied with the affairs of state, rose from breakfast or dinner, for days 
 together, without a word having been said. But such occurrences were 
 rare ; and even when his brow was serious and his lips silent, he still 
 shewed himself just, polite, and kind. Few persons (according to the 
 best testimony) have, in private, possessed more equability of temper, 
 and greater gentleness of manners." Without wishing to invalidate this 
 general testimony, some tremendous exceptions are recorded with equal 
 authenticity. 
 
 i' m 
 
 
 ^-lA^t, ilii' 
 
 The Pope remained at Paris for some time after the coronation. A 
 coolness arose between him and Napoleon, before his departure, in con- 
 sequence of a desire, on the part of his holiness, for an accession of 
 territory in return for his services and concessions. But to this the 
 Emperor would on no account agree ; his object being, on the contrary, 
 to confine the jurisdiction of the Pope, more and more, to spiritual affaii's 
 only, with a view to promoting his favourite object of forming Italy into 
 one undivided state. Pius VII. concealed his discontent, and even con- 
 sented to give his pontifical services a second time to the imperial family. 
 The infant son of Louis Bonaparte was christened by him at St. Cloud 
 on the 24th of March, 1805, receiving the name of Napoleon Louis. The 
 Emperor acted as godfather to the young prince, who has lately given a 
 testimony of the reverence in which he holds the memory of his illustrious 
 relative, in the work from which we have recently made some extracts.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 365 
 
 Napoleon was now about to assume a second crown. A deputation 
 from the Italian republic waited on him, on the 17th of March, and inti- 
 mated to him by Melzi, their vice-president, the unanimous desire of 
 their countrymen that he, who had been the founder of their republic, 
 should become the monarch of their kingdom. Napoleon accepted the 
 new dignity, declaring, however, that the two crowns of France and Italy 
 should never, except in the present instance, devolve upon the same 
 person ; and also, that he himself would only wear that of Italy, until 
 the assured safety of his new subjects should permit him to place it on a 
 younger head. After making the necessary communication to the senate, 
 Napoleon prepared to set out for Milan, to go through the ceremony of 
 another coronation. 
 
 Bourrienne describes an interesting interview which he had with the 
 Emperor, at Malmaison, at this period, in which his real sentiments 
 as to Italy were freely expressed. " You know," said Napoleon, " that 
 I set out in a week for Italy. I shall make myself king ; but that is but 
 a stepping stone. I have greater designs respecting Italy. It must be a 
 kingdom, comprising all the transalpine states, from Venice to the 
 maritime Alps. The junction of Italy with France can only be tem- 
 porary ; but it is necessary, in order to accustom the nations of Italy to 
 live under common laws. None of them will now acknowledge the 
 superiority of another; and yet, Rome is, from the recollections con- 
 nected with it, the natural capital of Italy. To make it so, however, it 
 is necessary that the power of the Pope should be confined within limits 
 purely spiritual. I cannot now think of this; but I will reflect upon it 
 hereafter. At present, I have only vague ideas on the subject, but they 
 will be matured in time ; and then, all depends on circumstances. What 
 was it told me, when we were walking, like two idle fellows, as we were, 
 in the streets of Paris, that I should one day be master of France ? My 
 wish — merely a vague wish : circumstances have done the rest. It is, 
 therefore, wise to look into the future, and that I do. All these little 
 states will insensibly become accustomed to the same laws ; and when 
 manners shall be assimilated and enmities extinguished, then there will 
 be an Italy, and I will give her independence. But for that I must 
 have twenty years, and who can count on the future?" Could he who 
 uttered this expression now look out from his sea-beat grave, he would, 
 indeed, have cause to repeat the ejaculation. But, amidst the degrada- 
 tion and gloom of enslaved Italy, he might yet see the faint streaks and 
 gleams of her renovating vigour slowly breaking through the dense, 
 distant, and still heavy horizon. 
 
 The Emperor, accompanied by the Empress, left Paris, for Milan, on 
 the 2nd of April. On arriving at Troyes, attended only by two or three 
 officers, he visited Brienne. Here, among the scenes of his boyhood, he
 
 356 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 foro-ot, for twenty-four hours, the empire of France and the kingdom of 
 Italy. He went over every place, and remembered every one connected 
 with the military school, even to the old servants, whose visible decay in 
 their advancing years affected him much. 
 
 In contemplating a scene fraught with the memories of other days, 
 the changes its external appearance has undergone present themselves 
 forcibly to our feehngs, even in the minutest details; but seldom or 
 ever does it occur to us that we ourselves are changed, far more, per- 
 haps, than the walls and streets, the hills and fields, the old tree-trunks 
 and winding lanes. Without including those changes which may, or 
 may not, have transpired in our particular feelings and general tone of 
 thought, how little of the same external appearance often remains in 
 those who notice with pain the absence of certain inanimate things, 
 associated with former years, and who dwell on the slightest changes 
 observable in their visible forms. The Emperor Napoleon — after long 
 absence, employed in rapidly alternating scenes of revolutions, wars, 
 deep pohcies, enlarged designs, splendours, and triumphs, and now on 
 his way to the assumption of a second regal diadem — visits the scenes 
 of his early youth, and feels a saddened wonder at every trifling event 
 and local change which has occurred to them during the same interval. 
 The slight-limbed, spare-bodied, diminutive boy at Brienne, with lean 
 and thoughtful face, and long straight hair, bearing — beneath a cold, un- 
 communicative, solitary habit and demeanour — the secret germ of fiery 
 ardours and concentric will, presented the subject for a portrait such as 
 rarely occurs to task the artist's hand ; an adequate representation, perhaps, 
 defying the powers of any single point of view, might have required the 
 several labours of both painters and sculptors, more especially in latter 
 years. Of the early periods, however, no sort of authentic likeness or 
 sketch is probably extant ; and we are, therefore, left to imagine, from 
 vague verbal accounts, and from subsequent portraitures, what the face 
 and general expression must have been, of the youth who was destined to 
 revolutionise the greater part of Europe, and change the chronological 
 emblems seated upon so many of her thrones. The next phase in the 
 personal appearance of Napoleon, may be viewed with his first possession 
 of command, and successful display of character and military genius and 
 skill, at the siege of Toulon. We should think that the figure in the 
 engraving of " Batterie des Hommes sans Peur," must present a very 
 close approximation to his external appearance at the time. This figure 
 represents a slight, sharp-cut outline, hard as if shaped from steel — the 
 attenuated bodily substance seeming almost as impermeable — with a set 
 look of will, fixed in its view and purpose, as though it had settled into 
 a metallic defiance of all possible consequences, and seeking by its very 
 spirit (the passionate strength of self-deceiving mortality!) to overcome
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 357 
 
