UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY m mm mm ■ m 1 IvV-y" J! d '0, CARS E. 7- V <&* t 2 i m ¥> MBMOIES OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. MINISTER, AMBASSADOR, COUNCILLOR OF STATE, AND MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, BETWEEN THE YEARS 1788 AND 1815. EDITED BY GENERAL FLEISCHMANN. Shorn tljc JFrrncf; bg MRS. CASHEL HOEY and MR. JOHN LILLIE. IN TWO VOLUMES. Vol. 1. C 3 * * J ' J # ■ . ■ • . '. • ■ .• ,\ • •-■•••-'••• ■ LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STREET. 1881. LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. ... ■ • * • • • , , ■••••«.! • • • • • PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. My purpose in placing before the public the recol- lections of Count Miot, my father-in-law, as a con- tribution to the large number of works which treat of the Great French Revolution and the events of the early years of the nineteenth century, is to aid writers who desire to throw a new light upon the history of those times. I believe that no materials supplied by contemporaries can be superfluous for the accurate and sufficient representation of all that was memorable, great and terrible in that epoch, and for a true estimate of the influence which it has exercised and still exercises upon the destinies of mankind. Count Miot passed through a great revolution, but his recollections of it were untinged by personal regret. He had nothing to disguise or to excuse. It was for many years his constant habit to write down every evening all that he had learned or observed during the day. These noies of the events in which he was nearly concerned, contain 226502 iv PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. important details, for the most part unknown, and place the origin of those events in a clear and accu- rate light. In arranging them to meet the eyes of the public I have thought it advisable to suppress all that possesses interest for the family of Count Miot only, but I have scrupulously refrained from adding anything that might affect the nature of the impressions which were produced by the events on the mind of the author. This book must not therefore be confounded with the fabricated Memoirs so profusely offered to the public within the last thirty years ; works not indeed without merit, and in many instances written with ability, but in which their reputed authors have little share. The readers of his Memoirs will probably agree with or differ from Count Miot's views and judg- ment of men and things, according to their own opinions, likes and dislikes ; but they cannot fail to close the book with sentiments of esteem and regard for its author ; as a good man, and one who sincerely loved his country and mankind. General Fleischmann. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. PAGE .cREFACE .. .. ,, ,. .. .. in CHAPTER I. The Author enters upon his career — The training-camp at Saint-Omer — Cornte de Guibert — The effect produced upon the troops by an ill-timed attempt to introduce the Prussian system of military organisation—The camp is abruptly broken up — The changed aspect of the Court of Versailles at the close of the year 1783 — The various parties at the Court — The deputies of the Tiers Etat are ill-received — Opening of the States-General — Establishment of the National Guard — The Court forms projects hostile to the National Assembly — The banquet of the Body Guard — Intention of the Court to leave Versailles — Events of the 5th and 6th of October — The King and the Royal Family are taken to Paris CHAPTER II. The 10th of August, 1792 — The Author escapes a decree of accusation — M. Lacuee provisional Chief of the War Department — Joseph Servan, Minister — The Author ceases to be Chief of Division at the Ministry, and enters the Administration of Military Affairs as Comptroller- General — Servan is succeeded in the Ministry by Pache and Hassenfratz, who disorganise its administration — vi CONTENTS. PAGE Pache is dismissed, and succeeded by Beurnonville- Thc Author resumes his former post at the Ministry — Bouchotte succeeds Beurnonville — The Author is made Secretary-General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Deforgues — Sketches of some of the leaders of the Terror — Fall of Deforgues, who is succeeded at the Foreign Office by a schoolmaster named Buchot — The Author, denounced as a " Moderate," is placed under a decree of accusation, together with MM. Otto, Colchen, and Reinhart — They are saved by the 9th Themidor — The Author is appointed Commissioner of Foreign Affairs — His communications with the Committee of Public Safety — Treaties of peace with Tuscany and Prussia.. .. .. .. .. .. 36 CHArTEK III. The Author is appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Grand Duke of Tuscany — The 12th Germinal — The Author embarks at Marseilles for Genoa, and proceeds from thence to Florence — Report to the Committee of Public Safety on the political state of Florence — Diffi- culties caused by the presence of the French Emigres at Leghorn, and by the ill-will of the Tuscan authorities towards the Republic — General Buonaparte appointed to the command of the army of Italy — Opening of the campaign and series of victories obtained by the young General — The Governments of Italy take steps towards obtaining peace — The Author determines to proceed to Buonaparte's headquarters .. .. .. 70 CHAPTER IV. Tho Author's interview with General Buonaparto — Con- clusion of the armistice between the General and Prince Pignatelli, Plenipotentiary at Naples—The Author CONTENTS. vii PAGB returns to Florence — Tie goes away again to visit General Buonaparte at Bologna — His interview with him — The Author does not succeed in preventing the viola- tion of the neutrality of Tuscany and the occupation of Leghorn by the French — In returning from Leghorn, General Buonaparte stops at Florence, visits the Grand Duke and dines with him — A treaty being concluded between the Pope and the French Eepublic, the Author goes to Eome to secure the fulfilment of its conditions — The gloomy fanaticism reigning in Rome — Some discon- tented Italians having claimed the intervention of the French for the purpose of introducing Republican Insti- tutions in Italy, the Author, instructed by the Directory to inform them of his views, strongly opposes the project — Being superseded by Cacault in the duty of superin- tending the fulfilment of the terms of the armistice at Rome, the Author returns to Florence — Rumours of the reverses experienced by Buonaparte produce great excitement in Italy — The Governments no longer con- ceal their tendencies, and the Author sends M. Freville to Paris to point out to the Directory the necessity of excluding Austria from all influence in Italy, and of destroying the Papal Government — The Author is appointed Ambassador at Turin, but before entering upon the exercise of his functions, he has to undertake a mission to Corsica as Commissioner- Extraordinary of the Government — Sketch of the State of Tuscany, the con- ditions of life, and customs of the Florentines .. ' '',•■'' .... ■ ■ , , . , , •,•■•.'. . • . • . • • , . . ' ■ . , 2 MEMOIBS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. clerks. In 1788 I was appointed "Commissary of War," and sent to one of the military divisions which had recently been established. This, which used to be called "■ the model division," was com- manded by Lieutenant-General the Due de Guines. The celebrated Comte de Guibert, the Marquis de Lambert, both members of the Council of War formed under the Ministry of M. de Brienne, and M. Blanchard, one of the most eminent of the " organising 1 commissaries," were included in it. The general officers of the " model division ' : were the originators of a completely novel system of military administration, which, however, found no favour with the troops. Their plan was to train the French army in the Prussian discipline and tactics, and the national pride repelled those inno- vations, which were undoubtedly dangerous at a moment when the public mind was seriously dis- turbed by other proceedings on the part of the Brienne Ministry. The effects of the ferment pro- duced by these combined causes were destined to manifest themselves in the course of the ensuing year. Meanwhile, two training-camps were established; one at Saint-Omer, under the command of the Prince de Condi', the other at Metz, under thai of Marshal de Broglie. I was employed at the former, which included the troops of the division in which 1 served. I arrived in September L788 at the camp, which OPPOSITION TO INNOVATIONS. was situated on a wide heath, at a little distance from the town. About 30,000 men were assem- bled there ; among that number were included the Swiss regiments of Salis-Sansade and Diesbach. They had already made great progress in the study of the new manoeuvres ; and these foreigners, who adapted themselves to the novel regime more readily than Frenchmen could, were much admired and highly favoured by the admirers of the Prussian discipline who composed the staff. Being perpetu- ally quoted as an example to all the other corps, these regiments excited jealousy and aversion rather than emulation, and it may safely be affirmed that the first seeds of the insubordination after- wards exhibited by the French army were sown by attempts which were both imprudent and op- posed to the national character. The discontent excited by these innovations found expression in the camp in the usual way, by means of jests and songs directed against the "jobbers" (faiseurs), as they were called, and especially against M. de G-uibert, who, being much superior in talent and administrative ability to his colleagues in the Council of War, and therefore supposed to be the most influential member of it, was a butt for every epigram. The malcontents went farther than epigrams ; conspiracies to insult the Count publicly were formed among the young officers; the ma- b 2 4 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. noeuvres directed by him were purposely ill-executed, and made to fail ; his title, and even his claim to the status of a gentleman were disputed. In short, no means of casting ridicule upon him was left untried, and the unworthy manner in which he was treated at the assembly of the nobles of his province for the election to the States-General was due to the jealousy inspired by his remarkable ability, and the decided repugnance with which the changes he had endeavoured to introduce were regarded. In addition to all this, in spite of the constant occupations and the perpetual movement of the camps, mens minds were not uninfluenced by what was happening just then at Versailles. The enter- prises of the Brienne Ministry were the theme of sreneral conversation ; the resistance of the Parlia- merits was highly applauded; the conduct of the Court was mercilessly condemned, while its scandals were not only exposed but exaggerated. Count Charles de Lameth, Colonel of Cuirassiers, was fore- most among the malcontents, and had already made 1 a public profession of the opinions which afterwards brought him into such notoriety. Grave discussions on llie rights of peoples, and the inevitable lic- it y of a great change, were thus mingled with tin' sarcasms and epigrams which were ceaselessly showered upon the military innovators. Certain English officers who had crossed the Channel for the THREATENING SYMPTOMS. purpose of witnessing the manoeuvres at the camps, were, on the contrary, objects of openly expressed ad- miration and esteem. " There," it was said, " are free men ; there are the models whom we ought to imitate, and not the machine-soldiers of a despot-king ! " Thus, while the throne, around which clouds were gathering heavily, was beginning to totter, its chief prop, the army — which ought to have been treated with the utmost consideration — was wounded in its tastes, feelings, and habits; and, revolting against a system offensive to it, against an appren- ticeship for which the French soldier is unfit, did not hesitate to discuss questions of high policy, and to take an active part in them. This disposition of men's minds could not possibly escape the notice of the Prince who was in command of us. The camp was broken up, and the troops sent back into garrison ; but they took thither with them ideas and opinions which had developed themselves amidst the great gathering of which they had formed a part. According to observa- tions made at the time, the state of affairs at the camp of Metz was almost identical with that at Saint-Omer. Only a deplorable degree of blindness, and that thirst for renown which beset men impatient to secure the triumph of their own hazardous notions, could account for such an act as the massing together of troops, for the sole purpose of worrying them, 6 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. under such circumstances. The very moment at which they were shaking their chains was selected for imposing fresh fetters upon the soldiers, for reducing them to the condition of automatons. Never was a more foolish deed perpetrated, or one that was followed by results more fatal to those who were g-uilty of it. I returned to Versailles in October 1788. During my absence, which had only extended over a feAV weeks, the aspect of the Court had undergone a great change. The respectful silence of the courtiers and the attendants, the strict forms of etiquette formerly so scrupulously observed, had given place to a freedom of speech and a method of expression to which the ears of our princes were unaccustomed. A drawing together of the different classes of society had become perceptible, the interior of the Palace was more easy of access, in short, that sort of familiarity which is established between men by services requested and promised was making itself felt. The two Assemblies of the Notables, the failure of the plans of Cardinal do Lomei lie's Ministry, the positive promise of the Convocation of the States-General, the first stirrings of sedition which had manifested themselves in Paris, the return of M. Necker, and the publications of the day, had produced this great change. External customs still existed indeed, but they were frequently violated with impunity. In VERSAILLES AT THE CRISIS. short, the Court, such as Louis XIV. had made it, existed no longer : it has not re-formed itself since, and probably it never will re-form itself. It is not my intention to recapitulate the events which took place between the Convocation of the States-General and their meeting. I was too far from the councils in which that momentous mea- sure was so lightly discussed and so imprudently adopted, to be able to throw any light upon such a subject. Besides, several writers have handled it more ably than I could do ; I should be obliged either to copy them, or to extract fragments from the pamphlets of the time, were I to write the history of that epoch after my fashion. My object is not to follow in the track of other writers, but only to relate what I have seen, and how I have seen it. I shall therefore confine myself to detailing a few particulars of what happened at Versailles from the beginning of 1780, until the 5th of October of the same year, that famous and disastrous day which forced Louis XVI. to take up his abode at the Tuileries, and to quit the sumptuous palace of Versailles, never again to behold it. Prior to those times of disturbance and revolution, when the Court was the whole State, three principal personages divided it among them, and each ex- ercised a more or less decisive influence ; the Queen, Monsieur (afterwards Louis XVIII. ), and the Comte 8 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. d'Artois (afterwards Charles X.) ; but the Queen's party had always been the strongest. The Queen's domination was chiefly exercised through her in- fluence over the mind of her husband, a man of pure life and good intentions, but whose qualities were injured by weakness of character and temperament which rendered him incapable of forming and ad- hering to any resolution; and this although he was capable of profound dissimulation, the fruit of the evil education which was given to the princes of the House of Bourbon, and which was partially the cause of their misfortunes. The three powers were seldom agreed. The Comte d'Artois, who put no restraint upon his passions, indulged to excess in gambling and pro- fligacy. While he was the intimate companion of the young men of the Court, who were led by his example, lie was at the same time duped and robbed by old debauchees, who took advantage of his inex- perience. For the rest, lie meddled but little with the administration of affairs or the selection of Ministers, requiring nothing of the latter except money wherewith to pay his debts, which amounted to .hi enormous sum at the epoch of the first Assembly of the Notables. He did not begin to take part io public affairs until the beginning of the year L787, when, by declaring himself against any conces- . ion I" the ideas ol the times, and by supporting M. de TTIE TI1REE PARTIES AT COURT. 9 Calonne, he exhibited opinions and took a line entirely contrary to those adopted or followed by his brother. Monsieur was a clever man, but he was held to be pedantic. He was disliked in the Queen's circle, where he was nicknamed " Hortensius." Being repulsed by that clique, which, according to him, did not do justice to his merit, he made one for himself, more intimate and less restrained, formed relations, and had love affairs in which the intel- lectual rather than the animal side of his character was, it was said, engaged. The resentment which he cherished against the Queen, and the natural bent of his mind, led to his appearing in the Assembly of the Notables as the chief of the Liberal party, and to his being regarded as belonging to the sect of the philosophers. Henceforth he stood high in the opinion of the public, and if he had had sufficient courage and real attachment to the new ideas to put himself at the head of the movement which was then beginning, he would probably have been able to prevent some of its excesses. But it seems that he aimed rather at rendering himself formidable to the Queen, who had scorned him, and turned him into ridicule, than at achieving a more serious sort of distinction, and when he had gratified his private revenge, he withdrew from the stage on which he had made a brief appearance, and hid himself from all observers. 10 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. The Queen's party, composed of a number of amiable and clever men and women, but who had no sound importance resulting from superior ability or the eclat of great services rendered to the country, held exclusive domination at Court, disposed of all patronage, and succumbed, so to speak, under the mere weight of favour, wealth, and honours. But, just in proportion as the circle which the Queen had formed around herself was calculated to secure to her all the enjoyments of intimate friendship in private life, and the satisfaction of making those whom she loved happy, it was also likely to become fatal to her peace so soon as the eye of the public should penetrate it. This was exactly what hap- pened at the moment when the imperative needs of the social condition of the country turned men's minds towards projects of improvement, the demand for which became increasingly evident with each rent in the veil which covered so much prodigality. When the crisis came, the Queen found no one among her intimates who could aid or sustain her. Her friends had no credit with the outside world ; they enjoyed no public esteem, they were objects either of hatred or of envy ; and their own safety being seriously menaced, what could they do but escape from the country ? They neither could nor would give her any but lud advice, for they themselves must have been THE CONVOCATION OF THE STATES. 11 the first to suffer by wise counsels. It was impos- sible for tliem to snatch her away from the brink of the precipice to which they had led her, and they soon found their only resource in flight. Such was the aspect of the Court of Versailles when the States-General were convoked. Neither good faith nor sincerity had dictated this act. Far from seeking to smooth the difficulties as to the method of deliberation, which were raised by the excited state of public feeling, and the twofold repre- sentation granted to the Third Estate, those difficulties were increased by the affected silence maintained on so material a point. The courtier's last hope was that the obstacles would become so entirely insur- mountable as to render the meeting of the States impossible, and for that end they all schemed. As a result of this system, the Deputies arriving at Versailles — and particularly those of the Third Estate — far from being made welcome by the Court, were offended by sarcasms and jests from the Queen's circle and that of the Comte d'Artois. The language, the manners, even the names of these new-comers were turned into ridicule, and the very men who were destined to shine soon afterwards by their superior talent and by their impressive speeches, and to dictate to the Throne and tins heedless Court, were at first regarded as pro- vincials whom the fine ladies and gentlemen of 12 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. Paris and Versailles might mystify with impunity. An obsolete ceremonial, forms of etiquette that had fallen into disuse since greater freedom had penetrated into the atmosphere of the Court, were revived, and thus, between the other two orders and the Deputies of the Third Estate, a line of demarcation, as marked as it was humiliating, was drawn. In proportion, however, as their reception by the Court was insulting, their welcome in the town was warm and affectionate. They were cordially received into the homes of the citizens, where many of them had arranged to board, and there they freely ex- pressed their resentment and found it shared. Thus, notwithstanding the injunctions of the Court, not- withstanding the dependence upon it of nearly the whole population, the people openly declared them- selves in favour of the new opinions, and became so strongly attached to them that in the end they were absolutely hostile to the Court. The sequel has shown that the popular tendencies were not to be despised. It was in the midst of this agitation that the opening of the States-General took place. I was present, as a spectator, at the ceremony which preceded it on the previous day. In the long procession winding through the wide streets of Versailles, the public remarked with dislike those distinctions of rank and of costume which divided PUBLIC DISCONTENT. 13 into three separate classes the men on whom our fate was about to depend, and who ought to have pos- sessed equal rights. It was mortifying to see the gold-embroidered cloaks of the noble Deputies, the plumes waving on their caps, the episcopal purple proudly displayed by the clergy, while a humble cloak of black woollen 'stuff and a plain round cap, a strange costume revived from the feudal ages, marked the Deputies of the Third Estate. Never- theless, their firm demeanour, their steady gait, their expression of mingled dissatisfaction and confidence, drew all eyes upon them, and they were received with hearty salutations not offered to the other orders. There was a crowd of courtiers round the Princes, but they passed on amid silence. The King's countenance expressed neither emotion nor interest. He advanced, as usual, without dignity, and seemed to be merely accomplishing some duty of etiquette. Monsieur, who walked with difficulty, was serious and thoughtful ; he seemed to be thoroughly impressed with the importance of the day's proceed- ings. The Comte d'Artois, casting disdainful glances right and left on the crowd lining the streets, showed evident signs of vexation and ill-humour. The Queen, with anxious brow and close-shut lips, made vain endeavours to hide her uneasiness and to im- part a look of satisfaction to her noble and majestic countenance; but the weight at her heart, full of 14 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. anxiety and bitter thoughts, made her unable to maintain it. At length the States-General, which had opened on May 5th, began to assemble in earnest. I followed their debates with eagerness, and shared in all the agitation of the interval between the opening of the States and their trans- formation into the National Assembly. When the re-establishment of the National Guard was decreed, I hastened to enrol myself in the section then forming at Versailles. This must have been displeasing to the Court, for it was forbidden to any one belonging to it to join the new militia, and no one wearing the uniform might present himself. And, in fact, I also incurred the blame of the circle in which I had moved since my entrance into society, while some few persons considered that my action did honour to my courage and independence. I deserved, how- ever, neither praise nor blame ; for in this I had simply followed the dictates of my conviction. I did not remain long in the National Guard, where I fulfilled the duties of adjutant. A post confided to me by the Comte de la Tour du Pin, the then Minister of War — that of facilitating the arrival of provisions in Paris — took me, in the capacity of War Commissioner, to Rouen for a month, and obliged me in the first instance to suspend my service in the National Guard. After this, tin; events that took place shortly after my return STIRRING EVENTS. 15 compelled me to resign it altogether, and to leave my native town. Before my departure for Normandy, I had wit- nessed all the events that took place at Versailles during the three months following the opening of the States-General. I had been present at the famous Royal sitting of June 23, at the oath of the Tennis Court ; I had seen the foreign regiments in the pay of France enter Versailles, summoned thither in order to dissolve the States- General ; I had seen them marching at night through streets crowded with a silent and startled multitude. I had seen the Queen and her circle with the Comte d'Artois go to the Orangery, where the foreign troops were quartered, applaud their games and dances, share in them, and address words of encouragement and praise to the officers and even to the private soldiers. The headquarters of Marshal de Broglie were at that time established in one of the suites of rooms on the ground-floor of the Palace opening on the South Terrace. I had seen the aides-de-camp and the officers of the staff come in with their reports, and carry away from the very palace of the King orders to march on Paris and punish its inhabitants. Artillery was despatched from Douai and Metz ; in a word, warlike prepara- tions, the preludes to sanguinary engagements were displayed on all sides, in places where, ever 16 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. since the time of Louis XIV., nothing had been heard but the sound of festivity, and the pomp of peace and royal magnificence had reigned undis- turbed. I had also seen how, in an instant, at the first news of the capital in insurrection, and of the taking of the Bastille, terror had succeeded to warlike impulse ; how the brilliant staff and the troops brought from so great a distance had vanished like shadows, and the silence of fear had fallen on the Palace so full of tumult a few days before. All this formed a striking picture of the fragility of human designs, when they are neither matured by reflection nor sustained by high-souled courage. On rallying from the violent shock of July 14, the Court party adopted a more tranquil attitude, and seemed for a time to resign themselves to their fate. But their conduct had been so false and so contradictory, that no approbation was accorded even to this resignation; and as they had lost all external influence, as suspicion rested on even their most indifferent actions, as, in short, no one had the least doubt of their bad faith, they had nothing to be- st nw, and their favour was a burden which those with whom they sought to ally themselves could not bear. Meanwhile the Court had time to breathe, and once more look to listening to perfidious coun- sels and cherishing chimerical hopes. The Comte d'Artois and the Polignacs had indeed gone THE DISSOLUTION DISCUSSED. 17 away, but their influence bad not departed with them. They had reached a foreign country, and thus secured their personal safety, so they were more than ever urgent in advising violent mea- sures, and represented that the help of foreign Powers would as certainly be lent in carrying such measures into execution. Then once more arose the questions of flight and of the dissolution of this formidable National As- sembly. In consequence of a scheme by which the Municipality of Versailles was induced to request the help of some troops of the line in order to secure the safety of the town, the regiment of Flanders was summoned thither. It was at this time, to- wards the end of August 1780, that I came back from Rouen. The aspect of Versailles was quiet, but gloomy. The National Assembly were discussing the most important questions of social order with equal precipitation and improvidence, to the accom- paniment of almost universal applause. Threat- ened — and they could not be ignorant of the threat — by the Court, they threw themselves en- tirely on the people, whose passions they flattered and whose excesses they excused. Thus they laid the foundations of that formidable power which in a short time was not only to rival but to exceed their own. The two parties were drawn up opposite to each other, although hostilities had not begun, vol. i. c 18 MEMOIBS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. when the Court thought itself strong enough to throw aside the mask, or rather, in its impatience, it laid that mask by unwittingly, without having made any preparations for acting an openly inimical part. The Court party were skilful in sowing dissension among the National Guard at Versailles, they had succeeded in inducing several who had joined it to abandon the service. They distributed white cockades to some young men, who wore them in the Palace apartments, and this mark of devotion to the Royal cause was rewarded with grateful smiles. The officers of the Flanders regiment were loaded with favours ; reciprocal com- plimentary attentions had led to friendship among that regiment, the Body Guards, and a small mi- nority of the National Guard. The Body Guards gave a grand banquet, to which were invited the officers of the Flanders regiment, those of the National Guard, those of the Household troops who were then stationed at Versailles, and also some gentlemen holding high positions at Court and in the Government, or posts in the munici- pality or the law. Every one knows that this banquet became an orgy, in which the National Cockade was trampled under foot, and that the Court party, which should have used its authority to prevent such a scandalous scene in the palace of the monarch, with inconceivable folly actually THE BANQUET IN THE THEATRE. 19 went to the theatre where the banquet was held, and endorsed its disgraceful excesses by their presence. Every one knows that the King", accompanied by the Queen carrying the Dauphin in her arms, made the tour of the table ; that they accepted and proposed toasts, and ended by applauding a sham assault made on the Royal box, in which were the King and the Royal Family, by guests excited with wine and political passion, while a military band played the air — " Richard ! 6 mon roi ? ' : I had declined an invitation to the banquet, and during this strange scene was walking alone in the gardens of Versailles, when I perceived a disorderly crowd rushing towards the windows of the Queen's apartment. I drew near, and saw them forming into irregular dances, with shouts of " Vive le roi ! ' " Down with the National Assembly ! '' They con- tinued to indulge in noisy and senseless demonstra- tions during great part of the night. I began then to suspect from what was taking place outside how matters had progressed within, and I felt greatly grieved, foreseeing the fatal consequences of the extravagant conduct of that evening. Nor were those consequences long delayed. Many external symptoms made it evident to the public that the Court was returning to its former projects ; in- tending either to dissolve the Assembly, or to leave Versailles and take up its abode in some stronghold c 2 20 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. on the frontier — the city of Metz being named in particular. In order to carry out the execution of either plan, the four companies of Body Guards, of whose opinions and devotion there could be no doubt since the scene of the banquet, had been assembled at Versailles. The Court flattered itself also that some of the officers of the Flanders regiment, and also of the National Guard belonging to the town, who had taken part in the fete, would be carried away by the example of the Body Guards. Thus did they cherish illusions, while the ever-growing agitation in Paris, now raised to the highest pitch of excitement by the account of the extravagant scenes just enacted at Versailles, ought to have roused the Court to alarm, and induced it either to give up such ill-concerted designs, or to hasten to put them in execution. But the King had to make up his mind, and Louis XVI. was incapable of coming to a decision. He was as impassive as ever, and altered none of his habits. Every day, as usual, he went out hunting. He was hunting on October 5, and it was in the woods of Rambouillet that a messenger on horse- back, despatched at 1 p.m., brought him the news of the movements taking place in Paris, and of the inarch of a mob of ruffians on Versailles. I will noi attempt to relate here the events of that THE FIFTH AND SIXTH OF OCTOBER. 21 day and the following (October 6) ; I shall merely relate without comment what I saw and what I did on those two days. At 2 p.m. on October 5, I was informed by one of my comrades, an officer of the National Guard, of what was taking place in Paris. I was not on duty, but I thought it right to put on my uniform and hold myself in readiness for a summons. At half-past three the drums beat the general roll-call, and I crossed the Place d'Armes, on my way to the headquarters of the National Guard, which was at the barracks of the French Guards on the right of the Place. As I passed before the outer courtyard of the Palace — the gates were closed — the Comte de la Tour du Pin, Minister of War, recognised me and called me in. The Court was almost filled by the Body Guards, on horseback, drawn up in order of battle.* I walked up and down for some time with the Minister, who told me that a terrible crisis was at hand ; that they were expecting the arrival of a mob of men and women, coming from Paris on pretext of asking for bread, but from whom the utmost violence was to be appre- hended ; that no precautious had been taken; that the King had not yet returned from hunting, but that it could not now be long before he came back ; and that in the meantime, as a preliminary * The French Guards had left Versailles some weeks before. 22 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. measure, the Place had been closed and the Body Guards ordered to mount. He remarked that I was in uniform, and asked me where I was going, and what I intended to do. I replied that the general roll-call had been beaten, and that I was on my way to headquarters. He approved, and begged me not to leave the National Guards now assembling, but to unite my efforts with those of the other officers to induce them effectually to resist the attack with which the Palace was threatened. He added that his son, the Marquis de Gouvernet, who was second in command of the Versailles National Guard, of which the Comte d'Estaing was Colonel, had just mounted, and would bring us orders. I was on the point of taking leave of M. de la Tour du Pin, when he begged me to go from him to the Comte de Saint-Priest, then Minister of the King's Household,* in order to learn whether he had received any further information as to what was occurring in Paris, and to propose that they should concert together such measures as it was desirable to take. M. de Saint-Priest received me rather ungraciously, my uniform was not pleasing to him. He seemed to be in a very bad temper, and told me there was nothing to be done, all that was happening was the consequence of the mistaken * The Minister of the King's Household included in his department Paris and (lie interior of the kingdom. M. DE SAINT-PRIEST. 23 conduct of the Court and the weakness of the Kinc : moreover, there was, so far as he knew, only a mob of drunken women and poor ragged wretches to deal with — that they had no arms, and that the least movement of regular troops would easily put them to flight ; but that action would be neces- sary, and above all no fear must be shown. Finally, he told me he would meet the Comte de la Tour du Pin at the Council, which was certain to be called immediately on the King's return. I carried this reply to M. de la Tour du Pin,* and was not a little astonished to find on his staircase a dozen women from Paris. The Suisse had allowed them to come in, and they were seated on the stairs. They seemed exhausted by fatigue and hunger, and had been supplied with food. They told me they had started in advance from Paris in order to ask the King for bread, and that they were followed by a larger number, who were coming on with the same intention. While one of them was telling me these things, the others were crying out, " Vive le roi ! let him give us bread ! " The Suisse told them to be silent, and they obeyed. The scene was at once piteous and absurd. After I had repeated to the Minister what M. de Saint-Priest had said to me, I resumed my way to * The four Ministers, Secretaries of State, resided in the first Court of the Palace, called the Ministers' Court. 24 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. the barracks ; but instead of going by the Ministers' Courtyard, I crossed what is called the Princes' Courtyard, and I perceived the Duke of Orleans at the window of the apartments on the ground-floor on the right. He was leaning on the ledge of the window, and speaking, with some gesticulation, to a person standing in front of him. He was in full dress, and wore on his coat the Order of the Holy Ghost. It was then about four in the afternoon. T went on to the terrace of the Palace facing south, and there I found a squadron of the Body Guards on horseback. Finally, after making the round of the Palace, I returned to the Place d'Armes and reached the barracks of the French Guards. The aspect presented at that moment by the Place d'Armes was as follows. The Flanders regiment was drawn up in line reaching from the left angle of the Palace gate to the Avenue de Paris. Several persons, among whom I recognised some Deputies of the National Assembly, were walking in front of I lie troops with the officers of the regiment. Part of the population of Versailles had rushed in to the Place and filled it, but all was quiet, and there was no perceptible movement. Opposite the Flanders regiment was the National Guard of Versailles in front of the barracks, but within the wooden barrier which separates the precincts of the barracks from the Place itself This sruard was in small numbers THE NATIONAL GUARD. 25 and in very bad order. Instead of finding- it com- plete, as I expected, I saw that the small number of men who were mustered were out of uniform, poorly clothed, and badly armed. None of the men of mark in this militia, whether by fortune or position, showed on that occasion ; and those who at reviews or on days of ceremony appeared in brilliant uni- form and wearing epaulettes, now kept themselves shut up within doors. The National Guard under arms at the moment — their number did not exceed two hundred — also remarked these facts. Their ob- servations were accompanied by insulting criticisms and abusive language. I felt that no reliance could be placed on men thus ill-disposed, and that far from finding in them a force which we might oppose to the dangers with which we were threatened, they would lend their aid to disorder. I remained, nevertheless, at their head, with a few superior officers who arrived one by one. All, however, continued quiet, and the ill-humour of our men was evaporating in more or less abusive talk against their chiefs and the Court, when, although the daylight was beginning to fade (it was about six in the evening), seven or eight of the King's carriages were seen leaving the great stables situated on the right of the barracks, and proceeding, by the Rue Satory, to the gates of the Orangery which open on the high road to Chartres 26 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. and Brittany. At this sight several of the National Guards exclaimed that the King certainly intended to go, and that he must be prevented. The troop wavered, and, heedless of the remonstrances of their officers, about thirty men rushed forward, and taking short cuts through by-streets, reached the gates of the Orangery and closed them before the arrival of the carriages, which they forced to return the way they came. This unexpected incident destroyed all the projects that had been formed at the Palace.* The King, who could have mounted his horse and placed himself at the head of his Body Guard, was disconcerted by a mischance which it would have been very easy to foresee, or to repair, by sending a picket of guards to the gate, and he again sank into his usual state of indecision, and awaited events. The National Guards who had hastened to stop the Royal carriages, returned to barracks more irritated and angry than before, and I felt certain from their language that nothing would now check them ; those who did not share in their feelings having taken advantage of the dusk to disappear one by one. Thus there remained but fifty or sixty men under arms. It was six o'clock in the evening. * The carriages were to have received the Court at the foot of the Orangery steps, and nothing then could have prevented the flight of the King. The road was free, and the Body Guards assembled in the courtyard and on the terrace would have applied a sufficient escort. FIBST FIBE. 27 At about the same hour, the gates of the Palace were thrown open, and Body Guards from the court- yard as well as those from the terrace— their presence being no longer necessary, since the King had given up the thought of departure — began to defile past so as return to their Hotel, in the Avenue des Sceaux. These troops, in order to reach the Avenue, had to pass through the Place d'Armes, crossing it in front of the French Guards' barracks, then occu- pied by us. On perceiving them, part of the National Guard moved forward towards the wooden barrier which, as I have said, separated the precincts of the barracks from the Place ; the rest remained in front of the building. The head of the column of Body Guards which were defiling at a trot, four abreast, had barely passed the barrier, when I saw a flash of fire-arms from among them. At the same moment, the National Guards, without waiting for orders, replied by an irregular volley, levelling their guns at the Body Guards. The latter instantly set off at a gallop, before the shooters, terrified at what they had done, had thought of reloading their arms. A gloomy silence succeeded to this momentary tumult. We afterwards approached the barrier, but could find no trace either of the discharge from the column of the Body Guards, nor of the shot fired from the barracks. Shortly after, M. de Gouvernet arrived on horseback ; he ordered us 28 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. to withdraw all the Guard except that part which was on duty. He assured us that the King had no intention of leaving Versailles : that everything was now tranquil ; that the Body Guards and the Flanders regiment had returned to their quarters ; but that if anything extraordinary should happen, the drums were to beat to arms. As I was not on duty, I withdrew, and repaired to a house where I habitually spent my evenings. I found the company much excited by the events of the day, and especially by the shots they had heard. Each one explained them according to his own opinions or passions, some asserting that the National Guard had fired first, and others that one of the Body Guard had fired his pistol at one of the National Guards who was near the barrier. I narrated what I had seen, and as nothing absolutely decisive in favour of one opinion or the other could be drawn from my account, each individual maintained his own, and even to the present day the question remains unsettled. On returning home at eleven in the evening, I again passed by the barracks. I found only a few men there, but near the barrier I remarked a large fire. I approached, and saw, gathered round tin's fire, a group of men armed with pikes, and women of hideous aspect. They were busied in cutting up a dead horse, and roasting the ilesh. THE LAST DAY AT VERSAILLES. 29 I was told that the horse had been found on the Place ; it had been probably killed by a shot from the barracks when the National Guards had fired. I could learn nothing farther. I had scarcely reached my house when I heard the drums beating. On inquiry, I found that the National Guard of Paris was approaching, with M. de la Fayette at its head. A grenadier in one of the Paris battalions, who was a friend of my father, came to see us, and quieted our apprehensions as to the aim of this disturbance. He said that the two churches of Versailles had been assigned as quarters to the different battalions, but that he had preferred asking us for a night's lodging. We made him welcome, and I went to bed. It was then midnight. At seven in the morning, October 6, I heard the drums beating. I arose in haste, and made my way towards the Palace across the gardens. In the courtyards I saw the vanguards of the battalions of the Parisian National Guard, which were arriving in good form, and falling successively into order. M. de la Fayette was at their head. While these troops were advancing and occupying different posts, I ascended the marble staircase and entered the interior of the Palace, all the intricacies of which I knew perfectly. The posts generally occupied by the Body Guard and the Hundred Swiss were vacant ; the guard-room and the antechambers leading to the 30 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. Queen's apartment were deserted ; there were stains of blood on the floor and on the stairs. The greatest disorder prevailed ; men clothed in rags and armed with pikes were hurrying down the steps which I had ascended; the doors of the Queen's apartment lay open ; not a servant was to be seen, either man or woman ; the furniture, including even the Queen's bed, was knocked about or moved from its place. From all this it was plain that the rooms had been forcibly entered, that the Body Guards, no more nu- merous than usual, had been taken by surprise, and that, after having defended the entry, they had been obliged to yield to force and retreat ; and also that several of them had shed their blood in making- a hopeless resistance. The King's apartment, on the contrary, was closed. I returned by the same way I had come, and then I beheld the National Guard of Paris, in the court- yards, in line of battle, with flags flying and in perfect order. A crowd of people, and numerous groups of men and women, strangers to Versailles, were pressing behind the troops, uttering shouts and howls, and brandishing their pikes, on some of which were human heads. It w r as a horrible and revolting spectacle! The furious mob was, however, kept in check by the presence of the National Guard, and ;i portion of it, even, seeing there was no- thing more for them to do, began to return along THE LAST DAY AT VERSAILLES. 31 the road to Paris, whither they bore their bloody trophies. Lost in the crowd, and dumb with horror, I was contemplating this fearful scene, when another of a more imposing kind presented itself. The windows of the balcony of the King's apartment, looking on to the inner courtyard, called the Marble Court, were thrown open. The King appeared on the balcony, accompanied by the Queen, by his children and by the Princesses.* Their appearance was saluted by cries of " Yive le roi ! vive la famille royale ! ' ; M. de la Fayette and M. Necker stood near the King and Queen, and behind them was a group consisting principally of Body Guards, disarmed and bareheaded. The King seemed to be begging that his faithful servants should be spared, by placing them, in some sort, under the protection of the Parisian National Guard, and M. de la Fayette was endeavouring to explain the meaning of the King's gestures. I was at too great a distance to hear distinctly the words that were used, but the National Guard replied by cries of assent. Then the Body Guards, throwing their sashes and white cockades over the balcony, received in exchange tricolor cockades and caps belonging to grenadiers of the National Guard. They fastened in the cockades and put on the caps. After this kind of treaty of peace, confirmed * Madame Elisabeth and the aunts of the King. 32 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. by loud shouts, I heard some voices, at first few in number, but afterwards becoming more and more general, and proceeding from every rank in the National Guard, demanding that the King should come to live in Paris. At first these cries seemed to receive no attention, but the clamour soon became so loud, and was mingled with so many threats, that it was impossible to evade a reply. The King and Queen were in consultation with M. de la Fayette and M. Necker on the balcony, and at last, after a quarter of an hour's indecision, the latter came forward — a profound silence prevailed — and I dis- tinctly heard the Minister announce that the King consented to proceed to Paris, and to take up his abode there for the future. M. de la Fayette confirmed this resolution by voice and gesture. A transport of joy impossible to depict or to express instantly pervaded the crowd, salvos of musketry were fired, and shouts of " Yive le roi ! " resounded on every side. When the tumult had somewhat subsided, the King retired with his family into the private apartments, and it was announced that the Court would leave Versailles at one o'clock in the afternoon. It was then about A.M. The National Guard of Paris piled their arms in the courtyards ofthe Palace, and dispersed about the town, while awaiting the hour fixed for the King's THE KING'S DEPARTURE. 33 departure, when they were to resume them, and escort the Royal travellers. The greater part of the crowd of men armed with pikes had already set out for Paris, followed by some of the women. In the meantime, the National Guard of Versailles was assembling on the Place d'Armes, by order of its commanding officers, and I, having put on my uni- form, hastened to join the ranks. The Guard was to line the way when the King passed, and as nothing more than a ceremonial parade was in question, there was a numerous muster, and all was in good order. At about one o'clock the cortege began to move. A strong advance guard was formed of several battalions of the National Guard of Paris. Tipsy women were seated on the gun-carriages, singing and waving aloft boughs which they had torn from the trees. But I did not see the heads carried on pikes, of which mention has been made in certain narratives. The men who took those horrible spoils of a night of crime back to Paris were already far away. The King's carriages came next ; they were surrounded by several of the Body Guard ; some seated on the box, or on the shafts of the coaches, and looking much more as though they had sought a refuge there, than as though they were occupying a post of defence. A great many of them still wore VOL. I. D 34 MEMOIRS OF COUNT M10T DE MELITO. the grenadiers' caps, and all displayed the tricolored cockade. As I have already said, we lined the way, and from my position in front of the men I could easily observe everything. The King's face was quite unchanged, but the countenance of the Queen betrayed agonizing grief, notwithstanding the strong efforts which she made to repress the out- ward signs of her feelings. Monsieur's carriage followed that of the King, and the others were occupied by persons of the household. There were ten or twelve carriages in all. M. de la Fayette was on horseback, now at the side of the King's carriage, anon riding forward to give orders. Two ranks of National Guards marched in parallel lines with the carriages; the remainder of that numerous body formed the rear-guard. I followed this strange procession with my eyes until it reached the turn into the Avenue de Paris, where at length it disappeared. During the rest of the day I wandered about the deserted gardens and palace, and through the streets of the town, where the silence was broken only by the wheels of the carriages in which the Deputies and Ministers, all eager to leave Versailles, were setting out for Paris. All night the town was patrolled. This was an unnecessary precaution, A LAST TURN OF DUTY. 35 perfect quiet reigned everywhere. I was at the head of one of the patrolling parties, and this was the last turn of duty I did with the National Guard of Versailles. Two days later I resigned, and set out for Paris, whither I had been summoned by M. de le Tour du Pin, who was still Minister of War. i) 2 36 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. CHAPTER IL The 10th of August, 1792 — The Author escapes a decree of accu- sation — M. Lacuee provisional Chief of the War Department — Joseph Servan, Minister — The Author ceases to be Chief of Division at the Ministry, and enters the Administration of Military Affairs as Comptroller-General — Servan is succeeded in the Ministry by Pache and Hassenfratz, who disorganise its administration — Pache is dismissed, and succeeded by Beurnonville — -The Author resumes his former post at the Ministry — Bouchotte succeeds Beurnonville — The Author is made Secretary-General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Deforgues — Sketches of some of the leaders of the Terror — Fall of Deforgues, who is succeeded at the Foreign Office by a schoolmaster named Buchot — The Author, denounced as a " Moderate," is placed under a decree of accusation, together with MM. Otto, Colchen, and Reinhart- — They are saved by the 9th Thennidor — The Author is appointed Commissioner of Foreign Affairs — His communications with the Committee of Public Safety — Treaties of peace with Tuscany and Prussia. I had been settled in Paris since October 1780, and I continued in the service of the Military Administration which I had entered at Versailles. I occupied at first the post of " Chief of the Bureau," and afterwards thai of "Chief of Division," under A NABBO W ESCAPE. 37 the different Ministers who succeeded each other at the War Department up to August 10, 170 2. I was included at this period in the proscription which fell upon a great number of Government employes, and I was to have been arrested and thrown into prison, where 1 should probably have been one of the victims of the massacres of the 2nd of September. But, fortunately as it turned out, I was anxious about the health of my wife and daughter, then at Versailles, and on the very morning of the 10th of August I had left Paris by the Clichy Gate, and had made my way to Versailles, across the plain of Sablons, the Bois de Boulogne, St. Cloud, and the woods above the ancient palace of our Kings, the pathways of which were perfectly familiar to me. During my progress, the noise of cannon and musket-shot in Paris caused me terrible anguish of mind ; but I only hastened the more quickly on my way, and reached Versailles about noon, trembling with apprehension, ignorant of what had taken place in Paris, and unable to reply to any of the questions put to me. In the evening the details of that terrible day became known. I concealed myself carefully on the morrow, fearing to be arrested as non-domiciled, and on the succeeding day (August 12), 1 took my place in one of the little carriages that for some time had been running between Versailles 38 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. and Paris. We passed without difficulty through the gates, which were closed against all who wanted to leave the city, but freely open to all in-comers. On reaching my father's house, I found that a warrant for my arrest had been issued, and that a search had been made for me, in order that it might be put in force. I also heard that my brother- in-law, M. Arcambal, Commissioner-Director of War and Secretary-General of the Ministry, and my uncle, M. Vauchelle, chief Clerk of Artillery, had already been arrested. After acquainting me with this sad news, my father added that he had stated that he did not know where I was, but that I might be heard of at the residence of the War Minister. Thereupon I quickly decided on my course of action, which was to proceed to the War Office. I learnt there from my fellow-clerks that emissaries of the Commune had in fact come on the previous day to arrest me; that, not finding me, they had left one of their number behind to seize me on my return, and enforce the warrant against me, but that the individual, weary of waiting to no purpose, had departed, and had not since reappeared. The Legislative Assembly had appointed M. Lacue'e, one of its members, to administer the department until the arrival of the new Minister of War. I thought it right to wail upon him, and found him, wear- ing a tricolor sash, and installed in the Minister's M. JULLIEN. 