 the destiny which is poured in a hail of death-shot upon the heads of 
 all around, in their frightfully close opposition to the enemy's batteries. 
 Again, we find a change in the personal appearance of Napoleon when 
 he had become general of the army of Italy; but not so much in figure 
 or face as in expression. To the cool self-possession, and settled purpose 
 of look and bearing, for wloich he was previously remarkable, was added 
 the ease, no less than the distant air of habitual and unquestionable 
 authority, in one who had ceased to lend his hand, except on extraor- 
 dinary occasions, to the details of war, or open' his mind to share its 
 councils. But, mthout any essential change in physiognomical and 
 general external appearance, a considerable diflTerence, in a pictorial 
 sense, was presented by Napoleon during the campaign in Egypt. 
 Up to this time, he had worn his hair long; and, if we are to credit 
 the various portraits, in loose ringlets, or careless waves; but the ter- 
 rible heat of the climate quickly warned him of the disadvantage as 
 to comfort, besides the dangers of a brain fever, and his long locks 
 were forthwith cut close to his head. He ever after wore his hair 
 very short: its subsequent thin quantity, indeed, would lead us to 
 conjecture that the influence of the cHmate of Egypt had rendered 
 his future appearance, in tliis respect, involuntary. Napoleon was ex- 
 tremely spare-bodied and sinewy, up to about the age of five or six and 
 thirty; but, after attaining the imperial dignity, his presentiment as to 
 corpulency began to be realised. Notwithstanding this tendency, how- 
 ever, no less unfavourable to symmetry than health, his person was greatly 
 admired by artists, as displaying many fine proportions, especially in the 
 beauty of the hands, and the legs and feet. Of the fine classical character 
 of his head and features, httle need be said, as the pictures, and par- 
 ticularly the busts of him, may be considered sufiiciently correct data for 
 the studies of physiognomists, and for general judgment; there can be no 
 doubt, however, of the truth of the statements of several who were long 
 accustomed to be near him, under many extraordinary, no less than or- 
 dinary circumstances, that of the rapid versatility and marked characters 
 of expression, no painter or scidptor could convey any adequate idea. 
 But of his power, under peculiar circumstances, of " discharging all 
 expression from his face," and thus presenting a pale and solemn blank to 
 the scrutinizer, as of something past, an "unknown" sculpture from the 
 antique would perhaps be the best comparison ; while of his habitual, 
 fixed calm, amidst great tumults, the mask, taken from his face after 
 his death, may give, we should imagine, a tolerably correct impression; 
 and one — ^by its countless associations, no less than its isolated fact — not 
 easily to be forgotten. 
 
 Proceeding to Lyons, the Emperor and Empress were received 
 with all the magnificence that rich city, the trade of which had been
 
 358 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 raised by Napoleon from something like ruin, could display in their 
 honour. At Turin, they were met by the Pope, and remained there some 
 days. Thsy also rested for a short time at Alessandria; and, while 
 there. Napoleon formed the resolution, which he afterwards carried into 
 effect, to convert that city into a great military depot and fortified place, 
 of immense strength, for which its natural advantages afforded every 
 
 SL^^^^^^^ 
 
 facility. On the route to Milan, the Emperor visited the field of battle 
 on which he had re-conquered Italy five years before. He collected all 
 the troops in that part of the country, to the number of thirty thousand, 
 on the plain of Marengo, and appeared among them on horseback, in tlu> 
 same coat and hat which he had worn in the action; and which — with that 
 strong tendency to experience pleasure in the association of memory, 
 tliought, and feeling, with visible and tangible objects, place, and time, for 
 which he was remarkable — he had brought from Paris for this 'vxjn'ess
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 359 
 
 purpose. It was observed that the moths had paid no more respect to 
 the dress thus suggestive of heroic deeds, than to any common-place 
 garment, for it was musty and full of holes ; but this did not prevent 
 Napoleon from wearing it. He reviewed the troops, and distributed 
 crosses of the legion of honour, with the same ceremonies which had been 
 observed on the Champ de Mars, and the same return of enthusiastic 
 devotion on the part of the troops. Fresh recollections of Desaix, the 
 friend whom he had lost on this very spot, arose with the scene. He had 
 already erected a monument in the hospital of the Great St. Bernard, to 
 the memory of the brave who fell at Marengo. He now resolved that 
 the remains of Desaix should be carried to the same spot, and de- 
 posited beneath the monument, on the occasion of its solemn inaugu- 
 ration, which he intended should take place, under the direction of 
 Denon. He gave orders to this effect, and formed a small column of 
 men, chosen from every regiment of Italy, together with a civil depu- 
 tation of Italians, to carry the honoured remains from Milan to St. 
 Bernard. Savary alone, to whom Napoleon had confided the charge of 
 embalming the body, after the battle, knew where it had since remained ; 
 he, therefore, together with Denon, went to the monastery in Milan, 
 which he well recollected, and where, in a sacristy, they found it, " in the 
 same place," says Savary, " and in the same state in which I had left it 
 some years before, after having had it embalmed, then put into a leaden 
 cofiin, then into one of copper, and lastly the whole enclosed in a 
 wooden one. Since that time, the remains of General Desaix have re- 
 posed on the summit of the Alps." 
 
 On the 8th of May, the Emperor made his third grand entry into 
 Milan. He was received ^vith acclamations, and the greatest demon- 
 strations of joy. The first event of importance after his arrival was 
 the incorporation of Genoa with the French empire, an enlargement 
 of its territory which excited the indignation of all the hostile powers 
 of the continent. The acquisition, Hke that of the crown of Italy, 
 was made to appear a gift. A deputation, headed by Durazzo, the 
 Doge of Genoa, waited on Napoleon, with a request that he Avould 
 incorporate the Ligurian republic with his empire. The pohtical rea- 
 sons by which he justified his acceptance of this request, will be found 
 in portions of his reply : " The spread of liberal ideas could alone 
 have given to your government that splendour which encircled it for 
 many ages ; but I have already attained the conviction that you are 
 unable, alone, to do anything worthy of your forefathers. Everything 
 has changed : the new principles of the dominion of the seas which the 
 English have adopted, and forced other nations to adopt; the right 
 of blockade, which they are able to extend at their pleasure, and which 
 is only another term for extinguishing at their will the commerce of all
 
 8G0 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 people ; these circumstances offer you nothing but isolation in your 
 independence. Where maritime independence is no longer possessed 
 by a commercial people, the necessity of ranging themselves under a 
 more powerful flag conunences. I will realise your wish. I will imite 
 you with my great people." The union was immediately effected, and 
 the Dogfe of Genoa became a senator of France. 
 
 The coronation took place in the cathedral of Milan (which owed its 
 completion to Napoleon), on the 26th of May; Cardinal Caprara offici- 
 ating on this occasion, as the Emperor did not think fit to exact another 
 act of condescension from the Pope, to whom the near neighbourhood of 
 so powerful a sovereign could not be a matter of gratulation. The iron 
 crown of the Lombard kings v/as used on the occasion. Napoleon, as he 
 had done at Paris, took it with his own hand from the altar, and, placing 
 it on his head, uttered the appointed form of words with which it was 
 always assumed by its ancient owners. " God has given it me. Let 
 him beware who would touch it." The order of the iron ciown, witli 
 these words for its motto, arose out of this ceremony.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. SGI 
 
 The Emperor remained at Milan till tlie lOtli of June; when (leaving 
 Eugene Beauharnais, now his adopted son, as viceroy) he left the city, 
 and, accompanied by the Empress, proceeded to visit the principal scenes 
 of his former triumphs in Italy. Marshal Jourdan, with forty thousand 
 men, waited his arrival at the camp of Castiglione ; and here he made 
 another distribution of crosses of the legion of honour to that division of 
 the army. Proceeding by Peschiera, Verona, and the impregnable 
 Mantua, the Emperor arrived at Bologna. Here the Marquess de 
 Gallo met hiin, and made, on the part of Naples, fresh solicitations for 
 a neutrality, and protestations of its strict observance. Here also the 
 state of Lucca became, by solicitation, an appendage to the imperial 
 family. Napoleon gave it for sovereign, his eldest sister, the Princess 
 Eliza, afterwards grand duchess of Tuscany. She was a woman of 
 strong talents and great energy of disposition; considerably resembling 
 her brother. She had offended him by marrying Bacciochi, a native of 
 Corsica, and only a captain of artillery; but seeing the thing was done. 
 Napoleon promoted her husband, and gave these extensive territories to 
 his sister, to whom he well knew he might safely confide them. Bacciochi 
 shared her honours, but without interfering with her authority. She 
 is acknowledged to have governed both with vigour and beneficence, 
 having carried out important improvements in works of utility, and en- 
 couraged education and the arts. She retained her sovereignty until the 
 downfall of the empire. The chief accusations against her are, that she 
 was too fond of luxury, and encouraged a plurality of lovers; so that 
 she acquired the name of the " Semiramis of Lucca." After visiting 
 Turin, where he organised the university, the Emperor and Empress 
 turned towards France, and reached Fontainebleau on the 11th of July; 
 whence they proceeded to Paris. 
 
 The din of war fast succeeded to the fetes and splendours of Italy. 
 Napoleon visited the camp at Boulogne, almost immediately upon his 
 return to France, and though he well knew the pressing need of his 
 army on the continent, practised the troops in all the evolutions of the 
 descent on England, in order to deceive his enemies. While still at 
 Boulogne, he received, almost simultaneously, the intelligence that the 
 French admiral, Villeneuve, had utterly failed to bring his fleet round 
 to the Channel, and was blockaded by the English in a port of Spain ; 
 and that an Austrian army, of ninety thousand men, had suddenly 
 invaded the neutral territory of Bavaria, and compelled the electoral 
 court to leave Munich, and take refuge at Wurtzbourg. Either of 
 these events was sufficient to break off, at once, the projected invasion 
 of England. The Emperor had, in a great degree, penetrated the 
 schemes of the allied powers, but was not prepared for tlie suddi-n 
 assumption of arms by Austria, without any declaration of war; a 
 
 X X
 
 362 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 measure which Austria justified by referring to the increasing encroach- 
 ments of France, in Italy. A third coalition was now formed against 
 Napoleon. England paid a large subsidy to Russia ; while Russia raised 
 four great armies, consisting in all of one hundred and eighty thousand 
 men. Of these, one hundred thousand were to march into Germany, to 
 co-operate with the Austrians ; a smaller division, then in Corfu, was to 
 land in Naples, and advance for the purpose of acting in concert with 
 the Archduke Charles ; another, in conj unction with the Swedish army, 
 to retake Hanover; the fourth, to observe Prussia, enforcing its neu- 
 trality, or, if possible, insisting on active hostilities against France, on 
 the part of that power. The Austrian army, which had invaded Bavaria, 
 was commanded by General Mack; the Archduke Charles was march- 
 ing in force upon the Adige. 
 
 Napoleon was perfectly prepared for this tremendous combination 
 of enemies, though taken by surprise at their sudden attack. In the 
 excitement of the moment, he sent for M. Daru, then acting as inten- 
 dant-general of the army. The Emperor was traversing the room with 
 hasty steps when he entered: " Daru," said he, when he observed his 
 presence, " place yourself there, listen to me, and write." The Em- 
 peror then, without once stopping or even hesitating, dictated the entire 
 campaign, now celebrated in the annals of war under the name of the 
 " campaign of Austerlitz." He fixed the departure of every separate 
 
 Ml','
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 363 
 
 lover 
 
 corps of the army of Boulogne, as well as that which occupied HaiK 
 and Holland, towards the east and south of France; the order of the 
 marches, their length, the places at which the different columns should 
 converge and re-unite, the surprises and attacks on the enemy, with the 
 different movements to be expected of the enemy — all was foreseen and 
 a calculation made for every different probability. Such was the extra- 
 ordinary correctness and precision evinced in this plan, that the army, 
 which moved from an expanded line of two hundred leagues- in extent, 
 and adv«.nced by a route of three hundred leagues in length, followed 
 their original directions, day by day, and place by place, as far as Munich. 
 Beyond that capital, the times indicated in the plan, alone required 
 alteration ; the places were exactly retained, and every movement pre- 
 scribed was attended with success. Perhaps there has never been dis- 
 played a more wonderful instance of clearness of head and power in 
 practical calculations. 
 
 The power which he exercised over his soldiers arose from other 
 qualities, no less important to his wonderful achievements in war. " Na- 
 poleon," says General Foy, "had, at the age of six -and -thirty, the 
 imposing attitude of old Frederick. He went through the ranks on foot, 
 and at a slow pace. The grandees of the court and the army kept 
 behind at a considerable distance, that there might be no intermediate 
 person between the Emperor and the soldiers. Every one approached 
 him freely, and related to him the history of his grievances and his 
 pretensions. He looked at everything, answered every one, and on 
 the spot satisfied well-founded claims. The cheerfulness of his look 
 shewed that he was amidst his family. On those days, favours were 
 showered upon the brave, and lessons of discipline given to the generals, 
 sometimes to the colonels, but never lower. The troops manoeuvred; 
 and Napoleon always taught the most skilful some new secret. After the 
 review, the oracles which had issued from the lips of the master of the art, 
 were repeated in the camp. The men knew by heart the burning pro- 
 clamations, in which so few words comprised such heroic presages. On 
 the approach of danger, what was felt for him was more than admiration ; 
 he was worshipped, as if he had been the tutelar deity of the army." 
 