39 cabinet. I told him that I presented myself, in order that he might not suspect me of trying to escape the search now being made for me. He received me politely, said he had no orders to take any steps against me, but that, on the contrary, he requested me to return to my work, and to assist him in the difficult position in which he found himself. He complained of the excesses of the Commune in Paris, which had disorganised every official department by its arbitrary arrests ; and in fact he was equally indignant at the acts of that seditious authority as he was powerless to re- press them. I therefore resumed my usual occupations, ex- pecting every instant to be arrested at my desk. But I was not arrested ; either it was believed that the warrant had already been executed, or I was forgotten ; at all events, I remained at libertv. I even had the very great happiness of saving one of our friends, M. Jullien, who took refuge in my house, and of aiding with him in the release of my uncle and my brother-in-law, whom I have mentioned above, and who were, marvellous to re- late, set at liberty a few days before the 2nd of September. Meanwhile the Legislative Assembly had ap- pointed Joseph Servan Minister of War. He was brother to the celebrated Advocate-General of the 40 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. same name, and had already occupied that post, to which he had been appointed by the King. He had connected himself with the now triumphant Girondist party, and sent in his resignation some months previously. The Assembly had solemnly declared that on quitting his post he carried with him the regrets of France. During his first tenure of office I had frequently been brought into contact with him ; he was acquainted with my opinions and knew that I did not share his. In fact, although I occupied a somewhat obscure position, I had not been permitted to conceal my opinions ; and I was naturally opposed to any disguise of the kind. I was — and he knew it — what was called at that time a Constitutional Monarchist, a Moderate, a u feuillant." I belonged to the club so-called, although my dislike of assemblies of that kind generally kept me away from it. All these circumstances being known to M. Servan, he could not feel confidence in me; and although my thorough acquaintance with the details of the Ministry rendered me useful, he felt that by retaining me he might incur censure, and would expose himself to danger without being able to protect me. Nevertheless he received me with some cordiality, after his appointment to the War Office by the Assembly ; but as my views of my position there were the same as his, we soon agreed lo separate. He accepted my resignation of I he post A NEW MINISTER. 41 of Chief of Division — I sent it in on the pretext of ill-health — and placed me as Comptroller-General in the Administration of Military Affairs, a position little known and quite obscure, where I hoped to be out of the reach of investigation. But it was fated otherwise. The National Convention had just met, and the Girondists who had placed Servan at the head of the War Office, having lost by degrees the powerful influence they had exercised over the Legislative Assembly, Servan was attacked, dis- missed, and replaced (October 4, 1792) by Pache, a creature of the Communist party. On the arrival of the new Minister, the whole War- Administration was upset. Every man of intelligence or experience was dismissed, and Hassenfratz, placed by Pache at the head of one of the most important divisions of the department, raised confusion to its highest pitch ; he persecuted all the former employes by his denunciations, and treated them with the severity inspired by instinctive ill-will, disguised under the hypocritical mask of enthusiastic republi- canism. Nor was I to escape : in the month of December there was some thought of entrusting me with a mission connected with the administration to which I belonged : he refused me my passports and the necessary orders, expressing surprise that my name had been left on the list of employes in his department. This expression of opinion on the part 42 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. of a man who was at that time all-powerful, was equivalent to a sentence of death, and doubtless I should have perished had my persecutor had time to carry his evil intentions into execution. At this critical moment of my fate Pache himself was violently attacked by Dumouriez. The latter had just entered Belgium after his brilliant victory at Jemappes, and could not carry on the war with a Minister who was disorganising everything. He had great influence in the Convention ; prevailed over the Commune, and carried the dismissal of Pache early in February 1793. Pache was succeeded by Beurnonville, who had served with distinction in the Belgian campaign, and was nicknamed by Dumouriez "the French Ajax." Beurnonville, on coming into office, sent for me and offered to restore me to my former post. Since the time when Hassenfratz had declared war against me, and during the trial of Louis XVI., I had frequently absented myself from Paris, to avoid the dangers that threatened me, and also the sight of the terrible tragedy then impending, of that sanguinary execution which shortly afterwards polluted the capital of France ; but I had not re- linquished my habitual residence. I was there when Beurnonville's propositions were made to inc. I aeeeded to them, and re-entered the War Office. BEUBNONVILLE. 43 Under the new Minister the Administration becan to work more regularly, and to emerge from the lethargy into which Pache and Hassenfratz had plunged it. But this state of things did not last long. The reverses experienced by the French army, and which in the early part of 1793 forced us to evacuate Belgium ; the defection of Dumouriez ; the internal discord in the Convention, a stormy prelude to the Reign of Terror that followed the execution of Louis XVI. and which was now developing itself; these were among the causes that combined to efface every trace of a short- lived improvement. Beurnonville, who was sent with Camus, Guinette, Lamarque, and Bancal, Commissioners of the Convention, to arrest Du- mouriez, wished to take me with him, as he was very friendly to me. I had agreed to go, when fortunately the necessity for retaining a confidential person in the War Department, in which Beurnon- ville intended to resume his post after a short absence, led him to decide on leaving me in Paris. We know the fate that awaited him ; and I should no doubt have shared his long imprisonment. When, in April 1793, Beurnonville was arrested by order of Dumouriez, together with the Commis- sioners of the Convention, and the post of War Minister became vacant, the Convention appointed Boucbotte to succeed him. Boucbotte was Commandant of 41 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. Arms at Cambrai, and had hitherto been undistin- guished in the military career on which he had barely entered. It was only the favour of the Paris Commune that had placed him among the candidates. The Commune hoped to find in him a second Pache, and in some respects were not dis- appointed. The devotion of the new Minister to this odious faction was unquestionable ; he gave frequent proofs of it. Nevertheless, under a plain exterior, with foolish ways, and a bearing which often caused him to be wrongfully accused of total incapacity, Bouchotte had talents and qualities for administration, an upright mind, and the capacity for steady application to business. He even displayed great activity, which seemed at variance with his physical organisation. It was while he was Minister that the garrison of Mayence was removed to La Vendee, and this strange enterprise, the manage- ment of which devolved upon me, was carried through with remarkable precision. At this period, too, the telegraph, an invention which rendered great service to military correspondence, came into use.* Notwithstanding the severity exercised * M. Chappe, tlio inventor (or supposed to bo so) of the telegraph, came to me at the War Office. David, 1 lie famous painter, introduced him. Chappe explained to me the method of using his machine, to which he gave the name of tachygraphe ("writes quickly"). I proposed to him to substitute for this imperfect description that of telegraphe ("writes from afar"). BOUCriOTTE. 45 in those deplorable days towards so many general officers whose lives were taken by the Convention, I had opportunities of observing that Bouchotte was altogether opposed to these condemnations, and that he saved the lives of many persons who do not know they are under any such obligation to him. Among others, I may name General Canclaux. When a man appointed by the Paris Commune made his appearance at the Ministry of War, I believed myself irrecoverably lost, and I confidently expected the reappearance of all the officials who had been formerly employed by Pache, such as Hassenfratz, Sijas and others, who had withdrawn with their chief. But, to my great surprise, Bouchotte did not reinstate them. He even insisted on retain- ing me, treated me with the fullest confidence in everything regarding the affairs of the Adminis- tration, neither inquired into my political opinions, alluded on any occasion to his own, nor solicited me to embrace them, although I worked with him many hours daily. Nevertheless, I felt my position to be one of constant constraint. A reverse to our troops, an act of forgetfulness or of negligence, any- thing that should give room for the most trivial He adopted this alteration. The name "telegraph" has become, so to speak, a household word. 46 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. denunciation, might bring irretrievable ruin upon me, and I ardently longed to escape from so critical a position. I saw that I owed the consideration with which I was treated solely to the necessity that existed for making use of my experience in the Administration, and that so soon as that necessity should subside, I should be left alone and without a protector to repel the attacks upon me that would inevitably be renewed. I was convinced that the Minister would not willingly dismiss, nor would he denounce me, but I was also aware that he had some difficulty in maintaining his own position, and that, as he was obliged to purchase by continual concessions such protection as was afforded him by the party which had placed him in office, he would be unable to defend me, and certainlv would not for my sake put his own popularity in peril. While I was in this state of perplexity, an oppor- tunity of leaving my perilous post offered itself, and I eagerly embraced it. Several assistants had been appointed to the War Ministry. One of these, named Deforgues, with whom I had been brought into constant contact, was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, on June 24, 1793. He proposed that I should change into that department with him, and take the place of Secretary-General. I accepted. Bouchotte was with difficulty induced to part with me, bnl eventually he consented. I therefore A NEW ERA. 47 relinquished at this time the career I had adopted in my youth, but resumed it, as will appear in the course of my narrative, just after the 18th Brumaire, year VIII. A new era had now begun for me. This change in my career eventually called me to high functions in the public Administration, when, after the Reign of Terror, a regular Government was formed in France. My first experiences in the new course on which I was entering justified the decision I had taken, and realised some of my expectations. I had calculated that, foreign relations with France being for the present almost at an end, I should be less exposed to remarks in a department which had next to nothing to do than in the War Office, which at that time was the centre of attention ; and that Deforgues, who, on attaining to the Ministry, had called me to his side in consequence of the events of May 31st, and who was a man of a firm and decided character, would be a more substantial support to me. It was also with great inward satisfaction that I found myself in an Administration where I should have to work with men of high intelligence as well as of honourable character, such men as MM. Otto, Colchen, Reinhart and Boissonade, who were at the head of the principal divisions of the Ministry. The mere difference in speech seemed to me an inesti- 48 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. mable advantage ; to the coarse, rough ways adopted in the War Office, succeeded politeness and elegance of manner, the result of a gentlemanly education and the habit of association with foreigners. I found traces of the former customs of the monarchy still existing in this department. Far from seeking to efface them, Deforgues, who, notwithstanding the party he had joined, had natural good sense and sound judgment, seemed to take pleasure in them, and to desire a restoration of order, decorum, and urbanity. In this way, with less personal danger than I had hitherto incurred in the terrible storm then de- vastating France, I passed through the six months which elapsed between June 1793 and the end of the year. During that period I had several opportunities of seeing Danton, the patron of Deforgues, at whose house he frequently dined. I was often invited, as were also my colleagues, Otto and Colchen. These dinner-parties often included Lacroix, Legendre, Fabre d'Eglantine, Camille Desmoulins, and less often Robespierre, whom, indeed, I met but once. I will pause here for an instant, and endeavour to describe the impression which was produced on me by the appearance and conversation of those famous and criminal Revolutionists, whom I saw for a few moments, as it were, in their private life, and away DANTON. 49 from the bloody stage on which they daily displayed their fury. My colleagues and I had our places at the end of the table, and took no part in the con- versation ; we were mere observers, and it is the result of my observations that I am now about to record. Danton, the most remarkable of all the personages whom I have named, had a hideous face. His pro- portions were athletic ; in that respect he was even thought to resemble Mirabeau. But the complexion of the latter was of a livid pallor, while that of Danton was of a reddish-brown, and his countenance was very animated. The tone of his voice was impres- sive, he spoke with warmth and energy that appeared natural to him. His elocution was fiery, and always accompanied by violent gesticulations ; at table he generally struck the key-note of the conversation, and made frequent use of figurative expressions — " The chariot-wheels of the Revolution will crush its enemies ; " " The Revolution is like Saturn : it will devour its children " — and other phrases of the same kind. He felt profound contempt for the Girondists, regarding them as fools who had recoiled before the logical results of their principles. He made no secret of his love of pleasure and of money, and sneered at vain scruples of conscience and delicacy. Intrenched in the club of the Cordeliers, which he looked upon as a citadel always open to him, vol. I. E 50 MEMO IBS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. he believed himself to be unassailable. The cynicism of his morals exhibited itself in his language, for he despised the hypocrisy of some of his colleagues, and his sarcasms on this vice were principally directed against Robespierre; whom, however, he did not venture to name. Nevertheless it was easily to be seen that Robespierre was the enemy whom he most dreaded, although he affected to despise his party. " They would not dare," he often said, and this rash confidence was his ruin. He thought himself suffi- ciently strong to leave Paris in the spring of 1704 with impunity, for the purpose of passing a few days on an estate he had acquired at Bar-sur-Aube. He gave himself up when there to the enjoyment of the luxury he had procured by his extortions in Belgium, and thus absented himself from the battle-field. On his return he had lost his influence, and Robespierre, all powerful at the time, sent him to the scaffold. Lacroix, a friend of Danton's, and his colleague in his mission to Belgium, where they both enriched themselves, was of gigantic stature, but of fine pro- portions, and was a haudsome man. He had taken Danton for his model, imitated his manners, and repeated or paraphrased his speeches. The whole of his oratorical talent lay in this imitation. He spoke little, ate a great deal, and applauded the sayings of his master by gesture only. lie followed him to the scaffold. FABBE DEGLANTINE. 51 Fabre d'Eglantine's manner of talking was grace- ful, but affected. Notwithstanding his efforts to conform to the Revolutionary style of speech, it was evidently antipathetic to him, and the ring of a refined education was heard through a coarse exterior. When the conversation turned, as rarely happened, on literary subjects, he eagerly joined in it, and displayed great acquirements. He was an admirer of Moliere, and spoke of him enthusias- tically. I have heard him make remarks on the works of that great genius which were as striking as they were novel. I remember that, when descanting one day on the merits of the " Bourgeois Gentilhomme," he said : " It is a great mistake to think in this play that Moliere intended to insult the middle classes. He aimed it at the nobility, and was merciless. He certainly holds up to ridicule the folly of a bourgeois who wants to pass for a nobleman ; but M. Jourdain, with all his folly, is none the less a very upright man ; a good husband, a good father, a generous and practical friend. The rogue, in the play, is the gentleman, Dorante, who is both a flatterer and a cheat. He is a wretch, who deserves only our contempt. All Moliere's talent was needed to mislead as to his real meaning, and at the same time it required immense courage thus to exhibit the vices of courtiers on the stage, under the very eyes of E 2 52 MEMOIBS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. the Court." This view of Moliere's genius reveals discernment in the critic, and Fabre d' Eglantine has proved by his own writings for the stage that lie could appreciate and successfully imitate him whom he had taken for his model. He was indicted as an accomplice of Danton, and perished with him. Legendre, a Paris butcher, was of small stature, and deeply pitted with small-pox. He spoke with the greatest facility. Grifted by nature with ex- traordinary but quite uncultivated eloquence, his speeches in public, bis conversation in private, were full of original and happy turns. He was an ardent patriot, and fell into the greatest revolutionary ex- cesses, but there is no doubt that he acted in good faith and sincerity, following the impulses of a passionate but misguided love of liberty, and a mind never restrained by the curb of reason or reflection. I often admired this man when, on leaving the Con- vention where he had supported the most blood- thirsty proceedings, he would return to private life, and talk to us of its charms with an accent of truth impossible to simulate. He would speak of his own domestic happiness, of his wife and children, in the tone of the best of husbands and fathers, sometimes U'traying his emotion by the tears that stood in his eyes. He was an incomprehensible mixture of political ferocity and social virtues, proving that man, with his strange mobility of imagination, can LEG END BE. 53 unite in himself the most wondrous contradictions. He was a partisan of Danton, whom he regarded, he said, as the Hercules of the Revolution, and was never weary of praising him when speaking of his talents in a public capacity ; but he blamed him openly for his manner of life, and for his luxurious tastes, and never joined in any of his disgraceful speculations. Animated discussions on this subject would frequently arise between them ; and although Danton always turned the matter into a jest, and pretended to laugh at the preaching of his colleague, Legendre never yielded, and it was evident that his words pierced to the quick. Lastly, this remarkable and singularly-organised man had succeeded in in- spiring such a general respect that, notwithstanding his openly-avowed attachment to Danton, Saint-Just did not venture to include him in the indictment of the latter. And although, even after the death of Danton, Legendre continued to defend him, he was never proscribed, but was in a position to attack Robespierre on the 9th Thermidor, and to contribute to his fall. He was therefore an exception, and although one of the most enthusiastic members of the Convention, he escaped almost alone from the fate which the fiery revolutionists of that terrible time had to endure. After the establishment of the Con- stitution of Year III. he was elected member of the Council of Former Members (Conseil des Anciens), 54 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. and died in his bed, at Paris, at the beginning of year VI. (end of 1797), being still a member of the Council, and leaving no fortune behind him. Camille Desmoulins was also among the number of those who dined pretty frequently at Deforgues'. His personal appearance was commonplace, lie had no external advantages, nor did his conversation belie the grudging hand with which Nature had endowed him. Gloomy and silent, his countenance wore an expression of profound melancholy, and it was difficult to recognise the orator of the early days of the Revolution of 1780, the orator who, standing on a chair at the Palais Royal, had by his stirring speech produced the great popular movement of that famous period. At the time when I was in the habit of seeing him, he was horror-struck at the terrible scenes which passed before his eyes every day, and was endeavouring to arouse a spirit of humanity. In several numbers of a newspaper entitled * Le Vieux Cordelier,' which was edited by bim, he ventured (for it was then an act of the greatest courage) to advocate a return to clemency. Danton laughed at him for what he chose to call his weakness, but Camille Desmoulins, who was also excluded by each so-called patriotic society for having advocated these new doctrines, made no reply. His gloom announced lli;il lie already foresaw llie i'ale awaiting him, and the few words that he uttered CAMILLE DESMOULINS. 55 were always inquiries or observations on the sentences of the Revolutionary Tribunal, on the kind of death inflicted on the condemned, and on the most dignified and decorous way of preparing for and enduring it. His presentiment was soon realised. He was included by Saint-Just in the indictment of Danton and his party, although no appearance even of complicity justified that strange combination, and he was brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal. He was astonished, he says, to find himself associated with rogues, and made a strange and impious reply, but one which is characteristic of the times,* to the interrogatory of the President, who asked him his age. He went to the scaffold in the same tumbril with Danton. I have still to speak of Robespierre. I saw him, as I have already said, once only. Elegant in dress, carefully curled and powdered, composed in manner, he formed the most curious contrast with the disorder, affected neglect, and coarseness that ap- peared in the attire and manners of his colleagues. His deportment was grave, and he took hardly any part in the conversation, speaking only now and then a few sententious words. But notwithstanding the immobility of his pale and sinister countenance, it was evident that he did not feel at his ease, and * Camille Desnioulins replied : " I am of the age of that goorl sans-culotte Jesus — thirty-three years." 56 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MEL IT 0. I learned afterwards that he owed a grudge to Deforgues for having thrown him into the company of men whom he pretended to regard as very uncertain patriots, or what was still more criminal in his eves, as " Moderates." Thus the conver- sation at dinner was constrained. I also thought I could perceive by the few words uttered by Robespierre that he especially desired to be dis- tinguished as a great statesman. He spoke of the foreign relations of France, of the necessity of extending them and of making a fresh alliance with Switzerland. He had already made some enquiries in the Foreign Department on the latter subject, and I recollect that M. Colchen, who was at the head of the division of the Ministry which includes the Swiss Confederation, received with no little alarm an invitation to a conference at the Minister's at which Robespierre was to be present. I recall this anecdote only to show that even at this period Robespierre flattered himself he might become the head of the Government, and that his ambition was to acquire the reputation of a statesman and great politician. After this digression, I resume the thread of my narrative. But before continuing, I would remark I hat the beginning of the Republican Era having been fixed at September 22, 1702, the second year of the I 'epublic commenced on September 22, 17!K'?, and, dating from that period, the use of the vulgar THE NEW CALENDAR. 57 era was interdicted.* Therefore all dates that I shall mention will be according to the New Era, and I shall merely indicate the years of the Old Calendar to which they refer. I shall follow this plan until January 1, 1806, when the Republican Era was abolished and the use of the Gregorian Calendar restored. I passed the remainder of the year 1793 (the early part of year II.) in discharging the duties of Secretary-General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I took advantage of the frequent leisure which my post afforded, at a time when we had scarcely any dealings with Foreign Powers, to examine the archives of my department, and to extract from them knowledge of a kind which up to that time I had had no opportunity of acquiring. This period of tranquillity, which I owed to my obscure position, did not last long. Danton, accused on Germinal 12, year II. (April 1, 1794), by the Committee of Public Safety, of which Saint-Just was the reporter, had been arrested on the preceding day. Being brought five days later before the Revolutionary Tri- bunal, his head fell on the scaffold (Germinal 10). * As the New Calendar was not decreed until several weeks after September 22, 1793, the ' Moniteur,' counting from October 16 of that year, is dated the second month of the Eepublic, and only from October 31 by the new names of the months. The first of these new dates, Decadi, Brumaire, year If., heads the ' Moniteur ' of October 31, 1793. 58 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. The fall of Danton was soon followed by that of Deforgues. He was arrested, and until the Com- missions which were to take the place of the Executive Council, and that of the Ministers who had been suppressed by a decree of Germinal 12 should be established, the Convention appointed Hermann to succeed him. That provisional Minister did not, however, appear at the Office of Foreign Affairs ; the new Commissioners were appointed soon after. (Germinal 29, year II., April 18, 1794). The " Commissioner of Exterior Relations," a de- nomination substituted for that of Minister of Foreign Affairs, arrived to take possession of that department. This Commissioner's name was Buchot. He came from the Department of the Jura, where he had been a schoolmaster in a small town. His ignorance, his bad manners, his stupidity surpassed anything that can be imagined. During five months that he was at the head of the department, he did not occupy him- self with it in the least, and indeed was incapable of so doing. The heads of divisions had abandoned the idea of working with him; he neither saw them nor asked for them ; he was never to be found in his Cabinet, and when it was absolutely necessary to obtain his signature for the purpose of legalising documents— he had reduced his functions to tins act alone— he had to be fetched from the billiard- table at the Cafe Bardy, where he generally passed BUCHOT. 59 his days. On the other hand, apathetic as he was in business, Bucliot was fatally active when called upon to second the bloodthirstiness of Robespierre's party, who had appointed him because he was a friend of the President of the Revolutionary Tribunal ; and it was not long before the effects of the hatred he bore to my colleagues and to me became apparent. When Robespierre, threatened by a section of the Convention, multiplied the number of victims whom he sacrificed each day in order to diminish the number of his enemies, Buchot denounced us as " Moderates," who could not too quickly be got rid of. On 8th Thermidor, year II. (July 27, 1704), he obtained a warrant for the arrest of Otto, Colchen, Reinhart, and myself, from the Committee of General Safety. The next morning, Buchot, with a devilish smile, announced our fate to me, and went out to defend Robespierre's interests at the Commune. But it was the 9th Thermidor ! We were saved, although on the following day, notwithstanding the events of the 9th, an attempt was made to enforce the warrant of arrest. This decree, with a great many others of the same kind, had passed in due course through the office of the Committee of General Safety, which had proceeded to carry it out. In fact it was only through the solicitations of M. Humbert, the chief of the Finance Department of our office, that we ob- tained the revocation of the sentence, and, free from GO MEMOIBS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. fear, could share in the universal joy displayed throughout Paris when the fall of the monsters who had enslaved France and drenched her in blood became known. M. Otto only, in consequence of a further denunciation, was arrested a few weeks after.* For some months after the 9 th Thermidor, the National Convention, engaged in destroying the remnant of a party whose head only had been wounded, did not set about re-establishing order in the public administration. The Commissioners who had succeeded the Ministers continued to occupy their places, and we beheld the reappearance of Buchot ! He was somewhat humbler and less formidable, but no less incapable. At the end of year II. (September 1794) the offices of the Minis- try of Exterior Relations were removed from Rue Cerutti (now Rue Lafitte), where they had been established, to the Hotel Gallifet in the Rue du Bac. At last, the Committee of Public Safety of the National Convention, which held the reins of Grovern- * M. Otto was taken to the Luxembourg Prison, but lie remained there only a short time, and the suspicions which had led to this act of severity were quickly dispelled. Deforgues, who was much attached to him, was released from the same prison after the 9th Thermidor. lie worked with the greatest zeal to obtain the liberty of his companion in misfortune. I was luckily able to assist liini in his efforts, and we succeeded in procuring an order of release from the Committee of General Safety, armed with which we went to fetch M..Otto from the Luxembourg al live in the morning. ADMINISTRATIVE BEF0B3I. Gl ment, was brought by the force of circumstances to ideas of order, and felt the necessity for a reform of the public administration, which was completely dis- organised by revolutionary excesses, by the internal divisions of the Assembly, and by the incapacity of the lately-appointed officials. The Government, anxious to assume a more dignified attitude towards the European Powers, showed a disposition to listen to the overtures of peace, which the astonishing victories of the French army had induced some of the Foreign Cabinets to make privately. In this new phase of the public mind, it was impossible to leave the Commission of Exterior Relations in the abject and absurd state to which its ridiculous chief had allowed it to sink. MM. Otto, Colchen, Reinhart and myself, were therefore summoned before the Committee of Public Safety early in Brumaire, year III. Four members of the Committee had been ordered to hold a conference with each of us, in which we were to pass a kind of examination. Merlin (of Douai), Cambace'res, Thuriot and another, whose name I do not recollect, had been selected. I fell to the share of Thuriot. He put questions to me as to my antecedents, asked me whether I had passed through a regular course of study, and knew Latin, and he appeared pleased when I told him I was acquainted with that language, and that I had also learned some others, G2 MEMOIRS OF COUNT M10T BE MELITO. viz., Italian, English and German. After tliis inter- rogatory, which lasted half an hour, he informed me that the Committee of Public Safety intended to propose to the Convention that the " Department of Exterior Relations '' should he so organised as to enable it to carry on certain political negotiations which had been already opened, and that he had thought of me as successor to the present Com- missioner, whose incapacity was generally acknow- ledged.* We then parted, and on rejoining my colleagues I found that they had undergone much the same sort of examination. The results of this singular conference were not long delayed ; by a decree of the Convention dated 18th Brumaire, year III. (November 8, 1794), I was appointed Commissioner of Exterior Relations. MM. Otto, Colchen and Reinhart were specially attached to the Committee of Public Safety. They were to attend to details, as well as to diplomatic corre- spondence, and I took up my abode in the offices to which, as I have said before, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been transferred two months previously. These various changes had taken place without the knowledge of Buchot, who learned them from a newspaper which he bought in the street on that evening. I nevertheless called upon him on * This awkward appellation was substituted for that, of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was subsequently restored. AN EX-MINISTEIi. 63 the day after my nomination, and treated him with the courtesy usual on such occasions. This, however, he seemed to appreciate but little, He only told me that he should he much inconvenienced if I insisted on his immediately vacating the apartments he occu- pied at the Hotel of the Commission. I assured him that, as I had no intention of sleeping there, he was at liberty to remain until he had provided himself with another residence. He thanked me, and said that the Committee had done well in appointing me, but that it was very unpleasant for him to have been brought to Paris, obliged to give up his profession in the country, and afterwards left in the lurch. And then he took it into his head to ask me for a place in my office ! I tried to make him understand that it would be the height of indecorum on his part to accept a secondary post in a department of which he had once been the head. He thought such a scruple very extraordinary, and finding that I hesitated to give an affirmative reply, he said that in the event of my not finding him capable of filling the place of clerk, which he was soliciting, he would be satisfied with that of office-boy. I felt ashamed to witness such meanness, and, after a few vague excuses, I left him. He continued to sleep at the Hotel for about a week, but I did not see him again. One morning I was told that he had not come in on the previous evening, 64 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. and that he had removed his property. I am ignorant of what happened to him afterwards ; he was an ex- traordinary character ; the most singular mixture of baseness, ignorance and ferocity that can be imagined. The organisation of the Department of Exterior Relations being decided on, as I have previously stated, a satisfactory activity set in. I worked systematically with the Committee of Public Safety, which at that time consisted of men to whom, what- ever we may think of their political conduct in the course of the Revolution, we cannot deny the posses- sion of great ability. Among these are Merlin (of Douai), Cambaceres, Sieyes, Fourcroy, Boissy d'Anglas, Carnot, and others. I endeavoured to renew our foreign relations, so far as the isolation in which the coalition of all the Powers against France bad placed her rendered it possible to do so. Consuls were despatched to all countries where there was a hope of their being received. A circular letter addressed to the agents of the Republic abroad, instructed them to regard enquiries into the state of science, of art, and of social progress in general, in 1 1 10 countries where they exercised their functions, as one of their first duties. The famous Tolney, with whom I became intimate at that time, and who honoured me with bis friendship until his death, drew up ;it my request a series of questions on poli- tical economy, which I forwarded to those agents, and THE STATE OF THINGS. 65 the answers conveyed to us a tolerably accurate idea of the peoples among whom they dwelt.* I ordered foreign publications and newspapers to be sent to me, and formed a plan of founding a library and reading-room on the premises of the Foreign Office, which should be available for all who might choose to come to these for information. Trans- lators paid by the G-overnment would assist per- sons ignorant of the original languages in their researches. The Committee of Public Safety supported my views, and readily accepted the propositions that I laid before it. We were then endeavouring to emerge from the abyss of anarchy, and it would be unjust not to acknowledge the efforts of the Committee to re-establish order, and to restore France, if I may so express it, to Europe, whence she had been in a manner exiled. Although sur- rounded by dangers which were the work of the still smouldering factions, and which on the 12th Germinal, 3rd Prairial, year III., and 13th Ven- de'miaire, year IY. (April, May, and October, 1795), threatened it with overthrow; in constant alarm on account of the famine that was laying Paris waste, and making a popular rising immi- * These questions, which are a model of precision and sagacity, were published in Nivose, year III. (January 1795), together with the Circular Letter that accompanied them. They form a small volume in 18mo., now rather scarce. VOL. I. F GG MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. nent ; obliged to supply the enormous necessities of fourteen armies, so as to enable them to con- solidate their first triumphs and obtain fresh successes ; finally, although hampered in all its movements, and suspected in all its purposes, the Committee did not flinch from the burden, but evinced the most astonishing activity and the most unwavering fidelity — I will not say to the con- fidence reposed in it by the public (neither the nation nor even the Convention honoured it with any), but to the greatness of the task imposed on it Dy destiny. History bears witness that during the administration of the Committee which lasted over a year, from the 9th Thermidor, year II. (July 28, 1794), until the establishment of the Constitution of year III. in the month of Vendemiaire, year IV. (October 1795), France was victorious everywhere; and if not respected abroad, she was at least feared, for during that interval several foreign cabinets solicited peace, and so far sacrificed their pride as to treat with a Republic that they had openly scorned. The negotiations entered into by the Committee of Public Safety came to a speedy and prosperous issue. Count Carletti, Envoy from the Grand Duke of Tuscany, came to Paris to negotiate a renewal of neutrality between the French Republic and Tus- cany. The treaty of peace concluded by this THE TREATIES. 67 Minister with the Committee of Public Safety was ratified bv the National Convention on 25th Phi- viose, year III. (February 13, 1795), on being reported by Richard.* Another more important treaty was signed shortly afterwards (16th Germinal, year III., April, 5, 1795), between Prussia and France. Holland, Spain, and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel also recognised and treated with the Republic in the course of the same year.f "With the exception of the treaty with Tuscany, which, as I have said, was negotiated at Paris, directly, between Count Carletti and the Commit- tee of Public Safety, the others were negotiated and signed at Bale by the French Ambassador, M. Barthe'lemy, according to instructions from the Committee. The negotiations entrusted to this diplomatist were conducted with all the skill he had acquired in his long experience of affairs ; but they did not present the difficulties that might have been expected in first transactions of this kind be- tween a Government quite recently established, and long-existing powers which had but lately shown so deep an aversion to the doctrines on which it was * The treaty itself bears date 21st Pluviose (February 9). t Holland on 27th Floreal (May 15); Spain, 4th Thermidor (July 22); the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, 11th Fructidor (August 28), year IIT. (1795). F 2 68 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. founded. It is certain, I have had opportunities of ascertaining the fact, that the advances were not made by the Republic, but that, on the contrary, all the preliminary steps were taken by the foreign cabinets. Two powerful motives induced the latter to hasten the conclusion of peace ; first, the fear of bringing troops full of enthusiasm, elated by a long succession of victories, and whom no obstacle seemed able to stop, on their territory; and secondly, the dread that the principles professed by these troops, and which rendered them so formidable, might penetrate into the heart of the ancient political constitutions of Europe, carrying with them the germs of revolution. The third year of the Republic may then be justly considered as one of the most brilliant in the history of the nation. During the course of this single year France, victorious within, over the tyranny of Robespierre and the revolutionary mad- ness, closed the den of the Jacobins, made for herself a constitution in which, although it had imperfections that might have easily been removed, the first principles of the balance of power were laid down, and a regular Government, offering such sufficient guarantees that other Governments no longer feared to treat with her, was established. Abroad, she regained a high degree of political consideration, made peace with enemies hitherto THE PRICE OF GLORY. 69 bent on her ruin, imposed severe conditions on them, and herself submitted to none that could lower her dignity. Finally, she carried her arms into the neighbouring countries, while she no longer suffered a single foreign soldier to tread her soil. Every- thing promised a great and lasting prosperity for her in the future ; but the rulers whom the Con- stitution of year III. placed at her head possessed neither ability nor worth; and when, five years later, she repudiated that constitution, the nation, dazzled with glory, heedlessly adopted institutions which, as they deviated completely from her pro- fessed principles and rested on no solid basis, were speedily overthrown. Victory alone was for long years faithful to France, and it dazzled her ; but her glory was bought at the heavy price of the loss of liberty. 70 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MEL1TO. CHAPTER III. The Author is appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Grand Duke of Tuscany — The 12th Germinal — The Author embarks at Marseilles for Genoa, and proceeds from thence to Florence — Eeport to the Committee of Public Safety on the political state of Florence — Difficulties caused by the presence of the French Emigres at Leghorn, and by the ill-will of the Tuscan authorities towards the Eepublic — General Buonaparte appointed to the command of the army of Italy — Opening of the campaign and series of victories obtained by the young General — The Governments of Italy take steps towards obtaining peace — The Author determines to proceed to Buonaparte's headquarters. The re-establishment of political relations between France and several of the European Powers, and an impulse of greater activity given to those which had not been entirely broken off, with Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, and thu United States, had once more thrown open the career of diplomacy. I was only thirty-two years of age; 1 was longing for knowledge, for 1 ravel; I desired there- fore to obtain a diplomatic post, and the Committee of Public Safety showed itself willing to accede to MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY. 71 my wishes. I was permitted to choose between the mission to Florence and that to the United States. My tastes led me to select the former. On 9th Pluviose, year III. (February 6, 1795), I was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The decree of the Committee of Public Safety containing my nomi- nation is signed by Cambace'res, Merlin (of Douai), Maret, Pelet, Carnot, A. Dumont, Fourcroy, Boissy d'Anglas, Chazal and Dubois de Crance. M. Fre- ville* was appointed Secretary of Legation, and M. Finet, a painter, was at my request nominated to reside with me at Florence. In his capacity as an artist he was to negotiate an exchange of pictures between the two Governments, to their mutual advantage. Meanwhile the Grand Duke published through- out his States, on March 1, 1795, the treaty of peace he had just concluded with France, and despatched letters accrediting Count Carletti to the functions of Minister Plenipotentiary in Paris. M. Carletti was solemnly received in that charac- ter by the Convention on 28th Yentose (March 17), and the minutes of this extraordinary sitting are recorded in French and also in Italian at the National Printing Office. This was the first political triumph obtained by the Republic. * He died at Paris, a Councillor of State and a Peer of France. 72 MEMOIBS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. M. Colclien succeeded me a few days later as Commissioner of External Relations, and my letter of credit, together with my instructions, were handed to me on the 9th Germinal (March 24). All being thus in order, I was preparing to start, when a fresh disturbance threatening the Con- vention led me to postpone my journey, in order that I might observe its tendency and effects. The remnant of Robespierre's faction was still active, and as the conduct of the Committee of Public Safety deprived that party of all hope of regaining power in the Assembly, whether by eloquent speech, or by influence over men's minds, it attempted, by an insurrectionary movement, to lay forcible hands on the authority of which the 9th Thermidor had deprived it. Numerous bodies of armed men, delegated by various sections, forced their way into the hall of Assembly during the session of the 12th Germinal (April 1), shouting loudly for bread, for the constitution of 1793, and for the release of the patriots, viz., Collot dTIerbois, Billaud-Yarennes and others, who had been arrested some time previously. The Assembly maintained its tranquillity during this attack; Boissy d'Anglas, especially, distinguished himself by the courageous firmness which was afterwards put to a terrible lest. At length the Assembly passed a decree at this memorable silling, which lasted until six o'clock in A MEMOBABLE SITTING. 73 the morning, ordering the immediate transportation of Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, Barrere and Yadier ; and the arrest of several members of the Convention, including Chaudieu, Leonard Bourdon, and others. Pichegru, who then appeared for the first time on the political stage, was entrusted with the command of Paris, and the city was declared to be in a state of siege. Numerous patrols perambu- lated the streets of the capital during the night, and I myself made part of the patrol ordered by the " Section " in which I resided. In spite of some opposition, immediately quelled, the decree of the Convention was carried out. Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Yarennes left for Rochefort, and were sent thence to Sinnamari. Two days later, perfect quiet was restored. Feeling convinced that, after this success, public tranquillity would not again be dis- turbed for a long time to come — a conviction that shortly afterwards unfortunately proved to be un- founded — and having nothing to detain me in Paris, I began my journey to Italy on the 20th Germinal, year III. (April 9, 1795). As the war in which France was then engaged against Austria and the King of Sardinia precluded me from travelling through Upper Italy, I proceeded to Marseilles, whence I embarked for Genoa. We were obliged to put into harbour at San Remo, and I performed part of my journey on horseback, 74 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. crossing the outposts of our army of Italy. This army, which was destined to accomplish such great deeds, was at that time very weak. The troops occupied difficult posts in the mountains, where they were subjected to the greatest privations. But they endured them with the most admirable resignation, and prepared by heroic patience for the glory that was soon to immortalise them. I found Kellermann at Alassio, he had come to take command of the place ; and also my countryman Berthier, with whom I had been intimate from my youth and who had been appointed chief of the Staff. After having consulted with both as to the means of carrying on a correspondence, and on the services which the diplomatic post I was about to occupy would enable me to render to the army, I took my leave and pro- ceeded to Genoa, whence I despatched a felucca to Leghorn with my luggage, and I continued my route on horseback by the banks of the Levanto. At last, having thus made my way through Larici, Sarzano, and Pisa, where I found my luggage, I arrived at Florence on the 1st Prairial, year III. (May 28, 1795). I had passed nearly six weeks on the journey ; but I had profiled by the opportunity of visiting Nimes and its antiquities, and the bridge over the Gard, and L had passed a few days at Genoa and Pisa, where many objects worthy of a traveller's attention had detained me. Freed from PUBLIC FEELING IN TUSCANY. 75 the terrible agitation of our political troubles, I took a great deal of pleasure in this journey, although anxiety as to what was taking place in Paris, the grievous reports that were prevalent, and the news, true or false, that reached me at every moment, ren- dered me frequently indifferent to the ever-varying spectacle before my eyes. In this respect, how- ever, I was but serving an apprenticeship to the arduous position in which I was about to find myself in a foreign land, amid a people where, in consequence of our excesses, every man was our enemy ; where we met with no sympathy in our misfortunes, no excuse for faults or crimes whose perpetrators were abhorred, while the victims were not pitied, and no justice was shown towards those who had punished the guilty. Notwithstanding the manifestation of hostile feeling, which was carefully encouraged by the French emigres residing at Pisa and Leghorn, the news of the neutrality re-established between France and the Grand Duke had been received with universal satisfaction in Tuscany. Even the English, although they affected displeasure, in reality regarded this event with inward satisfaction. It rendered them, in a manner, masters of the port of Leghorn, where by reason of the neutrality they could land without fear. English merchants felt they possessed a guarantee for their property which was denied them in a state of war, when at any moment French 76 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. troops might enter Tuscany. Moreover, the English, as masters of the sea and possessors of Corsica, had nothing to fear from our feeble navy ; and our privateers, which were almost the only vessels that hoisted the national flag in those seas, were in greater danger than ever. The English, in fact, blockaded the entrance of the port with their men-of-war, and it was the only place of safety for our privateers ; even there they barely found means of escape from enemies who had the upper hand at Leghorn, and did not respect the neutrality of a feeble prince. Finally, the population of Leghorn, and even its authorities, were entirely devoted to the English, who felt certain beforehand of impunity for the numerous breaches of neutrality which they committed. In everything, therefore, the advantage was on the side of our enemies. These inferences I drew from the particulars first given to me by M. Fre'ville. He had preceded me into Tuscany by some weeks, and had come to meet me at Pisa. In the end I was fully convinced that he had not been mistaken in his estimate of the situation. After the first few days, which were taken up with the delivery of my letters of credit, with my pre- sentation at Court, and the duties imposed by etiquette, against which I was careful not to offend, in order to show that I was anxious to conform to A MEMOBANDUM. 77 the customs of the country, I began to investigate matters for myself. During about a month's stay at Florence and a few days at Leghorn, the observations I made were sufficient to enable me to form a tolerably precise opinion, which I communicated to the Committee of Public Safety. The events of the 3rd Prairial, year III., which as I had learned on the loth (May 22, 1795) established the triumph of the National Con- vention, had endowed the Provisional Government of France with steadiness and confidence it had not hitherto possessed, and its heads felt the necessity, with a view to the execution of their plans, of learning what was the true position of Italy, towards which their eyes were turned, the principles of the first government with which they had treated, and the character of those who directed it. I took every pains to satisfy curiosity so well founded, and the following is nearly what I wrote on the subject to the Committee of Public Safety, 20th Messidor, year III. (July 8, 1795). " After the famous era of the Florentine Republic, Tuscany had been erected into a Grand Duchy under the sceptre of the descendants of the Medicis, and was scarcely distinguishable from the other secondary States of Italy, nntil Peter-Leopold gave her a more important part to play. Considering this prince in his capacity as a Grand Duke, we cannot but 78 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. recognise in him an enlightened ruler. The wisdom of his commercial regulations, his efforts to reduce the authority of the nobles, and to restore to the middle classes of society the influence they had lost, prepared a happier existence for Tuscany than she had enjoyed during the reign of his predecessor. But while for these reasons he won the approba- tion of enlightened men, he was in the highest degree displeasing to the class whose privileges and prejudices he attacked. Meanwhile his absolute authority, the unsparing rigour with which he used it when necessary, and the strength afforded him by his great popularity, were sufficient so stifle every germ of discontent. " The death of Joseph II. and the French Revolu- tion brought about a new order of things. Leopold reigned in Vienna, and as Emperor seemed to forget or to repudiate the principles he had professed as Grand Duke. His accession to the Imperial throne, and his death, which took place very soon afterwards, caused the government of Tuscany to devolve on his second son, Ferdinand III., then hardly more than a youth, and the pupil of the Marquis de Manfredini, to whose care his father had confided him. " The retrograde movement of the Emperor Leopold, in declaring himself against the French Revolution, became an occasion of triumph to the class he had kept down in Tuscany. His government and his laws A MEMORANDUM. 70 were attacked, his memory was insulted, and a party antagonistic to the system he had established was soon formed. The influence of Manfredini and the inertia natural to a government which was opposed to all violent measures, had the advantage in the struggle with this party ; but eventually, assisted by the emigres, and by English influence, it succeeded in pushing Tuscany into the coalition against France, an imprudent step which nearly caused her ruin. " French victories, the counsels of Manfredini, and still more, perhaps, the tendency to inaction natural to the country, soon made the danger of so impolitic a rupture evident. Peace was solicited, and France acquiesced. "But it would be a great mistake to suppose that this reconciliation was the result of friendly feeling, or of any similarity of principle. All that I have said proves the contrary. Fear has done it all. There exists but one man here, whose actions seem to be dictated by wider views, by philosophic ideas, and by a general philanthropy. That man is Manfredini. " He is attached to the principles of Leopold's government, and although perhaps he is not at one with him as to the means of carrying them out, he seems to take a pride in maintaining his system. He has hitherto retained great ascendency over the mind of his pupil, and I must do Ferdinand III. the justice to say that he is himself disposed to follow 80 MEMOIRS OF COUNT M10T BE MELITO. the path traced out by Manfredini. Meanwhile the opposite party, taking advantage of the youth and inexperience of the Prince, acquire fresh strength every day, and while waiting until they may venture openly to attack Manfredini, they seek stealthily by every means to weaken his authority and diminish the respect in which he is held. " Leopold's plans have already been abandoned in many respects. The laws on the freedom of trade have been modified ; poverty in the country districts and dearness of provisions, the result of the re- strictions on trade, are already beginning to be felt. There is a project for restoring the penalty of death which was suppressed by the code of 1774. The power of the priests, which had been considerably restricted by means of wise regulations, is again springing up. The men employed by Leopold have been set aside. In a word, this country, which has latterly made such strides towards philosophical ideas and a better government, and which has even, in that respect, outstripped other nations, is now evidently falling back, and ready once more to take up the yoke of prejudice, from which the genius of one man had delivered it. " Manfredini is a witness of these ill-starred inno- vations, but he either makes no effort to arrest them or In' feels himself powerless to do so. I am strongly of opinion thai it is in order to secure the triumph of FERDINAND AND MANFBEDINI. 