 The forces of the allies might be computed at about three hundred 
 thousand men; the disposable force of France, then under arms, con- 
 sisted of two hundred and thirty-five thousand, — one hundred and sixty 
 thousand of whom, composing the great army collected on the coast, 
 were destined to be commanded by the Emperor in person, and were 
 divided into seven corps, under Bernadotte, Davoust, Ney, Soult, 
 Lannes, Augereau, Marmont, and the cavalry under Murat. Massena 
 occupied the north of Italy with fifty thousand men, and Gouvion St. Cyr 
 the kingdom of Naples, with five-and-twenty thousand.
 
 364 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The "anny of England" now received the name of the " grand army : " 
 the camp was broken up, and the different divisions were immediately 
 in full march towards the Rhine. Duroc was at the same time sent to 
 Berlin to negociate the continued neutrality of Prussia. 
 
 The Emperor returned to Paris without delay, and there laid before 
 the senate the state of the army, and announced the commencement of 
 hostilities. The senate immediately voted a levy of eighty thousand 
 conscripts from the class of 1806, and the organisation of the national 
 guards for active service. The mission of Duroc, at the same time, 
 proved successful. The King of Prussia maintained an army of a hun- 
 dred thousand men to preserve his neutrality ; but the continuance of 
 this neutrality depended on the events of the war. 
 
 On the 24th of September, the Emperor quitted Paris, accompanied 
 as far as Strasburg by Josephine. Here they separated. The Emperor 
 put himself at the head of his army, and crossed the Rhine on the 
 1st of October. He was immediately joined by the electors of Baden 
 and Bavaria, who placed their forces at his disposal ; and soon afterwards, 
 (through a timely and courteous negociation) by the Duke of Wurtem- 
 berg, the husband of the Princess Royal of England. Napoleon slept 
 two nights in their palace ; and it was on tliis occasion that the duchess 
 wrote home in terms of surprise at finding " Bonaparte so polite and 
 agreeable a person." Those, in this country, who remember the hideous 
 monstrosity which their imaginations conceived of him, will understand 
 the Duchess of Wurtemberg's " surprise." We may here remark, that 
 with the children in England, the frightful idea of " Boney " was instilled 
 at the tenderest age, and many a little child has had its rest broken by 
 night, and has trembled to be left alone in the day, from the dread in- 
 spired by the deformed images of the " Corsican Monster," as represented 
 in toys and picture-books, and by the graphic wisdom of nurses and 
 grandmammas. With the elder youths, and with the great mass of the 
 uneducated, the caricatures in the shop windows produced an effect, cor- 
 responding with the monstrous and ridiculous figure they invented, and 
 the extreme cleverness of their execution. 
 
 The Emperor now began a series of grand manoeuvres, and partial 
 actions, requiring consummate skill, with a view to the destruction of 
 the great Austrian army under General Mack. The precipitation with 
 which the Austrians had opened the campaign, deceived, perhaps, by 
 the apparc4it intention of Napoleon to attempt the invasion of England, 
 enabled him to operate against them before the possibility of the junc- 
 tion of the Russian army, now marching towards Gernrany under the 
 Emperor Alexander in person. Napoleon entirely succeeded in his 
 first attempt, which was, to deceive Mack as to the point at which he 
 meant to enter Germany. Supposing that the advance of the French was
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 865 
 
 to be made by the defiles of the Black Forest, the Austrian general left 
 Bavaria beliind him; and approaching the frontiers of France, fortified 
 himself with great care in Ulm, Memingen, and behind the line of the 
 Iller and Danube. A^Hiile Mack thus expected the attack upon his front. 
 Napoleon passed all the divisions of the French army across the Rhine 
 to the north of his position, and turning his flank, entirely occupied 
 Bavaria, and placed himself betv^^een the Austrian army and Vienna. 
 Continuing his operations, he surrounded that army with a complete 
 circle of French troops. 
 
 In order to accomplish this masterly series of movements, Napoleon 
 was obliged to violate the neutrality of Prussia, by passing Bernadotte's 
 division over a part of its territory. He well knew and weighed the 
 danger, but decided that it must be encountered; rightly judging, that 
 although he should irritate the king to a high pitch by such an act, yet 
 if he succeeded in the object of the war, the offence must be forgiven ; 
 and if he failed, the king would not want some other pretext to quarrel 
 with him. The directions given to Bernadotte are characteristic: — 
 " Avoid delay : make many protestations in favour of Prussia ; shew as 
 much attachment and respect for the country as possible ; then march 
 across the territory with rapidity, alleging the impossibility of doing 
 otherwise ; for indeed that impossibility is real." All these precau- 
 tions did not succeed in preventing the King of Prussia from making 
 loud and bitter complaints ; and the Russians were, in consequence, 
 permitted to march across his dominions; nevertheless, the object which 
 Napoleon had in view by the movement was effected. 
 
 No sooner did Mack perceive the situation in which he was placed, 
 than he made several desperate attempts to break the circle of his foes, 
 but was repulsed with great loss at every point; several actions, which 
 would have obtained in former times the names of great battles, were 
 fought in this manner. Among these may be mentioned the occasion 
 when four thousand Austrians laid down their arms, at Jungingen, to 
 General Dupont; and Memingen, a small town, to the south of Ulm, 
 with a garrison of six thousand, capitulated to Marshal Soult. The 
 circle now closed in, more and more nearly. At tiis crisis, the Arch- 
 duke Ferdinand, who had remained with General Mack, desperately cut 
 his way, with six thousand cavalry, through the French line, and es- 
 caped to Egra, in Bohemia. By the 13th of October, Ulm was closely 
 invested: the French army had already made twenty thousand prisoners, 
 and saw the remainder of the great Austrian army at their mercy. 
 
 On that day. Napoleon (who expected that Mack would rouse himself 
 with one last effort to avoid a surrender) made an exciting address to the 
 troops, on the bridge of the Lech, amid the most intense cold, the ground 
 being covered with snow, and the troops sunk to the knees in mud.
 
 3()G 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 He warned tliem to expect a great battle, and explained to them the 
 desperate condition of the enemy. He was answered with acclamations, 
 and repeated shouts of " Vive 1' Empereur." In listening to his exciting 
 words, the soldiers forgot their fatigues and privations, and were impa- 
 tient to rush into the fight. 
 
 Bernadotte entered Munich on the 14th of October, taking eight 
 hundred prisoners. On the same day, Marshal Ney forced the strong 
 position of Elchingen, taking three thousand prisoners and many pieces 
 of cannon ; and the Emperor's head-quarters were fixed there, in the 
 evening. The French soldiers were in a state of great excitement from 
 these rapid successes, and were with difficulty restrained. 
 