81 his opinions as regards neutrality, that he has thought it well to yield on other points. If I am not mistaken in this conjecture, he has committed, I apprehend, a great blunder. He should have taken up his position on the basis of Leopold's government, and should have deduced the maintenance of neutrality as a consequence from it. By relinquishing that basis, he gives a great advantage to his enemies. He will be imperceptibly drawn into measures entirely opposed to his own views, and it will afterwards be easy to overthrow him, when surrounded only by the ruins of a government which was the safe- guard of his reputation and political existence. " It is quite true that Ferdinand would be un- willing to part with Manfredini. The habit of con- sulting him in everything, which public esteem has justified, makes him necessary to the Prince. More- over Ferdinand, although gifted, so far as I have been able to judge, with an upright mind, simple in his habits, much better brought up and better in- formed than men of his rank in general, is perhaps more averse than any one else to the measures pressed upon him, and of all persons that one to whom they would be most repugnant. Consequently he seems to me to be thought little of by the nobles, and though he is one of the most estimable men whom I have met with here, I have not heard a single word in his praise. But with all these qualities he is young, VOL. I. G 82 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. and the fears that may be instilled into him for the security of his power, amid the events that are now disturbing Europe, must react on him, and weaken the opposition to the proposed innovations to which his education and his natural character would urge him. " On the other hand, it seems to me equally im- possible that he should entirely release himself from the influence of the Emperor, and certainly the Cabinet of Vienna is not in accord with Manfredini. The hopes of the latter — he did not conceal them from me — were to bring back the Emperor to his former principles, and to make Tuscany mediate for peace between Austria and the French Republic. The steps latterly taken at Vienna, the alliance between Russia and England, the subsidies granted by the last-named Power ; finally, the report that has got abroad, that the overtures of such a negotiation, if there is to be one, would take place at Basel, have wrecked Manfredini's hopes, and consequently lessened his influence, which such a negotiation, if crowned with success, would have raised higher than ever. " I shall not discuss the question whether France should desire or dread the realisation of Manfredini's ideas. My immediate concern is with the conse- quences to the Government of Tuscany that may ensue from all these facts. MANFREDINrS POLICY. 83 " It is evident that the present conjuncture is favourable to that numerous party who are hostile to the system of government adopted by Leopold, and who will make every effort to turn it to their own advantage. That party will therefore intrigue with the object of influencing the selection of a Prime Minister, whose functions comprise those of the department of Foreign Affairs, and whose place may be said to have been vacant for a long time past, for Senator Serristori who occupies it is a mere figure-head. The post, however, must soon become actually vacant through his death or retirement. Manfredini, having hitherto directed the action of the Grovernment, without official title, has made no change in the Ministry. He has restricted him- self to preparing beforehand a man whom he can trust as a successor to Serristori. Neri-Corsini,* at present Secretary of State, is named for that office. He belongs to an illustrious family ; he is young, and never having left Italy, his experience and his know- ledge of affairs seem to me limited to the ancient ways of the astute policy that has always prevailed in the Cabinets of this country. Being connected * Since then he has been Councillor of State in France, where I found him when, in 1813, I resumed my place in the Council of State. He was, like myself, a member of the Interior Section. We little thought, in 1795, at Florence, that we should be colleagues eighteen years later. a 2 84 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. with the aristocracy, both by family interests and by birth, he seems to me to be widely divided from us in principles ; but he acts with dissimulation, and lets his real sentiments appear as little as possible. Nevertheless it is plain that Manfredini has but an ungrateful pupil in this young man, one greatly inclined to go over to the side of his enemies if their party prevails. " Corsini is aware that in such an event he need not aspire to the post now destined for him. He feels that, strictly speaking, he might be able to fill it under the tutelage of Manfredini, but that, left to himself, he could not sustain its weight, and that his youth alone would be a sufficient reason for excluding him. Such a competitor being therefore by no means formidable, the eyes of this political party would turn, after the overthrow of Manfre- dini, towards Signor Francesco Serrati, the present Governor of Leghorn, who, by reason of his age, his gravity, the importance of the posts he has filled and the reputation he has acquired, may at any moment be invested not only with the title but with the actual functions of Prime Minister ; may succeed to Manfredini in the direction of affairs, and may even exercise, though in an opposite sense, equal influence in the general administration of the State." Such was the situation of the Tuscan Government, THE SITUATION IN TUSCANY. 85 and such the view of it that I sought to impress upou the Committee of Public Safety, by insisting on the indispensable necessity of serious attention to the war in Italy, which until then had been almost dis- regarded. It will be seen hereafter that I was not greatly mistaken in my judgment, in the results I foretold, and in the nature of the remedy. But in the meantime I had serious difficulties to over- come, for it is evident that until we had acquired the upper hand in Italy by force of arms, we should possess neither the security of neutrality nor the advantages of conquest. Every prejudice had been aroused against us. The nobles, whose pri- vileges and influence were attacked by the spread of our doctrines, bore us an ill-concealed hatred ; the people, excited by the priests, and also, it must be confessed, by the violent speeches and odious calumnies of the emigres, were ready, at a word, to rush into the greatest excesses against the French, and many of our countrymen have fallen victims to their fury, on occasions when it could be vented with impunity. Amid the hostile feelings prevailing among the two extremes of society, my arrival at Florence had caused a sensation and excited malevolent curiosity. The strangest rumours had preceded me. People expected to see a sort of savage, clothed in an extraordinary manner, using the coarsest Ian- 86 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. guage, having no idea of the rules of society, and ready ostentatiously to violate them. My habits, my mode of life, the deference to the customs of the country I was scrupulous to show, and the care with which I respected even its prejudices, soon dis- pelled these first impressions ; I was even received by the middle and most cultivated class of its in- habitants, and by men of letters, artists and men of science, such as Fontana, Fossombroni, Fabbroni, Galuzzi, &c, more favourably than I had ventured to expect. I must, however, except Alfieri, who was then in Tuscany, where he lived on terms of great intimacy with Madame d'Albany.* It is well known that this remarkable genius — one of the most illustrious writers of Italy, who displayed in his work on Tyranny an ardent hatred of despotism, and was one of the warmest apologists of the French Revolution — taking offence at the severity of the decrees of the Constituent Assembly which attacked Madame d' Albany's property, and disgusted probably by the excesses which subsequently dishonoured the cause of liberty, had entirely changed his opinions. Ho bitterly hated the whole French nation and had * Mailamo d'Albany was the widow of one of tho last descen- dants of the Stuarts. Of that House, so celebrated for its misfortunes, thcro now remained only the Cardinal of York, whom I met at Home. On his death, the Stuart family became completely extinct. ALFIERI. 87 expressed his enmity in most insulting verse. I should have liked to have made the acquaintance of a man of such remarkable talent, in the hope of gradually overcoming an enmity which passed the bounds of reason and justice ; but he was too in- flexible to yield, and after some overtures, which he rejected, I abstained with regret from any further effort. Meanwhile, although my conduct and my domestic life had, on becoming known, removed the popular prejudice against me, political opinion had not altered, and in proportion as I progressed in the management of affairs, it became more and more adverse. Leghorn was almost daily the scene of contests between the emigres and the little band of Republicans whom trade or privateering brought to the town. Some Frenchmen, taken prisoners by the English,* who had carried them to Leghorn, were insulted and wounded during an altercation which arose between them and the emigres. The populace, being friendly to the English, encouraged these acts of violence, and the Tuscan Government, fearing to compromise itself, had acted towards the guilty persons with reprehensible supineness. My first care, therefore, was to prevent the recurrence of these deplorable quarrels, by demanding the expulsion of * These prisoners were part of the crew of the inen-of-war the Qa-ira and the Censeur. 88 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. those who, regardless of the tranquillity of the country which had given them hospitality, were continually bringing it into difficulties, and at the same time were wanting in every sentiment of generosity towards the brave soldiers whose mis- fortunes should have excited the sympathy of their countrymen. Their banishment, on which I insisted, was in the interest of the Grand Duke and of the emigres themselves. The latter would have found a more peaceful retreat in other parts of Tuscany, and the Government, by appointing the interior of the country for their residence, would have avoided a continual subject of complaints and recriminations, which constantly compromised it with France, and in the end brought down the arms of the Republic on Leghorn. The most evident self-interest counselled them to follow so reasonable a course, and yet Ferdi- nand's Ministers would not adopt it. Our armies, detained in the Riviera of Genoa, had not yet entered Italy. Not being worked on by fear, the Ministry stuck to the tortuous and evasive policy, generally adopted by Italian cabinets. They made promises only to break them ; they replied to complaints by other complaints ; accusations were met with rival accusa- tions ; they extended impunity to those who were guilty <>f llie excesses I had denounced, while they demanded the punishment of a few Frenchmen ac- THE GOVERNOR OF LEGHORN. 89 cused by the Tuscan Government. I went myself to Leghorn to ascertain the real state of things, so as to be on my guard against the exaggerated re- ports brought to me, but my journey was almost in vain. The only thing of which I convinced myself was that Signor Serrati, Governor of Leghorn, was an open enemy of France. In the very warm dis- cussions which I had with him relative to the affair of the French prisoners to which I have previously alluded, his partiality for our enemies was discernible through his affected assurances of sincere respect for neutrality. He was opposed to all the measures that I had proposed, and I returned to Florence con- vinced that we should not obtain any satisfaction, so long as my demands were not sustained by dread of our arms. But the time was approaching when the irresistible strength of victory was to display itself, and the Tuscan Government to perceive too late that its ill-disguised partiality had aroused so much resentment, that it could no longer hope to save itself from the torrent which was about to be let loose on Italy. The events of the 13th Yende'miaire, year IV. (October 5, 1795), had placed on the political stage a man who was to fill the whole of Europe with his name in less than three years. Buonaparte, who was called to the defence of the National Convention against the combined sections which menaced it, had 90 MEMOIBS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. triumphed easily over the brave but undisciplined crowd led by its ignorant chiefs. The importance rather than the merit of his success had drawn public attention to him ; and when the constitution of year III. placed a Directory composed of five members at the head of the Government, Barras, one of the five, who had put forward the young General during the days of Vende'miaire, either through gratitude or because he recognised his genius, occupied himself with his fortunes, arranged a marriage between him and Madame de Beauharnais, and, six months later, gave him the command of the army of Italy. This post was not a popular one. The army of Italy, the smallest of all those we had in action, was least fit for action.* Scherez — one of the most incapable of French generals — who succeeded Kellermann, had been attacked and beaten by the Austrian General De Tins. Obliged to evacuate Yado,f his communications with Genoa were cut off, and when by some subsequent successes he re- gained the line, he did not know how to profit by it to penetrate into the plain, but remained in complete inaction. The French, hemmed in between the coast and the mountains, unable to get supplies * At the end of year III., and the beginning of year IV. (six last months of 1705). f In the month of Meseidor, year III. (July 17'J.">). BUONAPARTE. 91 except by sea — an uncertain and often a dangerous method — could scarcely hold their difficult position, by dint of valour and endurance, against the attacks of an enemy now elated by success. Already people imagined us driven hopelessly from the frontier of Italy, which we had not dared to pass, and fancied the Austrians on the point of invading our Southern Departments. The inimical G-overn- ments of Rome and Naples, emboldened by our reverses at Yado, took an active part in the war, and furnished both men and money to our enemy. Venice and Genoa, who had remained neutral, were vacillating, and sought to obtain pardon for not having joined the coalition, by using their neutrality in the service of Austria. Even Tuscany, which had just entered into a treaty with us, assumed an air of patronage, disdainfully deferred her replies to our just complaints, and appointed Signor Serrati as her Prime Minister, replacing him at Leghorn by Signor Spanocchi, formerly a naval captain in the service of Naples, regardless of the annoyance which appointments so disagreeable to us and so unfavour- to our interests must necessarily produce. It was with an army apparently so little to be feared, it was with means so limited, and in presence of difficulties so great, that Buonaparte had to act. But he felt his own strength, his genius had already suggested a plan different from all those of the 92 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. commanders who had preceded him, and nothing was ever more admirable than the conception of that plan, unless indeed the astonishing rapidity with which he put it into execution. Meanwhile the Executive Directory, which had sent me fresh letters of credit, signalised its accession to the Government of the Eepublic by energetic measures. It made known to me its intention of giving a fresh impulse to the war in Italy, and ordered me to support the generals of the army by every means in my power, and to assume a firm and threatening attitude towards the Government to which I was accredited. The Directory had dis- missed M. Carletti, the Grand Duke's Minister, from Paris, because he had asked permission to visit the daughter of Louis XVI. The young Princess was on the point of leaving Paris for Vienna, and was to be exchanged at the frontier for the former Com- missioners of the Convention, General Beurnonville, who had been arrested by Dumouriez in April 1793, and MM. de Semonville and Maret, who were made prisoners by Austria during the same year, while passing through Switzerland on their way to Con- stantinople as diplomatic agents of the Republic. The Grand Duke, alarmed by so decisive a proceed- ing, put up with it without venturing to complain, although deeply aggrieved ; and Carletti, censured by * The leih Frimaire, year IV. (December 1, 17i>5.) NERI-CORSINI. 93 his own Court for his imprudence, was succeeded at Paris by Neri-Corsini.* Without in reality approv- ing the conduct of the Directory, who in this affair appeared to me to offend against all diplomatic custom, and to punish with uncalled-for severity a merely formal request which they might simply have refused, I could not but perceive that its stern action had inspired a salutary fear. If it did not make us loved — an impossibility, no matter what we did — at least it made us feared, and to some extent facilitated my dealings with the Tuscan Government. I took advantage of this state of feeling to obtain from the Government the refusal of free passage through Tuscan territory to the regiments sent by the Court of Naples to the Austrian army. During this negotiation, in which I was opposed by family interests,! I was ably seconded by M. Manfredini, who strongly urged the strict observance of neutrality. Of this they made a crime at Vienna, whither a copy had been sent of a letter I had written on the subject to Charles Lacroix, Minister of Foreign Affairs, containing an account of con- versations between myself and Manfredini, in which the neutrality question had been discussed. This * The new Minister arrived in Paris on the 15th Nivose, year IV. (January 5, 1796). Carletti had already left, and reached Basel on the 7th Nivose (December 28, 1795). f The Grand Duchess was a daughter of the Queen of Naples. 94 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. copy, stolen from the bureaux of the Ministry in Paris by some treacherous person who was probably bribed, was used, as an act of accusation, against Manfredini, and he was obliged to go to Vienna to clear himself.* The fears by which from time to time the Tuscan Government was swayed, were in themselves proof of its weakness. I in vain expected from it the firmness necessary to bring to an end the outrages of which Leghorn was so often the scene. Acts of violence against the French, incited in turns by the emigres, the Neapolitans or the English, were constantly committed, and provoked the bitterest resentment, skilfully augmented by men who coveted her wealth, against the town. They ultimately succeeded in ruining Leghorn. The war in Italy was assuming a formidable aspect. Buonaparte had arrived at Nice at the beginning of Germinal, year IV. (April 170G). I received a first letter from him, in which he an- nounced that he was about to put the army in motion. At the same time he asked me to give him any information I could about the state of Italy. I saw at once by his style, which was concise and animated, although careless and incorrect, that lie * This took place in April 179f). lie came back in May, ami In- assured \nc himself that ho had seen the copy of the letter of which T speak. SPLENDID TRIUMPHS OF THE ARMY. 95 was no ordinary man. I was struck with a breadth and depth of view on military and political subjects, such as I had not found in any correspondence which I had held up to that time with the generals of our army of Italy. I predicted, therefore, either great success or great reverses. My uncertainty did not last long. The campaign was opened, and a series of victories as dazzling as they were unexpected, succeeding each other with surprising quickness, raised the glory of our French soldiers, and that of the great captain who led them daily to fresh triumphs, to the highest. It does not enter into the scope of this work to relate in detail the military events of that memor- able campaign. The battles of Montenotte, of Mil- lesimo, of Mondovi ; the engagements at Dego and at St. Jean ; the passage of the bridge of Lodi, are among the great facts of history ; and their names, re- calling so much valour, such deeds of daring, such a display of talent, genius so audacious in design, so fertile in resource, have become immortal. The news reached to the centre of Italy, and the bulle- tins giving descriptions of these wonderful deeds of our troops, at first contradicted, produced sheer bewilderment, when the force of truth convinced the most incredulous. Nothing was then thought of but how the torrent of war was to be turned away from regions it had not yet reached. 96 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. The victories of the French, the armistices concluded with the King of Sardinia, and the Dukes of Modena and Parma, and the occupation of the country round Milan, had disconcerted the policy of Upper Italy. I received more atten- tion from the Cabinet of Florence than had yet been shown me. Notwithstanding Neri-Corsini's efforts to oppose it in Paris, notwithstanding his complaints of what he called my haughtiness, a proclamation was issued, ordering the emigres to leave Leghorn, and this measure, which in reality did them a service, was carried out with all the consideration demanded by humanity and with the respect due to misfortune. Rome and Naples, especially the former of those two Powers, which was more exposed to immediate attack from the con- queror, began to take steps to obtain peace, or at least a suspension of hostilities. Prince Belmonte- Pignatelli, ambassador from Naples to the King of Spain, came to Florence with instructions from his Court to make the first advances to me. Count Man- fredini introduced him, and begged me to second the steps he proposed to take with respect to the General Commander-in-Chief of the French army. As an armistice with Naples, of which one condition would be to close the ports of that kingdom against the English, and to withdraw the Neapolitan cavalry regiments from the Austrian army, seemed to me BUONAPARTE AND ITALY. 97 advantageous both in a political and military point of view, I readily undertook to second the proposals of Prince Pignatelli, and I even promised to go myself to Buonaparte's headquarters to open the negotiation. Apart from this motive, which was in itself sufficient to make me undertake the journey, I was resolved upon it for other reasons. It was im- portant for me, with a view to the ordering of my future conduct, to know what political bent a general who had already assumed an almost independent au- thority, and was inclined rather to dictate orders to the Directory than to receive them, intended to give to our dealings with the various Powers of Italy. Did he intend to transform the conquered States into a Republic, as he was urged to do by all the numerous vehement Republicans who were begin- ning to make their voices heard throughout the country ? Did he, by leaving these countries under their former modes of government, mean only to keep them dependent on France ? What were his designs respecting Rome and the Pope ? Would he recognise the latter under the twofold aspect of a temporal and spiritual power ? In the views of the advantages to be reaped from our victories in Italy, and of the use we should make of the preponderance they gave us in that country, which I had submitted to the Directory, VOL. I. H 98 MEMOIRS OF COUNT 3II0T DE MELITO. I had particularly insisted on two results which I looked upon as the real fruit of our conquests : the complete destruction of the power of Austria in Italy, and the overthrow of the Papal Government. I was firmly convinced that emancipated France had no more formidable and implacable enemy than that Power ; it was therefore indispensable that I should be in harmony with a conqueror who, after subjugating Italy by force of arms, was not the man to neglect its political administration. I was quite sure he would agree with me as to the exclusion of the House of Austria from all power and even from all property in Italy ; but I was not so certain of his views on the other question. I 99 ) CHAPTER IV. The Author's interview with General Buonaparte — Conclusion of the armistice between the General and Prince Pignatelli, Plenipotentiary at Naples — The Author returns to Florence — He goes away again to visit General Buonaparte at Bologna — His interview with him — The Author does not succeed in preventing the violation of the neutrality of Tuscany and the occupation of Leghorn by the French — In returning from Leghorn, General Buonaparte stops at Florence, visits the Grand Duke and dines with him — A treaty being concluded between the Pope and the French Eepublic, the Author goes to Koine to secure the fulfilment of its conditions — The gloomy fanaticism reigning in Rome — Some discontented Italians having claimed the intervention of the French for the purpose of introducing Republican Institutions in Itaty, the Author, instructed by the Directory to inform them of his views, strongly opposes the project — Being superseded by Cacault in the duty of superintending the fulfilment of the terms of the armistice at Pome, the Author returns to Florence — Rumours of the reverses experienced by Buonaparte produce great excitement in Italy — The Governments no longer conceal their tendencies, and the Author sends M. Freville to Paris to point out to the Directory the necessity of excluding Austria from all influence in Italy, and of destroying the Papal Government — The Author is appointed Ambassador at Turin, but before entering upon the exercise of his functions, he has to under- H 2 100 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. take a mission to Corsica as Commissioner-Extraordinary of the Government — Sketch of the State of Tuscany, the con- ditions of life, and customs of the Florentines. After having confided the guidance of affairs during my absence to M. Fre'ville, I began my journey on the 3rd Prairial (May 22, 1796). I went by Prato and Pistoja, and crossing the Apennines by the magnificent road made by Leopold's orders a few years before, I reached Rubiera, and from thence Reggio, without having touched Pontifical territory. This I thought prudent, on ac- count of the hostility which still existed between France and the Pope. It was with a view to placing his States in a direct line of communica- tion with the other possessions of the House of Austria in Italy that the Grrand Duke had ordered this road, which terminated at Rubiera, to be made. From Reggio I went by Parma and Placenza to Milan. The armistices recently concluded with the Dukes of Modena and Parma opened a free passage to the French through their territories, and the neighbourhood of our triumphant armies held the population in check. But, in spite of the terror and astonishment produced by our victories, the aver- sion of the inhabitants was visible on every occasion. Revolts had broken out, and I was detained one whole day at Placenza by a riot at Binasco, a large > » 1 SALICETTI. 101 town between Milan and Pavia. This revolt, in con- sequence of which the latter city shut its gates and imprisoned the French garrison, assumed a serious aspect, and was only suppressed by sanguinary mili- tary executions. As the roads were very unsafe, in consequence of these disturbances, I did not cross the Po until tranquillity was re-established on both sides of the river. I reached Milan on the 6th Prairial (May 26, 1796), but found that General Buonaparte was not there. Having retraced his steps with his ordinary rapidity, punished the rioters and reduced Pavia to submission, he had proceeded to besiege Mantua, the only stronghold in all Lombardy which, with the fortress of Milan, still remained in the power of the Austrians. I was therefore obliged to go to headquarters to find him. I remained, however, several days at Milan, and there saw Salicetti, the Commissioner of the Executive Directory, with whom I had no previous acquaintance. Judging from the reputation he had acquired in the Conven- tion, and which had preceded him into Italy, I expected a cold reception, and was not a little surprised to meet a man of the greatest politeness and urbanity of demeanour, and who received me with the utmost courtesy. Salicetti, of whom I shall have to give a detailed account further on in these Memoirs, and of whom I shall sav no more 102 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. here than that he possessed great ability, recognised the necessity of conforming in manner and style of conversation to the fashion of the country in which he now lived. In this, at first sight, he appeared to have perfectly succeeded ;* but in the course of our frequent interviews I found we were not at one as to the political course to be pursued in Italy. I insisted especially that the neutrality of Tuscany must be respected. While admitting the justice of our com- plaints against its Governmeut, I maintained that it would be worthy of the generosity of France to pardon its errors, and of her justice to observe the confidence manifested by the Grand Duke by his treating with us, and being the first to set the example of the re-establishment of political relations between the Republic and the Continental Powers. But I soon saw that the Commissioner of the Directory had other views, and differed with me from another motive than that of avenging the injuries which the French had sustained at Leghorn. It was the wealth of that city which tempted his cupidity. Its riches were all regarded as English property ; and, under that pretext, lie had, however, exercised some severity in driving from Milan certain distinguished citizens whose influence lie feared. ^.mong the nuinhcrwas Signor de Melzi, who afterwards played a great pari in the annals of his country. Ho went to Florence, Where I saw a good deal of him, and a friendship sprung up l>el\veen US which lasted until his death. BRESCIA. 