 From the height of the Abbey of Elchingen, Napoleon now beheld 
 the city of Ulm at his feet, commanded on every side by his cannon ; his 
 victorious troops ready for the assault, and the great Austrian army 
 cooped up within the walls. He expected a desperate sally, and pre-
 
 'l'.i:*-^: 
 
 v^0'<^f^?;:^m0'W'Wi'&'> 

 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 3(37 
 
 pared the soldiers for a general engagement ; but four days passed with- 
 out any movement whatever. Meanwhile, his own troops clamoured 
 for the assault, but he chose to wait in vigilant patience for the result. 
 i\. scene of horrible carnage and the probable destruction of a fine city 
 would have been the consequences of his acting differently ; being what 
 he would have called " unnecessary evils," and therefore criminal in his 
 eyes. The weather continued dreadful ; the rain fell incessantly, and the 
 soldiers were often up to their knees in mud. The Emperor only kept 
 his feet out of the water in his bivouac, by means of a plank. He was 
 in this situation when Prince Maurice Lichtenstein was brought before 
 him, with a flag of truce from General Mack. The looks of the prince 
 evidently shewed that he did not expect to have found the Emperor 
 there in person ; otherwise it is probable he would not have brought such 
 a proposition as that which he delivered. He came commissioned to 
 treat for the evacuation of Ulm, with permission for the Austrian army 
 to return to Vienna. The Emperor could not help smiling as he listened 
 to him. " I have not forgotten Marengo," he replied ; " I suffered 
 M. de Melas to go, and in two months Moreau had to fight his troops, 
 in spite of the most solemn promises to conclude peace. You will be 
 forced to surrender, for want of provisions, in eight days. The Russians 
 have scarcely reached Bohemia. There is the capitulation of your 
 general at Memingen, his whole garrison becoming prisoners of war: 
 carry it to General Mack ; I will accept no other conditions." The same 
 evening General Mack sent his surrender to the Emperor, and on the 
 following morning the capitulation was signed. 
 
 The French army was drawn up in order of battle on the heights 
 above Ulm to receive the surrender, according to the conditions, on the 
 20th of October. The rain had ceased, and the day was bright and clear. 
 The gates of the city opened: the Austrian army, to the number of 
 thirty-six thousand men, led by sixteen generals, besides General Mack, 
 the commander-in-chief, advanced in silence. They slowly filed off", and 
 corps by corps, laid down their arms in an appointed place, and then re- 
 tired to the rear of the French army ; while the Austrian generals, one 
 by one, collected on a httle hill where the Emperor was posted, in front 
 of the centre of his army, by the side of a large fire w'hich he had ordered 
 to be lighted. He enforced the strictest silence on his troops while this 
 ceremony, so painful to their enemies, continued ; and instantly ordered 
 out of his presence one of his o\n\ generals, whom his quick ear caught 
 repeating some witticism on the occasion. He received the conquered 
 generals with great respect, and addressed many remarks to them ; but 
 his auditors were too much cast down to reply, and the conversation was 
 all on his side. All the officers were allowed to return home, on giving 
 their word of honour not to serve against France until a general exchange
 
 368 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 of prisoners should take place. A liint that this favour would be refused 
 if the surrender were dela}-ed, had been very opportunely thrown out. 
 The men were marched into France, and so great was the number of 
 prisoners already made in this campaign (amounting, it is computed, to 
 fifty thousand in all), that the Emperor adopted the plan of distributing 
 them throughout the agricultural districts of France, where their work in 
 the fields supplied the place of the conscripts required for his army. The 
 experiment was found to succeed admirably well, with the docile habits 
 of the Germans and the good humour of their French employers. The 
 imfortunate General Mack was accused of treachery by his government, 
 immediately immured in a state dungeon, and would undoubtedly have 
 paid for his misfortunes with his life, had not Napoleon made his pardon 
 one of the stipulations of the treaty which followed shortly. It does not 
 appear that he was guilty of anything worse than want of skill and pre- 
 sence of mind. Mack was prisoner of war in France in the year 1799. 
 A most remarkably accvirate opinion of him was then delivered by 
 Napoleon, who allowed him to live at Paris on parole. It is recorded by 
 Bourrienne,in detailing the events immediately after the 18th Brumaire: — 
 " Mack," said the First Consul, " is a man of the lowest mediocrity I 
 ever saw in my life ; he is full of self-sufficiency and conceit, and 
 believes himself equal to anything. He has no talent. I should Hke to 
 see him some day opposed to one of our good generals ; we should then 
 see fine work. He is a boaster, and that is all ; he is really one of the 
 most silly men existing; and, besides all that, he is unlucky" No doubt 
 this correctly pre-conceived and characteristically expressed opinion of 
 the adversary he had to cope with, influenced the measures of the 
 Emperor in the campaign of Ulm. This campaign is perhaps unex- 
 ampled in the history of warfare, for the greatness of its results, in com- 
 parison with the smallness of the expense at which they were obtained. 
 Of the French army, scarcely fifteen hundred men were killed and 
 wounded ; while the Austrian army of ninety thousand men was nearly 
 annihilated ; all, with the exception of fifteen thousand who escaped, 
 being killed, wounded, or prisoners ; and having lost, also, two hundred 
 pieces of cannon and ninety flags. 
 
 Rumours of the approach of the Russians, headed by the Emperor 
 Alexander in person, now came fast and frequent. The French army 
 was put in motion towards the Iser and the Inn, on the 21st of Octo- 
 ber, after the publication of a masterly proclamation by the Emperor. 
 Napoleon entered Munich, the capital of his ally the Elector of Bavaria, 
 on the 24th. The city was illuminated on the occasion. His army 
 crossed the Inn on the 27th, and reached the Danube at Lintz ; the 
 broken remains of the Austrian army, and the advanced guard of the 
 Russians, vainly endeavouring to oppose its progress. All the bridges
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 369 
 
 had been burned by the Russians. A.t a review of the dragoons at 
 this period, one of them, named Marente, was presented to the Emperor, 
 as having saved the hfe of his captain at the bridge of the Lech, although 
 the latter had cashiered him from his rank of subaltern officer only a 
 few days before. Napoleon presented him with the eagle of the legion 
 of honour. " I only did my duty," answered the dragoon ; " my captain 
 cashiered me for some ^ults of discipline, but he knows I have always 
 
 
 ii'i'l 
 
 
 ■'Si? / 
 
 been a good soldier." At Lintz, the Emperor received intelligence that 
 the army of Italy, under Massena, had conquered the Archduke Charles 
 at Caldiero ; and, having crossed the Adige, had forced him to retreat 
 towards Vienna. Here, also, he received a flag of truce from the 
 Emperor of Austria, with proposals for an armistice, but he would not 
 listen to it for a moment; the expedient for gaining time, and permitting 
 the junction of the Russians and the archduke, was too evident. The 
 imperial family of Austria fled for the second time before the victorious 
 advance of Napoleon. The French army safely crossed the Danube, and 
 on the 31st of October entered Vienna. The capital of the proudest 
 race of sovereigns in Europe, was now in the possession of Napoleon. 
 
 This rapid occupation of Vienna would have been a little retarded 
 but for a daring exploit achieved by Lannes and Murat, who contrived 
 to prevent the destruction of the bridge of the Thabor. The following 
 account is given in the words of Lannes himself. " I was walking with 
 
 Y Y
 
 370 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Murat, on the right bank of the Danube, when we observed on the left 
 bank some works going on, the evident object of which was to blow up 
 the bridge. Having arranged our plan, we returned to give orders, and 
 I entrusted the command of my column of grenadiers to an officer, on 
 whose courage and intelligence I could rely. I then returned to the 
 bridge, accompanied by Murat and two or three other officers. We 
 advanced unconcernedly, and entered into conversation with the com- 
 mander of a post in the middle of the bridge. We spoke to him about 
 an armistice which was to he speedily concluded. While conversing 
 with the Austrian officers, we contrived to make them turn their eyes 
 towards the left bank, and then, agreeably to the orders we had given, 
 my column of grenadiers advanced on the bridge. The Austrian can- 
 noniers on the left bank, seeing their officers in the midst of us, did not 
 dare to fire, and my column advanced at a quick pace. Murat and I, 
 at the head of it, gained the left bank. All the combustibles prepared 
 for blowing up the bridge, were thrown into the river, and my men took 
 possession of the batteries erected for the defence of the bridge-head. 
 The poor devils of Austrian officers were perfectly astounded when they 
 were told they were my prisoners." How these Austrian officers could 
 have suffered themselves to be approached thus " unconcernedly," while 
 engaged in warlike operations, is not very clearly made out. 
 
 Napoleon took up his residence at the imperial palace of Shoenbrunn, 
 where he received the submission of the authorities of the city. An 
 immense quantity of military stores, arms, and ammunition fell into his 
 hands ; and his triumphant success induced many about him to urge his 
 concluding a peace ; but he well knew that the Russians must be de- 
 feated, or must come to decisive terms with him, before any peace would 
 be observed. Appointing General Clarke governor of Vienna, he made 
 ready, without loss of time, to advance to the encounter with these 
 formidable enemies. 
 
 Murat and Lannes had pursued the Austro-Russian army, and driven 
 it into Moravia. Ney had made himself master of the Tyrol, effectually 
 preventing the junction of the Archduke Charles with the Russians. 
 Augereau had advanced from France with a large reserve, and, occupying 
 Swabia, secured the rear of the great French army, while he at the same 
 time vigilantly watched the motions of Prussia. The army of the Arch- 
 duke Charles, slowly retreating before Massena, by the passes of the 
 Carinthian mountains, reached Hungary, where it was joined by that of 
 the Archduke John, driven out of the Tyrol. To rally their forces 
 round the standard of the Emperor Alexander, was now the object of 
 the Austrian princes ; but Napoleon did not give them an opportunity ; 
 he had resolved to bring matters to a decision without delay ; and ac- 
 cordingly left Vienna early in November, and advanced to Znaim.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 
 Partial actions with the Russians were now of frequent occurrence. In 
 one of these, a portion of Marshal Mortier's division received a severe 
 check, and lost three eagles ; in the others, the French were generally 
 victorious. They had conceived a great contempt for their adversaries 
 from the stupidity of their countenances. " But stupidity," says Hazlitt, 
 " has its advantages as well as wit. If a man strikes his hand against 
 a piece of wood or stone, he will be the sufferer." The Emperor 
 Alexander had reached Wischau by the middle of October with his main 
 army. General Kutusoff joined him there, with the second Russian army 
 on the 28th. 
 
 Napoleon had already determined the site of his field of battle, and 
 was rapidly concentrating the different divisions of his army upon Brunn, 
 in Moravia. In these manoeuvres, he purposely made a retrograde move- 
 ment, which gave an appearance of vaccillation and apprehension to his 
 proceedings, and caused the great Russian army to assume the offensive, 
 and advance towards the position he had chosen. At the news that they 
 were in march. Napoleon brought up all his troops, and formed his line 
 of battle on the plain, about two leagues from Brunn. He walked his 
 horse over the heights, in front of his position, often pausing to have the 
 distances measured, and frequently desiring the officers around him to 
 examine the ground well ; saying, " you will have a part to act upon it." 
 The right of his army rested on the lake of Mcnitz ; the left on the foot 
 of the mountains. A single small hill, called the Centon, exactly in 
 front of General Suchet's division, was stronfi:lv fortified with fourteen 
 pieces of cannon.
 
 372 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 At the same time that he executed the retrograde movement which 
 placed him on the intended field of battle, Napoleon despatched Savary 
 to the head-quarters of the Emperor Alexander to treat for an armistice, 
 with a view to preventing the effusion of blood in the tremendous 
 conflict that impended. It is usual with writers who like to enlarge on 
 Napoleon's passion for fighting, to treat this as a piece of sheer dissimu- 
 lation ; but knowing as he did that the battle would be decisive, and must 
 be fiercely contested, nothing seems more natural than that he should 
 attempt a negociation, instead of encountering the perilous chance. He was 
 certain, however, in case of failure in this treaty, to increase that self- 
 confidence which had already caused the advance of the Russian emperor, 
 and on which he calculated throughout his plan of the campaign. Alex- 
 ander was then only six and twenty, and was surrounded by a set of 
 presumptuous inexperienced young noblemen, who talked loud of the 
 necessity of " clipping the ambition of France," and believed that the 
 fate of Napoleon was now completely in their power. No result ensued 
 from the attempt to treat. Prince Dolgorouki, the chief aide-de-camp 
 of the Emperor Alexander, appeared with a message in reply ; but 
 assumed so rude and offensive a deportment, as he insisted on the 
 necessity of the cession of Belgium and Italy, that Napoleon, who had 
 gone to meet this young upstart, from his bivouac, where he had been 
 asleep on some straw, was irritated almost beyond endurance, and was 
 heard to say, as they parted, " If you were even on the heights of Mont- 
 martre I would answer such insolence only by cannon balls." As the 
 Emperor returned towards his horse, striking the lumps of earth with his 
 switch, he passed an old sentinel who was standing at ease, his musket 
 between his knees, and filling his pipe. Napoleon looking him in the 
 face said, " Those Russians fancy they have nothing to do but to 
 swallow us up ! " The old soldier immediately replied, " Oho, that 
 won't be such an easy job, — we '11 stick ourselves right across." This 
 sally made the Emperor laugh, and soon resuming his composure, he 
 mounted his horse and rode off* towards head-quarters. 
 