103 should we become masters of Leghorn, everything would fall into our hands. The imagination of man had never conceived a more splendid prize. Part of the booty, no doubt, would have to go to the State, but a great deal would remain in the hands of those charged with its distribution. From the moment that I recognised his real end I despaired of the success of my own views, and saw that the only chance of prevailing was my having better luck with the Commander-in-Chief. I left Milan on the 15th Prairial (June 3), and directed my steps towards headquarters; but on reaching Brescia I learned that Buonaparte was expected there from day to day. I therefore re- mained at Brescia, where 1 found Prince Belmonte- Pignatelli, who had arrived there before me. On the 17th Prairial, Buonaparte came to Brescia from Verona. He had entered the latter city on the 15th, after having forced the remainder of the Austrian army, commanded by Beaulieu, to recross the Adige and to retire upon Trente by the valley watered by that river. He was on his way back to Milan, and I was with him a few moments after he dismounted. I was quite astonished at his appearance. Nothing could be more unlike the idea my imagination had formed of him. In the midst of a numerous staff, I saw a man below the middle height, and of an extremely spare figure. His powered hair, oddly 104 MEMOIRS OF COUNT M10T BE MEL I TO. cut and falling squarely below the ears, reached down to his shoulders. He was dressed in a straight coat, buttoned up to the chin, and edged with very narrow gold embroidery, and he wore a tri-colored feather in his hat. At first sight he did not strike me as handsome ; but his strongly-marked features, his quick and piercing eyes, his brusque and animated gestures revealed an ardent spirit, while his wide and thoughtful brow was that of a profound thinker. He made me sit near him, arid we talked of Italy. He spoke in short sentences and, at that time of his life, very incorrectly. He said that nothing would be really done until we were in possession of Mantua ; that then only could we consider ourselves masters of Italy ; that so difficult a siege must necessarily last long ; that we had not the means even of com- mencing it, and that for the moment we must be content with surrounding the place; that it could not be doubted but that Austria would put another army on foot in order to succour so important a stronghold, but that she required time in which to assemble an army ; so that we had consequently a month before us, which he intended to employ in advancing towards the centre of Italy, making him- self master there, and securing tranquillity on that side when the war in Upper Italy should recom- mence. His discourse naturally led me to men- tion the overtures that Prince Belmonte-Pignatelli THE ARMISTICE. 105 had made to me at Florence ; I informed him of the Prince's presence at Brescia, and of my desire to present Pignatelli to him. He said that this was good news, and that he, like me, saw no objection to treating for an armistice.* I proposed that he should stipulate as one of its conditions that the ports of the kingdom of Naples should be closed to the English, " Ah ! that is the policy of the di- plomatist," he answered abruptly. " What we must stipulate for just now is that Naples shall imme- diately withdraw her troops from the Austrian army. The infantry is worthless ; but you are aware that they have four excellent regiments of cavalry which have already given me a great deal of trouble. I should like to get rid of these as speedily as possible. Send M. de Belmonte to me ; the treaty shall soon be made." And, in fact, the treaty was drawn up, and signed in the course of that day — in less than two hours. I managed, however, to have a clause inserted by which it was stipulated that the Neapolitan vessels should se- parate at the earliest opportunity from the English squadron. f * He used the word amnesty for armistice throughout the whole conversation. f This armistice, called simply a suspension of hostilities, is dated from Brescia, June 5 (19th Prairial, year IV.), and signed Buonaparte and Belmonte-Fignatelli. It contains five articles only, of which the fourth relates to the Neapolitan vessels. 106 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. This affair concluded, I began to discuss the general policy of Italy with Buonaparte. I saw that lie was ill-disposed towards Tuscany and already contemplated the occupation of Leghorn. I tried to discuss that point, but as he was in haste, I saw clearly that he would not listen ; T therefore con- fined myself to giving him a memorandum drawn up at Milan, in which I had exhaustively treated the question, which I could not argue with him verbally. I told him that I had left a copy in Salicetti's hands, although I perceived that the re- puted wealth of Leghorn tempted him towards so profitable a conquest. " The Commissioners of the Directory," he answered impatiently, " count for nothing in my policy. Let them busy themselves, and welcome, with the administration of the public revenues, for the moment at least, the rest does not concern them. I do not expect they will long retain their posts, nor will the Directory send me others in their room. On the other hand, Citizen Miot, I will read your Memorandum, and I liope you will meet me at Bologna, where I shall be, no matter what are ; This Memorandum turned on tlio points before indicated: I he expulsion of the Austrian power from Italy, and the annihilation of the Papal (iovenmient. I also endeavoured to show thai i be dignity of France, as well as her manifest interest, demanded that she should refrain from a violation of the Hi hi rality of Tuscany. VENICE. 107 my future plans, in a fortnight's time. I shall send a courier to inform you of my arrival. Adieu." The horses were harnessed. He crossed the rooms adjoining that in which he had received me, and gave some orders to Murat, Lannes and Junot, his aides-de-camp, and the other officers in attendance. Every one maintained towards him an attitude of respect, and I may even say of admiration. I saw none of those marks of familiarity between him and his companions that I had observed in other cases, and which was consonant with republican equality. He had already assumed his own place, and kept others at a distance. I saw him off, and then returned to my hotel, greatly struck and in some sort bewildered by what had just taken place. I immediately occupied myself with committing the particulars of this interview to paper, and I then took leave of Prince de Belmonte, who was returning to Naples by way of Milan, much surprised and delighted at a diplomatic nego- tiation being concluded during a change of horses. I passed the night at Brescia, and left the town next morning for Venice. I was too near that celebrated city not to gratify the curiosity I had long felt, by a visit to it. The mainland of the Venetian Republic was partly in the occupation of the French. Dezensano, * General Berthier was not just then with Buonaparte. 108 MEMOIRS OF COUNT M10T DE MELITO. Peschiera on Lake Guarda, and Verona, an important post at the entrance of the valley of the Adige, were garrisoned by French troops, and, as had always happened in Italian wars, Venice, unable to enforce respect for her neutrality, was again in this cam- paign fated to supply a field of battle to the armies that were disputing the conquest of that beautiful and hapless country. I found, however, no French troops beyond Verona. From the gates and towers of Vicenza and Padua the standard of St. Mark was flying ; the smiling valley of Brenta lay before the traveller, adorned by the luxurious dwellings of the wealthy owners of a hundred magnificent palaces, rising from the banks of the river, whose waters were furrowed in ever}* direction by boats and gondolas. During this journey I forgot the busy scenes I had left behind, and enjoyed the tranquil landscape passing before my eyes, and it was through scenes of continual enchantment that I reached Fusino on the lagoon. There, a far different spectacle presented itself, and I beheld, at last, the superb city, once the proud Queen of the Adriatic, rising from the bosom of the waves on which she seems rather to float than to repose. Venice, when I saw her in June 170(i, was still what she had been for twelve centuries. The same government, the same customs subsisted ; I beheld ancient Venice, although her existence was almost VENICE. 100 at an end. It was therefore with lively interest that [ visited her squares, her churches, and above all her ducal palace, and the halls which had witnessed so many great and sanguinary measures ; the secret tribunals, the terrible prisons ; mute walls which though about to fall, were still standing, eloquent of remembrances which strike the imagina- tion with that terror which they can no longer in- spire. The powerful institutions which had so long sustained that formidable government, now shaken to their foundations by the French Revolution and the presence of our armies, were tottering, and could no more support the grand edifice ; the least shock must bring it to the ground. Nothing, indeed, was changed in appearance, but every- thing was about to change, and a presentiment of this was universally felt- After having passed a few days at Venice, where I did not meet the Minister of the French Republic, M. Lallemant, but where M. Jacob, the Secretary of Legation, took the greatest pains to gratify my curiosity, I set out on my return to Florence. When I had passed the Adige and the Po, I resolved on continuing my route by Ferrara and Bologna. The Pope was at this period endeavouring to obtain an armistice, which was concluded shortly afterwards. The strict orders by which Frenchmen were for- bidden to enter the Papal States had already been 110 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. modified. I was not, therefore, in any way impeded, and although I stayed but a few hours at Bologna, the Governor, on being informed of my arrival, sent to offer me any facilities I might desire for the continuance of my journey. I thanked him, and passing the Apennines on the following day reached Florence on the 25th Prairial (June 13). Great changes had taken place in the Tuscan Government during my short absence. The Grand Duke, alarmed by our successes, trembling for Leghorn, and aware that the Directory was not satisfied with the reparation he had already made, had resolved, in hopes of dispelling the storm which he saw was coming, to give the conduct of Foreign Affairs to Signor Fossombroni, one of his chamber- lains, who had acquired a distinguished reputation in mathematical science.* By this arrangement he terminated the correspondence between the French Legation and Signor Serrati, a correspondence which had become more than ever strained and intricate owing to the dislike that Serrati, as Governor of Leghorn, had always evinced for the French, and his exlreme partiality for the English. But although the new arrangement was agreeable to us in that respect, it produced no Signor Fossombroni is the author of a highly esteemed work, published at Avezzo in L 731, entitled, 'Saggiodi Ricerche suir [ntensita del Lume.' BOLOGNA. Ill change in the mind of the Cabinet. Signer Fossom- broni was evidently only an intermediary between us and Signer Serrati, whose influence still existed, and who, in fact, really regulated the conduct of affairs. Meanwhile the causes of complaint to which the weakness of the Tuscan officials at Leghorn had given rise, far from diminishing, increased, and excited great discontent among the French. It looked as if the officials were acting in concert with the persons who, for other reasons than those stated above, were urging the Commander-in-Chief to an expedition on Leghorn. The danger to Tuscany was evident, and I soon perceived that it was no longer possible either to avert it, or preserve the neutrality of the country. The French army was approaching in two columns ; one was ad- vancing on Reggio by the new Apennine route, and was approaching Pistoja, the other was marching on Bologna. Thus our troops were on the point of entering the territory of the Grand Duke. No hope of preventing the violation of the treaty remained, all that could be done was to regulate the movement and to see that it caused as little damage and dis- order as possible. I had received from Buonaparte, as he had promised me, an intimation of his arrival at Bologna, and I waited upon him in that town on the 4th Messidor (June 22). He was con- 112 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. versine; with General Berthier when I was shown in. Berthier was, like myself, a native of Versailles ; I had been very familiar with him during my childhood and youth, and we addressed each other with our old intimacy, using the "thou " and " thee." Buonaparte remarked this, and when he had dis- missed Berthier, said lie wished to have a private conversation with me. Before entering on this, he asked me, " How long have you known Ber- thier, I see you are very familiar with him ? " I explained in a few words. " Very well," he answered, " but do you, like so many people, believe what I have read in the country newspapers, that it is to Berthier that I owe my success, that he directs my plans, and that I only execute what he has suggested to me ?"* " Not at all," I replied ; " I know him too well to attribute to him a kind of ability which he does not possess. And if he did, most decidedly he would not give up the glory of it to you !" " You are right," answered Buonaparte with warmth, " Berthier is not capable of commanding a battalion ! "j* He * Certain foreign newspapers, in order to lessen Buonaparte's ;j;lui-y, delighted to represent him as the pupil of Berthier, who certainly was at least fifteen years older than he. | In these words there was perhaps exaggeration, and cer- tainly ill-humour. It is, however, ;i fact, that Buonaparte never confided an expedition to Berthier, nor ever employed him except as Chief of the Staff. He did give him in L798, when AN IMPORTANT INTERVIEW. 113 stopped there, and we began to discuss the object of my journey seriously. This interview lasted a long time, and he heard me with great attention. I explained to him in detail my reasons for insisting on the observance of the neutrality of Tuscany. " What are you going to do ? " I asked him. " You are departing from the real object of the war, instead of pursuing the Austrians in their retreat, and going either through Tyrol or by Styria to threaten Austria with the presence of a victorious army, as I proposed in the despatches which I have written to Paris. By withdrawing from Upper Italy you give the enemy time to breathe and to put a fresh army into the field, larger than that which you have just so completely and gloriously defeated. In the meanwhile, as you must occupy Leghorn and maintain your line of communication with that town, you weaken yourself by the necessity of leaving a portion of your forces there. And do not be deceived ; you will not gain the advantages you expect from the occupation of Leghorn. A large part of the wealth that the English possess there has already been removed or hidden. No sooner will you have entered the port of Leghorn, than the leaving Italy, the command in chief of the army, hut, as the reader will see, he did so only to justify the opinion which he expressed on the occasion of my second interview with him. VOL I. I 114 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. English will enter Porto-Ferrajo,* and we shall have no right to complain of a violation of neu- trality, of which we ourselves shall have set the example. Of course, notwithstanding the precau- tions of the English merchants, there will still be merchandise and property of theirs in Leghorn. Seals will be put on their warehouses ; their goods will be sold ; but who profit by those seizures and sales ? The Commissioners of the Directorv : the •/ 7 crowd of agents who follow your army, attracted by the hope of gain. You will be engaged in military operations, which must occupy your every moment and your every thought, and you will soon lose sight of Leghorn. Frightful abuses will result from the occupation, scandalous fortunes will be made, and I shall be the reluctant witness of countless transactions dishonouring to the French name, but which I shall be powerless either to prevent or to punish. Everything will be disguised under the grand names of patriotism, insults to avenge, and respect for the national flag. Immediately on your departure, a dictatorial power will be established, tliure will be vexations of all kinds, and the popular feeling, already averse to us, will become still more inimical. Then if the fortune of war should waver for a moment, the French would be exposed The English, in fact, seized upon l'orto-Fcrrajo on 28th Messidor (Jnly 1 1), less than a fortnight after the French entered I leghorn. TOO LATE. 115 to the most merciless reprisals, and neither an armistice nor even a treaty of peace could insure their safety." " If I had heard what you had to say sooner," replied the General, " perhaps I should not have given orders for the movement that is taking place to-day ; but it is too late now, it has commenced. The Directory is expecting to find mountains of gold at Leghorn, and has its head turned. Every one sides with its action ; I am powerless. I will try to prevent disorder, you may assure the Grand Duke of that. But, then, he must give the strictest orders that the troops are to be respected and their wants abundantly supplied. I shall go to Florence on my return from Leghorn. I shall finish with the Pope to-morrow. I mean to grant him an armistice, but on condition that he give us money, paintings, and statues. If you will go to Rome and undertake the execution of the treaty, I will forward it to you from Pistoja, where I shall be in two days' time, and where I shall be glad to see you again, if your occupations will permit. In any case v r e shall meet at Florence." I answered in a few words. The General's in- tention of treating with the Court of Rome proved that, supposing him to have looked over the memo- randum I had forwarded to him a fortnight previously at Brescia, he had not adopted the opinions expressed i 2 116 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. in it. To treat with the Pope was to recognise his power, and to guarantee his existence hoth as Prince and as Pontiff. I pointed this out to Buonaparte, but he evaded an explanation, and I perceived that he had no intention of taking advantage of our victories to destroy the double power of the Holy See, and that, notwithstanding the sacrifices he was about to exact from the Papal Court, he was careful to maintain the principle of its existence and anxious for its safety. Was he already thinking of the use which he would one day make of it ? That he was, cannot be proved ; but subsequent events have shown that the conjecture is at least plausible. Seeing therefore that there was nothing more to be done to advance the principal object of my journey, that the neutrality of Tuscany was to be violated, and that Rome would escape with the sacri- fice of some money and pictures, I confined myself to asking that Buonaparte would at least, when he moved the columns of his army, avoid sending any troops through Florence. I represented to him that the Grand Duke was particularly anxious to spare his capital the inconveniences and in a sense the shame of foreign troops passing through it, and that it seemed to me to be right to .satisfy him on this point The General gave me his promise, and we parted. In the course of the day I saw the Commissioners of the Directory, Salicetti and (Jarrau. FLORENCE. 117 They purposed following the march of the army to Leghorn, and announced to me that after having regulated the affairs of the administration they would come in their turn to visit me at Florence. I entered into no particulars with them ; and left Bologna on the following morning, 5th Messidor, year III. (June 23, 1795). I arrived at Florence on the same day. I found the Government there in a state of the greatest alarm. Notwithstanding the promise made to me at Bologna, a column of the French army was marching on Florence, and in two days' time was to pass through the city. The excitement was extreme, and the conjuncture all the more un- fortunate, that the passage of the troops would occur on the Feast of St. John, which is celebrated with great pomp at Florence, that Saint being the patron of the city.* I saw the Grand Duke on the morning of the 6th Messidor (June 24), at a place which he had appointed in the Boboli Gardens. I protested to * On the Feast of St. John, the Grand Duke with his Court proceeds in the morning to the Palazzo- Vecchio square, to receive the homage of the magistrates of Florence and of the other towns of his States. On the eve of the Feast, also, he is present in great state at the horse-races, which attract vast crowds. On these two days in the year, only, does the Court of Tuscany, which is very simple in its habits, display any magnificence. 118 MEMOIRS OF COUNT 3II0T BE MELITO. him that I had received a positive promise from General Buonaparte that no troops of any kind should pass through his capital, that I suspected there must be some misunderstanding about the order, but that I was going to send off a courier and had no doubt it would be countermanded. In fact, the courier on his return brought me a despatch from the Chief of the Staff which informed me that through an official mistake only, some troops had been ordered to pass through Florence, and that the error had been rectified. Meanwhile the French army destined for the occupation of Leghorn had entered Tuscan territory by way of Pistoja on the 5th Messidor, and Buona- parte, who was already in the town, sent me his aide-de-camp, Martnont, on the 8th, with a letter announcing to the Grand Duke that the Executive Directory had ordered a march on Leghorn. To that information the General added, that, although forced to take this step by the repeated insults which the national flag had suffered in Leghorn at the hands of the English, the French Government desired to maintain friendly relations with Tuscany.* The aide-de-camp was also the bearer of a letter for me from Berthier. He informed me that * This Letter, together with theanswer made to it by Fossom- broni in tli'' li.uiic of the Grand Duke, may ho found in the ( razette de Florence,' "I' Tuesday . June 28, 1796. WAITING FOR BUONAPARTE. 119 General Buonaparte wished to see me, but that I must come that same night, because he intended to leave early on the morning of the 9th for Leghorn. I could not start, accompanied by Marmont, until very late on the night of the 8th, and I learned at Prato that the General had already gone on. I went no farther, therefore, but returned to Florence, where I waited to see him on his way back from Leghorn. The French army, which had begun to move on the 6th Messidor, was advancing on Leghorn from Pistoja, without crossing the territory of the Re- public of Lucca although that route, being the shortest, seemed the most natural.* On the 9th * M. Eedon de Belleville, then Consul of the Bepublic at Leghorn, assured me some time after the occupation of that town, that good treatment fur Lucca had been dearly bought by the magistrates of the Bepublic. According to information which he had obtained, a sum of from £240,000 to £280,000 was placed by the Commissioners of Lucca in the hands of an agent of Salicetti, at a house in the suburbs of Leghorn. This agent was the elder Arena. He was a compatriot of the Commissioner of the Directory, and had been a member of the Convention. He was appointed afterwards one of the Council of the Five Hundred, and on the 18th Brumaire, year V1IL, was one of those deputies who most strenuously opposed the designs of Buona- parte. His brother, Joseph Arena, afterwards played a part in the conspiracy of Ceracchi, year IX., and perished on the scaffold. I do not know how far the truth of the fact I relate may be relied on, but I am certain that M. de Belleville was incapable of inventing it. The immense fortune that Salicetti made in Italy gives it probability. 120 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MBLITO. Messidor (June 27) a division of cavalry reached the gates of the town. The officer in command having presented himself at the house of Spanocchi, the Governor, was at first coldlv received ; but after a few difficulties, which were promptly settled, the troops entered the town and made themselves masters of the most important positions. A pro- clamation was placarded to tranquillise the inhabi- tants, whose hostile feelings towards the French were freely manifested. Buonaparte arrived that evening, and ordered the arrest of the Tuscan Governor, of whose conduct the general of the van- guard had complained. The following is a letter which Berthier sent me by one of his aides-de-camp to inform me of these events. With it came a letter from Buonaparte to the Grand Duke. " Headquarters, Leghorn, 10th Messidor, " Year IV. of the French Kepuhlic, " One and Indivisible. " The Chief of the Staff to his friend Miot. " Everything here, my dear friend, is going on well. The late Governor played scapegoat for all. lie certainly showed very different feelings towards us from those evinced by His Royal Highness. After you have read the letter of the Commander- in-Chief to the Grand Duke, send it onto him as quickly as possible. BERTHIER'S LETTER. 121 " The Comraander-in-Cliief will reach Florence the day after to-morrow. We shall come to your house. He desires me to tell you that he expects you to give a grand ball and supper. I sincerely hope that our ambassador will display dignity and magnificence worthy of the French Eepublic. I must tell you that we want to be put up at the Legation. " Adieu. I embrace you. My aide-de-camp will tell you all I have left unsaid. "Alexander Berthier." I handed Buonaparte's letter to the Grand Duke, excused as well as I could the violence used towards the Governor of Leghorn, and announced the speedy arrival of the General. The Grand Duke received these communications with ill -concealed concern, but at the same time with resignation. He told me that he would give orders for the reception of the General with the honour due to his rank, and spoke to me with the greatest admiration of his military talent and of the glory he had acquired by his victories. I assured him on mv side that the General would hasten to solicit the honour of being presented to him_, and the audience, equally painful for both parties, was brought to a close — coldly, but without auy rupture. Buonaparte, according to promise, reached Florence on the 12th Messidor, year IV. (June 30, 1796), 122 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. at about seven in the evening.