 The following day was occupied in active preparations for the ap- 
 proaching battle. It was the 1st of December, 1805, the day before 
 the anniversary of Napoleon's coronation. The Russian army was seen 
 arriving the whole day. It will be remembered that Napoleon had 
 placed his army in the plain, leaving the heights to the Russians. He 
 did so, in the conviction that their confidence of success would make 
 them abandon their position, in order to descend upon his army and turn 
 its right flank, for which manoeuvre on their part he had prepared. It 
 was with an indescribable sensation of triumph that he saw them, to- 
 wards evening, from the elevated post where he stood, commence their 
 preparations for the anticipated movement, by extending their line so as
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 373 
 
 to outflank his army : and, finally, placing their left wing at too great a 
 distance from the centre. On witnessing this realisation of his ideas, he 
 repeated several times to the marshals who surrounded him, " Before to- 
 morrow night that army will be in my power." He had passed the 
 whole day on horseback, and had himself placed every division in its 
 position, inspecting each regiment in turn. All his marshals dined with 
 him, and received his minute and careful directions for the next day. 
 He then lay down to rest on the straw, in a hut which the soldiers had 
 
 made for him, and fell into so deep a sleep, that Savary was obliged to 
 shake him in order to wake him up, to listen to a report which he had 
 ordered to be brought to him. Rousing himself, he then proceeded to 
 visit all the bivouacs of the army, expecting in the darkness of the night 
 to be unnoticed ; but he had only proceeded a few steps when he was 
 discovered, and instantly the whole line was illuminated with torches 
 made of straw ; while the air was filled with acclamations of " Vive 
 r Empereur." As he passed along, one of the old grenadiers stepping 
 forward, accosted him with an air of republican familiarity and kindly 
 patronage : — " Sire," said he, " you will have no need to expose yourself 
 to danger ; I promise you, in the name of the grenadiers of the army,
 
 374 THE HTSTORY OF 
 
 that you will only have to fight with your eyes, and that we will bring 
 you all the flags and caiiiion of the Russian army, to celebrate the anni- 
 versary of your coronation." 
 
 The following proclamation was issued by Napoleon that night : — 
 " Soldiers, the Russian army is before us, ready to revenge the Austrian 
 army of Ulm. The positions which we occupy are formidable ; and, 
 whilst they march to turn my right, they will present their flank to me. 
 Soldiers, I myself will direct all your battalions ; I will keep myself out 
 of the range of the fire, if with your accustomed bravery you carry dis- 
 order and confusion into the enemy's ranks ; but, if victory is uncertain 
 for a moment, you will see your Emperor in the foremost ranks, for to- 
 morrow the victory must not be doubtful." 
 
 Sir Walter Scott justly and finely remarks upon a portion of this 
 proclamation: — " Napoleon," says he, " promises that he will keep his 
 person out of the reach of the fire ; thus shewing the full confidence that 
 the assurance of his personal safety would be considered as great an encou- 
 ragement to the troops as the usual protestations of sovereigns and leaders, 
 that they will be in the front, and share the dangers of the day. This is, 
 perhaps, the strongest proof possible of the complete and confidential 
 understanding which subsisted between Napoleon and his soldiers. Yet 
 there have not been wanting those who have thrown the imputation of 
 cowardice on the victor of a hundred battles, and whose reputation was 
 so well established amongst those troops, who must have been the best 
 judges, that his attention to the safety of his person was requested by 
 them, and granted by him, as a favour to his army." These kind of 
 assertions, however, only shew that, under a certain bias, some people 
 will say anything. 
 
 The Emperor was on the field by one o'clock in the morning, to get 
 the army under arms in silence. A thick fog, through which the light of 
 the torches could not penetrate to the distance of ten paces, enveloped all 
 the bivouacs ; but he knew the ground as well as the environs of Paris. 
 His army, amounting in all to about seventy thousand men, was arranged 
 as follows. The two divisions of Marshal Soult, placed on a vast plateau, 
 formed the right; the division of united grenadiers, drawn up in line 
 behind, constituting the reserve of the right. The two divisions of 
 Marshal Bernadotte, in line with the united grenadiers, formed the centre 
 of the army. The left wing was composed of the two divisions of Marshal 
 Lannes ; the infantry of the guard forming the reserve of the left. In 
 advance of the centre, and between the right and left wings, was posted 
 the whole of the cavalry, under the command of Murat. The divisions 
 of hussars and chasseurs were entrusted to Kellermann ; the dragoons, to 
 Valther and Beaumont. The cuirassiers and eighty pieces of light artillery 
 formed the reserve of the cavalry. The right of the aiTny rested ou
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 375 
 
 some long and narrow defiles formed by ponds ; the left, on the strongly 
 fortified position of the Centon. The two divisions of Marshal Davoust 
 were posted on the extreme right, beyond the ponds, to face the left wino- 
 of the Russians, which had been extended, as we have said, to a dangerous 
 distance from their centre, and intended, as the Emperor perceived, to 
 commence the battle with an attempt to turn his right. The Emperor 
 himself, with Berthier, Junot, and the whole of his staff", occupied a 
 commanding position, as the reserve of the army, with ten battalions of 
 the imperial guard, and ten battalions of grenadiers, commanded by 
 Oudinot and Duroc. This reserve was ranged in two lines, in columns, 
 by battalions, having in their intervals forty pieces of cannon served by 
 the artillery of the guard. With this reserve, equal to turning the fate 
 of almost any battle, he held himself ready to act wherever occasion 
 should require. 
 
 As the day dawned, the mist, which had overhung all the dreadful 
 show, began slowly to ascend, like a vast curtain, from the broad plain 
 below. The sun rose in unclouded and majestic brilliancy ; and, dis- 
 sipating all remains of the vapours, disclosed to view the great Russian 
 army, commanded by Field Marshal Kutusoff", to the number of eighty 
 thousand men, ranged in six divisions, on the opposite heights of Pratzer. 
 The magnificence of the sunrise of this eventful morning, enhanced at 
 the time by the previous dense mist, and by the national memories ever 
 since, has caused the "sun of Austerlitz" to become proverbial with the 
 people of France. The two emperors of Russia and Austria were wit- 
 nesses of the fierce contest ; being stationed on horseback on the heights 
 of AusterKtz. A dead silence prevailed. As the first rays of the sun 
 were flung from the horizon. Napoleon appeared in front of hrs army, 
 surrounded by his marshals, and formed every division, both of infantry 
 and cavalry, into columns. A brisk fire had just opened on the extreme 
 right, where Davoust had been concealed behind the convent of Raygern ; 
 and the Russians began to put themselves in motion to descend from the 
 heights. The marshals who surrounded the Emperor importuned him 
 to begin. " How long will it take you," said he to Soult, " to crown 
 those opposite heights which the Russians are now abandoning ?" " One 
 hour," answered the marshal. " We will wait 3^et a quarter of an hour," 
 replied the Emperor. The cannonade increased, denoting that the attack 
 had become serious. The extreme of the Russian left had commenced 
 its movement to turn the right flank of the French army, but had 
 encountered the unexpected resistance of Davoust's two divisions, with 
 whom they were just engaged. Napoleon now dismissed all the marshals 
 to their posts, and ordered them to begin. 
 