* He alighted at the palace in which I lived, f whither the Grand Duke had sent a company of infantry with a flag to receive him. He was accompanied by General Berthier and two aides-de-camp, Murat and Leclerc ; and escorted by a picket of dragoons. I received him and his staff into my house, and thus there was no need to quarter any one in the town. The soldiers were lodged in a vast orangery belonging to the gardens of the Ximenes Palace. The in- habitants of Florence were thus in no way incon- venienced by the presence of the French dragoons, and all vexatious incidents were avoided. I had invited a great many people to dinner, and there was a crowd at my house, both before and after the play. Curiosity to see a man who had ac- complished such prodigious exploits attracted great numbers to the theatres ; the streets through which Buonaparte passed, from the San Fridiano Gate, by which he entered, to the Pitti Gate, near which I lived, a distance forming the diameter of the town, were filled with the whole population who Hocked from every quarter to behold the spectacle. His was truly a triumphant entry, although no * He had remained on tho 20t,h of .June at San Miniato, where Canon Philippe Buonaparte, one of his relatives, lived. He left San Miniato again on the 30th. t Palazzo Ximenes, via porta Pitti. BUONAPARTE AND THE GRAND DUKE. 123 shouts were uttered by the multitude, and astonish- ment rather than admiration prevailed over every other sentiment in the reception of the conqueror. The next morning I accompanied him to the Court and presented him to the Grand Duke,* with whom lie conversed for some time. His Imperial Highness invited the General to dinner, and left it to him to name the officers of his staff to whom he desired the same honour to be extended. The dinner took place, but the Grand Duchess, pleading an indisposition, did not appear. The Grand Duke placed my wife on his right hand, and Buonaparte on his left. A few ladies of the Court were present. After dinner the General took leave of the Grand Duke, and we went down with him into the Boboli Gardens, where a courier, arriving from headquarters, handed him despatches announcing the surrender of the fortress of Milan. I had arranged to give the ball he had wished for on the next day, but he could not stay Ion o-er, and left at once to return to headquarters by way of Bologna. In the various conversations that I had with Buonaparte during those two days, he appeared to me to be intent upon the movements of the Austrians, and very anxious to rejoin his army. * Fourteen years after, in 1811, I saw this same Grand Duke, at the Tuileries, standing unnoticed amid the crowd who besieged the doors of Buonaparte, now become Emperor and King, and awaiting, with the other courtiers, the hour of his "lever." 124 MEMOIRS OF COUNT 3II0T BE MELITO. I know that it was with regret he left troops in Tuscany, although he had reduced their number as low as possible. I entreated him to deal as gently as he could with the country, so as not to enrage the inhabitants at a moment when he had so few men to control their discontent, and secure his own line of communications from interruption. I suggested to him that he should put forth a proclamation enjoining on the superior officers the necessity of the strictest discipline during the passage of the French troops through Tuscany. He consented, and I began to draw it up ; but he was offended by a phrase in which I used the expression, " the Com- manders of the French army" and erasing these words with some irritation, he told me that the army had but one Commander, and that was himself. After several attempts at drawing up the proclamation, he resolved to issue it from Bologna, where he was to arrive next day, but I heard nothing more of it. Notwithstanding this slight cloud, we parted on very good terms, and from that time forward our correspondence was carried on in a confidential and friendly spirit, which subsisted between us for a long time. After the General's departure for Northern Italy, I Ik- Commissioners of the Directory, who had rc- mained a1 Leghorn, placed seals on the English pro- perty there, Bold part of it, ami used the rest for JOSEPHINE. 125 the supply of the army. But as I was in no way concerned in these financial transactions, I can give no details on the subject. When the preliminary arrangements had been made, the two Commissioners, Salicetti and Garrau, came to spend a few days at Florence. Madame Buonaparte, who was curious to see the town, also arrived there a short time after- wards. On that occasion I renewed my acquaintance with her. I had met her in society at Paris, but not often, and I had formed an estimate of her which my increased intimacy with her during her stay at Florence only served to confirm. Never has any woman united greater kindness of heart with greater natural grace, never has any woman done more good with more pleasure than she. She honoured me with her friendship, and the recollection of the kindness she showed me until the last moments of her too brief existence will never be erased from my heart. When my guests had departed, I began to prepare to leave Florence for Rome. But in order to ex- plain the motives of this journey, I must go back a little in my narrative. At the commencement of the war in Italy, and especially when the temporary success of the Austrians in the Riviera of Genoa, under General de Vins, during the month of Messidor, year III. (July 1795), had restored confidence to the Powers inimical to France, the Pope had taken an active 12G MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. part in the war, and once more roused against ns the same populace which in January 1793 had murdered Consul Basseville. After that event, no Frencli agent had remained at Rome; our artists had all sought refuge at Florence, and we had thus been three years without holding any communication with Rome. When Spain recognised and entered into a treaty with the French Republic, on the 4th Thermidor, year III. (July 22, 1795), a share of the enmity that we inspired devolved on the Spaniard, and his residence in Rome soon became unbearable to the Chevalier d'Azara, ambassador from Spain to the Holy See. He also established himself at Florence, in the spring of 1796, and I then enjoyed the advantage of intimacy with that cultivated lover of the fine arts, who had adopted Rome as his second father- land. He was a sincere friend to France, and shared our joy at the victories of our troops, while he at once foresaw that our success would occasion a change of language, if not of feeling, at the Court of Rome. He was not mistaken, and lie was soon solicited, by the very Court which had in some sort exiled him, to employ his own best en- deavours and the mediation of Spain, whom he represented in Italy, to obtain a suspension of hostilities until peace could be definitively arranged. M. d'Azara', having accepted this honourable mission, THE TREATY WITH ROME. 127 came to the Commander-in-Chief at Bologna, accom- panied by M. Antonio Gruendy, whom the Pope had appointed his Minister Plenipotentiary. I saw them both on the 4th Messidor at Bologna, and on the next day, the 5th (June 23, 1796), the armistice was signed in the name of the Pope, by the Chevalier d'Azara and M. G-uendy, and in the name of the French Republic by Buonaparte, Salicetti, and Grarrau. The Pope undertook to pay twenty-one millions of Roman lire, and to hand over to France one hundred pictures, busts or statues, together with five hundred manuscripts.* The matter in hand was to get this armistice carried out, its conditions being very hard, and not as yet ratified by the Pope.f Buonaparte, as I have before said, had already informed me that he wished me to undertake the business, and had caused a copy of the treaty to * The following is the text of the 8th Article of the Treaty, containing the agreement in question : " The Pope shall deliver up to the Bepublic, at the choice of the Commissioners who shall be sent to Eome, one hundred pictures, busts, vases or statues ; among which will be included the bronze bust of Junius Brutus and the marble bust of Marcus Aurelius, both in the Capitol, also five hundred manuscripts, at the choice of the said Com- missioners." It is to be remarked that the first Article states that the French Government consents to treat only in order to five a proof of its deference to the wishes of His Majesty the King of Spain. + The ratification, although dated June 27, was not then made known. It was handed over to me at Eome in July. 128 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. be sent to me from Pistoja. He persisted in this resolution when at Bologna, and sent me, through Berthier, an official intimation that I was to repair to Rome. The Chevalier d'Azara, having returned from Bologna, was still at Florence when the despatch reached me, and I communicated it to him. He seemed pleased to find himself associated with me in matters of a delicate nature and requiring much moderation and good management. We had no troops in the neighbourhood of Rome, nor would we in any case have had recourse to force. He advised me, therefore, to defer my journey for a few days, that he might have time to precede me to Rome, whither he would repair without delay and whence he would write to me. I took his advice, and a few days afterwards I received the following letter from him : " Rome, July 14. " I readied Rome yesterday, having got through my journey satisfactorily, notwithstanding my bad state of health. You can easily imagine that since my arrival I have been occupied only with your journey. I liavc seen the Pope, and have informed him of all that you and I agreed on. You may set out therefore, and you will not meet with the slightest obstacle, either on your road, or in Rome. You will come to the Hotel de Sarmiento, opposite tlie Spa nisi i Embassy. TIIE TEE AT Y WITH HOME. 129 " Immediately on your arrival, we will meet and arrange together all that is to be done. I will in- troduce you to the Secretary of State ; afterwards you shall visit the Pope, and I hope you will be satisfied with everybody. So far as I am concerned, you may rely on my desire to serve you and to ensure the success of your mission. I am anxious to embrace you, and to prove to you the interest I take in yourself personally, and the friendship I feel for you," &c. Some few days before this letter reached me, the Marquis Massimo, the Pope's envoy for the negotia- tion of a definitive peace, had arrived at Florence, and I had seen him. He had assured me that his Holiness's dispositions were most pacific, and that no obstacle would be offered to the carrying out of the armistice. Reassured, therefore, on all sides as to the success of my mission, and no longer de- tained in any way at Florence, where I left the Commissioners appointed by the French Govern- ment to collect objects of art in Italy,* with in- junctions to join me as soon as possible, I started on the 30th Messidor (July 18), and reached Rome on the 3rd Thermidor (July 21). M. d'Azara came as far as Ponte Molle to meet me, where I got into * This Commission comprised MM. Monge, Berthollet, Thomir, Barthelemy the painter, Moitte the sonlptor, and Tinet, draughtsman and painter. VOL. I. K 130 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. his carriage, and I entered the city with him in the midst of an immense crowd, who followed me with unfriendly glances, and whose traditional en- mity was aroused by the tricolor-cockade in my hat, and in the hats of the persons who composed my suite. Rome, at that time, presented a very singular and revolting spectacle. A gloomy fanaticism, kindled by the monks and fed by absurd fables, had filled the minds of all. The populace was exclusively absorbed in religious practices, and listening to fanatical preachers, and the higher classes of society dared not hold themselves aloof. The streets were choked with long files of priests or monks, walk- ing in procession and followed by enormous crowds. Men's imaginations were excited, and only dwelt on marvels, on murders and on vengeance. Far from quieting this commotion, the Government secretly encouraged it, regarding it as their strong- est safeguard against the propagation of revolu- tionary principles, which they dreaded above all things. My presence and that of a few other Frenchmen, in the midst of a people ready at any moment to commit the greatest excesses, could not but increase the popular excitement, and I perceived that there would be no safety either for niv countrymen or myself if the terror in PliESTIGE. 131 spired by our victories and the near neighbourhood of our armies were dispelled for even a single day, or if the fortune of war ceased for one instant to be favourable to us. The latter contingency arose. The news of Wurmser's arrival at the head of a second Austrian army had revived all the hopes of our enemies. His success was considered certain ; it was announced beforehand, although no operations were as yet begun, and the siege of Mantua was carried on uninterruptedly. We, in the heart of Italy, already felt the con- sequences of these ominous reports, and we might have been seriously endangered before the news of the victories which soon after lent a new lustre to French arms had once more filled the people with that terror which was our only security. I must, however, do justice to the conduct of the Pope's Government towards me. Although the reports abroad were of a nature to make it less docile in the carrying out of the armistice just concluded at Bologna, I did not at first meet with all the difficulties I expected. The Chevalier d'Azara, who seconded me admirably at each step I took, accompanied me to the Secretary of State, Cardinal Zelada, who gave me a positive assur- ance of the payment of the first instalment of the contribution which the Court of Rome was to furnish, by virtue of Article 9 of the armistice, and, k 2 132 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. in fact, I received proof that this first instalment was on its way to Bologna. I obtained also, and on the spot, the liberation of certain men who had been imprisoned for their political opinions, and of whom General Buonaparte had sent me a list. On the next day, after my interview with the Secretary of State, I was conducted by M. d'Azara to the Monte Cavallo* Palace, to have an audience of the Pope. I was accompanied by M. Fre'ville, Secretary to the Legation. We each wore the uniform of the National Guard. The Pope was seated on a dais, raised one step from the ground, with a canopy. In front of him was a table on which were a number of papers, writing-materials, and a bell. When I was announced by the chamber- lain, who drew back the door-hangings, his PToliness rose, came down from the dais, and advanced to meet me. M. d'Azara made a genuflection on entering ; I only bowed profoundly, and the Pope, having taken me by the hand, led me up to the dais, where he resumed his place, and, pointing to a seat on his left hand lower than his own, invited me by a gesture to be seated. M. Freville sat near me, and the Chevalier d'Azara opposite the Holy Father's writing-table. Pius VI., although lie had reached ;iu advanced age, was still a rcmark- * Formerly (lie Quirinal Hill. The Pope resides there in i ummer, tin 1 air being more salubrious than ;il the Vatican. PIUS VI. 133 ably handsome man. He was distinguished by an elegant and well-proportioned figure, and a coun- tenance full of nobility and mildness. He lacked none of the outward gifts of Nature, and it was impossible to approach him without a feeling of respectful admiration. This, at least, was the senti- ment which I experienced on seeing him. The con- versation was in Italian. I assured the Pope that, in carrying out the conditions of the armistice, I would do all in my power to render them less onerous, while I ventured to hope, in return, that his Holiness would deign to give orders that the Commissioners who had been entrusted with the selection of the works of art should have all needful facilities for fulfilling their mission. " I will do so," he answered eagerly ; " the execution of these conditions is a sacred thing (S cosa sacro-santa) . Rome will still be rich enough in objects of Art, and I do not think that in making this sacrifice I have bought the peace of my States too dear. Here," added his Holiness, " is the ratification of the treaty. I wished to hand it over to you myself, in order to convince you that I have no repugnance to in- vesting this act with my consent."* The conversation then turned on more general topics. We spoke of Rome, and of all that attracts * The ratification, correctly drawn up, was signed Pius Papa VI. 131 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. the curiosity of strangers. At last, after an inter- view of half an hour, the Pope rose to dismiss me. A few days after this audience, the Commissioners whom I had left at Florence rejoined me. I found them much alarmed by the reports they had heard everywhere on the road between Florence and Rome, and by the ill-feeling they had observed at the places at which they had stopped. I could not wholly tranquil lise them ; I myself was anxious, and I had received no reassuring despatch either from the headquarters of the army or from Florence. I advised them, however, to set about the mission entrusted to them ; I put them in communication with the Pope's agents, and it was those same agents whom they employed to pack the valuable works which they selected. In the brief leisure afforded by my numerous occupations, I visited Rome and made myself ac- quainted with the neighbouring country. But I could barely satisfy the most urgent demands of my curiosity. When I visited Italy ten years later, and made a longer slay at Rome in more tran- quil times, I had an opportunity of thoroughly investigating that famous city. I shall therefore defer speaking of it until 1 shall have readied the later period of my narrative. While the animosity of the Italian people to us THE BEVOLUTIONISTS. 135 was revived by the first report of our reverses, which their enmity led them to receive as certainly true, a few men of sounder sense, and many others stimulated by private dislike, and especially by ambition to play a part in the history of their country, had hastened to the Commander-in-Chief, and even to Paris, with plans of revolution in Italy, and claimed the intervention of the French to help them to upset absolute government and, as they expressed it, to restore liberty to their country. The importunity of these patriots, who displayed no less enthusiasm in their republican fanaticism than did the rest of their fellow-citizens in their religious fanaticism, made an impression on the Executive Directory, which was already disposed towards political proselytism, and I foresaw that if Buonaparte would lend a helping hand, it would not be disinclined to let this leaven of Revolution ferment, and to aid its development. A despatch which I received during my stay at Rome, revealed this to me. It contained one leading query : " Is it possible, is it desirable for the French Republic to republicanise Italy ? " 1 was perhaps better able than any other political agent to discuss this question. I was in the heart of Italy. I had lived more than a year in the country ; I had closely observed the conduct and the feelings of the people and their governments in the various 136 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. positions we had held towards them, whether as victors or as vanquished ; I knew how much either of submission or resistance we had to expect from them. I believed it therefore to be my duty to put forward the opinions which circumstances had led me to form. As I also desire to clear my character of the suspicion that during my stay in Italy I was guilty of participating in acts of violence or in breaches of faith, which, on the contrary, I always resisted or blamed, I will here copy the reply which I made to the question put to me by the Minister of Exterior Relations. That reply is dated Rome, 9th Thermidor, year IV. (July 27, 1796). " Citizen Minister. " I have received your letter of 29th Messidor since my arrival in this city. I will devote mine to answering the questions you address to me, by placing before you the result of the observations I have md.de on the state of public feeling in Italy, on the resources it offers, and on the use that may be made of it for the conception or the establishment of a new political system in the countries that have been subjugated by French arms. My further residence in Rome may furnish me with additional means of clearing up many diffi- culties and of forming a more general opinion. A DESPATCH TO THE MINISTER. 137 " The chief question which is put to me, is the following : 'Is it possible, is it desirable for the French Republic to republicanise Italy ? ' The second part of this question depends clearly on the first ; for it is evident that if such a change were possible it would certainly be desirable. All that is required, therefore, is to examine that possibility. " If by the word republicanise is to be understood the establishment of a system of government founded on the same principles as our own, resting merely on such simple bases as those of political liberty and equality, and divested of all prejudices, I do not see as yet any means of attaining that end in Italy. We shall doubtless find a few sin- cere persons, but many others moved by private interests, and especially by a spirit of revenge, who will be anxious to persuade us that a complete revolution is possible and even easy. A cursory examination of the means they propose to employ, the monstrous alliance they would attempt between superstition and policy, the use they would actually venture to make of that execrable weapon in order to found a revolution, will, however, show how im- practicable it would be as yet — in the full complete- ness I have just sketched out, and the Directory cannot be too much on its guard against such projects. " If, on the contrary, in order to make our victories 133 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. conducive to our true interests, we confine ourselves in the present state of Italy to practicable political changes which will be useful to its inhabitants, the question, from that point of view, becomes more in- teresting and its discussion assumes real importance. " You will remember, Citizen Minister, what I have stated in my correspondence as to the object which I believed should be aimed at in the war of Italy. " To wrest his possessions in this part of Europe from the Emperor, to lessen the power of the Pope, since we can no longer think of destroying it altogether ;* these were the principal results to which I pointed as the fruits of our victories. " We have now the means of obtaining these two great results. We hold the country round Milan ; the legations of Bologna and Ferrara are in our bands. " To remove those beautiful and fertile provinces for ever from the domination of Austria and the Popes, is to attain as completely as possible the aim that we ought to propose to ourselves. "It now becomes necessary to inquire under what government we must leave these countries, which we cannot and ought not to retain. "That which has been done in Holland may * From the moment that we treated with him we acknow- ledged lii^ Government, and we could not, withoul flagrarri i ri .i'li "I Faith, b< ei •<> ovei I hrow it. A DESPATCH TO THE MINISTER. 139 serve us as a guide here. We have delivered Lombardy, Bologna and Ferrara from a despotic flrovernment, but we have no desire to violate their independence. It is for their inhabitants and not for us to make a revolution, and this distinction appears to me to be of the greatest importance. It is not for us to dictate laws for them, still less to impose on them our own. Let us watch their progress in the exercise of the power we have restored to them, but let us not take on ourselves the task of directing it. Let them seek, while protected and defended by a Power which watches over their safety, an organisation suited to their genius, and their religious opinions, in harmony with the ideas circulating among them ; our part is to oppose the intrigues of a party who would bring them again under the yoke that we have broken, but not to force forward fruits of a kind which the climate can not as yet produce. " The first step towards this result — the only one that appears to be desirable — would be a precise statement on the part of the Directory, declaring that these provinces shall never be restored to their former masters by any treaties concluded by the Republic. Until this is done, we can hardly hope that they themselves will take a decisive part; and even if they did, they would afterwards find themselves without sufficient means 140 MEMOIRS OF COUNT 3110 T DE ME LI TO. to resist the attacks which might be made upon them. " The Directory is probably not as yet prepared to make such a declaration. A moderate policy there- fore, such as I have indicated above, seems to me the right course to follow. In any case, I think we must not for a long time abandon the forms of military government in the countries we have conquered in Italy ; and that, without forcing on the organisation of a new national government which would be without the necessary resources for self-maintenance, we should allow it to develop itself under our eyes. And when a general peace shall have secured the independence of those provinces, it will still be desirable for our interests to maintain our garrisons in them for a long time, or at any rate, in order to avoid any reproach from other nations of violating this same independence, to leave some French troops in the pay of the separate governments which will have been formed. Such, in my opinion, is the only means of consolidating the task we shall have accomplished, and a sound policy demands that, amid so much enmity and passion directed against us, which unhappily will not lie completely quieted by the peace in Italy, we should continue to keep before her eyes a portion of the armies which have terrified and conquered her. " A complete revolution in Ilalv is, to my A DESPATCH TO THE MINISTER. 141 mind, impossible. If in the present state of public feeling such a revolution could take place, it would be terrible, owing to the excesses to which fierce and unprincipled men would abandon them- selves. It would not result in any advantage to humanity or in- the welfare of society, because it would be the work of fanaticism and revenge. " But a change of government in the conquered States,. the establishment of a new order of things, modified according to the surrounding circumstances, is both possible and desirable." To this letter I received no reply. Subsequent events have made it plain that the ideas of mode- ration and respect for the independence of peoples, which I had put forward, were not well received. I had been two weeks in Rome, and, although the business of the execution of the conditions of the armistice was going on, I perceived that for some days past the Government had been acting in the matter with dilatoriness that led me to suspect that, being better informed than I of what was taking place in Upper Italy, they flattered themselves that the reverses we were sustaining there might eventu- ally dispense them from keeping their promises. The darkest rumours were secretly spread about, and, as I had no means of refuting them, I soon found myself in a position as false as it was dangerous. 112 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. Things were in this state, when Oacatilt,* an agent of the French Republic, who had remained in Italy without ostensible title since 1703, arrived at Rome from headquarters. He brought me two letters, one from Buonaparte and one from Berthier. The first, on the supposition that I had not yet left Florence, advised me to remain there, and to delegate to Cacault the task of superintending the execution of the armistice concluded with the Pope. This change of plans was evidently the result of some manoeuvres of Cacault, who had wished for this post, and easily persuaded Buonaparte that the numerous acquaintances he had formed at Rome would afford him better means of filling it, and other advantages which I did not possess. Besides which, Buonaparte, who knew my feelings about the Papal Government, and who intended to treat it tenderly, was sure of finding in Cacault a more yielding negotiator than I ; one indeed, inclined by his own private views to second the General's views. The other letter, Berthier's, dated, like the first, * M. Cacault know Italy, where ho had long resided, perfectly well. Ho had boon ordered to repair to Borne after the assassination of Bassoville, bnt not having succeeded in getting there, lie had remained at Florence, as an agent of the Republic, but without official position until my arrival. Ee successively occupied various diplomatic posts in Italy, and on liis return to Prance he was created a Senator in 180.'?. lie died at Clisson in 1805, A PERILOUS JOURNEY. 143 from the headquarters at Castiglione, on the 3rd Thermidor, and consequently hefore the raising of the siege of Mantua, was full of confidence and hope of fresh successes. But as it was already twelve days old, and more recent news had reached Rome, it had become valueless for the purpose of forming any opinion, and I could make no kind of use of it. However, in spite of the dangers to which a journey in the midst of the general ferment pro- duced by the accounts of our reverses, magnified by active ill-will, might expose me, I did not hesitate to undertake it. I handed over the business to Cacault, and started, the very evening of the day of his arrival, on my return journey to Florence. I had not been misinformed as to the state of feeling throughout the Roman territory. I therefore avoided passing through Yiterbo, where I knew that the excitement was greater than in any other part, and took the route through Civita-Castella, Narni, Terni, where I stayed a few hours in order to see the celebrated cascade, and Spoleto, where I intended to pass the night. But it was impossible to carry out my plan ; a furious mob surrounded my carriage, and if I had not displayed coolness which took them aback, I should probably have been subjected to very bad treatment. I therefore 144 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MEL1T0. merely changed horses, and continued my journey by way of Foligno, Assisi, and Perugia .* I entered the Tuscan territory through Cortona and Arezzo, and although I was then in a country where I bore, so to speak, a sacred character, I saw, by the animus displayed by the inhabitants of the last-named town, that even that character would barely serve to protect me should we cease to be conquerors. As we drove from the gates of Arezzo, stones were thrown at my carriage ; but it was dark, and this insult had no serious consequences ; my horses quickly placed me beyond reach. Finally, I arrived at Florence on the 17th Thermidor, year IV. (August 4, 1796). Profound consternation prevailed among the few French who were then at Florence. For several days the most disastrous accounts had succeeded each other without interruption, and my first interviews with the Tuscan Government convinced me that, if exaggerated, they were not unfounded. The populace of Florence, who until then had taken no decided part, now awoke from the calm indif- ference which characterised them. Inflamed by the monks, they began to imitate the Romans; they also had their miracles and their prophecies. * I must do justices hero to tho Governor of Perugia, who received me with the utmost courtesy, ami watched over my safety with sedulous care. EXCITEMENT AT FLOEENCE. 115 Their excessive credulity made them credit the most absurd rumours ; they were persuaded that I had brought back Buonaparte in my carriage wounded ; that he had died at my house, and that I had buried him in my garden. An im- mense crowd collected about my door ; I was obliged to come out and address them, and I had great difficulty in preventing their forcing their way into my house in order to satisfy their stupid curiosity. This state of alarm lasted for twelve days, and during that time the Grand Duke's government acted with such weakness as to make it evident to me that, far from wishing to repress the dis- turbance, it intended to make use of it to free itself from any remaining consideration for me, in the event of our sustaining further reverses. From the moment that we were or were supposed to be no longer formidable, it would have been useless to appeal for security to treaties which had simply been extorted by fear. At last, on the 23rd and 24th Thermidor (10th and 11th August), couriers despatched from head- quarters made their appearance, and put an end to our anxieties. During my stay in Rome, and my journey thence, hostilities had recommenced in Northern Italy. Wiirmser, at the head of a fresh Austrian army, had forced Buonaparte to raise the VOL. I. L 146 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. siege of Mantua, leaving all his artillery on the spot, But this check, news of which had spread so rapidly, had been as quickly repaired by the wonderful victories of Salo, Castiglione, and Lonata (17th and 18th Thermidor). Never had so rapid and complete a change taken place in war ; never had such genius, talent, and valour been displayed. A campaign of less than ten days' duration had reconquered Italy and routed all the pro- jects of our enemies. But in proportion as the news of our reverses had been readily believed, did that of our victories meet with incre- dulity, and it was only after the lapse of several months, and when the surrender of Mantua rati- fied, as it were, the bulletins of our army, that the people were at last induced to credit our success. For the time being, our reverses had brought back the Powers of Italy to their former policy and their former enmities. The negotiations for peace between the Pope and France had been interrupted,* the conditions of the armistice were no longer carried out ; the Commissioners whom I had left at Rome had withdrawn, and gone back to Florence * They were not completely broken off until ;i month later, the luin th complementary day of year I V. ( September L'O, 1 7!Hi ). The Pope declined any arrangement, nor would he state what were llu- modifications he would have desired in the stipulations of the treaty. FBESH VICTOBIES. 147 to wait for more favourable circumstances and fresh instructions. Cacault only remained, and was carrying on some private communications, the Papal Government not having as yet decided on an open rupture. Meanwhile, Buonaparte having pursued Wurmser's army into the valley of Adige and Brenta, forced the General to shut himself up in Mantua. But another army, commanded by D'Alvinzi, soon made its appearance in Italy, and, to save this important stronghold, opened a fresh campaign, in the course of which the engagement at Areola and the battles of Rivoli and Favorita immortalised the glory of the French arms. While military events were thus hastening on, and Victory, still undecided, had not declared herself for either side, the difficulties of my posi- tion increased daily. The Tuscan people openly displayed their dislike to the French. I was grossly insulted several times, and my time was entirely occupied in hearing and laying before the Grand-Ducal Government the complaints which were addressed to me by the French inhabitants of Tuscany. At length, being convinced by the facts before my eyes that there was no hope of security for the French, nor any real advantage to be obtained from our victories in Italy, so long as the House l 2 148 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. of Austria should possess any of its territory, and that the Pope's Government should endure, I resolved on sending M. Freville, Secretary of Legation, to Paris, with a despatch, in which I laid before the Executive Directory my obser- vations on the state of Italy, and stated my views of the direction in which our policy should move. I will here give a summary of the plan which I had drawn up. I pointed out that Austria and Spain had been dominant in succession in Italy, but that Prance had always tried in vain to establish a permanent influence in the country ; notwithstanding her victories, dominion had invariably slipped from her grasp. " Austria, then, was exclusively powerful in Italy before the war. Venice was trembling, Genoa was sold, Naples shared in all the passions of Austria ; the Pope was at her beck. This brilliant structure was overthrown by our first victories. Austria wants to build it up afresh ; she calls on the people as auxiliaries to her army and succeeds in inflaming them ; she is preparing another Sicilian Vesjxrs for us in Italy. The various Governments approve :u id second her views. But for our recent victories we should be irretrievably lost. "At the first wind of our reverses, neutrality THE SITUATION. 149 disappeared, the execution of treaties was suspended. We have therefore acquired no guarantee by nego- tiation, and we can only count on force, or on the establishment of a political system which will be a real guarantee. Now, therefore, is the time at which to treat this question. " The first idea that presents itself is to alter the political situation of Italy entirely, in a word, to use the language of the day, to revolutionise her. I have opposed that solution ; insurrection, even rebellion, may be kindled in Italy, but not a revolution. " Let that part of Italy which we have conquered adopt a form of government of whatever kind, and let us protect it, provided these countries detach themselves altogether from Austria and the Pope. Let us possess nothing ourselves in Italy, but let us acquire influence there, and be a prepondera- ting power only in the conquered part. As for the rest of the Peninsula, we must have another allied Power with us, which, acting on Rome and Naples, will keep them within defined bounds. Let Spain be that power. " Spain is alive to her true interests ; she has just made peace and allied herself with France ; she will be responsible to us for Southern Italy. Let us give to her, or a Prince of her House, those possessions of Austria which form a part of her States in Northern 150 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. Italy, and which we will render independent.* By such a political arrangement Leghorn would be in the hands of Spain, and the neutrality of that port would no longer be an empty name. This plan involves, it is true, a complete rupture with the G-rand Duke of Tuscany, but he himself has furnished us by his recent behaviour with a pretext for, and also with a right to it." Freville left Florence for Paris early in Fructidor, year IV. (middle of August, 1796). He had several interviews with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and presented a further development of my pro- posals in a detailed memorandum. In the end they were not adopted, and he rejoined me at Florence towards the end of Vendemiaire, year V. (October 1706). He was the bearer of a letter from the Minister, Charles Lacroix, very flattering to me, but altogether evasive. I gathered from this letter and from the details added by Freville that the French Government desired to remain on cool terms with Tuscany, in order to take a decisive step of rupture or alliance, according to circumstances, and to be in a position to justify either the one or the other. It was easy to satisfy the Government in this respect. The intercourse between the two Cabinets had become more strained than ever; recriminations This plan was afterwards adopted by Buonaparte, when In oreated the kingdom <>f Etruria for an Enfant of Spain. RECRIMINATIONS. 151 abounded on our side because of the weakness of the Tuscan Government, which allowed its neutrality to be disregarded, and showed itself alto- gether partial towards the English ; and on the side of Neri-Corsini, the Grand Duke's Minister in Paris, because of the disrespect with which the Tuscan Government treated our military commanders and troops at Leghorn. It must be admitted that both sides were in the right. The partiality of the Tuscan Government towards the English was not more evident than the behaviour of our officers and men towards the authorities of the country was insulting. They acted in defiance of all rules, or, if the term be preferred, in defiance of every popular prejudice.* Whether my views as to the line of policy to be pursued in Italy had awakened some personal dislike towards me, or whether it was thought desirable to appoint an agent in Florence more dependent on the Commander-in-Chief than I was — and I have not discovered which — my mission in Tuscany was drawing to a close. Fre'ville had scarcely left Paris, when a decree of the Directory, dated the 2nd Brumaire, year V. (October 23, 1796), * General Hullin, in command at Leghorn, celebrated the fete of the 10th of August there with a brilliant military display. Nothing could be more offensive to the Tuscans, nor more uncalled-for by the French. 152 MEMOIBS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. changed all the diplomatic corps in Italy. I was appointed Ambassador to the Court of Sardinia ; Cacault succeeded me at Florence as Minister Plenipotentiary, and Joseph Buonaparte was named resident Minister of the French Republic at the Court of the Infant-Duke of Parma. I did not, however, receive the decree containing my new nomination and its accompanying instructions until five months later. I was destined before I reached Turin to undertake a troublesome mission, for which I was in no wise prepared. Corsica, which had been delivered to the English by Paoli, and occupied by them as a fourth kingdom annexed to the crown of the King of Great Britain, had just been evacuated by its new masters. They had never succeeded in subduing the interior of the island, frequent insurrections had kept them in con- tinual alarm, and free communication between the various towns could only be effected by sea. The victories of the French army in Italy, under the command of one of their countrymen, had redoubled this internal ferment in Corsica, and the English had decided on entirely abandoning their conquest. hi September 170 G they withdrew their troops, and also removed from Corsica their chief parti- sans, such as General Paoli, Pozzo di Borgo, * Tho crown of Corsica was carried to London, in October IT'.M, l>y four Corsica.!] deputies. CORSICA. 153 Beraldi and others, who sought an asylum in England. On the first intelligence of the English preparations for evacuating the island, Buonaparte despatched General Gentili thither at the head of two or three hundred banished Corsicans, and with this little band Gentili took possession of the principal strongholds. The island being thus restored to the rule of France, it became indis- pensable to provide temporarily for its civil admistra- tion and to prepare for the establishment of the constitution. Salicetti, Commissioner of the Directory, with the army of Italy, hastened to assume those functions, and had already repaired to Corsica, where he was beginning to exercise them. But the Directory had felt that it would not do to leave them in the hands of a man born in the island, having personal injuries to avenge, and who, even supposing him to be impartial in the conduct of affairs, could never persuade his countrymen that he was so. An administrator had therefore to be found, who should be an entire stranger to the country, having no interests but that of restoring order, healing quarrels, and bringing Corsica as soon as possible under the laws and institutions common to the rest of France. The choice fell on me, and on the 5th Frimaire, year V. (November 25, 1706), I received a decree of the Executive Directory, dated the 7th Brumaire, appointing me 154 MEMOIIiS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. Commissioner-Extraordinary of the Government in Corsica, and ordering me to proceed thither at once. Accordingly I prepared to set out, and left the Lega- tion in the hands of Fre'ville, who succeeded me with the title of Charge' d' Affaires. On returning from Corsica on my way to Turin, I stayed at Florence for a few days, hut without any official character. My mission therefore came to an end at the period I have now reached, and as I shall have no further occasion to speak ol Tuscany, I will summarise here in a few lines the observations I made on the country during a resi- dence of nearly twenty months. During the whole time that Leopold governed Tuscany, her prosperity had gone on increasing, her population had sensibly augmented and was still tending towards increase ; while free-trade in grain had materially added to the products of agriculture. These results proved the beneficial influence of the principles adopted by Leopold, while the restrictions subsequently imposed on the grain trade have, by diminishing the products of the earth, confirmed the disadvantages of a prohibitive system. The events of the French Revolution, which brought war and all its attendant evils upon Italy, arrested the progressive impulse that Leopold had given to Tuscany. The administration which succeeded his, dreading the introduction of the principles which A RETROGRESSIVE POLICY. 155 were triumphant in France, believed, as it generally happens, that the best means of opposing the evil was not to yield points, which the spirit of the age and the new ideas which were circulating freely made it necessary to yield, in order to satisfy the needs of society, but to withdraw all that had been hitherto granted, and to return completely to the past. In all Leopold's institutions it detected the germs of Revolution, and it could think of no better way to kill those germs than by destroying the institutions. The nobility and the clergy, whose privileges had been restricted and whose alarm increased as the Revolution made progress in France, applauded this course of action, and aided it with all their influence. Nevertheless, it would be an error to believe that society in general attached much importance to these ques- tions, and a still greater mistake to conclude that the people took any active part in them. With the exception of a few movements promoted with great difficulty at critical junctures, and of which I have had occasion to speak, the prevailing aspect of all classes was that of indolence. For two centuries and a half, Florence had lost the antique energy which had distinguished that noble city in the stormy times of the Republic. Her peaceable inhabitants, deprived of all their rights, were no longer the dis- trustful citizens, whom love of freedom, and of inde- 15G MEMO IBS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. pendence had so often roused to the most courageous measures and the most generous sacrifices. They were no longer so many illustrious Mascenas who offered magnaminous hospitality to science and letters. Almost everywhere my eye fell on men basking in a beautiful climate, occupied only in the dull details of a monotonous life, and vegetating beneath a beneficent sky. As for the women, a mixture of piety and intrigue was, as it is throughout all Italy, their distinguishing character- istic. Morals were extremely relaxed, but as that relaxation was universal and, singularly enough, the result of a generally admitted social convention, it gave rise to no criticism, and so long as a woman kept on good terms with her cavaliere servente, and that she used some secrecy and a sort of decency in her infidelities towards him, she enjoyed a spotless reputation. The domestic habits of Fiance were therefore regarded as not a little ridiculous ; and although the report of the disappearance of all modesty from our manners since the beginning of the llevolution had preceded us at Florence, and turned the public mind against us, our women were, to our great astonishment, set down as in tolerable prudes, and their 1 1 n^l >:i iiclts' conduct in accompanying them in public, contrary to the customs of the country, was considered unpardon- able. I>ul it' the ladies of Florence were nol TUSCAN MORALS. 107 very scrupulous as to conjugal fidelity, they were scrupulous in inverse proportion as to religious practices, and a woman who, with a perfectly easy conscience, violated conjugal duties which are held sacred everywhere else, would not eat meat on a day of abstinence for any consideration. Nor were the other duties of religion observed less rigorously. They interfered a little, it is true, with the pleasures of intrigue ; but they also served as a pretext for escaping from wearisome bonds, and it was usually at Easter that old intimacies were broken off and new ones formed. It was also at that holy season that the husband's consent to a change of cavalier e servente was asked and obtained, for changes of this kind are family affairs. I do not, however, pretend to include the whole of society in this generalisation. No one has had better opportunities than I of knowing what remark- able exceptions were to be found at that time in Florence and the other principal towns of Tuscany ; men and women of sterling merit and incapable of the weaknesses I have commented on. The famous physician Fontana, MM. Fabbroni, Fossombroni and Paoli, who have borne great names in natural science and mathematics ; M. Pignotti, a writer of charming fables ; M. Galuzzi, who wrote a history of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and other learned and literary men, did honour to Tuscany and 158 MEMOIRS OF COUNT BE MEL1T0. preserved to her a remnant of her ancient renown. Several ladies, Madame Fabbroni among the number, were distinguished for their talents and cultivation, and would have shone with brilliant lustre in any country and in any society. ( 159 ) CHAPTER V. Letter from General Buonaparte — The Author embarks at Leg- horn and arrives at Bastia, where he finds Salicetti — He is instructed to adopt a system of conciliation, and to endeavour to reconcile party divisions — He publishes a proclamation accordingly — Political situation of Corsica — Some seditious risings are repressed and tranquillity re-established — Ad- ministration and laws organised, first in the department of Golo, and next in that of Liamone- — Journey from Bastia to Ajaccio by Corte and the Col de Guizzavano, and from A jaccio to Bonifacio by Gartena. On receiving the decree of the Directory which appointed me Commissioner Extraordinary of the Government in Corsica, accompanied by instructions bearing date the 12th Brumaire, I had hastened to inform Buonaparte of my appointment, and to ask his advice respecting the best way of fulfilling a mission whose difficulties I fully recognised. He sent me the following reply : " Headquarters, Verona. " 3d Frimaire, year V. " I have received, Citizen Minister, the letter you wrote me before your departure for Corsica. The 160 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT BE MELITO. mission you are about to undertake is an extremely difficult one. Until all the work here is finished, it will not be possible to send any troops to Corsica. You will find General Gentili in commaud of this division there. He is an honourable man, and gene- rally esteemed in the country. The people of Corsica are difficult to understand, their imagination being very lively, and their passions extremely active. " I wish you health and happiness. " Buonaparte." This letter was not encouraging. The General entered into no details, and sent me no help either in men or money. Nevertheless I did not despair of success, and 1 embarked at Leghorn on the 11th Frimaire, year Y. (10th December, 1796). We were obliged to put into harbour at Capraja * to avoid the English cruisers, and I was blockaded there for six days. I decided at last to leave the Aviso and to embark on board a felucca, and I took advantage of a calm, which detained the English ships, to row across the canal between Capraja and Corsica. Tn this way I landed on the 22nd Frimaire on the east- ern coast of the island, near Erba Lunga, five miles from Bastia, whither I proceeded on the following day. I bad just left one of the most civilised cities in * A small island to tho west of Leghorn, about half-way between the mainland and the inland of Corsica. IMPRESSIONS OF CORSICA. 161 Italy, and it was with strange sensations that I found myself in a country whose wild aspect, barren mountains, and inhabitants all clothed alike in coarse brown cloth, contrasted so strongly with the rich and smiling country of Tuscany and with the comfortable, I might almost say the elegant, dress worn by the fortunate cultivators of that fertile soil. My disembarkation, on a dark winter's night, on an almost uninhabited coast, where I had found no better shelter than a smoky cabin, had inspired me with gloomy forebodings. But a few days passed on the island were sufficient to accustom me to its aspect, which had at first seemed so repulsive. The rich natural vegetation clothing the hills that slope downwards to the sea, the beauty of the sky and the mildness of the climate, in a season which is often very severe in France and Northern Italy, speedily dispelled my unfavourable impressions. I found many reasons, subsequently, to convince me that in the variety of its sites, the characteristic grandeur of its mountains, and the majestic solitude of its forests, Corsica need not fear competition with the countries most renowned for beauties of the same kind, whether the traveller studies it with the eye of an artist or that of a naturalist. On my arrival at Bastia, I found Salicetti there. He told me that he had been informed of my ap- pointment, that he had put everything in training so VOL. I. M 162 MEMOIRS OF COUNT MIOT DE MELITO. as to secure me a favourable reception, and that I mi girt rely on bis influence and that of his friends for the success of my mission. I expressed my gratitude for his zeal, but I was obliged to let him know that my in- structions prescribed a different course of action from that which he had adopted. I told him that I could not introduce the Constitutional regime into the island without having first assured myself that the state of popular feeling and opinion would allow of its establishment without danger to the public tran- quillity ; and that I should therefore adjourn the meeting of the Primary Assemblies, and the exercise of the political rights of the inhabitants, until I should have acquired that assurance. And, indeed, such a delay was warranted by common prudence : it was evident that if the Constitutional system were sud- denly adopted, authority would fall, without any counterpoise, into the bauds of all those who, having left the island in order to escape from the influence of Paoli and of the English, were now returning in crowds, full of vengeance against such of their countrymen as, having taken the opposite side, had remained in the island, and were necessarily ex- cluded from all public employment. Thus nothing could have been more detrimental to the end which T proposed to attain, that is to say, the effacement of those sharp divisions so as to blend them in sub- mission Lo the Constitutional system, than an attempt SALICETTFS VIEWS. 163 to establish that system in the midst of so much enmity and so many ardent passions. Salicetti ad- mitted that this system might have some advantages, but he looked on it as a mark of weakness on the part of the Directory. He thought that conciliatory dealings with men, who, according to him, had be- trayed their country and the cause of Liberty, was a sort of concession likely to disgust patriots and occasion more internal difficulties than it would prevent. General Gentili, a most upright man, and raised by his high character and his social position above every suspicion of intrigue, was in favour, on the contrary, of the course that I proposed adopting, and which, in fact, I could not relinquish without deviating from the intentions of the Government. I therefore decided on making known at once by a proclamation,* which I published on the 24th Frimaire, year V. (December 14, 1796), my arrival in the island, and the course I intended to pursue. A few days afterwards, Salicetti left Bastia, to return to the continent, and I was then enabled to exercise freely the authority confided to me. Before entering into details of my operations, I will devote a few lines to the political situation of the island at the time of my arrival. This is necessary in order that a correct estimate of my conduct may be formed. * This proclamation appears in the ' Moniteur,' of the 19th Nivose, year V. M 2 164 MEMOIRS OF COUNT 3II0T DE MEIITO. The inhabitants of Corsica may be represented, at the time of my arrival there, as divided into three classes : first, that of the Republicans who had taken refuge in France and were then returning to their native country, with claims to the national gratitude, and to demand indemnity for the losses they had sus- tained ; secondly, that of the inhabitants who had remained on the island, but had not been employed by the English in any public capacity, and many of whom had been ill-treated on account of the attach- ment to France which they often manifested ; and, thirdly, that of the partisans of Paoli, who had served the English and taken advantage of the period of their supremacy to enrich themselves, and to plunder or devastate the property of their absent fellow-citizens. It behoved us to adapt ourselves to a people com- posed of such opposite elements, and above all to prevent collisions between them ; and it was therefore necessary to renounce the idea of any settlement which would have brought individual interests into opposition, in a country where public spirit had no existence and where those interests predominated over all others. I had already acted in this sense, by sus- pending all popular meetings; and to this preliminary measure I added another, which was dictated by pru- dence. On proclaiming a general amnesty, I was careful not to mention the exceptions which the Exe- THE GENERAL AMNESTY. 165 cutive Directory had made to this act of clemency. These comprised, first, the deputies who had carried the crown of Corsica to the King of England in London ; * secondly, the members of the Council of the Viceroy ; "j" thirdly, the emigres who were described as such on the lists of the Departments. But as these exceptions were meaningless as regards the two first- named classes, none of the individuals composing them being at that time in the island, so that, con- sequently, they could only fall on the third, I soon perceived how dangerous and impolitic it would be to make them known. Indeed, the emigration had but j ust taken place at the time when Paoli, who had been recalled to his country by a decree of the Constituent Assembly j came back to the island, where he seized * This deputation, consisting of four persons, fulfilled its mission in October 1794. The King of England had been recognised as King of Corsica by the Constitution of June 19, 1794 (see Chapters xi. and xii. of that Constitution). Corsica had been handed over to the English on May 21, 1794, in virtue of a capitulation concluded with Admiral Hood, and signed by Stephen Monti, President of the Department of Corsica, John Baptist Galeazzini, Mayor of Bastia, Charles Francis Emmanuel Couthaud and John Baptist Franceschi, adjutants-general of the French army. t Sir Gilbert Elliot. He was at first Lieutenant of the kin