 The whole of the right and left wings at once moved forward, in 
 columns, to the foot of the Russian position. They marched as if to
 
 376 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 exercise, halting at times to rectify their distances and directions ; while 
 the words of command of the individual officers were distinctly heard. 
 The two divisions of Marshal Soult came first within reach of the enemy's 
 fire. That division commanded by General Vandamme overthrew the op- 
 posing column, and was master of its position and artillery in an instant ; 
 the other, commanded by General St. Hilaire, had to sustain a tremendous 
 fire, which lasted for two hours, and brought every one of its battalions 
 into action. The Emperor now despatched the united grenadiers, and 
 one of Marshal Bernadotte's divisions, to support those of Soult, while 
 Lannes had engaged the right of the Russians, and effectually pre- 
 vented them from moving to the assistance of their left, which was 
 wholly engaged by the tremendous attack we have described, and entirely 
 cut off" from their centre. The extreme left of the Russians, which had 
 begun the battle, perceiving the fatal mistake which had been made, 
 attempted to re-ascend the Pratzer, but were so desperately pressed 
 by Davoust, that they were compelled to fight where they stood, without 
 daring either to advance or retire. 
 
 Marshal Soult now ordered his division, under Vandamme, supported 
 by one of Bernadotte's divisions, to make a change of direction by the 
 right flank, for the purpose of turning all the Russian troops which still 
 resisted St. Hilaire's division. The movement was completely successful ; 
 and Soult's two divisions crowned the heights to which the Emperor 
 had pointed before the battle began. 
 
 The right wing of the Russian army was meanwhile sustaining the 
 tremendous onset of Lannes with both his divisions. The fight raged in 
 that quarter throughout the whole of the operations we have detailed ; 
 but at this point, Bernadotte's division being no longer required to sup- 
 port those of Soult, the Emperor ordered the centre of the army to 
 support the left. The Russian right was now entirely broken; the 
 desperate and repeated charges of the cavalry completed the rout, and 
 pursued the fugitives, who took the road to Austerlitz, till nightfall. 
 Bernadotte, after pursuing the Russian infantry a full league, returned 
 to his former position ; nobody knew why. Had he, on the contrary, 
 continued marching another half hour, he would have entirely intercepted 
 the retreat, and taken or destroyed the whole of the Russian right. As 
 it was, their flight was disastrous and terrible in the extreme : they 
 were forced into a hollow, where numbers attempted to escape across a 
 frozen lake ; but the ice proving too weak for them, gave way, and the 
 horrible scene which ensued — the crashing of the broken fragments, the 
 thundering of the artillery, and the groans and shrieks of wounded and 
 drowning men — baffles the imagination. 
 
 Marshal Soult, now changing his position again by the right flank, 
 descended the heights, having traversed a complete semi-circle, and tool:
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 377 
 
 the Russian extreme left in the rear. Tlie Emperor of Russia, who 
 perceived the imminent danger of his whole army, despatclied his fine 
 regiment of Russian guards, supported by a strong force of artillery, 
 to attack Soult. Their desperate charge broke one of the French regi- 
 ments. It was at this crisis that Napoleon brought his reserve into 
 
 action. Bessieres, at the head of the imperial guard, rushed with irre- 
 sistible fury into the fight. The Russians were entirely broken ; their 
 army, surprised in a flank movement, had been cut into as many separate 
 masses as there were columns brought up to attack it. They fled in dis- 
 order, and the victory of Austerlitz was decided. 
 
 It was with the utmost difficulty that the two emperors of Russia and 
 Austria effected their personal escape. The Emperor Alexander lost 
 all his artillery, baggage, and standards ; twenty thousand prisoners, and 
 upwards of twenty thousand men killed and wounded. In the precipitate 
 flight, the wounded were abandoned to their fate. Kutusoff", however, 
 with laudable humanity, left placards in the French language on the doors 
 of the churches and the barns towards which they had crept, inscribed 
 with these words : — " I recommend these unfortunate men to the gene- 
 rosity of the Emperor Napoleon, and the humanity of his brave soldiers." 
 
 z z
 
 378 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Napoleon had followed the movement of General Vandamme's divi- 
 sion in pursuit of the defeated army. He returned in the evening along 
 the whole line where the battle had been fought. He ordered silence, 
 that he might hear the cries of the wounded; went himself to every 
 sufferer that could be discovered ; alighted and ordered a glass of brandy 
 to be administered from the canteen which followed him, and a large fire 
 to be made near the spot. He remained very late on the field, engaged 
 in this manner, while his escort, by liis directions, took the cloaks from 
 the dead to cover the living ; and did not finally retire until he had given 
 tliem all in charge to a muster-master, assisted by a picket of his own 
 guard, who were ordered not to leave them till they were all placed in the 
 hospital. The wounded men loaded him with blessings, as he bestowed 
 these cares upon them. As for the miserable Russian fugitives left 
 perishing on the roads, and in the frozen waters, of the strange country 
 to which their Emperor had conducted them, victims in the cause of 
 legitimacy, their cries were heard from the midst of lakes and morasses, 
 wfiere no human aid could reach them ; and it was three days before all 
 that could be collected were brought into the hospital of Brunn. The 
 loss sustained by the French army in killed and wounded amounted, 
 according to the official bulletin, only to two thousand five hundred, 
 and no account magnifies it beyond five thousand. 
 
 The following day, Prince John of Lichtcnstein waited on Napoleon 
 at his head-quarters, which were established in a barn. He had a long 
 audience of him, and obtained his assent to a meeting with the Emperor 
 of Austria on the following day : the pursuit notwithstanding continued.
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 379 
 
 On the 4th of December, the Emperor Napoleon, accompanied by his 
 staff and an escort, repaired to the spot which had been appointed for his 
 interview with the Emperor of Austria. It was near a mill, in front of 
 the advanced posts of Bernadotte, about three leagues from Austerlitz. 
 Napoleon, who arrived first, had a large fire lighted ; and, on perceivin"- 
 the approach of the Emperor of Austria in a landau, accompanied also by 
 an escort and several noblemen of liis court, advanced courteously to meet 
 him. The Emperor of Austria alighted, and, accompanied only by 
 Prince John of Lichtenstein, advanced with Napoleon towards the fire, 
 the suites of both remaining at a distance. The interview lasted nearly 
 two hours, and appeared amicable. " At any rate," says Savary, " the 
 parties appeared to be in excellent humour. They laughed" (thirty or 
 forty thousand men had been killed, it is true ; but they were only 
 soldiers and subjects !), " which seemed to us all to be a good omen. 
 Accordingly, the sovereigns at length parted with a mutual embrace. 
 Each of us ran to his duty ; and, as I approached, I heard the Emperor 
 Napoleon say, ' I agree to it ; but your majesty must promise not to 
 make war upon me again.' ' No, I promise you I will not,' replied 
 the Emperor of Austria; 'and I will keep my word.'" How he kept 
 it, the subsequent history will shew.
 
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